Relax guys! I am not a fan of Major character death, let alone Takuma. Believe it or not, he is my favorite after KaZe. Although some of them will reach a near death situation just like takuma here.
WARNING: This chapter will contain violence, a bit of gory stuff maybe(I tried to make it as mild as possible and did not bother about being too graphic about it for the sake of the sensitive souls reading it)
Thank you as always for the awesome reviews and support. I am officially on vacation from my studies. With only my part time to worry about, I will be having more time to write and share with you, awesome readers ;)
∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞ continuation ∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞
"This is a sick joke, right?" Kaname looked at Zero with eyes filled with disbelief, a plea to confirm his words shone right through them that Zero could not grant.
Zero felt helpless under his gaze, his lips moved in attempt to make a sound, but were unable to. He jolted when Kaito's cursing turned louder. Ichiru rejoined them after he got off the phone saying something about the others joining soon, but nothing registered in anyone's brain.
Zero escaped Kaname's gaze for it to land on Kaito who was still digging with his bare hands. His heart ached more for his friend. He took a shaky breath as he kneeled by his side.
"Kaito stop!" he held the dirty hands to keep them still.
"No!" Kaito pushed his away, resuming the exhumation of whatever was buried six feet under, determined to prove that it was anything but his lover, "He is alive, if he is here, he has to be alive DAMNIT!"
"He can't be! Use your sense!" Zero screamed in frustration, it was bad enough that they might have lost an important friend and lover, the fact that it happened because Takuma was cleaning up his and Kaname's mess made it more suffocating, "If he is there, wouldn't we have sensed him?" he pleaded, glancing at the pureblood who was still frozen in shock.
"What should I do then? TELL ME!" Kaito finally looked at the silver hunter with a face twisted in pain and anger, "Just sit and do nothing while we wait for some useless shit to find nothing while he might be dying somewhere else?"
Zero swallowed as he helped the finally willing hazel-eyed hunter up. He shared his opinion, but still stood with his own words. If Takuma were buried alive, the least possible would be for them to sense his presence, even if it was faint.
"Listen…" He spoke softly as he pulled him away from the grave, "I can imagine how you are feeling, but I can't have you lose it now, not yet, not until we get to the bottom of it. I will not say that he is…" He paused, not wanting to say the word, "Unless we ruled out all other possibilities. Now… We go back to the association and look over the clues… We are certain about the deadline, so there must be something we missed." Zero felt as if he was calming himself instead of the distressed friend he was guiding. He gave an instructing glance to Isaya Shouto who was watching from the sideline, urging him to deal with Kaname. With a nod, the light-haired pureblood approached the brunet.
Isaya tried to place a comforting hand on Kaname's shoulder but the enraged aura of the pureblood burned him like fire. Kaname stood there, staring at the tombstone.
There was brief moment of silence where Hanabusa remained behind Kaname, unable to look at the words carved in the tombstone anymore. He got over the shock already and Zero's words gave him a bit of hope when he realized that there might be a chance that this was a sick joke as Kaname said. He figured that it will all clear out once the forensics reached with the warrant to unravel whatever was buried underneath. He just wished they would come faster than the light itself.
Kaname looked up the sky while listening to Zero's whispering thanks to his enhanced hearing. His gaze was turning blank as he attempted to escape the harsh reality facing him, the possibility of losing a dear friend because of his own foolishness.
"We are certain about the deadline, so there must be something we missed."
The words echoed in his dazed brain in time with the fleeting light of the coming dawn.
Red brown eyes widened suddenly and traced back down to the grave, "We are missing something." He mumbled.
"Pardon?" Hanabusa took a step closer to hear him better.
"Did you say something?" Zero asked as he got closer to them in time with Isaya who was curious about what Kaname had to say.
A sudden shriek resonated when Hanabusa was propelled backwards, slamming against Isaya while Zero had to leap few steps back as Kaname unleashed his powers.
Zero felt the tattoo on his shoulder blade burning slightly.
"Kuran! What the fuck are you doing?" He screamed while shielding his eyes from the dusty wind rising.
"What must be done?" Kaname answered calmly as he raised both hands with palms facing downwards. The ground shook suddenly. Kaito and Ichiru were caught off guard and ended up falling to their knees. Aido and Isaya did not bother standing up, but remained frozen in shock instead.
Zero, on the other hand, had to fight the stronger wind in order to get closer to the enraged pureblood. By the time he made it through the short distance, the fresh soil of the grave splattered across the plane as if dynamite exploded underneath it. Zero had to shield his eyes again as dirt smacked him right in the face.
Everything suddenly went still right after the explosion. Having shielded their eyes, they slowly pulled their arms away to see the damage of Kaname's wrath only for horrified gasps to come forth.
All eyes bulged out at the sight of a coffin floating midair, apparently dug out by the pureblood. Kaname navigated with his hands until it reached the ground right next to him. He extended a hand with the intention of opening the casket. However, the action was repelled by lightning spark.
Kaname took a couple of steps back and let his aura stroke the air around the dreaded object. Similar sparks erupted and the air shifted around it once again.
Red brown eyes looked around until they met the stunned amethyst orbs that they were looking for.
"We were missing something." Kaname repeated the same words, more eloquently this time.
Zero looked as if he was gasping for air when he stood on shaky legs. He dusted his clothes and looked at the coffin, his lips finally moving to explain the words of the pureblood, "An illusionary spell."
"Meaning?" Hanabusa asked,
"That there is something in there that they do not want us to reveal." Kaito grunted as he hurried to the coffin, "Unbind!" His hand glowed against it only for a gust of wind to send him flying away.
"Are you all right?" Ichiru ran to his side to help him up, "What happened?"
"It is more than one." Zero whispered. "Wait, No!" He screamed in time before Kaname launched a ball of concentrated energy toward the object, "If… by any chance, Ichijou is inside, that will make the spell backfire and harm him."
"What do you mean?" Kaname all but growled, "What makes you think it is the specific spell you are thinking about?"
"It is." Zero affirmed confidently, "I don't know why or how but I know it is that spell. For all we know, we might be staring at him through the illusion making him look like a coffin."
"Nii-san… If the unbinding did not work, it means that it is either a complex one or at least two spells weaved around." Ichiru noted.
Zero nodded with a grim look on his face. He walked in circles around the coffin, observing the distorted air around it.
"We don't have the time of the day here." Kaito interrupted the silence, "This might be a wild goose chase. A way to stall us, the dawn is closing in already."
Ichiru shared Kaito's opinion, but he could not help the nagging feeling telling him that Zero was on the right path. His instinct screamed at him that he should know the answer to the riddle.
Dawn!
"Nii-san… The Dawn… beginning of a new day."
Zero looked quizzically at his twin, not really seeing what Ichiru meant.
"I can't be too sure, but there was something about switching from day to night and a cloaking spell that dad used before. Remember?" Ichiru tried to grasp at the faint strings of his childhood memories.
Lighter amethyst eyes widened in recognition, "You mean when he would hide an object and we have to find it without using the tracing spell."
"Yes! That is it."
"Hello? Can anybody let us in?" Kaito protested.
