Dawn: With finals tomorrow, another interlude in the works (Takuma's first time), a split chapter to finish, AND a overseas trip looming in the near future, I must be insane...

Takuma: Thanks for the 75+ reviews, it makes us all proud to get closer to that ever-elusive 100! KEEP PRESSING THAT BUTTON, IT'LL GIVE UP EVENTUALLY!

Zero: She seems tired enough to not ramble, so HURRY, DO THE DISCLAIMER!

Kaname: ImmortalDawn18 does not own Vampire Knight.

*Maman- means 'mother' in French

Chapter Eleven: The Decision to Save a Life... (Part One)

Kaname awoke with a pounding headache that only seemed to worsen with the scent of lavender surrounding him. Cradling his head in his hands, he pushed himself upright, his eyes peering through cracks in his fingers. For some reason, his memories of the past several days was a blur, but he was well-trained on how to recover memories when you'd been forced to forget them. He simply had to think around the holes in his memory in order to fill in the blanks. He knew the quarters where he was. These were... "Holy Mother of God," he muttered, scrambling back until his back pressed against the wall and his right arm was pinned to his side by the solid wood bedside table. "I'm in Zero's room." His head swam in confusion. He hated Kiryu, and yet, when he had spoken, he had used the hunter's first name, not his surname like he always would. Something had changed while he was out, something that made him both want to cuddle up to the silveret and take a very thorough shower. Since he figured the first option would likely not be received well, he got up to go to Zero's bathroom. The exhuman would be explaining some things as soon as Kaname was decent, of that he was certain. Something furry brushed against his calf, causing him to jump in surprise. He twisted around, blanching at the shaggy dark brown coming out of the back of his pelvic bone, the fur the exact same color as his hair. What had happened that he couldn't remember?

"You," Takuma said slowly, swallowing hard around the lump of desire in his throat, "You aren't yourself, Katsu. I'm s-sure that if you just gave yourself a little time to think about it, you would come to a different decision."

The neko boy leaned forward, his nose brushing against Takuma's neck. "Is it because I'm not a vampire?" he asked forlornly. "Because I'm not a girl? Because I'm considered a god? Because the Egyptians gave me the name Set due to the fact that I abandoned them and their king, my own brother?" He seemed tritely guilty now, reminiscing over things so long ago in the past that they were considered mere myth. "It was not my fault I left Egypt, it was not my home. I have been searching for a home for nigh on five hundred millennia now, but I have yet to find one. It's not my fault, dammit, it's not my fault! Don't leave me alone, Maman*, I'm sorry! Please, Maman, I'm sorry!"

Sensing that the young cat teetered on the brink of reality and insanity, he wrapped his arms reassuringly around the kitten boy. "It's okay, Katsu," he murmured softly. "I'm right here. I won't leave you, I promise."

A spark lit up those yellow eyes. "You've got that right," he purred. "I won't let you leave me like every one else has. You're honorable, aren't you, Takuma? You wouldn't leave my side, not like the others have."

The blond stumbled back a step, the black-haired boy following stubbornly. "Katsu," he panted, blushing when hands undid the buttons of his shirt, wandering over his chest, "What are you doing?" The neko didn't respond, however, far too preoccupied with mapping the contours of Takuma's upper body with his tongue and teeth, his tail wagging lustfully to stir his scent, which was laden down with enough hormones to put a rabbit warren to shame, into the air. When he caught the smell, the vampire's eyes burned bright red, his head falling forward to rest against the bare shoulder of his companion, resisting the urge to bite down and use the fangs he'd ignored for so long, as the spitfire pushed his white Night Class jacket and black button-up shirt from the Aristocrat, having already disposed of the crimson tie and the silver clip. "Ka-Katsu!" he cried, the black-haired boy having bitten his shoulder hard enough to draw blood over a pair of pseudo-fangs.

The cat licked his lips to cleanse the skin of vermilion as he raised his head. "You have a very nice taste, Takuma," he murmured huskily, "nowhere near as overwhelming as the others I have tasted." He dispensed an identical mark on the blond's other side, a satisfied look in his eyes even as the wounds healed over. His mouth moved lower, placing open-mouthed kisses all along his partner's chest and stomach while carefully avoiding his nipples, somehow managing all this while also pushing the other male down onto the garish pink coverlet. The vampire let out a hiss as his hips came into contact with the shapeshifter's own, the only thing keeping them apart being the thin fabric of his boxers and the white uniform pants. "Relax," the shorter boy huffed, his tail lashing across the bed as his hands firmly pressed the hips bucking up in protest back down. "All good things come to those who wait."

