With regular band practices now added to my schedule, life went quicker. I found peace in the busy, but perhaps that was due to the lack of nightmares from barely sleeping. However, those of us on the Disciplinary Committee found ourselves dealing with more and more bullshit as the dance drew nearer. The delusional day class dreamed of having the arm candy that was the night class as their date, however they were more apt to be a midnight snack than anything else.

Yuki and Zero seemed busy, too. Zero had had his first assignment from the Hunters Association and successfully ended the life of a Level E. Yuki was diligently keeping Zero alive, despite the taboo of it. I continued my complacency by keeping my silence.

Lessons with Kaname carried on with nothing to note. Most days we read in silence, others I practiced my 'jedi mind tricks' as I called them to Kaname's chagrin. I was actually excelling in psisensory clairoptics- that was seeing farther away images in my mind.

The band and I practiced three times a night in hopes of starting to record next week with the media productions club. We were actually making progress, with fewer and fewer mess ups and arguments with every practice. Kaito would have preferred practice every night but didn't push due to the riot Renjiro and I would have had.

But peace, I have found, does not last long. Things were stirring and the chess game I found myself in would yield many casualties.

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"Yeah?" Wei, a classmate of mine, gushed loudly. "Well, Aido would be my pick. If I could dance with Aido, I would be in heaven."

"You're right," her friend, Asuka, agreed, "but there's something about his cousin Akatsuki. He is so tall and quiet and serious. I would die just to see him smile at me."

One word: gross. I'm not against girls having crushes, but sometimes these students simply took it too far. Perhaps it was because I knew the darker intent of the beauty of the night class. They were made to be beautiful and alluring to draw in their prey like a venus fly trap. Yet, these girls unknowingly dreamed of their affections making it my job to protect them and their naivety.

"Hey," Zero called out, "Snap out of it, Yuki, will ya?" The brunette was off in thought like she had been since Zero's assignment. It bothered her more than the rest of us, and I suppose that made sense. Zero grew up in a family of hunters. I grew in being hunted. "When that gate opens," Zero warned, "be ready."

I steeled myself for the inevitable pushing from the girls. Zero's emotionless stare made it easy to intimate the girls on his side. Yuki and I struggled on our end, not really having the same effect as our foster brother. The girls really were restless tonight as they somehow managed to push us down the courtyard and up to the main school building that the night class was entering. As Yuki and I strained to keep the girls from entering the doorway, a hand fell onto my left shoulder.

"Do you ladies need a hand holding them back?" Aido asked from behind us. Of course, it had to be the most annoying one to see us struggle. I was about to make a snarky comment back when his grip changed, and he pulled Yuki and I over the threshold and closed the door.

The blond grinned, "I was kidding if you couldn't tell." He put his ear to the thick door and listened to the cries of outrage on the other side. Even without my super good hearing, I'd have heard the nasty things they were saying about Yuki and I. "They're really jealous of you two. It's really. . .cute."

I rolled my eyes at the obnoxious blond and pulled out of his grasp, "Thanks, Prince Charming."

"Let me go," Yuki pulled away, too. "We really need to get back."

Aido shook his head, "You two really are sisters. You are so rude to the person that just rescued you." I looked over at Yuki with a pang of sorrow. My sister and I had yet to make up since our fight almost a month ago. Since then, we had spent little time together with Zero acting as our buffer most of the time. I understood her anger, I had kept so many secrets from her for so many years. She had poured so much of her kindness into me, and I had repaid her with keeping her in the dark. Yuki's eyes met mine briefly, but quickly refocused on Aido.

"You're bothering the disciplinary committee, Hanabusa," Kaname reprimanded from the grand staircase. He looked ethereal and kingly surrounded by his classmates. "Yuki, Annabel, don't take these duties too seriously that you only end up getting yourselves hurt."

Yuki seemed dazed at the appearance of her savior and her cheeks reddened, "Okay! Sure! I will be more careful." I said nothing, but simply nodded. The door opened behind us, revealing Zero. He grabbed Yuki by the hand and pulled her out of the school.

"You guys shouldn't let yourselves get carried off," Zero criticized, "Come on." I followed behind Zero and Yuki, not caring to keep up with Zero's long legs. I did catch Zero's gaze as he looked past us and into the building, right where Kaname stood. These two stupid boys were going to be the end of me. They just needed to have a dick measuring contest and get their stupid rivalry over with. I had enough to deal with at the moment.

