Author Notes: Thank you again to those who read and reviewed Chapter One. My apologies for not updating this earlier – it was a monstrously difficult chapter to write! It also grew to be quite the monster in length and as I've run out of time, I decided to split it into two parts, making this story a three shot. I promise to update the final part as soon as I can, OK? :D In the meantime, enjoy and don't forget to review!

In Chapter One, Kaname came to see Yagari at dusk but I've changed it to morning, around the same time the Sato brothers left the villa as per Blood Moon Chapter twenty eight. Chapter Two here contains spoilers for both Crimson Door and Blood Moon so it will make more sense if you're famiiliar with these two awesome fics!

Appreciation: A huge thank you to the incomparable Blackened Wing for looking over some parts of this chapter for me and giving much needed and appreciated support –hugs her tightly– Thank you also to Kanshou87 for reminding me of Zero's vine power, I hope you'll like the result even if most of the action will come out in Chapter Three :D

-- Continued --

A soft, familiar voice, quivering in shock and disbelief sounded from the doorway and both men swung their heads in that direction, their slowing down hearts dropping right down to the floor with a swiftness that left them feeling almost physically sick with dread.

Zero stood frozen in the doorway, looking at them. His wide, silvery amethyst eyes were filled with utter shock, unbelievable pain and betrayal of the deepest, gravest kind.

Yagari and Kaname froze right where they were, heads turned towards the door. The former had already straightened up but Kaname was still half lying on the table, resting on his elbows. If he had thought that giving his body to his worst enemy was a horrible though necessary thing, then this had to be a thousand – no, a million times worse. He was too shocked to even think of an excuse however lame it might be. To make matters worse, faint ripples of post-ecstasy were still tingling unforgivably through his body, cementing the sickening guilt in his heart.

Zero... No, this can't be happening!

"No... Oh God no..." Zero whispered, his face drained of all colour. There was a heaving, choked sob from him and then he spun around and ran off.

Kaname and Yagari stared dazedly at the now empty doorway before turning to look at each other again, their eyes filled with guilt. There was also self disgust in Yagari's eye but it was nothing compared to the pure and complete misery swirling in Kaname's dark eyes. His distress radiated so strongly from him that even Yagari could feel it. The pureblood was floundering and the uneven waves of his aura in the stuffy air was giving the one eyed hunter a headache. Awkwardly, he cleared his throat.

"We – we can't leave Zero alone. He might think... well, that we – crap, we should go look for him," Yagari mumbled. The hopeless and lost look in Kaname's glazed eyes made him look strangely fragile and the hunter was uncharacteristically gentle as he held the pureblood's upper arms and pulled him upright to a sitting position. Kaname sat there listlessly, long legs dangling over the table edge, his eyes haunted by what they had done

"Oh God. Zero," he whispered and Yagari bit his lip. Crap, what a mess! He had challenged Kaname for the sole reason of wanting to save Zero from what he thought was pure and unwanted abuse but even with the best of intentions, everything had fallen faster and deeper than either of them could have anticipated.

"I – I'll go after him. You clean up first, Kuran," Yagari muttered as he squeezed Kaname's arms briefly before releasing him. The pureblood was trembling and Yagari's face was grim as he swung away from the table and went to pull on his clothes. The sour guilt crowding his heart made him nauseated but he knew what he had to do. Swiftly, he buttoned up his shirt and pulled on his jeans, leaving his leather duster and hat on the floor.

It was a testament to how disturbed Yagari was that he left the guesthouse a moment later without even taking his shotgun to confront a hunter turned vampire who in all likelihood, was completely livid at him.

- o -

After Yagari left, Kaname stumbled into the guesthouse bathroom, feeling distinctly queasy. The expensive blood wine he had drunk with Diachi earlier was roiling in his churning stomach and with a groan, he hunched over the toilet bowl, emptying everything he had into it.

This had to be one of his worst nightmares come true and Kaname shivered violently, feeling chilled to the bone. He had to wash... now that the heat of the moment was over, he couldn't stand to feel another person's passion on his skin if that person wasn't Zero. Kaname spat into the toilet bowl, flushed it and got into the shower stall, his mind still reeling in shock. He had never taken anyone or let anyone take him since he and Zero became lovers and he had absolutely no idea how to explain what he had done with Yagari to the ex-human.

