Welcome to summer, my dear readers! I've managed to update relatively on time, please cross your fingers that I can keep the chapters coming at a better pace. And thank you all for the outpouring of support for the last chapter, it's always appreciated to hear you feedback.

If you were wondering about the chapter title, the three-body problem comes from mathematics, and it involves taking the initial positions of three moving masses, like planets, and solving for their motion. The best known three-body problem involves the Moon, the Earth, and the Sun. But considering last chapter's revelation, I think you can infer a more literal meaning.

XLIII. A Three Body Problem

A baby! A baby! We got mate pregnant! Mate is finally, completely ours!

Kaname, who is currently trying to have a breakdown, thank you, shoves his alpha instinct back down.

Undeterred, the alpha smashes its way to the surface again, practically vibrating in celebration. Our mate is such a good omega. Giving us offspring after his very first heat!

Kaname's inner alpha radiates satisfaction, tone becoming sly. We bred his pretty belly so full he couldn't help but carry our babe.

Well, they had, hadn't they? Kaname feels indescribably smug, a very alpha pride overtaking him. He knotted Zero first, so of course he fathered Zero's child. Yuuki will have to content herself with siring the next baby.

Hold on. Kaname shakes his head, jarring his thoughts loose. The child's paternity was not what meant to concern himself with. His Consort is with child after expressing very serious objections to the idea. This is a crisis Kaname needs to manage with the proper caution and planning.

We tell alpha-mate about the baby, and then we tell mate, and then we mount him together with alpha-mate to celebrate! the alpha insists, as though the solution is self-evident.

Frowning, Kaname taps his fingers on his desk. His first impulse is to hide the knowledge, long-held habit urging him to keep anything dangerous to himself.

Yuuki would kill him if he tried. If Kaname succeeded, she might even genuinely follow through on her threat to leave him. Kaname understands how desperately Yuuki wants a child with Zero. Giving up that dream had wounded her no less than it had Zero. In practical terms, Kaname will need her help protecting Zero whether they decide to tell Zero or not.

Yuuki will insist on telling Zero about his pregnancy, but Kaname has reservations. He cannot predict how Zero will react to the news. Best case scenario, the Hunter accepts the idea with a minimum of stress. Worst case scenario, his Consort's self-loathing, discomfort with his own body, and fear cause him irreparable harm and he miscarries the child.

Kaname groans. Zero's health adds another complication. With his unpredictable, hybrid anatomy could Zero even carry a child safely? Human women sometimes died in childbirth, Kaname remembers uneasily, the idea strange and foreign.

After turning the problem over in his mind, Kaname's answer is clear. Yuuki must know immediately. But for the sake of his Consort's mental health, it might be best that Zero remain unaware for a little longer.

The secret cannot be kept long. Zero will inevitably know soon, because the physical signs will become too obvious to conceal. Zero will also eventually need specialized medical care, which will require his cooperation. Kaname would rather avoid the consequences of trying to slip non consensual medical procedures by Zero unnoticed - he might never be welcome in his spouses' bed again.

In the meantime, Kaname faces a significant problem: Zero will insist on Hunting without a clear reason to abstain. Carrying a child of higher blood purity will drain Zero's stamina and energy. If Zero were to encounter trouble while Hunting...One slip, and both he and the child could be lost. Kaname needs to come up with a solution, because risking Zero's life is unacceptable in any form.

We will keep mate and his baby safe, his alpha says. And for once, Kaname and his alpha instincts are in perfect agreement.

"You're being unusually gentle today," Zero murmurs, shivering when Kaname's hands stroke down the backs of his thighs.

"I can't make love to my own husband?" the pureblood replies in a voice like rich wine, favoring Zero with a heavy, laden gaze before continuing his scent marking Zero's entire body for the second time.

"You haven't even taken your pants off," Zero returns mildly, relaxing back into their bed and letting the matter drop. His limbs feels like limp noodles and he isn't in the mood to argue. He's half asleep from being petted already, and the faintest bit aroused.

Kaname had barged into the Consort's suite with an odd, feral look in his eyes. Zero had been expecting sex, not whatever weird vampire impulse produced this spontaneous massage.

Not that he's complaining. Being treasured feels pretty nice, the Hunter decides. Zero's eyes slip shut with a sigh, while Kaname's fingers delicately run over his stomach.

Yuuki squints at Kaname suspiciously. "You're sure?"

Kaname allows the stupidest, smuggest, most love-struck smile to plaster itself on his face. "My dear, I'm absolutely certain."

Yuuki screams.

