Brief, necessary background. Essentially, this is a world in which Zero, rather than Ichiru, is the younger, weaker twin. This completely changes the timeline, because the two react differently to their situations due to their differing personalities. When Ichiru was the younger twin, he grew up to be bitter and cruel. When Zero was the older twin, he grew to be brusque but innately kind. However, Zero, as the younger twin, has grown to be quiet and kind but detached from just about everything due to his parents largely ignoring him in favor of training Ichiru. Despite this, Zero adores Ichiru. Ichiru, as the older twin, has grown to be intensely protective of his weaker brother and resentful of his parents' treatment of Zero. HOWEVER, the twins' parents never neglected or abused either of their sons. Please keep that in mind. Also, in this timeline, Shizuka attacked the Kiriyus on her own, with no assistance from Ichiru.
thisisalinebreaksuckers
Ichiru didn't really know what he had expected. Death was something he had never seen before, something utterly alien to him.
He had the feeling that he should have felt something as he stared at the bodies of his parents.
"Ichi-nii?" The soft, confused voice of his twin snapped Ichiru out of his reverie and he turned to look at his younger brother.
"Zero..."
"W-what's going on?" Zero's eyes were filled with unshed tears of confusion. Ichiru scrambled forward, grabbing for his twin's hands.
"I'm not sure, Zero. We have to go before whoever did this finds us, though."
"But... Mamma and Papa..." Ichiru shook his head.
"They're already dead, Zero. There's nothing we can do."
"Why are you bleeding, Ichi-nii?" The change of subject made Ichiru blink in surprise.
"What?"
"You're bleeding, Ichi-nii..." Zero lifted a perpetually-shaking hand and ran his fingers over his twin's neck gently. He pulled it away and stared at the crimson liquid decorating his fingertips. "Why are you bleeding?"
Zero's voice was calm, now. The tears which had previously filled his eyes were gone, leaving no trace. Ichiru could tell that Zero knew full well why he was bleeding.
Outside, the blizzard howled, and the windows rattled in the wind.
"We have to go."
"Go where?"
Ichiru shook his head.
"I don't know. Away from here."
"It's snowing, Ichi-nii. We won't survive out there for long." Ichiru met Zero's unwavering gaze, reading what he hadn't said in his eyes. Iwon't survive out there for long.
Ichiru squeezed his eyes shut. If it had just been him, he would have taken the risk. But Zero was just too fragile.
"We'll just have to head to town."
"But Ichi-nii, the town is more than eight kilometers away. We'll never make it."
"There's that house just a little while away, though. Even if it is in the opposite direction of the town."
"But, Ichi-nii... Mamma and Papa said never to go near that house..."
"Well, Mamma and Papa aren't exactly in a position to complain, are they?" Ichiru snapped. He immediately felt guilty, expecting Zero to start crying, but the younger twin simply sent a clinical eye over the mangled bodies of their parents.
"All right, then. I'll get my coat. But I'm bandaging that bite before we leave." Zero's tone brooked no argument and, as the younger boy turned away, Ichiru felt an ironic smile twist his lips. Zero was, after all, far from stupid.
"When will it start?" Zero's question was quiet, but it held no trace of fear as he carefully bandaged the bite on Ichiru's neck.
"I'm not sure." Ichiru responded without looking at him.
"Do you know who it was?" Ichiru stiffened, but there was no accusation in his twin's voice.
"Not really. It was a woman. Definitely a pureblood. I've seen her picture in that folder Mamma and Papa keep of all the purebloods. But I don't remember her name." Zero nodded in acceptance. "How did you know it was a pureblood bite?"
Zero shrugged.
"You're afraid of it." It seemed that, to him at least, that was a good enough explanation. "I would be too. Mamma and Papa didn't exactly have the most favorable view of vampires, and logically at least some of that prejudice will have colored our opinions of the race."
Ichiru blinked. "You don't hate them?"
"Why would I?"
"Well, one of them did just murder Mamma and Papa in cold blood." Ichiru responded dryly. Zero shrugged again, disturbingly calm.
"Yes. But she was just one of thousands. You cannot judge a people on the actions of one man. Or woman."
Ichiru narrowed his eyes at his brother. "Was that a quote?"