But despite the devastated look in Zero's eyes, this was not betrayal. It wasn't! There was no love involved, no feelings or emotions... It was devoid even of jealousy or anger. To Kaname, it was only a confrontation that had somehow escalated into a test and a demand for proof. Kaname wanted to get Yagari to stay on to train Zero and he had succeeded. All right, so he had no idea at all that it was going to play out this way but yes, he had done it and he could live with it with his decision. He could. After all, he was no stranger to sacrificing himself when it came to those he loved. Kaname had done it before and he would do it again. Again and again, if it would ensure Zero's happiness in any way. No price was too high for him.

But whether Zero would see it that way or not, Kaname truly didn't know and that thought alone haunted him. The boy had been human once and humans held a very different view of things. With a soft sigh of despair, Kaname closed his eyes and leaned his forehead on the wet tiles. He prayed that Zero would see it the way he did, as something that just had to be done. The pureblood didn't know what he would do if his lover thought otherwise, that Kaname had betrayed him after all they had gone through, and with his sensei, of all people.

- o -

Zero stared intently at the tiny rectangular patterns of the tree bark his fingers were tracing, his breath coming quick and shallow from his pale lips. He was resting a hand on the trunk of a tree, one of many that stood in a small, shady thicket at the edge of the villa grounds not far from the main gates. Even after running flat out from the guesthouse to here, his shoulders and back were tense with confusion and his heart – heaven help him, his heart was a shredded mess of utter pain. He didn't know what to make of the scene he had come across a couple of minutes earlier. He wished it was all just a dream or – or a nightmare but Zero knew he was very much awake and it wasn't a dream. It was real.

Zero squeezed his eyes shut, a soft broken sound escaping his lips. The Sato brothers had already left an hour ago and it was almost mid-morning now, a bright and sunny one. Zero was about to turn in after having his shower but the brief echo of Kaname's pain in their shared bond made the young hunter decide to look for his lover instead. As he hurried to the guesthouse that Yagari occupied, other emotions suddenly flooded their bond, a very unsettling mix of anguish and pleasure that made no sense whatsoever to Zero. He had no idea why he thought Kaname would even be at the guesthouse since the pureblood and the one eyed hunter could barely stand each other's presence as it were but Zero simply followed his instincts, trusting that there would be a logical explanation awaiting him there.

What he seriously didn't expect to find was – was... Zero shook his head violently. His stomach was churning inside him and he didn't even know how to quantify what his eyes were telling him back there. It would have been enough of a shock just finding his sensei and his lover sitting at that damned table having coffee and a chat together but – but –

Actual sex...?

Zero groaned and pressed the heels of both palms hard upon his closed eyes, trying without success to erase the disturbingly erotic image that was burned into his brain. Had he imagined that? Had he hallucinated to such an extent that he ended up seeing Kaname lying naked on that table with an equally nude Yagari bent over him, soft yellow light reflecting off flushed skin that glistened with perspiration and-

Zero groaned again and let his hands drop from his eyes. He blinked several times, his vision having gone blurry from the pressure he had put on his eyeballs. Kaname's pale skin wasn't wet with mere perspiration alone. Zero was by now very familiar with the scent and taste of his lover's emission so he knew it wasn't just Kaname's passion he had smelled and seen earlier. The creamy liquid marking Kaname's chest and stomach just had to be from–

Zero's heart was pounding so hard in his chest it felt like it was about to jump right out. He was almost hyperventilating in shock. On that table. His sensei and Kaname just had sex... on that damned table!

Zero didn't know whether to laugh, cry or scream his shock to the skies. If anyone had told him about this being a mere possibility, he wouldn't have believed them for a second. He knew he was the only one Kaname was sleeping with, he knew it beyond a shadow of a doubt. Besides, the idea itself was completely and utterly ludicrous - there was nothing but thinly veiled contempt between Kaname Kuran, revered young pureblood leader and Touga Yagari, hardened vampire hunter and vampire hater. The only thing they had in common was Zero and he shook his head in sheer disbelief.

Perhaps he shouldn't have run away. Perhaps that wasn't Kaname but someone who merely looked very much like him. Perhaps Zero was just dreaming after all.

And perhaps pigs could sprout wings and fly.

Zero's head dropped forward and he exhaled on a long sigh. He had run out of perhaps-es... and he knew his eyes hadn't played tricks on him. For some unfathomable reason, Kaname had just made out with Zero's sensei, the man who was almost like a father to the young hunter. And if that didn't make Zero Kiryuu the laughing stock of both the vampire world and the hunter world, then what did?

