Genre: General/Romance/Friendship
Rating:T
Pairings: Zero/Kaname
Disclaimer: No, I do not own Vampire Knights. It belongs to Hino Matsuri - I only borrow the characters from the series and use it in my own fic. However, I do own the three original characters featured in this story.
Author's Notes: Alright, so the identity of the 'mommy' was revealed in the last chapter XD I hope, that's satisfying enough ... and in this chapter, some slight 'Father-son' bonding moments between Kaname and the twins, before we switched towards the day's events as Akane made her debut appearance in the day-class as 'Kiryuu Akane'.
---
Chapter 5 - The mysterious transfer student of the day-class!
Takuma Ichijo had to admit the sight that met his eyes following his return to the Moon Dormitory after his visit to the Chairman's office, had caught him by surprise.
The pureblood leader of the Moon Dormitory - Kaname Kuran was seen entertaining the twins with the story 'The Little Red Riding Hood' with each of the twin settled quite comfortably on the former's lap. For a while, Takuma had thought that he was hallucating. However, when he heard his friend's voice calling out for his attention - Takuma realized that the images had not been fading away as how the hallucations should be.
The boys were still seated comfortably on the pureblood's lap with ease. Astounded, the Vice-President of the Moon Dormitory headed for his friend and said. "The memories had been removed from the two day-class girls'"
There was no need for the Vice-President of the night class to elaborate on his statement, for they both knew what had happened that had resulted in the necessity of modifying the girls' memories.
"Good, and please keep an eye on Aidou and Kain - over the next few days. The last thing which I need from them now, was to have them attempting to kill Kiryuu ... on the grounds of the academy. "
Kaname finished eventually. For a while he had been contemplating on saying that he still have his reasons for keeping the fellow hunter alive - but that was something which he could not mention with the twins' being present. Neither would the reason of not wanting to upset Yuuki if Kiryuu was to be hurt in any sense, would sound 'right' with them being around.
The twins were his sons with the fellow ex-human, after all. Although, that had yet to occur and would only happened sometime at a later stage of his life. Still, the fact remains that they were here now and despite his conflicted feelings towards the twins' other parent for the time-being, he had to admit that he cared for the twins'. In fact, the twins' current standing position within his heart was just lagging slightly behind Yuuki.
"Sure, I understand ... " Takuma responded, drawing him away from his thoughts and back into the realm of reality.
Having still being distracted, Kaname failed to realize that his friend was actually glancing around the surrounding as though in search for something, or someone. It was not until he heard the younger twin addressing his friend, did he realized the fact that the Vice-President was still standing in front of him.
"... If you're wondering where's Akane, I can assured you that she's just upstairs sleeping away without having us around to distract her from her precious hours of sleep. " Kuran Akira said, before the former could even start asking about Akane's whereabouts.
"Oh ... and I supposed Kaname had somehow volunteered himself for the task of 'baby-sitting'? " Takuma Ichijo started, sounding somewhat amused by the idea now as he started to shoot glances at his pureblood friend.
"Takuma ..." Kaname started, warningly.
"Oops, I guess I had better leave while I had the chance to do so ... " With that said, the Vice-President threw another look of amusement towards the pureblood's direction before vanishing down the hall-way in a bat of an eyelid's time.
"... " Kaname stared towards the hallway where he had seen his friend heading for, somehow he had a feeling that by the end of the week - everyone whom resided within the walls of the Moon Dormitory would be notified of his volunteering to 'baby-sit' his future 'sons'.
Turning back to the boys, Kaname asked. "Would anyone of you mind, if I were to move our location to somewhere else where privacy would be insured ?"
The two boys shrugged easily, not really caring where their 'Father' had in mind for them to go. After all, knowing Kaname - the three of them would bound to end up within the privacy of the pureblood's room.
For they both know, neither of the members of the night class would dared to intrude or invaded the privacy of their leader's room without permission being granted. As it would otherwise be seen as an act of disrespect towards the pureblood, and that was something which was highly frowned upon by the people in their society.
Evidently, the boys had their thoughts proven right - when they found themselves stopping in front of a door that looked familiar enough for them to recognize it from their childhood memories.