Kaname finds himself tackled to the floor, squeezed so tightly his spine creaks. He chuckles, patting his wife's back.

Yuuki is reduced to incoherent shrieking for several minutes until she runs out of breath. Lifting her head, she gives Kaname a sappy smile with round, shining eyes. "We're going to have a baby!" she shrieks again and collapses back onto his chest. "Have you seen him with Habiki? Zero's going to be such a wonderful parent! Wait, if he's the one giving birth what does that make us?"

"I'm otou-sama, you're okaa-sama. Zero is mama."

Yuuki props herself up on her elbows. "That sounds cute, what does it mean?"

Kaname's voice is self-satisfied. "It's an old word for mother."

She grins back at him. "We did pretty well, didn't we? A pregnancy on the first try - the Jeweled Court is going to pee themselves."

Kaname throws his head back and laughs. "Indeed they will. Now, let me up already."

Yuuki's laughter rises up to join Kaname's mirth, and together they regain their feet and brush themselves off.

His wife's eyes suddenly glaze over. "Zero's what, three months pregnant? He'll start showing soon won't he?"

Kaname's cock stirs at the mere thought, his alpha instincts feeding him very vivid images. "Vampire pregnancies are slower," he reminds Yuuki. "But Kuran babies are always large. He'll swell quickly."

Yuuki swallows, licking her bottom lip. "He'll be so cute. All big and round and soft. All because of us."

Their blood bond loops their mutual lust between them. Both achingly hard, Kaname and Yuuki's eyes lock and the temperature blisters.

Neither of them know who moves first. Yuuki slams Kaname against the wall, their hands shredding cloth until nothing but swollen flesh and lust remains, hands wrapped around each other's cock and trading filthy fantasies: their Consort fattened by the babe they sired, heavily seeded and bred, publicly displaying their blatant, undeniable claim, his new breasts leaking milk for nursing their child.

"I'm not sure we should tell Zero yet," Kaname says a few orgasms later, once they've regained intelligent thought.

"Kaname, we have to tell him -"

"I know," he interrupts hastily. "But how do you imagine Zero will react to knowing he's pregnant? Has he not insisted on multiple occasions that he does not want a child?"

Yuuki is silent; Kaname regrets silencing her joy, but they cannot celebrate without reservation.

"Our situation is currently stable. Zero is happy, his health is good, and he has peace of mind. We will tell him, but I believe we ought to delay for the time being."

"Zero takes too many risks with himself," Yuuki argues. "His Hunting, the assassination attempts - can we guarantee something won't go wrong?"

"I will ask Cross to stop giving Zero Hunting assignments," Kaname promises, already manufacturing a suitable excuse. Perhaps something about the Ichijo attack?

"And I have already taken steps to deal with the assassin," he adds, satisfaction lacing his voice.

Yuuki stares him down. "I don't like the idea of hiding this from Zero."

Not outright refusal. Kaname can work with that. "I know, but I promise we'll keep the secret for a few weeks at most. Just long enough that we can become accustomed to the idea, and plan how to best help Zero."

"No longer than that," Yuuki tells him, the hard tone of her words an equal promise.

His purebloods ambush Zero in the rose garden, while he's basking in the leftover early August heat. He's wearing a sweaty riding habit and smells like horse, but Kaname and Yuuki don't seem to care. Pinned between them, Zero gasps, feeling the prick of fangs as they mouth at his skin with the barest restraint.

Something is different tonight. They're always eager, but this awed, reverent intensity is new. They watch him with the beast's darkness in their eyes, predatory obsession mixed with helpless, overwhelming love. Their hands are gentle, but their strong grip is unbreakable.

Lulled by the summer heat, Zero surrenders himself to whatever need burns inside his purebloods, and finds himself taken to the state palace, to the ceremonial hall they were married in, and placed on an enormous throne of obsidian glass covered in black silk.

Yuuki and Kaname kneel at Zero's feet between his naked, spread thighs, adoring and equally hungry. While one alpha worships his wet, aching core with their mouth, offering filthy kisses that Zero blushes to receive, the other tells him how beautiful he looks against the black silk, how incredible he is, how much they love him.

Zero rewards his spouses with the moans spilling from his lips, and the way his body trembles and tenses as he comes. Once Yuuki and Kaname have taken fill, licking each other's mouths clean, they both fix Zero with looks that make him flush: devotion, the kind where you fall and keep on falling and never fear hitting the ground.

Kaname spreads Zero's thighs wider, draping his knees over the arms of the throne. While Yuuki kisses his temple, Zero wraps his arms around Kaname's back, and his husband gently eases inside him.

