Zero

Asuka is a Vampire Hunter? She couldn't be! "You're lying! I would have been told if the Association was sending another Hunter!"

Asuka laughed at me, "Don't be ridiculous, Zero. I came here because I wanted to. Nobody sent me anywhere."

"Who were you just talking to over the phone?"

"That was my Master."

"What were you talking about?"

"That's none of your business, Zero," she snapped, "Can we get on with this patrol already? Asking these questions will get you nowhere." Calmly, Asuka walked on towards the trees without waiting for a response.

Asuka

Even before I was interrogated at gunpoint, I was in a pretty foul mood. Not to complain, but the remaining sunlight was giving me a horrible migraine, I was already hungry again, and my throat was as dry as the Taklimakan Desert. I could tell that Zero wasn't following me, but I didn't really care at the moment. Pushing up the sleeve of my jacket, I pulled off the metal cuff I kept hidden beneath my sleeve. Undoing the lock, I examined the tattoo that adorned my right wrist. The once dark grey-purple outline resembled a knot made of spider webs decorated with cherry blossoms. At a quick glance, it would look pretty normal, but upon closer inspection, the mark appeared faded and cracked, unlike its dark, strong original appearance. Scowling, I sighed discontentedly, "It looks like I won't last much longer. Maybe I should just end it now…"

"I hope you aren't talking about your life, sweetheart. That would be quite a shame," a disgustingly sweet voice crooned from the shadows. I recognized it immediately as that annoying Aidou guy. My head snapped in the direction of his voice to see him leaning comfortably against a tree with an arrogant smirk plastered on his face. "Have you changed your mind about earlier? I really would like to spend some time with a pretty girl like you, Asuka."

I glared at the blond vampire angrily. "Go back to class now, Hanabusa Aidou. I don't want to have to use violence." In reality, I already hated this boy so much I wanted to pummel him into the ground, but I was forbidden from doing so without a good reason.

"That's so nice of you to say! You don't want to hurt me, do you?"

"I just don't want to bother using the energy to knock you out and drag you to the Headmaster," I replied semi-truthfully. I laughed internally at the dismay spreading across Aidou's face.

"Asuka! Where the hell did you go?!" I heard Zero yelling for me from the direction I had come from. I attempted to answer, but Aidou's hand clamped over my mouth before I could speak. I tried to jerk away, but I was held fast in my spot by the persistent vampire.

"How many times will you make me ask this? Don't you want to come have some fun with me?" Still unable to speak, I gave Aidou a perfectly clear response: My teeth buried deep in his hand. "Ow! That hurts!" the surprised Aristocrat yelped, "Stop biting me!" Seeing as he clearly more interested in getting my teeth out of his flesh than flirting, I released him and spat out the blood that had seeped into my mouth.

Blood? The wounds I had left were deeper than I had intended, and bleeding profusely. I accidentally swallowed, ingesting a large gulp of the red liquid. The taste of copper and iron permeated my mouth, and I desperately tried to rid myself of it, but to no avail. Despite spitting out everything until my mouth was dry and rubbing away anything I could, the taste of Aidou's blood stuck with me.

Signaled by the Aristocrat's startled shrieks, and probably the scent of blood, the only vampire I've ever found tolerable burst into the scene. "What the hell is going on?!" he yelled angrily. Note: Make that the only vampire I've ever found tolerable who was very, very pissed off. "Asuka, first you run off, then the next thing I know, the scent of blood is everywhere!" Zero tilted my head around and peered at my neck, trying to locate a set of incisions. Confused, he asked, "Didn't that damned vampire bite you?" Zero spoke as if he wasn't one of the said creatures.

I shook my head, "No. I bit him. He wouldn't let me go." Both of us cast a glance over at Aidou, who was attempting to find a way to stop the bleeding from his hand, but whatever he did, it wasn't working. The ground beneath him was getting redder and slicker by the second. I forced myself to look away, whipping my head in the other direction. Quickly, I walked in the direction of the girl's dormitories.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I need to wash my mouth out," I told Zero, "I accidentally drank some of Aidou's blood. It was horrible."

The blond vampire let out an indignant squeak, "Hey!" Zero gave me a dismissive wave, wordlessly telling me to do what I felt I had to. Picking my way through the trees, I left my partner to deal with the unruly vampire. The other unruly vampire.

In the confines of my room, I had managed to rinse most of the metallic taste from my mouth, but there was still a hint of it left. I flopped down on my bed, no roommate to bother me, running my fingertips over my teeth. They no longer felt grimy or covered in film. Everything was sharp; the moonlight from the window; the lingering scent of blood on my breath; the sound of a girl on the floor above me snoring. Even more importantly, I no longer felt tired or sick. I was, cliché as it sounds, feeling better than I had in years. There were two words to describe this:

NOT. GOOD.

Author's Note: You have no idea how sorry I am about how late this chapter is. I have almost literally been slamming my head on my desk in frustration that it wasn't done. But now it is, so I can avoid any Writer's Self-Mutilations, for this story, anyway. I still have An Alchemist's Masquerade, Blue Butler and Hikari, The World's New Light to update on top of high school. In any case, please leave a comment for me if there is anything you would like to say, or you can PM me. I love hearing what you have to say!