Omataseshimatshita! Finally after age long wait, i present you the next chapter. It's a little gory enar the end, but this will tell you what Kaname had all so long been fearing (secretly for Zero woots!)
One note: REVIEW!! so many people keep putting update alerts -- GLARE --. REVIEW!!
Chapter 11: Our Consequence
--Normal--
Janicelia's gaze never shifted from the other pureblood. She did not even blink. Eyeing him sharply like a hawk, she waited for an answer from him.
Kaname may not have outwardly flinched from the woman's deathly gaze, but his emotions were in turmoil. His mind was rapidly searching for a lie. A plausible one, a believable one. Initially, the plan was to come up with something on his way back to the main hall, but Janicelia's sudden appearance now gave him a little pressure in his head.
The hunter was also stuck in the same, peat bog situation. He was not sure whether dismissing the situation as he would always do would work this time – Janicelia did not seem the type to take subtle hints. Neither was she going to listen to him in the first place. So now, only Kaname could settle her.
Zero side-glanced at the brunette.
Despite the anxiety of the position Kaname was in, he managed to remain calm. His gaze was confidently locked with Janicelia, although it could certainly have been fake. Risking the truth was out of the question. It woulf only get both Zero and himself in trouble. Kaname with the Vampire Council, and Zero with the Hunter Association. To tell the truth, he was more worried about the latter.
"Shall I make the question more specific, then?" Janicelia sounded after a while, thoroughly displeased by the continued silence Kaname was giving her. "May I ask whom have you fed from?"
Kaname narrowed his gaze at the female pureblood. It was obvious she was disappointed that she was not his chosen blood partner for this round. It was not the end, of course, for Kaname could still feed from her once more… but he also knew that whoever he had taken from earlier was going to get it from her, and get it good. Zero… would be punished.
Although admitting it was Zero was a very, very big issue. Firstly, all the vampires here had the impression that Zero was human. Taking from Zero would practically mean that he was, in fact, in the process of turning Zero into a half-breed, which is obviously untrue… although personally, he would not mind faking that Zero was his, upon biting… Kaname cleared his throat, shaking that thought from his head. The idea of it was very intimidating, but Bloody Rose may just head for him again. There.
Plus, it sounded oddly wrong.
Secondly, if they found out that Zero was a vampire, just who could he have fed from earlier? The nearest target was Kaname himself, and even though the pureblood was willing, not many – all right, hardly anyone - would see it that way. Out of anger or maybe even jealousy, assassins could be hired to …assassinate. The Vampire Council would be breathing down both their necks and the existence of the council itself already annoyed Kaname very much.
"Kaname-sama!"
The obvious impatience in the woman's voice got Kaname more annoyed, but he took a deep breath. He ought to be freaking out right now. He had absolutely no efficient reply to give to her. Just for once, maybe he would be rude and tell her to just mind her own business. In his head he was simply thinking of a nicer way to put it.
"You drank from Kiryuu-san?" Janicelia asked, her voice soft but her eyes hard.
"That cannot happen", Kaname replied quickly, but not showing the haste in his voice. "Zero is human. Biting him would risk turning him into a vampire."
Secretly, Zero snorted. He was already one. He was just wondering why Kaname would not dismiss this case quickly. Sure, Janicelia was a pureblood capable of anything and everything as well, but Kaname still had a little superiority over her… at least, he thought so.
"That's why I want to know who you drank from!"
"Please, do not press the issue. Whoever I may have drunk from is not really of a concern to you", Kaname sighed, rubbing his temple. He wished so much he could just blow up and chase Janicelia away.
The female pureblood scowled darkly but had no choice but to take the hint, however reluctantly. Although the intended target of her displeasure was Kaname himself, she could not and did not dare to show it directly so she directed her ire at Zero instead.
The hunter felt the unmistakable brush of her death aura. He froze, hands fisting by his sides. It took a lot of his willpower not to reach for his gun. He had to pretend that it did not affect him at all. But the chilling feel of a thousand snakes coiling about every part of his body, constricting and seemingly cutting off circulation from each of his blood vessels was hard to ignore.
