Disclaimer- I don't own VK
Chapter 11
Beneath the Surface
"Leave me be, I don't want to argue, I'd just get confused and I'd come all undone"
The late afternoon sun was blocked out by the heavy curtains and the room was plunged into a thick darkness that was hardly natural. The air itself seemed to be alive, moving and breathing as if it had a mind of its own. Shadows were dancing on the walls despite there being no light in the room to give them life. It was silent in the room, a thoughtful silence that wasn't heavy or oppressive, but light so the mind had room to dream and contemplate, to wander.
Kana sat in the single chair the room offered, legs hanging over one of the arms while she leaned in to the other. The hand that wasn't supporting her cheek was resting just over the edge of the arm she leaned against. Her palm was up, facing the ceiling, while her thin, delicate fingers slowly moved as if there were invisible strings attached to them that would control the shadows she was so absently staring at. There were no invisible strings, however, only a dark fluid that floated above her hand. It shifted and glided over her palm, between and around her fingers, responding to the unconscious movements that her fingers made in the dark.
The shadows seemed to morph as her fingers moved and scene after scene came to life in the shadows. To her they were more than shadows, they were memories and visions. They had color, substance, meaning and they held the key to so much more than that because they were not her memories. They were Kaname's, the memories she had seen while drinking his blood hours before. She was sifting through them while they were still fresh and his blood was still strongly flowing through her.
There was something in them, something she was missing. She just had no idea what.
She hadn't realized it at first, but there had been another vague feeling beneath the memories she had seen. A feeling she couldn't pinpoint or define. A feeling she wanted to understand. There was something in those sensations and memories that was important, that could help her to understand just what it was that Kaname was up to, because he was certainly up to something. He always was. Even if he wanted her to believe he had changed, that he had tried to create the world she had wanted because of his guilt, she didn't believe it. Not fully at least, even if the memories and feelings she had found in his blood had been real, there was something hidden beneath their surface. It was what was hidden that she wanted to find.
The sound of the door opening quietly was amplified in the silence of the room, it echoed off the walls and seemed to vibrate through the air, but Kana didn't notice. She was too focused on the shadows and their stories to care about much else. It wasn't until a voice broke through the silence, shattering it like a thin pane of glass, that she started. Her eyes widened and she sucked in a breath that seemed to pull all of the heaviness from the darkness that had fallen over the room like a shroud. The fluid substance that had been gliding around her hand and fingers disappeared as her fingers closed around it, as if capturing a small feather that disintegrated as soon as her fingers touched it. Light began to filter in through the cracks in the curtains, soft and pale, while bright light from the hall seeped through the crack beneath the door.
There were real shadows, reflections of the objects in the room now.
"Lady Kana?"
She started again, she was still mostly lost in a world of memories and sensations. The room was suddenly much brighter than it had been moments before and she blinked a few times to allow her eyes to readjust. Turning her head, she saw Sora standing a few feet away, studying her worriedly.
"I'm alright, Sora," she assured him with a soft smile. "I'm just thinking. So much has changed since I fell asleep that I'm a little lost. There's a lot I don't know, that I don't understand, and some I don't quite remember well. I'm just looking for answers."
"..And when you have them?" He inquired quietly.
She chuckled lightly, a half smile on her lips. "I suppose that depends entirely on what the answers are."
The dark haired man frowned, concern furrowing his brow. "What if you don't like the answers you find, my lady? This world isn't the same one you left when you went to sleep. There's a lot that's changed, that's-"
"You fret too much, Sora," she cut in, rising from the chair to step toward him and put a gentle, reassuring hand on his cheek. "I know that a lot has changed, I know that it's dangerous to openly oppose Kaname, or even the Council. If I want answers I have to play their game and behave how they want me to. To a degree anyways. I don't plan on causing trouble here, the goal of this Academy is a good one, and I don't want to ruin what's been built here. I just want the truth. There's so much that doesn't make sense, that doesn't add up. I want to know why."
Sora sighed resignedly, but nodded. "I almost wish you had stayed asleep," he murmured. "It would be so much easier to protect you, to hide you."
She smiled, almost sadly. "You have protected me for a very long time, Sora, but it's time that I stopped hiding. I've been absent from the world for so long that it's time I took part in it again. I will protect those who can't protect themselves, I have a feeling many of them will need it before long."
Sora bowed his head, placing his right arm across his chest in a show of respect and loyalty. "Then I will help you in protecting them."
"Thank you, Sora," she replied, taking his head in her hands before he could straighten and placing a soft kiss on his forehead. "That means a lot to me." She released him and smiled, looking around him towards the door. "Do you plan on continuing to spy, Riku, or would you like a kiss too?"
The door opened and a grinning Riku flounced in, giddily offering up his cheek for Kana to kiss.
Sora sighed and shook his head at his brother's antics while Kana laughed, her eyes twinkling happily as she placed a kiss on Riku's cheek.
"Will you both stay with me for just a little longer?" Kana asked, each of her hands grasping one of theirs.
"Of course," they replied in sync.
Kana smiled at them, but it was lonely, distant. "Because you want to or because you feel you're supposed to?"
The twins looked offended as they exchanged a brief glance before lowering themselves to one knee while still holding the hand that Kana had grasped theirs with.
"You have always made it clear that our choices were our own, my lady," Sora said.
