At the sight of the peacefully sleeping purebloods, Seiren felt the feeling that a fist had been squeezing her heart lessen. Even though, as Zero had pointed out a handful of times, the purebloods were more than capable of taking care of themselves, she had been appointed to watch out for Kaname and if he had been hurt . . . if she had failed. . . she wouldn't have been able to live with herself. She only had one job, and she had let it become a back-burnered thing because of circumstances that should have brought it more solidly to the front. If something had happened . . . no, she wouldn't think that way. Nothing had happened and nothing was going to happen. She would make sure of that.
She could feel the determination that had re-infused her being radiating from her very pores as she walked towards the sleeping purebloods. She was almost to them when Zero's called to her and she turned to look at him over her shoulder.
Zero flinched at her gaze. It lacked the warmth he had come to expect from her. In its place was the same cool callousness that had been present in her eyes the time she had threatened to kill him at Takuma's birthday party. He didn't like seeing her look at him that way now, not after all that they had shared. She hadn't even looked at him like that when she stormed off after their argument in the gym. It shocked him enough that he forgot what he had wanted to tell her.
When Zero had been silent for too long, Seiren sighed and turned to face him fully. "What do you want, Zero?" Her tone was a cool as her eyes.
Swallowing hard, Zero took a deep breath and said, "I was just going to tell you to be careful. I was thinking about the last time one of them was unconscious after using a lot of magic."
Seiren started a little, she hadn't thought about that in her haste to wake her master and his sister. It had never occurred to her that they might be a danger to her. "Thank you," she said though her words and her face lacked the appropriate emotion to make it mean anything.
"Anytime," Zero replied, his tone colored with confusion. He didn't know what was going on with her today, but from what he had seen of her previously these mood swings were not normal. She just nodded to acknowledge his statement, and then she turned and continued her approach to the purebloods, though it was admittedly a more caution filled trek.
Zero held his breath as she got within feet of the couple. He wanted to be there beside her, but he wasn't sure if she would be glad of his company or try to find out if she could kick him all the way to the wall from where they currently were. Since he wasn't sure what to do he stayed where he was, hoping that she would be fine.
Seiren closed her eyes as she neared the purebloods. She knew that at any second she might be destroyed, but she had to keep going. They needed her. She couldn't abandon them. She opened her eyes when she bumped into something that gave. She looked down and was embarrassed to realize that she had almost tripped over Kaname's leg. Well, she thought with a small smile, at least I am still alive. Though it's a good thing we found them first, they didn't even lay any protection before they fell asleep. They were completely vulnerable.
She knelt down beside her master and shook his shoulders in an attempt to wake him. She had been given this task before and knew that if he did not wake up when you entered the room or spoke it would take physical stimulation to wake him. She also knew from experience that he did not always wake in a good mood. He did not respond to her attempts other than to mumble something that made no sense. It didn't even sound like any language she had ever heard.
Giving up on waking him for the time being, she turned her attentions to Yuuki. She remembered how difficult the girl had been to wake and that Kaname had said that she had awoken violently in the past. Keeping both of these things in mind, it was with some trepidation that she placed a hand on the young woman's shoulder and gave her a nudge. Yuuki moaned in response and stretched her arms above her head sleepily before she opened her wine colored eyes.
Yuuki opened her eyes, expecting to see her room around the smiling face of Kaname. She was confused when instead of this image she was presented with the impassive face of Seiren surrounded by trees. She also realized that she was not in her bed, but rather, sleeping on something hard. She glanced around her and realized that she was in the forest asleep on a tree.
"What happened?" she asked sleepily. " What am I doing here?" No sooner had the words left her mouth than the events that had lead to her taking a cat nap in the forest returned to her in full force. Her mind filled with images from the previous day and she remembered that they had stopped to rest after Kaname . . . where was Kaname?
She felt a brief flare of panic that served to clear her head and she looked beside her where he had been earlier and let out a sigh as she realized that he was still there.
"We were hoping you could tell us," Zero said, approaching the group. His curiosity had won out over his desire to give Seiren her space if that was what she wanted. Besides, he deserved to know if his best friend was fine. "Looks like you two were up to one hell of a landscaping project while the rest of us were doing the grunt work of training your army."
Yuuki smiled at him, not bothering to try to conceal her fangs. "Fine," she replied. "Next time we can trade. I'll teach the vampires to kick ass and you can erect the thirty foot solid-stone barrier to give me the time to do it."
"So you really did have a hand in that?" Zero asked, awe present in his voice. He hadn't wanted to believe that Yuuki had that kind of power.
