Chapter 12: Paths Converge

It had been a few weeks since Yoko had last gone to town, since her father did not like her leaving the schoolgrounds other than when necessary. He had allowed her to go this time accompanied by Zero and Ichiru to buy groceries, having run out of vegetables and meat for their dinner.

Ichiru was in one of his healthier spells and had whined and begged his older brother to tag along, complaining that he would sooner die of boredom than from sickness. Zero being who he was had caved in and had allowed him to come along, but under the condition that he be dressed up warmly from neck to toe.

Since it was an autumn day, Yoko herself was wearing a thick, dark purple sweater over a collared, button up shirt and black jeans with knee-length boots. It was not quite chilly enough for an overcoat yet. As usual, her unruly curls were tied into a messy ponytail.

Right now, she was standing outside the pharmacy, waiting for Zero and Ichiru to finish purchasing some medication in preparation of the frequent fevers Ichiru was prone to during the winter. As she waited, she observed the passersby and the autumn scenery. Some mothers walked by, pushing babies in strollers, or tugging their kids along. A few shopkeepers and employees stepped out of their workplaces for a quick smoking break. It was a mid-sized, idyllic town, made even more picturesque by the orange, red, and yellow colors of autumn.

Something caught her eye – on the branch of a nearby tree, there was a butterfly with light yellow wings. If it were not for the butterfly's fluttering wings, Yoko would have missed it, given how well it camouflaged with the orange and yellow leaves of the tree.

How odd, to see a butterfly at this time of the year, she thought. Perhaps it had escaped from a nearby greenhouse?

It reminded her of the butterflies she had caught sight of all throughout summer. For whatever reason, this past summer there had been more butterflies than usual. Whenever she sat in the school garden to read among the blooming morning glories and irises, a butterfly hovered nearby, sometimes even landing on her hair or shoulders. When she leisurely strolled around the school grounds, a butterfly followed her. Perhaps the gardener had made some change to the gardens that attracted more pollinators?

As she pondered the unnatural sighting, the bell over the pharmacy door chimed as the door opened and Zero and Ichiru exited.

Zero came over to where she stood, and as he got nearer, something made him feel on edge. It was the feeling of being watched. He scanned their surroundings but did not notice anything strange – wait, there was a butterfly present in this time of the year?

As though it had sensed his wariness, the butterfly fluttered its wings and took off.

Zero shook his head, perhaps he was imagining things. In any case his instincts had not sensed a malicious presence. He beckoned to Yoko and they set off for their next destination, the farmer's market. It still irked him a bit how the headmaster had been so careless that he had forgotten to stock up on ingredients. The pantry back in the house was completely empty except for a few dusty cans, relics from who knows when.

Hopefully, they would be able to purchase all the produce they needed before the market closed for the day. Zero was tired of living on (probably expired) canned food like they had been doing for the past few days and was determined to cook a replenishing and hearty meal tonight. Although Yoko and the headmaster seemed perfectly content eating canned beans and fish three meals in a row, those two were abnormal in their gastronomic tendencies. He and Ichiru needed real food, his brother especially, considering his naturally weak constitution.

The sun was already starting to set when they finally finished their shopping. It would be completely dark by the time they made it back to Cross Academy. Yoko carried the paper bag filled to the brim with produce, the leafy tops of carrots hanging out and Ichiru carried the lighter bag of freshly baked bread and desserts (mostly for him and the headmaster, since neither she nor Zero were into sweets).

Zero who had been walking in front of them came to a sudden halt. He turned around and she noticed he was wearing a grim frown. Ichiru saw Zero's expression and understood immediately that he had sensed a vampire near them.

A few seconds later, they heard a woman's loud and anxious cry.

"Help! Someone help! My daughter, my daughter has been taken by some man!"

They looked back to see a small crowd forming a block away, around a woman who had collapsed on the ground, sobbing and pointing in the direction the kidnapper had gone. Zero's face darkened and he thrusted the bag from the butchers at Yoko, who accepted it, managing to hold on to both bags without dropping anything.

The kidnapper was probably the vampire he had sensed just now.

"Ichiru, stay here with Yoko. I am going after the kidnapper."

Ichiru nodded.

Although he was nowhere near as fit as Zero given his health conditions, he was still capable of some self-defense. Fortunately, he was carrying some charmed hunter talismans on him which can immobilize a level E temporarily and give them time to run. He also carried a small combat knife with anti-vampire properties, a hunter weapon his parents had given to him on the sly to protect himself in case of emergency. It was not the most impressive set up, but he would still be able to protect himself and Yoko if push came to shove.

