Chapter 10

It took Zero a couple minutes to realize what the hell was happening and when he did, he immediately took action. With great effort, Zero was able push Kaname back enough and smack him hard against the cheek. Stunning both Kaname and the many people passing by them on the sidewalk. Yet, Zero didn't care that his action was now causing many to stand by and watch, but more so since the one Zero slapped was none other than the lead singer to Bloody Rose.

"What the hell were you doing, you prick?" Zero demanded, his hand covering both his mouth and the embarrassed blush creeping across his face.

"This is the second time you hit me, you know. And I'm really starting to get pissed off at your constant show of aggression." Kaname answered as he licked the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Can you really blame me, when you do the sort of shit that you do?"

"The sort of shit that I do?" Kaname laughed. "Don't you think I've got that privilege? We are dating, are we not?"

Zero became silent and found himself stepping backwards as Kaname stepped forward.

"What's the matter Zero? Did the cat get a hold of that snappy tongue of yours?"

"Shut up…" Zero snapped and slapped away the hand that grabbed a hold of his chin.

"There you go again showing that aggression of yours…"

"Because you do things that pisses people off…!"

"You mean by speaking the truth? Don't you think your accusation seems a bit too drastic coming from a person with a very serious attitude problem?"

"I don't have an attitude problem." Zero retorted back angrily, but soon regretted it since his response just proved Kaname's point, making the former smile in Zero's direction.

"You are a very interesting person, Zero." Kaname answered honestly. "There are things about you that are easy to read and other things that are not. You say things that are illogical or inconsistent to how you really feel. You're like a huge contradiction."

Zero's eyes widen as the words spoken by Kaname assaulted his past memories. Zero was trapped, not only by the window behind him and Kaname in front of him but Zero was also trapped between visions of the past and the present. He couldn't tell who exactly was before him anymore. He didn't know if Kaname or Touma from the past was in front of him. He could hear both of their voices ring through his ears as they both spoke.

"You're a contradiction, Zero."

"You seriously don't know if you want to open yourself up to people or shelter yourself from them."

"You don't know whether you want to be freed or trapped?"

"You know, you're just making yourself miserable by doing that."

"You're only hurting yourself, Zero."

"You just toss others a side when they just want to get to know you."

"You are always pushing me away, when all I want is to be with you."

"Make up your damn mind as to what you want."

"What is it that you want, Zero…?"

Zero stared up at the hazel eyes he thought he saw in front of him, and reached forward to touch the face he once knew and loved. This action shocking Kaname who was the one really before Zero. Yet, that didn't stop garnet colored eyes from being captivated by the tearful violet eyes before him.

"You ask me that again and again, but I just don't know the answer." Zero whispered with his head bowed. "Even now, I don't know whether I love or hate you."

When Zero looked up, Kaname felt that somehow Zero wasn't looking at him but more like he was looking past him as if seeing someone who wasn't there. But, in fact, Zero's gaze was being tugged past Kaname and toward the very top of a building right across the street from them where the silhouette of a figure was looking down at him from a balcony. Zero knew he was definitely hallucinating when he saw that it was Touma and since Zero was just hallucinating all this, he had successfully pushed away the hatred and fear he felt and just looked up toward those eyes that even though years have went by and even after Zero had betrayed him, they still looked at him with love and affection as they had when they first met.

"What is it that you want, Zero?" Touma asked again. "Who is it that you will choose to believe?"

"I don't know." Zero whispered and shivered. Even though Touma was nowhere near him, his voice still felt as close to him as if he were whispering in Zero's very ear.

"You're going to have to choose, Zero. Between him and me?"

"I know that yet I can't choose. Both of you are very important to me."

"But one of us is lying about something and hiding our sin and it is up to you to decide on who you think is telling the truth and who shall die. So, who will you choose Zero?"

Zero began shaking again as realization hit. He knew the day he had to make a decision was drawing near and he knew that he had been delaying the inevitable, but a part of him didn't want to know the truth because he knew it will devastate him. Yet, he had to know the truth on what happened that day ten years ago but the pressure was getting to him and he was on the verge of another panic attack when suddenly a pair of hands covered his eyes and a gentle voiced called him from his so-called hallucination Zero thought he was having.

"Zero…" Kaname called.

"K-Kaname…?" Zero answered back and Kaname found himself smiling for no apparent reason.

"Yes Zero. It's me." Kaname felt tears touch his palms as he still covered Zero's eyes from whatever it was he was seeing. "Come back to me."

Zero touched the back of Kaname's hands that were covering his eyes and gently removed them and despite the feeling of not wanting to be touched Zero didn't let go of Kaname's hands. It was then after a moment that Zero felt a chill he knew all too well and immediately grabbed Kaname and drew him close to him as the row of windows beside them all shattered at once and the one window left un-shattered, was the one directly behind Zero.