She laughed sadly and shook her head. "Nah," she said. "I had already been wiped out by a simple little barrier. Kaname did all of that."
Zero blew out a breath. He didn't like that answer any better. While he didn't want to know that his childhood friend had that kind of power he had to figure that it would be less disconcerting than to know that the man that he perpetually locked horns with was capable of something like that. It made him wonder why he was still alive after all the times he had pissed Kuran off. Especially since he actually did have more than enough power that he could have blasted Zero into next week for the next couple of millennia without breaking a sweat?
"So is that why he's, you know . . ." he cut himself off. The word he had been about to say had been "comatose" but it wasn't a word that he wanted to use for fear of upsetting both Seiren and Yuuki. "sleeping?" he finished lamely.
Yuuki nodded. "Using a lot of magic makes us sleepy," she explained. "And he just used a lot of magic." She gently stroked her lover's bangs away from his face. For some reason, despite the fact that he was asleep, his face was troubled. She wondered if he was having a nightmare.
"So what are we going to do?" Zero said. "He won't wake up. And we can't take him back through the main campus like this. The nobles will have an aneurism."
"He can't sleep here," Yuuki said. "The nobles will just have to get over it. He saved their lives and he deserves a rest under a roof in a real bed."
"Yuuki-sama," Seiren said quietly. "I hate to disagree with you, but most vampires think of purebloods as a precious commodity that needs to be protected, not that does protecting. But they also think of you as indestructible and infallible. We need to preserve the latter two if we are going to keep morale up and win this war. Seeing an incapacitated pureblood would devastate the people."
"Then what are we going to do?" Yuuki demanded. She understood what Seiren had said, but that didn't mean that she had to like it. She was tired of being both an object of almost god-like deference to her wishes while at the same time being shackled to the expectations and wishes of the general population. If she was so all powerful, shouldn't she be able to do what she wanted without people freaking out if she didn't behave exactly as they expected.
"I have an idea," Zero said. "It's not a good idea, but it may work."
ooOO88OOoo
On the other side of the wall, the new president of the Hunter's Association walked among the wounded from the first skirmish with Cross and his pet purebloods. He refused to think of it as a battle since that would mean that he had lost the first battle. The physical wounds were minor—a cut here, a scrape there—but there were psychological wounds that he wasn't prepared to deal with.
"Sir," one of the hunters that had appeared on the other side of the barrier unharmed said.
"Yes?" the president replied, turning to face the man. He didn't know his name but he didn't bother to ask either.
"I have a question, sir." The hunter said. The president fought to restrain his sigh but couldn't contain his impatient gesture. He had places that he needed to be. Talking to this man was not one of them. Seeing his leader's rush, the man said, "Why? Why didn't they just kill me? When I was teleported away from the battle, one of the vampires was about to run a sword through me. Why didn't they just let her do it?"
The president did sigh this time. He had been getting this question from many of the survivors of the battle. That and why they had also transported the corpses of the dead to the other side of the wall. In truth, he didn't know—though he was sure that Kaien Cross had some hand in the transport rather than killing of hunters. He couldn't see a pureblood vampire willingly expending more energy in an attempt to preserve the lives of those trying to kill it. More than anything else that had happened, this fact alone solidified his belief that they needed to eliminate Cross and his pets before they decided to eliminate the hunters.
He had been saying it for a very long time and to have it proved to him in such a concrete way only served to show him that he had been justified in killing the former president. If he hadn't done it and framed Kaname Kuran for the murder, it wouldn't have been long before Kaien Cross started this war himself through an unannounced attack on the Association with that pureblood "daughter" of his. They were simply too dangerous to be allowed to live. And he wasn't alone in that belief.
"They did it to confuse you," he told the younger man, patting his shoulder sympathetically as he had all the others. "They wanted you to think that you were wrong to attack them and lower your guard so that they can kill you more easily. It is part of their nefarious plan."
"But we were always taught that vampires act on instinct alone," the younger man insisted. "You told us that they do not plan ahead, they only act in the here and now."
"Those are a different breed of the same animal," the president said. "Level E's are beasts of pure instinct. The higher levels are more dangerous because while they still possess that same beastly nature, they are capable of higher thought and planning. The purebloods are particularly dangerous because there is nothing even remotely human about them. Additionally they can force you to become one of them. IF you get a bead on a pureblood, do not aim to wound, no matter how harmless it looks. Aim to kill. Do you understand me?"
"Yes sir!" the young hunter replied. "I apologize that I allowed myself to be confused."
"No apology necessary," the president replied. "Older and wiser people than you have fallen for the charms of vampires."
