AN: Thanks loads for your comments, favs, alerts that really cheered me up! (Real life has given me a rather hard hit and I'm doing my best to recuperate.) Also uni is going to start for me so I apologise beforehand for the lateness in uploading the coming chapters.

I don't own VK.

Sorry about the choppiness of this chapter but various things are occurring simultaneously...

# CHAPTER 17

"You know, I still can't believe that Zero and Seiran are 'an item'! I was seriously heartbroken when I saw both of them…"

"Yeah, I know! And now I'm wondering…who's the one on top?"

"It must be Ze – "

Seiran shut her eyes, her eye brow twitching and willed her mind to block out what the Day Class girls were gossiping about her and Zero. She didn't want to regret not going after Shana after their classmate saw them being rather intimate…but curse the extra sensitive hearing she had to get used to as a vampire! Her hearing was already on the sharper side as a 'human' vampire hunter, but now as a pureblood reawakened…sounds were magnified a hundred fold! Hello, don't they have any homework to do during free period?

Good thing Zero's hearing isn't that sharp…right?

Zero had glared at the gossiping Day Class girls which frightened them enough to shut them up.

Momentarily.

And then his lilac eyes met her cerulean blue ones for a fleeting moment before both of them looked elsewhere, very much the blushing shy couple.

Damn…so Zero had also heard the provocative conversation…

"Did you see that stare both of them gave each other? It sent electrical signals up my spine! Oh…yaoi love…"

"Although I'm still upset, but I have to admit…they are good together! Hawt…!"

"Sigh…why do the most good-looking Day Class guys have to be gay? If any of the Night Class guys were gay, my heart would be shattered! Imagine Aidou-senpai being gay…oh, the shivers!"

Aidou sneezed, rubbing his nose as he continued his 'beauty' sleep. Kain shook his head, getting up to collect his cousin's blanket which was on the floor before draping it onto the blonde and getting back to sleep himself.

Yeah right…and what about some of the XXX stash you have…? Seiran grumpily thought. The collection of photos you photoshopped?

Meanwhile, Zero's ears went pink again at the conversation. Honestly, are the Day Class girls this brainless? All they ever think about is…Okay, I am not going to think about that! It's not like I don't have a frigging problem trying to control my feelings already! He turned to glare at those girls again but his action was distracted by Seiran getting up from her chair and leaving the noisy classroom.

"Hoi, Kaede, where are you going?" demanded their class representative.

Seiran lazily flicked a hand through her hair, a move making some Day Class girls swoon and Zero wanted to roll his eyes. "It's a bit too noisy for me to study. I'll be back before the next study period starts, sumimasen."

Zero wondered if he ought to go after her, but he decided not to fuel more fiery rumours. If they can already talk about body positions, that means they can think of a lot more…explicit stuff…

Shit…

"Hey, Kiryuu!"

The silver haired teen turned to his left to see their assistant class representative hold out a memo to him. "Sensei Yagari wants to see you."

Zero took the memo, saying his thanks and left class.

Chatter in class increased upon noticing both Seiran and Zero leaving the class although for different matters.

Yori shook her head, feeling sorry for both her friends but at the same time made a mental note to remind herself and Hanabusa to not be too conspicuous when dating.

In the library, the pureblood hid herself in between some shelves, enjoying the peace and quiet. What on earth was that all about? What 'who's on top or bottom'? She'd barely gone second base with Zero yet, despite this one time when…

Lunch break and they were both in the stables. Zero was lying on fresh hay while Seiran was busy reading through her Advanced Chemistry essay. And then Zero suddenly decided to get somewhat playful, snatched her notepad.

"Hey! Give it back – I have to submit it this coming Friday!" Seiran made a grab at it and missed, only to land perfectly into his arms and soon his mouth was on hers hungrily while his hands were going under her blazer…

Beep! Beep!

It was Seiran's digital watch. Lunch break was over.

