It's the holiday season and I'm a mess. My thanks for the wonderful and continued support of my readers!
I need to scream a little bit, because Rose_Ryuuki drew fanart of Shoshana, and it's shockingly close to the image of her in my head. Please give them some love over on their tumblr yaoionpaper: post/179316183918/the-week-of-four-thursdays-this-is-how-i-imagine
I may have been slightly inaccurate when I wrote this chapter's preview, but I hope you don't mind too much.
XXXIX. Scarlet Trinity
They are starving beasts, and he is the feast laid out before them. Time passes in an orgy of flesh; there is no part of their omega they don't claim: touching, sucking, licking, biting, fucking with the infinite stamina of a pureblood. Thick in the air is the scent of mate's heat, and their own come. They fuck him full of it, until it's spilling out of him in thick runnels and gushes, drenching the blankets of his nest and bloating his belly with the sheer volume.
The only constants in Yuuki's memory are the pumping of her hips as she splits her mate's cunt, and the bestial lust that drives her. They breed mate against the walls of his nest, on his back, on his belly, bouncing on their laps, against walls and doors, and on one memorable occasion, the floor of the bathroom when his heat overtakes them halfway through cleaning him up.
It's not all crazy sex marathon; there are long lucid periods interspersed between couplings. An omega would die if they really had sex for five days straight, and most omegas sleep for sixteen or seventeen hours a day just to cope with the physical demands. Whenever Zero is sleeping and his scent calms, Yuuki and Kaname surface shallowly from their own pheromone-driven mania. Their rut leaves them just enough sanity to physically take care of Zero and themselves in the brief reprieves between bouts of sex, until their omega rouses, yowling and shaking his hips, seducing them back down into red darkness.
The first few nights go smoothly - alpha-mate and herself mount their omega so many times! Pretty, sweet omega is so good for them: he presents himself to be mounted, so hot and wet and perfect, opens his mouth for blood when they stroke his throat, stays calm and still when knotted, goes pliable when they rub ointment inside his sore hole and allows them to run damp cloths over his skin.
But at the end of the third night, mate's scent changes - richens, deepens, gains a thousand new notes. Yuuki's eyes roll back in her head and her lips curl whenever she tastes that overripe, fecund tinge. Mate's rolling and displaying gains a new urgency; his whines and cries slide into a sharper pitch, full of desperation.
An omega's first heat is said to be their worst. Awash with hormones, they're still building the mating bond's tether, skimming atop the waves of their fever like an anchorless boat. But Zero's first heat frightens Kaname; Yuuki can feel it through their own blood bond.
It should not rage through him until his skin sears to the touch, until he refuses water, refuses sleep. The urge to fuck should not consume him until nothing is left but a whimpering, howling addict. He screams and begs, curling around his stomach with tears in his eyes whenever his alphas don't service him fast enough. Seed in his belly cools the inferno for a little while, but the burning always creeps back to lick at his veins.
Ordinary pain means nothing; Yuuki could drive a nail through his hand and Zero would only plead harder for cock. The heat numbs Zero to any sane limits of what his body can endure; he pushes past bruises and blood and wrenched tendons and dislocated limbs, past hunger and thirst and a raging fever so high his skin burns, until Kaname and Yuuki have to pin him down and force him to drink, until he can't even rest without a cock in him.
Their omega's need is a noose around their throats; his distress an equal shackle. They abandon their patrols around the nest to tend to him; Zero's appetite is unquenchable, and the heat will not end until he conceives or his body gives out. After five nights, Yuuki increasingly hopes for the second - heats take a terrible toll on an omega's health.
Mate is a frothing, spindly, skeletal creature, any newly-gained bulk burned away by his fever. Yuuki can count every one of his ribs and the knobs of his spine, trace the sharp angles of his cheekbones and naked ankles. His cracked, chapped mouth is empty of words, only animal whimpers and shrieks; his bloodshot eyes remain permanently glazed by delirium, vacant except for pleading need. His skin is no longer milky pale, instead turned a stark map of fever-flush and a rainbow of gruesome bruises.
Yuuki licks at one especially ugly bone bruise on mate's hip, tucking him against her side with her greater strength as he struggles weakly. Alpha-mate purrs comfortingly, coaxing their omega to drink just a little blood, just a few drops.
But poor mate's burning blood is unrelenting. He squirms, looking from side to side as though confused where he is, and why his alphas are not using his raw, puffy cunt. Cracked noises issue from his lips, growing increasingly distressed; his scent spikes with pain.
Yuuki and alpha-mate exchange a look; it's better to mount him before the need leaves him in agony, no matter how the strain wrecks their efforts at healing his fragile body.
Alpha-mate shifts in the nest, slipping between mate's shaking thighs which are desperately spread as far as they can go. His long fingers spread open mate's gaping folds, sliding inside with a lurid liquid noise to feel their omega's walls and test if the most recent tears have healed. Withdrawing his fingers with a pleased expression, alpha-mate licks at the mix of pearly seed and clear, tasty slick and nods to her.
Yuuki bounces, pleased in return. They've had an especially long reprieve from mate's heat; they're all clean and mate has healed properly inside. Now their omega is lifting his head and sending them inviting eyes, arching his back and offering his hungry cunt with regained vigor.
The pulse of Yuuki's cock as she sheathes it inside mate's channel matches the hitching gasp of his breath as their omega finally clenches around the cock he craves. He's so loose inside from days of hard fucking and knotting. But his body is still sucking at her cock greedily, pulling her deeper with a tortuously slow ripple.
Yuuki pins him down fondly and begins to work herself forward, the light brush of his swollen walls and his scorching heat all the reward she needs to remain careful. But she makes sure she pushes firmly against his cervix; mate's cunt needs to drink her come down to plant a baby like she wants, and he'd look so perfect as a mama!
She's so enthralled with him, with his slick cunt and his scent, blind to all else except the image of him ripened and fat, that when mate's cries rise again in distress, firm rear gyrating to plead for more, Yuuki is left blinking in confusion, the tempo of her hips forced to slow. She slams home for a few strokes, bottoming out against his womb, but mate only sobs, seeking more than Yuuki can give, watery eyes begging her and alpha-mate both.
"He's prepared enough, and soaked," alpha mate growls, voice rough. "We can give him more."
Yuuki cups mate's rear and pins him to her chest, then reverses their positions with a quick roll that leaves her on her back and forces her cock hilt deep inside his hole, his loose rim swallowing her knot in the most delicious way.
Mate's thin chest heaves and he pants, some inkling that his alphas are going to give him what he needs calming his heat long enough for alpha-mate to guide the blunt head of his cock to mate's dripping entrance, brushing against Yuuki already speared inside his sloppy hole. Then alpha-mate begins to press forward, feeding his equally thick cock into mate's cunt, already stuffed to the brim with her own girth.
The sound their omega lets out is high, punched-out, raw; his silver head tips back in a perfect arch. Every muscle in his cunt spasms around the girth of two pureblooded alpha cocks. Despite how the tender opening has been fucked wide open to accept a knot, it's not enough; every space in his body is squeezed taut around the invasion, and yields grudgingly, by fits and starts.
Yuuki touches mate's flat stomach, imagining she can feel a bulge from the sheer size of their twin shafts pressed together. Alpha-mate's cock rubs and drags perfectly against her own, and the pleasure is so incredible she feels stars pop in her vision, sweat breaking out on her skin.
They can barely thrust, and only in turns, slow torturous withdrawals and slides into their omega's depths. Mate writhes and moans in their arms, voice rough from abuse. His breathing is uneven; rocked to the core he's a mess of sweat and desire, the fire inside his belly searing them all.