The young man nodded and turned to return to what he had been doing. The president allowed a sneer to cross his face. These young hunters were so undereducated in the ways and habits of vampires that they were exceptionally easy to corrupt to his purpose. Speaking of vampires, he still had to get to that meeting.
Checking over his shoulder every so often to insure that he wasn't being followed, he left the makeshift camp and moved towards one of the abandoned buildings in the old part of town. Checking one more time, he opened the door and crept inside before closing it behind him with a sharp click and latching the bolt.
He turned to face the girl sitting cross-legged on the floor. She looked to be no older than eighteen or twenty but he knew the truth: she was far older and more dangerous than any twenty year old had any right to be. She currently had her eyes closed, but he knew them to be an unsettling icy blue. She was breathing slowly, her breath traveling though her open mouth—a mouth which revealed the delicate points of fangs. He released a sigh. While he was anxious for news, he was also glad that her mind was focused elsewhere. She was difficult to share a room with. There was just something about her that caused him to be uneasy. He was especially glad that her freaky eyes were still closed.
No sooner had he thought that than her eyes flew open as though she had heard him. She surveyed him, her eyes expressionless and unfocused for a moment. Then she seemed to register his presence and her gaze focused on him.
"So?" he asked shifting uncomfortably under that merciless gaze. "Did you do it?"
"It's done," she replied. A cruel smile twisting her beautiful face into a horrific mask. "Kaname Kuran," she spat the name as though it we something foul had no business passing her lips, "will not cause any more problems in this campaign."
"And you couldn't have done it any sooner?" the president scoffed. "Now we have to find a way to burrow through god only knows how much rock."
"His shields were strong," she spat. "I had to wait for them to lower before I could enter his mind. Besides, it's not like I saw you doing anything. Before you criticize me perhaps you should make yourself more useful. That is unless you can find another pureblood that is willing to go toe-to-toe with the Kurans after what happened to Rido and Sara." She paused a moment for effect.
"No?" she asked. "That's what I thought. If you want to win this war you need me. So I would suggest that you treat me a little more respectfully in the future."
"Of course," he replied. "You are right and I apologize." Even though he didn't want to tell her he was sorry, he had no other option if he wanted to win this war . . . or stay alive. "But you would also do well to remember that you owe us as well."
"I know," she spat. "And I never forget, not for one moment, whose fault that is. Kaname will pay for what he did to me all those years ago. And the first stage of that payment has only just begun. Soon, he will walk right into our waiting arms."
ooOO88OOoo
"This is never going to work," Yuuki panted. "He's too heavy."
Yuuki and Seiren each had one of Kaname's feet while Zero had him under the arms. The original plan had been to carry him to the headmaster's house staying in the woods the whole way in an attempt to avoid anyone seeing them. However, Yuuki was right. There was no way that they were going to make it to the house. Not in one go anyway.
"Are you sure you can't just levitate or teleport him?" Zero said laying down his burden more carefully than he would have even an hour ago. But Yuuki was already irritable and Seiren was still acting weird and he figured that dropping Kuran would not go over well with either of them.
"No," Yuuki sighed with exasperation. They had already been over this. "I can't do it. I don't know how to teleport. What if I stick us inside a wall or something? And knowing my luck lately if I try to levitate him—which I don't even know if is possible—I might just blow him up or something."
Zero also bit back his reply that he didn't really see where this was a bad outcome either. Somehow, he felt that they would appreciate this insight less than they would have appreciated him dropping Kaname. For some reason he felt that neither of them had much of a sense of humor at the moment.
"Well, we've got to figure out something else because this isn't working at all," Zero said, frustration coloring his tone. Why did Kuran have to weigh so damn much? He didn't look anywhere near that heavy. Giving into his frustration, Zero bent over the sleeping Kuran and did the one thing that he could think of that no one else had tried: he slapped him—hard.
"Zero what—" Yuuki and Seiren both yelled but cut themselves off when they say Kaname's burgundy eyes open. His hand slowly raised to his reddened cheek and he looked at the hunter that was standing over him, confusion clear on his face.
"You hit me," Kaname said. It was not a question. The words were said with certainty. Both Yuuki and Seiren's eyes widened at his reaction. They were both trying to figure out what Kaname was about to do and Yuuki wondered just how much his magic had recharged during their nap. She hoped that it wasn't enough for him to be able to attack Zero.
The hunter however looked into the eyes of the man who had been his hated enemy and rival for so long—how funny that fate would put them on the same side of a bitter conflict with the people Zero had most identified with. He nodded wordlessly to acknowledge the truth in the purebloods words waiting for the inevitable.
