Shoutout to the clever reviewer who predicted one of this chapter's plot twists. You'll know who you are. ;)

This is a soft and gentle chapter compared to the last one, enjoy the breather because then things get serious again.

VI. Time Is Not An Infinite Resource

There's a roaring in his ears, like being deafened after standing beside a ringing bell sounding the midnight hour.

"What is this?" Zero asks dully, staring at the ritual paraphernalia laid out in the room.

"Kuran wants us to take off your taming mark," answers an unfamiliar Hunter drawing out the ritual circle for the protective wards.

Zero covers the side of his neck protectively. "What for?"

Taming was not a gentle process on a vampire. The Hunters who applied Zero's mark had to hold him down so his thrashing didn't ruin the work, and it took hours to ink such a large tattoo, stopping to layer in the taming and control spells. Then they set him free, his execution sentence written on his throat.

Each time he went to Headquarters it felt like everyone's eyes were staring at it, a visible mark of his shame and disgrace in front of his peers, the evidence of his tainted body, his loss of humanity, his otherness. They could look at his branded neck and know what he was.

Whenever he looked at himself in the mirror, and his eyes caught on the stark contrast of black ink on pale skin, his subconscious whispered 'ah, I am a vampire', and then the memories of that night rose up from the black, lurking like a thief in the dark. It was a whetstone for his hatred, a constant painful reminder of what he'd lost, and what he could dread losing in the future, the reason the mark was needed.

Zero avoided mirrors.

He'd grown around its heavy weight, like a tree around a stone. The mark is part of him now. Zero doesn't want to lose any more parts of himself, even the painful ones.

"Why do I need to do this?"

Zero holds Cross by the wrist before he's realized the man was trying to touch him. Cross' eyes are wide and a touch startled as Zero hastily releases him and moves away to wrap his arms around himself.

"Kaname-kun requested we remove it because the taming mark restricts vampire powers and controls your vampire side. He's concerned how it might affect your body...and your children. As a vampire, I think Kaname-kun also doesn't like the idea of restricting any vampire's powers. It's a legitimate concern. We can't tell him no without good reason. I convinced him we can alter it instead of completely removing it. We'll have to strip out everything but the protective functions that allow you to pass through Hunter wards and spells unharmed. The tattoo ink itself will fade without the preservation spells, but you can keep part of the underlying spell if you want, Zero."

"I want to keep the whole thing," he persists stubbornly.

Cross leads him into the corner, and lowers his voice. "I know Zero, and I'm sorry, but I have less room to make demands now. This isn't all bad. You'll still be welcome here and able to enter the Association whenever you like. It won't make you less of a Hunter. And...maybe it's better, if the vampires aren't reminded of your origins so obviously. I want you to have the best chance at happiness you can, Zero, and if you can't be happy I want you to be content, or at least not in pain. And we both know that wasn't true before all this happened."

Zero bows his head in shame. He'd tried to hide it from Yagari and Cross - his pathetic life, pared down to the bone. In his guilt, he allowed himself only what was absolutely necessary, and he denied himself all else as punishment. Penance - exacted from his body for his weakness, his failure, for his existence. For being the last alive, when everyone else was dead.

"Alright," Zero meekly accedes, "but I will never be happy with vampires," and refuses to look up so he can't see Cross' hurt expression.

The Hunters don't have to hold him down this time. He's not twelve years old anymore, and he's tasted entirely new grades of pain since then.

Zero armors himself in his bitterness and loss, anger still running hot from his recent humiliation at the betrothal ceremony, and clenches his muscles so tightly he doesn't even flinch at needle and spell.

Afterwards, Zero flees to the Archives to avoid speaking to Cross again, pressing the heel of his hand hard against the angry, inflamed skin of his neck, hoping to lick his wounds in private.

One good thing to come of the betrothal ceremony - Kaito has been relieved of his babysitting duties. It's a good thing too; Zero thought he might die of overeating if Misao kept trying to feed him, Kaito's wife generous despite how the duty obligated her husband to spend so much time away from his family. She was a good woman, and she calmly kept Kaito in line with ease. It gladdens him that Kaito found someone like her; if he can't watch over his sempai any longer, at least Zero leaves him in better hands. And Zero could tell it healed something in Kaito to exorcise his childhood by giving his children all the love he'd been denied.

According to his Master, by holding the public betrothal Kuran essentially 'staked a claim' on Zero, and no ordinary vampire would dare touch a pureblood's property, especially not someone who belonged to a Kuran. Zero was now off limits to anyone without a death wish. The two of them had identical disgusted expressions the entire conversation. Zero still can't leave the Headquarters building, but he has gained more freedom to move around and can go anywhere he wants without an escort. It improves his mood just a little, until he thinks about how his wedding is coming inexorably afterwards, nothing left but to count down the days.

The Hunter, as always, feels calm wash over him at the smell of leather, paper and dust as he pushes open the oiled doors of the Archives without a sound, chasing away his dread and worries over his future.

Zero has loved the Archives ever since his parents took him and Ichiru as tiny five-year-olds to see them: room after room filled with rows and rows of towering bookcases reaching all the way to the ceiling and crammed into every empty space. To this day the archives hold the most books Zero's ever seen in one place. Their parents had often left the twins here for an hour or two while the adults attended meetings or reported to the President, and the Archivists had doted on the polite, quiet young Hunters, sneaking them mess-free candies and finding them children's books to read. As he grew older, Zero continued to visit, coming to read after training ended or whenever he felt bored; he suspected much of his academic success in school came from the good reading habits his parents sneakily encouraged. Of course, all that changed when he was Turned. Zero hated coming to the Association and facing the other Hunters' scorn unless he needed to, and those visits to the Archives stopped.

Zero had planned to hide in the stacks, but the Hunter's hopes for solitude end as soon as he steps inside and spots the man wearing an Archivist's badge puttering around the front desk.

"Archivist Fong," Zero greets without rancor; he's very fond of the elderly librarian, and time spent with him is never regrettable.

"Zero-kun!" The elder replies, raising his voice as much as he can without breaking Archive rules for quiet.

Archivist Fong earned his retirement long ago, but had neither wife nor children, and was so devoted to maintaining the collections he would probably keep working until he couldn't. Zero suspects the man is nearly ninety; he's surprisingly spry, and strong-voiced, at odds with his wispy white hair and fragile frame.

