chapter two

I woke up the next morning groggily but in a better mood than yesterday. Memories flowed through my mind of the one event that occurred last night. I smiled to myself as master's face flashed through my mind.

I grabbed a towel and other necessary toiletries before going into the bathroom which we have to share amongst the dorm mates. It was late in the morning as all the girls bustled about in their rooms already past the showering stage. I sighed. I better get this done quickly.

I turned on the water to 'Hot' as I got in quickly to be relaxed by the water gingerly splashing against my body. The peacefulness was short lived as I remembered that I still needed to get ready and this time I couldn't dare sleep through the first class.

After the quick shower, I went back to my room in just a towel wrapped around my body and quickly got out a random bra and underwear and hastily put them on. I got to the closet where my uniform hung loose upon the hangers and snatched it off to put them on not caring if I put them on right or not.

My hair was still wet but I quickly combed it so that it would dry the right way and did my make up although not much before thundering out the dorm to follow my dormmates who looked way more better than me since they probably woke up earlier than me to get ready. I cursed myself for not being more girly. But then that probably came with the package of being a vampire hunter.

I sighed. Sometimes, I wondered why my 'parents' wanted me to become a hunter...I've always wondered but always tried to avoid the question. Why? I bit back a sob that was soon threatening to come out. God, it's not like it's that time of the month, get a hold of yourself Narumi! You don't need them, you never did. You don't even remember them. Stop thinking.

And that's what I exactly did as I walked the path blindingly towards the classrooms. But of course not paying attention to where you were going have consequences as I felt myself smack right into a figure. A stiff figure.

"Omph!" I let out as I looked up at the back of the figure I just bumped into. Silver hair. Lavender Eyes. The glare. How I managed to always bump into him I will never know. I sighed as it seems like I was already used to the glare he sent my way.

"Watch where you are going Suzumiya!" He barked. Now, any normal girl would squeak out her fears and run away but I was not a normal girl and I happened to be also in a grumpy mood.

"What crawled up your ass and died?" I shot back. He raised his eyebrows and had an irritated expression.

"You are not gonna even apologize?" He growled. I pretended to think hard for a moment, cocking my head to the side and had my chin rested on a fist. "Nop. Don't feel like it." I replied stubbornly before I sidestepped his figure and continued on my walk to the classrooms. He gave out an audible snarl before I could feel him behind me burning holes on my back as he glared at my retreating form. I smirked.

The classes were boring as usual and when it was twilight, the girls' eyes held a glint in them. A scary one might I say. They darted across the hallways towards the huge gate of the Moon Dorms and this time I easily sidestepped all of them as I quietly followed the crowd.

I leaned my back on a tree as I watched Yuuki and Zero amusingly while they tried to push back the fans. Well, Yuuki was anyway, while Zero just shot out glares towards the girls making them form a silent line obediently under his burning gaze. I rolled my eyes at his behavior.

I looked at Yuuki who was trying desperately to maim the girls but with little success. I could help and I wanted to help but I shouldn't because if I endured something like that I would probably blow up on one of the girls.

I quickly sneaked off towards the Night sessions just like the night before while the prefects were distracted. I silently trudged through the trees wondering why in god's name this academy needed a forest? It only gives off a spooky atmosphere considering the vampires' lair was close by too. Although that was probably the chairman's intentions so that the crazy girls wouldn't sneak out of their Sun dorms to go see the Night class.

Although, by the looks of them, they would probably go through anything to be close to them. I sighed in disappointment. These girls..so much more fragile than hunters and especially vampires. I trekked through the woodsy area thinking why the hell would a school need this much green? Ugh I hate green.

I kept on muttering to myself until I heard the sound of footfalls on soft grass. How come my sense of hearing is so superb? I am trained to be this cautious when around vampires and also since I can hear girls whispering to each other along with the fast paced scuffing of the feet. I glared at the two girls that just emerged from bush.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" I yelled at them. They seemed to be taken aback and a little relieved at the same time that I wasn't the prefects. Oh, they will wish I was the prefects once they've experienced my wrath!

I started to start on my scolding like a mother would to her children, except the words never got to come out of my mouth interrupted by a different, more manly voice coming from the right. It was Zero.

