Tainted

~o~

Zerowalked into his temporary home, all but throwing his duffel bag onto the floorwith one hand as his other rubbed at his temple warily. He hated his job;staring down a Level E who had raped and murdered teenage girls in his run-downapartment in a third-rate neighborhood. His order was terribly cliché, andlong, and tiring. He wanted a hot shower and to crash on the couch.

“Zero,are you here?”

Agroan left his lips and he picked his head up to look at his girlfriend tiredly.A bright smile lay over her fair skin as she stepped forward to collect him intoher arms. “I was worried about you,” she said softly, and he couldn’t resistwrapping his arms around her any longer.

“I’mfine,” he shortly replied, keeping his empty eyes out of her vision as shestepped back to examine him, poking at his chest with a frown. “Will ya’ quitthat? I hurt, you know.”

“You’rehurt? Where?” her voice was frantic as she grabbed his hand in both of hers –as his hands were larger, naturally, but very calloused – and rubbed it againsther cheek. A brief glint of contentment flashed in his lavender eyes, but itleft almost as soon as Yuuki noticed it. Realization made her eyebrows knittogether, and she stilled her – and his –hand.

 “Oh.”

Silencewashed over them before Zero decided he’d rather pass out clean than in hiscurrent state, and he pulled his hand back to pull his long, blue trench coat offof his shoulders, a loud ‘Crack!’ making the girl standing shorter than himcringe; a shower was exactly what heneeded. To offer some sort of help, Yuuki walked behind him and helped slip thearticle off of him, hanging it over a chair, rubbing at his shoulders. “You goget your things, I’ll draw the bath for you-”

“I’llbe showering,” Zero cut in, but Yuuki gave him a firm look, lips pressed into aline.

“Then,I’ll start the water for you,” she reasoned, flashing him a small smile beforeturning down the small corridor leading to their small bathroom, anddisappeared through the door. Zero, inwardly wondering how she could possibly be so happy all the damnedtime, shook his head and walked through the corridor and into the bedroom theyoccupied.

-x

Zerostood in the shower, letting the warm steam envelop his worn, tense body. Themuscles in his back contracted once, before the knots seemed to loosen and helet out a soft sigh. He hated his job. He hated having to be the Association’slapdog, even if it meant protecting his beautiful girlfriend for one more day.Most of all, he hated… hated staring into the cold eyes of the monster he’dinevitably become.

Hislife as a Level D was prolonged; while he didn’t get to drink the blood of his‘master’, Shizuka Hio, his brother did, and he had devoured his brother yearsbefore. His strength had multiplied, even without the purest blood coursingthrough his veins. He carried the blood of two Purebloods; Shizuka Hio, andKaname Kuran.

Gods,how he hated that man.

Evenif he’d kept Yuuki safe, he couldn’t stand the thought of his competition.

Former competition,that is to say.

Zerolathered his silvery hair with his shampoo, nothing too fancy or luxurious, andhad busied himself with rubbing suds over his aching joints. He hadn’t heardthe bathroom door open, shut, and the sound of cloth hitting the floor.

Whathe did hear, however, was the sound of the shower curtain sliding back andforth, and he let a calmness fall between he and the red-handed. No amount ofguilt was felt through the air; in fact, the red-handed was more concerned forhim than guilty.

Twosmall arms wrapped around his taller frame, pressing a naked chest into hisback. “Yuuki,” he murmured. He wanted to embrace her, but the strength sheoffered disabled movement. Instead, he stared at his hands, baring his fangsdown at them.

Notparticularly content with being the one holding, Yuuki spun her boyfriendaround and pressed him against the wall; while she wasn’t stronger than him,she was fiercer, and he was tired. He merely looked down at her, and managed toremain nonchalant as she asked, “Why won’t you touch me? Why don’t you ever touch me?”

Ittook a minute for Zero to word his answer. “…My hands. They’re stained with thelives of… they’re tainted, Yuuki.”His voice was thick with pain, and a hint of hate in himself. The brunette, whosechin was perched on his chest, was even less content.  Crimson eyes narrowed before she smacked himhard on the chest, to which he let out a groan. That certainly didn’t make himfeel better.

“You…you moron!” Tears welled up in her eyes before she grabbed his large hands,placing one around her and the other on her breast. Her forehead fell, defeated,onto his chest. “If that’s how you… h-how you feel, then. Then taint me! Taintme, too! We’ll be tainted together, Zero!”

