Disclaimer: I do not own Blood Plus, its plotlines/storylines, its characters, etc. None of that. All canon elements belong to their rightful owners. That said, I do own this non-profit fanfiction, written for entertainment alone, as well as its plot/story, and all of its OCs, etc.

Changes to Canon: Hibiki Otonashi, one of Diva's canon twin daughters, has been changed to a son, i.e a Chiropteran King.

Cast List

Main Cast

Song Joong-ki as Hibiki Otonashi

Gong Jun as Zhao Wen

Dilraba Dilmurat as Song Shen

Supporting Cast

Xiao Meng and Evan Peters as Kodai Komori and Nathan Mahler

Cody Fern as Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin

Janice Man as Yin Mayonaka

Zhou Ye as Yang Mayonaka

Kim Ji-Won as Kanade Otonashi

Nick Hargrove as David Silverstein II

Kim Jisoo as Kira Miyagusuku

Jun Ji-hyun as Saya Otonashi

Wang Yibo as Hagi

Original Appearance as Lulu

Original Appearance as Kai Miyagusuku

Sai Ashina as Kaori Miyagusuku

Mads Mikkelsen as David Silverstein

Sarah Paulson as Julia Silverstein

Forest Whitaker as Lewis

Guest Cast

Willem Dafoe as Aston Collins

Gaspard Ulliel as Joel Goldschmidt VI

Bai Yu as Akihiro Okamura

Meisa Kuroki as Mao Okamura

Godfrey Gao as Archer

Minor Characters

Park Shin-hye as Mei Okamura

Chapter 1:

Hibiki

2007, Okinawa, Japan

David and Julia walked towards the door of the hotel room currently belonging to Joel Goldschmidt VI, the current Head of Red Shield. Despite the fact that Diva had finally been killed, the organization had not been disbanded, as there was still more to do. The global broadcast of Diva's concert had been going for a while before they'd managed to stop the feed, and thus, there were still incidents where chiropteran brutes attacked humans, infecting others into even more brutes. The whole of Red Shield were going to be doing cleanup duty for a while, though Kai, at the least, had been allowed to retire, in a sense. He was charged with watching over Saya's resting place, same as his dad before him, as well as caring for his niece and nephew, the children of his younger brother, Riku, and Diva herself. Despite only being a man of twenty, Kai had already happily adopted the now one-month-old twins, naming them Kanade and Hibiki Otonashi.

Kanade was the girl of the twins, an already cheerful, if quiet, little girl with her aunt's maroon eyes, the next red-eyed Chiropteran Queen. Meanwhile, Hibiki, surprising everyone, was the boy of the twins, the first known Chiropteran King, more boisterous and playful than his older twin sister. Other than his gender, the other surprise had been his eyes, dark brown with a slight purple sheen to them, rather than his mother's blue. They had both actually inherited Riku's deep brown hair rather than Diva's black. Unlike Saya and Diva, the twins already seemed to share a close, positive bond with the other, not being able to be separated from the other for long without crying. Many of the scientists within the Red Shield, including Julia, wished to study the little boy, but Kai had been adamant about not allowing such, not wanting his nephew to be treated similarly to Diva.

As they were both on duty, David and Julia were dressed appropriately, David in one of his pressed black suits, while Julia wore a white lab coat over a black dress blouse and a cream knee-length skirt, with dress heels. With the war against the Chiropterans pretty much over at this point, David had ceased denying her affections, instead returning them as he had always wished to, as evidenced by Julia's three-month-old baby bump, and the engagement rings on both of their left ring fingers. They had no idea why they'd been told to meet with Joel, but Julia held some kind of file in her hands that she'd not stopped reading since they'd gotten in the car, while David walked stiffly, hands in his pockets. He didn't know why, but he had a bad feeling.

David glanced over at his preoccupied fiance. He was curious about the file, but it was probably some medical or scientific report, which meant he wouldn't understand a word anyway. He was not unintelligent by any means, but medicine and science were not his forte. "Do you know what Joel wants to see us about, Julia? Does it have anything to do with what you're looking at?" At his questioning, Julia immediately closed the file, getting a shifty look. Well, that wasn't suspicious. He didn't want to distrust the woman he was planning to marry, but…. "Julia?"

Julia still didn't look at him. "Joel will explain everything, David." As they reached the door, she rapped on the door lightly with her knuckles. They had been able to hear a conversation going on the other side of the door, but at the knock, it was cut off by Joel's voice telling them to enter, his tone sounding grave. This was making David more anxious by the second as he reached out, opened the door, and let Julia in first before entering himself, closing the door behind them, the door immediately locking as it was shut.

