Vampire Knight chapter 78~! :D
Hi everybody~! :D It's the loveliest time of the month again! X3 *dances happily with the new chapter arrival*
EDIT: Post is updated~! :D ♥
Here's some lovely scans + a chapter summary~! Sorry it was late, I'm still buried in work and trying to finish it all on time before this weekend. ^^;
I got to go buy LaLa really quickly the other day as I mentioned, but unfortunately I couldn't come back with enough time to read and edit the post until now. ORZ
First, have some lovely Kana-chan all angsty and looking so sexily uke-like. 8D
Unfortunately there was no color pic of Zerorin this time around,
but I like to think that lavender-colored butterfly might be him. 8D
As mentioned above, I'm on a really tight schedule and would really prefer not have to work throughout the Christmas weekend, so, uhm. ^^;; *rushes by*
As a result, sorry if the post could only be updated now, so much later than I'd like it to be, and sorry if it might be less coherent/less properly written than I would have hoped. (Please don't flame me for it or jump to any assumptions when you read about the theories either. ^^; I love all of the characters, and besides I am just a messenger, not the mangaka, so please no lynching for whatever characters do in the manga either. Whatever they do or say is not my fault. And when I fangirl random mind images in the middle of a dramatic chapter, it just means VK is irresistibly sexy, and not that I am in any way 'disrespecting' the canon or whatever. ^^;)
But late and rambly as it may be, the post also has lovely scans and the full detailed summary + translations of the stuff they're saying, so hopefully it will be enjoyable~! :D ♥
Here's the first part of the post, which I wrote based on the sneak peek, before I got to go out and buy LaLa/read the whole chapter. ^^
I'm just rushing by quickly because things are ridiculously busy at the moment so I won't have time to post much right now, but I just wanted to say that as soon as I can take time to write a summary etc. for VK78 I'll be back and do it. :D
LaLa arrived so early this month~!♥ Although I'm stuck with work and have been lamenting for several hours that I didn't get to rush out and buy it right away. XD; *had someone call her from the store to say they had arrived and were out of the truck...* T^T *VK addict, needs it*
In any case, for the time being you can see some scans already, in 零新一点's blog, from the Chinese scanlation group 玖玖爱枢 ("99 Love Kaname"). :D *rushed here to share the link after noticing the blog had been updated*
So stay tuned, and I'll be back when I can crawl out from beneath my pile of workstuff to dive into lovely VK deliciousness~! X3
♥♥♥
Hopefully some time soon I can also find a moment to reply to everybody in the post about Christmas VK fanstuff and the scans of the VK bonus chapter earlier this month. ^^/ *has been meaning to since forever but has been terribly out of time* D:
And... here's some spoilers and ramblings already, (written based on the sneak peek). :D
Kaname shows up at the school!! In the same page/place where Yuuki and Zero are!! *___* ♥ *is extremely happy & hyper with hope that there might be any kind of fangirlable interaction between Zero and Kaname. *____* ♥♥♥
(And, err, Yuuki with them too, but you know what I mean, that comes after the delicious yaoi!! *lol* XD
And onto het fanservice, there's a very interesting scene in which Yuuki is walking away and Zero grabs her shoulder and appears to turn her around to face him~ 8D~~~~~♥♥♥ I can't wait to drool all over the scene more in detail, it looks like it would be very hot. X3
It's immediately before Kaname's arrival, which then ends the chapter... leaving us with a cliffhanger as the trio meets again!! XD;;;
Also an important point, Sara says that Yuuki took back from under Sara's control the brainwashed members of the Night Class, but that it's okay since she (Sara) was able to spread untrue info to her heart's content to deceive Yuuki & people around her...!! D: (It is the meaning of 混乱に陥れる, "to spread false rumors to deceive and confuse people".)
*wonders what happened and what exactly did Sara claim Kaname's "secrets" were, which she had been talking about in recent chapters* Especially now that Sara openly admits that she is lying to Yuuki and Zero to cause trouble.
It's worrisome also since we don't know for sure if she can do it but Sara might also be able to have Takuma say what she wants in order to further deceive Yuuki and others. ^^; (Unless Yuuki brought Takuma back from Sara's control too, but I doubt it would have happened so fast.)
Hopefully Zero and Yuuki won't fall for whatever Sara might have been plotting. D: *worries about how they might react to Kaname's arrival if Sara filled their minds with strange tales* And with Kaname's current thing of trying to push Yuuki away/make Yuuki distrust him, he might not defend himself of the accusation even if they ask him. D:
I wouldn't mind Sara's deception if that resulted in Zero getting angry and there being some kinky Zero x Kaname rough sex as a result, but sadly we know that's not going to happen in canon, so... XD XD *lol* I prefer if they don't fight if it's not going to lead to sexy yaoi. XDD *is shot*
It's kind of ironic that what Sara seems to be doing is the same as what some of the extreme haters in the VK fandom do... the ones who go around spreading false stuff about Kaname being evil incarnate and other nonsense, some of them also extending their rumor-mongering to include slander against people who like Kaname or who talk about him positively. :-/
I don't mean only Kaname-haters; extreme fans on either "side", be them fans of ZxY or KxY, who go around spreading rumors either about the series/any of the characters or about any other fans, both exist. And on either side they are such a depressing element of this fandom. :-/
Such things are pretty much only encountered in fandoms with a large part of the fanbase being very young. *wishes they would realize what a waste of time such a thing is, and how much more enjoyable the series would be for all if they focused on enjoying the manga rather than trying to destroy the characters they dislike and the fans of said characters* -_-;;
EDIT to add: Kaname_no_Sora from the Chinese scanlation group "99 love Kaname" posted their scanlation of vk78. :D♥
And Senbyafanatic kindly made a translation of the Chinese scanlation. :D♥
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And from here down is the newer info, including the scans. :D ♥♥♥
IMPORTANT FOREWARNING:
This blog is a peaceful zone that is 100% friendly towards all pairings, and in which all bashing is forbidden, of any characters, pairings, people, anything. ^^/
This place is for enjoying the series, not fighting or wasting time with negativity. ^^ ♥
NO BASHING of any character is tolerated here. It never was, and it still isn't.
