"The Council of Elders has consented to attend this school. It was already an inevitable matter to have that woman hunting for Kiryuu-kun."

I stood quietly in the trees as Kuran went up against the representatives from the Council of Elders. Shiki had his whip out, ready to catch any vampire who tried to attempt to make the wrong move. Aidou's ice wrapped around the representative's feet. Why were only Shiki and Aidou's weapons out? We had a discussion about that before entering the current scene. It ran something like this.

"Say, Ichijou-san, when we get there, do we really need to do anything? I'm pretty sure Shiki-san and Aidou-san can take care of everything themselves, but I brought my bow and arrows just in case," I asked Ichijou as we walked through the now-dark forest and felt an arm wrap around my shoulder.

"No need for formalities," Aidou said, "Just call me Aidou-kun. I AM younger than you after all."

"I'm sorry, Aidou-san. I was brought up add 'san' to people's last names."

"Aw. Come on."

Kuran turned around and smiled. "Please, Aidou, be a little more serious. The people we are dealing with are the representatives of the Council of Elders." He turned to his bodyguard. "Seiren, you don't need to do anything." He turned forward and then glanced at Ichijou next to him. "Ichijou, you know what you need to do as vice president."

Ichijou bowed his head and said, "Yes, Kaname, I understand. I brought my katana just in case."

"There is no need, Shiki and Aidou will be on guard to fight if we meet resistance. I just need you by me, so don't worry about fighting. Have someone else carry it for you."

I silently stared at Ichijou's back. He was being more serious than usual, and it seemed odd. Ichijou seemed to feel the stare, as he turned around to look at me and smile. He slowed down and moved next to me.

"Sakamoto-san, please stand there and do absolutely nothing," Ichijou said, lightly mocking Kuran's tone.

"So," I said to Ichijou, "All we're supposed to do is stand there and look cool. What's the use of us?"

I heard a snort nearby. "So I'm doing anything, and it's not like I would do anything. Why do I have to do this for a stupid puny human?"

I ignored Fujiwara. After the incident in the commons room, all of the students, including me, kept their distance from him. I felt guilty, however, about ignoring him. He was, after all, my blood source; I needed him.

"Oh, Sakamoto," Ichijou said. He had obviously also decided to ignore Fujiwara's comment. "Would you mind carrying my katana for me when we get there? Kaname doesn't want me to worry about fighting. However," he added, "If anything happens, and it's too much for Shiki and Aidou, just throw it to me."

"I'm guessing I'll have to stand close to you and Kuran-san?" I didn't really like the thought of standing close to Kuran; he emitted an aura that made me want to keep away from him.

"You don't have to stand close. Just within throwing distance." Ichijou smiled. He knew about my uneasiness as I had often confided in him about my fear of Kuran.

"So basically I'm supposed to stand somewhat close to you, hold two weapons, and try to look cool and intimidating at the same time?"

"Yes."

So, standing in my spot by a tree, I decided that I did not look way too intimidating at all. Oh no, not with a katana in my hands and a bow and quiver strapped on my back. I started to wonder about what type of trees we were standing in. Not oak, not maple… I decided I should start studying botany or something.

I soon realized that I was zoning out yet again, but I didn't know for how long. Then I heard a loud bang that snapped me out of my musings. I began to smell vampire blood and moved from behind the tree, and glancing to my left, saw a rather fearsome looking Kuran.

He had blown off a representative's arm.

I stared wide eyed at the scene before me; Kuran's powers were frightening. I heard one word uttered from his mouth.

"Disappear."

The representatives obeyed instantly.

I continued to gape in horror when I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder. I turned my head and saw Ichijou smiling comfortingly.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Y-yeah," I managed to stutter out, "I'm p-perfectly fine." I looked down at the katana I was gripping and noticed that my knuckles were turning white. "Here!" Quickly, I shoved the katana into Ichijou's face. He looked at the katana, then patted my head.

"I'm sorry, Sakamoto-san, I guess you're not used to this violence."

"Who would be?" I questioned. We looked around and saw mixed expressions on the vampires. Some were frightened, others excited. Some just didn't care.

"What a coward." Fujiwara, again. Unable to suppress my guilt of ignoring Fujiwara, I turned to look at him. He continued, "That was nothing. Is that all a great pureblood can do?"

That was nothing?

Ichijou and I didn't say anything. Fortunately for him, we were the only ones who heard, as Kuran was talking to Kurosu Yuuki and everyone else was either talking to each other or walking back to the dorms. I turned my back slowly on Fujiwara, and Ichijou gently tugged on my hand to ask me to leave. We walked away silently as Fujiwara stood, staring intently into our backs.

I sat in the hallway alone. Everyone else was in the commons room, talking about tonight's events. The image of the vampire clutching his stump of an arm in his hands played over and over in my mind. What was Kuran? Even if he was a pureblood, how could he have so much power? I sighed. Fujiwara was too stupid and arrogant to notice that his skills were nowhere near Kuran's. Kuran would probably blow him up before Fujiwara could even move one finger, much less karate chop him. What an idiot. (Fujiwara, I mean)

I was starting to play with my hair when suddenly I hear a loud bang, similar to the one I heard that blew off that representative's arm. I got rapidly and ran towards the sound. When I got there, I saw Ichijou leaning against the wall, by himself. Next to his head was what looked to be a bullet hole. Actually, it was much larger than a bullet hole; it looked like someone had shot a hand grenade into the wall.

"Ichijou-san! Are you alright?!" I rushed up to him and clutched his arms. "What happened?"

He looked at me and smiled tiredly. "Ah, I just got Kaname a little angry. I started talking about a touchy subject. That's all."

"That's all?"

"Yeah. It's okay, Sakamoto. I'm fine. You should go to back to your dorm." He turned around and walked away.

As I watched him go, I realized that I was still naïve, still too young and childish for this school. If I even tried to run away from a mission, how could I survive this school? I decided that I needed to adjust to this new side of Cross Academy. In order to survive, I would have to switch lifestyles.

Even if it made me somewhat emo.