Chapter 3 – Fractured Serenity
Shifting weight on his shoulder.
A fading warmth.
A fleeting smile.
"Kaname, promise me that you won't –"
The memory was cut off abruptly by grayish blur and static, filling him with a certain hollowness. An empty void that had been continuously devouring him from within and left him yearning for more, like a ravenous beast.
In fact, this hollowness had been with him since ten thousand years ago, merely sealed away when he regressed himself into an infant without memories. It was no surprise that as his past memories gradually returned to him, so did the void, more gaping than before.
Is it a curse? Karmic retribution?
Perhaps both.
While deep in thoughts, the sound of rough coughing resounded throughout the silent room, bringing the Kuran Pureblood back to the current reality.
"Why?"
As Kaname sat languidly on the marble high-back chair, the single word that had been spoken in utter incredulity by the Head of the Hiou family had made him remembered something.
Why?
Countless people had asked him the same question recently, but the one that came to mind, the one that pained him most, was none other than Yuuki.
The moment after he executed Aidou's father before her, she had looked at him with widened eyes filled with disbelief and denial. An unspoken question of why. An unsaid plea for everything to be a lie. They were written all over her face.
Her reaction was to be expected. As someone who had never been betrayed, his act of betrayal was a deafening blow to her. Even though he had expected this, it didn't mean he was unaffected by it ... but there was nothing he can do about it. He has to continue on with this, even when he was constantly tormented by the burning agony that was brought about by his thirst for Yuuki's blood.
"One of the Kurans," said the Head of the Hiou Pureblood Family while clutching the bleeding wound on his chest and with blood dripping out from his lips. Being heavily-injured, he was down on one knee as he continued, "The Royal bloodline who wanted the least to do with the disputes of their fellow Purebloods… Why?"
It was then that Kaname heard a soft voice whispering right next to his ear, even though there was no one next to him.
"Must there always be a reason for everything?"
The Kuran Pureblood suppressed the urge to smirk. He concurred with the disembodied voice. What difference would it make by knowing the reason of his actions? What must be done, must still be done. The Hiou family must still perish on this day.
Standing up from the seat, Kaname picked up the anti-vampire sword that was leaning next to the chair. The sword instantly emitted electricity upon contact with the Pureblood's gloved hand. Even with the additional layer of protection, Kaname could still feel his hand being singed by the hilt of the sword, but his expression remained unfazed. He strode towards the wounded Hiou patriarch and raised his sword high above the latter's head. As Kaname did so, the disembodied voice spoke.
"Still...After massacring his entire family, it is only right that you tell him something. Think of it as a parting gift? For an old friend?"
The hand that held the sword had shook slightly at the word "old friend". The Hiou ancestor from ten thousand years ago wasn't particularly good friends with him, but they had at least been comrades that trusted each other until the end of the war. Considering that he was going to put an end to said comrade's bloodline, what the voice said was rather reasonable.
However...
The reason for his actions? Truth be told, it was vague to Kaname. He knew he had to do this and that he was running out of time, but the reason for it... He couldn't remember clearly. When did he forget about it?
"You don't remember? It has something to do with the emptiness that you're feeling right now."
As though reigniting the dying flame of a candle, a string of images flashed past the ancestor's mind. The most prominent among them was of a faceless figure laying cold within his arms and the pang of regret that accompanied the recollection.
"That's right. Do you remember now?"
With a faint smile on his face, the Kuran ancestor tightened his grip on the anti-vampire sword before he said, "Whatever it was, it's no longer there."
It was hard to tell if Kaname was answering the voice or if was he speaking to the Hiou patriarch, but there was a glint of bitterness and contempt within his wine-red eyes as he looked down at the wounded Pureblood before him.
"I can no longer leave all of you as you are…"
Mercilessly, the executioner's sword descended upon the condemned patriarch in one swift motion.
The calm before the storm, which had been going on for three weeks, had eventually came to an end with the arrival of a shocking news.
This time, Kaname Kuran had obliterated not one, but two Pureblood families within three days.
The sole Purebloods of the Hanadagi and Hiou family, its respective matriarch and patriarch, had both fallen victim to Kaname's saber, along with another forty-seven casualties from both families. Since the forty-seven casualties were apparently people who had defended the Hanadagi and Hiou families, the Noble vampires had decided to keep to themselves for fear of being dragged into the conflict between Kaname and the surviving Purebloods.
With the lack of involvement by either the Nobles or the Purebloods in managing the vampire society, the lesser vampires became bolder in their transgressions and thus, the Hunter's Association came to a decision.
Kaname Kuran is a threat to the world and thus, he shall be executed on sight.
