Disclaimer: First and foremost, I do not own any of the characters in this story except for the OCs that would be appearing from time to time. I'm only borrowing them for this story. ^^

A/N: Hi there to all readers! This was basically done as a request from one of my readers who suggested if I could write a Kaname and Zero pairing this time. Needless to say, I didn't know what to write at all since I've been pretty much doing a Zero and Yuki pairing for a very long time and right now, I still am continuing my unfinished stories. But then, I thought it wasn't a bad idea at all to try it so I assured her that I would make one though I don't know how this one would turn out since it was practically my first time. I tried to incorporate some ideas on how I would set the environment of the story and came up with another unique plot that I think would be a good one. I only hope that you guys would like this and kindly tell me if you like the idea or not…. Anyway, I've been dragging on for quite a while. So let's get started…

Please Read and Review… ^_^ because I need to know whether it would be good to continue on with this new project of mine…

Summary: It's no longer time to dream. The unstoppable wheel of fate has started spinning again. The banquet fight has begun. A small storm is starting to brew in this isolated world. They are the game pieces. In order to be victorious, without spilling a single drop of blood, they must again face the darkness they left behind. What was in the eyes of the ones who were fated to die?

Kaname Kuran had decided to be a part of a joint project from both the vampire council and the hunter's association wherein both hunters and vampires would work together in various missions. In an effort to promote coexistence between the two races, several agree to take on the job. He becomes partnered up with Zero Kiryuu who seemed to remain indifferent with him despite the fact that they met each other back at Cross Academy. As their time together passes by, unbeknownst to them, their feelings seem to grow. Despite the fact that Kaname is a vampire and Zero is a hunter. But both are unaware of their true identities and dark secrets. When they find out the truth about each other, would it change everything between them?

Chapter One: Fate Begins to Move

The airship lumbered low overhead, its long, lined belly a dull smear of silvery light in the fog as it reflected the gas lamps of the city beneath. The heavy, ponderous thrum of its engines reverberated through the streets of the southern part of the city, making the grimy windows of the tall, close-packed terraces murmur in complaint. Like some vast, half-seen beast, it passed over the maze of alleys and cobbled walks, too huge to consider the insignificant beings that travelled with them – and finally it moved on, its engines fading to a dull hum, and then gradually to silence.

There was a chill in the air tonight, a cold nip that had crept in from the river and settled into the bones of the city. And of course there was the fog, which laid itself over everything like a gossamer blanket and softened the glow of the black lampposts to a haze. The fog came almost every night in autumn, as much a part of the city as the hansom cabs that rattled around the Town Square or the Marketplace that walked their beats north of the great river. Not to the south, though; not in the Old Town. That was the domain of the mad and the crooked and the things best left unsought of. The good people of the capital knew better than to remain there after the sun had dipped beneath the skyline; not if they valued their necks, anyway.

Footsteps echoed eerily through the silence and the occasional shifting of stones as well as scrunching of glass could be heard. It went on as a certain individual combed through the deserted alleyways. The clouds shifted and this mysterious stranger was illuminated by the moon's pale rays. A young man with silver hair who seemed to look no older than nineteen continued his way deeper into the darkness. His rare amethyst eyes that looked silver at times seemed to bore no hint of emotion whatsoever. He wore a white dress shirt with loose necktie and black vest underneath his knee-length coat which rustled as he treaded on. A glint of light could be seen as his necklace bounced on his chest. On thin leather chord laid a silver cross with mysterious markings.

Zero Kiryuu listened to the quiet left in the wake of the airship. Somewhere distant, a rusty steamer sounded its horn as it made its way up the river. Beyond that, there was nothing but the soft hiss of a nearby gaslight. No footsteps, no voices, and only the dim whiteness at either end of the road, swallowing the cobbles and the weathered stone shops with stern placards above their doorways.

He headed off through the streets, walking warily along the cobbles, eyes and ears alert. Absently, he slid his gun from his coat and held it ready as he walked. Its customized chain making clinking sounds but he wrapped it in one of his hands to stop the faint sounds. The firearm was silver with the words Bloody Rose etched in its body. This close to the river, chances were good that he would run into nothing other than what he searched for; but it was dead men who took chances, so his father said. And he should know. He cheated death so many times on so many occasions for the last few years in his messed-up life.

