-x-

Hello, kind reader!

You have stumbled upon a Vampire Knight fanfiction that I have, unfortunately discontinued. Kind of. I have a new story titled How the Heart Races, that is also a Zero Kiryuu fanfic with very similar elements to this story. It is basically a re-written version. Please feel free to skip to 'Chapter 12' of this story to read my long author's note concerning the discontinuation/re-writing of this story. Otherwise, you are free to read this story, though please keep in mind that this was published in June 2008, but a sad little girl coming out from grade 5. There are a lot of flaws and holes in this story, thus why I has since decided to write another one.

Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you around!

-pb.

Vampire Knight (ヴァンパイア騎士) © Matsuri Hino & Hakusensha
Blood Lust Plot and Original Characters Belong to Me.

Blood Lust
. . . A Vampire Knight Fan Fiction . . .

-x-

Chapter One: Mondays

-x-

Silver tears brimmed her eyes as they spilled down her drenched cheeks. All she could do was watch, hidden in the darkness of a tree while the sky churned a morose dark grey. The streets were basically empty and void of anyone except corpses. The only sounds she could hear were recollections of the screams and her own heartbeat thundering like a drum in her ears. Her insides quaked. Her body trembled.

An earsplitting hiss resounded through the air as a man of her species was fatally stabbed and thrown to the ground. From behind him, a shadow loomed with its eyes blood red and jaw slightly ajar as it leaned over. A faint cry escaped her mouth.

The creature looked up; it's acute senses hearing the barely audible sound. It sniffed the heavens, but much to its chagrin, the strong scent in front it drowned every other odor. Emitting a snarl, it bent over to feast on the crimson pile at its feet.

The girl caught a glimpse of the creature's fangs, absconding a gasp.

Vampires.

Luckily the boy's grasp around her was tight - with one hand around her shivering body and another around her head, covering her mouth - and his hands muffled the sound. He had the same vermillion hair as her, but their eyes remained a contrast as hers was a grey and his was a rich mahogany. He embraced her closer, pulling her petite form to seal the distance between the two.

She opened her watery eyes, reflecting the dark clouds like a mirror.

Defeat was never pretty.

-X-

Aya moaned in her sweet slumber, arms outstretched to take up more space on the bed. She groggily wiped at her mouth for the stream of drool flowing out the side of her lips. Other than that stupid beeping sound, everything was perfect. She wanted to stay like this forever; in this spot, in this bliss-

... Stupid beeping sound?

Aya opened her slate grey eyes almost immediately, as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands to get crust out of the corners. What day was it again? Oh, right: Monday, and school starts at a grievous seven a.m. She looked at the source of the sound: her alarm clock.

6:52AM

Which also meant 'YOU SUCK. Get up before you're late, dumbass.'

"SON OF A—" Erupted six minutes later as she tried to pull a sock onto her left foot, only to crash and fall to the hardwood. She groaned, propping herself up in her full-clothed uniform. Rushing into her washroom, she had to double-take at her reflection. Dark rusty-red hair in disarray from bed head, dark circles under her eyes, uneven tones of skin all over her complexion... and was that a zit about to form on her chin?

...

She gave a little upside-down smile and shrugged. Not bad.

She had forgotten to buy toothpaste over the weekend and had to settle for brushing with just water and gurgling with some travel-sized mouthwash that she never remembered buying. Flying to the washroom again, she tied her hair up in a ponytail and blew at her bangs in aggravation when several strands chose to hold a mutiny.

Popping a spearmint gum in her mouth to mask her breath, she bolted out the door with her school bag dangling loosely at her fingers. The room door shut promptly behind her, locking itself.

One second passed.

Two seconds.

Three -

"SON OF A BITCH! I'M NOT WEARING ANY FREAKIN' SHOES!"

