A/N: Hello everyone, I apologize for not uploading sooner I started my classes last week and I hadn't gotten time to upload until now. But here we are with chapter 11! I wanted to introduce the TAU a little more in this chapter so if you get confused I'm sorry but I'm just trying to give a little more background.
Ch. 11: TAU Mission
"Where did Zero go?" Shiki questioned suddenly cutting off Takuma's rambling over something insignificant according to the model. Takuma looked around them, unable to find the silverette, taking Shiki's sleeve he started leading the other around in search.
"I thought he was standing next to us! I don't know where he would have gone either!" The blond noble huffed as he continued through the crowds of vampires in order to get somewhere Zero would most likely be if he wanted to get away.
"Takuma." Shiki spoke up, again cutting through the other's rambling. Takuma turned and tilted his head slightly prompting the other to continue. Shiki motioned off to the side where they could just see a slight silvery glow reflecting Zero's hair.
"Oh!" Takuma smiled before leading Shiki towards the teen, as they appeared however they heard him talking; a one-sided conversation but a conversation nonetheless. 'Who is he talking to?' He questioned with a slight frown as they got close enough to hear what was being said.
"No, I was planning on signing it later on this week since I have limited time before moving to the compound. Before you say anything I'll be fine and yes you all I'm sure will get along just as well without me. This isn't forever." Zero spoke, his voice calm as though he was trying quite hard to assure the other person of something. "Yes, I'm sure we'll have time after the raid to go over any last things you or the others may need." He added on running a hand through his hair. "I'll sign the TAU mission when we get back to the dorms, the moon dorms is currently at the market downtown." At that Takuma shared a worried look with Shiki. Zero was obviously talking about a mission he was going to do.
'What is the TAU? And why does this mission have to be done before he leaves?' Takuma wondered to himself. They listened to the conversation for a while longer but it was mostly just business discussion and Zero hung up after saying he had probably been gone too long from the others. When he finally came out from the back of the alleyway Takuma approached him with his ever polite warm smile. "We didn't notice you left until just a bit ago so we came to find you." He started to make it seem like they hadn't been listening in too closely on what had been going on.
"Ah, sorry about that, I got a call from someone at the association and unfortunately those can never wait." Zero replied sincerely apologetic for not telling the two before he just vanished.
"Are you going on another mission?" Shiki questioned despite that both he and Takuma knew the answer.
"Unfortunately yes, it will most likely take a day or two but I don't have to go very far so I may get done a bit sooner than expected. That's the hope anyway." Zero answered with a shrug while the group walked back into the market street.
"Is the level E population on the rise again?" Takuma questioned with a slightly worried look to the hunter however when the younger shook his head the noble wondered if he should be more or less worried than before.
"The level E's are currently not so much of a worry right now despite that we're in season. The mission I'm headed on is to check up on a group of hunters that went rogue a while back." Zero chose to answer figuring if he said enough the vampires would leave it alone and hopefully not look into it too much. Of course Kaname was always sticking his nose where it didn't belong but Zero would most likely be done with his mission by the time the pureblood found out what was going on.
"I see, so you do spy work as well as hunts?" The blond marveled. Zero hesitated slightly before nodding, technically it wasn't wrong. It was spy work, only he'd end up killing them all once he found out all he needed to know. Takuma, who did take notice of the slight pause before Zero answered, figured he would have to report to Kaname later on. "I suppose we should start heading to meet up with the others now. It always takes us a while to get going and I think Kaname wanted to stop along the way back though I don't know where or what for exactly." Zero mentally sighed in relief that there would be no more questions and nodded. Looking over he spotted Kain, Ruka, Aido, and Rima walking together and motioned to the group slightly. Takuma smiled and bounded over to them, greeting Kain with a nod as they all ignored Aido and Ruka's resumed verbal battle.
"How was the market for you?" Rima asked as she walked alongside Zero and Shiki.
