Yuuki had been continuously staring out the window all day. Just the two of them were in a room together, Zero glancing at Yuuki out of the corner of his eye. It was night time, and her little charade was becoming too much. "Kaname Kuran is coming tonight, isn't he?" Zero asked her harshly as he watched her glance out the window again. He couldn't stand that guy, and he couldn't stand how much Yuuki loved him. He knew that she was secretly obsessed, and it made him sick to know that anyone would knowingly befriend a vampire.

"Shut up, Zero," Yuuki snapped, spinning around. Zero was, as always, offended by her defensiveness of Kaname. Yet, Zero was secretly and helplessly fond of her. He mostly attributed her acceptance of vampires to how naïve she was. But though she loved Kaname so much, as obvious as it was without her admitting to it, she never failed to stand up for Zero. She was the only one who ever had, and that couldn't help but earn her a place in his heart. She was also always pressing to look out for him, though Zero always played it off as annoying. And any time she would grab his sleeve, he would shake her off before he could read more into it.

Zero stood up to walk out as Yuuki added, "I don't understand why you're so hard on Kaname! He's a good person."

As she spoke, Zero noticed Jem far away through another window. She was on a mess of blankets and pillows under the starry summer sky. "It's none of my business how you feel about him, but I'm not going to stick around to see you throw yourself at him when he gets here," Zero huffed before he exited. Yuuki turned back, irritated and a little hurt as she again peeked out to try and catch a glimpse of Kaname.

Zero walked down to where he had seen Jem. She was in a clearing at the edge of a cliff, facing the ocean. She held a chart in her hands as she looked up at the clear sky above the sea.

"What are you doing?" Zero pried when he got close.

She turned when she heard his voice. "Oh no, you're not going to tell me to go back inside because it's dangerous, are you?"

Zero sat down a few feet away from her in the grass. "No," he conceded, looking out over the scenery.

"Good," Jem sat back against her pillows, relieved. "In that case, I'm trying to find constellations using the chart I found in this book," she explained as she opened the chart again. "Then I was just going to sleep out here."

That actually sounded like a nice idea to Zero as he felt the warm summer breeze brush across his skin. He laid back on the grass, putting his arms behind his head and stretching his legs out. "I think I'll do the same," he sighed. The way he said it almost sounded as though he was finally giving in after she had been pressuring him to do so.

She was surprised, but welcomed his company. Then she asked, "So what brings you out here, then?"

"I couldn't stand to watch Yuuki sit in the window like a pet waiting for its master to come home anymore. Kaname Kuran is coming tonight. I don't get it."

Jem remembered who he was talking about. "Ick, I came across that guy once. He made me so uncomfortable."

"Really?" asked Zero, turning to her. "You're the only other person I've met to also dislike him."

"Really," she replied. "He just didn't seem... sincere. There was something so eerie about him."

Zero was happy to finally hear this from someone else, but did not want to talk about Kaname any longer. He turned back to look at the sky. "Which ones have you found so far?" he asked.

"Well," Jem began, looking up to the sky. "See those four stars there that seem to form a rhombus? Then that fifth one near it?" she asked pointing.

"Yeah."

"That's Delphinus, the dolphin. Then if you go up a bit, see the three really bright stars?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that's the summer triangle. And..." she said as she continued looking, brushing some hair out of her face, revealing her neck. The incident had only occurred yesterday. Since it was summer, Jem could not wear a scarf to help cover the bandages. Instead, she had found a thick ribbon that she had wound around her neck several times to hide the bandage.

"Take that ridiculous ribbon off," commanded Zero when he noticed it. "It's better for wounds to be exposed to the air anyway, and you shouldn't be sleeping with a ribbon around your neck."

Jem had turned to him when she heard his request. When he finished, she didn't argue. She tucked the chart between her knees and sat up, untying the ribbon. Once she had it undone, she tried to use it to tie her hair back. But, it being a silk ribbon, only slid out of her silky hair. She then made it a point to wrap it around her hair and braid it in, which did keep. Then she pulled at the bandaged. It felt wonderful to expose the wound to the fresh night air.

Zero watched the process silently, nervous to see his hideous bite mark again. But when it was revealed, it was actually halfway healed. He had built himself up for it to be horrendous, so when he saw the rather healthy looking marks, if you could call them that, he did not feel so bad. It was like a visual confirmation and hard evidence that he was not as bad as he thought he was. He moved on from the topic, looking to the sky.

"Where is Orion?" he asked.

