Sat. back with more vampire-y goodness. Things are heating up with everyone. Let's continue! I own nothing familiar, and if I did…I would probably still write this stuff. A small note: This one has an added, inside joke with my friends, so I dedicate this chapter to them and the horrible people out there in the world. Let's see if you can get what the joke is centered on.

Chapter Sixteen: Food and Ethics

Ana

Who knew vacations could suck? It's been about two days of quiet since the blood fox fiasco. In a way, I'm a little thankful that something like this happened. A horrible thing to say, but I never claimed to be a good person. With this distraction here, I can ignore what happened with Kiryuu after the attack. He has done a great job ignoring the event and hasn't really changed how he feels when he's around us, the few times he is. Plus, Sarah and everyone else have been too busy to concentrate on the few influxes of my emotions. They have, however, noticed that he isn't harassing me as much. At the moment, they're leaving it up to tightened security, which keeps him busy. I wish I could say what happened wasn't a big deal and that we were just having a conversation…but I can't lie to myself.

The girls had asked about what happened when Kiryuu hauled me away for questioning a couple of times, but they haven't asked me at all today. They also haven't seen me at all today, but I'm not counting that. I haven't told them simple because I'm doing my best to come to terms with what happened. I found a locked door that hides a staircase, which is where my hideout directs to. The ninja staircase leads up to the roof, which is where I'm hiding out now. So what if the door was locked. I'll pick it shut after I leave. Looking around the flat and gravel covered floor, it seems that no one comes up here at all. I don't see any footprints or any marks of bags, chairs or anything. Later on, I'll have to bring a towel up here and a book. Kiryuu's scowling face pops in my head. My palm meets my forehead hard and gives some kind of satisfying smacking noise. Personally, the hit isn't hard enough.

Kiryuu grabs my arm and I turn to look at him, feeling Sarah tense up behind me.

"We need to talk."

Crap. With a huff and pursed lips, I nod. Why not? I won't be able to outrun him forever and he kind of does deserve some answers. Kinda. Too much has happened and now he feels more threatened than ever. Some solid knowledge will calm him down and get him off my back a bit more.

"Don't let him do anything stupid," Sarah warns in English.

My response is a smirk. I wriggle my arm free and follow him down the single living dorms. We come to a nondescript door in the middle of the hallway. He opens it and comes in the room, holding the door open for me. Cautiously, I come in and look around the dark room. A faint light comes from the bathroom area where there is just a sink and a mirror. The curtain is drawn over the window, blurring out anything from the room. The bed is made up and looks as though it was someone has only laid on it or sat on it.

"I take it you don't chill out much in here," I comment without much thought and hear the door shut and lock behind me.

Great. Locked doors and dark rooms aren't always a good thing. He walks past me and takes a seat on the bed, proving my point that he doesn't really sleep on the bed. And he claims to not be a vampire. This room is stupidly dark and, though vampires do need sleep, they don't need it often.

"What do you want?" I snap, glaring at him, "It's been a really long day and I wanna go to sleep."

"Are you willing to tell me anything?" he murmurs, looking very tired and somewhat submissive…or emo.

"Do you really have to ask a question you already know the answer to?" I reply, walking up to him, "You seem to do that a lot. Almost as though it makes you feel better. What else do you want to know?"

"What will you tell me?"

I shrug, honestly not sure what I would tell him. Naturally, I wouldn't tell him things that would compromise either of us. At the moment, he's done nothing to incur my wrath. So far.

"You mind if I ask a question?" I say, a thought popping in my mind. He shrugs, so I continue. "When do you eat? I know that there is some kind of substitution for the Night Class since there aren't dead bodies around or turned people in the Day Class."

"Cross came up with a supplement," Kiryuu says quietly, looking somewhat shamed, "It has the same properties as blood and tastes like it."

"But it's not the same," I conclude, shoving my hands in my jean pockets, "and it's not satisfying."

He nods and slowly takes out a metal tin case from his inner jacket pocket. Without much permission, I take the case and pop it open. He jumps up to take it away from me, but I bat his outreaching arm without looking. The case is filled with small white pills that look like aspirin…or Altoids. No scent comes from it and I rattle the case around to look at how deep it is.

"So you put this in water or something?"

"Yes."

So, it's like a bloody Kool-Aid. I glace at him and snap the tin shut without returning it. I bat his hand again and hold it instead, too easily. He's weak.

