XxTBPxX

While Kaya slept, Yuuki sat at her small desk and went through her abandoned pile of papers. She hated paperwork…it was just too awful to describe and even if she could describe it, it wouldn't fully express her distaste for the boring chore. One of the only reasons that she had agreed to come, was for the hope of a week or two without having to file a single page. But alas, transferring over to another school (it didn't matter that they'd be only gone for a month at tops!) demanded paperwork. She honestly didn't have to file that much paperwork when she'd transferred to Lorandi, but then again…she had just left and appeared suddenly at the gates of Lorandi without any transcripts or identification.

Yuuki glanced back over at her friend, who slept across the bed. Kaya was wrapped up in one of the Headmistress' homemade quilts as her chest rose and fell gently beneath the covers. Soft snores escaped Kaya's mouth, but Yuuki was too distracted by Kaya's heartbeat. Bump bump…bump bump…over and over. Yuuki's eyes zeroed in on her neck, it was such a slender one and so white that a few of her veins stood out. Yuuki's mouth went dry as she imagined the sweet blood that was coursing through Kaya's veins. Bump bump…Yuuki's eyes glazed over as she stood up from the well-made desk. She hesitated before leaving the room. She needed something to drink.

Yuuki slowly opened the door and took her time closing it since Kaya was such a light sleeper these days. Yuuki strolled down the hallway, her feet barely touching the ground as she looked at the pictures displayed on either side of her. She'd seen most of them, but there were a few new pictures…ones with fake smiles and guarded eyes. Was there a picture that held the truth, instead of all these perfect fabricated lies?

She blinked when she saw the last picture on the right wall. The frame was made of gold. She wasn't sure how she'd known, but something clicked inside of her mind…she had seen this same frame before; she remembered hearing about the frame's tale.

"Mommy! I want to go outside!" Yuuki whined impatiently as she turned the pages of the storybook that Kaname had given her that morning before he left the house with father.

Juri sighed as she turned to look at her seven-year old. "Kaname would be upset if you went outside without him."

Yuuki frowned and returned to looking at the book. "Why can't I ever go outside with him or you or father? Everyone gets to leave, but me…I have to stay."

Juri kneeled down in front of Yuuki and then pulled her into a hug. "We want you safe. Bad people will want to use you if they knew about you," Juri paused and kissed Yuuki on the head, "when we're certain that no one is going to harm you then we'll take you outside. I promise."

Yuuki tugged on a strand of Juri's hair. "I get so bored here when I'm all alone."

Juri tapped her chin in thought before she stood up and held out her hand to Yuuki. "Come with me."

Yuuki grabbed her mother's hand automatically and followed her to another room, a room that Yuuki had never seen before; it was filled to the brim with the oddest of items that had nothing in common. "Mommy?"

Juri smiled at her daughter and pulled her farther into the room. "I was sick as a child, and I'd be forced to stay at home most of the time."

Juri leaned down and picked up Yuuki. "I would roam the rooms when I could, but I grew bored after I had thought that I'd discovered everything in this house," Juri smiled at Yuuki as she brushed a stray piece of hair out of her face, "when I had whined enough, my mother brought me to this very room oh so long ago and told me what I'm about to tell you."

Yuuki's eyes went wide. "What did she say?"

Juri's eyes twinkled as she calmly announced. "Look at all of this junk!"

"What?" Yuuki asked, confused.

Juri nodded. "That was what she said. Then she laughed and told me that this was the room of treasures, everything in this room holds a story…a meaning to our family."

Yuuki's eyes drifted around the room. "Even that old picture frame?"

Juri smiled. "Especially that old, worn-out picture frame. Would you like to hear the story behind it?"

Yuuki stuck out her tongue. "I bet it's a boring tale like the ones that Daddy and you always tell me."

Juri smirked. "Then I guess that you'd like to go back into the sitting room…"

Yuuki's eyes went wide. "No! I-I'd like to hear the story."

Juri chuckled. "I thought you might think that."

Juri walked towards the frame, so that they could see it better. "When your great-grandfather fell in love with your great-grandmother, he went out to prove his love for her. He searched high and low for something that would tell her about how he felt about her."

Yuuki frowned. "Why didn't he just tell her?"

Juri rolled her eyes. "Back then, things were done differently. Now, do you want me to continue?"

Yuuki nodded enthusiastically.

"Then let me tell you the story and then you can ask me all of your questions." Juri scolded lightly.

"Yes, ma'am." Yuuki replied quickly, quite eager to hear the tale.

