Hello, everyone! Sorry it took me a few weeks to update this story. I got distracted by Christmas, New Year's, and my other story, in that order.
One note: Reina's declaration of Kaname as a 'gang leader' is a reference to one of the humorous short pieces that Matsuri Hino included at the end of an early manga edition. I don't know why I felt the need to put that in here. I don't even know why I remembered that. XD
Thank you for reading my story! If you review, I'll give you cookies! Somehow! :D
"You really need to come back and listen to what I have to say about Zero."
Reina was on the phone with the Headmaster again. Lackadaisically, she flicked a piece of dust off of her jeans as she leaned backward upon the rock where she was sitting, using her other arm to support herself. The water of a cool silver lake spread out before her. "I'll come back in a day. That will have to be good enough; I want to spend one more night here. You should know that right now I'm on the side of a beautiful mountain, exploring around lakes, swimming under waterfalls, watching wildlife. I'm all alone- the sky could just swallow me up. It should be understandable that I have absolutely no motivation to come back."
"Yes, but we're running out of time-"
"You gave me no time to prepare for the fact that you were going to suddenly expose my identity to the Guardians." Reina informed him sharply. Kaien Cross sighed.
"I intended to ease you into the idea more slowly. However, the fact that all of you came charging into my office at once left me no option but to-"
"I will come back in a day," she repeated in a tone which indicated that this was the final word.
Kaien Cross hummed softly in assent. "All right, Reina. Don't be too angry at me. I promise there's a good reason why I did what I did."
"You'd think I'd be used to this by now," Reina grumbled, halfway to herself, before pressing the disconnect button and laying the cell phone down at her side. Really, it amazed her that she was able to get service out here at all. There wasn't another soul around for God knew how many miles. This was her secret place. There was a worn-down cabin just up the hill that she'd discovered several years ago. It had been abandoned for at least a decade, and the road which had led to it had grown over in shrubbery. Reina had partially fixed it up and claimed it as her own. This was where she came to get away from the chaos of living two lives. Way out here, she was neither a vampire nor a human. She was simply a person, a vibrant life that had somehow made it to this earth and settled in for an undetermined stay. She was herself, away from the world. She could paint out here.
Reina stood up on the rock and delicately stripped off her clothing, leaving only her bra and underwear intact. Her undergarments covered the same places which a bikini would have, so she didn't feel strange wearing them out in the open. Pausing for a moment, the half-blood girl considered the rippling lake water before her, twirling a strand of deep brown hair around a sharp finger. A marshmallow cloud passed over her head, and she smiled. In the barest rush of a second, she stepped forward and lunged over the edge of the rock, diving headfirst into the center of the cloud's reflection with barely a splash.
/
Reina didn't bother to change into her school uniform as she slipped out of her car a night later and made her way toward the administration building. She knew she wasn't going back to class until she got a damn good explanation from the headmaster about his inexcusable antics when she'd last been in his office- and maybe not even then. What infuriated Reina the most was that she didn't need to go to this school. When she had been younger, she had simply come to Cross Academy once a month for the bloodletting procedure- her father had insisted on driving her even though she could have very well run the distance herself- and then gone home the next morning. Easy, secret, and zero involvement with the students of the Academy. When she'd wanted to talk to the Kaien Cross, she called him on the phone, and sometimes he had come over to her house for dinner with her family. Reina didn't understand why things couldn't still be like that. Had he been planning to shanghai her into attending the night class even then? And now he wasn't even keeping her secret like he'd promised to. Just what was she to him?
A very disgruntled Reina was just about to stride through the administration's doors when she heard a soft shuffling of feet behind her. Whirling around sharply, she found that blonde guy standing there- Takuma Ichijo- looking slightly nervous and twiddling his fingers. "Ah. Reina-san? Hello. I'm Ta-"
"I know who you are," she interrupted with a frown, gazing down the steps at him. "You needn't bother with formalities. Did Kaname send you?"
"Ummm….well no, actually. I came on my own. He might be upset with me when he finds out that I approached you, but I'm doing this for his sake. I wanted to talk to you."
"How very loyal," Reina said dryly, eyeing him with caution. "And what is it that you want to say to me 'for Kaname's sake?'"
