Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Black Blood Brothers, except one copy of the series 'cause I couldn't resist the twisted comedy. XD

A ZelmanxJiro fic

written by Cuzosu

Title: Surreptitious Selfishness

Summary: In which Zelman is selfish and Jiro exquisitely polite, while Kane is distracted and Kotaro naïve.

WARNING: M for language, violence and gore, eventual yaoi...and possibly more, not quite sure yet.

A/N: My thanks to my friend Ariel, co-collaborator on another fic and the woman who shared my enthusiasm for this drool-worthy pairing and in character story line. It might have still been done without your enthusiastic demands that I write it so you could read it, but it definitely would have taken much longer.

...

Chapter 1:

Eight hundred years of vampire experience walked the world in the form of Crimson-Eyed Zelman Clock. He was bored. So bored. The most recent entertainment he'd had consisted of the twisted events surrounding the arrival of Jiro Mochizuki, the Silver Blade, and the subsequent infestation Cassandra Jill Warlock had waited for his presence to unleash. She had made it necessary for him to obliterate his entire Affiliate House, which had really pissed him off - and then he'd only barely managed to bite back his rage and let Jiro take on the enemy team as they headed out of the city.

Kotaro was fun, it was true. But for all that he was the renowned Sage's current incarnation, the little blond was still a child. An odd child even for a vampire, and entertaining in small doses, but still a child. And babysitting was so BORING, and Crimson-Eyed Zelman was no one's big brother - unlike Jiro Mochizuki.

Jiro. Now there was an interesting vampire. Powerful, which was enough to earn him some respect right there; vampires who had a lot of power were almost invariably touchy about the most surprising things, and Jiro Mochizuki was no exception. Infamous among his own kind for earning himself the name Kin Killer during the human-vampire war, he was the last one of the group invited into his home that Zelman had expected to be polite to another vampire. But little Kotaro had been the rudest, in a strangely polite way - and yet highly amusing for all his tactlessness - and while the negotiator, Mimiko, had been mostly civil, it was clear even without her occasional outbursts that she didn't want the Old Blood duo to associate at all. As for the Silver Blade himself...he'd had one short, impolite spurt, and then remembered his manners. This had kindled amusement and interest in the flame-wielder. Zelman thought it was probably because he had such strangely strong reactions to such things as Kotaro's manners and his own temporary lack of them. The Kin Killer was the one vampire in the Zone that sparked eight hundred years worth of mostly lost curiosity, and redheaded Old Blood Zelman Clock was nowhere near done figuring him out. Things were just getting interesting, after all, and Zelman was catlike in that he enjoyed toying with his prey - in this case, Jiro.

But Zelman hadn't reached eight centuries of age without being a manipulative bastard, and mostly he was interested in finding out what was most likely to incite rashly snarled words from the younger vampire, so he went to the expert. Kotaro described several instances wherein Jiro had lost his calm outward appearance, mostly caused by the misbehaviors the young boy vehemently denied having disobeyed firm orders to do. Among them was the time he sneezed on the scarf the Northern Princess had just given him, which pissed her off - something Jiro had strictly informed Kotaro he was not to do, and Crow had fully seconded. Then there was the incident on the boat, when Jiro had ordered him to stay put and not let anyone see him, as they were stowaways, and Zelman had heard enough about that one during the suppression team's after-action report to know that the instructions given had not been followed. There were more, but after a few stories they all started sounding the same to the pyro, who let his thoughts wander and eventually drifted towards the Silver Blade's new residence.

Honestly, it amused Zelman that the stolid-seeming Silver Blade had to put up with a "younger brother" like that. It wouldn't have been nearly so amusing had the shoe been on the other foot, as humans were so fond of saying. Sure, Zelman knew that Kotaru was the Sage Alice's new form, but it was doubtful that the hot-tempered vampire could have dealt with being stuck in such a situation without either abandoning his charge or breaking his own bloodline. He also took orders even less well than Jiro, which spoke volumes of his personality. Well, it probably didn't help that he was an intelligent sociopath. Still, Kotaro was quite entertaining...in moderate doses.

