Zero opened his eyes when the voice spoke to him
Zero, your attention is required
The Chairman was standing in front of him
"Zero? Are you okay? You seem to be spacing out a lot recently" Zero was lost for excuses, the voice quickly pitched in, it seemed to know whether or not Zero was able to answer
say that you were just lost in thought
"I was just thinking, there's no need to worry Chairman" he nodded
"Well, the Kurans and I are going to visit Koshka's grave, you are coming, I assume?" he gave an immediate nod and regretted it as soon as he did
I can't go with those goddamn purebloods!
He thought, the voice piped up
why not? It's only a short car ride together, and then you can visit your parents while they see Koshka, when they leave, you can visit her
the voice was right, again. Zero walked with the Chairman and simply glared silently when they met with the Kurans, Yuuki held a black calla lily in one hand, and clasped the hand of her child in the other, purebloods matured quickly, so the 1 year old had the body and mind of a five year old, she was named Burūmingurōzu, the word for "blooming rose" but Kaname was probably the only one who called her Burūmingurōzu, everyone else had used the nickname "Rōzu" since she was born, she had a sweet young face, and looked nothing like a vampire, because they always let her play with "Uncle Takuma" she was wise for a child, and gazed at Zero with innocent eyes, while everybody else got into the car, she let go of Yuuki's hand and approached Zero
"Why don't you like mother anymore?" she asked, her voice was smooth and controlled for a child, Zero clenched a fist
Calm down, it is a simple question from a child
the voice reassured him, he sighed and glared at the little girl, who returned his gaze unblinkingly, despite both her parents having dark crimson eyes, the little girl's eyes were bright gold, startling against her dark brown hair, Koshka had given Yuuki her blood while the vampire was still pregnant, but the couple took it as a blessing, a living reminder of their friend, Yuuki turned to look at Rōzu, opening her mouth to say something, she shut it again as Zero spoke
"It's because she's a vampire" he looked up from Rōzu, his eyes met with Yuuki's
"I can never not hate a vampire" with that he turned and walked to get into the car, in the front passenger seat. When the small group arrived at the cemetery, Zero parted and knelt by two graves side by side, in one laid his parents, in the other, his brother, his other half, he closed his eyes and laid a hand on the soft ground between them
"I miss you, mother, father, Ichiru…there was no reason for you to leave this world, you never had to die" he scrunched his eyes tight, in Koshka's blood he had seen countless memories, terrible things which his mind was still getting used to, but the most terrible thing he could possibly imagine was at the forefront, Koshka's memory of snarling and shoving demons away to reveal two figures, half eaten by the demons, and left to regain their flesh so the hellspawn could feed again, he curled his hand into a fist, gathering dirt and grass as he saw the mauled faces of his parents through Koshka's eyes, he saw Koshka offering a hand to them and their rough refusal, then he saw a smaller group of demons, they were busy feasting on fresh meat, Koshka had shoved a path through them and torn them away from Ichiru's quivering body, scaring the other demons away, fresh holes were in Ichiru's skin, chewed through to the bone, and he was in agony, unable to die, unable to stop the pain, unable to do anything but wait for the demons to come back for seconds. Zero tried to discard the memory, tried not to see his family suffer, where was the voice when he needed it?!
"You didn't deserve that punishment! You shouldn't have gone to hell!" the voice finally saved him from the depths of despair
Calm down Zero, what's done is done
he wasn't in the mood to be obedient, he argued
"They never did anything wrong!"
The most powerful sin is murder; try to see it from a vampire's perspective
Zero gave up, he bowed his head and drew his gun from his jacket, gazing at it, he scrunched his eyes shut
"There's nothing else I'm here for…I don't need to be in the overworld anymore…my time was up long ago" he turned the gun around
Zero, stop
the voice was panicked for the first time
you can't do this! You can't leave them alone!
"Nothing can change my mind" his hand tightened around the gun "take me with you" he whispered to his family, a small hand touched his shoulder
"Please don't die Zero" Zero opened his eyes to look at Rōzu
"You don't get a word in this" he snarled to the young pureblood, who held something against her chest
"Mother told me to give this to you" she said, holding out a scrapbook, Zero lowered the gun and took it gently from the child, opening it, a gasp escaped him as it opened to a letter, newer than the rest of the book, Koshka's signature was at the bottom
Dearest Zero,
Never let anything take you, you are your own man, and your will is strong, keep your heart kind, and your face brave, if for nobody else, do it for me.
Koshka
As he read the letter his heart began to ache with sadness, after he finished he let a sad smile claim his lips, as if by magic (A/N: Probably by magic XD) writing began to appear at the bottom, as if Koshka's invisible hand was adding something at the bottom
Your family is safe, they are far from the fangs of any demons and live as comfortably and happily is possible in the underworld. I love you
Zero's breath left his body, he looked at Rōzu, who returned his gaze with gold eyes, he flipped the page and looked over the photos, so long ago, he wondered how Koshka managed to get the photos of their first meeting, he gave a mental shrug and turned the page again, smiling at the expression Yuki had from a photo of one frustrating crossover, he sighed and kept looking through the scrapbook, he found the photos from the tropical holiday they had taken, gazing with nostalgia at Koshka wearing her bathing suit with a gummy shark slung over her shoulder, then another of her putting a white towel around his shoulders and him looking up at her, then there was the chairman and Yuki picking mangos, and the long hike they took, then there was Koshka and Zero fighting, Zero's heart ran faster, he remembered the result of the fight, the first time he kissed Koshka, he closed the book and looked at Rōzu
"Why haven't you gone back to your parents?"
"Because I want you to come" he sighed and got up, stashing his gun in his jacket and taking Rōzu's hand, when they arrived at Koshka's grave with the rest of them, Yuuki took Rōzu and smiled at Zero kindly, he refused to look at her, instead, he knelt in front of a tombstone
Koshka Polnoch'
Strength is in the mind,
Love is in the heart
He began to murmur under his breath and soon stood, closing his eyes, he returned to the car to wait for the chairman and the purebloods.
~Time skippin~
Zero walked the grounds, he did the job of patrolling by himself now, because he refused to have Rōzu as a partner, despite what the chairman said. Rōzu had grown up, officially she was nearly 4 years old, but her growing had slowed, now she had the body and mind of somebody who was 18! She had become beautiful, with long wavy dark brown hair and a model-worthy body, her face was well defined and her skin was tan for a vampire, but the thing which drew everybody to her was the eyes, a rich golden colour, full of understanding and rebelliousness, even her parents couldn't keep the young pureblood out of trouble, climbing trees, skipping class, and staying out after curfew to bug Zero, she did it very well, even when he got really strict with her, she would sit on the wall and laugh at him, he felt a lot of anger towards that girl, she made his job much harder than it needed to be, but he was strangely thankful as well, when his patrols would be dull and boring, leaving him alone with treacherous thoughts, Rōzu would spruce them up with a chase or by playing tricks on him, in fact he became so fond of the nightly games she would play, that when she actually went to class, he found himself feeling empty. Maybe the thing which made the two become such close friends was her rebellious nature, maybe it was the mutual annoyance at their human fans, or maybe, just maybe it was that she was so much like Koshka.