"We've always known that you wanted us to be free to do what we wanted to," Riku continued.
"We want to be by your side, my lady."
"If you'll have us," Riku added, grinning like an innocent child.
She wasn't sure when the tears had started to fall from her eyes, she just knew that Sora and Riku both brushed a tear away from her cheeks before she embraced them both. "Who could say no to the two of you?" She joked lightly.
"No one," Riku replied. "Which is why you're never going to get rid of us no matter how hard you try."
She chuckled. "And if I don't try?"
"Then you're stuck with us for eternity," Sora answered, leaning away from her and brushing another tear from her cheek. "Eternity is a long time, my lady, especially when Riku is involved."
"I suppose," she agreed, smiling and laughing genuinely when Riku looked utterly offended. "But I wouldn't have it any other way."
–
Opening her eyes, Kana turned her head towards the door before slowly sitting up. Her crimson eyes narrowed as she continued to stare at the door for a moment until she slid gracefully off the bed. Her bare feet made hardly a sound as she neared the door, pausing when Riku called to her.
"Kana?" Riku questioned, setting the book he had been reading on the bedside table and making to rise from the bed the two had been lying together in a moment before.
"It's alright, Riku, Sora," she said, noticing that Sora too was rising from the chair he had been dozing in. She gestured for them both to relax and stay where they were. "I'll be back in just a moment." With a soft smile, she noiselessly opened the door and slipped into the hallway.
She stood a few feet from her door, closing her eyes and focusing on the sounds around her. The house was mostly quiet, but there was a soft buzzing inside the walls from the electricity and a quiet bubbling of water through pipes. Extending her senses outwards through the house, she heard the slow, steady breathing of someone sleeping as their heart beat thumped softly. There was another person, this one more quiet and hard to detect, but his heart beat and annoyed aura gave him way.
"Hey, wake up," Zero sighed.
The voice was distant, a few walls separated her from the one speaking after all, but she could still hear it quite clearly.
"You're going to catch a cold."
Kana knew Zero was attempting to wake up a sleeping Yuuki who had fallen asleep on the Headmaster's couch while waiting to use the shower Zero had previously occupied. She heard Zero sigh again before his breathing changed and his heart beat quickened. He had finally noticed that he was being watched. Kaname had entered the Headmaster's residence several moments before and had quietly been watching over Yuuki when Zero had stepped out of the bathroom.
"What are you doing here?" Zero growled hotly.
"I have some things to discuss with the Headmaster," was the cool, easy reply from the pureblood. "You don't need to look so surprised, I used to come by all the time, remember?"
Zero snorted, before grumbling, "Yeah, uninvited."
After a moment of silence Kaname spoke up again, his voice quiet though it didn't stop her from hearing what he said. "I haven't told you yet, have I? The reason I'm letting you live despite what you are and your attack on Yuuki. You will be her shield... Or will you betray her after what she's given to you?"
"And what about Kana?" Zero retorted bitterly. "Should I protect her too? She seems to need it more than Yuuki does, because you've protected Yuuki, but not Kana. So should I protect her too? Or just Yuuki?"
The silence that lingered after Zero's question grew tense with each second that passed before Kana slipped away from her spot near the door.
"It's quite a good question, isn't it?" She asked, walking into the room where Kaname and Zero stood facing each other stiffly. Making her way to Zero's side, she too turned to face the beautiful brown haired pureblood. "Perhaps, Zero should know the truth about just what this little girl is to you, hm?" She hummed curiously as she began to circle the couch that Yuuki was still sleeping peacefully on, her delicate fingers lightly brushing over the fabric.
Kaname was by her side in an instant when she leaned down as if to caress Yuuki's cheek, his hand gripping onto her wrist and pulling it away from the innocently sleeping girl. Kana's lips twitched into a partial smirk when Kaname's dark eyes slid over to the silver gun that was a hair's breadth away from his temple.
"Looks like we're at a bit of a stalemate," Kana observed, her eyes sparkling mischievously as Kaname stared at her.
When Kaname released her, he turned and strode from the room, but Zero followed, angry and frustrated with being ignored.
"What truth?" Zero asked tightly, catching up to Kaname down the hall. "What do you have planned for Yuuki?" His eyes narrowed at Kaname, but Kaname was focused Kana, who was a few steps behind Zero, and nothing else. Zero glanced at Kana, her face was blank, but she was watching Kaname closely, almost as if she were waiting for him to attack. His fingers flexed around the cool metal of his gun, but he kept it lowered at his side.
"That's none of your concern," Kaname replied after a moment, finally deigning to look at Zero with unhidden contempt. He ignored Zero's frustrated glare and turned his back on him again, stopping near the door to the Headmaster's home office and looking over his shoulder at Kana. "So is this the side you're choosing, Kana? The side of a vampire hunter turned vampire? You already know you can't save him-"
"I'm not choosing sides, Kaname," Kana cut in acerbically, walking forward so that she was between he and Zero. "I'm looking for the truth, all of it. As for saving him, I can save him. From you. You corrupt or destroy everything you touch, even you can't deny that. You want him to protect Yuuki? You think it will actually keep her safe? You think it'll keep me from-"
Kana didn't even flinch as she was pressed into the wall, Kaname's hands holding her arms roughly down at her sides. She met his eyes unwaveringly despite the clear glint of anger glowing in his crimson eyes.
