So, as I'm reading back on what I've written and as Yuuki is getting older and more stressed out, I'm noticing that she's becoming progressively more like me when I get stressed out. When I started writing this, I was pretty mellow and even tempered, evidenced by my more formal language. But I'm currently getting stressed out and tired, and when I get like this, I write and talk more informally and I get really snappish. Which is starting to pop up in Yuuki's personality.

Yuuki's never gotten exceptionally stressed out. She's always had people to help her wind down, or people to support her. That's starting to get less and less likely to be present, and she's starting to snowball. I'm doing my best to keep her characterization stable and believable, but it's getting a little hard. Let me know if her personality starts getting out of hand or out of character, or if you notice anything that I included in subtext but Yuuki didn't see. I want to know if I was as subtle as I think I'm being.

What, no reviews for the last chapter? Was it really so terrible? Here's the next chapter, featuring Maria Kurenai, more canon twisted around to suit my own ends, lots of tiny time skips and Yuuki being willfully blind! Also Yori (who is possibly my favorite character right now) being a good friend!

Yawning as she makes her way towards the school building behind the Night Class, Yuuki's head aches as the Day Class yowls insistently for attention. Zero is next to her for once, and is the only thing that's keeping the students back, she's pretty sure. As they go, though, a girl begins to creep her way past Zero and the invisible boundary line, and he doesn't even look at her before speaking.

"If you go one step ahead of me," he says with deliberate calm, "I'll make you cry."

The girl freezes, and the surrounding students begin to encourage her, insisting that Zero's been mellowing out lately, and she shouldn't worry, and Zero looks at her with a blank expression, his aura thick with malice and contempt.

"Don't cause any trouble." The students stall for a second before they seem to realize that the vampires have begun to enter the school building, and they surge forwards, a majority of them hitting into Yuuki's extended arms.

"Back off!" Yuuki snaps, internally incredibly confused. What's with the fervor?

"Just one photo!" A girl angrily pleads.

"No!"A hand drops onto her shoulder and she turns sharply to see who has touched her- it's Aidou. Her stomach heaves and her heart beats with painful force.

"Want me to help you push them back?" He offers, giving the girls a blinding smile before grabbing onto her arm and dragging her backwards into the school building. Despite the witnesses, she can't help the peal of panic and primal terror from boiling upwards in her emotions, and she turns to try and find Zero, spotting his head of silver hair some distance away amid the mob of students.

"Zero-!" She called loudly before the doors closed in her face, cutting off her call. Yuuki pulls against his grip, but it's strong, and a quick glance around reveals mostly impassive eyes watching her. "Please let go of me, Aidou," she says between gritted teeth, struggling away from him with steady but ineffectual force.

"What's with that attitude? I helped you," the blonde complains.

"Aidou," Kaname's voice cuts through the air and Aidou's hand releases her instantly, Kain approaching and grabbing onto the back of his neck and dragging him backwards as Yuuki backs towards the doors. "Yuuki," her gazes turns to her brother figure, "you'll get hurt if you work too hard."

The doors behind her burst open, and two hands land on her waist, lifting her into the air like a doll.

"What are you doing, getting abducted? Lets go," Zero grumbles, turning with her in his grasp before tucking her under one arm, using his free hand to close the doors behind them as they emerge into the crowd outside.

"Disperse!" She shouts as Zero releases her, letting her stand on her own in front of the doors next to him. "Go to your dorms, or there will be consequences!" There's a bubble of irritation as they don't listen, and next to her, Zero drops a hand onto her shoulder. There's a feeling like dragging bone across a nail file, shivers and nausea going through her body before the group falls silent and backs up several steps, all eyes on her. "Go back to your dorms," her voice carries in the silence, and the students begin to do as told for once.

Next to her, Zero shifts and his hand tightens on her shoulder.

"Yuuki?"

"Ah?" She looks up to find his gaze on her before she looks back out over the students,

"What was that?" She shrugs quietly before stepping away from him.

"Thanks for the save, Zero, but I have to go now. Cross asked me to meet him before I start my patrols," she smiles at him and he blinks before looking away.

"Alright. Want me to wait for you?" She shakes her head.

"No, the Day Class has been very insistent and excitable lately, so it would probably be best if you started your patrols now." He nods and they separate, Yuuki making her way to the Headmaster's office in a quick jog. A few hairs from her braid escape along her hairline and fall against her face, tickling the skin there, and she reaches up to tuck the dark strand behind her ears. "You called for me?" She inquires as she pushes open the Headmaster's door a few minutes later.