As Julia sat in one of the chairs at a coffee table, David surveyed the room. Generic hotel room, and the three of them were alone but for one other person at the table, sitting on the other side of Joel, across from Julia. He was a young man, probably Kai's age, of seemingly Chinese descent, with waist-length black hair hanging loose but for a bun at the back of his head, an ebony hairpin keeping the bun in place. He appeared to also be in uniform, though his clothing was neither formal, like David's, nor military; instead he wore a sort of form-fitting black suit likely used for spy work and/or infiltration. He'd never seen him before, but he didn't expect to recognize him when he was dressed like that. If the main organization of Red Shield was secretive, the espionage branch was even more so.

Noticing where David's focus was on the unknown person, Joel smiled and explained, "David, Julia, I should introduce you, this is Zhao Wen. He works for the Red Shield, of course, in the espionage branch, as you can see. As for his young age, his family was wiped out by chiropterans when he was only sixteen. He joined us quickly after that and has been with us ever since. He finished the training pretty quickly as their top recruit. He had a knack for it. Hasn't failed a mission yet."

Zhao Wen smiled, picking up a teacup sat in front of him; Joel had a tray of tea set out on the table for the four of them, likely brought along rather than provided by the admittedly expensive hotel. He took a delicate sip of his tea before he said to Joel with a seemingly amicable smile. "I'm unaccustomed to my information just being handed out. Clearly I've been working this job too long already." Joel chuckled at that apologetically. "Speaking of, we should move this along, yes? If you're requesting me, that means that you have a job for me, so I don't want to lose the night." It was currently early in the evening, but who knew how long this meeting would take.

After a moment, David conceded to moving forward and taking the last seat, across from Joel, and between Julia and Zhao Wen. He took note that the latter spoke with a naturally soft tone, his English fluent. He didn't move to have any of the tea, in contrast to Julia, who had moved to make herself a cup. "Why would the espionage branch be needed? Diva and her Chevaliers have been dealt with, and the only surviving Schiff is on our side. And the government has already cracked down on the remnants of Cinq Fleche."

Joel placed down his own cup of tea in favor of linking his hands together leisurely, seeming to be thinking about how to start. "Diva is gone. Her Chevaliers are gone. And you are right. Lulu is now on our side. The brutes are no threat; Red Shield has perfected its weapons against chiropterans to the extent where we can now kill them even without Saya's help. As for the Cinq Fleche remnants, they are now all humans, so we can leave them to the main branch of the government. However, there is apparently now a new threat."

David wasn't sure what he was expecting Joel to say next. The Chiropteran Royals, as they'd been redubbed from Queens after the birth of Hibiki, were apparently always born in pairs, possibly, that was Julia's theory anyway. Had there been contact with Saya and Diva's unknown aunt? Had more Queens, Kings, or Chevaliers made their appearance? Maybe even more Schiff? What he wasn't expecting was Joel's next words.

"Diva has unexpectedly given birth to a Chiropteran King. That is very dangerous." David looked at Joel with a mixture of shock and disbelief as those words left the actually younger man's lips, even if neither managed to crack David's stoic facade. The King that the man spoke of was a mere baby. He didn't see how a one-month-old could be dangerous by any stretch of the imagination, but he remained silent for now, listening. "We have no idea what a Chiropteran King is capable of. When he grows up, he could end up a threat to humanity even worse than his mother."

David was still silent, but when he realized that Joel was expecting a response, he blinked and said, "With all due respect, Joel, you said it yourself. When he grows up. He's a baby that's no more a threat than the baby growing in Julia's womb. Furthermore, with Kai now raising him, he will lead a happy life, same as Saya did before Diva's escape. There's no reason to expect that he'll grow up to terrorize humanity."

Joel shook his head, lowering his hands to the table as he sat back within his wheelchair. "I wish that I could take that chance, David. But it's not that simple. A human child raised by a loving family will no doubt grow up to be an upstanding member of society. However, this isn't a human that we're speaking of. It's not even a Queen. Saya was able to grow up to be a good person, it's likely that Diva would have as well if not for my ancestor, just as it's likely for Kanade. Who's to say that Kings aren't naturally aggressive and malicious as they age, naturally psychotic, naturally bloodthirsty? The King needs to be dealt with."

