The Headmaster's Office. This time, Yuki didn't bother knocking. She didn't have the time; she had to hurry, for Zero's sake. If she didn't knock on Kaname's door, if she just walked in, maybe she could have done something. She couldn't face a Pure Blood head-on. She didn't have their overwhelming power; she didn't even have the pathetic strength of a Level-E. But she had her Artemis Rod, and with surprise on her side… maybe she could have done something, stopped Kaname all on her own. Not anymore, though. She missed her chance.

Now she needed help.

She burst into the Headmaster's office, both her father and Yagari looking up from their game of cards at the sudden interruption.

Cards! They were playing cards! Zero lay bleeding and they were playing cards! Frustration flared in her at the injustice of it, but it was only anger at the situation; she could not be angry at their ignorance, not when she herself was chatting with Sayori not even moments before, happily oblivious while Zero was hurt.

No, she could not blame them. They had no idea. None of them did…

"My beautiful daughter!" Cross stood to greet her with open arms, all warmth and smiles. "How are you on this beautiful eve-" he stopped, dead, as the look in her eye finally registered. "Yuki, what's wrong?"

Yagari set his cards down on the table. His free hand came to rest over his rifle; fearing the worst. Concern was writ in the corners of his mouth, tugged downwards in a grimace.

Tears blurred Yuki's vision, but the voice she answered with was hard, firm and sure of itself. "It's Zero."

A knowing look passed over Cross's face. Yuki knew what her dad was thinking. That Zero's hunger got the best of him; that Zero finally became the Level-E they all feared. And Yagari, dreading that he may have to make good on his promise to kill Zero.

Wrong! They were both wrong. She only wished what they thought was true. Terrible as that may be, reality was far, far worse.

"And Kaname," only now did the tears become evident in her voice; shoulders shaking, the words trembled as they fell from her lips, disbelief still hugging to her. She still didn't want to believe it. Her beloved, kind-hearted Kaname; a beast in human form.

Yagari bolted from his chair, rifle in hand, a scowl twisting his face. "What did that damn Pure Blood do!" he demanded, but Yuki couldn't bring herself to answer. Tears consumed her now, though she refused to hide her face even as sobs racked her body. She hated herself for crying, for being weak when Zero needed her strength more than anything.

Seeing that he would get no answer, Yagari flew from the room, headed straight for the Moon Dorm; headed for Kaname.

Kaname refused to believe it. Their private beauty, the Zero meant for him and him alone – Yuki saw it, saw Zero, broken and bruised and beautiful. It was no longer his and his alone. Yuki saw.

All this he thought as he sucked on Zero's neck, fangs driving deeper and deeper as the desire to take his Zero back became a need to claim.

His head jerked upwards, leaving two long gashes where his teeth used to be. Zero moaned, body writhing at the sudden absence. His hipbone – sharp, malnourished, sticking awkwardly from his body – jabbed into Kaname's stomach.

Kaname gave a soft, involuntary grunt. He smiled despite the pain; admiring. In this position, he could count each of Zero's ribs, the bones painfully clear beneath a layer of skin, stretched too thin and abused too often. He followed their curves with his hand, delighting in the scream Zero gave when his hand passed over shattered bone. The space above it was a deep, royal shade of purple. Kaname thought of blood pooling around bone, and his fangs throbbed in response.

Thoughts of Yuki – of interruptions and of private, sacred beauty desecrated by discovery – left his mind as his fangs pierced skin a second time, the flesh of Zero's thigh like soft butter or the most tender of meat. It felt good between his teeth; he worked the skin as he drank, grinding his teeth, not quite breaking skin but close to it.

His jaws were like iron and the flesh of Zero's thigh was so very sensitive. Another moan tore from Zero's lips – music to Kaname's ears. He moaned in return, unseen smile easily discernible in the sound; sweet and delighted, full of pleasure. Zero, however… the noises he made were low, base and desperate.

Kaname didn't know the difference.

