Part 1 - Bad Blood
There was a timid knock at the door.
"Lord Kuran?" came a quivering voice from outside the room. "I'm sorry to disturb you in the middle of the day, but it seems a guest has arrived."
Kaname rose from the bed.
"Tell them I won't be taking any visitors during daylight hours," he frowned sleepily. "Deliver that message, show them out, and return to your quarters, Thomas. I do not want to be disturbed again until nightfall."
"I... I'm sorry, my lord, it's just that this visitor is not for you. He says he's from The Association, and he insisted he speak with Lady Cross immediately. I thought... We thought that perhaps..."
"I'm coming," he said, and rolled out of bed.
He leaned down and tenderly stroked Yuki's hair.
"Wake up," he said, his eyes softening.
"Kaname..." she muttered, and rolled over in her sleep.
"Yuki, wake up. There is a visitor."
"Mmmm. Kaname, is it nighttime yet?
"No."
She opened her eyes and yawned.
"I don't want to. I'm still so tired. We've been up half the day. You finally let me sleep..."
"It may be nothing. I need you to wake up, though. I want you to be ready."
"You won't need me," she moaned again. "They don't care about me. Every time I have to come with you to meet someone, they barely even look at me. I'm just a decoration..."
"You are not a decoration. You're just young, so they don't know you. They don't know what to say to you: they are terrified of you."
"Great," she muttered. "If you don't mind, I'd like to stay right here and terrify whoever it is from a distance."
"A guest has apparently shown up unannounced in the middle of the day, and he specifically requested to speak to you."
"Me?" she said, half rising from the bed.
"They are claiming to be from The Association. They know we should be sleeping at this time, so this may be something urgent. I am going down to meet them first to give you time to get ready."
"Oh..." she groaned, and pushed herself into a sitting position. "What do they want?"
"I don't know yet. I need you to get up right now, though, so I can dispose of these sheets before I go."
Yuki looked down, and saw that the sheets were stained with blood. It looked like a murder had taken place in Kaname's bed. She sighed and arched her back.
"Okay. I'm up. I'm up!" she groaned, and threw her legs over the side of the bed.
Kaname pulled on his pants. He picked up the shirt he had been wearing the night before, and examined what was left of it. It was in bloody tatters. He frowned and tossed it aside.
Yuki trudged about the room, looking for her dress. While she did this, Kaname pulled the sheets from the bed and threw them in a pile with his ruined shirt. When he had everything together, he checked the room one more time. Yuki watched him use one of the pillowcases to wipe at a few stray splatters. Finally, he grabbed the entire pile of ruined, bloodstained linens and held them in his arms.
Yuki hated this part. The stench was always awful. She covered her nose and continued her search.
A tiny, purple flame jutted out from the top of the bundle. In seconds, the whole thing was consumed in flickering purple flames, and was gone. Kaname brushed a few stray ashes from his bare arms.
Satisfied, he walked to the door. He put his hand upon the knob before turning back to look at her.
"Are you descent? Thomas is outside, and I'm going to need to unlock it soon."
"Wait! Let me find my dress."
"It's beneath my side of the bed," said Kaname.
She held it up. It was mostly intact. She wouldn't even have to destroy it if she could get the bloodstains around the collar to wash out. It would have to do for now: she didn't have anything else to wear until she got back to her own quarters down at the other end of the hall. She pulled it over her head.
"There," she said. "Ready."
Kaname unlocked the door, and paused to look at her.
"I want you to stay upstairs until I come back to get you," he said to Yuki, who had taken a seat on the edge of the matress. "You've still got blood on your neck. Take a bath if you would like, but do it quickly."
The servant backed away as soon as Kaname opened the door. He was visibly shaking.
"Thomas, thank you for waking us," said Kaname gently. "You needn't worry. I am not angry with you."
"Um..." said Thomas as he bowed. "Please forgive me, my lord! This seemed important!"
"It was. Do you think you could fetch me something to wear? I am going down to greet our guest, and I seem to have misplaced my shirt."
Thomas bustled off for a moment, and then returned with a shirt for Lord Kuran.
"Will this do?"
"Perfectly. Thank you again, Thomas," said Kaname, as he paced down the hallway, pulling the shirt over his head as he went.
