Chapter 3: Illusion

"Hey, did you hear about the new girl? I hear she came from a sheltered home," a girl gasped. A girl next to her made a face and shook her head. "I heard the place she's living in has her dead grandma buried under her porch." The first girl gasped and let out a shudder, "Really?!" she exclaimed. "That's SO creepy...!" A black haired girl with long braids turned to the two girls. Her eyes were covered by long untrimmed bangs. She tilted her head slightly enough to reveal barely her eye. "I heard…she ate her cat," she said, almost mumbling. All girls listening turned to the girl and quickly blinked in shock. "Really?!" they exclaimed. They all exchanged faces of disgust.

Gossips spread around the school. As each piece of news spread to each student, students let out snickers and shook their heads in disgust. What a creep, what a weirdo, no wonder why she lives alone... Words like such flooded the school. It wasn't too long until the night class heard of the gossips as well.

"Finally, we have some juicy gossip about the day class members!" exclaimed one student. "Usually, they are so BORING!" The young boy had icy blonde hair that matched with his pale white skin and bright blue eyes. He ran his fingers into his hair, brushing his slightly wavy hair to the side with his fingers before slightly ruffling it. Like the rest of the night class, he was extremely handsome.

A dark blonde hair girl with beautiful long locks raised a brow at her classmate and flipped her hair behind her shoulder. "Juicy…?" she said in disgust, making a face. "More like disgusting…!" Another night student laughed. He was a tall young man with rosy orange hair. "That is disgusting," he let out a laugh. His hand was resting on his hip and he shook his head, letting out a chuckle. "She ate her own cat." The students all made faces to each other, some shaking their heads. The dark blonde girl then spoke, "And they call us monsters…" she scoffed.

'Ding'

A bell very faintly chimed. Black paws approached the tiles of the roof of the day class building and a small black creature lifted its head. The black feline turned, its ears twitching as it moved its ears to the direction of the voices that belonged to the students. Blue eyes glistened and reflected against the reflection of the blue sky. The black creature's tail swung back and forth and it turned, looking around. Suddenly, very briefly, it paused. Its eyes narrowed into a far distance. A chilly wind suddenly ghosted and breezed past the black feline, dried leaves dancing as it passed the black creature. It was a cold chilly wind, mixed by a mysterious warmth… the leaves were dried with bits of pieces of the dried leaves already been torn apart. The feline turned its head, following the view where the dead leaves were being blown away to. It then lowered its head, staring very straightly to the direction it was heading. Blue eyes narrowed.

Zero stared at the strange tree, bewildered and struck. The black umbrella that was just in front of him had disappeared.

