Disclaimer: Neither Harry Potter or Vampire Knight is mine. I don't claim the characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling and Matsuri Hino respectively. I also don't make a profit from writing this. Thank you.
Warnings: Foul language and some bashing.
A/N: OK. I got a review that commented that my story is becoming depressing and I got to say that yeah it will be. This was put under the Hurt/Comfort/Angst genres meaning that it's not all going to be sunshine and rainbows. If that bothers you, please stop reading it even if it would sadden me for you to do so. As for the pairings, I have no clue who will be with who just yet. As for Death not being in the story so far, that would be explained in the coming chapters as well as for her magic. I would also like to say that my other story "Freedom is what you make it" will be updated very soon.
"Vampire" - Talking
'Vampire' – Thinking
Edited 02/08/2019
Chapter 4
"Report." She commanded of the man in front of her.
She got a short bow before the man started to talk in a clear and concise tone:
"Squad Raven was able to find evidence of the mundanes building a weapon that would be able to discern the mundanes from the magicals. Though it's still in the building process, it's in the final stage of development." He blurted out with a hint of fear in his voice.
'Bloody Hell! I didn't want to start with that information first.' He thought with a cringe. He paused before he continued when he glanced up and looked at the stunned countenance of his General.
"How is that even possible?" She muttered in disbelief before it turned into anger. "We cannot allow that device to complete the final stage no matter what. Bring me the Captains of squadrons Griffin and Basilisk after you finish your report." She demanded.
"Of course, General Potter-Black." Clearing his throat, he continued. "While Squad Raven was able to infiltrate the mundanes' top most research facility and find out what they were working on, Squad Mermaid was able to bring down a navy fleet heading for Iceland. The navy took the bait about there being a large group of magicals on their way there in the hopes of hiding and fell into the trap so that Squad Mermaid could take them out. On our part we only lost 9 people to their hundreds. The other Squads are still in the process of their mission or in recuperation. That is all I have to report so far." He finished.
"Tch. While 9 people don't seem that much of a loss, it is if you compare our numbers to theirs. We might as well consider that we have lost hundreds of our people today. Not only that, we now have to worry about their new invention. How are they even able to produce the electricity when it was the first thing we took out? Damn them to Hell!" She took a deep breath to calm down from her mini-rant, she focused her intense eyes on the Major in front of her. "If that is all Major Weasley, then please go get the ones I asked for."
"Yes, General Potter-Black." He said before giving another bow and leaving to do as he was ordered.
She watched the great-great-great grandson of her two old best friends walking out of the room. She couldn't help but feel saddened that they were no longer with her in this time but also very happy about it. She was glad that they haven't survived long enough to see their world falling into chaos and war with the mundanes.
"Stupid mundanes who can't mind their own business." She mutter resentfully.
The Wizarding World had finally started to prosper and produce more wizards and witches when the mundanes found them. It was only after the Wizarding World stopped being stagnated that everything went to shits and it pissed her off.
"We worked our asses off to get the Wizarding World to move forward kicking and screaming and what do we get in exchange. War and destruction!" She gritted out between her teeth while slamming her hand against her desks in frustration.
She sighed before turning her attention to the paperwork that she still needed to finish. She couldn't help but groan in despair.
'I'll never be able to finish all this paperwork. They're worst than the breeding habits of the mundanes.' She thought grumpily.
It was 15 minutes of doing the paperwork that she was interrupted by a knock on her door. She called out for them to enter and when she looked up she saw...
End Dream
She woke abruptly from hearing a loud bang from down the hall with her heart beating a mile per minute. She cursed quietly when she heard her father making more of a racket. If there is one thing she can never get use to, is how loud her father can be in the mornings.
She sat up putting her head in her hand thinking back on her dream. It's been a while since she dreamed about her old life, even if the images were blurry and she couldn't make out the features of the person she was talking to.
