A/N:

To blackheads: There's no pairings for this, but if you were to squint, you may find some hints of Yullen.

Thank you for all your support and reviews! They always made me so happy and I'm really grateful to you guys. This chapter is much longer than the previous ones, over 6000 words. Please enjoy.

Final Chapter

Oh Pitiful Vampire, Rest Your Weary Soul

Kanda frowned as he found himself staring into the direction of the forest again. More precisely, the abandoned mansion within the forest.

It's been half a year since he reported the truth behind the missing people to the town mayor, leaving out anything about the vampire living in the mansion.

With his home at the edge of the town, a glance out the window was all it needed for Kanda to gaze into the overgrown forest near the town. It was something he had grown used to, often sitting by the window.

But what annoyed him now was the way his eyes always followed a certain path, looking into the same direction. It wasn't like this before.

Kanda scowled, glaring at the mansion hidden behind a bunch of trees.

This behaviour wasn't like him.

He wasn't concern about the white-haired vampire. It's just that he was watching to see if the vampire was up to anything. After all, the vampire never did anything that really made him stand out to Kanda.

But then, why did Kanda constantly find himself looking in that direction?

Perhaps it was because he could tell.

From the very first meeting with that white-haired kid, he realised that the kid was engulfed with a darkness so deep that it drew his attention.

And then, they started their little game.

Kanda knew he was being observed by the vampire, but he was also doing the same. It didn't take long before Kanda realised that the kid wasn't human. But he never mentioned it. Instead, he continued to live with the vampire, trying to find out just what exactly he was like.

The white-haired kid smiled a lot; sometimes fake and sometimes real.

He looked at Kanda like he was his saviour or something. Those startlingly earnest eyes that shone whenever he noticed Kanda, contrasted harshly with the darkness surrounding the boy. It was strangely intriguing.

Even so, their little game must come to an end eventually, and Kanda took it into his hands to end it.

Was it guilt then? Was that the reason why his eyes kept straying to the mansion?

It wasn't like him to get involved with others, in fact, he hated it.

So why was he feeling guilty for not even trying to touch upon the darkness enveloping the boy?

Maybe, maybe because the boy was similar to him?

But the darkness around the boy was much, much deeper than Kanda's own. It felt as though it was too late, that there was nothing he could do to pull the boy out of there.

Irritated, Kanda growled, turning his head away from the window.

Perhaps it was guilt, perhaps it was concern.

But the way to deal with those foreign emotions…

…Kanda didn't know how.

"Yuu, what are you looking at?"

Kanda whipped around, his sword stopping an inch away from the red-haired man's face.

"Don't call me by my first name." Kanda hissed. "I'll slice you up."

The red-haired man smiled, raising his hands in surrender.

It was a very familiar pose, one that he had seen not too long ago, from a certain beansprout.

Annoyed, Kanda clicked his tongue and pulled his sword away.

Red hair held up with a green bandana, and an eyepatch over his right eye; this man was known as Lavi Bookman. He was tall too, taller than Kanda.

Kanda didn't know much about Lavi, and never bothered to ask.

However, he knew that Lavi was a Hunter from the Organisation. They had met a few years ago, coincidentally meeting while both of them were at the other end of the town. Kanda really did not want to be associated with the Hunter Organisation, so he had given up the mission he had received from the town mayor, letting Lavi finish it.

It didn't matter who ended it since the outcome they wanted was the same.

But Lavi had started stalking him after that.

They ended up meeting too often to be called a mere coincidence. Lavi had stuck to him like glue once he learnt that Kanda was a solo Hunter, not belonging to any group.

He never asked questions about Kanda, though he would observe Kanda every now and then.

Lavi never once tried to rope him into joining the Organisation, and neither did he tell anyone about him, if the lack of Hunters coming to recruit him was any indication. Therefore, Kanda didn't care about Lavi's presence.

"So, what was it that you were looking at?" Lavi repeated his question, his single eye wide with curiosity.

