Silver Night
By: A Really Big Idiot
100 Years Ago
Kaname secretly observed Kiryu as the young silver-haired man absentmindedly brushed the fur coat of his favorite horse, Lily.
Even at the his distance, Kaname realized that the man was irritated. Well, that was hardly an unusual emotional state for the young man – Kiryu was always irritated about something, but Kaname hadn't seen that familiar irritated scowl ever since his wedding announcement to Yuki.
Yes, a strange thing did happen. Kiryu's typically irritated and arrogant scowl had been missing in action for quite some time.
Kaname slowly walked towards Kiryu. It had been a few days after Kiryu's 'Don't be sad' conversation. When the boy had said those words, Kaname's mind had whirled at the various meaning of the man's implications. Even after Kiryu had left, Kaname had not been able to focus on his various amounts of work and plans.
Kaname remembered and repeated the memory of Kiryu's oddly spoken and disturbing words in his head time and time again.
"Look Kuran, don't be sad."
"Don't be sad."
"Look Kaname, don't be a stranger, okay? We are going to be family soon, so don't think for a second you won't be welcome in our home."
"You can visit us and stay at our home as often as you like. So don't feel lonely, sad, or anything."
Kaname's sensibilities were shocked. What exactly brought on those words? Kaname perfected the art of hiding his true emotions. He had to if he desired to survive and rule as a pureblood king. But after all his efforts to never showing his surprise, he was still shocked that Kiryu could see sadness in him.
And Kaname was sad – deep down. But in all truth, his mental state for the past few months was of quiet fury and silent rage. Those emotions were what truly fuelled his hurt and sadness. Kaname had never expected that Yuki would choose Kiryu over him. Never. Not a single thought of such a thing had crossed his mind for such a choice. Despite her close relationship with the wretched ex-human, Kaname had never really considered Kiryu a real contender for Yuki's heart, despite his knowledge of the boy's true feelings for her. Perhaps it was his pride, perhaps it was his ego, but Kaname had not expected Yuki's decision.
And while Kaname was now sure that Kiryu's oddly spoken words were probably meant to comfort him, Kaname's one moment of guilt for him had been crushed with the boy's unsaid-but-still-there implications.
Kaname would be out once those two finalized their love with their marriage.
The realization made Kaname's soul snarl.
He would not be left behind. He did not want to be alone.
Kaname refused to accept this turn of events. He would not allow this foolish exercise to reach its full conclusion.
It was supposed to be Kaname who was to wed Yuki. It was Kaname who was to plan the wedding details with her. It was supposed to be Kaname who was to have her always by his side.
And it was going to be Kaname and Yuki in the end.
Thus, any momentary guilt Kaname had felt for Kiryu's odd words was thrown from his mind when he realized that Kiryu was stealing something he had no right to have.
And Kaname despised Kiryu for his thievery.
So, if they thought that Kaname would allow this stupidity to be accomplished, they were solely mistaken.
Furthermore, what Kaname was doing - what he was ultimately planning to do – he was doing it for their own benefit as well.
Yuki just didn't understand and Kaname didn't think she would even try to understand if he explained it to her. Yuki had lived far too long as a human, she had been coddled and didn't truly understand her true nature, but Kaname understood, and thus he would not allow this foolishness - this farce of a relationship - this stupid and witless diversion to be completed.
Kiryu may have been valuable to her now, but he would soon be gone. Even if that 'soon' would be centuries – Kiryu would eventually be lost to her. She could not stop it. What were centuries when one could live for a thousand millennias? Kiryu, the nobles, humans – their lives and ages would soon be passed through the pages of time. Purebloods were ageless. Purebloods had no other equal but another Pureblood. What Yuki was doing, to bid herself to a creature that was a stable as ashes was pure foolishness. She just wouldn't get it.
And Kiryu probably wouldn't get it either.
On the other hand, Kaname also wanted to punish the boy for having the sheer audacity to take something that he didn't have a right to even think about, much less to have.
Yet as he approached Kiryu from behind, Kaname was suddenly hit with an intense feeling of doubt as to the rightness of his murderous course. Yuki was right. Kiryu did have a naive gentleness to him when he thought no one was around to see. The way he cared for his pet horse spoke volumes of his inner character.
Kaname viciously crushed those small feelings of dark doubt.
Kiryu paused in his brushing hand. He finally noticed Kaname's presence by a distant tree. Kaname mildly wondered if Zero's instincts had any indication of Kaname's murderous thoughts.
Surprised purple eyes meet quiet brown ones, and they silently stared at each other. Kiryu nodded his head at him in greeting, and then he went back to brushing his horse's hair. The movement wasn't as smooth as it was before, however.
Kaname looked at Kiryu for a moment and openly studied his form. In one of his back pockets, Kaname noticed that it contained a small rolled-up paperback book. Either it was his curiosity or just a means to start a conversation, Kaname asked, 'What is that book about?"