Emerald eyes flew down to yellow orbs, seeking reassurance in their depths, but eyelids slid shut and his head fell back into the pillows as his pants and underwear were finally removed. However, at the sheer pain of penetration without any lubricant or preparation other than the vampire's own fluids and the occasional fingers he might insert while masturbating, he couldn't contain a strangled cry of "Katsu!" and slightly curled in on himself.

"I'm sorry," Katsu whispered, leaning forward to kiss away his tears. "I simply know no other way, Takuma." He held his hips perfectly still until the clenching on his cock began to lessen and the noble's tears began to slow before he started lightly thrusting in a search for something to potentially undo the damage he had done. Finally, right when he had begun to despair that he would never find the blond's prostate, the Level B gasped, his fingers lengthening into claws that scrabbled at the shapeshifter's strong hips for purchase. His ears shot up with delight from where they'd fallen back slightly in concentration, and he wasted no time in speeding up his thrusts, making sure to mercilessly pound that one spot.

This was by no means Takuma's first time, but his past lover hadn't been nearly so harsh with his penetration. At the initial thrust, if it weren't for the hands holding his hips motionless, he would have squirmed away. Despite that, Katsu was a surprisingly gentle lover, making sure the blond was experiencing pleasure before pursuing his own. "Katsu!" he yelled, releasing across their chests and stomachs even as the cat coated his insides with warmth. Exhausted, the neko pulled out, collapsing on the bed beside the vampire and fell asleep.

Aurora stopped dead in her spin, eyes closed, where her partner, Akatsuki Kain, couldn't move her with all his considerable vampire strength. The blond frowned, slightly put off by the redhead's sudden lapse in interest in helping him perfect his waltz. Aurora didn't have much mind dedicated to the finer aspects of aristocratic life, but she was loyal enough to the Night Class to at least fake an interest when asked to do so. "Aurora?" he asked. "Is something wrong?" She wasn't responding, so he tapped the center of her forehead with the bone of the foremost joint in his pointer finger. "Everything all right, Aurora?"

She jumped, her smaller body jolting in his arms. She blinked owlishly, realizing what had happened. "Oh yeah," she replied distractedly. "Listen, can I give you a rain check on this? I have somewhere to be." He nodded, letting her go and she ran to the main doors, pausing for a moment with her hand resting on the weathered wood. "And if you're hoping to woo Hanabusa-sama, some blood-filled chocolates wouldn't hurt your odds, Akatsuki-sama." He blinked at her advice, blushing as his hands went to the pockets of his white uniform jacket, wondering how she'd determined the purpose of the endeavor yet unable to ask because she was already gone.

The witch had no problem summoning a little ball of fire to her palm as she dove into the forest, finding a plethora of reasons to be pissed, forefront among them being the knowledge that a drastic change had happened, causing her dear Ichiru to be brought upon the brink of death. She may not have known where he was, but with the wind at her back, fire lighting her way, earth beneath her bare feet, and water moving easily through her veins in the form of blood, there was no doubt that she would find him.

Kaname's hand came up now that the spray of water had ceased, fingers playing along the edge of the dog collar around his neck. He couldn't fully remember everything that had happened, but the shattered pieces he could recall were enough for him to realize that his love for Zero hadn't changed in the transition from canine to vampire. Sighting heavily as he caught sight of his dog ears in the mirror, he grabbed a plush blue towel from under the sink and used it to roughly dry his hair. Wrapping the terrycloth around his waist, he opened the door to see the hunter already awake and dressed, studiously ignoring the pureblood as he straightened the patch on his arm that proclaimed him a member of the Disciplinary Committee. "Zero," he breathed, heart pounding at the sight of his newly discovered obsession, "I can explain-"

"Don't, Kuran," the hunter interrupted, refusing to meet the Level A's wine red gaze. "Just don't."

"Zero," he murmured, his voice softening as a hand reached for the distant exhuman, "please."

"Don't be here when I get back, Kuran, unless you really want me to shoot you." The harsh words, along with the sound of the slammed door, tore at Kaname's heart. What had he done wrong? Did Zero regret him returning to his normal form? What had he done wrong?

Katsu woke up in a bed that smelt of sex and Takuma, a warm arm wrapped lightly around his waist. He didn't need to look to know that the blond vampire was fast asleep behind him, content despite the semen dried onto his belly and chest and around his ass. He didn't notice exactly when the first tear fell from his eyes, only that he'd caught it in his palm, and then he was well on his way to creating a small river. The scent of saline was what caused the noble to stir, his emerald eyes full of concern even through their haze of sleep. "Katsu?" he mumbled softly, still not fully awake, "what's wrong?"

In spite of himself, he couldn't help sobbing "I got ahead of myself and raped you, and you must hate me for it," turning his face with even more moisture shining in those yellow orbs. "Fuck it, Takuma, I never meant for this to happen! But the thing is, every time I fall in love with someone, I do something wrong and they hate me for it!"

