AN: Sorry for the late update, I'm making up for it by posting two chapters. I recently spent 13 hours in a car with a terrible head-cold which I'm not over yet (my throat is so itchy! TT^TT), but I have been writing. Again, thank you for your support!
REVIEWS ARE MORE THAN WELCOME
~3rd Night, Call Me Sinful, Embodiment of Hell~
"Drink, and don't say you forgot how to use your fangs or something like that."
Aria…
"…sama?"
"Hmm?"
"Kaname-sama?"
Kaname blinked, "Oh, Aido," he said absently, "What is it?"
"Akatsuki said that new prefect is here, and are you alright? You seem distracted…"
Kaname shook his head, "It's nothing, Aido, just send her up," he said, waving his hand dismissively, "Yuki's back in her room, take her there."
Aido nodded and left the room. He knew well enough not to bother Kaname when he was like this. But, even still, he couldn't help but wonder what was bothering the dorm president.
The prefect girl was waiting patiently at the bottom of the stairs, chatting animatedly with Akatsuki on some unknown subject. Aido just could not bring himself to accept that this girl was a Kiryu. She was…nice, of all things, and wasn't rude in the presence of vampires. Honestly…WHAT THE HELL WAS WRONG WITH HER?
Aido cleared his throat, making them look up at him.
"Kaname-sama has asked me to take you to Yuki-sama. He's too busy right now."
She nodded, "Thank you."
Aido cringed, that wasn't begrudging in the slightest! Who is she? It was rather understandable that the poor blond would be confused about the whole situation. After all, he had suffered numerous times at the hands of Zero and wasn't too keen on the idea of being tortured by this other Kiryu.
She was silent for the walk upstairs, which further unnerved Aido, seeing as she was walking behind him. He turned a couple times to look back at her, his suspicion blatantly obvious. She raised her only visible eyebrow inquisitively.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
He narrowed his eyes and studied her, "Are you really related to Kiryu Zero?" he asked warily, "I'm quite positive you're lying about it."
"It's not uncommon for siblings to have different personalities," she replied dismissively, "It's even less so for half-siblings."
"Still," Aido grumbled, "You're too different from him! He's… annoying… brutal… sadistic… gah! The list just keeps going!"
The girl let out a small laugh, "Well that just goes to show how much you actually know about me," she said, her tone suddenly lower, more dangerous, "did you honestly think that I'm just that gentle and quiet girl you saw yesterday?"
Aido stared at her, the air around them shifted. It was colder, heavier, darker, he swallowed thickly as she proceeded past him, placing her hand on the pair of double doors they had come to, "This is it, right?" she asked, her voice perfectly even and normal as it had been before.
The horrible atmosphere disappeared as quickly as it had materialized and Aido was left standing, dumbstruck, in the hall as the girl entered the room. He then walked away and, when he was satisfied that he was completely out of earshot (Akatsuki was just around the corner, but her was too flustered to realize it), he tugged at his hair and screamed.
"AAAAAHHH! WHY DO ALL KIRYUS HAVE TO BE LIKE THAT?"
"What on earth are you yelling about, Hanabusa?"
"Uh…"
Back in the room, Yuki politely greeted Kai as she gestured to a chair across from her own.
"So what did you want to talk about?" she asked as Kai took her seat.
"The headmaster told me you were the former girl's prefect," she said, "And I wanted some advice before I began my role as the new prefect."
"Well, I guess the first thing you should know," Yuki began, grimacing, "is that the day class girls are relentless when it comes to trying get close to the night class."
"I see."
"I never saw much of the university students since they have class in a different building, but Zero was the one to usually patrol around that area anyway. Still, he told me they were just as bad, possibly even worse."
"mm-hm."
"Kai-san?"
"Yes?"
"You seem distracted…" Yuki said, "Are you alright? I felt some rather awkward atmosphere out there when Aido-senpai brought you up as well."
