A/N: Figured I'd better explain about the chapter title. A"Latvian Gambit" is an aggressive but dubious chess opening, which often leads to wild complications – much like the move Rido and Ichijo make later in this chapter. But you'll have to just read on to find out what I'm talking about... ;)
Also, sorry to cut this chapter off where I do, but I've almost got the next one done already, so hopefully the wait shouldn't be too long. :D
Chapter Thirteen: "Latvian Gambit"
Kaname's body stiffened as he crouched next to Yuki and Zero. They might have even less time than he thought. He could sense two vampires approaching swiftly from the east, nearly on this position. The thick pall of smoke still hanging in the air everywhere was dulling and confusing all sense of smell, so he couldn't scent them yet, but he could hear their movements faintly. No chance of out running them. He was going to have to simply deal with them. He was going to have to try to kill anyone who came looking for them until he could figure out how to get Zero and Yuki out of here.
Surprise was usually the best tactic when you were at a disadvantage, so Kaname pushed himself to use his unnatural speed, despite how weary he was. He 'appeared' directly in front of one of the vampires he'd sensed approaching. His hand was transformed into a dark, wicked claw that punched directly for the other's heart, meaning to rip it out of his chest and swiftly move on to the other before they had time to raise an alarm.
Fortunately for everyone involved, Kaname's reflexes were very good. He recognized the wide-eyed, terrified face before him and diverted his attack at the last moment, yanking his hand back and halting.
Aido looked like he'd probably just seen his life flash before his eyes as he stumbled back a pace, almost fainting, into Takuma, who caught him. Takuma had his free hand up, obviously in the act of summoning energy from the air to launch at their attacker, but he too had frozen as soon as he saw who it was. He and Aido had seen the helicopter and the smoke pall wafting in the air in the distance. After parking the car on the side of the road, they had followed it in, hoping and fearing that it meant what they thought it did, but having no idea what they might encounter en-route.
"Kaname!" the relief was palpable in Takuma's voice and eyes and he dropped his hand, using both to support Aido who was quickly recovering from the justifiably terrifying experience of being suddenly faced with an angry, desperate pureblood whose sole intention was to rip your heart out.
Kaname did not lower his clawed hand as he regarded Takuma warily. Aido was injured; he didn't even have to be intuitive to smell the blood, see the stains and understand why the younger vampire was so pale. There were a multitude of different scenarios possible for what Aido and Ichijo were doing out here in the woods, many of which involved Aido having been captured and Takuma following his grandfather's orders. Kaname could not afford to take chances. He watched his former friend, unblinking, and Takuma seemed to realize that Kaname wasn't necessarily glad to see him. He also had a chance to notice what kind of shape Kaname was in. The pureblood looked a lot better compared to how Zero had found him, but he still looked pretty rough, with partially healed bite marks just visible on his neck and his back still showing raw, obvious signs of torture.
Takuma just stared in shock, too upset for a moment to even speak. Had... had all that happened to Kaname, under his roof? And he hadn't known... Suddenly Takuma felt a vice-like pressure grip his head and squeeze his chest as his eyes were drawn by a power other than his own to lock with the pureblood's.
"Whose side are you on, Ichijo?" Kaname hissed softly. He'd turned the full bend of his will upon Takuma as he faced him, seeking to force a truthful answer. Takuma could have fought him. Although it was easy to not think so because of his nature, he was strong enough to give Kaname a run for his money under normal circumstances. With Kaname weakened, he might actually have been able to even win. But Takuma didn't fight. He knew what Kaname was doing and allowed the pureblood to take control of him, so that Kaname would know the answer was indeed the truth.
"Yours... Kaname Kuran..." the answer was strange and blank, not his usual tone as Kaname forced it out of him. But Kaname knew that under these circumstances there was no lie possible, and felt a shiver of relief pass through him so deep it made him dizzy.
Aido, who had recovered by now, glanced anxiously between the other two vampires as he pulled away from Takuma's now slack grip. "He's okay, Kaname, really. He saved me," he chimed in.