Herwords… went straight into his heart. His heartbeat was loud, and he knew shefelt his heart racing. But, instead of telling her how absolutely stupid thatsounded, he switched their positions, causing her to look up in surprise. Herhands were pinned up above her head. His lips met hers in a fiery kiss, towhich she returned with fervor.

Then, taint youI shall.

~o~

( Did you like it? Hate it? Let me know!

–Darksideofthemoonxx )

Zero was just getting off duty, he said goodnight to Yuki, and he was off down the moon dorm halls. Toward the male sun dorm. While Yuki skipped happily, but tiredly to her dorm. Zero sighed softly. He found his boring that this was his same routine, over and over. He wanted a new excitement. So he didn’t go back to his dorm, just yet. He began to wonder the halls of the Night Dormitory mindlessly.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going–! Eh—?! Zero?!” A soft, almost like a 14-year-old’s, voice shouted.

Zero must’ve not been paying attention and ran into someone. He was a bit dizzy. He shook his head so his purple hues would focus on the person who owned the sweet voice he heard. He saw blonde hair, curly. He thought it was Akatsuki at first but Akatsuki was much taller and had orange hair. This person was about a head and half shorter than he was. Zero lowered his eyes to come into contact with icy blue, beautiful eyes.

“Aido-Sempai…” Zero said slowly, then his eyes widened. He said rather quickly, “I’m sorry. I’m just bored. I didn’t mean to run into you. Are you hurt?”
“No, Zero. I’m perfectly fine.” Hanabusa’s cheeks flushed, he didn’t know Zero cared about him. The only time they’d been close is when Zero and him had been locked up in that car. They talked. Then Zero took him hostage. But now they were, sort of, face-to-face, since Hanabusa was much shorter, it made eye contact harder.

Zero’s eyes light up. That’s perfect, he thought. I can have Hanabusa come over. We’ve never really hung out before. This might be a new thing to “spice up” my life! Then Zero rethought what he just had said in his head, EH?! No I mean not sexually! But just a new friend might be—ugh!! Why am I fighting with myself? No one can hear this!

“Hey, Aido. Want to come over?” Zero asked softly.

“Umm.. Sure. I’d love to Zero. What will we do though. And I might fall asleep on you when the sun comes up. I’m sorry if I do.” Hanabusa blinked and gazed into Zero’s purple hues. Making Aido fantasize about him for a brief moment.

“Well, I can get a movie. We can play games. Talk. Color. Play with our powers. Wrestle. Anything.” Zero smiled slightly at the small blonde.

“Sure. That sounds fun!” Exclaimed Hanabusa excitedly.

So the two of them set off for Zero’s room. But before they went, Hanabusa stopped by his dorm to check with Akastsuki and grab a jacket so he could hide from Day class girls. They made it finally to Zero’s dorm.

“Here we are!” Announced Zero as he flung open his door.

He acts as if he’s drunk, though Hanabusa. It’s weird. Him being so nice? Strange.

Zero let the tiny slender blonde move his way first into the room. Then Zero followed after soonly, shuffling his feet childishly to his bed where he plopped down. He patted beside him, motioning Hanabusa to sit down.

“Sit.” He said into a husky voice.

Hanabusa sat down beside Zero, trying not to be too close. Then wrecklessly Zero pressed his lips onto Hanabusa’s. Hanabusa didn’t react at first, then his face turned bright red, shoving Zero away. Zero gripped onto Hanbusa’s shirt,when Hanabusa shoved him. Making them both fall off the bed, and onto the floor. Zero landing on his back, and Hanabusa landing on top of Zero. This made Hanabusa feel more awkward than before.

“I’m sorry, Aido… You’re too cute. It’s a weakness I have.” Zero said softly and worriedly. His big hand caressing Hanabusa’s soft white cheek. He leaned up for another kiss. But Hanabusa pulled back resentlessly. “Sorry again,” Zero apologized.

“Zero.. Why did you kiss me?!”

“I like…y…o…u…”

Hanabusa’s cheeks turned bright pink, his eyes the size of the moon. Then he relaxed, his blush turned into a warm, soft blush. His eyes narrowed. He quickly leaned down and kissed Zero’s pale lips. Hanabusa pressed his hands against Zero’s hot chest. His fingers latching into Zero’s jacket. Zero didn’t stop the blonde. Instead, he moved his arms around Hanabusa’s back.