A sound raised out of the murk then – a high gibbering howl, rising to a crescendo and then fading – a cry not human, nor bird or animal. Zero tried to pinpoint its source, but the mist baffled his attempts. But it was close, no doubt about that.

Ever since he arrived in this part of the city, he had begun to feel a faint presence but he couldn't quite identify it at first. But he couldn't mistake that one of those auras was the enemy he was supposed to hunt down. It was quite dangerous doing this alone like his teacher told him but he didn't want to rely on that person. He refused to accept the help of that arrogant pureblood bastard.

He picked up his pace, accelerating to a jog. Down a narrow alley, where the houses leaned inward and no lights burned. He stepped over the slumped body of a vagrant, who lay unconscious in the shadow of a set of stone steps, reeking of rotgut and mumbling to himself as he stirred restlessly, plagued by nightmares. The man was taking his life in his hands, sleeping on the streets in the Old Town, but by the smell and look of him he didn't have much life left anyway. Zero ignored him. This was how life was in this city, and you either held on, or fell by the wayside like that fellow had.

Something had moved at the end of the alley, where it met a narrow thoroughfare. Despite himself, Zero breathed in sharply, his knuckles whitening on the grip of his pistol as he halted. A wolf was poised there, watching him, frozen in the process of crossing the alley entrance. It held his gaze for a moment, amber eyes studying him in the murk; then it slunk away, dismissing him. Evidently, it had recently fed, and was not yet interested in another meal.

He didn't fancy blowing out his cover by using his abilities on the wolf. His aura would instantly alert his enemy of his presence and he would end up chasing after it again. There was no doubt that he was going to be scolded for going of somewhere again but he needed this outlet. After everything else that happened to him, this was the only thing he could do. He couldn't be himself in that place after all. But he couldn't leave it either because he was needed there.

Zero let out his breath softly, relaxing. Wolves were a hazard throughout the city, even north of the water. They were rarer up there, of course, and usually ended up being shot, but while they kept breeding in the Old Town, they'd keep crossing the river at night. Not a few vagrant orphans and painted ladies had fallen victim to the hungry wolves of the city.

He gave it a few moments to be on its way, and then he hurried down the alley and onward. Again, the gibbering, insane cry of his quarry sounded through the fog, very close now. It was going to ground, heading back to its lair.

He's surprised it out near the Town Square. It wasn't the first time it had strayed out of its home territory. Two babies gone missing from their cribs, both the work of the thing he hunted. It was his job to make sure it didn't happen again. Bad enough that a large portion of the city was deadly by night, bad enough that the honest shopkeepers had to hurry back to their homes on the other side of the river before the sun went down; but when the creatures that stalked the streets started roaming beyond the Old Town, it was time to take action.

The noise of his boots was swallowed up by the gently drifting murk as he headed towards the source of the cry. The shops had given way to dereliction by now, and ramshackle stone houses leered at him with broken teeth and jagged eyes. He ran over what he knew of his quarry, preparing for confrontation the way his father and so many others had taught him.

It was a Level End, of that he was sure. As if the missing babies weren't enough, he'd already seen it when he chased it off back at Town Square. They made their lairs in quiet areas, dark and sheltered from the daylight. Usually high up, because they climbed so well and it was safer – lots of escape routes. They never corner themselves. The area around the lair tended to be scattered with rat bodies, which were their staple diet when they couldn't get the blood of a human preferably younger ones. They were scavengers, back-stabbers, and cowards; like weasels to birds' eggs, they preyed on the defenseless young. They'd run if they could, but they'd fight if they had to, and Zero knew better than to underestimate insane vampires of any type.

Contrary to what everyone else believed, he did feel an ounce of regret and sadness for these beings. Those who had been cursed into an existence that lived solely to satisfy their intense need for blood and unable to control that instinct. He didn't know if he would ever get used to doing this but he also knew that granting them death would be their only way to freedom. He had always known that fact.

