Two days came and went since Kaien headed to the association, Yuuki was starting to worry. Not that the time alone with Zero wasn't the worst thing in the world, but her Father has never been gone this long before.

"Ne... Zero, What do you think is keeping Father? He should be back by now..." Yuuki starting to twirl a strand of hair in her fingers as pushed her breakfast around on the plate.

"Maybe he got lost." Zero shrugged trying to act nonchalant as he stood to clear the dishes, though he was starting to worry too, but Cross getting lost wasn't possibly. Cross acted scatter brained but Zero knew he wasn't a fool. "I need to go into the Village anyway to pick up some things, want to ask around and see if anyone has seen him?"

Yuuki just nodded, as she picked up her plate and deposited it in the sink. Zero watched her meander about his brows knitted at Yuuki's worry. "Yuuki he's probably fine, don't worry so much. Someone is bound to know something or seen him around. He may have just lost track of time and left late."

Yuuki laughed and shook her head, her chestnut hair flowing around her face. "You're right, that sounds like him. A trip to the village sounds good either way. I'm getting bored here staring at the same four walls. Lets get out of here! I'll get White Lily ready!" She said and bounded off to the stables.

Zero followed after her a few moments later. Opening the front door and saw it had started raining again. "Can't wait for the rainy season to end... this is ridiculous." Zero grumbled as he ran off towards the stables trying to stay as dry as possible and wrenching the door open. Yuuki had been feeding White Lily, drenched with rain and hair plastered against her face water droplets cascading down her brown hair. He followed a bead of water down a strand of hair as it made its way to her cheek, gliding down her neck to finally pool at the hollow of her throat where he focused. Watching the sweet nectar pump through her veins under her creamy skin.

When Zero entered the stables Yuuki turned towards him noticing he had immediately spaced out, "Zero? Hello, Earth to Zero?" She closed the distance between them, waving a hand in front of his blank amethyst eyes. She rolled her own chocolate ones as she went to turn away from him but Zero grabbed a hold of her shoulders, keeping her in place. She cast her eyes back up to his, that's when she saw a pang of need. Zero pulled her closer as his eyes flickering back and forth to a crimson glow.

"Z-Zero..?" Yuuki said his name with a bit of desperation trying to snap him out of whatever trance he was in, when he pinned her arms to her side. He spun her around firmly pressing her back to his chest and wrapped an arm around her, the other snaking up along her side as a lover would, coming to the side of her left breast, his arm across her chest. She could feel him lean further into her, his labored warm breath in her ear, as he nipped at her ear lobe and fully took her breast in his hand.

"Ah!" Yuuki gasped feeling tingles of pleasure ripple through her body. Zero's other hand traveled to her chin, tilting her head up and off to the side. He nipped one last time at her ear earning another gasp from Yuuki before he kissed along her throat until he reached where her jugular was. She could feel his slick tongue slide across her neck tasting her.

"Z-Zero..." His name came breathlessly from Yuuki's lips. "... Stop..." She made little effort to stop him or try to escape. Zero shifted behind her, grinding his hard length against her bottom, licking her neck again. Her cheeks flushed at his hot breath coming in waves against her skin giving her goose bumps that ran along her arms. Yuuki felt sharp teeth graze her skin shortly before his fangs perforated her neck. There was a acute pain and warm liquid spilling where his lips were attached to her, the now familiar painful pleasure wrecked havoc on Yuuki's body. Her breathing coming in shallow and uneven as she sank further into Zero's hold as he drank his fill of her.

The feeling of blood leaving her body had a strange effect on her. Yuuki would have never thought blood letting could cause such bliss and even when she was feeling faint from the blood loss and couldn't hold herself up any longer. It was then that Zero pulled back from her throat supporting her weight and turning her around once more in his arms. He licked the blood from the twin puncture wounds and followed it down to the hem of her Kimono. Zero positioned her against the stable doors, his knee between her legs and pinned both of her wrists in one hand above her head, his chest against hers. His eyes were no longer glowing a deep crimson anymore, they weren't their normal light lavender either, there were this dark purple color and hooded with what Yuuki now understood as lust, and still absolutely no reason in them.

"Zero..." Yuuki whispered in defeat not having the strength to protest any longer. Zero took her mouth this time, kissing her fervently with a desperate need, his fangs grazing against her bottom lip. He teased the seams of her lips with his tongue seeking permission, when she gave it by parting her lips, Zero tantalized her tongue with his swirling around hers. Yuuki could taste remnants of her blood on his tongue as it danced with hers. When his free hand reached for her breast again, a moan was liberated from Yuuki's lips into his as he did what he liked with her body.

