Sorry it's been so long! I've been super busy with school and work, so any updates I do will just have to be when I can find the time and have the desire to write lol. But i wrote this one in two days so maybe I can crank out a few chapters. Thank you to all of you who reviewed, faved, and followed! Y'all are awesome :) So this chapter is inspired by Tolstoy...so it's pretty heavy (Gotta love Russian writers lol) I don't have a nifty quote this time since I'm rushing to get this up while I have internet before I head to school.

The young hunter's breath fogged in the bitter air as he solemnly followed his mentor to that dreaded little white building that lay across the school campus. As if the day that lay before them wasn't depressing enough, the weather had turned off quite frigid. And on top of that the grey sky couldn't decide if it wanted to mourn the loss of the unfortunate students with its tears or not, so it was just left sniffling biting sleet onto the browning grass and the coats of the silent hunters. Finally the little office building came into the view of violet eyes and Zero felt his stomach seize against his will, the sour taste of bile threatening at the back of his throat. A few moments later the raven haired hunter in front of him suddenly stopped. Zero came to an apprehensive halt as he watched his master stand motionlessly with the wind pulling at their damp coats.

"Zero, I know you've gone through more shit than any seventeen year old ought to," Yagari sighed while turning and pulling a cigarette and lighter from inside his coat. The teen noticed how the calloused hands trembled ever so slightly as the hunter pushed the stick between his lips and lit up, the shaking dulling somewhat after exhaling a lungful of smoke. Neither of them had been quite right after seeing the corpse of that barn cat writhing around in the dirt pile of a grave. The elder hunter noticed his apprentice hadn't quite lost that glassy look of shock in his violet eyes, and the boy noted that his master's hands never seemed to cease their almost undetectable trembling.

"You're strong Zero," Yagari looked at his pupil heavily as smoke trickled from his lips. "But God knows I don't want you to have to see this. Hell, I don't know if I can get through this with my sanity," the hunter said while looking up into the dark sky blankly, the cigarette falling from his long fingers to the ground where the icy dampness immediately killed the glowing embers. "You don't have to do this with me if you don't want to…is what I'm trying to say," Yagari exhaled heavily while looking his student in the eye once more.

Zero stared quietly for a moment despite the shiver that ran down his spine, either from the cold gust of wind or the broken heaviness that clouded Yagari's single blue eye he couldn't tell.

"I'm coming with you," Zero's quiet voice almost faltered as another chill crawled up the boy's back, this time definitely from the increasing wind. Both he and his mentor pulled their large, canvas raincoats they had found in the maintenance shed tighter and zipped them all the way up, both pulling the hoods over their already damp hair. Yagari nodded silently to the teen before they both set off once again. To the two hunter's surprise, they found a small gathering at the locked door of the infirmary building. Upon reaching the steps, they discovered them to be Takuma, Aidou, and Kain, all damp and cold despite their expensive looking coats and all with shattered eyes.

"Two of our friends are in there as well. We came to help in whatever way we can," Takuma's gentle voice told the raven haired hunter who was drawing the key from his pocket and making his way to the door. There was a silence as the key was slid into the lock and turned, the wind masking the sound of the mechanism clicking open. Yagari stared at the door with his lips set tight for a moment.

"Vampires or not, you're all still just kids," his deep voice murmured. Even the hot tempered Aidou knew the famed hunter wasn't trying to provoke them as they all stared at the ground stonily. "You do what you feel is right," Yagari went on. "Just know that it isn't good," he muttered before turning the knob and opening the door.

Not a word was spoken as the group followed Yagari through the front office down back through the hallway. All of the vampires were immediately aware of the scent of spilt blood, but instead of enticing their thirst, the scent that wafted through the dark halls reeked of a strange odor. One that made their instincts scream at them to turn and run far away from what lay ahead. Even Zero's skin crawled and his nose burned as he followed behind his mentor, who turned and whispered a discreet "Are you ok?" as the neared the end of the hallway, the smell of diseased blood growing stronger.

