Chapter 5
I woke slowly from sleep with a pounding headache. Moving slowly, I sat up in my bed and let my eyes adjust to the limited light. Unlike most vampires, sunlight didn't really bother me much due to being half human. 'They must have been taking shifts watching me,' I thought, and gripped my pounding head. 'Dammit Yuki. Did she have to hit me so hard?'
Getting out of bed, I walked over to the curtains and moved them over. The sunlight blinded me for a moment, and I winced at how it made the headache worse. After the pain subsided, I opened my eyes again to see that the sun was high, so I knew it was noon. Turning back to the room, I noticed a glass of water and blood tablets on my bedside table. I walked over to put six tablets in before downing the glass.
I continued in getting changed before leaving my room. In the front room, I found Zero sitting on one of the couches. He looked up at me as I closed my door and gave me one of his rare smiles. I returned the smile.
"Where are the others?" I asked as I moved to one of the chairs. "And how long have I been out?"
"Takuma and the cousins are resting," he reported. "Yuki is in our apartment downstairs looking over the case and you've been out for about two days."
"And you're watching over me," I finished. "Thank you."
Zero waved away my thanks. "It's what family does Kana," he said nonchalantly. "Yuki doesn't want you to worry about the case until you recover a little more."
I sighed and ran my left hand through my hair. "I figured that she would want that," I relented. "But I was thinking—"
"Don't hurt yourself," Zero cut in with a smirk.
"Asshole," I muttered with a small smile. "It's about what you said the other night. What if the vampire responsible wanted to run me down as a distraction? If all of you were so worried about me, then you wouldn't be looking into the case as well as you would usually be."
"And you would be so run down, that you wouldn't be able to see it either," Zero finished, eyes wide in realization. "But that would mean it would be someone who knows all of us personally."
"Which also points to someone in the Senate," I told him. "And that means that they knew about my connection to HOMRA."
Zero stood up and started to walk to the door. "I'll let Yuki know about this and to start looking into it."
"Zero," I called, and he paused with his hand on the doorknob to look at me. "I need to see Tatara and the others. Will you come with me?"
Zero's lavender eyes softened at my request. "Of course, I will. Let me go tell Yuki and I'll meet you downstairs."
I gave him a smile and nodded as he left the room. I got up and drank another glass of blood before I grabbed my jacket. As I got my weapons, my Artemis and Sais both shocked me when I tried to pick them up. Sighing, I got my guns before leaving and locking the door behind me. I went down to the first floor to wait for Zero.
Once Zero came out, we left the building and started to walk towards the bar. It was rather quiet as we walked, but I did ask Zero about how they reacted to what happened. I lit up a cigarette as I listened to him. I felt happy that they wanted to help me, but I was worried about them if someone else in the Senate knew about them. I wasn't entirely sure that I wanted them to be involved, but they were really stubborn it seems.
"Hey Kana," Zero's voice called me out of my thoughts. "Why didn't you tell us that the Red King was your life mate?"
I sighed heavily as I blew out smoke. "Because I can't have one. I'm running low on time Zero. It's unfair to him and the rest of the Red Clan if I make him my mate, and then die."
"You deserve to be happy Kana," Zero countered. "What if making him your mate helps to save you? You were the one who encouraged me to pursue Yuki when I was low." I blew out more smoke and gave him a look. "You are always so concerned with everyone else but yourself."
"Zero, you still had a way to be saved," I told him. "I don't—"
"But what about your mother's prophecy?" Zero cut me off. "Master and Azalea both think that the Red King's power might be what she was talking about."
I stopped walking and saw that we were near the bar. "Zero, there's no way to know for sure. And I've had too many false hopes, I don't think that I could handle another one." I put out my cigarette on the ground and sighed again. "I am happy just knowing him and the others."
