MY GOD! You have no idea how sorry I am for taking so long updating this story! SO SORRY D: ! Having a hard time with RL lately, went into writing to distract myself for a while, God knows I need a rest from all this -_- Won't go into details, you guys have waited too long for a next chapter, so here it is! Finally!

Warning: This is where this fic starts having a reason for being rated M.

More notes at the end.

Chapter Nine.

Kaname had never seen such a small creature in his life. Big brown eyes looked up at him. A tiny little mouth opened and closed, letting out adorable little noises that made his mother giggle.

"Isn't she cute?"

Kaname nodded. She was. This little, fragile baby was cute. Adorable. Beautiful.

"What's her name?"

"Her name is Yuuki," a voice behind him answered. Kaname turned to find a tall dark haired man smiling down at him. He had seen him a lot. He and his wife were friends with his parents. They were human, but Father always said not to call them that. They never minded, though, when the word slipped Kaname's mouth once in a while. The pair would only smile and shake it off, telling Kaname's parents that it was not a problem.

They were nice. Kaname liked them. The man's wife was also really nice. She always made delicious snacks for Kaname and gave him small gifts like scarves and hats. Kaname liked coming here.

And now they had a baby.

"Are you going to help us take care of her, Kaname?" the man asked, ruffling the young pureblood's curls.

"I will!" Kaname smiled, beaming up at the human couple.

I will.

The baby soon started walking. Talking. Kaname loved her.

She made Kaname smile. She made everyone around her happy. It was her gift. No matter who it was, she would always make a big smile appear on whoever laid eyes on her shining face.

"Kaname! Kaname!"

She learned to say his name first. Not her mother's. Not her father's. Not anyone's. His name. And he loved it.

Her hand would always be in his. Her arms always reaching out to him. His name always in her mouth.

Somewhere along the way, Kaname swore to himself that he would keep her safe for as long as he lived, and even more, if he could. She was human. She was fragile. Anything could happen to her. Anything could hurt her. But he wouldn't let that happen. He would keep her safe forever.

He would destroy whatever dared hurt Yuuki.

"No! Stop! Please!"

Stop!

Kaname's eyes widened in horror as Kaien burst into the Kuran manor. The smell of blood all around him.

He knew that smell.

"Yuuki!"

His mother caught him before he could follow the hunter out of the room.

"Yuuki!"

"Kaname, I need you to stay here, alright? Do not leave the house!" his father ordered him as he rushed out the door after the hunter.

Kaname cried. He begged his mother to let him go. To let him help. To let him save Yuuki and her family. Her mother just cried and kept her hold on him.

"Yuuki!"

Zero slowly opened his eyes. His head felt lighter, his throat back to normal. His instincts satisfied.

The smell of blood was overwhelming, but he no longer longed for it that much. It still called to him, but the need to get it was gone.

Why?

The hunter lifted his head from the muddy floor and found his energies fully restored. He obviously had fallen asleep after drinking blood. As he tried to lift his body from the ground, his memories from before falling asleep started rushing back, pushing back the ones from his strange dreams for another time.

Just as realization hit him, someone behind him cleared his throat. Zero turned, more quickly than expected, fresh blood still coursing through his system, and found Kaname slumped against a tree trunk. His clothes were damp with blood and dirt, his face paler than usual and with an obvious need for help.

Zero's stomach made an ugly twist as he walked up to the mess of a pureblood he had made. As he was about to reach for the man, Kaname's whole body flinched, causing Zero to immediately back away.

Guilt was eating the hunter up as Kaname's frightened frame kept his distance from him, his eyes obviously embarrassed at being seen in this state of utter weakness.

"Kaname..?" Zero managed to choke out in a whisper, fearful to break the man in front of him even further if he dared speak too loud.

The older vampire sighed and finally looked up at the ex-human, revealing his tear smeared face. Zero gasped as he looked into the vampire's puffy eyes. Knowing this man in front of him, the hunter knew well how the great pureblood pride must have been smashed down, or Kaname would have never let him see his face like this.

Zero knew he hadn't taken that much blood, he could somehow feel it inside of him, the amount of blood he felt cursing inside of him felt…just enough, he wasn't sure what had caused him to stop drinking or to pass out, but whatever it was, he was grateful. The blazing red marks upon the pale neck, though, spoke volumes of the brutality of the act. Not only that, looking around at the marks on the mud, the scratches on the trees and some rocks, the way both their clothes were ripped…Kaname had clearly struggled and tried to get away.

