A/N: Sorry for the long-ish wait. I had to sit and plan out every little thing that happened this chapter! It'll probably be like this for the next few chapters, but don't worry. Any comments/suggestions? Feel free to tell me. And I'm looking for a beta, so don't worry about my writing style. It should get better with time.

Thank you for the reviews LEAD and Anonymous! I PM every registered person who reviews, so I'm not leaving you out DemonicAngel and Chicki Babe! Shizuka might get more love, don't worry ;)

Enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 2 – Into the Night

As much as she hated to think of it this way, Emika knew what time it was.

The sky was warm; a vibrant, sweet, mix of beautiful summer colors. Cries of joy and longing filled the air, and they were almost able to suffocate her as she and her classmates got closer to the gate. It was the first twilight of many to come... where nine students of Cross Academy's Night Class were to exit their dormitory, walk to the main study building, and receive admiration or praise along the way. The others had been through this a few times already. Emika had not.

"Oh, don't you just love them..." Aido sighed dreamily. "They're always so excited to see us."

The sound of the crowd only got louder. Emika stared at the back of his head, holding her strapped collection of books at her waist.

"It's almost like they think of you as celebrities... how strange," she said, clutching her books.

Ichijou turned his head back, smiling. "Try not to worry about them, if it helps you feel less nervous. No one means any harm, Emika. And there are guardians here to protect us."

She nodded to him, and took a deep breath. They had stopped at the gate now, and even though Ichijou told her there was nothing to fear, she still had the nervousness of anyone doing something for the first time. She swallowed, hoping this would be over soon.

"Oh, and we're not the only ones getting attention."

Aido turned for a brief moment, smirking. "You're one of us now."

And almost as if on queue, the gates opened. A girl with short brown hair, presumably one of the guardians, was the first person Emika saw. She looked back and forth between the suddenly controlled day class students and the night class students in disbelief. Shortly after, she stepped aside in defeat.

The group began walking, and as they passed, girls formally greeted the male night class students with their heads bowed. Hanabusa had said something, and unfortunately, the crowd of day class girls became... uncontrolled again.

A majority of them had cornered Aido, but there were a few who seemed to have eyes for the others. She looked on as girls stared in bewilderment at Akatsuki, and as others gazed longingly at Kaname. She felt the butterflies disappearing from her stomach as she realized no one had even noticed her...

But suddenly, her stomach had dropped entirely. On her left, was a face she dreaded to ever see again. It was a tall boy in the day class uniform, with dark brown hair and dark blue eyes, staring at her, with an eerie smile. She hadn't been able to see him before- not with all the excited girls in the way...

"But...It couldnt be," she told herself.

"It's not possible."

She hurriedly walked around to the front of the group, stopping by Ruka's side. Ruka was just standing there, waiting calmly for this to end, until she noticed Emika's worried expression.

"Is something the matter? You look startled."

Emika shook her head quickly, and smiled. "No, no. I just want to hurry and move on, that's all."

Ruka smiled slightly in return, moving a hand gently through her long, beautiful hair. "Yes, so do I."

Emika mentally exhaled, hoping that Kazuo couldn't see her now, if he really was there and wasn't a figment of her imagination.

She was among other vampires, anyway... He couldn't try anything, even if he had somehow slithered into Cross Academy. And there were guardians here, as well. She was safe.

"Ah! Please, don't crowd around the night class students!"

Unfortunately the only one she had seen so far was being trampled, and now, distracted and blushing at the caress of Kaname Kuran.

"Emi...ka...?"

She'd heard her name. As softly as it was called- almost as if on accident- she'd heard it. Her eyes scanned over every person around until she spotted it, the source of the voice.

"...Zero?"

Her books hit the ground.

Immediately, she was drawn to him. Her arms found their way around his body, and she was filled with shock.

"I... I can't believe it," she whispered. "I have so much to say."

That was the truth. She had so many things to say about what happened in the past, and she was geniuinely amazed that Zero could be here right now.

"You're alive." he said softly.

"And so are you..." Emika smiled a bit, but she was being overwhelmed by the urge to cry. "I'll start with hello... and, I've missed you. I've worried for you every day since we were separated, and... I'm sorry."

Zero held her tighter. "It doesn't matter. ...I..."

Suddenly, Zero pulled away. His eyes became serious, yet still able to convey a hint of emotion. They weren't as lenient as before, like when he was a child. They were guarded...

"What is it, Zero?" she asked, gripping her chest as gently as possible.

He looked past her, and his expression fell into an even more guarded state. He placed his hands back in his pockets, returning to his cooly composed stature.