Zero repressed a small sob, burning tears gathering in his eyes. Why? What on earth could make his proud pureblood lover stoop so low as to have sex with the enemy? Zero knew Kaname was an intensely private and careful person. He only let down his guard in front of those he trusted implicitly and that small circle did not include a cynical vampire hunter who had never bothered to hide his contempt of the young pureblood. The fact is, there had always been nothing but active dislike and prejudice between Kaname and Yagari and Zero didn't know which felt worse to him - the pain of betrayal or the shock itself.

But why? Why for God's sake when Kaname already had Zero with him? Since waking up in this beautiful villa after that horrifying flooded river episode, they were closer now than ever. They had finally cleared away the misunderstandings that had hurt them both for so long and Zero now knew that Kaname cared very deeply for him. He cared for the pureblood too and the past few weeks had been nothing short of beautiful. They had flown by with hours spent in each other's arms and they made love practically every night. They were intimately familiar with each other's bodies now and Kaname had seemed utterly content to be with Zero, his dark eyes adoring him as their bodies joined in the timeless dance of passion, his lips whispering praise as they moved together...

The tears started to fall and Zero's body shook with anguish. Quickly, he wrapped his arms around himself, his body rocking slightly to and fro. Was it still not enough for Kaname? Did the pureblood still find him lacking in some way? Of course Zero's body inevitably protested after so many hours of sensual loving but Kaname had never seemed to mind that. The pureblood was unfailingly generous with his pure blood and he would even urge Zero to take him if he wanted more intimacy. But still... wasn't it enough? What more did Kaname want? Was he so desperate for sex that he would even sleep with someone like Yagari?

And speaking of his sensei...! Another sob forced its way out of Zero's aching throat. Touga Yagari hated all vampires with a passion that was second to none. He had lost an eye because of that school nurse Zero had naively defended years ago – hadn't his sensei reminded him of that episode just a few hours ago? There was just no fricking way that he and Kaname would actually – do... that.

That same disturbing image flashed through Zero's mind again and he froze as he realised something else. It was Yagari who had taken Kaname on that table... not the other way around. Of course, the other way would have been just as unfathomable but what on earth could possibly induce Kaname to let someone other than Zero bed him? It didn't make any sense at all! Kaname was a pureblood, he would never allow anyone to best him in anything and he would never allow anyone to take him in bed, other than Zero.

Zero's eyes blinked open and he stared unseeingly at the tree trunk. He thought that only he had that right, that special privilege of making love to Kaname and claiming his perfect, exquisite body. He had come to treasure their relationship very, very deeply, knowing that Kaname trusted him this much. So how could Kaname let someone else have him and throw that trust right back in Zero's face? And how in the world had that someone turn out to be Touga Yagari?

Zero shook his head again, still reeling from the twin blows of double betrayal. One from his lover and the other from his sensei, the only two persons he had left in this world with Yuki gone. The only two persons he cared for and whom he believed cared for him in return. Zero swallowed as he palmed away the moisture sliding down his cheeks, his throat raw and aching. That could only mean that despite the façade of a secure and happy life with Kaname, with all the protection and security that came with it, he actually had nothing.

Nothing at all.

Dimly, Zero felt someone's presence and heard the faint footsteps on the grass. He tensed up but didn't turn around, knowing who it was. Zero had always had a deep respect for his sensei. He had craved Yagari's approval and affection since young but now he didn't know if he could ever look at that familiar, rugged face again without feeling bitter anger and a sharp, biting pain.

"Zero."

Zero inhaled deeply, his face flushing hot with anger at that familiar, gruff voice. Yagari had displayed shock and open disgust when he found out about his student's physical relationship with Kaname, no thanks to that Seiji. But look at what had happened just a few hours after! With that thought, Zero swung around and glared furiously at his sensei, his hands fisting by his sides.

Yagari eyed him calmly although the accusing look in his student's eyes made a dull flush creep up his neck into his face. "Are you all right?" he asked quietly. It was a bloody stupid question, of course the kid wasn't all right! He was pale, trembling with what had to be anger and shock.

"What the hell was that about, sensei?" Zero demanded, his voice a shaky whisper. He really didn't want to know – what he had seen was answer enough - but still, he had to ask. He had to know why or he would explode even though his heart shrank from any possible answer. No answer, no reason could possibly be good enough to justify the heartache of such a blatant act. Not now, not after all the trials that he and Kaname had gone through.

