Title: Visitors from the Future
Genre: General/Romance/Friendship
Rating:T
Pairings: Zero/Kaname
Disclaimer: No, I do not own Vampire Knights. It belongs to Hino Matsuri - I only borrow the characters from the series and use it in my own fic. However, I do own the three original characters featured in this story.
Author's Notes: Okay, so Yagari finally appeared in the story ... XD At the rate I'm going, I might ended up having a few more OCs in the story ... Well, towards the later parts of the story that will be, since ... this story is going to end up AU. With the twins and Akane in the picture, history will definitely be altered ... In fact, its' changed already ... cause' zero ended up drinking Akane's blood rather than Yuuki's ... Alright, enough crap talk ... on with the story ...
In this chapter, you will probably get to see Zero being shot by Yagari and Akane did something that stunned everyone ...
---
Chapter 7 - Envoy from the Hunter's Association
Yuuki Cross sat on the couch nervously, Kaname was seated by her side with the Akira perched on his lap. Seiren was standing behind them, wary eyes scanning the surrounding and always ready to defend the pureblood should the need arises. Zero had his arms crossed as he stood with his back leaning against the pillar of the dormitory building, some distance away with Subaru. It seems like the the silver-haired guardian was determined to ignore her for the rest of the night. Ever since, Kaname had interrupted them in the midst of their argument - Zero had not spoken another word towards her direction.
"Zero ... are you still mad at me? " Yuuki started, hesitantly as she addressed her grouchy childhood friend.
"No." The response from Kiryuu Zero had came out curt and harsh, letting on the fact that he was still unhappy about something.
"..." Yuuki stared down at the ground with a crestfallen look on her features, it was obvious that Zero was still in a foul mood and it was due to her mindless actions that caused such a reaction from the said guardian.
Truth be told, Zero was anything but mad at Yuuki. Like what Kaname Kuran had told him in prior, Yuuki wanted to help him but somehow had taken the wrong approach and obviously had not been thinking clearly before putting her thoughts into actions. Still, he felt annoyed. However, the annoyance he was feeling was not meant for Yuuki; but directed towards himself.
Having been born and raised in the a hunter's family, Zero had been taught to hunt vampires since young. He had been told that the Vampires are monsters whom took on the appearance of human-beings; and would not hesitate to suck the blood of an innocent dry when they felt the desire for blood. That was why he should not trust any Vampires; should he come across one. That was what his master had told him during the midst of his hunter's training session, and the last time he placed his trust upon one of the vampire - it costs his master the price of an eye.
Ever since then, he never felt compelled to place trust in any vampires that he had found himself chancing upon. Then when the event of the mad blooming princess, Shizuka Hiou - a pureblood vampire whom came and wiped his family out, then brutally bite him and turned him into an ex-human occurred. His initial mistrust towards the vampires in general, started to turn into 'hatred' instead.
Now that the vampire in him had truly awaken, he found himself hating the creature which he had been forced to become even more, with each passing minute. He hated his frequent desires for blood of a living being, and how he wished he could have just killed himself off with his 'Bloody Rose'. Yet, he found himself having trouble doing it. For whenever he attempted to direct the gun-point of the 'Bloody Rose' to his temple, images of the twins and Akane would came flashing into his mind causing him to pause in the midst of firing at himself.
Standing some distance away from him, Takuma Ichijo and Shiki Senri was conversing among themselves. The magnificent three storey cake stood between the two vampires, as they debated of whom would be the one finishing the cake. Then the unmistakenable scent of blood was spread in the air, for Takuma Ichijo had unintentionally cut himself on the sharp edge of the knife that was meant to be use on the cake.
The sight of Shiki Senri sucking the former's blood off the bleeding finger was too much a sight for Zero to stomach, and it caused his lust for blood to hit him like a hurricane. 'Shit!' was the only thing on his mind, before he baded an abrupt farewell to the elder twin before dashing towards the gate of the Moon Dormitory; trying to distance himself from the crowd and attempted to isolate himself in some deserted corner of the school.
"Zero?!" Yuuki started, making an attempt to go after her agitated friend only to find herself being stopped by the twins and the pureblood prince - Kaname Kuran.
"Yuuki ... its' fine, let Akane handle him ... " Kaname assured, as he flickered his glance towards the direction where he had seen his future adopted daughter heading for.
"Seiren, please escort Yuuki back to the Chairman's place. Subaru, Akira - stay close to Takuma, and do not leave the dorm unnecessarily. " Kaname Kuran instructed, before he made a move to leave the area - heading for the direction where Akane had took off after the silver-haired guardian, a while ago.
