A/N: Now that I'm at this point in the revision, I have broken up these chapters into better bits.

Again, I thank you all for your patience, as this was a major bitch for me to get together. Please review, and hang on to your hats!

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She sighed quietly as her gaze swept the quiet plaza. There was nothing to do in this town at night. At least, not if she didn't want to attract attention to herself. Kagome Higurashi muttered under her breath and swung her legs around to the floor. She loved this window seat, but she was getting tired of sitting around and doing nothing!

'He'd better call soon! I'm getting sick of waiting!' the priestess thought, padding over to her unlit bathroom and gazing into the darkened mirror.

She could see everything perfectly. Despite the fact that she was human. And she hated it.

'I have Sesshomaru to thank for that, too.' Though the taiyoukai had brought her back to life, her injuries had been critical at best. He'd given her his blood, which had tasted like pure acid, in hopes that the healing properties that demons were capable of would be passed on to her.

Lucky for them all, they had. It was strange that her own priestess blood hadn't purified it, but then, Kagome had also blamed the jewel for that turn of events. As a result, her senses had been heightened dramatically. Her balanced had improved, her reflexes were sharper, and her healing had improved exponentially. They still wondered if this meant her lifespan had been lengthened as well; but hadn't really wanted to test those waters.

There was also the fact that she was no longer able to purify Sesshomaru. Accidentally or on purpose. Something about a "connection" being forged.

She was human, but not human. There was no way to really describe it. Not without inducing an amazing migraine.

He'd thusly began to teach her everything she needed to know about her new abilities; from combat to dulling her sense of smell when neccesary. It was... weird; Sesshomaru was being helpful. When asked about it, the dog demon had replied in his customary fashion.

"I do not wish for you to waste your life so recklessly, priestess."

"Yeah, well I'm wasting it here not doing anything, jerk," Kagome sighed, twirling around her hotel room and flopping gracelessly onto her bed. It was comfy, and she was definitely sleepy, but her mind was still racing. Why had the old dog sent her way out here? What was brewing that needed watching so closely? How come she wasn't allowed to go out at night without some kind of weapon?

And why was Koga so royally pissed off about it?

Sure, the wolf prince had always been protective of her. And sure, he tended to overreact where she was concerned. But he'd been chomping at the bit to go at Sesshomaru when he'd announced where he was sending her. Souten, whom had grown up still enarmored with Shippo, had escorted her out of the room filled with overwhelming testoterone. But not before the priestess had caught Koga shout at the dog demon about "sending her into the bloodsucker's territory."

"What did he mean by that?" Kagome wondered out loud, rolling to her side to stare at the alarm clock on the table next to her.

10:47 pm.

It was really starting to get late. And she still couldn't calm down enough to try and sleep! Popping up from the bed, she snatched her jacket and started out the door, making sure to have her phone on her. If she didn't answer it, the taiyoukai would give her hell when she called back.

"I'm going out!" Shutting the door, she jogged down the hall and practically sprinted down the stairs. She almost made it past the front clerk before he stopped her.

"You're going out? This late at night?" She stopped, glancing at the worried older man. He seemed nice.

"I can't sleep. I'm just going down the street to grab some tea," she replied, grinning awkwardly when he glanced outside, then back at her.

"Just... be careful, young lady. There's things out there that are... weird."

"Ummm... okay. I'll be careful." With that, Kagome spun around and bounced out the door, happy to be doing something for herself for a change. For two years, everything she'd accomplished was for Sesshomaru's sake. But now, the priestess would live a little.

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Takuma Ichijou smiled happily and thanked the waitress that brought him their tea. She stuttered an affirmative and scrambled away with a blush on her face.

"You know she's stalking you, right?" Senri Shiki sighed, blowing on his drink lightly and taking a sip. Damn, but he really didn't like tea. There was no... flavor!

"Yes, but it doesn't hurt to be nice either," Ichijou replied, shrugging at the blank look the red-head sent him. Humming quietly, he vaguely took note of the bell ringing and the girl that walked in.

Black hair. Blue eyes. Sunny smile. She was cute. For a human.

"She's cute." Apparently, Shiki noticed her too, "For a human."

"True. But we all know how that would turn out," Ichijou replied, grinning in self-mockery.

"So, why are we here again?"

"My treat for tonight. After all, it's really our job to keep those... others in line," the blonde vampire sighed, shaking his head and draining his tea.

