Zero stood ridged, facing his brother, as Ichiru smirked coldly. Akane continued to hiss and growl from behind while Yuki did her best to keep Akane in one piece from the threat of the blade, pierced through her body. The scent of blood in the air from Akane and Shizuka was fogging up Zero's mind, but he fought to remain in control. Akane was in no state to protect herself or Yuki, and she was so enraged, he doubted she would stop to think about her injuries before chasing after Shizuka.
He was still stunned, Shizuka knew the Unfortunate, but when he thought back to what Kaien had told him about her father, it was clear now, Shizuka had ruined more than just his family in her bloody vendetta against The Hunters Association. Despite all the night's painful revelations, Zero had a duty to protect Yuki and Akane. Yuki was his partner, his friend, and someone very close to his heart. But he owed a debt to Akane. She had done something he would have never asked of anyone, not even Yuki. He couldn't allow either of them to be harmed by Shizuka or his brother again!
Ichiru scoffed at Zero, enjoying the angry and pained twitches his words caused across his brother's face. He imagined they felt like knives to Zero's heart, just like the pitying looks and whispered conversations he'd overhear his parents having when he was just a boy.
"I suppose, you turned a blind eye," Ichiru mused as he stepped to the left, around his brother. "It was easier for you to ignore than acknowledge that our parents, were becoming meaningless to me." Ichiru continued to step around his brother, but Zero followed, making sure not to let Ichiru get between himself and the girls.
Akane's black-red eyes glowered at Ichiru as he neared. If they had been directed at her, Yuki would have been fixed to the ground in terror, but Ichiru seemed to relish in the anger and pain he was causing Zero and Akane. How does Akane know Zero's brother? Yuki scolded herself for getting side-tracked. Akane was impaled! Who she knew, was not important right now!
Ichiru stopped when he was level with his brother, the girls to his left. This fight would begin quickly, and he was at a disadvantage. He needed his weapon back.
"Or that you, my big brother, whom I loved more than anything else, was someone I'd always hated!" Zero remained silent as his brother whipped him with his words, but Akane did not.
"I'll rip your throat out, you bastard!" she threatened, jerking angrily. An unfamiliar need to defend Zero and protect him from these vile words surfaced. But Akane's mind paid the query no heed and concentrated on the need to protect.
"Nakamura! Stop moving. You're only cutting deeper," Yuki pleaded, trying to bring Akane back to the more pressing concern than her anger.
Ichiru chuckled.
"A tempting offer Akane, but I'm saving my blood for Lady Shizuka."
"When I'm done with you, there'll be nothing left for even her demonic crows to peck at, you sick son of a bitch!"
"Feistier than I remember," Ichiru commented to his brother. Zero's face hardened. Akane had taken an instant dislike to him when they'd first met, all because she'd recognised Ichiru in him. What had his brother done to cause the calm, snarky girl he knew her to be, to turn into this demon, spitting fire and venom. Looking at the girl now, he could barely recognise her.
"You should thank me, you know," Ichiru added, shifting closer to his weapon. "I asked Lady Shizuka not to kill you."
"What? You wanted me to suffer before you killed me yourself?" Zero spat as he too stepped closer to the girls. Ichiru grinned leaning into his brother's space to whisper at him.
"That's right Big Brother," Zero had to force himself not to flinch away. "Have you endured enough? Your life being twisted by Lady Shizuka? Have you suffered as much as I have yet?" Zero squeezed his eyes shut. The sting behind his eyelids was agonizing, but the pain in his heart at Ichiru's words was soul-destroying.
"Fuck!" Akane growled as she felt the blade slipping higher, almost reaching her chest. A normal sword would be stopped by her skeleton, but this was a Hunter's blade. It would cut through the sternum and ribcage, of a Vampire, like butter. The strain she was putting on her legs and arms to keep herself up was beginning to show as sweat trailed down her face. Yuki was faltering too. Akane was taller and heavier than her, and Yuki's awkward position beneath her dangling body was sending tremors through her thighs and calves.
