Chapter one
Nightfall draped over the school yards and the only person to be seen was hardly a person at all, but rather a hot headed vampire boy who prowled the property at night. Unlike the other vampires that this particular boy was looking out for, this vampire's lone objective was to protect the live-in students on the campus who were completely unaware of the night students' secret of morbid blood lust. This year was oddly quiet, for the only sounds that reached the boy was the gust of the wind and the leaves falling from the dying trees. The grounds were lonely but he preferred them to be that way. Ever since the only girl he had ever loved had left him for the better man, all he wanted ever was to be alone and uninterrupted by such silly distractions such as the school girls. The only school girl he cared about was long gone, devoured by the carcass of what she once was.
"Shh! I think that's Zero Kiryu, the night watchman or whatever!" A rush of giggles were audible from the bushes down below. The white haired boy sneered and looked below to see three naive faces staring back up at him. Each of the girls squealed and ran in the direction of the girls' dorms, babbling and laughing among each other as they ran. Zero could care less about following them and instead laid his head to the railing and draped himself over the fence.
Zero Kiryu didn't stay long enough to watch the night class filter out of the building and instead returned to his dorm early, stripping himself of his uniform once he made it through the door and tossing it to the floor. He was left in his boxers as he strode into his personal bathroom, one of the few perks of staying up all night for his "father". He peered up at himself in the mirror and grimaced at his own reflection. The man staring back at him was sickly pale and wore a pair of hideous fangs that pricked his plump bottom lip. The start of the sunrise peeking through the window caused him to cringe and made his reflection that much uglier in his eyes. It was a new school year and everyone was meant to look their best for the first day. Not me, he thought to himself. He looked worse than ever, and how he was feeling couldn't even compare. Being back in this environment caused his mind to flood with sickening emotion and it was far too much for the boy to handle.
The bell rang, signaling the start of the first class of the day, and Zero hadn't even made it out of bed yet. He had skipped his shower the night previous and barely made it to bed before collapsing into a sound sleep. Why am I even in the day class? He thought to himself, he didn't belong there. He had no reason to be there. But it was too late to switch, and even if he could, the endurance of facing the Kaname blood-sucking fan club was an unbearable thought. That thought alone was enough to make him spring up from his seat and begin dressing for the first day of classes.
"Did you see her today?" One of the girls sitting in the seats below him muttered to the girl who sat beside her, "Her hair has practically grown two feet. And she looks terrible." The blonde to the left giggled and snickered back, "Maybe sucking faces with Kaname Kuran sucked the life out of her!" Zero's ears immediately perked up and he reached out to say something before quickly sitting back down and shutting his mouth. He couldn't possibly fathom a reasonable response as to why she would be back. Yuki Cross. Perhaps better to say, Yuki Kuran. He thought she had moved on from Cross academy and that those days were long over. The thought of seeing her again was overwhelming and he didn't know how he would handle it. Both hatred and excitement bubbled in his chest. His in depth thought was quickly interrupted by the black haired girl turning to say to him, "What's been up with Yuki, Zero? Is she ill? She sure looked it." The blonde nudged her with her elbow and the two struggled to hold back their giggles. Zero glared down at them with cold eyes. The dark haired girl was still waiting for an answer, for she hadn't turned around to face the board again and her eyes were glued to his. "Shut your mouth and don't look at me again," he snarled. Both girls stared at him doe eyed and quickly turned away, their arms hooked together and their mouths quickly at work to gossip quietly right in front of him. He heard the blonde mutter something like "what an asshole" before he zoned out and returned to his intent thinking.
The rest of Zero Kiryu's day consisted of overthinking, constant irritation, and the fear of seeing Yuki Kuran. It was silly for him to think that he would see her anytime before the night watch but he couldn't help himself from looking over his shoulder from time to time whenever he roamed the halls at day light. He wondered if his adoptive father had known of Yuki's return. He had only known of them having contact once in the past year; a single phone call that Zero had the misfortune of walking in on after a long day of utterly nothing but sad attempts to distract himself. His father had turned to face him, his cheeks as red as strawberries, and gasped, "I'll have to let you go, my dear girl!" before quickly hanging up the phone. Ever since that last day of class, they had not spoken her name but Zero knew who he had been talking to. No exchange of words would change that belief.
The water poured down onto the white haired boy's head and he sunk down to his knees under the fall of the shower, sighing and feeling his fingers through his wet locks. He remembered sharing this shower with the girl that he loved, penetrating her flesh with his monstrous fangs and drinking in all of her. Her memories, her thoughts, her feelings - everything that was her flowed inside of him in the form of blood and was the only satisfying feeling he could come by in a world of complete dissatisfaction surrounding them. Zero clutched at his neck, digging his fingernails into his tattoo, and let out a long sigh of disbelief. Now that she was back, he had to actually contemplate whether or not he could keep his promise to her. The thought alone made his stomach churn but the moment he found himself mourning the girl he had become one with in this very shower, he would force himself to remember the monster she had become.
"Zeeeero!" His adoptive father cooed from outside the bathroom door, "You must hurry up, the night class' first day is just a half hour away! This is one of the busiest days of the year." Zero allowed the words to drift through one ear and out the other before he was snapped back into reality by, "Are you listening in there, Zero? You haven't fallen asleep, have you? Ah, or maybe you're thirsty! Come on out, you know I'm always here for such things!" His father continued babbling on before Zero pushed open the door, hair already dried and fully in uniform, and growled, "I am ready. I don't need your help." He then pushed through him, leaving his father twiddling his thumbs and staring at his hands, as he started on to his duty post.
The school girls shrieked out desperately the moment that the night class came into view, waving their hands in the air and squealing out their favorite blood suckers' name. "It's Aido-Senpai!" The blonde from earlier that day squeaked. She was clutching onto the same girl's arm and using her free hand to shake a flower in the air. "I got it for you, please accept it! I'd be forever grateful," She whined as Hanabusa approached alongside Kaname Kuran himself. Aido smirked at the girl and accepted the flower, using his charming wit to send a group of the girls to their knees and fainting. Zero put his back to the vampire beings and held his arms out, just as Yuki used to do, and blocked off the girls from the night students with a cold expression. "Enough," he grunted, "they don't want your gifts." One of the girls at the back of the pack whined out something along the lines of, "Why are you so mean, Zero?" followed by an uproar of "yeah!"s from the rest of the crowd. He sighed and held his head down, a creeping feeling of uneasiness washing over his body. And then, he smelled it. The scent of her. It was overwhelming strong and took his attention right at once, something that he could never forget from the last time he saw her. Zero refused to bring his head up and instead attempted to lose his mind in the crowd, forgetting where he was and the thought of her alone. He felt a stray strand of hair brush against his back, a small bought of wind and a quiet voice - barely a whisper - say, "Zero."