A/N: Special thanks to everyone who faved and/or alerted/or reviewed. You guys are amazing! You have no idea how happy I am when I read your reviews! I'm sorry that this chapter is short but tomorrow I'm getting my marks for my first semester and I'm extremely anxious. Also I don't have a beta so I'm sorry for any grammar mistakes. A small part of the plot (New Orleans) was borrowed from the American TV show called The Originals.
Warning(s): Might contain violence, curse/bad language and sexual content. Also Zero is a girl.
Rated: M.
Note: Zero will be also mentioned as Hope in some flashbacks.
Disclaimer: Vampire Knight © Matsuri Hino. I don't own the Vampire Knight. Matsuri Hino does. However I do own my OCs and story.
For the love of a Queen
Chapter 6
Vampire; a creature who preys ruthlessly upon others; a predator.
"Do you think I did well?"
"Well, you sure were better than me." Ichiru said somewhat bitterly to Hope – or rather Zero.
Ichiru could see that Hope was better than him. She was quick and smart. He didn't need to be a genius to see that Master Yagari was impressed by her.
It had been one year since the mysterious woman had dropped Hope here.
Hope; a feminine first name of English origin referring to a positive expectation or to the theological virtue of hope.
Ichiru was the only one who calls her by her real name. She didn't seem to mind it. And he was happy about it.
"I'm not even a hunter Ichiru." She reminded him.
The young boy frowned at his sister. It was true after her aunt or as he prefers to call 'the mysterious woman' left her here, Ichiru was told that the girl was under his parents' protection and she was going to pretend to be his brother.
He was okay with this. Master Yagari however was rather- suspicious. But after today's training his sensei seems to have mixed emotions.
Ichiru shook his head. "He likes you."
"Are you kidding me!? He hates me!" Hope protested
"No, he doesn't. And even if he did, I'm sure he'll train you since you're so good!" Ichiru snapped at her and went to his-their room.
"Today Ichiru sneaked Zero to our training." That was the first thing Yagari said to Akira and Himoro Kiryuu as soon as he sat down.
Akira couldn't help but smile a little. Of course Ichiru would take the vampire-girl with him. Having Zero living with them was like a fresh breath of air. Akira was more relaxed, Himoro less stressed and Ichiru beyond happy.
Maybe that was what he needed. Akira thought for a brief moment. Someone to keep him company.
Ichiru was born sick and his parents knew very well that he couldn't become a hunter. However he was still trained by Yagari for his protection.
"I'm sorry Toga." Himoro apologized. "I'll make sure to give them a good punishment."
"Actually, I wanted to talk with you about something else."
Akira raised one eyebrow "About what?"
Toga took a deep breath "About the possibility of Zero becoming a hunter."
"Ichiru can I come in?" Hope asked, waiting outside of Ichiru and hers room.
When Ichiru didn't answer, she went inside and saw him resting on his bed with his head under a pillow.
"Ichiru, I don't get it. Did I do something wrong?"
"No." He sighed. "I'm sorry for snapping at you."
"Are you gonna stay in there forever?"
"Yep."
"Move over." She went to lie next to him. "I'm officially worried. What's going on?"
"I'm tired of thinking… of trying… Can you take my mind off of my problems?"
Hope sighed "Just remember you asked for it."
Hope closed the window and grabbed one of Ichiru's pillows. She ripped it and empties it of the feathers.
"Hey!" He protested
"Be patient." she insisted
"Okay." Hope had told him that she has many secret and she would eventually share them with him. If this was one of the rare moment then he really should keep his moth shut.
" I need to swear you to secrecy."
" It's kind of a bad week for that kind of stuff."
" Swear, 'cause I'm not supposed to be showing you this."
He hesitate a little before saying " Okay, I swear."
"There's no windows open, right?"
"Right."
"There's no fan. No air conditioning."
"None. What are you doing?" Ichiru asked as he saw her move her hands
" Sheila has showed me this. You're gonna love it. You ready?"
"Sheila as you aunt's friend?"
"…"
"Hope what's going on?"
Hope levitated feather in front of Ichiru. Then she levitated several more.
While Ichiru watched on with shock and amazement.
" It's true Ichiru." She finally confessed him. "Everything. The stories I've been telling you. It's impossible and it's true. I'm a witch."
