Inescapable

Part II

"We'll have a new beginning, you and I..."

. . .

Mind reeling with grief, Kaname spilled the blood tablets down his mouth like a man possessed. He gave no consideration to the concerned looks from the other noble children. They longed to draw closer to him, he knew, but even now, they kept a respectful distance, unable to bring themselves to breach protocol to approach him. Even if they wanted to offer physical comfort, it would do nothing to help him. Pats on the shoulder, lukewarm hugs or kisses would not bring his parents back. Would not bring Yuuki back.

He had lost everything in one night. Everything that mattered to him; lost and out of his reach once again. He smiled bitterly. It was a vicious cycle. It seemed not even the advantage of being purebloods saved those who grew close to him. He destroyed everything he touched. No matter what he did to protect them, things happened out of his control, and they all slipped through his fingers without him even noticing. He wondered if he himself wasn't broken beyond repair, so lost and empty as he was. He'd briefly contemplated going to sleep in an attempt to escape from it all, but knew he couldn't. Even out of his reach, he could never leave Yuuki behind. She was all he had, pureblood or not.

Catching sight of Ichijou Asato and another noble making their way through the crowd, Kaname relocated to the upper floor, gazing blankly out of the window, dropping a few more tablets down his throat. A part of him was darkly amused at catching the last snitches of conversation between the Souen girl and Kain heir, both sending him less than subtle looks nearby. Such innocence they held, he thought detachedly. Well, they weren't anything like him for a start. Of course they'd be different. They were still young, children in the truest sense, unlike himself, who was parading around in a fake shell.

Staring down at one of palms, he let out a self-deprecating twist to his lips. He didn't know what he was, in all honesty, though he was sure of what he wasn't. He wasn't the child he used to be, not since those feelings of déjà vu had increased to actual memories of another life he'd lived, thousands of years ago.

He poured more tablets onto the palm he'd been staring at, and brought it to his lips. He might not know what or who he was, but he knew what he wanted to do, and that was enough. Yuuki would stay safe, just as their parents had willed.

Giving an uncaring sweep of the simpering mass that had gathered for the dark occasion, he felt he'd had enough and slipped away, wanting to mourn in solitude, barely acknowledging Souen Ruka's reverent farewell and Kain Akatsuki's respectful nod.

But his blessed solitude was graciously interrupted by a sympathetic tug on his mind, one he hadn't felt in over a year. He'd almost forgotten, and took a moment to remember when he felt the familiar sensation. He supposed it couldn't help calling out to him now, what with the similarities in the emotions they were going through. The dark tendrils of despair and loneliness came to tangle around his mind, tearing and biting, cold and sharp.

"You want me to see him again." He murmured softly. He didn't exactly know who his caller was, but he could make an educated guess. The short conversation he could vaguely recall between the owner of that manor and his father two years ago gave him some form of idea of what had happened - both to his caller and the mysterious pale man it wanted to protect.

With their enormous well of power, purebloods could be rather tenacious, given to wandering around even after death, if they had incentive. This one was determined to see to the needs of its childe to the end. He had promised to, and would never break that promise. Just as Kaname had promised Juri he would look after Yuuki.

Though now suitably distracted from his initial plan to wallow in depression, he could see he and his caller had more than a few things in common, and decided if he could lessen the pain and guilt for one of them at least, he would do so.

Tracing his way back to the beautiful manor, pale and rigid as its owner, Kaname laid his palm across the door and waited for it to click open. Stepping inside, he saw nothing had changed to his knowledge, and slowly made his way up the stairs, mindful of the soft taps from his shoes.

Looking both ways once he reached the top, he nearly sighed as he caught sight of the familiar door, its round knob and all, and guessed he would be forced to wait until the owner, Zero-san, he absently recalled, came to him on his own.

Not a few seconds after the thought, he felt a presence materialize behind him. He inwardly noted it simply had been inexperience that had prevented him from sensing the man before. Prior to his memories as the Kuran ancestor trickling back, he wouldn't have been able to sense him.

"Here again?" Zero-san did not sound happy for a reunion. "I remember telling you to leave. Where is Haruka?" The last question was muttered with an undertone of irritation, and Kaname felt the sadness well up inside him at the sound of his father's name.

"I was called here again," he answered, "and my father is dead." He swallowed.

Cold pale eyes were immediately on him, giving a slow considering blink. "…I always thought Rido was an idiot. He wouldn't listen," his voice became thinner, "neither of them would."

Kaname simply nodded. He could see the frank insult was Zero-san's way of coping with the sudden news. He seemed to assume Juri was also dead, and he assumed correctly.

"Do you know why I was called here?"

"He's trying to meddle." Zero-san's eyes narrowed, referring to his caller. "He's an annoying pest even when he isn't here."

"Even when he's dead." Kaname interpreted.

Lips pursed at the wording, but the pale man nodded reluctantly, as though unwilling to acknowledge the single harsh truth, but knowing better than to deny the obvious.

"You should leave."

"Because you don't need anyone else?"

The stranger hardly looked pleased with having his previous demand thrown back in his face, but his silence was full of agreement. His opinion regarding another donor was still the same. He didn't want one.