-X-

"OUT OF MY WAY!" Aya demanded as she stomped down the hallway, people absently stepped back for the furious Redhead. Her hair in a mess, socks unleveled, ribbon untied, and the black uniform blazer flying loosely at her shoulder. On her face was a scowl; the need to get away from her bloody Language class encouraging every step she took. She had tried to sneak into class unnoticed, but failed miserably when the teacher caught her and threw a piece of chalk directly at her head. Then after thoroughly embarrassing herself in front of people she didn't know the names of, she had to sit through a Literature class that absolutely bored the h*ll out of her: why hadn't she just skipped class?

And then it hit her: her C Average. Riiiight...

"Aya-chan, w-wait!" Yuuki struggled to catch up with her seething companion. With crowds of students swarming the halls, and the occasional group of cliquey freshman, it was a lot harder than usual. She was suddenly extremely thankful for the break between first and second period. Watching Aya go through First was always an obstacle she had to put up with, and trying to coax her not the skip the second was close to a routine now.

Yuuki winced as she heard the clear sound of a locker being hit repeatedly several times. She sighed and shuffled to Aya's locker, where her forehead was squished against the grey locker. Her head banging steadily slowed, her body drained of energy completely. Yuuki bit her lip; that looked painful.

"Aya, the first period's over, at least!" Yuuki was running out of propriety ordinances to persuade her childhood friend as she played with the corner of her History textbook. "We'd better hurry or we'll miss-"

"Tell them I'm sick."

"You already used that excuse last week and the week before that, Aya."

"Tell them I died."

Yuuki mustered a sympathetic look at Aya. Sleeping in or skipping classes was her forte; all the teachers already knew that and it wouldn't matter what reasoning Yuuki came to them with.

"Come on! You're a prefect! You should be setting an example, so I'm not going to let you get away with skipping anymore!" With a mighty push, Yuuki opened Aya's locker – with Aya's head still glued to the door – and retrieved her History textbook and dragging Aya by the arms to their classroom.

-X-

The bell rang signaling the end of second period, and Yuuki glanced over at Aya. She was hunched, writing something diligently on a piece of paper. Her red hair fell over her shoulder as she glanced up to think for a second, and then proceed to scrawl something else down. Yuuki quirked a brow and strode over, peeking down at Aya's covered piece of paper.

She blinked, tilting her head. "Last minute notes?"

Aya snorted. "No. My will. Wh- HEY!"

Yuuki pouted and tossed the crumpled piece of paper over her shoulder for show. "No 'will writing'!"

"Now, that is an irrational request, my Yuuki, seeing as a will is a very important document that may just pass over a lot of my belongings to you when I choose to die. Which will probably be next Monday, so I suggest—"

"Aya!"

"What? Geez, and I thought I was in a bad mood!" Aya crossed her arms over her chest as Yuuki sighed.

Someone cleared his voice behind Yuuki. Aya glanced over, only to spot the silver scalp peeking over Yuuki's brown hair. Yuuki turned around and gasped, a bit alarmed upon seeing the emotionless eyes of their childhood friend: Zero Kiryuu. (1)

"This," he held up a ball of crumpled paper, expression as blunt as ever, "came flying at me."

"Oh, that's just my will," Aya responded dryly, reaching out to take it. Yuuki's mind was just a tad quicker as she was closer to Zero's hand, so she snatched the ball of paper and tossed it into the recycling bin, only to miss. She sighed, and toddled down to go put it in properly. Aya growled, the sound vibrating in the back of her throat.

Zero squinted his eyes at the Aya. A Will?

Aya spotted his confusion and smirked, placing a hand on her hip as she stood up. "What? Would you like something of mine, Zero-kun?"

He gave her a spiteful once-over and muttered, "Nothing that belongs to you is worth having."

Aya huffed immaturely. "Oh yeah? Well, 'Up Your-!"

"Let's go!" Yuuki grasped Aya's wrist and dragged her out of the empty classroom before her best friend could explode yet another verbal war with Zero.

-X- (2)

"It's Over!" I sang, doing a silly dance as I pumped my fists up in the air. After school never felt so good..

