A/N: Last part of this mini-series. I'll move back to more normal grounds after this one.

[The School Idol Is A Demon (Part Three)]

Luna didn't know why she thought that Mama Eva was the nicest and kindest person that she did not have to be wary about previously. Clearly, the sensitive female had picked up on hints during the dinner that told her the half-truth. For her life, Luna could not imagine where she had slipped up.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell me what hold Vergil has over you, sweetie? I promise that no one will be affected if you tell me. Sparda and I will protect you from Vergil and Dante." Eva prompted one more time in a tone so kind and caring that Luna almost caved.

But at the moment, Luna was more afraid of Eva knowing about the full truth. She wasn't really sure why she was protecting Vergil's secret when she was now offered a way out, but she clearly owed Vergil and his siblings for helping her get over her chronic shyness.

"It is really nothing at all, Mrs Sparda. The only hold Vergil has over me is how much he loves me, and how much I love him likewise. I really cannot imagine leaving his side at the moment."

"Then, Miss Luna, may I shame myself to ask how does Vergil show his love to you?" Eva asked as she sat elegantly, bathing in the soft moonlight piercing through the large windows. Eva had led her to the master bedroom, seated them both in the small reading corner within the room and had gotten straight down to business.

"N-No different from a typical boyfriend, Mrs Sparda. Vergil treats me especially well and we used to go on dates after student council meetings." Luna prayed that her stutter was not taken as a sign of guilt.

"About those dates... were his siblings not with you those nights?"

"No, they knew about our relationship and helped to lie about having student council meetings that dragged." Luna answered sheepishly. "I'm sorry for having to make Dante, Trish and Nero lie to you and your husband..."

"Lying is the least of my concern when it comes to you, Miss Luna. You don't seem to know Vergil that well yet, and that is my biggest concern."

"We've only been dating for half a year, Mrs Sparda. I don't think I will know Vergil as well as you do."

Eva sighed heavily as she leaned against the back of her armchair, looking every bit like the dignified Beauty Queen that she was supposed to be. Luna had absolutely no doubt that if Trish and Eva were allowed out in the modelling industry, they would be covering every single inch of available billboard space.

"This is something that you need to know if you want to take the long road with him, Luna dear. I don't want you to get hurt because no one told you beforehand." Eva spoke with nothing but genuine concern that Luna did not really understand. Clearly Eva knew her son very well -that was to be expected -but for some reason, Eva was worried about Luna getting hurt from their relationship, rather than Luna hurting her son?

"I'll try not to hurt him, Mrs Sparda, but fights in a relationship are inevitable." Luna tried to comfort, but the clear look of concern was meant for her, and not Vergil.

"You don't understand, sweetie..." Eva looked conflicted for a long moment, as if doubting herself. There was clearly something that the woman wanted to tell Luna, but Mama Eva was struggling with herself. "I am a bad mother for saying this... but my son is not capable of love outside of his own family. Vergil is not the charming, shiny and all-capable man that everyone sees him to be. Inside, he is a hurt little boy hiding himself, pretending that he is fine and perfect in every way."

"What do you mean?" Luna could not help her curiosity. Luna understood the woman when she said that her son wasn't the man that the school had made him look like, but Luna suspected that what she and Vergil's own mother knew about were two very different sides that he hid.

"Vergil has not been capable of feeling for anyone outside of family since he turned 5. It was the same with Dante until Dante agreed to join the student council with his siblings. Dante has improved a lot by himself since he is more willing to try and let go, but Vergil hasn't shown a single change. For a boy who hasn't opened himself up even once to an outsider since he was 5, do you honestly think that a discouraged mother like me would dare to believe that puberty has made him forgive his own past to love another girl nonchalantly? This is why I am worried for you, Luna. It is terrible of me as a mother to say this of Vergil, but I beg you to consider the hold that he has over you and come to me or their father when something happens."

With such a serious warning issued by the mother of her boyfriend to be wary about Vergil, it was only natural that Luna remained extremely curious.

