A/N: So chapter two! So far so good I'm hoping but things can (will) always go downhill from a good beginning. With that being said I don't think I mentioned before that while this isn't a tragedy fic or anything there will be mature themes there's nothing in a fic if it doesn't keep you on your toes here and there. But if you're not in it for the more difficult pins and needles parts there will be warnings at the beginnings of those chapters to give you the ability to skip out though I don't really suggest it. This chapter will be more of just getting into the routine and introducing the (kinda OOC) base interactions between all the characters that have been introduced thus far. Also, I do have more OC's coming later on but they aren't show steeler types, this is still centered around the original VK characters (with added stuff) and will focus on them except for some filler parts that add background info. Anyway chapter two, please enjoy!
Ch. 2: Classified
Zero sighed in relief as he reached the gates of the moon dorms. 'Never thought I'd be happy to return here.' He mused quietly making his way to his room and stripping his clothes. Looking in the mirror he couldn't help but grimace at the growing amount of scars and healed wounds on his body. 'And here's two more to add to the growing collection.' For whatever reason the voice in his head suspiciously sounded like an annoyed Ichiru. Making sure his suppression charms were still strong he unwrapped the bandages on his arms and stitched the open wounds closed. Throwing his clothes in a basket he flopped on his bed and passed out in seconds.
"So I guess Zero is back huh?" Aido questioned to his cousin as they got ready for class.
"So it seems." Kain replied, Zero's dorm was close to theirs so they were usually the first to know of his general whereabouts pertaining to when he was in or not.
"Good morning Zero-kun! How was your mission yesterday?" Takuma asked cheerfully.
"It was alright, things went fairly smooth." Came the soft and distantly polite answer. Takuma nodded and the group walked to class as normal as ever. Upon getting to class Zero watched as his Sensei lectured to a powerpoint. Once he got out of class he made a slow dash for his room so he could shower and change clothes, dress his wounds again and be on his way for another mission. 'Hopefully, I won't run into Takuma-san this way.' He thought jumping off his balcony into the night.
"Where is Zero?" Kain asked looking at his cousin as the two walked down the hall for dinner.
"Apparently on another mission." Shiki answered as Kaname was approached by Yari once again with a black letter in hand.
"Again? Wow, I'm surprised they would send him two nights in a row." Takuma voiced popping into the room from the doorway.
"The other names are new so I guess Zero's the only repeat. Interesting." Rima observed.
"This mission looks to be slightly harder than the previous one, either that or it's further away than the last one." Ruka added looking at the length expectancy of the mission.
"Seems so, this letter tells about the start of 'Season' as well, I've yet to ask Kiryuu-kun what exactly that means." Kaname sighed.
"It's hard to ask him anything when he's around less than the birds are. He goes to class and then vanishes as soon as we get back to the dorms. He stays away from everyone at all times possible." Aido huffed as he crossed his arms.
"Well, it's not as though Kiryuu makes friends. He doesn't have a reason to stick around us." Kain reminded sipping at a glass of water with a blood tablet.
"This is true, maybe we should find a way to change that?" Takuma questioned looking over to Kaname who was folding the letter back up.
"It may ruin the peace that we have with him right now." Aido warned.
"What peace? The only reason it feels so peaceful is because Kiryuu-kun isn't interacting and isn't at the academy often." Kaname sighed as he looked briefly at his assignment for Yagari. "Takuma, Shiki, and Kain I want you three to take on that task of acquainting Kiryuu-kun to the night class." He added before exiting the room. The three nobles shared a slightly worried look but nodded anyway.
Takuma watched as Zero practically stumbled into the gates of the moon dorms with slight worry. 'It really looks like he's about to fall over as the lightest brush of contact...' he thought, most of the night class were cursing their alarms about now but Takuma and Shiki had always been fairly early risers. Well...maybe not Shiki.
'This is getting ridiculous.' Zero sighed to himself as he pulled off all of his hunting clothes and read over the report format for his next mission that night. Rushing around to get his assignments done for class and then stitching up a few open wounds he jumped in the shower and walked downstairs to meet the others for class.
