The Spider's Web by Rondomness
Rating: M
Summary: Kaname has no choice but to stay if he doesn't want everything he's been fighting for destroyed, but in this endless darkness, does the prize really stand up to the bet?
Warnings: Torture/whump on poor, young Kaname. And later on also some (very little) yaoi non-con. Angst and violence.
Spoilers: For chapter 10, 11, 12, 28 and 48/all chapters mentioning Ichiou and Kaname's relation…
Pairings: Too young for true pairings, but some fluffy Kaname x Yuki. And Ichiou x Kaname in a twisted non-con way. Takuma and Kaname friendship. Mentions of Rido.
A/N: As promised, a story with Ichiou and Kaname set around 8-9 years before the main storyline in the manga. This chapter's title is taken from the Evanescence song Everybody's Fool as I think that song fits rather well. Other Evanescence songs fits good too, like Sweet Sacrifice, Going Under and Bring Me To Life.
As no dates are used in the manga, I can only guess about some ages and events but Kaname is around 13, maybe 14 years old at this time. This fic is rated M because of some yaoi scenes and because it deals with some quite heavy themes as torture, desperation, self-hatred and other such stuff, although I promise to put in the sweet comfort scenes in between.
Disclaimer: This fanfic is for entertainment purposes only, no money is being made from it. The characters are made by Hino Matsuri. I do NOT own Vampire Knight nor any of the things mentioned in here.
Chapter 1: Perfect by Nature
"Did you enjoy your stay, Kaname?"
Kaname didn't reply. It was terribly degrading and the pureblood wouldn't bring even more shame onto himself. He just slowly walked to the door, looking down in the floor and wondering how much it would hurt if he made the entire building fall down on himself, of course only after he'd gotten out of here. Apparently, his silence didn't please his sadistic guardian.
A flat backhand hit Kaname in the face and Ichiou's voice hissed in his ear. "I asked if you enjoyed your stay in here. Do you think you've learned to obey yet?" Kaname slowly nodded, not because he had any idea what he could do to prevent it from happening next time, but simply because he didn't wanted to practically invite the other to hit him again.
Even as he held no other wish than to hit the man back, to destroy him with a mere thought, Kaname was powerless in here. When he was let outside of this room, which was protected by hunter charms, he could at least heal up from his guardian's fists. Kaname always felt so disgustingly weak in here, he couldn't heal, could barely move and breathe.
"Come here," the noble said and grabbed Kaname's arm, pulling him out the door and up the stairs, the boy trying to keep up with him. Ichiou was not a very sensible person, to an even smaller extent when it was Kaname. And Kaname knew that Ichiou was quite happy that his ward healed so swiftly that it wouldn't seem suspicious.
"Now, disappear from my sight," Ichiou snorted irritated, releasing Kaname and shoving him against the door to the hallway. Kaname allowed himself to give his guardian a long, hateful glare before leaving his office and making his way to his huge room.
At least, his room was big, bright and comfortable. But then again, of course Ichiou couldn't give him a room which obviously looked more like a prison cell. But even as it didn't look like a cell, Kaname knew it was. Guards outside on the lawn, under his window, outside his door. Guards everywhere to hold him caged in here. Or, if you asked his guardian "to make sure that nothing happened to the precious pureblood."
Kaname walked into his own private bathroom. He splashed some water on his face and studied his mirror reflection. It was a huge mirror, covering an entire wall in the bathroom, allowing Kaname to see all of his body in the reflection.
The big, purple welts on his arms were beginning to turn yellowish and when Kaname took off his shirt, he saw that they continued up to his shoulder and down over his chest. The pain coming whenever he moved told Kaname that the rest of his body was decorated in the same way, purple and blue welts and marks everywhere. Although the worst part of the beating was over, Kaname was still sore and he would be it at least a few hours more, even with pureblooded healing. His face, too, had suffered some damage, there was a faint shadow on one of his cheekbones and his lips were swollen due to some fists he'd gotten directly in the face.
Some of the welts resembled fingers, they came whenever Ichiou grabbed Kaname harshly and threw him into something. Others were bigger and squared, reminders of his guardian's fists which always seemed to come from nowhere.
