The figure remained clear in my mind as an image. When I'd returned to the Academy, I remember unconsciously walking to Headmaster's office. Hana, Zero, and Spencer greeted me on the other side of the door, along with Teacher and Headmaster Cross.
"Kizuki, where've you been? Its night, you know! There's Level E's out there!" Master shouted, going into a lecture.
"I'm sorry, Teacher." I mumbled, and reached in my jacket pocket for the letter. I held it out to him in my palm. "This is yours."
'So she did steal it…' Shigure thought to himself. Master took the paper from my hand, and his eyes softened. "As long as your okay, I guess I'll let it slide this time."
I nodded, staring into the distance.
"Are you okay, Koyu?" Hana asked me, worry in her tone.
"I'm fine, just a little tired I guess." I lied.
"You should all get to your dorms and rest. Its still a weekend, so relax while you can." Headmaster Cross advised, pulling his smile.
I turned to the door to follow the others, but stopped at the frame.
"Teacher, that address…" I gulped the sudden creak in my throat.
"Yes." He answered.
"Who is he?" I asked, looking at him from over my shoulder.
The two became silent, serious expressions. "Kizuki, you should rest for the night. Since you have tomorrow off, we'll be sending you out for some work."
I sighed and walked out.
"That note you gave Mr. Togaryu, what was it?" Hana inquired, pulling her hair up into a ponytail.
"It was…the address to my old house." I replied.
"I knew it." She whispered, and I looked over to her. "You missed your family."
"Yeah…" I muttered, dressing into a black big shirt to go to sleep.
"Zero was really worried the whole time you were gone. He thought you'd get attacked." She told me.
"That's the only thing he's worried about." I said, laying my head on my fuzzy pillow.
"Night, Kizu." Hana's voice came down to a whisper again.
I dressed into my other battle clothing, since the others were dirty. A blood red off the shoulder shirt, the sleeves reached my elbows, a sleeveless black jacket with (surprise) a fur hoodie that ended at my thighs, black shorts, red long stockings barely above my knees, and my usual boots.
Hana and I walked to where Master told us to meet them. Spencer and Zero waited there.
"Nice to see you've woken up." Headmaster smiled at us.
"Why are we here exactly?" Spencer asked, curiosity in his eyes.
"Headmaster and I need you for a mission. All of you." Teacher began. "There's what you could call a vampire soiree, or more like a masquerade. Its full of…certain vampires, ones that aren't like Takuma or the others."
"You mean…?" He nodded.
"High class vampires that feed on humans, not blood tablets. They don't let them live, either. Their very sadistic, and we've been informed that there is a plan behind the masquerade. We want you all to go as members. Some of the Night Class will be there as well." Headmaster continued.
"Why am I going, then? I'm only human." Hana grumbled.
"Because you're a good asset for extra watch, and from what I've seen, your about as stubborn as Kizuki." Teacher grinned.
"And Kizuki," I looked up at my mentor. "Be careful, okay?"
I nodded sharply. "And Zero, I expect you to guard her."
"Hey, who guards me?" Hana growled.
"Aido Hanabusa." He replied. Hana blushed.
"Heh, heh, lucky you, Hana." Spencer joked. She elbowed him in the stomach, knocking his air out of his lungs.
"You'll all be hidden to watch for any suspicious actions. You'll be acting as if you are like them. Zero and Kizuki, I want you two to act as dates, and Spencer, you'll be lurking behind the scenes."
"Got it!" Spencer smirked. "Trust me, I won't be seen."
"Right, you can't even steal a skittle out of Kizuki's backpack!" Hana hollered.
"I can so, Hana!" He spat back.
"Well, from what I remember, you can't either, Hana." I reminded her.
"Hey! That was once!" She hissed.
"Skittles? Really?" Teacher gave me a cynical look. I shrugged.
"What can I say, sour skittles have a calming effect on me." I sarcastically replied.
"She also has a habit of not sharing them with me." Spencer glared over to me.
"You don't share your churros, I don't share my skittles." I announced.
"It was one damn churro, move on!" He roared.