"When was the last time you had one?" I ask, shaking the box, "You shouldn't be this easy to hold. I'm not even trying."

"It doesn't matter."

"It does." I push him easily back and he stumbles back on to his bed, glaring at me. "You're starving yourself…how do you take these?"

"I take them," he growls.

"How?"I say in a low voice, "and I will know if you're lying to me."

He doesn't answer but he also doesn't look away. So he won't answer. Let's use some logic. He was turned unwillingly and was trained to kill what he has become from a young age. He hates vampires still to this day and these pills must be taken orally and mixed in water. Well, there is only one real way for him to take this another way, but that would be stupid. Then again….

"You just pop 'em," I conclude, shaking my head and tapping the box on my arm. "You do know how stupid that is, right?" He doesn't answer. "If this changes the chemical compounds of water, taking it dry is insane and horrible for you. It will try and change what water and other liquid you have into the supplement." I glare at him. "By the way, that won't kill you and neither will starving."

He doesn't change his expression, but I can feel him becoming less tense. I shake my head and look at the case.

"It will just make it worse," I continue in a muted voice, "That subduing tattoo where you were bitten will only hold you back so far. Constant food will keep those beast-like urges in check."

His eyes widen and he reaches slowly for his weapon, but stops in mid motion.

"I figured that one out, by the way. Logic and all that," I assure him and walk over to his sink. Snatching up a glass I fill it up with water and take out a single pill. I leave the case on the sink and walk back to the stunned boy. Taking a seat next to him, I hand him the glass. He takes it unwillingly. I nod towards the glass, making him look at it and I drop the pill in. The white thing trails a line of red and plops down in the bottom in a cloud of darkening red. His eyes dim and I can feel him wanting to throw the glass and hit me. My hand clasps on his chilled one so he can't let go and he snaps a look at me. Like hell I will back down.

"It's scary how much you are like how I used to be," I say in a steady voice, grasping his hand harder, "You're doing what I did back then." His eyes tighten in confusion and I smile. "Let me tell you a little something, so you can get off my case a bit. We need to eat too. Not as in food. We need a different type of sustenance. When we were younger, we didn't know how to control our hunger and we didn't even know we were hungry. We had to shift something alive and not a plant. If we didn't, our energies would eat us alive."

I close my eyes for a second and continue. "I hated it. We all did. For us to live, we had to drain out life force, and that's like eating something's soul. I still hate it, but I still have to do it. Just like you need to drink this red stuff. Eventually, we worked it out that we only needed to drain something once a month to keep our strength and hunger stable. That's the longest we can wait, but we also drain whatever we have, we drain completely so it turns to dust." I shove the glass closer to him. "You better be damn happy that you can even have a substitute, 'cause I don't get one at all. And don't even get into the ethics of all this."

He looks at the glass in his hand and gains a sad face. There is no doubt that his resolve, if any, is about to collapse.

"You can't let that E part of you win out," I whisper, "Just like I can't let that E-Shifter part of me win. Don't let that hunger win."

I let go of his now warmed hand and wait for him to respond. Well, let's see how he will take to this. He looks at the red glass for a moment longer and places the glass of the floor. Crap.

"You can't imagine how hard it is to do this. Every time I see this on my neck," he says, pointing to the mark on his neck, "and look at this glass of blood, fake or not, I can feel what I've been turned in to. That bitch turned me into a monster."

He throws the glass and it shatters along the wall. Figured that would happen.

"Don't be so hypocritical," I growl, snapping up his shirt and bringing him close, "What the hell do you think I am? Until six years ago, I couldn't touch anything but concrete walls and floors. I'm reminded because I can feel everyone move on this damn campus, even when I sleep. These black streaks." I grasp a black strand. "They're natural. I can't get rid of them and it's because I'm an E-Shifter. I was trained to be a monster and guess what? Hunters are the monsters to all non-human beings. I have the wonderful label of being both and now, so do you. Learn to live with yourself, because inner peace is so much more important than fucking labels, like the one you just gave yourself. You're only a monster if you make yourself be one."

I throw him back and get the second glass at the sink, tossing a hand towel over to the shattered glass, missing by a little. I flip the tin lid up and plop another pill in.

"You better fucking start learning to live with yourself," I growl, "Or die right now, you whinny, hypocritical, weak bastard."

