By the way, in the story, all large chunks of italics(usually chapters) will be from Zero's point of view. Therefore, the story will switch from third person to Zero's point of view per chapter or every few chapters. Thank you!


"Chou... Chou!" Yuuki called out to her softly, shaking her awake from her slumber on the floor of her dorm.

"Mmh.. C'mon, Ryuu, let me sleep some more..." Chou Suzuki grumbled, turning away from the pureblood princess.

I flinched at the sound of that man's name. Why did she have to say his name? She has me, after all. I went up to Chou's sleeping body and gave her a sharp kick to the side. I knew I should treat her with more delicacy, but the sickening feeling of my own girlfriend muttering another man's name in her sleep destroyed all my good intentions.

"Uh, dammit, I told you already..." Chou growled and sat herself up. She rubbed her eyes furiously like a child and looked up at Yuuki, then at me. Her eyes widened when our gazes met each other's. "Uh.. Hi, Zero... Why are you in my room?"

I glared down at her, not even bothering to hide my growing annoyance. I didn't reply to her question, knowing that if she had enough intuition, she would remember the reason why I was upset. I swear, Chou is not cute at all.

Chou stared back at me with blank eyes, her head tilted a bit to the left. I could tell she was trying to figure out the reason why I was so mad at her. Yuuki also looked up at me with a helpless expression. I can't help but compare Chou with her. I've known Yuuki the longest, and she has been taking care of me ever since I entered the Cross household... But she has a horrible sense of judgment for men. Still, I can't help but be drawn to her more than I am to Chou.. And recently, my actions have been showing it.

A light gleamed in Chou's green eyes when her face brightened up. She smacked her fist on her palm and exclaimed, "I remember now! A while ago, we were hunting for level E's, then midway, I became super tired and snuck back... To the dorm... By... Myself... And... Slept..." Chou's expression grew more solemn as her speech became softer and weaker. She looked up at me with wide eyes full of guilt and asked, "Erm... So how was it? Did you end up killing them all?"

I sighed, anger boiling inside of me. I've never lost my temper on a girl before, not even on Yuuki... Chou is the first person ever next to Kaname who got on my nerves. I sometimes wonder why I chose her in the first place. "Whatever..." I grumbled softly, marching out of the room.

"Ah! Zero, wait!" Chou called out, but I ignored her and stomped off. I could hear Yuuki's voice trying to comfort her as I left.

It has been about a year and a half since we started dating. At first, we got along fine, going on a numerous amount of tiring dates and kissing... Now, it was total chaos. Ever since Kuran left Yuuki, I started to become mores attracted to her than ever. I wanted to comfort her, hold her in my arms, lightly bit her smooth neck... While I have these kinds of fantasies, I still love Chou.

I looked around to see that I was outside the building and I headed over to the stables to cool down my head. I stepped inside and turned to White Lily, who greeted me by chomping on my silver hair.

"Hey! I told you to stop it! I'm going to become bald because of you!" I growled, shoving her gently away before muttering to myself, "I'm practically bald already..."

"Um... Zero?"

I didn't even bother to turn towards who called out to me from the entrance of the stables. Pretending not to hear her, I climbed into a mountain of hay next to White Lily's stall and lied down on it. I could feel the straws stabbing at my back, but I didn't bother to pat them down, knowing that it would be useless.

"Zero...!" the voice whispered again, now more urgently. I could tell without looking that the white mare was glaring the newcomer with intense hate. She snorted through her nose and stomped on the ground angrily, as if she was annoyed by the girl who called out to me.

I sighed, turning onto my side, and replied, "What is it, Chou?"

"I... I... I'm sorry!" All hesitation that were shown in her actions before became nonexistent when Chou rushed into the stables and jumped on top of me. I could feel her warm half-blood body pressed against mine as she snuggled close and apologized over and over, "Zero! I'm sorry! Forgive me!"

I hunched my shoulders, not even looking at her while she pleaded desperately. The wailing continued.

"ZEROOO!"

"I got it already! I forgive you..." I muttered.

"Yay! I love you, Zero!" Chou purred, hugging me tightly.

"Yeah..." I trailed off, finally turning to look at her face. A shudder rattled down my spine as I stared at the hideous sight in shock. Blood was pouring out of Chou's eyes, mouth, and nostrils as she smiled down with me, her green eyes now darkening to a smoky black.