Yagari swallowed. He had hurried after Zero, hoping desperately he would be given a chance to explain but now that he had, he didn't know what to say. Admitting that he didn't trust Kaname was one thing since it was something Zero already knew to be the truth. Admitting that he forced the pureblood to submit to him to prove his love for Zero and carrying that act through to completion was quite another.

Yagari had deeply regretted turning his back on Zero when he was first bitten but now he realised he would have done the very same thing earlier if Kuran hadn't come to see him. He had accused the pureblood of not caring when he was just as guilty of the same. Yagari knew that Zero would never look at him the same way again but he suddenly ached to cling onto the illusion that the boy still respected him. God help him, Yagari didn't think he could stand to see Zero's contempt aimed at him. It would be too painful to bear.

"It's not what you think, Zero," he began carefully, forcing himself to hold his student's eyes. Zero narrowed his gaze at him.

"It looked like sex to me. Are you telling me it wasn't?" he asked flatly, too angry now to feel any sort of shyness at saying that word out loud. Yagari's flush deepened. Hell. This was more difficult than he had thought it would be.

"Yes. Yes, it was sex," he admitted. "But not - not for the reasons you think, Zero."

Zero clenched his jaw and folded his arms tightly across his chest so that Yagari wouldn't know he was shaking like a leaf. "Oh? And what reasons would those be?" he asked in that same flat voice. Yagari cursed silently, feeling worse than ever. "That you thought we – we wanted it."

Yagari was already dressed but it was obvious he hadn't taken the time to wash and Kaname's scent still clung to him. It was a dearly familiar scent but it seemed so wildly wrong to smell it on Yagari and Zero kept seeing that image of Kaname under his sensei, naked and marked with his passion. Again, he fought the urge to scream mindlessly.

"Are you telling me you didn't want that, sensei?" Zero spat out, breathing hard. "You're lying! You came all over him, damnit!" The pain in his chest had gotten worse, far worse and Zero was struggling to just breathe. What was killing him more than that, what he couldn't say out loud was that he had smelled Kaname's pleasure as well. It wasn't just Yagari who had enjoyed himself and Zero felt his heart break all over again. If Yagari had raped Kaname – an admittedly impossible scenario – that would have hurt too and Zero would possibly have killed his sensei for it but at least, it wouldn't have hurt quite as much.

But the inescapable fact was, Kaname Kuran was a pureblood. It was impossible that he would let anyone walk over him, much less a cynical hunter he didn't like and didn't trust. Zero knew that he and Kaname had been through a lot ever since they cemented their bond. After Yuki's death, they had been through even more and both had suffered greatly from not daring to trust each other from the start. How could they? They had been enemies, positioned at polar opposites, sworn rivals for the same girl, one a pureblood and the other an ex-human... But finally, after so many months of hurt and pain, they had put the past behind them and Zero was desperate to keep what they had. Kaname's trust and affection meant more to him than anything else in the world. The pureblood was practically the only person he had left in this world other than Yagari. Zero couldn't believe that Kaname would actually betray him like this, and with the only person Zero looked up to but for some reason, he had. And it hurt like nothing else ever had.

Yes. What hurt Zero the most was Kaname's obvious pleasure over the act, the fact that he had gotten off from having sex with someone other than his own lover. Zero's eyes stung with more tears at the sheer injustice of it. Why? Why had he done it? How could he have done it?!

Yagari hadn't thought it was possible to flush anymore than he already was but he was wrong. He knew Zero was hurting very deeply at the apparent betrayal of his lover but he didn't know how to help with that. Yagari hadn't planned on actually bedding Kaname – it was just a challenge at first but then it was accepted and he had to carry it out. It was only after Kaname had stripped and showed off that perfect skin and that lithe slender body that Yagari knew he was lost. He was only human after all...

He tried again. "Zero, I know how it must look like to you but I swear, that wasn't the reason why we – why it happened. I was furious when that other pureblood said Kuran was bedding you and I was - I was disappointed when you defended him. I thought Kuran was just toying with you–"

Zero snorted at that, too angry to care that his fangs were already out. "You took Kaname to get some sort of revenge for me?" he asked in patent disbelief.

"Ye– no... damnit, Zero! That's not what happened! I just didn't believe he would let you take him, that was all!" Yagari wasn't an eloquent person by nature and Zero's accusing and belligerent stare and his own guilt were making him less articulate than usual.

