Michi Leona here! I'm incredibly sorry that I haven't updated. I could say all the usual stuff about being busy, but the truth is that I wasn't busy and was simply lazy. Therefore you are all justified if you want to lecture me on my lateness. Go on, I deserve it.

Anyway here is Chapter 4 of Storm's Eye! After much effort, I have finally managed to finish it all! I hope you all enjoy it.

Also thanks to RIGELE009, shikixxrima, fan-of-fantasy forever, xXxXMomoXxx, and Headmaster Cross Kaien for reviewing! (sighs happily) It's one of the first times I've had more then 4 reviewers for a chapter story!

Anyway, I don't own Vampire Knight. If I did, then I'd have awesome manga drawing skills, which I don't. I just own the plot, Sora, and the few new characters who come in this chapter.

Enjoy!

Chapter 4

Realizations, Arrivals, and Realizing Arrivals

"Destiny has many stations, and not all of them will go to where you think they will..."

After the Level Es had died, the hunters had moved on. After all, a vampire's corpse turns to dust after it dies, leaving no evidence behind. Frankly, there was no need for them to stay there.

Or was there?

Yagari pondered, his eyebrows creased in thought. Sitting across the table, Sora glanced at him with slight curiosity. She could guess what he was thinking about, it wasn't that hard. She was thinking about it too after all. Silently, she drank the glass of milk that had been prepared for her.

"Sora." A voice called from the other room. "Are you still hungry? We still have lots of cereal and waffles."

Sora smiled, a dazzling presentation of sparkles and teeth, and said, "I'm fine Mrs. Miahara. If I stay to eat anymore, then Yagari and me will probably never even get to the castle!"

"Is that so?" Walking out the doorway, Mrs. Miahara sighed wearily. She was an old woman, what many people would call a 'granny'. She had light brown eyes, which were now closed in despair and long white hair, which was tied up into a tight bun. Her small and thin frame seemed almost comical in the wide doorway. She sighed. "A pity. It's been a long time since I've had someone enjoy my cooking so much, my dear."

Sora smiled sheepishly. She knew that Mrs. Miahara was only joking. Yesterday, when she and Yagari had arrived at her house, she had instantly seen through the old woman's charade. Her seemingly frailness, her small frame and neat profile, all were there for show. Behind her black-framed glasses and in her brown eyes, Sora had seen a strong and shrew mind. Not unlike her own, she thought. A kindred spirit.

It made sense. After all, Sora thought, how could a frail old woman take care of a castle? She was the owner after all. And she definitely knew more then she let on. Sora thought. No matter what she said, she most certainly knew that the castle wasn't going to be used as a school for 'military training'.

"It won't be long until you have others, Mrs. Miahara." Sora said cheerfully. "What with your cooking, I believe that most of the students will be wanting to come visit you instead of going to their classes."

Mrs. Miahara blushed in happiness. "You compliment me too much my dear!" She clasped Sora's hands into her own, her eyes sparkling. "Promise that you'll visit to eat afterwards."

Sora smiled widely. Free food and drink? Oh, how could she resist?

"Of course." She said.

The old woman beamed.

Yagari held back a snort. The girl was almost like Cross! Of course not as idiotic, he thought, but she could certainly appear as naïve. She even appeared like that Ichijou brat. Actress indeed.

Growling, he went back to his meal, his mind turning back to more important things at hand. It wasn't normal, he thought. That was for sure. It wasn't normal for a group of Level Es to suddenly attack in the middle of the road. Level Es normally traveled in pairs or alone. Threes were possible, fours maybe, but a dozen? That was where it stopped.

Someone wanted them dead. No, Yagari shook his head. That was wrong. Anyone would've known that twelve Level Es, though how large in number they might be, would be no match for the Top Ranked Vampire Hunter or the 8th Ranked. However low Sora's rank might seem, hunters above rank 9 were considered the top of the Association. And frankly it was only because she was away spying so much that she was lower in rank. Part of the gossip in the Association was about her strength. Many of the hunters who knew Sora, knew that with her skills, she could rise up to at least Rank 6.

Either way, someone didn't want them dead. Someone just wanted their presence known.

Yagari scowled at the thought.

But who?

The sun was shining more annoyingly then usual today. The girl huffed. Well, at least she thought it was annoying. Anything to do with the sun was annoying. It was a good thing she'd brought an umbrella. Still, the light…

She pulled at the thin red jacket she wore. She felt like taking it off. But no, that'd just expose her skin to more of the hurtful sunlight. And that wasn't good.

Sighing, she looked down at the paperback novel that the idiot of a manager had given to her. The book was opened to pages 46 and 47. Frankly she was amazed she could get this far. The plot was nauseating.

He was handsome, she'd admit that. Who could not? Heck, the man was gorgeous! But she wasn't going to lose her self-respect fawning over him.

