NDA:

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Chapter 9: The friendship

Zero woke up with a start, covered in sweat. Despite the flickering nightlight, he shakily switched on the bedside lamp and went over to the washbasin to dab water on his face and back. With his arms stretched out against the washbasin, he breathed.

He'd been dreaming for days that he'd become a bloodthirsty vampire. Every night, he would relive the scene of the vampire clawing at him, then biting him, turning him into a vampire. Weary, he struggled to sleep at night and was exhausted during the day. He became withdrawn and disorientated, no longer fully aware of what he was doing.

He undressed, showered and put on his uniform. He took a deep breath before leaving his room. He stopped when he saw his cousin holding several books in his arms.

Kaito tilted his head to the side and smiled:

"You're helping me carry these books to my desk in the night class building.

- I suppose it's not a request and I have to do it," replied Zero, rolling his eyes.

He took his cousin's books and followed him without taking his eyes off him.

- Relax, cousin, it's morning and the night class are asleep, so you won't bump into them.

Zero grunted in annoyance and didn't reply, continuing to follow him.

Kaito chuckled an ugly laugh before happily humming some music as he walked.

The silver-haired man translated that his cousin didn't care about his remarks, as usual.

- Look at this beautiful bird

Zero instinctively looked up but saw nothing. He turned his head towards his cousin, who burst out laughing, literally folding in half. Zéro clung to this burst of joy to soften his anger.

Even at that age, he hadn't changed...

It was to take you out of your thoughts," Kaito resumed between two hiccups of laughter, "you've been dreaming too much lately.

He grunted an inaudible reply, then gestured that he didn't care.

Zero let his cousin open the front door and waited for him to beckon him in. All the lights were off. There was silence in the hall and nothing else. The young silver-haired man felt relieved and let out a long sigh. He saw Kaito flick a switch, which lit up the room. His cousin nodded and asked him to follow. Zero followed his cousin down a long, dark corridor where, although there were small candle-shaped lamps fixed to the wall at regular intervals, they didn't light up much. They came to a large solid wooden door which opened automatically as they approached. They entered a large amphitheatre with tiered seating. The light from outside illuminated the room slightly.

"You can put the books on the table."

Zero wasted no time in doing so. He didn't want to spend a single moment in this building that was giving him violent shivers.

- Oh no," cried Kaito, "wait here and I'll go and get a book from the library".

He watched in disbelief as his cousin ran out of the room without saying a word to him.

Why had he followed that madman!

And so Zero found himself alone in the large, dark room. He didn't want to leave, fearing he'd run into the vampires, so he sat down in the chair behind the teacher's desk. With nothing to do, he leaned forward and put his hands on the table. He put his head in his hands, let out a long sigh and closed his eyes.

.

.

.

Zero was sitting cross-legged on the yellowing grass in his garden, right next to Kaname, and he was so happy to see him again. Over time, he had become his only true friend. It has to be said that, as a pure-blooded vampire, you didn't find true friends around every corner. His father also made sure that they didn't meet anyone except the people he had carefully chosen for him and his brother. In reality, the 'friends' chosen by his father were merely subordinates who had to carry out his orders because they were part of the right vampire line.

- Kaname, do you have any real friends in your circle?

He turned his head towards the dark-haired boy to study his reaction.

Kaname pretended to think and replied:

- No, I don't

- Really? insisted the silver-haired thoroughbred.

Kaname gave him a long look before replying:

- No

Zero lowered his head, saddened and resigned to the fact that Kaname didn't consider him a friend. And to think he'd made such a fuss about their relationship…

Ichiru was probably right, Kaname will never be my friend, he thought with a sigh.

- What's wrong, Zero? asked the worried Kuran boy.

Zero snapped out of his thoughts, got up hastily and took his friend's hand to bring him to him.

"Nothing, let's play hide and seek, Kaname!

The brown-haired boy stood up in turn and faced Zero.

- I know you well enough, something's not right. Can you tell me what's going on?

There was silence. Neither of the young men moved for a few seconds.

I thought of you as a friend...

The little brown-haired boy's heart leapt in his chest. Kaname took Zero's face in his hands and raised his head. The boy's eyes were swollen and red with tears.

- I promise I won't be mean to you," he managed to say between tears.

Kaname wiped away his tears, not noticing how Zero was shaking.

- Stop crying, your brother will come and think I've hurt you.

He drew him to him and took him in his arms, calming his worries a little. Don't worry," he said. - - - "You're not just a friend, you're so much more."

Wake up Zero !

Zero suddenly raised his head and found himself face to face with his cousin.

I've fallen asleep... he thought.

He rubbed his eyes and stood up, dazed.

- Tell me, what do you do in the evening to be so tired when the day has just started?

Zero gave him a sidelong glance and replied:

- That's none of your business.

