Hello again everyone! Tormenting Zero got quite a strong reaction - I'll definitely have to do it again some time.
To Mayb: The vampires who attacked Zero moved him to make him harder to find and disrupt his scent trail, so the Kurans couldn't find him. Assume that as vampires they know basic precautions to take to avoid being tracked. Kaname was very far away, Yuuki was inexperienced, and their bloodbond is with each other, not Zero, so they can't use it to find him. And I didn't know pure blood could do that, that's why I didn't think about using that, haha!
My favorite character is Zero, so it hurts me to torture him too (but thinking about Yuuki torturing him is giving me Bad Thoughts). I thought you might like seeing Yuuki's familiar :) In my imagination, Yuuki's first priority in such a situation would be Zero, and only after she found out what happened to him would she think about anything else. You'll see more of her emotions in this chapter and the next one.
I assume that Kaname surviving 1,000 years without a heart is a special pureblood power, and if a regular vampire's heart stopped for long enough, they would probably die. *shrug* Purebloods just do what they want?
To Kid: Don't worry about the length of this arc vs. the next one. I never said how long that long-awaited arc would be, now did I? Full disclosure, I'm not even sure I can get Zero to let Kaname and Yuuki see him naked in less than a chapter. Shy, sweet child. Baby steps, but hopefully I can set the stage for that necessary increasing intimacy.
XVIII. Offer Persephone a Pomegranate: Rind
The noise Yuuki makes when the smoke clears and she can see the outline of Zero, collapsed on the ground, is barely human.
Eyes blind to anything but his vague shape, Yuuki hurtles through the ruins of a warehouse at the edge of the industrial district, ignoring lingering sparks and hazardous twisted girders and beams. Yuuki's powers had torn this place apart as soon as she realized Zero's blood trail led inside, putting out the fire and throwing debris to the sides, careful even in her maddened frenzy not to crush anyone inside. Flitting at her elbow is the soft black butterfly that guided her here by sampling the taste of Zero's blood.
The scent of her beloved's familiar, desired blood overwhelms the smells of smoke and melted plastic and metal; it's all her brain can fix on, coating her senses and making the dark pureblood nature surging in her blood overshadow everything but her need to find Zero alive.
Oh god. A wailing, screaming keen is wrenched from her chest, and it goes on and on as Yuuki collapses on her knees beside his broken body. The alpha howls ceaselessly in her mind, grief-stricken and beyond words.
Zero's elbow isn't supposed to be facing that way, she thinks with horror, her gorge rising. And there's something wrong with the way his legs are splayed. Parts of his ribcage look dented - mashed-in depressions where his ribs and torso have caved in, like he was struck with terrible and malicious force. And his face - his dear, beloved face! - the flesh is in ribbons, the clean lines of his jaw misaligned, chunks of his nose missing; it clearly bore the brunt of whoever did this.
Tears stream down her face, unheeded. Yuuki couldn't stop them if she tried, shaking in horror.
The pureblood's hands hover over the mess, wanting to gather Zero up, but she can't find any place that looks safe to touch without harming him further. The need to confirm Zero is alive overwhelms everything else - god, she can't see his chest rise and fall - and Yuuki searches the mostly-unhurt skin of his neck for a pulse, holding her breath until she finally feels a weak thump.
But she can't feel a second heartbeat.
Crying in earnest now, uncaring and unashamed, great ugly sobbing heaves, Yuuki scrabbles at her clothes. Blood, she can give him her blood, blood heals everything for vampires - why isn't Zero healing does that mean he's too far gone is he already - blood, she has pure blood to give him, and Yuuki's never been so grateful in her life for that fact, ever.
Finally she tears away her sleeve, cutting straight to the bone with her claws in blind terror, and she doesn't feel a thing, except relief. Yuuki holds her bleeding arm over Zero's mouth, forces herself to maneuver open his mangled jaw, and lets her blood drip down, hoping that's enough, because she doesn't think he can swallow.
The pureblood closes her eyes, and murmurs a litany of pleas, over and over again, trying to force as much vitality as she can into her blood, her feelings, her desperate hope that this will save him. Her alpha whimpers and whines, calling for its mate, but Yuuki has nothing left to soothe it, consumed by fear and balancing on the knife-edge of uncertainty. She claws at her wrist every time the flow lessens, pouring more and more of herself into her offering. The only reason she's holding herself together right now, grasping weakly at sanity, is that she knows Zero will die if she can't.
Yuuki hiccups, and tries to breathe deeply, but all her air is taken by her sobs. It's not working, she fears, doubts creeping in, and the longer Zero's heart stays silent, the greater her grief grows. Yuuki presses her ear against Zero's chest, above his heart, still feeding him her blood, desperate for any sign, her whole body taut with fear.
A heartbeat, weak and faint.
She sags, the tightness in her chest eases, and her frightened sobs turn to relieved tears. She covers her face with one hand, letting herself cry freely and appreciate the miracle of Zero's survival for a few minutes. Zero's heartbeat strengthens a little, and when it steadies she allows her wrist to heal.
No, she's not supposed to cry, she reminds herself. She's being a terrible, undignified pureblood, so she bites her fist, trying to stem her tears and cry more quietly. Yuuki throttles her sobs down into sniffles and whimpers, but the occasional heaving shake of her shoulders shows the lie.
A little calmer, and with Zero out of immediate danger, Yuuki finally takes in the details of Zero's condition. To someone who loves him, the evidence of such deep hate feels like a spike driven into her back. Someone did this to him, Yuuki thinks with horror, disbelief and a deep, profound anger. How could anyone do this to another living being, let alone to Zero, the gentlest, kindest person Yuuki knows?
