'I can't believe I'm doing this.' Yuki thought to herself as the clock in her room struck midnight. She got out of bed and opened the window and looked outside, making sure no one sees her before perching herself on the window and jumping two stories down.

Upon landing gracefully on the ground, she silently dashed off into the forest in the direction of the lake, unaware that lavender eyes followed her movements from behind the bushes. "Where do you keep running off to Yuki?" he said silently before running after her, making sure she doesn't notice him.

Yuki never stopped running until she arrived at the lake, panting slightly, she looked around to be certain that it is only her in this area. Letting out a breath, she stepped out into the clearing until she was standing beside the lake.

A familiar meow made her look down, "Camelot." Yuki said before she picked him up and cuddled him to her chest. Camelot crawled onto his designated spot on her shoulder, making her giggle as she scratched behind his ears.

Zero had a deadpan look on his face as he spied on Yuki from behind the trees, "A cat?" he growled under his breath, not really understanding why she sneaks out for a stinking cat.

"I don't think this is what she sneaks out for." a familiar irritable voice broke Zero out of his thoughts.

"Couldn't ignore this too, now could you?" Zero said, turning his head to face his rival who stood leaning his back against the tree with what Zero considered to be a disappointed expression.

"I'm surprised that she hid this from you." Kaname stated, turning his head to look from behind the tree at Yuki.

"She's keeping more from us than she's letting on." Zero said, ignoring Kaname's comment as he turned back to Yuki.

Yuki beckoned Camelot to come to her arms before she held him in front of her with her hands under his armpits as he stared back with innocent eyes. "You ready?" Yuki asked, Camelot meowing in response before Yuki nodded.

Yuki set Camelot down and took a step back as the cat began to transform. His body glowed gold then started to grow bigger and transform into a large Chinese lion guardian with a fiery mane and red and black headband and armor.

Zero and Kaname's eyes widened as they beheld them magnificent creature that stood before an unfrightened Yuki. Said female merely smiled at the creature as she petted its mane, never seeming to get burned by the fiery mane as she made her way to Camelot's side and leapt onto the saddle, straddling it as she took hold of the reins. "Alright Camelot, let's go." she said as Camelot took a running start before flying into the air, going in the direction of the Kurosaki Shop.

Zero ran out into the clearing as the lion flew away from the area. "Dammit." he growled as he gave chase, keeping his eyes on the glowing lion as he ran through the trees. 'Yuki, what are you hiding?' Zero thought to himself as he picked up speed, trying to keep up with the lion.

Kaname followed not so far behind until he was running ahead of Zero. The hunter on the other hand had a tic-mark on his head, gritting his teeth, he pushed faster to try and get ahead of the pureblood. This in turn, made Kaname smirk on the inside as he kept the flying lion in his sights.

Yuki sighed, feeling quite relaxed on Lion-Camelot's back, "I'm telling you Camelot, this isn't working out as well as I thought it would." She said, referring to her deal with Kaname. A thought came to Yuki, "Wait, did Kurosaki-sensei find out about me and Kaname?" she asked the lion who grumbled in response, "I'll take that as a 'maybe.'" she said as they flew over to the edge of town where the Kurosaki Shop was located, far from the academy.

Once the Kurosaki Shop was in view, Camelot descended towards the near isolated area where said shop was located. The moment Camelot touched the ground, Yuki hopped off as Camelot transformed back into a cat before hopping onto Yuki's shoulder.

It was quiet and dark as usual, something she's been used to ever since she apprenticed under Kurosaki-sensei. She walked up to the house that had the 'Kurosaki Shop' sign above the entry way. Knocking on the door that had the 'closed' sign hanging in the window, she waited until the door opened up a crack to reveal a smiling Kurosaki, "About time, Yuki." she said, before opening up all the way, letting Yuki inside.

After closing and locking the door behind her, Kurosaki turned to Yuki who had a frown on her face, "Yuki, what's wrong?" Yuki didn't answer, instead, she stepped toward Kurosaki and wrapped her arms around her middle and buried the side of her face in her chest.

Ichiru Kurosaki looked down at her pupil in surprise and concern, not understanding this negative fluctuation in spirit energy Yuki was emitting. Without saying a word, she wrapped her arms around the distraught girl in order to counsel her as Camelot nimbly stepped onto Kurosaki's shoulder.

They held onto each other for several minutes, one seeking comfort while the other gave shelter before they released each other with Yuki wiping tears from her eyes and Kurosaki holding the other's shoulders.

Yuki raised her head, her tears gone, but her eyes still shining with them as she looked up at her sensei. Kurosaki sighed, the meeting can wait, Yuki needs her moral support. Remaining silent, she placed a hand at the small of Yuki's back and led her to the back of the shop where her living quarters are located, passing by the snack aisle.

Once they reached the living area of the shop, Kurosaki closed the door behind them and looked at Yuki expectantly, "Alright Yuki, start talking, what happened to you?" she asked her pupil who looked down with a small blush on her face, "Kaname...he..." she struggled to form a sentence to explain her predicament.

Kurosaki sighed and rubbed the back of her neck, "Why don't you take a seat, I'll make us some tea." she said, before heading off to the kitchen while Yuki situated herself on the couch. Yuki's mind began to wander until her eyes caught the worn out books on the bookshelf not too far from her.

At the local bookstore in town, Yuki browsed through the classic section in hopes of finding something for her adoptive Father's birthday.