"It smells…wrong," the boy whispered, the hair on the back of the elder hunter's neck beginning to prickle at the level D's words as they finally turned into the room that had held so many young, doomed lives.

"Oh Christ," Kain's chest heaved as he caught himself against the doorframe, his eyes, like his friends', staring horrified at the scene before them. Yagari continued to pick his way down the lines of beds, Zero following numbly behind. While the two hunters began to search for linens, the young nobles found themselves greatly humbled and for one of the first times in their lives…utterly frightened. Takuma was the first to get ahold of himself, his green eyes already red and damp as he stepped over the broken body of a boy his age, his body a testament to the suffering he endured, and found himself in front of a pile of ashes at the bedside of a familiar, yet shrouded figure. The blond slowly knelt down and let a stray tear fall into dusty pile, his fingers slowly tracing through the powder as more and more crystalline drops fell from his eyes.

"Ruka said…she said he did it himself…she saw it in a vision…she said you…that you held him…until he passed," Takuma choked out as he stood to face the raven haired hunter who was standing with his apprentice with stacks of white sheets in both of their hands. Zero darted his eyes to look at Yagari, who remained silent. But the boy had seen a darkness pass over his remaining eye. The other young vampires stared shocked at the gruff hunter. "Thank you," the blond noble quietly said to the older man, who swallowed thickly before nodding slightly and handing the teen a stack of sheets.

The group worked silently and reverently to wrap the ruined bodies of the students in the white sheets. That is, after Zero silently grabbed a box of latex gloves and disposable facemasks and passed them around. No one asked any questions. Now the silver haired boy understood what was going on that day out in the burned cattle fields. Only now, instead of cattle being hauled out to mass graves, it was school children. One by one the shrouded bodies were carried, Rima's small form bridal style carried in Kain's strong arms. Takuma had gathered what was left of Shiki's ashes in a cut off pillowcase and had wrapped it in with Rima's shroud. No one thought they should have to be separated, even in the grave.

The sky finally opened up and began to shower down cold rain as the group proceeded to fill the earthen graves back up with shovelfuls of dirt. Zero watched as the fleece sweater Aidou had on sucked to the boy's flesh with the chilling rain, but despite the noble's chattering teeth he continued to pull his weight with the rest of them. The teen vampire was startled to feel a tap on his shoulder, but found himself floored when he turned to see his Ethics teacher holding out the overly large canvas raincoat toward him. Yagari said nothing as the boy took it with shocked eyes, his wet, black hair beginning to stick to his face as they all finished covering the graves.


When Yagari and Zero came dripping into the kitchen they were surprised to be met with warm towels from the dryer given to them by Yori and Yuki. There were also bowls of steaming soup on the table and a fresh pot of coffee ready for them after they had changed into dry clothes. The girls knew exactly what they had been doing and wanted to offer what little comforts they could after having to do such a morbid job.

Although his body was exhausted, Zero felt it would be a long time before he could sleep as he padded toward his room after taking a blistering shower. The boy felt horribly numb, but felt that at the slightest lapse, he would fall apart after everything he had seen within twenty four hours. His mind felt foggy and heavy as he turned the knob and shuffled into his room, but he was instantly startled to find Yuki sitting on the edge of his bed in a pair of pink and green frog theme pajama pants with a pink tank top.

"Yuki," Zero quietly uttered with his eyes still wide, his cheeks burning slightly as he realized he was only clad in his grey lounge pants.

"I wanted to make sure," Yuki began, her own cheeks taking on a pink hue. "I wanted to make sure…you are alright Zero," Yuki nervously said while twisting the fabric of her fuzzy pants. "I um…I know you're tired," she began to tumble her words together as the boy silently walked toward her, his eyes hidden behind his damp locks. "I don't want to bother you…" she began to get up, but before she could Zero had sank listlessly onto the bed beside her, his head falling in the crook of her shoulder as he leaned against her warm, little body. The girl could feel him starting to tremble, her arms coming to wrap around him protectively as she pulled him close. "I'm sorry Zero," her quiet voice soothed him, her fingers lightly running up and down his back in a comforting motion. The boy lay listlessly against the girl he loved more than anything for a few minutes before coming to wrap his arms around her as well trying desperately to keep himself from falling apart by burying himself in her warmth.

