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: I would like to make a comment on a review I got. This person asked why I have Willow as such a rude and snarky brat and I would like to clear that up, not only for this person, but for anyone else who thought such. The reason that Willow acts like that is for multiple reasons. One is that she no longer knows how to act around people from being alone in a dead world for so long. Another is that Kaien spoiled her rotten and didn't reprimand her very much for her behavior – too busy cooing over her. Don't forget that Willow has a disdain for Mundanes, which she is now surrounded by, as well. There are other reasons, like her younger body and the hormones that go with it, that will be mentioned sooner or later. I hope that clears up any confusion and if not, just give me a review and I will try to clear up anymore misunderstandings.
"Vampire" - Talking
'Vampire' – Thinking
Chapter 5
Training with Toga-sensei – who wished she wouldn't call him so familiarly – was an eye opener for her. She never realized just how out of shape she was, not only in this world, but also in the last world as well. Oh, she was trained by the best in their field in the Magical World, but it wasn't the same as being trained in the mundane way. The mundane way is more physical than any magical fighting because the magicals didn't need to move as much when their magic can mostly do everything for them.
Magical fighting was mostly focused on the mental aspect of fighting. What with having to visualize and Will the magic to do what you want it to do. The only physical activities that the magicals really got were if they played quidditch or when they were dodging spell fire. Even that wasn't very much when they can conjure up shields to deflect spells and such.
Mundanes don't have that type of luxury so they had to come up with other ways to fight and protect themselves. Even though she hates them for the horror she went through when they found her people, she does give them props for their abilities to fight and kill without magic to aid them. Don't even get her started on the technology they have come up with over the years either.
Now, she was in a world of mundanes and vampires with her magic blocked from her, so had no way to defend herself in the way she was most familiar with. When she first tried to use her magic in this world, she hit a block stopping her from accessing it. Not understanding why there was a block, she tried to destroy it to the best of her abilities. Unfortunately, for her, no matter what she did, she couldn't put a dent into it.
Getting frustrated in not getting anywhere in her efforts, she turned to the only Being that would be able to tell her why she couldn't access her magic: Death. Except, He wouldn't answer any of her calls. She couldn't even feel His presences. Why she never noticed before now, she chalks up to her too busy getting Kaien – then Zero and his family after they entered her life – wrapped around her fingers. Everything was going great until Yuki came into her life. She was just happy that Zero and the rest haven't met her. She feared that they would prefer Yuki to her.
Anyways, she went through one of her episodes when she couldn't get a hold of Death. The combination of living in a world surrounded by mundanes, having Yuki taking her place, not able to get a hold of her magic and then not able to get into contact with Death was just to much for her fragile mind to take.
She was just lucky she went deep into the woods surrounding the Kiryu's house when she tempted to call Death because she was able to have her break down away from everybody without interference. She was also lucky that she didn't have access to her magic since it would have been even worse if she did. When she came back to reality, she was covered in scratches, bruises and bite marks. Not to mention dirt, leaves and other things she prefers not to think about. There were a couple of dead animals surrounding her that look as if they were mauled by a desperately hungry animal and with the taste of dried blood in her mouth, she can guess that she was the one who killed them.
Before returning back to the Kiryu's, she found a big pond to wash most of the gunk off her so she didn't return looking like a derange sociopath. When she got back, she was converged on by the worried Kiryu's asking her where she was and what had happened. Evidently, she was gone for almost two weeks without leaving any type of sign on where she had went. They had thought she was kidnapped or something. Not really able to tell them the full truth, she told them that she went too far into the woods while exploring and ended up becoming lost. It wasn't until then that she was able to find her way out.
She wasn't allowed to go anywhere alone for months afterwards. They feared that she would disappear on them again. Kaien tried to keep her with him since he had a bad scare when the Kiryu's told him she disappeared. He ended up neglecting Yuki in his search to find Willow, which made her happy when she found out.
She couldn't last more than a couple of weeks before she forced Kaien to let her go back to the Kiryu's though. She couldn't take an overbearing Kaien and Yuki following her everywhere she went. Not only that, she missed training with Zero and Ichiru. Even though they were a family of mundanes, she couldn't help but be drawn to them. Like with Kaien, there was just something non-mundane about them that allows her to feel relaxed around them.
With her return to the Kiryu's, was also her return to training with Toga-sensei as well. Not training for so long, she ended up falling behind the other two boys and spend a month to catch up with them. Toga-sensei didn't go easy on her but in fact was harsh on her for not only falling behind but also for making him worry for her when she disappeared.
