Circuit ( A Vampire Knight Fanfic)

Chapter 4 Part 1: To Save Those We Love

The campus was filled with Day class students, all enjoying the bright sunny day. It was a holiday, which led to classes being canceled. Maya sat underneath one of the maple trees, in skinny jeans, black t-shirt, and white converse, picking at the blades of grass one by one and creating a pile on her knee, her other hand playing with her side-braid. 

"You keep doing that  and there will be no grass left." Came a voice off to her left. 

"It grows back." She replied, looking up to see Zero who sat down next to her in a long pale blue shirt and tan khakis. 

"I'm sorry."

"What for?" She stared at him, brushing her grass pile from her knee.

"That I didn't contact you when I disappeared. To be fair, you didn't try to contact me either."

A slight, embarrassed blush flushed her cheeks feeling like a hypocrite. 

"You alright?" He asked. "You've been kind of quiet lately."

"You're one to talk. You used to talk non-stop."

"So did you."

"Yeah yeah... I'm fine...just distracted. I wish Kaien would allow me to go to the Association, but he's bent on me staying here."

"I'm sure he'll come around. He cares about you, and he's worried since you haven't spoken to him all week."

A lightbulb went off in her head. "Did he make you come over here to talk to me?" As if to answer her question, she looked past Zero to see Kaien standing on the opposite end of campus, watching them from afar.

"Seeing as you'd probably punch him, I'd be the better choice...and I know you better."

"Mmmhmm..." Was her only response. 

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Three days passed

Maya stayed up late after patrol, sitting on the edge of one of the rooftops of the lecture hall.The sound of footsteps caught her attention. Looking down she spotted Kaname Kuran walking underneath her. She jumped down, landing gracefully on her feet with a hand to steady herself.

"Kuran! What are you doing out here!"

"I smelled blood."

Her eyes widened. She hadn't smelled any. "Blood?" Maya picked up her pace almost to a jog and entered one of the nearby staircases that he had said the smell was coming from with the pureblood vampire at my heels. Running up at least two flights of stairs, she froze, the picture in front of them making her heart stop. Yuuki was standing away from Zero, swaying slightly. Zero was standing near a window, breathing heavily. His eyes no longer red, but blood ran down his chin onto his neck, staining his white shirt collar.

Kuran walked passed me, catching Yuuki as she passed out. "So, the beast in you you've tried to hide has finally shown itself. You've drained Yuuki of so much blood that she can't even stand." He looked at Zero dead in the eye. "Was her blood really that delicious?"

A horrified look appeared on Zero's face as Kuran picked Yuuki up into his arms, then Kuran turned to me. "Take care of that...I'll speak to Cross about this." He said, eyes flicking to Zero as he descended the staircase to leave her alone with her best friend. 

"You're a vampire." She finally said, finding the effort to speak. It broke the deafening silence that had hung over the two of them for what seemed like an eternity. Zero didn't reply, lowering his head so that Maya couldn't see his face, but his shoulders were trembling ever so slightly. Slowly, she approached him.

"Don't!" He yelled. "I don't want to hurt you too..."

She continued her advancement until she was standing next to him, placing a gentle hand on his lower back. "I know you won't Ze...come on, let's get you cleaned up." Maya kept her voice gentle. They walked back towards the boy's dorm, knowing that he wouldn't want to go back to Kaien's house if Yuuki was still there.

Maya thought that he would pull away from her and tell her to go away, but he remained silent. There was still some ruckus or laughter in some of the boys' rooms as they passed down the hall, but made it safely to Zero's room without being seen. She watched as he walked in and slid down to the floor at the foot of his bed, becoming motionless. Maya stood there for a moment, then wandered in, shutting the door and made her way into his bathroom. Her eye caught sight of a half-empty box of blood tablets sitting on the edge of the sink and her lips thinned, pity eating away at her insides.  Grabbing an old hand towel with bleach stains on the corner and wetting it under the tap before squeezing out the access water she made her way back into Zero's bedroom.

Zero was still sitting on the ground, had shed his jacket and ruined shirt were now in a pile next to him, leaving him shirtless. A tattoo was now visible on the left side of his neck, a permanent sign that a he was a tamed vampire. She had never noticed it before, the tattoo having been covered by the collared shirts and jackets he wore all the time. His eyes were closed, face looking somewhat relaxed as if he'd zoned out. 

Maya knelt down in front of his crossed legs, gently putting the corner of the damp towel on his face. He jumped, eyes snapping open with surprise. In return, she gave him a small apologetic smile, raising the other hand to hold his chin, while the other began to wipe the blood carefully away. She kept her attention on the mess on his face but stopped when he grabbed and pulled away her towel filled hand. This caused Maya to look up, lilac eyes staring at her intently. 

"Why aren't you afraid of me? I'm a monster." She opened her mouth to reply, but he continued. "You saw what I did to Yuuki. How can you not be angry with me? How can you not be frightened of disgusted by me? I could do the same to you one day when I lose control completely."

"Do you really think that this change is going to make me hate you, Ze? I could never hate you..."

"Sure." He snorted, a hint of doubt pure in his voice but she chose to ignore it and pulled her hand away from him to continue wiping away the blood. It had been quite a lot, some of it ending up on his chest. As she cleaned, clear liquid dripped onto the back of her hand and her eyes shot up to his face, seeing fresh tear tracks. 

This had caused her to pull back all the way, leading him to hunch over, elbows on his legs, hands gripping his bowed head. "It makes me sick, thinking about blood, craving it all the time. All because of that disgusting woman sho slaughtered my family in cold blood. Everyone hates me for what I am, Hunter bloodline be damned. I'm a bloodsucking monster!"

Her own eyes burned with the threat of oncoming tears, just now realizing how much pain Zero was in. He'd kept these vampire instincts at bay for five years, suffering from bloodlust and pain all alone, distancing himself from other so that he couldn't hurt anyone else. It was not humoring at all, but it immediately reminded her of her brother Jax. She was glad that she could save one, having not been able to save the other. Zero's cold and uncaring facade was just an illusion to the broken boy she saw sitting before her, raw emotions finally out for her eyes only. His shoulders shook and she could hear quiet broken sobs escape his chest.

Maya sat down, scooting closer to him and put a hand on the back of his neck, resting her forehead against his. Her own tears fell to the carpet between them, evidence of their own inner turmoil that they'd kept locked away. 

Author's Note: Another short one, but I like to try and condense the material and not over-do it with things that aren't very central to the storyline. If you fear I've missed out anything, please let me know. 

Disclaimer: All rights go to the wonderful Matsuri Hino!