She remembered that she ordered two of her main strike force Captains to bring down the laboratory that was building the weapon that could find the magicals after Squad Raven cleared out. They succeeded in their mission but it ended up being for nothing. It wouldn't even be a month later that they would find out that the mundanes had a different base of operations that they didn't know about which finished the prototype they had hoped to destroy.
The lab that they attacked was a diversion to throw them off. It also clued the mundanes that they were being infiltrated and they tightened their security on everything even more. It didn't help that the weapon that they named the Freak Finder was able to alert them to their presence every time. With the weapon they were able to wipe out most of the magicals in one swell swoop. If it wasn't for a Japanese Wizard, they wouldn't have been able to find a way to hide themselves from the new weapon.
She didn't get the finer points of the spell but she was just happy that it worked.
'I just wish I could remember what the spell was called.'
Having to use it all the time, she was able to do the spell without thought or wand and now she couldn't even remember the name or the wand movements for it.
"Though setting off their nuclear reactors in revenge for the slaughter of their people wasn't a good idea at all." She mused.
Some of the Wizards and Witches banded together and planed an attack that took out the reactors all at once around the World. It destroyed what was left of the World and nobody but her survived the aftermath. While the explosions didn't kill all life right away, the radiation which spread all over the World finished off what was left. It wasn't a pretty sight.
Shaking her head to get rid of the images that rushed through her head before she lost her mind, she got up to get ready for the day. After getting dressed, she left her room but she stopped short when she saw a brown doe eye peaking out of the bedroom door next to her own. Her face dropped into an expressionless mask in the blink of an eye and she couldn't help but comment:
"Oh. I forgot that you were here Intruder."
'Just what I need after that memory/dream. Seeing the Intruder first thing in the morning is a mood killer all on its own.' She thought displeased.
Her eye twitched when the door was shut in her face.
'How dare that disgusting little brat.' She was getting ready to slam the door open and teach the little brat a lesson for shutting the door in her face except she was stopped by her father's voice.
"Oh, my little hummingbird is finally awake." He cooed happily. He was wearing a pink apron with a white bunny on it with pink oven mitts to go with it. "Breakfast is ready."
"I thought I told you to stay away from the kitchen." She snapped.
She didn't want to eat what he calls food. She always gets a stomachache and it wasn't appetizing in the slightest. Though she would still eat it so that the food doesn't go to waste nor did she want to hurt his feelings too much by refusing to eat it.
"And what was that loud bang not too long ago?" She demanded when she remembered the reason she was awake.
"I just wanted to make something for my two daughters." He answered sadly. "And there wasn't any loud bang so there's no reason to worry about it. So, is Yuki-chan up yet?" He chuckled nervously while trying to change the subject of the bang from earlier.
She narrowed her eyes but decided to let it go and focus on the girl hiding behind the door.
"If you say so and yes the intruder is awake. She's just cowering behind the door."
She stated simply before walking towards the kitchen. The faster she gets done eating the faster she will be able to go to Zero's. Even though she wanted to stay to fight the proclamation that Yuki was his daughter as well, she didn't for the simple fact that she feared that he would prevent her from going to Zero's in punishment.
"Don't call her that my rebellious hummingbird. That is a very mean thing to call her. Instead call her imouto-chan. " He called back to her.
"I don't care if it's mean or not and I will never call that pest imouto-chan." She countered with annoyance.
"How can you hate her so much already when she only got here last night?" He wondered aloud before opening Yuki's door in hopes of compelling her to come out and eat.
"It's a gift." She answered sarcastically, hating that he was already so in love with the intruder.
She sat down at the dining table to see that for once it was a normal breakfast of eggs, sausage, hash browns with a side of toast and orange juice. Well, that is until she tasted the eggs. Paling in horror at the taste, it took everything in her being to swallow her mouthful. She grabbed her orange juice to take two big gulps to wash the aftertaste away.
"What the hell did you put into the eggs?" She coughed desperately while pounding on her chest.
Not getting an answer she stared at her plate before straightening her spine and steeled her nerves before digging in. She took a gulp of juice in between each bite to help it down the hatch. When she was done she had to lean her head against the table with a hand over her mouth to stop the urge to throw up. If she wasn't so against wasting food in any way shape or form, she would gather every single plate and throw it away.
