Warning: blatant Seto Kaiba predation to follow.

You sit there in your heartache

Waiting on some beautiful boy to

To save you from your old ways

You play forgiveness

Watch him now, here he come...

-The Killers

Two days after arriving at the Kaiba Corp mansion, Zero Kiryu learned that it was possible to flush a cell phone down the toilet. He also learned that it wreaked havoc on the pipes, but the mangled piece of electronics the bewildered plumber pulled out of the u-bend was completely incapable of sending or receiving any kind of communication.

And for the first time in his life, Zero was totally free.

He got up in the early morning and sat outside in the spacious backyard, surrounded by trees and green grass and the hint of winter in the air. He sat amongst the flowers and weeds and just enjoyed the silence. He didn't report back to the Society. He didn't try to reach Kaito again. He knew someone would come looking for him when he failed to return, but he would cross that bridge when he came to it. For once, he wanted vampires and hunting to be the furthest thing from his mind.

His parents were gone. Ichiru was gone. Shizuka Hio was gone. Yuki was gone. Kaname was gone. And now Zero Kiryu, hunter, ex-human, and vampire was gone. He didn't know the person who had taken his place.

He wasn't Zero Kiryu anymore. He was a guy living inexplicably in Seto Kaiba's mansion, and that thought gave him a weird, flying sense of relief. Zero Kiryu had been a broken man, too crippled by grief to even realize that the air could actually smell like a season.

The man who wasn't Zero Kiryu was sitting on the back porch, arms wrapped around his knees to guard against the chilly wind, when Kaiba took a seat beside him. Zero smelled cigarette smoke and closed his eyes, inhaling. The smoke mixed with the cold air and filled his lungs. It was weirdly soothing.

"Smoking kills," he said vaguely.

Kaiba snorted. "I'll take my chances." He turned up the collar of his coat and tucked his hands into his pockets. "It's freezing out here. Why don't you have a coat?"

Zero shrugged, noncommittal. "I like the cold."

The older man looked sideways at the vampire, frowning a little. Zero's nose and cheeks were tinged pink with cold, and the wind ruffled through his hair, blowing it around his eyes. He was wearing a thin black hoodie and old, worn jeans; Mokuba had shot up over the last few years, and his clothes fit the hunter nicely enough.

That being said, Kiryu looked sort of…cute. Like an abandoned puppy. Kaiba grimaced at that thought, running a hand distractedly through his hair, taking a deep drag on the cigarette. He'd had more than enough of puppies to last him a lifetime.

"So," he said at length, suddenly uncomfortable with the silence, "vampires are real."

"You're kidding," Zero supplied sarcastically, rolling his eyes skyward.

"How long have you been one?"

"A long time."

"How long is that?"

Zero sighed heavily, scowling at his sneaker-clad toes. "Since I was twelve."

A moment of silence followed his mutter, and he lifted his head cautiously to find Kaiba staring at him intently. Their eyes met, and Zero felt his breath catch. He ducked his gaze again, thanking providence that the sting of the wind would explain the tinge of pink that colored his face.

"Have you ever killed someone?" Zero asked quietly, resting his chin on his knees.

Another long pause, and then Zero saw Kaiba nod out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah."

The vampire hesitated, then pressed a little more. "Did you regret it?"

"No."

The finality in that statement chilled Zero to his core, more than any amount of wind ever would. He shivered and hunched in on himself a little more tightly, squeezing his eyes shut. The wind carried the scent of smoke toward him.

"Why do you ask?" Kaiba inquired at length, looking at Zero again, quirking a grin. "That's not exactly a first date-friendly question."

"Screw off." Zero scuffed his toe against the grass, opening his eyes. There was a trail of ants in a bare patch of dirt nearby, carting crumbs back to their little ant families. "I've killed before, too. That's all."

"Vampires, though."

"…Well, yeah."

Kaiba snorted, looking out across the spacious grounds of his mansion, shaking his head a little. "I think that's different from killing a human being."

"I think so, too." Zero closed his eyes again. "I am sorry about biting you. I don't like biting people. It makes me feel less human."

"Yeah? I would imagine it makes you feel more human."

Zero looked at him, scowling. "How the hell is biting people supposed to make—"

Kaiba interrupted him—he removed his cigarette, holding it in one hand, and leaned over, so close that his nose just brushed Zero's as he leant down, and Zero's skin exploded in goosebumps when he felt teeth tease the skin of his neck. He jerked away, a hot blush spreading across his cheeks, and glared at Kaiba's grinning face.

"There, now we're even," Kaiba snorted, placing his cigarette back in his mouth and getting to his feet. "Bet you're feeling awfully human now, hm?"

