CHAPTER-29: THE LAST DAY

Kaname held back a groan as he wearily made his way to his bedroom. It had been a long day and the persistent ache in his neck wouldn't let him forget it. The moon dorm was cold and dark, with no power and only candles to light his way. The pureblood entered his room and immediately slumped down on his sofa. He glanced over at the extinguished fireplace, wishing it was roaring away, as a shiver ran down his spine. If he had the energy he'd get up and light it, but the pounding ache in his head decided against it. After himself and Zero had returned from the school, the silverette had immediately jumped into hunter mode, handing out appropriate weapons, mostly different kinds of guns and knives, and had begun training the moon dorm students to use them. Kaname himself, under Zero's request, had gone to headmaster Cross's house to check on Yuki and make sure she was ok. The sorrow in her voice as she wept upon hearing that they had still not found her father was upsetting and he felt angry about not being able to tell her something positive. Kaname felt himself relax slightly as he leaned further back into the sofa, but he almost immediately tensed as a gentle knock sounded on his door. The brunette groaned, feeling irritated at being disturbed, but nobody entered. At first he felt relieved, but as a moments passed and the person did not leave, his curiosity peaked. The pureblood raised his head and was about to call out, when the knock sounded again.

"Enter." Kaname called out and his door gently swung open. The shine of silver hair was an instant relief to the pureblood and he relaxed into his seat once more. "Something you need, Zero?"

"I'm sorry to disturb. I wasn't sure whether to come or not, but I wanted to give you something." Zero stated sheepishly. Kaname's ears peaked with interest at hearing this and he sat up straight. Looking at Zero he noticed how tired the teen looked, with dark circles around his eyes and the exhausted slump in his posture.

"Please, take a seat." The brunette beckoned and Zero stepped forwards.

"It's freezing in here." The silverette said as he shivered, wrapping his arms around himself. "Do you want me to light the fire?" Zero questioned.

"Be my guest." Kaname replied. The silverette calmly walked over and knelt before the fire place, ripping up bits of paper and adding small sticks and logs upon each other. Kaname watched as the teen worked. He was intrigued as the teen held out his empty hand towards the fireplace.

"Lumine ignis." Zero whispered and suddenly the fireplace burst out in flames. Kaname looked over at him, impressed. "Don't tell Kain I can do that. I don't want the big guy feeling redundant. I'm already unpopular enough." Zero stated, sounding genuinely slightly concerned.

"Your secret's safe with me." The brunette reassured. "So what did you want to show me?" Kaname asked warmly, the sudden heat in the room brightening his spirit slightly. Zero picked up the package he'd set down on his way in and knelt down before the brunette.

"This is Mercy." Zero informed, holding the sheathed katana before him, one hand gently stroking its hilt. "She's a soul weapon, like Artemis." The silverette informed.

"She?" Kaname questioned.

"Yes, soul weapons are very powerful. According to legend it is said that when an angel dies its soul becomes a powerful weapon, which can only be wielded by those it sees worthy of using its power. It's a childish story I know, but there may be some truth in it, after all not everyone can wield a soul weapon. They can ever change their form if the wielder is worthy enough." The silverette explained, as he unsheathed the silver katana, resting the sharp blade on his arm, the engraved hunter symbols shining in the firelight. "This is Cross's most prized weapon. I want you to use it in battle." The teen declared, holding the blade out towards the pureblood.

"What makes you think I'll be able to wield it?" Kaname asked curiously.

"Because I think you're a good man. And I think Mercy will see that too." The teen replied honestly. Kaname smiled softly, as he reached out to take the offered weapon, his fingers gracing over Zero's as he took hold of the hilt.

"Thank you." The brunette said genuinely as he took the blade from Zero and cradled it in his own arms. With one swift move the pureblood prince fully unsheathed the katana and held it firmly before him, the flames from the fire reflecting in the perfectly polished silver. The weapon was truly a masterpiece. He had studied sword play and kendo growing up and was pretty confident he could fight efficiently with the blade, although if Zero offered to train him he would not decline, knowing the young hunter's skill with the sword was far beyond his own. This would be the first time in his life that he would have to rely on a weapon, instead of his pureblood abilities, and he was very grateful for the silverette's help. "I will return the blade to Cross once this battle is over." Kaname added.

"If we ever find him." Zero replied defeatedly, his shoulders sagging with the words.

"Do you think he's dead?" Kaname quizzed intrigued. Zero closed his eyes as he thought for a moment before replying.

"No. No, I don't." The silverette finally decided.

