A/N

First, a thank you to lovelyanimeangel for the review. Hope you like this chapter as well! And second, well...here's chapter three. It's long -as usual- and unfortunately does not feature any goings on at Cross Academy -but it's all for a good reason. I think.

Right, well, hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Disclaimer: Hino Matsuri's - remember? Not mine.

Chapter Three: Secrets of the Hunters' Association

"Will you believe me if I were to tell you that it is not safe to discuss these matters here, Touga-kun?" questioned Cross, a somewhat unusual serious expression on his face as he observed the dark haired man leaning against the shop wall. They were in a deserted side-road –the first one that they managed to find empty, before the dark haired man had quickly begun demanding answered to his damned questions.

The sounds of what appeared to be a normal morning in town were still audible where they were, but it was muffled as they were away from the main market area.

The Hunter shrugged at his friend when he realized he wasn't going to elaborate on that.

"Do you have a logical reason for it not being safe?" he asked, slowly. His friend nodded.

"A perfectly logical reason," he said, "one which, I am afraid, was once just a guess..."

"Until that conversation with the girl at the stall?" queried Touga, smirking at the expression on the ex-Hunter's face. "I may not know what's going on, Cross, but I do have some kind of a brain."

"Of course." There was a pause. "Touga, I will explain everything –I promise- once we get out of here. I am afraid that there are...watchful eyes here, in this town, and it wouldn't do either of us any good for me to reveal everything to you and for them to hear it."

The dark haired Hunter pursed his lips together, gauging from his brunet companion's face that he was being serious; and that he desperately wanted him to understand and leave it at that. But he still had many questions to ask him...

"Would the man at the vegetable stall earlier be one of those...watchful eyes?" he asked, instead, recalling the unsettling middle aged man and his careful observation of the two of them.

Cross Kaien sent him a reluctant smile.

"Unfortunately," he said, with a curt nod. "I am afraid that I walked right into that one, without realizing it until it was too late." He sighed as he adjusted the lapel of his long coat. "I can hide my appearance well enough, as not many people have seen me in many years to be able to...recognize me..." he trailed off, "but you, on the other hand, are easily recognizable."

Touga frowned, about to make a sharp comment or two, when his mind processed his friends words.

"...Not many people would recognize you," he said, slowly, his brow slightly furrowed. "Or me, for that matter. I am not well known to normal people such as those here, and until you founded the Academy, you were only well known by the Assoc--" Realization dawned on him just as the grim expression on the ex-Hunter's face confirmed the sudden thought. "Ah. I...see."

Spies from the Association, he thought to himself, but why would they be here, in this particular town? What could they be keeping an eye on...? Or perhaps they are hiding something...? He remembered the girl at the scarf-stall had mentioned something about 'they' and how 'they' had arrived four years ago –he was willing to bet that they 'they' were the spies...but what had happened four years ago to cause the Association to send out spies?

Four years ago...well, it can't have been anything to do with the civil war of sorts that was moving along with the vampires, for the Kuran Lord and Lady were killed close to six years ago –if he had his facts right, that is. And the Council...well, they hadn't done anything outlandish or too suspicious...

Then what...?

His one blue eye narrowed all of a sudden. Kiryuu Hiro and Yumi were killed four years ago; killed by the –now deceased- Pureblood Hiou Shizuka. Zero had been bitten, and Ichiru...well, he had surrendered to his darker thoughts and feelings. But, he wondered, confused, of what importance would that be to the Association?

"If you are thinking of what I think you're thinking of, then you are on the right track," said Cross, suddenly interrupting his inward musings. He stared hard at the brunet.

"But what would that have to do with...anything?" he questioned, quietly.

"I will let you know in due time, Touga," said Cross, as he brushed his brown hair out of his face. "But for now, I think we should take ourselves to the residential area of the town...there are some questions that are yet to be answered after all."

The famous Hunter frowned.

"Yeah, well, all of my questions are yet to be answered," he muttered, as his friend grinned at him. "Fine, fine, let's...go do whatever it is you came here to do, and then take the time to have things expla--" Stopping in mid-sentence, the dark haired man quickly pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against and, before his companion could even blink, he had moved to the far end of the side-street and vaulted over a stack of empty crates before briefly disappearing from his friend's sight.

Cross gave a start as he moved forward.

"Touga?" he queried, tentatively, as he heard the unmistakeably sounds of a scuffle. He had almost made it to the crates he had seen his friend vault over, when the dark haired Hunter reappeared from around the stack.

Except he wasn't alone.

Meanwhile:

"I don't believe this," snarled the short haired woman, almost baring her teeth as she stared at the seated figure before her. "I don't fuckin' believe this." She took in a shuddering breath. "How could you –how could any of you--" She stopped short, an angered growl leaving her lips. "To think that you would go as far as to trust them! Have you forgotten what they have done? Have you forgotten what some members of the Council are capable of? Of what they are suspected--"

"-As amusing as it is to watch you lose your prized control," cut in the smooth voice of the long haired female, seated at the desk, "I must ask you to calm down, Harada-san."