"Emika."

She turned around, seeing Kaname and the others waiting for her. His tone was as gentle as ever, but she could sense an authoritative command in his voice.

"Please try not to distract the prefect too much while he is on duty."

"Ah... yes, Kaname. I apologize." She bowed to him quickly, and hurried back to the group of night class students.

As soon as they'd started walking, Emika looked to her right, seeing Zero. He was now beside the other guardian.

"Goodbye..." she smiled worriedly, wondering if she would see him again sometime soon. She hoped so.

. . .

The noise had begun to die down now that the night class was on their way inside the main study building, and Zero turned back around.

"The rest of you! Get back to your dorms! Now!"

Yuuki sighed in defeat as she watched the area around the gate become empty. "Ah... they scatter like mice... It's discouraging to watch you do this so easily," she said, hanging her head low.

Zero had been on his way back towards the academy, until Yuuki stopped him by his sleeve.

"Just one second! I also had something to ask."

He looked at her. "What is it?"

"Who was that girl you hugged?"

"A person from a long time ago," he answered.

Yuuki stared at him blankly, wondering why he wouldn't say more. They had lived together four years, and she still couldn't get anything out of him besides a vague answer or an insult... "I meant, how do you know her from a long time ago?"

Zero began walking again. "Her caretaker was killed."

It was obvious to Yuuki that he didn't want to talk more about it, seeing as he left her to piece the information together on her own. It wasn't like she wanted to intrude on his life- she never had. She only wanted to know him, and even after four years of sharing her constant open mindedness and positivity with him, he still shut her out of anything personal.

When would they ever be more than acquaintances who spent their childhood together?

. . .

Darkness had now taken over the skies, and the moon subtly illuminated the night of Cross Academy. Emika sat amongst more of the school's beautiful nocturnal students, near Hanabusa and Ichijo in the dimly lit classroom.

The teacher had just finished speaking about a special kind of tablet that would replace the students' previous diet of blood, wherever they were able to get it from.

"Drinking blood from an unwilling person on school grounds is strictly prohibited."

Hanabusa leaned into his hand, sighing. "That sucks. How else are we supposed to drink anyone's blood?''

Ruka, sitting on the desk in the row ahead of him, crossed her arms. "Idiot. Did you miss the 'drinking blood' part of the sentence? That means no drinking blood. Period."

He rose from his seat, slamming his palms onto the desk. "I know that, Ruka! Have you never heard of a joke?" Aido turned his nose to the opposite direction, calming down and taking his seat again. "But anyway, we'll never be satisfied like this. Especially not with that sweet smelling prefect running around."

"Hanabusa..."

Aido turned around to Akatsuki, frowning. "What? The smell of her blood is so tempting... If it weren't for that other stupid prefect, I would have-"

Aido was abrupty stricken silent, when Kain's eyes became averted. He turned back to face forward, sensing an aggressive, tensed prescence in front of him.

His eyes were as calm as ever, and his posture was very relaxed, but Kaname, currently, was not. "You would have what?"

Hanabusa suddenly found himself looking to the left, with a cold sting in his cheek.

Kaname walked out of the row, and took his seat near the window. The entire room was silent, looking at what had just happened, but Ruka only smiled.

"Ah... what were you were saying, Aido?"

"Stop it, Ruka." Akatsuki warned.

She only giggled in response, watching Hanabusa sit stiffly in his seat. That was all he could do.

"...Not to add insult to injury, Hanabusa, but..." Ichijo looked from Aido to Emika. "I suppose this shows you that you should never speak ill of Yuuki."

She looked at Hanabusa, seeing that he still hadn't moved. "...I see."

"Yes... Kaname-sama... you do seem to be interested in her." Ruka said.

He took his collection of books from Seiren, who had just arrived at his side. "I am. She means a lot to me, and I'd prefer it if she did not come to harm."

Ruka was taken aback by this, but the others in the room were mostly surprised.

"Do you understand, Ruka?"

"Y...yes." she answered.

Emika was amazed at the amount of control Kaname had over everyone. It wasn't as though she would ever try to oppose him, but, she didn't feel as though she needed such discipline, nor such a threatening tone to keep her in check. It reminded her of earlier... and she suddenly realized that it had already happened.

She turned around, seeing Kaname and the others waiting for her. His tone was as gentle as ever, but she could sense an authoritative command in his voice.

"Please try not to distract the prefect too much while he is on duty."

"Ah... yes, Kaname. I apologize." She bowed to him quickly, and hurried back to the group of night class students.