After a while and when everything had calmed down, life returned to normal. Kaien paying attention to Yuki – she decided to stop calling her Intruder since she was getting to old for such juvenile nick-names, she is now 13 again after all, it was time for her to become more mature – and her spending most of her time at Zero's and Ichiru's house. Most of the time she was being trained to the bone by Toga-sensei while there.
Now, she was getting ready to go home to visit her father and, unfortunately, Yuki as well. Hopefully, her brother wouldn't show up while she was there. Over the years, they only met another five times. Each time was an intense affair that ended up with the two at each others throats. The worst part was that she was the one to get reprimanded since she would end up throwing stuff at the other when she got too frustrated with him.
She ended up becoming embarrassed about her reactions when she had calmed down and thought about it. She would have ignored him if he would just stop staring at her all the time. When the staring would become too much for her, she would turn to him and ask why he was staring at her. Instead of giving her a answer, he would ask her mundane questions like: What's your favorite color or food or something along those lines. Thinking he was patronizing her, she would snap at him and, before she realized what's going on, they were in each others faces before it ends with her throwing things at him.
'I really can't stand him.' Willow thought in a huff. Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned and saw Zero and Ichiru coming to a stop before her.
"Are you going back to Cross-san's house now?" Zero asked her worriedly. He didn't like it when she went home. Every time she came back, she was always sad and miserable. From what he can gather, her father pays a lot of attention to the other girl – the name of which he couldn't remember – and always praises her to Willow when she was there.
"Yes. Only for a few hours this time. I should be back before dinner." She answered with a small and warm smile for him. She saw the worry in his eyes and heard it in his voice. It warms her that he worries for her even though she can take care of herself.
"Why are you even going when you know it's going to be mostly about that other girl?" Ichiru cut in grumpily. He too didn't like it when she left. Over the years they have grown closer and he didn't like it when she was sad unless it was caused by him.
"Because..." Was all she was able to say while looking away. 'Because even though he spends most of his time and attention on Yuki, I still hope that he would forget about her and go back to the way he used to be with me.' She thought but was unable to say out loud.
Ichiru opened his mouth to demand a better answer but one look from Zero made him close it instead. "Well, are you going to take Susanowa-kun? In fact, where is he anyways?" Ichiru asked instead.
"Sano-chan is with Toga-sensei for today. Sensei agreed to take him to the vet for me to get the rest of his shots while I go visit my father. So, no, he won't be coming with me this time." Willow answered. Susanowa was the wolf pup she found in the woods one day when she went there to get away from all the males in her life. Sometimes, she just needed some time to herself.
On her way back she heard some low whimpering off the trail she takes to the clearing she goes to. Curiosity peaked, she followed the sound all the way to the wounded wolf pup whimpering away all alone. She didn't see it's mother or pack litter anywhere and didn't have the heart to leave it there to die. So, she took the pup to Kazuo-san in the hope he would help the pup.
He ended up taking the pup to a vet to get it looked at. At first they wanted to put it down since they didn't think that it's chances of survival were very high. With the combined Wills of Kazuo-san and her, they were able to convince the vet to help the pup. They were told that the pup had broken it's leg in two places and that they had to re-break it since it already started to heal on its own. The pup was also suffering from both dehydration and starvation. If they didn't get to the pup when they did, the pup would have died in the next two days. After they had the pup stable, they then tried to have the pup sent to a zoo to live the rest of it's life. Not liking that idea at all since she was the one to find it – so in her mind it was hers – she got Kazuo to adopt the pup for her, though she fought tooth and nail to convince him to let her keep the pup.
She ended up naming him Susanowa after the Shinto god of the wind, storms, the oceans and of snakes. Though he was the personification of evil, he was a brave, if lawless and impetuous, god. The god's rage is not only felt in the oceans but also over the lands and sky as well. To her – whose wrath was felt large and wide when she let lose in her old life – thought it would be cool to name her new partner after that god. She also didn't want to name him after a very well known God, but one of the lesser named ones considering Sano-chan was a runt and in the world of Gods, Susanowa was one of the runts of that world as well, even if he was powerful.
"Anyways, I should be going. I'll see you guys when I get back. Ok?" She asked with a roll of her eyes. With their nod of approval – even if she didn't need it – she turned and went out the door. 'It sure is cold today. Just like the day that Kuran-san and Yuki-san entered into my life.' she thought bitterly. She really didn't like them at all.
