Chapter Eight
Giving In

The Chairman again had to go into town, so when it was time Kagome followed Yuuki and Zero to the Moon Dorm gate. It was time for the annual Valentine's Day celebration. Kagome stood off to the side and watched with incredulous eyes at the way the girls acted toward the Night Class. She took a look at each of the Night Class students, and she just didn't get it. Of course she was only seven-and-a-half-years-old, but still.... What did they see in them?

Besides Kaname, there was another vampire that caught her attention. It was the redhead with the cool blue eyes. She heard that his name was Senri Shiki. There was just something about him that seemed almost... familiar. Shaking her head, Kagome focused on the Night Class students as they finished collecting their chocolates and began to move toward the school building. She turned her head toward Yuuki and Zero, to find the former hitting the latter. Raising a curious brow, Kagome finally moved closer as the girls began to leave. Now, she wouldn't have to worry about getting run over by the mob.

As she came closer, she watched as Zero ran off toward, what she assumed to be the barn. Silently regarding Yuuki for a moment, Kagome decided that she would be fine by herself and ran after Zero to make sure he was all right.

A moment later a frantic Yuuki looked around for a missing Zero. When she could not find any trace of him, she decided to start her patrol without him. It was not the first time and it would definitely not be the last. Turning around with a sigh, Yuuki searched for Kagome to go with her. When Kagome, too, was not where she was supposed to be, Yuuki began to panic. The Chairman was going to kill her!

Zero breathed deeply as he finally got away from the temptation that was Yuuki's bare neck. She was tempting him, he was sure of it. She knew and was teasing him, forcing him to drink from her. He knew it was not true, but at times it seemed like it. He was glad that he never got the urge to drink when he was around Kagome. If he drank from Yuuki, he could possibly forgive himself. But if he took from little Kagome, he could never, ever forgive himself. He wrapped his arms around himself as he felt like someone was watching him. Calling out to them, he wasn't surprised to see one of the Day Class students hiding behind a tree. But he was a bit surprised to see her with a box of chocolates for himself. Having no desire to have company, especially a Day Class girl, Zero told her to leave. She did with a stammered apology and a hasty retreat.

Zero hung his head as he looked at White Lily. The horse stared back at him with her brown eyes and he asked her what she wanted. He got no response, but he was not expecting one. He paused in his harsh breathing when he heard the soft footfalls of someone approaching. He waited to see if the person would leave, or if he would call them out and force them to leave.

Any thoughts on the matter were wiped away when he saw the familiar blue eyes and black hair. Taking deep breathes of her scent, Zero used it to calm down. He didn't know why her scent helped, but he was grateful. It allowed him to get control of himself and stave off the hunger for a a bit longer.

Looking over toward Kagome with a somewhat tender expression, Zero asked softly, "Kagome, what are you doing here?"

Kagome looked at him like it was the silliest question she had ever heard.

"I'm here to find you of course," she said as she moved in front of him and looked into his purple eyes. "Why else would I be over here?"

He looked thoughtfully at her before he slowly nodded. True, she could have been there to see the horses, but even then she always brought someone with her. Usually him, but occasionally Yuuki and rarely ever the Chairman.

Kagome brought him out of his thoughts when she wrapped her tiny arms around his waist. It took him a moment, but he slowly put his arms around her as well. They remained standing by the barn until the sun had completely set. At which time, Zero brought her back to the Chairman's office, where he had returned a few minutes prior to their arrival. Letting her know that he would see her before she went to sleep, Zero left out the window to help patrol the school grounds.

The next day found Kagome helping Zero and Yuuki preform some of their prefect duties: dorm inspections. Zero had taken care of the men's dorms, and he informed Kagome that it would be better if she went with Yuuki. So here she was, helping Yuuki push around a cart. It was almost filled to the brim with scrapbooks and picture books full of photos of the Night Class at different times in the year. And when ever they came across a really reluctant individual, Kagome sent them her teary-eyes and ask politely for the books. She said that it was important for her to do her job right for the Chairman. Most caved after that, and for those that didn't, they were dealt with by Zero as soon as he joined them.