The King…. David hadn't missed the dehumanization. Granted, he wasn't a human, but still…. Saya was referred to by her name, Kanade, Lulu, even Diva... "Hibiki." Joel seemed surprised as he spoke the name. He was displeased to see that Julia also was. Zhao Wen had been sipping his tea silently, almost as stoic as him, but he detected a hint of something, displeasure, but at which part? What Joel was saying or what David was saying? His family was slaughtered by chiropterans, so perhaps the latter. "The King has a name," David just continued. "His name is Hibiki. And he happens to be a baby. How do you propose he be 'dealt with' exactly? Killing him? I'm sure that Julia has some of Kanade's blood from when she did a check-up on them." They'd already learned during the war with Diva that the blood had to be fresh, which was why just adding Saya's blood to their weapons had been useless, unless the chiropteran was captured first and injected over time. So what were they planning to do? Poison the child over time until he died? He couldn't see Kai agreeing with or to any of this.

But Joel, to his credit, looked horrified at David's assumption, as did Julia thankfully. "Of course not, David! You said it yourself. We don't know any of this for sure. I can't very well kill a baby on unconfirmed fears." So he wanted to watch him, as they did with Saya after the Vietnam incident? He supposed that wouldn't be so bad, and the precaution wasn't entirely unreasonable. Apparently he was wrong again though, sort of. "That's why Zhao Wen is here." Zhao Wen perked up at hearing his name. "He will procure the child for us without Kai being aware and bring him to a location I will disclose to him beforehand. He'll be locked up, monitored, and studied."

Zhao Wen raised an eyebrow, not even seeming surprised as he heard what his job apparently was. "So you want me to kidnap a child without his guardian knowing? Not something I've ever done, but I'm not opposed to new challenges." He shrugged. "I'll need his address, information on whoever lives with him, and the drop off location." He sounded more as if he was about to steal an object rather than a tiny person, but then that was likely more his job description, to steal either important documents or objects and drop them at a location.

Joel pulled a manila folder from a compartment within his wheelchair and slid it over to Zhao Wen. "That has everything that you'll need. You have a week to complete the job. After that time, if you've yet to succeed, turn in a report, and you'll be dismissed so that we can send in another." Zhao Wen looked offended at the suggestion that he would actually fail, but just nodded. "However, when you get to the 'drop off' location, don't leave the premises immediately, and follow all instructions that you are given." Zhao Wen nodded again after a moment of surprise and Joel turned his attention over to Julia. "You'll be in charge of the K…." He glanced at David, who was scowling at this point. "You'll be in charge of Hibiki's medical care and examinations."

"Don't you mean experimentation?" David spoke up coldly. Joel and Julia both looked over at him. They were talking about kidnapping, locking up, and experimenting on a child so casually it was disgusting him. Maybe it was because he'd come to see Kai and Riku, even Saya, as his own children, so speaking of their nephew (son in Riku's case) like this…. "Joel, let me ask you this. You're worried about Hibiki growing up to be a monster, like Diva was. Don't you think treating him just as she was will only bring about exactly what you fear?" It was a strange sensation that he was now feeling. He'd never felt sympathy for Diva. Her past was crappy, but she'd demonized the whole of humanity and terrorized them for the actions of two humans, one of whom she'd kept by her side for nearly two centuries. But at this moment, he could understand how humans could create their own monsters, Diva included. Was this conversation an echo of the one the first Joel and Amshel Goldsmith had once had regarding Saya and Diva? Was history repeating itself?

Joel sighed heavily at his words. "David. I was hoping that you'd see my wisdom in this. But I see now that I was wrong. You don't have to participate in any of this, but I will ask you not to reveal any of this to Kai. If you do, it would only go badly for the both of you." David stared at Joel in disbelief. Had the Head of Red Shield, and his friend, just threatened him and Kai? "As for the rest of the Red Shield, they will be notified once we've obtained… Hibiki, though his location will remain top secret. You are dismissed." David stood up quickly, having had enough a while ago. Julia stood up with him quickly, but Joel called out, "Wait, Julia. We have more to discuss. It'll only take a bit."

David stormed from the room, slamming the door behind him. He stood there for a long moment in numb silence before heading for his car. As he got behind the wheel, he closed the door before leaning back in the seat. As he waited for Julia, he closed his eyes. He couldn't believe what had just happened. What did he do? Just let things happen, or tell Kai? But he couldn't tell Kai, and he knew that. He'd been friends with Joel for so long that it was hard to forget that the other man was his boss. When he gave an order, you followed it, no matter what it entailed, no questions asked. And if you disobeyed it, even Joel had no choice but to take action; he was the leader of a government organization after all. He'd only be placing Kai in danger if he told him anything. David himself had a job to do as well, and as much as he cared about Kai and Saya, had cared about Riku, he couldn't stick his neck out here. He had his own family to think of now with Julia carrying his baby. Opening his eyes, he let his mask slip a moment as he slammed his palm into his steering wheel repeatedly, the violence of the act not giving him a single ounce of comfort or reprieve.