"..." The twins shared a look among themselves, before shrugging the matter off - easily.
"Hey! Where's Kaname-sama going?" Aidou Hanabusa called out towards the twins' direction, as he looked up just in time to see their pureblood leader rushing past him.
"Huh? Oh ... where else but going after Akane ... whom had went after our Daddy. " Akira answered, offhandedly as he started to approach the Vice-President of the Moon Dormitory and asked if he could have a slice of the former's birthday cake later.
---
Akane could tear her hair out from frustration, she had arrived at the site of the school's lake only to find herself being met by the sight of a suicidal Kiryuu Zero. The fellow ex-human had the gun-point of his 'Bloody Rose' directed at himself again.
This was the third time Akane had found the former doing that, this week. The first time had been several hours after Zero had taken her blood, and the second time had been merely three days ago when the former had had his allergy towards the blood tablets being proven right after refusing to drink from her. Although, she had somehow managed to force Zero into drinking her blood once the blood lust completely took over the former's mind and later on had to use one of her anti-vampire charm on the said man, in an attempt to stop the former from trying to kill himself off after drinking from her for the second time around.
"Stop it! Zero! Why are you even bothering to put yourself at gun-point when you know that you are not going to pull the trigger, anyway?! Trying to drown yourself in the lake would not work as well, since the lake was far too shallow for a suicide attempt and especially when you know how to swim. " Akane interjected, trying to prevent herself from rolling her eyes at her obviously distressed future parent.
Zero said nothing but continued to stare down at his feet with a forlorn expression on his face. Tried as he might, there was nothing he could have done to stop his frequent lust for blood. Granted, Akane had been a willing donor and being a vampire herself, there was no need to worry about hurting Akane in the long run. Seeing as Akane could easily replenished the amount of blood loss by merely drowning herself with blood tablets, on daily basis despite his frequent necessity to feed.
Still, he could not helped but be worried and felt guilty at the same time. Worried because, Akane was from the future and would have to leave at some point of time. What should he do then? Whom would be there for him when his blood lust struck again? Certainly, he could not be expecting to take from Yuuki although he was certain, the girl would have offered if she knew it could help him to some extent. However, that would have meant facing the fury of Kaname Kuran when it happened.
Not that he would have cared if the pureblood prince was being angry at him, or his actions. Seeing as if it had been Yuuki whose' blood he had ended up drinking following Akane's departure, he would have killed himself off before the pureblood had a chance to lash out at him.
Guilty-wise, because Akane's a family member to him. Unlike Yuuki or Chairman Cross, Akane was related to him by blood. Though, rather distant by the time Akane was born. It still did not change the fact that they were related, through his mother's side of the family. Akane would be his grand-niece, and later on to be his adopted daughter. Despite the fact that his bite would not have any lasting effect upon the said girl, seeing as Akane had been a vampire as well. Therefore, the mark from his bite would eventually fade and heal itself off - in time. Still, reluctance had been there whenever there was a need for him to feed.
Although, Akane had mentioned many times that she had been a willing donor but the guilt would still be there. Especially, since he had an enormous appetite when it comes down to the time for him to be fed. Topping it off, the time-gaps between each of his feeding session was relatively short. Currently, it was standing at the approximate rate of 'once in every three days'. It was a good thing that Akane had a habit to carry around with her a stash of blood tablets so she could easily just replenished herself each time, after he had been fed.
The sudden feeling of his gun being pried out from his hand, caused him to look up at his future 'daughter' with resignation. After all, only Akane would dared to venture this close to him and not in the least worried about the possibility of being shot by him. If anything, Akane could have held her own against him too, if they were to fight against one another.
"Hush, its' okay ... its' alright. You can take as much from me as you need, we can worry about your future 'blood source' at another point of time. For now, just take from me. Although, I would very much appreciate it if you could stop being so suicidal after drinking blood from someone, especially if that someone happened to be me. Like I mentioned before, I wasn't just any random innocent human-beings. I'm just as guilty as you, being a vampire and all.
I do have my own living blood source back in my own time, should I really require fresh blood when the blood tablets failed to sate my occasional blood lust. Although, the chances of me losing myself completely to the bloodlust was equivalent to none. " Akane said, as she attempted to calm the distress ex-human down before bracing herself for the bite that was to come but never did happened due to the intervention of Yagari Touga.
The gun-shot rang out aloud causing both Akane and Zero's attention to shift towards the intruder, before Zero could even bite down on Akane's exposed side of the neck.