Juri ruffled Yuuki's hair. "Now, back when people had to prove their love, your great-grandfather went on journey to find his love a token. He searched all over the place, on mountain tops and canyons. He visited exotic villages and looked through stores of all kinds. One day, he met an old woman with a crooked nose and wooden teeth –"

"You're lying!" Yuuki exclaimed suddenly, interrupting her mother.

Juri raised one of her eyebrows. "What did I say?"

"Sorry." Yuuki muttered.

Juri nodded before continuing. "Where was I? Yes, he met an old woman in India. She promised that she had the perfect gift for his soul-mate, but before she would give it to him he had to complete a task to show the strength of his love. She told him that he had to go a year without seeing his love, and at the same time – he couldn't touch another woman."

"Touch?" Yuuki questioned, her eyes narrowing as she tried to understand.

Juri smiled. "I'll tell you when you're older, sweetheart."

Juri remained silent for a moment and tapped her chin in thought. Yuuki looked up at her curiously. "Aren't you going to finish the story, mommy?"

Juri smiled sadly. "I don't know the rest, sweetheart."

Yuuki gasped. "How can you not know? Didn't your mommy tell you the story?"

"Not all of it, she only could tell me the part about the woman in India?" Juri confided to Yuuki.

"Then how did you know the other stuff?" Yuuki asked instantly.

"I made it up." Juri told her calmly.

Yuuki's eyes grew wide. "You lied? So it isn't true?"

"Sure it is. Your ancestor did go to India, but no one knows what else happened." Juri explained softly, looking down at Yuuki.

"B-But!" Yuuki exclaimed.

"When I was bored, I would come into this room and look at that picture frame and think about what would happen, but I've grown too old to remember how my story went." Juri clarified.

Yuuki frowned and scratched her head. "So…does this mean that I get to make up my own story?"

Juri grinned. "Exactly!"

Yuuki smiled. "He slayed a dragon!"

Juri smirked and led Yuuki out of the room. "What else?"

"The dragon had this huge pile of treasure! And-And my great-grandfather found this huge golden brooch for his love, but it was too big for her to wear so they…they..." Yuuki chatted excitedly.

"You don't have to finish it all today!" Juri teased, calling a servant to bring them something to eat.

XxTBPxX

"His love didn't wear much jewelry and the brooch was twice her size, so they melted down the brooch and used it to frame their wedding photo until their house burned down in the summer of 1940, but the frame remained intact." Yuuki whispered softly, running her fingers down the frame, tracing the small designs on the side. She had to admit that when she was younger, the tale was more exaggerated.

Yuuki smiled sadly before continuing down the hall and to the stairs. She missed her mom, almost every day if not every moment she breathed or when she looked into the mirror and was reminded of her. She hated that she resembled her mother so much; it made her miss her all the more. She was her own constant reminder, and her heart squeezed in agony whenever she saw herself in the mirror – She would always think that she was seeing her mother's face before realizing that it was indeed her own face.

Yuuki reached the banister and as she walked down, her hands glided down the rail – tracing the familiar wood under her hands. She remembered a time when Zero and she were still acting like siblings…well he at least tolerated her. When this building was just being finished, the Headmaster visited this area constantly to check up on the progress. During one of those days, Zero and her had entered the mostly completed room and slid down the banister…well she slid down the banister – he just watched…glared at her actually, but at that time he glared at anything and everyone so she wasn't really hurt by his behavior.

Yuuki smiled at the small memory, that was Zero – all dark and mean acting, but truly he cared and she just knew that he wanted to slide down the banister with her. Zero was here at the school, but she knew that he didn't want to see her or even talk to her, but she missed him. He filled most of her memories, her happy ones at least, but he probably didn't feel the same way.

Yuuki's throat started to burn, so she hurried down the steps and tried to remember the way to the kitchen. She was sure that there was a stash of blood tablets somewhere in there.

"Yuuki-sama?" a familiar male voice broke through her scattered thoughts.

"Hyosuke?" Yuuki questioned softly, turning towards the voice.

Hyosuke appeared by the dorm's living room. Yuuki smiled and walked over to him.

"What are you doing up so late?" Hyosuke asked, taking in her tired appearance.

Yuuki smiled gently. "Finishing up some paperwork. Say, do you have any tablets?"

Hyosuke patted down his jacket until he found a hidden pocket. He pulled out a silver container decorated with Lorandi's mascot. He quickly opened it up to reveal…nothing.

Hyosuke blushed and grinned sheepishly. "I guess I ran out. Sorry, Yuuki-sama."

