Zero Kiryu was very good at hiding his emotions. He could hide his pain and sadness from people by glaring at them in hate or scoffing at them in scorn. He'd been hiding his pain for the better part of four years now so he very skilled at it. He's had to ever since the night his younger twin brother, Ichiru, had allowed a pureblood vampire to kill their parents and turn Zero into a vampire. He's had to hide his blood lust and pretend he was a normal human, when he wasn't anymore.

So when he realized that his love for Yuki Cross was only that of a sibling's, and he actually had feelings for the resident pureblood Kaname Kuran, he managed to hide it from everyone.

It was quite easy, really. Whenever Kaname would insult him, he would use his hurt and turn it into anger and direct it at the pureblood with him none the wiser about how he really felt.

He wasn't sure why he fell for the pureblood of all people, but it didn't really matter in the end. Yuki loves Kaname, and Kaname loves Yuki. It was as simple as that and he didn't fit in anywhere in that equation.

When they finally declare their love for each other, he'd leave Cross Academy and fly to Europe or something to get away from them and continue hunting over there.

However, since he can't ingest the Blood Tablets without coughing up blood, Kaname's been feeding Zero his blood to stop his descent into Level E. And until Hanabusa Aido makes the Blood Tablets more Level D friendly, he can't leave Kaname's side. It was pure torture being so close to Kaname when he fed. Once a week, he could wrap his arms around those strong, broad shoulders, and put his lips on that perfect, pale neck, and drink that sweet, delicious pure blood. It made getting over his feelings nearly impossible. Fortunately, Aido was working ten times as hard to find a solution since his precious pureblood's pure blood was on the line which meant he'd probably be able to leave the country after graduation.

He knew he was running away, but can you blame him? There was no way that Kaname returned his feelings and he was only torturing himself by being around the pureblood. Zero shook his head, he had to leave before he did something he'd regret and people realized where his feelings truly lie.

Zero violently shook his head to disperse his thoughts. Thinking about Kaname when he was in public was never a good idea, especially when he was about to see him in just a few minutes.

He was outside the Moon Dorm gates, waiting for the class change-over. Yuki was having trouble getting the girls in order, and while he knew he only needed to yell at them to get them to calm down, he decided to get a good laugh in at Yuki's expense before he stepped in. Call him cruel, but he immensely enjoyed watching her flounder around. He didn't hold any hate towards her as it wasn't her fault that she held Kaname's love. It wasn't her fault that Kaname was straight and would never go for a male. It wasn't her fault he was a pathetic Level D vampire hunter and Kaname was a perfect pureblood.

He was forcibly pulled from his melancholy thoughts as screams of "Idol-sempai!" came from the Day Class girls and he noticed that the gates had started to open. His heart started to beat faster when he saw Kaname in his spot in the middle of the crowd of noble vampires. It dropped when he saw him automatically make a beeline for Yuki and sees him smile gently when she blushes. It reminded him that Kaname was in love with Yuki and it made him want to cry. Already, he could feel a slight burn behind his eyes that warned him of impending tears.

Cursing profusely in his mind, he glared at the screaming fangirls. "Would you all just shut up!" The stinging stopped as he redirected his feelings into anger at the girls for hurting his enhanced hearing with their squealing.

The girls all stopped screaming in delight at seeing the beautiful Night Class and they all glanced warily at the angry silver-haired prefect. All the Night Class nobles frowned at Zero's attitude, though they weren't surprised, and some even rolled their eyes at the display.

All except one.

Only one saw the retreating tears in the hunter's eyes, and he wondered what could make Zero want to cry. He followed Zero's gaze to Kaname and Yuki and at first he thought Zero was jealous of Kaname for getting Yuki's attention. Then he saw that he wasn't glaring at Kaname, rather, it seemed like he was gazing longingly at him. This caused him to become extremely confused.