The girl sighed. How pathetic these humans were. Spending their time writing things like this. She threw the paperback into her white leather bag and started fingering the sparkling bracelet around her wrist. Her eyes, which were a light, transparent green, gleamed. Jewelry, she thought, was one of the only good things that humans came up with. That and candy. But jewelry was so pretty…

In truth the girl was covered in jewelry. Barrettes encrusted with dark red rubies sparkled in her golden hair, which a glittering red hair band tied into a side ponytail. Silver earrings in the shape of elegant Ss adorned her ears, and there were colorful and shiny bracelets around both of her wrists. A few people on the street turned around to look at her in awe. However it wasn't as much as because of her jewelry, as it was of her appearance. The girl was beautiful, in both an elegant and an endearing way. Her slim build made her look graceful, while her rather short height made her look child like, and the fashionable white top and jeans she wore were without a doubt expensive. Indeed, the only thing that didn't seem to reek of expensiveness was the small block of mahogany wood around her neck, which hung from a golden chain.

And it was around that block of wood that her fingers were caressing right now.

Seeing a tall white pillar from the distance, she smiled. She was almost home. Quickly though, a thought crossed her mind, and her smile turned into a frown.

She still had to tell her brother what had happened yesterday. And what Sara had told her…

Hunger lingered in her stomach. Groaning softly, she frowned. Oh what'd she'd do for some candy. Sweet, delicious candy. Mouth watering, savory candy.

A voice shook her from her thoughts. "Kura-sama!" An old man called from the gate, bowing deeply as he did so. "Welcome home."

Kura merely nodded. She had no time for this.

Her pace quickened, as she walked through the gate and down the cobbled stone road. The servants at the side bowed down to her as she passed by.

Finally she arrived at the end of the road, in front of a grand Western Styled house, if you could call it a house. It seemed more of a castle really, with it's tall pillars, and large stone walls, which grew from the ground for 8 floors in all.

She walked inside. Marble floors greeted her eye, with flecks of jade and slivers of rubies embedded inside.

One of the maids greeted her. "Welcome back Kura-sama." She took her bags. "Do you need anything-"

Kura interrupted with a childish smile, "Just send a cup of lemon sherbet to my room, please."

The maid bowed again. "Of course, Kura-sama." Standing up straight, she handed the bags to another maid. "What will you do now Kura-sama?" she questioned.

"I'm just going up to see my brother."

"Shall I notify him-"

"No thank you." Kura said. "I'll surprise him."

A few minutes later, Kura was walking along the east wing. This part of their estate was always so quite, Kura thought. So very quiet.

"Toshiro!" She whined, but instead of kicking the door open with a bang, she opened the door cautiously, and silently. Hey, even she knew that her brother was not fond of loudness.

Her brother looked up from his desk. Sitting down on his desk, Kura spent a few moments inspecting him. She'd been away for a week working on the photo shoot, and she knew that if she weren't here, her brother would never take good care of himself. Sure enough, there were dark bags around his green eyes, which were identical to her own. His hair, which always lay between light blonde and white, seemed to look fine. She silently groaned at his clothes. Oh how she wished he'd stop wearing those black suits! Well, she thought, at least he was good and healthy.

"Kura. So the photo shoot's finished?" He smiled. Then, almost as quickly as it had appeared, he frowned. "And didn't I tell you call me Aniki?"

Kura pouted. "But Toshiro sounds so much better!" she protested. "Hey, Toshi-"

"Aniki." Her brother argued.

"No."

Her brother looked at her.

"Only if you call me your dear, darling little sister." Kura said.

"No." He chuckled.

Kura frowned. "Fine!" Usually she would've protested more, but this was too important to wait for. "Anyway, Aniki." She said. "Do you have any lollipops?" Oh she was dying for this moment.

Sighing, her brother reached into his drawer. Pulling out a large, yellow and green lollipop, he gave it to her. "Here."

She squealed with delight, her green eyes bright. "Thank you!" She licked it for a few moments, first on one side, then the other. Finally she stuffed it into her mouth.

"Anybay, Aniki." She said, her words muffled.

"What?" He asked, amused.

She took the lollipop out of her mouth. "Yesterday," she leaned her head to the side, "the hands touched."

For a few moments Toshiro reflected on her words. "Yesterday?" he asked. When Kura nodded, a smile slowly grew on his face. "So the Level Es have done their job."

Kura nodded. "The Hunters know someone's watching them."

Toshiro dipped his head in acknowledgment. "Good." He stood up, and started pacing the room, "We'll have to notify Sara though."

"I've already done that." Kura said. "She told me something else as well."

"What?"

A sly smile slowly grew on her face. "She says her puppet won't listen to her. She asked if we could help break him in." A strange sparkle appeared in her eyes, and, not for the first time, Toshiro thought how devilish his sister was, despite her innocent appearance. "Can we go?" she remarked, stuffing the lollipop back into her mouth.

Toshiro nodded with an amused smile. "Of course."

The walk had been a long one.

As Mrs. Miahara's house lied at the foot of the peak where the castle was, the 3 had agreed that they'd walk up to the school after breakfast.

Sora had thought it would be a short walk.

She was wrong.

After many minutes spent over fussing, Mrs. Miahara had brought an assortment of things. Food was one. Cleaning supplies was another. Bags of books, pencils, first aid kits, guns, and many other things were carried over the long walk. The journey was tiring, and rather painful. And in the end, Sora's back slightly ached.

"You know," she wheezed to Yagari, "this would really make a good training exercise for the students."

He grunted, "Maybe we'll assign it to them later."