"Orion only comes out in the winter," Jem answered. "The scorpion is out in the summer, so the myth is that Orion runs away until it is gone. But in the winter I'll point it out to you." Then they were quiet. After a minute she said, "It's the night class, isn't it? They're all vampires. They are the reason you and Yuuki are guardians." She turned to him for an answer.

There was no point in hiding it from her. "Yes, but they are not like me," he answered despicably. "They were all born vampires. They all enjoy being the beasts they are."

"Wait," Jem asked, "you can be born a vampire? Is that different somehow?"

"They are not fated to become a Level E," answered Zero, narrowing his eyes at the stars.

Jem continued to look at him when she spoke to him. "And a Level E is...?"

"A Level E is a vampire who was once a human. They devolve until their thirst for blood consumes them. They become a pure beast, the person they were devoured."

They sat in silence for a moment, then Jem said, "So it's a disease." Zero had never thought of it that way. "You have a degenerative disease." She shook her head, then laughed, "Of course, of course you have a fatal disease! This is my life, isn't it?" She was not laughing out of delight, it was more as though she was yelling at the stars.

"What does that mean?" Zero asked.

"It means anything in my life that is good is too good to be true." Then she shook her head again. "I'm sorry, Zero, my problems are in no way significant to yours. It's just, you're the best person I have ever met, and this is what happened to you. And I finally made a friend, and you're telling me I have to watch you slowly go mad, turning into everything you hate?" She shook her head, more fiercely now. "No, no," she turned to look at him. "I'll do anything to keep that from happening. You can bite me whenever you want, if that will help. You don't deserve this, Zero, and I want to make things better for you as best I can. I will be your treatment, if that's what you need." They looked at each other for a moment, then she laid back down.

"Do you want a pillow or a blanket?" she asked as though everything were normal.

"I'll take a pillow, if you're offering," replied Zero, accepting both the pillow and change of mood. She handed him a pillow and continued with her chart.

"Did you ever do anything like this before you met me?" Zero asked.

"You mean like look for constellations?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Never. I told you, I thought there was something wrong with me. Now that I know that's not true, it's like I'm trying to make up for lost time, doing everything I want to do," she responded. "What do you want to do in your life?"

"I want to find a way to exterminate every one of those bloodsucking beasts," Zero spat.

"Oh..." replied Jem. "Is there anything else?"

"I'll think about that if I get there," Zero answered, ending the conversation. The two stopped talking, just appreciating the other's company.

Meanwhile, Kaname had arrived. As he and Yuuki drew back from the embrace she had flung herself into, he said, "Nice to see you again, Yuuki."

"And you Kaname. Would you like anything?" she offered.

"No, I am simply here to see you," he answered. As soon as her initial excitement wore off, Kaname sensed something was wrong. "What's bothering you, Yuuki? You can talk to me, you know."

She sighed, looking down. "I don't know, Kaname. Nevermind, it's nothing. I'm just being childish."

"No, please," replied Kaname, taking her hand and imploring her to sit down. "I want to know."

She looked up at him and then bowed her head again. "It's just, there's this girl who has been staying with us, and there's not anything wrong with her, per say, but, she and Zero... They either are alone or with one another, and it has just left me feeling lonely."

Kaname looked up as she finished, and he happened to see the two of them out the window. Even after being exposed to the summer sun for over a month, the two of them still looked like ghosts under the starlit sky. Then Yuuki added a little more cheerfully, "But, I mean, I don't anymore, now that you're here of course."

Kaname looked back down at her just in time. She looked up just a little too late to notice where he had been looking. "No, Yuuki. You never need to feel alone. I will always be there for you, when you want me."

Yuuki smiled and stood up to hug Kaname, feeling some connection after the long stretch without it. Kaname was happy to have her right there to hold, but then looked up again to study the two out the window.

Headmaster Cross had told Kaname that a girl from a bad home would be staying at the academy over the summer, but Kaname had not realized that it was the same girl who carried the scent of Zero that day. If she was causing a rift between Zero and Yuuki, then that could cause a serious problem in his ultimate plan. But for now, it was still early, and he could take this time to enjoy Zero's distance bringing Yuuki even closer to him.

Two days later, Kaien Cross had Zero alone while they were cleaning up the kitchen. He looked at Zero out of the corner of his eye, then said casually, "So I have noticed Jemmea has been wearing a thick ribbon around her neck at all times recently. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

Zero took in a quick, sharp breath, surprised. Kaien turned his eyes away. "Zero, I know she must have offered. I think it is great that you have that kind of bond with someone, but I have to ask to make sure the secret of Cross Academy will be kept safe."

"I'm the only person she talks to, it will be fine," Zero spat before he stormed away, quickly ending the conversation.