I'm very sorry for the long wait. Gomen. A big thank you to everyone who added this story to their favorites/alert lists, and an extra big thank you to those who took the time to review.
Disclaimer: Ooh. Last thing in the stocking! Could it be?...THE RIGHTS TO VAMPIRE KNIGHT!!!...Nope. Just a can of spam. So, I still don't own it. Just Arashi.
Chapter 11:
Knock! Knock!
Zero's eyes opened immediately, but he made no move to get up. For the first time in ages, the guardians' presence was not required, and there was no way he was going to miss out on a decent night of sleep. It's not like eight hours in dreamland is a normal thing, right? Maybe if he just ignored whoever was stupid enough to disturb him, the little pest would go away.
"Kiryu?" Aido called softly as he stepped into the small dorm room.
Oh, for goodness' sake! Why did the headmaster curse Zero with a rotten schedule that gave him such little time to rest that he never bothered to lock his door?
"You're in the wrong dorm, Aido." Zero was up, back leaning against the bed's headrest, with a far-from-amused look adorning his face.
Considering the stressful circumstances back with Kaname and the evil old guy, it was no surprise that Aido snapped back, "I know I'm not in the Moon Dorm, you idi--!"
"No."
Aido stopped mid-rant and for a moment reverted to his usual confused self. "No?"
A ghost of a smirk graced Zero's lips. "Arashi is in the girls' dorm."
Bowing his head down for a second while he collected himself for a very composed retort, Aido ended up screaming back, "That's so mean, Kiryu! I can't believe you'd tease me about her after she dumped me! Even Kaname-sama has had the decency not to mention it! You heartless, cruel--!"
"Did you come here for a reason, vampire?" As fun as it was to annoy the hyperactive twit, all that yelling was just a little too loud for someone who had just woken up.
Reassuming "secret agent mode," Aido got a grip on himself and relayed the situation. "Asato Ichijo is a guest tonight, and he requests your presence immediately regarding some very important matters." More like demands really, but he gets the idea.
Zero leveled his tired gaze at the dutiful messenger before acquiescing. "Let me get some shoes."
Taking quick stock of the Kiryu's current state of dress, Aido was a little unsure of whether or not to say something. He settled on silence. If Zero Kiryu wanted to appear before one of the most powerful vampires in the world, who was probably going to accuse him of murder, in flannel pajama pants, a t-shirt, and sneakers, it was all on his head, literally.
Mentally congratulating herself on her foresight to dress in a more appropriate "hunting outfit" (as opposed to that ridiculous school uniform costume), Arashi silently followed the two boys on their way to the Moon Dorm. Thanks to the beautiful landscaping around the buildings, there was no shortage of trees to skulk behind. Neither vampire ahead of her noticed her presence in the least.
"Kiryu, do you smell that?" Or not. Maybe Aido's nasal receptors were more acute than she'd given them credit for.
Zero, smelling absolutely nothing but the stench of aristocratic, vampiric, expensive cologne, gave a terse "No."
After a few more sniffs at the air, Aido inquired, "Kiryu, did you put on deodorant?"
If she hadn't been in the role of the silent predator stalking its prey, Arashi might have given in to a light chuckle. Finally, someone else was on the receiving end of Aido's weirdness! Justice had been served! Just as she had felt Zero's pain at the hands of the crazy headmaster, now too must he feel hers at the hands of the idiot! All thoughts on unplanned, yet sweet revenge aside, the two vampires had just reached the gate in the wall of the Moon Dorm.
Bypassing the creepy gatekeeper, Arashi pounced up and over the wall, the very image of a large cat. Catwoman! Well, not quite, since Catwoman was a thief and Arashi was here to kill, not steal. Wow, this night needed to get interesting really quickly before any more ludicrous tangents invaded the plot.
Getting through the front door before it closed without anyone noticing required a little too much effort, so Arashi went to Plan B. Over on the far side of the building from the super secret meeting, with a flame-aided boost, she jumped to an open window on the second story. The hunter calmly stepped down out of the night air into the dorm room of Ruka Souen and Rima Tooya, knives and guns still resting in their holsters on her legs.
