Insincere Heart - prologue

Yuuki's delicate hands fumbled through a drawer full of clothes, selecting items and placing them inside a case next to her. She neatly laid the garments one on top of another, and smoothing out any creases. After checking that she had all the clothes she would need, she made her way over to her on suite bathroom, picked up all of the cosmetics she could carry, and returned to her room. She placed the cosmetics in a small bag and placed it on top of all the clothes. As she tried to pull the lid of the case down, she noticed that she had packed too much. Half-growling, she yanked the lid down over and over, cursing the bag under her breath.
"You know, you could take another bag, rather than cramming everything into one..." Kaname chuckled as he leant on a marble wall behind her, amused by the sight of Yuuki fighting with her suitcase. Yuuki stopped attacking her bag and turned round to face Kaname fully, giving him one of her heart-warming smiles.
"I don't want to take too much, it'd be a nuisance for Fath...I mean, Chairman Cross." Yuuki bit her lip. "Besides, I shan't be there for long, if you keep to your promise." She grinned, taking a few steps towards Kaname. Kaname returned her smile.
"I can't promise anything, but I will try to come home as early as I possibly can..." One of Kaname's slender hands reached out and gently stroked Yuuki's cheek. His deep eyes slowly turned sad, and his eyebrows furrowed slightly. "To see my precious Yuuki, of course..." Yuuki gripped Kaname's hand, and tried to look into Kaname's distracted eyes.
"Kaname onii-sama...what is it?" A short silence followed, before Kaname moved his hand away from Yuuki's soft cheek.
" I thought I told you to stop calling me 'onii-sama', please simply call me Kaname..."
"Kaname."
Kaname let out a sigh. "...since you'll be staying with Chairman Cross...Kiryu will be around, won't he?" Kaname spat Zero's last name out quickly, as if it was painful just to mention him. A second silence followed, but it was more chilling than the first. Yuuki felt Kaname's stare right down to the bone, and it was scaring her. It was only at times like this that she could remember that Kaname and she weren't human. "To be honest, Yuuki...I'm not comfortable with you staying there, with Kiryu in such a difficult situation...and with your heart torn like this." Yuuki bowed her head slightly, and turned her back on Kaname.
"You think...that I'm going to go back to Zero, don't you, Kaname?" Yuuki closed her eyes, and allowed yet another silence to form. "Listen, Kaname...it's true that part of my heart is still devoted to him, and it's true that my feelings for him could grow while I'm there...but I want you to trust me. As unreliable and disgusting I might be, I want you to trust that I will return to your arms, no matter what..." Yuuki could barely finish her sentence before Kaname's long, protective arms had reached around her and pulled her into a tight embrace. They stood still for a while, content, taking in each other's scent and enjoying their presence. Kaname's long fingers ran through Yuuki's flowing chestnut hair, and gently jerked her head backwards. He placed a kiss on Yuuki's pale lips, rubbing her back with one hand, the other playing with the mass of her flowing locks. Each strand of her hair dripped through his fingers like grains of sand. Yuuki's hands came up to stroke the face of her lover, and she returned his kiss.
"I'll miss you..." Yuuki heard Kaname whisper sweetly between kisses.
Once they were both satisfied, Kaname broke apart from Yuuki, and placed something cold and metallic in her hands. Still slightly dazed from their passionate kiss, Yuuki observed the small object in her hands: Artemis.
"I'm giving you Artemis for your protection, but only use it if you must." Yuuki replied with a nod, and slotted Artemis into her pocket. Smiling warmly at Kaname, she turned around and walked over to her case, picked it up, and made her way towards the door. Wanting to take one last look at her lover, she looked over her shoulder, only to see a group of bats squeaking and taking flight out of the open window. Yuuki breathed in lots of air, and let out a deep sigh. Finally ready to leave the Kuran mansion, she took a step forwards, only to hear her foot crunch on some glass.
"Dammit..." she muttered as she bent downwards, to see what she had stepped on. Instantly she could tell it was a photo frame, but as to what the photo was, it was impossible to tell with all the fractured glass in front of it. Taking no notice of the sharp edges of the glass slitting her fingers, she slowly pulled the photo out of the frame, only to nearly drop it straight away. She nearly felt her heart being torn as she studied the two faces on the photo.

Smile, Zero!
No. Let go, Yuuki.
No.

The familiar picture of the short haired Yuuki gripping Zero's arm, surrounded by cherry blossoms met her eyes. Zero's unwavering gaze met hers, despite being a photograph.
"Soon...I'll be able to see you again..." Yuuki spoke to the photo of Zero, crying inside. She then automatically slipped the photo into her pocket, alongside Artemis. Yuuki's footsteps echoed throughout the Kuran mansion, while she made her way to the secret exit, where she was met by a sleek black car, ready to take her to Chairman Cross' home...inside Cross Academy grounds.