HY : Hi minna, awfully sorry the late update. Real life has been very busy, as in heaps of assessments, etc. I barely have the time to practise my violin - that's another story, lol.

Thanks heaps to those who favourited and reviewed - I'm trying to find the time to properly thank you all, so I'll apologise beforehand if you get a thank you PM from me months later than your review/ favourite -.-"

I don't own VK (sadly).

CHAPTER 11

Zero's sleepy orbs blearily opened, as he silently groaned. He really needed to relieve himself after an assail of images of a certain red headed girl messed up his mind.

"Zero…," she demurely spoke, looking at him in such a way that he felt his body stiffen.

"Y-Yes?" His stammering problem reappeared.

"It's been a long day after our duties, right…?" she deliberately dragged, trailing a finger up his blazer.

"Yes…?" He didn't understand where she was getting at, but if he didn't get a shower, he sure as hell as going to have a problem…!

"Come, let me give you a massage after such a hard day of nightly patrol…"

Oh no, this was too tempting…too tempting…as her body pressed against his – Lord, it was so comfortable! – and her skilled fingers put the right amount of pressure on his shoulders…

Heck, if Seiran was a temptress, he would have lost it there and then…Even when she was this innocent and naïve, he was finding it hard to keep a check on himself, what more…

What the hell, he felt so comfortable right now, it was so nice and warm, especially around his chest area, he was still tired, he could ease himself later…

His arm snuggled a bolster – maybe it had heating pads on it to keep it warm – when his conscience shouted at him, since when do you sleep with a bolster, Kiryuu? With that his senses totally kicked in and he sat up, looking down to see a sleeping Seiran in his bed.

In. His. Bed…

He felt the tight sensation once more, his breath stopping when her beautiful blue eyes opened and looked at him.

"Morning, Zero…," she sleepily murmured as she got up, her red hair deliciously tousled. She stretched, unthinkingly showing off her curves in the white Night Class uniform.

He swallowed, his throat had run dry.

How…how the hell? How did this happen? He looked at both of them, they were both fully dressed – as in he still had his boxers on and she was in her uniform... Good…So nothing inappropriate had happened, but just how was it that she was in his bed? He felt flushed, his problem down there hadn't gone away yet, thank God the covers were around them so she couldn't see anything…

Seiran, reading the change of emotions flickered on his face from panic to relief, to utter confusion, explained in light tones, "You mistook my blazer for the blanket which you dropped on the floor while sleeping, that's all…"

"I'm really sorry, you probably didn't have a good rest last night…," he spoke, trying to keep his voice even. When all he actually wanted to do was throttle her – didn't she realize she was sleeping with a guy, for God's sake? No, he mentally sighed, of course Seiran has been used to her Sensei's company…

A shy smile lit up her face. "Not really…you were really warm…It was very comfy…" Her face grew serious again and she apologized, "I'm sorry I wasn't able to patrol with you last night, Zero. I had to talk with Aidou-kun about a problem he had and then later Kaname asked me to take a Vampire History class which I didn't want to."

Typically he scowled upon hearing Kaname's name but curiously asked, "Why didn't you want to, Seiran…? Didn't you want to know more about your parents, or at least about being an Orchid Princess?"

Kaname said the same thing…she thought, amused. Better not tell Zero that Kaname and he had some thoughts in common, Zero would never swallow that down. She decided to summarize what she told Kaname. "Knowing the past won't change much, Zero…I've been hitting dead ends which can be exasperating sometimes because my mind will have more questions why some things occurred and yet I can't find answers. Maybe I'm being cowardly like this, Zero…I just think it's the best option to do for now…"

"Hey, you're not a coward, alright?" said Zero, inwardly relieved his 'problem' earlier had been alleviated and he bravely put his arms around her. He remembered the way she had strongly reacted to knowing the real truth about herself being a pureblood and not an ordinary human…The way she had gone to fight the bastard Kuroumura and thankfully wasn't mortally wounded…The truth had devastated her, he knew, but she was strong enough not to end up being traumatized, unlike Ichijou senpai a year ago… "You're one of the bravest people I know, it doesn't matter if you chose to do that, Seiran…If you chose to deny the truth instead, that would be cowardly. But you didn't do that."

She leaned forward and placed a light kiss on his cheek. "Zero, you always know what to say, don't you? You and your honeyed tongue…Better go and take a shower otherwise you'll be late for class…"

Honeyed tongue…? wondered Zero as he reluctantly released her, heading towards the bathroom. Honey…tongue…He locked the bathroom door before scrambling to the shower cubicle, groaning…Even the simplest words which had no other meaning to it had set his mind on fire. Shit…

Seiran busied herself, getting Zero's Day Class uniform ready before flopping onto her own bed, planning her timetable for the day. Despite sleeping about five hours, she didn't feel tired, strangely more refreshed. Probably it was nice with Zero's arms and body around you, Kaede…teased her conscience and she smacked her forehead. Stop it! I've got work to do! Honestly, it was nice to have that security, that fact that she had someone who loved her and was protective of her…She felt she could understand why Kaname loved Yuuki so.

Zero blinked as he thought he spotted a scrape on his arm. When had that occurred? he bemused as he dried himself, looking at the thin line of red on his right arm which disappeared upon closer inspection. Huh? Disappeared? Maybe I scratched myself while sleeping but for it to heal like that…? The last time he took those tablets was last night before he went on patrol, Seiran doing the same. Those blood tablets have such a long lasting effect...He had a small smile on his face as he put on a bathrobe, secured the knots and walked out. His smile grew when he spotted his uniform ready on the bed and Seiran curled up in her own bed, apparently having fallen asleep.

