"Zero!" Yuuki ran over and slapped the silver haired boy on the back. "We're supposed to be at the Headmaster's office right now!"
"You know he's going to throw a fit if he hears you call him that," Zero sighed, and then started walking towards the office. Yuuki started excitedly talking about something, but Zero tuned her voice out of his mind. Suddenly, just as they reached the door of the office, Zero froze, causing Yuuki to almost bump into him.
"Zero? What's wrong?" she asked. He didn't answer, and flung the door open instead. Inside talking quietly to the Headmaster – who was resting on his hands behind his desk – was a pale and beautiful girl.
She had silver hair a shade of light purple that covered her right eye and ended at the bottom of her neck, curling in. Her black, mysterious eyes showed no emotion at all as she talked. None of those things, however, were the reasons why she unsettled Zero. Something was different about that girl, and he didn't know what.
The girl immediately stopped talking as Yuuki and Zero came in, and Kaien Cross bounded out of his desk.
"Yuuki, Zero!" He shouted delightedly. He gestured towards the new girl as if she was a new invention. "This beautiful young maiden is Arisa Kurai. She's going to be attending our school starting tomorrow. Isn't that wonderful!?!?" he had genuine stars in his eyes, and Yuuki did, too. She sprang forward to introduce herself.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Y-,"
"Day Class or Night Class?" Zero interrupted monotonously. Yuuki turned back to him, her hands on her hips.
"Zero! Don't interrupt me like that! It's rude, and impolite, and…"
"I thought you would know, Kiryuu-kun, seeing as you have some vampire instincts," Kaien said at the exact same time as Yuuki went rambling on about manners. The only person who had heard him was Zero, who glared at the both of them.
"Just answer my question!"
Arisa, the main reason that they were all talking at once, coughed quietly. Everyone turned to her.
"Anyway," Yuuki said. "I'm Yuuki Cross, and this rude guy next to me," she glared towards Zero, "Is Zero Kiryuu. We're the Guardians of this school."
Arisa bowed to the two of them.
"Pleasure to meet you," she said softly, and then looked up at Zero. "I'm going to be attending the Day Class every other day."
The two Guardians stared at her, confused.
"Arisa can be rather fragile at times," Kaien explained. "so she's going to attend only every other day, instead of everyday, so it doesn't stress her out too much."
Arisa nodded in confirmation, blushing a little, and Yuuki grabbed her hands.
"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll be the best of friends!" she smiled brightly, and Arisa managed a startled smile back.
"H-hai?"
"Well, that's all I needed from you guys for today!" Kaien said, making little shooing motions with his hands. "Go back to your duties, now!" With one last glance at Arisa, the Guardians both left the office to patrol the school grounds.
Night Class
"Oi, Ichijou-san," Aidou yawned, stretching his feet out on a desk. They were all inside the classroom, merely lounging around. "Where's Kaname-sama?"
"Oooh, does Aidou have a crush on Kaname?" Ichijou teased, laughing lightly.
"Shut up, and answer my question!"
"Fine, fine," he sighed. "Kaname is going to be absent for a few days. There, happy?"
"That doesn't even answer my question, Ichijou-san….."
Just then, the door opened, and all of the heads swiveled around to look at the newcomer. Standing in the doorway, was a pale and beautiful girl, watching them all, amused.
"So this is the Night Class," she murmured. "Nice to meet you all."
"Who are you?" Aidou asked rudely, already in a cranky mood.
"Ano… this is-," Ichijou started, but the girl looked over at him.
"I think I'll keep myself unknown until Kaname…sama comes back, Ichijou-san," she said softly, and he nodded. The girl turned back to Aidou and smiled.
"I'm going to be your classmate from now on. Who are you?" Aidou stared at her, and then looked away.
"Hmmph!"
"Aidou!" Ichijou admonished. He turned to the girl and bowed. "Gomen, I apologize for his rudeness. He's Aidou Hanabusa. His cousin over there is Kain Akatsuki, and then there's Senri Shiki and Rima Touya, and Ruka Souen." He pointed at each person as he said their name, and they all nodded politely at her, except Aidou. The girl smiled back at them softly, and then looked out towards the window.
"It's almost morning," she said, her voice barely a whisper. Everyone turned to look through the windows, and found she was right. The girl turned around again and walked out. Seconds later, she poked her head again.
"By the way, Aidou-san," she called, and Aidou reluctantly turned to look at her. "I'm Arisa. Nice to meet you." With that, she exited the room.
Yuki and Zero burst into the classroom, ten minutes late. The teacher glared at them from the front, where he was standing with the girl that they had just met yesterday, Arisa Kurai.
