A/N: I was seriously distraught when it became abundantly clear who Yuuki chose in the Manga. I personally wanted both Zero and Kaname to be able to have Yuuki, but without straying into Yaoi territory, that seemed near impossible. Then I came up with the idea for this story one night in hopes to remedy the situation. Also this is my first fan fic ever, so reviews are a wonderful thing, even the critical ones.
Chapter 1: The Proposition
Zero sat hunched over on his bed. His head hung heavily in his hands, silver locks splaying through his fingers. He touched a finger to his lips gently then jerked it away. They felt swollen, the sweetly metallic taste of his brother's blood still lingered on them. "Ichiru..." he whispered into the descending darkness. His brother, the other half of his heart had the life drained out of him by this mouth. The most agonizing thing of all was that Ichiru had orchestrated his own death at the hands of his brother.
Zero wept bitterly. And Yuuki, his beloved Yuuki had become the one thing he had sworn to hate. Even now, she was probably lying in the arms of his worst enemy. The darkness seemed to reach its peak and swallow him whole within it. Zero reached into his coat pocket, a shaking hand meeting steel. He extracted the Bloody Rose from its home, nestled against his heart. It felt heavy in his hands. The cold metal sent shivers up his arm, or perhaps that was due to the task ahead of him. Zero clicked the safety on and off, his heart aching with each click. Slowly he lifted it to his head, as images of Yuuki flashed before him. Yuuki washing the blood off him the night his parents were killed, Yuuki dragging him into the ocean on their first trip to the beach as a family, Yuuki fast asleep on her Algebra homework. A faint smile crossed his lips as he clicked the safety back on. Yuuki offering her neck to him again and again without a single complaint. She had never given up on the monster he had become. Zero lowered his gun and holstered it. For Yuuki's sake he could not give up on her now, he would live, despite the pain in his heart because of what she had become. The thought brought another image to his mind. Yuuki with her long hair, pointed fangs, and haunted eyes, locked in a passionate embrace with Kuran. He whipped the Blood Rose out again and pressed it to his temple.
"You do seem to find yourself in this position a lot don't you, Kiryu?" Zero's eyes looked up to meet the cool, calculating eyes of Kaname Kuran's. His broad shoulders were leaning casually against the open doorway of Zero's room. However, Zero had locked that door earlier...
Zero glared maliciously at the intruder, the Bloody Rose quickly changing aim.
"YOU"VE TAKEN EVERYTHING FROM ME!" Zero yelled hysterically. A nearby vase found its way from Zero's hand to a spot perilously close to Kaname's head.
"EVERYTHING! My vengeance, my dignity, the only semblance of love I had in my pathetic life. And now in my final moments, you seek to take those from me as well?!" Zero was visibly shaking, the entire world had turned on him, even his Yuuki at the hands of this man. Kaname took a step closer, forcing Zero to clutch tighter onto the grip of his gun. Then that same cool voice echoed once again into the room.
"What if I could give it back to you?" Zero's hand wavered, then firmed again. Impossible, nothing he had lost was redeemable. Kaname Kuran saw the look of doubt etched across Zero's face. He took another step forward. "What if I could give you your vengeance, give you your peace, give you Yuuki? Would you be able to lower your weapon, extract yourself from your self-hatred and listen to me? For Yuuki's sake, for your own? If so, then Zero Kiryu, I have a proposition for you."