In rare occasions I've had to sometimes moderate hate comments (like every other mod in any site), but I try as much as possible to avoid it. I only freeze/lock threads if people start fighting each other, and actual comment moderation only happens if people get offensive and aggressive bashing or flaming with vulgarities etc. instead of talking normally.
If you're not bashing or flaming, you're totally fine, but if you are here to pour out hatred and negativity for any of the characters, for any pairing or for people who enjoy characters or pairings you hate, then please think before posting, rather than impose your hatred on others. ^^;
All VK fans are always welcome here and are totally welcome to fangirl VK/characters/pairings/etc. as much as they want, but please don't bring negativity or hatred. ^^;
Fandom is more enjoyable with positive feelings. :D♥♥♥
Sorry for the depressing opening, but over the years I get more and more tired of so many people acting aggressively to others in the fandom, and even more so of the trolls who every so often come by and either bash here or flame me for liking both pairings, or who think I should like one and hate the other. There's extreme fans like that on either side of the main two pairings... and that's without mentioning the ones who hate yaoi also. :-/
I barely have any time to enjoy fandom, but I always try to drop by, post news, I love drawing fanarts & writing etc. and post them whenever I can do any... I would very much like to enjoy fandom instead of having to keep ducking & dodging around the chaos of people who enjoy fighting, bashers, haters, etc. ^^;
Fandom is supposed to be positive and happy, and not a dark serious thing where people discuss violently and treat others like enemies rather than fellow fans. ^^;
That's not how I view fandom. Fandom is for enjoyment and happy moments spent fangirling with friends and fellow fans. ♥
I'm particularly worried because whenever there's anything in the manga that remotely makes people focus on the rivalry etc. between Zero and Kaname, very young fans feel some odd necessity to try and "destroy" the character they perceive as "the enemy of their beloved". 9__9 So the fighting and bashing etc. gets even worse. D:
I'm hoping we can all have a lovely VK Christmas instead of having all of us from the peaceful fandom parts hiding in a bomb-shelter while all the bashers and people into hatred duke it out.
This chapter has some events in it that make me fear people on either side might explode into bashing Kaname and Zero. ^^;;; Due to the aftermath of that spider web Sara started weaving when she started telling things to Zero in the previous chapter.
I'm fearing people might explode and bash both Kaname and Zero so much. T__T;
Kaname because some might believe everything Sara said (so many people don't even try to understand the character, so people who like to think he is evil incarnate could easily assume the worst. Even though Sara explicitly says she was spreading false rumors.
We have no way to know if whatever she told Zero about Kaname is a complete lie or if there could be any parts of truth to it, we don't have a way to know anything yet. But people always rush to bash anyway, even more so in a situation like this.)
And Zero because people might get angry that he believed Sara, or angry at some of the things he ends up doing in this chapter, after he's pushed further into despair by thinking Sara is right and by thinking the chairman might have had a part in it all also. ^^; (As a result, Zero might have been feeling cornered and thought Sara would be on his side, hence him ending up covering up Sara's guilt when asked about the tablets by the Hunter Association, and later ending up standing up against Yuuki and telling her that he will not let people go against Sara. ^^;; )
But none of those justify bashing either of them, or their fans! ^^;
Bashing ruins the fandom enjoyment of the rest of us. T_T
And anyway:
1) There's no proof so far of whether Sara's rumors about Kaname are anything more than complete lies.
We could always theorize about whether they might be entirely made-up or whether they might have any truth to them, but Sara did say she was making up false rumors to confuse Yuuki and "people around her" (Zero)... so she was lying, whether completely or partially we don't know yet.
2) As for Zero's reaction to the above, considering how he feels about purebloods, Sara's blow was perfect to make him believe this, and with the whole mess with the HA, it wouldn't be surprising if he felt he might not be able to trust them completely either, which would add to him feeling lost and ending up falling for Sara's tricks. T_T It's not anything that reflects badly on his character or anything like that, Zero must be feeling very lost right now and that pushed people to sometimes react oddly. He needs to be saved too. T_T
In any case, even if Sara manages to trick Zero for now, I really don't think he'd ever fight Yuuki, so we can hope Yuuki can fix things soon, hopefully. ^^; She is the one and only who can always drag either of the guys back onto safe grounds. ^^<333
Hopefully Yuuki will get through to Zero soon. *finds Sara hot but is not much into pairings in which Zero is with random other people and not with either of the two Kurans* Sara can go be kinky on the other characters, but please leave Zero alone! XD;;; He's Yuuki's territory (and Kaname's also in my happy fangirly dreams. X3♥)
So, uhm, please give both of the guys the benefit of the doubt and proceed with gentleness, rather than bashing the crap out of either of them or of anyone who is a fan of them. T_T;;
And back to trying to describe the chapter in a more chronological manner, here we go. XD;
LaLa had a little karuta game thing going on (karuta is a type of traditional Japanese card game), and the cards had images from LaLa series. For VK they reused that lovely Kaname cover from some time ago. I've been meaning to scan it since people were asking for it, but didn't get to go back looking for that chapter in my LaLas yet.
But I scanned the karuta version though, and it's nice because it doesn't have any title etc. all over it. ^^
He's so lovely sitting on the ground like that. X3 (Lovely in a sexy way, but also lovely in a kind of despondent angsty way that makes you just want to reach for him and make the pain go away... XD;;
With all of their suffering, VK characters are such prime candidates for epic fangirlable stuff appealing to fans of Hurt/Comfort fanfics etc. XD;
Particularly, whenever either Kaname or Zero make a pose like that, my mind gets infested with mind images of the other one (whichever isn't doing the pose XD) taking them into their arms and holding them, soothing away their fears and pains etc. X3<333
My happy VK mind images are more and more distant from the current depressing canon. T^T But well, Zero x Kaname in love and happy is such a delicious fanon setting that it doesn't matter if it's so far from canon.
I scanned a handful of pages of the manga itself, to show the lovely trio, especially in their reunion finally~ ^^/ (Even if said reunion is so dramatic right now.)
The opening page, with Yuuki standing bravely with the opening line saying she can actually feel Sara's intentions, in the pills.
The chapter title is pollution/contamination.