Zero sighs and goes limp, his body so slick and relaxed he easily welcomes his husband and the familiar sensation of being stuffed full.

"I'm slipping inside you like you were made for me," Kaname husks into Zero's ear as Yuuki kisses him. "Because you were, weren't you? Made for both of us. How did we ever believe we could live without you?"

"We'll take care of you, we swear it," Yuuki murmurs, running her hands down Zero's chest and belly, pinching his nipples into peaks; Zero arches into the touch, his sensitivity making him whine.

His head feels dizzy from the slow, though way they're taking him apart. He pants and lifts his hips, wanting to please the cock held tenderly inside him.

Yuuki - when had they switched? - laughs and leans forward, teasing Zero with the head of her length. "You're squeezing me like you're trying to stop me from wreaking you." She slams forward, hilting her cock in a single thrust and making Zero scream. "Shh, relax," his wife coaxes. "Let me give you whatever you need."

"Look at you," Kaname says, taking Yuuki's place again as they make love to him in tandem, "Look at you, kitten, yielding yourself so sweetly, so easily for us to feast upon. Always so giving," he praises, running a finger down Zero's cheek.

They venerate him like an idol, as if they're supplicants instead of vampire gods themselves. Zero feels tears gathering in his eyes alongside the slow, steady tightening below his navel.

"Love you, Zero."

"Love you more than anything."

Zero chokes on a sob, and white lights explode behind his eyes.

They both release long and hard inside him, right up against his womb; their seed leaks out and stains the black silk cover afterwards. Zero whimpers, and tilts his hips up to stop it escaping.

"Good boy, keeping it all inside you where it belongs," Kaname praises, pressed hip to hip with Yuuki as both purebloods cradle Zero's exhausted form, all three of them sharing the throne together.

Zero stares into his tea and sighs. "Takuma-sempai, Yuuki and Kaname are hiding something important from me again."

They're hardly being subtle about it - holding secretive meetings, being extra possessive, treating him like spun glass.

Lying propped up by pillows in his daybed, Takuma hums, petting Isa, who's curled up next to him avoiding the slightest pressure to Takuma's stomach. "Do you want to confront them about it?"

"Not really. If it was just Kaname I'd probably call him out on it, but Yuuki knows too and if she thinks it's a good idea for me not to know I'm just going to trust them. It's funny that they think they can hide anything from me, considering my intuition."

Takuma laughs, a dry coughing noise that betrays how little reason he's had for mirth recently.

"How are you feeling?" Zero asks.

"I feel stronger every time I see you," Takuma replies, neatly avoiding the emotional overtones of the question. The frustration of being bedridden, the deep and abiding fear of his baby's death - with his power, Zero doesn't need Takuma to tell him any of that.

"The Council of Elders has been pestering me about appointing one of them as a 'temporary' replacement. They have always preferred that I limit myself to domestic pursuits. I, of course, disagree, but I fear that my ability to control the nobles will be constrained until I've given birth."

Zero frowns. He's not as politically conversant as Kaname or Yuuki, but he knows that ending Shirabuki's threat has not magically stabilized the situation with the Senate. In her desire to rule, Shirabuki burned bridges that the Kurans may not be able to rebuild. Overall, the Senate has become more hostile, not less.

Takuma pauses thoughtfully. "I think I might know what Kaname is hiding. Would you like a hint?"

Zero considers the offer seriously. "Is it going to make me angry with them?"

"If it's what I think it is, I don't understand why they would try to hide it," Takuma replies.

"Go ahead then," Zero answers, leaning back.

"Kaname is still fighting with the Senate regarding your legal right to kill Hio Shizuka. In the meantime, the Senate has decided to concurrently open an inquiry into the three Kuran family deaths."

"Ah," Zero says, mouth twisting into a frown. So Kaname's identity is at risk, plus the Senate is going to raise another fuss about Zero killing Kuran Rido. Still, that's not something they'd have to hide from him.

"I'm sure they'll explain themselves to me eventually," Zero replies, dismissing his speculations for more pressing concerns. "I'm starving, do you have any food?"

Kaname does not ask questions when Yuuki announces she's taking the night off. Nor does Zero mention the early hour, or the business suit she's dressed in.

Yuuki second-guesses herself the whole way there. When her driver quietly warns her they're arriving at the address, she nervously straightens her hair just to keep her hands busy. She has the driver leave her at the door, ordering him not to return until called.

A butler answers the bell, leading Yuuki to a sitting room before withdrawing. When she was human, Yuuki would have thought this house very grand, but as the pureblood princess of the Kuran family, Yuuki is surrounded daily by far greater luxury. How far she's traveled from her human roots.

