A Pure-Blood's Remorse

by lightpathetic

ICHIRU was nervous but exhilarated. He finally had news for His Lordship. He was assigned to watch Kaname Kuran closely, gathering whatever information he could, in exchange for which he would be given help in exacting revenge. Revenge on all those people responsible for Shizuka's death. Ichiru was sure he had tapped the gold mine with this information. He was sure to be well rewarded, as he well should be. These last several weeks at the Cross Academy had been torture for him. Being so close to the people who had killed Shizuka - the one person who truly loved him - and not being able to do anything about it ate at his soul. Everyday he was thrown in to contact with Him, that hateful older brother of his and his silly sidekick of a girlfriend. He has had to field their suspicions with wit and charm and an ocean of forbearance. Not to mention the torture of everyday life with those silly children giggling and screaming, foolishly hanging onto his every attempt at obsequious flattery and growing to love him. Him! How he longed to leave that place. How he longed for Shizuka. Her beauty; her knowledge. She was so strong and wise. They had meshed as soon as they met, each seeing in the other the unbearable pain of loneliness and betrayal: him by his parents, her by her own kind. She was the only one he had ever loved, who ever allowed him to be himself. And she saved him from a lifetime to physical pain, giving him her blood and curing him of all his physical imparities. He would have his revenge: he swore on her pale corpse, her beautiful eyes frozen in death unable to smile at him again. He swore that the worst possible fate would attend her killers.

Finally. This thought bringing forth a genuine smile for the first time since she died. He had been persuaded that only another pure blood could have killed her so easily. She could have easily avoided death by any other level of vampire. That is why pure-bloods are so hard to kill. He didn't realize this at the time, only blaming his brother for her death. But now, he knew as he had watched them, that surely Kaname Kuran had a hand in her murder as well. His blood boiled at how she must have suffered, lying there with hardly any blood, having had her heart ripped out. The indignity… Nothing was bad enough for them. Especially Kaname, a pure blood himself, who killed another of his kind so coldly, even as their existence was so rare… He was an abomination to all vampires. He did not deserve to live.

Ichiru tried to calm himself again as he stood in the foyer of the large stone mansion. It had been built centuries ago, and was maintained as cold and bleak as he sure it was then. He observed the perfectly executed paintings of persons past, whose cold stares would have chilled him to the bone had he not been so excited. Even so he tore his eyes away.

"Sir, you may come in now."

This was it! He felt his stomach drop, but he carried on. He was sure he was right, having become an expert on those three in all his months of servitude.

His Lordship sat on couch in the midst of an ancient décor that was as bleak as the foyer outside, the moon casting an eerie glow as it fought with the fire to light the room. But what drew Ichiru's attention was the smell of blood. Fresh blood. He looked around involuntarily and noticed the almost nude female beside the couch. The odd angle of her head and the deep gash to her neck signifying her certain death. These sights still bothered Ichiru on a basic level, even though he has been living with vampires since his childhood. It made him intensely aware of his own humanity: the likelihood that he too could become dinner. But he was always able to push this aside. Any other feelings for humans were long gone.

"Ichiru-kun, come closer."

Ichiru marched closer to the figure. As he stood in front of the couch he was again struck by the beauty of Shiki's body. Well His Lordship's body now… Two mismatched eyes peered at him.

"Yes? Tell me boy. What news have you?"

Ichiru relished the moment a bit longer and then spoke.

"They have completed the bond, my lord. I saw the mark with my own eyes yesterday. Kaname Kuran has bitten Zero Kiriyuu."

ZERO came to with a slight headache. He was still hungry and normally when this was the case he had a headache and a cranky disposition in the morning. It was a good thing his roommate had a better constitution than most or he would be on his fifth one long ago. He moved to get up and was arrested by a weight on his chest. He opened his eyes and finally remembered last night.

"Kuran!"

Zero hastily looked to his left at his roommate, who was still asleep, and then at the clock: 7:24 a.m. They had to get moving!

"Kuran! Get up! Get up dammit!" Zero added this last as Kaname seemed unwillingly to rouse himself from his slumber. Eventually he opened one eye, groaned at the light coming through the window and rolled over, finally noticing he was … not in his room.

He lifted his head with a start.

"Zero! What...?"

"You fell asleep in my room. You have to leave now!"