A warm tingle buzzed up the young hunter's back when Yuki cradled his head against her neck, her fingers moving to run slowly through his silky hair.

"You can talk to me Zero," Yuki's warm breath tickled his skin. God knows he wanted to break down and cry like a little child in her arms. To tell her the reality of what horrific plague had come over the earth. To sob shamelessly about how frightened he was. About how hard it was to watch Cross die slowly day by day. How hard it was to watch the pain his mentor had to go through watching his best friend suffer so much.

But he couldn't do that. He had to stay strong for her. He had to protect her. And he just couldn't bring himself to tell her the gruesome truth of the disease. He knew she more than likely knew Cross wasn't going to make it, but telling her what happens afterward…and what has to be done to prevent it…would break her. The boy could only shake his head and cling to her tighter.

"It's ok Zero, you don't have to," Yuki whispered before shifting so both of them were lying together on his bed. The hunter still clung to her small frame for a few more, precious minutes before finally pulling away, Yuki's soft brown eyes meeting his as she pushed his bangs from his face. "Are you alright, Zero?" Yuki asked softly, her cool fingers tracing soothingly down his pale cheek. In that moment, he couldn't stop looking into those wide, brown eyes. The light that radiated from them despite the hell around them was like a shot of morphine to his veins. His chest began to ache strongly. God he lived just to be able to look into those beautiful eyes of hers. She kept him alive by her smile alone.

"Zero?" Yuki's worried voice broke him from his musing. Without hesitating the boy rolled over and captured her little pink lips with his own, a little gasp escaping her before her tense body relaxed. He couldn't try to explain the horror he had seen or how badly he ached for her in words, but Yuki could feel every raw emotion the young hunter was feeling as he frantically kissed her. Though neither of them had ever had experience with such intimacy before, there was no awkwardness as Yuki began to kiss him back, her hands threading through his damp hair. Never breaking their embrace Zero slowly maneuvered himself on top of Yuki's slender frame, his lips trailing up and down her neck to come back to meet her lips. For once the lust of blood didn't cross his mind. The rotten smell of the diseased blood had extinguished that for quite some time. What he was feeling now he didn't want to call lust, for he loved the girl he showered with scorching kisses more than he had anyone, but his body felt hot and yearning. He felt alive, but at the same time destroyed and raw.

Every kiss and every touch set Yuki's nerve endings ablaze as she felt Zero's slender fingers trace the outline of her body. Her own hands moved to slide up the cool skin of his stomach and chest, his muscles lean and hard under her fingers. Her heart raced as he groaned hot breath against her neck, either in a moan or a sob she couldn't tell.

Zero knew his resolve was quickly dying, and as badly as he wanted to share such an intimate experience with Yuki, he knew it wasn't the time yet. It took everything in him to slow his kisses down to gentle caresses, and when his heart finally began to calm he kissed her slowly before whispering "I love you" against her lips.

"I love you too Zero," Yuki smiled softly before the young hunter lowered himself beside her.

"Stay here with me tonight," the boy said while nestling beside her, his eyes suddenly growing heavy with exhaustion as his body sagged into the sheets. "Please," he whispered tiredly before growing quiet in encroaching sleep, Yuki's sweet scent and quiet breathing quickly lulling him into slumber.


While thankfully no other students grew ill, Cross continued to grow worse at an agonizing pace due to the strong concentration of pure blood in his veins. While the average human was gone in a few days, the average noble vampire in just over a week, Cross still lingered well after three weeks.