The glass hovers between us and he doesn't take it from my hand. A ragged sigh comes from him and he hangs his head. I can't know everything he feels and I know I won't be able to. I join him on the bed and add my own sigh. What does this stuff taste like? A small bout of curiosity takes over and a small sip enters my lips. I can feel him looking at me and I smack my lips.

"It really is like Kool-Aid," I comment, surprised, "It just has a small tint of blood mixed with it."

He gives me an absurd look and he probably thinks I'm insane. With a shrug, I grin and say, "I'm vegan now."

Despite himself, Kiryuu smiles for a moment. "Seriously," I say, holding up the glass, "It tastes like a sugared-up fruit juice and someone accidentally dropped some blood in it. Tastes like liquid and dried out candy."

The snarl returns and looks away. God, this is going nowhere. I take another small mouthful of the drink and swish it loudly. He looks at me, but I ignore him. He needs to eat. If he can get past that, he can start to heal. Why am I so…interested in helping him? I don't usually do charity cases and I hate charity cases. Yes, this guy is pitiable and I know, at this point, he doesn't deserve pity nor does he deserve help. Here I am, though. I stop the swishing and know that I have to spit this out.

He keeps looking at me when an idea pops in my head. It's so stupid. Nope, this is a bad idea and I will not do it. Can't do it. Nope, not gonna. So why am I moving towards him?

…To hell with it.

My hand cups the side of his face and my brow furrows in concentration. Once his attention is undivided, I close in and stick my lips on his. Kiryuu tenses and eyes widen, but he doesn't pull away. My eyes are going cross, so I shut them and wait. He pushes back after a moment and we both relax, his lilac eyes closing. I have never done this, so I wait for a second too.

I situate the liquid in my mouth towards the back and hope none of it will spill out. The amount is little and shouldn't, but, again, I haven't done this before. Zero's hand reaches up to the back of my head and pulls me tighter. How does this work? Well, my instincts usually help me out, so I will follow them. The tip of my tongue finds his lips and lightly, clumsily runs on the crease of his mouth. Shakily, he opens his mouth and I take my chance. Close to instantly, my hand blocks on the back of his head so he can't move and I shove my tongue in enough to push his down. I lean forward and he leans back. The liquid runs down my mouth and I make sure it goes in his mouth and down his throat. Immediately, he tries to push me away, even going so far as to yank my hair. I press harder until it's all in there and, before letting him go, rub my tongue against his slowly, to make sure he can taste what the supplement tastes like.

Relaxing, he flings me off the bed, eyes blazing red and teeth bare. Instead of getting up, I wipe my mouth and lean on my elbow. He breaths heavily, clutching the blanket, but doesn't move. Do something. Get angry. Tell me to leave. Drink the glass. Attack me. Do something! I hate it when people just sit there like that. No motion like that makes me uncomfortable.

"I'm not sorry," I say, still staying on the floor, "but you can't starve yourself. What do you think you're doing to Cross and Yuuki in this action?"

His grimace softens somewhat and I sit up and cross my legs. Jackpot.

"I know you're angry," I say softly, "and I know you don't want to do this. But you're not the only one suffering from your actions. By doing this, you hurt others around you, Zero."

I slowly get up and his face turns thoughtful. After retrieving the glass, I sit next to him and hand him the glass.

"Despite the liquid diet," I comment, leaning a little against him, "You're still Zero. This is just another part of you. The only one that is shunning you for this is you."

His glowing eyes zone in on me with too many emotions.

"If you don't want to live, drink for those who care about you," I mutter, pushing some silver hair from his face. "I promise this will hurt less if you do."

Shakily, he lifts the glass, but when he sees the color, he stops. I get behind him and hide his eyes with my hands, whispering to drink it. He tips the cup and gets half way before shaking again. My lips get close to his ear and I whisper not to stop, that he's almost done. Without another thought, and slams the rest back, his head knocking in my face a bit. Ow. Going to ignore the head butt to the nose. Coming from behind him, I smile and move the glass to his vision with a shake. Empty.

"You'll feel better," I say and go to wash the cup out. After placing it next to the little tin box, I pick up the towel on the floor and clean up the first unfortunate cup. The loose and wet glass is dropped in the garbage can and another dry towel is laid over where extra shards might be.

The entire time, he watches me and I come back to stand in front of him with my hands on my cocked hips.

"Do you have any other questions?"

