Author's Note: Thanks to those who have reviewed so far! Reviews make me so happy-even critical ones! I write these stories not only because I enjoy writing and exploring the characters, but I also want to improve my writing skills. So please review with any thoughts you have!


Chapter Nine

"Have you heard about the new ethics teacher?" an excited girl asks her friend. School was back in session after the winter holidays. Aside from my birthday gift from Kanamewhich I thought about more than I'd care to admitmy vacation was very low key. I spent most of my time with my father either helping him with his paperwork or just being with him. The only times I've managed to see him during the semester were for business, so I'm grateful to have the time to focus on family. Zero popped in sometimes, but often enough he'd seek solitude in the stables or just roam around the campus. I pretty much gave him his space, unable to fully relate with what he's going through. I hope that was the right thing to do.

"Why are we getting a new teacher halfway through the year?" her friend questions, seeming confused.

"I don't know, but I just saw him and he's gorgeous!" the first girl replies happily, with a dreamy expression.

Just then, the classroom door opens and a tall, elegantly dressed dark haired man enters. He has long, dark black hair with a light blue eye visible. He wears an eyepatch over his right eye and generally gives off a tough aura.

He walks slowly into the room, carrying several books and says, "It seems word of my arrival has preceded me." He sets his books down on the desk and looks up to gaze at the other students. "The name is Toga Yagari and I'm going to be your new teacher. Nice to meet you all." Very straightforward, this Toga Yagari is.

Yori whispers to me, "He seems pretty cool for a teacher."

"Yeah, I guess, but…" I begin as I turn to look at her. In my peripheral vision, I see Zero's shocked face. I turn and look at him better. He's even more pale than usual and seems completely stunned. I wonder what's wrong.

"All right," Yagari says, drawing my attention forward, "I'll accept questions instead of doing an introductory speech."

"Professor, are you single?" a bold girl asks.

"I am," he says.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" another asks. I wonder how that's any different than being single.

"You like the personal questions, don't you?" he replies, seeming slightly amused.

People begin shouting out the most random and absurd questions, including "Have you ever seen a UFO?" and "Have you ever been kissed?" The poor man really didn't know what he was getting into when he allowed students to ask questions at random.

The class president, Kaseumi, stands up and yells over the hubbub, "Hey! If you want to ask this man a question then you have to raise your hand first!" He points randomly and energetically around the room as he says this.

A quick hand is raised. Kaseumi says, "Yes?" to the owner of the hand. She stands up. I recognize her as Shindo, a girl with brown hair so light it's almost blonde, who styles her hair in braided pigtails and wears glasses. "That eyepatch you're wearing. Is that the latest fashion trend?"

I hear someone stand up behind me, followed by quick footsteps. I spin my head around and see Zero walk out of the classroom. "Zero…?" I question, but know it's too late. I spin around as I hear the professor speak again.

Silence falls across the classroom for a few moments, everyone wondering how the new teacher would react. Yagari simply stares at the door where Zero had left. Finally, he says, leaning against the chalkboard, "This was the cost I had to pay for saving someone's life."


Zero could not get out of that classroom fast enough. What was his old mentor doing here? And then, that Shindo girl had to bring up the eyepatch. He leaned against the classroom door, breathing deeply, memories surfacing.

Zero walked into the medical center at his elementary school. He actually really liked going there. The doctor who ran the center was beautiful, smart, and funny. She was also engaged to his beloved master, Toga Yagari, who was training Zero to be a vampire hunter, just like his parents and all of their friends in the Hunter's Association.

As Zero entered the room, her back was turned to him. "Doctor?" he asked, wanting her to turn around and greet him with that lovely, warm smile of hers.

Instead, when she turned around, all Zero could see was a mad glint in her eye and an evil, beastly smile. She leapt for Zero, hands outstretched and curved to form claws with her nails.

"Zero! Kill her," Yagari burst through the door, pulling his anti-vampire rifle from its position his back. "She's not the woman she used to be."