"Ah, Zero-kun welcome back I hope your mission went well?" Takuma announced with a smile as Zero made his way far away from the nobles. He nodded to the blond and kept his head down as the group walked through the screaming girls that gave him an extreme headache. As the night class filed into class Zero shot a look to his Sensei and nodded.
"Season is in session, when is your next?" Touga questioned out loud making all the vampires stop and pay attention.
"Tonight, only it's a string instead of just singular." Zero replied, very aware he was being intently listened to by the night class.
"A string? Already they're handing out strings...tsk. Do you know the time expectancy?" Touga questioned with a frown.
"Sixteen hours but I was told to 'exceed expectations' so I should be back within twelve." Came the reply with a snort and a nod from Yagari before the two ended their conversation and returned to what they were doing previously.
'A sixteen-hour mission?! Is the association trying to kill their hunters?' Takuma questioned in his head with a worried look to Kaname who raised an eyebrow at Touga, which only resulted in him getting waved off, he wanted an explanation.
"He's going to drop dead if he keeps going like this." Rima pointed out as Yari was handing Kaname another letter of Zero's mission assignment.
"I'm not so sure, I was looking into what the Hunter's Association refers to as 'season' in the library." Aido announced as the vampires once again were gathered.
"Oh? What did you find?" Kain asked, he was surprised his cousin would go to the trouble of it all. 'Then again, it's something Kaname-sama wanted so he probably did it for points.' He added in thought.
"Apparently season is a time period, the hardest time period for hunters because the amount of missions is higher than ever and so are the rate of human deaths. It's also something of an initiation, it basically determines if the hunter will survive the upcoming year or not. Hunters will go on missions night after night and 'strings' on weekends in order to keep level E population manageable for the rest of the year. Season is announced by the envelopes that carry the assignments, which are usually white or gold, being black and that each mission will have a stamp saying 'Season' on it until Season is over." The blond explained as the group heard a car pull into the academy.
"When does season end?" Takuma questioned with a glance out the window.
"It says here that season can last anywhere from a month to over a year. And get this, the Kiryuu Clan is known to be run the hardest during Season because of their ability and stamina." Ruka answered as she read over Aido's shoulder.
"We may have a problem on our hands then." Kaname sighed.
Amethyst eyes narrowed dangerously before three rounds of Bloody Rose rang throughout the air. Ash was picked up by the wind and carried around the silver haired hunter before dispersing and leaving no trace of the vampires that were previously in the area. "That's one area cleared out and five more to go." The voice of Zero's hunting partner for this string sounded. Kaito dropped down from the above floor and gave his trusted friend a once-over.
"We're reaching the fourth hour of this mission, we have five more nests to clear and eight hours to do it in. The next location is further out so we should get moving." Zero replied, slipping his gun back into her holster and climbing out the window. The two boys clambered onto their motorcycles and sped off down the rounds the next nest of level D and E vampires. Zero blinked as his vision grew slightly hazy, they had already done four nests and the constant action was starting to make him question his stamina.
"How are you holding up?" Kaito asked as soon as they pulled into the back of the alley.
"I'm fine but I'd like this to be done sooner rather than later. I still have an essay to write when we get back to the academy." He answered looking around for places to get leverage if he needed it.
"Hopefully it's a topic you can either bullshit or is too easy to talk about." Kaito tasked while shaking his head. Zero snorted and the two set up a barrier before walking into the alley. The barrier prevented anyone from the outside to enter, see, or hear anything going on as well as it prevented any level E vampire from escaping. There was nowhere to run and with the scent of blood coming from small cuts on the boys they were soon thrown into battle again.
'I really hate season.' Zero sighed as he bandaged his hand after an E got a claw in it. Lucky for him it wasn't his hand that held Bloody Rose.
"Season better not last super long this year, we're going to run out of hunters soon enough without the addition of all this shit." Kaito breathes as the boy grabbed something to drink in order to take something of a short break before they would ride again.
