Author note: Special thanks to Dark Phyre who edited this chapter.

If you have question regarding the story you're free to ask - I will answer them - however do not ask spoilers because I won't tell you anything.

Disclaimer: Don't own Vampire Knight

Chapter X

The last few days had been hectic for him. He had to deal with a seductive pureblood. He had to make amendments with his fragile lover - and he was still working on it - and he had to hunt a blood-sucking monster.

All he wanted to do now was lie on his bed, and not be disturbed by anyone. When he reached the door of his temporary home, he wanted nothing more than peace and quiet. But this, he would not get. His nose could sense the presence of an uninvited guest: Anya.

He went inside the house, and saw her sitting in the living room, face to face with Maria. When his eyes stopped on her frame, he couldn't help but notice her green eyes, and her full, rosy lips. He had an urge to kiss her. He stopped his thoughts when, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Maria sitting up and coming toward him.

"Zero-kun, where have you been?" He was surprised by the tone of her voice. It was like what happened these past few days had never occurred. "I missed you!" She tiptoed across the room to stand in front of him. Her hands went around his neck and bent his head down, into a kiss. Her lips were soft, but he was too shocked to respond.

When Anya saw her rival kissing him with no shame with her in the room, she wanted to take that barefaced vampire off of him and killed her where she stood. She abstained herself only because she remembered his words and how he said that he wouldn't let her hurt Maria.

Anya knew that she and Maria had recently started a battle for Zero's love, but her rival was playing dirty. But she wasn't about to let that cunning woman take Zero from her. If Maria wanted a dirty battle, then she was going to have one.

Zero felt uncomfortable in such a position with Maria while having a guest in the same room, so he reluctantly pushed her away.

"I had to do some hunter job. I was looking for the vampire who attacked you."

"Did you find him?"

"Of course I did. Unfortunately, in his final days, he killed more than ten homeless humans. If I had searched for him sooner, those humans wouldn't have been his victims."

"I'm sorry Zero. It's all my fault. If I had been stronger that day, when I met him, those people wouldn't be dead now."

She really was a vixen, Anya thought with malice. Her hunter-san would never think that she was guilty for the human's deaths, but she was acting very well. Anya expected her hunter-san to comfort her rival.

"It isn't your fault." Shocking. "I had two chances to kill him before, and I had failed. The fault is mine only. But he's dead now, and he can't kill anyone anymore. But my problem is you." He looked at Anya when he said the last word. "What are you doing here?" he asked the pureblood female.

"I came to talk with you. It's very important."

"Can't it wait?"

"No. I need to talk to you now. I have a lot on my mind, and only you can give me answers."

"Fine. Then we'll talk."

"In private. I want a place where we won't be disturbed." And when she said this she was referring to Maria's meddling.

"Is it alright if I talk with her in private, Maria?" He wanted to talk with her, too. And with no one eaves-dropping. It was necessary, but he still wanted to get Maria's permission after what he had put her through.

"I have no problem with it." Maria said, and left the two of them alone. She knew it would take time to restore her full presence into his heart. He, talking alone with his mistress, did not represent an important treat for her. Her past experience would help her regain Zero.

And then they were alone. He could have taken her into another room to talk, but he was afraid of what would happen if they were alone. He knew her well – if she got the chance to be with him alone, she would most certainly try to charm him again. And he wasn't sure he would be able to resist her.

"She came to talk with me, and she told me about your relationship with her." She had so many things to say to him, and she didn't know where to start; she said the first thought that came into her preoccupied mind. "She told me about her and your twin."

"What about Ichiru?" He tried to remain calm, and not kiss her lips here and now. She was so close, but he had no right to touch her.

"She told me that her brother lives within her and you, and this is a blood bond between you two." It wasn't a question, but she wanted him to tell her if it was truly an unbreakable bond or not.

"You can say that. Ichiru is important for me and her… and his blood ties us."

"Are you in a relationship with her because of your brother? Was this his dying wish?"

The moment of his brother's death was something he would never forget. On the day he devoured the remains of his life, he promised him that he would accomplish his goal. On that day, he thought he had a duty to slaughter any and all purebloods on the face of the Earth, but he had been very wrong.

Months after his death, he realized his brother's true wish, and he was eternally thankful to Maria for making him realize it. That was their bond.

"No, Ichiru never asked me to be with Maria. Time brought us together."

"Yeah, about that… She said you were in love before with another pureblood. Who was she?" Since the moment Maria mentioned Zero's past love-life, Anya desired to know that woman's identity. After all, that was the reason she had been troubled beforehand.

