Chapter 17: School Life

The Night Class was now a lot more interesting with three purebloods in attendance. Some students had worried about Cross Academy turning into a battleground if the three purebloods had a violent falling-out. It was generally known that the Toma clan had never been close with the Kurans. For the first few days, most students were on edge, feeling like they were sitting on a powder keg ready to explode any moment. Thankfully, the week passed without incident and their fears were allayed upon further observation of the trio.

Yuki-sama was strangely unlike a pureblood with her mannerisms, brightly greeting them and constantly smiling. Shizuku-sama was confident to the point of being brash, but he seemed to follow the rules that Kaname-sama and the headmaster had established. Furthermore, he was close with Yuki-sama, the two of them apparently longtime friends. Given their relationships, the worried aristocrats felt some relief. They did not seem to be in danger of getting dragged into a conflict between the purebloods, at least for now.

As for the Day Class, the fangirls were delighted by the addition of the new male to the Night Class. His fan club sprouted up overnight and burgeoned until it was only second to that of Kaname's. Yuki noted with mild displeasure how Shizuku responded to the fangirls in an uncharacteristically charming manner instead of his usual rude self.

She stared in disbelief one day, eyes wide as saucers as he helped a Day Class girl who had fallen due to the jostling crowds. He gently helped the girl up and inquired if she was alright. The girl stared at him in a daze, shocked to be touching one of the most desired members of the Night Class. A few seconds passed before she recovered her senses, blushed, and thanked him profusely. When he returned to his usual place beside her in the procession, Yuki stepped closer to him.

"Well, that was quite a show. No doubt they believe you're Prince Charming now. You acted so gentle I have goosebumps just watching! Too bad they don't see the way you usually behave," she whispered with a touch of rancor.

"Acting?" He raised a perfect eyebrow. "I simply behaved as I should. No proper gentleman would walk by and ignore a lady in need of assistance."

"You never behave like a gentleman around me!" she hissed, careful to keep her voice low.

"Well…that's because I don't see you as a lady." He smirked and walked off before she could smack him with her textbooks.

Not a lady?! How dare he?! Yuki fumed, pressing her books tighter to her chest.


After Shizuku's insult to her femininity, Yuki soon returned to bickering with him. He was still the same arrogant and immature childhood friend, despite the teenage body he now inhabited. Although she didn't admit it, she was glad she had both Maria and him by her side. However, she still wanted to expand her social circle – it was one of the things she had looked forward to.

Unfortunately, the other students generally kept away. Even though she was all smiles and warmth when she came across them in the halls or in class, they just bowed courteously before promptly taking their leave. Although they were respectful, they did not interact with her more than necessary. After the first few weeks, she befriended only three aristocrats: Maria's roommate and the two granddaughters of the Amaterasu Cosmetics founder.

Maria's roommate, Kikue Matsui, was a pretty girl with carmine red hair, teal eyes, and an upbeat and carefree personality. She came from a family of distinguished academics whose political leanings were anti-Senate like most other Night Class students and their families. Kikue also happened to be the president of the Night Class's baking club and had scouted Maria within the first week of her arrival after tasting the matcha swiss roll the later had baked.

Ayumi and Nozomi Fukuhara were cousins, both gorgeous with long black hair and hickory brown eyes that they had inherited from their family matriarch. Nozomi was one year older than Ayumi and behaved like a patient older sister to her younger cousin. While Nozomi was introverted, Ayumi was a social butterfly. By coincidence, the cousins inhabited the bedroom next to Maria's and they had struck up a friendship. They had been drawn over one night by the aroma of the Castella cake Maria had baked for Yuki (a reward for passing her latest history test).

Due to Yuki frequently visiting Maria, she had gotten acquainted with Kikue and the Fukuharas. Kikue ended up roping them all into the baking club, which had been experiencing a severe shortage of members. It seemed Kikue, although knowledgeable about pastries, was not a talented baker herself and the club struggled to attract and retain members, until it reached the point where she was the only member left. During their club meetings, Maria would bake up a storm with the assistance of Nozomi, while Ayumi prepared tea. Kikue and Yuki would watch in awe and wait hungrily for teatime; somehow those two always had room left for dinner (and dessert) despite stuffing themselves on pastries earlier.