"Anyway," Teacher sighed. "Until tonight, I want you all to prepare."
Hana and I began to walk with Spencer back to the dorms. "Anyway, I'll pick our dresses. And Spence, I'm picking your tux."
"Why?" He groaned.
"Coz you'll end up wearing a neon blue tux with light up pineapples." Hana snapped.
"Once, it was once! And it was tomatoes!" He corrected her.
"That's even worse." I grumbled.
"Kizu's right, it is." Hana agreed.
"I'll see you guys later, I'm gonna get some alone time." I informed them.
I picked up the violin gently in my arms. I made sure it was in the condition I'd left it in. The music room was quiet with no one there.
I sat down and held the instrument, the song I'd heard yesterday stuck into my mind. The bow glided across the strings, and the tune broke the silence.
I closed my eyes and let memories flow. The calm feeling relaxed me, and the cold wood of the violin was an inviting feeling on my skin.
The tune started fierce but gentle, yet soon became a sharp yet almost silent sound, then almost went un-hearable. The melody was only faintly heard.
Suddenly, I felt a presence just staring at me. The gaze burned into my back, going along my spine. I stopped playing and turned. For almost a second, I thought I saw silver hair, but shook the idea out of my head.
My cell phone went off, and I pressed talk. "Hello?"
"Hey Kizu, Headmaster Cross said its starting soon." Hana's voice informed me.
"Okay, I'll be up in a minute." I said before closing my phone.
"I am not wearing this!" I growled at Hana, looking down at the black dress with two straps on each side that crossed in the front and the back, and had a side cut to the left. My axes were placed inward so they weren't revealed, along with small knives I'd placed in very uncomfortable places.
Hana smiled proudly in her chocolate brown sleeveless dress that hugged her waist then loosened at the legs. I stared back at myself, and glared at her. My dress hugged a little more than I wanted.
"Oh, stop whining. You look great." She rolled her eyes. "What'd you expect to wear, your battle clothes?"
I blushed. "S-shut up! I did not!"
"Yes you did. I'm called your best friend for a reason, Kizuki." Hana grinned.
"Oh, come on. We gotta meet Spencer and Zero. Don't drool over Aido." I teased her. She frowned.
"I will not drool." She stubbornly denied.
"Gawking."
"Maybe." She admitted. The walk down the stairs was hell, especially in heels. We'd finally made it after a few minutes.
"I can't believe you took off your heels after two minutes!" Hana lectured.
"You try wearing those hell daggers with the feet I have." I replied, grabbing the black flats I'd stuffed in her purse.
"Your such a wimp." She groaned, and greeted Spencer. "Hey mop head."
"I'm not a mop head." He growled calmly.
"Right, keep telling yourself that." She snapped. "Now, are we gonna kick some ass or what?"
"We're not exactly fighting, Han-chan. We're just kind of taking watch." Takuma corrected her.
"Whatever, I'm with human girl here! We need some fighting!" Aido agreed.
"You two are too much alike…" I muttered, hopping on one foot to get my shoe on. Falling over wasn't part of my plan, though. "Damn shoes!"
"You okay?" Zero asked from above me. I nodded, taking his hand to help me up.
"Now, let's crash this party." Spencer grinned deviously.
The place the masquerade was being held at had a definite 'High Class Killers' kind of feeling. The inside was even more high class. The 'ballroom' (such a funny name for a room) had wooden floors and golden walls with intricate designs. The ceiling held glass murals of various paintings. It was almost unexplainable.
Above the ballroom a balcony surrounded it for the other rooms that was in the building. You could barely see anything in the balcony due to its darkness there.
The ballroom was full of vampires dancing as if they'd never killed a person in their whole life. However, the look in their eyes betrayed them.
"I'll do my job, you guys look like your party animals." Spencer whispered.
"Who said we weren't?" Hana commented, a glint in her eyes. "Come on Aido, your dancing with me." She dragged Aido by his tie, and I almost laughed, but he glared at me.
"Do we really have to dance?" I sighed.
