Twisted Truth - Chapter six

For Disclaimer see Prequel.

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Kinds of Magic

Magic to be hidden

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Night Class was not what Zero had expected it to be, not that he had ever really thought about it before. It had been always more important to avoid it, even thinking about it. Avoid it, because accepting it meant accepting what he was turning into. Only, it turned out that he had been one of them from the very beginning, had been born a vampire.

Class had been very quiet, annoying silent in a way, but part of him had been glad about it. It was difficult enough to deal with this and adding trouble in class to it would've been more than he could handle right now. Well, every one had been behaving tonight, even Aido and Kain, but Zero was pretty sure that was mostly because of Kaname's mood, the way his eyes were darkening every time his gaze fell on those two.

No, it wasn't like the rebellious Night Class he had known before, not like this with all their eyes on him; well most of their eyes. Ichijo kept trailing secret little glances at his neighbour Shiki, and every time their gazes met they stared at each other as if they were in a trance or something like that. Zero almost chuckled then too, feeling it was kind of refreshingly normal, but caught himself in time when he got a strange look from his neighbour, Kaname.

Well, their curious looks tore at Zero's nerves. More than once he felt like growling and ordering them to quit their silly game and just straightforwardly ask him what they wanted to know. It got to him, that and the ever so light touch from Kaname to his lower arm, meant to calm him down, but in the end it only added to the weirdness of the whole situation. He was sure they had noticed too, but that wasn't it, what really got to him. No, it was the fact that it did actually accomplish what the dark-haired pureblood intended it to do, calming him down.

That had been more irritating than he cared to admit, but things seemed to get weirder and weirder ever since his change into this, this thing, a pureblood. True, he had been aware of the dark haired pureblood's good looks before, who wasn't? Well, it seemed like the lack of hate just made it worse, harder to ignore.

Zero really was glad then when class had ended for tonight, thinking he got rid of their curious looks for the moment, Well, class was over, but no one had returned to their rooms yet, because Kaname had asked them to remain here, in the great hall. Zero had the distinct feeling that his change was again the reason for this. It was, or more so the complication it was for the current truth between vampires and humans, the headmaster's dream of peace.

"I hope you'll understand that this has to stay quiet." Kaname said in a grave voice when everyone was settled down. He was fixing them with a long look from his dark eyes, making sure they understood how serious he was about this. Well, it was that and the nervous edge of his aura keeping them in place. "Don't talk with anyone about this outside of a Night Class." He added then paused for effect. "Not even to your families. No, especially not to your families."

"Yes, but why and … how?" Aido asked glancing from Kaname to Zero and back. It was obvious that he was unsure how to react to this, but too curious not to wonder about the reason behind it.

"Why?" Zero rea peated and shrugged. "Got really no idea of the why or how but I know for sure that this has to be kept quiet." He sat down on one of the armchairs, expecting this to be a long night. "What did they want to accomplish by doing this to us?" he thought, not knowing how to feel about this, about his late family. He was torn between feeling betrayed and a soul-deep loneliness he hadn't known until now. What had they really thought? Raising pureblood children into hunters of all things? They should've known that that wouldn't work, right? Had they even loved them and what about their real parents? He shivered; thinking of the possibilities then shook his head. No, they wouldn't have done that, right?

"I mean how come that you're …." Ruka asked but went still when she saw his bitter gaze.

"That I'm a pureblood?" he completed her question for her. "I'm not really sure but it looks like I and my twin have been stolen when we were little." He swallowing, hearing several sharp intakes of breath. They were affronted by the very idea that something like that could even happen, of course; he should've expected that.

"Stolen?" Aido asked. "How could they?!!"

"But what about your real parents?" Ruka asked. "Where are they?"

"How? I don't know why, honestly." Zero answered, sounding more bitter than he wanted to acknowledge and it made them gasp again, partly because they weren't used to seeing him like this, so shaken and his expression unguarded. "And I don't remember my real parents."

"We're sorry." Aido muttered at once, reacting to the change in the silver haired pureblood's aura. It made him shiver with cold, which was far worse than the familiar ice under his control.

"It must be painful not knowing who your parents are." Ruka added, almost whispering.

Zero just nodded because his throat felt suddenly too sore to say anything more, because he could hear the unspoken words there, the compassion; it was another unexpected thing he wasn't used to. His parents, for all he knew they could be dead, and he would get never a chance to meet them again or get to know them.

"Zero?" He felt a light touch on his right arm, and looked up only to stare into a pair of auburn eyes -- and again he couldn't help but feel startled by the amount of concern he saw in them.

"It's all right, Kaname." He said and shrugged his hand off after a moment or so, feeling that he had to get through this on his own.

