109Disclaimer: I don't own it, otherwise they wouldn't be so OOC :p.
Zero had a secret. Well, he had a lot of them. Everybody had a secret or two, some darker than the others. Zero's wasn't exactly dark, but more annoying. It was something that he hid quite well, even better than his level C vampire status. But then again, that wasn't exactly the best kept secret.
No, his caste was much more important to hide. It was part of his nature, as it had always been even before he was turned into a vampire. Of course, there were different castes. Humans were almost always Gamma, normal without any specific powers or dominance. Human betas were very far and few between, but they existed.
Beta's were a rank higher than Gammas, with a tad bit more dominance, depending on which direction they leaned into. All beta humans were beta leaning towards Gamma, while most vampires were beta or dominant betas, like vampire hunters.
At the top of the food-chain were of course the alphas, the most dominant of all castes. While most hunter alphas could pass as alphas leaning towards betas, pureblood vampire were full-blooded, single-minded alphas.
At the very bottom of the caste hierarchy were Omegas, the opposite of alphas. There are also two types of omegas. Ones who were on the verge of gamma, beta in case of hunters, and those who are full-blooded submissive. Did that make sense? To put it simple, the caste hierarchy went from top to bottom:
Alpha.
Alpha/beta.
Beta.
Beta/gamma.
Gamma.
Gama/omega.
Omega.
Zero was an omega. One of the very rare full-blooded ones. Omegas were as rare as alphas, the reason why was very simple. Both of them went through a cycle much like mating season. During that time, they were like animals, unable to be satisfied completely by other castes except their polar opposites.
It's not exactly that they become mindless sex-addicts, but there is a case of a one-track mind. Not to mention that during the so-called heat and rut week, they exclude a scent to attract potential partners. Another reason why Zero called vampires beasts, not that he was any different with his own caste.
Another side-effect of being an omega, unlike gamma, even men could get pregnant. Because there were so little omegas, suppressants and birth-control were discouraged. Omegas and alphas were treasured and thus urged to breed. The offspring would either be an omega or an alpha, depending on which gen was most dominant in the offspring.
An omega impregnated by an alpha received special treatment, meaning that they practically got paid to be pregnant. Zero couldn't care less. He wasn't planning on getting pregnant, ever. In fact, he would probably be fine if he was declared barren, which was even more rare, but wouldn't be the first case.
Omegas weren't exactly seen as weak, but they were considered fragile, especially when carrying a child. While alphas were worshipped, omegas were protected inside the house. Zero loathed being protected. He was a hunter of the Kiryuu clan, god-dammit! He'd rather chop off an arm before he was protected like some weak coward.
He had been protected by his parents and look at what had happened. Shaking himself out of those depressive thoughts, he grabbed the small jar and rubbed the balm over the scent-glands in his neck, effectively covering up his natural scent. His heat was coming up, sweetening his natural scent with hints of fertility.
Zero wasn't going to take risks, even if no gamma or beta could detect the shift in his scent. His heat would start by early morning the next day, or evening if he was lucky. Pulling on his black uniform blazer, Zero hid his gun from sight before stepping out of his dorm-room.
As always, he didn't bother with getting a full breakfast, settling for a quick jam toast before he was off to the stables. Zero didn't exactly understand why, but everyone on stable duty was too afraid to work with the white mare. Agreed, she could have a foul temper every once in a while, but that's no reason for her to deserve the nickname 'hell-horse'. Everyone had a bad day once in a while.
Zero greeted the stable keeper with a nod before he went over to the feeding cart that held the horse-food. After putting her food in her hook-over bucket and refilling the net in her stable with hay, he grabbed the light blue halter and lead-rope from the door of her stable. It had been Yuuki's choice of colour, or at least the second one as Zero had absolutely refused to be seen anywhere close to pink as had been her first option.
Since there was nobody else brave enough to handle the mare, Zero didn't have any trouble taking it upon himself, as long as he didn't have to get close to anything pink. As he reached the paddock, he raised his fingers to his mouth to whistle on them, watching the mare race over from all the way at the end of the paddock.
