Vampire Knight: The Kiryu's Pureblood Queen

14- Broken Systems

Takuma Ichijo stands next to his grandfather, staring down at the lifeless body of a pureblood. He sees the resemblance to his friend, Kaname Kuran. Their hair is dark brown, it's very wavy, and the length is up to just past his shoulders. He is dressed in a white button-up shirt and black pants.

"Now, after all I've explained, you will help us bring in your friend, the son of Rido-sama, to get his spirit back. Do you understand, Takuma?" Takuma casts his amazed green eyes to the cool steely gaze of his grandfather, Ichio.

"Um, are you sure I should be the one to do that? I'm a pretty unreliable fighter." Takuma forces a cheerful smile to ease his own nerves. Ichio's expression remains unaffected. That ends up making him even more anxious.

"Takuma." A warning seems to come from his voice. "Your friend will remain unaffected by all this if you retrieve our lord's spirit." Ichio says to him. Takuma clenches his hands and lowers his head.

"Yes, sir..." Takuma relents, but doesn't feel good about it. "I'll have Senri bring back his father's spirit."

Ichio nods satisfied. Takuma takes a breath and heads out of the Council building. Now, he regrets having left his friends early before the end of their break.

Takuma grabs his cellphone and sends Senri a simple message.

"Let's meet up! Let me know where you are and I'll be there."

                     ~0~

Kaito opens his eyes and looks around the dimly lit room. He finds Alondra sleeping curled up on a couch near his bedside. Her face doesn't look like she's having a restful sleep.

He looks away and gets a look at the windowless room. He touches his arm and leg, and neither of the wounds are there anymore.

"Right, because I drank her blood... I'm still alive, and I'm still myself. I just can't do that ever again." Kaito thinks to himself. He jumps as Alondra falls off the couch and lands face first on the floor.

"Ow..." She sits up on her knees and rubs her nose. She gets her bearings and then looks over at Kaito. "Ah! You're up!"

"Geez, you're just full of energy right away." He rubs one of his ears as she gets up and rushes over to him. He is surprised as Alondra pulls down his shirt to see his shoulder. He reflexively smacks her head, and she goes down.

"I was checking your wound..." She mutters in pain. She holds her head and sits back up.

"Don't just run up on a hunter like that. We have reflexes and instincts!" He scolds her. She pouts and looks back as the door is opened.

"Is everything alright? I heard a thud from up here." Amelia questions concerned as she looks at the pair. Alondra stands up, fixing up the nightgown Amelia provided to her.

"Sorry, that was me. I fell off the couch. I also was checking on Kaito's wounds. They're all gone, thankfully. That means we can head out." Alondra becomes serious as she thinks about what she has to face in the outside world.

"Then what? Do you know what has happened?" Amelia moves out of the way as Kira also comes to stand at the doorway. She bows her head and lets him enter the room.

"What has happened?" Alondra tilts her head. Kira sighs and then frowns.

"Alondra-san, you are to be placed on the list of the hunters as a dangerous vampire that has kidnapped and very likely killed Kaito Takamiya. That is the report that got sent to me from Kaien Cross." Alondra's eyes widen as she hears this.

"I've been falsely accused! I helped Kaito! They tried to set me up to kill him, but I didn't take the bait! I have to fix -"

"The hunters are not going to listen to you. They'll just kill you right away. So, you can't go back so easily. Your home could become a dangerous place." Kaito interrupts Alondra. She looks back at him with concern. The people in the castle could be harmed or harm the hunters to protect themselves.