Chapter 2

For once in her life, Perse actually tried to get work done and pass her classes. The rain helped her concentration. The sound drowned out everything else. It echoed against the opened window, the wind a slow whistle that kept her from wanting to rip the textbook apart.

While she was an intelligent person, Perse was not an academic person.

She just wasn't a person who could learn from within the classroom. All of this stuff was about remembering as much as you could and regurgitating all of the information you could remember onto a piece of paper.

It just didn't work for her, and she never saw the point in studying if the topic didn't interest her. That was probably why she failed her classes, or barely passed them all the time.

It was actually easier for her to be doing school here than in England. She would have been in her final year of Sixth Form, getting A Levels in whatever course she wanted. The year before university.

The classes were only put in place for the Vampires to keep up appearances.

Everyone in the Night Class already had jobs secured after they left the Academy. They were all from noble families following Kaname Kuran's lead in helping Cross show that his idea of inter species peace worked.

She had a lot of classes, but no more than she had in England. She had more study periods than anything, though they were spent trying to read the Kanji.

Perse was having trouble reading Kanji still, even with Magic allowing her to hear Japanese and understand it. Orally, she understood Japanese, but when written, she had no clue.

She was trying.

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Perse spent almost all of her free time in her room. There wasn't really anywhere she could go. She knew she wasn't welcomed in the communal areas, she got looks from some of the noble Vampires that weren't quite Aristocrats but felt like she was beneath them.

It was a lot easier to be alone than be judged.

She already wanted this year to go quickly. It was her final year at school and in education before she turned eighteen, and as soon as this academic year was finished, Perse was going back to England.

She had better things to do than spend time in further education.

Witch society was in ruins at the moment, even if they hid it from everyone.

Witch Nobility was forced into three groups, either they were aligned with the Blackwoods or the Whitestones, and if they didn't choose one of those two, there were severe consequences.

Three Clans, three Lines, three rulers. That was what it was supposed to be.

That was the Order of Witches.

Whitestone dealt with Light Magic and the Witches who were alive.

Blackwood dealt with Dark Magic and the ancestorsdjd.

Greylight dealt with Magic and Magic alone.

It had worked for centuries, the balance was good until power came into play.

The Greylight Clan was never interested in politics compared to the other two Clans, prefering to keep Magic in place rather than let lesser Witches think they had the right to dictate what Magic did.

Magic did as Magic wanted.

This disinterest in public affairs displeased the other two Clans, forcing their hands in the matter. The public became upset with the rules placed on Magic by the Whitestone and Blackwood Clans. Those two Clans had a weaker grip on Magic but a stronger grip on the public.

An uprise against the Greylights happened.

Her mother couldn't handle the Challenge, but she refused to let her Magic be taken.

In total, there were only two pure Greylights, and one was now dead.

The Greylight Clan stood with her but she couldn't take leadership until she was eighteen.

The other members of the Clan were split between Blackwood and Whitestone, choosing one side or another.

Perse lit a candle in remembrance of her mother, the flame arching higher and higher as the rain poured and the lightning struck. It danced brightly, a small show of thanks before the tip of the flame curled into a picture of a bird for just a split second.

She smiled.

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After a week, the storm let up as Perse's mood lightened along with the rain leaving. It had taken a few weeks for the death to finally settle in her, but she found comfort in the rain while it lasted.

It was nearing dusk but Perse knew she had enough time to have a hot drink. She leaned against the countertop of the kitchen, small and hardly in use. She had already made a coffee for herself, sipping on the enough-sugar-to-kill-an-elephant caffeinated liquid.

She yawned, finishing her coffee within a few gulps since it had gotten cold within the time she spent on her phone. She slipped her phone into the side pocket of her uniform jacket, having decided to go for the short skirt and thigh highs instead of trousers because of the warmer weather.

She knew the Night Class had left without her. It wasn't their duty to keep her safe. She could do it herself. She wanted an extra coffee to wake herself up before she even thought of heading to class.

"I'm late, I know," She said, walking into the classroom with an uninterested attitude. She glanced at the teacher, jutting a thumb at the new man as she placed a hand on her hip. "Who's he?"

"Your new ethics teacher," The man said with a look of disdain aimed for her, tilting his head and making jet black hair touch his shoulders. "Take your seat."

Perse pursed her lips before going to the back of the classroom and taking her seat at the corner. It was the furthest from anyone else in the class and she was closer to the window. She didn't like people behind her, especially Vampires.

"Is that everyone now?" The teacher asked, placing his book down on the table when everyone nodded. "Right. I'm Toga Yagari and from today onwards, I will be your ethics teacher. Now, before we can start the lesson, it's good to meet you, Vampires."