Soft footsteps come from the hall; the house's owner pauses in the door. "Hello, Yuuki-chan."

Yuuki swallows past the lump in her throat. "Hi, Yori-chan."

Yori's kept her hair the same, but the light brown has changed to grey, and there are laugh lines at the corners of her eyes. Yori has no Hunter blood to keep age at bay. Yuuki feels acutely how much time they've lost.

"I've always hoped that we would meet again," Yori says, enfolding Yuuki in a gentle, lavender-scented hug.

"I'm sorry it took so long," Yuuki confesses, tears escaping down her cheeks.

"You're here now, aren't you?" Yori reminds her, drawing Yuuki by the hand over to a couch.

Yuuki nods, composing herself. "You haven't said anything about how I look."

"Chairman Cross never had my memories wiped - I think he hoped something like this would happen."

Reminding herself to thank her foster father next time she sees him, Yuuki squeezes her friend's hand. "Tell me how you've been. I want to know everything."

Yori tilts her head to the side, teasing her with a smile. "Everything?"

Yuuki nods fervently. "Mmm!"

After finishing school, Yori worked in government, and then took up her father's position as Councilwoman when he passed suddenly. She is retired now, spending her time and wealth on philanthropy. She is content with her work and her friends; she never found anyone she liked enough to marry. The legacy of good she does in the world satisfies her desire to leave something behind.

"And what what about you?" Yori asks around 11 PM, after they've eaten half a tub of icecream, Yuuki's borrowed a set of pajamas and they've migrated to Yori's bedroom.

Yuuki shoves more food in her mouth, chews and swallows. "What about me?"

Yori smacks her with a spoon. "How's Kaname? And Zero and the rest of the Night Class?"

"Actually, about that..."

Yori cackles. "I can't believe you married both of them. I mean, I always knew it would be at least one of them, but wow. You did well!"

Yuuki's grinning ear to ear. "I really did!"

Yori yawns, and pats Yuuki's knee. "Sorry. Can't keep up like I used to. Tell me more?"

It takes another hour, but the whole story comes spilling out - her marital troubles with Kaname before marrying Zero, the events of the last year, Shirabuki, and Zero's pregnancy.

Yori listens patiently, blinking herself awake every few minutes. "It sounds like you've already made a decision," she says once Yuuki falls silent.

Yuuki covers her face with her hands. "Yeah. I need to tell Zero."

Kaname's skin still tingles unpleasantly from the Hunter wards when the door swings open. Looping an arm around Zero's shoulders, Takamiya Kaito laughs and yanks his fellow apprentice inside the Takamiya family home.

"Uncle Zero's here!" Takamiya shouts over the din. There's a brief stampede, and at least six or seven adolescent Hunters are swarming over Zero, smiling and shoving themselves at his Consort.

Takamiya watches the circus unfold with a proud smile, before giving Kaname the evil eye. "Coming in or not, Kuran?"

Kaname, previously ignored and left to wait on the stoop, sighs and steps inside - the things he tolerates for Zero's sake.

At least twenty Hunters are scattered between the hallway, living room and dining room, and all of them are pretending they're not watching the pureblood now.

"Thanks for inviting us," Zero says, intervening to lower the pressure on Kaname.

"Our pleasure, it's good to see you! Where's your wife tonight?" Kaito asks as he takes their coats, manner relaxed and at ease, passing the other Hunters a clear cue.

"Yuuki went out this evening," Zero explains, "so we appreciate the company."

"No problem, we love stealing you for a couple of hours. Gotta admit, I'm shocked to see Kuran out of a suit." Takamiya elbows Zero, grinning at Kaname. "Figured you slept in them, you know?"

In his meticulously tailored button-down and trousers, Kaname raises a single disdainful eyebrow. "I'm shocked you know what a suit is, Takamiya-san."

"Kaito's even worn one. Once," Zero deadpans with a straight face.

"Once." Kaname makes a show of examining Takamiya's wrinkled T-shirt. In the background, one of the Hunters chokes on a laugh.

"Well then, my mistake," Kaname concludes. Takamiya's spawn howl loudly. The atmosphere relaxes, and the other Hunters return to their previous activities.

"Come say hello to Misao, she's in the kitchen," Takamiya invites, already making his way through the crowd.

Zero pulls Kaname after him, muttering names in an undertone. "That's Misao's sister and her wife and kids, that's Kaito's eldest daughter's husband, that's his youngest son's Master, those three are friends of the family - oh look, there's Yagari-sensei."

