Chapter Four
Missing?

The Academy was silent and peaceful. The only sounds that could be heard were the soft twittering of the birds as they searched for their morning meal. Most of the students were sound asleep in their beds, taking their day off as time to catch up on lost sleep from the night before. A few early risers were beginning to stir and move around their dorms to begin their morning rituals. But the rest of the students remained in the land of dreams, basking in the warmth and comfort that their beds provided for them.

"SHE'S GONE!"

At least they were, until a frantic shout rang through the Academy, effectively waking those who were originally fast asleep and startling those that were already moving about. The chaos that ensued would make the day one that everyone would remember. Save for the two beings sleeping peacefully in a small bed located in one of the men's dorm rooms.

The next few minutes were filled with a frantic Chairman running around and enlisting the help of any and all students he could find that were awake. Asking them to help him search for his "lost" daughter. At first they assumed it was Yuuki, and wondered at why she would be lost. It was when Yuuki followed after him a few minutes later that she explained they had adopted another girl. Once students understood who they were looking for, many took off around the Academy and began to look for her. During the chaos, Yuuki noticed that Zero was no where to be found. Thinking that he was still in bed, and didn't want to help, Yuuki hurriedly took off to his dorm, ready to drag him out of bed and make him help search for Kagome.

It took a few minutes, but Yuuki was finally standing in front of Zero's door. Not bothering to knock, Yuuki burst open the door and stood staring at the sleeping figure of Zero. There was a small lump under the blankets beside him, but she was too distracted to notice. All she saw was a slowly awaking Zero moving his head to look at her as she opened his door.

How could he have still been asleep? The whole Academy is up and moving about, and yet he is still in bed? Well... I am going to change that now. We need his help to find Kagome!

Standing in the doorway with her left hand on the doorknob and her right held out in front of her, Yuuki stood with her legs partially apart and looked at Zero as she opened her mouth and said, "Zero! What are you doing in bed? You need to get up! Kagome's gone missing and we can't–"

She cut herself off when she saw the small lump in his bed shift a bit, before a small mop of black hair and two half-lidded blue eyes popped out from under the blanket. Yuuki watched blankly as Kagome pulled her small fist out from under the covers and slowly rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Zero was propping his head in his hand and looking at Yuuki tiredly. Why did she have to wake him from one of the best nights of sleep he's had since his parents were killed?

Kagome, too, was looking at Yuuki curiously. Sitting up in the bed, Kagome tilted her head to the side and asked, "Yuuki-nee-chan? Why are you in Zero-nii-chan's room?"

Yuuki stayed quiet for a few minutes, before it finally registered in her brain that Kagome was right in front of her. And not missing.

"Kagome I found you!"

Kagome squinted her eyes in confusion and asked slowly, "Yuuki-nee-chan, are you all right? Because I don't remember ever being lost."

It took Yuuki another moment to realize that Kagome wasn't lost and she must have been sleeping with Zero the whole time they were out looking for her. Wanting to make sure that her assumption was correct, Yuuki asked Kagome, "Kagome-chan, where were you all night?"

Kagome looked at Yuuki like she was stupid for even asking that question. And Yuuki had to admit that it probably was a ridiculous question, as the answer was pretty obvious, but she wanted to make sure just in case.

"I was sleeping in Zero-nii-chan's bed."

She nodded slowly and moved her gaze to Zero. He was beginning to nod off again, and now that she took a closer look, Kagome was starting to fall asleep again too. Deciding that she would let them sleep more, Yuuki quickly told Zero to bring Kagome to the Chairman's house when they were ready. She received a small nod from Zero, before he lied back down and pulled the blanket back over the two of them. Yuuki left with one last glance at Zero and Kagome, who had also lied back down and curled up against Zero's chest.

As soon as Yuuki shut his door, Zero gently pulled Kagome closer to himself and carefully draped his arm over her petite body. She moved even closer and cuddled up to his warmth, where she promptly fell back to sleep to finish her dreams. Zero followed a moment later, trying to catch as much sleep as he could before having to face the Chairman and his enthusiasm. And possible lectures.

