This story is portrayed from the manga perspective (for example, there will be cursing to better illustrate the characters' true natures), but the visual references (for example, Yagarī's ice-blue eye) are portrayed from the anime perspective. Rated M for mature language, sexual references and eventual actions, and general content not safe for minours younger than seventeen years. You've been warned.
Disclaimer: Vampire Knight, along with its characters and locations, belong to Matsuri Hino. Reiko Souma, her parents and people of her hometown and prior residence, Shourim Manti, and Scian'tlo (not an actual village on the U.S. Virgin Islands) belong to me.
This is another attempt at an ongoing story. Please let me know how I'm doing with a review!
"Souma-san! Souma-san! Wake up, Souma-san! We have to get out of here now!" The voice sounded so far away, even though it was coming from right next to her. Suddenly, she stopped hearing anything at all.
Earlier...
The pink-headed student sat at a small desk in her bedroom. Another day of lectures at the university level has left her with a pile of homework that she was determined to complete before midnight. Most of the work was done already, but Ethical Evolution was proving more difficult than she cared to admit. How was every question taking her so much time to answer correctly?
Looking at the notebook in front of her, any unaware student would think of Reiko as crazy. Every question had been answered in great detail, each response a paragraph long. They looked correct, but to her they weren't correct enough. When they weren't correct enough, they had might as well be wrong.
Reiko was a perfectionist workaholic.
She was also at the point of absolute frustration. Now down to the last question, she was searching for the best way to answer it. "Ugh...what the Hell? It's just one question! Why does the answer elude me?" Too frustrated to continue, the young woman put her pencil down and shut the notebook with a bookmark on the page where her notes were. Leaving it on top of her open book, she stood and retrieved her Katana from beneath her pillow. Then she reached for her pink hair elastic that was always around her wrist and pulled her waist-length bubblegum pink hair away from her face.
Patrols always relaxed her mood. No matter what the weather was like at that moment, Reiko always felt better afterwards. Most of her patrols consisted of her walking around the Academy grounds with her Katana going unused as it sat within its sheath, strapped around her at a diagonal angle by a black leather strap. It was strapped to her now; Reiko was ready to start her patrol.
How to get outside? Curfew was in effect, albeit she had been given the duty as the newest Prefect based on her background with vampires. Strange as it was though, she enjoyed going outside through her window more than she enjoyed using the door like a "normal" person. "Hm." What a relative term. "Here's to hoping I don't step on anyone's toes this time." Reiko had no pleasure in crossing the other guardians' paths, ever, and kept quiet as she made her way outside.
Graduating at the top of her secondary school class had gone without saying. Her marks had been absolutely perfect, even after a confusing twist of circumstances that led to her learning about her family caused her to miss so many classes. Her overall identity had come under heavy scrutiny just before her final exams, and at such an inconvenient time. Her anemia had started to act up again.
It's so odd, really...my anemia hasn't acted up since then. I wonder why? That is, her condition seemed more stable now. It wasn't her first time having to miss classes due to her anemia, but it was her first time having to miss the entire last month of classes. Well,it could always be worse. It isn't worse.
Fresh cool air greeted the pink-headed woman as she opened the main doors to the Sun Dormitory. She had decided to use the door instead of her window this time; what a switch. Her Katana's sheath made a soft clinking sound against her back as she walked along the stone path. So far, so quiet. Perhaps this would be an easy night.
Were Yūki and Zero already asleep for the night? It surely couldn't be that late. Sigh. Reiko took a left off of the pathway and passed through the west side of the forest. Most who violated the rules were found in the forest, out of the sight of everyone else. Even if the woman remained on the path, her senses were too acute to not notice if someone was making a sound. How she could see and hear so well, she didn't understand. Neither did she understand how she could smell the sulphuric stench of vampires.
"You're still searching, aren't you?" An unfamiliar male's voice came from her right and reeked of the strongest scent of a vampire. Turning quickly, she came across a very tall crimson-eyed brunette in a white uniform. What was he doing here? He should be inside. "There's no need to reach for your Katana, Souma-san. I'm Kaname Kuran, president of the Night Class. I've been monitoring your progress with the Headmaster's permission."
Reiko shook her head slowly. "President or not, you're not on the list of students who have permission to be wandering about. You're to go to class or return to your dormitory at once." A sudden wind whipped up at her words. Since when did her words come with any form of power in physical form? The wind calmed as soon as she stopped speaking, but didn't die. Kaname took note of this as he stepped closer. "Step back now, Kuran-san, and abide by the rules set forth by the Headmaster." The wind whipped up violently with her words and, as she frowned, didn't even calm down.
It's just as I thought. Kaname stopped with the beginning traces of a smile forming. She can control the weather, but she doesn't even realise it. Is she that oblivious to her hidden status? The tall man didn't let the wind deter him from coming even closer until he was standing directly in front of her. "You swear by the life as a human and refuse your obvious identity as a vampire. It's that fight that I admire."
