"I'm dying…?" I felt hollow. As if the world was foggy, disappearing from my sight when I heard Teacher's announcement.
I lay still in the darkness of my room, my only light radiating from the window. My black blanket was soaked with tears, some dried on my cheeks.
The scene from only a week ago echoed through my head over and over.
"The tower's breaking, and its eating away at her lifespan to survive this long. I'd give her a few months before…"
It wasn't fair…It wasn't!
"When do you think she'll recover?" Hana's voice was soft, tired as they all rested in the lounge.
"I don't know…she can't get a grip on this lightly." Spencer sighed, stressed out. He glared over at Zero, his face curled into anger. "Its all your fault, you blood-sucking bastard."
Zero looked back with emotionless, cold eyes. Roaring with rage, Spencer charged at the vampire hunter and gripped him by his shirt. "You have the gull to even enter her mind after what you did!"
"Since day one I came here, you caused Kizu-chan more pain repeatedly!"
Zero didn't reply. Spencer pulled back his fist to hit him, but Hana quickly took action and caught his arm in time.
"Spence, calm down! Killing him won't solve anything! Think of how Kizuki would feel if you did that." She reminded him, and he stilled.
The night class vampires watched. "I can't believe she's dying…" Kain said.
"Zero…" Hana muttered before a loud "SLAP!" ricocheted through the room. "Your stupider than I thought. Haven't you realized it yet?"
"…"
"She's in love with you, you idiot!" Hana cried, bursting into tears. Aido put a hand on her shoulder. She turned and cried in his arms. "My friend's dying…Kizuki's dying right in front of me, slowly…"
"Uh, guys…" Takuma cut in. "Kizuki's gone."
The wind blew my long jacket back as I ran. I narrowed my eyes at the view of the hooded figure that caught sight of me. They turned and rushed through the crowd. I pushed past people to get to the beginning of an alleyway.
I grabbed their wrist, stopping the chase. The hood fell, Yuki's face holding shame.
I lowered my own, keeping a strong expression. "I want answers."
She looked at me with wide eyes. Yuki lifted her hand and let the tip of her fingers touch my fresh glowing teal tattoo that lay on my temple. "…Does he know?"
I shook my head. "I won't look at him."
"I-I'm sorry!" I hugged her, trying to comfort her the best I could. We both knew what would come next. I may not know why she was apologizing, but I had a feeling that I needed to comfort her.
I entered and everyone looked up at me. I noticed Hana was curled up in Aido's arms, crying her eyes out.
"Where have you been?" Spencer asked, frantic. I put a hand up to him, and he stopped.
"I did something I had to do." Zero stood, leaning on the wall. He gazed at my mark, but I ignored it. No one had seen it until now. Yuki stepped from behind me, and I heard various gasps.
"Y-Yuki?" Hana stuttered. Yuki nodded and walked to the middle of the room.
"Tell them." I ordered. Kain raised a curious eyebrow, but listened.
"The night of the masquerade, even before that, I was watching over Kizuki. In a way, I never left long. I knew about Kirien, but I didn't want to say anything. He wanted to control her mind, so I entered it first, but I didn't think I'd cause him to break the tower." She began.
"Your not telling everything, Yuki. I know you aren't." I pointed out.
Fresh tears fell from Yuki's cheeks.
"You knocked me unconscious that day in the plains too, didn't you? You talked with Zero!" I shouted.
"Okay, I did! I couldn't tell you about Kirien, I didn't want to!" She admitted.
"Your lying, he didn't break it!"
"I…I didn't like it! You two were so connected, so much closer than I ever was, and I just…I broke it, but I don't know why! I got so mad at you!"
"You could've stopped this! You could've kept me from dying!" I cried, falling to my knees in sobs. "I can't forgive you, Yuki!"
I stood up and walked toward the door, but stopped and looked at Zero. "I brought you your precious Yuki, now you can have her."
The forest was silent, cold. The tension was heavy. I could feel her close. We both were ready for this the day of the masquerade.
Yuki stood yards away, staring back at me. We were meant to be on different sides. Meant to fight against each other in the end.
"You can't keep him to the side like a dog forever." I told her, glaring up, but keeping my head down.
"I can't let him go, Kizuki. I'm sorry." Yuki sincerely apologized. We weren't aware of it when we were humans, but we knew what we had to do now.
I lifted my chain axes, her scythe ready to battle, and we both raced towards each other.
"Do you think we should stop them?" Kaien asked Togaryu as he sat in his office chair. He shook his head.
"No, they must battle it out. If not, they'll never resolve their anger. In the end, this was their places. They must fight with all they have." Shigure sighed.
I spun to dodge, the glow of my tattoos brightening. I pulled my axe up to slice her but only met her scythe.
"You can't win, Kizuki. I have pureblood in me." She said. I stepped back and disappeared from her sight. Yuki looked around for me. I returned from behind her.
"So do I!" I growled, and tackled her down. She struggled, both our weapons clashing, metal to metal.
Her back crashed against a tree, and the blade of my axe was aimed straight at her neck. Seconds passed like years, and I began to shake.
"You can't kill me." She announced. "You still cling to the old me."
"Shut up! No I don't!" I hissed, pushing the sharp edge closer. From below, Yuki swung her scythe toward me.
Just before it pierced my stomach, Kaname suddenly pulled me away from the death vicinity. Zero held Yuki's scythe still with just a single hand.
"I hate you, I absolutely despise you!" I screamed at her, losing all control that I had. Kaname held my arms so I wouldn't attack her. "You betrayed me! You both betrayed me!"
"I-I…" Yuki seemed disillusioned, as if the past hour was out of her memory. "What did I just do?"
"The beginning may have ended, but from here on, its going to only get worse."