Flashback

As he had turned his head to face the black umbrella, a powerful chill entered his body. His sight went blurry, his body shivered and he could feel cold sweat on his body, and very quickly his mind went blank... No, pitch black. Zero opened his eyes and suddenly his mind flashed of all the past haunting memories of his childhood - the slaughter of his family as all the events rehappened in front of his eyes, the screams of his parents, their echos, and the splatter of their blood stains on the wall. He stared at his younger self as he watched him shake in fear, trembling. In front of him was the shadow, no...the appearance of the vampire that ruined his life. Her laughter filled his ears... Suddenly, a bright light came and his skin was touched with warmth. A shadow of a young girl was in front of him. It was... warm. Quickly, blood splattered on the ground and the shadow disappeared. The room escalated to a pitch black place with him centered in the middle. The exit where the white light was that was quickly fading, was the girl who he cherished so much. Her back was to him, and she was slowly exiting into a much brighter place, leaving him behind. He stared at her longingly… he reached his hand out to her, yet his legs did not move. 'No,' his mind said. The girl who betrayed him, the girl who lied to him… Suddenly a cold white breeze rushed and kissed his face, brushing past his hair. The pitch black remained and his body went cold. A white hand reached up to touch his face, barely touching him, and he froze… Amber eyes stared at him and a devious smile appeared that suddenly gave a mocking chuckle. She had long white-silver hair that reached her waist, her skin pale as a ghost, and her eyes the color of bloody ruby. Cherry blossom petals danced in the air and kissed his shoulders as they rode past him. His surrounding had changed and at his feet, was a lake of blood. He stared at the reflection in front of him... It was the woman who haunted him. She pulled her hand black, allowing it to slip back into the water as she acted as his reflection in the water. She was nude, her hair covering the upper portion of her body. She gave him another chuckle, amused; and stared at him, her amber eyes looking straight to him and his soul. "Zero," she smirked. "…You are still the same as you were before." His body shook as her smile suddenly grew bigger and she grinned deviously. Her smile widened and her face quickly began to deform into that of a mutated frog. "Weakkkkkkk…!" It was a maniac laugh mixed with a screech that filled the air. The lake trembled along with his body and he could feel the cold sweat pouring and running against his skin. At the same time, adrenaline filled his body and he furrowed his brows. Zero quickly readied his hand behind him, he was ready to grab his weapon. "Say that again!" he shouted. His eyes suddenly widened as the vision of her and the entire landscape suddenly minimized like he was looking at a picture. He stared at the picture in shock. It was a painting, of a girl with long white hair wearing a white dress. She was beside a beautiful clear lake, the water slightly sparkling in the picture. Her eyes were amber and she was young, maybe around thirteen years old. She had one hand resting on top of her other hand that rested on her side. It was a… peaceful picture. Zero furrowed his brows. He looked around himself… and he was in shock. He was still at the academy. After regaining his composure, Zero looked towards the mysterious object in front of him, pulling his hand back from behind him. It had… disappeared. The only thing standing before him was a tree, its empty shadow, and his own. He narrowed his eyes. An illusion…?

Flashback end.

Zero stared at his hand. It was no longer shaking, yet the events that had just happened continued to stay on his mind. She was still haunting him, dead or alive… He closed his eyes, clenching them shut and shook his head, his hand tightened into a fist. Even now, no matter how much time has passed, he is still haunted by that bloody woman.

Ruby red eyes stared at him from afar. Hands shone around a white pearl orb that showed the image of the young Kiryu. "Ahhh," an old woman's voice sung. "So that is the boy…?" she asked. A young girl stood from the shadows from the corner of the room. The light that came from the windows shone in and revealed her face. She had bright blue eyes that glowed from the shadows with long black twin braided hair that reached her waist. Her long untrimmed bangs were pushed to the side and clipped up with a white cat-like hairpin. She wore the day class cross-academy attire of black and white, and in her hands, she held the black umbrella. "His name is Zero Kiryu," she smiled.

"Meow"

Zero turned his head and blinked at the appearance of a sudden black cat. He stared at the silver bell that hung around the familiar yellow ribbon. This was… the same cat from before? He straightened his posture and stared at the black creature.

The black creature whipped its tail back and forth as it continued to stare at the Kiryu. 'I see you have received the illusion of the witches.'

Zero blinked, astonished. He furrowed his brows. "What are you…?" he muttered carefully. He clenched his fists and glared at the black feline.

Its tail continued to whip back and forth again. The feline took a step forward and then corrected itself into sitting up straight just like the Kiryu. It raised its paw and put it forward, firmly pressing it on top of the grass. 'Did you make a wish? Or did someone nearby you make a wish? You must tread carefully, Zero." The feline tilted its head, its expression expressionless. "The witches, they are here. They are studying you and the people around you.'

Zero had returned back to the academy buildings, thoughts still in his head. The feline had left him before he could ask any questions. He was back and resumed his duties as the guardian of the Cross Academy students. Zero turned and entered into the building of the day class and stared at the hallways. Students were gathered in their groups, as usual, huddled together. Chatters and gossips filled the air and his ears.

"Yeah I heard she ate her own cat, can you believe that?"

Zero turned his head, turning specifically to the students huddled together in groups. Each student was whispering to each other, huddled together in groups that would break apart easily and then spread to other groups. It was like a… disease.

"Yeah, I heard it was a black cat. Apparently, it lived with her for some time and then suddenly, it disappeared!" exclaimed one student. "Yeah, I heard the neighbors who lived next door went into her house one day; because someone heard suspicious noises coming from her house, and they found the fur of the black cat…! Disgusting!"