Zero's eyes widened in shock. "Kaname told you that?" he asked, his voice softening in sudden shock. Yagari nodded, deeply ashamed. "But I didn't believe him," he murmured.

Zero was stunned. Kaname hadn't liked it at all when his lover had let slip in the Moon Dorm library, in front of the other nobles, that he allowed Zero to take him. But for some reason, the pureblood had admitted the same thing to Yagari... Zero breathed hard, confusion and hope warring inside him again. But there was no escaping the fact that...

"So that's why you claimed him?" Zero asked and the suddenly pleading look in his eyes made Yagari cringe inside.

"I didn't think he would agree..." Even to his own ears, Yagari's protest sounded lame and weak. Zero all but exploded at this. "Of course he wouldn't agree!" he finally shouted, uncaring of the tears that were now streaming down his face. "I told you, sensei, he wasn't forcing me all this time! It was something I wanted, damnit!"

Yagari stood there, stunned at Zero's outburst. The stumbling words that the young hunter had shyly stammered in front of that Seiji just hadn't contained the same conviction as now.

"Kaname and I are together! We're lovers, sensei! How could you do that?" Zero shouted. He couldn't take it anymore. He didn't know what to believe. The world had turned upside down and nothing made sense anymore.

Yagari swallowed again. "I'm sorry, all right?" he apologised as steadily as he could. "I didn't realise that until much later and I..." Desperate to make things better, he blurted out, "Look, at least I didn't come inside him, OK?"

Zero's only answer was a glare that would have shriveled up a lesser man than Yagari. The younger hunter followed it up by a snarl that displayed his fangs to perfection. "Go to hell," he said flatly before turning around and walking swiftly off in the direction of the main house. Yagari stared after him, shocked and speechless. This fiasco just smacked of the highest irony he could think of. Kaname Kuran had traded his exalted, pureblood body to his arch enemy, Touga Yagari, just so that the one eyed hunter would stay to train Zero Kiryuu but now... it was Zero who didn't want his sensei to stay.

Yagari exhaled tiredly and planted his hands on his hips. Ruefully, he shook his head at the mess he had made of things. He slowly turned around and trudged back to the guesthouse. The sunlight was bright and hot and Yagari was thankful to enter the relative coolness of the guesthouse and close the door behind him. Kaname was shrugging into his suit coat, his long dark hair wet from his hurried shower. He fixed Yagari with deeply anxious eyes.

"Where's Zero?" Kaname asked, too worried by now to even care that his voice betrayed his feelings. In any case, Yagari somehow wasn't the enemy now... not after finally believing how he felt about Zero. Yagari sighed and shook his head.

"I tried to explain the situation to him but he ran off towards the house." He jerked his chin in the general direction of the villa and Kaname immediately went to the door and opened it, almost recoiling from the bright sunlight hitting his sensitive eyes. It was too much to hope that he would actually catch sight of Zero right there and then but he had to try. But Zero wasn't anywhere in sight. He had also blocked their bond on his side and Kaname's graceful shoulders slumped as he closed the door, looking rather at a loss of what to do now.

"Give him time, he'll come around," Yagari mumbled as he raked a hand through his hair, feeling that strange sort of empathy for Kaname well up inside him again. Kaname only smiled mirthlessly. "You think so?" he murmured before he pressed his lips together as if he felt he had said too much. The pureblood stood up straighter and squared his shoulders, a determined look now entering his eyes.

"It's OK, Yagari. I will handle this on my own," he added, sounding a lot more like his usual self again. He gave a cool nod to the hunter and Yagari grunted, torn between predictable annoyance and strange relief at hearing that confident tone once more. Kaname turned to the door and wrenched it open again. This time, he used vampire speed to reach his house, appearing as nothing more than a fast moving blur to the watching hunter.

By now, Yagari was itching for a cigarette and he had a foreboding that the vampires' confrontation wouldn't go at all well but... it was out of his hands now. Yes, far better to leave it to Kuran to sort things out with Zero since purebloods were notoriously smooth talkers after all. Still, Yagari couldn't help brooding on it as he went to unpack his bag, hoping that it wouldn't be a wasted effort.

- o –

Kaname was intensely relieved to be out of the burning sun but his steps slowed down as he went inside the villa and made his way upstairs. It was quiet now, the staff having retired for the day. Strangely reluctant now, Kaname neared Zero's room. The door was closed but he could sense the hunter's presence inside. Steeling himself, he knocked softly on the door.