When they were not in the kitchen, the girls would hang out in one of their bedrooms where they ate sweets, discussed TV shows and movies, tried on different outfits, and put on make-up. Thanks to the Fukuhara's family business, they always had the latest line of lipsticks and eyeshadows to experiment with. During these gatherings, Yuki also found out the latest gossip about who was dating who, parties their classmates had thrown, and other information that excited her nosy side.


Despite Yuki's desire to make more friends, her efforts stagnated after Kikue and the Fukuharas. When she thought about it, those three had only started interacting with her due to her relationship with Maria, they hadn't approached her on their own. And when they first met, they had been polite but reserved. Only after three weeks of hanging out together did they stop being so reserved.

Yuki initially shrugged off the aristocrats' response to her as general wariness to purebloods. However, as the end of the first month approached with no change, she realized it wasn't just her imagination that they were keeping their distance. Aside from her brother's clique and the baking club members, none of her classmates really interacted with her.

"It's so frustrating, why are the rest of the students avoiding me?" she whined to Shizuku one night after class.

She was visiting him in his suite at the old dorm. This two-story building was where the first batch of Night Class students had stayed before the new dorm was completed. It was smaller and less lavish than the new building, but more peaceful. Shizuku had settled into the largest suite and Yuki saw small touches from his manor, like a framed photo of his parents on his desk. She often showed up uninvited to his place, sometimes hiding from Maria who was supposed to help her with homework.

"That's the natural response to a pureblood. They know we're their rulers, they're our subordinates, and behave accordingly. You would do well to act your part," he replied, not glancing up from his business magazine.

"That's too cold. I don't want followers, I want friends that aren't afraid of me, friends that don't treat me well just because I'm a pureblood," Yuki muttered into the cushion she was hugging.

Shizuku put down his magazine and turned his head towards her. "How can lower-bloods not be afraid of us when we have the ability to force them to act against their will? Even if some of them genuinely care for us, the fact that we can easily take their life remains."

Yuki was silent for a while, wondering if Aoi felt that way about her. Aoi had helped raise her from her infancy– there was no way she feared her like that…Yuki stubbornly shook her head, refusing to think so cynically before she spoke again. "Aidou-senpai and Ichijou-senpai are really close with Kaname onii-sama though."

"That's because they grew up with him. It's tradition for purebloods to grow up with a few children of similar age from allied noble families. Those children are our inner circle and the closest we come to truly having lower bloods as friends. That didn't happen for you and your mother given your unusual circumstances, but at least you have Maria."

Yuki buried her face into the silk cushion cover as she mulled over his words. Something still didn't add up about her social situation despite his explanation. She suddenly realized what was bothering her.

"It's not the issue of growing up together or being nervous around purebloods, the aristocrats are really avoiding me! Our classmates come up to you and Kaname onii-sama sometimes, but none of them seek me out! Aside from my brother's circle and Maria's friends, none of the aristocrats bother with me – I'm a social pariah!" she exclaimed.

"You're imagining things," Shizuku replied tersely, his face hidden behind his magazine.

"No, I'm not!" she huffed and sat up to glare at him. "It's weird, I half expected them to try ingratiating themselves with me since I'm a revered pureblood and all, but they're evading me! Yesterday the guy in front of me in literature class nearly jumped out of his skin when I tried talking to him!"

Shizuku groaned. "Just drop it, it's not important."

"It is! You just don't care since you're not the outcast here," Yuki wailed.

With an exasperated sigh, he slapped the magazine shut and faced her again. "Fine, I wasn't going to tell you since you would get upset, but yes, they're avoiding you…" he stopped.

"Well, keep going!" she impatiently urged him on.

"It's not anything you did, but they're scared of you because of your mother…" he paused. "Shizuka has a reputation, she's pretty much a 'madwoman in the attic' to most vampires. Some of them believe its bad luck to even say her name. And since she raised you, they're worried you aren't quite right in the head either."

"What?!" Yuki gasped, her eyes wide with shock. "How is my mother crazy? She never did anything to deserve that! If anyone is crazy it's my uncle!" she sputtered indignantly.

"You're right, but the average vampire doesn't know that. It's easy for them to believe the rumors since very few have ever met your mother. Unfortunately, the Hiou clan also keeps to themselves, so people gossip. They believe the Hious, specifically their women are susceptible to insanity…that's why the Hious rarely leave their territory."