Zero chose that exact moment to look away from Kaname and Yuki and he noticed an intense and curious gaze on him. Pale amethyst clashed with light blue as the two caught each other's gazes. Senri Shiki threw a meaningful look in Kaname's direction and then raised an eyebrow, the question clear in his eyes.

'What the hell was that?'

Panic rose in Zero before he forced himself to calm down so he didn't give anything away. He raised his own eyebrow as he responded to the unspoken question.

'I don't know what you're talking about.'

Unfortunately for Zero, Shiki had seen that second of panic in Zero's eyes. Shiki was highly observant, so it wasn't hard to guess at what the longing look Zero had given Kaname meant. It just seemed so impossible. How could Zero, who often voiced his hate for vampires quite proudly, have feelings for Kaname, a pureblood vampire?

Shiki shook his head and pulled out a scrap of paper and a pencil from his pocket. He quickly scribbled his message across it. He put the pencil back into his pocket and folded the piece of paper. As he walked by Zero, he slipped it into his hand so smoothly, only someone who was watching them intently would have been able to see the exchange. Shiki continued walking to class with the other nobles but he knew he wouldn't be able to pay attention in class now that his brain was trying to find any instances where Zero showed any romantic feelings towards Kaname.

Zero was panicking again, only this time he couldn't force it down. Shiki had just slipped him a note, which meant that he'd seen the panic Zero had first felt at finding out that someone had seen the look he'd given Kaname.

He hadn't meant to look longingly at Kaname, but he'd seen him brush Yuki's hair behind her ear and had wondered how it'd feel to have Kaname run his hand through his hair with that much affection. He was so stupid for pining after someone who would never return his feelings. He was even more pathetic for allowing himself to fantasize about that same person in public! And now someone from the Night Class noticed, and not just anyone, but someone from Kaname's inner circle! This couldn't possibly get worse.

He instantly cursed himself for that thought since he still has not read Shiki's note. He turned away from the gates and started walking into the surrounding forest. Once he was sure he was a safe distance away from Yuki or any wandering Day Class girls, he unfolded the note.

'Lake. After class. Won't tell if you won't.'

Zero blinked. He reread the last sentence over and over, going over every possible meaning those words could have. Did they mean that Shiki wouldn't tell Kaname or any of the other nobles about his feelings, or was he reading into it too much and they were actually talking about the meeting itself? Did Shiki mean that he wouldn't tell the others about the meeting if he didn't tell anyone? Or could it be that Shiki would keep quiet about Zero's feelings until Zero finally decided to tell Kaname?

He groaned. Never have five words confused him so much! He shook his head again and felt his chest for his Bloody Rose. He didn't think he'd have to kill Shiki, but he was prepared to threaten to kill him and even severely injure him if he decided to blab about Zero's feelings. He supposed it was a bit cruel to attack the other simply because he was afraid to let anyone know about his feelings, but if the vampire noble was going to be an ass during their meeting, then he was ready to take serious action.

With that determined thought, he started to patrol the school grounds, impatiently waiting for the end of classes.

Shiki was right when he predicted that he wouldn't be able to pay attention to the teacher. He couldn't stop thinking about Zero. He'd gone over every encounter the hunter and Kaname had that he'd been present for and he couldn't find one instance where Zero showed he was even the slightest bit interested in the pureblood. Everyone assumed he was in love with Yuki. Perhaps these feelings for Kaname were new? That would make the most sense, but Shiki knew that the hunter was good at hiding his emotions. He could have been in love with Kaname this entire time and none of them would have ever realized it because none of them ever really took the time to look at Zero and his expressions. He'd only noticed because of Zero's loud outburst and had only continued looking at him because he couldn't understand what would make the other want to cry. It was only a coincidence that Zero happened to look at Kaname in that longing way at the same time.

All these thoughts were going to drive him crazy.