Zero could feel the guilt pulling at his very heart, and after a moment of hesitation, he slowly approached the pureblood again. With as much care as he could manage, he took the spot next to the vampire and wrapped his arm around his shoulders, carefully pulling him close in an act of what he hoped was taken as comfort.

"Hey, are you alright?" he tried.

The pureblood grabbed at the hunter's shirt, biting his lip hard and swallowing down the thirst he could feel building in this throat.

Stop, stop it! STOP!

"I'm…I'm alright," whispered Kaname, hand still clutching at his companion's shirt.

Zero turned to look at the vampire in his arms. His pale face clearly trying to mask up his feelings, his fear…that fear he had seen in his mind. And then there was…something else…

Yuuki, he had seen her. He had heard her scream.

"You've known her for so long…"

Kaname's whole body tensed.

"She..." Zero closed his eyes, concentrating on those memories Kaname's blood had shared with him. That scream. He couldn't let it go. It echoed in his head and filled him with fear, anger and…

"You're afraid of...being bitten?"

The silence that followed worried Zero. If he didn't have the pureblood in his arms, he would have thought he was alone.

"Kaname?"

No answer.

Zero looked down at the blank expression on the vampire. The amount of blood still splattered all over them both reminded him how tired the pureblood could be right now.

Please! Stop! Stop!

"I'm not," Kaname suddenly said, so low Zero almost thought he had imagined it.

"But-"

"No," Kaname sobbed, his hold on the hunter tightening.

Zero hadn't taken as much blood as Kaname had expected him to. His body was already recovering his blood levels and, being a pureblood, even the nasty bite wound around his neck would not take that long to heal. The tiredness he felt was caused by a different reason. A reason he didn't feel like sharing right now.

The hunter just nodded and kept cradling the vampire. They remained like that for a while, surrounded only by the sounds of nature and the soft breeze that reached them from in between the trees.

"You should stop hiding," Zero whispered, his hand absentmindedly caressing Kaname's curls. He knew he should feel strange, being like this with the vampire. But he didn't. Right now, drunk with satisfaction at having fresh blood in his system, he didn't feel strange at all while holding his former enemy like this. In fact, he felt rather content. And that thought alone should have made him shove the man off and walk back home. But not today. Not now, not after what he had just done. He owed Kaname this much. "Your emotions, I mean. Maybe to the world, to the damn predators out there, yes, but not from me, Kaname."

The pureblood smiled sadly against the hunter's arms. He felt so warm, so happy right now. He hadn't felt like this in so long, and yet…he knew that as soon as he revealed his past, all this would end. These arms would leave him. The cold would come back.

"You wouldn't like it," he whispered.

"Try me."

"I'd rather not."

"Why not?"

But he couldn't hide it forever. Not when Zero had some of his memories in his head now. If the hunter started thinking about them he would start asking more questions. Questions that he wouldn't like the answer to. He'd ask for answers that would surely drive him away.

Selfishness. Not an uncommon feeling in a pureblood.

Kaname turned his head to the hunter, inhaling his scent, hand pulling at the blood soaked shirt in front of him. So good.

He would tell him the truth, he promised himself. He would tell him everything because he couldn't bear the thought of hiding anything from him anymore. Even if that meant driving him away. That wasn't selfish, was it? Not at all.

Or maybe it was. He honestly didn't care right now. He would reveal his past, he would, for the first time in his life, open up to somebody for the sole reason that his secret was eating him away. After everything was out, he'd let the hunter choose. He was sure his secret would cause Zero to back away, to go back to hate him and look at him with disgust. That wouldn't be too bad, would it? They have hated each other for year, why would it matter if their attempt at friendship failed? It wouldn't matter.

Really, it wouldn't.

So why did it hurt so much to think about going back to those days? To the days where those beautiful violet eyes would look at him in disgust and resentment. With indifference and coldness. He didn't care back then, why did he care now?

But he couldn't keep up his secret. Not anymore. He was dying to tell it to someone and, deep inside, he craved forgiveness. He craved for someone he could rely on and not judge him, to not expect anything from him. To accept and understand him.

Could Zero be that person?

Kaname raised his gaze to the man beside him. Uncertain eyes stared back at him and it was all Kaname could do to not cry right there and then.

He had to let him know. He had to let him make his choice.

"Kaname..?"

But not yet. He would have this time with him first. He would take before letting go. Was that selfish? Maybe.