"So, then it had been your blood last night." Ichijo chuckled and pulled Shiki closer to him until he was leaning comfortable into his side. "Well, it caused quite a chaos too." He gave Kain a meaningful look and grinned, seeing the brooding look on the other noble's face. "We can be glad the school is still standing in one piece."

"It had been that bad?" Zero muttered. "I'm sorry."

"No, don't be sorry. They, we should've known better than to lose control like that. Isn't that right Kaname-sama?" Ichijo objected.

"Yes, of course, Takuma-kun." Kaname chuckled then went serious again, fixing them with another darkish look. "Yes, Zero had been shot, but that's all you need to know about it." It was clear that Zero had been shot by an anti-vampire gun, but it was also more than clear that Kaname didn't want them to look for the one who fired the shot.

Thankfully, they were used to obeying Kaname-sama's wishes and didn't ask any more questions about this. True, Zero and his old master were standing on different sides now, but that didn't mean that Zero wanted any harm come to the master hunter. He owed him too much for that, for it had been Yagari, who had practically raised him, more than them had ever done. Only now, he began to wonder if that had been because his parents had known what he was and felt uneasy around him on an unconscious level. He was startled out of his musings a moment later, by a very excited sounding Aido.

"It had to be her, Shizuka-sama, who started this." Aido's eyes shining bright with the joy of having solving the riddle behind Zero's awakening. "It had to be her bite that broke the spell, which kept you human." He explained, seeing all those startled looks directed at him.

"What?" Zero stared at the blonde noble, not knowing what to say. "B-but why did it take nearly four years?" he muttered to himself.

"I don't know." Aido said but then his gazed fell on Zero's tattoo, which was partly visible under his uniform. "Maybe it's because of that." He pointed at the tattoo.

"My tattoo?"

"Yes, it was meant to stop or at least slow down your turning, am I right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Then that's the explanation why it had taken such a long time," Aido said thoughtfully then eyed Zero again and added slowly, "Zero-sama."

"Maybe you're right," the silver-haired pureblood agreed then shrugged, "but I doubt the Vampire Council would be too happy." He couldn't say that he knew all too much about how they would react, but he was certain that the result would be anything he'd like if this got out without them getting a chance to calm things down before they went out of hand.

"And rightfully, too. It's not right what happened to you … Zero-sama." Aido said, then swallowed, seeing how uncomfortable the other one was about this, but he couldn't help but feel appalled at the very idea of anyone doing such things. "One cannot simply go and steal purebloods like that."

"I know." Kaname agreed and shook his head, knowing how sensible the Council would react to things like this. No, he, they needed to find a way to calm the waters before they had an unstoppable tsunami at their hands. "Yet, it's most important to keep this to us, until we have found a way to deal with this, without the danger of another war."

"A war?" Aido repeated. "Why would this cause a war? I mean the ones who have stolen you are already dead, punished."

"True," Zero replied hoarsely and glared at the blonde noble. Sure, they haven't been his real parents, but they've been the only parents he had ever known and he didn't like the tone, Aido had spoken about them. "But other hunters are not."

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Magic of roses

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Some hours earlier …

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"What about Night Class?" She asked, feeling slightly nervous about leaving them unguarded.

"Don't worry Yuki-chan," Yagari said and chuckled. "They won't cause any trouble, not after last night."

"Yes, but…"

"No, buts Yuki-chan. They won't risk incurring Kaname-kun's wrath." Yagari reassured her and led her further along, towards her father's office. "Here, come with me, Yuki-chan. I have something to show you." He explained and opened the door to lead them inside and grinned when he heard her gasp. Hmm, he hadn't expected this reaction and watched Yuki walking up closer to the table, which was bare of papers right now -- but it wasn't empty either.

Whatever she had expected to find, when Yagari-sensei had asked her to accompany him after class changeover had ended, this wasn't it. Not these things, he had piled up on her father's desk.

"What's this?" Yuki looked curiously at the various items, she could see in front of her. There were things of various shapes and material, some of them made of what seemed to be silver some not. They were of all sizes; some so small they would fit in her palm and some so large she doubted she could ever lift them, because they looked so heavy.

True, this display had her curious, but she was more curious about the reason why Yagari-sensei was doing this in the first place. Why was he suddenly taking such an interest in her? She was only the weird headmaster's adoptive daughter after all, right?

"Weapons, my dear," Yagari said and grinned at her. "Here, take this." He gave her something, which looked like a long chain.

Yuki took it, expecting it to be very heavy, but was surprised of how lightweight it actually was. She gave it an inspecting look and gasped. The symbols on it looked almost like the one on her bracelet and like some on her uniform; they were clearly roses.

"Why are there roses on this?" She asked finally while touching them carefully. They were beautiful. "But they would be more beautiful if they're fully bloomed," she thought and tried to imagine what they would look like if they were bloomed.