She ventures to touch one of the cratered depressions in his chest. It feels like the pulpy, liquid bruises on a dropped peach; the squishy texture holds the indentations of her fingers. Yuuki covers her hand with her mouth and chokes, closing her eyes against the sight. When she reaches up to close Zero's open mouth, and realizes someone ripped out his tongue, Yuuki loses the battle to her nausea and just barely makes it in time to throw up in the opposite direction, shock and horror triggering the nausea again every time the bloody, grotesque image surfaces.
This is her fault, Yuuki realizes, hunched over and shuddering with the taste of stomach acid and sweets coating her mouth, her body still fighting to expel an empty stomach. She was the one who wanted to go out today. She was the one who wanted to eat at the cafe. She left him alone, left Zero's side, left him defenseless, and whoever did this took him while he retrieved a gift for her.
Yuuki starts crying heavily again, still trying to control her dry heaving, berating herself for her uselessness and inability to do anything but cry. Wasn't she responsible for protecting him, as Zero's mate and wife? All of her old anxieties and self-doubts about her worth return. This is the worst, most painful failure of her entire life, and she cannot ever let this happen again - Zero might not survive a second mistake. Whatever she must do to stop this, she'll do it, Yuuki promises Zero silently.
Drying her face, Yuuki wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, and crawls back to Zero's side, obsessively checking his heartbeat and breathing. As she tries to straighten Zero's limbs, a black flicker in the corner of her eye heralds the arrival of Kaname's familiar.
Yuuki needs his help to get Zero out of here, and to a doctor as soon as possible. Using his bat familiars to fly will be far faster than driving by car. Yuuki doesn't dare try traveling with her butterfly familiars; she's never done it before, and with Zero in this state she could hurt him. Kaname is experienced enough that he could safely move the Hunter.
But Kaname doesn't like Zero, Yuuki reminds herself with a sinking feeling in her stomach. Though lately, Kaname has seemed like he's coming around to the idea that Zero is permanently part of their family. Yuuki clenches her fists. Zero needs this. She's going to get it for him, whatever it costs to her.
"Kaname, please," Yuuki begs through her raw throat, turning to his raven and stretching out a beseeching hand.
"Please. Help me. Help Zero, and I'll do whatever you want, be whatever you want," she promises, blood rushing through her ears as she panics anew, because she almost lost Zero, he almost slipped out of her arms, out of her reach, and she doesn't know if she can keep Kaname's spite from hurting him again.
A swirl of smoke, and Kaname's human familiar catches her by the shoulders, a rare expression of discomfort exposed behind his collected mask. "You don't have to promise me that, Yuuki. If it's something you want, all you have to do is ask, and I will do it for you."
Yuuki can feel relieved tears coming, and she nods, swallowing and concentrating on staying calm until her sore eyes stop prickling.
"My real body will be here soon," the familiar promises, stroking her hair, "and we can take him home. I've already contacted Aido, and he'll be waiting for us. Kiryuu will be fine."
Yuuki shakes her head, unable to tear her eyes away from Zero's still form. Her black butterfly is sitting on his thigh, next to a jagged, suspiciously shaped wound. "They bit him," she says, abruptly filling with rage, her pureblood's hunger and possessiveness roaring forward.
Those filthy animals touched him and stole from him, drank down the sweet, divine liqueur in his veins, that only we are permitted to taste, the pureblood parts of her observe with quiet lethality.
Yuuki tries to soothe herself with Zero's scent, but it's layered with pain and blood, and it just drives her alpha to start wailing again.
The familiar's arms tighten around her. "We'll make sure whoever did this pays the price. We can't allow anyone to defy us like this."
"No, we can't," Yuuki affirms, gently touching the ends of Zero's silver hair, eyes dark.
For the next seven days, as Kiryuu Zero lies unconscious in a coma, gravely wounded and refusing to wake, Rosehill becomes a tomb whose center is the ill omega lying in Yuuki's bed.
Yuuki barely sleeps - mostly when Kaname presses her to - and eats only so she'll have enough strength to give Kiryuu more of her blood, downing blood tablets by the bottle. Kaname drains himself just as deeply, refusing to consider why he's so willingly opening his veins for Kiryuu. It's just to take strain off of Yuuki, he tells himself.
But Kaname can't deny that he's concerned for Kiryuu. The attack has shaken him to his core with it unexpectedness. Kaname strives so hard to be the one in control, to hold all the cards and know everything going on, and yet he had caught no hint from his agents of what the Senate planned.
Kaname has put up with Kiryuu for years without being allowed to kill him, and he's not about to let someone else succeed where he failed. No one is permitted to kill Kiryuu unless Kaname allows it. And he won't, because Kiryuu's death belongs to Kaname, and Kaname alone...but the Hunter is a good man, and the pureblood can admit that it would be a shame if Kiryuu were to die. Certainly, a part of Yuuki would die with him, and Kaname fears what the consequences would be.
Neither of the Kurans have left the house since Kiryuu's attack, sending vague excuses to their previous appointments. Their instincts scream every time their 'mate' leaves their sight. One of them stays protectively in the same room at all times, day or night, and while one alpha sleeps, the other watches over their omega.
No one is allowed in the room with Kiryuu, or even near it, except for Sasaki-san, the beta doctor, and once, fleetingly, Aido, and only when they're caring for Kiryuu. When a few of the servants wandered too close, Kaname found himself showing his teeth and snarling until they retreated to a safe distance. It's all instincts, he assures himself. Weak and defenseless and wounded, Kiryuu would never survive a second attack.
Rosehill's halls are unnaturally silent as Kaname breezes through them on quiet feet, the servants speaking in whispers and tiptoeing around as they fulfill their duties. Kaname made sure that the news of both Kiryuu's attack and his survival will not leave these walls; he's grateful that their ranks have been purged their ranks of spies (through the truth of how reminds Kaname of his guilt). But it's a bandage on an open wound; better that the wound had not been inflicted in the first place.