"I see that you have been unable to stop that insatiable desire for blood of a living being, after all ... " The unmistakable gruff voice of the newly arrived hunter, froze the vampire in Zero as his sanity came flooding back to him - all at once.
"Master Touga ... " Zero whispered, as horror flooded through his senses for being caught red-handed by his master when he was on the verge of biting Akane for blood.
Biting down on his lips, drawing blood as he did so while another shot from his master's gun grazed him by on the left side of his shoulder blade. Hissing from the effect of the anti-vampire weapon, Zero fought back the bloodlust which was threatening to seize control of his mind again.
---
"Alright, this is it!! Stop it, would it killed you to simply stop shooting for a minute's time?! " Akane cursed aloud, as she stepped forth and pushed the stunned ex-human behind herself as she met the eyes of the infamous hunter, Yagari Touga - bravely.
"What?! Haven't you noticed that he was about to bite you and sucked you dry? Yet, you are still defending him? " Yagari Touga asked, with incredulity apparent on his features as he regarded the day-class girl whom seemed adamant on defending his former disciple, whom had recently awaken as a vampire.
"So what?! He didn't really do anything which I hadn't allow him to do ... Besides, if he's a monster ... I'm not too far off, myself. " Akane added, as she allowed her aura of being a noble-rank vampire to flare.
Yagari Touga was stunned, he had been so affirmed that the girl had been a human-being; up until a second ago. It seemed as though the girl's aura of being a vampire had just flare up by itself, from no where in particular. For he had sensed no vampires around, with the sheer exception of his former disciple when he had first arrived at the site.
"Honestly, is there a need for you to be this stunned by the fact that I could hide my vampire aura from being detected by the hunters'? " Akane questioned, arching an eyebrow up as she addressed the now stupefied hunter.
Snapping himself out from his stupor, Yagari Touga narrowed his eyes upon the vampire girl and asked. "Just how on earth did you managed to do that?! "
Akane shrugged, as she responded easily. "Nothing much ... its' just a concealment charm ... "
"... Certainly, it can't be any usual concealment charm ... From what I know, a typical concealment charm can't be used in this manner ... " Yagari Touga pressed on, unhappy about the fact that he had been 'bested' by a vampire.
"Of course, its' not the typical concealment charm ... In order for it to work, modifications have to be made upon the original version of the charm. By the way, please do not ask me how the modification to the charm had came about ... I had no idea myself. The modified charm had been around since the time I was being born ... " Akane responded, matter-of-factly hoping that this would be the last question from Yagari Touga which she would be answering.
"Does this charm of yours had anything to do with your ability to take part in the outdoor activities for the class - during day-time? " This coming from Zero, whom finally decided to speak up and reminded both Akane and his master of his presence.
Akane said nothing but nodded in response to the silver-haired hunter's words. She figured the issue must have been on Zero's mind for quite some time already, since she had noticed all the strange and quizzical glances being directed towards her from the said hunter each time - she had volunteered to take part in the outdoor physical activities such as playing 'tennis'.
"..." Zero was speechless, he must have been sleeping on his job. How could he have missed something like that?! He had been in the same class as Akane for a week's long, and he had yet to discover that Akane had kept her vampire aura hidden under a charm - all this while? To think that, he had actually wondered the reason behind Akane's ability to do physical lessons outside the classroom under the broad daylight. This must be the reason why Akane had been able to play the role of a normal human-being so easily, and without raising any suspicion from the day-class students at all.
"Anyway, shall we continue what we have been doing - before the hunter came into the picture? " Akane asked, ignoring the presence of Yagari Touga and turned towards Zero, whom appeared to be still struggling with his blood lust.
"Akane! " Zero started, aghast by Akane's behavior.
"Shut up, Zero! You are in the midst of a blood lust, and as I mentioned before ... trying to withstand the lure of the blood would not helped you at all. Instead, it will only worsen your condition and increase your desire for more blood the next time around, it struck." Akane stated, matter-of-factly.
"Surely, you are not expecting me to suck your blood down here with my master watching?! " Zero questioned, skeptically.
To which, Akane merely shrugged in response and said. "Don't care, either way ... he's your master, not mine. You have two options though, either you drink from me ... or you can make do with this ... "
With that said, Akane threw a small tube of red liquid towards the ex-human which the former had caught the tube with his fast reflexes.
"What's this? " Zero asked quizzically, as he eyed the tube of red liquid with distrust.
"Blood ... from Ichijo ..." Akane responded, and she added the last bit when she caught sight of Zero's quizzical look.
