Sorry y'all, I will be honest, this time I was just being lazy. I have had plenty of time to wirte this out, but after finals last week, I just didn't want to even think let alone type. I hope this was worth the wait!
Disclaimer: I own nothing and make no claim to.
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Yuuki slowly withdrew her fangs from Zero's neck and leaned him gently against the tree behind him. She looked up at Kaname, her garnet eyes wide and said, "I had to do it oni-sama. I just . . . had to. It was like something else was driving me to do it. I'm sorry."
At her words, Kaien felt himself go cold. She had done it, she had killed Zero. He had not thought she was capable of that, even with everything she had been throught. He had hoped that she was just toying with him and would be unable to go through with it in the end. He was unsure of how to behave, should he go confront or comfort his daughter. Unsure of what to do, he just stood there in silence, a single tear escaping from his eye.
Gently Yuuki reached over and ran a finger up the trail of blood that had leaked from the wounds in Zero's neck. She stared at the crimson liquid on her finger and looked up at Kaname again with tears in her eyes. "Do you know what his blood said to me?" she asked him quietly.
Kaname looked down at his sister in pity. He had been worried that this was what was going to happen if he let her do as she wanted, but he hadn't had the strength to deny her what she wanted even though he knew it would hurt her. "No, Yuuki," he said kneeling down beside her, "I don't know what his blood showed you. What was it?"
Her face crumpled and she looked away from Kaname before she answered, looking instead at Zero's peaceful face. "He loved me," she whispered. "He actually loved me, and not like I thought he did. His love was romantic not just friendly." She went back to looking at the drop of blood on her finger. "Why," she said. "Why did he never tell me himself? Why did I have to wait for his blood to tell me what he should have?"
Kaname sat in silence. The fact that Kyruu had loved Yuuki was not news to him. It had been there in the way that he had looked at her and protected her. He didn't have the heart to tell her that the reason Zero had never told her was because he loved her and believed that he was not good enough for her. Instead of giving her the answers she sought, Kaname asked a question of his own. "Would it have changed things between us if he had told you?" He tried to make it sound as though the answer didn't matter to him but nothing could be farther from the truth. He needed to know that she would have chosen him if he hadn't been the first to ask her.
"No," Yuuki replied instantly. "I have always loved you, even when I knew that there was no chance we could be together because I wasn't good enough for you. I never would have told you, but when you asked it made me happy. Though I do regret how things turned out between me and Zero."
And you don't realize that Zero felt the exact same way, Kaname thought with a mental smile. You really are a naive and precious thing still. "I'm sorry that what I did caused you pain, though I do not regret that I reawaked you as a vampire," Kaname said stiffly wondering if she might blame him for Zero's death at a later date since she had only been able to kill him because of Kaname.
"What are you talking about, Kaname?" she asked in confusion. "Why would you regret reawakening me?" Kaien who knew where Kaname's thoughts had gone was again surprised by her new callousness. She was sitting beside the corpse of her childhood friend and discussing love and not understanding that Kaname was sad for allowing her to be able to create said corpse.
"I thought you might regret it since it allowed you to kill Zero," he said slowly hating that he had to spell it out for her and maybe make her realize it more quickly. Though that would at least let them get this fight out of the way quickly rather than letting it fester between them.
She looked at him in surprise and laughed. "That's what you think I did? Both of you?" she asked looking between her father and her lover. Then she started laughing again this time it was near hysterical. "You think I am capable of that? Come here," she said gesturing at Kaien.
He began to approach her warily, then realized how silly it was to be afraid of his sweet Yuuki and walked briskly to her side. "Look," she said simply, turning Zero's head to the side gently. Kaien leaned over her head to see what she was pointing at. Kaname too leaned in a little closer despite himself. In the side of his neck, if one watched carefully, one could see the faint pulse as blood rushed through the vein beneath the skin.
