Aphelion

Author's Notes:

This story takes place in a canon setting of both Vampire Knight and Sailor Moon with some key differences described below. One of the biggest temporal differences is that Vampire Knight seems to be set in a post apocalyptic era and this story it is actually in present time alongside Sailor Moon: just in a remote town in a different country (I've never caught *where* exactly VK is supposed to take place).

Sailor Moon timeline: This story takes place sometime after Galaxia's defeat. As it was Queen Selenity's wish all along, all memories of being a Sailor Soldier were wiped from Usagi and the others' minds so that they could live their lives as normal people because there was no longer a threat that warranted their fighting skills (at least until up to the point where the world fell asleep and Crystal Tokyo came to be with Usagi and Mamoru as its Queen and King). But without the memories of their past love, Mamoru and Usagi mutually broke off their engagement, confused as to why they fell in love in the first place.

Vampire Knight timeline: Set sometime after Kaname has left on his mission to destroy the pure-bloods, unlike canon he takes only Seiren and Ruka as followers with him, leaving Akatsuki in the dark and upset as to why Ruka had left without informing him. Yuuki has reestablished the night class as its president and Zero acts as both a student in the day class, the school's sole prefect, and a vampire hunter when he's called to do so.

...First Night...

+Out of This World+

All characters belong to their respective owners.

+Usagi+

"Hey! Wait! Don't-" but the blonde's protest was masked by a screech of wheels. Usagi let out an exasperated sigh and attempted to wipe the muddy water from her uniform. Thank goodness it was black. Heaving her large trunk onto its wheels, she dragged it from the street toward a Victorian style building that was many stories high. Pausing at the short stairs to its entrance she looked upon it forlornly. This would be her new school, her new home for the next and final year of studies before – hopefully – being admitted to and attending a respectable university.

Usagi hadn't been the best student throughout her teens, so much so that even her marked improvements midway through her junior year couldn't salvage her abysmal grades. Even if she managed to get straight A's for the entirety of her senior year she wouldn't stand a chance at being a competitive candidate for a reputable school. In order to stand out in the thousands of applications she'd have to do something different. And that was how her parents had concocted their idea.

Students trained in private boarding schools had an advantage over the public ones when it came to university admissions. Such schools were often reserved for the children of powerful and affluent families. So it would be an understatement to say that her parents were surprised to hear about Cross Academy, a boarding school with a reputation for high academic performance at an extremely affordable cost: free to any student who had no record of violence and could find their own way to the school's compound in a remote area of England. England. A country impossibly far away from the family and friends she loved so dearly.

"Well hello there!" A beaming voice erupted from the door that swung open wide. "You must be Usagi Tsukino!" The owner of the voice was a spectacled man with blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. Grinning from ear to ear, he was peculiarly dressed a lot older than he appeared.

"Oh! Excuse me. Do you speak English?" He asked with a nervous laugh. "Konnichiwa, Tsukino-kun!"

"Uh," the new student spoke up, nervously rubbing the back of her head. "I speak English, sir!"

Thank god. She thought to herself.

"Oh, goody!" He replied with a hop in his step. "There's no need to be so formal m'dear, I'm not a knight after all! My name is Kaien Cross," he said with a theatrical bow. "And I am very pleased to have you, the first ever Japanese exchange student, attend my academy!" Usagi's stunned response went unnoticed when the school's headmaster knit his eyebrows together upon examining the huge trunk sitting behind her. "What sort of chauffer lets a young lady take her trunk to the door all alone?"

A cheap one. Usagi thought bitterly. Cross Academy's tuition may have been free but her parents had scrounged together every last yen to actually transport her here, making the long journey a hardly pleasant one.

"It's no matter!" Cross exclaimed cheerily, "That's what strapping and youthful sons are for, oh Zero!" He called within the building. A few moments later another figure appeared in the doorway.

"What is it old man?" A masculine voice grumbled.

"Would you be a dear and help Miss Tsukino here with her trunk?" Answering with a snort, Usagi watched a tall boy in his late teens travel down the stairs.