"School is, but duty isn't, silly!" Yuuki whacked my arm lightly. I rubbed in, feigning being hurt, before breaking out into a silly grin.

"Alright, Agent Cross!" I leaned back, and pretended one arm was a gun facing upwards, and the other arm holding it. The Charlie's Angel pose had rubbed off a bit too much on me.

Yuuki sighed, before copying the pose in a mirror image. "Yes, Agent Makino?"

"They're coming!" I pointed her 'gun' away from the gates of the Night Class where the fan girls would be gathering in a few seconds.

"'They're coming', my ass. Makino, you left your textbook." I winced when something hard hit me on the head. I reached up to find my History textbook and quirked a brow. Had I left it in class?

Laughing sheepishly, I shrugged. "Er… thanks, Zero. You know me, leaving things in class-"

He cut in. "It was in my bag."

"-... and apparently your bag?" I grinned nervously, shoulders still up in a shrug. His lavender eyes stayed on me for a bit longer before he turned around. I blew at my untidy bangs and tossed my textbook beside my schoolbag, where I would hopefully remember to bring it back to my room. I already owed too many fees for lost books.

Right on cue, a crow let out a raspy caw and snapped me out of my thoughts. It was nearing Twilight, and the skies were growing dark. It was already late January, but winter still lingered as my breath came out in puffs of warmth.

A rumble came from the grounds. They were footsteps, closing in at a rapid speed.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Came from the corner as hordes of girls appeared. I shared a brief glance with Yuuki as we braced themselves. The three of us all backed up against the gate, leaving enough room for it open, but not enough to allow people an easy access to the black border. The girls were chatting loudly, balloons, signs, and hearts painted everywhere with their personalized posters and chants.

No matter how many times I had seen it, I still died a little bit on the inside each time.

"Alright, you girls know the drill!" Yuuki hollered waving her arms back and forth as she stepped forward and the crowd stepped back. I was doing the same gesture of holding my arms out with my legs far apart and bent at the knees; the familiar pose of checking someone during basketball. Zero stood silently to the side, hands shoved into his pockets, as he didn't even need to say anything. One glare sent the girls gulping, shushing themselves, and shuffling over to me or Yuuki where they might have more luck.

Eventually, anger settled in. They were incredibly loud and obnoxious today of all days, and I really wasn't in the mood of dealing with their 'KYA! KYA!'. The creaking of the gate behind me just made me lose it: we were late. I rolled my eyes and bellowed, "I said... to make… a freakin'… PATHWAY!"

The loud 'kya'-ing finally died down into a low, subdued chanting. Obviously the look of annoyance and rage threatened them enough to comply. I didn't have time to feel smug before hands grasped my shoulders and a low, huskymale voice whispered into my ear.

"Thanks, cutie."

I yelped, stepping out of my abuser's reach and whipped around to face a leering Hanabusa Aidou. Like always, his foreign blue eyes and blonde hair looked like something out of a magazine. It only made it me even more jealous to know that he didn't wear any make up. These guys literally woke up this beautiful. Anger took over again as I could see that stupid strand of my bang sticking up from the corner of my eye.

Stupid good-looking jerks. I bet he never wakes up with a freakin' bad hair day.

"Do you like it when I talk like that?" He was immediately the Aidou I was more familiar with as he chirped, a silly child's grin on his face, and striking blue eyes literally shining. "I practiced it just for you! Is it seductive?"

I blushed in spite of myself and snarled. Bloody heck, shouldn't you be on meds by now? You're freakin' bipolar! "No, it's not – Ah!"

Someone was pulling roughly on my arm, and I stumbled back, struggling to keep my balance as I realized my attacker – or… savior – this time was no other than Zero Kiryuu. His eyebrows were tugged close together and on his mouth was a disapproving frown.

"Joy-killer." I looked back at Aidou, who's grin was replaced with a frown equally judgmental.