Ichiru saw Akane and Yuki faltering out of the corner of his eye, his smile wide and cruel before focusing back on Zero.
"Shizuka changed my life to, Zero. The power of the Purebloods makes them equal to Gods!"
"You think that monster's a God!" Akane spat, gnashing her teeth at the boy.
"She allowed me to drink her blood, and now, I'll never get sick again." Zero couldn't stop himself from flinching back at this. His brother had drunk the blood of a Vampire! He was disgusted, and Ichiru revelled in the look on his face. "I wanted, so much to kill you, Zero. But, if you agree to come with me, I'll forgive you. You and Akane will be Shizuka's servants." Ichiru suddenly lunged and pulled the sword that pinned Akane, from the wall. Akane screamed in agony as the blade dug into her chest, collapsing on to, an already, struggling prefect who just managed to stop her from kissing the floor.
Ichiru laughed as Yuki quickly sat Akane up and began applying pressure to her wound. Akane snarled up at the boy with the pretty lavender eyes, and exotic silver hair, from her childhood.
"Perhaps if you behave Akane, Lady Shizuka will promote you to a pet?" he goaded.
"She already has one! You sold your soul, Ichiru," she answered weakly. "And the Devil always collects."
"She's right!" Yuki agreed, scowling up at Ichiru from her crouched position. "You've already become her servant!" Ichiru glowered at the defiant looks on the girls' faces.
"Mom and Dad," Zero began, gaining his brother's attention, instantly. "They'd be glad you're feeling better, Ichiru." He'd wanted his attention, off Akane and Yuki. He'd wanted to distract him, but Zero never thought he'd ever say such a double-edged thing to his brother. Ichiru reacted immediately, swinging his sword, still coated in Akane's blood, aiming to remove his brother's head from his shoulders. Zero blocked the blow with his gun, noting Ichiru's improved power. But a bitter feeling settled in his stomach, because, it was just as Akane had said. Ichiru had sold his soul for his speed, his strength, and had no idea of the price he was due to pay for it.
Zero ducked as Yuki and Akane gasped in fright as the two began battling in earnest, one wielding a sword and the other, using handguns as shields.
"I told you, they're meaningless!" Ichiru roared at Zero as he swung his sword again. Zero barely blocked with the side of his gun this time, causing a horrible scraping sound that had Akane wincing and Yuki grinding her teeth.
"Are you serious?" Zero yelled.
"Yes!" his brother spat back defiantly.
Yuki looked on in a panic. Ichiru was Human, despite the Vampire blood he'd drunk, Zero's weapon wouldn't hurt him. But, Ichiru's sword was forged by The Hunters Association and would kill Zero if it struck a clean blow. She couldn't let this continue. They were brothers! Didn't they care about each other anymore? Didn't it matter that they were family?
"Cross, No!" Akane tried to grab the girl's arm, but she was too slow in noticing Yuki's sudden decision to intervene. She watched as Yuki flung herself between the warring brother, her arms stretched out to force them apart.
"Stop this, both of you!" Yuki cried as she pushed them back.
"Yuki, get back!" Zero warned harshly.
"No, you are brothers! You shouldn't be fighting like this! You should…" She was cut off by the feel of cold steel pressed against her throat. Ichiru had produced a dagger from within his long overcoat. It was long, with a straight, red handle and a bulbous, square-edged base that tapered down into a deadly point that was currently held against Yuki's neck.
He looked down at her with an apathetically blank expression as she looked up with wide and fearful eyes.
"If you get in the way again," Ichiru said coldly, leaning into Yuki's face. "I'll kill you, even without Lady Shizuka's approval!" The click of the hammer and the metal from the barrel of the gun against his forehead was the only sign Ichiru had that Zero had even moved.
"Stop!" The Hunter demanded in a tone so reminiscent of the cold voice of his brother, Yuki flinched. Ichiru pulled the blade away but looked on, unimpressed by his brother.