But Kaname wasn't one to cry, even when he wanted to. Instead, he lightly prodded on one of the marks on his arm. It hurt a little. Fortunately, the welts would be gone in a couple of hours which was just enough time to arrive to dinner. Kaname would be sad to skip dinner, he was thirsty to an extent were a constant, irritating dryness in his throat made itself known with every breath. It felt like nails scratching the inside of his neck.
He gave himself one last look in the mirror before letting go of his trousers and taking a bath. The small, warm drops calmed Kaname down, enabling him to think everything through. Actually, it was close to a month ago that he'd ran off to meet Yuki, which meant that he could escape the old man's grip again soon. That thought made him smile, he longed to see Yuki again. It was fun to see her grow up, she was close to eleven now and he always wondered how much she'd grown from last time he'd seen her. To Kaname, who had a pureblood's eyes, the changes were clear and he enjoyed watching her evolve each time he arrived.
How much would it take to escape within the next week? First of all, Kaname needed some kind of arrangement keeping Ichiou busy all day so there at least was a chance that he could escape without getting discovered and punished. Maybe, he could ask Takuma for help, the blond noble was only a few months younger and even though they were on different sides in the political and bloody world of vampires, he was a good friend. Takuma had helped him escape a few times before, it was practical to have an ally close enough to Ichiou to dare finding out about his plans. In front of Takuma, his grandfather always put up a façade of complete control, much like he did in front of guests and some of the less important council members.
Actually, it was only about two or three other members, all the Elders, those in control, who knew about the beatings and Kaname was quite sure that they would have done exactly the same if he'd been living at their houses.
Damn that impudent boy. He barely let out a sound even though Ichiou knew how much it had to hurt while he hit the pureblood. He'd never cried, screamed or begged for mercy and it irritated the noble to no end. It was almost like the little pureblood was made of stone and even though Ichiou always wrung a response from his delicate lips, Kaname continued to defy his guardian to the last.
Ichiou nuzzled the handle of his mahogany cane, wondering if it would leave welts so deep that Kaname would start bleeding if he hit the pureblood with the cane next time. But it didn't matter, Kaname wouldn't disobey him the next couple of days. Or would he? It was almost a month ago that he'd sneaked out last. Ichiou had discovered him and waited for him upon his return.
The old noble always loved when Kaname sneaked out, it gave him an excuse to punish the pureblood harder than he would have been able to else. Although he was beginning to suspect that Kaname sometimes managed to sneak out without Ichiou noticing. That was deeply annoying and a major problem. If Kaname didn't get thoroughly punished whenever he left, that boy would begin to get all kinds of wrong ideas about being free enough to escape without being discovered. Kaname shouldn't think that he could get any free reign, he would begin to take liberties like the one he'd taken when Ichiou had locked him out today. How had Kaname dared glare at him like that?
A faint uneasiness began to gnaw at his insides. Was Kaname evolving into a problem? Did he plan to do something rash? It seemed unlikely. Kaname was the type of child to stay silent and think everything through and if he got just a little brain, he would figure out that he was mentally chained, unable to do anything if he didn't want to end in a small, locked cellar. No, the situation was under control, Kaname was just being difficult again. But Ichiou was sure that he had to take care of Kaname's continued defiance. The pureblood had to be harnessed, had to be suppressed. He had to understand who was in charge if he should work like the Council wanted him to.
Of course, the Council was the main reason for disciplining Kaname like that, even the reason for bothering to be his guardian in the first place. But the real reason in Ichiou's eyes was the possibility that maybe someday, it would be too much, Kaname would break and allow the noble to take what he so badly craved. It was almost physically hurtful to watch Kaname live in his house, completely at his mercy and yet being denied that pure, sweet blood. Ichiou was not a man used to be denied anything and even though he could do nothing but give small indications of wanting the blood, he swore to himself that he would stop at nothing to force Kaname to grant him his wish. Unfortunately, it seemed like Kaname was ready to tolerate anything and Ichiou still hadn't found a way to break him completely.