Though his damaged throat had healed enough for him to speak somewhat again and allow him to take in small meals of broth, Yagari knew they were on borrowed time as the fever still raged at sweltering levels. Yagari had to wonder just what those boiling temperatures were doing to the legendary hunter's insides as the headmaster spent his days shivering and cringing incessantly against the aching chills. Most days were painfully slow and uneventful, Yagari and Zero taking shifts either trying to keep Cross's fuzzy mind off of the pain or watching him slip into fevered fits of sleep. Yuki would spoon feed him warm broth when he was strong enough to eat or would sit beside him on the ornate bed and read aloud from one of his novels as he fought to hold onto her gentle voice in the midst of the burning fog.

Almost four weeks after Yagari had brought Cross home trembling and sick as a dog, his body finally began to deteriorate. Zero was downstairs on the couch next to Yuki, who were both listening to Yori and Takuma talk idly while the other night class students sat quietly around the room. The few that remained, Ruka, Kain, Aidou, and Takuma, had begun to spend more time at the Headmaster's quarters since without Kaname, they really had nowhere else to go. Yuki was almost asleep leaning against Zero's warm body when they were all startled by Yagari's deep voice yelling Zero's name. In no time the teen was flying up the stairs and down the hall, although he stopped short when he entered the bedroom.

"It's a seizure," Yagari's wrecked voice said as Zero couldn't tear his eyes from his adoptive father. The boy had always thought seizures were something violent and brutal, but Cross's body wasn't jerking in the slightest.

In fact it was quite the opposite.

The headmaster's frail body was stretched in an unnatural backward curve, his limbs rigid and unmoving curled awkwardly against his chest. His neck was thrown back and his eyes stared ahead wide and unblinking, the jaw clenched tightly. Every muscle was locked and frozen.

"What…what do we do?" the boy asked unnerved, Yagari not hearing him as he took his friend's face in his hands.

"Dammit Kaien, you have to breathe," the hunter said through gritted teeth when he noticed the thin chest wasn't rising and falling, but the sick man's pulse raced beneath his fingers. Just when Yagari thought he was about to panic, Cross's stone like muscles slowly released, a soft groan escaping his chapped lips as his neck slowly lolled against the pillow. Almost immediately the ill man began to breathe faster in panicked little pants, his eyes darting around in a confused delirium as pitiful little frightened noises escaped his chest.

"Kaien it's alright, I'm right here, it's ok," Zero watched Yagari soothe the shuddering headmaster, his rough voice again so unnatural to the boy's ears. "Easy, easy, don't try to speak…just lie still alright," the hunter continued softly, his tanned hand brushing the limp straw colored hair from wide and terrified hazy, amber eyes, Cross's chest sucking in air hungrily while exhaling little, agonized groans.

"Master…" Zero's voice caused the hunter to pause from trying to calm his miserable friend. The single eye lifted to see the boy staring utterly horrified at the sheets, Yagari's body going cold as he followed his student's gaze to see a large, damp stain across the lower half of the shivering body…the color of rust.

"God help us," the hunter's breath strained in his chest as he stared powerlessly, Zero's hands tearing through his hair. Quickly getting a hold of himself, Yagari stood and softly grasped the boy's arm, bringing the panicked teen back to reality. "Zero, go run a warm bath, not too hot… he wouldn't be able to stand it," Yagari directed his student stonily, the teen nodding quickly before briskly walking toward the large spa like bathroom.

The sound of running water filled the quiet room as Yagari began to slowly pull the heavy sheets back. Cross's breath hitched as the cool air hit his blistering skin, his breath becoming stilted as he tried to keep from groaning as his shivering muscles burned intensely.

"I…I'm s…sorr," the ex hunter weakly struggled to get out as Yagari bent over him, the hunter catching sight of a few shining drops sliding down the flushed cheek before he softly quieted his ill friend.