Zero owes the man a personal debt, and tries to visit him as often as he can, making sure he's in good health and taking care of himself, buying him small gifts for Christmas and offering well wishes on his birthday. It was Archivist Fong's help that allowed Zero to keep studying the Hunter Arts after he was Turned. Most of the books can't be taken from the Archives, but the kind man had made copies of the most important parts and delivered them to Zero by meeting him in the town below Cross Academy. It was a rough, incomplete guide, but it let him advance his skills without a Master and keep honing his abilities, giving him a connection to his heritage and another much-needed source of purpose.

Zero owed the Archivist even more gratitude today. For the last month, when the ex-human had liberty and the elder had spare time, Archivist Fong and Zero had collected new study materials. Zero had no idea when he might be able to return to the Association, and a Hunter's skills were complete only when they were dead; there were always techniques that could be learned and improved upon. As a security precaution, all the materials were, of course, encrypted in a dozen codes and cyphers whose keys existed only in the memories of the Archivists and Hunters who learned them, so any vampire reading his papers wouldn't be able to understand the knowledge contained within.

"You look well, Archivist. Shall we continue our project today?"

"Actually, Zero-kun, I have something to show you, if you'd like."

Archivist Fong looks hopeful and serious, proud but also cautious, like he isn't sure Zero will like his work. The Hunter is intrigued by such a mystery, so of course he agrees, and follows the other man deep, deep into the Archives where hardly anyone goes without a purpose.

As they walk, Archivist Fong tries to explain himself. "When you first came, Zero-kun, we looked for anything we could find on omega vampires, and came up nearly empty. We have genealogies and histories that mention them, and that's about it. No anatomies, no firsthand accounts of births or matings, no diaries, nothing personal or intimate at all. Nothing that explains what an omega's life is really like. They stay safely ensconced in the vampire world raising their children, and Hunters don't encounter them, except to observe them while monitoring gatherings."

"But after the betrothal ceremony, I had an idea. We hadn't looked for any specific omega vampires, just general information. I backtracked through the Kuran genealogies looking for omega vampires who married into the family. It turns out that the Kurans prefer to marry each other and don't traditionally bond with an omega. In fact, as best I can tell, they've only done it once before, possibly discounting the Original King. Records that old are spotty, you see? Perhaps the most important pureblood in history, and we know so little about him!"

Zero's eyes crinkle at the edges, amused by the Archivist's enthusiasm and his arm-flailing excitement, and gently prods the man back on track. "So what did you find?"

"Ah, yes," the old man starts to walk quite quickly, "wait till we get there and I'll show you what I've found."

He takes the two of them to a study table hidden in a blind alley near the 'vampire culture - cuisine' section, piled high with perhaps twenty books at Zero's quick estimation. The Level D raises an eyebrow, and Archivist Fong grins, claps his hands together in front of him, and goes on with his story.

"You see, around six thousand years ago, the Second King and the Second Queen of the Kuran bloodline had been ruling the vampires for three thousand years, and they had yet to have any children, though they wanted them very much."

"What were their names?" Zero interjects.

"You know, I can't remember. If you look in the right book you can find them, but the vampires have a taboo on referring to their rulers by their personal names when they die. A king is a king forever, even when dead, and you don't call a king by his name without permission. So all vampire history books just say 'Second King', 'Third King' and so on. The custom actually caused the loss of the Original King's name altogether. We've no idea what it was. Such a pity, but anyway, back to the Second King."

"After ruling a nation for three thousand years and keenly feeling his empty nest, the Second King had a bit of a midlife crisis. And instead of buying a fancy car, that vampire bonded a young, nubile omega girl instead. Second Queen doesn't seem to have favored her much. All three of her children from the first one hundred years of their marriage were fathered by the Second King. And only three children? For an omega, that's quite a case of neglect by both her spouses, poor thing."

"Because, you see, Second King and Second Queen finally managed to have their own children. Three of them, one right after another. And everything was going so well, so of course that's where everything goes wrong. Four days after the birth of their third child, when Second Queen was still exhausted and weak, the pureblood Sato Clan rose up in rebellion, intending to take the crown for themselves. They were destroyed down to the last man, woman and child by the Second King, but he was killed in the battle. Second Queen was devastated, and withdrew into seclusion for the rest of her life, leaving the throne vacant and the vampires without leadership. Except, of course, for the royal omega."

"Who was she?" whispers Zero, enthralled and trying not to break the story's spell.

"History knows her as Ruling Consort Aileya, the most beautiful omega of her time with her bronze hair and green-gold eyes, who ruled the vampire nation as Regent for nearly a century while raising three young purebloods and carrying six children of her own."

"She's legendary among the vampires," the Archivist says, turning away to flick through the books on the table. "There are books written just about her and her life. Any vampire noble with significant power is related to her - the young Ichijo omega is a direct descendant. After Second King's death, Second Queen relied heavily on Aileya for comfort and stability, became very fond of her, and sired another six children on her omega before passing the crown to her adult children and leaving to end her life."

"What happened to Aileya when she didn't have an alpha anymore?" Zero asks, genuinely curious, knowing how dangerous that is.

"Second King and Queen's children bonded her and fathered her last nine children. They couldn't let her power and skill pass out of the family, you see? Too risky."

"But wasn't she sort of their mother?" Zero sputters.

Archivist Fong looks up for a moment. "Zero-kun, purebloods practice incest between full-blooded siblings. A little legal incest between family members is nothing in comparison."

Chastened, Zero blushes and nods, then his brow furrows.

"Archivist Fong, you said her 'last' nine children. Aileya would have been less than five hundred years old. Why were those her last children?"

His age-lined face falls, and the Archivist's voice gains a sad timbre. "Because of her influence and power as the Third King's main advisor, forces in the royal court assassinated Aileya while she was pregnant with her nineteenth child. The third, youngest son was so devastated he went into Sleep and remains, to this day, in the Kuran crypt. Vampire historians speculate that Aileya's loss and the cost of the throne to their family drove the Third King and his siblings to end the monarchy's reign. Aileya's rule also proved the vampires could exercise the rule of law without a King, but the Council of Elders and the Senate were very different institutions then."

Zero bears a contemplative expression. "May I borrow some of these?"

Archivist Fong beams. "I've already signed them out in my name. If you need a breather, try some of the art books. Some of the art is - ah, rather suggestive," the old man says as he smiles fondly, and leaves Zero absorbed in his reading.

"Get dressed. The nicest clothes you have. We're going outside today."

Zero looked up at his Master from the last few pages of his book, regretfully resolving to finish it later. Master Yagari always did have the worst timing.

"I thought I wasn't supposed to leave the wards?"

"You're not. Today's the exception."

"What's the occasion?"

"You have a visitor."

Curiosity piqued, Zero bundles together a change of clothes, but lingers in the doorway examining his Master, who has started to flip idly through one of Zero's borrowed books.

