Rare (Vampire Knight)

Chapter 16

Charlotte squinted her eyes at the man sat at his desk, a chess board in front of him with new pieces as well as a new set up from the last time she had seen it. He was staring down at it with a look of concentration as well as expertly hidden worry in his brown eyes but she was able to see right through him. She sighed, leaning over the desk and taking his cheeks into her hands.

"You're always so serious and broody. Smile... lighten up," she pinched his cheeks, pulling them out with a frown. He looked away from the chess board and up at her, his eyebrows raised but not bothering to smack her small, pale hands away from pinching his cheeks. "It's kind of unsettling when you're so serious." She released his cheeks and pulled herself up onto his desk to sit on top of it by the chess board and they both looked down at it now that she was sat and settled, sitting Indian style atop his desk. "So... are you going to tell me about this new game? Don't try and tell me 'no' because I already know I'm a pawn in this... and by the way you're looking at me with your clouded over brown eyes, seemingly deep in thought, I can gather that I'm quite an important one otherwise you wouldn't be investing so much time in me. I want to know the rules so I can play... I want to know if I can break them." She had a small smirk on her face as she looked away from him and down at the chess pieces on the board.

A small smile formed on his lips at his words, an idea striking him, "Tell you what, Miss Aido, if you can correctly identify your piece on this board and tell me why you're there, I'll tell you all about our new game." He truthfully didn't want to tell her about it, didn't want her to feel threatened or intimidated by the game, or even used by the reality of this new game they had began. She knew she was nothing but a pawn to him, his little soldier that he could move and use wherever he wanted as well as whenever he pleased, but she still somehow managed to do as SHE pleased, forcing him to move her elsewhere where she seemed more needed. She was unpredictable and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. He hoped she wouldn't find the piece that represented her, hoped she'd make the wrong guess. He didn't like underestimating her as she very powerful even now when she still wasn't complete, but he had high hopes that she'd choose the wrong one as she couldn't yet hear his thoughts like she soon would be able to.

She stared at the board for one full minute, her eyes narrowed as she scanned the places of the pieces. Her eyes flitted over the black and white chequered board, her chin resting on her fist as her elbow was resting on her thigh. Many ideas and possibilities were flying through her head as she took in the positions and her dark blue eyes sparkled as her eyes fell on a trio of white pieces in the back corner of the board and she reached out to the one on the right of the centre piece that was in front of the other two, "This one is me."

He sat back in his chair, masking his look of surprise and tried to calm down his heartbeat as she had chosen correctly almost effortlessly in such a short time. He put on an amused mask and crossed his arms over his chest, "What makes you think that is you? Why do you think that is your piece? Who are the other two behind you?" She sighed, running her hand through her hair with an eyebrow raised.

"Well, assuming I'm important," she grabbed the centre piece that was placed behind her, "an important... pawn... would protect the queen, wouldn't they? The queen is Yuki, you make it too obvious. Yuki's the queen and you're the king." She pointed to the king as she set down the queen back in the place it had been before. She grabbed one of the pawn beside the queen, "This is Zero." She set it back down and picked up the piece she believe to represent her, one of the knights, "And this is me. The pawn, Zero, is closest to Yuki because he can protect her better as he's with her almost all of the time. I'm second closest, I'm the knight, because I'm stronger than Zero. I can protect her as well as him. There were two options for me, weren't there? I was a knight from the beginning, from the moment I came to this academy." She set down the knight with a smirk, "You could have either surrounded yourself with both knights, me and Seiren, but you placed us appropriately, where we were needed most, we were placed where we'd both be benefitted more, where we'd be of more use. I protect Yuki in the... wider image of things, I protect her indirectly and that's why I'm placed in front of her and Zero, whilst Zero protects her directly, that's why he's right beside her."