The hunt continues...

Disclaimer: Hino-sensei owns Vampire Knight. All I own is this wet sweatshirt, which someone abandoned at a tennis court, that the rain soaked. The fans would never allow someone this pathetic to own their beloved VK.

Chapter 2: Death Sleeps

Yuuki reclined against the plush cushions on her bed, staring off into space. The late morning sun peeked through the drawn curtains into the dark room. A heavy gloom had settled around the pureblood girl since her return from the headmaster's office that morning, and after retiring upstairs, her feelings of despair and dejection had permeated the immediate area.

Into the midst of this happy environment walked Seiren after one light knock on the thick wooden door. Even though it was midday, no one in the Night Dorm was anywhere near slumber. Most of the Night Class was evacuated and every sound reverberated through the halls with eerie intensity.

"Kaname-sama requests that you relocate to a more secure bedchamber, Yuuki-sama," Seiren informed her.

The pale girl slowly turned her head to stare at Seiren. Were they seriously going to rob her of her solace? Her private brooding and preparation for the fight to come?

Yuuki replied with a stern suggestion. "You shouldn't be here."

"Kaname-sama sent me."

"Not my room- here at the academy," Yuuki clarified.

Seiren stared back, her eyes as unyieldingly blank as her face. "We are sworn to protect the purebloods. It is our duty." She stated it so simply like commonly accepted knowledge.

"You are also supposed to follow our orders," Yuuki drawled. She had been up for the past night and half a day. Sleep beckoned, but her tortured mind could not go. These constant interruptions to her fragile peace were becoming tiresome.

Whether oblivious to her superior's displeasure or purposely choosing to ignore it, Seiren strode back towards the door with no sign of remorse in her demeanor. She tilted her head to the pureblood upon twisting the knob, unwilling to leave until she was satisfied that her message had been sufficiently conveyed. "You should hurry. Kaname-sama will worry."

Yuuki sat up, pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them. Most of the Night Class listened, obeyed and left, but the small group still at the academy refused. It was going to get them killed. If Onii-sama exerted his influence, they would leave, but he allowed them to stay. What was he thinking?

Without warning, Ichijou burst in. "Yuuki-chan!"

"Yes?" Yuuki jumped, startled.

"You better hurry downstairs. Kaname is starting to twitch," Ichijou told her with a smile.

Yuuki reluctantly left the comfort of her bed and took a small bag out of the closet. "I'll be right down."

"Thank you!" Ichijou chirped. "And Yuuki-chan?"

"Yes?" Yuuki paused, one garment laden hand frozen in mid-air.

"Please don't ask us to leave again." Ichijou glanced to the side for a moment before working up the nerve to look her steadily in the eyes. "We're not just your bodyguards: we're your family. That's why we'll protect you and Kaname."

Yuuki stood frozen in shock, not knowing how to respond.

Ichijou's face lost its stern expression and he resumed his usual carefree attitude. "Just thought you should know. It's not like Seiren-chan was going to say it."

Her expression softened. "Thank you, Ichijou-kun. Just promise me you'll be careful, all of you."

"With the exception of Aidou-kun, when are we not?" Ichijou, smiling, left Yuuki to her packing and headed downstairs where the others sat in the parlor with the curtains drawn.

It was quite the conundrum. Ichijou was right. Yuuki had lived with the Night Class for five years, and the few who would not leave as the hunters closed in were as much her family now as Headmaster Kurosu and…Zero.

That was the problem, wasn't it? Despite everything, Yuuki still cared for Zero. She could not bear to see harm come to him. If he killed any of her new family, she would be grief-stricken, but if Zero died, she would—what?

If Zero was no longer in this world, it would be like losing half of her soul.

What about Onii-sama? Certainly, Kuran Kaname was the epitome of vampiric beauty and power, and Yuuki would hardly be a female if she didn't feel some measure of attraction or attachment to him, but at the end of the day, he was still just Onii-sama- her brother.

Yuuki realized that she was packing at a painfully slow rate that was sure to arouse suspicion and, more likely than not, bring upon her the temperamental wrath of Aidou-kun, but she sat back down on her bed, bag cast aside, and tried to imagine how she would feel if Onii-sama died. Would she be sad? Devastated! Would she cry? Enough tears to flood the ocean! But would she be able to move on with her life? Yes.

What would she do if Zero died?

Rin stood stationary on the train platform, bag slung over shoulder, a frown tugging at her lips. "Onii-san, what's the rush?"

"It's a long ride to Kurosu Academy. If we leave now, we can make it by nightfall," Zero stated in his no-nonsense tone.

Rin sighed in exasperation. "Do you seriously expect to drive all day and then fight two purebloods and who knows how many lackeys?" Her partner's obstinacy was a constant chore to deal with.

"Yes," Zero answered simply. He walked over to the rent-a-car station without a care for whether or not he was followed.

Rin headed over to a nearby bench and plopped down, relaxed and ready for an afternoon of waiting. I wonder how long it'll take him to realize that I stole his wallet again.


