Standard Disclaimers Apply.

Well.. This is the last chapter. I'm glad that this story is complete so now I can move on to lovely new things. I hope you enjoyed reading so far.

A BIG thank you to all of those readers who reviewed in previous chapters. You made my day!

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Ichiru felt two strong arms wrapped around him, but there was no pain. He was confused, he had just threatened the life of someone Zero cared for. Why wasn't Zero trying to hurt him?

"Zero," Ichiru whispered into his brother's hair. "I'm sorry."

"That doesn't matter. Ichiru..." Zero said sounding like he had more to say but too nervous to say it.

"But I feel very guilty. I know what Yuuki means to you," Ichiru said cringing mentally, he didn't feel any remorse for trying to kill Yuuki.

"She never meant more to me than you do," Zero said nuzzling into Ichiru's neck. He smelled the tempting wine under Ichiru's skin but resisted with ease. Thanks to Kaname he wasn't a slave to his thirst anymore.

Ichiru placed a loving hand on the back of Zero's head. He could feel Zero's arms loosen fractionally. "Zero... I've missed you so much."

"Its hard to believe, the way you've been acting," Zero said with a smile in his voice.

"Most of it was only to please Shizuka so that she would make me an immortal like you," Ichiru said shrugging.

"Why would you ever want to be like me?" Zero said with digust in every word.

"To be closer to you," Ichiru said wishing that Zero would pull away enough so that he could see his eyes.

"That's ridiculous Ichiru, I detest vampires," Zero said removing his arms from around Ichiru. "I like you much better the way you are."

Ichiru felt his heart go out to Zero. He should've known that Zero wouldn't want him to change. "I could hardly bear it, how mean I was to you before Shizuka was killed."

"I didn't want to believe it was you. I loved you even though you were so terrible to me," Zero said with a sad smile. His smile was cut off by Ichiru's lips softly pressing against his. He paused there and pulled away. Zero felt butteriflies in his stomach to the point of the feeling of falling. Zero gave a genuine smile and reached out for Ichiru's hand. Holding hands, they went back down to the ground.

Ichiru sqeezed Zero's hand lightly before letting go. It would be too much trouble if people saw them holding hands.

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Zero was out patrolling at night when he smelled blood. He was surprised, but still followed the seductive scent. He ran to the site of the blood, expecting to see a member of the Night Class sucking some poor girls blood. When he got close enough to the smell to see what was happening a blanket was thrown over him and he was forced to the ground. Zero struggled and fought with no avail. He was knocked out.

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It smelled damp where he was. Zero knew this before he even woke up. He tried to get up but winced when he felt a sharp pain in his side. He remember the horrible events from the previous night. He had been officially been reunited with his brother; when they had parted ways last night it had felt as if the last four years had never happened. The rest of his night was pretty much blank. He knew that he had been captured. He didn't know why and he didn't know who did it.

"Zero..." a quiet voice said hesitantly from the entrance to his cell. He looked up to see Master Yagari looking down on him pitifully.

"What happened?" Zero said trying to stand up. He was pulled back down to his original position by chains on his wrists and ankles.

"The Hunters Association deems you a menace to their dream," he said with sadness radiating from every pore.

"That's just a diplomatic way of saying their going to kill me," Zero said arrogantly.

"Yes."

Even though he knew it to be true, Zero's breath caught when his master confirmed his execution. "When?"

"There will be a hearing. Headmaster Cross and I will be defending you, but there is no guarantee," there was no hope in his eyes, or in his voice.

"So it could be pretty much whenever they feel like killing me then?" Zero said with anger taking over all his other emotions of fear, regret, sadness, and in a strange way happiness. He knew he deserved to die, he was a monster. He had made all that he loved suffer enough. His existance was not natural, not right. Vampires were the most disgusting of all creatures, feeding from the life of others. It made him sick.

Yagari, on the other side of the bars just bowed his head, having no more information to assure his former pupil. He left silently, feeling the strong glare on his back. He felt bad, but it was the law of the Hunters Association and it was not to be broken.

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"Master Yagari?" Ichiru asked as he saw him walking somberly.

"Ichiru..." he said trailing off.

"Whats happened?" Ichiru said, his eyes widening.

"The Hunters Association found out that Zero is no longer human. They won't have their reputation destroyed by a single boy so they're going to destroy him," Yagari said keeping his eyes to the ground.

"What?" Ichiru said not having a better response.

"They have him locked up in the basement," Yagari said putting his hands in his pocket.

"What are you getting at?" Ichiru said, there was a hint of mischief in the man's eyes.

"Well, say someone swiped the keys but couldn't break out the prisoner himself..." Yagari said pulling out the keys. Just because he couldn't save Zero himself didn't mean he didn't want to save him.

"Those keys will get me to Zero?" he said grabbing them from Yagari's hands.

"I know you never liked me as a child; but I really do care about the both of you," he said ruffling Ichiru's hair.