"None of your business." Kanda growled, walking away from the window.

Lavi hummed, tilting his head.

He followed the direction that Kanda was looking in earlier, towards the forest. His eye narrowed slightly as he thought. It's been almost a year now since Kanda solved the case of the missing people for the town.

Lavi had come and gone Kanda's place many times during that period, and he would often catch Kanda looking into the direction of the forest. At first, Lavi simply ignored it, thinking that it was one of Kanda's rare but strange moments.

But no matter how long Lavi ignored it, Kanda would still continuing looking at a certain direction with a frown on his face.

It was different from the way he would usually gaze at it. Lavi's keen eye picked up on the changes in Kanda's expression. Rather than a frown of annoyance, it was almost like Kanda was worried about something.

Did he leave something behind in the forest?

But that carelessness wasn't like Kanda at all.

Kanda softly cursed, startling Lavi out of his thoughts. He didn't even glance at Lavi as he left his house, scowling. He was heading towards the town. Lavi blinked after him, but did not follow.

As odd as this was, perhaps after some time, Kanda would stop this strange behaviour.

Lavi didn't mind waiting.

o-0-o

Lavi stared at Kanda, who was seated on his bed, carefully polishing his sword.

Kanda had just came back from a request by the town mayor that had him staying three towns away. Kanda's personality wasn't the best, but his skills were highly valued. So when there were rumours of a terrifying supernatural creature, the town mayor sent Kanda over to check it out.

Lavi wasn't sure what took Kanda so long this time, because he had stayed away for two years.

But once he heard that Kanda had returned home, Lavi rushed over to visit him.

Kanda was still the same, even after so long.

Ten years.

It has been ten years since they had last worked together, during the case of the strange wolves dwelling in the forest.

Back then, Lavi had stayed with Kanda for a while after the case with the wolves, and though Kanda complained, he never did make good on his threat of kicking Lavi out.

When he had time to spare, Lavi would take a stroll in the forest, twirling his black hammer leisurely as he did so. After those few days of scouting the right side of the forest and killing a number of man-eating wolves with Kanda, he was rather familiar with the route to take.

Lavi had stealthily sent a couple of the wolves to the Hunters Organization he was working under, though he suspected that Kanda knew. But as expected of Kanda, he didn't say anything.

Actually, Lavi had his suspicions that Kanda actually wanted him to do that. Kanda had seemed oddly eager (even though his face didn't so much as twitch) when Lavi brought the report on the wolves to him. The science department in the Hunters Organisation had managed to come to a conclusion after many tiring experiments.

The forest wolves were infected with a new disease that should have only affected werewolves. It wasn't anything serious, the werewolves would end up lethargic for a couple of days, that was all. Due to their robust bodies, they are able to purge themselves of the disease.

But somehow, something went wrong and the disease mutated itself, worming its way into the bodies of natural wolves and turning them berserk. It resulted in unnatural growth of the wolves, no pain sensors, and a thirst for killing.

They kill not just for hunger, but also for the sake of killing.

The wolves in the forest of the town Kanda stayed in was the first to attempt to consume human flesh. Once was enough. The wolves gained a taste for humans and brought that trait over to the other towns.

The Hunters of the Organisation were tasked with shooting the wolves with vaccines made by the science department in an effort to save the natural wolves and prevent their extinction.

When the Organisation first questioned Lavi on how he discovered the diseased wolves, Lavi never once said a word about Kanda. In fact, he has been hiding Kanda's existence from them.

If they had learnt of Kanda, they would surely force him into the Organisation. The strength he had was not a joking matter, and with him in the Organisation, it would greatly increase their power. However, Lavi couldn't imagine Kanda working in group at all.

It didn't suit him.

But more than that, Lavi did not want to force Kanda into a place where he could never escape from. He was free, and Lavi was not going to take that away from him.

During the time when Kanda was working on the mysterious wolves alone, when he had coincidentally seen Lavi in town, Kanda had grabbed him by his shirt's collar and dragged him all the way into the forest to hunt down the wolves.

