"Zero, wait! You can't walk in there with that kind of attitude!" Yuki cried as Zero menacingly double-checked the energy levels in his gun, The Bloody Rose. "Look, I'm grateful you're worried about me, but I'll be fine going by myself."
"If I believed that, I wouldn't be here," Zero retorted dully holstering his weapon.
Yuki sighed, giving up dissuading him. They'd squabbled the whole way to The Moon Dorms, now, they stood at the threshold of the back entrance of The Moon Dorms, unnerved, and peering into the dark of the arched entry to their destination.
"There's always a different feeling here," Yuki remarked quietly, to which Zero's already deep scowl hardened. With a steadying breath, Yuki stepped forward and lead the way into the dark.
They walked a few paces before they sensed something approach from behind. Yuki spun around, her staff in hand and ready for combat, only to face the glaring eyes of Aido at the end of her weapon. The barrel of The Blood Rose was held right between Kain's eyes, with an almost comedic, cross-eyed expression that, had Zero been inclined, he would have snorted in laughter at.
"The welcome party?" Zero sneered.
"I'm only here because Ichijo asked," Aido grumbled, stepping out of the range of anti-Vampire weapon aimed at him.
"Don't turn on The Hunter so hastily, Kiryu. The Prefect persona will do here." Kain's words were measured and controlled and wholly honest. Reluctantly, Zero holstered his weapon and Yuki re-attached her shrunken staff to her hidden thigh strap. With the weapons put away, the Aristocrats took the lead in escorting Ichijo's guests to the party.
Yuki followed, sticking closely to Zero's side as they entered the back-patio of The Moon Dorms. Night Class students milled about drinking a pale pink liquid from crystal champagne flutes, picking from the elegant buffet table, chock-full of delicious looking foods and treats, or merely gossiped between themselves. All of them had an air of grace and inhumanness, openly displaying their otherness.
They look different here than when they come to school. This is who they really are, Yuki realised with a shiver, as many curious and accusatory eyes turned to them as they followed their escorts through the crowd. Yuki noticed, after a scan of the patio, one pair of eyes was missing among those gathered. Nakamura's not here? She hadn't seen the girl since that terrible night, and although she'd been reassured by Kaname and Kaien that Akane was fine, she had yet to see the girl for herself.
"Wait here," Kain told them after he spotted Ichijo near the buffet table and left to collect him. Aido stood with his arms crossed beside the Prefects, peering up at the dorm building. Akane had said she'd try to make it to Ichijo's party, but after finding her down in the library again, before the party began, he predicted she'd likely keep herself inside. He sighed frowning when he spotted Yuki eyeing him strangely.
"What!" he snapped.
"Nothing," she replied meekly, turning her head away and twiddling her fingers.
"Yuki, Kiryu, you came!" Ichijo's voice suddenly cried. Their heads lifted as he spread his arms in welcome, hurrying to the pair with Kain following along with Shiki. He didn't need to shout. We're right here! Yuki bemoaned, thoroughly embarrassed at being singled out in front of everyone. "It's my birthday party! Isn't this fun!"
"Happy birthday! How old are you?" Yuki asked politely.
"In Human years or Vampire years?" Ichijo replied cheekily with a playful wink at the slightly paled look to Yuki's cheeks. He was joking, of course. Vampires aged just as Humans did until they reached adulthood, which was the milestone Ichijo had achieved.
"Vampire years?" Yuki clarified, uncertainly.
"I'm eighteen! So, I'm considered an adult now. I'll accept a kiss from you as a present, Yuki." Despite his jovial bashfulness, Ichijo was having fun at Yuki's expense. He never could resist flustering people. Aido was no fun tonight, so Yuki was the next best thing (victim). Her reactions were predictable and always managed to entertain. Zero sighed in quiet annoyance at the Vampire messing with them and Yuki falling for it.
Yuki didn't disappoint and quickly reddened while her hair stuck up like a startled cat, as she desperately tried to justify the reason for their visit.
"We're not here to have fun Ichijo! I'm sorry. I'm here as a Prefect of the school. I want an explanation for why you and Shiki were outside the school grounds. It's against the rules without permission. I also want you to tell me about that Vampire today, and why you killed it." She'd hushed her tone as she spoke, not wanting to get Ichijo or Shiki into any trouble over this, especially not on his birthday.
He smiled softly and leant back against a nearby table, completely at ease.
"It's ok, everyone here knows about it already, you don't have to whisper." His reassurance only serving to confuse her more.
"Dangerous Vampires don't just pop up in the middle of town? You were out specifically to kill that Vampire, why? What was he?"
"That was an ex-Human, a Level E." Aido's reply had been automatic. After so many similar questions from Akane, it had just come out. He expertly covered his sudden willingness to supply an explanation, with a bored expression at the girl.
