"'Who' is but the form following the function of 'what,' and what I am, is a man in a mask." - Hugo Weaving, 'V for Vendetta'

Long after Seiren had left, Kaname stood in the shadows of his half-drawn curtains, irritated immensely by the daylight, but too distracted by that irritation and… other things, to effectively remove it. Some might call his little episode 'sulking', but as he rested in the throes of his personal reality, Kaname found himself alone, simmering in thoughts he was resolute in denying. This denial was the second stage in a small series leading to acceptance. However, Kaname is a pureblood, and has much more time than us to stew in his sentiments and regrets before he is at peace.

Everybody else in his building was sleeping or very good at pretending to be asleep, and as Kaname looked out the window to see the recently-awoken Day Class emerge from their dorms, he couldn't help automatically searching for the one carrying the scent wafting so soothingly through his window. It calmed him, now. Last night, Seiren found him feverish and had him at his desk with several glasses and medicines. His breathing had returned to its deathly sluggish pace, and he felt his heart under his control… or at least more than what was the new norm.

His eyes found the holder of that pretty aroma, and he watched as Zero mingled with Yuki and distastefully acknowledged some of her squealing friends. He was in a bad mood, too. Imagine that. Either way, it did not concern Kaname. Earlier, it had been too late to engage the Headmaster in the solving of Zero's 'problem', but now that Kaname wasn't panting and clawing at an ex-human, he found himself capable of rousing the hyper blonde. But, he did have his limitations when it came to the sunlight, this morn; i: he was already very lethargic and somewhat sick, and the natural light wasn't about to help him by any means, ii: going outside would mean having to deal with droves of fans, and he wasn't about to risk losing his temper to a bunch of high school brats, and iii: Zero's scent was already starting to affect him as it became just slightly stronger, and he found his hands gripping the sill as he leaned out into the morning air to appreciate the enveloping safety that was that comely, floral essence. Eyes closed to the glare of the star, he focused only on the incoming breeze forcing the fragrance to his awaiting nostrils.

Kaname caught himself, cursed, and pulled the curtains so not even the smallest stream of light came in. He felt like screaming when he realised he subconsciously left the windows open, but didn't bother going through with the chore of closing them, 'retreating' to his bedroom for a restless sleep.

-

"If you'd look at page 56, you could see parts of their profiles!" Said one of the girls surrounding Zero.

"Uwa! He's taller than my uncle!"

"How tall is your uncle?"

"Almost 6' 4", I think! You wouldn't know we're related-I'm 5' 1"!" They giggled relentlessly, and it was starting to piss Zero off. He angled to walk from the group, but Yuki caught his arm and asked him why he was leaving.

"I'm going to the lavatory; I'll see you in class." Yuki smiled and shooed him to his business, still talking to the other girls. Zero walked quickly through the crowds to the bathroom. Once he reached it, he resolved to loiter for the amount of time it would take to convince Yuki. He washed his face and dried it off, trying to kill as much time as possible before having to run to the classroom.

He finished with his little cleansing ritual, and looked up in the mirror to see if he had gotten scraped at all during his encounter with Kaname. No blood meant no scabs, so he wasn't bothered by it. But when he leaned on the sink to take a breather, he shot away from it in pain, gripping his hip shakily and bending forward slightly. He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and reviewed where he thought it hurt. The tinge of yellow signalling a bruise teased him, then slipped below his waistline and sight to play with the skin he didn't like anyone to see.

He threw himself into one of the stalls and undid his belt, sliding down his trousers and underwear to get a decent look at the mar on his body.

"Shit!" he spat when he spied the nasty-looking purple. He brushed his finger against it and hissed at the pain that seeped through the spot and straight to his head. He shuffled his hands around the rest of his lower body, looking for any other sparks of pain that might hinder general movement. He didn't, so he pulled up his pants and leaned against the stall.

He jumped away immediately, holding back a shout at the painful disturbance on his shoulder blades and lower back. If the one on his hip had been bad, he didn't want to bother with the marks so close to his spine and thousands of nerve endings. He fixed his clothing and left the bathroom, wondering how much time was left to get to class. He was answered by the shrill ring of a bell.

"Shit!" he spat again, racing down the hall, up the stairs, and to his class. He shot through the door and the teacher yelled at him, giving him a demerit and a warning. Zero grumbled under his breath and Yuki raised her eyebrows at his ruffled appearance and… limp. She hadn't bothered to notice it before, but now it stood out invariably in his usually relaxed or very, very tense posture. It worried her because, to her knowledge, Zero hadn't been doing anything violent lately or acting out at all. Unless… the Night Class… Yuki wanted to solve this problem now, but she knew Zero wouldn't tell her. The first thought on her mind was he had messed with the Nobles, but that seemed a little unlikely: they hadn't even paid attention to him lately, much less challenged him. But that would pretty much leave Kaname. And, while not entirely impossible, that Kaname would rough Zero up so badly meant something a bit more than a scrabble was going on.