"No, don't you say that. I'm the one that's sorry," the hunter felt his renowned composure dying away as he threaded his rough fingers through Cross's dull locks. "Shit Kaien, I'm sorry," Yagari's voice became hoarse as he carefully slipped his arms beneath his friend's thin body. The hunter winced at Cross's pitiful yelp as he slowly lifted him from the bed, the ex hunter's breath hitching violently with every step Yagari took. The blonde's face was already covered in a sheen of sweat by the time Zero had shut off the water and turned to see his mentor entering with his half-conscious legal guardian. With his bones feeling as if they were jarring and grating against each other and his newly damaged muscles set ablaze by any movement, Cross had slipped into a hazy fog as his closest friend and his adoptive son humbly began to undress him. Neither of them commented on the strange bruising that was already beginning to cover the man's translucent skin, the torn muscles bleeding beneath the pale flesh. With the ex hunter like a rag doll, Yagari slipped off his boots and stepped into the large garden tub with what appeared to be a Holocaust victim in his arms. The warm water seeped into his dark jeans and made its way up his navy long sleeved t-shirt as he knelt and supported Cross's upper body while Zero gently washed his matted hair and sponged the dried sweat from his skin.

Yagari would remember that night, with both of them dry and the headmaster resting on fresh sheets in his bed, as one of last where he was actually speaking with his lifelong friend Kaien Cross. The hunter had been sitting silently by his comrade's bedside, the more hours that passed the more he noticed Cross fighting to keep his hazy eyes open despite the obvious weariness on the man's face.

"Why are you fighting sleep so hard old man?" the hunter asked lightly as he sighed and leaned back in his wooden chair, his gaze shifting to Cross who swallowed with some difficulty.

"I'm scared Toga," Yagari was shocked to hear Cross say so calmly. Seeing his friend debating on whether to ask the rather stupid question "why?" Cross inhaled as deeply as his aching chest would allow before looking intently at the younger hunter. "I'm scared that…if I don't… wake up here…that…I'll wake up…in Hell," the blond rasped between heavy breaths, his gentle eyes becoming misty once again.

Yagari felt like he had been kicked in the gut as he let his arms fall from where they had been crossed over his broad chest. "Kaien…" he said worriedly, his hand coming to rest on the headmaster's arm. The gruff hunter felt his friend shake beneath his touch as Cross squeezed his eyes shut in a fruitless effort to keep tears from spilling out onto his burning cheek. The ex hunter bit his chapped lip in a last ditch effort to hold himself back, but a broken sob forced its way out.

"I slaughtered…so many lives…like they meant nothing," Cross's strained voice hitched, Yagari moving to sit by his side. "Killing…made me feel alive. I was…so cold and then I met her and…I wasn't there to protect her and…I can't even protect her daughter after I promised now," Cross quickly grew more and more upset before Yagari took his tear stained face between his calloused hands.

"Kaien stop," the hunter said sternly, but then used his thumb to gently wipe the tears from beneath the red rimmed eyes, Cross sniffing softly while catching his breath. "Don't talk like that. Please, don't talk like that," Yagari felt his own throat tightening. "You didn't want that life…I could see it in your eyes when I was just a kid…you've got the biggest heart of anyone I know and that lifestyle almost killed you," the raven haired hunter squeezed his friend's shoulder. "You loved her, I know, and God knows I understand not being able to save the ones you love but it's not your fault. But look at her daughter. Yuki made you alive again. There's not a better father on this earth compared to you. Look what you did for Zero…what I couldn't do," Cross felt Yagari's grip tighten on his shoulder. "You're not going to hell," the older man barely heard his friend whisper.

"Toga, you've been the only real friend I've had through all of my years…I know…you wouldn't lie…to me," Cross's voice grew softer as a weak smile played on his colorless lips as his eyes drifted closed. But the smile soon faded as Cross turned his head on the pillows, Yagari noticing he looked as if he was going to break down again. "Toga…I don't want…to become whatever it was that…that poor student became when she…" the ex hunter struggled to speak clearly while tears began to flow down his flushed skin yet again.

