Author: Please read chapter 14 before reading this. That's because this chapter was written based on chapter 14 mostly… So don't get confused when reading this…
Temari closed her eyes, steadying herself. The amount of magic, or rather energy used to create the barrier had taken quite a toll on her body. Her knees were shaking and it was taking her quite an effort to even stand steadily. All these symptoms just added up to her disadvantages.
Basically, vampire hunters that originated from long ago used to arm themselves with only holy water, stakes, some arrows, and garlic. But somehow, the art of manipulating energy into some other form—in other words, magic—came into usage. And that was what Temari was doing right now.
Gaara bared his fangs openly. "I shall feed on your blood," He growled, taking a few steps forward.
The hunter bit her lip hard, her eyes steely. The sound that always spoke in her mind when in combat sounded. Prepare…
"I'll drain you!"
The vampire suddenly went towards her, and she ducked, skidding to the other side of the building.
"Stop running away!"
Temari gasped. Gaara was fast. His speed had increased dramatically since his hunting days. Her hands started to move automatically into a seal. The converting-energy seal…
"You depend on your magic too much, human!"
A black shadow moved in front of Temari, pushed her down onto the floor, and grabbed both her hands. Hard.
Kick him! Get him off you!
"I'm not falling for that."
Gaara pulled her from the floor, and drove her to the wall forcibly. There was a loud bang and a yell of pain as the girl slammed onto the wall.
"Aaah…" The boy whispered, leaning close to her face, his eyes closed, and white fangs becoming even more prominent. It was a classic sign that all hunters and even ordinary humans knew. You get stuck in a corner, unable to move. Then the vampire bites.
Damn! This is… Temari struggled hard, trying to pry herself from her brother's grip once again. But it was futile. Vampires were pretty well known for their extraordinary strength. In fact, Gaara could snap both of her arms instantly if he wanted to. But for some reason, he didn't.
"NO! Stay away from me! Stay away!" Her normal voice had deteriorated to a shriek.
Gaara stopped.
"It hurts! I'm burning! Sister, help me!"
All Temari saw were the bloodshot eyes, the tears, and dried blood. She edged away, her hands covering her ears, her own eyes forming tears.
"TEMARI!" Gaara screamed.
"No!" Temari yelled. "Stay away from me! Stay away!"
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!"
Gaara's grip on her hand tightened so much that both their hands were trembling.
"Why…Why must you say that?"
Huh? Temari stopped struggling and blinked. His tone had changed completely. It wasn't a growl anymore; it sounded more like a kid who was scared and hurt.
Scared… And hurt…
The boy's green eyes interlocked with hers. And both swirling green orbs confirmed her thoughts. Was it… That day?
She kept quiet, her dark blue-greenish eyes wide and listening.
However, keeping quiet didn't seem to be quite a good solution. Gaara got even more agitated.
"Answer me! Why did you say that?"
His tone had changed again. He was panicking, he was starting to get angry, he was scared.
Temari couldn't bring herself to speak. She didn't know what to say at all. How…How can I compensate for all this? What can I do?
What have I done?
To her dismay, tears started to form in her eyes.
Gaara's eyes searched her desperately, his grip tightening even further. Then he stopped when he caught sight of salty tears leaking down from her face.
"Y-You're scared of me?"
No response.
The monstrous grip on Temari's hands loosened, and disappeared completely. Gaara had released her.
"I hate you."
Temari's heart skipped a beat. Her breathing rate lessened so much; it was almost as if his sentence had caused her body to stop functioning properly.
"I hate you."
The fear and panic in her brother's face had gone. Anger, anger, and more anger replaced his eyes and expression completely.
"I HATE YOU!"
Two pale hands shot out and went around her neck again, strangling her hard.
The girl choked. Not again.
Not again.
Tears that were flowing down her face started to move down steadily as her emotions increased and strengthened.
I-I understand…
She'd recalled that day where Gaara had turned into a vampire. Instead of helping her bother, she'd backed away from him, asking him—pleading with him to move away. She was scared.
Scared? What about Gaara?
She knew. Gaara had the right to hate her. His hopes, his love, his expectations of his big sister had all been destroyed. To him, she was a big coward.
I tried to kill Gaara.
Temari had yelled that Gaara, being a vampire, was an enemy. All along, she was nearly convinced that being a vampire hunter, staking him was just part of her job. She'd wanted to stake him because of her job.
But the truth was…
"…I… was scared." Temari whispered, moving her hands up to Gaara's. She touched those cold, pale hands tenderly, coughing as life started to go out of her.
The vampire blinked when he heard that sentence, and even his eyes softened for a moment. But fury alighted in his eyes once again when he processed her words fully.
"Scared?" He snarled. "I'll make you scared!" His hands applied more pressure to her neck, and air coming in and out from her lungs was almost to a bare minimum.
Temari gasped. "You…have the right… to… hate….me…"
Gaara glared at the girl, but he was listening to her words. And they were chipping away at his heart little by little.
"But…Gaara…" The blonde girl looked at him straight in the eye, unblinking.
"You'll…always…be...my..."
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" Gaara yelled, releasing her neck and pushing her to one side.
In the process, the yellow bear came flying out from his pocket and landed on Temari's face.