Kaname mentally released Takuma and dropped his hand, letting it transform back into normal flesh and bone. He wavered and nearly fell, quickly catching himself on the trunk of the nearest tree.
Aido and Takuma both hurried forward at the same time, trying to see if Kaname was okay, which he obviously wasn't, and urging him to come with them quickly back to the car so they could get out of there. Kaname waved them off.
"Zero and Yuki... come, they're back this way," he said as he led them back as swiftly as he was able. "They were overcome by the gas. Help me carry them to the car."
Takuma bent and scooped Zero up, easily tossing him over his shoulder. Kaname started to lift Yuki, but Aido stopped him. Kaname was obviously run out and shouldn't be stressing himself further. "I can do that, Kaname, let me."
Kaname hesitated, shooting him a look that said he wasn't so sure that was a good idea and Aido flushed slightly. Sure... he had kind of a... history... of trouble with this particular girl. Her blood was delicious but he didn't like her, mostly because Kaname did and he just couldn't understand why. But for goodness sake, didn't Kuran think he could trust him with something as simple as this?
"If Kaname tells me to protect someone, even this girl, I would with my life. Let me do it, Kaname..." he said earnestly, actually looking a little hurt.
Kaname smiled faintly. Aido... always jumping to conclusions and saying whatever went through his head. "You're injured, Aido. I merely thought you should not strain yourself. But if you wish..." He somewhat reluctantly relinquished Yuki to the blonde vampire. Much as Kaname didn't want to admit it, he would move better alone right now, especially since they would all need to use their special speed to get back to the car ahead of any possible pursuit.
Aido looked suitably embarrassed that he had misread what Kaname was thinking, but he hoisted Yuki up carefully. He winced slightly at the tug on his partially healed wounds, but Yuki was not heavy and they hadn't really too terribly far to go. He carried her in front of him, rather than slinging her over his shoulder as he was naturally inclined to do, because Kaname was watching him.
One moment, the three vampires were standing there. The next, they seemed to have simply vanished. A few minutes later, they appeared by the car and everyone piled in hurriedly.
Yuki and Zero were placed carefully in the back seat and Aido slid in beside them. Takuma got behind the wheel again and Kaname took the front seat. Less concerned with conspicuousness now and more concerned with getting the hell out of there before anyone figured out what had happened, Takuma floored the accelerator and they shot off like a bullet.
------------
Kaname buttoned up the shirt he taken from his closet in his room at the moon dorm. At Kaname's instruction, Takuma had driven them back to Cross Academy. Once Kaname had had a chance to regroup and reorder his game, then Rido and Ichijo would have to think twice before coming after him again.
It had not been a short trip back here, especially since they'd had to try to stick to back roads until they were able to ditch the car they were using, which would surely have been noticed as missing by now, and 'borrow' another, less conspicuous vehicle. Yuki and Zero had both woken up along the way, although neither had been feeling too good. They were both in the infirmary now, along with Aido, although all of them would be fine. Kaname had refused to let the nurse tend him, as he knew what he needed already and would take care of it himself. He'd gone directly to his rooms after seeing to it that the others were in safe hands. He'd guzzled blood tablets like they were going out of style and although under his black silk shirt his back was still scored, most of the rest of his injuries had healed completely. He'd showered and changed and finally was beginning to feel more normal again, even if being back here, in his own room felt strangely surreal after everything that had happened.
Chairman Cross had been somewhat preoccupied fussing over Yuki and Zero, but had asked Kaname to come to his office as soon as he had changed. Brushing his still shower-damp hair back from his face, Kaname made his way that direction now. He'd been out of the loop for three weeks or more, and he needed to get up to speed. Just the empty sound that his foot falls made on the staircase of the deserted Moon Dormitory served to remind him just how fast things could change in a relatively short span of time.