"It might have been. Regardless, I can't hate all vampires. You are, after all, going to be one soon." Ichiru realized belatedly that Zero had long ago finished bandaging his neck and was now resting his quivering hands on his seated brother's shoulders. Ichiru turned on the stool to look at him.
"You're not scared?"
"Of you? No. I could never fear you for what you are, Ichi-nii." Zero told him gently, kneeling before his twin and taking Ichiru's hands in his own shaking ones.
"But you are scared." It wasn't a question.
"Yes. Of the fact that you may end up taking this opportunity to hate all vampires. That you might hate yourself for what you are becoming. That you might push me away in a misguided attempt to 'keep me safe'. That you might try to deny what you are."
"And what am I?" Ichiru's bitter question was almost too soft to hear.
"You are my Ichi-nii." Zero told him simply. "And you always will be. Nothing else matters."
Ichiru choked back a rather hysterical sob, and forced himself to his feet, pulling his twin up with him gently.
"We have to go. The Association is sure to notice what happened here soon, and they won't hesitate to kill me now for what I'm becoming."
Zero nodded easily. "I'm assuming the people in the house we're headed to are vampires, judging by Mamma and Papa's reluctance to let us near them. We can only hope they're the good sort."
Ichiru squeezed Zero's hands. "Don't be afraid, Zero. I'll protect you."
Zero smiled at him. "I know you will, Ichi-nii."
"I wasn't talking about the vampires."
Zero met his older brother's gaze. "I know. I have no fear of them."
"I won't let you die out in the snow, Zero."
"I know, Ichi-nii."
thisisalinebreaksuckers
"Do you know where Hanabusa is, Rei?" Aidou Rei looked up from her book at the sound of her husband's voice.
"He's either in his room, in the library, or in his laboratory. Why?" Her husband shrugged.
"No real reason. Frankly, I'm bored." He told her easily, collapsing into the armchair adjacent from her.
"You could actually do some work, for once." She teased him with a grin.
"I finished it all!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air dramatically. She raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. "It's true! We've been basically snowed in for more than a week, Rei, no one wants to come all the way out here in this weather just to give me paperwork."
"If you say so, Yaga." She told him amusedly, returning to her book.
"Don't ignore me-" Yagamichi's whine was cut off by a knock at the door. The couple exchanged looks of surprise.
"Who could be visiting in this weather?" Rei murmured, setting her book down and standing to answer the door.
"No one with good news," her husband responded grimly as he moved to stand at his wife's side. They exchanged worried glances as she carefully eased the door open.
I shouldn't have made Zero come out here... he thought wretchedly as he dragged himself onto the doorstep of their 'neighbor's' manor at long last. He's too fragile. Please... please let him be okay.
He could no longer feel his brother breathing. He couldn't tell if it was because he was too numb to feel anything or because Zero was truly not breathing anymore.
He only barely managed to slam his violently shaking fist onto the exquisitely carved door before his strength gave out and he collapsed gratefully to the ground.
The door didn't open for a few endless moments and Ichiru found himself praying to a god he didn't believe in that these people would find it in their hearts to open the door.
A shaft of light cut through the frozen darkness, illuminating a small strip of the untouched snow next to him. As the door eased open cautiously, he felt his eyes drift shut in relief.
He could do no more.
thisisalinebreaksuckers
"What in the world..." Rei murmured, kneeling to touch one of the small, snow-covered children on his exotically-colored hair.
The thought drifted up before she could dismiss it as ludicrous. Are they angels?
"They're frozen solid, Rei." Yagamichi commented quietly, trailing a finger down the nearest child's cheek. "We should get them inside, in front of the fire."
Rei touched the boy's cheek and was startled to find that her husband was correct.
"Oh..." She scrambled to lift the child who lay sprawled atop his dopplegänger into her arms. "You're right. Will you grab the other one?" She turned to see her husband already cradling the other child in his arms, and she shot a tender smile at him.
He carefully shut the front door as his wife rushed into the study to lay the child in her arms before the fire. He followed suit.
"They're so small..." she marveled quietly, brushing a strand of semi-frozen silver hair out of the face of the child he had carried in. "Like little ice angels."
