Ever since I first met them, I could never be sure if I would call them the right name. But over time, I discovered a fail safe way to identify which twin was who. I noticed that Zero had small flecks of blue in his lavender eyes and Ichiru had pink.

"Zero?"

I saw him clench his teeth as he heard that name. He wasn't in his uniform and was wearing clothes I didn't recognise. His hair was also was longer than I remembered. I looked into his lavender eyes. Pink flecks shimmered in his iris. My eyes widened in realisation. I reached out and hugged him close to me.

"Ichiru."

I felt hesitation before he hugged me with equal force. He hid his head in my hair like he used to when he was little. I always tried to hide the fact that I lost Ichiru in my heart, but at that one moment, that moment when he hugged me back, I felt relief and joy. He wasn't dead. My wish as a child came true.

Every time after Zero went to sleep, I would stare out the window and whisper, "Ichiru is not dead. He will come back to us." But after saying that for years, they felt like empty words.

Hopeless.

Meaningless.

It was just before the Chairman decided to start Cross Academy did I stop hoping, praying and believing that he could possibly be alive. My heart couldn't take anymore, all I felt was...

disappointment.

But now, he was here in my arms, alive and healthy. Healthier than I had ever seen him. I was just so happy. Tears of joy fell from my eyes. He was here, with me. "I missed you so much. I've been so worried."

He gently released me and I saw his happy smile. His hand shakily reached for my chin and he tilted my head towards him. "Show me." I slowly parted my lips to show my larger than average canines. His face was full of different feelings: anger, sadness and was it jealousy?

Suddenly his hand moved down to my neck and pushed me against the wall. My hands scrambled to try to release the hold on my neck, finding it hard to breathe. As the world became dark, I could hear Shizuka saying: "Well done, Ichiru."

I woke up to a cold cloth running over the skin of my face. I felt achy and battered and the room was filled with the smell of my blood. My throat felt raw. As my eyes finally adjusted to the bright light, I released I was tied up to a high steel chair underneath a bright light. Although all my wounds had healed, the pain remained. The cloth in Ichiru's hand was stained red with my blood.

"It's been a while, my pet."

I felt my body shiver. It had been a while since I heard that voice being directed to me. I looked up and I could see her silhouette from the door. She held herself as elegantly as she did when I first saw her. And her face. The face that burned into my mind when she ruined the family that saved me.

"It seems that your blood has changed since the time I first met you. Who's blood did you drink?" She walked towards me, the sound of her zori echoing off the floor, making me feel nervous and vulnerable.

She stared at me with her piercing eyes. "I am your master, the one who changed you into a vampire. Now answer me." I felt my brain go numb and words formed.

"I did not drink anyone's blood."

Shizuka grabbed my hair and pulled hard, so my face was in front of hers. "Don't lie to me." Her voice was threatening and menacing. But I wasn't functioning from my own will. She was using her powers as a pureblood.

I stared at her blankly and repeated, "I did not drink anyone's blood."

That angered Shizuka and she swung me by my hair to the ground. I was confused - my blood has changed since she drank from me all those years ago?

"Dispose of her. I have no need for. Do what you wish." I saw Ichiru bow to her loyally and it made me disgusted. But what could I do? I was lying on the floor, bound to a chair.

I was helpless.

Useless.

Even after Ichiru released me and cleaned me up, that thought remained with me. What have I really done to help Ichiru? He was my brother as well. Yet I have done nothing to help him. He was being used like a servant to Shizuka and he still is. I felt terrible. Mom had told me to take care of Ichiru while she wasn't at home, yet I couldn't even fulfil her request.

"I'm sorry about that, Tsuki." He placed his fingers gently on the bruises on my neck. "I can't bring myself to go against her wishes." His eyes looked over his shoulder, away from my eyes, as if he knew that he was in trouble or was doing something wrong. But everything around me was making me confused.

Then a sudden realisation.

"You're in ... love with her?"

As those words left my lips, I felt a flurry of emotions:

anger,

hurt,

sadness.

But one memory stopped all those negative feelings.

When we were younger, Ichiru, Zero and I would play with the other vampire hunter children. Everyone would be watching Zero as he continued to practice his accuracy. His determination had escalated after the incident with the school nurse, the bandage on his face as evidence. But Zero fascinated all the other children. He was seen as talented.

And then, I would see Ichiru sitting by himself on the park bench, his eyes longing to have the same attention that Zero was receiving. I would sit next to him on that bench and together we would watch Zero practice.

Ichiru never felt part of the group and didn't feel loved. Sometimes, when mother and father were praising Zero, Ichiru would quietly leave the room.

To have found someone that would direct almost all their attention to Ichiru is, to him, a wish come true.

"I'm happy for you." I saw he was a little surprised.

But his smile was like a small light of hope in my life within this gloomy room.