When they had finally finished the 45-minute-walk (which should've been only taken 15) Sora felt like cheering. And she would've, if she wasn't feeling too tired to do so. She even felt like cursing Mrs. Miahara, and all the stuff that they carried up the hill. The feeling was made even stronger when she saw that the old woman, despite being…well old, hadn't even broken into sweat.

However Sora quickly realized the wisdom in Mrs. Miahara's fussing. The moment being right after Yagari had pushed open the ancient double doors of the castle.

In truth, the doorway opened to a large living room, with flights of stairs leading to different floors. A hallway was right at the end of the room, and along it were countless numbers of doors, probably all leading to other rooms. Mirrors shined, chandeliers were hung, and all were doubtlessly expensive. However Sora's eyes were concentrated on other things. Things that seemed to be, to her, much more important then the chandeliers and mirrors.

Things that proved exactly why Mrs. Miahara had stirred such a commotion over bringing cleaning supplies.

Dust. Cobwebs. More dust. A cockroach. The scent of old, rotting, wood. And Rats.

Sora's eyebrow twitched. She did not like rats.

For a few moments, neither her nor Yagari spoke.

Mrs. Miahara followed them in through the door. "Oh my." She said, "It's been a while since I came here." She paced around the room with a criticizing eye. "It is rather dusty, isn't it?" she said. Yagari ran his finger along a dust-covered table. He grimaced.

"I don't really clean it much you see," Mrs. Miahara continued, her voice now having a slightly sad tone, "If I cleaned anything then Yoji, my husband, would get upset at me, saying that I was getting rid of all of the memories the treasure had. Even now that he's dead I can't really bring myself to clean this thing."

The lonely note in her voice instantly banished all the pettiness in Sora's heart. She still was slightly cross about the climb, but she could see that Mrs. Miahara was telling the truth.

But if she couldn't clean this castle…

"Yagari." She called.

"What?"

"When does the night class come?"

Yagari shrugged, "Probably in a few hours."

Sora thought deeply for a moment. So Yagari and her would have to clean this themselves for some time before assistance came. Her eyes darkened as she envisioned the day in front of them.

So much to do, so little time…

As she thought, Yagari leaned towards Mrs. Miahara.

"You don't mind if I go outside for a smoke, do you?" he asked.

Mrs. Miahara smiled, "No of course not."

In her mind, Sora went over every detail of the castle she could remember. The castle was built in the middle of a crevice, which lied on the top of a small peak in the mountain range. Surrounded by a thick brush of forests, there were also many large clearings, outside and in the castle itself. The castle was humongous, though she couldn't remember exactly how humongous. From looking at it outside she could tell that the whole castle was mostly black. The walls were black. The floor was black. Even the sloping, tiled roofs were black. To tell the truth, it was a good thing they had a forest around them or she would've gone depressed to the lack of color. Contrary to what everyone thought, black was not her favorite color. Green was. The only reason she wore black clothes most of the time was because you couldn't notice blood on it. That and the reason that for some reason, black clothes were usually cheaper. Both reasons made black clothes very handy when you're a Vampire Hunter.

Well, she thought, all in all it was a pretty normal traditional Japanese Castle, she thought. Well, not normal of course. It was just that there was nothing especially unique about the structure itself. The strengths of the castle mostly lied in the location and the surrounding defenses.

For some reason, Sora felt oddly disappointed. It wasn't that she wasn't impressed. She was impressed. After all, it was obvious that the Association had known what they were doing when they had chosen this castle. It was well hidden and could easily be defended. Large black walls surrounded the Castle, which was built in a small crevice of the mountain, making it rather hard to intrude. The castle was also built in such a way so that there was plenty of space for fighting, or at least, learning how to. And the garden was very beautiful, though it needed some tending. It was just the fact that the place seemed rather... Sora struggled for a word.

Gloomy.

When Sora came out of her stupor, she asked Mrs. Miahara, "Mrs. Miahara, how many floors does this castle have?"

"I'd say about 5 my dear." The old woman answered. "Why?"

"Oh nothing." Inside, Sora felt even more dispirited then before. This castle was going to take a long time cleaning.

And cleaning was not her favorite thing to do.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she found Mrs. Miahara holding 3 large plastic bags.

"I know it's big my dear." Mrs. Miahara said apologetically, "and I know that this is a lot of trouble for you." She sighed, "Maybe I should've cleaned this, even if Yoji got upset."

"No it's fine Mrs. Miahara." Sora said, with a smile on her face, "We'll get this cleaned up in no time. But if you don't mind me asking." She added, "Where exactly is your husband?"

Mrs. Miahara closed her eyes, looking troubled. "Well I don't know exactly." she admitted. " I haven't seen him for quite a long time. It's actually very possible that he's…" Opening her eyes, she glanced outside the window. "that he's up there. If he is, well I like to believe that he's very comfortable right now."

"Oh, I'm sorry-"

"You don't have to feel sorry for me, my dear." the granny sighed in mock despair, "Yoji's always been like that you see. Running off and not telling me anything. I usually put up with it since he would always bring back such wonderful treasures..." For a few moments she appeared to be thinking deeply. Finally she shrugged, "It's just that this time he hasn't came back yet." Giving the plastic bags to Sora, she added, "The castle runs in his family apparently. 4 generations, or something like that." Then her eyes brightened. "Would you like to see his baby pictures?"