The pureblood's hand clenches in his pocket around a warm, square piece of metal, and Kaname withdraws Nightshade's collar tag in between his fingers. The gold glints under the candlelight. It's real, and remarkably well-made; Kiryuu hadn't stinted on cost or craftsmanship, generous in nature as always.
For some reason, Kaname's kept it constantly in his pocket since Kiryuu was attacked, taking it out sometimes to turn it over in long fingers as he thinks. It's not that he's attached to it, Kaname reminds himself. It's penance, a reminder of his profound failure, one that has hurt Yuuki down to her soul and nearly killed Kiryuu. He'll return it to Kiryuu once the Hunter wakes, Kaname promises himself. It's not comforting or anything. He could give it to Yuuki right now if he wanted.
(He couldn't. Keeping the tag is like a promise that Kiryuu will wake up. As long as Kaname has Nightshade's tag, Kiryuu will drag himself back from death out of sheer obstinacy to berate the pureblood for touching his things.)
Yuuki blames herself for Kiryuu's attack, but Kaname knows he's the one who is really culpable. He failed to prevent this. He relied too heavily on his intelligence networks for warning. He let Kiryuu out of his sight when Yuuki trusted him to watch over their Consort. And Kaname's underlying failure is that he let things build to this point at all. Kaname was the one who was responsible for Kiryuu's reputation being destroyed. By letting everyone know his indifference and antipathy towards Kiryuu, he sent the nobles the message that harming Kiryuu was acceptable.
It is not. That's clear to him now.
Kaname's footsteps quicken; he's been away too long, and the urge to see the silver Hunter breathing quietly in his wife's bed overwhelms his other purposes. He can't think of anything else, the alpha instincts making his skin crawl and his heart beat faster. Anything could have happened to mate while he was gone, Kaname scolds himself. His instincts, and Yuuki's, are a hair from the surface these days, deeply rooted as the urge to protect an omega - their omega - is in their natures.
Only when he sees the pale, heavily bandaged face, framed by silver hair, lax in sleep, with the sheets tucked up to Kiryuu's chin, does something in his chest loosen. Kaname steps into Yuuki's bedroom, a rumble building in his chest to let alpha-mate know he's returned.
Yuuki is pacing by the bedside, arms crossed; at the noise, she looks up and gives Kaname a flat attempt at a smile, her fingers tapping restlessly on her arms. Unless she's touching their Consort, Yuuki can't hold still these days.
They're both on the knife-edge of feral, completely incapable of being calmed by anything but the presence of the omega they're both attuned too. At any given second, with the smell of their mate's blood still in the air, Kaname and Yuuki are standing on the precipice of violence, needing only a trigger. The logical part of Kaname is aware he's not functioning normally, but with that sweet, addicting fragrance of omega blood in the air, the pureblood doesn't care.
"How has he been?" Kaname asks, coming round the bed.
"No change," Yuuki reports. "We need to warm him again; he's getting cold."
Slipping under the covers, the two alphas settle on either side of the Hunter, in a pale mimicry of their position months earlier in this bed, as the three of them spoke of trust and children in intimate safety. They can't hold him close as they wish, for fear of disturbing Kiryuu's injuries. All of the Hunter's limbs are splinted, and hardly a sliver of flesh is left unbandaged. Kaname carefully noses the Hunter's neck, and lets his tongue flash out to taste the skin as Yuuki mirrors the gesture on the other side.
"You know," his wife says, a burning light in her deep red eyes, "I've been thinking. If we kill all the vampires, Zero will be safe. And we can take our time to mate him, when he's ready, because no one will be pushing us and all the other alphas will be dead, so they can't steal him from us."
Her hands clench the comforter; she hasn't left this room in a few days, smothered under the smell of wounded omega with Kiryuu's lifeless, still body lying next to her. With Yuuki's nightgown falling off one shoulder and her hair in knots, his wife looks as disordered as her emotional state. "Then he'll let us fill him with babies, once he knows they'll be safe," she concludes happily.
Kaname considers this; to the alpha, it seems a perfectly reasonable solution. "I don't believe that would work," he says, though he can't quite remember why right now. The image of their mate, healthy and swollen with their child, is the most beautiful, alluring thing he could imagine. Kaname lowers his head to nuzzle at their mate's hair, breathing deep.
If anyone was around to see Kaname, they would notice that he's quite disheveled himself, lacking a coat or a waistcoat, his dress shirt wrinkled and the cuff buttons undone, and his trousers heavily creased. There's a few spots of blood marring the creamy white fabric of his fine linen shirt, from the last time he fed Zero. Speaking of feedings, it's time for the Hunter's next one.
Since his cuffs are already undone, all Kaname has to do is push his sleeve back and roll it up, tucked out of the way.
Yuuki, noticing the familiar routine, starts loosening the bandages holding Zero's jaw shut so they can open his mouth wide enough to drink. "Tell me how this works again," she prompts.
Kaname already knows where this conversion leads. "You can't help me, Yuuki, as much as you want to. This skill takes a great deal of practice and control."
"I didn't say anything about helping," she protests without conviction. "Just explain it for me, one more time."
Kaname sighs, but begins to speak as he slices a neat line on his wrist with his index claw. "We are immortal because a certain class of our cells can divide and replicate themselves identically an infinite number of times. When a lesser vampire drinks our blood, it is these cells that bestow increased power. They linger in the new host's bloodstream, continuing to replicate themselves until the host's death."