"May I know why he is as you say, Mrs Sparda? Why can he not love, and why do you believe that his love this time is fake?"

"You see..." Eva sighed heavily. "It is my fault for bringing them out without their father to bring them to heel... When they were 5, I brought Dante and Vergil on a short holiday away from home. Because Nero was too young to be brought, Sparda had business to attend to, and Trish caught a cold the last minute, it was only the boys and me. At our villa, they met a young boy their age named Kevan. Kevan was the son of the gardener working at our villa and since the twins got on well with him, I figured that it was fine to leave the boys with their time alone. It was an unexpected holiday for me; I had been expecting myself to have my hands full looking after Dante and Vergil, but all they did for the next few days was to run off early in the morning to find Kevan. I guessed they really loved Kevan as their friend."

The sigh that Eva repeated heavily again only meant that the happiness enjoyed by Young Vergil and Dante had to be short-lived.

"One day, I got a call from the hospital and rushed down immediately. The boys had been fighting and Kevan had been pushed down a hill by my boys. There weren't any permanent injuries on the boy, but his mother was furious. Kevan had broken a leg and an arm and there was a large scar left by stitches on his cheek. My boys only got minor scuffles."

"Why were they fighting?" Luna asked, a little startled. While she could imagine Dante and Vergil fighting playfully with another boy, pushing him down a hill and breaking an arm and leg intentionally probably wasn't something normal kids did.

"They refused to say initially. Sparda was called down and gave the boys a heavy dressing down to appease Kevan's mother. It wasn't until they came home that the tears started running. Dante threw a hissy fit and refused to quieten down. Vergil was... for the lack of better words, that son of mine sat himself in a corner, watching his twin make a fuss quietly with a murderous look in his eyes and tears streaming down his face. Worried but also not understanding what had happened to her brothers, Trish tried to comfort Vergil. All he could say to his sister was one thing. 'Never trust anyone else other than us. They will fake everything to be with you. We dealt with him.'"

"Vergil really said that?" Luna could not really imagine the young version of Vergil saying such adult words with tears streaming from his eyes. "Why would he?"

"After Dante finally calmed down, he told us that the two of them went to find Kevan as usual that day. Instead of another day of fun, they happened to chance upon Kevan talking to his mother. Kevan had complained to his mother that he didn't find playing with Vergil and Dante enjoyable at all, but his mother had forced him to do it apparently because being in good relations with the sons of Sparda –particularly Vergil as the eldest and most promising son –was important."

"That's horrible!" Luna gasped, unable to help herself feeling indignant for the sake of the poor boys –though evidence had clearly shown that neither of them had grown up to be 'poor' in any sense in the years afterwards. "How can a mother do that to her child?"

"It happens in this world, Luna. Unfortunately for Dante and Vergil, their friendship was thrown in their face, and I can only assume that they hatched a plan quickly to get revenge on Kevan and took it a little too far by pushing him down the hill. Regardless of the consequences, Vergil and Dante have never been able to trust anyone outside of family ever since. I have tried to get them to meet new people of their age, to have them trust again, but the two of them have each other and their younger siblings. Dante pretends that he gets along well, but Vergil doesn't even spare the effort. Vergil had since taken the hardest view on the world and everyone outside of family that anyone who approaches them only has certain self-interest in mind, and if Vergil is forced to interact with them, he will only do so with advantages and disadvantages calculated very carefully. There is no inch for emotions and attachment when it comes to anyone outside of his family, and thus with all this explanation, Luna, I truly hope that you understand this man that you have come to take for a boyfriend."

"Vergil isn't really like that..." Luna did her best to protect her boyfriend, but it remained a fact that Eva Sparda knew exactly what her son was like, and that was nothing that Luna could deny. While the story of what had happened to the twins in the past made sense in explaining how Vergil had become a man of his character now, Luna still felt the empathy and the compelling need to defend him. "Regardless of how he might have treated anyone else before me, Vergil has treated me very well and even helped me get past my own shyness out of his own good will."