"You are aware how long you've gone without blood." Kaname cautioned. It was one of the many reasons his caller was so concerned. Although Zero-san didn't need it per se, that only extended to the walls of the manor. Once outside, that protection would no longer apply, and the pale man would have to start drinking again.

"He worries for you," he could feel his caller, even now, desperate, regretful, and full of love. "This is your home, but you aren't happy here." Not truly. Living on past memories was not really living. Zero-san needed the company of live people, not echoes of those long since passed.

"You can talk to him?" The anger, jealousy, and hope all flashed by in a moment, but it was the most Kaname had seen the man express. "He's still here?"

"He is gone," Kaname shook his head. "But his presence lingers after. He knew you would not take well to his death, and has…watched over you since." It was what the young pureblood assumed. "I cannot talk to him, and the same goes for him. His presence is merely a reflection of his emotions, what he felt before he died."

The spark that'd flared in glowing pale eyes dimmed and cooled at the information, but they now gazed at Kaname speculatively. "You know more than when you were here last. Why did you come?"

"He cares for you, and I'm the only one who can do that in his place."

Full lips pulled back in a sneer. "You can't. If that is what he wants, he can shove it and you can leave."

So he was going to continue with his useless obstinacy. Kaname narrowed his eyes in frustration and annoyance at Zero-san's stubborn rejection, and allowed for his patience to slip. "He still loves you," he nearly snarled, "he holds himself back here for you when he could have simply moved on, and all you've done is stomp all over his wish for the betterment of your welfare. You dare to disrespect your sire this way?" Zero-san still had a chance to make new connections, to enjoy the world his sire had given him time for, and he continued to squander all of it by holing himself up in an empty house, pushing people away.

Kaname had no such chance. He had given all he could, did whatever was possible in his power to keep them safe, and was still alone at the end of the day. It was infuriating to see someone else give up what he tried so hard to hold onto with not even a care.

Zero-san's expression darkened, but he stayed silent.

"Is that all you came to say?" He said after a few minutes.

"Excuse me?"

"Do you even realize," he started sharply, "under all the bullshit my sire feels, all he's doing is using you for me?"

"Yes."

"And what do you get out of listening to him?"

Kaname's eyes softened as he contemplated the question. Zero-san was asking whether he was sincere in his claims to offer help or if he was using his sire's remnant feelings to achieve goals of his own.

He could build up an elaborate lie, here and now, and get Zero-san to trust him, or he could be honest and risk the chance of ever getting the other vampire out of the manor. "For my own peace of mind." He answered.

He chose to be honest.

"Your 'meddling' sire can be quite the annoyance," he said, "I should be mourning my parents, and instead I'm here on his insistence. Not to mention, your insolence leaves a lot to be desired and frays on my nerves. You act like a mule with self-appointed blindfolds – as if that's anything to be proud of – and when someone decides you might be in for a change in scenery, you throw a fit worthy of a woman on her monthlies. Which also leaves much to be desired.

"But I have come with the intention to help. After meeting you, I can't possibly leave your sire to suffer at your hands this way. Living here the way you do is amazingly pathetic, and I hold no pity for it. I empathize with your experiences, but I don't find your method of dealing with them at all reasonable."

Kaname himself had chosen Sleep over the unbearable lossdespairloneliness, and here he still was, dealing his shortcomings after thousands of years; this time in the form of the loss of his entire family. Things would never change unless he changed, and the same could be said for Zero-san. The man could not remain stagnant, living out the rest of his life in isolation when he had the love of his sire riding on his shoulders.

"Hn." Zero-san grunted, eyes taking on a wholly different glint. It seemed the man had been weighing his options depending on how Kaname phrased his answer.. "If you tried to keep up the Samaritan farce you had going I would have thrown you out. I hate self-righteous bastards who think they're acting on 'justice' when all they do is shove their ideals on someone else."

"If you're going to 'care for me'," Zero-san emphasized, eyes alight with satisfaction, "I don't need any 'I'm doing it for someone else' bullcrap you don't even feel getting between us." He shifted to stick his hands in his pockets. "You came here because you wanted something. To hell with everything else."

Kaname shook his head. He'd meant what he'd said, but perhaps Zero-san was right in that underneath the 'honorable duty' guise he'd felt he was fulfilling, his actual feelings on the matter were quite selfish. "Maybe I was relieved. To feel there was someone like you and your sire, who was in a similar position." He said softly. "Wanting to be close to a loved one, and unable to. Being denied something so simple... I'm sure you understand what it is like. I wanted instead to think of other things, to be with someone who wasn't a reminder of my parents." This - Zero-san - was so much more than that, he was coming to realize, but he was the distraction he needed.

Zero-san nodded, silent until, "He was right then. When he said..." His voice trailed off and he lightly shook his head.

"Your sire may have used me, as a way to speak with you, but he must have realized I would be using you as well." Kaname noted. "He connected to me through my own losses, and the need to fill that loss."

"…I wouldn't mind it." Zero-san stepped forward to roughly ruffle his hair, "whatever you might think, you're a good kid."