When he was gone, Thomas edged inside the door. Yuki had never seen this one before, not that she let this bother her much since Kaname obviously knew him by name.
"Can I get you anything, my lady?" he asked her perhaps a bit too eagerly.
"No. But thank you, Thomas," she said, and stood again. "I think I can find..."
"Anything at all? A wet cloth for the..."
She held her splayed fingertips up to cover the streak of red that was still on her neck. She hadn't had a chance to wipe it away. It was all that remained of the ragged wound that had been there only hours before.
Since the two of them had left Cross Academy eight months before, Kaname had been instructing her about this new life. One of the more important things he had impressed upon her was that no one was to handle or even see her blood, even to clean it up. It was important that even the most trusted servants, friends or guests not be allowed anywhere near her blood, because it was too dangerous to risk that it could fall into the wrong hands.
Her blood was like his, now. Humans and vampires alike would do any number of insane things to get it. They would lick the floor to consume the tiniest droplet. They would spirit off her bloodstained clothes, soak them in water, and drink the mixture. She had to be aware at all times, or someone might try to collect her powerful blood for their own puposes. Worse, if they were unprepared, there was a good chance that consuming her blood could drive them insane.
"No," she said firmly. "But you can tell me which floor the bathroom was on again. I'm still not used to the layout of this house."
"It is on the third floor, the last door at the end of the eastern wing, my lady."
"Thank you again, Thomas. Now you can go."
"No need to thank me, my lady. I am here to serve."
He bowed himself out of the room.
"Ring the bell if you need anything," he added, and then closed the door.
She hated having to deal with the servants. Most of the time, they did their work in silence. When she acually had to converse with them, it always made her extremely uncomfortable. She didn't like the way they looked at her, like they wanted to... The only way to keep them in check, Kaname had explained, was to be firm with them. She didn't like telling anyone what to do, but this is what they expected of her. If she didn't, they might think they could take advantage of her.
Every servant in this new house was a vampire who was formerly human who had lost their masters at some time in the past.
"Vampires, above all else, are predators. Never allow them to see your weaknesses, or they may pounce," he had patiently explained.
"Why can't we have servants who don't want to eat us, though?" she had asked him.
"They are our responsibility. They could fall to level E and begin attacking humans if we don't keep them under our watch. Once that happens, once a human dies under their fangs, it is The Association's duty to execute them for their crime. Here, they can feed upon one another and so avoid execution."
"I just..." she had tried to protest, "I hate having to lock my door so that I can sleep in my own home!"
"In order to participate in vampire society, every pureblood and aristocratic vampire house is expected to keep a number of orphaned vampire servants. Even with the senate gone, it is important that this standard be maintained. Now that we have established a household of our own, we have to set an example, or the fabric of our society might crumble. Would you rather we killed them for the crimes they could commit, or abandoned them to their fates amongst the humans?"
"No," she had said. "They are like Zero. If they were once humans, then they are victims, too."
"Exactly. We who were born as vampires are responsible for giving these former humans something to keep them occupied, so there is less chance they could lose control and further damage vampire/human relations. This system will never change if we don't start with our own house."
She relaxed into the warm bath water and scrubbed at the dry blood on her neck.
She still didn't think it was fair. Just like slaves, the former humans had little choice about what happened to them. They were taken away from their friends and family, conscripted to work in what could be extremely dangerous conditions, at the threat of death, and only recieved room and board in exchange for their labor. In many cases, the former humans would be used as politcal pawns by the master of the house. No one seemed to care if some of them died this way.
Kaname's house wasn't as bad as some. Vampire society saw Kaname as extremely progressive, even though Yuki sometimes worried that even his servants weren't allowed the freedoms they deserved as human beings.
For one, he insisted that the servants must be compensated with more than just donated blood or blood pills for their labor. He refused to use his servants as pawns or consume their blood, and he never had sex with them. He considered such practices a disgusting form of coersion, because the former human vampires had little choice but to obey the commands given to them by a pureblood vampire.
Despite how sorry she felt about their situation, or perhaps because of the way she felt, Yuki didn't care to converse with the servants at all. She tried her best to leave all of that up to Kaname.