Zero clenched his fist, trying his best to remember while explaining, "It is some sort of hunter magic, a slightly complex one. Our father was eager about teaching us this particular spell by scattering objects and animals around the house. Anything that has aura or could make a sound, we then have to undo the cloaking spell in order to find them. The only catch about it is that it has to be undone at the moment of transition between day and night or vice-versa. Otherwise, whatever was cloaked would vanish into oblivion." He explained as he looked up the sky, noticing the red color turning to golden by the second.
"Ichiru! Do you remember it?" Zero extended a hand for Ichiru to hold it as soon as he was by his side.
At the count of three, they chanted at the same time.
"By the power of the moon and the sun, as this night merge into the day, we break the spell, cast it away. Let the dream come to an end, let the unseen reveal itself."
As they recited the words, everyone around felt the air getting colder and the field around the coffin positively glowing before it turned mirror-like and shatter. Nothing changed apart from the casket suddenly flung open by itself.
"Oh God!" Zero gasped, wheezing suddenly as his fangs erected and his eyes morphed red. Aido and Kaname had similar reactions.
Understanding what was happening, Kaito jumped to the open coffin.
Ichiru's steps slowed down when he saw his face paling, as if every drop of blood left it. He gathered his courage when Isaya patted his shoulder.
"He is alive!" Kaito whispered as he kneeled next to the open box, his shaky hand touching the cold cheek of his lover lying inside with eyes wide open and terrified.
The words gave the vampires the extra courage to get closer, only for Kaname's distress to increase when he caught the sight of his friend.
Upon witnessing what Kaito meant, Ichiru did what he thought best, update the president about what happened.
"What should we do?" Zero asked, grateful to make a coherent sentence while he looked at the noble vampire daggered into the coffin.
"Kaname-sama don't!" Aido screamed at the pureblood who was about to take out the dagger lodged in Takuma's throat. He was grateful for Kaito who held his wrist in time.
The pureblood gave a menacing glare towards the hunter who ignored him in favor of holding the bloodied finger of his lover's uncut hand.
"Look," Aido pointed to the daggers stabbed in his wrist, both shoulders, ankles and finally in his sternum. It pained him to see Takuma conscious but unable to form a sound due to the blade cutting through his vocal cords "If one of them is a hunter blade…"
"He might bleed to death." Zero whispered, "He is already losing so much. We can't afford to speed-"
"Are you telling me to sit here and watch?" Kaname hissed, unable to look at the frightened emerald eyes staring shakily at the sky. His heart clenched when Takuma seemed to gurgle on his own blood in attempt to say something.
"I called the association. A medical team is on its way, with blood supply." Ichiru waved his phone while bending over to look into Takuma's eyes, "Everything will be okay! You are safe now."
"You will have to help move him to the ambulance." Kaito's raspy voice startled them; his eyes glanced up to Kaname and back on his lover.
Zero knew that look. For anyone else, it would be that of defeat or helplessness, but the silver hunter knew better. In hazel eyes, he saw promises of pain and agony for whoever caused his lover so much pain.
"Understood. For now, this will have to do." Kaname nodded and placed a hand on Takuma's forehead to make him drift into unconsciousness. He winced at the sight of the inner lining of the coffin drenched in the crimson liquid.
Aido proceeded to freeze the cut arm in order to stop the major source of the bleeding.
Thankfully, the medical squad did not take long since Yagari had them on standby the minute they set off to look for Takuma.
They broke the edges of the box and tried to move the injured vampire as carefully as possible, but the multiple wounds stirred with every move to the point of waking him for the induced slumber. They finally sedated him and allowed Kaname to use his power to float him over to the ambulance. Once they made sure that he was unconscious again, they proceeded to take out one dagger at a time to stitch each wound without losing too much blood.
The blood bags they brought were not enough to compensate the loss. Kaname did not waste a heartbeat before ordering a direct blood transfusion from him and Isaya. The action managed to stabilize the condition of the sedated vampire until they reached the hospital. Major intervention was required for the severed limb and the two daggers stabbed in his throat and chest.
Ichiru decided to drive the car following the ambulance since he seemed to be the calmest out of all of them. Kaname had a blank stare, sitting in the passenger seat while Zero kept a keen eye on Kaito in the rear seats. Every once in a while, Ichiru would glance at the hazel eyed hunter who kept staring at his bloodied hands all the way until they reached their destination.
In the other car, Aido took on the driving duty with Isaya Shouto by his side. He was surprised when the pureblood dismissed the other vampire who followed him like a shadow at all times.
"Aido-kun… You know how active Yuki had been with the ladies of the vampire society lately. Especially after Ai-chan was born." Isaya spoke softly.
"Yes. It is hard to miss." Hanabusa confirmed.
"Due to the higher nobles warming up to her, she had been getting requests to act as a matchmaker."
Hanabusa all but snorted at the idea of the pureblood brunette facing such situation. He paused for a second, "Wait… For whom?" As far as he was concerned, news of Kaname being single were not spreading yet and most nobles of the inner circle are already publicly committed.
"Ichijou-kun." Isaya blurted the words that had Aido dumbfounded, of course, ugh!
"She would come back with a sour look on her face whenever she is confronted with a desperate woman seeking her help. Last time I asked her, she refused to tell me the reason as to why she never forwarded those proposals to the person in question." The pureblood sighed in defeat before adding, "But I guess the reason for that is that she had been aware of his involvement with Takamiya-kun all along."
Hanabusa clenched the steering wheel, but kept quiet.
"I can take your silence as a confirmation of my assumption. Aido-kun, I hope that you remember the founding rules of the new association." Isaya taunted.
Electric blue eyes widened, he hesitated to speak but chose to keep quiet again.
"haaah… Listen, All I am asking is a yes or a no. Are they together?" The pureblood was starting to lose his patience.
Aido finally pulled over to the side of the road and took a deep breath, "With all due respect, Shouto-sama, I do not see how it would be any of your business." He finally snapped.
"It would be if word reached the ear of the council of elders who are waiting for a slip like this to declare mutiny. What is worse than that would be the Ichijou clan catching wind of this." The usually laid-back pureblood sounded almost threatening.
Hanabusa swallowed a lump forming in his throat. He understood what Isaya meant. He had the same conversation with the injured vampire not long ago. Hanabusa had to convince Takuma against coming out about his relationship with Kaito until he secured his standing as the leader of the Ichijou group.
As the top family amongst the noble class, it was no secret that the Ichijou clan would stop at nothing to preserve their fame and glory. It would not be unusual for a leader to die mysteriously after showing signs of defiance and rebel against the family's expectations. Whatever power and influence Takuma held currently was only due to the fact that he killed his grandfather, which instilled fear of the extent of his power as well as his close ties with the pureblood king. Unless he produced an heir sometime soon, his clansmen would always be on the lookout to stab him in the back. He would not be surprised to discover that they might be the masterminds behind today's incident.
As for the council of elders, Hanabusa always saw them as the last vestige of the depraved system that Kaname abolished during Rido's battle. The group of useless retired head of families would not exist if not to quell the rise of vampires looking to overthrow the peace treaty. Despite proving, that Yuki was pregnant with Kaname's child, gossips and rumors still spread about Zero being the father in order to make the fact that Yuki was representing the vampire world as their queen void. They did not believe in both races working side by side when there was so much history between the top members. It was only when the rumors reached the point of accusing Zero of using her as a puppet to control her people that they had to compromise by implementing an oath to prevent further suspicions.
