The snow flakes were falling slowly and silently to the ground, which already had about five inches covering the entirety of her surroundings. it muffled everyday sounds which seemed much louder in the summertime, creating a quiet atmosphere. The shop windows were lined with lights, as were some of the lamp posts.

Late night bars, restaurants, and coffee shops were thriving as heavily as ever in the later afternoon. She stopped in a nearby coffee shop, grabbing herself a large drink before heading back outside, pulling her hood over her head. Taking a sip of her drink, she enjoyed the burn on her tongue, feeling the hot liquid flow down her throat and warming her stomach. She headed up toward the center of town. It was void of vendors, but filled with a few dozen people and kids as they went about their business.

"Master? Sensei!"

Maya lowered the coffee from her lips, seeing Hikaru and a few other young hunters across the way. She gave a small smile as he ran over, sliding to a stop in front of her. Now almost seventeen, he was definitely a little taller than her. He still looked lively as ever, with a spring in his step and bright eyes. Yagari had taken Hikaru under his wing after Maya's dismissal, much to his chagrin. Although her pupil was still young, he had already mastered almost all of his skills in the training department, and had already gone on three missions as a full-fledged hunter.

"Hello there," she greeted. "I'm not your sensei anymore, kid."

He brushed her off with a grin. "I wouldn't say that, you trained me for nearly four years. Besides, I have a unique skill set because I trained under you."

"Skills, agreeable. Attitude, hard to believe." She stated, taking another sip of coffee.

"I put up with everyone's bullshit a lot better than I thought I could."

This made Maya genuinely chuckle. "You got something from me after all. Where are you and your friends headed anyway?" She glanced at his friends who were still standing there, waiting for him and talking amongst themselves.

Hikaru seemed hesitant to answer at first, but told her anyway. "That public courthouse. That's been the meeting place of all three sectors for a while now. Their gonna speak about that pureblood that's been causing a fuss. The human public is just asking more and more questions and we don't know how to respond."

"Well, its nothing new. Can I walk with you and your friends to the courthouse? I've been wondering what my ex-pupil is up to." Maya didn't want to pry or force herself into a situation into which Hikaru would get into trouble. What was going on in that courthouse was none of her business. Besides, Maya had other plants, none of which bothered with anyone in that courtroom. The two of them walked past the friend group, who followed close behind. Maya asked Hikaru about his missions, and how he was dealing with Yagari's training methods. They were still quite a few blocks from their destination when the ground rumbled under their feet.

"What was that?" One of the young hunter's asked behind her. They all stopped, hearing it again. Maya's nose caught whiff of dust and smoke before seeing it over the tops of buildings. 

"It's coming from the courthouse." Maya replied. Without a second thought, she dropped her drink and phased to her wolf form, sprinting through the less-crowded streets and leaving the young hunters in the dust. She rounded the corner, booking it through a few alleyways before  finding the building. 

The top of it was gone, bricks and shrapnel everywhere. From the center, there was a mass of flames. Humans, vampires, and hunters were staring at the mess in horror. It looked as though the crowd had been waiting for some kind of verdict from whoever was supposed to give it after the meeting. Maya used her powerful legs and jumped over the crowd, sprinting straight into the building. To humans, she looked nothing more like an oversized dog.

Once she was inside, she turned human, raising an arm to shield herself from any falling debris. Vampires, hunters and wolves were all running past her toward the exit, some injured, some not. A lot of them were helping each other, race not mattering at the moment as they all tried to stay alive. 

Maya snagged a vampire without looking, when she did, she saw who it was. "Yoshiro?"

The aristocrat looked at her with wide eyes. "It's you, what are you doing here?"

"What's going on?"

"A bomb went off, it decimated the courtroom. Then a pureblood just appeared out of nowhere. He's murdering members of all three councils left and right."

Maya's body grew cold, she shoved him toward the exit. "Is there anyone else left in that room?"

"I don't know," Yoshiro yelled as he ran, exiting the building with the last person in sight.

Maya, in turn, ran the opposite way, straight into the open-roofed courtroom. The smell of death was foul as it mixed with ash and smoke. Hoping over crashed support beams from the roof, she spotted someone pinned underneath one of them. It was her cousin; alive, but sporting a bleeding gash on his head and what looked like to be a broken leg. Maya braced herself, hooking her hands under the beam and using her legs to pull and push it off of him. She had a large amount of strength reserved, and this was a good time to use it. "Crawl out, hurry."

Shou did, yelling in pain as he did it. "Goddamn it!"

There was a creaking groan as Maya let go of the beam with a grunt. She looked around for the supposed pureblood, but he was nowhere to be seen. Maya hoisted her cousin up, wrapping an arm around his waist and supporting him.

"What the hell happened?" She asked, helping him quickly but carefully toward the exit, or at least to where nothing was going to fall on him again.

Shou let out a grunt. "Like it's any of your business."

They almost reached the exit when she felt something wrap around her waist. There was only enough time for Maya to shove her cousin out the front door before she was yanked back down the hall. Sailing though the air, she was dragged back into the courtroom and thrown to the floor.

"I knew you'd show up." Raiden stated.

Maya stood drawing her gun. She snarled, enraged. "What the hell are you doing, Raiden. Why are you causing so much trouble?"

