Noise. All day long, C3 headquarters had been so full of noise - sirens blaring through the halls, the CLANG! CLANG! SHIIIING! of weapons used by two comrades at perilous war with each other, screams of those dying, those afraid, and those afraid for the dying. As the cieling caved in, what fell from above met the floor with a thunderous boom that shook the entire building. Most jarring, however, was the ear-splitting bang of a pistol being fired...

...no...most jarring was just the delicate ring of a single jingle bell, because after that, all was utterly quiet, eerily so.

The heels of Kuro's boots made no sound as they hit the tile floors in his mad dash.

The bell had gone silent, despite the way it was jostled and flung about with Kuro's anxious speed.

There wasn't even a heartbeat in Kuro's chest, and he didn't allow himself to hear any of the dreadful thoughts that so furiously wanted to attack his mind. He only allowed one - find Mahiru. The silence only accentuated that motive, made it grow louder and stronger. He just had to believe...

The halls all looked the same, each one the pale gray of an insane asylum. To Kuro, that was exactly what these chilling moments were - insanity. Kuro could easily tip himself over the edge, if he didn't keep his mind blank. He could easily catapult himself into a river of despair, if he didn't soley focus on hope.

Hope? What a pointless emotion.

When Kuro arrived upon the scene, that is what two hateful gray eyes seemed to tell him...these eyes, were Touma's.

Beyond the towering figure, flowing purple mixed with flowing red. Kuro never thought he would see her here, and he never thought he would see her like that, ever...his sister. Lying beside her was the heap of a lost child known as Tsurugi, still breathing, but in a far from decent shape.

It was only a few feet past Kuro's left where all his true horrors lay, lay bleeding on the tile floor. The servamp felt his knees tremble and eventually give in to his grief, much like the rubble from the cieling he'd long since abandoned. A sliver of hope still stirred within, and that was how Kuro managed to crawl towards his eve, to check on him. With each centimeter's advance, Kuro's blood ran colder and colder, but not colder than the eyes through which Touma watched him squabble so hopelessly across the floor.

Finally hovering over his eve, the servamp could get a layout of Mahiru's injuries. To say the least, the sight was greusome, but somehow, the teen was still intact...and breathing. Frantically, Kuro placed a hand on Mahiru's shoulder and gave it a nudge. "Mahiru," he called softly, as if by some miracle, his voice could weave its way through the crevices of Mahiru's unconcious mind and awaken him.

"As if by some miracle, your voice could reach him." Touma still stood where Kuro had first spotted him, but his words felt like cold breath running down Kuro's neck.

Neck, blood. Breath, life.

There was only one way Kuro knew how to solve this, and yet, he didn't know if he could for sure. It wasn't his conscience that was getting in the way this time around. You want to live, Mahiru. I know you do. Kuro could just picture that sunny grin. You have something you're fighting for in your life, you have something you're fighting for now. You're fighting for people. You want to live. The vampire opened his jaws, ready to puncture his own bottom lip. And that is why -

"No, no. Not doing that, now." As if this was a command, a chain whipped out from behind Touma and instantly wrapped around Kuro's neck, the heavy metal links pinching his skin. Before he knew what to think and how to react, the chain violently hauled the servamp across the corridor. There, the chain released and returned to Touma's possession, leaving the strangled servamp to convulse and gasp far away from his dying eve.

Touma only continued in a business-as-usual manner, like the worse he'd done was take up Kuro's plate of catfood for 5 minutes. "Though, it makes me wonder. How old were YOU when you died?"

Still, Kuro was choking - he'd be rendered unable to answer for a while. Still, Touma watched him through dead eyes, hands patiently placed in his pockets. "You look like you were 18 when you died. Even if you are hundreds of years older than me, my legs are still longer than yours. " He was in no rush to end the servamp before it recovered, because the man was very confident that he would kill him later anyway. "Yes, tonight, you will die again, just like your sister has. Except, you actually managed to get an eve before you died." Silly Tsurugi. If only he really knew what was best for him and that wretch. "At least you won't see the other side alone."

Kuro wheezed, "I won't..." The meekness in his voice made it sound as if the servamp was giving in to the cruel human, agreeing with him. A hoarse cough rattled through him, and it seemed that was all he needed to recover...

...and it was Touma's words that provided Kuro with all he needed to regain power. "I won't, and neither will Mahiru," he declared, a little more strongly as he hoisted himself from off the ground. In seconds, claws thrust from his hands, blue smoke eminating thickly from them. This time, he didn't need Mahiru's blood to make this transformation - he just needed the right motivation. "But YOU will." Almost as quickly as the claws appeared, they made a lunge for Touma's throat in a fatal charge.

Fortunately for Touma, with those long legs and sharp reflexes, he was able to dodge the attack. Fortunately for Kuro, he'd landed right beside Mahiru's body. It wasn't the fact that Kuro could try reviving his eve again that made this so "fortunate" (after all, Touma could just yank him back with that dreadful chain again). That would be considered a mere "convenience." "Fortune" is "redemption," and seeing Mahiru's body was realizing how far Kuro was going...too far. Murder was not the way to go, and it surely wasn't what Mahiru wanted. The claws vanished, and Kuro stood still, back turned on the enemy.

If I could have it my way, what hurt you would be dead and gone forever.

If I could have it my way, you wouldn't even be laying there.

If I could have it my way, I would have run faster. I would have caught on to the danger more quickly.

But no. This needs to be done your way. Mahiru...what do you want me to do?