Hoo boy, Yuki is angry. I can tell. She's giving me that look like I've eaten the rest of her marshmallows. Hey, you stole my headphones! Plus I doubt we missed anything too important, I can always copy up notes from Zero. I glanced at Yuki across the way and she folded her arms, putting on a very disappointed look. I raised an eyebrow at her and just shrugged. She huffed, trying to still look disappointed but it was at this point that the gates opened and the girls screamed and tried to push past her. I snorted.

"Idol-senpai!"

"Wild-senpai!"

I winced as the girls pushed past me, nudging my oversensitive arm. I hissed and stomped my foot down, narrowly missing one toe. The girls backed off, a little intimidated, as I shifted my injured arm's position away from them. No-one really took notice that I was wearing gloves but I have been making sure that no-one would accidentally hurt me. Thankfully it was only my left hand, I could write notes and stuff without too much suspicion.

"Mana, you look a little tired."

I jumped as Kuran came out of nowhere and I winced as I bumped my arm into another girl. He smiled at me.

"Thank you for your hard work."

He walked by and I glowered at him. I wonder what he's so chirpy about.

"Get back to dorms!"

Zero had the girls scatter and Yuki strutted to me, arms crossed over her chest and a disapproving look in her eyes. She tapped her foot and I shifted through my pockets to pull out the note which expressed the fact that I was sorry. The three of us stood there, Zero and I watching Yuki warily as she read through the note. I had written it earlier during class, it felt awkward and it hurt a little to write whilst my injured hand was holding the notepad.

Suddenly Yuki brightened up.

"You're stressed out because you're on voice rest, aren't you?"

Zero and I glanced at one another and I nodded. Yes, I was a little vexed because I've lost my voice.

"And you came back during the afternoon so maybe you just wanted to take a small break, right?"

I nodded again. Yuki smiled.

"I'm sorry, I should have been more sensitive."

I shrugged and tensed as she hugged me.

"Let's go home," she said as she pulled away "I'll go and…"

I jumped back when she reached out to take a hold of my left hand. She looked startled and I pointed in a direction before walking off.

"Oh, um, see you later then!"

I waved goodbye and put away my notepad. I then began to patrol the campus, deciding to get that out of the way and as another expression for my apology. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Yuki and Zero head home. The way Zero slipped his arm around Yuki's shoulders made me turn away and try to swallow down this ache building up. My eyes began stinging as I felt like crying again. My shoulders were shivering, my chest was tightening and I picked up my pace.

In the direction that I was going in, I was walking away from my favourite tree. So it took me a while to find a secluded spot where I could pause and cry the hurt out for just a few minutes. I tried to keep my whimpers to a minimum, in case there were girls who decided to hide away then take pictures of the Night Class in the classrooms. I winced when I leaned against a tree only to realise I had sandwiched my injured hand against it.

Pulling away and wiping my tears, I took my glove off to take a look at the bandage job I had done. The ends of the bandage weren't exactly sticking, I'm going to have to change it when I get back home. I sniffed back more tears and took a moment to compose myself.

"That looks rather serious."

I winced when I yanked my glove back on and turned to see Kuran was out and about. I grabbed my notepad.

"I think I can afford to miss some classes for you, Mana."

I glowered at him and pointed for him to go away.

"You're injured, Mana. And it looks like you are adamant to hide it."

He stepped forward and I stepped back, pocketing the notepad to prepare to take Pearl Beauty out.

"Also, this accident involved your face getting injured. Why else would you wear make-up?"

I glared at him as he offered his hand.

"Let me take a look, I can help take care of it."

I shook my head.

"Then I suppose I must report this to the Chairman?"

My blood ran cold at the thought of Kaien finding out. He was going to freak to the point of a heart attack.

"He's going to find out sooner or later. So is Yuki."

He tilted his head, offering a soft smile.

"If you let me treat your wounds, I can sense you have other injuries, I will offer a story to the Chairman that will lessen his worry."

Yeah right, you haven't even seen the injury. But I also don't want to answer any questions which would expose the fact that I had been in mortal danger earlier today. I stood there, a little horrified at myself to be considering an offer from Kuran. Kaien and Yuki will be freaking out and Zero will put on an overprotective brother act if they find out about my injury and the truth comes out. How will Kuran be able to soften the blow with this kind of injury? But the thought of him reporting me to Kaien also made my blood boil. I found myself practically trembling with anger. He caught me in one of the worst situations possible.

"What will it be, Mana?" he pushed on "I would hate to have to report you."

I glowered at him. Lies, that's all I hear. Of course, you'd love to report me, like a textbook teacher's pet. I hung my head in defeat and offered my bandaged hand. I winced as he took the glove off and began unwinding the bandages off. He made a soft sound of displeasure as he saw the extent of the burn and the scratches from the vampire attack.

