Hey, I don't actually have anything to say before this chapter, so enjoy!

Once Always Leads To Twice

Tall, pristine, beautiful.

Cold.

Cold eyes and empty expressions.

I can't believe I have to put up with them. Splitting the crowd like royalty, upright and haughty. And my peers jump and scream and try to touch them, flexing fingers like they're desperate.

Oh, wonderful Night Class! Oh how your hair flips so perfectly! Oh, how we love you!

They sicken me.

And they even have body guards. I know, I know. Technically (if you're in to technicality) they are prefects.

I see them for what they are. They are only here to stop my class mates from dirtying the uniforms of high society, to protect the important and mighty.

Prefects sicken me too.

Yuuki and Zero, again, if you're into technicality, are their names. Yuuki, the flamboyant and bouncy and smile, smile, smile.

And then there's Zero. He turns my way and I can see his unnatural violet eyes and silvery hair. I turn away.

I have more important things to do than watch the Night Class parade through our school grounds like they own the world.

I roll my eyes. It's ludicrous. I came to this prestigious school to make a place in society, not to dote on those who already have one.

One of the Night Class eyes me. She has the palest yellow hair I've ever seen and her eyes lack the luminescence of the rest of the Night Class, but she's still beautiful in a cabalistic way. Even though she's clothed all in white, with light blue eyes and light hair and light skin, she seems dark and secretive. My heart stops at the way she's looking at me.

Almost like…

Well, she's looking at me like a starving wolf might look at a deer.

And I run because that's what deer do when they see starving wolves.


The faint pink of dawn clutches the edges of the world, trying to stop the night from dragging it down. My eyes sting when I look at it, anticipating the softer skies that are beginning to fade into deeper and deeper blues, the paintbrush of stars sweeping in closer to the east of sunset.

Ruka's long hair swishes in front of me, reaching to the edge of her ivory skirt, and Ichijou calls out compliments to the Day Class. I can see Yuuki trying to contain what looks like every Day Class girl, pushing them and yelling over their high pitched cries. The Day Class has taken and instant liking in us, I notice. And we only started a week back.

I scan the crowd, breathing in deeply. A small, spiky haired boy with hazel eyes and an expression boiling over with hatred meets my own eyes, and I slow. He stands apart from the rest of the Day Class, hands in deep pockets and feet shuffling impatiently.

I watch him, interested. I can smell his fury over everyone else's excitement, my eyes travelling to an open cut on his arm.

He turns and bolts, momentary panic etched in his thin face, and I almost run after him, lips lifting into what slowly becomes a snarl.

Truth is... he smelt wonderful.

And the only reason I wanted to come here was blood.

Zero is at my side in an instant, looking fierce, as always. I lower my lips and drift around him, but he follows me like a shadow, disgust written all over his face. I slip through the door to the schooling building just as he begins to speak, and miss his words, but certainly not the snarl in his silvery voice.

I follow the rest of the Night Class, the mix of blond and black and red hair. The door behind us suddenly bangs open, and Tarot rushes in, laughing airily at the string of reprimands Zero throws at her for being late again, his eyes narrowed accusingly. She rests a hand on his shoulder, pouting when he pushes it away furiously. Yuuki's voice chimes in, telling Zero off for being hypocritical, because he's usually late as well.

When Tarot finally tires of bothering Zero and closes the door, the whole Night Class' eyes are fixed on her, varying looks of distaste and boredom on their beautiful faces. Tarot ignores the disdain and enters the classroom, pulling Ichijou by the hand after her. He pulls against her half heartedly before letting her lead him to the front of the classroom, were she slides into a corner desk and props her chin on her hand. Ichijou sits in the desk next to her, pulling a book from his bag and opening it to a page somewhere in the middle and leaving the book open on the desk as Tarot pulls him into conversation.

Shiki sits in the desk next to Ichijou, and Rima sits next to him. They share a few casual words every little while, passing poky between them. I sit behind Tarot, watching Shiki and listening to her and Ichijou talking animatedly.

The class goes on without event, our guest lecturer running us through on the finer details of some of the things we'd learnt over the past week.

We all leave in a group for the courtyard but Ruka and Rima are the only ones who stay, gliding over the lawns and admiring the rose garden. Aido, Kain, Kaname and Seiren branch off into the common room, leaving me, Tarot, Shiki and Ichijou to walk the halls. Tarot seems to be following me, and Ichijou follows her, while Shiki follows him. It's almost comical how we train along, connected and disconnected at the same time.

I duck into my dorm, and Tarot obviously decides not to follow, because she continues down the corridor, the two boys in her wake.

I rest my elbows on the window sill, looking out over the moonlight bathed grounds that have gradually become my home. Slight shadows lurk under the trees and buildings, making the world look like a black and white photograph.

The wind picks up a few scattered leaves and pushes them across the grass below, where a hooded figure crunches them under its footsteps. I wonder briefly if it's Rima or Ruka, but the figure is much too short to be either of them. It storms across the ground, circling and stomping. I furrow my eyebrows, wondering what the person is doing and who they are, but I don't have long to wonder, because Tarot bursts through the door right at that moment and peers over my shoulder.

"Hey! That's the Day kid who was bad mouthing me before class! He was really wound up about something." She laughs, pushing a lock of navy hair out of her face.

I back away from the window. I wonder if he is the same boy who was watching me earlier, the one who smelt so wonderful.

"Strange that he's out in the middle of the night." I tell Tarot. Lucky, really. "I'm going to go see Rima."

Tarot begins to hum, drumming her slender fingers on the window pane and tapping her foot.

I slip out the door and down the long hallways, passing the beautiful artwork without seeing it. The world seems to be at the end of a looking glass, tinged in a gentle, pleasant red glow. When I enter the courtyard, Ruka and Rima have already left, and my steps quicken.

The wrought iron gate swings open easily as I exit the courtyard, squeaking on its hinges, almost as though to complain against my leaving the Moon Dorm.

The boy moves out from around a cluster of trees, mumbling angrily and kicking at a stone with the heel of his polished black boot. Several tufts of messy black hair stick out from his hood and settle around his neck and over his dark hazel eyes.

Several pieces of his soliloquy reach my ears, "Stupid... not allowed... higher... privileges..." His voice is bitter and irate, and his posture is tense. I glide in behind him, watching as he stops and turns as though in slow motion. I wrap my fingers around his small wrist, looking down through my thick bangs into his wide, fearful eyes, and seeing nothing but the slight pulse in his neck.

The hazel flashes with recognition, and a small gasp escapes his pale lips as I bend, my own lips lifting, exposing gleaming white fangs. His eyes dart to them, his slim body fights to get away and his instincts tell him to run, but his wriggling is futile, and I pull the blood from his small body without hesitation.

And he curses me, growling angrily, but I ignore him. The world is bathed in red, and my whole body craves more.

I don't know what category to put this in anymore.