"That makes no sense! So my mother is apparently crazy enough to warrant being locked up her whole life, yet still sane enough to be married off to my uncle?" she fumed.

"Most rumors make no sense if one actually takes the time to dissect them, but people don't care enough to. Anyway, there's nothing you can do, it's what it is. Just ignore the rumors."

"How am I supposed to act like nothing is wrong when my classmates believe my mother is a raving madwoman?" she snapped.

"Then what do you propose? Holding a press conference to disprove the rumor? That will just make them believe you're hiding something, and you would be infringing on your family's privacy. I doubt Shizuka or Kaname would appreciate your efforts to reveal the truth," he countered.

Yuki groaned and flopped back on the sofa. She hugged the pillow and turned away from him.

"What the others say or believe isn't important, you know the truth for what it is."

"But it isn't fair…"

"Life often isn't fair."

"You aren't helping! Don't you know how to comfort someone?" she grumbled.

Staring at her despondent figure, Shizuku sighed lightly. Alright, I need to restrain my cynicism and be encouraging without breaking out into hives from the mushiness. He took a few minutes to formulate his words. Being kind and comforting was not something he was familiar with – that was Yuki's specialty.

"Look…you should just keep being yourself, these things take time. Your classmates will change their minds once they know you better. You already won over the Fukuharas and Matsui with your er…unique charm. The others will come around eventually. When they see you aren't as they had feared, they might even start questioning the rumors about your mother," he paused, wondering if he sounded convincing. "Besides, your mother would want you to enjoy your life at school instead of fretting over meaningless gossip."

For a while Yuki didn't say anything. A few minutes passed before she finally sat up and faced him, her lips pressed together and a determined glint in her eyes.

"You're right," she said.

I am? He wondered and cocked an eyebrow. My half-assed attempt at consoling her worked?

"Shizuku, you're right!" she repeated, this time with more vigor. "I won't let the lies win – I'll prove to them that my mother and I are different than what they were led to believe, and I will enjoy my time here!"


Yuki had a mission now – she was going to change how her classmates viewed her, and eventually clear up misconceptions about her mother. First, she had to build up rapport with them. She decided the place to start was her brother's clique. Since they were the ones closest to him, she naturally wanted to be familiar with them too. Once the others see her nicely integrated with this elite crowd, perhaps they would give her a chance…

Out of all the members of her brother's inner circle, Ichijou-senpai was the friendliest and most approachable. The blond and green-eyed class vice president was apparently her brother's oldest friend. It was fun seeing the cheerful Takuma's interactions with her reserved brother and she found it easy to get along with him too.

A few nights after her conversation with Shizuku, Ichijou-senpai invited her to visit him after class and she eagerly accepted. When Yuki stepped into the living room of his suite, she was met with a landscape of books. Books were crammed to maximum capacity on the three tall bookcases and more books were arranged in haphazard piles throughout the room. The books were a disorganized mix of encyclopedias, dictionaries, poetry anthologies and more.

"I just love reading. Recently I've been in the mood for mysteries and my collector's edition of the Silver Coin Murders series arrived yesterday. I haven't had time to unbox them. Have you ever read the series, Yuki-chan?" the blond asked as he closed the door.

"No, I don't read much…" Yuki laughed nervously. She was overwhelmed by the chaotic state of the room and worried if the floorboards would collapse under the weight of so many books.

"That's a shame, the series is amazing. It's about a police inspector who has to track down a vigilante killer who places a silver coin in each of her victim's mouths. I saw Yoko-chan reading the third book a while ago," Takuma cheerfully rambled as he led her through the room.

At the mention of her sister Yuki perked up. She wondered if he knew about Yoko's real identity. It was possible given how close he was to her brother.

"Perhaps I should try it if so many people are reading it," she said as she followed him through the precarious stacks.

"Do you like manga Yuki-chan? I actually have the manga adaptation of the series if you prefer to read it in a less wordy format."

"Yes, that would be great! I usually just read shoujo manga," she replied as she settled onto the sofa without knocking any books over. She wondered how Takuma and his roommate Senri did not trip over books every time they moved.

"You do seem the romantic type." He chuckled and offered her a tin of cookies.

