Upon being marked as a vampire Seiren was blessed with extraordinary x-ray vision, enabling her to see through solid structures, be it the densest or the most compact; she would still be able to catch a glimpse of mere shadows all the way from the next room if she so does wish. So in other words, she's the real deal for espionage work.
This whole time, she had been attentively observing her Master from a vacant classroom bordering the side of the girl's bathroom, using her acute x-ray vision in the process.
Should I interfere and kill that Level-E now? Seiren began to wonder, as she pressed herself closer to the adjacent wall facing her target. No, Lord Kuran would have done so by now if he had wanted him dead.
She watched as the fool, Zero, give in to his thirst and repulsively lick off blood from the cold-tiled flooring. She has witnessed more inhuman and gruesome Level-Es before, so seeing Zero in such a lust-driven state doesn't faze Seiren the least. Often the most common way that Level-Es replenish their hunger (when they don't find their meals fast enough) was to other than rip out a chunk of their own flesh and start feeding on their very own blood. Of course, those types were of the lowest of Level-Es, and Seiren could tell that this Zero hasn't even transformed into one just yet, but was definitely hanging on by a thread to his current Level-D form.
He still can be saved… Seiren unexpectedly thought as she saw Zero's body tremor with suppressed agony. Immediately catching herself felt pity towards the vampire hunter, Seiren shook the thought out, focusing on her main priority: the safety of her Lord Kaname.
She was actually feeling pity for this low-life? The one that had tried to hurt her master one too many times?
Usually thought of as the most indifferent and emotionless, Seiren is actually one of the most loyal and sympathetic amongst the Night Class students. But seeing that her countenance is naturally impassive and usually detached, as well as adding to the fact that she's the personal guard and spy of the pureblood leader Kaname Kuran, one would eventually come to a biased conclusion that she is merely a puppet that follows and moves along by the tug of her puppet strings.
Impossible… He'll inevitably become a Level-E and nothing more…
Seiren continued her surveillance from behind her cover. She'll just have to bust this pretty little wall down if things come to its worse.
"Where could have Lord Kaname gone to in the middle of class?" Hanabusa irritably asked, tapping his pencil on his desk. "Maybe he was off to find Yuuki's scent. Every one of us here had also distinguished her smell. Peachy with a tint of vanilla…"
*Tap-tap-tap*
"It's not like him to just run off like that. Maybe Yuuki and Lord Kaname are sneaking off somewhere… I just want this class to end! Lord Kaname always gets spe-"
"Shut up!" Ruka suddenly yelled from her desk, hurling her Literature textbook at Hanabusa in utter frustration.
*Tap-tap-t* Hanabusa right away stopped his ranting and blinked at the very angered Ruka, easily catching the aimed projectile between his thumb and forefinger with no difficulty.
"Ruka there's no need for such hostile behavior." Hanabusa teasingly scolded, tossing the book back to her desk.
"Just shut up for once Hanabusa! Lord Kaname will never skip class just for that human girl!" Standing up from her seat, Ruka turned around and stormed off the classroom; taking out her anger elsewhere before she will seriously mind-control Hanabusa to slap his own conceited face until they bleed.
'Fuck that annoying bastard…' Ruka mentally hissed, flipping her blonde hair out of her face.
"Ruka! Wait!" Akatsuki didn't hesitate to follow behind her.
"What the hell did I ever do to her?" Hanabusa questioned after Ruka's retreating figure, looking towards Rima and Shiki for an answer.
"You're just annoying…flat out." Rima glumly replied, taking out her fiftieth pocky stick to nibble on.
"And not to mention on detention!" Professor Brentworth added, shuffling his papers onto his leather briefcase.
"What? But professor…" Hanabusa protested, "I didn't do anything!"
"Class is now over." The professor languidly announced to the students, not taking his eyes away from his paperwork as the students all eagerly paraded out of the classroom. "Now as for you Hanabusa, you best be writing down Latin definitions until your detention is over, and of course write it in both Latin and English translations please."
"You old cripple…" Hanabusa muttered to himself as he took out his own dictionary from his backpack. "Good thing Latin's my second language."
"Well, see you later." Shiki half-heartedly bid farewell to Hanabusa, hitching his backpack into one shoulder.
