About the Kill and the Rescue of a Vampire

He was sitting in the infirmary with Yuuki lying in the bed next to him. She was still unconscious. After she'd fainted Zero had hurried to get her here into the infirmary, hoping someone could tell him what was going on and help Yuuki. The doctors could not. They had examined her from head to toe to come to the conclusion that she was perfectly healthy. Neither was she in coma No one understood why she had lost consciousness. So they decided to keep her in the infirmary until she would eventually wake up. All they could do was wait.

At first Zero had blamed himself. Maybe he had taken too much of her blood without knowing. But the doctors who also specialized in vampires thus knew about their existence and everything calmed him down by telling him that she wasn't anemic. What happened? Why did she pass out? Zero pondered when suddenly the door of the room slammed open and Kaname entered seething with rage. Zero jumped to his feet.

"Stop making that hell of a noise! You'll wake her up! She's supposed to rest!" Zero hissed.

"Oh, I hope to wake her up so she can tell me what you did to her!" Kaname gave menacingly back and stepped close to Zero. "You failed to control yourself and sucked her dry!"

"I did not!" Zero protested.

"Yes, you did!" Kaname shouted. "I'm attested by witnesses who saw you biting her!"

"Your spy Seiren, you mean," Zero corrected him. He was all calm. He wasn't scared of Kaname as he knew he could not put him at fault. "It's true. I did take her blood. But I would never take so much to make her become anemic. Besides, I asked the doctors and they told me she wasn't anemic but they have no clue, either what's wrong with her," concluded Zero.

Kaname sighed in defeat. "What happened just before she passed out?" he asked.

"Nothing. She said she felt dizzy. We set off so she could take a tablet but she never did," Zero explained.

"And she hasn't awaken since?"

"As you can see."

"Mmh... I need to talk to the chairman and to Yagari," Kaname stated after a while. "It might not be the wisest thing now as I don't trust you but you'll stay here and watch her."

"I was going to do that, anyway," Zero let him know.

"I'll be back."

"I was afraid so."

Kaname left and Zero sat back down beside Yuuki. He reached out for her hand and pressed it softly. It was not clear if that caused Yuuki to wake up or if she had already woken up during the conversation with Kaname. Yuuki opened her hooded eyes and looked around. She curled her mouth to smile when she recognized him.

"Zero."

"Yuuki. Thank God you're awake."

"Where am I?"

"In the infirmary."

"What happened?"

"That's what everyone would like to know, too," Zero told her. "You fainted but nobody knows why. Do you?"

"I just remember feeling a little bit dizzy but that's all. Sorry," Yuuki apologized. She drew a face.

"Are you alright?" Zero asked worriedly.

"No, I feel like a jackhammer is on my head," she groaned.

"Kaname has been here until a minute ago."

"Yes, I know," she said.

Zero became suspicious. "How? I thought you were unconscious."

"I've been awake for a short while but I was to weak to tell you," Yuuki explained.

"I see..."

Zero didn't know why but he couldn't get rid of the feeling that the one he was talking to wasn't Yuuki.

"So he's finally back."

"What are you talking about, Yagari-sensei?"

They were inside the Kurosu's office, Kurosu himself, the hunter Yagari Touga and Kaname.

"Don't pretend to be stupid, Kuran," Yagari said, lighting a cigarette. "You didn't think he was gone forever, did you?"

"Who?" the chairman asked.

"Kuran Rido," Yagari and Kaname answered in chorus.

"Oh..."

"So you're saying he had been hiding inside Yuuki?" Kaname asked the hunter.

"That's the only thing that makes sense. His body was destroyed as we all know," Yagari explained. "But his soul probably not. It escaped into your sister's body."

"But why didn't he controlled her like he did with Shiki Senri and that little boy back then?" Kaname demanded.

"I guess, he wanted to us to believe we'd get rid of him. Obviously we haven't."

"Now he's got what he searched for. Now he's got Yuuki at his mercy," Kaname sighed. "It makes me feel sick!"

"Well, there must be a way to dispossess Yuuki," Kurosu said.

"There is," Yagari agreed. "But it won't go off without hurting the girl and when we strike we will need to use the element of surprise and then we'll have to act fast."

He looked sternly at Kaname who nodded. They had no choice. It was the only way to save Yuuki.

