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Zero sighed as he looked over the mass of people that had followed him and Seiren to the gym. Damn Kuran to hell, he though bitterly. I'll bet he knew that this would be the largest of the groups. That bastard. Well, there was nothing he could do about it now. He had already agreed to it and he never backed out of something he had agreed to. "Where are we going to start?" He asked in a whisper looking almost desperately at Seiren. "There are so many of them."
"We'll just have to start at the beginning," she replied quietly, her silver eyes alight with mirth at his confusion. It was amusing to her how lost he was when he had people that were eager to learn from him when he had had no problem bullying the day class students. "How do you feel about giving them an exhibition match so they get an idea how hand-to-hand works?"
"You mean you and I fight to show them how it's done?" he asked attempting to clarify her suggestion so that he didn't get himself into trouble.
"That's exactly what I mean," she said with a malicious smile. "Are you game? Or are you afraid that you will be defeated by a woman in front of witnesses?"
Zero didn't really see an easy way out of this. He didn't want to fight Seiren, but he couldn't let her think that he was afraid to fight her. He thought about which outcome he could more easily live with, then nodded, "Ok," he said his voice tight, "Let's show them how it's done. Just you and me, no weapons."
"You're actually going to stick to that rule this time, right?" she asked somewhat seriously. She remembered that he had agreed to no weapons during his fight with Kaname and had reneged on that agreement when he had been angered.
"As long as you don't bite me," Zero replied with a smile.
"I was under the impression that you like it when I bite you," she said with a sly smile. Zero felt a blush creep up his cheeks at her words. He figured that he had imagined the double meaning in her words and broke eye contact before she could see the desire in his eyes.
He cleared his throat before he asked her, "So do you want to make the announcement? I feel like they will take instructions from you better than they will me."
She sighed. "I was hoping that you would talk to them," she said honestly. They really hadn't thought through the teaching assignments well. While both she and Zero were great at what they did, talking to others wasn't one of those things. They really should have paired with one of the more outspoken members of the night class so that someone could explain what they needed the others to do. Someone that was actually comfortable talking to them.
But, she also knew that Zero was right. There were a few vampires in the crowd that would not appreciate taking orders from a Level D who had yet to prove that he knew what he was doing. And a couple more that would not like taking orders from him even after he had proved it. For now, she was the one that had to tell them what to do. She glanced at Zero, her eyes wide with barely concealed panic.
"Don't worry," he whispered stroking the side of her face. "It'll be fine. If any of them give you any shit, I'll kill them." He was halfway joking about killing them, but he was also halfway serious. But it had the effect he wanted, she smiled and gave him a weak laugh.
"We'll just have to hope they don't," she replied. "Especially since loss of fighters in our ranks would hurt our overall chance of surviving this war."
"In that case, I will just maim them," he said returning her smile. She laughed silently as the memory of Kaname's amended order all those nights ago ghosted through her head. Fine, don't kill them. Just maim them and tell them to come back at nightfall, she heard his voice say in her memory. Even though she would never be the one to tell Zero, many of the things he said were things that she could see coming from a more outspoken Kaname. Especially when those things were in regard to the other. Somehow she felt that neither man would appreciate her insights.
"I might just take you up on that," she said before taking a deep breath. I may as well get this over with quickly, she thought before she opened her mouth and addressed the group. "Thank you all for coming," she said in a quiet but strong voice. Just because she didn't like public speaking didn't mean that she hadn't be raised to do it correctly when she had to. But with all those eyes on her, it took everything she had not to dash into the shadows that she had spent so much time in.
"There are many things we need to discuss and figure out before we start, but first, this is the group for people wishing to learn hand-to-hand. If this is not the group you intended to follow, or you are not sure this is the group you want to be in, there are members of the night class—the nobles in the white uniforms—that will gladly direct you to the class you were trying to attend." She paused a moment to give them time to move if that was what they wanted to do.
"OK, so I will assume that you are all in the correct class," she continued when no one moved. "We have discussed the best way to begin your education and have decided that we should begin class with an exhibition match between Zero and myself. Once we have finished showing you what trained fighters are capable of, we will work with each of you to attempt to assess your skill level and begin to organize into groups to make the teaching more efficient. If no one has any questions or comments, I would appreciate it if you would make your way to the stands to allow you to see better and to give us more room to spar. Are there any questions?"
When no one spoke, she turned to Zero. "Are you ready?" she asked tilting her head slightly.
"As ready as I'll ever be," he replied before taking her hand and allowing her to lead him to the middle of the room. They waited until the other vampires were all seated and then separated a few feet apart and turned to face one another. They began to circle each other slowly. Both of them were both excited and nervous about the fight. Neither had ever faced the other and Zero had never seen Seiren fight, he wasn't sure what style she employed.
Seiren was aware of this fact and was hoping that it might give her an edge. While she didn't want to hurt him, she did want to—no needed to—defeat him. The first reason was somewhat petty, and she knew it, but she wanted to get back at him for what he had said to her earlier and defeating him in a public forum would make them even in her book. The second was much less about her than about the others: she felt that if she could defeat Zero it would prove to the others in the stands that the hunters were not unbeatable by normal vampires that didn't possess powers. True, Zero wasn't going to be using anti-vampire weapons and the actual hunters would be, but it would be good for overall morale to see a hunter lose. Not that she thought Zero would care to throw the fight even if he realized it.
