Updated: 30th September, 2012

The Evening Family News

"Daddy! Why do I have to do this?" Yuki whined. The Chairman was taking pictures of her, as she posed with the finished product of their cooking. His smiled at her adoringly and took one of the cupcakes from the tray she was holding.

"Yuki, am I to believe that this bonding time for the last hour was not what you wanted?" He asked cheerfully. Yuki nodded slowly, anticipating the bad reaction from her step-father, "What? But Yoko would have cooked with me!"

"Probably to make sure you didn't burn down the building." Yuki muttered with a frown.

"Ah! Yuki! You are so mean! Zero is a bad influence on you!" Kaien complained loudly. The door was opened and Zero marched in with Yoko on his heels. He yanked her round the desk and sat her in the Kaien's chair, swinging it round to face him. He leaned down, each hand on each arm of the chair and stared at her expectantly.

"Zero, what happened?" Yuki asked uncertainly, as Kaien pushed her in front of himself for protection from the moody teenager. Zero's expression deepened into a glare and Yoko attempted to push him away, her hand against his chest and her head leaning away from his.

Suddenly he turned from her and glowered at Kaien and Yuki, "There was a vampire in that room with her." He fiercely told them, "A bloodsucker in Cross Academy!" He hissed hatefully. He turned back to Yoko, taking up the same position, "That was no student. Do you know who he is? Did he give you a name? Yoko!" he shouted, as she turned her face from him, trying to avoid the confrontation, "Yoko, look at me! Answer me!"

"I don't know!" She screamed, successfully forcing him away from her and rising from the chair, "I already told you Zero! I don't know who he is. I don't know why he cares so much about me! He just… does." She calmed down, working on evening her breaths.

Yuki stared at them somewhat bewildered, as Kaien's quivering tone queried, "What vampire? Zero what happened when you went to get her? Is this why you took so long?"

Not knowing what else to say, Yuki chimed, "Yeah…" She briefly waved at the apron she was presently wearing.

Zero scanned it with distaste before saying, "When I got there a vampire was with her. It looked like he was going to bite her, so I shot at it," He sighed heavily, brushing his hand through his hair, "I missed. He ranted and raved then broke out the window. He knows things. He knew our names," he gestured to Kaien and himself, "He mentioned Kuran too."

"What did he look like?" Kaien asked quietly.

Zero looked up at him surprised by the Chairman's sullen voice, "I'm not sure. It was dark."

Kaien leered at the boy, "You're part vampire aren't you? Why couldn't you see him properly?" He snatched the cupcakes from Yuki, who jumped, and slammed them down, on to his office table, "Oh…" He hesitantly murmured.

Zero tightly shut his eyes and balled his fists. He heard the shuffle of her feet and the small cry that breached her lips, "Yoko…"

"You're a vampire," her voice cracked and heightened further with fear, "You're like him."

Zero's eyes flew open with shock, "Like him!" He yelled with surprise. He turned to her, smiling, "You're a genius Yoko!"

Yuki's mouth fell open, "What? What just happened? I thought you'd be ripping her apart right now... you're quite sensitive about your, err, yeah."

Zero shook his head, "What she said – like him, but I'm not. I'm not like him at all." He looked Kaien in the eye his bright expression falling into one seriousness, "That vampire was a pureblood. No doubt about it."

Kaien grimaced, "Kaname most likely sensed him. I'll speak with him in the morning – see if he is able to identify the bloodline."

"Why didn't he show up?" Zero demanded, "Surely a pure blooded vampire on the grounds of the academy is something he should be making sure doesn't occur. Isn't that his job? It's the only thing he could ever be useful for."

Kaien sighed, ignoring Zero's jibe and sat down at his desk, "You're all dismissed. The prefects will not be needed for tonight." he said, waving a hand in the direction of the door. Yuki worriedly glanced at Zero. Deciding to take the chance at freedom, she pried the apron from herself and dashed out of the door with a quick 'goodnight'. Yoko stared down at her father with concern, "Go rest Yoko. I am not angry or disappointed with you." She nodded sullenly and briefly glanced at Zero's tense form on the way out the door.

Zero stood at the headmaster's desk in silence. He stared down at the man that was soon quietly weeping into a stack of papers, "You know him." He stated. Kaien stopped crying, sniffling and staring back at Zero with shame. He nodded, confirming Zero's suspicions.

"Kaname…" Yoko inquired, as the pureblood woke her up, "It's three in the morning. Wait, what are you doing in my room?"

He lightly grabbed her chin and tilted her head back for a glance. The student's marks were gone, but a bruise lay where they had once been. He frowned with concentration. Yoko tried to see him properly from the uncomfortable position she was in, but failed miserably. She felt nervous. Finding out about Zero's vampirism seemed bad, but having a vampire as intimidating as Kaname stare at her neck was far more unsettling. She briefly entertained the idea that he had come to eat her, but brushed the idea away. Kaname would never hurt a student. Still, she could not ignore that he unnerved her to no end and she most definitely was not happy with him appearing in her bedroom at three in the morning, waking her from the only slightly peaceful sleep she had had in week.

"You seem alright at the moment Yoko," He said affectionately, "Be careful." He let her go and walked towards the door. Yoko's mouth hung open, as he made his way out of her room.

'Did he just hint that he cares about me?' Giving in to sleep, Yoko left that thought at the back of her mind. It wasn't her problem, not yet anyway.

