Tears of Blood by Rondomness
Chapter 3. Poor Kaname! I feel all bad for him! And sorry for almost no Zero in this chapter, but he'll reappear, I promise. It was just important for me to show the web Kaname's been all entangled in.
Chapter title from the Amy Winehouse song of the same name. Well, except with the entire lover thing, it suits pretty good.
Warnings: Black-mailing, injuries, angst although not so much yet.
Chapter 3: Back to Black
"Please take me instead of him. Leave him alone and don't ever lay hand on him again. Then you…" Kaname breathed deeply and suppressed the sudden nausea that began to pull at his insides. "…can do with me as you please." It was a huge force of will to say it, but Kaname had decided and even if it was the stupidest thing he'd ever done in his life, he had spoken now and it was too late to pull back the offer he'd made.
Ichiou looked suspicious. No doubt, he wondered if Kaname meant what he was saying. Kaname himself also wondered if he really could go through with something like that. An eerie silence hung in the air for a few moments before Ichiou broke it. "Come here," he commanded harshly and Kaname hesitantly stepped closer until Ichiou's arm could reach him.
"Do you have any idea about what you're offering?" Ichiou asked as if he was against that idea. The truth was that his longing was hard to hide, his eyes beginning to glow in reddish colors and his fangs protruding from the mere thought of Kaname giving him his blood. The pureblood gave him a short, silent nod to show that he agreed and now wanted Ichiou to understand what he wanted in return.
"If I am to let you have… this… then you will leave the boy and Cross Academy alone. If you or the Council in any way harms him or the academy, I will tell society you took it by force," Kaname threatened, glancing down to Zero's face. He looked pale, exhausted and pained, even in his sleep.
Aidou and Takuma were both frozen to the spot by Kaname's offer. By the possibility that their Kaname-sama should let himself get mauled by the Council in that way. Takuma, who knew that it wasn't just going to be a massive step over Kaname's border and a way too intimate act, but also horribly painful, gripped Aidou's sleeve and held onto it tightly as if he could cling onto that jacket and thereby repel the terrible reality.
For a second Ichiou hesitated, but not any longer. He'd wanted this for so, so long. And now finally, it was in his reach. And all not because of threats, torture or beatings, but because of some stupid little ex-human and an academy, that Ichiou knew was dear to Kaname, but hadn't had any idea about how important it really was.
"I agree. If you on the other hand tells society anything or as much as thinks of rebelling against me ever again, he's the one to take the toll." Ichiou nodded in direction of Zero, who was still unconscious but obviously beginning to stir. Kaname was about to protest and ask what that meant but he didn't dare, considering Ichiou still could kill Zero in a matter of seconds.
Instead, he refused to give any sign that he'd heard it. "Give him to me," he whispered, Ichiou giving the man holding Zero a short nod. He lifted the hunter off of the floor and placed him in Kaname's arms. He felt horribly light. As if he'd been starving himself. Kaname knew why though. That was because Rido'd starved him and afterwards, Kaname hadn't dared give him anything but liquefied. That had only been a few days prior to the encounter that tore Zero apart, so Kaname could guess that he hadn't really eaten anything for a month or so now. Nothing but a little porridge and then he'd drunk Kaname's blood once and got it injected through the wound too.
Kaname wanted to stand with him forever to avoid paying the price for this but there was no time if he wanted to at least have a chance of saving the academy. Kaname knew that if he didn't hurried on satisfying Ichiou's burning desire for his blood, then the old noble would take it as a "no deal" and continue his mission of destroying everything Kaname held dear to heart.
"Takuma," he called softly, the blond noble being by his side in an instant. He shook his head repulsively, but he didn't say a thing. It was wrong. This was wrong. His grandfather should never blackmail Kaname like that. "Take him," Kaname said, handing Zero over to his childhood friend.
"Kaname, you don't mean this. You don't want this," he said with certainty, his green eyes begging burgundy ones to not through himself away like that. Kaname kept his unemotional face locked with nothingness, staring into thin air and stoically avoiding acknowledging that Takuma was right.
Ichiou stepped in between them, giving his grandson a warning look that told him to back off. Takuma, who had respected, obeyed and feared his grandfather as long as he could remember, took a few steps back with Zero in his arms, who at this point was mumbling incomprehensibly in his almost-awakened state.
Up until now, Aidou had been standing as if frozen to the spot, which could have been real, as his powers automatically responded on his suddenly wild emotions and put a little frost on a small branch of a tree nearby. When Ichiou gripped Kaname's arm harshly, Aidou broke out of the spell that seemed to be over him and he ran to the pureblood's side, gripping his arm almost just as tight and looking up at him in horror.