The servants usually knew to stay away when the scent of blood wafted down the hallways outside the main suite, and yet, this servant called Thomas had stayed behind when Kaname had gone out. He had noticed the blood on her neck. He didn't seem to be afraid of her at all when Kaname wasn't watching. She was an infant by vampire standards, and what could a baby do?
Nothing, she was forced to admit to herself. She still couldn't seem to get any of these pureblood powers to work. When she was upset, she could crumble walls just like Kaname could, but it was never on purpose. She couldn't aim it the way he could. She couldn't just look at someone and reduce them to dust, not that she had ever really wanted to. All she had were the normal healing abilities and night-vision, but so did every vampire. Even virtually powerless level E vampires had those things.
"It's a matter of will," he had assured her. "You can't do it because you don't really want to yet. Be patient."
It didn't seem fair. This new world was so dangerous, and she couldn't even defend herself if she had to.
"Yuki?" Kaname's voice came from outside the door. "May I come in?"
"Kaname!" she said. "Oh! Oh yes. Go ahead. I was just finishing my bath."
He opened the door and stepped inside. His eyes slid approvingly over the blurry silhouette of her submerged body.
"You better come downstairs. I can dispose of your dress if you would like. You can't leave it there like that."
"You don't have to... I was going to..."
It bothered her when he did things like this for her, like she was still a child.
"I already had one of the servants gather some clean clothing for you. I thought you would forget to ask before you came all this way."
"Oh! I did forget!" she said, sitting up out of the bath.
He flashed a half-smile at her.
"I think it would be best if you hurried."
"So... who's here to see me?"
All the guests they'd had so far had really only come there to see Kaname, even if they had asked to see the both of them out of politeness. Yuki was new to vampire society. They thought of her as wild-card, and barely acknowledged her presence.
She was the second of two Kuran heirs to appear out of thin air in just a few years. The first one, Kaname Kuran, had recently massacred almost every member of the vampire senate. There was a lot of bad blood about that incident, she knew, but their fear of Kaname's powers kept most of them at bay for the time being. What, she was sure they wondered, was this latest Kuran heir planning to do?
"He claims he is a representative from the Hunters' Association. He insisted he speak with you immediately."
"Just me? Why me? Why would anyone from The Association want to talk to me? Unless..."
"You needn't worry. I've asked Sairen to keep an eye on things. As soon as I finish here," he said as he held her bloodstained dress up to the light, "I will join you. It will not take me long."
"Okay, Kaname," she said, a hint of doubt creeping into her voice. "I just... I'm not sure I really know what I'm doing with things like this yet. I hope I don't mess this up."
"You are Lady Yuki Cross. Don't forget. Whatever he wants, don't let him see it if he upsets you. Remember that I will be down soon, breathe deeply, and do your best to keep him pleasantly distracted until I arrive. I wouldn't allow him to speak with you alone even for a moment if I thought he was a true danger to your life."
"Well..." she said, thinking. "I guess I better get dressed, then."
"Your clothes are in the bag beside the door."
She put her hands on the edge of the bath, bracing to stand up out of the water, then hesitated. Kaname was staring at her.
"Um..." she said, not sure how to ask him to turn around without offending him.
"I can turn around, if it bothers you," he said, an amused smile flickered past his lips.
"Could you? I mean..."
Kaname turned his back.
"Don't worry. I don't expect you to be comfortable around me so soon. It takes time."
He gathered up her dress and put a hand on the doorknob.
"And Yuki?" he said.
"Yes, Kaname?"
"Don't agree to do anything he asks until I get there."
"Okay, Kaname. I'll... I'll try."
Kaname closed the door.
Yuki stood and climbed out of the bath. She wasn't sure she would ever get used to these European-style bathtubs where you submerge your entire body in the water. The first time she had to use one, she'd filled the tub halfway and dipped a towel in the water like she was used to doing when there wasn't a shower. But Kaname had insisted she climb in and soak.
"Unless you do it this way," he had patiently explained after he discovered her sitting beside the tub, wrapped in a towel, "there is a chance you might leave too much residue. You need to soak, then drain and rinse the tub so any blood will be too diluted to be of any use. If there is time, pour bleach down the drain, just to be sure."
