Zero: Another chapter?

Me: Yeah, you wanna face off with Kaname, don't you?

Zero: …Are you serious?

Me: ^_^ Mayybeee… Oh, no! I just gave away the chapter content!

Zero: That's your problem. Do I finally get to shoot Kaname Kuran?

Me: I've said too much already!

…

That Level E would pay for stealing my Yuuki away from me. I'd been looking for my dear Yuuki through a window in the classroom, and what should I find, but Zero holding her in his arms, kissing her. Holding Yuuki. My Yuuki. Kissing Yuuki. My Yuuki.

"Lord Kaname?" said a soft voice behind me.

"Yes, Ruka?" I answered without turning, watching as the two down on the grounds finally broke apart.

"You seem…very interested in that Day Class girl," she said slowly.

"Yes."

"I was…I, um…I was wondering…Why?"

I sighed. Ruka had been infatuated with me since I'd first met her. It bordered on an unhealthy obsession, and it was rather tiresome, but I would not be so cruel as to tell her that.

"There's not a single girl in her class, or ours, that's anything like Yuuki Cross. For someone so used to the dark, she's a rather blinding sight."

I knew that I hadn't really answered Ruka's question, but she left with a soft sigh.

"Class, you are dismissed for the night," said our instructor. As one the Night Class rose and filed out of the room I followed, slightly behind the others, until we were outside. There I changed my course. I wasn't returning to the Moon Dorm. Not yet.

The night was cool and dark; clouds obscured the moon and stars. The Academy looked like a stone palace, half-lit with candles and weak starlight. I could hear every little sound; the lightning bugs buzzing in the trees, the light footsteps of the Night Class as they left for the Dorm. The slightly louder footsteps as my Yuuki patrolled the grounds. A light breeze rustled the branches of the trees and carried the sweet scent of wildflowers and evergreens. It was a soothing scent, but I didn't find peace in it.

It didn't take long to track down my goal. Zero was in the stables, lying back in the pile of loose hay beside a brilliant white horse. He looked up when I stepped in, and scowled.

"What do you want, Lord Kaname?" he spat my title with contempt.

"I want you," I said softly, "to cease in your attempts to take Yuuki away from me."

The look on Zero's face was infuriating. Outrage, incredulity.

"Take Yuuki away from you?" he snarled. "She's not a possession to be stolen or won, vampire. Yuuki's a person with feelings."

"Yes, I am aware of that," I answered, still in the same quiet voice. "And I want you to stop toying with them. You would only hurt her. You will devolve into a Level E, and then what? Yuuki would be ruined. You will only cause her pain, Zero Kiryuu. You know this, so why keep any pretense that you two could have a happy ending? You are only playing with her emotions, trying to keep her away from me."

Zero laughed, without humor.

"I sure as Hell don't want her to be with you, but I wouldn't try to keep you two apart. Not if that's what she wanted. The problem is, she doesn't want you, Kaname Kuran. She never did. And I'm not toying with her. I love her. Plain and simple. Not everything revolves around you, leech."

For a split second I did not know what to say, but then my brain registered a key point that Zero had, most certainly on purpose, not mentioned.

"You're avoiding a key part that I mentioned," I said smugly. "You're going to become a Level E. Then what? Any façade you have managed to keep of love will fall apart. That moment will shatter Yuuki. Do you want to be the cause of that?"

Zero glared at me and opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

"See? You know I'm right."

Zero seemed to be struggling with himself. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides, and his eyes were dark and stormy. I took some satisfaction in that. He believed he would hurt Yuuki, and he definitely didn't want that. He would do anything to protect her. That I knew with utmost certainty.

That knowledge made my stomach churned ever so slightly. Zero was, in all senses of the word, Yuuki's protector. I knew he cared for her—of course I knew. Maybe he really did even love her. Was it really my place to take that away? Maybe this was something that I couldn't help, something that I shouldn't be interfering with. But, all I had to do was think of that scene from the window, Zero kissing Yuuki, and boiling fury replaced the uncertainty. Yuuki was mine. No one else's. No matter how Zero Kiryuu felt, nothing gave him the right to take that small girl away from me.

