A/N: Here is the fourth chapter of The World! I hope you enjoy and be sure to tell me how you like it in the reviews! :)
Kaname walked into his bedroom alone, glad for the silence as he awaited Seiren's report.
"Kaname-sama," Seiren greeted, "Yuki-sama is awake and dressed. She is still healing from a bite wound to the neck last night and she appears confused."
Kaname nodded, glancing back at the now immaculate room that still managed to reek of blood and sex. He'd have to let it air out.
He passed Seiren and the sound of opening windows blanketed the relatively peaceful night that surrounded the manor.
Zero sat against the headboard of the bed where Holly slept and contemplated his situation.
Should he have come here? Probably not. Should he have maybe not decided to screw around with the Kurans? Probably. Was he having fun? Oh, most definitely. But Holly was here now, and if they stayed here for long, the Nobles would start asking questions when Holly aged years within weeks.
Kuran was already asking questions. And the bastard was annoying enough to not stop till he got the answers he was looking for. To tell the truth, he liked that about him. Information was the best ammunition, and Zero could respect that.
God knows, no one could use information as well as Kaname could.
Zero knew that as soon as the thought came to his mind it should have sent him tumbling down into a long depression. But not now, not when the thought left him feeling hollow inside.
It wasn't as bad as it had been before, and Isabelle had spoken to him about how even that would fade in time.
Incubi were creatures of baser emotions and amusements. It wouldn't do to linger on such negative emotions.
Yuki, she used to be the only one to bring him back from those moods. He had no one when she left, not really. Sure, he had Cross and Yagari, but neither had dealt with him as well as she had. It must have been peaceful for her without him.
He almost felt sad. Almost.
Alas, Yuki was not as strong as he had given her credit for when they were younger. He could sense through the blood he had taken that she was weak and confused, and not just from the blood loss. The thrall had left her almost catatonic, and he smiled at the thought of Kaname coming to try and intimidate him.
He had never been one to back down from the Pureblood and he certainly wouldn't start now. Especially not when he had gained equal footing will the older Kuran.
"Daddy?" Holly asked looking up at her father with dazed eyes.
Zero looked down at his daughter with kind eyes. Her conception was the catalyst for his transition into what he was now.
She was not a succubus nor would she ever be. She took after her mother's original race, making her a baby witch of sorts, with the natural resilience of her parents.
She aged like any succubus did, Isabelle had told him.
Holly continued to look up at him, gradually waking up more.
"Daddy," she said, "I want-"
"You want to go see your new friends?" Zero inquired.
She bit her lip before nodding quickly. Zero sighed and stood up off the bed and she held her arms up to him. He smiled and picked her up before taking her to the bathroom to get cleaned up.
Afterwards, with Zero still only in the pants Kaname had given him, and Holly dressed in a new pale pink dress, they walked down the hallway, till Zero spotted Kuran coming up to him with a deadly look in his eyes.
They reached the stairs and Zero turned to Holly, "Go downstairs, I'll be down in a couple of minutes."
She smiled and nodded happily before following his words.
Kaname stood silently on the other side of the hall from the steps. When Holly had lost sight of them, he grabbed Zero and pulled him into a random bedroom and threw him against the back of the door.
"What did you do to her?" he growled out and Zero pouted at the vampire prince.
"Nothing that should have hurt her." he stated.
"But it did." Kaname glared at the hunter. How dare he hurt Yuki, he had been the one to take care of her when Kaname couldn't. Why did he decide suddenly to play with them? Where did he get off?
"It didn't hurt you." Zero continued and the glass in the window cracked across the room.
Zero didn't look impressed or frightened in the least, even as Kaname grew angrier.
He didn't look it, the mask was still perfectly in place, but the room's temperature had dropped significantly.
Kaname dropped the smaller man, "Come with me."
It was an order, obviously. But Zero humored the vampire. He followed him down the halls to Yuki's room. Shadows blanketed the hall, but Zero stopped to acknowledge the stoic Seiren.
He nodded at her position in the shadows to the right of him before following Kuran into Yuki's room.
The lights were on, and it was then that he could see the room in truth. It was not as ostentatious as Kaname's room, it was softer and the furniture was white except for the bed. Which was a brown four poster with soft pink curtains surrounding it. The bedding was not white as he had thought it was before but was a muted sky blue. It was all together a comfortable room and he was sure it looked even better in daylight, though the blackout curtains probably obscured that light.
Yuki sat in an upholstered rocking chair in front of them, dressed in a black nightgown with a dazed look in her eyes. She looked up at Kaname first, still looking dazed till she glanced at Zero and her eyes lit up and she beamed at him.
"Zero!" she greeted happily and he felt Kuran still like stone. Zero stepped around the older sibling and made his way to Yuki. He kneeled before her seat and smiled at her softly, like how he used to only for her.
"How are you, Yuki?" he asked and she smiled at him once more.
"A little tired, I've been a little out of it." she replied.
Zero placed the back of his hand against her forehead. It was hot and he glanced at her expression to see her smile dazedly at him with desire.
He pulled it back and he turned to Kuran. "Get the tub running with cold water and get Seiren to bring some ice up. It's merely a slight side effect."
Kaname nodded and Seiren peeked inside the room to nod before quickly making off to complete her task.
Zero took Yuki's hand and began to rub soft circles against the back of it. After a few moments Yuki's eyes took on the dazed affect again and she began to fall slack against the chair.
Zero looked back at Kaname to hear the sound of the tub beginning to fill. A few moments later Seiren came back into the room with two buckets of ice. Kaname came back into the room at the sound of his follower entering his sister's bedroom again.
Zero stood and looked at them both. "Get her into the tub with some ice, I'll go get Holly. She can help."
