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Intense pain. Blue eyes wide with fear. The coppery yet irresistible taste of blood. A flash of red.
Darkness.
Gakushuu opened his eyes, an acute sense of panic filling him. He didn't know what was happening, but he had a sudden sense of danger.
He sat up quickly, only to feel gentle yet firm hands pushing him down by his shoulders, back onto the bed he was lying on.
"Easy now. You don't want to re-open the wound, right?" A familiar voice said. Gakushuu blinked, and took in his surroundings; He was lying on a white bed, with white curtains surrounding it. Out a small window he could see it was dark outside. Evevning time- he must of been out for a few hours. He was in the hospital. Hovering above him was Ren, a concerned look on his face.
"What happened?" Gakushuu asked, it seemed like a lame question but it was all he could think of. His was suddenly aware stomach hurt like he had been stabbed (oh yeah, he had. By his own father).
"The Chairman, your father, brought you here after the Red Devil stabbed you. He was so worried, he insisted on treating you himself. He was so relived that the attack missed any of your vital organs. He's addressing the school at the moment- So I said I'd watch over you." Ren explained quickly, moving to sit on the chair my Gakushuu's bedside. Gakushuu resisted the urge to scoff; Of course the Chairman insisted on treating him himself, he couldn't risk anyone finding out Gakushuu wasn't human when they noticed his enhanced healing, probably even more enhanced than usual now that he'd consumed human blood. Human blood. Shit. Gakushuu felt a sudden jolt of dread as blurry memories of drinking Nagisa's blood filled his head.
"Nagisa.. Nagisa Shiota. He was there. What happened to him?" Gakushuu asked tentatively, almost afraid of the answer. Ren looked down.
"That poor boy. He was so foolish to trust a Vampire and let it into the school." Ren sighed. "The Chairman told us that the Red Devil drank Nagisa's blood dry as soon as he got the chance. Even the Chairman couldn't save Nagisa before he slew the Red Devil."
Gakushuu couldn't help the strangled gasp that escaped his lips; He'd killed Nagisa. He'd drank his blood and killed him like some sort of wild beast. He was no better than his father now. Images of Nagisa filled his mind; He really was just a foolish weakling who had gotten mixed up with the wrong people. And Gakushuu had killed him, and ate him. He felt like a disgusting monster, like one of the many Vampires he'd killed over the years.
He didn't even realise he was crying until he felt Ren lean forward and brush a tear of his cheek with his thumb. "Hey- it's okay! There was nothing you could do about it. You can't save everyone, Asano." The other said gently, sounding somewhat shocked to see his leader crying (Asano hardly showed any emotion at all, after all, besides determination and irritation). Gakushuu was mortified at his display of weakness. He couldn't even roll and face away from Ren because of his injury.
"I mean, at least the Red Devil has finally been killed and his reign of terror is over before he had wrecked too much damage."
Gakushuu thought of Karma- That Vampire infuriated him. He was so arrogant, and disrespectful and relied on his natural powers rather than actually working. And yet. Gakushuu didn't think he deserved to die; After all, annoying as he was, Karma had never killed anyone. Unlike Gakushuu.
Gakushuu wondered if his sadistic bastard of a father had tortured the Vampire before killing him, then decided he'd rather not know.
Gakushuu quickly wiped his eyes and went to sit up again. "Where is my uniform?" He asked. He wasn't sure what else he could do, but he wanted to get out of these stupid hospital robes and go and join the main school and do.. something. Lying here just made him more anxious. "And what about my sword?"
Once again, Ren attempted to pushed him back down onto the bed, an exasperated look on his face as Asano refused to budge. "Your uniform is covered in blood, and your father put your weapons somewhere safe." Ren exclaimed. "But it doesn't matter. You're not in danger now. All you need to do is recover from your injury."
Asano let out a defeated sigh through gritted teeth, and lay back down on the bed, scowling at the ceiling. Once again, he had attempted to rebel against his father and he had lost. He started to believe the appearance of the Red Devil would change things in their town, but the
Vampire was now gone as suddenly as he arrived.
Things would probably slowly go back to normal now, with the whole village believing the Chairman's warped version of events; The Red Devil had killed Nagisa and stabbed Asano, and his father had killed him from it.
