Author's Note:

Thank you to my first two reviewers! :D You know who you are. You gave me encouragement to continue posting this story, so here's another chapter for you! :3

Reina did not bother going to the Academy for the next two nights. She figured it was over. She slept those two nights away in her bed, peaceful, with gradually calming thoughts stirring around in her mind. It was over. It was over. She had tried her best (well, not really,) to be a normal night class student, but the Headmaster's experiment had ultimately failed. Perhaps it had always been doomed to fail, with someone like Kaname around. It surprised her that he had known from the beginning, but it explained a lot as well. That must have been why he always talked to her and treated her so courteously in the hallways. He had not thought her to be normal at all. He had not been kind. The nights blurred into mornings like the ones she had known in the past, before she had ever known there was anything different about her, and as Reina woke up to go to school in those mornings, she thought I could get used to this again. No more night school. Just the day.

That was before Headmaster Cross phoned her on the afternoon of the second day, wanting to know why she had been absent from school for two days without notification. She had never been absent before. "It isn't like you, Reina. Is something wrong?"

"Wrong?" she sputtered, immensely surprised that he did not already know. "What do you mean? I haven't been at school because I thought…. it was over. Kaname Kuran has found out my secret. Haven't you heard?"

"What? Kaname?" squawked the man in shock. "He's found out….? But how do you know? When did this happen?"

"After the night of the bloodletting. When I was headed home in the morning, he confronted me by my car." Reina related, growing more perplexed by the moment. "D'you mean to say that you haven't-"

"I haven't heard anything about it….from anyone. The campus is quiet, Reina."

"Oh." Was all she could say. Then, in a slightly hissed whisper; "But why? Why would he do that? What could he want?"

"If Kaname knew, he might have simply wanted to confirm his suspicions. He probably never intended to actually tell anyone. He's a gentleman-"

"He's a pureblood! Purebloods always have an agenda. What does he gain by keeping quiet?" the bruntette questioned, almost to herself. Over the line, she heard Kaien Cross clear his throat.

"Well, you know I cannot help you with speculation on this matter, so that aside- Reina, I think you know that if word had gotten out, there would not be so much an uproar as an explosion among the night class. I would have heard of it even if I had been hiding under a rock in the garden. However, as things are, the Academy is perfectly quiet and normal. Your secret is safe."

Reina said nothing. She was clutching the phone to her ear as though trying to press it into her skull.

"Therefore, will you come back to school?"

After a long pause, the young girl closed her eyes and sighed a sigh which sounded like a moan. "I suppose I shall have to, Headmaster. We did agree, after all."

"Excellent! Now, don't be so down-hearted. I can hear it in your voice. When you come back to campus, I'll make you that stew I was talking about, and we can have a good chat about this new development. And speaking of new developments, there's something I think you ought to know-" But Reina had stopped listening at the word 'chat.' Never opening her eyes, the half-blood girl turned the phone off and threw it down onto her bed, following it with her body moments later. She laid there until evening, but she did not enter into the sleep of untroubled dreams again.

/

Perhaps, Reina pondered as she drove slowly toward Cross Academy while the sun set, perhaps she'd been playing herself for a fool all along. Way deep down, past all her preferences and pretensions, she suspected that there was a part of her that really did want the Academy to know- that wanted everyone to know the truth about her. It was not because she wanted anything from them- not their admiration nor their fear, nor their groveling service- no. She had simply become aware over the course of these past few years that hiding oneself from the world was a difficult thing to undertake, especially when there was more than one illusion which must be maintained in certain times and places. She had told Kaname that she did not envy anything he had, and this was almost completely true. Still, she had lied a little. The one thing he possessed which she would take for herself was the ability to blatantly be who he was, for all to see. Though she may not like anything about him, at least she was able to see all there was about him. Kaname had been right when he'd confessed that despite the time they'd spent as classmates, he knew next to nothing about Reina. She had not allowed him to know anything. Only now he knew that she was a half-blood, and Reina was not sure what she was going to do when she reached the Academy and had to confront him.