"That's a Hunter's weapon, Zero, it doesn't affect Humans." Zero pushed the barrel of his gun harder into Ichiru's head in warning. Ichiru smiled viciously. "Even after you've become a Vampire, you still try to play the Hunter, Zero."
Shizuka had walked some distance from the brother's battlefield. She intended to rest and recover, before going back to finish Yuki and take back Zero and Akane, but her injuries were more painful than she'd anticipated, and her body wasn't healing.
"Pesky little things, those Vampire Killing Weapons," she heard Kaname say from the shadows. She frowned. Her senses were dulled by her pain and blood loss. She should have been able to sense him standing so near. "Even neutralising the regenerative powers of Pureblood's like us."
Kaname leant against a windowsill in a bedroom Shizuka had taken as her own while masquerading as Maria Kurenai. He watched coldly as the Hio Princess turned to him with a frown on her beautiful face.
"The son of Kuran," she drawled dully. "And why are you here?" Shizuka asked, turning away, stepping further into the room, and began untying her robes to better asses her injuries.
"Nostalgia. This was my first room in the Academy," Kaname replied conversationally while glancing about the room.
"I see. I like it here. Nobody bothers me. But let me rephrase my question. Why are you at Cross Academy?"
Kaname pushed away from the windowsill to face Shizuka's narrowed petal-pink eyes. She was in pain and angry, and Kaname couldn't suppress a small smile at her discomfort. I really do have a terribly vicious streak, don't I?
"I'm here to repay a debt, plus, this is the perfect place to gather all my pieces." He moved quicker than Shizuka's dulled senses could follow and came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her shoulder and waist, holding her to his chest. "To be honest," he murmured into her ear. "I would have done the same as you. Because, just like you, Lady Shizuka, I would do anything for the ones I love!"
Shizuka's eyes widened as Kaname's hand erupted from her chest. The pain was immense, but she refused to cry out like some weak woman. The only tell she couldn't hide was the stiffening of her body and rapid increase of her heart.
"You don't seem surprised," Kaname observed quietly, after watching her blood drip lazily from his hand. His eyes were red thanks to the fresh blood he'd just spilt but also due to the anger he felt towards this woman. Not only had she forced his hand by threatening Yuki, but also, she was the cause of all his progenies' pain. He didn't even know if Akane was still alive at this point, so he hoped, Shizuka's death, would be enough to atone for his sins against her.
Shizuka steadied her breathing before she spoke, refusing to let her voice waver with her agony.
"No. I intended to kill you as well, by using Yuki Cross as your assassin," she revealed in a biting tone.
"That was a good choice…"
"I was going to use your progeny too, at one point." Kaname stiffened, clenching the fist of the arm he'd put through Shizuka's chest at her next words. "But I'm glad I settled on Yuki. You disregarded your progeny too readily. What a terrible father you are Kaname, sending your child to die for your love." Kaname retracted his hand into her body and gripped her beating heart.
"You planned this," Shizuka accused breathlessly, now unable to hide her pain as Kaname squeezed her heart. "You knew the bullets from Zero's gun would weaken me, leaving me less than helpless against you."
"Yes," Kaname admitted. "A fight between two Purebloods would be pointless. We are equal, so, I needed to weaken you. You see, I needed your blood, as I assume you needed mine as well. Am I right?" Shizuka didn't respond. She could feel death calling her now. Her strength was waning, her legs and arms becoming slack and heavy. Kaname saw her coming demise and lowered himself to her neck.
"I will take your life, Lady Shizuka."
Ichiru stepped away from Zero's gun with a chuckle, swiping the useless weapon away.
"You're a fool Zero. You should have let Lady Shizuka have the girl and drank her blood. She may have even given you the Unfortunate to play with."
"Fuck you, Ichiru!" Akane spat up at the boy. He turned, grinning. Zero's eyes widened. Ichiru had put himself between himself and Akane! Zero had pulled Yuki away from his brother, but by doing so, he'd left Akane open, and Ichiru took advantage.
"Ichiru, No!"
