A/N: A lot of research went into this chapter. I could just say 'Zero had a broken such-and-such,' but the explanation behind the type of break and its effects sets up a good part of the rest of the story.

This from a person who reads the dictionary. ^^o

This is a very long chapter, as I needed all of this information in this chapter, I couldn't find a place to cut it in half.

"ღ*~+~*ღ"

At least an hour had slipped by since Ichiru left for the Knight Modeling building, and she had still yet to hear anything from her younger son. Despite texting him to ask his location, she never got a response.

It wasn't that big of a deal—Ichiru went missing quite a bit, increasingly so since his brother had moved out. If it weren't for the fact that she had to sit through the steadily rising clientele rate alone, she might not have even thought to bother him.

But when he came back, he would get an earful.

"Kaasaaaaan!"

Well if that wasn't convenient, and he was calling her by a cutesy name, meaning that he either did something wrong and had come to confess, or ask a favor. Hikari set down her bowl of crepe mix and wiped off her hands on a damp towel, not wanting to get batter on her son's neck should she decide to strangle him.

"Where the heck have you been? Rush hour is fast approaching and you—who is this?" she asked, cutting herself off when she saw Kain.

He was definitely a vampire alright, Hikari could tell just by looking into his eyes. There was a softer edge to them though, a more gentle, if you will, nature lurking behind that enticing vampiric shine. He was the sort of vampire that she would have seen coming into the Association headquarters as a young girl, collaborating with the hunters to keep the peace between the species. He was tame.

"My name is Akatsuki Kain, Kiryuu-san." he introduced himself with a small smile and polite bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Hikari murmured, feeling uneasy for being genuinely polite to a vampire she just met. "Ichiru, would you mind joining me in the back for a moment? Excuse us, Kain-san, have a seat wherever you like."

Kain nodded, never losing his small smile as Ichiru followed after his mother, giving him a thumbs up behind his back. The younger twin smiled in spite of himself, allowing a bit of his ego to inflate at his obviously good judge of character, since his mother was obviously not going to be rude to him. They pushed past the swinging door into the kitchen and through another door through the back into the warming weather ouside, where their conversation could be muffled from Kain's sensitive hearing.

"What's this about?" Hikari asked, awaiting an explanation from her son, not as upset as she would have liked to be. "Is he one of your friends? Because the last time I checked, you didn't really like to mingle with others."

"It wasn't mingling, kaasan." Ichiru pouted. "We met by chance today when I was heading to the agency. I stopped by a gas station to get a drink, and overheard that he was trying to get a job, to help pay for the rest of his college finances that his scholarship doesn't cover and living expenses." he raised his brows to try and goad her into accepting him. "That's when I remembered what you said about needing extra help."

Hikari chewed her lip gently, looking to the corners of her eyes as she thought things through in her head.

"I don't know," she said hesitantly, folding her arms. "What if one of us were to cut ourselves while working, do you think he'll be able to restrain himself?"

"Mom, relax, it's not like he's a senseless beast. Kain is intelligent, and he's studying law, you know, discrimination is against the law?"

"Can he cook, or do anything culinary?"

"Hell if I know." Ichiru shrugged, clasping his hands behind his neck. "But did you feel the pull he has? His last job was customer service, and I got a recommendation from his last boss. From what we've seen he's polite, and when he was asking his old boss about getting his job back, which, he was let go from only due to a lack of funding for payroll, he was even understanding when he couldn't be rehired because his former coworker was a working father supporting three children. He's generous, mom."

"Okay, okay! You don't need to use your pushy sales strategy on me, I'll buy."

Ichiru smiled in earnest.

"Thanks, that will mean a lot to him." he grinned, leaning down to hug her, placing a loud kiss on her cheek.

She laughed to herself as she followed him back in, watching through the porthole in the swinging door as he delivered the good news. Indeed, Kain did look happy as he grasped her son's hands and thanked him with enthusiasm. Maybe he would be a good addition to the team.

The shrill ring of the store phone almost made Hikari jump, drawing her from the back as she politely asked a customer to wait for a moment while she answered the phone.

"PePuri Café, this is Hikari speaking, how may I help you?"

