Later, out in the town that surrounded the academy, Ichijo and Shiki were on the Level E's trail, which had been spotted and brought to Kaname's attention. It seemed the Level E had evaded the Hunters that had been tracking it for a week and contacted the Vampire Council for assistance. The pair had found the tell-tale signs of the creature living in some disused factory buildings on the outskirts of town and followed the scent trail back out, into the open air.
It had been picking off those who strayed from the safety of the town, but the following the trail they noted the scent weaved its way between the base and the more densely populated areas, where reports of missing people had increased in the last day from none to three.
This was the second Level E the Hunters had brought to the academy's attention in as many months. Ichijo assumed they'd begrudge asking the pacifists for help in exterminating them, but it seemed the Hunters had no qualms asking Vampires to annihilate their own kind.
Ichijo felt little more than pity for the Level E's he'd killed in his time at the academy. They were a wretched lot in his opinion. Bitten by the only creature able to save them from their fate but left to die instead. This was the only thing about his kind Ichijo disliked, they seldom cleaned up after themselves.
They wanted to catch up to the level E quickly and head back to the school, hopefully not running in The Disciplinary Comity Members they'd been informed were in town, running errands for Kaien. Although Yuki's scent wasn't as intense as Akane's had been, it was still a formidable aroma to ignore, even in a crowded street. So, it was no surprise when the scent trail veered down a street and was quickly overlapped by Yuki's pleasantly fresh smell and Zero's, more pungent fragrance. However, all too soon, the scent of Yuki's fresh spilt blood had the pair rushing to intercept their target.
"Zero!" Yuki exclaimed as her taller companion appeared from seemingly nowhere, taking hold of her staff, steadying her shaking hands, and tightening her grip on the metal pole.
"Artemis doesn't like me touching it, huh," Zero said with a scowl directed at the hateful creature stood before them as Yuki's staff shocked and crackled, rejecting his touch.
Yuki's grip slackened as she dropped to the floor. Fear causing her whole body to tremble uncontrollably at the sight of the beast from her nightmares.
"Why is a Vampire so far in town?" she asked as the thing growled and snarled like an animal. Zero glanced down at her, wanting to just gather her in his arms and take her away from here, but this monster needed to be dealt with.
"Do you hear something?"
"Wanna check it out?" Zero heard the curious chatter from the main street. The people could hear the Level E's growls and were just that stupid to go looking for it. He needed to get control of this situation, quickly.
"We can't let people see this thing."
"Blood," the Level E croaked, hungry eyes trained on the students.
"Hey, you?" Zero called. "You used to be Human, right?" he snapped. He wasn't sure whether he was angry at this Vampire, or for some less fathomable reason. He only knew that Vampires really pissed him off! The Level E grinned maniacally and jumped into the air with a cry.
"Yeah, what of it?"
The Vampire landed where Zero had just been standing. He moved again to protect Yuki when a swish, followed by a tearing noise, permeated the air. The Level E stopped its advance as if hit by a glass wall. It shuddered as one side of its' face and torso dropped, split away from the left side of its body, and dissolving into dust, sprinkling to the ground.
Yuki and Zero stood or sat in stunned surprise as the two aristocratic Vampires became visible, standing a few feet ahead of them. Ichijo sheathed his sword with an 'all done'.
"I wasn't needed at all," Shiki complained half-heartedly.
"Takuma Ichijo and Senri Shiki? Night Class students? What are you doing here?" Yuki probed as she stumbled to unsteady feet beside a disgruntled and mistrustful Zero.
"Please make sure to hurry back to the academy, Yuki. Your blood might excite us," Ichijo warned with a playful lilt to his tone. Yuki clutched her injured arm self-consciously, unconsciously taking a step back from the two Vampires. Zero watched her out of the corner of his eye when the dust in the air caught his attention. All that was left of a Human that had been turned into a monster, what he would one day become.
Yuki glanced at her companion worriedly. He would have usually sent some insult or threat to the Vampires by now. Realising he wasn't interested in engaging with the Night Class students, Yuki began interrogating them herself, switching to her Disciplinary Committee Member persona, finger-pointing, and all, demanding an explanation for their presence in the town.
"Why are you out during the day, and why did you say, 'all done!'? Were you here looking for that Vampire?" Her stance was rigid, her feet spaced apart and a serious scowl directed at the pair, but it pulled nothing but an amused smiled from Ichijo and a raised brow and head tilt from the model.
"Not telling!" Ichijo quipped impishly, to which Yuki gaped comically. "If you want to know why we dealt with that Vampire, why don't you come to The Moon Dorms later tonight to find out?" With playful arrogance, Ichijo turned and walked away with his roommate, leaving Yuki to stare at them in astonishment.
The teens returned to the academy quickly and Yuki (after detangling herself from her adopted father's embrace) washed and dressed her wound carefully. The jacket she'd been wearing, however, was a lost cause. The rip in the arm was irreparable, so that old faithful had gone straight in the bin.
Yuki and Zero sat on opposite ends of the dining table at dinner while Kaien nattered about his day, how adorable Yuki was, and how serious Zero looked, scowling into the food he'd slaved over to prepare.
"It's so rare for the whole family to sit down to dinner together anymore," he sighed wistfully.
"This looks too good for you to have come up with it from scratch," Yuki mumbled just loud enough to be heard by her father figure. She loved and respected the man, but sometimes, he was even too much for her to handle.
"Didn't I tell you not to include me in your fantasies?" Zero grumbled. Kaien rounded on him with frustrated tears but they vanished as he saw the two eating in silence and sighed. Kaien eventually picked up his chopsticks and began to eat, much to the relief of the teens.
They sat in comfortable silence for a while before Kaien brought up their outing.
"Was everything ok in town today? How did Yuki get hurt?" He knew, of course, but he didn't like them thinking he was constantly checking on them. He just worried.
Kaien hadn't directed his question to anyone in particular, but there was still a hint of blame Zero perceived at the mention of Yuki's injury. Yuki peeked at Zero, worry pinching at her face, realising he hadn't brought up what happened in town with Kaien when they'd returned.
"Oh!" Kaien said, suddenly realising something. "Zero here, you're running low now, aren't you?" Zero looked up quizzically as Kaien tossed a clear box at him. Zero caught the small box easily and looked down at the familiar white pills he saw through the clear plastic. His eyes widened as his heart quickened with embarrassment and anger. He looked up to see Yuki watching him with ill-repressed pity, which only served to anger him further.
"Don't look at me like that!" he bit out. She bowed her head guiltily. "This is how it is now, so quit looking like it's the end of the world." Yuki winced at the harsh tone as he stuffed the box into his trouser pocket and returned to eating his food. Yuki did the same.
Kian looked between the two, marinating in the tension he'd purposefully caused.
"Oh, don't look so glum," he said in that overly enthused voice that had Zero's eyes twitching. Kaien sat waving his hand at the two as if swatting away their silly behaviour. "The tablets are no different than eating food." Zero stood threateningly over the man in an instant while Kaien comically cowered, urging Zero to calm down. Yuki observed this with a dead-pan stare at the man she called Father. You should know better.
As their argument simmered down and the afternoon turned into night, Yuki's mind turned to what Ichijo had said. She may have been raised around Vampires, like Kaname, but for someone who knew about Vampires since childhood, she realised, she knew very little about them. She doubted Zero would enlighten her if she asked him, without becoming upset with her, and she didn't want to go to Kaien. He'd be likely to be too busy gushing over her investing more into his pacifistic dreams. Truthfully, she didn't know what she wanted to know about Vampires but knew the only place she was likely to get some answers was The Moon Dorms.