A bed? Aido frowned, eyebrows knitting together, though his eyes remained closed. Aido did not expect to wake in such a comfortable position. He was used to waking up cold and aching, muscles sore from sleeping in whatever position Kaname left him in (crumpled on the floor, clutching himself in agony, limbs at odd angles, joints dislocated; he'd wake up and limp his way to his room, catch a few hours of decent sleep before Kaname was upon him again).

A bed, to put it briefly, was unexpected. But not unpleasant. His frown turned into an almost-smile at the thought of Kaname lifting his unconscious form and carrying him to bed.

He opened his eyes at last, hissing and shutting them immediately as harsh florescent lights burned into his eyes. Well, he definitely wasn't in Kaname's room. Or his own room, for that matter. So there went that fantasy. He sighed, mentally tucking the story away for later – false thought it was, Aido still liked to pretend.

He took a breath and cracked his eyes open a second time, turning his head to the side (with some difficulty – he felt awfully stiff) so he wouldn't be automatically blinded by the lights. Yes, definitely not Kaname's room.

That begged the question – where was he?

Glancing around (only with his eyes – Aido's neck hurt too badly to try moving it a second time), he saw hospital beds; cupboards filled with mysterious pills, antiseptic and bandages. The room felt vaguely familiar. The infirmary? A quiet voice supplied, making Aido frown once again. Cross Academy's infirmary. What the hell?

All at once, Aido snapped awake – completely awake. He ran through all of what he remembered, trying to remember exactly how he got himself to the infirmary. Nothing came to mind. He remembered Kaname dragging him outside the dance hall, remembered voices yelling, remembered struggling and thrashing because someone was touching him oh god he was going to die oh god oh god oh-

Ah. So that explained it.

Along with consciousness came hunger. It came upon him so suddenly, throat clenching shut, dry and aching. A whine escaped him before he could hold it back, turning into a long groan as he attempted to sit up, squeezing his eyes against the pain, only opening them when he finally managed to sit up.

His clothes sat in a heap beside the bed, just close enough for him to reach without having to strain himself. The clothes themselves were beyond help – nothing but bloody rags at this point. His wallet sat on top the pile, and next to it was his cell phone. He picked it up and was less than surprised to find several missed calls and even more unanswered text messages, all from Kain. He typed out a quick response, letting him know where he was before setting down his phone and attempting to get out of bed.

At that moment, the door opened and in came Yuki, followed closely by a stone-faced Zero.

"You're awake!" Aido heard her before he saw her, didn't even need to look up in order to know it was Yuki. But he did look up, and he found himself taken aback by how different she seemed. She looked older, of course. After two years, that was to be expected. But it wasn't just her physical appearance that seemed more mature. Her eyes. They were colder than Aido remembered. Cold like Zero's.

Aido merely nodded in acknowledgement, though even that was a struggle, the gesture terribly sluggish. He hardly had the energy to reply at all. Hungry. So hungry. He glanced down at his phone, praying for Kain to hurry up and answer.

"I brought you a change of clothes." Yuki held up a familiar-looking uniform; white jacket, white slacks, a perfect counterpart to the black on black Day Class uniforms Yuki and Zero were wearing. Zero's uniform, Aido noticed, was covered in blood. Yuki's was clean, but a glance to the side revealed what had probably been a beautiful white ball gown, now stashed in the corner and covered with blood.

My blood, Aido realized as he took the uniform from Yuki. Which means they… He glanced down at his bandaged chest. He didn't remember any of it, but his wounds were bandages and the smell of his blood hung heavy in the air. "So you two…" he began, looking from Zero's bloody clothes to Yuki's dress and back again.

"Oh no! Yagari did all the bandaging and the sewing. I just held- I helped. And Zero carried you over." She waved her hands, flustered. Just a hint of the old Yuki, but it made Aido smile nonetheless. "What- uhm. What happened?" Her voice lost some of its cheer, cold once again.

Aido froze. He had no idea, and what he did know he did not want to explain, didn't want to live through it a second-

"Yuki." Zero came to his rescue. "Can you leave alone for a minute?" He spoke low but firmly; not a demand, but not a request either. Yuki hung her head and nodded, reluctant to leave but perhaps understanding the necessity of it.


Zero watched Yuki leave, feeling only a little bad for sending her away. She was nothing if not understanding, but there were some things she just couldn't grasp. And Zero was glad she couldn't understand those things, because understanding meant experiencing this same trauma, and Zero would not wish this on anybody – not even a vampire like Aido.

"It's been a while since I've worn one of these. It's almost nostalgic." Aido said, pulling Zero's gaze back towards him. He was having one hell of a time with the uniform, holding back winces and little gasps of pain as he attempted to work his sore muscles. Zero remembered that feeling, remembered what a struggle it was to do even the simplest things, like getting dressed in the morning or dragging himself to class.

Zero couldn't stand how casual Aido sounded, like he was trying to dismiss the fact that he nearly died. Who the hell was he trying to hide from?

He snapped. "You could have asked for help, Aido. Ran away. Came back to Cross Academy. Why didn't you?" Why didn't you tell me? Yuki asked him that very same question, over and over again. Part guilt, part disappointment, Yuki must have thought Zero didn't trust her. Not so. Zero always thought the answer was obvious – the thought of discovery scared him, almost as much as it infuriated Kaname.

But it seemed different with Aido, different in a way Zero could not quite place, a way that might even be impossible for a former human like him to understand.

Aido stopped buttoning his shirt halfway, hands frozen, brow furrowed. He looked up with an expression that Zero couldn't quite place. Pained, conflicted, confused; Zero had a feeling Aido himself wasn't totally sure of why. He opened his mouth as if to speak, perhaps to answer, but at that moment –

"Aido!" The door slammed open and in flew Kain, who immediately ran up to his cousin. Aido relaxed immediately, his posture losing its edge, arms dropping to his sides. He took one step, two steps towards Kain before he began to sway, falling easily into his cousin's arms. Kain held him, and Zero saw how hard Kain tried to keep the fierce protectiveness from his posture, to keep himself relaxed for Aido. Though he could not act on it, Zero could see how terribly Kain hated their Pure Blood prince in that moment.

"Are you hurt?" Kain winced; stupid question. Of course Aido was hurt. "Hungry?" None of that hatred showed in Kain's voice; all Zero could hear was concern.

Something about the way Kain held his cousin struck Zero as familiar, though he couldn't begin to place why, at least not at first. But the longer he watched the easier it became to pick out the lines of concern in Kain's face, his shoulders, and for some reason Zero couldn't help but remember the worried look in Yuki's eyes, the way she used to look at him, the way she sometimes still did.

And the longer Zero watched, the more he recognized the guilt in Aido's back, the same guilt Zero remembered feeling, still felt.

"When we get home, can I…?" Aido asked, speaking so softly that Zero hardly heard it. He got the impression that he wasn't supposed to hear.

"Of course." Kain's answer came eagerly and without hesitation, "There's a bed, you can feed right here if you want…" and Zero could hear the agony in Kain's voice, the desire to take care of his cousin, to erase Kaname's touch from someone so dearly… Zero didn't know what that felt like, but he watched Yuki go through it, watched her heart break for the closest thing she had to family. And the pain of watching someone you love being hurt is universal.

Zero couldn't save them – not Kain, not Yuki – from that heartbreak (no matter how much he wished he could), but he could put an end to its cause. Right here, right now – repercussions be damned – before Kaname could do it again.


[Ugh, Aido is so difficult to write when he's distressed. I hope I did alright! I'm totally beat.

I hope you enjoyed! If you have any thoughts about this chapter, feel free to share! See you next time~]