*.:~Two Heartbeats AND a Red Sin~ :. *

Since it’s near exam, the usual batch of fangirls who usually wait for the night class students are not around. Yuuki realizes that she too needs to study otherwise her mark will bring the class mark down. The problem is that the class with the lowest mark won’t be able to attend the school dance party and has to work backstage. This means Yuuki will incur the wrath of the class Iinchou since he has specifically warned her that he’d like to go to the school dance. Despite her attempt to study, however, Yuuki can’t concentrate and wonders why Zero hates Maria. While helping tutoring Yuuki, Zero tells her that the area in his neck that got bitten by Shizuka aches. He is angry because Shizuka ruined his relationship with his brother.

Kaname, however, already knows that there’s more to Maria than meets the eye. He confronts her, asking why she changed her name and identity. He thinks she has a bad taste and just want to play. Maria scoffs at this and asks Kaname since when he becomes conscientious since he’s the same as her. Meanwhile, Zero tells Yuuki that it’s because she was there that he was able to live on. Yuuki who thinks that Zero behaves strangely ever since Maria came to the school. Because she wants to know the relationship between the two, she decides to follow the guy. Meanwhile, Zero has find Maria, who thinks that Zero is drawn to her due to their bond. Zero attempts to shoot the girl but finds himself unable to do so.

Maria explains that he can’t kill her because she’s the vampire who has given him a life as a vampire. As a servant, he can’t possibly kill her. Despite this, Zero pushes her away and points his gun at her. Maria is impressed to see this, telling him that he’s the first who makes an attempt to defy her. At the same time, Yuuki arrives in the mansion as well, in time to hear Zero recognizing Maria as Hiou Shizuka. Yuuki is shocked to hear this and hears Shizuka telling that Zero that this body she’s using is not hers so she doesn’t want Zero to be violent. As soon as she says this, her helper drops a katana from above which Shizuka uses to attack Zero. Zero, however, manages to block the attack with her gun. Yuuki herself is shocked to see this and tries to run to Zero but Kaname has covered up her mouth with his hand and stops her from leaving.

Much to Zero and Shizuka’s surprise, Zero manages to fire a round of bullet into Maria’s body. Shizuka realizes that she can’t fight effectively in her borrowed body and needs a rest. She also suggests that Zero does the same since he’s also injured by her katana slash. As Zero passed out, Shizuka’s helper asks her if they’re leaving him alive but Shizuka doesn’t answer him, upsetting the guy in the process. Meanwhile, Kaname is seen wiping Yuuki’s memory while saying that if Zero is going to die now, there’s no point in letting him live in the beginning. Having said that, he can’t lose Yuuki now. The next day, Yuuki finds herself waking up in her room, feeling that something is missing but she can’t pinpoint what that this is supposed. Because Yuuki continues to space out throughout the day, Yori asks her to take a rest.

In the afternoon, however, Yuuki gets a visit from Kaname, who asks her to go to the dance party with him. As it turns out, however, Kaname is just there to check if Yuuki has really forgotten about Zero. When Ichijou asks him about this, Kaname tells him that sometimes forgetting is a form of happiness. Meanwhile, Yagari asks Cross why he let Maria to enroll in this school knowing who she really is. Cross claims because Kaname allows it and he has to trust their decision since vampires should deal with vampire world. Meanwhile, Yuuki is confronted by Maria, who thinks Yuuki is cruel since she has forgotten about someone even though that someone always thinks about her. Yuuki wonders if Maria is talking about Zero, causing the cat that she hugs to jumps out and scratches her hand before fleeing out of sight.

Thanks to her bleeding hand, Yuuki remembers the time when Zero holds her hand the night before and his subsequent fight with Maria. Because of this, she asks her what will happen to Zero. Maria tells her that for now he’s okay but soon he’ll turn into a Level E who won’t hear whatever Yuuki says. Meanwhile Zero who’s laying unconscious in a bedroom, remembers his past as a kid. Back then he found out that his twin brother, Ichiru, pretended to be sick so he didn’t have to bid goodbye to their teacher. Ichiru felt that their teacher doesn’t like him but he didn’t care as long as Zero likes him. At that time, the two saw a woman appearing in the midst of a Sakura petals even though it was winter time. Ichiru wanted to approach the woman but Zero, who knows that she’s a vampire, suggested that they better go home.