A new wave of rich heat scent rolls over them, sparking something primal deep in their bodies. Yuuki and alpha-mate snarl and sink their teeth into their omega's pale neck and shoulders, gripping him tightly as they increase the pace.
Mate whimpers, the same tremor shaking him down to the root; his hands tangle in alpha-mate's hair, curl against her hip. He's near his peak, rippling and clenching inside.
Yuuki is consumed by the desire to see him fat and full of milk, carrying her seed kicking in his belly. Her hands force mate to lift his hips higher, spread his legs wider, open and defenseless for Yuuki's taking.
Clamping down and screaming, mate's face is a mask of pleasure so fierce it looks like pain as he rides out his orgasm, a wash of slick making the slide of their cocks suddenly easy.
Roaring triumphantly, Yuuki and alpha-mate dig their nails into mate's flanks for purchase, each snap of their hips brutal as they rut. Yuuki wants to feel mate tighten and bear down around her cock again, wants to make sure his cunt will ache afterwards with the imprint of their breeding.
So she draws the fuck out, teeth bared and cock nearly painful from the effort as her knot hardens outside the hot clench of her mate's cunt and knocks unsatisfied against the rim of his swollen hole.
And with a little gasp, mate's body jerks between them once more, and a startled flutter of his walls massages their flesh.
With one last vicious thrust, Yuuki slams home against his womb and marks her claim, painting his hungry depths with torrent after torrent of her seed. Alpha-mate's cock jerks and twitches against her own as they learn the intimate feeling of breeding their mate together.
Mate quivers with each new spurt, mouth falling open and high breathy sounds the evidence of his dazed pleasure. Yuuki admires the necklace he wears of their bruises and exchanges filthy kisses with alpha-mate over his shoulder.
They stuff mate to bursting, the slick of their seed pooling in what little space is left around their flesh. Yuuki can only think of her omega stretched out past capacity, so big he can barely walk, tiny new breasts filling out his clothes. She hums and plays with mate's nipples as she floods his cunt, drunk on the thought of him fertile and full.
They are not tied by a knot, but it takes them a very long time to separate. They tilt mate's hips up high, at the perfect angle where their come will pool inside their omega's empty belly, and root their seed deep in his womb.
Purring, Yuuki entwines her hand with alpha-mate's, satisfied by such a through breeding. Mate's heat has been quieted for now. They've earned themselves a reprieve. She dozes off, lulled to sleep by animal dreams.
Zero remembers little of his heat, except for the gossamer spiderwebs of sense memories pressed into his skin: hands squeezing his flesh, weight draped over his back, blood in his mouth, alpha musk drawn into his lungs. Reaching back into the mists of such hazy animal need is like piecing together tattered lace, but some moments he remembers with utter clarity.
Mostly, he remembers the knot.
The delicious, addicting feeling of all his inner places being stroked at once, sweet pressure suddenly becoming more, his body yielding, his insides shifting to allow even greater fullness, deeper, so deep he doesn't think he'll ever forget the feeling.
The slight press against the walls of his entrance, subtle at first - swelling wider, it fills and fills, pinching and forcing him further open, wider, wider, so impossibly wide! Tensing and shaking, he tosses his head and cries out; it hurts, it hurts so much, it hurts so good, it's everything he's ever needed, yes, he wants it, wants more! Beneath his alpha's weight, he can taste the distant excruciating pleasure beneath the pain, the pleasure his body was broken and remade to know.
But it's too much, too frightening to embrace yet; he squeals and instinctively scrabbles at the hands pinning him, fleeing the hardening bulge stuffed rudely inside his tender hole. His alpha offers no mercy, thrusting into the very root of Zero's belly, lodging himself hilt-deep with such force Zero's body shakes. And the knot grows and grows, inexorably wedging itself tight.
He screams like a dying animal when teeth break his skin, blood streaming down his shoulder and pooling in his collarbone. The knot is embedded inside him, all his awareness pared down to the tiny movements it makes as it grinds against his walls. He sobs, tears rolling into the sheets, and lets out weak little moans as his alpha continues thrusting.
One last, titanic thrust, pulling and dragging against his trapped hole, and a torrent of liquid heat pours into his belly. Zero trembles as his alpha shifts again, a tingle running up his spine; the steady pressure and wet slosh in his stomach leaves a sense of rightness and satisfaction. Animal reflex urges him to relax and go limp, but Zero is still wide-eyed and frightened, and attempts to disengage; a twinge inside of his stuffed hole warns him just as much as his alpha's growl not to move.
The second knot is better, and so are the many knottings after that. Familiarity eases his fear, and once he's loosened properly for a knot it's easy to glory in the instinctive pleasure, to drool for each enormous impalement, one after the other, to beg for it, to forget how he ever found release without hanging helplessly caught on his alpha's knot. Nothing but the feeling of a cock beating inside him makes sense any longer, and the lightness of relief as the knot catches at his walls.
The heat-fever drowns him. His intuition drifts unguided, the cloud of his awareness expanded and flickering unsteadily; he suffocates under the pleasure of his alphas, mirrored and inverted inside his own, his senses buckling under the unchanneled myriad stimuli.
What little awareness is left narrows down to one singular drive. Deadened to the strain on his body and mind, Zero spirals out, and out, and out, and out...
There is faint, distant birdsong. He listens to the notes with a mind like a pane of clear crystal.
Sensation penetrates gradually through the haze of his consciousness. His body feels heavy. Like he's been sick for a long time. He's laying on something soft, underneath something warm.
Zero cracks his eyes open.
Color, cut into wooden squares. The glint of gold leaf.
The thought swims slowly up through Zero's consciousness: this is not the ceiling of his nest.
….Nest?
Fuck!
His body jerks, and the cracked scream that tears through his raw throat as every muscle, bone, and nerve in his body seizes in agony brings the sound of voices and running footsteps. Zero struggles to breathe around the stabbing pain, helplessly waiting until the torment quiets to a throb and he can register anything beyond his immediate misery.
"Shhh, Zero you're okay, we're here, just stay still and let your body heal…"
Yuuki. Yuuki's here. Zero's eyes slide shut in relief, and he sags into the bed. Yuuki will protect him. His alpha is here, so he can relax….Wait, alpha?
Zero conducts a quick inventory of his body, and flips through the pieces he can remember of the last however many days.
He shies away from most of the red-tinged, carnal parts - Zero can feel himself at the precipice of a very bad breakdown and extended dissociative episode, but he intends to push it away as long as possible. He's still left with an extreme sense of physical disconnection and the urge to throw up whenever he thinks about anything between his legs, but at least he's vaguely functional.
A cool touch to the Hunter's lips startles him enough to twitch, and Zero moans when the pain reverberates through his flesh again.
"Sorry, I'm so sorry Zero!" Yuuki's voice stammers. "I thought you might want some water."
Zero tries to make an encouraging noise when he has control of his limbs again. The cool feeling returns, and Zero groans with relief when cold water dribbles down his dry throat.
"Where?" he whispers, voice cracking.
"The bedroom of the Consort's suite," Yuuki explains. "Your nesting den is a mess and we didn't know if you were ready to sleep with us in our bed."
Zero hums, wishing he could assure his wife how deeply he longs for exactly that, could express how much he's missed her. "Date?" he manages after a few tries.
"May 15th," says a new voice. It's Kuran - Kaname - and Zero relaxes even further knowing both his alphas are nearby.
