Chapter Two
Placement

Zero felt his eyes widen as Kaname made his announcement.

A pure-blood? How could a pure-blood end up here in her condition without notice? The vampire Council would have known about her. Even Kuran did not know of her existence. Does that mean that the Council doesn't know? Zero continued his thoughts as Yuuki stared at the frightened child and tried to think of a way to alleviate her fears. Yet she wasn't sure what the child was afraid of.

It couldn't be Kaname-senpai could it? She wasn't afraid of the rest of us, and Kaname had done nothing to her. So what is she afraid of? Yuuki thought.

The idea that Kagome was afraid of vampires, never even crossed Yuuki's mind. Why would a vampire be afraid of vampires? It didn't make any sense to Yuuki, so it never came to mind.

From the Chairman's point of view, he was shocked. He knew that she was a vampire, but he had no clue that she was a rare pure-blood. Looking at Kaname, he decided to ask him what they should do. Though, he really wanted to keep her to himself – she called him her otou-san! – he knew that someone must have been looking for her.

"Kaname-kun, do you have any idea what we should do with her?"

That was what Kaname was trying to figure out. She was obviously afraid of him, yet he knew not why, he had done nothing to warrant her fear. But he could not take her with him if she was scared. Her undeveloped powers could react to her fear and cause great destruction to the Academy. Before he could voice his thoughts, a knock came to the door. As the person was told to enter, everyone watched as Takuma poked his head in before smiling at Kaname and fulling entering. Shutting the door behind him, Takuma looked around at the group gathered curiously.

"Why is everyone here?"

"Ichijou," Kaname greeted. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh! The Night Class students were getting a bit anxious waiting for your return. I assured them that you would be right back, even though you have not been gone long, but they still seemed on edge. I am not sure why, but I feel a bit edgy myself. Do you have any idea why that may be Kaname-sama?"

Kaname had a hunch, and as he looked to the little girl clinging tightly to Kiryuu's pants, Kaname had to wonder at why she would put them on edge.

Takuma just noticing the small child, smiled at her and said, "And who is this cute little girl? I don't remember you adopting a child Chairman."

"I didn't yet, but I would like to adopt her. But we have to figure out what to do with her first."

Looking curiously at the Chairman, Takuma did not understand what it was they had to figure out. "What do you mean?"

"Ichijou, smell her scent and you should understand."

Not understanding, but trusting Kaname, Takuma took a step closer to the child, bent down, and took in a long drag of air through his nose. Once he sorted through all the dust from his nose, he was able to take in her scent. Eyes wide, Takuma spun around and looked to Kaname for assurance. Kaname nodded, and with that Takuma turned surprised eyes at the little girl.

Smiling widely at her he said, "Well, now I know why all the vampire are so high-strung. There was another pure-blood around and they had no clue. But where on earth did you find her? I don't remember any mention of a pure-blood of this age."

As the Chairman explained how and where he found Kagome, Kaname was taking in her reaction to Takuma. She seemed to shy away from him as well. When Takuma and Kaien got to the part where they were trying to figure out what to do with Kagome, Kaname intervened and suggested that they bring her to the Night Class that way she was with others of her kind. Though saddened at the prospect of Kagome leaving, Kaien agreed that that would be the best.

Takuma lowered himself to her level as he tried to coax her to come out from behind Zero's legs. She flinched away from his proffered hand and squeezed herself even closer to Zero. A few more tries later, and Kagome was near tears. Zero sighed when she pulled on his pants again.

"I don't think she wants to go with you," stated Zero annoyed that they kept trying, even when she was obviously afraid of them.

"Then what do you suggest Kiryuu-san?" Takuma asked politely as he stood up from his crouched position.

Zero shrugged uninterestedly, and said, "She could stay with the Chairman. He likes her and she seems to like him. Besides Yuuki would be there to help as well."

Kaname considered this for a moment before agreeing that she would stay with them until they could figure out where she came from and how she got in the woods. Once they were done discussing a few details, Kaname and Takuma bowed and left to deal with the anxious Night Class. For now they would leave the Council out of it. They did not need the Council to know of her for the moment, and it was more important now to keep her safe than to inform the Council of her existence. Especially if they had something to do with her hidden heritage.

As soon as the door was closed, Kagome released Zero's pants and moved to stand next to him. He stood looking down at her with his hands in his pockets and a small frown on his face. Now his pants would be all wrinkled. Not that he really minded much, but Yuuki would be trying to get him to iron them. Maybe she wouldn't notice? She did have Kagome to focus on after all, and wouldn't have time to be worrying over the appearance of his clothes.

His thoughts were interrupted with a small tug on his pants. Focusing back on the little girl at his feet, he silently asked what she wanted. She smiled shyly at him and curved a finger in a gesture for him to come closer. Giving a sigh, Zero complied and bent down to her level. What he wasn't expecting was for the small child to wrap her arms around his neck and hug him close.

"Thank you Zero-nii-chan." Surprised at her action, he was unable to respond right away. As she stepped away from him, he stood back up with a grunt.

Ruffling her hair and giving her a small smile, he said, "No problem."

She beamed at him and hugged his legs once again. She only pulled back when the sound of a person crying happy tears met her small ears. Turning around, she found the Chairman with streams of tears running down his face. Yuuki was looking curiously at Kagome, and Zero was glaring at the Chairman with a frown on his face.

Seeing that his son was glaring him, that Chairman decided that now would be the best time to explain what was going to be happening.

Clearing his throat, Kaien took on a semi-serious expression as explained, "Now that Kagome will be staying with us for an undetermined amount of time. We need to figure out how this is going to work."

"What do you mean Cross-san?" asked Yuuki curiously.

"Because I have much work that I have to do during the day, Kagome could not possibly stay in my office for that whole time. So I figured that during your classes and in-between, she could hangout with either of you two. And since she is apparently afraid of vampires, I can watch her while you are guarding the Night Class. And of course at night she would sleep in her room. Any questions? No? All right, now we need to make a list of the things that Kagome-chan is going to need while she lives here. And tomorrow you two will take her to town. Agreed?"

"Yes!" Yuuki answered enthusiastically. Zero just grunted. He was still trying to see the logic in bringing a seven-year-old child to a class full of high schoolers, and asking her to be quiet the whole time. But then again, this was the Chairman, and his logic was not always the best. At least in Zero's opinion it wasn't. What he found odd about the little girl, was that he did not feel any loathing or hate toward her at all. Though he knew she was a vampire, he felt content and at ease around her, not on edge or stiff like he usually was around vampires.

Shaking away his thoughts, he looked down at Kagome when he felt her eyes on him. He found her looking at him worriedly.

"Are you all right Zero-nii-chan?" Kagome asked in a whisper. He grunted in reply, and she smiled as she took his hand as they moved to sit on a chair. They listened as Yuuki and Kaien made a list of what to get her in town the next day. Every now and again Zero would add something to their growing list, but other than that, he was happy to sit in the chair with Kagome sleeping soundly on his lap. Maybe having a little sister would not be so bad.