"Nakamura!" Zero and Yuki cried as Ichiru's arm arched, swinging the deadly looking dagger down on Akane. She screamed as the daggers' tip ripped through her shoulder and stuck her against the wall for a second time. Ichiru was too close to her for Zero to intervene. It would be far too easy for him to kill her before Zero could reach her. He watched as Ichiru leant down and grinned at Akane's agonised expression as she squeezed her eyes shut, breathing through clenched teeth, groaning.
Akane flinched away furiously, glowering with her black-red eyes when she felt the boy's hand touch her cheek in a gentle caress.
"Or maybe you and I could pick up where we left off, last time, hmm?" Tears stung at her eyes at the pain she was being forced to endure. Not just the physical injuries Ichiru had inflicted, but the emotional trauma. When they had met as children, she had been a naive schoolgirl, excited to have the attention of such a beautiful boy. He must have thought her so pathetic. Her parents were being murdered, and she had been grinning like a fool, swooning over the distraction designed for her. It hurts, she winced mentally as images of that evening played through her mind. Her head fell with a defeated whine escaping her as tears fell freely from her pained red eyes.
There was no point in her struggling, she was too weak at this point to push him away anyway. Shizuka stared up at the ceiling of the shabby and slightly dilapidated room, while Kaname drained her life from her veins.
"When I first met you," Shizuka said, wistfully falling into her memories. "You were just a little boy. So, unlike a Vampire, all wide-eyed and innocent." Kaname listened as Shizuka's voice softened, her strength to speak leaving her as quickly as her blood filled his mouth. "But, look at you now…" Kaname pulled the hand he still had clenched around Shizuka's heart out from her back. Her blood sprayed his clothing, the walls, and the dusty old carpet on the floor.
He caught her as she fell, easing her more gently to the floor as she wheezed pathetically up at him.
"Your life will not be wasted, Lady Shizuka," Kaname assured the dying woman. "I will make sure to destroy the one responsible for ruining the destiny of The Purebloods."
"A Pureblood, who has consumed the life of another Pureblood." Kaname silenced to hear Shizuka final words. "You've gained a great power but at a terrible cost. Your life will forever be plagued by darkness, Son of Kuran," Shizuka warned.
Kaname knelt away from the woman, wearing a sobered expression.
"I'm well aware." He stood and looked down at the bloody canvas Shizuka presented as she gazed up at him, waiting for her final breath before he left the room. All knew, a Vampire's death to be a very private matter, and as Shizuka no longer had a family she could turn to for comfort at this time, she would die alone. He had no idea, however, that a single spectator had witnessed the whole scene. Aido stood hidden in the doorway of a room adjoining the corridor and had seen it all! Lord Kaname, killed Shizuka Hio!
The scent of blood was already thick in the air, but even Akane's unique and sweet scent couldn't mask the scent of a Pureblood. The strength of Shizuka's blood had spiked considerably, causing Zero's eyes to flash as a shock of Vampiric hunger punched him in the gut, enough to make him stagger. Akane's breath caught in her throat while her entire body stiffened as if she were poised to jump an incredible distance. Her muscles, ready to attack.
Ichiru noticed the change in the Vampires and stood away from Akane. He looked at Zero for an explanation, who forced his hunger down and spoke through the searing pain in his throat.
"The smell of blood got stronger," he wheezed. Ichiru's eyes widened in realisation and panic.
"Shizuka!" he cried as he raced from the room.
"Ichiru!" Zero called out to his brother, about to follow him, but Yuki wrapped her arms around his middle, halting him in his tracks. "Yuki, let go! I have to kill Shizuka!" Zero said, trying to pry the girl's arms from his body gently.
"You still haven't told me what you plan to do after," Yuki yelled back. Her big brown eyes stared up at him with a fire of determination. Shizuka had frightened her by saying Zero wished to die with her. He'd shown Yuki how close he was to cracking so many times, but she couldn't bear to think he would really do it. If she let him run off now, and he never drank his master's blood, would he come back? Not just to this room, but would he stay the Zero she knew?