Kaname, on the other hand, pulled a little away from him, closer to Ichiou to show that he had decided and that he only waited for Takuma and Aidou to bet him good luck and farewell before he'd be off. Off with Ichiou. Back to his home. Kaname hated the idea, he was disgusted and horrified at what he had to do, but there was no avoiding it now. He'd gotten what Ichiou had promised him, now it was his turn to pay up. The only thing that could make the deal undone now was if Ichiou hurt Zero or touched the academy and that was not likely to happen, at least not any time soon as Ichiou currently had all he'd wanted within his reach, a thought that gave Kaname the lust to throw up. Perhaps not the thought as much as the fact that he was going to let Ichiou take his blood now, without resistance.
Takuma kept string at him, but he didn't press further. He knew Kaname well enough to know that some things hurt more if it was made into a big fuss. Slowly, he let Zero slip over in only one of his arms to get the other free and he reached out for Aidou, pulling him backwards even as he protested highly. Kaname gave him a small, thankful smile which was all he could muster at this point.
"Come here, Kaname. I believe we have a quite urgent "business" to take care of, haven't we?" Ichiou asked mockingly, gripping the pureblood's shoulder and pulling him backwards so he was almost stumbling into the car. Takuma held Aidou back with difficulty as the young noble was fiercely fighting and he had to carry Zero too.
"Wait," Kaname begged as if he'd suddenly changed his mind. "Can't I at least give instructions to my bodyguard?" he asked, glancing towards a tree, which made all of the gathering look at the same tree until Seiren appeared at the bottom and was by Kaname's side in a second. Ichiou's and Seiren's eyes locked for a moment and there was nothing but pure hatred between them. On one side, Ichiou knew that she was Kaname's closest ally and that fact alone made him hate her. On the other, Seiren, as the only one, heard all Kaname's secrets and therefore she also knew how he'd treated the pureblood. Of course, there were some details that Kaname had refused to share with anybody, but she was the person to know most of it.
"I don't think that'll be necessary, Kaname," Ichiou almost hissed as he withdrew his eyes from Seiren's and they went back to be locked on Kaname's pale, enticing skin. "Because you're not going to bring her with you." Kaname looked at his guardian as if he'd just said that he was from outer space. So did Aidou, Takuma and even Seiren. To separate a pureblood from his bodyguard was almost unthinkable. And why, when Kaname already had promised that Ichiou could have his blood, did the elder vampire have to make sure that Kaname didn't even have an assistant? Purebloods needed protection. Not because they were incapable of protecting themselves, but because they had many enemies.
The flicker of emotions that had gone through Kaname's eyes for a moment was immediately replaced with a calm, considered look and he nodded slowly. He turned to Seiren and pulled her a little away from the rest.
"Seiren, I would like for you to leave me alone," Kaname said in as calm a tone as he could muster at the time. He barely held the tremors out of his voice, especially not when Ichiou placed a hand on his shoulder again to keep him on a short distance of himself. "But, master…"
"Don't question me, Seiren, just do as I command." A quick bow, nothing grave, just a quick bow and then a soft gaze with a message. Be safe.
Kaname turned to his fellow students. "That comes in true for the both of you," he stated calmly, Aidou backing a bit off and looking down in the ground. He couldn't understand why Kaname would do something like this. Sure, it could be to safe Cross Academy and the Night Class together with coexistence in a whole. That had to be it and the thing about Kiryuu was merely that Kaname was so good that he didn't want anyone to die.
Takuma, on the other hand, did not back off. He walked closer and for the first time glared at his grandfather. "I will go with Kaname," he said matter-of-factly. "It's my house too and you have no deciding in whether or not I want to live at Cross Academy or at my home. And if you don't like, I think you can go to hell."
Inside, Kaname crumbled a little. Why did you have to say that? Why did you have to add insult to injury in this one? I know you did it to stay with me and be able to look after me and I appreciate that, but… Later, I'm the one he'll punish for you speaking to him like that. Kaname knew that Takuma of course had no idea that what he did would end up hurting the same pureblood he so desperately tried to protect, but that would be what would happen no matter what.
Ichiou gave his grandson a hard glare, but that was all. That also showed the difference in the way Takuma and Kaname was treated. Had Kaname ever said something like that, Ichiou would have backhanded him immediately. He never hit Takuma.
"Get in," Ichiou hissed to Kaname, and gestured annoyed to the car. Kaname threw one last look at Zero, his friends and even the hospital before stepping in. He didn't want to look hesitating. When Ichiou began entering the car, Takuma handed Zero, who was beginning to blink tiredly, over to Aidou and approached, meaning to get inside the car as well.
Aidou hesitated, not sure what he should do with Zero. He wanted to stop Kaname from doing this, but he couldn't prevent this from happening without handing Zero over to the executioners, something that Kaname definitely would hate him for. When Zero seemed like he was awake, Aidou slowly placed his feet on the ground and not too gently gave him a small shove to make him stand up by himself.