Yuuki whimpered as Zero pulled back from their kiss and released her wrists from his grasp. The hand that kept her hands pinned slid behind her pressing her lower half firmly against his and went to make quick work tugging on the bow of her Obi loosening the hold it had on her Kimono and letting the rectangular material fall. His hand that had been working on her breast slipped past the now loose material going straight to the subtle mounded flesh, the other now traveling up her inner thighs. Stroking small light circles teasingly up and down, trying to coax Yuuki to open her tightly closed thighs. A breathy moan left her lips at his cool touch to her heated skin.

"Yuuki..." Zero whispered against her ear, nipping at it as he pleaded with her. "Please?"

Yuuki couldn't think straight, her thoughts were whirling around in her head from the blood loss and how Zero gave rise to all sorts of sensations in her body. Everything he did made her body feel on fire yet frozen all at the same time, like she would never feel whole without his touch and him in her arms. A dull ache was forming in her lower body, that she didn't recognize that originated between her legs. All she could do was hold on to him tighter and mimic his earlier motion of grinding herself against his leg that support her weight.

Using Yuuki's actions as a sign, Zero swooped her up in his arms and brought her to a few bales of hay laying her down, him hovering over her small delicate frame on his knees. Sliding open the top half of her Kimono exposing her bosom, the pad of his thump flicked across a firm rose bud before cupping it again and kneading the soft flesh in his hand. Yuuki shuddered as she gave out small moan. He groaned at the response he stirred within her body, his member throbbing, his eyes traveling along every inch of her exposed skin. Zero gave her nipple a quick yet gentle twist as he raked his nails against her side with his other hand, another reverberating moan came from Yuuki as she shifted and squirmed under gaze.

When Yuuki shifted she brought her knees up letting the rest of the Kimono fall away from her leaving more skin to the cool open air, Zero seeing an opportunity reached between her ankles that were pulled close to her bottom, to tease her ethereal realm. Finding the pearl that rest between her lower lips, he gently rubbed in small tight circles. Yuuki's breath hitched as she instinctively arched her back, bucking her hips against his touch to her lower region. He continued to stroke her pearl with one hand and her nipple in the other until she relaxed in his touch, parting her legs to allow him better access.

Slipping a digit deep within her wetness as it squeezed around the foreign object, the deep-felt moan from Yuuki encouraged Zero to continuing to slide it and out of her, the pad of his thumb brushing against the bundle of nerve endings. Yuuki brought her hands to tangle themselves into her own hair as Zero added another finger to her core and began scissoring his fingers stretching her tunnel, driving her crazy. She could feel her body tensing and something building up within herself.

Zero pulled himself from Yuuki's ethereal realm and she whined softly from his absence as she contorted her face in dismay but it was immediately replaced when Zero positioned himself to kiss her lower lips and brought her legs to rest over his shoulders. He slipped his fingers back into her heated core to continue their work again, pushing in and pulling out with purpose, curving up hitting special place with in her. His tongue now lapping at her slick folds, flicking repeatedly against the pearl that rested there.

Yuuki called out Zero's name with a vivacious need. Her hands traveling across her own body, cupping at her breasts then sliding further down still to his hair as she grabbed fist fulls of the silvery locks to try to ground herself to reality. The way he kissed and licked and touched her most sensitive private places had her teetering over the edge of sanity as her body felt like it was tight and on fire, she closed her eyes enjoying the pleasure she was receiving from Zero's dealings.

"Ah! Z-Zero... I-I.. Please!" Yuuki didn't know what she was begging for, but she needed it, she needed the blissful release of the tension building up in her body.

Zero watched as he pumped his fingers with in her. Lust further glazing over his eyes as he groaned into her passage. The sound of his name being called out in such passion accompanied by Yuuki's angelic moans was sweet music to his ears. He could sense when she was having a tough time keeping the dam closed so he quickened his pace with his fingers and gently nipped her nub within his teeth before lightly sucking on it.

The titillation by the perpetual swift motions to her ethereal realm had Yuuki calling Zero's name again as her world was flipped upside down. Her pleasure exploded from her as she arched her back, before falling back against the hay out of breath. Her body wrecked from her orgasm that came over her in waves of bliss as she watched Zero drink her in, tasting yet another part of her.

Zero sat back up on his knees, undoing the ties to his hakama to free the restraint on his aching member. She was watching him with widening eyes as he re-positioned himself, the head of his length pressing against her soaking core.

"Z-Z-Zero, wait..." Yuuki said trying to catch her breath. She watched him closely his normally light amethyst eyes were still no where in sight, they were still a very dark plum clouded by a lustful haze. She wondered if her first time would be forced or if he'd come to his senses. She could hear a low growl coming from deep in his throat, he was warning her, threatening her. Yuuki was taken aback by this, she knew she could always count on Zero to keep her safe and protect her, so why all of a sudden did she feel fear well up in her and sting the corner of her eyes with tears. She pleaded with Zero with her chocolate eyes. Yuuki knew things were happening very rapidly, but surely she could reach him and snap him back. She watched as his eyes flickered. Mixed emotions played over his face as he battled inner demons, finally the familiar amethyst eyes of the Zero she knew surfaced and looked pained.