"I love... you..." she rasped, her opened mouth revealing an empty black hole as she came closer.


Just before her lips touched mine, I woke out of my dream. My eyes flew open as I sat up abruptly, knocking my forehead into someone else's as I did so.

"Ow... That hurt, dammit..." Chou growled, rubbing her sore head.

I quickly looked around myself to see that we were outside underneath the shade of a tree in full bloom. The orange pink sky indicated that it was nearly evening. I ruffled my hair as I stared down at the ground, taking some time to remember that I had been previously sleeping with my head rested on Chou's lap when I woke up from my nightmare and hit foreheads.

"Geez.. And you were sleeping so soundly, too.. What was it, a nightmare?" she asked.

I nodded and replied, "It's nothing, really..."

I turned towards her to see that a book was opened up in her palms. She glanced up at my eyes , seeming to notice what I was staring at, and explained, "It's an old storybook about half-bloods whose parent is a pureblood. I've never met any other than myself but there are a lot of stories about them, so I decided to read some."

I gazed up at her face now, making sure no blood was seen. I did not want to see her look like my nightmare image in real life. Ever. A long awkward silence stretched between us, causing Chou to start fidgeting. She clasped her hands together on her lap and smiled, "Hey, did you know that it's really hard to kill a half-blood? Apparently, you can't use normal vampire weapons on them and have to light them on fire for a really long time. Then, their limbs get twisted off."

She blinked rapidly, seeing my slightly disgusted face, and stammered, "Well, that just means that I'm pretty tough, you know? It's not like I'll do that to myself anyways! Ahahahaha..."

Another long silence covered us like a blanket as we just stared at each other with wide eyes. Chou laughed a bit before staggering to her feet, bending and stretching her legs to release them from their long sleep. She grinned again as she stretched her arm out to me, her beautiful long black hair falling past her shoulders.

"Let's go back. If we stay here too long, Yuuki will worry," she said.

I reached up to her and took her hand, amazed by the soft warmness of it before I also got up on my feet. I let her lead me back to the academy building as I wondered why I ever doubted my love for Chou. I silently grit my teeth, regretting the fact that in those years that I've met and dated her, I have never told her "I love you".


"Where have you been, you two? I was so worried..." Yuuki exclaimed as soon as Chou and I stepped into the dorm building.

Chou yawned ignorantly, not bothering to hide her gaping yawn as Yuuki rambled on. She said, "You know, Yuuki, you sound a lot like a housekeeper."

"I do not-"

"Have you found Kaname yet?" Chou cut in.

Yuuki stopped and shook her head sadly, her eyes now filled with loneliness. I gave Chou a quick glance, trying to say "Why did you mention him?" through my glare. Chou ignored my message and sighed, "Just give up on him, already. Knowing him, he won't be back for long. Yuuki, it already has been a year and a half since everything cooled down and you're still looking for him. In human age, you're 17 already so find a romantic love life... Like me!" Chou smiled again and hugged me tightly.

Yuuki stared at her with an exasperated expression while I shrugged Chou off roughly before heading off.

"Whatever..." I muttered as I walked off, my nightmare repeating itself over and over as it clouded my mind.


"Zero! Zeroooo!" A familiar voice called out to me early in the morning the next day. The calls were followed by rapid knocks.

I crawled out of my bed and peeked out the windows to see that it was still dark and the sun had barely begun to rise. I slowly got up and staggered to the door of my room, not bothering to change clothes, and opened it. Chou's bright smile greeted me.

"Yo! We have some vampire slayin' to do!" she greeted.

"Good morning to you too..." I grumbled, muffling a yawn.

"Ah! Good morning!" Chou replied back before slapping a notice lightly onto my chest. "It's a trio of level E's this time, so you better get ready!"

I took the letter and skimmed through it, already feeling the weariness taking its toll, and shut the door to change.

"You know, it's not very nice to shut the door in your girlfriend's face without saying anything," she said, her voice slightly muffled by the door.

"I'm changing," I responded, stripping off my shirt and putting a new one on. Then, I pulled on my casual pants.

"Really? Open up! I want to see your abs!"

The blood drained from my face as she said this. I already knew what was coming up next.

