Night I:
Entrance
"A new student?" Yuki Cross echoed. She blinked her wide, brown eyes.
"Yes, that's right. She'll be in the Day Class," Headmaster Kaien Cross said. "Due to some complications, she'll be arriving late. ...Ah, Kiryu...? Why do you look like you want to kill someone?"
"You...woke me up..." Zero Kiryu snarled between gritted teeth. "...from my nap...just to tell me there's a new student coming!?"
"Ah! Z-Zero!" Yuki quickly stepped forward to keep her friend from strangling the headmaster.
"Well, she is going to be arriving soon, so we have to welcome her to the academy with a ZIPPY hello, won't we?" Headmaster Cross beamed.
"Th-That's right!" Yuki agreed, turning to Zero. "As the Disciplinary Committee, it is our job to make sure everything is peaceful here at Cross Academy!" Zero scowled and muttered something unintelligible under his breath; Yuki thought she could make out the words, "...stupid father and daughter..."
"She should be here any min—" Nok nok nok. "Ah, that must be her. Please come in," Headmaster Cross called to the door.
The doorknob turned, and a young woman walked in. Yuki gasped. "Oh," she breathed. She's beautiful.
The new student was tall, slender and with a graceful figure. Her eyes were like slates of obsidian, her long black hair sweeping down to her waist. Bangs shaded her forehead, almost hiding her elegantly arched eyebrows. She was dressed in the Day Class girl's-uniform, the red ribbon pointedly missing; there was, however, a choker around her neck. A Gothic cross swung from the dark leather straps.
"...Good morning," she greeted them. Her voice was smooth and alluring, yet cold, wary.
"Good morning! Welcome to Cross Academy!" the Headmaster replied cheerily. "Yuki, Zero, this is Reiko Kanashimi. Miss Reiko, these are Yuki Cross, my daughter, and Zero Kiryu. They are both students of the Day Class, and the Disciplinary Committee."
"Good morning," Yuki said, bowing.
"...Good morning..." Zero said. His amethyst eyes were narrowed, staring at Reiko suspiciously.
The girl named Reiko nodded once, but her own onyx eyes didn't leave Zero's gaze. They stared back, sharp and strangely knowing. Yuki gave a small gasp as a thought occured to her. Could she...possibly know about vampires?
"Well then, Reiko," Headmaster Cross went on, seemingly oblivious to what was going on in the room. "You'll be attending the second-year classes. Class will begin tomorrow at eight-thirty, and end at around three. I do hope you enjoy being here at Cross Academy. Yuki?" Yuki snapped to attention. "Will you please show Reiko to her new room?"
"Oh...ah, yes!" Yuki stepped forward. "Please, right this way." Reiko turned to follow the younger girl, but not after glancing at Zero again.
"So...um, your room is right here." Yuki opened the door of the small room. A pair of beds occupied one wall, the crisp sheets fresh; the stretched windows stood guard between each of the beds and on either side. Two large suitcases were piled on top of one. There were an empty chest of drawers and wardrobe nearby, the mahogany wood etched with delicate, flowering designs. "Normally, you'd have a roommate, but no one else is planned to be coming in, so I guess you'll have this room to yourself." Yuki paused. "Would that be alright?"
"Sure..."
"...Okay then." Yuki stepped back. "Class will begin at eight, okay? See you...!" She left, closing the door softly behind her.
Reiko gazed at the closed door, then looked away towards the window. The moon was beginning to rise, the sun beginning to set. It was that time again, that time in which darkness and light entwine. It was an odd and beautiful view, that of both the sun and moon hanging in the sky together. Yet...
"It's so brief," Reiko murmured. "And then..." She reached up to unclasp her choker, letting it fall into her open palm, and ran her thumb over the cross pendant. Her black eyes stared at it, following the twisting designs of the metal.
"Night...will fall."
"Kyaaaaah~! Hurry and come out!"
"Please, no one can pass this point! It's past curfew!"
"Oof, get out of the way!"
As usual, most of the Day Class girls were crowded around the entrance of the Moon Dorm of the Night Class. At dusk, the Night Class all left their dorm to go to class. Thus the Disciplinary Committee always found themselves caught in a crowd of squealing girls all clamoring for a glimpse of the gorgeous elite students. It was their duty to keep anyone from getting hurt — and to keep the Day Class from finding out the secret of the Night Class:
Each and every one of them was a vampire.
"Please, get back — ack!" Trying to restrain a wall of girls, Yuki's foot caught on a loose stone on the pathway and she fell. A hand shot out and caught her firmly before she collided with the ground.
"Thanks, Zero," she sighed in relief, turning around. Then Yuki froze. It wasn't Zero, it was the new student. Reiko.
