A/N: I had been very busy with my intern that my update will be slow... Sorry for the wait. XD
Chapter 12: Clouding the eyes
At first, the request sounded petty to her ears. Give me Zero, give me Zero... Yuuki could only put up a shocked expression with her lips slightly parted. As the request kept going on in her head, her eyebrows slowly knitted narrower and narrower until her face completed the frowning manifestation.
Ridiculous. Why would she hand over someone who was not even in her grasp? However, to admit that was a difficult action in itself and she locked her eyes with the pair of lavender orbs with slight irritation.
"First of all, Zero is very much a living person. He is not a thing to be traded. I'm sure giving falls in the category", her firm voice showed that she had no intention in allowing the other to even believe a human's life can be traded easily.
"Secondly, stay away from Zero", her warning came sharply, promising pain if it was not heed to.
"Oh, what a good expression you're having there!" the stranger snickered. Waving his hand in dismissal, he turned towards the exit of the changing room, "but you know… I am determined this time", he said loud enough for Yuuki to hear.
"Determined of what?" Yuuki asked while still feeling wary of him.
"Ah, I thought I have made my intention clear earlier or do you need more hint?" the man scoffed. Yuuki growled throatily. There was a strong urge to decapitate the man in front of him pitting in her stomach and she almost acted on it. The other must have sensed the intent and decisively made his way out before anything unplanned could happen. For a while then, her eyes trailed after the man until he disappeared and once he was gone, she breathed in deeply to calm herself down.
"What am I doing, threatening a stranger like that? I am not as strong as Zero or as powerful as Kaname-sama", she sighed, scolding herself for following her instinct too much. She lost the mood to try the dress on, changed into her casual and kept it at the cloth line where the customer can leave the tried-out garments. The voices thanking her disappeared the moment she was out from the shop and she casted her gaze at the sky.
The request was real and the man was determined. The only way for her to protect Zero was to tell the hunter upfront or have Kaname-sama protect him. Zero wouldn't listen and thus, her only choice was to confront the Vampire Prince and asked him for his help.
The female prefect strode on to the academy ground where she politely thanked the guard who opened the gate for her and she walked further in to the Night Class dormitory. By the time she reached there, it was already evening. At the dormitory, she met with Ichijou who was reading his manga next to a window and was lost in his fantasy world.
He sensed her presence and greeted her with a friendly smile. "Good evening, Yuuki. What brings you here? Are you looking for Kaname-sama?" he asked.
"Um, yes. Is he here?" asked the female prefect.
"Well, yes. I think he is inside in his study. Come in. You can wait at the hall while I get him", said Ichijou. They walked into the hall and after announcing that he would be back soon with Kaname, he went to the pureblood's study to inform Yuuki's visit. Yuuki fidgeted in her seat and looked around at the fancy decoration. Sure, the day class had quite a fancy interior too but it wasn't as royal as the Night Class' theme. When she heard the sound of footsteps approaching, she looked up at the flight of stairs where Kaname and Ichijou were appearing on.
"Good evening, Yuuki", said Kaname, bowing his head slightly.
"Um, good evening, Kaname-sama. How are you doing?" speaking to Kaname made her a nervous goo. With the beauty incomparable to any earthly being, even Yuuki found it hard to speak normally. It was suffocating enough that the Night Class was filled with gorgeous beings and to have a close contact like this with the pureblood himself, she was surprised how she could still stand straight.
"I'm faring well but you look upset, my dear", Kaname patted her head gently. Yuuki closed her eyes, savoring the kindness Kaname was showering her with. The gentle hands always affirmed her adoration to Kaname was not a mistake and she held the same adoration for Zero too where the warmth she seek lied in his aversion. That was why, she would never let someone else treated Zero like an object, something that can be given away or retrieved.
"Kaname-sama", Kaname winced a little at the honorific. He looked at the girl, studying her face closely and she looked like she was on the verge of crying. With a puzzled expression, he pulled his hand back and led the girl to the couch where they sat next to each other with Ichijou standing by at the stairs to act on Kaname's command.
"Kaname-sama", she called him again softly, "I am feeling miserable".