--
The three vampires re-entered the hall. About half of those there turned their attention to the male pureblood, especially those from the Night Class. Especially Ruka. Her first impression was that Kaname had taken from Janicelia. Even before she thought of that, the sight of that woman clinging onto Kaname was disgusting. However, Ruka could only harbour the emotions within her, for Janicelia was a pureblood, and female noble had no say.
Yet, the possibility of Kaname truly taking from Janicelia was… oddly low. There were too many loop-holes to fill. Firstly, it was the look on Janicelia's face - she was wearing a dark scowl and her aura was telling everyone to back off. Secondly, why the hell was Kiryuu tailing behind them? Well, perhaps a coincidence of some sort but the hunter actually looked like he was about to wet his pants.
Zero parted from the two purebloods the moment he stepped into the hall. As Kaname had suggested, he did not even want to return with them. However, something told him that if he did not follow, Janicelia was going to weave a few tricks. Not that he cared about Kaname – the pureblood could jolly well take care of himself. The hunter thought of it as an assurance, since Janicelia seemed less likely to act up when Kaname was around.
Zero retreated from the many glances thrown at him, choosing to stand near a pillar. Kaname, unfortunately, was being dragged near the front of the hall by Janicelia and he was not happy about it. Janicelia had taken the matter into her own hands. Kaname was just being courteous by not shrugging her off like a fly. Well, she was a very annoying fly clinging to his arm.
"Jhoene", Janicelia called out. "We may begin!"
Zero braced himself. Even though he knew what the Blood Moon Festival was, he was unsure of what exactly went on. Books only mentioned about the outrageous bloodlust. That was the only thing he knew they did. It was what they themselves had done. Through the little experience he had in the most unlikeliest of places, he understood what vampires did. What they felt, even. Secretly, Zero shuddered at the recollection of that particular incident. Blushed a little as well.
Now he was just slightly curious as to what other events could occur during this festival. He had initially thought that the vampires would get together to have a mass feeding before breaking off, but judging that it was a festival, it seemed like there was a lot more in store.
In reality, Zero had a feeling that it was not going to be good. The vampires before him were emitting palpable excitement, which had the opposite effect for him. He started to get increasingly nervous.
Something told him to cast a glance at Kaname, and by sheer luck, the pureblood was discreetly looked over his shoulder as well. Despite the crowd and considerable distance between them, they caught each other's gazes immediately. They had a little advantageous due to their height, but it mainly due to their too-perfect eyesight.
Kaname flicked a glance towards the door they had entered earlier, jerking his head a little. It was obvious that he wanted Zero out of here. The hunter, however, was silently debating whether he should follow his instincts (and Kaname) or let his interest in the on-goings make him stay.
Zero decided to follow his instincts. Shifting away from the pillar, he looked around for any routes which could take him outside without attracting much attention. One such door lay along the nearest wall which could get him out in less than a minute behind all the vampires. Zero was about to make his move when a loud voice sounded at the front.
"Ladies and gentlemen, for our starting event, we now present our traditional entertainment:
Taming the Wolf."
Zero's gaze immediately snapped back to the front of the room. He thought he had heard wrongly, but realised the words meant exactly what they said.
Two vampires had stepped out onto the stage. They were dressed in rather oddly in matching black suits resembling diving gear, but as amusing as they looked to Zero, his eyes were caught by a cage they were wheeling out.
The open roofed cage contained a wolf. A rather large one, in fact, and Zero wondered if it was a hybrid of some sort. The top of its head reached the two vampires' waists even though they were very tall - probably even half a head taller than Zero was. That made the wolf the size of a tiger.
Zero was more worried about other issues, though. Despite the massive size of the wolf, the term 'skin and bones' could be literally applied to it. The fur of the wolf hid most of the torturous sight, but its legs told a different story. Zero could even see the hollowed spaces between its bones.
The wolf snarled at the vampires, baring its unusually sharp teeth. Once or twice it gnawed at the cage bars, but its attempts to break the bars were futile. Both vampires positioned themselves on opposite sides of the cage. With vampiric speed, they pulled either sides of the cage and backed off a few steps.