"Huh? Ichijo? Why would he give you a tube that's full with his blood? " Zero asked, hating himself for sounding stupid but still he felt it strange that the vice-president would willingly supplied Akane with his blood.
Akane look bewildered for a moment, before coming to the realization that the former had thought she was referring to Takuma when she mentioned the name 'Ichijo' earlier on.
"No, not Ichijo Takuma ... Why would he want to give me his blood anyway?" Akane questioned back in return, before kindly elaborating her previous statement.
"The blood's from Ichijo Asami, his daughter ... and that would be the willing blood donor of mine, which I've been telling you before ... She gave it to me before I leave home and arrived here. Don't you dare to throw it away, or I swear I'll keep you in a full body-bind later on with another charm of mine. Just drink before your blood lust make a turn for the worst ... Especially, with that wound that you had just endured from the anti-vampire weapon ... You'll definitely need the blood in order to heal better, and faster ..."
Throughout the whole of Akane's conversation with Zero, Yagari had been watching them interact with one another. Judging from the way the vampire girl was interacting with his former disciple, Yagari gathered that they must have been on good terms. How else, would the girl have allowed her blood to be drink by his former disciple?
After all, being a hunter - they would have to study the culture of the vampires' such that it would make it easier for them to judge when would be the best timing to hunt the vampires. One of the vampire's vulnerable moment, would be the moment after their blood had been taken by another - as their body would be weakened due to the loss of their blood.
Not that the concept of one vampire drinking off the blood of another vampire had been rare in the society, in fact, it was quite the opposite. However, it was just weird and strange that the female vampire had actually allowed his former disciple, an ex-human and a hunter to drink from her, willingly. Under usual circumstances, shouldn't the vampire involved be worried about the possibility of being slayed immediately after the blood had been drank off by the ex-human hunter?
And with that thought in mind, Yagari Touga finally shifted his attention away from the interaction session between his former disciple and vampire as he voiced his question aloud to the latter. "Whom might you be then? "
"If you are asking about my name ... I'm sure, you would have heard it from Zero just a while ago. It's Akane, but if you are asking about which noble lineage am I from ... That, I'm sorry to say but I can't reveal them to you. " Akane replied, without intention to reveal anything else aside from her name to the said hunter.
Turning away from the hunter, Akane shifted her attention back to the silver-haired guardian; waiting for the former to make a decision on how to deal with that bloodlust which was once again threatening to overwhelm his senses. At the same time, Yagari Touga - too had his attention focused solely on his former disciple. Wondering if he should continue shooting, or should he waited around and see what would happened. Would his once favorite student drink the offered blood in front of him , or would the former withstand the lure for blood and came out triumph?
Zero stared as he flickered his eyes between his master and Akane, knowing that he was now the focus of their attention. His master was wondering if he would indeed drink the blood which was offered, while Akane was waiting around to see if he would drink it willingly, or did she have to resort to desperate measures in order to ensure that he will have the very much desired blood in his system.
"Zero ... do you want to drink it yourself, or do I have to feed you by force? " Akane started, feeling very much irritated by the hesitance which the fellow silver-haired hunter was displaying.
There was still no response from the silver-haired guardian, and thus Akane decided to make the decision for them both. Snatching the tube of liquid from the former's grasp, Akane emptied the tube of blood into her own mouth but did not attempted to swallow them. Instead, she started walking towards the unmoving silver-haired guardian with determined steps.
Making full use of her vampire's strength, Akane pushed Zero towards a tree and forced the said hunter to lean against it without much struggle. Then she waited for the former to speak, once she saw that the silver-haired hunter's lips had parted slightly as an attempt to speak. Akane seized that opportunity to force her lips upon the former, 'kissing' the blood which she had kept hidden in her mouth from before - into the slightly parted mouth of the stunned guardian.
Zero swallowed the mouthful of blood unknowingly, too stunned by Akane's actions for words. He know he should be reacting in some manner, perhaps to try pushing the girl away. However, due to his master's earlier usage of the anti-vampire weapon against him and the fact that Akane was optimizing her strength as a vampire fully. There was simply no way for his weakened self to have reacted, therefore he could only remained where he was and allowed the girl to do as she pleased with him.
With Zero being too stunned by Akane's actions, and Akane being too focused upon the idea of 'feeding' Zero. On top of it, Yagari Touga was too surprised by the female vampire's actions towards his former disciple and the latter's obvious lack of any hostility reactions towards the said vampire except being stunned. Neither of them noticed the presence of a certain pureblood whom was now openly glaring at the sight with heated eyes. The fury emitting from the pureblood had been so strong, that it caused a few branches atop of the nearest tree to break away from its' stem under the sheer pressure of the invisible energy that was crackling around in the air.
