AN: As usual I don't own VK. Can't believe time flew and I haven't updated in about 2 months...awfully sorry about that, with uni assessments, exams and all. Thanks loads to everyone still patiently following this story - I'm trying to work through it, the plot has gone off haywire and I will need some time to really get through everything. Once more, my thanks!

# CHAPTER 16

The one eyed hunter's fist rammed on the nearest wall he could find when he found three piles of dirt. Shit…

Yes, he was pissed that even with his vigilant stalking and prowling he was unable to prevent this considering the murderer was only one person, so a one-on-one fight wasn't a problem.

No, it wasn't like he had grown soft and accepted the fact that Level Es wouldn't go and attack the rest despite the blood tablets working for them – he had to be constantly vigilant.

It was the bare fact that whoever was murdering those Level Es – now he had to admit there was a case now after four identified murders – had no heart, similar to the original Orchid Murderer.

How the fucking hell could he murder a child…? Especially a child who was on those tablets and would not be prone to suffer from bloodlust? A hard lump had formed in his throat when he saw a teddy bear on the ground, half buried in the vampire's dust. Groceries were strewn all over, instant noodles…tinned meat…fruit juice…The murdered family had been living a normal life once more, until it was taken brutally from them with the action of ending their lives.

He went to the convenience store to investigate if the workers there had heard anything and as expected, they hadn't. The workers didn't think anyone would come in that late so they started closing the shop until that family approached them in a rush. The family had been apologetic that they needed to get some last minute items for an important event the following day so the store workers allowed them in…

I'll find you…Whoever the murderer was, Yagari swore to hunt him down and make him pay for it. His gloved fingers wanted to clench on the Chysis orchids, as if that action could squeeze the life of the murderer for his callous actions, but he couldn't. The flowers were evidence and he really had to get more information from both parties, vampires and hunters…But first, he had to write a dammed report about the incident.

He took one last look at the spilled goods, and specially the teddy bear before leaving. It was a crime scene and by H.A regulations, it wasn't allowed to tamper with evidence although the investigations around an area had been completed. He just hoped that more road dust, particularly on days when the wind was strong, would blow more dust and cover everything up.

"Yagari-san, you did the best you could. It wasn't your fault. Look at you, you're haggard looking, you've probably been drinking more caffeine just to go on those nightly rounds…," spoke President Yamashita consolingly when the one eyed hunter was slumped in the seat in front of her. She knew that the gruff looking vampire hunter had a soft spot for children – he had sacrificed one eye for Zero before – even if this was a Level E, a vampire they were supposed to kill before the blood tablets were invented for their sake. She closed the file and slid it gently to him.

"President…may I speak freely…?" he hesitantly enquired.

"Go on."

"This case has more…how do I put it…? It has more loose ends compared to the actual Orchid Murders. I have a feeling the copycat murderer may either be a hunter or a vampire who knows Seiran's past. I might need to read up on those confidential files we have on vampires because it feels like a case of revenge. Please grant me access to them…" Unlike Tamaji who knew a secret passageway into the academy, Toga Yagari was less roguish and more likely to follow orders…until he started working in Cross Academy. He would have killed Zero if not for Yuuki and Cross' persuading him to stay in the academy to teach vampires. He fought against his own hunters during the Rido incident…

"I'll allow you to get those files and I won't question what info you actually need from them as long as we can solve this case. Yagari-san…when are you going to break the news to Seiran?"

There it was, the question he really, really wanted to avoid.

He wanted to spare her…what if she couldn't take it? Maybe she had no idea, but Chairman Cross, himself, Zero and Yuuki were worried about her although she displayed features of being alright, no traumas whatsoever…

"If you can't tell her yet, at least tell Cross. With both of you handling the situation some answers may arise…," finally the president said when Zero's master didn't answer her question. Couldn't answer her question.

"I…I hope so, President…"

The lady hunter rose from her seat before pressing a concealed button on the wall. "Follow me. We're going to get those files you need."

"What's with all those files?" Chairman Cross raised an eyebrow when his colleague staggered through the door of the former's office carrying heavy tomes, and he helped Yagari by stacking those books on his table. His usually chirpy voice changed into a shocked gasp when he realized what those were. "Yagari…what's the meaning of this?" he now demanded.

Toga Yagari didn't answer him at first, walking to the door of Cross' office and peered outside to see if there was anyone nearby. There wasn't, so he locked the door.

"What's with all the hush hush?" Cross prodded once more.