The door was pushed open to reveal a suite of rooms which the twins had no problems identifying. It was the same set of rooms which their family would always be seen occupying, whenever their parents decided to take them along with them when they decided to pay a visit to the Academy. Either for business reasons that required some dealings with the Chairman, or merely for a socializing visit - a chance for them to interact with the members of the night-class from their own time.
Otherwise, it would be simply for the sake of spending some quality time with their adopted sister - Akane, whom had been living within the academy grounds and often being away from home. Except during the festive seasons whereby the school would be closed and the students would be expecting to return to their respective home for the holidays.
The twins stood still while they waited for the further instructions to be issued from their 'Father', even if they knew practically each and every inch of the pureblood's room by heart. They still dared not moved without permission being granted by the former, after all - the Kaname Kuran standing in front of them now was from the past, not the future.
Therefore, they were both caught by surprise when they felt themselves being lifted up by the strong arms of the pureblood before they found themselves being placed atop of the duvet bedsheets of the former's large canopy bed.
"Father? "
Kaname looked over at the boys just in time to meet up with their inquiring gaze, and smiled tentatively. "Try to make yourselves comfortable here, since I'd promised Akane that I'll watch over the two of you so she could slept on in peace. I'll not be having the two of you back in that same room with her again, at least - that would be the case for tonight. "
"...Oh good, does that mean we get to listen to our favourite bed-time story again? " Kuran Akira, the younger twin started sounding excited at the prospect of spending the night in the pureblood's presence.
Beside Akira, Subaru was once again at a loss of words. Sometimes, he really had to resign himself to his younger twin brother's ability to be feeling at ease, despite how precarious their current situation had been. Yet, Akira still had the audacity to ask for a bed-time story from the younger version of their 'Father'?!
Well ... at least, Akira had not attempted to get either of their parents' from this time-period to sing them a lullaby. Subaru told himself, assuringly.
Kaname Kuran frowned visibly for a second, before opening his mouth to inquire. "And what would that favourite bed-time story of yours be? "
"A Mid-Summer Night's Dream! " Subaru spoke up before Akira had a chance to do so, causing the younger boy to pout unhappily for a minute before giving up on the notion entirely. Upon the realization that Subaru was simply not going to let him do as he pleased, this time around.
"Fine then! Since Subaru had already stated his 'pick' for tonight, I'll get to choose the story - the next time around. " Akira said, having 'emphasising' on the last part of his statement.
"Sure, but please bear it in mind not to pick anything that had yet to be written by this point of time - alright? Knowing you, your favourite story would only be written and published in another century's time. Therefore, its' hardly possible for 'Father' to be able to tell that particular story to us - yet. " Subaru reminded, while he agreed to his younger twin sibling's request.
With the boys decision made, Kaname had to head off in search for that particular book of shakespeares' from his personal collection of books that was within the privacy of his 'study'.
---
Forty-five minutes later, Kaname put away the book of tales written by Shakespeares' as he turned his eyes towards the two sleeping boys whom were now occupying his bed. Smiling as he took in the way the two boys had cuddled up against one another seeking for warmth, Kaname reached for the blanket and pulled it up to cover the two slumbering figures before making a move to leave the room for the dining hall, himself.
It was now two o'clock in the middle of the night for the humans out there, and thus making it mid-day for the vampires of the night-class. Like the humans, vampires like himself does required taking meals that consists of solid food at a certain point of time within a day. They, do not merely survived on the 'blood-sucking' itself - contrary to what the humans had thought the 'vampires' to be. Hence, his reasons for heading towards the dining hall of the Moon Dormitory now as this was one of the timing where actual food would be served by the chefs working within the kitchen of the said dormitory building.
The other timing where food would be provided within the Moon Dormitory, would be six in the morning. For that timing would be when the majority of the night-class members usually returned from their after-class activities, and would be wanting some dinner before heading off for bed.
"Kaname-sama!" The night-class students whom were already settled at their respective table within the dining hall greeted, as he entered the dining area.
Nodding towards the majority of them, Kaname made his way towards the direction of the table which he usually sat together with his friends.
"Takuma ... " He greeted, while his eyes scanned the rest of the occupants at his table. Unsurprised to find both Aidou and Akatsuki absent, he figured that the two probably were still 'sore' from the fact that he had lashed out against them in public. However, he was not at all worried by the fact. Knowing for a fact that once the day's over, they would have just let the whole issue 'go' and left it buried somewhere else in their mind.