Zero jumped when the four sides of the cage fell outwards onto the floor. The metal bars clattered as the wolf leapt out and tried to get at one of the vampires, but the collar around its neck was attached to a chain fastened securely to the floor of the cage. How that was achieved, Zero did not know. All he knew was that he was not going to like this one bit.
There was a simultaneous noise which sounded like a crack of thunder and Zero's gaze swung to the two vampires. In each of their right hands was a whip - blood red whip which glistened in the lights. The curled up ends pooled on the floor and Zero felt his blood run cold.
They can't possibly mean to…
"Let the taming begin!"
Even before Jhoene had finished his line, both the vampires in black had pulled back a step, together with their whips. They raised the crimson twines high above their heads and cocked their wrists at an angle before bringing them down harshly. As the whips flew through the air on their downward slant, a soft but high pitched whistle sounded and ended abruptly with twin cracks of thunder.
They moved with vampiric speed, but Zero's horrified gaze caught it all.
Fur was stripped and streaks of red followed as the whips claimed its victim. Flesh was torn from its bones and the wolf howled in pain, instinctively trying to shift to one side, only to have the vampire on that side deliver his blow in turn. The only thing it could do was bark and snarl at the two vampires standing on either side of it, trying to catch the pattern of the attacks and be wary of the side that it suspected the whip would strike again.
Blood continued to splatter the floor, both from the whips and the wolf. Zero had a hand over his mouth, choking on his own breathing upon scenting the unfamiliar blood. It was not causing his blood lust to rise, but it did make him feel sick. The sight of the cruel flaying before him made him feel like puking.
Kaname had been secretly watching the ex-human carefully, ignoring the arm around his. He was sure Zero was going to be turned off by it. He did try to get the hunter out of here, but it was now too late. Zero would just have to pretend he saw nothing or-
The brunette's eyes widened when he saw the hunter break into a dash. Without a second thought, he knew what Zero was going to do, and that decision was downright reckless and dumb – the hunter was just going to dig his own grave.
Kaname was about to step away from Janicelia when the hand around his arm stopped him by holding him back. He blinked at the restraint before turning his gaze upon the one carrying it out.
"Ms. Flora-"
"I want to see what he's up to", she replied calmly, almost smugly.
Kaname was close to pulling away in any case. However, he caught the Master and Mistress' gazes on him. He gritted his teeth as he suppressed the obvious actions of trying to get away.His thoughts were interrupted by the dreaded, unmistakable click of the safety catch of Zero's Bloody Rose being released.
The pureblood snapped his gaze to the front, finding that he was already too late. Even if he could pry himself away now, Zero had already placed himself in a very vulnerable position.
"Stop it!" The upset hunter yelled, pointing at one of the vampires with his gun.
Both assailants ceased their torture and turned to Zero.
Zero felt his blood turn even colder when he belatedly realised that all the vampires in the hall now had their gazes on him. Had he been a human, he would have felt nothing. But because he was part vampire, he could feel the eerie gazes and silent promises of death.
The wolf was still miraculously standing, however shakily, on its widely splayed paws. Blood was still dripping off its body and Zero felt like throwing up again as he saw up close the pitiful condition the wolf was in. Its ivory bones were showing through the wounds, for heaven's sake. If it were not for the fur acting as a tiny shield, its guts could very well be spilling out right about now.
"That's so cruel. How could you?" Zero said through gritted teeth, his chest heaving. He had to tear his gaze away from the wolf or risk barfing in front of everyone. "How could you?!"
"This is a tradition of the Blood Moon Festival", he heard Janicelia said out loud, even though her voice appeared to come from far away, half obscured by the pounding of his blood in his ears.
"This is torture!" Zero yelled back, regardless of how rude it sounded. He snapped an enraged look to the female pureblood, only to have her narrowing her gaze at him. The same, overriding fear took over him relentlessly, like the one Kaname had done back when the pureblood had snapped, out of fury, in the pureblood's room.