"Well, I think they'd find it odd that we're here at a masquerade and we're not dancing." Zero pointed out.
"I don't see why I'm here. They can smell that I'm Teruling, can't they?" I asked, following him into the room.
"Don't you remember earlier before we left?" He replied.
"Oh, didn't Headmaster use some hunter spell or something to ward vampire scent on us?" I nodded, remembering. "God, I can't dance worth a crap."
"Your doing fine. You didn't have a problem doing it at that rink you go to."
"Well, that's different. That doesn't involve the waltz." I watched carefully to the beings around us. "How do you know how to dance like this, anyway?"
"Yuki forced me to learn it with her." He sighed.
"Oh…sorry I asked." I apologized. Just her name made that regretful feeling hit me in the chest. She was gone. She'd left and I'd never see her again.
"Its fine. She made her decision." He lied.
"Its not fine, or you wouldn't be making that face." I glared up at him. "We all miss her you know, though I probably don't miss her like you do."
I felt those overwhelming feelings from before in the hall. When I closed my eyes, a flash of that illusion in the plains haunted my mind.
As I listened closely to the tune playing, and let my muscles relax to the sounds.
"If she knew where you were, she probably would've said goodbye." Zero mentioned.
The music changed, and the orchestra in the front of the room went silent to let the piano play. What I remembered as the tango played, but there was one noise that stood out. The violin…
That song…it was exactly the same as mine from earlier, but in sharp and vicious strokes. I looked over at where the sound came from.
A flash of the man in my plains held the violin, but when I blinked, it was just another vampire.
"That song..." I whispered. The vampires around me danced the tango like experts.
"It's the one you played this morning." Zero finished for me.
"You were the one listening?" I asked, surprised.
"Dammit…" He muttered, and spun me. The voice of the man singing had a certain tone to it, a familiar one. I remembered it clearly as one of the songs I'd written, but it was twisted around.
"This is starting to worry me now." Zero admitted.
"I know, but its just—" I stopped and my eyes widened when I looked up at the balcony. Pale green eyes stared down at me with a grin.
I could barely see the figures from the shadows, but however many times I blinked, he didn't disappear.
A stabbing pain erupted in my head, the sharp noise from the violin ringing through my ears.
"Its him…" I whispered, and the figure walked back into the shadows. I searched through the balcony for him again, but another person caught my eyes.
She'd had long brown hair, cinnamon brown, almost red eyes, and a small figure. The image had been on my mind constantly, filling my heart with regret.
All of my movements stopped, and I could faintly hear Zero calling my name.
"I'll be right back…" I muttered, walking into the shadows and over the stairs. I ignored Zero's calls from over the music and followed the person.
I could've sworn it'd been Yuki. The stabs took on a new form of ache inside, but I shook it off.
As I walked closer, she ran farther. A hand suddenly forced itself over my mouth, and I flailed my arms, struggling the best I could.
The chuckling I'd almost memorized could be heard next to my ear. "Got you."
Fighting to no avail, he pulled me to a room with him. I reached to grab my axes, but he tore them from their holsters and threw them into the balcony floor before shutting the door.
I could hear the violin's sharp sound even louder, and was pushed into a chair. The room seemed like an old study.
"Seemed you've gotten yourself into a very complicated predicament." He smirked.
"Who are you and what the hell do you want?" I growled, standing up again.
"Oh, such cold words, my sweet Kizuki." The man appeared behind me. I felt frozen, as if I couldn't move my body. His hand caressed my cheek, and I fought not to jump.
"Go rot and die with your little 'sweet' crap." I snapped, slapping his hand away.
"Zero, where's Kizuki? Wasn't she with you?" Hana asked.
"She was, but she ran off." He replied.
"Dammit, what is she thinking? Has she gone crazy?" Spencer said.
"Most likely." Hana answered. "No, she's not usually like this on missions. From what Shigure says, she wouldn't run off for no reason."
"We need to find her before she gets herself killed." Aido hissed.
"She can take care of herself just fine." Hana reassured him. "She should last on her own for a few minutes if it's a vampire that she's got a problem with."