Zero deeping the kiss. Zero opened his mouth a big, licking along Hanabusa’s lips, wanting to gain entrance into the perfect boy’s mouth. Hanabusa quickly made a slit with his mouth, letting Zero stick his tongue into his mouth. Zero swirled his tongue around inside Hanbusa’s mouth.

“Mmmnn…~” Hanabusa made short little moans in the wet kiss.

Zero, moved his hands to Hanabusa’s butt. Gripping it tightly.

Hanabusa pulled from kiss to let out a moan, “Ahhh!”

Zero’s lips pulled into a smirk. His hands squeezed the Aristrocrat’s ass tightly. Hanabusa letting out another moan to Zero’s tight, pleasurable grip to his ass.

“Zero.. can you teach me. I don’t know what to do…” Aido looked at Zero with worriedly little eyes thinking he wouldn’t be able to please the much more expirenced male. Then he let out a short sigh.

A/N: So, my obsession is now Vampire Knight. The boys are just too hard to resist, and them being together is even harder. Also, ever since that picture of Alice!Zero, I’ve been pondering over the idea of a gender-bender KanamexZero fanfic. Well, here it is. Enjoy

Please note that any biology and chemistry information mentioned in this fic is my idea alone, they may not be scientifically accurate. After all, this is a fanfiction.

Disclaimer: Vampire Knight belongs to Matsuri Hino. I was just playing with the characters and make them suffer

Aido was extremely bored.

It was the weekend, which means there was no class, which means he had absolutely nothing to do. The blonde genius was sprawled out on his bed, looking at the curtained window upside-down as his head was hanging off the bed. He was probably one of the few students to remain in the dormitory this hour. The afternoon was quickly approaching, signaling that almost all Night Class students were out town for some time away from the academy. Apparently, Aido found such activities provide no significant benefit for him, as he’d rather stay behind and do more meaningful things such as researching on blood tablet development or carrying out some experiments. Speaking of experiments, lately, the aristocrat had been tampering with gender deciding factors, a.k.a estrogen and testosterone. He had discovered that given some appropriate catalysts along with a suitable environment, bio-chemical reactions could happen and somehow change the DNA patterns of the two hormones, inverting them. Estrogen would become testosterone and vice versa. Aido was on his way to develop a potion acting as a decent catalyst for such phenomenon to happen. However, said potion had yet to be proven effective due to the fact that no vampire would volunteer to be tested on, “especially by you, Hanabusa” as Kain’s words. The blonde must admit that some of his…weird experiments had become quite the disaster in the past, some cleaned up by a dangerously calmed Kaname-sama…But all of his experiments weren’t meant to do others harm! Like that time he cured Shiki from a temporary anorexia nervosa, which ended up in the boy eating pokey a whole week non-stop (actually he can’t stop), gaining quite some unwanted weight and draining Rima’s wallet…Never mind that. There was this time he tried to turn coins into cats, it was just to take care of the annoying rats lurking around the dorm…although it resulted in a horde of untamed cats trying to tear out curtains, sofas and knock off various vases…Okay, Aido swore he wasn’t going to test this on anyone.

The noble finally decided to get up from bed and finish his never – to – be – tested potion. Or he could always use some rats…

Zero Kiryuu sighed as he walked towards the Headmaster’s office with hands shoved into his pocket. For a whole day, the sun had been constantly radiating its scorching heat, showing no mercy towards the Day Class students who never seemed to have a summer uniform_ which dear Chairman hadn’t thought of. Zero could feel his heated body soaked with disgusting perspiration, and as much as he hated to admit it, the consistent sun shine did in fact affect his sensitive vampire skin, seeing that he now had a small sunburn on his neck. The hunter finally arrived at his destination and opened the door that separated him and his adoptive father.

“What did you call me for, Chairman?”

“ZERO-KUN MY DEAR SONNNNNNN!”

He was immediately pounced on by said energetic adoptive father. However, blessed with years of experience and quick vampire reflex, Zero managed to dodge in time as Chairman Cross lost his balance and met the door with his face. The hunter quickly did a graceful backflip when the man lunged for him again, following by a lightning fast cart wheel, trying his best to get away from the bouncing Chairman. God does this man ever give up? Wanting to stop this game of cat and mouse, Zero did the only thing he could. He punched the Chairman.