"I've already warned you what would happen if you harmed anything precious to me," Kaname reminded, his voice quiet but threatening as the temperature in the hall dropped so drastically that the three of them were suddenly exhaling small clouds of mist.
"You won't be able to forgive me, right?" Kana answered, laughing bitterly as she folded her arms over her chest. "Maybe, you'll even kill me, your own sister. Your own beloved wife you still claim to love. Maybe you understand a little now? How I felt thousands of years ago when you took Tristan's life. At least you still have Yuuki, Kaname. I have nothing because you took it all away."
"And what did you leave me with?" Kaname inquired softly.
Kana blinked uncomprehendingly. "What?" She asked, suddenly uncertain and shaken.
"I loved you, in my own way, I loved you and would have done anything for you. You know that-"
"But you didn't," Kana cut in sharply, blinking the tears out of her eyes. "I asked one thing of you, Kaname, I asked for the war to stop-"
"It wasn't that simple," Kaname interrupted. "You already know that. There-"
"It was that simple," she snapped. "All you had to do was agree to a truce, to a peace treaty that the humans would have been willing to work out with you. You never cared about ending the war, you liked it. The violence, the blood, the mayhem. You liked it all and until you lost me it was the most important thing to you. That war took everything away from me, Kaname. Even before Tristan came along that war had already taken so much from me, but that never mattered. I never mattered.. not until I was gone."
"And will you take everything away from me now?" Kaname questioned softly.
She snorted, sad and bitter, while she shook her head. "Let go of me, Kaname," she told him tiredly.
"Will you?" Kaname pressed. "You did say-"
"I know what I said!" Kana shouted, fingers curling at her sides. She closed her eyes, her jaw clenching painfully. Kaname was speaking about her threats to him to take away everything he cared about, to do to him what he had done to her. "You don't understand anything, Kaname. Especially me, you never have and you never will... Let me go."
After several seconds, Kaname finally released Kana, stepping back and returning to the Headmaster's door before he turned around again. "You will protect Yuuki," Kaname said, his eyes on Zero.
The silvery haired prefect scowled angrily, his fingers tensing around his gun again.
"That is his choice to make, not yours," Kana spoke up, stepping between the two men again and resting a calming hand on Zero's arm. "You've always liked to manipulate people to get them to do as you wanted them to, but not this time, Kaname. It's not Zero's responsibility to look after that child, it's yours and the Headmaster's. If the two of you can't handle the task, don't drag Zero into it by manipulating his guilt. Come with me," Kana said to Zero, her hand lightly taking a hold of his as she began to lead him from the room.
"Kana," Kaname called, causing the dark haired woman to pause, but not look back at him. "You were wrong." When Kana turned to look at him, confused by what he meant, he continued. "You said you have nothing left, but that's not exactly true, is it? I haven't taken everything from you-"
Her hand tightened its grip on Zero's as her heart sped up in her chest and her stomach dropped. "Touch a hair on their heads and I swear I will not only take what you have left, I-"
"It wasn't a threat, it was just a reminder," Kaname cut in evenly, turning his back to her to make his way to the Headmaster's office.
Her eyelids fluttered, but she attempted to remain calm. She had put Sora and Riku in danger by confronting Kaname, and he was right, he hadn't taken everything from her as she had said. And there was no way that she would ever let him take anything else from her, not without putting up one hell of a fight.
"Come on," she said to Zero, once again leading him down the hall, the hands clasped between them.
When they reached her door, Kana let them both inside, still holding onto his hand. She released him once the door was shut securely behind them. Sighing, she left Zero to stand stiffly a few feet from the door as she made her way to the window.
"So," Kana exhaled softly, turning to Zero to see she had surprised him, though the look was gone quickly and replaced with a haughty stare. "It's you. You're what doesn't make sense. What doesn't fit."
Zero scowled. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I know you don't," she replied absently.
"What did you mean?" Zero snapped at Kana.
Meeting his eyes, she smirked innocently. "Hm, I wonder?" she answered.
Sora and Riku exchanged glances, but remained quietly standing by the bedside.
Frustrated, his hands shaking at his sides, Zero glared at Kana and the small smirk that was dancing on her lips. "This has to do with Kaname, doesn't it? With what he said about letting me live?"
She offered a nod. "It does."
"He said he's letting me live to protect Yuuki."
"Yuuki doesn't need your protection," Kana replied blandly, giving an almost dismissive wave of her hand. "Well, not really anyways."
"What do you mean?" Zero growled, annoyed with the lack of any explanation from the distant, distracted pureblood. He wanted to know what she meant about Yuuki, about why he made no sense, and what it all had to do with Kaname, the man he was growing to hate more each passing day.
Turning away from the window to lean into the wall, Kana fixed Zero with an inquisitive stare, going so far as to tilt her head as she scrutinized him, her thoughts churning like a storm through her mind. "You really have no idea, do you?" She finally inquired, curious.
Zero's cheek twitched and his fingers flexed at his side. "I wouldn't be asking if I did," he hissed. "You said protecting her was Kaname's and the Headmaster's duty, what did you mean?"
Kana fixed Zero with an inquisitive stare, going so far as to tilt her head as she scrutinized him thoughtfully. "If I promise to tell you a secret, will you help me with something?"
His pale cheek twitched and his lilac eyes narrowed briefly. "I want to know what you meant," he pressed.
