A/N: Hello hello! Welcome to chapter 12 and thanks to everyone reading, this chapter is going to go a little more into Zero's relationship with the TAU as well as Takuma and Shiki who will come in later in the chapter. There will be some Kaito input as well which are in italics because it was a past interaction between Shiki and Kaito that the former is thinking back on. I hope that doesn't throw anyone off too much I know I use italics a lot and I apologize if differentiating them between talking, memory/reflection/ past interaction, and telepathy get mixed up. I do my best not to throw all three at you in the same paragraph tho! Regardless, I hope y'all enjoy this chapter and thanks again for your reviews, favorites and follows!~Len
Ch. 12: Goodbyes (And Another Aido Incident)
"Did you see that? Those two killed someone." Aido mumbled to the other after they had halted their running for the moment.
"Yes, I wonder what is going on, but we have to continue looking for Kiryuu-kun." Rima replied in her normal semi-monotone voice. Aido nodded and motioned ahead where they would be headed before the duo took off again.
'I wonder if they have anything to do with this TAU mission that Zero is on.' The blond couldn't help but question himself. Though he didn't look behind him the two could hear a few footsteps behind them before they vanished. There was no aura, scent or noise apart from the vampires themselves. Instead Aido got the sudden feeling he was being closely watched. 'What the hell is going on here? Is this how it feels to be stalked by someone or something?' He wondered checking his surroundings once again. Looking over he saw that Rima looked like she was on edge as well. There was most definitely something going on, but neither noble knew what it was or how to deal with it.
Zero sighed as the two hunters told him the news of the nobles. 'Kaname you idiot, you should learn to keep out of others' business. Especially mine.' He growled in his head quickly trying to think of a way to keep Aido and Rima from getting any closer without hurting them. "Kai, I want you to trap them in a barrier, not one to hurt them but just one to hold them so they don't come rushing in here and end up getting into trouble." Zero eventually ordered, Kai nodded and ran off while Taiyo followed Zero to continue looking for escape routes or spies that would alert the rogues.
"Do you know the vampires Sensei?" He asked quietly as Zero marked one of the trees close by with a symbol only select hunters would understand.
"They're two of Kuran's nobles, Hanabusa Aido and Toya Rima by what the description was. Neither of them are anything close to a threat but we could run into some trouble should Aido do something stupid which is inevitable." Zero explained with an irritated sigh. Taiyo nodded and thought on his Sensei's words before asking.
"Do you think Kuran will send more after them if they don't make it back by morning?" Zero paused, for only a moment, before shaking his head and resuming his task.
"No, that idiot always sends his lackeys on full-length missions, if he put them out here to follow me then he won't expect them back until just before I arrive." He assured, Taiyo nodded again and kept quiet through the rest of the time that they located and marked the escape routes. When Kai returned telling them that he had trapped them in an invisible wind barrier Zero nodded in approval and left the two to check on Isei momentarily. When the older hunter returned the two students proudly stated they had located and marked all the escape routes they could find and were ready to start forming a plan for the following evening.
The following two nights went smoothly, only two more spies after the initial one had to be disposed of and the assassins carried out the killings skillfully without alerting anything or anyone nearby. "Should I take down that barrier now Sensei?" Kai questioned with a glance to the silverette who was cleaning off his hands and blades. Clicking his tongue in slight annoyance Zero nodded to the redhead assassin. Surely he would be having a talk with Kaname later about not only being spied on but no doubt the pureblood would want details.
"Is that pureblood going to spy on us via his nobles every time we have a mission?" Isei questioned while the group walked out of the spotless area, looking as though nothing happened. It was part of their job to make sure no one could follow or trace their jobs back to them or even know they had taken place to begin with.
"I don't know, it's highly possible that he will send others on certain missions and not others. I will try to keep him off my back as best I can without telling him about the TAU but I give no promises. Kuran is something of a persistent bastard." He assured the others as Kai returned to the group explaining he had taken down the barrier and the nobles took off without noticing his presence.
"How annoying. Are you coming back to the association with us Sensei?" Mai asked running a hand through her short raven-blue hair to brush away a few stray strands.
"I don't think so no I'll get the mission report in once I get back." Zero decided, the others nodded though they looked a bit disappointed by it. He could guess why, he wouldn't be seeing them until the battle and even then they were all well aware things wouldn't be the same. Silverblood would be in control and likely all traces of Zero himself would be locked away.
"Then this is goodbye until the start of the war isn't it?" Tari asked with a note of sadness, Zero mentally winced at what that implied and nodded turning back to face his students.
"It is, but it's not forever. After this war is over things will eventually get back to what will be a form of normal." He assured, the looks he got ranged from hopeful to obviously pessimistic about his words. Regardless none of them spoke out and they all moved towards their separate directions. As they always did when splitting up after a job. Mainly to ensure they couldn't be traced.
"Sayonara Sensei." The group of seven chorused, Zero nodded to them and watched as they all vanished from sight before he returned to Cross Academy and the moon dorms. Upon arrival, he decided to enter his room via the window instead of walking through the main door where he was likely to be dragged off immediately by Kaname. This way he would be able to get a shower in and start if not finish his mission report and send it via messenger. At least his last mission had actually done something, rogue hunters always became a problem in the future so it was better they dealt with the clan now instead of waiting. Perhaps they even prevented others from getting killed by the rogues this way.