Hikari froze, her fingers curling into the cord of the phone as her brows knitted.

"With whom am I speaking?" she asked tentatively, as if she already knew who was on the other end.

Her expression became increasingly infuriated, fists balling until her knuckles turned white, until the plastic cord cut into her fingers. The rigid pose was held for a moment before she paled, her inflating fury leaving her like air from a balloon. Hikari finally released the curling cord before placing the phone back into its cradle. The anger was still apparent in her features, but traces of fear and worry were found in the way her lips trembled, the little pucker between her brows, and how her eyes darted about, as if she were going over a mental checklist.

"I'm very sorry, but I need to close the café. Could you please come back another time?" she asked, tone unstable.

"Of course Hikari-san." he said with a sympathetic smile, sensing her distress.

"Thank you very much."

"Mom?" Ichiru asked, not used to seeing her this way, worry of his own blossoming in his stomach. "What happened, is it dad?" his voice escalated in pitch as he asked, relief flooding him when she shook her head.

"Zero's had an accident," she choked out. "That bastard wouldn't specify until we get to the hospital."

The younger twin's heart dropped to his stomach, his legs turning to rubber, nausea bubbling up along with his own worry. His throat clenched, making him gag as if he were about to dry heave. He watched as his mother picked up the phone again and dialed pound one two nine, a soft clicking noise connecting her to the PA system.

"Attention customers of PePuri Café, thank you for your business, but we have a family emergency on our hands, and need to close down for the day. I sincerely apologize for any inconveniences this may cause you." her voice was tight and trembling. "Ichiru, check the stoves and throw out anything unfinished please."

Several patrons lifted their heads from conversation, some looking annoyed, yet sympathetic as they complied, a few of them muttering well wishes as they picked up their purchases and headed for the door.

"An accident?" Kain asked, brows knitting in worry. "May I come? I might be able to help with any legal issues."

Hikari studied him for a split second before reaching for her Chocolate Touch cell, so she could inform Yami along the way to the hospital. Fingers still trembling, she thumbed through the numbers in her phone listing, wondering if she should ring Zero first to assure him that she was coming. There was a list of professionals in her contacts as well, but she wanted to assess the damage, and talk it over with Yami before alerting them to any potential problems. She glanced at Kain once more to question him.

"Law is your major? Do you have any experience or credibility?"

"I know all work-related laws fairly well, since I've had to help peers with all kinds of issues like unfair wages, on-site on the clock injury, racial biases and the like. I've never legally represented anyone in the court of law, but I have several connections, as well as experience from shadowing."

Chewing her lip until it turned white, Hikari finally relented.

"Alright, you can come. We might be able to use your assistance." she nodded, throwing the register drawer into a time-locked safe, flipping all the light switches off before tossing her apron into a wicker basket. "You're polite enough, and if you can be of some assistance, then I wouldn't mind having you around as paid help."

Kain gave a small smile at that before turning to Ichiru, who had just come back from his task. His head was bowed, palm pressing against his face. His posture radiated waves of anxiety as he voiced a hoarse question.

"Are you ready yet, mother?"

"Let's go." was her only response, along with a jingle of keys as she locked the front doors and lead them out to the back of the building into the narrow walkway to the parking garage. They all loaded into Hikari's violet Camry before she pealed out of the structure, speeding through the busy streets down to the nearest local hospital, where the ambulance had taken Zero to.

"That bastard better explain himself when I get down there or so help him whatever deity he may or may not worship, I will not give him a kind death." she growled, ready to shred flesh.

The tension in the car was palpable, yet by no means directed towards Kain. He wondered what the hell could have happened to Zero in the short hour since first meeting him, but then again, Ichiru's twin was dealing with a nest of vampires. Hikari herself had no idea as to what happened to her son, and he felt like it would be nosy to ask, though he was curious, and he supposed that he would find out soon enough. From the backseat, he tried to catch Ichiru's eye in the side mirror since he was staring so intently out of the window, but whatever was on his mind, most likely his brother, was consuming his thoughts.

"Move it motherfucker!" Hikari yelled, swerving around a corner, jerking the men out of their thoughts as they noticed the familiar hospital sign.

