Author Note: Wow it has been a while... I don't even really know what to say... Just that writing is such a personal thing and no matter how much time passes, when you put you heart into something, there will always be a piece of you that still cares about it. I still care about this story, and I am still living in it in some ways. I don't know if anyone else does but I will continue to post into this void and hope that there are still those that will reach back. This is a 2-parter my goal is to finish the other part before the end of the year.

But I Still Choose You: Her

"Abel, put the gun down." Haruhi tried to say as calmly as possible. She was still sitting on the ground, looking up at the two boys in a silent standoff. She couldn't see Zero's face but she could read the stiff lines of his frame. This was bad.

"Fujioka, are you hurt?" Abel asked, eyes never leaving Zero.

Haruhi felt a sickening frustration growing inside of her. So this was how it worked, Abel was going to shoot Zero. A sixteen year old boy was about to shoot another sixteen year old boy in the head.

"No, I'm not hurt!" She cried, "Please, Abel, just put the gun away."

But Abel kept it steady, his dark eyes scanning and investigating every inch of Zero. Zero remained silent and absolutely frozen. He wouldn't even turn to look toward her as she call out to him.

"Zero, tell him," She begged, "Tell him you didn't do anything wrong!" She stood slowly and made as if to reach for Zero but Abel's sharp bark stopped her.

"Don't!" His finger twitched slightly on the trigger. "Haruhi get back. It's not safe."

In order to appease Abel, she did take a step back. But that didn't keep her from speaking. "Abel listen to me. I know all about vampires and hunters. I know what you and Zero are, and what this academy is. I know all of it. And I know that Zero was not going to hurt me okay. Please, please put the gun down." Her voice shook slightly as she pleaded with the other boy.

She could see the way Abel's dark eyebrows twitched under his yellow hair. "Is that right?" He bit out coldly, eyes practically glowing as his bared his teeth at Zero. "Then what were you going to do then, vampire?"

Haruhi felt her face flush, despite the circumstance. They were literally arguing about shooting another person, but before this situation, being caught in such a private moment would had been the craziest thing that had happened today.

"Haruhi." It was Zero's voice; so soft, so defeated. "Go back to the dorms. Get out of here." He begged.

Only, the sound of his voice kept her even more rooted to the spot. She wanted to throw herself between the pair, but she was terrified that it would only convince Abel to shoot him.

The blonde seemed more confused. Haruhi couldn't imagine what was going through his head. All these weeks getting to know Zero in training. If he knew even a small piece of the Zero that she did, he could never pull that trigger.

"Answer the question, Zero." Abel demanded.

"I have never bitten her." Zero said instead. "I know what you must have felt but- I wasn't going to let that happen. I wasn't going to hurt her."

Abel let out a harsh laugh.

"Zero." He said it like a reprimand and a question rolled into one. Shaking his head slightly, his eyes searched over the other boy's face as if trying to find the lie.

He didn't want to shoot him, Haruhi thought, he didn't know what to do.

"I was running away." Zero said quietly. "That's what I was going to do."

Abel stared at him for a long time, Haruhi could tell he was grinding his teeth. He had to know. He couldn't do this.

The gun lowered and Abel finally looked away from Zero, choosing to look out over the lake as he bit out. "Then run."

"Wait, Zero no!" Haruhi tried to stop him, but Abel put a hand out and caught her shoulder, holding her in place. And Zero let him, because he was already gone. And despite everything else, that was the part that finally made her cry.

Abel holstered his gun before leaning down in front of Haruhi. Very gently, he lifted her chin with his index finger, tilting his head to look at the column of her throat. Haruhi yanked away and eyed him caustically. She barely knew Abel but from what she did know, he was neither compassionate nor gentle. She had definitely never seen that sympathetic look in his eyes. He was treating her like a trauma victim and she hated him for it.

"No puncture wounds, no scars, no nothing." She snapped, hastily wiping away tears with her sleeve.

The boy huffed through his nose, "You seriously don't understand? Zero almost attacked you. Can't you see that you are not safe around him?"

"He did not almost attack me." She protested.

"I'm sorry but where I come from, if something bites you, intending to eat you: you are prey, you have been attacked."

"Well there's one opinion."

Abel's eyes widened in frustration. She couldn't be so warped. How could this girl supposedly be so smart and yet so stupid at the same time? "Opinion?!" His voice rang in disbelief.

"Yes, opinion. You know beliefs that are shaped in the eyes of their authors. But what you don't realize, is there are whole other worlds of ideas that could never fit the mold of your own. It doesn't make yours right and theirs wrong!" She spun away but Abel grabbed her arm.

"Will you stop, this is serious. Zero lusted after your blood. He isn't like other vampires. For one like him to bite a human-"

"He didn't!" She insisted, trying to yank away but Abel held her tight.

"If any other hunter had seen him, they would have shot him without any hesitation. I should have shot him!"

The silence that followed his outburst was all consuming. They both stood still, briefly forgetting that Abel was still holding onto her.

"But you didn't." She finally said, "You didn't shoot him."

Abel sighed deeply. "Next time, I will. I have to."

Haruhi let out a shaky breath, glaring up at Abel. "For what? For not biting me? For controlling himself?"

Suddenly, a conversation between her and Zero came to mind, "As long as a vampire does not forcibly take blood they have broken no laws and therefore are protected under the law." She jerked out of Abel's grasp and turned toward him, rising to her full height. It wasn't much but the other boy seemed to regard her strangely. "Isn't that true where you come from?"

"Zero isn't-" he tried but she didn't let him.

"No! I don't want to hear your opinion again. Your opinion is not the law." And with that she spun away and marched back toward the Sun dorms.

From the second story of the Academic building, the grounds of Cross Academy looked like the inspiration of a romanticist's novel of conquest and tragedy. The sun seemed to grant the school a glow that belonged only to this place and only to this moment. Whether she had meant to or not, Ayumi had found it a place where she liked to be, a place that she hoped would belong to her the way it belonged to Zero. He may have only been here for four years, but this was his home now. He would be reluctant to leave it.

She ran her finger along the edge of the window sill. Maybe this would be where they made their home. She could change the school, make it a place where prestigious hunters sent their children. Zero would be the most sought after Master Hunter and their children would be at the top of hunter society. They would get over them being half vampires.

