-

When Kaname woke up, he shivered twice. One for the cold of the room and open window, and one for the nightmare he'd had. There were only two good things about this night: that he'd actually woken up and the ability to stand. Anything else at this point would be a godsend. Any distraction from the… place he'd been. The positions he'd been put in. Coming from what he'd envisioned, the word 'frightful' can in no way describe Kaname. Because Kaname wasn't frightened. 'Fright' didn't set that stone in his stomach on freezing. 'Fright' couldn't begin to cover the horrors seen and what had been administered to his body. 'Fright' couldn't make his hands shake so much when he tried to pour a glass of scalding water, just to see if he could melt that icy chunk in his gut. No, Kaname couldn't get 'frightened' anymore. He was terrified, now.

Yes, he was really trying to pour scalding water down his throat. Just to see if he could thaw. Just to see if he could stop that god-awful shaking and have some peace. He was so deluded. And, you'd think that thing-the presence inside him-would have enough class to let him look good and at least walk and not hobble or lunge. But it didn't. No, it let him suffer when he finally had time to himself. More than that: it let him simmer in how pathetic he was. It wanted him to know how much it held over him, how much it could give him, and how much he should need it. Want it. Strive for it. It wasn't a narcissist; it was trying to make a living.

But nobody respects parasites.

Kaname shut off the tap in the bathroom and walked away from the mirror and his mussed visage. He stopped when he felt the skin on his foot prickle and give. Looking down, he saw some of the glass the repair workers had missed in their clean-up. He picked it up and put in on the sink, this time being fairly careful to wipe up whatever remained-getting back into good habits, you see.

The carpet was welcoming compared to the glass-ridden kitchen and bathroom. The window hadn't been closed yet, and he could still picture Zero jumping away without so much as a glance back. Ungrateful brute. Of course Kaname would grumble this, but the real thing he was grumbling about was the fact that it didn't seem so bad anymore. It hurt him terribly when Zero ignored him, yes, yes, the whole 'don't leave me' rant, but he was getting somewhat… used to it, now. Tepid water and pruned fingers. The whole thing had been so engraved in him for so long, he'd found that parts of him had either done complete 180s or had been… '86'd. It had disturbed him when he found himself watching the man, but now that he wanted those eyes to look at him, he was wondering whether or not the whole thing was a coup to kill him. Because that water never did the trick, and that stone still sat cold in the pit of him, not even rolling, so encased in ice. It was starting to hurt, actually, and as he leaned out the window to calm his nerves like the old days. He found himself gripping that spot and rubbing to soothe it.

He sighed; what could life do for him now? If he was really going to fall for all this, what was the reason? His goals were his goals, and he knew he would never abandon someone so important as Yuki-the one person nothingand no one could replace, but what was he going to do in the segmented times between points A and B? What was coming to occupy his thoughts, now that his body was 'gone with the wind'? Because his heart was exclusively reserved for his girl. This final frontier he'd once thought to always be logical was running away with the skinny fucking white guy. The last personal paradise-memory, philosophy, fantasy-was being blown away to suit some bloated idea of, God forbid, serving aman. His destiny was peace, not servitude. But already, his senses were gone and windblown canopies were turning into careful whispers and voices he knew he didn't want to hear. Every flower was suddenly that goddamned bloom, every glass or crystal those intrepid, irreverent eyes. And touch… the fabric of his jacket was enough to convince him when he closed his eyes. And he did close his eyes now, just come out of a horrible sleep, he let himself be commandeered by the comforting force of absolute darkness and sound only.

He knew he'd just done this. Nights ago, he'd stood in the same spot and sought things only a woman in… he digressed. Rubbing his temples, This is too complicated. Abrogating almost every decision between the last night and now, Kaname set a new course: screw all, go on with the plan. To elaborate, he was going to follow Machiavellian concept: it doesn't matter how the fuck you get there, just get there. And he was adamant about this, now that he'd thought of Yuki. To protect and love her, he was going to have to handle it all and handle it well. Looking like it was effortless wouldn't matter soon: the things he'd seen brewing in the Senate; whatever the Hell was going on in Ichiou's mind wasn't good, and Kaname was fair to think it had something to do with overthrowing him and instigating a full, Senate-run government.