It was the first time that Kanda had approached him willingly on his own. Usually, it was always Lavi intruding upon Kanda. The fact that Kanda had requested (ordered) Lavi to help him was enough to put Lavi in a good mood for weeks.

He was glad that at least, Kanda trusted him enough to be willing to work with him – regardless of whatever ulterior motives he had.

…Then again, maybe he just wanted to use that opportunity to throw Lavi into a pack of vicious, man-eating wolves.

Lavi chuckled, amused by his recollections.

Kanda raised his head, sending him a look that clearly doubted his sanity. He softly clicked his tongue, and shifted his eyes away. But his gaze didn't return back onto his sword, rather, it shifted to the window.

It was only for a brief moment, but Lavi saw it.

Kanda had the exact same expression on his face as he had ten years ago whenever he looked into the forest.

Lavi frowned.

Was ten years not enough?

Just what was it that was able to draw Kanda's attention for such a long time?

Kanda abruptly stood up then, startling Lavi.

"I'm heading out." Kanda muttered.

"Eh? Where are you going?" Lavi asked.

"Town. I'm hungry." Kanda simply replied.

"Oh." Lavi stared after him as he left.

Over these ten years, Kanda had changed a little.

His hair was still as long, tied up in his usual ponytail. He had gained more muscles and height, but still retained his lithe figure. And his sword skills only got better and better. It got to the point where Lavi was quite certain that should he engage in a serious fight against Kanda, he would lose in minutes.

The biggest change would be Kanda's temperament. He wasn't as easily irritated, even allowing Lavi to get away with calling him by his first name quite a few times. Though he still wasn't the most sociable, if he happened to come across Lavi struggling in a mission by himself, Kanda would actually step forward to help him. Of course, while Kanda did help, he also made sure to still toss some comments about useless rabbits and such.

Lavi didn't mind though.

Now, he watched Kanda stroll through the town from the front door, waiting patiently until Kanda entered his usual Japanese restaurant.

Once Kanda was out of sight, Lavi decided to use this chance. Kanda would probably really kill him this time if he found out what he was up to, so Lavi had to do this secretly.

Lavi snuck out of the town, body thrumming in anticipation of a good adventure.

It was a good thing that Kanda's place was near the edge of the town, making it easy to travel into the forest.

He treaded along the familiar forest path, stopping once the abandoned mansion came into view.

He hummed thoughtfully, looking back at the way he came.

It was just an estimation, he couldn't be sure, but perhaps what Kanda was looking at was the abandoned mansion?

Was there something inside?

Lavi frowned.

Well, it couldn't hurt to explore it.

The sound of leaves and twigs snapping under his feet seemed loud in the suffocating silence of the forest. It was still day, but around this area, an odd atmosphere filled the air.

He had always avoided it because there was nothing fascinating about an old mansion, but if Kanda really was looking at it, then there must be something within.

Something highly interesting.

Coming up to the tall gates of the mansion, he easily climbed over them.

"There we go." Lavi softly murmured as he landed neatly on the other side of the gates. He stopped to take in the exterior of the mansion. It was crumbling in places, eerily dark and quiet even in the light of day.

He walked towards the main doors, carefully pulling it open.

It was dark inside, the sunlight streaming in through the windows not helping at all. It was as though the mansion itself was repelling the light. How strange. Lavi's footsteps echoed within the mansion, making a low noise as his boots clicked against the floor.

The flooring was actually quite fancy, perhaps this mansion once belonged to a highly ranked aristocrat a long time ago.

Lavi took his time wandering around the first floor, and then moved on to the basement. There really was nothing much at all, everything was broken and looked to be untouched for centuries. Sighing disappointedly, he climbed up the stairs to the second floor, where it was exactly the same.

The flight of stairs still continued upwards, so there must be more floors above.

There should be an attic within this mansion.

Lavi liked attics, because the weirdest things are usually found there.

Slightly impatient, he jogged up the stairs to the third floor.