'Justifying brutal murder.' Zero sneered to himself, it was disgusting what he had done, inhumane even if he thought about it. And he wondered why everyone hated him? He hated him more than any of the night class or annoying day class fans would begin to fathom. All the deaths on his hands couldn't amount to the problems he was the root cause of. He was indeed the most vampiric of anyone he knew and he was about to become something so much worse. It was laughable how hypocritical he was as a being. After his shower Zero sat down and wrote out only the minimal amount of heavily coded details he was obligated to write for his report on their completed job. He got so focused on it that he almost didn't hear the knocking on his door. Looking at the time he frowned, the vampires would usually be asleep by now so who the hell was at his door? Deciding to open it and find out, Zero was slightly surprised to see both Takuma and Shiki standing on the other side with pillows and blankets. "Can I help you?" He eventually voiced having no doubt the other two had caught his tone of confusion at their late visit and the objects in their arms.
"It would be great if you could! Our room is currently being occupied by Ruka and Rima and since you're the only one besides Kaname-sama with a single room he suggested we ask you to put us up for the night. Of course if we're intruding you don't have to say yes." Takuma smiled, an apologetic one that Zero had a very hard time refusing he found as he nodded to the two and opened the door wider to allow them inside. Deciding not to pry on just what happened to Ruka and Rima's room Zero sat back down to finish writing his mission report and maybe go to bed soon after.
"Did we do anything significant in class I should know before tonight?" The silverette ventured to ask as the two were laying out their sleeping arrangements. Takuma sat up on his knees and thought back to the previous two classes he had been in.
"Nothing that would be too difficult to catch up on, it was mostly just short lectures on history, I took notes if you want to look at them, and there were one or two class assignments that were done each day but I doubt you'll have trouble with them at all. Other than that we didn't do much. Ah! I forgot to ask, how did your mission go anyway?" Takuma smiled, inwardly Zero flinched briefly remembering his thoughts from earlier but nodded regardless.
"It went well, efficient and such. The group I was with was highly effective." He chose to say, hoping to satisfy any further possible questions.
"Or really, that's good then. Do you choose who goes on missions with you or does the Chairman of the HA do it always?" The blond questioned though he continued to lay out his things with Shiki.
"Unless under very specific circumstances the Chairman will always choose the participants of a mission. He also assigns the leader of the mission and who does the mission report. The only thing he doesn't control is how the mission tasks are planned and performed. That's up to either the leader or the consensus from the group." Zero explained fully finishing up his report and sending it off with the use of some magic ability.
"I really find it fascinating how the Hunter's Association works, really your organization and efficiency with everything is remarkable." Takuma praised, Zero shrugged not knowing fully how to take the compliment.
"What is remarkable is that a guy like Cross who nearly carried the association on his back on more than one occasion when he was active is so incredibly disorganized. And can't cook to save his or anyone else's life. It's a flat-out miracle he's still alive." The silverette mused in order to change topics discreetly enough that the other two wouldn't notice and it shifted to focus on something entirely different.
"I do agree that is something of an abnormality one would think; especially if you have to cook for yourselves on missions." Takuma agreed with a hum.
'He's trying to avoid being asked about the mission, he likely knows that Aido and Rima came back with information for Kaname, telling him they had prevented from moving forward due to a placed barrier. He wants to keep all information on this as swept under the rug as possible.' Shiki thought to himself. That was expected though, the two knew Zero would keep quiet as long as possible long before it was arranged for them to spend the night in the silverette's dorm with him.
"Zero, I didn't get to say this to you earlier in the week when it happened but I am sorry for Aido's actions and remarks. Many vampires grow up seeing hunters one way and are never able to change that viewpoint." Takuma started off quietly after a small stretch of comfortable silence. Zero snorted slightly and shook his head.
"It's nothing to apologize for, I'm used to it by now and I don't dwell on Aido's remarks for longer than five minutes after the occasion." The teen replied without turning to face the nobles. Takuma stood and walked over to where he was sitting and placed a hand on the younger's shoulder causing Zero to look up at him with surprised unguarded eyes. Takuma could have gasped, he most likely would have had he not been a practiced noble of Kaname's. The currently unhidden emotions swimming through his eyes spoke volumes of the pain and self-loathing the silverette was feeling despite the nonchalant words and dismissal of the mentioned situation.
"Didn't I tell you beforehand that lying won't work?" He smiled and squeezed gently, Shiki had listened into the two's conversation but made no move to show it.
"You really think what all Zero says is how he feels? You'd have to be a complete idiot to think that, Zero's full of emotions. He's the most emotionally unstable guy I know. If you think all those comments Aido and Ruka throw don't fuck him up you're sadly mistaken. His suicidal tendencies grow with each passing day, it's a miracle he's not dead yet." Kaito explained with a tired sigh...Maybe he had said too much to the noble about his best friend, but with the news of Aido's comment and everything that was happening in the future, it was hard to hold back from spilling everything the vampires didn't know about Zero.
'I wonder if he's feeling suicidal right now...' The ashen haired noble questioned himself as he watched Takuma and Zero share a now silent conversation. Unfortunately, the silence didn't last as Aido threw open the door and intruded into their space. Shiki mentally groaned, Zero rubbed his temples and Takuma actually glared at the smaller blond.
"The least you could do is knock, Aido." Takuma sniped and crossed his arms in annoyance.
"For a vampire that hates me, you sure come into my room a lot...what do you want this time?" Zero asked finally looking up from the papers on his desk. Aido crossed his arms and shut the door behind him, staring straight at the teen his eyes narrowed.
"I want answers and I won't be leaving this room until I get them." He answered making himself comfortable on another chair in the room. This time Zero's eyes narrowed marginally and he sat back in his chair.
A/N: I apologize that it took me so long to get this chapter uploaded but things have gotten quite crazy lately. Regardless, since you all don't really need to be bored with my personal life, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll have the next one up quicker! Thanks again and awlays Keep Calm & Fanfiction On~