E class sat in the main hall alongside the rest of the school; The room was packed with the students from the exam, all of them speaking, spreading rumours, trying to make sense of what happened at the exams this morning. It was evening now, and real answers still hadn't been given, all they had to go off was rumours.
There were some things E class knew had definitely happened; Somebody had opened the gate to the labyrinth and allowed the Vampires out (Karma had been blamed for this). Karma and Nagisa had ran into the main building while being pursued by the Asano's. All four of them hadn't been seen since.
The combination of students and hunter's had managed to fight off the Vampires before anyone was killed or seriously injure. And after hours of waiting, two D class students still hadn't returned from the labyrinth.
Despite the noise being made by other students, E class sat in silence, all of them too consumed by their own worries to speak.
Nagisa and Karma had to be okay, right? As strong as the Asano's were, humans like them couldn't compete with a Natural Born Vampire like Karma, right? The two of them had probably escaped hours ago, and re-grouped with Korosensei. Or so E class kept telling themselves.
Karasuma stood nearby, but there was no use asking him; He didn't even know Karma had been helping E class (they kept it from him, to stop him getting in trouble with his superiors for collaborating with Vampires).
Suddenly, the room went silent. E class looked up to see the Chairman making his way onto the podium. His dark cloak billowed behind him as he moved, and there was an unreadable expression on his face.
The E class and the rest of the school awaited in tense silence for his words. Kayano and Okuda held each others hands tight, even the normally laid-back Rio looked perturbed. (Just tell us the 'Red Devil' escaped, please).
The Chairman stood at the front in silence for a moment, observing the masses, before speaking.
"As you all now know this years Hunter's Examination was infiltrated by a powerful Vampire. His aim was to take over the school by freeing the bloodsuckers in the labyrinth, and leading them on a rampage." The Chairman spoke. Terasaka gritted his teeth- What lies! "Fortunately, because of the strength and valour of you students, and the professional hunters, the Vampire attack was warded off without any deaths. And I can now confirm that I personally killed the instigator of the attacks; The Red Devil himself."
The room erupted into applause. Everyone was cheering. All except E class. All of them sat there in shock, frozen in place.
"No, that can't be." Isogai murmured. As powerful as the Chairman was, he was only human, how could he have killed Karma? The E class was devastated. Karma wasn't just a powerful ally to them, he was also a friend. Kurahashi was blinking back tears, even Terasaka had balled his fists and looked close to breaking down.
"The battle with the Red Devil was not without its consequences, however; The Red Devil managed to brainwash one of our own students and subsequently killed him as soon as he got the chance." The Chairman said, sounding solemn. But nobody in E class missed the glint of malicious glee in eyes eye. "The Red Devil murdered Nagisa Shiota before anybody had a chance to intervene."
E class had been devastated at the news of Karma's death, but as soon as Nagisa's name was spoke they became inconsolable; Most of them had known Nagisa since their days at primary school, he was a childhood friend of most of the class.
"No!" Rio screamed out loud, it was a desperate sound strangled by tears. She stood up out of her chair, no longer caring if other students were looking at her. "You're lying! Karma wouldn't- "
Luckily, Kanzaki pulled Rio back down into a hug, silencing her before she could say anything too damning. Almost all of E class were in tears now.
But the rest of the school was a different story; A few looked shocked, even horrified, while others held an expression that was unmistakably one of smugness.
"Nagisa Shiota's death is, of course, unfortunate; But it will stand to remind us to never trust Vampires. The Red Devil was cunning, he managed to convince Nagisa that they were allies. But what happened in the end? Nagisa Shiota's body was so badly mangled there was nothing left for me to retrieve." The Chairman said, still with that look of faux-sympathy on his face. Like he wasn't the one behind the two deaths. "We tried everything to help Nagisa Shiota. Even one of our elites, Asano was injured during the process, but in the end, some people cannot be saved. For many of you, today will be the first time truly confronting the evils of Vampires. Remember this lesson well."
With that, the Chairman curtly walked off the podium, disappearing behind the curtains of the stage like a pantomime villain. As soon as he left, the power he held over the students that made them remain silent, was broken.
The room erupted into murmurs, whispers that grew to loud questions and shouting.
"Asano was injured? I hope he's okay." A C-class girl squealed.
"I can't believe he got himself hurt for the sake of that dirty traitor." Another girl replied.
