A/N: Hi everyone! I managed to have some time to get Chapter 7 going! This might not be obvious, but I write chapters a little bit at a time, instead of all at once, because that's just too overwhelming for me. This is only a hobby to de-stress from college, especially since it's my MCAT year, so I'll be constantly studying. Please be understanding and enjoy Chapter 7!

Recap:

"Maybe it would help if you didn't go the infirmary so much," he retorted.

I gave him a sideways glance and I slipped my socks and shoes on. "I don't tell you how to live your life." I grabbed my school bag before walking towards the door where Zero stood, glaring down at me.

"Well, come on. We're gonna be late," I said mockingly before heading out. I heard Zero sigh before closing the door and following me to class.

It didn't take very long to reach the classroom, and there was still time to spare. I sat in my spot next to Zero and took out my diary to write a quick entry:

April 8, 1:30 PM

Nikki-e,

It's been an uneventful (yet rough) few days, but I'm finally back! I've been in and out of the infirmary, for multiple reasons, and it's starting to worry me. I still haven't figured out why I freeze up suddenly, and it's been getting worse. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I can't help thinking that whatever this is is going to kill me. I'm scared to my wit's end, and I'm not sure what to do.

Zero and Yuuki-chan have been taking care of me while I've been in the infirmary. I feel bad that both of them do so much for me, and I don't know how to pay them back for all they've done. Compared to when I first met him, Zero seems... nicer? I'm not sure why, but he's been pretty worried about me, even though he might not show it. It's a bit unusual, but I think it's also kind of cute... Wait, what am I saying?! Ah, class is going to start soon, so I'll write more later.

I quickly closed the diary and took out my class notes before the teacher came in to start the lesson. Thankfully it wasn't a tough subject for the period, so I could easily take notes without paying too much attention. I glanced at Zero to find he wasn't asleep like he usually was, but looking me with his icy lilac eyes before immediately looking away and resting his head on the desk to avoid my eyes. I looked away as well, focusing instead on the lecture while attempting to hide the blush I felt creeping up on my face.

The rest of class went by uneventfully, and once the teacher left I sat up and stretched to relieve the ache in my back from sitting for too long. I decided to look in Zero's direction one more time, and sure enough he was asleep this time.

He must really not get enough sleep at night if he's got that much sleep debt... I mused to myself as I packed my notebook and pencil case into my bag.

"Hey, Zero, class is over. Wake up," I reached to gently shake him awake when he suddenly opened his eyes, looking straight at me.

"Dammit, Zero, a little warning, please!" I yelped in surprise, but everyone else had just about left, so there was hardly anyone to stare at us.

He sat up and stretched, rubbing the back of his neck to work out the kinks. "What time is it?" he asked, unfazed.

"Four o' clock. I don't know how the teacher didn't see you asleep for the entire class period, but congrats, I guess." I sighed.

"Has it ever occurred to you why people avoid me? I know you're a special case, but in case you haven't noticed, I don't fare well with interpersonal communication," he yawned, and I could just barely see his fangs poking out from his mouth. If I had seen them a a little more than a week ago, I might have flipped my shit, but with the recent events that's I've had to overcome, it didn't faze me that much; in fact, it kind of reminded me of a cat.

I accidentally let out a faint giggle, causing Zero to look at me with a slightly confused look on his face. "What are you laughing at?" he asked.

"Oh, sorry, it's just that you reminded me of a cat just now. That yawn was kind of cute," I answered without thinking and mentally kicked myself for letting myself as soon as the words left my mouth.

"... Don't call me cute. I'm definitely the opposite of that. You of all people should know," he snapped quietly.

"Well, I already did, so too late?" I shrugged. "And I think you were about to say 'worried' before correcting yourself? You're not getting soft on me, are you?" I teased lightly.

He glared at me intensely. "I don't know what you're talking about," he replied before standing up to stretch. "I have Guardian duty today, so I'll be back late; don't wait for me." He gathered his things (which were alarmingly few) and started towards to door before I caught up and stood in front of him, holding my hands out from my sides to block him.

"Considering what terrible luck I have alone on campus, I think it's a good idea if you take me to the dorms before patrolling, don't you think, Zero? Maybe you can actually be a Guardian instead of having just the title." I hadn't meant it to be demeaning, but the way the words came out of my mouth changed the expression on his face from regular annoyance to a mix of anger, hurt, and hate.