"Yeah," Zero admitted finally. "You knew, too," he accused tiredly. Yuki looked down and allowed him to step out of her arms. "Going to such extremes, nearly becoming a Vampire…" Akane frowned and looked away. This was not something she should hear or see, not when Zero looked so fragile and Yuki looked so small. Instead, she busied herself with prying the dagger from her shoulder as quietly as she could, so as not to disturb what was happening around her. Thankfully, this was no Vampire weapon, so she hoped to have it out quickly.
Yuki's eyes were teary, but she forced herself to keep watching her friend as he struggled to keep his composure, covering his face in defeat.
"I didn't want you to die Zero. I didn't want to lose you." Akane winced as she tugged at the handle. Ichiru had thrust it deep into the wall and just tugging at it wasn't going to cut it. She needed more strength, but she'd been severely injured by a Hunter's weapon and lost a worrying amount of blood. There was no chance of her getting it out alone. She looked up just as Zero turned and embraced the Human. Akane averted her gaze again, wincing as her shoulder gave an involuntary twitch.
"Why?" Zero asked in a small, pained voice. "Why do you care so much about me? I'm not worth it, Yuki!" Yuki's eyes moistened even more at the way Zero diminished his importance. Didn't he know how much she worried about him? How much she wanted to help him? He was worth so much more to her than she even realised. "I couldn't stand living if you got hurt because of me Yuki," Zero said as he pushed the girl away and stepped back. "Stay here. I'll come back," and with that, Zero left the room in pursuit of his treacherous brother and the monster that ruined their lives.
Yuki was rooted to the floor after Zero left. She remained there for some time after his footsteps had faded away, coming back to the situation when a grunt from the other girl in the room woke her to the current situation. Nakamura! The dagger!
"Nakamura!" Yuki cried as she turned to help Akane, dropping to her knees and tugging at the dagger futilely at her shoulder. Akane winced and hissed at the pain as Yuki attempted to remove it but her efforts went unrewarded.
"It's no use Cross, it's not coming out," Akane groaned, pulling Yuki's hand away from the blade's handle, her blood-stained hands sullying Yuki's pale, ivory skin. Yuki yielded, pulling her hands away to rest in her lap, feeling useless and childlike yet again. I can't even help Nakamura, what made me think I could help Zero? Akane could see the melancholy swirling in the Human's eyes and sighed, resting her head against the wall. They'd be found soon. Zero would come back or Kaname would become curious to find out what happened to Yuki and his progeny he sent to die, Akane was sure.
"You need blood," Akane heard the Human say quietly. She turned to Yuki with wide, incredulous eyes.
"What did you say?" Akane breathed back. Yuki appeared to wince but stiffened her shoulders and straightened her spine before she lifted her head and her eyes to look right at the deadly red abyss of a Vampire's stare.
"I can help. You can have mine."
"No! Absolutely not!" Akane declined flatly and irritably as she returned to the blade in her shoulder with renewed vigour and determination.
Yuki looked on frozen for a moment before her frustration built too high. Why was Akane refusing her just like Zero would? Why were they both like this? They needed blood and were only prolonging their pain the more they denied themselves. Yuki had reached the limit her worry and patience could tolerate.
"Why are you like this?" she yelled, startling Akane. "You need blood. You're hurt and can't help yourselves. Why do you and Zero put yourselves through this torture when you don't have to? You have friends that will help you, people who care about you. You're Vampires, you know this. You…"
"Don't!" Akane yelled suddenly, quieting Yuki amid her frustrated outburst. When she turned to look at the Vampire, Yuki saw a grimace of pain twisting the girls' beautiful face into a mournful countenance, which had nothing to do with the physical injuries she'd sustained. "Don't," Akane repeated brokenly as tears began falling silently down her cheeks. "It hurts… when you say it out loud, it hurts."