"And I'll tell you," Kana said coolly, stepping up to him so she was only a few inches from him. Raising herself up on her toes, she leaned forward so that her lips were only a few centimeters from Zero's ear. "If you take me to the Hunters Association."
Zero pulled away and narrowed his eyes at her again. "Why do you want to get into the Association?"
"The library. There are a few things that don't add up and I want to know why. It shouldn't be that hard to pull off, me being, well, me. I did create the Association after all."
"You're not going to tell me what you mean about me not making sense? Or about Yuuki?"
She released a slow rush of air before turning away and making her way to the window. Leaning into the wall, she stared searchingly into the dark. "It's all too much of a coincidence. Knowing Kaname the way I do, I've learned that there are rarely such things as coincidences when he's involved."
"That-"
"Doesn't answer anything," Kana cut in, turning around to face him again. "Yes, I know. I'm not sure about much right now myself, but I find it hard to believe that you, a Kiryu, the last Kiryu, turned up at this school with Yuuki and Kaname by mere chance."
Zero frowned, Kana looked tired now as she leaned back into the wall with a sigh and closed her eyes. "You don't think it was an accident that my family was attacked, do you?" He asked, trying to remain neutral and detached.
Taking in a breath, Kana released it in a long exhale and shook her head before opening her eyes to look at him again. "I don't know, Zero. I know that the pureblood that attacked your family had been given information she never should have had and I'd like to find out why. Will you help me?"
–
"Do you think you'll actually find what you're looking for at the Association's library?" Sora asked Kana, he was sitting in the chair while Kana leaned into the wall to stare out into the moonlit world and its soft shadows.
Kana shook her head and sighed. "I doubt it, but there still might be useful information. I've been out of touch with the Association for centuries, it's about time I've checked in on them. I'd like to see for myself just what the hunters I created have become."
"Won't Zero be disappointed?" Sora inquired.
Kana shrugged a shoulder. "Most likely, but just because I don't anticipate finding anything there about what really happened to his family doesn't mean I don't have other places to look. Or other information to gather. The more I think about it the less likely it is that what happened to the Kiryu family was on accident."
"But do you really think Kaname would have gone to such lengths?" Sora asked.
She frowned for a moment, biting at her lip before closing her eyes and sighing. "I honestly don't know. The Kaname I knew wouldn't have gone about things this way, it's not direct enough for him."
"It's possible he had nothing to do with it," Riku spoke up, smiling nervously when his brother and Kana glanced at him. "The woman that attacked the Kiryu family had her lover murdered by them, she would have wanted revenge. She may have acted alone."
"It's possible, except for one thing," Kana replied.
"And what's that?" Riku asked.
"The name of the woman's lover shouldn't have been on the hunters' list. Not yet."
"Did Kaname-"
Kana shook her head before Sora could finish his question. "No. I've heard enough of the story from you two and Kaname. None of the stories ever mention that the man was insane, that he had killed anyone. He was still following Shizuka, he was still receiving her blood."
"If that were true, then his name wouldn't have been on the list of those to be hunted," Sora pointed out.
"That's right. Which means that someone is manipulating the rules and laws that I wrote and Tristan established and enforced before his death. I know his brother and the Kiryu line continued those established policies for several centuries, so there is no reason for that to have changed. Not unless.." Kana sighed, trailing off and rubbing at her temples, her head was aching with all of the uncertainties she was contemplating. She had been apart from the rest of the world for so long that she didn't know what things connected, what things didn't, and what any of it meant. She had to find out on her own and with the help of the twins that had followed her for so long, faithfully and unwaveringly.
"Unless the Association is corrupt," Sora finished for her, quietly.
She gave a nod, releasing a tired exhale as she turned to sit on the bed and lean into the pillows. "Exactly. If the Association I created with Tristan's help is being corrupted from its original purpose I want to know why, and how." She gave a frustrated groan while covering her eyes with her hand. "There's too much that doesn't make sense to me. I slept far too long this time, I'm at a serious disadvantage. I need to make friends, lots of them, and powerful ones at that."
"There's one way to do that, and quite quickly," Sora offered, but he knew the thought was crossing Kana's mind too for she released a soft sigh while her lips pulled into a frown.
"Kaname," she said resignedly. "Befriend him and the others will follow without a second thought." She covered her eyes with arm. "I'm tired, I'm going to get some rest. I have a feeling tomorrow will be quite the long day."
"Do you really think the Headmaster will agree to let you and Zero leave the Academy grounds?" Sora asked.
"He doesn't have a choice," Kana replied. "I created the Association, and as a former hunter himself, he has no right to deny me the chance to see it for myself after all these years. Besides, I'll be with Zero, there's no reason to say no."
–
Kana raised an eyebrow as she skeptically stared at the yellow vehicle before she and Zero. She knew the vehicle was a car, but it looked nothing like the one she had been in when she had come to the Academy. "You want me to get in that?"
Zero sighed, resisting an urge to roll his eyes as he opened the door for Kana and gestured for her to get into the taxi. "After you."
Her eyebrow stayed raised as she studied Zero.
After several seconds of staring at each other, Zero sighed again. "It's a taxi. It'll be quicker than walking."
"But it's dirty," she pointed out. "And it smells... bad," she said, her nose crinkling in distaste. "What happened to the nicer, shinier, not so smelly one that brought me here?"