He blinked when a large, spacious living room greeted him.

Broken glass littered the ground, making it quite a nuisance to walk around.

Lavi turned down a hallway, where rows and rows of doors met his searching gaze.

Curiosity quipped, he carefully searched for special doors. They all looked the same, but perhaps there may be hidden clues among them. A drawing on door, or maybe a decorated doorknob, all those would lead to interesting things.

But with each door he passed, there was nothing.

With his enthusiasm dimming, he crossed his arms behind his head as he walked blindly. He was about to turn around once he reached the end of the long hallway, but something caught his eye.

At the furthest corner, an off-white door was nestled there. It blended in well with the dirty white walls, but upon a second look, Lavi could clearly see the door.

His lips pulled up into a large grin as his eye shone with excitement.

Yes, this was it. It was things like this that always lead to wonderfully interesting findings.

Lavi nearly ran towards the door, his keen eye observing the doorknob. It was rather dusty, but compared to the other doors, it was well-polished, reflecting even the slightest light.

Heart thumping, he reached out to dust off the doorknob. Once satisfied, he slowly turned the knob. Soundlessly opening the door, he cautiously stepped in.

He blinked, dumbfounded.

…There was nothing there, save for a coffin right in the middle.

Ignoring the coffin for now, he glanced around the room. Paper charms were stuck firmly onto the walls, charms that Lavi immediately recognised.

Those charms were used by a selected section of the Organisation, mostly for binding the supernatural creatures that the Hunters caught.

Why were the charms here?

They were clearly very old, but still working.

This room, was it used by a member of the Organisation before?

Or was it just the result of someone else dipping their fingers into something they shouldn't have?

Frowning, Lavi decided to place that aside for now.

He approached the coffin, stopping a couple of steps away.

With a deep breath of courage and his hammer in hand, he lifted the lid of the coffin.

It swung open easily, and Lavi was left completely flabbergasted as he gazed into the coffin.

Hair as white as snow, a young face that couldn't be older than twenty, and an awe inducing pure black left arm.

This kid, whoever it was, was sleeping peacefully within the coffin.

Lavi's eye immediately focused on the red scar marring the left side of the boy's face, at the filled in pentacle that would have surely frighten any human. It looked as though the boy was cursed.

And that black arm, with fingers that looked like it was made of scales rather than actual skin.

Was that even still considered as skin though, Lavi didn't know.

He raised his head, his single eye roaming around the room again, resting on each and every charm on the wall. Then it shifted down onto the coffin, and then on the boy.

All this only pointed to one thing.

This boy, was he perhaps, a vampire?

Vampires were the rarest of the supernatural creatures, because they excelled in hiding themselves. In all the years Lavi had been working in the Hunter Organisation, no one had ever brought in a vampire. Thus, this was the first time Lavi had actually seen one with his own eyes.

The vampire did not move at all, neither was he breathing.

Lavi scratched his cheek, frowning.

Do vampires even breathe though? The Organisation barely had any information on these elusive creatures. The only thing that was known was that vampires were really strong.

Taking a chance, Lavi reached down and poke the vampire's cheek.

There was no reaction.

He did it again, and again, and again.

No matter how many times, there was no reaction at all.

Was this vampire dead, perhaps?

But according to legends, vampires turn into ash upon dying.

Lavi slapped a hand to his forehead, groaning.

Why was this so complicated?

How did he end up in this predicament again? Ah, right. It was because of Kanda and his odd attachment that never faded even after ten years.

…Kanda.

Lavi blinked, frozen for a moment.

That's right, Kanda. He had been looking at this abandoned mansion for sure, Lavi knew that now. Kanda must have known about the existence of this vampire.

Lavi stood up, staring down at the motionless boy.

"…I'll bring Kanda here." He murmured to himself, reaching out to slowly and carefully close the coffin's lid.

Turning around, he made sure to close the room door as well.

And then he sped off to go hunt down Kanda.

"Shut up! I don't know!"