"Okay, I don't know what's up with you two, but you guys are seriously – HEY! I wasn't done talking!" Zero ignored my remark, as he always seemed to do, and continued to drag me away. I stumbled back again, teeth bared as a growl resonated low in my throat. He dragged me all the way to the sidelines, where Yuuki met up with us. I snatched my arm away possessively and glared at him. He didn't even make eye contact.

"Aidou-sama!" The girls chimed in their sing song voices and Aidou was too occupied with his raging fans to be able to scrutinize Zero any further for being a (possesive freak) pest.

Aya winced when she stared at the girls from the sidelines. "Whoa: how do they scream in such a high octave?"

"At least their screaming is screaming. Your screaming sounds like a dying moose."

"YOU TITANIC PIECE OF BULLSH-"

"ZERO! AYA!" Yuuki pushed the two apart. "Grr, you two... ARE ALWAYS LIKE THIS!" She crossed her arms stubbornly over her chest. "Now go, apologize to each other!"

Lightning was transmitted through their deadly glares in a neon blue crackle.

"He's the one who picks on me all the time! I never start it!" I spat.

"I'm not apologizing something with an IQ lower than a 10 year old," Zero muttered, eyes never meeting mine. Something? THING? I gaped at his hurtful words, retaliating without missing a beat.

"Don't worry, I'm already sure that the day you apologize, is the day I die!" she snapped. "I guess that means I'm living a long life, you conceited jerk!"

"Well if I'm conceited, then you must be delirious, ugly," Zero hissed, almost having enough.

"What? Ugly? Just because you're amazingly sexy doesn't mean you can talk to me like that! You never struck me as narcissistic, hot-stuff!"

Zero's eyes rose to unbelievable proportions. I crossed my eyes stubbornly over my chest before I realized just how invalid my argument was. What the frick am I doing trying to insult him with how good he looks? W.T.F, Aya?

"...WAIT, THAT TOTALLY CAME OUT WRONG. I mean it's completely true, you are hot, but you know, it just slipped - CAN YOU NOT LET ME FINISH WHAT I SAY BEFORE YOU WALK AWAY - Geez!"

He shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and walked away from us, muttering inaudible words that even my keen hearing couldn't pick up. I frowned, sighing in defeat as I stared at his backside. Things weren't always like this between us. Back then, I didn't need to provoke him or annoy him so much but… if I don't, there's absolutely no way of knowing how he's feeling. Even now, after knowing him for so long, he was such a mystery. I had thought I'd figured him out, but I had to throw a wrench in there to screw things up, and now he was even farther from me than he was in the beginning. He was so keen and stuck on ignoring people, or giving short responses. Sometimes he would avoid them entirely and go for months never speaking a single word to another person. It amazed my sometimes that he kept putting up with me. Sure, I may provoke him, but many others have and he's never given them the honor of so much as a glare. He was Zero Kiryuu, introvert extraordinaire.

I blew at my bangs again, which wasn't really a habit of mine, but that stupid strand of hair was making me rather paranoid. It hung there, flipped upwards by some magical gravitation force, refusing to fit in with the rest of the group no matter how much I patted it down or dampened it with water.

I grunted. What a rebel.

-X-

Night had finally settled in as the last of The Night Class strode into their building. Aya hooked arms with an exhausted Yuuki and they walked over to the bench where their school bags lay, giving Zero a small wave before moving back into the building to get ready for Night Duty. Zero exhaled slowly, elongating the stream of air leaving his nostrils.

"Psst." He glanced up in alarm at the voice, belonging to the mischievous blonde character he had had to dealt with only moments ago. He glowered, debating inwardly whether he should waste his time even walking over.

"You've noticed by now, haven't you Kiryuu?" Aidou chirped, the glimmer in his eyes never leaving despite the night sky. Zero squinted his eyes, wondering where this was leading. "Aya's scent isn't particularly human, now, is it?"

Emotion flitted across his eyes, but his poker-face remained in tact; something he had nearly perfected over the years. He remained motionless, his hands buried in his pant pockets as he leaned back on the wall. "What? You suggest she might be a vampire?"

