Title: Devil's Pawn
Author's Notes: This is a total experiment - sparked by Sagakure's little hints in lovely fics like "The hand that loves and the hand that hates" and "Inevitability".
If you think you also spot allusions to certain events/elements of Kaname's past as made famous by the awesome Blackened Wing - then you are right - I couldn't resist.
Kudos BW - nobody paints these characters quite like you can :D
The main focus in this story is the evolving friendship between Takuma and Kaname, although the sick, sadistic side of Ichiou is the main catalyst which develops that friendship; thus the rating and the warnings.
I have taken liberties with some timelines and fundamentals of vampire physiology, where I felt it would make the story more interesting.
Summary: Life in the Ichijo mansion is not easy. Nothing escapes the iron-clad grip of Asato Ichijo, not even a pureblood. Forced to stay in the care of one he hates and who will stop at nothing to break his spirit, Kaname Kuran must fight for his very soul in a subtle, sadistic game.
Takuma Ichijo suspects something is happening to Kaname at the hands of Asato, and wants to help his friend through it, but will the bond of friendship be strong enough to carry them both through this dark time?
Pairings: Kaname x Takuma (friendship)
Kaname x Ichiou (abuse, violence, implied non-consensual situations later)
Warnings: Dark themes, violence, abuse and some later suggestions of male/male non-con. PLEASE do not read this if any of those things offend you.
Asato Ichijo was not a patient man, and detested being kept waiting.
He shuffled the papers on his large mahogany desk for the umpteenth time, his temper as frayed as the edges of the documents. The representative was supposed to have been there a half hour ago, and his tardiness was inexcusable. Asato planned to ensure heads rolled over this matter; after all, he was a well-respected businessman and an esteemed member of the Vampire Council.
When it became evident that the representative would not arrive, Asato's mood darkened even further, making him long to kill something.
Of course, he could no longer openly kill humans in the house - not since Kaname had come to live there anyway. It wasn't as if he really cared that his ward had an aversion to killing prey, but the majority of the Council seemed to be in league with Kaname's pacifist ideals for now, and it suited Asato to play along. Besides - he could not afford to give the adolescent pureblood substantial, concrete evidence to make a bid for freedom from Asato's guardianship, as that would mean he would lose any chance he might have of convincing Kaname to gift him with his pure blood.
That delightful, darkly enticing, alluring, seductive pure blood. The very essence of the vampiric race, condensed and distilled. Dear God, just smelling the boy could drive him to distraction… he could only imagine the taste… it was the one thing he wanted more than anything else in the world.
It was a delicate situation though, an intricate dance. Asato could not ask Kaname for his blood directly - to do so would be political suicide. He also could not take it by force - that would mean life imprisonment under the laws protecting purebloods. So instead, all he could do was drop veiled hints and make vague suggestions, hoping that one day he would catch his ward in a moment of weakness, and Kaname would give in.
There were, of course, other means of… persuasion… which he was exasperated enough to try at times. He could only employ those methods with a legitimate reason though, so he was constantly on the lookout for misbehaviour in his ward, and similarly, Kaname was constantly on the lookout for ways to evade punishment.
This battle of wills raged back and forth, parry and thrust, attack and defend. After all this time, the score was still tied.
Having nothing better to do, he sent a servant to fetch Kaname, wanting to spar verbally with him as a distraction.
When the servant returned, though, he did not have the dark-haired pureblood with him.
"Apologies, Ichijo-sama. Kuran-sama's guard detail say they thought he was in the meeting with you. It seems he is nowhere on the premises…"
Asato's composure snapped and he brought his fist down on his desk almost hard enough to splinter it. As it was, it creaked dangerously in protest, but held firm. The servant watched in trepidation - it was known that Ichijo-sama sometimes took out his rage on the hired help - but that thankfully did not seem to be his intention today.
"Very well. I suspect he will turn up in a few hours, as if out of thin air. You will await him in his quarters, and escort him directly to me, understood?"
The servant bowed low, backing quietly out of the study.
Asato smoothed one hand over his beard. It seemed he would have a better outlet for his frustration soon enough.
x--x--x--x--x
Kaname got out of the luxuriously appointed limousine, followed by Takuma. The young pureblood was in a good mood. The visit with Yuuki had been brief, but it had been filled with pleasant conversation and Yuuki's warm hugs.
His happiness, however, was short lived. The moment he got back to his room, a nervous-looking servant was awaiting him - and that did not bode well.
Takuma, who had been walking slightly behind him, paused as the pureblood froze in the doorway. Kaname was blocking his view of the interior, so he couldn't see why he was hesitating.
"Kaname? What is it?"