As it came time to inspect the Moon Dorms, Kagome went back to stay with her father. She stayed with the Chairman until past dinner, at which time they ate and returned to his office. She only left when Kaname arrived to talk to the Chairman, and she could not stand being near him. She left the office to began searching for Zero or Yuuki. She moved along the halls and up one of the many staircases to the second floor. She felt Yuuki somewhere up here, and she could feel Zero somewhere between floors. She suspected he was on a landing on one of the staircases. Kagome felt Yuuki move closer to Zero, she was probably looking for him, and Kagome decided to begin walking in their direction.

She continued at a relatively slow walk toward where she felt both Yuuki and Zero. Her pace only quickened to a run when she smelt the scent of blood. Yuuki's blood. She remembered the last time she smelt her blood and followed, Yuuki had been about to be bitten by a vampire. Racing faster at her thoughts, it took Kagome less than a minute to find Yuuki. But she was not expecting to see Zero and Kaname. The former covered in the blood of her sister.

Zero stood there looking at Kaname as he asked him if Yuuki's blood was delicious. Taking a step back and putting a hand over his face, Zero finally realized what he had done. He had given in. The bloodlust had caught up to him as soon as he smelt Yuuki's blood in her bandage from her earlier injury. He had attacked her, plunged his fangs into her delicate neck. He drank from her. Her blood was all over his face and shirt. And she had fainted from blood loss. And it was all his fault.

Falling back against the wall, Zero watched pathetically as Kaname gently carried Yuuki to the infirmary to deal with her injuries. The injuries he caused her. He had hurt his best friend, the person who had been there for him ever since the Chairman brought him back after his parents were killed.

He didn't stop his train of thoughts until he heard the familiar soft footfalls upon the stairs. Looking up with panicked eyes, Zero prayed that it was not who he thought it was.

No, anyone but her! Anyone but Kagome. She cannot see me like this. She cannot hate me. I don't want her to hate me. Please, no.

He closed his eyes to keep from seeing the truth; he did not want to see the fear and disgust that he knew were in her eyes. How could it not? She was afraid of the vampires, so why should she not fear him? Hate him?

His eyes snapped open when he felt her soft hands in his hair and on his face. She ran her small fingers through his silver hair, while her left hand cupped his right cheek before moving slowly to his mouth and running a finger gently over his bloodied fangs. He looked into her eyes, waiting to see the fear in them and waiting for her to run away and hide, but all he saw was concern, gentleness, understanding, and something he had not see for years. Love.

He drew in a sharp breath at the look she was sending his way. How could she possibly love a monster such as him? His breathing stopped when she put her small arms around his neck and held onto to him as if her life depended on it. He didn't return the embrace. He didn't deserve the comfort he got with her just holding him. So he wouldn't return it.

Kagome was not mad that he didn't return it, but she was saddened by that fact. She pulled away after a few minutes and gazed into his guilty eyes. Standing fully, Kagome grabbed onto his limp left hand and began to drag him toward the shower. He was filthy and needed a bath before they could go to sleep. Zero followed numbly as she pulled him through the halls and out the building until they reached the Chairman's house. He watched as she pulled him to the bathroom and proceeded to run the shower for him. Making sure the water was not too hot and not too cold, Kagome turned toward the stiff standing Zero and walked over to him. She pulled him over toward the shower, and only when she tried to unbutton his shirt did he react.

Pausing in her work, Kagome looked up when she felt his bloody hands touch her own, though the blood had dried by now, she could tell that it still hurt him to look at it. He gently pushed her away and took off his own shirt. She left when she saw that he would be fine. She went into the kitchen to make him some instant ramen, something she had gotten really proficient at, and waited until he walked in ten minutes later with a towel around his shoulders. He looked better, refreshed, now that he was in clean clothes and the blood was gone.

He trudged through the door to the kitchen and found Kagome sitting at the table with a bowl of ramen in front of herself and another sitting readily across the table from her. He walked over silently and sat in the seat where the ramen awaited. Zero grabbed the chopsticks sitting on the table and began to eat the warm noodles. They ate in comfortable silence and once they were finished they headed toward the men's dorms to sleep. Tonights events still in the forefront of their minds, but Zero's thoughts were a bit more painful than Kagome's.