The Moon Dorm was… eerily empty. The hour was late, but for the vampires, class only just ended. And though Yagari did not make a habit of visiting the Moon Dorm, he knew the place was usually full of activity; vampires chatting in the lounge, sipping blood from wine glasses; incredibly civilized for the beasts that they were.

But tonight, there was none of that. Not a single vampire to be found. Hiding? That was almost a funny thought. But Yagari had to think of why the vampires hid. On orders from their Pure Blood? The thought disturbed him, because it was so likely.

Or perhaps they were turning a blind eye.

His answer came in the sound of a scream.

A renewed sense of urgency filly him. Up the stairs, through the winding hallways; he reached Kaname's room in under a minute, and pushed the door open with no thought for what might lay on the other side.

He expected to walk in on a fight. A half-assed, juvenile fight between two vampires - two teenagers - who did not get along; a boyish battle for dominance, or an argument that grew too heated.

Nothing could have prepared him for what he found instead.

Behind him, he heard footstep; rushed, filled with near-panic. He recognized the footfalls as Cross and his daughter.

He couldn't let Cross see this.

Without warning, Yagari launched himself at Kaname. The Pure Blood had yet to notice him; he was too enraptured with Zero, mouth latched onto Zero's thigh in sick mockery of a lover. Yagari yanked the Pure Blood from the bed, the action causing Zero's skin to tear where teeth once held purchase. Yagari felt a pang of guilt, but he pushed it down. He had to focus. Had to keep Zero safe. Guilt could come later – and oh, how Yagari knew it would come.

In a single, fluid motion, Yagari had his rifle jabbing into the Pure Blood's chin. Only the knowledge that he'd be killing a Pure Blood – a taboo, even among the most prominent of Vampire Hunters - kept him from pulling the trigger.

More footsteps. Yuki and Cross had arrived.

"No!" Yuki thrust herself into the doorway, blocking the Headmaster's path, trying in vain to stop him from seeing what lay beyond. He shouldn't have to see the son he loved so much, bloodied and broken at the hands of one whom he trusted so completely – trusted with his life's goal, peace between vampires and humans.

But she could only do so much. Like Kaname before, her form was not enough to block the entire doorway, and Cross was much taller than her. He could see over her head easily, and Yuki knew he must be looking, for his eyes widened, his mouth falling open in disbelief – and horror.

For a long moment, no one moved; Cross, frozen in shock; Yuki, obstinate in saving her father from the horrors that lay beyond her; Kaname, kept in place only by the threat of a vampire hunter's weapon (though even that would not last for long); and Toga, locked in place with the barrel of his gun shoved hard beneath the Pure Blood's chin. Only his trigger finger moved; shaking, not from fear, but from anger.

No one so much as breathed. The moment seemed so surreal, as if someone cast a spell over the entire room. No one dared to break it – at least for the moment.

The spell wore quickly.

In a flash of movement too quick to be seen Kaname jerked his arm sideways, knocking the rifle away from his face. His other hand lashed outwards, fingers more like claws than the hand of a man.

Yagari barely had time to react. He jumped backwards, the movement fairly controlled and sure of itself despite the cramped environment; the instincts of a vampire hunter served him well, but never in a million years did Yagari think he would have to rely on them against Kaname.

"Yuki!" he yelled for assistance. His first instinct was to call for Cross, but the man was still frozen in the doorway; he would be of no help right now.

In an instant, Yuki was there, Artemis Rod coming to her hand more easily and sinuously than ever before – a skill born of necessity. She rammed the butt of her weapon into Kaname's chest, sparks flying as it connected. The damage done was minimal at best, but it was still enough to stun, enough to knock him off his feet.

Yuki gave him no time to react. She thrust all her weight onto the Rod, pinning Kaname to the floor.

Once again, the room fell silent. But the earlier stillness was gone for good. Kaname attempted to get up, but the movement only prompted more sparks, forcing him back down onto the floor. Yuki's chest heaved, her breath heavy with the effort of pinning a Pure Blood. Yagari righted himself and readjusted his rifle, aligning it with Kaname's head. Only Cross remained unmoving, shock keeping him frozen in the doorway.