When she arrived, she found the place empty. It wasn't until she searched the kitchen that she found a note telling her that they went shopping and that they will be back soon. Crumpling the note up, she threw it away with a dark scowl on her face. "I can't believe this. They knew I was coming and yet they go shopping." She muttered in a low growl.
She got something to drink and went to her room. Looking around, she saw nothing had changed since she was last there. The walls were the same light purple, the carpet the same white and the queen size bed was a mixture of both light purple and white with hints of silver here and there. Other than the bed, there was a bookshelf near the window – which looked over the backyard – and a nightstand next to the bed with a lamp and an unfinished book on it.
Setting her drink down on the nightstand, she laid down to rest while she waited for them to come back. It was three hours of boredom later that she heard them return. She wasn't sure if she wanted to even get up to go and see them. 'At least I was able to finish my book.' She thought with a roll of her eyes. While she debated on getting up, Kaien noticed the missing note and knew that she was there. Willow got quite the scare when Kaien barged in while happily yelling "Hummingbird, you're here!"
"Shut up. There is no reason to yell." Willow snapped while trying to calm her racing heart.
"But I haven't seen you in so long." Kaien pouted depressingly.
"You saw me last week."
"That's not enough! I am your Otou-san! I should be able to see you everyday, all day." He countered.
"You have Yuki to keep you company and busy." Willow muttered under her breath.
"What?" Kaien asked confusedly, even if he did hear her. He just didn't want to start another fight with her. The last time they had a fight, Willow didn't come back for a month even when he demanded that she returned. While the Kiryu's tried to send her back when they found out about what was going on, they just ended up forcing her to go to town to rent a room in a motel. Where she got the money for it, they still couldn't get her to tell them. So when the two have a fight, though so far that was the only one, they would just stay out of it and wait for it to blow over.
"Nothing." She sighed. She too knew he heard her but also didn't want to fight.
"Well, come on. Yuki's in the kitchen putting up the groceries." He said before twirling out of the room.
"Yay. Let's go see precious Yuki." She muttered sarcastically. Thankfully, too low for anyone but her to hear. 'I'm really getting sick and tired about everything being about Yuki.' She thought tiredly. She just wished that he would just want to be with her without Yuki being there as well.
Walking into the kitchen, she saw both her father and Yuki flitting around putting away the rest of the groceries while chatting happily to each other. Seeing them together, she couldn't help but feel like the third wheel. She knows that she helped cause the distance between her and Kaien, yet, she still couldn't help but blame Yuki for the distance. The distance didn't happen until she came into their life after all.
"I see you are having fun." Willow said emotionlessly.
The two stopped in the middle of a twirl to look at her in surprise. "Willow-nee-chan!" Yuki exclaimed happily. She beamed at her, completely missing the annoyed twitch of her 'Willow-nee-chan's' eyebrow.
"Yuki." Willow gave a slight nod in return before looking at a beaming Kaien. "Otou-san, what are we going to be doing to do today?"
"We are going to be baking!" Kaien said excitedly.
Glaring at the flamboyant man, she couldn't help but sigh. "We did that the last three weeks." Willow said in annoyance. Upping her glare when she saw their eyes shift to the side, she couldn't stop the growl from leaving her throat. "Why have we done nothing but bake for the last three weeks I have been here?"
"We just love your bake goods. They're just so good and ours just never turn out right for some reason." Yuki answered happily at first and then with a downcast look when she got to part about how their bake goods turns out.
"Fine." She said with a roll of her eyes. She didn't mind baking, in fact she loved to, but she just wanted to do something else once in a while. "Let's get this started." She stated before going to the sink to wash her hands. Behind her, she could hear the two celebrating.
For the next five hours, she baked cakes, cookies, pies and anything else she could think with the ingredients that she had on hand. The other two gave up after the second batch of burnt cookies they baked, instead they took to eating hers, while also getting in her way before she kicked them out of the kitchen in annoyance.
She turned around after bringing out the last batch of cookies from the oven, and saw that a plate of cookies, slice of cake, slice of pie and a couple of odds and ends was set aside on the table. It wasn't the first time she saw a plate of goodies set aside in the past few weeks, she never asked about it chalking it up to them wanting to save some for later. Now, that she saw their odd behavior earlier, she became suspicious of their motives in having an extra plate.
"What's the extra plate for?" She asked them - they sneaked back in while she wasn't paying attention - suspiciously after her curiosity got the better of her.
"It's for Kaname-sama! He really enjoys your baking." Yuki said happily, before gasping in horror when she realized what she just said and to whom. She looked at Willow and saw that she was smiling at them, making them go pale.