"That's not what I mean..." Aidou objected, snarling at Zero's disrespectful tone towards him. He regained his composure, slipping into a noble accented speech. "I'm just wondering if, you know, she's been making too much contact with… one of us.

It was impossible to ignore the implied accusation in his words. "You-"

"Aidou!" Ruka called, opening the window to one of the classrooms. She glanced briefly in Zero's direction with a look of surprise, before frowning. "You're going to get your ass kicked by Marui-Sensei if you're not up here in 30 seconds."

"What a pain~" Aidou whimpered, the sound like nails on a chalkboard to Zero's ears. Aidou flashed him a grin, amused with his adversary's reaction. "Gotta go. We never had this conversation."

Lavender orbs trailed after the blonde as he disappeared in a blur towards the School. His lids drooped a bit as he sighed, mind racing with thoughts. What Aidou said was not to be taken lightly, for surely if he's noticed, then others have too or he's possibly told them about it.

He mused for several moments longer, her face abruptly wandering in his thoughts. He stiffened his back and balanced himself off the wall to walk back to the Day Class Building. Nostalgia filled his thoughts, as he remembered his first encounter with her secret. It was the wrench thrown into the string of events that derailed the entire train altogether, sending them flying apart.

Five days. That was all that time it had taken for him to hold on to her - except he wasn't just holding on. He had been embracing her; hanging on with nearly all he could. If he could go back in time and change things, he would have held on tighter, clinging on for everything he felt and resolved to keep.

But he hadn't. So he had lost her, and she had lost him.

Worst of all, he had no idea how to grab on again.

-X-

Yuuki's pale complexion was growing red with impatience as she kicked the bench Aya slept on a third time. "I know you're tired, but you're making us late!"

The redhead grunted in reply. Yuuki bit her lip. "Zero? A little help?"

Zero gave her a blank look. It was Yuuki's turn to grunt. She rolled up her sleeves and cupped her mouth, leaning in close to Aya's ear. "AYA MAKINO!"

"APPLE CIDER!" Aya fell off the bench, arms and legs flailing inelegantly in every direction. She rubbed her behind upon falling on the solid, concrete floor and cringed. Yuuki offered her an extended hand, which Aya took with a grumble.

"Yosh! THE NIGHT CLASS PREFECTS HAVE UNITED!" Yuuki pumped her fist in the air proudly when they walked closer to Zero. Aya laughed and mirror the image, doing a wiggle dance on the spot. She caught a glimpse in Zero's direction to see the look of repulse on his face.

"...What? I got dirt on my face?"

"I blame you," he stated bluntly.

Aya quirked a brow. "For what?"

"You know what."

"No, I don't!"

"That merely proves my theory."

"BUT WHAT IS YOUR THEORY-?"

"Aya! No yelling! Students are sleeping right now." Yuuki had to break the two apart again.

"Just like I should be right now, but thanks to someone being impractical, I can't!" Aya thrusts a finger towards the window of Chairman Kaien Cross' office.

Yuuki sighed, urging the two forward. "Okay, on guard! Aya, your nose, and Zero, your weird vampy acute senses!"

Aya snorted, raising a challenge brow in Yuuki's direction. "And you?"

"... I do the luring?"

"... I knew it. Yuuki, you're having thoughts of suicide, aren't you? YUUKI!"

Yuuki laughed. "You know I'm only joking! But its not like I have much of a choice. I have Artemis with me, but in the end, I'm still the human in the group."

Aya shrugged at her comment, ignoring the awkward silence that followed and whistled a tune she heard on the radio the other day. She leaned against the Night Class gate, legs crossed over each other. As she looked up, she caught Zero's pained look. Her whistling faded, thinking maybe it was pushing him over the edge.

"Hanabusa is suspicious." Okay. So it wasn't her whistling.

Aya pursed her lips and nodded glumly. "Yeah, I kind of figured. He's awfully touchy-feely. Of course he'll find out at this rate."

