The day before the new semester a school bus exited a mountainside tunnel. Despite the many stops the bus was running on schedule and approached the unmarked stop at the proper time. The snow was still deep on the ground and the temperature hung in the single digits, but at least this time there was no snowstorm. With such good visibility the bus driver was able to easily make out the two students waiting. He pulled up to them and opened the door.

"Watch your step as you enter the bus."

Mizore was in her usual dress with her short skirt and long sleeve black and white shirt. She seemed unaffected by the cold and absently nodded her head. In one hand she had a piece of luggage. With her free hand she reached over to help her companion step on to the bus. "Come on Tsukune," she said quietly.

Tsukune was wearing the heavy fur jacket that she had given him. The hood was up and hid his face from view. There were gloves on his hands and winter boots on his feet; he was well protected from the elements. Despite this Tsukune was hugging himself and shaking visibly. "So cold," he said. "I am so cold."

"Please Tsukune," taking him by one elbow she led him up the steps and onto the bus. "We'll be back at the academy soon. Won't that be good?" She tried to sound cheerful but her words came out hollow and empty.

The doors shut cutting off the heated bus from the freezing temperatures that surrounded it. Even so Tsukune continued to shiver and rub his arms. He set his face down avoiding eye contact with any of the other students. He shuffled down the aisle to one of the seats at the very back. He sat down and curled up into a ball. Even as the bus began to turn back towards the tunnel he continued to shiver.

Mizore put the bag under the seat and sat down next to him. She pressed herself against him, trying to warm him inside his coat. "Once we're back at the academy things will get much better, I know it."

He did not respond to her and just kept hugging himself and shaking. She decided not to try and say anything more. She placed her head on a trembling shoulder and squeezed him as tight as she could. It seemed all she could do right now was let him know that she was here for him.

XXXXXXXXXX

When the bus exited the last tunnel there was a general buzz of excitement from most of the students. The bus headed towards a large parking area not too far from the academy. Pulling to a stop the students on board began to slowly and noisily file out. Tsukune and Mizore were the last to go.

Mizore reached down to get his luggage but Tsukune grabbed it first. "I'll take it from here," Tsukune said wearily. He lifted it easily with one hand. "I'll see you later Mizore-chan." Though he was still shaking a little he seemed better than he had before.

"Can I bring you something to eat?" She asked as she followed him off the bus. "How about some nice hot soup? Or I can make you some hot tea or…"

"Thanks, but I'm not hungry." He said and began to walk away from her.

"Tsukune, if there's anything I can do for you just tell me!" She called to him pleadingly.

He waved a hand to her but did not turn around. "I'm fine. See you in class tomorrow."

She was left standing there with no choice but to watch him go.

XXXXXXXXXX

Moka was waiting patiently outside the boys' dorm. The past three weeks had been terribly boring. Since originally leaving home and putting on the rosario she'd had no contact with her family. (Except for brief and torturous visits from her little sister.) So she had spent a very lonely winter break here at the academy, with none of her new friends to play with. Spending holidays alone had been the norm and she'd grown used to it. But having finally made friends made the sudden return to solitude much harder to bear. That was why she was pacing outside the dorm. She wanted to see all of her friends again, but most especially she wanted to see Tsukune. She was also really hoping he would let her have a drink, with no blood for three months her anemia was making her a bit drowsy and light headed.

As she waited a number of boys came over to her to make small talk and tell her how pretty she was. All the backlash from Saizou's disappearance seemed to have passed. She spoke to them and was polite, but she didn't take any of their declarations seriously. These were the same boys who had looked the other way when Saizou had abused her and who had ignored her when she was under suspicion. She was also sure they would suddenly start avoiding her again if they ever saw her in her true form. For her the friendship of such weak minded people was not worth having. She treasured only those who had seen the worst from her and still stick by her.