What horrors plagued his life.

But there was a somewhat-kind-of-squint-and-you'll-see-it light in his situation. If he could just keep his cracks, shortcomings, and insecurities hidden for a while longer, he might be able to pull everything off. He just might be able kill those men and establish a world that would be safe and kind enough for his girl. If he could just hold on a little bit longer, if he could be strong enough to withstand the oncoming blows, he would graciously receive whatever fate had in store for him. Whether it be Yuki… He stopped breathing for a moment as punishment for the upcoming thought. He couldn't afford to be so weak at such a time. He needed to focus. He needed to work. He needed… He needed a shower to cool down and think more clearly.

-

Zero sprinted from Yuki, breathing hard and thankful she'd decided to let him off. He was so close to the Moon Dorm. Kaname's window wasn't far at all. All he had to do really was get past the zealots and the guard at the gate. It shouldn't be too hard, right-No.

Zero stopped to get a rest in. He panted and wiped his mouth, bending over and leaning against one of the trees lining he walk. It was so fucking close. Barely a step away! And the persistent scent of heliotrope surrounded him. He knew it was probably worse for Kaname at the moment, considering the man's rather interesting abilities. No need to get all hung up on the sulking prince, though; this was Zero's decision entirely. And oh, how he racked his brain before his feet finally took off toward the recipient of that voyeur-welcoming window.

He hiked the wall, trying his very best not to make too much noise as he scaled the barrier. If even one of those hoity-toity aristocratic brats found him out, he was fucked. Thoroughly.

He grunted as he slipped a little on the strong vines and clung to the bricks tenaciously, grinding the tips of his boots into the mortar and hoping to death nobody on the other side cared about the scratchy sounds. He lifted a hand from the surface and quickly grabbed onto one of the decorative stone terraces, thankful to be nearing Kaname's floor. He hopped up with great speed, flinging himself onto the sill with barely a wobble, having just about run up the wall and using a trick he hadn't performed since Yagari-sensei taught him. He looked around, taking in the ornate woodwork of the furniture in Kaname's front room. The door leading to the hallway was locked, the kitchen sounding lifeless. His ears pricked when he heard water, and climbed in. Kaname had just turned on the shower: he had plenty of time.

-

Oh God, oh God, oh God-The wall, the sill, the familiar thunk on his carpet… Kaname shivered against the tile of his shower stall. The water spraying him was harmfully cold, and he felt the glacial droplets nipping at his skin like thousands of bees. He had wanted to calm down. He had wanted some time to himself to get his head together and think about his decisions. The brief, biting pain the water brought was just enough of a distraction to keep him from being completely engrossed in Zero's nearby scent. He ran his fingers through his hair habitually, staring down the pristine white of the shining floor. The lights were heavily dimmed, giving the same mystery as darkness, but with a slight hint of seduction: He could be here, you know. So disturbing. Kaname was almost out of it again, and finally gave up at trying reviving his failing conscience. Zero was probably coming to his bedroom door, so he shut off the water and stepped out to towel off. He'd only been in for about ten minutes when he felt the distinct mortification of being found in his position by none other than the man who'd put him there. A part of him looked at the picture wryly, seeing the whole thing as a bit of grip for attention in an endless world of fans. Another screamed at him for being so completely vulnerable. Tough titties to his rational side. But a newly formed third part gave him a vague, gloomy indifference. He was so tired of his naturally conflicting life and wheedled personality. The thought of relaxing into whatever failure could be and just giving up was becoming more and more alluring, and as he hung the towel on his drying rack and tugged on his pyjama pants, he couldn't help but notice how nice it was to feel like that. Completely apathetic. Not stony, not fierce, just… relaxed. His hand fell on the knob and gave the door a little push. Sure enough, there, by the entrance, stood his coarse responsibility. Somehow, the word 'irony' swept through his mind when all his convictions wore away at the sight of the silver crown.