A deep, instinctive fear his omega has carried for over a year melts away, and Zero feels lighter and safer. He doesn't need to keep up his constant wary vigilance - he can't be taken away from his alphas anymore, and Yuuki and Kaname won't allow anyone to hurt him. Opening his eyes, Zero whimpers, his omega wanting comfort.
A large hand touches his cheek, and begins stroking gently. Another slimmer hand slips under the sheets and curls delicately around his fingers.
"Your heat did not go according to plan, Zero," Kaname tells him, voice low and steady. "Rather than the fallow heat we expected, you experienced a full, fertile heat. But your heat was unnaturally violent as it raged through your body, and it took a heavy toll. Your condition frightened us enough that we called a midwife to attend to you. We've kept you asleep for two days to recover, and you're still quite weak."
"The way you look might be a little shocking to you," Yuuki says reluctantly, "You've lost twice the normal weight for a heat...and since I know your normal feelings about your body aren't good, it might be better not to look beneath the blankets right now."
Zero's throat closes, and his fingers tightens around Yuuki's hand as he fights down a tidal wave of panic and self-disgust at his own flesh, the mantra of notmenotmybodynotme drumming in the back of his mind.
"Did we…?" he croaks, desperate to know if all of this was for nothing.
"We're bonded," Yuuki assures him, the happy warm tone she uses soothing the ragged edges in his mind.
Despite the pain, the corners of Zero's mouth curl upward. Warm, golden love floods his chest and buoys him up. In that moment, he is perfectly happy because he can be with the woman he loves for the rest of his life. Just for that, all this pain is worth it, to achieve that impossible joy.
"Love you," he rasps, and Yuuki lays a soft kiss on his chapped lips, murmuring the same words against his mouth. They'll celebrate when he's better, Zero promises silently. He'll take Yuuki out into the human world. Zero hasn't spent enough quality time with his wife recently.
Out of the corner of his eye, Zero sees Kaname's expression twist, reminding him that Yuuki isn't the only one of his spouses in the room.
But Zero doesn't know what to say that wouldn't cut the pureblood's wounds deeper. "Kiss too," he demands instead, his dry mouth making the words slur.
Kaname's face lightens, and he bends to feather another kiss against Zero's mouth. "Precious boy, you already know you possess my love."
Sighing, Zero blinks, exhaustion beginning to drag him down again. His alphas exchange a worried look over his head. "Go to sleep," Kaname tells him with a thrum of power in his voice, covering Zero's eyes. "We can finish our discussion later."
When Zero wakes, a terrible, gnawing dread consumes him. His rapid-fire heartbeat and unsteady breathing rouses the two purebloods cradling him in their arms.
"Zero?" asks Yuuki as she searches for a sign.
Even with the pain that shoots through him at the motion, Zero shakes his head, closing his eyes and counting seconds while he tries to steady his breathing. There's no soft veil of exhaustion between reality and himself this time, no lingering chemical cushion to lessen the blow.
It doesn't matter - Zero has to know. "I feel different," he begins - then swallows, hesitating as he tries to ease the raspiness in his throat. His eyes flicker open, falling on Yuuki's expectant face and the worry lining her forehead.
Zero's guilt almost silences him. He stumbles onward anyway. "Am I -" But the Hunter cuts himself off, unable to speak the forbidden word.
"No," Kaname tells him quietly. "You are not pregnant. The midwife has tested your blood repeatedly over the last few days. We wanted to be certain."
Zero's shoulders shake, and he chokes on a broken exhale. "I see."
He should be happy - he's gotten what he wanted. Zero was correct when he said it's best he has no child.
(Then why does it hurt so bad?)
"The midwife thinks your body may be unable to regulate your heat cycles properly," Kaname continues after a moment of silence. "To spend a fertile heat with two purebloods and go away unbred...we could try again, if you wished, but the likelihood of you conceiving…"
"It doesn't matter," Zero lies past the numbness blanketing his brain. "It's for the best. I'm sorry to worry you both."
Not fooled in the least, Yuuki hugs him, careful not to squeeze his aching body. Kaname kisses his temple and pulls him closer against his side.
Zero breathes, and floats. If he pretends everything is fine, eventually it will become true. The death of a fantasy that was always impossible should not hurt him.
But as the days pass, Zero's deep sense of disconnection says otherwise. He's disinterested when Yuuki brings him his half-read books, or when Kaname discusses his physical rehabilitation; all Zero's emotions feel distant, like pale copies of real passions. His genuine, radiant joy at being bonded is overshadowed by that cold, smothering feeling, like a cloud veiling the sun.
Zero knows he should tell someone - Yuuki, Master Yagari, Takuma-sempai - but Zero is tired of burdening other people with his problems, especially after how much he's disrupted their lives with his surprise heat. The Kurans are working long hours to catch up from their unscheduled vacation, and Zero is fed up with being one more thing to add to their labor. He just wishes he could stop being a mess, and he feels especially guilty because right now dealing with his body is a monumental struggle, which leaves sex completely off the table.
His wife and husband so good to him anyway, patient and considerate. If they're disappointed by his malfunctioning uterus, they don't give any sign in his presence. The bond has made them more possessive - Zero doesn't know if it's a pureblood thing or an alpha thing, but their hands are always on him, and their eyes follow him as though he's the only thing in the room. His intuition reads their longing - how they abhor any absence, and every time they release him from their hold a dark impulse seizes them to clasp harder and never let go.
Zero needs to do something for them too. So he rests when he's told, and painstakingly obeys every rule for his recovery, because he can see the way Yuuki and Kaname worry. Zero eats whatever is given to him even when he feels nauseous, because their eyes light up every time he takes a bite. He keeps his words indulgent and fond, layering his voice with warmth, and remembers to call his spouses 'alpha' - he can see the way it soothes their instincts. Zero even allows himself to be carried around and nestle quietly in their laps as they work, and he pushes himself to offer as much physical affection as he can stomach, as an apology for their current celibacy.
Zero suspects it's his omega, but he feels just as needy and clingy for their attention in turn, which sits poorly with his sense of independence and just deepens the division between his body and mind. Zero wants to be surrounded by their strength, to bury himself underneath their bodies until he forgets what it's like to have no one to rely on except himself. There's no trace left of the violence from his cycle; Zero just wants to cuddle and nuzzle and purr. The Hunter part of himself rises in rebellion at the mere idea. The inside of his head is once again at war, with no truce in sight.
The Midwife who was called to attend Zero after his heat isn't the same one Takuma referred to the Kurans before. She wears the same half-pomegranate enamel pin on her lapel, the mark of her profession, and she's a C-Rank beta female too, but she's much older, the iron grey in her hair overwhelming the brown. She's supposed to be a specialist for older omegas with fertility problems, but Zero never bothers learning her name - the Midwife never speaks a word to him unless the Kurans are in the room, and his power makes plain the disdain she attempts to conceal.
That's just one more reason Zero forces himself out of bed within a few days, determined to drag himself back to normal routine as soon as possible. His body is far from recovered - he's burned out every physical reserve he has, and he's off the active duty list until he rebuilds the weight and stamina he's lost. But at least he can start fitting himself back into his life.
The apathy and stifling feelings in his heart don't go away. Zero only puts a name to his emotions when he happens upon Takuma meeting with Kaname. The blond has a hand on his swollen middle and the brightest smile lighting his face - at the sight, Zero's heart crumples.
As Zero hurries away, the Hunter bites the inside of his cheek. The weight in his chest is called grief, cold and heavy and bitter, and regret for what he cannot have. Even if Zero never intended to have a child, at least he could have consoled himself with the possibility. Now Zero has nothing.