When Kaname entered the Chairman's office he was only mildly surprised to find that Takuma, Aido, Zero and Yuki were already there as well. All of them seemed to be talking at once. Yuki was sitting in a chair and looked pale and peaky, but appeared otherwise all right. Zero and Aido looked fine now, which meant they both must have replenished. Aido had no doubt downed a gallon of blood tablets, as Kaname had. Zero... Kaname's eyes narrowed slightly. He couldn't do blood tablets and would have had to feed, but he couldn't believe he would have fed on Yuki in her condition...
The small bandage just visible above his scarf on the side of the Chairman's neck as he rose from where he was half-sitting on the edge of his desk to greet Kaname's arrival and the way Zero scowled every time the elder man glanced in his direction answered that question fairly quickly. Kaname repressed a smirk.
Cross raised his hands, trying to get the others to quiet down long enough for him to welcome Kaname back, which he did by giving Kaname a big, relieved hug – much the same way he had welcomed Yuki and Zero, actually. Fortunately for him, Zero had been feeling too poorly at that time to hit him. "Kaname, you don't know how worried I've been!"
Aido snickered and Kaname kind of froze, but then gently, awkwardly, patted Cross's back so he would consider it done and let go. Actually... despite the method, Kaname couldn't pretend it wasn't nice to be welcomed back, and to know that people had cared enough to be worried about him.
"So, I assume there is little left for me to tell you by now," Kaname, giving a nod to the others who had obviously been all telling their various stories at the same time when he arrived.
"Yes... it's quite a story too," Cross agreed, his face lined darkly with concern. Kaname got the unsettling feeling that Cross knew something he wasn't saying.
"Which is why we need to contact the others immediately and call the Night Class back together. They have to know what's happening, and that Kaname is back..." Aido pressed earnestly, obviously continuing the dropped thread of an argument from before Kaname entered.
Cross looked tired. He'd needed them all together before he could get into his reasons for why he had not yet contacted any of the others who had all been working together to try and find Kaname over the past weeks. Things had... changed, rather suddenly.
"No... We must keep Kaname's return here as quiet as possible," the Chairman countered seriously. He was uncharacteristically quiet and it drew all eyes upon him. His expression said something was wrong, very wrong.
"Why?" Yuki and Aido asked at almost the same time.
"The other elders must be informed; people have to know what those two creatures did to Kaname!" Aido insisted indignantly.
Kaname's gaze was dark, unreadable and... was that apprehensive? "No... Something's happened," he said quietly, partially in answer, partially in question. It was obvious that something had. It was written all over the Chairman's read-me-like-a-book face. "Tell me."
The command was quiet, but brokered no beating around the bush, despite the fact that the Cross obviously would have liked to beat around the whole forest if it delayed the inevitable. He did not look like he wanted to be the one who had to deliver this news.
He walked over to his desk and clicked open his laptop computer, bringing it out of hibernation to show the screen he'd had open last. It was a web page, viewable only by those having the correct decryption software. Kaname, Aido and Takuma recognized the site instantly of course. It was the equivalent of CNN for the Vampire world – all the latest breaking important news that the human world was not allowed to know about.
What grabbed everyone's attention, however, was the picture of Kaname in his school uniform, staring out at them from the top of the page. The headline beside the picture declared in bold type: "Kuran disappearance now thought linked to possible involvement in multiple Pureblood deaths. Young heir wanted by Council of Elders for questioning in regard to the death of his deceased parents." The snippet below continued: "New evidence suggests that Hiroshi and Reina Kuran's alleged dual suicide ten years ago may in fact have been foul play. How deep does their son and sole heir's involvement run?" A video thumbnail icon promised an exclusive report with more details.
Shocked silence reigned for about a half a second. Yuki and Zero were utterly confused and Yuki shot Kaname a puzzled look. Neither of them had heard anything about his parents' death before. Yuki realized with a small jolt that she'd never asked, never known that all those years she'd known him... Kaname had been as much an orphan as she, perhaps more so, actually, since she had had a 'father' who loved her.
Aido was spluttering with fury just from reading the headline and Takuma looked sick.