Now, this was not good for me and them! Fuck! he glared at us but the only one who didn't run away under his murderous gaze was me. I stood there with my feet firmly planted to the ground glaring back at him threatening to say anything along the lines of "go back to the dorms it's past curfew and nights aren't safe" like he said to those girls.

"What are you doing here? Don't you know the rules by now?" He looked like he was about to explode I can almost see steam coming out of his ears.

"Um, you know, feeling the cool breeze on my skin -" "Bullshit, Suzumiya!" His eyes held a weird emotion and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"What do you mean bullshit? It's the perfect truth!" I yelled. He scoffed at my answer.

"You are going to wait by the classrooms to wait for master aren't you?" He asked.

"Well, is that a problem? I don't see any. I'm a hunter and I can take care of myself." He sighed.

"I don't care if you can take care of yourself, I know that, but I'm still not allowed to let you out past curfew for the day class!" He said, frustrated.

"Well, that's for normal day class students. I'm not a normal day class student so I say you let me do whatever I want past curfew. Hmph." Okay, yes I was being a brat but he was pissing me off!

"Look, I don't care what the fuck kind of relationship you have between the two of you but as long as I'm a guardian of the academy, I can't let you out past curfew." Damn, he wasn't giving up anytime soon. I couldn't hide the blush that crept over my cheeks at the mention of the "relationship". Yes, I'm so naive sometimes.

He smirked. "You like him, don't you!" He childishly stated. I rolled my eyes as my cheeks burned hotter than before.

"No, I don't! I'm just...I just look up to him okay!" He nodded while still looking at me with a big smile.

"Yeah, right, right. I look up to him too but I still don't act like a love-sick puppy who tackles him into a hug." My eyes widened at his statement.

"You...you saw that? What the hell?" I screamed in annoyance. Great, there's no way getting out of this one for a while...

"You two! Stop it! No fighting!" Suddenly, Yuuki came into the clearing and looked at the two of us long and hard. Her eyes widened when she looked at Zero.

"You...you..you are smiling!" She pointed her index finer towards Zero and I furrowed my eyebrows at her.

"You mean he doesn't usually smile?" Zero, by now had wiped off the smile from his face and was about to walk away from the moment.

"I've never seen him smile...EVER!" She had sheer shock/horror and amazement written clearly on her face. My eyes widened at the revelation. Are you shitting me?

I looked back at Zero but of course he was already gone. So...I'm the only one who has seen him smile? In like how many years?

Apparently Yuuki had the same thought crossing through her mind right now as she looked at me curiously.

"You made him smile! He's like a brother to me and I try so hard to make him smile everyday but it never works!" She sort of puffed out her cheeks cutely. I didn't know what to say.

"Uhm...well if it makes you feel better he was sort of...making fun of me."

"Trust me, he makes fun of me constantly and he never smiles..." she said. I sighed.

"Well, I bet they are all half-hearted. This one, was...nevermind, anyways I'm sure he smiles on the inside whenever he's around you. I can see it." I smiled at her. What the hell am I saying? Stupid lie!

I didn't know if she actually believed my words or not but she smiled anyways.

I guess Yuuki was so in thought that she didn't even try to seek out where I was going at this time of night. I waited at the same spot as yesterday to meet my master.

When the last of the Night class students came out to go back to their dorm, I knew the smell of cigarettes would hit me in 5, 4, 3, 2, -

"One!" I whispered to myself. Ah. The smell of pure heaven. "Greetings, master!" I smiled brightly at him. He just looked at me for few seconds letting out a grunt before letting out a sigh, which I seemed to be making him do since yesterday.

"I'm gonna tell you once again, aren't you not allowed at this time?" He looked around at the trees surrounding us and the building.

"I've got them distracted." He raised an eyebrow but I remembered what they were probably distracted about and I decided to change the subject.

"So...they still not used to you or something?" I pointed at the little knife stuck neatly through the hard cover of the textbook he was holding over his shoulder with one hand.

"They are just stupid bunch of noble brats. They will get over it." He puffed it out. I nodded my head at his reply.