"How would I know? It was probably hired, just like this one is," Zero replied before gesturing her into the car again. "Now get in." When Kana gave him an arrogant huff and turned away like a spoiled child, he rolled his eyes, but kept himself from snapping at her like he really wanted to do. "Please get in," he said, trying not to let his annoyance show.
A half frown on her lips, Kana looked over at him and then to the car and the bored driver that was tapping anxiously on the steering wheel. "Fine," she huffed, stepping around Zero and lowering herself into the car.
Kana let Zero tell the driver where to go, she sat quietly in her seat, listening to the grinding of gears and crunching of gravel as the taxi pulled out of the school's driveway. Once they were on the road, both of them remained silent. Neither had much to say to one another, at least nothing that could be said in front of a stranger.
When the vehicle pulled to a stop only twenty minutes later, Kana gladly exited the cramped, dingy car and dusted herself off on the sidewalk while Zero paid for their trip.
"Come on," Zero said, grabbing her by her elbow since she was ignoring him while over-dramatically dusting off her long sleeves, and pulling her towards a nearby building that was made out of stone.
Letting herself be tugged along beside Zero, Kana looked around the street they were on. There were people walking along the sidewalks on either side of the street, cars speeding down the street, and buildings everywhere. Most of them modern, and, in her opinion, ugly. She was used to simpler things, things made out of easily available supplies. Wood, stone, earth. These were metal, glass, and who knew what else.
The only exception was the Hunter's Association building. It was made from cut stone blocks, it looked old, especially when compared to the surrounding buildings. Ivy climbed up some of the walls and the stone walkway was worn beneath their feet as they closed a wrought iron gate behind themselves. She could feel the magic of the place before they had even exited the taxi cab. There were spells in place to keep regular people out, to make the building blend in and seem like just another building.
The two walked up the cracking steps to the entry, but just before they were to cross the threshold into the building Kana stopped abruptly. Turning to Zero, she raised an eyebrow and stuck out her hand for him to take hold of. "Funny," she said blandly. "Mind helping me enter without getting a nasty shock?"
"Most vampires wouldn't have sensed the magic," Zero pointed out, taking her by the elbow again.
"Well, I am the vampire that gave them their magic," she reminded. "If it weren't for me, Hunters would never have existed in the first place."
"You can stop glaring at me," Zero grumbled. "I wasn't going to let anything happen to you."
"But you hate my kind," she pointed out.
"And most of you deserve it," he shot back.
"Can we just go inside?" Kana asked, waving a hand at the walkway leading to the interior of the Association building. "I'd like to see what the Association has become in the last few thousand years."
Zero led her into the building, tugging her along by her elbow beside him, but once they were passed the magic designed to keep vampires who weren't invited out he let go of her elbow and simply walked beside her. His eyes kept shifting across the halls and through the rooms they passed, it hadn't gone unnoticed that he had just brought a pureblood vampire into the building. Not that he had expected it to, but he wasn't sure what to expect. The president was already expecting them, and it seemed others had as well because the usually empty halls were milling with people that were talking in hushed whispers as they passed. He wasn't sure who it was they found more interesting. Him, the vampire hunter turned vampire that would eventually lose his sanity. Or Kana, the pureblood that was the legend behind their strength.
Kana seemed oblivious to the attention. She was studying the building, a slight frown on her face as she took in her surroundings, when she finally glanced at someone it was the Hunter's Association president. Her dark crimson eyes narrowed while she stepped up to the gaudily dressed woman, but she kept her posture relaxed so as not to appear threatening in any way.
"So you're Kana Kuran, are you?" The woman asked, looking Kana over with a hungry, almost jealous, gaze. "Not really what I expected. You don't strike me as very powerful."
"Looks can be deceiving," she replied, her voice a bland monotone as she steadily met the woman's eyes.
"They can indeed," the woman replied thoughtfully, her eyes sweeping over Kana again, reevaluating how much of a threat she was. The woman than switched her attention to Zero. "And Zero, it's so nice to see you again. How have you been?" The question wasn't as simple as it seemed, the glint in the woman's eyes and the smirk on her face was enough to tell anyone that.
Zero tensed beside Kana, but remained calm. The Hunter's Association was aware of his situation of course, and while he hadn't given them a reason to doubt his loyalty or control over himself it was in their nature to not trust someone who had been bitten by a pureblood. "Fine, thanks."
"It wasn't my intention to cause a stir," Kana said, changing the topic while her eyes glanced over the gathered crowd of trained hunters. "I was just hoping to be able to take a look around and see the library, I've been out of touch with the world for awhile and was hoping to get my bearings. If it wouldn't be too much trouble, of course."
The pale woman offered a hint of a smile. "No trouble at all. Anything in particular you're interested in?"
"Yes," Kana said, beginning to walk away only to turn back and offer a cold, blank smile. "The truth." Her cold smile turned into a brief smirk when she saw the flash of bitter anger in the hunter president.
"What was that about?" Zero questioned, glancing over his shoulder as they made their way down a flight steps, Kana staring thoughtfully ahead of herself.
"Hm?" She hummed, blinking over at the lilac eyed Kiryu. "Oh, your president isn't what she seems. The magic here is distorting my senses a bit, but there's something about that woman that is wrong. There's something about this entire place that's wrong."