Shoshana finds Zero hiding in the rose garden with his hands cupped around a fallen blossom, the white petals darkened with black soil. She tilts her head to the side and studies him, her dark eyes fathomless.
"I have not yet visited Royal Consort Aileya's mausoleum," she tells him. "Would you like to join me?"
Zero straightens his shoulders, affecting indifference, and casts the fallen rose back into the dirt. "Sure." Kaname and Yuuki are busy, and he could use the walk.
Zero carries Shoshana most of the way; the path is rough, and he's not risking her health. By the end he's sweating and breathing hard, reminded that his own body isn't in peak health either. But better himself than Shoshana - he'll recover faster.
They offer incense before the altar still covered with fresh flowers and garlands, and stand in silence for a few moments to pay their respects. Shoshana drifts into one of the outer wings, and settles on a bench with a tiny noise of relief. Then she turns expectant eyes on Zero, and her bracelets chime as she indicates the place beside her.
Zero smiles and obliges her, relieved himself at the chance to get off his feet. This wing is Ailey's resting place itself; in its center lies a white marble sarcophagus capped with a statue of the Consort herself, carved as though asleep. Zero laces his hands together and sinks into his own thoughts.
"I thought I might have a talk with you," Shoshana requests quietly.
"Of course."
Shoshana breathes out, and lifts her chin. "Ouri-sama was not my first alpha, but Night willing, he will be my last. I always regretted that my body was too broken to give him more than a few children."
Zero stiffens and watches her from the corner of his eye, but Shoshana's gaze is fixed upon Aileya's likeness.
"I want to tell you some of the things I have experienced as a barren omega. You've encountered some of the stigma yourself. You know vampiric society does not look kindly on people like us. I believe it's better you hear what to expect from me now. And if you'd like, you can tell me your thoughts in return."
An offer, not a necessity. Zero understands it for the gift it is. "Thank you. I'd be honored by your counsel, Consort Shoshana."
She offers him the barest hint of a smile, and presses her cool fingers against his hand.
"All clear," Yuuki's husband whispers, the hoseki on his forehead catching the moonlight as he opens his eyes.
Yuuki giggles, still awed by the realization that Zero is finally really theirs, and the two of them dart to the edge of the pool, stripping down to their underclothes. In the darkness, the water is ink sprinkled with stars, the moon a bright pearl of light that ripples with the breeze.
"Stop staring," Zero chides without needing to look over at her as his robe falls, revealing pale bare shoulders.
"How can I stop staring? You're here," Yuuki counters, mouth curving in the most besotted smile as her heart beats ZeroZeroZero and her alpha chants oursoursours. She wouldn't be able to take her eyes off him if she tried.
Sighing, Zero surrenders and continues to undress.
Yuuki thinks she deserves a little credit for self-awareness. She knows her relationship with Zero crossed the boundary of obsession a long time ago. The raw force of her love bleeds from the pit of famine in her soul, as her pureblood nature demands.
But bonding Zero has taught Yuuki whole new depths of ravenous need. Yuuki thought she was obsessed before? Her instincts scream if Zero's out of her sight for more than two seconds. She can smell him everywhere, the tiniest little trace like a neon sign for her nose, and the resulting bloodlust is insatiable. She wants to cuddle Zero and pet him constantly, touch his hair and smell his neck and stuff his dirty underwear in her purse so she can take it out to get drunk on his pheromones while he's gone. Yuuki wants to do dirty perverted things to Zero too, but mostly her alpha wants to forget what personal space means and sniff him a lot.
Yuuki knows this is the point where most people take out a restraining order against you for stalking. She also knows Zero will let her get away with almost everything, so she's trying very, very hard to contain herself. She may want to keep Zero in her lap all the time and carry him around like a doll, but she knows Zero would hate being treated as a pet or an object, and has been trying to give him his space. She's forced Kaname to do the same, cranky and frustrated as it made them both.
So Yuuki is really, really happy that Zero invited her out today for this short, private outing, because it's a chance to spend time with Zero on his own terms.
"Wait," Yuuki asks as they wade into the water, "I want to try something I've been practicing."
Squinting in concentration, Yuuki forms a loose cup with her hand, and carefully extends her power. Her continuing practice has improved her control by leaps and bounds, but gentle and sustained effort is harder than violence.
Zero yelps when his feet leave the ground, but relaxes once his body begins to float effortlessly in the water. "Yuuki!" he calls, a delighted lilt to his voice.
"Pretty neat huh?" Yuuki boasts as she bobs beside him, neither of them expending the slightest effort to stay afloat.
Zero swims a few laps around the pool while Yuuki dives and treads water, content to focus on smoothing out the unsteady flow of her power. Zero's stamina is still poor, so he comes swimming up beside her before long.
"This is nice," Yuuki says, floating on her back as she watches the stars. "I've missed doing things like this, just the two of us."
"So have I," Zero admits, reaching out and taking her hand. Keeping Kaname sane has meant they couldn't afford to leave him alone. Yuuki doesn't begrudge Kaname their care, but the stress of keeping Kaname's situation hidden has weighed on both of them.
Tipping his head back, Zero contemplates the white river of the Milky Way, and the two of them drift side-by-side in comfortable silence.
"I don't think I'm going to want any of our sessions for a while," he admits, voice hushed beneath his shame.
Yuuki frowns, because Zero has no reason to be ashamed. "Alright," she says, "but remember that it's only natural for your comfort level with your body to be affected by your experience being in heat. I'd never be disappointed with you for that."
Zero flinches. "I want to do things with you - but I can't right now. I'm sorry."
Yuuki squeezes his hand as hard as she dares. "I'd never be disappointed with you for that either. When you're ready, you're ready."
"And the fact that I can't give you a child?" he murmurs, voice barely rising about the breeze.
"It's something I've always wanted," she admits honestly, "but having you at my side is more important. Having you safe and happy is more important." She rolls on her side, the water lapping at her cheek, and cups his jaw.
Yuuki can see the sadness lingering in his eyes, but Zero has kept his mourning private, and Yuuki wants to respect that. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't hoping for better news after Zero's heat. But Yuuki is satisfied to finally posses the two halves of her soul - one by bloodbond, one by omega bond.
Zero is the one who leans closer to complete their kiss. They float and leisurely taste one another with lips and tongue, breathing in one another's breaths as they bathe in starlight.
Pulling back, Zero rests their foreheads together as he catches his breath. "Thank you," he tells her.
She's transfixed by the way their eyes meet. The need to touch him is unbearable. "I love you," she says instead of the thousand other things she means.
But Yuuki thinks Zero understands anyway.
"A toast to Consort Kiryuu to celebrate his bonding!"
The tea group omegas salute one another and sip their mugicha, cold glasses sweating in the muggy heat. Summer is quickly approaching, as is the end of Azai's pregnancy. It's likely this will be his last trip outside his own home before he gives birth.
"How are you finding things after your bonding, Consort Kiryuu?" Takiyama inquires, offering Zero another crustless cucumber tea sandwich.
Zero gulps it down, and replies with a blush heating his cheeks, "Fine. The books say that the dependence will eventually tone down?"
"It will," Takuma assures Zero, passing him another sandwich with an amused twinkle in his eye.
Azai folds his hands over his heavy belly. "Your instincts have been focused on finding a worthy mate and defending yourself. Now your future depends on making your bond with your alphas as strong as possible. A sensitivity to their moods and a desire for contact encourages a solid foundation."
Takuma's smile is reassuring. "I promise you that Kaname and Yuuki are feeling just as needy as you are. There's no shame in it."