It was an aftereffect from the War where food was very scarce.
'Of course being starved for most of my life does that as well. Besides he should suffer for what he made after I forbade him to go anywhere near the kitchen and I don't care if she suffers in the first place.' She thought with a groan.
When her stomach settled down, she got up from her seat and took her dishes to the sink to be cleaned later.
"I'm going over to Zero's. See you later." She called out.
When she didn't get a answer back she gritted her teeth in anger. She slammed the door behind her after she put her snow boots, gloves, and light blue parka on.
'She hasn't been here for even 24 hours and already he's starting to ignore me?' She thought in confused hurt. She didn't get how he could ignore her for that thing. 'Is it because she is like a new toy?'
"No matter. If he prefers her over me for the simple fact that she is new then that is his problem." She uttered in hopes to quail her building hatred for the intruder and the betrayal of her father.
Even if she didn't have any clear picture of her earlier childhood of her first life, she still got the sense of always being over looked for another. Add that to the memories of her people always looking to her to sacrifice herself for them, it's not a feeling she wishes to ever to feel ever again.
'And I had thought with him I wouldn't have to.' She thought sadly.
When she got to Zero's home, she saw his father waiting for her in the doorway. Not use to having anyone waiting for her at the door, she couldn't help but be curious why he was there.
"Is something the matter Kiryu-san?"
"Kaien called frantic wondering where you were when he couldn't find you at home." He stated bluntly making her flinch slightly.
She looked to the side in hopes to hide her mix feelings of hurt and relief; hurt that he didn't even hear her since he was so focus on the intruder and relief that he would call to check if she was alright.
"I did tell him where I was going. It's not my fault that he decided to pay complete attention to his new pet." She spat "pet" as if it was the most disgusting thing to ever exist.
He stood in silence, just staring at her on the verge of snapping at him, and then spoke:
"I am sorry to hear that. Zero-kun and Ichiru-kun are out in the back with their new tutor who is teaching them to be hunters. If you want, you can go and join them to see want a hunter knows."
"I will do that. Though I wonder if I were to ask, will this tutor be willing to teach me as well."
"I don't know. I am unsure if he will be willing to take on another student at the moment. You will just have to ask. "
Nodding, she went to the back yard and saw Zero and Ichiru running the length of the yard with sweat rolling down their faces. She looked at the man who was yelling at them to pace themselves. It was a handsome man the same age as her father. He had long, wavy jet-black hair with a cowboy hat over it, blue eyes that pierce the soul, a muscular build and was around 6'5 in height. He had a brown trench coat and a cigarette in the hand he was pointing at the running boys.
It wasn't until it was pointing at her that she noticed the shoot gun that he was carrying. She raised an eyebrow at being threaten.
"Is there a reason you are pointing that thing at me, Tutor-san?" She asked softly.
"What are you?" He growled in a rough voice and a dark glare aimed at her.
Before she could open her mouth to retort, she was stopped when she heard the cries of "Willow" coming from the boys now running towards her. One happy to see her and the other with a slight sulk to his tone.
"Zero-kun. Ichi-chan." She called back to Zero warmly and mockingly to Ichiru. She started to call him 'Ichi-chan' when she heard his mother call him that once and saw his reaction to it. She couldn't help herself from calling him that when his face would get all red and he'd start cussing under his breath at her every time.
"Don't call me that!" Ichiru yelled at the dark hair demon in front of him. "Why are you even here? Go home, we're busy."
"Ichiru!" Zero scowled. "That was very rude."
"Yeah, Ichi-chan. I thought you liked when I come over. I am so hurt that you still have some negative feelings towards me." She said with mock sadness that was ruined by the slight smirk on her face and the mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
"I told you not to call me that!" He yelled in frustration.
"Zero, Ichiru, who is this girl?" The man next to them demanded.