"I believe you." He whispered, still in awe.
"Toga, what are you saying?" Himoro asked totally confused.
Toga sighed as he tried to explain himself. "She's good. I swear If I didn't know, I would believe she was your child. Are you sure she's not coming from a hunters' family."
"Yes we are sure." Akira didn't know what to think. The only reason she accepted the child from Mihoko was because she and husband owned a lot to the woman.
During the year that passé Zero had grown on them. And not drinking or asking for blood made it easier for the hunters to care for her.
"But by whom will she be trained?" Akira looked at her husband with wide eyes. Was he really considering this? What was her husband thinking? If a hunter was going to train Zero, no matter how careful she was, he would figure out the truth and Akira was sure. The Hunter Association wouldn't hesitate to kill her.
Toga knew Ichiru was too weak to become a hunter but Zero had potentials. "She can learn from no other than me."
Back to Zero/Hope and Ichiru in their bedroom.
" It's weird huh? After all this times joking about being psychic. I really am a witch. You don't think I'm a freak now, do you?" Hope asked with insecurity.
Ichiru looked at her in disbelief "No of course not, Hope. I just ...don't understand though. If both your aunt and Sheila told you to keep all this a secret, why did you tell me?"
Hope smiled. If this secret shocked him then wait till he finds the rest. "You're my best friend. I can't keep secrets from you."
Ichiru from the first time today; smiled. Feeling warmth in his chest.
"And one day I'll tell you everything."
Ichiru nodded. She was his best friend, so of course he'd wait till she's ready to open up to him. "Each day, at time."
"Are you sure about this Toga?" Himoro asked for a last time. "Zero can be little… difficult at times."
Yagari knew that. The girl was passionate and she certainly had fire. Yes, Zero was the perfect student for him. She could handle him and he could handle her.
"She can learn from no other than me."
"What happened to Zero?" That was the first thing Yuuki Cross said as she stopped the man who shot Zero last night. Chairman had said that she was alright but Yuuki didn't believe him. "What did you do to him?"
Yagari looked at the young girl "We isolated her, of course."
He knows? "Isolated her? Why?"
"This way I can make sure there are no other victims." He lied.
"What's going on? I want to see her. I want to know if she's okay."
"Let go of me! I don't have free time to chat. Your idiot Headmaster keeps making my life more miserable." He sighed "He asked me to teach the Night Class. What a joke"
"Wait a second! What do you mean teac-"
Yagari interrupted her before she could finish "Go do your job."
With that Yagari opened the door and got in class. "I'm Toga Yagari, Your substitute teacher. Before we start; hello vampires."
Some vampires gasped "The number one vampire hunter that appeared in the new had the same name, Yagari." Rima commented.
"So, this is the man responsible for last night's gunshot." Aido added.
"Relax everyone." Yagari said coolly. "I've gotten a teaching license, I'm now a qualified educator."
"Maybe you're here to spy the Night Class. Or to kill one of us Yagari sensei." Kaname suggested.
Yagari smirked darkly towards the Pureblood "All in all Kaname Kuran. I'm sorry but I still have a clean sheet. But if you fall asleep in class I'll probably add to that record."
"How dare you say that to Kaname-sama." Ruka shouted furiously.
"Ruka relax." Akatsuki tried to calm her down.
Kaname closed the book he was reading. "I will try to be careful, teacher."
Hmmm
"Well, let's start with history. I'm sure you've heard of 'the vampires of the night' "The Nightwalkers"."
"And here I thought a talented vampire hunter like you would know better than believing in fairy tales." The Pureblood said and Yagari could hear the mock behind his words.
"Of course I don't." He lied "But I want to see what knowledge you have for them."
"They can be burned by the sun." A girl stated.
"That's correct. It's said that 'Nightwalkers' were first seen two thousand years ago. Their name 'Nightwalkers' is because they cannot walk in the sun and they could be free in the night. 'Nightwalkers', 'Demons of the night'… Through centuries they were given many different names. It was said than nothing could kill them- nothing but a stake made by wood or having their heart ripped out." Yagari turn to the board and wrote c-r-e-a-t-i-o-n.