Her companion snorted.

"Calm down? You expect me to calm down when I find out about the secret dealings of the Association? The same Association that was supposed to do everything possible to protect its' members and not sell them out to some manipulative bastards?"

The other woman stared at her fan –an item she was rarely seen without- as though it was an object of greater interest than the enraged woman standing before her.

"You would do well to think before you speak, Harada-san. Valuable though you are to us and our cause, it does not mean that the Association will overlook insubordination from one of its members."

"Insubordination? Hah! If the Association had been honest with its members all along, there wouldn't be any of this so-called 'insubordination'," retorted the angry woman, running an agitated hand through her short red hair. "And how dare you. How dare you try and accuse me of insubordination after all that I have done for you?"

The stately dressed woman shrugged, still look looking at her.

"I have never ridiculed or put down your hard work," she said, still sounding as calm and tranquil as she almost always did. "I simply speak of what I see before me."

"You only see what you want to see," spat out the red haired woman.

She flinched, despite all her bravado, as her superior slammed her fan down on the surface of her table. A tensed silence filled the private office they were in as the long-haired woman slowly raised her beady eyes to look at her.

"I am afraid that I am going to have to ask you to remove yourself from my sight, Harada-san," she said, quietly. Her beady eyes narrowed as she noticed the younger woman looking ready to speak. "And do be careful with what you say...it could be used against you at some point in the future..."

The red haired woman narrowed her own eyes, sensing a double meaning behind the comment.

"Is that a threat?" she asked, casually, even though her insides shook with a mixture of anger, confusion and, mostly, of fear. Fear of the woman seated before her.

A wry smile appeared on the seated woman's face.

"What purpose would I have to threaten a loyal member of the Association such as yourself?" She saw the quick spark in the other's eyes and smiled slightly as she wisely held her tongue. "Leave me," she said, dismissively, the smile leaving her lips. "Now."

The angered woman stared at her superior for a long moment, clenching her hands into fists, before she gave a curt nod. Without even bothering with politeness, she turned on her heel and stalked towards the door, suddenly feeling the need to get the hell out of the room and into the training halls in the lower levels of the Headquarters.

She had quite a bit of anger to take out on the practice dummies there. And afterwards...afterwards, she would head to the one place that she knew of that harboured those who would allow her to discuss her latest findings; and they would certainly know more than she did about said findings, such as whether or not they were accurate, and if they were, how accurate they were.

"Oh, and Harada-san?" She paused, not bothering to turn back to face her superior. "I must ask you to remember that the Association has only allowed one active Hunter to remain in that place..." She froze at the comment. "In other words, it would be in your best interests if you stayed away from Cross Academy, for we will know if you so much as set one foot through the Academy's gates. Is that clear?"

The red haired woman swallowed despite her slowly increasing fear. Well, that had confirmed at least one of her suspicions.

"Of course, President," she said, her voice hollow, before she wrenched the door open and slammed it shut behind her.

The bespectacled ex-Hunter watched as the short, stocky man twisted in his friend's grip, a fearsome scowl on his face as each of his attempts at getting him to loosen his grip were met with failure.

"You can try that all you want," said Touga, his voice low, "but you're not getting away." With that, he shifted his gaze to his friend. "Would you reckon he's one of the 'watchful eyes'...?"

Cross, who had been eyeing the short man somewhat warily, stalked forward and, after a moment's deliberation, searched the pockets of the man's jacket. He hit the jackpot a moment later when he withdrew a set of daggers –daggers that had a familiar motif etched onto the blades. He held up the daggers so his friend could see them for himself.

"Oh, yes," he said, as his friend's eye darkened. "I would say that he is most certainly one of them." He eyed the man through his glasses, taking in the defiant expression on his face and his tensed posture. "Would you mind telling us why you were spying on us?"

The man glared at him, and said nothing. "Ah, it doesn't matter. We –or I, rather- already know." He paused. "Alright then, how about this one; how many of you are there in this town?"

He was met with silence once more. "Okay, one more try; do the townspeople here know who you are? Do they know of your intentions?" The glare he was receiving only intensified, and, much to Touga's exasperation, he started to pout. "Why? Why won't you answer me?? A-Am I really that unlikeable? Is that it? Is that why?"

The dark haired Hunter couldn't say who was more surprised by this outburst; him or the spy. In any case, he took advantage of the moment.

"There are other ways to get people to talk," he said, his voice nonchalant, as he increased the pressure on the twist he had the man's arm bent in, causing him to cringe. "...And unfortunately for you, I happen to know quite a lot about --oh for the love of -will you shut up?!" Cross quietened down with an indignant sniff as he saw his friend's glare.

