Blood Ties- Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight or any of the Characters.

He grunted, the deep sound coaxed by the collision of his back against the door he had just walked through and the air was driven straight from his chest at the unexpected impact. His cold, annoyed eyes snapped down, looking at the small face that was inclined upwards towards him, relief clear on the childish, yet still beautiful features that were turned up in a luminous smile that brightened up the dimly lit infirmary.

"Ichiru- Chan!"

Zero winced at the piercing scream that rang forcefully through his ears, his eyes wide in mute shock as the silver hair, just a shade lighter then his attackers eyes, whipped over his messily arranged uniform when she turned her head to the side, her expression accusing.

"You lied, Chairman! He's right here. You're so mean!"

"Um, no...that's not..." Kaien started, but his voice was drowned out by Maria's high pitched tone.

"Ichiru- Chan, that Man said that Shizuka- Sama is dead! Why would he say such a... you aren't..Ichi- ...are you Zero- Kun?"

The pressure instantly ceased against his body at the recognition of her mistake and the Hunter caught a strong gust of her scent, the sudden, forceful shift of wind caused by her body falling backwards into the open space of the large room and loose silver hair obscured her distorted view of her surroundings.

A weak groan passed through Maria's parched lips as Kaien's body, under the light burden of the teenage girl, slipped back slightly, his arms keeping her safely upright and his softly concerned voice was masked by the clanking of metal induced by the strain of his legs hitting the foot of the bed post, causing the bars to hit against each other.

"Maria- Chan?"

"Shizuka- Sama..." Her childlike voice, void of any of her usual enthusiasm, whispered so lowly that the Blonde had to lean in his head closer to her, despite their close proximity, just to hear the words, "If she met with you..then Shizuka- Sama really is dead.."

The mattress, covered in spotless white linen, eagerly accepted her weight as she was set down on the bed she had occupied previously, a pair of hands hesitating to the side as if to steady her again. Her face, usually cheerful and bright, showed deep signs of sorrow and disappointment whilst her hands dropped to her lap and played with the ends of the long sleeves that covered her arms, the ruffled fabric being twisted between short fingers.

"Shizuka- Sama came to me with Ichiru- Chan...she asked me if she could borrow my body and in return she would make my weak, sickly body stronger..I am blood related to Shizuka -Sama, and now she's gone.." Her head remained down, eyes staring at the white nightdress she wore unseeingly as her mind was drawn back to the image of her Pureblooded relative standing alongside a young boy, both of their voices soft as they introduced themselves. She remembered the way the elder females pink eyes almost always seemed to be so dull. Empty, as if she had lost everything.

The picture of those eyes remained a constant part of her thoughts as Maria tried to defend the Pureblood. Despite them being two different personality's, even in the same body as they were, Maria could still remember the way the elder felt- such crushing feelings of pain and loneliness that made the teenager giddy just thinking about, "After that man was taken away from Shizuka- Sama, she never wanted anyone's love. That man was the first person to love her in such a way and when Zero- Kun's parents were ordered to kill him she was filled with so much sorrow and anger..."

A moist teardrop she never registered falling from her eyes at the recollection of memories that didn't belong to her brushed over the skin of her cheek as she dove from her seat, almost hitting the blonde man standing beside her in her haste, and reached out to clutch on to the open jacket sitting on the Hunters body and she chocked back a cough that threatened to give away her weakened state, "Zero- Kun, even if you killed Shizuka- Sama, I don't think she regretted doing anything.."

Zero mentally sighed, not allowing himself to feel any sympathy at the words being spoke to him, refusing to feel bad for the Pureblood the girl spoke of so compassionately and his expression remained indifferent. Uncaring. Even as the short, silver haired female broke into a coughing fit, a tiny fist covering small lips instinctively.

"Maria- Chan, calm down, you can't stress your body too much. We'll leave you to rest awhile, come on Kiryuu- Kun."

"Please wait, Zero- Kun... I want to tell you to truth," Maria protested their leave, not finished telling her take on the actions leading up to the current situation.

"What?"

"The day that the Kiryuus were ordered to hunt that Man.. they were ordered by someone else to do so.." She paused to watch the widening of silver eyes, allowing the new information to sink in before taking a deep inhalation of air to continue, "It was given by someone who did not like the idea of Shizuka- Sama having an ex-human for a lover... when Shizuka- Sama found out about this mysterious figure, she put all her efforts into trying to find it and kill it... That person is the Purebloods, and your own, real enemy I think."

She felt small movements from the body under her, the hold around her waist loosening as the breathing of the male evened out once more. She waited a few more moments, allowing him to fall back into the much needed slumber before trying again. In slow, precise movements she managed to lift the arms from around her, her body freezing for an instant as he shifted under her again. She carefully picked herself up off him, using the arm of the sofa they fell asleep upon as a leverage to guide her.

Yuki took a moment to admire the peaceful expression under her, fighting the desire to rejoin him and forget about her current objective but the soft pads of her footsteps against the ground acted as a lullaby to the remaining sleeping Pureblood.

The creaking of the door made the brunette wince and look over her shoulder, a silent sigh of relief passing through her at the image of his still closed eyes as she walked out into the chilled hallway, the cold marble harshly greeting her bare feet.

He could still feel it, so another quiet grunt of pain followed the searing pain in his neck, caused by untrimmed fingernails scraping over the thin membrane of skin at a pale throat.

"Run, Ichiru!"

He could feel the damp blood against his skin, his hands gripping tightly at the arms that held him up in a weak position.

The bodies of his parents, covered in the sinful liquid that pained the entire room, lay abandoned in front of him. They had served their purpose of revenge and now he was the toy being played with. His throat was hoarse, painfully dry as he called out to his brother who stood in the open doorway. His childish body, bloodied and numb, fell to the ground as he too was rendered useless, the swift motions of a feminine kimono polluting his vision as the attacker moved forwards, the red stained fabric dripping the product of her killing spree. He tried to lift his hand, tried to stop the monster from moving any further but it fell lifeless in front of him, his body to weak to move.

"Ichiru," He coughed, small droplets of blood falling from his dry lips, "If it reaches it hand towards you, you absolutely must kill it!"

A/N:-Rolls on the floor, shaking from Kaname- withdrawals-

I am sooo sorry for the wait of my updates recently. I have a lot of VK projects on, and to top it off, my laptop is retarded! It keeps overheating. I'm taking it to a repair shop soon, but I've had to order some parts which I'm waiting for... they said it can be anything upto two weeks. -shakes fist- I'll try to update as often as I can, but I sort of get too annoyed with laptop to do much work. ^^"

I'm really sorry if this chapters sucks, the two reasons already stated are part of it, real life drama and still being ill also adds up. So I apologize if this chapter's bad.. Please review and let me know what you think. Thank you!

Unrelated- O_O There's a moth in my room! They don't usually bother me, being this time of year and all, but this one is big -hides- I'm going to get eaten by a Teenage Mutant Ninja Moth!