She pulled into the parking lot for hospital staffs, swerving into a vacant doctor's spot, ignoring shouts and middle fingers from other drivers as she marched up the steps and into the cold ER lobby with Kain and Ichiru in tow. A man...

Was it a man? His dishwater blond hair pulled up into an artfully messy bun would have made people wonder, and it didn't help that he wore what looked like a short cut, long sleeved, koi pattered yukata with splotches of red and turquoise that seemed more like a dress than anything over his dark-washed jeans.

A man with glasses slung low on his nose turned honey colored cat-like eyes to them, smiling fondly when he saw Ichiru, touching briefly with Kain's to acknowledge his existence in the party, before connecting with Hikari's, expression softening into great remorse. He stood from the short aqua chair, placing an old issue of Ryu Kami back onto the coffee table beside him. The ex-huntress began cracking her knuckles one by one, as if she were counting down, refusing to be the first to talk to the stranger. He opened his mouth several times, only to close it and swallow.

Ichiru gave the man a brief once over before turning away, decidedly excusing him for his part in whatever might have happened to his brother. He knew in his heart that Kaien didn't do anything to Zero. His thoughts instead drifted down a different path, becoming bloodstained the closer they wandered to Kanamé Kuran.

Time was running out for him as Hikari switched from her right to left knuckles, cracking each one as she prepared to dig her fists into his beautiful face and stain his clothes with scarlet if he didn't start speaking. A few occupants sharing the waiting room shrunk back, one or two shooting glares at her for bringing more tension into an already stressed room, but at this point she couldn't care less. Her child was hurt, in pain, and she didn't know how, why, or how severe it was. Had she known that Zero was going to be left in the care of this negligent man, she would have forbidden him from joining with Knight Modeling.

Well, it was too late for regrets now.

"ღ*~+~*ღ"

The list of callbacks had been divided three ways between Kaname, Ruka and Takuma, the latter two both taking pity on the poor pureblood by deciding to help him out with contacting them with the decisions for the final group of fifty. All three had decided to use the office spaces on the fifth floor to administer the calls, but Kaname had been the only one to hole himself up in Kaien's office, flipping a switch beneath the desk to send an electrical current through the clear glass, making it fog where only light could be noticed from the outside, but nothing that was in the office itself. It was a handy privacy device.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." the pureblood sighed, raking his fingers through his unruly hair.

Kaname couldn't focus on his work as he dialed another number. His erection was still strong beneath the pair of boxers and low-rise jeans hugging his hips, making a noticeable bulge in the denim. He growled in frustration of the pain into the receiver, nearly startling the fledgling on the other end. Tough crap, she was one of the people Zero had chosen for a callback, a human, no less, which meant that she would have to get used to the nature of vampires if she wanted to enter the modeling industry.

After finishing his list, Kaname set the papers aside into a separate folder and fanned his chest and abdomen, opting to remain shirtless because of the heat his erection was generating. His head fell into his hands as he grasped at his roots, the pressure alleviating the slight headache that was beginning to set in, which was saying something for his stress levels.

Whatever. It was Zero's fault for teasing him so badly. Sure, Kaname didn't mean to snap his wrist, or break his arm, whatever injury he had sustained, but honestly, hadn't his mother ever taught him not to mess with a pureblood? The way Zero had stroked and fondled his bare skin...

His hard on throbbed in his jeans, making Kaname convulse involuntarily, shivers running through him as his body screamed for release. He could feel his nerves winding up as he fought for control over his instincts to find...

"Fuck!" he growled, tension peaking.

A small crack issued from inside one of the desk's drawers, relieving Kaname with a temporary distraction. He had been dealing with a lot this past week—managing the production of his new clothing line, photo shoots, choosing models, hosting the competition and ensuring everything ran smoothly, it was more than the average vampire his age had to deal with, and that was leaving out the fact that he held the responsibilities of a pureblood. Considering that he hadn't had sex in a good long while, the only thing that could truly alleviate his frustrations and stress, he was surprised that his small lapse in concentration hadn't shattered all the windows in the building.

Kaname considered just leaving the drawers shut, since they weren't his to dig into in the first place, but he thought he should at least clean up whatever he had broken, in case Kaien were to reach in blindly and risk cutting his hands on glass or porcelain shards.