Yuki's heart sank at the picture in front of her. If this girl had been Human, she would already be dead. Her body had been impaled by a sword through her abdomen and her shoulder was probably shattered thanks to the second blade to pin her to the wall. Yet she still sat, breathing, crying, and feeling. Becoming a Vampire, for a Human was not about eternal life, living young and beautiful forever, as Yuki had foolishly thought. It meant an eternity of pain and loss. Akane and Zero had lost their entire world and were now stuck in the nightmare that was their life until it finally ended. The infernal instinct to live and survive kept them going even when their minds and souls begged them to stop and rest. In the future, perhaps they'd find a reason to it all, something to love and hold on to, something worth all their pain and sorrow. But right now, when faced with the dark thoughts and corners of their minds, there was nothing, and every day was a struggle to see the next dawn.
Looking at Akane now, Yuki finally understood this. With a heavy and sorrowful sigh filled with regret and pity, Yuki lowered her head to the shoulder of the injured Vampire in an apology and gesture of comfort. Her heart ached at the relieved yet hurt gasp Akane expressed as Yuki's arms encircled her carefully. Yuki knew she would never be enough. She realised now, she could stop the burn, the craving, but her blood would do nothing for the pain. The Vampires in the Night Class had no idea of the agony Akane and Zero faced, but Yuki had seen, she'd had a glimpse of it from Zero, but a front-row seat display from Akane. She would never forgive herself for the pain she'd ignorantly inflicted on them.
By the time Zero caught up to his brother, it was to come upon a scene that caused a deep pit to form in his stomach and a gag to lodge in his throat.
"Ichiru! What are you doing?" he breathed as his brother turned with a blood-drenched face. Shizuka lay motionless in his arms before a sound, like cracking glass, echoed within the old bedroom, followed by the Pureblood's body shattering, and falling into millions of tiny dust particles, filtering through Ichiru's fingers.
"You killed her, Zero, you and this academy!" Ichiru rushed to the window and opened it. He looked over his shoulder only once to see the heartbroken look on Zero's face. Zero let his brother flee, he couldn't have followed if he wanted to. He knew what that woman's blood could have done for him. Despite his assertion he would never have accepted to live his life as a Vampire, the knowledge his only salvation from the fall to Level E was gone, caused such a heavy burden to settle on his heart. He was unsure if he even had the will to take another step.
A rustle of fabric near the door to the room caught his attention. He turned, just as Kain pushed the door open to view the Hunter and his weapon, standing over the remains of a pure-blooded Vampire.
"Kiryu did you…?" Kain couldn't finish his question and Zero did not answer. He guessed the Hunter had most likely not killed the Hio Princess. He would have heard the shot, but the evidence was damning. Kain knew he had to tell Kaname what he'd seen. "Let's collect your partner, Prefect." Zero stiffened as realisation caught up with him.
"Nakamura!" Zero hurried from the room with Kain hot on his heels. If Akane was injured, it was a Night Class matter that Kain couldn't leave to the Prefects. Not only that, but she was Kaname's progeny, and most important of all, she was dear to his cousin.
"I'm sorry about before," Yuki offered quietly as she made another attempt at the dagger in Akane's shoulder.
"It's fine Cross,"
"No, it's not!" Akane and Yuki locked eyes briefly before Yuki went back to her task, gripping the handle firmly and pulling with all her might. "I'm sorry too, about how I reacted to you with your friends." Akane blinked, surprised to hear this. Yuki didn't need to apologise to her. She understood why she was on edge then, and her frazzled tempter this evening, but she remained quiet, knowing Yuki had to get this off her chest to ease her conscience.
The brunet took a deep breath and tugged again, and finally, the dagger shifted, causing Akane to hiss and flinch but she fought to sit still as Yuki continued to ease the blade from her shoulder.
"I know you'd never hurt your friends, and I automatically assumed the worst of you when you did nothing to deserve it. So, I'm sorry, Nakamura." Yuki pulled the dagger from her shoulder and threw the offending object away in disgust.
"Thank you, Cross."
"No need to thank me. That must have been so painful."
"No, not the dagger or holding me up earlier, although, I am grateful to you for both. But, thank you for apologising. It means a lot." Yuki smiled reassuringly at Akane, suddenly finding her deep, red eyes, not so scary anymore.