The chapter opens with Yuuki having difficulties with her confiscation of the tablets, because Night Class students are going crazy over it and having to be restrained etc. A boy attacks Yuuki and ends up drinking her blood, at which point she realizes that the previous incident wasn't random, and that it's her blood that can save them from the brainwashing of the tablets.
With Aidou's help, Yuuki puts some of her blood in a vial and gives little bits of it to the students. (It's not expressly shown, but we see the aftermath with Aidou with the vial of blood etc.)
Meanwhile, Rima is concerned by the fact Shiki is still taking more and more of the contaminated tablets, although he states they aren't affecting him. (Whether it's true or not, is left to ponder. He has Kuran blood after all, so he is stronger than a random lower rank noble.)
This scene is important, setting up something for later in the chapter... ^^
Yuuki's tactic is a success, and the Night Class is back to normal.
A now tired Yuuki intends to use the same method to "cure" everybody affected by the tablets elsewhere.
Aidou points out she'll dry up doing that, with how much blood would be needed. Yuuki realizes, and is concerned by the fact that if she does so, she'll need blood again, so it would be a problem. (Meanwhile, I was bouncing everywhere going "Nooo, it's not a problem!! It just means you could have delicious fanservicey blood drinking with Zerorin! 8D", but sadly Yuuki seems to be holding back. XD *pushes her and Zerorin back into sexy!blood-drinking!forest* XD XD)
Aidou says that since Sara did this using blood tablets, Yuuki could cancel out her effect the same way. They could use Takuma's company for that effect, but they also realize that it had to be from his company that the contaminated tablets came.
Meanwhile, Ichijou has been standing there for a while, leaning in the doorway looking odd. Aidou calls him out on the fact Ichijou had a hand in the Sara!tablets, through his company. Yuuki has a somewhat shocked face, and Takuma turns around without responding to them, and leaves in the company of some of Sara's minion girls.
Yuuki and Aidou decide to interrupt the Ichijou company's tablet production. (Incidentally, I keep getting moe vibes from badass!Aidou in this chapter. XD And while I don't usually randomly ship Yuuki with people other than Z & K, I keep having lovely Aidou x Yuuki moe. X3 Perhaps Zerorin & Kana-chan could elope together on one side, and Aidou & Yuuki could do the same on another side. XD<333 *lol*)
Meanwhile, Rima is searching for Shiki. She wanted to give him some of Yuuki's blood (Rima was helping Yuuki and Aidou when the mess started), but Shiki disappeared/left, after swallowing an entire sheet of the contaminated tablets. D:
The scene switches to the Hunter Association headquarters.
Zero is returning from doing hunter work, and throughout the upcoming scenes he looks angstier than usual. (He's still smoking hot like always though XD;;; *wants to lick the pages where he appears*)
Yagari informs him that the Association president has summoned him. Before Zero goes, Yagari asks if Yuuki isn't coming, and when hearing that no, he says that Kaien is pitiful, as "even his beloved adopted daughter has turned her back on him". D:
Yagari is also already aware of the stuff that's been happening with Yuuki intervening about the tablets.
Yagari orders Zero to get done with whatever the president (Kaien) wants, and quickly return to the school, with orders of 1) returning to observe/do surveillance on Yuuki Kuran (so the HA was already before being so open about wanting to use Zero for that, since Yagari said 'return to'?!...the term used by Yagari is the same used when a guard watches over a prisoner, rather than a protective watch), and 2) to not interfere with Kaname/cause him any trouble under any circumstances.
We already knew this is Yagari's position as he hopes Kaname will wipe out all the other purebloods for him, but to actually give Zero such orders... ^^;
At the second one, we are finally shown Zero's face, and his eyes widen before his face turns into a sorrowful frown, although he has his back to Yagari, who can't see.
That face!! T____T *wanted to reach into the page and try to console Zerorin* T^T
While I trust that Zero would just appear to obey the HA but wouldn't actually make a move to cause any harm to Yuuki even if they told him to, his reaction to the mention of not hindering Kaname is clearly caused by whatever Sara has filled his mind with in the previous chapter. D:
Since until now Zero's position was that he approved of what Kaname was doing and did not wish to interfere.
He reacted that way when Yagari said the second part of the order, but I'm sure that he's also feeling bad about having to do surveillance on Yuuki, even if I'm sure he wouldn't truly follow their orders on that subject.
It also makes me wonder, we know Yagari has Kaito spying as well, so he has Zero under orders of spying/watching Yuuki, Kaito under orders of spying/watching them both (and if you remember, with the idea of using the ZxY relationship to manipulate them into obedience if need be D:), and possibly other agents also...?
Yagari seems terribly well informed, to give this order to Zero all of a sudden, when he should not have know that Zero's outlook on Kaname has changed since the previous evening. O_o
One can wonder, if it was merely for the sake of dramatic situations, or is Yagari somehow having a very intricate network of spies beyond even what we already know? O_o It's not impossible...
Or he might simply have sensed turmoil in Zero and said that just in case.
In any case, this is when things in the chapter take a turn for the even more worrisome.
Zero goes to the chairman, with the intention to try and find out whether Kaien knew about Kaname's plans.
This is only revealed later in the chapter, but as it turns out, Sara claimed Kaname should be blamed for everything that happened in Zero's life, and Zero is now torn and grasping for the truth, trying to find out whether the adoptive father who took him in and who was then so close to Kaname, knew of this and played along too, as Kaname's accomplice.
We don't know for sure whether Zero was hoping to find out whether the rumor is true or not or if he came already certain that it truly is Kaname's fault, but from the way the scene unfolds, it appears Zero thinks the rumor is true and is trying to find out whether Kaien would admit it or lie to him by denying it. It's subtle though, so we can wonder.
The conversation starts with Kaien mentioning that he summoned Zero because he was hoping to be able to ask him directly, since lately no one in the HA gives him detailed reports anymore (if you remember, they had that mutiny meeting before, because he wants to stop Kaname, while the others hope for a destruction of the purebloods.)
Kaien mentions that Kaito does give him some reports on Yuuki and stuff though. So perhaps Kaito is somewhat stuck between both worlds, as you probably recall to that Kaito was the one to express shock at Yagari's plan s to manipulate Zero and Yuuki to the HA's advantage if need be.