"Who is it?"

"Dress and find out," Yagari narrows his single eye in warning and makes a shooing motion. Zero knows when he's pushed his luck far enough, and only comes back once he's wearing the same clothes he wore to the betrothal ceremony. Master Yagari is staring at the open book with an expression that strongly suggests he'd like to lose his remaining eye.

"What the bloody hell is this?!"

Zero leans over his Master to see. "A book on Ruling Consort Aileya I borrowed from Archivist Fong."

"No, that old pervert gave you vampire porn," Yagari objects as he flips another page and his face contorts with fresh horror.

"It's art, Master. Vampires like to paint her."

"Blood and ashes, then why is there so much fucking? I don't even want to know what's going on in that one!"

Zero peers over his Master's shoulder. "That one? According to vampire histories, while Aileya was...indisposed in heat, the Council tried to steal her position as regent. Unfortunately for them, her wife got her pregnant and she went out of heat earlier than they'd planned. She got up, went straight to the Council meeting and put them in their place. According to this artist, without, um, bathing first or putting on underwear. So that's...the fluids...probably artistic license..."

Zero tugs the book from Yagari's unresisting fingers. "Maybe we should go, Master?"

Yagari adjusts his hat with a motion that would be called a nervous fidget if anyone else did it, and beats a hasty retreat.

Zero's quiet amusement lasts all the way to the edge of the wards, where his smile slips away and he halts, hesitating. As much as he hates his enforced idleness and captivity, Zero has learned enough about what happens to unprotected omegas that he knows the value of those wards shielding him, and enough sense to feel trepidation at the thought of leaving.

His Master stops too, expression understanding. "Come on boy," he reassures Zero softly in his gruff way, "don't keep him waiting."

Zero touches Bloody Rose under his coat, and steps forward, pushing through an invisible barrier; at that touch, the outline of Zero's fading, blurry taming mark glows as if it were still clear and permits his exit.

As they approach a black, understated sedan at the curb, the driver - a vampire - exits the driver's seat and comes to stand by the rear passenger door. Inside is another vampire, of noble class by the feel of their aura, and something else Zero can't pinpoint, which fades after a moment. Yagari climbs into the passenger seat, and the driver holds the back door open with a murmured 'Kiryuu-sama', a clear invitation to get inside. Trusting Yagari wouldn't trap himself anywhere he couldn't escape from, Zero slides in after him.

"Kiryuu-kun, it's good to see you looking healthy."

"Thank you for your concern, Ichijo-sempai, you look well too."

Ichijo Takuma smiles his carefree smile, the one as golden as his hair, and continues - to Zero's surprise - petting the head of the large dog in his lap.

Out of all the Night Class vampires, Zero liked Ichijo the most, as much as any Hunter ever liked a vampire. His conduct was perfect: he never got involved in spats with the Prefects, his self-control and adherence to the blood tablet diet modeled the coexistence ideal, and he used his position as Vice President Dorm Leader to keep things running smoothly and responsibly herded the more unruly students into line. From Zero's impression when they interacted on school business, Ichijo also seemed to have a pleasant, polite personality. With those thoughts in mind, Zero doesn't object to meeting his old classmate and accepts being in close quarters with the noble without fuss.

As the car pulls away from the curb and heads into the commercial district Zero casts around for something to say.

"Congratulations on your bonding, Ichijo-sempai."

"Thank you, Kiryuu-kun. I would return the sentiment regarding your upcoming marriage, but I don't think you want to be congratulated."

"No," Zero replies sourly.

Ichijo responds with a strained smile, and muses as he strokes his dog's flank, "Most omegas would sell their soul to marry into the Kuran family and gain their power, wealth and position. Not to mention how pure their children's blood would be."

"I don't care about those things."

"No, you don't," Takuma affirms, sounding as though he was talking more to himself than to Zero.

Then he focuses again on his guest and flashes another smile filled with something like approval, "You really haven't changed at all, Kiryuu-kun."

Zero feels inexplicably embarrassed. Was that meant as a compliment? Changing the subject, the Hunter asks, "Where are we going?"

"I thought we might have lunch, or just tea if you've already eaten."

Zero had forgotten to eat, and his belly grumbles as the reminder awakens his hunger. "Lunch is fine." Zero's cheeks pink a little.

Ichijo is polite enough to cover his smile. "I saw a nice western cafe on the drive in. Would that suit?"

"Ah, no. Perhaps somewhere different?" Zero hopes he's hiding his discomfort convincingly.

"Then how about the traditional restaurant off the main road?"

"If you don't mind, Ichijo-sempai, I'd rather eat something else."

"The noodle shop with the pig mascot looked quaint?"

"Maybe another time."

Ichijo has a considering air, then his face lightens as though he's solved a problem. "You don't need to worry about the cost, Kiryuu-kun; I've invited you out and I insist on paying."

"Thank you, sempai." Zero keeps his expression very controlled.

"Now," the blond says as he scans the street, "maybe something closer."

"Ah!" Ichijo points out the window, careful not to upset the dog lying on him. "A curry shop. Perfect!"

Zero knows he's in trouble.

"I'm sorry sempai, not there either."

Ichijo turns toward Zero with a frown of concern. "Kiryuu-kun, if you don't want to eat with me, that's fine. We'll just talk and you can return to the Association. I understand that we don't know each other well."

Master Yargari is twisting around in his seat until he can watch the back of the car, reading correctly that the changing situation might need intervention.

"No, Ichijo-sempai, it's not that," assures Zero, mortification and shame rising in his belly. He's really not hungry anymore, and he wishes he hadn't been stupid enough to agree without thinking first.

Thoughts racing, Zero carefully says, "This is a Hunter town, Ichijo-sempai."

"Yes?" Clearly puzzled, Ichijo doesn't understand what Zero has delicately tried to insinuate. Yagari does, and his face goes stony.

Desperate not to explain, Zero tries again. "All the people who live here are Hunters."

"I know, Kiryuu-kun."

Zero sits ramrod straight, hands flattened on his thighs, and stares at the back of Yagari's seat. He feels utterly humiliated, the emotion hot and thick in his belly.

"We can't eat there, Ichijo-sempai…But Master Yagari could."

Ichijo Takuma is the scion of the most powerful Noble family in the world. He's so exorbitantly wealthy Zero can't even contemplate the amount. He's the leader of a branch of the vampire government. Even in the human world, with his good looks and charm Zero doubts anyone has ever denied Ichijo anything. Right now, the vampire looks as though the very concept has flown over his head, as though someone has just told him the sky is green.