"Why?" Kaname demanded.
"Because your ass is heavy," Zero replied his tone showing the same defiance that had been in his gaze. "I figured it would be better to have you awake and walking so that you could carry most of your weight yourself rather than us carrying it all for you."
"Thank you," Kaname replied shocking everyone there. They weren't sure what they had expected, but that sure wasn't it.
"I was having a rather unpleasant dream," Kaname continued. "I am glad to be free of it." Though he said he was free of it, his mind said otherwise for the questions the dream had awoken in him refused to be forgotten. They continued to torment him despite the fact that he was now awake.
"Did you just thank me?" Zero demanded. He glared at the pureblood with suspicion. The only reason he could think of that Kuran would be thanking him would be that he was about to ask for something that was either impossible, deadly, or perhaps both.
"Yes," Kaname replied sitting up slowly. He turned back around to face Zero once he had and continued. "I thanked you. And I would also like to apologize to you. I have been cruel to you, unnecessarily so, and for this I apologize."
"OK," Zero said backing away. "Who are you and what the hell did you do with the real Kuran?"
"I am the real Kaname," he replied. "That unpleasant dream simply showed me the truth about myself and I didn't like it. I want to change. To be the kind of person my mother would be proud to call her son." The others were standing around him, confusion their chief emotion. This was only intensified as Kaname grabbed Zero around the knees and began sobbing.
"Out of all the people here now, you are the one that I wronged the most profoundly and I am so sorry. I know that words can never fix what I have done, but for now they are all that I have to offer," Kaname sobbed.
While this was happening, Zero was looking between Seiren and Yuuki as though hoping one of them would offer and explanation or yell "April Fools!" and it would all be over. But neither of them did either thing and they looked just as shell shocked as he felt. Finally Yuuki knelt down beside her brother and placed a hand on his heaving back.
"Kaname," she said gently. She wasn't sure what she was going to say to him but she knew that she needed to get him to release Zero before the other man spontaneously combusted. He looked at her, and her heart broke at the desolate look on his face. She wasn't sure how to describe it. All she knew was that he looked broken.
It was like this that the headmaster found them. Yuuki with her hand on the back of a sobbing Kaname who was holding Zero around the knees while Seiren stood silently by looking nearly as uncomfortable as Zero felt. The headmaster, too, stood there in shock. What on earth could have broken someone as strong as Kaname so completely that he would cry so openly? He hoped that whatever it was, the effect wasn't permanent. Kaname was their only real hope when it came to surviving this war. Without him, they would all die.
ooOO88OOoo
Hey all, I have a new chapter for you. Sorry for the weird update day, but this idea hit me today while I was studying for a Physio test (don't ask—even I don't get the connection) and it seemed cruel to hold it until Friday when I have it all done now. Anyway, I didn't figure that you would mind too much.
As always thank you to the people who read, favorited, or followed this story since the last update.
And special thanks to:
ShioriBunny: Yep :) I do that occasionally. Hopefully you liked both that update and this one.
Sy: I'm not sure how easily he is going to pull out of this, but Yuuki will be there to help him. And thank you so much! I love hearing that I am someone's favorite :)
Elliot Rose: Thank you! I felt bad about taking away the woman that he thought he loved without giving him someone else, but there was no way that I was going to pair Yuuki and Zero together . . . I'm glad that you thought so and liked the Seiren laugh :) No, no it does not . . . but I think we are all in the same boat on that one. Yagari is another of my favorite underappreciated VK characters. There is just so much you can do with him. I know . . . poor Kaien :( but it seemed like the kind of thing that parents would think when their kids grow up. I'm glad that you appreciated the scene. I just felt like there would be more issues with the Rido thing than had happened so far. I know. I was having a few of the fights about nothing at the time and figured that it would fit in well there. I still like Kaname too—despite the fact that I am being so cruel to him lately. And you're right, I don't see a good way for the manga to end at this point :(. And I saw that too, Kaname and Rido were more alike than anyone wants to admit. And you're right that maybe now he will change . . . though even I don't know for sure yet.
Anne Fatalism Dilettante: I'm glad that you like the conflicted side of him. I was worried that people would not appreciate it and would be angry with me. He just needed a little more depth since he felt like a bit of a static character so far.
Akira 91: I know and I'm sorry, but now we have answered a lot of the questions that were going around. . . and I added a new one. Muhahahahahahahahaha! But if there was no anticipation, there would be no reason for you to come back, right?
Kawaii-Cupcake-Sprinkles: You need wait no more!