Zero took off in the indicated direction, disappearing into a small alley as Ichiru and Yoko moved aside to a corner and waited for him. Although they were worried about him, they knew he had considerable experience hunting level E's. Given the expectations the Hunter Association had for him, Zero had started going on hunts since he was 14 years old.

The Hunter Association and everyone else only expects things from Zero, but not the hopeless and weak me, Ichiru thought with a hint of bitterness, but quickly pushed that thought to the back of his mind.

Ever since Ichiru could remember, he had always admired his strong and kind older brother. However, as they grew older, a small darkness grew and festered in him. A part of him was resentful of Zero, wondering why he had to be so weak while Zero was so strong, even though they shared the same genes. He had been constantly trying to suppress these ugly feelings and had channeled his efforts into mastering hunter spells, something that required less physical exertion. Thankfully his hard work paid off, and he was proud to say that at least in this field, he outshined his multi-talented brother.

After extensive research and tinkering, Ichiru had succeeded in strengthening the immobilizing power of the hunter talismans to three times their usual magnitude two years ago. Even Yagari-sensei had been impressed and had asked him to craft some for him and his colleagues in the field. For the first time in his life, he had been acknowledged by his parents and Yagari-sensei, and he had consequently been elated for weeks afterwards. The experience had further motivated him, and he was currently working on a bigger and more ambitious spell for use in the field, with completion being within reach soon.

Although Ichiru had been deemed unfit for life as a hunter, it was hard to stay away from things concerning hunters when everyone else in his family was an active member of the association.

Even without becoming a hunter, he could still help with some of the "backstage" aspects. Members of hunter families that failed to qualify as hunters stayed involved with the Hunter Association by performing administrative and clerical duties at headquarters. Some helped maintain the hunter weaponry, of which there was a limited amount, given that they were all forged from the same parent metal in the furnace underneath the headquarters.

In the future, Ichiru hoped to get a job in the weaponry department. He was confident he could figure out how to amplify the spells cast on the hunter weapons and make them even more powerful at inhibiting the unnatural regenerative powers of vampires.

The nearby crowds were already dispersing, and within a quarter of an hour, it was just Yoko and Ichiru left on the otherwise empty avenue. Most people were probably already home eating dinner at this time.

Ichiru leaned back against the wall and stared up blankly, wondering how long Zero will take. Just as he was about to close his eyes and doze off, he heard the shrill wailing of a baby, and saw a man carrying a crying baby leap off the building adjacent to them, and land on the street only a few feet away from them.

Both Ichiru and Yoko froze in shock.

The man (clearly a vampire given his unnatural ability to jump and land unscathed from a two-floor building) glanced back and Ichiru started, seeing that his eyes were glowing red. The vampire had already fallen to level E, as evidenced by his maniacal expression, clawed fingers, and unkempt appearance. Another woman's desperate scream calling for help broke out, and the vampire quickly took off down an alley opposite the direction Zero had gone.

At that moment Ichiru was overtaken by the irrational desire to chase after the kidnapper vampire. Although his decision to give chase was mostly motivated by the desire to rescue the innocent baby from almost certain doom at the hands of the crazed vampire, a smaller motivation was the selfish desire to prove himself. He could trap the level E with his talismans and contain him while waiting for Zero to arrive and deal the final blow. Yoko would probably be safe since she had her Artemis rod with her.

"Stay here and tell Zero I've gone after the other vampire when he gets back," he barked at Yoko and took off before she could protest his decision.

Yoko stared in frustration at his back as he too disappeared down an alley.

Although Ichiru was feeling fine now, who knows when he might relapse? His fevers snuck up unannounced, he could be fine in the morning and confined to bed by night. He might not even be fully recovered from his last bout of sickness. It was too dangerous for him to go alone, and she would never forgive herself if something happened to him.

At that moment she hated how weak she was as a regular human. Although humans had accomplished amazing feats, when they were stripped of their weapons and technology, they were among the lowest on nature's power pyramid.

Yoko glanced down the alley Zero had ran off into but did not see any indication he was coming back soon. She slipped her hand into her bag, feeling the comforting, cool metal of the Artemis rod in its compact form, and made up her mind. Leaving the bags of groceries behind, she took off after Ichiru.