She took one to nibble as she continued glancing around. The door to Senri's bedroom was shut but the one to Takuma's was not. Even from her perch on the sofa, she could see the same chaos reigning in his room and spilling into the shared living room. Miki and the other maids must have a tough time cleaning Takuma-senpai's room, Yuki thought.

To her right, she noticed a large display cabinet against the wall. It was filled with all sorts of items in no discernible order. There was a whole shelf of lucky cat figurines in various sizes and colors, while another shelf hosted kokeshi dolls. On the bottommost shelf was a bunch of ceramic tanuki figures, some depicted in their usual straw hat while others were dressed as ninjas or samurais. The topmost shelf was dedicated to anime figurines, among them cute magical girls and buff males wielding large swords.

"Aren't those figures awesome? I love collecting knickknacks, especially when I travel to different parts of the country," he commented when he saw her eyeing his collection. "Feel free to look around while I get the manga. It might take me a few minutes to find the first few volumes," Takuma said and disappeared into his bedroom.

Yuki finished her cookie and got up to examine his display cabinet. Ten steps later, she felt something soft under her slipper. Glancing down as she removed her right foot, she saw a crumpled piece of blue fabric on the rug. Frowning, she bent down and picked it up.

Three seconds later, she finally realized what she was holding and let out a shriek as she flung the garment away. It landed on top of a nearby waist-high pile of books.

"What's the matter Yuki-chan?!" Takuma hurried back.

Her face was flushed, and she was staring so hard her eyes nearly popped out their sockets as she pointed to the blue fabric.

"Th-there's a p-p-pair of m-men's briefs!" she stammered in shock. She never thought she would touch any man's underwear, aside from those belonging to whoever she married in the distant future. It was one thing to see them on the male models in fashion magazines, but it was another to see and touch them in person.

The blond glanced at the offending underwear and burst out laughing. He reined in his laughter, then playfully placed a fist to the side of his head, smiled, stuck out his tongue and winked. "Teehee, sorry Yuki-chan. Those are mine."

Yuki groaned. "Ichijou-senpai, why do you leave your underwear lying around? How do they even end up in the living room?"

"Haha, I'm just careless about these things. Besides, my underwear could be left for all to see, and I wouldn't be embarrassed in the slightest," he boasted.

Yuki grimaced and wondered how he could be so shameless. If she acted like him and left her bra or panties lying in full view in their living room, her mother was likely to skin her.

"Is this your first time seeing men's underwear?" he teased as he strode over and removed the underwear, unceremoniously curling it into a ball and tossing it into his bedroom.

Yuki's already red cheeks turned a few shades more scarlet. Seeing that, Takuma laughed good-naturedly. He then gestured her to sit back down, and they conversed about other things, such as his childhood memories with Kaname. Towards the end of the visit, he handed her the manga and told her she was welcome to borrow more.


Yuki was most familiar with Hanabusa who served as her private tutor. Aidou-senpai clearly revered her brother, and was initially very deferential to her too, to the point it made her uncomfortable. However, after the first week of school, he stopped putting her on a pedestal, although he still treated her with the respect befitting a pureblood.

Hanabusa found it hard to believe Yuki was a pureblood, much less Kaname-sama's sister. She lacked the poise and charisma that all the purebloods he had met possessed, and was an anomaly like their vice president, with her animated reactions and cheerful personality. Likewise, her wanting abilities in academia was abnormal. After grading her placement exams, he had been stunned for three days, during which he questioned everything he had been taught about purebloods.

Emerging from his shocked stupor, he was seized by a burning determination to fix the egregious situation. On his honor, he could not let Kaname-sama's sister continue the way she was. His resolve lasted almost two weeks before it petered out. He had never met the enigmatic Shizuka-sama before, but he felt he now understood what the pureblood had gone through trying to teach Yuki-sama.

Yuki-sama was nice and sweet, but as a student she was exceedingly tiresome. She was prone to getting distracted and often dragged him into irrelevant conversations when they were supposed to be going over the periodic table or algebra problems. He would teach her a concept and upon asking her to explain it back to him a few minutes later, would often discover she had already forgotten the information.

Time and again he wondered if she was paying attention at all, as she frequently sighed listlessly and stared out the window. He caught her trying to balance a pencil over her upper lip when he was teaching her about Mendelian inheritance, and she had just smiled sheepishly at him. Every time he was about to reprimand her, he would remember she was Kaname-sama's sister and hold back his frustrated tirade.