"Do you mind? I'm trying to get him to lower his guard so that he'll let something slip," he said, in a whisper-scream.

"Brilliant plan," said Touga, sarcastically, "especially since you just told him about it."

"You're mean," said Cross, as his pout deepened, before he crossed his arms over his chest. "All I'm trying to do is to save this poor gentleman the...ugly event of you taking charge of the questioning. Is that so wrong?"

A grin appeared on the Hunter's lips.

"No, it's not," he said, "but it's stupid. If we want to get this –whatever this is- over and done with quickly, then I had better take charge here..."

"Yes, but-"

"-Look, the town may be small, but if we keep on running into people like him, then it'll take us quite a while to reach the residential area you were speaking of earlier. It's best if I-"

"-We won't let you get to her."

The dark haired Hunter stared at the captive spy, puzzled by his words.

"What?"

He saw the man twist his head around partially, and saw the sneer on his face.

"No matter what you do, we won't let you get to her. We won't let you derail all our hard work and planning."

"What are you-"

"So you do have her." The comment caused both men to look forward, to where Cross was standing. His face was lowered, making it difficult to see his expression. "They were right, then, those reports..."

"Kaien, what the hell are you-" The dark haired Hunter trailed off when his friend looked up; the expression on his face was a cold one...one that he had not seen in a few years; one that he usually wore when he was beyond less-than-pleased. He felt the Association spy tense in his hold and twisted his arm harder, earning a pained gasp as a reward.

"If she has been harmed in any way..." hissed the once affable Chairman, before he fixed his now stony eyes on his surprised friend. "Come, Touga, we have to go." He saw his friend's hesitation. "Touga, we don't have any time to waste," he said, an urgent note reaching his voice.

"What do we do with mister horrible spy over here?" he questioned, looking down at the man.

Cross shrugged.

"Knock him out," he suggested. "I don't care what you do –we have to get going."

"Okay, okay, calm down," muttered the dark haired Hunter, still quite surprised with his friend's...odd behaviour. He saw the cold glance he received from said friend, and scowled. "What the hell crawled up your ass and died, Cross?" he snapped, not amused.

"Can we just go? I swear, Touga, if we-"

"-You can hurry all you want," gasped the short man, willing himself to not show any more signs of pain as the dark haired Hunter tightened his grip on his twisted arm. "By the time you get there, the others would have moved her. A-And –" he took in a quick, pained breath, "-you'll never be able to find her again. Traitors like you will never be allowed to find her-" He was cut off when he was cuffed hard on the back of his head by the dark haired Hunter.

"That's enough from you," he said, warningly, deciding that it was probably best to do as his friend had said and knock him out before he could delay them any further. Delay them from what he didn't know, but it seemed to be important to the brunet...so he was willing to bet that it was rather...serious. "Who is this 'she' you keep referring to anyway?" he muttered, curiously.

The man sent the still brunet a surprised look, honestly surprised that his captor did not know. Suddenly feeling a powerful wave of dread rising in him, he kept his mouth shut, his face turning pale as he saw the dark expression that flashed quickly across the ex-Hunter's face.

"I was hoping to explain it all to you later, Touga," said the ex-Hunter, his eyes fixed on his friend. "But..." he trailed off. "No matter. Do you remember our conversation on the way here?"

"Which-"

"-About the event that took place nine years ago."

The tall man stiffened, his blue eye narrowing.

"What about it?"

"Remember what I said about...the possibility of someone not being killed at the house, with her parents? How even though there was no evidence of her having escaped, there was none to suggest that she had been killed with her parents?"

Touga's face slowly but surely started to turn pale as he put two and two together; the brunet's sudden, impulsive visit to the town in the middle of nowhere; the conversation in the car; his odd behaviour in the market area; his reluctance to speak while being spied on; and his reaction to the spy's defiant exclamations.

Observing his friend's face, Cross knew exactly when realization started to sit in, and whatever the consequences might be, he stated what he knew his friend to already be suspecting. "Kiryuu Yuzara, Touga. She's somehow alive, here, in this town."

The silence that surrounded the side-street was, ironically, deafening, as none of the three made any move or any sound at all. They simply stared at each other. "Touga--" The ex-Hunter didn't get to say much else as the dark haired man grabbed hold of the spy's shoulders and roughly slammed him, face first, into the wall of some shop or the other.

The sound of flesh and bone meeting the brick wall echoed around them.

"Is this true?" growled out Touga, his voice dangerously low.

But the spy didn't answer –probably because he couldn't answer, as his face was smothered against the wall. Growling once more, the Hunter physically hauled him off the wall before slamming him against it once more, albeit harder. "Is. This. True," he growled out, a dark note entering his voice.