- If you want to talk about it, Zero, just know that I'm here.

The silver-haired boy didn't reply and headed for the exit without waiting for his cousin. Zero knew that Kaito knew more than he wanted him to believe. Besides, why did he choose the Cross Academy out of all the academies in the world? Since he couldn't trust him, there was no point in having this conversation with him. He shouldn't be wasting any more time in this place, especially as his lessons were about to start. He followed the same path he had taken on his arrival, but remained cautious and found himself outside the building.

Let the day begin, he thought.

.

.

.

.

The day had gone by without a hitch and everything had gone smoothly. Zero hadn't had any surprise exams and he hadn't seen the time slip away. As usual, he went off to play bodyguard with Yuki as the students from the night class passed through, then set off to make the rounds of the Cross academy. At the moment he was leaning against the wall of a tree, waiting for time to pass.

The cold night breeze caressed his hair and as he closed his eyes he heard shouting behind him. He opened his eyes and ran towards the voices.

When he reached the place where the screams were coming from, he saw a young girl face down on the ground and another person beside her helping her to her feet. Zero angrily walked over to her.

"What are you doing here?

- Aren't you supposed to be in your dorm?

The standing student trembled with fear at the tone of voice of the silver-haired boy.

The girl, who was having trouble standing, replied:

- We wanted to visit the students during evening classes.

Zero rolled his eyes and noticed that his knees were injured and that blood was running down them.

Not that...

He took off his jacket and pressed it against his wounds.

The girl blushed and looked away. Seeing that it didn't matter, he stopped what he was doing and stood up.-

- Go back to your dormitory.

Zero turned abruptly when he felt a presence behind him. He saw two students from the night class standing on tree branches.

Overexcited by the presence of the two vampires, the two students fainted.

Akatsuki Kain and Hanabusa Aido," he whispered.

- You have no business here.

Aido smiled and climbed down from the branch in a flexible movement to approach Zero.

With a quick reflex, Zero grabbed his weapon, half out of its holster, and pointed it at the vampire, who had remained paralysed by his action. - Get lost," he said angrily, threatening him, "or I'll shoot you.

- Calm down," hissed the blond vampire, "you're not getting into a fight here and now.

Zero rolled his eyes in annoyance at Aido's tone of voice.

- If it's to protect these students, I'm going to stand in your way.

The man tightened his grip on his weapon, without letting his guard down. The wind, which was getting stronger and stronger, began to slap him in great, raging gusts.

- We came here because we were attracted by the smell of blood," exclaimed Akatsuki, who was now standing next to his cousin Aido.

Zero, don't do it! Yuki shouted, running frantically towards them.

The silver-haired man thought for a moment before vigorously holstering his weapon.

- I'll leave you to look after these students in that case.

He put on his blood-spattered shirt and walked past the vampires, glaring menacingly at them.

After the altercation with the vampires, he was fed up with these creatures of the night breaking the rules. Outraged, he kicked a stone in his path. Did he do the right thing? And all that was done was done.

He quickly climbed the stairs and knocked on the door, which opened after a few seconds.

"What can I do for you? said a voice he could recognise out of thousands.

Zero swallowed hard and took a step forward to face his interlocutor... The bluish light of the full moon illuminated his hair in the darkness.

- Your classmates have once again broken the rules about not leaving your dormitory and approaching people without permission.

Kaname smiled gently and replied calmly,

- What do you want me to do now?

Zero rolled his eyes because he knew the vampire was teasing him.

- You're acting like a leader," Zero said bitterly, "because if they do it again, I won't hesitate to shoot them.

- I know you well enough to tell you that you won't do it," replied Kaname.

The silver-haired boy wanted to reply but remained silent before adding

- How do you know me then?

If his intuition was right, Zero must have already met this Kaname, but he didn't know where exactly. No matter how much he racked his brains, he couldn't remember.

- What's the point of knowing how we know each other?" he asked with a certain insolence.

Zero blew out a weary breath and moved closer to him until he felt the warmth of the vampire's breath on his face.

- For the moment it's of no use to me. Zero murmured, and besides, I could never make friends with vampires.

Kaname smiled and his brown eyes turned red. Zero raised an eyebrow, his body motionless, he took a step back. The vampire took his face in his hands and, looking serious, stared into his eyes.

- Do you really think you've ever met a vampire like me?

Zéro was petrified for a moment by the suddenness of Kaname's gesture. He had to pull himself together, as the vampire was probably trying to intimidate him. A little later, he replied curtly:

- No

And he pushed him away. He'd stayed too long in the presence of these creatures of the night and had to get back to helping Yuki make the rounds at the Academy. He let out a tired sigh and turned towards the exit, avoiding running into the vampire again.

"Go home safely Zero".