DISCLAIMER: VK is the property of Matsuo Hino.

Broken

Zero trailed Kaname into his chambers, tugging at his necktie uneasily. The denizens of the night decided to have a soiree on the coast and the students of the Moon Dormitory had been invited. Unfortunately, Kaname insisted that Zero tag along, much to his dismay. The party had been the worst. The entire time the nobles either treated him as if he were Kaname's new pet, disregarded him altogether, or gazed at him with lustful eyes, both female and male. He was happy to be home, but found himself in a place filled with unpleasant memories, Kaname's room.

The tall thin pureblood undid his necktie, his crimson eyes boring into Zero's. "You, behaved quite well tonight Zero." He spoke, flinging his suit jacket on his lavish bed.

He glared daggers at the older man's back. He hated the way Kaname spoke to him, as if he were a dog. "I'm not your dog."

Kaname stopped undressing and threw an unreadable smile over his shoulder. He sat on his desk and regarded the silver-haired ex-hunter standing in the middle of his room. Such insolence Zero possessed. "Aren't you?"

Zero felt the anger rising into him and did his best to keep from transferring to his voice. "No," he growled.

Kaname slipped a hand through his dark hair that fell messily into his stunningly handsome face. "Really? You are lesser than I am." He held up a slender finger for emphasis. "You are still in existence because I lowered myself and allowed you to drink my blood, which makes you my property. Which makes me your master. Thus I shall speak to you anyway I please."

Anger fueled by sheer loathing crested inside of him. He was a child of the Kiryuu clan, the strongest of the vampire hunter families. Lesser vampire or not, no one demeaned him so blatantly. Not even a pureblood. Automatically his right hand rose to the breast of his jacket.

Kaname's eyes flickered slightly.

He hesitated, his hand in midair. His eyes darted to the fresh roses on the endtable. They turned gray and withered until they were nothing more than brittle stems, the life drained from them by the damned bloodsucking monster in front of him.

He stood elegantly. Why did this peasant continuously challenge his authority? "Draw the Bloody Rose if you must." He spoke cooly.

Again, Zero hesitated. He had come to understand the pureblood's emotions much more than he liked to admit. Like right now, Kaname's words sounded as if he were giving him permission to actually draw his weapon. Zero, however, knew better. Kaname was giving him, not permission as it would seem, but a choice to act wisely or as expected. Memories of the punishment inflicted upon him by his "master" two weeks ago flooded his mind. His own screams filled his ears. He dropped his hand an inch.

Kaname kept his eyes on Zero. He could feel the young man's anger, see the unquelled hatred in those silver eyes. Perhaps his punishment two weeks ago would come to mind and discourage him from his actions.

There the two stood, a pureblood and an exhuman, staring each other down. Tension settled between them, slowly pervading the air around them until it loomed like a dense fog.

Zero dropped his hand to his side like a dead weight. Bile rose into his throat. His own fear sickened him, but not as much as the satisfaction in Kaname's cold eyes. No. No friggin' way. He was not going to be obedient like some trained monkey conditioned to perfrom to his master's liking. He had his own mind, his own thoughts, his own feelings and would not be treated like a wild beast. His hand shot to his inner breast jacket and grasped the handle of his gun. But that was as far as he got.

Kaname enclosed Zero's neck with a hand, his claws extending to knick the soft flesh of the young man's throat.

Zero's eyes rounded in surprise, his fingers still wound around the gun's handle. Then he smelled his own blood and felt it trickle down his neck from the shallow cuts Kaname's claws created. He would not let him win, he would not back down.

"You are the only one on this campus that so openly defies me at every turn. Why?" He inquired stolidly, his voice struggling to maintain its coldness.

Zero merely shrugged. "I guess it's an issue of power." An insolent smile spread over his lips.

Kaname laughed derisively. "I see." He slammed Zero's back into the wall, causing the paneling to crack from the force.

The wind rushed from Zero's lungs, but he still managed to bare his fangs threateningly at his captor.

"You think that you are the more powerful out of the two of us."

Zero didn't answer, but kept his hand on his gun's trigger. He knew and understood quite well who was the stronger one, but he simply never tired of challenging Kaname.

Kaname inched closer so that he was looking down upon Zero. "Then I will clear the illusions from your vision. The only reason you were allowed to kill Rido-Sama was because I was unable, not because I lacked the power. You would do well to remember that."

Despite the fear roiling within him, he kept his fangs bared irreverently. "I'm sure I'll forget sooner or later." His fingers uncoiled from around his gun when he saw the darkness looming within the pureblood's deathly eyes.

He leaned closer until his lips were mere inches from Zero's pierced ear. "Make no mistake Kiryuu. The only reason you still draw breath is because of Yuuki's love for you. Otherwise I would've snuffed out your worthless existence the night you so impudently drank her blood."

A guttural growl rumbled from within his body. One that he would later wish had never escaped him.

He sighed. "I guess I'll have to punish you for your impertinence, then." He snapped his plaything's head back, exposing his throat and the blood leaking down it. "You have to be taught how to conduct yourself properly around vampires of higher rank and as your master it is my responsibility. It's such a pity though…" Softly he licked a rivulet of blood from Zero's throat. "…you did so well tonight." He retracted his claws.

Zero relaxed his shoulders, but every part of him was bracing for whatever havocs Kaname decided to wreak upon him, however far out they were drawn. He flinched as Kaname lapped up the blood staining his throat, swallowing his disgust.