The sudden want that filled Kaname surprised him. His body had relaxed, calmed down, and then suddenly escalated to a feeling he hadn't experienced in so long.

Want. Lust.

As he kept taking the other's scent in, he felt it. Zero was drunk with blood. Still feeling that giddiness that came after filling one's body with fresh blood. And Kaname's nearness and actions on him were having an effect on him. He could feel it.

Kaname needed to keep Zero's mind away from the past. Away from what he had seen in his blood. He knew exactly what Zero had seen in him. He knew for sure that a certain someone's screams were currently invading his mind. He needed to distract him from that. He needed to distract them both from that.

Before any of them could rationalize what was happening, Kaname had pushed the hunter down on the ground, pinning him in place.

Their previous position made it easy for Kaname to climb over the other, straddling him as he kept inhaling his rich scent. The hunter only sighed and licked his still slightly bloodstained lips.

Blood. Dirt. Grass. Zero.

His senses were driving him crazy.

"Kaname, what are you-?"

"Shh."

The pureblood kept taking his companion's scent in. Just his scent. Over and over until all he could think about was the hunter and all he could smell was the man beneath him.

Zero lifted his arms to Kaname's arms in an attempt to push him away, but before he could even reach the vampire, he caught sight of the pureblood's face still covered in dry tears and some smears of blood. The bite wound around his neck had stopped bleeding and was already trying to heal itself along with the scratches around the vampire's body. Zero's guilt threatened to surface again, and so he pulled his arms back on the ground. Kaname kept sitting on him, just inhaling deeply and getting closer with every second.

Zero, not sure of what to do and trying not to pay attention to the strong reaction his body was having because of the vampire currently on top of him, tried to think of something to say.

In an attempt to sit up, Zero's hips shifted against Kaname's causing a sudden friction between the two men that sent shivers throughout his body and let out a moan from both their throats.

Kaname's eyes popped open as he shifted down onto the hunter, his hands coming up to his neck and back down to his shoulders again. Zero splayed his hands upon the ground, battling his body against the sudden urge to shift his hips again. But did he really want this? With Kaname Kuran of all people? With a vampire?

"What are you thinking?" Kaname whispered in what almost sounded as a purr. Their faces were too close together, allowing Kaname's breath to wash over Zero's face and making all the hunter's senses to heighten.

Zero could feel the vampire's body all over him, his scent making its way into his mind to forever stay there. The pureblood's hands kept going up and down around his shoulders, sharp nails teasing his strangely sensitive neck. Did he want this? Did he really want this?

The vampire settled for an answer as Kaname shifted his hips over his again, a surge of electricity shooting up his body and producing another moan from Zero.

"What are you thinking?" Kaname asked again, this time in what sounded more like a hiss.

Zero's hands shot up at his voice, taking hold of the dark haired vampire's hips and pulling his weight up. In a swift movement, Zero turned them around, pinning Kaname to the ground.

"I think this will completely fuck up what we've been building over the last weeks," Zero finally answered as he ground his hips down on the pureblood's, causing Kaname to moan again. "Whatever that was."

"O-Oh yeah?" Kaname gasped as Zero repeated the motion. Kaname's head was rapidly growing fuzzy, either for his recent blood loss or pure lust, or both. The vampire flailed his arms in an attempt to grab onto something, anything, as the man over him kept repeating the motions, slowly finding a rhythm. "You seem reluctant to stop, though."

"I do," Zero grinned, taking hold of Kaname's flailing arms and pinning them over his head without stopping the now circular motion between their hips. Zero lowered his head and breathed the dark-haired man's intoxicating scent in. The blood inside of him screamed, begging him to take once more of the sweet neck before him. "God, you smell so good," he growled instead.

Kaname bit his lower lip and raised his hips in an attempt to get more, to feel more. His pants felt horribly tight, but with his arms pinned over him all he could do was keep moving his hips up, meeting each of Zero's thrusts, their straining erections creating a friction so delicious Kaname's eyes started rolling up.

"Fuck," Zero gasped, making his thrusts harder every time. Neither thought to ever do this with another man, certainly not with each other, and any other day in the past both would have grimaced at the idea of even being so near each other, but now that it was happening, neither could bring themselves to stop. On the contrary, both wouldn't even dream of stopping now. With each wonderful bump of the straining bulges in their pants, the need for more got stronger and stronger. The need to feel more, the need for release.

Finally unable to keep going on like this, Zero released one of Kaname's now slightly bruised wrists and reached down between them, quickly undoing both their buttons and reaching for their now gratefully free erections with such skill Zero vaguely wondered where he'd gotten it from.