Zero tried to move from under the still groggy Kaname to look outside the window and door, wondering which one was the best exit. Kaname was not allowed in the day students' dormitory so to have him here was very compromising. Also, and Zero couldn't put too fine a point on it: he would just die if someone saw a man leaving his room.

Kaname finally sat up. He had finally remembered the events of last night. How he had come to find Zero and had heard him crying. He had forgotten why he came as Zero's pain seared at him, and had lost himself to sleep when Zero touched him while he was comforting him. It was so good lying on Zero's chest listening to his heartbeat. Kaname looked up at the frantic Zero and gazed upon what had become the most cherished possession. He shook his head. He probably needed a cold shower.

"Zero calm down."

"It is almost time for school! People will be outside in droves soon. My roommate will be getting up and All of them will see you! Do you mind putting a little urgency into your manner and leaving? Now?"

"I told you already, Kiriyuu. Your roommate will only awaken when I allow it. Plus I think can avoid a few humans seeing me. You could give me that much credit as a pure-blood vampire."

Kaname rubbed his temples. Between the bright sunlight and Zero's loud whispering he was sure to get a headache. He was just going to complete what he had promised to do and then leave; there was no need for the hysterics.

Zero regarded Kaname incredulously. He dropped to the chair near his desk and groaned. He was dead. All he needed now was for Yuuki to pick today to march in to the boy's dormitory – as was a frequent bad habit of hers – in order to demand he get up and go to school. He just knew Kuran would just sit there and wave to Yuuki, not seeing him as the type to duck under the small bed to hide.

Kaname, despite his irritation, found himself responding to Zero's distress. He walked over to him and knelt in front of him lifting his face to look him in the eye.

"Zero, you are an ex-human so you don't know or don't understand. It is going to be alright, trust me. It is not like I want a lot of attention. Now I won't leave unless I make sure you are fed so go ahead and then even you won't see me leave either."

With this he moved his head to aside, held his hair away and closed his eyes. He moaned as Zero teeth sunk into him shortly afterwards. Kaname thought he should fight with Zero more often. It made the… intimacy afterwards much more exquisite…

ZERO STOOD outside the Vampire Hunters Headquarters and looked over the building. He had finally made it back to sort this thing out once and for all. He knew he had to be careful, but it didn't suit him to just sit back and be manipulated. He was well pissed at that old bag for the position she put him in. That spell had better be for real.

He marched up to the door and entered. Eyes turned to watch him as he strode toward the office of the President but he ignored them. He was beginning to get used to the stares. The mood he was in right now would not have brooked any argument anyway.

He was now at her office door. He could scent that she was inside. He knocked once, almost mockingly and entered.

"Good morning, Kiriyuu-kun. So glad you could drop by…"

"Was anything you told me last week true? Any of it?"

Zero was not in the mood for her saccharine charm. The sooner he could get to the bottom of this the better.

The President paused only for a second.

"Yes. It was true that we wanted a favour from you. How would you like to truly serve the cause of your kind, Zero-kun? The Vampire Hunters and humanity?"

Zero said nothing as she moved over the cabinet on her left and pulled at a drawer. Removing a file she sat back at her desk, proffering a seat for Zero. Zero sat. He wanted to hear this.

She continued, "Over many centuries the humans as vampire hunters and vampires have been at war. There is now a truce, but we have found that it has been weakening steadily. We have seen an increase in the deaths of our colleagues and also in the numbers of level "E" vampires. It seems that the vampires are seeking to assert themselves again. Weakening us would mean that they in effect would be in control. There would be no counterbalance. If that is the case it could mean more killings and the subjugation of our human civilization. We have to stop it."

As she talked she flipped through the file. Names, dates, pictures… Zero eyes came to rest on unquestionable familiar faces. His heart plummeted in horror. They were his parents.

"Even you know well the extent of their evil. Have you forgotten how she brutally killed your parents? They both died in a sea of their own blood, the necks ripped…"

"No! Stop it!"

Zero was suddenly engulfed in images he longed to forget. Their crumpled bodies. The red in the snow. So much red…

Zero eyes stared inwardly at his demons, quite missing the look of satisfaction that momentarily crossed the face of the President. This was going better that expected. Soon Zero would do anything she asked.