He threw Zero a smirk over his shoulder and retreated back into the house. Zero sat still and silent long after the door had closed, trying to still his racing heart, cursing with every ounce of his being the enigmatic, unpredictable asshole that was Seto Kaiba.

"Zero, what do you want for dinner?"

Zero shifted uncomfortably under the teenager's earnest gaze, shrugging one shoulder. "Dunno. Whatever."

Mokuba sighed, putting his feet up on the table, wiggling his toes as he perused the many menus spread out in front of him. "I'm kinda feeling Indian tonight. You know? Something that'll make my eyes water."

"You need look no further than your socks," Kaiba quipped, leaning away from the punch Mokuba threw at him, grinning. Mokuba rolled onto his back, setting his feet on Kaiba's shoulder and laughing openly when his brother tried to push him off the couch.

"You guys normally order out?" Zero asked skeptically. "You're loaded, why not hire someone to cook for you?"

"We have a part-time guy. His wife's having a baby, so he took a few weeks' leave to get ready," Mokuba explained, settling his feet on the floor. "Can you cook, Zero?"

Well, it wasn't as if Cross or Yuki had ever known what the hell to do with a kitchen. Zero had been in charge of preparing meals ever since he'd been well enough to, following the aftermath of Shizuka Hio's brutal attack. He hadn't even realized he'd had a knack for it before he'd been the first in the little family to figure out how to use a rice cooker.

"I can. A little."

"A little is better than what we've got!" Mokuba laughed. "You should see Seto try—it's horrific."

"I had to have at least one flaw."

"Everybody's laughing, jackass."

"Is the kitchen stocked?" Zero asked, getting to his feet. "I'll make something."

"Yeah, there's stuff in it," Mokuba said enthusiastically. "Hey, want help?"

"Nah. Go do your homework or something."

Mokuba snorted, throwing himself back down on the couch. "That's a fruitless endeavor if I ever heard one."

Zero got to his feet and left the room. Mokuba tracked him, waiting until he was out of earshot before turning, grinning, on his older brother.

"...Yes?" Seto said uncomfortably, leaning away from his brother's prying gaze. "What?"

"You like him."

"Sorry?"

"Zero. He shows up out of nowhere, he didn't go to your school, he's not a duelist, you met him randomly and then you bring him home, which you wouldn't even do with Joey until you guys had been together for three months, so the only thing I figure is that you like this guy."

Seto stared at his little brother, bewildered, and then his gaze hardened. "You're crazy," he said flatly. "The guy needed a place to stay."

"There're hotels."

"He doesn't have any money."

"Oh, well then, in that case..."

"Mokuba, don't do this," Seto warned, picking up the newspaper and opening it loudly, as if that would end the conversation. Mokuba just grinned all the more widely.

"Have you slept with him yet?"

"What makes you think I want my little brother asking about my sex life?"

"You're right, if you guys were fooling around I'd have realized it by now. You couldn't hide it from me."

Seto arched an eyebrow. "Oh? You think not?"

"I knew the second you and Joey got together. What makes you think this time will be any different?"

"Because there isn't going to be a 'this time,'" Seto answered flatly. He thanked the gods that Mokuba didn't know about the whole biting incident. If his little brother knew that Seto had let Zero into their home in spite of that, he'd never hear the end of it. The whole thing would go from simple attraction to love at first sight in Mokuba's energetic mind. "He's staying for a while, until he gets his shit together. That's it."

"Uh-huh."

"That's it!"

"Go talk to him," Mokuba laughed, picking up the television remote and hitting the power button. "You know you want to. And I'm just going to sit here, innocently, and pretend I know nothing about my dear niisama and all the hijinks he gets up to."

Seto sat still for a moment, summoning all of the willpower he possessed-but then he cursed, got to his feet, and ruffled Mokuba's hair on his way to the kitchen.

Kiryu's ass had just looked too good walking out the door to not follow, damn him.

Zero hid a smile as he walked into the kitchen. He tolerated Kaiba, albeit just barely, but he liked the jerk's kid brother. Mokuba was friendly and easy-going, eternally nonplussed and not likely to allow anything to get him upset. He liked nothing more than video games and junk food and spending time with girls—a perfectly normal teenager. Maybe that was why Zero was drawn to him. He'd never been a normal teenager himself, and Kaiba obviously hadn't either.

He wants his little brother to have a normal life. He supposed that said something for the guy, even if he was an ass in every other respect.

The first thing he was inclined toward was the huge bag of rice sitting virtually untouched in the pantry. Thinking about the last time he'd made curry—Yuki had eaten so much she'd nearly been sick—he carried it into the kitchen, placing it on the counter and making his way around, looking for the necessary pots and pans.

"Thanks for this."

Zero felt a shiver crawl the length of his spine at the low, sultry baritone from the doorway. He shrugged it off. "It's just cooking."

