A/N: I hope you're all having a wonderful Christmas break:) Consider this chapter a Christmas present from me…

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Bloody nurse

Chapter 7

The chairman sat quietly for some time, regarding Ichijou with sharp eyes, ignoring a very angry Zero standing right beside him. After a while, he leaned forward in his chair, bracing his elbows on the desk. "I suppose you have a specific reason for coming all the way here to tell me this."

Ichijou nodded his head. "Yes, I feel responsible for putting Yuuki in danger."

"You bastard…"

"Zero, please," said the Chairman, placing a hand on his adopted son's forearm. "Why would Yuuki be in danger, Ichijou-san, if she's with Kaname right now?"

"That is the problem, Chairman Cross. It's not in Yuuki's or anyone else's best interest to be near Kaname-sama at the moment, "said Ichijou, placing a hand over his already healed shoulder. "He…he really isn't himself."

"Is he still ill?"

"Well, yes. In a way. It's not really an illness, more like…obsession."

"Obsession with what?"

"Yuuki's blood."

The Chaiman only closed his eyes as a loud crash echoed around the room. Zero stood facing one of the now destroyed cabinets, through which he rammed his fist, breathing heavily. "Why," he asked, his blood slowly dribbling from his knuckles on the floor. "Why did you let her enter that place," he suddenly spun around, his voice gaining volume, "when you knew about this?"

Ichijou hung his head in regret. "I will not try making any excuses, I too now realize my mistake," he said, looking up at the Chairman, "however Kaname's suffering was too great to bear, we all felt it, we all tried to help him but nothing worked. He felt ashamed of himself, being so weak as to actually feel the physical pain such a thirst brings…so when Yuuki asked me to see him, I let her. Because I thought," he hung his head again, "that only she can put an end to it."

Zero looked down at his hand. He knew exactly what Ichijou meant by the physical pain…the degrading want for blood…the tightening of his stomach, a parched throat…a clouded hazy mind…the shameful feeling of being a beast…

The Chairman stood up, walked around the desk towards Ichijou and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I understand you wanted to help him, it's only natural. I don't blame you. I know Yuuki well enough to know that she would have found a way how to get past you, to reach her goal," he said and smiled crookedly.

"Chairman Cross…"

"However, Yuuki's my daughter and as her father, it is my duty to keep her safe. Now tell me, it there still time to do so?"

Ichijou straightened up and hurriedly answered: "There might be. I'll take you to Kaname's chambers." He reached for the door handle but Zero beat him to it, swung the door open and started running down the corridor. The Chairman and Ichijou quickly followed after him.

"I have to warn you though," said Ichijou while running down the stairs, "Kaname's powers are extremely dangerous in his current state."

"I thought I smelled your blood…" mumbled Zero and Ichijou only sighed.

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Yuuki sat in the dark, looking at the nearly filled wineglass on the floor in front of her, her hand still hovering over it. She didn't feel the pain anymore. Most of her senses were numbed. Only her heart kept on beating against her ribcage, as if it wanted to break free and run after Kaname. Will it work? What will he think? What will he do? She didn't know. The answers to these questions lied right behind the door to his bedroom.

With her other hand, she reached into a pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. With a slight pang in her lungs, she realized it was Zero's. She really should stop borrowing his things all the time… She wrapped it around her cut hand carefully and smiled: "Zero's somehow helping me even though he's not here."

She took a deep calming breath, trying to stay calm and focused. She grabbed the wineglass with her good hand and carefully stood up. No need to make any more stains on the once pretty carpet. Gingerly and slowly she started walking towards the door, avoiding the other wineglasses and pieces of furniture. When she finally reached it, she stopped and listened. Everything was quiet until she heard a low moan from behind the door. No doubt he knew she was on the other side of it.

She took another deep breath and very slowly opened the door. "Kaname-sempai?" she called in a very tiny voice and entered the room. She looked around herself but all she could see was an unmade large canopy bed and a wardrobe on the other side of the room, but no sign of Kaname. Yuuki tried calling out once more: "Kaname-sempai, please…"

This time she did get an answer in the form of a whimper, coming from behind the bed. She slowly walked to the place where she heard the sound coming from but what she saw made her stop and gasp in surprise. Kaname was sitting on the floor, his back propped up against the wall, legs spread out in front of him, hands limply lying by his sides, head bowed with strands of hair obscuring his face from view. He looked spent, tired…resigned. Yuuki has never seen him so vulnerable. She felt like crying again just at the sight of him.

