Ends

The owner, a middle-aged man with slick black hair and a smile fit to kill, nods his head at the boy standing before him. "I trust that you've handled the situation properly?"

He nods. "He'll make sure to steer clear of this place for a rather long time."

What, the owner wonders, would he do without such an obedient young boy as his best worker? He'd be in ruins, he figures. There's no way in hell this place would stand without Kiryuu-kun.

"Would you like a reward?" the owner asks, raising his eyebrows suggestively. While he knows that the boy isn't one to enjoy rewards made up of sexual favors, he can't quite help himself. Even he, the owner of the shop and the only person there to not usually indulge himself in his worker's bodies, is tempted to try the silver-haired sex god. Something about him, about the way he so casually and fearlessly deals with his clients, makes the owner both proud and aroused.

Just as he suspects, though, the boy waves the offer off. "The only thing I need right now is sleep." He yawns for emphasis.

The older man chuckles. "You're going to need it. We're receiving a special client bright and early tomorrow, and, because we want him to have the best, we're bringing you in."

"I should have seen that coming. Why is that no other worker is good enough?" He raises his eyebrows in genuine curiosity, but doesn't seem the least bit upset. Honestly, he doesn't mind being the best at what he does, even if certain people are ashamed enough just by knowing what exactly his profession entails. If Zero Kiryuu is anything, it's a proud worker.

"I'd have picked any other worker, but this vampire is…"

He raised his eyebrows. "Vampire?"

The owner smiled weakly. "I know that you don't take too fondly to them, but this one, a Pureblood, is rather far up and…"

"A Pureblood vampire?" Rather than the look of disgust that the owner was expecting, the boy is actually smiling. "We don't usually get them here. I was pretty convinced that they went extinct."

There's a chuckle from the older man's lips. "They aren't exactly animals, Kiryuu-kun. They re-produce just like us humans. Plus, their life expectancy is much greater than ours."

The boy snorts. "Maybe that's because they live forever."

"Yah gotta be jealous, huh?"

Soft, lilac eyes narrow in concentration as he cocks his head to the side. "I guess."

"You don't seem too convinced. Is something wrong, Kiryuu-kun?" Suddenly, the owner becomes incredibly twitchy. "If something isn't to your liking, then I'll be quick to fix things."

"Everything here is great, actually."

The owner raises his eyebrows, but doesn't further question the subject. He's simply satisfied by the knowledge that his shining star won't be leaving anytime soon.

Or so he hopes.

"Ichijo, is this really what you want?"

The noble smiles up at his friend with wide, innocent eyes. "I know it sounds rather terrible of me, but I just can't help myself. The people here aren't as rude as you seem to be expecting, Kaname."

The Pureblood rests his head on his hand and looks out at the landscape that follows the limo. "But a whorehouse, Ichijo? Is this truly necessary?"

Takuma glares at his older friend. "This isn't a whorehouse!"

"What else would you call a place that takes money for sex?"

"It's not like that, Kaname," is all that he says.

The Pureblood wishes to continue the subject, but drops it out of respect for his friend. The last thing he wants is to insult the young noble, the only person he can call a close comrade. If it's a whorehouse Takuma wants – and a rather expensive one at that – then a whorehouse Takuma gets.

Of course, it isn't that simple. From the noble's point of view, Kaname is simply going along with this because he feels it his duty, as one of few remaining Purebloods, to impress the grandson of the Senate. He doesn't see the turmoil within his Pureblood friend. He can't see how lonely the other vampire is.

"Oh!" Takuma squeaks, suddenly sitting upright as the limo makes a sudden turn to the right. "We're here!"

Kaname looks out the window in surprise. He expected to be lost in some super sketchy city with smoke posing as rain clouds, but they're actually parked before an extravagant building in the middle of a cozy set of woods. Wine-colored eyes examine the scene from tinted windows while his friend leaps from the limo and slams the door shut in pure excitement.

"Come on out, Kaname!" he shouts. "They're expecting us!"

And that's the last thing the Pureblood wants to hear.

Zero stands at the entryway in a simple button-down shirt and jeans. His feet are bare except for socks, and his hair is messy from the lack of brushing it properly upon awaking. As lazy as he may seem, this sight is one that lures new customers and enthralls old ones. His figure is one that steals the breath from women, and, matched with that finely chiseled face of his, it makes most men go weak at the knees. He does things to people that they're not quite expecting, and that's why the owner considers the boy his best subject.

"Make sure to smile, Zero!" one of the maids, a flirty young thing, calls from all the way back at the top of the stairs. He turns his head to smile at her, causing to her giggle before returning to her duty of vacuuming the carpet.

To anybody who didn't know any better, the Rose looked more like a mansion than a place built for the intention of sex. It was even cared as such, with maids and butlers who doted on every aspect of both the house and the client's most simple needs. Behind the actual building is a large garden, one that, with the help of some of the vampires who come to visit, is kept up all year round. Staying true to the business's name, the garden sports mostly roses, but there are a few patches of exotic flowers that the owner found while away on business. Every aspect of the building is rather ornate, over-done in the sense that it is a whorehouse. Such places just shouldn't be so breath-takingly beautiful, or so says the people who admire the building without admiring the profession.