"Zero?"

There was no reply but Kaname knew Zero had heard him. He knocked again, louder this time.

"Zero, please... I want to talk to you."

After a pause that seemed uncomfortably long, he heard a soft 'OK'. With his heart pounding uneasily in his chest, Kaname opened the door. Zero was curled up in one of the leather armchairs with his legs pulled up but he looked up when the door opened, his expression wary and hurt. The special tinted glass on the windows kept out much of the sunlight but Kaname could see that Zero's eyelashes were spiky and he could smell the faint tang of salt in the air. His heart ached to know that Zero had been crying.

"May I come in?" Kaname asked quietly. He had bought this villa for both of them but this set of rooms were strictly Zero's. Kaname had furnished them with his lover's taste in mind, or as much as he knew of it, while the hunter was unconscious and he had told Zero these were his rooms, his own personal space. Kaname had never before needed to ask permission to enter them but after what had happened, he didn't want to make anymore mistakes where Zero was concerned. He didn't ever want the hunter to feel that his privacy wasn't respected.

Zero gave a nod and Kaname came into the room, closing the door quietly behind him. Zero stood up at once and moved away to stand at the windows with that same wary look and Kaname's heart suffered another pang. He couldn't blame for Zero for acting this way, not after what he had stumbled upon in the guesthouse but Kaname was determined to set things straight even if it labeled him as the worst strategist in the world.

Going to confront your adversary completely unprepared with nothing to bargain with and ending up on your back. Literally. Not to mention getting screwed by him. Again, literally.

"Zero, please listen to me," Kaname began carefully but Zero shook his head.

"No. I want to know something first," he demanded and Kaname hesitated before nodding slowly.

"All right. What is it?" he asked softly.

"Did Master Touga rape you?" Zero strove to keep his voice even but it wobbled on that word. He couldn't even believe he was asking such a laughably impossible thing but he also couldn't believe that Kaname would willingly submit to anyone else but him. To find out first hand that he had was a devastating blow to Zero's pride. It was different if Kaname had been forced but as much as Zero wanted to believe that he had, he couldn't.

For one thing, Kaname wasn't bleeding anywhere from a hunter weapon injury as far as Zero could tell. His pureblood presence was as bright and strong as usual. He hadn't been tied up or held at gunpoint when Zero had burst in on them in the guesthouse. In fact, Kaname had even found pleasure and that was possibly the most bitter pill for Zero to swallow. Even though his lover was shower fresh now, Zero knew what he had smelled earlier and he couldn't comprehend how his lover could have possibly found bliss in such a situation.

Oh God.

Kaname stared at Zero, his heart sinking right down to the floor. He didn't want to answer that question, he didn't! It would damn him for life. Kaname had hated being with another person who wasn't Zero but he couldn't in all honesty say that Yagari had raped him even if he had wanted to. Because it hadn't been rape. It had been consensual. Hateful but still fully consensual.

With Zero's words, a past memory intruded and Kaname found himself recalling a dingy hotel room in another lifetime, it had seemed so long ago. He had asked Zero that same question – had he raped him in that warehouse while he was suffering from a severed blood bond after killing Asato Ichijo? Kaname remembered being fearful of Zero's answer even though he was reasonably sure he hadn't forced himself on the hunter. Even now, he could still recall the awed relief he had felt upon hearing Zero's embarrassed but most welcome negative, a testament to the boy's innate honesty.

Zero deserved the same courtesy now but Kaname knew an honest reply would bring no relief to either one of them this time. He only prayed that Zero would still listen to him after this.

"Kaname... I need to know. Did he rape you?" Zero's voice shook even more this time and his eyes were mutely beseeching Kaname to say yes even if that labeled his own sensei as the villain. But even before the pureblood opened his mouth, Zero already knew what the answer would be.

"No. He didn't," Kaname finally whispered, his heart breaking inside him. "I'm sorry, Zero. I know it's not what you want to hear but Yagari didn't rape me."

Something in Zero's eyes died right there and then and Kaname felt his own heart shatter in despair.

But I did make a horrifyingly stupid mistake of begging him and I made another colossal mistake of asking him to test me.

Kaname swiftly took a step forward, desperate to clear himself but Zero shook his head immediately. "Don't touch me!" he rasped out, looking almost frightened. Kaname stopped at once, his eyes shocked and pained. "All right, I won't. But Zero, please... let me explain," he whispered. He took a deep breath, trying to draw some measure of comfort from his lover's deliciously familiar scent.

