It's a long one.

I don't own any references to VK.

[Mina's POV]

The hours at school felt like days. I found myself glancing at the clock every two minutes. Everyone's voices became a monotone and bumping into people in the hall between classes was becoming a habit. I sank deeper into my seat, seeing that there was only a few minutes of class left.

What…the hell happened today?

I still couldn't get that picture out of my head – the image of seeing someone's bone structure move the way it did on Kai.

It was practically rearranging itself!

I sat up when the sound of the bell echoed down the hall.

Finally…

Remembering what Naomi told me earlier, I directly made my way to the front of the building. It was still dark when I went out and the cool breeze blew by my hair. I peeked from the side and saw that the fountain was deserted. There was no one there.

"I guess she forgot," I said to myself, disappointed.

But at the same time, the shadow of a figure appeared from the trees across from where I was standing. And Naomi stepped out onto the cobble-stoned path, placing the red lace around her neck and tying it into a ribbon.

"Did you wait long?" she asked, without turning around to face me.

I moved over closer to her, able to feel the splashes of water from the fountain hit my skin.

"No," I replied.

"I wasn't in the safest mood throughout the day, so I wanted to take a precaution before I came," she told me, seeing the puzzled look I had.

So she had to turn…

"And the others?" I asked.

"They're fine. They went to look for him."

She sat down by the edge of the fountain and I soon joined her. There were so many questions buzzing in my mind that I didn't know which to ask first. But before I could say anything, Naomi spoke first.

"I wasn't lying when I said he loves you," Naomi said, looking down at her socks that came above her knees. "He really does."

"I could never tell," I quietly said, a bit afraid to look at her.

"Yeah, well, none of us really could. I got hunches here and there, but…well, they were just hunches."

She shifted in her sitting, turning to face me more.

"I told you before. Kai isn't the type of guy that goes around telling people how he feels. He himself doesn't even know how he feels half the time. He's actually quite slow when it comes to this," she added with no sense of sarcasm.

"I thought he just didn't know how to express it."

"It's more than just not knowing. He completely separates himself from it," she clarified.

"Is it because he has to turn?"

"Part of it is."

I was amazed at how calm Naomi was.

"But the others and you aren't like that," I pointed out.

"You forgot that he's the alpha. He's like the "pureblood" of werewolves. He's the one that holds the pack together. As the leader, this is his responsibility and his alone: to maintain stability within himself and among us."

"Isn't that…a little overwhelming?"

She shrugged her shoulders and looked up at the sun that was barely rising. "I don't know. I guess not, since he seems to be doing a good job with it, except for today that is."

She turned to look at me.

"Why do you think he's always so even-tempered and cold?"

"If he's been able to separate himself from feeling anything...Then what happened today?"

Naomi looked at the ripples formed by the water in the fountain. She thought for a moment before she spoke.

"What happened today was probably one of the worst things a werewolf can go through."

I kept my thoughts to myself, awaiting for an explanation.

"When we reach eighteen," she began. "Our age of eighteen, we turn on the first full moon before we can turn voluntarily. Transformations aren't very pretty, especially the first one. It's slow and painful. You feel every bone shift, every muscle stretch, and every inch of your skin tear apart. But it's a phase that we all have to go through."

She dipped a finger into the water and made a circle.

"You probably already know that we have to turn regularly and whenever we get too emotional, right?"

I nodded in response.

"Did Kai ever mention what happens when we don't?"

"Yeah, once. You become tired and aggravated."

"But did he tell you what happens when we still resist?"

I shook my head, listening intently for the next words that I would here.

"We begin to lose it."

Lose it?

"Our instincts take over and our desire to turn gradually becomes irresistible. And when we finally can't hold back anymore, we turn, and just like the first time…It hurts like hell, and we can't control ourselves…That's what you saw today."

My eyes strayed to the side as I tried to process what I heard. But I still didn't get it.

"Why was he resisting? What got him so caught up in the first place?"

Naomi looked up at me, and answered, "You did."

Me?

Her response caught me off guard. I stared back at her speechless.

"Me?" I repeated.

"I told you. Kai loves you. He always did. He just didn't know how to show it."

Then she gave me an uncertain look and said, "But then again…I think he's scared to show it."

"Why would he be scared?"

"I don't know."

She looked away.

"I've been trying to figure that out all these years. But…"

Her lips pursed up as she too was drowned in questions.