After sending Aidou a short glare, Zero looked up and literally looked like he was still asleep. Kaname gave him a halfheartedly smile when Takuma entered the car followed by Ichiou and the door shut closed. They would tell him what had happened and Cross would take good care of him. Didn't matter that Kaname never would see any of them again. Or, at least, he wouldn't see them until Ichiou died, which would be a couple of hundred years. Too bad, at that time, Zero would most likely don't be alive. Even if he could have reached such an age, he would grow mad beforehand unless something was done.
But at least, this would give him a few more years and that was worth it. Yes, even it was only months.
When the car disappeared down the round, Zero turned to the others with a questioning glare. "What was that about?" he asked, not having picked up too much about it from the one look he got from Kaname. He didn't understand all the infuriated looks he got, even though he was used to not get the kindest responses from vampires.
"Well, Kaname-sama… he…" Aidou sounded like a shadow of himself. Then he apparently decided to speak emotionlessly and professional. "Our dorm leader has decided to… help get Cross Academy functioning again. You know, classes have been cancelled for a week, since the Headmaster insisted on being in the hospital's surroundings for your sake, although I don't really get why. But don't get selfish ideas. If you think Kaname-sama did this for you you're sorely mistaken." Up until Aidou'd mentioned it, Zero hadn't even considered it to be for his sake. No, because Kuran didn't care for him at all, even as he'd granted him his blood. He'd only done that because he cared about…
Zero's eyes blinked erratically, following his heartbeat. "Are you listening to me, Kiryuu?" a voice he recognized as being Aidou's sounded, but it was faint, even as he was standing close by. It felt like the hunter's ears had been clogged or closed in some way. Yuki.
Zero opened his mouth to say something but it felt like the words wouldn't form in his brain and much less on his tongue. "I…I… think I'll just… go into the… hospital." At least, he knew where he was, which helped a lot when he should pretend to have everything under control. Zero barely knew what his name was. It felt as if all that was in his brain at this moment was a big "no more room on hard drive" sign.
"Kiryuu-kun, oh no," Zero heard a familiar voice call. He knew it was familiar, he recognized it, but he couldn't remember who it was. Or, simply refused to remember. That was perhaps a better word about everything. It was not memory loss, he simply refused to think about it, locked it out of his thoughts. Nothing, nothing should play across his mind right now. It didn't matter what it was, it would remind him of her.
Especially not him. Why did Cross have to come now? Cross. "You need to be inside, Kiryuu-kun. The nurses have told you not to leave the building. Why can't you just follow the rules?" Sighing, Zero turned around and let Cross take him inside. Once he was alone, he threw himself under the duvet and concentrated on not thinking. Perhaps that wouldn't hurt as bad.
When the car pulled up by the Ichijo Estate, Kaname had found such an emotionless face that nothing could break it. He hoped. Takuma opened the door and stepped out, holding the door for his grandfather. However, Ichiou didn't make any movements. "Takuma, we will be back in a couple of hours," he said, gesturing to the driver.
"What? Why?" Takuma wanted to know, holding the door open so the driver couldn't drive on. Kaname, too, tensed, but he refused to answer Ichiou what was going on. Even if he knew, there wasn't much he could do to stop it. And, either way, Takuma had asked the question he wanted to have the answers to.
"Because, Kaname and I have an appointment at the Council, so will you wait for us inside?" Ichiou asked, not the gentle tone he normally used in front of his grandson, but still respective. Takuma looked for help in Kaname's eyes but simply found a numb accept. He didn't know what Ichiou planned to do, but he would take it nonetheless.
Takuma stared after the car until it could no longer be spotted even with vampire sight. Then, he went inside and collapsed in a chair. Once again, he'd failed Kaname although he wanted nothing but to make the pureblood happy, to make sure he was safe. He'd done what he thought was right although he in fact had sent Kaname right into his grandfather's arms…
"Why?" Kaname asked, giving no further explanation on his question. He didn't want to be left in the darkness concerning what he was about to see or say or do. Ichiou seemed to want to ignore him but then changed his mind. "Since it would be illegal to take your blood without the Council knowing, we're going to the Council's Headquarters to make sure the message gets out to the entire vampire society."
He paused, looking for a reaction from his pureblooded companion. Finding none, he continued. "You do understand that you're going to be quitting school-life, right?" he asked, wanting to make a few point clear now that Takuma was no longer with them. Kaname simply nodded. He did know that Ichiou probably didn't plan on letting him attend too many social events.
"And you do know that you're going to live with me from now on, right?" Once again, Kaname nodded. This, he'd known from the second he'd opened his mouth to voice his offer. "Fine. It's good you understand so I don't have to take that fight with you." The feeling of power and domination was almost literally oozing out of the elder vampire's pores. Kaname wanted to throw up.
