AN: I have had an extremely difficult past two weeks, but I think everything is starting to get better. Enjoy.

Days passed since the teenagers arrived at Cross Academy. They had a routine for the week with classes, but once the weekend hit, the five sat in the living room with Cross, Yuuki, and Yagari across from them. The Chairman told them he wanted to converse with them and this was mainly a plan to get 'Zero' to try to remember him, or so he hoped. Yagari kept giving glares to Cross, which the boys caught. They were hunters for a reason and their observation skills were superb. A snort from Kenshin caused Hiroshi and Ryo to smirk. Ayaka glanced at her brother, "What's the smirk for?"

"Mainly because sensei is glaring at the Chairman like he wants to kill him for something," Hiroshi stated, causing Toru to raise a brow. He immediately knew what it was and gave the Chairman a quick glare. Cross realized they didn't want Ryo to learn who he was that way.

"And he knows not to be an idiot," Yagari commented taking a sip of his coffee, which Cross scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Toru closed his eyes, knowing this could have ended so horribly.

Someone cleared their throat and all eyes looked towards the doorway. Standing there were Toshiro, Kaname, Kaiya, and Ichiru. This was the first time they were staring at the 'new' hunters of their school, but the boys recognized them. After all, they saw each other at the association over the years. Kaiya and Ryo made eye contact, as she offered him a smile. It surprised the teens to see him give her a real smile. Ichiru and Kaiya were the only ones who could get a real emotion out of him. Zero always cared for them as an older brother should, and they missed him for over 1,000 years.

"Hopefully we are not intruding," Toshiro spoke gently, far from his normal tone. It was the voice he had when he spoke to Zero 10 years earlier. Ryo felt a jolt in his chest, as he clutched his chest.

"Are you okay?" Toru turned to him instantly. All eyes watched as Ryo gave a faint nod. "As long as you're fine." He flashed Toru a small smile.

"I should be fine," he whispered his voice sounding eerily identical to Ichiru.

"Hey Ryo, how are you adjusting to the school?" Many looked at Ichiru, realizing how similar he sounded to their friend.

"I'm adjusting just fine," Ryo felt his chest tightened a bit. He looked at Ichiru and the others realized they were identical if they didn't count Ryo's wig or contacts.

Yagari bowed his head as he realized this. There was no way they could keep it from any of them any longer and it wasn't fair to Ryo. "Kaname, close the door please." The Pureblood raised a brow being commanded but did as he was asked. "Take them off, Ryo. Please." Yagari looked at him.

The teen flinched and everyone saw it. "Sensei," he stopped when Yagari nodded. He pulled off the wig, revealing his silver strands to everyone. Yuuki gasped in shock, immediately realizing who it was. He then removed his contacts, raising his head.

"Zero Kiryu?" Yuuki choked out. The boy froze hearing her whisper the name. Toru went pale and lowered his head.

"What did you just call him?" Hiroshi looked at her and she looked at him.

"Zero Kiryu, that's who he is," Yuuki repeated. She pointed at Ryo, as she turned to Kaname, who couldn't look at her. "Did you know, nii-san?" As he nodded, a sob escaped from her mouth. "You never told me! He was my best friend!" She looked at Zero, who looked confused and lost. "You don't remember me, do you?" He shook his head softly.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember anyone. I know that doesn't make anyone feel better, but it's the truth." Zero looked at his hands as they were shaking. He felt the anger rise inside of him. He raised his angry eyes to Yagari. "You knew who I was, didn't you?" When he nodded, Zero was on his feet, Hiroshi and Kenshin held an arm each, as Toru got in front of him. "And you!" He yelled at Toru shaking with anger. "Did you know?"

"Yes, I figured it out 10 years ago," Toru whispered. Kenshin lost his grip, as Zero's fist connected with Toru's face. He sent the teen flying into Toshiro's arms, who easily caught him.

"How could you two lie to me?" Zero shouted as Ichiru and Kaiya came over. Kenshin and Hiroshi allowed the Kiryu siblings to tend to Zero, as they moved out of the way, pulling Ayaka along with them.

"Please stop Zero," Kaiya whispered. He looked at her, as she placed a hand on his cheek. "Please stop. They probably had a good reason. Listen to their words carefully and don't soil the bonds you created with them."

"They lied to me! They kept me from my family!" He looked up at Toshiro and he could see the similarities."You're my father, aren't you?" Toshiro nodded softly, as he helped Toru sit up. The teen's face was swelling up and he had blood in the corner of his mouth. "Wait a minute...you guys have seen me around campus and said nothing?"