"So he's been holding it all back," I said, clutching onto my hands.

"Yeah," she responded, quietly. "And he finally cracked…"

I felt like slapping myself.

All this time…I was so blind. I didn't know how much he was going through. I've been so preoccupied with myself and how I felt that I completely disregarded him.

Naomi took a deep breath and then stood up, getting ready to go back to the guest manor. She turned to me.

"You've always wondered whether or not he loved you. I guess now you know how much he does."

Then she walked off and disappeared into the sunlight.

xxx

[Naomi's POV]

I stopped in my steps once I faced the front door to the house. My eyes stared at the doorknob but my face focus was still on Kai.

"I can't believe this happened…And to him," I thought to myself, shaking my head as my hand wiped across my face.

Then, I took the doorknob and turned it. My weary eyelids flicked open when I saw Kai, walking towards me once I opened the door. He was out of his uniform, wearing a black coat and jeans. He carried his duffle bag with a reluctant and sad visage.

"Kai! What's going on?" I asked, standing between him and the door.

"I'm leaving, Naomi," he replied, in a monotone, trying to move past me.

"No, no, no, no, no! You can't do this! She finally knows!"

I pushed him back.

"You saw what happened today!" he said, his tone instantly changing. "I fucking lost it! My mind, emotions and whatever the hell is inside me are all completely fucked up right now!"

He took notice when I flinched from the harshness in his voice. He wiped his hand over his face, also realizing the color change in his eyes.

"I…I can't control it anymore, Naomi," he said, in a calmer voice. "It's not safe to be around me."

"And you think that going back home will fix everything? I know that what happened scared you, but you can't just run away when shit like this happens! You have to face it!"

He's not thinking straight!

"She's right. Don't do this, Kai," Yasuo said from behind.

I didn't even notice the others that were standing around us.

"Yeah, we'll help you," Katashi added. "I mean, we're a pack. We always stick together."

A frown formed on Kai's lips.

He knows that leaving won't help.

"They do have a point, you know?"

The five of them all turned around and saw Chairman Cross sitting in the armchair at the center of the living room with his legs crossed.

How the hell did he get in? No wonder he use to be the best vampire hunter!

"If I remember correctly," he started. "I'm the chairman of this school, and you're a student. Shouldn't you be reporting to me first before you make a decision like this?"

(-.-) He does have a point...

None of us dared to say anything in objection, not even Kai. Chairman Cross stood up from his seat and walked over to the door where we were standing.

"Come, Kaito. We're going to go on a little walk around campus," he said, opening the door.

xxx

[Later on…Third person POV]

"He didn't come to class yesterday, and he wasn't in his room this morning. What do you think happened during his talk with the chairman?" Akio asked, concerned.

The four of them sat around the fireplace, ill at ease.

"No clue," Katashi answered, slouched over the arm rest. "I don't get why this is so hard for him? Sure, he messed up, but we all do. Remember last time when Akio broke into a bakery back home?"

"Hey! That's different! I pulled several all-nighters studying and you just had to pull a prank on me!" he quickly defended.

"Yeah, and you ate all the croissants," Katashi mumbled to the side.

"He can't mess up," Naomi responded, returning the conversation back to its serious roots.

She stared off into space, contemplating so hard about exactly what was going on in Kai's mind.

"It's what he expects of himself," she then added.

"He's afraid…he's always been," Yasuo spoke right after.

They all turned to look at him. He stood over the fireplace, staring deeply at the wild flames slowly eating away the chopped, dry pieces of wood.

"You guys weren't there when it happened," he continued. "You didn't see the look on his face…Fear and blood-stained."

Naomi stood up and walked over to him.

She gently took him by the arm and then said, "Tell me. What happened?"

He took her hand, caressing the back of her hand with his thumb. Then he looked up and saw that Katashi and Akio had both moved seats closer to where he was standing. They were all waiting, waiting to hear exactly what happened that day seven years ago.

-Flashback-

[seven years ago…]

The hallway was dark and the wind howled from the outside. Kai moved further down towards the slight beam of light shining from the crack of the door. He had heard yelling all the way in his room upstairs.

"Why would you do something like that?" he heard his father stammer.

"We've stayed dead long enough! It's time we stopped hiding!" his mother retorted back.

Kai peeked through the small crack. His father stood by the burning fire and his mother over at the bed.

"Kaien can help us," she added.