"I want you to stay inside the house at all times unless I tell you otherwise. And I expect you to let me drink without a fight whenever I want." Ichiou explained all these rules in a calm voice as if he was merely saying that Kaname should leave the chips in the dining room alone. Kaname suppressed a shudder. Whenever he felt like it, would be very often, the pureblood could be absolutely sure of that at least.
"I have summoned a meeting, so you don't have to worry about that. And you simply have to grant me permission to practically own your blood. It has to be mine to do with as I see fit." Kaname nodded again. At least, it was good news that he was going to attend this meeting. Not because it was something he was looking forward to, but because that would delay the inevitable blood-drinking a little. No. Kaname refused to let him stay in that state of mind.
When they arrived at the Council's Headquarters, Kaname and Ichiou was showed inside respectively. Kaname was a pureblood and Ichiou was one of the leading figures of the entire institution. To put it plainly, Kaname hated this building, or more accurately, what it represented. He could feel that all the heads of vampire society was here. At least, the ones of them that sat in the Council.
The main room of the building was a high-lofted chamber, looking like the inside of a big cathedral. The windows were of painted glass, darkening the lightening in the room. In the middle of the gigantic chamber was a long, black table with chairs on each side. It was organized after rank, with the most influential sitting closest to one end of the table and the lower ranks in the opposite end. Ichiou sat at the table end on the winning side.
For a pureblood, it was like walking on the red carpet. Everybody stared at Kaname. He didn't really know if it was just something they did every time or if it was because most purebloods hated the Council just like he did and therefore avoided it. How he wished that he could go back home…
Zero stayed in the bed the rest of the day. Whenever nurses came, he told them he was fine and didn't need attention and when someone else, like Cross or the Night Class came, he told them he felt bad and didn't want visitors. He was gasping and choking on his own sobs, lightheaded because he didn't get quite enough oxygen. The hole in his chest was both physical and emotional. He felt numb, powerless, defeated.
He didn't even talk when Cross asked him how he felt or if he needed anything. At last, the headmaster left, getting the wipe and abandoning Zero in his own, deep abyss of despair. He left a bag behind on the couch without noticing, but Zero instantly snatched it the moment the door closed. There was a mobile phone, a credit card and a pile of papers. The young hunter lightly flipped through all of them.
The phone contained a number he knew very well. Horribly well. Yuki's number. That awoke something in him, something that crawled to the surface with sharp claws. Zero threw the phone back into the bag with a shiver. He almost moaned from pain. The pain was disarming him and he was unprepared for the force it had when it hit him at full power. He placed the bag on the couch again and collapsed on the floor.
Yuki was dead. Dead and Zero'd killed her. The hunter could feel the cold, laminated floor against his knees, then his palms and lastly his chin. The wave of absolute pain, which had been lapping at him before, now rinsed over him and he got caught in the undertow.
"I'm giving my guardian full authority over my blood. My reasons are… my own," Kaname hesitantly explained. They were watching his every movement, especially said guardian. "And you're sure of your decision?" one of them asked, more for manners than for questioning. Kaname confirmed with a nod. It was usually his way of answering, especially when he wasn't sure that he could keep the tremors out of his voice.
"Fine then. And you will be living at Ichijo's house then, we can assume?" another asked, in the usual not-so-gentle tone they used to speak to Kaname in. Somehow, they'd gotten the idea that just because they raised him, he was in one way or another some kind of possession of theirs and that normal rules regarding purebloods didn't count with him.
"My ward will live at my house from now on," Ichiou interrupted, cutting into the conversation. "And we will leave now," he added, standing up and gesturing for Kaname to get up as well. They'd barely been here for half an hour. Ichiou was indeed in a hurry with getting that blood.
Kaname followed Ichiou to the doors, before they got interrupted by another high-ranked member of the Council. The group of members had split up already, so Kaname and Ichiou were the only ones who heard what he said. "Kaname, you won't consider letting me drink your blood also, now that you're at it, won't you?" he asked, more mockingly than questioningly although Kaname with ease could see the longing in his eyes too.
"I have allowed my guardian to drink my blood under private discussions. I'm afraid that won't do. But," he added in his own mocking tone," You could always line up with the rest of the Council and wait for your turn." That cooled his mockery down a few degrees. Ichiou had ignored the conversation but now grabbed Kaname's arm, bid the other member farewell and dragged the pureblood to the car.
"You know, I would have followed you. There was no need to drag me," Kaname said, trying to keep his voice low and subdued but failing. He wished that his instincts weren't on high alert with every single one of Ichiou's movements, each second expecting to be attacked. Ichiou simply shoved him inside the car.
"You may say that mockingly now. But I will make sure to beat every single piece of that attitude out of you."