Zero just stared at her. "I can't," he said to Yagari. "There's still good in her!"

Yagari shoved Zero aside and stood in front of him. Her claws, intended for Zero, slashed across Yagari's face instead. Blood poured from the wounds to his right cheek and eye, but the injury did not seem to faze him as he lifted his gun and pointed it at his fiancée.

"Goodbye, my love," he whispered as he shot her in the head.

Sobbing, Zero knelt on the floor beside where her body had disintegrated into ashes.

"Master," he pleaded, looking up at Yagari, "I'm so sorry. I couldn't move. You were right. She would never have done that to you if she were still there. She was like a beast!"

Yagari just stared at the place where his love had once stood, with his one remaining eye. He still ignored the blood that seeped from his wounds. They remained silent for a few moments, before Zero spoke again, "Master, I promise that you will never regret losing your eye to-" Zero's voice broke at the last few words, "to save my life."

Zero opened his eyes to find the headmaster standing in front of him. He hadn't remembered closing his eyes or hearing the headmaster approach. He must have been really lost in his recollection.

"Zero? Are you all right?" the headmaster asked, looking concerned.

"You could have warned me," Zero bit out through gritted teeth.

"I wanted to," the headmaster replied calmly, "But you were hardly around. That's why I came over here to now, to see how you were taking it. I thought that perhaps you might need to leave."

Before Zero could reply, the door behind him opened and Yuki emerged. "Oh! Zero! Father!" the word father slipped out and the headmaster's face lit up at the word. She continued, "I volunteered, as a member of the Disciplinary Committee, to bring you back. But I didn't expect you'd still be out here."

"I can't go back," Zero said. "Not right now."

Yuki looked at her father. He was, after all, the headmaster and the final voice on skipping class.

"Come with me, Zero," he said finally, after reading Zero's face for a moment. "I have a task for you."

He placed his hand on Zero's back and, to Kaien Cross's relief and amazement, Zero did not shrug the hand off. Kaien said over his shoulder, "Why don't you go back to class, Yuki. I've got it from here."

Both Kaien and Zero heard the soft squeak as the door opened and the click as it shut again, signifying that Yuki had returned to class.


Toga Yagari experienced a flashback of his own when Zero left the class. As he stared at the door where Zero had vacated, he reflected on that fateful occurrence.

"She what?!" Yagari exclaimed as he saw the notice from the Hunter's Association. He threw on his signature overcoat, grabbed his rifle, and bolted for the door. He got to the elementary school as fast as he could. How could they have let her escape?

He reached his fiancée's clinic, knowing she would have returned there. Level E's often retreat back to their old haunts, he knew this all too well from experience. It was easier for them to blend in that way and find prey.

He burst into the room and saw Zero standing transfixed as the woman he loved leap at his apprentice, going for the kill.

"Zero! Kill her," he shouted desperately, "She's not the woman she used to be." At these last words, his heart broke as he finally accepted what had happened to her. He knew then what he had to do.

"I can't," Zero replied tearfully, "There's still good in her!"

Zero still believed that all vampires were good. Yagari had been trying to teach him the differences between vampires ever since he first took Zero on as an apprentice. Now, the boy was going to learn the truth the hard way.

Roughly, Yagari shoved Zero aside, but not fast enough to avoid the deadly blow from his fiancée. Distantly, Yagari felt her sharp nails rake across his face. He suddenly lost sight in his right eye. This was a serious injury, he knew, but the adrenaline coursing through his veins did not allow him time to feel the pain.

He raised his gun to her forehead and aimed. This way, he could look into her eyes one last time. But they weren't her eyes anymore. The beautiful green eyes he so admired were now glinting red from the scent of his blood.

"Goodbye, my love," he murmured. Then he shot his fiancée dead. He watched as her ravaged body turned into dust. His eye that could still see was glued to that spot. Damn purebloods, he thought, and damn the aristocrats for letting her escape and lapse into this state.