"Who in the world does that?" exclaimed another.

His eyes narrowed. There was a new student at the academy…? He entered into Kaien's office, barging in without knocking.

...

"Ahhhhh, yes! I must have forgotten to tell you, Zero!" Kaien spoke, laughing innocently. "There is a new student! Ohhh, fufufu… I am so sorry my dear Zero. I am getting quite old, aren't I? Always, always forgetting to tell you the little details, my my my…!" Kaien pressed the back of his hand against his forehead like a fallen damsel in distress and shook his head. Quickly, Kaien then removed his hand to fan himself.

Zero raised up his chin and looked at Kaien as always, unamused. "There's already rumors of the student, bad rumors. It's spreading throughout the entire academy and there's news that even the night class students have become aware of it.

Kaien tilted his head slightly to the side and leaned forward towards his desk. "Is that so? And what kind of rumors are these?" he suddenly asked, acting clueless.

The young boy narrowed his eyes. "Cats... That this new student eats cats and the students are asking why are we allowing such a student like this to enter the academy…"

A smile suddenly spread to Kaien's lips. Zero raised a brow. "Ahhhh! Those rumors…!" Kaien suddenly burst out laughing. "Yes, I've heard of them too! Are they not the most horrendous thing, Zero?" he exclaimed. "I mean you've said much worse, especially to me! But must I say those are still some horrendous rumors are they not? Ho ho ho," Kaien chuckled. The 200-year-old man spun himself in his chair and hid his lips behind his hand as he chuckled 'modestly'. Zero stared at him completely bewildered by this man's choices in reacting. "But Zero," Kaien continued. "Those rumors, they're not lies. They were actually requested by the mother of the student before she transferred her daughter here. It's a tradition that the family has been practicing from generation to generation. She wanted to make it known to the academy before her daughter started her first day."

Zero stared at Kaien in disbelief. "But," Kaien continued. "I did not spread them. I do not know how those rumors started or who started it." The ash-blonde man shook his head and leaned against his chair. He folded his hands onto his laps and closed his eyes, slightly allowing his lashes to flutter as he closed them. "I had dismissed the mother's request in fear of the treatment her daughter may receive from the other students but… it looks like the news had already somehow gotten out. Also, another thing…" Kaien opened his eyes and eyed the young man. His face suddenly became sterner and much more serious than it was just a couple of moments ago. Zero stared at him back. "What is it?" he replied.

Kaien gave a sigh and pressed his head, trying to relax his head against his tall chair. "That child of the woman, she is a year behind you. However, her intelligence is astonishing and because of that, we have decided to put her in the same year as you. Therefore, she will be attending the same class as you."

...

Zero exited out of Kaien's office. Closing the office door, lightly he let it go into a soft shut before turning his head back to the direction of the hallway that would follow and lead to where the rest of the student body was. A familiar scent whiffed to his nose. It was a scent he could not sense in others… but Zero shook his head, brushing it away, and began walking into the direction of where the other students were.

"Is that the new girl, the girl who eats cats?" "Ew, so gross…"

Faces of disgust and whispers whispered from student to student. In the middle of all that mess was a young girl wearing the day class black attire. She had long black raven hair that loosely was put into waves that reached her waist. Her face was framed by long messy bangs just enough to hang above her eyes and kiss her cheeks. Her hair was smooth and neatly brushed, swaying side to side behind her, lightly kissing her hips as she walked. Blue teal orbs that reminded you of a clear lake that sparkled green skimmed away from the glances of the students and turned to the numbers located next to the classroom doors. She held a piece of paper in her hand, hugging it to her chest. The girl turned her head-

"You…"

Teal blue orbs paused and turned, meeting lavender. Zero stared in disbelief.

She wore the day class black uniform and wore the uniform thigh high stockings. The girl looked at Zero. Her eyes suddenly widened in surprise. "Ah…!" she exclaimed. "…Zero!"

A/N: Hello! This chapter has been split into two. It has been re-edited :)