"Were you by any chance involved with that café fire?"

I nodded a little and he sighed.

"Let's go to the Moon Dormitories, I'll be able to bandage this better and you can tell me exactly what happened."

I nodded again begrudgingly and let him lead me towards the Moon Dormitories.


Kuran read through my notepad after I wrote down what had happened this morning. In my lap was a freshly bandaged hand, a much neater job than what I had done. He looked deep in thought, probably to fabricate yet another lie to get me out of a mess. I mentally smacked myself. This is pretty hypocritical of me but the thought of Kaien, Zero and Yuki all on me for getting injured by fighting five vampires and then blowing the place up made me flinch.

"We were there together."

I lifted my head to look at Kuran who was now directly looking at me.

"That will put the Chairman and Yuki at ease at least," he said with a smile "You weren't there alone, you weren't in complete danger."

I nodded to agree.

"There was an explosion when we left, a gas leak as the news reports. We both sustained injuries however being a Pureblood…"

His 'injuries' would have healed quicker than mine because I'm an average human. I nodded in understanding.

"Under this condition, you must promise me that you won't set foot off the campus alone ever again."

I looked up at him in alarm and he hardened his look.

"Your injury will hinder you so you won't be able to defend yourself as well with it," he said a little sternly "And seeing you like this, injured and trying to lick your wounded pride and keep up appearances, it's difficult for me."

I raised an eyebrow at that.

"I can't bear the thought of imagining you out there, being targeted and getting more and more hurt because you hide away your weakness."

Yeah because if I advertise that I'm weakened, it'll be used against me.

"I truly care about you, Mana. The possibility of losing you is too much. So please."

I edged away as he tried to hold and squeeze my hand. He hesitated for a moment before looking me in the eye.

"Please, promise that you won't go off campus alone ever again," he pleaded "At least let me know if you want to go out and I can either go with you or have Seiren accompany you."

Ugh, I don't need a bodyguard! But I don't need the hassle either. I rolled my eyes, nodding to his request. He smiled before taking a box out and offering it to me. It was the mochi he had offered me before.

"They're safe, I assure you," he smiled when he noticed that I had tensed "I've had some, they are quite delicious."

He picked one out and offered it to me. I shook my head and he tilted his.

"Mana…"

There was something in his voice that felt a bit threatening. Like if I didn't do as he pleased, he will make sure I will regret it. I stared at him long and hard as he sat there, hand outstretched to me with the mochi in the centre, waiting to be eaten. I took it reluctantly and unwrapped it, popping it into my mouth in one go to eat it and not try to enjoy it too much. As I ate it, my cheeks grew warm when I realised just how well made it was. Damn, they were vicious douchebags of vampires but they could cook well.

"Seeing as we can't go to that café on Saturday, there is this restaurant I'd like to take you to."

I glowered at him and reached for my pencil.

"Consider it part of the deal for my silence."

I froze and gave him an incredulous look. Surely this was going too far? I could easily handle Yuki and Kaien rather than actually going on a date with him. You know what, screw it. I won't get caught up in his web of lies, I'll be honest to them. I stood and strode across the room to leave.

"I wonder what Kiryu would think when he sees your injury."

I halted, my heart leaping as I pictured Zero seeing my hand and demanding all sorts of questions. What would he think of me? Would he think less of me because I had walked into a dangerous injury and caused myself what could have been an unnecessary injury? Would he think of me as weak? My legs trembled, faltering in my initial thought to get the hell out of here.

"I find him a little unpredictable. I hate to see him around you."

I turned to Kuran as he stood.

"Leading you on, treating you like you're beneath him and playing around with you, it makes my blood boil."

I jumped as the mirror in his room cracked. He took in a calming breath.

"Why does he have so much of a hold on you?" he asked softly "Why can't you see that whilst he loves one, he can't love the other quite the same way? Doesn't it hurt, Mana?"

Of fucking course it does hurt. But who cares? It's my hurt, my heartache and no-one has to know about it.

"Please, let me take you out. It will take your mind off it and I'm sure we can enjoy time spent together. You just need to give it a chance."

He could say that he'd leave and never return and still have some threat hidden in his voice. The thought of Zero looking down on me like some cockroach was still fresh as I nodded slowly. Kuran's face lit up with a smile.

"Wonderful. I'll send you a dress, it is a very formal restaurant."

I jumped and shook my head. I have formal clothes, don't you dare send me more!

"I insist. To thank you for accepting my invitation."

I opened and closed my mouth, trying to think of something to say. But before I knew it, Kuran had led me to sit down again and offered me more mochi. It was like he had successfully looped the strings around my limbs like a perfect puppet.