"With the wig and contacts, we never connected the dots," Ichiru explained. "We were told years ago that you were dead. Our...twin connection was gone and it still is. Only two things can cause it as we learned from Father not too long ago. First is death, which we believed at the time. The second one is if one twin lost their memories or if they are sealed, which both are true in your case, the connection won't come back. Both things have to be 'broken' for it to come back."

Zero's focus was on the ground, as he listened to Ichiru's words. Kaiya glanced back at her father, who was with Kaien tending to Toru. "Nii-san," she whispered. Both boys looked at her and her gaze was on Zero.

Before she could say anything, another voice spoke. "What a touching reunion." All eyes turned either in shock or fear. Standing beside Ayaka, Hiroshi, and Kenshin was Rido Kuran. Ayaka took a step back, as Hiroshi placed her behind him, withdrew his gun, and pointed it at Rido. Kenshi was too petrified to move, as Zero took a step back. As Kaiya grabbed Zero's arm, Ichiru got in front of his brother.

Yagari, Kaien, Toshiro, and Kaname got in front of everyone. "What are you doing here?" Toshiro growled at him.

He smiled cruelly at Toshiro. "For once, it's not at all about you, your family. or the Kuran siblings." With the men caught off guard, he managed to fly past them and grabbed Hiroshi, causing him to drop his gun. Hiroshi squirmed, and Rido painfully held him. "Now stop squirming!" He pulled him close and licked his neck. Hiroshi's eyes widened in horror, as Rido dug his fangs in.

"Nii-san!" Ayaka screamed in horror, as her older brother screamed in agony.

"No! Let go of me!" Hiroshi could feel the pain of the bite as he tried pulling away. Kenshin, Toru, and Zero all attacked Rido as they pulled out their guns and shot them at Rido. One hit him in the abdomen and another bullet hit his arm. Zero pulled Hiroshi away from Rido, as the teen fell to his knees in great pain. His hand was on his neck, as tears fell from his eyes, and Zero was at his side. The older men jumped into action, sending bullets at Rido, who managed to avoid them.

"Until we meet again," Rido was gone within seconds.

Toshiro was at Hiroshi's side and knew one way to save him so he didn't have to serve Rido or be his slave. "Ichiru, Kaiya come now." He sunk his fangs into the marks that Rido made, causing Hiroshi to scream again. Zero held him down, knowing what Toshiro was going to do. It was dangerous and illegal, but he wasn't going to allow the teen to die or turn into a level D. He was going to help him become a higher-ranking vampire by drinking from the family with the purest blood in history. Ichiru bit his wrist and suck out blood, as Kaiya did the same. One by one the vampires each placed their mouths over Hiroshi, forcing the blood into him. Toshiro was the last to do it, as Hiroshi drank it. Zero wiped Hiroshi's tears away, as Kenshin held a shaking Ayaka in his arms. Everyone retired to their rooms, except for Toshiro, Zero, Kenshin, Toru, Yagari, and Kaien.

After a few tense hours, Hiroshi's eyes opened. They were a faint red, as they slowly turned back to their regular color. "Hey," Hiroshi greeted Zero softly.

The silverette gave a small smile. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"A little weird and disoriented. Otherwise alive-ish." Hiroshi gave a hallowed laugh. "I guess my life is over."

"Not quite," a voice whispered. Hiroshi and Zero looked at Toshiro, who grunted softly. "There was one way to save you and we did something extremely dangerous and frowned upon. Seeing how close you are to everyone, I wasn't about to let you die or suffer the painful transformation into a mindless vampire. I replaced Rido's poison with my own, then you drank from Ichiru, Kaiya, and I. We managed to change your fate from a level D to a level B. If you continuously drink from us, we can make you an aristocrat as the months progress and no one can touch you."

"That's not true, the association wants all vampires, including all purebloods dead. You're no longer useful to them," Zero stated. He stared at his hands, "I'm a sealed pureblood, that's true, but they think I'm human. It could work to our advantage and I will fight to protect everyone. Despite everything that happened earlier, I don't care what happened to me. My main concern at this moment is to protect all of you including Hiroshi. That monster will pay for what he did and now the association will have a bounty on Hiroshi's head. As a 'human,' I can do much more than you guys can." He turned to Toru and Kenshin. "Will you two help me protect them?" He received a nod from them both before he turned back to Toshiro. "After we figure out what to do and stop this war, then I'll worry about my true self." He paused for a second. "I think the seal on my memories weakened. I saw...something and I'd like to talk to you about it in private."

Toshiro got to his feet. "Then come. We will go talk." Zero nodded, as he followed Toshiro out of the room.

AN: There's a lot that happened here. If I lost anyone, let me know. Also, a review would be nice.

~XYukiNoHanaX~
01/17/2024
01:40 AM