"If you insist upon it, Miss Luna dear, I cannot put up a single word against it. It is very relieving that you still want to see my son in such a manner even after hearing his story, and I am utterly grateful that you still love him. But if one day should you realise that the ruthless side of him is not meant for you, please remember that it was not because he was not taught to love, but because he had closed up before he could get a chance to love." The heartfelt words of a concerned mother strangely put a warmth into Luna's heart even though she was getting warned about her own boyfriend.

She didn't even want to consider how putting the word 'fake' in front of 'boyfriend' complicated things to an even further extent. This was completely on the basis of Luna factoring out her own feelings of gratitude and familiarity with the man and his council members –all of whom had played a part in Luna's metamorphosis. They were the first ones to remember her name, to treat her as if she were more than just a background prop in everyone else's life. They were the first ones to scold her and force her to make an effort to stop blushing and stuttering.

They were her first real friends.

Even if Vergil was going to push her down a hill, Luna decided that she would just have to climb back up the hill back to his side no matter what.

He, after all, had changed her.

Perhaps she could change him.

________________________________________________________________________________

When Luna thought that she could try to change her boyfriend's twisted personality, to heal his destroyed, faithless heart whenever it came to strangers, she didn't know how hard changing a person was. While disheartened, the retrospective admiration of how the student council had changed her in a matter of months only propelled her forth. Curing her from shyness was a big leap of faith Vergil had taken for her sake, and Luna only wanted the same the other way around.

She never wanted to hear Mama Eva say such things of her boyfriend ever again. Luna knew she was breaking the boundaries of her duty as a fake girlfriend, but she was determined to repay Vergil in the same way he had helped her –regardless of how he had forced her into it in the first place.

Still, determination was not exactly the only thing that Luna needed as she found herself helpless to her boyfriend's commands and orders behind closed doors. Celebrated as the school celebrity couple meant that they needed to maintain a decent level of visibility while keeping Principal Sparda's attention on them. Thus, Vergil had forced Luna to do extra classes behind the closed doors of the student council, producing an elegant, talented woman that Luna would never imagine herself to be. Learning these talents turned out to be a very good use because she became the item of brag for Vergil during the dinner parties that Vergil as a student council president had to attend. However, it also meant that Luna had no time or energy at all to try to enact any type of plan.

It was already three months since her debut as Vergil's girlfriend, and though now she was quickly becoming revered by the school as a Queen, Luna was still dissatisfied at her situation.

Lamenting about her situation was probably not the best thing to do while she was in the middle of another party that Principal Sparda and his family –including Vergil's girlfriend –had been invited to. Dressed to the nines in a beautiful and comfortable deep blue dress that settled easily around her ankles, Luna leaned against the balcony, putting her back to the noise of the party as she stared out at the large garden splayed out in front of her. It was a picture-perfect place, and somehow Luna found herself quickly becoming more and more suitable for backgrounds like these. A year ago, she would never have imagined herself attending parties like these, becoming beautiful and sociable –becoming a Queen of her own dreams.

"What's wrong?" A curious voice made Luna spin around quickly, but found Dante standing at the doorway with a flute of champagne balanced between his fingers. Spending time with the twins had made Luna adept in recognising one twin from another, and now had no problem recognising Dante from Vergil through voice. "Verge's getting surrounded by girls again. If you don't go claim your boyfriend, he might just take any one of them."

"Will he really?" Luna asked with a soft smile, turning back to the view with melancholy. "He has spent too much time on me, hasn't he? I doubt Vergil wants to spend the same effort and time with another woman."

"What's this?" Dante's surprise was easy to detect, and Luna felt his presence joining her at the balcony. "Rebelling isn't like you."

"Not rebelling." Luna corrected in the same short and straight-forward way that Vergil always did. Clearly spending too much time with her 'boyfriend' had made her adopt his mannerism as well. "Reassessing my situation."