The Aristocrat's heart broke for the little neko boy, wrapping his arms around the black-haired boy and pulling every part of him against his own body, even as his hips twitched as the tail accidentally tickled his hips. "No, Katsu, don't cry, please don't cry," he begged, his voice thick with his own emotions. "If you start crying, I'll start crying, and then neither of us will be in any state to do anything."

"Why the fucking hell should you give a shit about me crying?" the shapeshifter hissed. "I just raped you!"

"Katsu," he murmured, leaning over the shorter boy's shoulder to kiss the side of his neck, "You were just too afraid of me leaving to do anything rational. Besides, it wasn't as if it wasn't pleasurable for me." When the other male didn't react other than move his head away from the soft kisses he was placing along that strong jaw that was trembling with its insecurity. "I love you, Katsu. Stay with me, please. I'm not leaving you. I won't leave you, I promise."

The neko looked up at his partner, a desperate light in his eyes. He wanted to believe the blond, he really did, but when he'd spent so much of his life being rejected by the ones he loved, he had every right to be as insecure in himself and his new lover as he was at that moment, though Takuma wanted, nay needed to reassure the boy that he could trust again. His lips quivered as he stared into those emerald depths before he cried out sharply, burying his face in that soft chest and letting those strong arms shield him from the harsh world that had rejected him so many times before. "Takuma!" he cried, the words wrenched from him by a fierce desire to simply articulate his trust and happiness.

The blond couldn't resist. He'd seen the way Katsu had played with pain, drawing blood enough times that he felt confident that the neko knew exactly what it meant to be a vampire's lover and everything that entailed. It meant being isolated from human society, living at the beck and call of any purebloods and those of higher social standing than himself, and being entirely ready to give himself to his lover. "Katsu," he murmured softly, hiding his burning eyes from his partner, "may I bite you?"

The black-haired boy didn't hesitate. He knew everything that came with the duty of loving a vampire; he had, after all, been a pureblood's lover once, long ago in another life. When one vampire bit another, it was to consummate a blood bond. He may not have known if the vampire part of him had hung around after he'd been stabbed with a hunter's blade and shot with the bullet of a vampire gun, but even so, to wear a vampire's bite was admitting that you were his possession. Katsu would rather be a mere trinket, a blood source, than alone once more, even though part of him knew with unerring certainty that the blond would never do that to him. "Yes," he answered fiercely. "Drink your fill and make me feel whole again."

Takuma bit down, sliding his fangs elegantly beneath the skin of the shapeshifter's neck rather than tearing as many young vampires were used to, including Katsu, albeit on the other end: receiving rather than giving. Blood, tangy sweet and filled with a bitterness that was an aftertaste most would find horrible but left the young noble wanting more. He only took a few sips, enough to sate his gentle thirst and mark the other, before he licked the remainder of the crimson from his lips, pressing a soft kiss to his victim's forehead. "You taste wonderful," he encouraged softly, soothing frazzled nerves. "I'm glad I'll have you all to myself from now on."

A crease appeared on Katsu's brow, one the Level B was quick to smooth away with a brush of his mouth. "You don't want more?" he asked, off-balance because of his past experiences. "You don't want to punish me for what I did wrong?"

"Like I said," Takuma breathed, smiling softly at the slightly calmer scent of the creature beneath him, though it was far from the relaxed smell that had been while its source was asleep, "you did nothing wrong, and as for your blood, well, I've never really been a big eater, though you do taste absolutely divine." Since the tension in the shapeshifter seemed unaffected by his words, he added, "Of course, I'd be happy to change my mind about punishing you."

Dawn: And since I'm working on so much, I'm gonna go sleep now...

Kaname: Please review, it encourages her to do horrible things to us...

Zero: WAIT, THAT'S A BAD THING!

Takuma: ... Good night. *falls asleep*

Review-answering:

OneStop: I don't know when I'm going for sure (it's a good two-week thing), and as for Ichio/Ichijo, I thought it was common knowledge that Asato Ichijo, Takuma's grandfather, is also called Ichio...

ShadowsOfPensAndPaper: I know, I just can't stop laughing at my dirty mind, and I hope this chapter sustains you until I can update again!

Ohbaby: I know, you and everyone else wants Kaname-puppy... (including me...)

irmina: Last paragraph broken down: Shizuka figures out the truth because she tortured it out of Ichiru, betrays Masaru/Katsu, turns Kaname back into human-ish form, and then decides she wants to fight Sara Shirabuka for Rido's hand. Odd, but I wasn't the one who came up with it, my Shizuka muse did...

mpiedz: ... Could be. Might not be...

ElheiM: Yay, glad you're enjoying this so much, and yeah, if the ending works out, I'll have PLENTY of loose ends to follow for a sequel.

Astharoche: ...not sure what you mean by that, but okay then...