*Author's Note: Ah, a chapter with the night class. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Knight.
When Zero and I had gotten to the moon dorm, Hanabusa and Akatsuki had surprised us by being there to escort us. We had come to the courtyard where we realized all of the vampires were gathered there for Takuma's birthday. A little surprised, I had quickly gotten over it and cut to the chase, asking about the level E earlier. Takuma had explained about the vampire society hierarchy, starting with Purebloods and branching off to aristocrats. Then came the average vampires. After them were the former humans, like Zero, and lastly the level E's. I was appalled at this. The vampires were the ones who had turned these humans into vampires, and then they just destroyed them? It wasn't right. I was about to give Takuma a piece of my mind when I was interrupted by the voice of Kaname.
"They were following my orders," he stated, his voice carrying over everyone else's despite it being rather soft. I looked over at him, not only shocked at what he had just said, but also shocked that he was there. I hadn't noticed him in the shadows.
"I did it. I'm the one who told Takuma and Senri to hunt down the level E today," he said.
"It was you Kaname?" I asked him, still trying to wrap my mind around it.
"Yuki, I'm surprised you would come to such a dangerous place simply because Takuma asked you to," he said, irritating me. I hadn't come because he had asked me to. I had come because I needed to know the truth.
"I wanted to find out for myself," I said, a little harshly. Kaname put his hand to his forehead, sighing in frustration. "Did you, now," he said, almost to himself. This angered me a little. He was acting like I was an insubordinate child, and he was trying to decide what to do with me.
"Come over here, Yuki, Zero," he said. It wasn't a request. He turned around walking back towards a couch in the shadows, expecting us to comply. Although Zero gave me a look that said he would rather die, I had made up my mind to find out what I could. So when I turned to go to Kaname, Zero followed.
"Yuki. Sit beside me," Kaname said, another command. Surprised, I looked at him, my eyes wide. He hadn't offered anyone else a spot next to him. Seeing my expression, he said, "It's all right," obviously intending to make me feel welcomed. I hesitated a moment, thinking of Zero. I didn't want to leave him standing alone.
"I'm fine here," I said, trying to politely decline, but his eyes narrowed, and he looked right into my eyes. "Yuki," he said, using a tone that scared me a little, leaving no room for anything but compliance. "Okay," I said quickly, sitting down beside him. I tried to catch Zero's eye and make sure he was ok, but he wouldn't look in my direction for some reason.
Without warning, Kaname's arm snaked around my shoulders and pulled me over to him, again not allowing any room for disagreement. "Beside me is the safest place for you to be," he stated. I looked over at him, trying to decipher what he was talking about, but he wasn't looking at me. In fact, he seemed to be looking straight at Zero. Was he implying that Zero wasn't safe? Or maybe looking for Zero's reaction as to where I was sitting? I didn't know.
Looking at Zero, I remembered that Kaname had been the one to allow Zero to stay in the night class. Not knowing what else to say to him, I began to thank him, saying, "You know, actually, I've been meaning to thank you for the—"
Kaname cut me off, apparently not even listening to me, and said, "To be honest, vampires that were formerly humans shouldn't really exist at all," he said, still staring straight at Zero. I quickly looked at Zero to see if he would react. His eyes widened slightly, but otherwise he showed no sign of being offended. Kaname continued.
"But centuries ago, in the dark annals of history, lies a time when the battle between vampires and vampire hunters was most violent. Many humans were forcibly turned into vampires at that time. It was done to bolster our numbers in battle. Ever since that wrong was committed, it has been the duty of the aristocrats to oversee the vampires who were once human. And sometimes that duty means ending their lives for another's safety," he told me. As he said this last sentence, he had grabbed a hold of my arm, seeing the bandage on my elbow that I had applied instead of Zero's tie when we had gotten back to the academy. Kaname examined my arm, letting the bandage fall to the ground.
Out of nowhere, Zero was standing in front of us. He had clearly been listening to Kaname's history lesson as well. "It's the vampire hunters' duty to kill vampires, not yours," he said to Kaname, looking angrily at him. I noticed that Zero only looked at Kaname, avoiding my eyes completely.