However, Zero was taken aback by Anya's words. He never thought he would be questioned about something that had happened a long time ago.

"I don't see a reason for you to bring her into our discussion. She has nothing to do with us." He saw no reason for Yuuki to be brought into their conversation. What had she been told?

"Maria said you loved her. Truly loved her. And you suffered because she didn't return your feelings for her. She didn't love you the way you loved her."

In the past, he had wanted nothing more than to be with her – Yuuki. From the first moment he saw her spending time with that pureblood – Kaname – he knew she was in love with him. For years, he listened to her about the love she carried for the royal vampire.

But not even when the entire world thought of him as a dangerous vampire heart waver. She believed in him from the beginning, and loved him as a whole.

Maria was there for him when he lost his final hope to have Yuuki. She stayed by his side, and with time, he saw Yuuki the way she saw him too, a family member. Now, for him, Yuuki was the sister he never had.

"That was long time ago. I see no reason for you to mention her."

"You loved another pureblood besides me. I have the right to know more about my rival."

Women were impossible, Zero thought, mentally sighing, I swear. I will never understand them. Now they're calm, and two seconds later they're insane.

"What rival? She's not your rival in anything."

"You loved her."

"Yes, past tense. Now, she's like my sister."

"I still want to know who she is, and tell her one word or two."

"Woman, you're impossible. I told you she's not a danger for you. She's in the past. My love for her is just brotherly. However, if you would tell her those two words I think her husband would have a problem. He's not the kind of guy who would overlook your rude behavior towards his wife."

"She's married?"

"Yes, she's married. And she's going to be a mother in a few months. So rest assured." He hoped he wouldn't be asked about his relationship with Yuuki again. He had no intention to delve into his past. He already knew what rested there.

Even if her curiosity wasn't completely satisfied, she felt much better hearing her hunter-san's assuring words that his feelings for the previous pureblood was just brotherly love. Now it was time for her to ask him about his relationship with her persona.

"Hunter-san, about us...let's talk about us." He knew this moment was inevitable. Sooner or later he had to choose one of them. He was confused. On one side was Maria, the person who had been on his side when he needed someone the most. And she made him forget his previous love, and with time he grew fond of her. And on the other side was this red-haired woman he had some kind of feelings for. He didn't quite know if they were real or not.

When he was alone, he wondered why he gave up under her charms, and after hours, or more days of thinking, he realized he had some feelings for his prey-to-be. He knew he would never act like he had if he didn't have some kind of feelings for her. He was just confused.

And now he was at a loss. He had to make a choice, and one of them would suffer from it. It was up to him to decide who.

"Anya…" She liked to hear her name coming from his lips. Each time that he said her name, she wanted to hear it ever more. "The situation is complicated right now. I need time to think."

He was hesitating. He would decide who he would end up with in couple of days though. Until then, she needed to make him chose her over Maria. It was vital.

"Hunter-san, I would like to remind you that we expressed our feelings pretty well in my room a few days ago. I got to know you since I met you and I know you would never let me seduce you if you didn't feel something for me. You're in love with me. You just don't realize how much. Even if you return to Maria's side, she would never forget what you did with me. And what that did to her. I will always be a shadow in your relationship if you choose her. When you hug her, I know you will want me in your arms. Besides, I don't think it's right for you to be with her because you feel indebted to her. It's not fair for her, especially. Being with you won't bring her complete happiness and she knows it. I will wait for you at my house. When you decide who you truly want, come and tell me."

Maria would probably try to fight for Zero by seducing him, or trying to make him remember the memories of how their relationship was before. But she decided to fight differently – she would make Zero think about his own feelings, and eventually he would chose the one he thought he truly loved – the one he knew he loved – Anya.

Anya left Zero alone, thinking about his next move.

After Anya's departure, Zero returned to his room and took a long, cold shower. He reflected on Anya's words, and he knew that he had to make the right decision sooner than later. And no matter what the consequences, he was going to make the right decision.

But before that, he had something else to do – reporting to the Hunters Association about his last victim. With all the troubles with his official target – Anya -, he forgot to tell them about the level E vampire.

Zero took the phone and dialed the number. He expected Cross Kaien to answer the phone, but the voice he heard belonged to his former training partner, Takamiya Kaito.

"Good morning Zero! Why are you calling at this hour? Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Where is that damn idiot? I need to talk with him."

"President Cross is not here. I am his substitute in his absence. What do you want to talk to him about? I can take a message."