"Perfect, now I'm breaking Kaien's things too." Kaname muttered, opening the top drawer.

A picture frame sat face down, buried beneath a dozen or so flash-drives. The pureblood scooped the drives from the drawer, compiling them on the desk in one spot, in the paper clip cup next to the one for pens and pencils. He gently lift the frame to examine the slivers and shards of glass beneath. To avoid cutting himself on the pieces, Kaname removed the drawer and flipped the broken glass into the wide-brimmed trash can next to the desk.

After replacing the drawer, he checked the frame to determine if the picture inside was harmed. The cracks of the remaining glass wedged into the edges of the frame would have to be removed, and the picture under is was more than likely scratched up. Hell, that probably wouldn't have happened if Kaien had used a digital picture frame.

Either way the damage was done. Kaname quickly disassembled the frame and dumped the remainders of the glass into the bin, setting the frame and picture aside so he could grab a sticky note and pen a quick note to Kaien and everyone else to let them know it was dangerous to reach into the trash, so they wouldn't cut themselves. When finished with that task, the pureblood busied himself with looking over the picture—the photograph.

All in all, there wasn't any scrapes or damages. It was faded here and there, probably due to exposure to light, which might have been why Kaien kept it face down in the dark drawer. Unlike most of the other pictures Kaien took and handled, the photograph was just that—a photo. It was developed chemically, not digitally, like current day professionals did. In fact, it was an old Polaroid, which they had discontinued years ago, dating the photo farther back than he would have anticipated, but it wasn't the fact that it was practically an antique that caught his attention.

A teenage boy, possibly around the same age as Zero, stared back up at him through excited honey eyes, his soft, dirty blond hair falling into them wildly as a grin illuminated his pale face. If not for the hair and eye color, and almost feline shape of the eyes, Kaname could have sworn that it was Zero. They even had the same hair length and almost identical parts. He was shirtless and running down a pier, his slightly toned torso half-turned to the camera as he pointed a katana towards the lens, in mid slice of the air. The way his fingers were gripped around the handle suggested that he knew how to use the polished blade.

"That self-absorbed narcissist!" Kaname huffed at the photo. "No wonder he wanted Zero in so badly, the kid looks just like him when he was younger. He's taking self-worship to the extreme..."

"Well if that isn't the vampire calling the leech a bloodsucker." a male voice called in amusement.

Kaname looked up from the picture to the blond vampire leaning in the doorway, thumbs hooked in his jeans' belt loops, his expression partially amused, yet otherwise cool.

"Who gave you permission to be up here?" he quirked a brow, impressed with the apparent balls on the teen.

"I came here of my own accord, since I got a rejection call." the vampire wandered closer, the smirk spreading across his pink lips revealing a dimple in his cheek. "You know, I thought for sure that I would make it at least to the finals, I mean, my photos were amongst the top rated on the KM website." he admitted, looking down as he shrugged, his icy blue eyes flitting to gaze into Kaname's from beneath his lashes.

The smirk was infectious, spreading to Kaname as well before he frowned in realization.

"The second model I chose to shuffle through the profiles must have marked you out, because I definitely remember checking 'yes' in your box." he mused in a velvety voice, placing the picture down as he leaned forward over the desk, placing the tips of his fingers together.

"That idiot was the reason why I wasn't chosen?" the vampire asked, brows drawing together as he wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"He is an idiot." Kanamé conceded with a laugh. "But still," he studied his face and blond, slicked back hair, a few errant locks of bangs falling into his coy eyes. "you were rejected officially by either Takuma or Ruka, so why are you here?"

A full smile tore across the blond's face, both dimples appearing as he sat on the edge of Kaien's desk, propping his thigh along the edge. His voice took on a challenging edge, nearly trembling with excitement.

"I'm here to see if I can change your mind."

"ღ*~+~*ღ"

"Hikari," Kaien's voice was low and hesitant, almost as if he were pleading for her to understand. "Zero wasn't seriously injured, he got hurt during the photo shoot on accident, but it's nothing life-threatening, or crippling."

"Where is my son."