Zero frowned tersely, but Kaname left him to an amount of silence as he stepped purposefully to his desk. When it appeared they were getting nowhere, Kaname let out a short,

"What is it, Kiriyu?" Before his senses caved in on him. He sat down for good measure. Zero's frown persisted for a while, then he looked away,

"What happened?" He finally said. Kaname wavered in his chair, gripping the back firmly through his near-drunkenness. His demeanour made him seem merely distracted, but in reality, he was close to falling on all fours and inching toward the bed for another round. He was taken advantage of so easily; Zero wasn't doing a goddamned thing. That made him quite sour,

"If you're referring to our last encounter, I should think you'd know what happened explicitly. Almost everything seemed quite vivid to me, at least." Kaname's drawl was taking on a bit of a stubborn tone. He was losing himself just as he had hours before. Not to mention, Zero's clear and purposed erase of his previous visit was gnawing at him listlessly. The man had tried so hard to rid himself of the things they'd painstakingly done… Was there an ounce of those smouldering ideas left in his pale head?

A grimace, "Kuran, what does… what we did… entail?" The words were stubborn about escaping him, and came out in a short voice. Kaname blanched and gazed at the young man with heavy, dark eyes,

"Which what? Tonight or"

"The blood bond, or whatever. If this is going to go on further, I want fucking out." He growled. Kaname flinched when he said 'fuck'. It reminded him of earlier and how overpowering Zero had seemed. His current stance horded anger, but the dark humour and professional aura of the Zero of hours ago left a noticeable tremble in Kaname's left palm. God, he wanted to be dominated, now… Fantastic.

Zero looked stiff, his limbs heavy in the other man's presence. He managed to stand at attention though, not trusting anyone in the building when it came to his safety. Kaname looked him up and down, fingers aching and flinching to touch something. He gripped the chair tighter, trying to get angry,

"If you want to say something, I suggest you do so. If not, I'd like you to leave." Zero's eyes narrowed, but he didn't look Kaname straight on. His hands made painful-looking fists and he tried hard as he could not to lose control. Getting into a fight right now was not the best idea, even though he knew how horribly Kaname was handling sitting, right now. His mouth felt dry and he didn't have anything to say. Instead, Kaname closed his eyes and sighed,

"If that's how you're going to be, do you need anything?" Ooh, tricky, tricky. Kaname didn't even know what he was plotting. What that… thing was plotting as his posture relaxed into an unconsciously inviting pose. His pyjama pants sagged on his hips and he looked down for a moment: he needed to start eating better. Zero's face was hard and the brunette knew he was holding back a rather vicious bite to counter his bark. The man surprised him, however, when he stepped a little closer. The scent was coming in waves and Kaname's arms drooped, fingers holding the chair so as to splinter it with a waning strength.

"Listen, Kuran," He started. Kaname could barely keep his eyes open. His legs sagged, thighs splaying out a little further on the wooden surface. "I don't want to be around you. I've never wanted to be around you. We insult each other. Our existences insult each other." Encouraged by Kaname's withered stature, Zero grabbed his chin and pulled him forward, free hand encasing one of the man's shoulder blades. Kaname bit his lip as his back and face tingled with delight, body now almost completely limp as he began to panic.

"Ze-" He breathed inaudibly. His eyelids blocked his view of the silver crown, but he could sense the change in the man's aura: the bastard was probably smiling.

"If you think for one moment that anything that happens between us was done for you, I pity you for being so weak." Zero's thumb roughly stroked his cheek and he could clearly feel the warm breath on his face. The lighter man began to move in, leaning into Kaname's neck and shuffling his hair aside as he whispered into that pricked ear, "I'll never need you, Kuran. Don't you realise we've switched places, now?" So close, Oh God, it was too much to handle.