"Good, because neither do I. We will find him, Zero. I promise." Kaname encouraged. The teen nodded his understanding, before turning to the door.

"Well, excuse me. I'll leave you in peace for the rest of your night." The silverette stated as he turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Kaname called, a little louder than he intended. Zero turned back around.

"Is something wrong?" The teen questioned.

"You are more than welcome to stay. If you want to that is." The brunette informed quickly. "You look tired and the room is just getting warm, no point letting it go to waste." He added. Zero stopped to think for moment, before decided that he would much rather stay by the fire with the pureblood than return to his little room with the smashed in windows and cold night air seeping through.

"Ok." The teen answered sheepishly. "If you're sure you don't mind." Zero said, holding back a yawn.

"Of course not. Come sit down." Kaname beckoned him over and Zero gently dropped onto the far end of the sofa.


"Hey!" Yagari called out as a loud groan echoed around the tunnel. A second later the blond haired hunter was pushing himself up onto his knees and collapsing against the tunnel wall, next to him.

"Urg!" The blond groaned groggily, holding a hand to his pounding head.

"Good morning to you too." Yagari smirked. "How do you feel?" He questioned.

"Like I spent the night with my ex-wife." Cross replied. Yagari sniggered, before immediately regretting it as his chest tightened. He began to cough and splutter as the pain in his lungs got worse. Cross wrapped an arm around the raven haired man and helped him lean over as blood began to splutter from his lips. Yagari forced himself to breathe through the pain and managed to catch his breath before he passed out. He relaxed back against the wall, his body screaming in agony. "You ok?" Cross questioned tentatively, watching the other hunter pant.

"Never been better." Yagari replied hoarsely.

"I think you've got a collapsed lung." Cross announced, after a quick examination. "And a concussion, by the looks of it." He added after looking at Yagari's slightly unfocused eyes. It was too dark in the tunnel for him to notice much else, but the raven haired hunter probably had a ton of other injuries too.

"We have to get out of here." Yagari whispered.

"Can you stand?" The blond hunter asked. Yagari shook his head, no. "Ok, ok. Erm, let me think." Cross paused, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. "Alright, we need to get you out of here. I'm gonna have to scout ahead and try and find an exit." He stated as he pushed himself slowly to his feet. "Don't wonder off." The headmaster added.

"I'm not going anywhere." Yagari muttered under his breath, his eyes fluttering to keep open, and Cross could tell it wouldn't be long before he passed out. Reluctantly Cross left his injured friend and began a slow trek down the dark tunnel.


"What news do you have for me?" Flora questioned. "And I hope for your sake it's good." She threatened, looking the e down with sinister smile.

"Yes, mistress. We see the hunter. He go in the school. He want to fight mistress. We hit him, but he hurt us! Now he show others." The creature hissed angrily.

"And Kaname?" Flora quizzed, patting the e's head to calm him down.

"He with hunter." The creature spat.

"Thank you my pet. You have been very helpful." Flora praised, her hand gently stroking its cheek. The creature looked back at her with wide, glee filled eyes. Before her hand suddenly latched onto its neck."But, I did ask for good news and you failed to deliver." She informed as she began to strangle the creature, lifting its feet off the ground as her hand tightened around its throat, causing it to suffocate. It's eyes bulged and became blood shot, as its body was starved of oxygen, but it never fought back. The e's arms lay loose at its side as it hung like a rag doll in Flora's grasp. She squeezed tighter and with a sickening snap, she broke through the e's spine and dropped its corpse to the floor.

The pureblood princess stared down at the creatures contorted dead face with satisfaction, before spinning around elegantly, and turning to face the large group of es behind her.

"Well, looks like Kaname's got a few tricks up his sleeve. So we are going to have to bring our plan forwards a tiny bit." Flora stated in a playful tone. "Tell the others. We attack tomorrow at sunset." She shouted, her tone suddenly deadly serious.


Cross had been walking for a while now. He knew he couldn't have gotten that far, because the tunnel was nearly pitch black and he had no choice but to move slowly and carefully, or risk falling and injuring himself further. He was feeling along the walls, hoping to maybe find some stairs or an elevator or some way out of the pit, when suddenly a distant scurrying noise caught his attention. His stomach dropped as he realised they weren't alone down here. The question was, who was down here. Friend or foe. Normally he would have left well alone, found a way out alone, but it suddenly occurred to him that there might be other hunters in the tunnels. Flora had left him and Yagari alive for a reason, maybe she left some of the other association members alive as well.