With that, I walked into the bar with Zero behind me. When we opened the door, Yata had Rikio in a headlock on the floor and was shouting at him. The others were trying to calm him down, but some were just watching in amusement. I blinked a few times before looking at Zero, who also looked at me. It only took a second before the both of us burst out laughing.
The rest of the room seemed to freeze as they looked to us. We were both laughing so hard that I had a hand on Zero's shoulder to hold me up. Slowly, we calmed down as I whipped the tears form my eyes, trying to steady my breathing.
"It's like high school all over again," Zero got out through his chuckling.
"Can't argue with you there," I chuckled with him.
"Kana!" Yata yelled as he got off of Rikio and walked a little closer. He stopped suddenly, and his face showed that he was worried. It pained me a little that he was remembering the night that I nearly attacked, and I was worried that they might be scared of me now. "Are you feeling better?"
Yata's question startled me out of my thoughts, and it brought a smile to my face as I nodded at him. "As much as I can right now."
"Well, that's good to hear," Izumo commented form behind the bar. "We were starting to get worried about you when no one called."
I smiled at him. "Well, I just worked up today. I'm sorry that I worried you."
"We're all just glad you're okay," Saruhiko told me, coming over to stand next to Yata.
"Aww, Saruhiko, you were worried about me," I teased with a smirk and placed at hand on my chest. "I'm touched."
Saruhiko broke out in a full on blush before looking away with a pout. The others started to chuckled at him. I smile at their easy going atmosphere and realized how much I really missed being around them.
"Really though," I said. "I appreciate the concern. I'm sorry you had to see me loose control like I did."
Before anyone could respond, the door that led upstairs opened and Anna, Tatara and Mikoto came through. Anna's ruby red eyes widened seeing me and I gave her a soft smile. She broke out into a run and crashed into my waist in a hug. Zero held my shoulder to steady me since I was still a little uneasy on my feet. I gave him a slight nod telling him I was okay with her there.
I placed a hand on top of her head as she buried her face in my stomach. "I'm sorry I worried you Anna," I told her softly.
"Idiot," she mumbled quietly, but I still heard her.
I chuckled at little at her before looking up to Tatara. His brown eyes held worry and guilt in them. He looked hesitantly at me, like he wanted to get closer but wasn't sure if it was okay or not. Gently, I moved Anna to the side so I could walk over to Tatara. Once I was in front of him, I pulled him into a hug.
"Please, don't feel guilty," I whispered to him, as he returned the hug. "I'm not angry with you nor do I blame you for your reaction. I just want to know that your safe."
Tatara buried his face in my shoulder and held onto me a little tighter. "I'll try to be safer from now on," he whispered back as we let go. "But I'm not giving up on saving you."
"Damn, he is stubborn," Zero commented from the door. "The two of you are definitely alike."
"Hey, that's not fair!" Rikio exclaimed I anger as he stood by the bar.
I turned sideways to look at Zero with a smile. "The same could be said of you and Yagari, Zero," I chuckled. "You both have strange ways of paying compliments."
"What are you talking about?" Chitose asked confused.
"Yagari was the one that trained Zero in becoming a hunter," I answered him. "And it would seem that he's taken on some personality traits of his."
Zero just shrugged at me before his cell phone started ringing. He took it out and glanced up at me after checking the ID. I nodded to him, letting him know that I would be fine. Zero nodded back before walking back outside to take the call. I turned back into he room to take the call. I turned back into the room to take a seat at the bar.
"What was that about?" Tatara asked curiously, taking a seat next to me.
"Yuki wants me stay out of the investigation for now," I explained to him. "We recently had a lead, so I'm sure Yuki is just letting Zero know if she found something else."
"Want a drink?" Izumo asked, setting down a beet on the bar. I smiled gratefully at him. "So, what kind of lead was it?"
I chuckled at him. "As subtle as always Izumo," I commented, to which he only shrugged. "I actually got the idea from you guys."
"Really?" Yata asked. "From us?"