"Ah ... Kaname, where's the boys? " Takuma had asked, as soon as he reaches the table.
Kaname Kuran eyed his childhood friend with intent, while assessing the remaining members' expressions carefully. Seeing that neither of them seemed to be wary of being around him now that hours had fleeted by since his display of anger towards Aidou, Kaname nodded with satisfaction before responding to the fellow Vice-President's query.
"They're sleeping ... if you really must know ..."
"Oh ... " Takuma sounded vaguely disappointed for a moment, before brightening up again. "Well, I guess it can't really be help. They are kids, after all ... taking naps in between hours could be considered normal ... I guess. "
"... Why? Is there a particular reason why you have been asking about them? " Kaname said, as he narrowed his eyes at his friend's words.
Upon the pureblood's query, the Vice-President gulped somewhat nervously as he shook his head in response. "Nothing, I just felt like sharing with them some of my favourite mangas collection ... "
"I see ... " Kaname made a knowing sound in response, although he does not quite believe the words of his fellow friend. Still, he did not make any attempt at pressing the former for an answer. Wiping the side of his mouth with a paper napkin as he finishes off the last portion of his food on the plate, the pureblood started for the direction of the kitchen.
The pureblood had wanted to speak to the head chef in charge with regards to the modification to be made on the menu of food to be served, later at six in the morning. Instead of the original dinner menu that was to be served, Kaname had requested for a breakfast menu to be prepared for Akane as well. Although, the girl had mention nothing about wanting him to make special arrangement with the kitchen on her behalf. Somehow, Kaname still felt compelled to do something for the girl. Why though, he had no idea about it, himself.
Meanwhile, the Vice- President of the Moon Dormitory heaved a sigh of relief when he noticed that Kaname had not pressed him for the true reason behind his inquiry of the boys' location. He knew the pureblood was anything but convinced of his previous reasoning, for it was obvious from the way Kaname had been eyeing him following the end of his last statement.
Then again, certainly he could not be telling the former that he was trying to convince the rest of the members within their group that Kaname had volunteered himself for the task of baby-sitting. Could he? Kaname would have killed him, if he answered the pureblood's question truthfully.
---
Akane had to admit she was indeed surprise when she entered the dining hall at six in the morning, to find herself being served breakfast menu instead of the supper menu which she had been expecting. A quick glance towards the plate of food being served to another member of the night-class, confirmed her suspicion.
Someone must have spoken to the chef in charge of the menu, how else could she explain the obvious different choice of food being catered that particular morning. The chef must have been told to serve the only female student whom was dressed in the day-class uniform, the specially requested breakfast menu beforehand. Otherwise, she would not be seeing the plate loaded with french toast together bacon and eggs being placed in front of her now.
"Thanks, but may I know whom had helped to change the menu for me? " Akane murmured her word of appreciation to the kitchen helper whom had been asked to serve the nobles during meal-times, while making her enquiry.
The kitchen helper stared at her for a minute, before responding. "It was Kaname-sama, whom made the changes on your behalf. "
"... I see, thanks. " Akane responded, as she dismissed the former from her sight. "Figures that it would be him, since there was apparently no one else with that much authority down here ... Well, granted Takuma would have the same authority to make such requests - should he choose to do so ... but the sheer idea of the Vice-President doing anything like that for my sake would be just 'weird'. "
Akane mused to herself, as she settled down to have her breakfast in peace. Initially, she had thought that she would have to make do with the supper menu. However judging from the menu being served today, Akane was glad that she need not feared about over-eating for breakfast, anymore.
With a smile, she greeted every vampires in the hall a quick 'good-night' and 'good-bye'. Akane was out of the dining hall and headed towards the direction of the school building, in a flash of light. Akane stepped out of the gate of the Moon Dormitory, just as the last of the night-class member entered under the close observation of the two guardians.
"Good morning, Yuuki-chan! " Akane greeted happily, as she headed towards the two tired-looking guardians with a hearty skip in her steps.
"Ah! Good morning, Akane-chan ... How are you feeling? It must be hard for you to wake up so early in the morning ... Why didn't you ask to be in the night-class ? Surely, you would have qualified ... " Yuuki started, only to have the silver-haired guardian cutting her off, mid-speech.
