My eyes widened. "What?" My voice was a whisper.

"Kiryu." Aido confirmed, looking at me. "He's a former human vampire. He was bitten by Sara-sama, another pureblood, when he was a child. If he doesn't drink her blood he will descend to Level E one day." Aido looked solemn, as if he were attending a funeral. I idly wondered how many Level E's he'd seen in his lifetime. Was he responsible for disposing of any?

"Wow. I had no idea. He must hide it well."

"He does. Most of the Night Class still doesn't know." My eyes were drawn to how Aido's hair was more tousled than usual. Had he agitatedly run his hands through it when Zero talked to him before I arrived? He resembled his cousin Kain strikingly, and I caught myself smiling fondly at Aido while he studied the border paper on the other side of the hallway. A dark place in my heart opened at the thought of losing everything I had with him in the next couple of minutes, whether Aido was pretending or not.

At that moment Headmaster Cross's door opened and he stepped outside. "Kisa-chan? Aido-kun? We're ready for you." The Headmaster looked tired, but kind, his ponytail neat.

Aido stood quickly and offered me a hand to help me to my feet. I accepted and we entered the office. Cross sat down at his desk, a pleasant smile on his face. I always found Headmaster Cross to be trustworthy - and true to his pacifist nature. Kaname was leaning against the side of the desk, arms folded, a stern expression contorting his features. Yuki and Zero sat in chairs against the wall, and there were two more chairs facing Cross's desk.

"Have a seat." Cross said kindly. "How have you been, Kisa-chan?"

"Well, thank you." My voice was quiet, and I found myself unable to make it louder. Aido and Kaname were monitoring my expression carefully, and I refused to meet either of their gazes.

"Ah, that's wonderful!" Cross clapped his hands together, causing me to jump. "Has Aido-kun been taking good care of you?"

I voiced an affirmative at the same time Kaname said "Satisfactory."

"The reason we're meeting," Cross looked excited and sheepish at the same time, "is that I heard the two of you are dating. Aido-kun, can you confirm that?"

Aido, who'd been holding my hand since he helped me up, nodded. "Yes, I asked her to go out with me."

"And your pattern of unwise decision-making appears to be continuing, Aido." Kaname looked downright menacing, and Aido met his gaze defiantly for a few seconds before he apparently thought better of it and turned his gaze to the floor instead. His thumb began stroking my hand and I internally commended his acting.

"How much more of the Disciplinary Committee's time are we going to waste on this issue, Headmaster?" Zero's voice was agitated, and Yuki, though she clearly disapproved of his tone, did not disagree with his sentiment. She had the decency to look guilty when I looked at her.

"I'm waiting on a book from a colleague from the Vampire Hunter Society to arrive." Cross said mildly. "It should contain some more leads or ideas for things we can try to erase Kisa-chan's memory."

"The point of this meeting is to make you aware of the fact that your relationship, genuiness of it aside, cannot continue once Headmaster Cross finds the memory spell. This even includes Aido approaching her when she's forgotten about vampires. This relationship is a good idea at the moment for an excuse as to why Aido keeps coming to see Matari, but when Matari is cured of her knowledge, there is to be no further interaction between Day Class and Night Class members beyond what occurs at the gate every day. Is that clear?" Kaname spoke directly to Aido, and his words seemed to have a heavy impact.

"Perfectly." Aido replied politely, voice tight. It was probably as clear to Aido as it was to me that Kaname did not believe our relationship for a second, but at least agreed with why we were doing it.

"Please work faster, Headmaster." Kaname addressed Cross now. "I am as weary as the Disciplinary Committee is where this issue is concerned." He grabbed his coat from Cross's hat rack and put it on, striding from the office.

Aido went to stand but Zero stood. "We're not done."

Aido raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Cross held a hand up toward Zero. "Aido-kun, we know about the blood drinking."

I put a hand to my neck before I could stop myself. Aido sighed. "Are you planning to forbid me from doing that?"

Yuki frowned. "Yes. It's forbidden on school property. You must stop."

Aido sighed again, looking directly at Headmaster Cross. "I can't."

"Why not?" Zero demanded, and came to stand beside Aido. He glared down and him and it appeared that Aido didn't care in the least.

Aido's gaze stayed fixed on Headmaster Cross. "You know why."

"You're dismissed, Kisa-chan." Cross stood and opened the door of his office.

"Is Aido... kun coming too?" I asked, holding my hand out to him.

"Ah... we need to talk to him for a couple more minutes, and you can have him back tomorrow." Cross winked, and I blushed. "Goodnight, Kisa-chan!"

Cross shut the door behind me and I pulled my jacket around myself. My thoughts were racing, and my chest felt heavy.

I suppose it's easy to guess why Kaname didn't mention the blood drinking. I thought to myself.

He just hopes Aido will go overboard and kill you, which would work better for him. My inner thought back.

I'm more worried about Aido and why he can't stop drinking my blood. Can vampires get sick? Is Aido dying?

My inner was silent and I fought to control the panic that washed over me. In my mind, the worst outcome in this scenario was living and forgetting Aido. Now, the reality that I could live, forget Aido, and then Aido dying struck me as a much worse scenario. I forced my breaths in and out slowly, trying to regulate them as I walked alone back to the Sun Dorm.