Sporting shaggy and silvery hair he was dressed in the male version of the uniform she had been given to wear. As he approached, his light colored yet intense eyes seemed to look through her rather than at her. When he reached down for her trunk a feeling that made her skin crawl washed over her and he paused. Snapping his eyes to the much shorter girl, Usagi saw a flash of something foreign. For a split second, she could have sworn his eyes had shone frighteningly red. But before she could decide if it was just her tired eyes playing tricks on her, he had easily lifted her heavy trunk on his shoulder and marched back through the doorway. The pigtailed blonde followed quietly behind.

"Normally you would have a roommate in the girls' dormitory, but we don't have any available at the moment." Cross explained as he led her into a room that was empty besides a modest bed, desk, dresser and closet. The one known as Zero promptly dropped the trunk and exited without any audible excuse.

"But the good news is that you'll have your own bathroom, at least for the time being!" He gestured toward a separate door within the hall. Usagi nodded quickly, her eyes stuck to the empty doorway where the strange boy had stormed out of.

"Have no worries," Cross caught her attention. "Zero is the prefect at our school, so he usually is pretty gruff with everyone. Otherwise, people might accuse him of playing favorites!"

"Just one prefect? For all the students?" The blonde blinked.

"It's a very serious job," The headmaster continued. "A difficult one, I could only ask of him, I'm afraid. There used to be-" he suddenly caught his speech and smiled. "Get some rest, everything you need to know will be explained to you tomorrow! You know," Usagi caught a glimpse of his warm eyes from behind his glasses. "You remind me of my adorable daughter." He mused, holding a flat hand just above her head in gesture to her shortness.

"Does she attend the Academy as well?" She asked him genuinely and frowned when his face fell.

"It's, uh, very late. Good evening, Miss Tsukino." Cross bid her goodnight and quickly scurried out the door shutting it behind him.

When he left, she engaged the door's deadbolt and moved to start unpacking her things. After making the bed and putting away her clothes, she lingered on the few trinkets left in the trunk. Glossing the edge of her fingers against the cheap metal frame, she smiled at the faces of her dearest friends. Sure she would miss her family, but she had a feeling she'd feel the impact of not having her best friends around more than anything.

Naru, Rei, Minako, Lita, and Ami: if it weren't for them she'd have never gotten her grades up, and perhaps more importantly wouldn't have a social life to speak of at all. Studying their smiling faces as they crowded around her in the photograph, she sighed upon her attention falling on Mamoru: her tall, dark and handsome former fiancé. Their breakup had been mutual. Though they both once had been madly in love it had faded for some reason, to the point where she couldn't remember why she had ever fallen for him in the first place. He had admitted to feeling similarly about her as well and the two decided to remain close friends. She was grateful for that.

Turning her attention to the gray skies quickly darkening from her window, Usagi's eyes clouded over in thought. If breaking the romance between she and Mamoru had been the right thing to do, why did she feel so conflicted about it? Maybe she was just lonely, after having moved to a brand new place without knowing anyone. But there was something inside her she just couldn't explain. A feeling deep within that urged her. There was something important about being with Mamoru.

Shaking her head, she reached for the other contents in her trunk and pulled out a small white box with a red cross across the lid she hadn't remembered packing. Fiddling with her favorite broach at the front of her shirt, she tilted her head to one side as she read the text.

First Aid Kit: OPEN ONLY IN AN EMERGENCY.

Laughing out loud, Usagi fell back onto the bed, her long golden locks splaying across the comforter. Her mother was ridiculous, but she appreciated the thought. After a few good laughs she tossed the kit into her school bag.

Safety first. She mused to herself and moved to the desk where her laptop was set up. She had a ton of e-mails to send before going to sleep.

After spending an hour or so on the computer the young woman's stomach growled loudly, right on schedule.

"Aw, man," Usagi grumbled. She had arrived late enough to miss dinner but didn't think she could hold out, comfortably, until breakfast the next morning. Thinking back to her car ride in, she had noticed a small town on the outskirts of the school that wasn't all that far away, but might be too much of a walk for a late night journey.