She removed the pictures from her file and placed them in front of Zero for good measure. Zero resurfaced and stared at the tangible evidence of his pain. He was transfixed by their smiling eyes.

"Zero-kun. I will tell you now that our plan is to eradicate all the pure-bloods. They have the most power and have the ability to produce the ex-human vampires. Once this is accomplished it should weaken the organization of the vampire society considerably, and weaken their ability to create ex-human soldiers to fight back. Hopefully they will again realize it is best to keep the truce – as we all know peace is the best option – but if not we will be able to handle their current numbers and strengths. It is really the pure-bloods that are particularly troublesome – both to kill and in terms of doubling their military strength.

"Unfortunately it is not easy to kill a pure-blood. You have to have another pure-blood kill them or…target their mate."

"I am NOT going to help you kill Kaname Kuran!" Even as he was surprised that he yelled this, he continued, "I assure you he is not creating vampires or killing hunters. All he does is help run a school for peaceful coexistence and field proposals from females dying to bed him. He is harmless."

The President gazed at Zero piteously. She rose to another cabinet and pulled another file.

"After his parents' demise, even at such a tender age, Kaname Kuran was instrumental in steadying the floundering ship that was the Vampire Council. There were many divisions and divided loyalties. Some wanted Kuran to raise an army and rule instead of having the Council; others thought he should just lead it. The Council was his parents' baby and he stayed true to their vision before relegating himself to a minor role later. Some of the Council's functions include pardons, and executions whether vampire ...or human."

After pausing to let this last seep in, she moved the file towards Zero.

"A little over four years ago we know that Kaname Kuran sat on the committee that allowed Shizuka Hiou the information that led to the killing of your parents."

KANAME was sitting in his room going through correspondence. It was a little after one in the afternoon but he couldn't sleep, having slept all night. With Zero. He was shocked at himself, but very happy. It had felt good to be so close to him, even better to wake to see him. However it was hellish to be awake all day. He would have to cuts those indulgences to a minimum.

He turned suddenly as he sensed Zero was on his way here. Now? He was puzzled. Zero had already drunk his fill this morning. Even if Kaname could not resist nipping him back in return he hadn't drunk enough to justify his coming here so soon.

Kaname rose from his desk and went to the window. Something wasn't right. He sensed bad intentions.

ZERO CHOSE to go through the front door. He was entirely uncaring as to who saw and who wanted to stop him. In fact he hoped one of these monsters would try to stop him so he could at hit something anything. His rage knew no bounds. He knew about his family. Knew what he had done and didn't tell him. Worse, had to gall to seduce him like this…

Zero stormed up the stairs towards Kaname's room. As he strode down the hall, someone put their hand out to stop him.

"That's far enough, Kiriyuu. State your business or leave."

Zero eyed Kain almost with relish.

"Get lost or get shot."

Zero moved to continue. Kain grabbed his right shoulder to restrain him, calling for Seiren. Zero raised his left hand, spun and tossed Kain like a sack of shoes back down the hall, then shot him in the leg for good measure. Kain bellowed in pain, the wound was excruciating because of the magical arts silver bullet. Zero turned as he sensed someone behind him. A woman aimed a kick for his head which he parried easily. She recovered quickly to aim a clawed hand at his neck, drawing blood. Zero moved away just in time to stop his jugular from being severe and dropped to sweep her feet. As she fell he climbed on top of her, aiming the gun at her head.

"That's enough."

Zero turned to see the object of his rage standing almost casually at his apartment door. Kaname was furious though. Why had Zero stormed into the dorm attacking the students like this? He could easily have used the window as most of them were asleep and wouldn't have noticed his arrival. Now the entire dorm was probably up and witnessing this spectacle. Zero was sorely testing him.

"I'll take care of this, Seiren. You go tend to Kain."

"But Kaname-sama, he…"

Kaname gave her a look that could have melted Siberia. His orders were not up for discussion. Plus he was in a foul mood. Seiren shut up and quickly moved to attend to Kain who was hollering like a stuck pig.

Zero meanwhile was quite uncaring what mood Kaname was in. As soon as Seiren moved away he marched up to Kaname aimed the gun at his head and demanded, "Did you order that my parents be killed? Answer me!!"