Later that evening Kaname showed up at the infirmary again this time calmly and quietly. He looked at Yuuki who was still lying, eyes closed, in the bed. When he entered Zero got up.

"So?"

"Is she asleep?"

"Yes, she dozed off ten minutes ago."

"Okay, come out with me then. I don't want to wake her."

That wasn't of course the only reason. He couldn't risk Rido listening to their conversation. Zero seemed to understand and left the room with him. Outside Kaname closed the door and glanced through the small window at the sleeping Yuuki. Like this he could easily observe her. Good.

"What happened to her?!" Zero demanded.

"Stop shouting, Kiryuu. You're not the only one who's worried about her."

"I'm sorry," Zero apologized. "You must know she appeared strange to me. I'm absolutely sure about it when I say this girl inside there is not the Yuuki we know."

"How can you tell?" Kaname asked calmly.

"It's her voice. It's different. A little bit darker than before. And the way she talks, coldly and short," he reported.

"Remember what happened before she fainted? Could you see her eyes at that time? If so, did they show any difference?"

"I could. Difference in the eyes? You're not saying what I think you're saying, right? Rido?" Zero inquired.

"I'm afraid yes. Rido has possessed her when you thought you had finished him off forever. Unfortunately Yuuki isn't strong enough to fight against him from the inside. Although she should be."

"It's because she fought against her vampire-self, isn't it?" Zero sighed.

"Yes. Deep in the back of my mind I expected something like this to happen. I never believed in his eternal death. So I did anything to make her stronger," Kaname explained.

"I'm sorry," said Zero. "I resented your making Yuuki a vampire but I never knew what acute danger she was in."

"I, we all, thought Yuuki was save as long as she was living under the hidden identity of a human. But we underestimated Rido. He even noticed her presence as a human. A few weeks ago they met and Rido possessing a little boy sucked her strength. Aside from the fact that I wished my sister back this was what made me act quickly in the first place. Do you understand, Zero? Making Yuuki a vampire was no selfish act. I wanted to save her."

"I know. What is going to happen to Yuuki now?"

"I can't tell. Well, Rido reached his goal. She's at his mercy even if he lacks a body. Rido has already possessed other bodies before. Shiki survived only just and the little boy I spoke of is dead..." A single tear was running down Kaname's face now. "I know Rido would never do something to Yuuki but I don't know if her body will stand up to his presence... I can't believe I'm actually saying this but... I'm scared. To be honest this uncertainty scares the hell out of me."

Zero put his hand consolingly on Kaname's shoulders and said "Me, too."

Without any of them putting it into words, without even noticing it, they had silently agreed on a truce. They now accepted each other's existence such as the fact that Yuuki meant as much to the other one. They were in the same boat as they were both scared for Yuuki.

The next morning came soon and everything went very fast just to the liking of Yagari Touga. Kaname showed up early to come visit Yuuki. Zero had stayed with her – or rather them – all night long. When Kaname arrived his body tensed up. Here we go, he thought. Yuuki was still asleep so they had to wake her. Kaname was the one to do it. He softly rocked her until she opened her eyes.

"Ugh... Kaname? What time is it?"

That was Yuuki's voice. That was for sure.

"It's seven in the morning. You don't mind being awake at daytime, honey, do you?"

"Are you out of your mind? I'm a vampire! I won't get up before sunset."

That was not Yuuki. That was for sure. Zero had been right. Her voice was darker and colder.

"The doctors said you're healthy so you can go home," Zero supported Kaname.

"Zero? You're here, too?"

"Yes, he is. We have a surprise for you, Yuuki," Kaname said softly.

"A surprise?"

"Yes, darling. So please get up."

Groaning Yuuki sat up, eying the two people standing in front of her suspiciously.

"What kind of surprise is that?"

"One you'll need to be blindfolded for of course. We don't want everything to be spoiled, do we?" Kaname said, taking out a blindfold. Yuuki's eyes widened. Their color changed to red and blue.

"Oh no, you won't do that to me!" Rido said and started to fight.

"Now!" Kaname yelled.

On his command Kaname quickly tied the blindfold around Yuuki's eyes and he and Zero grabbed her arms to tie them up as well, followed by her legs. It wasn't that easy with Yuuki/Rido fighting. But in the end they made it and carried the still winding, now gagged figure out of the room.