Zero sat back on his haunches, holding his head in his hands, he could only look at her through the shield of his fingers not ready to really face her. He noted her disheveled and blood stained open kimono and the scent of blood and her arousal hanging in the air. His eyes matched her's as tears welled up in his clear amethyst eyes.

"Y-Yuuki... I-I'm sorry... I couldn't control m-my blood lust..." Zero's breath hitched in his throat at what he he had done to her and what he was about to take from her.

Yuuki laid there from a moment as a sigh of relief washed over her. She sat up fixing her Kimono closed around her smoothing it in place as best she could without her Obi and cord. She studied him, he was wracked with guilt, she could see that, anyone could. She could see that he didn't want any of this to happen. Yuuki reached out her hand hesitantly at first then committed to the action of pulling him into her arms in a close embrace, gently stroking his hair.

"Sh sh sh. It's okay Zero, I know." Yuuki ran her fingers through his silver hair as she whispered sweet nothings into his ear trying to calm him down. All the while her mind was a jumbled mess. Images of their encounter flashed in and out of her mind and her body shifted uncomfortably, not because she was afraid again, but because she could still feel the ghost of his hands all over her body. She sighed out her cheeks flushed, this would change their relationship forever, there wasn't any way to go back now. Just how it would change she didn't know.

The wagon ride to village was almost awkward. The rain filled the gaps in conversation to keep it from getting uncomfortable between them. They mostly talked about things to get while they were in the village. Yuuki and Zero were equally embarrassed by what transpired, but they tried to make small talk on the ride up there and it was distance away, it was at least an hour ride. Kaien Cross preferred to live in the country side away from the association. Not that it mattered much, they were always coming by estate or he was traveling into the village for shopping. It wasn't a huge village, but it did have a market place, which meant lots of food and lots of little neat shops and because it was the last village before the Capitol it was always bustling with travelers or merchants selling all sorts of thing from medicine to some of the finest Kimono the court ladies wore. It deepened on the day and which merchants were in town.

At every shop or merchant they visited Yuuki asked if anyone has seen her Father, each time they told her no, the worry grew. When they got to the rice merchant, He hadn't see her Father but mentioned he saw Yagari yesterday. 'That's odd...' Yuuki thought.

It was about this time Zero suggested lunch. They walked across the road to a little hut with a thatched roof, once they walked inside there was a small sitting area off to the right and a Older man toiling away with making Nikuman pork buns in the open kitchen area.

"Hello! Welcome! Give me a second and I'll be right with you!" The old man called over his shoulder as he placed the buns he was working with on the counter and wiped his hands off on a towel around his shoulder. "Sorry about that! What can I get you two this afternoon?"

Yuuki looked at the small menu board they had on the front counter. They had Nikumon, Takoyaki and Dango. Yuuki went with red bean Dango and Zero went with Nikumon filled with pork. While paying, Zero asked the older man if saw a man fitting either Yagari's or Kaien's description.

"Ah, light haired man was here about a day or so ago. Strange looking fellow, much like yourself. We don't see many people with light hair, I almost mistook him for a foreigner if it wasn't for his fluent Japanese and Asian features. He seemed distracted and in a hurry." The man talked as he went back to the kitchen to make their food.

"He kept muttering things under his breath about needing to get back home to his kids, and about wanting to talk to his Son, but I couldn't make much else out. Once he got his food he was out of here all quick like." He handed Zero their food and continued on, keen to continue the gossip.

"I was telling the misses about him, since it was so strange. She said -"

Zero cut him off politely, guiding Yuuki to bench in the corner of the hut. "Thank you so much, both for the food and the information."

The older man shrugged and went back to making Nikuman buns earlier he'd left forgotten on the counter. "You're welcome, come again."

"Yargari-Sensei should know what's going on. We'll go after this." Zero said through bites of his food.

"It's a little late to ask this now... but did you bring Bloody Rose with you?" Yuuki said staring off at the villagers meandering about. Her eyes were searching the faces and she hadn't taken her eyes off the streets hoping to catch a glimpse of either Yagari or her Father.

"I Don't sense anything malicious, but yes I've got it." Zero started on another bun, as he patted the spot where the pistol was hidden away in his Kimono.

"Sense? You can sense things?" Yuuki tilted her head, finally tearing her gaze away from the streets to look in Zero's direction, however she couldn't quite make eye contact with him. She just focused on his hands instead and listened to the rain pelting the roof of the little shop.