Zero waits patiently for Ichijo to finish processing his shameful admission, keeping his gaze resolutely fixed on the pebbled black leather seats and the greying back of his Master's head.

"They refused you?" Ichijo asks, an underlying sharpness in his tone.

Some of them, but Zero wasn't about to let the Association lose face in front of Ichijo. He picks his words carefully, and keeps his tone neutral and factual. "It was discreetly made known to me that I made people uncomfortable, and it would be best if I went elsewhere for service."

There is silence in the car. Then Ichijo states with that same slight sharpness, "You are the best Vampire Hunter in the world."

"President Cross is more experienced."

"If you are not already the best, you will eventually be the best Vampire Hunter in the world. Possibly in the history of the Association."

"It's an understandable request. Almost everyone here has lost someone they loved to a vampire, and most active Hunters don't retire from old age. They retire because their crippling injuries keep them from Hunting anymore - the curry shop owner? She lost a leg to a C-Rank. Can you imagine how she feels when she senses my aura nearby? And she's one of the lucky ones who didn't die. I bring up everyone's bad memories when I'm around."

"And what about you?"

"I'm just one person, Ichijo-sempai. It's fine."

After a moment, Ichijo speaks again, but the sharp undertone is gone. "I apologize, Kiryuu-kun, I have been a poor host. I should have asked my guest to choose where we will eat. Perhaps you could suggest somewhere."

"You have nothing to apologize for, Ichijo-sempai. You've done nothing wrong."

Zero dares a fast glance at the noble, who is calm and stroking the dog again. "Do you want to bring your dog in?"

"Yes."

Zero wets his lips. "I may know a place. But we'll have to sit on the patio, and the bill will come out double the prices on the menu. I don't know anywhere else that will take both dogs and us."

"That's acceptable," replies Ichijo, and Zero gives instructions to the driver that take them to a small, nearly vacant restaurant in a back alley. As Zero predicted, they're seated on the patio, despite the cold and the empty tables inside. Luckily they're all dressed for the weather, Ichijo wearing a long grey overcoat and gloves. The food here is mediocre, and the proprietors, a husband and wife couple, keep sending the vampires outside suspicious stares through the windows, but the food is hot and the service only a little slower than usual. Yagari refuses the couple's offer of a seat inside, and takes up a guard position nearby, smoking, just far enough out of earshot to offer Ichijo and Zero privacy. Ichijo's driver takes a similar position, leaving the two of them alone, with the dog curled around the feet of Ichijo's chair.

It's larger than Zero thought, some kind of long-legged, heavy-headed sighthound, lean but robust, and very handsome, with a long, wavy, silky coat, a thick ruff at its neck and a long feathery plume of a tail. Its underbelly, legs and ruff are pure white, with a white stripe running down its muzzle, while its back and the sides of its head are a light bluish grey color, and it has striking, spooky grey eyes that look back with an intelligent gaze. When it moves, the hound looks as though it's floating over the ground, and though Ichijo hasn't even collared it, it stays right by his side without straying. It never barks or makes noise, almost perfectly silent.

The dog is obviously unnatural; all animals feared vampires as though they were death itself. Just being in proximity to a vampire left them fearful and panicked, instinctively sensing the predator nearby, and the reaction increased for more powerful vampires. Dogs in particular disliked vampires, so Zero is curious to know why this strange one enjoys Ichijo's touch.

Ichijo asks the waiter for a bowl of water for the dog, and orders another meal as if the pet was a third lunch companion. When Zero asks, Ichijo tells him only that, "My bondmate sends him with me when he isn't by my side, and he is very dear to me." The noble feeds the dog from his own hand, and calls him Isa. If the dog was a present, no wonder Ichijo treats him fondly.

Zero is content to eat in silence after the earlier disaster, and let Ichijo decide when to explain the reason for his visit today. Halfway through the appetizer and the first pot of tea, the Noble sets his cup down with a clink and an expression of dissatisfaction aimed at the china. Lacing his fingers together and resting his chin on them, green eyes take Zero's measure; the Hunter returns the searching gaze.

"Kiryuu-kun. I won't insult you by denying that Kuran Kaname asked me to meet you; he wants me to teach you the social etiquette you'll need to know for the formal events before, during and after your wedding. However, that is not why I'm here today. You may not believe me, but I would have come to see you regardless of Kaname's request."

"I know you must have questions. I'm here to answer whatever you feel comfortable asking me. Or maybe you just want to talk to someone who's been in a similar place not so long ago. Either way, ask anything that comes to mind. Don't be embarrassed by the topic; I won't refuse to answer anything unless it would invade someone else's privacy."

"Will I have a period?" Zero blurts out the first thing that comes to mind, and buries his face in his hands, face red from more than cold. "I just...the Hunters don't really know how my body works, so..."

Ichijo shows surprise for a moment, but then shakes his head. "No. Vampire women don't have periods either. That would waste too many eggs, and the bleeding...well. It doesn't work with our diet, shall we say. I should have guessed you wouldn't have access to even that basic information. I can have a messenger bring you a book on omega anatomy, if you want it by tomorrow, or I can deliver it myself, should you allow me to visit you again."

"I think it would be fine if you wanted to visit me, Ichijo-sempai. I'd appreciate company and the chance to leave the wards."

The noble said Zero could ask him anything, so, "You're pregnant, right? What's it feel like?"

Ichijo chokes on his tea. "What gave you that idea, Kiryuu-kun?"

"You bonded your partner, so you had a heat and...slept with him. Isn't that what happens?"

"Not all the time. I did have a heat, but not all heats are fertile. Sometimes an omega's body successfully goes into heat but doesn't send the right signals to release an egg. Those are called fallow heats, and they're very common for an omega's first maiden heat. They're only three days long, rather than the usual five-ish, and the symptoms are weaker. So no, I'm not pregnant."

"Can I do that on purpose? Or is there some kind of birth control I can use?"

"A fallow heat happens by chance. And vampires don't use birth control, since it's so difficult for most of us to get pregnant. Human drugs aren't effective; your body will burn them off or they won't work at all, and during a heat neither of you are aware enough to use physical methods. The only thing that works is not to trigger a heat by avoiding your partner - or partners - while you're in season. If you enter a fertile heat, and are bonded to a pureblood, conception is guaranteed. With a less pure alpha, it's still highly likely."

Disappointed, Zero lapses into silence for a while as they eat.

"Kiryuu-kun," says Ichijo with caution, "I don't mean to embarrass you, but there is one more thing I can think of that you probably don't know. Just in case you try to, ah, take care of yourself."

Zero tries not to laugh or cry or show how nauseous the very idea makes him feel; he didn't even masturbate when he had his own body.

