Kain loved the outdoors, as did Aidou, and they were both fully pumped up on their run through the fresh coniferous woods, despite carrying heavy packs for their trip. The solid crunch of the earth and snap of twigs under his feet was so satisfying, and for once, Aidou was being quiet to enjoy the scenery.
They arrived at the HQ, breathless, refreshed and grinning like fools.
Their smiles dropped as they saw the number of Vampires that had arrived.
Seventy Vampires, at most.
Didn't Kaname say that the Council had publicised the recruitment? Where were all the Vampires? This couldn't be it.
Aidou scowled, "There'd better be more than this!"
"It's still early," Kain rationalised, heading for the centre of the meeting place, and calling for attention. He motioned Aidou over, "We'd better get set up."
They noted down all the vampires present, finding that the numbers were even fewer than they had thought. A measly fifty-nine. Sixty, if they counted the brother of one Vampire who was supposedly too ill to come himself.
They were done in an hour.
Kain dumped his pack on the floor, watching as it shuddered with the vibrations from its own weight. He had packed, expecting it would at least take the whole day, overnight, maybe even a few days to note down everyone. But it had all been finished in an hour.
Even training days, which he had thought they might get started on to gauge how well the Vampires were prepared, he had packed for. But if they even did that, it would only take a day at most.
And it didn't look like there were any more Vampires coming either.
"Where are they all? There were more at the Coronation! This is pathetic," Aidou snapped, standing on a boulder off-side with his hands planted on his hips. He glowered down at all the recruits.
"I don't know," Kain admitted, running over the list of people, "This is only enough for a squadron! What the hell?"
Aidou leapt off his boulder, grabbing a random man by the collar and peering up at him with cold fiery eyes.
"Where is everybody, eh? We're recruiting an army, not some musical production! Where is everyone?"
The man surprisingly pulled himself free of Aidou and sneered right back at him.
"Sir, the Council did mention the war, and that we should recruit, but many of us are wondering what exactly we will be fighting for."
"What?" Aidou screeched, Kain shifted closer when he saw a flush of angry red developing over his cheekbones, "You don't know what you're fighting for? The fucking return of Kuran Rido, you harebrained asshole!"
The man flushed but quickly rose again.
"We all thought him to be dead. Since when did he return? We knew nothing of this! We don't even know why we're fighting! You should be giving us answers before you force us to fight your wars! That's why no one has come!"
To their horror, the rag-tag crowd began to unite, calling out agreement to the man. Aidou shrank back a fraction, but then leapt higher up on his boulder so he could glare down at the man.
"Oh yeah? That's your reason? What about your allegiance to the King? What about the fact that only days ago, Kaname-sama became our King, and we should be supporting him in this war, no matter what? It doesn't matter what questions you might ask. All we should be doing is following Kaname-sama! He has called for you!"
This drew even more cheers from the crowd, and the man stepped back in shame.
Aidou grinned at the cheering faces. The Vampire world loved Kaname. As long as you said his name, you would have their loyalty.
"So," he scoffed, "What is with this pathetic number of Vampires? Look at yourselves! What is the number, Kat?"
"Fifty-ni-"
"Fifty-nine!" Aidou roared over him, "Disgraceful! Where are the thousands of proud Vampires who came to witness his Coronation? Where are they when we need them now?"
The crowd turned around to survey themselves, their expressions taking on that of shame when they saw how small their group really was.
"Exactly," Aidou nodded smugly.
Kain leapt onto the boulder next to him, exclaiming, "Kaname has called us!"
The crowd cheered madly, Kain was grinning so much it was painful.
"We will gather here tomorrow. Everyone, go to your homes and spread the word!"
The crowd dispersed, as did Aidou and Kain soon after, deciding that they would take on the task of searching through villages themselves.
000
Takuma's hand was dangling, so close to Shiki that if he was to extend his fingers they would brush with the back of his palm. He was watching Shiki closely, just like Ruka was watching him closely.
It was aggravating, but he already knew that Kaname must have given Ruka the responsibility of watching over him.
Takuma desperately tried to remember the last time he had run his fingers through Shiki's hair, and could barely remember the feel of it. Boys didn't tend to play with each others' hair very much. He only ruffled Shiki's hair when he was feeling down, or unmotivated.
His finger twitched.
He gasped as Shiki's did too.
"Senri?" Takuma peeked over the edge of the bed, grinning as he saw Shiki's pale blue eyes open slowly. "Oh god, what were you thinking-"
"Taku."
Shiki's eye was amazingly focused and sharp, latching onto Takuma's like a lifeline and drawing him closer, simply by their strange energy.
Takuma leapt backwards, laughing joyfully, "I'll go get the doctor straightaw-"
"Taku," Shiki urged, causing Takuma to freeze, smile still in place. "I… how long have I been…"
"Oh, not as long as you'd think. About four hours. You lost so much blood-"
"Where's the glass? The blood, it's for her…"
Takuma choked, dropping back onto the chair he had remained vigil at for the four hours. He hadn't spared one thought on the broken glass, with its measly amount of blood. He had been preoccupied with devoting himself to as many religions as possible, praying to deities he'd never even heard of that Shiki would survive this. He had been so pale and weak, and by the time the doctor had arrived, the stink of death was working its way to his body-
"I seem to have forgotten it."
Shiki's breathing was steadily becoming more erratic and raspy, with it beginning to heave, Takuma was scared he was going to reopen some of his wounds with the amount of movement he was making. It had been horrifying to see the doctor find more and more self-inflicted wounds that they had had no clue about hidden around Shiki's body. It was like he had tried to bleed himself out, just so that he could get the blood out of his body.
"You ha-have to get it to he-her," Shiki wheezed, clutching the sheets, "She's dying. I c-can feel it."