It was not as though he had anything over her which he could use for coercion. She had already made it perfectly clear that it was no loss to her if the Academy found out her secret. She wouldn't be sad at all to leave it behind, as she knew she would. Still, it seemed very strange that Kaname had not taken her up on this challenge. She thought he had confronted her in the first place because he felt that she was a threat to his exclusive power in the night class. He knew that all he had to do was reveal her, and she'd be gone. Why not take her out and return to being the single level A in the school? Wasn't that what he would want, after all?

Or perhaps he had something even more under-handed in mind. Reina told herself that she would have to be especially careful as she traversed the hallways of Cross Academy from now on. The general night class population seemed to be in the dark, but she couldn't be sure that he hadn't confided her secret to a few of his most loyal minions, so that they might help him to achieve whatever it was he wanted. She would have to beware of those faces as well.

Just thinking about all of this made Reina want to turn the car around and drive back home. Instead, the young girl steeled herself as she drove through the gates of the Academy, heading for her usual place beside the empty building. She climbed out of the car and faced the sky, the tall clock tower telling her that she had ten minutes to change and appear in class. For a moment, Reina imagined that a flock of late-night birds which burst suddenly out of a nearby tree were bloodthirsty vampires, moving to surround her, come to cut her open and take her blood away with them.

The first thing that Reina noticed upon entering her regular vampiric history classroom was that the staring lasted much longer than it usually did. It followed her into the room, up the aisle, and even to the back of the cavernous seating area, where Reina took her usual spot. This excess of attention made her paranoid. It could just be that she had been absent for two days, and they were wondering where she'd been (but of course they would never ask her, would never deign to be seen speaking with a common vampire.) However, Reina could not help but worry as she turned her gaze way from them. Did they know something? Furthermore, the brown-haired girl noticed that the most intent stares in the class were those from the exclusive group around Kaname Kuran. Just as she had feared.

In fact, Kaname was the only one of them who did not stare at her excessively. When he entered the classroom, just ahead of the teacher, he gave her his customary appraising glance before settling down beside his friends and beginning to unpack his bag. Fortunately, his presence diverted the attention from Reina onto himself, and the frowning girl mentally sighed in relief. Then the teacher walked in and began the lesson, and she gradually coaxed herself into thinking no more of any of it- for the time being.

Things got even stranger as Reina was walking to her second class of the night. She had just turned the corner in the hallway when she was unexpectedly waylaid by the Headmaster himself, frazzle-haired and out of breath. He waved at her furiously, even though she was standing three feet from him. The other night class students again turned to stare, and Reina felt like hiding her face. Instead, he motioned for her to lean in closer. "Reina," he whispered, "glad to see you've come back! I wonder, would you be able to come to my quarters this morning after your classes are done? I'll make you some food, and there's something important that we need to discuss…."

"Ah- yes, that would be fine." The young girl answered, surprised and intrigued. "Is this 'something' urgent? Should I come right now?"

"No, it's not terribly urgent." The Headmaster assessed, frowning slightly. "You should finish your school time first, since you've missed two nights already. But come to my quarters directly afterward."

"All right." Reina agreed, slightly crestfallen. Then she arched her eyebrow curiously. "Really, Headmaster, did you have to come over here yourself to deliver the message? Wouldn't one of the guardians have done just as well?"

"No." Kaien Cross shook his frazzled head, smiling at her astuteness. "I had to come myself. We'll discuss this in more detail later. Don't forget!"

"Of course I won't." Reina muttered to herself, watching the tall, bespectacled figure gamboling off down the hallway toward the exit. When she turned back around, she discovered that nearly all of the vampires had disappeared into their classrooms, with one notable exception. A tall, dark figure which she knew all too well was leaning against the far room's doorframe. He watched her with an air that was not so much invasive as it was supervisory. However, this made no difference to Reina. Tossing her head in his direction, the young girl turned and trotted down the stairs, taking the long way around through the entire second floor and then back up the back way to her third-floor classroom, just to avoid having to walk past him. It was a more than fair trade-off.

What could the Headmaster want to discuss with her? Reina pondered as she expertly tuned out the instructor's classist, offensive subject material. And why had he insisted that he had to deliver the message to her himself, in lieu of the guardians? Was it about them? Reina couldn't see how anything that had to do with Yuki or Zero could possibly concern her. She didn't know them very well at all. Perhaps it was about the fact that Kaname had discovered her secret. Yes, that would make sense, since neither Yuki nor Zero was aware that she was a half-blood. Or perhaps….Reina tensed as a new idea rose up in her mind. Perhaps it had to do with that ominous aura which she had sensed directly before meeting with the Headmaster on the night of the bloodletting. Maybe Kaien Cross was finally going to confide in her what that presence was about. If that was what he was-

"Miss Reina Oishi."