Kaname's expression was blank, his gaze lingering on his parent's names as bitter understanding started to creep darkly through him. Uncle... I underestimated you.
At a silent flick of a nod from Kaname, the Chairman clicked on the video thumbnail to play the report that had already taken the vampire world by storm early that evening.
The image of a pretty blond reporter who was quite certainly a vampire appeared in the video window that opened. To several people's surprise the distant, familiar outline of Cross Academy created the backdrop for her report.
"Young heir to the Kuran name and fortune, Pureblood Kaname Kuran, has allegedly been missing for three weeks. Authorities now suspect that the disappearance may in fact have been planned by Kuran himself as new evidence regarding the details of his parents' deaths are brought to light. Ten years ago, purebloods Hiroshi and Reina Kuran were found dead in their home. The deaths were both ruled to be suicide, but now that decision is being questioned as some major inconsistencies arise in the evidence, leaving many unanswered questions about exactly what did happen that night at the Kuran house.
"The couple's bodies were allegedly found by their young son and several family friends with whom Kaname had been spending the day. One puzzling piece in the whole tragedy was a missing necklace belonging to Reina Kuran. Apparently friends and family had never seen her without it, but all eyewitness reports indicate that she was not wearing it when her body was discovered. This necklace has recently been uncovered amid the possessions of her now allegedly missing son."
The image changed to the picture of a delicate red jewel pendant entwined by snaking golden vines that was strung on a broken golden chain. The gold was slightly tarnished, as if had been sitting untouched for quite some time.
Kaname reacted visibly to the sight, inhaling sharply.
"Most damaging of all, however, is the surfacing of a missing video tape from the Kuran estate's security cameras. We have an exclusive clip that has been verified by experts as authentic. The timestamp on the security footage clearly indicates that this was definitely filmed the night that the Kurans died."
Again the picture changed, this time to the slightly grainy black and white image of what was clearly a side-angle view of a front lawn, with the door of a large mansion just visible in the upper right hand corner. Only Kaname, Takuma and the Chairman recognized Kaname's family estate.
Kaname was watching with a silent, resigned expression, as if he already knew what he was going to see.
A moment later the door flew open and a figure dashed across the lawn, streaking rapidly through the camera's field of vision. But it was enough time to see that the figure was small, still mostly a child. He was covered in blood - his hands, his face, his shirt – and there was a wild look in his eyes. The dark, fluttering sepia hair, the smooth, angular face... even Yuki recognized him. He looked perhaps a little younger than her first memories of him, but it was obviously Kaname.
Just in case anyone had any doubts, the clip was replayed in slow-mo, pausing on one of the clearest, middle frames and highlighting the blood covered, wild looking face of the boy in the center of the screen.
"Kaname Kuran is seen fleeing from the house, covered in blood, shortly after his parents death on a night when he categorically stated he was not home, hoursbefore he allegedly discovered his parents' bodies. But it doesn't stop there. As many of you may remember, a few months ago, another pureblood tied to Kuran died under suspicious circumstances. Renegade Shizuka Hio was killed at Cross Academy by an ex-human. Sentence of execution on the guilty party was halted due to direct intervention and interference by Kuran. How do these pieces fit together? It is perhaps too early to tell. However, due to these revelations, the Council of Elders has reopened the investigation of the Kuran deaths. Individuals with information about Kaname Kuran's whereabouts should contact the number below immediately. The council urges you to remember that your duty to a pureblood does not outweigh your duty to your race as a whole and to the Council. Kuran is to be considered dangerous and a threat to other purebloods until this matter can be sorted out."
The clip ended and the Chairman closed the laptop again. Deathly silence hung in the room. Everyone was looking at Kaname in various stages of disbelief and outrage.
Cross, who had already had time to get over the initial shock upon first viewing, looked at Kaname with deep compassion. He of all people knew how cruel it was to have all this thrown back up in the young pureblood's face, to have complete strangers allege that he had possibly killed his own parents. It wasn't the first time the rumor had circulated, especially considering what had happened to his Uncle not long after, but that had been only murmurs and idle, forbidden gossip. This was something else entirely.