"Gah!" A surprised voice yelled. Tipping over the side of his bed, Hanabusa tightly closed his eyes, "Kain," He whined from under the bed, "Please get up and shut that damn curtain." His cousin sighed with annoyance and taking the warm quilt with him, he drew the curtains after a quick peek outside. Hanabusa smiled and contently jumped back onto his bed. "Thank you." He sighed dreamily, falling back to sleep.

'Idiot…' Kain shook his head and also returned to the welcoming warmth of his bed.

"Yuki, I can't do this anymore." Yoko gasped. The dew soaked through their trainers, but unlike Yuki, Yoko was not completely aware of her surroundings or the time.

"Yoko," Yuki complained, "We've only been running for fifth-teen minutes." Yoko, still gasping, looked at Yuki in shock.

"Fifth-teen minutes!" She shouted indignantly, "You've got to be kidding me." She groaned and fell to her knees with exhaustion. Yuki rolled her eyes impatiently and tapped her foot on the wet grass. The sun was rising slowly from behind the forest, the Moon dorms shining. Yuki glanced up at the beautiful building admiringly before returning to the gasping Yoko.

"Oh, come on Yoko. Your exaggerating, I'm sure you'll be fine by first period." She said, crossing her arms stiffly, "I tell you what why don't we go get some breakfast with the other students. It might give you the opportunity to make some friends… we'd have to change our shoes first though." Yuki mumbled.

Pulling the tie this way and that, Zero huffed and ripped the fabric from around his shirt collar. He stared at his reflection in the mirror and thought of whether he should brush his hair, "Nah, won't make much of a difference anyway. No one will notice." He murmured, picking up his toothbrush. He skipped breakfast and continued to pack his things away for class. His room was perfectly clean and his school books were categorized in his bag, beginning from first period to last. He was hoping to avoid chattering to Yoko sine she had discovered his 'condition'. He did not particularly want to deal with Yuki either. He had no doubt that she would make it out to be a bigger issue than it truly was.

His talk with Kaien the night before came back to him.

"I am sorry for being so forward Zero," Kaien sniffled, "I had no right to let her find out like that – no right to speak of it so openly or scornfully either." Zero looked at the fully grown man, disgusted. He took a step back and headed towards the door.

"What has happened has happened. Think nothing of it. Besides, we have bigger issues if this pureblood returns for Yoko. He might hurt the students or… Yuki." He grumbled harshly at the weeping ex-hunter. Kaien managed to utter a goodnight before Zero had closed the office door.

"But Yuki, I won't make any friends. I'm a prefect remember?" Walking through the corridors, the duo turned a corner and trotted beside one another down the stairs.

"Hey! I made friends." Yuki exclaimed, insulted.

"That's because you're social." Yoko replied, sulking on her side of the staircase.

"You're social too Yoko." Yuki sang cheerfully.

A few late students ran past them in to the dining hall. The sandstone roof raised high above the balcony. Many students got together there, huddling in groups. They shared their breakfast with one another evenly. It was the most popular area at meal times and break, because it kept them out of sight of any passing teachers. The balcony also offered a Birdseye view of the hall. Students' voices rose with the ceiling.

"Depends on the person I'm socialising with." She muttered angrily whilst helping herself to what appeared to be a chocolate croissant. The noises from the others reminded her of the atmosphere of the Moon dorm gates at sunset. There wasn't much of a difference. Girls were still giggling about the Night class students or the hottest boys in the Day class, as the boys in question were attempting to listen in. A few groups wore their uniforms inappropriately. Short skirts, slack bows and ties and some girls even went as far as to wear their shirts open, showing the tops they wore underneath.

Yuki pointed to one of the biggest groups, "That's the gossip group," she stated hesitantly, "They say around here that you're nobody until that group talks about you."

Yoko looked away from the group's table and glanced at Yuki uncertainly, "Have they ever talked about you?" Yuki blushed violently and hid behind the apple she had grabbed from the close fruit basket.

"Well - no - not really, oh, I don't know. I'm a prefect and get in the way of their 'handsome night students' so I suppose that if they do ever talk about me it wouldn't be very good." she commented slowly, dragging out her words.

Yoko looked at her confused, "Yuki that made no sense. Besides, no gossip is good gossip." She turned to look at the group, "Think I'll stay away from that crowd."

Yuki shrugged and put the apple on her tray, "Your choice, but they're designated as the popular group."

"The word of today is Daedal. Write the definition and memorize it. It could be useful for your exams."

"Intricate, ingenious, why have I never heard of this before? I spent years in England and what do I get from it, slang." Yoko whispered to herself, copying the board. The English language teacher had dubbed her one of his star pupils along with a few upper year students and two other lower year students. Yuki had chemistry at this time and Yoko had to survive two hours without her beloved sister. Each desk for language studies was separate and Yoko was isolated from any other pupil. The silence of the room was unnerving and the walls were very bare. A few posters of 'hang in there kitty' were posted around the teacher's desk.

He, himself, had shabby brown hair, tanned skin and green eyes. The short jacket sitting on his chair was stylish, but Yoko was apparently not the only student to think that he was a little old for it, "Can you believe someone like him has a jacket like that?" A dark haired lad asked his close neighbour. They shook their head in agreement with the boy and passed him a note once the teacher's back was turned towards the bored. Yoko groaned to herself quietly and continued to read through the Robert Browning poems she had been given.

Kaien stared out of his office window, watching the birds flitter above the woods.

"Hmm… Kaname is destined for Yuki, but wants Yoko. Zero loves Yuki… Yoko loves… no one. I don't think so anyway." He scratched his head, "If I can push those two together then Kaname won't want her, but how to do it. Zero's in the way…" He rubbed his jaw, in thought.