Lili really didn't like killing them. Even though she had chosen to become a Hunter herself, that didn't change the fact that they had would have been human once upon a time. But there more times than she would have liked where she had no choice.

Like when she was walking home that night. Shopping bags in hand, her attention was drawn to the sound of screams and cries. They were emitting from a dark alleyway, and Lili's curiosity had caught the best of her. She moved towards the sound, instinctively grabbing the two guns she carried with her.

A couple were huddled in a corner, sobbing as they waited for death. An infected was prowling closer to them, crawling on its hands and feet, like most of its kind would. Even from where Lili was standing, she could hear its low, guttural growls, and see the dripping ink black liquid, probably flowing out of its mouth as it did with all infected.

With a heavy heart, Lili raised the gun. That infected would tear the couple to shreds, and even if they survived the attack, all it took was one bite. Its venomous blood leaked from its mouth, and if even one drop entered their blood stream, by either swallowing or through an open cut, than they too would turn into an infected.

The only way for an infected to regain their humanity after changing would be to turn them into a vampire. But that wasn't exactly easy, as only the blood of a vampire lord could change an infected into a vampire. But vampire lords were rare, and the only one Lili knew in person lived quite a way away. She didn't have that kind of time. And anyway, even if she did, by some miraculous chance, manage to give the infected the blood of a vampire lord, there was still a chance that instead of living peacefully they would just turn into a blood drinking mass murderer.

Aiming for the infected's head, Lili pulled the trigger. She wasn't worried about missing. After all, she had learnt everything she needed to know from her big brother.

The bullet was imbedded in the back of the infected's head, and it stiffened slightly before collapsing forward. Lili sighed, a little relieved. She had killed it in the most painless way possible, and it at least looked like the couple hadn't been harmed. Shaken, maybe, but uninjured.

"Are you two alright?" Lili asked, slowly moving closer. It was better to be sure that they hadn't been hurt, but she didn't want to move too quickly and scare them even more after the frightening experience they had been through. "Neither of you were bitten, right?"

One of them tried to stutter something, trembling too much to form a proper sentence.

"D-don't worry," Lili said, holding up her hands to show that she meant no harm. But then, she realised that in one hand she was holding a bag of shopping from the supermarket, and the other was clasping a gun. She let her arms drop to her side uselessly.

"Be…" One of the couple raised a shaking finger. "B-behind y-!"

Lili spun around. Behind her, a large group of infected were drawing closer, snarling and licking their venom coated lips hungrily.

With a sigh, Lili dropped her shopping bag. This is going to take a while, she thought, reaching for her second gun.

"Ms Elizabeta? I'm back!" Lili closed the door behind her. Even though she had to kill that group of infected, she couldn't help but feel a little proud. She had, after all, just saved that couple.

"Oh, good." Elizabeta Héderváry, a kind Hungarian woman who Lili had been staying with for the past few months, entered the hallway with a bright smile. "You know, I was starting to get worried. It had been so long, and…" She trailed off, her smile being replaced by a serious expression when she saw blonde girl's appearance. "…What happened?"

Lili frowned, glancing at her reflection in a window. She was, quite literally, coated with the black venom of the infected. Her hair, clothes, and even the shopping bag were soaked.

"There was a little bit of trouble on the way back," Lili explained, looking down. The venom stained, so her clothes were pretty much ruined. And then there was the fact that the liquid was dripping off her, so now the carpet would be forever scarred with black splotches and footsteps. She would apologise for that later.

"How many?" The sort of kindly 'big sister' appearance was gone. Elizabeta was acting like the serious Hunter she truly was.

"Oh…" Lili glanced away. "Not many. No one was hurt." The last part was added hopefully, wondering if her senior would leave it at that.

"Lili, I'm your teacher. Now tell me…How. Many?"

"Um…About six…Maybe ten?"

"Lili…"

"But I was fine! I took care of it."