She was talking with three such boys when she caught an odd scent drifting past. It was Tsukune's… sort of. Is that his scent? She shut her eyes and inhaled deeply. Yes… wait no, well… was it? It was definitely Tsukune's scent… mostly, but there seemed to be something mixed into it. A sharp crisp odor was mixed in with the sweet delicious scent that was Tsukune. The new smell reminded her immediately of Mizore. She thought at first they were together and she was picking up both their scents. But after her second attempt she realized that couldn't be, Mizore was definitely not present.

"Please excuse me, I have to go." The three boys tried to protest but she walked past them to try and find Tsukune.

She followed the scent to its source. What she found was someone dressed in a thick fur coat that was complete unnecessary given the fall like conditions that were always present here. She thought the person in that coat had to be sweltering. The hood was even up and the person was just trudging along holding a single piece of luggage.

Is that Tsukune? She took one more taster of the air. I think it is. "Tsukune!" She called out and hurried up to him.

The person came to an abrupt halt and looked up at her. The face remained hidden with the large hood. "Oh, hello Moka-chan."

His greeting was not as eager as she would have liked, but at least she had found him. She came to a stop in front of him and flashed him a huge smile trying to look as cute as she could. She put her hands behind her back and took on a, 'little girl' pose. "Tsukune-kun! It's so good to see you again! How did you enjoy your winter break? Where did you go?" Despite tasting his blood so many times she did not know what race he was or where he was from.

Tsukune looked at her from the shadows of his hood and hesitated to answer. "I… I went to Mizore's home to spend the holidays wither her and her mom."

"Oh, Mizore… I see." She felt immediate jealousy as she realized that Mizore had gotten to spend three whole weeks with him. "And did the two of you have a… good time together?" She tried not to think about all the things that could have happened over the last three weeks.

Tsukune again hesitated. "It started off good." He didn't say anything more.

Mizore looked at him very curious. What does he mean by that? Did the two of them end up having a fight? And what happened to his scent? She tried to peer more closely but Tsukune deliberately looked away. "Tsukune-kun, is everything all right?"

"Sure, never better," he began walking past her. "Listen Moka-chan I'm a little tired right now. I'll see you in class tomorrow, o.k.?"

"Ah Tsukune, please wait!" She reached out and grabbed his elbow. She was surprised at the strength in his arm as she caught him. "Tsukune, can I ask you something first? Please?"

He stopped again but did not turn around, he really was eager to get back to his room. "What is it Moka-chan?"

His tone was polite but a bit strained. Isn't he happy to see me at all? "Tsukune I'm… I'm sorry if I'm bothering you but… do you think I could have just a little bit of blood? It's been three weeks and, well…"

"You're starting to feel really weak and hungry, aren't you?" Now he did turn around to look at her. "I'm sorry Moka-chan; I've been so busy dealing with my own problems I haven't even thought about your situation. That's pretty selfish of me."

"Oh no, no! Not at all!" She waved her hands. "If you're having problems I don't want to bother you." She turned to quickly leave, feeling embarrassed that she was being a burden to him. This time he grabbed her elbow and stopped her from leaving. She was again surprised at the strength he seemed to have now. From the ease with which he stopped her she thought he might be a lot stronger than she was, at least in this form.

"You're not bothering me Moka-chan." He paused and she thought she could hear him lick his lips. "I guess there's no point putting this off," he said beneath his breath.

"What was that?"

He reached up to grab the edge of his hood. "You can drink my blood Moka-chan, but… there have been some changes. I just thought I should warn you."

"What do you mean by changed Tsukune-kun?"

She heard him sigh. "I guess it'll be easier just to show you." He pulled his hood down.

She gasped and slapped a hand over her mouth. It wasn't that Tsukune had become suddenly ugly. Far from it, in her opinion the change had only made him appear more exotic and beautiful. She gasped because he looked so different. His skin was much more pale than it had been looking like fresh alabaster. His hair was in the same style it had always been in, but rather than black it was now silver with a tinge of lavender. But the eyes were the most startling difference. Instead of the chocolate they had always been they were now an amazingly pale and clear blue. And there were no pupils within those beautiful new eyes.