Kaname's eyes narrowed slightly, but he nodded. He took Zero's place beside his sister as Zero left the room to retrieve his daughter.
Zero entered a few minutes later with a happy Holly at his side. She had dragged Kain to the door to the bedroom where the noble waited for the little girl to come out again. Zero smirked at the scene, but said nothing else.
They knocked on the door to the bathroom and the door opened without pause. Seiren was tending to Yuki while Kaname stood by the window. Holly entered first, her little feet stomping up to the tub with Zero choosing to stand next to his daughter.
Zero put a hand on his daughter's shoulder and Holly beamed at him. Zero smiled at the sight, "Holly, I need you to help Yuki. She's sick like Mia was."
Holly looked at Yuki and nodded as if to herself. Zero dropped his hand and Holly placed her small hand on Yuki's clammy forehead. Yuki did not stir.
It was silent for a while as Holly worked. Her eyes lightened as she worked, almost to Zero's former lilac shade, and finally, Yuki's skin began to brighten back to her normal shade and she blinked her eyes as she came back to the waking world.
The ice had melted in the tub and the water was left room temperature. Holly stepped back to admire her work and smiled at the female pureblood. Yuki blinked at the child but smiled back at her nonetheless.
Yuki looked up to glance at Zero. The smile widened and it was only when he held out a large towel did she look down at her submerged body and blush at the sight.
Zero handed the towel to Seiren, "Here, get her dressed, we'll-" he glanced at Kaname, "-wait outside."
Holly, still facing the naked pureblood princess with one of her thumbs stuck in her mouth, stayed for a moment longer as her father and the brown haired man left the room.
Yuki glanced back up,
"What's your name?" Holly asked around her thumb.
"Yuki." the elder brown haired girl said.
"My name's Holly!" The small girl exclaimed.
"Holly?" her father's voice called through the door and the little girl jumped to her tippy toes at the sound.
"Kain is waiting for you." his voice called and Holly grinned at his words.
She glanced back at Yuki and waved a small hand before skipping out of the room to see her friend.
Yuki stood from the tub and dried herself off quietly before pulling on comfortable underwear and the blue cotton t-shirt dress that Seiren held out to her.
Seiren braided her hair neatly with gentle precision. Soon enough, she was presentable and they exited the bathroom to find that Holly had left with the orange haired Noble. Zero leaned against one of the posters on the bed, while her brother chose to sit in one of the two chairs by the window.
Seiren stepped into the shadows, though Zero's eyes briefly followed the silent Noble till they were drawn to Yuki. She was stronger, though he realized that he could never fully enthrall her again. She wouldn't recover from that as easily as she had this time.
A pale blush adorned her soft features and her wine colored eyes looked at him with old familiarity.
He smiled at her and she smiled back.
"I take it you're feeling better." he said and she nodded, not moving from her position in the doorway. She glanced at her brother then, and Zero felt faint traces of insecurity looking at them both.
They will always be together, and you will always be alone.
Zero bit his tongue at the small dying voice in his head before placing a small mask of neutrality over his features. Kuran didn't notice, he was too entranced by his dear sister, and the siblings left Zero to twiddle his thumbs until they deemed to acknowledge him again.
Zero felt hints of annoyance run through his body and he resisted the urge to let his control slip again. No, that would not be any good for Yuki, not that he had cared about that last night.
Zero turned away briefly, throwing around possible scenarios in his mind.
He was shocked to feel a soft thumping in his body. It was slow and faint but it was there and he knew it would only grow stronger as it began to heat his skin.
He forced his body to maintain it's quiet, only allowing the thumping to match his own heartbeat. His skin was slightly pink though he faked a laugh and turned towards the two purebloods.
"Excuse me." he said as he made his way to the door.
Yuki grabbed his hand all of the sudden and his hold on his control quaked as she didn't let him go.
He turned towards her and smiled before patting her on the head, "I'll be back, Yuki. I just need to do something real quick."
She let go of his hand grudgingly before turned her back on him to make her way to her brother once more. Zero let the smile drop off his face as he turned away, anxious to leave the room and lay down as a wave of dizziness began to hit him ever so slowly.
He nodded at Seiren and quickly exited, grateful that no one was in the hallway. He walked as quickly as he could back to his room, leaning on the wall for support at times.
His skin began to break out into a sweat and he felt hot, too hot. Not like his power, but something of true physicality. He broke into the room with a relieved sigh and shut the door. Throwing off the pants Kaname had lent him and making his way to the bathroom where he started the tub on cool and stepped in as it began to fill.
The thumping grew stronger and his bones began to ache.
This must be what it feels like to shift when you don't want to.
He covered his mouth with his hand, careful to not let out any sound to alert the vampires that lived in the house. It felt like he was burning, like he needed to feed. It shouldn't be like this, he fed from Kuran, he fed from Yuki, it shouldn't be like this!
He groaned into his palm as his form began to flicker to a more feminine one, though not as far as he would lose his state of mind to Naomi's.
After a moment the heat descended lower, away from his heart and lungs. The heat shifted to a more pleasant warmth that pooled in his lower regions and left him breathless. The cool water did nothing to hamper his growing hunger and he felt his control begin to slip, and he was not doing a very good job of holding it in as he began to sense every presence in the house.
He could sense them begin to respond to his power, even as they failed to notice.
A/N: As always, leave any questions in the reviews and I'll reply as soon as I receive them! Please PLEASE FOLLOW and (!) REVIEW (!)! My questions for ya'll this chapter: How do you feel about the relationship shown between Kaname and Yuki? How do you feel about the relationship shown between Zero and the two of them, and finally, how do you feel about Zero's relationship with himself? Thanks for reading! :)