In any case, Kaien mentions that he knows about Yuuki and the Night class intervening recently to stop vampires doing bad things, and he is proud and happy that she grew up to be like that. Zero asks him if Kaien was hoping there would be more "convenient" purebloods like that. Kaien is surprised by the way Zero said that, and Zero reveals that he can feel the presence of the pureblood they are still keeping within HA walls, Touma.
Kaien explains again that he is keeping him there because of thinking that Kaname was going to kill him, and says that he just wants to prevent unnecessary loss of life, human or vampire.
Throughout the chapter though, and since before, I get more and more the feeling that Kaname is just faking a lot of this, letting them think he's on a mad rampage and out to kill all the others, when he might in fact just be out to kill any of the ones who would be dangerous to humans etc.... Since otherwise, it would make no sense for him to have left Touma alive when he could have easily finished him off that day the chairman and him faced off. (Touma was already injured badly by a hunter weapon).
Same for leaving Isaya alive.
And it would work so well with Kaname's thing of trying to make himself appear much worse than he is, to push Yuuki away so that she would distrust him, by taking on the blame for crimes he's never committed.
I have further theories about him possibly foreseeing Sara's moves, (her decision to try and manipulate Zero was an obvious thing to be expected with her move to the school, so Kaname could well have foreseen she would do this, especially after she was already lying to blame him for things she'd done like killing Ouri.)
In any case, back to the conversation between Kaien and Zero, after Kaien talks of his disapproving loss of life (even though he'd tried to kill Kaname when he didn't know Kaname was using his bats instead of being there in person XD;), Zero says "So you're still a pacifist, huh...?", and they move to the heart of what each wants to know:
Kaien asks Zero if he knows who was spreading those contaminated tablets. Kaien realizes some of the recent problems were caused by those tablets, and asks if Zero knows anything through the Night Class etc.
We see Zero's face shadowed as an image of Sara flashes/appears, but instead of revealing it's her, he affects an expressionless look and claims to the chairman that he doesn't know anything about it. O_O
As Kaien is saying they'll find out sooner or later, Zero then asks him if he knew about Kaname's "plans"... (In other words, if Kaien was aware of what Sara told him. Which would then make Kaien Kaname's accomplice in the sin Sara claims Kaname committed).
Kaien comments that Zero is asking this in a strange fashion, and confirms that he knew Kaname's plans, although that he didn't know about the new part of it concerning killing the purebloods. (So in other words, he knew about the past parts, just not about the new part about the purebloods etc... which would make that he would have known if Kaname had actually done something bad as a child.)
Kaien also reveals that apparently, Kaname had already once in the past intended to leave Yuuki (which leaves us to wonder if it was for her to be with Zero, though it's not said), but then he realized that it would not be possible (Kaien doesn't says either whether it was because Kaname couldn't bear to part with Yuuki or if it was also because of the knowledge that Juri's spell would fail and destroy Yuuki, thus requiring him to turn back to her vampire self and stick around, but it could well be both), and so Kaname stayed with Yuuki and destroyed the corrupt vampire council to protect her.
Kaien doesn't go in detail on the motivations, but we've seen in past chapters all the angstfest and Kaname's beliefs of being tainted and unworthy of Yuuki, a recurrent theme that every so often results in him thinking she would be happier without him; but since he's also expressed that he can't live without her, the conclusion is that he has no choice but to die. T^T (Wonderful for fanfic angst, but I only hope Yuuki can slap some sense into both of her loved ones so that they'll stop being so self-destructive. ^^;;)
Back to the page, while Kaien is talking about Kaname's past decision to stay with Yuuki and the destruction of the council, Kaien also says it was terrible that at some point during this all Kaname ended up adding Zero to the list of pieces in that chess situation.
The way he says it, while talking about the events of that period, and without any mentions of some dark past or whatever, seems to go along with what we already knew from reading the manga, rather than with Sara's new allegations that Kaname had intended to use Zero since before.
But since Zero was already feeling so unsure of who to trust, he appears to take Kaien's words not as a proof that Sara is lying, but instead as a proof that Kaien may be lying to him. D:
(If you remember, Zero already had suspicions about the chairman since long ago: during the time Yuuki was human and trying to find out about her past, Zero went to the chairman and talked about how he could tell that Kaien was involved in it and lying to Yuuki. He is very good at sensing this kind of thing, and while he has always felt indebted to the chairman for taking him in (as mentioned also in the manga), it appears he has also had some level of distrust for Kaien as well.
Considering that Zero already arrived at the HA HQ with such feelings, and considering how shaken he must be from Sara's manipulation, it's no wonder that anyone in his situation might end up coming to this conclusion. D:)
Zero stares at the chairman with quite an expression (it looks like an almost resigned condemnation, as if he had expected to be lied to by Kaien), to the point that the chairman asks him what's up with that.
Zero says "...No, it's okay [the expression used is a dismissal one, as in to say it's nothing], President Cross."
Zero is utterly hot in that frame, but he also looks so... D: Augh!! T^T It's so painfully angsty, as usual in VK. ^^;
It gives the feeling that something might have broken now, that he'd come there hoping to exorcise some of this, but is instead going to leave with the belief that not only Sara is 'on his side/giving him the truth' but also that people he believed to be family are lying to him, or worse, accomplices of an enemy.
If he perceived Yagari's ongoing intentions to manipulate the love between Yuuki and him as well, Zero must be feeling completely lost over this whole thing, and unable to trust his most close people. T____T
I'm afraid people might bash him because of things like not telling Kaien about Sara and the tablets, but I'm hoping that by putting yourselves in his skin you might see how his situation is so screwed up right now and with the whole feeling of being unable to trust anyone, watched by Kaito, manipulated by his master, possibly also believing he's being lied to by his adoptive father and all, Zero must be unsure of who to trust and more likely to fall into Sara's trap. She really weaved such an efficient web. ^^;
Please don't bash him, or any of them. ^^;;;
Back to the school, Maria is running after Yuuki, and... fanservice time~! X3
It's not fanservice between them, but I bounced so much at the subject of their conversation. X3
I'm not usually into Zero x Maria because the pairing always makes me feel like it has sexy angsty potential but I prefer Zero with Yuuki instead (or Kaname! 8D<3), but this moment had me bouncing both for the Zero x Yuuki aspect and for Maria's beautiful sacrifice (by pushing Yuuki to Zero despite the fact Maria would wish to be with him instead).