"Yuuki ... Akane had been in the day-class since the beginning ... Remember what she had been wearing when they had first arrived, the night before yesterday? " Zero prompted, reminding Yuuki again of that 'fateful' night as he had now taken to label it.
"Yes, Yuuki-chan ... I'll be fine. If I can handle it back in my own time, I certainly can do so while being here, as well. " Akane hurried to assure, before reminding Yuuki to hurry if they do not want to be late for class.
Thus, when Kaname took a peek through the drawn curtains of his room - he could easily make out the shape of the three figures whom were hurrying across the lawn and heading for the school building. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he witnessed how the two girls interacted with one another, his smile faded however as his eyes landed upon the figure of one Kiryuu Zero.
Time is running out for the hunter, the turning process had already begun. He could easily hear the clock ticking away softly now, and he knew it would only be a matter of days, hours even. Depending on just how much longer Kiryuu could continue to fight against the strong lure of the bloodlust by sheer will-power before succumbing to the inevitable.
---
"Class, please settle down ... Today, our class is honour to have with us a new transfer student whom had just came back from aboard. " The homeroom lecturer for the day-class, Year 2 Class B announced.
Once the class of students settled down in their respective seats and was starting to pay attention to the lecturer's words, the homeroom lecturer beckoned for the awaiting transfer student to enter the classroom.
Akane entered the class confidently, her body language showing nothing else but sheer elegance. Turning around such that she was now facing the class of students, Akane was hardly amused to see the look of surprise on the female populations. She figured that quite a number of the female students in her class must have realized she was the very same female whom had came out from the Moon Dormitory, catching everyone's attention during the class change-over timing, yesterday.
Akane surveyed the classroom to find Yuuki waving at her, while Zero appeared to be glancing out of the window in sheer boredom. Akane smirked inwardly, somehow Zero would find himself no longer being bored - soon enough. As soon as she was done with her self-introduction, the fellow silver-haired hunter would be wishing that he was anywhere else but within the classroom. That much, Akane was certain.
"Good morning everyone, I'm Kiryuu Akane. I'll be learning together with the lot of you, starting from today. I hope that we would all get along well, with one another. " With that said, Akane directed a dazzling smile towards the students within the class, in general.
"I'm sure, we would have gotten along well with no problems ... Kiryuu-san ..." The class representative started easily enough before pausing in the mid of his speech and turned startling wide eyes towards Akane, as he repeated with incredulity. "Wait a minute! Did you just say ... the name 'Kiryuu'?! "
Akane nodded, smirking inwardly at the class representative's reactions. Now this was what she had been expecting from her fellow classmates, and then she shifted her eyes towards the two guardians' direction. Yuuki Cross appeared to be shell-shock, stunned by her words of self-introduction.
The silver-haired hunter though, was another matter entirely. The former had an unreadable expression on his face, before pushing back the chair and departed from the class without a word being mentioned to anyone. Not even the lecturer whom appeared to be standing at the front of the classroom frowning at the whole class with an unhappy look on the former's face.
Ten minutes later, an irated silver-haired guardian had all but stormed into the office of the Chairman as he demanded. "What is the meaning of that?! "
The Chairman of the Cross Academy, Kaien Cross blinked in puzzlement as he queried. "What is the meaning of /what/? "
Zero glared, and if looks could kill - the Chairman would have been dead by then. "A-ka-ne!" Kiryuu Zero gritted out through his teeth, seething at the way the Chairman was still acting like an idiot in front of him.
"Oh ... so this is about our charming Akane-chan ... so what is it about her? "
Forcing himself to calm down, lest he destroyed the office of the Chairman with his anger that was threatening to spill forth. Zero glared as he asked. "Why is she using the name of Kiryuu?! "
"... Probably, because that's her name? "
"No, what I meant was - why is she using my family name while being here?! Surely, you would have known by now that it would no doubt caused an uproar! "
"... I know, and I'm certain that she knew - too. Still, she insisted upon using the name 'Kiryuu'. She will not be able to use her birth father's family name for it could risk gaining unwanted attention to herself, from the council of the Vampires' especially. The name of 'Kuran' is out for obvious reason, being the family name of a pureblood and all. Not to mention, the female students of the day-class would have a fit if she were to use that name. I'm sure, you would have known by now the name 'Fujiwara' would not work as well and she refuses to use 'Cross' as her family name while being here. So, there ... you have it. Which other name could she have use - if not the name 'Kiryuu'? "
"The hunters' association ... " Zero started, only to have the Chairman cutting him off in mid-speech.