"I'm not gonna let that happen to you," Yagari felt his chest seize as he spoke, though he prayed that he wasn't lying to his dying friend. "I promise Kaien," the hunter said earnestly, Cross nodding weakly and trying his hardest to smile at his best friend when he began to feel incredibly weak and sleepy, as if he had been drugged again.

"Kaien…" Yagari said in a rush as the ex hunter's grin slowly fell, his body going lax again. "Don't…don't leave…not now," black waves bounced as Yagari shook his head leaning over the still figure. To his surprise Cross's hazel eyes creaked open, a faint and weak grin once again fighting to stay on his lips as he raised a shaking arm up, soft fingertips sliding along the hunter's roughened cheek…before they fell limply to the sheets below.

That was the last time Yagari saw Kaien Cross, though his still breathing body remained. The fever had finally burned out what was left of the man Kaien Cross in the ex hunter's brain. Not an hour after he had slipped into unconsciousness another seizure took hold of the ill headmaster's body, blood seeping from his lips from where the unyielding jaws had bitten the side of his cheek, Yagari later discovering the force had also cracked some teeth as well. The gruff hunter felt something hot and moist in his remaining eye as his hands rested uselessly on the rigid body of his friend, the pit of his stomach cold at the way the fragile body contorted so horribly. Finally the already black and blue muscles gave once again and for the longest time Cross lay there paralyzed with his eyes barely cracked open and blurry, little whimpers escaping his chest with every exhale. After a few hours he still hadn't come out from it, and when the morning sun appeared on the horizon and the ex hunter was still staring blankly through half open eyes, the whimpering slowed just somewhat, Zero creaked open the bedroom door to see his master leaning over the trembling body, his face hidden with his hands threaded through his black tresses and gripping them with a force that was turning his knuckles white. The boy swallowed hard and silently slipped back out, a bit unsteady as he padded back down the stairs.


"Yuki come on and eat, please," puffy, chocolate eyes looked up from the cooling bowl of apple scented oatmeal to see Zero, dark circles under his eyes, looking worried. The girl sniffed and wiped at her nose quickly before pushing the bowl away and setting her elbows on the polished wooden table.

"I just can't," her scratchy voice said meekly. Yuki sniffled again and drug the sleeve of her cotton shirt across her face in a frustrated hurry, trying to hide her face from the young hunter as she did so. She heard him sigh and the scrape of his chair as he got up, but was soon comforted by his warm hand on her shoulder, the other gently prying her balled fist away from her red nose and daubing at her skin with a warm cloth.

"I know you can't," the boy said softly. "But we're all forcing ourselves just to keep going right now and…I need you," those last words made her aching heart flutter. The soft kiss on her cheek and the warm hug against his lean body gave the girl the tiniest of comforts, and so in response she quietly picked up her spoon and began to nibble at the warm meal. Zero's small, relieved grin was interrupted by an unexpected knock at the door. "Stay here alright," he muttered quickly before briskly hurrying out of the dining room.

After seeing a familiar, yet surprising face through the peep hole, Zero quickly unlocked the bolted door and opened it to come face to face with the grey bearded Jinmu.

The usual cockiness and arrogance was nowhere to be found as the older hunter stood looking worn, his clothes looking like they had been through hell and hadn't seen a washer in days. The boy noticed there were numerous small cuts and bruises on the man's roughened skin.

"Zero, I need to speak with Cross and Yagari right now," the man said calmly, but Zero was quick to pick up on the controlled urgency. The teen stepped aside to let the elder hunter in and motioned for him to follow. Yuki looked on with bewildered eyes as they passed through the kitchen, Jinmu nodding a quick greeting before they left. The two hunters passed through the living room of silent teenage vampires until Zero opened the door of one of Cross's meeting rooms.

"I'll get Master for you," the boy said flatly as Jinmu entered the little room.

"Where's Cross?" the deep voice asked against Zero's back, the boy inhaling sharply before replying.

