SilverMew22 does not own Vampire Knight, but I do own the Hayashi and Tenma family.
Chapter 10: My Loved Ones
Ai Hayashi watched as the trees flew past the car and disappeared into the distance.
This vehicle was going a bit too fast as it barreled down the road, barely breaching the boundaries of the speed limit.
She looked across from her towards Zero Kiryuu, who was hunched over and silent.
Kaito Takamiya was in the passenger's seat as he patiently waited for their arrival to their intended destination, while they rode in one of the Hunters Association's vehicles.
An older male hunter continued to drive the vehicle at a very fast pace.
Zero and Ai were in the back of the car, where the prisons would go for transportation to the Hunters Association.
"... I didn't think he would actually hurt them...what do you think Zero?"
Ai asked the silver-haired vampire hunter, wondering if one vampire could possibly relate to another.
Zero did not acknowledge her at first, as he was shocked at how this was going.
Inwardly, he knew that all of the other hunters wouldn't kill the Pure-Blood without a good enough reason or proof and in turn, he would keep getting away with his crimes.
The worst they could do was detaining him for questioning.
"Maybe they're not hurt... maybe we can still save them, can't we... Zero, are you okay?"
Ai hesitantly reached over and brushed her fingers against his knee, causing him to quickly look up.
He could still remember, how she almost broke down before him, as she held the cold cracked ring in her small shaking hands.
He held her close to him, fearing that distancing himself from her would cause her to break and tumble even deeper into the darkness.
"I was going to ask you the same thing, are you okay...when we get there, you don't need to go inside...you can stay in the car and wait for us to return."
Zero did not want Ai to see her possible slaughter of her family members and especially after Kaito had pulled him away earlier, to talk to him about their future plans and actions.
(flashback)
After finding the ring on the windowsill, Ai began to feel weak again. Zero held her as she cried.
'How much more could one person take?'
Zero wondered why this man was doing these things to her.
Was this how Yuuki felt when she first saw him after his parents had been slaughtered by that Pure-Blood, Shizuka Hio.
The way she held and touched him so gently, could he attempt to do that for Ai?
Her touch... that was the greatest form of kindness that he had felt in a while, especially after that horrible tragedy.
Even though this girl was very open and kind, she also feared him as well... and yet she allowed him to hold her.
A vampire was killing her family and friends off like flies and yet a vampire was now holding her, as she gently gripped onto his white T-shirt.
She was dampening his shirt with her tears and sorrow.
"Hey, you found her-whoa, what happened, why is she crying?!"
Kaito walked over towards the distressed girl and his partner.
"Kaito, we found another rose... it was covered in blood and it had a ring around its stem... she thinks that the ring, belonged to her aunt."
Zero was shocked to feel Ai pry herself away from his shirt, and look at him with anger and tears.
"I know that was my aunt's ring, she never let anyone touch it but I know what it looks likes... she never took it off, she must be hurt...oh no, my sister and cousins were probably with her too, do you think that he would... no, he wouldn't... why would he do such a thing?!"
Ai began to cry again, she was on the verge of a complete breakdown.
"Zero, can I talk to you alone... Hayashi-Chan, go look for your father and tell him what has happened."
Kaito watched as Ai stumbled out of the room as if she were drunk on her own grief.
"Zero, you know what a rose from that bastard means, right?"
Kaito gripped the thorn-covered rose in his hand, almost cutting his palm.
"It means, from what that poem was indicating, that he might have killed them... do you think anyone else could have survived like the last time?"
Kaito and Zero were both very angered at both the Vampire and the Hunter's Society.
They had no proof that this Pure-Blood was responsible for those killings, and therefore, if they did catch him, the worst they could charge him with was suspicion.
However, suspecting a Pure-Blood for such a horrendous crime without any proof may cause a negative unwanted ripple in the vampire society.
It would be seen as a clear sign of disrespect towards the vampires and their way of life.
Zero never did care for vampire politics.
"We need to find out more about this Pure-Blood... not just his powers, but some personal information too."
Kaito knew that Zero just wanted to kill all of the Pure-Bloods, he was reckless at times when it came to their species, but he hoped that Zero wouldn't just run off and try to do his own thing like always.
He either did it his own way or didn't do anything at all!
"We need to check her aunt's house first, maybe we should leave Hayashi-Chan here, with her father?"
Zero did not want Ai to see another dead body, especially her very own family members.
'What was Tenma to Ai-Chan anyway, were they ever closely acquainted?'
Zero heard Ai quietly knock on the door before entering.
"They're all gone, Cross-San and Yagari-San are gone and so is my father... a hunter told me that they went to the morgue, to look at the bodies of those boys who were murdered and that they would be gone for the rest of the day..."
Ai was still waiting by the open door. She looked at them as if the two men standing before her were both complete strangers to her once more.
"Ai, can you tell us where your Aunt's house is, we need to check it out...you don't have to come if you don't want to... "
Zero tried to comfort Ai from a distance; she was just too fragile to hold.