He didn't like not knowing what was going on. He wasn't told that a little girl would be showing up and he didn't like the aura she gave off. It was…to powerful…to dark to be anything but human.
'She doesn't feel like a vampire but she's not completely human either. Just what is she?'
"Oh. This is Cross, Willow. We met her three months ago when her Otou-san brought her over. Willow, this is Yagari, Toga our master who is training us to be vampire hunters like our parents." Zero introduced excitedly.
"Who is your Otou-san?" Toga asked before the girl could utter a word edge wise. He has a feeling that he knows who it is, but he wants to make sure.
'She looks nothing like him and I haven't heard him having a child.'
"Why should I tell you who he is?" Willow asked neutrally.
When she saw Ichiru opening his mouth to tell him, she was quick to stomp on his foot to shut him up.
"Keep your month closed Ichi-chan." She whispered sweetly into his ear when she got close enough. Seeing him gulp in fear and nod his head, she turned back to the man glaring death at her while keeping her foot where it was.
'Got to admit, if I wasn't used to the Death Glare from Death himself and I was actually the age I am portraying, I would be spilling my guts about now.' She thought amused.
"Just tell me who he is!" He spat at the girl. He was getting tired of her games. If she thought she was being cute, she got another thing coming. He wasn't about to fold to the whims of some little girl.
"Temper, temper. There's no reason for such attitude." Willow simpered. "I will tell you who he is for something in return." She offered with innocence radiating from her form.
"And what would that be?" He questioned more calmly than before. He couldn't believe that he was losing control over himself like this over the girl.
'I'll humor her for now.' He thought, looking to the boys right behind the girl, he saw that they were shaking their heads in a manner reminiscent of those given to people who don't know what they just got themselves into.
"I want you to train me as well." Willow stated seriously.
"Training?"
"NO! I don't want her to train with us!"
Toga and Ichiru answered at the same time. Toga with confusion and disbelief and Ichiru with horror and anger. Zero just stayed quiet already knowing that in the end, Willow will get Yagari-sensei to train her one way or another.
'It would also be fun to have another sparring partner alongside Ichiru-kun.' Zero thought with the beginnings of excitement.
"What? Are you afraid that I will be better than you?" Willow asked Ichiru with a smirk. All she got was a hateful glare in return. Turning back to the man she stated sweetly with a slight head tilt, "Yes, I want you to train me. How else will I be able to keep an eye on my beloved boys if I can't even match or even keep up with them?"
What she wasn't expecting was for the man to burst into mocking laughter. Laughter aimed at her.
"What are you laughing at, Yagari-san?" She asked dangerously.
Seeing her glare and the two boys backing away from her slowly, Toga felt a cold shiver run down his spine. He coughed to clear his throat and answered her cockily to cover up the fact he felt a slight fear at the glare aimed at him.
'It feels like she can see my soul and is just wondering how she will go about ripping it out.' He thought with another shiver.
"I have no interest in training a girl." He told her honestly.
"Oh?" She purred out with venom. "Are you trying to say that because I am a girl that I will never match up with the boys? Or is it perhaps that you just don't have the ability to train a girl? Is it because you think girls are just weaker than boys? If so, then prove it by training me with them so that I can see the difference. If it's because you don't have the ability to train a girl, then that's OK. We all have our faults after all."
"Tch." Toga gritted his teeth in order to stop himself from lashing out at the smug looking girl.
He knows that she knows she just backed him into the corner. If he admitted that he thought girls were weaker than boys, she would tell Isamu what he said and he would have to deal with her wrath. Something he would do everything he could to avoid.
'She's scary when she's angry.'
If he were to admit that it's because he didn't have the knowledge on how to train a girl, it would be a blow to his ego as a trainer. He thought on what he could say when he hit jackpot.
"Why would I train you for something as small as your Otou-san's name? Hell, I could just go and ask Kazuo and Isamu who he is." He deflected smugly back.