"Asano's fine it was just a scratch Sakakibara's with him. There's no way some Vampire could hurt our leader." Araki said dismissively.
"Man, I knew E class kids were dumb, but seriously? Trusting a Vampire? Even a toddler knows not to do that." One of the A-class elites, Seo scoffed. Terasaka stood up out of his chair ready to punch someone. Isogai took his arm gently, blinking back tears of his own.
"C'mon. It's not worth it." Isogai said, with a defeated sigh. "Let's just get out of here. Find Korosensei. Re-evaluate."
"What's the point?" Maehara said, his voice sounded hollow as he followed Isogai and the others out. "We thought that having Korosensei on our side would save us, but now, two of us are dead."
The E class began to file out. Only Rio didn't move from her seat. She kept her head down, blond hair spilling over her shoulders, shrouding her eyes from view. Kanzaki gently tugged her shoulder.
"Let's not stay here with these people." She said. Rio looked up at her, determination suddenly blazing in her eyes were tears had been seconds earlier.
"The Chairman said he was unable to retrieve any part of Nagisa's body. Is it just me or does that seem like a lie? I mean, there should be something left." Rio said, looking almost demented as she spoke.
"Rio- please- I don't want to think about Nagisa like that." Kanzaki said, covering her mouth.
"There should be a body. Unless Nagisa's not really dead." Rio said, standing up suddenly. She spoke in a hissing whisper, so the other classes couldn't hear. "Karma said that the school has been conducting experiments on students. What if Nagisa is being kept by the Chairman for that purpose? It's the perfect way to avoid suspicion. That's why there's no body. I'm sure of it. All we have to do is save Nagisa before it's too late."
Kanzaki stared at Rio, her eyes widening in understanding. "But.. even if that where true. How on earth would we know where to find Nagisa before it was too late?" The black haired girl asked apprehensively.
"Easy." Rio said with a dark smirk. "We just speak to the only other person who was there when Nagisa was 'killed'."
"Karma? "Karma?"
That was Nagisa's voice. It sounded desperate. Scared. Karma blinked and slowly opened his eyes. Pain. He was suddenly aware of how much pain he was in; His arms, mainly ached, but his entire body felt weak, as if his life force had been sucked out of him.
Suddenly, the events that had happened previously came back to him in a rush; The Hunter examination, the feral vampires attacking, Asano drinking Nagisa's blood, the Chairman drinking Karma's blood.
Oh God. He'd lost so easily.
Slowly, he opened his eyes and took in the situation; He was in a dark prison cell, one arm was cuffed to the wall. Right in front of him was Nagisa, the boy looked paler than usual, tear-tracks were down his face.
"Nagisa!" The Vampire exclaimed, just so relived to see the other alive. He pulled Nagisa into a one-armed hug, and the other let out a startled squeak. He quickly kissed the top of Nagisa's head. Yes, he was chained in a dirty cage, but Nagisa being here made it so much better. "You're so cold!"
Nagisa hugged Karma back with both arms. He was also relieved; He had woken up in this tiny cage chained to Karma, with nobody else around. Karma looked so badly hurt; Incredibly pale, his arms bruised and broken.
For what seemed like hours, the Vampire wouldn't wake up. Nagisa could only desperately call his name, hug him- he even tried kissing him.
Nagisa wasn't really sure what was going on, but clearly, the Chairman had captured both he and Karma, and was keeping them as prisoners in the depths of the academy basement. It was terrifying.
Nagisa felt incredibly weak and tired- it must be from Asano drinking his blood. Did that mean Asano was a Vampire? He had no idea.
"They didn't hurt you, did they?" Karma asked, glaring at Nagisa, looking for any injuries.
"You're the one we should be worried about!" Nagisa exclaimed, still with his arms around Karma. "Your arms look really sore."
"They'll heal in no time." Karma said dismissively. Nagisa chanced a look at his surroundings; They were in a tiny cage, that was situated in a large cavern, lined with black flagstones. The only weak source of light was the flame torch a few meters outside the cage. Everything was shrouded in shadows. Nagisa could hardly see, but he was sure the darkness was no problem for Karma.
"Do you think there's a way out of here?" Nagisa asked. His movement was restricted by the cuffs on his hands, both of them linked to the chains on Karma's, which chained to the wall.