That night, Ichiru had a fever, causing Zero to be concerned about him. Zero wanted to go out to look for ice but Ichiru wants him to stay near him so their mother decided to look for the ice herself. While on the bed, Ichiru told Zero that since he has such a weak body that he can’t possibly become a hunter. He also wanted to know if the vampire they met today will be killed by someone someday. Zero believed that if she’s on the list then she’d definitely be killed. Later on, Ichiru for some reason decided to go outside so Zero decided to go look for him. As soon as he opened the door, however, he saw Shizuka, who grabbed him. In the end, the entire family except Ichiru got killed by Shizuka. In the present time, Zero wakes up in cold sweat and finds himself face to face with Ichiru, whom he thought was already dead.

Impression

I thought it was nice of Zero to help Yuuki studying so she can go to the dance party…and dance with Kaname. Sometimes I wonder if she doesn’t realize that Zero likes her. I guess all of those protective act can fool anyone into thinking that he sees her as nothing more than his sister. Having said that, I don’t know a guy who holds a girl’s hand out of nowhere and hugs her from behind if he just sees her as a friend/sister, etc. This episode moves thing a bit in regards to their relationship. I think it’s thanks to her feelings for Zero that she managed to regain her memory of him despite having been mind-wiped by Kaname. Speaking of the later, I’m kind of confused about him again.

I was starting to think that maybe he’s just a possessive but a generally good guy. However, Shizuka seems to see him differently. I am sure she’s a lot of things but I don’t think being a liar is one of them. Moreover, what he did to Yuuki, regardless of the reason, was repulsive. It’s true that he probably just want to keep her safe but he robbed her of her memory without her consent. I think it’s not up to him what Yuuki should remember or not remember. She’s old enough to make her choices and if he really wants to protect her, he should have done it in a way that does not involve taking away her choices and her memory. He could have confronted Shizuka right away and helped Zero, for example, even if he doesn’t like him. If he had done this, I’m sure that Yuuki would have like him a lot more for sure.

I know a lot of people dislike Maria but I personally thought her character design is pretty good and was happy to know that she’s just being possessed by Hiou Shizuka instead of being her new form. This means should the author decides to involve her in a new storyline, Maria can come back into the series again. Plus, her role as Hiou Shizuka was part of the reason why Yuuki regains her memory of Zero. While her intention wasn’t exactly noble, at least she gives Yuuki a choice whether to come after Zero or to forget about him. Plus, she’s not spiteful enough to tell Yuuki that Kaname is probably the one who mindwiped Yuuki. As for Ichiru, it’s hard to believe that he has such a low self-esteem and feels disconnection from his family to the point that he was willing to work with their enemy to kill the rest of his family.

A flashback shows a woman telling a young Zero to make hatred his nourishment and to grow up quickly. The woman also tells the boy that they are bound by a bond that can never be broken. In the present, Zero wakes up in terror while his teacher, Yagari, informs Cross that it seems a particular woman is still alive. The next day at school, Yuuki gets overwhelmed by the screaming fangirls and end up getting pushed around until Aidou pulls her into the Night dormitory. She, however, is quickly pulled back out of the place by Zero, who doesn’t like the fact that she’s being abducted by the vampires. As it turns out, the reason the students are over-excited is because there will be school ball very soon. Later on, Yuuki confronts Cross about him using Zero to hunt other vampires but Cross points out that it’s Zero who chooses to live like a human. Cross also wants Yuuki to show a transfer student around the campus.

The girl was supposed to come earlier but because she has poor health, she’s been staying at the mountain. The girl then appears and introduces herself as Kurenai Maria. Maria immediately makes a remark about how Yuuki is a delicious kid, which earns her a scold from Cross. Later on, she tells Yuuki that she’s afraid of not fitting in because she’s a weak vampire so Yuuki assures her that she can rely on her and Cross. The other vampires, on the other hand, are suspicious of her motivations and are not happy when they see her, especially after she rubs her face against his hand. Meanwhile, Yuuki is trying to cheer up Zero by saying that the girl that he saved from a Level-E the other day is now okay. Zero, however, can’t care less, causing Yuuki to realize that Zero only sees the whole thing as a job. Because of this, she tells Zero that she’s afraid that one day he’ll leave to avenge his parents and not telling her about it.

