Zero groaned and shifted away from the early morning light that was streaming in through the curtain-less window. Why he didn't bother to close them the night before, he didn't know. All he knew now was that he wanted to return to the blissful oblivion of sleep. However, just as he shifted toward the darker side of the room, an aching pain shot through his entire body causing him to freeze mid-motion.
He carefully pushed himself into a sitting position, trying not to jostle his aching limbs. Zero experimentally rolled his shoulders and shifted his arms, but winced when the pain only increased. His memory of the previous night was a bit fuzzy, only small pieces came to mind.
He remembered waking up in the middle of the night with an incredible amount of hot, sharp-like pain coursing through his body. It was like his body had been acting against him, each heart beat excruciatingly painful. But then someone else had been in the room with him. The figure in his mind was blurry and hard to make out. Had it been Yuki? She had been the only one here with him last night. That was probably also the reason he was back in his bed.
Zero reached over and unlocked his phone screen to check the time. Once the screen lit up, the numbers read 9:30am. 'Shit! Class started over an hour ago!' Zero thought in frustration.
Zero threw back the covers and swung his legs over the side of the bed, the cold ground causing him to shiver. Although it wasn't too far into the school year yet, the temperature seemed to be steadily descending toward the chilling temperatures of early winter.
Ignoring the cold, he pushed himself up wincing only slightly at the now expected pain. Zero reached into his closet, grabbed a clean uniform and quickly threw it on.
He grabbed his school bag and hurried downstairs, but just as he was about to leave, a bright yellow sticky note near the door caught his attention.
Good Morning Zero!
I was told that you weren't feeling well last night so I told the teacher that you won't be in class today. Rest up because I won't dare let you skip class tomorrow! Hope you feel better soon.
Love Yuki
Zero starred at the note, not quite sure what to feel. After a moment he sighed and carelessly dropped his school bag on the floor. He leaned against the wall and contemplated the note.
Yuki said she was told that he hadn't been feeling well, so that implies that Yuki hadn't been in the room last night at all. It wouldn't surprise him, though, if it had been Cross but something about that idea seemed off.
Nonetheless, Zero now had the day off and it was about time that he paid a long overdue visit to the Hunter's Association. Zero went back upstairs to exchange his school uniform for jeans, a plain black shirt, and a light jacket. From a quick look out the window, the dark clouds and the water drenched window told the Zero that a cold rain was currently coming down hard on the city. While he normally just wore a jacket when it rained, the cold weather would make the falling water near freezing, so he grabbed an umbrella as well.
But before he could leave, there was something he needed to do. With how his episodes have been increasing over the past month, he needed to make a precaution. Incase something were to go awry and he would lose control of himself, he could make a failsafe barrier.
In his room Zero dug through his closet and pulled out a thick looking pen. Despite its appearance, the pen was technically a weapon from the Hunter's Association. While it wasn't an offensive weapon, it was a defensive one. Specifically to draw hunter symbols and create containment and defensive barriers.
Zero took the pen and began drawing symbols that he has had memorized since childhood. These specific spells wouldn't activate unless a level E entered its area. He completed them in record time and was about to cap the pen when a thought came to mind. He didn't know what it was but something compelled him to draw one last symbol, one that didn't match the others but was a powerful defense. Zero shrugged after drawing it and threw the pen back in the closet. He had other plans to attend to.
Zero stepped outside and braced against the sudden burst of wind, using the umbrella as a shield against the rain. As soon as he cleared the doorway the pressure from the wind lightened and Zero was able to continue towards the Hunter's Association with ease.
The walk was rather long, but Zero was used to the journey. He used the peaceful time to think, what about depended on the most stressful thing currently happening, and right now that happened to be Kaname.
Kaname's recent change in attitude bothered Zero, because there seemed to be no reason behind it. The pureblood that was so reluctant to help him before suddenly seemed to become overly concerned about him. Could this have been Yuki's doing? Zero was sure that the pureblood would do anything to keep her happy.
The sound of a weak cry cut Zero's train of thought off as he stopped abruptly at the opening of an alleyway. The low-hanging clouds cause a long dark shadow to cover the majority of the alleyway, but Zero was able to see a figure moving unnaturally in the darkness.
"Hey," Zero called out experimentally. His right hand rested on the the handle of Bloody Rose while the other continued to hold the umbrella. He slowly stepped forward, the water that had gathered below splashed slightly at the impact.
A low growl resounded through the alley. The inhuman sound reminded Zero of a territorial animal. Understanding washed over Zero and he pulled the gun from it's holster. Just as soon as the gun was released, the large black mass suddenly hurtled toward him. Zero only had just enough time to swing the umbrella down and create a makeshift barrier between him and the wild vampire.
The impact was hard. The handle of the umbrella jerked back stronger than Zero could resist and it rammed into his chest, sending him back several feet. Zero landed on his back, sliding against the stone pathway due to the water.
Zero sucked in a pained breath and pushed himself to his feet. One of his hands was braced against his side, applying pressure to where pain radiates every time he took a breath. He immediately sensed movement to his left and fired.
A high pitched whine reached Zero's ears just after the bullet left the gun, but a second later Zero was thrown to the side, hitting the wall that had been to his right. Pain erupted in his head after the impact, his vision blurred and darkened, although it was difficult to tell in the already dark area.
Zero tried to focus on the current battle but his head felt like it was repeatedly being slammed against the wall again. His right hand closed around nothing, the gun no longer in his hand. He tried to look around but bright white flashed across his vision.
In the middle of the whiteness existed a symbol, a crest. A calligraphic R rested in the center of a six leaf lotus flower, with three leaves spanning out from each side. A calligraphic K was above the flower with a read drop dripping from the K onto the flower below.
The image lasted for only a second before the all too familiar image of the crescent moon surrounded in a silver circle replaced the previous image.
Zero blinked his eyes and his vision returned, the brick wall in front of him becoming clear. Zero looked around and he could see clearly through the alley, the once dark passage now as bright as day.
A quick look to the left showed the level E struggling to stand due to the bullet wound in it's thigh. Zero quickly found his gun now that he could see and quickly moved to grab it.
The vampire looked up sharply upon seeing Zero's movement and made a lunge toward him. However, Zero reached his gun faster and the next bullet that was fired went straight through the monster's head.
The vampire collapsed at Zero's feet, the sound of the gun echoing off of the walls but fading to silence. Zero stood up and braced himself against the wall, his headache still as strong as before. His vision began to darken again, the walls around him losing their brightness and becoming only shadows.
Zero used what was left of his clear sight to check the motionless body of the human who had been attacked. As he reached the body, he could see that the victim was a young woman. Probably a poor girl who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Zero reached down to feel for her pulse but pulled away when nothing could be found.
As Zero turned away, a strong burning sensation in his throat caused him to stop. Zero gripped his throat, trying to ignore the sensation and quickly leave the alley. He made it to the end of the alley when the adrenaline rush disappeared.
Zero rested his aching body against the wall. His ribs hurt when he breathed, his head felt like it was splitting open, and his throat burned with the desire for blood. To add to his problems, he was now shivering from the cold rain that he was unprotected from. Zero took a few deep breaths—slow enough to avoid agitating his ribs—to calm himself.
Once Zero had a grip on himself he pushed from the wall and proceeded through the city, his destination soon coming into sight—the Hunter's Association.