Sora blinked again. Baby pictures? Of an old grandpa that she would probably never meet? Well she supposed it couldn't hurt...

"I'll see if I have the time to." She promised.

Putting the plastic bags down, Sora started taking the cleaning supplies out. "Well, I suppose we should get started." she sighed.

"I'll be cheering for you my dear." said Mrs. Miahara, walking out of the door.

Sora nodded. Then slowly, she looked around her. Standing up, she called over to the woman. "Sorry Mrs. Miahara, but where's Yagari?"she asked.

"Oh, he went outside for a smoke, my dear. Should I call him for you?"

Sora shook her head. "No it's fine, I'll do it myself."

Then, slowly, an idea took shape in her mind.

Smoke...

Aidou gazed at the clock irritably, his left eyebrow twitching. This day was not starting out well. He scowled as he remembered the events that happened the night before.

Hearing that Shiki had crashed the car, he and the others had rushed to the car rental area. There they had found a very angry owner, a sleepy Shiki, and 2 destroyed cars.

Aidou stormed up to Shiki, his face red. "How could you crash the car?" he screamed.

Shiki blinked. "I fell asleep."

"HOW COULD YOU FALL ASLEEP WHILE DRIVING YOU IDIOT!"

" You're the idiot Aidou," Ruka told him, "You're the one who let him drive."

"H-how was I supposed to know that he would crash it?" Aidou spluttered, waving his hands around, "And he said he could drive as well!"

"I can." Shiki retorted.

Aidou growled. "Then how did you crash?"

"He told you already." Rima came into the conversation. "He fell asleep." She took a pocky stick.

"But- hey that's my pocky!" Aidou shouted. Rima shrugged. Sighing Aidou turned to Shiki. "How could you fall asleep?"

"He always does." Rima answered. "Right Shiki?"

Shiki nodded, "Humans always drive so slow. It's boring."

Aidou's face was getting redder every second. "Well then." He said, "Don't complain to ME if we're going to have to go by train!"

So here they were now, in the train. The owner of the rental car store wouldn't let them borrow any more cars so this was the only way to go. The train only went to the foot of the Chugoku Mountain Range, so they'd have to walk the rest of the way. Aidou seethed. It wasn't really a problem since they were Vampires, but really, crashing the car because you were SLEEPY? He flicked a glance towards Shiki, who was dozing off. His mind was made up. He's dangerous. There was no way a normal vampire could be that sleepy.

Attempting to take his mind off the troublesome situations, he flipped through the envelope again.

The Castle is owned by Miahara Tsukiko, and is located in the midst of the Chugoku Mountain Range. This is so that no one will notice the school. Mrs. Miahara's house lies at the foot of the mountains, and will be your accommodation before the school starts. The Hunters, Yagari Touga and Hashizawa Sora will be in charge of the school, and will be your guides around. You will help them keep the school safe and to teach the students about the Vampire World. As the systems of the Vampire World are unstable at the moment, keep an eye out for some difficulties.

Do not attempt to contact the Kurans.

There it was again. Aidou mentally snorted. 'Do not attempt to contact the Kurans?' He sighed. Oh come on. Surely they could come up with something better. Even if they were humans.

And really, the sentence just made him want to find Kaname even more. If it wasn't for the fact that he was being watched, then he probably would've ran out to find him with Ruka and Kain.

After all, he thought, there were many things he wanted to ask Kaname. One being especially important.

His eyes clouded as he went back to the memory.

The falling rubble...

The cloud of dust...

Running along the roofs of the buildings...

Looking down...

Red and blue...

Aidou shook himself. How much he wanted to find Kaname, and ask him: Was what he said true?

Sighing, he put his hand to his forehead. Yeah right, he thought. As if that could happen. His eyes wandered again to the two dozing vampires.

As for Rima and Shiki...

Well they wanted to go out and find Ichijou.

And talking about Ichijou, Aidou thought, where was he really? Was he really, Aidou shuddered, dead?

No, he thought, not dead. He was probably hiding out somewhere. Or maybe it wasn't even that.

The gears in his mind started to turn. The Association was making alliances with Purebloods and the Noble Families. And in turn they were all trying to find Kaname-sama and Yuuki-sama.

And Ichijou was known to be close to Kaname-sama.

Perhaps…

Aidou sat back, his blue eyes icy with what he realized.

Ichijou was a captive.

Cross lied on his bed, his eyes closed and his hands lying on his stomach. The position resembled how a person might lie down in a psychiatrist's office. However Cross wasn't in a psychiatrist's office, he was in a prison.

And right now the wheels in his head were turning...

"Help?" Cross turned around. "You need my help?"

"Don't push it in, Cross." Oonishi muttered. He sighed. "The truth is, well I'm not really the president now."

Eyebrows rose. "You're not?" Cross asked. "Then who is?"

"No one." was the blunt reply. "That's the thing Cross. No one's sure who's the president."

"No one?"

Oonishi nodded. "It's gotten so chaotic that the hunters are splitting into groups."

"Like what? Democrats and Republicans?"

"Exactly like that."

Cross pondered Oonishi's words for a moment. "So why did you say that you were the president?" he questioned.