This town couldn't be all that unsafe, there's hardly anyone in it! Nodding her head in affirmation, Usagi pulled the uniform jacket over her arms, and exited her room. She didn't see a single soul throughout her journey within the building, finally deciding that her residence wasn't within a dormitory at all. When she exited the door, she double checked to make sure it wouldn't lock behind her. It was a little chilly, but not enough to be unpleasant. After walking awhile in the quiet, unlit evening, Usagi was assaulted with that same uneasy feeling. The one she had experienced earlier upon making acquaintances with the grumpy prefect.

"Hey! I've never seen you around before!" Came a pleasant voice from her right. Turning to look in surprise, Usagi's eyes widened when a fair haired man came into view. His uniform seemed to be a male version of hers, except it was white with black trim. When he was standing just a few feet before her, she suddenly felt as if the wind had been knocked from her lungs. Was she hallucinating in her desperate need for something sweet to eat, or could a person really be this beautiful?

"Oh, I know you're new around here." He reaffirmed with a sly smile. Usagi was lost in the depths of his watery, turquoise eyes when warm fingers wrapping around her wrist brought her back to reality. "I would have remembered someone who smelled as incredible as you do." He sighed, bringing her wrist to his nose and taking a deep breath. Blinking through the haze of his model-esque face, Usagi yanked back her hand.

"Hey," the stranger still looked heart-stoppingly handsome even with his face twisted in a pout. "Surely your little girly friends already told you about me." He paused to vainly rest two fingers on his collar and flash a wink. "I'm the one they refer to as the Idol." Drawing on her famed stubbornness, Usagi summoned forth a scowl.

"I don't care how famous you are! Y-you can't just grab someone like that!" She complained, balling her hands into fists at her sides. The petite girl fumed even more when he reached out again and touched one of her buns of hair.

"Hey, you're pretty cute too! Not a bad combo," he smirked. "Say, what's your blood type?"

"What kind of question is that?" She shrieked and tried to back away, again being halted at her wrist. Strangely feeling as if she was being sucked into the man's cool eyes, the moment was interrupted by a book being roughly tapped onto the crown of her captor's head.

"Hanabusa," a voice scolded, sounding almost casual at the same time. After reclaiming her hand, her jaw briefly dropped upon taking in the newcomer. She was beginning to think her parents had sent to her to a school for super models.

So much for ever being asked to a school dance. She groaned internally.

Referring to people as tall was somewhat of a joke for Usagi, because to her, everyone was tall, but this second man had given the word a new definition. Towering over both her and the one he referred to as Hanabusa, the newcomer rested the spine of his book along his shoulder. His eyes were impassive as he stared down the other, a compliment to his casual appearance. He wore the same uniform as his companion, but the jacket was unbuttoned and the oxford shirt beneath it un-tucked. That same shirt was telling tales of the trim and athletic body beneath it, the crest of his defined clavicle peeking through the opened collar. Running a hand through his short strawberry locks, he turned away from Hanabusa and looked to the petite blonde.

His ruddy hues flickered with sudden interest when their stares met. There was something different about him, something that seemed out of sync, similar to the feeling she gathered from his peculiar classmate. Usagi felt as if she was staring into a forthcoming thunderstorm, an entity that should be feared for its dangers but at the same time a beautiful phenomenon that commanded nature when its moment came. Lightning – and fire, his presence left her brimming with heat that wouldn't have been found elsewhere on such a cold night.

"Akatsuki!" The blonde protested, interrupting the others' impromptu staring contest. "I found her first! If anyone is gonna eat h-" he was quickly silenced by the taller man's hand slamming across his mouth.

"Hey! What did he say?" Usagi demanded, snapping out of her trance.

"Forgive my cousin," Aktasuki rumbled coolly, letting go of Hanabusa's fuming face, "he's had a rough night. You must be new to this Academy. Why are you out so late? It's a little soon to be breaking the rules already, isn't it?" Her anger subsided quickly upon his words. She hadn't been there even a day and was already on the edge of trouble.

"I didn't realize," she admitted, a tinge of red coloring her cheeks. "I just got here tonight and not in time for dinner – is there any where close where I can get something to eat? Something sweet preferably and, uh, as cheap as possible," she laughed nervously. Hanabusa blinked.