"Tsukune… what… what happened to you?"

He gave her a weary smile. "I became a snow boy."

XXXXXXXXXX

Saki was pouring two cups of tea when there was an angry pounding at her door.

"Come in Mizore, it's not locked."

The door opened and Mizore stepped inside. She slammed the door and stared angrily at the other girl. The temperature in the dorm room began to drop and frost appeared on the windows.

"Would you like some tea?" Saki nodded to the other cup as she sipped from her own. She seemed unaffected by the sudden chill.

"You lied to me," Mizore was in absolutely no mood to beat around the bush.

Saki looked at her from behind the tea cup. "I never lie, and please don't ever accuse me of that again. I'll take it as a personal offense." She set her cup down. "And just how was it that you think I lied?"

"You said if Tsukune and I took a journey together he would marry me!"

"I did," Saki nodded calmly.

"That was a lie! I thought… I thought things might work out but… he can barely stand to be around me now! He HATES me!" Mizore sounded on the verge of hysterics.

Saki lifted a thin eyebrow and took another sip of her tea. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Mizore clenched her fists and the temperature in the apartment dropped even faster. "You're sorry? Is that all you have to say?! Didn't you tell me that if Tsukune went with me he would definitely become my husband?"

Saki glanced at her tea cup and set it down. She liked her tea hot and the top of the cup had already frozen over. "I did say that, but I don't recall ever mentioning when he would marry you. The two of you will be husband and wife some day, that much is certain."

"I don't believe you anymore," Mizore said miserably. "He'll never forgive me for what happened. He'll never want to be with me now."

Saki stared at her without any sympathy. "You can believe that if you want, but it won't change anything."

Mizore gave the older girl a hard look. "Why didn't you warn me what would happen?"

"Pffft, here it comes. Things didn't turn out the way you wanted and so you're trying to blame me. How original." She stood up and walked over to the angry and upset snow girl. "The very first time you came to see me I warned you that I couldn't see everything. And at the last reading I warned you against trying to draw your own preferred meanings form my words. When you tossed the runes I saw two things clear as day and I told you about them. I said that if Tsukune went with you he would return greatly and permanently changed. I also said that if you went on your journey together he would marry you one day. From your reaction it seems pretty obvious the first prediction came true. The second one will as well, whether you choose to believe it or not."

"But from the things you said," Mizore argued. "I never thought things could turn out this way! If I'd know this would happen I never would have brought him with me!"

"Things didn't work out the way you expected only because you interpreted my words to have only one possible meaning." Saki shook her head wearily. "I never said the change would be a positive one or painless. Great and permanent I said, nothing more. Please don't blame me just because you made a bunch of false assumptions."

Mizore stared at her. "Will… will he still really marry me someday?"

"Yes," Saki answered without hesitation. "But that doesn't necessarily mean that he really isn't angry with you at the present time." The blonde softened her face a bit. "Even if things are hard for you now, you and Tsukune are still bound together."

Mizore slowly nodded. That was something at least. No matter how bad things were now maybe she could still have hope for the future. "I'm sorry for bothering you," she said quietly. "I'll go now."

Saki actually smiled. "That's all right come by any time, we can have some tea."

XXXXXXXXXX

Mizore left Saki's dorm and was heading back to her own. She was thinking about everything that happened over the last three weeks and about what Saki had said. There was so much for her to think about and her mind was in such turmoil that she failed to notice the angry presence in front of her. She only noticed when a kick slammed into her face and sent her flying into the side of a building.

"Ow!" She looked up to see a furious looking vampire glaring down at her with red eyes and with an impressive amount of killer intent.

"I mean to have a talk with you," Moka said.

Mizore got the feeling that saying no was not an option.