Drop by drop, his blood falls on Kiryuu's lips, coating them in bright red. The Hunter makes no movement or sign he can taste the richest, most coveted blood in the world. "Those cells are still part of us, and we can manipulate them if we wish. The virus that alters a human into a vampire has similar properties. That is why a D cannot disobey the Master who Turned them."
Kaname reaches out, carefully cupping Kiryuu's broken jaw to avoid further damaging his face. No matter how careful he is, Kiryuu's pale skin underneath the bandages will bear mottled green-blue bruises in the shape of his palm, so fragile and delicate his body is right now.
"Focus on the bloodbond, and I'll show you the necessary state of mind and level of attention."
Out of his peripheral vision, he sees Yuuki shake her head up and down, fascinated by this display, and then Kaname's consciousness sinks down, reaching out with the tiniest, thinnest possible tendril of his power into Kiryuu's body.
Feeling his blood rushing through Kiryuu's body is intimate and strange at the same time, like Kiryuu is part of him, a newfound phantom limb. Pushing away the shivery feeling, Kaname gathers his lingering cells together, and directs them towards the area he wants to focus on tonight: finishing the rebuilding of the Hunter's tongue.
He submerges himself in the microscopic world inside the Hunter's body, closing his eyes and narrowing his attention to guiding one cell atop another, following the perfect pattern fixed in his head. Kiryuu's body already holds the blueprints to repair the damage, hidden dormant in his DNA; all Kaname has to do is show the Hunter's body how to retrieve that information. He's not healing anything, exactly; with his cells, he's creating a scaffolding for Kiryuu's own healing to fill in.
"Finished," Kaname announces with satisfaction nearly an hour later, sagging a little; such extended concentration is taxing. "It's a perfect, functional replica of the original. He may not even realize losing it actually happened."
"Incredible," breathes Yuuki, wide-eyed with relief.
Just for safety's sake, the pureblood checks the sites of his previous work. In the past week, he's already shored up several vital organs, safeguarded the Hunter's brain, and now rebuilt his tongue. The only thing left Kaname can do is strengthen the quick, early repairs he made to the two breaks in Kiryuu's spine, just so they didn't heal wrong.
The pureblood almost breaks the connection, but hesitates, and then, with an illicit feeling like he ought to be looking over his shoulder, he gives into temptation and fleetingly caresses the omega's womb, whole and miraculously intact. This part of his mate's body exerts a pull on Kaname, endlessly fascinating him - it's a visible sign of Kiryuu's changes, and proof of Kaname's new reality. To see it, and almost touch it...It's ridiculous, but the idea that it might be the first home their children ever know...doubly ridiculous. Kiryuu wants no children, omegas don't often conceive in their first heat, and he's likely infertile anyway. That's his instincts talking, certainly not his logic.
Kaname shakes himself, and withdraws into his own body again. The ghost feeling of severing the connection with his cells in Kiryuu's body makes Kaname feel halved, lessened. It will fade with time, but he hates the feeling of missing something, like he's lost something important.
"There are limits to this technique, and I'm walking them," Kaname cautions Yuuki as she rewraps Zero's bandages. "The number of cells we can use is small, and a lesser vampire's body can only be pushed so far. This method is unnatural for him; it prioritizes one area at the expense of the rest of the body. I'm using it to speed up repair on the most critical injuries, and when it no longer becomes worth the strain, I will have to let the rest heal on its own.."
Aido assured them all of Kiryuu's injuries would heal, eventually, but that whatever substance was fouling Kiryuu's blood was inhibiting his healing to near-human levels. The noble is still analyzing samples of Zero's blood, and they hope to determine what it is and how long it will remain in his bloodstream before breaking down.
Kaname already has a guess about what the 'drug' is. No human drug or poison could fight his pure blood and powers it bestows. There is only one substance that can do that.
Only another pureblood could have done this, and Kaname suspects the same pureblood who has been Turning enough humans to build an army and testing Kiryuu's strength as a Hunter for months.
This circumstances of the attack are puzzling, however. Why not make sure of the kill? Any pureblood should know better than leave Kiryuu alive. There were multiple attackers, easily visible from the teeth patterns in the bite marks. Was the pureblood not one of them? What kind of grudge motivated their savagery? And Kiryuu is an omega, an obvious target for rape, but he was sexually untouched. Whoever attacked him bore him a personal hatred, but not enough to sexually assault him.
He shakes his head, dismissing his speculations. Kaname's sent his agents out to search for clues; wondering will do nothing to help.
Yuuki begins tending to the Hunter's surface injuries, removing the bandages and lapping at the wounds so her saliva can dull his pain. By now the ritual is familiar and almost calming for both of them, to be able to tend to their omega in some small way. Kaname settles back down next to Kiryuu, and pulls the covers back up over them, patiently watching and waiting.
Zero drifts.
The dark river underneath his back, bearing him up, is cool and clean. Its sluggish current tugs at his hair and limbs, and Zero lets the waters take him.
He drifts for a long time.
Darkness above his eyes, darkness below his back. Nothing disturbs him, not questions about how he came to be here, or where he is, or where he's going. He's content to let the current float his body where it will.
He closes his eyes in the peaceful quiet. There's an echo in his ears. Caught up in listening, Zero sinks beneath the surface; the dark waters swallow him without a ripple.
"He's waking up!"
The voice is familiar, but unwelcome. Pain is pressing back into Zero's world. He longs for the river again, struggles against the pull toward the sound.
"Zero, Zero!" calls the voice.
Drawn by that voice, despite the pain, Zero settles back into his body, just for a moment, but his spirit is loosely tethered to his flesh.
"His eyes moved! Zero, Zero can you hear me?" asks a woman urgently. The voice is good. He wants to do as the voice asks, but weak as the tether is, Zero can only twitch his fingers.