Zero stuffs his mouth with more food to avoid having to reply. The faster he gains weight, the sooner he can go Hunting. "Do I really smell different?" he asks instead. "I can't tell."
The others know he's dodging, but don't object to Zero's change of subject.
Crossing her arms, Aido Madoka's nose scrunches up, which makes her look adorably intent. "Not exactly different. You still smell like you, but the intensity is lower. You're not shouting to everyone around you how sexy and available you are anymore. Bonding makes your own alphas hypersensitive to your specific pheromones, so they won't be able to tell a difference in your scent. But they won't be responsive to any other omega's scent anymore either," she concludes with satisfaction.
Zero idly wonders how much destruction would ensue if Aido Nagamichi ever let his eyes wander, and decides it's best the world never know. "I guess we should talk about the spring Court."
Shoshana's low voice laughs while the others flinch or grimace.
"I almost peed myself when you were stalking around behind me," Aido Madoka admits with a complete lack of self-consciousness.
Takiyama chokes on her mugicha, and coughs until Takuma pounds her on the back.
"Aido-san," Azai reprimands with the weary air of a man who expects nothing to result.
"Don't act like I wasn't the only one!" she huffs, crossing her arms. "You all were thinking it." She glances over at Zero. "You're a whole new level of scary when you're not feeling merciful. We forget you're a Hunter sometimes. It's one thing knowing you can kill us all, but another to actually believe it."
Zero stares down into his empty cup. What can he say? It's uncomfortably true. Even weaponless Zero could tear through them like paper.
"The Court is going to make me pay for what happened, aren't they," he says instead.
"Absolutely," Takuma answers without hesitation. "But they're going to think very hard before they try and cross you in the future, and most of them will decide it's not worth the risk."
Rubbing his hand over his face, Zero snorts. "If I'd known it was that easy, I would have done it ages ago." This didn't solve anything - the Court's inevitable retribution is going to be painful, and everyone has tactfully avoided mentioning Zero's increasingly certain barrenness. But those are problems for his future self. Right now the night is warm, the food is plentiful and delicious, and Zero's going to enjoy the company while he can.
When the teapot is empty and there's nothing left but crumbs, the tea group parts amicably, a quiet sense of jubilation lifting their spirits. Takuma escorts his guests to the entryway, where they wait as the cars are pulled around.
"Consort Kiryuu," Azai murmurs, darting a look at their companions. "I wonder if I might speak with you for a moment."
"Sure," Zero replies, his intuition kicking into motion. Pausing to tell Shoshana he'll be along shortly, he leads Azai further away from the others, sensing the noble prefers privacy.
"Given your background, would it be fair to assume you know very little about Shadows?" Azai begins, raising one dark eyebrow.
"Next to nothing," Zero admits.
Azai nods to himself. "The terms of a Shadow contract require that a witness representing the Kuran family be present during the Shadow's birth - to prevent us from cheating our patron, and substituting another child."
Um. Zero's eyes go wide. Not for the first time, he wonders what the heck is wrong with these bloodsuckers. "I...did not realize," he stammers.
Amusement lights golden eyes. "I'd like to invite you to to act as that witness. Don't worry - you'll be able to wait outside the room until after I've delivered the child. Given your newness to your dynamic, I believe it might be educational for you to be present. Perhaps it will even help ease your mind. "
Once he overcomes his surprise, Zero considers the offer seriously. "I'll discuss it with my spouses," he says, uncertain how he feels about the idea.
"That's all I ask, Kiryuu-sama," Azai replies serenely, tucking his hands into his sleeves.
"You should go if you want to," is all Yuuki will say on the subject, sprawled over the library couch with her head pillowed on her arms. "Azai-san wouldn't have suggested you go if it was inappropriate."
Pacing the floor, Zero lowers his head, tracing the gilt letters on the spines of the books. "I don't see the point. It won't ever be useful to me."
"Then don't go," Yuuki answers, catching his hand as he goes past her, and guiding him to perch on the arm of her couch.
"I am a little curious, I admit, but the idea feels...intrusive?"
"Vampires do things differently than humans," Yuuki recites by rote, kissing up the back of his hand.
Zero snorts, his stomach light and fluttery from the way Yuuki is looking up at him through thick, dark eyelashes.
"I've been thinking..." she begins, voice low and throaty.
The Hunter groans theatrically.
"Hey!" She rises up on her elbows without letting go of Zero's hand. "I know you're not okay with how we usually have sex right now. And that's not a problem. But how do you feel about doing things the opposite - you penetrating me? It feels wrong that we've been married for over a year and you haven't had a chance to try it."
The jolt Zero feels in his belly is answer enough. He coughs, embarrassed at his own reaction.
Yuuki's expression sharpens, predatory and hungry, and she smiles knowingly.
Feeling himself color, Zero sputters, "I - are you sure? I don't know how to do anything, and you've been with Kaname like that before. It's probably going to be really bad. The two of us can't even be physically satisfied that way without...extra help."
"If it's Zero I want to do it," Yuuki declares, surging up.
"Okay," Zero says, helpless not to give her everything he can offer. "We can try."
It's awkward and fumbling and messy, and that doesn't matter one bit to Zero because it's the two of them together, Yuuki on her back below him arching her hips and guiding him forward with darkened eyes.
Being inside her is perfect, just like he'd always imagined, and it heals something in Zero to know that he can still have this gift. He breathes out and closes his eyes, afraid this might be some dream, but Yuuki's hand on his cheek stills his trembling.
"You're okay," Yuuki reminds him, her auburn hair falling across her cheek.
Zero feels his eyes dampen, and he kisses her desperately, his limbs so uncoordinated he feels like a teenager again. He noses her pulse, shivering and falling apart with every touch.
In the end, just as Zero feared neither of them manage to find satisfaction. Zero's thighs are smeared with slick, and Yuuki's cock leaks proudly against her belly. Zero brings her off against his hip, and sidesteps the question of his own pleasure entirely.
"You've never done that before, right?" Yuuki asks afterwards, curled naked in his arms as sticky things dry in uncomfortable places.
Zero shakes his head, flushing to the roots of his hair. He's unfavorably comparing his own awkward performance to that stupid sex-savant Kaname when Yuuki giggles and bops his nose.
"Don't make that face! We have lots of time to practice. I'm really happy though - I got to be Zero's first at something!" Genuine delight brightens her face, and she beams like all her Christmases have come at once.
Lowering his head beneath a throb of guilt, Zero murmurs, "I'm only sorry I can't give you more. I know our arrangement has been unfair to you."
Yuuki's eyes narrow. "I won't say I'm not jealous, because I am!" she returns, "but I love you, and I love Kaname, and in the end it only matters that we can be together."
Seizing Zero's waist, Yuuki squeezes aggressively, burying her face in his chest. "Besides, Kaname loves you too, so I'm not as mad now."
Zero can't figure out how that makes a difference, but he prefers to enjoy the feeling of holding his wife instead of arguing.
Yuuki lifts her head, and discerns Zero's doubt with a single look. "Kaname appreciates his privilege the way he should now. If he'd been indifferent, if it didn't matter to him at all - I think part of me might never forgive that. You deserve to be touched by people who love you, Zero."
Zero squeezes his eyes shut, the breath squeezed out of his lungs beneath agony. He remembers Ichiru, and love eternally tinged by bitterness. What does he know of love? The touch of gentle hands still sometimes catches him unawares, alien after so many years of loneliness.
"Thank you, Yuuki," is all he can manage.
Yuuki pulls him even closer. The silence speaks between them, all the words they don't need.