"Is that another way of saying you want to quit?" Dante's question was soft. The student council members had made much effort keeping the whole fake relationship hidden. If the truth were to break out, the ones suffering the worst was going to be Vergil –and Luna learnt that everyone in the council was deathly protective of their leader.

"No, I'm not planning to quit. I'm going to stay by his side until he tires of me." Luna answered honestly.

"You know," Dante's pause was motivated by him taking a long drink from his champagne. "Verge doesn't want me to tell you this, but I've already deleted the photo. We've got nothing on you if you want to quit."

"It doesn't matter." Luna wasn't even surprised to hear Dante's words. "That stopped mattering to me a long time ago. I'm staying by Vergil's side because I want to."

"You love him?" Luna wasn't sure why Dante sounded so surprised. Was it really such a surprise to find that a woman had fallen in love with his twin brother? There were tons of ladies in the school that had fallen head-over-heels crazily for Vergil and Dante Sparda both.

"Love might not be the most accurate word." Luna corrected, sighing as she looked out across the dark expanse of the garden in front of her. Clearly no one was expected to take a stroll through the greenery at this time, for the lights were all turned off, leaving an expanse of darkness that was only illuminated dimly by the full moonlight below her. "I'm grateful to him for choosing me, and I want to do something to repay him for all the effort he has done for me."

"Repay? What's there to repay about?"

"You've all helped me so much. I couldn't even hold a conversation with anyone outside of my own parents well, and I turned red immediately when I met the eyes of anyone. Look at me now. I've changed so much, and even though you can say Vergil forced me into it, I'm really glad that he forced me anyway."

"He isn't going to bother about that. I wouldn't bother him if I were you. Verge likes to bite off our heads if we want to offer any help."

"I know. That's because he's the eldest, and he always feels that he has the responsibility to lead his siblings the right way. He doesn't want any one of you to get hurt in any way, so he always puts you guys in consideration."

"Knee-deep in Verge-psychology, aren't we? Then again, you're his girlfriend. I can't blame you." Dante's amusement clearly meant that he agreed with Luna's words, but was also surprised that Luna understood the man in topic as well.

"But what I want to know is how you managed to walk out of that shadow from 5 years old, and he couldn't." Luna knew it was suicidal to approach the topic straight on, but if she had to do it, she would rather do it with Dante, who was generally a slightly less volatile person as compared to her boyfriend.

"Mom told you about Kevan, didn't she?" Dante's serious, slightly-upset tone made him sound slightly alike to his brother, but Luna was unfazed.

"She wanted me to look out for myself and told me to go to her or your father if Vergil had threatened me with anything."

"And you never told them about the picture and your mother's situation?"

"Like I said, I'm here by choice, Dante. I want to help Vergil walk out of the shadow, but I need to know how you did it." Luna finally turned to look at the surprised Dante leaning against the balcony railing beside her, hoping that her eyes were begging enough to squeeze an answer out of the man.

This time, it was her turn to be surprised when Dante broke out into chuckles, tossing the last of his champagne down his throat.

"You think I've walked out of that shadow?"

"Haven't you? You treat everyone in school nicely."

"That's an act, Luna. Don't you understand? Everything on the student council; it's all roles assigned to us by Verge to give us a reason to hold power and play as we like. I hate all of them; every single pathetic one of them all the way to their core. But isn't it funny? Those idiot girls going crazy and heads-over-heels for us and killing each other with their bullying and pranking once I get close to someone. I'm 'Everyone's Dante' because I want to be, Luna. Just like how you're Vergil's girlfriend because you want to be."

Luna froze, staring at the man for his sudden declaration made in complete cold blood. The dim realization that Vergil might not be the only damned good actor in the family clicked in Luna's head as she processed the words spoken so plainly straight to her face.

