Skipping class on the first day of school was never a good idea, but by the time lunch rolled by I had to get out of there. Kaseumi Kageyama, the class president, brought it upon himself to be my de facto welcome committee. It was nice of him, really, but he hovered and I wanted to punch in his glasses after the 5th time he came by asking if I wanted a school tour.

When Kaito called out Zero's name for attendance there was no answer and none of his fellow classmates even blinked an eye. It seemed skipping was the normal thing for him. I took it that missing the rest of the day wouldn't be the end of the world.

I drifted through the forest, letting my mind wander aimlessly.

My eyebrows knitted in concern when the school stables came into view. I sensed a vampire and as I got closer I could hear the noises of discomfort the horses were making. I walked in slowly, the only sounds that filled the air was the whining of the horses and a heavy breathing that I assumed came from Zero. He was struggling, no doubt about it, with his thirst.

I traced the gun under my skirt just in case the approaching situation became threatening. Carefully I turned into his view. He laid there panting, clutching the straw underneath him. A white horse was curled around him like a guardian.

"Zero."

He snapped forward, placing his arm on his knee. His amethyst colored eyes were covered by the silver strands that fell into his face. He needed a haircut.

He glared at me and I could see why the day class girls reacted the way they did when I asked about him. His face was handsome and a mysterious air surrounded him, but his gaze was cold and hard. I admit that it almost made me want to pull out my gun.

"You shouldn't be here," his voice was as equally chilling and laced with irritation.

I wasn't sure where I stood with him. He was a vampire now, but I knew that it didn't mean anything unless he became a level E. Some of the feelings from years ago suddenly resurged, the jealousy of the attention and devotion he had gotten from Toga clouded my mind. I felt like a child again.

I squared my jaw and tried to match his tone, "The rest of the horses seem really agitated, kind of scared, but this one seems so comfortable around you," I glared back at him directly, "it's almost primal."

His eyes widened in surprise, clearly understanding the meaning behind the word.

"Who are you?" He questioned.

"I'm a transfer student," the corners of my mouth curved upwards, "Seina."

I turned away and started for the exit, "Yagari."

I heard him shoot forward, I peeked back and he was glowering, advancing for me.

He opened his mouth, but before he got a word in, he was interrupted.

"Oh! Yagari-san, Zero-kun, I didn't mean to bother you two." Sayori Wakaba stood there hesitantly. She was petite and her short honey hair curved inwardly, framing her face and large brown eyes.

"That's alright, Wakaba-san," I grinned at her, "I was just leaving."

I sauntered away, trying to seem at ease, but really discreetly going as fast as I could without being obvious.

What was Kaito scheming?

I had just watched the whole exchange between him and Wakaba. I knew that she was one of the students that were allowed to keep her memories regarding last year's incident, but I didn't know that she had a friend who was a vampire. Now Kaito had promised to take her to tomorrow's ball, had he lost his mind?

He noticed my presence and smirked as he went over to me.

"You hear everything?"

I hit his arm, "Yes, what are you thinking of bringing a human along? Have you gone insane?"

He rubbed the spot I smacked, "I think we can manage taking care of one person."

"We?"

He dipped forward, placing his lips near my ear, "We," he whispered

I rolled my eyes and pushed him away. It was already a done deal, knowing him I couldn't do or say anything to stop him and we both knew that the two of us were perfectly able to keep one human safe.

"How are you going to explain it to Zero? He's definitely not going to like this."

He leaned on the wall and crossed his arms, "If anyone touches her, he gets the excuse to do anything he want. Kill, anyone he wants."

I hoped it didn't have to come to that. It was true though, I knew that Zero would love nothing more than to be able to get at everyone attending the party, he was so full of hatred and right now it was all aimed at two particular purebloods.

"What class do you teach here anyway?" I asked.

"Ethics."

"Of course."

I knocked on the heavy wooden door before me, "Can I come in?"

"Yeah," she called out, "You know you don't have to do that, after all this is your room too."

"Sorry Wakaba-san, you had the only room with an empty bed."

"No, it's nice," she looked wistfully out the window, "I miss sharing with someone."

The headmaster had told me just who her friend was and I felt for her. She must have been so lonely when her best friend was suddenly whisked away into an unknown world. Her friend did not turn out to be just any vampire though, but the top of top, a pureblood, a Kuran.

I've actually met Yuki once on a visit to the academy before Zero started to live there. She was so bright and lively, no one would've ever thought that she had turned out to be a vampire.

I went to my suitcase, and undressed putting on the dress for tonight, "Come on, I'll help you get ready for the ball."

She looked confused for only a second and then I saw the understanding appear on her face, "Are you a hunter?" She asked in a clear voice, unfazed. Clearly, she was a brave one, or maybe just extremely tolerant.

"Yes," I said as I brushed the top half of my hair to the back, pushing in several bobby pins to get it to stay in place. I left my face bare, except for the miniscule amount of mascara coating my lashes.