"Then you just have to avoid him?" Yuuki offered, but Aya sighed and shrugged her shoulders to indicate her cluelessness.

"If I do that, is that even more suspicious?" Aya asked, looking at Zero. Besides, he was the vampire in the group, so he had the same, perhaps not as skilled, tuition as the Night Class Students.

He closed his eyes. She randomly observed the immense length of his eyelashes. "Stick closer to us. It drowns you out."

Aya grinned. "We're the weirdest trio ever."

"Chairman has a thing for uh... making this group have one of each?" Yuuki remarked, trying to lift the mood if not a little.

Aya's eyes wandered to the roof of the school, where several crows were lined up along the top, their heads twitching from side to side as they evaluated her. She didn't like talking about this, seeing as it was just so... strangely awkward. Just like she didn't like it when students joked about Vampires during school. There was too much hype about Vampires now, and it didn't help much that the Vampire Romance by Stephenie Meyer known as Twilight was all over the world. It romanticized the idea of vampires entirely and sent propaganda flying worldwide.

"They're late. You think they have an event today or something?" Yuuki checked her watch.

Aya let out a long hum. "And I could have been sleeping this whole time. Dreaming about New York Cheese Cake…"

"And me?"

Aya pitched forward with a startled yelp as Zero, who was standing in front of her, caught her. Aidou purred from behind the gate, the sound being so eerily close to a cat that it sent out wrong images. He grinned, blue eyes turning into half-moon slits. "Miss me?"

Aidou grinned triumphantly when Aya was at a loss for words. Before Aya came along a several years ago, he teased Yuuki, but she never seemed to get so overly flustered around him. She was too innocent, too sweet to understand the main purpose of his flirting, so he stopped.

But Aya seemed not so innocent and her inept reactions caused him satisfaction. She was such a loud, speak-my-mind kind of girl, but the moment Aidou entered her space, her knees buckled, and all that juicy blood rose to her cheeks…

"The- the h*ll was that for, Hanabusa?" she squeaked, straightening. Her cheeks turned a traitorous crimson shade as she felt them increase in temperature.How bloody great.

"You looked so lonely, so I zipped over before everyone else!" he twittered, and suddenly his look was serious and hard. "What's with you, Kiryuu?"

Aya blinked, glancing behind her to meet Zero's angry glower. He was standing protectively behind her, and for a second she felt her stomach flutter. "None of your business, Hanabusa."

She squeezed out of the staring contest and scooted over to her gal pal. Yuuki gave her a worried look. "They're not on good terms?"

"Zero hates Vampires, and Vampires hate Vampire Hunters. Circle of life," Aya explained, referring vaguely to what she learned in watching Disney's 'The Lion King'.

"Yuuki-chan! Aya-chan!" Aidou's arms opened wide as he ran toward them through the open gates. Aya immediately took on the defensive posture, similar to the one she used in Basketball, and sported the best angry glare she could muster.

"Aidou." Aidou straightened, frozen in the spot wih his arms open wide as he quickly glued them to his side and gained his composure.

"Kuran-sama!" he acknowledged, and behind the wavy-haired brunette himself was the group of Night Class students. He lead them like a natural leading, a swirl of roses spiraling towards him with an imaginary wind.

Aya tried her best to hold down her gag reflex.

"Please don't scare the girls." Kaname smiled warmly in the girls' direction. His voice was sinisterly serene, almost to the point of fake. Aya couldn't help but shiver as he walked closer, and she made it as apparent as she could of trying to scoot away from him.

"K-Kaname-sama," Yuuki spoke reverently, as Aya mumbled something incoherent, along the lines of: 'savior... lover ... complex'.

Yuuki must have caught the words, or just caught on to the pretense that Aya was in a bad mood, because she apologized to Kaname quickly and attempted the end the conversation abruptly. Aya crossed her arms with a smug look on her face, frowning when blood pooled behind Yuuki's cheeks. Kaname said nothing, watching Yuuki lovingly. Aya grumbled, swearing that he was staring at her like she was a juicy piece of steak.