A soft, honest smile pulled on his lips as he watched the mare slow down in front of him, stopping herself before she could run into the fencing. Zero opened the paddock gate and stepped up next to the mare that frolicked around him happily like a young filly.
Zero gave a short chuckle before he patted her neck, calming her down enough to put on her halter. Holding her lead-rope loosely, he walked her back to her stall, ignoring her firm enthusiastic pace as she stayed next to him. Putting lily back in her stall, Zero gave her nose a gentle rub before making his way to the sink to wash his hands and get to class.
"Zero! Did you make your homework?" Yuuki asked stern as soon as he sat down on his seat in the backrow. Zero gave her a suspicious yet dry look as he could guess her intentions behind her question.
"Don't try to scold me when you actually want to copy it, idiot" he said as he held out the papers of his finished assignment.
"Uehehehe" Yuuki laughed guilty as she scratched the back of her neck before snatching away his papers.
"Thanks, Zero" she said as she quickly started to copy his work. The first four classes were hard to keep Zero's attention, even if he was able to easily answer any question the teacher fired at him for spacing out.
Deciding to fuck it, Zero skipped the afternoon napping on a fresh bale of straw next to Lily's stable. With his hands supporting his head and one foot lifted up, Zero opened his eyes as Yuuki stormed in the stables, ready to chew him out if it weren't for Lily trying to chase her out.
"Cross-over, right" Zero said as he sat up and yawned, patting Lily's leg before he got up. Oh how he hated cross-over. It was no secret that he hated vampires, everyone from the night class knew it. The fact that he himself was a vampire, only made him hate himself more on top of survivor's guilt.
He wasn't stupid enough to deny that he had that kind of trauma. It was just another problem to join his baggage. The sight of vampires he wasn't allowed to shoot just made that part of his baggage flash bright like a neon sign. But instead of feeling depressed, Zero switched the guilt into something that would help to keep his head above the water. Hate.
The guilt was still there like a rattlesnake coiled around his heart, but hate was just easier to handle. The silverette clicked with his tongue as the squeals of the day-class girls, and some boys, were audible even from a distance away from the gates.
"See! Now we're late because of you!" Yuuki complained before she ran towards the black crowd. Zero sighed as he felt a headache set in on top of the heat under his collar. His heat was beginning to flare and now that he was away from his safe-spot in the stables, he couldn't ignore the way his lower abdomen tingled and his body was sightly heating up.
Not enough to get a fever, but enough to loosen his tie and upper buttons on a late November evening. Seeing Yuuki struggle to get the students in check in front of the gates, he caught her with a hand on her back as she was almost pushed over.
"EVERYONE LINE UP!" he yelled as he glared at the crowd.
"And put that freaking ladder away before I put it away" he said irritated, the girl climbing the ladder not needing any hint to where he would put it away as she jumped off it.
"Thanks, Zero" Yuuki said as the gates behind them opened. The change in her expression was immediate. She went from her usual kind Yuuki, to the love-obsessed puppy that was starved for attention. The change brought a stab to Zero's chest, which he ignored with the ease coming from years of being in the same position.
"Let's get to work, Guardian" Zero said, unable to not point out the reason they were there in the first place. If it weren't for the fucking guardian duties, Zero wouldn't be found close to anything to do with vampires unless he was allowed to put a couple of bullets in between their eyes. He wouldn't be satisfied with only one.
Were his thoughts getting too murderous lately?
The difference in the two lines of admirers was clear as nobody dared to step over the line Zero created by just standing there with his hands in his pockets, while Yuuki's side was practically ignoring her.
Zero tried to keep his thoughts in safe, not gory territory when he saw Kaname walk up to the smaller brunette. He averted his eyes from the scene that was a bit too suggestive for him. His action caused his eyes to meet curious bright blue ones, belonging to Aidou.
The aristocrat had his head slightly tilted to the side, standing closest to Zero. The silverette frowned at the curiosity directed at him, feeling a tad bit uncomfortable but otherwise just irritation.
"Is there something wrong, Aidou-senpai?" he asked, not even trying to keep his voice from being too cold.
"You smell… different" the blonde said as he took another step closer to the hunter so he wouldn't draw too much attention. At his words, Zero tensed while some of the girls behind him who had heard the vampire, squealed.