KANAME dropped two blood-tablets in a glass of water and raised it to his head. He still hadn't fully recovered from Zero's meal this morning so decking and throwing him like that against the far wall took a bit of a toll and he was dizzy. He had no choice. Seiren and others were watching and he had to put on a show of force to assure them he would be alright or they would not have left them to talk freely. They worried too much about him. He ordered that no-one disturb them, and retreated to his apartment. He eyed with distaste the silly gun Chairman Cross allowed Zero to carry around, wondering if he had lost his mind agreeing to such a thing. He knew that vampires did get carried away sometimes and nothing short of lethal force would deter them. However Zero did get carried away too much.

Kaname looked over at Zero's unconscious form. He could still hear his heart beat and he had good colour to his cheeks so he should be coming around soon. He didn't think he would hurt him seriously with the throw but he may have put a bit more than was necessary because he was so angry. He was tired of being forgiving.

"That is the last time you raise that gun to my head Zero."

He moved to the bedroom and inspected the damage to the wall. He hoped the clean up wouldn't take too long this time. He probably wouldn't have to change rooms in the interim, though. He sat in a chair and watched Zero's face. He trembled with the exertion of controlling the urge to go to him and hold him. But he couldn't indulge himself of Zero like this. His practical mind knew that to show weakness now would only encourage Zero to disrespect him like this. His ego would not allow it. Whatever was bothering him they could discuss like adults, once Zero calmed down. There was no need for barbarism.

ZERO rolled his head and moaned. His shoulder and neck hurt like hell. He opened his eyes and looked around momentarily puzzled by what he was seeing. Then he remembered. He sat up quickly, ignoring the pain and began to search the room.

"I am ashamed to say that you have my blood in your veins. You were out for almost twenty minutes by that little toss."

Zero spun in the direction of Kaname's voice. He forced himself to stand, automatically searching for his gun.

"If you want to try for another wall, the gun is over there."

Kaname gestured casually to the counter all the while lounging in the chair with his glass. Zero's ears heard Zaname's smooth, cultured voice but his senses picked up the fact that Kaname was truly, completely and coldly angry. He stayed where he was in case he didn't wake up the next time.

"Good choice. What was it you wanted to discuss? You were yelling something about your dead parents? What do you think I did to them?"

"Don't play games, Kuran. I know you helped get the information for Shizuka to find my parents to exact revenge and I know you along with the council sanctioned her going to kill my entire family!"

Zero didn't care anymore he lunged at Kaname who was too stunned to react quickly enough. The chair went over with the both of them. Zero struggled to land a punch on Kaname, but Kaname recovered and pinned Zero to the floor.

"How…?"

"Never mind how!" Zero spat, "Is it true or not?"

Zero continued to writhe around, knowing on some level it was useless but too angry to care. He growled in frustration.

Kaname was beside himself. How did he find out? Those meetings are confidential with only approved members in attendance. They were all trusted to keep things quiet, at least from Vampire Hunters. Yes, Kaname knew exactly where the headquarters were and each time Zero went there. He never saw it as a threat, even getting a connection there to order that he attend a certain party months ago to show the vampire world that Zero was under his protection and had been forgiven by him - a pure-blood - for the death of Shizuka. It certainly helped save Zero's neck. Kaname didn't think he could have had a more brilliant moment than when he thought about that one. It had worked so well too. But now it seems Zero vampire hunter activities were coming back to bite him on the butt.

"Zero. Listen to me. It is not so simple. Please let me explain…"

"No! Get off of me!"

Zero rolled around with more vigour. Kaname hadn't denied it. He felt like a fool. Here he was canoodling with one of the persons responsible for his family's massacre. He couldn't live with himself. He needed to lash out.

"Kuran you had better kill me or leave me alone. Don't you come near me again! Now get off! Get off now! Let me go!"

Zero was screaming. Kaname released his arms but moved to cup his face. He couldn't do that. He just couldn't. Despite his resolve to play it cool, having Zero in his arms totally shook it, with his words making it crumble altogether. He felt real fear for one of the few times in his life. Ignoring the blows to his back he put his forehead to Zero's and willed him to calm down so he could explain, his breathe mingling with Zero's, coming in gasps as he fought the pain in his chest at Zero's words and his obvious distress. He wanted to soothe him protect and keep him. Unable to resist, his lips moved to his neck and he kissed the sensitive area.

"No! Stop that. Get off me!"