"Lies! You clearly know about this!"

"You stupid rabbit, ask me again and I will cut you down!"

Lavi frowned at Kanda, who was glaring hard at him.

Damn it. This wasn't working the way he wanted it to. Then again, seeing as how this was Kanda, he really should have expected this.

No choice then, desperate times calls for desperate measures.

Before that vampire wakes up, he had to get Kanda there.

"Sorry, Yuu. But don't kill me for this." Lavi said.

Kanda's eyes narrowed but Lavi didn't allow him time to speak. He grabbed the back of Kanda's coat, and took off with him.

Kanda cursed, loud and harsh, and Lavi flinched with each promised threat.

As always, Kanda was scary when pissed.

Lavi ran fast, not giving time for Kanda to get his feet under him properly. To avoid face-planting the ground, Kanda had no choice but to run according to Lavi's pull.

Once Lavi was nearly at the gates of the mansion, he extended his hammer high enough to throw them both into the third floor window.

They crashed and tumbled, catching their breath.

The next second however, Kanda's sword came slashing down at him without mercy. With a cry, Lavi twisted his hammer around just in time to block the deadly sword.

Kanda was panting hard, his eyes only focused on Lavi and blind to all.

Uh-oh.

Kanda was really going to kill him at this rate.

Lavi dodged the second swing of Kanda's sword, scrambling to his feet. He desperately defended himself against the heavy strikes of Kanda's sword, attempting to get Kanda to listen to him.

"W-w-wait! Just wait a minute and listen to me, Yuu!"

"Hey! Slow down! Woah!" Lavi jumped backwards, broken glass cracking beneath his feet. "Damn it, Yuu! Just listen to my explanation!"

But Kanda paid him no heed, ignoring his words and proceeded to try and cut him down.

Lavi groaned internally.

If talking didn't work, then…

Praying that it would work out well, he spun around, sliding under Kanda's sword to place himself behind him. Kanda flipped the sword around, twisting his arm just enough to allow him to stab backwards. Lavi barely avoided it, and his shirt received a very neat slash. But he didn't pause, once again grabbing onto Kanda and taking off with him.

They burst into the room at the corner of the mansion, Lavi diving for the coffin's lid immediately after releasing his grip on Kanda. He pulled it open and hid behind the lid.

Kanda's attack abruptly stopped as he stared down at the pale boy in the coffin.

"…Moyashi?" Kanda murmured, surprised.

Lavi sank to his feet, relieved.

It worked.

To think it actually worked.

He knew it; Kanda was actually acquainted with the vampire.

Lavi peeked out from behind the coffin.

"You know him, don't you?" He said, grinning.

Kanda shot him a vicious glare, but did nothing.

Kanda's eyes travelled to the boy, and then his lip curled in irritation. He crouched down before the coffin, and yanked on the front of the boy's shirt, pulling him up.

"Wha – !" Lavi jumped up in shock, unable to believe the way Kanda was handling a scarily strong vampire.

"Oi, Moyashi." Kanda growled, shaking the boy in his grip.

"Waah! Stop that! What if he awakens and kills us both!" Lavi cried out fearfully, rushing out to stop Kanda.

"Tch. Like hell he would." Kanda snorted, violently shaking the vampire again.

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Both Lavi and Kanda suddenly froze when the vampire's eyes slowly blinked open. It took a few tries, but then the boy's eyes were completely open.

On the right, a beautiful silver eye was revealed. But on the left, there was a grotesque blood red eye.

"Moyashi?" Kanda frowned.

The boy blinked, focusing on Kanda.

Then, he opened his mouth.

Large, dangerously sharp fangs protruded from his gums as he growled. He lurched towards Kanda, causing him to quickly raise his sword to block those fangs. The vampire's fangs snapped close around the scabbard, gnawing on it.

The boy suddenly paused, releasing Kanda's sword from his grip. Before Kanda could even blink, the vampire turned and went after Lavi.