"Alright, far too many people for my usual liking but some of the stalls were nice and interesting." The silverette responded with a slight shrug. Aido looked back at him from where he was walking and sneered with pointed prominent fangs. Choosing to ignore it for the moment the teen looked off to the side. Directly into a pair of red shifting eyes. Being an elite hunter his body went rigid and there was an immediate spark of defense. He knew vampires weren't fond of lower levels but he hoped none would be dumb enough to openly attack him. Turning back towards Rima he decided to ask her about the glowing eyes to the side of them. "Do vampires always openly display their hatred?" He questioned as he ignored the growing commotion around them. Rima looked over to the shadowed woods spotting what the other was talking about quickly and shook her head.
"Usually you only see that type of outward aggression before there's an attack of some sort." She answered with a frown. "If there is an attack here it would become a problem, especially if humans get involved." The vampire added on. Zero nodded and decided to keep his eyes down but his senses were trained on the vampire in the woods as they continued walking.
"If something does happen the hunter can just blow us up with one of his bullets from Bloody Rose, or an arrow. Isn't that right Kiryuu?" Aido smirked from beside Kain. Zero's eyes narrowed, he had forgotten the ice noble had watched him with his soul weapon a while back. If word got out about it there would be a problem.
"I may be a hunter, but unless there is an attack or I am assigned to a hunt I don't go unnecessarily killing vampires; on the note of my arrows, I'd never endanger so many humans or vampires." He replied, honestly it was irritating how much of the vampire population seemed to think hunters were mindless killers.
"Homicidal maniac." Aido muttered, that hit Zero harder than he'd ever let the nobles know. Mainly because it wasn't completely untrue. He was homicidal, not intentionally but it was something he had to live with. He would have retorted, saying that nobles killed level E's and level D vampires as hunters did, but decided to keep his mouth shut.
"Aido, please refrain from making comments such as that in the future. Hunters, despite our differences, make our lives easier by controlling the low-level population. Unless you'd rather take on missions to deal with the level E's yourself." Takuma stepped in when Zero didn't. Aido glared back at him but said nothing more to Zero's relief. He nodded his thanks to Takuma discretely to which the other, of course, smiled back in understanding. There was still a lot Takuma wanted to know about the teen, and he'd be damned if a simpleton such as Aido got in the way at this crucial point. Zero remained quiet and reserved for the rest of the outing which concerned the other vampire greatly, not that he would allow the others to know just yet. As it would only draw more unwanted attention to the hunter turned vampire. 'I'll have to talk with him later tonight.' He decided when he noticed the silverette slip up to his room as discreetly as possible. Takuma figured he would sign that mission while he was up there meaning he'd likely leave the next morning if not sooner. He had limited time to ask Zero and be assured the other wouldn't do something rash.
Zero shut his door with a little more force than necessary, his mind swimming from Aido's comments still, though he had managed to keep himself together for the most part until now. For that he was thankful. Even so, he felt like the room was spinning even though everything was standing still. He was dirty, disgusting and he hated it. What was so good about a merciless mindless weapon like himself. Just there to be used then destroyed when his power became too much for him or anyone else to be able to control. He would end up killing them and there was nothing he could do to stop himself. Silverblood kept clawing at him to be released into the world. He hadn't been able to exercise any of his true power and it was building so quickly. 'Too quickly.' He had realized this. But what could he do about it exactly? It wasn't as though he could re-seal himself, that was too complicated and would cause even more trouble for everyone else. He had to do something, he had to leave and use some of that power. Glancing over to his desk his eyes easily found the unopened letter. He had been planning on leaving for it the following night, but at the moment conducting that mission was something he needed. It was the only way. Pulling out his phone and dialing a number he opened the letter and signed it as the device rang.
"Zero-sensei? What's going on?" Isei, one of Zero's top students within the TAU, answered on the other side of the line. She was usually the caller of the group whenever Zero had a mission for them. Aside from a magic calling of the group Isei was the fastest way to get the TAU prepared for a mission on short notice.
"The mission that I was telling you about earlier, I've decided that we are taking it tonight. I need you to get the others ready and I'll send out the details of where we shall meet. Can you do that in the next...say fifteen minutes?" He questioned looking over at the clock for a brief second as the letter vanished from his desk. Soon after he the left the association would be notified and Yari would be on his way to the moon dorms.