"Ah, yes. There's a new Night Class student coming today, and I want you to escort her to her classes until she gets a feel for the grounds," Cross explains, standing in front of one of his windows, swathed in thick pajamas and what looks like three scarves of exceptional length.

"Me? Why hasn't this task been given to a Night Class stude-" she's interrupted by a few knocks on the door, and it is opened before Cross can call for it to do so. The girl that walks in is dressed in the uniform of the Night Class, with grayish-purple hair and eyes. Her hair is long and straight, with a fringe just above her eyebrows, just beneath her chin and then again just below her shoulders, and a small bun on the right side of her head. She's incredibly pale and even slightly shorter than Yuuki, looking very much like a doll.

"This is Kurenai Maria," Cross explains to Yuuki, "she's been living in an isolated mountain villa this entire time, despite having signed up at the beginning of the school year. Kurenai-san, this is my daughter, Yuuki."

"Nice to meet you," Yuuki greets warily as a sharp floral scent and sterile environments fills the air around the girl, as well as new velvet.

"What a delicious looking person," Kurenai mumbles, lifting a hand in front of her mouth, her eyes sliding over Yuuki's exposed skin and causing a feeling of unease to rise in Yuuki. "Healthy, too…"

"Kurenai-san, that sort of talk is taboo here at the academy," Cross scolds, wagging a finger at the girl, who blinks in surprise.

"Ah! I'm sorry," she turns to give Yuuki a wide smile. "Nice to meet you, Yuuki-san." The smile is soft and bright, and Yuuki forces a smile onto her face as well, the smile looking remarkably natural due to her a bit of forcing smiles regardless of her feelings.

"This is the library, and it's closed at this time of night. The Night Class is meant to use the library in their own dorms, which have all the books from this library as well as books brought in by other Night Class students personally for communal use. The current classroom in use right now is also just down this hallway, and once we get there, I'll separate from you to do my duties."

From where she'd been lagging behind, Kurenai stops, drawing Yuuki's attention to focus more completely on her. Yuuki'd been keeping Kurenai in her peripheral vision, but had been unable to tell the girl to walk in front of her due to the nature of Yuuki's role as a tour guide.

"Is something wrong, Kurenai-san?"

"Yuuki-san," Yuuki contemplates telling the girl to not use her given name before the girl continues on, her face pinched and flushed. "I'm actually scared to be here… Can you believe that? A vampire who becomes ill so easily would probably be excluded from those in the Night Class," she says, before noticing Yuuki's bland expression and curling her hands to her chest, looking down at the ground. "See! You don't believe me!"

"Ah, sorry, I was just… Taken off guard. I'm sure you'll be fine, though, Kurenai-san. The president and vice president are in your class, and unlikely to be mean to you unnecessarily. And you can always come to the Chairman or myself if something happens," Yuuki tells her, watching the girl warily as she blinks, a little teary-eyed, before the girl takes several steps in her direction. Yuuki tries to dodge out of the way, but Kurenai lunges quickly, wrapping her arms around her neck and shoulders in a hug.

"Thank you…" There's a shift in her tone as Yuuki stands stiffly in her grasp, not quite wanting to just attack the naive girl for hugging her but feeling extremely uncomfortable about being in contact with her. "I love someone like you," she says, one hand brushing against the back of Yuuki's neck.

The scent of ice and sweetened rot brushes over Yuuki's senses, a phantom scent, and Yuuki jerks out of the girl's grasp. She giggles childishly at Yuuki before making her way into the classroom, leaving Yuuki in the hall, nauseous with the scent of something horrible clogging her senses.

Circling the school building on her patrol, Yuuki catches sight of Zero leaning up against a tree, drinking out of a dark metal flask, his eyes unfocused. As she approaches they focus on her, and she offers him a small, sincere smile. He lowers the flask, closing the lid and wiping his mouth and staring at her with something in his eyes she can't identify.

"Yuuki?"

"How has it been so far?" She asks, walking closer to the tree and leaning against it to take a break, yawning slightly. Zero stares at her for a moment longer before looking away.

"Quiet. There were a few girls north of here trying to scale the building, but I sent them back," he tells her.

"No Night Class students out and about?"