"He's…ill," the teen muttered without turning around, knowing his face was way too obvious. Before the boy could walk off he was startled to be pushed aside by the senior hunter, who was determinedly making his way toward the stairs. Zero sprinted behind him until the elder hunter darted into the bedroom, Zero's heart pounding in his chest as he entered to see Jinmu staring shocked at the bed, Yagari's single eye staring back brokenly as he held onto Cross's once again rigid body. The two men stared at each other for what seemed like an eternal silence, that is until Cross's pathetic moans filled the room again as his body sagged against Yagari's hands.

"Good God," the grey bearded hunter mumbled blankly to himself as he stiffly walked to the bedside. "Jesus Cross, you poor bastard," Jinmu whispered as he laid his hand against the burning forehead. "Yagari, we need…to have a talk…right now," the older hunter said slowly, his cracked hand moving to smooth back the lifeless strands of blond hair that had fallen into Cross's blank face before he took one thumb and gently pulled one of the half open eyelids down, a dilated, glassy pupil staring ahead as he let it go and straightened himself.

After reluctantly leaving his comrade's side, Yagari followed his coworker down the stairs and into the meeting room, Zero left behind carefully blotting the red tinged foam that was beginning to gather at the corners of his adoptive father's mouth.

Neither man said anything for some time as Jinmu sat in one of the leather chairs staring at the wooden table with his head against his fist and Yagari slowly pacing at the end of the table avoiding eye contact.

"He's suffering Toga," the older hunter finally spoke up, not missing the immediate bristling of the younger.

"You don't think I know that?" Yagari returned darkly, finally looking hard at the man in front of him as he came to a halt.

The grey bearded hunter sighed and rubbed his cut up face with his hands. "You know what I'm getting at Yagari," Jinmu said in a softer tone, his own voice seeming to grow weak as he spoke the words. "Son, Kaien's already gone…"

"I KNOW!" the raven haired hunter slammed his fist on the table nearly cracking it, Jinmu genuinely broken at the way the usually stoic and equally cocky hunter leaned over the table shaking. The older hunter watched Yagari run long fingers through his messy locks angrily as he straightened. "Shit I know it. I know. I know I waited too long. I knew it when I brought him home. I knew when I saw those dead kids. I know…but," Yagari hesitated, spent. Jinmu swore the man looked like he was going to fall apart at any second as a shaking hand supported the younger hunter against the table. "It was hard enough with Luce. But, she was like an…an animal by then and...Zero was so small…she was trying to kill him and the adrenaline and it just…it just happened but," Yagari sucked in his breath. "But he's just lying there so…helpless. I thought having to do it for Luce was going to kill me afterward but this…" Yagari trailed off, not able to find his breath easily anymore.

"I'm not asking you to Toga," Jinmu said softly as he watched the man he still could call a boy sag against the table. "You two were close. No one's asking you to do that," he continued quietly. "But let him go Toga…he'll be better off than any of us will be," the older man said heavily. "It's hell out there. People get scared…start killing each other. I barely made it out of the city. Toga we lost over half our people…the Association, with the rest of the town…was bombed. Out of nowhere helicopters and jets brought fire to the city and men dressed in riot gear gunned down anyone they saw. I think they were just as scared as we were…only they had guns that could kill people…and we didn't have time to get to ours," the older man looked off blankly as Yagari stared at him in shock. "And then…those things started walking out of the flames…their skin melting off their bones…but they just kept stumbling along in a herd. That stupid, idiot kid Hideki tried to cut them down with his blade even when I was screaming at him to leave them and run but he didn't listen and got himself bit taking a bad swing. They were on him in no time. I had a few bullets left in my sad excuse for a pistol. At least he didn't have to feel those things tearing him apart anymore," Yagari sank into one of the leather chairs numb as his coworker looked off and bit the end of his calloused thumb. "God forbid Cross becomes of them, regardless of what we may think is cruel," he finished as he turned to Yagari, the later exhaling heavily before nodding slowly.


