-- Chapter 3 Your room or mine - part 1--

It happened as they’d walked back to the main building after ensuring the Night Class has returned safely back to the Moon Dorm after class. Zero had noticed she ate very little that day and her eyes had seemed feverishly bright but he’d been too distracted by the antics of the besotted Day Class girls to think about it much. Only when she’d stopped mid-chatter by his side, had he looked down at her. Yuuki put up a tentative hand to her forehead, “Oh… it’s …” she said, then eyes closing, she just crumpled up. Zero’s vampire reflexes enabled him to easily catch her slender body against his. Her body felt hot against his and he realised she had an alarmingly high fever after touching his cool forehead to hers.

Striding to the Chairman’s office with Yuuki in his arms, Zero stopped abruptly when she saw the tall, elegant figure of Kaname Kuran approaching him with unhurried footsteps, snow white uniform contrasting starkly with long ebony hair that trailed over his broad shoulders. “Yuuki… what happened, Kiriyu?” Zero could sense the menace in his soft voice.

“She fainted… Kuran. Fever.” Zero kept his voice carefully neutral but his eyes were not. He never bothered with honorifics when it came to any of the Night Class students, and more often than not, was border line rude to them all, especially the pureblood leader. He didn’t even care if it made him the “Most Wanted to be Murdered” vampire on campus.

The Chairman heard voices outside his office and opened the door to see Zero and Kuran glaring at each other over the unconscious figure of Yuuki cradled in the former’s arms. “Yuuki, my poor girl! What’s happened to you?” he cried as he stepped forward, his eyes automatically searching for blood on Yuuki’s neck. Finding none, his gaze swept up to Zero. “Zero?”

“Fever. She fainted while we were walking back here” explained Zero briefly. The older man placed a gentle hand on Yuuki’s forehead, tut-tutted to himself then instructed Zero to bring her up to her bedroom. Kuran fell into step, walking beside Zero. As they walked, the Chairman leading the way, he could sense the palpable tension between the two vampires and how tightly the vampire leader was holding himself in check, refraining from snatching Yuuki into his own arms. The glaring also hadn’t quite abated…

Yuuki… sighed the Chairman silently, are you even aware of the depth of love these two men have for you…? Zero placed Yuuki gently on the bed, his hand smoothing back the silky strands of brown hair from her hot forehead, earning a hiss from the vampire pureblood in return. Zero let his hand linger on her cheek, turning to face Kuran with a taunting look in his eyes.

The Chairman intercepted the look. “I’ll go look for something to bring down the fever. Yuuki will need to be changed as well.” He looked uncertainly from one vampire to the other.

“I’ll do it.”

“Over my dead body. I’ll do it!”

The Chairman sighed aloud this time. “Yori will do it” he said firmly, “Zero, can you please get her. Mention my name to the Ladies Day Dorm Leader…”. Zero hesitated, looking from the vampire leader to the Chairman, then left. The older man waited for a moment, then looked at Kaname. “Kaname, can you please get my first aid bag from my office…” Kaname swung around without comment, then stopped. Over his shoulder, he said softly, “So you don’t trust the both of us… Chairman?”

The Chairman chuckled softly. “I just didn’t want Yuuki waking up to find you both tearing each other throats out…!”

The vampire leader regarded him for a moment then he too, seemed to relax a little. “That is a likely occurrence” he agreed as he left the room. “Only be assured, I will be the one doing the tearing…”

The Chairman shook his head rather resignedly. He wet a hand towel at the sink and bathed her hot forehead and hands while waiting for them to return. Kaname was first, his breathing still calm and unhurried despite the short time he took, the concern apparent in his eyes. He handed the bag to the Chairman, his eyes already on Yuuki, then bent down to stroke the back of his elegant hand across Yuuki’s feverish forehead and cheek. “Uuh…” she murmured, twisting her head.

“Hush, Yuuki…” Kaname whispered. “I’m here, it’s OK…”

Zero thrust open the bedroom door, a scurrying Yori behind him. He froze on the spot, seeing Kaname’s dark head bent close to Yuuki’s. “Chairman, I’ve brought Yori” he said shortly. The older man swung around as Yori hurried into the room.