Maria is running after Yuuki, asking Yuuki to give blood to Zero. She says she realize that she can't save him from the hunger (since Zero loves Yuuki, and thus craves her blood... that's not mentioned but Maria must know that... which gives me urges for fanfics with her angsting over that and trying to sacrifice her love of Ichiru so that Zero can be happy with Yuuki. X3)
Yuuki tells Maria she knows Zero is hungering, but that she will not go to him. [implied she won't do it from her side and that it has to be Zero who makes the move of asking for her blood].
Please don't bash Yuuki either. ^^;
Maria is shocked and asks why, to which Yuuki responds by saying it's because she is doing this out of respect for Zero.
[She has changed so much since the time when she would simply impose her decision on him... but that's also worrisome, because in his tsun-tsun despair, he needs her to take this angst away from him. ^^; But she does have a point also, because if she imposes her decision on him again, it would be just that, her taking the choice away from him, and as a pureblood no less... while if he decides for himself and acts upon his decision, it would be so much better for him, and for their relationship.<3]
Yuuki then grabs Maria's arm and asks her to come with her. They're going to confront Takuma. Yuuki says she can no longer leave him at Sara's side. :D
But right as they are walking towards the building, a window in one of the higher floors shatters inside-out and the girl who used to be Hanadagi's guard comes crashing down to the ground, having finally managed to make her escape. She is in pain etc., and having difficulties + still wearing the maid outfit and the chain & collar around her neck.
Yuuki runs to her side asking if she is okay, and the girl realizes Yuuki is a Kuran princess.
There's an epic scene with the girl on her hands and knees and the frame cutting out just above her chin, It looks so much like a porn doujinshi frame, hahaha~! XD *is shot*
Yuuki is shocked by what she sees and asks who did such a horrible thing to the girl.
The girl reveals that it was Sara, and begs Yuuki to give her power to avenge her master, who was attacked in his sleep by Sara. She is furious and calling Sara a foxy woman who cowardly invaded the castle while her master was asleep and tore up and devoured his heart.
Yuuki's eyes widen and she goes "Wait... what...?" in shock.
Hanadagi's guard says she didn't get to stay and see her master's last moments (we see her being creepily carried away by an army of Sara!spiders), but that he would never have died if Sara hadn't attacked him and devoured his heart.
Yuuki goes on staring at her with a surprised expression, and has come to the realization that Kaname is not the one who attacked Hanadagi in his coffin.
(They don't go in detail on the attack again, but as you remember, he only arrived well after Sara had already attacked the place and had already devoured Hanadagi's heart.
Hanadagi was about to kill Aidou's dad when Kaname killed Hanadagi instead, prolonging Aidou's dad's life a bit more since then they had that mysterious talk we weren't shown, at the end of which they seem to have decided to do what was done for reasons we don't know yet, since Aidou's dad looked all calm and accepting when Kaname killed him.
Quite something must have happened during the time we weren't shown, and which will most likely be revealed at some point later.)
Right at this point Zero arrives and stands in front of the fallen girl and the kneeling Yuuki, with an odd expression on his face. He asks if she's intending to kill Sara. Yuuki goes "Zero...?", and the girl calls him 'kisama' (it's a term that means "you" but in an insulting manner, so it is usually translated in English as "bastard" and other such terms, since if you translate it as just "you" removing all the insulting tone of it, it loses a lot of the original meaning), and says Zero is the man who came to Sara's room last night. (Not in a pervy way. XD)
Zero then calls Yuuki by her first name!! (Something he used to do when she was human, but which he went to great lengths to hold back from doing ever since she returned to being a vampire, so it's something quite significant.)
But the drama heightens, as in one page he calls her by her name and her eyes widen, and in the next page, he declares to her that he will not allow her to go against Sara. DDD:
Zerorin, please don't believe the foxy woman, listen to Yuuki!! T^T They were finally getting closer again, I'm horrified at them possibly getting even more difficulties if they go further into that setting of being supposed "enemies" as they had said before/in past chapters. T__T
The page has an angsty vibe and goes on to mention dramatically that he "hadn't said her name out loud in so long, but..."
And the scene cuts away from Yuuki and Zero to show Sara, who is all smiles and saying that everything is going as she has foreseen/planned!!
She then goes on to say the line I'd already mentioned in the part of the post about the sneak peek. Sara says that Yuuki took back from under Sara's control the brainwashed members of the Night Class, but that it's okay since she (Sara) was able to spread untrue info to her heart's content to deceive Yuuki & people around her...!! D: (It is the meaning of 混乱に陥れる, "to spread false rumors to deceive and confuse people".)
So whatever it is that Sara exactly told Zero, she does openly admits to us readers that she has lied to them. D:
(I wonder if her story was a more direct one accusing Kaname of doing something when he was still a child, or if she claimed that he is to blame for the existence of the curse that causes the whole mess with hunter twins.
This possibility occurred to me as I read the chapter, and it would make a lot of sense. Sara knows Kaname is the ancestor, and she could easily pin such blame on him. It would then make complete sense for Zero's belief that Kaname is to blame for everything that then happened to his family, since it started with the problem at their birth, and Ichiru growing up weak and being rejected as a hunter by their parents, resulting in his teaming up with Shizuka etc.)
But back to the current page, we then see that Takuma is there with Sara, and that he's the one she's talking to (ah, if only he wasn't under her control and could reveal to the others what she's saying!! D:)
In the usual flowery prose, Sara says her intentions in coming to the school were to manipulate Zero and make him her weapon, and that even if that's all they achieve at the school, it will have been worth it.
She also tells Takuma that she believes that she will be able to reduce Zero to being her servant just like to Takuma. (She uses the term "that child" as others too have used before when talking about Zero in the manga, but it is clear she is speaking of him, as she has just talked about obtaining her "weapon" thanks to the rumors she's made.