Yuuki reached up and squeezed his shoulder. "Not a problem, I'm sure that I'll find some sooner or later. If I have to, I'll wake up Kaya for some."

Hyosuke paled. "Just make sure I'm not around when you do. She's quite awful when she hasn't gotten enough sleep."

Yuuki shrugged. "I'll try to find a way to avoid that."

Hyosuke glanced up at the ceiling. "The Night class students are having a meeting up there…about us I think. You should go ask them for some tablets, I'm sure that they'll know where some are."

Yuuki mentally gagged at facing them, but thanked Hyosuke as she went back up the stairs. Truth be told, she'd rather ask them than have to wake Kaya up. Yuuki frowned, she didn't hear the others when she left her room…was she becoming too soft? Normally, she was really good at noticing her surroundings…but being here made her feel weak – tired. If she had known that Kaname and the others were still here, would she have traveled to this academy? She wasn't sure. A part of her was glad to see Rima, Kain, and even Aidou but at the same time it hurt her to be in the place that haunted her dreams. A lot of good things happened here, she had fallen in love – grown stronger – learned. But she had also lost many things while staying here, her innocence – her former friends – Kaname too.

Yuuki closed her eyes in thought, before listening for the others. Which one did they occupy? She couldn't hear anything but Kaya's snores as they grew louder. A sound barrier. She reached out with her mind and felt the soft humming energy that surrounded Kaname's room, her old one. Someone had erected a sound barrier to prevent Kaya, Hyosuke, and her from hearing their "secret" meeting.

Yuuki couldn't help but feel angry. Here they were, helping out without asking for anything, while they were being sneaky and keeping something from them. Assholes, Yuuki thought before walking over to the blue door. She gently knocked on it, though she really wanted to pound on it and maybe even yell a bit….but Kaya was asleep – and she didn't want to be on the bad side of her, especially since she was one of the few people that she was able to communicate with while they were in this situation.

"Who's there?" Kaname inquired softly, she could barely hear him even with her sensitive hearing. Yuuki rolled her eyes; she knew that they all knew who it was. Did they think she was stupid?

"Open the damn door if you want to know." Yuuki growled. Her patience was nonexistent as her thirst grew.

"You can't speak like that to Kaname-sama!" Aidou reprimanded through the door.

Yuuki sighed; she had wanted this to be simple. Yuuki circled the doorknob with her right hand, but felt a burning sensation shoot through it. Yuuki jerked her hand away and then concentrated on dissolving the barrier, not permanently but just long enough for her to enter the room. Several green sparks attacked the invisible barrier before she was able to open the door without hurting herself. She quickly entered the room and closed it behind her, not knowing when the barrier would come back up.

She turned to take in her surroundings. She noticed that everyone was there like Hyosuke had said. Rima and Shiki shared the loveseat closest to her, while Kain and Aidou stood by the fireplace on the opposite side of the room – they both had wine glasses filled with a red liquid. Kaname and Takuma occupied the only two armchairs in the room, while Ruka sat beside Kaname on the floor underneath his chair. Wide eyes stared at her in surprise, but all that Yuuki cared about was that red liquid – it smelled fresh and earthy, not like a blood tablet mixture, but like the real thing.

"Impressive." Shiki commented, his voice filling the previously silent room.

Yuuki blinked before turning her attention away from the blood. "Not really." She commented softly.

"What do you want?" Ruka sneered, open disgust was clear on her face. Rima glared at Ruka, before turning her attention back to her friend.

Yuuki huffed gently; she really disliked how Ruka would always forget her place. She really needed to fix that…but she needed something more right now.

"I didn't mean to interrupt your…whatever this is, I really couldn't give a damn right now, but I couldn't remember where the kitchen was…or rather I was just too lazy to look for it. Anyways, I need a blood tablet or two since I should give one to Hyosuke because he's out of tablets as well. Can any of you spare some?" Yuuki blurted out in record speed, her need growing stronger.

"If you need it so badly, you can have a bite." Takuma offered cheerfully, flicking his hair off his neck.

Yuuki frowned and shook her head, though she really was tempted. "Tablets will be good enough for now."

Takuma frowned. Kaname pulled her attention to him, as his eyes pierced hers. "You can't survive off of blood tablets alone."

His eyes were really pretty; she used to be envious of how they were such a lighter shade than hers. Her eyes were just brown, but his were caramel-colored unless he was aroused – then and only then were they chocolate-colored.

Man, she had such a sweet tooth right now.