Lavi screamed in shock, running away. "I knew it would be mad! This is your fault, Yuu!"

Kanda jumped, swinging his sword down to deal a heavy blow to the vampire's torso. The boy was sent flying back, slamming into the wall.

But he didn't stop.

Somehow, he got to his feet again and attacked.

The vampire's attacks were fast, very much so that Lavi could barely dodge. But although he was fast, his attacks were predictable. As long as Lavi paid attention, he was able to safely avoid the rampaging vampire.

"Damned Moyashi! What the hell are you doing?" Kanda hissed, chasing after the vampire and using his scabbard to deal blows. His attacks weren't strong enough to break any bones, but there would be bruises for sure.

"I don't think he's conscious." Lavi informed Kanda. "Look at his eye. The silver one. It's not really looking at anything, so I think he isn't actually awake. But man, that red eye is creepy. It's shifting all around as if it has a life on its own."

Kanda glanced at the vampire's silver eye, noting that what Lavi said was true. In that case, he should probably beat some sense into that white-haired kid.

"Oi." Kanda called out to Lavi.

"Yeah?"

"Hold him down."

"Huh?"

"Hold that brat down, on his stomach. I'll beat some sense into him." Kanda growled, adjusting his hold on his sword.

Lavi gaped at Kanda for a moment, but he had to look away to dodge as vampire threw himself at him. Though he really did not approve of Kanda's method, he decided to let Kanda handle this vampire since he apparently knew the boy.

After a while and a whole lot of manoeuvring, Lavi finally managed to pin the struggling vampire down.

"I can't hold him down for long, so please hurry." Lavi breathlessly requested.

Kanda only clicked his tongue and unsheathed his sword, stabbing it into the ground, right by the boy's neck. He ignored Lavi's shocked cry.

Reaching down, he buried his fingers into the boy's white hair, using it to lift his head up.

The vampire was growling, snarling, at Kanda. He would snap his teeth at him from time to time, trying desperately to bite.

"Wake up, Moyashi." Kanda hissed.

The vampire thrashed around, and Lavi cursed as he applied more strength to hold him down.

"Just what the hell is wrong with you, Moyashi? If you continue like this, I will cut you down." To make a point, Kanda removed his sword from where it was piercing into the ground and rested it threateningly against the vampire's neck.

The touch of cold metal against his skin had the vampire growling even more, tossing about.

"What? You can't just kill it!" Lavi exclaimed, horrified.

"Shut up, I'll do what I want. Don't interfere." Kanda snapped back, never taking his eyes off the vampire.

Kanda glared down at him wordlessly.

"I will kill you, Moyashi."

He pressed the sword into the vampire's neck, and a thin line of blood trickled from the cut.

Perhaps it was the correct words to trigger the vampire, or maybe it was just a coincidence, but suddenly, the silver eye of the vampire flickered.

It twitched, falling shut, only to open up again a moment later.

And then, the silver eye that Kanda recognised was looking back at him.

The vampire froze, staring at Kanda.

"…K-Kanda?" The vampire asked, his voice breaking between the syllables of Kanda's name.

"Moyashi." Kanda returned.

"He's awake?" Lavi's eye widened in surprise.

The vampire turned around as much as he could, blinking at Lavi.

"…Hi, I'm Lavi. I'm from the Hunter Organisation, but I'm not here on any official orders. So, uh… Nice to meet you." Lavi introduced himself, lips quirking up into a wry smile. Giving an introduction of himself while pinning down someone… It was kind of funny, yet not.

There was recognition in the vampire's eyes that made Lavi curious, but since he wasn't assured of the vampire's sanity yet, he didn't release him.

Without saying a single word to Lavi, the vampire turned away and faced Kanda once again.

"Why are you here?" He asked, directing the question to Kanda. It was clearly difficult for him to speak, and his unused, hoarse voice was painful to listen to, but that didn't stop him.

"That idiot rabbit dug you up from your coffin." Kanda answered.

"You're the one who woke him up in such a violent way!" Lavi retorted, feeling wrongly blamed.