Kai shook her head, "I'm sorry, but Aido-san needs to learn to keep out of other people's business. I don't like showing my dark side to people, but I like having my affairs pried into even less."
"I see," Yuki said. She could tell that Kai wasn't too keen to pursue that topic and so she changed the subject, "Anyway, is there anything else you'd like to know?"
"Yes," she replied, "is that a Steinway Grand?"
Yuki blinked, then turned in the direction that Kai was pointing, "Oh, the piano? Yes, I think Kaname-sama said something about it being a Steinway, though I really don't know what the significance of it is…"
"Steinways are some of the most beautifully and well built pianos in the world," Kai said, a little spark in her eye, "They produce the best sound as well."
"Do you play?" Yuki asked, "Oniisama's been trying to get me to learn, but I just don't have the talent or the patience for it."
Kai nodded, "Yes, would you like a demonstration?" she asked, Yuki could feel the excitement in the older girl's voice.
"Yes, if you don't mind," she said, smiling as Kai eagerly took her seat at the bench. However, as soon as she opened the lid, that eagerness faded to complete concentration. Kai's spine was now lengthened to it's full and complete height, the tips of her fingers placed delicately on the keyboard, her wrists level, parallel to the floor. She inhaled softly and closed her eyes. Yuki watched in amazement as her fingers danced lightly across the ivory, producing sounds she never thought could be produced on a piano. Yuki's attempts at practicing had usually resulted in something that sounded vaguely like a yowling cat, therefore she had come to assume that the piano could never result in anything remotely pleasant. However, listening to Kai play, she realized how wrong she was.
The piece was an interesting one. It was light and happy, yet strange at the same time. It made her think of a train with all the bouncy notes that were played. There were also very peaceful parts, that brought the image of a waterfall to her mind. When Kai finished, she released the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.
"That was Golliwog's Cakewalk, by Claude Debussy," she said with a smile, "It's a peculiar title, I know, but it's always been a personal favorite of mine that I learned when I was fourteen."
"It was beautiful!" Yuki said, "I never thought I'd hear something like that come from a piano!"
Kai laughed, "Well, this is from years of grueling and tedious practice. My master insisted that a lady should learn something more refined when she's not busy training to hunt vampires."
Yuki grimaced, "That's right," she said, "I suppose, as a Kiryu, you'd be obligated to hunt us, wouldn't you?"
Kai blinked, "I don't do it out of a sense of duty, nor do I enjoy my job," she said quickly, "I consider killing a Level E the same as putting a suffering animal out of it's misery. I do it to save them from themselves, not because I take any pleasure from it."
"Really? But Zero-"
"And I are only half-siblings. We share the same father, who's surname I chose to take, but not the same mother."
"Oh, well, who's your mother?"
Kai shook her head, "I've never met her, I only know that the marriage was for…I guess you'd call it diplomatic reasons…though it was more for the sake of experimentation."
Yuki raised an eyebrow, and Kai continued, "All vampire hunters already have a bit of vampire blood in them, some more than others. Cross Kaien, for example, is one of those hunters. They Kiryu family also had somewhat higher levels, but not to the same extent of Cross."
"The chairman…" Yuki said in awe, "I never knew."
"It's only a fact that's really known among hunters. After all, it's part of why he was so legendary back in his day."
"Oh…anyway, Kai-san, you said that the marriage was more experimentation, what did you mean by it?"
Kai looked down at the piano keys, her expression darkening, "The hunters wanted to see if it was possible to create the ultimate hunter, someone who could possess the same strength as the first hunters. As time passed on, the vampire blood that had created the hunters of old thinned with each new generation, thus their strength has lessened considerably. The association then devised a plan to renew that old power by using Kiryu Saito, Zero's and my father, and bonding him to a vampire, who became my mother."
"I was told it was impossible for humans and vampires to have children," Yuki said, confused, "Even if your mother did become pregnant, your father should have died in the process."
