• ….

    “Who wrote it?”

    “How am I supposed to know?”

    “Well, for one thing you know everything, Kaname.” Ichijou said, folding his arms across his chest.

    The Kuran pureblood sighed and looked at the engraved words pensively. He then, stooped down at the very bottom of the statue and ran his long, delicate fingers on the carved inscription. Kaname tilted his head to the side as he continued to ponder on what it really meant. Although it seemed trivial… and was completely none of his business… something at the pit of his stomach told him that it was of utmost importance that he found out who engraved the darned writing.

    Forever XOXO

    Obviously, it must’ve been written by some love-sick student, most likely one of the Day Class girls. But really, it didn’t make any sense. Forever ‘hugs and kisses’? What the hell did that mean?

    “Do you have any ideas, Ichijou?” Kaname looked over his shoulder.

    The blonde shook his head in response. Honestly, why was Kaname getting all worked up about this? It really didn’t matter who did it or what it meant… But he had to admit, seeing the Dorm President getting flustered over such a silly thing was rather… amusing.

    “X-O-X-O.”

    Kaname ran a hand through his hair, still in deep thought. It still made no sense, no matter how much he tried to think about it. All that registered in his head was ‘hug and kisses’. Was that all it was? Or was there some other secret meaning to it?

    “Hugs and kisses.”

    “Hm?”

    “That’s what it really means, right? It’s something you put at the end of a letter.” Ichijou’s brow shot up to his hairline.

    “I’ve thought about that… but… ‘forever hug and kisses’ hardly makes any sense.”

    “Well… you can’t really expect humans to make much sense.” The blonde chuckled.

    “Still…”

    Ichijou heaved a long sigh and scratched the back of his head. Was Kaname going to spend all night trying to decipher the writing? The moon was shining brightly and it would be perfect to take a little stroll. He would much rather walk around the campus, feel the cool night breeze against his face or maybe read some of his manga under the moonlight than stand around trying to figure out some gibberish that someone had scribbled on a statue.

    “Kaname…”

    “Shush.”

    The Kuran waved his hand impatiently at Ichijou. If he wanted to leave, so be it. He was overly curious now and was racking his brain for some answers. Kaname bit his lip. Dammit. He really had no idea.

    “Kuran.” A familiar voice suddenly said from behind.

    Zero Kiryuu raised an inquisitive eyebrow. What were the vampires doing over at the statue? A crazy thought entered his head. Oh, hell no.

    “There’s a bathroom at your dorm, right?” Zero stuffed his hands in his pockets.

    Ichijou and Kaname looked at each other for a moment, confused at what the prefect just said. Then it hit them. Ichijou laughed out loud while Kaname ran a hand down his face.

    “Surely you’re not implying that we would do such a thing here, Kiryuu? We’re vampires, not dogs.”

    “Well, I’m sorry.” Zero rolled his eyes. “Don’t you start classes in five minutes? Best be on your way. We wouldn’t want the Kuran Prince’s perfect attendance ruined by some…”

    Zero eyed the replica of Venus De Milo and grinned mischievously.

    “…statue.”

    Kaname stood up and glared at the boy in front of him. The Guardian was clearly pleased about something. One could tell by the glint in his eyes and the smile that had graced his usually frowning face. Kaname’s curiosity heightened as he saw Zero chuckling for no apparent reason.

    “What’s so funny?” He asked, mildly annoyed.

    “Nothing.” Zero said stepping closer.

    “And Yuuki? Where is she?”

    Zero started to laugh again. And this annoyed the Kuran even more.

    “She’s patrolling the Sun Dorms at the moment…”

    “I see. We’ll take our leave then..” Kaname and Ichijou walked past the silver-haired boy and headed for class.

    “Ahh... So much for my stroll.” Ichijou stretched his arms and walked behind the troubled Dorm President.

    “He seemed awfully happy, didn‘t he?”

    “Hn.” Kaname replied, still sounding irritated.

    He pushed the thoughts of the mysterious inscription at the back of his head and decided it was probably best to just ignore it. Perhaps it really just meant ‘hugs and kisses’ and nothing more.

    ….

    Zero stared at the writing he and Yuuki had made a few days ago and grinned. He was glad that they had a secret that even the great Kaname Kuran could not figure out.

    Forever XOXO

    He smiled again as he ran a finger on the letters.

    They’d written it under the hot afternoon sun after they had kissed and conveyed their feelings to each other in front of the Goddess of Love herself. He remembered the feel of her lips, the sweet scent of her skin and her eyes that were full of happiness and warmth… it seemed so unreal at that time… he never really thought that Yuuki Cross loved him as much as he loved her.

    But she did. She really did.

    His face looked up toward the black velvet sky now, feeling happier than he’s ever been in his life. And as he bathed in the moonlight he thought of the dark-haired girl that he cared for so much, wishing that he was with her at that very moment…

    Zero had won, and Kaname was completely left in the dark…

    He laughed to himself and continued his patrolling… the writing still clearly imprinted in his mind.

    Forever CrossZero

    Forever Yuuki and Zero…

    ….