The headmaster reluctantly followed the noise down the tunnel bends, hoping to find somebody else, but his hopes were suddenly slashed when he found the source of the noise. At the end of one of the tunnels was a small ray of light, shining up through a hole in the floor. The blond hunter carefully approached the edge and peered in. He still couldn't see anything but the foul smell that poured through the hole made him gag. Every instinct in his body told him to turn back, but he had to make sure. With a deep breath, the ex-hunter jumped into the hole.

"Oh, God." Cross gasped, as he gently landed. The smell in the hole was far worse that it had been above. He could hardly breathe, the air was so thick. He tumbled to the side as he noticed a few torches against one wall, obviously the source of the light. He reached up and grasped one, pulling it from its holder. With his new found light he could see the pit much better, but he immediately wished he hadn't. The orange glow of the torch revealed a whole new level of horror. The stone floor was wet and sloppy against his feet, closer inspection found the course to be a mound of decomposing flesh, that seemed to cover every surface. A gust of air forced him to find that there was another tunnel leading out of the room. "Great! I wonder where this leads?" Cross asked himself sarcastically. "This, is why I stopped being a hunter." He thought gloomily as he walked down the uninviting tunnel.


"This, was a very bad idea." Cross decided as he stood in the doorway of the hell. The tunnel had led to a large room. And what was inside made his stomach turn. Strapped to the walls with shackles were several corpses, all with bite marks and at different stages of decomposition. But that wasn't what terrified the hunter. No, what made him stop in fear and hold his breath, was the pile of about two hundred fully formed level es, all curled up, sleeping together on the tunnel floor. And this was only one of many tunnels that he could have walked down. It suddenly occurred to him, as he did the math, the sheer size of Flora's intent. She didn't just have an army. She had a whole plantation. An e farm. Probably tens of thousands of creatures and all the facilities to make countless more when needed.

Suddenly overcome with terror, the hunter carefully backed out of the room. Only to come face to face with a wide awake level E, staring him dead on. "Oh, crap!" The hunter thought. Without waiting for the e to make a move, he lifted his fist and punched the creature as hard as he could in the jaw, knocking it off balance with a squeal. Not waiting for it to react, Cross began to run. He ran as fast as is injured body would carry him, straight out of the hole and back towards where he had left Yagari.

The blond hunter skidded to a stop beside his friend and began to violently shake him.

"Come on! Get up. Get up. Get up!" Cross shouted as he roughly shook his friend awake. "Wake up, god damn it!" The blond hunter yelled, as he violently slapped Yagari across the cheek.

"Wh-what the-" Yagari groaned at he was suddenly and painfully roused from his slumber.

"No time to explain, but we have got to move. Now!" Cross informed with urgency as he dragged the dark haired hunter to his feet. Yagari's legs shook as they took his weight and the massive amounts of pain in his chest weren't helping his situation. But the adrenalin was flowing how, suddenly giving him the strength he needed, although he was certain that he would have fallen if Cross wasn't helping to hold him up. They started to move down the tunnel, as quickly as the injured hunters could, which was kind of mix between a steady jog and a limp. Making the pair look like Paralympic competitors for the three legged race. Cross could only hope they could keep ahead of the swarm.


The first thing Kaname noticed when he awoke was the stiff ache in his neck, rudely reminding him that he'd spent the night sleeping in an upright position. The next thing he noticed was the warm weight against his body, curiously looking down he saw the still soundly sleeping figure of Zero Kiryu, resting against him on the sofa. Finally he noticed his own arm firmly wrapped around the sleeping teen's shoulders, pulling him towards him. It suddenly occurs to Kaname that Zero had never left the previous night and that they had both fallen asleep by his now dead fire. The brunette was tempted to close his eyes and return to sleep, but the look of Zero's sleeping face was to distracting. The teen's features where firm in concentration, his shoulders tight and his body occasionally giving a slight twitch. The silverette's cheeks were slightly flushed and his hands gently clenched. Zero was clearly dreaming. The pureblood found himself wondering what the teen was dreaming about. He was tempted to ask when Zero woke up, but decided against it, thinking the teen would be embarrassed enough by his current position, without having to add to his discomfort. The situation was funny really. In fact it was pretty hilarious. If somebody had told him a month ago that he would be waking up one with his arms around the ex-human he would have laughed so hard he would probably have turned blue, but now here he was. Honestly it actually felt nice, with the teen relaxed against him. It felt natural. The thought brought a small smile to his lips.