But even though it broke his heart to kill his fiancée, Toga Yagari was a vampire hunter beyond anything else.

He leaned back against the chalkboard and recalled Zero's promise to him. He hoped that Zero would stand by that promise. Otherwise, Yagari would have to kill his former student. The Hunter's Association had ordered him to do so.

"This was the cost I had to pay," he said to the class, "For saving someone's life."

Yagari hoped beyond anything else that Zero had not given up his humanity yet.


"I was planning on giving this job to Yuki," the headmaster said to Zero once they were in his office. "But I think you could use the distraction." Kaien Cross sat down at his desk and placed a file on it. "And, I think you might find that you two have a lot in common," he added, handing Zero the file.

Zero opened it and saw the name "Maria Kurenai" written across the top. Under it, Zero read the phrase, "Approved for Transfer" with Kaname Kuran's name signed beside it. A photo of the girl was attached to the file, she had grayish-purple hairwhich she styled to have a small bun to the side of her otherwise long and straight hairwith lavender eyes. "She's a vampire?" Zero asked.

"Yes," Kaien said and held his hands up, "And before you protest, I realize how much you dislike vampires. But the two of you may have more in common than you think."

"Why is she transferring so late in the semester?" Zero asked, ignoring Kaien's previous statements.

"I was getting to that," Kaien replied. "She's actually very sickly for a vampire. She comes from a strong, noble line of vampires, but she seems to have an abnormal amount of human blood in her veins." He took off his glasses and began to polish them. "If you listen to the gossip, her mother reportedly had an affair with a human. I would be inclined to believe it's merely gossip, as her parents are both still married, if she weren't so sickly."

"So you're saying that human blood makes her weak?" Zero asked bitterly.

"Not exactly," the headmaster replied, putting his glasses back on. "Many vampires have intermixed with humans over the centuries. Hence the dilution in blood. But sometimes, a being reacts oddly to it. Maria seems to be that way. It seems to have reacted poorly with her system and made her permanently weaker and less energetic than most vampires."

"Interesting," Zero said, meaning it. A vampire who was supposedly weaker intrigued him. He wasn't sure what that meant exactly, but he was interested enough to find out. "So, what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to show her around and make her feel welcome," Kaien said. "She'll be arriving at sundown, so maybe you could come greet her with me."

Zero nodded. "Okay, I'll do that."

"Great, Zero!" the headmaster said excitedly. "I knew I could count on you." He leapt towards Zero with his arms extended, attempting to hug him. Zero quickly sidestepped the headmaster and exited.


Zero still hasn't shown up to help me keep the Day Class students from stampeding the Night Class students in their excitement to see them after a month apart. With Zero's help, he could have stopped their attempts to climb the walls with a simple glare. For me, no matter how much I use my whistle, shout, or scream, they just aren't going to listen.

From behind my position in front of the gates, I hear the creaking sound of the gates opening. At the sound, the girls. and a few guys, line up into perfect lines like demure angels. Geez, what's with them? Maybe faced with the Night Class's appearance, they have decided to behave like civilized people. I move to my usual side to let the Night Class pass.

"Hello, all! How are my beautiful admirers today?" Hanabusa shouts gleefully. He walks slowly, waving at the lovestruck girls like a beauty queen. I roll my eyes. Hanabusa hasn't changed at all.

"And hello, Yuki!" he says to me, "How are you doing?" Noticing the death glares of the other students directed towards me, he makes it worse by enveloping me into a hug. "And how is your lovely roommate? I'm sad she didn't come here to greet me," he murmured in my ear. To the other girls, it looked like he was whispering sweet nothings in my ear. They all looked simply murderous. I gulp and shove Hanabusa away.

"Are you trying to get me killed?" I demand. "And if you want to see her," I add in an undertone, "You've got to make it happen. She has no interest in parading herself in front of you along with this crowd."

"Ah, I see," Hanabusa says thoughtfully and begins walking down the path, catching up with Akatsuki. "Thanks for the advice, Yuki!" he shouts over his shoulder.

