All italics are from Zero's point of view! ^^

I practically tore my jacket off in frustration as soon as I entered my dorm room before I collapsed onto my bed. I rubbed my forehead with my fingers, wishing for the annoying pain to go away. I could still see Chou's angered and hurt expression in my head. Maybe I was too harsh on her. No, I wasn't... it was all her fault for prying into my private life... or maybe...

The taste of blood. I quickly clambered over to the sink and rinsed my mouth before inspecting the wound. I had bitten my own lip. Teaches me right for being short tempered. Yuuki would scold me for... Wait, what? I stared at my own reflection in the dirty mirror; a look of surprise stared back at me. Maybe Chou is right... I think about Yuuki way too much. But I'm not the only one who did wrong here... that kid... What had she been doing during the time that she was gone? Is it a lie that her goal was to find out about the past of her kind and settle matters about her family?

The child... he had purple eyes and black hair... tch... the black hair is definitely from Chou. But who's the father? I still can't believe she would betray me... Anyways, I should apologize and try to talk it out with her. I sighed and stepped away from the mirror and dived into my mattress once more. I glanced up at the tiny window to see that it was still light outside. I wonder what Chou's doing right now...

Before I could even get a wink of rest, a sharp knock on my door brought me sliding out of my bed again. I trudged over to the door and opened it up a bit; just enough so that I could see the intruder. I glared out the crack to see Yuuki's never-losing-brightness smile making me want to slink back into the darkness. Before I could ask why on earth she was in the boy's dorm, she grabbed my sleeve. I stared down at her hand on my shirt before glaring up at her again. I could tell there was a puzzle expression on my face because she chuckled a bit.

"I want to talk to you about something," she said, "May I go in?"

Great, she prepared a lecture for me about skipping class. Just the best way to make my day so much better. Even though I knew that I would probably not listen to half of what she would say, I let her inside my room. I had a strong pang of guilt attack my gut as soon as Yuuki took one step into my dorm. What would Chou think? No, wait... It didn't matter anymore. We are over anyways.

"Fancy meeting you here, Chou-chan," a brown haired boy walked over to her with light steps as soon as Zero was out of sight.

The half-blood shifted Aoi securely in her arms before wiping her tears. "I had a feeling that you were alive all this time. I was a fool to think you would let yourself die so easily," she muttered, not even bothering to look back at him. She already knew who he was.

"Well, I guess," he shrugged, "I didn't really want to be saved, especially by a kid. And I didn't like hiding like a coward either. Speaking about kids..."

Chou glanced over at him and smiled, "You've changed quite a bit. A vampire now, aren't you?"

"Changing subjects, are we? You've gotten crafty, Chou-chan... What was your other name again? Anyways, yeah, the brat made me one two days ago. I'm still getting used to all this supernatural stuff."

"How... How were you able to survive, Kei?"

Kei laughed, "You know already, don't you? It's that kid's power or ability whatever you call it-"

Blood spurted out of his mouth before he could say anything more and he looked down to see Chou's hand embedded into his chest. He grinned and croaked, "You know... we could've talked... for a bit more..."

The girl lightly pressed Aoi's head to her chest so that he wouldn't see the bloodshed and she twisted her hand, feeling a warm throbbing mass on her palm. More blood splattered onto the ground.

Noticing Chou's protective action, Kei said, "You... you're really a... mother now? You... can't... hide the blood... from him... your kid.. forever... you know..."

"Sorry, I don't like speaking to beings I hate... and you just happen to be the third person I despise the most," she muttered and ripped her arm out of his chest, causing his body to fly back in a shallow arc before turning into dust. Chou glanced down at her child to see that he had been sleeping amidst the violence and she sighed in relief. She raised her bloody arm to see that the poison in her nails had already started to decompose Kei's heart.

Chou dropped the organ and grinded it with the sole of her boot as soon as it hit the ground. Kicking it aside, she turned towards the direction of Cross Academy.

"Time to meet the traitor."

"Hey, Zero..."

"Hm?"

"Why did you skip class!?" Yuuki yelled, flailing her arms.

I gave her my "what-the-heck-look" and sighed, crossing my arms across my chest. I looked around, trying to find something else to focus on. The bed, dirty floor, cracked mirror, sink, shadows... and more shadows.

"Did something happen between you and Chou? I noticed she skipped class too, but didn't come back yet..."

I just turned away, not really feeling like talking anymore. Before I could get the smallest chance to escape, Yuuki called out to me.

"Zero, did.. did you break up with Chou-chan? Why? You two seemed so happy together..."

As soon as she said those words, I could feel her naivety and slyness start to disgust me. I know she had turned strange after she became a filthy pureblood, but still... she changed way too much. Is she really the girl I became so attached to?

"It's none of your business," I snarled. I desperately wanted to leave... now.

Seeming to be aware of my temper starting to rise, Yuuki shook her head, "Anyways, that's not really what I wanted to talk about. I want to talk about Chou... and the half-bloods in general."

I blinked rapidly, suddenly interested. Half...bloods?

"I tried to research about them in Cross Academy's library, but there wasn't a single book about half-bloods or anywhere else... so... I kinda sneaked into Kaname-sama's room."

I gave her an unamused look, trying to tell her to continue onto the actual information.

"I found out that... Half-bloods were the first ever vampire slayers. Their prowess, speed, and longevity of life helped them create the first hunters... and breeding with humans lead to the types of slayers we have now. Before the true era of the vampire slayers started, there was a war between the half-bloods. One half, the to-be hunters, sided with the humans, whereas the other half sided with the purebloods."

"But... Why? Why would the half-bloods side with the vampires?""

"That's because..."

"What are you doing here?"

"To pick up my kid," Chou bluntly replied as she trudged over to Ichijo Takuma. He was holding the sleeping Aoi in his arms.

"You smell of blood... vampire blood."

She turned towards the speaker and said, "Then you probably know what happened... Kuran."

Kaname turned away from the windows and muttered, "So you did murder that vampire and his master..."

"Wait a minute, you mean you found out about Sora and Kei...?" Ichijo trailed off.

"That's right. I was a fool for being deceived by that traitor. He begged for his life, saying that he was merely interested about the man who killed his brother, Ryuu. Sora's ability of illusion tricked me until the very end. I remembered after I slayed him that Ryuu never had a brother. He was an only child. Besides... what are you doing here, Takuma?"

"I was just talking with Kaname here, like the old days!" he chuckled in reply.

"Kuran, I accept your proposal," Chou announced, slowly approaching him. "Like that time hundreds of years ago, I will fight by your side as your half-blood servant. I will remake the contract with you. However, you will provide me with life and protect Aoi."

"The half-bloods each had their own pure-blood master, whom they make a contract with. Unless the pure-blood is killed, they must obey their every command. And if the half-blood dies before their master and the pure-blood lives long enough, the servant will reincarnate and return to him," Yuuki explained.

"Agreed. Then, I will give you your first command," Kaname said.

Chou winced as she felt something being carved into the back of her hand. She looked down to see that the pureblood was no longer in front of her, but at her side, the blood from the cut he just made on his finger shifting to etch his symbol into her skin.

"You will not kill Yuuki, or even have any intentions of hurting her," he commanded.

Chou slowly knelt on the floor and took one of his hands into hers. She lightly kissed it and said, "Yes... master."

Sorry for the late update! Hope you enjoy! 8D