"Well, one of the groups is mine." said Oonishi, "And most hunters believe we're the ones in charge."

"And the other?"

"A bunch of youngsters. They say that the Association needs to change. And that only the young and open minded people can do that."

"Sounds familiar." Cross remarked.

"Doesn't it?" asked Oonishi. "The thing is Cross, the group really admires you. 'The Vampire without Fangs.' They sap it all off. It's just your school that ticks them off."

"So what do you want me to do?" Cross asked. "I'm in Jail."

Oonishi grinned, "Not for long. The group's going to come and see you. And I want you to persuade them to join our group."

Cross frowned, "Oonishi, do you know what I think of your group?"

"Well I know you don't like it." Oonishi stated.

"And you know correctly."

"Listen." "If you persuade them, then you'll be allowed out of here. You can work as a hunter."

Cross suddenly felt sick.

"You might even go higher." Oonishi continued, "See? Isn't that a good deal?"

Was it possible, he thought. Was it? He never actually thought about it this way, but if what Oonishi said was true, then it was certainly possible. And frankly, if it succeeded, then it would be very, very useful...

Cross sat up. Everything was already in place, he thought. There were the people and the connections, a few inquiries would have to be made, but if this worked, yes if it did...

Instead of escaping and defeating the Association from the outside with the others... Cross smiled grimly as he thought of the idea again.

What would it be like to start a revolt and break it from the inside?

"So this is the school?" Ruka stated, her eyes roaming the ancient walls skeptically.

Shiki followed behind her. "How gloomy." He remarked.

"It looks like home." Rima observed. She carried a tall blue umbrella.

Kain chuckled. "Perhaps that's why they chose it."

For a few moments, all of them simply surveyed the large castle, their eyes roaming from the large brush of forest behind them, to the clearings and the impressive stonework of the castle.

Aidou sniffed around, trying to see if he could sense anything suspicious. A familiar scent hit his nose. So did an unfamiliar one.

"Yagari's already here." He stated, sighing as he did so. "So is the other Vampire Hunter."

Ruka tried not to glance at Kain. She knew what he was thinking. After Aidou had told them about the girl, (Sora was it?) they had been slightly curious about her. Now they were to meet her.

What would she be like?

"Rima," Shiki said, "I need your umbrella." Wordlessly, Rima tipped the umbrella to him.

"Rima!" Aidou whined, "I need it too!"

"No."

"You're so mean." Aidou pouted. "Why can Shiki have it and not me?"

"Deal with it Aidou." Ruka said.

"So unfair." Aidou grumbled, "Especially since it's Shiki's fault that we arrived here in daylight."

"Stop complaining Aidou." Kain told him. "Look, here's the door."

"But-"

"What a crybaby." Said Rima.

"Excuse me?" Aidou said in disbelief.

Ignoring the squabble behind him, Kain pushed open the door. Creaking in response, it opened slowly. "Hello?" Kain called. "Is anyone here?" He walked inside, the others following.

Silence.

Finally, Shiki spoke. "The room's sparkling." He commented.

Indeed, the room was sparkling. In fact, perhaps sparkling was too weak a word to describe it.

The floor sparkled in all of its new polish, while the mirrors shined, though they did not show the reflections of the vampires. The grand, shiny, closet stood proudly in the corner, while the chandelier was newly lit with candles. The room was literally spotless.

The Night Class stared. It wasn't that they haven't seen anything this clean before. They had, in their own homes. It was just that they hadn't expected that a vampire hunter's school would be this clean.

After a few moments of more staring, Aidou opened another door. "This room's sparkling too." He told the others.

"This room too." Ruka said, opening another door.

"And this room." Rima observed.

"This room isn't." Kain said. The others all rushed over to look.

The room, which appeared to be a bedroom, contrasted sharply with the one they were just in before. In fact, you could've called them black and white.

This room being black of course. Very black.

Ruka wrinkled her nose at the dust-covered and sooty floor. "This room's-"

"-filthy." Another voice broke in. "I know."

Slightly startled, the vampires turned.

On the other side of the room, a girl smiled. She held a black duster. Jumping down from the top of the wardrobe she was sitting upon, she stretched a hand out. "You're the Night Class right?" She said. "I'm Hashizawa Sora." She pointed her hand behind her, "Yagari's over there."

Aidou turned to look at the direction she was pointing to, and almost instantly he started laughing.

From the corner of the room Yagari glared. A bucket of water was next to him, and scraps of cloth were scrunched up in his hands. Hey, it wasn't as if he LIKED scrubbing floors on his knees! Especially with his sleeves rolled up, hat taken off, and all of that. It was extremely mortifying.

It was just that if he didn't clean…

His face paled as he remembered the conditions.

"Yagari-san, it's cleaning time." Sora told him.

He sighed. "Couldn't we just let the brats do it?"

"We could. If we actually had some 'brats' here." Sora put her hands on her hips, with pursed lips. "Now hurry up."

Yagari snorted, "Fine, fine."

Inside the castle, Sora handed the mop and cloths to Yagari. "You can scrub the floors. I'll dust the furniture." She ordered. "Also take off your coat, it'll get in the way."

Grumbling, he gave it to her. "Do we really have to clean this whole castle?"

"Of course." Sora said, surprised. "It's your job, Yagari."