"Why…did you do that?" he says, dumbstruck.

"Do you have a better way to make someone drink something they don't want to?" I reply with a smile.

"Is that it?"

…That's surprising. I shrug and tell him I'm not sure. That's the truth, too. My moral is to always get the job done, even if I just sacrificed my first kiss to do so. Despite my reasoning, I can't fathom a logical answer as to why I went so far for someone so…broken. He stands and towers over me, eyes hardening, but no longer red.

"And you're not sorry?" he confirms, coming closer. Too close.

"No, I'm not," I reply with a nod, "and I won't be."

A pale hand seizes my shirt and cold lips slam down on me. The hand that automatically grabbed his tenses more. Oh. He's trying to see what I meant. My instincts take over again. Somewhere, I know I shouldn't push him away and it's not because I want to be moral support for him. My lips press on his, but I don't do anymore. That hard grip is still on my shirt. Another arm wraps around my lower back, yanking me closer and I can feel that the vampire instincts are kicking in. Without knowing it, my hand snakes up around his neck and wrench him down. This is different than before. Eventually, we break and look to one another with confusion. The vice grip lets go and his other arm is what holds me up. I'm not sure when I lost feeling in my legs, but thank God he isn't letting go. Face plant. I don't do face plants.

"We need to talk about this," he says, still holding on to me.

"What do you want to talk about, besides this?" I ask, testing my legs and stand on them.

"Anything."

That's just what we did, too. We talked about anything and everything. Family, friends, places, food, politics, school, art, history, mutual hatred for Kaze and his class of doom, and what we want to do after all the drama is over. After that kiss of dinner, I'm still trying to figure out what possessed me to do that. Lord, if the girls get a hold of this information…the humiliation will never end. I can't lie to them though and they will find out. Stupid conflicts. With a kick to the harmless gravel, I head down the cafeteria to get some lunch. Angelica said she has something new about the rogue E-Shifter and we still need to put a new plan together. It's been very quiet, but we need to do another office rummage in town at the local Hunters' place. We have little doubt that the attack was from there, if the Hunters did send them. Those collars point to Hunters, but I won't rule out other people after this school or us.

I plop down next to Sarah and Kaitlin, not bothering to gather school food on a tray. Too tired and confused to eat right now. Sarah gives me a puzzled look and I just shrug in return. They will find out eventually. Angelica finally arrives after the Rena does and takes a seat with a solemn face. An interesting fact: When Angelica shows emotions, her face is shows a completely different story. This is usually very helpful during missions. A solemn face might mean thoughtful. Most of the time, anyway. Each of us glances between each other and at our tall friend.

"What's the good news, sweetheart?" Sarah asks lightly and kind of like Bugs Bunny.

"After the party and the foxes crashing it, I went to Ignacio, right?" she starts off rhetorically. When she's trying to understand something, she goes through the answered questions first. We all agree. "The night was interesting and I got some strange information out of him."

"Is it too strange to talk about here?" Kaitlin asks, sipping some milk.

"No, only the details can't be spoken aloud," she says, "His village banished him for killing everything, saying that he was the devil's child."

"That's not really strange," Sarah says indifferently.

"No, but what is strange is that his mother lived through the birth and was banished with him."

Someone drops something on the table as I stare at our tall friend.

"You're…joking, right," Rena nervously laughs, "That's not really possible, is it?"

How can it be? All of our mothers' died giving birth to use and were shriveled husks after the birth was completed. His mother was fine? And lived? It's true that we don't know much about our own kind, but none of our mothers' lived and that's five out of five known. Maybe just female E-Shifters kill the mother while males don't? Geez, I don't know what to do.

"Anything else you want to kill us with?" I mumble, really not ready for food now.

"His mother did take on an illness after they left," she continues, lacing her hands on the table, "I asked him what she looked like when she died and he said like a withered plant. He didn't have any physical contact with her at all."

"But she looked the same way our mothers' did at death?" Sarah asks in a small voice, "How strange. It must have been terrible for him."

"He isn't over it," Angelica says with a sad shake of her head, "he blames himself."

"Aren't we still like that?" I ask hoarsely, "Does he want to meet us yet?"

She sighs and leans back, looking down at the floor a bit.

"He wants it. I can see that. But his instincts are pushing him away from that want. Not yet, I don't think."

"Things are getting crazy," Rena mutters, rubbing her face and Kaitlin agrees with a grunt.

