A/N: Action, fluff, and new concepts for you guys. Yummy! :D Sorry that I made you guys go a whole, what, twenty days without any story development? DX This will be the only author note, as I don't want to spoil the mood at the end. So I'll just stick the Review: I would love you forever. Right there.

Whenever you hear things like "drop board" or whatever, just think of a chess board. The game of Uzumaki Drop is very similar to chess, except with a few key differences mentioned in the previous chapter. They practice on little drop boards, the bigger ones are used for tournaments and serious play. There are a lot of Zeros in the one scene (the water figurines) because they use him as pawns.

Bear with me, as the middle has a point.

"ღ*~+~*ღ"

"I have a plan, take me with you!"

"You!"

"Call me 'Chii'."

Zero was desperate enough to try any strategy at the moment. As the council members descended, he gathered up the bleeding blond, one of the faster vampires missing her by centimeters. It was all the incentive he needed. The hunter fired a few rounds into the crowd, each bullet hitting its mark. The pair held their breath, but no one shattered.

Damn! He must not have shot through a head or heart.

"They need me, we all have orders, they don't think you would threaten my life. If you bite me, that could stop them."

"Why the hell should I take your word for it when they just tried to kill you?!" Zero glared at Chii, not buying the act.

"Just, trust me!"

They made a mad dash to the shadows of the buildings, confusion overtaking the streets. Zero fired a few more shots before disappearing into a dusty apartment to replace the magazine.

"Our Mistress told them to keep me alive, you have to trust me! Go into the middle of the alley and bite my neck, spill my blood, do something that shows them you're serious!"

"Alright! Damn, if that doesn't stop them I'm going to let them feed on you!" Zero snarled.

"It will!"

He followed Chii's advice and changed their location, running out into the open, before sinking his fangs into her thin skin. He could taste the bitter iron that flooded his mouth, nearly making him gag. The blood was undrinkable, and he wasn't about to try.

The action seemed to work - for a moment every vampire stilled, giving the hunter half a second to scan the area. Two of the council was down, ready to burst into dust and shards.

A bullet flew past him in that same second.

"Kiryuu!!"

Zero recognized that voice. A man that he had seen numerous times before at the Hunter's Association, medium height, scarred, muscular, with a bit of facial hair, stepped out from the shadows. He threw a harsh glare at his fellow hunter, stalling the council for a longer period. They looked on, unsure about their next course of action.

"I got reports of high vampire activity in this side of town. I thought they," he nodded his head to the council "were trying to murder you in revenge for that pureblood. I was going to get you outta this mess, until I realized that they're right to hunt you."

The council watched as he cocked his gun and aimed straight for Zero's head.

"Let the girl go."

"He's our kill! We have orders!"

"I have orders as well."

"Kill him first!"

They crouched, ready to spring, but no one wanted to get in the way of the gun. If any one of them was killed by his bullet, nothing could be done to wage war on the association. Not that it was necessary, considering their current relations...

Zero couldn't die yet, he still had someone to murder! Even then, when he finally did request for his life to end, he wouldn't want any of them to do it. He would want a certain brunette to kill him. The thought made his heart thud, though in this moment it was pumping liquid lead through his body, filling his legs so he couldn't escape. He was trapped from above, his front, and his right. Now that his movements had become predictable to the vampires, he was likely to get cut off before he would make it to the shelter of a building. Running through the alley behind would cause him to be flagged down, and he couldn't kill the opposing hunter.

"...zero..." Chii whimpered in a frightened tone.

The avenue above held only one enemy, he could escape via the archway overhead. It would clear enough room to assassinate the rest of the council and leave the grounded hunter unharmed.

He squeezed the handle of his gun, friction so intense his skin nearly melded to the metal. It threatened to explode with the pressure his trigger finger was exerting.

"Zero..." she chided.

A tendril of excitement awakened in him. He retracted his fangs from the blond and pointed his gun upwards, that same excitement spreading heat through his entire body. The vampires were getting impatient at the association's hesitation.

"Zero!"

He would prove that he wasn't helpless!

The heat reached his fingertips, causing his hand to jerk, launching his bullet in addition to the one the other hunter shot. Council members flew forward, raring to tear the ex-human to shreds. The bullet Zero loosed split clean through the single vampire on the archway, blood and dust raining down. His hand felt inseparable from his gun as he staggered backwards, the impact force of the other hunter's bullet ghosting through the girl standing against him. The bullet solidified when it let her human aura, clipping the ends of a few strands of Zero's hair. The spell that increased its area of effect grazed his cheek.

A near miss to becoming dust, the other hunter was already aiming for a second shot.

"We're gonna die!"

She flinched as the heat from Zero's grip burst into thick thorny vines with the scent of sandalwood. His eyes widened in surprise as they swept through the alleyway, ensnaring the vampires. He had no idea in hell how this happened, but he wasn't going to let it go to waste. The vines felt like a metallic, yet natural extension of his arm. He could feel the thorns piercing through flesh, drinking whatever blood it found.