"Hai, I can have everyone ready in ten and we'll meet you in the other five. If I may ask, Sensei, what made you decide to take the mission tonight?" She questioned, there was a hint of concern in her voice that Zero both detected and expected from the other, he smiled slightly to himself. She reminded him of Yuki quite a lot.
"I'll be leaving at the end of the week for the compound and this has to be done before I go. Even more so if I don't have some form of power release I fear there will be consequences." He answered carefully to not worry his student even more so. Isei took the answer and bid her sensei goodbye to get ready, mainly to get the others ready, she wanted this mission to go well for them and please Zero. Once Zero was off the phone he stripped his clothes and changed into assassin gear, pulling open a secret drawer Zero gazed almost adoringly at his collection of assassin weapons. They were different from his hunting weapons, seeing as this wasn't a hunt, instead he pocketed a silent pistol and throwing knives polished to perfection. Sliding a dagger and black katana in sheaths that attached to his belt the hunter placed charms on himself to stay undetected from both hunters and vampire kind. Humans wouldn't even see him. He opened the window and slipped out off into the night after locking everything up again. He would need to do this mission quickly to not raise too much suspicion in the moon dorms as he left Bloody Rose locked away but visible in his room.
When Yari showed up in Kaname's study later in the evening Aido frowned, he hadn't noticed the hunter leave the dorms. As their pureblood leader opened the mission details Aido slipped out of the study and walked down to the silverette's room. Since the teen wasn't there the noble let himself in without thought. As expected the teen was gone but he saw Bloody Rose there meaning whatever hunt he was on either didn't deal with vampires or the boy was using more powerful methods of fighting. 'I wonder if it has anything to do with that Silverblood thing...' The noble questioned to himself then he noted Zero's normal hunting attire was still tucked away in the drawer, clean and perfectly stored to look normal to anyone who didn't know anything of their world. 'He's not hunting vampires then...but who is he hunting?' Aido looked around but there were no hints that could give him the answer he was searching for. He figured if he couldn't find out by snooping he'd need to find out via the hunter himself. That wouldn't be easy but maybe he'd corner Zero after he got back and get answers the hard way. Satisfied with his plan Aido slipped back down the hall and into Kaname's study where the pureblood and nobles were discussing the letter still.
"I thought the other missions were vague but those are nothing compared to this one." Ruka noted with slightly widened eyes.
"This mission is not meant to be decodable to anyone outside the group of hunters it was given to. They all must know the group though since it doesn't even list the field names as it does on regular missions." Takuma added on from where he stood off to the side of the pureblood's desk.
"Do you think he's even on a hunt? He did say he does spy work too." Shiki reminded quietly while munching on pocky given to him by Rima earlier.
"That would make sense with how coveted it is compared to hunting missions. We also have to take in the group however. The TAU that is." Kain added crossing his arms in half thought.
"Kiryuu-kun told me the TAU group is assembled of the best of the elite hunters. They are quite literally the truest forms of hunters in existence." Kaname supplied though he frowned slightly at his own words. 'If they are the best hunters why are they not on a hunting mission?' He questioned himself. "Seiren, Aido, and Rima I have a job for you three." He announced looking over the letter once again as the three nobles stepped forward.
"Yes Kaname-sama?" They chorused together to receive their orders from their leader.
"Seiren I want you to find me everything you can on this 'TAU' group, I believe Kiryuu-kun is holding out as far as details go. Rima you and Aido will go find out what this mission is. Stay hidden, but find Zero. Understood?" The future vampire king questioned, when the three nodded he dismissed them with a slight flick of his hand. After the trio left Kaname folded the letter back up, as he couldn't get anything useful from it anyway, and sat back in his chair. He was confident in Seiren's ability to retrieve information but he was slightly worried about Rima and Aido being able to stay out of sight of the elite hunters. The latter more so than the former.
"Kaname, while I do not stand against your decisions, why did you choose to send Rima and Aido on such a quest?" Kain voiced after a few minutes of silence, he could tell the others were thinking along the same lines but didn't say anything.