"K-Kaname-sempai…" she whispered again and took another step closer to him.

At her movement, Kaname's fingers twitched and he gradually lifted his head and leaned it against the wall, tilting it slightly towards her. He took a deep whiff through his nose and let all the air out on the word- "Yuuki…"

"Yes," was all she said, for no other words were able to form on her tongue.

"Yuuki," Kaname said again, "so cruel."

Yuuki tried swallowing the lump in her throat.

"Provoking me with the smell…taunting the beast within me…"

Yuuki wanted to explain quickly: "No, that's not-"

"Why didn't you leave when I told you to? You're so disobedient today…"

"No, I couldn't have let you-"

"Bad, bad Yuuki. It's almost like you want to be punished…"

Yuuki gave up on trying to explain, he obviously wasn't listening.

"But I can't do that, Yuuki, no…" he said, opening his crimson shining eyes and looking at her. "It would be too much…both for you and me…" and suddenly his whole body convulsed. Moaning, he grabbed at his stomach and his throat, leaning forward, unleashing a bit of his power as the bedpost closest to Yuuki cracked along its length.

Yuuki squeaked in surprise and jumped away from the bed, closer to Kaname, balancing the wineglass in her hand. She almost screamed when Kaname all of a sudden grabbed her ankle and rasped out: "Leave, Yuuki, please just leave," but his words were in contradiction with his actions, as his grip on her tightened.

Yuuki listened to his laboured breathing and watched with wide eyes the great and powerful Kuran Kaname, cowering at her feet. Leaving was not an option for her, that much she knew. She's gotten so far already. And she felt genuine pity for the man…the vampire…who became a slave to his nature.

Slowly, not to alarm him with her movement, she squatted down next to him but as soon as she moved, Kaname withdrew his hand and leaned away from her back to his spot against the wall. He watched her with weary eyes, all his muscles tensed, as if ready to spring away from her.

"Kaname-sempai, please calm down. I want to help you," Yuuki tried reasoning with him.

"It's too dangerous for you to be here…"

"I believe it's not."

"I could have hurt you back there. I could have-"

"No. You're my saviour. You're my beginning. You were always there for me, let me help you in turn, please…" pleaded Yuuki, moving closer to him on her knees, bringing the wineglass up to his face. "Please, Kaname-sempai, drink this."

As Kaname's eyes landed on the glass in her hand, they began to shine ever brighter. He swallowed thickly and fisted his hands by his sides.

"You said my blood was too precious to be spilled. Will you let this go to waste? Think of it as a medicine, it will cure you. Please, "said Yuuki and brought the glass just a breath away from his lips. She placed her other hand on the back of his neck, moving his head slightly forward. As soon as the rim of the glass made contact with his lips, Kaname moaned, put his hand over Yuuki's and brought the tilted glass fully to his lips. His eyes slowly closed in pleasure, as he slowly savoured every gulp.

Yuuki watched his face in wonder, silently wondering what it would feel like to be drinking something so much to her liking. Kaname's expression was of pure bliss…

When he finally finished drinking the blood, Yuuki pulled her hands back, and placed the now empty wineglass on the ground next to her. Slowly, she turned back around to face Kaname, only to see him looking back at her with his usual wine-coloured eyes, which she loved so much. She smiled tentatively, happy to see him returned back to his normal self – calm, collected, his posture upright.

His eyes slid down to her left hand that was still wrapped in the handkerchief. Very gently, he took her wrist with one hand and slowly unwrapped her palm with the other, hissing slightly at the sight of the cut.

"It's OK," said Yuuki hurriedly, "it doesn't hurt anymore."

Kaname completely ignored her and brought her hand to his lips. Gently, he licked along the line of the cut several times to clean it and then he placed his lips over it, bathing her hand in that strange calming purple light, completely healing it. He turned her hand over, kissed her knuckles once and released her hand.

Rosy blush crept up to Yuuki's cheeks at his actions. "Er, thank you…"

"No," said Kaname in a deep sure voice, "I thank you," he corrected her and looked deeply into her eyes.

Yuuki's blush deepened and she stared right back into his eyes. She was getting slightly lost in them. It also seemed as if they were getting somehow bigger…or closer…

"YUUKI!"

…and she heard Zero's voice…

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A/N: I hope I didn't disappoint anyone with the outcome… Kaname was a bit OOC, I admit, but I needed him that way…

As usual, please feel free to point out any mistakes you found. Sometimes even proofreading doesn't help…

Take care,

Matylda