"You forgot that he's educating those blood-sucking demons at that ridiculous academy! He's already chosen his side!"

"Why are you being so stubborn?"

"Because 'they' were the reason why this whole mess started! 'They' broke the alliance, 'they' struck down so many of our brothers and sisters, and 'they' drove us into this shit-hole that we're in!"

"Both sides have suffered tremendous losses, not just us! It's been centuries since either species have come together to negotiate!"

"And what do you think will happen when we do make another alliance? You think that we'll all be able to come out into the open world with a vampire living on our left and a human on our right? Get your senses together! Such an idea as pacifism is good as dead!"

Kai had never seen his father this furious before. He was always a man of few words and rarely displayed any sense of emotion. His current state was extremely dangerous. He was letting his emotions take over. Kai was about to barge in and stop the argument but didn't when his mother started speaking again.

"Kaito, listen. If just one pure lineage from both species, us and the Kurans, can come to a compromise, we can recreate the world that our elders desperately tried to maintain before it fell apart"

"The Kuran family? They were one of the many that turned their backs on us! And you want to crawl back to them? You're despicable!"

"No! I'm the one trying to find a way to keep our species alive, to keep OUR son alive!"

"Do not make me the enemy here!"

Kai noticed the lavender part of his father's eyes begin to turn silver.

"I have sacrificed so much for our existence!"

"Yes, including the lives of your pack!"

"ENOUGH!"

His father slammed his fist against the wall and instantly transformed.

"FATHER, NO!"

His father, now a werewolf, lunged towards him immediately after he burst into the room, ramming both of them out the window.

"KAITO!" his mother screamed.

She quickly jumped down from the window onto the snow-covered ground. She looked up, but saw nobody but snow stained with blood, leading into the woods.

"Kaito…"

It was quiet in the woods…too quiet. But she didn't stop running. She had to find Kaito, her son and her husband. The trail of red led to a person kneeling in the red snow. She clenched her hands together to try to stop them from trembling so much. It was her son, leaned forward with his right hand tightly clutching his left arm, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Kaito!"

She ran up to him, falling to her knees. His sleeve was ripped off and most of the skin on his left arm was gone with the pink flesh completely exposed and puss oozing out.

"Mom…Get out of here," Kai urged, enduring every bit of pain travelling to the rest of his body from his arm.

"No! I am not leaving you!"

Tears streamed down her eyes. She couldn't believe that matters would come down to this. Rustling noises pierced the cold air. She turned in every direction, seeing nothing but trees. Suddenly, her husband jumped down from the branches, snarling as the ground shook from his landing. He approached her, his claws, sharp and fully extended.

"Mom, run!" her son yelled.

But she didn't. She stood up boldly and stared at the beast straight in the eye.

"Kaito…You've become a monster," she said, her eyes filled with sadness.

"MOM! NO!"

Both Yasuo and Ichiro jerked their heads in the direction of the woods. The two of them had just arrived at the Yamamoto mansion.

"Father, did you hear that?" Yasuo asked, still staring at the distance.

Ichiro sniffed the wind as it blew by. His eyes suddenly widened in worry.

"Yasuo, hurry!"

Without a moments waste, he rushed towards the trees and into the darkness with his son following close by. They stopped once they approached the large stain of blood in the snow.

"This is Kai's blood. I recognize the scent," Yasuo said.

Ichiro nodded.

"He's nearby…and there's another scent," he said.

The two of them followed the fresh trail of crimson and walked deeper inside. They didn't walk far until a figure appeared from a distance.

"Kai! – Jesus Christ!"

Yasuo felt his entire body freeze in place, and Ichiro couldn't make a sound as they stared at what was before them. Kai knelt on the ground, his face, clothing, and hair smeared in blood, holding what was left of his mother in his arms. Ichiro turned to the body lying a few meters behind him. He could recognize that wolf anywhere. Kai's father lay motionless with a hole through his chest and what use to be his heart, in pieces between his claws. Ichiro brought his hand over his mouth and closed his eyes, trying to process the thought that his childhood friends, Kaito and Sakura, were both lying dead before him.

xxx

[Yasuo's POV]

I leaned against the doorway, hearing for any sound of movement inside. Father and I cleaned up the mess and brought Kai back to the mansion. He was asleep in the room and had just gone through hell –having his arm nearly torn off, witnessing his own father kill his mother right in front of him and then taking his own life after realizing what he had done – and I didn't want to wake him. I suddenly heard footsteps inside. The door opened and Kai stood on the other side, his face empty of any sign of life.