Yuki had jumped surprise that Aido, of all people, was the first to give her a straight answer, but turned back to Ichijo when he began to elaborate.
"You see, Vampires have a hierarchical society. Those at the top, Level A, are the Purebloods, those beneath them are called 'Nobles', Level B."
She was listening intently but Ichijo knew she needed to know and understand more. So, pulling on his childhood schooling, he expanded his explanation on the Vampire social structure.
"Think of it like a pyramid. Purebloods occupy the top, and Nobles, prop up beneath them. Under that are the 'Normal Vampires', Level C's, and beneath them are the 'ex-Humans', Level D Vampires, like Miss Nakamura." He watched as Yuki nodded, showing she was following along with him. "But the Vampire today was beneath even that, they're not technically even part of the pyramid. They're called Level E Vampires."
"Level E?" Yuki was intrigued and confused. This was all new information to her. She'd never heard some of these terms before. Pureblood, she knew because that's what Kaname was, but none of the other classes of Vampire had been explained or shared with her before. She bowed her head, ashamed to realise how little she knew of Vampires but also, how little she'd thought to ask about Vampires.
"More accurately, we would classify them as Level End," Aido interjected. Being as Ichijo had offered up most of the information, his natural tendency to lord over others with the knowledge he possessed and knew they did not, shone through with his arrogant tone as he continued. "Kiryu would know all about them, being as he was raised by Hunters. You could say, he was bred to kill them."
Yuki turned to Zero. Big, enquiring eyes pleading for him to make sense of everything.
"Level E's are ex-Human's. Over time, the thirst wears down their sanity, and eventually, they fall to Level E, The End Class," he explained with a pinched expression.
"When that happens, the Human can no longer control themselves and are driven only by their hunger. They're extremely dangerous and have to be controlled, so they don't go attacking innocent people indiscriminately," Ichijo added, Yuki, having to snap her head back and forth between each of them as they spoke.
She couldn't help but think of Akane's father at that moment. He had looked just as Ichijo and Zero had described. Hunger driven and beyond reason or control. Her eyes dulling with sympathy for the girl. Of course, she wouldn't be at a party, or back at school, yet. She just lost everything. Yuki's mind wandered for a minute while she processed the new information. Her eyes moving over the partygoers absently before they were caught in a reddish-brown stare.
"They went after that Vampire today, on my orders," Kaname revealed as he stepped from the dorm. The students' chatter became more enthusiastic at the appearance of the Pureblood.
"It's rare for Lord Kaname to attend these kinds of events," they murmured to one another.
"Kaname!" Yuki walked to the bottom of the steps, where he stood at the top, which lead to the back dorm.
"So, that Vampire…" Kaname's calm voice interrupted her before she could ask more.
"Why did you come here and not report that Vampire to The Headmaster, Yuki?" Yuki's head dropped and an embarrassed blush tainted her pale cheeks. Am I being scolded?
When she looked up, she was upset to have made such a tired look cross his face.
"As a Prefect, you must report such instances, right? So, why didn't you?"
"I didn't feel I could without finding out why, for myself," she admitted pathetically.
"For yourself?" Kaname repeated, dragging a hand through his hair. A clear sign of tension. Yuki winced.
The Pureblood sighed and turned away, inviting Yuki and Zero to follow him with a wave to a grand looking couch that had been brought out of the dorm for the occasion. It had a high, cushioned back with rich, red fabric covering. The mahogany wood was polished and clean, glistening in the candlelight. Seiren, Kaname's Night Class bodyguard, stood behind the chaise, watching over the proceedings as her superior sat down with the elegance only a Vampire possessed.
Yuki followed Kaname self-consciously up the steps, nervously glancing at the faces around her, watching them closely. Zero walked with his hands fisted within his pockets. Hatred and revolution churning inside him at the feeling the smell of the creatures surrounding him invoked. His eyes drifted up the wall of the building, knowing, one more monster lay within, hidden in the shadows.
Kaname gestured Yuki closer.
"Come sit with me, Yuki," he encouraged. Many glares hit Yuki's back at this, feeling the force of the jealousy and loathing like a slap. She turned to Zero, looking for permission to accept or decline the offer of a seat. Why? She wasn't sure, but he was turned away, forcing her to decide for herself.
"Umm… No, I'm…?" Yuki didn't want to seem rude and was embarrassed enough, but it seemed Kaname was adamant.
"Yuki."
With the command clear, Yuki sat stiffly beside him, flinching, and stilling like a statue as he swung an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his side.
"The safest place for you is here, next to me." Kaname settled Yuki beside him, letting the silence build the tension before he spoke again, directing his words towards Zero. "I'm sorry you and Yuki got caught up in all that today, Zero. I would never have imagined you'd have been in that part of town, though."
