I was dozing against a tree, peaceful dreams, about Zero… and me. It was crazy, but a part of me would never let us go.

"Yuki…Yuki, wake up!" I opened my eyes to find Yori shaking my arm. "Yuki…You fell asleep. I'm not sure how to tell you this, but the only horse left for your lesson is White Lily."

White Lily. The wild horse from hell. This wasn't a good day. I looked over to the white furred demon. She glared back at me, but didn't make a hostile move.

I tried to keep my composure as I walked over to her. She stayed calm…For awhile.

Without warning, she lashed out. Rearing wildly, her feet started kicking everywhere. One of those kicks, of course, landed me straight on the butt. Which hurt. Very badly.

White Lily began running. Running, of course, in the direction of her favorite person in the vicinity.

Zero, naturally. She had very good taste, that horse. Zero just glanced up casually as she neared his spot. A split second before too late, be jumped up onto her back, grabbed the reins, and coaxed her into a standstill.

"Zero!" I ran over to him. "I'm so sorry- I don't know what I did wrong."

Zero slid off the horse's back. "You didn't do anything, Yuki. She just sensed something she didn't like."

"Oh… Hey, Zero, are you, um, properly hydrated?"

My vampire's amethyst eyes glared down at me. "'Properly hydrated'? Really? And, no, as a matter of fact, I'm not. What do you propose to do about it?" With that, my best friend, and most confusing one, left me.

"Bok Choy, soy sauce, and onions," I read off the list. "I guess Headmasters planning on cooking."

"Then I suppose we'll grab a bite here in town."

Zero and I had been asked to go to the town near Cross Academy to get some cooking supplies. We always moaned and groaned about it, but Zero and I both enjoyed the outing.

We were headed toward an area that boasted the best- and cheapest- restaurants in town. As we passed by a booth, a shirt caught me eye.

"Oh, Zero, this would look great on you!" I held the lavender- grey button up to his chest. It complemented his eyes perfectly. The result was dazzling.

Zero, however seemed unimpressed. "It's just a shirt, Yuki."

Oh, gosh, I loved the way he said my name. "Well, I'm buying it for you. You can wear it to the upcoming ball."

"We have to wear our uniforms."

"I know; I just want you to get it. It'll make you look…" I trailed off.

"Make me look what?"

"Well… Good." I turned to the lady working the booth. "I'll take this one."

She smiled and wrapped it up, I gave her the money, and we walked on.

I spotted a café I liked and pulled Zero in. We slid into a booth in a secluded area. We had enough time for a bit of small talk, then the waitress came to take our orders.

"I'll have the parfait," I told her. We both looked expectantly at Zero. He just shook his head. The waitress left.

"Zero," I said, "You should get something, too. I don't want to send you to endure the Headmaster's cooking on an empty stomach."

"I wanted Shio Ramen."

"Oh. Sorry." This wasn't getting awkward, not at all. It got even less awkward when the waitress returned.

She delivered my parfait, then turned her attention to Zero. "Excuse me; are you in the Cross Academy Night Class?"

It was a harmless question. Really, she couldn't have known any better. But even still, Zero glared the most fiercely I've ever seen.

"No," He said rudely, and left the restaurant without further ado.

"I'm so sorry," I apologized to the befuddled waitress, dropping a ten on the table.

I rushed out onto the street, looking this way and that for Zero. To my left was a street of more stores and tourist attractions. To my right was an abandoned alley. I chose right.

"Zero? Zero! Where are you?" I called his name, but there was no response.

Not one that I wanted. The minute I felt the cold fingers on my neck, I knew that they belonged to a vampire. I couldn't breathe, didn't have enough air in my lungs to scream.

"Darling girl," the Level E whispered in my ear, "your blood…Smells intoxicating. I can barely keep my hands off…"

No. He. DIDN"T. That was the line, and I wasn't about to let some perverted Vampire cross it. I whipped out Artemis and held it against the vampire.

Unfortunately, the bravery didn't last any longer. It was all I could do to hold the weapon against him.

"Yuki! Don't just stand there!" So fast my eyes couldn't follow it, Zero grabbed the rod from me and deflected the vampire right as he lunged. But the Artemis rod wouldn't cooperate well with a vampire controlling its movements.

I thought we were as good as ashes, but then something strange happened. An anti-vampire staff poked through the Level E's body, and then proceeded to slice him in half. His body turned into dust at my feet.

I was so shocked; I almost didn't recognize the vampires behind him, who were obviously responsible for the other's demise.

"Takuma Ichijo… Senri Shiki… What are you Night Class students doing here?"

"Racist," Ichijo scoffed.

"You didn't need me at all," Shiki pouted.

"What's going on?" I asked. I turned around, expecting to see Zero. He was walking up with the bags; apparently he'd stashed them in a corner.

"If you want to know, come to the Moon Dorm tonight at midnight." Ichijo winked at me, then he and Shiki disappeared into the crowds.

I looked back at Zero. "What was that about?"

He just shrugged. "I guess we'll find out tonight." He took my hand and we walked back to the academy.

Dinner with the Headmaster turned out to be a rather awkward affair.

"Well?" He grinned at the two us of (me and Zero) "How is it?"

"Ummm…" I supplied.

"Well…" Zero added.

Headmaster's face fell. "You don't like it. I cooked it all in my style. It was just meant to be a nice family dinner."

"He- Father, I mean, I keep telling you your 'my style' cooking is a bit off."

"I keep telling you not to consider me a part of your family." Well, Zero had a point. It was hard to be kinda in love with a guy your father thought of as your brother. But it was helpful on occasions like these.

"Oh, details," Headmaster waved away Zero's 'concerns.' "By the way, Zero, here's your blood tablets."

About two hours later, I had Zero back in my arms, he had his fangs in my neck. My favorite position, the only place I wanted to be. It was great.

But, out of nowhere, there was a bang. Zero and I fell into the pool we'd been standing beside. I opened my eyes under the water, and saw Zero's irises turn from red to lavender.

Then I realized, 'Something's wrong.' I pushed to the surface, pulling Zero with me. He emerged first, and when I followed, the most terrifying sight I would ever see was playing before my eyes.

Some strange man was holding a gun to my Zero's head.