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"This is the new transfer student: Maria Kurenai," Headmaster Cross explained, handing a file over to Yuki and me. I took the file first, looking at the picture of the new student. She was pretty in a little girlish way. She had long sweeping gray hair and eyes that were tall like Yuki's, but not as dewy. She had a sincere expression and a haunting loneliness about her.

"Why is she just joining now," Yuki questioned as she peered over at the file over my shoulder. Headmaster leaned back in his chair and seemed to be peering at the ceiling more than he was looking at us. Something felt off about this exchange. With so little of the year left, why would she join now?

"She was slated to start at the beginning of the year," Kaian explained, "but due to a weak constitution she hasn't been able to join us until now." A weak constitution, huh? I could empathize with that. I had upped my dosage of iron tablets and blood tablets to take the edge off of the extreme fatigue I had been experiencing. I wasn't sure how long this remedy would last before my symptoms worsened beyond just tiredness and the occasional dizzy spell. Furthermore, I wasn't ready to have that conversation with Kaian just yet.

A knock sounded on the office door and the door creaked open, revealing the new transfer student. As expected, she was dressed in white just like all the other night class students.

"She's a night class student?" Yuki questioned. Kaian and I didn't respond. Come one, Yuki, it was kind of obvious. . . 

"Good evening," Maria greeted sweetly with a closed-eye smile.

"Good evening, Maria Kurenai," Kaian greeted warmly, "I would like you to meet my daughters: Yuki Cross and Annabel Cross."

'Nice to meet you," Yuki and I bowed in unison. Yuki shifted awkwardly in response.

"Hello Annabel," Maria waved shyly, "Hello Yuki- you look so tasty and healthy." I took note that I did not look tasty nor healthy.

"Now you listen here," Headmaster admonished the new girl, "that is strictly taboo here at the academy."

"I apologize," Maria responded sweetly, "Nice to meet you girls."

"Yuki, will you please give Miss Kurenai a tour?" Kaian asked. Yuki nodded. I was glad to not be forced into small talk with the new students just as much as Yuki was glad to get away from me.

"Annabel, I hope we can become friends," Maria waved as she left. Something about her wasn't right. I wasn't able to ponder this more, because as the door closed, I was immediately interrogated by my foster father.

"What is going on with Yuki and you," he whined. I shrugged in response, taking a seat on his desk. I was starting to get dizzy. "I get that sister's fight, but a month is too long. Family meals are awkward, and I miss seeing my precious daughters be so cute together."

I sighed, "It's my fault. I was mean for not telling Yuki about me."

"That's what this is about?" Kaian sobered up. He was an interesting man with his personality swings. "She is upset at you for not talking about your past?"

"Well that and I got frustrated and told her 'you are not my sister,' so there is that."

"Anna!" Kaian shook his head, "Have you apologized to her?"

"I've tried, but-"

"No buts," Kaian interrupted sternly. Sometimes he made me miss his goofy self. "I need you to make a proper apology to your sister. None of these 'little actions' to make her forgive you- an actual apology." I nodded, taking the advice to heart. "Additionally," Kaian added, "I scheduled a doctor's appointment for you."

I looked at him flabbergasted, "What! Why? I am fine."

"Annabel," the headmaster sighed, "You didn't think I would notice that you are going through your subscription twice as fast? Or that you started taking the same blood supplements as Zero and the Night Students?"

I shrugged, somewhat ashamed for getting caught. I knew the conversation would need to be had, because I was down to three days' worth of medicine with a week left before my next refill, but I didn't expect him to catch on so fast. Darn those keen hunter eyes of his. "I didn't know it was going to get so bad, Kaian."

The headmaster's gaze softened, and he placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, "No worries, Annabel, you may be walking a rare path, but it is not one you need to walk alone. Confide in your sister. You'll be skipping your morning classes with Kaname tomorrow, we will be headed to Dr. Icen's office."

I nodded mutely, my face felt hot and my eyes desperately wanted to water, but I clamped down on those emotions. It wouldn't do me any good to cry about it. "Have a good night," I responded tightly, "I will see you in the morning." Kaian gave his farewells and I headed into the night for patrol.

Word Count: 1755

Started: 07/25/23

Finished: 07/26/23