She watched Zero as he winced when he sat down, worried as ever and growing somewhat vexed. Why was it so hard for them to get along? Yuki could come up with multiple answers-she wasn't so naïve-but all of them combined couldn't amount to something as bad as a real fight. When she thought of Zero and Kaname fighting, however… what exactly had Zero used to defend himself?

She prayed silently for peace while Zero grimaced at a grade on his test paper.

-

Ichijo had been too hyper for his own good.

"Oh, hey: if you look on page 56, they tell you how tall they are… damn."

"What?" Kain asked tiredly. Aidou had kept him up most of the night with his homicidal fantasies, and the taller cousin had only just barely been able to contain him. He feared for his relative's health, but his obsession with harming Zero was critical at this point. Kain didn't know what he would hate more: hurting Aidou or Aidou killing Zero. The latter would end up troubling everyone, but Kain was hesitant to touch a hair on the other blonde's head if he wasn't trying to put it back into place. Ichijo shoved the manga in his face excitedly and told him to read the passage. He squinted,

"Oh, come on: nobody's 6', 6" and not on some sort of basketball team." He argued. Ichijo pouted,

"Brighten up, will you? I think Aidou needs it." It was true, and not very hard to see, at that. Aidou hadn't spoken to anyone. Kain hadn't even wanted him to come to class in his state, but Aidou had refused to 'lay on his ass' all day. Since they had left their dorm, the shorter male had clung to him relentlessly, not exactly touching him, but keeping so close it was obvious he wanted no one to talk to him. Nevertheless, he managed to shoot the surprisingly happy Ichijo a very displeased glare. The other boy smiled and gave him some space, and both Aidou and Kain walked through the gates to their class. Kaname hadn't come from the dorms yet. They assumed he would not join them. And they were right, of course.

-

Kaname was back at the spot in the forest with Zero. The boy was seething and Kaname couldn't help the way he reacted to the strong scent the silver crown emitted.

"Why are you even…"

"Because it would help!" Kaname said forcefully. Zero glared at him and before he could react, Kaname found himself shoved against one of the many trunks around him. He kept as much control as he had and focused it on his hands, but that strength was quickly waning as Zero pressed against him. Then he felt it; the surge in the boy that meant he was going to be very hostile, and very… domineering, in a very short amount of time.

Kaname felt the fingers around his neck fan out and loosen, giving him the ideal moment to throw the boy off without seriously hurting either of them or attracting attention, but then the touches softened. Zero's hands seemed to caress his naturally sensitive collar bone in foreshadow to what the very conscious pureblood had previously proposed. But even with those fingers pressing deep into his nerves, that body shoved against him, towering over him dominantly, and that place inside of him urging him to give in to the scent and his instincts, Kaname still managed a small growl and a push strong enough to at least deter Zero for a moment.

The pale boy growled back at him and Kaname adjusted his jacket. When he looked up, he saw the tell-tale red eyes burning in Zero's skull. He shivered at having that look thrust at him-that greed reserved for monsters and the lowest of creatures. Kaname found his hands clinging to his jacket while his gaze challenged Zero to charge him again. When the ex-human took a step forward, Kaname braced himself against the tree.

"Why are you even suggesting something like that when you don't even want to run the trial?"

How could you say something like that?

Zero grinned ever-so slightly as Kaname shivered against the tree,

"Why would you tempt something you find so despicable? Or do you have fun being contradictory and indecisive?" Zero's hand reached out slowly and cupped Kaname's jaw. The brunette's legs were close to shaking and only his arms kept his body from crumbling. The desire to succumb and simply let go was almost overpowering him, and the memory of Zero's hands on him combined with that palm just gently brushing his face; Kaname truly didn't know how long he could last against this harassment. Zero's hand slid down and brushed Kaname's collar away, the other slipping further and undoing the brunette's somewhat rumpled white jacket. He kept up with this until Kaname's entire shoulder was bare, and then decided he wanted to see more. Kaname's hand met his wrist when he started to shuffle the rest of man's jacket and shirt to the ground,

"Stop. Now." He growled in warning. Zero delicately removed the hand and pressed up against him entirely. Kaname let out a light groan that peaked Zero's ears. The pureblood closed his eyes when the touches ceased, and he began to do up his shirt again.