I watch him go, amused, and don't notice Kaname until he stands in front of me. "Hello, Yuki," he says. "Did you have a good holiday?"

"Y-yes! I did!" I say haltingly. "Um, thanks for your gift. It was lovely." I can't look at him when I say that. I'm so embarrassed. He touches my cheek and gently forces me to look at him.

"I'm glad," he says, a hint of a smile touching his lips. Behind me, I hear cries of "No fair!" and "It's always Yuki Cross!"

"Uh-oh," Kaname says, his hand falling from my cheek. My face still tingles from where he touched me. I find myself wishing he hadn't let his had fall. "It seems I've made the other students angry at you." He turns and walks away. "I'll see you later, I hope."

Perhaps he means our walking ritual. "Y-yeah! Me too!" I yell back. I turn around and see all the girls surrounding me with death in their eyes. I'm really wishing for Zero right about now.

Before any of them can act, I squeeze through a small opening and dash for the trees. None of them know the forest nearly as well as I do from my patrols and I lose them fairly easily. Gasping for air, I lean against the trunk of a tree and rest, thinking of Kaname.

Slowly, I lower myself onto the ground and pull my knees into my chest. When did I become such a lovestruck schoolgirl? I bury my face in my knees. I feel so pathetic. I should ask Kaname what his deal is once and for all. Otherwise, I'll just keep wondering and feeling confused. I decide that I'll ask him the next time I see him. Which will likely be tonight for our walk.


A horse drawn carriage pulled up the driveway and around the circle until it stopped right in front of Kaien and Zero. The footman driving the carriage leaps out and opens the door, extending his hand to help the passenger out. Zero instantly recognized the girl from the photo he saw earlier. She's tiny, he thought, About the same height as Yuki, but even thinner. Zero recognized that Maria was beautiful like all the other vampires he'd met, but she also seemed more fragile than the others. Less confident.

"Well, hell-o, Maria!" Kaien greeted her cheerfully, in his bubbly manner. He walked to meet her where she stood in front of the carriage. "Welcome to Cross Academy! I hope you'll come to love it here as much as I do." He ushered her forward to meet Zero. "This is Zero Kiryu. He's going to be your guide around the campus."

"Kiryu-?" she questioned, seeming to recognize the name. With a jolt, Zero noticed she bore a slight resemblance to that woman. He bristled.

Maria walked forward and gently rested her palm on his shoulder. "I hope you don't think I'm too forward," she said shyly. "But I just want to say how sorry I am for what happened to your family. Shizuka Hio is a distant relative of mine. In no way is my family affiliated with her actions."

To say that Zero was surprised would be an understatement. "Y-you're sorry?" he said hesitantly.

"Why yes," Maria responded, seeming confused at his surprise. "Surely, you don't think we're all like that?"

"Um…," Zero mumbled.

"Well, now!" Kaien said, coming between the two and clapping his hands together once. "Before Zero can escort you to your dorm, we need to perform the oath-taking ceremony. Come with me to my office." Zero was grateful for the interruption. Kaien could be perceptive when he wanted. Perhaps, he's always perceptive, Zero mused, but he hides it under his bubbly exterior.

As Kaien escorted Maria to his office, Zero directed the footman to the Moon Dormitories so that he could drop off her luggage. After he finished that task, he caught up with Kaien and Maria, just as they entered the office.

The so-called "oath-taking ceremony" was much less formal than it sounded. All the headmaster did was ask her a series of questions, catechism style, to which Maria would respond "yes" or "no" as appropriate. In summary, she swore to never drink the blood of a human while residing at Cross Academy and to do no harm to the students. Zero hadn't seen the other vampires do this, but he knew that they must have. Grudgingly, he respected that the others had stuck to their vows so well.

Once the ceremony was complete, Zero escorted Maria out of the office. The sounds of Kaien's best-wishes echoed in their ears as they walked down the hallway.