Strong arms settle around Kaname's shoulders, and the pureblood breathes out, feeling the dark haze weighing in his mind scatter.
"I made steamed pork buns. You'd better eat them," Zero grumbles.
The oddly grounding scent of the barbecued pork curls in his nostrils. "What a good kitten," Kaname muses. Even with Zero's extra sense taken into account, it's uncanny how adroit his Consort is at catching Kaname's bad episodes before they grow serious. Likely it's a side-effect of their bonding - Zero's omega becoming more sensitive to its alphas' moods.
Kaname estimates his mental stability appears normal to the average outside observer. His self-control and abilities are restored - even his old sleeping habits have re-established themselves. Unbreakable assurance that the two people he loves cannot walk away from him has been a balm, soothing the most despondent of his moods.
But Kaname knows those needy, greedy broken parts still exist. The fault lines are deeper, less easily triggered, but still unhealed. There are times his mind feels unsteady, like he's walking blindfolded over broken ground. Somehow, Zero keeps seeking him out whenever those episodes flare.
"What are you doing?" Zero's voice asks in his ear, leaning his full weight on Kaname's back in a bid to be irritating.
"Planning how to make a great deal of money, so I can buy you and Yuuki more pretty things." Kaname glances over his shoulder, unable to resist the urge to tease. "I've decided that next time we visit Yuuki's resort I want to dress you both in nothing but strings of pearls. Since I am a jealous man, keeping you decent will require many, many pearls."
Zero hisses, and dumps a tray in front of Kaname, crinkling his papers. "Eat your food, you fossil."
Kaname is more than happy to comply, but he's not letting an opportunity go unused. "Only if you share," he teases, copping a feel of his boy's lovely rear. His alpha purrs under his skin - mate made them food, good mate should eat first!
Zero narrows his eyes, then savagely stuffs a whole bun in his mouth, using a sharp motion of his chin to demand Kaname comply.
Kaname laughs - Zero's cheeks bulge, rather ruining his fierce look - and picks up one of the warm, fluffy buns himself. Zero's renewed interest in his hobbies is an encouraging sign that their Consort is well on his way to recovering from his post-heat malaise.
Perhaps that is a sign Zero is ready to tackle greater challenges. "There's something I've been meaning to discuss with you, actually…" Kaname begins.
Slouched against the wall of the Hunter's Association headquarters, Kaito's bored expression morphs into a positively evil grin when Zero begins ascending the stairs toward him.
"Whatever you're thinking, don't say it," Zero nearly begs.
"What, I can't congratulate my dear kohai for enjoying a sex marathon with his hot wife?" Kaito waggles his eyebrows.
Zero shoves his fellow ex-apprentice back with a hand to Kaito's face, and any more embarrassing words are temporarily muffled.
The reprieve doesn't last long, unfortunately. Kaito catches up with him after a few steps. "Master wants to know if he's supposed to send presents, or if that would be rude. I know a great place to buy some sexy underwear!"
"Please go away," Zero groans, the tips of his ears pinking; his intuition tells him everyone in staring.
"No can do," Kaito gloats. "The rest of the Lead Hunters are waiting for you," he adds in an undertone.
Zero's expression firms, and he grips the strap of the leather satchel slung over his shoulder. They walk in silence until the hallways grow less crowded.
"Are the Kurans are still treating you right?" Kaito asks, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Yeah. They're really good to me," Zero tells him honestly.
"I'm glad," Kaito tells him quietly. "We were worried when we heard from Illesanmi about the Court. I would've killed to see the looks on those bloodsuckers' faces though!"
Zero grins, throwing his arm around Kaito's shoulders. "Whatever she told you, it was even better."
The elder Hunter cackles, knocking a friendly elbow against Zero's side. "Always knew you had it in you!"
Zero chuckles, and touches the pair of dragon bracelets hidden under the sleeves of his summer coat. "Kaito," he begins, sending his fellow apprentice a sideways look, "you don't need to worry about me anymore. Yuuki and Kaname won't hurt me. Not on purpose."
Kaito snorts, stepping ahead a pace. "I've told you before. We're your family, stupid. We're always going to worry."
Zero stops, staring at Kaito's back. Then he smiles and hurries after his almost-brother.
It's been months since Zero has returned to headquarters, to these familiar streets and halls. It's nostalgic, but not as painful as Zero thought it might be. Zero's bonding has effectively finalized the division between himself and the other Hunters. It's an ending, and a loss, but Zero knows he's gained valuable things in return. He's healthier and more stable than he was a year ago. He still has his Hunter family, and Rosehill is becoming his home, even if his heart will never forget his heritage.
That's something Zero intends to make clear to the Hunter's Association today, and part of the reason he requested this meeting.
The Hunters' chosen venue gives Zero a cautious optimism. It's one of the formal meeting rooms where all the chairs match, and the entire back wall is painted with a historical mural. Zero recognizes the woman in the mural immediately, an old nursery rhyme ringing in his head: 'hair black as night, skin white as snow, lips red as blood' - Mina Van Helsing, the first surviving Cursed Twin. She wields her sabre Dracul, the length of the blade burning with red fire as as her blood Awakens it, and her dark eyes hold a flicker of red in them.
It's almost a compliment to Zero, if he thinks about it. Mina was a superlative Hunter, but her contemporaries weren't always sure what to make of her power, or her uncomfortable vampiric resemblance. But Mina was just the first result of the drive toward more potent Hunter abilities. Seven thousand years after her death, every living modern Hunter traces their bloodline through Mina - Zero's own maternal line directly descends from Mina's youngest daughter. Surviving Cursed Twins are less rare now, as Hunter bloodlines dance closer to the line between Hunter and vampire. Cross Kaien, yet another Cursed Twin, is perhaps the epitome of that ideal - the Vampire without Fangs.
Speaking of the Chairman, he's seated in the front of the room, waving like an idiot. Beside him is Master Yagari, who's examining Zero with the post-Hunt intensity of a man searching for wounds. Zero inclines his head respectfully toward the Association Co-Presidents and the other Lead Hunters gathered in the room, some of whom wave or call out greetings. Kaito points Zero toward a chair, and then disappears into the crowd.
Zero's power slides neatly into place as he surveys his audience, taking in the atmosphere - curiosity, anticipation, doubt tempered by pragmatism, distaste - along with a flood of other less useful information. Lead Hunter Miura has at least four cats. Lead Hunter Singh recently broke off a long term relationship, and hasn't taken it well. Lead Hunter O'Flannery was recently injured - lower left arm, mobility of the hand impeded, necrosis of the soft tissues, bones probably crushed.
Placing his satchel on the ground beside his chair, Zero shakes his head, trying to stop his intuition from completing its rather gruesome reconstruction. Blinking as he sees double for a moment, Zero takes a hefty sheaf of papers from his bag, leaving the Hunter journals Kaname gave him where they are, wrapped neatly as a present for Archivist Fong.
"Good evening, Lead Hunters of the Association." Zero gives a slight bow as he takes his seat. "I appreciate your time."
"Always a pleasure, Hunter Kiryuu," Lead Hunter Eijiofor's rich voice booms. "Nothing involving you is ever dull."
"Thank you," Zero replies drily. "I haven't been given assignments as often recently. I hope that means our situation has improved?"
Lead Hunter Machado crosses her arms. "Meh, more or less." She shrugs. "We're still cleaning up after bloody Shirabuki Sara and her nest of rats. It's been a damn swamp."
A serious-looking President Cross adds, "We believe we've finally reduced the Level E population to normal thresholds. But we're still short-handed. You'll get another assignment as soon as you're approved again for active duty. Our casualty list has already exceeded last year's entire total."