Kaname ignored Takuma's question, focusing instead on the servant, as if hoping he could stare him out of existence. The man quailed under the pureblood's fierce gaze, bowing low before speaking in a tremulous voice.
"K-K-Kuran-sama… Ichijo-sama requests your presence in his study at once."
Icy fear seemed to flood Kaname's veins in a tidal wave.
If Ichiou had sent the servant to wait here, then his guardian already knew Kaname had evaded the guards and slipped out - and if he knew that, then there could only be one reason for him to want to see Kaname. Forcing his rapidly-accelerating heartbeat to calm, he regulated his breathing so that his voice came out evenly.
"Inform Ichiou that I will be there shortly."
The servant winced slightly at these words. "Er… he… he has requested that I accompany you. I apologize for any inconvenience, Kuran-sama, but he will not take kindly to me disobeying his orders…"
He trailed off, but Kaname knew what was on the man's mind - Please do as Ichijo-sama says, or I will be punished for it…
The pureblood wanted to grind his teeth, but restrained the urge.
"Very well. I shall go with you."
He turned back towards the passage, not meeting Takuma's curious gaze. However, when he realized the green-eyed vampire fully intended to follow them, he spoke.
"Do not trouble yourself, Takuma. I am sure that your grandfather merely wants to see me regarding some small, unimportant matter. Go on to your room, we will speak later."
The faint dismissal in those words did not go unnoticed by Takuma. There was something ever so slightly off about his friend's tone, and it made small sparks of anxious worry kindle in his stomach. Nevertheless, he turned around and began walking towards his room, deep in thought.
This was not the first time Kaname had been summoned to grandfather's study and insisted on going alone, so Takuma often wondered what they spoke of. It was a known fact that there was no love lost between them - Kaname regarded his guardian with barely-concealed contempt, and Ichiou saw him in turn as if he was a heavy burden merely meant to be endured - thus Takuma doubted their conversations were about friendly topics.
Perhaps they spoke of politics, although that too was unlikely; grandfather always made a point of highlighting Kaname's relative inexperience in that area, and delighted in having a weakness to exploit in his ward.
It had not always been this way - a few years ago, when Takuma and Kaname were younger, and Kaname had first moved in, grandfather only ever spoke to Kaname in an official capacity. He seemed to be of the opinion that the less he saw of the pureblood, the better. That arrangement had suited Kaname just fine of course, so guardian and ward had avoided each other to a great extent.
Then, everything had changed in a matter of hours.
Kaname had reached the age of his transition, the point where a vampire's abilities reached their adult strength. It was also the age, for purebloods, where the scent and taste of their blood became vastly more potent, its full power unleashed. Young purebloods had almost no discernible scent, and their blood was bland and tasteless - a kind of biological camouflage to protect them from attacks by their non-pureblood peers who were all starting to need blood to survive.
Takuma had indeed noticed that since that day Kaname's scent had become incredibly compelling, but other than that, his friend was still the same; so Takuma accepted the change with his usual casual charm.
His grandfather though, had very suddenly begun to take a vested interest in Kaname, and that interest had only grown with time.
Lately, Kaname had been called to see grandfather more and more often, and afterwards, the pureblood would act strangely, locking himself in his room for hours on end and refusing to see anyone. When Takuma would knock and enquire, Kaname would reply in his usual unruffled tone that everything was fine; he just had some correspondence to take care of.
Of course, Takuma knew Kaname had always been a very good liar.
Something was going on, and Takuma was determined to find out what.
Since Kaname had come to live with them, he and the pureblood had developed a camaraderie, a friendship between kindred souls who both had to grow up before their time under the stifling political pressures of a highly demanding society - Kaname as the Kuran heir, and Takuma himself as his grandfather's protégé.
They had long since dispensed with formalities in private; Kaname insisted on being treated as an equal, not a pureblood, and Takuma had obliged him, although it had been strange at first. Takuma had been raised as most vampire nobles were - to see purebloods as something akin to gods made flesh. It had taken a while, but eventually he had come to realise Kaname was not that different from any other vampire his age. They had been inseparable since that revelation. Takuma would even help Kaname escape his guards once every few months, then use his own allowance to hire a car so that Kaname could meet with that adorable little girl - Yuuki.
Takuma did this - at the risk of being caught and scolded severely by grandfather - because he knew those visits made Kaname happy, and his friend's joy was a rare, wonderful thing to behold; even from afar.
The knowledge that something might be threatening that happiness decided him.
Risking a quick backward glance, he saw that Kaname and the servant were already out of sight. Turning back the way he had come, he padded quietly across the thick multi-hued carpeting that covered the hallway floor, heading for his grandfather's study.