"What?"
She shook her head. "I don't know," she answered honestly, her voice betraying how unsettled she was as she distractedly walked along beside him.
"Where are you going?" Zero finally asked after several minutes of aimlessly walking beside Kana.
The pureblood woman stopped abruptly, blinking at Zero as he stopped a step ahead of her and looked over his shoulder at her curiously. "I.." she trailed off as she glanced around herself, the thoughtful look that had clouded her eyes clearing as she regained her senses.
Zero sighed, rolling his eyes as he stuck his hands in his pockets. "You have no idea where you're going, do you?"
"Of course I know where I'm going," she replied, matter-of-factly. "I'm going to the library." A small, playful grin appeared on her face when Zero sighed again and shook his head at her, clearly wondering what had possessed him to willingly decide to spend any of his time with such a troublesome person.
"Do you even know where it is?" He asked.
"I've never been here before, how would I know where the library is?"
"If you don't know where you're going, don't act like you know where you're going," Zero grumbled, running a hand through his hair. He didn't wait for her to reply, he turned his back on her and started walking in the direction they had come from. "The library is this way."
Following after Zero, Kana's eyes took in the décor, the layout, the names that were on some of the doors, and her senses were feeling out all of the magic she could feel throughout the building. There was more than she would have thought, so much so that it made her feel as if there was something being hidden. Something more than just the Association and its secrets. To her it was like placing a bunch of fragrant flowers in a room that stunk of rotten eggs, you hoped the flowers would mask the smell, but it only made it more obvious.
When Zero pushed open a heavy wooden door, the scent of musty leather, polished wood, and old paper drifted out to her. The room that housed the Hunter Association's library was gigantic, every wall was full of books, scrolls or random bits of paper. There were several old wooden tables that had an array of tools to use so as not to damage any of the books, but Kana ignored them as she stepped into the room and glanced back at Zero, her demeanor suddenly serious as she looked passed him and into the hall. The library itself was currently empty, but there were Hunters following them to make sure they didn't do anything they shouldn't. It was unlikely they would confront them or show themselves unless necessary though.
"Shut the door," she instructed, turning back to the room that was nearly overflowing with history and lifting her left hand to her mouth.
"What are you doing?" Zero inquired suspiciously as she punctured the tip of a finger with a dagger like fang.
She glanced over her shoulder him as she lifted her left hand out in front of her, the blood that was beginning to slide down her finger suddenly lifting into the air. The deep red ribbon of blood twisted and curled in the air above her palm, some slipping between her fingers and some gliding around her wrist. "I said it before, didn't I? I came here to find the truth, and I will find it."
Zero watched uncomfortably as the crimson ribbon, that had now detached itself from Kana's finger, writhed and swirled around her upturned palm. She had turned away from him, but he stepped closer to her to see that her eyes were closed. A slight twitch of her elegant fingers caused the ribbon to split apart, each piece rising into the air as its shape constantly swam and changed. He watched each piece begin to float about the room. He wasn't sure, but he had a feeling that Kana was using her blood to get a quicker look at the books and documents that were housed in the libraries. For several moments, they were both quiet as Kana stood with her eyes closed while her blood shifted through the room, scanning bookshelves and stacks of scrolls. When she reopened her eyes, there was a definite frown on her face as a single fluid globe of her blood returned to her and disappeared into the palm that she closed around it.
Ignoring Zero, she began to collect several books from the shelves. As she did the blood that had been sent around the room would float back into her palm and disappear. Setting the books she collected onto a table, she glanced at the last shifting orb that was hovering near a locked case with glass windows. Deciding that the last orb could wait, she began to flip through the books she had taken from their places.
Zero's curiosity eventually got the better of him and he sat opposite her, idly glancing over the books she had collected. None of them seemed unique or special to him. There were several books on the genealogies of Hunter families, those were what she seemed most interested in at first, but then her attention shifted to books that concerned the creation of the vampire Council of Ancients. It was the final book that she skimmed through that he noticed the way her eyebrows had pulled together while her lips began to pull down. When she flipped the book closed, she looked up, passed him and at the glass case where the last orb of blood patiently floated in the air, marking one last book of interest to her.
"The case is locked, you have to get permission from the president," Zero told her as she stood up and stepped up to the last of the shifting orbs of her blood and studied the book that it was marking for her.
The book was one of several that was locked in the glass case because it was considered more valuable and important than the rest. She stared at the book for a moment before raising her right hand and tapping the lock with her index finger. There was a metallic grinding noise before the door popped open.
"Did you just-"
"Break into this case?" Kana finished. "Yes, I did." She knew she had set off a few magical alarms, but she didn't care, she tilted the book off of the shelf and opened it. She flipped through its pages quickly, her eyes absorbing each page. "Well," she murmured aloud, her voice taking on a hint of dark curiosity. "Isn't that interesting."
"What-"
She tossed the book to Zero, who caught it easily before shooting her a glare. She ignored his glare, nodding at the book in his hands. "Do you know what that is?" She asked.
The tone of her voice made his glare turn to a scowl as he glanced over the book and opened it. "It's the book you wrote about the founding of the Hunter's Association. The one you gave to Tristan. Every Hunter knows that, and has to read a copy of it. So what?"