"Stand back!" she was shouting at the Day Class girls. "Don't they teach you any discipline here?" She then noticed Yuki's bewildered stare. "What?" Reiko said. "That headmaster said that things were a bit rowdy today, so he asked me to come help."
"Thanks," Zero said, stepping up to the two girls. "But we don't need any." He gave Reiko a piercing look, and a heartbeat passed with tension crackling between them. Suddenly Yuki was shoved down again by another wave of shouting female students.
"...Right. I have total confidence in that," Reiko said, sarcasm leaking into her voice. Zero's eyes narrowed.
Just then the high wooden doors began to creak open, and the Day Class girls' voices rose immediately: "KYAAAAAAAAH!" And the Night Class came out.
Tall. Elegant. Graceful. Incredibly, unreasonably attractive. The stark white uniforms with their classy black trim were a sharp contrast to the somehow duller black of the Day Class. They spoke amongst themselves in soft murmurs, giving them an air of mystery. The Night students kept glancing at the sinking sun as if impatient for its leave, and barely gave notice to the ecstatic girls calling for their attention. That is, except for a significant few.
"Good morning, girls!" a blond-haired, blue-eyed male student called out cheerily. "You all look so cute today!" He was answered by eager cries of "Aido-senpai!" and "Idol-senpai!".
Morning...? Yuki looked up at the darkening sky incredulously. Then before she knew it she was shoved down yet again. "Ah!" Yuki sprawled across the ground and found herself landing on top of someone's feet.
A familiar hand extended down to help. "Are you all right, Yuki?" a silky, male voice asked. "You'll get yourself hurt like this."
"K-Kaname-sama!" Yuki gulped.
"Thank you for always doing this," the beautiful dark-haired vampire said, smiling.
"Er...i-it's no problem." Then, feeling the appalled stares of the other girls, she jumped to her feet. "It is my duty as a member of the Disciplinary Committee," she stated quickly.
Kaname got up, this time smiling a bit more sadly. "Whenever you act so formal like this, it makes me feel a bit...lonely."
"Well," Yuki said. "You did save me, Kaname-sama."
The Moon Dorm leader reached out to stroke her hair. "Don't worry about that anymore," he said. "That was a long time ago." Without warning his hand was grabbed, pulled away from Yuki. "Zero!" Yuki gasped. The older boy had suddenly appeared by her side, glaring at the vampire almost in a defensive manner.
"Class is starting, Kuran," he said coldly. Kaname smiled, his eyes narrowing, and jerked his hand away.
"You're so scary," he said in a mocking tone, walking towards the other Night Class students, "Mr. Disciplinary Committee."
Reiko was watching from a distance silently. Kaname noticed her standing there and, smirking a bit, began to head over in her direction. Reiko's head snapped up at his approach, her expression turning guarded.
"Kaname-sama..." Ruka Souen was instantly wary of the young woman. There was something very off about her. Kaname dismissed her warning with an assuring wave of his hand, his calm eyes never leaving the girl's tall frame. He slowed to a halt about three feet away from Reiko. "...Good evening," he greeted.
At just the sound of his voice Reiko stiffened; her black eyes went flat. "...Good...evening," she replied, but it was icy, completely devoid of warmth. The other vampires at once bristled at the apparent hostility toward their dorm leader.
"Headmaster Cross told me there was a new Day Class student coming." Kaname ignored the tension and continued to speak smoothly. "I assume you are the one?"
"That's right."
"Ah, well then." Smiling, Kaname stepped forward and took her hand. "Welcome to Cross Academy." And then he kissed the back of her hand very lightly.
A sharp hiss escaped through Ruka's fangs. The rest kept silent, uncertain of what to make of the scene. Reiko smiled tightly. "...Thank you for your warm welcome...Kaname Kuran-sama." She said the name as if it left a bitter taste on her tongue.
Kaname smiled back, then turned back around. "K-Kaname-sama?" Hanabusa whispered.
"It's fine, Aido," Kaname replied, ever serene. "All is well." With that he took his place in the front of the group heading towards the school building.
Reiko stared furiously after the departing Night Class. Her hands were clenched into taut fists at her sides. "Kanashimi-senpai...?" Yuki called hesitantly.
Without warning the new student whipped around. "I'll leave the rest to you," she called over her shoulder. The breeze blew Reiko's hair away from her body as she paced off towards the Sun Dorms.
Zero's jaw tightened, and he narrowed his eyes after her. "Yuki," he began slowly. "I want you to stay away from her."
"What?" Yuki looked up at him, stunned. "Why?"
"There's something very wrong about her," Zero said. "Very, very wrong..."
Author's Note: Reiko's name is written like this in kanji: 悲しみ 冷子 (family name first). Kanashimi means "sorrow" in Japanese, and her name is written with the characters for "cold" (rei 冷), as in "cold-hearted", and "child" (ko 子): "cold-hearted child".