"Did you see? He moved again!"
A warmth and a strong, good scent comes up close. "Zero, this is very important. We need to know who attacked you. Do you remember the attack?"
This time, Zero's fingers twitch involuntarily as the memory returns to him against his will, but it seems to make the voice happy; her warmth shifts, pressed up against his side.
"Can you tell me who it was?" the voice asks. But Zero's limbs are all weighed down, and the far away, tenuous connection to his body won't move. He can't feel much of his face, but all his body is sending him is pain, bombarding his synapses unceasingly.
"Zero, if you can't speak, would you let me drink your blood to see the memory?" The terrified fear shocks a spasm out of him, and a noise from his clenched throat. No, no, no, no more fangs.
"Just a mouthful," coaxes the woman. "And I'll be as gentle as I possibly can."
Zero is afraid, terrified, but he wants to please that voice so badly. And the dissociation from his body is helping him be less afraid. Frightened, but trusting the voice on a deep, subconscious level, he curls his fingers the tiniest bit.
The voice sounds relieved. "Just think hard on what happened, and we'll do the rest. We want the people who hurt you to be apprehended, so they can never hurt you again."
She kisses his neck, and Zero makes a little gasp of surprise. Then the wet of her tongue, soothing strokes that make the place they touch hurt less. She's right; her fangs are the smallest, gentlest pressure that part his skin and slide in smoothly. His heartbeat forces blood out of the wound, and the woman staggers back, with the sound of a muffled scream. Hurriedly, she \returns to his side after a moment, and licks the wound closed, murmuring in between strokes how brave he is, how she loves him, how glad she is he's woken.
"That's good, Kiryuu," says a masculine voice, with another scent that makes him feel safe rather than scared. "You can go back to sleep."
So Zero does, diving back down to the dark river, retaking his place floating in the endless dark amid the sounds of lapping waves.
For Kaname and Yuuki, it's like the fever under which they labored for the past week has broken, dispelled by hazy lavender eyes. They can think clearly, get up, and dress properly for the first time in days. Kaname is relieved to be back to his normal self-control and spotless appearance, savoring the clear-headedness and the feeling of crisp, fresh starched shirts. Yuuki remembers to brush her hair, eats more, and sleeps through the night, but is far from her old self, still spending most of her time at Kiryuu's bedside. The separation anxiety and the fear don't go away, but they do ebb enough that the purebloods can venture further from Zero's side for short periods.
Right now, the Hunter is alone, asleep, and the Kurans are in a nearby receiving room so they can strategize without disturbing his rest. Kiryuu is not unguarded; the hallways around his room are littered with ravens and butterflies, and the black wolf is curled against his side. Should anything happen, both of them can be at his side in an instant, with plenty of forewarning.
Kiryuu is not Kaname's concern at the moment. He studies his wife's profile against the moonlit window askance, thoughtlessly straightening his right shirt cuff. The straight line of her spine and her crossed arms communicate tension and the desire not to be disturbed. The pureblood freezes when he realizes his uneasy gesture, and wraps one hand around his wrist instead to keep still.
His wife has never been an unknown quantity before; from her infancy, Kaname studied Yuuki's proclivities and pressure points with a dedication that others might find invasive (Kiryuu would probably call him creepy, he reflects with amusement). Over the years, Kaname has taken advantage of that knowledge in ways that could easily be called underhanded.
But there was always one action forbidden to Kaname, one sin he knew if committed would destroy everything between them: killing Kiryuu. Yuuki will tolerate all slights against her, but if Kaname eliminated Kiryuu she would hate him forever. Now someone has trespassed that borderline, and Kaname is not sure what will happen when Yuuki is pushed to the edge of her heart's endurance.
Yuuki's appearance this evening is making him uneasy - she hardly resembles herself. Gone are the ruffles and pastels and slight air of femininity, exchanged for a stark black pantsuit overtop a white blouse, without lace or frills. The jacket's cut is severe, emphasizing the hard line of her shoulders. Yuuki's hair is pulled back tightly into a high, militarily precise knot. Most worrying of all are the stiletto heels that could put a man's eye out, and the slash of bright red lipstick on her mouth, matching the red color of her nails. He's never, ever seen her wear this outfit before, and it eerily mirrors his own clothes. Kaname doesn't know what to make of the possibility she's learned more of his habits than he intended to teach her.
As long as Kiryuu's illness occupied her, Yuuki gave no thought to anything else, consumed by fear, guilt and the desire for his healing. With proof of his recovery, now she's had time to think about how the Hunter came to be in this state. Those people tortured and nearly killed half her heart, and purebloods love deeply, completely and without compromise or moderation. Kaname knows what he would do, if something like this were to happen to his dear wife. A pureblood's rage is a terrifying force of nature to those swept up in its path. Therefore, as much as he would like to know, he's leery of asking Yuuki what she saw in Kiryuu's blood. He's seen more of what Yuuki is capable of in the last few months than he would have believed she could contain.
"Would you say you know everyone involved with the monarchist faction?" Yuuki asks suddenly, still with her back turned.
Containing his confusion, and furiously searching for a reason Yuuki would ask such a thing, Kaname replies in as neutral a tone as he can manage, "In all likelihood, yes. Perhaps not some of the ones who hide their affiliation in public, but I make a point of knowing my own arsenal."
Yuuki uncrosses her arms, half turning toward Kaname without meeting his eyes. "I don't. I know hardly any of them. But I intend to change that, in the future. I've neglected the nobles' political struggles in the mistaken belief I could let you handle them and everything would be fine. But I'm a pureblood princess of the Kuran family, and it was foolish to believe I could stay out of things. You will teach me everything you know about how to play those games."
