[Fic] VK: Sunrise at Dawn

[keithan]

Fandom: Vampire Knight

Title: Sunrise at Dawn
Author: Keithan (keitn)
Disclaimers: Vampire Knight and its characters belong to their respective owners.
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: a bit of Kaname/Yuuki
Summary: Aidou had never seen Kaname other than being in total control of his composure. But what he gets a glimpse of gave him a bit of insight to Yuuki’s significance in the other’s life.
Based on: Manga and anime - for characterizations and character dynamics, and events, but no major spoilers for future chapters. Again, mainly just the past and present character interactions (particularly seen on Chapter 28) of Aidou and Kaname.

 

Sunrise at Dawn
by Keithan

Aidou swirled the contents of his glass around, watching as the pale red liquid danced its spiral motion within. “This isn’t enough,” he said, though the only one to hear him was lying asleep on one of the beds. He glanced at Kain, wondering how his sleeping roommate could get by with just two blood tablets before going to bed when he couldn’t even be satisfied with three.  He looked back at his glass, its contents starting to slow its swirl. It was his third one. He made a face at it, before lifting the glass to his lips and finishing the last half. He thought of slamming it down on the table, but he knew it would break. He laid it down without a sound, instead. He gave Kain another look, and assured that the other vampire wasn’t roused, he walked to the door and left. He didn’t feel like retiring to bed just yet.

It was just about dawn. Their classes usually ended before the first rays of the sun even touched the sky, so when Aidou brushed aside the window’s curtain at the end of their hallway, he saw the early morning light seeping through the clouds and staining it with the soft blue glow of another day.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

He froze at the sound of the voice that could pierce through the silence more than breaking a crystal glass could. His blood ran cold under his skin, and he clenched his fingers around the curtain. It was natural, he told himself of his reaction. Kaname was a pureblood. Aidou ignored the fact that there had been a time when he had refused to bow down to this pureblood.

Purebloods called to all other vampires even without having to open their mouths. Their presence was hard to miss except when they intended for it to be so. For some it was fear. For others, it was a natural instinct to obey, to heed the call, to bow your head in respect. But for Aidou, with Kaname Kuran he knew it was neither. For someone who had shunned Kaname more than once, he could honestly say that he held no such fear for him like others did. It was not blind faith or following of a vampire to a pureblood, but a conscious decision on his part to protect and follow this Kuran.

Aidou turned fully to face Kaname, the curtain dropping back to bathe them in shadows. He inclined his head in a slight bow. “Dorm leader Kuran,” he said. “I was not aware anyone is still roaming about.”

Kaname didn’t look at Aidou, but instead, walked to stand beside him and reached for the curtain he had dropped. “It’s beautiful, the sunrise,” he said, waving the curtain up again. “We don’t get to see much of it, but that makes it all the more beautiful.”

Aidou slid his eyes to the window. It was still dawn, and the sunrise hadn’t started yet. He didn’t know how to answer, but he nodded his head anyway. He took a step back, mindful of his place, and stood a little behind Kaname. He had crossed the line more than a few times, and he had no wish to do so again. At least that was what he always told himself especially when faced with their resident pureblood. It was easier for mischief to follow him when Kaname was particularly far away.

“You thirst,” Kaname said.

If Aidou could freeze himself with his natural abilities, he would have done so then. He knew the school rules. He knew the goal of having the Night Class established alongside the Day Class. He knew the reason why they were there, and to have Kaname point out his hunger to him, Aidou didn’t know if he should take it as a reprimand. He knew he should, but Kaname’s voice had been no different when he had talked about the sunrise. He opened his mouth to speak, but what could he say to the truth laid out between them? When Kaname turned his head to him, he bowed low instead in a silent apology. “Dorm leader Kuran.”

“Make sure your restlessness doesn’t get you careless.”

He could feel Kaname’s eyes on him, and he didn’t dare to bring his head up to meet it. He looked at the floor instead—his slippers were white and clean against the brown wooden floor. “Yes, Kaname.”

“Stay away from Yuuki.”