An oath stating that in order to insure the independence of choices and better cooperation, it would be forbidden for the top figures of the new association to be involved intimately. A rule that made it possible for hunters and vampires to be together so long as they are not members of the top brass of the association.
"Shouto-sama, I understand your concern. However, we have everything under control; please do not worry about it." The younger vampire stated, when it comes to Ichijou-san at least.
"I hope so."
"Although… If I may express my thoughts about that specific clause?"
"Go ahead."
"I understand the gravity of the situation should that clause be broken, but I do not think that it applies to those two." Aido explained.
"How so?" Isaya asked curiously.
"It clearly states the forbidding of a liaison between the top members of each race. However, Takamiya-san is the only official member out of the two. What is more, his official status is that of a foot soldier, not a board member like Zero. The only reason he is summoned to important meetings would be that he is the trusted disciple of the president. Otherwise, he does not have the ultimate pass that a handful of you enjoy inside the association."
Isaya nodded, willing the smile away from his lips.
"As for Ichijou-san, he is legally Kaname-sama's personal assistant. He has no power to make any decision pertaining to the association without the king's consent. That would make him no more than a messenger who acts when the king cannot be present physically. Thus, they would be considered in the same position as Ichiru and myself in regard of our relationship. Therefore, if we are to be acknowledged and celebrated while they are frowned upon, I am afraid that we are pointing out a major flaw of judgement here, no offense intended."
"None taken!" Isaya finally smiled as he patted on the shoulder of the tense vampire who relaxed almost immediately. "Nice argument you have there. Yours or your cousin's?"
Aido's shoulder slumped, "his."
After realizing their involvement, Hanabusa consulted with Kain on the legal repercussion of such a relationship. He was surprised to know that Senri discussed the very same point a while ago as well as way of looking out for his benefactor.
"Well… As long as he keeps it away from the prying eyes of the sly foxes he has in his clan, I have nothing to worry about." Isaya stated flatly.
Aido glanced sideway at the pureblood as he drove away once again. He could not help but feel cheated somehow. Isaya Shouto may have been a recluse for so many years, only caring about his books and family, but there was no denying that he was once a shrewd politician who stood by the side of Haruka Kuran. He heard rumors about how skillful he was in interrogating without using his powers of reading minds. Experiencing it firsthand sent quite the chill down Hanabusa's spine.
However, he was grateful for it because they acquired one more ally to clear away any rising suspicion when it comes to the clumsy couple.
"Well… I already took care of erasing the memory of my bodyguard about earlier. Takamiya-kun's reaction by the grave was quite the giveaway."
See! He is the real deal. If you are going to settle it by keeping quiet, why bother cornering the hell out of me, Geez! Aido whined internally, Why do I always have to doge the bullet for their clumsiness!
∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞ At the hospital ∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞
The final diagnosis revealed that all daggers used were of hunter origin. The most frightening part was that the one stabbed in his sternum managed to graze his heart, the doctor was paling as he explained the gravity of the situation had that dagger moved a couple of millimeters to the side.
Once out of surgery, They were finally allowed to see the unconscious patient who was covered in bandages from neck to toe. Zero hated the fact that he had to drag Kaito out after visiting hours were over because only family members were allowed to stay, alas, the hateful uncle who had to rub it in their faces about how they almost lost him due to their incompetence.
They were told that Takuma would be kept under constant surveillance because he succumbed to a high amount of hunter poison that will take time to clear out of his system, even with the transfusion from Kaname and Isaya.
∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞ Later that day at Cross's house ∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞
"Un-fucking-believable!" Kaito growled out his fury as he slammed against every wall and window of the house.
"Pipe down, would you?" Zero hissed at him, "I am trying to concentrate here."
"Like you were for an hour now, I see that it got us quite far. What was that bastard thinking anyways?" The hazel-eyed hunter glared at the spell bound door preventing them from leaving the house.
"Well, he would not have done it if someone did not sneak the idea into his head." The miffed silver hunter glared at his twin while Ichiru hugged a pillow, sulking in the corner of the sofa.
"Hana would not have suggested putting you guys on house arrest if you did not burst into the intelligence department and tried to take over to hack and find that bloody director of the publishing house." Ichiru snapped back. It was bad enough that Kaito defied Yagari's order to be on standby, he did not waste time to antagonize the intelligence department and pull Zero into the squabble as well. I swear! These two are as hot headed as two teenagers who are barely into puberty! Why do I always have to be sucked into their mess?
"Can't you do something?" Kaito snapped at Zero.
"Can't you see that I am fucking trying? I would like to see you breaking a barrier set up by a pureblood and two powerful hunters." Zero challenged him. Kaname was one thing, but having Yagari and Cross in cahoots made the task worse for him.
"For heaven's sake, would you two calm down already? You can get on it whenever they free you." Ichiru whined.
"When will that be?" Kaito flailed his arms, "When the only lead we might have on the assailants flee the country? They are following the stupid protocol of collecting more pointless evidence and witnesses because they could not find the bloodsucker when we can easily hack into the security cameras and cellphones signal to pinpoint the little shit."
"And nii-san elegantly skipped over the fact that we need an explicit permission for him to exhibit his not so legitimate talent if we do not want to be pursued by the freaking government itself. Now, what seems better? Following a protocol and finding something useful, or skip over and get stuck in jail." Ichiru analyzed sarcastically.
"I hate it when he has a point." Zero groaned. He did let the blood get to his head, especially when provoked by the old Ichijou back at the hospital, to the point of seeing black.
After brief minutes of peaceful silence, Ichiru glanced at the two brooding hunters and sighed in exasperation.
"What did I do to be stuck here with you? I wonder." Ichiru face-palmed himself.
"Because they know you will find a way to get us out." Zero answered while rolling his eyes.
"That might be true. Are we calm enough to use our brain now?" Ichiru tested.
"What's the point?" Kaito shrugged. "I am going to rest until they come and remove the barrier. I will think of what to do after that."
"I guess I will do just that." Zero stood from his seat, stretching his sore back, "I wish I had some comfy clothes here, I am sure that those left here will not fit anymore." He complained as he rubbed his belly under the baggy shirt.
"You can call Gin and have him bring some over." Ichiru pointed.
"How is he going to get in, let alone bring clothes inside?" Zero rolled his eyes at the uncredulous suggestion, "Besides, I am sure that he has his hands full with Keiichi. His parents are out of the country in case you forgot."
"Worth the shot if it is a one way spell." Ichiru smirked.
"What?" Kaito quirked an eyebrow.
"Think about it. They only needed to trap us inside. No one on campus is aware that we are even here. I would have suggested calling Yuki-chan, but she left with the girls shortly after making sure that Ichijou-sempai was safe. It might why they trapped me with you despite the fact that I was against your reckless behavior, because they cannot risk me breaking the barrier by coming over at random. It might be a combined one, but it was hasty and they were not in their best shape to begin with. " Ichiru barely finished his explanation before Zero pulled out his phone and called Gin.
Fifteen minutes later, the sound of an engine sent a sense of anticipation through the three 'prisoners'.
Gin knocked at the door only to be confused when he could not open it since Zero clearly stated that he could.
