AN: Thank you to all those who reviewed. My reviewers keep me updating. Also, I see, reading back over my writing, I have made some grammatical errors. Please don't leave reviews on them. Most likely, if I've read it twice, I noticed it. But I don't really want to fix them and upload again. I don't have the patience for it really. Legal: I don't own Vampire Knight.
Zero's POV
The man took a seat on the other end of the table. He was staring at me.
"What?" I asked, making sure I wasn't doing anything to offend this creepy Vampire.
"Nothing, it's just that- Are you a Pureblood?" he looked at me in distaste.
"No! Why on Earth would you think that?" I was almost shouting in panic. How could he try and confuse me with the thing I hated most?
"Nothing. You just smell like them. You know in Vampire world, one of the greatest sins is biting a Pureblood." He was looking at me intently.
"Yeah, I know. It was offered to me, by my worst enemy. It was for his own gain though." I said numbly.
"Yes, I know all about that story. The Yuuki-san and Kaname-san problem. I asked becuase I wanted to know that if I ever needed to ask you something, you would tell the truth. I understand that that must have been something very difficult for you to tell me. Now, I will begin her story."
***
"I knew Akemi-sama when she was a regular human; bright green eyes always shining." Bright green? "She was the kindest young lady for miles around and was happy being the woman of the house. She took care of her younger sister, while her father was out ruling the town. Yes, ruling. Akemi-sama's mother had died during her birth. Her father believed her a demon and hated her when he wasn't being so detatched from the world.
"I had been her best friend that she would confide in, and when she came to me with bruises, asking me to 'watch over her sister until father calmed down,' I nearly cracked. I hated her father, but he was so high in power I was afraid I couldn't do anything at the time. Akemi-sama's younger sister, Mitzuki-san, ended up staying with my family for half her life.
"Akemi-sama's father wanted her out of his home as soon as he could. So he started offering her to suitors. Unfortunately, her father chose a not-so-great man.
"That day that he put the Curse on her, she had come to me. She had more bruises than usual and had tears in her eyes when she brought Mitzuki-san over. I had tried to stop her from going back, but she had shrugged me off coldly. Her coldness shocked me. She was never cold towards anyone, let alone me. And so I watched her go. I just let her go. . ." The man's eyes grew distant and his fists clenched.
"When she came back her eyes were black and bleak. Her mouth was stained in a red that looked like it had been washed out with extreme care. 'What happend?' I had asked. And then she told me.
"Her husband had given her the Curse. It was a ritual in which he died trying to give the proper punishment to 'the demon.' Although it kind of back-fired when she gained unimaginable power and it made her a true Pureblood Vampire. Not the type of 'Pureblood' Kaname-san or Yuuki-san are."
I gripped the edge of my seat. A true Pureblood Vampire. Of course that is what the girl I loved would be.
"Kaname-san and Yuuki-san are not truly Purebloods. You'll see that as I go on." The man said, looking me in the eyes now.
"Almost exactly after being cursed she told me she'd come for me. She knew exactly what she was and wanted at least two people to spend her life with. That she chose me was an absolute honor. You know how touching a 'Pureblood' is highly frowned upon. Even looking at Akemi-sama is very close to forbidden."
I suppose Aidou and Ruka would absolutely have a heart attack if they knew. The way Purebloods normally react, and with Akemi having even more right, I'm surprised she didn't kill him.
"Being changed by her was painless. She didn't even bite me. She cut her wrist," we both winced, " and then commanded me to drink her blood. You can imagine how revolted I was. My best friend. . . wanted me to drink her blood. I almost didn't until I saw the lonliness in her watery eyes. Her blood is magic. With it you can live forever, heal disease, or whatever else she could will it to do when you drank it. It comes at a price though. You are forever her slave. I am still indebted to her.
"Anyway, sorry I keep getting so off topic. And when she went to change her sister, she wasn't in the house. Akemi-sama panicked. You see, Akemi-sama only really loved one person in her life, and that person was her sister. Akemi-sama surprised me with her violence at having lost her sister, always blaming herself, not me, in that fit of rage. Then a terrifying calm swept over her. 'Father's house.' she had said emotionlessly.
"It seemed to take forever to get to her home a short walk away with that appalling calm. When we got there, there was Mitzuki-san, dead. Her father looked down at us from his throne; condescending. 'I thought I would kill her before you did it yourself, demon! I did it to save her. It was poison, it was painless! Don't look down upon me devil!' the whole time ranting how he was so much better. Akemi-sama just stared at the tiny Mitzuki-san's body.
