I have no idea where this chapter was hiding *_*

"So wait a second, you're telling me, that you, Cross Yuuki, actually kissed Kuran-senpai? Kissed him?" Yori asked in quiet disbelief, her eyes wide with wonder. "Like on the mouth?"

I rolled my eyes. "Obviously, on the mouth. Where else? Why do you sound so surprised? Isn't that what you've been pushing me to do for years?" I laughed. Even though my getting rejected was a really sensitive subject, I had decided that I didn't want to keep things from my best friend anymore. And the look of awe on Yori's face was priceless.

The sun had already set behind the trees a long time ago. I had somehow managed to convince Yori that sneaking out of the house would be fun. She had protested at first, never being one for rule breaking-not wanting to get into any trouble, but I assured her that everything would be okay as long as we were together. After all, the Headmaster was my father. Plus he wasn't home at the moment to tell us no anyway. And since we didn't have class in the morning, and since it had been quite awhile since we've spent any time together outside of the Academy, she agreed. And I was intent on staying out as late as possible.

We'd done everything from shopping the local stores to eating dinner out at our favorite café. Now we were just wondering the streets enjoying ice-cream cones. We both shared the same obsession for ice-cream.

"Well come on, tell me about it, Yuuki! I mean, this is huge, like revolutionary. I want some details, every detail!" Yori exclaimed from around her cone. "What was it like, kissing Kuran-senpai?"

I adjusted the abundance of shopping bags on my arms to a more comfortable position, wondering for a moment why I bought so much to begin with-they were rather heavy and annoying to have to carry around. I always went a little overboard whenever I shopped. "Honestly, I thought that moment would be burned into my brain forever-our first kiss." I mused.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

I sighed loudly. "I initiated it. And I was rejected."

Yori was quiet for a moment, the sound of our high heels echoing off the ally. "I wasn't there with you, so explain." she insisted.

"Ugh! I snuck into the Moon Dorm because I was bored during my patrols and wanted some excitement for once and ended up in his room, then he was there and we were talking and I just decided to kiss him! It just happened! I really don't know what made me do it! He just looked so good and was standing so close-" the beginning came out in such a rush. I was urgent to tell her quickly, my rejection being an embarrassing subject to confess out loud. Then when I pictured that moment-pressing my lips so boldly to Kaname's-I looked down at my feet, blushing, not wanting to see her reaction. She waited patiently for me to continue. "But at first...he didn't push me away. So I assumed that everything was just fine and like he...I don't know...liked it as much as I did. But when I...when I put my arms around him he pushed me away."

Yori seemed to be deep in thought, making me nervous with her silence. It was a few minutes before she finally spoke up. "Well, Yuuki, maybe he wasn't actually rejecting you. Maybe you misunderstood him."

"Of course he was! What else could that mean? Pushing me away like that." I rolled my eyes dramatically, so embarrassed to be saying all of this out loud, even if it was to Yori. I knew she wasn't going to tell anyone.

"What did he say afterwards?"

"Nothing..." I looked away from her again, focusing on my ice-cream like it was so interesting. "I kinda...maybe...ran away."

She laughed loudly, covering her mouth with the back of her hand, the sound sudden and loud, making me jump.

"I don't see how any of this is very funny, Yori. I'm heartbroken over here!" I whined. "You shouldn't be making fun of me."

"Sorry sorry." she fought to compose herself. "But Yuuki, maybe he just didn't want things to go very far."

I blinked at her, dumbfounded. "That's stupid, like that sounds really dumb." not that I'm a strong believer of the 'guys only want one thing' stereotype, but it was just a kiss.

"I think he really cherishes you, is all."

I blushed deeper. "He's just a nice person." I argued. "He just doesn't want to see me hurt when he doesn't feel the same way..." There was just no way Kaname wanted to protect my innocence. That was too much.

We turned a corner and came to a street that was lined with luxurious looking cars, which didn't fit any of the surrounding buildings, all of which looked run down and mostly abandoned. I normally wouldn't go anywhere near this part of town-which was known to be slightly on the shadier side-but Yori and I weren't paying attention to where we were walking, completely absorbed in our current conversation.