"We're a little different from female omegas. For male omegas like us, everything is formed from scratch. To protect the uterus while our insides are being rearranged and the birth canal is being formed, our bodies create a membrane blocking off the entrance. It's not at all like a woman's hymen; it has no holes, it's very deep inside - just below the womb - and it's too thick and tough to tear naturally from exercise. So just in case you feel pain, or some kind of blockage, that's what it is. I'm sorry to make you uncomfortable, but I didn't want it to alarm you if you found it yourself and didn't know what it was."

Zero is quite sure that won't happen, but he thanks his sempai anyway. They are nearly finished, and it's almost time to leave, by the way Yagari keeps watching the angle of the sun and the lengthening shadows.

"May I ask you a few personal questions, Ichijo-sempai?"

Ichijo nods, smiling encouragingly, and gestures for Zero to continue. "Did you want to be an omega?

Ichijo adopts a contemplative air, and stirs the dregs of his tea. "My grandfather was an alpha. I wanted more than anything to not be like him, and hoped to stay a beta. To tell you the truth, omegas are so rare that I never thought about presenting as anything but an alpha or a beta."

"Then do you regret it?"

"I used to, sometimes. Not anymore, now that I've bonded. If being an omega gave my story a good ending, than I can't regret that it happened."

"Were you frightened, when you presented - you don't have to answer that if it makes you uncomfortable, sempai."

"I was raised to expect a possible presentation, so I wasn't frightened at first, just disappointed because I thought I was presenting as an alpha. I panicked when I realized what was actually going on. It was painful, of course, but not enough to frighten me. I was only afraid afterwards, when I thought about having to mate."

One last question.

"Do you love him?"

"Irrevocably."

Staring fixedly at the tabletop, Zero's heart clenches, and he feels a guilty surge of envy.

When long arms encircle Takuma's body, who was previously the only human occupant in the car's backseat, rather than scream or struggle, Takuma closes his eyes with a sigh and relaxes into the hold with a fond expression.

"Isaya…"

The stately hound is gone, and in its place is Takuma's alpha and bondmate. The familiar's animal shape has shifted to his creator's well-loved human form now that they are alone.

"Every time you tell someone you love me, I think to myself that I cannot possibly be so lucky."

"Mmm, luck had nothing to do with it. I chose you, and you chose me."

The ends of Isaya's ash blond hair tickle Takuma's forehead as the pureblood leans down to brush a chaste kiss to his temple.

"Kiryuu Zero was fascinating. Selfless, loyal, strong - he seems perfect. His looks are as exotic as rumor hinted. And you two seemed to get along well."

"He's even more fascinating in person. He'll act as bold with a pureblood as he does with any vampire. We worked together a few times on minor tasks. He once even attended my birthday party. Kiryuu-kun dislikes vampires, though he's polite unless you bait him. But he hates purebloods with a passion, which is why I asked you to watch through your familiar today."

"Even if he hates purebloods, why does Kuran Kaname-san dislike him so much? The Hunter is honorable. Kiryuu would make anyone a fine omega, even with his blood status."

Takuma stays silent.

"I do not ask you to betray anything held in confidence -"

"No, it's not that. I was trying to think of a way to explain without implying criticism of a pureblood."

"In every respect, Kaname behaves like the pureblood archetype. That includes the intensity of his feelings. What he loves, he loves more than anything, and everything else will be sacrificed for the beloved person or thing. And he possesses a very strong alpha instinct. He doesn't tolerate any infringement on his territory; he comes from a line of royals, after all. Kuran Yuuki and Kiryuu Zero were raised together after Zero's parents died, and are emotionally close. And Kiryuu, as a Hunter, does not follow vampire customs regarding purebloods."

"Ah, so Kuran-san fears the loss of her love and the deepening of his wife's attachment to his disrespectful rival."

"Precisely."

Isaya watches the scenery pass by the window, and Takuma watches his bondmate, admiring his profile, and still reexamining his meeting with Kiryuu-kun. A question gnaws on Takuma's mind, and before he can stop himself he's already blurted it out.

"Were you disappointed that my first heat was fallow?"

It hangs in the air, and Takuma self-consciously fingers the leather of his gloves in his lap, too well trained for any other sign of uneasiness to show.

Isaya's face is composed. "I will welcome all our children, Takuma. But I must admit that a part of my heart was relieved. The pain of my son's death has not faded. I fear the loss of another child. Did you wish that you conceived during your maiden heat?"

Takuma wrings the gloves in his hands. "I don't know. Maybe. What do I know about parenthood, after spending my entire childhood without any? I know I have to eventually produce a child. We can't put it off for more than a few years or people will start asking questions."

Isaya inclines his head in agreement, and offers his hand palm up to his omega; Takuma takes it and laces their fingers together, and nothing more is said until the couple arrives home.

Zero begins a strange split existence. For half the day, he lives among the Hunters, much as he always has. For half the night, Ichijo teaches him what he'll need to know to survive in the vampire world and act as a pureblood's spouse: books and books on etiquette, dossiers on both Kuran's friends and his enemies he must memorize, ancient, crumbling scrolls inked with the words for pureblood rituals, genealogies and histories of the Kuran family, instruction manuals for new omegas, handwritten rather than printed, even a few on pregnancy and childrearing. Zero puts those aside for last, hoping he'll run out of time to read them.

Zero applies himself diligently to his studies and learns as much as he can. He will honor the conditions he has agreed to; it will not be Zero who breaks the accord with the Kurans, for the Association's sake. It helps to think of it as research for Hunting, some kind of long-term mission that requires extensive knowledge of the target's habits. And there's so much new information that Zero - as a researcher - is curious for purely intellectual reasons; Archivist Fong would be ecstatic to have access to even a fraction of this.

Ichijo's grandfather, it turns out, kept a small house near the Association as a meeting place where he plotted with the traitorous former President. Ichijo furnished the empty building, and now it serves to host their nightly study sessions. All their time is spent in the comfortable living room, with Zero sprawled on a rug or the squishy couch, Ichijo sitting properly in the chairs, his strict upbringing showing in his perfect posture even while relaxed, and Isa the hound lying by his feet. They never go out again for food; perhaps as an apology Ichijo had the house stocked with food, and his driver or his guards cook for the pair of young omegas.

Ichijo asks Zero to bring his single Hoseki to their second meeting, where the noble passes over the promised anatomy text with the relevant pages bookmarked, and helps Zero learn to secure the jewel in his hair. He'll have to wear a Hoseki every time he goes out in public or appears in front of any guests, Ichijo tells him as he suggests Zero practice putting on and taking off his Hoseki twenty times every day, and to wear it in his spare time for extra practice.