The punch sent Kaien Cross across the room, but when he recovered from it with a nosebleed and a lump on the head, a sense of sanity had returned to his eyes.

“What did you call me for, Chairman?” Zero repeated his question monotonously as if their little physical training session had never taken place.

Chairman Cross adjusted his glasses calmly and stood up, placing a hand on the hunter’s shoulder “Zero, my son, after all those years living under the same roof with you, I’ve come to understand that you are a very kind boy at heart. Every day, I am proud to see you become more and more mature and responsible, also more carin-”

“Just get to the point.”

“My, doesn’t Kiryuu-kun feel happy to hear my compliments-”

“You are just flattering me so that I’ll accept to do something I don’t want to. “

“Hah…Kiryuu-kun always sees through me. Can you go to the Moon Dorm and hand these documents to Kaname-kun?” The chairman finally gave up beating around the bush.

“Where is Yuuki? She would be glad to accept a task as long as it involves that bloodsucker…”

“I sent dear Yuuki on some other business earlier, you’re the only one I can rely on now, Kiryuu-kun.”

Zero just nodded grumpily and took the file. He quickly headed for the door; hand reaching for the awaiting handle as fast as possible…Chairman Cross was starting to have that familiar look in his eye.

“I know my son would kindly do me a favor-”

Again, the Chairman was hit in the face with a closed door.

Finally, he succeeded! Aido did a mental victory dance as the chemical substance he was watching turned into a watery blue color. After spending the entire afternoon mixing different vials with a painstaking level of delicacy, his gender bender potion was finally completed. He needed to test it! I’m sorry Kaname-sama, I’m sure this wouldn’t hurt anybody! But still, should he? His experiments always ended up in a mess, and Kaname-sama wasn’t pleased each time. At all. But a female Kaname-sama – a female Kaname-sama… Aido shook his head in embarrassment to stop the tempting mental images that had started to flood into his mind. Well, maybe he would have to do with rats, after all.

The blonde carefully held the vial in his hands and walked down the hall. The rat nest was somewhere near the end of this hall, in a dark corner where no one paid attention to. Those sneaky little bastards. Aido had become their enemy ever since they devoured his cake with an inhumane speed in the kitchen while he went out just to get a spoon. He swore those were no normal rats…A black, moving object caught his eyes. Well, at least those bastards were still good for something: becoming his test subjects. The aristocrat burst into run as he chased the escaping animal with vampire speed. The rat was fast, but not fast enough; Aido reached his free hand forwards at an attempt to capture the black thing, but as soon as his mind registered an even bigger black thing blocking his way, the inevitable happened.

Zero wasn’t able to move in time as Aido crashed into him, sending the documents in his hands everywhere. Aido had been running at vampire speed, so the impact was not at all little, knocking both of them down the stairs. The hunter grunted painfully as the marble stairs dug into his back; his fall cushioned Aido’s. They ended up a messy tangle of limbs on the floor after the unexpected flight downstairs. Before Zero was able to recover, he felt a funny smelling liquid trickling down his face.

It took Aido sometimes to overcome the initial surprise, and he quickly pushed Zero away as soon as he did. The aristocrat stood up and brushed his clothes as the ex-human gave him a death glare

“Do you ever pay attention to where you are going?” Zero asked angrily

“You could have dodged that, mister vampire” Aido quickly sent the prefect a sarcastic retort, which only fueled his anger. However, Aido didn’t pay attention to what the hunter was saying as he finally realized that the vial was no longer in his hands. His gazed darted to Zero in panic and his suspicion was immediately confirmed: the ex-human’s head and uniform was dripping with the potion.

“Oh my God, you ruined my whole work!” Aido almost roared at the loss. All of his time, his carefulness…is now thrown away. Just because Kiryuu had to be in the wrong place and at the wrong time.

“And now you are blaming me? You dumped this thing onto my face, and God knows what it is!” Seriously, the funny scent was getting even funnier, it smelled like…Yuuki. Feminine.

“It’s my gen-”Aido paused at midsentence as another thought appeared in his head. Wait, maybe this wasn’t as unfortunate as he thought. Actually, Kiryuu had just unknowingly become his unexpected test subject. Yes, maybe for once things were going the way he wanted. Aido did an evil mental smirk that surprised even himself.

