01.

Zero could remember clearly that day they brought him in. He was clad in what had been an impeccable cream trench coat, and within he would be clad with a plain black dress shirt, paired white soft grey slacks that presently were ruined with dried blood. The coat looked expensive, but it was ruined along with the cashmere scarf, and like the slacks, they were ruined and caked with dried blood. Outside he would look like a child, and Zero knew he was looking at a child's visage – he stood at middling height, and like the rest of his kind he would be pale, but his hair was deep auburn and tapered around his face in light waves. His eyes were crimson, and they showed no worry, no emotion at all, as he was led into the hunters' headquarters. Zero could also clearly remember the chains. The child's wrists were bound by manacles too heavy for a human, and the chains snaked upward, crossing on his chest and back, eventually to join the main fast of the manacles by his wrists. Zero knew the chain themselves and the manacles were laced with a preservation charm – he was yet to learn how to perfect them, but he was getting there – and the point of them was that the child would not be destroyed once he stepped into the interior of the hunter buildings. The buildings were laced with nasty surprises for vampires who'd foolishly try to invade. Zero did not want to be on the business end of those unseen protections, and god forbid, he hoped to keep that way forever.

The kid was a Kuran, that much Zero could tell, and outwardly they seemed to be the same age, thirteen. But it was rare for the hunters to put such a young pureblood into custody. He wondered what the kid had gotten himself into as he watched the older hunters usher him into the deeper area of the castle. As if he had given voice to his question, Kaito Takamiya beside him gave an answer he didn't exactly look for.

"Reduced his uncle into pieces," Kaito explained. "He isn't exactly dead, but still, he got reduced to thousands of tiny bloody bits. His parents have also vanished, leaving only piles of ashes inside the Kuran ancestral home. He was the only one alive, holding his uncle's sword. Ergo, he's the only suspect."

Zero understood that even pureblood children posed a threat to their own families. His master had taught him well; with vampires, you simply couldn't rely on physical attributes. This was especially true with purebloods, what with their ability to possess descendants and weaker-willed relatives. But for that kid to actually take down three adult Kuran purebloods, Zero knew why the association brought him in. The Senate would be reluctant to dispose of another rare pureblood master, and would not act on the matter. The hunters on the other hand, had ancient oaths to keep.

"Think of it as a hands-on training."

That was what their master, Yagari Toga, had told them when Zero and Kaito were given a new task – to watch over their newly-acquired prisoner. Kaito took to the assignment with his customary steely face, as always, when he was bracing for something really unpleasant and dangerous. Zero for the most part was uncertain, he knew he was a talented hunter trainee, but he couldn't help but wonder about the wisdom of giving him this important task. He was by no means underestimating himself, but this was a pureblood, and for now, his abilities were still a short call from Kaito's. His master turned to him.

"As long as he's chained he won't be able to do anything, you know."

Zero had the decency and shame to allow himself a faint trace of a blush as he looked down briefly onto his shoes. "I wasn't really…"

"Don't tell me you're actually scared of that boy?" said Kaito, thumping him on the back. "What, do you take me for a fool?"

"It's not that," Zero said in defense, looking up to both his senior and his mentor, who was currently sitting on his office desk and clutching a snow globe. It was strange to say the least to realize that Yagari Toga had an office desk back at HQ. He wasn't exactly the office type of hunter. "It's just I'm wondering, really, there are more hunters far experienced than me, master."

"You're a Kiryuu," Toga snorted, and as far as he was concerned, that was the explanation for everything, and the conversation was over. "Besides, it's about time you got into close proximity with the real enemies, Zero."

Real enemies. Zero wouldn't deny that at his age, he could hunt a Level E no problem. He could hold his own against an average D-class and C-class, but as to B-class and purebloods, he would still need help. But he was constantly training and improving. And right now, his master decided he needed to step up his training. So be it, despite his reservations.

The day passed on without much event; Zero had been given the Bloody Rose, with the specific instructions from Yagari Toga that he was to train with it every day – to get the feel of his new weapon, and to get used to all of its strengths and weaknesses. He was not yet an official hunter, and his master did bend some rules in giving him a hunter weapon in advance, and when he'd tried to object to it, Yagari had given the same excuse with a curt nod and a snort.