Zero slowed his pace, looking up at the tumbledown buildings that faded to black and then grey as they rose into the fog. Over there, a grim accountant's building frowned at him. The Level End had fallen silent now. Zero had no doubt that it was close by, but where? His bearing renewed, he struck out in a direct line, across a courtyard flagged with cracked and chipped slabs; and on the other side he halted.

"So this is where you've been hiding," he muttered. He had a habit of talking to himself – or to his quarry – when he was on a hunt alone. It quelled his unease. He was already nineteen, and a vampire hunter. He'd been earning his keep since a long time ago despite the fact that his family had left him a fortune. He was good. But the things he hunted were far more dangerous than any animal prey, and only a fool would think of them without fear.

Before him was a tall picture-house, a triangular construction with a blunted nose that nestled in the V between two converging roads. Dark and brooding, it loomed over him like the prow of a ship, for he stood at the tip of the V, and it raised three storey's high. Its lower levels were boarded up entirely and most of its upper windows had been smashed. Once, it had held a cinematograph, a wonder of science that made moving pictures appear, and people from all over the city had flocked to see it. Now it was just another rundown facility that had once been an entertainment for people now lie in ruins and forgotten by time.

It had to be here. It had all the hallmarks of a classic Level End lair. And besides, his intuition crowed at him, you know it's in there. In your blood is the blood of a vampire hunter; isn't that what father always said? You've got the senses just like he had. You just know. He kept all of his senses on high alert as he treaded through the enemies den.

Zero scouted round the exterior of the building, but he could see no obvious way in. Not that it would make much difference to a Level End; they were gifted burglars, with their long, spindly fingers and narrow, skeletal bodies, and a window was as good as a door to them. He tugged at the boards over the entrance, but they held fast. Undeterred, he headed over to the narrow house that nestled in behind the cinema, rubbing shoulders with the grand old building. The lock on the door had long since been broken. He pushed it open cautiously, the muzzle of his gun poking carefully into the darkness that lay beyond.

Nothing stirred.

The room smelled musty, with a faint sickly-sweet edge to it. Zero waited a moment for his eyes to adjust to the gloom and then stepped inside without a sound. The Level End would run if it knew he was coming; his only hope of catching it lay in stealth. Quietly, he shut the door, and the chill darkness consumed him.

He chewed his lower lip, senses straining to pick up a noise, a glimpse, anything that might warn him of the insane vampire's presence.

The interior of the room was a mess, he saw. Faint light struggled in through a single filth-streaked window – which miraculously had managed to remain whole – and by it he could spot the half-chewed mangled corpses of rats and a few small dogs, strewn about the room. The smell that hung in the still air was of old blood and dust.

Satisfying himself that the Level End was not in the immediate vicinity, he pushed quietly onwards. The house had only a single downstairs room, with steps leading to the next floor. It had been a humble dwelling even before the dereliction of the Old Town overtook it; now it was crumbling inside and out.

He ascended the steps into the waiting darkness above. Here, ragged cloth curtains had been left hanging over the pair of windows that allowed the muted gaslight glow inside. It was even darker than the last, and smelled of animal – a musky scent that made him gag as he crept up. This one was scattered with boxes and old crates, a hundred hiding-places, any one of which might conceal the quarry he sought. Quietly, quietly, he stepped into the room. The night air seemed to exude menace, a cold deeper than the night chill that slipped through his nostrils and down his throat to cool his heart.

A thump on the ceiling made him lurch in alarm, and he instinctively brought up his gun.

Upstairs. It was on the top floor.

He crossed the room soundlessly, his anti-vampire gun trained on the hatch at the top of a rickety ladder. It seemed a little lighter up there. For a moment, he fancied he saw something flit across the hatchway, but then it was gone, and he was unsure if it had even been there at all.

He pushed down the trepidation in his gut and put one hand to the ladder rung, the wood rough beneath his palms. His weapon aimed up the ladder, he crept slowly, silently, praying that the aged wood would not creak and give him away. Miraculously, it held his weight with ease, making not a sound. Up, up – each step seeming like a mile.

He poked his head out of the hatch, gun peeping out with him. There were few nauseating moments when he expected to be hit from any direction – he was sure to check up, as well – but nothing came. Cautiously, he ascended until his head and shoulders were in the room.