“It’s your what?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, just some random water.” The noble answered smoothly, mental smirk still in place. God he was so brilliant.

Before Zero had the chance to press at the question, a collected voice rang out from above the stairs

“Did anything happen here?” Kaname had heard the crash earlier, however, he didn’t expect himself to be amused at the scene in front of him: Aido standing with a disturbingly faraway look in his eyes; and Zero, hmm Zero, was sprawling on the ground in a suggestive pose, with liquid dripping from his hair and wetting his now quite transparent shirt.

“Kaname-sama! Nothing happened here Kaname-sama, just an ungraceful person who doesn’t even know how to dodge when someone is running into him.” Aido glanced meaningfully at the now fuming hunter.

“You idiot, you are the one to run into me in the first place! You should watch yourself more carefully before blaming someone else!”

“Well, if it’s not for you walking ther-”

“Now now, Aido, you should reconsider the situation. It’s not entirely Kiryuu-kun’s fault to not be able to dodge in time, you were the one who caught him in surprise.” Kaname calmly analyzed the problem, and pointed that out for Aido.

“B-but Kaname-sama…” Aido looked at the pureblood pleadingly.

“I think you are the one who should apologize first, Aido.” Kaname spoke with a tone that meant ‘this shall be finished here. and. now’

“Yes, Kaname-sama” Aido turned to Zero bitterly “I’m sorry for bumping into you” unintentionally_ he added mentally. Still, he needed to be nice to Zero so that he would have the chance to witness his potion taken effects.

“It’s okay.” Zero answered quickly, wanting to leave this place as soon as possible. He regarded Kaname with the usual hatred in his eyes “Chairman Cross sent me to deliver those documents to you.” He pointed at the papers that Kaname had already gathered earlier.

“Yes, seeing that I’m now holding them, your task is finished.” Zero took that as ‘you’ve done your job, now go’ and started to turn away, trying to force back down his throat the retort that threatened to spill out. But even in a thousand years, he would never ever expect Kaname’s next action. The pureblood grabbed his arm, leaning closer to his face_only inches were left between them, and Zero could nearly taste Kaname’s breath as they touched his trembling lips. This fact kept him frozen in place, unable to just follow his screaming will and punch the bloodsucker’s face in. Kaname slowly inhaled, savoring the essence clinging to the hunter’s body. The scent…it was so captivating, if not alluring…so feminine that it stirred up the deepest desires within him. The longer they stayed in this position, the need to just ignore everything and dominate the hunter became harder to resist. Ah…He could see a glimmer of fear in the ex-human’s closely guarded eyes. Yes, you should fear me, for I am going to own you, body and soul. Kaname leaned in closer and practically purred into his ears “Thank you, Zero” in a voice coated with burning desire.

To Zero’s horror, Kaname started to lick his neck slowly, sensually in a seductive manner.

His control broken, the hunter sent a fist aiming for the pureblood’s face.

Aido sighed as he stepped out from the bathroom, the heat of the bath still radiated from his body. He was torn between triumph and fear. Triumph, for his potion had taken effect so fast, and so successful. As the testosterones slowly turned into estrogens and vice versa, the body of the host would release a distinct smell of the sex they were turning into, which would trigger the natural instincts of the opposite sex, if they happened to catch that scent. His mind registered this as soon as he sensed the waves of lust emitting from Kaname-sama, and his little display with Kiryuu. What happened after that was pretty much a blur in his mind. Aido almost tore the hunter’s throat out right then and there for landing such a blow on his Kaname-sama’s beautiful face, but the pureblood stopped him, and silently watched Kiryuu bolted out of the dorm. Kaname-sama then just returned to his room without asking a single question. This unnerved the blonde noble, as he didn’t know whether Kaname-sama had suspected him or not, as he might have heard his and Kiryuu’s little bicker to find that Aido had almost slipped up the word ‘gender-bender’.

Well, the good thing was, his potion did work, and effectively at that as far as he had seen. Now, a real smirk twisted the aristocrat’s lips. Just you wait Zero Kiryuu, that was only the first stage. Soon, there will be more surprises for you…

Aido felt so evil.