"I wanted to ask you….to please stop troubling him by pushing the limits of our society." Takuma stated with a serious face. "You might not understand, since you're a common vampire, but purebloods are our lords in all but name. They constitute the exclusive top portion of our ancient social hierarchy, which is sacred to us. You ought to know that the role of lower vampires is to revere and support those above them. But you act like we don't exist, especially Kaname, which is-"
"You're a twit if you seriously believe all that rubbish that's coming out of your mouth." Reina snapped as she turned away.
"See, that's what I mean!" Takuma insisted strongly, pursuing her up the stairs. "Reina-san, I don't care if you insult me personally. I'm not a very proud person and I don't mind it. I'd rather just keep the peace between us. But the other aristocrats are taking serious offence at the things you're doing and saying- especially toward Kaname." Takuma sighed. "I don't really understand why he hasn't stepped in yet. He's in charge of discipline for the entire Night Class, and he's usually very authoritative. He doesn't hold back when it comes to keeping classmates in line. So I don't understand why he hasn't put a stop to your behavior- but I can tell that's it's troubling him. As his friend, I don't want to see him troubled."
"So are you worried that I'm going to hurt your little prince's feelings?" Reina let the sneer bleed through her voice as she folded her arms tightly across her chest.
"Actually, believe it or not, I'm worried about you as well," the blonde-haired boy stated firmly. "I don't know what your motives are. I honestly think you must be crazy to go up against the mores of an entire school filled with aristocrats and a pureblood when you're only a common vampire whose powers are weak compared to ours. Still, I know for sure that unless you stop acting so scandalously and give your superiors the respect they're due, there will be violence done against you. I don't like to see people get hurt, and I also don't want the peace of this Academy disrupted. That's why I'm telling you now."
"That's very sporting of you," Reina acknowledged with a nod. "However, you can go ahead and tell your gang leader to send his thugs right to me, because I don't intend to stop for as long as I'm here. I'll take them all on."
"You can't! You're a common vampire!" Takuma stared to protest in alarm.
"I'm an uncommon common vampire." Reina declared, lifting her chin. "I'm the kind that doesn't get pushed around."
"Reina-san, Kaname is not as bad as you seem to think he is. He's not a greedy dictator trying to trample everyone under him. He has the power to directly control lower vampires with his command, but he refuses to use it. He allows us to makes decisions with our own free will."
"How nice," the brunette huffed, looking back toward the administrative building. She was well aware of the purebloods' power of involuntary compulsion over lower vampires. She was also aware that this power wouldn't work on her even if Kaname did use it, although Takuma obviously was not. "Well, if that's all you have to say, your concern will be noted. Right now I have a previous engagement to honor." The slender half-blood turned away from the other and made her way smoothly over to the doors. As she was about to go inside, she heard Takuma's voice again.
"Reina-san!" He made no move to follow her, but his eyes were lit up with concern. This one wasn't as much of a vampire as the others- at least, she didn't perceive him to be as threatening. His aura was not as deceptively sleek. "Are you really going to continue down this path?"
She nodded nonchalantly.
He sighed. "I can't stop you….but it's only right to warn you that if you continue to defy our sacred traditions and social hierarchy, things are not going to end well."
"I'm counting on it," she declared, before shoving her way through the doors and proceeding up the stairs, now late for her appointment with the Headmaster. He made no more attempts to follow her. Inwardly, Reina fumed at the audacity of the Night Class. Such 'entitled' creatures were really too intolerable.
As Reina pushed her way through the Headmaster's double doors, she was immediately engulfed by a thick cloud of smoke which was billowing up from the middle of the room. For a moment she was highly alarmed, until she peered through the smoke that filled the air and observed the headmaster yet again crouching over a miniature grill, roasting several speared fish over the hot coals. It was probably the most fire-hazardous activity ever undertaken indoors. Hearing her enter, the man whirled around cheerily and offered her a stick. "Reina! Come in! Would you like a fish?"
Reina didn't pause to consider. "I don't want a fish! I want an explanation!" she practically shouted, Takuma's words still ringing annoyingly in her ears. Kaien Cross backed off and withdrew his fish as Reina bustled angrily into the room, shoving open the window, throwing an arrangement of flowers out of a vase on his desk, and pouring the vase's water over the smoldering coals. A thick cloud of steam immediately wafted upward and spread out against the ceiling. "How are you even allowed to do that in here?"
"I disabled the fire alarm- just in this room," he explained, looking at her with a tilted face.
"Is there something wrong with you that you can't be serious for five seconds?"