But even as he demanded this he felt his body softening as the exquisite sensations held it in their grip. He then moaned involuntarily at Kaname drew in the skin to suck hard at it. His hands stilled and then moved of their own volition deep into Kaname's hair to grip his head, holding him there. He was losing his mind at what Kaname was doing. Soon he was aching for the bite. Kaname was doing everything else but, running his fingertips against Zero's sensitive scalp knowing he would arch and give him more access to his shoulder. Kaname sucked in a steadying breath as it was laid bare before him and bit, greedily sucking in Zero's sweet blood, feeling Zero buck at the flood of new sensation the bite brought. He kept drinking though, only lifting his head when Zero finally went limp.

ZERO OPENED his eyes to a darkened room. He shifted to look around and was brought up by a now familiar weight on his chest. He absently ran his fingers into the soft hair before trying to remember how he got here. He couldn't. He mind was fuzzy, but his body felt great. He stretched luxuriously, if awkwardly what with weight on his chest, moaning softly in appreciation of the beautiful sensation of contentment. He then realized he was very hungry. Didn't he feed this morning? What happened to the day? He didn't spend all day in bed with Kuran did he?

Kaname was awake but kept his ear to Zero's chest. He had had to do it. There was no way Zero would forgive him, or understand his explaining that at the time, human collateral was cheap compared to a pure-blood's ambitions. His parents had been sent to kill Shizuka's "mate", but they were careless. They left clues to the killing including a scent, when it was supposed to look like suicide. Shizuka should have just gone into a depression and pined or eventually come out of it. Either way she would have just married her fiancé, borne an heir and carried on or not as the case may be. But with the clues she was relentless, demanding that her mate's killers be delivered to her, creating quite a scandal. She was a pure-blood. To ignore her would have been impossible, even for him. It would have raised too many eyebrows. They decided to give up the hunters to appease her. It was a political decision. No malice was involved. He certainly didn't know Zero at the time; they were just another human family. So many had died at the hands of vampires already…

Kaname's heart ached for him. It had been a mistake. Even after they had allowed her to kill the Kiriyuu's she still refused her fiancé and had even tried to kill him. She was then put into exile, returning meaning death to her. He had thought she had finally followed her mate until she showed up here trying to kill him. Shizuka. Poor woman. She had probably figured it all out. He had promised to fulfill her revenge and he would. Soon.

Kaname moved to bury his face in Zero's stomach, signaling he was awake. How ironic to find himself in the same damn position with an ex-human mate. The one she had picked too. Kaname realized she probably saw in Zero that same thing that was in her dead lover. That proud, fearless defiance, despite all that the pure-bloods entailed; a lack of respect for their nature that would have appalled even the highest noble vampire. Shizuka seemed to enjoy this type and if Kaname was honest with himself he would realize he enjoyed the sparring where no other would dare. If only the gun didn't come with the package.

"Kaname. What time is it? Was I asleep all day?"

Kaname turned towards the clock, his eyes seeing very clearly in the dark.

"It is almost ten. P.M."

"What! Why did I sleep so long? Why am I in your room?"

"Shhh."

Kaname rose to look him in the eyes. He smiled beguilingly.

"I spirited you away. It was an off day from school. And I wanted you all to myself."

Zero blushed at this. Feeling uncomfortable he immediately started blustering. At least he bought it, thought Kaname, as he was shoved unceremoniously to one side, while Zero bemoaned being taken advantage of. As he stood, though, he rocked back on his feet.

"Here. Allow me."

Kaname then pulled back his hair.

ICHIRU dialed in the phone number impatiently. He had had to wait for fifteen minutes for the phone booth and he had several girls and a teacher waiting at a shop for him. All this sneaking around was beginning to annoy him. His cheeks hurt from the exertion of charming the teacher into the trip and then begging to go to a nearby shop for some sweets for the girls while they shopped. His alibi would not hold water if he was too long.

"Pick up dammit." He muttered to the ringing tone.

"Hello."

He was relieved to hear the imperious female voice come on the line.

"Tell His Lordship it didn't work. They are both fine."

"Okay, Ichiru dear. I fear we will have to move on to plan B."

As she hung up the phone the President plotted her next step.

To be continued.

lightpathetic wrote this but these are not my characters. I am grateful to that wonderful manga "Vampire Knight".