"What you saw earlier... it's not what you think." Kaname was careful to keep his voice soft and even but he had unknowingly used the same words Yagari had said earlier and Zero narrowed his eyes at him, the sharp points of his fangs glinting between his parted lips.

"If Master Touga didn't rape you then what else could it be? Do you think I'm blind, Kaname?" he hissed angrily. "I saw what you two did! Or do you think I'm so stupid that I can't recognise a sex-on-a-table session when I see one?!"

Zero hated the fact that his voice was still shaking but Kaname didn't appear to have noticed it.

"I... no, that wasn't... it was-" The pureblood broke off and shook his head in despair. He knew Zero was fixated on what he saw but it was the why of it that was far more important.

For some reason, that head shake galled Zero and he growled, burning hot anger trumping over his calm veneer, lengthening his fangs to the fullest. He had been sitting here crying in his room, appalled to think that his sensei had somehow forced himself on Kaname but of course that couldn't possibly have been the case! What was he thinking, damnit?! Well, that moment of utterly stupid self-pity was now over and good riddance to it. First Master Touga and now Kaname - how dare they tell him that what he saw wasn't real? Did they honestly think him that much of an idiot? Well, perhaps Zero was... but he was damned if he'd let them know.

"Why did you do it, Kaname? Did you think I wouldn't find out?" Zero shouted, giving free rein to his emotions at last. His eyes were stinging again but it was nothing compared to the blinding pain in his heart and he ignored both, focusing desperately on his anger.

"Damnit, Kaname! Wasn't what we had enough for you? Wasn't I enough? Is that it? I wasn't good enough?" he yelled, tears streaming down his face. Horrified, Kaname shook his head. Zero was naturally shy and reserved when it came to expressing his inner feelings verbally and the fact that he was shouting his words with total abandon now meant he was hurt far more deeply than Kaname had realised.

"No, Zero! It's not that at all. You are good enough, you're all I ever want," he protested but Zero was past hearing and he was well past caring at this point. All he knew was despite everything they had been through, Kaname had proved himself to be a typical, insatiable pureblood after all – taking what he could get and even sleeping with the enemy to get it. Zero's lips pulled away from his teeth and his eyes darkened as rage threatened to overcome sanity.

Kaname saw the signs and was deeply worried. He knew that Zero's emotions were escalating well out of control and if he didn't stem the hunter's anger now, it could lead to irreparable damage. Kaname could still recall the devastating fight they had had on the day of Yuki's death so many months ago. They had shouted hurtful and untrue things to one another and Kaname hadn't even known that he had taken away Zero's self worth that day until much, much later. He had come so close to losing his beloved hunter then and Kaname couldn't allow that to happen again.

It didn't matter that he had hated having Yagari claim his body. Placating Zero was the number one priority now and explanations would just have to come later.

"Please, Zero," Kaname said urgently. "I'm sorry, OK? Please forgive me, I'll never do that again." It was a severe blow to his pride, having to apologise to Zero for doing something that was actually for his lover's sake but Kaname didn't care. Set things right later but calm Zero down first.

Zero paused at the unexpected words but they only served to cement Kaname's guilt in his opinion and he glared at the pureblood, his breathing coming out in harsh and ragged pants. Quickly, Kaname pressed on.

"Please don't leave me, Zero," he whispered and this time, he meant every word of it. He would die without Zero by his side, even if the hunter was still alive. "I need you. We need each other, you know that..."

Zero stayed silent. He was still unbelievably furious but Kaname's words had struck an unexpected chord in him. Zero had come to that exact same realisation on the bank of that swollen river a few weeks back. No matter what, he needed Kaname almost as much as the pureblood needed him. Their lives were linked together whether they liked it or not and they needed each other to survive.

Yes, Zero knew all that but something so very precious had been broken now - his trust in Kaname. Zero didn't know if he could ever forgive the pureblood after this painful episode – didn't the pureblood know how hard won that trust was? It was inconceivable to him that Kaname could possibly overlook this after apologising so desperately for hurting him the last time but despite his pain, Zero's traitorously soft heart still wouldn't let him leave the pureblood despite being broken into a thousand pieces.

Call me the biggest fool of all but I can't leave Kaname. Not even now...