In the midst of his despair at making minimum progress and not living up to Kaname-sama's expectations, he would comfort himself with the excuse that he was just a level-B. If even Shizuka-sama, a pureblood and the mother who raised Yuki-sama could not succeed in teaching her, then he had even less chance to begin with.

On her part, Yuki came to discover how fun it was to tease the blond. He worshipped her brother, and she suspected that if Kaname ever asked Aidou to do something as absurd as hand walk from the Moon Dorm to the lecture halls, the blond would do his best to comply. Every time she asked him why he was so devoted to Kaname, he would launch into a passionate speech about how great Kaname was and how he exuded the aura of a 'supreme ruler'. In this way, she managed to shave off at least a quarter hour from their tutoring sessions.


Upon pestering Aidou-senpai with questions during one of their lessons, Yuki discovered that Ruka and Akatsuki were his cousins from junior branch families. She tried getting closer to them by sitting and chatting with them during mealtimes at the dining hall.

Akatsuki was tall and silent, with a reliable gaze in his orange eyes. Yuki found it a bit hard to talk to him, since he was naturally taciturn. However, he seemed kind and responsible, always stepping in to broker peace between his two constantly bickering cousins. He reminded her of the silent and loyal Seiren and Yuki knew her brother trusted him for good reason.

Ruka was one of the two females in her brother's clique. She was a beautiful and mature lady who was very popular among the males of the Day Class. Yuki admired how she was always perfectly dressed, how her hair was always perfectly styled, and how she commanded the affections of so many fanboys without even trying. Unfortunately for the fanboys, Ruka was as enamored with her brother as Aidou-senpai was. As early as the second week, Yuki had seen the sparks of rivalry fly between the two cousins over their devotion to Kaname.

Yuki had been practicing using her new camera and had taken photos of her brother. She got some nice shots of him reading while leaning against a window. Like her mother, he was blessed with the gift of looking graceful even when performing the most mundane actions. She wondered if it was possible for people like them to ever look inelegant – they had probably been photogenic even as newborns freshly delivered from the womb!

Later that night, Ruka had knocked on her door and Hanabusa followed not even a minute later. They both wanted the photos of her brother and offered to pay handsomely. The two cousins then got into a heated quarrel, with Ruka insisting "first come first serve" and Hanabusa insisting they should go to the highest bidder. Their racket attracted the attention of her brother who appeared, burned the photos, and left, leaving Yuki and the two nobles staring at the small pile of ashes on the floor.


Senri was an aristocrat vampire with mahogany red hair and bluish-gray eyes that held a lifeless expression. When Yuki met him for the first time on the day Yoko was attacked, she had thought he looked familiar. She realized later that she had seen him gracing numerous magazine pages, usually together with Rima, the other female in the clique. Seeing him up close, Yuki had been struck by the faint resemblance his visage had with her brother's. When she casually mentioned that to Kaname, he offhandedly replied that the resemblance was not coincidence, it was because he was Rido's illegitimate son.

Although Yuki was initially surprised, after some thought she decided it was not so shocking. Based on tidbits her mother had let slip over the years, and the info she scavenged from Aoi, she knew her uncle was not a model husband. Having an affair was certainly not out of character for him, though it did make her wonder how many cousins she had running around.

Before Yuki could inquire further about their familial relationship, Kaname preemptively told her that Senri himself was not aware who his father was. Kaname only knew because he had gathered intel on those who had interacted with Rido in the past and present, and Senri's mother and great uncle had been on the list, allowing him to make an educated guess. Furthermore, even though they were cousins, since Senri was not a pureblood, he would not have been acknowledged on their family register. Otherwise, every pureblood clan's family tree would be too complicated to keep track of.

It was just one of the realities of vampire society – pureblood men having affairs with those of lower ranks, especially the daughters of their supporters. In exchange for "gifting" them with children of purer blood, the noble families pledged their loyalty. Upon hearing this, Yuki could not help feeling scornful at the implication that it was acceptable and even encouraged for males to partake in extramarital affairs. She briefly wondered if her brother and Shizuku would do so if offered the chance, but dispelled that thought, resolving to have faith in their moral characters.