"I didn't mean it like that, though, honest." I quickly added before he could say anything. "I just would rather not run into any Night Class members for a good while."

"You know I'm the same thing as they are, right? Even with me around you, you should be scared." His eyes pierced through me, and I looked away with a mixture of guilt and slight fear.

"You wouldn't do anything, though. You try so hard to be different from them despite being the same. That's why I feel safer with you than with any of them." I said, barely audible, but I knew he would still be able to hear.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds before I spoke again.

"You know what? Can you forget I said anything? I'll be fine, I can manage. I don't want to mess this up any more than I already have, because you're a really special person to me, and I don't want to ruin that. You'll be late if you walk me back, and I don't want you getting in trouble." I turned around and fast-walked out of the classroom before practically running through the halls, my mind a jumbled mess.

Oh my god, what the heck did I just say? I mentally bashed myself before bumping into something that almost sent me falling until my back was supported my a strong arm.

"Sorry! I didn't see y-" I looked up to see that it was Zero who caught me mid-fall before picking myself up and stepping back from him. "S-sorry." I said. I was pretty sure he could hear how fast my heart was racing, but I tried not to care.

"You'll probably kill yourself before those bastards do at this rate," he sighed. "I'll take you to the dorms, since Yuuki understands if I'm late." He turned around and started walking without another word, and it took me a few seconds to calm myself before running to catch up to him.

The walk to the dorms was uneventful, though the distant fangirl screams of the Day Class girls carried pretty well in the silence of the evening, signaling that the classes were switching for the night. No matter how much I thought about it, the whole concept didn't make sense to me. In my eyes, the Night Class, though they had a special beauty to them, were just like anyone else (minus the pointed- no pun intended- differences). But then again, I wasn't concerned with the appearance of a person; to me, who they are as a human being matters more.

"Well, here we are," Zero abruptly broke the silence as we stopped outside the dorm entrance. I jumped a little in surprise, getting lost in my own thoughts as we were walking so I wouldn't think about the awkwardness between us.

"Oh, um, y-yeah. Thanks, Zero. And I'm sorry for what I said before. Really, I am," I said quietly and made my way towards the entrance. As I placed my hand on the door handle, I turned back to see that Zero hadn't left yet.

"Um, good luck on Guardian duty! Night!" I hurriedly opened the door and practically ran inside before closing it again and leaning against it, trying to slow down my heartbeat.

What's wrong with me today? This is getting really weird, I thought before taking a deep breath and made my way to our room.

As soon as I arrived to our dorm room the first thing I wanted to do was take a bath, so I quickly took my shoes off and set my bag on my bed before grabbing my pajamas and heading into the bathroom. The bath filled pretty quickly as I undressed and stepped inside the tub, letting the heat from the water melt all the tightness in my muscles, allowing me to relax.

As I washed away all the dirt from the day, I felt the different wounds that were present on my body from my run-ins with some of the vampires on campus. Thankfully, the marks were healing properly and, with minimal luck, there wouldn't be any scarring. I ran my fingers over each mark, the skin a glossy pink from the natural healing process.

I think I've had enough of these for a lifetime, I sighed as I washed the soap off my body and got out of the bath to dry off and get dressed.

I didn't have the energy to do anything but sleep once I stepped out of the bathroom, but my stomach complained about the lack of sustenance in my system, so I lazily ate a snack bar before moving my bag to the floor and crawling under the covers before easily falling asleep.

Aido impatiently tapped his finger on the desk, feeling a surge of irritation.

"Man, I wanna go outside. It's so cramped in this classroom," he sighed. The slightest scent of blood was in the air, and he knew all too well whose it was. He reached into his blazer's inner pocket and pulled out a small black box, opened it, and tossed a few pills into his drink, placing the box back into his pocket before watching the tablets dissolve and turn the drink into a pale red.

"Aidou, we literally just changed classes. How do you want to go home already?" Kain remarked. While he wasn't surprised by Aidou's attitude, he couldn't help but feel a tiny pang of thirst at the scent of blood that lightly danced through the air, almost unnoticeable. He also knew whose blood it was, but couldn't bring himself to care; after all, he was just there to make sure his cousin didn't go out of line- he didn't have time to think about some human girl.