Yagari Touga was already waiting for them at the Hunter's Association Headquarters. He was deep down in the cellar which looked more like a dungeon full of gadgets for vampire hunting and things of this kind. He was not surprised to see them putting all strength in holding the figure. For him it was only a job. An exorcism. Exorcism weren't rare these days thanks to the former senior vampire council whose most well-known feature was reviving their ancestors for a better future. For him it was only work. For the two men holding her it was more. They didn't want Yuuki to get hurt during the process and they particularly reminded the hunter of it.

"I told you it won't go without pain," he mumbled. "Put her onto here."

He pointed at a chair, provided with metallic chains. Zero and Kaname did so, untying Yuuki's hand and chaining them, then they did the same with her legs.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Zero let out his worry when he removed the gag.

Rido welcomed this. "You don't think you can finish me off, do you?"

"Shut up, Kuran," Yagari said calmly. "You two!" he added to Kaname and Zero. "Back off!"

Kaname and Zero took a few steps back but not much so that they could still see Yuuki.

"Have you joined something like this before?" Kaname asked.

"No. Have you?"

"No. It's my first and hopefully last time I attend something like this."

Now they both had a bad feeling about it but equally they didn't dare to cancel for Yuuki's sake.

"I admit this is my first exorcism," Yagari talked to himself.

WHAT?!

"Pardon? I demand a professional for this!" Kaname protested.

"Calm down. You don't need to be skilled for that," Yagari replied.

Kaname turned angrily to Zero. "You learned from the best I see."

Zero's worry grew. But still his sensei remained calm like he knew exactly what he was doing. Several years of training had shown him proof of that. He trusted Yagari.

"Well, let's start," the hunter now said and sounded rather bored.

Everyone knew how to kill a vampires. Nowadays this was the first thing parents told their children so they had at least a chance to survive. There were several ways: hunter weapons like swords or guns like the Bloody Rose... sunlight... silver... crucifixes... driving a stake into a vampire's heart... It sure was a a problem that the possessed person needed to survive this. He was not allowed to hurt the girl, or at least as little as possible. So the stake, silver, the sword or gun or crucifixes were out of option. Yagari thought hard. He didn't know much about Kuran Yuuki but he had heard some things about her from Kurosu. He was sure he had caught something like she was fighting her vampire existence and was awake at daytime. So there was a way... There must be something in here, he thought and looked around to find a power generator. Of course it didn't produce electricity. Electricity didn't hurt vampires. It saved sunlight until it was needed for measures like this. So if he started the generator and pointed the reflector at Yuuki/Rido it would bath them in pure and thousand times amplified sunlight. To Yuuki for being used to sunlight it was no threat but Rido would hardly stand up to it. So far so good. He stepped towards the generator, the reflector was already pointed at the vampire.

"What's he doing?" Kaname inquired.

Zero wondered the same thing for a moment then he glanced from the generator over to the reflector, to Yuuki and back to the generator. Suddenly the penny dropped. His sensei was a genius!

"Don't worry," Zero only said and watched his master.

Yagari put the generator at maximum and then without any further word he started it. Immediately the light was reflected on Yuuki. She and Rido both started to cry out in pain. But it worked. Rido couldn't stand the light and left Yuuki's body. His soul entered the shadows.

"Please turn it off!" Yuuki pleaded and Yagari fulfilled her wish.

"I'm not going to play hide-and-seek-with you, Kuran," he said, his hand still on the starter. Meanwhile Zero sneaked to the reflector. He thought he had seen the place Rido's soul had escaped to. "So die at last!" Yagari shouted and turned on the generator again. At the same time Zero and Kaname quickly turned the reflector until it was pointed at Rido's soul. Sunlight hit him again. He tried to escape again but this time Zero and Kaname followed him, turning the reflector on him again and again until his soul burnt forever. Yagari turned off the generator, satisfied.

"Good teamwork, you two!"

Zero and Kaname wiped the sweat off their foreheads. Then they turned and ran to Yuuki and removed the blindfold and the chains. The girl looked pretty rough but she smiled.

"I guess, I'm more vampire-like than I thought," she remarked, looking at the slight burns on her skin.

"Forgive me," Kaname and Zero immediately said in chorus.

"Forgive?" Yuuki repeated unbelievingly. "Nonsense. I have to thank you. That guy freaked the hell out of me," she said and hugged them both.