"Oh shoot! That old man locked us in and forgot to leave the key." Ichiru gasped innocently.
"How am I supposed to get it then?" Gin asked, unaware of the plot he had been manipulated into.
"Can you get in through the window?" Zero suggested.
"You will have to hold Keiichi. He is sound asleep."
"Will do." The silver hunter perked as he approached the only window left open through which he could not exit earlier.
As soon as Gin passed Keiichi through its threshold, a ripple of faint glow startled him into backing away a couple of steps. "What the heck was that?"
Kaito shoved a hand out of the window and grinned, "That, my dear friend, would be our way out. Start the car! We are leaving!"
They did not waste time leaving with the confused older teacher who regretted his actions as soon as they filled him in on what happened. However, three against one would be a losing battle if he insisted on taking them back.
What they planned to execute in the association ended up being carried out at Zero's office in Gin's house with his innovative equipment.
One hour later, they pinpointed the location of their target and set off for the hunt, gears strapped and weapons loaded.
Ichiru's nose crinkled at the sight of the fluorescent banner of a strip club.
"Quite the location for a hideout." He stated flatly.
"Are you sure that he is here?" Kaito looked at Zero who was checking his phone.
"Only one way to find out." Zero finally met his eyes while removing the obvious artillery strapped around his thighs, boots and hips.
"What are you doing?" Ichiru asked cautiously.
"What does it look like?"
"You can't be serious. You do know that it is a vampire lair inside, don't you?" Kaito protested with a baffled expression when he caught the drift of his fellow hunter.
"Exactly. Seeing that your face is quite well known around these kind of places, and Ichiru would not be able to go in unnoticed with his samurai sword." Zero pointed sarcastically at their weaponry, "That will leave me to infiltrate and bring that bastard out of there for some 'interrogation'" He waved bloody rose before chaining it and tucking it in the small of his back.
"If my face is well known around here, yours is known everywhere." Kaito snapped
"Not if I do not expose it." Zero pulled up the hood of his shirt to cover his silver hair and cracked his neck as he shut his eyes before opening them to startle his brother and friend with ruby red glowing eye looking at them.
"Holy-" Ichiru gasped, "how?"
"I just have to think of ripping the bastard's throat along other unpleasant thoughts and channel my anger. I have been practicing my control over it for years if you did not notice." Zero grinned, showing his pointy fangs almost proudly. It was not easy to come to term with his vampire side, but once he did, Zero made sure to have full control over it and make use of its benefits.
"We need a signal in case things get out of hand." Ichiru stated as he handed the sedating syringe to his brother.
"A gunshot should be obvious." Zero shrugged, "Get the car close to the back door. I will either lure him to the restroom or bust him in the office if he is the owner of this place."
"How are you planning on luring him anyways?" Kaito was still confused about that part.
"By tapping into every vampire weakness." Zero smirked.
"Be careful." Ichiru said his last word, not wanting to elaborate on the idea that his brother will take advantage of the fact that his blood became more appealing due to the pregnancy and that he will be using it as the bait.
As expected from the silver hunter, it did not take him more than twenty minutes to throw the limp body of their target through the window of the restrooms. The three were grateful that they did not have to engage in bloody fights that they would have to report later.
"That was… anticlimactic." Kaito huffed as he strapped the restraining chains over the unconscious vampire.
"Who cares? Now, all that is left will be to squeeze any information from that head." Zero looked over his shoulder from the passenger seat to meet the less dim hazel eyes.
"That might have to wait." Ichiru whispered warily as he looked at the rearview mirror.
Kaito looked back to see three black cars tailing them.
"We did not expect it to be that easy in the first place." Zero stated as he checked his weapon in time with Kaito while Ichiru pushed the button to retract the roof of the Jeep.
After gunning at each other for a couple of minutes, two cars collided when Kaito hit the tire of one. With two down, they were left with the last one. "Persistent piece of shit." Ichiru swore as he took a sharp turn and headed for the next intersection. He cursed more when he barely dodged an incoming civilian car. Despite the late hours and the empty roads, the younger twin still felt the pressure of the chase.
*Sharp sound of brakes and skidding*
"What the fuck was that for?" Zero growled at his twin when his back hit the front glass painfully.
"That." Ichiru pointed while reaching for his sword, his face hardening by the minute.
"Fuck!" Kaito gasped and Zero groaned when they realized what Ichiru meant.
"So much for anticlimactic now is it?" Ichiru whispered as he jumped out of the car to join them in front of it. The sound of a car stopping behind theirs did not waver their gaze from the horde of vampires cluttering the intersection behind the spiky belt they set up to make sure that the hunters do not proceed any further had Ichiru not notice them in time.
It was in a fraction of a second before the fight sparked. Despite being outnumbered, Zero and Kaito were enough to annihilate most of the attackers. There was a mix of level E, Level C working in coordination. Ichiru prevented the retrieval of their hostage by taking down those who managed to go past his brother and friend.
It was going well until three level B nobles joined the battle, making the task even harder.
"Quite refreshing to see you arrogant pricks coming down to save a level C. I am impressed." Zero provoked them while thwarting their attacks easily with the vines of his gun.
"Save your breath hunter." One of them hissed, "It is not much of saving than erasing, him and you."
"I see. That should be fun." Kaito spun his spear and sent it in direction of the heart. Sadly, the vampire dodged and smirked at the hunter, only for it to fade when he saw the victorious look on Kaito's face.
"Ugh!" His eyes widened when the sharp blade pierced through him from behind and flew back to Kaito's hand.
"This baby will always make sure to come back to me, you just happened to be on its way. How unlucky for you!" The hazel-eyed hunter mocked him while the vampire blew to dust.
Ichiru noticed that the fight was ending with minor injuries on their side. He allowed himself to relax against the hood of the car while his brother took on the last two vampires.
"Those two make quite the amazing combo. They are in perfect sync in protecting each other's back." A voice reached Ichiru's ear in time with an arm draped on his shoulder that startled him.
Cold!
The younger twin turned his head slowly, wary of the man putting his weight on his shoulder and acting casual in the middle of a battle. Wary of the chilling sensation that the slightly cold arm gave him through the layers of clothes. The summer season was closing in and the air should not be getting as cold as he was feeling by the minute.
"Hello!" Amethyst eyes finally met light blue ones. Blue eyes that looked anything but human, eyes that reflected no soul in them.
Ichiru's mouth gaped like a fish, wanting to alert his brother, but the weight of the man's presences seemed to crush him while standing on his two feet. What shocked him even more was the familiarity.
The vampire with ice-wielding power responsible for the killings might be a vampire from my bloodline, or even its progenitor for all we know.
The observations of his lover suddenly surged in the back of his mind. A violent shiver ran through his spine at the thought. "You can never imagine how right you were," He whispered to no one as his eyes took in the vampire who finally straightened up and was taking off lint from his immaculate suit. A vampire who was the spitting image of his lover except for slightly graying hair adorning his golden locks and the lack of warmth in his eyes and his very existence.
"ICHIRU! Get away from there!" Kaito's voice echoed slowly through his head just like the sigh of his spear flying toward the vampire along with a bullet from Bloody Rose. His eyes widened more when an Ice wall erected from nowhere and blocked the attack so easily, to the point of bending the spear and squishing the bullet.