Zero sighed. Kaito wasn't the person he wanted to talk to, but he knew he wouldn't be in the mood to call later in the hope the Cross would answer him. Zero could report to Kaito, and he would pass the information on.

"I want to report the presence of a level E vampire in London."

"If it's a level E then you're free to hunt and kill him. But be careful about doing that before the beast kills innocent lives."

"I already kill him. I killed him last night."

"So you called to tell us know that you killed him, and you aren't looking to receive the order to kill him. Well, even if you did respect protocol every now and again, I'm glad you killed that blood sucking monster. I hope you took him down before it made any victims."

There was a pregnant pause on the phone line, and Kaito became suspicious. He knew Zero very well, and he wouldn't have hesitated to confirm that he killed the beast before it had killed any people in London.

"You killed him before there were any victims, right?"

"About that…"

"How many lives did that monster take, and why did it take you so long to get rid of him?"

"A lot of things happened and I couldn't hunt him down earlier." He had no excuse for letting that monster get away for so long, but he hoped that his best male friend would understand him.

"I'm all ears."

Zero had no other choice than to tell him the truth.

"Well, Maria was hurt by that vampire, and I stayed with her until she felt better. She wasn't in good shape."

"She's a noble vampire. She wouldn't have died because of a wound inflected by a mere vampire."

"When I say good shape I mean her mental state as well. These past few days have been rough for her."

"I don't understand. Explain."

"Well, everything started with my mission to catch this pureblood. She's proven to be a very problematic target."

"What have you done, Zero?" Kaito knew Zero hadn't known the important details about his target, but he hoped Zero didn't do something out of place. "Tell me you didn't kill her!"

"Of course I didn't. Who do you think I am? I can control my temper, you know." Zero felt offended by his remark.

"Save God!" All Kaito could do was sighed in relief. "Okay, tell me why is she's been problematic for you."

Zero had no choice than to tell him about her hobby to seduce men, and how she tried to seduce him. He wasn't sure if he was going to tell him everything, like how he fell under her charms.

"My target, Anya Cold, has a liking to certain men. Also, she likes to wear clothes her own kin doesn't wear, and let's just say that it's hard to stay around her."

"I do not understand how Anya being difficult affected Maria's mental state. Unless she started to like you, and you like her as well."

Zero couldn't open his mouth to say something. He knew Kaito said what he said as a joke, but he nailed the situation right on the dot.

On the other side of the phone, Kaito was worried about the silence between them.

"Zero, do you like her? Tell me it's not true!" If it was up to him, Zero could have had any other girl, even three at the same time. But the matter with Anya was kind of complicated.

"Well, it's not really liking, but some things happened, and Maria isn't pleased, to say the least."

"We never thought that her habit to play with men would affect you. At least you don't want to take her down, and this is a good thing. You will never get permission to kill her – killing her is not part of your mission. I guess you'll receive the order to bring back her to Japan pretty soon, if you haven't gotten them already."

Zero kept silent. Wasn't his mission to find proof of her bad behavior and take her down after he asked for permission? Then why was he assigned to this mission?

"What do you mean I would never have gotten the permission to kill her? Kaito, what's going on?"

Kaito realized his mistake: he had said too much, and he had been careless. "I need to go now. Urgent matters came up." Kaito hung up the phone, and went to warn the hunters' president. He would be dead when Zero found out the whole truth.

On the other side of the phone, Zero was speechless. He knew something was going on, and that they were hiding something from him. And this mission was obviously a total farce. He wouldn't rest until he found out the truth.

The first step in finding the truth seemed to be asking his target, since this was about her. Zero dressed in a hurry, and went to pay a visit in the middle of the night to a certain seductive pureblood.

It was around midnight when Zero arrived at Anya's mansion. He knocked 'politely' at the front door, and waited for her faithful servant opened the door. He hoped the door would open fast. If not, Anya would be forced to replace it.

The door opened faster than he thought, and he could see Walter's disapproving facial features. It was too late for his lady to receive men at her house.

"Mister Kiryu, in case that your clock is broken, let me inform you that is passed midnight. It is improper for a man to show up at the door of an unmarried lady in the middle of the night. Please go home, and return at a proper hour."

"Listen…I'm in no mood to be polite, especially to you. I am here to urgently interrogate your master. My presence here is purely for work." Zero pushed Walter aside and went to search for his lady. Tonight he would find out the truth behind his mission.

Anya was in bed for almost an hour when she heard the doorbell. She knew who it had to be, since she could smell his scent. She rose from her bed and put a robe around her petite body. The door opened and she saw an angry hunter. She had no idea why he was in a bad mood, but it wasn't her fault. She hadn't misbehaved since she left his house.