Kai nodded, "It's true that humans and vampires shouldn't be able to mix like that, however, as I've told you before, the Kiryu family is one of those lines with a stronger amount of vampire blood in them. Because of this, my father was able to survive sleeping with my mother and I was born nine months later."
"So that means…"Yuki swallowed thickly, "You're…"
"Half-vampire, yes," Kai said, "But I'm not the ultimate hunter."
Yuki blinked, "But, doesn't it stand to reason that-"
"Theories are not always proven correct, Yuki-sama," Kai interjected, "The association didn't, no, couldn't have foreseen the complications that resulted after I was born."
"What happened?"
Kai sighed, "You know that Zero was once destined to fall to Level E, right?"
Yuki nodded.
"Then you know what it's like to watch him fight to control himself?"
Again, Yuki nodded, "Yes, he looked so sad and desperate every time he started to lose control…almost like he hated himself…"
"That's what the headmaster reported to me," Kai said, "And I assume you want to know why I asked."
"Yes."
"I know it seems unlikely, but I walk a finer line between order and chaos than he did," she said, gazing out the window, "I can't afford to lose control of my emotions, or I lose control of myself. I don't lust after blood, but I will attack and try to kill those around me if my senses are that far gone. In general, I can keep myself in check, but if those close to me are harmed, then I can't guarantee the safety of those who hurt them. Trust me, it's not as easy as it seems."
With that she rose and made to leave, but Yuki called her back.
"Wait, are you ever going to see your mother? Do you want to?" she asked.
Kai paused, "I honestly…don't know."
Zero returned to school to find his class bustling with excitement.
"Oh I can't believe it!"
"I'm so happy!"
"I wonder who it will be!"
"Welcome back, Kiryu," Tora clapped him on the shoulder as they sat down, "Heard from the headmaster that you went...uh... hunting."
Zero nodded, "Went a little more quickly that we thought," he said, "Anyway, what's going on with them?" he gestured to a group of girls who were all giggling excitedly.
"Oh them," Tora shook his head, "they're getting all excited because the chairman said that he'd come by today and announce who the new female member of the disciplinary committee would be. They're all hoping it's one of them."
Zero sighed, "That's right, those beasts came back," he grumbled, then shrugged, "As long as it's not someone completely useless, I couldn't care less who it is."
"You seem pretty laid back about this whole thing," Tora said in surprise.
"The hunt was tiring, so I don't exactly have the energy to get all worked up over a new partner."
"SETTLE DOWN CLASS!" Zero groaned as the idiot chairman waltzed into the room in all his sparkling glory, "I HAVE COME TO MAKE THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!"
The girls are cheered excitedly while Zero proceeded to place his head on his arms and take his habitual desk-nap.
"The new prefect is one of the fine young ladies from the University section!"
Zero did his best to ignore the disappointed and outraged cries of the day class girls.
Idiots, of course he wouldn't pick you.
"Please give a warm welcome to KIRYU KAI-CHAN!"
Zero jumped up as his half-sister walked into the room. She grinned and gave him a little wave.
"Don't get up for me, little brother," she said with a laugh, "I'm just here to be introduced."
Tora nudged Zero as he sat back down, "I didn't know you had a sister," he whispered.
"Half-sister," Zero grumbled, "And, though I love her well enough, she's a pain in the butt sometimes."
"I hope you don't think that all the time, Zero-chan," Kai had come up the aisle on her way out and ruffled Zero's hair. He scowled at the added 'chan' she'd put on his name.
"It's been a while, Kai," he grumbled, "And stop doing that!" he cried, swatting her hand away.
She laughed again, "I'll see you at curfew, Zero," she said, exiting the classroom.
Again, PLEASE REVIEW! If you like the story, please tell me what you like! If you have any constructive criticism, I'd be glad to hear it!
I'm going to elaborate a bit more on Kai and Zero's relationship later on, but for now I just wanted to get in this little brief meeting between the two of them. Yin will be coming back as well, but the next chapter is more devoted to developments with the vampires.