"Zero, they won't say anything. The Kiryuu Clan had been literally wiped out by Shizuka Hiou back then, and you are the only one to come out alive but not totally unharmed either. If the hunters' association tried to poke their nose into the issue, we could easily just tell them that Akane was turned by Shizuka Hiou, just like you are. Zero - they are hunters, not vampires. They can't tell whether she's of noble-blood or an ex-human just by looking at her profile on papers. "
"... " Zero remained silent, appeared to be thinking things over from another angle. "It could work, I guess ... " The fellow silver-haired guardian said, eventually.
"She could easily passes off as one of my sister, hidden from the public eyes' ... since she looked similar enough to my mother in terms of looks. Save for the hair colour, but we could always claimed that she had dyed her hair to keep herself being recognized by the hunters' after being turned ... "
"Exactly! Now you see why I allow her to keep using the name 'Kiryuu' and not change it into something else? " The Chairman responded, sounding relieved that Zero had finally caved in to his reasonings.
"... Still, that does not mean I am happy about it! " Zero growled, before stalking out of the office without another word to the Chairman.
"Welcome back, Mr. Kiryuu ... Would you mind taking your seat, such that the lesson could progressed on? " The lecturer called out to the silver-haired guardian's attention, upon sighting the former's return to the class.
Akane looked up from the textbook which she had taken the liberty to "borrow" from the silver-haired hunter, and asked. "Don't mind sharing, do you? "
"... What's the point of asking, when you had already taken it ? " Zero questioned back in return, but said nothing else as he dropped into his seat stifling a yawn as he did so.
"..." Akane merely sighed inwardly, as she shifted her attention back to the on-going lecture. Deciding that Zero probably would not even require the text, since the former had already fallen asleep as soon as he settled down in his seat.
---
Following the last sound of the school bell sounding aloud, it marked the end of the official class time for the day-class students. Yet, there was still another two hours to go before the change-over timing for the day and night class arrived. As usual, Yuuki Cross had been requested to stay back after class by the lecturer for remedial lessons. Unlike Kiryuu Zero, Yuuki was utterly hopeless in the fields of mathematics and thus often ended up being scolded by the lecturer for sleeping in class, which inevidently resulted in the forced remedial lessons after class had ended for the day.
Yuuki watched with a frown as Zero passes her by without a word, and Akane whom had caught on to Yuuki's worried expression spoke up.
"Don't worry, Yuuki. I'll go after Zero, and keep an eye on him while you continue with the remedial lessons. The lecturer would have thrown a fit if you missed another session again. "
"Alright then, please keep an eye on him for me ... " Yuuki hesitated for a while, before adding on. "Oh and please try not to let him cause trouble for the night-class members ... "
"... Sure, I will ... " Akane responded, though inwardly she was wondering about the part of Zero causing trouble for the members of the night class. Surely, Zero would not have reacted without Aidou baiting him into action, right?
Packing up her belonging swiftly but in an orderly manners, Akane hurried after Zero as soon as she was ready to leave the classroom. Halfway down the hallway she found herself coming face-to-face with the pureblood leader of the Moon Dormitory, as her sensitive hearing picked up on the words being spoken to the silver-haired guardian through the lips of Kaname Kuran.
"Kiryuu ... aren't you supposed to be with Yuuki? "
"... She's having remedial lessons now. "
"I see ... and how are you? "
"I'm as well as I can be, Kuran ... Senpai. " Zero added eventually, having realized that many of the day-class female students had been eyeing him with intent as they listened on to his so-called conversation with the pureblood.
"I meant, the status of your health ..." Kaname Kuran added, when he realized that the fellow silver-haired guardian had not understand the real meaning behind his words or simply had chosen not to understand them.
Zero tensed visibly, before throwing a glare towards the former's direction as he gritted out the response. "Again, as I've mentioned to you before - I AM FINE!"