Kaname was completely lax, almost all the way out of the chair as Zero yanked him up a little more. He tried to find the strength to move his arms, his weakness driving him insane as the urges to either fight or fuck fought and merged in his head. Zero drew him up a bit closer, carefully and subconsciously making sure his collar covered his neck as he came dangerously close to Kaname's own. The pureblood trembled and Zero felt hand creeping up his back. He withdrew slightly, looking at the brunette with surprise and a little disgust; did he have the strength, and how was he going to use it? When he felt hands clamp down on his jacket as Kaname tried to steady himself, he almost bellowed in laughter and triumph.

His fingers gripped the man's chin again and pulled him up a bit more, and, strangely to the older man, gently. "Do you want to know what's going to happen to you, or do you really like games so much?" Kaname stared with blatant heat in his eyes, a tint that hid the far-off thoughts of consciousness and ability. He said nothing, but Zero noticed the swirl of intelligence behind the glassy orbs and smiled. So the man wasn't completely 'gone' when he was around. That made him happy for several fairly sadistic reasons.

"I forgot what a good boy you are-I bet you never even shook birthday presents when you were a child." He dropped Kaname's chin, strangely delighted to see that the man was now able to support himself ever-so slightly without him. So long as he kept the abuse to a more subtle tone, everything should go smoothly.

"So," He began with curious inflection as he inspected the man's slowly balancing form, "now that you're awake and my interest is finally peaked, what exactly did he do to you?" Kaname stared blankly at him, speechless. Zero snorted, "Oh, come on! You should know how wonderful it is to be original. And if you must know why I want to know, well, I don't necessarily want to put you through old tortures, now, do I?" Zero leaned in close, a quicksilver flash going across his eyes that told Kaname what he was thinking, and what horrors the silver crown would bring back personally for him to enjoy.

"Am I not cruel, Kuran?" Kaname stared at him for a few seconds, then the sweet exhaustion caught up to him a bit more. His lids slowly closed, and he sank back into the chair, Zero's hand slipping from his face as the man walked to the window and closed it. And drew the curtains. And smiled as the brunette could only twitch in instinct. But what instinct was in the room at that moment was something entirely arguable, and maybe even a little twisted.

-

Yuki walked back to her dorm with her arms firm at her sides. Her pace was fierce, and anybody walking by might have thought she was looking to gain revenge, she seemed so concentrated.

Yuki was generally not a very concentrated person.

But what was Zero so shaken about? She suspected it had been a girl, which, naturally, irked her a little, but he'd looked sick when she mentioned it. He'd looked like she'd just pinched him. And the whole running away thing was less than encouraging. Her first thought was that someone had threatened him, but this was Zero she was dealing with. He wasn't scared so easily. Her second thought was that maybe something was happening concerning his 'condition', but that seemed unlikely, because he'd been quite stable lately. So that left the theory of a crush which was, again, unlikely. Zero didn't care for people in general, but when she'd gotten to the Night Class, he looked ready to throw up in anxiety.

She sighed and slammed the door shut to her room, a little pissed there wasn't someone to vent to. Yori was preoccupied with the Student Government, a hobby for which she'd repeatedly expressed her admiration. Usually over Yuki's favourite breakfast, which made the moment all the more special.

The brunette dropped her books on her desk and flopped on her bed. She wished she hadn't crushed her music player. Two-story jumps were dangerous, but she'd never thought she could lose something so undeniably useful and precious. At the time she had a brief understanding of what Zero must have gone through with his brother and their parents, but had managed to get over it when the same boy begrudgingly loaned her his own. He was so much more convenient and lovable than most would like to believe, it was just a little hidden. Like bedrock or permafrost, guarded by golems and sharks with lasers attached to their heads, or something.