"Then you could almost hear Akemi-sama snap. The calm disappeared and was filled in with a bubbling hate. And then she smiled. Not Akemi-sama's smile. She rarely smiled and when she did you felt like you were being blessed for something done good. This smile chilled me to the bone. Her voice still held the dreadful calm from earlier.
" 'Alright, father. I will leave you here. But you will be haunted by what you have done, and I'll make sure everyone here knows you were the one to murder your own children. You're poor Akemi beaten to death, and little Mitzuki poisoned. You will live, but not in peace.' And he didn't live in peace. I made sure of that.
"And then she walked over to pick up her little sister and left. It took me a moment to realize why Akemi-sama had taken Mitzuki-san's body. We were giving her a proper funeral. Akemi-sama dug the hole, not saying anything the entire time. I would've offered to help if she didn't seem so frail. I think that if I had made a sound, she would have ripped me to shreds.
"At the moment when we were supposed to say our parting words Akemi-sama looked at me. 'Say something,' she commanded. I couldn't have refused her this, not then. My words were unimportant compared with Akemi-sama's.
" 'You were my reason for living. When father hit me all I'd ever think was to help you. He takes and takes and now he's taken what I hold dearest.' Her voice choked and she started sobbing. My heart broke for her. She almost never cries anymore. I didn't think at the time she could have anymore tears left. It took her two days to fully quit crying. After that her smile returned, but it wasn't real, and half the time it wasn't even nice. Have you noticed how she smiles all the time now?"
I nodded. I didn't know whether they were real or not.
"About a week later she had made five other Vampires. One of those Vampires wanted her power, so he tried to drink her blood, and with that strange detachtment she easily killed him. Later, after I and the other five had learned to make new Vampires, we had discovered that, after each time we made a new Vampire the power was halved until the weakest Vampire was two percent of Akemi-sama's power. I am half as powerful as Akemi-sama. At least as she was then. I'm afraid that her power may still be growing. Or our's weakening." His eyes became distant again. It was silent for a couple minutes.
"Go on," I tried to say it respectfully.
"Ah, yes. Then these five Vampires made seventeen more. These seventeen found out that they could reproduce betweenst themselves. Thus, the first 'Purebloods.' They came up with that name. I had scoffed at them. Were they not living on just drops of Akemi-sama's blood? They were foolish enough to believe themselves as good as Akemi-sama. When they talked to Akemi-sama as if they could over-throw her, she had laughed.
" 'You think you are so great on your own? Then I shall take back what I have given to you.' she said. She went and bit them each for about a second. They looked at her with disbelief before leaving. 'What was that about?' I had asked her. She looked down at me, that fake smile on her face. I wouldn't have known it fake if I hadn't seen her before; she's very deceptive. 'I took only my blood back. They are mortal now.'
"She hadn't lied. Those seventeen were dead within fifty years, but their offspring survived, sporting about twelve percent of Akemi-sama's power. Those first children had had their parent's power sliced in half like it did with made Vampires. These children produced children with an estimated twelve percent, not halved. Today's 'Purebloods' have roughly twelve percent as well.
"After years and years with Akemi-sama, I had not imagined a life without her. So when one evening when she told me she was leaving, I thought she was joking. I had laughed. She had been facing out the window and at the sound her head rolled over to look at me. Out from under her lashes I could see how serious her gaze was. I had felt so hollow. I had wanted to know why.
" 'I'm sick of pretending I'm not in pain. With no one else, I won't have to pretend. You've been my only friend for so long and so of course I've seen how my pain hurts you!' she had said. Rare tears were forming in her eyes. Can you imagine how sickened I was that I was making her feel bad for me? That I was the one hurting her. I'd insisted that she could do whatever she wanted if it made her happy. So she left, after telling me about this place. And here we are."
I stared at him.
"Any questions? I realize I shortened that to a point almost beyond understanding, but I thought I told it okay." He was looking at his folded hands, not really seeming worried.
"No, I have no questions. Thank you, I'll be leaving now." I got up as fast as I could.
"Alright. Tell Akemi-sama that Yasu said hello."
I nodded. Keeping my eyes down I left, relieved when the cool night air surrounded me. The door opened beside me to reveal Yasu.