To the side, closed off in a bubble all his own, someone stirred.

Zero tried to sit up. An arm went out behind him, seeking leverage. But his arms were weak, lack of blood and lack of oxygen making his muscles no more useful than jelly. He couldn't support himself, and he fell back onto the bed, gasping from the effort. No one seemed to notice him. A glance to the side showed Yagari, eyes narrow, glaring down at Kaname with his gun close at hand. And Yuki, brow lined with the effort of holding back a Pure Blood. If Zero had any peace of mind, he would have been impressed; he was a hunter of reasonable skill, and even he could not manage to hold back Kaname, not even on the best of days. Yuki was something special; her determination admirable.

But Zero did not have the mind to think such things, at least not for long. He forced his thoughts to stop wandering, lest they wander into darkness and leave him unconscious.

Once again, Zero made to sit up. He put both arms out behind him and, groaning with the effort, Zero managed to push himself into a sitting position. Muscles cried in protest, his head throbbed with and bile rose in his throat, the pain having doubled, tripled. But Zero pressed on, ignoring the screaming protest of his body. Because he was doing it, he was –

Zero screamed.

He sat up too far, moved too much; the shards of bone that used to be his rib pressed painfully into his skin, pushing outwards in some places, threatening to break through skin in others. Zero could see it in his mind's eye: Pearlescent bone, colored pink with blood, jutting from his body at all awkward angles. Oh, wouldn't Kaname love to see that? Beautiful. Surely he would think it beautiful.

He thought this as he writhed on the bed, his scream having quieted to a mere moan, and then not even that. He didn't want to draw attention to himself; didn't want them to see.

The scream finally broke Cross from his stupor. He rushed to his son's side, concern writ in the crease of his brown and corners of his lips, pulled downwards by the scene before him. Horror dissipated as he thought only of Zero.

He placed a gentle palm on Zero's shoulder. Zero flinched.

Oh, no.

Holding back tears, he pushed through Zero's fear. Cross didn't want Zero to be afraid, but making sure he wasn't… permanently injured was more important. He could worry about Zero's mentality when– when Zero wasn't bleeding out before his eyes.

"Zero…" he said, voice quiet yet it rang so loud – too loud – among the silence. Zero stirred; the sound of his name, spoken so softly, seemed to reach him. He visibly relaxed beneath the Headmaster's hand, allowing the small contact.

But even with this unspoken permission, Cross kept touching to a minimal. He helped Zero into a sitting position, keeping a very careful eye on what appeared to be a broken rib – what else would push against his skin so sharply? If it weren't for his years as a vampire hunter, Cross may have gagged at the sight. Only concern and a certain, jaded mindset he had not visited for centuries kept the reaction at bay.

A new reaction quickly settled in. Not disgust, not bile rising in his stomach, but a cold, awful sense of necessity.

Zero was bleeding out. He needed blood.

"You need to eat," Cross said, swallowing thickly. Giving himself no time to consider what he was doing, Cross held out his wrist; offering. He didn't want to do this. There had to be another way, there just had to be– But there wasn't, and Cross knew it. If Zero was going to heal, he needed blood. And if he didn't heal soon, he would… Cross dared not think it.

Zero's eyes opened wide, head shaking violently despite his injuries, body shaking. Fear. What made him so afraid? Cross knew Zero hated drinking blood, but even he must see how much he needed it.

"Zero." Cross tried to sound gentle, calming. He didn't want Zero to be afraid. But instead of calm, his voice came out stern. Cross flinched at the sound of it.

But miraculously, Zero stilled. His shaking stopped, head aligning as his eyes narrowed in on the wrist before him, picking out the vein with an ease born of instinct. Finally, Zero bent forward, eyes flashing red as instinct took over.

Cross saw acceptance in his eye.

Acceptance – and shame.