She watched him as he circled with her, both watching for the first misstep of the other to pounce on and begin the fight. Knowing it was what he was looking for, she allowed her toe to catch the heal on her other foot as she took her next step and stumbled a little trying to provoke an attack.
Zero had seen the calculation in her eyes seconds before she "tripped" and had seen it for the trap it was. He had almost decided not to take her up on the offer when he noticed that the people in the stands were beginning to chat amongst themselves rather than watch. If he was going to fight Seiren, it was damn well going to serve a purpose. It was with this thought in mind that he took her bait.
She felt surprised that it had actually worked, but she was only allowed to feel it for a millisecond before he was there and she had to quit thinking about anything other than the fight at hand. And rather than think, she mostly allowed her body to react to what he was doing without processing it.
Zero saw her surprise, but it was soon lost to the feeling of guilt as he felt his fist brush against her. He really didn't want to hit her, but he reminded himself that this had been her idea and that they were just sparring, not actually fighting and that that somehow made it alright. Soon, his brain had to quit processing and begin reacting much as Seiren's had because the fight was moving too fast for him to keep up.
The spectators, which had admittedly been bored with the initial circling and testing of defenses, were not bored now. In fact, the fight in front of them was riveting. The two of them were brilliant, they way they almost seemed to be dancing together. Even the people in the crowd who were not fond of the idea of physical violence had to admire the beauty and skill of what they were watching—it also probably helped that no one had landed a clean hit yet so neither of them was hurt.
Things had started out slowly, no one had any trouble following all the movements of both the participants, but it had slowly degenerated into a silver blur as both of them began to increase the speed and complexity of their moves in an attempt to best the other. It didn't look like either of them was ever going to get the upper hand on the other. However, eventually the whirlwind of vampire stopped with Seiren pinned on the mat by a panting Zero. The audience burst into applause at the conclusion of the fight and were prepared to go to be sorted and excited that they might be able to learn how to do that, but the fight wasn't over.
Zero stood awkwardly at the applause of the bystanders. He wasn't used to people appreciating his efforts, let alone applauding them. He wasn't sure if he should take a bow, or ignore it and try to be an aloof teacher-type. He had almost decided that he was going to ignore it when he heard Seiren's voice.
"Sure," she grumbled. "Some kind of boyfriend you are. Throw me on the ground and not even bother to offer to help me up." He glanced at her in panic hoping that she wasn't actually mad that he had beat her, he was afraid that might be a possible outcome of their sparing, but was relieved to see a smile on her face. He returned it with a small laugh and extended his hand to her expecting her to take it and allow herself to be pulled up.
He was surprised however when she pulled the same trick on him that he had pulled on her. Instead of allowing him to help her to her feet, she pulled him onto the mat beside her and quickly pounced on him, pinning him with a hand on his throat. Surprisingly, he actually didn't mind being pinned by her and lay still to allow her to think that she had won this round.
"This is your first lesson," she called to the assembled vampires still sitting atop Zero. "A fight is never over until the enemy is incapacitated. This can happen either by rendering them unconscious or killing them. The worst mistake you can make—especially in our current situation—is showing mercy to the enemy. Do not attempt to give them aid because there is every chance that it is a trick. Rules of fair play do not apply here."
She paused a moment to let her words sink in before she said, "Now let's get started. I hope our demonstration was educational. If you will form two lines, we will start to sort you based on skill levels and if that goes fast enough, we may begin teaching. If not, we will take a break for lunch and then begin teaching."
Zero thought that she was being way too optimistic. They would be lucky to get through the screening process before dawn. There was no way they would get it done before lunch time. He just hoped that the others were doing better than they were or else there was no way in hell that they were going to be ready to repel the first attack from the hunters.
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Kaien walked among the vampires he was supposed to be "teaching" but he realized that there wasn't much actually teaching needed here. Most of the vampires who had chosen this "class" were actually skilled with a blade. A few needed some refinement, but most of what they needed was practice and he could give them that. He actually felt a little useless. It wasn't like he could actually provide any insight into how hunters fought since each of their swordsmen had different styles.
Then there was that little knot of students that actually needed his help. Most of them—there were only about twenty anyway—knew how to hold a sword and could perform a few basic moves, but they would die quickly in an actually fight. It was here that he concentrated his attention.
These tended to be younger vampires, but there were also some adults in the mix. The fear and innocence in their eyes hurt him to look at. Some of them seemed too young to be allowed to fight, but that was between them and their parents. And even if they could later put and age limit on who could be on the front lines, they did deserve to know how to defend themselves if the front line failed. There was one in particular, a young girl with chocolate hair and brown eyes that reminded him of a slightly younger Yuuki. It was when he was correcting her grip that she asked him a question that he truly didn't want to answer.