"Oh! You must be the new exchange student Cross was talking about!" The bright eyed blonde exclaimed.

"Exchange student?" Akatsuki repeated, lifting his brow toward the shorter male.

"Yeah! You're from Japan, right? How exotic!" Hanabusa grinned. "Well, if you're looking for something sweet why don't you come by the Moon Dormitory," he slyly slid an arm around her shoulders. "Our chef will make you whatever your heart desires." The thought of food distracting her from his overwhelming attractiveness, Usagi beamed toward him.

"Well, to be honest, I'm really just looking for some ice cream!"

"Ice cream eh?" Hanabusa smirked, "we have every flavor you can think of!" Usagi's face filled with heat when the boy dipped his own closer to hers. "And after that maybe we can-" Suddenly, Hanabusa was yanked backwards. Akatsuki held him away with a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Actually," the calm man interrupted. "It's against school policy for any day class student to be in the night class dorms or reversed."

"Night class, I wasn't aware there was one?" Usagi asked, the auburn haired teen merely nodding as he let go of his companion.

"But if you are hungry…" Akatsuki scanned the area before letting his eyes linger on the small girl. "There's a sweets shop on the edge of town. We can escort you there and back considering your situation, just this once."

"Sweets shop sounds great!" Usagi smiled. "Buh, uh, is it pretty inexpensive? I'm kind of on a budget here." For the first time since he had been there, the towering student cracked a smile.

"Aido frequents there often, we'll just put it on his account." He said gesturing a thumb toward the shorter teen.

"Hey! Why would I allow that?" Hanabusa shouted.

"It's the least he could do for teasing you tonight." Akatsuki added, looking pointedly toward the offender who sighed and nodded. Hardly believing her luck, Usagi strolled between the two, ignoring the pouting Hanabusa as they traveled toward the school's partially cracked gate.

"Just remember," Akatsuki looked down toward Usagi, a foreign gleam in his dark eyes. "This is just a one-time occasion. The curfew for day and night class students is very strictly enforced."

"Why is that?" Usagi looked to him curiously. "Besides, there aren't any guards at the gate. Who actually enforces it?"

"Zero, the school's prefect-" Both night class students paused in their steps. Looking to them confoundedly, Usagi turned her eyes ahead and nearly jumped when she saw a familiar figure. The headmaster's son stood before them, with a long and silver hand gun pointed right at them.

"As I was saying," Akatsuki continued, not moving his eyes from the white haired teen staring back across the weapon's barrel. "The school's disciplinary committee is rather uptight."

An immediate wave of terror washed over Usagi as she stood across from the prefect. Being on the other end of a loaded gun were one of those things that only happened to police officers, soldiers, or to people in the mangas she read. She never could have imagined it would be so terrifying, and so she stood frozen with her mouth agape.

"Night class students are not to fraternize with those in the day class. No exceptions!" Zero roared dangerously.

"Lay off, Zero!" Hanabusa jumped in with a threatening step forward that made Usagi jump. "We were just escorting her to get something to eat, better that than allowing her to get…eaten." He added lowly. Without lowering his gun, Zero stalked forward and darted his hand out quickly for Usagi, wrapping his fingers with ease around her bicep.

"H-hey!" Usagi protested but stopped talking when she caught Zero and Akatsuki trading vicious looking glares, faces just inches away.

"What Aido says is the truth." Akatsuki spoke through pursed lips.

"If I see you alone with Usagi or any other day class student again -" Zero snarled. "I will kill you." And without another word he stowed his gun and forcefully led the stunned girl back toward the building she had left from.

"Usagi, huh?" Hanabusa commented as he watched them move quickly away. The copper-haired teen blinked when she turned to look back at them briefly, her deep blue eyes wide with fear and confusion.

"Oh, that guy!" Hanabusa continued, his fangs beginning to lengthen as he grit his teeth toward the retreating prefect's back. "This was just what I needed, some sweet smelling girl to show up right when things at this school couldn't any worse."