"It's just for right now." Yuuki defended, blushing slightly at analyzing his eyes – stalker much?

Kain walked over and handed her his glass. Her small fingers wrapped around the stem of the glass, as her eyes searched his.

Kain smirked. "It's not poisonous; it's blood from a wolf."

"Animal blood?" Yuuki asked confused, looking down at the glass.

"Another project of Aidou's." Kaname commented, appearing beside her – his eyes drilling holes into Kain's. Kain held his hands up before returning to the fireplace.

Yuuki glanced up at Kaname, who smiled. "It's safe to drink, I promise."

Yuuki tried not to think about why she believed him or why his comments mattered to her. She tilted the glass and let the blood slide down to meet her lips. The alluring smell grew stronger, until she felt the warm blood hit her mouth as she hesitantly opened her mouth.

Small fireworks went off in her head, as more entered her mouth. It was good. Almost as good as Kaya's, though it couldn't even compare to Kaname's…but compared to blood tablets – it was a definite improvement.

"Good?" Aidou asked, sending her a worried look.

Yuuki swallowed what was left in her mouth, and licked her lips slowly – savoring the fading taste.

"It is." Yuuki replied, smiling at him.

Aidou nodded his head, before pulling out a small notepad and scribbling something down and then putting it back where he got it from.

"I have a few bottles in my room, would you like some?" Rima questioned softly.

"If you wouldn't mind." Yuuki answered, gratitude shining in her eyes.

"Not at all. We can go now, so you can still have time to get some sleep." Rima commented, standing up from the couch.

Yuuki followed Rima out of the room and they walked to Rima's room. "You ran out of tablets then?"

Yuuki nodded. "I usually don't get thirsty a lot, so I forget to check up on my stock. I must have left my case at Lorandi by mistake."

Rima shook her head as she opened her door. "That's not healthy; you should always drink something even if you're not thirsty. If you don't care for yourself, then you'll get sick again like you used to."

Yuuki glanced about the room, it looked the same. "It's easy to forget, but I'll try to do better."

Rima nodded, leaning down to pull a few wine bottles out from under her bed. "You left without a word, you know?"

Yuuki nodded. "I thought it would be for the best at the time."

Rima frowned, handing her the heavy bottles. "I didn't think so. I'm your friend, you could've told me."

Yuuki placed her hand gently on Rima's shoulder." I'm sorry that I hurt you – I didn't mean for that to happen."

Rima let out a sob as she hugged Yuuki tightly. "Don't do it again!"

Yuuki tensed, before calming herself down and returned the hug. She held back tears, coming from this sweet moment shared between them and a small part came from the pain erupting from the hug – mental and physical pain.

XxTBPxX

"How's your back?" Kaya asked worriedly. She had just gotten up and had noticed Yuuki applying a white ointment onto her back, at least where she could reach.

Yuuki shrugged grunting, trying to cover her whole back with the medicine that Lorandi's Headmistress had given her before they had left.

"The cuts aren't as raw looking." Kaya commented, coming over to help her.

"I'm glad. Hopefully they'll all heal up soon." Yuuki commented, her fists gripping the blanket on her bed as Kaya touched the sensitive spots on her back.

"Not likely since they were caused by a Hunter's weapon. They might end up leaving scars if you're not careful." Kaya announced, gently rubbing the medicine into Yuuki's back.

Yuuki sighed in relief when Kaya's hands left her back. "I'm just glad that they stopped bleeding."

Kaya nodded. "You can conserve your energy now that you don't have to hide your scent."

Yuuki stood up and grabbed a silk, button up shirt that wouldn't agitate her sore back.

"What's up with the bottles? Are you going to throw an alcohol party for just the two of us? Cause honestly, I feel the need to get drunk right now." Kaya rambled, lifting up one of the bottles.

"It's blood, animal blood. It's pretty good too." Yuuki told her.

"Really? How….interesting." Kaya commented slowly, quickly opening up the bottle and taking a sip.

Yuuki grabbed a discarded skirt off the floor and decided to wear it. She was pleased to find that her old clothes were still here. Kaya and her wouldn't have to go shopping until later without being rushed and having to wear yesterday's outfits.

"It's pretty good!" Kaya exclaimed, pulling her mouth away from the bottle, a loud pop resonating in the room from her sudden action, and putting it down on the vanity table.

Yuuki nodded in agreement as she grabbed a brush and brushed her hair, forcing her slightly wavy hair to loosen up until it was perfectly straight. Kaya went to the closet next to the bed and opened it; she inspected the clothes before picking out something that suited her taste.