Upon grumbling, Kaname glanced over at the vermillion hair and displayed a warm, big-brother smile. Aya growled as the imaginary roses spiraled around him again and turned to look away with a scoff.Two-faced jerk. What a player.

"Goodbye, Kaname-sama!" Yuuki waved goodbye. The rest of the Night Class descended from the gates and the horde of flawlessly gorgeous vampiresstrode leisurely to their dorms, as if the longer they took would increase their beauty. Aya ignored the girls' luscious hair as they flipped it over their shoulder for show, like they were being filmed. Her eyes trailed downwards, before the familiar blonde hair passed her. She looked up upon habit and sucked in a breath, catching the words of his lips.

Her eyes widened to extraordinary proportions.

Zero blinked slowly at Aya's expression and quickly turned his head around to see what she was staring at. He furrowed his eyebrows and paced towards her. Before she had the time to properly regain her straight face, Zero seized the opportunity. "What did he do?"

She rolled her eyes. "Nothing."

"Makino."

"He didn't do anything," she spat, not liking it when people worried about her. "He just… he mouthed something."

Yuuki made her way over, catching on to the tense conversation. "What did he mouth, Aya?"

" 'Human? I don't think so,' " she recited, the movement of his lips clearly annunciated as to clearly convey his words.

"Troublesome," Zero muttered before proceeding to walk towards the Day Class Dormitories. Aya blushed, completely taken back by his cold brush-off.

"You know, it's not like I'm slapping a sign on my forehead that says—"

"He doesn't know what you are yet. You'll just have to be more careful," he said, giving her a hard gaze. "That means, don't get so close to him."

"If he really does find out, it won't be the end of the world," Aya remarked in a lame attempt to lift the mood. "I mean, sure, it'll be inconvenient and I might have to watch my back every two seconds, but it's not like it immediately opens some new door that allows them to bite me."

She gulped, meeting Zero's lavender eyes in a hard stare down. Obviously, that had offended him more than she had wanted. Guilt knocked on the door to her emotions and she tried her best not to let it in, but it forcefully seeped through the cracks. Why was it that he had to keep staring at her like that, like everything was always her fault?

He obviously had no idea how that made her feel.

She looked up at the miserable grey sky, its colors foreboding. She sometimes wondered if her eyes sent out the same intimidation, since they were the same color. She had never liked her dark grey eyes. They weren't some cool, metallic grey. They were dull, gloomy and muddled. She had always envied her brother for inheriting the rich, wooden mahogany color that went so well with their vermillion hair. She hadn't been so lucky.

"Great freakin' way to start the week," she muttered, hands folded behind her head as she followed Yuuki and Zero into the building.

Unlucky me for being the demon in the group, I guess.

End Chapter.

-X-

(1) I'm spelling his last name as Kiryuu throughout the story. There are a lot of ways to spell it, for instance, without the double u, but it's just a habit I've developed.

(2) Edit: This story was written switching back and forth from first and third person point of view, sometimes. It will only ever enter the OC, Aya's, first person, but I occasionally switch to Third Person to allow for a larger reach of story. Sorry about this. Not that I'm older, I know that it's really stupid, but I don't really have time to edit this whole story so I've just decided to keep it as a style for now. It shouldn't be too confusing, but sorry in advance if it annoys you!

Please, I implore you, if you're reading this story for the first time, please read on a few more chapter before leaving a nasty review. This story was first published in 2008. I WAS IN GRADE 6 WHEN I FIRST WROTE THIS HAHAHA - My style and writing changes as the story progressed, and I've really appreciate if you didn't judge my writing capacities OR this story just upon reading the first chapter. I know that I get a lot of hate for such a 'badly written story' getting 'so many reviews'. I can't control that, but I can control how my writing advances as the days, months and years pass.

Reviewing would be awesome, but like I said, I'd appreciate if you saved any constructive criticism or flames for later to see if I continue to make the same mistakes in the future chapters I've written.

Thanks.