"Then tell me. Why didn't you kill that level E when you had the chance?" Kaname said calmly to Zero. It seemed to upset him as his lavender eyes flashed in anger. Kaname turned back to me, ignoring Zero again.
"This must be your injury from today. Hold still, I'll ease the pain," he said, causing me to look up at him wide-eyed. He kissed my injured elbow, erasing the pain, and I was left in shock. I hadn't known he had the power to do that. Kaname's lips still almost touching my elbow, he looked at Zero again.
"Perhaps, Zero, you sympathized with him," he stated darkly, shocking me. That was clearly intended to upset Zero, and if I knew Zero, he would not take that sitting down—
Zero pulled out the Bloody Rose, aiming it straight at Kaname. Usually, I would have yelled at him, but this time I knew that Kaname had asked for it, so I said nothing, knowing that Zero wouldn't actually kill someone for one small comment.
However, the other vampires did not seem to know that. Kaname's personal body guard, Seiren, had lashed out to stop Zero as a collective gasp went up from the vampires standing in groups in front of us.
"It's ok Seiren, it's my fault. I said something that I shouldn't have," Kaname stated. Why would he say it then, I wondered? But all the same, Zero lowered the gun.
The other vampires, on the other hand, did not seem ready to let this go. Hanabusa was the one who spoke for all of them. "How dare you point a gun at Lord Kaname? Tearing you to shreds right here wouldn't be enough. However…I will restrain myself while attending this academy. I don't want to hinder the headmaster's pacifist ideology. But never forget, our respect for one person is what keeps us at this school, and he's Lord Kaname, a Pureblood," he finished darkly. His last words had caused me to do a double-take.
"A Pureblood? Is that true Kaname?" I asked, looking at him for confirmation. Try as I might, the only thought that came into my head was that it had been a Pureblood who had killed Zero's family and turned him into a vampire. Another piece of the puzzle fell into place, and I could understand a little more Zero's loathing for vampires, especially Lord Kaname.
"You look as if this is the first time you've heard this, Yuki," Kaname said, as if I should have realized this by now. "Are you afraid?" he asked me, surprising me yet again. Before I replied with some false answer, I took a moment to really think and I realized something a little unnerving.
"To tell you the truth…I guess I've always been a little bit…afraid of you. Even now…I'm still a little bit…afraid…" I told him honestly, trying to reason through this. I had always cared for Kaname. I had even asked myself many times if I loved him. How could it be that I had never stopped to consider the fact that I was afraid of him? And perhaps more importantly…why was it that he frightened me?
Suddenly, Takuma clapped, getting everyone's attention. He stated that this was still his birthday and he wanted us all to have fun, so the party resumed, the dark tale of the history between humans and vampires forgotten.
I watched as a vampire couple shared a drink of blood replacement together. The man attempted to wipe some of the liquid off of the woman's cheek, and she took that finger in her mouth, biting it to draw blood and sucking from the wound. Both vampires seemed to go about the act in an almost sexual manner. It disturbed me a little, but also made me realize that maybe the act of sucking another's blood was very sensual to a vampire. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it really was a part of the process.
I looked over at Takuma and Senri, who were in the process of cutting the birthday cake. As I watched, Senri accidentally cut Takuma's finger, causing him to bleed. Suddenly hearing a noise beside me, I looked over to see Zero cover his nose with his sleeve and bolt. The scent of blood must have been too much for him to handle. I needed to go to him.
"Kaname, look…I…I'm sorry but I…" not having time to finish my sentence, I got up and left, assuming that Kaname got the drift. I needed to go after Zero right away or I would lose sight of him.
As I was trying to run after him, Hanabusa grabbed my arm, asking me to dance with him, but I shook him off and yelled that I couldn't over my shoulder as I ran to find Zero.
