Plenoptic

Piss off, editing process. I don't need you. I never needed you.

...Okay, I need you.

I'm feeling better ever since you know me

I was a lonely soul but that's the old me

A little wiser now from what you've shown me

And I can feel again.

-One Republic

Warm. Entrenched. Not even a person anymore, just a floating consciousness in a cocoon of blankets. Zero laid there and slept for...God knew how long. It could have been an eternity. He didn't care. Every now and again he pushed his head up from under his nest and stared at the envelope on the bedside table until he could stand it no longer. Then he would bury himself again, until he felt strong enough to reemerge and repeat the process.

It was early afternoon when someone finally came to bother him. He was dozing lightly, hiding from the letter, when a weight settled down on the side of the bed, and someone abruptly pulled back the covers.

"Hey!" Zero yelped, throwing up his hands against the bright light streaming in from the window. "What the hell?!"

"Hello to you, too," Seto replied coolly, pulling the blankets back further when Zero tried to escape beneath them. "Come on, enough. This is pathetic and you know it."

"Fuck off," Zero grumbled, rolling onto his side and pulling his knees up to his chest. "You have no damn idea what I'm going through."

"You're right, I don't. But I do know that smothering yourself in a cotton blend and beginning your slow but sure transformation into a beautiful butterfly isn't going to help you any. Come on, I'll make you food."

Zero stole a sideways glance at him. "Why aren't you at work?"

Seto raised his eyebrows, halfway through undoing his tie. "I've already been to work."

"You got all your shit done?"

"I'm a highly productive individual."

"But you're back early," Zero said suspiciously. "Mokuba says you never come home early." Realization dawned on him, and he sat up suddenly, making Seto jump. "Did you come back to check on me?"

"Wh- no, idiot. I came back because, in spite of my skyline view and endless amount of hot interns calling me sir, I don't actually like living in an office." The young CEO got to his feet, shaking his head, but Zero knew he saw a tinge of pink color his cheeks. "Do you want food or what?"

"Actually," Zero said quickly, catching his wrist. "Um…"

Seto stared down at him, frowning in annoyance when several moments passed in silence. "What? Spit it out."

"I could, uh...use a hit," Zero said shamefacedly, looking up guiltily at his host from beneath his fringe.

The other man stared at him uncomprehendingly for a few long seconds before he sighed loudly, dropping back onto the bed. "Can't I put it in transfusion bags or something?"

"It's not as strong when it's not fresh."

"You were drinking Kaname's out of a flask."

"I didn't have much of a choice, did I?" Zero threw himself down, rolling to turn his back to Kaiba. "If you don't want to, fine. Obviously I can't make you give up your blood. It's not as if I like taking it, I just-"

"Alright, alright, quite whining," Kaiba sighed, pushing a hand through his hair. "Does it have to be from the neck?"

Zero flushed, sitting up slowly and drawing up his knees. "No. Uh. I should probably apologize for that. Taking blood from the neck is something...it's kind of a thing between lovers."

Seto stared at him, expression hardening. "So why-"

"Well, the first time, I was just thirsty," Zero said quickly, holding up his hands in self-defense, "and I mean, to be fair, the second time you got me all worked up in the car, so…"

"Still, that's…" Seto tugged at his collar, undoing a few buttons as if to give himself more space to breathe. "I feel like I gave misinformed consent or something…so what do we do instead?"

"Just give me your wrist."

"Are you crazy? You could kill me."

Zero sighed impatiently, grasping Seto's arm and pulling it toward him. "I won't kill you. I didn't when I drank from your neck, did I? Have a little faith, asshole."

"Have a little faith when a vampire asks to drink blood straight out of my veins and promises not to kill me. Right." Seto shook his head, watching warily while Zero unbuttoned his sleeve and rolled it up to his elbow before removing his Rolex. "Don't get blood on that."

"Do you not see me taking it off?" Zero demanded, waving it in front of him before dropping it beside him on the bed. "Prissy rich people...never fail to piss me off…"

"This prissy rich person could dump your homeless ass on the street, so watch your mouth," Kaiba retorted. He frowned when Zero made no move to proceed, instead staring at his bared wrist. "What? Get on with it already."

The hunter shifted uncomfortably. "You...you're just gonna watch?"

"It's not like I'm watching you in the shower, Kiryuu! You're drinking my blood, so yes, I'm going to watch!"

Zero remained still. "It's just...I've always thought it's kind of gross."

Kaiba stopped at that, opening and closing his mouth a few times before settling on what he wanted to say. "We all have to do shit we don't like in order to survive."