-
"…Letting herself be strangled like that…creating a barrier…Geez, Temari…" Shikamaru slapped himself on the forehead.
Sasuke looked at the scene intently, hands in his pockets, his eyes narrowed into slits. "…Humph!" He threw a stake at the tree angrily, and it stabbed into the tree trunk.
Shikamaru raised his eyebrows, and turned back to the fight. He's probably disappointed that Temari didn't even react, huh…
The boy with the pineapple-style ponytail grinned despite the situation. Events that had both happened to them were similar to some extent… But I suppose you loved your brother too, Sasuke?
…That's why you hate him so much…
-
"The bear…" Temari picked up the soft toy from her face. "You've…always kept it?"
Gaara stopped, panting, his eyes wide.
"…It was a present… for your birthday…" The girl muttered slowly, trying to fight the tears that were still flowing fresh from her eyes.
"…You…You…" Gaara choked, reaching a hand in her direction. "G-Give that back to me…You…You liar…"
Temari stopped. L-Liar?
"…You hate me, don't you? You've always hated me..." The boy said, his voice shaky. "You hate me… You didn't give me that bear… Because you've always hated me… It's just not possible… Liar…"
"Gaara"— The girl started.
"LIAR!"
He dove at her, snatching the bear from her and pushing her further away from him.
Temari could feel her body—bruised and battered, but luckily not bleeding.
"I"—She coughed, holding her chest. "I gave that bear to you for your birthday, even though Father forbids it. Vampire hunters are not supposed to be emotionally attached to anyone or anything. All they have to do is to just slay vampires, and that's their only goal in life."
The girl lumbered towards her brother, still in pain.
"First rule." She burst into coughing fits again. "Attack fiercely. Have no mercy."
"Second rule."
"…Have no fear…of death." Gaara recited, stunned that the words were flowing out of his mouth-- naturally. And no surprise here. Gaara's father had drilled the rules into him ever since he was one.
"Third rule… Most importantly, trust no one . Have no feelings, no emotions, no tears." The siblings said in unison.
The vampire recoiled, covering his mouth. "I don't know you." He said, his voice trembling. "I don't want to prey on anyone today. Go away. I'm letting you go."
"Gaara! Don't try to escape from it!" Temari yelled, and she was sobbing openly now. "There is a way! Vampire hunters have been searching for a way to change human-turned-vampire back to normal beings again! You can become a human, Gaara!"
"Go away! Shut your trap!" Gaara yelled, if possible even a few volumes louder than his sister's.
"It should be wise for you to stake him now. He obviously doesn't want to listen to you anymore."
Temari spun around. Sasuke.
"How did you"—
"You must have forgotten about your barrier completely, huh?"
Barriers are pretty much powerful tools in both defending and attacking, but the price for it is a rather big amount of magic and concentration. Once the user forgets or releases his or her concentration on actually holding the barrier, it falls apart.
"…Shikamaru!" Temari pleaded, looking at the boy standing next to Sasuke.
Shikamaru looked at her straight in the eye, his brow furrowed. "You'll die like this. This just can't go on anymore."
"I can't just kill him!" The blonde girl screamed at her fellow companions.
"Then I will." Sasuke glared at the red-haired monster. "I still have a score to settle."
Temari responded by pushing him away. The raven-haired boy did not change his stony expression even after that.
"Your brother has been struggling, hurting, and suffering all this time." Shikamaru tried a gentle approach. "You have to end this."
"No! I don't want to"— Temari started.
The boy's eyes narrowed.
"YOU HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO END THIS! HE CHANGED INTO A VAMPIRE BECAUSE OF YOU!" Shikamaru boomed.
That was it.
"I'm been researching…" Temari tried to say something in defense.
"How long will it be when you come up with the final result? Your brother can't wait any longer. And I'm holding him with my shadow spell right now! So get along!" The hunter shoved her towards Gaara, who was strangely still and calm.
Temari tried one last time to defend herself, to find any excuse to just keep her brother alive. But they were correct. It was her responsibility. If she'd let him live till the time when she made up her human-to-vampire-back-to-human solution, god knows how many people would have fallen prey.
Both Shikamaru's and Sasuke's faces were stoned in position. They were determined to get rid of him. Temari knew very well that even if she didn't stake her brother, the two of them will.
"…Thank you." She said softly, taking out a stake from her pocket.
The target was there. Silent, and still calm. Gaara's eyes were dull, and his fangs had shrunk back into his gums. He seemed to be ready.
Temari started to walk, then she broke into a run. In her vision, her brother was holding up the yellow bear, close to his heart. And he was.
"GAARA!" She screamed, plunging the stake down.
-
Stab.
"One… two…three…"
Temari's eyes widened, tears coming out from them hard and fast.
"Three…two…one…"
Gaara coughed and broke into a smile, his hands holding Temari's face.
The silver stake had gone through the yellow bear, and right into his heart.
"I…found you…sister…"
Temari released her hold on the stake and hugged her brother tightly, feeling him melt into feathery, white, pure ashes.
"I've never hated you, Gaara…I've never hated you!" She yelled, crying.
Her yells echoed into the dawn, and sounded all round the alley.
"Gaara!"
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