Takuma knew that Shiki shared a Bond with his mother, he knew about the accident. He completely froze when he heard this. If she died, that meant that Shiki would die too…
"I d-don't want to die, Taku. Please take it to her."
Takuma bit his lip, watching his best friend begging him in his hoarse voice. He, in all honesty, hated Shiki's mother, for the simple fact that she had stopped him from living his own, free life. He didn't care about her sob story, or that she had also given life to Shiki. Right now, she was ruining everything…
"Please, Taku. I don't want to die. I'm so scared. Please, Taku, please…"
He couldn't bear to see Shiki babbling, using precious breaths to beg him to feed his mother.
"Okay."
He couldn't stop himself-
He grabbed Shiki's hand comfortingly, shooting a glance over his shoulder for Ruka. She was gone.
"Don't let me die, Taku…"
"You won't," Takuma squeezed his hand, "I promise you, you won't."
000
Zero set the drained bag down. The itching hunger pain was gone now. All he felt was warm, hot even, from the power his body was absorbing. It put him in a slight sweat.
But the blood had been cool, like fruit juice, kept in the mini-fridge.
It was odd-tasting like that. Not quite as silky smooth, or sweet.
Bland.
And he had got a damn brain-freeze, from blood! Zero had never imagined he would get that… the irony…
Still, the blood bag bothered him.
He had thought things would go back to normal between him and Kaname; that Kaname would feed him every few weeks, and that would be their only interaction, just like before. Indifference, he could deal with.
He had never anticipated this reaction.
It was like Kaname couldn't even bear to face him.
Blood bags.
Did he hate him that much?
It was cold, clinical… unnatural. Zero shook his head. What was he thinking? It was an excellent solution. But what he wanted to know was why Kaname did this, where things stood between them.
He had to talk to Kaname.
Zero wiped his lips, glanced down at the crumpled clothes he wore, from yesterday, he cringed. But what did he have to wear? There weren't any clothes around, apart from the infirmary's hospital gowns.
He trudged out of the room, almost knocking right into Ruka.
One of the most beautiful vampires of the Night Class, with her strawberry blonde flowing locks and rose quartz eyes, now flashing red at the scent of Pure blood. Her pretty face twisted into a disgusted snarl.
"You fed from Kaname-sama, Kiryuu?"
Zero shrugged, surprised with how unbothered he was with the question. The secret had been revealed already. What was the big deal anymore?
"I'm sure you know that answer already, Souen," he answered in the same tone, moving around her, "I need to be going now."
Ruka's eyebrow twitched at the mocking tone in Zero's voice. The nerve!
"Kiryuu!"
Zero sighed, turning around, "Just go ahead and ask your question so I can leave. I have things I need to do."
"Where's Kaname-sama? You fed from him but I can't sense him anywhere."
Zero frowned. Was this some secret he should be keeping again? The blood bags… he already knew they were practically equivalent to Kaname giving him bags of diamonds for free. Inconceivable. But these Vampires were Kaname's most-trusted. And he was sure that eventually they would be told anyway.
"Kaname left me his blood to drink. Blood bags."
For a couple of seconds, it was like Ruka just didn't understand. And then her eyes bugged out comically.
"He what?"
"I need to go now, Souen-"
"No. Stop, wait. You have no idea what you've just said, do you?"
"I do," Zero sighed, "I bet it's a huge deal that Kaname's giving me his blood like juice boxes, but hey, it's his choice, so who am I to tell-"
"No, you don't get it!" Ruka fumed, grabbing Zero by the shoulder and turning him to slam him against a wall. Her nails bit into his thin shirt, "You know nothing about Vampire culture!"
"Is that really my fault?" Zero choked, quietening down when Ruka shot him a venomous look.
She hissed, "You've Bitten Kaname. The Bite forges the Bond, but only he can feel the Bond at the moment because it's an incomplete Bond. Whenever he feeds you, the Bond grows stronger. Do you know how many times you've fed?"
Zero blinked. Over the last year? How was he meant to keep tabs on that? If the Bond grows stronger with every feeding… Zero didn't want to imagine how strong it was now.
And he couldn't even feel the Bond.
"That many? Well, Kiryuu, I can tell you that now the Bond is strong, it's like a leash. Kaname can only be a certain distance from you before that leash begins to tighten on him, anywhere beyond that and the pain becomes suffocating."
"How do you-"
"I know because my aunt's friend had this problem when she Bonded far too young with a childhood sweetheart. The strain drove him mad. He couldn't bear to be apart from her, until he Bit her too. But by then, they already loathed each other, and now they are forever Bonded for life."
Ruka shoved Zero's shoulders harder.
"Bonding is a commitment," she poked his chest with her talon-like nails, "You must take it seriously. Kaname is relying on you to be kind to him, to ease his suffering by staying close. I have no idea why he's distancing himself from you. If it's because of that stupid fight you've just had, I want you to sort this out immediately. Kaname isn't just inflicting pain on himself, he's actually harming himself. With the Bond strengthening with each feeding, the Bond is becoming overpowering to Kaname and it needs to be satisfied too, and that can only be done by your Bite. You need to talk to him about it."
"That's what I was going to do!" Technically he was just going to ask why Kaname was doing this, but now he knew he would have to stop Kaname from doing this blood bag thing. Zero faltered… "Is Kaname going to go mad?"
Ruka's eyes flashed, "Not if you talk to him. I don't care that you've had a fight, that you're not friends or whatever. If Kaname is made to suffer any more because of you, I'll beat the shit out of you, screw the consequences. You need to somehow find a way of delaying the Bond's demands. It wants to be completed. Otherwise, you will have to let Kaname Bite you; let him complete the Bond."