My finger taps my cheek. That seems like a good idea.

"We won't leave without him, when the time comes to leave," I announce, "Any objections?"

All of them shake their heads "no." Kaitlin asks if there is anything else informative and Angelica joking replies that he likes potato chips. Well, this random attack might have been a blessing as well as an annoyance. Now that Angelica has forced some trust upon this lone E-Shifter, he may come to trust us or Angelica at least, a little more.

"Did you tell him what happened? Why you had to be there with him?" Sarah asks, leaning on the table.

"He asked once," she replies, shaking her head, "but I didn't tell him anything. He kinda got the idea not to ask again and I didn't want to scare the poor guy. He's not used to what we go through or what can happen. This guy has no training whatsoever."

"Guess that will be fixed if he travels with us," Kaitlin comments in to her cup of water, "Getting him to come with us will be the problem."

With little thought, I lean my forehead on the table and push down to try and get rid of some annoyance rising. There is one issue that is causing us some problems.

"I take it that the new address thing isn't working out like you hoped?" Rena asks, knowingly. I let them know about Kiryuu's idea when we got together this morning for breakfast and I have been trying to do such all day.

"No," I mutter flatly, "and the only real problem there is happens to be the computers around here."

"So, what, we need to get a new one?" Angelica asks with a raised brow, "That doesn't seem like a problem."

"Except that there isn't a computer shop in town," Kaitlin says, looking disdained, "Aren't some stereotypes supposed to be true?"

"The clichés thwart us, it seems," Sarah says in a laugh.

"It needs to stop," I growl, sitting up and rubbing my redden skin, "We can't order anything online. It would take too long and leave too many trails."

"A simple solution, then," Rena says with a nod, "We go out to another town and buy one there."

"This would be a good time to do another circuit run," Kaitlin comments, shrugging, "But Ana and Sarah would be the ones going again."

"Naturally," Angelica replies, "The question is, whether or not we go into that Hunter's office again to see if there's anything worth taking or listening in to."

"Seems too risky after such a short time," Sarah saying with pursed lips, "I would rather not push it."

We fall into a thoughtful quietness until I clear my throat.

"As much as I would love to know what those imbeciles are up to," I start, "We need to make them think we're gone and that's by being as quiet as we can without being blind and deaf."

Our lunch ends on that note. We leave tomorrow for a circuit. At least this time, I know to bring more food with me so I won't run out again. Getting supplies together will be no problem. Telling Kuran will be.

"Hey, guys?" I start with my hands in my pockets. They all glance to me as we continue walking towards the Sun Dorms. "D'you think Kuran has been keeping up on his part of the deal about informing us?"

"Tch, hell no," Kaitlin spits out, twisting her head negatively, "Why would he report when he's not used to it and thinks he's too high and mighty for it."

Suppressing the wince, I nod. They don't know, but I know why Kuran most likely won't comply with our agreement.

"Dunno," Sarah signs, "Maybe, maybe not. He's hard to pin down."

"Perhaps," Angelica throws in, "If he holds honor to it."

I could see that one happening too.

Rena hesitates, showing her distrust and uneasiness of the question. Instead of a verbal answer, she shrugs her shoulders, giving us a pleading look. All of the answers are either "no's" or "maybes," all of which aren't comforting answers.

"I wasn't expecting any positive answers," I mumble, but shrug it off.

This is a bad idea. I know that. No rules are being broken really…just the unspoken protocol and…well, fine one rule is being broken. Not like all of us haven't broken this rule more than once when we're traveling together. Plus, I'm neither the first nor the last to climb the Moon Dorm walls. I will be one that succeeds, though. The girls are just going to kill me for coming here alone. But, it's better this way. Less flashiness and no need for a stare-down with the whole coven. Looking up to the bleak walls on a far side that isn't visited, I roughly rub my face and jump over the wall. My feet lightly hit the ground my hands don't even leave their pockets as I walk to where my senses tell me to. Since we leave tomorrow, I told them that Kuran would be told later that our circuit is about to happen. It is later, so I didn't lie.

After walking down the length of the wall, I come to a large window with a balcony on it. A light shines through, but it's only one or two lights that are on and not the overhead one. Their voices are filling my head with lectures already. In one way or another, they're all saying the same thing.

What possessed you to do this?