"Vale" Hanabusa casually replied in crisp Latin.
Shiki rolled his eyes, "Better get outta here then…Rima?" Shiki turned to Rima, who was still remaining motionless on her sit.
*crunch*
"Hanabusa's right… There's something off…in the air. Can't you smell Yuuki's blood differently?" Rima asked Shiki.
"Recte ego semper." Hanabusa indignantly scoffed.
"Yes… I smell that this one is thicker…" Shiki analyzed in the air.
*crunch* Rima bit on the last piece of pocky on her pack, contemplating at their situation.
"Shit I'm out of pocky…" Rima muttered, shaking the empty cardboard box in her hands.
"What you're out of pocky? You're never out of pocky!" Shiki replied, growing anxious.
"I know, I thought I brought a whole stash of em' on my backpack, I usually do… Is it pocky karma?" Rima concluded thoughtfully.
Shiki agreed, "There's definitely something wrong, you running out of pocky is more than just a coincidence..."
"We best follow Lord Kaname then." Rima grabbed her stuff hurriedly as she bounded off to the door.
"Who knew that our pocky could ever have karma?" Shiki asked as he walked side by side with Rima.
"Beats me, but I think it's also telling us to slow down on the snack." Rima replied.
Hanabusa had caught on that little snippet of Shiki's and Rima's conversation.
Pocky karma? Really, you guys are just too obsessed with the stuff! Hanabusa smirked.
"Ridiculus assumptio" Hanabusa sighed in Latin as he picked up his pen and continued writing the stupid definitions.
"Seiren, inform the others to stay on their dorms after class." Kaname ordered Seiren telepathically.
He knew I was here?
"Yes Master, I'm on my way." And with speed defying that of physics, Seiren was off back to class, where she hoped hasn't ended yet…
Ruka stopped in front of the fountain, its water drizzling down over the center, catching diamond flecks of light from the moon, and slithering to equilibrium over the pool gathered at the base, reflecting everything clearly above it.
"Akatsuki you don't have to feel pity towards me…" Ruka gathered her hand to a constrained fist and placed it on her chest.
Akatsuki stopped a couple of feet behind Ruka as she poignantly looked up at the night sky.
"Yuuki's in trouble… I-I can smell her fear… You best be going towards her direction," Ruka meekly continued, her voice seemingly composed, though Akatsuki knew better.
It was pretty stupid of me to think Lord Kaname had ever harbored true feelings for me… Ruka faintly smiled. Does she still love Lord Kaname? She was so sure of her answers then…but now. Now she wasn't so sure anymore. Of course devotion as a loyal subordinate is another thing.
"No, not until I know that you're feeling alright!" Akatsuki firmly replied, walking to Ruka's side.
"I'm fine Akatsuki." Ruka brushed off his hand off her shoulder and walked away. "I think I just need some solitary time you know. Can you please do that for me? Leave me alone?"
"Yeah…" Akatsuki felt useless, disappointment evident within his voice.
He can never disagree with her. So he obeyed her wishes without much hesitation.
Her sadness that ran deep is slow to heal, it only deepens still whenever Yuuki is about, and his…hopeless; his love for her fruitless. His head slightly hung low, Akatsuki turned on his heel and left Ruka to her much needed rumination.
Maybe –overtime- I can heal you, Ruka. I promise. The wound that Lord Kaname has left.
With that thought, Akatsuki stopped midway and looked up at the moon and sighed.
"Just don't stay out here for too long. You'll catch a cold you know…here." The wind had picked up relentlessly and was teasingly blowing about Ruka's distinctive rose-scented shampoo over Kain's sense of smell more robustly. He walked back and retraced his steps to Ruka, who was still rooted to the same spot, her back facing Akatsuki.
He shrugged off his large Night Class blazer and endearingly wrapped it around Ruka's slender shoulders. Ruka tensed, but she didn't turn around. "If you're going to mope around here all night, at least I'll know you'll be warm and comfortable with this." Strangely enough, Ruka tightened the silken hug of Akatsuki's colossus blazer over her upper body. Though grateful, Ruka smirked, "We're vampires Kain. We don't feel this-so-called-'cold', we never succumb to any sickness, and I don't feel any warmth at all...but thank you for everything though, you were my only…" Her voice cracked, as if what will follow will be a flow of her tears.