She wrapped herself in a towel and paced forward to see what was in the bag Kaname had brought.
There were so many rules! It was hard to remember them all. Maybe, she thought, if she could do it, he would stop treating her like a child.
She opened the bag and drew forth a dress so simple and yet elegant, it made her gasp. He expected her to wear this? It looked like something a princess might wear when she didn't want to bother with all the uncomfortable baubles on her usual party gown. To Yuki, who was accustomed to wearing a starchy, unstylish school uniform most of the time, this outfit seemed like overkill for any occasion.
Could she possibly pull something like this off? She tried to imagine what she'd look like by holding it in front of herself as she stood before the mirror.
It was a beautiful, creamy white color, and it hung down almost to her ankles. The top was made to wrap gracefully around her shoulders and fasten behind her neck. It made her look like a Roman noble-woman.
"Only, with my silly looking head poking out of the top of it," she muttered to herself disapprovingly.
There was nothing for it, though, so she pulled it over her naked body and fastened the gracefully pleated fabric at the back of her neck. Thankfully, she looked less ridiculous than she thought once she was actually wearing it.
Yuki quickly towel dried her hair and ran a brush through it for good measure. She wanted to bind it up somehow, but there wasn't anything in the room that could possibly hold so much hair while still looking nice. She doubted she would give the impression Kaname wanted with her hair wrapped up in a towel.
When she was sure she looked enough like a pureblood princess as anyone could expect under such short notice, she made her way back down the hall and to the stairs.
"Yukiiii!" cried the visitor when she reached the second-floor landing.
It couldn't be...
Footsteps thundered around her as the guest ran to meet her.
"My beloved daughter!" he cried as he came into sight.
"Headmaster Cross!" she exclaimed, and threw her arms around him.
"How many times do I have to tell you to call me 'father'?" he said, holding her out at arm's length, smiling at her.
"Oh! I'm so happy it's you!" she said, laughing as the tension that had gripped her heart dissipated. "Kaname had me all worked up, but then, well... Why don't we go downstairs?"
She disengaged from the hug and pointed to the open doorway below.
"There's no need for us to have our visit here," she said. "This old place has lots of cushy couches in the first floor sitting room."
"Yes. Yes! I have so much to tell you, my darling," he fluttered after her. "So much has happened in the six months since you left the academy. And I missed you so!" he added as she led him into nearby room.
True to form, Sairen followed at an unobtrusive distance, her eyes focused squarely upon the headmaster's back at all times.
It didn't matter to her that this was supposed to be Headmaster Cross, Yuki's adopted father and probably the safest person in the world to have by her side besides Kaname himself.
Sairen, unlike all the other servants at the new Kuran house, was the only one who had ever received the gift of Kaname Kuran's blood. It had been in payment for saving Kaname's life at a time long since past. Even as his blood laid glistening on the floor within her grasp, she had resisted the urge to kneel down to drink it, and instead chose to save her friend and master first. For this, for her loyalty, and for her rock-solid fortitude, she had been granted the power of the purest blood in existence. She hadn't needed to stoop so low as lapping a mouthful of blood from some dirty floor. Her master filled a vial and presented it to her himself in thanks for what she had done.
Because of this gift, she was almost as powerfully dangerous as Kaname himself, and yet unrelentingly loyal. If Kaname asked her to keep watch over Yuki and the guest, this is exactly what she would do. No matter how Yuki seemed to trust this man, Yuki was not her master.
"I've got a present for you!" exclaimed the headmaster as soon as they were seated.
"Would you like something to drink, first... father?" asked Yuki.
"Father! I just love it when you call me that!" he cried, clapping his hands together happily.
"Some green tea, perhaps? A glass of wine?"
"Oh? Drinking wine now, are we? Just look at you, growing into a young woman right before my eyes," he said, an octave dropping from his voice. "I'm glad to see you're holding up so well. Fitting in? No problems?"
"I'm fine, father. I promise. I'm happy. Kaname is helping me get adjusted."
"I'm glad to hear that," said the headmaster, still using his serious voice.
"Do you want a drink, then?"
"No, thank you. But..." he returned to his usual, jovial tone, "I brought you a gift, see?!"