The voice of the instructor cut across Reina's senses like a blade across her skin. Starting, she jerked her head upward and met his dark grey eyes. He was standing near to her desk, but not so near that he could reasonably lean down and speak with her privately. He wanted the entire room to hear this discourse. "I would think that one so privileged as to attend an Academy so far out of their rank would be trying to make the best of this opportunity by paying attention in class."

This man was nothing to Reina. He was a gnat, a flea at the base of a mountain 2,000 miles away. However, as the half-blood girl looked around at the melee of staring eyes, she was aware that she ought to at least give some impression that she cared for the instructor's words, to avoid drawing more attention. She nodded vaguely in his direction.

"Well, then," the bearded man replied in clipped tones, clearly not satisfied. "Perhaps you can give us your opinion on the current question at hand. What do you think would be the most appropriate gift for someone of your rank to bestow upon a higher aristocrat, as thanks for giving them something of your possession?"

Reina thought for a moment, and then the bridge of her nose wrinkled in confusion as she noticed a structural oddity in the nauseating man's sentence. "You're asking what I would give to an aristocrat as thanks….when I had already given them something?"

"Yes, Miss Reina," the man intoned with the air of explaining something simple to a two-year old. But Reina still did not understand.

"But why would I give someone something, and then give them another gift 'as thanks?' What am I thanking them for? I'm the one who provided the first gift. I would give someone a present in thanks if they had given me something first."

This seemed like common sense for basic living to Reina, but the classroom had gone oddly silent. The instructor's expression of mocking attentiveness had slipped off his face, and was slowly being replaced by serious outrage. He kept his voice calm as he approached a little closer. "But surely you know that it is an honor for something of yours to be requested by a person of higher rank. You would give them a second gift in order to thank them for doing you the honor of choosing something of yours for themselves. If your gifts are good and your intentions pure, then they will continue to turn to you to provide them with whatever it is that they require. Over time, your social position will improve because of this."

Reina blinked. Were these people serious? Was she seriously sitting in a darkened classroom in the middle of the night, pretending to care about improving her social position by allowing 'more important' beings to take whatever they wanted from her, and being grateful that they had even bothered to look at her for those two seconds? This was bullshit. Reina was still angry that she was here instead of in bed, and she was not going to play along. Simply, she replied, "Honestly, sir, I think that's outrageous. It sounds like institutionalized extortion to me."

Reina knew immediately that she had done it now, whatever 'it' was. The classroom, which had been totally silent before, now erupted into a cacophony of hissing whispers. For some reason, everyone was looking at Kaname, as if they expected him to do something. He was in charge of discipline in the vampiric jurisdiction of this Academy, after all. However, whatever it was they were waiting for, he did not do it. After a long moment of tense expectation, the instructor jerked his head and stepped up to her desk, snatching her unused textbook right out of her hands. "There is no place in my classroom for that kind of disrespectful talk, especially not from a low-born such as yourself. I won't have it! You disgrace our status and our customs. Leave immediately."

Reina did as she was told, standing up and turning her back to the still whispering class, heading out the back door through which she had come in. As she turned around to close it behind her, she caught sight of Kaname's eyes upon her, his features still and almost sad. A flare of spite which had nothing to do with the current situation rose up inside her, which she swiftly re-directed toward the teacher. "If you do not wish to hear my opinions, sir, please don't ask me to speak in class next time." Then she left, satisfied with having gotten the last word in such a classic manner.