"What the hell are you?" Chii asked.

Zero had no answer to that. He didn't even know anymore.

He flexed the vines, the action bringing a surge of blood and immense pleasure to his core.

The scattered tendrils were being ripped and torn. Zero wasn't familiar enough with his new appendages to control them well. What had bought him some time was now becoming a burden.

"I don't care what we were ordered! Kill them both!"

A bullet cut through the vines to lodge in the woman's skull, making her explode into shards. The other hunter reloaded his gun, cursing for not counting his rounds. Zero tried to curl the vines around the bodies of its captives, intent on crushing them. Teeth and claws came out to fight off the offending bonds, some using whatever powers they might have possessed.

This was the distraction he had been waiting for. Zero shoved Chii away from him, pointing to the other hunter with his normal hand.

"Go with him!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" she ran around him to the scarred man, tugging on his arm insistently. He looked up, surveyed the scene and decided to take her to safety, likely hoping that Zero and the council would eliminate each other.

Zero felt the blood flow from his vines reversing. He looked to the council to find a few vampires trying to bite through the metal of the vines. They were taking back their blood.

"You're being unreliable again."

Everyone looked up at the arch to the owner of those words. Kaname's slender silhouette towered over the scene below. His eyes lit crimson for a moment before choking noises issued from the throats of the council. Zero turned, bracing himself in anticipation of an attack until he saw the puce faces of the vampires. Their hands clutched their throats.

The pressure was building.

It sounded like cannons were going off as they exploded into dust, crystals and blood, which splattered all over the immediate area, showering Kaname and Zero in a spray of stale smelling blood.

It was out to get Zero, he would swear it.

Kaname came down from the arch, landing right next to the hunter.

"You can let go now, the threat is gone." the pureblood reached for his gun. "Come on,"

He tried coaxing the gun out of his hands, only to be met by a barrier. The metallic vines reacted, moving of their own will to climb and ensnare Kaname, digging into his flesh to seek nourishment.

"Bloody Rose, if you have awakened that much, you must recognize my voice? As well as the taste of my blood. Would you kindly take down those vines restraining me?" Kaname asked.

Zero's body jerked as the vines slackened.

"There is someone I want to protect." he continued.

They began to retract at the sound of his voice, choosing instead to slip and scrape around its master, uselessly sinking its thorns into his flesh. Kaname took hold of the barrel, ignoring the barrier's crackling protest against his skin.

"Grnn..."

The pain was beginning to get to Zero as well, he and the gun clinging to each other in fear of separation. Kaname exerted more pressure, trying not to hurt Zero, prying it out of his grip bit by bit.

"AH!"

Another bullet flew, the result of an accidental discharge. Zero ignored the shot, sulking about the situation.

Bloody Rose was taken from its master, vines retracting into the metal. Kaname dropped the angry weapon, taking Zero's shoulders to examine him. The hunter huffed from exhaustion; he had exerted too much power. Though he had managed to kill a few council members and their leader, Kaname had to sweep in and save him again. He glared up at the pureblood's worried eyes, thoughts as pessimistic as ever. He had lost control of his powers, something he hadn't even known that he had. What happened? When Yuuki was alive he was so strong. Though he was gaining power, his strength was disappearing.

A warm weight collided into him, making the hunter stagger back. Zero snapped out of his thoughts when he realized what had just happened.

Kaname had collapsed.

"Kuran!"

Zero eased the heavy pureblood to the ground. His brunette hair fell into his eyes as Zero looked him over. What the hell was wrong with him? He had never displayed this kind of behavior before. Had the misfire hit him? It didn't, right? Otherwise he would have fallen right right after the bullet penetrated him. But he did smell Kaname's blood. Thanks to all of the blood that had been spilled in the area he wasn't sure if he was bleeding a little or a lot.

"Hey, wake up."

He brushed back Kaname's bangs, seeking out the rust colored orbs that hid behind pale lids.

"Oi,"

Quickly, he unbuttoned the front of the pureblood's uniform, noting a small splash of blood along the white material. Oh please no.

As his fingers danced along the dark material of his undershirt, feeling for a warm wet spot that could possibly have been blood from a wound. Kaname's eyelids fluttered.

"I'm collapsed, not passed out you idiot."

That made Zero jump, sighing with relief.

"Who's the dramatic idiot here? You're the one trying to scare me into thinking that I've accidentally shot you."

"Well I'm poisoned, not shot. That still doesn't change the fact that you're an idiot."

"Maybe I should just leave you here then."