Kaname straightened up, removing his hand from Yuuki’s. Seeing the two younger men glaring at each other again, the Chairman also rose. “Yori, thank you for coming. Can you please get her changed? I’ll be in shortly to give her something to bring down her fever…” Yori nodded, her surprised eyes going from Zero to Kaname and back again. “And we shouldn’t be here...” added the Chairman firmly, pushing the two young men out the door in front of him.

During the next couple of days, Zero visited her at night, Kaname during the day. It was almost… amusing… that they deliberately came at different times. Not that they both said much while they were with her. Zero sat nearer to her, on the edge of her bed but was… remote. Kaname, ensconced in the chair next to her bed with long legs elegantly crossed, often reached out with his hand to ensure that she was not feverish, or just to slide his fingers down her flushed cheek.

Yuuki sighed, staring at the ceiling. She was fed up of having to stay in bed but was too restless to tend to her sketching. In these past couple of days, somehow, when she started drawing Zero, his eyes looked like Kaname’s and when she tried sketched the charismatic vampire leader, he stared out at her from the paper with Zero’s steely gaze. It was frustrating to say the least…

She started wondering whose visit she preferred but somehow she just couldn’t decide…

“They need me at the council tonight, there’s a meeting…” announced the Chairman as Zero and Yuuki sat down to dinner that night. As they looked at him in surprise, he nodded wearily. “It’s regarding the recent spate of attacks of that wretched Level E vampire in town…” He looked up to see Yuuki staring at him and Zero staring down at his own bowl of rice. Abruptly, the Chairman’s mood changed. “Well!” he exclaimed happily, “I have two new dishes for you to try tonight!” And he babbled on, piling food onto their bowls and petitioning for their opinions.

It was the first night in a week they’d sat down together for a meal, Yuuki only just recovered from her recent bout of fever and flu. Yuuki and Zero ate silently, lost in their respective thoughts. Zero ate very little, noted the Chairman and he seemed to be holding himself tightly in check… He looked very pale in contrast to the black of his school uniform jacket. Inwardly, he sighed. Oh, Zero…well, it can’t be helped…. He ate rapidly, put down his chopsticks then stood up. “Well, it’s time, I’m off!” announced the Chairman. Eager for an excuse to stop pretending to eat the weird concoctions in front of her, Yuuki jumped up as well. “OK, I’ll start clearing up. Zero, could you bring in the dishes?” she said as she quickly stacked the Chairman’s empty bowl on top of her half cleared one then headed off to the kitchen before her adopted father could see how little she ate.

Zero started to rise as well, but a heavy hand on his shoulder stayed him. He looked up in surprise. The Chairman turned to take an empty glass from the sideboard, filled it half full with water from the jug, then placed it in front of Zero. He shook out 2 blood tablets from Zero’s pill box beside his plate then plopped them in the water. They both watched in silence as the water turn pink, then blood red as the tablets dissolved. Zero could feel the Chairman’s eyes on him but he refused to return the look this time. There was a heavy sigh. “Zero, I know you - hate the tablets… but – please…“

“I…” Zero finally looked up at the Chairman and started to speak but the older man held up a hand. “It’s not for my sake, Zero…and it’s also not for your sake…but Yuuki… she’s only just recovered from her flu, she’s not her robust self yet…” The actual meaning behind the words sank into Zero’s brain like stones dropped in still water. Like ripples spreading on the surface of the water, embarrassment and guilt rippled through Zero at the knowledge that the Chairman actually knew what was happening, what Zero and Yuuki were doing in secret…

“You …. know…?” asked Zero in a low voice, for once not actually daring to look at the Chairman in the eye. The older man shrugged. “Why not? I’ve watched the both of you together for four years now… how you grew up and in each other’s company too… I know you two care very much for each other…”

There was a long moment of silence then another heavy sigh as the Chairman glanced at the clock. “I really have to go, otherwise I’ll be late…” He squeezed Zero’s shoulder and left. Zero sat there lost in thought. When he next looked up, he was alone in the dining room. He glanced again at the glass of ruby red liquid, and almost immediately, he could feel the familiar tightening in his chest and his pulse started to quicken but conversely, his stomach felt queasy and his head started to throb with the beginnings of a headache …

