Consequences and the Blood-Washed Academy

(Sequel to: Shared Blood and Its Required Payment)

Chapter 1. "The Restored Fragment" by SeelieSpright

Word Count: 1,385 (The others will be longer.)

Pairing: The Kiryuu twins

Content: Contains intense angst, blood drinking, and spoilers for Chapter 40.

Caveat: The characters are not my own, and belong solely to Hino Matsuri, etc.

"Zero, my last piece of life: eat it all."

Zero turned his head away, his body tense against his brother, "Ichiru..."

"Do you know what I am saying? If you eat me, you will be able to take back the strength that belonged to you by right before we were born. And the wound I gave you can be treated too." Ichiru leaned close, his neck near Zero's face so that Zero inhaled the heady scent of his brother's skin as well as the scent of blood, which filled the cell.

"No, I won't do it," Zero said, turning his head away abruptly.

"You will," Ichiru said, clutching Zero's shirt just below his shoulder.

"Why do you think I shot you with this gun?" Ichiru fumbled with the barrel, but his fingers no longer had the strength to lift the heavy pistol. He leaned against Zero, panting and was painfully close. Zero shrank away from Ichiru's body.

"Stop it! I don't want to lose anyone else anymore," Zero said. Tears glistened in the corners of Zero's eyes and threatened to escape and roll down his cheeks.

"I'm so happy," Ichiru said, "I thought I was dead in Zero's heart."

Ichiru's body began to tremble against him and Zero did not know if it was with emotion or because of Ichiru's waning strength at his extensive blood loss. Zero knew that he didn't have much time and must be sure that Ichiru knew everything before he went. Zero had hated Ichiru for all of these years, but loved him must as strongly, and now he could summon none of the hatred, which had been his armour for so many years. He was again the young Zero, the stronger twin who loved his other half so dearly and had wanted to care for him always, or to love Ichiru until his dying day when he would leave Zero behind, alone. Zero had been alone for so many years now, robbed of his parents and severed from his brother.

"Dad and mom too," Zero said, beginning to cry, "had watched over you and loved you like I do."

"I know," Ichiru said, his body relaxing against Zero completely. Their hearts beat together as they had done in the womb and when they lay together as children.

"Eat me and let me become a part of you," Ichiru said, "And soon I will…" Ichiru trailed off, his voice losing strength as he faded. Ichiru pressed his hand against Zero's chest, feeling its warmth and the rapidly pounding heart. He put Zero's hand on his own chest so that Zero could feel their hearts beating as one again.

"Ichiru, this is wrong," Zero said, his hand clutching Ichiru's chest under the jacket.

"Wrong? If you think like this, Zero, you…

"Just accomplish your goal. Zero and I must become one." Ichiru said.

Ichiru pulled himself up against Zero, the movement making his head spin and his vision to black out momentarily. But Ichiru leaned forward and found Zero's lips by touch, pressing his own against Zero's so desperate for Zero's warmth, Zero's passion. Zero did not respond at first, his hands loosely holding Ichiru's upper arms. But Zero tightened his grip and then returned the kiss passionately, the twin brothers' tongues fighting one another. Zero drew back gasping, his cheeks flushed and his breath hot. His body ached, not from the shot to his shoulder, but every bit of him that wasn't touching Ichiru. Zero wanted to be fully inside Ichiru, to fill his every pore and to see the world through Ichiru's eyes. He wanted to press himself so hard against Ichiru until they melted into a single person and Zero disappeared.

Zero did not want his brother to die. He wanted to die himself and for the fragment to consume him. He was so tired of this world. He was tired of the blood inside of him, Yuuki and Kaname's love bound together in his blood. Zero had no one and didn't even have possession of his own body. He could ignore Kaname's order, but that still wouldn't free him. He could shoot Yuuki, but she would live on inside of him and her face, her laugh, the tilt of her head would always haunt him as they did now.

Zero wanted to die, but that would have to come later. He could not follow his brother now because their parents had not yet been avenged and Zero would utterly destroy Rido and assure that he would never return as recompense for his parents and Ichiru's deaths. But in order for his transformation to complete and he to have full power, Zero must consume Ichiru.

