The sun was high in the sky as I leaned on the fence behind me. The breeze cooled my warm face and the smell of grass and hay wafted throughout the pasture. I looked on as the students took their turns on the school's horses.

I wasn't used to this feeling of leisure even at my best. Oddly, it felt like something was wrong when everything in this exact moment couldn't be more perfect. For the people in this pretty picture it might've applied to them, but I felt something in the air. It was small, miniscule even, but I could almost taste it. Something was brewing, something was in the works. Instinctually I knew that we were only at the tip of the the whole thing, and I had no idea what that thing was going to be.

"Here."

I whipped my head around and out of my thoughts, "Thanks." I reached out to grab the water bottle offered by the petite girl standing in front of me.

She plopped down next to my side, took off her riding helmet, and rested her hands on her knees, "You look deep in thought."

I shrugged at her suggestion and took a swig of the lukewarm water. We both stared forward as the horses trotted around the circled perimeter.

"You seemed pretty natural out there, have you ridden before?" Yori asked. I wasn't really used to small talk, but a decent answer was worth the trouble. The girl was sweet. We didn't talk in an abundant amount, though it was mostly due to our own tendencies to not say a lot in general. Being roommates we still had the occasional conversations and the semi-frequent lunches together. I had learned to appreciate her presence, she was kind and didn't try to pry. I liked her, Yori made me reevaluate my generalizations on high school girls in which she had not fit in at all.

"No, just naturally athletic," I replied, still looking at the horses.

"Oh," she said sounding slightly surprised.

I took a look over to Zero who was flourishing in the agility course with a certain familiar white horse. Some guys on the side were cheering him on and a small group of girls were making tiny gestures to each other while taking quick peeks.

"Most hunters are."

"Oh," she said again sounding more surprised at the fact I had brought up hunters at my accord. I figured she hadn't been too informed about the world her best friend was now a part of so I could at least share with her a minimal aspect of it. I also figured that ideally the Association would appreciate if I didn't tell this kind of information to a young human girl, but I honestly didn't care. Yori had not done anything yet that would warrant any kind of distrust from me, and besides, what could she tell any vampire that they wouldn't have already known about?

"We have vampire blood in us, some more than others. That's why we can heal a little faster than normal, why we can sense them, and why we're able to kill them," I turned my head over to gauge her reaction.

Her eyes had become bigger and the only emotion I could get from her was curiosity, "There's vampire blood in you?"

I continued to answer her question, "A long time ago when vampires first manifested themselves, the human race began to greatly diminish, but there was one vampire who wanted to assure our survival."

"Why is that?" Yori quirked her head to the side.

"She respected them. To her they weren't just bag of meat waiting to be devoured, she saw them as something precious. I like to believe that she us as equal beings."

"That's a nice sentiment."

I nodded and briefly smiled, "She gave them a chance to fend for themselves by giving them her own blood. Most died by the toxicity of its nature, but the one's that survived became the first hunters. Her final act was throwing her own heart in a metal furnace, providing us the tools necessary to protect ourselves. She sacrificed herself to give us a chance."

Yori lips tugged upwards in a small grin, "I never knew that."

I chuckled lightly, "I worked that out. I thought you would be interested, though it's not really information that's relevant to you."

She shook her head and patted her hand on my shoulder, "No, that was…would it be too much for you to tell me more about… those kind of things?"

"Probably not anything that's actually important, but if you have any other questions, I would be happy to answer them, if I'm able to."

She brought her hands together and rubbed them, "So, about Yuki?"

"No," I put a hand in the grass and started to pick at it, "Sorry."

She hung her head lower and bit her lip, "That's alright."

I sighed and threw some of the grass as it caught in the wind, "If there's anything that I can tell you, I will."

Yori looked up again and with a small smile resting on her face, "Thank you."

"If you don't mind me asking," I took at her and she shook her head, "how did you guys become friends in the first place?"

She brought her knees closer to her chest and rested her head on the fence, looking up at the clear sky, "When I first came to Cross Academy, my father caught wind that my roommate was to be the Headmaster's adopted daughter. Being the man he is, he told me to get along with her, in case he could get something out of it in the future. I told her that and," Yori paused, and breathed out a small giggle, "Yuki was so happy that my father had even thought to worry about my roommate, she announced that he a good person for doing so. To be honest I thought she was a little bit of an idiot at the time, but right after she asked me if we could be friends."

I nodded along with her story, silently taking in the Yuki Cross Yori knew, when she was still human.