"You look beautiful."

I shot her a weak smile and chose to accept the compliment instead of arguing. She wasn't one for petty comments, I could tell.

"You're much cuter." I sprayed a little hairspray in to make it stay and place and motioned for to get up, "Do you have anything to wear?"

She stood and got out a simple long periwinkle gown paired with a light ivory wrap.

"Perfect," I looked her over and she was very much the epitome of natural beauty, but it was understated and I could tell the older she got the more exemplified it would become, "No need for any makeup or hair, just put it on."

I turned away to give her some privacy and waited until she was done.

"Okay."

I swung around and beamed, "You look great, I like the gloves."

She looked so delicate, and the dress seemed to bring out the grace and femininity in her.

"Thanks, that's a pretty necklace."

I nodded in agreement, and clutched it, "It was my mother's."

Her face was downcast clearly noting my past tense, "Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it was a long time ago."

There was a comfortable silence and I slipped on a pair of black heels. I grabbed my trench coat and made for the door.

"Let's go Wakaba-san."

She followed and lightly touched my arm, "You can call me Yori."

I gave her a soft look, "Call me Seina."

We briskly walked to the car where Kaito was waiting for us.

"Hello Takamiya-sensei."

"You both look nice," he said as he reached into the back of the car for something.

"You look pretty good yourself Kaito. What are you doing?"

He took out a large trunk, big enough to fit a small person.

I looked at Yori with sympathy.

"Are you ready?" I called through the thin walls as I stood in the old apartment.

The door opened and Zero stood there wordlessly buttoning his shirt. He shifted, giving me a path inside.

"I'm here to pick you up."

No reply, not to my surprise. I surveyed the room, it was sparse, but clean. There was a gaping hole in one of the walls, revealing a bed and nothing else.

"The headmaster told me."

I bit my lip, "About?"

"Who you are." He pulled at his sleeve and started to put on cuff links.

"Anything else?"

He motioned to the dress jacket lying on the chair in the corner, I got it and gave it to him.

"No, he said that's for you to say."

I could hear the faint hint of sadness in his voice. He had finally realized that his teacher and mentor, who he had known almost his whole life had never mentioned anything about me. I'm sure that it was an unsettling realization to realize his master was keeping such a big thing hidden for so long.

I gripped my necklace, "What do you want to know?"

"Why didn't Yagari teach you?" He was finished dressing and we stood there still, staring at each other. That really wasn't what he actually wanted to ask.

"In our family it's tradition to have our father be our teacher," I explained.

He interjected, "He's not a hunter."

"He was, he retired early, after my mother's death." I sighed, "Anymore questions?"

"Why have I never met you before?" That was the real question and his eyes narrowed in anger, "Why is it that everyone knows you, but me? Why didn't anyone tell me anything?"

I understood his feelings. It wasn't fair to have gone through everything he had and still be in the dark about certain things.

"I've always wanted to meet you… and Ichiru."

He tensed at the mention of Ichiru's name, I felt so bad that I had bring up more of his past.

"You know we're the same age."

His lips pursed in impatience.

"Your parents were really talented hunters."

He turned his head away and I could no longer see his face. I focused on the tattoo on his neck and continued talking.

"And that made them targets and unsafe, especially for a child to be around. Toga thought it would be better to just not let you both know about me rather than having to explain why I couldn't be around your family. He was planning to introduce us when we were all 13, and then," I paused and chose not to say what we both knew about, "you were adopted by Cross and… you know the rest."

His jaw clenched and he reached for his coat and darted out the room, "Let's go." His tone had relaxed a little.

He waited in the hall, holding the door open, I walked through and glanced back at him, "Thanks."

Kaito was leaning on the door of the car and tried to push down a yawn, "You guys took longer than expected."

Zero didn't say anything and climbed in the front passenger seat, closing the door abruptly.

"We talked a bit," I said.

I went up to the other door placing a hand on the handle, Kaito reached out and touched my wrist, stopping me. I halted, he towered over me and I peeked up at him, his face twisted in concern. His hand was warm, making me realize what a cold night it was.

"All you alright?" He asked gingerly, his breath turned into vapor.

I provided him with a sheepish grin, "I'm fine, I'm just glad Zero knows now," I peered at him through the car window, "He handled it pretty well."

Zero's palm covered his mouth and it looked like his eyes were closed in frustration.

"Good," he replied and he met my eyes. His hand went towards me and he delicately brushed a stray lock of hair from my face and tucked it behind my ear.

"You do look very nice tonight," Kaito's thumb lingered on my cheek and I could smell the small amount of cologne he had on.

I ducked backwards, my cheeks warming somewhat and I opened the car door.

"Thank you." I swiftly replied as I sat and closed the door.

A/N: Check out my pinterest Vaneskey, to see some of the outfits among other things involving this story, like her room and gun.

Thanks for reading, please review and follow!

xo

Vanesky