…And if they didn't. Well, the Academy would continue to be the place that it was now, a place for them to hide. She knew she would be giving up a lot for Zero. Her wealth, her title, her reputation even, honestly it was a huge sacrifice she would be making for him, but she could do it.

The sound of Abel coming crashing into the room yanked her from her musings.

"Where is Yagari-sensei?" He asked roughly. He looked out of breath and angry.

Ayumi studied him for a minute. "He got a call from the Association. What's got you all worked up?"

"Nothing. Do you know what they wanted? Was it your dad that called?" Abel asked as he tried desperately to keep from pacing.

Ayumi stared at him, "How should I know? Tell me what's going on."

At first he only sighed and Ayumi pressed him again.

"It's Zero."

"What about Zero?" She didn't mean to sound defensive, but she knew she did.

Abel shook his head, "Look we have got to stop living in la-la-land here. He might have been a great hunter once upon a time, but the truth is, he is a vampire, and he will never be able to be a hunter when he is busy trying to fight the exact same urges that condemn the creatures we are hunting."

Ayumi was on her feet, pushing into Abel's space, "How can you even say that? You've spent all this time with him! You know he has it under control!"

They were both yelling now. "Oh really? Is that why I found him two seconds from ripping through Haruhi Fujioka's throat?!"

The room was silent for a long time.

Abel fell back on the edge of Yagari's desk and began to tell Ayumi what had happened by the lake. How he had briefly felt the weird pressure in the back of his head, the one that most hunters felt when a vampire was lusting over blood. It had died almost as soon as he started to track it but he had been close enough to find Zero and Haruhi by the lake. How Zero had run off and he and Haruhi had argued.

Ayumi stepped away from him when he finished, shaking her head, "No."

"Yes."

"No, you must have missed something." Her mind was racing to come up with a solution, "You said Haruhi right? Haruhi Fujioka?"

"Ayumi what does it matter? The point is that Zero is-"

"No it does matter." She said earnestly. Her voice rose as she tried to talk over his objections, "No, listen! I have been talking to some of the Day Class girls and they told me there was an incident back when the Ouran students first got here. An incident with Haruhi."

"Ayumi just stop. We have to do something before someone gets hurt." Abel said. He turned to leave the room, intent on finding wherever it was that Yagari had gone.

Nimble fingers wrenched into his sleeve as Ayumi yanked him back. "The incident was with Kaname Kuran. Apparently she was obsessed with him, probably even before she got here. Anyway, she had made some sort of move on him, the girls, of course didn't have all the details of what she did, but the point is it offended the pureblood enough that the whole school was upset by it, even Zero had to step in. It wasn't until she backed off that everyone forgave her."

"Well, that sounds a lot like the pot calling the kettle back." Abel snarked as he yanked out of her grip.

"Gah! Don't you see? How did she react? Did she seem surprised?"

This time when Abel became silent, Ayumi smiled. "She wasn't, was she?" She circled around him. "There's the truth right there. Fujioka must be obsessed with vampires. She was probably trying to offer it to him."

"Offer what?"

"Offer her blood, Abel! She probably did the same thing to Kaname, which would obviously offend him, he is pureblood royalty. But Zero… He is not one of them, and he doesn't want to be. He'd hardly know what to do and he would be freaked out. He was freaked out, wasn't he?"

He was definitely freaked out, Abel thought. He remembered once during training when Zero caught him in the nose with his elbow. He had jerked back at the sight of Abel's blood. There had been a weird sort of cloudiness to his eyes for a minute and Zero had been a little skittish for the rest of training. But he was more than that this time. His eyes were glowing red. For the first time since Abel had met Zero, he had actually looked like a vampire. It seemed like Yagari and Ayumi weren't the only ones that had forgotten…

"This isn't his fault. She provoked him."

"No." Abel said with a shake of his head, "No, this was different. He has seen us bleed before. He didn't react like that."

She could feel herself getting frustrated. It had seemed like Abel understood. "Because he was freaked out. Abel this is her doing. She has done it before. You can't tell Yagari."

"Why not?" he demanded, "This is the kind of thing your father told us to look out for."

"No, you can't. You can't punish him for something that she did. You said he backed off on his own. Do you think he would have been able to do that if he was even the slightest bit at risk of falling to Level E? This wasn't a regular situation and he was still able to handle himself. It's more proof that he is a hunter."

She could see his resolve slipping, "Ayumi..."

"Just don't tell, okay? I will talk to her and tell her to back off." She assured him. Then she took his hand in both of hers and squeezed it gently. "We are a team, right? We can do this for him, help him"

An image of Zero flashed in Able's mind: Zero laughing during training, a huge blue paint bomb covering a third of his face. Was that why he had let Zero go? He never felt so confused in his young life.

He sighed, "Fine."

Haruhi was awoken to the heart stopping sounds of someone screaming for dear life.

Yuuki

"Stop! NOOOOOOO!" Yuuki cried out in agony, writhing spastically in her bed, as both Haruhi and Yori descended upon her. Yori looked just as frighted and half-asleep as Haruhi did.

"His eyes! Get them away!" Yuuki pleaded desperately as both girls reached for her, trying to pull her back from the nightmare. They were getting more frequent and definitely more violent.

Haruhi had once told Zero about them, how Yuuki's cries both scared her and made her feel incredibly sad, about the cruel woman and the man with mismatched eyes that tormented the girl relentlessly. He had said it must have been a memory of the attack. One night he had even come up to sit with Yuuki until she fell asleep. It was one of the few nights she wasn't plagued by these terrors.

Now it seemed as though they would never be able to pull her from them. She was soaked in a layer of sweat and tears were escaping from where she squeezed her eyes closed.

"Yuuki," Haruhi called, her voice grave from both sleep and terror. "It's alright now, we are here. Wake up, please."

There was a knock at the door and Yori swore uncharacteristically, making Haruhi grin despite the situation.

This was also becoming a constant. Yuuki waking up the entire girls' dorm. They were mostly understanding, most students knew that Yuuki's parents had been killed in a horrible accident that only she had survived.

But that didn't stop some from being agitated.