"Not that I saw," he shakes his head, and she sighs in relief.

"There's a new student in the Night Class. Her name is Kurenai Maria," Yuuki decides to explain. "Something about her is… Strange, so watch out for her, okay?" She tells him. He gives her a skeptical look, and there's a foot crunching against stone some feet away that calls for their attention. Looking over as a wind blows towards them, Yuuki frowns and pushes against the tree to stand straight, that phantom scent returning against the edges of her senses.

"Kurenai-san, why are you here?" Yuuki asks, sure that she'd told the vampire to stay inside the building until they were let out for the night, wondering if she way already going to cause problems. Yuuki takes a few steps forward as Kurenai takes a handful of her hair and presses it against her mouth and nose.

"I took my greeting too far… None of them like me, now," she murmurs, looking away before looking Zero in the eyes. Zero is silent as he walks forward, dropping a hand onto Yuuki's shoulder and moving her aside as he lifts a hand and pulls Bloody Rose out of his jacket. In the instant between Zero pulling the gun out of his jacket and Yuuki realizing it, Kurenai has run aside and ducked behind Yuuki, who instinctively throws her arms straight out.

"Zero-!" The gun goes off just above Yuuki's shoulder as Kurenai's hands grip onto the back of her uniform jacket, her head pressing against her shoulder blades, and Zero's gun points right at her throat. "What are you doing all of a sudden?" She demands, feeling off balanced and unsettled. Zero lifts a hand to press against his face, eyes going wide and face pinching in pain and confusion, and the gun lowers.

"That's not…" Zero shakes his head a little before narrowing his eyes at the girl over Yuuki's shoulders as the girl's hands land on her shoulders. "Who the hell are you?"

"How do you do… I'm Kurenai Maria," Kurenai greets in a timid tone. Yuuki steps forward and away from Kurenai, turning and standing next to Zero.

"Sorry about the scare, Kurenai-san. This is the other school guardian, Kiryuu Zero. He is not normally so trigger happy, but you-"

"Yes, I suppose loitering outside on my own wasn't the right thing to do, huh? I'm sorry…" Kurenai reaches out towards Yuuki, but Yuuki steps back and Zero's arm lifts to hold across her chest as though to help protect her, causing Kurenai to stop. "But… Thank you for protecting me… You're a 'good girl', and I really like you…" The girl coos, "the blood of girls like you is always especially delicious… I hope we can become friends."

The girl offers them another smile, and then she turns and walks away. Yuuki is left with the feeling that something terrible has occurred. She feels sort of like she should follow behind Kurenai, if only to make sure she actually goes back to class instead of continuing to wander around the grounds, but the thought of staying in her presence gives Yuuki a bad feeling.

"Eh? Dance?" Yuuki blinks at Yori a few times in confusion, the two of them plus Zero making their way across the Academy courtyard between school buildings, books clutched in their arms.

"You forgot about it?" Yori asks blandly, though with experience Yuuki can hear some amusement.

"Ah… I'm not really interesting in dancing with anybody at that sort of thing, so yeah, I forgot," she laughs a little awkwardly. "And, anyways, I'm more concerned about the finals than any dance. Don't you agree, Zero?" Yuuki looks over at the tall boy, who gives her a curious look and starts to answer before someone cuts him off, approaching from the back.

"The Traditional Cross Academy Dance Party, whose most important rule is that the class that does the poorest on the final exam before the party must help with the party's backstage preparation. I'm worried, Cross-san, for you, as you are always lowering my class' average score."

"Ah, Class President, what a cruel thing to say," Yori says as they all turn to see their class president standing behind them, glasses shining and an aura of fury practically visible around him.

"The Dance Party is a formal event, in which the Day Class and Night Class can attend together… If I lose an opportunity to dance with Ruka-san from the Night Class, I'll hate you forever, Cross-san," he growls lowly before walking off, leaving Yuuki feeling a little unbalanced and, inexplicably, as though a curse of doom was just laid upon her. Next to her, Zero jolts a little, and she turns her attention aside to look where his gaze is directed just as a loud, familiar voice yells out.

"You can't go that way!"