Lord Kaname…the two words that were constantly on Ruka's mind.
She gulped it back down and did the unthinkable instead-
Ruka spun around suddenly and caught Akatsuki by surprise with a tight embrace.
"You were my only friend." Ruka finished, letting a single, inconspicuous tear fall over her left cheek, reabsorbed quickly by Akatsuki's thin polo shirt.
Ruka?
Akatsuki, flabbergasted as he is at Ruka's unexpected swing of moods, pulled her in closer. "Can you feel this warmth Ruka?" Akatsuki whispered, slowly inhaling in her scent from her pale blonde tresses.
"I do..." Ruka whispered back, still clinging onto him like a child.
When was the time Lord Kaname ever emitted such "warmth" towards her? She had only felt ice imprisoned within his mesmerizing look when he first drank blood from her; cold and half-hearted was he, not knowing that he was foolishly drawing her in without the slightest means to. This feeling was different from any she had ever felt before becoming a vampire. This wasn't warmth that vampires couldn't feel; this was the warmth that any living being can feel: warmth that is intimate and full of care, warmth that only a true friend can ever give. One thing was for sure: Ruka never wanted to let go of this newfound "warmth" she and Akatsuki was sharing. She could have stuck to this position all god-damn night if it meant holding onto this warmth for as long as she could.
"Don't let go, Akatsuki." Ruka wistfully muttered.
"I won't" Akatsuki promised.
Seiren leapt from tree branch to tree branch, never going astray within her rhythm.
Unfortunately for her, she had to play the seeker to her classmates that had already left class almost half an hour ago. She was now tracking down Ruka and Akatsuki's scent from the school garden. Closing in on the two, Seiren spotted them up close. She really didn't want to make herself known just yet, nor did she wanted to disturb them, but his orders were always hasty and so Seiren must deliver them as quickly as possible.
"Sorry to intrude. But both your presence is needed in the Moon Dormitory for a rendezvous with the others." A flash of gray had descended from the tree branches and skillfully landed with a soft thud to the ground beside Kain and Ruka, "Orders from Lord Kaname." Seiren finished curtly, crouching low to the ground,
I found Hanabusa, and now Akatsuki and Ruka…but where the hell is Touya and Shiki? Seiren was rather urgent and impatient inside, though her exterior betrayed any of it ever even existing on the young informant's mind. She couldn't even detect the standardized pocky scent from the two. She asked Hanabusa where they had gone off to but as to be expected he didn't knew either.
"Akatsuki, if by any chance you know where Shiki and Rima are, tell me." Seiren stood up to her full height and waited for an answer from Akatsuki. "I really am not sure, maybe they have modeling work or something. Impromptu photo shoots. You know." Akatsuki replied.
No good at all Seiren mused as she zoned out from Akatsuki's speech.
"Someone's drinking who?" Rima incredulously asked Shiki for the umpteenth time. They were running towards the source of their suspicions. Blood is being drawn out, and not just any blood for that matter, but Yuuki's blood. "And no other than Lord Kaname I reckon." Rima cautiously whispered. "Yes…" Shiki nonchalantly replied, running with even more momentum than before. "Hey Shiki wait up!" Rima breathlessly caught up to her partner.
Shiki didn't comprehend it at all. Why, his pureblood cousin was doing this all of a sudden. Uncontained thirst maybe? Extreme depression? "We're close…to Yuuki." Rima informed, her electricity getting excited on her fingertips. Shiki warily looked over at Rima, maybe the scent of blood too near has gotten her senses to overdrive. "Are you feeling okay Rima?" asked Shiki.
"Yeah I'm fine. This darn weather I guess conjuring up my powers…"
Shiki nodded and refocused his sight again ahead of their path. The stench of blood was overwhelmingly powerful now.
"What's up with this smell? Anymore and I think I'll be high!" Rima cupped her nose with a dainty silk hanky and gave Shiki one to, who tied it behind him as a sort of face mask. "Thanks, same here." Shiki cupped the mask tighter to his nose, craving for blood right now is very untimely. Slipping his free hand into his breast pocket, Shiki took out a blood tablet and popped it in whole into his mouth. That should suffice for now.