Kaname shook his head at himself and wondered why he had not realized that Kyruu's heart was beating and began to listen more closely and realized that it was because during her feeding, Yuuki's heart had timed itself to Kyruu's and was just now beginning to separate again with her excitement at their misunderstanding. Also Kaname hadn't cared enough about Zero to attempt to find out if he was truly dead, he just took it on faith that he was. He had assumed with the scent of blood in the air and the threat on her life that Yuuki had lost control and was going to kill him, he hadn't realized that she could be so . . . calculating.
"If your intention wasn't to kill him," Kaname asked, "then what were you trying to do, Yuuki?"
"I was trying to give him a reason to live," she explained simply, reaching out to stroke his silver hair from his forehead. Kaname felt a surge of jealousy go through him at her actions. "He thought he wanted to die and I needed to prove him wrong," she finished.
"So," Kaien said slowly. "You tried to make him see he wanted to live by attempting to kill him? That seems a little backwards."
Kaname was upset that the headmaster would accuse his daughter of attempted murder and was unsure how to respond when Yuuki laughed, such a carefree sound. "Can you think of a better way?" she asked. "He wanted to die, so I gave him what he thought wanted and waited for him to resist death and then stopped."
"That was actually very clever," Kaname said looking at her in surprise.
"I'm not stupid, you know," Yuuki said in a mock pout. Her indignation thrilled Kaname, she had never behaved that way towards him: like a equal. She had always just ducked her head and said "Thank you Kaname-senpai," in the past. He liked this new Yuuki though he hated what had brought it about.
It also made Kaien feel better to see that Yuuki was developing as a person and had stopped her reverence for Kaname. She was treating him ore like she always had Zero now. There was a certain intimacy between them that had never been there before and he wondered what had caused it. Maybe something good has come out of this mess with Rido, Kaien thought with a smile. Also maybe I was wrong about Yuuki, she seems to be almost like she always was. Maybe I didn't fail you after all Juuri-san.
"So what should be do next," Yuuki asked suddenly breaking both men out of their musings.
"What do you mean, Yuuki?" Kaname asked.
"Well I meant, should we stay here and wait for Zero to wake up, or go back to the house and put him in bed and wait for him to wake up there?" She asked innocently. "I know that he is going to want blood wherever we put him because I think I took a lot. Does that mean that I have to be the one to give it back?"
"Of course not," Kaname said gruffly. "There is no reason for you to give him blood; you have already done quite enough of that."
"But Kaname," she complained. "If I don't, who will? You?"
Kaname grimaced at the idea of that vile Level D's fangs in either of them, but there didn't seem to be another option at the moment since they couldn't ask any of the nobles to do it. "Fine," Kaname said. " I will give him the blood he will need since I don't want him to bite you again, but you will need to repay me in kind." Yuuki blushed as she heard the hidden meaning in Kaname's words and realized that she would have a long night ahead of her.
"Neither of you has to do it," the Chairman broke in suddenly breaking the tension of the situation. "I would be more than willing to give my blood for either of my beloved children," he said pulling the collar of his jacket away from his neck. "Even you, my darling Yuuki. Though it might kill me to do so!" He pulled her into a tight embrace that would have cut off her oxygen if she hadn't had the strength to push him away from her.
"Thank you father," she said stiffly, "but I don't believe that will need to happen."
"So mean!" he said "I think you got some of Zero's personality when you drank his blood."
Kaname fought back a smile at the chairman and Yuuki's interaction and said, "Perhaps we should move back to the house, it may be a while before Zero wakes, and I do not relish the idea of waiting in the forest. We will settle the issue of who will give him blood at the time it becomes necessary."
"OK," Yuuki said enthusiastically.
The chairman realizing that this might be his only chance to be close to his son, knelt and lifted the young man to carry him back to the house.
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Despite what they had thought about not wanting to get involved in another Kuran quarrel, the smell of blood in the air made them apprehensive and they had to fight the urge to go and see what was going on. Still they sat in the living room of the headmaster's house, some more patiently than others. Kain and Ruka were playing a card game feigning indifference while Aidou had his face pressed against the glass, looking in the direction that Yuuki and the headmaster had gone.
Every so often he would heave a dramatic sigh at how long this was taking. Eventually Ruka had enough of it and snapped, "Hanabusa, if it is bothering you so much, why don't you just go after them."