"Kyaaa! Real life BL!" one said and Zero grimaced, sending a glare over his shoulders as Aidou seemed just as disgusted. How did they even get to that from one weird sentence?!
"I'm sure it's just your imagination, Aidou-senpai" Zero said as he turned his attention back towards the vampire in front of his, his trigger finger tingling. Aidou narrowed his eyes as he took another step closer, pushing a little past the brink of the personal bubble Zero had against vampires.
"I'm not too sure about" he said and Zero narrowed his eyes right back at the blonde, moving his gun hand out of his pocket in warning, though both of them knew he couldn't just whip out his gun with all the witnesses around.
"Looks like his majesty is done with his conversations. You better catch up to him before you lose sight of his butt to lick" Zero said, mockery clear in his voice as he referred to the pureblood and added a subtle insult to his sentence. For once, Aidou didn't raise to the bait and waited a second before turning to join the inner circle again.
"ALRIGHT! GET YOUR ASSES BACK TO THE DORMS OR YOU'LL BE STUCK WITH DETENTION!" Zero ordered and ignored the protests as he fell in line next to the night-class to escort them to the school building. No doubt Yuuki was somewhere at the front, following the vampire king with the vigour of a puppy waiting for its treat.
Zero felt a light twinge of jealousy, but he wasn't sure for what reason. Was it because Yuuki was looking at Kaname with those kind of eyes or the fact that she was able to have that kind of crush?
With everything he had seen, Zero knew he was unable to have a feeling that pure and innocent. That untainted and wholeheartedly. He didn't have a whole heart to begin with, how was he supposed to be so innocently in love? So blindly trusting in something that was hiding so much?
Zero didn't understand it, he never had. Did she not see the darkness the pureblood carried, or was she just selectively blind to it? Was that the reason why they called love blind? Zero only knew one love, which had gruesomely been taken away from him, leaving him broken and empty. Changed, in the most literal form of the word.
He was afraid. Afraid to trust, to get close to someone in fear of losing them again. But above all, he was afraid to love again. It was something that only brought pain and those who said that the good things were worth the pain, were just lying to themselves. Or maybe Zero was just running away.
But the current situation with Yuuki just made Zero a tad bit uncomfortable. Wasn't pretending not to see Kaname's darkness, not wanting to accept it? Kaname was a vampire, of course he'd have a lot of darkness. Vampires weren't exactly harmless little kittens. Wasn't Yuuki basically rejecting part of the person she claimed to love? Was Kaname okay with that?
Zero clenched his fists as he scowled at the ground in front of him. In the first place, why the hell did he care?! So what if Yuuki found it okay to pretend Kaname was all roses and sunshine? Why the hell was he thinking about something that wasn't his business?
It was Kaname's business if he wanted a half-assed love like that, getting hurt in the progress! As long as Yuuki was happy, that should be Zero's main concern! Not the fact that Kaname was only setting himself up for a strained relationship!
The silverette heaved a deep sigh from the bottom of his heart, messing up his hair in irritation as they finally reached the school building and took to guarding from the rooftop after returning from dinner time in the sun dorms.
"Zero? Are you okay?" Yuuki asked and the hunter glanced at her, unable to keep holding the gaze of the innocent brown eyes of his adoptive sister.
"'M fine. Shouldn't you go back to staring at your beloved leech?" he said snappy and Yuuki frowned with a pout and her hands in her hips.
"But if I do that, you'll scold me for not paying attention" she said and Zero scoffed as he looked over the forest stretching out below them.
"Not even going to deny it" he muttered under his breath and Yuuki huffed as she heard him no matter how silent he had intended to be.
"You're being prissy today, Zero. Maybe you should calm down a bit" she said before turning around to patrol the hallways. As soon as the door fell closed behind her, Zero released another sigh as he pulled his tie further down, unbuttoning his shirt a little more to cool his body down from his raised temperature.
Standing on the edge of the rooftop with his hands in his pockets and his blazer open, Zero tilted his head slightly as he looked at the moon starting to rise, feeling his eyes respond as they adjusted completely to the darkness around him. It pissed him off to admit, but it was one of the vampire traits that came in handy.
