A/N: Here- and almost three thousand word chapter. I think this is a pretty solid length- not too long, not too short. I'll try to aim to make every chapter about this length, but of course there will still be those chapters that just have to be a little shorter or a little longer. Anyway, I'm back with a way better idea of what I'm doing with this story. A story I thought was one of my least popular but turns out to be in my top three most popular based on reviews? What? Did that happen when I wasn't looking? Anyway, I've written a better outline so you should be getting chapters more often for this story. This chapter marks the return of actual PLOT, in the form of the Rido arc, which will obviously be different than the canon, but still the Rido arc is a thing. My plot line will come full throttle when the Rido arc concludes (*cough*like chapter twenty three, unless there is another chapter added later *cough*), but I promise the Rido arc will be interesting and a lot of it will be different because my story is already so far from canon. Anyway, sorry for the long A/N, here's chapter seven! Enjoy :)

It was Zero and Lirona's night to patrol the campus grounds and they had split up the hour before, each covering one half of the campus, Zero the West and Lirona the East.

It was a quiet night and Zero took peace in the cool breeze brushing up against his face as he flitted about his portion of the grounds, grateful for the reprieve the night offered him as he had yet to receive a welt without due cause and he hadn't received a welt the night before either for that matter.

His head still ached for hours after he first awakened, which made it difficult to function in his classes, but he pushed through it all with barely a grimace because of Lirona's helping hands.

She had been seated beside him in all of their classes and her touch cooled the pounding in his head to a more manageable level as long as she had a hand against him. She rarely released him until his headache was gone for the day because of it, usually an hour and a half after class had let out for the day when they were allowed free time to roam about the campus to stretch their legs before changeover.

She had been his saving grace since she had arrived at the school and he had barely noticed as they fell into an old routine with one another. When they weren't training with one another they were either sitting next to one another in class or relaxing in one of their Dorm rooms, ignoring the world and just taking comfort in one another's presence, words rarely having to be exchanged to pass the time.

It was… perfect, and a small part of him was wary of it all, waiting for the other shoe to drop so to speak.

Nothing in his life was ever this easy, and he could almost forget that his twin was out there planning his death over Shizuka's demise- a demise he technically didn't even cause even if he would have had he been given the chance.

No, Kuran had been the one to kill Shizuka and for some reason it seemed he was destined to catch the flack for it.

In the days following Shizuka's death, just before the nightmares had begun and he'd been sent to the clinic, he'd been haunted by his twin's admission following their fight in the old Moon Dorms- that Ichiru had hated him even as children.

He hated himself for inadvertently making his other half feel that way- for failing as an older brother to protect his brother from their parent's resentment.

But then again, their parents hadn't been resentful exactly- uncaring, maybe, but not resentful. No, Ichiru had always been the one to resent others and Zero had been the one to foolishly think his brother had actually cared for him.

It was why he had told the Hunters his brother was dead when Shizuka took him away and they left Zero for dead in the burning remains of the Kiryu family home.

He had said his brother was dead for so long afterward that he had begun to believe it himself, certain his brother had been killed by the pureblood vampiress even if she'd left with him whole that fateful night.

It was why he'd been so surprised by his brother's presence at the old Moon Dorms- he'd begun to believe the lie he told everyone who had asked.

But the fact that his brother was in fact alive, whole, healthy, and above all- human had crushed him more than a bit.

He'd been grateful that Ichiru was alive after the surprise wore off but then when Ichiru told him just how much he hated him… he'd felt like a sail without tether, floating off into the wind with abandon as the world continued without notice around him.

Even Yuki who had seemed to love him had failed to notice and he had forced himself to pretend he was alright even when he most certainly wasn't.

But then the nightmares started and he'd been attacked by that… thing and he'd forgotten the recent events that had troubled him so much before, his priorities changed abruptly as that excruciating pain raced through him and made it difficult to live, let alone think.

And then he had awakened to Lirona and he'd forgotten the pain at the sight of her, forgotten all that had really troubled him.

She had that effect on him- could make him feel safe and near untouchable as long as she was at his side, and he had grown close to her once more- no, he had grown closer to her in the past few weeks than he had ever been before.

She offered him what he had craved above all else- unerring acceptance, and he sank into their burgeoning relationship with relief as everything else that had troubled him before began to seem far off.

Sure, the welts and headaches and dreams still troubled him- but he found himself soothed by her touch, soothed by her always near presence and even those troubles began to seem meaningless as the weeks progressed.

He could see her worry when another welt appeared, could spot her familiar concern when his headaches would last longer than the day before- but he couldn't seem to dredge up the ability to care about it all, his life seeming to find a tether in Lirona as he became almost unable to focus on anyone else.

And with that focus he found himself unable to go without her touch when she was near, their hands almost always clasped in one anothers, their evenings spent with her curling into his side as his fingers teased in and out of her thick auburn curls.