"Erm, what's going on?" Zero suddenly questioned in a sleepy voice, knocking the pureblood from his thoughts. This was not what Zero had expected when he had opened his eyes. The last thing he expected to see was Kaname Kuran staring at him, while he slept, with a dreamy grin on his face.

"Apologies. Did I wake you?" The brunette questioned. The silverette's voice had shocked Kaname back to his senses and he was quick to regain his composure.

"It's ok." The teen yawned, stretching against the pureblood. He looked over his shoulder at Kaname's arm suspiciously, just now noticing its position around him. The silverette still had sheep on the brain and couldn't seem to understand why it was there or where exactly he was. The teen paused for a moment as he figured out the situation, before suddenly jumping up from the sofa, so quickly he nearly stumbled over. "Sorry! I don't know what happened. How that happened! I'm sorry!" Zero apologised as he make his way to the door.

"Zero, wait." Kaname called out as he grabbed the teens wrist. "It had been a long day. We were both exhausted. The situation was unavoidable. Besides, it's only me here. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. Please, stay." The brunette requested softly.

"I should get back to training the students." Zero declared before rushing from the room, the door slamming behind him.

Kaname sighed as he leant back in the chair. The room suddenly felt much colder now he was alone. It was in that moment he made a decision. He wanted to wake up with Zero beside him every day. When this was all over, he would tell the teen. He would tell the teen how he felt, no matter Zero's response. Even if Zero started hating him again. Even if he got angry and disgusted and Zero beat the crap out of him. He didn't care what Zero said or did, he just had to tell him.


"Shit! Shit, shit, shitty, shit!" Cross thought to himself as he stumbled down the nearly pitch black tunnel. Yagari had passed out again and he was now forced to half carry, half drag, the raven haired hunter along the wet stone passage. Every muscle in his body was aching and every breath hurt like he was inhaling dust instead of air, but he couldn't stop, he needed a way out, now. The tunnel smelt foul, a sickly sweet mix between rusted copper and rotten eggs, making him want to gag on every breath. It was cold, but humid, and the echoing sound of dripping water make Cross believe he was probably trapped in an old sewers drainage system. Yet, the labyrinth like passageways that he'd been aimlessly wandering in for hours made him doubt that. He figured Flora had probably had this place commissioned as her own personal rat-trap just to watch her pray run around and mess with their heads.

"Arh!" The blond hunter cried out as he suddenly tripped and fell to the dirty floor with Yagari's dead weight crashing onto him. The hunter lay still for a moment, trying to get his breath back from the fall and rested his head against the cold stone and closed his eyes. He was so tempted to just keep his eyes closed and drift off to sleep. To give into his exhaustion and injuries. The pounding in his skull beckoning him into unconsciousness and he would have given in if it wasn't for the sudden strong gust of wind that blew through his long hair. "What the hell?" The hunter though as the scent of fresh air filled his nostrils. Tiredly he lifted his head and looked intently further down the tunnel. Ahead of him he could see a small ray of light glistening against the wet stone wall, and suddenly filled with hope, the headmaster dragged himself to his feet. Momentarily leaving Yagari's side as he went to investigate.

Cross held his breath as he rounded the next corner, fist held out before him, in a futile attempt at protection. As soon as he saw a figure he lashed out, without thinking, and punched the person behind the wall square in the face.

"Ow! Bloody hell! What was that for?" A young man questioned angrily, holding his now bleeding nose. He looked back at Cross curiously when he didn't get a reply from the blond hunter, who looked like he was about to faint. "Come on. I'll take you and your friend to the others." The young man announced, looking back at Yagari's limp body.


The air was cold outside, and Kaname pulled his coat subconsciously tighter around himself, as he make his way out into the moon dorm gardens. The pureblood found most of the students gathered in a large circle in the middle of the field. As he got closer he could hear the sound of metal hitting metal. So it wasn't a surprise when he saw Zero and Aidou standing in the middle for the group. The teen was standing firm, with Artemis held out before him protectively. While Aidou was at the opposite end, with two curved blades in hand. The weapons were silver and obviously from Cross's vault and Aidou was wearing thick, black leather gloves to protect himself from the silver. Kaname watched patiently as Aidou ran at the teen, clumsily thrusting his blades out towards Zero's head. The silverette easily dodged to the side and effortlessly jabbed Aidou in the elbow as he went, causing the blond's arm to buckle and he dropped one of the blades.

"Your throwing too much in to your attacks. It's leaving you too open. You need to protect yourself more. More defence and less offence." Zero informed, as he picked the blade back up and handed it to Aidou.

"Ok." The blonde agreed.