"Who is with Kiryuu, Headmaster?" Kaname demanded. The question had been eating away at him since the sun rose, especially with so many of his subordinates turning suicidal and happily awaiting the arrival of trained murderers.

Kurosu tilted his head and borderline whined, "How should I know? All the witnesses are dead."

"Then how do we know it's Kiryuu and an accomplice?" Kaname pressed.

"WHY IS MY NEPHEW BEING SO MEAN TO ME?!" Kurosu screamed.

The following awkward silence was marred only by the swishing of the headmaster's arms through the air as he tried in vain to attack Kaname with a bear hug of doom while the pureblood held him off with one hand in the face.

Kaname closed his eyes and smirked. "Perhaps I should mention to Yuuki that her 'father' is an immortal-sorcerer-turned-vampire-hunter-turned-school-headmaster who's been lying to her about his origins all these years…"

The headmaster immediately stopped his struggling and turned away, wallowing in misery. "Kaname's so cruel," he whimpered. Straightening up and removing his glasses, Kurosu remarked lightly, "You may have met her. She goes by Yoru Rin."

"OUT! EVERYBODY OUT, RIGHT NOW!!!" Kaname's angry shouts rang throughout the entire building, startling everyone out of their day-induced half slumbers.

Letting his friends go up against Kiryuu was questionable, but at least they knew what to expect from the ruthless hunter. Letting them go up against Kiryuu and an almost-pureblood known for her killing expertise would make Kaname an accessory to murder.

Aidou began to protest. "Kaname-sama, we already told you: we aren't leav-"

Thoroughly sick of hearing this particular voice raised in opposition to his wishes, Kaname gritted his teeth and struggled to remain calm. "The situation is more serious than I thought. Kiryuu has a Yoru with him."

Not even a mouse dared to skitter within the walls for fear of disturbing the perfect, absolute silence that fell on the Night Dorm following this happy little detail. The vampires' faces mirrored each other with identical expressions of shock and horror. Despite having numbers on their side, the odds for survival had not been in their favor when they expected Kiryuu- and maybe a "helper"- but now they were officially slim to none, closer to none than slim.

We're gonna die. Shiki thought. He regained mastery of his expression and turned a bored stare on Rima, where his thoughts were reflected in her eyes.

"We will stay, Kaname-sama," Ruka reaffirmed. Was anyone else getting tired of constantly repeating this?

Kaname's entire outlook on the situation had changed the moment he heard the name "Yoru." He would no longer suffer defiance. "This is not up for debate. You are all leaving immediately."

"No," a voice from above echoed through the entryway, commanding and regal as a pureblood's. It was, in fact, a pureblood. Yuuki slowly descended from the upper floor, one hand trailing along the banister, her long hair shielding half of her face.

Kaname looked up and tried to reason with her. "Yuuki, you don't understand. If they stay, it will mean certain death for all of them."

She was unyielding. "I am sorry, Onii-sama, but if they still wish to stay and fight, I will not turn them away." Ichijou's talk of family echoed in her head. She would not force them to bear the dishonor and betrayal of being tossed out in a time of need.

Kaname ground his sharp canines against his lower teeth and scowled at the ridiculously happy looking Ichijou and Aidou, but he allowed Yuuki's to decision stand. He was obviously alone in his sentiments of survival, and he could not very well argue with his princess without facing serious repercussions in the future –repercussions he was sure to loathe beyond all reason- and Yuuki had a long life in which to torment him. This was a small price to pay for avoiding such dreadfulness.

Yuuki reached the ground floor and was relieved to see a look of grudging acceptance from her brother. Here, however, she added, "However, none of you are to kill Zero." This was her burden. "Leave him to me."

"If you're going to force me to rest, could you at least spring for something one level above this flea-bitten hole in the wall?" Zero asked in a bored, resigned tone. Cheapskate.

"Shut up. The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner we can leave." Rin ordered, not at all moved to sympathy by his pathetic whining.

"Fine." Zero laid down on one of the moldy, questionably sanitary twin beds and rolled his face away from the wretched vampire who had, once again, stolen his wallet and coerced him into temporarily postponing his long sought after revenge and justice.

Rin couldn't help but smile at the petulant child stuck in a teenager's body. Then again, what were teenagers really but just that?

What a pair they made, the two of them: a vampire hunter turned vampire, willing to kill himself once the last of the purebloods was slain, and a vampire aristocrat of the highest order, despising herself for the tool she was born to be. Yet, somehow, they were family. Zero would never acknowledge as much out loud, but Rin knew that he felt the same way. Now, if only he could get past his conditioned hatred of purebloods and accept that missing piece of himself as family, too.

Exhausted from all the effort required in compelling Zero to take a break, Rin trudged over to the window and drew the curtains. The afternoon sunlight was beginning to burn. She spared her disgusting disgrace of a bed a scathing glare before plopping down and shoving the nearest pillow under her head.

"Sleep tight, Onii-san," Rin murmured to the darkness.

Author's Note:

Hope you enjoyed, a late Happy New Year to all, and feel free to leave a review and let me know what you think!