"Zero! It's almost time to get back to class! If we don't hurry we'll get into trouble!" she screeched at him, scrambling to her feet and grabbing her essay tossed nearby.

Zero yawned, not moving an inch. "Geh, Maths class…I'll be sure to fall asleep anyway…Doesn't make much of a difference whether I get detention for sleeping in class or playing truant…"

"Don't be so lazy, Sleeping Beauty! Otherwise I won't wake you up tomorrow morning and no good night kiss tonight too!" She stuck out her tongue at him before dashing off.

"Oi!" Zero got to his feet, muttering curses about how his 'moment' with her had been disrupted. She hid a smile.

Oh…

Surely they didn't mean…?

Hell, this was a joke – she had been one of the top Biology scorers in her class and yet she seemed to have forgotten entirely about the topic of 'Sexual Reproduction' – the topic which seemed to turn most boys horny…except that it was in the context of guy x guy love, hence the question of who was dominating…

Kaede, your denseness knows no bounds…

Part of it was because Sexual Reproduction was one of the topics for this years' syllabus that she skipped because she wasn't in the Day Class Biology lessons any longer, moving to the Night Class Anatomy and Physiology course. And the A and P course hadn't reached the same topic yet. But I never knew girls could get so turned on by that kind of stuff as well…

Seiran sighed, shaking her head. There she was again, being extremely clueless about all these kinds of relationship matters. Now wasn't the time to think about those kinds of things despite being in a relationship.

Her ODV2 work wasn't as smooth as she liked because she was facing various problems of how to coil the thin threads into the small hole of the dart she created, how to fit a spring as well as eject those threads…and how to ensure those ejected threads weren't entangled but could wrap up something.

Still…

Did Zero date a robot instead of a girl…?

The sound of a smack landing on a shelf of books and a sigh reverberated throughout the empty library.

"Sensei, you wanted to see me?" enquired Zero at the staff room.

The one eyed hunter was looking outside, looking at the academy's tranquil environment and smoking a cigarette – he was taking a short break from going through the vampires' secret records. "Zero, has Seiran been showing any strange behaviour lately?"

Zero dashed to stand behind his master. "What do you mean?" he demanded, sounding panicked.

Still, Toga Yagari didn't look at his protégé. "It's nothing to worry about, Zero. It's just that…there is a possibility that she may be suffering from PTSD but she may not realize it. On the outside she seems to be fine, but…" His breath hitched and he couldn't continue. It was hard enough maintaining his own attitude and the reality of what was occurring.

Luckily for him Zero took his pause in as though he wanted Zero to understand what he meant to say. "Sensei, so far she's fine. I'll keep an eye on her, so don't worry alright."

Yagari nodded.

Merely out of curiosity, Zero asked, "Are there any new cases you're working on at the moment, Sensei?"

Zero's master nearly choked on his cigarette but he hid it by removing the stick and clearing his throat. His other hand that was in his trouser pocket was clenched into a trembling fist. "I'm just documenting cases at the moment," he replied, glancing briefly at his charge, hoping that Zero couldn't sniff through his lie. "Better return to class, Zero."

Zero nodded before leaving.

Yagari made sure Zero had really left the staff room before slumping on the window panes.

The secret brotherhood gathered again.

"Apparently the president already knows about those Level E murders," reported one of them.

"Who told her?"

"I heard it was Suou, and then the hag put Yagari in charge of the case."

As expected…Yagari is in charge… "So, Suou is on their side, huh?"

"It seems like it. For now, we should continue to observe the amusing matter. I'd like to see who the murderer is…if they manage to capture him…" A ruthless grin was on the hooded man's face.

"True, true…If we find out who it is, I would thank him for a job well done."

"I've forgotten, but how many deaths did all of you note so far? Including the ones that they've just discovered…?" asked another mockingly while the rest laughed.

"My friend, I believe it was…," he started counting on his fingers, "…twelve deaths altogether."