Yesterday night they had finally kissed and he had wondered why they had waited so long to do so.

He had kissed other girls before, had a handful of one night stands in town, and had never balked from sexual touch.

But he had also never really had anything considered a romantic relationship before outside of those one night stands that were never with the same girl twice.

The other Day Class students had taken to watching the pair of hunters in the halls and he could guess it was because he had never signed onto the dating game at the Academy.

Outside of his first and second year at the Academy as a student he had never made a move toward one of the Day Class girls, and the only reason he had his first and second years was to experiment a bit and was always done with the girls in the latter two years of their schooling.

Lirona thought it was hilarious when the rest of the Day Class would stare at them as they walked past- most of them too frightened to approach because of Zero's well deserved reputation as a hardass.

Her lips had been warm and sweet, tasting vaguely of the honey cinnamon glaze that had coated the cinnamon buns sold in the vending machines of the Dorms as snacks as her tongue danced with his own as she had hung over him with one of her knees on either side of his hips to deepen the kiss.

There was something beyond hypnotizing of her taste against his lips as the glaze wore off and he realized she tasted of far more- everything fruity- crisp green apple, sweet grape and sour orange.

He yearned for more even now, a day later, and had only pulled away the night before as she began to unbutton his shirt.

"I just don't want to mess this up by getting into bed with you too early." He had said then and she had smiled at him softly, her eyes warm with affection as she caressed his cheek lightly.

"You won't, Zero. But we'll wait as long as you want."

Another sweet smile as she kissed his cheek, her kiss warm and slow to pull away, leaving his cheek tingling when she finally did.

At her words he had wanted to cast his desire to take it slow away, but he knew better than that.

He just didn't want to fuck it up by not doing right by her is all- though a part of him wondered if that was his only reason. He suspected it wasn't as faint memories of a man in his dreams overcame him mind.

Nero.

He couldn't possibly be real… So there should be no reason to slow his relationship with Lirona down for him...

Zero sighed, slowing from his jog as he approached one of the fountain on one of the stray paths, casting out his senses as he did so.

He frowned when he sensed a group of vampires approaching the Academy- he hadn't heard that the Academy was due visitors and he was certain the approaching group of about half a dozen were Nobles and not Es.

So why were they here?

He headed for the main path where they would have to approach from, double checking for the two knives he had hidden in his boots and making sure Bloody Rose was ready just in case anything went awry, nodding to himself when everything was sound.

"Zero!" Lirona called as she approached from the opposite direction once he was on the path itself.

He slowed and waited for her to catch up and she nodded her thanks.

"You sense them too?" He asked and she nodded.

"Kuran and his circle are also on the way." She said and he cast out his senses once more to confirm it.

"Kuran's pissed," He sighed after a moment, "Guess this isn't planned, then."

"What do you think the odds are that this'll be a friendly visit?" Lirona muttered as she withdrew Soul Stealer from beneath her skirt, urging it to its total form with a sigh as he replied.

"Probably somewhere around ten percent, maybe lower. Kuran seems particularly angered by their arrival."

Seiren was the first to arrive of the Inner Circle and Kuran arrived next, the rest of his Inner Circle trickling in behind them.

Lirona nodded to Seiren and Zero cocked a brow at her in surprise.

"You know Seiren?"

Lirona nodded, "I'll explain later. We've run into one another a few times over the past couple of patrols."

He nodded and cast his eyes to Kuran whose mask was in place as always, though his aura displayed just how agitated he was with the recent development.

"Council lackies, no doubt." He said and Zero nodded, expecting as much.

He didn't know of any other vampire group that would be interested in the school, so it made sense.

The group of Nobles approached, coming into sight and stopping several feet away from where they all stood, some of them clearly apprehensive about facing down an agitated pureblood.

Each of the six Nobles wore the crest of the Council- a snake shedding its skin as it curled around the stem of a dying rose.

Zero could sense Kaname's agitation grow as he spotted the crest- so clearly a slight against the Kuran's long reigning dynasty.

Every hunter alive knew the crests of the notable pureblood lines and not a single hunter would be oblivious to the Kuran's own crest- a crimson rose with fatally sharp golden thorns.

The crest of the Council had changed several decades ago to be an insult against the Kuran's, and Zero could see just how much Kaname loathed the Council's existence as the lackies began to speak.

"We have been sent out by the Council's unanimous decree that Hio Shizuka's killer be exterminated."

"And who exactly does the Council think that is?" Kaname asked, his tone polite but his words sharp with barely concealed wrath.

"We have been told that Kiryu Zero was the one that killed her." The leader decreed with a swallow.

Zero frowned at the leader, "I didn't kill her and I don't know where you got the idea that I did."