He finished and smiled at him, allowing his annoyance to show in his eyes. "Well, let's get on with it then."

Thick, gloomy clouds settled over the city, adding to the gothic atmosphere of Cross Academy. Twilight fastly approached. Soon, the members of the Night Class would parade to their classes while the lovestruck teenage boys and girls of the Day Class cried their professions of adoration.

Zero lay in his bed, which was loads more comfortable than the bed he had when he lived in the Sun Dormitory. His mind played the "punishment" he'd received from Kaname like a broken record. His lips were still swollen from the blood he'd bitten from them in an effort to hold back his cries of pain. He hated Kaname. He wanted to kill him and then rip out his guts. An evil smile played upon his lips at the thought of ending Kaname's life, but then it faltered. Yuuki loved the pureblood bastard wholeheartedly, and what would she think of him if he killed her lover. He didn't think he could live with seeing the betrayal in those big innocent eyes every time she looked at him. Not only that, Kaname was real chummy with the Headmaster and was just about the only vampire that shared his ideals of pacifism between the two species.

Zero sighed. In the past five years of his life, he had come to truly hate his existence. When he was a little boy his future had been so bright, even if it was set in stone. He was the stronger of the Kiryuu twins and was to grow up to become a hunter, preferably one equal to or greater than his parents. It was nothing more he wanted in the world than to become a hunter that would make his parents proud and protect Ichiru. Those things were a distant memory now. Voices outside of his door interrupted his thoughts.

"Kaname-kun!" Came Yuuki's voice.

"Hello Yuuki-chan." Kaname said, the fondness in his voice even apparent to Zero.

Zero shuddered when he heard the sound of their lips made when they shared a quick peck.

"Zero-kun?" She knocked on his door. "Are you coming today?"

Zero sat up, grimacing in pain. His body had not healed completely from last night. "No,um…I don't feel so well."

"Really?" She asked worriedly. "What's wrong? Do you have a fever or anything?… Kaname-kun, can vampires get fever?"

"Only if they drink contaminated blood."

"Did you drink contaminated blood?"

"No."

"Zero-kun…"

"I said I'm fine." He snarled.

"Zero-kun please."

"Come along Yuuki-chan. Let Zero be by himself."

He could just imagine the amusement glittering in those crimson eyes.

"Bye Zero-kun."

He didn't reply, instead he turned over on his side. The day Shizuko Hiou attacked his family was the day that everything changed. Slowly his life began to decay. His parents were dead, his brother had served the woman that turned him into a monster with unfailing loyalty until his death, the girl closer to him than a sister loved a pureblood, and he had become an abomination. He hated them all their entire species and now he was one of them. A vampire. A bloodsucking, life draining fiend. A murderous beast in human skin.

What was worse, he was considered the property of one. Kaname Kuran. The man that sought to shape him into a creature of his liking, a creature that performed properly and did his bidding without question, like the rest of his brethren. That was something that he would never do, be servile. If he could never be servile then he would always undergo whatever tortures Kaname could think up. An involuntary shudder rippled through his entire body, ending up in the pit of his stomach. So many times he wanted to tell Yuuki, but he couldn't bring himself to crush her. And truthfully, Kaname would never do anything to hurt Yuuki, ever.

Everything that he ever loved had been lost to the creatures he hated more than anything in the world. His parents, his brother, Yuuki, his humanity, his freedom. They were all gone, slipped through his fingers like grains of sand, blowing upon the updrafts of the vampires' charm. Away from him. He had nothing, no one. He was alone.

His silver eyes swam with unshed tears. He had no reason to live anymore. The mattress groaned as he sat up, the sheets rustling quietly. His gaze fell upon the gun laying on his nightstand and picked it up, running a skilled hand over the cool metal. The Bloody Rose promised him a sweet and swift death with no suffering, just utter release. He pulled back the hammer smiling at the familiarly audible click that reverberated through the quiet room.

The gun felt heavy in his palm, but still he gripped its handle and brought the muzzle to his temple. Right now, in this single moment, he could end it all, his misery, his self-loathing, his slavery. All it would take was one simple motion. His death meant nothing, after all since he drank Kaname's blood he had been merely existing, simply going the motions of life, but not really living. Just end it all Kiryuu. He was about to pull the trigger when Yuuki's laughing face entered his mind.

He dropped his hand. No. He could not kill himself. Not here. Not where she could come in and find him dead with his own bullet lodged in his skull, his bloody brain matter soaking the walls. No, he did not want to scar her, so he would leave. He would leave and go far away, where she would think that he just ran away and never returned when in reality he would be dead.

He stood and began packing his black duffel full of clothes and personal things. Hours later, night had fallen, blanketing Cross Academy in darkness.

Zero jumped the high wall without effort and landed lithely on the ground. He took one last look at Cross Academy and strode his way towards the dock in the distance.

A.N.:This is my first VK fic so please let me know how I'M doing, if they are in character or not. Constructive criticism is welcomed. Oh and somebody please tell me if the vamps can eat food, because at first I didn't think they did but then I went back and read chap. 14 pg.13 and they were eating what looked like Pocky sticks. Please somebody help I'm confused. Oh and another thing Yuuki may or may not be a vampire in this because I like human Yuuki better. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Read and review please. Arigatou.

Love ya