"Oh… You look sort of different, Kanda." The vampire commented.

"What do you expect? It's been ten years."

"Ten years? I see."

The vampire's body suddenly trembled hard, twisting uncontrollably under Lavi's hold.

"Woah, woah! What's wrong, Vampire?" Lavi quickly forced him down, using as much strength as he could.

Kanda stared without flinching as the red eye of the boy squirmed around. Left to right, top to bottom, over and over, the red eye thrashed within the eye socket.

The vampire coughed, his single silver eye glazing over.

Kanda reached down, lightly slapping the vampire. "Oi, focus."

With effort, the vampire brought his gaze up to meet Kanda's eyes.

"…Kanda." The boy murmured.

"What?"

"Kanda, please kill me."

Kanda's eyes widened a little, while Lavi was frozen stiff with shock.

"Why?" Kanda asked.

"It's started. And I can't stop it." The boy answered.

"What do you mean?"

"…Just like Mana. I will end up just like Mana. I will be consumed by this madness, and I will lose myself. ...Kill me, Kanda. While I can still fight for my sanity." The vampire lowered his eyes, looking at the damaged floor.

Kanda frowned.

Mana?

Just like Mana?

In other words, was this 'Mana' also a vampire? But nevermind that, what was this madness the beansprout mentioned?

"What exactly do you mean, Moyashi?"

"This madness consuming me… It may be an accumulation of everything from my long life. It somehow manifests itself into a survival instinct, I suppose." The vampire replied.

"Survival instinct?"

"Yeah. Mana bit me, you see. In his madness, Mana bit me and changed me into a vampire. My body moved according to his will, and I ended up killing him after he had successfully made me into a vampire." The boy blinked at Kanda.

He continued, "This madness… This darkness is always there. It lives within me, growing larger and larger as the years passed. I have lived for a very long time, always fighting against the darkness. It's been so very long, and I've gotten tired. So, so tired of this endless battle going on within me.

"I don't have the strength to fight anymore, and so I'm steadily being swallowed up. I don't care if I disappear. But before I am allowed to die, I have to…" The vampire's words were cut off as a violent shudder racked his body.

Breathless, he continued, "Before I can die, I have to bite someone, change them into a vampire. Even if I do my best to restrain myself, I will lose my own will eventually. And when that happens, I won't be able to control my body anymore. That's why I call it a survival instinct. And the person nearest to me now is you, Kanda."

Kanda frowned, and then asked, "Is there a way to subdue this madness of yours?"

The vampire slowly shook his head.

"I don't know. Perhaps there may be a way, but I don't know it. It's impossible to help someone when you don't have the knowledge needed, isn't that so? It's unfortunate, but I do not have time left to wait until a method is found."

The boy's eyes found their way to Kanda's unsheathed sword.

"I don't want to change you into a vampire. And the person on top of me… Lavi, was it?" The white-haired boy slightly turned his face back, blinking at the person pinning him down. He turned away after a moment. "I recognised him. I've seen him with you. Is he your friend, Kanda? …No, that doesn't matter now. I just don't want to change him either.

"Because I don't want to impose this cruel life onto anyone. It's too painful. No one should have to go through this."

The vampire's gaze was fixed on the ground, eyebrows knitting together as he panted for breath.

"What about blood?" Kanda asked, his voice uncharacteristically subdued.

The boy blinked, raising his eyes to stare at Kanda, questioning.

"Huh?"

"What about drinking blood?" Kanda asked. "Will it hold off this madness of yours?"

"I… I don't know." The boy murmured.

"Didn't you mention something about how my blood affected you differently?" Kanda's eyes narrowed contemplatively. "And with the unique properties of my blood, it will probably aid in overpowering your madness."

A dumbfounded blink or two later, the boy smiled. It was gentle and soft, and he gazed at Kanda almost fondly. But then, he slowly shook his head.

