I love how interwoven everyone is in this story as this one of the chapters Head Master Cross and Yagrai really get to shine as the unconventional surrogate father figures they are.
See Zero. See Zero. See Zero. With ever step he ran, those simple words carried Kaname straight to the Head Master's home.
"Zero? If you can hear me please, open up!" he banged against the door, the wood splinting under his fist.
"What the hell do you want now, pureblood?" A rough voice answered, "Haven't you done enough already?"
The door was suddenly ripped open to reveal a pissed off Yagrai Toga in a pair of rumple boxers, his gun posed ready on his back. "Give me you reason I shouldn't shoot you right here and now."
While his pride might have suffered permanent damage in doing so, Kaname pleaded with the elder hunter, "Please, you have to let me see him. I need to see Zero."
"And do what break his heart again? Pureblood if you so much as-"
"Yaga, who's at the door?" Kaien Cross, dress in surprisingly normal pajamas for once, came into sight, "Oh, hello Kaname. What are you still doing out there? Come in, come in."
"Thank-you, Head Master." Kaname thanked the man as he was ushered into the house, "I'm here to see Zero."
"He's asleep right now but you can still peek in on him if you want…." Cross's face grew serious, "Although I understand your situation better than most, I have to ask; are you prepared to face him if Zero were to wake up while you were still in there?"
"Kaien, I can't be serious. He's just going to-"
"No, Yaga. Trust me, Kaname would never hurt Zero." The Head Master silenced his lover before turning back to Kaname, "Would you?"
"Of course not….." Kaname trailed off as he thought of what the men had said. How could he promise something when he was in fact the reason Zero was hurting so much?
Even as he opened the door to Zero's room, he wondered whether he was making the right choice. Looking around he saw that the hunter's old room looked just as empty as always. While the dorm he shared with Kaname was tastefully decorated, the mix of his rock n' roll style harmonizing surprisingly well with the pureblood's pension for lush jewel tones, these walls were bare.
Zero's head peeked out from under his blankets, his expression troubled. The closer Kaname looked he noticed the bags that begun to form until the hunter's eyes and every so often he would furrow his brows. Yet as Kaname drew closer to him, the tension eased out of the silverette's body and his face became serene in sleep. Even after everything that had happened Zero still reacted to the pureblood's company.
"I miss you." Kaname whispered as he brushed a stray lock of hair away from his sleeping lover's face.
"Kaname?"
Zero could swear that he could sense the pureblood's presence but when he woke up he was back in his old room at the Head Master's and he was alone. He wasn't sure if he was relived or disappointed that his lover was not there when he awoke. The more he thought of Kaname, the more he noticed the thirst that had been building within him. He had gotten used to feeding on his lover for so long that he no longer had a backup source of blood.
"Damn it." Zero cursed as he finally forced himself to get up. His throat burning with each breath he took, he hobbled out of his room. Maybe he had left an old box of blood tablets in the pantry.
"Hold it right there, Zero."
Wincing, Zero turned to see Yagrai and the Head Master sitting in the living room, both men still in their night clothes and looking just as tired as he felt. Judging by the aggravated tone of his mentor's voice, they had been waiting for him.
"I think it is time we talk, Zero."
"I'm fine" the silverette rasped, shaking off the Head Master's arm on his shoulder.
Yagrai snorted, "Tell that to your red eyes, stupid."
"Yaga!" Kaien shot the gruff hunter a look before turning back to his adopted son, "He's right though, Zero. It's dangerous for you to be experiencing such unchecked bloodlust."
"I'm not drinking from you."
"My blood would not satisfy the thirst you feel, Zero. You need to go see Kaname."
"Forget it. Even if I forgave him for following tradition, after everything I said to him, there's no way Kaname would be able to forgive me."
"Zero, I am two seconds away from popping a bullet in your rear end. If your damned pureblood didn't care about you, why did he insist on waking us up last night just to see you?"
Zero felt his cheeks heat up, "He did?"
"He loves you, Zero. Go see him." The Head Master gave the young hunter a reassuring smile as he walked him to the door.
"The sooner you go, the sooner I can go back to bed." Yagrai sighed, letting his concern show past his usual gruff snark, "You don't pick the one you fall in love with but once you find them, you can't turn your back on them. Trust me, I've been trying to get rid of Cross for years."
"Yaga!"
"Kaien, are you coming back to bed yet?"
"In a little bit, Yaga." The Head Master called as he swirled around in his office chair.
The normally optimistic man was somber as he paged through book after book on vampire law. For days he had been searching for a loophole to the marriage that was being forced upon Kaname and Yuki. While he had been exposed to the vampire world for centuries, he had a rather strong history with this law in particular. It was the same pureblood tradition that had taken his lovers away from him all those years ago.
He had met Juri first, running into the beautiful brunette during one of his assignments for work. It had been the first time he had been that close to a pureblood and brushed off his initial attraction to her as a vampire trick. Then he started to see her everywhere, her image haunting him even after he went back to his room at the Association. And then, she spoke and Kaien knew he was in love.