Ichijou Takuma and Kurenai Maria are running down one of the courtyard pathways, Kurenai in the lead, as Takuma continues to try and make the girl stop. "The Day Class is still in session, Maria! Oh man, this is going to be such a problem…"

"Don't be so dramatic! I just want to have a look at the cafeteria," Kurenai complains childishly, dodging away from Takuma's reaching hands. Yuuki frowns, as they're meant to be very much not here, and begins to make her way in that direction, but then Zero's hand wraps around her upper arm, pulling her to a stop. Looking back, she sees strained irritation and panic in his face as he stares into her eyes.

"Don't go near that student. Leave her alone, let Ichijou handle it," he asks her, voice almost a plead, which is incredibly unsettling. But she can't just leave the vampire to tromp around the school, and so turns to tell him such, when he suddenly drags her closer to him and slides her behind him, visibly wanting to draw Bloody Rose but is unable to do so due to their audience.

"Hello!" The unwelcome voice of Aidou chirps from where she'd just been standing. "This is the second time we've met during the day, isn't it, Yuuki-chan?" He says in a sickly sweet voice, his eyes meeting hers. The blue is cold, without any visible emotions, and a shiver crawls up her spine as she settles in place behind Zero. She doesn't like purposely hiding behind Zero, but in this case, she will do so. Aidou is incredibly unsettling and upsetting for her.

"Aidou-senpai, I want to talk to you," Zero calls. Aidou straightens up and his face smooths into a polite expression rather than a mocking, cheery grin, and he looks at Zero calmly.

"How convenient. I wanted to have a few words with you, too."

"Zero? Wai-" Zero talks over her protests as he begins to walk away with Aidou.

"Be careful with 'Kurenai Maria'," he tells her.

"Eh? It's me who should be telling you to be careful! Don't start a fight!" She yells at his back. He calls an agreement and, from next to her, Yori shifts, calling for her attention.

"I'm worried," Yori says softly.

"He'll be fine," she says, though something tells her that that's not what Yori means.

"No, I'm not worried about Zero… I'm worried about you," she tells Yuuki, turning to see the dark looks of the students from behind Yuuki, who look prepared to maul the girl. With a loud yelp, Yuuki promptly abandons her books to Yori and takes off at a run, the Day Class girls taking off similarly in pursuit, yelling questions at her back that she ignores. Realizing that she's coming up to the school building and unwilling to enter a chase in an enclosed space, she vaults against a wall, doing a quick wall run and grabbing a hold of a balcony railing, pulling herself up as the girls run beneath her, then laying down on said railing in exhaustion once she's pulled herself completely up.

"Eh? You were chased too, Yuuki-chan?" Yuuki looks up to find Takuma crouched down on the balcony as well, looking harried.

"Eh? Ichijou? Where's Kurenai-san?" She asks warily, looking around as though the girl will suddenly appear.

"Uh… She escaped when the Day Class girls swarmed me…" Takuma admits as Yuuki drops properly onto the balcony to sit across from him.

"She ran away? Uh-oh…"

"Yeah… But Kaname asked me to look after her, so I will have to go and find her soon… When Kaname asks, not just me, but anyone in the Night Class… would probably do anything he says," Ichijou's voice gets lower and lower, so low that Yuuki isn't actually sure how she heard or understood it, but then he looks up at her meaningfully. "There are countless abilities pureblood vampires can use, and one of them is to make other vampires who aren't also purebloods obey them… Not that Kaname uses such an ability, and so I do things like this for him," he sighs a little with a fond expression, and Yuuki feels a little off balance, not quite understanding where this long explanation came from but committing the information to memory nonetheless.

"Ichijou…" She trails off before huffing a little. "Come on, then. Lets go and find Kurenai-san, yes?" He blinks at her in surprise before smile a little with relief.

"Alright, Yuuki-chan."

Settling down on the floor at the coffee table with her study materials, Cross smiles at her as they wait for Zero to arrive back at home in the house. When he enters, Cross straightens up and gives him a happy beam.

"Good timing! Tutor Yuuki, would you? I have to go out tonight, as Exam Season patrols are my own personal duty," Cross explains to the silver haired boy. Yuuki would think of the explanation as useless, if she wasn't sure that Zero tended to tune Cross out often enough that he usually needs more explanations that Yuuki, herself. Zero gives Cross a bland look, and Cross visibly reels backwards.

"Eh… It's okay if you don't want to…"

"No, I'll do it, just give me a minute," he shrugs, discarding his jacket and wandering down the hall and likely making his way to his room to get his own personal study materials. When he returns with his pencil case and work books, he settles down to Yuuki's left as Cross makes his way to the door.