At least she's sleeping more properly now…He recalled the first time he met her, the way she slept had been extremely still. It had reminded him of vampires sleeping in tombs…

As long as she's alright…it's fine…

Sensei Yagari massaged his temples after what he considered an unproductive day at investigations. Occasionally it happened, which annoyed him since it was a waste of time when he had other things to look into as well. He had rang up a few contacts, sent them to find out what they could dig up on President Namura of Ryuushuu Pharmaceutical. Their reports were disappointing as there was nothing which seemed fishy although he had earlier misgivings about the president.

President Namura was a Level A aristocrat who had been head of the pharmaceutical company for a few hundred years already, making the company one of the pioneers in the drug and medical field. His character had been described as being utterly ruthless when it came to handling business, a typical characteristic of most vampires in the business field. There wasn't anything about his personal life either, as to whether he had a family or not. And like most aristocrats who enjoyed decorating their homes with antiques, Namura was greatly fascinated by history. Everything stated about the president seemed to be stereotypical.

The one eyed hunter sighed. He hadn't seen any connection between Namura and Seiran yet although his gut feeling told him there was one. Why would Namura be interested in Seiran, an 'ordinary noble', as she referred to herself, in the vampire world? He remembered the Orchid Murders case Tamaji had been working on, murders of vampires which seemingly had nothing to do with each other only to dig up the past and discover that they had ancient blood ties to each other. Is it possible…Namura has ties with Seiran? But if he did, wouldn't the Orchid Murderer have gone after him much earlier? Another sigh escaped him. Maybe he was looking too much into this matter just because of what President Namura had said.

But the Murderer would have gone after him…! insisted his gut feeling.

True…Since the Murderer can kill by hypnosis and mind control, not many people can stand in his way. And while Kuroumura had been hunting for the third Orchid Princess, apparently Hanabusa Aidou and Takuma Ichijou were distantly related to her so he went after them. But while his modus operandi had always been luring his victims to their deaths, he kidnapped Ichijou instead…and left Tamaji's body in his place…He wanted to lure Seiran out, but yet he could have done it differently instead of kidnap. Kaname Kuran himself went out after Ichijou… His fingers tapped on the table as he continued his new line of thoughts. The most powerful pureblood currently, Kuran himself went after his friend…Unless…both? The Murderer wanted both Seiran and Kuran…?

Come to think of it now, the way the character 'ran' is written in both their names is the same. Ran…Orchid…

Nah, it can't be. The Kuran crest is the rose. I'm working too hard and my mind is making too many assumptions which are ridiculous…

Toga Yagari closed his eyes. Maybe a fifteen minute nap would set his mind in the right direction.

It was lunch break and Seiran was in front of Sensei Tamaji's grave, watering the Dancing Lady plants. "Sensei…please give me courage to face the council today…," she whispered, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "I told Chairman Cross I'd be ready to give him answers when the time came…and yet…" She shook her head before slowly looking at the grave marker. "Sensei…will you also give me enough courage to be able to accept the answers to my questions…?"

She was silent, as though wanting to listen to a familiar voice telling her she had enough courage already.

The sun was shining through the leaves of the oak tree, giving her sensations of warmth, comforting her in a way she knew her late sensei would – helping her only a little, because he wanted her to grow on her own to be strong.

"Arigato, Sensei…" Seiran knew what she was going to say and a slow smile spread on her face.

"Will you be alright, Seiran?"

Seiran turned to look at Zero, her thoughts on her homework momentarily stalled. Tonight was the meeting between the hunters and vampires and yet she seemed undisturbed about it. The Day Class had ended and she had a few hours before the meeting started, which was at night simply because Kaname was going to be present at the assembly representing the Vampire Council. Zero was attempting to mask his worried look because although he wanted to accompany her but he had to carry out night patrol so he couldn't make it.

"I'll be fine, Zero." He's more worried about me than I am for myself…

"Seiran…have you thought about what you're going to say at the meeting between the hunters and the vampires regarding your blood tablets?" he gently enquired. I can't believe she can still calmly continue her homework when the meeting's going to start in two hours and she's supposed to leave in forty five minutes!

That's right…I only have minutes left before facing them. Seiran had mentally rehearsed what she was going to say, and she knew they would not be asking any more questions after her words. "Yes I have, Zero…"

He relaxed visibly at her words.

"Please don't worry about me, Zero…" To placate him further, she gave him a hug. "Thank you…" She peered at her watch. It was time to wait at Chairman Cross' office.

Packing her homework along, she stopped and looked at her boyfriend again. "Lucky kiss?" she impishly asked, tilting her head slightly.

"With pleasure." Zero kissed her on the lips instead of her cheek, making her heart flutter for a moment before he released her.

"I'll be fine, Zero. Hope your patrolling will be smooth without any delinquent Day Class girls trying anything funny. I'll be going now…"

"Yeah." Somehow Zero still felt worried. And yet she was so collected…

Lesson no. 12 : If you're calm and collected, fear is just a four lettered word.

Please do RnR so that I can improve - my skills so have gotten rusty that I cringe. Writer's block due to my homework isn't helping either -.-" Thanks!