Contrary as the cat he moved like, Zelman smiled. He was smug, and had every right to be - he'd gotten the information he wanted, and he had a task he'd set himself to do. Kotaro had no idea the consequences of what he'd done...but he'd face them soon enough.

...

Mimiko opened the door around midnight, only to blink. What was he doing here?

"Um, hello, Mr. Clock," she began, feeling a little faint.

"Zelman," corrected the vampire. Excessive formality had a long-standing habit of either amusing him or annoying him into showing his darker side. And with eight hundred years' history of being a sociopath, he had one hell of a darker side, even for a vampire of the warrior Asura's bloodline. His eyes narrowed. "Is the Silver Blade in?"

"Uh, yeah, just a second..." She leaned around the door to yell, "JIRO! You've got a visitor!" Turning back to the taller redheaded man, she asked, "Would you like to wait outside or in?"

"In," he told her, stepping into what looked like it would be a living room when everything was unpacked. Leaning easily against a wall, he said, "Go ahead and continue with whatever you were doing. I'll just wait here for him." Then he closed his eyes and, to all outward appearances, went to sleep.

Confused, the little negotiator shook her head and did as he'd instructed. Her belongings still needed unpacked, and she had no idea what Jiro and Kotaro thought they were going to do with the kitchen. Knowing them, she shuddered to think of it. They would probably find something utterly disturbing to anyone human, and since she was the one who'd be cooking in it, the brunette was putting her foot down. Strongly. Only she was allowed to decide how the kitchen would be.

Jiro came into the room a few minutes later. "Sorry it took so long," he murmured. "I was putting a lock on the inside of my coffin. Mimiko's penchant for waking vampires up with water is stronger than I'd prefer."

This was said with such straightforward, apologetic politeness that Zelman couldn't help but laugh. It burbled out of him like a little waterfall, splashing humor around the room. Jiro's lips twitched up at the corners, but his eyes were wry.

"It's only amusing until you're on the receiving end," the Silver Blade informed him tonelessly.

Zelman straightened up with an easy smile. "Is that a threat?" he asked lightly. But his eyes darkened.

The Silver Blade snorted softly. "It would be if she'd said it."

One red eyebrow quirked upwards as the flame user grinned confidently, wordlessly telling Jiro that not only was Zelman smug that it was the Mochizuki and not himself that was stuck living with the psychotic little negotiator, but that he wasn't going to lose his temper any time soon. "Water-using negotiator aside, I did come here to ask you something."

Crimson-Eyed Zelman Clock came to my residence just to ask me a question? Jiro wondered. I would have thought he'd send that woman the Company assigned to him if he wanted to talk to me. He is an Old Blood with eight centuries behind him to have gathered the arrogance typical of so many vampires. But since he obviously took the trouble to come here, I should hear him out. Jiro gave the redhead his full attention with a polite nod.

"Do enlighten me, then."

Gorgeous red eyes flashed with all the arrogance he hadn't yet shown the older Mochizuki brother as Zelman smirked a challenge. "Would you be willing to have a sparring match with me?"

It took a moment for the words to register. "... Ah, may I ask if you have informed Lord Sei of your intentions?"

Lips thinning with distaste, Zelman stated acidly, "It's none of his business what I do."

Jiro tried a different approach. "Will our match affect the barrier? If so, that sounds like it would be in Lord Sei's purview."

There was a moment when red and black eyes met, clashed. Then Zelman said, "If you're so adamant that he know, then you can tell ONLY the Dragon what our plans are...on one condition: when we spar, don't hold anything back. I can't stand weaklings, and I've been itching for a fight. But if you cannot or will not fight all-out with me, holding back only enough to not land major injuries, then I may as well kill you now."

The Silver Blade bared his fangs in a vicious smile. "Time and place?"

"My grounds; they're empty but for me anyway. Say...as soon as you get done tattling to the Dragon?" Zelman had meant the phrasing to sting his fellow vampire's pride, and it worked - maybe even a little too well.

"Agreed," growled Jiro, a predatory gleam in his eyes.

As Zelman walked away and Jiro got ready to see Lord Sei, the redheaded vampire thought to himself, Looks like my night just brightened up for a while. This should prove to be entertaining.

...

A/N: Now that you've read, please, leave a review that lets me know what you think.