"What's the plan today?" Kaya asked, yanking on a pair of skinny jeans.

"Not sure, though Hyosuke mentioned that the Headmaster had given him something that's meant for me." Yuuki explained, applying a slight layer of lip-gloss on.

"Hm, want to hang out in town then? I want to watch a movie and grab some ice cream." Kaya suggested excitedly.

Yuuki turned to look at her friend. "Yeah, sounds great. We can check out the stores down there too; I would like to buy some new underwear and I'm sure that you'd like to wear a pair of your own as well."

Kaya nodded, pulling out a black t-shirt with a Minecraft creeper on it. "This is yours? I never pictured you as the type to like the game."

Yuuki smiled sadly. "I've never played the game before, though I've heard that it's cool."

"Why do you have this shirt then? Don't you have to special order these?" Kaya asked curiously.

Yuuki shrugged. "It was a gift from Zero from a couple of years back…when I was still 'pretending' to be a human."

Kaya remained silent, absorbing the little tidbit of information. "You want to let that girl go with us?"

"Huh?" Yuuki questioned, her mind quickly stopped going through her memories as a human.

"Rima, do you want her to go with us today?" Kaya stressed out the questioned, her eyes avoiding Yuuki's.

"I thought you didn't like others." Yuuki stated bluntly, knowing how Kaya had an issue with getting to know others. The only reason that they even talked during her first month there was because they both had shared something in common….

"You like her; I guess that's a good enough reason to try to get to know her as well," Kaya explained softly. "Besides, you'll be busy playing with Kaname-sama, so I'll need someone else to have crazy adventures with."

"Playing?" Yuuki whispered, her hands tightening around her brush.

Kaya glanced at her friend with concern. "Yeah, as bait remember?"

"Oh." Yuuki forced out, her fingers loosening up a bit.

"What were you thinking about?" Kaya grinned, moving closer to her friend.

"Nothing, I just liked how you're starting to get independent." Yuuki lied easily.

Kaya narrowed her eyes. "I'll let that go for now, only because I know that you'll end up telling me everything within a week. I'll go ask Rima if she's free to go."

Yuuki nodded as Kaya glided out of the room. Yuuki inspected her appearance in the mirror before grabbing an old necklace of hers and putting it on her slender neck. Her fingers brushed the side of her neck and felt the slow rhythm of her pulse. She closed her eyes; it was like music to her ears. When she reopened her eyes, her glaze landed on the opened bottle of blood. Just a taste couldn't hurt.

"Yuuki-sama!" Hyosuke exclaimed, entering her room.

Yuuki jumped, almost like she'd been forced out of a trance. Her hands automatically went to her right thigh, her hands searching for the familiar metal that usually hung there. Her hands touched skin before she realized that her weapon had been taken…no stolen from her. "Y-Yes?" Yuuki stuttered, trying to calm herself down.

"Sorry if I scared you." Hyosuke apologized quickly as soon as he noticed how she reacted.

Yuuki grinned. "Not a problem, I'm just a little tired still I think."

Hyosuke nodded and chuckled. "Usually you're the one scaring me."

Hyosuke slipped a letter out of his pocket and handed it to her. "This is the letter that the Headmaster wanted me to give to you."

"Thanks." Yuuki muttered.

"I'm going to grab some breakfast, they're making sausage. Would you like some?" Hyosuke asked gently, his eyes filled with worry knowing that his President was going through a rough time.

"No, I'll grab something later," Yuuki looked up and smiled at him. "Would you like to join Kaya, Rima, and me on a trip to the shopping district?"

"I'd like that." Hyosuke accepted, his natural smile growing wider.

Hyosuke left the room. Yuuki waited a moment before looking at the white envelope in her hands. It had already been open, so she only had to slip her hands inside it to grab the letter itself. She pulled out a worn-out, brown piece of parchment that looked that it had been reread and refolded a million times. She flipped it open and noticed the smooth, black calligraphy that filled the parchment.

My sweet princess,

I would ask you how you are, but I already know the answer. I know a lot about you, Yuuki; more than anyone that surrounds you as of late. I've watched you lately and find that it's my new hobby. Do you like what I have done for you, for us? It has not been easy to destroy all the vermin, but I know it's worth it and that you'll reward me greatly. I hear that you'll be coming here soon; I can't wait till we are face to face again. Will you recognize me, your faithful servant? Or will you turn away from me and watch that bastard Kaname? You better not or there will be hell to pay.

With all my love,

ROSS