Zero scowled. He didn't like Vampires, he despised Purebloods, but he hated Kaname Kuran with a passion.
"I wonder, why you were there at all." Zero's expression darkened further at the accusatory tone. He'd left Yuki in the ice-cream parlour alone, when a waitress had mistaken him for a bloodsucker, and it seemed the almighty Pureblood had gotten wind of his mistake.
Yuki's heart thudded in her chest, like a rabbit caught by a fox, as Kaname pulled her impossibly closer. His quiet voice lulling her into a slightly breathless daze.
"That Vampire wounded you too. That must have hurt?"
"No, I hurt myself on the wall, he didn't bite me."
Kaname's gentle hand landed on her injured elbow, drawing it towards him, and pulling her blazer sleeve back to get to the cuff of her white blouse.
"Ex-Humans shouldn't have been made at all, in my opinion. I question my decision with Miss Nakamura, daily." Yuki's eyes widened at hearing Kaname regretted his hand in saving Akane's life.
Her senses, returning enough for her to notice Kaname had undone the cuff of her blouse and rolled the sleeve back to reveal her bandaged arm. He carefully unwound her bandage, and offhandedly began to explain more about ex-Humans.
"Years ago, when the warring and hatred between Vampires and Hunters was at its peak, many sought to turn Humans to outnumber the enemy, so many were created. Now, we in the Noble and Pureblood class, have an obligation to manage those left from that time, and on most occasions, this means we eradicate them."
"Hunting Vampires is a Vampire Hunters responsibility!" Zero interjected, a hard frown set in place. Kaname ceased undoing Yuki's bandage to look at Zero from the corner of his eye. He was annoyed at being interrupted, it was clear in his expression, but Zero was unafraid of the glower as the Pureblood faced him, taking his time to respond to Zero's challenge.
"Then why didn't you kill him?" Zero's heart stopped. He hated Kaname so much because Kaname was always right. He'd had the opportunity to kill that Vampire. He was more than capable of taking on a single Level E, yet he'd hesitated.
At the Hunter's silence to his rebuttal, Kaname returned his attention to Yuki.
"Let me erase the pain." Yuki watched, transfixed as Kaname lifted her arm to his lips and kissed the sore scrape on her arm.
"K-Kaname?" Zero's amethyst eyes hardened at Yuki's uneasy whimper. He watched closely as the Pureblood kissed the dried blood from her wound. It appeared, however, Kaname was not through with the Hunter.
"Or, perhaps you pitied him, Zero?"
The reaction had been instant. Yuki was sure, if she had so much as blinked, she would have missed it. Zero had brandished his weapon and pointed it at Kaname's head, poised and ready to fire, while Seiren's hand was held at Zeros' throat, ready to slice through his pale flesh at a moment's notice. The rest of The Night Class remained where they stood but their postures had stiffened, ready to attack if called upon.
Yuki's breath quickened as the tension built but daren't moved away. She glanced between Kaname and Zero, afraid to turn her head away from one to the other, watching blood slid down Seiren's fingers from her nails, embedded in Zero's neck.
"It's alright, Seiren," Kaname said, to which his guard, obeyed and removed her hand from the Hunter's throat and returned to her place by Kaname's side at once. "I was out of line."
"Zero," Yuki pleaded. With great hesitancy, he lowered his gun and returned it to its' holster.
Ichijo deflated after releasing the breath he'd been holding, dropping his shoulders in relief.
"So terrifying," he muttered to no one in particular, but it was Aido's angry voice that answered.
"Kiryu, that bastard! How dare he point that thing at Lord Kaname. Cutting him to ribbons wouldn't be enough!"
"Forget it Aido. You can't do anything about it anyway," Ichijo said, trying to calm the blond to more of a simmer rather than the raging indignation he was currently displaying. Maybe I should pretend to wave Miss Nakamura over?
"I'll grin and bear it for as long as we're at the academy," Aido conceded quietly but continued with a raised voice to make sure he would be heard over the quiet mutterings around them. "I won't go against Headmaster Cross or his dream of pacifism. However, the only reason any of us are here is because of Lord Kaname!"
Yuki was surprised by the sudden realisation Aido's words had stirred.
"Kaname's a Pureblood!" That's why Zero…! A Pureblood killed his parents! Kaname placed Yuki's arm back on her lap and leant forward, to look her in the eye.
"You sound like it's the first you've heard that?" Of course, Kaname knew this not to be the case but seeing her expression, filled with fear and realisation, soured his mood a little. She looked as if the thought that he was dangerous, had never once crossed her mind, until now.
"Scared?" he asked when she stayed quiet.
"I've always been a little afraid of you," she admitted, guiltily.
"Ok!" Ichijo cried, clapping his hands to get everybody's attention. "Has everyone forgotten, this is my birthday party and Yuki and Kiryu are my guests? So, let's have some fun!"