The damned thing shifts every time Zero so much as breathes; it's distracting to someone with a Hunter's instincts and wearing it for very long drives him up a wall. Flow like water, Ichijo tells him. Don't move suddenly, or it will jerk; think elegant thoughts. Keep your head level. Be graceful as the crane. Once he figures out which movements to use, Zero's precise control of his body earned from his Hunter's training makes it simple to adopt them. Ichijo praises him for learning to wear a Hoseki faster than he did.

Zero resents that the vampires can mold him, change him, bend him, with nothing more than a trinket. Perhaps sensing Zero's anger, Ichijo is carefully diplomatic when making requests of him.

After Zero's anger simmers rather than burns, Ichijo takes him on a trip a few days later to a tailor for the new wardrobe he was promised during the betrothal ceremony. The woman fawns over Ichijo, and sneers dismissively at Zero when the Council leader steps out to take a business call. She tries to ignore the ex-human, but Ichijo relentlessly consults Zero's opinions and preferences, expertly bringing him into the discussions without appearing awkward or obvious.

When Zero asks why he couldn't just wear his old clothes, Ichijo has the grace to refrain from mentioning how worn out and plain they were.

Examining two bolts of satin, the blond nods toward the one on the left, and then gives Zero his attention. "For Kaname's part, it reflects poorly on him if he can't keep you clothed to the highest standard. We are both being displayed as prizes and displaying our own elevated rank and desirability."

"As omegas, social expectations and standards of propriety dictate that the way we dress follows certain codes. Vampires have an image of what an omega looks like. An unbonded omega shows off the neck and shoulders to advertise their availability; a bonded omega dresses more conservatively, because now showing off for another alpha is inappropriate."

"You're not yet bonded, Kiryuu-kun, but after your marriage you'll be socially considered as a bonded omega. Everything you wear from now on will need a high neckline, hems down to your mid-calf or ankle, and wide sleeves long enough to cover your hands past the tips of your fingers. This is all so another alpha cannot touch you and leave their scent on your skin; that would be inappropriate and an act of provocation on their part. Alphas have been known to battle one another over such an insult."

"You'll notice that I don't dress like that when I meet you. In the human world, the standards are relaxed a bit - you can wear gloves instead of the sleeves, for example. My everyday clothing is quite different. There are also allowances because we were sexed male at birth, so there's a bit of latitude as long as we follow basic guidelines. If you wanted to wear pants underneath, or make the outer garment a coat or a robe, that would be perfectly fine. But we are expected to look a little androgynous, if not outright feminine."

So many things are wrong with those statements that Zero doesn't even know where to start. In the end, he says nothing, because he esteems Ichijo enough that he won't argue with him while other people are watching, and because the finality in Ichijo's speech tells him this is one place he cannot fight and win.

At least he can hide his body behind his clothes; Zero knows he couldn't take other people staring at him in some skimpy outfit when he can't bear looking at himself fully clothed.

Ichijo takes care of the specifics, navigating confidently through a dizzying array of fabrics and technical jargon. Somehow, Zero acquires more clothing than he's owned in his entire life. The sleeves are going to be a problem, Zero can already tell.

Just before they leave, the tailor and her assistants take Zero's measurements. Staying still as hands touch him all over shakes him so badly he can't think clearly again until they've left the shop and are on their way home. He doesn't dare think about why (or about the invasive touches he soon must bear from his new spouses, who will surely want him to complete his duties. He saves that for his nightmares).

After that, the days blur into one another, the only sign of their passing the steady fading of his taming mark; Zero can feel his time slipping out of his hands, crossing off the days like a prisoner waiting for his execution date. The wedding preparations have both the Hunter and vampire worlds in a frenzy of activity and commotion. At least the vampires are excited - the Hunters are, shall we say, unenthusiastic they have to participate in a vampire wedding.

Zero finds, to his consternation, that he is starting to like Ichijo. As a person, not the way Hunters favored some vampires more than others because they obeyed the codes. And that was not permitted. When a Hunter lost their objectivity, they hesitated, and when they hesitated they became useless. Indecisiveness got people killed.

Still, Zero can't deny that having another omega around as a mentor has taken a weight off his mind. Ichijo has done more for him than any vampire ever has, seemingly for no gain of his own; the noble has duties he must be neglecting to spend so much time teaching Zero. And Ichijo's presence calms his vampire instincts, telling him that it's safer to be together. So Zero accepts their growing rapport.

One night, as Zero wades through yet another book explaining why he should be polite to people he doesn't like, a dozen strangers' auras surround the house; Isa's grey ears swivel and he springs from the living room into the foyer, barking a booming warning to the guards. There's the sounds of battle, and Zero, ever the Hunter, instinctually rises and follows Isa, intending to join, when Takuma takes his arm. Zero immediately shakes him off but still pauses.

"Wait," Ichijo says, listening to the noise outside, "I know you're used to protecting people, Kiryuu-kun, but now you and I are the ones being protected, and if we go out there we'll only get in the way. There are some medical supplies in the kitchen just in case. We'll get them out and ready ourselves in case the guards can't handle them."

Only five or ten minutes later, Isa trots back into the kitchen, nails going clack clack clack in time on the tile floor, tail bouncing with every step. He leaves bloody pawprints on the floor behind him, and politely offers his feet one by one to Ichijo, who cleans them with a dishtowel. There's more blood staining the white in his fur, and Zero insists on looking him over for injuries, despite Ichijo's assurances that the hound is unharmed. Self-possessed and aloof, the hound favors only Ichijo, so this is the first time Zero has ever touched him, but Isa stands patiently still with what Zero would swear is amusement as Zero combs through his silky fur feeling for wounds.

"Why do alphas want omegas?" Zero asks idly in the kitchen afterwards over a cup of hot tea - Ichijo loves tea, there's as much tea in the house as there is real food; every meal is served with a pot of tea. Zero suspects all of his employees have memorized Ichijo's preferred way of taking his tea - with rose jam.

Ichijo half-lowers his teacup, inhaling the steam rising off the top, before he explains.

"An alpha is naturally drawn toward an omega. Any Alpha will instinctively protect and care for us, even if we aren't bonded to them; it's an even more powerful instinct when the omega is pregnant. But alphas want to bond an omega for more practical reasons."

"Bonding an omega brings status and notoriety, elevating the alpha's social position and therefore often increasing the alpha's wealth, as well as guaranteeing their bloodline will continue. To present, omegas must have very pure blood and be strong enough to survive the change, which is why male omegas are slightly rarer than female ones - presenting is a greater risk, and the genes stay dormant if the vampire would die during the process - so the alpha's children will also be pure and powerful."