"Again." The silverette stated, and they both raised their weapons. They continued to fight, but this time Aidou spent more time trying to block Zero's blows and only throwing a few choice jabs, until he finally got a good one in. With an array of sparks from the blades sharp edges as they slid down artemis's hilt, Aidou pushed hard and knocked the silverette slightly off balance. Quick as a flash he swung one blade forwards and stopped just before Zero's neck. The teen stood still and smirked at the other man. "Congratulations. That's the kill shot. Well done." The hunter praised. Aidou lowered his weapons as Zero patted him on the shoulder. "Who's next?" He shouted to the crowd, holding his bow staff in a defensive position once more.

Over the next few hours Zero continued to fight and train most of the moon dorm students and Kaname continued to sit back and watch. Silently admiring the teen's patience and his skill from afar. He even took note of the weapons his inner circle were given as he watched Zero train them.

Kain was given a blunderbuss. "Impossible to hit anything further than 30ft away. Impossible to miss anything closer." Zero had said. The weapon was big and heavy, but Kain was strong and he was surprisingly good with it.

Rima was given a pair of electro charged tonfas.

Ruka was given a bag filled with small explosive devices. They looked like glass marbles, but upon shattering they perform different tasks. Depending on the colour they would either begin to smoke and conceal a small area. Explode with about the same amount of force as a hand grenade. Or release an acid that would burn through almost any surface it touched.

Takuma had a short katana. Nowhere near as elaborate or beautiful as the one given to Kaname, but it was still quite ornate and a brilliant silver with a pale blue hilt.

Shiki had a pair of silver chain whips.

And Aidou had his curved blades.

Kaname walked away once more. It was clear Zero already had his hands full with the rest of the students and he wasn't going to disturb. He didn't see Zero again until that evening.


There was a quiet knock on the door and Kaname knew immediately who it belonged to. It was strange how quickly the sound had become familiar to him. In all honesty he was just glad that Zero had returned to him willingly after this mornings embarrassment.

"Hello Zero." Kaname greeted warmly.

"Hi." Zero replied quietly. "Listen, I need to talk to you about something. It's very important and I can't trust anyone else with it. I'm sorry to put this on you, but I must. I-" The silverette began to ramble.

"Zero, please, relax. Just tell me what you need from me." The pureblood requested calmly, although he was now slightly concerned. Zero sighed, before reaching behind him and pulling something from his waistband.

"Here." Zero said, holding out a pistol for the other man to take. The gun was old. Very old. It was an old colt pistol. Black, with some rusting in areas. It didn't look very special. It was only the pentagram carved into the side and a few other symbols that let him know that it was even a hunter weapon. But the gun was powerful. He could practically feel the power coming off it in waves.

"What is this?" Kaname questioned.

"It's called the God-Killer. It's one of the rarest weapons in existence. It can kill practically anything, even Purebloods, in one shot, and if all else fails I want you to kill Flora with it." The teen informed, the words coming out cold and emotionless.

"What?" Kaname asked, confused. He had very little experience with firearms and if anyone was going to use this gun to kill Flora, then surely it would be Zero the gunslinger.

"I'm not finished." The silverette declared. He took another deep breath before continuing. "I've only got four bullets for it, so try not to waste them. But I need you to save one for me." Zero announced.

"Zero, what are you talking about." Kaname questioned beginning to get angry. Why was Zero saying this? Why would he want Kaname to shoot him? He couldn't rack his brain around it.

"I'm sorry, but if Flora gets hold of me. I have no idea what that will do to me. What I'll become. I need to make sure that I don't hurt anyone. I need to make sure that you don't let me hurt anyone. You are the only person I trust to insure I don't become a monster. I want you to promise me that you'll put me down before it gets that far." Zero requested.

"You can't be serious?" The brunette practically laughed.

"Promise me Kaname Kuran." Zero pleaded. Kaname looked away. He couldn't bare that look of desperation in those beautiful eyes staring into the truth was, Zero was right. If Flora dug her claws into him he would be subjected to the worst fate imaginable and he would have no control of his actions. Mindlessly killing whoever she pointed to next. With a lump in his throat and an ache in his chest Kaname knew what he must do. He looked back at Zero. Staring deep into those brilliant amethyst eyes he forced his lips to whisper the dreaded words. "I promise." And that was the last he saw of Zero before they were heading out onto the battlefield, standing side by side.


Hi everyone.

Sorry I've been gone for so long.

Merry Christmas

Thanks for reading.

Please review.

-Princess Loveless