The expression Sara used to refer to Zero, "that child", is one that is most often in common speak used to refer to girls, which makes that very often translators assume it has to be about some random girl, which results in strange things. (I forgot if it was in an old scanlation or if it was in one of the international releases of VK, but I recall seeing a page before where someone had Kaien referring to Zero as a "she", due to that mistake. XD;)
But "ano ko" is absolutely not only for girls, and it's an expression Hino-sensei often uses in VK to refer to Zero (I can already hear the delight of the yaoi fans into Zero uke XD *prefers to see him seme, but can see so many things in canon that make it could work either way* X3)
Basically, "ano ko" implies that the person being referred to is younger/weaker/potentially more vulnerable than the person referring to them that way. As such, that expression is commonly used to talk about girls (XD;), but it is also the expression people use to refer to younger males (depending on their age and the age of the person speaking), and ...pets.
So when Kaien sometimes talks about Zero that way, it would be because he views Zero as younger/to be cared for, but when Sara says it, and considering her tendency to have harems/slaves/make people into her pets, I don't think we have to wonder much why she would refer to Zero that way, considering she intends to make him her servant and her weapon. ^^;;
There's a number of things like that in Japanese that would require lengthy explanations or a lengthier wording in a sentence to fully convey all the meaning implied in the original. It's a specificity of the Japanese language, and also why so much of a story is lost in some books or other translations where things are just cut down to "you"/"he"/"she" etc. without all the additional nuances that each word can contain and that a similar equivalent in a different language might not necessarily convey.
But back to the page:
Takuma tells her she is a demon, but also a poor wretched woman. (The second part makes me wonder if he has actual feelings for her even now, as Hino-sensei has been teasing us with, for a while.)
He can also no longer resist and pulls away the hand Sara had caressing his face, and goes for her neck, although apparently not immediately biting. He leans against her (rather sexy pose), and she tells him that what she desires to have is him (Takuma), her harem of girls, vampires serving her all over the world, her "doll" (the Hanadagi guard girl), and Zero, "because he is a convenient weapon that has the power to kill a pureblood." (She is not talking about the Bloody Rose, she actually put it all in the same package calling Zero the weapon, as the image showed him pointing the Bloody Rose.)
She says Zero is the very fruit of Kaname's mortal sin.
That line had me nosebleeding... XD;;; *lol* It's supposed to be so dramatic, but... XD XD;;; *mind is now filled with a variety of Zero x Kaname mind images* (And uhm, maybe Zero can kinkily 'punish' Kaname for whatever naughty XD things he believes the brunet may have done? XD *is shot*)
*bravely refrains from unleashing a torrent of porny yaoi ramblings here* XD Suffice to say the chapter has me worried for canon VK but also dying to write or draw fanstuff. XD XD
Back to the page, someone knocks on the door of Sara's room, and we see that Takuma was drinking her blood. They are interrupted, and she orders him to bring back her escaped doll. Takuma goes, but when he opens the room door, he is surprised to find Shiki.
A hugely moe Takuma x Shiki scene ensues. XD<3
Shiki reveals that he was purposefully taking the tablets, and is throwing away his freedom to be with Ichijou. O_o
In other words, if Takuma is to be Sara's slave, then so he intends to be, so that he can be by Takuma's side.
This actually gives me hope that Takuma might finally find the motivation to break out of Sara's clutches. We know Takuma is extremely powerful despite his young age (he was able to kill Ichiou), but so far he doesn't seem to ever have gotten motivated enough to truly try and make a break against Sara once and for all.
This might be because it is not in Takuma's nature to try that hard if it's primarily for his own sake. But as we've seen during the Rido incident, he gets quite motivated when it comes to saving Shiki instead.
I'm wondering if Shiki's sacrifice is entirely just to be next to Ichijou and both of them get doomed together, or if, as a person with Kuran blood as he is, and far smarter than many give him credit for, Shiki knew that this was the one route he could take to break Takuma free out of Sara's control...
In any case, I'm fangirling them like whoa right now!! 8DDD
The page ends as Shiki is a light in the middle of the darkness with the screentones closing in on him, and the scene moves back to outside, where Zero, Yuuki, and the girl still are.
Yuuki says she is shocked to hear such words from Zero's mouth, about him not intending to let anyone harm Sara.
The Hanadagi guard girl (HGG for shortness XD) stands up with much difficulty and kind of faltering, and says that if he intends to get in the way, then he is like Sara, an enemy of her master. She lunges to attack Zero, but is slammed down into the ground and into unconsciousness.
We see her head slamming down, though we don't see with what. The shadow above makes it look like maybe it was his leg/foot, but there's a bit of tone to the left like an uniform sleeve, so maybe his arm/hand or elbow.
Zero tells Maria to carry HGG away and hand her over to Kaito. He turns away to leave while Yuuki and Maria are looking at the unconscious girl etc. Maria tells Yuuki that she can take the girl by herself, and that Yuuki should go talk to Takuma.
Yuuki then gets up and attempts to explain to Zero about what she found out about HGG.
She says that Sara is the one who attacked Hanadagi in his coffin, and that as such, it wasn't a sudden attack by Kaname, and that he isn't all tainted. <333
She apologizes for having caused such an uproar in the school (the mess with the confiscation of the tablets and everyone running around etc.) and says that once this problem is solved, she will leave to go after Kaname and stop him from what he is doing.
She turns away to go back inside, but her words about Kaname are the proverbial last drop of the bucket/last straw, and Zero snaps. He rushes up to her, pulls her by her shoulder and spins her around.
It's telling of how pervy my VK mind is, that the moment he slammed her into the wall, I automatically got a mind image of them having really kinky & rough sex against the wall, before refocusing on the dramatic conversation. XD;;;; *is shot* I can't help it, with how fast the motion was and the whole tension in the air! XD Kinky!
Wall-sex now please!! XD
Yuuki is surprised and breathes out "Zero...?!"
Zero appears to be furious, and in an increasingly loud voice (as seen from the facial expression and the much bigger letters), he exclaims that "Kaname Kuran's very existence is utterly tainted, to the very last cell of his body".
My brain went to the gutter faster than you can yell "Porn?!"