"Yuuki, if there's anything you want to help with, you can tell me", the pureblood prince sought gently.
"This is about Zero", she said, her eyes glossed with restrained tears. Kaname sighed since he too was having his hands full of the very same ex-human. For Yuuki to be here to talk about the hunter, it must have been because she found out about the hunter's condition. Kaname reflected on the morning Zero had fallen into the depth of the mist shrouding his consciousness. The moment they were in his chamber, he had spent the next two hours trying to return the warmth back in Zero's body but in the two hours, he had only able to return Zero's body warmth while his mind was completely taken over by the fog. Kaname had connected their minds together again and he wandered aimlessly to find any point of consciousness that would help him pulled Zero back but he couldn't see anything in the thick fog. Zero had lost himself in the depth of the coldness that even the pureblood prince's stretched hands could not save him. It was almost as if his current self was not enough to take the hunter's back.
"Kaname-sama", Yuuki called out again when she saw how lost Kaname was in his own thought.
"I apologize, Yuuki. My mind seems to wander off. Please, Yuuki. If there is something that you need from me regardless whom, you may seek for my help. All I need to know is what has been bothering my dear Yuuki", Kaname said.
"Zero is in danger. That's why I need your help", said Yuuki.
"Kiryuu-kun is safe with us for now, Yuuki".
"No, Kaname-sama. Zero is in danger. There is this strange man asking me to give Zero over to him". Kaname was relieved that Yuuki had not come to him with knowledge of Zero's current condition but at the same time, for her to bring news about a threat he had never expected, he knew what she had just delivered should not be taken lightly. But what battle plan there was for him to use? He didn't even fully grasped the essence of this enemy.
"The man, tell me how he looked like", Kaname inquired.
"Like Zero but with longer hair and disfigured face", she described the physique briefly. However, that was all the pureblood needed to know from her. Zero's younger brother was definitely alive and was becoming a threat.
"Yuuki, I will help Kiryuu-kun. You may feel at ease", he made a promise.
"Kaname-sama, thank you", a lone tears trailed down her cheek. His words gave comfort to her worrying heart that she could not help but to feel touched. She would not allow it; she wanted the strange person to be apprehended and locked away from Zero. Even though she knew Zero was capable of protecting himself but to know that he would never be harmed under the protection of Kaname Kuran, she could only feel at ease.
"Thank you", she repeated this time more like a whisper that was meant to comfort her.
Kaname entered Zero's temporary bedroom where he watched silently over the hunter who was just gazing outside of the window blankly. It was almost as if he was deaf to the world, his soul probably lingering far away from the academy. Zero hadn't even snapped at him once or neither did he turn his head to anyone who entered the room. Despite the flooding happiness of the season even at night, the spring inside the room had never arrived. It was as if the inside was fully confined by the cold weather, almost like wintry season had invaded the lair.
"Kiryuu-kun", Kaname spoke, trying to get the hunter's attention but no response was uttered.
The neglected dinner consisting of mainly seafood had grown cold for a while now. He was told by Seirin that even Zero's lunch was forgotten. Kaname's weight sunk on the bed and he touched the shoulder of the hunter who turned to look at him with just the same blank gaze. Kaname had never thought that one day, the fierce eyes would be lifeless and he shuddered at the change. He couldn't explain it but right now, even a strand of hate in the lavender eyes would make him feel better.
"Kiryuu-kun, please eat. Your body will become weaker without proper diet", Kaname picked up the plate, offering the food to Zero. The hunter turned away back to see the view outside the window which he felt nothing for. There was only coldness that he wanted to return to and for some reason, he could only wait until somebody come and spirited him away.
Kaname had always been turned down rudely by Zero no matter what he offered, be it good or bad, but he laughed in a slight sadness in comparison to now and then because those times when his actions were rejected, where they hurt each other out of misconceptions, Zero was still… Zero. The person who was sitting silently on the bed now was empty. Thinking of this made his heart throbbed a little and he couldn't understand the meaning of the pain at all. How could he when all this time, he could only feel hate for the hunter? Right now, he could only understand Zero's viewpoints and still, he wished that he had known earlier.