He turned quickly when Julia returned, noticeably without the file, opening the car door sedately, sliding into the passenger seat, and closing the door behind her. He didn't even have to ask what the file was anymore, probably one about Hibiki, a copy at that likely, as she'd have the original. She sat silently, nervously, hands in her lap, waiting for him to speak. "Do you actually agree with Joel? And if you do, do you agree with him because you truly agree, or because you're getting something - someone, Julia - new to research?" Julia snapped a look over at him. "You have to know that this is wrong."

Julia gave him a piercing look. "David. He's not wrong. We know nothing about Kings. Queens we know can be safe, Chevaliers, Schiff…. But Kings could be dangerous. What if he does get more aggressive and bloodthirsty as he ages? What if the animosity between pureblood Chiropteran siblings is innate? Sure, Diva had her reasons, disproportionate as they were. But what if there was more to it? Even on Saya's end, she never even considered rehabilitation over killing her own sister." She had clearly thought about all of this beyond just the research angle, which served to calm him some, as he'd begun to think that she'd not been who he had thought she was.

As this was Julia, the woman he loved, saying this, David forced himself to think things over. Without bias, without emotion. He supposed she made valid points, Joel too, now that he really thought about it. But this still felt wrong. It was no better than locking up an innocent human being because they might commit a crime. Beyond that, Kai didn't deserve this any more than Hibiki. He'd already lost too much - his biological family, his adoptive father, his younger brother, Saya. Were they really going to take his nephew away from him too, the boy he already saw more as a son? He shook his head. "Julia, you can all do as you will. I won't interfere, and I won't tell Kai. I'll keep my mouth shut. But… what if you're wrong? What if Hibiki is just as safe as Saya, Hagi, Lulu, and Kanade? As the Schiff was? Even as Solomon Goldsmith turned out to be? Treating him the same as the first Joel treated Diva…. If there is another war, we'll be the ones starting it, right here, right now."

Julia shook his head. "We'll make sure that unlike Diva, he won't escape." David wondered if she knew how that sounded. "And besides. He'll be in my care, remember? I'm not the first Joel. And surely you agree that he'll be better off with me than some other scientist? If not me, it'd be someone else, and not all Red Shield scientists are as moral as I am. Surely you remember Aston Collins."

David scoffed. "How could I not? The bastard shot me." They both laughed at the memory, now. Julia reached out and squeezed his shoulder. Sighing, he nodded and started the car, starting to drive them home.

Four Days Later

Zhao Wen parked outside of the building that he'd been told to drop the baby off. Said baby was currently in the backseat, strapped into a car seat in the middle of the seat, sleeping after tiring himself out crying. He'd not stopped since he'd been taken away from Omoro. It had taken them a few hours to get here, and the night was beginning to give way to dawn. He looked out of his windshield at the building in front of him. It was away from other residences he'd noticed and looked to be a sort of lab, unsurprisingly considering the conversation that Joel had had with David and Julia. He shook his head. He hadn't been as surprised as David had seemed to be by Joel's words. If anything, he was more surprised that Saya and Kanade weren't locked up somewhere too, along with Hagi and Lulu, now that they were no longer needed. Getting out of his car, he closed his door before going to the back, opening the door.

Hibiki had already woken up upon him opening his door, looking around a bit before he'd begun crying at the top of his lungs again. Reaching into the car, he undid the straps holding the baby before pulling him from the car. Cradling him in one arm easily, he reached into the car again, pulling out a bag that had some baby things inside of it, slinging it over his shoulder. He'd bought the baby things the same night he'd been given his assignment, just in case; luckily, he had separate funds for work-related costs. Either way, he'd no longer need any of it now, so he may as well leave it with the brat. He closed the back door before walking towards the entrance of the building.

Not paying much attention to the baby's cries, all he said to the infant was, "Welcome home, I guess. You're going to have a time of it." He was distancing himself from the child intentionally. They had a few things in common, like losing their family young, and Hibiki was even younger than he had been; he was uncertain if that was better or worse. There was one other thing that they had in common, but he put that out of his mind. Until he could do something about that, he'd rather not think about it. Either way, predictably, his words didn't help much, and Hibiki continued to cry. It was beginning to give him a headache, so he walked quicker, going through the entrance doors, a set of glass double doors, and into what looked like a hospital lobby. The entire place was kept a sterile white.

