(I'm finally here. Sorry if my writing style seems different. It's been three years and I've done a lot in that time. I hope you guys liked the last chapter, hopefully you'd enjoy this one too. Events are changed compared to the older version of this story. Some are longer, some might not come till later. Some may not even appear in general. The original work I did was sloppy, all over the place, and I absolutely hated it which is why this reboot was born. However I'm not going to make more promises. I'll post as long as the time allows me to.)
Being moved into the Headmaster's building was different to say the least. Not only was Naomi able to relax a little more, but she was able to keep her weapons on her at all times without having to worry about gaining the attention from other students (Of course, if she was heading to class she'd have to be a bit more concealing). The Day Class was so naive, there were times she wished she could show them what this school really was. What the world held in the darkness. But alas, she couldn't say not one damn word unless they were a hunter like Zero or Cross. Sitting in the room that Cross had given her, she found out that the window in said-room didn't open. In fact, it was just an ordinary window that could only be seen through. That alone made her comfortable but didn't wash away the fear that boiled in the back of her mind, knowing that the window could be easily broken. Kaname wouldn't go through measures like that, if he did, then no doubt he would get in trouble with the headmaster himself. So maybe he had some control over this...Obsession with her blood. Purebloods were attached to blood like hers, but what was special about it? Was it a weapon she could use against them? Make them her slaves like a Queen?
That thought alone made her jaw tighten and her eyes furrow in anger. If that's how my blood operates, I would just tell them all to go die. She thought to herself, her eyes closing and her body falling back into the bed, arms spread as those same eyes opened to stare up at the ceiling. I feel like I'm being stripped of the walls I put up. My whole facade is fading. I thought I was more mature than this, stronger than this. The moment I came into close contact with people on these grounds… Everything seemed to slip through my fingertips at such a rapid pace. It's only been a few weeks since I've been here… Being around people my age is just weird now that I think about it. I miss the Hunter's Association. At least there I could look up to others and not feel this immaturity crawl back up inside me... Releasing a sigh, she reached for her gun that rested tightly against her thigh and brought it to her vision. Examining the weapon and all of its details, including the name: Bloody Thorn. A twin pistol to Bloody Rose, Zero's primary weapon. Why did she pick this pistol may you ask? Well for one: Zero never took the twin with Rose which was a waste of a weapon. Two: Bloody Thorn sounded more threatening than Bloody Rose. The door to her room opened and she reacted immediately by pointing her gun at the door and lifting herself up from her position, seeing Zero standing there with a deadpan look on his face with a tray of food in his hands.
"You will never stop doing that, will you?" He asked as he watched her lower her gun.
"Of course not. Can never be too careful." Putting the gun down, she got up from the bed and put her pistol in its rightful place. "I see you have food. Did Cross make some for us?"
Zero looked at her with his lilac eyes before moving to her nightstand, putting the tray on it with his back to her "He can't cook worth his damn life."
"Then who made it?" It was obvious she didn't think that Zero could cook. Hell, she doubted him so much that she thought the only skill he had was being a low rank hunter and a high rank pain in the ass.
"I did." He replied, turning to her and crossing his arms "It's better than Cross's food."
To this, Naomi blinked a few times in surprise before looking back at the food. He had some rice balls on a dish, along with a bowl filled with what looked like some kind of stew. There was another plate that had a piece of cake on it, vanilla with some strawberry and cream in the middle. Did he even bake the cake? She thought, her gaze shifting back toward him. Was he going to eat too? Or did he already eat? Wait, why did he bring the food to her? She could have just gone out and got it herself. He's babying me. "Why do you think babying me is a good idea, Zero?"
Zero was surprised by her question "Babying you?" He scoffed "You think I'm babying you? I just thought I should bring you some food. What, do you not want it?" He asked as he went to grab it, only for Naomi's hand to stop him by grabbing his wrist.
"Of course I do. But I have two legs, Zero. You could have called me and I would have come. Are you not eating either?" The hand that grasped his wrist had released.
"I already ate." He replied, "Did you feel like eating with me? Quality bonding time?" Zero said with a sarcastic tone.
Naomi tried to reply but kept stumbling over her words before she growled "Dammit Zero!" She managed to get out and punch his arm, causing him to flinch from such a strong hit. "Geez. You have some nerve!" Swiping a rice ball, she sat on the bed and took a rough bite, chewing it quietly as her partner moved to a wall and leaned on it. Despite punching him, he said nothing to her but his expression clearly showed annoyance.
