Beasts in human form… a vampire.

At Cross Academy, there are two classes, a Day class and a Night class. When the Day class retires to their dorm, the Night class emerges from the Moon dorm to attend class. The Day class treats the Night class like celebrities including the screaming fan girls. But, the Night class has a secret. All the students are vampires. Hence, the Disciplinary Committee was formed with three members: Yuki Cross, Zero Kiryuu, and Ichigo Yukimura…

Chapter 1: Twilight

"Yuki." Yuki Cross barely stirred as her name was called repeatedly by the History teacher. "Ms. Cross, are you listening?" One of her classmates, Yuri, raised her hand tentatively.

"Sensei, Yuki's asleep," she informed him. The teacher sighed in frustration. Several times that week Yuki Cross had fallen asleep in class as well as Zero Kiryuu. He considered calling on Zero for the answer, but when he glanced over at the pale-haired youth's desk, Zero was asleep as well.

"Supplementary classes for both of you," he sighed. "Class is dismissed." Yuki yawned and stretched her arms. She noticed how quickly the class size had reduced since she last saw them.

"Supplementary classes again," Yuri informed her. "Geez, lately you've been really weird lately." Yuki rubbed her sleepy eyes and yawned again.

"What do you mean?"

"You come back to your dorm early in the morning," Yuri explained, "and then you sleep through class. You're out practically all night. You're like a—"

Don't say…

"—like a vampire," Yuri grinned. Yuki nearly jumped out of her chair. Did Yuri know about the Night Class' secret?!

"D-do you believe in vampires?" Yuki asked tentatively as she put her textbooks in her bag. Yuri shook her head.

"I was only joking, Yuki," she sighed. "Lighten up a little." Yuki feigned a grin as Yuri left for her next class.

"That's attractive," Zero muttered sarcastically. Yuki's face dropped as she turned to face her second partner on the Disciplinary Committee. For as long as she had known him, Zero had always been quiet, and when he did speak his words were cold. His hate of all Vampires could easily be heard in his voice. His pale hair playfully fell across his piercing blue eyes, and he brushed it from his face again. "You ready to meet with Ichigo?" he asked. Yuki nodded and shifted the strap on her shoulder.

Ichigo Yukimura, the third member of the Disciplinary Committee, wasn't nearly as cold as Zero. Born of Vampire and Human parents, she was the model example of the Headmaster's pacifist ideology. Recently she had transferred out of the Day class into the Night class, due to her Vampiric blood acting up and causing her pain. Her father, the source of her vampire lineage, disappeared after his wife, Ichigo's mother, died by another vampire's fangs. The Headmaster at Cross Academy offered to take her in as his own child like he had Yuki and Zero, but Ichigo refused, saying that she could make it on her own. As a result, when the Committee formed, Headmaster Cross put Ichigo on the team because of her lineage, as a perfect example to the Night class students of his idea of pacifism between Vampires and Humans.

"There she is," Yuki said, her finger pointing at a lovely young girl already wearing her Committee badge. Ichigo's lineage was obvious; she had received the beauty only seen in the Night class students. Long black hair softly framed her elegant face, paling her skin more than it naturally was. Her icy, crimson eyes, inherited from her father, surveyed everything with precision. Despite her beauty, Ichigo still wore cheap shadow and thick liner on her eyes, and she dyed various colors into her hair. Today her makeup followed a purple theme, darkening the color of her eyes tenfold, and her hair also matched with purple-colored ends.

As Yuki looked closer at Ichigo's appearance, she realized there was something wrong with Ichigo's uniform. She nervously cast a glance to her left, to her right, hoping that none of the faculty would see her out-of-uniform partner.

"Ichigo, again?" Zero grumbled as he lightly tugged at her shirt collar. Ichigo slapped the back of his hand, and then she resumed her position leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. Instead of the standard girls' uniform, Ichigo had donned the boys' uniform: white slacks, a white jacket over a black shirt, and white dress shoes. She looked good in either uniform, but she preferred the boy's uniform to the one she was supposed to wear. "So, how many demerits did you get today for wearing this?"

"I'm trying to make a statement, Zero," she said, ignoring his question. "I refuse to wear that girly uniform. I'd rather be a cross-dresser than wear a skirt."

"Headmaster Cross will be pissed," Zero muttered to himself. "Go ahead and wear your stupid uniform." Ichigo slammed her fist against the wall.

"You could at least speak to me like I'm Human," she said. "I'm not completely Vampiric, you know." When Zero didn't reply, Ichigo tore her badge off her arm and threw it on the ground.

"Screw this shit," she growled. "I'm going to class."

"Ichigo, wait," Yuki pleaded. "Zero's always like this, even around me!" Zero shoved his fists into his pockets.