Zero's sensei plonked down on the seat opposite Cross' arm chair and sighed, scratching his unitchy head before he finally said, "Alright…I'm telling you, Cross, but don't interrupt me."

"But – "

"Not even once!"

Cross reluctantly nodded.

When he had finished, the only reaction Cross had on his face was wide eyes with a mouth hanging open.

Yagari groaned, he knew his colleague would have that type of expression, but not that long…fifteen minutes already…? "Hey, shut your trap, alright? You'll swallow a fly if you're going at it," he concluded.

The Chairman shut his mouth automatically at the instruction and both the men looked at each other before the bespectacled man weakly asked, "How…? And…and why?"

"There isn't time to ask such questions. We need answers."

This seemed to make Cross snap back to his serious expression before he asked, "When are you telling her?"

Damn it, was everyone going to parrot that bloody question at him today?

"I…," the one eyed hunter hesitated and sighed. "I don't want to tell her yet…You know how Seiran is like, she bottles up all her true emotions up to the point when she explodes it harms her instead…Even if you consider Zero, he'd suffered two years back and yet he's alright simply because he releases the tension in him by swearing almost every day, or acting like a delinquent…But with Seiran…" He shook his head before continuing, "…Yamashita-san asked me if she was suffering from PTSD."

"Because she controls her emotions?" asked the Chairman, confirming.

"The fact that she controls her emotions shows that she's capable of hiding things, like trauma, maybe…"

"Hmm…Come to think of it…Seiran didn't exactly give a proper answer as to why she created the blood tablets specifically for the Level Es, right? Even when she stubbornly maintained it was out of beneficence, I suspect there might be other reasons." Cross cocked an eyebrow.

Yagari released his breath bit by bit, his mind recollecting the meeting between the H.A and Kuran as the representative of the vampires. True…All she did was go 'roundabout' and hit on personal matters about family. "But Seiran is stubborn. Even if you ask her, she'll say that she prepared to face us at the meeting, not give us real answers." It's a play with words…Seiran is good at being evasive when necessary. If we forced her, she would clam up more.

"I think it would be best if we asked Zero-kun and Kaname-kun to keep an eye on her…Zero-kun can observe her when she's with him, and Kaname-kun will watch her when she's having her Night classes," decided Chairman Cross seriously...before his 'high' behaviour came back and he chirped, "Daddy doesn't want his daughter to be keeping secrets from Daddy, or suffering from PTSD!"

The other hunter's eyebrow twitched at his colleague's manic behaviour, in his opinion. "I'll tell Zero, you tell Kuran. Right now we need to get to work."

"What are you looking for in those confidentially kept books any way?"

Yagari lowered his voice, "I'm trying to find out if any other vampire had grudges against Seiran's family to start the Level E murders...as in if there were other distant relatives she had that managed to escape Kuroumura's attacks and are after her in revenge…And I've also wondered if the late Kurans could have had bad blood with the late Kaedes in the past…"

"All your assumptions are not possible!" Cross sharply retorted. "We've glanced at Tamaji's case files and the only two left related to her are Aidou and Ichijou – they wouldn't do anything to her! And I've personally known the Kurans, they weren't the vengeful type of vampires!"

Yagari held his hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright, I'm not accusing those two nobles nor the late Kurans." Geez, how touchy! "I also know Aidou and Ichijou would die protecting Seiran but what about their family members? I understand the Orchid Murderer kills those bearing the Kuroumura blood, but I don't get how he murders certain vampires in a family line instead of the entire family…"

"Vampire blood ties are very different from humans, Yagari. While it's true that if you're human, your bloodline will pass every descendent you have. But for vampires with their intermarriages, marriages of different levels, somehow the blood is only traced in certain descendents of that bloodline…which is more complex and confusing. I guess ordinary scientific genetics will not suffice in explanation for vampires' ancestry. In layman's terms, you could say their blood ties are like families with cases of haemophilia – some members getting it and some not…," explained the Chairman, more calmed down from his outburst earlier.

Toga Yagari ruefully nodded his head, trying to make sense of Cross' mumbo jumbo – he was never an A student in Science anyway *which was why he became a vampire hunter instead.*

"So what do you plan to do for now? Read through these old tomes and go patrolling at night as usual?" asked Cross.

"Yeah…I hope we're able to prevent any more murders because if the next one happens, I really have to tell Seiran," sighed the one eyed hunter.

I don't want to…Not like the last time when I had to let her read Tamaji's testament…

Lesson no. 17 : There is a limit for everything, even a strong person can crash when too many horrible things have occurred in his life.