"Akane!" Aido cried as he rushed into the room. He'd run into Zero and Kain in the hallways of the old dorms after he'd lost Kaname on his exit from the building and had followed Zero until Akane's potent blood had called him to her. The blond raced to the girl, his hands shaking as he worried over her stomach and shoulder. His mind was forced back to a nightmarish memory of this same girl with a hauntingly similar wound, dying in his arms. "We need to get back to the dorms, hang on." His voice shook, his eyes, wide and alarmed, but Akane was too enthralled by his scent to think much of it. With the amount of blood she'd lost and the added stimulant of Aido's presence, Akane's mind stuttered, becoming sluggish in catching up to his obvious panic at the state she was in.
She complied robotically as Aido coiled his arms under her knees and around her shoulders, hoisting her into his arms as he stood. The slight movement jarred Akane, causing white spots to dance before her eyes. The sudden tiredness and the mollifying effect Aido's scent had, filled her with a mortal panic. Her body stiffened but shook as shock finally started to take hold of her mind.
"Hanabusa…" she groaned as he hurried her from the room, not giving Yuki, Zero or Kain, a thought. Yuki trotted behind the Idol worriedly, glancing now and then at Zero and Kain from over her shoulder. Both were tense, walking stiffly but quickly, following the blond as he made for The Moon Dorms.
Once they arrived, Kain stopped at the gates to the dorms, while Aido continued inside. He turned to the Cross Academy Prefects as they came to a stop. Yuki watched anxiously as Aido and Akane went through the doors and out of sight. Zero gazed up at the building with mixed emotions of concern and dread, both, for the same reason. Damn it, Ichiru! If she dies… Yuki and Zero understood this was as far as they were permitted to go and turned to head back to their rooms at Kaien's house to shower and fall flat on their beds. Zero walked with a conflicted conscience next to his silent partner. For the first time in his life, he hoped a Vampire survive the power of a Hunter's weapon, which was wrong, but Akane… she was hurt because I was too slow.
Aido rushed in a haze of déjà vu as he climbed the stairs and entered his room with Akane held securely in his arms. He moved to the bathroom, shaking the unwanted ghost of her lying, bloodied, pale, and lifeless in his bathtub, and lowered Akane carefully to the tiled floor of the large shower cubicle. He leant back once she was down, becoming fixated by her blood, staining yet another of his uniforms. Aido's eyes stung and his throat bobbed as if he were about to be sick, scream and cry all at once, but he shook his head, forcing himself to focus on the here and now.
Akane groaned and winced as she was lowered, holding tightly to Aido's sleeves as he eased back to study her injuries more closely in the bright light of his bathroom.
"You're not healing! God, what happened, Akane? Why were you anywhere near that place?" Aido said, probing at her abdomen and shoulder. He wanted to be gentle and slow, but he had to act quickly or Akane could die. He couldn't hesitate. So, without waiting for a reply, Aido searched out the zip of her once, gorgeous green dress, and began pulling it down.
"Hay! What're you doin'" Akane asked drowsily, as she flinched away from his hands, holding the front of her dress to her body protectively.
"I need to clean your injuries. I can't do that, with this in the way."
"Then leave, I'll do it." Aido sighed in frustration.
"You can barely stand and only have one arm that works right now. We don't have time for you to argue Akane, I'm taking this off and then you're going to have some blood!"
"What! No, I don't need blood, just give me some Blood Tablets." Aido shook his head and reached for the zipper again but Akane batted his hands away.
"Blood Tablets won't be enough!" He argued. "You need the power boost, only blood can give you, to kickstart your body into regenerating and healing itself. Blood Tablets will only mask the pain for a short time, and in that time, you could bleed out!" He breathed harshly, his hands shaking helplessly, poised to tug at her dress again.
Akane's heart jumped. She knew she was hurt and knew Aido was right about the power that could only come from real blood. She'd felt the vast difference between the synthetic substitute and the lifegiving liquid on her first night as a Vampire. But she also knew Aido intended to give up his blood to her. That was what worried her. Akane had spent many nights pondering the draw Aido's scent had for her, long before she became a Vampire. His scent had enticed her since their first meeting, and no other scent had compared in provoking the dangerous desires it could induce in her.