"I'll leave the plate here for you. I will let the headmaster know about our condition tomorrow. There's no point in concealing a situation like this". Kaname got up and put down the plate on the side table. He turned his back to Zero, the same way Zero was turning his back to him.
"Kiryuu-kun", he whispered before leaving for the meeting with the representatives, "I will bring you back".
Two full moons later, the one feared most by the vampire ruler will rise again from the afterlife, melting away the ice of one most deeply slumbered and the snow queen would lie in her death bed, bathing in her own blood. One that is melted away will fall into darkness; thy would see in the blind eyes smeared with swollen sadness, anger and desperation. Should they merged, the one feared by the vampire ruler and the slave of the snow queen, our land would turn into an arid one no one had ever seen. For this blood should never be awaken because it isn't the truth.
The prophecy that had taken root was now approaching the third quarter of the first moon. To those who was aware of it, anxiety from deep within their self could not be kept at bay anymore. The councils of various races gathered once again at the round table, each could not kept their restlessness hidden.
"This is the end of us", they said, "the world will not be able to withstand the calamity", they said, "I have to pack and hide", they said, "we'll be ready with the weapons", they said. All in the panicking tones albeit controlled. Kaname was growing tired of the ruckus too. Other than the representative of the hunter's association and himself, the representatives couldn't seem to calm down. The prince became irritated and he banged the gavel loud enough to silence the people.
"Please calm down and sit, my fellow representatives", he said warily.
"Kuran-sama, this is a matter that has to be taken care off immediately. We have to find a defensive stance if we could not stop it from happening", said the human representative.
"I am aware that a counter-measure is necessary but do not forget that we have to try stopping the prophecy first. I would like to hear the report of your findings. Let's start from the vampire side".
The representative of the vampires stood up and bowed politely. "I am to report of our two findings today. The first one is, one of the forbidden book of the vampires have been stolen. The second matter is that Hanadagi-sama would be reintroduced again to the society tonight".
"These subjects are not related to the problem at all", the human representatives mocked.
"I do believe there is a slight link in these events but I have yet to look deeper into them. My base is the timing of Hanadagi-sama's awakening seemed to be a little off but that is all I could come out with".
"Useless report", muttered the human representatives, "The hunter's association must have something worth of noting, no?" The human representative turned towards the guardian angel that had guarded them from being the livestock of vampire with respect.
"Indeed, we do have a lead on the Snow Queen. It seems that the curse could only be casted on a victim that was very close to the one that casted. The caster must belong to the Kiryuu bloodline and thus, the only one that should be capable of using it would be the only surviving Kiryuu".
"Wouldn't the solution be as easy as eliminating him?" proposed the human representative.
"Kiryuu-kun will be left untouched. No harm shall be inflicted on him", Kaname reminded the conclusion of the last meeting. "In fact, the belief Zero as the only remaining Kiryuu holds no ground to it. Recently, it is discovered that there was another Kiryuu freely moving around out there".
"But that cannot be possible! After the massacre, no one else survived except for the twins and the younger brother has passed away", said the hunter's representatives.
"He is very much alive", Kaname clasped his hands together. "I have obtained the information from a very reliable source".
"That is impossible", cried the wizardry representatives, "the dead is never allowed to come back".
"This information, where did you obtain it, Kaname-sama?" asked the vampire representatives.
"I obtained it from Kiryuu-kun's own memory of the most recent events. Needless to say, I could assure you that he is never the culprit. There is also the miniscule possibility of him being the one targeted".
Silence overshadowed the room and when finally someone made a noise, it was the sound of gargled uncertainty. Kaname knew what came next as he scanned the room.
There was only disbelief etching on everyone's face but from the moment he exposed the fact, he had never expected anyone to believe him. The pureblood prince rose from his chair. "I don't think this prophecy can be stopped and I don't believe that it can be settled this way, with interference from all of you".
"Kaname-sama…" he heard his name left the lips of the representatives. The conclusion of the meeting was obvious, that there was only a being capable of handling it."This matter, I believe I am the only one capable of solving it".
…. Because I believe that this matter have no professional merit in it. But he himself was doubting the very same conclusive declaration.
TBC...