"But you should have called me." Elizabeta's tone was softer. "You might have defeated them, but what if you had been bitten and killed? I couldn't live with myself if I let that happen to another friend…"

"There wasn't enough time," Lili said quietly. She knew exactly who Elizabeta was talking about. After all, she had met Elizabeta's friend in person. But even though she was happy that her teacher considered her a friend, she also felt a tiny bit annoyed. Lili wasn't powerless. She knew how to fight.

Elizabeta sighed. "I know what you're thinking. And I know that you could probably take on a heard of vampire lords if you had to. But we need to be careful. You know, probably better than any other Hunter, that almost the whole Hunter organisation was murdered last year. We have to be really careful with making sure all of our Hunters in training are, well, trained properly. We have to make sure they're prepared to fight. But even the most experienced Hunters know it's better to fight in groups. Remember that."

Lili nodded, a little reluctantly. With a shiver, she was reminded of that horrifying scene at the Hunter's main building. So many bodies…

"Listen, you should get washed and changed. I'll see what I can salvage from this." Elizabeta took the shopping bag from Lili, examining the contents cautiously. "Okay?" She smiled.

Nodding again, Lili moved past the Hungarian woman and escaped to her temporary room upstairs. Although she definitely felt welcome at Elizabeta's home, she couldn't help but miss that house she had stayed at with Vash, her big brother. Even if the mansion had been owned by a certain British vampire lord.

Vash had been the one to teach Lili the basics of killing an infected, albeit a little reluctantly after hearing her choice. But Lili was stubborn, and her mind had been slowly setting after that time last year when she had almost been killed by a vampire.

But if Lili truly wanted to become a Hunter, then she needed to be educated by an actual Hunter. Vash might have been skilled with guns, but he was no Hunter. There had been a little debate about who would teach Lili. After the murders at the main office, many of the living Hunters were either still too inexperienced themselves or lived outside of the country. Elizabeta had often taken it upon herself to tutor Hunter trainees in the past, so she became the most obvious choice.

After scrubbing herself clean of all infected venom, Lili changed into another set of closed. She collected her ruined ones, holding them at arm's length, and travelled through the house towards the balcony. That was where the incinerator was. She could just throw the clothes away, but her head then filled with the image of a poor defenceless animal finding them and liking at the strange liquid curiously. She didn't know if animals could turn into an infected but the effects certainly wouldn't be pretty.

She tossed the venom soaked clothes inside the incinerator. Lili lit a matchstick and threw it inside, hurriedly stepping back when fire immediately blossomed around the clothes, sending out waves of heat and black smoke into the night. (Infected venom was extremely flammable.)

Lili leaned against the fence surrounding the balcony, regarding the fire quietly. The year before had been very eventful. Although what had happened was what convinced Lili to become a hunter, she couldn't help but feel worried. Had she made the right decision? And…If someone found out what she was…

"Oh, bonjour! It's certainly been a while." Lili's mouth fell open and her head jerked up. She recognised that voice. "What are you doing out here?" Francis Bonnefoy was casually sitting on the roof, smirking down at her.

Lili made a small step towards the door. She knew this vampire all too well. Also, she didn't have her guns.

"Now, now." Francis jumped down, blocking her route to the door. "I'm not here to cause trouble. I only want to talk."

The blonde girl didn't trust him, obviously, and pressed herself against the fence. She could always call for Elizabeta…The Hungarian woman would break down the door if she had to, wielding her trusty frying pan. But Francis could easily kill her in the amount of time it took for Elizabeta to get there.

"I suppose you would be wary of me," Francis said woefully, dramatically closing his eyes. "After all, I am a 'big bad vampire'. But don't worry; I assure you that my blood drinking has been limited to animals and blood banks."

Lili winced at the word 'blood bank', wondering which definition he meant. She had often heard the term being used to describe a human who was romantically involved with a vampire/vampire lord.

"You're not supposed to be here." Lili said, trying desperately to sound move brave than she felt. "The Hunters are, um, hunting you, right?"

"Oui, that's true." Francis frowned. "Honestly, I swear they're overreacting. I didn't do anything that bad."

"You tricked everyone."

"And they're treating me like a monster! Besides, maybe, a few advances, I never laid a finger on any Hunters."