"Which ones are Takamiya's children?" Kaname interrupts, memorizing information with the ease learned from a lifetime of cutthroat politics.

"Just the five in the corner - Maiko, Shou and Asuga are Kaito and Misao's biological kids, Mei is Misao's biological daughter but not Kaito's - because of the preservation program, see - and Senka isn't biologically related to either of them but they raised him so it doesn't matter. Misao has been a surrogate for the Association a few times too, but that isn't considered parenthood. Rule of thumb, if you act like a parent then you're the parent."

Kaname blinks, somewhat bewildered by the Hunter definition of kinship. Common vampires were more flexible, but nobles and purebloods would never consider a child not blood related as their own.

Takamiya Misao, whom Kaname remembers from Zero's birthday party, graciously welcomes both of them into her her home before sending them out to the dining room where her children are waiting to ambush Zero again. Kaname is content to sip his drink and watch; the Hunters are being remarkably tolerant, and he would like Zero to be invited back.

Takamiya's children clearly adore Zero, and treat him with unfeigned closeness. For Takamiya to have allowed a Level D like Zero near his young children must have been a contentious decision. Kaname understands how much the gesture of trust must have meant to his Consort.

"After dinner, we can go to one of the practice fields and you can show me your knife form," Zero promises Takamiya's youngest. Kaname startles when he recognizes the same love in Zero's expression now as when Zero looks at Habiki.

Guilt is an unfamiliar emotion; it takes Kaname a few moments to place his discomfort. Perhaps knowledge of his own pregnancy will distress Zero at first, but Kaname does not doubt Zero will love their child.

Adding to his guilt, Zero doesn't forget to include Kaname, either. "I babysat all of them when they were little," he explains. "Most of their cousins too. Hunters either live in perpetual bachelorhood or have giant families, and anybody without kids is fair game for free childcare. You don't want to know how many diapers I've changed."

Kaname raises an eyebrow. "That explains a great deal," he comments. The memories are hazy, but Kaname cannot ever recall interacting with Saya's children before they were capable of intelligent speech. In hindsight, that is not a shining recommendation for his impending fatherhood.

"What's for dinner tonight, if I may ask?" Kaname inquires when the conversation ebbs, desperate for a distraction.

"Friday is noodle night," Takamiya Shou supplies helpfully. Takamiya's children are, perhaps understandably given their relationship with Zero, unnaturally comfortable in Kaname's presence.

"Dinner is ready!" someone calls from the kitchen. Kaname is brought an enormous bowl of 'noodles' that could be more accurately described as 'vegetables in sauce with noodles thrown in.' Kaname is beginning to understand where some of Zero's eating habits come from.

There isn't enough space for everyone to eat in the same room. Numerous Hunters are standing or sitting on the floor, but Takamiya's children insist on crowding around Zero.

Zero really will be a wonderful parent, Kaname thinks to himself once more - as if he did not have proof enough with Habiki! Watching Zero interact with the Takamiya brood, Kaname stews in fascinated guilt for the rest of the meal. Zero does not insist they stay long afterward, a move which is equal parts consideration for Kaname and the other Hunters.

As promised, Zero accompanies the youngest Takamiya child to test his knifework, and the rest of the pack tags along behind. Kaname swears his heart lodges in his throat with every swipe of the boy's blade. He ushers Zero away as soon as he can find a reasonable excuse, and only breathes a sigh of relief once Rosehill materializes once more.

Rather than return to their rooms, Zero looks out into the gardens, a contemplative look on his face. "When Kaito's children were old enough to watch themselves, I cut myself out of their lives. I knew that being associated with me would limit their opportunities. Kaito didn't like it, but he couldn't say I was wrong about that."

Ducking his head, Zero makes a self-soothing motion. "I think part of the reason I stopped trying to part of their lives is - is that I felt I didn't deserve their love."

"You do," Kaname insists. "You deserve everything."

When Yuuki returns sometime after midnight, Kaname is waiting for her. They barely take one look at each other before blurting out in unison, "We need to tell Zero."

Zero laughs as Magic races along the fence at a gallop, recognizing her master and energetic from being out of work. The other two mares are sticking their heads over the railing, begging Zero for scratches. Saya closes her eyes in bliss when Zero finds a satisfactory itchy spot.

"They're looking good," Zero tells Kaname and Yuuki as the pair hang back, holding the supplies for the picnic they've planned. "We had the vet out to look at Magic and Goldilocks, and if everything goes well I'll have two new foals in the spring. The timing is good. It'll be a few years before Habiki comes to live with us, so I can manage the foals' training until then."