But this situation was more than crucial. Zero could not stand down. No, not from this. Keeping his gun steady in his hand, he walked around one of the vampires and neared the wolf. The vampires all around him were sending out vibes thick with hatred and they crawled under his skin. But he ignored them.
The wolf took notice of him and growled as a warning. Zero didn't care. He didn't know what to do, but realised rather too late that it was a huge mistake to stand between the two vampires.
Zero heard an order from the female pureblood. As if in slow motion, he heard the hiss of the whips and sharp cracking noises as they were shaken out. His vision was blurred by the rise of the crimson weapons and he had little time to react. Zero had barely taken aim at one of the vampires when the whips landed on his back.
The twin strikes were done too perfectly. In a synchronised move, they hit him one after the other. Upon the first contact, his skin flared and his entire body exploded with pain unlike any he had experienced before. Both the strikes violated his body with a pain he never even knew existed. His back screamed, although nothing came out of his mouth.
Zero could swear that the whips did not only hit him, they tore his flesh from his body. They hooked a strip of his skin like tape before ripping it off, and the area directly on his spine was throbbing with the most pain – the spot where both the hits intersected.
Zero had barely held back a gasp when his back hurt again, as the pain from his wounds increased and burned up into a higher category of pain. It felt like a thousand hot needles were stabbing his back. It felt like they were burying themselves deep in his flesh…
Unable to bear the still accelerating pain, Zero dropped to the floor a few seconds after the whips were withdrawn. It had only been the first two strikes and he could not keep himself up. He wondered how in the world the wolf could have done so after suffering so many.
In actual fact, upon Janicelia's order to 'break' Zero, Kaname had inched forward, only to have himself pulled back. The distraction had cost him… no, Zero, dearly because by the time Kaname collected himself, Zero had already collapsed to the ground.
The familiar scent of the human-resembling blood hit him as it did all the rest of the vampires and each pair of eyes turned a gleaming crimson. Even his own. Even Janicelia's.
Kaname started raging against his own emotions. He was infuriated at Janicelia for pulling him back, for giving the order to lay the whips on Zero. And they were no ordinary whips.
Both were made from vines of roses, bundled together with the thorns intact. Crimson glass fragmented adorned the lengths, giving colour and could easily switch hosts when they made contact their victims.
Kaname was also angry that other vampires could scent Zero's blood… it wasn't something he wanted to share with others. He didn't know why.
But most of all, he was furious at himself. Had he not been bothered by the gazes of the senior purebloods earlier, Zero could have been spared this nightmare. If only he'd been brave enough to remove the hand on his arm and remain by Zero's side, he could have prevented the hunter from acting too brashly.
For once in his life, Kaname thought of himself as a coward. But no longer.
"Halt!" he roared as the two vampires on stage pulled their whips back for a second go at the fallen hunter. The order had been towards the other vampires as well - especially to those were seconds close to rushing to the stage to get a go at the half-vampire.
The only possible reason that they had not jumped on Zero the moment the blood scent had spread was because Zero had entered the halls with Kaname. That had already meant that Zero had some affiliation with the pureblood. And no vampire in his sanity would dare offend a pureblood.
All the vampires in the hall now stared at the young pureblood with half-crimson gazes and Kaname released his aura, explicitly allowing his burning rage to sweep across the hall, causing many to back away immediately. Even Janicelia released his arm, shocked by the sudden wave of wrath Kaname had released.
"Kaname-sama? Why-"
"I will not allow such treatment to be inflicted on Zero", Kaname cut in coldly, looking at Janicelia, his eyes equally cold.
The oath to himself made when he was young was that he would lose no more family or friends to anyone… Zero was not going to be an exception.
"But Kaname-sama", Janicelia started.
"I can apologise on behalf of Zero… but for you to do that, to order your underlings to lay a Death Memory on a human", Kaname hissed. "His reprimanding and punishment can only be done by one who has an understanding on his society. He had acted brashly and on his own cause, but you, Ms. Flora, you have done something which has placed you in the same position."
Many vampires wanted to gasp, but dared not. The clash between purebloods was something no vampire wanted to interfere with – it was better left amongst them. However, if the situation worsened… they could be preparing for a full-pledged interwar.