The two female vampires were shocked to say the least. Even had they not been in neutral territory, no normal hunter could have reached them so easily on the second floor. But they weren't facing any ordinary hunter. They were looking on the face of the hunter, and she was in no mood to deal with fools tonight.
Unable to contain herself once her initial fright wore off, Ruka practically yelled, "How dare you, Kiryu! This is going too far! Get out of here, now!"
Rima glanced apprehensively between her roommate and the hunter who still had not acknowledged their presence. Ruka tended to speak and act without thinking when she thought Kaname-sama was involved. Though her loyalty was admirable, yelling at this particular Kiryu was probably not the brightest thing she could do at the moment. The odd pressure Rima had felt on that first night Arashi came to the academy was absent from the air, but that made her more worried. Whatever Kiryu had come to do, she would do, and Rima knew without a doubt that there was no way they could stop her, even if they tried.
Arashi seemed to come back to herself. Her eyes lost the faraway appearance of one lost in memory and took on a fiery sheen. When she looked directly into Ruka's eyes, the vampire crumpled to the ground. Rima rushed over to her fallen comrade. The eyes were open, but nobody was home. The still-conscious vampire looked fearfully in Kiryu's direction, but she wisely kept her mouth shut.
After making sure her Bloody Rose gun was loaded and her knives secure, Arashi turned back to where Rima was sitting, cradling Ruka's head on her lap, unsure of the hunter's intentions. "Tell your friend that she's lucky when she wakes up from that brain freeze." The Kiryu opened the door and walked out but glanced over her shoulder at the last second and added, "If I wasn't so busy, I would have killed her."
The door closed. Rima was left with the limp body of a powerful vampire, an aristocrat. Kiryu brought her down with nothing but her eyes. What kind of monster were they dealing with?
Arashi did not spare a second thought for the frightened girls whose room she had invaded. They were no threat, and she would soon have bigger fish to fry. Not to mention, throughout "Operation Rescue Zero," she needed to avoid any lengthy explanations to certain snobby, uptight, overly nosy vampires. Too many questions would complicate things later. Besides, just because she had broken into their dorm carrying weapons with the intent to hurt and/or kill someone, her affairs were absolutely none of their business.
She stealthily slid down the stairs. Voices were carrying out from a side room in the front. The whole area was too open and exposed to allow for much sneaking, so she softly dropped over the side railing about halfway down. Edging along the entryway's wall, Arashi reached the arched opening to the side parlor. As tempting as it was to peek around the corner, the voices would give her enough information to know when to act. There was no sense in blowing her cover now on the off chance that her presence was not needed at all tonight. For the time being, she would just listen.
The silence was quickly turning awkward. Asato Ichijo was glaring at Zero who was glaring back at him and somehow glaring at Kaname at the same time who was delivering his most serious of looks back at Asato. Takuma, though he was pretty sure those piercing eyes would all be turned on him, could not take one more second of this tense atmosphere. He had to do something. "So, nice weather we're having, right?"
As predicted, all eyes turned to him in disbelief before quickly regaining their former anger and lack of humor. Takuma nervously scratched the back of his head with a smile on his face. At least it wasn't silent anymore.
Alright, there's Zero, Aido…I know that's Takuma Ichijo's voice…Kuran has to be there…most likely Kain…and, of course, Asato Ichijo.
Oddly enough, Takuma's savior in this moment of extreme peril turned out to be none other than that moody defender of the innocents, minus vampires- Zero. "Why did you summon me, Ichijo-san?" His tone held no warmth and he made no effort to appear friendly.
Asato appeared ready to put the games aside as well. Ignoring his boisterous grandson again, he answered his most regal and commanding voice, "Zero Kiryu, I have been sent by the High Council of the Vampire Senate to apprehend the murderer of the pureblood, Shizuka Hiou."
"So?" This interruption actually came from Kuran. "Kiryu is a guardian of the academy. It is his job to ensure that the headmaster's pacifist ideals are followed."