"How rude to interrupt when we still did not finish the introduction." a cold smile traced his lips.
"You" Kaito growled when he put the pieces together.
"Kaito be careful!" Zero whispered after he moved swiftly in time with the attack to retrieve his stunned brother. He was just as shocked from the eerie resemblance with Aido, but he could not be fooled, not with the powerful aura emanating from the calm vampire, an aura rivaling that of one pureblood king, the aura of a powerful pureblooded vampire. "He is a pureblood." Zero finally voiced his concern. He knew that Kaito sensed his strength, but hunters are not as sharp as vampires are when it comes to sensing the rank of their opponent without engaging in an actual battle.
"Pureblood? Oh my~ you insult me. I am beyond what you ever could imagine, young? hunter? vampire? or should I just say… abomination… I find it hard to believe that something like you could be allowed to exist. Times sure has changed… a lot." The ice-wielder took graceful step towards them. His shoes clacking against the pavement was the only sound resonating in the stillness of the night. "Which leaves me conflicted on whether I should kill you like those pesky hunters or… maybe recruit you?"
"Or you can shove it?" Zero tilted his head in mockery and raised his gun in time to intercept the attack of the expressionless vampire. Kaito moved in time to shield Ichiru who held no firearm and proceeded to shoot the ice arrows coming their way. They winced as some stray shots grazed their skin.
"Mmmm… What a fragrance! How long has it been that anything like it crossed my senses, I wonder?" The vampire sniffed the air, leading to Zero stiffening when he realized that it was the smell of his blood.
With a glance over his shoulder, he gave the retreating sign that Kaito nodded to confirm. No matter how strong they might be together, taking on a vampire as strong as this one after a rough battle would be plain suicide.
Just as they were about to bolt and jump into the car a distance away from the still moving vampire, the three of them found their legs glued to the floor which was covered in ice in the blink of an eye.
"Shit!" Zero cursed and unleashed the vines of his gun in hope of warding off the vampire. He regretted refusing Gin's offer of drinking from him when he felt his reflexes slowing down. Things has been so hectic for the past few days that he neglected his daily intake.
"What's wrong, boy? Getting tired already?" The vampire mocked as he materialized an ice sword that cut through the vines before they could put a single scratch on him.
"Shut the fuck up, stupid relic." Zero snapped.
"I see that some discipline is in order." The blue eyes twinkled with something that sent cold raw fear through the trapped trio. A fear that materialized in the form of a giant hammer hovering over them. "You see…" The ice-wielder sighed, "It is not really my modus operandi to just take out the heart and keep it in an ice box. Haaa… orders are orders, I am sure that you can relate to that as well. But!" he pointed a finger as if someone was about to interrupt him. Whereas, all three captive were concerned about the conjured object hovering over them while the vampire's hands were free to express his theory, "That is too easy. I am more of a decapitating, smashing and well… All that gory stuff that let me savor the sight of the life dimming away from my victim's eyes. That is exactly why…" he finally reached a close distance from Zero, "I had to go out on a prowl after being denied that pleasure with my last victim." his voice showed a hint of frustration through the shaky breath, "little did I expect to find someone carrying their stench this strongly." He commented as he sniffed Kaito who was fully frozen by now except for his head. "I should assume that you are the one who saved him, or found him dead." The hazel-eyed hunter did not waste the chance to spit on the face close to his.
"AAAAGH!" Kaito screamed in pain, alerting Zero who was horrified to see the ice actually contracting around Kaito's body, compressing it.
A sudden ripple in the air alerted the ice-wielder who turned around to see the glowing red eyes of the silver hunter.
He smirked, "That is more like it, and it would be boring if none of you put up a fight."
"Nii-san, don't." Ichiru whispered from his own confine. The three of them were helpless as long as they were trapped in the ice who seemed to have a life of its own. Ichiru was in more panic then he let on, especially when he realized what exactly that they were dealing with. A firstborn. This is bad.
It was the perfect explanation for all precedent events. The current display of power proved it along with the way that the ice-wielder spoke and carried himself.
"Oh right! I almost forgot!" He clicked his tongue and shook his head while heading to the car. Without lifting a finger, he had the hostage vampire floating in the air before slicing him in half with an ice disk. "Perfect." He watched as the ashes scattered to the floor.
A sudden scream from Zero startled all of them, especially when the floor shook and cracks showed from the ice trapping him. The jaw of the ice-wielder dropped uncharacteristically when the silver hunter freed himself and launched another attack. This time the vines managed to pierce through the vampire and started sucking on his blood.
Zero's eyes were glowing red and his fangs elongated as he fought the pull of the powerful blood that his gun was drawing from the enemy and into his body, it only happened when Bloody Rose gets saturated from the absorbed power and pass the rest on to its master instead of absorbing from Zero.
"I guess recruiting an insolent child appears to be out of question." The blue eyes morphed red and a hand rose, palm facing upwards as the air twirled around it to form another sharp round disk.
Kaito and Ichiru could not utter a word as they became fully covered in ice. They could only watch in horror as the disk flew towards Zero's midsection and was about to slice through his pregnant belly.
Everything happened in slow motion to the point that it seemed like a dream. Zero's eyes followed the disk and called back the vines to intercept it, hoping that it was not too late.
The enemy gloated at the prospective of what was about to happen, especially when the vines left him.
Suddenly, he felt the blood running through his veins heating up, as if lit ablaze like the lava of an erupting volcano. He found himself gasping for air while falling to his knees.
The second his concentration shifted to whatever was eating him up from the inside, all ice shattered and disappeared, along with the disk that barely managed to graze Zero's arm after the hunter deflected his trajectory in the nick of time.
All of them seemed confused, except for Zero who guessed what was happening when the tattoo on his shoulder blade alerted him in time with Kaname's approaching aura.
It was not long before the brown haired pureblood materialized in the middle of the fighting area with his back facing the hunters.
"Release." Zero whispered the words that made a faint glow around the brunet.
"Thank you." Kaname whispered when he felt the squeezing sensation around his heart fading after Zero revoked the seal to allow him his full potential.
"Oh! My liege!" Zero frowned at the word escaping the gasping enemy who seemed to choke on the invisible hold Kaname had over his neck, "It is an honor to finally meet you again after so long."
"What the fuck is he talking about?" The hunter snapped
"I am as confused as you are." Kaname bit back, having hard time controlling the powerful individual who was fighting against his restrain.
"We have come to take you back to where you truly belong; your queen would be delighted to see you. This humble servant lives to see the curse they put on you broken, my liege. I would be honored if you left me with the menial task of disposing this garbage." Kaname was growing impatient with the gibberish.
"Who are you?" he finally asked.
"Your humble servant."
"I recall no such a thing." Kaname retorted.
The enemy pressed his lips, "That is because they made sure that you don't."
The words threw him off-guard for a second, an action he regretted when the ice-wielder was free from his kinetic hold. "I would hate to use force, but I would not live with the shame of allowing them to take you back now that I have found you, alive and well." He hissed as he unleashed his own power.
Following Zero's instruction, Kaito took Ichiru to the car and drove away from the scene while the two powerful vampires engaged in a vicious battle under the observant eye of the hunter.