Her brother gave a slow clap. "Finally! My god, I was wondering when you'd ask. It's all because of you."

A surprised noise escaped her. "How could it be my fault? Father was the one to blame. For everything. What happened to your fiancée was not my fault, neither was the way he treated you. If anything, you should be ashamed of yourself. You turned out just like him in the end."

Another explosion rocked another part of the building, debris fell from above around them.

"You did too, not as malevolent, but idealistic and stupid nonetheless. I wanted to make father proud, and in turn, he hated what I'd done."

"You turned so many humans into vampires, you made a murderer out of my son, and then you killed father. Is that not clear enough? The ideals father was working toward was never something you wanted to follow, even when we were little. Even if people are entitled to their opinions, it doesn't make them in the right all the time." Maya took a step back, taking in her own words. 

Raiden raised an eyebrow, taking in her expression. "Being a bit hypocritical are we."

"Shut up. I killed people because I had to, not because I wanted to. Kaname and I were both trying to prevent what you were causing. I can't let it happen anymore. I have people I want to protect, and that is something I know you don't have."

"What is the point in getting attached to anyone, knowing you will outlive them in the end." He stated.

"Then there would be no point to existence at all. People are social creatures, no matter if you are just a regular human, or a supernatural being. They thrive on connection and history, to which shapes them into who they are. You and I lived for a long time, and that answer is evident within itself. Kaname and Naomi cared for you, I still care for you. You are my brother, but you are finalizing any doubts I had."

"You're wrong-"

"I'm not wrong. You bask in the light of your hell, you enjoy it, so much so that you had to do it all over again when you awoke. It was like nothing had changed. I wish I could say otherwise, but then I'd be lying to myself" -Maya looked at the ground, sighing- "I wish things had turned out differently so that we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Are you going to try and kill me?"

Maya looked back up at him. "I can't afford to let you leave this place."

She raised a hand to her mouth, canines elongating into wolf-like fangs and she bit down on her thumb, then wiped it across the barrel of Bloody Fang. The gun glowed bright, glowing metal ribbons sprouting from the gun itself. They hardened into spikes, shooting down into the ground, and then sprouting like deadly needles across the broken floor toward Raiden, who barely had time to jump out of the way.

____________

-Outside the building-

Zero, Kaien, and Yagari and around two dozen other hunters, vampires and dire-wolves stood outside at a safe distance, listening to the sounds of battle from within. The humans and other onlookers had been cleared far away, giving this place a wide birth.

"Who the hell is in there," Yagari yelled, "because this is a complete disaster, and we're sitting ducks."

All of them ducked, shielding their heads when a part of the building blew outward. They gawked as immense metal spikes retracted back out of sight, causing Yagari to mumble of choice words.

"Excuse me, hunter?" Prodded an unfamiliar voice. "I know whose in there, I saw her run in and never come out."

The three of them turned to find Akutsuki Kain, and another similar looking aristocrat approaching.

"Spit it out then, vampire." Yagari growled.

Kaien threw the dark haired hunter a dirty look, but didn't say anything, knowing there was nothing that could be done to pull in his angry attitude.

"It's Maya Takamiya. I didn't recognize her at first when she grabbed me, but it was definitely that woman."

Kaito, who had been standing quietly in the background of the situation, overheard and ran forward. "I'm going in there after her."

Zero grabbed the panicked older brother of his best friend. "No! Don't. Are you crazy? You'll get killed."

Kaito shoved Zero away from him, hard, but he didn't run toward the fight either. "That's my little sister, you bloodsucking bastard. She's fighting that pureblood right now."

There was another flash of light as the rest of the roof was blown off, followed by a few shots of gunfire. Followed by another, then another.

"There's nothing we can do accept wait. This matter will take forever to explain to the humans, and it will have its consequences." Kaien explained. 

They listened to the fight drag on for another thirty minutes before it stopped. The silence was deafening.

___________________

-Back inside- 

Maya stood in front of Raiden, her head nearly touching his shoulder as she gripped her sword, the blade buried all the way to the hilt through Raiden's heart. She'd kept the weapon concealed under her long coat, waiting for the proper time to use it. 

Tears streamed down her face as she stood there with him. Raiden's hand gripped her upper arms as if to steady himself. The same diamond-like dust began to rise from the wound in Raiden's heart as he slowly passed.

Through a pained gasp, Raiden whispered something in her ear, enveloping her in a hug. Maya's eyes widened as Raiden disappeared in a flurry of dust, leaving her to fall to her knees, sword clattering to the ground. Sobbing, Maya hammered a fist against a stone brick in incontrollable frustration.

Sniffing, she got up and sat down on the pile of rubble at the center of the room. Maya stabbed the sword into the debris, clutching the hilt with a trembling hand. Her own blood soaked her clothes, making them uncomfortable and stuck to her skin.

"You bastard," she croaked, glaring at where Raiden once stood. The insult was sorrowful.

"MAYA! Maya where are you!"

Kaito's voice echoed  in the broken space. Maya didn't respond, knowing he'd find her. She sensed other familiar auras with him.

"There you are, thank god. I- Maya?"

She lifted her gaze seeing her brother, best friend, adoptive father, and teacher all staring at her mortified expression.

"He bit me."