"Yuuki wake up." Haruhi tried again as Yori went for the door. She pushed back her sweaty tangled locks.

She was finally able to reach her and Yuuki's eyes slid open fearfully. Haruhi squinted down at her, noticing an odd sheen across the other girl's light brown eyes before she blinked rapidly awake.

"Haruhi?" Yuuki croaked grabbing the hand on the side of her clammy face.

"She didn't mean to. Just go back to sleep." Yori was saying at the door.

Turning to look, Haruhi saw that she was talking to the disgruntled dorm president. Her brown hair was sticking up on one side and she glared sleepily at Yori as the small blonde physically kept her from stepping further into the room.

"I'm sorry. Sorry." Yuuki continued to croak.

The prefect attempted to sit up and swing out of bed but Haruhi noticed the shakiness of her arms and pushed back down.

"It's okay Yuuki, you didn't do it on purpose." To Yori, she said, "Will you get her a glass of water?"

Once they were alone again Haruhi asked, "Was it the man again?"

Yuuki sucked in a breath, visibly trying not cry as she nodded. "There was so much blood. And- And he wouldn't stop laughing and saying that I was all his, that he would never let me go. He killed everyone, everyone I care about." A defiant tear managed to slip from her eye before she scrubbed it away.

"I am so sorry, Yuuki." Haruhi said. She reached for her friend, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Do you want me to see if Zero is still awake?" Haruhi asked helplessly. She may be upset with him but he was Yuuki's closest friend and the only one who seemed to help in these situations.

Yuuki looked at her strangely before saying, "Zero is on a mission." When Haruhi only stared at her she added, "You didn't know. They left before sundown."

"They?" Haruhi asked, feeling something grow cold in her belly.

"Zero, Abel, and Yagari. The chairman told me during my patrol. I thought you already knew."

She tried not to let the sting of her pride show as she looked back at the girl compassionately. "Well then I will lay with you. Would that be alright?"

Yuuki's face suddenly lit up. She let out a relieved sigh as she nodded yes.

Once all three girls were settled back into the quiet darkness of the room, Haruhi let her mind drift to Zero. This was the first time since she had found out the truth that he had gone on a hunters' mission. Silently, she sent a prayer to return him safely.

It didn't happen very often. Honestly she rarely found herself worrying about it. So often she was surrounded by such vibrance and insight that she would forget that far too many of the youth of her country were just like Ayako Hinegawa. She sat disinterestedly twirling her hair and popping her gum as Haruhi walked her through the cycle of photosynthesis for a third time.

"Wait so plants make sugar? I thought they made oxygen…" Haruhi could literally see the spokes sputter as she mumbled to herself, "Does that mean the air is filled with sugar?"

The shorthaired girl sighed, "It makes both. The sugar is energy for the plant, the oxygen is a byproduct that is released."

The clouds suddenly parted from the girl's eyes and she grinned widely, "Oh right the poop. It makes one C6H12O6 molecule and six O2 molecules of poop."

Haruhi grit her teeth in a sharp smile, preparing for a wrong answer as she asked, "And what is C6H12O6?"

Ayako looked at her as if she had asked a trick question. "… Glucose?"

"Which is?"

"Sugar?"

Despite herself, Haruhi grinned, "Good."

After another thirty minutes with Ayako, in which Ayako invited Haruhi (and more importantly, Tamaki) to a party happening in the Sun Dorm's gym at midnight (Haruhi had politely declined, wondering how they had expected to get away with it), she and Ayako parted ways. It was almost dusk as she trudged up the hill to the Sun Dorms.

"Fujioka."

She paused, the hair rising on her neck. She looked around, she was standing between the Main building and the Music Hall and there was not a soul around.

Fujioka~!" The voice sang teasingly. This time she could tell it was coming from the Music Hall. Cautiously she walked toward the building.

"Fujioka!" A voice fairly shrieked above her head.

A light shone from a third story window and the figure of a girl leaned out to wave enthusiastically at her. It was Ayumi, even from here Haruhi could make out her pretty curls blowing around her face. She grinned down to the girl before calling, "Come up here, I want to show you something!"

Haruhi hesitated, "But… It's almost change over…" Her voice was reedy and small as she tried to whisper and yell up to Ayumi at the same time.

The other girl laughed, "C'mon Haruhi. It will only take a minute." Then she disappeared in the window, leaving no room for arguments.

Haruhi found her at the end on the third story hallway next to a door marked, "Emergency Exit Only" underneath that was a smaller warning that said that if this door was opened, an alarm would sound.

Haruhi tensed up, noting the wickedly bright hue of Ayumi's green eyes. From the moment she had opened the door to the building, she had felt like she was making a terrible decision, that feeling only seemed to grow with each minute.

Ayumi put a finger to her lips and then turned to the door. She placed her fingers on the inside of the door's lever and clicked something tiny with her fingernail. The door gave two small beeps before swinging in and revealing a poorly lit stairwell.

"Ayumi-san, I don't think we should be-"

"Relax," Ayumi interrupted, then she added, a hidden dare in her voice, "Besides, it's not as if you aren't aware of the Academy's secrets."

She clutched Haruhi's hand tightly, before turning and descending the stairwell. They went down two flights of stairs, passing the second and first floors. There were no doors on the landings, just solid brick walls with cleanly stenciled floor numbers. Haruhi wondered if there were doors originally that had been sealed to hide the stair well. When they got to the first floor landing, Ayumi turned to descend another flight of stairs, clearly heading toward a basement level. This time the landing had two doors: one that had to lead outside based on the position and another that was being guarded by an anachronously high-tech key code machine, which Ayumi easily put in the code for. When the door opened, Ayumi turned back to Haruhi to see if the girl would protest again. But Haruhi's curiosity had been peaked, and she allowed Ayumi to lead her into an even darker hallway and a narrow room. She flicked on the lights and Haruhi blinked painfully, looking around at what was clearly a gun range underneath the music hall.

To the right of them, the room extended like a corridor, there were paper silhouettes hanging at the end, just like you would see in a crime drama. To the left was a wall of shiny, scary looking guns, crossbows, axes, and tiny, gleaming knives.

"This is where we practice our aim." Ayumi waved dismissively to the right and left, "You will find that Chairman Cross has many of these hidden training rooms throughout the school."