There are many sufficient answers to thwart this question. Of course those answers are logical. Between us, protocol is a small thing, but there are some rules we always obey. I just happen to be breaking one of the most important. We never, no matter what, go alone into dangerous territory for negotiations. My head shakes and a rough growl escapes my throat. Right now, this is just way easier. With little thought to it, I jump and land on the balcony railing. He isn't in here right now, so I'm not worried about jumping on a vampire at night. That, by the way, is one of the worst ideas in the world…learned that the hard way and have a scar from it.

Moonlight licks down on the window, but not enough to make a glare. After a quick check for traps and tripwires, I unlock the balcony doors and walk into Kuran's room. Wow, I might be a little stalker-ish at the moment. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time I broke into his room. Back then, I thought it was the last. Oh well. He is downstairs and talking to someone, I think, considering how close he is to a few other vampires. This might be a good opportunity to find those documents…no, but I will look around. While he's distracted, anyway. The desk holds nothing of importance and the drawer don't either. His bed wouldn't hide anything and even that item looks sparingly used. Of course he wouldn't keep anything written down unless it was necessary. And, no doubt, written items are stored some place much safer than here. Crap. It was worth a shot. Doesn't matter anyway, since he's coming up the stairs. With a practiced gait, I head back to the open balcony doors and wait with my back turned from the door and my hands in my pockets. The door quietly snaps shut.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here."

Papers are put down on the desk.

"Just here to keep my part of the agreement we placed," I reply through a sigh and continue to look out the window.

"This does bring back some certain memories."

Humor lightly laces his voice and I can't help but grin.

"Makes me feel like a stalker again. The only difference is the height between us."

He steps closer to me by a half foot and waits.

"Guess we have no more games to play now," I mutter and turn to him, "Things were a bit easier as kids."

"No they were not," Kuran replies with a shake of his head, "If anything, life was more complicated."

"Dunno, mine's kinda the same." A strange, nostalgic silence rises up with the moonlight and I clear my throat. "The reason for this unannounced visit is to act upon our latest agreement. Sarah and I will be making a circuit run in the morning."

"Hoping to catch those that sent the foxes?"

Instead of answering, I give him a noncommittal shrug. Perhaps it won't hurt to tell him that we're going for a computer and to see if we can hit Hunters on the way in hopes of securing the location that sent the foxes. Perhaps it won't be a bad thing to let him in on small details and let him know some basic facets from the skeleton of a plan he has in front of him.

Perhaps it will.

"That's really the only reason I came here," I say, dodging the question all together. He concedes.

"Why not let the gate guard know and why not bring your friends?"

"Why ask something you already know?" I murmur with a quirked brow.

A faint smile drifts to him for a second. "You wanted a simple meeting. Do your friends know about your excursion? All of them seem quite protective of you and I don't believe they would agree with you meeting me alone."

"No, just as your coven, or most of it, doesn't know I'm here," I agree, nodding, "I will tell them, though, the girls. And they will lecture me worse than a parent, I guarantee that."

"Why take the risk?" he questions, lifting one hand wide, "Why take all of these risks. I know you. There are too many minute risks that add up to a large one and you wouldn't act on it."

"Feeling impulsive, I guess." Shaking my head with a sigh, I continue. "Restless, too. About this time would be for me to take risks. Hunters are just a little too close now and I feel the need to do something. Old instincts never die, it seems."

"Clearly."

"As though you aren't fidgeting," I lightly accuse with a small grin, "You may be calm, but even you want to have this threat dealt with so you can resume your…'pacifism.'"

"You still don't believe me about that part, then."

I just give him a plain look and head towards the balcony. As I touch the railing, I pause.

"We've changed a lot," I state in a thick voice. "Was what we did to one another as children for the better or for the worse?"

He comes next to me, looking out over the wall surrounding the Moon Dorms.

"An impossible answer for an impossible question," Kuran replies in the same tone as mine.

"To be honest, I never once thought of you after the girls and I ran from the Hunters. No, never once did you cross my mind. I was so preoccupied with my escape and hatred for those bastards who imprisoned us that I only thought of the here and now. In a way, I still do." He glances at me for a moment, an unreadable look. "Since I came here and don't have much choice but to think of you, I understand that it was you that gave me the motivation to leave the Hunters. Whether I knew it or not at my young age, what I did to you for the Hunters and what you did to me for your family made me want to fight for different reasons and better terms. It makes me wonder what would have happened if I came to that little field of ours on time instead of thirty minutes later and we just played like normal little kids."