"You continue to disgust me, Dante Sparda. You turn me off as much as your elder brother does. No wonder the two of you are twins." A new voice behind Luna spoke coldly, startling her as she spun around. How could someone be behind her? Her back was to the balcony railing, and below the railing was... a pitch black piece of the garden.

"I piss you off?" Dante replied in thick disbelief when Luna turned to see a young man their age, dressed in practical night-creeping clothes, and balancing easily on the railing directly behind her. A beanie covered his hair, but at the close distance she could see an unfamiliar face, sporting a scar on his cheek. "What makes you think I give a damn about someone like you thinks about me? We're not even addressing what the heck you're trying to do by climbing balconies in the middle of the night."

"You don't care?" The guy sniggered. "You and Vergil cared a lot when we were five. Enough to push me down a hill and ruin my life."

"I'll gladly push you down one more time again if you don't scram soon." Dante clearly did not turn the man's words over in his head well.

"No problem. I wasn't planning to stay for long anyway. Just here to grab something." The man answered, and before Luna could ask further, strong hands grabbed her shoulders. "Tell your brother Kevan said hi and if he wants the girl back, he will give up his position as the council president to me when I transfer to Sparda Institution, no questions asked."

Luna opened her mouth for a scream when the man pulled her leaning close to him, but something pressed against her nose and mouth. Her breath came in with a smell of something that shot straight up her nose, and Luna's eyes closed as she was hit with a heavy dose of sleepiness. All she remembered seeing last was Dante's face of shock before her world tilted away.

________________________________________________________________________________

I never pinned you down capable for love, Vergil. I admit that I'm actually a little surprised that you came here by yourself. The words drifted through Luna's head, though she wasn't very sure if she was hearing it right.

Have you ever pinned me down for anything else other than the son of Sparda, Kevan? That's the value that Dante and I are to you, aren't we?

That's where you're wrong. The first voice answered. The two of you thought that after you went home, everything was fine with me. But it wasn't so easy just like that. After you left, Mom was furious with me for breaking the secret. She declared that I was a useless son, and from that day onwards, she abandoned me. My life got even worse than it was –my mother ignored me, refused to provide me with anything and treated me like I was a ghost, like I had never been born. You cannot believe how painful it was for me, Vergil, because you always had your siblings. You think you had it hard? I had to leave my own home because they all pretended that I was invisible. I had to live like an orphan –abandoned because of one mistake I made. I swore from then onwards that even if I die, I will make you and Dante suffer.

Don't blame your mother's psychotic moves on us, Kevan. Luna has nothing to do with this. Let her go, then maybe I'll let you go through your sob story. The cool, calm and completely composed voice was definitely a reflection of what Luna knew of her boyfriend, though she wasn't sure if this conversation was something that was imagined in her mind, or happening in real life. She was still floating in the middle of a sea of darkness at the moment, unable to come back to reality.

The girl has everything to do with this! The fact that you're here has only explained to me how important she is to you. She has changed you, haven't she? I heard about you and Dante being unreachable and never talking to anyone else outside of family. I knew you guys were scarred by me –and I was glad that I made a lasting memory on the two of you. But then the news of you and this girl getting together, being lovey-dovey and all... I was convinced that it was a sham –that you guys were faking it, but I had to try my luck anyway.

Of course it's a sham. Do you honestly think I can love an idiot like her?

Luna had heard of those words too many times behind closed doors to be insulted. Vergil's words were always insulting and rough, but Luna had learnt to listen to the meaning between the lines. It was a skill that she had sharpened after spending time with both Dante and Vergil –both of whom had the same tendencies to insult people to hide their real feelings.

The fact that you are here makes things different. You say it's a sham, but you still care for her.

Don't be an idiot, Kevan. I don't remember you being so daft. If Luna is my sham girlfriend, then don't you think I need to keep the pretences up to save the woman?

You could easily have gone elsewhere and waited until her body was found and make a whole crying scene about it.

Too much effort. I don't want to be seen crying anyway –regardless if it is fake or real tears. The dismissive tone from Vergil was something common –he often used that tone to deal with suggestions that he didn't like from his brothers, sister or from Luna herself.