Finally, there was Rima, pretty with doll-like features, though less delicate-looking than Maria. She had golden orange hair that she wore in pigtails, sapphire blue eyes, and a perpetually bored expression that matched Senri's lifeless one. Despite how detached the girl appeared, Yuki found her nice, since Rima often shared her stash of Pocky with her. Yuki in turn invited her to become a member of the baking club. Although the model declined, citing her busy schedule, she occasionally joined them on her free days to indulge in tea and whatever pastry Maria had baked.


Apart from striving to expand her social circle, Yuki tried to enjoy the academic side of school life. Although she was privately tutored by Hanabusa in the core subjects, she attended other classes with everyone else. One such class was home economics, which was mandatory for all students. Yuki enjoyed the class, not only because it was less cerebral, but because it gave her the opportunity to see the males in aprons. It was especially entertaining seeing Kaname and Shizuku wearing aprons and head coverings. She daydreamed about switching the plain aprons– it would be hilarious to see the males in frilly aprons.

The students split themselves into groups of three or four. Kaname teamed up with Ruka, Hanabusa and Akatsuki. It seemed Akatsuki's tendency to take care of his high-maintenance cousins permeated all aspects of his life, as he ended up doing most of the cooking in their group. The rest of Kaname's clique formed their own group, their cheerful vice president teaming up with the model duo. Maria found herself saddled with the 2 remaining purebloods, one who couldn't cook despite her best efforts, and another who had never so much as held a spatula.

Yuki was as horrible at cooking as she had been in her childhood. Even her attempts to make dishes as simple as omurice failed. Her eggs always came out overcooked or undercooked and she could never quite manipulate the egg onto the rice. It was unfortunate how her passion for food did not translate over to her results.

The other member of the trio was a wealthy young master with zero experience in cooking (or any domestic activity). Having been raised in the lap of luxury all his life, Shizuku struggled to even peel potatoes and dice carrots. With barely veiled smirks, Yuki pranced around him, unrelenting in pointing out all his errors. He tried to brush it off, gruffly complaining this was "women's work" that he had no need to learn. Yuki taunted him, crowing that he was admitting defeat to her, and he responded by pointing out that her cooking abilities were not any better than his.

Their bickering was hard to miss, and even Kaname glanced over at their table, feeling as though he were observing a pair of overgrown children squabbling.

Despite the general incompetence of her teammates, Maria impressively carried their grades. Yuki and Shizuku were restricted to preparing the ingredients, while she did most of the actual cooking. As the two purebloods quibbled, Maria busied herself transforming their ingredients into food worthy of being served at three-starred establishments.

Yuki's goading struck a competitive chord in Shizuku, and one night after class, he surreptitiously approached Maria and asked her to give him supplementary cooking lessons. Under her tutelage, he improved rapidly, peeling potatoes and dicing onions like a professional after a week. A month later, Yuki stared in awe as he smugly ladled a bowl of shrimp bisque and placed it in front of her. As soon as she tasted the soup, she knew she had been utterly defeated in the realm of cooking. She comforted herself with the fact that he still had trouble with the basic stitches.

One of the non-culinary aspects of the home economics curriculum involved learning how to sew. Yuki had been taught how to sew and embroider since she was little. Although she was not talented, she had at the very least mastered the fundamentals. Meanwhile, like most males in their class, Shizuku had trouble sewing even a straight line.


Yuki's favorite class was horseback riding, which took place once a week on Friday afternoons. It was special since the Night Class students had to wake up early and arrive at the stables by 4, as horses are not nocturnal. The prefects had to escort them to the equestrian facilities and stay to shoo away Day Class students. Another notable feature was that the horses assigned to the Night Class were specially bred and raised to tolerate the presence of vampires.

Yuki had never seen a horse in person but was smitten with the majestic animals at first sight. She quickly learned to ride on the flat and after a few weeks advanced to flat racing. Yuki refused to be outdone by the condescending Shizuku in anything related to physical education – it was the one subject she had always aced.

The two developed a heated rivalry and it was not long before their classmates and Kaname saw them tearing down the racing track, almost shoulder to shoulder, each trying to outrace the other. The stakes were that the loser had to treat the winner to a meal in town. For a while, some enterprising students even started pool betting on which of the two purebloods would win the weekly race. Unfortunately for them, the clandestine gambling was eventually discovered and shut down by their class president.