It wasn't a question, but a demand for information. Her voice was low as well, and surprisingly calm considering she still had no clue how damaged her baby was.

"Zero is getting x-rays for his arm." Touga said, appearing next to Kaien with a cup of coffee in each hand, setting them down to address her directly. "They'll be able to determine how severe the injury is, what type it is, and whether or not he'll need surgery before long."

Fists unclenching, Hikari's brows knitted in worry as tears formed in her eyes. She let out a small, sniffling cry as she reached for Touga, the model accepting her into a comforting embrace, resting his arms lightly, yet securely across her back as she attempted to fight back tears on his shoulder.

"Wh-what happened to my son, Touga?" she whined gently, grabbing a handful of his long-sleeved, navy button up. "Surgery for what? That neglectful bastard said it wasn't serious."

"Shhh, I'm sure Zero will be fine. Another one of our models injured him during the photo shoot today on accident when they were trying to adjust their poses. They were pulled apart before the damage became too severe. We think he might, at most have a broken arm, but the x-rays will tell us soon enough. He's been in the lab for about fifteen minutes now, so they should be admitting him into a room for care any moment now."

"A broken arm?" her sigh was a relieve one. "At least it's not that serious. Who did this to him?" she demanded, fists bunching up the shirt.

The raven-haired model looked unsure of what to do. He frowned, looking to Kaien as if to ask for his input, both men knowing just how Hikari felt about vampires. Kaien nodded, giving the go-ahead to inform her of Kanamé's loss of senses as he pulled out his blackberry to search for a number.

Ichiru watched the silent exchange, understanding their unspoken words as clearly as if they had screamed them in his ears.

"Are you the family of Kiryuu, Zero?" a young nurse asked the party, carrying a clipboard with her as she emerged from the main hallway.

"I'm his twin, where is he? How's he doing?" Ichiru spoke up at once, nearly running into her.

The nurse smiled kindly, taking a pencil from behind her ear beneath her short, wavy caramel colored hair. She flipped to a miniature map on her clipboard, drawing a circle on the waiting room and a line down the halls to room one-oh-four, marking an x in its place.

"Room one-hundred and four, I've drawn a map for you that you can keep if you like, but don't excite him. I'll have to talk to your mother about surgery."

"Stay with my mother, Kain." Ichiru frowned as he took the paper, thanking her politely before disappearing down the hall.

"Kiryuu-san, the results of Zero's x-ray just came back, if you'll follow me, I can show you the film."

"Can they come?" Hikari motioned to the men in the room.

"It's up to you if you'd like to bring them." she dismissed, leading them into the first room of a branching hallway.

"May I ask your name, miss?" Kain asked, nearly startling Touga and Kaien, who had yet to hear him speak until that moment.

"My name?" she looked down to her modest chest, realizing that she had forgotten her name tag. "Oh! Sorry, my name is Sayori Wakaba, I'm a nursing student, so you can just call me by my given, alright?"

Everyone filed into a small office of a pastel pink, the barely perceptible scent of Egyptian Cotton lingering in the air, unlike the rest of the hospital, which smelled sickeningly sterile. The trim around the edges of the ceiling were a chocolate with pink polka dots sprinkled on the boarder like candy. Kain watched as the nurse flipped through files with her manicured nails, her glossy lips puckering slightly as she looked.

Sayori retrieved a manila envelope from a crate of files next to the light board. Deciding to leave the door cracked, she flipped the switch to the display before dimming the lights. Hikari wrung her hands together in anticipation as the soft white light spilled over them, her breath was baited as she waited impatiently for the reveal. Touga snuck a sidelong glance at his old friend, suddenly regretting how he had been treating her son thus far, when he hadn't done a thing wrong.

After all, Zero wasn't his father.

"The technician had to take several x-rays along the back and whole right arm." she informed professionally. "We considered doing an MRI, but thankfully we were able to find the damage."

Sheet after sheet was lined up along the light board, of Zero's back, upper arm, elbow, and lower arm.

"As you can see, there was no damage done to the humerus," she ran the tip of her capped pen along the upper arm. "the radius or the ulna," she circled around the twin bones in his lower arm. "but when we got to the carpal bones," all of the slides were taken down, and replaced by two more of Zero's wrist. "this is where we encountered the fracture. Though I'd rather we found a distal radius fracture, the problem is much worse than we thought."