"I'll leave the house to you both, then. Zero, was there anything you needed from me?"

"No, It's alright."

"...Okay," Cross gives him a fond, soft smile and walks out, leaving the two teens behind, closing the door behind him with a quiet clock. There's silence as they both work through their problems, and Yuuki finds herself using her eraser several more times than Zero, making discontent noises under her breath the entire time as she glares darkly at her math work.

"You made a mistake on the same thing last time," Zero speaks up eventually, pointing it out on her page and resting his chin in his other palm.

"Eh? Oh, I didn't even see that," she furrows her brow, erasing that part and starting from the top. Zero is abnormally kind in how he points out each step that she skips or bypasses, and as she begins to work the next one out on her own, his head rocks aside very slightly. Yuuki looks up once she's finished the problem, feeling some pride, but pauses as she meets Zero's eyes. They're warmer than is explainable, and his lips are tilted just slightly into a smile.

"You got it right," he confirms for her after a quick glance. As she turns her attention back to her paper, his head rolls aside, his hand drifting down to his neck instead of his face, and Yuuki notices the movement out of the corner of her eye. A quick, quiet debate with herself leads to her speaking up quietly.

"Is your neck bothering you, Zero?"

"I… The place where I was bitten by that woman… It aches." He stares at the table, his gaze dark. "There has never been a night that I have forgotten about how that woman who played us brothers as fools, who created that sea of blood four years ago… And yet, the reason I was able to live on…" His face moves away from anger and into something closer to sadness, to remembrance, his gaze glazing over. He falls silent, and stares ahead blankly, and Yuuki leans forwards to touch the arm opposite her.

"Hey, don't drift away," she bids quietly, not really completely sure what to do but knowing that to just leave him sitting and staring blankly is wrong. He jolts slightly, and she frowns when that's all he does. Maybe a warm drink will help? She stands and turns to make her way towards the kitchen, thinking idly on maybe making Zero a hot chocolate, but there's a clatter of the coffee table being knocked into, pens and pencils rolling across its surface.

One hand wraps around her own, and Zero is standing close behind her, his body curling inwards and downwards so that his forehead rests against her shoulder. He doesn't say anything for a minute, and Yuuki's brain stutters around several different trains of thought before he speaks, and she finds that her chest aches.

"Zero?" Yuuki questions as Zero's other arm wraps around her ribs and he remains there for a minute, quietly breathing. "H-"

"... Was you," he says suddenly, his hair tickling her neck and his nose pushing into her shoulder. She takes a second to go through what she remembers him saying, and feels herself pale somewhat. The reason I was able to live on… Was you. What was she supposed to say to a declaration like that!? "I…" Zero inhales deeply once before releasing her and stepping away. She turns immediately, stooping slightly to peer easier into his shadowed face, and he backs away further. "I'm going to the dorm tonight. Don't forget the stuff I taught you," he tells her, sweeping up his jacket and stalling momentarily at the door.

"Oh… Goodnight, then Zero?"

"Goodnight," and then he's gone, and Yuuki is left in the house by herself. She turns and pauses at the sight of Zero's blood tablet case left on the floor where he'd been sitting, and she frowns, bending to collect it. It rattles loudly, implying that it's nearly empty, and she walks across the room to her jacket to pull out the bottle she keeps in her pocket, opening it and then opening Zero's case, pouring some tablets inside before closing both. Tucking the bottle pack into her jacket, Yuuki jogs quickly to the door of the house, tablet case still in hand, and runs out. She's barefoot, but that's not going to stop her, and she doesn't plan on staying out for very long, anyways. She's just going to catch up to Zero, give him the case, and then go back home.

Jerking upright in bed, Yuuki breathes heavily as she stares straight ahead, feeling dizzy and off balanced. Her head is pounding, and she doesn't remember going to bed. Or coming to the dorm. Stumbling out of bed, she glances at Yori's alarm clock as she discovers her friend in bed and sees that the time is 5am.

Staggering her way to Yori's bed, recognizing dimly that she's wearing a nightgown she doesn't remember owning, her hair completely un-braided and silky smooth in a way she doesn't remember brushing it to be. Yuuki collapses half on top of her friend and shakes her quickly. Yori moans in protest but then opens her eyes after Yuuki hisses something slurred and unintelligible.

"Yuuki? Did you have a nightmare?"