Yagamichi couldn't dispute the likeliness. "Where did they come from?"
A wistful look overtook her face. "Perhaps they're a gift from heaven. Perhaps the gods decided to donate two of their own to a lonely family missing their children."
And abandon them to die in a blizzard? But Yagamichi did not voice his doubts, choosing to leave her to her fantasies.
"We need to get these wet clothes off of them." Yagamichi had divested the boys of their trousers before Rei could react. His wife squawked in protest.
"That's an invasion of their privacy!"
"They're children, Rei. They're not going to care." He told her quietly. She heaved a resigned sigh. "Would you go see if we have any of Hanabusa's old clothes lying around?"
When she had slipped out of the room to begin the hunt, he lifted the other boy up partway to pull off his coat, revealing his fragile white neck, partially covered by a well-wrapped but bloodstained white bandage.
Yagamichi's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
thisisalinebreaksuckers
The blizzard let up a few days later, but the two children remained unconscious for almost a full week after their arrival.
Rei had indeed found an entire wardrobe filled with clothes from Hanabusa's childhood. They were old-fashioned, but once the were washed they discovered that they fit the two children acceptably.
Yagamichi and Rei had also determined that, despite the boys' many ethereal qualities they were, in fact, human (though that did not dissuade Rei from thinking they were just disguised as humans to hide their divinity).
Yagamichi had also confirmed his suspicion that the bandage around the more muscular twin's neck did indeed cover a vampric bite mark, though there was no way to tell if it was the work of a pureblood or that of one of the lesser vampires.
Despite his injury, however, the boy with the bite mark was the one to wake up first.
It was almost four in the afternoon when one of the boys began to stir. Rei, seated in a comfortable armchair and engrossed in her book, almost didn't notice.
The boy sat up groggily, staring around his unfamiliar surroundings uncomprehendingly.
"You're awake!" Rei exclaimed happily, dropping her book carelessly to the ground as she rocketed to her feet. The boy jerked back automatically.
"Where's Zero?" Rei blinked.
"Zero?"
"Zero. Where is he?" The boy's young still sleep-slurred voice was laced with defensive terror.
"You mean the boy you were with? Hana-chan's with him. He's right next door, but it's best not to disturb him. He's still unconscious." Rei couldn't help but mentally coo over how protective the boy was over this 'Zero'.
A curious name. Perhaps it was a nickname, though if it was it would be a cruel one.
She was interrupted from her ponderings when the boy attempted to lever himself out of bed.
"You're in no condition to be out of bed, dear." She chastised gently, pushing him back onto the pillows.
"Who the hell are you?" In most other circumstances, Rei would have admonished him for his language, but she could see how scared he was despite how hard he tried to hide it.
"Aidou Rei. You're in my house."
"Why?" The boy asked warily, eyeing her suspiciously.
"My husband and I found you two unconscious on our doorstep," she explained wryly. He blinked, then his hand flew to his still-bandaged neck.
"Do you know what happened?" She questioned him gently. He nodded tersely, but offered no explanation.
"What's your name?" She prodded. He scowled.
"Ichiru." She raised an eyebrow.
"No surname?" His scowl deepened.
"Not anymore."
"Can you tell me what happened?"
"No."
Rei considered this briefly. "Why not?"
"Because it doesn't matter."
She hesitated, unsure of how to progress.
"Do you know why your neck is hurt?" She ventured at last. He shot her a look which somehow managed to seem dry.
"Because I was bitten by a vampire."
She blinked in mild surprise at the flippant way he referred to her race. "Do you remember what this vampire looked like?"
"She was a pureblood." Rei's eyes widened, both at the news and at Ichiru's knowledge of the intricacies of vampric society. "I'm pretty sure her name was Shizuka, but I don't remember her surname."
From the opposite end of the manor, the doorbell sounded. Rei immediately dismissed it, though a passing curiosity as to who would be visiting so late did float through her head. She focused on the more immediate problem before her.
"Do you know what's going to happen to you?"
He met her eyes unwaveringly.
"Yes."