Yuuki's face crinkles ever-so-slightly; without his power Zero wouldn't have caught it.

Guilt, identifies his intuition, reinforcing Zero's suspicion that today is not simply an impromptu holiday. Zero suspects they're planning to confess whatever secret they've kept from him, and has cooperated however he can. Zero is immensely proud of Yuuki and Kaname for coming to him without being forced.

"Shall we go? I'm ready for breakfast," the Hunter suggests, giving Saya one last scratch before patting her neck and sending her trotting off to her friends.

Yuuki jumps on the opening. "Yes! We'll show you the spot we found," she chatters, taking Zero's hand and leading him away. The cheerful frog and lilypad pattern of her yukata brings a smile to Zero's face even now.

The air smells like sunlight and green things. The tall grass brushes against the tops of his sandal-shod feet and against his bare calves beneath his maroon yukata, As they pass by, the cicadas go quiet. Tilting his umbrella to better block the setting sun, Zero wanders the small open meadow while Yuuki and Kaname spread a picnic blanket and arrange breakfast.

He steals a kiss from Kaname and the last of the fish; Kaname yields without any protest, radiating a satisfied air as he watches Zero eat. Rather odd, but haven't they been odd this whole time?

No matter - Zero will know everything soon. Whatever secret they're hiding cannot be too horrifying.

Zero's intuition gives a violent shiver; he pushes aside his plate, appetite fled.

Yuuki eyes him with dismay, before exchanging a quick glance with Kaname.

The Hunter frowns. "Whatever you're hiding, you can tell me."

His spouses communicate silently through another long look. Her brows drawing together in determination, Yuuki firmly takes Zero's right hand. Kaname grasps Zero's left hand, cradling it between his palms like a silent entreaty.

Zero's shoulders stiffen; he knows they can hear his heartbeat quicken. His expression goes blank, stoic mask falling into place.

"It's nothing bad," Yuuki pleads with him, squeezing the hand she's holding. "We don't think it's a bad thing at all. We just don't know how it's going to make you feel."

Gaze trained on his wife, Zero doesn't relax a fraction. His expectant silence is answer enough.

She takes a deep breath, and looks him straight in the eye. "Zero, you're pregnant."

Truth, whispers his power.

Zero stops breathing. He stops thinking entirely. The sunset and the summer meadow are gone. The ringing in his ears consumes him.

How - how is he supposed to -

"I need space," Zero begs, staggering unsteadily to his feet. "I need to think-"

Yuuki and Kaname shoot up as well, both looking like they want to reach out to him.

Waving away their hands, Zero runs a hand through his bangs, feeling light-headed. It's too much. Too much meaning all tangled up together, the good and the bad a clanging cacophony inside him.

Pregnant.

His chest tightens.

Is that fear? Regret? Sorrow? Joy? Zero doesn't know.

"There's a storm coming in from the west," Zero says, turning away and throwing their picnic dishes in the basket. "We'd better go."

Within a few hours, that grey smear on the horizon has become a torrential storm. Zero watches the downpour from the window of the Consort's suite alone, after dismissing his maids for the night.

Unconsciously, his hand creeps toward his belly before he jerks it away like he's been burned.

Fuck. Fuck.

It's the blackness creeping around the edges of his vision that warns him. Zero startles, finding his body on the verge of passing out, his lungs heaving like a five-mile Hunt.

Breathe. He needs to breathe.

Zero can't breathe like this. The Hunter starts stripping away the layers of his costume, tossing the delicate fabric aside with a savage sense of pleasure. Stripped down to his leggings, he bolts into the bedroom, spilling his bag of Hunting gear out on the bed and shuffling frantically through the contents until his hand closes around Artemis Rod. Then Zero sprints back out, throwing open the doors to the courtyard and darting into the rain.

It's like stepping into a pool; rain slicks his bare shoulders within moments. The cold water is a shock to his senses. Zero instantly feels more alert, and slides into a ready stance as he extends Artemis Rod. As he begins moving through staff forms, his bare feet slip on the wet stone, but Zero stubbornly continues his practice routine.

Awareness drains away. Zero abandons everything but the sound of rain and the rhythm of his strikes.

When Zero comes back to himself, his muscles burn in the dangerous way that warns he's overextended his healing abilities, and he's torn his feet bloody on the rough footing. Zero has to pry his cramping hands from their white-knuckled grip on Artemis Rod just to retract his weapon.

He'd forgotten to close the doors. Zero feels a stab of guilt when he realizes the rugs are soaked, and he's probably tracking blood and mud inside. Rather than cleaning himself up, he goes and curls up in the bathtub instead.