"Holy crap, look at the swelling." Touga murmured in a low voice, staring at the engorged gray area of soft tissue around Zero's wrist and hand.

"That's one of the problems." Sayori nodded solemnly. "We can't find it from the lateral view," the x-ray of his wrist through the side was taken down. "See this dark area in the view from above?" she circled a dark line in a kidney bean-shaped bone beneath Zero's thumb. "He's lucky the x-ray caught it. You wouldn't think it's a big deal if he just fractured a small bone in his wrist. You'd think it would just heal up in no time, but that's an incorrect assumption. Zero has a fractured scaphoid. That bone has a retrograde blood supply, which means that the blood enters the bone from the furthest vessel on the edge of the bone, and circulates to give it the proper nutrients, etcetera. The blood flow has been interrupted due to the breakage, and the bone isn't getting the necessary oxygen or nutrients."

"What are you trying to say?" Hikari asked suspiciously.

"It means that the fracture might not heal at all." she said gently. "I know you run a café Misses Kiryuu, and I should let you know that this type of injury not only causes swelling of the wrist and thumb, but because of its location, it'll make gripping and grabbing very painful for a long time, even if it heals. The fractures and misalignment aren't as severe as they could have been given the angle and pressure put on him, so he has a chance for it to heal after all, but we're still going to have to operate and set his breaks with screws, pins and titanium plates to ensure that if it does heal, it sets correctly. Also, we could perform microsurgery to the vessels to promote healing."

Hikari had to swallow past a lump in her throat to speak, her voice strained.

"Is he in any pain right now?"

"According to him it's not as bad since we gave him morphine, but I'd imagine he's still suffering." Sayori looked to the door, as if wishing she could go check on him.

"How soon can you begin the operation?"

"The moment we get your permission."

"ღ*~+~*ღ"

A map wasn't needed for Ichiru to find Zero, he only asked where his brother was to be sure that he wasn't in the middle of some important procedure. Ichiru let his instinct guide him—he could sense, he could feel in the air the path that would lead him to Zero, like they were connected physically by an invisible string.

The String of Fate was what he would have called it, but knowing Zero, his brother would have just rolled his eyes at that theory. Ichiru knew that Fate had been the one to gift him with a twin. They had a bond deeper than any other two people could, even lovers. They began t/ogether, and so they would probably end, so why was Zero so desperately trying to sever that which brought them together as brothers?

He somehow ended up before the door to room one-oh-four, which turned out to be closed and locked.

"Zero?"

There was no response. Ichiru tried not to panic as he jiggled the handle, sensing his other half behind the door.

"Zero..." he pressed his palms and forehead against the lacquered wood, closing his eyes to try to make him aware of his presence. "Nurse, nurse!"

Ichiru shot back through the halls, running back to the room where he sensed his mother and the other adults, none of them noticing him as Sayori discussed Zero's injury. He paid attention to the explanation, drawing several conclusions, most of which he feared from the conversation.

"You have my permission, do whatever you can for him." Hikari was saying.

"Excuse me, but my brother's door is locked, I can't get in, and he won't open it for me. He always answers for me, he always does!" Ichiru yelled, scaring himself from the hysterical note in his voice, his sanity beginning to unravel with worry and fear.

"He must have locked the door." Sayori fretted as she dug into her pocket, pulling out a set of keys, trying to run, her heels clicking loudly with her long strides.

They rushed ahead of the others, even Hikari, who was still utterly stressed. As they approached Sayori jammed her key into the lock forcefully, turning until a click resonated. She pushed open the door quietly, allowing Ichiru to have a peek into the room.

"We'll be taking him into surgery soon, so please be quick and don't be rough with him, he was complaining of a ringing in his ears, his hearing and sight fading in and out. There's no head trauma, but we're sure it's from the pain he's experiencing, though we're going to check again to be sure.

He barely heard the words she was saying, not with his twin lying on one of the two beds in the bland, sky blue room. His right arm was propped up onto some pillows. Good arm over his eyes, Zero's body was tense, rigid even, teeth clenched, blood dripping from his lip from biting so hard. Though Ichiru knew what he was feeling was only a ghost of the agony Zero must have been going through right then, when he looked at the swollen limb, his blood filled with cold fury, resonating deep pain.