Aidou bit his lip to avoid any rash response. He nodded, knowing clearly that therein lay the reason for the tension between them, or at least on his part. They were never this formal. What formality existed between them went only as far as what the school required and what he willingly gave. Aidou could clearly remember the day he lifted his chin up and turned his back to Kaname—of all the vampires to ignore, it had to be a Kuran.

But the tension had been there ever since he had crossed some invisible line that he didn’t know existed around Yuuki Cross. He knew his renewed thirst for blood was because of his tasting her blood, and he had been edgy ever since. He nearly did it again, but restrained himself the last second. Days had passed, but he had never been alone with their dorm leader ever since that last incident. “About that, I apologize for my—“

Kaname waved a hand and he immediately closed his mouth. He took that as permission to rise. Kaname was no longer looking at him, and he watched as the pureblood bowed his head, eyes no longer interested in watching the sun rise. He stared instead at his other hand atop the sill. Aidou frowned at the thoughtful look on the other’s face, once again not understanding the attention Kaname often bestowed on Yuuki. But it wasn’t his place to ask.

Kaname brought his hand to the window and he laid his palm flat on the glass. “What does it taste like?”

Aidou’s eyes widened in surprise. It wasn’t a question he expected to ever hear from him, but there was no mistaking it. He searched for words, frantically grasping at what to say. It never occurred to Aidou that even Kaname, a vampire among vampires, a noble among nobles, was trapped as he were by mere bloodlust. He had always assumed that it was something that Kaname could easily ignore and that he was no longer tempted as strongly. Now that he thought about it, though, he marveled at such a restraint, especially since Kaname’s strong liking to the girl was now apparent to him. But just then, their pureblood president had cracked, and he was so tempted to poke at that slight opening to make it bigger. Perhaps then, Aidou would have a glimpsed of the Kaname he first met—the Kaname before his parents died.

Kaname Kuran had never shown anything but perfect composure and he exuded that air of superiority without even trying. Aidou knew that purebloods had that right, or rather, it was simply natural for them to act the way they did. They were born into the position. They knew no other way to carry themselves than to respond to being treated with such reverence and respect, or be guarded against hidden hostility and jealousy.

“Kaname.”

“Don’t answer that.” Kaname’s tone was like a dagger in its sharpness, and Aidou barely avoided flinching. His eyes drifted to the hand that was gripping the curtain much like he, himself, did just a few moments ago, only this was hard enough that he was surprised the curtain still hadn’t disintegrated yet. Kaname’s fingers were tensed and their grip was tight. Aidou realized with a start that it trembled slightly with what he assumed to be contained fury.

Aidou bared his fangs in a scowl and he clenched his hands into fists. He remembered the bite wounds on Yuuki’s neck, remembered the scent of her blood filling the air, and he saw in his mind the white bandage hidden beneath the hair and the raised collar. It still hadn’t healed.

 “How dare him.” The words left his mouth even before he could think, and he could feel his own anger building up inside him. “How dare him.”

Aidou was startled when the vases that lined the hallway on small round tables crumbled to ashes without so much as a crack first, one by one, until there were none left but mere powdered porcelain, becoming dust invisible in the air. Witnessing such uncharacteristic display of power, he wanted to slam his fist on the nearest wall, but he concentrated instead on not running out of the Moon dorm back to the school grounds. He had never seen Kaname this angry or affected by anything.

 “Let me deal with him, Kaname,” he said. “Let me deal with Kiryuu.” His voice was hard and determined, but he knew he wouldn’t act without the permission that he was seeking for first, even if he was angered enough to do more than just drawing Kiryuu dead in his notes this time. “He has gone too far.”

Kaname didn’t move. He just stood there as he did minutes ago when the sun was barely peeking out from the sky. Aidou turned his eyes to the window and saw that it had already showed a bit of itself, and he nearly thought that he had imagined the whole thing. But taking one quick look at the bare side tables along the hallway, he knew that it had been real.

They were suddenly enveloped in darkness once more when Kaname let go of the curtain. His hand dropped to his side. Aidou didn’t speak, but when Kaname did, his cool and calm voice pierced the silence just as it did earlier. “Leave it, Aidou.” There was no trace of any kind of fury or anger in his words, not a hint in his actions when he turned to face Aidou.