"Yori, when did I get here?" She asks, instead of answering. "Did you see me when I came back?"

"Huh? No, I went to the bathroom at maybe 4 and when I came back you were in bed," Yori denies, shaking her head sleepily. Yuuki winces as the pain in her head jacks up another notch, and a sound like a whimper escapes her control, along with a few tears. "Yuuki?" Yori asks, more alert and concerned, sitting up somewhat.

"I can't remember anything since… 7 o'clock," Yuuki tells her after another glance at the clock, "and my head hurts so badly. I think I got hit in the head and then someone put me in bed to hide it."

"Do you want to go to the emergency nurse station?" Yori asks, concerned as she reaches her hands up to cup Yuuki's head in her hands. Yuuki allows her to do so, sagging slightly at Yori's cool palms, but shakes her head after a few seconds.

"I should go see the Headmaster, though. It might be important."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Yori asks as Yuuki pulls away and then stumbles over her own feet as she tries to move towards their shared closet.

"... If I go alone I'd probably end up getting hurt," Yuuki admits, once she's caught herself, her head throbbing in a steady rhythm along with the beat of her heart.

"Okay, let's get dressed a little, then," Yori nods, climbing out of bed and proceeding to help Yuuki into pajama pants and a jacket, already wearing her own pajama clothes which are suitable for going outside. Yuuki does a quick check of her side of the room and finds on anti-vampire weapon present, which is definitely not normal, but does see Zero's blood tablet case, which she tucks into her sports bra after a quick and painful round of thinking, not understanding why she has it but something telling her it's important. They both then tuck their feet into slippers and make their way through the dorm and then outside.

It's still dark, and it's incredibly quiet, and as they make their way towards the Cross home on campus, Yori doesn't say anything about it despite the fact that she hadn't known about the house. Yori allows Yuuki to lean against her shoulder as she pushes the door open, and when they enter the living room, Yuuki sees pens and notebooks stacked up on the coffee table, her jacket and weapons atop a living room chair.

Confusion warring with the overwhelming pain, Yuuki shakes her head after a second and she and Yori make their way down the hall and towards Cross' study at Yuuki's prompting.

The room is occupied by Cross when they arrive, and as the pain in her head lessens slightly and Yuuki regains access to all of her senses beyond sight and sound momentarily, she can smell that Kaname has been in it in the last few hours, at least, as well as herself, which she doesn't understand or remember, and that either she or Kaname had been close to fresh blood when they'd been in the room.

"Eh? Yuuki? Wakaba-chan?" Cross blinks at them in a confused manner, and Yuuki narrows her eyes at him slightly at his legitimate surprise and confusion, small bits and pieces settling into a picture she isn't liking in her head.

"Headmaster, something happened to Yuuki," Yori explains when Yuuki herself doesn't. "She can't remember anything from the night since 7 o'clock, and her head hurts. She told me she thinks she got hit in the head and lost her memories of the incident."

"What?" Cross yelps, standing from his chair and hurrying around his desk, moving towards Yuuki and catching her head in his hands, prodding at her skull gently and asking her is any spot in particular is tender.

"It all hurts," she whines, and he gives her a worried look.

"Well, I don't know what happened, but it doesn't look like you were hit in the head. How about I go and get you some pain reliever, and you both stay here for tonight?" Cross offers. Yori accepts and Yuuki nods pitifully, draping herself over Yori's lap the instant she sits down on the loveseat in Cross' office as the man leaves to do as he said he would.

Yori huffs quietly under her breath and Yuuki can feel gentle fingers slipping through her hair soothingly as they wait for Cross to return, and despite the pain blooming in vivid colors across her closed eyes, Yuuki can feel herself getting sleepy. Cross returns with the medicine soon after, and herds them both to Yuuki's room, Yuuki dragging a unprotesting Yori into bed with her immediately and dropping herself overtop of her friend like a cat.

"I'll be back to wake you both when it's time for classes," Cross tells them from the doorway before flipping the light off and leaving the room, the door remaining cracked just the slightest bit to allow the soft light from the hallway to glow across Yuuki's carpet. Yori's arms wrap around her shoulders, and Yuuki presses her face against her friends warm neck as she drifts off to sleep.