Reiko's frown deepened into an all-out scowl. Her hand instantly reached for her Katana and drew it. "My duties as a huntress in-training are limited only to the protection hunts and elimination of the Deranged on the grounds of self-defence, but eliminating a Pureblood who provokes me will make a bunch of vampire hunters happy and jealous if I'm provoked. Now step back before I act!"
Now the wind was howling, and it was waking some of the Day Class students. Yagarī, who was still awake grading papers from the high school students, stopped when he heard the wind whipping up into a gust and walked to the window. There, in the forest, stood Reiko and Kaname. That vampire! Yagarī retrieved his hunter's gun and ran from his teacher's dorm at once. This was her first encounter with a Pureblood outside of her village! He had to step in before somebody got hurt.
The angrier Reiko got, the more violent the weather became. However, when Kaname finally took a couple of steps backwards, the violent gust calmed itself some. The woman waited for him to take a few more steps back and wouldn't be satisfied until after he did so. "You'll find your real parents and the answers to the rest of your questions in due time. Until then-"
"You'll leave her alone, or be the proud recipient of the bullet which will end your existence." Yagarī! The incredibly tall man had taught her Ethics class during her years at the Academy's secondary level. He had also learnt a lot about her outside of the classroom, which included the most private aspects of her personal life. So much for keeping that separate from her academic life, but it couldn't be helped. The two shared a secret that nobody else in the Academy knew of, not even the Headmaster.
That secret was only part of the eye patch-wearing man's reason for coming to the woman's rescue now. As he did teach one of her psychology courses as well, she was still his student. He had a duty to protect his students from all harm; his most important duty was as a vampire hunter. Whenever one of "those filthy creatures" threatened a human, his duties as a hunter took priority over his duties as a teacher. Right now, his duty was to protect his student from the filth standing before him.
Tōga-sensei... A pair of deep pink hues widened slightly as her teacher stood behind Kaname, gun raised at the back of his head. Seeing the hunter raise his gun to anybody wasn't anything new to the young woman, who continued to hold her Katana in her hand. It wasn't going to be sheathed until the Pureblood was gone, which meant the wind was also going to continue howling until then as well.
"Fair enough. I apologise for my froward actions...Souma-san." As Kaname started to walk off, Reiko could have sworn she heard his voice inside of her head, telling her, "Your past will surely catch up with you." What was that supposed to mean, and where did that come from? Reiko slid to her knees and let her Katana's blade land on the ground in front of her. It had taken her too long to find out that she had been kidnapped from her hometown by a pair of Purebloods, both of whom were now dead, and she was really twenty-one. Her senses being so keen? She knew nothing about the real reason behind that.
Yagarī's gun returned to its rightful place behind his back, a holster which matched the leather coat he usually wore. Seeing the young woman on her knees with that stunned expression on her face concerned him in an un-Yagarī-like way; he didn't usually show that he cared for anyone except for Zero, Ichirū, Kaien, or those he truly loved. "Are you all right? Did he hurt you?"
Hearing the other's words broke through her thoughts and showed as the flicker in her eyes. "I-I'm fine. He didn't hurt me," Reiko said with the initial stammer that didn't suit her. She allowed Yagarī to help her onto her feet and pick her Katana up from the ground. He could see that she wasn't really fine. "I almost used my Katana...to end his life." The wind finally calmed down, only now it was starting to rain. "I almost jeopardised my chances of a promising future by attempting to kill my first Pureblood." She couldn't believe that she had nearly broken the rules for the sake of a vampire.
Her forming tears were halted by the tall man's arms pulling her close to him in a hug. "He got to you, Reiko," he said before letting go. He could tell that the woman's countenance had changed. "I'm ending your patrol for the night. You're in no emotional state to continue. Let's go." With Reiko leading the way, he walked by her side with his arm around her waist. Once inside, he led her to his own quarters.
"What-?" Yagarī cut her off by pressing his lips to hers. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her to him. This woman had done more than earn his respect, and that didn't include the one time they had slept together last year.
However, Reiko couldn't stay still tonight. "I have to keep going," she said when they had ended the kiss. She had to finish her patrol and then finish her homework. "I'm sorry...I cannot stay here tonight. The others are already starting to suspect something." Although Yagarī had a bad feeling about her going back out, he knew better than to stop her. She usually did make very good points that couldn't be argued against, so he sat on his bed and watched her go with concern etched all over his face. He wasn't about to voice that to anyone else, though.
Tonight's patrol brought Reiko to the first-level roof outside of the second-floor classroom. Some of the Night Class students were incredibly bored and stared ahead. Kaname was staring directly at her as her back was turned to the window. Reiko was staring intently ahead, so the Pureblood turned back around.
That damn woman! I'll prove once and for all that she really is a vampire! Zero stepped forward all too silently. He saw how distracted she was that it made her completely oblivious to his presence. That made his job incredibly easy. He suddenly ran at her and shoved her from the roof with all his might before running off.