Apparently, Kaname Kuran had arrived at the scene just in time to witness that 'kiss' between Zero and Akane. If he had arrived a few minutes earlier prior to that scene, he would have understood the reason behind Akane's actions. However, unfortunately he had not heard Akane's words nor witnessed Zero's actions from before. Therefore, he was now feeling absolutely furious with what he had witnessed.
If the pureblood had been thinking clearly, he would have questioned himself on the reason behind his fury. Then again, the pureblood had been anything but logical and level-headed right now. Somehow, the sight of Zero and Akane being locked in that 'kiss' itself had send him over the edge and before he knew it, he was on his way over to separate and pull the duo apart from one another.
---
Akane blinked, one minute she had been holding her grand-uncle and one of his future adopted parent still while she fed him with the blood that she had kept in her mouth. The next minute, she was forcefully being pushed away from the silver-haired hunter by the pureblood - Kaname Kuran, when the former made a grab for the ex-human and pulled the said vampire aside in a possessive manner.
"... " Akane said nothing, there was no need for her to explain anything. Not that the pureblood would be willing to listen anyway, judging from the way Kaname was glaring at her now and combined with the aura of pure fury emitting off the pureblood's body. Akane knew, she would be 'in' for it - tonight.
Kiryuu Zero, meanwhile, was in shock. His legs felt like 'jelly' to him, it seems like he had been given so many surprises in a day that if his heart had been any weaker, he would have been suffering from a heart-attack or cardiac arrest right now. First, there was the issue with the 'Level E' and Subaru's reckless actions. Then there was the fact that Yuuki had actually went off alone to the Moon Dormitory without an escort, following which his master's impromptu arrival and caught him in the midst of a bloodlust. Later, Akane tried to force-feed him with the blood from a future 'Ichijo' through a 'kiss' - now, the pureblood vampire, Kaname Kuran had to come out here and join in the crowd too?!
"Kuran?! What are you doing? "
There had been no response, except that Zero could felt the grip of the former's hand on his wrist tighten significantly. Wincing from the pain, Zero tried again. This time around, he repeated his question loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Damn you, Kuran! What the hell are you doing?! "
With that, it finally snapped the pureblood out from his daze-liked manner. However, instead of responding to the irated silver-haired hunter's words; Kaname merely turned to stare at the former. Rather, Kaname was staring at the lips of Kiryuu Zero with intensity as though he was trying to burn a hole in the lips of the former using his eyes.
Taking in the sight of the dried blood by the corner of Zero's lips, Kaname finally realized that the kiss from earlier which was shared between Akane and Zero had never been a real 'kiss'. It was merely a feeding process, that involved Akane feeding the fellow hunter through desperate measures using force - why though, he had no idea.
Still, the understanding of that reason behind the so-called 'kiss' did nothing to improve his foul mood. He was still angry at Akane's actions and probably Zero's lack of reactions as well, although the level of his fury had been dampened significantly. Nonetheless, he was still unhappy and he decided that he would need to vent some of his frustration tonight before he exploded.
"Yes, that would be my question too. Why are you out here - Vampire!? Shouldn't you be back at the dormitory keeping an eye on your little army of leeches? " This coming from Yagari Touga whom had finally snapped himself out from his stupor mode and asked.
"...I'm here to collect a missing foal from my pack, apparently ... " Kaname Kuran responded, his eyes never leaving Akane's as he addressed the hunter - Yagari Touga.
"... Kaname-sama ..." Akane greeted, her tone oddly calm despite the fact that she should be feeling nervous.
"Akane ... " Kaname Kuran, the pureblood started smoothly, sounding far too smooth for someone whom had been glaring daggers at the said female vampire - moments ago.
For a minute Zero looked as though he was going to say something, but the pleading look in Akane's eyes stopped him before he could even attempted to speak.
Silence stung the air, and the atmosphere was tense as the hunter and the three vampires stared at one another wordlessly. Kaname was staring intently at Akane, whom stared back at the pureblood boldly without flinching. Zero was flickering his eyes between the two vampires, looking at Akane with concern and then staring at the pureblood with confusion.
Zero supposed he could see the reason behind Akane's actions, since he knew there would be no way for him to have ingest the provided blood in front of his master's eyes. Yet, his body required the offered blood badly for it would be the only way to put a stop to his bleeding wounds and thus allowing his body to heal. Therefore, explaining part of the reason why he failed to react when the girl had forced her lips upon his. Then the pureblood decided to come into the picture, and made a grab for him in a deadly possessive manner too.