Kaname's acute vampiric senses told him there were around 5 level E's running rogue in town. He had left Cross Academy accompanied by a few select followers to take care of this problem, before the Hunter Association stepped in. Since he was the pureblood responsible for the vampires at Cross Academy, every time some trouble sprouted up involving vampires in the vicinity, the Hunter Association was quick to blame him for letting problems happen on his watch. Kaname intensely disliked the hunters and refused to give them of all people any ammunition for criticizing him.

Standing at the intersection of two smaller and less frequented streets, he had dispatched them in pairs and sent them after the targets. Takuma had been paired with Senri, and Aido with Kain. He now stood by himself, observing the sunset and waiting for their return. It should not take long, his followers were aristocrats and their opponents were simply level E's, on the lowest rung of their pyramid.

The only problem with Level E's is that they had already lost their sanity, and thus made unpredictable moves, like desperate, hunted animals that made one final reckless charge to take their predators down with them. If not careful, the hunter could end up harmed because they underestimated the untamed ferocity of the level E. However, Kaname trusted his followers were more than capable of dealing with level E's without sustaining a single scratch to themselves.

As Kaname waited, he pondered the recent surge of level Es in the surrounding towns, and felt his anger simmer at the thought of how that depraved descendant of his was finally making his move and causing all these problems even before he showed up. Why had someone like Rido, who had no regard for the sanctity of the lives of others, been born from his blood?

His insidious inner voice interrupted him. Rido took after your dirty aspects, that's why. For the sake of your goals, you are willing to sacrifice others too, he is simply more open about his desires and deeds than you. The voice laughed, the sound harsh and grating, before disappearing again into the depths of his mind.

Kaname clenched his eyes shut, trying to calm down, and after a minute or so, he reestablished his inner equilibrium. It was annoying thinking too much, and certain things he wanted to avoid always found a way to slip past the mental barrier he had erected, tormenting him.

Yoko had run down several streets and checked several alleys, with this being the latest, but Ichiru was still nowhere in sight.

She paused to rest for a bit, but her head snapped up when she heard a loud noise of wood and glass breaking behind her. Looking back, she saw a figure rise from the ground, having fallen through some wooden milk crates that were placed below the wall. It was a male vampire with eerily glowing red eyes peering from behind his long and scraggly hair. He was like the other vampire who had appeared before her and Ichiru earlier, both bringing to mind insane patients that had escaped from an asylum.

Her instincts screamed at her to flee, but her feet were frozen in place due to fear. This was the first close encounter she had with a level E vampire and she suddenly became keenly aware of how alone she was. She was once again reminded of how impressive Zero was, to constantly deal with frightening beings like this. The vampire looked at her and sniffed the air.

"You smell good." He cocked his head and examined her with more interest, "You probably taste delicious."

The vampire twisted his mouth into a disturbing grin and the realization of the dire situation snapped Yoko out of her inactivity. She quickly drew the Artemis rod out of her bag and extended it to its full length. Even if the odds were obviously against her, she would not go down without struggle.

It was not like she had much of a choice though. Only by putting up a fight could she hope to stall him off long enough for help to arrive. Her rod was simply a rod, useful for defense, but useless for more than that. Unlike Zero's weapon, the Artemis rod was not capable of killing. And even if it was capable, she wondered if she herself was capable of ending someone else's life…

Before she could warn him to stay back, he lunged at her, and she barely dodged out of his way. He quickly went after her again, and she managed to aim her rod at his head and hit him straight in the left eye. With a loud wail, he clutched his eye, and she took the time to run towards the larger and hopefully more populated street.

She was only a human, without the enhanced speed and strength of the hunters and vampires. There was no way she could beat him, so the wisest option was to run and call for help. Hopefully Zero was nearby…

However, with his enhanced speed, the level E managed to recover from his pain and started running after her. Within half a minute, he overtook her and forced her up against the wall.

Before he could bite her with those large glistening fangs, she rammed the rod into his mouth and held him back with both arms extended. He snarled angrily like a wild animal caught in a trap. As he struggled, he managed to claw her left arm, cutting through the yarn of her sweater with ease with his sharp claws. Yoko winced as his blade-like nails cut into her skin and drew blood. Gritting her teeth, she kept pushing him back despite the burning pain in her arm and watched his crazed facial expression.

His eyes were glowing red with blood lust, and he was still biting the rod, all signs of rational thinking having deserted him. The only thing he understood was the need to drink blood.

Despite the grim situation, seeing someone who used to be human become a being controlled by their basest desire to devour blood made her pity him. She wondered what he used to be like when he was still human. Did he have family waiting for him? If he had family, they would be heartbroken if they saw him reduced to this mindless state.