Having a habit of canvassing his surroundings just in case, he took in the fact that the lobby was all but completely empty of people, but for a female secretary behind the desk, and a couple of lab technicians and housekeepers. The only entrance/exit was behind him, though just from his vantage point, he could see a line of elevators, a stairwell entrance, and few other closed doors. Glancing up, he took in the fact that there were a number of security cameras. So clearly this place was rather high-tech, even the elevators requiring what looked to be a keycard. "Looks like they're being extra cautious. I wonder if this is all for you, little one." The entire place appeared clean and sterile, and entirely too bright, with a few leather chairs and sofas scattered around as if it was a generic waiting room at a hospital. "Hopefully none of this will fool you when you grow up or you're beyond saving."

Scoffing, he went over to the front desk. Behind it was a woman, with an athletic build, brown hair in a ponytail, and green eyes. American rather than Asian. Even she wore a lab coat, over a black dress. Heels were by her feet on the floor, she'd taken them off, leaving her barefoot. She sat in a lazy and bored posture, legs crossed one over the other. She took one look at the baby and her lips thinned in distaste, whether it was because it was a baby or a chiropteran being unknown. "I was told to bring this baby here. Hibiki Otonashi?" He didn't give his own name. In his line of business, you told the least amount of people your name, or anything about you for that matter.

Leaning on the desk in front of her, she rested one of her arms on it, while reaching with her other towards a phone, her nails painted hot pink, tapping a two buttons. "Zhao Wen is here, Ma'am. He has the kid."

He started at the use of his name, hearing on the other end of the phone, "Tell him to wait in the lobby, please. I'll be right there." Julia's voice. Had she given out his name? He felt a twinge of annoyance as he rolled his eyes.

The secretary leaned back into her previous posture and gave him a droll look as she noted him still standing there. "I'm assuming you heard that?" She waved him towards the various chairs and couches. He glared down at her before just sighing and holding out the baby. They could at least take the damn thing now. Hibiki had ceased crying at some point, or at least so loudly, instead letting out light whimpers, but at being handed over to another stranger, he started crying loudly again, causing him to cringe, and the woman to lean as far back in her chair as possible. She'd not reached to take the thing off his hands. "Do I look like I do babies? Dr. Silverstein said to tell you to hang on to him until she speaks with you." She waved at him more frantically.

He sighed heavily. There was a reason that he'd picked a job where he worked alone and didn't have to deal with other people. Not as much anyway. Reluctantly, he pulled Hibiki back to where he'd been resting against his chest, his cries subsiding again as he did, though he was still whimpering and making whining sounds, hiccuping every once in a while. He went over to a couch and sat down.

Initially, he just waited where he was, but he was distracted by a tug on his hair and looked down at the baby held in his arms. At some point, a portion of his hair had slipped over his shoulder, bringing it within Hibiki's grabbing range. He only then realized that Hibiki had slowly stopped even whimpering, though those vaguely purple eyes were still sad, and his face was streaked with drying tears. As they stared into each other's eyes, Zhao Wen felt something strange, a thawing in a heart that had died with his family. Reaching into the bag he'd dropped beside him, he took out a tissue, wiping the tears off of Hibiki's face gently before tapping his forehead lightly with a knuckle playfully, actually evoking a laugh from the baby, though it sounded a bit hoarse by now. He put the tissue back away.

"You two look cozy," a chuckling female voice. He looked up immediately to see Julia now standing over him. He stood up immediately, about to hand over Hibiki and leave without a word, but for some reason, unlike before, his arms wouldn't move. "And seemingly attached. We didn't expect you to become so with your background." He clenched his teeth so hard that he was surprised that they didn't crack from the strain. "That's good though. Because we have another job for you." He just glared at her silently, waiting. "Hibiki is going to need a primary caretaker. Someone who can watch over him, make sure he's fed and clothed, teach him what he needs to know, protect him. We'd like that to be you." He looked at her in shock, unable to believe what he was hearing. They wanted him to take care of a child? "The majority of our members are older in age, with families of their own, or other responsibilities and priorities, or don't have the combat experience. There won't be much espionage work in this line of business anymore, so you'll soon be out of a job. This one will well compensate you."