The cars looked strangely out of place here, making me extremely curious as to what was going on. Yori didn't seem to notice it like I did. Or if she did, she wasn't saying anything about it, still completely engrossed in our conversation.

"I can tell by watching the two of you, whenever you're together he looks at you in a very particular manner. Like he wants to-"

"Hey Yori, isn't that Hanabusa Aidou? From school?" I cut her off when I spotted Hanabusa's electric blonde hair, pointing in the direction I spotted him in. His hair stood out in the dark of the night, glowing brightly from the faint light of the street lamps, sucking it all in. He was climbing out of a black limousine, helping out a younger girl after him with the same shade of hair, before heading into a building that I was confident he wouldn't be caught dead in. It looked abandoned, deserted, like it would come crumbling to the ground at any moment, from the slightest turn of the wind. Not Hanabusa's style at all.

"From the Night Class? Yeah, it kind of looks like him." Yori agreed, squinting to see farther, shielding her eyes with her hand as if it were sunny out, as if doing that would help her see farther. "I wonder what he's up to. He looks a bit overdressed to be going into a place like that...What do you think is in there? Yuuki?"

"Wanna find out?" I started in Aidou's direction without waiting for Yori's answer, tossing my ice-cream cone on the ground and tugging my black dress down when it started to ride up high on my thighs. The cone shattered against the pavement, splattering ice-cream across the sidewalk.

"Yuuki, wait!" Yori called out after me. I heard her cone hit the ground as well-which I found a little weird-since she was so against littering, even if ice cream was biodegradable. Her heels clicked loudly against the pavement as she lightly ran to catch up to me. "We don't know what's in there. We can't just go inside. We don't have permission! that could be someone's house-"

I laughed loudly. There was no way this was a house. "Of course we can. It's perfectly fine as long as we don't get caught. Loosen up a bit, Yori-chan. It will be fun. It's just Hana-chan, after all. He can't do anything even if he does catch us. What could possibly happen?"

"Still..." she argued weakly, chewing her lower lip. She didn't know Aidou like I did.

"It's fine! I promise!"

We wandered around the building until we found a private, narrow door at the back, hiding our shopping bags in the bushes before quietly heading inside. Yori asked if they would be safe there, since the part of town we were in seemed pretty shady and run down. I just shrugged at her, more interested in what Hanabusa was up to than to be bothered with our many purchases. If anyone really wanted to steal a bunch of teenage girls underwear and shoes, that was their issue.

Inside was a long stone corridor, almost like a basement or a dungeon. The air was damp and a little chilly. It also had a faint moldy smell to it. Yori shivered at my side, grabbing her shoulders.

"Yuuki, I'm not so sure about this..." she whispered anxiously.

I fished my cell phone out of my purse, turning the flashlight on so we could see our way better. A rat scampered across our path a few feet in front of us, making us both jump and gasp.

"We should go."

"Come on." I insisted, pressing us forward. We proceeded slowly, cautiously, weary of rats now. The only sounds were our heels clicking against the stone and the faint dripping of water.

I pushed the first door open we came across, on the left. Inside was nothing but cleaning equipment; a boom, a mop and bucket...

"Do you hear that?" Yori asked, grabbing my arm suddenly.

I strained my hearing, pulling the supply door shut, trying to hear what she was referring to. "Music." we could hear really faint ballroom music. "There must be a party around here somewhere." I commented.

"A weird place to host a party." Yori mumbled. "Why don't we go, Yuuki? It'd be rude to walk in on someone else's party."

I rolled my eyes at her. "Relax, Yori. Everything is fine. We're just having a look around, nothing more."

I pushed open another door farther down the corridor where the music seem to be coming from stronger. "Stairs." I grabbed Yori's hand and dragged her up the small, winding staircase behind me.

The higher we climbed, the louder the music got. There was a curtain at the very top of the stairs, separating the basement from the upstairs-where the music was coming from the strongest. Light cut sharply through the darkness from the separation in the middle. I put my phone away in my purse and looked back at Yori before stepping through.