"Ayumi, I really don't think this is okay for me to be here." Haruhi responded, wide eyes taking in the deadly room. She wondered what other rooms would be needed for vampire hunters. Did they fight hand to hand with vampires? Even ones like Kaname who could move things with their minds? Suddenly the idea of being a vampire hunter seemed too daunting a task for anyone, let alone someone standing in 6-inch designer heels and a miniskirt.

Ayumi was currently grabbing a box from one of the shelves, "Come on Haruhi, you are friends with genuine monster hunters, aren't you even the least bit curious how we do it?"

Haruhi's mind snagged on the word "monster." Aido and Kain, Takuma and Shiki, Rima and Ruka, Kaname and Zero. Were these the monsters that Ayumi had meant when she said those words? Were they whom she pictured when she looked down at those silhouette? Aido and Kain, the cousins who had already been sucked into so many of the host club's schemes and antics, they were becoming inseparable forces. Takuma and Shiki, both kind and quiet. Rima and Ruka two very different types of unapproachable cool girls. Kaname, a prince among boys, who had used his pureblood gifts to save her and Yuuki and even Zero. Zero, his silver locks blowing in the wind as he smiled brightly at her, showing her how to string a fish. These were the monsters. She hated that word.

Ayumi presented her with the box that she had grabbed. "Take a look." She opened it and took out a small metal bullet and placed it in Haruhi's hand. "This is a regular bullet."

She had said it so nonchalantly but Haruhi stared at it with an ever growing lump in her throat. Many people had died with this "regular bullet." She had never seen one in person. She carefully tried to hand it back to Ayumi but she wouldn't take it. She was already digging in the box for something else.

"And this," she said holding up another bullet. This one was more of a silvery color with intricate etchings running along its base. "This is a hunter's bullet." She placed it in Haruhi's hand as well and she could instantly feel the difference. The hunter's bullet was ice cold. It almost hurt where it touched her skin. It was also bigger than the other one, sharper even.

"Do feel that?" Ayumi asked. Haruhi only nodded. "That's not the only difference. Have you ever shot a gun before, Haruhi?"

Haruhi's eyes were saucers as she looked back up at Ayumi. She pushed the bullets back into Ayumi's hands and shook her head. "I don't want-"

Ayumi pushed her hands aside and grabbed onto her shoulders. "Hey calm down. It's not a big deal. I will show you." When Haruhi continued to refuse, Ayumi's sultry voice grew more harsh. "You can't be so irresponsible. You know about this world, you have made yourself a part of it. Only a selfish fool wouldn't learn to protect themselves."

Haruhi looked at her incredulously. "Ayumi, I can't. I can't do it."

Her fingers were starting to push hard in Haruhi's skin. "Look around you, look at this room! Don't you get it? The academy is a dream world! This is the truth about vampires and humans. The more you try to pretend that they won't ever hurt you, that they are just like you, the more you put Zero and Ichiru at risk. It's not their job to protect you."

"I never said that it was." Haruhi shot back, feeling herself get upset at the idea that she put them in danger.

Ayumi dropped her hands, smiling approvingly at the other girl. "Good. Now let me show you how to protect yourself."

She picked up a pistol from the table situated in front of the corridor. Turning back to Haruhi, she called the girl closer extending the gun to her, handle first. Haruhi could feel her heart thumping in her throat as she slowly reached out and took it. It was heavier than she expected, the handle cold and rigid. Ayumi told her where to place her fingers when she wasn't ready to shoot, where the safety was, and how to sight up. She told her to always put the safety on and hand it off handle first, just as she had done. Haruhi listened carefully, trying to keep her breathing even as Ayumi placed a large pair of headphones over her ears and then her own.

"Now you are going to want to put your other hand here to give you strength and keep you steady, extend your arms, good." Ayumi coached as she moved her into position. Haruhi stared down the long corridor to the black silhouette hanging in the distance. The lump in her throat was threatening to choke her. Ayumi came to stand directly behind her, her head just above her shoulder. Haruhi was engulfed in her flowery perfume and the feel of her long hair at the back of her neck.

"Now look down the sight, you want to line up the bars, where ever they are pointing, that is where you will shoot. When you are ready, you will take your finger and very gently, squeeze the trigger back." Here she paused, turning her head to look sideways at the girl. "The gun will jump in your hands, but only a little, just keep them out straight and don't let go of it."

Haruhi's eyes shifted toward Ayumi. Her lips parted and Ayumi must have known she was about to say she couldn't do it, because she shook her head and looked back toward the silhouette. "You can do it. Steady breaths, in… out… in… steady and out."

On out, Haruhi did as she was told, carefully pulling the trigger back. Even though she felt like she was going slow, the gun reacted so fast. It jumped in her hand, feeling hot and scary as it rang out a loud BANG! She blinked, and blinked again.

"Look!" Ayumi suddenly exclaimed. "You hit it in the shoulder. Not bad!"

"I did?" Haruhi peered down the way again, squinting carefully. Sure enough, there was a small hole punched right through the black paper shoulder.

"Ready to try again?" Ayumi asked, even though she was already pushing her back into position.

"No." Haruhi mumbled. But actually she kind of did. It was scary, but also it felt powerful and capable.

"Alright now nothing to it. Just exhale… and squeeze." This time the bullet hit high in the chest. Ayumi clapped before carefully taking the gun from her, putting the safety back on before setting it down.

"Alright now let's try a hunter round." She quirked an eyebrow challengingly at Haruhi and Haruhi reluctantly nodded.

This time she picked up a larger pistol. It, like the hunter's bullet seemed more elegant than the first gun. It had similar intricate etchings and a shiny finish. She did not immediately hand it to Haruhi, instead she clicked the safety off, aimed down the way and fired the gun in one fluid motion. The air around the shot seemed to warp and Haruhi felt like she had seen a flash of light before the bullet exploded down the corridor. After it hit there was an afterglow of amber light.

"Wow." Haruhi exhaled softly, watching the way everything seemed to struggle to go back to normal.

"Cool right?" Ayumi said, grinning confidently. The silhouette had been punched out directly in the middle of the head. "Your turn."