He was a Kiryuu. That explained everything.

So when he arrived home in the present apartment his family was renting, Zero was very much aware of the extra weight in his backpack. Kaito had packed the Bloody Rose for him by wrapping it with cloth and tucking it into the farthest end of his bag; he had to take a train and bus ride on the way home after all, and they needed to keep the gun secured so as not to raise questions. Zero didn't have a hunter's ID yet to excuse him lugging around a gun or a sword in public transportation.

"Zero!"

He smiled widely as Ichiru came running out the door to greet him with an all-too-familiar hug. From within the house their mother smiled and went to stand by the door to usher them both in. Their father was not home yet.

"Hey, Ichiru, you really shouldn't move around too much. Didn't you just recover from a bad flu?" Zero, still smiling, said as he entered the house and deposited his backpack onto the couch.

"I'm not so useless, Zero," Ichiru answered with a small reproachful look as he sat down beside Zero's pack.

His brother's statement gave him pause. Zero sighed and wrapped his arms around his twin. Always, Ichiru had been forced to stay indoors. Zero couldn't help but feel he stole his twin's potential and future, no matter what their parents said. No matter what Ichiru said.

You can't have two perfect hunters. The world is too screwed to grant you two perfect things in one shot. That was what Yagari Toga had told him before, regarding Ichiru's incapacity to live the life of a true Kiryuu hunter.

"I'm sorry, Ichiru, I didn't mean it that way.."

Ichiru didn't answer, just relaxed into the hug. He was a bit chill this evening. Meanwhile Zero let go and went to help their mother set the table.

"Father isn't home yet?" he looked up at their mother's kind face as he was handed the plates.

"No, he was asked to stay to follow up some things regarding the Kuran incident."

Ah. The Kuran incident. So the word had already reached his mother. Ichiru went over to help serve the soup, and soon the three of them prayed for grace, and dug into the delicious dinner their mother had cooked. They had mushroom soup, chicken and buttered veggies. Ichiru also informed him that they had lavender ice cream in the fridge.

"Mother, do you think the Kuran boy killed his parents?" Zero asked after a mouthful of veggies. "I mean. I don't actually doubt the thing with his uncle; it's not uncommon for family quarrels, but, his parents?"

"Don't put it past purebloods to consume their own," their mother replied, a mild frown on her face. "Though that's rare these times, it was quite common during the wars. Purebloods consumed another to gain more power to try combat the newly-risen vampire hunters. They refused to acknowledge that our weapons could kill them, and they thought consuming their own would make them somehow immune. But that was nothing, of course. It didn't work the way they expected. In the end it reduced their number, the more aggressive ones of course, and that helped the Kuran monarchy to subdue the other clans and consolidate their power."

"So, the Kuran kid actually consumed his mom and dad?" Ichiru piped up over his soup.

"I don't think he did," Zero replied, looking at Ichiru from across the table. "He was all bloodied up when they took him in, but I couldn't sense anything going crazy with his aura. But I really don't know. Maybe he'd already stabilized when they caught him."

The conversation slowed down as the family enjoyed dinner. It was a peculiar thing to hunter families, Zero supposed. Morbidity was part of the meal. And then he remembered another important topic for tonight.

"Ah…I was…given my weapon."

"Really, Zero? WOW!" Ichiru leapt from his chair and ran to where his pack was sitting by the couch. It amazed Zero how Ichiru could find the strength in times like these, but he was glad his twin was improving. In the oddest ways, but there you were.

"Ichiru, slow down," their mother called.

But Ichiru was already taking out Zero's things from the bag, with care. And then after a minute he came across the bundle Kaito had wrapped. Unfolding the cloth, Ichiru soon held up the Bloody Rose under the light.

"Wow, this is so cool…" Ichiru murmured as he held the gun and tried to aim at a far wall. "It even has its own chain and clip! I wonder how many rounds you can fire from this? Have you tried it, Zero?"

"Um, no," Zero shook his head, and he rose too, to join Ichiru by the couch. Their mother started putting away the dishes. "I've been taught how to load and reload, and actually clean it but, I'm going to try it first thing tomorrow at the firing range after school."

"So cool," Ichiru went on, and then handed the gun over to Zero, who took it. "I wish I could have been a trainee too. Who knows what weapon I'd have been given, eh? Personally I prefer a Japanese sword."

Zero offered a smile to his twin, who smiled back. He chose not to say anything else lest he hurt Ichiru more with what had been happening. Their mother had joined them and asked if she may hold the gun, which Zero gave.

"I bet Toga didn't actually have a permit to give you this," she'd said. "Zero, you know, this is a first grade hunter weapon. Meaning, this gun was among the first hundred to be made out of the mother metal after it had been transmuted for the first time. That man, really," she shook her head. "He would get his ass whipped and served to him on a silver platter once the President realizes he's gave it to you when you haven't been inducted properly yet. I mean, honestly? He could have waited and just let you have a sword or another gun for the meantime."

"I know," Zero laughed. "I tried to refuse it, but master said I'm a Kiryuu and it shouldn't be a problem." That made their mother roll her eyes and mutter something about 'men' and 'being impatient' and 'stupid'.

That next day Zero accompanied Ichiru home from school first before going back, this time to the hunters' headquarters, Bloody Rose tucked carefully in his bag. He also had to take the detour home because he had to take spare clothes; earlier that day Yagari Toga had sent him a text message informing him that his first shift on guard duty was starting. He would be away for weekdays and make do in the HQ along with guard duty, and he would be allowed to go home on Saturdays.

Kaito was wolfing down an early dinner in the cafeteria when Zero caught up with him.

"You better eat," Kaito told him as he drew level.

"I'm good," Zero replied as he sat down. "Where's the prisoner anyway?"

"Down in the basements," Kaito reached for a banana and peeled it. "One of the lowest cells they could find. I've been to see him earlier. He looks all right, but you know with those monsters. They always have this uncanny talent to appear harmless when they want. They've given him a fresh change of clothes, and he's just there, sitting at the far end of the cell, fiddling with his chain or otherwise reading the book he'd requested. He asked for Shakespeare. Hamlet."

"Oh," was all Zero could answer as he watched Kaito finish his dessert.

"You sure you won't eat dinner?"

"Nope. I told you I'm good. Shall we go?"

The boy's name was Kaname. He had been the son of Haruka and Juuri Kuran, and the nephew of Rido, the one he reduced into thousands of tiny bloody bits, as Kaito had aptly described. For the most part Kaname was sitting quietly in his corner, reading the book he'd asked for. He always asked for books, finishing one in a day. He also ate very little human food and consumed only a blood tablet a day. The job was easy. Kaito and Zero stood inside the cell, playing cards or chatting randomly while keeping an eye out for their prisoner. Despite the severity of the crimes being imputed to him, Kaname was far from being executed. His status as a pureblood made things complicated, and as things stood, the vampire Senate had been displeased that association had taken him into custody. There seemed to be a heated negotiation going on as far as Zero knew, and the Senate was demanding the return of their prince, as there was no direct proof that Kaname had indeed consumed his parents. He certainly did not kill his uncle, just incapacitated him. For all purposes it might have been Rido who'd killed his own siblings Haruka and Juuri, and Kaname merely retaliated. The Senate was on the winning end of the bargaining, but the hunters weren't keen on letting their Kuran captive off just yet.

Ichiru was eager for any piece of information Zero might give him regarding the teenage prisoner.

"He's just…there, really," said Zero. "I really don't have anything to tell you. He's well-behaved and he doesn't try anything funny. He doesn't approach us if he needs to ask for anything. He likes burgers if he isn't popping a blood tablet into his mouth. Other than that he just reads and reads and reads."

Their father, it turned out, had been made part of the negotiating party. When he finally went home a week later, he was less than pleased.

"We won't be able to keep him locked up too long," he told his family one evening over dinner of ragout and yogurt. "The First Elder didn't sign the compromise, saying there's nothing in the laws and mutual agreements regarding trial of a pureblood – that had been kept exclusively in their jurisdiction. They've also tendered proof about how the child did only retaliate for the murder of his parents. He might be released in two to three days."

That suited Zero just fine. It meant he could get to focus on training and getting used to his gun.

"What do you know, you'd be released tomorrow! Isn't that great?"

The boy named Kaname looked up just as his two guards entered his cell for their shift. He had been expecting the news ever since he got thrown into this cell. But being into custody served his plans just right. He closed his book after bookmarking his page and sat up straighter, to feign interest in what the two young hunters had to say.

"About time, they were a bit slow on the negotiations," Kaname allowed himself a faint smile, while sizing up the two. They were young, and he could overpower them. After that initial step, a trip to the armory would be in order. The armory, if his calculations were correct, were about 100 meters from where he was. The seals were something he could break, and inside he needed to find his other weapon. How that weapon ended up with the hunters he could not now fathom, only his children had been careless. But that didn't matter. He already had Artemis. What he needed now was the other one.

"You think?" it was the older hunter who liked to yak and yak. The silver-haired one – the Kiryuu boy – liked to keep quiet and just watch him.

"Oh, I do believe so," Kaname replied as he rested his hands on his lap. He glanced at the bars. Basic defensive charms. They neglected to fortify those charms; obviously, these cells were only contemplated for the use of the most rabid of Level E's, not actually for detaining purebloods. They must have been confident because the cells were so close to the armory. It would have been suicide for any other vampire to try escape, and so deep underground too.

The bars would be no problem. As for the armory, it would be easy going through cracks in the form of a mist. But first he had to see for an opportunity regarding his guards first. And the chains. The chains too, were of no import. The charms on these were a bit tricky, and Kaname spent a good day trying to remember the appropriate spells to disarm them. But now he could manage. Now if he could just…

He rose. The sudden action surprised his guards, who immediately shifted into a defensive stance. They were alert, Kaname would give them that.

"I'd like a burger," he said, taking steps and halting just an exact 50 meters away from where his guards stood. He let his manacled arms relax. "That one with the cheese you got for me, I like it. Would it be possible?"

The older hunter, Kaito Takamiya, sighed with annoyance. "Of course, Your Highness. After all, this will be the last time I'll be dealing with the likes of you." He turned to his companion. "Zero, can you manage?"

"Yes."

There was a clang and the older hunter exited the cell. Kaname folded his legs underneath him and sat down.

Zero, in truth, was suddenly nervous having to be left alone with the prisoner. Always, it had been him Kaito sent up to get the cheeseburger, fries and soda if Kaname Kuran asked for it. He didn't expect Kaito would leave him there, but he didn't let his uneasiness be seen. He remained sitting down and holding his cards, as Kaname Kuran sat down as well. If only in terms of physique, Zero was sure he could hold his own against the dark-haired kid. But the boy was pureblood, and there all the disadvantages lied. Zero wasn't sure he would be up against a pureblood, even if Kaname Kuran was his age. It wasn't that he didn't trust his abilities. He was worried about his lack of training.

"What's your name?" Kaname Kuran asked.

Zero didn't answer. He hoped Kaito called for delivery and would go back now. It was stupid to be nervous so near the armory, but Zero decided it was better to be nervous than sorry.

"That's good. Don't talk to prisoners."

Kuran raised his manacled wrists. Despite himself, Zero discreetly had a hand on his gun.

"Now, if you'd excuse me."

There was a sharp, loud crackle, and sparks flew. That was it, and the manacles split neatly into halves, and fell to the floor. The smell of burned but healing flesh pervaded the cell, and Kaname Kuran was on his feet.

"I'd like to go now."

Things happened too fast.

Kaito Takamiya was sure it would be the worst decision of his life, and in the next months and years to come, he promised himself that he would make up for it with anything at all, to Zero. When the alarms blared, a crisp "Shit!" burst from his lips, and he dropped the burger and the fries and the soda and broke into a run, reaching for his hunter weapon as he went. Goddamn. He didn't expect that all. But somehow, for some reason, something told him he should've expected something like this to happen. But it was too late now for that kind of that regret. He could only hope that nothing had happened to Zero.

"Let me at it!" he yelled as he pushed Jinmu aside and went into the elevator that led down to the basements with their master.

"You shouldn't have," Yagari Toga hissed, and Kaito only looked ahead, his heart pounding inside his chest.

"Come on, come on," he snarled, pressing the button for B10 again and again.

There would be a lockdown of up to the fifth basement, he would be sure of it. And the only ones down below would be himself, Toga, Zero and the Kuran brat. At the outset, it looked to Kaito that they had the advantage.

Despite the smoke, Kaname could see clearly. He reached out and tore the useless door to the armory off its hinges with a deafening crack, and tossed it aside as if it were paper. He stepped inside the room, and as expected, met no resistance. Hunter swords, spears, axes and lances were neatly arranged in racks against the walls. Tables displayed guns, rifles, daggers and short swords. There were no anti-vampire charms here; the weapons themselves would be enough. But the association overlooked one important thing.

A Kuran would not be harmed by hunter weapons.

And they didn't expect that they would be holding a Kuran near their armory.

Kaname's steps were brisk and quick, and led him to the end of the armory, where the first grade weapons would be stored. He had no intention to inflict other damage. He needed to retrieve his other weapon, and then he would leave. That was all. That and he could go think on his plans on how to try get rid of Rido for-

A bang, and searing pain. Kaname felt the crackle of her power course through his system, nullifying his terrifying healing abilities. Another well-aimed bullet and he would be dead. And that wasn't in his plans just yet.

Blood pooled by his feet, and he could smell anger, fear, and the blood of a hunter.

He'd turned.

Zero Kiryuu was by the doorway, the side of his head bleeding, both hands holding up a very familiar gun that still smoked from the muzzle.

The gun that Kaname intended to get.

"How nice of you to spare me the trouble," he said, raising a hand to the gaping hole by his left shoulder. It hurt like fuck. Even though he helped make the hunter weapons he still hated them. They hurt, and it would take weeks for him to heal off the wounds. Assuming he could get out alive. "If you could hand over my gun, please." He took a step forward.

"Stay back, vampire!" Zero yelled as he'd fired a second shot, this time to the floor. Blood pounded in his ears. He knew he would be in trouble if he'd killed Kuran right here and now, there were so many things to consider. But he was trying to escape! Never mind that he was going to be released, there would have been time for that, right now, Kuran was breaking the agreements, but—

"If you're going to kill a vampire, don't think of anything else except his death."

The moment's hesitation would, literally speaking, change his life forever. Much later, when Zero could already laugh about it, he would think of how ridiculous it had been to spare seconds thinking about the treaties and agreements signed by the association and the vampire Senate. It was the stupidest thing he had ever done in his life. He should have shot Kuran. Fired bullets right toward his head, and then toward his heart, and then there would be no hope of recovery for him, and he would shatter like glass and scatter to the winds.

Fuck all the treaties, Zero would say to himself much later.

White-hot pain at the right side of his neck. Zero wouldn't remember if he'd screamed. He could remember gripping Bloody Rose so hard he could no longer feel his hands. He could remember gasping, and falling. He could remember being reduced to a heap by Kuran's feet, a bleeding heap gasping for life, his free hand clutching his bleeding neck. He would remember hearing his master's and Kaito's voices. The bang of his master's rifle as he'd fired.

He would be delirious in pain, feverish with the sudden change, too afraid to actually realize what had transpired. He would be taken with tremors as the change overtook him rapidly, and in the heat haze of the transformation, Kuran's voice would suddenly ring clear in his head.

Take him down.

There was no naming the 'him', but somehow, Zero realized who Kuran was referring to. And like a scene from a morbid movie, Zero would rise up like a corpse, and jump right at Kaito Takamiya and bite him viciously on the neck to protect his master, to get rid of the other hunter now trying to stop his master from getting away.

He would remember the horror on Kaito's face.

And then there would be a monstrous snarl, and the scent of his and Kaito's blood, mingling with Kuran's, and the world would be lost in pain and crimson.

Zero would wake up much later in a hospital. There would be nothing of the old him for a while. He would sit up, and he would not see his parents or his twin brother, and he would keep staring ahead, remembering the look of horror on Kaito's face. He still would not say anything as his parents would take him home.

He would remember his master's voice.

Slowly, as Zero regained consciousness from the trauma, a resolve formed within.

I'll kill him.

I'll track him down and kill him.

I'll kill him.