Zero shrugged one shoulder, running his fingertips over the delicate blue lines beneath Kaiba's skin, pulsing with blood racing back to his heart. "Can I ask you something?"

"If you must."

"Who did you kill?"

Taken aback, Seto's mind raced to decide when he may have confided that little secret to his houseguest. Less than a week after Zero arrived, sitting on the back porch together… "No one who didn't deserve it," he answered at length.

Zero looked at him sharply. "We don't get to decide who deserves to live or die."

"I get to decide who's going to be in my life and who's not," Seto retorted coolly. "There was only one way he was going to leave."

"You trampled on someone else's life to save your own?"

Seto's nostrils flared, and his eyes narrowed, but he grudgingly answered. "It was my stepfather. I pushed him out the window of a twenty-story building."

Zero stared at him, stunned into silence, and Seto looked steadfastly back at him, unwavering. "Why?" Zero asked at length, voicing the obvious question.

Now Kaiba's eyes did lower. "Kaiba Corp- before it produced software and technology- made weapons. That was how Gozaburo built it up, anyway. Most of it was military-grade, went to America. But some of it...there's money in blackmarket weapons, you know. Big money. It was no secret to me that a lot of what his factories produced wound up in the hands of tyrants. There was never solid evidence that the feds could trace back to him, but...I knew.

"When I was fourteen, Gozaburo decided that he needed to amp up his technology. New missiles and incendiaries all had computer-based targeting, and he was falling below the bar other arms dealers had set. He called me into his office and told me to get programming. When I told him I wouldn't do it, he threatened me. When that didn't work, he threatened Mokuba." He lifted his head, looking directly at Zero, a combination of ferocity and anger in his eyes. "I was done playing with Gozaburo. Just...done. I had all of my pieces in place, so I moved. I took over fifty-one percent of Kaiba Corporation's assets and told him that he was through. He promised he'd get back at me for what I'd done, so I…"

Seto stopped, setting his jaw, and several long seconds ticked by before he spoke again, more quietly. "The only way he could get to me was through Mokuba. The kid was all I had. It was my fault we were stuck with Gozaburo to begin with. I couldn't let something happen to Mokuba because I wasn't prepared to go to the same lengths as that...piece of shit who made me call him Father." He cocked his head to the side, considering. "Gozaburo had uploaded his consciousness into the same server that originally contained Noah. Now that I think about it, I got to kill that fucker twice."

Zero couldn't help but grin a little at that. He had a laundry list of people he'd have liked to kill more than once. "Lucky you."

"It's the little things." Seto snapped the fingers of his bared hand. "Come on, Kiryuu, I haven't got all day."

"Liar. You're done with work."

"Believe it or not, there are aspects of my life outside of my office." Seto caught Zero's wrist, giving it a squeeze. "Mokuba doesn't know how Gozaburo really died. We covered it as a suicide."

Zero nodded. "I understand." He lowered his eyes, afraid, and not for the first time, that he'd lose himself in that myriad of blue if he didn't look away in time. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be…"

"It'll hurt."

"I'm sure it will, Nosferatu."

"Come up with a new vampire reference, geez."

"Like what? Dracula is hackneyed and overused. Edward, maybe?"

"I will kill you, seriously." Zero leant down, inhaling deeply and running his mouth along Kaiba's wrist. The scent of blood was overwhelming almost at once, the most intoxicating of euphoriants, and he paused a moment to collect his wits about him before opening his mouth and allowing his fangs to extend. He felt Kaiba stiffen, but the other man didn't pull away, forcing his hand to remain open and relaxed as the vampire descended upon it.

"Sorry," Zero murmured through the fog, and then he bit in. Seto flinched, looking away a second too late, grimacing at the sharp pain that stole up his arm, making his breath catch. Already regretting doing so, he snuck a glance over at Kiryuu, at the young man turned beast in the blink of an eye. Zero was frightening, his eyes somehow more red than amethyst, mouth open and pressed snugly to the pale flesh of Seto's arm, but he seemed to be very much in control. A chill crawled up Seto's spine, and he looked away pointedly, swallowing. For the first time in his life, he was facing head-on the supernatural shit that had been plaguing him, and if he was honest, it scared the hell out of him.

Zero, for his part, was struggling to stay afloat atop the waves of ecstasy coursing through him, rattling him to his core. Fire bloomed inside him, pulsing through him with hot intent, and he felt his mind begin to drift when he focused too intently on the coppery taste in his mouth. Memories not his own surfaced and sank again, unbidden. A man, laughing, picked him up and set him on a swing. A pregnant woman took his hand and pressed it to her swollen belly. Jou grasped his tie in one hand and gave it an enticing tug, grinning and backing up towards the desk. Kaname pressed a knife to his own palm, let his blood drip into a stone basin, dark eyes lifted and focused on him worriedly-

With a gasp, Zero pulled away, fangs pulling free of bloodied flesh as he scrambled backwards, hitting the wall with a thud and twisting his hands into the sheets, panting. Seto flinched at the abrupt withdrawal, seizing a handful of sheets and applying pressure to his wrist.