Zero crosses his arms over his chest. "Well, why do they want me than? I'm a Level D."

"As for why, specifically, they want to get to you now, it's because now is their only chance. Omega can only bond during the first heat they spend with an alpha, then not again until all their alphas are dead. If they don't get to you now, they'll have no chance later. They're very stupid to even try; Kaname would hunt them down."

"But even with your origins, you're still highly desirable. An alpha has four chances or less every century to court an omega, and for every omega born there are twenty-five alphas. An individual alpha's chances of bonding with an omega are incredibly low. Being a Level D makes your prospects of a good match lower, but you still would have found an alpha if the Kurans hadn't stepped forward. And if nothing else, there's the...sexual attraction you posses for an alpha. Since they can't knot except with a bonded omega, popular belief holds that an alpha will never be fully satisfied without one."

It's only Zero's burgeoning trust in Ichijo's honesty and discretion that allows him to tentatively ask his next question without meeting Ichijo's eyes.

"Are omegas drawn to alphas too? During my betrothal I...I noticed which vampires were alphas. Even the male ones."

Even that bastard Kuran, but Zero will admit only under heavy torture the way his instincts had preened over the attention paid to him by the most powerful alpha in the room.

Ichijo has understanding eyes as he leans back and runs his forefinger on the rim of his porcelain cup.

"That's quite normal, though our draw is weak compared to the attraction felt by an alpha for us. Whatever your preferences were before your presentation, they changed with the rest of your body."

Pushing down the revulsion caused by that reminder, Zero says "Is that...allowed among vampires? Or is it just because I'm marrying a pureblood?"

"It's perfectly fine - dynamic overrides birth sex. Is that a problem, for you as a Hunter?"

"Oh. No, it isn't." Zero shouldn't be surprised Ichijo doesn't already know, but the noble's knowledge seems limitless. "As long as your partner is consenting, of age, and not a vampire, Hunters don't give a damn. You risk your life in the Hunt, you do whatever you want. Not all the countries we live in are friendly to our attitudes, but inside the community they can get married if they want and we legally recognize them as spouses. It doesn't really matter who you marry anyway. All Hunters follow the preservation program, so some of your children won't be blood related to you even if a couple can have them naturally."

Ichijo's eyes widen more and more as he speaks. Even Isa has lifted his head and seems to pay attention.

"...is that so? Well, vampires don't have standards for casual sex, but serious relationships are another matter. Any marriage between two people of roughly equal blood purity that can produce children is acceptable. But a marriage between, say, a noble and a Level D, or between two alpha males or beta females would be forbidden - which is why your planned marriage to the Kuran purebloods has created such a storm in the vampire world. Not everyone approves."

Zero opens his mouth to respond, but one of Ichijo's vampire guards is standing silently by the open door, clearly waiting to be recognized, so he gestures for Ichijo to go ahead.

"Ichijo-sama, Kiryuu-sama, we've cleared the surrounding area. It's safe to return Kiryuu-sama to the Association Headquarters now."

"We should retire for tonight, I think," says Ichijo, rising from his chair. "We still have two weeks, and we won't get anything more done after the commotion."

Another scientist offers well wishes on Kuran-sama's wedding - Kaname nearly curses her instead, but he's had a great deal of practice pretending he wants nothing more than to keep that damned ex-human. Instead he nods and genially accepts, before continuing through the largest biotech facility owned by the Aido group, where Aido Hanabusa works.

Nearly two months ago, Kaname himself delivered a package to Aido with strict instructions inside, and ordered the noble to say nothing about this project to Yuuki when he tutored her. Yesterday, the blond noble contacted his leader that the results were ready, and while Yuuki was out visiting Ruka, Kaname had left the estate to see Aido.

"Kaname-sama," Aido shrieks and rushes toward the sliding glass doors as soon as he spots the pureblood, skidding and nearly smacking into the glass as he hits the release button, puppylike with his perky enthusiasm and sparkling eyes.

"Aido," Kaname greets him with a hint of amused warmth, "you saw me yesterday at the estate."

"Anytime Kaname-sama comes to see me is special!" insists Aido, hearts still in his eyes as Kaname steps into the room. The door hydraulics hiss as the room relocks.

"Everything has gone well, I hope? You said you wanted to speak with me in person."

Falling into place beside and slightly behind the pureblood, Aido nods, adopting a more suitable workplace demeanor. For an alpha just past fifty - the first in his family and therefore the heir - Aido has already climbed high, becoming the facility's head scientist and making great strides in his research. Silly and childish as Aido still was, the scientific community acknowledged his brilliance, and Kaname often made use of it, as he did today.

"I followed the security protocol you requested. Only I am aware of the project, only I worked on it, no one else saw or handled the data, at no point did I leave it unattended, and it was secured on a private, secret server at all times disconnected from the mainframe."

"Good. Is this room secure?"

"Yes, Kaname-sama. This is my private lab, which only I have access to, and I swept it before you came."

While Aido boots up the terminal at the room's workstation, Kaname stands at rest with his hands grasped in a relaxed hold behind his back. "What have you found, that you could not simply tell me in writing?"

"Well, when I tested the blood and tissue samples you gave me from Kiryuu's hospital stay, first I looked into how weirdly pale Kiryuu looks. He's not an albino, by the way."

Aido groans and dramatically lays his hand across his forehead. "Ahhh, I wish I could publish a paper on him! I had to look really hard to find the right gene - we've never seen that mutation before! He has a dominant form of leucism, so everything works, it's just turned down really low in his skin, hair and eyes. As far as I can tell, it's harmless. His children will be fine," Aido made a face, "but some of them will look as pasty as him, rather than handsome like Yuuki-hime and Kaname-sama!"

"I thought I was almost finished, so I wrapped up with a round of genetic screening. He turned up totally free of single-gene inherited genetic disorders - sickle cell, cystic fibrosis, that kind of thing. Then I ran a full workup on known gene variants for conditions caused by more than one gene, and Kiryuu came out nearly clean."

Good, that had been a concern of Kaname's. He could not allow Yuuki's children to become ill because of Kiryuu's blood. Vampires looked down on the occasional child born with a sickness, leftover from their human DNA, or those born with a weak body. In the time of the Ancestors, such children would have been smothered or left to die. But this is a gentler age, and now those children are allowed to live, merely kept hidden and not spoken of. Kurenai Maria had been right to fear the students of the Night Class would look down on her for her weakness. Before strengthening herself with Hio Shizuka's blood, other vampires outright avoided her, and she had no prospects for marriage at all, every possible partner fearing that her weakness would pass on to her children.