"What brings you here at this late hour?" The last time she spoke with him, he said he needed time. "Or did you miss me, and you cannot stand to be away from me? Did you choose me?"

She came closer to him, her arms going around his neck and bent his head to bring him into a kiss. She pressed her lips softly on his mouth. He was hesitant at first, but soon he let himself indulge in it. Her lips were soft, sweet – he wanted to feel more of her. With the tip of his tongue he licked her bottom lip asking for permission. She was more than happy to oblige.

Zero didn't hesitate to invade her mouth with his tongue, exploring each crevice of it. Soft moans formed in the back her throat, and he was there to swallow them all. His hands wandered on her back, up and down, feeling her body heat.

His body wanted to feel her, but his mind reminded him of why he came to see her. Zero pushed her away. He looked at her, and saw that she was confused. He looked at her swollen, red lips, and wanted to feel them again, but his mind constantly reminded him his purpose there.

"I didn't come here to do this."

"Then why are you here?" There was a trace of anger in her voice. She felt so good in his arms, with his mouth ravaging hers. She wanted more of him, and he wasn't in the mood for it.

"I am here to find out more about you. I am here to interrogate you."

"Do you really need to do it now? We have a lot of time, and I would gladly tell you more about me another day. We can discover each other later. Don't all couples do this?"

"I mean another kind of interrogation; an interrogation like the one between a hunter and a vampire." Zero took a seat and motioned for her to take one, too. Politely, she complied.

Even if his questions seemed naïve, he had to ask them. While he was on his way to her home, he realized that he knew nothing about her. He would start at the beginning.

"Name and age."

"You already know my name. I won't tell you my age."

"Your name and age!"

She gave him a cold look. "Fine. My name is Anya Cold – you knew this already. And my age is around five hundred years old."

"Your birth place."

She had no clue why he is asking these pointless questions. She sighed. "Yokohama, Japan."

"You were born in Japan? You don't look like Japanese."

"Because I am not one, Sherlock. I was just born and raised there. My parents are English. No Japanese blood in my veins."

"When did you leave Japan?"

"Do we really need to do this? I don't see the point of your questions."

"Yes, we do."

"If I remember correctly, I left Japan one hundred-fifty years ago. I don't know the day or the month so don't ask."

"Why did you leave Japan?"

"Personal matters. I have no intention of telling you about them."

"Why did you leave Japan?"

Okay. She had no intention to tell him the long story, but since he was insisting on her reason, she could tell the shortest version. "I had a disagreement with my parents, so I decided to leave my house.

"Your parents still live in Japan?"

"I haven't received any news about them moving somewhere else."

"How many men have you turned into vampires during those one hundred and fifty years?"

"If my memory is serving me right, Walter is the fifth."

"You turned them willingly or unwillingly?"

"All five agreed to become my slaves. And all five tasted my blood. None of them were left to lose their sense of reason."

"The men you didn't turn into vampires…what kind of relationship did you have with them?" This question wasn't usually included in his interrogations; however he couldn't stop his curiosity to know how many she'd had before him. Was he jealous?

"I didn't have a sexual relationship with them, nor did I kiss them. They were men who did everything I wanted, but eventually they bore me. So I left them behind, erased their memories, and found another one each time."

Zero couldn't find a reason why he would be sent here to watch her. Even if she played with men, she turned only five of them into vampires. Even if she played with the others, he found no reason for hunters to have to watch her. She didn't break any laws.

"You turned just five men into vampires? They didn't misbehave?"

"Yes, only five men, and none of them attacked humans. I would have never allowed them to do so. What is going on, Zero?"

"I don't know what's going on. I just found out that my mission here is a farce. Even if they told me at the beginning that my role was to watch you and find reasons to kill you, apparently my role here was just to bring you back to Japan when they ordered me to."

"To bring me back to Japan?" she hid her surprise pretty fast. She had to be careful, or else he would sense something.

"I was told that I would never get the permission to kill you, but to bring you back when they ordered me to. What reasons do they have to bring you back?"

"I don't know. I left Japan many decades ago. You should ask your hunters friends, not me. If you don't mind, I am kind of tired. Your interrogation put me to sleep, and I want to go to bed now. Why don't you come later and then we can talk about what's going on. Maybe I'll come up with something by the time you get back."

It was out of her character to rushed Zero out of her room, and house. But she did so. Zero left without putting her strange behavior under suspicion.

The moment Zero was gone, Anya called for Walter.

"Walter, prepare the luggage. We need to leave as soon as possible."