E I G H T

After being forced into a wall, Zero was crumpled on the floor, holding his stomach with one hand and covering a bruised eye with his other. That hurt, damn it! He pushed himself onto his feet, swaying and leaning on the countertop where a cash register was resting. He was a little relieved that the smog was so thick-smelling, because he was sure his eyes had turned blood-red as he'd held Yuuki close to him, her blood soaking into his shirt, the blood that spurted from her mou—

…Damn, he had to get out of there and back to her side.

In a matter of moments, he had Bloody Rose drawn and pressed it against his thigh. His feet pulled him toward the smog and he pressed himself against the broken wall beside the hole, waiting for Hanabusa to show his face through the smog cloud; he couldn't believe that someone who used to be so kind and obnoxiously charming could, in the blink of an eye, even think about taking revenge on someone as, well, small as Yuuki. Even if… if she did what she did.

"It's time for her to pay the price for killing a Pureblood vampire!"

Zero shook his head; that sentence and the explanation were echoing in his head. How could she do something so reckless? And all to become, what, human again? Her smile never left, her voice was just the same, her face hadn't ever changed shape or anything. All that was different about her was her long hair and her fangs that pierced his flesh. (He found himself thinking at that moment: Is this what it felt like when he bit her? Did it feel so… loving?)

"Oh, Zero~ Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

Footsteps got clearer as the smog started to fade, and within moments the blond head of Hanabusa came into his vision. With his vampire instincts already heightened after seeing his beloved wounded, he immediately swept his feet across the rubble and pressed the barrel of his anti-vampire gun to Aido's neck, holding his chin with a hand wrapped around his shoulder, gripping and threatening to claw. A grin swept across his face, silver hair covered his eyes as the smell of his own adrenaline permeated his entire being. "Any last words before I send you to Hell, vampire?"

Aido chuckled and raised his hands in mock-defeat. "Alright, Hunter. You win. Just let me…" in seconds, he swung his elbows back, evidently pushing his body forward and elbowing Zero right in the gut. Before the Level D could even take a step backwards, his forearm was gripped and his entire body was flung over Aido's shoulder. In a split second, he ripped the Bloody Rose from his hands and pointed the gun at Zero, right between his eyes. "Any last words before I send you to join your love, vampire?"

Lavender eyes studied the nearly-insane ice-blue eyes before his lips broke into a slight smile. Aido couldn't help but frown at the Level D's confusing behavior. "Explain yourself, Kiryuu."

"You took the very last thing I had to live for, Aido. The very last thing. So I don't have any last words; go ahead and shoo–"

Before he could finish his sentence, two pairs of footsteps came through the smog, and both silver and blond heads swung in that direction. Zero's eyes widened and he swung his leg out, causing Aido to fall on his back, and he stumbled up to catch a woman's body as she fell into his arms. He wrapped his arms quickly around her petite form, picking her up bridal style and pressing his forehead to hers. He cracked one lavender eye open to look at the person who'd helped her to him, and a slight gasp escaped him. "R-Ruka…"

"Ruka, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Aido picked himself up and was about to walk and yell when his fingers began to burn. He threw the Bloody Rose onto the ground and let out a yell of agony, his fingers twitching and red. "Ah, what the hell!"

Ruka's sultry voice answered him back as she walked past Zero and Yuuki. "The Bloody Rose is a vampire gun-"

"…I know that!"

"-that allows only a Hunter or Guardian to use it. Zero was trained to use that gun and is the only vampire who's known to wield it. You, on the other hand, are a vampire aristocrat who the anti-vampire gun does not recognize, so it'll ultimately reject you and burn you."

Aido was dumbfounded; when had Ruka switched to that damned Zero's side? They were in this together, damn it! He held his wrist and stared at his hand as it twitched and practically smoked in his wake. "R-Ruka, what're you doing? We're supposed to be fighting on the same side! Yuuki took someone we hold dear, we can't just let her…!"

Ruka interrupted quickly, getting in the blond aristocrats face, her bright eyes flashing in what very little light she had. "And yet you'd just let yourself take the very thing Zero held dear? Hanabusa, it's over now! He wasn't ours to have in the first place, and it was never meant to be that way! Why can't you just get it through your big head and realize that Yuuki only freed us from his grasp!"

Zero looked just as shocked as Hanabusa, whose body had completely frozen in realization. He looked up, his blue eyes wide as he stepped toward Zero, who narrowed his eyes but stayed put. His arms curled tighter around Yuuki as the blond aristocrat walked closer, and his quiet voice broke the tense silence. "I… I did that to her… I was blinded by my own hatred, and it wasn't even really toward her." He looked down and Zero relaxed, looking down at Yuuki with his eyebrows knitted in concern. "Zero, I… I had no idea what I was doing, I… I'm so sorry."

The silver-haired guardian said nothing and walked past him to kneel down and pick up his gun, hardly bothering Yuuki as she lay in his arms. "I'm going to tell you once: if I ever see or hear of you hurting or scaring Yuuki again, I will not hesitate to shoot you. You're lucky I understand what you're going through, or I'd have killed you without blinking." He stepped through the rubble, dust flying up with every step he took. Ruka watched from over her shoulder as they exited through the cloud of dust, Zero with a slight limp from his injury.

One more chapter, and then the loooooong epilogue. My god, I've had so much fun doing this story.. I wish I could do it mo-... no. Nothing, never mind. (See my profile for more information, in the Story Info thingy near the bottom.)

The next chapter is my favorite, and I warn you: They might be mildly OOC, but I tried to hold it together. I'll let you decipher how I did... Oh well. Until next time!

~Cookie