"I am using it as a down payment of sorts to get you to agree. You see, if I don't find your training satisfactory, I plan on going elsewhere for training with no loss on my part. If I do find it satisfactory, I would, of course, compensate you for your troubles, within reason. As for you going to Kazuo-oji-kun and Isamu-oba-chan to get your information, then go right ahead. I am sure that they would find it amusing that you had to go to them to get it since you were unable to get it out of me."
"If I do train you and decide that you are not cut out to be trained by me. What then?" He asked while crossing his arms over his chest after finally returning his shotgun to his back.
He doesn't remember when he stopped pointing it at the girl, but since the boys know her, he decided that she wasn't a threat at the moment. Not that he wouldn't keep an eye on her every chance he got. There was just something off about her not to.
"If in the middle of my training you decided that you're unable to teach me anymore after actually giving it a fair try. Then I will bow out and look elsewhere to get training. And I mean a fair try, not a halfhearted attempt to make it look like you tried so you could toss me aside afterwards." She countered also crossing her arms with the two boys looking between them back and forth.
"This makes no sense." Toga sighed out. "Why would I waste my time for a name?"
"Because I intrigue you and you want to figure me out. What better way to find out than by having me around all the time if not to train me? You also want to know who raised me as well."
"Fine. I'll train you. If you get your parents' approval first." He agreed reluctantly.
"Deal."
"Now, tell me who your Otou-san is."
"Not just yet."
"What!" Toga yelled in anger.
"We have to make a contract first so that neither of us can go back on our word. After we have signed our names and Zero-kun and Ichi-chan has signed as witnesses, then will I give you his name."
"How do you plan on making one?" He asked sarcastically.
"Pen and paper." She stated simply as if he was dumb for not already knowing the answer.
"Tch. Fine. Let's get this over with." He said before turning towards the house to get the paper and pen.
Hopefully, he would come across one of his friends to get the answer from them so he didn't have to go through all this. He was stopped, however, when he heard the girl's voice call him back.
"There's no need to go in there. I have brought paper and a pen out with me." She called out to him while holding out a black notebook and a pen. She had grabbed it on the way out of the house when she saw it among the boys' things on the kitchen table where they do their school work.
"Hey, that's my notebook!" Ichiru yelled trying to snatch it out of her hand and getting his shin kicked in retaliation.
"Then 'thank you' Ichi-chan for allowing me to use it." Was his answer.
"I don't want you to use it." He muttered while rubbing his sore shin. Hearing his brother snickering beside him, he shot a glare at him and only received a warm smile in return for his efforts.
When they were around the table on the patio, they got to business.
"If you are happy with how your training is going, how are you going to pay me for my troubles?" Toga asked curiously. He didn't really think she had anything to really pay him with. He thinks that she will have her father pay him or something.
"If by the end of my training and we're both satisfied with each other, what would you want?" She asked instead.
He thought about it for a few moments, the only thing he could think of is: "Secrets."
"Secrets?" They all asked him in confusion.
He stared at the girl straight in her bright green eyes.
"When I am done training you to the best of my abilities, I want to know what you are hiding. All of it."
"You drive a hard bargain. But the question that you should be asking yourself is, are you prepared for the answers to that demand?" She asked amused but seriously.
Toga paused to look deeper into her eyes to see if she was messing with him, he found that while she was amused by his wish, she was also serious about her question. He shook off his foreboding; he simply stated, "Yes."
"Very well. Then that shall be your payment."
She started to write out the contract in her chicken scratch handwriting on a blank page of Ichiru's notebook.. No matter how long she has lived, her handwriting still sucked very much and she would hit anybody who would make fun of it. Once done, she gave it to Yagari to look it over.
"This handwriting is terrible." Toga grumbled as he tried to read it. He soon got tired of trying so he grabbed the pen out of the girl's hand and rewrote the contract in his neat and concise handwriting.
Eyebrow twitching in annoyance and with a light blush of embarrassment, she took back the contract to look it over to make sure that he did it the way she wrote it the first time.
Satisfied, she gave it back to him and asked:
"Are these terms satisfying to you?"