"You know, I still haven't gotten the answer from you yesterday." I knew this was going to happen sooner or later.

"Why are you here? You know it's dangerous to sneak out from the Hunters Associations like that. For me, I'm already a pro and I don't need to listen to those corrupted dogs." Corrupted?

"Corrupted? What are you talking about? You sound like a vampire saying that they are dogs. Yes, I don't like them either but they...we are still better than those bloodsuckers!" He turned his head to not meet my eyes before he took another cigarette out of his case.

"Well, fine, whatever but don't change the subject. So?" The sound of his metal zippo was heard through the air followed soon by the burning tobacco.

"I really did miss you. I...I love you." Wow, wait to go me! It's only been two days! No, more like one and a half days and I'm going to make him hate me forever! Don't ask me why!

He suddenly put his arm around my shoulders and put his chin on top of my head. I closed my eyes to try to forget about what I just said and what I am going to hear come out of his mouth.

"I love you too, Narumi." A single tear had already slipped out of my lids and it took me good 5 seconds to fully understand what he just said and of course my eyes widened.

"You do? You really do?"

"Yes. You are like...the little sister I never had. Or even maybe my daughter. Ha." He took a long drag of nicotine. And I took a long drag of air and let out a huge sigh while he just exhaled more smoke into the moonlit night.

"What? I thought that's what you wanted to hear." He looked at me skeptically.

I just made a repressed sound as I looked at him trying to suppress the blush on my cheeks. "Yeah..." I replied lamely.

He scoffed at my answer but the conversation ended at that as we both didn't say anything more, just looking up at the moon with our hair swaying with the light wind traveling past by us.

"You should really go back, Narumi. You are still too young to be traveling as a lone hunter even if you are attending this school. It's even worse that you sneaked out.", he pointed out after several comforting silence past between us. God damn it! Why cant he just let it go? But then I remembered what he said after I confessed my feelings for him a few minutes ago even though he took it the wrong way.

I sighed in defeat before replying. "I don't wanna go back! Besides, I don't have to be a lone hunter, I can just stick with you!"

He looked at me wide eyed like he was baffled at the idea. "No way. If you are so unwilling to go back there, then I might just have to call them to forcefully take you back there."

Now it was my turn to widen my eyes as I was definitely baffled at this idea. "You wouldn't dare...besides you've been a lone hunter for like 10 years who apparently calls them "corrupted dogs" now, how are you going to contact them? And besides, I will be gone before they can catch me! I've been training myself quite a lot after you left." I glared at him.

His eyes became saddened at the last sentence and he gave out a sigh. "Look, there are a lot of things you don't know about the Hunters Association. I do not want you to get involved in this...darkness, but now that I think about it..." I furrowed my eyebrows at what he was saying, now clearly not even directed towards me.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I let my question out into the open. He scowled at me probably for my choice of words but he quickly brushed it off.

"We will talk about this tomorrow. Right now, it is far past your curfew and you need to get some sleep." He threw the remaining cigarette on the dirt ground before he squished it with his hunter boots.

I tried to protest but before I could sound one letter, he patted my head with his big hand. I stared after his retreating silhouette silently before I let myself turn around and head back to the Sun Dorms.

Narumi was fast asleep once she got into bed, her last thoughts being that she hopefully will be able to wake up on time to get ready unlike the previous day however unlikely that might be.

She was careless though as she clearly didn't notice a presence outside her window. A figure, with a cloak covering its entire identity except for a few strands of red hair coming out within the hood, was sitting on a tree branch that was at least two trees away from her window was humming a tune while its legs swung back and forth with the mysterious rhythm of the tune. Judging by the sound and its skinny smooth legs, it seemed to be a woman.

Her lips and tip of her nose peeked out from the darkness as she lifted her head slightly to reveal a smirk as she muttered the words, "I fooouuunnd you!"

She sat on that branch with the same manner for few more minutes before she gradually disappeared as though the cloak it self was actually the night sky.

Meanwhile at the Moon Dorms, Kaname woke up with a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't comprehend why this sudden instinct to protect Yuuki from whatever this upcoming disaster was kicked in right then.