Sitting for her exams is the last thing Yuuki wants to do right now, as she's sure that she'd studies but she can't remember anything she might have learned during said study time. She tries her best anyway, and she's pretty sure that she's gotten at least 70% on the exam overall, but she isn't sure, because at least half of the exam time she's worrying about Zero, who is missing again.

Once they've turned in their papers, Yuuki turns in her seat to stare at the empty place behind her where Zero should be, her headache ramping up from it's low throb back into heavy pulsing once more. It's easier to ignore it now, as the pain has been constant for the last few hours. Someone is saying something, but she can't hear them with the all the blood rushing in her head until an elbow knocks gently into her side. Turning, she spots Yori looking at her, with the Class President just behind her looking absolutely furious.

"He's been calling you," Yori whispers just before the boy begins to speak.

"I've found out the results of the final exams for five subjects, and while you exceeded my expectations, our class did the poorest! If it wasn't for Kiryuu being missing, we would have been fine, but with him gone, you dragged us down! Because of you, our class is to do the backstage preparation!" The boy yowled, jabbing a finger in Yuuki's face before wailing, "It's your fault if I can't dance with Ruka-san!" Then running off.

As she and Yori make their way out of the building, Yuuki holding one of Yori's hands so she won't fall behind if the pain in her head distracts her, Yuuki tries once more to locate the source of the splitting pain.

The last thing she can remember is Zero leaving the house to go to the dorms, and… finding his blood tablet case. The same one she has in her pocket right now. After opening the door to follow him, her memory jumps straight to her waking up in her bed. Something had happened to her memories after she'd left the house, and that meant she'd either gotten into a fight and had been hit in the head hard enough to cause amnesia, which was unlikely, or someone had deliberately erased or suppressed her memories.

Which implied vampire.

With what clues she'd managed to glean, it had probably been Kaname to do it, based on the scents in Cross' office. Maybe he'd been surprised, last night, about her being awake at all, or about the pain caused by the missing memories. If it'd really been Kaname, then he's likely intended for her to sleep until she awoke for classes, and likely told Cross as much. Which also implied that Cross had been complicit in her losing her memories.

So either she'd come across something terrible and she was better off without the memories, or they were just keeping secrets from her.

She didn't like either thought.

A scent brushes over the senses then, familiar in a way she doesn't understand, as she doesn't remember smelling it, but that thought leading it to connect to her missing memories, and her head snaps around to find the source as wind brushes against her face. She jerks to a stop Yori coming to a stop as well to look at her with concern, and Yuuki locks eyes on Kurenai, her memories coming back in a flood, the feeling of something breaking apart, falling into pieces.

He can't have gotten far, right? She moves along the path quickly but quietly, the case rattling slightly in her tight grasp but the sound mostly muffled. As she moves closer to the faculty building, she sees Zero entering, his jacket being worn properly now, and his steps sure but dragging very slightly. With furrowed brows, Yuuki picks up her pace, wanting to call out to Zero, but something telling her that to do so would be detrimental right now.

She gets to the door just as it closes, and peels it open cautiously, listening to Zero's steps fade into the distance, sounding surer than they had looked just a few moments ago. It sounds like he's going to the theater area, which is not currently in use and should be locked off limits. Closing the door behind her as quietly as she can, she tiptoes her way down the stairs next, listening as Zero's steps echo in the otherwise silent building.

There's a feeling of being watched that's unsettling her, but she figures that it's probably just an effect of the building being so clearly abandoned right now playing with her senses, but then also realizes that if it wasn't, she's in trouble, because she'd forgotten to bring any weapons. A pang of self-recrimination and irritation hits her, but there's no time to go and get anything, as Zero's steps are getting farther away still.

Hurrying slightly, Yuuki carefully moderates her breathing to be as quiet as she can make it, and as she reaches the bottom of the stairs, she hears a gun cocking, loud in the silence, and then a female voice that is incredibly jarring to hear, and just somewhat unfamiliar mostly due to the tone and inflection of the words.

"… Able to feel "me". Because there's a "bond" between us. Right now, that is filling up the emptiness in your mind, and finally… you've come to kill me." Yuuki pauses and then creeps closer to the door, breath quiet and smooth, feet silent on the cold stone beneath her feet as a terrible feeling begins to call for her attention. "Judge me, who has made a mistake, Zero, if you can pull that trigger."

Peering in through the gap in the doors, Yuuki can see Zero holding a figure at feminine figure at gunpoint, Bloody Rose against their chest. She can't see their face, as it is blocked by Zero's shoulder and arm, but the brightly colored hair tells her it is Kurenai Maria.