"Is that so?" Willow said while making her smile grow bigger. She picked up the extra plate and held it up for all to see. "This plate is for Kuran?" She asked in confirmation. Getting nods from the two pale people in front of her, she nodded and then walked right up the trashcan and threw the whole plate in it, earning gasps from the other two.
"That was for Kaname-sama!" Yuki exclaimed angrily.
"Hummingbird!" Kaien exclaimed in a disappointed voice.
"What? Did you think that I would be happy that you tricked me into backing for that beast?" She growled.
"Kaname-sama is not a beast!" Yuki yelled.
"Of course you would say that. After all, you do have a crush on him." She said snidely.
"I do not!" Yuki shouted with a deep blush.
"That's enough Willow." Kaien commanded. "We didn't trick you to do anything. The first time we baked together, he came over and tried some. He liked it and so we just leave him a plate when we bake. That is all."
"Yet, every time I have come over the past few weeks, the only thing we have been doing is baking. Why is that exactly?"
"To satisfy our sweet tooth, of course." Kaien said contently with Yuki nodding sulkily next to him. She was still angry about the 'beast' comment made against Kaname-sama.
Before they could continue to argue more, there was a knock on the door distracting them all. Willow looked at the stove clock and saw that it was a little bit past 6 in the evening. Yuki got up from the chair and ran to the door, already knowing who it was at the door. Her shout of "Kaname-sama" confirmed to the rest of the household who it was.
She took that as the time for her to leave. Not only that, she told Zero and Ichi-chan that she would be back by dinner. Dinner is always at 7 over there. They're going to be upset for her being late. She went to her room while Kaien went to greet Kuran as well. She gathered her things and got her boots, coat, gloves, and then hat on. When she arrived at the living room to give her goodbyes, she saw them all seating and Kuran slowly eating a cookie.
"Hello, Willow-chan." Kaname said when he saw her glaring at him in the entryway.
"Where are you going Hummingbird?" Kaien called when he saw her ready to leave. Getting up, he went to stand in front of her with sad hazel eyes.
"I told Zero and Ichi-chan that I would be back by dinner. I should have already left." She told him while avoiding his eyes. She knew that if she continued to look in his sad, puppy dog eyes, she wouldn't be able to leave.
"I thought you was staying the night."
"Afraid not. Maybe next time."
"NOOOOO! Don't leave." Kaien cried before glomping her in a big hug while crying rivers of tears.
Sighing in both annoyance and somewhat happiness, annoyance for the loudness and the happiness for her father not wanting her to go. "Alright, that's enough. Let me go now. I need to go before I am really late for dinner." She said while gently pushing him away.
"There's no reason to leave on my count." Kaname interrupted calmly, but if you paid close attention you could tell he was somewhat upset that she was leaving, which nobody did.
"As if I would leave because of you. Believe it or not, I have a prier engagement that doesn't involve you." Willow sniffed, turning towards the door and walking out.
"See you next week?" Kaien called after her. All he got was a backwards wave. "I don't understand why she won't just stay here. What's good about being over there?" He muttered to himself childishly.
"I wished she would stay too." Yuki said next to him. Kaname didn't say anything about it but he changed the subject in the hope to put a smile back on his precious girls face again.
XXX~Back with Willow~XXX
All the way back to the Kiryu's, she kept muttering about how much a jerk Kuran was and how much she didn't like him. If he didn't show up she could have ended the night on at least a somewhat good note. "At least the night couldn't get anymore worst." She muttered under her breath.
By the time she arrived it was around 9 at night. She couldn't help but get a bad feeling when she looked at the house. The whole house was dark with no sound coming from it. Usually, you could hear Ichi-chan shouting about something or another and Isamu joining into the mix. 'Like son, like mother.' She thought in amusement while remembering some of the more memorable nights before shaking those thoughts away to focus on the house before her.
She hesitated before going in. Her instincts were telling her to run and run very far but she couldn't because there were people in there she cared about very much. So, taking a deep breath, she opened the door, went in and shut the door quietly behind her.
She stifled the urge to call out, not wanting to garner the attention of something she didn't want to know she was there. The deeper she went into the house, the stronger a familiar scent grew. She just couldn't put her finger on what the scent was.
