Karin awoke with a jolt, her head slamming painfully agaisnt the headboard of her bed. She winced, rolling to the side. It wasn't a smooth move, and it had almost certainly woken up her roomate, Ria. Sure enough, Karin didn't even have to move before someone had slid themselves onto the bed. "Rin? Are you alright?"

Rolling over onto her other side, Karin nodded meekly. "I'm fine."

"It doesn't seem like it," muttered Ria, crossing her arms tightly across her chest. "This is the fourth night in a row you've woken up due to a nightmare. Is something going on your not telling me about?"

"Of course not, Ria. I tell you everything. You know that."

Letting out a tense sigh, Ria ran a hand through her hair and nodded, a bit stiffly. "I guess you're right, Rin." She got up, but paused, turning her head back to look at Karin. "You promise you'd tell me?"

"I promise."

Satisfied, Ria climbed back into bed. Within minutes she was sound asleep, and through the darkness Karin could see her chest rising and falling. Snuggling back into her pillow, Karin brought her knees up to her own chest and sighed, letting her cheek fall onto her knees.

She wasn't telling Ria the whole truth.

And, Karin knew, she'd probably never tell anyone the full truth if she could help it.

Before Karin knew it, she was stuck in her thoughts; stuck on a never-ending reel of her own memories. And before she knew it, the sun had begun to rise over the horizon. She got up, heading to the bathroom.

"...rin?" a tired voice asked. "Where are you going?"

Karin let out a laugh as she turned on the bathroom light and stepped inside. "You must really be out of it. I have disciplinary comittee duties. Y'know, like I do every day and night."

"Oh yeah." Ria yawned and rolled back over, letting sleep claim her again.

After Karin had finished and gotten dressed, she stared in the mirror. Her hand rose, as if automatic, and pinned her badge to her arm. She let out a sigh as she stared at her reflection, letting her thoughts wander to the one thing she hated to ever let herself think:

Why can't I be more like...them.

Them was referring to the Night Class, the class that she had to "protect" from the Day Class. "Really," Karin muttered to herself inwardly, "they're vampires; can't they keep away the fans by themselves?"

Two things bothered her most about the Night Class, the first being that they were vampires. Karin had a strong hate of the creatures, thanks to her upbringing. The second thing was that they were all so beautiful. Karin had wished for looks like that at a time, and even now the thoughts had come to mind, but she forced herself not to. That won't help, she scolded herself.

She didn't look bad, but she didn't exactly look healthy either.

Karin was tall, but in the sickly sort of way: her limbs seemed too long for her body, and were constantly making her clumsy. Heck, that had ruined her childhood in a way. Her hair was a light black color, no shine to it; and it hung loosely around her neck and curled at the bottom. Her skin had gotten paler, almost as pale as the vampires, but it looked unhealthy. Dark purple patches had grown underneath her tired brown eyes, but she was never tired.

"No time to wallow in my self-pity now," groaned Karin to herself, tugging the door open. Ria stood outside, her own uniform in her hand. Karin flashed her a grin and walked past her. "I'll be gone then! See you in class, Ria."

"You too, Rin."

And then Karin was gone, outside. The air was cool, and it felt nice agaisnt Karin's warm skin. She smiled inwardly and trekked to the gates of the school where the Night Class and Day Class converged. Two familiar people rested outside of the gates, in the center.

"Karin!" the smaller of the two called, rushing over. She was a short, hyper brunette who had huge eyes and a personality to match. Ever since Karin had first met Yuki Cross, she had loved her to death. "You're here early. Usually Ria or I have to drag you here."

Chuckling sheepishly, Karin swatted her remark away and shrugged. "I was already up."

"Why? Did someone wake you up?" Karin loved Yuki to death, but one of her worst qualities was her ability to ask tons of questions.

"No, no - I just had a bad dream." They started to walk back towards where Yuki had originally been, and where the second figure stood, propped up agaisnt the wall, a bored expression on his face. "It's fine, don't worry about it, okay?"

Yuki seemed like she wanted to say more, but Karin cut her off with a sharp, "Zero! Looking enthusiastic today, aren't you? But then again, you always are-"

"Quit it, Tsuna." Zero just loved calling her that, didn't he?

