I finally reached the school I'd be attending, along with other vampires in the Cross Academy night class. There I stood, at the front gates, thinking of what might come of my time there. I took a deep breath, and finally decided I should stop stalling. I picked myself up off my imaginary cloud, and took my first steps into the academy

As I first walked in, a girl in a black uniform with shoulder length, brown hair ran up to me. On her arm was a white cuff with a red cross-like thing stitched onto it. She must have been my escort, the headmaster's daughter, Yuuki Cross. She looked like a nice enough girl, especially if she was willing to put so much of her extra time into being part of the academy's disciplinary committee.

'Hi there!' she said to me cheerfully. 'You must be Sayuri, the new student attending Cross Academy's night class, correct?' She was happy and energetic, but she seemed distracted. I didn't think it was polite to ask what she was looking for.

'That would be me,' I replied kindly. 'I appreciate you escorting me.' I fidgeted with my bag as I tried to ignore the fact that she seemed off. But as she started looking around, I had to make a comment. 'Might I ask what it is you're looking for?' It wasn't rude if she made it obvious, right?

She looked a bit embarrassed, and turned her attention back to me. 'Oh my, how rude of me! I'm sorry, I'm just looking for Zero. He's the other half of the disciplinary committee, but I guess he skipped out on me again.'She sighed and beckoned me to follow her, so I did. 'Nevermind, there's no point in looking for him. Let us go to the headmaster's office, and then I can lead you to your dorm.' She still seemed a bit worried, but continued with her duties.

'You seem to care a lot about this Zero.' I said eventually, breaking the awkward silence.

'We were raised together for quite some time.'

'By the headmaster?'

'Yes, both our stories of how we ended up with him are similar.'

'I hope you don't mind sharing.'

'Not at all! About ten years ago, I was nearly killed by a vampire. I was only five. A pure blood vampire, Kaname Kuran, came in a saved me, slaying the other one and calling him a disgrace. I have no memories prior to that night. Kaname took me straight to my current father's home, where I basically had to relearn how to do everything. I feel as though I owe my life to Kaname.'

'So, you know about vampires as well.'

She nodded. 'So does Zero, but his experience with vampires wasn't like mine. His family was killed by a pure blood, and he was bitten, and survived. He recently turned into a vampire. I'm trying my best to keep him in line, since he's new to the life of a vampire, but no matter what, he hates all vampires because of what one has done.'

As we approached the office, my emotions dulled. 'He must have skipped to avoid me, how unfortunate.' But as I looked out the hall window, I could swear I caught a glimpse of the most beautiful young man I've ever seen, even from afar.

Another vampire to worry about at Cross Academy. As if the others, as well as myself, wasn't enough stress for me, on top of being on the disciplinary committee with Yuuki. It was almost as if life was against me lately. I honestly felt bad leaving her alone to escort the new student, but I still wasn't comfortable in my own skin yet.

I decided I would hide away for an hour or so, so I made my way through the school grounds to the stables to pay Lily a visit. I was sure that the white mare would be the only one happy to see me right now. As I entered the stable, her ears perked up, and she lifted her head to greet me. I walked up to her and caressed her face, up and down her muzzle.

She could tell I wasn't completely happy, so she beckoned for more attention, trying to cheer me up. I chuckled, and kissed her forehead. It almost felt as if we could understand each other. Her looks told me everything.

She might be different, you know. You should at least give the girl a chance.

I sighed. 'I know, it's not fair to her, but she could just end up playing me for a fool, and when vampires do that, someone ends up extremely hurt.' I didn't want to admit that she had a good point, but she knew anyways.

I saw her pass by earlier. She seems extremely different.

'I don't know Lily,' I told her, still running my hand along the bridge of her pony nose. 'Let me get a little more comfortable with my new self first. Then I can try giving her a chance.'

The horse seemed satisfied by this answer, and went back to eating hay. I smiled gently and left her to her food. I returned to the school so I could attend my proper might patrol with Yuuki.

I attended my first night class that evening, recognizing one of the fellow vampires. He was Kaname Kuran, the pure blood vampire who also saved young Yuuki Cross that night ten years earlier. I was very quiet, and tired to keep a low profile, answering a couple questions here and there, asked by the other vampires. Most of the boys there kept sneaking glanced, but I wasn't interested in any of them. None of them were my silver-haired mystery man from earlier. My mind continuously fell back onto him, and I wondered where he was, and when I would see him again.

As the night class was coming to an end, I hurried out, trying to avoid any awkward encounters with the other men of the night class. I walked a quick pace out of the classroom and through the halls, keeping my head down. It was then that I saw him out of the corner of my eye, his silver hair briefly shimmering in the light of the full moon. I lifted my head and my eyes widened.

I stopped in my tracks.