"... I hate tea," his companion argued, gulping the hot drink quickly and plunking down a few bills. Ichijou shook his head, shoved the change back at the red-head, and set his own down. Rising, he turned to grab his coat-

And slammed into a warm soft body, spilling what he could smell to be chamomille tea everywhere.

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Kagome wanted to scream in frustration. The fact that she was drenched in her tea was one thing. But the other fact that she'd actually run into someone was something she hadn't done in two years!

"Ah! Miss, I am so sorry! Are you hurt? Burnt? Please tell me you're okay!" the guy babbled, brushing her wet bangs out of her face to get a good look at her. The priestess felt something... off about him, and stepped away quickly-

Only to bump into someone else!

"Ah! Sorry!" Kagome squeaked, backing away from the red-head in embarrassment. She stepped into the other guy behind her.

"It's fine. You're covered in tea, though," the red-head replied blankly tilting his head to the side in what was meant to be an innocent fashion. Kagome blinked, averting her eyes when she felt a strange pull from the male in front of her. She felt like... if she wasn't ready, she'd get lost in his eyes.

The priestess blinked. Where... had she gotten that feeling from before?

"Y-yeah. I... noticed that," she replied quietly, glancing back at the other male. The blonde smiled awkwardly and handed her a couple of napkins, which she took thankfully.

"I apologize again, miss. I'm usually not so clumsy," the blonde sighed, running a hand through his hair in a careless fashion. Her senses took careful note of both of their auras, and though they were dark, they felt peaceful.

She decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.

"I'm okay. It's just tea," Kagome finally said, wiping the fragrant droplets off of her face and looking down at her shoes. At least they weren't ruined, "It's probably my fault anyway. I'm a major klutz sometimes." Setting the used ones down, she reached for the other ones that the blonde held out for her.

"Still, if anything is ruined, I'll be more than happy to replace it," he countered gently, taking a couple of napkins and patting the top of her head dry. Kagome snapped her gaze up, blue locking with green in a staring contest.

'Funny. I thought his eyes would be brown,' the priestess thought faintly, wondering why it was her initial reaction to smile at him.

"Do... Do I... know you?" the dark-haired girl asked, almost afraid of what his answer would be. His brows furrowed in concern and he shook his head. She felt... defeated, for some reason.

"Oh... I... You look like..." Kagome trailed off, not sure how to finish the sentence; simply because she wasn't sure if she knew him or not. "... Ta... ke... ru."

His green eyes, which had been wandering over her to check for injuries, snapped back to her in shock.

"What... did you say?" She tried to back away, but he caught her wrist in a strong grip and pulled her to him.

"N-Nothing!"

"No! You said a name!"

"I... I don't know," the priestess pleaded, pulling hard on her captured arm. She didn't budge, and now she was becoming really worried. The only possibility was that these two boys were...

'Demons? But... it doesn't feel right!' Mismatched eyes flashed through her mind. Their auras felt very similar to that one. The only difference was the lack of killing intent. 'They're something else. But what?'

"Please, I'm not going to hurt you," the blonde countered gently, placing a hand on her cheek. She felt her face heat from the contact. What was this inhumanly handsome boy doing to her? "I just want to know how you know that name?"

"I... I don't know. Maybe I read it in a book somewhere?" she answered, sounding unsure of it herself.

'Someone has tampered with this girl's memories,' Ichijou thought, narrowing his eyes sharply and glancing at Shiki. The red-head nodded; he could feel it also.

The blonde could only hope that it wasn't his grandfather that had done the deed. It was the only way that she'd know about the ancestor that he so eerily resembled.

"I... I see." Though he really didn't. After all, his ancestor's name wasn't in some random book. All of those were safely tucked away in the Ichijou Family's library back home. There had to be some kind of connection.

"Sorry I can't... be of more help," the girl quietly replied, cowed by his display of strength earlier. He abruptly dropped her wrist and winced at the red marks he would leave.

"It's not your fault! I apologize deeply for all the trouble I've caused you this evening, Miss..."

"Kagome. My name's Kagome Higurashi." Ichijou nodded, then swept her wet coat off of her, only to replace it with his own chivalrously.

"I'm Takuma Ichijou. This," he nodded to the quiet red-head behind them, "is Senri Shiki. Since we've ruined your clothes, we'll take you to get new ones!"

"W-Wait! Now?"

"Of course!" The blonde smiled happily, patting her head in an afffectionate way, and sweeping her protesting form out the door. Shiki blinked languidly and sighed, following the human and vampire out the door.

"I didn't do anything. Why do I have to be stuck with you?"