It wasn't until she came across a body lying in the middle of the living room that she remembered what the scent meant: Blood. It was everywhere. On the walls, ceiling, and of course, the floor. Everywhere she looked there was blood. Walking towards the body while looking every which way to make sure nobody would sneak up on her, she saw that the body was Kazuo-san. His sword was next to him covered in blood. She turned her attention back to Kazuo-san and examined his body. She noticed that his body was cut up, as if his cuts were made by a sword. Looking at the sword again, she couldn't help but let out a soft and horrified gasp. 'Someone used his sword to attack him?' She couldn't help but wonder in disgust and horror.
She took another sweep of the room and saw that Isamu-san wasn't too far with her wire weapon wrapped around her, digging deep into her skin. She knew without even checking that the two were dead and she couldn't stop the couple of tears from escaping even if she wanted to. She never wanted to lose anyone she held important again but she did.
'I have to find Zero and Ichi-chan.' She thought desperately. She wouldn't know what she would do if something happened to them. They were one of her anchors along side Kaien. Without them, she feared she would end up destroying this World of Mundanes.
Getting up, she threw caution to the wind and ran to Ichiru's room first since it was closer and saw that it was empty. Going to Zero's, she too saw that it was empty. Getting more frantic with each empty room she came across, she was on the verge of just screaming her lungs out in terror of what might have happened to them.
She stopped herself when she heard a scuffle from below. Running down the stairs, she ran towards the dinning room that the noise was coming from. Once again she forgot everything she had ever learned about caution in her panic and just ran into the room. She stopped dead in her track when she saw Zero laying on the floor panting and clutching his bleeding neck.
He looked up when he heard her enter. His eyes widened in horror when he saw her frozen while looking at him in horror. "Run! Run, Willow!" Zero rasped, though he was trying to shout.
Hearing Zero's voice snapped her out of her frozen state. She took a step forwards and then stopped again. Looking down, she saw a very pale hand and wrist coming out of her stomach with blood flowing around the appendage and down to the floor. She felt an arm going around her shoulders to hold her up against a definitely female body.
"Willow!" Zero tried to shout, but all that came out was another rasp of her name.
"Is that her name, dear Zero?" A feminine voice purred behind her.
She turned her head weakly and saw a very beautiful woman smiling down at her. She was 5'7 with long white hair and pink eyes that seemed to sparkle with malice. She was in a pale, white kimono that was covered in her victims blood. There was a thin ribbon with a bell attached to it around her waist and that was also digging into her back.
"Vampire." She spat before spitting a glop of blood out of her mouth.
"Very good. You're a smart little girl, aren't you." The vampire mused.
"Why have you attacked the Kiryu's?" Willow gritted out between her teeth. She was trying not to scream in pain what with the arm that was in her stomach. She also wanted answers as well, not only that, she also wanted to distract her from focusing on Zero. 'Where is Ichi-chan?' She wondered worriedly.
"That is a story for another time, my dear." The vampire said before ripping out her arm and watched dispassionately while the little girl fell to the floor limply.
Willow wanted to tell her that she wasn't her dear anything and neither was Zero but she was too busy holding in her screams to get a word edgewise. Her world started to go dark around the edges and knew she wouldn't last for much longer. 'I can't die. I have to save Zero and Ichi-chan.' She thought desperately. 'How could I have been beaten so easily?' Was her last thought before she blacked out completely. She missed Zero yelling her name hoarsely with his face covered in terror. She also missed the vampire gliding towards Zero with a beastly smile on her lips.
Zero screamed when he saw his best friend fall on the floor with a wet sounding thud. Tears started pouring out of his eyes when he didn't see her move anymore. Snapping his attention to the vampire that stole everything from him, he couldn't help but glare at her with as much hatred as he could. "I'm going to kill you." He vowed darkly.
"I'm counting on it, little one. I love the look in your eyes." She said warmly.
"Why did you have to kill her? She didn't do anything to you."
"She would have gotten in the way if I were to let her live." She stated simply.
While they continued talking, something was happening to Willow. Neither noticed the dark and dull glow that started to surround her body, too busy with each other to notice anything else.
XXX~With Willow~XXX
When she became aware of her surrounding again, it was to the image of the King Cross Station. "Why is it that every time I die, I come back here?" She asked nobody in particular in amusement.
"It's what you always imagine the in-between would look like. So, it looks like it." Came a voice she was overly familiar with, even though she hasn't heard it in about 12 years.
"Your voice still sound a brittle as dry leaves." She said calmly before turning around with a lethal glare. "YOU LEFT ME!" She screamed when she couldn't stand his calm anymore. She felt hurt and betrayed when she couldn't talk to Him anymore.
"I never left you. I was always beside you even if we couldn't communicate with each other." He stated simply.