In fact, ever since Karin could remember, Zero Kiryu had been calling her 'Tsuna'. It was almost a nickname of sorts now, but if anyone else called her it she might have thought twice about it. They had been friends since they were both little kids, had gone through such tough times - but he still called her 'Tsuna'.

"Stop fighting, you guys," scolded Yuki. She had always been the one to stop the fights that sprouted between Karin and Zero, even though most of them were harmless and involved nothing more than light teasing.

Karin draped an arm over Yuki's neck and grinned, pulling the girl close. "Calm down, sis! You know it's nothing."

Letting out a laugh, Yuki unwound herself from Karin and listened closely as the telltale sound of footsteps could be heard. "They're coming," moaned Karin, the heat draining slowly from her face. She could never seem to stop the dread that grew in the pit of her stomach.

"Let's go!" yelled Yuki loudly, taking charge.

Smiling briefling to herself, Karin sucked in a breath and turned to the oncoming ground. The Night Class hadn't even come out yet, and they were all still making such a big fuss. Karin stuck up her arms and helped Yuki attempt to keep the Day Class students away from the gate.

When the gates opened, Karin watched as the group grew crazier. Even Yuki fell to her knees, almost ambushed by the crowd. She darted forward, holding out her hand-

And Kaname Kuran beat her to it.

Watching as he smoothly bent down and reached forward, gripping Yuki's forearm, Karin retracted her arm ever so slightly and stayed back, going forward and pushing back the rest of the crowd. She didn't hear the rest of Yuki and Kaname's conversation, but soon enough he was right beside her, startling her.

"Kaname...? Geez," Karin replied, a bit flustered. How had he...? And wasn't he...? Oh well, he was a vampire; there were some things even Karin didn't know about them - not that she wanted to, anyways.

"I suspect you are keeping up your...job, right?"

Karin winced and rubbed her arm. "O...of course."

"Good." He left, walking back to class only to be interrupted once when someone offered him a gift. Karin looked away, and was startled again to find Zero right next to, looking down on her with a cold glare.

She didn't say anything, just stared back with her own gaze. With a little sigh of defeat, Karin muttered, "I hate Kuran," and turned her head away, focusing on the remaining crowd. She pushed them farther away, with all of her strength.

Once they finished, Karin blew out a little sigh and smiled. "I think that went pretty well."

Yuki - who still had a slight blush on her face from her interaction with Kaname - nodded and smiled back. "Well, see you guys later!" With that, she dashed off. Karin blew out a low whistle; that girl had a lot of energy, and it suprised Karin just how much she had.

"Well, Zero, shall we go to class?"

Karin glanced up expectantly at the silver-haired male, but he was only glaring down at her, a sort of determined look on his face. "Geez," she muttered, rubbing her head and started to walk forward, "if you didn't want to go to class, you only needed to say so."

"What did you talk about with Kuran?"

Of course that'd be what he'd ask. Karin sniffed, crossing her arms. "None of your buisness."

Zero stopped abruptly, grabbing Karin's shoulder and stopping her. Eyes wide, Karin flushed and pushed herself away from him, shaking her hands back and forth. "Fine. Fine! If you have to know, he asked me if I was doing my job. Okay?"

Zero didn't answer. He just gave her another look, and then they both walked to class in silence.

"Well, Ria. I'd say this is about the best lunch I've ever had." Karin bit into a piece of pork she had taken from Ria's own plate. Karin had never sat still in her entire life, and she wouldn't change that now just because she was at some school.

"You say that about every meal," Ria said, rolling her eyes. The other couple of girls sitting around them all nodded their heads in agreement. Flushing, Karin swallowed and shook her head.

"But this time, I mean it!"

Ria moved closer to Karin, her voice a whisper. "I saw you talking to Kaname today outside. What gives?"

"Hm. I never saw you as the type to fangirl." Karin tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I always thought you were more like that Sayori girl, the one Yuki hangs out with."

Ria leaned back, her blonde hair falling neatly behind her back with a short wave of her hand. "That Aido boy is really handsome. I can't help myself." She shook off the thoughts and turned back to Karin, her eyes worried. "But seriously, Rin. What did you talk about with Kaname?"

"Is someone jealous?"

"Of course not. Merely curious. Rin-"

"Oh, wow! Look at that. It seems Yuki needs my help." Karin grabbed one more piece of pork and jumped up, slipping into her mouth. "It seems urgent. I should go." Before Ria could reply, Karin dashed off and found Yuki and that short-haired girl who Karin recalled went by the name of Sayori Wakaba.