"How dare he do this to you..." his voice cracked as he approached his other half, examining his face.

His right cheek was slightly swollen, a shadow sweeping across his cheekbone, what he knew was a bruise. Around his collarbone as well as the other bony areas around his right side, along his ribs, slight bruises were beginning to blossom across the skin. Ichiru cupped his brother's face between his palms very gently, pressing his lips to his forehead, a trembling finger tracing the hallow of his eyelid as he wiped away a tear of pain from the fringe of his brother's lashes.

Zero couldn't model now, with what would be happening to his arm. Surgery meant incisions, incisions meant stitches, and even then, when everything was removed, he would be left with deep scars. The insertion of the plates and screws would probably change the shape of his skin as well, so how could he model ion such a perfectionist industry with an imperfect limb?

With what Sayori had told them, he wouldn't be able to bake or ice cakes for a while either. Ichiru wouldn't let him if it meant that he would be pained to even hold the piping bag, or grip a spatula.

Kanamé Kuran took away those two joys from his brother, and with scarring and the chance that the bone might not be healed, it was possibly taken away forever, and he would be crushed when he found out.

Turning away, the younger twin bolted from the hall, through the waiting room and foyer, and back down the street to the café, seeing nothing but the heat of red through the cool lilac of his eyes...

Inside the room, Zero stirred from his thoughts and distractions, hearing finally returning to him.

"...Ichiru?"

"ღ*~+~*ღ"

"We better get back to the agency." Touga frowned, imploring Hikari to hold up her cell.

He held his iPhone up in return, allowing the phones to exchange information with each other.

"Now you have my number. Call me if you need any help, alright?"

Hikari nodded, placing her phone besides her as she stared out into space in her armchair in the lounge, waiting for Kain to come back from his talk with Kaien. She refused to be a part of the conversation in her current state, lest she murder the man on site. Touga gave her a quick hug before running out to the parking lot.

Both men were chattering about law details that he had to think about to understand. He cleared his throat once, signaling for them to wrap it up so they could return to the building and check on Kaname's condition.

"We'll be keeping in touch." Kain nodded, flipping his cell closed as he turned for the building.

"Bright kid." Kaien commented in passing, pushing up his glasses along the bridge of his nose. "He can be scary as hell though, when debating. No wonder he works for Hikari."

"She isn't too thrilled with you either, you know." Touga commented offhandedly as a company car pulled up to the curb. "You're lucky she didn't lop off your head."

Kaien snorted at that as they slid across the black leather of the cab in the back, his lips pursing into a thin line as he looked out the window, tugging at Touga's heartstrings.

"I'm sorry, I should have watched my tongue." he hesitated, hands hovering over Kaien's body, unsure if he wanted to be touched. "I didn't mean to upset you... honey—"

"Don't worry about it." Kaien smiled sadly. "I have you, and you're the only one I want."

The raven-haired model gave a small smile, resting his hands on Kaien's shoulders as they shared a chaste kiss. He pulled away and licked his lips, tasting the lingering sweetness of his mouth against his own, and dived back in for more of his sweet honey.

"You know I love you, right?" Touga whispered huskily in between kisses, gasping when he could feel the photographer's lips trace lightly against his jaw and up to his ear.

"Not as much as I love you." Kaien laughed airily, wrapping his arms around Touga and inhaled the manly scent of his cologne and skin, feeling Touga bury his nose into his hair, the two embracing each other for the rest of the car ride.

Their cocoon of bliss was broken when the hit the speed bumps near the parking garage, the car bringing them around the side entrance of the agency. Kaien stiffened as he exited the car, Touga coming to massage his shoulders behind him in the shadow of the building.

"What is it?" he asked, curious as to what could have him so wound up.

He was certain that the scene looked familiar but when Kaien tried to remember, his own mind shut him out, which was probably for the best, since he wasn't in the greatest of conditions at the moment.

"Someone else is here, someone who shouldn't be." Kaien muttered, pulling a key from his hairband to unlock the side door with.