"Well, you certainly seemed to be having a good time when I called. Ditching school to tramp through the woods and swim under waterfalls? I ought to give you a mark for it- but as a fellow lover of the natural world, I just can't bring myself to do it!" The headmaster stared happily out the window, gazing at the moon as it fell into the rippling water of the pond. He still wasn't being serious. Reina fought back the urge to growl and rubbed her forehead instead. "I did think you might be in a better mood after such an enticing vacation."
"I was, until I had an encounter with one of your lovely students," the brunette grumbled, folding her arms and joining him in gazing out the window at the classroom buildings.
He looked at her in surprise. "Oh? Which one? I didn't request that any of them talk to you-"
"I am telling you nothing, nothing about anything, until you tell me what is going on here. I understand that you didn't realize that Kaname knew my true identity until I found that out for myself. But why would you even think of telling Kiryu? And Yuki? I know that they're your adopted children and the Academy guardians, but honestly- they're not even vampires! They've no need to know." Reina insisted, pressing her palms down flat upon the windowsill. "Perhaps if I was somehow a threat to the Academy, but I'm not."
"No, you're not, Reina," Kaien Cross replied, finally in a serious tone. "But there is a threat to the Academy, and it involves us all. That's why we need to be working together."
"That malicious presence which you keep allowing near the school," she declared, shaking her bangs out of her eyes aggressively. "Really, Headmaster, what are you-"
"It's not what you think it is," he told her swiftly. "Reina, the presence which you are sensing is not an intruding vampire. I've known about it all along."
"I don't see how it could be anything else," she shook her head. "It's definitely not a human. And there's something wrong with it. Most vampire auras are cool and silently staining. A pureblood's aura is cold, through and through. But this one is just searing hot. It's wild, it's animalistic. It isn't still, and it just splashes across your senses like-" Reina struck her palm against the wall with a glancing blow, making sure not to actually crack the wood. "That's why I say it's a danger. A creature that agitated is bound to lash out sooner or later."
"Reina, listen." Kaien Cross took both of her shoulders and turned her body toward him, staring intently into her eyes. He almost seemed afraid. "This- this is important."
"I can see that," she replied, raising her eyebrow.
He sighed and lowered his head until his blonde ponytail flopped messily down onto his chest. "It's Zero."
Reina stared at him as if he might have meant something else. "It's- what?"
"Zero is the presence you've been sensing."
"But Zero is not a vampire. He's a vampire hunter. They give off an aura of their own, but one is easily distinguishable from the other, since the hunters are human. It's no human I've been sensing." Reina insisted, trying to wrap her mind around what the Headmaster was saying. It couldn't be true….but then, the first time she'd sensed that presence in the air, hadn't Zero been in the room with her? And the second time he had been below her on the ground, just a few feet away. She had never thought that a boy from a vampire hunter family could himself be a vampire. It had simply never crossed her mind that Zero himself might be the presence. The tiny idea that had been suppressed in her mind a few nights ago suddenly re-emerged in full bloom. She stared at the Headmaster in alarm.
"Reina….Zero is-was-aaaah. This isn't easy." Kaien Cross squeezed his temples with his hand, lowering the other one from her shoulder. He sighed again. "Zero used to be a human. He was bitten by a pureblood vampire, and has been suffering a slow and forcible descent into vampirism ever since. The process is almost complete, which is why you have been able to sense him as of late."
It was interesting how just a few words could be used to sum up an entire lifetime of pain and suffering, Reina thought. Her pale hands chilled, and she said the only sensible thing she could think to say. "Holy shit."
"Now Reina, language that strong is unnecessary in almost every situation," the Headmaster scolded as he pulled the window shut and turned to face her again. "I won't elaborate on Zero's life story, just as I did not elaborate on yours when I told him of your true nature. That is something that only the two of you have the right to reveal at your discretion. But you need to know what Zero is at this point, just as he needs to know what you are. And by saying what, I don't mean to objectify you-"
"But Headmaster," Reina cut across the older man's rambling, her eyes suddenly becoming narrow. "It's terrible what happened to Zero. But if he was bitten by a pureblood vampire, then doesn't that mean that he will-"
"He will eventually fall to level E and lose his sanity. Yes." Kaien Cross told her softly. For a moment, the room was silent.