Aido's expression becomes more serious. "The results were too perfect. I'd seen plenty of human DNA samples when we created the blood tablets, and none of them looked like that. Normal human DNA is littered with potential problems and places where imperfections crop up. But I had seen results like that before - from vampires. So I decided to look deeper. I sequenced Kiryuu's entire genome, and cracked open the medical history records you got from Cross."

Aido darts a glance at Kaname, like he's waiting for the pureblood to punish him for sticking his nose somewhere it wasn't invited. Kaname, for his part, is a little annoyed that Aido went further than the he asked, but decides that if Kiryuu is going to cause more problems, it's best to know ahead of time and grants the noble clemency. "Go on, Aido."

Aido gives a jerky nod, and runs a hand distractedly through his hair. "Kaname-sama, do you know the last time vampires studied Hunter biology? The seminal studies are nine thousand years old. The last major work was over six thousand years ago, and there's only been a few minor papers since then. Common wisdom says that Hunters are just humans with a few handy tricks - an extra sense, a few weak spells, a little healing ability. After all, as long as we follow the treaty, they leave us alone; we aren't interested in them, not the way Hunters are interested in us."

Kaname is losing patience with Aido's floundering. "Why should the Hunters interest me, Aido?"

"Have you ever thought about why Cross Kaien can live for over two hundred years and still look like a human in his thirties? How can you achieve that age without needing to drink blood? And Cross isn't the only one - the Twin Curse occurs because Hunters carry vampire blood. And Kiryuu has always been odd; first his twin survives birth, the first pair of Hunter twins to ever survive, and then he resists Level D longer than any case we have records about - over four years, when most don't even last months."

Suddenly, Kaname is very, very interested.

"I had to confirm it wasn't a fluke, so I contacted Cross and asked for more Hunter samples - don't worry, I told him it was for more research fine tuning the blood tablets and I wanted to study their digestive systems compared to normal humans. He could only find three Hunters willing to donate, but one of them was himself and that was enough."

"Every last one of them - it was like looking at a vampire genome, with a giant hole cut through it where the genes for obtaining and processing blood would be. Everything we thought we knew about them is wrong. We vampires have stayed the same for the last ten thousand years, but the Hunters haven't. They've bred themselves Hunter to Hunter, increasing the vampire content of their blood, over hundreds of generations, producing a monster like the Vampire Without Fangs, Cross Kaien. And from his old records, Kiryuu's blood naturally contains as much vampire DNA as the Chairman's. If Kiryuu hadn't been turned, I think he would've shown an extended lifespan too."

"It's like, if normal humans are cars, and pureblood vampires are jet planes, then Vampire Hunters are like gliders - they have no engine, but they're still designed to fly. But a glider needs a more efficient design to achieve even a fraction of what a plane can do, so Hunters appear human even with really high amounts of vampire DNA, and their abilities improve but don't really change. But when Kiryuu was turned, the virus in a pureblood's bite mutated those few parts kept human, and gave him the ability to process blood for energy. And Hio Shizuka-sama's blood made more changes - more than I can account for, actually. I'm not sure you can call him a Level D at all; I think that's why Kiryuu could present as an omega. The vampire content of his DNA was so high he had all the necessary genes. It was drinking from a pureblood that tipped him over the edge, because it made his healing good enough he could survive the process."

"If you had to assign him a rank," Kaname asks slowly, "what would you call him."

"Ah, I can't say exactly. A significant portion of the Hunter genome doesn't match any known in vampires or humans - I think they must have eaten a pureblood without any vampire offspring, or maybe they're mutations unique to Hunter bloodlines."

"Estimate for me," Kaname orders.

"If we consider the unknown Hunter and known vampire genes equivalent, then a very high ranking noble. You only need to look at Kiryuu to see that he isn't very human."

"I need your help, Ichijo-sempai," Zero requests as he slides into the noble's car four days before the next new moon - and his wedding.

"Of course, Kiryuu-kun. Whatever you need," Ichijo immediately agrees, green eyes worried.

"I need to sign some paperwork ending the lease on my apartment, in person. Kaito tried doing it for me, and he's already cleared out everything except the furniture, but they said I would have to sign it myself. Do you mind if we go there first, before the office closes?"

"It's no trouble. Give my driver the address; I'll let the security team know our arrival time has been pushed back."

Zero does not want Ichijo to see the crumbling, dreary neighborhood he lived in, or the sad, pathetic state of his tiny apartment, but with no choice either way, he endures the anxiety and embarrassment as Ichijo accompanies him inside to sign the papers, alongside the faithful Isa. The Hunter does not like the measuring, considering look the blonde gives his surroundings, or the way he gazes at Zero after they go upstairs with the supervisor, soft-eyed, but with compassion, not pity, as though he's just understood something.

It's only when the pair of omegas are back in the car and halfway to the house, that they realize they have been too complacent.

Ichijo is frowning at a message on his phone, typing out a response, and Zero is offhandedly staring out the window at the empty stretch of road, sheltered by a copse of trees on both sides, when he sees a single pair of headlights approaching in the distance. Zero almost dismisses it - but then his senses tell him the driver is also a vampire. Not unusual, but his instincts keep pricking him, and given the deserted location…

The Hunter almost convinces himself it's just paranoia. Then the oncoming car speeds up, just as it comes into range.

Instantly, Zero is releasing his and Ichijo's seatbelts, Ichijo looks up from his phone, a question on his lips, but there's no time, and Zero pushes him down into the footwell between the seats, dislodging Isa from Ichijo's lap and trapping him underneath the noble. The hound, thinking Zero is attacking his master, growls, sinks his teeth into Zero's arm and shakes his head; Zero bites through his lip with the pain.

"Avoid them!" Zero shouts to the driver, but there's nowhere to go, hemmed in by trees on both sides. The car swerves, brakes - then there's a crunch of impact, the screech of ripping metal, a shockwave Zero can feel through the floor, and the world spins, tumbling over and over as the car rolls, before a final neck-snapping jolt, as the sedan comes to rest, upside down, against the trunk of a tree.

Braced in the footwell, Zero and Ichijo are bruised and shaken, but otherwise nearly unharmed. Ichijo calls out to the guard and the driver. No one responds.

In the forest around them, the night is full of lights - a hundred eyes glowing red with bloodlust.

Kiryuu Zero is the Hunter equivalent of a pureblood fight me.

Isaya's familiar is taking the shape of a Borzoi dog. Very elegant, you should google them.

Do any of my readers have any ideas what a vampire king would name their palace? What I have is rather plain, and you all are very clever people, so I thought I'd take suggestions.