She inwardly shivered, wondering if he had some kind of power over her, or if she had just been genuinely sorry for distracting Zero.

"And that goes for the rest of you, as well. Do we have an understanding?"

"Yes, Kaname-senpai."

Eerily, the entire room answered in unison. Emika found herself among the zombie-like symphony, and she became even more worried. She hoped that this was just a strange coincidence. She couldn't be controlled, could she...?

. . .

Emika stopped to by a bench near a big window. She sat her books down, and stood in front of the glass in the empty hall. She peered through the window, looking over as much of Cross Academy as she could see from her position. It was probably sometime in the very early a.m.'s, she guessed, as it was still dark, but she knew midnight had already passed.

The evening was so pretty to her. Everything was shaded by the blue of night, but she could still see the trees, the buildings, the bridges, and all. She leaned her elbows on the windowseal, relaxing her chin in her hands. She wanted to go outside. Maybe tomorrow night after classes she could take a walk around the school grounds.

"Hey, Emi..."

Emika abruptly stood up straight, frowning at the ground below. She stared at the shadows unerneath the trees- something had moved. Something was down there, and something had called her name.

The shadows begun moving again, but this time, a figure stepped out from under them. It walked out into the area of light shone by the candle inside, and Emika made out a smile... the eerie smile from earlier.

"Ka...Kazuo?"

She blinked several times, and saw the same expression. It was Kazuo, standing below the window with his hands in his pockets, smiling at her like he'd just caught up with his escaped pet rabbit.

"What does he want from me," she whispered to herself. She hurried to press her back against the wall beside the window, clutching her chest.

Immediately, she grabbed her books and looked out the window again. He was still there, staring, but suddenly, he looked away. Emika looked in the direction his head was turned, seeing Zero.

He'd said something to Kazuo, and Kazuo laughed. Zero's expression remained stoic, and after a moment of silence, Kazuo walked towards him. Emika's heart sped up- what was he going to do?

She took off down the hall, dropping her books.

. . .

Emika ran as fast as she could, listening for any sound other than her shoes in the grass. She turned the corner of the building, seeing Zero in the very area she spotted Kazuo in.

"Zero! Where is he?"

Zero turned to her. "If you're talking about that student, he left already."

She stopped in front of him, looking past Zero. He was right; Kazuo had been exiting through the trees onto the pathway that led back to the dorms. He turned back and smiled again, but this time Emika frowned in disgust.

"What are you doing out here?"

Emika looked back at Zero, and told herself to calm down. "I was looking out of that window... and I saw him. He was smiling at me... then I saw him walking towards you, and I ran out here."

"Why?"

She shook her head and looked to the ground, realizing she'd done something stupid. Kauzo wouldn't dare attack anyone right now. "...I thought he was going to try to hurt you."

Zero's eyebrows wrinkled. "You know him?"

"Yes, but, I don't want to think about that right now..." She lifted her eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"I was taken here after that night. What are you doing here?"

"I came here to try to get away from my life... After what happened."

Then, Emika and Zero simply... looked at each other. There was a lot to say, and none of what Emika was saying now felt apropriate.

"Zero, I wish I could have done more. I tried to do something... but it wasn't enough. I'm so sorry..."

"You couldn't have changed anything. That woman was a monster... we were children." Zero said, looking away.

"...Are you alright?"

Emika stepped closer. She could see he was still very pained at the mention of that incident...

"I don't know if you still trust me, but I want you to know that I'm here for you. I haven't had so many positive experiences after that night."

He looked back to her, and their eyes met. "How could anyone?"

She felt that what he'd said carried an undertone of hostility, something she hadn't noticed in a very long tme.

"I don't know... But I'm here, and I can help fix that." She pulled him into a hug, sliding her arms around his waist.

"Things won't ever be the same..." Zero said to her flatly.

"I know that. But in that short time we were all together... we were so happy. A friendship like that should never be abandoned. I'll support you when you need me. But you have to be there when I need you... and you can't be stubborn."

Zero was silent for a short while, and then suddenly, he spoke lowly into her ear. "You should get going."

Emika let go of him, and stepped back.

"Right... I guess I'll see you later."

Zero had begun to walk off. Emika had started heading back towards the building, but for some reason, she didn't feel right about this talk she'd just had with Zero.

She turned back around, running towards him. He spun around, and was startled when Emika re-captured him in a tight embrace. "I meant it... I'm here for you. If it takes childish things like this to get you to realize it, so be it."

She then realeased him, and turned around to return to the building. She had only reiterated that she would be there, but somehow, she felt better than before.