"Well even so-" he caught himself. What? "What do you mean by my job?" he asked. "It's your job, as well."

She smiled. "Not quite, Yagari-san." Slowly, she held up a lighter. "I believe this is yours?"

His eyes widened, "Why you-"

She cut him off, grinning. "Hear the conditions, Yagari-san. You clean, you get your lighter back. No clean, say good bye. And don't bother getting your other ones, I got them all as well."

"How-"

Sora sighed disappointedly. "Really Yagari. How could you tell your lock code to Mrs. Miahara? Even if she wanted the official documents from the Association you could've got them from your suitcase yourself."

No words came to his mind.

"So what's the answer?"

Yagari groaned. His precious lighters!

Sora smiled inwardly as she saw Yagari's face. She patted herself on the back, what a success the plan had been.

In truth, she had never known Yagari's suitcase code. The lighter she got had been swindled from his coat pocket, the coat he had given to her. All she had done was asked Mrs. Miahara if she had known Yagari's lock code.

And her answer had everything she had needed to known.

She sighed happily. A job well done indeed.

Quickly, realization followed. Ah yes, the night class. Sora turned around slowly.

It'd been a long time since she met noble-class vampires...

His laughter subsided, Aidou looked at her from the corner of his eye. So this is the girl, Aidou thought, scrutinizing her. This is the girl who's swindled so many people. Her name fit her, he decided. Sora. Sky. Her eyes looked like the sky. All gray, blue and white. The girl was awfully pale as well, not as pale as them, but still pale. As for her hair, it was the exact opposite. Black as the night sky.

"Well anyway," Sora turned brightly, "Welcome to the Yagari Hunter School. I know it doesn't sound as nice as Cross Academy is, but we'll have to deal with it." She smiled happily to Aidou. "And you are…"

Aidou smiled charmingly and bowed. "Aidou Hanabusa. I am delighted to meet such a beautiful lady." Standing up, he waved his hand at the dusty surroundings, "Do you need any help with the cleaning?" he asked.

Hah, that'd do it. He thought smugly. Surely even such an actress couldn't withstand his charm. He bet half his savings that she'd blush, stutter, fall and then quickly protest that of course, he couldn't help them with cleaning…

Sora smiled, her gray eyes suddenly shining. " Of course you can!" Quickly, she handed her feather duster to Aidou. "Here you can dust the furniture." She said, a broad grin on her face. "Just be careful with the porcelain, they're pretty fragile."

Aidou blinked. What? No fawning? No blushing? No falling or any of that? "Ah," he took the feather duster from Sora's hands, "of course."

Yagari snickered a very un-Yagari like snicker.

Beaming, Sora rushed up to the rest of the Night Class. "It's a pleasure to meet you." She said. "Forgive me if I get your names wrong." Peering admiringly at them, she glanced at each of them, saying their names as she did so. "Souen Ruka, am I right?" she asked. Ruka nodded stiffly. "Kain Akatsuki, Shiki Senri, and Touya Rima, pleasure to meet you. " Sora bowed her head respectably, and stepped back. "Did I get them right?" she asked.

The four nodded.

Aidou, who was watching from behind, wondered briefly why on earth, Hashizawa hadn't remembered his name.

"Excuse me, Hashizawa- san." asked Kain, "Where's the owner of the place?"

"Mrs. Miahara? She went back to her house down the mountains." Sora replied. "The students are arriving tonight, so she has to get ready for them."

"All of them?" asked Ruka.

Sora shook her head. "No, only a few are coming today. The rest are coming tomorrow."

A few knocks resounded through the room.

"Looks like some students have already arrived." Rima stated.

Sora's eyes gleamed as she smiled slyly, appearing rather insane. "Wonderful." Rushing out of the room, she opened the door.

A rather petite girl came in. Light brown hair curled around her face in a short bob. Warm brown eyes lightened up.

"Aidou- sempai!" the girl smiled.

"W-wakaba Sayori." Aidou stuttered, his face slightly red. He hadn't expected her here.

Yori started to say something, but stopped short as Sora peered into her face. "Oh, so you're a girl." Sora said, more of a statement then a question.

"Yes, I am." said Yori, her face expressionless, though Aidou was sure that inside she was thinking the same thing as him.

Yes I'm a girl. So?

"Hmm," Sora tipped her head to the side, as if deciding something important, "I guess I won't make you do the cleaning then." She held her hand out. "Hashizawa Sora."

Yori nodded and took her hand. "Wakaba Sayori. You're one of the people in charge right?"

Sora nodded.

"Is Yagari-san here?"

Sora pointed behind her. "Over there."

"Ah I see…" Yori trailed off, as she saw the Top Ranked Vampire Hunter scrubbing the floor on his knees.

Aidou chuckled. Then his face flushed as he realized how he must look, dusting a wardrobe.

"Ah right!" Sora clapped her hands as she realized, " I almost forgot! Souen-san! Touya-san! Sayori-san-"

"Yori-chan's fine, Hashizawa-san."

"Ah, really?" Sora asked. As Yori nodded, Sora grinned. "Well then you'll have to call me Sora-chan." She turned to the others. " Anyway, do you want to come outside with me to buy some food? We have to stock the castle."