"What do you mean? Why couldn't we communicate? We had no problems in the other world." She growled angrily.
"You died in the other world. Multiple of times in fact. This is the first time that you died in this world. As such, you can now speak to me. If you had found the Deathly Hallows like you should have, then we could have spoken without all this hassle." Death stated in derision. He wasn't happy either when He couldn't communicate with His Mistress.
"What did happen when I went through the door?" Willow asked. "Why isn't the Deathly Hallows with me anymore?"
"Before the ritual, I came to this world and found a newly birth stillborn. I altered the mothers memories into thinking it was still alive while keeping it perfectly preserved and aging it as if it was still alive as well. When you came through the door, surprisingly, the body was the same age as you were when your life had it's first major change."
"Wait, what?" She asked confusedly.
Death sighed in annoyance at her confusion. "Just because the body was a still born doesn't mean that you, yourself, was the one who died in this world. To this world you never died until now so had no true connection to me. As such we couldn't talk to each other. You did go through the Door by the ritual and not by the power of My Mistress after all."
"Fine. I, somewhat, understand." She grumbled before she remembered another important question. "Why can't I use my magic?" She demanded. "And what about the Deathly Hallows?"
"Your type of magic is not meant for this world. The only magic is the magic that comes from vampires. When you went through the door, this world blocked your magic so that it wouldn't interfere with this worlds balance. As for the Deathly Hallows...ask you father about the Cloak. It was in the shape of your robe when he found you on his doorstep. He still has it. As for the others...well...they are scattered."
"Are you saying that I will never be able to use my magic ever again?" She asked with hurt. "How could you bring me to a world that would take my magic?"
Sighing once again, Death couldn't help but feel slightly upset that His Mistress didn't trust Him fully. "The block would only last for a little bit longer. The moment you died, it caused cracks throughout the barrier. Now, all you have to do is fully break free when you go back. I wouldn't bring you to a world that you couldn't use your magic ever, knowing how much you love your magic."
"Oh. Sorry." She apologized embarrassed. All she got was silence. "So... I can now talk to you whenever I want?" She asked hopefully.
"Yes." He answered emotionlessly, getting a beaming smile in return.
"Wait. What do you mean the other two Hallows are 'scattered'." She demanded
"The Wand and Stone left and went in different direction from each other. They are also in different forms now as well. You must find them again."
"Why didn't they stay with me?" She asked.
"Because you kept rejecting them. The only one you fully accepted was the Cloak." He answered calmly. "While you will always be my Mistress, you now have to win them back. They are waiting for you to accept them like you have the Cloak."
"Oh." She answered tiredly.
Walking towards Death, Willow leaned her head against His chest in exhaustion, ignoring how He became stiff. "I missed you." Willow muttered quietly.
Death said nothing, just waited for her to remove herself from His being. "I have to go back soon, don't I?"
"Yes."
"Fine. Let's get this over with." Death put His hand on her head and paused in surprise when she put her hand on His and leaned into His touch. Surprised because she never acted like this towards Him before, so doesn't know on what to do. To escape the awkward moment, He just sent her back into her body.
XXX~Back in the Living World~XXX
Willow woke up with a gasp of pain. While her wound was healed enough not to be as life threatening anymore, it was still there, it was just now like she was stabbed by a sword that happened to miss her vital organs. When she had calmed down, she turned her attention to her surroundings. All she saw was Zero's body laying in a small pool of his blood.
Crawling towards him, she saw that he was still alive, he was just pasted out. 'At least his wound has stopped bleeding.' She thought in relief. 'I need to call someone to help.' She thought. When she was able to gather enough energy, she crawled to the phone that was on the other side of the room on the wall. She had to stop twice when she felt her wounds reopen and to regather her energy. She knew she was leaving a trail of blood in her wake but couldn't seem to care one bit about it.
When she reached the phone, she was on the verge of passing out from blood loss, pain and exhaustion. She slowly lifted herself up using the wall so that she could reach the phone. She dialed the only number she could think of, hoping and praying that he would be home to answer.
"Hello?" Answered a gruff voice.
"H..He...Help." Willow panted while sliding down the wall, unable to stand up any longer also staining the wall with her blood as well.
"Who's this?" The voice growled. "Willow? What do you want? Is this a joke?"
"He..Hel..Help." She got out weakly. For the umpteen time that night, her vision started to darken around the edges.
"Willow! What's going on over there?" The voice demanded, getting angry when he got no answer.