The rod shocked him with its anti-vampiric properties, and he finally released his bite and staggered back a few steps, growling. He stared at her for a few seconds before suddenly lunging forward again to attack. She was able to avoid the brunt of his attack, but he managed to slash her right upper leg. Her blood seeped out and drenched her jeans rapidly.

Yoko squeezed her leg with her free hand, trying to staunch the bleeding and simultaneously pushed her mind to think of an escape plan. With her limited abilities, her best bet was to hold the level E back while waiting for Zero to show up and deal with him. Unfortunately, that was not likely to happen. Instead, she would probably be drained and dead before help arrived. She hoped that at the very least, Ichiru was not in a similar predicament as her…

The vampire gnashed his teeth and glared at her with its eerie red eyes.

She felt her head starting to spin from her blood loss and realized with some apprehension that he had probably severed the femoral artery. That is bad…even if he didn't drain her to death, she would probably bleed to death within minutes.

The dizziness overwhelmed her, and she sagged against the wall, her grip on her rod loosening. With a dull clunk, Artemis slipped out of her grasp, falling onto the cold ground and rolling a foot away. She tried to keep her eyes on the level E who was still looking at her, but her vision was already going blurry. All her senses were slowly going dull, and her heart thumped loudly in her ears as it rushed to pump blood to her lower extremities.

Despite the fuzziness in her eyes, she could see the level E creep closer, coming in for the kill.

She prepared herself for the inevitable and closed her eyes. At this point she no longer had enough strength left to run nor hold him back.

The inevitable did not come, and instead she felt someone embrace pull her into an embrace.

Yoko slowly opened her eyes to see a girl around her age, with large brown eyes and long, light brown hair looking down at her. The girl was crying, her tears falling unrestrained and she was calling her name anxiously. Yoko wondered how this stranger knew her name. Oddly, she could not help but feel that this girl that she had never met before was somehow familiar.

Looking to the side she saw that the snarling level E was now pinned to the ground by a swarm of butterflies…butterflies that looked the same as the one she had observed earlier.

"Yoko, you are bleeding so much. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you!"

The girl's voice interrupted her drifting thoughts and Yoko wondered who she was…maybe she had met her before but had forgotten? However, her mind was now sluggish, and it was hard to think…all she wanted to do was let go and sink into the darkness.

Suddenly, she heard a loud "phwishing" sound, like that of a tower of sand crumbling. With much effort, she kept her eyes opened and turned towards the sound.

Kaname-senpai was standing near where the level-E had been, the nails on his fingers extended, and his hand covered in blood. There were specks of blood on his camel hair trench coat, and his eyes were glowing red. He held a coldly furious expression on his beautiful visage.

The last thing Yoko saw before she finally gave in to the overwhelming darkness was Kaname-senpai moving towards her, his lips moving as though sounding out her name.

Yuki clutched her sister closer to her as Kaname walked over to them, his expression still very frightening.

Yuki's mind was a jumbled mess, all her thoughts clamoring loudly and demanding her attention. She could not keep calm; her hands were trembling, and she could not stop crying. She had no idea what to do to save Yoko. Shizuku had been right, all she knew how to do was cry. She berated herself for being so pathetic and useless…

Yuki was a vampire, and all the wounds she had ever suffered had simply healed up on their own, quick, and clean. Yet Yoko was now a human, and her cuts were not closing, and all this blood was pouring out with no sign of ceasing. Yuki did not know how to stop the flowing blood; she did not know how to stop her sister's life from slipping away.

Yuki turned to face Kaname. He would know what to do, he had to!

"Pl-please save Yoko!" she managed to choke out a plea between her heavy sobbing.

Kaname gave a cursory glance to the girl, and his eyes widened almost imperceptibly for a second. That familiar face and coloring, as well as the aura of a fellow pureblood (though much weaker than him) – could she be?

He snapped out of his reverie, now was not the time to clarify the stranger's identity, he needed to tend to the severely wounded Yoko first. At the very least, he was sure that whoever the stranger was, she was not the one who had harmed Yoko. In fact, she had probably saved Yoko from the level E.

The rich and alluring smell of Yoko's blood hung heavily in the air. Takuma and the others would undoubtedly sense it soon and be alerted to what had happened.

Judging from the amount of blood drenching her clothes and spilled on the ground, she had lost a substantial amount of blood. Yoko 's vampire traits had been sealed, so she was just as vulnerable as a regular human. She would die of blood loss if he did not get her to a hospital soon.

