whew Well, it's here: the longest chapter I've written to date. I want to thank my reviewers who have been so kind and very subtly let me know to pretty much get on with it and get to the action of the story. I am getting there, so don't worry. This chapter begins it, and I can tell you that within the next three chapters some serious stuff is going to hit the fan! Oh, and a memo about this chapter: THIS IS STILL A ZEROxOC STORY. DO NOT RUN IN FEAR WHEN YOU GET TO THE END OF THIS. I know I'm leading in a different direction right now, but please, bear with me. Thank you again to all of my reviewers!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Vampire Knight. I only own Asraella. (Having the rights to Vampire Knight would be awesome, though...I have to get on that...)


Students started streaming in for class 5 minutes before the first bell of the day. They walked by her, the first few looking at her strangely but then taking their seats, and the rest ignoring her all together. After a while, the flow of bodies slowed to a trickle, and the teacher entered, walking down to the podium and taking out his notes and handouts for the class. Asraella still had her head down, but was listening to the movement around her in the class. Something touched her elbow. She pulled away, shifting away from the aisle so as not to get brushed again. Whatever it was touched her arm once more, and this time Asraella looked up and came face-to-face with Yori.

"Good Morning, Asraella. I'm sorry I couldn't meet up with you. I waited for you at breakfast but…"

Yori's demeanor shocked Asraella. She had stood Yori up, and Yori was apologizing? That made no sense. She started feeling guilty about leaving her hanging like that. She doesn't deserve to be treated like that by me. I really shouldn't take my issues out on her. She forced herself to smile apologetically. Well, they say that smiling can improve mood. Let's test that. "I'm so sorry, Yori. You shouldn't be apologizing. It's my fault I didn't show up. I hope I didn't inconvenience you too much."

"No, not at all. It is perfectly alright. Ready for another Economics class?" Yori smiled, and Asraella found her own smile widening. Her mood was improving, and another day at school didn't seem so insurmountable.

Economics passed quickly, Asraella was surprised to discover. Yuuki and Zero came in ten minutes late, and the professor didn't even look up. Fifteen wads of paper were thrown across the room, three of which were thrown by Yuuki at Zero. The professor had to ask students to "quiet down" six times, which were responded to by ubiquitous eye-rolling. There were five blondes in the class, not including herself, and 23 brunettes, along with one silver haired student (three guesses who). Twelve of the students wore glasses. Yes, economics passed relatively quickly. At the end, Asraella had to focus to think of even one thing the professor said.

Yori met up with Asraella after the bell rang and they walked to their next class. Yori was chatting animatedly, and interspersed her comments with questions for Asraella about her life in the United States. She answered quickly, and encouraged Yori to move on to other topics. Even though she was in a better mood, she knew how quickly that could change. They went to their morning classes and only stopped talking when bells signaled the beginning of the block.

Lunch arrived, and Yori and Asraella went to find someplace to sit in the courtyard that was situated in the center of the large school building. Yori pulled a bag lunch out of her backpack and looked expectantly at Asraella, who didn't pull a lunch out of her bag.

"You don't have lunch?"

"Oh, no. I'm not hungry."

Yori looked at her with doubt in her face. "Not hungry?" She put on a caricature of sternness. "Or did you forget to pick up a lunch this morning?"

Asraella chuckled a little. "I guess so. It's no big deal though, I'm really not hungry."

"Okay…are you sure you don't want some of mine?"

As tempting as her lunch looked, Asraella couldn't bring herself to impose on Yori. "Nope. I'm good."

"Well, if you say so…are you trying to keep your figure for the Halloween dance?" Yori was obviously grasping at straws, and was teasing her.

"Trust me, Yori, if I was hungry, I would eat. My stomach is more important than my figure. But, I have a question. What Halloween dance?"

Asraella watched as Yori's mouth dropped open and she spluttered for a few moments before she could answer. "You—you—you mean you haven't heard of the Halloween dance? It's awesome! I can't believe no one has mentioned it to you!"

"Well, I haven't talked to many people besides you, Yori. Why didn't you mention it?" Yori went on without noticing the subtle playful accusation, but gave Asraella an abashed glance.

"You'll need to get a costume, and some jewelry, and shoes...Luckily I still have to do some shopping for it, too, so you can come down with me—"

"Yori, hold it. Back that train up a second. I haven't said that I'd go yet!"

"Of course you're going! Everyone goes! It's one of the few times that the Day Class and Night Class can mix and mingle. No one misses it. You should go, if just to watch."

"Watch? Watch what?"

"The Night Class, of course. I'm not as crazy about them as some of the other girls in the Day class, but even I cannot deny they are possibly the best looking people I've ever seen."

"So what does that mean? I don't know your standards!"