"For you to think that Zero can be treated that way, like an animal, I cannot say the feeling is at all mutual." Kaname turned around to face Janicelia fully, his gaze firmly fixed on her shocked ones. He took a deep breath, mustering all his courage. "Neither can I accept your proposal."
Even with his back turned towards them, Kaname could feel the instant disappointment radiating from many of those vampires. But his decision was made – and he believed that his clan would support him regardless of his reason. Indeed, all the of the Night Class, almost thirty or so of them, instinctively stepped away from the crowd and regrouped around their pureblood leader now.
Kaname's refusal could mean war – if any of the Flora members ordered, those in their clan would attack Kaname's now without hesitation. Those belonging to neither clan could either back off or make a stand.
"Kuran…" The brunette heard and stiffened before half turning to face the Master as he half-dreaded the words which may escape his mouth at any moment.
"Father, it is fine. Let them leave", Janicelia interrupted quickly.
Kaname tossed a small glance towards her. Janicelia's head was down, her long hair shielding her face. He could feel the anger rolling off her, but it was nothing compared to his. She could not even hope to match even half of what he was feeling right at this very moment.
Kaname went up onto the stage to Zero's side. From this proximity, he could not help but winced inside at sight of the double welts across the hunter's back. The whip had torn through his jumper and shirt, forming too perfect a cross, starting from either shoulders down to his hips, as denoted by the distinct red patches. The bleeding had yet to stop and parts of his exposed flesh visibly glittered from the embedded glass fragments.
It took Kaname's entire will not to lick the blood away, for it would be a waste. But more importantly, he wanted to ease Zero's pain.
"I hope you have humiliated yourself enough", Kaname said with venom in his words. The last thing he wanted to sound was cruel, and to Zero, but at that moment, he had very little choice but to put up an act.
Zero was not appalled by the cold attitude thrown at him. He glared up at the pureblood as he slowly picked himself up. Intense, stinging pain was still coursing through his entire back, but that was a minor issue. This one wasn't.
"It isn't humiliation when you're trying to save a life", Zero hissed back at Kaname. "I can't believe you're as heartless as them."
Kaname's gaze narrowed. If that insult was not intentional, then Zero was putting up a pretty good act as well.
"We are leaving. Now." The brunette was about to turn away when he heard Zero whisper his name. When he looked over, he caught the hunter's suddenly softened gaze. What about him?
Kaname sighed. He knew Zero's soft spot for animals, but in this situation, it was already going to be hard enough for just them to leave safely. The pureblood glanced at the unmoving form of the wolf lying on the floor. Its chest was still rising and falling with its shallow, pained breathing, but seeing the state it was in, chances are that it would not make it.
"Do not cause any more trouble", Kaname said calmly. Please…
"They will kill him!"
Kaname sighed. "Has it ever occurred to you to think before you act?"
Zero gritted his teeth. A new form of pain was surging through his body. It felt like an electrical impulse striking at his nerves from head to toe. Every part of him felt like it was shutting down and he felt like he was dying.
"Whatever the consequences", he managed to gasp out, suddenly finding his lungs struggling to take in air. "At least I don't act as what others want to see…"
The hunter could not withstand the strain every time he tried to stay focused. He ached, both physically and physiologically. Suddenly, it felt as if someone had snapped a portion of his brain off, causing his eyes to roll to the back of his head as he descended to the floor, unconscious.
Heaps of thanks to YenGirl who helped me in this chapter, beta-ing it XD Thank you very very much. She made me avoid careless mistakes and reminded me of silly things i forgot LOL!
Okay people. I did badly for exams, DX sadly. Guess i just have to buck up for the next one... sigh... chapter 15 is about to be written! wohoo i'm ahead. This chapter marks an almost halfway. Almost. Just a few chaps more. I noticed this story is very dramatic.. is it?
Anyway, check out my user page!! I drew Kaname and Zero XDDD they're so funny. Really. please take a peek.
Review and thank reviewers!! I love you guys!!
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