The Story of Gwen Norimoto

Chapter 1

It was a Thursday evening at Cross Academy. Gwen Norimoto stepped out of her father's car. "Thanks, daddy, for dropping me off, but I can take it from here," Gwen said.

"Okay," her father said. "But be careful, Gwen. Do you have your─"

"Yeah, dad, I have them. No need to worry!" Gwen cut in.

"Take good care of yourself, Gwen." Without another word, her father drove off back toward home.

Gwen sighed. "I hope my first impression won't be...weird," she mumbled to herself.

She walked up the steps toward Cross Academy. As she made her way to the Headmaster's office, she recited the names of some students that attended the academy. "Hm... Okay. Yuki Cross, Day Class, brown hair, brown eyes. Zero Kiryu, Day Class, gray hair, purple eyes. Kaname Kuran, aka Dorm President, Night Class, black hair, brown eyes maybe...? Um... Hanabusa Aido, aka Idol, Night Class, blond hair, blue eyes. Akatsuki Kain, aka Wild, Night Class, orange hair, orange eyes. Takuma Ichijo, aka Vice Dorm President, Night Class, blond hair, green eyes. Senri Shiki, Night Class, dark purple hair...? Or is it more the color of dried blood...? No, I think it's more like maroon. Erm, anyway... Light blue gray eyes. Ruka Souen, Night Class, tan hair, brown eyes. Rima Touya, Night Class, reddish orange colored hair kept in ponytails, light blue gray eyes. But, remember Gwen, act like you've never seen them in your whole life."

She was already in the school building and was very close to the Headmaster's office. "Hm... I don't see any students in the halls. I can hear faint voices of girls screaming, though. Maybe something's going on by the Moon Dorm, where the Night Class students stay. I think I passed by the Sun Dorm on my way to the school building...oh! Here's the Headmaster's office. ...Wish me luck."

She knocked on the door. Almost immediately, the door opened. There Gwen saw the Headmaster, wearing oval glasses and his hair was tied in a ponytail. He was also wearing a sweater, sweat pants, and a green poncho. "Oh," Headmaster Cross said. "Gwen Norimoto, right? Please, come in, come in!"

He seems really happy, Gwen thought to herself. A little too happy.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Gwen said politely. She walked passed the Headmaster and into his office. His office contained a large desk, a comfortable looking chair behind the desk, two sofas in front of the desk, a table between the sofas, several things on his desk, a coat rack, and a few pictures hung up on the wall.

The Headmaster mentioned, "Just take a seat on a sofa, or if you're fine standing, that's okay, too."

Gwen replied, "Thanks, but I'm fine standing."

The Headmaster sat down at his desk. "So, what class are you going to be in? Day Class or Night Class?" He asked. "Wait! Oh, where are my manners? I didn't even introduce my full name! I'm Kaien Cross, the proud Headmaster of Cross Academy!" Gwen and the Headmaster shook hands.

Eh heh, right, he thinks I don't know his name, of course, Gwen thought.

"The Day Class, of course. Um...I don't really see the difference between the two classes, though," Gwen noted.

"What~?" The Headmaster said, astonished. "Well, there are some differences! Let's see here... The Day Class students' uniforms are black and the Night Class students' are white!"

"Eh, right." Gwen rolled her eyes.

The Headmaster continued. "And, basically, it's all in the name! The Day Class students attend classes in the daytime and the Night Class attends their classes at night!"

I didn't mean those obvious differences, Gwen thought. I never knew a person could be this jolly, though.

"Yeah, I got the hint, Headmaster," Gwen responded plainly. "But something seems strange."

"Strange?" The Headmaster repeated nervously.

Gwen went on. "Yeah, strange. Why attend night classes if you could in the day? Is there just too many students at this school that you had to make another class? I'd rather attend day classes 'cause I think it's harder to pay attension at night. But, you're the Headmaster, so you must have a logical, reasonable explanation, right?" Gwen made sure the headmaster was cornered. "It's not like all the Night Class students are...vampires, or, you know, something silly like that, right? We all know mythical creatures like vampires don't exist..." Gwen knew the Headmaster was cornered now, and he had nothing else to say but stutter.

"Well...I, uh...there's...a perfectly good explanation!" The Headmaster cried. Gwen smirked.

There's no way of fooling a girl like me, Gwen thought. Especially since I knew it all along.

"I'm sorry, Headmaster," Gwen said, not feeling that sorry at all, "but you can't fool me. I know the Night Class students are all vampires. I know that Kaname Kuran is the only pure blood at this school. I know that Zero Kiryu is a vampire, too, except he's in the Day Class. And I know he was once a human, training to become a vampire hunter, but he got bit by another pure blood, with the pure blood wanting revenge on his family. It's too bad Zero's gonna fall to a Level E someday... I actually feel bad for him." The Headmaster was silent.