The unexplained shatter of the windows caused many to panic especially those on the other side of the window who were dining inside Silver Moon near the window. Luckily though, no one got hurt, however, the experience definitely frightened many and caused costly damage to Silver Moon. Zero knew that Toga was going to have a flip when he saw the mess and was proven right he heard a ghastly yell come from inside Silver Moon.

"What the hell happen to my windows?"

Zero gave a faint laugh before finally realizing that he was still holding onto Kaname in his arms. Zero quickly pushed Kaname away from him and headed toward the front doors of Silver Moon and stopped only for a moment to deliver Kaname a warning.

"You should quickly leave here before things get any more complicated than it already is." And then Zero left leaving Kaname outside unable to say or do anything.

Zero made his way pass the crowd beginning to form at the front of Silver Moon as he made his way to the back where only the staff and hosts had access to since he knew his brother Ichiru will be there relaxing in the staff lounge on his hour break before he went back to serving his customers and when he pushed open the door and saw his brother chatting and drinking with another host at the mini bar, Zero knew his guess was right.

"Hey look it's Zero." The host chatting with Ichiru voiced out as he spotted Zero heading towards them.

Ichiru looked and saw his brother indeed coming towards them. "Hey onii-san, are you already done with attending to the Association pres-" Ichiru was cut short when his brother wrapped his arms around him and drew him into a hug so tight Ichiru for a moment couldn't breathe.

"Ichiru," Zero whimpered against his brother's neck. "Help me."

Ichiru didn't need his brother to explain what he meant to know what Zero was asking for and so Ichiru turned to the bewildered host beside him and spoke. "You don't mind leaving us here for a moment to talk?"

"Ah, of course." The host answered and then excused himself.

As soon as the twins were alone, Ichiru pulled Zero away and looked up. "What happened?"

Zero took a few minutes to explain what had happened and made sure he left out a few details such as what the Association President said to him, the kiss between him and Kaname, and lastly the hallucinations he had of Touma but everything else was told and it was clear by the way his brother looked Ichiru was fuming.

"That Association bastard really deserves to be taught a lesson." Ichiru growled. "And not only that but the windows shattering so suddenly must have been the work of that guy?"

"But Touma wasn't even around where we were so I can't be sure that it was his doing."

"But you felt his power didn't you, so he must have been around there somewhere."

Zero didn't say anything because he was too afraid to. He was afraid of knowing that the un-shattered window behind him meant that Touma still valued Zero's life. Too afraid to acknowledge that even after all this time Zero still loved and wished to believe in him but Zero was also afraid to discover that his closest ally had been lying to him all this time and forcing him against Touma, the one person who had ever helped him during his troubled past as a child.

Ichiru could read his brother's conflicting emotions and the thought that Zero still loved Touma pissed him off greatly.

"Zero," Zero turned and looked up at his brother. "You're so tense; let me help you with that."

Ichiru got up from his bar stool and walked with his brother in hand toward the sofa and sat down with Zero standing and facing him. Without hesitation Ichiru reached up and undid Zero's belt then the button and finally the zipper before dropping the pants until it came around Zero's ankles.

"Ichiru we can't do this here."

Ichiru looked up. "But look at you Zero, you can't hold it in any longer and the only way you can be relieved is by doing this. But if you whether go on dealing with this and have another attack then so be it."

"No!" Zero started and stopped Ichiru's hands from leaving his hips.

"Then will you let me do this?" Zero nodded and Ichiru proceeded closer. "Relax Zero and just concentrate on feeling good."

Zero closed his eyes and prepared himself to forget.

-0-

Kaname exited from the elevator and walked down the hall toward the room where he knew his band mates would be recording and as soon as he entered the recording studio all eyes were on him.

"Do you have any idea how late you are?" Cross questioned seriously.

Kaname walked over and laid down on the sofa with his head resting on his assistant Seiren's lap who was also sitting on the sofa that was on the opposite side of the monitor station where Kaien and a man who worked the station sat in black office chairs. His band mates were behind the other side of the large glass window where they had been recording as a group inside the isolation booth.

"Did you hear me Kaname?" Cross spoke again.

"Yes, I did hear you Cross and to answer your question I'm an hour and a half late. But from my understanding earlier this morning you told me that I didn't have to come to today's recording since today you were only working on the background music and thus only needed my band." Kaname answered in a bored tone.

"I may have said that but being the leader of this band it is still your duty to be together with them even when you yourself aren't recording because that's what a band is."

"Your right Cross, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"Yea, it better not." Cross warned then turned around and pushed a small button on the monitor station that was in front of a small microphone and spoke into it. "Okay everyone, take five."