"…But they trusted you."

"I-I know, but…" Francis huffed. "What? You think that I didn't care about them in my own way? I felt like a big brother to those two…But I suppose that doesn't matter. The moment they found out what I truly was I might as well have been dead to them." Francis sounded sad, and not the melodramatic sadness he had been faking a few seconds earlier. Lili actually felt sorry for him.

"But, I suppose that might be the same for you, right?" And suddenly, the sadness was gone. Francis was smirking playfully. "They might care about you now, but what if they find out what you really are? After all, it was your kind that killed all of those Hunters last year…"

Lili felt a stab of fear. "M…Many people know what I am," she tried to say convincingly.

"Oui, your brother, a vampire, a vampire lord…And pretty much every single one of your kind. But tell me, does Elizabeta know?"

"I…" Lili paused, trying to think of something to say. "Not yet, but I was planning to tell her…"

"And then," Francis's smirk widened. "There's the fact that you're training to be a Hunter…What about your vampire friends? Doesn't that mean you're betraying them?"

"Hunters focus on getting rid of the infected. They only target vampires if they're a threat," Lili answered coolly. "You, of all people, should know that, Mr Bonnefoy."

Francis seemed thrown off by this response, but then he chuckled. "I suppose you've got me there."

"…Why are you acting like this?"

"Pardon?"

"When you were acting like one of them, you seemed so much…nicer. So why are you acting like this now?"

"Why? Well…" Francis pondered this for a few seconds. "I suppose when I'm not acting human I'm just that much bitter. Being a vampire can be a lonely existence. Sometimes I envy those who can't remember their lives as humans…" His expression darkened slightly. "Although, what I really wish I could forget would be my last few minutes of being human. Really, do you think you'd be able to be so sweet and innocent all the time if you had to watch as the love of your life was viciously murdered by a group of infected? I was turned into a vampire, but she died that day."

"O-oh…" Lili shuffled her feet. "I-I'm so sorry, Mr Bonnefoy.

"…It's fine." Francis was staring down at a locket around his neck. "Well, of course it's not fine, but you had nothing to do with it." He smiled. "I suppose I was acting a little mean to you earlier, wasn't I? Désolé, sometimes I feel a little melancholy and I end up letting my feelings out at others."

"…I see." Lili didn't really know what else she could say.

"Lili!" Elizabeta's voice cut through the awkward silence. "What are you doing up there? Are you alright?"

"Um…" Lili blinked up at the French vampire blankly, and Francis winked and pressed a finger to his lips. "Y-yes, I'm okay! I'll be down in a minute!"

"I suppose that's my cue to leave," Francis said with a dramatically sad sigh. "So, what are you going to do now? You could always tell Elizabeta that I was here…"

Lili regarded Francis carefully. "I won't. It's not necessary."

"Oh?" Francis raised an eyebrow.

"But I'd appreciate it if you…"

"Stop preying on innocent humans? I already told you, I don't do that anymore…At least, not much."

"T-that too, but also…"

Francis smirked. "Don't worry, ma chérie. I won't tell anyone."

Lili nodded gratefully, blushing slightly at the name.

"That frying pan wielding Hunter downstairs will probably grow worried and come up any second now. I suppose I should bid you adieu." Francis actually bowed before saying, "bonne nuit, ma chérie." In one fluid motion, Francis jumped over the fence. Lili gasped, running to the side and staring after him. But the vampire was nowhere to be seen.

"Lili?"

"C-coming, Ms Elizabeta!" Stealing one last look at the night, Lili ran inside.

Not very good ending X3 I should probably explain, this is actually a sequel to another fic I'm planning on writing. But as that hasn't been written yet, a lot of stuff here doesn't make sense XD The fanfic I'm planning on writing is based a year before this one, and is also USUK (Hunter Alfred x vampire lord Arthur) But I probably won't write it for a while, since I have too many on-going stories right now…I only wrote this because it's a one-shot XD Also, I don't know if I should class this as FrancexLiechtenstein, or just think of it as France being France o_O Well, please review and tell me what you think ^_^