Yuuki reminds him that she has the obligation to kill him and she intends on fulfilling that promise. Their conversation comes to a halt when a floaty Maria comes over. Zero suddenly pulls out her gun and points it at the young vampire. Yuuki, however, stops him by putting herself in front of Maria. Zero apologizes and realizes that Maria is not the person that he thought she was. Maria thanks Yuuki by saying that her blood is probably tasty. Later on, Maria tells Kaname that she doesn’t want to disturb the other vampires so she’d like to live separately in the old dormitory. Not having any reason to reject her request, Kaname grants it. Meanwhile, Kain and Aidou are going through Maria’s background but finds nothing extraordinary about it. Aidou, however, wonders if Kain has heard about the woman who has the same blood as Kaname, Hiou Shizuka. Kain only knows that she’s gone missing after the incident with the Kiryuu family.

The next day, Ichijou can be seen walking into the day school in an attempt to find Maria. It seems the girl has gone out to take a look at the day class’ cafetaria so Ichijou has no choice but to look after her. Much to Yuuki’s surprise, Zero doesn’t want her to get close to Maria and assures her that Ichijou will do something about it. Aidou then comes over and hugs Yuuki from behind telling her that now the other girls are going to be jealous about it. The surprise, however, is keep coming with Zero wanting to talk privately with Aidou. As for Yuuki, she has to face the wrath of angry fangirls. Yuuki decides to jump into a balcony and ends up meeting Ichijou, who’s also on the run from the crazy fangirls. However, because he was too busy running away from the fangirls, he lost sight of Maria. Yuuki feels sorry for Ichijou for having to do annoying task like this but Ichijou tells her that he and the other vampires don’t mind doing things for Kaname.

He informs Yuuki that the truth is, Kaname has the ability to make other vampires do things for him but he’d rather not use it. At the same time, Zero is informed by Aidou that Maria is nothing more than an old relative of Hiou. Zero, however, doesn’t believe this and thinks that the reason Shizuka hasn’t been found is because she can change her appearance. Aidou thinks the only one who can know is Zero since he’s the only one who has a bond with her. Right at this moment, Zero has a weird sensation and realizes it’s because Maria has been watching them from behind the building. Later on that night, Maria tells her mysterious helper that Zero is cute, causing the helper to be jealous. Maria then pretends that she wants to bite the helper but at the last minute she withdraws her intention. This seems to disappoint the helper but she simply lets out a giggle and moves away from him. The episode ends with Maria telling herself that she’s having fun.

Impression

There wasn’t much plot development in this one apart from Maria causing problem for everyone at the school. I think the only remotely interesting part was Ichijou telling Yuuki that Kaname actually has the power to control lower-being vampires but chooses not to use this power. As for Maria, I find her character to be interesting because she looks so much like one of those European dolls that it’s creepy. When she first appeared in the series, I was intrigued with the possibilities that vampires (or just pure-blood vampires) might be able to change their appearance. However, as the series went on, it becomes obvious that the author changed her minds. I don’t really mind the change but sometimes I wonder what the series would have been if it still retains this particular plot point. Would it complicate situations if vampires can alter his/her appearance? After all, if they had this ability, vampires would be able to hide effectively.

Come to think of it, I wonder if this is the reason that Kaname looks the same age as Yuuki and Zero now even though when we first met him, he clearly looks older than the other two? I remember reading from somewhere that he’s only a few years older but the flashback seems to suggest that he’s a lot older than that. Moving along, during the part where Ichijou was being chased around by the fangirls, I realized that it’d be fun to see the series from Ichijou’s POV, which seems less angsty than the three main characters’ POV. Ditto with the idea of watching what Rima and Shiki do in their professional life. Having said that, I remember that some people once said that the anime inserts too many comedic situations as it is now so I’m not sure if having side stories for the side characters is a popular opinion or not. I think if it’s just a one-off thing and is clearly separated from the main story, it won’t affect the atmosphere of the main story.