Well. Attempt to speak common sense in a crazy place, and get accused of insubordination and banished. How long had things been this bad in the vampire world? Reina pondered as she sat atop the stone archway above the pond. If her history lessons were anything to go off of, they had been this bad for quite awhile. Reina was not trying to be a rebel. Of all the people whom her little outburst had surprised, it had probably surprised her the most. She had attended this Academy for four months now, and this was the first time she had ever been in trouble. This did not mean that she had never found anything about the vampire world outrageous before. In her opinion, almost everything about this blood-soaked night world was so blatantly out of line that it seemed to belong in a supernatural dystopian fiction, and not in the real world at all. But she was the only one that thought so. She remembered sitting in class in astonishment during the first few weeks as she listened to theories about 'levels' and their innate superiority/inferiority. She remembered waiting for someone to speak up, to challenge the instructor's obviously flawed logic, but no one had. They were all brainwashed or brain-dead, or some nefarious combination of the two. But she had not been raised in their world. Reina's mind was composed of the values of her human family, who had raised her to believe that equality was something precious and necessary to a righteous life. She would never see eye to eye with these vampires, no matter what her true 'level' was. This was yet another reason why she thought it should be obvious to everyone (even someone as ridiculously optimistic as Kaien Cross) that she did not belong here.

Once again Reina's thoughts were interrupted, this time by the scuffing of shoes down below. She glanced downward into the hostile face of the more aggressive Cross Academy guardian, Zero Kiryu. His black uniform stood out harshly against the rippling of the cool water behind him, lit up by the shimmering moon above. He had a wary right hand hovering near his hip, where Reina knew the Bloody Rose was concealed. She rolled her eyes and stood up on the archway. "I can leave if I'm ruining the scenery for you."

"Night class students are not supposed to be moving about the campus before they've been released from their classes. Go back to your classroom." The tall male ordered edgily, moving nearer to the archway.

"Well, I've been kicked out of my classroom. So I will definitely not go back." She replied matter-of-factly. Zero seemed surprised for a moment.

"Why, what have you done?" he inquired, eyeing her as if she might be a threat.

"None of your business!" Reina exclaimed forcefully, turning away from him and strolling to the other end of the archway. "You wouldn't understand even if I told you. You don't know anything about the vampire world."

She turned back long enough to see Zero's face darken inexplicably. The next moment, her indignation was driven from her mind as a dark wave of power filtered into her senses. With wide, sharp eyes, she scanned the pitch-black treeline. It was coming from somewhere just behind Zero, and she was sure- it was the same ominous presence as before. She turned toward the guardian only to see that he was clutching his sides, as though the presence was overwhelming him. What kind of power could put a damper on a vampire hunter?

"Oh shit- oh dear, this isn't good. Are you- all right?" she asked against her better judgment, leaning down over the stone ledge. Zero growled and jerked his head, a gesture which she took to mean that he did not appreciate her noticing his weakness. Standing up again, Reina decided that it would be best to take matters into her own hands as well as she could without revealing herself. She leaped down from the ledge and cast one more wary glance into the forest. "Guard that thing, Kiryu- I'm going to alert the Headmaster."

She was already running through the maze of Academy buildings when she heard Zero shouting behind her. "Wait! Come back! Stop, dammit!" Confused, the half-blood girl considered slowing down, but just then she rounded the corner and came in sight of a large group of night class students who had just been released from their class. Reina's better judgment returned, and she opted to just keep running as she slid fluidly past them. God knew what they were going to think of her now- absent for two days, kicked out of class, and then chased across campus by a prefect- but there were more important things to deal with.

Reina reached the administrative building in no time. Much to her surprise, she noted that Zero was close behind her, and he was still shouting for her to stop. Baffled, Reina stepped backward onto the stoop and was hit by the door as it opened. Yuki Cross leaned her head out and stared at Reina just as Zero reached the pair of them, panting and obviously very angry. By this time, Reina was indignant as well. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Kiryu? I was going to alert the Headmaster! You're not doing much good by chasing after me instead of guarding that thing in the forest! Now it might get away!" Even as she said this, Reina could still sense the threatening presence nearby, and this made her all the more agitated.

Yuki cocked her head in concern. "What thing in the forest?"

"Nothing," Zero growled through clenched teeth, straightening himself rigidly upright. "There's nothing in the forest."

Reina threw her hands up to the sky. "Have you gone completely insane? Really, totally insane? That thing has been hanging around for weeks! I know you felt its power just now, so why are you denying it? If this is some sort of stupid male pride thing, you need to sort out your priorities-"

"It's not what you think! And it is none of your business!" Zero raged, raking a hand through his silver hair as if he would like to drag it across her mouth. Reina narrowed her eyes, similarly seething. The night wind picked up and rushed between the buildings, tugging at their Academy uniforms as they glared at each other on the stoop.