This room was the complete opposite of the outside of the building, where it looked like it would crumble to pieces. Here, everything was alight and alive. The ceiling hung with crystal and pearl chandeliers, the walls were lined with rich silk draperies, the railing to the balcony that I was standing on was smooth marble. Tall, thick marble pillars lined the wall. From the tops of them were carvings of the most beautiful and detailed angels that could bring tears to your eyes. From the bottom were carvings of naked men and women entwined in the most erotic and tasteful ways. The high ceiling was painted in scenes that I imagined one would only see in the Vatican; the deepest, purest colors mixed and swirled, blending together in their own dance to create the most breathtaking images. The main staircase was huge, lined with a sky blue rug, outlined in gold. From either side of the railing sat a beautifully crafted candelabra, dangling shining crystals. And all of the men and women down below that were spinning and twirling together were dressed in rich suits and gowns that I've only ever dreamed about and were all people of the highest prestige and nobility.

And all of them were vampires.

My head snapped back in Yori's direction-the beauty of the room completely forgotton-terrified for her safety. I tried to keep calm, knowing they might hear it if my heart were to speed up, sensing that there were humans among them, nobility and civilized or not; I didn't know what might happen if we were found out. The music was pretty loud though, that at least, was in my favor.

I needed to get her out of here. "We should go-" I started to say before Yori cut me off.

"Yuuki, look." I followed the direction her finger was pointing in. "I think I see Kuran-senpai, over there."

Sure enough, Kaname had just descended down the main staircase and was addressing the large, bustling crowd that had gathered around him. People were flocking to him, fathers begging him to take their daughter in his favor, women complimenting him on this and that.

Yori chuckled, glancing in my direction and then back at the crowd. "My, would you look at that, he sure is popular."

My cheeks heated up and I felt a familiar pang of jealousy stab straight through my heart.

There was a girl speaking close to Kaname's ear now. I couldn't take my eyes off of the two of them, speaking in such an intimate way. Everyone else in the room seemed to be watching them too. They looked like lovers, so perfect and beautiful. I crouched down low to the floor, settling on my knees, dragging Yori down with me, trying to stay as much out of sight as I could, wanting to spy on them, wanting to know what she was to him. Just who was this girl?

She was very beautiful, like a doll, tall and willowy. She had flowing white blonde hair that fell in gentle, loose ringlets to her knees, it was so thick and lovely, the kind of hair that made other girls cry with envy. She was thin and so delicate looking, with so much pose and grace, with a body that I could only every dream of possessing. I self-consciously cupped one of my breasts in my hand while I glared at hers-wondering how someone so thin could have such a large chest and perfect curves. Her dress looked painted on. It was backless, strapless, and had a very high slit in the thigh. It was a lovely shade of silver though, even if the cut caused her to stand out among the crowd. She had such an air of confidence, that was probably what she was going for when she chose it. She belonged so perfectly in Kaname's world, unlike me. We were complete opposites. She put her hand on his chest then, leaning in even closer to his ear, smiling. My heart sank to my shoes.

They belonged together.

"I wonder who she is." Yori wondered out loud, gesturing towards the doll-like girl with a nod. Her tone was almost bitter, like she was voicing my jealousy.

"Excuse me, Miss Human?"

I turned my head at the soft, innocent voice.

A boy was standing a couple of feet away from me, staring, his head tilted slightly with curiosity. He was only a few feet tall and was probably only about five years old. He had deep, dark red hair, almost like the color of dark blood.

"Did you just say human?" Yori asked, but I could barley hear her. My blood was frozen in my veins and my ears were ringing loudly.

Yori moved towards him but I grabbed her arm in warning, knowing that this little boy was a vampire.

He closed the distance between us, a sweet smile gracing his lips.

This child had two different colored eyes.

He leaned down, very close to my face, his smile widening slightly. Those eyes had me trapped.

One ice blue and one blood red.

I knew those eyes.

He pressed his small lips against my forehead. They were ice cold.

-to be able to have been with you but-