Yori threw a crumb at her. "My standards, I am proud to say, are very high. And they are absolutely amazing looking." She smiled widely, and her voice dropped conspiratorially. "Hanabusa Aido especially." Her face grew red.

"Yori, is that a blush?" Asraella was laughing outright now. "I thought you said you weren't crazy about the Night Class!" Yori shrugged and started laughing as well. Asraella was enjoying herself, and appreciated the change.

"What about the night class?" Yuuki's voice broke through the fading laughter, bringing both girls' heads up. She was standing almost on top of them, with a small smile. Yori answered her. "Nothing really. I was just mentioning that they will be at the Halloween dance."

"Yes," Yuuki answered. Her smile became more pronounced. "They sure will."

Asraella noticed her pleasure. "What's going on with you at the dance, Yuuki?" She laughed, and Yuuki blushed a little.

Before she had time to answer, another person entered the conversation.

"They shouldn't even be there."

"Zero, they have every right to be there!" Yuuki made it sound like this was an old argument.

"Whatever."

Asraella was intrigued, and turned to Zero, who had finally come to a stop by Yuuki. She looked up at him from her spot on the ground, and he met her gaze, his violet eyes flat as they ever were. The breeze came from behind her and played with her hair, blowing it forward across her face. Jokingly, she stated, "What do you have against the Night Class, Zero? Did one of them disrespect you or something, Mr. Prefect?"

Zero's lip twisted into a deep scowl and it looked like he was biting the inside of his cheek. Something changed in his eyes, and Asraella unknowingly drew back a little. What the hell? He turned on his heel and left at a fast walk, almost a run.

When he had left her immediate area, Asraella took a deep breath and turned to Yuuki and Yori with confusion evident on her face. "What did I do? I was only joking." The two other girls almost fell over each other in reassuring her that she didn't say anything wrong, but their insistence told her that she had, indeed, said something very wrong. What set him off like that? What is it I could have possibly said? She thought about it, and decided that she didn't want to turn anyone against her so early in her time at Cross Academy. She rose quickly, and started in the direction Zero had gone.

"Asraella, where are you going?" Yori called to her, sounding confused, and slightly worried.

"I want to apologize to Zero. I'll be right back."

"But, you didn't even say anything wrong. You don't have to do that." This time, Yuuki responded, concern more evident in her voice than Yori's.

"I know, but I think I should. Bye!" She had to yell the last word as she started running. Is the concern more for him or me? She didn't know why she even had to ask that; obviously she had been the one to offend him, so Yuuki must be worried that she would make whatever the situation was worse. She dashed across the courtyard, down one of the long hallways of the old school building, and turned a corner to see Zero about ten feet ahead. She ran up to him and grabbed the edge of his jacket to slow him down. He was still walking at a pace that was almost a run. When she touched him, he spun around, breaking her grip. His eyes hadn't lost that certain aspect to them, which she could not name, and it scared her. She took a small step back. She rushed her apology, and stuttered a little bit. "Zero, I-I just wanted to apologize for what I said. I'm sorry." He started to turn around, and she reached to grab his jacket again, to maintain his attention. "I don't know—"

"Get Your Hands Off Me."

Faster than she thought possible, he had pulled away and shoved her back, making her fall, his hands connecting with her shoulders painfully. Her train of thought vanished as she sat sprawled on the hallway floor and looked up at him, trying to suppress the urge to move and somehow try to soothe her surely bruised body. As she looked into his flashing violet eyes, she felt as though she was a mouse, cornered by a very angry cat. She shuddered. He turned and started walking down the hallway again.

Asraella didn't move for a few seconds, letting the last seconds of the encounter play through her head again. What had she done? What had she said? Was it really all that horrible? She now felt that maybe she shouldn't have touched him. She only grabbed his sleeve. That didn't give him permission to shove her, though, right? She moved to get up and hissed at the pain radiating through her upper body. It wasn't severe, but she knew that bruising was very likely, and her shoulders were sore already, which wasn't a good sign. She pulled herself to her feet and started walking back to the courtyard to rejoin Yuuki and Yori. They were probably wondering what she was up to by now.

It happened that Asraella didn't have to go far to find the two girls. They ran into her at the end of a hallway, and were headed in her direction. Both of them opened their mouths when they saw her, but Yori managed to start talking first, and Yuuki just looked on.

"Asraella! There you are. We wanted to come find you, since lunch is almost over. Also, because Zero can be kind of a jerk sometimes—hey, are you alright?"

Asraella realized that she had flinched a little at Zero's name, and instantly regretted it when Yori's face was clouded with concern. What about him elicits this in me? Why am I so uncomfortable with him, but feel the need to apologize for a joking comment?