"As you wish," Kaname accedes slowly, regretting Yuuki's choice. It was his wish to shield his dear girl's bright nature from the grimy darkness such games create, to preserve the human Yuuki of Cross Academy and her heart born under the sun. He encouraged Yuuki to pursue other interests on purpose, assuring her that he could safeguard their interests on his own. Another failure on his part.
Kaname scrutinizes her profile again, judging the wisdom of his next words. "If I may ask, what brought you to make this decision?"
Her eyes flicker to his face, and then away again. The set expression on Yuuki's face looks unnatural.
"I will show you the memory Zero gave me - if you promise you will not go over my head, Kaname. You won't shield me from this, and I won't let you take this away from me."
Seeing no other option, Kaname agrees. Yuuki presses the nail of her forefinger into her opposite palm, drawing a single bead of blood; she's proven adept at some of the mind manipulations. She holds out her palm, offering Kaname the first taste of her blood in months. He takes her bloody palm in both hands, bringing it up to his mouth as he holds her gaze, and parting his lips, licks up the droplet.
The memory contained inside knocks him sideways, and he staggers back a step before regaining his poise.
Kill them, snarls the alpha. Kill them slowly and cruelly, as they wished to kill our beautiful mate! How dare they say such things, to presume to lay hands on him, and claim to serve us! In the back of his head, Kaname's instincts feel like a pacing tiger, raging and roaring in anger. Even the pureblood part of him feels like something is rising from the abyss of his nature, black and threshing.
"You know them?" demands Yuuki, grabbing a handful of his suit coat.
"Yes," Kaname hisses between his teeth, eyes narrowed, rapidly calculating the hows and whys and the depth of his personal failure. He never even considered an attack planned by his own followers. The pureblood's jaw clenches. How short-sighted! Has he become some sloppy, careless fool from his Sleep?
Kaname sees his anger reflected in Yuuki's face, their matching red-brown eyes turning redder and bloodier as their vampiric natures rise.
"Show me," Yuuki orders, and Kaname willingly shares the knowledge of their enemies through his blood, taking pleasure in how decisively his wife's fangs tear his palm, and the feeling of her mouth lapping at his blood as her red eyes look up at him.
"We can find them easily. They haven't even bothered to hide," Kaname remarks with disgust. "I will -"
"No," Yuuki rejects, "I will find them. They think my anger is meaningless? I will teach them - all of them - that they can't dismiss me. I may be weak, but I'm strong enough for this," she promises, fists clenched in anger.
Looking at her unwavering, determined face, Kaname gives in. "Take Seiren with you. She can help - she knows where to find them."
Yuuki nods, and turns on her heel to leave - but pauses.
"Zero," she says to herself, "I can't leave Zero alone."
She turns, slowly, to face Kaname, and her calculating, distrustful expression leaves him cold. "You can't be trusted with Zero. You implied it yourself, when you didn't deny the possibility of hurting his children because you hate him."
Kaname's tongue feels leaden. "I -" he says, stopping, trying to decide what he wants to tell her. She's clearly torn between two competing desires, to stay or to go, and Kaname knows Kiryuu will win out, however much she desires vengeance. He could say nothing, let her stay, and carry out their capture himself, preserving the old order. Or…
It's difficult to speak through his dry mouth. Kaname licks his lips, trying to wet them. "I...no longer bear ill will toward Kiryuu. And I no longer wish to harm him."
Yuuki studies him, every part of her but her eyes absolutely still. "As an omega your instincts want to defend?"
"As a person," Kaname admits, the response reluctantly dragged out of him.
His wife puts a red painted fingernail to her lips, thinking. "You felt worried, when you knew he was gone," she says slowly.
Yuuki's eyes meet his, staring intensely without blinking. "Will you swear to me, on the thing you believe most holy, that you are telling the truth, and that Zero will be safe and cared for if I leave him with you?"
Kaname swallows, uncomfortable with admitting such a thing, but knowing that telling Yuuki the truth is the only way forward. "I swear to you, on your life and my love for you, that Kiryuu Zero will come to no harm by my hand, and I will allow no other hand to harm him."
Yuuki studies him, in a long, drawn-out moment, and inclines her head, accepting his vow. "I will be back as soon as I can. Don't forget what you promised me," she tells him, turning to go.
"Will you kill them?" Kaname asks.
Yuuki stills with her back to him, and the muscles tense. "Not yet."
Seiren drops from a tree to kneel at Yuuki's feet, unobtrusively allowing her to continue studying the mansion in the distance, past a tall metal fence and a rolling lawn.
A wise choice, not to draw the attention of a hunting pureblood. Yuuki is the ponderous, slow rotation of a typhoon, right before the storm condenses. Her jaw aches with the desire to bite the man hiding just beyond these petty barriers. There is no wall that can keep her out, and there is no safety for these people, not after what they have done. She will hunt them to the ends of the Earth, such is her fury.
Yuuki clings to her control with ragged, broken fingernails, wresting power away from her rage and anger. Patience, she counsels herself. It will be better if she does it this way. Killing them now would be too kind.
"What did you find, Seiren?" Yuuki asks when she's firmly leashed her pureblood and alpha instincts, and corralled her dark emotions.
Her husband's Shadow bends her neck lower, deepening her submission. "My Mistress, I found the target in the family's residential wing, but he was not alone."
Yuuki considers her plans. "Then we will wait. I require complete discretion, and I don't want anyone to know we took him until the time is right. Return, and when you can, capture him and bring him to me, without being seen," she orders.
Seiren indicates her obedience, and flashes away as quickly as she came. Yuuki is relying on Seiren for this task; her noble's aura does not attract the attention Yuuki's would, and she's far more experienced. Yuuki suspects that if she took up the task herself, she would kill Zero's attackers in the fury of her attack, incapable of gentling herself to let them live.