Then, he felt his arms yanked back and around the tree, cool metal clicking around his wrists as he struggled in opposition to the axis that remained to be the scents and their embodiment in Zero's cool, lean form. He felt silver beneath the thin steel plating. Zero came back from around the tree and stared into Kaname's narrowed eyes. They smouldered with a feral blaze, but Zero could easily see the light glaze creeping along the sides the flaring iron irises. He smirked,

"You told me to do this, so why are you fighting me, now?" Kaname refused to answer, but glared directly at Zero. His vision was blurring and his heart rate had long since picked up, speeding him into that same, irresistible euphoria he had known nights ago.

"You are overstepping your boundaries, Kiriyu; get these cuffs off of me and return to your dorm." His fists fought the cool, streamline circlets of chain and his brow furrowed in concentration. He had learned how to get out of these. He learned… something was stopping him from fully resisting. He tried to fight that, too, but it quickly overturned him and his eyes glazed fully. Zero's smirk grew in satisfaction as he leaned in to graze Kaname's neck. The brunette's knees almost buckled, so Zero held his waist with a free hand. That scent was stopping him. That 'thing' inside his body that clawed and clamoured for relief and redemption from Kaname's breaking will. It overcame his senses, and again was he left to look on and just feel as his body betrayed him in a sick way.

Zero's leg brushed against his 'sickness' and Kaname moaned into his shoulder. Zero laughed quietly, turning the pureblood's head so he could look directly into Kaname's eyes. Then his head slowly lowered until his chin rested in the niche between Kaname's shoulder and his neck. Kaname withered beneath the close sensation and his hands grew fitful under the keep of the cuffs.

The silver crown snarled beside Kaname's very responsive skin and felt as his captive twisted his arms for release. Zero let his fangs just lightly scrape the pale skin, and his hand shot up to Kaname's mouth to keep in the shout the man tried to let out.

"Shh," He said reassuringly, breaths cooling the junction while his free hand slid the rest of Kaname's shirt from his body. Zero made sure to keep his breathing as quiet and slow as possible, purposefully slowing his ferocious, rabid heart. Kaname's soldiered on at an inhuman rate, pounding fiercely in his chest as he battled the need to cry out for relief from Zero's careful touches. The red-eyed man held Kaname gently, driving him insane as he just lightly lapped at a pretty, pale column. His hand kept at Kaname's mouth as the man tried to scream.

"A man in your position must not attract attention to himself. Who knows what others might find, if they were to come out at such an hour?" Kaname writhed between Zero and the tree, looking up from his slant into smug, covetous eyes. He moaned again and Zero smiled at his small amount of control.

He rubbed against the bite area with a leisurely pace, stroking with his teeth the periodically tensing, but soft flesh. He brought his head up to Kaname's ear for less than a moment,

"You are going to like this very much, Kuran. You know that?" And Zero allowed his teeth to scrape harshly across his quarry, beads of blood shocking the air and lifting a full-bloomed scent that made them both shiver in ecstasy. Kaname barely held in another scream as Zero's teeth caught him lightly over and over. Never sinking too deep, only making wounds big enough to lap blood from. Kaname's nails grew out and he clawed at the tree, feeling the bark lodge itself beneath his fingertips as Zero tore him apart, piece by piece. His lips pursed and held in a brutal yell as Zero stuck his tongue into one of the small punctures before it faded. Zero smiled and did it gain, loving his control over the proud male as he reduced him to a quivering mass of scars and screams.

The brunette flinched when the boy rubbed him especially hard, accepting it as a warning of what was to come. Then, Zero bit down. He let Kaname's scream ring out as much as it wanted as his mouth lathered the penetration, teeth moving around as he sucked his fill from the other man. His knee rubbed more interestedly into Kaname's groin and the man trembled pitifully under the touches, tongue pushing small words past his lips while the fantasy expanded. He lapped harshly at the wound he had made, basking in the intoxicating scent of the warm blood. The hand that wasn't holding Kaname's hips tickled the pureblood's stomach and made its way down to the button on his pants. Kaname's eyes flew open as he heard the quick clink of his buckle.

N… no…?

He squirmed as Zero held him tighter, hand pulling his trousers to his knees and then pausing as it caressed him through his shorts. Kaname bucked madly, urging whatever was left in him to stop the crazed hunter from going further. The hand left him and shot to his face, pulling it close to the silver crown's as the boy released the quickly healing wound.