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Nearly two hours, several jealous girls, and a new outfit later, Ichijou and Shiki were happily depositing her back at her hotel with promises to come visit her again when they got the time in between school days. She'd quickly found out that the two inhuman boys were currently enrolled at the famous Cross Academy, and were in the elite Night Class. Despite not being in school for so long, even she had heard of how hard and expensive it was to get into that school.

In the end, it had been the evil stares of the sales girls that had gotten the priestess to open up a little to the two boys. She really didn't want to deal with the envious petty games, but with the subtle threatening aura of one particular girl, she'd easily clung to her two "boyfriends". It had been fun, though, when Shiki and Ichijou had joined in on the charade, lavishing attention on her needlessly as she modelled several outfits for them.

"You guys... are really something else," Kagome giggled, nudging the quieter of the two boys with an elbow. Shiki sighed in long-suffering, but he truly didn't mind the human girl being so familiar with him. He'd actually enjoyed their little outing, and he was hoping to introduce Rima to Kagome. They'd get along instantly, he was sure.

"It has been a pleasure getting to know you, Miss Kagome," Ichijou replied, bowing extravegantly to her as he opened the door to the hotel for her. She laughed loudly and waltzed in, not caring in the least that she'd attracted the attention of the front clerk. She was truly happy, for once, and that was so rare for her nowadays.

"I'm really glad that I've met you two. It's so... lonely... being in a town I don't know by myself," she replied, scuffing her foot shyly against the floor. Ichijou suppressed the urge to just outright hug the girl. She'd seemed so alone when they'd first started talking. Now, though, her attitude had lifted and changed to something brighter and more... sparkly. Kagome seemed like the type of person that was supposed to be happy, and that's how he wanted her to stay. It might have worked in her favor a little that she was such a pretty human too.

Ichijou quickly stuffed those particular ideas in a closet somewhere deep in his mind. He wasn't going to think about things like that right now.

"Well, we're not far. So we'll be by soon," the blonde vampire replied, patting her gently on he head in a childish way. He gulped in shock when she outright hugged him, smiling innocently the whole time. She had no idea how good she smelled.

"Thank you... both of you," she muttered, moving to give Shiki the same treatment. Judging by the way the red-head stiffened just slightly, the priestess was having the same affect on him too.

"You're... welcome, Kagome-san," the other vampire replied, giving in and hugging her gently back. She was the type of human to be treated kindly and with respect. He'd always wondered that if he'd had a sibling, would that feeling of protectiveness be like the ones that were quickly surfacing for the small human? He wasn't sure, and he was a little afraid of finding out.

Waving goodbye, she bounced over to the clerk, whom admonished her in a fatherly fashion. Blushing slightly and laughing genially, she said farewell and turned the corner to go upstairs to her hotel room.

Maybe... Ichijou shook his head. He wouldn't think like that. Not when he only barely had the girl's friendship. He'd wait and see how some things turned out first. Like the fact that she apparently knew about his ancestor, yet didn't know from where she got the information.

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Kagome felt a buzzing sensation against her side almost two days later, and she whipped the cell phone out of her coat pocket. The name on the front made her sigh in relief and she flipped it open to answer it.

"It's about time you called."

'You are still far too impatient, priestess," the person on the other line sighed, almost used to the conversation starter.

"Okay, seriously, Sesshomaru. Why am I out here?" she hissed, avoiding running into several people that were congealed around a street vendor.

'Your assignment is to take out the former humans wreaking havoc in that town," Sesshomaru cut to the chase and didn't bother to mince his words. Kagome stopped, brows furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean 'former humans'?"

"Exactly what I said. They were once humans, but now, they feed on other humans to keep theirselves alive. Have you not heard of the legends, priestess?"

"What legends? I don't understand!" she hissed, glaring angrily at her phone and wishing it was the taiyoukai.

'The stories about those who were born of the night. The inhuman race that takes human blood in order to survive," the silver-haired dog explained in his usual elegant fashion, "Vampires, priestess."

Kagome sucked in a breath, almost dropping her cell phone in shock. Her mind was bombarded with several images. None of which made any sense. A tall, dark-haired male with crimson eyes. A blonde man that looked eerily similar to the Ichijou guy that she'd met the other day. Mismatched eyes laughing at her as she drowned in the smell and taste of her own blood-

"Kagome!"

"I... I'm okay," she choked out, leaning against the nearest wall and sliding down to the ground, "I'm okay. I'm okay." She hid her face in her knees to try and block out the horrible feeling of letting her family down.