It was a bedroom, the same size as the other two floors. A single bed stood aslant against one wall, its bedcovers long disintegrated into a cobweb of frail strands. More pieces of rat and other, less identifiable animals were strewn here and there, but the room was largely empty. Where the window should have been, a great hole gaped in the wall, allowing in soft wisps of fog and the glow from the lamp-posts. Zero clutched his coat tighter to his chest with one hand and climbed into the room. The Level End was not here.

Then what had made the noise?

He stepped over the corpse of something pale and lightly furred, drawing closer to the hole in the wall and ceiling. What could have caused this, he had no idea. Shoddy workmanship, perhaps, was causing the wall to collapse under its own weight? A stray bomb from an airship? Who could say?

"A, so that is how you get in," he muttered.

He looked down. The fog prevented a clear view of the cobbles beneath him, a dozen meters below, but he did not think it would slow his fall very much if he should slip from the ledge.

There was really no question of turning back, however. Not this close. He meant to rid the city of one more insane vampire tonight.

Treading with care, he stepped out on to the ledge, testing its stability by steadily applying his weight until he was certain it would not crumble. His gun in his right hand, his left trailing along the wall from the safety of the hole and began to shuffle along the ledge. To his right, an ocean of fog waited, stirring hungrily. Beneath his feet there was scarcely twenty centimeters of granite and mortar holding him aloft.

It came for him when he was halfway there. So deeply intent was he on keeping from toppling that he was a moment too slow in raising his gun. A dark, scrawny shape, a flash of insane crimson eyes and short, needle-point teeth, and then the roar of his firearm and the terrifying sensation of weightlessness as he knew his balance failed him. For a moment that stretched into eternity, he hung above the fatal plunge to the street below; and then he fell.

His hand snapped out, instinct driving him faster than thought, and before his rational mind had caught up, he had already grabbed the ledge with one hand. The jolt as his shoulder took his weight almost tore his muscles there, but it was enough to make him swing round so that his other hand could grab the ledge too. Before he knew what had happened, he was holding on for his life above the fog-shrouded cobbles.

The Level End sounded its mad gibber as it disappeared into the house once more, knocking something over as it scuttled down the stairs, intent only on escape. Zero barely had time to feel the shock of his brush with death; he was already pulling himself up, cursing, his wiry but strong muscles lifting his light frame with ease. One knee, then another, and he got to his feet, shuffling hurriedly back along the ledge. He drew back the gun by the chain connecting it to his coat as he reached the hole that admitted him back to the upper floor of the ramshackle house. Had he hit the thing? Probably not. But he would not let it run, either.

The scent of his blood came about in the air.

Bright crimson trailed from the cut on his hand when he grabbed the ledge a few moments before. It was pretty deep as some drops fell to the dusty floor. Zero stared at his hand indifferently as he gazed at the wound. This was nothing at all. He sighed as he expanded his senses to track down the vampire that attacked him. In a few moments, he knew where he was headed. The cut in his hand began to heal in an alarming rate and in a few seconds, there was no hint that it was there in the first place. His pale skin was unmarked as always.

His caution forgotten in his haste, he ran across the room and slid down the ladder, blundering through the darkness in pursuit of his target. Down the stairs, towards the door that had been left open in the Level End's wake, he –

A shrieking and something cannoned into him from the side – some howling, whirling thing that scratched and flailed and spat. He yelled in surprise as it bore him to the floor, he struggled beneath its grasp; but it attacked in frenzy, and was too wild to be effective. His left forearm blazed from a deep scratch, and he ached from numerous other bruises that had been inflicted upon him.

He couldn't get his muscles to work as that Level End bore down its weight upon him. His eyes widened in surprise as the insane vampire pinned him down and its long-jagged teeth were nearing his neck. Crap! Why didn't I feel its presence earlier? He thought as he tried to pry the strong vampire of him. He closed his eyes as he tried to tap into that other part of him but before he could do so, he sensed a strong presence. He watched in surprise as the vampire was ripped away from him by a strong force and it crashed to the opposite wall with a sickening crack.