"I know…" Zero said softly. "That I'm not the best choice for her. I know that she could do better.

"So let her."

He glared at me, eyes flashing.

"Let me finish, Vampire. I know Yuuki could do better. God knows she deserves the best. But I love her. I would never force myself on her. It's her decision to send me away or keep me. No one else's. I am here until Yuuki doesn't want me to be. However, she accepted me, Kaname Kuran, accepted all of me, and she thinks she can stop the devolution to Level E. It isn't your choice, or even mine."

I stared at him. The passion in his eyes, and the fire in his words, dimmed my own. It made my heart twist again. He would never let her go, unless she wanted it. Zero would protect Yuuki with his dying breath. He wouldn't give up. Especially not to me.

The thought made me both happy, and angry. Happy that Yuuki could have someone so devoted, so passionate for her. Angry, because that person at her side, in possession of her love and adoration, should be me. Not Zero. And he would never allow that on his own. And somewhere deep inside of me, I knew that Yuuki would never send him away. That little shadowed part of me knew that she loved Zero, had loved him since they'd met, and that she could never feel the same way for me. I knew it, but that didn't change anything. Not how I felt for her, or what I thought of the filthy Level E.

I leaned forward, so I was right in his face. He scowled, but didn't move. Our eyes locked, and I was startled by the determination in his.

"You may think you've won this. But Yuuki won't feel this way toward you forever. She was mine by design, and I will wait patiently until she tires of you, which she will. Enjoy it while it lasts, Zero."

And with that I turned on my heel and exited the stables.

~Zero~

That pompous, pretentious, arrogant bastard. Speaking of Yuuki as though she was some…prize to be won. Like she was an object without thoughts or feelings of her own. I knew she deserved far better than me, but somehow, inexplicably, Yuuki Cross had chosen me. Whatever Kaname Kuran said, I trusted Yuuki with my life, and my heart. Yuuki would never make a decision unless she was absolutely sure about it first. Except on Valentine's Day, when she made those chocolates and still couldn't figure out if she would even give them to that stupid vampire. Didn't that prove that she cared more for me than Kaname?

You would only hurt her, his words echoed in my mind.

No! I thought fiercely. I would never hurt Yuuki. Never. That pureblood was wrong.

"Zero?" Yuuki's voice called from outside. I allowed a small smile to cross my face. She always knew where to find me. "Zero, come on out of hiding! Our shift is over!"

Sighing, I rose to my feet and brushed off the hay that clung to my clothes before joining Yuuki outside. She was pink-cheeked, her hair was ruffled, and she was breathing heavily, as thought she'd run all the way here from wherever she'd been. She smiled when I came out, and reached out for my hand. I twined our fingers together, leaning down and kissing each of her fingers. She giggled.

"I wasn't hiding. But I could tell by hearing that no one from the Day Class was out tonight."

She huffed indignantly.

"Couldn't have told me that before I decided to run the perimeter and scour the grounds, I suppose?"

I suppressed a smile. Yuuki was at her most enticing when she was irritated. The way her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparked, it made her, to be frank, rather cute.

"You can wipe that smirk off your face. I know you were fighting with Kaname."

That put a wrench in my gears. Before I could ask how much she had heard, or if she was angry about the topic that had been covered, she put my mind at ease. Kind of.

"I showed up expecting to find you asleep, and instead I see Kaname leaving the stables looking completely furious. He knew I was there, so I talked to him briefly, and he—"

The way Yuuki cut herself off, and her eyes shot away from mine, and her teeth attacked her lower lip, sent me into full-on protection mode.

"What?" I almost growled. "What did he say to you?"

Blood was welling up where she was biting her lip, but she didn't appear to have noticed. Only then did I realize how pale she looked, and how erratic her heart beat still was. That asshat! Her disheveled appearance took on an entirely new light.

"What did he do?" I amended, feeling my blood boil. "What did he do to you?"