Zero regretted the words as soon as they left his lips. Kaname hadn't left him there after he feinted on two separate occasions, nor did he leave Zero to fend for himself in the battle against the council. Most of it anyways, which he admittedly would have needed help in, since he couldn't control his very new, very draining powers. This time he felt that the guilt prickling in him was appropriate. Hurt echoed somewhere within him, which he promptly ignored. It was like he was carrying two hearts or something, with all of these dual feelings that had been plaguing him as of late.

"You must be exhausted." he commented offhandedly.

With an effort, he gathered up the tall pureblood into his arms.

"The Chairman keeps a residence around here somewhere, with a faded red awning."

"Around here?" Zero frowned in distaste. "It's inconspicuous, to say the least."

"ღ*~+~*ღ"

"Ichijou-kun,"

"Hm?"

"What's been going on with Kiryuu-kun and Kaname-sama?"

Takuma was taken aback for a moment, until he realized that Tsukiko was related to Hanabusa. It made perfect sense for her to notice anything unusual. He let up his influence over the wind, the lack of the shaping caress of his gale was instantly noticeable on her water pawns.

"So you noticed too." he said softly.

"I may be quiet, but that doesn't mean I can't hear, or see." she frowned.

"Ah, sorry Tsukiko-chan, I shouldn't have assumed,"

"It's alright." she assured, walking the water figurine of her brother around the board, throwing him off of the edge with her powers so he splashed into oblivion on the marble floor.

"You better not do that around the detectives." Shiki said, entering his dorm.

"Especially eye patch." Rima looked irritated. "He'll think less of us if you let Aidou die carelessly."

"He doesn't know if he approves of Uzumaki Drop or thinks of it as a part of our 'brutal' nature."

"Well you two seem awfully unhappy." Takuma mused.

"We went to the game room to get in some last minute practice, but ran into the Chairman and eye patch. We were going to come back upstairs and let them have the room, but the Chairman wanted to see what UD was about."

"He bribed us with a Pocky promise." Shiki provided. "He'll buy us some later today when he goes out."

"Long story short, eye patch made a face at our sharing blood."

"I wouldn't have pegged you two for the sensitive type." Takuma chortled.

"His face gets annoying, and that sounded like a bad pirate joke."

"Didn't you have an emergency stash in your room Rima-chan?"

"You smelled that muss Tsuki-chan, I'm not going back into my room until it's disinfected. I was surprised that Ruka went into that filth to get anything, even if she was embarrassed. She's usually the first to avoid things like that."

"Speaking of Ruka, where is she? I didn't see her at dinner?"

"Probably in Kaname's room, I probably would be too." Rima shrugged.

"Hm... I'll be back."

"Wait, where are you going?"

Shiki covered his nose with his pajama top.

"Pocky."

"You're hopeless Shiki-kun." Tsukiko laughed.

He crossed the hall to Rima's dorm, turning the handle haphazardly. The musty scent, now mingled with cleaning products, threatened to assault his senses. Carefully stepping over the foaming shampoo of the carpet, he padded over to the girl's vanity where the last box of Pocky, possibly in the school, sat. Shiki picked up the red packaging only to drop the box, sticky scarlet smearing one finger.

"Eugh,"

The girls were lucky to have their own private bathrooms in addition to the public ones. He turned on the faucet to wash off the gunk, only to find that it wasn't there anymore. Had he really touched that stuff, or was it his imagination? With a shrug he skinned the box off of the foil wrapped biscuits. A moment later Shiki was back by Rima's side. She sent a grateful look to him as a stick was lifted from the foil.

"What'd I miss?"

"We're just wondering when Ruka's going to come out. Kaname-sama does say things with an ambiguous nature." Tsukiko absentmindedly toyed with her queen piece - a water figurine of the late Yuuki.

"Probably not for a while, until after everyone's slept off the events. Though," Ichijou focused his powers on water-Yuuki, winds enveloping the figurine so that her form became taut and smooth as glass. "Do you think we should start using a new piece in place of Yuuki's? How will Kaname react to that?"

Yuuki's water figurine walked around the drop board, wandering into the group of drippy Zeros. They all stared at her until Ichijou expanded his wind control over the entire board, making every piece look like shiny glass. Little Yuuki smiled at them before Kaname came over from his king spot to stand between her and a few of the Zeros who, in turn, scowled at the unflinching pureblood replica.

"She has the queen's spot of the drop board. It's a powerful position that's hard not to notice. We'll have to ask Kaname-sama." Rima muttered, chewing another Pocky stick.

"Hopefully he'll skip over the moping and rearrange the ranks." Aidou said from the hallway. Everyone in the room turned to acknowledge his presence, decorated with pajamas and a plushie of their pureblood leader.

"There's such a thing as obsession you know." Tsukiko laughed at her brother, half worried about his fondness of Kaname. "Ruka will be jealous that you have that."

"She'll have to make one herself." he stuck his bandaged fingers out as proof of his hard work, beaming at them.