"You would do well to try and enjoy this; I'm not stopping if you don't." And he dove for the brunette's neck, penetrating Kaname again while his palm wandered down to the band of soft, black shorts. The brunette closed his eyes and gasped when Zero climbed into the last of his clothing, caressing and nursing his very interested cock. His head dipped as he held in another scream, throat taut at the effort while Zero double-pleasured him. The hand began stroking him and Zero smirked wryly into the twitching flesh, his opposite hand softly soothing Kaname's shivering side as it held him from the ground. It wrapped fully around him, reaching the tree trunk and embracing the shuddering body in a consuming hug the slumped man sobbed into.

Zero tore away from Kaname's neck, lapping at the flesh that had come with him as it clung to his lip. He devoured it and watched as the ethereal skin healed hastily. The pureblood's eyes shut tight for most of their experience, if not, then either half-lidded in pleasure and abandonment or widened to the stars with an unearthly scream. Zero's face came close to Kaname's and he stared into those pretty, submissive eyes. Their cheeks brushed and Kaname shivered again, the hand catering to his arousal moving more harshly, now.

"There's one step left, Kuran." Zero spoke quietly as he nudged Kaname's chin to rest on his shoulder. The man stirred in the safety of captor's suffocating embrace, creatures lurking in the dark as they traced the scent of his blood, not daring to attack him while he was so active. His fangs grew past his lips and he inhaled Zero's scent: peonies about to explode, ready to bloom at any second as he reached for Zero's flesh with an anticipated, lustful glaze in his eyes. Zero breathed deeply as he pierced him on command, the smell of flowers, blood, and sex enveloping them in a drunken high. They both gasped and Kaname nearly choked on the strong, brutal taste of the ex human's bitter blood. He sucked eagerly, Zero's strokes becoming erratic as flowers exploded in their vision. Kaname wriggled as he reached completion, shouting into the wound that healed thanks to his own blood. The light-eyed boy gripped his side, and when he finished, he gasped wildly, Zero leaning into a surprise of a kiss that left Kaname wide-eyed and crumpled. They shared each other's tastes and Zero threaded the hand that had held his partner through thick brown hair. Kaname's wrists bled as he rubbed furiously against his bonds. The other broke the kiss and Kaname whined, mouth sore and unoccupied, leaning into pain as he tried to reconnect.

Zero brought his eyes up to watch him, slowly licking the pureblood's ejaculate from his fingers. Kaname groaned pitifully, struggling and fighting as much as he could as one corner of his mind screamed in the thrill and another raged at the devastation of his pride. Zero disappeared and Kaname's head flung this way and that, the scents and fluids drowning him in confusion. He felt the cuffs on his wrists drop to the ground and he spun to catch Zero. He flung them to the soil, ravaging the open mouth urgently while his hands touched whatever was offered to them with frenzied haste.

His fingers brushed Zero's groin and he desperately undid the buckle holding him from the boy's pleasure. Zero grunted as Kaname roughly forced his trousers down, hand gripping his erection and pulling the energy right out of him. The brunette positively writhed on top, Zero's hands all over him and his hands on Zero. Then, the silver crown sat up abruptly, holding Kaname's waist to keep him from toppling off even as he clung so frantically. Zero kissed him heavily and lured him down, finally getting his head to the level of his hand.

Kaname understood and lapped at Zero's penis like a starving dog, careful not to brush flesh with fangs and displease his 'master'. Zero sighed and groaned, hand still threading Kaname's hair while the brunette swallowed him as far as his throat would allow. The hand moved to his shoulders and stroked them with quick adoration, in awe of the perfect body but too distracted to offer much gentleness.

Kaname's tongue wove itself over and around Zero's erection, licking hungrily and bringing much-appreciated hisses and groaned from the sweaty, bloody ex-human. A strangled sound alerted him of Zero's nearing completion, and he pushed himself so hard his jaw hurt, totally enraptured by Zero's cry as he came in his mouth. Fluid spilled over the side of his mouth, and he watched, hunched over, as it dripped onto the grass. He was panting quickly, wiping the white from his mouth when Zero sighed and fell back into the hold of the ground, soiling his clean jacket. Kaname didn't move, entranced by the small pools on the forest floor. The other male watched him idly for a moment, then tugged him over, surprising him enough that he grabbed onto the dirtied jacket tightly, as if expecting Zero to toss him. Instead, the boy settled him on his chest, leaning back and yawning.

Zero petted his head tenderly, stewing in the afterglow as Kaname awaited instruction in their tired hug. He looked up to meet grey, weary eyes,

"You would do well to leave these things to your dreams."