Zero sighs, adjusts his position, and checks his watch. Shouldn't his clients be here by now? They were already twenty minutes late.

Hm. And I thought Purebloods were magnificent at all that they did.

Just as he thinks this, though, he sees the face of a familiar customer, Ichijo Takuma, as the vampire skips up, and, to Zero's surprise, freezes before the building, staring rather blatantly at the silver-haired human. His jaw drops, revealing a rather pointed pair of fangs. He mouths something that the boy can't hear before another figure comes up behind the blonde-haired creature and mumbles something to him.

Zero can't help but to notice just how interesting the other vampire is. He's tall, with legs that seem to stretch a mile wide. His eyes, the sort that Zero can actually analyze from a distance, are the color of spilled wine, seemingly innocent in a curious sort of way. His hair, almost black in color, touches his delicate shoulders in soft-looking waves, curling slightly at the ends.

With a sudden jolt of realization, the boy comes to the conclusion that this must be the Pureblood that his owner was speaking so animatedly about. No other vampire can carry such grace, such beauty. This vampire seems to be one who expresses little to no emotion, a trait that, from the books that Zero had read as a child, was one most known amongst Purebloods.

Still, when the vampire catches sight of Zero, his face becomes twisted with some sort of horror. His entire body goes rigid as his face freezes into a look of fear and disbelief.

What, Zero wonders, must be so upsetting?

"You must be excited! You must! You absolutely must…" The vampire stops squealing when he sees the figure standing behind the glass, waiting for his arrival. His blood runs cold, and his body goes completely still.

No, it can't be. It just can't be…

"Glad to see you've calmed down, Ichijo," Kaname sighs as he walks up the path towards his friend. He eyes the suddenly rigid form of his friend before asking, "What's scared you?"

That's when he lifts his head, out of pure curiosity, to examine what it is that's scaring his friend.

Standing in such a way that it should be illegal, is the one part of both Kaname and Takuma's past that, to the best of their knowledge, was forever and a day ago banished from their lives. Was he not, along with a small group of others, sent as far away as possible in order to avoid any further contact? Could he possibly have traveled this far? And to a whorehouse, no less?

While Takuma is slowly melting into the thought, Kaname doesn't know what to think. He's rather numb at this point, and any rational thought has long sine fled his from his abilities.

"Is this really happening, Kaname?" Takuma asks, looking up at his friend. "Are the ends that we've worked so hard to tie finally falling apart?" He doesn't expect an answer, but he can't help but to stare at the older vampire. What, he wonders, is that emotion that so often drowns out any other in his eyes? It's something I've never seen before, at least not on him. Could it be regret?

Standing beside her father, the girl, now nineteen due to the fact that it's her birthday, cocks her head to the side in order to carefully examine the face that's printed on the paper. For some reason, that face, one without a smile and lifeless eyes, is making her father shake with seemingly violent emotion. "What is it, father?" she asks, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

He shakes his head before flipping the paper over. Throwing his smile up towards his daughter's face, he says, "It's nothing, really. Just an old paper of mine that I forgot to throw away."

"Would you like me to dispose of it?"

She reaches for the paper as if to grab it, but he slaps the hand away gently. "Please, Yuuki, let me take care of it?"

She smiles, all bright eyes, before nodding her head. "Fine then, you stubborn old man." She leans down to leave a peck of a kiss on his cheek, causing him to smile enthusiastically. He truly did love her, with all of his heart. Or, at least, with most of it.

There's still a part of him that's gone now, off and living a life completely ignorant to his existence. It doesn't know about him, and, to the best of its knowledge, has never met him. His name is a mystery to them, one that, many years ago, was molded to become a secret.

He adjusts his glasses before standing up and pulling his darling daughter into a hug. How is it, he wonders, that I got to keep you?

"Shouldn't you be heading off to class now, Yuuki?"

She frowns. "Do I really have to go?"

He taps his finger to her nose before nodding. "It's your duty, remember? You're going to be the first in this family to graduate!" Really, they weren't much of a family, just the two of them, but it counted in his eyes.

"Yes, father," she whispers.

I'll do my best to make sure that you never have to go through all of that again. So, please, do me this one favor and work your best to live a normal life?

He watches as she turns on her heel to leave, spinning so quick that her hair lightly brushes past his hands, so long that it touches the bottom of her skirt. It brings back bitter memories, ones that he's tried so hard to get rid of by just cutting her long tresses short, but she refuses. It's almost as if, without realizing that it's even happening, she's trying to keep hold of the life that was once hers.

Falling back into his chair, the man, known as Cross, rests his head on the table, sighing as he does so.

Will the ache in my chest ever go away?

*Phew*

While it may have been rather short, this chapter took a lot out of me.

Now, do me a favor and review?:D