A few important points to this tale: In this story the blood bond is nothing more than being able to feel their partner or keep the bond blocked if they want to. Also, I am going with there only being 6 pureblood vampires in all. I am going to be using the purebloods from the manga even though some that have died in the original story have not died in mine (yet :P). Kaname killed Shizuka and Rido died at the same time as Haruka so there will not be much of them in the story except for some minor details in flashbacks.

So here is chapter 3! This one is going to give us a little insight into what is going on with Kaname, both in the present and in the past. You get to find out WHY Kaname left Zero now! Hope you like it! I really do not want to read about Freud…General Psychology may well be the death of me…

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight nor the song Burning for You

Burning for You

Chapter 3

Time Ain't on My Side

Kaname stared, unseeing, out the window. He had his back to the desk, unable to stay focused on the boring reports from the newly established Vampire Council. Takuma was at the head of the new council and so far things were going as smoothly as could be expected. The council that Kaname had put in place also believed in co-existence between humans and vampires. He and Takuma had carefully selected each member so there would not be a repeat of what had happened while Ichiou was the council head. Since Kaname had killed the whole previous council there were fewer of the old traditionalist vampire nobles left. Thankfully, Takuma was nothing like his grandfather and Kaname knew he was more than capable to lead the council. The new council was younger, more open to progressive ideas and not power hungry or manipulative. They worked closely with the Hunter's Association in coordinating efforts toward similar goals.

The night class had been hard at work after leaving Cross Academy. Hanabusa had developed a new kind of blood substitute that worked so well it kept level D's from falling, even without having had the blood of their maker. He continued conducting various experiments with blood substitutes in an attempt to find an alternative that gave the vampires a supply that was as close to real blood as possible. Kaname had to admit that the current tablets eliminated the need for blood better than any of the substitutes had before although vampire physiology dictated that they still craved the blood of their chosen partner. Kain was currently running the Kuran business interests with Ruka so that their pureblood leader could give all his attention to a project that the others were not privy to. Yuuki was living with Kaien Cross while she finished her education. She and her brother had discovered that neither of them harbored romantic feelings for the other and broke off their arranged engagement. Kaname also knew that his sister was safe as long as she had Cross watching over her. She and the headmaster were actively trying to reestablish the night class. Cross had had the Moon Dorms rebuilt and Yuuki was calling to the vampire community to enroll their children in the academy, encouraging them all to join in their efforts for co-existence. Shiki and Rima were still modeling but agreed to come back to the night class to support their pureblood princess leader. Things were moving along well indeed.

The current state of affairs was a great relief to Kaname even though he knew he could not let his guard down. His time was consumed with maneuvering the other remaining purebloods into fighting amongst themselves in a quest for power. He was hoping that several of them would kill each other in the process and make his part in it a little easier. He knew he was the strongest of their race but there was no way he would be able to fight all of them alone and succeed so he had to manipulate them into doing his work for him. Sara Shirabuki was giving him a bit of trouble though. He had managed to, so far, keep her from finding what she sought but she was clever and getting closer all the time, though he found it rather amusing that she was going in the wrong direction completely since no one knew the whole story, save Kaname and Seiren. Sara's efforts were fruitless but she could be a formidable threat if she were to learn the truth. It looked like he was going to have to remove her completely in the near future. This was disappointing to Kaname because she had, unbeknownst to her, been helping him along quite nicely in eliminating the other purebloods. Now, though, she was too close to his secret. It was too great a risk to Zero's life and Kaname was unwilling to compromise the younger man's safety. Sara needed to be neutralized. He just hoped he could get a little more use of her first.

The problem at hand was consuming Kaname. Everything he was doing was to save Zero, even staying out of his life and letting him believe the terrible lie that Kaname did not love him anymore. He could feel the other man's emotions through the bond constantly. The moments of peace in the silverette's life were very few and far between. Kaname knew the pain his love was in all too well, he was able to feel his own pulsing right along with Zero's. A constant feeling of not being able to breathe, as if there was a tight band squeezing his chest and compressing his lungs. He could sense every bit of emotion that Zero experienced. Hate, rage, desperation, rejection, heartbreak, and pleasure, to name but a few. He hated those moments the most, knowing that another man was taking Zero broke him in such a way that Kaname did not know how he could ever recover from it. He had known that his ex-lover had some sort of relationship with Kaito Takamiya, though it was obvious that Zero did not love the other hunter. Their sexual encounters were rare and the pureblood was pretty sure that Zero was usually drunk when they did happen. The ex-human had taken up drinking heavily about six months after Kaname left. He was neglecting himself by not eating or sleeping much. The steady infusion of alcohol and blood tablets seemed to be what kept him going, barely. Kaito stopped by a few times a week, always with take out to eat. He did the best he could to get his friend to take care of himself not only because Cross and Yagari asked him to but because Kaito had sworn to always be at the younger hunter's side, even if he never gained his love. The older hunter was keeping Zero alive and for that, at least, Kaname was grateful.