Zhao Wen started laughing, hard, the sound harsh. "You want me to take care of a child? Are you insane?" When she just nodded in amusement, he started to immediately refuse. He had other things to do, other things to accomplish, like…. He paused, his laughter subsiding slowly as he really thought about this. He hadn't really considered it, because this was a baby, which meant a waiting game, but then, what was waiting when it came to what was currently running through his mind. He looked down at Hibiki, who had calmed completely at this point, maybe because he recognized Julia, but he was looking at Zhao Wen rather than her. He smiled down at the infant. "Well, perhaps we can help each other then, little one."

2008, Beijing, China

Zhao Wen and Hibiki had been moved from Okinawa soon after the latter had been taken, with the former being allowed to choose where they went, so he'd opted for his own homeland. It was far enough away from where he'd been taken as well, to make it unlikely that Kai Miyagusuku would be able to find him. It helped that he had zero chance of doing so with the Red Shield secretly working against him, not to mention that he'd kept tabs on the other man, and thus knew that he'd recently married a woman from Okinawa named Kaori Kinjo, Kaori taking his name after marriage.

The facility in China was even more high-tech than the lab they'd initially arrived at. Several cameras were set up in every hallway, room, elevator, and stairwell. Keycards, passcodes, and fingerprint recognition software were also required depending on the area. Staff was also limited to the scientists who worked here, as well as carefully chosen housekeepers for cleaning and maintenance. Hibiki was usually kept in a singular room unless he was scheduled for either a blood transfusion or an experiment. It was actually rare for either, which had surprised him. It seemed that Hibiki didn't require much blood at all at current, while he'd similarly showed no inclination to drink or eat any of the normal human sustenance that they tried to give him

The first experiment had been a blood test utilizing a vial of his blood and blood that Julia had acquired from Kanade during one of her check-ups apparently. She'd been wanting to test if their blood still killed the other, with one not the traditional Queen, resulting in the normal crystallization. However, Julia had learned that Kanade's blood had crystallized much faster in comparison when Hibiki's blood had been introduced. There'd been a similar experiment with Saya's blood, with the same result, though according to Julia, the fatal reaction hadn't occurred when Saya and Kanade's blood had been introduced to the other. In fact, judging from the reaction between the Queens' blood, it could actually act to heal either Queen faster if they drank the other's blood. Hibiki had been frightened and irritable at the constant drawing of his blood, but beyond that, had been fine, more so whenever Zhao Wen accompanied him during those times, which Zhao Wen had insisted on being present for.

Since then, there'd been no other experiments thus far. The scientists seemed to be taking it easy for now while he was still a baby. Zhao Wen theorized that they just didn't want to risk accidentally killing their new test subject with more inhumane tests before they learned more, so they were waiting until he was a bit more durable. The most that they'd done since is seeing how fast he healed, usually by stabbing him with needles once a month. Currently, his healing factor was actually rather slow, if still faster than a normal human, regardless of whether he'd been given animal or human blood that day.

His room was at least large, if rather bare. There was a white cradle set against one wall with a baby blanket of the same color. Against another wall was a white playpen, a variety of stuffed animals and toys littering both it and the floor. There was also a bookshelf against another wall, currently only full of a normal collection of baby and childrens' books, including fairy tales, coloring books, and sketch books. A small table, set with two chairs, were the only other fixtures in the room, currently laden with the remains of Hibiki's latest attempt at drawing something. Zhao Wen had insisted on a room with a window, so there was exactly one of those, with the exception of the one on the door that could only be opened from the outside. The window actually had a good enough view of the world outside the room, the bustling city streets of Beijing. Hibiki was still too small to look out of it on his own, and any time that Zhao Wen showed him, at least once a day, he showed no visible reaction to seeing other people being more free than he was, no visible reaction to the sight of other babies and children playing with family and friends. There was also a closet and a bathroom connected to the room.

Zhao Wen and Hibiki had grown closer over the year that they'd been together, the latter now being a year old, his birthday passing without any celebratory event - no party, no cake, no spending the day with a large group of family or friends, just Zhao Wen and a noticeable lack of a steady stream of scientists looking in on him as if he was a zoo animal. Zhao Wen had steadily grown quite attached to the brat, every day of growth seeming to please him more and more. On Hibiki's part, he'd already grown distasteful of the scientists around him, usually being grumpy and irritable at even the sight of them. He was only a little better with Julia, though was noticeably more tolerable of her visits, sitting through her regular check-ups with minimal fuss. Zhao Wen, however, had become his favorite person in the world, and with him, he was different, marginally more cheerful, more playful, and had begun to regularly thrust a book into his hand, demanding to be read to.