Eyes widening, Kaname's heart stuttered before regaining its regular pace, and he quickly stepped back, inwardly balking at the sudden familiarity. Everything had been going so fast, with hardly a moment to breathe, and Zero-san had just…offered a proverbial oxygen mask with one effortless sentence.

He'd somehow managed to gain Zero-san's approval and acceptance (through listing a series of what were no better than insults), and was now unsure of what to do with it. This was unlike any of the political games he was used to. The connection between he and Zero-san happened through an exchange of personal words. It wasn't out of veiled threats or blackmail. He wasn't aiming for tactical submission by earning this vampire's respect. No, his mind was curiously apprehensive to supply, this particular connection was far deeper and harder to break, much less control.

A little lost with what he should feel or say, he simply said, "…I'm not." He…wasn't even really a child, hardly the young boy his physical appearance must be projecting. He wasn't 'good' in the sense Zero-san must be talking about.

"You are."

The non-negotiable tone had Kaname's head snapping back up. He wasn't aware the other had heard him.

"My sire's a meddling ass, but he isn't an idiot." Zero-san's tall form began to disperse. "I'll see you around—"

"Wait!" His hand shot out to grab hold of the other's dark shirt. "Where do you think you're going?" He half-heartedly demanded. "I said I wanted you with me," he stared up with what could be considered a glare, feeble as it was. "Are you going to make me wait for you again?"

When Zero-san gazed down at him blankly, he continued, "It's been almost two years since I came here." He'd been six then. Six, naïve, and ignorant of who he really was.

"I…forgot about you until today," his grip tightened. "I don't want to do that again." The pale man couldn't just leave like that after making him admit to emotional dependence. It was only right for him to take some responsibility.

He practically promised I wouldn't be alone anymore.

"…So what is it you want from me, little pureblood?"

It was obvious Zero-san wouldn't agree to anything unless Kaname was willing to state his reasons.

Another connection.

"I want you to come with me," he tried not to cringe at how childish he sounded, "out of the manor." His lips pursed. "And my name is Kaname." Not little pureblood. Zero-san had called him that before, and he held not an ounce of affection for it.

He heard a short huff of laughter above him, awkward from disuse, "Kaname it is, then," and a warm palm came to cup his cheek to further raise his head.

Pale eyes glowed, lips curved in a small, amused smile. "I can say yes to that."

Knowing better than to ask something as ridiculous as, 'Yes to what, my name or coming with me?' Kaname slowly reached up to take hold of the hand at his cheek and carefully twined their fingers together, giving a gentle tug.

The moment they started to walk, the entire manor seemed to shudder in a heartfelt sigh, as if to welcome their departure. The stale atmosphere turned richer, the chandeliers burned brighter, and the dark halls, which had previously looked as though it hadn't seen a speck of sunlight, warmed with every step they took.

"The asshole's glad to see me go," Zero-san absently explained, dry exasperation lacing his voice.

"He's glad to see you choosing life," Kaname corrected, deciding to sound the optimist in their current situation.

"With you," Zero-san added. "He always wins the crap that matters." He muttered.

"Oh?" Kaname looked up teasingly. "Have you a problem with me?"

He received a flat stare. "I don't hold hands with people I have problems with, Kaname."

"Be that as it may—" He cut himself off when they reached the door. Squeezing the other's hand he quietly asked, "How rabid are you going to be once we leave?"

He'd almost forgotten Zero-san was going to need blood outside of the manor. If the vampire had been inside for as long as he assumed, not even his blood would be enough to satisfy his thirst.

"Give my sire a little more credit," Zero-san squeezed back, having guessed at his thoughts. "You'll see when we get outside."

Before he could demand what he would be 'seeing' exactly, the pale man reached for the knob and casually opened the door, stepping out and tugging Kaname along with him, as if the monstrous bloodlust they all harbored wouldn't be waiting for him with fangs extended and claws sharpened.

The dim rays of the moon lit on his form and a long breathy breeze caressed smooth locks as Zero-san turned to him with an expectant look.

"The manor isn't the only reason I've lived for so long," he said softly.

Kaname felt his mind draw a white blank for a few passing seconds as he tried to wrap his mind around what his senses were telling him.

If he'd thought the pale man radiant before, it was nothing compared to what he saw now, away from the confines of the manor. It was as though he'd been looking through a pair of dulled foggy lenses. There was a healthy flush to creamy white skin, a brighter light to glowing eyes (which he observed held a warm touch of lilac), but beyond all of that was the sheer amount of power rolling off of his figure in lazy contented waves.

The signs all pointed to one thing.

A pureblood. The other vampire was a pureblood.

At the same time, the truth behind Kuran Kaname's death struck him with the force of a train at full speed, and he nearly gasped.

"Your sire turned you completely…" It was unheard of, but not impossible, he rationalized. If a pureblood could find means for another to become human, then the same could be said for a reverse process.

The origins of purebreds were human anyhow, he numbly reminded himself. It was not so much a stretch. Kaname had simply never heard of a pureblood willing to go so far for a human. Not then, and not now.

The price was too high to bestow on a race so terribly fragile.

"You really are his child…"

The first and currently only Blood Child in existence was standing right in front of him.

. . .

Thank you for reading! :) *smooch*