He gritted his teeth, not understanding such apparent restraint. “But Kaname!” He waved his hand, wanting the other to see reason. “Why do you even let him live? Transfer him to the Night Class and I’ll make sure—” The look Kaname threw him was enough. The raised hand wasn’t necessary. He shut his mouth and was briefly reminded of his place.

“You will not be sharing this information with the others,” Kaname said.

Aidou pursed his lips into a line, knowing he had revealed that he knew more than what Kaname wanted them to know. But he was never known for being the perfect subordinate. As soon as he decided to shut up, he opened his mouth again.  “But he’s a vampire. And how dare him touch what’s—“

“I said enough, Aidou.” Kaname’s eyes were enough to remind Aidou that he, himself, had dared to touch the girl. “No one’s touching Zero Kiryuu.”

“And Yuuki Cross?” The words just rolled off his tongue and he regretted them the moment they were out. He almost expected to be hit.

“Yuuki...” The way the name slipped past Kaname’s lips made Aidou think why he even wondered what the human’s significance was in this vampire’s life. Kaname looked down, and Aidou almost took a step back. Gone was the fire in Kaname’s eyes, and Aidou didn’t know what to make of his bowed head and distant look. “She would want him to be safe,” Kaname said, almost in a whisper.

It was settled with that. There was no mention of Zero ever laying a hand on Yuuki or any kind of retribution for the fact. Aidou clenched his jaw to stop himself from answering back. There was a reason he hated Zero Kiryuu. He had decided years ago that he’d protect Kaname Kuran. Seeing him suddenly change when his parents died, Aidou had given Kaname his silent allegiance, hoping to see the day Kaname would shed the shadows that cloaked him and return back to being the carefree pureblood vampire that Aidou knew he was. The fact that Kaname was stronger than him didn’t matter. If Kaname needed him, he’d follow and he’d offer his protection, however little it might seem. And Zero Kiryuu had been a threat to Aidou’s eyes ever since he saw the boy’s open hostility towards vampires. The fact that he was a Kiryuu, from a family of vampire hunters, didn’t help.

“Aidou,” Kaname said, the name a soft warning.

Aidou had enough sense to bow his head, letting him know that he understood. He didn’t need to be told twice that what they talked about must and should remain just between the two of them and that Kiryuu shouldn’t be found frozen anytime soon. “As you wish, dorm leader Kuran,” he said. “But I will not be held responsible for my actions if Zero Kiryuu chose to act against you.”

Kaname inclined his head to study him, and Aidou didn’t look away. He looked back straight to Kaname’s eyes letting him know he’d settle for no less. He thought Kaname almost smiled, but the pureblood looked back at the closed curtains and Aidou wasn’t able to tell for sure.

“The sun is rising. Go back to your room.” Kaname turned and walked past him, and Aidou kept his eyes on the floor, watching the black, polished shoes—a clear contrast to his white dorm slippers—walk soundlessly past.

“Your thirst,” Aidou said, and he didn’t even know why he did. Perhaps it was a noble’s attempt to bring a pureblood half a step down the high pedestal they were placed on. Or perhaps, it was Aidou’s way of reaching out to the Kaname that he had learned to respect beyond the natural hierarchy of their kind. He shook his head, and corrected himself, “Your longing for her... “

The black shoes stopped just barely past him.

“It’s not something any of you can even comprehend.”

“There’s a reason there.” Aidou looked up and focused his eyes on the side of the Kaname’s face. “Why?”

“She is Yuuki, Aidou,” Kaname said as if that was enough, and maybe it was. Aidou didn’t understand, but he didn’t have to.

He was left to stare at Kaname’s s retreating back. The early morning’s sunlight, weak and faint still, barely passed through the windows’ curtains yet what little made it through seemed too bright on Kaname in the darkness of the hallway. Aidou looked at the side table closest to him and reached a hand to touch it. Under his palm, he felt the roughness of the porcelain dust that were scattered on the otherwise smooth surface.

End
21.05.08