Kiryu's eyes widen at Kaname's sudden question, but then unexpectedly, he shifted his eyes a bit in embarrassment. For some strange reason, Kaname thought Kiryu's embarrassment was... appealing. "It's just a book I'm reading." Kiryu huffed and refocused his attentions to Lily the horse.
Kaname raised an elegant eyebrow. Small talk with the boy was so frustrating. "What is the book about?"
Zero turned away from him and amazingly his neck seemed to flush an even brighter red. "It's a book about parenting."
Kaname's thoughts had viciously focused. Of all the things to read. It was almost like the boy was tempting his destruction. How dare he even have thoughts of such a thing! "Why would you be reading something like that now? Surely, you can't be planning to have children so soon." Kaname kept his deep voice cultural, controlled, and neutral.
Kiryu pressed his lips together. "Kids happen when you least expect it. My parents had my brother and I exactly nine months after they got married. That might happen to us, and I want to be prepared." Kiryu's words were causal, but his position was defensive. Kaname studied Kiryu for a moment. Kiryu hadn't made any sudden movements, but there was a sense that he involuntary thought Kaname was a threat to his unborn children or something.
A threat to his unborn children...
Kaname's dark-brown eyes blackly flashed. His mind spinning at the different possibilities.
It couldn't be...
Vampire men were always the first to know if their female mate was pregnant. It was an evolutionary defensive system that vampires had that aided them to protect their progeny from harm and rival competitors/predators.
However, Kiryu, despite his new acceptance of his vampire state, still didn't fully recognize or understand the nature of his vampirism and the boy was too pig-headed enough not to want to learn it. Such was his immaturity.
But Kiryu was preparing for the unintentional state of his future fatherhood? He was? And now?
Kaname's heart blackened. If there was any doubt before of his course, Kaname knew it was destroyed due to his newest discovery.
Chapter Twenty: Meeting, Part II
Present
Prince Haruka Kuran loudly dropped his suitcase and stared bitterly at his bedroom palace. The trip on the private jet was uneventful. Well, other than Juri's mindless grooming habits, which annoyed Haruka to no end, the trip had been peaceful.
Haruka had immediately wanted to confront his father with his newfound revelations. He wanted to confirm everything in a peaceful and mature manner.
But his father had completely blown him off.
Again.
Sure, Butler Rio had said it was because his father wanted to focus on his current work and business. But Haruka had learned in his earlier years that when his father wanted to 'focus on his current work' it was code for 'You aren't worth my time, Haruka. Go do something to make me proud and thus worth my time.'
And this was the man who had given Haruka life. Haruka wasn't sure, but he didn't think his father was doing parenting right. Well, in terms of him, at least. Juri seemed to get all the time and attention she wanted from their father. Even without trying to do anything. Even when she failed him miserably. Even when she didn't really need or want father's pure attention.
His life was really unfair.
But Haruka wasn't about to throw himself a pity party. He was a Kuran. Kurans solve problems. Kurans created solutions. Kurans did not allow anything to stop them from getting to their goal.
And currently, Haruka's new goal was to confront the silver-haired man who was trying to destroy his relatively peaceful family.
Haruka decided to ready himself.
Silver Night looked at his master's private gym.
To say that it was a private gym seemed absolutely ludicrous.
After the day his master had decided to stay in Silver's room to rest during the day, instead of returning to his own like he usually did with his routine, Silver knew there was another fundamental shift in their relationship. And one of those changes was the fact that Silver was now free to leave his room and explore the various areas of his master's private palace.
Silver had been free to explore the various areas of his master's personal domain, and it was a refreshing change to say the least. For nearly two months, Silver had been struck in his bedroom. So walking around again was a highly special treat for him. His master had allowed him free range, except for his own personal bedroom and private study, Silver was free to go where ever he wished during his master-less moments.
Silver discovered many things about his master because of this newly bestowed privilege.
The first thing was that his master truly was a lonely and impersonal man. Silver had seen cages that seemed more lived-in than his master's private palace. The entire palace was spotless and clean, but that was not so difficult to maintain if there weren't much things to clean in the first place.
In essence, the design of the entire palace could be described in three plain words: stark, cold, and efficient.
The second thing Silver learned was that his tactic of changing the design of his room had been an unexpectedly highly beneficial move on his part. Silver had redecorated his room for two reasons. The first reason was that he needed his master to emotionally disassociate his past evil actions against Silver with his present interaction with him. If his master had come back to Silver's room exactly how he had left it that painful Winter Ball night, Silver knew that the memory of this master's guilty shame would have driven him to an unwanted action so that his master could defend his inner ego. Silver hadn't really understood what the man needed back then, but Silver had bet that it was better for him to recreate the room and distant the thoughts of those dangerous memories as much of possible. And it worked. It worked marvelously well.
The second reason he had redecorated the room was because that room was Silver's only battleground. The environment is a key issue to any battle a commander decided to wage and make no mistake about it – the art of seduction was truly a game of war. A mental war of the most personal of kind – a war for the heart.
