The black-clad watcher remained leaning against the gatepost for a few minutes after the tall form of his employer had passed through the arches of wrought iron. Eventually, he left the gates and slipped sinuously through the trees, a liquid shadow. The sun was about to rise, and he would seek his rest.

Once, the watcher had a family and a true name, but he'd carefully erased all traces of the past that still haunted him. Now, he was known only as Kagechi. However much he tried to deny it though, his history would often resurface, if only in his memories.

He was the firstborn son of a high-ranking family of nobles. All their hopes had been resting on his shoulders. For the first few years of his life, he had been the center of attention; the pride of his parents and relatives. Then, one day, his whole world had changed.

The other noble children his age had started showing signs of the gifts they would eventually master. This one could command wind, that one water; some could manipulate earth or fire. Others had flashy mental powers, like telepathy or telekinesis.

Nothing like that had happened to him.

Concerned, his parents had sent him to the foremost vampire specialists for tests, but while they couldn't find anything wrong, they had also not been able to unlock any special powers. Time passed, a good three years after all the others had first displayed their talents.

Still nothing.

There were rumors, whispers, that he wasn't a full noble at all, but rather the bastard offspring of an illicit union with a lowborn servant. After the fourth year, he had almost started to believe that himself.

Where once he had been put on display, he was now confined to his room and not allowed out much. When his parents finally had a second son, he had been sent away to a school for the "frail". So many nights he had been in that horrible place, hating himself for his unforgivable weakness - until he had begun to discover that he could…affect other vampires.

It started when he'd been caught stealing food from the kitchens by the matron. She had been about to take him to the director, where he knew he would be whipped, and he found himself wishing she would let him go and just forget the whole incident. He stared up at her, helplessly, chanting over and over in his head 'leave me, forget me, leave me, forget me…' when suddenly, something in his mind seemed to shift and the matron's eyes glazed over. She dropped his arm, turned, and walked away. She never mentioned the incident to anyone, and he wasn't punished, although the next day he had a terrible headache.

Ecstatic at the thought that perhaps he finally had a power, he set about experimenting, but he found that he couldn't affect his classmates at all. He could still feel the strange shift, and he still got headaches, but they wouldn't obey his thoughts as the matron had. He spent time studying the differences between the matron and his fellow students. All he could find was that the matron had this… thread that he could detect, which the others were lacking. It was that thread that allowed him into her mind to manipulate her. Intrigued, he started reading up on the physiology of his race. It was a sentence in a book on bonding that finally answered all his questions.

--
Bonding may be defined as a "psychic thread" which connects two vampires.
--

He began to realize that he could sense, and manipulate, bonds. It was difficult at times, and mentally draining, especially if the victim was strong-willed, but if he concentrated he could take hold of the bond and plant suggestions in the minds of the vampires who shared it. Further experimentation led him to discover that in some cases the threads seemed stronger, and he could grasp them more easily. The same book (which he had long since stolen from the library) clarified the reasons for this.

--
There are three known levels of bonding. The first level is established whenever one vampire drinks the blood of another. This bond is weak, and fades in time unless renewed.

The second level is the reciprocal bond, where a vampire takes blood from another while a first-level bond exists between them. A reciprocal bond is for life and cannot be broken.

The third type of bond is rare, even among mated pairs. Known as the double-bond, this occurs when two vampires share blood with each other simultaneously. In order to create this bond, the feeding must continue for longer than a minute, and the wounds must have been inflicted by mutual biting. The bond will not form unless both parties offer their blood freely to each other. The double-bond is the strongest bond in existence. It opens a telepathic pathway between the bondmates, and allows them to share each other's thoughts, feelings and powers.
--

He had escaped from the school that night. As far as his family knew, he was dead. He began selling his talents to the highest bidder, breaking alliances, cementing political takeovers, helping disgruntled spouses get revenge… even doing some assassination on the side. His reputation spread, and he reveled in his notoriety. Finally he was being acknowledged as powerful, a man in his own right.

All that had been left to do was tidy up the loose ends.

The bodies of his estranged family had eventually been found, but of the killer, there had been no trace.

x--x--x

Being an early riser, the chairman was already settled in his office with a cup of tea, watching the sunrise, when there was a knock on his door. It was not uncommon for Kaname to come and see him at this time, so he wasn't surprised.