Although Kaien Cross, the current Association President, was against putting Kaname's name in the Hunter's execution list, his vote was easily overturned by the majority of Hunters who agreed to the opportunity to hunt one of the Purebloods, who had turned one of their comrades into a vampire during the party to celebrate the truce between both races, just to be used as a disposable tool. At that time, that incident was dismissed for the sake of the peace between the two races, but now, any talk of peace would be nothing but a distasteful joke.
That is how it is now.
The world had become such a hateful and restless place.
Zero Kiryu had just returned to his apartment after reporting to the Association about the completion of his latest hunts. It was late in the evening and he was rather tired from working continuously for the past few days. All he ever wanted was to get on his bed and sleep as much as possible, which was exactly what Zero did.
He dozed off within a moment, only to awaken in the familiar classroom of Cross Academy. Looking down at himself, he was wearing his Day Class uniform in the usual unkempt manner, instead of the trench coat and shirt that he didn't bother to change out of before plopping himself on his bed.
A dream, huh?
It had been such a long time since he last dreamed of something.
Even so, he instinctively searched for the Bloody Rose within the jacket of his uniform… only to be dissatisfied by its absence. Be it a dream or not, Zero was never at ease without Bloody Rose by his side.
"As expected of Zero, still as cautious as ever."
The voice that caught Zero's attention was one that he knew full well, but it was also a voice that he knew he shouldn't be hearing right now. Frowning, he turned and glared over his shoulder at the source of the voice. On a seat six rows behind him, sat a girl with straight chestnut-brown hair that barely reached her shoulders. Dressed in the black Day Class uniform, the girl was smiling at Zero as her chocolate brown eyes met with Zero's mauve purple ones.
"Yuuki."
Anger, confusion, relief, concern, wariness.
Those were the emotions that swirled within Zero after speaking out that familiar name. The Yuuki that he was seeing at the moment was not the Yuuki Kuran that he had met during the party recently, it was the Yuuki Cross that he remembered during those days as a Prefect of Cross Academy. The human Yuuki that Zero considered as dead a year ago...
"It's been a while, Zero."
It was uncertain if she was implying on the last time he had met this human version of her or the three weeks that she had been missing, but that was not the main point to Zero.
"You aren't real," stated the silver-haired hunter bluntly, "This is just a dream."
Since this was merely a dream that spawned from his memories, it would be pointless for him to be mindful of anything she said, much less carrying on a conversation with her. Moreover, he had already been tormented by thoughts of her in his waking moments, he certainly didn't want to suffer in his dreams as well. So, the fastest way for him to wake up from this dream would be for him to reaffirm that it wasn't real.
Even so, Zero can't help but to feel a tinge of guilt when he noticed the fleeting melancholy that crossed the Yuuki look-alike's face.
"Oh, you're partly right on that," she said with a smile before standing up from her seat, "About this being a dream, that is."
As the girl slowly walked down towards the row of seats where Zero was sitting, she continued, "But you're wrong about me. I am not part of your imagination."
She stopped when she was three rows away from Zero. All traces of cheerfulness were gone from her face, only to be replaced with an expression of absolute neutrality when she faced the hunter.
"I need your help to stop Kaname."
It was a request that Zero had seen coming from miles away, but that didn't make the situation any less difficult for the hunter. Nevertheless, nothing was ever easy when it involved the Kuran siblings. Sometimes, Zero wondered what did he ever done in his past life to be entangled with the Kuran's affairs time after time again...
"If you are real, as you claimed to be, then you should know more than anyone else that I am the last person you should be asking of this."
"You're right," the young girl nodded solemnly, "But, you're the only person I can ask."
When Zero heard that, he wasn't sure what to make of it. It sounded as though he was the only person that Yuuki could trust, but in another way, it could also mean that he was the only person that would listen to her and do her bidding without a fuss ... which annoyed the hunter to no end.
Perhaps, the Yuuki look-alike has noticed this as well for she suddenly said, "You're the only person that can stand up against Kaname."
"No matter what you say, I refuse to take part in any of this."
Having said that, Zero glared defiantly at her, as though he was challenging her authority as a Pureblood. A long moment of silence ensued, with both of them locking gazes while trying to decipher each other's thoughts. Eventually, it was the Yuuki look-alike who broke the silence.
"If that is your decision, I won't force you," she then looked down at the desk beside her, "I will go and confront Kaname on my own. After all, it is my duty to stop him."
When she lifted her gaze from the table and looked back towards Zero, the determined look on her face had softened and a faint smile crossed her lips.
"I am glad that you are doing well, Zero."
It wasn't a smile of joy and relief. Instead, it was a fake smile that Zero had witnessed countless time whenever Yuuki was trying to assure the people around her that she was alright...even when she actually wasn't.
"Good bye..."
Even though Zero knew that, he didn't reach out towards her as she turned her back towards him.
"...and take care."
She was gone and the hunter found himself lying on his own bed with the sunlight streaming through the curtained windows of his room.