"What the hell?" he snapped shakily over at the dazed vampire. "You scared the shit out of me!" He bit down his next comment, taking in for the first time Zero's white-faced panic. "What's wrong?"

"It was Kaname," Zero replied, trying to slow his frantic breathing. "Again. I just…I wasn't expecting…"

Seto considered him for a moment, mulling over his response. "Does drinking blood allow you to access...memory?"

"Yeah. More or less. I don't have free reign in your head or anything, it just comes to me in bits and pieces...flashes." He glanced down at Seto's wrist and frowned before moving forward. "Let me see."

"It's fine-"

"It's not." Zero forced the sheets away, bending down to inspect the wound. "I cut you when I pulled away...sorry."

"I said it's fine." Kaiba got to his feet, seemingly nonplussed. "I'm going to go clean this up. You should shower or something. And then eat real food."

"Yeah. Sure. Thanks." Zero watched the other man depart, waiting until the door closed before jumping out of the bed and hurrying to the bathroom. He lifted the toilet lid, bent down, and jammed two fingers down his throat, heaving violently, coughing as the blood he'd just ingested came back up. He vomited again before sitting back, drawing his knees to his chest and resting his head in his hands, trembling.

Done. He was done. Dying was better than hurting someone who was innocent, who had nothing to do with what had happened to him. Kaiba was fine this time. Next time he might not be so lucky, especially if Zero continued to lose it everytime Kaname's face surfaced during blood-drink.

...Well, it was easy to think that, but like it or not, Zero's overwhelming urge to die had left him entirely. For the first time in his life, something hard and firm pulsed in his chest. Will. The will to survive. He'd never had it before, at least not since his parents had been killed. He had to find a way to protect Seto if this was going to continue.

He did wind up showering, brushing his teeth while the hot water poured down his head and shoulders and back, brushing until his gums ached and the taste of blood and sick had been evacuated. He took care getting ready, ran a comb through his wet hair and opted for pants and a dark sweater instead of his customary cut-off and pajama pants combo. If he was going to live, he might as well start looking presentable, like a real member of society.

A medley of breakfast smells was wafting from downstairs, but Zero dawdled further, turning the envelope from Kaname over and over in his hands. There was something hard inside, he was sure of it, and he had a sinking feeling he knew what it was. He sat down on the bed, folding his legs and staring at the envelope in his lap for a few long minutes before finally ripping open the corner and carefully paring apart the edges. As expected, there was a folded letter within, which he pointedly ignored when he caught sight of a flash of silver. He upended the envelope, and its contents spilled into his lap.

"Like bacon?" Kaiba queried when Zero stepped into the kitchen, busy attacking the greasy frying pan with soap in the sink. "Mokuba always buys a ton and then forgets about it." He flashed a grin at his guest. "There's also waffles, if you're feeling architectural."

"Always." Zero stepped up to the counter, placing a hand on Kaiba's shoulder and pushing on him. "Turn around for me."

"What? Why?"

"Just do it," Zero sighed, shaking his head in exasperation. Warily, Kaiba did as told, leaning his weight against the counter and looking down at his guest suspiciously when Zero reached into his pocket and withdrew a tiny silver object.

"What's-"

"Give me your necklace."

"Oh, come on."

"I'm not going to do anything to wreck it. I know how much it means to you. Trust me."

"Says the guy who takes shots out of my arteries," Seto replied a touch huffily, but he removed his pendant all the same, lowering it with something akin to reverence into Zero's hand. The hunter accepted it with a nod, clipping the silver object to the cord before beckoning Seto down to his level and slipping the necklace over his head.

Kaiba frowned, cradling the pendant and attached ornament in his hand, brow furrowing. It was a tiny silver diamond, etched intricately with what appeared to be a thorny rose- one that was distinctly familiar. "Your tattoo…"

"Yeah. It's the same design." Zero rubbed the left side of his neck out of sheer habit, his hair standing on edge as he did so. "This sigil controls my vampiric side. If you press that charm to my tattoo when I lose control, it'll restrain me and help me get ahold of myself."

"More voodoo magic. Wonderful."

"I'm being serious. If I'm going to be around, we have to be careful. You have to be able to protect Mokuba in the event that I lose it."