"And they've only noticed a fraction of it…"

"Ahh, it would be so much more interesting if that little wench has already been told of the news that the precious Level Es she tried protecting are being killed…"

"How are things at the academy, my boy?"

"Everything's peaceful here, Danna-sama."

Over the phone, the Mastermind smirked. "Excellent. Remember to keep an eye on both the prince and princess…"

"Hai, Danna-sama…"

Neiji ended the telephone call as soon as his room mate entered their room and he smiled in greeting.

"Were you talking to your guardian, Neiji?" asked Saitou as he removed his Night Class blazer and draped it on his chair.

Neiji's smile widened. "Yes, my guardian just wanted to know how things were at Cross Academy…"

"That's very nice of him! Some of our parents aren't really concerned about the academy. All they care about mainly is us studying together with Kaname-sama," Saitou remarked, taking out his homework.

"Of course. My guardian is…very thoughtful indeed…," agreed Neiji.

Saitou missed the dark look Neiji flashed in his direction.

"I'm not reading anymore of this!" declared Chairman Cross as he put the thick tome on his table. His eyes were tired due to having to decipher ancient texts – gibberish which he disliked ever since his old vampire hunting days. And the worst thing was he found absolutely nothing which was useful to link to the Orchid Murders or the copycat ones.

"Alright, we'll take a break," Yagari grudgingly said as he bookmarked the page he stopped on.

"Good! I'm going to make some tea!" Cross dashed from his seat but the one eyed hunter caught his ponytail and pulled him back.

"Not so fast, Cross…"

"But you said we'll take a break!" whined the chairman as he struggled to release his hair from his colleague's grip.

"I said we'll take a break from the books but not from the issue…Sit down!"

The Chairman pouted as he sat back in his armchair, his bluff caught. Damn! If he really managed to escape earlier, he wanted to take a loooong nap. Reading about bloodshed of innocents all for the sake of glory sickened him, because he was once like that – as the vampire without fangs (a 'title' jealous ex colleagues used to mutter behind his back because his hunting ability to capture and slay Level Es were uncanny) – albeit on a smaller scale and he didn't murder innocent parties. It had been Juuri Kuran who reformed him; which was the reason why he didn't agree with Yagari mentioning one of his assumptions that the Kurans were enemies with the Kaedes. If Juuri could give him a chance, especially when vampires and hunters were natural enemies, he didn't have any doubts about the Kurans being peace loving.

"So what else are we going to talk about? The exact methods we're using when we're going hunting tonight and the nights after?" he asked dryly. You slave driver!

"What, are your skills that rusty?" Yagari sarcastically answered. He knew Kaien Cross was irritated with him, and the feeling currently was mutual. If he had a choice, he'd rather tell Zero about the Orchid Murderer…but his charge was currently involved with Seiran emotionally…He eyed the person sitting opposite him, wondering why the man couldn't be a bit more serious.

Cross sighed, finally looking at his colleague properly. Yagari had shut his eyes, his hand pressing at his temples. The chairman's mouth parted slightly in a silent gasp of surprise when he realized that the one eyed hunter had an unshaved stubble for days and smelled like an ashtray due to overworking. It was one of these moments which made Cross realize he took his old friend very much for granted; that as firm as Yagari was, even the one eyed hunter needed someone to confide in.

"Let's take a break like you said just now. And I'll make us some tea. Really. And then we'll talk about the issue."

Yagari nodded, reaching out for another cigarette before Cross grabbed the cigarette box away from his reach. "You've had enough smokes for one day, Yagari."

"…Sorry…But I don't feel like discussing it any longer, Cross." Better the action than mere talk…

"Alright. It won't be a repeat of last year, Yagari."

Kaname crumpled Cross' letter before using his power to turn it into ashes and vanish. This is an interesting request…I wonder why…

Keep an eye on Seiran…

Hmm…

Lesson no. 18 : Great people usually have many enemies and few friends…