"That isn't the book I gave to Tristan," she told him, causing him to glance up at her with the serious tone of her voice. "And it's not a copy either," she said before Zero could offer up the suggestion. "That book is a complete fake." She stepped up to the silver haired hunter and carefully took the book from his grasp so that she could return it to its place, locking the doors she had forced open just moments before. "We should go," she said as she turned back around, heading for the door.
Zero stared after her for a moment, but pushed himself to his feet and followed after her only to come to an abrupt halt just outside of the door. Kana was standing a few feet away, her back to him while half a dozen hunters blocked her path, each with their weapons pointed at her head or heart.
"Is there a problem?" She inquired coolly, placing her hands behind her back in a gesture that might have appeared coy to those in front of her, but was meant to give her a means of protection. She had just pierced the skin on one of her fingers when Zero stepped up beside her. She glanced over at him as his hand closed over both of hers to keep her from doing anything rash.
"What's going on?" Zero asked, knowing that he was more likely to get an answer than Kana was, despite who she was to the Association. The others didn't know her, they had no reason to trust her.
"One of the alarms in the library went off," one of the men answered, he was young, only a few years older than Zero and had obviously not shaved in several days. "We came down to check it out."
"Everything is fine," Zero replied casually, shrugging his shoulder. "Take a look for yourself."
The young man's brown eyes narrowed, but he nodded his shaggy head of brown hair and stepped cautiously around Zero and Kana, his eyes not leaving Kana until he reached the door and took a look inside. A frown found its way to the man's face.
"Everything looks fine," the young man said, suspiciously staring at Kana. "The alarm wouldn't have gone off for no reason though."
Zero tensed next to Kana, who was still calm and relaxed, which only made him more tense. The brown haired man stepped up to Kana, whose eyes were following his movements, he still hadn't fully lowered the pistol in his hands.
"You do know who I am, right?" Kana questioned simply. "Or has the Association I created really forgotten what I did for it and what they owe me?"
Her fingers twitched in Zero's grasp, the lilac eyed hunter squeezed her hands harder, but it was too late. A look of shock crossed the brown haired man's face and he dropped his pistol, letting it clatter to the ground before he fell to his knees beside it.
The other hunters let out angered hisses or cries, their grips on their weapons tightening.
"Diluted or not," Kana said, her voice as smooth and sharp as the coldest winter breeze. "My blood still flows through your veins and you owe me your loyalty. If not for me this world would be a very different place and humans would be little more than cattle."
Several of the hunters watching had had enough, an arrow, a dagger, and three bullets zoomed at her. She didn't move, only cast a glance towards the oncoming projectiles. The arrow and the dagger fell uselessly to the ground and a moment later, three bullets did the same.
"Stop," Zero demanded, roughly tugging on her wrists.
Glancing over at him, she sighed, but he felt a minute twitch of her fingers and the atmosphere lost the density it had been gaining. The air was breathable again, the young man on the floor looked dazed, but completely fine otherwise.
"We're going," Zero growled, tightly grabbing onto her elbow and pulling her with him down the hall.
"Let them go," the brown haired man shouted breathlessly, causing the other hunters to voice protests. "She didn't hurt me, she.. She just wanted to prove who she was. She's really the Kana Kuran that created the Association, she's right to be upset that we pointed our weapons at her. We'd be nothing without her help."
Kana glanced over her shoulder before Zero tugged her up the stairs and offered a quick, encouraging smile to the brown haired man. "I'm sorry if I hurt you," she murmured, her smiling growing when the man's eyes widened. He had heard her despite the distance and the ache in his head was suddenly gone, he also felt completely perfect, healthy, alive. "I hope you accept my apology."
It wasn't until Zero had rather roughly pulled Kana outside and a few blocks from the Association that he let her go. They were in an alley between two buildings that smelled like a mix of rotten apples and alcohol. When he released her, he had pushed her towards one of the walls, what he wasn't expecting was for her to hit it with a grimace and lean into it for support. It was then that he noticed how pale she had become, how she was breathing quicker than usual. It was also when he noticed the sudden smell of blood, her blood, it was so strong that it was nearly overwhelming. He was confused about why he hadn't noticed it before when she lifted a hand to her left shoulder and it came away slick with blood.
Noticing the look on Zero's face, she chuckled wanly. "Purebloods have a lot of tricks up their sleeves. I kept the wound from bleeding for as long as I could, but considering it was an anti-vampire weapon that I was shot with that trick only works for so long."
"But you stopped-"
"I only stopped what was fired from the hunters in front of us," Kana cut in. "Someone else fired a shot from behind us, and not just at me. I was only able to stop what was aimed at you and move enough that the bullet aimed at me didn't pierce my heart." Kana watched Zero as the words she said sunk in. Someone in the Hunter's Association had just attempted to kill them, both of them, and they had almost succeeded.
Zero's teeth clenched together. Things weren't making sense. Kana had been unsettled by something when they had met the Association president, and she had felt something was off with not only the gaudy woman, but the Association itself. Then Kana discovered that the most important book in the history of the Association was a fraud. It wasn't the book she had written for Tristan, it was a fake. Then someone from the Association tried to kill the pureblood who was responsible for the success of the Association, and him, he was no one. He was just a hunter that had been bitten by a pureblood, an abomination, but not one they should have been trying to kill. Not yet at least.
With a grunt of frustration, he tugged off his light brown coat and unbuttoned the top few buttons of his white shirt before tugging it out of the way and stepping up to Kana. "You need blood."