The pureblood eyed him with intent for a minute, before answering with a shrug. "In that case, please do take care of yourself. " With that said, Kaname Kuran departed from the hallway and headed towards the direction of the administration building of the academy.
"... Kaname-sama. " Akane greeted politely, as the pureblood passes her by with Ruka Souen following his lead.
"Akane " Kaname acknowledge the girl with a nod of his head, before continuing on his way down the corridor of the school building.
Akane waited for a good five minutes before she made a move to follow after the irated silver-haired hunter, she knew by now that if she were to follow too closely. Zero would have lashed out against her, for there was no other available outlet for the former to vent his frustration on. Akane had seen the way Zero had tensed visibly after being inquired on his health condition by the pureblood, thus she knew the bloodlust must have been getting stronger these days for the fellow hunter to ignore.
"In that case, I must indeed hurry ... " Akane told herself, resolutely.
Her keen senses brought her towards the currently deserted science buildings, where the laboratories that the night-class members often used for their experiments in creating more blood tablets for their own use within the academy were being situated.
"Zero?! Where are you? " Akane called out, figuring that Zero had most probably decided to hide himself within this part of the school building lest he risked biting any of the random day-class students outside.
"A-ka-ne? Please ... Get Away ..." The silver-haired hunter struggled to get his words out, as he tried to fight against the bloodlust that was threatening to overwhelm his senses.
Akane turned towards the source of the voice, and was hardly surprised to be met up by the sight of Zero clenching his fists in agony as his fangs started to lengthen itself while the former's irises started to turn red from the strong temptation of the lust for blood.
"... No, I'm not leaving. There's simply no way that I'll leave you alone down here for another innocent student to find. " Akane found herself responding, visibly noting the way Zero had frozen upon her words before starting to struggle with the bloodlust again.
"Zero, it's fine. Stop struggling, it will only ended up with your bloodlust getting worse. " Akane said, as she started to remove her tie and unbutton the top two buttons of her uniform baring her neck open for attack as she walked towards the still struggling ex-human with determined steps.
"No ... Akane ... don't ..." Zero protested weakly, as he felt the lure for blood getting stronger with each steps that Akane had taken and moved towards his direction.
"It's okay, Zero ... You can take my blood, you know? I'm a vampire, myself. So you do not have to worry about hurting me ... " Akane started, trying to coax and persuade Zero into the idea of taking her blood instead of torturing himself further.
Akane could felt Zero's body trembling as she reach over and pull the distraught hunter in for a hug. Then she scratched herself hard on the exposed skin of her neck, making sure to draw blood as she did so. After which, Akane stood still while she waited patiently for the former to react to the mild scent of her blood in the air.
Akane winced visibly as she felt Zero's fangs sinking into the exposed flesh of her neck, the bite had been harsh and angry. Akane supposed that is understandable, since Zero had been brought up hating all vampires and being trained to hunt them. Yet, he had now became the very same creature which he had been trained to kill since the day that he was born.
---
Akane had no idea how long had they been remaining in that position, with her standing still and not moving while Zero drank his fill from her. It was not until they heard the sound of a sharp gasp emitting from someone behind them, did the two of them finally separate themselves from one another. Akane stifled another wince of pain, as Zero removed his fangs a little too hastily from the bite wound of her neck.
Shifting her attention towards the direction of the staircase, Akane was both annoyed and relieved that it had been Yuuki and a certain pureblood vampire whom had found them, instead of some random day-class students.
"Akane-chan ... what's going on here? Why is Zero drinking your blood?!" Yuuki directed the question towards Akane, for Zero had refused to look her in the eyes since the former had heard her gasp of surprise from before.
Akane had to resist the urge to roll her eyes upon Yuuki's question, still she responded to the question calmly. "Yuuki-chan, Zero's drinking my blood because he's a vampire ... and there's also the reason that he could no longer keep his bloodlust under control. "
"... But I thought, the Chairman had already given him a supply of blood tablets? " Yuuki asked, looking utterly bewildered and confused by the sight that she had just witnessed taking place.
"Yuuki ... the blood tablets does help to stem the crave for blood in vampires, and generally it does its' job. However, you have to understand that the blood tablets does not works on every vampires. They are kind of like a drug for medication purposes, some vampires would not be able to stomach them. Under those circumstances, should they forced themselves to ingest the blood tablets - they would have ended up suffering from a very severe allergic reactions." Akane explained, patiently.