As she continued to eat her food, she realized just how good it actually was with the flavor dancing on her tongue. Having good food like this was sometimes a rarity at the Hunter's Association. It didn't have as much flavor, thought, and love in their dishes. But they did give the right foods to keep energy up and hunters moving. After having this, I doubt I'd want anything else. I can't even cook for myself. So if he ever thinks of some sort of repayment, it's not going to be food. The kitchen wouldn't even live to see tomorrow if I tried cooking. A simple skill she couldn't perfect. Though her hunting skills had surpassed any simple skills that she could have possessed. After finishing her first rice ball, she went onto another, the room still filled with silence. Is he just going to continue standing there with his arms crossed and a look on his face? Her aqua eyes had been locked onto him, slowly narrowing as he turned his head away, exposing the tattoo on his neck. That tattoo was something she had read in his profile as it was one of the more important pieces of information about him. The tattoo that slows the process from a human turning into a Vampire. As her look continued to stare Zero down, he eventually spoke.
"Would you quit staring at me like that? You look stupid." His voice was soft but yet held a tone that was also firm at the same time.
"I-I look stupid?!" Naomi shouted as she put her rice ball down on the plate "You're the one looking like some edgy teenager standing like that." The huntress spat back, almost getting off the bed once again.
"An edgy teenager? Is that what you really think?" Zero asked, his expression growing more annoyed.
"Well you act like one. All the time." Getting off of the bed, the Huntress moved to the door "I'm going outside. I really don't feel like being in here if you're just gonna be a nuisance." Just as she went to open it, the door slammed shut again and when she looked behind her, she saw Zero hovering over her, his hand on the door and preventing her from leaving. "You're just going to keep me captive in this room?"
"If it means keeping Kaname from hunting you down like a hunting dog, yes." Those lilac eyes of his had narrowed as he gazed upon her, never realizing how small she actually was until just now compared to himself.
Naomi was 5'5. Short, fast, nimble. Which is what made her a good Huntress especially in smaller quarters. Though it killed her neck to look up at Zero when he was in such close proximity. His words did stop her, after all there was danger outside that door. She didn't want to run into Kaname once again and risk putting herself in his sights that would allow… That suspicious pulling at something she couldn't figure out on her own. Whatever that pulling was, she wanted to get rid of it. "Fine." At this point, she sounded defeated. "If you want me to stay in here, then you need to stop being whatever that was." Crossing her arms, she was hoping he would at least agree to that.
Zero grunted and pulled himself away "Tch, fine. I just won't look at you." he went back to his spot on the wall and returned to his previous position, refusing to look at the Huntress.
Naomi moved back to her bed and continued to eat quietly. Not minding the silence between them as she ate. There was nothing they could really talk about other than the situation at hand and how she was suddenly under protection from something she was able to kill. But because of her blood and those forsaken rules, that was highly impossible and now she was at risk, unable to protect herself. Which didn't make much sense, but at the same time it did. Whenever Kaname was around, she'd act impulsively, point a gun at him, threaten him. Anything that she could say or do just to get him to back off while allowing her emotions to cloud her judgment. At the same time, she felt like she couldn't fight that, as if her body was trying to act against her and let Kaname get closer than intended. Holding the bowl of stew with one hand, she scooped the contents into her mouth with a spoon in the other, trying not to lose herself within her thoughts. "Hey, Zero?" she said between scoops of her food, pausing for a moment to look at the male in front of her, "When I met you, I remember telling you that I knew about you, your past, and any other things that were recorded." Another scoop of stew was taken while Zero suddenly was now staring her down, clearly not happy with the fact that his history was possibly about to be brought up in conversation. "That tattoo, for example. It's slowing your process of turning into a Vampire isn't it?" Naomi caught the sight of his jaw tightening before looking away from her once again, pushing himself off the wall and walking up to the window. After swallowing her food, she spoke up "You act like you're ashamed."
"It's not that I'm ashamed, Naomi." He had shot his glare towards her before continuing "I'll get this thing renewed as much as I can just to prevent myself from becoming one of them." Zero's hand lifted up to his neck, rubbing the tattoo. "Becoming one of those… Things… Is the last thing I want."