You're not in the power to negotiate, Vergil. I have the girl; I am the one who commands you.

There was laughter –the evil type.

Please, even if you wanted to act like a villain, do it the proper way. Now, if you're done satisfying yourself, let me play my own game my own way. Step aside so that things won't turn ugly.

One more step, and I'll shoot her. I'm not kidding, Vergil. I've done things that I'm not proud of, but if killing her is going to make your life a little bit more miserable, I'm not going to hold back.

A big sacrifice for a little of my discomfort? That's far-fetched. I give you points for effort. Vergil's reply was a scoff, though Luna supposed that she should be increasingly scared. The guy who had captured her –Kevan –had clearly said that he would shoot her and kill her.

Yet, no matter what she did, she could not feel her body.

You continue to mock me? The sentence of disbelief was followed with a loud deafening gunshot.

What Luna said about not being able to feel her body was completely ruined when a white-hot pain zig-zagged through her entire system, and she jerked awake against her restraints with a whimper. Her vision slowly focused to find herself hanging by her wrists above air, and blood leaking from a hole in her thigh.

"Luna!" The call from the familiar voice made Luna look down at her boyfriend, still dressed in his well-pressed suit. "Don't worry, I'll get you down. Just hold on for a little while longer."

"V-Vergil..." Luna could not stop the scared and pained tears as she looked down at him, and at the other guy who had captured her and shot her.

"Worried now, aren't we? Weren't you the king of calmness just a moment ago, hmm, Vergil?"

"Mark my words, Kevan, you will pay."

"I'd like to see you try." The taunt came back, and Luna could only watch helplessly as the fight went on below her, Vergil wrestling for the gun. She gave a soft sigh of brief relief when the gun was knocked out of Kevan's hand, but the tussling still continued. Worriedly keeping her eyes on her boyfriend, Luna bit her tongue when Vergil received a hard punch that made him reel back.

"The only thing you learnt right from me was never to trust anyone!" Kevan declared in a shout as he jumped on Vergil again, fists swinging and pushing Vergil to the floor. "No one in this world cherishes you for who you are, Vergil. You are only measured in value of what your parents are, what you can give others. Nobody cares about you –the scared little Vergil on the inside who wants to be friends."

"Don't be so full of yourself. Don't bother trying to believe that I learnt lessons from you. I have been exactly like I have the most of my life; I didn't need a five year old version of you to teach me that people use people." Vergil replied calmly, landing a good punch on Kevan's cheek.

Luna's attention was temporarily taken away by a jerk on the ropes tied around her wrists. Looking up in startled surprise, she saw Dante peeking through the canopy of leaves, a finger put to his lips in a warning for her to remain silent. The words that she and Dante had exchanged on the balcony before Kevan had crashed in on them were now completely forgotten as Luna watched Dante's slender fingers work the knots on the rope.

"When you are free, run. Nero is right below the tree waiting. He'll carry you to the car we stole. Lady and Trish are on standby." Dante leaned in to whisper, but Luna's worry did not cease.

"What about Vergil?" Luna asked in a whisper as well, doing her best to ignore the throbbing in her thigh.

"He can hold his own. Right now, the concern is you bleeding to death or losing your leg. Verge will be fine." Dante replied quickly.

"But Kevan has a gun!"

"And you have a bullet-hole." Dante's reply was sarcastic. "The priorities are pretty clear here. Now get ready."

Getting ready wasn't exactly something Luna had the luxury to do, because a second later, the rope had loosened around the tree branch. Gravity did the rest of the work as Luna came crashing down to the ground, her legs giving way at the sudden weight that it was suddenly placed upon.

The sudden movement had casted a short pause in the fight that had been happening a short distance away as both men registered that Luna was now free from her restraints.