This time Haruhi felt more confident as she took the gun, just like the bullet it was as cold as ice but she tried to ignore it. As she lined up the shot. Ayumi did not stand beside her, choosing instead to lean against the table and watch Haruhi from afar.

Inhale, Exhale.

But this time was very, very different.

Everything burned.

She wasn't sure where the pain had started, only that it was instant and everywhere. Her hands burned where they gripped the gun, her lungs burned from lack of air, her teeth seemed to throb along with the horrible knocking in her skull. Her heart was a melting ball of fire, destroying her from within. She felt like she was going to die, like she was dying right now. She screamed and choked at the same time, falling to the ground in utter agony. The gun slipped from her right hand, pulling at charred skin.

"Did you feel that?" A voice asked from above her. It crackled and fizzed in her tender ears.

"What… hap-end?" Haruhi tried to force out of her bruised throat. She tried to look at Ayumi but everything hurt, she was going to be sick. "Wha's wrong w- me?" She could feel the tears escaping but she tried to hold it in, afraid of the pain heaving would cause.

"What's wrong with you?" Ayumi repeated. "Well nothing really. You are just not enough, I guess." Ayumi crouched down and leaned close, titling Haruhi's face toward her.

Haruhi stifled a sob at the electric feel of her hand but her vision was starting to clear a little and she could make out the sneer on Ayumi's face. "That gun is the only way to protect yourself from a vampire, and look at what it did to you. That was just a standard issue hunter weapon, imagine what would happen if you had something more powerful, say the Bloody Rose for example." Ayumi's eyes got big with fake concern.

She stood and walked toward the door. "I hope you understand now. You aren't supposed to know anything about vampires, you aren't supposed to be here. You can't defend yourself, you are no match for a vampire. All you are is a liability, so if you care at all about Zero or Ichiru, or even your own life, stay the hell away from us."

With that she left, leaving Haruhi alone on the floor. This time she did cry, she couldn't help it. And it hurt everywhere, especially her heart.

"Coupled with impressive strength and agility, the constant need of blood satiation causes an unequal power dynamic in the relationships of vampires and humans. This influx of power strongly suggests that vampires should not find mates with humans." Haruhi sighed as she leaned farther over the book. So no, no she and Zero should not be together. Yet another confirmation of their doomed relationship.

Haruhi had been in the library for hours. At first it had been purposeful, even productive. She was supposed to be researching the First Indochina War for a history assignment, but the train of thought left the station hours ago. Instead she had wondered onto the third floor of the library in a restricted section. Initially, she hadn't realized it was restricted, it was not as though it had a locked gate or red line on the floor. She was simply following a trail of books on French war tactic and development and found the break in the bookcase natural enough as her eyes tracked from one book on mechanical engineering and weaponry to another book on the theories of genetic modifications leading to greater duel successes. It was with a jolt that the book beside it was about the varying strengths associated with the vampiric caste system, causing her to pop up and look around.

She found herself in an alcove area hidden back in the library. It was a trove of books about vampire society and the only warning was the big red sign hanging above her head. She had spent countless hours in the library and knew that neither the librarian nor the aides really bothered to check the upper floors. Most of the students stayed on the ground floor where the computers were. The temptation to peruse was just too great to turn away from this discovery.

It was an hour and a half later before anyone came by, by then she was seated at a small table with a mountain of books beside her, reading about her doomed relationship.

"Light reading?" A curious voice asked.

Haruhi jerked up, heart in her throat as her wide eyes met familiar violet ones.

He smiled conspiratorially, glancing behind him before saying, "It's been a long time Fujioka-senpai."

It was the young Night Class student from before. The one Zero had given a hard time. She realized now that he wasn't just a new student, but a new noble vampire.

It wasn't like she was terrified of the Night Class now that she knew the truth but that didn't mean she wasn't aware of the need to be a little cautious in the seclusion of the library with the young vampire.

"The library isn't open to the Night Class until six. What are you doing in here?"

Maru put his hands up in surrender, giving her a sardonic look. You would think that someone with half their head shaved and the rest punkishly disheveled would have a hard time looking so innocent, Maru was a puppy.

"I know, I know. Your prefect informed me." Again there was that companionable smile, "Although I could ask you the same question."

Haruhi frowned, "What?"

"What are you doing in here?" He pointed to a sign above their heads. "Restricted Area: Faculty Only." He read.

Haruhi bit her lip, fighting a grin as she relented, "It's good to see you again, old friend."

The boy laughed as he moved around the bookshelves. "And you too, old friend." His voice was somehow both child-like and mature. She noticed this quality in some of the other vampires too. She wondered if maybe that was a part of being a vampire, feeling old and young all at the same time.

She watched him closely, noting the way he had looked down at her carefully bandaged hand. Her face heated up as she resisted the urge to put her hand under the table. It was an embarrassing reminder of her ineptitude, something that burned independent and capable, Haruhi Fujioka, right down to her soul. She had told the others she burned it helping Ayako with a home-ec project. It was believable enough, Science was not the only thing Ayako could go space cadet on. She had been worried about Tamaki's reaction but he seemed to take it in stride, grinning widely as he told her he would make sure Ayako was more careful next time.

Honestly, what had really surprised her was the way Aido had reacted. He was the one who had grabbed her wrist and unceremoniously ripped off the band aid, staring at it for so long with an uncanny serious look on his face. He grit his teeth and acted as if he were about to scold her, but instead carefully wrapped it back and told her to clean it thoroughly.

They had walked away with Tamaki scolding him but Haruhi couldn't be bothered to care. Her mind stuck on the knowing look Aido had given her and the gentle way he had swept his thumb over the band aid. It made her feel even more feeble and pathetic. Even Aido had felt sorry for her.

She cleared her throat forcing Maru's eye back up to hers. To her relief she did not see pity. Instead the boy grinned wildly and leaned over the table toward her.

"Do you believe in vampires, Fujioka-chan?" Maru asked, his eyes briefly flicking to the books on the table.

Haruhi hesitated for only a moment. "It's not as if I can say no, there are so many things in this world we don't know about." She smiled sweetly, watching the grin grow on his face.