"And you've been letting him live at this school, just letting him run around wherever he pleases, attending the Day Class with a bunch of humans, having knowledge of critical security junctures, have you lost your mind?" Reina demanded, her voice rising to a low shout until she cut it off, chest heaving in indignation. Much to her fury, he did not seem the slightest bit cowed.
"Unfortunately, we have reached a point where this arrangement cannot operate functionally anymore. Zero is no longer safe to allow into the world. Blood tablets fail to help him. He's sustained himself off of willpower thus far, but he is deteriorating more and more by the day. I'm giving him as much time as I can, but this can't continue. I'll have to lock him up….at the Hunter Society in less than a week's time, for his own safety….and that of everyone else."
For the first time, Reina truly sympathized with Kaien Cross as she observed his downcast, tremulous face. She didn't know much about Zero Kiryu at all, but she knew that the Headmaster thought of him as a son. And she did understand the bonds of the human family- she was part of one herself. Endeavoring to keep the natural sharpness out of her voice, she murmured lowly, "I am sorry, sir. You've been fighting a battle you can only lose." She paused for a moment, her amber eyes flickering. "With all due respect for the situation, though….I still can't understand why you're telling me any of this when you've been keeping it secret for years. If there's nothing anyone can do for Kiryu now, why do you even bother telling me that he's a vampire when he's about to disappear? And why tell him about me?"
"Because there is something we can do," the blonde man declared, raising his head again. "This situation has not taken me by surprise. I knew that Zero was eventually going to falter. He can't help himself- the power of the pureblood's poison is too strong. I've been anticipating and planning for this time over the past several years. That's why….I believe I've found a way to help him."
"Good God, it involves me, doesn't it?" Reina crossed over to Kaien Cross's desk and fell into his chair, locking eyes with him across the wooden surface. As happy-go-lucky as the man seemed , he always had a plan up his sleeve. She should have known.
He nodded. "Your blood."
"My blood; my blood. What the hell can't my blood do? All those tests, all the things we found out about those little red and white cells that make me so different. All those test samples. What's the next use we're going to discover for my blood? Why don't we just use it as fucking Windex while we're at it?"
"I don't like the sound of that," the headmaster commented softly. Reina gritted her fanged teeth.
"Wait a minute, though. You just said that blood tablets don't help him, but blood tablets are made from my blood. So what makes you think that'll work?"
"In blood tablets, your blood is diluted and mixed with other chemicals and substances in order to make the tablets effective," he explained, pointing to a capsule on his desk in illustration. "It's not a pure substance, so its potency decreases. In tablet form, it's still strong enough to temporarily stymie a natural vampire's thirst. But for a former human….let's just say that they need the stronger medicine."
"So my blood's medicine now, is it?"
Kaien brushed his long bangs out of his eyes. "A pureblood's poison is extremely powerful. When you were speaking earlier, you mentioned that Zero's presence seemed 'agitated' and 'red-hot.' That's because of the venom in him. Simple blood tablets are not strong enough to help him control his thirst."
Reina sighed, putting her head in her hands. "So what will happen when he drinks my blood?"
"It cannot cure his instability entirely….only the blood of the pureblood who bit him can do that. But, taken regularly, it can preserve his sanity and stop him from falling to level E. In a sense, it will suspend his descent indefinitely." Kaien Cross piped up hopefully, gazing at her across the desk. Reina glared at the papers in front of her.
"And there's no other option but this?"
"Technically….the blood of a pureblood would have the same effect. You are similar to the purebloods in some w- I didn't mean that, I take it back entirely!" The headmaster quickly backpedaled as Reina moved to stand up, her aura becoming so dark that she thought that even a human must be able to sense it. "What I meant to say was that it would be better if we used your blood. Purebloods are proud creatures- I can't think of one who would be willing to donate their prized blood to a lowly former human. Zero is at the bottom of the night world's social structure, you know. Even if we did find one, the act of drinking a pureblood's blood can have some….rather unfortunate side effects, which I would hate to subject Zero to. If it's you, there won't be any innate side effects, except for-"
"Except for-"
"Except for those which you might choose to invoke. And I know you wouldn't do that unless you were being physically attacked by him, Reina." The headmaster adjusted his glasses and smiled in her direction. "And if you donate your blood to Zero, he'll keep his sanity and won't begin to attack people indiscriminately, which would negate the need for you to do that in the first place. So it all works out!"
