Bleed Me (A Vampire Knight Fanfiction- Kaze)

2. Going Under

He knew the time had begun for him to reveal himself as slipping and had displayed signs of it oh-so-carefully for the past three weeks, the slow degradation to level-D, showing symptoms of one who was soon to fall even further.

He had been patrolling the academy for the past hour and it was only when he felt Yuki draw closer did he began to mimic the symptoms- shivering, growling, clawing of the throat, and so on.

He was in the second floor stairwell when she found him and he rammed himself into the back wall to 'escape' her.

"Stay back!"

"It's okay, Zero. I'm not going to hurt you..." She began, stopping when she caught sight of his glowing crimson eyes.

"You're... you're a vampire, Zero?"

Yuki stilled, but only momentarily, and his beast purred, calling for her to come closer- to welcome him with open arms so he could devour all that she was.

He had to remind himself that draining her would be a problem- no, he couldn't do that, but he had already decided to have a small taste.

"Go!" He shouted, but she began to approach him.

"Zero, let me help you, you can-you can drink from me. That will help, right?"

Sweet Yuki, so filled with the desire to help- but so filled with stupidity it would seem, stepping forward till she had cornered him in the stairwell, her scent thick and cloying in the air around him.

Something was off about her scent- he had never detected it before, but he did now.

But he had already made up his mind and his eyes narrowed on her slender neck, his body uncoiling, his hand reaching out to draw her closer.

Slowly- he had to be slow.

He needed Kuran to be here when it happened- if only so the other pureblood could play knight in shining armor to her.

Yuki unbuttoned her collar, removing the tie that held her uniform jacket in place.

"Drink, Zero."

In a single moment he struck, latching onto her with his sharpened canines, drinking from her in fast, brutal pulls- he had to make it seem like he was desperate after all.

He wasn't in actuality- he had a few donors spread out in the towns surrounding the Academy- most of them level-C vampires that would simply die for the chance to stand before a pureblood. Of course, he had to command them to keep quiet about him using the Call, but it didn't take away the fact that for a few minutes he would bring them the pleasure of kneeling.

And if he had stayed in their presences for a few more hours for playtime- who really needed to know?

It was only a minute into his drinking from her that he found it with his senses- a seal.

Not a hunter's seal, but a pureblood's- he recognized it as Juri Kuran's work.

Juri had been but a girl when he first met her and her brothers, but he had been the one to train her in the sparse magic that vampires could master- the one set of abilities that hunters held the advantage over their race..

Yuki was a hidden pureblood- oh, how utterly delightful.

But he would leave her seal intact- it would do him no good to reveal himself as a pureblood so soon as only a pureblood could remove seals such as those.

He began to slow just as Kuran ripped her from his grip and threw him into the far wall, forcing Zero to collapse.

He finally looked up a moment later- oh yes, he could see the resemblance as clear as day now. How he had never picked up on their similar features he could never know- the only thing that separated them was subtle coloring differences that marked them as human and vampire.

"Have you already fallen so low, Kiryu?"

With a single pinch Kuran knocked Yuki unconscious, leaving the two of them in the hallway alone.

Zero said nothing, waiting for the other to make his move.

"This cannot be ignored," Kuran drawled, "I won't allow you to endanger Yuki."

"Why you seem to think I would ever want to intentionally hurt Yuki, I have no clue, Kuran."

Inwardly, Zero scoffed at the statement he made.

Yeah, he had wanted to hurt Yuki before- the girl thought she could punch him every time he stepped a toe out of her predetermined lines. The only reason he had not reacted in kind was to preserve the image that he was in love with the brat.

The brown haired pureblood's mask cracked for a second and Zero glimpsed his lips frown before it was sealed back perfectly once more.

Eventually they ended up in the headmaster's house, Cross stitching Yuki up before they were both led into his office.

Kuran looked damn near demanding as he argued for Zero to be transferred to the Night Class but the prefect himself was unconcerned, leaning against the window sill as the pureblood formed near perfect logic to sway the headmaster.

Zero didn't particularly care if he ended up in the Night Class, in utter honesty.

On one hand, it would be difficult to maintain his act- but one the other hand, it meant he had a front row seat to Kuran's plans as they unveiled.

Actually- being in the Night Class might be worth the risk.

He kept a scowl pasted on his face a he thought it over in his head, plotting out reworkings of his own plans- not that any of them had ever really solidified, no, he would need to know Kuran's plans to fully solidify any of his plans in advance.

"Kaname-kun, I see you have already made up your mind." Cross sighed.

The headmaster glanced over at Zero, drawing the male's attention.

"What do you think, Zero? Do you need to be in the Night Class, or do you think you should remain in the Day Class?

Zero glanced away and shrugged.

Cross sighed once more, "I'll work through the transfer papers tonight then. I shall have to work to find another prefect as well. Zero, do you have any recommendations?"

"Wakaba." He stated through clenched teeth, begrudgingly.

"Ah yes, Yori-chan."

The rest of the meeting pass uneventfully and soon Kaname and Zero both walked out of the office and out the door.

Kaname glanced at Zero from the corner of his eyes, "I am surprised you didn't put up a fight, Kiryu. Could it be you think I'm right?"

Zero rolled his eyes, "At least I won't have to get stuck doing all the day class shit they dump on me just to swoon over all of you bloodsuckers."

Kaname chuckled, "Never took you for an optimist, Kiryu."

"Well, we all have to abate the apathy somehow."

They parted ways at the path where the school diverged from the Dorms.

Kuran told him to pack his things and have them sent over the next evening- he was to move in the next night.

Apparently Kuran was in a rush.

Zero nodded and left, his mind focused on strategies as to how to get a better handle of the brunet's well-crafted plans without attracting too much attention.

He toyed with each strategy, but they all carried the risk of his class being discovered.

But perhaps that would not be so bad- perhaps he'd even get to throw a surprise the ancestor's way.

Zero chuckled to himself quietly.

He could just see Kuran's face now.