With a rough shake of my head, I leap over the railing and disappear into a dark mist that I create. He won't know it's my powers creating this mist since I did it in a shadow. With little thoughts to my one-sided conversation, I bound over the wall and to my awaiting girls. I need to be ready for a lecture…four to be exact. The grounds are quiet in the thriving of spring. Grass reaches high for the coming morning still hours off. Flowers nearly glow with color, exciting insects and bees to them though the bees are done for the night. So quiet and yet so busy.

I allow his hand to snap up my arm and to let him turn me around. There is no such thing as a quiet walk at night here.

"I should turn you in," he mutters, glowering at me in a weird way. I think it's a non-threatening glower. Maybe.

"But you won't," I reason, "Besides; you know that they won't come after me. The coven members may be dead, but they're not completely stupid."

"Why are you out here?" he demands quietly.

"Nice night out." Time to turn this conversation the other way around. "Having you been eating? Properly?" I snap out and cut off any fake answers.

"I'm trying," he states with a stoic face, "Half a glass a night."

"You need more than that," I respond, "I don't know if you have to eat three times a day, or not, but considering your level I would recommend two times."

"Is that all I am?" he snarls suddenly, his grip tightening, "Just a level?"

"No. But you can't die of starvation and you can't and won't let Cross and Yuuki down. In order to do that, you need to eat." I twist my caught arm over the outside of his and flex. His grip falls away as easy as a feather. That should prove my point.

"Then it's for protection for everyone around me?" he continues, "Are you afraid of what I will do if I'm not properly fed and sedated?"

"You're a caged animal if you choose," I say with some anger, "You're letting your hungry control you and without some kind of guidance, you let die in some stupid and useless way."

"I don't need your pity." His eyes light up from anger and some hatred.

Why is Kiryuu such an idiot?

"No, but you need sympathy," I retort and turn to him fully, "and guidance."

"Why are you helping me?" he taunts, getting closer, "Is it to make yourself feel better? Do you feel mighty and forgiving and a god when you help something as sad and broken as me? Why?"

He shoves me a bit and I let myself take a stumbling step back, vision to the dark grass.

"I'm not sure why I am helping you; Zero," I softly reply, "but you need it."

"That doesn't tell me a damn thing," he growls, too close to my face. I look up to his glowing red eyes, filled with rage just waiting to be let out.

"I help you out of…fear."

"Of me?" He gets ready to pounce.

"Of what you are becoming."

The answer staggers his rage for a moment and I use this deterred moment to continue.

"To those experienced, I can see what you are becoming and only through my hindsight. The moment you realize that you can never really be around people again because you're just a little off to them. The fact that you're diet requires too much out of the sentient meal and out of your conscience. When you let all the anger and hurt and fear build up because you have no way to battle it back; because there is no way…to know how to live with yourself and to control yourself.

"Zero, you are so much like how I was," I whisper and grab his hand, trying to make him understand, "I didn't care about my life. I never ate food or shifted when I needed to. When the time came for food or shifting, I was always forced, even when I got older. There was nothing I could do to stop them or myself. And I hated everything around me and in me. Naturally, many times I tried to kill myself, but was always stopped. Coincidently, I can't shift myself at all and so that route of death was taken from me. All of my anger, fear, doubt of life and the amount of pain tore me up. I still feel it, but I have learned to live with it. You need to accept that this is a part of you and learn to control it, or you will be tortured for the rest of your undead life. That is something I wish upon no one."

Why has tonight turned into a sop night? You know what; I'm blaming spring for churning up emotions and hormones. He takes a moment to look at me with a different light, a softer one I hope.

"Why were you at Kuran's room?" he passively questions. No doubt he will take what I said and think about it later.

"To tell him what I'm about to tell you," I inform him and drop his hand, now warm from my body heat. "Sarah and I are going on a circuit tomorrow. We feel it is long overdue. I ask that you let Cross know either tonight or tomorrow. We won't be back until late tomorrow night. How could you tell?"

"You have his scent on you. Why did you have to tell him?"

"A new part of our…treaty? I guess you can call it that. And I caught him in his room."

"You went to his room," he states, giving me a flat look, "by yourself in the middle of the night? That's stupid."