He pulled a small box from the pocket of his coat.
"Are you going to open it?"
Yuki took the box from him and examined it.
"Thank you, father," she said. "I never knew you were so good at wrapping presents. This one is... wow... and I haven't even opened it yet."
The presents she remembered from her childhood, the ones she had watched the headmaster wrap himself, none of them had looked half as good as this one did. Usually, they had come out looking like someone had taped wadded paper to the outside of the box, then decided to wind the tape round and round so that none of it would fall off. Not that this had ever bothered her. Presents were still presents, no matter how the wrapping paper looked.
"If you must know, it wasnt me who wrapped it, but Sairen."
"What? Why?"
"Well," he laughed, "It seems Sairen has been charged with your safety. When she realized I intended to give you a gift, she insisted on examining the contents. She made me unwrap it to show her what was inside."
Another thing she was going to have to get used to as a princess; bodyguards.
"Oh, father, I'm so sorry!"
"No, no, no. I'm glad you have such a dedicated helper, here. She even wrapped it back up for me when she was done. She did a rather nice job, don't you think?"
Yuki turned to Sairen, who was standing in the open doorway, her hands clasped rigidly in front of her.
"Thank you, Sairen," she said. "I didn't know you knew how to wrap a gift so well."
"I can do anything that is required of me in the service of my master," came the woman's curt response.
Yuki turned back to the headmaster.
"That's Sairen-speak for, 'You're welcome,' in case you were wondering," she said, an embossed smile on her lips.
"So! Are you going to open it?"
"Oh... yes! Let's see what's inside, then."
Yuki opened her present.
"This looks just like the bracelet you gave me when I..."
"It is!" he exclaimed. "Only, I had some alterations made so that you, a vampire, could still use it like you did before."
"Neat."
"It'll still paralyze a vampire, only, I had one of the boys over at the Association weaponsmith shop add a little of this, take away a little of that, so that this particular bracelet will not affect you the same way."
"Wow. I mean... wow!"
"I thought you might appreciate having a little protection from... well... whatever you might need protection from."
"Thank you, father!" she said, fiddling the clasp so she could put it on. "This is a great gift! You have no idea how much I appreciate this!"
"I thought I told you not to do anything our guest asks of you until I arrive," said Kaname stiffly as he appeared in the doorway, making Yuki jump.
"Kaname! Why didn't you tell me it was Headmaster Cross?"
Kaname sighed.
"Because is wasn't."
"What?" she cried, confused. "He's sitting right here!"
She indicated the spot where the headmaster had been, only to discover that another person, one she'd never seen before, had taken his place. Not only that, but Sairen was now behind the stranger, a thin stiletto blade held against the side of his neck.
"What!" Yuki gaped.
"Move, and I get to add your skull to my collection," Sairen whispered into the man's ear.
"Please drop that bracelet," said Kaname. "If he thought he needed to trick you to get you to put it on, it can't be good for you."
She dropped the bracelet. It clattered across the floor and came to rest beneath a nearby couch.
"What... Wait! Who is this? Where is the headmaster?!"
"He was never here."
"How did you ..." said the man, before Sairen's blade gouged him. He pressed his lips together, and his eyes rolled around crazily, from Sairen and back to Kaname. It was clear he wasn't sure which one to fear most at the moment.
"Do not speak until the master wishes it!" she spat into his ear.
"Who are you?" said Kaname, his eyes burning the deepest crimson in his anger.
"Ask your doggie to back off, and I might tell you," he spat.
"Sairen. I'm sorry. Not right now. Perhaps in another moment, if you could," said Kaname.
"Yes, master," she responded, and immediately took a single step back.
She didn't, however, put away her blade.
The man dusted himself off, and stood straight.
"How will I ever get that doggie smell out of my clothes now?" he sneered.
"Now master?"
"Not yet."
"Tell me who you are. Why did you try to put this bracelet on my wife-to-be? Tell me, or I will end you without hesitation."
"I'm everyone and no one," said the man, giggling madly, before his face fell into a grimmace. "Monster!"
Kaname took a step closer to him, sniffing. "I've never smelled anything quite so putrid as you. Your smell gave you away from the very moment you appeared on my doorstep."