It has been three days since Yuki first encountered that woman, she didn't report it to the headmaster because she wasn't all too sure if that woman was real or not. However, she kept looking over her shoulder when she felt something odd stir in the air, as though something was amiss, even though she couldn't see it.

Yuki sighed as she thought of that strange woman. She never sensed any malice from her, yet she knew that she couldn't trust her either.

"Meow." the sound brought her out of her thoughts, making her look around, but couldn't find the source of the sound. 'Am I hearing things?' Yuki thought to herself before she resumed her search for a book.

Seeing a book that caught her interest, she pulled it out of it's shelf and skimmed the back of the book. She did a double take when she saw a tail swishing back and forth between the space where she pulled the book out.

'Huh?' Yuki took a closer look and peeked through the space to see a familiar kitty draped over the shoulder of an all too familiar woman who had her back to Yuki.

Yuki almost dropped her book when she caught sight of this woman. No longer was she in her black attire since she sported a casual wear that made her blend in with the people in town.

'Blend in? Yeah right, her cat is on her shoulder.' Yuki amended that thought, sweat dropping as she imagined this woman in a crowd with her trademark feline.

The cat meowed again, making his owner turn her head in its direction, "I know Camelot, but we need as much information as we can get." The woman, Kurosaki said as though she could understand the cat while pulling out a book that looked worn out before skimming the pages.

Kurosaki tensed, making Yuki panic as she turned her back to the woman and pretended to read the book in order to not be caught spying. She waited a few moments before turning around to see that the woman disappeared.

'Gone again?' Yuki thought to herself exasperatedly for having missed her.

"You're not exactly subtle when it comes to spying on people."

Yuki screamed, but a hand shot out from behind her and clamped her mouth shut and turned her around to face an unamused Kurosaki. "Keep your voice down, we're in a public place." she said before Yuki nodded, still shocked by her stealthy appearance.

Kurosaki removed her hand from Yuki's mouth as the latter gasped while placing a hand to her rapidly beating heart. Once she calmed down, she glared at the light orange woman, "You scared me, what are you doing?" she whispered, still shocked by this woman.

Kurosaki raised an eyebrow and said, "Looking for a book, that's what you do at a bookstore." she said, holding up her book.

Yuki's eye twitched, "I get that, but what were you doing at my school?" she yelled quietly so that she wouldn't attract attention.

Kurosaki blinked at this girl before answering, "It's not your concern, it's something you don't need to worry about. Farewell." she said before walking away from Yuki in a calm manner in order to pay for her book.

Yuki doesn't like being brushed off, "Excuse me, it is very much my concern, especially when it comes to security at the school and it's students. So it is my duty as one of the guardians to keep the students safe." Yuki said with authority as she walked a step behind the woman.

The "Shoulder-Cat", as Yuki dubbed it, meowed cutely at Yuki who stared in confusion until Kurosaki chuckled, "Indeed she is."

"Huh, wait, what did he say?" Yuki asked, staring at the cat who returned it with an innocent one.

Kurosaki answered, "Camelot merely commented on how cute you look when you're mad and acting all grown up." she smiled at the younger girl's red face and pout, "Who's acting, I'm only doing my job as a guardian." Yuki said, glaring at the taller girl as she paid for her purchase.

As soon as Yuki paid for her book, she kept following Kurosaki out of the store and walked beside her. "I deserve an explanation, I can even report you to the headmaster and we can track you down in one night." Yuki threatened, making Kurosaki stop in her tracks and looked down at Yuki with a stern face that made Yuki flinch slightly.

"Let it go already, kid. Believe me when I say that you're a lot safer not knowing. It's bad enough that you could see me in my spirit form, if they find out about that, you'll become a target." Yuki's eyes widened at Kurosaki's statement.

"But-" Yuki's response was interrupted by a familiar roar that she heard three days ago. Both Yuki and Kurosaki turned where the sound came from to see a goblin-like creature with a hole in it's chest and an ugly white mask on top of one of the buildings.

Yuki's eyes dilated and adrenaline began to pump through her veins, looking at this monstrous creature made her skin go cold.

Kurosaki placed a hand on Yuki's shoulder, making the latter flinch before turning to the woman who had a composed look upon her face as she stared ahead but kept the creature in her sights.

"Um-" "Remain calm and don't stare or point. You'll only get his attention." Kurosaki interrupted before linking arms with her and leading her away from the creature at a sedate pace.

Yuki began to turn her head to check on the creature, "Don't look back." Kurosaki stopped her, making her shoot her head forward as they continued to walk.

Yuki's eyes averted to the civilians who seem oblivious of the monstrous creature, "How are they not aware? It sticks out like a sore thumb." Yuki whispered to Kurosaki as she clutched her book to her chest.

Kurosaki kept her face forward, "Ordinary humans cannot see the souls of the dead." she answered calmly, keeping her cool as she lead Yuki away from the creature, "This one's much uglier and revolting than the last one." she commented

Yuki tried to control her fears, but she couldn't because she felt that they were being followed. She could literally feel the monster crawling on the buildings, creeping after them. "He's following us." she anxiously said, fighting herself to keep from running lest it makes it worse.

"We're almost out of here, just bear with me a little longer." Kurosaki said as they reached the edge of town and lead them out to the woods where Kurosaki separated from the younger girl, "And this is where we part ways. Now run!" she said before pushing Yuki away as the creature attacked with the intent to kill.


Sorry to leave you hanging, but I'm out of juice at the moment. Review, fav or follow at your leisure