She frowned, sitting up when she heard the lock on the door turn. Yori stepped in, flushed from the winter cold, giggles pouring out of her mouth like refreshing cocoa. Her eyes were blue and bright when they landed on Yuki's somewhat tired, dazed form,

"Yuki! Everybody on the Student Council is going to a special dinner next week! We get to sit with the Night Class members, and you and Zero get to come, too!" The girl sighed dreamily, "Isn't it just wonderful? We might get attacked afterward by the rest of the Day Class, but just think about it! Getting to sit so close to them!" Yori was a very private person, but she exploded in her own room. Yuki was almost always there to witness it, and took a little pleasure in seeing her friend so wild and ecstatic. It was like seeing a younger sibling opening a Christmas gift. The blonde girl untucked her scarf and threw it upon the bed, twirling in front of the window with a giddy expression,

"Do you think I'll get to sit across from Kain?" She never got into the whole 'Wild' fad. He didn't seem to act like it in her opinion. Moments this exaggerated were a little rare. Even if Yori could let her guard down in front of Yuki, she wasn't nearly so hyper in public or around others, even. Yuki grinned softly, mind still a little hazy from the night,

"This must really be important to you. I don't think I've ever seen you this excited." Yori smiled shyly, looking at Yuki with a near-uncontained happiness,

"What do you think we should wear?"

-

Kaname felt strange when Zero walked back over to him. The stone in his stomach rumbled dangerously, and it felt colder than even Aidou's tricks as it and his heart hijacked his chest case and bashed against his ribs. There was something about the way Zero was looking at him that just made it go crazy. Even the presence inside of him shrank back in his head, leaving him almost completely exposed to the ravaging effects of Zero's strong scent. The man loomed over him for a few seconds, and Kaname was losing his energy more quickly than he ever had. When the silver crown bent to draw him up though, a sobering shock ran through him.

He immediately began struggling, fear springing into his eyes and forcing his sluggish heart to start beating faster and faster. Zero was surprised and a little amused when the weakened body began flailing, but quickly attempted to subdue the motions, so as to preserve the moment and perhaps even his neck.

"Shh, Kaname…" Kaname did not still, but his ears pricked up at the soothing whisper. Zero picked him up delicately, being careful in how he handled the situation. He didn't know what was causing Kaname's fit, but as they left the desk and chair and moved closer to the bed, he began to get an idea. This idea made his mouth curl and his eyes gleam.

Kaname hung in his arms limply, terror making his veins pound so hard, Zero feared others would come to inspect the scene. This had to be handled a bit more carefully, now. God knew when Kaname's memories would poison their encounters to a fatal extent. Nevertheless, he gingerly laid the brunette upon the bed, crawling on and watching with interest the massive, dilated black eyes the pureblood was displaying. Kaname looked like shivering replica of his old self. He'd started sweating, his eyes darting around and fixating on Zero for a few seconds before beginning another mad visual raid of the room. The younger man looked on in amusement, testing the other as his hand moved slowly to a sweating cheek. Kaname immediately locked onto it, trembling greatly as the gentle fingers came closer to him. He made to shout, but the hand was quick and covered his mouth. Oh, God, it was just like them. Just like what had happened-the heavy scents, the dizziness, the pale skin and translucent eyes-he didn't dare bite the hand. But he did manage a quick defence and grasped Zero's stomach, claws out. The man doubled over directly after the blow, though still intent on keeping the brunette quiet,

"Kuran," He growled. Kaname shuddered when those light eyes turned on him with a soft sort of look. Zero's hand fell when he saw Kaname would not make to move again, and he carefully rose a bit higher, wincing and knowing almost instantly why the pureblood had become so docile. He grinned, fangs out when he noticed the dull glaze over the chocolate orbs. Climbing hesitantly up the bed, he settled beside the man and, again, put him through a test,

"Are you alright, Kuran? You look a little flushed," he said cruelly. Kaname might as well have been a doll, in his state. Zero brought some of his fingers-red and wet-from his pierced torso, having them just in the other's sight. He smiled again, watching predatorily for any small changes or movements. He had a petite, instinctual craving to shout his victory in joy when Kaname finally clutched the sheets and closed his eyes. His breath was ragged and Zero almost squealed when those lips knotted up and that head turned just a slight to further reveal that beautiful, white column. The icing on the cake was when Zero simply brushed his hand over the man's stomach and two thighs started slowly moving their adjacent legs apart, centimetre by centimetre. Everything was absolutely perfect.