"Thank-you," Ichiru said flinging himself at Yagari. He wrapped his arms around the man tightly and then let go. "Thank-you, for me and for Zero," He said before running off to find Zero.

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Zero heard a faint sound of metal clanking together. It echoed down the hall to where he was being held. Was it finally his time? He heard quick footsteps, light and rushed.

"Zero," Ichiru gasped breathless. He ran right to the metal bars and held out his hands to stop himself from smashing into them.

"Ichiru?" Zero said confused. He could feel the bloodlust in his body and contemplated the chances that seeing his brother here was a hallucination. "Are you really here?" The last time he'd had blood was when he drank from Kaname.

Ichiru saw the pained expression on Zero's face. How long had they kept him here without feeding him? "I'm really here," Ichiru whispered bringing the keys up to unlock Zero's cell. "Just hold on a little longer."

Zero watched mesmerized as his brother opened the heavy rusty door. It squealed loudly, in need of oil, as Ichiru pulled it towards him. He hurried to Zero and fell to his knees. "Zero..." Ichiru said with relief flooding his body. He threw his arms around his brother in an awkward hug.

Zero could smell Ichiru's blood pulsing through his veins and tried not to breathe in deeply. He was so thirsty that he might bite Ichiru unintentionally. "I'm sorry Zero. I know you're thirsty," Ichiru said pulling away quickly. He couldn't help it, his brother was locked up and starving. What else could he do?

Ichiru fumbled with the keys trying to get the right one to unlock the shackles that Zero had locked around his wrists. Zero watched with patience. He was going to get out. Ichiru was going to save him. Finally they could be together...

Ichiru pried one shackled off and then moved to another. It was a slow process but eventually they were all discarded on the floor. He took one of Zero's arms and tried to pick him up off the floor. Zero took a quick intake of air when he felt the sting of pain in his side. He lost his balance and fell against the wall. Ichiru froze. Zero was hurt. Would they be able to make it out without being caught? It was very unlikely.

"Zero... you need blood," Ichiru whispered. He knew that if Zero drank blood then his wound would heal.

"No, I'm fine," Zero said unconvincingly. His eyes were closed and he was trying to gather enough strength to stand on his own.

"Please Zero..." Ichiru said not finishing his sentence. Zero knew what he meant.

"NO!" Zero said with wide eyes. "I could never. Not you."

"But Zero..." Ichiru said.

"No..."

Ichiru closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around Zero's waist. He knew that if Zero was still alive his heart would be beating rapidly. But Zero was not alive and he needed Ichiru to survive right now. "I came here to save you. It's no good if we get caught," Ichiru said with his head resting on Zero's shoulder. He lifted his head just a little to press his warm lips to Zero's cold ones. Ichiru brought a hand up to his throat, "I love you Zero."

"I love you to Iru-chan..." Zero said. His eyes widened when he smelled the blood. His mind wanted to refuse, he wanted to push Ichiru away. But when he grabbed Ichiru's arms to push him away he didn't have the strength to push him away. He pulled him closer. The smell of the blood seduced him, he drank deeply; biting mercilessly. He could feel Ichiru getting weaker with every drop of blood Zero took. When the flow of blood started to slow Zero finally released Ichiru from his death grip. Ichiru was supported fully by Zero's arms. Zero could feel the pain in his side fading rapidly.

'Stupid Ichiru,' Zero thought. 'He could've gotten himself killed.' Zero laid Ichiru on the floor and expected his eyes to flutter open soon. When they didn't he started to panic a little bit. Zero shook Ichiru's shoulder, not getting a response he shook his brother more violently. "Ichiru, wake up!" Zero cried desperately. He pressed his fingers to his brother's neck and felt a faint pulse. Just enough for Ichiru to be alive. He held his fingers there but the pulse was harder and harder to feel.

Zero felt his stomach drop. He had taken too much. He was such an idiot. "No," he whispered. "No, no. NOO!" the last 'no' was yelled as he cradled Ichiru's head in his arms. After all the trouble that him and Ichiru had been through together and now, it all meant nothing. Zero pressed his lips to Ichiru's one last time. "Goodbye, Iru-san," Zero whispered as ran blindly through the building to escape. He had killed the only person he had left in the world that loved him.

Zero ran, he refused to go back to Cross Academy. There was nothing left for him there anymore. He could feel the life draining from him. Ichiru was dead. Dead... He was blinded by tears as he traveled deeper and deeper into the despair he was feeling. Zero was sure of one thing though. He was going to find a way to get himself killed; if that was the last thing he did.

THE END.

So that's it. I hope that I'm not going to have an angry mob after me. This was always the way I imagined the story to end. This whole story was way longer than I thought it would be. Anyways.

Please tell me what you thought of it. I would really appreciate it. I am not used to writing unhappy endings. Was it alright?

THANK YOU FOR READING!