"This rain… It's so cold… I'm… I'm all alone." Frigid rain beat down on me, plastering my near-white hair to my face. I gnashed my teeth and my eyes furiously burned when I saw the carnage before me. My friends… Were dead.

"Hey there!" A bubbly voice broke me away from my daydream. I glanced to my left at the owner of the voice, a tiny girl with brown hair and eyes that looked like I could crush her with one hand. "I don't think I've met you before. What's your name?" I shifted my gaze back out the window, where it was raining heavily.

Without the slightest change of emotion in my face, body, or tone, I replied, "My name is Asuka Kayo, and you're correct. We have never met before now. I'm new at Cross Academy."

"You're a new student? Well, then allow me to be your guide until you get used to it here! My name is-"

"You're Yuki Cross. I know," I interrupted the cheery girl, "And thanks for the offer, but your help won't be needed. I memorized the school's layout last weekend." When I had gone to visit the Headmaster of the school, he wouldn't shut up about 'his darling Yuki' and kept showing me pictures of her.

"Oh, um… Alrighty then. Let's head to class! You don't want to be late on your first day!" She paused and looked me over once again. "Hey, by the way… Why are you wearing the boys' uniform?"

I sighed, "It isn't a boy's outfit. I just modified the uniform to fit my needs. I can't function in a skirt. Don't worry, I already talked to Headmaster Cross, and it was fine with him." I turned away from Yuki and began to walk away. "Come on, Yuki. You don't want to be late!"

As we walked to class, Yuki rambled on and on about the things that the Disciplinary Committee does on a daily/nightly basis and I wasn't paying her the slightest amount of attention. After a while, she started describing the Night Class and the rabid fangirls she had to keep at bay every evening.

"Ugh…" I yawned, "I just don't get why people love those goddamned vampires. They're blood-sucking monsters that survive deceiving and feeding on humans!" I yawned again, completely ruining the seriousness of my words.

Yuki shuddered, "Oh boy, I think I know someone you'll get along with famously. Wait! You know about the Night Class?" I turned, but Yuki would have kept walking if I hadn't grabbed her hair and steered her back towards the door of the correct classroom.

"Our classroom is in here, Yuki."

Yuki giggled sheepishly, "Oh… Hehe… I knew that."

I took a seat on one of the wooden benches lined up in the room; more specifically, the one in the far back-right, away from the windows and in the darkest corner of the room, the way I like it. The way the desks and benches were laid out was quite smart: The room was at an incline, so every student was visible with a clear view of the presenter, and vice-versa. I plopped my head on the desk in front of me in an attempt to sleep. Before I could fall into blissful unconsciousness, however, someone else's voice broke into my mind. And no, it wasn't Yuki.

"You're sitting where I usually sit, girl." Some boy said. I didn't bother looking up at his face.

"That's nice. Just sit next to me."

"Why should I?"

"Because I'm not moving."

"And why won't you?"

"Because I like this spot."

"So do I."

"Then we'll share it."

"Who are you anyway?"

"My name is Asuka Kayo. I'm new here." Whoever this boy was, his rather arrogant, cold demeanor was getting on my nerves. Strangely enough, though, he actually stopped protesting against me sitting in 'his spot' and just sat down next to me.

Soon, I could hear Yuki yelling for me from somewhere else in the room, "Hey, Asuka, where'd you go?"

I lifted my arm in the air to signal where I was. "I'm over here, Yuki!" You must be really unobservant to miss my hair… The clicking of Yuki's shoes signaled how far she was from me and whoever was sitting in the chair to my left.

"Oh! I wanted to introduce you to Zero, but I guess you've already met him… Hey, are you sleeping?" The vivacious girl poked my head repeatedly to see if I was awake.

I groaned, "Well, I was trying to sleep, but this guy started complaining that I was in 'his seat', then someone else started poking at my head."

"So you are awake?"

"Well, I'm not sleeping, so what do you think?"

"I guess you have a point there. And Zero, you should be nicer to her. She's new, so you should let her sit with you," Yuki reprimanded the boy.

Zero… I think I know that name… "I don't need kindness from anyone. As for the seating, I don't care who I sit with, as long as I sit somewhere I like."

Zero responded with a bit of a snap, "And here had to be that place?"

"It's not my fault that I'm sensitive to light." I turned my head to glare at him, and I actually saw Zero's face. Silver hair, light violet eyes, pale skin… Something about him seemed familiar about him, and not just his name. Perhaps it was that our coloring was so similar, save for my right eye, which was reminiscent of the color of a cherry blossom, just somewhat darker; a delicate reddish-pink. The other eye was the same gray-violet as Zero's. My hair and skin were lighter as well. Against my knowledge at the time, Zero was analyzing my appearance in the exact same way, very similar thoughts dancing through his mind.

"Take a seat, students!" The teacher yelled as he walked to the front of the room. All the other students scampered away to sit with their friends, including Yuki. I tilted my up so I could see everyone. In a way, the place Zero and I shared was like a shadowy hawk's nest, a perfect vantage point to survey all the prey in the room. "Everyone pay attention please! We have a new student joining us today, so if you wouldn't mind coming up and introducing yourself, Miss, please tell us a bit about yourself." I stood up and casually walked to the front of the room. As I walked, the whispers of the other students echoed, quite loud to my ears.

"Why is she dressed like a boy?" "Beats me." They commented on my clothing.

"Look at her hair! It's almost white!" I knew my long, silvery-white hair wouldn't go unnoticed.

"Check out her eyes! They're two different colors!" "Pretty bizarre, don't you think? And the colors themselves are strange." Clearly my even my eyes were an interesting topic to the shallow-minded students. As usual, I let no emotion so much as flicker across my face. When I reached the front of the room, I slowly turned and bowed to my classmates, despite how rude it seemed they were.

"Hello there, my new classmates. My name is Asuka Kayo. I was supposed to start school at the same time you all did, but I had… Important work to do that kept me away for a few months. In case you're wondering, I have no family. My mother and father died when I was three years old, I never had any siblings, and my foster family was also killed, so please don't ask me about my family in the future. Are there any questions?"

For a minute everyone seemed shocked at how blunt and to-the-point I had been in my introduction. I glanced at Yuki, whose brown eyes were wide from the mention of what happened to my family, and Zero's expression was quite similar. Eventually, one boy raised his voice, "You said 'important work' kept you from school. What does that mean?"

"Sorry, but I can't say."

"Why do you dye your hair white?" A girl piped up.

"My hair is naturally this color."

"What's up with your uniform?" Another girl asked.

"I got permission from the Headmaster to modify my uniform."

"Why is your skin so pale? Do you not go outside?" The students' questions flew at me faster and faster with each inquisition.

"I can't handle the sun well, so I mostly only go out at night."

"Why are your eyes two different colors?" My hand automatically flew up to cover my left eye, the eye that I hated.

"…The red eye is my mother's. Not literally, of course, but the color belongs to her. I was simply born with one eye from my mother. I'm done answering questions now." I walked back to my spot next to Zero, my palm still pressed to my dark cherry-blossom eye.

This eye… It always reminds me of her… The woman that took the people I cared about from me!