"This metal is super strong." Karma said, frustrated, he tried to pull his arms free to no avail. Plus, it didn't help that having his blood drained earlier had made him weaker.
Nagisa shifted, and Karma quickly looked the other way.
"What's wrong?" Nagisa asked tentatively, picking up that something wasn't right with the other.
"Your blood. It's really hard to resist at the moment." Karma admitted with a strained voice, looking ashamed with himself. "That bastard of a Chairman he... drank my blood. I think he's planning on using me to retain his sanity as a turned Vampire. I'm injured so the bloodlust is getting.. stronger."
"It's fine! Just drink my blood!" Nagisa said- he didn't want Karms to suffer. The thought of the Chairman hurting Karma made Nagisa feel strangely pissed off and protective. He wanted to strangle that bastard.
"I can't." Karma said with a scowl, his mercury eyes boring into Nagisa's blue ones. "You've lost so much blood already to that Asano brat. If I take any more I might actually kill you."
"I trust you." Nagisa said, leaning forwards. He wanted to help his friend!. Karma turned the other way deliberately.
"I can't risk it." Karma insisted. "Not while we've both suffered from blood-loss. If I start, I might not be able to control myself. If I hurt you, I'd never forgive myself."
Nagisa but his lip and looked down. There was no convincing Karma, no matter how much he wanted to help him.
"So about the Asano's. They're both Vampires, right?" Nagisa asked. He gave a hollow laugh. "The people running my Vampire-killing village are Vampires themselves. Everything I know really is a lie."
Karma joined in with an equally humourless laugh. "When most people turn into Vampires they run away from their families and communities. That bastard stayed and became the leader. What a joke." Karma said- even he hadn't predicted this turn of events. "At least that solves the mystery of why he was turning people into Vampires. They were just a source to try keep his sanity."
"That evil bastard." Nagisa muttered, genuinely angry when he thought of all the innocent people that had died for his sake.
"Although, he said he's been a Vampire for over sixteen years. I've never heard a case of a turned-Vampire lasting even half that length of time. Even drinking the blood of other Turned Vampires. He must have an insane amount of will-power." Karma said. This was a more powerful enemy than he realised. The Chairman was even more powerful than the average Vampire. He truly was a beast.
"What about Asano? Was he turned recently?" Nagisa asked. He remembered how the other hunter had tried to push him away when he had tried to stop the bleeding. "I don't think he wanted to drink my blood."
Karma's scowl deepened at the mention of Asano drinking his Nagisa's blood. "That brat is a strange case. Something about him doesn't seem completely Vampire."
Nagisa frowned, about to ask what that means when suddenly Karma let out a hiss of pain as he tried to move one of his arms.
"Karma!" Nagisa exclaimed, his eyes widening. The Vampire let out a disgruntled grunt of pain.
"It's fine. Re-growing bones is just a little more painful than I imagined." Karma said, trying to act casual, but his face was still in a grimace. Nagisa kneeled up to inspect Karma's arms; The Chairman had really done a number on him- The hunter hated seeing Karma so hurt, he wished he could help. Without even thinking about it, Nagisa leaned forward and kissed a particularly large bruise on Karma's arm.
"How sweet, are you kissing my injuries better?" Karma said with a teasing tone. Nagisa realised what he had done and turned bright red.
"I- I was just looking at them!" Nagisa insisted, his blush deepening. Damnit he felt like a childish fool!
"With your mouth?" Karma chuckled, a taunting look in his eye. "No need to be embarrassed I think it's cute!"
"Shut up." Nagisa said abashedly. In the back of his mind he thought about how crazy it was that even in this dire situation he and Karma still had light-hearted conversation.
Suddenly, they were interrupted by the sound of footsteps echoing around the labyrinth. Both boys fell deathly quiet.
Someone was coming.
"I'm glad that you're having fun down here." A now-familiar voice said. Nagisa's heart started to race as the Chairman's figure came into view, his face eerily illuminated by the candle-light. As soon as he heard that voice, all light hearted feelings disappeared and were replaced once again by fear.
The Chairman looked down at them with a smug grin and sinister eyes, he seemed to tower above them. Something else Nagisa noticed about him before was that he looked remarkably young for someone with a teenage son, he hardly looked over 25. He really must be a Vampire.