Seto looked up sharply, closing his hand over his necklace. "Is that something I need to worry about?"

"Not with that." Zero tapped his finger against Kaiba's closed fist, shaking his head. "I need you to take care of it, alright? It belonged to someone very important to me."

"Kaname?"

"No. A girl, actually. Her name was Yuki."

"She's gone as well, I presume."

"Yeah. Same time as Kaname." Zero pushed his hands into his pockets, ducking his head. "Besides the Hunters' Association, she was the only one who knew I had been turned. She was also the first person who didn't seem to hate me for it. So…"

"I'll take care of it," Seto sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Oy, Kiryuu-I'll take care of it, alright? Don't worry. Thanks for this."

"It's- I mean, the least I can do is make sure I don't kill you, or…" Zero trailed off, scuffing a toe against the linoleum of the kitchen floor. He knew what was coming before it happened- Kaiba's body tilted, leaning toward him, a hand in his hair pushed his head back, and then their mouths met. Zero felt his breath leave him in one low gasp, seizing Seto's collar and dragging him closer, paying no heed to the sharp pain in his lower back when he stumbled into the kitchen counter. Fumbling with the buttons of his shirt, Kaiba swept the countertop behind them clear and hoisted Zero on to it, stepping between his open thighs and leaning up for another searing kiss. Zero tangled his hands in the other man's hair, grinning between panting kisses, releasing a soft whine of want when hands stole beneath his shirt, nails digging into his back, teasing-

A chirp sounded from Seto's pocket, and he broke his mouth free of the hunter's to look down at his phone. Zero protested, pulling on his shirt, but the CEO batted him off with an amused smile, lifting the phone to his ear.

"Kaiba." He allowed himself to be kissed briefly while he listened to the person on the other end. "I'm his legal guardian. ...What business is that of yours? Why are you calling?" He frowned, tilting his head to the side while Zero mouthed at the side of his neck, brow furrowing. "You must have made a mistake. He wouldn't do something like that." Scowl deepening, Kaiba finally stepped back from the counter, away from Zero's distracting affections. The hunter pouted at first, but the disturbed expression creeping across Seto's face cooled his libido in short order.

"Fine," Seto said at length, his hand in his hair, already turning to the kitchen table and snatching up his keys. "Yes, fine, I'll be there in" -he glanced at his watch- "ten minutes. Tell him I'm coming." He stuffed the phone back into his pocket without waiting for a response, shaking his head in what appeared to be disgust.

"What's wrong?" Zero asked cautiously, sliding down off the counter and stepping toward his host. "Hey- Kaiba. What happened?"

"Apparently," Seto grumbled, fixing his shirt and swinging on his coat, "Mokuba beat the shit out of some kid at his school."

"Mokuba did?"

"So it would seem. Are you coming? I need to go pick him up."

"Yeah, of course…" Zero followed Seto into the garage, settling into the passenger seat of the CEO's favored red sportscar and buckling just in time to keep from being thrown into the dashboard when Kaiba backed up with a little more ferocity than was strictly necessary.

Traffic, though packed at high noon, didn't seem to dissuade Seto from careening down the street at fifteen miles above the legal limit, pointedly ignoring the honks and indignant shouts from other drivers. Zero made use of the handle above his door, gripping it until his knuckles turned white and numb, foot stamping on an imaginary brake every time Kaiba took "a shortcut," as he put it in snapped tones.

Zero had imagined a big, fancy prep school similar to Cross Academy when Kaiba mentioned his high school stomping grounds, but Domino High was as simple and reserved in appearance as any other in Japan, with well-kept grounds and mild paint and architecture. Kaiba parallel parked at stomach-flipping speed and got out of the car without bothering to turn it off. Zero pulled the keys out of the ignition in slight exasperation before following, locking it over his shoulder as he jogged to keep up with the older man. He grabbed Kaiba's wrist just long enough to check the time. The trip had taken them all of seven minutes. Damn.

A nervous-looking teacher was hovering near the front entrance, waiting for them. She tried to stammer out a greeting, but Kaiba pushed past her without a word, leaving Zero to bow apologetically in her general direction as they raced by. She seemed grateful at not being addressed by the irate CEO, scurrying off through a hallway while Kaiba stormed his way toward the main office.

Mokuba was seated just inside, legs splayed in front of him and his hands in his pockets, face sullenly downcast. A pretty secretary sat at a desk across from him, nails clacking loudly on her keyboard. Zero noticed her last; his eyes had landed immediately upon the police officer in uniform seated in the corner of the room.

Kaiba didn't say a word to anyone, ignoring the officer when he stepped forward, instead crouching down in front of his little brother and grasping his chin in one hand, forcing him to meet his gaze.