Maru was different from the other nobles, not just because he and his cousin were younger than the ones she knew. It was something else, he didn't look at her in the imperial way that Ruka did, or the gentle way that Takuma did, like she was a tiny bird he was trying not to frighten. Maru looked at Haruhi the way Aido looked at Kain, like they were equal, like he trusted her.

The boy nodded to himself before looking back at her. His head cocked to one side. "So what is it you want to know about vampires?" It was that simple. Neither of them needed to acknowledge it past that point. Haruhi knew, and Maru knew.

He walked over to the table she was sitting at, hopping up beside her and looking down at the book. He barely read one sentence before he blushed, "Oh, vampire puberty."

It was adorably charming the way he immediately looked away from both her and the book. He practically vaulted from the table. Haruhi couldn't help laughing at him, making the young noble keep his tight-lipped, red face away from view.

"Well you gotta know the basics too." She grinned. Maru put his hand up as if trying to hold back her words.

"Well, you just keep that stuff to yourself."

She grinned to herself. She had never had an issue talking about the physical changes men and women went through in their lives but she knew from countless experiences with Tamaki that others were supremely uncomfortable with this topic of conversation.

Maru was making another round over the books. This time, however, his steps were purposeful. "That is definitely one way to learn about vampires," Under his breath he added, "In the most clinical and blunt way possible." He paused, looking up at the shelf just above his head and reaching for a book with a deep purple spine. "Personally though, I have found that this one makes it easier to understand those kinds of emotions…" He paused, looking down at the book. He smiled almost to himself. It made Haruhi want to smother him with hugs and affection. He shrugged, "She just really gets what it feels like."

He handed it to Haruhi. "The Memoirs of Adelaide Dagney." Haruhi read, looking up at the boy.

Maru nodded, a lock of his long brown hair falling into his face. "She was a human who captured the heart of a pureblood vampire almost a millennia ago."

When Haruhi's brow shot up in surprise, the boy chuckled and shook his head. "What? Did you think you were the first one?"

"No!" She said defensively. "It's just…"

"How did she manage to catch the eye of a pureblood vampire?" He asked for her.

Something in his eyes suggested he might know, but instead he said. "Love is a funny sort of phenomenon. It changes things."

"Anyway, the pureblood's name was Felix Valderon. When he first took an interest in Adelaide, the other vampires just assumed he intended to turn her into his little pet. But they didn't know him like she did." Haruhi watched him as he walked around the room. His pale eyes seemed bright and his steps lighter as he told the story as though it were his most cherished tale. "When the other vampires realized that he had no intention of biting her, of turning her, they started to worry." His brow knit together as he spoke, "How could he keep her, she would be alive for such a dismal fraction of his life, why wouldn't he bite her?" He looked at Haruhi.

She hunched her shoulders together, brow knitting in the same fashion. "Because he was afraid of what would happen, if he made her a vampire."

Maru smiled at her, like a proud teacher. "He was. He was worried that she would become subservient, that he would only be her master. But even more than that, he didn't want the others to see her that way, as an ex-human."

"But she was still only human." Haruhi knew very well what the aristocrats thought of humans.

"Yes, but humans are outside the reach of vampire society."

"Which means she was always an outsider."

When she felt Maru's eyes on her, she lowered her head, hiding her face behind her hair. Her hand rested on the book. Suddenly, she felt incredibly close to this Adelaide Dagney. Like her, Haruhi would never be accepted by the vampires, but the one she felt exceptionally excluded from, were the hunters.

"Not to her children." Maru said quietly, when Haruhi looked up he gave her a gentle smile, "She was not an outsider to them."

"She had children?"

He nodded, "She did. Half of the noble vampire population owes their very existence to Adelaide Dagney."

Something clicked in Haruhi's mind, "Is Adelaide your ancestor?"

Maru shrugged. "Not surprisingly, the vampire society wasn't too worried about keeping up with human ancestral connections. Adelaide even talks about how she thought of concealing her children's parentage to give them a stronger standing in vampiric society. It's only the pureblood side of the ancestry that anyone pays attention to."

"It would be an honor though," He added, "She has always been a hero of my mother's. And mine."

"Well, maybe she will become one of mine."

"What are you doing over here?" Haruhi could not contain the utter shock of having just saw Aido Hanabusa vault over the side of the dorm wall. She almost let go of the book in her hands.

Aido lost the serious look on his face for a moment, smiling his confident Day Class girl smile, his hands placed neatly in his pockets as he strolled over to her. When he got up to her it faltered.

"I need to speak with you," He glanced around the courtyard and added quietly, "in private."

Being that hidey-holes and secret passages were her specialty, Haruhi easily maneuvered them into a back study hall off the side of the building.

"So what's this about?" She asked watching him pace the perimeter of the room for a minute. He stopped and came to stand in front of her. Aido was smaller than most nobles but when he stood in front of her like this she remembered that he was still quite tall. "Can I get a better look at your hand?" It was a simple question but Haruhi instinctively jerked her hand back.

"I know how you got it." Aido said after a moment. "I bet I even know why."

"Why?" She spun away from him angrily, dropping into the chair by the study table.

Aido took this moment to take her hand, carefully removing the bandage and exposing her wounded palm. "To prove a point."

Haruhi sagged further in the chair, watching Aido turn her hand in the light. "What point?"

"The one that all people try to prove when they are scared. That you don't belong. Did she tell you why this happened?"

"She?"

Aido's brow rose challengingly and Haruhi relented, "She said it reacts that way to anyone who is not a hunter. I don't have the power to wield a hunter weapon and I will never be able to protect myself in their world."

"She lied." Aido voice was crisp as he looked up at her. Haruhi's eyes averted to the the edge of desk, fearing he would see how hopeful she was and make fun of her. Serious-Aido was still a bit a mystery, she wasn't sure how quickly he would slide back into the person she knew as Aido.

"Hunter weapons borrow power, or take energy from the person trying to use them. The more power they take the more powerful the weapon. The one you used was probably just a standard issue hunter weapon. Something like the Bloody Rose…" He trailed off. "The energy transfer must be immense."

"Enough to kill me." Haruhi said, somewhat macabre.

Aido frowned, "I think you're missing the point."

"The point is the same one Ayumi made. 'I don't have the power to wield it and I will never be able to protect myself in their world.' In your world."