Despite all the years of learning about vampires and their pureblood elite, Kaien found that Juri Kuran was more of an angel than the devil he was led to believe she would be. They would meet in the early hours of the evening, the overlapping time between the awaking vampire world and the human one that would be going to sleep. Sometimes she would see him right after a mission and she would clean his wounds, teasing him that she could have done the same mission without getting a scratch. If another hunter had even suggested such a thing to him, Kaien would have knocked him out but when Juri did it he felt his heart swell.
Then one night, Juri invited him home to meet someone special. Fate was an imaginative mistress, he would later laugh to himself. He learned that when Juri welcomed him in and introduced her to her older brother, Haruka. While he would admit he found an instant attraction to the elder pureblood as he had with Juri, it was not until they sat down together that he realized how strong that attraction was. Watching the siblings interact was intoxicating; Juri had a rather outgoing personality while Haruka was more reserved, the occasional smile giving away his more playful side.
He loved visiting them almost every night after work and after some time, the three of them became lovers. For years they hid their relationship from the disapproval of both of their people, knowing that the Association would disown the young hunter while the vampires would assume Kaien was the Kurans' slave. So they would spend the time that they could together; Kaien loved spending time with Juri in her garden or sword fighting with Haruka who was a much better sparring partner than most of his fellow hunters. It was his favorite way to spend his time. Well, favorite thing outside of the bedroom where the three lovers spent quite a few nights making love to one another before laying together in a tangle of limbs.
When Juri and Haruka were forced to marry, Kaien's role in their lives had lessened but he was still able to sneak in visits with them every so often. He never stopped loving them either, no matter how much time would pass. When they had children, Kaien became the unofficial godfather to their beautiful baby boy, Kaname, and later to their darling daughter, Yuki. He didn't know it was possible but even just being an unofficial member of the Kuran family made Kaien Cross the happiest he had ever been.
Then the cruel winter's eve came; the night Kaien lost his lovers forever. He had been in the headquarters of the Hunter's Association training a rebellious pre-teen named Yagrai when he had gotten the news. Juri and Haruka Kuran, along with their children, had been attacked in their own home by their elder brother Rido. By the time he arrived at the Kuran manor, he had been too late.
A young Kaname was being escorted by the head of the vampire Senate, Asato Ichijo, and his close friend Takuma Ichijo into a black town car when Kaien arrived. Seeing the hunter, Kaname shook off both of the blondes and ran over to him.
"Mr. Cross, you have to find her, Yuki is still inside. Mother had hidden her away somewhere in the manor before the attack." The young pureblood whispered frantically into Kaien's ear, "Please take care of her."
"I will-"
"Kaname, you can talk to this man later." Asato called from the front seat of the town car, "Tonight you need to rest."
"We will meet soon again, dear one." Kaien said reassuringly as he led the young heir to his new guardian.
Watching the car drive away, the full weight of the night's events finally hit the hunter. How could they be gone? Juri and Hakura were two of the most powerful vampires he had ever known and now they were dead.
It had been less than a week since he had last been there, the couple inviting him over for a family dinner. Juri had kept insisting that he did not eat enough when he was at work and the kiss that Haruka had given him when he invited him quelled any protest he still had.
As he made his way upstairs, he had a feeling he knew where Juri had hidden her daughter. He remembered the secret room that the Kurans had created in their mansion that was made in case of emergencies such as the night's events. Perhaps somehow they had known that Rido would try to attack them at one point or another.
"Yuki? It's ok to come out now." He softly called, not wanting to frighten the young girl any more than she already was, "Yuki, it's your godfather. It's Mr. Cross."
There was a tiny squeak as the little daughter peeked out from the closet, "Daddy?"
"Yes Yuki, I'm here."
As he scooped the tiny girl into his arms, Kaien vowed to make a change in his life. The following day he quit his job at the Hunter's Association and settled down domestically as a proper father for Yuki Kuran, now known as Yuki Cross.
To keep his sister out of public eye, Kaname had decided to stay with the Ichijo family but visited the Cross's at least once a year. As much as the ex-hunter enjoyed seeing the siblings reunited, the visits were always bittersweet. They reminded him so much of their parents. Even as he would plan to open his dream school, Cross Academy, with Kaname, he could not help but think about how much he wished his lovers were there to see it.
The only part of his old life with the Association that Kaien kept up with was the young man he had been training. The once broody preteen had grown up into a ruggedly handsome hunter who would later have students of his own. It still amazed Kaien how he had ended up in his relationship with Yagrai years later and how the gruff raven haired man had adopted the role of father figure himself with Zero.
His three surrogate children; Yuki, Zero, and Kaname. He loved all of them, but he could do nothing to stop the pain that they had had to face. Even now he felt useless as three hearts were breaking because of a ridiculous tradition. If only he could figure out what to do.
"If only…" he sighed, shutting his book and going to bed where Yagrai waiting.