Come to think of it, Yuki realized, Headmaster Cross did have a very peculiar smell. She'd only noticed it once she became a vampire, though. It was like the sweet smell of fresh fish, but mixed with the scent of roses. No one else smelled that way. This man smelled like... rotted flesh, yet damp and green, like he'd spent a lot of time hanging out on a polluted river bottom. It was kind of fishy, too, but it wasn't right at all. It really was awful. How could she not have noticed?
"You smell like you haven't bathed in centuries, and yet, you have the gall to complain about Sairen?"
Kaname took another step towards him.
"Master! Be careful!" cried Sairen. "Don't do it! He is tainted! I can smell the dead flesh!"
"Yes, but I have to know. If he won't tell me, then..."
"Ha! Ha-ha ha-ha!" cried the man wildly. "But what if your little doggie is right? What if my blood is full of madness and rot?! Do you want to take the risk?"
Kaname stopped to consider this, and as he hesitated, the man's face pulled itself into a triumphant sneer.
"If my disguise was so bad, then why you let your precious wifey-poo come down to meet me all alone?"
Kaname growled.
Yuki had never heard him make such a gutteral sound before, even in the throes of his greatest passion, even when the blood-lust had nearly overtaken his reason. Carefully, she took a step back, her heart pounding in her throat. She didn't know what he would do now. She wasn't sure she wanted to be standing too close when he did it, either. It might be messy.
The man screamed, although Kaname hadn't actually touched him. He doubled over, convulsing with pain and fell back onto the couch.
"Stop! Please stop!" he howled, clawing at his chest.
When Kaname finally released him, he laid for several seconds, gasping and twitching. Bloody tatters dangled across his torso, all that was left of his clothes after he had torn into his own skin, struggling with whatever pain Kaname had inflicted. The wounds were already closing, so, Yuki reasoned, that meant he was a vampire.
Yuki looked away. She couldn't bare to watch.
"Who. Are. You." Kaname forced each word out between clenched teeth. "Tell me, or you die."
"Go ahead, then, bright boy! Kill the messenger! Kill it! Kill it!" the man screamed.
"Maybe..." Yuki interjected, breaking her fearful silence for the first time, "Maybe we should hear this message? I mean... he can't tell us anything while he's screaming."
Sairen and Kaname both glanced at her, surprise mirrored on both faces.
"Maybe you shouldn't be watching this, my lady," said Sairen, a pained expression suddenly blossoming forth. "My lord! I mean no disrespect to the lady! I am only concerned for her safety!"
Kaname blinked, and his eyes were black once more.
"Don't get yourself worked up, Sairen. I know what you meant. But I think... I think the Lady Yuki may be right in this case. We can't let our instincts control us. If we don't like what he has to say, then he is yours to do with as you please."
"Thank you, my lord," she said, bowing slightly before returning to her ready stance.
"So, creature, let's start again, shall we?"
"No. My message is not for you, little king. I did not lie about my desire to speak to the lady and the lady only."
"Too bad. You must tell all three of us, or your severed head joins Sairen's collection. That is, after I have tortured you to a state of madness."
"Impossible!"
"Why?"
"The message. It is in the bracelet. Only one can wear it at a time! I won't be telling you anything! I am not allowed to tell you anything, no matter how long you torture me. Try it, and see what happens!"
"He's mad," Yuki suddenly blurted. "Since he couldnt get to me, he just wants you to put it on yourself, Kaname!"
"There is still one other way, of course," said Kaname, his eyes glowing vaguely red again. "If he won't tell us, then I will enter his mind. Through the blood."
"Master!"
"Don't worry, Sairen. I won't linger there for long. He probably tastes worse than he smells."
"No!" screamed the man, but Sairen was already over the back of the couch, pinning him against the cushions with all her force.
Yuki could hear his bones creaking as Sairen drove her knees into the meat of his thighs to keep him from struggling.
"Now, master," she said, looking up at Kaname with two red, glimmering eyes.
Yuki turned away once more, but she could still smell the blood in the air as Kaname drove his fangs into the man's flesh. She could still hear the awful, gloopy sound of his blood as Kaname drank and drank.