I ran through the woods, following his tracks in the mud, hoping I would find him soon. I soon came upon the school's outdoor pool. Zero was kneeling, as if in pain, leaning against the railing.
"Zero! Zero, are you alright?" I yelled, trying to get his attention. He slowly looked up at me. As I neared him, I saw what was on the ground next to him. Blood tablets. "That's…you can't take them? You're not taking them?!" I asked him frantically, remembering stories I had heard about vampires' bodies rejecting the blood tablets and progressing to level E even faster.
Suddenly his hands were on my shoulders. He was breathing much too hard, his chest heaving. His hair was covering his eyes so that I couldn't see into them. "I've tried to drink them. I tried so many times," he rasped, barely able to get the words out because of his rapid breathing. Then he looked up at me, the hair in front of his eyes no longer obscuring my view of them.
They were blood red. His usual shade of pale lavender was gone. He just sat there, gripping my shoulders, breathing much too heavily and groaning as if in terrible pain. He shuddered, and I could see that he could no longer stop himself. He was going to drink my blood, unless I stopped him right now. I tried to reign in my fear.
"That hurts…Zero…" I said, my voice cracking in pain as he enclosed my entire body in his iron grip, tighter and tighter. I had to stop him. I raised my bracelet, preparing to immobilize him as I saw his fangs descend inches from my neck—
And we were in the air. I couldn't understand what had happened, but without warning cold water was all around me. I opened my eyes, realizing I was submerged in the pool, and found myself eye to eye with Zero underwater. The cold water seemed to bring him back, and his red eyes widened and faded back to lavender. Acting quickly, he grabbed ahold of me and used his powerful leg muscles to propel us up to the surface.
Gasping for air, I was silent only a second before I turned to him, about to ask him if he was alright. But then, the sound of a gunshot echoed around me and I stared in utter horror as Zero flew back from the impact, looking at his shoulder, which was spewing blood everywhere. I would have screamed if a voice hadn't started talking from right behind me, outside of the pool.
"I never thought I'd be killing my dear student with this gun," said the man. I turned, gasping as I looked up to see our ethics professor, Yagari was his name, staring hard at Zero, and pointing the gun at him. "Curse me with your last breath and die…vampire," he finished, readying the gun to shoot Zero. Zero slowly turned to look at him, whispering, "Master…"
As if unable to take it anymore, Zero seemed to curl into himself in pain. He was hunched over, shaking with his arms circling his chest. "Zero!" I yelled, panicked. I waded towards him, circling his body in my arms, trying to look at the wound on his shoulder.
"Even if it's just a graze, it probably hurts like hell. A spell was put on that bullet to kill vampires. Zero, even with your thirst for blood, do you still have a reason to brace yourself?" Yagari said harshly.
Zero flinched, his eyes widening, as if he had come to some realization. Then he closed his eyes, as if giving up. That was the one thing I would not allow. Moving fast, I put my arms around him tightly, holding his head gently to my chest and standing in front of him, protecting him from Yagari's gun.
"Mr. Yagari, listen. It's clear to me that you and Zero have a connection with each other that I don't know anything about. But I will not let you decide Zero's fate for him! I will NOT let you kill him!" I said, my voice rising at the end. I would protect him with my life if necessary, as he had protected me so many times, laying his own life on the line.
"Are you saying he isn't a level E yet?" Yagari asked, taunting me. I stared hard at him. I would not budge. One thing I was not willing to give up was Zero's life.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked questioningly at Zero, but all he said was "Yuki…it's ok." Shocked, I stared at him. Was he really giving up? Was he going to allow this man to take his life? As I stared at Zero, he stared back at me, his lips parted, and although there was a hardness in his gaze, steeling himself for death, there was something else in his eyes. Something so sad, I could barely look at him. Even if he didn't know it, I knew that deep in his heart, he didn't want to die. In his eyes, I could almost see the life he had envisioned for himself flashing before me. There was so much that he hadn't done yet, so much he hadn't experienced. He blinked, and the sadness was gone, only the hardness still remained in his eyes. Turning towards the gun aimed at his heart, he stared straight at Yagari. I was about to scream when someone else broke the silence.
