Rare (Vampire Knight)

Chapter 21

Yuki watched as the two slowly walked in a circle around each other, a playful look in both of their light coloured eyes. She found a small smile on her lips at the happiness in Zero's eyes, a happy and playful look she had never seen in him before and she couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Charlotte had only been in Zero's life for a year and she had a bigger impact on him than Yuki did who had been there for him for the last four. But the brunette quickly came to the realisation that Charlotte had come into the boy's life before all the bad had happened, she had gotten there when he was truly happy and everything was okay.

Yuki yelped when Zero suddenly swung at the blonde and she briefly feared that his fist would make contact with her face, but her eyes widened when Charlotte evaded his swing with ease. He swung a couple of more times and missed each one as Charlotte moved swiftly and gracefully to avoid being punched in the face. The playful look was still in their eyes but a more determined look fell onto Zero's face as he kicked his foot out way too quickly for the girl to move out of the way and he finally caught her. His foot made contact with her stomach and sent her flying back, but she caught herself mid-air and flipped backwards to land gracefully on her feet.

Charlotte slid under his arm as he swung at her again. She grabbed onto his arm once she was behind him and she forcefully turned him around, causing him to spin and she smirked just before she rammed her forehead into his and he stumbled back when she let him go. She laughed and twisted out of the way as he tried to swing again, "You were never that good at weaponless combat."

"Neither were you!" He snapped and tried to hit her again, but she ran forward under his arm and wrapped her arms around his torso, successfully tackling him and they rolled a couple of times before they came to a stop with her sitting on his stomach with her hands pinning down his wrists. He struggled against her, but she held him in place, a growl of frustration leaving his lips. He finally broke her grasp and threw her over his head and she rolled onto her feet.

"There were a lot of things you didn't know," she laughed, pushing her fringe out of her eyes and she stood up before doing a backflip and landing on her feet to avoid another swing. "As an aristocrat, we're taught a lot of things, like how to fight without our abilities." She ducked under his arm and swung her fist for the first time. She didn't hit him in the face but the chest, knocking the air out of his lungs and he stumbled back with a gasp, a hand clutching where she hit and he glared at her as he struggled for breath. She gave him an almost cruel smile as she kicked her foot out to its full extent and she caught him in the throat. She lurched forward and caught him before he fell and held him as he struggled for breath. She patted his pale cheek and pushed his hair out of his eyes, "You've certainly gotten better, though, just have to be quicker."

He stood up, twisting out of her grasp after finally catching his breath and he had a small smile on his face, "Is there anything you can't do?" There was a twinge of annoyance in his voice as he practically hissed at her. She smirked and shrugged as she decided it was finally time to pull up the zip of her jumper. He dusted off his trousers before ruffling her fringe, causing the waves in her hair to tangle and she huffed and forcefully ran her fingers through her fringe.

Yuki laughed awkwardly and tapped Charlotte's shoulder, "If you're here to help me with patrols... we should get going to actually do the patrols." Charlotte turned to the girl, looking at her for a couple of long seconds before nodded and forcing out a bright smile. They both waved goodbye to Zero before walking away from him. Charlotte was much taller than Yuki so the girl had to look up at her. "Charlotte... how old are you?"

Charlotte hummed out, "Sixteen... but I turn seventeen over the break. My birthday's the twenty-third of December." She had her hands in her jumper's pockets as she walked beside Yuki. "You're... fifteen, right? First year? About the right time, yeah? Zero's a first year as well... but he's seventeen, did he not pass the entrance exam the first time round?" She furrowed her eyebrows together, thinking about how ridiculous that sounded, it was so unlikely that Zero wouldn't pass as he had always been smart when it came to academics.