"I'm sorry, brother," Zero said, grasping Ichiru's head and opening his mouth at Ichiru's neck. He licked the skin and Ichiru sighed. Ichiru was trembling lightly and Zero knew that this time it wasn't blood loss because their minds were one again. From Ichiru, Zero sensed fear and desire equally mixed. Ichiru had always wanted to return to Zero and for the fragment, himself, to be consumed. But he now feared to disappear. Had he touched anyone meaningfully? Who would remember him after he was gone? Ichiru had no one but his brother now that Shizukasama was dead.

"Oh, Zero," Ichiru said, tilting his head further to expose his neck.

"Stop my fear, Zero, take me into you and let my pain end."

Zero took Ichiru's hand in his own and held it tightly because Ichiru did not have the strength to close his fingers anymore. Zero slid his hand around Ichiru's back and pulled Ichiru closer so that their legs were intertwined and Zero held Ichiru in a close embrace. Zero kissed Ichiru's neck and then bit down, his sharp fangs piercing the skin and the blood began to flow into his mouth when he withdrew them. Ichiru sighed and his chest pressed against Zero. Zero supported the weight of Ichiru's head, as Ichiru was weakening and could not hold himself up.

Zero let Ichiru down on his back and pulled Ichiru's coat open. He unbuttoned Ichiru's shirt and ran his hands along the warm flesh of Ichiru's chest. Ichiru was breathing shallowly now and Zero sensed that his heart was slowing. Zero gingerly pulled Ichiru's shirt away from the spot where Rido had cut him. The wounds were deep and bled copiously. How could Rido have been so brutal? Ichiru tried to raise his arm toward Zero, but could not. Zero took his hand and pressed it against his breast.

"Take all of me," Ichiru whispered and Zero bent to lick at the wound. He caught the blood with his tongue and then kissed Ichiru again. Ichiru's fingers, entwined in his own, flexed when Zero kissed him. Zero drew back.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Zero returned to Ichiru's neck and began to drink again. He held Ichiru's hand tightly in his own and felt the weak return of his pressure from Ichiru. Zero swallowed and smoothed Ichiru's hair with his free hand. He swallowed again and the small pressure of Ichiru's grip was gone, Ichiru's hand relaxed. Zero felt Ichiru's heart beat a few times more, gradually slowing, and then stopping.

Zero pulled back and a sob rose in his throat. Ichiru's eyes were closed and he had a look of complete surrender and contentment on his face. Zero touched his brother's cheek and brushed his forehead. He kissed Ichiru's hair where it had fallen onto his face and cradled Ichiru's head in his lap. Zero felt Ichiru's blood pumping through him and healing the wound in his shoulder. He felt too the completed power of the Hunter within him. He was the Perfect Hunter now with the fragmented power now restored within a single being. Added to that, he had the power of three purebloods and the most powerful Kuran blood.

Zero closed Ichiru's shirt and coat and buttoned the coat before gently laying Ichiru on the flood and rising. He bit his hand to physically feel the pain that his entire body and soul were already aching with.

Zero left the cell and his brother behind and began to climb the stairs, trailing behind him a shadow that was tall, fanged, and not at all human.

A/N: Wow, Zero seems really emo in this story. I guess it is an undercurrent of VK that isn't so 'painfully' obvious in the manga. Haha. I'll leave it up to your imagination who said, "I love you" first. I was undecided if the somewhat pervy blood drinking was appropriate to the situation, but I left it; so I hope it didn't bother anyone.

I resumed the story here because I wasn't inspired by the chapters between where "Shared Blood" left off (Chapter 35) and Chapter 40. I hope the next chapters will prove more fruitful for fanfiction.

I'm making this chapter a double release with Chapter 2. "A Moment of Comfort Before the Storm", which is contemporaneous with this chapter.

NB: Please, when composing reviews: Observe basic grammar and reread what you've just typed. Also, WRITING ALL IN CAPS is shouting on the Internet, and is rarely appropriate. Emoticons are cute and I like them just fine.