"No." He huffed, rolling his eyes and looking more like the Aido she knew, "I thought you were supposed to be gifted or something."

"Thanks." She said witheringly, "What is the point you are trying to make?"

"Its just energy. There is no natural selection or prestige. The weapons only care about energy. They are crafted and manipulated by hunters to make it seem exclusionary, but it's not. Here." He took something from his pocket and held his clasped fist to her. Haruhi hesitated for a moment, causing him to frown. She opened her good hand and allowed him to place something small and cold into her hand. Looking down she found a thin silver chain coiled in her palm. In the center of the chain sat a silver, circular pendant engraved with a tiny bouquet of flowers. Tilting it in the light, she could see the intricate spiraling detail of each flower blooming. It was impossibly beautiful, but Haruhi had a strange feeling growing in the pit of her stomach. Even though it was in Aido's pocket it was icy in her hand, as if he had taken it from a freezer instead.

"What is this?"

Aido grinned, almost bouncing around her. "It's a protection necklace. When worn, it will protect against an attack from a vampire by sending out a powerful electric shock, strong enough to stop even the heart of a pureblood."

The feeling in her stomach grew into dread.

"Why do you have it?" Haruhi exclaimed in shock. She held it away from her. How could he have held it without having a reaction? Ayumi had said vampires couldn't even touch hunter weapons.

Aido lost a bit of his bounce, "It's a family heirloom… sort of."

"Why does your family have a hunter weapon as an heirloom?"

"Because it isn't a hunter weapon. It was created by a very powerful and very old pureblood vampire for his human beloved."

Haruhi felt something click in her mind. "Felix Valderon?"

Aido tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at her, "How do you know that name?"

Haruhi paused for a brief moment, trying to figure out the best way to explain this knowledge. Aido and the others in Kaname's inner circle could be fairly lenient towards the rules separating humans and vampires. But that leniency never seemed to travel to the rest of the vampires in the school. She doubted he would take it well that Maru had showed her this book. "I might have accidentally wondered into a restricted part of the library." This was actually true.

"It has a big red sign." The noble responded incredulously, "There is even a mark in the carpet."

"I didn't notice it." Also true, not until she was already on the other side.

Aido was still staring at her. She realized then she could have just said Kaname gave it to her, or Ichiru. Both were believable and Aido wouldn't question either options for completely different reasons. Instead she said, "I was surprised that vampires would even care about that story, considering it's about a random human."

"They don't." The noble said easily enough, but the way he trained his focus back on her palm suggested it hadn't been. "It's required reading at Cross Academy. That's how I found out about Felix and the necklace. Adelaide describes it very clearly, I remembered it immediately from the family vault." He pulled a cream from his other pocket, grabbed her injured hand again and squeezed a bit into her palm. Haruhi jerked slightly from the cool feeling of it. "She was right about the secrecy, even my father was unaware of our Valderon connection."

"But I thought pureblood was celebrated."

Aido shrugged, "It is, but it's a different Pureblood. Apparently one of Felix's daughters married another pureblood named Ai Keita and essentially buried the Valderon name, only her mother's necklace remained. Felix had it made to protect Adelaide from the unwanted bite of any vampire, even himself should he ever be tempted to keep her longer."

Haruhi helped Aido re-secure her bandage, mutely taking the cream as he passed it to her. "What ended up happening to him? The story sort of stops after her kids grow up."

Aido leveled a look on her as if trying to asses her reaction to the truth. Finally he sighed and said, "Well like most purebloods who lose their mates, Felix eventually went crazy and fell into a deep depression. He tried to hold out for their children, just like he had promised Adelaide he would but eventually his grief consumed him and he killed himself." The noble pointed to the necklace gravely, "He swallowed the necklace and then proceeded to drain all the blood from his body. Eventually he turned to dust and only the necklace remained."

Haruhi looked down at the necklace feeling the weight of it like a weight on her own heart. "That is so sad."

Aido let the comment die in silence before finally saying, "Do you feel how cold the necklace feels in your hand?"

She nodded.

"That's the energy transfer, it's pulling slowly from you, it doesn't need much. It was forged in Felix's blood and soul, designed to react to vampiric chemistry. In fact, many believe it is where the pureblood that birthed the hunters got the idea."

"How were you able to touch it?" She asked remembering her confusion from before.

"It reacts negatively only if the wearer does not give consent. Like I said before, he gave it to her for protection from an unwanted vampire bite. I can already feel it charging up in your hand."

"Should I put it down?" Haruhi asked cautiously. She was afraid of accidentally hurting Aido but embarrassingly enough, more frightened of getting burned again.

"No, you should put it on."

Their eyes met and Haruhi knew that Aido was well aware of her fear. "Haruhi? Do you really think he would design something for his beloved that would hurt her?"

"Maybe not on purpose." Haruhi said honestly.

Aido huffed and went to reach for the necklace, possibly to forcibly put it around her neck. Haruhi jerked back, half a second from yelling at the noble when a weird zzat sounded off and Aido yelped and jumped back from her. He clutched his right hand protectively against him.

"Ouch!" he cried accusingly. "I was just trying to prove it wasn't going to hurt you. You didn't have to shock me like that."

"But I-" Haruhi began, shaking her head.

"Look," Aido interrupted, pointing his chin at the necklace, he was still cradling his right hand in front of him.

Haruhi looked down to find the metal of the necklace glowing slightly. It felt a little colder than it had before but it was so subtle she hadn't even noticed till now.

Aido groaned, hopping from foot to foot in an expression of pain. "See I told you. You didn't even notice what you did." He held out his hand to show off what had been done. Running up the outside of his index finger, across the back of his hand all the way down to the edges of his wrist, were wicked tendrils of red, swollen skin. It reminded Haruhi of the jellyfish sting her father had gotten one afternoon on the beach.

She inhaled sharply, "That looks horrible!"

"Yeah well I'm lucky that's all it is." Aido replied, examining the skin of his index finger.

She could almost see the ghost of electricity warp through the wound making the noble grimace. This is what an anti-vampire weapon could do to a vampire.

"Aido-san… I don't know if I can wear something like this. What if I hurt someone?"

The noble scoffed, "Then they deserved it."