XD;;;
Please don't lynch me for finding tidbits of moe even in a dramatic chapter. There's no Zero x Kaname in canon, and that's my favorite pairing, so... And if we had to base our enjoyment of VK on nothing but the canon only, it would greatly reduce the enjoyment of the series. ^^;
And besides, the current chapters are so filled with worrisome situationsthat we have to find what little light/moe/fangirlableness anywhere where we can find it. ^^;
I've always made fangirly comments about any moeable images/poses/scenes in the series, whether the chapter itself is dramatic or not. It's because I can appreciate canon and fanon separately, and while I do respect the canon, I also want to enjoy the fanon.
Work is serious business, manga fangirling isn't. One should not be lynched just because they find it fun to imagine a scene or pose in a different, happier context than what it's being shown in.
Back when Kaname was about to show Yuuki his past for example, some people sent flames at me for "daring" to view the scene as sexy and make fangirly comments. 9__9 There's people out there who consider everything such ferocious "srs bizness", and who will attack others who are just having fun and enjoying a series. Please don't be that kind of person. ^^;
But back to the next page, and to the angst, Zero yells that Kaname is the one who ruined everything for him, for Ichiru, his family, himself... D:
I'm dying to know what exactly Sara told him, and whether she claimed that Kaname actually did anything as a child, or whether she claimed that it's all his fault because of the Hunter Twins curse being somehow linked back to him as the ancestor.
Seeing from the face Zero made before, in the scene when Sara had told him her story, I didn't get the feeling she was revealing something directly happening to his family in current times, (since I believe he would have had a more angry etc. reaction instead of looking surprised them smirking), so I wonder if it was about the Hunter curse.
Of course, it could also be simply that Hino-sensei had him looking like that to make it more difficult to predict exactly what it was that Sara said then.
Even now, we just know that she blamed Kaname for all that happened but we don't know how she made that believable to Zero. She is in any case extremely cunning at manipulation, and I'm hoping she won't be able to wreak any further havoc between Zero and Yuuki. T_T Or between either of them and Kaname. T_T The situation is enough of a mess and very dangerous for everyone even without her wrapping them all in her webs and throwing them against Kaname. ^^;
Back to the page, Yuuki stares at Zero with a shocked look and asks what he is talking about.
The page is pure hotness despite the drama. My happy-fangirly-mind will now wander off into mind images in which the position they're in is because they were lovingly in each other's arms and that Zero was about to caress her face, hence the position of his hand up in the air like that. X3
(The pose, I can't help but think it would be such a perfect fangirlable pose for a lovely kiss scene. X3) See for yourselves:
And, for the utmost epic dramaticness, Hino-sensei has Kaname arrive at the school right as Zero is telling Yuuki all this.
Yuuki turns around and stares, as Kaname looks at her with a sad expression:
And the chapter ends in an epic cliffhanger!! D:
The chapter is over and we'll all suffer until January 24th to know what happens now, but we at least got two extremely fangirlable teaser pics!! Unfortunately there was no color pic with Zero, but the Kaname one was HOTNESS incarnate, and we get to see Zerorin too in the B&W teaser!! :D<333
The fact LaLa had the word "the real facts/the truth" in there, is another important point, possibly having been done for emphasis so that people wouldn't go crazy believing Sara's story.
I wonder if whatever she told Zero is entirely made up or if there's any basis on something related to the Hunter Curse being linked from Kaname (possibly as a side effect of the method he had found to give the hunters their power and weapons, since the HW used the method that Kaname had discovered, and executed the plan he'd had to sacrifice himself to give them their power.)
In any case, whatever the truth is, please don't start bashing either Kaname or Zero. T_T
They are both utterly fascinating and loveable characters, and as such, they naturally have many fans. When you go around bashing the characters or attacking their fans, you ruin the enjoyment others can have in fandom. So please be considerate. ^^
Onto happier stuff, I love how Hino-sensei plays with little details like that: You probably remember the cover of volume 14, with Zero and Yuuki sleeping, while Kaname had his eyes open and seemed to watch protectively over the scene.
Well, this time it's their turn to have their eyes open while Kaname is either sleeping or unconscious... X3
*makes superhuman effort not to explode into volcano-nosebleed at the possible implication that the main trio is laying down in a bed together* 8DDDDDDDDD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~♥♥♥
Incidentally, Kaname's closed eyes there, the various things in this chapter, and the preview beneath gave me an eerie hunch!! D: *will describe below*
HOT LIKE WHOAH teaser image. *_*
Realistically speaking, his sexy angsty reaching for that butterfly made of light is probably happening while he's thinking of Yuuki, but I'm going to go have a happy daydream of it being yaoi instead, with Kaname thinking of Zero and missing him... XD; ♥♥♥
The fact that this teaser is even more explicit in mentioning "...what will happen to him?" makes me dread. ^^;
The expression they used to say "him" in the original is the expression that's regularly used throughout the series to refer to Kaname, and the fact that line is in a pic of him leaves no doubt that the 'him' is Kaname.
I have a theory that the whole thing Kaname is doing supposedly going to kill all the purebloods is nothing but a smoke-screen. That he is claiming he'll do that because it's the most effective way to a) ensure the Hunter Association will approve of this and thus will stay out of his way (it worked, as we've seen from their recent reaction --only Kaien wants to stop Kaname) and b) so that he'll appear as a ruthless monster and thus be able to push Yuuki away.
We've seen that Kaname was passing on untrue stuff making him seem guilty of drimes he hadn't committed, to shock Yuuki. If he's going to die for her then he wouldn't want her to suffer from his loss, and thus is makes sense for him to try and destroy her image of him and her love for him so that once he dies, she will not suffer as much the loss. (We don't know if the turning human spell absolutely requires someone to lose their memories or not, but whether he turns her human or leaves her as a vampire, since he has decided to try and push her towards the happiness he assumes she wouldn't have by his side, it makes sense that he would try and shatter her image of him. We've seen that he's been trying to do that, and so it makes sense that he would also be using the killing of the purebloods for that sake. To appear like a mad murderous pureblood.