The path ahead was ominous, Rima can sense two purebloods now, and then…a somewhat early stage of a Level E beast.
"Lord Kaname and another pureblood..." Rima couldn't finish her sentence as their proud leader stood barring their way ahead. At the horrific sight of dripping blood and gleaming fangs, Rima almost wanted to run the other way again and escape this morbid reality, but Shiki didn't budge, just taking in the view from afar and analyzing it carefully.
"Come here a little closer my cousin and give our awakened relative a proper family reunion." Kaname was cradling the other pureblood onto his arms, the one dripping blood.
Rima didn't understand awakened relative, family reunion? Was Lord Kaname referring to the pureblood on his arms? "Where's Yuuki, Lord Kaname? We smelled her blood…" Rima discontinued, and had imagined Lord Kaname drinking every drop of Yuuki's blood and be discarded somewhere.
Their leader drenched of blood and malice smiled slightly at Rima's ignorant thoughts…ah, ignorance sure is bliss, thought Kaname.
His attention returned to Shiki as he began to stride forward. "Who is she? How come another pureblood of our clan mysteriously appears on your hands after all this years?" Shiki asked.
"She's-"
"Yuuki…" Zero was crawling out of the girl's bathroom at such a torturous pace, his body failing him. The last traces of humanity were slipping away, and he yearns to kiss Yuuki before falling into that darkness. Impossible.
Kaname watched with melancholy eyes.
"What a pitiful excuse for a vampire hunter…"
Yuuki didn't know what she had woken up from. It was a flashback…but more real it was tangible. The flashback was no mere flashback however; it was her memories that had been sealed away, and now Yuuki knew that she was a pureblood vampire from birth all along.
Awakening was a bitch, Yuuki confirmed. Opening her eyes, the first thing that she took notice of was the striking familiarities between Kaname's features and hers. They were blood siblings after all, so it shouldn't be a surprise to her now that the truth was revealed.
Gracefully leaping off of Kaname's arms, Yuuki approached Zero from the ground and calmly sat by him. Placing Zero's head on her lap, Yuuki began to stroke his silver hair stained by blood. Zero shivered at Yuuki's touch.
"Thank you Yuuki" Zero softly spoke.
"Drink from me you bastard." Yuuki sternly replied bringing her neck to Zero's lips.
Zero lightly chuckled, "I'm afraid this is the line where I stop taking advantage of other people's generosity. No Yuuki, I won't drink of you. I want you to be the one that draws the sword to my death. Kill me before it's too late." Zero kissed Yuuki's neck instead, before pulling her away from him. His lips cold and cracked, whereas Yuuki's neck was warm and smooth.
"DON'T LOSE HOPE ZERO! I'M GOING TO BE DAMNED THE DAY I'LL EVER TRY TO KILL YOU!" Yuuki huddled closer to Zero's chest and began to sob violently.
"If I need to fucking deliver my blood to you some other way I will! You're so selfish Zero!" Yuuki pierced her arm hard and hastily drew out a mouthful of blood to her lips. Quickly bending over Zero, Yuuki kissed him her blood. Her tongue was guiding the flow of blood from her mouth onto his, ramming rapidly along the walls of his cheek, her tongue got cut along Zero's sharp fang on the process.
More blood that way, Yuuki thought. When all the blood was fully transferred, Yuuki pulled away from Zero and bared her fangs to be sunk onto her skin again.
Thank you Yuuki… Thank you for kissing me that one last time…Our one last bloody kiss.
Zero was perfectly aware when Kaname aimed his own Bloody Rose at him when Yuuki was drawing more blood away from her self.
"End me" Zero barely whispered.
"As you wish" Kaname replied.
*BAM*
A shrill cry was heard in the middle of the night.
And from the headmaster's quarters, Kaien Cross had been awoken from his sleep.
A/N: Hadn't had enough time to proof-read, so my apologies for any mistakes. I know I said I'll put lemons on this chapter, but I felt like it wasn't leading to anything, so I went with this idea. Sorry for like the 3 weeks delay also! I promised I'll update faster! :-) Now, please, kindly leave behind a review...
*Latin translations all acquired through Google Translator (though it was hard adjusting the English grammar to Latin grammar and stuff)