"Gomen, but I had forgotten this detail. Anyone who enters the club has to stay until the next evening. It's for the safety of this club. I don't know if you've realized but it's about only two hours 'til sunrise. Some extremely fallen level Es can't take even the idea of sun. Gomen, truly. You can stay in my bed. I don't mind level Es that much anymore."
Crap.
Akemi's POV
There was a knock at the door. Had Sayori come back from shopping already? She was such a nice girl. I didn't even have to steal anything because of her offer to buy new clothes.
Why? Why would she do that for me? All it took was for her to notice all I had was a uniform and the clothes I came in, and she offered to get me things. How kind. Currently, though, I was settling for Sayori's too tight night gown.
I let my thoughts wander until the knock came again; insistant. I got up soundlessly from my bed, pushing aside the thick scarlett cover. Did Sayori leave her key? Maybe it was Ruka, she'd really warmed up to me since the other day. I opened the door. Zero.
He looked down at me, his face growing to look more like the color of my covers. He turned his head to the side.
"Gomen, Akemi-sama, for waking you." His face was still red, though he wasn't looking at me.
"Akemi. . . . .sama?" My eyes were stinging.
Zero nodded.
My voice dropped to a whisper and now I was talking more to myself than to him. "I knew this would happen." I slammed the door in his face, just in time to see his expression turn horrified.
I went back to my bed and pulled the covers over my face. Hot tears rolled down my face. Why? Why was I so different. I had hoped Zero would treat me the same after learning what I was. Why?
The door opened. Damn, I hadn't locked the door. My bed protested as Zero sat down on the edge near my feet. A sound like choking came from him, in an attempt to talk. Finally, words formed.
"Gomennasai, Akemi. I don't know what I did, but the last thing I want is to hurt you. Geez, I know that sounds all mushy but it's true."
Well, I'm glad the vampire vampire-hunter didn't want to kill me.
"Zero?" My voice was thick with tears. I could see from under the covers the tortured face he made.
"Yes?" his voice held a note of desperation.
"I don't think you get the implications of that story. As a matter of fact, I was expecting you to hate me-" I broke off, choked by a sob. And then I was in Zero's arms. The smooth scarlett blanket was still separating us but it was so nice to be comforted. I'd never been comforted before. It was the warmest of feelings I'd ever had.
"I could never hate you."
"I'm glad. I probably couldn't take your hatred. Anyone, anyone, else's I can take. Zero?" I might as well get to the point, as much as I might not want to. "My blood can make you human. Or I could take back my Vampire blood."
Absolute silence.
Zero's eyes went blank.
"Zero?" I asked in a timid voice.
"If you drink my blood, I become human. If I drink your's I become the same level as Yasu-san, who says hi, by the way." His voice took on a dream-like quality.
"So glad to be hearing from him," I mumbled half-heartedly. My attention was on Zero. It was going to suck losing him to mortality.
"If I drink your blood I can live forever, like you, right?" Zero was staring at me intently. I nodded.
Zero brushed back my hair.
"Then may I bite you?"
I closed my eyes. . . .and nodded. He was choosing me over his human life. I don't understand. Zero's breathing was uneven as his lips brushed my neck. And then he bit me.
I concentrated on not letting him hear or feel my thoughts. Those were mine and mine alone. I would tell them to him if I wanted.
After about three seconds I pushed him away. Zero had a dazed look on his face. I can't blame him. It's the purest blood he'll ever taste. It was silent a moment.
"Now I'm like those Purebloods." Zero was looking away in disgust.
"No. You are about five times better. And, here's something you'll love, you don't have to have blood to survive. You just want it. Unlike those 'Purebloods,' you don't need blood to survive. I haven't had blood in over six hundred years."
Zero gave me a startled look.
"Yeah, I'm old."
At that Zero started to laugh. I was dumbstruck. Zero. . . . . .was laughing. It took him a minute to sober up. He had a nice laugh. It didn't make me want to hit him, so I considered it nice.
"I looked at you like that because we don't need blood. That's amazing. It worries me sometimes how un-insightful you are for a girl." He still had an amused tone to his voice.
I smiled.
"I haven't been so happy for a while, Zero. I've almost never really been happy." My tone became thoughtful.
Pain twisted Zero's features again.
"I'd do anything to make you happy, Akemi."
My expression was thoughtful again.
"Really, Zero, what more could you give me?"
"Well, what do you want?"