Zero is conscious that he's backsliding. He can recognize that what he's just done is not a healthy way of coping with his emotions. But at least this is Zero doing something to his body, rather than his body doing something to Zero. At the reminder, Zero gags, hanging over the edge of the bathtub with bile rising up in his throat.

Wait.

Zero freezes.

Fuck, he's pregnant. Zero loses the last vestige of color in his face. Oh Ancestress, he just worked himself until his body screamed - the things he does to his body matter now. What if he hurt the baby?

And just like that, clarity descends. Zero slumps, the back of his head making a dull ringing thwack against the tub. His breathing evens out; the stinging pain in his feet penetrates past his panic.

Just now, the first thing Zero thought about was the baby. That simplifies things and puts everything into perspective, doesn't it?

If Zero lays aside his fears about his child's future and how badly the vampires and Hunters will react, and blocks out his ugly squirming feelings about the drastic changes pregnancy will create in an already alien body, how does Zero feel?

Pared down to the simplest, most essential question: does Zero want a child?

Yes. Zero chokes on a laugh that's at least half sob, scrubbing his forearm against his eyes.

The bathroom door hinges squeak, and there's the hesitant sound of nails clacking against tile. Zero wipes his eyes one more time, then props himself up against the bathtub rim.

Nightshade has his ears pinned against his skull, and his tail tucked against his belly. Yuuki's butterfly flutters its wings anxiously on Nightshade's nose. When Zero looks at the familiars, Nightshade whines piteously.

"I'm fine," Zero soothes, reaching a hand over the bathtub rim to stroke the wolf's soft ears. "I did something stupid and bled a little, that's all."

Yuuki's butterfly steps onto the back of his hand; Zero brings it up to eye-level, and gives an unsteady smile.

That's right, Zero reminds himself. He's not alone anymore. Yuuki and Kaname love him, and Kaname has sworn he will never harm Zero's children. What's happened can't be undone; pregnancy was a risk they'd accepted for the sake of bonding. Zero isn't sorry he's bonded to his spouses, and the child their union created will never be unwanted.

Zero sighs, and slumps down. In a moment, he's going to get up, pick the gravel shards out of his feet, and bandage them.

After that he's going to kick the familiars out of his suite and call his maids. Zero will need their help. Vampires demand a certain level of propriety when it comes to their traditions, after all.

"Consort Kiryuu humbly begs his honored lord husband and honored lady wife to receive him." The message had been delivered by Sasaki in person, kneeling on the ground as Zero's chief maid.

Kaname and Yuuki had looked at one another, before asking Sasaki to pass along their approval. She'd curtseyed without raising her eyes, and backed out of the room.

Since Zero expelled their familiars, the Kurans haven't the faintest clue what Zero is thinking, but they worry for his mental state. Earlier, Zero hadn't even spared a glance for the soggy-feathered raven spying from the courtyard roof while he worked himself bloody.

"Kuran-sama, Kuran-hime, Consort Kiryuu has arrived," Steward Inukai announces, a formal gravity in the cadence of his voice. To match the tone Zero's actions have established, they've moved to the receiving room of the residential palace and exchanged their clothing.

With one final wordless glance between them, Kaname and Yuuki stand side by side, awaiting Zero's decision.

His appearance draws their appreciative surprise. Even the Jeweled Court doesn't require such a formal costume - layers and layers of silk robes with elaborate embroidery, all colored silver like the moon and the velvety blue-black of night. Their Consort wears every piece of his dowry, the elaborate Hoseki and collar, jewels spangled like spiderwebs in his hair and around his arms. Even his eyes are darkened with kohl and his lips rouged scarlet.

Skirts gathered in his hands, his maids trail behind him carrying the train of his robes. With a decisive nod, Zero dismisses them, and kneels down, his skirts spreading around him in a corona.

Then their consort takes a deep breath, and touches his forehead to the floor with a whisper of silk. "Honorable husband and wife. I thank you for seeing me."

"Our beloved Consort is always welcome. Please, speak," Kaname invites, while Yuuki steps forward and takes Zero by the hand, guiding him to sit upright.

Zero nods, and gathers his composure, before speaking in a firm tone. "When a pureblood takes an omega as Consort, it is tradition that after the birth of the omega's first child, the pureblood will grant their omega one request as long as it is within their ability to fulfill."

"That is true. We both intend to honor you in the traditional way," Kaname answers, his thoughts taking shape.

"I am bold, husband, to ask now. But I am -" here Zero stumbles a moment. "I am with child." His gaze pierces both of them. "I ask to receive my request now."