“Zero! C’mon, bring in the dishes!” floated Yuuki’s voice from the kitchen, laced now with slight impatience. Zero’s eyes darted to the kitchen door. In his mind’s eye, he could picture her easily at the kitchen sink, up to her elbows in soap suds as she exuberantly washed the dishes (and inevitably caused the kitchen floor to be flooded once she’d finished), a small frown between those big eyes of hers…. eyes that could never completely hide what she was thinking… sparkling with impish laughter when they bantered together, filled with tears when she saw him gasping in pain and trying to restrain himself from biting her, warm with concern and worry for him that he’d hate himself even more after he’d had his fill of her blood, and even dreamy and unfocused when he suspected her of thinking about that pureblood Kuran…

Enough! Zero snatched up the glass and downing its contents in a single gulp, slammed the glass back onto the table. He sat still, feeling the liquid making its way down his gullet, willing himself to keep it down this time… for Yuuki’s sake…

Where was Zero? Yuuki uttered an impatient sigh then heard the sound of one of the dining chairs being scraped back suddenly. Something clattered to the floor. “Hey, Zero… are you bringing in the dishes now?” She walked to the kitchen door, surprised to see that the dining room was empty, dirty dishes still littering the table. She’d heard the Chairman leave a minute or two ago but she thought Zero was still there, he was normally quite conscientious about helping her to clear up…

She sighed then started clearing the table, stacking the drinking glasses first. She suddenly realised there were four of them, Zero had one in front of his plate as well as another beside it. She had poured the water for all three of them herself and couldn’t recall Zero having two glasses during the meal. She picked up the one beside his plate, there was a little bit of red liquid remaining in the glass.

Her eyes swung towards Zero’s chair, at least three feet away from the table and looking as if it had been pushed back violently. Instinct made her look down at the floor and even before she saw Zero’s pill box on the floor, she knew what had happened. That Zero, he’s going to make himself sick…! Even as she thought that, she was already spinning away from the table and running down the long corridor to the bathroom, nimble fingers slipping the buttons on her cardigan free as she ran.

Yuuki skidded to a stop at the bathroom door, clutching the door jamb for balance and breathing quickly from her sudden sprint. The door was closed but she twisted the knob and thrust it open with her other hand. “Zero…!” He was on his knees, hunched over the toilet bowl, one hand tucked in between his knees, the other yanking loose his school uniform tie then clenching at his coat front. She was just in time to see him retch, then heave the contents of his stomach into the toilet, whatever little dinner he’d eaten mixed with dark red liquid. He retched again and again, each time bringing up more of the same red liquid.

“Zero!” Yuuki rushed over to him, dropping to her knees, her hand on his shoulder. He coughed weakly and spat out whatever remained in his mouth, then shuddered but didn’t look at her. Drops of sweat ran down his face and his silver hair clung to his damp forehead. She got up, took the clean hand towel by the sink and wet it with cool tap water. She wrung it out then went back to Zero. Wordlessly, she held his chin with one hand then sponged off his face, pushing his damp hair off his forehead, her movements quick and gentle. Folding the towel, she slipped off his tie, unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt, then ran the cool towel around his neck.

Back at the sink, she tossed in the towel, filled a plastic cup with water and brought it back to Zero. “Here, rinse your mouth” she said gently. He did as she asked, swishing the liquid around his mouth a couple of times and spitting the water out to take away the sour taste of his own vomit. After passing her back the empty cup, he stood up slowly on legs not quite steady, one hand on the tiled wall to balance himself, then moved away from the toilet bowl without looking at her.

Yuuki pressed the flush button, tossed the cup in the sink then strode back to where Zero was standing, eyes boring holes in the tiled wall, the palm of one hand still flat against the wall tiles.

“Yuuki, please go…”

“No, Zero” she said. She stepped in front of him and looked up at him, but found that he was now looking down at the floor. “Look at me! What were you thinking?! Don’t the tablets made you ill…?!” she demanded, hands on her hips. It hurt her to see him suffering like this.