"You bastard! Let Nagisa go! You have no reason to keep him here!" Karma shouted suddenly enraged. His anger was only intensified by the fact he couldn't break free and rip this man's throat out like he wanted to. Usually he was always cool and laid back, but now the Vampire had snapped. The Chairman simply chuckled, looking at Karma with a mixture of amusement and disdain, as if he were simply an unruly child.
"There's no need to be so rude. I'm simply providing you with a little snack in case you get hungry." The Chairman said, gesturing to Nagisa. "I'm surprised you haven't already consumed him."
"I would never." Karma said, his voice a low growl and his eyes like flames. The Chairman let out another chuckle.
"So you say now, but even Natural Vampires go feral when they're deprived of blood." The Chairman said almost gleefully. "I wonder how long it'll be before Mr Shiota starts looking less like a friend, and more like vulnerable prey, just waiting to eaten. Hours? Days?"
"You're an insane sadistic psychopath. Do you really think your reign or terror will last? I don't know who's going to destroy you first; your people, or yourself." Karma said to him. The Chairman's eyebrow raised in annoyance.
"Let's see how much of that attitude you retrain when you've killed your friend. You'll be easy to break after that." The Chairman said, sounding so sure of yourself. "I have to thank you for donating your blood to me, Red Devil. My head feels much clearer after that. Thank you."
Now it was Nagisa's turn to get pissed off; Did the Chairman really plan to have Karma be his blood slave indefinitely? For the rest of their lives? So eternity?
He couldn't bare the thought of Karma being used like that!
Without Nagisa realising it, blood-lust exuded off him dangerously.
"Karma's right. You won't last much longer, Chairman Asano." Nagisa hissed. "The minute you step out of the safety academy, our demon teacher will make you pay. Or maybe you won't even make it that far. I can't imagine your son is feeling particularly amiable towards you after you stabbed him and manipulated him. And the rest of E class know what you've done. You've made a lot of enemies, Chairman Asano."
The Chairman glared at the boy; Nagisa Shiota always seemed so weak and mild, but in this moment there was something deadly about him- No matter, the Chairman wouldn't let the prattle of one insignificant hunter bother him.
"Even with all their strength combined, some weak human children and a half-grown hybrid are no match against me. Not that my son would ever work with E class." The Chairman said, walking right up to the bars. "And do you really think when I signed the contract with your teacher I wouldn't put in a rule forbidding him to hurt me? You're more stupid than I thought."
Nagisa gritted his teeth.
"Of course, by all means keep thinking that I'll be killed soon." The Chairman sneered. "It may be some comfort for you when your little Vampire friend drains your blood!"
And with those parting words, the Chairman left, walking across the labyrinth and up the winding spiral staircase.
Karma and Nagisa stared after him, feeling even more empty and hopeless than before.
"We walked straight into his trap." Karma hissed, looking at the floor sounding uncharacteristically defeated. Well Nagisa wouldn't allow it! He grabbed Karma's face in his hands and forcing their eyes to meet.
Mercury stared into sky blue.
"Karma. I trust you not to kill me." Nagisa said, his voice full of unusual confidence and vigor. "Both of us are still alive, and we've got a whole class full of friends to help us. I don't know how, but we will get out of this. As long as we have each other everything will work out!"
Karma blinked, then his face split into a grin. "You've changed. " he said fondly. "You used to be so negative. Now you me starting to sound like Korosensei giving a motivational speech."
Nagisa felt himself blush- had he been to Cheesy. "I do not!" He snapped, embarrassed. Karma just laughed.
"Do too." The Vampire teased. "But your right. We'll find a way to turn this around."
After that, there was nothing the two could do but lean against each other and attempt to plan.
This was an awful situation. Nagisa thought. But at least he was with Karma.
The end of yet another chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it. I got a lot of long reviews at the end of last chapter and that made me really happy!
This chapter is sort of the 'look at the mess that's been made' chapter. (Did anyone actually believe Karma and Nagisa were dead?)
reply to guest reviews;
Jose97- Thank you for reviewing! I'm happy you liked the chapter!
Kuroneko- Thank you for reviewing! Yeah Asano's backstory was pretty hard, but you're right, the Chairman does care about him. Sorry Karma and Nagisa weren't saved this chapter! D: