Tears of Blood by Rondomness

Rating: M

Summary: Zero is hospitalized after Rido's attack and Kaname watches over him. But when Ichiou arrives at the hospital to force Kaname into submission, it has unforeseen consequences.

Warnings: Angst, torture and other adult themes including non-con. Yaoi.

Spoilers: For pretty much the whole series and for my other fan fiction Crimson Depts.

Pairings: Ichiou x Kaname, Rido x Kaname and Kaname x Zero. Also some other pairings along the way as Akatsuki x Ruka and romantic feelings between other characters such as Aidou and Ruka, who both have feelings that will be expressed throughout the story.

A/N: This is the long awaited sequel to Crimson Depts and it's actually starting at the exact time when the last chapter of Crimson Depts stopped. So Kaname and Zero is in the hospital, Zero just woke up etc.

I meant to post it earlier, but real life has been holding me for quite some time so I hadn't fully finished the first chapter until yesterday. I hope the way it starts isn't confusing. It will probably end up a bit longer than Crimson Depts, but as I've said before, I'm horrible at judging how much I can get into one chapter.

It just hit me how incredibly much Kaname's feelings change and how incredibly hard it is to write a "Kaname hates Zero forever" scene the one moment in The Spider's Web and then a "Kaname waits for Zero to wake up in hospital and he's really worried about him" scene in tears of Blood. But oh, well, it'll be okay, after all this chapter was almost finished before I even finished Crimson Depts, so it's been laying at my computer for eternities.

Special notes to anyone who's ready this, but haven't read Crimson Depts: It might be a little difficult to understand. Short summary of the things happening right now is that Zero is in a hospital for vampires after Rido attacked him with a hunter sword, almost killing him. Rido himself got "killed" though. Kaname watches over Zero because he feels responsible for what have happened and after a week with no sign of life, Zero has just awoken. Anyway, might want to read Crimson Depts as it is difficult to understand if you merely read this story.

Disclaimer: This fanfic is for entertainment purposes only, no money is being made from it. The characters are made by Hino Matsuri. I do NOT own Vampire Knight nor any of the things mentioned in here.

Chapter 1: Awakening

White. The world was white. A strong light dazzled Zero, it was sharp, clear and very white. The hunter's eyes took in the sight of the room, he hadn't been here before. This white room. Still half asleep, Zero was way too dazed to recognize anything and he just looked at the light in the loft and the long blinds covering the window, making the room dark even though it was in the middle of the day. There was a thick, queasy scent of blood in here and an irritating beeping sound nearby.

As consciousness slowly increased, so did a burning pain radiating through his chest and Zero moved a little to lay less uncomfortable. "Lay still Zero," a voice whispered, a familiar brown-haired man with reddish eyes, bowing over the bed. Zero was more than ready to obey, the pain increased tenfold when he moved and he wasn't going to be lying more comfortable in this bed anyway. It was hard and uneven, the pillows flat and lumpy. "Kuran?" he whispered dizzily, his eyes darting towards the pureblood's worried gaze.

A saddened smile lighted Kaname's face up for a moment. "Hey," he said, careful not to touch the boy. "How do you feel?" he asked, his gaze lowering to take in the state of the hunter. Zero didn't want to follow his eyes, didn't want to see how bad it was for himself. He judged the pain for a second. He was a bit sore in the arms and legs, a constant throbbing in his throat and he had a terrible headache, but the pain in his chest was by far the worst. The entire area was hurting horribly, the worst pain gathered in a line and now, when he concentrated on the pain, he discovered that he had difficulties breathing. He was very light-headed.

"Crappy," he responded, not knowing how to put it any other way. "Where am I?" he asked, his mind protesting wildly when he tried to gather some information or memories. "In the hospital," Kaname answered, his eyes dark with pain and other concealed emotions. He hesitated a little before adding, "You've been unconscious for a week."

It all came rushing back now. Kaname's screaming, twisting form on the floor. Rido's attack. The splintering glass. Pain. Darkness.

Now, Zero had to look, had to see what had happened after the attack.

He was wearing a white hospital suit, only exposing a bit of his pale chest, the duvet covering the rest of his body. But there was no mistaking the severity of his injury. Long, translucent tubes and wires were connecting him to some racks by his side, small screens showing things like his heartbeat and pulse. The tubes were twisting around his hand, chest, the leg he could see from where the duvet had been pushed away, everything. Something was held in place under his nose by tape.

"Mind removing that thing from under my nose?" he asked, not wanting to move his sore body more than necessary. Kaname ignored him, a nurse coming in and checking on the two of them. It irritated Zero, and probably Kaname as well, that it seemed like she was mostly interested in getting the pureblood a better seat rather than finding out how Zero felt. "And you're sure that there is nothing I can get for you?" she asked Kaname with a sugary smile, closing the door behind her when Kaname nodded silently.

"I guess it can't be helped as you're in a hospital for vampires. I didn't want to place you anywhere with humans as your injury is caused by a hunter weapon," Kaname explained, his hand sliding through his brown locks with an apologetic smile. It was only now that Zero really got a look of the pureblood. Kaname looked horribly tired, there were black circles under his eyes, his hair was disheveled and his clothes creased, hanging randomly around his frame. His smile was tired and saddened.

That reminded Zero of something else. "Did I kill him?" he whispered, his voice still dry because of his difficult breathing. Kaname smiled truly for the first time and nodded. "He is as good as dead," Kaname assured, his face darkening when Zero began gasping for breath. Kaname learned closer to the ex-human, checking if he needed any help. "Wh-what do y-you mean by th-that?" Zero asked, fighting to regain control with his breathing.

"Shall I call a nurse, Zero?" Kaname asked worriedly, only answering Zero's question when the boy shook his head. Nurses meant more needles and more idiotic pureblood idolizing. Zero needed neither of those. "It is very difficult to erase a pureblood completely, only another pureblood can do that. But you did well, Rido is nothing but a presence, he won't bother any of us again. Because of his Kuran blood and specialized powers, his presence still lingers here, but he is unable to take physical form."

Zero relaxed a bit, he was satisfied that he'd managed to almost kill the bastard. "Y-you look h-horribly," he remarked with dry amusement as he commented Kaname's appearance. Kaname eyed him with a faint smile. "As if you're one to talk," he said, his eyes flying towards one of the small screens by Zero's side when Zero began coughing softly. "I-I'm okay," he said, fighting to suppress the next cough.

"Maybe you should get some sleep," Kaname reminded him, pressing a small button and thereby calling a nurse. Zero shook his head lightly. Sleeping was the last thing he wanted to do right now, he'd apparently been unconscious for a week and he hadn't even had time to ask Kaname what really happened and how he ended up in this hospital for vampires.

"I don't want to sleep, I've slept enough already," Zero said, his eyes begging Kaname not to use his advantage to force Zero to anything. Kaname sighed, Zero didn't have to be so difficult. Couldn't he see that this was for his own good so he would get better as soon as possible? "Please, Zero just sleep. Don't purposely go and be difficult," Kaname said, smiling when Zero closed his mouth tight and gave him a clearly challenging look.

Kaname shrugged uncaringly and sat down in a nearby chair. "Why haven't you slept? Or been eating?" Zero asked, he'd already found out why the pureblood was looking that way. Kaname's hand brushed some hair away from Zero's face. "I couldn't sleep. I would never forgive myself if you died while I slept," Kaname explained, giving Zero a faint smile.

"So instead, you decided to make everyone worried about you. I beg there has been people criticizing me for making you stay up all day," Zero remarked, Kaname wondering how he knew that. Yes, they had but each time, they'd received a deathly glare from the pureblood and therefore withdrawn.

"I also suffer under the loss of a bond mate," Kaname said, explaining when Zero looked blankly at him. "A blood bond is a powerful thing created between two vampires who drink each other's blood. It binds them to each other and is usually the result of love. However, blood bonds can be created to dominate someone as it will make them dependent of the other part." Zero nodded slowly, he understood what Kaname told him but didn't really care about such a thing. It was obvious that Zero did not understand the consequences of a severed bond.

"The higher your level, the stronger the bond. A pureblood will feel the results of a bond much stronger than a normal vampire. So, when a person with whom you share a bond dies, so will a part of yourself. As a pureblood, it will last a long time, even as it wasn't a real blood bond I shared with him," Kaname continued, his voice darkening in the last part. "Who?" Zero asked, he was really tired still and his brain wasn't exactly progressing fast at the moment.

"Rido. I wonder what kind of bond we really shared as it probably was unique. You saw it yourself before. You saw him hurt me through the bond, Zero. That is the true power of a bond. And when he died, a part of me died, although the consequences is tens of times lesser than if it had been a normal bond. It just… takes away my appetite and causes me a bit discomfort. It will pass in a couple of days," Kaname said, giving Zero a faint smile when he looked worriedly at the pureblood.

Zero's look turned into a furious glare directed at Kaname when a nurse entered. "Hello," she said, smiling warmly and not paying attention to Zero's vicious glare. As if the hunter wasn't already half gone in his own, drugged dreamscape. "Can we have something dulling?" Kaname asked, a bright smile in his face, which gave Zero the lust to slap him. He would have done it, wasn't it for the fact that the tubes would threaten to suffocate him when he sat up, if he was able to get up at all, which he doubted. "I don't want…" he started, but Kaname cut him off with a small throw of the hand. If Zero was still suffering a great pain even after so many doses of morphine, Kaname had watched the nurses fill him with the last couple of days, then he needed to sleep more and rebuild himself instead of talking with the pureblood.

The nurse filled a small bag connected to Zero's tubes with a translucent liquid and gave them a smile before walking out again. Halfway out the door, she turned around. "Kuran-sama, won't you please come downstairs and eat?" she begged, Kaname shaking his head. With a sigh and a shrug she left them alone again.

"You should eat something…" Zero slowly commented, his mind already dazed from the drug. Kaname shook his head, watching in silent amusement as Zero's eyelids closed before he forced them apart again. "If I shall sleep… couldn't you then eat?" Zero asked, trying to put some depth into his voice even as consciousness faded away. His lips formed the word "please" but all the sound he made was some strange, unintelligible murmurs. Kaname understood him though and Zero had time to see him nod silently before darkness swallowed him whole and he knew no more.

Kaname nuzzled his silvery hair until he was fully asleep. In the course of these days, Kaname'd made the Chairman tell Yagari and the rest of the Night Class everything, but he couldn't tell Zero. No, not Zero. As if he hadn't been hurt enough already, Kaname didn't have to make him feel even worse. He wouldn't tell him who Yuki really was. Zero had no need to know that.