Ignoring the looks both Sayori and Yuki gave her, Karin settled into the seat and gave both of them her biggest smile. "Hello you two. I just decided to drop in and say hello."

"Karin Tsuna," mumbled Sayori, as if she needed to remind herself who Karin was. Which she probably did; Karin was good at staying out of the spotlight, and not many people knew her name. If they did, they probably hated her from keeping them away from the Night Class.

"Why are you guys so shocked? I can't sit with a girl I've known for four years?" asked Karin in what she hoped was an innocent tone.

Yuki gave a small smile and nod and turned to Sayori, waving a hand at Karin. "This is my friend Karin Tsuna. Karin, this is my friend Yori."

Karin gave a nod to Yori, who returned it slowly. She seemed nice enough, and quiet too - Karin liked quiet people. They were much easier to get along with then people who talked a lot. The rest of the lunch past by with most of Yuki's chattering, some of Karin's remarks, and Yori's once-in-a-while opinions. It was a great lunch, in Karin's opinion.

Opting to miss out on Ria's fury for a few more hours until bed, Karin slipped out of class un-noticed and decided just to walk around; if anyone asked, she use the excuse that she had heard something suspicious, and as a member of the disciplinary comittee, it was her job to figure it out.

Her head thumped with the sign of an oncoming headache. These had been coming so frequently now that Karin had long since grown used to them. She knew it was most likely because of the stress. Thumping down in front of a tree, Karin curled up.

It could be so much easier if she had someone to talk to this about.

But that would most likely never be possible, and Karin knew that much.

"What are you doing out of class?"

Karin looked up, snapping out of her reverie. "Huh?" Zero was standing in front of her, looking down at her with his normal, cold purple eyes. "Oh...Zero. I just...I have a headache."

Looking over to the side when he didn't respond, Karin saw that classes were over and the Day Class kids were starting to come back. She hopped to her feet, gave Zero a grin, and said, "Aren't we going to go? We have a job, you know!"

Karin could almost swear she heard his eyes rolling behind her.

The job finished easily and quick, with no interruptions; Kaname didn't even so much as look at her - thank goodness - and Ria wasn't able to get past the large crowd of Day Class students. Once they finished, Yuki turned to both Karin and Zero. "I'm going to bed, okay?"

Karin nodded and watched Yuki bounce off towards her dorm. Turning on her heel, Karin waited for Zero to walk off as well. "Aren't you...aren't you going to go?" She used her hands to make a sweeping motion into the distance.

"So eager to see me leave, aren't you Tsuna?"

"No, that's not it." Karin bit her lip and crossed her arm. "I just don't want to go back to my room."

Without saying a word, both of them just started walking slowly down the path, not going any specific way. "Is it Ria?" asked Zero after a minute.

A bit startled, Karin cast a glance up at him. "How'd you know? I didn't think anyone besides the girls at my table knew what had happened. Maybe even Yuki or Yori, but that's because I ran to their table..." Karin tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"Ria was trying to push past those girls like there wasn't a tomorrow. And after you escaped and hid behind Yuki - which how is that possible, anyways? - she left with a...weird expression."

"Weird?"

"I don't think she'd get that kind of expression on her face if she couldn't see that stupid vampire."

Even though he didn't say the name, Karin automatically knew which one he was talking about. "Wow! You even know about him? You're observant, Zero!" She hit him off the shoulder playfully, laughing.

She liked moments like these. When they talked as though they were kids again.

Almost caught in the moment, Karin looked up at Zero. She stepped back, startled. He seemed...different, almost. His eyes weren't that normal shade of purple, but rather a sort of red color. He seemed on edge as well.

"Zero...is something wrong?"

"...no."

Karin knew better than to push it, she didn't need to know; but this was where her job came in. The thing no one could know. The thing no one except a few would ever know. She reached up, her hand falling onto Zero's shoulder.

"If there is something going on...leave Yuki out of it."

With those last words finally out of her mouth, Karin let her hand drop and sucked in a sigh, giving a small smile to Zero. She headed towards her dorm with her head ducked low and her hands hanging limply at her sides.

This job would be the end of her.

The end of everything.

She just knew it.

But she had too.

She had too.