Silver had organized and embellished the room to be exactly what he needed it to be for him to employ his various seductive tactics. He designed the room to be a close-by daily escape for his master. A place of fantasy and pleasure. A place of happiness and joy and freedom.
A place that only had the two of them.
Silver had realized his seductive tactic had been truly effective when his master had repeatedly come to his room every night without missing a beat. At first, it had alarmed him, because Silver didn't want the man to become too saturated with his illusion. He had thought that if his master had gotten too use to this form of pleasure, he would have quickly lost his interest in him, and Silver would have been backed to square one.
But after a while, Silver realized that his newest master wasn't so much saturated with his illusions, but in actuality, he seemed to be desperately starved for them. Almost to the point that he wanted more and more of them. Silver adjusted his tactics to accompany this unexpected discovery.
Nevertheless, when Silver compared the design of his room with the rest of his palace – it wasn't really a wonder anymore as it why that simple technique had been so effective. When his master stepped into Silver's room, he must have felt like he was transported to another world all together.
Honestly, Lady Luck was a fickle woman.
Silver spent much of his new-found privilege time in his master's personal library and outside garden. In the library, Silver had also discovered that his master had a love of history and languages. There were hundreds of books dedicated to the history of various cultures throughout the world. Silver would have to study these books. After all, it would be to his benefit, if Silver could carry on more intellectual exchanges with the man.
While carnal pleasure was a powerful weapon against a male victim, for Silver to rely on his physical and sexual appeal only was a foolish and useless tactic in the long run. The two genders were never so different in this regard, and it was a lesson many women had not really learned or fully appreciated. Men aren't bonded with sex. They may be grateful for it. They may highly enjoy it. But for it to bond them? No. Unlike women, sex was more a physical need that needed to be check off from time to time to a man. For women, sex was more of an emotional expression of love and commitment. Thus, when a woman slept with you, she was giving her entire heart and self. However, when a man slept with you, he was only giving you want he thought you earned and deserved. It was why a man was able to sleep with a mirage of other people and could still claim that his heart only belonged to 'one'. Men are notoriously secretive with their true emotions. And while there could be a lot to be debated about such actions, Silver had learned this harsh lesson of difference though many painful decades.
Therefore, Silver threw himself into learning interesting facts of stories throughout history. He put what he learned away in his long-term memory. He would use this information at the right time to entertain his master.
But for now, he had come to the gym.
It was early evening, but Silver hadn't sensed his master anywhere in or near his private palace. It could only be that the man was off doing whatever Vampires Kings needed to do at the moment.
Silver stretched his muscles. But for now, he was going to relax his busy mind. Silver was really due for a good workout, and the activity would relax him.
Haruka somehow got into his father's private palace.
Haruka needed to make a mental note of this. Sneaking into his father's private palace shouldn't be this easy. Well, that wasn't exactly true. Getting into the Kuran Palace Multiplex in the first place was a fool's dream. If you weren't invited or had a reason to be there, your life was forfeited. Father had mercilessly ended the lives of those he found somewhat 'annoying', so intruders didn't stand a chance.
But once Haruka realized that he wasn't about to be flung into his father's personal torture chamber for trespassing, Haruka decided to march toward the concubine chambers and calmly confront the enemy of his family.
Without any guile, Haruka opened the door to the concubine's chamber.
Haruka blinked.
He felt like he was seeing another world.
Before him was an exotic realm that Haruka's young mind couldn't full grasp but wanted to urgently explore and –
Haruka shut the door suddenly. He frowned at his previous train of thought. Now was not the time to be distracted by odd...things.
But one thing was for certain, the home-wreaker wasn't there.
And Haruka was far from pleased.
So, door by door, Haruka opened. He was going to find this person if it was the last thing he did tonight.
After some time, Haruka came upon his father's private gym. He opened it irately and the first thing he heard was the sound of running treadmill – with a person running on it. A person with long silver hair. A person with moonlight skin.
At the sound of the door opening, the man suddenly stopped his activity and turned to face the opened gym door. There was a quick look of sheer surprise and confusion aimed at Haruka, but Haruka's mind had decided to become blank.
A sort of blankity, blank-blank.
Truthfully, Haruka had thought he would be able to handle his situation calmly and maturely. He was a Kuran after all. But suddenly, he really didn't feel like he wanted to be civil. A fury for his mother. A fury at his father. And a fury for himself suddenly consumed him.
Haruka stared at the handsome man who wiped the sweat of his workout from his forehead. The man walked towards him carefully, but he said nothing to Haruka. It was like the man was studying him or waiting for his reaction.
Well, Haruka was going to give him a reaction.
Haruka stood before him and stared the man straight in the eye. Curious purple-gray orbs latched on to his silently wrathful brown ones. There was a quiet second between them.
Haruka broke it.
"You home-wreaking son of a bitch!" He angrily hissed.
And Haruka punched the silverette man in the face.
To Be Continued