For him to be speechless is what I expected, Gwen thought.

Just then, Yuki Cross entered the Headmaster's office. "Okay, Headmaster, Zero and I are done holding off the Day Class students. We're going to start patr─oh, is...this the new student?" Yuki said. She shut the door and walked up to Gwen.

Ugh, I never expected the Headmaster's daughter would come, Gwen thought.

"Oh! Yuki! This is Gwen Norimoto, and she's going to be entering the day class!" The Headmaster stated, with a sigh of relief.

"Hello!" Yuki greeted cheerfully. "As you may already know, I'm Yuki Cross! Nice to meet you."

"Eh, hi. I'm Gwen Norimoto. It's nice to meet you, too," Gwen said. "Oh, wow! I never thought any school uniform would look that pretty!" She turned back to the Headmaster. "Any more questions, paper work, or anything like that?"

"Nope. I'm sure I've got everything. But, Yuki, Gwen knows..." The Headmaster made sure Yuki was listening to him.

"Yes, Headmaster?" Yuki said.

"Aww, why don't you call me father?" The Headmaster whined.

Yuki looked a little puzzled. "Um...Headmaster's fine for me."

"Oh, Yuki~!" The Headmaster wailed.

Err, come on, Gwen thought impatiently. Can't they discuss this some other time? I'm still in the room! I can have patience, but, seriously, now really isn't the time!

"Um...Headmaster..." Gwen said.

"Oh, right!" The Headmaster said. "Yuki, I don't know how, but Gwen found out that the Night Class students are vampires."

"What?" Yuki took a step backwards. "Gwen, how did you..."

Gwen rolled her eyes again. "I've known for while," she answered, with little enthusiasm.

"Uh..." Yuki said.

"Headmaster, if you don't need anything else, I'll be going now-"

"Wait, Gwen!" Yuki blocked the door.

"I know!" The Headmaster said. "Since you know the secret about the Night Class, why don't you be on the Disciplinary Committee with Zero and Yuki? All you do is patrol the school grounds at night and make sure the Day Class students don't interfere with the Night Class students when they leave their dorms in the evening! How about it, Gwen?"

This is coming out of nowhere, Gwen thought. I guess it wouldn't hurt to be a part of the Disciplinary Committee.

"Um, if that's really all you do, then I guess I won't mind becoming a member of the Disciplinary Committee," Gwen said.

"Great!" The Headmaster exclaimed. "Yuki will give you your uniform and she will also show you to you room. Is that okay, Yuki?"

"Um...sure!" Yuki replied. "You can wait at your room while I get your uniform." Yuki and Gwen stepped out of the Headmaster's office and pretty soon they were out of the school building. In front of the school building, there was a large water fountain and in the middle of it was a bird.

"I never noticed there's a fountain here," Gwen said. "I'm not very observant, as you can see."

"It's been here ever since they built this academy," Yuki said with a smile.

"Oh.". They kept on walking and Gwen got a good look of the academy. A river flowed through the academy and there were many trees. "Wow, this academy is the most beautiful academy I've ever seen!"

"Glad you like it! Okay, here we are, the Sun Dormitory," Yuki announced. There was a huge building in front of them. "Come on, let's go in." Yuki led Gwen through halls and up stairs. Yuki showed Gwen a door and opened it. "This is your room! You don't mind being alone, do you?" Yuki asked.

"No, that's fine. I'm okay without a roommate," Gwen replied.

"Okay...wait! I think there's a uniform in the closet," Yuki said. She went into Gwen's room and opened the closet door. Yuki pulled out a day class uniform exactly like her own. "All it's missing is a guardian armband. I'll give it to you tomorrow, if you don't mind."

Gwen went into her room and accepted the uniform from Yuki. "Sure, you can give it to me tomorrow."

"Great! I have to go on patrol right now, and my room is right across from yours. So if you need anything, don't hesitate to knock! I share my room with Sayori Wakaba, just to let you know. Well, good-bye!" Yuki closed the door as she walked out. She opened the door to Gwen's room. "Sorry! I forgot to tell you something. You can start your guardian duties tomorrow, since you just got here tonight. Bye, again!" Yuki shut the door.

"Well...she seems nice!" Gwen said. She yawned. "I just noticed how tired I am. I should get to sleep now." Gwen changed into her sleeping clothes and plopped down on the bed. Gwen adjusted the pillow and pulled the blanket over herself. "Class starts tomorrow...can't wait..." and she drifted off to sleep.