"Sir," she asked, "is it true what we've been told? Do the hunters really have weapons that will kill us if they can even just touch us with them?"
He sighed and paused before he answered, feeling his age a bit more in his despair, "Not exactly," he said. "We—they do have weapons that would hurt more than a cut from a normal blade would. And they do have bullets that are capable of ending the existence of any vampire, including a pureblood. But I am going to work with Kaname and Yuuki to find a way to stop them from using those, if we can."
"So it really is hopeless," another vampire said. "No matter what we do, they are probably going to win."
"No," Kaien said shaking his head speaking to the crowd that had gathered around. "it is not hopeless. We actually do stand a chance. For all their technology, the hunters are mostly human. They die like any other human. Normal weapons and natural disasters will kill them. They are fast, but you are faster. They are strong, but you are stronger.
"The only advantages they have are their weapons and the skills they have acquired. We are going to try to eliminate one of those advantages, but you will have to work to overcome the other if you want to survive."
He paused and then said, "I am not saying that we will not have losses but it is possible that we can win the war." If anyone ever truly can win a war, he thought bitterly. I'm not sure either side can actually win. All this loss of life, over the death of one man. It's wasteful.
As he looked out across the faces, he saw a mixture of hope and the sorrow that he felt. There was one vampire in particular that seemed to mirror Kaien's feelings. He recognized him from earlier. He was the one that Yuuki had spoken with. . . Ryo Toya. Something in Kaien recognized a kindred spirit.
"Keep practicing," Kaien told the girl. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it." She nodded and returned to her sparring partner. Once she did, Kaien walked over to Ryo and asked, "Would you like to spar?"
The other man nodded and raised his blade. "So," he asked, "were you really a hunter?" Kaien nodded waiting for the other man to attack. "And you adopted Yuuki-sama? Did you know what she was at the time or was it a nasty surprise?"
"I knew," Kaien said. "Her mother—both her parents actually—were friends of mine. After they died, Kaname brought her to me and I took her in. She didn't remember anything and I raised her as my own."
"Did the other hunters know?" Ryo asked dropping his blade and staring at the other man. He was impressed, not only had he raised a pureblood, but he had done it in secrecy from his own people, because he doubted the hunters would have liked the idea.
Kaien scoffed in response. "How do you think they would have taken it? Her true nature was hidden from everyone except for Kaname and myself. To the rest of the world she was a human. After a time, I think I even began to think she was."
"That must have been hard," Ryo said. "I have a daughter as well. The thought of her being involved in this war is hard for me, but I can only imagine how hard it must be for you. Especially now that she is a prime target."
"It is," Kaien agreed. "But it is easier for me since I know that she has the skills to protect herself from anyone or anything if she will use them."
"You're afraid that she won't?" Ryo asked genuinely curious. He didn't know much about purebloods, but he knew that in general they would do whatever they could to protect themselves from anything they feel is a threat. . . but so would most things.
"She doesn't want to fight," Kaien said. "I raised her to respect life. I raised her as a human: she doesn't understand that in your world she is above the rules. And she doesn't want to cause pain or death."
"But she has?" Ryo asked. "She had fought and killed. I heard that from the others when we were waiting for her and Kaname-sama to return.
"Yes," Kaien agreed. "She has fought, and she has killed. But the first time, she was only reacting. She was attacked and brought into the fight, she didn't choose it. The second time, she didn't want to fight either, even though she needed to. And in both cases, she waited to attack until it was almost too late. I don't know how she will do now."
Kaien's voice had been choked with emotion at the end. Ryo raised a hand and placed it on the other man's shoulder. "She'll be fine," he said, knowing that the other man needed to hear it even if it wasn't necessarily true. "Now what about that spar you promised me?"
Kaien nodded and raised his sword and bowed to the other man in preparation to begin the bout, but it never happened. Suddenly the ground beneath their feet began to shake. Kaien dropped his sword, as did many of the others so they wouldn't accidentally impale themselves or others in case they were knocked over. The shaking went on for about a minute, then it stopped. Kaien glanced around the room, a few people had been cut, but nothing had been severed and no one was grievously injured.
"Takuma," Kaien called, spotting the blond noble through the crowd. "Take care of things here, I need to see what kind of damage was done to campus and make sure that everyone else is alright."
"Of course, headmaster," Takuma replied turning back to the crowd and examining injuries.
"We will have to have that spar later, Ryo-san," he said before walking outside. Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he noticed that there was a rock wall that hadn't been there before. He turned and realized that it surrounded the campus, the best he could tell from where he stood, in its entirety. Even though he didn't know what had happened, he knew that Kaname and possibly Yuuki had to have been involved in this construction project. He just hoped that they were both ok.
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Sorry about the delay y'all. Had a bit of writer's block. I think I'm through it now—it's amazing what re-reading a story will do for you—and updates should get back on some measure of a schedule soon. That said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to reading your thoughts on it in the form of a review ;)
And as always thanks to everyone who has read/favorited/or added this story to alerts, and a special thank you to KUKAIxAMU, Kawaii-Cupcake-Sprinkles and Heavenly Hiccup for their reviews.
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