Naomi felt that, understanding that he'd hate himself and despise himself if he ever changed "What happens if there's no choice for you but to turn? Like if there's no cure of some sort. Though, not that we know of." She asked.
Zero froze, gaze locked on the window in front of him. There was silence between them before he finally came up with a response "Then you have permission to kill me."
Is he serious? She asked herself, staring at him as he still hadn't made eye contact with her. He's serious, there's no way he wouldn't be. "You really hate Vampires that much. To the point where you'd let me kill you if you ever became one?" Putting her spoon into her bowl, she placed the bowl on the tray and got off from the bed "I can always end it now so you're not at that point." Reaching for her thigh, Naomi pulled the gun from the holster as she closed the gap between them, lifting her gun to point at his head.
Zero turned his head slowly, looking down at Naomi while the barrel of the gun remained pointed at him "Ending it sooner would be better." He said, grasping the barrel and pressing his forehead against it "You can pull the trigger now, prevent me from getting closer to being a Level E. You're a huntress. You already know that you're going to have to kill me at some point, right?"
This caught her off guard to actually assume correctly in this, considering she brainstormed this just moments ago. Zero hated it so much that he was willing to leave this world sooner because of it. This moment was heavy, so heavy that keeping a serious face was impossible. The weight was heavy on her heart as she stared up at him. "Zero." Her tone had been different, softer even. Quite frankly it was a side she didn't expect to show Zero upfront this way. However, at this moment it was needed. His feelings may have been weighing so heavy on him that he actually felt that death was a decent solution to his problem. "You know there's no way I can pull this trigger, right?" Since her first day here, they've bonded. He became a friend without him even knowing it. Naomi didn't take friends often. The only friend she ever had was Hanako and even then, she was still the young huntress's mentor. Not someone of her own age, almost of her caliber.
"Why?" He asked, expression soft as he stared down at her.
Putting her gun down, she spoke "Because I just can't." There was no way in hell she was going to tell him the truth, so instead she tried to divert his attention or at least get him away from that question. "I'll grant your wish when the time comes. But pulling the trigger right now? You can use the time left to do things you haven't done, have thought of, or things that you've wanted to do for however long." The huntress holstered her weapon.
"You make it sound like I'm a child dying from a bad disease." He found it a little bit frustrating. After all, it was just saying to do what you can before you're gone.
"I mean, technically yes." She shrugged and moved back to her bed to sit down "That tattoo can only hold up for so long Zero. You of all people should know that." The truth hurt, but it was useless to try to run around the bush and hope for something better. "I say live life as much as you can unless by some miracle we find a way to not have you change into an E on us."
The pair spoke for a while, Zero shifting around the room with Naomi almost reflecting him like a mirror. One leaning on the wall, one sitting down, or both leaning or both sitting. Despite them being two hunters who'd clash whenever they were in the room together for a short time, they surprisingly lasted a lot longer than usual. Though there was one topic in particular that still tickled the back of her mind and had yet to find out more about it: Her special blood. Kaien only told her that it was blood from her father and it could make Pure Bloods lose control. Bringing her hand up to cup her chin, she already began to ask Zero in hopes he'd know more than Kaien. "Zero?"
"Yeah?" His Lilac eyes landed upon her once again.
"My blood. Remember when Kaien said that it's special and could make Purebloods like Kaname lose control?" Those piercing aqua blue eyes met his gaze. However she immediately knew that he was bothered by the topic at hand.
"How could I not forget? I've never heard about anyone having a special blood that can make vampires - even as strong as Kaname - lose control. Normal blood is understandable due to that drive being about hunger. But a special type with specific abilities? Like I said: Never."
So he was just as much in the dark as she was about this whole thing. "Dammit. I wish Kaien would say more. Obviously he knows more than what he's playing at. He knew bringing me here would be an issue. After all, he did say that I wasn't ready. Ready for what? Who knows. Now you have to play bodyguard while I'm here being a damsel in distress. I'm a top Legendary Hunter. The top 12 and I can't handle something as simple as this?"
"You say that if it's something easy. Every time you've been around or even in some kind of proximity to him, you'd immediately lose your temper like a spoiled child. As if you're drawn to him just as much as he's drawn to you." His lip twitched in disgust. Saying it in that way made him feel uncomfortable.