Gathering what was left of her strength all she was able to say was "Attack" before passing out. She didn't hear the frantic yelling that the voice was yelling on the other end. She also missed the voice yelling that he would be over as soon as possible. She also missed the growling and barking in the background of the phone.
XXX~With the Cross household~XXX
Kaien was just cleaning up for the night when he heard the phone ring. Yuki and Kaname were in the living room giving their goodbyes so he yelled that he would get.
"Hello?" He chirped.
"Get to the Kiryu's house now!" Yelled a gruff voice on the other side.
"Toga?" Kaien asked confusedly. "Why do I need go to the Kiryu's?"
"They have been attacked. Kazuo and Isamu is dead, Zero bitten, Ichiru missing and Willow has been stabbed. So get over hear now." Toga growled in anger and fear before hanging up leaving a frozen Kaien to listen to the dial tone.
Dropping the phone, he rushed around to get ready to leave. "Yuki?" He called while grabbing his sword from it's hiding place.
"Yes?" She answered.
"I have to go now. I will be back as soon as I can, Ok?"
"Where are you going?" She asked innocently but was ignored. She pouted about it but got over it real quick. She watched as her father rushed out the door without another glance at her. 'I hope nothing bad happened.' She thought before going back to the living room to wait for his return. "I wish that Kaname-sama hadn't left already though. It's lonely being here by myself." She said to the empty house. It also reminded her of the time she was left by herself when her father was too busy looking for Willow-nee-chan to pay any attention to her.
It was a few hours later that she heard the front door opening. Jumping up, she ran to the door with a wide smile on her face, ready to greet her father. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that her father wasn't alone. No, there was a handsome silver haired young boy next to him who was clutching something wrapped in a red stained sheet. Upon closer inspection of the sheet, she figured out that it was blood and jerked back in horror.
"I need you to get a bath ready for me, Yuki." Kaien said urgently, snapping her attention back to the present instead of that night when Kaname-sama saved her when she saw the red blood.
"Huh?" She asked confused. She didn't really catch on what he had asked, just that he asked her to do something.
"I need you to go get a bath ready for me, Yuki." Kaien repeated but more calmly this time.
"What's going on? Who is he and what is he carrying?" She asked in concern and curiosity.
"Not now, Yuki. I will explain later. Right now, please, get the bath ready." Kaien repeated more tiredly this time.
She hesitated a little bit more but left quickly when she saw her father's face start to darken in anger. She ran to the bathroom to start the bath as quickly as possible so that she can go back and find out what was going on. 'I wonder who that boy was and what, or who, he was carrying. I can't wait to tell Willow-nee-chan all about this. She will be so jealous that she missed out on the excitement.' Yuki thought with a giddy giggle.
When the bath was full of warm water, she turned the water off and ran to the living room, knowing that they would have moved there, and saw her father trying to persuade the boy to hand him the bundle in his arms. All he got was the boy clutching the bundle that much closer to his person while glaring death at her father.
"Um...the bath is ready." Yuki interrupted their glare down hesitantly. She flinched when their glares turned to her, though when Kaien saw who it was, his glare soften into a warm and grateful look.
"We need to get her cleaned up." Kaien started when he turned back to the boy. "Please, hand her to me so that I can get her cleaned up, Zero."
'So, his name is Zero.' Yuki thought. 'And the bundle in his arms is a girl.'
"I can clean her by myself." Zero growled.
"You need to can clean up as well, Zero." Kaien growled back.
"Who's the girl in Zero's arms?" Yuki injected in curiously.
"Mind your own business little girl." Zero hissed.
"Yuki." Kaien uttered sadly after glaring at Zero for his tone and words. Going over to her, he leaned down, grabbed her shoulders gently and made sure he had her complete attention. "Something really bad happened at the Kiryu's tonight. This is Kiryu, Zero and he is now the last of his line. The one he is holding..." He had to pause to get a hold of his emotion before he could continue. "Well, Willow was injured really bad tonight along with Zero."
"What happened to Willow-nee?" Yuki asked in horror, not connecting the story to the bundle in Zero's arms.
"She was stabbed and while the bleeding has stopped, we need to get her cleaned up so that we can finish closing the wound as well as make sure that she doesn't get an infection on top of everything."
Yuki turned her attention to where Zero and Willow – she finally connected the dots – were and saw the spot empty. "Where did they go?" She asked in confusion.
Kaien whipped around – almost getting whiplash in the process – and looked at the spot that his daughter and Zero was suppose to be. Seeing the spot empty as well, he stood up quickly, looking around the room and then yelled "Zero" at the top of his lungs in panic. He feared that Zero left with Willow knowing that he didn't trust him.