Ichiou had multiple times thought of following Kaname when he sneaked out and catch him while he did whatever it was that he needed to do so badly that he would risk extreme punishment almost every month. If the pureblood just needed a break from his constant restrictions, Ichiou could use it to nothing. But if Kaname sneaked out to meet somebody, Ichiou might have discovered the person who meant more to Kaname than his own body, and maybe also more than his own blood. Maybe, he could arrange a fake meeting and then follow Kaname if he planned to escape. No, he wouldn't dare, not after such a beating. Normally, there went at least a week after a beating before Kaname defied him again.
Kaname was constantly on the look out to avoid doing anything wrong, just like Ichiou always looked for the slightest misbehavior in his ward. He hit him at the slightest sign of defiance and was there nothing in a long time, he hit him anyway.
As usual, Kaname's face betrayed nothing at dinnertime, a collected façade of control and indifference. He didn't even flinch when Ichiou casually rested his hand on Kaname's shoulder. Takuma didn't see anything and just went on and on about how he was going to beat Kaname in chess. Takuma never saw what happened between his grandfather and his friend, he didn't see the war racing between their minds.
Ichiou used the short time after dinner to deal with some paperwork while Kaname and Takuma played chess. His grandson had just learned the pureblood to play a few weeks ago but after two games, Kaname never lost again. That was the difference between the two children. Physically, they were much alike, almost the same age and both glowing with a vampire's unnatural beauty.
But Kaname was different, not only from Takuma but from everybody around him. His beauty was even more pronounced, his blood a true bliss to every vampire. Like all purebloods, Kaname possessed special abilities such as control and eternal life. Like the everlasting fragrance of flowers.
"Checkmate," Kaname said as he toppled Takuma's king. There was no superiority in his voice, just a faint hint of satisfaction. Takuma stared at the king, mouth open and eyes wide. He hadn't noticed Kaname's position at all although everybody considered him a chess genius, he'd played chess since the age of five and now, his friend beat him each and every time even as Kaname'd first learned the rules a couple weeks ago. "How did you do that?" Takuma asked, his eyes still wide open as he tried to grasp the situation.
Kaname shrugged lightly, to him it'd been quite an obvious move. Except from a little soreness, he didn't suffer from the brutal assault anymore. "Takuma, you don't know about any possible meetings or anything, do you?" Kaname asked conversationally, if Ichiou by any chance should listen to their conversation. Takuma quickly understood what the matter was about, after all he'd been seated in the car so many times and watched Kaname smile like he never did here. He was such a different person when he was with Yuki.
"I don't think he has any arrangements the next few days, but I'll try to find out," he responded. He didn't know of any, but just watching Kaname have those short hours of happiness was precious to him. Although he had no idea how much Kaname really suffered, he knew well that Kaname didn't have a moment's peace here. "Maybe we could…"
"Shh, he comes," Kaname warned, having noticed Ichiou before his friend was able to. Takuma sat silent for a moment before continuing like nothing had happened. "I can't believe you won again," Takuma complained, pretending that their last conversation didn't happen and immediately picking up on the previous subject. Kaname gave him a half smile. Takuma was not only a friend his own age, he was an ally although he knew nothing of the war.
Kaname ignored Ichiou completely when his guardian reentered, although he did his best to make Kaname uncomfortable. "Go to bed, both of you, it's almost 6 o'clock in the morning," Ichiou commented. He was tired himself and he didn't want Kaname to be awake while he slept. 6 o'clock in the morning was something similar to 11 o'clock in the evening for a vampire and as a pureblood, Kaname was even more sensitive in his nocturnal behavior, so he was willing to obey this time.
Ichiou wondered if Kaname would fall for it if he arranged a false meeting, allowing the pureblood to escape. Or, so he would think. But that would be hard, Kaname was not a stupid child and it would take a lot of finesse to fool him. On the other side, Kaname was almost literally blind when it came to his "visits". Ichiou didn't know what Kaname needed to do so badly outside, but it must be very important as he was completely oblivious to any traps.
Yes, maybe Ichiou really should arrange something to find out where Kaname in fact was going every now and then.
I know it isn't enough, but I'm going on a short holiday today so wanted to get it out. It's just a small introduction chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it. I promise the story will progress much more in the next chapter…