Kain, Shiki, and Rima all nodded when they heard Cross's voice come from the small intercom built in the corner of the booth. They all came out and joined the rest in the recording room.

"Alright you guys I need to go make a quick phone call and be right back. So until I return, you all can just relax." Cross announced before leaving the room.

"Recording for an hour and a half straight sure is a killer." Kain said as he sat himself down on the chair Cross had been sitting in.

"That's because you kept messing up." Shiki pointed out from the small love seat he and Rima were sitting in that was towards the right of the sofa Kaname was in.

"It wasn't my fault, hitting that one cord for a really long time each time was brutal for my fingers."

Shiki rolled his eyes at Kain before directing his attention to his cousin who was obviously distracted by something. "So where were you all this time?"

"I was at Silver Moon." Kaname answered without looking toward his friends.

Kain grinned. "Went to see your boy toy perhaps?"

"Yea,"

Shiki instantly became worried. "I hope you hadn't done anything bad to him, did you?"

"Well I did forcibly kiss him again."

"You what?" Kain shouted.

"I did it to calm him down…well, sort of."

"What do you mean by sort of and by you doing it to calm him down?" Shiki asked.

"Well after I brought him outside after saving him from practically getting molested by that creepy Association President,"

"You mean the Hunter Association President?" Rima asked and received a nod.

"Anyways, after I saved him from that guy we start talking and then he starts having this panic attack and the only thing I could think of was to embrace and then after he calmed down he…he gave me this smile and I…" Kaname ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "I don't know I just couldn't help myself."

Everyone in the room looked on with surprise even Seiren who mostly didn't care for things around her was looking down at Kaname with wide eyes. Then suddenly Kain and the man next to him started to burst out laughing.

"I thought I would never see the day where the all mighty Kaname Kuran would be pulled in by a smile from a mere human."

"Anybody for that matter." The monitor station man next to Kain added.

Kaname turned and glared at the two laughing men and instantly the two went silent.

"It's surprising that someone was able to affect you so much Kaname." Shiki admitted. "It almost seems as if you already started falling for him."

Kaname gave a bitter laugh. "Oh please, there is no way I am. That smile just caught me off guard is all?"

"Excuses, excuses." Kain chanted and received another glare from Kaname.

"There is no way I am going to fall first and plus the real game starts tomorrow when I get a visit from said silver haired boy."

"That's right, you went ahead and did that didn't you?" Kain asked with a sly smile.

"Oh god, what did you do?" Shiki inquired.

Kaname smiled. "Let's just say that from now on, me and Zero will be under the same roof."

Shiki's eyes went wide. "You didn't."

"Oh, but I did." Kaname relaxed again but only slightly for the incident involving the glass windows shattering was still fresh in his mind.

Kaname didn't know why the image of his old master Touma came to mind after feeling the burst of freezing cold air that whipped past him just seconds before the windows suddenly shattered. But, thinking about it now sent a nervous shudder to erupt within him because he somehow felt that that power was directed at him. Yet, the most perplexing thing about the whole incident was the silver boy's quick reaction just before. Kaname was grateful for the fact that Zero shielded him with his body because if he hadn't Kaname would have not made it out without at least getting a few scratches -even with the help of his powers as a pureblood. But how had Zero known that the window behind him wouldn't shatter?

That thought kept swimming and swimming around Kaname's head for a while now and the only explanation Kaname could come up with was the fact that Zero knew his assailant and also knew him/her wouldn't dare lay a finger on him which only meant that Zero and his assailant knew each other on a personal level. And for some reason thinking of how Zero could know this person on that kind of level didn't fit well with Kaname. But not for the reason that everyone would come to the conclusion of, but more for the fact that his freshly new toy was already being used and that thought pissed Kaname off to no end.

'It seems that I'm playing cat and mouse with another opponent.' Kaname thought with a smirk. 'I guess we'll see which one of us will get to catch the bait first.'

TBC…

D/H: This story honestly has a mind of its own and I say that because I really had no intention of having Zero and Ichiru be in that sort of relationship but somehow it just happened and frankly I don't feel like changing it (which just shows how lazy I am). So I hope many of you are okay with this unexpected development in the story and for those who do not like it, don't worry I will not write Ichiru and Zero actually doing it, I will just hint at it or do what I did here by cutting to a different scene before they do anything since I'm not really a big fan of incest but I however would make an acceptation if it was ZeroxIchiru (as well as RidoxHaruka, RidoxKaname, KanamexShiki, and KainxAidou) which it probably why it ended up this way, not intentionally though.

But I hope you like it anyway and are excited for the next chapter especially since Touma and Ichiru will confront each other as well as we get to find out what our devious Kaname did which I can assume you guys already might know.

So please enjoy and make sure you drop a review.

~Dia