"Shut up old man. We're in the bathroom." Zero snapped angrily. While they were so busy with each other, he left to find the bathroom so that he could get Willow cleaned up because he couldn't stand another moment with her covered in blood. 'I always saw her as someone untouchable. Now, she's on deaths door and I still can't do anything but clean her of the blood.' Zero thought bitterly.
He gently divested her of the sheet, then her coat, gloves, shoes and socks. Lifting her, he slowly put her into the bath until the water came to her chin. Reaching over, he pull the plug so that he could drain some of the water so that she wouldn't accidentally drown. When it was at an acceptable level, he put the plug back in.
He couldn't really do anything – what with her still having her shirt and pants on – so he just stuck with getting the blood off her face, hands and hair. 'I'll wait for Cross-san to finish cleaning the rest of the blood off.' He thought with a embarrassed blush staining his cheeks.
Seeing that the water was nasty looking, he drained the rest of the water and refilled it. 'Where is Cross-san anyways?' He thought when he hasn't shown up even though he knew where they were. Pulling her out when he couldn't get her anymore cleaned, he gently laid her down on the floor so that he could get some towels.
It was when he laid down the towels and knelt next to her, that Cross-san entered with a first aid kit in hand. "There you are." Zero said in way of a greeting.
"Sorry, Sorry. I was having trouble finding the first aid kit." Kaien said in way of explanation. Kneeling down on the other side of Willow, he reached out and started to take off her shirt to re-get to her wounds. While at the Kiryu's, Toga bandaged her wound so that she didn't bleed out before he even arrived. He wasn't very good at taking care of wounds. He just leaves it up to either Kaien or someone who knew what they were doing.
"What are you doing?" Zero yelled in panic when he noticed Kaien taking off her shirt. He couldn't stop the deep blush from raising when he saw her pale, creamy – blood stained – stomach being exposed.
"Why don't you go down to the room at the end of the hallway? There's a bathroom attached that you can use to clean up." Kaien said more as an order than a suggestion.
Zero took that as an excuse to leave the room. On his way down the hall, he ran into the other girl. He was going to walk right passed her since he really didn't want anything to do with her. He still remembered what Willow said about her. Except, when he pasted her, he felt a tug on his sleeve. Looking over his shoulder, he saw her looking at him curiously.
"What?" He asked gruffly. He winced inside his head when he heard how he just sounded. Normally, he would never have spoken to someone like that. This whole night has him out of sorts – what with having his whole family wiped out and him bitten – he feared that if he didn't have Willow to care for, he would have snapped or become something like a mindless puppet for a while.
"What happened to your neck? And will Willow-nee-chan be Ok?" She asked still looking at him like he was a puzzle. She had heard snippets from Willow-nee when her father asked about someone named Zero and Ichi-something – she couldn't remember the other name fully – and she guess this was the 'Zero' they were talking about. 'I wonder where the other one is?'
"Nothing is wrong with my neck and of course Willow-chan is find." He snapped.
"Don't you have a brother? When Otou-san would get Willow-nee to talk about a Zero and Ichimaru, it was always with the both of them. Are you the Zero she talks about? If so, where is that Ichiro?" She asked in one breath excitedly.
"His name was Ichiru, Ichiru. And he is dead with the rest of my family." Zero gritted out hatefully through his teeth.
"Oh. How did they die?" She asked after a moment of watching Zero getting his breathing back under control.
Snapping his head around again, he glared death at the stupid girl that wouldn't leave him alone. "They were killed!" He stated before finally getting to the room and slamming the door behind him. He leaned against the door for a sec before going to the bathroom to get clean up. When done, he went back towards the bathroom that Willow was in. On his way, however, he saw a door open and looked in it out of interest. Seeing who was in there, he went in as well.
"How is she?" Zero asked.
"She will live. She should wake up hopefully by tomorrow morning." Kaien said without looking back, he just continued brushing his fingers through his little hummingbird's hair. 'I almost lost her tonight. What would I have done if that were to happen?'
The rest of the night, both Zero and Kaien stayed beside her, watching over her to make sure she didn't die while they weren't looking. While the girl in question mostly spent her time unconscious talking to Death.
Yuki, herself, after watching the two men worry over her step-sister, decided to just go to bed and hope that by tomorrow, everything would go back to normal – meaning her becoming the center of attention again.
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PS. The next chapter it going to be another time skip. It's to the start of the manga and will be the last one unless there's a time skip in the manga itself. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and review.