Allowing his mind to clear of any troubling thoughts, Zero started to hum as song he remembered from when he was younger. Ignoring the wind as it played with his blazer and hair, threatening to rip him from the rooftop if it weren't for the fact that he had a firm footing.
Also, it wasn't like the fall would kill him.
A tingle in the back of his neck alerted him that he was being watched, making him stop humming. Looking over his shoulder, his eyes once again met blue eyes. Zero realized that he would have to be more careful or Aidou would find out. The blonde vampire was a little too smart for his own good. Or at least for Zero's.
The silverette could see the gears turning behind blue eyes, preparing the dots to be connected. Zero resisted the urge to flip off the blonde nobble before he let his eyes travel to the only person who would be able to fully quench his lust. The only alpha roaming the school-grounds, but also the one Zero hated the most.
Zero tried not to show how startled he was when he found the burgundy gaze already resting on him with veiled curiosity. Cursing inside his head, he looked away again, but not after sending a glare at the pureblood. He didn't need more attention from vampires than he was already getting.
Taking his hands out of his pockets, Zero took a step forward off the rooftop. The impact with the ground send a twinge up his ankles, but he couldn't care less about it. Everything to get away from those freaking eyes. Zero started his patrol around the perimeter sending back at least three duo's of day class students to their dorms.
When their duties were almost finished, Zero went looking for Yuuki, wondering where she was since he hadn't seen her even once during his rounds. When she exited the building flanked by her beloved pureblood, Zero knew why. He gave a slight roll with his eyes at her hypocrisy before he turned around as not to have to look at them.
Honestly, and then she complained that he wasn't doing his job enough and skipped out of his duties.
"Ah, Zero! There you are!" Yuuki said as she caught sight of him and Zero resisted the urge to snort. If she'd have thought a bit, she would have known where to find him so there was no reason for her to act like she had been looking for him. It actually just hurt when she did that.
"Where have you been all this time? I thought you were going to help me inside" Yuuki said as she stepped up next to her fellow guardian, who glanced down at her with an unreadable expression. Did she expect him to follow her every move?
While he could agree that he had feelings for her, that didn't mean that his world revolved around her. He had said it to himself before. There was no way someone like him could feel something that whole-heartedly.
"Let's just get these leeches back to their habitat before they start to burn in the sun because you feel like scolding me" Zero said and almost flinched at the guilty look she gave him. Almost. He clicked with his tongue and let his hand come down on her lowered head.
"Sorry, that was too blunt" he said before walking off with a soft sigh. Honestly, what good did it do to work out his irritation over his heat out on her. She was a beta and she had most likely forgotten completely about his caste.
It wouldn't surprise him since the chairman had the same problem until he remembered why Zero would show up at his door for a week and cook up a storm to keep himself busy. Even during his heat, he didn't neglect his guardian duties, but just did them from a distance. Being too close to other people, especially those who were a bit more dominant, could bring trouble.
The chairman, while a beta/alpha, was a special case who had never shown interest in the castes. He simply didn't care about it and that animal part of his instincts never rose to the surface. Kaien Cross was one of the few people Zero trusted with his nature, for obvious reasons and less obvious ones. Otherwise he would never think about spending his heat in the chairman's house and would actually go off school grounds to spend his heat.
Zero enjoyed the cold wind blowing through his hair and clothes as they stopped at the gates, waiting for the night class to enter their dorm grounds, Kaname and his inner circle were last. After stepping through the gates, Kaname turned back to the two guardians.
"Thank you for your hard work and rest well, Yuuki, Kiryuu-kun" Kaname said and Yuuki smiled bright while Zero looked away, waiting for the moment the gates closed, signalling the end of their guard duties. On the way back to the sun dorms, Yuuki filled the silence with her chatter about the conversation she had had with Kaname when she had 'patrolled' the hallways.
Zero was not exactly ashamed to admit that it felt like heaven when he laid down on his bed, rose securely on top of his night stand, within reach at all times. Call him paranoid, he didn't care. Better safe than sorry.
Arigatou gozaimasu!