"You mean ... Zero is allergic to them? " Yuuki whispered faintly, her eyes wide with shock.
Meanwhile, Zero frowned at Akane's words but had wisely remained silent and not making any comments about it. Although, the Chairman did gave him a box of those blood tablets urging him to take them once his lust for blood become too strong for him to suppress. However, due to his own stubbornness he had refused to take them and merely put them away in some corner of his drawer and later on, forgotten all about its' existence. If Yuuki had not brought up the issue today, he would not have remembered it - at all.
"Yes, Zero is allergic to the blood tablets. " Akane responded, her tone firm and without hesitance as she looked into the eyes of the pureblood, daring the former to contradict her words.
Kaname Kuran remained silent, he was certain that Akane must have been telling the truth. After all, Akane was from the future so her words were definitely reliable and could be trusted. Thus, his reasons for remaining solemn while Akane explained the possible allergic reactions that might occur, if one's body was unable to digest the blood tablets taken.
For Zero, his reason for remaining silent while allowing Akane to continue on with her speech of explanation was exactly the same as the pureblood. While he had not tried out those blood tablets which had been kindly supplied to him by the Chairman in prior, he supposed he must have been really allergic to them since Akane seemed rather adamant about what she had been telling them.
Then again, he could not helped but wonder if Akane had been telling them all these information merely as an attempt to prevent Yuuki from making a big fuss over the issue of him drinking Akane's blood. Perhaps, he should really gave those tablets a 'try' and see if he was indeed allergic to them?
Silence reigned, as Akane ended her lengthy elaboration on the possible allergic reactions that might occur if one ingested the blood tablets without knowing that they were allergic to them. Yuuki stared at Zero with disbelief, while Zero continue to avoid looking into Yuuki's eyes worried that the girl will caught on to his guilt.
Kaname Kuran, on the other hand, continue to eye Akane with an unreadable gaze. Granted, Kaname should be relieved that it was not his beloved Yuuki's blood which Kiryuu Zero had ended up drinking from. Yet, somehow the sight of Zero drinking the blood off Akane's neck still disturbed him. There was no anger though, only mild irritation and that puzzled him.
"... " Akane felt her gaze flickering between Yuuki and the two vampires, before rolling her eyes upon their actions. Deciding that, if the three of them wanted to hold a staring contest and see whom will be the winner - they can jolly well go ahead, and excluded her from it.
Breaking her eye-contact with the pureblood, Akane made her way towards the corner where she had dropped off her bag of belonging and her school tie. The bite wound which she had received from Zero's fangs had closed itself off by now, though there was still a faint visible mark where Zero had bitten her earlier. It would fade off eventually, latest by tomorrow morning - Akane gathered.
Pulling out a bottle of mineral water from her bag, Akane dug her other hand into her skirt's pocket and took out a small box of blood tablets from within. Fully aware that her actions had now attracted the attention of the trio whom had previously been locked in a staring contest with one another.
Akane ignored them easily, as she unscrewed the cap to the bottle of water before dumping and dissolving several of those blood tablets into the water. Keeping the remaining tablets away and put them back in the pocket where she had took them out from, Akane waited patiently as the tablets dissolved themselves fully in the water before gulping them down hastily with a grimace.
"Yikes! Taste as bad as always ... " Akane commented, before throwing the emptied bottle into the nearest rubbish bin. Following which, Akane promptly took out a mint-flavoured candy from another pocket of hers' and pop them into her mouth without hesitation so that she could get rid of the nasty after-taste of the blood tablets.
Akane only turned towards the dumbfounded trio standing behind her, when she was done with the final adjustment made on her school uniform which had been messed up earlier while allowing Zero to have easier access to her blood.
"... Akane, please do not tell me that you keep those /things/ with you, all the time ..." The silver-haired hunter, whom had been silent all this while, had finally decided to speak up.
Meanwhile Yuuki was still in shock, for she could only stared at Akane speechlessly. Words failed her completely, nothing could have describe what she was feeling at this moment of time.
Not only Akane had allowed Zero to drink her blood willingly, it seems like Akane had been preparing for the event itself. Otherwise, how could Akane have both the blood tablets and water ready at hand - making it possible for the girl to replenish the amount of blood that had been lost almost immediately, after Zero had drank from her?