"Don't touch me!" I shouted, turning around to glare at him.
"Dear Kizuki, your powerless over me. I do give you credit for resisting me this long. Most Teruling don't last against a Pureblood's power." I gasped.
"P-pureblood?" If I made one mistake to piss him off, this guy could send me down to Level E lane.
"Yes, I am the pureblood, Kirien Razuoshi."
"That still doesn't explain why I'm here." I reminded him.
"So you don't remember me." He rubbed his chin. "I do hope you enjoyed the violinist, the song was specially made out to you."
"Made out to me? I made that song. You were watching me!" I hissed. "You're a sick creep, aren't you?"
"No, I'm not. I'm just completely fascinated by you." He admitted, a shiver passing through my spine as the tip of his fingers touched my bare shoulder. A immense chill emanated from it.
"Dammit, where the hell is she?" Hana hollered, getting frustrated.
"She couldn't have possibly left without being discovered." Takuma said.
"Something's wrong, I can feel it. It's a friend telepathy." Hana told them, opening a door. "She's not there either."
'Kizuki, you better be okay…' Zero thought.
"I want you to become mine, Kizuki." Kirien whispered.
"You don't own me, and you can't do anything that will change that." I said, trying not to stutter.
"In fact, I can." He chuckled, and I felt myself shaking when his fangs showed up. His hand grabbed my neck, pulling it to the side. He barely allowed me to breathe with his grip, and my pulse became slower as he tighten his hold on my wrist.
The fangs came closer to my vein, and I closed my eyes. As quick as my eye could see, I was pushed to the wall and Kirien was held by the neck.
Kaname stood in front of him, his hand around Kirien's throat.
"K-Kuran…?" I stuttered. He looked back at me.
"Good to see your doing well, Kizuki." He greeted. Someone touched my arm, and I almost jumped out of my skin.
"Sh, calm down. Its okay, Kizuki. Its just me, Yuki." Yuki seemed so different. Her hair was immensely longer, and her eyes held the look a pureblood carried.
"Yuki, your—" I was shocked beyond words.
"I know, I'm sorry I left before you came back. Lots of things happened. I'm guessing Hana and the others told you." She smiled.
I nodded. "I-I'm sorry I…"
"Don't be sorry. You told me to go after Kaname, and now I have him. I owe you my thanks." Yuki told me.
I smiled. She may be a pureblood, but she still reminded me of the old Yuki.
"I'm not like I used to be. However, I hope you can forgive me." She gave me that innocent 'please forgive me' look.
"Nothing to forgive about." I smiled.
"Yuki?" Hana's voice shrieked. The others stood at the door. Before they could even blink, the three purebloods seemed to disappear. "Kizuki, are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine, but…" I blinked, slightly confused. "I think Kaname just saved my ass."
"Kaname? Are you sure you didn't hallucinate?" Spencer asked. I nodded.
"I'm sure." I answered.
"Who was that vampire?" Hana inquired.
"His names Kirien. He was a pureblood…" I explained.
I looked up and noticed Zero standing above me. "You ran off."
"I-I'm sorry Zero. Please don't be mad." I apologized.
"You had…you had me worried." He glared.
Hana stifled a laugh, and stood up. "I'll go over there now." She informed us, standing beside Spencer and Aido.
I got up and looked at Zero. "I know I ran off, but I had to—" I was interrupted by an spontaneous hug. "U-um…"
"Heh, are you blushing, Kizuki?" Aido teased.
"I-I am not!" I denied. "I'm sorry I worried you Zero."
He pulled away and glared again. "If you ever do anything that stupid again, I swear I'll let Hana feed you her neon sushi."
"That's a cruel and unusual punishment, Zero!" I crossed my arms.
"Hey, my neon sushi isn't that bad!" Hana yelled.
"Hana, it glows, no eatable food glows." Aido pointed out to her.
"So? It makes it colorful!" She argued.
"Colorful or just unnatural…" Spencer mumbled.
"I have to agree with them." Takuma admitted.
"Your all so mean!" Hana flailed her arms.