Kaiba shifted his weight, leaning casually against the doorframe. "You did all the cooking back home, huh?"

"Yeah. Only because no one else could."

"Mm. That's a valuable skill for a man to have." Kaiba was quiet for a moment, watching Zero move about the kitchen. "My dad liked cooking," he confessed.

Zero paused, measuring cup full of rice in hand. He poured it slowly into the pot on the stove, refusing to meet the dark blue eyes he could distinctly feel boring holes into the back of his head. "That's cool. He doesn't like it anymore?"

"He's dead," Kaiba replied, as nonchalantly as if they were discussing the weather.

A long, heavy pause. Zero set down the measuring cup, turning to face the other young man. Kaiba's gaze was cool, but there was something dark lurking in the pools of his eyes.

Those eyes.

"How?" Zero asked quietly.

"It was a car accident," Kaiba answered. "Nothing more. Nothing strange or out of the ordinary. Just momentum and bad timing."

"What about your mom?"

Something hardened in Kaiba's gaze. "She died giving birth to Mokuba. That was before. My father raised us by himself after that. He passed when I was ten."

He stepped into the kitchen, pulling out a chair and seating himself. Zero felt his face growing hot again, and turned hurriedly back to the stove. Shit, how much rice had he added? He dumped in another cup full and turned on the heat.

"What about your parents, Kiryu?"

"…They died, too."

"How long ago?"

"I was twelve."

The silences between them were getting almost painful. Zero set down the measuring cup, his pulse pounding in his ears. He didn't want to have this conversation with a virtual stranger. He didn't know why Kaiba's presence made him open his mouth and spill his innermost secrets.

"You became a vampire and your parents died. In the same year?"

"Yeah."

"…Those events aren't at all unrelated, are they?"

"No." The blush was at his ears now. They were burning. Zero pulled the curry mix down from a top shelf, cursing to himself. He'd forgotten to prepare meat. He opened up the fridge, hunting around. There wasn't a lot to be had. The Kaiba boys really did just go day by day.

He heard the scrape of chair legs on the tiled floor, but he refused to react. Don't give in. He felt body heat close to his, and he dedicated himself to shifting aside frozen goods with renewed vigor.

"Kiryu."

A hand closed on his wrist, and Zero paused. He was far stronger than an average human, and could have pulled away with ease, but something deep-rooted in his chest stopped him. He allowed himself to be turned around and pressed into the wall. With slow, practiced movements, Kaiba pinned Zero's hands to the wall, holding his wrists tightly. His gaze was hard, piercing, and Zero felt flames kindle in his lower abdomen.

"Who are you?" Seto Kaiba asked quietly, his eyes intent on the other man's.

Zero shook his head slowly, at a loss for words. "I…I don't know."

"What are you?"

"I don't know!"

Kaiba went quiet, searching Zero's eyes, a frown furrowing his brow. His gaze shifted to Zero's wrist, captured in his hand, and he quirked a hard grin.

"Quite the pulse there, Kiryu."

Zero blushed furiously, turning his face away. "Shut up. And let me go, what is this, an interrogation?"

"You tell me."

"Sure as hell feels like one. If it bothers you not knowing my story, I'll leave, but—"

"No," Kaiba broke in, a little too quickly, and he cursed himself when Zero gave him a curious look. "There's…no need." He released Zero's wrists, and the vampire felt a little twinge of disappointment when he stepped away, running a hand through his hair. "We all have our secrets. I get that."

"Yeah," Zero agreed dryly, "but yours don't entail drinking blood and monsters."

Kaiba chuckled. "No, they don't. Well. Not the blood consumption, anyway."

Zero quirked an eyebrow upward. "Tangled with monsters like me, have you?"

"No. Not monsters like you, per se." Zero was starting to hate Seto Kaiba's smile. It made his face feel hot, made his stomach flutter, made his lower abdomen stir uncomfortably. "Give a shout when the food's ready. I'm starving."

"Yeah, sure," Zero replied, as close to a noncommittal grunt as he could get when he wanted nothing more than to rip Kaiba's shirt off and bury his fangs in his neck. And then rip his pants off and let him bury something else somewhere else. "Give me an hour."

"Done." Kaiba made for the door, had looked ready to leave, but he turned his head before he left to grin at Zero over his shoulder. "And, hey—at ease, soldier."

Zero made a face. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Kaiba arched an eyebrow, nodding downward toward the enticing junction of Zero's legs. "You've been saluting me for about five minutes now."

Zero felt his face grow so hot that crawling into the oven could only cool him down. He spun away from Kaiba, covering his ears to hide the blush, and cursed the asshole laughing his way out the door.

Short chapters are really short.

There you go. Pretty bishounens living under the same roof can only result in sexual tension, I'd wager. Also I like being crude.