"Run!" Vergil commanded, the word acting like a spell-breaker that put everyone into immediate movement. As Luna struggled to come to her feet with her injured leg completely not obeying, Kevan jumped up immediately, diving quickly for the forgotten weapon that would turn the tides back to his favour.

Not on Luna's watch.

"No, you don't!" Luna –who had been half-way to her full height –spun and threw herself forwards towards the same direction as Kevan, closing her hands over the one that had managed to grab the gun lying on the floor. "I won't let you hurt Vergil anymore!"

"Luna!" She heard someone shout her name in the background, but she couldn't pause to decipher who it was who had called her, for she was now struggling in a battle for the gun on the floor with Kevan. The man's hands were stronger, but it didn't mean that Luna's determination was an easy force to go against. Twisting the hands inexpertly as best as she could so that the barrel of the gun was facing no one just in case the trigger was pulled, Luna used everything all the way to her fingernails in the hope to scrape and pry Kevan's fingers away from the lethal weapon.

"Let go, you bitch! Why the hell are you still protecting him after everything that he has done to you? Why do you still protect someone who will never see you more than a tool to his cause?" Kevan shouted in frustration when he found himself struggling with a woman's surge of strength that was bolstered with her panic and determination.

"Because he still has a heart to be saved!" Luna declared, dragging herself on her knees when Kevan did his best to pull the gun away from Luna's reach by twisting his body away. The lack of balance in her injured thigh made her tilt, but she only used her weight to her advantage as she pulled the gun back down closer to her, fingernails still scratching.

"There is nothing left in him to save!" Kevan continued, trying his best to elbow Luna now to make her release her grip.

"His heart is still worth saving, and I don't care if I hurt or die trying to save it. He gave me a new life, and if giving him back this new life can change him, I don't care." Luna balked, and with a last surge of strength –and hope that it was enough to make a difference on their difficult struggle –Luna gave a strong tug on the gun towards her direction.

The gunshot was deafening in her ears. The lag-time in her body's reaction dragged out into seconds as Luna blinked in shock when her body suddenly felt very hot and cold at the same time. The vision that had blurred slightly now sharpened to focus on the barrel of the gun pointing straight at her.

And then the pain hit. Like a muffler over the pain had been removed all of a sudden, it crashed into her like a wrecking ball as Luna doubled over, her hands uncurling over the gun and pressing on the area where she could no longer feel her body anymore. The gunshot had left a ringing in her ears, but her eyes were still working as she watched the world from her tilted vision as she laid on her side on the floor.

Kevan's face of shock took only seconds to wipe away before a victorious smirk took his features. Luna didn't spare time to feel disgust at the man before she saw figures appear, tackling the dangerous man once more. This time, it was both Lady and Trish who had appeared –and both ladies were clearly much stronger than Luna when they pressed Kevan to the floor, manhandling him in a police hold and twisting the gun from his hands.

"Luna!" A voice, repeated again and again, drifted softly from beyond the ringing in her ears, and she found herself pulled up. Turning her head upwards, she saw Vergil up close, a clear look of worry in his eyes. "Luna, can you hear me?"

"I'm fine, Vergil." Luna did her best to smile, but it was extremely hard with the pain drowning out most of her senses. Her body felt hot and cold at the same time, her stomach and abdomen completely numb. She could not even feel her legs anymore. "I'm sorry I didn't run."

"You idiot! I could have dealt with Kevan." Vergil scolded, but it didn't change the fact that his arms were holding her bridal style against him. Luna watched wordlessly as her boyfriend looked up and shouted orders to his siblings and Lady. Nero was immediately tasked with going back to the car first to get it started so that they could get to the hospital immediately. Trish, Dante and Lady were all supposed to stay back to escort Kevan back to the house to deal with him.

No one offered a word of protest, though worried looks hung on everyone alike as they watched Vergil turn away with Luna draped across his arms.

No one had the guts to tell the eldest brother of the Sparda family that Luna was looking a little too pale to have a good chance of survival.