"Well sort of." Zero lowered his voice to avoid the attention of the older man as he continued to eat his bun. "It's like a presence. You can tell when you're not around alone right? It's like that but with a murderous intent. I can tell there isn't another vampire in the village, or if there is, they're not bloodthirsty."

"Huh. That's pretty neat. What else can you do? N-Now that you're a vam-vampire." Yuuki barely got the last part of her sentence out above a whisper, her gaze now staring straight at her short legs swinging back and forth gently.

"Hn" Zero sensed her hesitation made visibly obvious by the evading gaze of her eyes on anything else but him. " I've always had a sense of my surrounding, that's been because of my training as a Hunter, but as a Vampire my strength increased, sense of smell, eye sight is better in the dark and changes in people's mood." He said the last point with purpose to get a rise at Yuuki, trying to poke a bit of fun at her. He really couldn't sense moods, but Yuuki was like an open book to him.

"Pfft." Yuuki scoffed rolling her eyes, still watching her feet swing.

"speaking of sense of smell, your's has changed. Albeit on a small scale. It's like your scent is mixed with mine, I'm not sure why though. How are you feeling? After I um..." Zero gulped struggling with the words. "Drank from you the first time?"

Yuuki stopped her fidgeting and thought about it for a moment. "I feel fine." She Shrugged, brushing it off.

"Nn... I didn't mean if you felt faint or sick." Zero probed a bit further ignore her obvious disdain of the topic at hand. He wondered if she felt different, like he did. Zero tighten his hands into fists. He felt protective almost possessive of her, the thought of another touching or heaven forbid drinking from her other than him... He wouldn't finish the thought, He would make sure it didn't happen. He sighed as took off her his Haori and used it to cover his head to keep as dry as possible and then reached for her hand and pulled Yuuki to her feet covering her head as well.

"I feel more protective than I did before over you, like if something happened to you, I wouldn't be able to hold myself together." Zero seemed to stare off for a moment before mentally shaking himself together and grabbed up the parcels from their shopping in his other hand.

Being pulled to her feet abruptly Yuuki gazed at the back of his head and considering his words and searched for her own. She remembered when she first woke up that morning that it felt right to be in his arms, the blood drinking gave her a feeling of bliss and Yuuki had minded his mark either. Then she also remembered earlier today when his Blood-lust had taken over and she was sure that she would have lost her innocence on a bale of hay if he hadn't come to his senses. She stayed quiet for a few more moments, mulling over her words.

"It hurt at first, then it felt... interesting. I could feel your bite radiate through out my body and I felt a strange sense of guilt covering your bite mark this morning, even now it feels weird to have it covered." Yuuki decided that was all she tell him. She still wasn't sure about anything else, although knowing Zero felt even more protective of her made her heart swell.

Yuuki wasn't a naive girl, she knew Vampires existed, but she hadn't experienced a bite before. She thought she wanted her first bite to be with Kaname, but that couldn't happen now. She wasn't as upset about it as she thought she would be, but it was a bit of emergency that it ended up being with Zero instead. Now she was having mixed emotions about both of the men in her life. Yuuki always thought Kaname was out of reach because he was a vampire, but now so was Zero. So why was she struggling with what happened.

'Was it because of the other things Zero did?' Yuuki pushed away the thoughts with a blush and followed behind Zero, interlacing their fingers. Zero gave her hand a quick gentle squeeze.

"Interesting is one word for it..." Zero chuckled as he lead them through the rain to where White Lily waited.

Yuuki's cheeks heated up again. "Yes, Interesting." She shoved him with her other hand causing the Haori light umbrella to slip from the top of her and just cover his shoulder. Yuuki giggled at this. Zero had a playful glint in his eye as he snatched away the Haori from her leaving her to get wet. She gasped rounding on her trying to reach for the only thing that could keep her somewhat dry. "Hey! Come on, no fair."

"Heh. Fair? It's my surcoat." Zero shrugged as he let go of her hand and set off in a jog until he reached the horse and covered wagon, hopping up into the seat with a hand out stretched to help her up. "Hurry up before you get soaked again. I'm starting to think you like to get wet in the rain."

"Hmph!" Yuuki chased after him with mock indignation trying to hide her smile and grabbed his hand to lift her up. She crawled inside the wagon with him and shook her head, showering Zero with Rain drops with a laugh.

"Hey! Watch it!" Zero wiped at his face to dry it off.

"Whatever. Let's just get going. It's going to be dark soon." Yuuki was glad that the playfulness was still between them. It was nice to joke around and laugh with himself still, Maybe there was hope for them yet.

"Why yes, Your Majesty. Right away, Your Majesty." Zero gave a half bow, with a goofy grin on his face as he grabbed White Lily's reins.