Bloody Petals

Chapter 4

"Kiryuu-kun, you might not like this, but..." Cross trailed off, thinking of the best way to say what he wanted. Zero looked at him silently and waited. In the end, he couldn't think of any appropriate approach than to say it directly. "You need to also drink blood from other vampires to survive."

Zero looked lost for a while and Cross had to explain what he said. "These vampires will not let you roam free while thirsty. Your seal can only hold out long if you will not drink. Of course, I will not let you drink from Day Class students nor will you let yourself do the same. So I suggest that you drink from other vampires instead."

Zero wanted so much to argue but he remained quiet. He knew the Chairman had a point and he was not so blinded by his ideals that he wouldn't think of something like that. No, drinking the blood of those beasts was just too disturbing on top of being disgusting to him. Perhaps, it was because of the Association that he was even keeping quiet about it. He'd rather die than drink their blood, but the thought of his mission being a failure kept him from arguing.

"Don't take my advice badly, Kiryuu-kun." Cross voiced after a while. Zero remained quiet for a while now and he didn't want to offend or hurt the young hunter.

"I know, but I can't accept it either." He uttered after some thoughts. "I don't want to lose my humanity. I am a hunter, and I will not be anything other than that."

"Kiryuu-kun, you'll die." Cross pointed out directly. He wanted to save Zero but it seemed the hunter himself looked ready to die now. "Please think about it a bit more."

Zero simply shook his head before he tried to stand up. Cross helped him and he also helped Zero sat on a chair beside the table, not the chair where Kaname sat earlier because the young hunter didn't want to sit there.

"Do you want to drink something?" Cross asked as he started to clean the blood on the floor. Zero was about to help but the older male immediately gave him a childish pout. "Kiryuu-kun, I'll do everything!"

"Sorry... and thank you." Zero answered. He was really guilty because he was only sitting while the Chairman cleaned his mess. But he was still too weak and exhausted to actually do any good work so he didn't insist on doing anything anymore. "I'll have milk... if that's alright."

Cross smiled at him in his kindly way and Zero thought that Cross and Yuuki were a lot similar despite not having any blood ties. "Alright! One glass of milk coming up!"

The young hunter couldn't help but feel relaxed at the quiet atmosphere. Cross's back was on him and he was looking at the Chairman quietly. He could hear the sound of the spoon clinking against the glass as the Chairman gently stirred the milk. Zero looked at him and saw that his hair was longer than the young hunter initially thought. It was almost reaching the middle of his back, if it wasn't ponytailed to his left side like that. At times like this, Zero thought that the Chairman looked like a really good father figure. Cross turned around and caught him staring, but he merely smiled at Zero. The latter, embarrassed at having been caught, casually looked down to hide his embarrassment.

Cross looked at the kid in front of him and he couldn't help but feel awful. It hurt him that Zero didn't want to drink any blood coming from the vampires. He wished the kid would realize that his life was worth living, even as a vampire. But he also knew that as a hunter, it's the greatest humiliation to become part of the race which they hunted and hated so much. He was even amazed how Zero could stay calm right now.

He put the glass on the table and Zero silently took it and uttered his gratitude. "Thank you." He sipped his milk and looked at the Chairman again. "Have you told anyone... about me?"