"You are the only one with due cause to." The leader steeled himself as he turned his attention to Zero, clearly assured that Kuran wouldn't protect someone the Council knew to be a level-D.

Jokes on him, Zero thought, I'm no longer a level-D or a vampire at all.

The leader turned his attention back to Kuran, "He falls under the rule of the Council as a level-D."

"Kiryu-kun is a hunter first and falls under the rule of the Hunters Association first. And if you would bother to cast out your senses you would see he is no vampire." Kaname drawled, his tone bored even as his aura seemed to weigh everyone else down with the weight of his annoyance.

The leader glanced back at Zero with surprise and Zero could sense the creeping of the Noble's aura as he scanned him for confirmation.

He couldn't keep the grimace off his face as his skin felt like it was crawling with ants under the Noble's aura, thoroughly disgusting him.

Lirona entwined her fingers with his and he was immediately calmed and he squeezed her hand in thanks.

"I see…" The leader of the Nobles said, clearly uneasy about how to continue.

"Then who is to blame for Hio Shizuka's death?"

"I am." Kaname admitted, flat and uninterested.

The Council Nobles balked at that, some of them swallowing in apprehension.

"It is well known that the Council does not care about conflicts between others of my station as much as they like to claim to." The pureblood said.

"The Council has decreed that each pureblood's life is sacred to the continuation of our race." The leader's voice quivered and Zero thought he saw a glimmer of amusement in Kuran's eye.

Kuran cocked a brow in reply, daring the Noble to continue. When he didn't he made sure to make them realize just how unwelcome they were.

"You may take your leave." Kuran stated, "And you may tell the Council that they will do well to remember the Academy is under my jurisdiction."

"Hai, Kuran-sama. Excuse us." The leader bowed and the lackies ran for the hills, leaving the Inner Circle, Kuran, and the two prefects present alone.

Kuran nodded to his Circle and they left, some of them hesitating- Aido and Kain primarily- but Takuma urged them to head back to class, leaving Kaname alone with Zero and Lirona.

Lirona let out a breath and kissed Zero's cheek.

"I'll head for the West this time. You take the East when you're done here?"

He nodded and begrudgingly released her hand as she left him alone with the pureblood prince who seemed to want to talk about something with him.

They were silent for a few minutes as they waited for the others to leave them alone fully and Zero sighed, sticking his hands in his pockets as he looked up to see Kuran staring at him with an unreadable expression in his wine colored eyes, the pureblood's toffee scent giving the breeze a pleasant warmth that somehow managed to lure Zero in.

The pureblood had always held a primal sway over him- his scent had always sought to lure him to complacency, had always sought to lure him in, and before, Zero had fought his instincts- thinking them to be because of his sinking status as he fully turned into a vampire.

But it wasn't because of his status, he realized now.

No, it had to be for some other reason and he wondered why.

A part of him still screamed to fight the sway the pureblood seemed to hold over him, but Zero was tired of fighting-no, he was tired of being angry, of feeling hatred corrupt his entire being at almost all times.

It had been a long time coming, but he knew he had to stop starting fights for no reason and begin acting like someone deserving of respect instead of an insecure child.

Kuran hadn't made him realize that, neither had Lirona, really, though she had certainly softened him.

It was draining to be so angry for so long, to hate everything and everyone and perhaps that had been why he had mourned the loss of his family so hard- he had missed feeling the comforting absence of hatred, since hate had just become a constant for him after that night.

"Thank you," He said after a moment and Kuran cocked a brow, shock present in his slightly widened stare, the mask disappearing briefly at his words.

"What has brought this on, Kiryu?"

Zero sighed, "I'm tired of fighting over nothing with everyone. You included. That's all."

Kaname stared him down, weighing down the silver haired hunter with his stare even as Zero glanced up at the overhanging waning moon to avoid it.

He didn't want to analyze the pureblood, didn't want to talk really.

He was in a quiet mood, feeling calm and fully relaxed around the pureblood for the first time.

"I'm not saying I'm going soft, Kuran. I'm just tired of being angry all the time."

Kuran said nothing, waiting for him to finish.

"But if you act like a dick I'm still going to call you on it."

"I'd expect nothing less, Kiryu-kun."

Kuran left him there moments later and it wasn't until Zero was back patrolling did he realize the pureblood had never said what he stayed behind to talk about.

A/N: Well, what did ya'll think? My questions for ya'll this chapter- What do you think of Zero's change of mindset? What do you think of Zero in this story in general? Any prediction for how this will change the Rido Arc? Any predictions for when Zero and Kaname actually get together (I'll give you a hint that makes me cringe and I really wish wasn't a reality with this story- it's gonna be a slow burn, which I hate to read myself but that's just how it is). Do you think they'll get together in the Rido Arc or will Lirona and Yuki get in the way? Or I know some of you like Lirona, do you think they should even get together at all? Let me know below! Thanks for reading! :)