I smiled at him. "I always felt like there was something that I was missing. But, after what happened, I figured that was the point. If they ran me down, the others would be too focused on me and not on the case. Which means that they know about me connection to you, and how the others would react."
"They wanted you to attack us," Saruhiko concluded. "It would give the Senate a reason to disown you and the Hunters would have no choice, but to come after you."
I smiled and nodded at him after I took a drink. "You catch on fast Saruhiko," I complimented him. "You're right. Which means it's either a current member or someone close to one of them."
"One that hates you, obviously," Izumo commented dryly.
"Unfortunately, it's a long list," Zero said as he came back inside. He had a slightly worried look in his eyes, even through his face was neutral.
"What happened?"
"Kaname is on his way," he said with a sigh.
My eyes widened. I was not expecting that. "What? Why?"
"Who's Kaname?" Anna cut in.
"Kaname Kuran," I explained. "He's Yuki's older brother. The Kurans were the first vampires in Japan. So, they're like the royal family in the vampire community."
"He's also very protective of you, and he's not very happy right now," Zero explained further. "Miyagawa is in the city."
"That bastard? Seriously?" I asked incredulously, and Zero nodded. "Crafty son of a bitch."
"You know that the rest of us are out of the loop, right?" Izumo pointed out. "Mind filling us in?"
"Shunso Miyagawa is a pureblood member of the Senate," I told him. "He's the one who hates me the most. He's been trying to get me out of the way for years."
"I have to go meet Yuki to get Kaname," Zero told me. "Will you be alright?"
I nodded and waved away his concern. "I've got my tablets. I'll be fine Z."
Zero nodded before leaving. I leaned my elbow on the bar and put my forehead in my hand. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm down. Someone placed their hand on my shoulder, and I looked up to see Mikoto. Just his hand on my shoulder seemed to warm my whole body, and it gave me a head rush for some reason.
"Are you okay?" his deep voice asked in concern.
I nodded my head and gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm alright. It's just Kaname. An angry Kaname is not a good thing."
"Is he really that scary?" Bando asked curiously.
Shrugging, I took another sip of my beer. "Kaname is usually very levelheaded and clam, but his anger is nothing to mess with. No one likes to get on his bad side, and it usually only happens when it involves Yuki or me."
"Why you?" Izumo asked.
"My grandmother's sister married his grandfather," I told him bluntly. "So, we're second cousins. The Kurans don't have a lot of family, so family is very important to him, and he can be very protective."
"Kana, what does life mate mean?" Anna asked curiously.
I looked at her with wide eyes in surprise. That was certainly unexpected. "Where did you hear that term?" I countered in surprise.
"Kiryu introduced himself as Kuran's life mate," Tatara clarified. "After she knocked you out."
I blinked at him. "He did?" Tatara only nodded in response. "Wow, that's a surprise."
"What does it mean?" Anna asked again. Her red eyes looked at me with innocent curiosity.
"All supernatural species can tell who their soul mates are," I explained with a sigh. "It could be in an instant or it could happen over time. Werewolves call the true mates, and the vampires call them life mates. Everyone calls them different things, but it's all basically the same thing. The bond is always the most precious thing to all of us and are protected by each races laws."
"Have you found yours?"
I had to force myself not to look in Mikoto's direction and keep my face neutral. "No, not yet, but, even if I did, I wouldn't want it."
"But why not?" Tatara objected, and I met his worried brown eyes. "You deserve to be happy too Kana."
I scoffed at that. "You sound like Zero, baby boy. It's not that I wouldn't want them, but I would only drag them down." I held up my hand when everyone went to object. "On thing about he bond is that if one dies, the other will follow. Me turning into a Level E is practically a death sentence."
"But wouldn't it help you?" Anna asked innocently. I looked down a t her and noticed a calculating look in her crimson eyes. Anna always seemed to be more perceptive than anyone else.
"Under normal circumstances, yes," I old her slowly. "In the case of the mate being human, it expands their life span to match the other. Kinda like Sousuke and Azalea."