"Did you deserve it?" She shot back.

"You were scared, it could feel that." His eyes seem to search the air as he tried to come up with a way to explain this to her. "Remember that this metal is bound to Felix's very soul. It has its own conscious thoughts. It wanted you to know it was safe for you, that it would protect you. The more it gets to know you, and understand you, the safer it is for everyone." He stared at her for a moment as if trying to asses her comprehension, "You have to trust the metal for it to work at its best potential."

Taking a deep breath, he slowly reached his hand down. Gently, his injured finger touched the jewel. It was as innocuous as any necklace, the metal slightly shifting in her hand to accommodate the weight of his touch. Together they both exhaled excitedly, looking up at each other with innocent enthusiasm.

Haruhi felt a fond tug in her heart as she looked at the noble. This was the Aido that could be called a genius, the one who found the way the world worked so incredibly exciting. If the girls knew this Aido they would throw rocks at the other one.

He schooled his features, running a hand through his hair as if to say, he knew all along it would work like that. Then he added, "It will only shock vampires though, you will need a different plan for humans"

At that Haruhi scoffed, making Aido chuckle.

"Thank you, Hanabusa-san."

There was a slight flush to his face as he nodded. "Just remember to keep your chin up. Don't let those stupid hunters boss you around."

"I feel sorry for them. Those whose minds are so heavily crafted in the ways of society. Will they ever know a love that I do? One strong enough to defy all imagination and laws that bind the weak. I will not apologize for what I have found, instead I will choose to live happily."

The next time Haruhi crossed paths with Ayumi it was by her own design.

She had gotten up very early, dressed and walked resolutely to the gates of the academy. She didn't have to wait long to see Ayumi. There was a brief battle within her as she decided whether or not to start walking down to meet or just to wait at the top, watching her ascend. Her inner problem-solver wanted to meet her half way but she knew it was a power play to wait and make Ayumi come to her. She also knew she would need all the power she could get in this situation.

Under her shirt, the pendant seemed to hum against her sternum. The more she wore it, the more she could feel the connection between herself and the magic that bound the pendant. She was slowly starting to understand what Aido had meant about the necklace learning and

growing from her. This feeling, she perceived, was a warm nudge of encouragement.

"Haruhi," Ayumi greeted, clearly put out by having to climb all the way up to her, "You came to walk me to the cafeteria? You shouldn't have. I am becoming quite familiar with Cross Academy."

"That's good," Haruhi said cheerily, "because that is not why I am here."

Standing side by side now, Haruhi had to look up to meet the eyes of the high-heeled hunter. Ayumi crossed her arms over her chest, her lips quirking up slightly, as she assessed the other girl.

It was clear that she was not intimidated but that wasn't really how Haruhi asserted herself. Intimidation and manipulation didn't appeal to someone like Haruhi. She believed in a fair and logical reason for why things were they way they were. This was how she intended to approach Ayumi.

Taking a deep breath, she said. "Look, I know there are a lot of things about your world that I don't understand. And that you think that I am a liability, and maybe I am. I will never be a hunter and I will never be able to connect with Zero in the same way that you can. I understand that." The wind picked up and blew her short locks in her face. She pushed them back with a great sigh, catching sight of her bandaged hand. "I even understand that you think that I am being foolish in choosing to stay close to him because I was ignorant to the dangers of your world. That's what you were trying to teach me right?"

Ayumi glanced down at the bandage. It was honestly the first time she acknowledged it, choosing to completely ignore any comments made about it during breakfast each morning. Haruhi had wondered if she had regretted doing it, but judging by the way she was now rolling her eyes, maybe she just thought Haruhi was a wuss. What was your life when giving someone a third degree burn to prove a point was the equivalent of smacking the back of a child's hand.

"It doesn't matter what you say or do to me. I just wanted to tell you that you can try to scare me away, it won't change my mind."

There was a long pause before either of them spoke, Ayumi's jaw still working tightly, her mouth clenched. She leaned toward Haruhi, as if she were about to say something and then threw her head back and scoffed. "You know what, it doesn't matter. How you feel right now, how you think he feels right now, none of it matters. Zero's destiny lies far beyond this school yard romance. I don't want him to miss out because of something so silly."

Haruhi chewed on that for a minute. "School yard romance," she repeated, missing the way Ayumi practically beamed at the barb, as she caught her fist in her hand, "And yet, it seems to really bother you. Why?"

Ayumi's face flushed red and she took step toward Haruhi, "How dare y-"

She wouldn't know what Ayumi was going to say, the thought interrupted by a husky voice calling from the middle of the stairway.

"Ayumi?" Abel called with clear confusion.

It must have been a sight to see she and Ayumi at a standoff. He met Haruhi's eyes for the briefest of moments before pretending as she was not standing there.

Haruhi turned to see that Abel was not alone by a long shot. Flanked by a tall, athletic girl with red hair, her smile somehow charming and frightening as her eyes alighted on Ayumi, and by the one and only Zero Kiryuu.

"Hey Ay-chan," The other girl greeted, her voice was buttery and lovely. Her vibrant hair was carefully placed in a braid down her back. It all made her seem so incredibly accomplished and Haruhi couldn't help but immediately like her. Of course, she completely ignored the non-hunter. "Don't you look cute. You comin' to breakfast with us?"

Ayumi pulled on her collar uncomfortably before clearing her throat. "Oh, thank you. I- I would love to come to."

Abel shook his head and shoved his hat on his head, covering those dark eyes. All that was visible was his evil grin. "Leave her alone, Nanba-san." He threw his arm around the red-head, "Zero catch you later. I know you have chores to do here on the farm."

Zero scoffed at the way both Nanba and Abel found this very amusing. When he rolled his eyes, she caught the way he glanced at her. A brief hint of his concern clear only to her. Why was she here? Why was she here with Ayumi? What was that bandaid on her hand?

She put her hand behind her back as Abel passed with the other girl, swooping an arm around Ayumi and forcibly dragging her away with him. The trio stumbled away without ever acknowledging her existence. Somehow it was worse than the vehement ways both Abel and Ayumi told her she didn't belong with them.

It was only she and Zero now. The necklace turned to ice on her skin, she mentally told it to calm down.

"We need to talk."