That baffled him, completely. He had no idea why the pureblood was reacting in this manner, but now was not the time for him to figure out the reason behind the pureblood's fury either. For he still had his incensed master in hunting skills to think about, the hunter - Yagari Touga was now staring at the vampire trio with an expression that was a mixture between bewilderment and fury.
---
Yagari Touga was both angry and baffled at the recent events which had just transpired before his eyes. First of all, he had chanced upon his former disciple and favorite student attempting to bite someone while on his first inspection round about the academy. Thinking that he might be able to save the innocent student from harm's way, he opened fire at his disciple whose vampire's nature had been awakened.
Then as soon as he fired at Zero, he came to the realization that the student whom his former disciple had been on the verge of biting was a vampire instead of a human. Not only that, he found it strange that he actually found the female vampire familiar when it was obvious that he had never met the former before. Still, the fellow female vampire whom went by the name of 'Akane' had managed to strike a familiar chord in him reminding him of someone, whom he currently had some trouble remembering.
Moreover, there was something about the interaction between his former disciple and the said vampire that irked him. Although, it had been quite some time since he had seen his former disciple on a personal basis but basing on what he had been hearing from his friend - the Chairman of the academy, Kaien Cross. His former disciple's attitude towards the members of the night-class had been anything but kind.
However, his earlier inspection round that ended up with him chancing upon the sight of Zero almost giving in to the urge to bite another vampire had caused him to doubt the reliability behind his friend's statement.
Why would Zero be contemplating on the idea of biting another vampire for blood, when the former's initial reaction should be firing at the said creature? The lack of the hostility towards the female vampire was baffling enough, and the fact that his former disciple had allowed the said vampire to remove his weapon from him was even more bewildering for him to comprehend. Then, the female vampire had head up front and pull his disciple in for a hug. Not just any hug, it was one of those comforting hug that was usually shared between siblings or close accquitances.
Again, his former disciple and once favorite student failed to react. Basically, Zero just allowed the female vampire to do as she pleased with him. Maybe, that was why he had initially thought the girl to be a mere human-being because the sheer thought of his disciple not reacting badly to any vampires that came too close for comfort had never once occurred to him before.
Therefore when he realized his disciple was about to bite the unsuspecting girl on the neck, he did the first thing that sprang to his mind and that was to open fire at his once favorite student. However, when he ventured closer and realized that the girl whom he had tried saving from his disciple's fangs just happened to be another vampire - he was stumped.
Following which, the vampire girl had the audacity to ask Zero to 'feed' on the provided blood in front of him. When his former disciple had failed to do so, the girl had simply went up to the former and fed Zero herself with the blood through the use of her own mouth. Again, Zero surprised him with the lack of reactions when the least he thought his former disciple could have done was to somehow make an attempt to struggle against that forced feeding 'kiss'.
Yet, that did not happened and when the duo did separated themselves from one another - it was due to the presence of another vampire which just happened to be a pureblood going by the name of Kaname Kuran. The pureblood had been furious, that much was obvious since even he could sensed the pure dark aura of fury emitting from the said vampire whom came in between Zero and that vampire named Akane.
Initially, he had thought the pureblood was angry at Zero. However, that thought was soon discarded when he realized that Kuran was actually glaring at the female vampire instead of his former disciple. So, the pureblood was angry at Akane instead of Zero ... but why?
That, he failed to comprehend and to make the situation even more confusing than it already was. The pureblood was practically holding and grabbing the wrists of his former disciple in a death grip, and possessive manner. It was not until Zero had spoken up, did the pureblood finally loosen the grip on the wrist of Zero but it was obvious from the reddening of his former disciple's skin around the wrist that it was going to leave a mark.
"Ooi Kid! Looks like ... the both of us need to have a long overdued chat with one another ..." He spoke up, finally deciding that he had had enough of the strange and thick tension that hung between the three vampires.
For a while, it looked as though Zero was about to protest on the idea of leaving behind the vampires duo to themselves but a quick glare from the pureblood towards the silver-haired hunter's direction, followed by the sound of the female's next statement put a stop to the protests that was about to slip off the tongue of Kiryuu Zero - altogether.
"Go ... Zero, just go with your master. Don't worry about leaving us alone down here ... we'll be fine ..." Akane assured, keeping her eyes upon the figure of the stoic pureblood while addressing the hesitant guardian.
---
"You seemed to be awfully confident about not being harmed by me ... " Kaname commented, after the two hunters' were completely out of view and away from their hearing range.