"I can hear you," he mumbled. Yuki punched his arm.

"It's your grumpiness that drove her off!" she snapped. "We need her. It's difficult with just us two."

"She skips out enough, so we know what to do," Zero informed her. "Lets get to work."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Ichigo shifted the weight of her book bag on her shoulder. No one had offered to walk with her, and she didn't feel like asking anyone.

What's the point? They'll turn me away, just like before.

Ichigo gasped as a pair of rowdy students pushed past her, knocking her bag out of her grasp.

"Loser!" they jeered, grinning mischievously. Ichigo grumbled curses under her breath as she bent down to gather her scattered papers.

"Stupid pricks… now I'm gonna be late again," she muttered.

"Excuse me, do you need any help?"

"I'm just fine!" Ichigo snapped. "You friggin'—" She looked up from the pile of schoolwork into the lustrous eyes of Kaname Kuran, her new class president. "I-I'm sorry," she stammered. "I thought it was those jerks that knocked me down."

"No," Kaname smiled. "You don't need to apologize." He stooped down and gathered a handful of papers. "Here you go." Ichigo tentatively took the papers from his hand.

"Th-thank you," she murmured.

"Where's your first class?" Kaname asked. "I can walk you there, if you like." Ichigo's heart suddenly stopped beating. She felt as if she would fall over any minute. Kaname gently grasped her chin. "Are you all right?" he asked. "You seemed to have stopped breathing." Ichigo gasped for breath as her heart jumped, beating quickly to pace her disturbed heart rate.

"Huh?" she asked, rising slowly to her feet. "It's nothing," she assured him. "I was just a little startled." She gathered her papers and books into her arms, forcefully shoving them all into her book bag. Kaname smiled and shook his head, his princely hair gently swaying across his eyes.

"If you're sure," he said, "then, we should get to class. We'll be late if we don't get moving." Ichigo quickly stood at attention, her bag spilling over with papers.

"Right," she said. "I can't afford another demerit, or else I'll be stuck here until after I graduate." Kaname chuckled softly.

"Come," he smiled. "If you're with me, I promise that you won't get another demerit." Ichigo gasped as Kaname tenderly touched her hand. "So, why do you wear the wrong uniform?" he asked.

"I hate the girls' uniform," Ichigo replied, swinging her bag as she talked. "It makes me feel unnatural. I can't stand skirts. I don't know why. The Headmaster told me that as I kid I hated dresses and refused to wear them, that I preferred Zero's clothes or his clothes over my own." Kaname smiled again as he held the door open for Ichigo to pass first.

"So, it's rebellion," he murmured. "How cute." Ichigo glanced up at the enormous analogue clock positioned on the wall in the school lobby. The bell was going to ring in a few minutes, and she wasn't even close to her first class.

"I'm sorry," she said, bowing low, "I really have to hurry to English language. I can't be late." Kaname gently grabbed her wrist.

"I'm headed that way myself," he smiled. "We'll walk together if you don't mind." Ichigo shook her head, and she dashed down the hall.

"Sorry!" she shouted. "I can't be late!" Kaname chuckled softly to himself, and he continued on to his class.

Ichigo raced to her English language class. Her heart pounded in her chest, adrenaline throbbing in her veins, sweat beginning to pearl on her temples. She dreaded her language teacher's booming voice, especially as he gave her another demerit for whatever reason he saw fit.

"That bastard better not lock the door this time," she muttered. As often as her teacher gave her demerits, Ichigo had sworn that he was out to ruin her. But, not this time. Ichigo would make it to class on time, satanic teacher or not.

Suddenly a long arm reached out, and caught Ichigo's jacket. Ichigo sputtered profanity as her breath was knocked from her lungs.

"Damn it!" she snapped, throwing her bag on the floor. "You jerk, now I'm going to be late for cl—" A hand clapped over Ichigo's mouth, and it pinched her nose shut. Ichigo struggled to break free of her captor. She kicked her legs, thrashed her arms, but in vain. Her captor soon grew irritated with her movements, and he struck her on the back of her head with his palm. Ichigo fell forward, and hung limp on his arm. Her captor kicked her school bag out of his way as he made his way toward a large window. He muttered curses as he jiggled the window lock open with his free hand. At last, he threw the window open, and he leapt into the branches of a nearby tree. In only a few bounds he had made it halfway across the campus.

When he finally paused to catch his breath, he was crouching on top of the wall surrounding Cross Academy. Grinning wickedly, he stroked Ichigo's hair, and whispered, "What a lovely face for a half-blood. You will most definitely be most delightful." Having spoken to her unconscious body, the captor jumped down the wall outside the school grounds, and he dashed into the woods.