He woke next in a large room that he supposed was the hospital. The room was white enough to be considered one. Feeling weight on his legs, he looked down to see the girl, Yuuki, resting comfortably on them. He tried to tell her to get up, as her position was just asking for a crick in her neck, but all that came out was a croak. Well that sounded impressive, he thought dryly, before shifting and trying to get up.

"I wouldn't strain myself too much so soon after what happened."

It was Kaname. His memories were still clear. He gestured to the cup of water in the vampire's hand. Getting the hint, he handed it over. Sighing in relief, Zero rubbed lightly at his throat. It still felt terrible, but nothing he couldn't deal with. He wanted to know about Nase.

As though reading his thoughts, the vampire sat down. "Your guardian, Yuuzuki-san, seems to be recovering well. She's still weak at this point, but by tomorrow, she should be fine." Zero nodded. Thank the heavens for accelerated vampire healing. All they needed was some blood and everything was brand new.

"You realize you cannot stay with her any longer." Kaname spoke up again. "I'm quite certain she was targeted because of her closeness to you. She will be in constant danger." If you stay. Zero understood. He'd have to leave the only home he knew to go off with people he'd no idea about and face off whoever wanted him captured. Unless the asshole was dead he'd have no peace in his life.

His answer was clear in his eyes as they made contact with the disturbing wine red of the other vampire. Wanting to change the subject, he gestured to Yuuki, motioning towards her neck. Nodding, Kaname lifted her into his arms and placed her on an empty bed next to his. "The boy that was with you is fine as well as his puppy."

An amused smile crossed Zero's lips and he shook his head. Yeah, that kid had better be alright, considering how much Nase had risked to help look for that damn puppy. Cookie should get a strong leash. Resting against the pillows, he breathed through his nose and let his thoughts focus back on what would happen now that he had to leave Nase. How would these vampires protect him? They couldn't keep him safe forever.

He didn't think they knew the exact reason why he was being hunted down either. They might have found out about his father, but he doubted they were able to dig too far into the hows and whys of the night his father had needed to start running for his life. Needing something to hold onto, his fingers grasped at the white sheet over his lap. There was still a part of him that burned for revenge, to payback the pain his father had suffered before he was finally forced to give up his life.

He knew how futile the thought was however and eased the fire inside him. Nase had taught him revenge would only turn him into those he hated and even his father had mentioned, in this last letter to him, not to try to go after them. If Zero deliberately got himself involved and somehow lost his life as well, he'd get a beating to last another lifetime at wherever dead people ended up. Out of the love and respect he held for both his guardian and father, he kept quiet with a low profile.

Well, he supposed it was a surprise he hadn't been attacked so viciously before this, as his music was becoming well known throughout the area. He'd been playing since he was five and he officially started playing for the restaurant at thirteen. There weren't many teenage piano players with his hair and eyes. It didn't help he looked much like his father, their delicately structured face giving a striking resemblance. Nase had more than once told him sometimes it was as though she'd gone back in time, to when Riku, his father, was just as young.

'You look so much like him,' she always smiled as she said it.

Glancing at the vampire seated by his bed, he wondered what they had to gain from helping him. The reasons Yuuki had given might have seemed enough for her, but for this guy? He had to be getting something in return, benefiting from this strange arrangement in some way. Did he want the same thing his enemies wanted? What they had been after his father for and in turn, himself, was something both vampires and humans, especially vampires, could gain a huge boon from.

A small commotion outside his room caused him and the other vampire to look up. There were two female voices, one anxious and the other irritated. Zero couldn't recognize the first, but the latter he knew all too well. It was Nase. The door suddenly burst open and she stepped through, huffing impatiently.

"I told you I'm fine! I just want to see my son, you can at least give a mother her only comfort." She said to the nurse that followed her in, obviously intending on bringing her back. Shaking off the hold on her arm, she turned to face Zero and the change in her emotions was telling. She went from angry and irritated to elated and relieved in a split second's time.

Swiftly making her way to his bed, she sat on the opposite side of the other vampire and held his hand in her own. "Zero I'm glad you're fine and I'm so sorry for getting you involved in the explosion. They weren't supposed to have known, but it seems my luck has finally met its limit." She gave out a slight sigh. "Zero, I know what you might be planning to do, and I'm loathed to agree, but you can trust them." She squeezed his hand. "I hate to say it, but I'm not enough to protect you." Her gaze was hard. He knew how difficult it must have been for her to have to admit that aloud, with an audience.

She looked across him to the other vampire and glared. "I say I can trust you for Zero's sake, but if you hurt him in any way, I won't give a rat's ass if you're a pureblood or the next ruler of the world, I will inflict large quantities of pain on you." She held his gaze, "Kuran Kaname, you swore you would keep my son safe and I will hold you to your word. He is all that I have in this miserable world and I won't forgive anyone who causes him pain."