"I'm sure she'll just try to take yours." Ichijou chuckled along at his friend's innocence.

"All joking aside, he'll probably have to modify my game again."

"You think so?"

"I know so, knowing him. I still can't figure out why he put her in such a position of power in the first place..."

Aidou continued down the hall, stroking the felt of his Kaname plushie as he contemplated why he would give privilege of power to her before anyone else in the night class.

"ღ*~+~*ღ"

"Oi. You're heavy."

"I didn't complain when I carried you over a gate, across a courtyard and up a flight of stairs." Kaname laughed weakly. "You were dead weight then, so it was a lot harder."

"How the hell do you let someone poison you?" Zero growled.

"If I didn't drink it they would have sent someone to kill you on the spot. It was a fifty fifty chance that it was laced. The council was so self important that they liked to play games with their prey."

"Like you?" he huffed. Kaname said nothing to that. "You don't seem too worried about it."

Zero walked up the few steps to the porch of the building Kaname had indicated. He opened the door and brought the pureblood inside the clean abode. It looked like someone still cared for it even though it was weathered on the outside.

Closing the door behind him, the enveloping darkness made the hunter hyper-aware of the man in his arms. His comfortable warmth, weight, and the way his head rested weakly against his chest. His blood began to race.

"Uncomfortable?" the pureblood smirked, hearing the pounding beats.

"No." his traitorous heart lurched in surprise.

He couldn't hide anything, could he? Kaname shifted up, a hand gripping the hunter's shoulder for support.

"Your body is telling on you." he whispered against the hunter's ear, warm breath tickling the skin.

A fierce blush spill across his cheeks as he fumbled around the building, entering a side room where sunshine weakly streamed in from a window near a bed.

"The Chairman had this built long ago, but he never uses it. Still, he likes to keep it clean."

Zero wondered briefly how long "long ago" was if the building was in the abandoned district. He trudged forward, exhausted from the fight, and placed the heavy pureblood on top of the white duvet. Kaname's grip refused to let up, keeping the hunter pressed against him as he tried to get up.

"I haven't dismissed you yet." he murmured sleepily, arms snaking around the silver haired youth to hold him gently.

He would have had a damn heart attack if it wasn't so soothing. The pureblood was poisoned, possibly in the last stages of sobering up - he wasn't in the right state of mind, and possibly wouldn't remember much when the fog clears. That would be his excuse. Fingers caressed against auburn hair, feelings half content, half excited.

"I don't answer to you..." Zero informed, absentmindedly twirling a dark lock.

Kaname held him tighter, burying his nose into the soft strands of silver, inhaling. The hunter's stomach did funny little backflips.

"Is that so...?"

They lay that way for several minutes until Zero thought the pureblood had fallen asleep. He tried to disentangle himself from the man beneath him, but his arms still kept him firmly against his chest.

"Zero?"

"Hm?" he glanced up inquisitively.

The same turmoil waged beneath the rust color of his eyes. Now would be as good a time as any to tell Zero, when he was comfortable and happy, according to his heart, and had him for support.

Tell a truth or a lie?

Protect or expose?

Either way, one of them would always end up being hated.

He went with truth, and, guilt prickling worse than ever, took a separate avenue than originally intended.

"I'm sorry I hit you..."

It wasn't the truth he needed to tell, but he wasn't lying at least. Kaname brought a hand up to rest against the hunter's head, fingertips skimming the smooth cheek, feeling the heat and movement of blood beneath it. He was so hungry.

"Forget about it." he muttered, brows furrowing.

He had almost forgotten for himself.

"You can hit me back if you want."

"No."

The pureblood was taken aback by the abrupt reply. It wasn't angry, just instant, and decisive.

"Why not?"

"'Anger will do no good now.'"

Kaname's breath caught, he hadn't figured Zero ever paid attention to him. He brought his lips to the hunter's scalp, murmuring a low thank you.

Zero stilled, unsure of how much more he could take; their twin heartbeats reminded him of their awkward position. Placing a hand on the older man's shoulder, he carefully disentangled himself, to which Kaname didn't protest this time. Those lips were like poison. They were deadly devices that would one day make Zero bow to his whims...

"I'm going to see if the Chairman paid the utilities to this too." he muttered, staring into the dark hall.

The pureblood smiled and nodded, knowing Zero would feel the movement as he exited the room. Heat burned against their skin from where they had been touching, bare palms, arms, their chests trough their uniforms... They felt cold, alone without the comfort of each other's heat. The hunter closed his eyes, thinking back. He clenched his fists as he sorted through memories of his first few conversations with Yuuki.

"Someone with very gentle hands..."

It might well have been that pureblood who taught that girl how to have such a tender and loving heat towards us all. Zero had to choke back a sob. Realization struck.

So all that warmth was from him...

. . . . .

. . . .

. . .

. .

.