"... I'll come get you. It's too soon for you to deal with those creatures," Sesshomaru made a sudden about-face in attitude, worry lining his demon features as he rose from his chair, "I'll be there later tonight."

"No! I..." Kagome snapped, taking several deep breaths before looking up at the evening sky, "I'm okay, nii-sama." His golden eyes narrowed sharply. Kagome only ever called him that when she was afraid or upset. It was hard to determine which she was currently, though.

"... I will send the fox to check on your progress in two weeks, then," he finally decided, sitting back down and firming his resolve. Against his better judgement, he would allow her to work through her fears on her own.

"Okay. I haven't seen Shippo in a while; so that's fine."

"... Kagome."

"Hmm?"

"We've been looking into things..." he started, hoping this bit of information would steel her resolve for the test she was about to embark on.

Kagome perked up, blue eyes narrowing in determination, "Did you find something, Lord Sesshomaru?"

"The only vampires you must worry about are the Purebloods. Their bite will change a human into one of their own. You will then become like a slave to their will, if you do not take their blood. Most of them are peaceful, though, and they will not interefere in your work. The one that took your family... was a Pureblood."

"... Give me a name, Sesshomaru," the priestess hissed, anger making her aura spike dangerously and her eyes unknowingly glow with purification. Vaguely, she noticed that her hands were glimmering pink.

"... Rido Kuran."

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"Hey!"

Kagome stopped, glancing around then at the front clerk. Pointing to herself, she asked, "Me?"

"Yeah," he looked her over for a second and nodded to himself, "You had some visitors."

"I did?"

"Yep, but they seemed a little suspicious, so I told them you weren't here right now," the clerk scratched the side of him head, narrowing his dark eyes at the priestess, "A blonde guy and his friend. He seemed eager to meet you."

"Oh! That sounds like Ichijou-san!" Kagome exclaimed, striding over to the desk to lean on it, "Was the other guy a red-head. Blue eyes?"

"No. Some tall dark-haired guy. Brown eyes; though they looked kinda reddish. It was weird. That one looked... agitated."

"Hmmm... Nope. I don't know anyone like that."

"Well, you shouldn't attract strangers around here, girl." The clerk gae her an admonishing look that had her blushing in self reprimand.

"I'll be more careful, sir. Thank you for your concern," Kagome replied, bowing politely and sweeping out the door. Tonight, she was supposed to begin her hunt.

And maybe she could get some more information on this Rido Kuran, if she got lucky.

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Several hours later saw her wandering around the deserted streets in the middle of the night. Things were not going well for her. If she thought this former human would make things easy for her, then she was dead wrong. The priestess snorted inelegantly at the bad pun. A cooing noise, though, made her glance up in alarm, then relax only minutely.

Kagome sighed and lifted her hand to let the creature rest on it. She hated the soul snatchers, but for some reason, they followed and listened to her. They made useful information gatherers, when they weren't consuming and stealing the souls of young women.

'Probably something to do with being Kikyo's reincarnation. They spent a lot of time with her, after all,' the priestess thought, brushing the soul it was holding away to move on to the afterlife. It didn't appreciate her interference but remained docile in her grasp.

"What have you found out, then?" The snatcher cooed at her in its strange language and she nodded in agreement.

"That's the best place to start. Thank you." It did a little bob, then twirled and floated away. Probably to snatch another wayward soul to devour. She really didn't like that, but there was little she could do about them at this point. Her hands were too tied. Besides, soul snatchers were the least of her worries right now. Finding this vampire that feasted on humans was was a little more important than liberating the dead right now. She'd let the death gods handle that front.

Stalking around the corner, she failed to notice the clawed hands reaching out for her from the shadows. Her senses alerted her far too late. Kagome shrieked in surprise as she was pulled into the shadows, dark laughter filling the air around her.

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Yuuki muttered under her breath and continued on her way back to the academy late in the afternoon. Honestly, Zero could be so fickle at times! He was so-!

'What... is that?' the Day Class girl thought, glancing back into the shadows of the alley she'd just passed. It looked like...

'It looks like a girl!' Yuuki's heart stuttered in fear and she raced to see what was going on. The girl seemed to be unconscious. And... covered in blood. And ashes?

"She's been bitten! Please don't be dead!" the brunette muttered, shock making her body go numb and shake at the same time. Reaching out a hand, she gently shook the dark-haired girl's shoulder.

"Hey! Wake up!" A groan issued from the girl's mouth and she slumped over into the Prefect. Yuuki breathed a sigh of relief. At least she was alive. But now that she knew that, she needed to help her.