"What do you mean 'going to'? Have you noticed we're the only two on this string? We hardly have any hunters and we don't have enough for all the missions that are assigned and brought in. With this being the very beginning of Season we could easily find ourselves dead by the middle of it. Especially with the rumors going around." Zero replied palming his cheek and looking tiredly out the window.
"Which rumors? There's only a few thousand that I know right now, is there something more I should be warned or worried over?" Kaito groaned tiredly.
"Don't you already know of the supposed war that's going to happen during season sometime this year?" Kaito nearly dropped his glass and looked at Zero with wide eyes. "They say it may be a bigger problem than Kuran Rido was." The younger hunter added when he saw his partner's expression.
"Well, fuck." Was all Kaito could manage and Zero couldn't agree more.
Ruka watched as a black car pulled in through the gates once again. "Looks like the boys are back." Rima announced from her side, the rose-eyed noble huffed and left without a second thought.
"I suppose that's a good thing, there are no mad dashed to the infirmary?" Kain questioned from where he sat on the couch with Aido.
"No, but I am seeing blood-soaked bandages." Came the reply. All the vampires seemed to pause at that and soon Kaname's entire inner circle, minus the prince himself though he was watching from his desk, were at the windows.
"They can still walk, though it looks like Takamiya-kun has obtained a limp...even Kiryuu-kun is going slower than normal." Ruka observed surprising everyone in the room.
"I bet that's because of the blood loss, I mean those bandages are totally soaked and it looks as though the wounds are still bleeding at a steady rate." Takuma replied unable to hide the surprise or shock in his voice at the state of the silver haired hunter.
"The headmaster is taking them both inside the sun dorms it looks like, we can probably assume Kiryuu-kun will either join us for class or already be there by the time we will walk over." Kain commented as he turned to Kaname.
"I believe you are correct Kain, we should all get ready to walk over." Kaname announced after he had turned back to his stack of papers. The vampires took that as a dismissal and filed out of the room to their separate dorms. 'I do hope you come to me soon Kiryuu-kun, you will need to feed in order to live through Season this year.' He thought with a sigh.
"Finally." Zero breathed as he sat back from writing his twelve-page essay. 'Damn Sensei better be fucking happy or at least assign us a final draft for the weekend.' He added as he gathered up his things.
"Are you sure you are able to go to class Zero? You know Touga wouldn't mind if you took the night off." Kaien said with a worried look.
"No, if I don't go the association will get word of it and there will be hell to pay for it. Besides, the weekend is coming up, I'll have time to rest later." Zero replied walking out the door and moving through the crowd, which thankfully parted for him out of habit, before joining the others on the path to class. As he stepped in line, at the back like normal, he felt an unfamiliar presence beside him. When he looked to his side he found Shiki walking with him on his unhurt side. Deciding it was probably only because Kuran asked him to keep an eye on the level D, Zero hardened his eyes and walked in silence to class.
"I'm surprised you bothered to come to class tonight, Kaito is taking school off for tomorrow." Touga commented as Zero dropped his paper on the large mahogany desk.
"You know what would happen if I skipped a class during season Sensei." Was the bitter reply before Zero made his way to the window and proceeded to ignore the quiet pocky loving noble beside him.
"Do they still plan on sending you to the front lines?" Touga questioned once most of the vampires were out the door. For his own sake Zero just nodded in an effort to not draw any more attention to the conversation.
"I informed Kaito about it last night, we should all talk at some point about plans for that anyhow, I assume he was not the only one uninformed of it either." He replied, aware but ignoring the seemingly bored eyes of Senri Shiki. Yagari nodded before Zero walked out of the classroom to follow the others.
"Do you have another mission tonight?" Shiki questioned looking around briefly for Yari's presence.
"Not unless I'm called to be on an immediate mission." Zero replied quietly much to the relief of a few vampires ahead of the two. Shiki nodded and wondered if the young hunter would be able to make it through the weekend at the dorms.
'It's been a while since Zero has actually been in the moon dorms for more than two hours.' Takuma sighed mentally as the silver haired hunter headed to his room. 'And he is still quiet as ever.' The blond added barely noticing the other had left the main hall already.