"Well I suppose it'll be fine." said Ruka warily. For some reason she could not rest around this girl.

Rima nodded.

With the job of buying food settled, Sora grabbed her wallet. As the four started walking out, Shiki walked up to her.

"Actually Hashizawa-san." Shiki asked sleepily. "What are we going to do in this school?"

Sora turned to him, surprised. "Didn't the letter tell you?" Shiki shook his head. "Hm, strange." Sora thought for a few moments. "Well anyway, you're going to be teachers. So Shiki-sensei," she said cheerfully, " we shall be going off now. By the way, can you please help mop the rooms? Kain you can do the vacuuming. Try not to break anything and please get rid of the rats. Thank you."

The door slammed shut.

Yuuki once remembered asking her mother a question after flipping through book. It was a strange book, with a rather funny name that she couldn't pronounce. Thesaurus, it was called. A thesaurus.

After reading the book she had went to her mother, who had been in the library, looking through their large selection of books.

"Mom?" she had asked.

"Yes dear?"

Yuuki tugged on her mother's pink dress. "What are antonyms?"

"Antonyms?" Her mother's face turned puzzled. "Why do you want to know that?"

"I found it in a book!" Yuuki bit her lip in anticipation, "The- the sesaros!" she burst, her eyes sparkling as she finally pronounced the name of the book that had been on the cover.

Her mother chuckled. "I see." Putting a book back on the bookshelf, she told Yuuki, "Well Yuuki, antonyms are words that represent opposites"

Yuuki's eyes widened, "Opposites?"

Her mother nodded. "Things that are completely different."

"Like what?"

"Like..." Her mother paused a bit, "like black and white."

"Black and white?"

"And light and dark, and hot and cold, and sharp and round." her mother said, "There are many opposites."

"What about us Mommy?" Yuuki asked, "Are we opposite to anything?"

Her mother tipped her head to the side, "Well, I'm not sure about that Yuuki. Maybe, maybe humans are." Her voice held a sad tone as she said the sentence.

Yuuki furrowed her brows as she thought. Finally she asked, "When can I go outside and see humans?"

Her mother stiffened, "When it's safe."

Yuuki frowned, "Why isn't it safe now?" she insisted. Surely she could go out?

"Just trust what I say Yuuki." Her mother kneeled down, her eyes on the same level as Yuuki's. "The outside is dangerous. It's muddled."

"Muddled?"

"There are no opposites." "Say for light and dark. They say that in light there is no darkness and in darkness, there is no light. And technically, it's true." "However in the real world, out there..." Her mother shook her head, "It isn't true. There is darkness in the light and light in the darkness. Every thing's muddled, all gray and shadows. Nothing's precise. It's not nice. I don't want you out there. So, you stay here with Mommy, ok?" A tear escaped her eye.

At that time Yuuki didn't quite understand, except for the fact that mommy was scared and that she couldn't go outside. She didn't understand what Mommy was talking about, just that she was crying. So Yuuki had contented herself with staying inside, only knowing Mommy, Daddy, and Kaname- onisama.

But now she knew. She knew what her mother had meant.

Nothing was clear. Everything was muddled. There were no clear boundaries. Nothing was precise. A person hides many things inside their soul. There are hidden motives, secrets, things that are not known, things that can't be known.

There is no good and bad.

There is no black and white.

There is light in the darkness and darkness in the light.

Everything's unclear, muddled.

Muddled.

Yuuki was like the outside, she thought. Because just like the outside, she was muddled. On one hand there was her vampire side, the little girl, Kuran Yuuki, who had stayed inside her whole life, loving her mother, father, and brother, Kuran Kaname. On the other hand there was human Yuuki. Cross Yuuki, who was a guardian, a prefect, in Cross Academy. Who cared for her sometimes-idiotic adoptive father, Cross Kaien, her best friend Yori, and her partner, 'brother', also known as the distrustful, sulky, idiot, Kiryuu Zero. There was the Cross Yuuki, who didn't know anything about her mother and father, but who, just like Kuran Yuuki, cared about Kuran Kaname very, very much.

And now these two sides, these two different people, were slowly mixing into one.

Light in the darkness and darkness in the light.

Yet even though they were mixing, there were times when one of them would take hold of Yuuki, and the other would fade. Like right now.

Right now, when the Kuran Yuuki side was taking control.

Yuuki murmured contentedly as she swallowed the warm, oozing crimson blood. The doubts that she had had a few minutes ago were now disappearing. The only thought in her mind now was that she simply needed the blood. Though it was no where near as delicious as Onisama's was, it satisfied her hunger, and kept her strength. While Onisama's seemed like a cold glass of wine, this human's blood was a simple cold glass of water after many days of thirst.

She was grateful that Onisama had done this for her. Knowing that she was thirsty, and that they had no blood tablets, led to him bringing two humans here for the night. At first Yuuki had protested.

She froze, not quite sure if she had heard correctly. "What did you say, Onisama?"

"Yuuki."

Her hands shook. "Didn't you say that we shouldn't feed?" Her voice trembled.

"It's fine as long as it's not our blood that's spilt." he answered.

"But humans..." Yuuki trailed off, her voice uncertain. To tell the truth, she wasn't quite sure herself why she was so worried about it. She was a vampire now. Of course she was going to drink blood. But for some reason she still felt nauseous. Drinking Onisama's blood was one thing, but drinking a human's blood...