"They're bonded?" Saruhiko inquired.
"Azalea is a human gypsy from Transylvania," I explained. "Sousuke came with me to see if we could find a way around my mother's prophecy. It was an instant thing for them."
"So, humans can feel it?" Saruhiko asked curiously.
"Azalea's a gypsy, so she's more aware but not always," I told them. Suddenly, I felt my head swim and swayed a little. My body felt hot, but it didn't hurt. Hands caught me around my shoulders and looked up into worry filled amber eyes. I shook my head a little to clear it. "I guess I should get back. I don't think I was as good as wanted to be."
"I'll walk you," Mikoto told me.
Mikoto helped me stand with an arm around my shoulders as I leaned on him. Everyone said their goodbyes and I waved weakly at them. We walked back slowly to my apartment. "Aare you sure you're gonna be alright?" he asked when I stumbled again.
"Head rush," I whispered breathlessly. My whole body felt weak, and it was hard to get air into my lungs. I then felt a familiar energy and I looked up to see my apartment building in front of us. "Kaname."
"Huh?"
"Kaname," I repeated in a whisper. "He's here."
"Hmm." Was all Mikoto said. I tried to pull away to stand, but his arm around my waist was firm. I looked to him in confusion. "I'll walk you up."
I smiled a little as he walked me inside and helped me up the stairs. We stopped at my door, and I turned to look at him. "Thank you Mikoto," I said quietly.
"I can feel it," his deep voice told me. My body froze, but my head snapped to look at him. "The bond. I'm your life mate, aren't I?"
My eyes widened and my breath caught in my throat. That was all the answer he needed, and he stepped closer to me. I was frozen as he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. Slowly, my eyes closed, and I kissed him back. I felt the heat in my body warm to a steady boil, and my whole body was tingling.
I felt Mikoto's strong arms pull me closer with hands on my hips, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. The kiss was slow and careful, and felt like time stood still. We both pulled back, and I stared into his beautiful amber eyes, breathing heavily. Mikoto just smirked at me.
"I've been wanting to do that for a while now," he whispered, and I could feel his breath on my face. "Please don't leave."
I couldn't verbally answer so I only nodded. Mikoto gave a genuine smile and placed a soft kiss to my lips before letting me go. I stood there shocked for a moment as I watched him walk down the stairs before I walked through my door, wondering how he always managed to shock me. I found Kaname standing in front of the windows. Kaname turned to me and looked at me with sympathy in his red-brown eyes. I knew that he heard everything that happened in the hallway.
Stumbling forward, Kaname quickly moved forward and caught me in his arms. My shoulders shook as I tried to keep back my sobs. Kaname had always been more than my cousin. I had known who he truly was when I first met him, and he was always there for me. He never judged me for anything, and I could always tell him whatever I needed to.
In return, I always supported him in anything and everything. He could talk to me and not be judged.
"What do you need Kana?" his smooth voice asked me.
"Somewhere in all of this searching, I just knew that there was no way out," I admitted with a shaky voice. "I knew that I would turn, and I knew that I would die. I accepted it though, but, for the first time, I don't—"
"Don't what?" Kaname prodded when my voice caught.
I looked up at him with tears filling my blue eyes. "I don't want to die. I don't want to go! I want to stay here! I want to live!" My voice got louder as I cried. "I don't want to leave everyone!"
Kaname pulled me into a tight hug, and I buried my face into his shoulder as I cried and shook from the sobs. I could feel my throat burn as I needed to feed, and I knew Kaname could feel it.
"Go ahead," he told me. With that, my fangs grew, and I bit into his neck. I fed until I was satisfied and licked the blood away. "I'll do what I can Kana," his voice told me, as he stroked my black hair. "Get some rest now. We all want you to stay."
"Thank you Kanny," I replied in a whisper, using my nickname for him. I felt and heard his deep chuckled before I blacked out.