Rereading it over carefully, he found nothing to complain about. He nodded towards her to show that, yes, he agrees and she motion for him to sign it first since he was the one with the pen. Once they all signed it where they were supposed to, she chirped:
"I'll go call Otou-san now and ask for his permission." She got up and did just that while leaving the three males in an awkward silence.
"How could you agree to train her as well, Yagari-sensei?" Ichiru burst out angrily.
"Ichiru, it was his decision to do so. Besides, I think it would be nice to have someone else to train with that we can also hang out with afterwards." Zero cut in before Toga could respond.
"All you need is me to train with." Ichiru pouted. "She is so annoying and she will just get in the way."
"That's not true. I think the only reason you don't want her to train with us is so that you can say that you are stronger than her." Zero teased.
"That's not true! Even if she trains with us, I will still be stronger than her! You just watch!" Ichiru declared. After that announcement they fell into another silence waiting for the only female of the group to come back and tell them the verdict.
"Ah, it would seem that he said no then?" Toga asked when he spotted Willow coming out with an angry look on her face ten minutes later.
"You would be wrong for he did give me permission to train under you." Willow snapped back.
"Then why the long face?"
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with. Anyways, don't you want to know who my Otou-san is?" Willow diverted.
She didn't want to talk about how it took three calls before he answered and after a minute of being cooed at, was able to ask what she wanted. While she wasn't upset about being cooed at nor did he hesitate to agree with her being trained, she was upset that it took so long for him to answer the phone and quick for him to hang up. Usually, when she called, he would pick it up after the third ring and wouldn't get off until she hanged up on him. Evidently, he was so focus on the intruder being cute that he didn't want to answer the phone or stay on for very long. It hurt her very much to be brushed off so easily.
Deciding not to push it when he saw the pained and saddened look in her eyes while her face remained mostly blank, he answered, "Yeah, I want to know. So, who is he?"
"Cross, Kaien." She answered when she snapped back to reality.
She was amused when she saw his eyes widened and recognition flash through them. She had the feeling that he would know her father.
"I take it from the look on your face that you know him."
"Unfortunately." He stated unhappily before changing the subject. "I will start your training tomorrow."
"Why not now? It's only the middle of the day." Willow asked before he could leave.
"I need to think about what to do. If you want to train, then run around the yard 5 times, do 10 sit up, 10 push-ups, 10 jumping jacks, and whatever else you can think of. I will have all three of your training schedules done by tomorrow. Until then, enjoy yourselves because it will be a while before you can again." He finished with a dark chuckle walking away, leaving the kids to think on what he promised in his words.
After all three looked at each other they then all got up to start running and do all the other exercises that they could think of. Willow and Ichiru turned it into a competition not too long into it while Zero just hung back to keep judge of the winners. At the end of it, they were all exhausted but happy that they were able to complete everything they could think of.
That night, Willow stayed over since she wanted to be here when her new teacher came back. She didn't want to miss anything nor did she want to go home and see the intruder in the house.
'Not that he seems to care. He was too busy cooing over how cute the intruder is to really pay attention to me anyways.' She thought bitter.
That night, she had dreams of being in an enclosed space that was both dark and cold. When she woke up she knows she dreamed about being screamed at but couldn't really remembered what the screams where about. After a while she just shrugged it off as another faded memory that was no longer important and got up to get ready for the day.
When Toga did start to train them the next day, he held to his word about them not getting much relaxing time to themselves. The longer she trained, the more she stayed at the Kiryu's. So much so that she practically lived there. She only went back to her home every other day to show her father that she was OK before she went back the next morning.
Kaien was heartbroken that he wasn't able to see his precious hummingbird like he use to but he was able to distract himself with his new butterfly. He had the feeling that he somehow hurt his little hummingbird, but didn't know how. She wouldn't talk to him when he ask, all she would do is look at him, look at Yuki, and back at him before either going to her room or going over to the Kiryu's, leaving him confused. It wouldn't be until 7 years later that everything comes to a head on a tragic and bloody night.