"Two vampires tell me that tonight," I say with a small grin, "and nine at night isn't the middle of the night. Three in the morning is thank you very much."

He smirks and shakes his head, red gone from his eyes.

"Just tell Cross," I say, moving away from him, "I have things to get together for tomorrow."

He seems to hesitate in some action, then just nods and walks away. Strange. This whole night has been strange.

"Thank you, Miss Golista. Here is your purchase and the insurance," the salesman says with a smile.

I smile back and thank him for his help. With new computer in tow, I head out of the small electronic shop and out to the town outskirts. Out of all the places I hit on this route, this was the only one with a computer shop. I flip my phones open and speed-dial Sarah. She picks up after the second ring.

"What's up?"

"Finally got the computer," I reply, hefting it up higher to the phone. Not sure why I did that. Not like she can see it.

"Great! How far out are you?"

"Give or take a few hours running." I stop for a moment and place the new purchase in the heavy duty backpack.

"I will be back before you, then. D'you want me to call the girls to tell them of our upgrade, or should you do it?"

"No, you do it," I say and swing the backpack on me again, "I'm not going to be so thorough for the last few places. All of them are just farming communities and I checked all possibilities for Hunter activity or places. There isn't anything for them to use out here; no electronic access anywhere. Not even phone service and no cell phone signal."

"Sounds like a useless place," she agrees, "It could be a good place for training."

"So close to farmers? Not likely and I'm not worried about it. Cut the head, cut the rest of the life, too. We just need to focus on those attacking us."

"Alright, just be careful," she sighs over the phone. My lips twist up to that.

"Yes, mother, I know," I gently mock, "You too. See you in a while."

She is still ticked off that I went off to Kuran's on my own. I jokingly told her that she always acted like my mother or overreacting older sister. That stopped her lecturing to a surprised stutter and the others laughing despite that I broke a rule.

After shutting the phone, I make for the oncoming woods and untraveled areas, running full on.

"C'mon, Ana!" Kaitlin nearly whines, "Tell us what name you used!"

I can't help but grin at Kaitlin's insistency. I nod; finally as we all hover of the new laptop.

"Don't laugh at me," I warned, holding up a finger, "I used the name Cornella Golista who lives on Rio de Alma in New Mexico."

Confused silence flitters by for a second.

"Golista?" Angelica asks.

"Yes."

"From that horrible mystery book?" Rena confirms, "The one about…'blossoming peach flowers?'"

I grin in full to answer. We all burst laughing at my strange choice to use a character's name and home address in a very horrible book we each decided to try and read. None of could finish the blasted thing, so we burnt it.

"Not that I disapprove," Rena says, gulping down some air, "But why that name and address?"

"Frankly? I forgot to make up a name before," I reply sheepishly.

This just brings in a new round of laughing and we quiet down some time.

"My God, that's awesome," Angelica says. She leans back and takes our dear, new computer in to her capable hands. Each of us will work on it, but she is the fastest typer out of all of us and the most accurate, which makes her the queen for hacking the systems next to Sarah. "What shall we name this thing?"

"Name it?" Kaitlin asks, plopping next to Angelica on the bed.

"Yeah, might as well," she shrugs and rubs the smooth, purple case. The brand is just a common one over here and I just got it because it won't burn up as quickly as others.

"Peach blossoms?" I throw out jokingly and get Rena to snort some laughter down.

"Hell to no," Sarah says next to me on the unmade bed in Angelica's room, "Something a little less of a catastrophic, if you please."

"What about…R.A.K.A.S.?" Rena pipes in thoughtfully, "It's the letters of our first names and it's the only order that doesn't sound too horrible."

"R.A.K.A.S. That doesn't sound so bad," I comment, rolling the word on my tongue. Sounds like something from a scifi book or something.

"Cool, so we have a name," Angelica says and starts the computer up, tapping her fingers on the keyboard, "But now that we named it, we'll be sadder to destroy it, if need be."

"We can deal," Sarah says with a grin, "On to more important matters. Angelica dear, you've been keeping something from us about what happened with you and Ignacio the other night."

She pauses for a moment and tries to divert the conversation to choosing a password.

"C'mon Angelica," I drag out with a grin, "Show and tell time."

"You're no better," Sarah says, pointing a finger at me, "You both will spill or no dinner!"

I look at Angelica and ask, "Can she do that?"

"Do we have the power to stop her?" my friend replies grudgingly.