"Home? You misunderstand me, Kain. I just wanna see if I'll run into Hitomi-chan again and get another taste of that blood of her's. She's a godsend, I tell you," Aidou picked up his glass and took a small sip of the drink inside. "I guess I'll just have to survive off of these sub-par blood tablets until then," he exaggerated.

"Hanabusa, shut up. If Kaname hears you, you're dead," Kain only worried slightly, but knew that Aidou always got what he was due.

"Man, lighten up a little, I'm just joking," Aidou smirked.

"You know he's right," a female voice interrupted their conversation as she walked up to the two cousins, brushing her long, wavy hair from her neck pompously.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to eavesdrop, Ruka?" Aidou retorted.

"It's not eavesdropping if everyone in the room can hear you," she replied.

"Tch, whatever," Aidou crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. "It's just so boring waiting for Yagari to get here."

Ruka pondered a bit before saying what was on her mind. "So what were you saying about the girl? If you're this restless about her then her blood must be better than that Yuuki chick's."

"You bet it is! I only had a small sip before I was rudely interrupted by that Kiryuu guy. Annoying, meddlesome brat," Aidou muttered.

"To be fair, it is against school rules to suck blood, student or otherwise," Kain pointed out. "You should be thankful that he didn't blow your head off then and there."

Aidou crossed his arm on the desk and laid his head down on top of them. "Ahh, I want more of her blood so badly!" He sat up a moment later and took another sip of the liquid from his glass.

"It's a surprise the rest of the Night Class isn't as restless as you are. Her scent isn't that faint," Kain sniffed the air again lightly, as if to double check if Takeshima's blood really did give off an irresistible scent. Sure enough, it was there, lingering in the air.

"Oh, believe me, Kain. They're restless, but they're too scared of Kaname-sama to show it, so they suffer in silence," Ruka looked around at the other Night Class students, their thirst and discomfort practically tangible.

"And rightfully so," another voice, this time male, interrupted the conversation. This voice was deeper and radiated power over the rest of the Night Class members.

"Oh! Kaname-sama! Didn't see you there! How are you?" Aidou almost jumped in surprised at how suddenly stood next to him.

"Well, but hearing that you broke school rules put me in a sour mood, but I'll deal with it accordingly when we get back to the dorms," Kaname replied, a stern glint in his eyes.

Aidou's expression changed from warm to fear as Yagari entered the classroom to begin the lesson.

"Alright, everyone. The sooner you all quiet down, the sooner we can begin and end this lesson. Despite our obvious conflicts, put that aside and turn to page 38. It's gonna be a long night."

Tell me about it, Aidou thought internally as he opened his textbook and spent the entire lesson dreading what was in store afterwards.

I was in a dark abyss, though I couldn't tell if I was floating or falling. I tried moving in any direction, but my body didn't want to listen, and when I tried to talk, my voice couldn't come out, despite forming words.

What the hell? Please tell me this isn't happening again, I thought.

"I thought I'd see you again, Hitomi-chan," a voice cut through the darkness, and I jumped a little.

Kaname? Why is he here? I thought.

"No need to worry, I'm only here to talk, dear," he chuckled. "Though I do plan on draining your blood eventually, but rest assured, you'll be alive for a good while."

Well, that doesn't give me much comfort, I replied sarcastically. In fact, none of this was very assuring, despite it being a dream. I knew Kaname was a vampire, and I could feel an aura much more regal and powerful that the ones I'd felt when I had my unfortunate run-in with Aidou and Kain. But, thanks, I guess.

"You're welcome," Kaname's voice sounded pleasant, but beneath it was a hint of something dark that chilled me to the bone. If he was like this in a mere dream, I couldn't imagine how he would be in person.

"I don't want to linger here too long, because that Level E will arrive soon, but I wanted you to know this: your blood belongs to me, whether you like it nor not, and I will have every last drop."

I didn't show the fear I felt, but I knew without a doubt that Kaname could practically smell it, and that brought a smile to his face.

"There's no need to fear, dear. I'll be sure to make it as quick and painless as possible." With that he started to fade out and I was alone in the vast abyss again, feeling worse than before.

If my body doesn't possibly kill me first, then Kaname will, I realized.

A/N: I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO FINISH QAQ I promise I'll try to be better at updates! I'm sorry this is a short chapter compared to the others, and that each chapter gets progressively shorter! I've had a small case of Writer's Block and I'm working my way through it. But please look forward to Chapter 8 in the future!