"Nobody really knows from where they came from. However humans who had consumed vampire blood and died with it in their system would rise undead. The nature of the human's death was irrelevant; however the body must had been intact and able to function. Furthermore, the physiological trauma must be sufficient enough for the recipient to actually pass out, since the vampire blood in their system will only heal any non-fatal wounds or injuries that the victim sustained prior to dying. Upon mortal death, the undead body would awaken in a state of transition. In order to complete the transition, within the next 24 hours the person should consume an exceptional amount of human blood, at least a sips worth, or else they would die. Nightwalkers could only feed on human blood to complete the process. Until a Nightwalker completes their transition, they would be insusceptible to the standard weaknesses of their species"
Yagari stopped talking and pulled out a different book. "Since you don't like talking about legends, we may as well go to Physic."
Some vampires protested, preferring hearing stories over Physic but he ignored them. He shouldn't tell them anything. It's better this way. The sooner he finish teaching these bloodsucker, the better.
After all, his student was waiting for him.
"I'm sorry sensei. Because of me, you almost got hurt." Hope looked at the young man who was lying on the grass sadly. What was she thinking? She would never be a hunter. "You told me to run but I didn't because I wanted to help you. I thought I could help you."
"Come on little girl, I didn't took you with me in that mission to see this expression." He patted her hair.
Hope looked at the hunter. The man she had come to respect. She wanted to tell him. Tell him everything like she did with Ichiru but…
…would he accept her like Ichiru had? Or would he be like other hunters she had met and call her a monster, an abomination?
"Sensei, why do hunters hunt vampires?"
Yagari looked at the young girl and sighed. "It's because they are evil creatures who can't defy their natural instincts. Therefore we must haunt them down. Live only for this. Do you understand Zero?"
Hope looked up her sensei and knew she could never tell him. "Of course. Vampires can only be our enemy."
The room was dark, tense, and silent. Toga Yagari was looking the still form of his student, sitting against the wall. Was this really the girl he had trained these years?
Tense as if expecting something, Toga spitted out a question. "How is your shoulder?"
"Its fine." and it was. When Zero woke up she felt fine. Okay. Too okay. She didn't have a headache anymore, and she wasn't even thirsty.
When Yagari shot her, Chairman came to her rescue. Yagari took her to her room and Chairman did the same to Yuuki.
Zero has been waiting for Yagari thinking of what to tell him. But looking at him now…
She didn't know what to say.
"Do you know why I'm here?"
"To kill me?" One thing she knew was that Yagari wasn't the type to give mercy to a vampire.
Bang!
The familiar sound of the gun was heard in the once silent room.
"I'll do that later." You can try. "But first did you know?"
"Know what?" She asked confuse.
"That Shizuka was coming. Were you planning it?!" He yelled furiously.
Zero knew very well that her master loved the Kiryuus and deeply respected them. But she couldn't help but feel hurt that he would think of her like that.
Bang!
He shot her again."Were you?!"
Zero tried hard to keep her 'vampire-face' but she couldn't keep her anger any longer.
"How dare you…" She glared at him. "You… you fool! I loved them. I still do!"
Bang!
"Stop it!" She finally yelled, not able to handle the pain anymore. She got up and grbbed his gun. "I won't let you hurt me anymore."
Yagari looked at her surprised for a second for her outburst."How… Why?." He took a deep breath "Did they know that you were a vampire?"
"Yes."
"…"
"My Aunt had helped with something in the past and they owned her that why they took me in. But I never drank blood during my years with them. I guess that how they grew to love me."
"Right." He nodded that did sound like something Akira and Himoro would do. "Your aunt; the Nightwalker."
"How much do you know?" maybe I could erase his memory? No! Honest, be honest.
Yagari narrowed his eye at his student "I know enough." and he did. He knew who her parents were, her past, what she was. However the only thing he didn't know was from whom she was running from. "Zero the real reason I'm here is to tell you that she is alive."
"I know that."
"What? What do you mean 'I know that?'"
"You know that Ichiru was my best friend and I always loved him as a brother." She smiled a little. "You didn't really think I would let him become a toy to a Pureblood right?"
"But-"
"I've been tracking them down for years. I don't know where they are but I know he's alive. That's enough for me. For now. "She interrupted him.
"Do you hate me?" Zero suddenly asked.
Yagari didn't answer for a few couple of minutes and her anxiousness was killing her.
No. "I don't particularly like you, at the moment."