Yori grinned gently and looked back to me, "Yuki was always kind, never had an attitude, and loved to laugh. She's a good person, and I know she is even now… So, Seina, I hope that you would think that too, she's a good person."

I hesitated but replied anyway, "... I'll try."

"Thanks… again," she said, glancing back at the horses trotting along.

I gripped the grass beside me, thinking of the complexity of the world I lived in. The world Yori should have had nothing to do with, but was sucked in unknowingly, and worrying about a best friend she had no contact with.

I couldn't forget the fact that Yuki Cross was now Yuki Kuran, a pureblood. There was no sympathy to be given to vampires, but somehow a tiny seed was wedged in the back of my mind and I couldn't for the life of me, remove it.

A gunshot echoed through the dark alleyway. I whipped my head over and ran towards the sound, leaving a pile of gathering dust behind me, "Got him?"

"Yeah," Kaito yelled from the other end, "Soseki Sano, been on the list for the past 3 months, killed at least two more people just this week. And you?"

I sheathed my short sword back in the holster attached to my side. Though I usually used my pistol, I prefered to not make unnecessarily loud noises in the middle of the night. "It's all clear," I said, walking out the alley and to the street light.

Kaito trailed behind me, I could hear the rustling of his jacket as he put his gun back where it belonged. The sounds of his steps soon stopped and I looked over my shoulder to see why, "Coming?"

"I'm going to head back to headquarters, see what Zero's up to."

He stepped into the light and I could better see the bags under his eyes, probably from the numerous nights just seeing what Zero's up to.

"His paperwork, isn't your paperwork, you know. You can't keep following him around like he can't take care of himself, because he can," I sighed.

He crossed his arms and pursed his lips, "I know that, I just want to make sure he knows that too."

I quirked a brow, "What do you mean?"

"He lost his one lifeline to humanity last year," Kaito ran his hand through his hair, "I'm trying to become some insurance for him."

"You can't do that while looking like that," I pointed at him, "like you're about to topple over from sleep deprivation."

Kaito shook his head and waved me off, "I'm fine, I don't need to… sleep."

I frowned and fisted the hem of my jacket, "More like you don't want to?"

He shook his head again and tensed his jaw. The night I spent at his place flashed through my mind.

"Kaito…" I closed the distance between us and gripped his sleeve, "I get it, trying to run around and make sure everyone else is alright, I do, but you have to looks at yourself first. What can you do when you can't even do anything for yourself?"

"I'm fine," he said, gruffer than before.

"I'm right and you know it," I narrowed in with more conviction, "Especially after that night."

He winced and I continued, "Telling Zero to visit Ichiru to regain his composure, after all these years have you ever seen Taito's grave?" I knew my words stung, but he needed to hear it, whether he liked it or not.

Kaito pulled away from me, "What about you, Seina. What about Rin, your mother?"

Hearing her name felt like a cold stab and my eyes widened at him as I couldn't find anything to say.

"I know there is a reason none of her pictures are up anymore and I know that her name is taboo around you. You act like it's okay, but it's not and it never has been since then. Yagari and your father have been able to accept what happened, but have you?" Kaito said quickly, in a hushed yell.

I grasped my locket and tried to speak up, "I… I…"

He clenched the bridge of his nose and huffed as we stood silent and motionless.

Before I could find the words he did, his voice noticeably softer than before, "I'm going to headquarters." I felt the warmth of his hand on my shoulder for a brief moment, "Just get back safe."

I watched as he walked off into the darkness of the street, my hand trembling as it clutched onto the cold locket.

Kaito was right, I was right. I wanted to save him too, to become the same person for him as he was trying to be for Zero. We were both hypocrites, denouncing each other for the same actions, while doing the exact thing we said not to do.

I took a heavy breath, calming down, feeling a surge of uncertainty that wasn't there before. A hint of anger at his words managed to manifest itself too. We were also both in the wrong.

My hands clenched into a tight fist, popping my knuckles. I turned away from the direction he was walking towards, with unclear resolve. I couldn't trust myself to go back to the academy, the risk of Toga getting involved in this tiny altercation was too high.

I think it was time for a visit back home.

A/N: Thanks for reading, following and favoriting this little labor of love. I appreciate it!

Juliedoo: I'm always happy to hear from you! Thanks for reviewing again! And right, that scene was golden.

nebulaX: Thanks so much for that. I love Kaito and I want him to get some of the justice to his character that he deserved in the series, though I know his overall part was pretty small. Since you liked that, I hope you like this chapter too, though their little tiny fight was pretty short.

Love you guys,

-Vanesky