"Vampires smell human blood quite a lot, Yuuki." Onisama explained. "You should know that better then anyone. There are hospitals, injuries and paper cuts. To smell human blood is common." He paused. "To smell a Pureblood's blood is not."

Yuuki stayed silent. Everything that Onisama said made sense. She knew it all herself. So why...

"Don't worry." Kaname gazed at her. Her heart skipped a beat, and for a moment the feeling of pleasure numbed her nausea, "You don't have to drink too much." he said.

Feeling satisfied, Yuuki released her fangs and licked all the blood off the human's skin. She hadn't bitten too hard, so the fang marks should heal rather quickly. No one would notice.

Kaname peered over her shoulder, "Finished?"

Yuuki nodded. "What about you Onisama?"

"I've drank enough." Kaname opened the window, it was still dark. "Anyway now I'll return these people to their homes now. You go sit down, you'll feel dizzy."

And as Yuuki sat down on the soft bed of their hotel room, she did feel light headed. A feeling of drunkeness was in her brain, a feeling that often accompanied her after she drank blood. Yet while she felt that, a sudden feeling of shame washed over her.

Cross Yuuki had taken control.

A feeling of disgust welled up inside her. She ran her tongued along her teeth, lightly touching the tips of her fangs.

She had drunk blood.

And she had liked it.

Cross Yuuki shook her head at her thoughts. Now she knew what Zero had felt, when he had become a vampire.

"Why should you care?" Kuran Yuuki whispered, "Yes, I'm a vampire, but I've always been one. It's what I am. As long as I'm with Onisama then I'll be fine."

Cross Yuuki shook her head.

However, no matter which side took over Yuuki, it couldn't change the fact that Yuuki was still physically Kuran Yuuki, a pure blood, a vampire.

Zero didn't mind the cold. It had always been cold where he had lived. In his childhood home, winter was the normal weather. Snow was in the daily forecast.

In fact, he had almost missed it.

Sitting on the rocky ground, Zero settled for an uncomfortable night. He had found this cave the day before, but never thought that he would have to use it. Now however it was snowing furiously outside, a mix of ice and rain, and he had no way to go back to the hostel he was staying at before.

"Looks like I'm going to be staying here tonight." He muttered.

Opening his knapsack, he took out a couple of thick blankets, and a thermos, full of hot miso soup. The wife of the owner of the hostel had given it to him. He thought of the kind woman, who had been smitten with him.

He shouldn't have accepted the miso soup. After all, anyone who was connected with him would get hurt. The Association wouldn't forgive this. Not now. Not with this quest.

But he had accepted it, he thought. And finally, cautiously, he opened the warm, thermos and drank the steaming hot miso soup. He swallowed it, and the warmth seared through his body, warming it up.

It was a very delicious miso soup.

Having drunk the soup, Zero covered himself in the blankets and tried to get some sleep.

He had a big day tomorrow.

After minutes later however, sleep had still not settled onto him. In fact, he didn't feel sleepy at all. Sighing, he instead looked out in the snow.

The snow...

Clear and white. A substance which looked soft and harmless, but was actually hard, cold, and dangerous.

He and Ichiru had liked playing in the snow. They would play for almost forever. Running around, diving in, throwing snowballs. Sometimes, even Sensei joined in, and he would throw snowballs at them as well. He'd laugh and he'd say...

"Hurry up and run you brats. What would you do if I was a vampire?"

Zero blanched at the sudden memory.

Shivering, he glanced at the snow again.

What was Sensei doing now, he wondered?

Snow...

Then he realized.

The snow was also a cruel reminder. A reminder of what had happened on that day. The day when his family was killed, slaughtered.

Murdered.

He had been turned into a vampire that day. Turned into what he hated the most.

Ichiru had gone from him. No, he had been gone long before that. Gone with that woman.

That woman who was now dead.

With a sudden ferocity, Zero clutched his shirt, in front of his heart.

Ichiru was in him now, he thought. He had 'eaten' him. Him, who had also eaten that woman.

And Zero had drunk from Yuuki, and that Kaname.

How many people were in him now?

Yuuki had liked the snow.

He shook his head. No, he wasn't meant to think such thoughts.

He would kill her. Her and her brother.

Like he was meant to.

There you have it. Voila. Chapter 4, finished!

It was pretty hard for me to finish this, mostly because I still wasn't quite sure what would happen with Cross, but now that's all done with I can go on happily with Chapter 5! I'm pretty happy with this since Yori, Kura, and Toshiro came in.

And for the people who don't know what Aniki means:

Aniki （兄貴）- A respectable and honorable term for older brother. That's why Kura wanted Toshiro to call her 'his dear and darling sister'. By the way, I hope you liked the two siblings, they came into my head while drawing. Kura's one of my favorites. And I know Toshiro doesn't seem to have much character now, but he will soon.

Also, does anyone know if Sara has a particular power? Like Yuuki can break walls and glass when's she's desperate... or something like that. If you do know, please let me know!

Finally, for the Night Class Teachers, any ideas for the subjects? I have nearly all of them sorted out, but I'd like to hear your opinions!

As always, please review.

Michi Leona