Zero grimaces. It's not even June yet, and last year's toll wasn't light either.
Master Yagari shakes his grey head. "We have more complicated problems. The human governments are angry after so many deaths and disappearances. We're doing our best to mend fences, but the surge has lasted over a year. They're starting to lose patience."
"And there have been unusual activity patterns in the blood colonies," Lead Hunter Nasrallah interjects. "The slums are always chaotic, but recent rumors have carried a great deal of discontent toward the Senate. The situation is unsettled. I still believe it deserves more of our focus."
That has the ring of an old argument. Zero frowns. It's probably beyond their jurisdiction, but Nasrallah is Intelligence Division and it's worth consideration.
Before Zero can consider that further, Lead Hunter Albrecht steers them back on topic. "A discussion for another time. You told us you had a proposal, Hunter Kiryuu?"
"More like an invitation," Zero replies, crossing one leg over the other.
"Congratulations on your bonding, by the way," Lead Hunter Suzuki says, toasting Zero with his sake cup.
"Yes. Thank you," Zero replies, caught flat-footed, and prays that Cross won't do anything embarrassing until afterwards. "I've come regarding a matter that interests both the Hunter's Association and the vampire nobility."
Zero leans forward, pulling their attention toward him. "The Kuran family believes it's time for us to reclaim the Hunters that Shirabuki Turned. To that end, they are prepared to offer a full partnership, not just cooperation - access to intelligence networks, manpower, intercession with local governments, the first successful drug antidote samples their labs produce. Whatever we need."
There is a long, fraught silence. Every face in the room is blank, wiped of any telltale reactions - not that Zero's power misses a single microsign. They're intrigued, but they don't trust easily.
"The advantage to us is clear," Zero continues. "The forced enslavement of even a single Hunter is unacceptable. And every Level B one of them assassinates is another reason for the Senate to demand execution instead of capture. We don't know what other orders Shirabuki might have given them, but allowing those Turned Hunters to complete them can't end well."
"And what," Lead Hunter Ilesanmi asks, "does the Kuran family expect to gain in return?"
The question weighs the air, and Zero can almost see their suspicions beginning to ferment.
Zero takes a slow breath. "Stability, most importantly. The nobility is in uproar over the killings, and the surviving B-Ranks are fighting over whatever power and influence the dead held. Right now the nobles are all afraid they'll be the next one to die. They're more likely to react in extreme ways to normal provocations. That's dangerous for both the vampires and us."
"Plus, the Kuran family has staked a lot of social capital on this alliance. Having a bunch of Hunters running amok technically breaking the treaty is not helping them. But if they can get rid of their problem.." Zero pauses, letting his listeners come to the correct conclusion. "They gain trust, and keep their reputation from further damage."
The Hunters consider his argument for a moment. Zero feels a current of interest stir in the room. They distrust altruism when it comes from a vampire, but self-interest is perfectly reasonable.
"Hunter Kiryuu, how certain are you that Kuran Kaname is committed to partnering with us?" asks a Lead Hunter that Zero doesn't recognize.
"Completely certain." Zero promises. "They'll support this project until we've found the last of Shirabuki's victims." That, Zero does not doubt.
Lead Hunter Yamamoto frowns. "I've met Kuran-san. If you'll forgive me, he seems like someone who always acts in his own best interests. The political climate may not always be so favorable. How can you promise full cooperation?"
Zero hesitates, trapping the words behind his teeth. His instinctive answer sounds arrogant even in his own head. He licks his lips, knowing the longer he delays the less credible he looks. Would they even believe him if he tells the truth? Their shifting and murmuring warns him he needs to come up with an answer they'll accept, and quickly.
Zero abandons himself to the flow of his intuition, and finds the fragile, delicate truth leaving his lips. "Because this project is important to me, and Kaname and Yuuki want to make me happy."
Zero's intuition whispers the deeper heart of that truth: They will give you anything you desire. Anything. You only need speak, and they will see it done.
In the silence, the Hunters eye one another; Zero perceives their disbelief as clearly as daylight.
"I know it sounds ridiculous. But it's true," he tells them, unconsciously twisting one of the dragon bracelets hidden on his wrist. "They're purebloods. They exist above the usual politics. And they care about me more than they care about political utility. If I ask them, they won't withdraw their support."
"Hunter Kiryuu, I'm sorry but that that sounds a little...fantastic."
"I know," he says, hardly able to say the words with a straight face himself. They're in love with me, he doesn't say. Zero doesn't need his power to tell him what a bad idea that is.
Instead he says, "I'm their omega. I can't justify it in human terms, because it relies on vampire instinct. You'll either need to trust my assessment, or decide you're not interested."
Rising, Zero leaves the sheaf of papers behind on the seat of his chair. "They don't expect an answer now. Whatever you decide, I've been instructed to give you these."
His gaze sweeps from one end of the room to the other, measuring. "They're intelligence reports regarding the missing Hunters. One of Kuran's informants has confirmed Hunter Rajapaksha's identity, so we can add another name to our list."
There's a burble of interested noise. With no way to know exactly who Shirabuki targeted - or even how many - the Hunters have been building profiles from scattered sightings, trying to match descriptions to names. Even one more addition is promising.
For the moment, Zero avoids telling them he was the informant. He'd known Rajapaksha, and with the Ancestress' help his dreams had led right to his fellow Hunter's location. Zero hopes it's enough to help retrieve him.
"I'll leave you to your deliberations," Zero finishes, running his eyes over the room and judging the arguments to come require his absence. "President Cross, Lead Hunters, thank you."
And then Zero walks out, with the weight of their eyes on his back. He ducks two hallways down before slumping against the wall. Releasing a shaky breath, Zero runs a hand over his face and allows his tight grip on his power slip away.
They'll agree. The certainty is settled in his bones.
But it had been a shock to look through their eyes and be confronted by the way he was linked to the Kurans in their minds now. With his bonding, Zero had known he was inevitably considered their representative now, by the nature of his position. His divided loyalties are something both the Hunters and the vampires have had to come to grips with.
Pushing away from the wall, Zero wanders toward the library, intending to find Archivist Fong. Zero hopes he'll enjoy the journals - Zero himself doesn't know some of the ciphers, and he's hoping the library may hold answers.
A high, shrill shout echoes down the hall, and Zero's stomach drops as his extra sense screams at him.
Turning without a thought, Zero begins to run, bursting into the cafeteria packed with Hunters. No one turns around, even though his vampire aura must warn them - they're crowded in complete silence around a television set that's seen better days, their food left to cool.
Zero advances step by slow step. The dread in his belly ices over when he realizes the channel's set to the news.
"Turn it up," someone in the front demands, and the newscaster's voice abruptly blares from the screen.
"We have confirmed twenty-seven simultaneous attacks so far, but reports are still coming in from national capitals around the world and that number may rise. The prime minister's office will release a statement in one hour regarding the assault on the Ministry of Records, which is believed to have resulted in over fifty deaths. The delay is due to the fact that the prime minister, along with a majority of other world leaders, is currently on the mainland attending the Global Economic Conference. The timing is believed to be deliberate, but no nation or organization has stepped forward yet to claim responsibility.."
"Shit," one of the others curses, finally breaking the stunned horror.
More Hunters are gathering behind Zero, but his eyes are glued to the screen. What little information known is this: at precisely 10 pm this evening, around twenty masked individuals had driven straight up to the Ministry of Records and proceeded to slaughter everyone inside, before disappearing without a trace. The same action had been repeated more or less identically in twenty-seven other capital cities belonging to the world's largest, wealthiest, and most influential countries, with frightening coordination and precision.