"Kuran! We need him alive!" He screamed to remind the pureblood of the fact that the enemy was more than one individual. He finally found himself in a favorable position behind the ice-wielder and took the moment of confusion to trap him in vines once again.
This time however, the vampire was ready for him, "Too bad! I need you dead!" he sneered in time with the ice spikes that erected from the broken pavement, heading straight to the horrified hunter.
"ZERO!" Kaname screamed in terror from the other side and instantly blasted the enemy to stop the onslaught that would inevitably kill his beloved otherwise.
A long moment of silence stretched, disrupted only by the ragged breath of the two men standing a distance away from each other. They stared at the pile of crystal powder, remains of the defeated enemy.
"What the fuck did you do that for?" Zero hissed.
"He was about to kill you." Kaname sighed the answer, still getting over the shock of almost losing the hunter.
"I could have handled myself." Zero insisted.
"Pray tell how?" Kaname's eyes met the incensed hunter.
"I told you to keep him alive. We had one suspect in custody that he killed in cold blood, and I was trying to get him alive because he might be the first hope of catching the elusive enemy." Zero grumbled.
"He is not alone; there will be more like him to come."
"Yeah! Thanks for stating the obvious," Zero snorted sarcastically, "Just when we made one step forward, we have to leap backward and fall on our asses, empty handed. Thanks to you."
"I was saving your life in case you failed to notice."
"Well… You made the wrong choice. Has it ever occurred to you that I could take care of myself while you contained the shitty bastard?" Zero snapped while using the discarded shirt over the ashes of the publishing director to wipe off the blood from his closing wound.
"I did what I thought was right." Kaname defended himself while shortening the distance between them.
"What would be right might have been to send me flying away and neutralize him, knock him unconscious, paralyzing him. I thought you were powerful enough to do any of those things, but no~ you chose to turn him into some fucking useless sparkly powder." Zero growled.
He startled when Kaname suddenly flung his arm around him and held him close. The smell of blood that followed alerted him more than he ever wanted.
Amethyst eyes landed on a blade embedded in Kaname's shoulder. He did not waste time to pull it out and untie the paper stuck to its handle.
"Don't bother chasing the wind for now. There will be a next time." He read them aloud while Kaname sensed for any presence, finding none. "Great! The joke is on us now."
The hunter gasped when Kaname grabbed him by the collar, anger seeping from his every pore, "Enough! You want to complain, fine. However, do so when you did what you could do and got sabotaged in the end. In this situation, you have no right to blame me for saving you. In fact, you have no right to complain at all when all of this is your bloody mistake. What part of standby do you and your friend not understand? What do you think the people of the association will think when I tell them that your partner called me, worried about your reckless behavior to the point that I had Aido track down his lover's location and come find you. Oh! Not only that, I can only imagine their wrath when they discover you being the reason behind losing the prime suspect for whom they issued an arrest warrant just before I left to find him here, dead. Why? Because you two decided to play the vigilante without care for the bigger threat that loomed. Well?... Excuse me for making the right decision." Kaname hissed close to the stunned hunter.
He finally let go of his collar, leading to Zero tumbling two steps back.
"Call your brother and have them come back to pick you up. They should not have gone far." Those were the last word spoken before Kaname teleported back to where he came from.
Zero remained frozen solid. There was more than the outburst that had his brain reeling, but he had no energy to process. In a robotic motion, he took out his phone and called on his brother, feeling grateful that they were just around the corner.
∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞ Back at Cross's house ∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞
As expected, the matter did not go unnoticed after Kaname reported along with Gin who spilled the beans when Yagari did not find the trio at the house. For the first time in years, Kaito and Zero found themselves sitting on their knees listening to the longest lecture from their mentor who sat cross-legged on the sofa. Ichiru had a lighter lecture since they figured that he followed them reluctantly.
Once the anger subsided, each of them reported on the incident from their point of view. All went well until Ichiru dropped the bomb.
"I believe that we are dealing with a firstborn." The words earned him the attention of those aware of the subject, namely Kaname.
"What made you think so? For all we know they have been annihilated ages ago." Cross Kaien elaborated skeptically.
"For once, I witnessed closely how the hunter's weapons did not affect him or his element. Zero's bullet was squished like putty against his ice." The words sent a chill through everyone. "What is more, he mentioned feeling insulted when referred to as a pureblood."
"He certainly was more powerful than the purebloods I have come across so far." Zero commented, glancing at the brown haired man leaning against the table with arms crossed, "What got me curious though was the fact that he referred to you as his liege, Kuran!"
"He did?" Kaito and Ichiru tilted their heads.
"More like he whispered." Kaname clarified, explaining why only Zero and he managed to hear the words.
"So what? He thinks of you as some sort of leader?" Yagari huffed, twirling the toothpick irritatingly with his lips, "This is getting ridiculous!"
"Tell me about it." Kaname pushed his weight off the table, "Especially when I have no idea about his identity to begin with."
"Maybe you just forgot that you were the leader of some cold blooded murderers." Yagari snorted, "I would not put it past you."
"Toga, let us not rush with the misplaced accusations." Kaien reprimanded, already regretting telling his lover about Kaname's sealed memories.
"As far as my memories go, the earliest would be just after the apocalypse. From what I remember and what is written in the books, it is quite obvious that I never led such a faction. Unless you think that I existed before that and maybe caused the apocalypse," Kaname stated confidently.
"He might have mistaken you for another." Aido interrupted, slightly put off by the knowledge that the man might indeed be his ancestor, "I mean…" He stuttered when all eyes landed on him, "The Kuran bloodline is quite famous by their strong genes. I would not be surprised to confuse Kaname-sama with one of his ancest- I mean progenies. Haruka-sama shared a lot of resemblance if any of you remember." He stated his case, which received a string of approval.
"If we are to follow this theory, we can assume that they might be looking for this leader, since it seems that they have yet to meet him." Zero pondered, "Since he was talking about following orders and mentioned a queen, he may have been referring to the mastermind behind their organization."
"And if that queen is supposedly looking for a Kuran who is supposed to be her lost king…" Yuki trailed, "We can consider the possibility of her being a Kuran as well…." The brunette pressed her lips, not liking the assumption one bit… She looked into the worried wine orb of her brother, "If there is one thing that I remember from Aido-sempai's teaching, it would be that the Kuran bloodline always relied on sibling's marriage in order to keep the power rising."
Kaname nodded.
"That could explain the reason for attacking Ichijou-sempai." Aido announced loudly.
"What do you mean?" Kaito's ears immediately perked at the mention of his lover.
"Ichijou might have gotten too close to revealing their identity." Kaname explained, "He took it upon himself to dig through the family line in hope to find a link to the suspect X that we have yet to identify."
"Oh!" Most of them shared the same reaction.
"What was the last thing he reported before the kidnapping?" Yagari asked the pureblood.
"I am afraid that I was too busy to look over the report and asked him to forward it to-"
"Here!" Kaien interrupted Kaname after pulling a document from the pile on his desk. "You asked him to forward his findings to me, and he did." He mumbled as he skimmed through the paper.
"What do you have there?" Zero was impatient to know what the injured noble uncovered that almost had him killed.
"Nothing much." The answer disappointed them, "Except for another theory about a newly awakened Kuran. One who might have gone into slumber years ago?" Cross pondered as he met Kaname's eyes.