Kaname groaned as the friction became stronger, now that they were just skin on skin, furiously rubbing against each other with need.

Moans and growls filled the air, neither man sure of which moans were their own and which were the others. Their visions blurred with lust and their eyes glowed red in their dark surroundings. The trees around them could be on fire and neither would care.

Not long after their hands had found their way around the other's body, nails scratching, fangs grazing skin, teeth nipping each other's necks but somehow never biting, tongues seeking the taste of sweat and blood. The air around them was completely intoxicating and invaded every sense, clouded every corner of their minds, fed their thoughts only with want and the feeling of friction between them.

It was a while later that both men finally found release in each other's arms. Their bodies shuddered and their thrusts became almost spasmodic as they spilled in between their bodies.

Zero let out a shuddering sigh as his body finally calmed down. Trying to regain his breath, he looked down at the gasping pureblood beneath him. Their gazes locked for a moment, their actions slowly sinking into each other's consciousness.

Neither knew for sure how long they stared at each other, but when they finally came out of it, their bodies had relaxed, their breaths and hearts gone back to a normal speed, and the cold wind was swiftly creeping into their surprisingly not very tired bodies.

Zero lifted his body and carefully rolled off Kaname, lying next to him with a soft thud. Nor Kaname or Zero said a word, both choosing to only stare up at the starred sky, barely visible among the leaves and branches of the trees.

A whole hour may have passed before Zero finally decided to break the silence.

"Where are we?"

Kaname blinked and frowned, as if trying hard to process the question. With a swift look around the place, he answered in a low voice. "A few miles from the Academy…"

Zero nodded and, avoiding the other's gaze, sat up. He grimaced as he noticed the evidence of their recent activities all over his clothes. With quick movements, he pulled off his shirt and wiped himself clean before zipping himself up.

After a moment of self-debating, at last he pulled himself to his feet and turned to Kaname.

"Here," he said, shoving his shirt to him. "Clean yourself up, we have to go back."

Kaname accepted the shirt and sat up, repeating Zero's process before looking awkwardly around, not sure what to do with it after.

Zero rolled his eyes and took it back. "We might need to burn this thing," he said as he helped Kaname onto his feet with his other hand. "Don't want to attract attention with…certain scents."

The pureblood raised an eyebrow at him and let a small grin invade his face.

"You don't need to act all smug about it," Zero grumbled, trying to resist his own grin from reaching his lips. But no matter how much he tried to avoid it, by the time they had managed to produce a fire and burn Zero's shirt, they were both laughing and leaning against each other, feeling completely ridiculous but still unable to stop.

They didn't know what would become of them after this, they had no idea how they would proceed from here or how the hell they had managed to affect each other so deeply in such a short time, but neither had any desire to over-think themselves at the moment. Without saying anything, both men agreed to just have a little moment of not thinking before jumping back to consequences.

The night soon found both vampires sleeping on the ground in front of their small warming fire, lying next to each other and hands reaching for the other, seeking their -for now- comforting presences, careless minds giving them pleasant dreams neither had experienced in a long time.

But not for long, for certain new memories in Zero's mind threatened to creep into his peaceful rest. A familiar, if younger, voice echoing inside his mind, repeating itself over and over, haunting his thoughts, bringing an unknown sense of guilt and self-loathing he knew, even in his sleep, were not his own.

"Please stop, I'm scared. Please."

I don't think this fic will be that long, I'm TRYING not to make it too long as to not have you guys trapped in my slow writing! Again, sorry for taking so long in updating, but I promise you, I PROMISE, that I will finish this story. I WON'T leave you with an incomplete story, God knows how much it frustrates me when that happens!

A million thanks to all of you who keep reviewing and adding this story to their favorites. Keeps the pressure on me very time I get a new notification xD! They keep my mind screaming at me to update soon! I love you all guys and this story would not be possible at all without your support *-*

I should also confess to you guys that I'm writing another fic. A Sherlock fic. I might add it to soon because it's currently only available on AO3. Anyway, I had to tell you guys that, because for that reason I keep going between writing for this story and then for the other. So sorry for doing this, I am suffering for it, believe me kjsdhjkfds

Being obsessed with two things at the same time is not healthy D:

Anyway, enough of boring author's comments. THANK YOU, GUYS, AGAIN! For all the support. I love you all and I will try my best to update as soon as possible *-* !

Hope you guys have a great new year!

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