"Cross, Kiryuu!" he snapped. "This is the seventh time this month that you've been late! Detention1' he turned back towards the class as the two of them sat down at their seats. "As I was saying, this is Arisa Kurai, and she's going to be in your class every other day." Scanning the room, the teacher turned back to Arisa, who was waiting patiently. "The only open spot left is next to Kiryuu, so you can sit there."
The class groaned in sympathy for the new girl. Anyone who sat next to Zero was condemned to misfortune. Arisa merely nodded and headed over to the desk, sitting down silently. Zero glanced at her for a moment before looking back to the front of the room, though he kept an eye on her. For the remainder of the class, she stared out of the window, appearing to be deep in thought. However, Zero noticed that Arisa always got the correct answer whenever she was called on.
Who was Arisa Kurai, exactly?
Aidou yawned, lounging on the couch in the main room. The Night Class was waiting for evening to come, so they could leave. He looked around the room, yawning widely again. Everyone was there, except for Kaname-san and that new girl. What was her name again? He referred to her as "the annoying girl". Just as Aidou was thinking about this, "the annoying girl" came downstairs, and he scowled. Her name was Arisa. Right. Aidou let his mind travel back to a few hours earlier.
'Aidou was reading downstairs, bored. He idly flipped a page, just as Arisa came walking downstairs, looking unusually pale. She nodded to him quietly, and then crossed the room, leaning against the door and pulling a curtain over to look outside.
"Are you going to tell me your name?" Aidou asked suddenly, hoping to startle the answer out of her. Arisa didn't even blink.
"I already told you. It's Arisa."
"That's not your last name, though."
Arisa merely made a knowing smile and dropped the curtain, so the sliver of light disappeared. She sat down on the couch opposite of Aidou, and it was silent for a moment.
"So, how did you even get into the Night Class?" he asked crossly. Arisa raised an eyebrow.
"… To improve its' academic status," she replied simply. Aidou, disbelieving this, tested her with a question, which she answered perfectly, countering back with a question in Latin, leaving Aidou stumped. They continued to quiz each other for half an hour, until Arisa finally stood up, smiling slightly.
"No you know how I got into the Night Class," she said, smirking a little, and then headed upstairs again.'
"Good evening, Ichijou-san, Kain-san, Shiki-san, Souen-san, Touya-san, Aidou-san," Arisa said, bringing Aidou out of his thoughts. She nodded to each person as she spoke their name, and they nodded back, surprised that she remembered their names. Aidou looked away crossly. Suddenly, Ichijou stood up, turning to the entire Night Class.
"It's time!"
"The Guardians weren't here today," Shiki remarked tonelessly. "It was rather hectic."
"I suppose they're in detention?" Ichijou shrugged, and then turned to Arisa, who was staring out the window next to him, looking at the stars. "What do you think about Cross Academy so far, Arisa-chan?"
"It's interesting, I suppose," Arisa replied calmly, not even bothering to turn around. "It's worth staying around for." Aidou's sulking aura increased even more.
"Don't act like you're so high and mig-," he started, but Kaname entered the room just then. Everyone turned to him and bowed, except Arisa and Ichijou.
"Kaname-sama."
Arisa turned slowly and looked over at Kaname, nodding quietly.
"It's… a pleasure to see you again, Kaname."
Aidou turned to her in disbelief. No one called Kaname-sama "Kaname" except Ichijou!"
"Hey-," he and Ruka started, but Kaname cut them off with a wave of his hand. He nodded back politely to Arisa.
"Same for you, Arisa." He glanced over at the bemused Night Class. "I see you haven't introduced yourself, yet." He sighed and turned to the class.
"This is the pureblood Kage-hime*, Arisa Kurai."
"I'm sorry, Arisa-sama!" Aidou said, bowing for about the fifth time. Arisa rolled her eyes as they all walked towards the Moon Dorm, not even bothering to glance around at the blonde boy.
"Stop saying that already. This is the first time that I've gotten tired of hearing my own name."
"But, I was rude, and-," he started, but Arisa whirled around, stopping.
"Look. Stop. It's fine, all right? Will you please drop it?" she sighed and turned back around again, resuming walking. "Geez, you're acting as if I'm royalty." Aidou looked at her back, confused.
"But, you are-," he started to say, but was once again cut off.
"Hanabusa," Kain advised his cousin. "Shut up."
The continued to walk for several meters, when Arisa and Kaname suddenly stopped from the front of the group. Aidou nearly bumped into the purebloods.
"What's wrong?" he asked curiously, seeing that Arisa was as stiff as a board. Looking around her, he saw the Guardians staring at them. Zero was holding a gun, which was pointed straight at Arisa's heart.
_______________
A/N: I felt like typing this chapter randomly, so here it is! I'll still continue my OHSHC fanfic, though ^^! Hope you liked it, and criticism is appreciated!
*Kage-hime means Shadow Princess.