Thankfully for Yuuki's self-control, the pureblood doesn't have to wait long. At her feet, Seiren deposits a writhing, blindfolded bundle, shouts muffled behind a gag, with the satisfaction of a cat presenting a mouse to her owner. At Yuuki's gesture, Seiren removes the gag.
"How dare you lay hands on me! Don't you know who I am!" shouts the vampire Zero identified as the leader. Yuuki doesn't care to learn their names, and has begun referring to Zero's attackers in her head with the names he assigned to them.
Dead men don't need names.
"Don't you know who I am?" she asks sweetly, letting her pureblood aura free just a little.
The vampire freezes, and when Seiren unties his blindfold, his face turns worshipful. "Kuran-hime," he sighs, voice full of adoration and eagerness. "Are you here to kill me?" he asks hopefully.
Yuuki wants vomit in disgust. If she did kill him, she's certain he would be pleased. "No, I'm not," she says. "I'm here to make sure you pay for what you've done."
His face becomes puzzled, with an edge of worry. "You aren't pleased?"
"You betrayed Kuran-sama and I," she tells him, letting her anger show.
The leader's face falls, and his eyes grow wet. Is this fanatic going to cry? While the display disgusts Yuuki further, the deep anger simply burns hotter. If she had rebuked him for harming Zero, she's certain the leader would have been pleased instead.
"And traitors get what they deserve," the pureblood tells him, driving the knife deeper.
The leader recoils, shaking his head in denial.
"I did it all for you!" the vampire insists, before Seiren replaces the gag.
"You did nothing for me. What you did, you did for yourself," Yuuki cuts in. Let him turn that over in his mind as she hunts down his fellows.
The lackey cries snotty, terrified tears. The big vampire sweats and stares at her in confusion, like a dumb pig going to the slaughter. The smarmy one Yuuki has to break first, cutting down his obnoxious confidence one word at a time, until he sits hollow-eyed, wordless throat working nervously. The calm one has some dignity, at least, taking his captivity without that insulting surprise some of the others have shown, and willingly allowing Seiren to bind him.
Having them thrown into the cells under Rosehill's state palace does nothing to satisfy her anger, her desire to tear them apart after she brutalizes them, but Yuuki keeps to her plan with raw will and tenacity.
Soon, the pureblood promises herself. She won't give these disgusting men one ounce of satisfaction from what they've done.
Yuuki's captives shift in fear when she smiles at them, mind imagining their reactions to what punishment will come. She'll get her blood soon enough.
"I trust you were successful?" Kaname remarks, looking up from his desk, somewhat surprised not to see Yuuki return soaked in blood.
His wife smiles tightly; there is no real warmth to it. Stalking forward, her heels sink into the carpets, and she bends down to tuck a lock of silver hair behind Kiryuu's ear.
"Should he be out of bed?" she questions, a reprimand waiting on her tongue, gesturing at Zero's form laid out on the chaise lounge, a new addition to his office.
Kaname lets his papers fall, giving her his full attention. "Aido stopped by while you were out. As long as he can lie flat, it doesn't matter what surface he's on."
Yuuki hums in reply, and pulls the blankets a little higher. "Let's talk outside. I don't want to disturb him."
Sighing, the pureblood gets up, forms a familiar to keep watch, and follows Yuuki down the hall, asking a nearby servant to make sure they are not disturbed. Leaning against the windowsill, Kaname watches Yuuki pace back and forth, her palms rubbing her arms like she's scrubbing something off them.
Finally, Kaname can't stand the wait any longer, his patience warring with his need to know whatever news Yuuki brings, good or ill. "Did something happen?"
Yuuki raises her eyebrow, well aware of Kaname's uncharacteristic lapse of control. "Nothing bad. Everything went perfectly. We have five new guests in our cells. And Seiren was not seen." She returns to her pacing.
"Then why are you upset?" he ventures, in as inoffensive a tone as he can manage. Kaname can feel the current of violence sitting just underneath Yuuki's skin through their bloodbond, and he is wary of disturbing it. He's impressed by the restraint she's shown, with such volcanic emotions running through her heart.
Fingers tightening on her arms, Yuuki paces more forcefully. "They were disgusting. The way they look at me - at us. No one should look at another human being like that. Like some kind of god. I meant to interrogate them, but I couldn't stand to look at them for another second, so I came to see Zero instead."
"And all I could think about," Yuuki continues, "when I looked at them, was 'this is what Zero saw as he was dying. And then I thought about how nice their blood would look pooling on the floor, and splattered all over my face. How hot and satisfying it would be. It was - difficult, to let them be taken alive."
Yuuki looks away; there are surely bruises on her arms now. "I am frustrated by my hate," she bites out.
"You are a pureblood," Kaname observes, as though that explains everything. To him, it does.
Yuuki grimaces, then quickly says, "What did Aido-sempai tell you."
Kaname steeples his hands in his lap. The good news first, he decides. "Aido believes our Consort will make a full recovery, given enough time. The poison should work its way out of his body in the next week, albeit not without side effects."
"And?" Yuuki asks, sensing the unfinished news.
"His healing won't return to normal for some time, especially since I confused and stressed his body by using my cells. After consulting with the doctor, they have ordered Kiryuu to abstain from heavy physical activity for at least four months. And Hunting may be unwise for much longer."
Yuuki exhales, covering her eyes with one hand. "Okay. He won't like it, but as long as Zero gets better…as long as he's okay..." He shoulders shake once, suppressing a sob. Kaname politely pretends not to have seen her calm crack.
The pureblood feels his face harden. "Aido also had some interesting things he learned when he analyzed Kiryuu's blood."