"Enter."

The door creaked open, revealing a tall, silver-haired boy with lavender eyes. The chairman had been expecting him, but not so soon. He had hoped he would have the chance to talk to Zero first, so that the shock of what he was going to have to do would be less… still, it couldn't be helped.

"Ichiru! Welcome. Please, come in, sit down."

Ichiru smiled at him, and it was very strange to see those particular features smiling, even if the smile didn't quite reach Ichiru's eyes. It seemed he was indeed very different from his brother.

"Thank you." Ichiru seated himself in of the visitor's chairs, keeping his smile in place. He needed to fool this old twit into thinking he was truly reformed, and wished to be a good student.

"As per your application, you will be assigned a room in the day class dormitory. Your request for a single room could unfortunately not be accommodated; we are rather full. There is only one space currently available… and you did say you wanted to reacquaint yourself with Zero…"

x--x--x

Zero hadn't been able to sleep. He'd had a strange sense of foreboding that he hadn't been able to shake, and combined with the mess that was last night, it weighed heavily on his mind. He had not yet forsaken his position on the windowsill, but now he finally unfurled cramped muscles and stood. Grabbing his towel, he decided to go to the chairman's residence for a shower as the dorm bathroom was still closed. Perhaps the warm water would clear his head.

x--x--x

Ichiru contemplated the reasons for his return as he settled in to the dorm room he now shared with his twin. Zero had not yet returned from whatever early-morning errand he was on. Perhaps he was with that foolish girl, Yuuki. That brought a smirk to his face… she would also suffer in what was to come, and serve her right for her involvement the night of Shizuka's death. He had been in hiding abroad since that night, orchestrating his plans for revenge from afar, but now he had found it necessary to come back to Cross Academy to have a face-to-face talk with Kagechi, and keep a closer eye on his best weapon.

Of course, that was not the only reason he had come back. He also wanted to be close to his brother when everything began coming apart. He wanted to see the misery in his twin's eyes and hope that Zero could feel even one tenth of the pain he had caused Ichiru.

He'd known that soft-hearted chairman would be unable to refuse his application, in the hopes that he and Zero could patch things up, but the room assignment had been a surprise. Still, it put him in the perfect position to observe each part of his plan.

Progress thus far had been less than satisfactory, but Ichiru would soon remedy that. Kagechi was useful; and had provided good information, but had at the same time proven to be a bit of a wildcard.

It had taken Ichiru a considerable time to trace him, and his services did not come cheaply. Thankfully Ichiru had been the one in charge of all Shizuka's finances. She had never wanted to be bothered with mundane things like money. Ichiru smiled sadly. At times he felt like she was watching over him still.

He missed her intensely; every time he thought of her it made his heart ache, but at the same time he had to admit that it was liberating to be in control of his own destiny for once.

He had always been the obedient one in the shadows. With Yagari, with his parents, with Zero… even with Shizuka. She had not treated him as anything but a faithful pet until the moment she died. If only he had known sooner that the reason she refused his blood was that she cared for him. His bitterness towards his brother had blinded him to that fact – yet another crime Zero deserved to atone for.

'Yes', he thought, 'soon Zero will pay for all his sins.'

He perched himself on the windowsill, awaiting the return of his brother.

x--x--x

There were many things that drove people to commit malevolent acts. Greed, lust, power, money. A multitude of motives to blacken the soul which led to unspeakable crimes. For both Ichiru and Kagechi though, the reason lay elsewhere. For them, the origin of evil was simply the absence of love; which was perhaps the worst tragedy of all.


A note on Kagechi:

Yes, I know - he's an OC… -aaah!- But don't worry, he's just there to be one of the bad guys, not really a main character. I considered cutting down on his history, but I felt it laid a foundation for some important concepts that needed to be explained.

A note on Ichiru:

He truly has been a pawn all his life. That's why I wanted him as the villain in this story – as opposed to say Asato Ichijo or Rido Kuran. I just think Ichiru is a character with hidden depths who deserves a chance to act as a free agent. Plus he's twisted, who knows what sick schemes he can come up with? – and also, I think the tension between the brothers is awesome :)