The creature's body fell with a loud thud on the ground and stained the floor crimson with its blood. Just like all vampires, its body would soon turn into dust. Though the duration of time would be different from others of its kind. With its death, it meant that the mission was over. His hunt had just ended.

Zero lay there in stunned surprise as he tried to catch up through the blur of events. He didn't need to look behind him to know who the newcomer was. If it was anything to go by, the aura screamed pureblood in his senses. He didn't really want to know how on earth this vampire knew where he was. If he didn't want to know the answer, he might as well not ask.

The newcomer's long black coat swished as he walked and the silver cross bounced on his wrist. His brown locks fell gracefully on his face and his garnet colored eyes was fixed on him intently. Zero knew instantly that Kaname Kuran was pissed about something.

Zero had known Kuran since way back and he was a pureblood vampire. They didn't get along well at first but somehow, they had grown to tolerate each other as time passed by. They went to the same school back in high school but they were never in the same class since that person was part of the Night Class in Cross Academy. He was a calm and reserved individual. A picture of perfection to other vampires. Still, even if Kaname hid his emotions well, Zero could easily see through him like an open book. And as Zero gazed at his eyes, Kaname was angry at something and knew it was directed at him.

"Kuran," Zero uttered as he stood up and brushed his coat of the dust that settled on it with the struggle. He covered his injured arm with his other hand as he tried to ignore the presence of the pureblood in front of him. He willed that the charms Yagari created for him was working properly as his own blood stained the sleeves of his coat.

He muttered a curse as he realized that it was going to be a painful night. He had been too careless and this was the result. The Level Ends talons were coated with poison and he was scratched pretty badly by it. He could already feel the effects and he willed himself to keep on going until he reached his home and away from Kuran. It wasn't that lethal but the symptom of the poison was pretty painful.

"Losing your touch, Kiryuu. I didn't think you're one to drop down your guard that easily," Kuran inquired as he gazed fixedly at the silver-haired hunter in front of him. He didn't know why but he had become far too attached to this stoic hunter. He also wondered why this hunter was so stubborn and tended to do things recklessly. He didn't want to think about what would've happened if he didn't manage to get here in time. It was enough that he saw that vampire almost sinking its fangs in Kiryuu's neck.

"Just shut it, Kuran. I don't have time for your lectures today," Zero answered back as he walked past Kaname who was staring at him with something akin to concern. He closed his eyes at the ache as he willed himself not to lose consciousness. It was far too risky to be vulnerable like this and he really didn't like that feeling at all. It reminded him of the past. How powerless he was back in those days. Unable to do anything as he lost what was important to him. Yet no matter what he did, he couldn't fight the poison running through his system. He didn't need to show Kuran how weak he was. He really didn't want his vulnerable side to be seen again.

He couldn't afford to go through the same thing. He'd already carried on after those events, and that had been hard enough, he couldn't do it again. His life had already been broken so many times and if it happened once more, he was certain he wouldn't be able to pick up the pieces.

Kaname followed Zero out of the building and saw that the hunter was already having difficulty breathing properly. He knew that it must be because of the Level End's poison. He cursed inwardly as he thought about Zero not taking care of himself properly. He wondered what it was that drove Zero Kiryuu to do things recklessly all the time. It wasn't like him to care about others too much but Zero had been with him for quite some time and right now the hunter was his concern. He only wished he could find out what was wrong with Zero. What darkness he hid in those silvery depths of his eyes?

There was no need for words to be said as the two of them headed out of the building. Zero kept his hand on his wound firmly to hide the fact that just like before his wound was starting to heal in an abnormal rate. He knew that in a few seconds, his skin would not show evidence of what had occurred a few minutes earlier. There was no need for Kuran to know about his secret. He really didn't want to drag the pureblood to his own problems.

If he values his own life, Kuran would be better off not knowing anything about me, Zero thought as he tried to clear his blurring vision. It didn't work and the pain he felt intensified. His vision blurred and all of a sudden he couldn't feel anything and he was slowly swallowed by the darkness. In the haze that settled in his mind, he heard Kuran shouting his name before finally, everything went black.