Kaname did not just leave it all up to fate to keeping his lover safe, there were three vampires that rotated shifts watching Zero at all times. They had been specially trained by Seiren and Kaname trusted that they would keep the younger man out of harm's way. They knew to take the silverette into hiding, by force if necessary, should a threat surface. Seiren had set up a network of trusted allies and safe houses just in case. Not that ex-human couldn't take care of himself but if the other purebloods found out that Zero was the one they were searching for there was no way he would make it out alive. Even Kaname was not likely to survive facing five purebloods. Fortunately, they only knew of the prophecy and the rumors that the danger may be closer than they had at first thought. The damn oracle nearly ruined everything for Kaname. He just happened to be in the village when he had seen Aido-dono enter the soothsayers shop. Curious as to the other vampire's purpose, Kaname had cloaked his aura so he could eavesdrop and when the woman came close to spilling the whole truth he had sent a small blast of energy to her brain, causing her death by a stroke. He felt terribly guilty for taking her life but it was the only option. It was rather surprising that a mere human had actually possessed the gift of precognition. He certainly wished he had such a gift. Six years without Zero was like a thousand years of torture. He could only pray that all his planning, manipulation, and protections he had set up would be enough for him to be victorious. He had to save Zero.

He rested his neck on the back of chair, now staring at the ceiling. Sighing, Kaname remembered the day that everything started to fall apart.

6 and half years ago…

Takuma knocked lightly on Kaname's door before entering to deliver urgent information from Seiren and the vampire council. Zero had the most desirable blood he had ever tasted and a strange aura that felt off somehow. It was almost as if it had been suppressed, somehow, but it was there, lurking just below the surface. He was also confused as to how Zero was able to resist the control of his would be master, Shizuka. He had been able to break free of the hold she had over him. This was unheard of even if the controlled vampire was of the noble class so how could a mere level D resist so effectively? Kaname had casually questioned his close circle of friends to see if they noticed anything odd about Zero and there had been no indication that he was anything other than a level d to them. That was definitely helpful. If only purebloods were able to feel the power than the young hunter was that much safer. Kaname was worried that the strange power could potentially hurt Zero so he had Seiren track down every bit of rare and obscure hunter lore to see if the secret was held there.

"Kaname you must look at this right away, she says it cannot wait," he informed his pureblood friend."There is also an urgent message from the Council" Takuma handed an ancient looking book and some thick envelopes to Kaname.

"Thank you Takuma," Kaname replied, reaching for them.

Takuma smiled brightly and excused himself from the room as his friend turned his attention to the matters of urgency. After the door was closed Kaname sighed and opened the first envelope, from Seiren. It was a short note.

Kaname-sama,

This book has the answers you seek. It is the only one of its kind and has been passed down through the line of the first true hunter. This is the same book that all hunter families pass down through their own bloodlines, save for the pages I have marked that are of particular interest in regards to this matter. I am now in the process of finding the item that is needed to complete the awakening and will be returning to the academy as soon as it is in my possession.

Seiren

Intrigued, Kaname quickly scanned through the book. It started with a brief history of how the hunters came to be. There were also spells, charms and information on the forging of hunter weapons. He felt a long forgotten pain stir within himself as he read of the sacrifice his lover of long ago had made. Pushing aside the unhappy memories he began to read the pages that Serien had marked. Kaname already knew most of the story but was shocked when he read of what that woman had actually done so long ago.