"I see." Isaya sighed. "We did overlook that possibility indeed."
"No we did not." Kaname interrupted, "The Kuran registry have all records of the family tree, starting from the ancestor, myself, to the last generation, Ai. Unless we are talking about a family member who had been disowned, I fear that all members lived until they perished one way or another. All of their crystals are safely kept in the crypt of the castle as proof."
"Okay then!" Ichiru chirped, "We need to rule out those who had been disowned and shunned from the family. The enemy did refer to you as a liege, so we are almost sure that the male is the Kuran, that would narrow the search. As for the 'queen', she may not be one if we are talking about a rogue vampire."
"We can start from there." Yagari nodded.
After more discussions and delegations, they finally called it a night.
∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞ In Gin's house ∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞
Gin closed the door after Zero got in. They sighed at the same time, exhaustion getting the best of them. The ethic teacher was anxious about the reason for the hunter's distress. It irritated him that he had to go see his sister while they held the confidential meeting at Cross's house. He knew that he had to be patient and wait for Yagari to fill him in, but he could chase the feeling that the silver hunter encountered more danger than what he signed up for.
Zero felt like the house was too quiet, immediately regretting sending Keiichi to Yuki's place. He could not help but want to hold the child to calm his nerves.
"Oh! I almost forgot." He jolted when Gin's voice seemed to slice through the thick silence.
"What?" He asked curtly, not bothering to glance at the man.
"Yuki-chan brought the usual supply of blood bags after you left for the ball you were supposed to monitor. We were a bit distracted and everything spiraled out of control to the point that I forgot to tell you about it, sorry." Gin smiled sheepishly at the tense hunter.
"Don't mind it." Zero mumbled as he opened the mini fridge where he kept the supplies. He hesitated for a moment before taking a bag. He emptied the content in a disposable cup and popped it into the microwave for it to reach the desired temperature. He learned his lesson from the couple of brain freeze he endured by drinking the cold liquid out of the fridge.
Upon heating the second bag, the scent hit his nostrils, making them flare in irritation as they triggered unwanted memories. Memories of the darkness he sunk in when he realized that his days were counted until he would fals into madness. A madness that he reached the edge of its cliff but did not descend. Yuki helped him but the reason he was saved from the imminent doom was no thanks to her. He will never forget that rich taste, the overwhelming power that left him quivering, the hold it had on him to the point of almost stripping him of his free will. Try as he may, he could never forget the taste of Kaname's blood as it slid down his throat. Nevertheless, he managed to block the memory of it for so many years, until recently.
He hesitated for a bit before starting to gulp the liquid. He almost felt light headed from chugging it in one go without breathing.
He had been missing all the clues scattered around his naked eyes. It started from the day Yuki brought a bigger batch of blood. Zero felt awkward at the thought of the vampires pitching in with their own blood to help his pregnancy, and for the sake of keeping it hidden. At first, she would bring a big pitcher in a cooler, then two of them. Zero would torture her into confessing whether she was the only one draining herself that much, but she always denied it.
He let it slide, for the sake of his unborn child. He let it slide even when one particular flavor started dominating the mix, he let it slide when he learned to differentiate two distinct tastes. He did not want to bother overthinking with all the troublesome attacks they have been dealing with, or so he convinced himself.
Today, he opened the fridge to see the amount of blood doubling yet again, despite the fact that most of the nobles were busy and away from the academy. Today, the bags were separate. The first one tasted like Yuki's blood that he had been drinking for a while. The second however, smelled and tasted nothing like it, but was familiar as well, for it was Kaname's blood.
Smelling the scent of it after the pureblood was stabbed triggered his memory. It all came together and the realization crashed down on the hunter when the clues flashed through his head like a movie.
(Takuma) He is not drinking enough blood either.
"Don't be silly, Zero! As if I could draw all that blood while nursing Ai at the same time. Just accept the fact that there are people who care about you more than you think." Yuki teased.
"That's the thing nii-san! I never saw them drawing any blood and Hana is tight-lipped about it. He is always mumbling about them being awkward about showing support and prefer staying anonymous. It can be anyone and everyone. I wanted to thank them as much as you do, but let us just have it their way." Ichiru grumbled.
"He had us fooled." Zero chuckled almost hysterically.
"Not drinking enough blood my ass… More like giving a bit too much." He gritted through his teeth as he squished the empty cup. He had been too self-absorbed to notice when Kaname was consuming far too much blood pills during the meetings at the association and back at Cross's house today. Most of the audience would brush it off as the normal intake for a pureblood since he did not have the habit of supplementing himself in public, but Zero should have known better.
"Drinking that many pills could only happen when he loses too much blood. Where else could he have lost it other than here." Zero threw the crushed cup into the bin and opened the mini fridge to look at the stash once more, "What am I supposed to think or do about this?"
"Did you say something?" Gin startled him from behind.
"Fuck!" Zero all but jumped.
"Sorry! I was just getting some water and heard you mumbling. Are you okay?" The older man was worried at the paling hunter.
"No..Nothing… nothing at all" Zero stuttered "I was just… You know… going over the investigation and the meeting we had today. I tend to think aloud when I am irritated."
"Oh! Sorry to interrupt your analysis then…" Gin tapped on his shoulder, "I am going to sleep. Make sure you replenish properly and get some rest. It seems like you have some rough days ahead of you."
"Tell me about it!" Zero rolled his eyes.
"Night!" Gin chirped as he headed to the stairs.
"Gin!"
"Yes?"
"You've been keeping a keen eye on my health since the beginning of my pregnancy." Zero walked up to him.
"Yes." Gin nodded, "and I will keep doing so even if you call me names like a nag, worrywart, annoying…"
"That is beside the point." Zero griped jokingly, "I just wanted to verify something."
"I am all ears." Gin leaned on the railing and looked at the determined amethyst eyes.
"According to your 'keen' eye, around what time did I get better… more stable…"
"hmm…" Gin pondered for a moment, "Well… After the syphoning started, you were in a pretty bad shape for some time. It got us extremely worried. If I had to pinpoint the time you started getting better, that would be around the time Yuki-chan started bringing larger amount of blood. Not only did you stop having those nasty episode of siphoning, your complexion started getting better the very next week and it looked as if you had a sudden boost of energy."
"I see…" Zero sighed.
"Anything else?" Gin tilted his head.
"Nope… Goodnight…" the hunter turned and went to slump on the sofa.
He rubbed his pregnant belly before hugging it with both arms.
No wonder the doctor thought that I got back together with your daddy when he noticed you getting healthier baby. You have been happily consuming your father's blood all along… And I have been getting stronger thanks to it as well… Here I thought that you were the one protecting mommy…. Silly me, right? Pregnant vampires of lower rank would usually go through a life-threatening experience because of their pregnancy.
∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞ At Cross's house ∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞
"Kaname-kun! About that dagger that hit you along with the note attached to it." Kaien spoke with a serious tone as he pulled the zip bags containing the two items. Yagari pulled a chair to join them around the dining table after seeing everyone else off.
"It was not a hunter blade. The wound healed almost instantly after Kiryuu-kun pulled it out of my shoulder." Kaname commented in order to save the forensics the extra tests.
"Yeah! We figured as much." Yagari grunted, "But you gotta check this." He flipped the blade on the other side and pushed it towards Kaname.