Yuki felt a strange tingling ringing through her body and shivered. The chain was glowing slightly and the roses were moving, living breathing roses and not cold steel. She gasped again and put it back on the desk. There had not been only roses but also lots of tiny thorns on it, very real looking thorns with sharp tips and it seemed like a miracle that they hadn't cut her hand while she was holding it.

"How?" Yuki muttered, watching fascinated as they chain returned to its original form. "What is this?"

"I expected something like this to happen." Yagari said thoughtfully. "It's a vampire hunter weapon, made to react to a hunter's inborn gifts."

"But how?" she asked, feeling utterly surprised by this. "I'm not a hunter, am I?"

"I think this is something your adoptive father should explain to you, Yuki-san. He has a lot to explain to you." Yagari grinned proudly at her. "Come Yuki-san." He said and led her to the headmaster's private rooms, where he knew they would find him.

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Magic of touch

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A few hours later after class, when most people would already sleep …

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Zero was standing still, looking out of the window in his new room, thinking about how strange it all felt. This room, it was certainly very different compared to his old one, much larger and more comfortable. No, it was nothing one would expect to find in a boarding school, yet he had somehow expected it to be luxurious -- only not to this extent.

Class had been different too, and not only because it was being held during night. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to those looks, the looks he got from the other vampires. No, it had not been their curiosity, because he had expected that, no it was the difference in how they were acting around him -- and that blasted 'sama' of all things.

He wasn't that different, was he? He still didn't like them much, especially Aido, but that was more about his behaviour and not about his species now. In other words, Zero had lost the will to hate them. Not that he had any right to do that anyway.

Aido, he had been almost amusing this night, with that unbound curiosity in his eyes, but yet too hesitating to ask him directly at first. He wished he knew the answers to at least some of these questions -- too many questions and too little answers for his taste.

His room, it was almost uncomfortably close to Kaame's room too, only almost, but shouldn't he be a little more upset about that than this? Well, Kaname's explanation earlier sounded too logical to wonder about any ulterior motives, but you never knew with this dark haired pureblood. Well, this certain pureblood stood behind him right now, watching him.

"Zero, you have to understand." Kaname said in a very calm and serious voice. "There is no way for you to back to Day Class, ever."

"I know." Zero muttered darkly. "But I don't like it and I managed it until now, didn't I?" He couldn't help but feel frustrated that his life had been turned upside down again, but then why did he feel like it was her fault again, that Shizuka Hio, like Aido seemed to think it was.

Well, it didn't help that this felt only like it had been the last straw, the last drop to make the levee finally break. Yet, there wasn't anger about it now, but he felt tired, tired of things getting always taken away from him.

"Sure, but you had been just a ex-human then." Kaname shrugged. "I still don't know how that was even possible-"

"Nor do I!" Zero objected. "Hell, Kur- Kaname, I don't know who or what I am now."

"Exactly, Zero." Kaname agreed. "I don't know even your real name. It certainly isn't Kiryu, because that's impossible."

"I guess Zero has to do for now." Zero shrugged feeling even more at unease now, discussing this matter of his new status. "I'm not sure how…"

"Right, you are not familiar with what tyou are and that is exactly the reason why you can't return to Day Class, even if you were able to stay awake during class." Kaname added and swallowed, waging his next words carefully.

"You have no idea of what you're capable, Zero." And he, Kaname Kuran, wasn't exactly certain on how to handle it either, how to train him, an untrained pureblood, who was almost an adult. He was only certain that he had to. "And that isn't all, Zero. I'm going to teach you."

Zero stared at him, after hearing Kaname's last words. The dark haired pureblood was intending to train him? He hadn't thought of this possibility, no, not with one of all those thoughts, which have been spinning in his head since 'that had happened -- not once.

"Teach me?" He muttered staring flabbergasted at the dark-haired pureblood. "Why? Why do you care?"

"Maybe it's because you're reminding me of the past, Zero." Kaname said thoughtfully, his eyes boring into the silver ones of the younger pureblood. "That lost little boy." He whispered in a tone, which made Zero shiver in return, because right now he got the distinct feeling that Kaname was more speaking about himself than about Zero.

"Lost boy?" He repeated slowly, like tasting the words on his lips.

"Yes, lost." Kaname said nearly emotionless, but shrugged it off a moment later, like it was too hurtful to speak about it. "It's bad to lose one's parents that young, but to never even know them …"

"You lost your parents?" Zero said, being surprised again by this information, them having more in common than he ever believed. "And that's why you want to teach me?"

"Yes, partly. It's not that I really have a choice, you know." Kaname chuckled then went silent, nodding to himself. "And your first lesson is how to relax, so we can work more effectively together. Sit down." He added, motioning for Zero to sit down on one of those plush armchairs in the other part of the room.