"Thank you, Kanda, for offering to let me drink your blood." The boy's eyes flickered, becoming hazy. "But it's too dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Kanda repeated, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah. There is a very high chance that you will end up being controlled by me, and turned into a vampire. Because that is what happened to me. Remember how I said that my body moved according to Mana's will? It only happened when Mana had sank his fangs into my neck and started consuming my blood. After that, he made me kill him.

"If I were to bite you now, I am certain that you will end up with the same fate. I'm barely holding on as it is. And I really don't want that, Kanda. I don't want to turn you. I won't."

"I'm not weak."

"I know."

"Then why are you being so cautious?"

"It's not because I view you as a weak person, Kanda. I just do not want to take any risk of you ending up being controlled. You are different, right down to your very blood. If I were to bite you, you may end up suffering in a completely different way. And it may not be a good thing."

Kanda fell silent, as did the boy.

Lavi's grip on the boy never slackened, though he did lower his head. He didn't know who this boy was, other than the fact that he was a vampire that Kanda somehow knew. But even so, he could feel a strange sensation bubbling up from within him.

Sadness and pity.

If this was truly the lives that vampires led, then the tales of vampires that humans created were nothing but lies. But Lavi couldn't blame them; there was barely any information on vampires, after all. It's only a given that there would be tons of rumours and lies about these creatures.

Still, to think that the strong, terrifying vampires that dominated the legends were this different… Compared to all the other types of supernatural creatures out there, vampires were the strongest, and the most elusive. They reigned at the top, untouched by anyone.

But now, Lavi knew the truth.

They were certainly strong, but at the same time, they were the most pitiable.

The strength that they held came with a suffocatingly heavy price.

The boy suddenly laughed, hoarse and bitter. Both Kanda and Lavi flinched, startled.

"You know… If it is my fate to go mad and die, then there's only one thing I wish for: to choose my death. I want to be freed by your blade, Kanda. So, please kill me. Before I lose the little control I have left."

Kanda didn't speak, only quietly watching as the boy breathed laboriously. He gave Kanda a smile, but his single silver eye remained dull and lifeless.

Finally, Kanda stood up, sword in hand.

"What do I have to do?" He asked.

"Rip out my heart." The boy said. "Last time, I ate Mana's heart. But you don't have to do that. Just rip out my heart and slice it into pieces, until it can no longer regenerate." The boy's voice was steadily growing faint as he gave Kanda the instructions.

A single look from Kanda was all it took for Lavi to nod in agreement.

He flipped the vampire over onto his back, where his chest was exposed to Kanda's sword. Then he shifted back, away from both Kanda and the vampire.

Kanda rested his sword on the boy's chest, gauging the place where his heart was.

"…I'll grant you your wish now, Moyashi."

Raising his sword up, Kanda brought it down with startling force, stabbing it through the vampire's chest without hesitation.

The boy chuckled, blood spilling down his chin.

"It's Allen, BaKanda."

Kanda twisted his sword, and pulled it out with a single, harsh tug.

At the tip of his sword, was Allen's heart.

Allen was still awake even after that, watching Kanda. He didn't seem to be in pain, but he may just be concealing it. Kanda glanced at him, pausing momentarily, and Allen noticed. A little smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he blinked.

There was no regret nor uncertainty in Allen's eyes, in fact, he actually seemed peaceful.

Kanda grunted, and with resolute determination, he sliced up the heart.

It was only a moment later that Allen's body slowly began to disintegrate, leaving behind a pile of ashes in its wake. The heart too, had starting burning down.

All the while, Allen's smile never faded.

In his last moments, he opened his mouth and in a voice that contained more air than actual words, he softly whispered, "Thank you."

A strong gust of wind suddenly blew into the room, lifting the ashes up in a spiralling dance. They flew out the only window, vanishing into the sky.

Kanda tilted his head up to stare at the bright blue sky, his hair gently caressing his face in the remnants of the sudden breeze.

His lips moved, but not even a whisper of sound slipped past them.

Farewell, Allen Walker.

End.