"And you still appeared to be angry with me, though no longer that furious as before ... " Akane threw back a comment of her own, towards the irated pureblood.
Kaname ignored her statement, as he continued. "You don't seemed to be afraid of what I could be capable of doing to you? "
"... Of course, I'm confident that you would not 'touch' me. Since you used the term 'what you could be capable of doing to me' and not 'what you could do to me' ... isn't that obvious that you would not be harming me in a physical manner? " Akane responded, matter-of-factly before adding as an afterthought.
"Besides ... you are still trying to figure out the reason behind your fury - now that you have enough sense in you to keep yourself from blowing up. You are furious about me 'kissing' Zero, but why? Why are you so bothered by what I had done to Zero? Aren't you supposed to loath his very existence since he matters so much to your beloved Yuuki? Then why are you giving a damn about what I've been doing to him? " Akane asked, looking up her at future adopted 'Father' with intent as she pressed on for an explanation to the rage that nearly caused the said pureblood to explode - earlier.
When Akane received no outward response from the pureblood, she continued to speak not caring if the pureblood would be angered by her words or not.
"That's not all! I'll have you known - I wasn't kissing him earlier, because that notion would not have pleased me in the slightest and instead it would 'gross' me out, entirely! That man would eventually ended up being my adopted 'Dad' by some coincidence, and he could practically be considered as my 'Grand-Uncle' or sort - due to the relationship that we shared through his mother's side of the family. If it wasn't for the sake of getting him to drink the blood, I would not never have to force my lips upon his - at all!"
"Still, there are other ways which you could have gotten him to drink the blood. " Kaname started, only to have an exasperated Akane cutting him off.
"I know ... but please, listen to yourself for a minute and think about what you would have done if you were in my shoe just now! Yagari Touga was here, up until a moment ago ... You know as much as I do, how Zero had felt about his changing from a human to a vampire - a creature; or monster in the eyes of a hunter. The need and desire for blood to quench his hunger frustrated him to no end, for it kept on reminding him of - what a 'monster' he had became.
Do you know how hard it was for me to keep him from being suicidal after drinking from me - each time?! And you are expecting him to drink the blood that was being offered to him in front of his master's eyes?! The master whom he had grown to respect over the years of his hunter's training - and let the former see just how exactly had he ended up resembling the 'monster' which he had been literally trained to kill and hunt, since young?! You knew as much as I do that he'll never do that with his master's keen eyes upon him, watching him ... waiting for his reaction to the blood being offered. Whether or not will he continued to fight, or will he succumb to the lure of his insatiable bloodlust.
He needed blood, and you know it! Tell me ... what would you do if you had been in my shoes, today?! Even if I were to go to the extent of prying his mouth open and dropped the whole bottle of blood in, he would not have swallowed when he could have easily spit them out. His desires for blood may have been strong, but his determination to prove his master wrong was equally strong in his will - as well! There's no way I could have gotten him to swallow the blood unless I were to 'kiss' them in myself, keeping his mouth busy so that he would have no other choice available but to swallow the blood that was forced fed into his mouth."
With that said, Akane fell silent as she waited for the inevitable slap that was to come in time. She had challenge the pureblood's authority by not only talking back in open defiance, but also lashed out at the former from frustration too. There was no doubt she would be 'in' for a punishment that was to come, in time - either sooner or later. Still, regret was the very last thing on her mind.
For her previous actions, had somehow forced the pureblood to react. Granted, the pureblood had reacted subconsciously without the actual realization about just how jealous and possessive he had been in prior. However, at least it had given Akane a clear idea that the pureblood actually did cared for Zero to some extent, in order to generate such a response from the said pureblood.
Akane had no idea how long she had been standing there and waiting for the slap that never did came, allowing herself to take a peek at the stoic figure of the pureblood. She was met up by the sight of a 'defeated' pureblood, and that stunned her somewhat. Granted, she had seen her adopted 'Father' with the mask of indifference missing before - but never at such close proximity.
"You are right ... but don't you ever dared to do it again! ... " The unmistakable controlled voice of Kaname Kuran came, sounding weary but there was still an underlying tone of warning to his words.
"... Of course, I shall leave the honors of claiming Zero's lips to you ... Kaname-sama. Trust me, when I said that I'm not into incest." Akane responded, adding the last bit cheekily now that she knew her actions were not going to be penalized by the pureblood.
"A-ka-ne ... " Kaname started, warningly wondering if he had made a wrong decision in not punishing the said girl for her previous disobedience.