Red brown eyes widened at the sight of the same triquetra design carved on it.
"There is also this." Kaien pulled another item that Kaname recognized as the not that Rosa left at the orphanage. "I l did not send it for testing yet, but even I can notice the similar stroke in both handwriting." He pointed to the note previously attached to the blade.
"It seems that this chick of yours does have something to do with whatever is going around. Dare I say that she might be the mastermind behind it?" Yagari stated, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
"It is too soon to tell." Kaname interjected.
"Soon? SOON!" The one eyed hunter finally snapped, "How much more do you need, more hunters dying? Should I wait for my best disciple to get killed? Should you wait for them to come back and finish off you most trusted assistant-"
"Toga!" Cross protested, noticing the way Kaname tensed at the mention of his friend.
"Don't Toga me! You made me swear secrecy about a matter that could cause our demise, all of our kind. So sorry for seeking to accomplish my duty as the fucking president! This woman has to be announced as a murderer and tracked down since yesterday, but no~ Just because Mr. perfect here seems to have a soft spot for her, you are willing to be fooled into thinking that she is as innocent as an angel. Stop kidding yourself! And what is this about investigating the lineage of the Kiryuus without informing the twins. If anyone has the right to know about all this crap it would be them, especially Zero who is risking it all to annihilate this organization, and he will not stop until done."
"I object. There is no use antagonizing Kiryuu-kun by the mere assumption that a member of his family might be behind this. It would only put him and his brother in more danger if they dig too deep in the wrong direction."
"As if you care!" Yagari clenched his fist, exerting self-control as not to let out his wrath on the pureblood.
"Kaname-kun is right on this. Zero does not need the extra burden, not during his pregnancy." Cross's words successfully quelled the fury raging inside his lover. He knew very well that the one eyed hunter would want nothing but the best for his disciple.
"What now?" Yagari changed the topic.
"Until we get the results from these pieces of evidence, I say that we stay on guard and do not try to provoke the enemy by pursuing the investigations." Kaname suggested.
"You have got to be kidding me. You want us to retreat?"
"Do you have any better idea?" Kaname challenged, "Besides, it is not a retreat, but a standby. I thought that it became obvious by now that they only attack when provoked, or when we are about to find a trail that leads to them." The two hunters had no comeback since they shared the same opinion.
"What about the firstborn" Cross brought up the point that worried him the most.
Kaname sighed, "For now, let's hope that the one I defeated is the last of them. Nonetheless, we need to take extra measure in case there are others."
"While on the subject, can we change the reference. 'Firstborn' does not bode well with those creatures." Yagari groaned, eliciting a humored chuckled from his lover and a tight smile from the pureblood who happened to feel the same about the term.
∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞ Back at the scene of the fight ∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞
The crystal dust glowed under the faint moonlight as it rose in the air. It shifted and shaped in the form of a man before morphing into the actual ice-wielding predator.
"Ugh! I forgot how painful it could be to 'die'" he cracked his sore neck and moaned at the pleasurable sensation.
"That is what you get for acting recklessly." The female voice behind him made him turn slowly to face her before getting down on one knee with a hand placed over his heart.
"My lady, we beg you to forgive the insolence of this servant of yours." He kept his eyes on the floor, not daring to meet the enraged ones boring into him.
"I believe that I instructed you to deal with any loose ends after accomplishing your task." Seppie seethed at him.
"That is exactly what I intended to do, has it not been for those cretins intercepting my plan and kidnapping my target." He voiced his frustration, but quickly redeemed his rude tone, "Pardon the fool language."
"Forgiven." She dismissed, "However, your action almost cost me more that you can ever imagine. Especially when you targeted the carrier." She complained while approaching the kneeling man.
He looked up in surprise, "The carrier? Has it been found?"
"Yes…" She grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked his head back painfully before sneering at him, "Here I am bidding my time until he is rid of that spawn growing inside him only to have you attempting to slash him in halves."
Light blue eyes widened at the realization, "My apologies! I had no idea!"
"Of course you don't! Do I need to explain myself to a servant?" She growled as she let go of him and dusted her hands with a disgusted expression.
"No! Of course not." He whispered, "However, if I may express my opinion."
Seppie stared at the hesitating vampire before lifting her chin up and commanding him, "Make it short!"
"How could you be so sure that he is the one?"
"Are you doubting me?"
"I would never dare to question your majesty!" He all but quivered under the frightening gaze.
"What made you ask such a question then?" She put a hand on her hip and clenched the other one to control herself from killing the irritating fella.
"I was merely wondering about how you were able to distinguish the carrier between the two of them." He asked.
"Two?" her eyebrow knitted.
"The person you were referring to would be the one with silver hair right? Moreover, you mentioned previously that the carrier could be of any race." The ice-wielder explained his observation.
"That is correct." Seppie trailed, intrigued by the conclusion that her servant would reach.
"Well… I was confused because there was two of them… Identical twins… One appears to be human while the one carrying the child is a-"
"Vampire…" She finished his sentence with a stunned expression.
She quickly turned her back to the blue-eyed vampire, confusing him even more when she started mumbling hysterically.
"Two of them! two… twins… this is…" she muttered against the knuckle she held against her lips, "this is… no… I am positive about the carrier… so the other is…" Glee shone in her big eyes… "What are the odds?" Her lips stretched into a wide smile.
"My lady?" The servant finally rose and hesitated about checking on the woman.
"hhhhhhhhh….This is FABULOUS!" She finally screamed, throwing her hands in the air while laughing hysterically.
∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞ TBC ∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞
*looking away and acting innocent*
See ya next chapter
∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞ Shout out ∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞8∞∞
Miyako Shirayuki Phantomhive
aya121192
YaoiLoverPrincess
Alublad
Nayung972
miketsukami13
hotxhotguy
.1
Senja844
kmbanas
Tee
THE-UNLUCKY-WHEEL-OF-FORTUNE
irmina
ben4kevin
Evanthe Beelzenef
eboneykg
Lady Lily Anne
o.o knb lover 0.0
God-d-e-ss Eternity
Sweetness282
Lemonlov3
Melloomelon
mi5tan
Nayung972 : Hello dear! I tried sending you a pm but the feature is disabled from your side. Thank you so much for the wonderful review. It made me so happy to know that you signed up because of this story XD. I am afraid Kaname will have to wait a little bit longer, but not much anymore since Zero is starting to waver :p. Don't worry about any grammar, nobody is perfect. In fact, you can comment in French if you find it easier. C'est ma deuxième langue, bien qu'il y ait un bout de temps que je l'ai utilisé de façon écrite. Si c'est plus facile de commenter en français, n'hésite pas ;)
GOE: Zero is certainly starting to drift back to the man he was supposed to be with in the first place. Don't worry, you wil not be exasperated with him for that much longer XD
Lily3: Don't worry dear! You don't have to apologize for anything. I do like to hear what every reviewer have to say, and if I got it wrong, it is my bad. I am happy though that you were not truly upset ;). Kaname will surely pull his head from there hahaahah. I hope you enjoyed the recent update ;) They will certainly have more time together, Zero/Kaname and Zero/Keiichi ;)
Xtag: Zero will be back in character soon, don't worry.
mi5tan: I did not :P