Their sweet boy asks for things so rarely. How can Kaname refuse? Yuuki's matching agreement flows through their blood bond. "You may ask," Yuuki says, squeezing Zero's hand.

The Hunter breathes deeply, then looks directly at Kaname. "My lord husband. Break this world and remake it into something that doesn't make me afraid for our child."

"Do you know what you ask of me?" Kaname demands, voice ragged. The sheer scale required - it could very well take him another ten thousand years to accomplish! And the power it would require him to wield…

The pureblood's hands clench into fists. "Do you wish me to become king again?"

"No!" Zero's voice softens, but his gaze doesn't waver. "I don't want that. But we both know there's more you could do - you've been overlooking vampire society's problems unless they directly hurt us. I'm not asking you to make a perfect world, Kaname. But give me a world where the child of a Hunter and a pureblood isn't forbidden. Or even just a world where the child of a pureblood and a Level D can exist without scorn!"

Kaname is silent, his face impassive. A thousand thoughts run through his head.

"Please," Zero begs, bending his body to the floor again, arms outstretched in supplication. Beautiful and desperate - Kaname's alpha howls at the sight. How this fear must have weighed on him.

"I will accept your request," Kaname says.

Zero lifts his head cautiously.

"It's true," he admits, stepping toward Zero and Yuuki. "I have been lenient these past years."

Zero bows his head again, eyes suspiciously bright. "Thank you. Thank you, Kaname."

"However," Kaname continues, tilting Zero's chin up to meet his eyes. "What are you willing to do, to gain our people's favor for the sake of our child?"

"Anything."

"Even if you must shape yourself into the perfect omega? Give up your human habits, devote yourself to your life as a vampire? Make yourself soft and acceptable, live slavishly for us and our children alone?"

"Anything, Kaname," Zero repeats. An edge of pain creeps into his tone, but he doesn't waver.

Kaname lowers his voice into something soft and dangerous. "Anything? Even if I tell you to never Hunt again? To never speak to your Master and friends? To destroy everything that makes you a Hunter?"

Zero freezes, expression twisting, before he nods.

Kaname caresses that pale cheek. "I won't ask that of you, Zero. But there will be sacrifices you must make, if you wish the vampire world to accept your child as easily as possible."

"I understand," Zero replies meekly.

Kaname strokes his Consort's silver hair. "Precious boy. Go and change. All will be as you wish."

Zero lowers his head, exhaustion making him list to the side. Yuuki scoops him up, and with one last glance at Kaname, leaves to return Zero to their bedroom.

Kaname collapses into a nearby chair, and closes his eyes. Well. It seems their feud with the Senate isn't finished after all.

Yuuki settles Zero at her throat, and hums when she feels fangs pierce her skin. Her alpha murmurs happily about providing for their mate and child.

"How are you feeling?" she asks once he's licked the wound closed, and curled up underneath her chin.

"Honestly, I'm too tired to tell."

Yuuki lets the two of them float in silence, then asks the question she's most afraid of. "Are you... at least a little bit happy?"

Zero buries his face against her collarbone. "I'm so happy I feel guilty about it."

"You shouldn't feel guilty," the pureblood replies, sudden fierce anger overtaking her. "It's the world that should feel guilty for making you believe you aren't allowed to have a family."

Zero startles, eyes wide.

Yuuki cuddles him until he relaxes again. "We love you. We'll help you, Zero. So rest for a while, okay?"

Eventually, he falls asleep, exhausted by the night's revelation.

Careful not to wake him, Yuuki places her hand on Zero's stomach, and imagines she feels a faint, firm swell under her palm. She smiles, and makes promises of her own in the darkness.

And there we go! Prepare yourselves for fluff and suffering in equal measure.

Thanks to weisskreuz, Blemm-chan, Rainovia and a reviewer who'd rather remain anonymous for contributing the names for Kaito's kids.

The scene at Kaito's house is a very condensed version of what I imagine Hunter family structure to resemble. Regular vampire families function on a very Western model (1-3 children, with parents as primary caregivers), with the significant exception of alpha/omega pairs. Hunters are a totally different matter, because their families are structured to accommodate their profession and to produce a teaching environment that passes on necessary Hunting skills. Raising children is a community affair. For one thing, the master/apprentice relationship is almost like having a tertiary parent. If a child's parents are dead/unavailable, the child's master has legal and medical guardianship.

Next chapter: Now that our trio know the truth, the knowledge of Zero's pregnancy begins to spread. And is Zero really as fine as he thinks he is?