"... I want to come too, I don't want to hide from this... if Hisoka really did hurt them or did anything even worse...then I have to see it, or I just won't believe it's true!"
Ai walked over towards the hunters.
She did not want to be a helpless bystander anymore, she had to find Hisoka and make him stop...if he was the one doing this, that is.
"You still think he didn't do it, why would you give him the benefit of the doubt, why is he still innocent in your eyes, Ai, what is Hisoka to you?"
Kaito wanted to know why she still had faith in that man, why did she not hate him with every fiber of her being.
Both Zero and Kaito had their loved ones and lives destroyed by Pure-Blood vampires, Ai was yet another victim and yet she still spoke his name with no malice in her voice, what's so ever.
"... He was my closest friend, he said that he wanted to protect me...even if he said it would make me sad-"
Ai was suddenly cut off by Kaito as he began to accuse her of holding back important information.
"So you are closely acquainted with that Pure-Blood... Zero, I told you to interrogated her, see, she was holding back, we could have stopped this!"
Kaito shoved Zero against the wall and without thinking, Ai stood in front of Zero, she was trying to defend him from further abuse.
"It's my fault, not his...so if you want to hurt someone...you can hurt me instead... "
Ai had her back turned towards Zero, her arms were spread out to protect him.
She didn't want anyone else getting hurt because of her.
"Don't worry I wasn't going to hit him, he's just really stupid sometimes and needs a good ass kicking to set him straight, Zero's the type of person who needs tough love... and I don't hit girls either, so cut that hit my crap out, got it!"
(Back to the Present)
Zero looked over to see Ai who out of her seat, she was looking out of the back window, gripping onto the steel bars.
"Oi, you hang onto those bars any longer and you could get a really nasty shock."
Zero merely crossed his outstretched legs and with a small sigh, as he watched Ai scramble back into her seat, scared for her life.
"... Hey, Zero... "
Ai reached over to pat Zero on his knee.
"... Hm?" Zero light lavender eyes met her fearful yet steady gaze.
"When we get there...could you get something for me?"
Ai remembered how adamant the two hunters were about her not entering the house.
"There is a necklace in my room, could you get it for me...if it's not too much trouble for you, that is...it's kinda important to me... " Ai wanted to say more, but she didn't want to pester the hunter any further.
"So you're not coming inside your aunt's house, to see what that vampire had done to your family?"
Zero rested his elbow against his knee as his hand resting underneath his chin.
"Whoa Zero, could you be any blunter."
Kaito said, after reading some directions to the driver before pausing to talk to Zero.
Kaito's bored expression could be seen from the small barred window, which gave a view of the front seats from the back.
Zero watched as Ai drifted off into her own thoughts.
'Maybe I was a bit harsh to her just now, we're doing something cruel to her...by forcing her to be away from her loved ones, but I know that that man killed her family, I will not allow her to see their dead corpses.'
"Has this ever happened before... has a Pure-Blood Vampire, ever killed or hurt a human, maybe this is a rare incident?"
Zero looked at her with raw hate, burning in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, did I say something to offend you?"
Ai was frightened of Zero Kiryuu once more and he hated it.
"We're here!"
The eldest hunter driving the Hunter's Association barked, suddenly stopped the vehicle.
They quietly stacked out the small, two-story, light blue house, the roof was a simple coat of off white.
Kaito checked the address of the house with the one scribbled on a small piece of paper.
Yes, this was the place.
Kaito, Zero and Ai, quickly aborted the vehicle, the hunter behind the steering wheel, stayed behind and kept the engine running.
"Okay, Zero, we have to be cautious, don't just go barging in there, there could be a trap waiting for us."
Kaito and Zero looked back at Ai, she was staring at her once peaceful house she had to now avoid, for the sake of her own sanity.
Kaito looked towards his partner in concern.
'If there are dead bodies inside, will it be okay to take Zero in there with me, we have to go together, that was the order issued by the President... but still... '
"Please watch Hayashi-Chan for us, we won't be long... "
The driver nodded before getting out of the car, to usher Ai into the passenger's seat.
Zero and Kaito walked towards the house without another word.
Zero made a mental note to himself to retrieve the necklace, that Ai had asked for.
Zero sighed, wondering who was the stronger one us two.
After his family was killed by that woman Zero had never once ventured back to his old home.
Why would he, there was nothing there for him, not anymore.
It took a direct order from Kaito, just to get him to visit their graves and bring them a few flowers from time to time.
He felt so pitiful.
Ai was patiently waiting for the two hunters, to bring her news of her distant relatives.
Zero wondered if the hunter waiting with her would console her, if or when she would start to cry.
Kaito opened the door, Zero was right behind him.
Zero's eyes widened, his sensitive vampire senses went haywire.
Old, yet vivid memories flooded his head.
It was the night of the massacre all over again.
R&R