Kneeling down, he quickly shrugged off his coat and tore a strip of his shirt, using the makeshift bandage to tie up Yoko's arm and stop the bleeding. Time was of essence…he had to hurry. He furrowed his brows as he concentrated on administering first aid. It had been so long since he last had to treat someone that he felt his composure waver as he tended to her.

He had not felt such panic since the night Rido had attacked the Kuran manor. And the fear…the fear of once again losing someone important to him. He had lost too many people he loved over all the countless years he had lived…he could not lose Yoko too.

But now was not the time to wallow in fear and the past…he did not have that luxury.

"Let me carry Yoko, we need to get her to a doctor," he stated quietly but firmly, leaving no room for dissent.

Yuki nodded meekly and released her hold. He quickly swept Yoko up in his arms.

"Follow me." Kaname ordered without looking back at Yuki.

Not sparing even half a second to wait for her response, he morphed into a flock of bats and flew off, heading to the nearest hospital at the fastest speed he was capable of. If the human doctors could not save Yoko, he would be left with no choice but to break her seal, the very seal that Juri had given up her life for.

Kaname had managed to rush Yoko to the hospital, where the emergency room doctors quickly took over. Kaname and Yuki had sat in the waiting room, each lost in their worries as the doctors treated Yoko's wounds and gave her a blood transfusion. After two hours of tense uncertainty, one of the doctor's informed them that Yoko's life was no longer in danger, although she was still unconscious and would need to rest for a while. She had then been transferred to a private patient room, in which Kaname and Yuki now sat beside her bed.

While they waited for the headmaster to arrive, Yuki fidgeted in her chair and glanced nervously out of the corner of her eye at her brother. From the moment he had ordered her to follow along, up until now, he had not said another word to her, nor glanced at her.

Now that she knew Yoko was safe, Yuki was aware that she should explain what had happened, who she was and how she meant no harm. She didn't want her older brother mistaking her for someone with bad intentions.

She had simply been observing Yoko and lost track of her for a short period. One of the hunter twins seemed to have sensed her familiar, so she had laid low for a while. Her attention had also been momentarily drawn away by the homework that her real body had to deal with back in the mountain cottage. When she finally resumed her observation, Yoko had already disappeared from the main avenue.

By the time her swarm of butterfly familiars found Yoko again, Yoko was being attacked by a level E. In the urgency of the moment, Yuki had manifested a copy of herself from her butterfly swarm and protected her sister. Even now, the Yuki sitting beside her sister's hospital bed was merely a duplicate, her real body and heart miles away.

She wondered if Kaname onii-sama knew her identity. He seemed to trust her enough to allow her to follow along, and to sit here in Yoko's hospital room with him…

Yuki wanted to get it all out in the open, instead of continuing to sit here in stressful uncertainty. But she had no idea when she should start talking and questioned if she should even start talking. Although her older brother was not wearing the scary expression he had on earlier when he killed the level E, his eyes still contained a frightening darkness. He did not seem like he was in the mood for any sort of conversation.

The minutes ticked by, and they continued to sit in silence as they kept vigil at their sister's bedside. The only sounds in the room were the reassuring humming of the medical equipment and their breathing.

After an indeterminate amount of time passed by, Yuki saw Kaname shift in his seat.

He brought his hand onto Yoko's forehead, his eyes glowing red as he used his power to erase her memories of what had happened and substitute the missing memories with fabricated ones. Yuki glanced at him, slightly alarmed at what he was doing, but she made no attempt to stop him, knowing that would be futile and that he had his reasons. Perhaps it was better for Yoko that she did not remember this incident…she had nearly lost her life and might be traumatized.

Only a few minutes after he finished tampering with Yoko's memories, the door opened and a few males quietly stepped in.

Yuki stood up from her seat and observed the strangers warily. The four of them appeared to be aristocrats, level B vampires like Maria-chan.

Kaname finally turned to her. "It is alright, they are not our enemies."

At his words, Yuki recalled that she had seen those vampires before, back at Cross Academy. They had been walking behind Kaname onii-sama when the procession of Night Class students headed to the main lecture building. It seems they were part of his trusted inner clique.

She sat back down.

A few minutes later, the door opened again, and two more people frantically rushed in. She had seen them multiple times before when she had spied on Yoko: they were the hunter twins that served as school prefects along with her sister. From what she had seen of their interactions, they were like brothers to Yoko.

While the vampires glanced at her with mild curiosity, they kept their composure and maintained their silence, waiting for their leader to speak first. Meanwhile, the twins openly stared at her, with both concern and confusion evident in their faces. However, their curiosity about her identity and what she was doing here was quickly overshadowed by their worry for Yoko.