"Hmm... Now that I think about it, we haven't done anything farther than kissing... Wow, what have we been doing these past years?" she paused briefly and continued, "That's right... You haven't even told me that you love me-"

I shoved the door open, cutting her speech with my sudden move. I grabbed my hunter gun that was next to the sink and said, "Let's go."

Chou beamed and saluted before skipping off, leading the way. I glanced at her dark attire and dagger that was strapped to her right leg. I glanced down at he hands, reminding myself not to et too close to her when she was hunting because she still had her poison ability. Judging from the outside, Chou looked fine but when I gazed at her face, her eyes gave off a sad glint that had become the usual as time passed.

"I'm coming too," a soft voice exclaimed, making Chou come to a sudden halt. I could see dread already shadowing her face. Yuuki calmly walked over to us at the entrance of the academy building, wielding Artemis, her spear.

"Just let us do our job, Yuuki. We're vampire hunters, and it's not like we're going on a fancy tea party," Chou growled pointedly.

"It won't hurt for one more in the party," Yuuki pressed.

Chou looked over at me and I couldn't help but feel cornered. I sighed and said, "Just stay here, Yuuki. It's way too dangerous for you out there. Chou and I can take care of it ourselves."

"But it's so boring here!" She pouted, puffing her cheeks.

Chou huffed and walked off, "Do whatever you want."

I gave Yuuki a stern glare as if to order her to stay, and also left her.

...

"Zero! It's coming!" Chou's warnig buzzed in my ear. I held the Bloody Rose up in front of me, my finger readily resting on the trigger.

"I know..." I muttered. The earbud I was wearing on my left ear was one of the new equipment Chou and I got to help us communicate while we hunted level E's. The microphone attached to my jacket helped make the set.

I could already smell the vampire heading my way with Chou's scent following closely behind it. The speed of it was incredible, but clumsy. I could tell that Chou had already wounded it before giving chase. The level E was now in my sights. I gently pulled back the trigger, waiting for the exact moment to shoot. The inhuman thing bounced off the walls of the alleys where we were hunting and pounced at me, its jaws opening wide as its claws reached out, trying to slice my neck. Just before I shot it in the head, a giant spear came flying out of nowhere and nailed the level E in the head, slicing open it's skull.

I looked to the side to see that Yuuki was there, smiling triumphantly as the vampire crumbled to dust.

"What are you doing here?" I growled.

Yuuki ignored me and dashed off towards the direction where the monster came from.

"Oi!" I yelled, but she was already gone. I grumbled inwardly, shaking my head as I leaned against the wall of the alley, pulling out a few blood tablets from my pocket. "Where's Chou?" I wondered to myself before popping them in my mouth. Just when the tablets went down my throat, a shrill scream pierced the air.

I hurriedly ran off to the source of the sound, holding my gun tightly in my hands.


"Chou! Yuuki... Yuuki!" I yelled, bursting into a partly demolished building. I headed into the nearest room and there stood Yuuki and Chou in the center while her hand was embedded deeply into the body of a level E. A pile of dust near the doorway showed what had happened to the other one. I rushed over to them and grabbed their shoulders.

"Are you two okay?"

Yuuki nodded feebly while Chou roughly tugged her arms out of the body of ash and held her hand in front of her face. Blood soaked her sleeves as well as the shoulder of her jacket where deep hole marks ripped through the fabric.

"Chou! Your shoulder...!" I trailed off. I was surprised by how she could let a level E bite her, especially during a mission.

"Zero, I-!" Yuuki started to say. Chou glared at her coldly as soon as she started to speak and slapped her across the face with her blood covered hand. Red streaks stained Yuuki's cheeks as her own blood was mixed in through the light cuts made by Chou's nails of poison.

"You idiotic bitch... Didn't we tell you to just wait!? Can't you even complete a simple task!? Now look at what you've done!" Chou scolded in a loud voice.

"Chou..." I said.

"It could have all gone smoothly, but you just had to butt in! No wonder why Kaname left you behind! You're completely useless!"

"Chou!" I yelled, my voice overpowering hers. A tense atmosphere filled the air until it was thick enough to smother somebody. The silence grew between us as Chou's glare now moved onto me and mine, to her.

After a while, Chou sighed and her eyes softened, now full of sorrow. It was clear whose side I was on in the argument. She clenched her fists and trudged to the entrance, not bothering to look back as she said, "The poison is weak, so it will only sting... I'm leaving first."