We know he isn't a crazed murderous pureblood though, since a) Cain and Luca are good people and yet they are following him and actively helping him in this organized killing, something they would never do if it was just wanton cruelty or whatever, and b) Kaname didn't kill Touma or Isaya, when he was right there with them within grasp.
I think there's a significant likelihood that this whole thing is a smoke-screen and that in truth he is only killing the purebloods who would actually represent real danger, either for the humans or for Yuuki etc.
If that's so, then we have no way to know at which point he would stop, since we don't know which ones are dangerous and not: In other words, he might already have completed that part of the plan, and have already killed all the ones that were an actual danger.
Which would then mean he might already have come to the school to die, already now. And that would be why that teaser blurb line insisted so much on "what will happen to him?", complete with that angsty scene of him reaching for that butterfly made of light.
We saw earlier in the manga that Kaname claimed he would come to the school to kill Sara, but that was in the same page he claimed he killed Ouri (and we know for a fact that he didn't, since Sara did), so... one can take that statement with a grain of salt.
I can't help also wondering if perhaps Kaname is using Sara as a convenient enemy to help Yuuki grow/learn leadership and how to defend herself etc., but that isn't so risky as to actually endanger Yuuki (since Zero is there protecting her). It wouldn't surprise me if turns out Sara won't be as big of a danger, and merely someone who will fail in her quest for power, all that while keeping the others distracted enough that Kaname can finish off the dangerous purebloods and then die.
Of course, I doubt such a plan would happen so easily, and Yuuki being a shojo manga heroine, she will of course try to step in to stop such a thing, rather than just let him die like that.
We have no way to predict the exact ending of the manga, but whether it ends moderately well or in a giant bloodbath with everybody dying, I doubt it will be overly simple or as bizarre as any of the trio dying off suddenly like a "oops" moment.
But whether that theory about Sara turns out to be true or not (at any rate, she is definitely far more dangerous than she seemed, since she managed to manipulate Zero into wanting to protect her D:), the dreadful hunch I mentioned above is that maybe Kaname timed his showing up at the school perfectly with knowing that Sara was spreading such rumors about him.
Takuma could have contacted him/told him, and Sara would have had no reason to prevent that since it works right into her plan of getting Kaname eliminated, using Zero to kill him. (Sara openly mentioned in one of the previous volumes, that she intended to throw them against each other so that one kills the other, thus ridding her of an enemy.)
If Kaname knew the moment was ripe to have Yuuki believing horrors of him (thus possibly going to suffer less if he dies), and if he's done with killing the bad purebloods and doesn't intend to kill the other ones, it would make a lot of sense for him to show up at the school now, possibly to kill Sara and then die by either Zero's hand or Yuuki's.
He's said before that he wanted to die by Yuuki's hand, but considering how sweet she is it would be rather difficult to convince her to do it (even with all that he's been doing to make her believe he's a monster), so he might be expecting to die by Zero's hand. In which case it would make sense to show up right then and there, when Zero is so filled with anger over Sara's stories of Kaname's guilt.
In any case, whether those theories turn out to be true or not, the next chapter will most likely either be utterly epic to a scary level, or be a huge "huh?! what?! Almost nothing happened/we're still at the same point more or less..." XD
It will most likely be one extreme or the other like that, but I don't really see it being a moderate in-between chapter. XD Not with this huge build up and the immense ominous situation.
I'll be back to happily fangirl the chapter with you all and reply to the comments whenever I can. ^-^♥ *has so much fun talking about VK with you all and fangirling together* ♥♥♥
And lastly, because I've noticed that whenever a new chapter comes out, tempers in the fandom flare really ferociously, and there's people who can't control themselves from bashing characters/pairings or attacking other fans for either liking a different pairing (or more than one) or even simply for whatever they perceive as a slight even when it's not, I'll have the comments screened for now.
That simply means that each time a comment is posted, it gets put on a waiting list before it becomes public.
That makes that all normal comments will go through and get posted (they just have to wait a bit before showing up publicly), but any comments bashing a pairing, a character, doing personal attacks or whatever, will be able to be caught rather than get posted right away and just cause fights.
Last time there was people posting anon doing personal attacks (as if making up things to attack people's sexuality had anything to do with VK or could in any way be considered something other than trolling ^^; ) and people trying to cause trouble between fans of different pairings etc., so this time around I'm going to use that LJ feature to hopefully make that things stay peaceful and people don't bait others for flame wars or anything. ^^;
Sadly there's no way to implement a simple list of keywords like homophobic slurs etc. that would automatically block basic hate comments (especially because it's trickier than that when it's against pairings or characters), so we have no choice but relying on LJ's screening/waiting-list feature, and I'll just unscreen stuff as soon as possible. ^^/ ♥
So please don't worry about that, just go ahead and talk about the chapter and fangirl at will, and all your comments will be turned public regularly whenever possible. :D (Each time I get to log in and hit the unscreen button and make them all public.)
Sorry there's no time to scanlate, btw. ^^; As I mentioned before, I haven't had enough time for that in a long time, (which is why I haven't been scanlating monthly chapters, just the bonus chapter some weeks ago since it's an exceptional thing), and this month's it's particularly busy. Sorry! ^^; But at least I was able to make time to scan the pics and write this post. :D
And lastly, please support our beloved VK!! ;___; Series die if people don't support them.
Please buy the volumes and support the series, so that you can fully enjoy the complete experience of VK since Hino-sensei always adds all sorts of sexy things/more detailed screentoning/etc. etc. to the final versions of the chapters. :D
The magazine versions are always somewhat incomplete, as she adds retouches later. :D So if you buy the books, not only you'll be supporting the series, but also you'll het to see a much more beautiful and complete VK than if you just look at incomplete scans. :D ♥
The full sexiness of Zero and Kaname can only be experienced by people who support the series, since only by buying the books do you get to see it all!! 8D *lol*
Once I'm done with deadlines and can return, I'll be delighted to fangirl the chapter with you all. :D
If I can't get back on time, and if I don't get to finish certain thingies I was hoping to be able to finish on time for Christmas, then let me say already... :D
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY~! X3
♥♥♥
And in case I find time to finish the stuff after all,
stay tuned for some Christmas VK fan-stuff~! :D
♥♥♥