In all honesty, he was not wrong in the slightest. She's lost her cool on multiple occasions, was blinded by her own emotions which hindered her ability to use her skills. It also didn't help that the dream she had also felt way too realistic. Nothing was right here, and would it be fair to even tell Zero what happened? Well, technically she could just say the ending which would leave a lot of details out that he wouldn't need to know. Wait, why was she caring so much about how he felt? "When I woke up, it was from a dream. Well, technically a nightmare if you will." She began "Kaname already bit into my neck. I'm pretty sure it already happened, but all at the same time it's impossible if it was only a nightmare."
Zero immediately moved from his side of the room and toward her. At first, Naomi was caught off guard because his body language gave off this -possibly- panicked aura. His pace was quick as he invaded her personal space and both moved her shirt while tilting her neck to examine her. "H-Hey! Zero!"
"Shut up." He said as he examined her porcelain skin for any marks, scars - aside from battle scars of course - or anything out of the ordinary. "I'm not seeing anything that'd indicate you've been bitten. It had to have just been a nightmare. Nothing more than that."
Naomi didn't appreciate how forward he was, but he did think of something she had yet to think of for whatever stupid reason. She pushed him gently away, trying to not be the girl she was when she first came here "Listen, Zero. I can tell you worry a lot for someone like me. You shouldn't. Sure, it has been about what… A month almost? We hang around each other all the time with the disciplinary committee, going to classes, and more recently you being my bodyguard away from those things. But for fucks sake don't touch me without asking at least." Zero had lost everything, and Naomi knew that. Sure, she shouldn't be so tough knowing that at this point, it was just herself and Kaien that he had. Of course he'd worry or care despite showing off his nonchalant attitude. To put the cherry on top, he seemed to be more reactive behind closed doors than on the other side of said-door on the outside.
The hunter huffed as he turned his head away and put his hands into his pockets "Sorry." Was all that came out of his mouth.
The pair stood there in silence, refusing to look at one another. To keep her gaze away from him, she moved back over to her bedside table to grab the tray of dirty dishes. After all, it was about time she stepped out of the room and walked around elsewhere. Of course with Zero following her, otherwise she'd just be like prey. I swear I am a damsel at this point. It's quite shameful for someone like me to have a bodyguard. It just seems that being in the top 12 isn't enough for my predicament. Looking briefly towards the window, they still had some daylight left so maybe they could actually step outside. "Come on. Let's get out of this stuffy room before I start trying to wipe the floor with you." Naomi joked, hoping that'd lighten the mood even if it was just for a little bit. Despite not getting much information about her blood, the least they could do was sharpen their skills if they wanted to make the best of their days.
Dust kicked up from the ground, and the sound of coughing could be heard followed by panting afterwards "You know, it's not fair with your skills compared to mine." Zero said as he looked up at Naomi who had the blunt end of her stake to his chest. Clearly he had lost this round against the one and only.
"Yeah, well, you need to kick up your game Kiryu. You're expected to be the bodyguard of a Legendary but yet you're getting your ass kicked by her." Removing the stake, she stepped back and twirled the weapon before putting it away once again. Looking at her, she was indeed getting a workout with a bead of sweat falling down her face."The fact that you're complaining about training isn't a good look on you. You train to become better. Not complain about how your ass is getting kicked. That's where you learn to improve."
Zero half rolled his eyes "Whatever." he said in response "Regardless of the fact, despite us being taken in at almost the same time you've had more training. Probably far more intense than what I've gone through." Not like he was the type to aim for the top 12 legendary hunters of the association. Most of them were far older than Naomi, which only proved her worth as a young hunter.
Naomi shrugged, "Yeah I suppose that's true." Glancing over the surroundings around them, she couldn't help but feel exposed. Kaien's efforts to convince her that this place was safe had gone in vain. How could she trust that? A vampire can get in and out of various places without being noticed even through the Day Class dorms. Security was as loose as a untied shoelace. "We could probably go for another round or two before going back inside." Turning back towards Zero, he was already back up dusting himself off from the dirt.
"Haven't finished using me as your punching bag?"
He just had to be a smart ass didn't he? Naomi thought to herself "You know what no, no I haven't." She had gotten into position, waving Zero to come at her "C'mon, I know you got it in you. Not afraid to fight a Legendary right?"
(Thought I'd bring in a bit of some bonding and wholesome time without revealing too much. Getting back into the groove of things to bring a decently written story. Enjoy yourselves, leave a review and stay tuned.)