Perse tapped her fingers against the table, her nails making small sounds and tiny sparks on the table in her anxiety. The Vampires around her were surprised by Toga's knowledge, their eyes glowing a vibrant red in warning. Only Kaname's eyes didn't glow.

Cross must have told him beforehand.

Instead of physically writing her notes, Perse just held the pen and had the ink of her pen begin to repeat everything that Toga Yagari wrote on the board. She just listened as he spoke, letting the words sink in as she watched the dark clouds walk across the night sky. It was all ethics, a subject she already had almost two years of back in England. Though it was a little different, it was mostly the same.

A single candle sat on the desk, a long white candle with a large flame that Perse began to manipulate out of boredom. She twisted it this way and that, making it go higher and then lower. Nothing a normal candle wouldn't do.

"Miss Graylight, stop it before I give you detention for disturbing the lesson,"

Perse smiled as Toga turned around and simply glared at her. She had her chin resting on her hand, looking down at him. "Did Headmaster Cross inform you of me then?"

"He did,"

"Does the Hunter association know of me being here?"

"They do,"

She didn't reply to that as he continued the lesson.

The Vampire Hunter Association shouldn't have known, nor should have the Vampire Senate. The Order of Witches didn't even know. If the Hunter Association knew, they would tell the other two authorities in the Supernatural world.

Gripping her pen too hard, she managed to snap it in half and made all of her classmates stiff, some had the guts to turn around to look at her. All of their eyes were glowing red as she held her right wrist in her left hand. The plastic casing of her pen had lodged itself into her hand, breaking the skin in several areas but there was one that was deeper than the rest. That piece made her concerned for damages in her blood vessels in her palm.

Perse sighed and stood up. "I'm going to the nurse."

"I'll come with you," Ruka quickly said, shooting a glare at Hanabusa as soon as he opened his mouth.

"No need, I'll go by myself,"

Toga shook his head. "You're not going alone. Regardless of how in control most of the Night Class is, it would be safer if someone brought you there. It is the middle of the night."

"But—" Perse tried but was interrupted by Kaname snapping his book closed.

"Mr Yagari is right," Kaname said as he stood up and nodded to the door. "We don't want any Level Es thinking they can walk onto the school grounds."

"Fine."

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"How deep is it?" Kaname asked, looking at her from the side of his eye.

They walked side by side, leaving a foot of space between them as they headed towards the main building where the infirmary would be.

"Enough to need stitches but it'll heal by tomorrow night if I get the pieces out of my hand," Perse kept her hand elevated enough so she didn't lose more blood. "The pieces are keeping me from bleeding too much. You don't need to take me to the nurse, I can make it there myself."

"I know but there is a chance of a Level E smelling it. Witch blood is potent enough to travel a long distance," He kept his eyes on the shadows of several trees before he addressed someone else. "Zero, you might as well come out and introduce yourself."

"Shouldn't you be in class, Vampires?" The new man spat at them. Perse just blinked as he took out a gun, aiming it at her and Kaname. She took a step back, even though she knew the gun wouldn't work on her.

"One, rude," Perse said, her lip curling a little. "Two, I'm Human so that gun won't work on me so you might as well put it away."

"There was a mishap and Perse injured herself. I am escorting her to the infirmary," Kaname paused as Day Class girl wearing the same armband as Zero came closer. "Good evening, Yuki."

"Hi, Kaname," She smiled softly before it faltered at the sight of Perse. Yuki jumped forward a little too quickly for Perse's tastes, making the Witch step back. "You're injured! You shouldn't be walking around when you're bleeding. Wait, why are you bleeding? I thought Vampires healed?"

Perse loosened her stiff stance, now knowing Yuki wasn't trying to threaten her. She was only concerned. "I'm not a Vampire, I'm a Witch."

"Oh," Yuki said before humming. "I didn't know Witches were accepted into Cross Academy."

"I got special consideration," Perse smiled at her, receiving a smile back. "If you don't mind, Kaname was showing me to the infirmary. I'd like to get this sorted out before I go to bed."

"Or one of them drains you," Zero muttered, eyes colouring the tiniest bit before he blinked them away. He shook his head, slipping his gun away. "I hope this doesn't become a habit."

Perse didn't answer, her mind on the changing colour of his eyes rather than what he said at the moment. She just hummed before turning back to Yuki. "I'm Persephone Greylight, but I prefer Perse."

"Yuki Cross," She bowed lowly but Perse only bowed her head in acknowledgement. Yuki pointed a thumb at Zero's retreating form. "That's Zero Kiryu. We're both Guardians. We keep things civil between the Day and Night Classes. We'd better get on with our patrol. Nice to meet you, Perse. Good to see you again, Kaname."