"Oops ... better run while I still have the chance to do so ... " Akane muttered aloud, before disappearing towards the direction of the Moon Dormitory at her fastest speed. Leaving behind the pureblood to gather himself together, before joining the rest of the night-class members back at the dormitory.
---
Meanwhile, back at the Chairman's living quarters - the master and student were staring at one another in a creepy manner. Rather, Yagari had been the one staring while Zero was the one trying to avoid looking his master in the eyes due to the sheer feeling of guilt if nothing else.
"Since when did you start fraternizing with the likes of 'them'? " Yagari Touga started, eyeing his former disciple with intent as he started loading new magazines into his gun.
"I wasn't fraternizing with them! " Zero protested, while eyeing the gun of his master's warily from the corner of his eyes.
"Oh really, then would you perhaps like to explain to me the reason why you had allowed one to hold you in a possessive manner and another to kiss you without much protest? " Yagari Touga continued to press on the subject, while playing around with his gun as he directed his gun-point towards his former disciple every once in a while.
"... " Zero fell silent, guilty as charged. Then again, what did his master expect him to do? Having just being shot by the anti-vampire weapon, his strength left him depleted like a deflated balloon. Added on to the blood loss which incurred during the injuries suffered, and with the two vampires coming on to him with their full strength. There was no way which he could have defended himself against their so-called 'assualt' - isn't that so?
Furthermore, he had been too stunned by the 'kiss' from Akane to react in time when the pureblood - Kaname Kuran had stepped in and held him in a possessive grip which he had trouble getting away after the pureblood had pulled him apart from Akane.
"Have got nothing to say, isn't it? Maybe, it's about time that I should give you another lecture as to why you should not associate yourself with creatures like them! " Yagari started, as he launched into yet another full-blown lecturing mode of a vampire hunter to one of his mindless students whom was supposedly still in training.
Behind the closed door, a certain ex-hunter going by the name of Kaien Cross was eavesdropping on the conversation which took place within his private 'study'. He had somehow managed to persuade Yuuki into heading back to her dormitory for some rest, while he would handle the situation between Zero and Yagari Touga - himself. However, no sooner had Yuuki departed from his residence heading for the direction of the school dormitory building which belonged to the day-class students; he had been chased out from the room by the hunters' duo.
Zero allowed himself to nod every now and then to his master's words, but not really listening to the lecture. Since, this was something which he had heard at least a dozen times over, back during his training days with the said hunter. Instead, he allowed his mind to roam off by itself - aimlessly but somehow his mind kept on returning to the image of a certain pureblood much to his chagrin.
Judging from the way his master was reacting to his lack of hostility towards Akane in general, he figured it might perhaps be best if he kept the information of the twins' existence away from his master - after all. He had no doubt, his master would go ballistic if he were to find out about the twins' parentage. Either one, his master would attempted to kill Kaname Kuran and should the attempt failed, he was more than willing to bet that his master would be trying to kill him off next, lest he ended up being involved with the vampires in more ways than one.
Then, there was the existence of Akane. Presently, his master had been too pre-occupied with his 'situation' with the vampires to have noticed the obvious similarities between Akane and his mother. He wondered what would have happened if his master had been let on to the fact of just how related he had been with Akane, through his mother's family relations. He supposed his master would blow up at him, making a fuss over just how convenient his dead parents' had thought it unnecessary to inform the said hunter of their family relationship with the 'Fujiwara' clan - which his master had loathed the clan's existence with a passion.
"Kid?! Ooi Kid! Are you even listening to what I've said?! " Yagari had all but growled upon realization that Zero had zoned out on him during the midst of his lecture.
Zero blinked, coming back to the reality from his thoughts. 'Shit' was the only thing on his mind, upon noticing the slight narrowing of his master's eyes on him.
"That's it! You are grounded! " His master announced, causing him to blink stupidly at the hunter.
"Grounded? " Zero repeated, sounding incredulous upon the notion of being grounded by the hunter.
"Yes, grounded ... and until you can get it through your head and remembered the various reasons about why you should not trust, or associate yourself with a vampire - which I've been telling you about, previously." Yagari commented, before leaving the room and locking him in for the rest of the day.
Staring speechlessly at the now locked door to the Chairman's study, Zero dropped himself wearily on the sofa couch available and decided to just sleep his fatigue off for the time-being. He could start thinking about how to get himself away from the sentence of being grounded after he had gotten the sleep which he required, at this point of time.
~to be continued~
Date started: 05/05/09
Date completed: 07/05/09
Date edited: 07/05/09