Not willing to quit, even under pressure from the remaining Kuran, Asato continued, "The Senate has been led to believe that, due to past incidences, Kiryu has reason to hold a grudge against Hiou." Turning back to the hunter in their midst, Asato asked the key question: "Kiryu, are you responsible for the death of Shizuka Hiou?"
Zero did not look the least bit uncomfortable. Reclining back against the cushy couch, he replied, "Sadly, no."
The moment of truth approaches, Arashi thought as her body tensed in preparation for the probable confrontation to come.
"Well, thank you for your time, Kiryu-san. That is all I require," Asato said with a slight incline of his head.
Outside the parlor in the hall, Arashi almost fell over in shock. That was it? She had worried and leaped and stalked and all of that nonsense for nothing?
Takuma, once again unable to contain himself, obviously felt the same incredulity over his grandfather's actions, or lack thereof. "Really?" he asked, just to be sure.
Asato sent a small, condescending smile in Takuma's direction before looking back to Zero with his usual frosty glare back in place. "Of course, not. The word of a hunter is nothing, which is why Kiryu will be accompanying me back to the Senate where he will be officially questioned."
Ha, I knew the old geezer wouldn't let me down, Arashi smirked to herself. Now, at last, she could stop hiding and resolve this little problem.
"Asato Ichijo," she called as she stepped into the parlor. The ancient vampire's face immediately went white upon seeing the face he had hoped never to lay eyes upon again. "Long time, no see," Arashi said with a wolf's grin.
For a long moment, nobody moved. The six vampires stared at their uninvited guest while her eyes never left Asato's terrified expression.
Once again, good old Takuma was the first to break under the strain of the silence. "Arashi-chan, you know my grandfather?"
"More importantly," Kuran cut in, "what exactly are you doing here? With weapons?"
Ignoring both of them, Arashi kept talking as if Asato was the only one in the room. "I don't think we've met since I killed Rido Kuran." The collective gasp from her audience did not stop her. "I told you then that if you ever crossed me, his death would become yours."
Asato, had he not been the Asato Ichijo, would have been trembling where he sat. As it was, he could only manage to choke out, "Fire's Storm."
"Better known here as 'Arashi Kiryu,'" Aido informed the shaky senator.
With this little fun fact, the light bulb clicked on. Asato got it. He had just declared that he was taking the family of Fire's Storm to a group of vampires who would kill him. She was a ruthless, merciless killer. There was no way she would forgive this. Well, he decided that he would rather be a live coward than a dead hero.
In less than a second, Asato bolted up from the couch and sprinted for the front door. Arashi closed her eyes and threw an arm in his direction. He got within five feet of the door when the flames engulfed him. There was no ending scream of pain and terror for others to hear. There was no slow peeling and crumbing of the skin and bones, no hideous sights at which onlookers would cringe. It was simple and absolute, done in the time it took to blink. One moment Asato was ablaze with living fire, the next, nothing but a few scattered ashes remained in the entryway to remind anyone that he had ever been there.
Arashi opened her eyes and withdrew her hand. At least she would not have to worry about cleaning her weapons. Zero stood and joined her, content with the night's outcome. They walked up to the front door, and no one tried to stop them. So, that was the power of an elemental, controlled and wild, fierce and lethal.
Finding herself with a parting thought to convey at the door for the second time that night, Arashi turned back to the four vampires who were only just coming back to themselves and moving to inspect the remains of the old Ichijo. "You might want to get a maid to clean that up."
Once the door was safely shut, Zero looked his sister over. She could have just spent a long afternoon in the sun reading for how relaxed she seemed. "That was quick," he grinned slyly at her. "However," he cautioned, "this is neutral territory, and the vampires won't take that lying down."
Arashi looked up at the night sky, then out into the distance. "I am more of a monster than any of these leeches can ever hope to become. I killed when I was ordered to kill. I offered no reason or apology. I was told that the world was better for what I did." She lapsed into a small piece of tranquil silence, then turned her eyes back to her little brother. "This is the second time I have killed simply because I wished to kill, but I do not regret it, as long as you're safe."
That's all for this round, folks! So, please review and I'll see ya'll next time!