“Yuuki…you’re so stupid… what else was I to do?!” The words burst out from him angrily and he glared down at her this time. He was even paler than before and breathing hard. In his current starved state, his senses were heightened, and he caught the scent of her blood easily, realising from the heavier and muskier scent that she was now having her menses. Just the mere thought of her blood even though it wasn’t directly from her veins caused the bands to tighten even more around his heart again, his eyes taking on a crimson hue and his breathing even more ragged. Finding it hard to breathe, he shed his school jacket with jerky movements, tossing it carelessly away. Yuuki’s eyes widened at the sight of his white school shirt, wet with sweat and plastered to his lean frame.

“Do you still need to ask?” Yuuki shook her head disbelievingly. Unafraid of the changes in his face, she reached up to grasp both his broad shoulders, feeling the damp material beneath her palms. “You come to me, of course!” He shook his head violently. “Yes!” she insisted.

“No! You’ve …” he broke off and swallowed. He took a breath then continued, his voice now expressionless. “You’ve only just got well, Yuuki… and… you probably got sick in the first place because I’ve been drinking your blood…”

“That’s not true –” began Yuuki, hands on hips.

He interrupted her, his voice growing more agitated “Yes, don’t deny that! And – and to add to that, you’ve got your… your monthly problem as well…!” He stopped abruptly, realising what he’d just said. Dammit!

Yuuki stared at him, hands clasped to her suddenly burning cheeks. “How – how do you know that?” she gasped. Had she stained her skirt? Had she forgotten to flush the toilet earlier? Zero swung away from her. “I… can smell it…” he mumbled, taking a step forward towards the bathroom wall. Arms straight out, he rested both palms on the cool surface of the tiles and hung his head. The sound of his uneven breathing filled the otherwise silent bathroom.

“Oh…” said Yuuki tentatively, still staring at him. “Well…” she tried again. Vampire senses were that strong, huh…? she wondered inwardly. She knew she was still blushing. Zero ignored her. Her gaze traveled to his hands, clenched now into tight fists against the wall, knuckles showing white under the strain. Well, it was now or never…

Yuuki shrugged off her unbuttoned cardigan, tossing it carelessly onto the wooden bench beside the bathtub, then slipped into the small space between the wall and Zero. She wore a cream colored sleeveless top inside, so all she had to do was move her hair to one side and tilt her head, exposing the right side of her pale slender neck, looking up at him with fearless wide brown eyes.

“Yuuki…” he ground out, unclenching long fingers to grab her wrists and hold them captive beside her head against the wall. “You’re so stupid….! You shouldn’t…. I mustn’t …” She looked up fearlessly into the crimson tinged eyes but said nothing. He glared down at her for a moment more, his hot breath fanning her face, then dipped his head down to the right side of her neck. “You idiot…! Why do I even…” he whispered hoarsely against her ear.

“Wait, Zero…!” she said. Tongue already darting out to swipe her neck, he froze. What, had she suddenly changed her mind? Was she going to deny him this now when he was just a hair’s breadth away from her sweet, sweet blood? A low growl escaped his throat.

“Let go of my hands… please, Zero…” she continued. The words struck a bell in his fogged brain. What had she said when he’d taken her blood in the garden storeroom the other time… the time when he’d tried to frighten her with his more bestial nature, only to find himself redeemed yet again in her eyes…

Aahh… yes… Her words came back to him then and obediently, he released his tight grip on her wrists. One hand cupped the back of her head and tangled itself in her shiny brown hair, the other slipped round her back to clutch tightly at the back of her tank top. “Please… hold me…” he whispered brokenly as his mouth touched her neck again.

And she did… leaning back against the wall, closing her arms unhesitatingly around him, one hand around his back, the other moving up to hold his head to her neck as his fangs broke the tender pale skin and he groaned as her blood welled up. He started drinking deeply, slaking his thirst, eyes closing in guilty pleasure.