"I'll be fine until we reach the school."
He pushed her back into the wall when she tried to step away, causing her to squeeze her eyes shut and hiss in pain. "Shut up and drink."
"No," she insisted stubbornly, scowling at Zero.
"I'm offering-"
"And I'm saying no," she snapped haughtily, grimacing when pain flared in her shoulder and up into her head. The weapons of the hunters had gotten stronger than she remembered. Another thing that didn't make sense. "Thank you for the offer, but I'm not going to take blood from someone that doesn't actually want to give it. You hate me and my kind enough, there's no need for me to make you hate me any more than you already do."
"I don't hate you," he growled, forcefully and angrily. "I.. can't hate you." Kana opened her mouth to reply, but he cut her off. "Just drink. If I didn't want to give you my blood, I wouldn't."
For several seconds, Kana simply stared up at Zero as he averted his eyes from hers. He was right, though, she needed blood. The wound to her shoulder was already healing, but she had lost a lot of blood and needed to replenish at least some of it so she wouldn't lose control of herself while they were still in the city.
Pulling Zero's collar out of the way, she leaned forward, her fangs extending as her throat grew dry in anticipation of the warmth that was about to pour into it. "I'm sorry," she murmured before her fangs plunged through the soft skin of his neck and his blood began to fill her mouth.
Hands clutching tightly to Zero, who had her pressed against the wall, Kana kept herself firmly anchored in reality. She didn't want to risk losing herself not only to memory, but the urge to drink more of Zero's blood than she needed. After the second swallow of his blood, she slowly pulled away, her lips lingering over the spot she had bitten for a moment.
"Thank you," she said, her grip on him loosening as she wiped a hand absently over her mouth. "Are you alright?"
"Fine," he replied blandly, fixing his shirt and pulling his jacket back on. "We should go."
"Wait," Kana called when the handsome hunter turned his back on her and began to walk away. "I made a promise. I owe you an explanation."
"Tell me later, you reek of blood."
She lifted her right hand over her wounded shoulder, the blood that had stained her coat and clothes rising from the fabric and swirling into her hand before soaking into her hand that she closed around it.
"If you could have reabsorbed-"
"I didn't reabsorb that blood, I destroyed it. I was shot with an anti-vampire weapon, the last thing I want to do is reabsorb blood that has been poisoned with anti-vampire magic. Besides, I can't exactly walk around covered in blood, now can I?"
"Whatever, lets just go."
"What about the explanation I owe you?"
"You'll still owe it to me later."
Kana watched Zero go for several long seconds, a soft frown pulling down the corners of her red lips. She hoped that her display outside of the Association's library and her taking his blood hadn't ruined what little friendship they had managed to establish in the past several weeks.
–
"They're testing his loyalty," Kana observed, not moving from her spot leaning into the wall near the window.
"Because of what happened the other day?" Sora asked, closing his book and rising to look out the window next to Kana.
Kana nodded, watching as Zero strolled out of the Academy grounds, it was only two days ago that they had gone to the Hunter Association and Zero had just received his first mission, his first target to exterminate. "Most likely. They want to make sure that he's still loyal to the Association and that he'll still follow their orders."
"Why wouldn't he?" Sora questioned. "He is a hunter."
"The Association isn't what it's supposed to be and I'm quite sure it wasn't by accident that the book I found was a fraud. Someone is definitely attempting to corrupt the Association I created, that Tristan created... And they're succeeding," Kana replied with an absent frown on her face while she continued to watch Zero walk away from the academy without so much as a glance back.
"But wouldn't they notice?" Riku asked. "If the book was a fraud, why would it go unnoticed? Someone had to have known."
"Like I said," Kana answered, turning away from the window after watching Yuuki sneak out of the academy to follow Zero. "I'm quite certain the Association is already corrupt. I'm also quite sure it wasn't a recent development, either. I think this has been going on for a long time."
"But who would corrupt the Association?" Sora asked.
"Oh, come now, Sora," Kana replied, a teasing note to her voice. "Can't you think of anyone with something to gain from the Hunters?" She let herself fall into the chair by the window, they were still at the Headmaster's home, the man was too kind to ask her to leave, but she knew she couldn't stay there much longer. It was raising too much suspicion.
"You think the Council-"
She cut Sora off without a care. "If it's not the Council, they still have something to do with it. I guarantee it."
"But why?" The blue eyed man asked.
"Who knows really? The Association is letting itself be corrupted, there's no other reason for the book I wrote to be replaced with a fraud. It couldn't have been done on accident. There must be something for them to gain out of this, the Association and Council both. What that something is... It's hard to say, it could be so many things... Sora, would you do me a favor?"
"Of course, my lady," he replied, offering a small bow that made Kana smile softly and shake her head.
"It's time we met with the Council of Ancients. Set up a meeting for as soon as you can, if they ask for a reason tell them that I would like to apologize for my actions and offer my support."
Sora and Riku exchanged glances, this was where things were going to get more interesting than they already were. Someone from the Hunter's Association had already tried to kill Kana,Zero as well, and if her suspicions about the Council being involved were correct then she was walking straight into a lion's den. Especially since it wasn't likely that she would win the Council over and get them to trust her. She was playing a dangerous game, a game that she wasn't very experienced at playing, and it worried him.
–