Getting up to his room Zero was thankful to relax, momentarily, before he worked on his homework and rested for a half an hour. Then, of course, his phone rang. "Kiryuu." He answered having not bothered to look at the caller ID.
"Not like you to be so formal, the Chairman of the HA is headed over to chat with us and Touga-san about the upcoming fiasco known as war." Kaito's voice rang out over the phone. Zero mentally sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I see, very well, I'll head over to the gated in a few seconds. Does Cross know he's coming? Or even what is going on?" Zero asked standing from his bed.
"Ideally yes, most likely no. Only active hunters and those fighting in front lines know at the moment, minus Touga since he's deciding positions." Came the reply.
"Very well, I'll see you soon." Zero cut off and hung the phone call. With a sigh he changed clothes into something more casual, grabbed his gun and walked out of his room almost directly into a wall of noble vampires. Leaning back against his closed door Zero waited and watched for someone to speak.
"Care to explain what is going on?" Ruka, of course, spoke up first. Aido and his glaring eyes looked to be trying to figure out the charms placed in the doorway.
"Suppression charms, unless you want to have to have to deal with the smell of blood every night for the next Satan knows how many months." Zero explained looking over at Aido.
"And what is this about a war?" Kaname questioned coming up behind a few of the nobles with Takuma and Shiki in tow.
"In all honesty, I'm going to meet with the head of the association, Kaito, and Touga-san to discuss that in about two minutes." Zero shrugged as he met the pureblood's eyes.
"You will be fighting in this war I assume?" Takuma questioned with a momentary look of fear.
"Frontlines, all the Elites have to be the first on the field and the last ones off...assuming they're alive to get off." Zero nodded.
"And this is on top of Season?" Kaname questioned wondering if the association actually could pull a war off.
"Depends, Season generally doesn't last for that many months, however, rumor has it Season is going to last longer this year." Came the bored answer. Kaname nodded and all eyes turned to the top of the staircase where the Chairman of the Hunter's Association and Takamiya Kaito, Zero's best hunting partner, stood.
"Come, my silver weapon, we have much to discuss. Your former master is already waiting." His voice echoed down the hall. Zero said nothing in reply but silently moved from the now parted crowd of vampires to meet with the other two hunters.
"Silver weapon? So he doesn't call them by name?" Rima questioned looking over at Kain who happened to be standing next to her.
"No, he only calls Zero-sama that before he sends him off to missions and such, when he comes back he will address him as 'my silver rose'. The Chairman has many names for Kiryuu-sama." Yari voiced from the window he came in.
"What are you here for?" Aido snipped at the familiar but unwanted face.
"Why wouldn't I be here?" Yari questioned back pulling out an all too familiar envelope and handing it to Kaname.
"I thought you said Zero didn't have a mission for the rest of the weekend." Rima stated turning to Shiki.
"Zero-sama will learn of that mission once his meeting is over with the Chairman." Yari casually informed as he made to leave.
"You didn't tell him he had a mission?" Ruka questioned. She was really beginning to wonder how hunters trusted anyone at all.
"I do not know the details of any mission. They are classified for the hunters not on the mission. Ex-hunters included." Yari explained walking down the hall.
"Classified? Why is everything classified to other hunters, and people it sounds like, wouldn't it make more sense for others to know the missions?" Kain wondered with a puzzled look down the hall.
"Hunters are arguably more secretive than vampires in certain aspects. I do not know the reason behind it all." Kaname replied watching the window where he knew the hunters and Cross were meeting.
"Hunters...they're all crazy." Aido decided with a nod.
A/N: And there you have chapter two, Classified. I apologize if things are a little bit much right now, I promise everything does clear up. The different terms I use will make sense and then I'm going to overload your brain again. Also, if my chapters are too short or too long for a certain section please let me know. I will always respond to comments, questions, etc. If there's anything needed clarification wise I can do that too, I realize not everything gets translated smoothly from my brain movie to the pages. Thanks again to everyone reading, thanks especially to my guest reader that also left a review, remember to Keep Calm and Fanfiction On~!