At the present time, Zhao Wen sat in Hibiki's room in one of the chairs at the table. He didn't look much different from a year ago, but he currently wore a black suit with a purple dress shirt and black dress boots. Since his previous job had been left behind, he'd been dressing more formally than anything. There was a bag by his chair that he was surprised the curious child hadn't attempted to get into yet, even if he frequently snuck glances at it. Not being introduced to many new things, not personally anyway, though he'd made sure to keep the boy knowledgeable enough using books, Hibiki was always eager to see and learn about new things, especially if it was something that he could keep. Hibiki himself was currently playing with a toy fire truck with a bored expression. He had a bit more hair now, but it was still short, and he was wearing the white shirt, pants, and socks that was his regular attire. Smiling, Zhao Wen looked over at him and called out, "Hibiki, come over here. I have something for you."

The boy immediately stood up and walked over to him as fast as he could, though while he'd started walking months ago, he'd yet to learn to run. As he moved over, Zhao Wen picked up the bag and placed it on the table before reaching down and picking the small child up, holding him on his lap. He still seemed to prefer such to sitting on a chair on his own. Reaching into the bag, he pulled out a small can of applesauce and a spoon, as well as a box of apple juice with a straw. The brat immediately made a face when he saw what he pulled out; he wasn't too fond of eating or drinking, but then he'd never really tried to do so. Refusals to do so were really just shown via him moving his head away from whatever the offending item was. "I just want you to try both, and if you don't like them, you don't have to finish them. Promise." He spoke slowly, so that the small child would understand. It wasn't really him that wanted this, but Julia had been wanting to test the effects of a King ingesting human food and drink for a while now.

Though Hibiki showed no outward sign of agreeing or even understanding him, he sat silently as Zhao Wen opened up the apple sauce first, dipping the spoon in and bringing it to Hibiki's lips. The boy definitely looked as if he wished to turn away again, but he eventually obliged to taking the spoonful of applesauce into his mouth, eating it. "Is it good?" Zhao Wen asked him after a moment of silence. There was no retching, no tantrum, so that was a good sign on its own.

Hibiki looked up at him. "Zha Wen. More." Zhao Wen just looked at him in shock. That was the first time that Hibiki had ever spoken. The words were spoken slowly, with a bit of uncertainty, and weren't completely correct, but they were definite words, and he was moved that the boy's first words were his name. Growing impatient and irritable with the staring, an act he wasn't very fond of as it was, Hibiki grabbed his jacket and tugged on it. "More."

Zhao Wen grinned at him before hugging him close. "Hibiki. That's not my name. Here. I'll teach you. Zhao. Can you say 'Zhao'?" Being appeased and pleased by the hug, Hibiki repeated the name back obediently, with more success than before. "Wen. Can you say it back?" He said it back correctly. "Zhao Wen. See? Do you know how to say your own name?"

"Hibiki," Hibiki said his own name. It was also spoken correctly, though there was a pause before saying it for some reason. Zhao Wen was about to ask him what was wrong, but Hibiki tugged on his jacket again. "No words. More."

Zhao Wen chuckled. "You just learn to talk and you're already bossy. You're definitely a King." He kissed his head before feeding him more of the applesauce. He eventually finished the can. Afterwards, he asked, "Do you feel full?" Hibiki didn't seem to understand the question so Zhao Wen rephrased it after a moment of thought, slowly. "Do you feel like you need to eat more?" Hibiki shook his head. "Okay, try this next." He set up the box of apple juice with the straw and gave it to him to drink. Satisfied with the applesauce, he was less resistant to trying the apple juice, finishing it easily. "Do you feel like you need to drink more?" He shook his head again.

Zhao Wen nodded. "Do you want me to bring you more things to try?" Hibiki nodded enthusiastically and he laughed, tapping his forehead with a knuckle, which had become a habit of his. "You got it. I'll bring you lots of things tomorrow."

2009-2011

The first signs of trouble started when Hibiki was two years old. Beforehand, though impatient and irritable at times, he was mostly okay, a normal child, and happy enough. The second he turned two, things began to change. His birthday was a happy enough affair. Still no party, but Zhao Wen had surprised him with cake and icecream, and even a new book that allowed him to choose his own clothing that he promised to bring him, granting him new clothing finally besides the uniform white he'd been wearing for the past two years. The clothing was his first show of rebellion. He'd chosen articles of clothing that were definitely on the feminine side of things, hanfu or kimonos that were slimmer in detail, Zhao Wen convincing Julia to allow him a personal tailor. Hibiki's hair had grown a bit longer, now in light curls, though remained in the shorter spectrum. When Julia mentioned that he should wear other things, things more for young boys, he became even more adamant about wearing what he wished.