To the spy's credit, he still remained quiet. But what he had said earlier was enough, and therefore, the damage had been done. He was forced to cry out when his previously twisted arm was twisted once more, although this time it was done with such force that it didn't take more than half a minute for a painfully audible 'crack' to echo in the still air around them. The short, stocky man couldn't quite hold back the pained scream as the bone snapped –a scream that was muffled by the fact that his mouth was pressed into the wall.

But the dark haired Hunter didn't seem concerned with this. "For the last time," he said, slowly, ensuring that the man heard every syllable clearly, "Is this true?"

The spy nodded, whimpering in pain. The Hunter growled once more, his aura darkening rapidly. "Then why was she proclaimed dead?" When the Hunter didn't answer, he turned his head slightly and raised his voice. "Kaien. Pass me one of those daggers." The man squirmed in his hold and shook his head violently, scraping it against the rough wall. "...Answer me if you don't want me to cause you any more pain."

With that, he spun him around so he could see his face. The spy balked at the sheer fury reflected in the single blue eye, and swallowed.

"T-The Association," he gasped, his breath coming quickly, "w...anted a p-puppet...!"

"I'm listening."

"W-Wanted a K-Kiryuu puppet. The b-boy...w-was bitten and...and t-taken in by the –the traitor, so he w-wouldn't be easy to...control..."

"So they knew Yuzara was alive all these years? For nine years they knew she was alive?" The Hunter's aura was darkening faster now, and it was clear that the spy sensed this and feared it.

"F-Found her by chance," he said, quickly. "That's all...all I know. They didn't...g-get involved with her life u-until f-four years ago w-when they brought her here. D-Don't know a...nymore. H-Honest."

The Hunter snorted, darkly.

"Because four years ago was when Shizuka attacked the remaining Kiryuus, and when Cross took Zero in." The spy nodded. "Where is she? Where in this town is she?"

The spy shook his head slightly, causing the Hunter to press his arm against his throat, choking him. "...Well?"

"Touga, that's enough."

Cross Kaien stepped forward briskly, evidently having seen and heard enough. "I have an idea where she's being kept." He turned to the gasping spy. "The 'doctor's' private practice, am I correct?" The short man nodded with great difficulty. "Touga, let him go."

"This bastard is one of the reasons why –Kaien, this lowlife knew that--" The brunet held up a hand.

"I know, Touga, I know. But you have to remember that our main priority here is to get Yuzara out of here." He paused. "Besides, I am sure that we'll run into more of the Association's spies when we reach the doctor's practice."

It took a moment or two, but the Hunter eventually nodded slowly, releasing his grip on the thoroughly defeated spy, who quickly sank to his knees. Staring down at him for a moment, he held his hand out to his friend, pointedly eyeing the daggers he still held in them. The Chairman stared at the daggers for a moment, before reluctantly handing one over. He knew that his friend had a reason –that wasn't just pure hatred- to have to kill the spy.

If he was left alive, nothing would stop him from informing the Association of the identities of those who had taken their 'tool' away –and the last thing that the brunet needed was to be hounded even more by the morally corrupt and disgusting organization. Granted, the Association would eventually put two and two together and realize that he and Touga were the only ones who would have had a motive to rescue their would-be puppet...but as long as they did not have any proof, as long as they could be held off for a while...

He watched, detachedly, as, with a quick downward slash, the dark haired Hunter disposed of the spy. He carefully wiped the dagger clean on the man's jacket, before handing it back to Cross, who took it unwillingly.

"Where is this practice?" he questioned after a long, terse silence, as the brunet pocketed the two daggers. "Is it far from here?"

"It shouldn't be too far," said Cross, "Come, follow me."

And the pair headed out of the side street, careful to make sure that their exit wasn't seen so that they would not be held accountable whenever the body was found in the side-street.

They had a mission to carry out.

A/N

I apologize for the lack of scenes involving any of the others in this chapter, but I wanted to clear things up a bit –things regarding the reasons for the Chairman's visit to the town and also things concerning the Hunters' Association. Based on certain manga events, I hate its President with a passion –the deceitful cow- and I was hoping to expand on her motives and her true character a little bit –not that we know for sure what her motives are, but we know from the manga that she was working alongside Ichiou and the Council while they prepared for Kuran Rido's resurrection. And she did mention that she had wanted to try and control Zero, but he wouldn't let her...which got me wondering...but anyway!

I hope this chapter cleared things up, and hope it was enjoyable. Despite the scene with Yagari and the spy. It's my first time writing a scene like that, and I wanted to include it there because Yagari Touga is known as the best Hunter alive –or something like that- and...well, he seems to be the type who, sometimes, finds it hard to control his temper. I don't know, maybe I'm reading too much into things.

That's it from me for now.

Till next time!

Siriusgirl1