Aidou turned to her and said slowly, "I don't want to. And you can't make me."
"I swear if you don't quit with that sighing, I will try," She snapped, turning to face him with her fists balled up beside her. Kain sighed in response to her reaction. "Don't you start it," she said to him over her shoulder. Kain raised his hands in defeat, he wasn't going to argue with Ruka.
"Who do you think you are?" Aidou asked her. "Ordering people around like a pureblood."
At that Ruka puffed up and yelled, "How dare you compare me to them!"
Kain stood and took his cousin's place at the window to watch for the return of Kaname and the others leaving the two of them to fight this out on their own. Odds are that they wouldn't actually draw blood. And if they did . . . it wouldn't matter. He was slightly worried when he saw the headmaster walk out of the woods carrying a figure, but as soon as Kaname and Yuuki broke the cover of the trees behind him, he was relieved.
"Guys," he said quietly. "They're back." The two arguing nobles chose to ignore him and continue their bickering (though it was highly possible that they didn't hear him over themselves). Sighing again Kain left to go and greet his leaders.
Noticing him walk out of the room, Ruka turned her head and said, "We will continue this later Hanabusa," before following Kain from the room.
"But we're not finished yet!" Aidou yelled at her before looking out the window and seeing what had distracted his cousin and Ruka from their argument and following them both hollering, "Hey! Wait for me!"
Once they got outside, the group was almost to the front door and Kain almost hit the headmaster with the door on the way out. The headmaster took it well and thanked Kain for opening the door for him and went inside to put Zero in his bed.
"Is he. . ." Ruka asked a little disgusted at the idea of sharing a house with a corpse.
"Dead," Kaname finished. "No" anyone who knew him could almost hear the "regretabally" at the end of that sentence. Except for our dear Yuuki of course.
"What happened?" Kain asked quietly.
"It's a long story," Yuuki replied leaning against Kaname's shoulder tiredly a small smile on her face. "Can I tell you tomorrow?" she asked.
"But—" Aidou began before a look from Kaname silenced him. "Of course we will wait until you are ready to tell us, Yuuki-sama," he finished more politely.
"Yuuki . . . sama?" She asked. "Since when do you call me 'sama?' It's weird, just go back to calling me 'hey you' or something, ok?" Kaname shook his head at Aidou who blushed under the pressure of conflicting orders from two purebloods.
"I apologize Yuuki-sama, but I am unable to do that as Kaname-sama scares me a little more than you do," he said hoping that his joke would be well taken.
Yuuki smiled warmly at her brother and Aidou before she said, "I'm not sure that's wise. I did kill another pureblood today, as well as defeating Zero. I'm may be more dangerous than you think." What was scariest about that was her sweet smile as she said that. "Come on Kaname, let's go to bed."
The nobles were staring at her in shock and Kaname gave a small laugh and a ghost of a smile as he thought, Dear Yuuki, you have no idea how your 'dangerous' actions pale in comparison to what I have done in the past twenty-four hours. Instead of saying this, he shrugged a little and walked towards her. The shrug caused the wound in his shoulder to bleed again filling the air with the scent of his blood.
"Kaname-sama, are you bleeding?" Ruka asked concerned.
"It's nothing, it will heal soon enough, right Yuuki?" he said lifting an eyebrow at his sister who giggled and blushed at his insinuation that she would have something to do with his healing. Ruka looked confused as the pureblood prince walked past her into the house, kissing Yuuki on the way by and grabbing her wrist to lead her to her room.
"Purebloods," Kain whispered in an undertone to Aidou, "are very odd things, aren't they?" Aidou was worried about what would happen to him if either of the purebloods happened to hear his answer and remained silent to avoid getting in trouble later.
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Here we are all, I thought this story needed a little humor to lighten the tension. I may have failed at this goal, but I gave it a shot. So who is going to be the one to give Zero the blood he needs when he wakes? Yuuki, Kaname, Kaien, or someone else? What do you think? As always thank you for reading and/or reviewing. I hope you enjoyed this chapter,
Stickdonkeys