"Would you like to go join the other students in class after our tour?" Zero asked.

"Um…maybe. I feel really nervous all of a sudden," Maria replied, sounding a little scared. "I've never been to a school before and haven't interacted much with people my own age."

Zero nodded. "The Headmaster told me about your condition," he said. "What brings you here now?"

"I heard about this school when Lord Kaname announced it," Maria replied. "But it took me all last semester to convince my parents to let me go. Once the blood tablets were released, I begged that, if the tablets sated my thirst, they would let me go to the academy. Well, after using only the tablets for just over three months, my parents grudgingly let me come."

"Why didn't they want you to come?" Zero questioned.

"Well, they don't agree with the Kurans and the idea of coexisting with humans," she said. "But I find it intriguing. I've never met a human before today and I wanted to see with my own eyes what they're like. I just got so sick of being sheltered!" Her voice rose at her last sentence. "If I'm going to be sick and frail, then I'd rather see the world instead of being cooped up. Maybe that will cut my life shorter, but I'd rather have a shorter, fuller life than a long and miserable one."

Despite himself, Zero found that he respected this tiny girl and her determination. "Well, I think this academy is the perfect start. Nothing you do here will be too strenuous. And then, once you graduate, you can travel and discover new opportunities."

She turned to him, her eyes moist. "You really think so?"

"I know so," he said, smiling a rare smile.


"Hello, Yuki," Kaname says from behind me. I'm standing concealed behind some trees near the gate to the Moon Dorm. I know that vampires can smell me and sense my presence, but my position gives them the ability to ignore me and pretend I'm not there. I turn around and face Kaname. My resolve to discover the truth weakens at the sight of his handsome features, but I tell myself to be strong and my resolve returns.

"Hello, Kaname" I say, smiling. "Shall we go?"

Kaname offers me his arm. I stare at it, a little surprised. He's never done that before. He chuckles and I realized that I've been staring for a longer time than what is socially acceptable. Quickly, I take his arm and we begin walking.

I ask Kaname about his break and he tells me about staying with the Aido family. "Don't you have family to go home to?" I ask before my brain catches up with me. "S-sorry. How rude of me. You don't have to answer me if you don't want to. I wasn't thinking."

"No, it's okay, Yuki," Kaname replies, his voice sad. "My parents died long ago. Ichijo's family actually raised me." I look at him, surprised. "Yes, Takuma is like a brother to me. He's actually one of the few people who will talk to me without the usual reservation vampires have with purebloods. Hanabusa is another one. That's what I really appreciate about both of them. I hate being treated like I'm somehow better."

I cringe a little in embarrassment. Do I treat Kaname differently? I'm not sure. I don't think I treat him any differently than I treat other vampires, but I definitely don't treat vampires the same way I treat humans. It's not that I treat them badly or anything, I'm just not as at ease with vampires as I am with humans.

"Yuki, don't worry," Kaname says as if reading my mind, "I love everything about you, including the way you act around me."

He just reminded me of what I meant to ask him. "Kaname, I've been wanting to ask you this for a while," I say, looking at the ground as I walk. "Just what I am to you? You treat me so differently than anyone else, vampires and humans included. I just don't understand. I'm only a human. Even if I became a vampire, I'd be beneath your station."

"It seems like you've thought a lot about this," Kaname comments. "I wonder if that means you feel the same way I do."

"Please don't dodge my question, Kaname," I plead. "I have to know what this is. I'm tired of worrying and wondering."

"Yuki, it's so much more complicated than you can imagine," Kaname says. "I can tell you this. We have a shared past."

A shared past? I think about what that means. Kaname keeps quiet, letting me think as we silently walk through the grounds, arm in arm. I think back to when I first met Kaname and thought his voice sounded vaguely familiar. I run through the memories of my childhood, delving into years past, trying to think of when I met him. Then I reach that day. That day where my life was changed.

"Are you the one?" I whisper. "The one who saved my life?"

"Yes," Kaname says. "Yes, I am."