Strangely, Zero did not object but did as Kaname had asked; maybe it was because he was too curious what this was about, maybe it was something else.

Well, he couldn't have been more surprised at what came next.

"Trust me," Kaname murmured, "you've got to trust me or this won't work."

"Trust you?"

"Yes, trust me, Zero." Kaname repeated then chuckled. "I know, there aren't many we can trust, Zero, but in this it's pretty much two-way situation. I have to trust you as well."

"K-Kaname, what are you doing?" Zero looked up, being surprised by a light touch on his shoulders, a touch he hadn't expect to come; it felt way too intimate, too warm, like they were friends, but they weren't friends, right? They had been rivals all the time they've known each other, right? Only, now he wasn't sure about that anymore, like about everything.

"Trying to get you to relax, why?" The older pureblood chuckled at the response he got, but noted that Zero didn't do anything to stop him but he looked slightly uneasy and had tensed even more.

"But a massage?" Zero replied, not knowing what to do about the weirdness of their current position, weird but it wasn't entirely uncomfortable. No, not at all, he noticed.

"Don't you like it?"

"No, yes, no. That's not it." The silver haired pureblood swallowed, but after finding no real reason against it he gave in and leaned back, giving those soothing hands better access.

"It feels actually quite good."

"There, that's much better," Kaname murmured after a long while, sounding like it went both ways, relaxing both of them. "You've been terrible tense there."

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Stubborn magic

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A little earlier in the headmaster dining room …

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"Father?" She asked slowly, unsure about what to expect but then decided to stare him in the eye, letting him know that she wanted answers and not more questions. Yes, when she wanted Yuki was rather stubborn too -- not so unlike her adoptive father.

"Yuki-chan." He said then noticed the wry grin Yagari was giving him and sighed. "All right. Yuki-chan, I think it's better that you take a seat."

Yuki did as her father asked. "So, I'm sitting. You have something to tell me, Yagari-sensei said."

"Ah, yes I have." He took a deep breath. "First of all your last name is really Kurosu since you are my niece."

Yuki gaped at him in surprise. "So, you're my uncle?" She smiled shyly, being happy that she had real family after all. Then she gave him another trying look and frowned. "Why … but I look nothing like you."

"That's because you take after your mother, who had the exact same eyes and hair, just like you." He explained and chuckled. "You know blond hair and blue eyes are hardly genetically dominant."

"So, I'm a hunter, like Yagari-sensei -- and like you … uncle."

"Yes, I'm afraid you are, Yuki." He smiled at her but it didn't reach his eyes. "But please do continue calling me father."

"Oh, okay," she muttered then swallowed. "Why haven't you told me any earlier? You've known how much I wished to know about my family."

"I couldn't," Kaein Kurosu answered, "I simply couldn't. I didn't want this for you."

"Why?" Yuki stared at her adoptive father, wondering why he seemed to be sad about this. "It's amazing, but why are you so unhappy about it?"

"Amazing, yes," he agreed then shook his head, "but it means that you're going to be trained as a hunter and when they're done -- then they're going to send you off, killing vampires." His voice trembled slightly.

"I have to, do I not?" Yuki said after a long thoughtful pause then frowned. "Kill them, but I don't have to hate them, do I?" No, she could never hate those poor beings, those Level Es. They were like rabid animals, needing to be killed to keep others safe, but they were definitely not something she could ever hate.

"No, you don't," Kaein Kurosu agreed, shaking his head slowly at the innocence his adoptive daughter was displaying. "No, you don't, but they're going to try to make you, change you into their perfect hunter." He loved her for this, for her big heart and her warmth but he couldn't help but fear that she would lose it some time in the future; his beautiful kind Yuki, his daughter.

"Let them try," she muttered and then crossed her arms in a gesture of stubborn rebellion. "I won't change my mind for nobody."

What followed was a long pause of eerie silence with two older men looking at the petite girl in front of them, almost like they had never seen her before. She sounded so grown up and almost like the warrior they knew, she needed to grow up into.

"Ehem, Yagari-sensei?" Yuki asked a moment later, remembering something else, something she had almost forgotten after all the surprises this night. "What about Zero's tattoo? He said it's continuing to hurt him."

"It does?" Yagari raised a brow, frowning.

"Yes, it does. Why?" She queried.

"The tattoo," Yagari said swallowing, "it had been designed to suppress Zero's vampire side and so far slowing down his turning."

"You mean it's only supposed to hurt when his vampire instincts were threatening to get out of control?" She said, remembering the way the tattoo had reacted to his bloodlust.

"Yes, exactly, but that's exactly the problem now, Yuki-san. Zero's wholly vampire now."

"And the tattoo is overreacting, right?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

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Thanks for reading and for all your kind reviews.

I'm sorry if this came out a little bit too wordy but I couldn't help it. ^^;

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Miarath