"Am I supposed to be satisfied with that answer? 'It's none of my business?' It's the whole Academy's business if it puts them in danger! I can sense the core of this thing, and believe me, it isn't friendly. I think it's a vampire, but who knows? You should be doing your duty as a guardian and chasing it away from the property, not covering up the fact that it's here! The Academy is not safe!"

"Why do you care?" Zero bellowed, coming to the end of his rope. Reina opened her mouth to shout back an answer and found that she didn't have one. The silence was awkward and unexpected. A distressed-looking Yuki was fitting herself into the space between them, ready to shove them both back if they lost control of their anger. She looked so small and fragile- she was wearing an oversize, dark blue sweater which made her seem even tinier- and Reina suddenly felt guilty for frightening her. She was innocent in this. The taller girl stepped back and took a moment to cool her emotions, reminding herself that whatever was out there hadn't attacked them yet, and was unlikely to do so at the moment with so many vampires milling about on the grounds. She gritted her fanged teeth and answered calmly, "I am indebted to Kaien Cross for something very great. He is not my enemy. This Academy is his dream, and I do not wish to see it jeopardized. Furthermore, having the aristocrats gathered here in one place- under the control of a pureblood, and placated by blood tablets- is better than letting them run loose in the world to prey on humans. This Academy is the lesser of two evils."

Yuki looked very surprised, glancing over at Reina and then at the forest behind her. Zero was still ruled by anger. After a moment, the tiny human pivoted around the face her co-prefect. "Zero, what is she talking about? No one has told me anything about anything in the forest!"

He glanced away, hissing through his teeth. "You don't need to get yourself involved-"

"Of course I need to be involved! I'm a Cross Academy guardian! It's my duty to protect this school! I'm not so weak that you can't tell me these things!" Yuki exclaimed, her face shadowing over with hurt.

Just as Reina had concluded that this arguing was getting them nowhere, a softer voice intruded. "Excuse me, but is there some sort of emergency taking place?"

"It's under control," Reina snapped, just as Zero growled, "It's none of your business." The white-clad girl turned her back on the figure of Kaname Kuran and wrenched the side door open. "I'm going to see the Headmaster. Yuki-san, Kiryu, you can come with me or you can continue your patrol. Kuran, why don't you go and sulk by the pond? It seems to be what you're good at." She heard Yuki gasp aloud at her rudeness, and then she was on her way up the stairwell, Zero barreling after her.

"I told you, there's no point to this!" he snarled as she banged her fist against the door of the Headmaster's office. She officiously ignored him, and a moment later the door swung open as Kaien Cross leaned his head out and beamed.

"Reina-san! Right on time! Do c- oh, Kiryu, you're here too? And Yuki- Kaname-kun- why are you…."

Reina swung her head around to see the little prefect and the stately pureblood striding toward them. She was usually loathe to give in to her vampire instincts, but she boldly bared her fangs at the latter as he drew up beside them. "I told you to get lost, you degenerate!"

"Matters pertaining to the security of the Academy are of my concern, as President of the Moon Dormitory," he answered calmly. Reina felt like throwing him out of a window.

The Headmaster was still looking confused. "Is there something going on that I should know about? This was supposed to be a private audience with Reina-san…."

"That thing is back," Reina announced, shoving her way into his office in order to get away from the nauseating pureblood. "The one I told you about on Sunday night, when you said it was none of my concern. I should beg to differ now."

"Yes, that's actually what this meeting was supposed to be about…." Kaien Cross trailed after her into his office, looking worried.

"What?" Zero burst through the doorway as well, nearly tripping over the thick Indian rug. "Wait a minute, wait a minute- you told me that you needed to have a private meeting with me!"

"I was hoping to speak with you both privately, on separate occasions, before talking to you together," the Headmaster fretted, biting his lip. "I suppose it would be no good now to ask you to leave, Kiryu?"

"I'm not going anywhere until she stops meddling in things that aren't her business!" Zero growled, pointing a sharp finger straight at Reina. She advanced upon him and was about to give him a repeat of her speech about keeping the Academy safe when Kaname interceded.

"Is this about what I think it's about, Headmaster?" he queried, and Kaien Cross nodded.