He was tempted to tell either Takuma or Rima about what happened, but he knew that would be going against the promise he'd made to both Zero and himself. No matter how tempting it was to pull them both aside and compare notes, he wouldn't unless Zero said he could. Of course, he wouldn't need to compare notes with Rima and Takuma once he talked to Zero, he could get all the details right from him. If Zero decided to tell him anything, that is. Which wasn't likely. Shiki would be lucky to walk away from the upcoming meeting without a bullet wound.

Rima nudged his arm with hers and slid a piece of paper to him.

'Are you okay?'

Shiki blinked. He should have known Rima would notice all the thoughts tumbling around inside his head.

He quickly scrawled a reply, 'I'm fine, just thinking. And before you ask, I can't tell you. Sorry' He passed it back to Rima.

She quickly read it over before frowning slightly. Then she shrugged and wrote a response, 'Can you tell me what it is that you wrote on that piece of paper outside the dorm?'

Shit. Of course someone had noticed him writing the details of the meeting. There was no way for him to do it discretely and trying to hide it would have only got more people's attention. He quickly thought up an excuse, 'A reminder for later. Not important.'

Again, she frowned. Rima was smart, and it was obvious she had seen through his pathetic lie. She bit her lip, 'Why are you being so secretive?'

Shiki sighed. He hadn't meant to offend her, 'Sorry, but it's not my secret I'm keeping. If it was, you'd be the first I'd tell.'

'Who's secret is it?'

Shiki shook his head and crumpled the paper. He turned to Rima and mouthed, 'Can't tell,' before getting up to throw the paper away. He hoped that when he left to go meet Zero she wouldn't try to follow him. Zero would not be happy and he'd think that Shiki went back on his promise not to tell anyone. He definitely wouldn't walk away from the meeting bullet-hole free if that happened.

Time seemed to inch by slowly when you wanted it to go by faster. Zero sighed as he sat down on the bridge over the lake. He had tried to take a nap to stave off boredom, but now he was awake and he was getting impatient again. Classes ended ten minutes ago but Shiki had yet to show up. Zero only hoped it was because he was having a hard time ditching the other nobles without telling them the reason for his departure.

A minute later Shiki walked through the tree line and he made his way over to the seated hunter. Zero didn't bother to get up from his spot.

Shiki sat down next to him. "Sorry, I had to make sure Rima wasn't following me, so I'm a bit late."

Zero blinked. He couldn't remember ever hearing the other boy speak so many words at once. He shrugged. "It's fine."

They sat in silence for five minutes. Neither were sure how to broach the topic that had brought them there. Zero didn't know how much the noble had figured out and didn't want to give anything away.

Shiki shifted to look at Zero. "Are you in love with Kaname-sama?" No point in messing around.

Zero glared at him. "What if I am?" He would not become a blushing, stuttering mess in front of the noble. He had his pride, after all.

Shiki shrugged. "I don't really care who you love. I'm just curious about how long you've felt this way."

Zero sighed and ran a pale hand through his silver hair. "I don't know, a year? One day I loved Yuki, the next I loved Kaname." He'd literally woken up one day and realized he was in love with the pureblood thanks to a dream he'd had that he couldn't think about without both blushing and cursing madly.

Shiki nodded his head. "Alright. I won't tell anyone about your feelings if you don't want me to."

Zero frowns. "I really don't want you to. Not anyone. Not even a stray cat that wonders into your path. You don't know who that cat talks to."

Shiki smiled slightly. "Okay, I got it," he stood up, "Goodbye Kiryu-san." He turned and started to walk away towards the Moon Dorms.

Zero nodded his head as he stood up. "See ya, Shiki." He walked the opposite way towards the Sun Dorms.

Zero figured that had gone over very well. Not only had the mahogany-haired boy gone out of his way to make sure he wasn't followed, he didn't laugh at his feelings for Kaname and tell him they were completely hopeless. He'd also agreed not to tell the others about his feelings. Zero shook his head, softly.

'Maybe it'll be alright having one person know.'

If only he knew that the more people who knew, the harder it is to hide.