Silence was their company as Vergil carried Luna trekking through the maze of the greenery around them until they somehow emerged onto a road. Putting Luna down didn't seem to cross Vergil's mind as the man got into the backseat with Luna lying across his lap, and gave the order for Nero to gun the gear.

By them, Luna was already making unconscious sounds of pain, the sweat dotting her forehead as she struggled to breathe evenly. Her heartbeat was loud in her ears, and she could feel herself losing blood at an alarming rate –from both her thigh and stomach.

"You're going to be alright, Luna. Just hold on for a while more." Vergil broke the silence after a while, and Luna looked up to see her boyfriend watching her carefully.

"I'm sorry, Vergil." Luna said softly, because she didn't feel like talking louder than that.

"You already apologised." Vergil pointed out.

"No, this time I'm sorry that I couldn't save you."

"Save me? I don't know what you're talking about, but I was never in danger from Kevan."

"No, but Kevan put you in a dark place since you were 5. Your mother told me about it, and I wanted to help save you from there. I wanted to make you see that not everyone was like what you thought. Yes, I know the world has many people who see you by your value. But I want you to know that not everything is based on merits and demerits." Luna insisted, finding it increasingly harder to talk because the act of breathing made the blood come leaking out even more. By now, her entire palm was already wet with her own warm liquid, and she had no doubt that she was dirtying everything around her –including Vergil's suit.

"There's nothing to save me from." Vergil answered stiffly. "Don't think so highly of yourself."

"I can't help it, Vergil. I've been your girlfriend for the past three months. I'm sorry if I thought highly of myself, but I really thought that I could have the chance to save you." Luna now found it harder to keep her thoughts straight as the heartbeat in her ears got louder and louder –faster and faster. Her heart was doing its best to pump blood to the important organs, but the blood was gushing out from her wounds as well. She was like a tank with a large hole.

"What is with the use of past tense?" Vergil said gruffly. "You're acting like you're going to die."

"I am going to die." Luna answered knowingly. "You don't have to lie to me, Vergil. We can't make it on time."

"We can." Vergil insisted strongly, then once more gave the hard order for his brother to step on it.

"We can't. I know this better than you do. I'm going to be empty by the time we reach the hospital." Luna answered softly, giving up on putting the pressure on her stomach wound. Kevan must have shot a major artery, because she wouldn't be losing so much blood if not so.

"You're going to make it, Luna. Don't be an idiot."

"This time, you're the one who is an idiot, Vergil." Luna could not help her smile. "But thank you for pretending to care for me even now. No one is around, so you don't have to pretend that you're worried for me. I don't think anyone will blame you for my death."

"What are you talking about? Don't talk and save your energy." Luna was surprised that Vergil made no comment about her calling him an idiot this time around.

"Whatever for? I'm going to die anyway. You might want to take some time to rest now so that you can keep the pretence of grief later on. It'll be rough on you." Luna closed her eyes because it was becoming harder and harder to keep them open now that sleepiness was dragging her.

"Don't close your eyes on me, Luna. Don't talk nonsense. I'm not going to pretend anything for your sake."

"The school won't like an idol who doesn't give a damn about his girlfriend's death." Luna answered, unable to open her eyes any longer, her breathing becoming more laboured now that her heartbeat was racing. She could barely feel much at all now.

"Damn it, Luna, you're not going to die! I'm not going to pretend crying for you. You're going to come back strong. I don't care how you do it; you just do it!" Vergil ordered, but there was a hint of desperation.

"I'm sorry, but this is probably my limit..."

"You are not allowed to say that to me. You cannot."

"I've reached the end of my usefulness, Vergil... I hope I served you well at least."

"Don't..." Vergil's voice in the darkness was almost far away in Luna's ears now as the sleepiness dragged her under the currents of consciousness. "Don't go..."

"Thank you..." Luna whispered as her hands went limp.

No... The word chased Luna as she finally dropped under.

Don't hate me... Don't leave me alone... I need you.

But it was too late.