"You took things too far! I thought there might be a problem, and look! This is a perfect example of why I hate vampire hunters. And how much longer are you going to keep a girl in cold water?!" the headmaster shouted at Yagari. He turned towards me. "You must be freezing. Here, grab my hand…or…not…" he trailed off as both Zero and I jumped out of the water without his aid. I stood up, facing Yagari.
"I wanna know now. Who are you?" I asked, my voice severe.
"When Zero was training to be a vampire hunter I was his mentor. Right…Zero?" he said, turning to Zero, who stopped in his tracks, looking down to cover his eyes with a veil of his dripping, silver hair. "It's true," he said softly. Yagari focused his attention on me once again.
"You really are the adopted daughter of that silly twit. Zero was about to attack you, yet you consider me as your enemy," he said, causing me to glare at him once again. Zero was not my enemy. Anyone who attempted to harm someone I held very dear was my enemy.
"I'll take over from here. Yuki, go back to the dorm," the headmaster said to me, giving me no choice but to leave Zero to the fate of these two men. I left slowly, glancing back to take a last look at Zero, in case it was the last look I ever got.
I was standing outside of the classroom, waiting for the night class session to get out. It had dragged on for almost an hour, and there was no sign that the class would be out any time soon. I just kept replaying the events of the day over and over in my head to pass the time, trying to think of some detail I had missed, something to save Zero.
After I had gone back to my dorm room, I had tried to be quiet since Yori was sleeping. I had sat on my bed crying for Zero. Though the headmaster had told me I didn't need to worry, I knew that if Zero couldn't take the blood tablets, his thirst for blood would just get worse. He would be a level E in no time if this kept up. I had spent the entire night trying to think of something.
This morning, he hadn't been in class, and he hadn't been at patrol in the evening either. Concerned, I had gone to his dorm only to find that he wasn't there. I had immediately suspected Yagari and gone to find him.
That was why I was waiting outside the classroom. I had found him about to go into the night classroom, apparently to teach the night class ethics. I had questioned him about Zero, only to find out he was quarantined, though Yagari would not tell me where he was. But I was going to find out.
I sighed, a little impatient. Although all I wanted was to be with Zero right now, I needed to know where he was before I could do that. I wasn't the only one who had noticed him missing. As Yagari had gone into the classroom, Kaname had walked past me, saying, "You know Yuki, I haven't seen Zero at all today. For his own good, you should reconsider your request. His place is in the night class."
It had seemed like he said it to taunt me. Although I understood that it was dangerous for Zero to be in a classroom full of humans, I still would not let him transfer to the night class. That would not be good for him.
I just needed more time to think. What could I possibly do to help Zero? I was just a human. I couldn't understand what he was going through. I couldn't understand his need for blood or how it felt when his body rejected the blood tablets. What could stop him from turning to a level E, short of killing him?
As I was deep in thought, the door of the classroom opened, and Yagari stepped out, holding a book with a knife wedged into its front cover. I stared a little, but decided it was not important.
"You're still here?" Yagari asked me, clearly annoyed. Putting my hands to my hips, I looked right at him.
"I'm not moving from this spot until you tell me where it is you put Zero," I said stubbornly.
"Try as you may, there's nothing a good girl like you can do for him now," he said, swooping down so his face was much too close to mine. The way he emphasized the word good…a good girl…what was he saying? Could he be hinting that if I were…not a good girl…if I did something…bad…so what could I do for him then? I felt as though the answer I was seeking was just out of my reach…
Then it hit me. I gasped lightly as a solution began to form in my head. I heard Yagari, continuing his earlier speech, say, "But…if you still insist on seeing him, go right ahead. You can find him in the headmaster's guest room," he finished, and I assumed he meant Zero's room since the headmaster did not have a guest room.
I bolted, heading straight to where Zero was being held. I knew what I needed to do, and nothing was going to stop me.
*Thanks for reading! Tell me how you think it went!