"Those lying sons of..." Aido looked like he wanted to hit something. No one in the room thought for a moment that a word of that was true, despite what they had seen with their own eyes, and as Kaname stared silently back at the many eyes fixed on him, he had to feel a small twinge of gratitude for that. Despite what the rest of the world seemed to think, at least the people in here were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"Yagari contacted me shortly after the report broke. Your name has been placed on their list as a renegade, to be brought in, or, failing that, liquidated," Cross said quietly, gaze still holding on Kaname. "He doesn't know how it got there, and he's urging the hunters he knows to not follow through, but there's not much he can do. Once an order like that goes out... you know what it means. Even if some refuse, there will be hunters coming after you. I fear this situation may create a rift in their organization." The fact that Yagari and Cross had thrown around as much weight as they had before, in an effort to find Kaname when he went missing, was not doing any of them any favors now with the sudden shift in events.
Zero's jaw tightened. Blind obedience to what was handed down to them from the association was in a roundabout way what had cost his parents their lives, although he'd never really thought about it like that before. He had an eerie feeling that somehow this was all connected. That whoever was pulling all these invisible strings had been doing so for a long time.
Kaname felt numb, as if he was trying to absorb too much all at once. He finally forced a faint, ironic smile. "I should have expected my uncle to be capable of doing this," he said quietly as it started to sink in just how badly checkmated he'd been. "But I will admit I did not know the pieces he held. However, I do not think that he does either to some extent, and that may yet prove his undoing," Kaname speculated somewhat cryptically, lost in his own thoughts before his gaze refocused.
"What of the other students from the Night Class? Are they all right?" he asked Cross, his gaze intent, concern showing despite himself. Kaname was well aware that in any chess game, when you were going for the King you tried to remove as many of the other pieces as possible to clear the way and he was worried about those who had been openly loyal to him, who would now be considered the biggest threats by the powers aligning themselves against him.
"Kain and Ruka have been taken in for questioning by the agents of the Council, under suspicion that they were harboring you or knowledge of your whereabouts. Seiren, Rima and a number of the others have gone underground or been quietly spirited away by their families to escape the same fate until this whole situation blows over," Cross admitted slowly and Kaname only just managed to contain the look of deep regret and worry that flashed through his dark eyes. "I urged the Aidos and the Kains to do the same, as their anti-Council views are too well known. But after Akatsukiwas taken, they refused. They said that running would only make them look guilty of something. They're right, but..." Cross trailed off, running his hand through his hair and then rubbing the back of his neck. He was obviously quite worried.
Aido paled at the news about his cousin and his family, his fists curling silently at his sides. Kain... it seemed inconceivable somehow that something might happen to Wild. They'd grown up together like brothers and he'd never not had the older boy in his life. Was the whole world going insane all at once?
Kaname nodded slowly, his gaze sliding around the small group in the room, some of the few people he could count on in the world right now. All of whom were now in terrible danger because they were associated with him.
"I should thank you all, for not demanding to know the meaning of the so called evidence presented in that report immediately," Kaname said finally after another long moment. His gaze was starting to calm again, his tone not quite as collected as usual, but near enough. "But you deserve to know the truth. Then, you may judge if continuing to be associated with me is worth the risk it now presents."
Kaname sighed and ran his hand through his hair, settling to sit on the edge of the Chairman's desk, his gaze turning distant as it focused on an indefinable point across the room, memories washing back over him like ocean swells from a bygone era.
"First, you should know, that nothing that has officially been recorded about the night my parents died is the truth," he admitted quietly. "That includes my own 'official' account of the matter..."
----------------
Footnote: Kaname's parents' names haven't been given, so I made some up for this story. Hiroshi means tolerant, generous and prosperous and Reina is a rare kanji that means 'sound of jewels' and also means 'queen' in Spanish.