Enlightening Lessons

Author's note: This story is my love letter for the end of the Vampire Knight manga.

Story loosely takes place after the events of the last manga before the time skip.

Chapter 1

"So, so is it true, is there a new student?"

"Where?"

"I didn't hear about it."

Toga Yagari's ears pricked up at the new gossip floating around the classroom. In the midst of gathering his book of notes off the desk from another one of his Day Class lectures, this auditory tidbit caught his attention. New transfers at Cross Academy were rare so late in a semester. Autumn already swept the town with its cold gusts and rain spells.

"I saw her on the way. Did you see her in the girls' dorm?" A male student excitedly asked one of his female friends.

She replied, "I dunno if she's a student. I didn't see her in there. Maybe she's a teacher?"

"Oh, that'd be even better. If she's a teacher, then she has some fine-looking…"

Yagari rolled his eyes at incoming hormonal missiles to his brain and walked out quickly to save himself.

He strode down the walkway, glad to breathe in late afternoon air. Day Class boys and girls milled around, speaking to each other before their next lessons in a few minutes. He couldn't wait to get back to his office on the campus. All he wanted was a steaming mug of coffee to get him through marking a stack of papers.

Yagari dodged a pair of girls running by, barely snatching his reference book from his side to avoid a collision. They gaggled about one of the Night Class members, something about "a dreamy smile".

Smirking, Yagari turned back to continue his march towards freedom. He grunted when someone ran smack right into his book arm and twisted his body.

"Whoa!" A frantic voice cut the air.

He couldn't save his tome from tumbling to the ground, but he did latch onto the woman's elbow to prevent her fall.

She sighed in relief and righted herself against his arm. "Thanks. Sorry about the rush!"

Yagari nodded, about to bend down to retrieve his book. She beat him to it. The brown cover was held out to him… and he saw an identical one in her possession.

"So, you're the new 'classmate' the kids are talking about." Yagari accepted his textbook from the young woman.

"Classmate? I can fit in as one of them? How adorable." She giggled, smoothing down her bangs. The deep burgundy reminded Yagari of red wine. Her hair was gathered in a neat bun. A chipper mint long dress curved nicely around her hips.

She held out her free hand. Rings lined her other hand holding onto her notes. "I'm Naora Torisawa. Nice to meet you."

Yagari grasped her hand. "Toga Yagari."

"So, Yagari, have any tips about being a sensei here?"

"Only that I'll be a sensei to every other one that comes into Cross Academy." Yagari sighed. With the influx of increasingly younger teachers arriving each year, he was always reminded of his elder status among them.

"Don't worry. I'm not that far behind you. The experience is never a bad thing. Filling minds with knowledge. Doesn't that excite you?"

Yagari blinked. He hadn't thought of bestowing knowledge as such. Now being a vampire hunter was exciting stuff, but Yagari couldn't exactly blab that to everyone he met.

He saw the glow in Naora's dark eyes. She was really into her occupation. "Teaching has its rewards."

"I'll have to show you sometime." Yagari detected a slight teasing tone, but whether or not she was serious he'd have to ponder if that was a positive thing.

"What's your specialty?" He gestured towards her reference book.

Naora wiggled it in the air. "English."

"Ethics." Yagari shrugged.

"Hmm, interesting. Then from what I've heard you must be the incredibly-"

Yagari curiously waited for her to finish, but she intentionally cut off, suppressing laughter. "Nothing." She started moving past him again. "Have a wonderful day."

"Don't let any of those piranhas propose to you. They'll totally do that." Yagari remembered his first Ethics class. The girls were practically prostrating themselves before him.

Naora shook her head, smiling at his advice as she left.

"Who's that?"

Yagari turned to see Kaito coming up, eying Naora's back. Kaito also held some books.

"Yo. That is Naora Torisawa, the new English teacher."

Yagari's apprentice watched her for a moment longer as Naora stopped to greet a group of girls. "Huh. The rumors I heard about her are true. Y'know, I'm beginning to agree with some of the guys that she has a stellar-"

Kaito stopped his sentence when Yagari's book was held up an inch away from his nose. Yagari ditched that plan and knew leaving was the better option. Yagari continued walking to his original destination. "No. This is idiotic. See you later."