Yuuki closed her eyes as well, feeling his lips on her neck, her ears taking in the sounds of his desperate feeding, slow, hot tears slipping down her cheeks. Listening to him sucking at the puncture wounds on her neck, then gulping down her blood. He was heavy against her and she braced herself against the wall, holding him tight. As she expected, Yuuki felt dizziness coming on after only a couple of minutes… her knees almost buckled beneath her… but she didn’t say anything. She knew Zero was hungry still. Abruptly, he jerked his lips away from her neck, panting. “Enough” he whispered raggedly.

Yuuki opened her eyes dazedly. “Zero?” she asked, lips against his ear. “You should take more…” And was stunned into silence when, even with his breathing ragged and his body trembling, she felt him licking off the smears of blood at her neck then pressing his tongue gently to her wounds to stem the flow. She took a trembling breath as he then folded her into his arms just as gently, leaning his chin on the top of her head. Head against his chest, Yuuki listened to his rapid heartbeat for a moment, then pulled back to look at him. His face was still pale and the glow of blood was still visible in his eyes, echoed in the blood stained lips and chin. “Zero, why did you stop?”

He saw her glance at his mouth. Quickly, he swiped his sleeve across his lips and chin to wipe off the blood stains. “Enough for now, Yuuki…” he told her gently. “I shouldn’t take anymore tonight… you’ve only just got well…” Her big eyes widened further as she realised that he was holding back because of her. “Oh, Zero…” she breathed, amazed tears blurring her vision as she stared at him. “You didn’t think I’d drain you dry this time, did you?” he managed to tease her. She shook her head wordlessly. “Oh, Zero…” was all she could say again and saw the small smile he seldom wore blossom on his lips and how it invoked the shadow of a dimple in one lean cheek. She smiled tearfully and somewhat shyly back at him then hid her face in his shirt front once more, letting the already wet material soak up the tears falling unheeded down her cheeks.

He closed his eyes, feeling both pleasure and pain. The bloodlust was still there… but… it was within control now. It was torture holding her like his but he didn’t move, feeling every inch of her slender form against his. There was another reason why he shouldn’t be holding her like this, he could tell she wasn’t wearing anything underneath her sleeveless top…

He pulled back from her reluctantly. “Ugh… I’m all sweaty, I should take a shower… sorry about that” he said, careful to keep his eyes on her face. Yuuki smiled reassuringly. “It’s OK, you know I don’t mind…” She tilted her head slightly to one side, large brown eyes now challenging him to recall what she’d said last time about his sweat and he looked down, feeling slightly embarrassed. She saw his eyes focus on her chest and stay there. “And you should get … changed, otherwise you’ll fall … sick … again …” he said, voice suddenly husky.

Yuuki looked down as well, her surprised expression giving way to consternation as she saw how the white material had turned semi transparent after being pressed to his wet shirt. “Oh…!” she exclaimed, her eyes darting back to him. He looked back at her, the crimson hue in his eyes replaced by an altogether different glint she wasn’t quite sure she wanted to decipher. Quickly, she swung away from him, cheeks flaming. She hadn’t bothered wearing her bra as she hadn’t originally planned on removing her cardigan …

She caught up her cardigan from the bench, holding it protectively in front of her chest. “Well….” she floundered for something to say only to come up with nothing. After a moment of silence, Zero said “I’m still hungry actually… for food, I mean…” Yuuki glanced at him in surprise. “You are?” Oh, that’s right, he’d thrown up whatever he’d eaten just now …

“Me too. Tell you what, Zero, you take a shower and I’ll reheat the Chairman’s special dishes just for you…!” she offered, her tone and lips solemn but the teasing glint in her eyes gave her away.

Zero grimaced in response to her words. “OK then, how does instant noodles sound?” she relented, partly to see him smile again. She wasn’t disappointed. Then he caught her shoulders, squeezing them for a moment before turning her towards the door. “Go change first, I’ll be done in 5 minutes” he ordered with his usual tone. “OK” she smiled cheerfully then left. Zero stared after her in wonderment … how did she do it? Smiling and teasing him when just minutes ago, she’d been held tightly in his arms, listening to him drinking her blood …

-- To Be Continued --