"Kai," I said, looking at his lifeless blue eyes. "You should stay in bed."

He wouldn't look up at me, as if he was so ashamed of something.

"Come on," I said, placing my hand on his back as I guided him back to the bed.

He sat down and I moved over to the burning fireplace and warmed my hands a little. Then I walked back next to him. I looked at him then at his left arm, completely bandaged from the tips of his fingers to his shoulder.

"You want something to eat? It'll help you heal faster," I asked.

He didn't answer. I placed my hands in my pockets and looked down at the wooden floor for a moment.

"Well, if you need anything, I'll be outside," I said.

Before I walked out, he suddenly spoke.

"What did you guys do with the bodies?"

I turned around. He was staring out the window.

"We buried them."

He brought his arm up, and looked at the overlapping bandages.

"Kai…" I closed my mouth, wondering if it was appropriate for me to say it. "I'm so sorry…"

He didn't say anything and I didn't want to bother him any longer, so I walked out, closing the door behind me.

Father and I had already called Naomi and the others. Their trip would have to be cut short.

xxx

"Yasuo."

I opened my eyes. I was sleeping on the couch and father was standing next to me.

"What is it?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

"The rest of your pack will be arriving soon."

"What did you tell them?"

"I didn't tell them anything. Only that they were to return back immediately."

I leaned forward, my elbows resting on my knees.

"Then what are we going to say?" I asked.

"Nothing," a voice cut in.

We turned around and saw Kai standing by the stairs, just as lifeless as before. The blood soaked through his bandages, giving it a moist appearance.

"Kaito," my father bowed his head a little.

"Don't ever call me that," he said coldly. "I don't ever want to hear that name again."

My father was startled by his sudden response.

"When the others arrive, just tell them that it was an accident, nothing more."

He then turned around and went back upstairs. I followed after him.

"Why was he being like this?" I thought to myself. "Why was he trying to pretend like it didn't happen?"

"Kai," I called.

He stopped in front of the door and turned around. His eyes were so emotionless that I could hardly recognize him. I opened my mouth to try to comfort him, to do what a good friend would do, but I didn't.

"Listen. I know you've been through a lot but…keeping it all inside and pretending like nothing's happened isn't going to make the pain go away."

"I'm fine," was all he said before walking into his room and shutting the door in my face.

Kai was always the quieter one in our group. He always thought that his problems were 'his' problems. But he was still open with me and the others, only us. I could tell that after what happened, things weren't going to be the same with him. Not anymore.

-End of flashback-

The three of them all refused to look each other in the eye, shocked by what they heard. None of them had any idea what really happened. All they knew before was that Kai's parents were killed in an accident, but they never got the details and Kai never told them. Whatever the event was, its effects were obvious. Ever since that day, he distanced himself from the group. They never understood why, but now they knew. They knew why he was always so scared to let go.

"That's why he never talks about his father, why he tells us not to call him by his actual name, and why he's so much more concerned with his feelings than any of us…He doesn't want to become like his father," Yasuo finished.

"When we were in the woods, was that what you meant by "him", his father?" Akio asked.

Yasuo nodded.

"I know he told you not to, but why didn't you still try to tell us before?" Naomi asked.

"I don't know," he replied, looking down at the fire again. "I thought it was best to leave it in the past and not bring it up. I guess that was a mistake on my part."

Katashi combed his fingers through his short hair, pulling at it somewhat.

He then opened his mouth slightly and said, "I never knew he kept so much from us."

"He probably didn't want us to worry so much over him," Akio responded, looking over at the clock on top of the fireplace.

"Come on guys. Class exchange is in ten minutes. We should get going."

"What about Kai?" Katashi asked.

"We'll probably see him later," Yasuo said. "Seeing what happened, I don't think the Chairman will let him just pack up and leave like that."

They agreed and took their books and coats as they moved together to the front of the house. The doorknob turned as Akio reached for it and the door opened with Kai standing on the other side, wearing the Day Class uniform.

"Kai…" Naomi couldn't even finish her sentence as she stared at him from head to toe.

"Why are you wearing the Day Class uniform?" Yasuo asked, unable to close his mouth.

Kai clenched his jaw, avoiding all their gazes but remaining apathetic as always.

"I'm not part of the Night Class anymore."