"Kuran, what happened? Why is Yoko hurt?" The twin with hair cut shorter turned to glare at Kaname accusatorily.

"Kiryu, watch how you talk to Kaname-sama!" The blond vampire with cerulean eyes warned.

His irritation and steadfast loyalty to her brother was apparent in how quick he had been to rebuke the hunter.

Her brother raised a hand, which stopped the blond from further berating the human.

Kaname then turned to stared coldly at the twin who had spoken.

"Kiryu-san, Yoko was attacked by a level E after you and your brother both ran off, irresponsibly leaving her alone. She got badly hurt and could have died due to your negligence."

Zero did not respond or was rather unable to, due to the veracity in the pureblood's words. He gritted his teeth and continued glaring at the pureblood.

Yes, he knew he should not have left Yoko alone, but he had to save that child from the level E. The reason why Yoko was hurt in the first place was because of purebloods! Without purebloods, there would be no level Es, and Yoko, as well as that kidnapped child would not have been endangered.

Yuki sensed the room's atmosphere getting tense, and she debated whether to speak up and tell them all to argue elsewhere and let Yoko rest, or if that would be inappropriate given her current position as an outsider. To her relief, someone else spoke up in her place.

"Kaname, Zero-san, the two of you need to calm down. It is clear that you are both worried about Yoko-chan, but now is not the time to be throwing blame around." The taller blond vampire with green eyes interjected while placing a reassuring hand on Kaname's shoulder.

Kaname gave Zero a hard look before turning back to face Yoko and sighing. "Takuma is right. We are not here to assign blame, that would be a waste of time. What matters is that Yoko is safe now. She lost quite some blood, but she will recover eventually."

Zero and Ichiru glanced at each other, both sensing the other's self-guilt. They should not have left Yoko alone, especially when they were both aware of how attractive her blood was to vampires. Even back at school, Aidou had always had the habit of flirtatiously teasing her about how "delicious" her blood smelled, having caught a whiff of her blood once when she fell and accidentally scraped her knee.

Ichiru looked down, reproaching himself for running off. Although he had managed to immobilize the level E with his talismans and wrest the traumatized baby from its claws, Zero had not arrived to kill it. Instead, Takuma and Senri had shown up, with the blonde putting the vampire out if its misery with one fluid slash of his katana.

He had only known something had happened to Yoko when both Takuma and Senri had suddenly stilled, having detected the scent of a familiar blood in the vicinity. The two of them had followed the scent of Yoko's blood to the hospital. Before they hurried off, Takuma had informed him that Yoko was hurt, and to hurry to the hospital. After rapidly returning the baby to his mother, Ichiru had rushed off to the hospital.

Similarly, Zero had tracked down and hunted the level E, returning the kidnapped girl safely to her mother, before bumping into Kain and Aidou who had just finished off another level E nearby.

Kaname shifted his gaze to the nervous girl by his side and came to a decision.

"I need to go report this incident, so Zero and Ichiru-san, both of you please stay here with Yoko until headmaster Cross comes. Aidou and Kain, the two of you stay here as well and keep watch over Yoko."

"Yes, Kaname-sama, please leave this to me," Aidou assured, his voice brimming with confidence and eagerness to serve.

Kain likewise accepted Kaname's order, though with less flare than his cousin.

"Kuran, we will look after her without you ordering us to, and both me and Ichiru are sufficient to keep watch," Zero growled while looking at the wounded girl.

"I really wonder about you and your brother's reliability after what just happened," Kaname retorted drily as he rose, beckoning at Yuki to follow him.

She nodded, stood up and started walking after Kaname. Two steps later, she abruptly turned back, having remembered something. The hunter twins kept their eyes trained on her as she walked over to the bedside table, took the compact Arttemis rod out of her pocket and placed it on the table. She had picked it up before following Kaname to the hospital, having noticed that her sister had dropped her weapon. She gave them a curt but polite nod before exiting, leaving her sister in the care of those four.

Yoko would be alright now, but meanwhile she had to deal with Kaname. She was not sure how their conversation would go and felt more than a little apprehension…

A/N: The siblings finally meet face to face. And to give some clarification on the timeline, this chapter takes place roughly 7-8 months after the previous chapter. Both sisters are 16 years old now, since according to wiki Yuki's birthday is March 9. So, Yuki has been spying on her sister with her familiar for a bit over a year now lol.