*Author's Note: Here is the fourth chapter for you. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Knight.
It was cold. I hadn't realized how late it was. I hadn't thought about the fact that by the time I took care of the matter of business with Lord Kaname and found Zero, it would already be pretty late. The sun had been rapidly setting and as the heat vanished, the cold fall air seeped in to take its place. I shivered, trying to hold my jaws together so my teeth couldn't be heard chattering.
"Yuki, for heaven's sake, just take my jacket," Zero said, releasing my hand to unbutton his school uniform jacket. Before he could slide it off, I reached up to put my hand on his shoulder.
"No, you'll be freezing," I said, shivering. He rolled his eyes and unexpectedly, a rare smile graced his features. Evidently his mood had lightened. I didn't know what I had done, but I wanted him to keep smiling.
"And what kind of a friend would I be if I let you freeze to death out here? I'll be fine, I promise," he said, shrugging my hand off his shoulder and taking off the jacket. He then placed it on my shoulders, helping my arms through the sleeves, and buttoned it up for me. I squirmed.
"Yuki. Hold still," he said, and I heard some hint of strain in his voice, which made me go still immediately. What was so straining about buttoning buttons? He straightened and waited for me to take the lead again.
"Thanks Zero, but you know I could've buttoned it myself," I said, putting my hands on my hips to show that I didn't need help.
"I know," he said simply, and smiled gently. It was moments like these when I got a glimpse of insight into how much he cared about me. I smiled back at him, and took his hand in mine again, starting to walk. As we walked, my mind was elsewhere, remembering my childhood with him.
It was the summer after Zero had come to live with us. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny, and I had decided to take a walk around campus. I loved looking at the birds in their nests and the flowers blooming in the fields. I had stumbled across a clearing in the middle of a grove of apple trees. There was a single apple tree in the middle of the clearing, taller than the rest. I saw a delicious-looking red apple that I thought I could probably reach. I had stretched my arm up, trying to get my fingers around the juicy apple. When it became clear that I was too short to grab it, I had tried jumping a few times, attempting to hit the apple with my hand to cause it to fall. I was startled by laughing somewhere behind me.
I had whipped around to see Zero leaning against one of the tree trunks surrounding the clearing. He was smiling at me, and I didn't like it. I had known he was laughing at my inability to get the apple. He thought I was a clumsy girl. I stuck my tongue out at him and turned around with my chin in the air, more determined than ever to get the apple. As I had been about to jump again, I was suddenly uprooted from the ground and placed on top of shoulders.
"Let me help you," said Zero from under me. Ignoring him, I had grabbed the apple which was now quite reachable and tried to climb off his shoulders. He knelt down so that I wouldn't fall. When I was safely on the ground, he turned to face me. Still holding the apple, I had crossed my arms and frowned at him.
"I could've done it myself, you know. I'm not just a clumsy girl," I said irritably, refusing to look him in the eyes.
"I know," he said to me, smiling gently and looking kindly into my eyes, which were now turned on him, full of questions. I couldn't help but smile back up at him.
My memories and the comforting smell on the jacket I was wearing, the scent I associated with Zero, had me in my own world, not paying attention until I ran headfirst into something, just as I heard a panicked, "Yuki!" from beside me. Dazed, I looked up to see what I had run into. I blushed.
My forehead was stopped inches in front of what I had run into, Zero's palm, which was in front of the beam of the doorway into the headmaster's home. I slowly looked up to see Zero looking down at me, an annoyed look on his face.
"Yuki why don't you try watching where you're going? If I hadn't gotten my hand between you and the door post in time you'd probably have a cracked skull right now. And you would be bleeding," he said, his last sentence more quiet than the rest.
"I wouldn't have a cracked skull. That's ridiculous," I said, crossing my arms and lashing out to cover up my embarrassment. With my nose in the air I walked in, making sure to avoid the door post this time. I heard a frustrated noise from behind me as Zero followed me in and closed the door after us.
*Thank you for reading, please leave a comment if you feel so inclined :)