A full month after the night her father died, she realised the extent of her desire for her friend's blood. She'd been watching him during class, leaning back in her seat (so as not to be spotted staring, again), as he'd gazed dully at the teacher. She'd taken a deliberately deep breath to draw his fragrance to the back of her throat like she'd done many times before. The shock at the sensations that coursed through her, caused her to jump. Thankfully, her sudden shift had gone unnoticed, but the damage had been done.
Akane's eyes had flipped to red so quickly, she'd had to squint and blink through the sudden burning and tears. When opening her eyes, they had involuntarily sought out his neck and she blanched at the amount of saliva that gathered in her mouth as thoughts and fantasies, each more graphic and erotic than the last, began playing in her traitorous head. If it had just been carnal desires, Aido's smell invoked, Akane could have convinced herself into believing the cause was down to nothing more than teenage hormones, but there were other more disturbing urges.
Just like the first time she'd seen Zero, her mind had taken her on a tangent into the realm of disturbing. She had thought, how easy it would be to hurt him, rip him in two and devour him. She could coax and corner him, he would allow it, she knew, and then she could drink until there was nothing left. One name had come to mind then, which made her withdraw into herself, fighting the bile and scream rising in her throat, blinking away the hot tears threatening to spill over her lower eyelid. Lex! The thought of resembling the detestable Vampire she'd read about in that book on Unfortunates, in any way, sat such a heavy stone in her heart that she decided she would never let herself indulge in real blood. The feeding she had already partaken in with Kaname, was to be the last. She was terrified of turning into something like that, a heartless, soulless, monster. Drinking Aido's blood, with the thoughts she'd had, she couldn't allow it. The state she was currently in, however, she knew blood would be her only sure chance of survival, but she would not drink from Aido. She couldn't!
"I'm not drinking blood. I'll survive on Blood Tablets," Akane countered crossly.
"Akane, this is serious! You don't have a choice," Aido said as he shook off his blazer and reached to undo the top buttons of his black dress shirt. Akane stiffened and lent away.
"I don't want your blood, Hanabusa!" Aido stilled. Akane froze. She hadn't meant her words to be so blunt, but she didn't know how to fix it. She couldn't pull back what she'd said. Aido's hands left his collar and lowered to his knees. Akane chanced a glance at the boy and cringed at the blank look he sent her and stood. "Hanabusa, wait! That's not what I meant!"
"I know. Stay here. I'll get Lord Kaname."
"What? No, that's not what…" but he was already rising and turning to leave the bathroom.
"Enough, Akane!" She flinched at his tone, looking up at him, confused and desperate. He'd yelled at her only once before, but the sheer detachment his gaze held as he walked away from her was new, and it terrified her. "Lord Kaname will be here soon. I'll see you tomorrow." I know you don't mean it, Akane. But your words hurt. He left the room. Akane sat on the cold, tiled floor, allowing her tears to fall. What have I done? That's not what I meant!
"Hanabusa…" she sobbed quietly as pain and regret tightened her chest and stomach into agonising knots.
Kaname sought out Akane as soon as Aido found him out on the patio of The Moon Dorms. The relief he'd felt at the mere sight of her had been so immense, he'd slumped against the Idol's bathroom wall briefly. He'd eventually coaxed his reluctant and teary progeny to feed and carried her limp and tired body to her room after she'd showered and he'd ensuring her wounds had healed.
Aido had remained away until Kaname had placed her in her luxurious, butterfly bed. At which point, he took the blankets from the Pureblood's hands and secured them around the ex-Human. Kaname had left then, to come back sometime later, after the sun was high in the sky, to checks on his progeny, sleeping soundly, wrapped in his subordinate's arms. He stroked her pale cheek delicately in an expression of his guilt for allowing and orchestrating her pain. I'm sorry, but there is more that must come.