"It's at a time like this that I wish Zero wouldn't just run off," Yuuki growled, pulling the girl half-way onto her back and staggering out of the alley. Luckily, there wasn't anyone around to see her carrying the bloody girl down the next couple of streets. Or trip when the girl's sword caught into several cracks in the cobblestone. Eventually, though, her weight became too much and the brunette stumbled into the nearest wall.

Panting, Yuuki knelt down and propped the girl against the wall.

'Zero. Where are you?' As if summoned by the thought alone, the Day Class boy suddenly appeared, wide-eyed and panting for air.

"Yuu-!"

"There's no time to talk! We have to help her!" the Day Class girl interrupted, striding over to the silver-haired boy and taking his sleeve. His fingers, she noticed, shook in fear.

"You're... covered in blood!" Zero choked out, attempting to back away from the girl. His vampire instincts were kicking into overdrive at the delicious smell. Yuuki glanced down at herself and suppressed a groan.

"It's not mine. This girl," she pointed to the dark-haired girl, "was bitten by a vampire. Probably a Level E. She needs help now if we want to save her! Please, Zero!"

Yuuki watched her friend close his eyes, take a deep breath through his mouth, then open them again. His gaze was steeled in resolve and he nodded.

"Okay. Let's get her back to the academy." He brushed past Yuuki and knelt down next to the unconscious female. Though there was blood on her, it was old and coppery, instead of the bright crimson color of fresh blood. Her wound seemed to have clotted, the bleeding temporarily stopped. But it still looked jagged, and not the kind that normally came from a vampire.

'Could she have been attacked by something else?' Gingerly, Zero scooped the dark-haired girl up and turned to sprint back to the academy, Yuuki hot on his heels. If they were going to save her, they had to hurry.

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"I'll go get the Chairman! You get her to the infirmary, Zero!" Yuuki stuttered, turning a corner as fast as she could without falling and leaving her fellow Day Class student in the dust, protesting heatedly.

"Wait! Yuuki! She's bleeding too much!" He struggled to keep his instincts at bay. Glancing in the mirror he passed, he noted that his eyes were already a bright crimson; a sure sign that the beast inside was quickly taking control of him.

Zero slumped against the next wall, sliding down to sit on the floor with the nearly dead human girl in his arms. The blood was becoming too much for him. He had to get away from her! Otherwise...

'I can't bite her! She's dying and here I am thinking about trying to take her blood!' He was at a horrible impasse. The hunter had to resist the siren's call of her blood. Lifting his hand, he started to run it through his hair, but stopped at the sight of the bright red on his palm. His arm shook.

"Shit!"

"Hey."

He looked down, shocked that she was even awake. Blue eyes bore into his red ones and he swore he could feel her probing into his soul.

"You'll be... okay."

"I'm... I'm not the one bleeding everywhere," Zero hissed, struggling to control himself.

"I know. But... Maybe I can fix... you," she replied, breathing shallowly and raising a shaking hand to him. She placed it on his neck; the same spot that Shizuka had bitten him. Sucking in a breath, he watched in awe as she summoned up a light.

"This might hurt." And then she pushed.

Zero screamed.

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Every eye in the Moon Dorm swivelled in the direction of the Chairman's private offices. They were all a little antsy. After all, the scent of real blood was in the air. And to them, it was a divine smell.

"That sounded like... Kiryuu," Hanabusa Aidou muttered, grinning gleefully at the thought of the arrogant Prefect being injured.

"Hopefully he's all right," Ichijou sighed, blinking when several eyes focused on him, "... What?"

"You're too soft," Rima Touya replied quietly, handing another stick of pocky to Shiki.

Kaname Kuran remained rooted to his chair. That particular blood scent was very familiar to him. But then... how was that even possible, when the person that owned that scent was dead?

Maybe... he'd misread something?

His curiosity piqued, the Kuran heir would begin a whole new investigation.

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When Chairman Kaien Cross heard that scream, he literally jumped a foot in the air and did an abrupt about-face. He knew that voice anywhere.

"Zero! What's happened?" The blonde male took off in a sprint down the hall, turning corners rapidly and relying solely on his keen hunter senses. A minute later, he was joined by Toga Yagari.

"That sounded like Zero, Cross! What the hell is going on?" the hunter snapped, stopping his companion abruptly before they ran into Yuuki.

"Yuuki? What-!"