Zero nodded. She could understand his reason. "I'm still a hunter, Master."
Yagari didn't answer but simple watched her. She bleeding a lot because of his bullets but she wasn't crying like any other girl would. Maybe she was still the fierce little girl who challenged him every time he would train her. Maybe…
"I'll prove it you." She told her sensei as she saw him leaving the room.
"I'll be waiting."Yagari looked behind him, before closing the door.
Maybe Zero was still Zero.
Yuuki's POV
Yuuki ran to Zero's room after she saw the man leaving.
After two knocks Zero opened the door. "Everything is okay, you should go back."
"Wait Zero." She grabbed her shirt and her eyes widened. The shirt that her sister was wearing was painted with blood. Her blood. That man… He did this…
"Why did you stay in your room Zero? Just because he told you so?"
Zero sighed "Come in Yuuki."
Yuuki sat on Zero bed and watched her sister as she took a deep breath.
"That person was a teacher to me and my brother. My adoptive parents were hardly home and sometime he would come and look after us. Although I wasn't born a hunter he saw that I had potentials and decided to train me along with my brother." Zero started.
"One day he took me in one of his missions, we had to stay away from home for four days because he was tracking down some vampires. On the last day we met a vampire. She was a nurse, a very beautiful lady. But in reality she was actually an ex-human vampire who was kept as slave... We helped her escape and she so happy to finally have her freedom back. However one day, she turned into a savage vampire right in front of our eyes…. Sensei almost died while protecting me, all because I didn't listen; because I thought I could help him." she snorted "The price of naivety."
"No! You want to give up everything." She accused Zero "I won't let you."
She grabbed Zero's hand and pulled her to the bathroom "Yuuki?"
"Nobody will find us here." She said as she closed the door. "Zero, I won't let you give up."
Yuuki took off her jacket, pushed her short hair away, and let her neck exposed "Drink."
Night Class
"Next class is about to begin, aren't you coming?" Ichijo asked his friend who was reading a book.
"I'm not interested in that old man's class."
"Hey, where did Yuuki go?" He asked again feeling curious. "She was worried about something…"
Kaname didn't answer for a while. "Kaname?"
"Yuuki." He suddenly said and you could hear the softness in his voice. "she is very kind hearted."
Back to Zero and Yuuki
Yuuki's POV
"I've finally thought of the only thing I can do." she explained to her sister's shocked face.
"What are you saying?"
"This is the only solution. Drink my blood, to stop your thirst, even if it's only temporary." Little did Yuuki know that Zero wasn't thirsty anymore…
"Oh Yuuki." Zero shook her head and grabbed her pushing her against the wall.
She didn't make a sound when Zero came close to her neck, or when she opened her moth ready to bite her.
I'm scared she heard a small voice in her head I'm scared. That vampire is going to eat me.
"So brave and stupid." Her eyes widened as she heard Zero whispering to her ear instead of biting.
Zero pulled back "I'm fine Yuuki."
Yuuki stubbornly shook her head. "No! You're not! I know you're thirsty Zero, you don't need to hide it from me."
Zero crossed her arms "And how exactly do you know if I'm thirsty?"
Yuuki frowned "Last night your head was-"
"Hurting. Yes, but that doesn't mean I was thirsty Yuuki. I just had a very bad headache."
Yuuki eyed her carefully "Really?"
"Really." She reassured her. "Now leave and stop trying to play hero."
Zero's POV
Zero had just finished patrolling with Yuuki when she went to her room.
As she took her jacket off she saw a small box on her bed. Again.
And here I thought he had leave me alone.
She sighed as she opened her 'present'. There was a bracelet with small diamonds and Zero suspected they were actually real diamond.
Curious to see what he had written again, she pulled out the card and read it.
It was worn by a princess. Almost as beautiful as you.-K
Seriously! Doesn't he have a life or something?
Or…
…maybe his hobby is to giving presents to girls?
Unlikely.
Zero was snapped out from her thoughts when she heard a knock. Who would it be at this time?
Opening the door Zero saw the last person she expected.
Hell! It was more likely Kuran to come in her room, asking her for love advice than having him here,right in front of her.
"Hello gorgeous." He greeted with his familiar bad boy smirk.
"Dean."
A/N: And again. Sorry for the small chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and don't forget to review.
xLonelyDreamerx