The next issue came with the experiments. He was proven right with his former theory. Now that Hibiki was a little older, beginning to heal faster (especially when given human blood), they started to become more frequent, more painful. Blood tests, pain tests, endurance tests, exercise tests, for hours on end. Testing how long he could go without sustenance. It turned out that human sustenance did nothing for him as it did for Queens. Only blood alone could sustain him, and he could seemingly go for twice as long than a Queen without a drop of blood before he started to starve, and Julia had held out even longer than that, until he was in obvious pain with every breath, until he was growing weaker, until he'd eventually snapped and attempted to attack the first scientist who came too close. In the end, he'd needed to be restrained and given a blood transfusion until he stabilized again.

Initially, due to the constant experiments, he'd cried as much as he had the night that he'd been kidnapped, but had eventually transitioned from sorrow to anger, from anger to hatred. Tantrums had become a frequent affair. The window in his room began to infuriate him. Words like "no" he would glare at heatedly the more he was denied certain things, such as going outside, being allowed to play with other kids, and then he'd begun to despise the very kids he'd once wished to associate with. He began to frequently destroy his stuffed animals and toys, with the exception of those gifted by Zhao Wen, though when Zhao Wen had gifted him dolls to play with just to mess with Julia, they became his favorite things to play with.

In short, his terrible twos were indeed terrible, for all involved. And he didn't mellow out once he'd turned three. If anything, he began to terrify the scientists around him. His third age, along with now shoulder-length hair in soft curls, had come with him beginning to talk more. Sometimes he still acted like the growing child he was. He was still curious, about everything, he still remained affectionate and playful with Zhao Wen, but his sense of humor, previously so cheerful, had turned dark and morbid. He was already beginning to exhibit anti-human sentiments despite his young age, and had begun to threaten the scientists around him, especially Julia. He wasn't too imaginative yet with his threats, but jokes of eating everyone around him weren't mere jokes from a chiropteran, especially when that chiropteran was the royal pureblood son of a Queen who had killed countless people.

Age four came with significant things of note. Zhao Wen had chosen that time to tell Hibiki certain things about his origins. About what he was, why he was different, why he was kept trapped in such a place, treated worse than an animal. About his parents, perhaps not how he had been conceived though. Even about Saya and Kai and Kanade, Hagi and Lulu too. He'd not lied to him about how he'd gotten here either, that Zhao Wen himself had been the one to steal him away from a possibly happy home life, expecting that the boy he'd come to love would despise him. He'd been surprised by the boy's reaction, however. For one thing, it had taken several reiterations for the child to even fully grasp what he was talking about, but he was already determined to learn everything.

For another thing…. He didn't despise what he was, even if it had landed him within such a life. If anything, he was pleased to learn that he really was different from his tormentors, as he seemed to always believe. He became obsessed with learning about his mother, had to know every single thing about her, about her similar past, the life she'd lived once she'd managed to escape. She became a role model for him, especially upon learning that she'd died to protect and save him. He even sang for the first time, much to the horror of the scientists, which only made him wish to sing more. Zhao Wen had thought that song would be full of sorrow and yearning, but it was actually filled with a dark cheer, not precisely upbeat, but free, unrestrained, unburdened by the fear and sadness that had filled his life thus far. In short, it was beautiful. In comparison, he'd not cared much about the other living chiropterans, or Kai for that matter. As far as he was concerned, Saya had killed his mother, Kai had failed him, and his sister was now living the life that he should have, and not only that, but she could steal his away, such as it was. He hated even more to learn that Julia and Kai had full families: spouses, children, friends... all abstract concepts to him.

None of that mattered as much to Zhao Wen as the knowledge that despite what he'd done, Hibiki bore him no anger, no hatred, no ill will. He'd actually thanked him. Thanked him for taking him away from someone weak enough to lose him, before someone else could, someone who may have not cared anything for him once they had him. Thanked him for staying, for always being by his side, throughout all the dark and painful things. More than thanking him, it was the first time that Hibiki had told him that he loved him. Zhao Wen had gone into being his guardian with admittedly selfish intentions. Despite the words that he'd spoken when he'd been named Hibiki's guardian, he'd only sought to fulfill his own agenda. But at that moment, he meant those words wholeheartedly. They would help each other.

It was as a human that he'd first bowed to the Chiropteran King before him, pledging his life to him, to protect him and fulfill his every wish. If they triumphed, they would do it together. And if they died… they would do that together as well, and it would have been a life well-lived.