"Yeah, Yori, I'm fine. I just slipped and fell on my way back. That's all. How much longer do we have for lunch?"

"About three minutes. I hope you didn't hurt yourself too badly. Do you want to go to the nurse?"

"No, I'm perfectly alright."

"Okay. Well, anyway, about the Halloween dance. Do you want to come into town with me this Saturday to go shopping?"

"Sure…but you still haven't convinced me that it's worth going yet." Asraella's weak attempt at humor somehow made Yori believe that everything was fine, and she resumed chatting as she had all morning. Asraella breathed a mental sigh of relief. She was still troubled, however, by Zero's behavior. She didn't understand how she could have gotten on his bad side so quickly, and she was more than a little upset by it. Why am I upset? What is he to me, anyway?


Zero got away as fast as he could without running. He knew it was futile until he got somewhere enclosed. How can anyone outrun a breeze? Actually, he thought he knew someone who could, and that frustrated him. Kaname Kuran. I'm sure with his luck of the draw, damn pureblood, he could outrun a breeze. Goddamn him! Another tendril of air moved the hem of his pants, and Zero held his breath. He must not lose control, not here. He ducked into the first open classroom he saw and shut the door, leaning up against it as though the air itself was some sort of invader that he could hold a door against. He took several deep breaths, and tried to clear his head. How dare she follow him like that? He gave up on controlling his breathing and it returned to normal. He had almost…no, don't consider that option. The scent of blood hung in his nostrils, creating a haze in his thinking that was tinged red and would not leave. Again, I smell blood around her! What is going on? She's perfectly fine! This is the second time: I know it's her! He tried to come up with reasons for her to constantly have an aura of blood, and skittered around the more feminine ones. Nope, definitely not that. He gave up after a few seconds of frantic thinking and relaxed. The air in here was clean, at least. He contemplated his own bloodlust. He had fed off Yuuki last night; shouldn't blood be less potent to him right now?

Fed. He shuddered at his own use of the word, which bounced around and echoed in his head, a million multiplied by a million times. He put his hands to his face and closed his eyes. God, he was a monster. Yuuki's face appeared in his mind's eye, her brown eyes filled with tears and her face filled with shock and pain. Yuuki, why do you care so much? Why can't you see that I am not worth your worry and your help? She did not answer him, only stared at him with nothing but caring in her eyes.

Her face disappeared and was replaced with Asraella's, as he had seen her just minutes ago, with her hair blowing across her smile, sapphire eyes sparkling in the sunlight filtering into the courtyard. Even laughing, he saw something hidden in her eyes. Why did her face come to him now? He knew she would probably want answers, a reason, for his behavior. Her face changed to the expression she wore after he pushed her; he winced. She had been hurt. The look on her face, the fear in her eyes was evidence enough. It was his fault. Why did that bother him? He barely knew her, and he still held his doubts about her motives and what made her tick. If that was true, why did her expression make him so guilty? Why did he have to hurt everyone he knew?


That afternoon, Asraella got her first glimpse of the Night Class. Her playful jabs about Yori's standards for males had continued past lunch, and to prove herself, Yori took her to see the Night Class when they arrived on the main campus. So there they were, standing among a crowd of screaming, obsessed girls waiting for a group of nocturnal teenagers. Asraella didn't like it. She fidgeted, pulling her skirt down farther and adjusting her collar, until she finally said to Yori, "You really didn't have to actually show me, Yori. I could have waited for the dance." Asraella didn't like being part of a large crowd. Funny…I could love being in front of one, but not in one…oh, irony. Yori replied to her statement with. "Oh no, I definitely had to. You wouldn't shut up!" Her tone indicated that she meant it as a joke, but her face said that she didn't want to be there, either.

A commotion started in the back of the crowd, and Asraella looked around to determine the source, standing on her tiptoes to get a better view. Yori noticed her curiosity. "It's just Yuuki trying to send us all back to our dorms. We shouldn't be here, to be honest."

"Does she have any success?" Asraella tried to picture little Yuuki being forceful with a large crowd like this, and had some trouble.

"Not really. Most of the time, nobody leaves until Zero shows up." This declaration brought Asraella back to her eventful lunch break, and she looked down, trying to push the events from her head.

"So they respond to Zero, then?"

"Yes. Most of the girls around here really don't like him for that."

"I guess he's good at his job, then." This was delivered monotone. No wonder…he could scare a stone…I bet he's not always that way, though. Wait—why would I care?!