"Would either of you believe me, if I claimed this to be a habit of mine? " Akane responded to Zero's comment with a question of her own.
Silence was her only response. Looking up at the trio's reactions to her question, Akane knew neither of them had believed her words. Yuuki and Zero was looking at her with disbelief, whereas Kaname Kuran was frowning.
"... But that's really a habit of mine! Besides, I need to keep these things on me all the time as I am always on the verge of suffering from a bloodlust. By that, I meant one of those mild types - nothing drastic like Zero's condition."
"Huh?! What does that means? " Yuuki Cross had finally snapped herself out from her shock, to ask. Instead, of continuing to stare and gape at Akane.
"... My patrolling partner has a knack of getting himself into 'trouble' with the night-class members by injuring himself. For some odd reasons, the scent of his blood seems to attract the attention of the night-class female vampires easily. Thus, I often ended up having to get that partner of mine away from those over-enthusiastic female vampires whom were in the midst of a blood-lust. "
"And what does that have to do with you keeping the blood tablets close to you, at all times? " This coming from Zero, whom was still having some problem understanding the link between the blood tablets and the story which Akane had just told them.
"... I see, your partner's blood seems to be rather appealing to the majority of the female population of our 'kind' ... and somehow, you are affected as well. Though, the effects that you suffered from were nothing but mild as compared to the rest of the night-class members. Still, you decided to keep the blood tablets on yourself lest you risk losing yourself to the lure of the bloodlust - am I right to say that? "
It was the pureblood, Kaname Kuran whom had caught on to the meaning behind Akane's little story from before and later linked them to the reason why Akane had kept a supply of blood tablets with her, at all time.
"Exactly! It's always better to be safe, than to be sorry. After all, one would never know what might happened in the future. Thus, its' always better to be prepared for the unexpected - isn't it? "
"Indeed. " Both Zero and Kaname agreed with a matching tone of irony in them. For they found themselves being reminded of the night when Akane and the twins' had turned up, claiming to have arrived from some point of their shared and intwined future. No matter how impossible and ridiculous that notion had appeared to be, at the current stage of their lives. Still, they could not helped but arrived to the common agreement that the twins' sheer existence itself had proven to them just how 'unexpected' the future can be.
"... Since when did the two of you started being telepathic to one another's thoughts? " Akane asked, surprise written all over her features as she turned towards the direction of her future adopted 'parents'.
The duo appeared to be startled by the fact that they had somehow echoed one another's thoughts unintentionally as well, for the two of them were also staring at one another in shock.
Well, Zero was looking at Kaname in shock whereas the pureblood's expression still remained a mask of indifference. However, if Zero had taken the time to 'look' at the former properly, he would have realized that the eyes of the pureblood had said things differently. For the clear apparent hint of shock could be seen reflected within the irises of the pureblood's eyes, which now resembled a swirling pool of chocolate puddle.
Not that Zero would have even bothered to make an attempt at deciphering the hidden feelings within the depths of the pureblood's eyes, under normal circumstances. But it was kind of hard for him to ignore the unreadable gaze which he found himself being subjected to - due to courtesy of the pureblood. Especially, when Zero found himself locking eyes with Kaname - without intention to do so, in the first place.
Deciding that the atmosphere between them was getting kind of creepy with each passing minute, Zero made up his mind to leave the place as soon as possible. Turning towards Yuuki, the silver-haired guardian said.
"Yuuki, its' time for the change-over. Let's go ... "
Yuuki Cross flickered her eyes between her friend, and the pureblood for a while before bowing to the latter with respect and took off after the silver-haired hunter whom she had taken to care for, as a brother. With the departure of the two guardians, Akane found no reasons for her to be staying around the area too.
"Well, Kaname-sama. I believed I should thank you for your efforts at getting the chef in charge of the menu to make special adjustments for my sake, this morning. Its' getting late now, and I should probably leave before the rest of the night-class arrived."
With that being said, Akane promptly turned on her heels to exit from the science building, leaving behind a certain pureblood whom appeared to be deep in thoughts.
~to be continued~
Date started: 01/05/09
Date completed: 03/05/09
Date edited: 03/05/09