There's a click, metal against metal, and Yuuki's eyes survey the room at large uneasily as Kurenai speaks once more, her tone and inflection still much more smooth and mature than they had been before.

"What are you so surprised at? Is it because you can't shoot?" Yuuki's eyes find a figure standing on one of the upper balconies, doing naught but watching, and her stomach drops. Zero's outnumbered, and she doesn't have any way to help him that won't just be her getting in the way.

"Don't touch me-" Zero's voice is angrily terrified, and Yuuki jolts.

"Poor boy… I'll tell you the truth. You can't kill me, the "master" who has given you life as a vampire, when you have fallen so low to become a "servant"..." Kurenai coos in a low tone, her head coming into view alongside Zero's neck as she gets close to his tattoo. Her figure then jolts, and she is flung away, and she lands on the floor as Zero takes aim once more. The figure on the balcony shifts and there's a sound behind her, prompting Yuuki to turn.

There's nothing there that she can see, and Yuuki is starting to feel like a cornered animal as she turns back to the door, internally debating on what she's supposed to do to help Zero, to help her pseudo-brother, with this monster who turned him into a vampire and killed his family.

"... The first one to not give up… Good boy. I'm so glad that I chose you," Kurenai says. "...No matter how I may look, you are so good, Zero, that you recognized me, even as I am now. Me, the one who took your life as a "human", an event which I have ever forgotten."

"That day, your face was wet with our blood, Hiou Shizuka, but I know you," Zero says coldly.

"This body is not mine, so I don't want you to be so violent with me," Kurenai- or is it Hiou?- says as the figure above them on the balcony moves. From in the shadows, something silver glints and Yuuki squint to try and see them, but they move back quickly after dropping something long and dark.

"Zero-!" Yuuki lunges forward to warn him, because that's a sword and Zero isn't going to be prepared against it, but as soon as she begins, she is stopped, a hand grabbing onto her head and covering her mouth as the scent of wilting flowers, ozone and old books, an arm wrapping around her ribs.

Through the gap in the door, Yuuki sees Zero jolt and begin to look her way, likely catching sight of her just before she is pulled completely away, and then there's the scent of blood.

"... I can never lose you," Kaname's voice says as Yuuki's strength begins to wane and her consciousness gets blurry around the edges. "But him? If he is to die here, then we will be fine without him. We don't need him."

Kaname erased my memories? Or suppressed them? Why would he do that? How do I-she cuts off her own thoughts as Kurenai meets her eyes, and Yuuki can see Hiou staring at her through them, coldly amused and faintly interested. A shiver crawls up her spine, and before she can think better of it, Yuuki turns to Yori."Yori, you need to go," she tells her friend urgently. "I need to talk to H- Kurenai-san, and if you stay…" she can't continue without sounding completely mental, but thankfully Yori seems to get the gist, giving her a concerned look but nodding.

"Alright… I'll see you tomorrow, Yuuki," she says, collecting Yuuki's books from her without any prompting and turning to walk off, glancing back at Yuuki only once with a concerned expression before vanishing from sight around the side of the building. Yuuki inhales slowly, dropping Artemis into her hands as she turns back to Hiou, the rod extending as she approaches the vampire, who hasn't moved at all.

So she was either waiting for me, or now she's interested.

"Kurenai-san, or Hiou-san?" Yuuki greets in a semi-polite tone as a little trickle of fear starts to bud up from her very human instincts, while the rest of her is angry at the sight of this woman, and worried for Zero. The fear is weak but understandable, and also completely ignored. Even if this is a pureblood vampire, she's possessing a vampire who is not, and she is very likely injured. There's no way she's at full power, and Yuuki could probably take her in a fight provided that person from the other day does not appear with that sword again, or steps in to fight her in the vampire's place.

The vampire smiles at her in a way that seems indulgent and patronizing rather than sweet, and says nothing.

"What have you done with Zero?" She asks after realizing that she will not get an explanation.

"... For now, he's fine," Hiou tells her after a considering pause. "But soon enough, he'll turn into a Level E vampire, and he will be gone from you forever…" Hiou narrows Kurenai's eyes thoughtfully before saying, "I know how to save Zero. How about we make a deal? In exchange for saving Zero, I want you to so something that only Yuuki can do."