"There's no time to explain. Zero and I found a girl in town! There's blood everywhere!" Whipping around, the Day Class girl prepared to return to her friend, but a hand on her arm stopped her.

"Yuuki," Kaien said, pulling the girl back, "I want you to go to the Night Dorms and make sure my little vampires are okay. Yagari-sensei and I will take care of Zero and this young lady the two of you so admirably rescued."

"But-!" she stopped, glancing at Yagari, who was absently polishing his shotgun on his sleeve, then gulped, "I... can help."

"Please, Yuuki. At least let them know everything is all right. And tell Kaname that there's no need to worry. We have everything taken care of. Classes will be cancelled for them tonight." With that, the two older men darted off in search of Zero and this mysterious girl.

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"... And so, the Chairman wants to let you guys know that class has been cancelled for the night," Yuuki finally narrated, taking a deep breath and letting it out quietly. Glancing around, she noticed that the Night Class was paying a little more attention to her than normal.

"Hey, Yuuki. That blood on your shirt? That's not yours," Aidou pointed out bluntly, making the girl gasp and glance down at her uniform. The black color had hidden the stain on her front, but now that it had dried, she could definitely tell that it was there.

"Umm... I-I... I have to go! Gotta patrol and... and stuff!" With that, the Day Class girl bowed quickly and shot out the door. It left the vampires in a state of agitation that was worse than before.

Because for once, the Day Class Prefect hadn't said a word to their leader. And he didn't seem to mind nearly as much as they all thought he would.

Just what the hell was going on around here?

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When Chairman Cross and the hunter Yagari got to the scene, they expected the worst case scenario. What they got, was something completely unexpected. Instead of seeing his almost son on a rampage against a nearly dead human girl, he was sitting there quietly, slumped against the wall, and cradling her to him carefully. As though she were porcelain.

"Zero? You need to let go of her. We can't help her unless-!"

"It's okay, Chairman," the silver-haired boy interrupted, raising his head to gaze at the blonde man with clear gray eyes. He then turned his attention to his former teacher, who had his gun coked back and was ready to shoot him.

"She... she did something, and it made the hunger go away."

"What?" Yagari snapped, holstering his weapon and striding over to his subdued student. He seemed... calm, but afraid; as though he were a child again. It only slightly terrified him at how worried the Kiryuu boy looked.

"I... I don't know what she did. But her hand was glowing, and then everything hurt," Zero glanced back down at the unconscious girl, pulling her closer when his master reached a hand out to get a closer look at her, "I thought I'd died. Then, I was suddenly warm all over. I felt... normal. Like I was before... Her."

Kaien observed his student intently as he tried to shy the girl away form his former master's touch, almost as though... he was trying to protect her.

"Well-!" Yagari was interrupted. He hated when that happened.

"Zero, as much as we need to know what happened, that girl's life is slipping away the longer we delay here. Let Yagari take her to the infirmary, and we'll get her patched up," Kaien soothed, apporaching the wary teen and brushing his silver hair back into some semblance of neatness. Zero seemed to debate for a moment, then finally nodded slowly as he released the near death grip he had on Kagome.

"I want to see her as soon as she wakes up," the teen replied, rising quickly and following the two adults as Yagari carried the girl that had literally saved him from inhumanity to the hospital ward.

"I think that would be fine," Kaien agreed, smiling genially and gathering the weapon the girl had apparently been carrying. How was she able to lug such a sword around without it being noticed?

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Her world was falling. She could hear vague noises around her, but the pain that she was in trumped any possible desire to hear what they were saying. How could she have been so stupid when she'd decided to save that boy. But the darkness inside of him was slowly overcoming that small light that continued to flicker feebly in his heart. She wanted to light to win. And so, she'd used the last of her energy to give it a little boost.

She hadn't meant to purify him. But then, maybe that was for the best. Despite the fact that her and Fate didn't seem to mix well, she'd felt that she was meant to help that silver-haired boy with anguished eyes that reminded her so much of herself.

Kagome hadn't really realized how much she'd just changed one Zero Kiryuu's life.

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A/N: Annnd that's all for now folks! Doubtless this leaves you with more questions than answers now. I'll try to answer them without giving my plot away. Anyways, kindly leave a review to help support me in my madness.

And yes, Kagome did purify the vampire inside of Zero, making him human again. Because he still retained some of his humanity, it was basically like purifying a hanyou and leaving it completely human.

This is also set shortly after Shizuka's death and right before a bunch of people leave for their break/vacation thing right before the start of Guilty.

Thanks you guys!

Revision (April 22 2011)