Calmer now, Yuuki cocks her head, indicating she's listening.
"There were two substances in his blood. The second one was an injected sedative. But the first one," he says grimly, "was a poison, distilled from pure blood."
His wife seethes, eyebrows drawing down in rage, fists clenching at her sides until the skin is bloodless. "How dare they!" she grinds out.
Kaname's own anger surges in echo, their twin rages rebounding down the bloodbond to reinforce each other. He can feel the cold desire for retribution and the purplish bruised hate in both their breasts, and the prospect of hunting with his mate thrills Kaname, drawing a blade of a smile from his lips.
"It was almost certainly Shirabuki. The family is known for producing drugs and poisons synthesized in their own bodies. And she has shown interest in Zero several times before now."
Kaname curses his incompetence once more, scalded by being shown the increasing depth of his lapse. Shirabuki's visits were a warning sign flashing right in front of his nose. With adequate warning, he should have predicted that Shirabuki's interest in their Consort boded ill.
Yuuki's face turns toward him, the slow movement of a predator stalking prey. "When was this," she asks, enunciating every word slowly and distinctly.
Kaname freezes, the motion nearly invisible, realizing that his little deal with Kiryuu meant that Yuuki did not know of the Hunter's encounters with Shirabuki. Keeping his expression as calm as possible, Kaname deliberately relaxes against the sill. "Shirabuki contacted Kiryuu with the intention of convincing him to spy on us." He almost withholds the last part. "Twice."
The slow boil of anger, easily perceptible through the bloodbond.
Yuuki shakes her head. "I should have done this after we discussed having children with Zero. Another one of my mistakes that has cost him," she remarks. In their bond, resolution forms alongside the anger.
Yuuki fists her hand in Kaname's sleeve, and drags him into the nearest empty room. Kaname must follow along, or else tear his suit coat. The feeling in his chest is a novelty, and the pureblood is slightly distracted examining it before Yuuki pushes him down into a chair. Trepidation, he decides, without the lingering fear of loss.
His wife turns to face him, arms crossed and face hard. "You need to tell me everything you've ever done to Zero. I want to respect your privacy, but you use social politeness to keep people from asking questions you don't want to answer. And Zero would protect you, because he knows I love you, so I can't ask him. I can't let you keep your relationship with him secret, because you just use that to hide the ways you've hurt him," Yuuki announces, not quite confident enough to issue an ultimatum, but less wary than ever before of offending him.
Kaname would approve, except he's suddenly trying very hard not to sweat. Yuuki is not going to like what she hears at all. Perhaps he could lie?
"No lying, and no lying by omission. I will fact-check," Yuuki warns, as though she'd read his mind.
She's been married to him too long, Kaname decides, if she can read him so easily through their bloodbond. Kaname swallows. He's not nervous, he reminds himself. Merely uneasy, because he knows Yuuki will be...very unhappy with him.
His mouth is dry again, but Kaname begins to speak anyway, haltingly at first, carefully repeating only the facts. He keeps secrets like other people keep treasures - sealed deep and forbidden to anyone except himself. It makes Kaname feel irrationally naked, and he averts his eyes from her face before too long, finding it easiest to speak to the ground at her feet, as though he were simply listing his sins to thin air. Yuuki prompts him at first, and pries for details if he glosses over an incident too much. Kaname finds it's better to give more detail over less, so Yuuki has to ask for as little as possible.
As he speaks, his wife's face goes stonier and stonier. Hurt, disappointment, pain, and a trace of aghast horror leak through the bond, before Yuuki shuts her side. After weeks of the bond freely open between them, the implied unhappiness is its own rebuke. Her attention never wavers, no matter how long Kaname talks, and her distress never weakens.
When he trails to a stop, voice gone a little hoarse and daylight creeping across the carpet, Yuuki asks in monotone, "Is that all?"
For some reason, Kaname feels embarrassed, though he quickly covers the feeling. "All of the major incidents, and illustrative minor ones. Repeating the full number of minor ones would be tedious."
"Tedious," Yuuki repeats flatly. She closes her eyes, bowing her head and rubbing her eyes like she's smoothing away tears. "I can't believe Zero could stand being near me. It would have been better for him if he had left. How can he stand the sight of us now? How could ever agree to marry us? How could he ever lo -." She clicks her teeth shut. The bloodbond speaks of guilt, and despair.
Kaname rushes into the fray, anxious to reassure her. "I was responsible, Yuuki. Don't blame yourself. There was nothing you could have done to stop me. You had no information, and that was by my design," he tries to convince her.
But she just shakes her head, as she waves away Kaname's words. "You had better keep your promise to me. No more of this, Kaname. No more," she tells him, willing away her angry tears.
Kaname's jaw tightens, reluctant to say anything further.
The two purebloods remain in silence, absorbing the impact of Kaname's confession.
"We will need to inform the Hunters of this incident," Kaname eventually remarks, moving back to practicalities, glad for any excuse to move away from self-examination, shifting his weight to his other hip.
Yuuki looks at him in horror. "How am I supposed to tell Cross that Zero almost died. He trusted me, and I -" Her shoulders slump, and she hides her face in her hands again.
Kaname gently rests his hand on her shoulder in sympathy.
(He isn't allowed to touch either one of his spouses that night….
...It's lonely.)
The outline for this chapter included the phrase 'Yuuki and Kaname have a come to Jesus confession about Zero' and I just wanted to show you the kind of author you're dealing with. That is all.
I will be traveling oversees during the end of May and beginning of June, and I can't bring my laptop, so the break between chapters will likely be longer. But I should be able to post one more chapter before I leave, bringing this arc to an end. I'll be writing with pen and paper after that, old school!
Next chapter, in part two, we get to the fun parts. REVENGE!