Zero brought her hand up to his lips. "Nase, it's alright. I know better than to give my blind trust to anyone, much less a snob like him. You should rest. I bet if your nurse wasn't so scared of you she'd have dragged you back by now." She gave him an affectionate kiss to his forehead and obediently left the room, her quiet whisper only audible to Kaname who gave her a nod, "Goodbye Zero."

They decided going back to get his personal materials would be risky and just left as they were when he was discharged from the hospital. He tried to keep himself from gaping where their car arrived. This was 'home'? They'd better have a damn map. He was not getting lost in that place. It was going to take a while getting used to, a long while.

--

"Zero?"

"Ah, Yuuki right?" He hadn't actually called her by name before. She simply nodded and stepped in. "We have a piano here. If you, you know, want to play…"

"If your almighty brother is okay with a mere human touching his stuff," Zero shrugged. Yuuki laughed softly at how he'd referred to Kaname before taking hold of his hand and leading him to the music room.

The piano was beautiful. Taking a seat, he invited her to sit next to him. She did so albeit shyly. "Do you have any particulars?"

"Um, do you know any French lullabies? La petite poule grise, for instance?" She received her answer when Zero started playing, the familiar tune filling the room. His voice followed the piano and Yuuki closed her eyes, smiling. Zero had such a soothing voice, and so sweet. It instantly made her calmer and she unconsciously leaned against him as he played. He slowly came to a stop when her head came to rest by his arm. She barely made it past his shoulder sitting down.

He continued to play simple notes with the other hand for a while before he stopped and only the sound in the room was his voice. Neither of them noticed Kaname by the door, watching them silently, his face unreadable.

Yuuki sighed contentedly, "You have such a beautiful voice, it's so clear, like water." Yes, like fresh mountain water, cool and pure.

Nase said the same thing, Zero thought somberly. It was the first thing she said when she first heard him sing at seven. She had been completely surprised by his musical talent, as neither of his parents had been particularly gifted in that area. 'Your father couldn't sing a note right to save his pride,' she'd joked once.

"Vampires, for all their beauty, are really cold and lonely," Yuuki suddenly said. Her voice was soft. "Somehow, I can imagine that," Zero responded, thinking of Nase.

Yuuki squeezed Zero's shirt as she held onto his arm. "It's, it's why we more than just need human blood for survival. Drinking another vampire's blood may be more energizing, but it leaves you feeling colder. A human—"

"Provides warmth," Zero finished. "I don't understand what that feels like, but I have lived with more than a few vampires. They talk, they tell me things. They say it's different when it's a human listening, knowing what they are."

"Because humans always fear us…" She bit her lip. "That was why…why I liked Riku-san so much. He saved me knowing I was just another vampire and even when he found out I was a pureblood, he still treated me the same. While we waited for my parents, he talked to me like he would one of his human friends. He talked about you." She smiled softly. "He was warm. Warmer than anyone I'd ever met…"

She suddenly shifted and looked straight up at him. "I really liked Riku-san and I like you too, Zero, that's why I'm going to tell you, even if you might hate me after. It's too painful to keep to myself now that I've finally met you." Still, she hoped, with everything she had, that he wouldn't hate her. She looked unflinchingly into his eyes.

"Riku-san gave me his blood."

"You…drank from him?" Zero's eyes were wide. So that was what Yuuki had really meant when she said his father had saved her life. But why? His father must have known the risks…why would he give his blood out to such a young girl?

Young girl…Yuuki was young, and she was a pureblood…his breath hitched. No, his father wasn't that calculative. He couldn't have known they'd meet up after his death, that Nase's protection would fail. He couldn't have planned to set Yuuki up as his Guard.

"I'd been injured before he saved me, and he offered to let me heal faster." She whispered.

"That sounds like him…" Now that he knew Yuuki carried his father's blood, their blood, things changed. He couldn't keep this information to himself. Yuuki was affected, had been, for fourteen years. It was but a breath for a vampire, Yuuki still appeared to be in her early teens as proof of that, but his father's blood had mixed and become a part of her during that time.

Yuuki and Kaname were the only protection he had now. It'd be illogical to piss them off, especially Kaname. Sighing, he asked, "Do you know where your superhero brother is?"

She laughed into his shirt, finding it extraordinary someone was actually able to refer to her brother in such a way and not get killed over. "He's right there." Just as she said, the said pureblood stood by the door, keenly observing them. Turning to him, Zero tried to keep as calm as he could. This was nothing to shit around with.

--

Disclaimer: No own Vampire Knights.

Thank you for reading :)