Hmm, I hadn't ever been asked that. What do I want, for once. I didn't want to be cursed. I really didn't. I was still thinking when I said what I said.
"If I could have anything, I suppose I would like to die."
Zero was still holding me, so when I said this I felt his entire body stiffen. He grabbed me roughly by the shoulders.
"You wouldn't?" Zero was staring at me with burning eyes.
"I can't. How much of the story did Yasu tell you?" Did he not tell Zero everything?
"He told me about your father, sister, the 'Purebloods,' your sister's funeral, how you became what you are, the seventeen Vampires, all of it, Akemi."
I looked into his flaming eyes with eyes cold as death.
"Even the suicide attempts?" I watched without the cruel amusement I would have had before. Why wasn't it there?
"No. . . .You're lying. Come on, don't joke like that." His eyes showed all the desperation he was feeling.
"I can see why he didn't tell you. He always had a compassionate heart. It was endless and always very, very painful, almost as painful as living was after Mitzuki's death. He wasn't supposed to tell you that much though. You know quite a bit, Zero. I know nothing about you." I mused aloud.
Zero's face was calming a bit, probably at the knowledge that I couldn't die. His grip on my arms were so loose they were sliding.
"I was born into a family of very good Vampire Hunters," Zero began, taking my hands and tracing patterns in them as he talked.
***
Poor Zero. He had it almost as bad as I had had it, probably worse. I feel awful for his twin. I would've been Ichiru if the situation were like that between Mitzuki and I, where one of us had to die. I would die a horrible death before ever laying a finger against her.
Sayori tapped me on the shoulder. Oops. I needed to stop thinking about Zero. It's sad enough I almost got caught with Zero holding me by Sayori last night. I was just lucky Zero could fit, barely, underneath my bed, and that Sayori needed me to come help her with her heavier bags she'd left at the stairs.
"Yes, Sayori-chan?"
"Yagari-sensei called on you."
"Oh."
I turned to see Yagari glaring at me. Ever since that first day he hadn't liked me much.
"The question?" I asked Yagari. He sighed.
"Wait outside, Akemi-san."
I got up from my seat and walked out the back door. I paused to smile at Zero and mouth, 'See you later.' Zero gave me an exasperated look. I wasn't staying for class again. It was funny that the teachers were afraid to tell the Chairman about my behavior. To Cross I was an angel, and his 'lovely new daughter.' He was much kinder a father than the one I tried not to remember.
It only stood to reason that while I was thinking of not being caught by the Chairman, he showed up.
"Ah, Akemi, I was just coming to get you." Cross was saying cheerfully. "We have to stop somewhere first."
Crap. I'd been caught. Sort of.
"Here we are," Cross was saying as he opened the door to- today wasn't my day.
"We need Zero," Cross was saying to Yagari. Yagari and Zero were both giving me smug looks.
Sayori took one look at me and started giggling. The rest of the students turned to see why she was laughing. That started a fit of laughter throughout the whole class.
Yagari was being good-humored and handed Zero over without snitching on me. Zero was snickering at me.
After leaving Yagari's classroom we went to Cross's office.
"So what's this about, Chairman?"
"Zero, you're so cruel." The Chairman was in his usual spazzy mood, only a little more spazzy.
I sighed.
"Zero's right. What's it about, Daddy?" That got more words out of him than calling him 'Chairman' did.
"So glad you asked, Akemi-chan. Two very special guests are coming to this Academy."
Zero's fists clenched.
"Kaname-san and Yuuki-san." He spat out. "When are they coming?"
Cross looked down guiltily.
"Tonight. Keep in mind that Yuuki is still a daughter in my eyes. Be nice, Zero. You could introduce Akemi to them."
I looked at Zero, who seemed to be in pain. I took his hand and his pain seemed to dispel. A hint of a smile curved his lips.
"Alright, Daddy. Glad to hear it. I'll make sure they come back to open arms." I said in my childish-cheery voice.
"That's my Akemi-chan." He tried to act spazzy, like he could around Zero, but he couldn't. No matter how childish I try to come across as.
I took Zero's hand and led him out the door. It was quiet as we walked down the halls, our footsteps not making a sound.
"At least you can piss Kaname off." I said quietly.
Zero smiled.
How was it? Instead of talking to yourself and answering out loud you can leave it in a review. You seem a lot less crazy if you do it that way :) Sorry it was so short. I'll do better next time.