"Rima because I know she will stay out of trouble and hopefully keep Aido out of it as well. Aido because he would have gone after Zero one way or another eventually. He might as well report back to me what he finds." The pureblood answered, satisfying the noble's curiosity as he always tried his best to do. That wasn't an easy task when it came to a being like Zero however. 'Someone so easy to talk to yet so impossible to learn and understand. Emotionally closed off from everyone to an extent.' The pureblood sighed to himself and dismissed the other nobles. All, except Takuma who stayed behind with a contemplative and concerned expression replacing his usual smile, complied with Kaname's order and left.
"Kaname, I'd like to start formulating a plan to get Zero-kun out of the compound. It will only be a few days once he returns and then he will leave to that place." His best friend expressed once the others were out the door and far out of earshot. Not that they wouldn't support and help but for now the less beings to know the better. There was less risk this way.
"Very well Takuma we can start formulating something tonight but we will wait to inform anyone else until the day before Kiryuu-kun leaves for the compound." Kaname decided to which Takuma nodded in understanding. While the two sat down to hash out blueprints Shiki had slipped out of the moon dorms unnoticed and made his way to where he knew Kaito was staying. He had questions and needed answers before they drove him insane.
Zero motioned for Isei, Tama and Mai to head around the perimeter of the home and set out barriers to keep any unsuspecting humans, hunters or vampires from snooping while they were doing their mission. "Kao and Tari I want you two to go and find the rest of the level E's that are being called here and finish them off. When you're done I don't want there to be a level E to feel safe in the area for at least the next century." He ordered to the pair who nodded and vanished from sight before he turned to the last two hunters. "You two come with me." Kai and Taiyo looked at each other slightly worried but nodded regardless.
"What do you need us to do Sensei?" Kai, one of the best close combat fighters Zero had ever seen, questioned in a hushed tone as the two followed their master closer to the house.
"We need to start scouting their routine, that way we can make an effective plan before we carry out the actual attack on these bastards. Should we miss something or not plan out something with these guys we could very well put the people nearby not only in danger but it could result in humans being attacked by the hunters because of how many vampires are also gathered here." Zero explained to the duo. He knew the others would be careful when they went about their tasks to make sure they were neither seen nor heard by any possible spies or a member of the clan themselves. They were seasoned hunters after all, they knew what a mission like this entailed and were fully aware of the situation.
"So you mean we're just going to be watching these guys go about their day?" Taiyo, a prized student but he often reminded Zero too much of himself as he caught the undertone of disappointment in his words. Mentally sighing Zero shook his head slightly at the younger hunter.
"No, we will watch them for tonight and tomorrow, the morning of the third day we will begin the assassinations and the others will follow our lead." He told the two as he scouted for any possible spies, since they weren't with the association their spies had been disbanded but it was always a bit difficult to know. Once again Kai and Taiyo shared a look only this time it was of excitement and a hint of underlying nervousness.
"Should we take stake out positions then Sensei?" Kai asked with a newfound confidence in his words and step as they walked within the boundaries of the house.
"Soon but not just yet, I want to note all the possible escape routes beforehand so we can officially block them all and avoid error." Came the answer before Zero stopped in his tracks and looked off to the side halting both hunters beside him effectively. Pulling out a throwing knife Zero aimed and threw directly into an unsuspecting spy's throat, as the body fell from the trees Zero motioned for Kai to grab it. They couldn't afford the slightest noise when it came to an assassination. Kai nodded and took off to catch the fallen hunter and brought their bleeding body back to the other two before Zero ordered for them to dispose of it somewhere off the premises. The two nodded and hurried away from the area to dispose of the body. Zero would wait for their return before he continued scouting.
"I guess this means they have spies." Taiyo mumbled as the two ran right past the two nobles searching for Zero.
A/N: I apologize for this being later than I initially planned I promise now that I'm in the swing of school my chapters will be coming out faster, thank you all for still reading this and I will keep you updated better! As always ~Keep Calm and Fanfiction On~