That afternoon everyone but the grey bearded hunter drove out to the school gates in the black SUV, Yagari and the boys getting out silently with spades and a pair of post hole diggers in hand. Yuki sat in the passenger seat next to Yori staring blankly at them beginning to dig a square hole in front of the ornate iron gates, tears absently rolling down her flushed cheeks as she lifelessly leaned against the door, Ruka sitting in the back watching her, for once, with compassion in her eyes. When she heard a little sob from the small girl in the front, the aloof vampire beauty climbed to the front of the vehicle to wrap her arms around the trembling girl and hold her, along with Yori, as the men continued to work with stone faces.

They had all said their goodbyes.

Zero was amazed at the control Yuki had over herself as she whispered her goodbyes to her still delirious adoptive father, her tearful smile never leaving her face as she bent down and kissed the burning cheek.

Yagari was the last of them. The group waited quietly in the car for a long time when the raven haired hunter finally appeared and listlessly got into the driver's seat, no one saying anything as they drove away from the school.


Cracked hands worked to tie a blue, elastic band around the thin, pale arm of the ill headmaster. The blue veins pushed against the translucent skin almost immediately, the hunter pulling the cap off of a syringe with his teeth before positioning the needle against one of the blue vessels. Blood filled the syringe and stained the clear morphine inside as the hunter released the band and depressed the syringe.

"I know old boy, but you'll be resting easier soon my friend," Jinmu gently spoke as Cross groaned softly at the needle's contact. The aging hunter taped the needle in place and unscrewed the empty syringe, taking another, larger one filled with the same liquid and putting it in its place ready to be injected. The hunter then sat down next to the bedside, waiting for the first dose to allow the tortured man to slip into an easy unconsciousness. Minute by minute Cross's rapid and raspy breathing became slower, his soft groaning coming to a stop as his hazy eyes finally slipped closed after some time had passed. When he had been still for a few minutes the grey bearded hunter rose from his seat. A rough finger gently lifted a heavy, bruised eyelid and saw no response or reflex.

"Go on home my friend," Jinmu felt his voice tighten as he took hold of the larger syringe. "Go home to that pretty little girl that stole your heart all those years ago. Don't remember anything about the blood that coats our pasts as hunters. Don't look back my friend," the hunter felt his eyes grow moist as he depressed the lethal dose of painkillers. After a minute the old hunter felt his heart twinge when the frail chest took one last, deep inhale…and then fell still. Pressing his fingers against the pale neck, and then to the bony wrist confirmed that Kaien Cross was finally at peace.

"Lord knows I don't want to do this to you," the hunter said shakily as he stepped back and took hold of the pistol that rested on the bedside table.


The group was nearly finished when they heard the old pick up making its way toward them, Yagari and Zero stopping what they were doing to stare at the approaching vehicle with sweat trickling into their shattered eyes. Everyone ceased their work as the faded blue truck came to a halt, Yuki stumbling out of the black SUV with Ruka and Yori supporting her as Jinmu solemnly got out of the driver's seat and opened the back door. Yagari stiffly walked toward him and then proceeded to take the shrouded figure from the other man's hands as Jinmu carried Cross's sheet wrapped body to him. Seeing the faint bloodstain on the cream colored sheets broke Yuki as she stumbled from her friends toward Yagari, an agonized sob stuck in her chest as Zero sprinted forward and caught her, both of them sinking to the ground as the girl broke down, Zero holding her tightly and rocking her gently while whispering to her in his own tear cracked voice.

Jinmu stayed leaning wearily against the old truck as the small group laid their friend into the ground, and then joined them in the process of refilling the grave with the rich, red clay dirt. They were almost finished, Yuki calmed somewhat as she sat spent with the other girls, when the ground seemed to tremble beneath them and the sky screamed with the whistling of two jets flying overhead. Before anyone could draw another breath, the earth groaned and the school was covered in smoke and fire that lit up the dusky sky, the flames reflecting in the terror stricken eyes that watched.

Thank you for reading and pretty please review! I'm so dark I know :( but i did sneak some Zeki in there! Thanks again!