But as they approached the double doors, scratches and dents in the once shining silver lock evident, it was clear that someone had forced their way in. Touga touched the door with the tip of his finger, surprised when it gave way just like that.

"Fuck!"

The whisper was barely audible, but it echoed in the stairwell, making both men stare to the airspace above them. They could hear the jiggling of a locked door and the muted paces of footsteps against metal as the unknown intruder climbed another flight in search of an open door.

"You call the Hunters, I'll incapacitate him." Kaien mouthed, his voice too quiet to make an echo.

"No, what if that psycho has a gun or something, we're unarmed you idiot! We may have hunted in the past but we don't know what we're up against with humans, which this one definitely is."

"Kuran! Show your fucking face you coward!" the man's voice thundered.

He lost all patience, letting bullets fly and ricochet into the door. Kaien and Touga knew that voice perfectly, since the last time they heard it had been less than fifteen minutes ago in the hospital. Anti-vampire bullets wouldn't hurt humans, the reason that sent them racing up five flights of stairs to where they could feel both Ichiru, and Kaname's presence somewhere within that fifth level, thankfully nowhere near the enraged teen and his bullets.

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU! HOW DARE YOU HURT MY BROTHER!"

"Calm your ass now!" Touga roared, grabbing Ichiru from behind, knocking the gun out of his hands and down one level, where Kaien backtracked to retrieve it.

"Let me go! I'll kill him! He's fucked over my brother's life! LET ME GO I SAID!"

Ichiru's voice was hoarse as it snarled from his throat, poisonous death lacing each word as a promise for the pureblood. He struggled, to no avail, in Touga's grip, thrashing this way and that as the older model carried him down the stairs.

"How the hell did you get your hands on Bloody Rose?" Kaien asked, shooting an uncharacteristic glare to Ichiru as he emptied the clip and unloaded the bullet in the barrel. "Your parents should have the weapons locked up tightly, the association's going to be pissed if they find out about this."

"No one hurts my brother and gets away with it." Ichiru muttered, not listening to a word either of them said.

Kaien stopped what he was doing, brows knitting as he approached the teen who looked so much like Zero, who looked so much like Yami, who acted so much like Hikari. He grasped Ichiru's chin between his fingers, wanting to test something out for himself. He spoke softly, and clearly, searching his eyes.

"Zero."

Emotion flickered behind Ichiru's eyes as he grimaced, tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

"Zero..." Ichiru whispered softly.

Kaien frowned, his fears confirmed.

"You need psychiatric help." the photographer murmured gently, petting the teen's head, watching as his face contorted in pain as he began to wail and sob, the beginnings of his mental breakdown wreaking havoc on not only his mind, but his body as well. "Let's take him back to the hospital, Touga."

The raven-haired model said nothing as he adjusted Ichiru in his arms, carrying him down to the ground floor where Kaien had already called the car back. They slid in and adjusted seat belts accordingly, minding the way the teen was laying across both their laps. As they traveled to the hospital, Ichiru showed little signs of life past breathing, as if he had shrunk back into himself to mull things over.

"He better not be going into shock." Touga panicked, shaking his shoulder.

"Mmn." was Ichiru's only response as he weakly swatted the hand away, barely noticing much else, not his mother's worried gasp, Kain's questions, not Sayori's inquiries or what had happened to him, nor the needles he felt being inserted into his arm.

Ichiru felt nothing, except the duality within him, the duality of the flames of passion and the icy indifference to the notion of death.

"ღ*~+~*ღ"

A/N: What do you think? Was it boring? The next chapter is far more interesting, since I already have it planned, and the plot becomes far more complex. It's like winding a rubber band until it snaps.

'What? All this over a broken wrist?' is what you might be thinking. If you think about it, Ichiru's reasoning holds true. Zero's main talents are looking sexy, (modeling) and cooking. Since modeling doesn't like imperfections, and cooking require both hands to be done effectively, Zero's basically S.O.L. with being able to do the things he loves. The fact that the type of break causes pain after healing, is no laughing matter.

Ichiru's matter will be explained in the next chapter.

Review: Please? It feels so good to be back, and I missed all of you. My love will be yours forever if you do!