Reina did not quite share the headmaster's cheery view of matters. However, she lifted her head out of her hands and gazed toward the cabinet where the empty blood vials were kept. "So if I agree to this, how much more blood would you need from me, aside from what's already taken for the tablets?"
"Oh, I wouldn't be taking the blood for Zero at the same time as the blood for the tablets. Losing too much blood at once could be detrimental to your health. I estimate I would probably need about three to four quarts a month, or you could give more regularly in smaller amounts if you wanted."
Reina shrugged. "I regenerate in less than 24 hours. Whatever works. If I could ask, though…." She looked at the headmaster through apprehensive eyes. "How did everyone….react when they found out about my half-bloodedness and your plan?"
"Well….Yuki doesn't know everything-yet." Kaien Cross admitted as Reina raised her eyebrow skeptically. "I told her and Zero that you were a half-blood, then acted as though that were the extent of my revelations. After she left to go on patrol, I revealed the rest. So she still doesn't know about Zero. I know, I know, I shouldn't be lying to my dear little daughter!" he wailed, flailing around guiltily. "I just didn't want Yuki to exhaust herself worrying about Zero while we waited for you to return so the plan could move forward." For a moment, Reina felt slightly guilty herself, until she remembered that it had been him who had sprung the revelation of her identity upon her with absolutely no warning whatsoever. "Anyway, Zero stormed out soon after and has locked himself in his room. He's seeing no one, so I have no idea what he thinks about anything. Kaname-kun saw fit to inform me that the use of the blood of one such as yourself to sustain a former human would be 'highly irreverent and offensive to the nobles of the vampire community.'"
"I care what Kaname Kuran thinks about anything just as much as I care what the prime minister of Tajikistan thinks about my new shirt. Which is to say; not at all." Reina crossed her arms grumpily as the distracted headmaster gazed at the article of clothing in question.
"It has a rather nice print-"
"Focus!" she demanded loudly, standing up from the desk. "If this is going to get done, it needs to get done soon. It sounds like we barely have any time left."
"We don't," he affirmed, moving forward. "So, does this mean that you agree? You're all right with sustaining Zero?"
"I'm not 'all right' with anything that's going on here, but yes, I do agree to your plan if it's the only option we have that doesn't involve something terrible happening to somebody. Zero Kiryu is a victim of the night world and all its cruelty; he is not my enemy. Also, he's your son. Sort of." Reina folded her hands in front of her in stoic determination.
"I'm so glad!" The headmaster exclaimed with a huge smile, launching himself toward Reina and attempting to hug her. She smoothly stepped aside and he crashed into his desk, the slippers on his feet flying through the air. She might have smiled- just a tiny bit- at the ridiculous sight. "I'll definitely make it up to you! I'll put all my researching power into helping you with your endeavors!"
"We're friends," Reina reminded him, beginning to button up her waist-length red jacket. "You don't need to do me any favors. Also, I don't have any endeavors, unless you count ceasing my enrollment in the Night Class."
"You will as soon as I've found out what they are!" Kaien Cross declared cryptically, wagging a finger in her face. Reina rolled her eyes and picked up a piece of candy from the jar on his desk.
"Contact me as soon as Yuki is informed of the whole story. I want to keep tabs on who has information about me and what I'm doing. Also, let me know what Zero decides to do. I assume you'll be seeing him soon. I'm going home."
"You should really stop skipping class-"
"By the way," Reina rotated the butterscotch candy in between two of her clawed fingers, staring at it pensively. "The pureblood who bit Zero- who was it?"
Kaien looked up into her eyes, blue on brown. "Her name is Shizuka Hio. She was called the madly blooming princess. There are rumors that she is mad, and no one knows of her current whereabouts. If you want to know more about her, you should ask Kaname."
"I'm not asking that pretty boy anything." Reina declared with a scornful toss of her head. "But still….Shizuka Hio, hmmm? I wonder what she did it for…. Ah, well. I don't imagine I'll ever meet her, seeing as I don't run in the vampire circles of the underground. But if I ever do come across her, I'll be sure to give the presumptuous little princess a scratch to remember me by…." The fingers of Reina's hand suddenly spiked up into metallic spires, impaling the butterscotch sweet straight through the center. Dropping her fangs out of their sheaths, she carelessly bit down on the candy and pulled it off of her claw and into her mouth. She looked back and nodded respectfully as she turned toward the door. "Good night, Headmaster."