With that, she dashed out, and when she did, I saw a thin stream of tears flowing out of the corner of her eyes.

As soon as she disappeared, Yuuki sighed and asked me, "Chou-chan... She really doesn't like me, doesn't she?"

I looked down at her without a reply, not able to deny it. It was true. In the beginning, Chou had been alright with the relationship between me and Yuuki, but lately, she had become extremely touchy. I knew that the both of us did not want to break up, but our chaotic ties have nearly ended it more than once.

I reached out my hand to pat her on the head, but I pulled back and lightly rested my palm on her shoulder for a split second before heading for the door. "We should head back, too. There's no point for us to stay here any longer."

Yuuki nodded and we left the place with clouded hearts.


As soon as we stepped into Cross Academy, I walked to the infirmary near the headmaster's office. I cautiously stepped towards the partly opened door and just when I was about to enter, Chou's frustrated growl made me stop.

"Go away, Zero. I really don't want to see you right now."

I ignored her command and stayed at the doorway as I watched her strip her top clothes to treat her wound. When she only had her bra on, I could see the deep teeth marks covered with blood that were made by the level E. The scars had already clotted up, but the blood remained wet and aromatic. I clenched my fists, repeatedly telling myself not to lunge at her and lick up the blood.

Chou picked up a roll of wide bandages and some gauze and wiped her shoulder with warm water. Then, she dried it by patting some paper towels on the wound and pressed the cotton onto it. She glared at me and said, "If you're not going to leave, come over here and help me out."

I did so and helped her wrap the bandage around her chest and shoulders. Chou flexed her arms to see if she could still move them and sat down on a chair, pulling out a cigarette from her pocket.

When I stared at it quizzically, she explained, "I just want to try it out... Ryuu used to always do it."

She lit it up using a match and gazed up at me as she took a long drag. I flinched when she mentioned Ryuu and an expression of slight annoyance appeared on my face. Seeing this, a satisfied smile appeared on Chou's lips. She coughed roughly from the smoke, her whole body quaking as she glared at the cigarette and ground the stub onto the counter of the sink nearby.

"You know, you can end it with me if you want," she said. "I won't stop you."

I blinked rapidly, staring at her with blank eyes.

"It will never work out if the feelings aren't mutual. I can't stop you from having fantasies of pureblood chicks.. I mean chick. And don't ask me how I know, 'cause I know just by seeing how you look at her. Also..."

I let her drone on while I was occupied with my own hurricane of thoughts and feelings. Did she really think that our feeling weren't mutual? And what does she know? She... She...!

I brusquely grabbed Chou's wrist and pinned her to the counter, my body towering over her lean figure. I grit my teeth, now full of rage and frustration.

"So you think I've spent all my life chasing only after Yuuki? How dare you say that our feelings aren't mutual? Who are you to judge my feelings and thought? Who the hell do you think you are, intruding on my relationships and trying to wry every single secret out of me!?" I snarled loudly, my fingers gripping her wrists so hard that purple bruises started to dot her pale skin.

A single tear escaped the edge of Chou's eye as she looked up at me, her gaze full of shock, disappointment, anger, sorrow, and fright. Her bottom lip trembled as she took deep ragged breaths.

She finally spoke in a soft voice, "I...I... I'm your girlfriend... I get jealous and possessive over you because I'm your girlfriend... I-Is that wrong?"

I gasped and loosened my grip, stupefied by what I had done. What was I thinking, letting out my frustrations on her? She wasn't the one at fault. Chou pushed herself off the counter, her bandaged shoulder now bleeding heavily once more. I must've wrenched her arm too much. I reached my hand out to her, my heart now aching because of the expression she wore.

Chou flinched at my touch and backed away from me as fast as she could. Every tear she shed made me want to tear my heart out but the expression she had when she looked at me made me want to be tortured forever in the depths of hell. It was the expression of pure fear and shock.

"Chou..." I called to her softly, but she retreated, dashing out of the room as she grabbed her clothes along the way. I sighed and sat down on the cold floor, pushing my hand against my forehead.

"What am I doing?" I muttered to myself.


Yeah! First chapter! I'm sorry if I confused you readers with the switching of point of view thing... I read it in "A Bend in the Road" by Nicolas Sparks and I wanted to try it out :3 . Please tell me what you think! Thank you!

Also, because I want to post long chapters, updates will be very slow, so please bear with me! X3