"What the hell happened to you?" Seto demanded in low tones, staring in shock at his brother's face. "And why the hell hasn't anyone taken care of him?!"

"The nurse is out," the secretary began to explain, but fell silent when Kaiba rounded on her, face tight with fury.

"What, and you lack a first-aid kit?"

"Well, we have one, but-"

"Get it."

"But-"

"I said, get it. I'll take care of him myself." Kaiba beckoned Zero forward, and the hunter stepped out of the doorway, dodging around the exiting secretary and kneeling down in front of Mokuba, inhaling sharply when he caught site of the teen's face. The younger Kaiba's left eye was a dark purple, there was an open gash across his left brow, and he'd already stuffed a wad of tissue paper up his nose, though it looked mostly soaked through with blood.

"You should see the other guy," Mokuba said, quirking a sideways grin at Zero, but he let it slip quickly at his brother's frosty glare. "Sorry, geez."

"What, has he got two black eyes and a slightly more broken nose?"

"It's not broken…"

"The 'other guy' is unconscious and en route to a hospital," the police officer piped up, folding his arms over his chest.

Kaiba looked up, stunned. "The hospital?"

"Pretty sure I broke his arm," Mokuba mumbled, sinking down a little lower in his seat and cringing when Seto snapped back around to stare at him. "Sorry again."

"Look, there shouldn't be a problem here," Kaiba snapped, looking back at the cop. "Mokuba is entitled to defend himself if some jackass-"

"Uh," Mokuba broke in again, "except that I kind of...hit him first."

Zero wanted to put a hand on Seto's head to stop him looking back and forth. He was going to give himself whiplash. "You what?"

His younger brother winced, shrugging one shoulder. "Well, I mean, he did provoke me, but...I guess I technically started swinging before he did."

"Technically?"

"He started toward me, he did, I was just faster." The youngster quirked a grin. "He's lucky I sucked so bad at martial arts, or he'd really be hurting right now."

"Cut the crap, Mokuba," Seto said flatly. "What the hell did he say that made you hit him?"

Mokuba's expression hardened, and he set his jaw. "He was just talking shit."

"People talk shit all the time. It's never bothered you before."

"Well, no, but...he was talking shit about you."

"If you tell me you've never heard a bad word against me, kid, then today you're an assailant and a liar. What did he say?"

Mokuba idled for a moment, staring down at his lap, and then he looked up at the cop. "Could you give us a second? Please?" The officer hesitated, but nodded after a moment and stepped out into the hall, closing the door behind him. Mokuba sighed, sitting up in his chair a little straighter and looking back down at his lap. "He...uh...was taking shots at you for...for personal stuff."

"Thank you, Mokuba, that clears everything up," Seto sighed. "Come on, tell me. I can't stick up for you if I don't know why you did what you did."

A long silence, and then, in low tones, Mokuba said, "He asked me how my fag brother was doing."

For nearly a full minute Kaiba said nothing, studying his little brother with something akin to curiosity, before he slowly pulled up a chair and sat down in front of the teenager.

"What inspired that little inquiry?"

Mokuba shrugged one shoulder. "He saw a photo of you and Jou in some tabloid rag or something."

"Have you had problems with this kid in the past?"

"Nah. He's just an ass. Takes shots at anyone, especially people who act like it doesn't bother them. And he's never gotten under my skin before, it was just…" Mokuba sat forward, rubbing his hands against his knees. "I dunno. We have to do crappy stuff to keep the company on top, and I don't care if people talk shit about that. That's just the business world. But being with Jou was the first thing you've ever done for your own happiness, and I- no way was I going to let some idiot with a false sense of- what, I don't know, moral superiority- put you down for that." Mokuba looked up at his brother and went on earnestly, "You know that I don't care that you like guys, right, Nii-sama? I don't give a damn. You should be happy, after all the crap you've gone through for me-"

"Hey, hey…" Kaiba shook his head, getting off his chair and pulling his little brother into a tight hug. "It's alright. Thanks, Mokuba. I mean, don't ever do it again…" He smiled faintly. "But thanks."

"No problem," Mokuba mumbled, voice muffled by Seto's coat.

"And I am impressed with you, by the way. For winning."

"How'd you break his arm?" Zero queried, pulling up a chair and opening up the first-aid kit the secretary had delivered quietly through the door while the brothers were talking. Mokuba winced as the cut above his eye was dabbed at with gauze.

"Pinned him, obviously. Uh- really hard, I guess."

"Sucked at martial arts, my ass," Kaiba snorted, giving Mokuba's hair a ruffle. "Now- how do we get the cops off us for this one?"