A few hours later found the slumbering duo beginning to awake from their broken dormancy. Zero was the first to open his eyes, and as the light hit his light purple eyes he brought a hand up to cover them as he moved to a sitting position so his eyes were no longer blinded by the sun. Moving his gaze down to the, now moving, lump in his bed, he remembered that they were supposed to go see the Chairman. Deciding that the Chairman had worried long enough, and it was a miracle that Cross had not come to Zero's room to get Kagome, Zero shook Kagome's little shoulder and waited until she was awake to speak.

"Kagome, you need to get up. Your... father is waiting for us and you need to get new clothes on and eat breakfast."

Kagome nodded and sat up in bed, while Zero stood up and moved to his closet, pulling out a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of pants. He turned around to see Kagome sitting on the edge of the bed, clutching the small bunny to her chest.

"I need you to turn around so I can get changed, all right?"

She gave a nod before turning toward the bed and hiding herself under the blanket, her head in her hands and her little rear end up in the air. Zero shook his head and proceeded to discard his night clothes and exchange them for his shirt and pants.

Once he was finished, he turned back around and signaled for Kagome to get up. Moving to kneel before her standing form, Zero ran his fingers through her hair, trying to tame the bed head she had. Giving up after it was relatively flat, Zero stood and offered Kagome his hand. She accepted with a smile and grabbed her bunny in her left hand and his hand with her right. Stepping back into her blue fuzzy slippers, Kagome waited while Zero opened his door and they headed to the Chairman's house. They were given may stares from the students during the walk there, but Zero ignored them and Kagome was too captivated by the scenery to notice.

Zero took a glance at the small vampire at his side, and wondered again why he didn't seem to mind her company. He hated vampires, with a passion, and yet he found himself feeling almost... attached to the young child. Shaking his head from his thoughts, Zero once again focused on Kagome and discovered that she was peering fearfully at the Moon Dorm gates. No doubt she could sense the number of vampires, and was reacting to her fear. Giving her hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze, Zero managed a small smile when she looked up at him with her bright blue eyes. She beamed and held his hand tighter with her own. They continued on their way and were soon at the door of the Chairman's abode.

Opening the front door, Zero gently pulled Kagome through the halls to where he could hear the Chairman at work in the kitchen. Luckily, he also heard Yuuki, which meant she would make sure that the Chairman was making edible food for Kagome and themselves. Normally they would have to eat what the Chairman made, but now, they had an excuse to eat different food.

Kagome peered curiously into the kitchen. She was standing a bit behind Zero – he was in the middle of the doorway so she couldn't stand beside him – and watched as her new father ran back and forth in the kitchen, grabbing ingredients to use and placing them on the counter. She also watched as Yuuki would grab said ingredients, and put them back where they came from. The cycle continued until Zero cleared his throat and watched as the two Crosses froze in place and turned their heads toward the doorway.

The next moment and Zero was pushed aside and Kagome found herself in the frantic arms of her father.

"Oh Kagome-chan! You had otou-san so worried! Why did you leave your room last night?" inquired Kaien as flows of tears ran down his face. It truly had scared him when he woke up to find Kagome missing from her room. His first thought was that she decided that she didn't like him anymore and ran away from the Academy. That thought got him moving and enlisting the help of the previously sleeping students. After Yuuki found him a explained that Kagome had slept in Zero's room, he calmed down for a minute but then took off to get her away from his son. He didn't get far before Yuuki pulled him back and explained that they were sleeping again. It was only six-thirty in the morning after all!

"I couldn't sleep so I went to Onii-chan's room to sleep in his bed," Kagome said while looking at the floor, her bunny clutched securely in her arms.

"Why didn't you come to Otou-san's room? I would have let you sleep with me!"

Kagome moved her blank gaze to look into his face and explained blandly, "You snore."

She ignored his river of tears as she looked to the giggling Yuuki and Zero, who was trying to keep his face straight. Smiling at the fact that she could make her new brother and sister happy, Kagome moved around her father and walked over to Yuuki to find out what was for breakfast. Zero ended up making pancakes and Kagome helped. By the time they were ready to eat, the Chairman had finished crying and helped Kagome set the table.

They sat down to eat and talked a bit about what Kagome thought so far about the Academy. Because she had only been there for a little over a day, she had not seen much of the Academy. That led to them talking about what they were going to do today. Zero and Yuuki were going to give Kagome a tour!