By this time, the commotion caused by Yuuki reached Yori and Asraella, and they willingly stepped aside to give Yuuki a break. Neither left, however. Asraella knew that even though both of them weren't crazy about being there, both wanted to see the Night Class. Yuuki then managed to get to the front, and was obviously trying to yell above the crowd, and disperse them, but no one was listening. After several minutes of this, Asraella wondered why Yuuki didn't just give up. What's the purpose? Not one person of the whole crowd was going to leave, she included, and Asraella had nothing but good wishes toward Yuuki. The tension in the air started to increase. Asraella felt it move through her, and she responded by becoming even more energetic herself. She jumped up and down once, and rocked up on her toes to look over the heads of everyone in front of her. It wasn't very hard. Yori noticed.

"What are you so excited about?"

"Dunno. I think the Night Class will be coming out soon, and I want to see!" She was talking faster, and not making eye contact with Yori while she was speaking.

Yori mumbled under her breath. "Now who's the eager one?"

Less than 30 seconds later, the massive doors leading to the Night Dorm opened slowly, and screams erupted from the ranks of girls gathered to greet the Night Class in the dim afternoon sun. Asraella pushed her way to the front, accidentally stepping on some toes and bumping into random girls, causing her shoulders to twinge painfully. She was in the front row as the first of the Night Class stepped out, and was hardly disappointed.

She couldn't believe her eyes. They were beautiful. Three girls came out first, all of them stunning. Asraella didn't pay much attention to them, however; she was much more preoccupied with the boys that came after them. Boys? No. These were men, and the difference was obvious, in the way they carried themselves and the way they walked. She was completely taken in, and pushed forward a little. Yuuki, whom Asraella had ignored until now, got in front of her.

"Everyone back to the day dorms! It is past Day Class curfew!"

Asraella didn't hear it. She was too busy watching. The first boy to come out had rough blonde hair that partially fell into his blue eyes. He had on a pleasant smile and welcomed the Day Class as though he was the main attraction. Asraella was confused by what he was doing, pointing at girls and making some sort of noise, but then understood that he was "shooting" them. Oh how idiotic… Asraella didn't have time to process this image, however, because the second male of the night class stepped through the door.

Her eyes were glued to him immediately. He had a "soft" aura around him, in a way, seeming approachable and kind. Asraella had no evidence to back this up; she just felt it, rolling off this person in waves. She searched his face, stopping on his green eyes. He was talking with the first boy to come out, and then joined a short conversation with the three girls who had already left the Moon Dorm. She didn't want him to turn away. She kept her gaze locked onto his face, and fell into his eyes, whose green reminded her of a meadow, smooth and serene. He turned to look at the crowd, and his gaze met hers.

She thought her heart would jump out of her chest. He looked at her. He was standing there, staring at her as she was staring at him. She noticed that there was recognition in his face, as if he already knew who she was and was greeting a friend with just his expression. She was so immersed in looking that she didn't realize when the rest of the crowd had grown quiet, and it took her a moment to drag herself out of the inspection of the Night Class student's face to see why. Zero had entered the scene, and Asraella quickly dropped her eyes to the ground. Now I wish I wasn't here...goddamn you, Zero. What did I do to piss you off? She slowly stepped backward, and let the other girls' pushing to the front carry her to the back of the crowd, where she stopped by Yori. She wanted to get out of here. "I've seen them, Yori, and I have to say that you have an excellent eye for men. Why don't we get out of here?"

"You and Zero had an issue didn't you?" God, she was perceptive!

"No! I mean, not really. I don't understand what I did to make him so upset, so I just want to leave." Asraella was fighting with herself. Yes, she wanted to leave so she didn't have to face Zero, but she wanted to look into those green eyes again. She wanted to ask Yori what Green Eyes's name was, but couldn't bring herself to do it. Yori would certainly think she was boy-crazy or something.

"Well, it's okay. Zero can be temperamental, so don't think you did anything personal. Let's head back and get dinner. Then we just have to talk about what costume to get you for the dance!"

Asraella agreed and they started to head back to the Sun Dorm to get dinner. As they were leaving, Asraella hitched her shoulders, grimacing at their soreness, and looked around. She could swear that she felt someone watching her.


As the voluptuous blonde left, green eyes followed her path, and the bearer of those eyes smiled as she disappeared from sight, a breeze bringing the sweet scent of her blood back to him.


Asraella was laying on her side in her bed, staring out her large windows at the main school building in the distance. The moon was nearing its peak, and it cast small shadows below the trees and darkened streetlamps. All she could see in her head were green eyes, and that knowing smile. She drifted to sleep with the strange boy in her mind. Even with him there, however, her nightmares returned, and she watched her recurrent nightmare once more, until she woke crying.


"There are rules which have been established that you cannot break."

"I know that, and be assured, no rules will be broken."

"I saw you, Takuma."

"I do not know what you saw, Kaname, but I assure you, nothing I do is a toe out of line."


Thank you for reading!! I hope you liked it!! If you have suggestions or comments, please review! TTFN Slomiti Andeo