~Yuuki~

I was just coming out of the trees when I saw Kaname, of all people,leave the stables, looking livid. No, that couldn't be. Even if Kaname was angry, he would keep his cool. The moonlight must be playing tricks or—crack! Several tree branches snapped from the trunk and tumbled to the ground, shortly followed by the entire tree. Alright, he was definitely angry. And then another thought registered. Zero was the only one I'd ever seen come close to riling Kaname up, other than when Aidou had tried to take my blood, which meant those two had just had a confrontation. And if Kaname looked nearly murderous, what state was Zero in?

I barely had time to wonder, though, because just then Kaname became aware of my presence. He turned toward me, and all at once, his anger evaporated, at least from his face, to be replaced by a warm, if slightly tight, smile.

"Yuuki. I trust you've had no problems tonight?" he asked, walking forward. I shook my head and gave him my own small smile.

"None at all, Lord Kaname."

He frowned slightly at my use of his title, the way he did every time I used it.

"Really, Yuuki, why must you always be so professional?" He took my hand as he spoke, and I blinked in response. He leaned down, his breath warming my face as he spoke. "It isn't necessary."

I shrugged, fighting the impulse to step back. I didn't want to upset Kaname, but the sudden proximity was a bit uncomfortable. At least, it was for me. But for Kaname, the man, the vampire whom I'd come to respect so much, it was very clearly not close enough.

With a moan that turned by face bright red, Kaname knotted his fingers in my hair and pulled my face to his, crushing his lips to mine. I was stunned. Frozen. His free hand, the one that had been holding mine, began to slide down my back, fingers just sliding over the bare skin at the hem of my top. It wasn't until his tongue, warm and gentle and probing and completely unwelcome, had pushed past my lips did I finally regain my senses. I raised my hands between us from where they had been limp at my sides, and pushed against his hard chest. The strength I possessed wouldn't have been enough on its own, but Kaname was a decent man, and stepped away the moment he'd sensed struggle, so quickly you'd have thought I may have burned him. Judging by his face, it would have hurt less if I did.

The way he looked at me then, his large eyes full of confusion and anger and pain, had guilt slicing through my chest, even though I'd been right to pull away. I didn't share his feelings—I hadn't even known he had those thoughts—and if I had ever led him to believe otherwise, then I was extremely remorseful that I had.

"I'm sorry, Yuuki. I had to do that, at least once." And without another word, he turned on his heel and disappeared with a grace and speed that only vampires could boast.

~Zero~

I felt my insides clench and burn in fury. That leech, that disgusting, pompous blood sucking parasite! He had the gall to touch Yuuki, my Yuuki (whatever I told Kaname about her not being property to be claimed, I was, and had always been, rather possessive.) right after a nice little chat about respecting our stalemate. What I wouldn't give to empty a clip from my Bloody Rose in his head right now.

"Zero?" Yuuki said softly. I looked down at her, so small and fragile, and my anger melted away, to be replaced by a much softer emotion. One I had felt every day I had known her since the first. She took my hand, and warmth spread through me. "Promise me you won't do anything to Kaname? He didn't mean to—to hurt me. He pulled away the second I resisted. I think… It's my fault, I guess. Somewhere I must have made him think I thought of him as something more than a friend. That's all, Zero. Don't do something rash. It'll only hurt us both." Her tone was so gentle, so reasonable. And completely, stone-cold resolute. She was not going to accept any raving tantrums from me. And I wouldn't grace Kaname with as much anyway.

I leaned down, touching my forehead to hers, and wound my arms around her waist. She reciprocated, and I whispered into her ear, my lips just barely brushing the delicate shell.

"I promise, Yuuki."

She shivered as my breath warmed her ear, and pulled my mouth down to cover hers. At once it was as though a fire had been started within me, spreading to my very fingertips, as her lips moved with mine, her body pressed perfectly to my own.

…..

Zero: Not quite the ending I'd wanted, but it'll do.

Me: Take it or leave it, pretty boy.

Zero: I'll take it, definitely.

Me: Good, because I wasn't changing it.