"You'll manage." Akatuski commented, slipping a hand into his pocket as they began walking back to the Moon Dormitory. "You'll restrain yourself for Dorm Class President Yuuki. Besides, this is hardly the first time you've pointed out a day class student smelling nice." He smirked toward his cousin.

"No," Hanabusa spoke thoughtfully, meeting the other's gaze. "She smelled really good. Everything about her made it hard to resist." The vampire noble's eyes tinged red as he lingered on the memory. "Admit it, she smelled delicious. If I didn't know any better, I'd say her blood was just as delectable as a Pure Blood's."

"I don't know about all that." Akatsuki commented; looking up toward the sky to the few twinkling stars that showed through the moving clouds. "But I guess you're right, she smelled like something…" He closed his eyes thoughtfully, the image of golden hair and large blue eyes floating across his memory, "Something out of this world."

...

Usagi looked toward the silver haired teen nervously as he led her roughly through the building's halls. His face was stern. He hadn't said a word or even looked at her the entire journey back.

"You can let go of me. I know where my room is!" Usagi snapped, which was surprisingly bold since she had discovered that this no-nonsense prefect actually carried a gun.

"We're going this way." He mumbled, pulling her down an unfamiliar hallway and into a room with swinging doors. Though it was barely lit, the blonde immediately recognized the room to be a small kitchen.

"This is the Chairman's private kitchen. Make whatever you want to eat." Zero ordered gruffly. When Usagi gave him a weird look he frowned deeply.

"Well you were out after curfew because you were hungry right? Don't do it again." He warned eliciting an immediate flinch from the girl. "You can come here whenever you want, in the future." He finished somewhat nicer, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms.

Moving cautiously away, Usagi gingerly made her way to the refrigerator and freezer, feeling somewhat relieved to find chocolate chip ice cream within. After finding a bowl and a spoon, she served herself a heaping helping. She glanced occasionally toward the other teen, he promptly looking away upon catching her eyes. Settling in at the breakfast bar, she took a few bites of the icy confection before observing him looking out through the room's window. Turning to look out of it herself, she spied several students dressed in white uniforms filing out of another building. Zero's eyes appeared dead as they were glued to the walking figures.

"That was a little excessive, wasn't it?" Usagi broke the silence, letting her spoon clank to the bottom of the now empty bowl. "You threated other students in this school with a gun. How is that even allowed? Why are interactions between the two classes forbidden?" She spouted off her questions fearlessly. Zero narrowed his lilac eyes ferociously.

"If you value your life at all, you'll stay away from anyone in the night class." He replied darkly.

"So, they're murderers then?" The pigtailed girl asked with a suspiciously raised brow.

"I have to return to my duties as a prefect, unfortunately, you're not the only student who likes to break curfew."

"Well I didn't know-"

"Do you know your way back?" Zero interrupted harshly, to which Usagi nodded. "Good, go back when you're finished. And don't ever break curfew again. I mean it." He growled before stalking to the doorway.

"Fine." Usagi spoke but he didn't respond to her and instead disappeared through the doorway with the grace of a ghost, leaving no evidence that he had been there at all. Grabbing for the broach concealed beneath her uniform's jacket, she drew comfort from the mysterious warmth the item seemed to always give her. She really needed to focus on her studies if she was to ever get into a good university, but there was something very strange occurring within the walls of this school and she just couldn't dismiss the instinct within driving her to find out what it was.

A.N. Part 2: I am working on my other Sailor Moon stories, but I had this mostly written and it was at the front of my mind so I decided to go ahead and post it! As with any of my new stories that I intend to be multi-chapter, consider this to be the "pilot" if I get reviews aka interest (at least 10 people is usually my target) I'll continue it! If I don't I'll probably just let it be a one-shot/or delete it, so it's up to you, the reader!

I plan on this story being romance oriented but somewhat complicated between different characters all focusing around Usagi, I have a particularly favorite pairing in mind but we'll just see what happens! Anyway, please review (can you tell I like reviews? LOL) and let me know what you think!

Oh, and just for your curiosity, Usagi, Zero, and Yuuki are all 18, and all other students mentioned are 19 (I think, I would have to confirm with other ages of the VK characters)

Thanks for reading!

~El3