Reina's patience snapped. "Why is this smarmy little prince in on everything?" she practically shouted, rounding on the Headmaster. Zero and Yuki looked very surprised at her reaction.

"Calm down!" Kaien Cross demanded, raising his voice for the first time that evening. "Everyone needs to calm down. Now, I don't know what happened earlier, but since you're all here now and I can't get rid of you, we might as well speak calmly. The truth is-" he sighed, glancing between the darkened figure of Zero and the light-white one of Reina, "-there is something that both of you need to know….about each other. My research has come upon….something new, and it's time we stopped keeping secrets."

It was like the floor had dropped out from underneath her as Reina realized, with a definite stab of betrayal, what the Headmaster wanted to do. She was too shocked to shout. "Are you mad?" she asked him softly, almost calmly. "You want to tell him my secret?"

Zero had a much more violent reaction. He lunged for the Headmaster and grabbed the lapels of his coat, heaving him up against his desk. Yuki shrieked and started to race toward them, but Kaname held her back in his arms. "You promised," the prefect growled, barely forcing the words out between his clenched teeth, "You promised to never bring this up-!"

"It's too late, Kiryu!" the man insisted, bending backwards over his work table. "You can't hide it any longer. She's already sensing it. As soon as it solidifies, then she'll know for sure."

"Then kick her out of the Academy!" the prefect insisted, glaring back into Reina's eyes. "Aren't I worth more to you than she is?"

"You don't know what she's doing for this Academy." Kaien Cross told his adopted charge softly. Zero hissed in rage and let him go, striding over to the window and staring out intensely. "I can't believe this. I can't believe it."

"It's bad enough that this bastard knows!" Reina signaled toward Kaname, having re-discovered her fury. "Why would you tell the prefects?"

"Because I've discovered a possible new use for your blood," the Headmaster directed his gaze toward her, "and it would be dishonest of me to use it for that purpose without your informed consent. When I took you into the Academy I couldn't promise you much, but I did promise that I would always be honest with you." He spread his arms out helplessly. "I had never planned to tell you like this."

"What on earth is going on?" Yuki demanded, stepping out from behind Kaname. "What's going on with Reina-san and Zero? Headmaster, why don't I know about any of this?"

"I was going to tell you as well, Yuki-"

"Why don't you just tell the whole world?" Reina burst out angrily.

Kaien Cross gazed at her with level eyes. "You need to at least consider what I'm asking of you, Reina. Zero as well. In secrecy there can be no cooperation, no trust, no understanding. You can't move forward with secrets burdening you."

"Oh, thank you so much for deciding for me when I needed to move forward!" the white-clad girl snarled, eyeing his desk and wondering if it would break if she slammed her hand down upon it. Of course it would break. She was strong.

"It would be best if you told them yourself." He suggested gently, and suddenly Reina did not feel so strong anymore. She knew that there was no point in trying to hide it any longer- her secret was in shambles. The Headmaster had revealed too much. But the thought of telling them with her own mouth seemed ridiculous. She barely knew these people. She had never even said the word aloud when she had been conversing with Kaname two days ago. He had said it for her. Every phrasing which she thought of seemed like admitting a deficiency. Half-blood; a half-blood who knows nothing about her real parents; a half-blood who has never met anyone else like herself; a half-blood who is still unsure how to use her powers; a half-blood who doesn't even understand what it means to be a half-blood. She stared at the lot of them for a long moment, and then turned away. "You tell them. I'm leaving."

"Reina-"

"I'll be back in a few days, so don't freak out. But everyone should know-" she turned back to face the room full of baffled people, "-it doesn't matter what you find out about me. I want to be left alone."

"But Reina, you need to hear about Zero!" The young man by the window growled and clenched his fists. The Headmaster pressed on. "You'll need to learn to trust each other-"

"I don't care about Zero," Reina informed him flatly, glaring directly into his bespectacled eyes. "And I'm not even sure I trust you anymore." She turned her back and strode toward the door. Kaname stepped out of her way as she swept through the doorway and down the hall, away from Kaien Cross and his pacifistic optimism which she did not believe in, away from the enigmatic guardians, away from the selfish pureblood whose fault it all was. She was not going home. She was not going to school today. She was going to get away from this suffocating world.