...Is Not Having To

Kyoko could hear the sound of his footsteps get quieter and recede almost completely. It only took her another second to decide what to do.

"Fool," she declared. "You can't get away that easily."

Wincing from her wounded side, the human flung off her sheets. She wrenched herself from the confinements of her bed and started for the door. A sharp pain in her hand reminded her that she still had that annoying needle stuck in her. Painfully, Kyoko grabbed the needle and ripped it out of her body. The screen on the wall let out a long beep as the line ceased jumping up and down, and ran parallel to the ground. Flinching as a little bit of blood began to ooze out, she hobbled to the door. Looking right, then left, she saw Zero walking away from her room. The hunter was about halfway down the hallway, the distance increasing by the footstep.

Bare feet pounding on the cold floor, Kyoko ran as hard as she could toward Zero. Oh, was she mad. Mad didn't even begin to describe it. More like furious. That idiot was running away from her again. She would die before she let him get away this easily. When she was a few feet from him, he suddenly stopped. Because of his unexpected halt, Kyoko ran into him, jostling her injured side.

"What was that for?" she asked angrily, gasping for breath and holding her wound.

"Dang it," he swore, seemingly talking to himself. "I couldn't make it out in time."

At first, Kyoko thought he was talking about not getting out of the hospital before she caught up to him. Then, three dark figures appeared out of nowhere, blocking their path twenty feet ahead. They all wore identical, long black overcoats. The middle one, apparently the leader, had short spiky hair and stood the tallest. He was flanked by a long-haired brunette on his right and a man with a black ponytail on the left.

"Zero Kiryu," the blond one said. "You are charged with killing the pure blood Kou Kuragari and are therefore sentenced to death."

"What?!" Kyoko exclaimed, her anger for Zero temporarily absent. "He saved my life! That pure blood was going to kill me! If Zero hadn't got there to distract him-"

"Killing a pure blood is one of the greatest taboos in the vampire world," the ebony guy explained. "Therefore he will be punished. His life in exchange for Kuragari's. It's hardly fair, seeing as his life is so...meaningless."

"Kyoko," Zero begged, trying to push her behind him and out of the way, "stay out of this."

"But Zero wasn't even the one who killed him, I did!" Kyoko blurted out.

Silence fell across the hallway.

"So it was you who killed our master?" inquired the brunette. "Fine, then we'll kill you after we're finished with him."

All three men lunged at Zero, fangs bared. Kyoko jumped in front of him, arms stretched out to shield him from the attack.

"No!" she cried.

They didn't even get close enough to touch her. Three loud bangs filled the air, followed by the three vampires crumbling to dust. When the debris finally settled to the ground, three separate piles of former-vampire sat on the cool white floor. Zero lowered his gun from over Kyoko's shoulder.

"Why?" she asked, her voice trembling, not from fear, but with menace. "Why did you save my life just now, if you don't care about me?"

"Well, I couldn't just let them kill you after the doctors put so much work into keeping you alive," Zero said indifferently.

She turned to look at him, her anger clearly splayed across her face.

"Then you just should've let that pure blood kill me."

Her nails dug painfully into her side, drawing blood. For the first time, Zero seemed to realize that the smell of her blood was in the air. He'd been too preoccupied with the vampires to notice the little bit of blood running down her hand.

"What're you doing?!" he demanded.

"Why should you care?" Kyoko said bitterly, pushing her way past him back toward her hospital room. The silence lasted until she had only made it a few feet away from the humter.

"Because I do love you!"

She stopped, shocked.

"But you said-" Kyoko started, turning.

"I lied," Zero admitted. "I've held back my feelings for you because I didn't think that you felt the same way. But then when you told me yesterday, I couldn't believe it. I don't deserve to be loved for what I am, a monster."

"But you're not," Kyoko stepped in. "You idiot, when will you ever see that? I love you no matter what you are! If you were a disease-ridden rat I'd still love you."

Zero took a few steps toward her, closing the distance between them. He grabbed Kyoko around her waist, the unhurt part, and pulled her close. Her breath caught in her throat at the intimacy. Zero leaned down slowly and stopped hesitantly, his lips not even an inch from the humans. Then he finished the movement by kissing her.

Kyoko was so happy, she could've screamed, but that would have meant breaking away from Zero. She could feel the very tips of his fangs as they kissed and blushed.

After a few moments, they broke apart.

"I love you, Kyoko," Zero told her.

Kyoko wound up her hand and slapped Zero. His face turned red where her palm made contact with his face.

"What was that for?!"

"For not telling me that sooner."

He took a moment before responding.

"A rat, huh?"

"Oh, shut up," she grinned, pulling him into another kiss. His hand returned to her waist, the other holding her face. Her arm somehow found its way around his neck. The two stayed like that for a while, just happy to be together, finally. When the kiss ended, Zero brushed Kyoko's hair out of her face.

"Shall we go home?" he asked.

"Yes," she agreed.

The two had barely moved ten feet before a nurse came bustling down the hallway, a nervous wreck.

"Miss! Miss, you can't leave yet! You have to stay for at least a couple more days until you're mostly healed!"

"Oh, I think she's fine," Zero soothed. "Don't worry, I'll take over from here."

With that, the couple left the astounded nurse to stand in the hallway. They walked happily away from her, Zero's arm around Kyoko's waist, her head resting on his shoulder.

Almost done, so review!