"I'll do anything you ask, Zero. Just don't leave me," Kaname whispered, uncaring of how pathetic he sounded. Eager to escape the blinding clarity of his own weakness where this pureblood was concerned, Zero pounced on his words.

"You'll do anything?" he asked suspiciously and Kaname nodded quickly. "Anything," he confirmed.

Zero blinked in surprise but his features tightened with resolve a second later. It looked like Kaname was begging to be punished. Well then... fine.

"You'd have to let me top you from now on," Zero stated. His voice was cold and hard and it was Kaname's turn to blink. "What?" he asked, wondering if he had heard wrongly. Zero set his jaw and nodded when he actually wanted to cry.

"You heard me, Kaname. Master Touga didn't believe it so this is how it's going to be from now on. You submitting to me."

Damnit, Kaname! How could you turn to someone else?! You had me! You could have me anytime... why wasn't it enough?!

Kaname opened his mouth and closed it again, thinking as rapidly as he could under the circumstances. It wasn't that he minded Zero claiming him and it was hardly like he hadn't done it before. But to never have the chance of loving and pleasuring Zero? To never have the chance of bringing Zero to blinding heights of passion and see him lose himself in sheer bliss like how Kaname loved doing?

"Zero, are you sure?" Kaname asked hesitantly. "If you'll just listen-"

"I've had it with explanations!" Zero exploded. "They don't change a thing!" He folded his arms and glared at Kaname, awaiting his reply.

It's still better than him leaving you, stupid! Agree now before he changes his mind!

Yes, this was more than Kaname had expected. He should accept the condition with open arms and be thankful that Zero was still with him and still wanted him. The pureblood finally conceded defeat and his shoulders slumped with the knowledge that he had once again sold his pride at a price that was almost too high. Almost.

"All right," Kaname finally whispered, holding back his tears with difficulty. "I'm yours."

I've always been yours, Zero. Even if you never knew it.

But the words were silent and Zero didn't hear them. "Strip. Now," he ordered, his eyes and voice as hard as steel. Surprisingly, Kaname couldn't help a faint smile, finding unexpected amusement at the similarity of Zero's words with his sensei's. But this time, he didn't mind. It was going to be with Zero, the boy he loved and he was determined to enjoy every moment of it.

At least I'll be taken on a comfortable bed this time and not on a table...

With those philosophical words going through his mind, Kaname silently took off his clothes for the second time this morning but his movements were surer now and far more graceful. He took off everything and walked over to the bed, moving with deliberate and seductive grace that only he could pull off, his body starting to tingle with anticipation. Kaname could hear Zero stripping off his T-shirt and jeans behind him and he half glanced over his shoulder, deliberately letting the hunter see the small smile that was playing about his sculpted lips. Zero may demand obedience and submission but Kaname refused to feel like he had no choice in the matter. He loved Zero. He wanted Zero. If this was how his lover wanted him, then fine. He would do this of his own free will...

Unfortunately for Kaname, his obvious willingness only angered Zero even more. The hunter was far too upset to think clearly right now. He had only experienced this same emotion once, of suddenly and illogically wanting to hurt Kaname but he had pulled back then, frightened at the sheer intensity of that alien desperation. But this time, it was different. Zero felt that his anger now was fully justified and his vampire side asserted itself smoothly, demanding to be appeased, demanding to be satisfied.

Zero deliberately raked his eyes over Kaname's pale, graceful form and let his body react to that tempting picture, growing hard and aching almost instantly. Zero didn't want to see acceptance and compliance from the pureblood and he damned well didn't want to see that saucy little smile. God help him... right now, all Zero wanted to do was hurt Kaname and hurt him good.

A faint but somehow familiar sound behind him made Kaname glance over his shoulder again and his blood unexpectedly ran cold, the small smile freezing on his lips. Zero was as naked as he was but it was the sudden profusion of vines snaking out from his body that held Kaname's attention. They were the same silvery vines that he had seen before, when they made love once and when they sparred but with one very notable exception. Each and every one of the writhing stems were adorned with long, black and vicious looking thorns. There were no pale violet roses now and no fragrance, only those ominous and terrifying looking thorns.

Kaname jerked his startled gaze up to Zero's face and felt his heart lurch in his chest. The familiar silvery amethyst eyes had now morphed to total, inky blackness and Zero's smile was terrifyingly cold. He had vamped out completely and Kaname knew that he was in for it.

What was worse was that he had actually asked for this.

-- To Be Continued --