Perse nodded.

"Good to see you too, Yuki," Kaname said with the fondest smile Perse had seen on him so far. "Have a pleasant patrol."

"Wait for me, Zero!" Yuki called after him, running to catch up.

Yuki Cross was an interesting girl, Perse could already tell without using any of her gifts. She was even more interesting when Perse opened herself up to Magic and took a good look at the supposedly Human girl.

Both Yuki and Zero were Human, or as close to Human as they pretended to be. While Perse knew Zero was a functioning Level E, she had no idea what Yuki was. That girl was an enigma wrapped in a pretty package.

The infirmary wasn't a long trek away. Kaname, being ever the gentleman and knowing she couldn't open doors easily at the moment, opened the doors for her and allowed her in first. He brought out a first aid kit along with sterilized tweezers, putting them on a side tray thing for one of the beds as Perse settled herself on the bed.

She took the tweezers, testing them before she began to gently pick out the plastic out of her hands. She dropped each piece into the metal dish, fully knowing that there was blood on the pieces and that Kaname was standing only a couple feet away.

"I didn't know Witches could control their scents," Kaname said, looking out of the window for a moment before looking back at her.

"We can't," Perse said, not expanding on the topic but her mind kept trailing back to Zero and his haunted eyes. "Why is there a Level E in the school?"

"We don't have any Level Es,"

"Fine. Why is there a Level D that would be a Level E if given enough time trying to masquerade as Human?"

All the niceties and pleasantness dropped from Kaname's face, his posture going cold and stiff.

Instead of sitting on the bed like she was before, Perse found herself on her back with Kaname looming over her. Both of her legs were trapped under his as he half leaned onto the bed, one leg still touching the floor while the other pinned hers. His right hand was on her shoulder, forcing her back while his left held her injured wrist down at a painful angle.

She just gritted her teeth, regretting wearing a skirt but Kaname wasn't interested in that at the moment.

He was angry and she knew it.

He was angry at her knowledge, and angry at himself because he didn't know how she knew.

He was curious.

How much did she actually know?

Did she keep more secrets than he knew about?

The way his old blood bubbled in his body was fascinating. Dark red eyes just made it a little more interesting, and the peak of long fangs beneath his lips didn't scare her either.

Her hand hurt at the angle he held it, so did her shoulder.

"Hit a nerve?" She mused with curled lips turning into a grin. "Why?"

"How did you know about him?"

"Why?"

He tightened his grip on her shoulder, feeling the muscle tighten under his hand as he watched her grit her jaw. A little pain might loosen her tongue but the fire in her eyes was intriguing. She wasn't afraid of him and he wanted to know why but not at the moment. There were more important things.

"Who told you?"

She rolled her eyes, biting her lip from screaming when he dug his thumb into her injured palm. Blood pooled a little more in her palm, staining his thumb a little as he pressed a shard of hard plastic further into her flesh.

"His blood!" She half yelled, the pain edged on for a second. He gave her a moment to continue, digging it in again when she didn't continue. "There is Magic in his blood, the kind that you find in Vampires. Humans, full Humans, don't have Magic at all. Let me go!"

He didn't move, pausing in thought as his Vampiric features went away before releasing her completely. Kaname tried to help her to sit up, but Perse swatted his hand away before trying to send a kick aimed for his family jewels. Luckily, he stepped away before she could, letting her kick his thigh instead.

"You motherfucker!" She muttered when she examined her palm after sitting up. "Get me a scalpel. You've forced one of the pieces in further and I can't reach it with the tweezers."

"Let me try," He stepped forward, only stopping as he saw her curl up on herself. She tried to hide her hand away from him, slight fear and anger lacing her eyes. Good.

"Rather have a rabid dog try to get it out with his teeth than you touching me again," She spat. "Just get me a scalpel and I'll get myself sorted."

He did as requested, putting the scalpel on the tray and watched her take a deep breath in. She closed her eyes for a moment, settling herself before she began to slice into her own palm with the precision of a surgeon. It didn't take long to find the last piece of plastic.

She didn't even try to stitch her palm closed, only putting a large square gauze on it before wrapping it slowly. The only time she asked for help was when she needed to tie it together. She couldn't do that one handed.

Perse noticed that his thumb was no longer stained but she didn't comment on it as he wrapped her hand. His skin was warm against hers, fingers now gentle as he tied the wrappings.

As soon as she had that done, she snatched her hand away from him. Perse took the metal tray of bloodied plastic pieces and shoved them in the appropriate bin. She also did the things she used and had come in contact with blood.

Her eyes flashed silver, making his glow in retaliation.

"You still haven't answered my question," Perse said, giving him one final once over before turning back and beginning to walk away. "Leave me alone."