And for just a moment, she feared this silver-haired angel who knew far too much to be anything but the child of a hunter.
thisisalinebreaksuckers
Yagamichi hesitated again before opening the door. It was daylight once again, and he was exhausted and reluctant to leave the fragile child he had been tending to the dubious mercies of his young son, but he was aware that someone should check and make sure there weren't more young children freezing in the snow.
The moment he opened the door, however, he regretted his decision.
"Aidou," the hunter before him sneered. Yagamichi fought down a sneer in return, forcing himself to nod politely instead. "A pair of hunters living in the house nearby have been found dead, killed by vampires. We're searching your house."
As Yagamichi opened his mouth to tell the young man that he would do nothing of the sort, a sharp voice snapped "Souske!" and the hunter scowled as a much older man stepped up beside him.
"Forgive us, Aidou-san," the man- a middle-aged hunter with calloused palms wrapped around twin revolvers and a gentle face- said politely, bowing his head respectfully. "My partner is young and foolish. Of course we shall not encroach on your family like that. We were wondering, though- the hunters found dead had a young son, Ichiru, and his body was not found with his parents. Have you seen him?"
"Father?"
Yagamichi turned to look at his son as the other decended the staircase and opened his mouth to ask why he was not with the child, but Hanabusa widened his eyes theatrically as he glanced at the hunters.
"What's going on? Father, is something wrong?"
The older hunter glanced at Yagamichi before answering the younger vampire.
"We're looking for a young hunter child- a boy, around ten, with silver hair and purple eyes. His parents were killed sometime recently, by vampires, and we have reason to believe that he may have survived."
Hanabusa put on a faux-worried look and answered, "Oh, we certainly haven't seen anyone, not out in that storm. We couldn't see our hands in front of our faces with how thickly it was falling. I'm sorry, but I can't imagine that a child would have survived out there."
The older hunter deflated, clearly having expected the answer, as Yagamichi stared at his son.
"I understand. Thank you for your time."
"Shouji, you can't just-" the younger hunter began to protest, but the older man held up a quelling hand.
"Let's go, Souske."
"Shouji-"
The older hunter nodded hurriedly at Yagamichi and dragged his companion away with an unashamed hand on his collar, and the blonde closed the door somewhat numbly before turning to look at his now-deflated son for explanation. Hanabusa shook his head tiredly.
"The smaller boy is awake, Father. And he made it very clear that it would not be a good idea for hunters to find them."
"Why?"
Hanabusa sighed. "Something called the 'hunter's curse'. Apparently, hunters who give birth to twins are expected to... feed the weaker child to the stronger, somehow, and when their parents didn't do that, they violated the hunters' code and therefore their lives, along with the lives of their sons."
Yagamichi stared at Hanabusa in horror.
"We'd better talk to Mother. She's not going to like this."
thisisalinebreaksuckers
"What monsters! And they call us abominations!"
"Rei, darling, calm down-"
"I will not calm down! They wanted those poor people to murder children! What kind of half-brained, dim-witted, demented fool decided that would ever be all right?"
"Rei-"
"What are we going to do with them?" Hanabusa asked, interrupting his mother's tirade with no grace. She ground to a halt, staring at him. "Well, there's not exactly anyone we can hand them over to, is there?"
"Then they'll just have to stay with us." Rei said determinedly.
"Rei-"
"No, Yagamichi, they're staying. I will not turn children out of my home when they have nowhere else to go, regardless of their birth status."
Yagamichi sighed, knowing he had already lost.
"Very well. Hanabusa, I suppose we should all go and be formally introduced to your new brothers."
Hanabusa grinned.
"I've always wanted a little brother."
thisisalinebreaksuckersiforgothowmuchihateff
An unfortunate announcement: while I did originally intend to make this story much longer, I have determined that I am just no longer invested enough in it to make it full-length. It has less to do with the story and more to do with the fact that the Hobbit has renewed my lifelong passion for Tolkien's works, and I no longer have the necessary attention to devote to it (as has been proved by how long this has sat). So, this I am going to finish up the introduction, and if anyone wants to make it into a full-length story, as long as you contact me to ask I'm pretty sure I'll say 'yes'. I'll be even more inclined to say yes if you make it Aidou/Zero, because I've always wanted to read one of those XD Thank you for all your kudos, follows, and for the reviews I got on FF. You're all amazing.