Although most people enjoyed art class, Yuki found it stressful. She could never control her paintbrush or get her colors right. Seated behind her easel, she constantly turned her head left and right, examining the progress of her neighbors. Maria and Shizuku were both quite good at painting, capturing the arrangements of fruit and wine with realistic detail on their canvasses.

Yuki had once read in one of Maria's magazines (a publication exclusive to vampires and targeting adolescent females) that drinking the blood of someone talented in certain subjects would improve her own skill in those fields. Yuki had drunk her mother's blood her whole life, and while Shizuka could have been a professional artist in another life, Yuki's own art had not evolved from her toddler days. She had then begged Maria to give her some blood, and even after multiple sips spaced throughout several months, there was still no improvement in her art. Yuki concluded regretfully that it was just an old wives tale, albeit a tasty one.

She was disappointed that Kaname had not signed up for art class since she wanted to see his artistic ability. One day she happened to bemoan her wish to Takuma and the next day, the blond handed her a folded piece of paper, telling her to examine it away from prying eyes (especially Aidou's). When she finally opened it, she was shocked to see that her seemingly perfect brother did not fare any better than her in the arts.

Kaname's work resembled her own, the lines rigid and rough, the colors a mess, and likeness to the subject severely lacking. After several minutes of scrutinizing the picture, Yuki surmised that it was supposed to depict Yoko reading a book. Seeing her brother's illustration confirmed Yuki's suspicions that her incompatibility with the arts was genetic.

Fortunately, her photography class was much more enjoyable. She carried her film camera almost everywhere and constantly snapped candid shots of her classmates. She obtained numerous photos of a miffed Maria, scowling Shizuku, as well as photos of her baking club peers and her brother's clique. Those were stored in a pink box hidden deep in her closet, next to the violet box containing her secret Yoko collection. She also occasionally took photos of Kaname and used them to barter under the table with Hanabusa. She helped him enlarge his "Kaname-collection" while in return he reduced the amount of homework.


Finally, there was music class, which Yuki had tried to get out of with the excuse that she played the koto, whereas only Western instruments like the piano and violin were taught at school. Two days later, Kaname knocked on her door and presented to her the newly hired koto teacher along with a koto that he had shipped express from an expert craftsman. With no excuses left, she had grudgingly accepted the new koto and her sentencing of one lesson a week. She could not complain though, this was nothing compared to the almost daily lessons her mother had subjected her to.

However, Yuki was annoyed by the double standards – both her brother and Shizuku got to opt out of music class. When she glumly commented on the situation to Kaname, he dismissed it with the excuse that he was busy with his class president duties. Afterwards, Takuma conspiratorially whispered to her that Kaname was just lazy, and in fact relegated most of the actual work to him and Akatsuki, while he lounged around his room playing chess and reading.

Unlike Kaname, Shizuku didn't even bother with an excuse. When she confronted him about not taking a music class, he simply replied that he didn't feel like it. Yuki pouted but left it at that. She assumed he lacked musical talent like her and wanted to save face and avoid exposing his weakness. To her surprise, she came across him playing a beautiful melody on violin one night. Hearing the faint notes of a stirring but lachrymose tune as she strolled outside the dorm, she followed the sound to the building Shizuku inhabited.

After climbing a tree and peeking into the open window the melody wafted out from, she saw him playing the violin with an uncharacteristically involved expression, lost in the song. Witnessing the mix of emotions in his green eyes, she was struck by the fact that he had already lived almost a full century and had experienced an entire human lifetime's worth of events she knew nothing about.

He obviously played the violin well and yet he had refused to take music class – it seemed there was a personal reason he hid even from her. The realization she did not actually know much about his past saddened her, and as the notes flowed from the strings, she felt an uncrossable divide between them for the first time.


A/N: Has anyone else ever thought it illogical how Rido and Shizuka were engaged even though the Hious supposedly have a history of going insane? If she was truly at risk of going insane due to genetic predisposition, she should never have been engaged to anyone, much less the oldest son of the former vampire royal family.

On a lighter note: Baking club, where only two members bake, while the rest just wait to eat lol. Also, the part about how photogenic Kaname is was inspired by that episode of How I Met Your Mother, in which Barney Stinson looked perfect in all his photos, even when someone tried sneaking a candid of him eating chips and salsa.