Just as the Vampire race began with humans, the hunters began with a vampire. She gave her blood, body, and life for the hunters to gain the power to kill vampires. The old one had known that vampires were a perversion of nature, something never meant to exist. She also knew that the humans would never be safe as long as vampires walked the earth. This was the driving force behind the final spell that she cast the day she ended her life for the greater good. Not even Kaname had known what she had done. That was told to the first human-turned-hunter and he alone would be responsible for passing the knowledge on through his hunter line. She had taught this one man the spells and secrets that would help the hunters rise to defend all humans. After he had learned all she had to teach she placed one hand on his forehead and the other over his heart while murmuring in a language the hunter did not understand. In him she placed a large piece of her soul that she had bound to a spell that would mix with the soul of the hunter, effectively connecting them for eternity. Her last gift to him was the book with charms, spells, and an explanation about how the spell would one day awaken her soul fragment in one of his future descendants. The child would be born to the most powerful and ancient line of the hunter clans. He would be the perfect balance of hunter, vampire and human, the only one in existence. This unique child would be the biggest threat there had ever been to the vampire race, he was meant to destroy them with the power that had been fused to his soul.

"Zero…" he whispered in disbelief. The prophesied child was his lover. And strangely, a sort of reincarnation of the woman he had loved so many lifetimes ago since a piece of her soul lived within Zero. Maybe that had a little bit to do with them falling in love, Kaname smiled at the idea of that.

All those years ago he was conducting experiments to see how he could suppress vampirism, before the very humans he had been protecting for generations had driven him away for being a monster. Now, in his hands he held the key to doing just that. His lover held the power to change vampires into humans. It was similar to what his mother had done with Yuuki when she gave her life, turning the young girl into a human to protect her from her their uncle Rido. The three Kuran siblings had all perished that day, Haruka and Rido each dealt the other fatal blows, Juuri casting the spell on Yuuki. Even though they had not been his true parents they had raised him as their own and he loved them dearly. Losing them and Yuuki's memories had almost been too much to take. He did not have the heart to turn the girl back into a vampire and have her suffer the loss of their parents so he it bore it alone. No one knew that the Kuran princess existed so he took her to Cross and asked the man to take care of her and keep her safe. Kaien had a special relationship with the Kuran's and was devastated to learn of the death of his dear friends but readily agreed to care for Yuuki in honor of their sacrifice.

Kaname set the book aside and opened the letter from the council. Reading its contents he drew his breath in sharply. The council had discovered an old legend in an ancient scroll that was found in the home of Shizuka Hio after her death at Kaname's hand. It had been in the Hio family for over five hundred years. The Hio ancestor had been told by a prophet of the child that would be born to destroy the vampire race. It was the same story from the book Kaname possessed, only saying that it would be a hunter child, not that the child would be born the first hunter line. The pureblood felt some relief that the foretelling was so vague. There was nothing more than that. It could be any hunter child. The council wanted to immediately begin searching for whoever the person was so they could kill him or her. The pureblood knew he would have to go along with their wishes for now to keep Zero's true identity unknown. Kaname's mind flew into action as the final pieces that completed the puzzle fell into place. Zero was the child of prophecy and the council knew that he existed, even if they did not know who held they were looking for yet. That and Zero's vampirism would help to keep Zero safe until Kaname was able to remove the threat to his love's life. Thankfully, the ex-human's vampire side kept his true self hidden from all but purebloods it seemed. As long as Zero was away from the other purebloods no one would catch on. Kaname also decided to ask Hanabusa to try to find a way for Zero's aura to be hidden from purebloods. He would have to get Seiren to assign the best guards to keep an eye on his lover from the shadows at all times. The pureblood could not afford to leave his lover unprotected. Placing the books and letters in his hidden safe he locked away the dangerous secret so that no one, including Zero would be able to find out the truth. As much as he hated keeping something like this from his lover there was just no other way. He needed Seiren to find the final item and return soon. They had a lot of plans to make. There was a big power struggle coming between the purebloods and Kaname had to make sure that his silver haired lover was no part of it.

Kaname pulled himself from thoughts of the past as a flash of sadness came across the bond. He wondered what was bothering the hunter. Noticing that it was almost dawn he drew the curtains and headed to the bathroom for a hot bath.

Zero lay on his bed in his dimly lit room looking at the picture he kept in the drawer. A calloused finger ran itself lightly down the face of Kaname in the picture. He missed Kaname so much that it was becoming harder and harder to stay angry when he really just wanted to be in the purebloods arms.

Wicked-sama

Word Count 2879

11 May 2011

This was a long chapter! I am super sleepy and hope this made sense. Enjoy and I will get something more to you as soon as I can. I am behind on some homework so I need to spend a couple days or so getting caught up.

The next chapter will be a little Kaito/Zero

Thanks for the reviews, favs, and alerts!