The newscasters suddenly break out in a flurry of excitement. "We are about to show footage captured at the beginning of the Parliament attack…"
A low murmur breaks out among the watching Hunters. Whoever these people are, the way they move and handle their weapons says they're amateurs. All except for one - a man in the back who seems to be in charge. He's clearly professionally trained, and he moves like his gun is an extension of his arm. While the others rush inside, the lone professional methodically destroys the room's security cameras, before pausing oddly to roll one of his sleeves up to his elbow. Then he raises his gun, pulls the trigger once, and the recording ends.
Zero frowns, because his power is tugging at him, urging him that something is not quite right. The Parliament footage starts playing again, but it's just as strange the second time around. How did a bunch of amateurs manage to be so effective? And their identical timing...such perfect coordination would be complex even if you used elite soldiers.
A stocky woman in the back shoulders through the crowd, pointing at the attackers' leader. "Blood and ash, I know that man!"
Zero jolts, and the room collectively stares.
"You can't even see his face!" a voice calls.
"I don't need to," the woman retorts. She must be around Master's age, but has a certain smooth agelessness to her face that bespeaks high-content ancestry. "Look at his arm, the bare one. See it? He's got a sort of wonky hook shaped scar on his forearm. I remember that scar cause I was there when he got it. That's Campbell - David Campbell, from the European branch. Hunter Campbell's supposed to have been dead for twenty years!"
Zero's mouth opens before his brain catches up. "Was he from a low-content bloodline?"
"Yeah," the woman who identified him replies in a shaky voice.
"Fuck," a voice chants. "Fucking hell, fuck, fuck, fuck!" The room descends into chaos, with Hunters shouting and arguing, rushing from the room in haste.
Caught with no duty of his own to complete, Zero presses his lips together. There's only one reason a dead low-content Hunter is showing up now, inexplicably alive and attacking a civilian target: he's one of Shirabuki Sara's victims.
If Zero guesses right, Shirabuki would have repeated the same pattern for each attack. One Hunter to plan and lead the assault, plus enough cannon fodder to cause as much death as possible. Those unskilled subordinates were probably vampires too. Vampires don't need training against ordinary humans - they're fast enough and strong enough to cause damage by themselves. And Pureblood commands explain the discrepancies between their inexperience and their precise timing and coordination.
And the perpetrators' universal disappearance...Zero suspects Campbell executed the other vampires when they were finished. Humans would be expecting flesh corpses, not ash, so the signs would be easy to hide, and a single Hunter had the training to easily slip out in the chaos. There were Hunter charms designed to hide more than scent, and with a change of clothes and the right story, any Hunter could do it. Campbell wouldn't have been ordered to destroy himself - any Hunters that Shirabuki successfully Turned would be far too valuable to lose.
Twenty-seven different locations, over two thousand deaths...this won't be taken lightly by the world. People will demand answers, and the human governments will need to provide a believable explanation that hides the existence of the world of night, one that can withstand every assault by a relentless media hungry for a scoop.
Zero swallows. The sheer scale of the task - how much evidence needs to be fabricated? How many people need to be telling the same lies? This is too far too enormous for their usual concealment tactics to succeed. Even if the Senate aids them, the Association may fail. And then the whole world will know vampires exist.
There could be a new Blood War.
Abandoning his plans, Zero heads back the way he came. President Cross may need an envoy.
"Shirabuki Sara was a fool," Kaname hisses, feeling his eyes burn red.
Every vampire in the room shivers at the icy venom in his voice, cringing away for a millisecond before they catch themselves - even his inner circle.
Kaname pays no mind. Even gripped by rage he holds himself in perfect stillness. "There are reasons we hold ourselves apart from humanity. Yet that foolish child believed she could disturb that balance without consequence?"
His nobles are beginning to cower a little. Kaname closes his eyes, practicing forbearance as he attempts futility to calm his temper.
What had Shirabuki been thinking? Had she been seeking more power in the human world, taking advantage of the chaos? Had she been trying to establish her power among the other purebloods, assuming that she had already killed him? They'll never know, but how Kaname wishes he could pay her for this mistake.
"Tell me how the Senate is responding," the pureblood orders instead.
The lesser vampires eye one another, still wary of his temper. Still wary, despite all Kaname has done to make it clear he does not punish the bearer of ill news. Another tendril of shadow worms through the cracks in his psyche.
Finally, Ruka steps forward. "They've sent representatives to the global economic conference on the mainland, Kaname-sama, but the humans' reaction has not been good. No agreement regarding how to respond has been reached, and we believe the talks have reached an impasse. The Hunters' Association is doing damage control to hide any traces of vampire involvement, but they're stretched too thin to spearhead the coordinated misinformation campaign we will need. It falls on the Senate and the human governments to act."
Yuuki's dear voice rises from the doorway. "I just spoke with Takuma-sempai. He has the Council of Elders in line, but the Senate is still fighting about how to proceed. That's why everything they've suggested in the negotiations so far hasn't been effective. Chairman Ichihara will eventually bring them around to give up the necessary concessions, but I'm worried the situation will have spiraled out of our hands by then."
So is Kaname. They have perhaps twenty-four hours before the lack of information provokes an outcry. The faster all parties can settle on a narrative, the more comprehensive the deception they can build, and time is of the essence. The longer the rumors are left to grow, the more impossible they may be to uproot.
The charms on Yuuki's phone jingle as she comes to him, the worry she hides in front of their nobles reverberating through their blood bond.
Kaname lifts his hands to cradle her face, brushing her hair away from her cheeks. His beloved, dear wife. Kaname's eyes trace every familiar feature of her countenance - her pert nose, feathery brows, rosewood eyes, the bow of her mouth - and tender love overwhelms him.
Hidden beneath that love festers acrid fear. Kaname is so close to gaining everything he's ever wanted. He has Yuuki and Zero at his side; Yuuki returns his love, and in time he will certainly earn Zero's love too.
If the vampires' existence is revealed, violence is certain to follow. Humanity fears what it cannot control. The Kuran family will become a target - Yuuki and Zero will become targets. Yuuki is young, and inexperienced. Even for purebloods, accidents happened, like with Ouri. And Zero's persistent morals could come between them, if Zero sided with humanity over his lovers. Kaname could lose both of them.
No. The darkness in his mind coils tighter. Never.
The current peace must be maintained at all costs. Kaname needs things to stay exactly as they are.
(Kaname's mental stability had never quite recovered from being denied by his beloved. When his greatest fear strikes true, the equilibrium of his mind shivers and quakes. And the monster in his soul claws its way free.)
"Inform the Senate that I will correct the situation myself."
This chapter was not supposed to end on a cliffhanger, but I was already so late posting I resigned myself to the necessity. Sorry everyone!
Mugicha is a tea-like drink made from roasted barley grains. The drink has a smooth, nutty flavor that's not as bitter as tea, and it's also caffeine free. In Japan, it's often consumed cold in the summer.
Me: you have too many OCs. Stop making more.
Also me: adds 15 different Hunter OCs I created specifically so they could show up once and never appear again
Dear readers - Yuuki's new Shadow needs a name, and I thought you guys might enjoy having some input! Suggest baby names and I'll choose whichever one I like best. Traditionally names for Shadows tend to be short, and 'appropriate' for their station, but don't always necessarily follow those guidelines.
Next chapter: Kaname isn't the only one picking the nuclear option. Let's see what breaks, shall we?