Zero slowly slid down his closed door, and buried his face in his hands. He sighed in frustration when he wasn’t able to cool down, his cheek still flushed with a deep red color. What the hell did that bloodsucker think he was doing? The sensation of being licked so sensually was still very much real on his neck, which was becoming even warmer as he remembered the feeling. Also, that feeling of the pureblood’s breath on his lips. Zero shivered, despite his protesting mind. He tried to scold himself: why are you so worked up? Maybe he was just playing with you. You knew that, that’s why you punched him. Yes, it had been satisfaction he felt when his fist connected with Kaname’s face. He deserved that, for suddenly acting like a lion in heat_ the hunter swore it was hunger he saw in the pureblood’s eyes.

Deciding not to think about this anymore, Zero stood up and headed for the bathroom. Maybe tomorrow he would straightly ask the bloodsucker the reason he did that, like a man, not pondering over it like some goddamn girl.

Little did the hunter know that after receiving his punch, Kaname had an abnormal daze in his eyes, as if he had snapped out of a dream he had unintentionally had.

- To be continued -

Disclaimer: I own nothing, just this fic and my twisted mind /:)

“Ahh…” The hunter whimpered as Kaname kissed his neck. The kiss grew more heated as Kaname slightly open his mouth, and let his tongue ran up and down the flushed skin. The pureblood found it adorable that whenever Zero blushed, he blushed all the way down to his neck. As the ex-human’s blood became hotter, that amazing scent was also stronger, intensified Kaname’s growing need. It had come to the point that smell was not enough. He needed the taste. And so, they ended up like this, with Kaname straddling the hunter on his bed, the door locked behind them.

“K-Kuran, stop…” Zero squirmed beneath the vampire, his hands and legs pinned onto the bed. He hadn’t bargained for this! His hazy mind was unable to remember the reason why he got himself into this fucked up situation. It seemed like the Chairman sent him on business relating to the bloodsucker again, and the moment he entered the room, Kuran immediately pounced on him. I swear Kuran, you will be dead…I will kill you with these hands…

“AH!” His whole body tensed as fangs sunk into his neck, and Kaname smirked. He drew out each gulp, drinking the ex-human’s blood slowly, all the while ran his tongue sensuously around the puncture wounds. Ah…Zero’s blood was dripping with that scent, it blinded his senses and mind, invading his system, triggering the deepest, wildest instincts inside. He looked up to see the fierce fire burning in those amethyst eyes. That was supposed to be the fire of anger, and yet, it slowly turned into a different kind of fire as Kaname’s hand trailed down, going under the hunter’s shirt.

The heat was becoming too much, gathering in the pit of his stomach and under. I’ll make you scream, Zero, and make you obey my every word. You shall scream for me and only me…He pulled out and bit Zero again, hard, savored the scream of pained pleasure ripped out from the hunter’s throat as his fingers dug into Kaname’s back.

The pureblood’s eyes snapped open and he shot out of the bed. It took him a while to calm down and started thinking in contiguous thoughts. What was that just now? Kaname became even more startled when he noticed an erection straining in his pants. For God’s sake, since when did he start to have wet dreams about the silver haired hunter? The dorm president grimaced at himself in disgust. He got out of bed in a swift motion and was inside the bathroom at the blink of an eye. A cold shower. Now.

As freezing cold water running down his bare chest, the pureblood tried to calm his mind and a certain organism down south. This was ridiculous. Kaname couldn’t make out what had gotten into him lately. As if licking Kiryuu’s neck was not bad enough, he now had wet dreams about him. After the hunter’s very much needed punch, Kaname finally snapped out of the thick curtain of desire that blinded his mind to a disturbing level. Never in his life did he expect Kiryuu to smell that good, that sensuous, that…feminine. Sure, Yuuki also smelled very feminine and had a pleasant flavor of her own sweetness, but Kaname had never wanted to jump her right then and there. Not that he would allow himself to.

The pureblood had been so dazed of what had just happened that he didn’t even think of interrogating the most possible suspect there. Aido might have been responsible for this. Kaname hadn’t missed his little slip up before he made himself known. If this was one of his spontaneous experiments again…It looked like that punishment last time hadn’t worked out as well as he expected. Maybe cleaning the entire dorm for a whole month without using any charm and magic was not hard enough for the noble. He needed to find the blonde aristocrat right after his shower, and got some decent answers.

Yuuki Cross was lost in thoughts as she walked towards her fellow prefect’s room. Zero slept in this morning. Zero never slept in. He was always the earliest riser of the house, despite his liking for the activity. The hunter was just that responsible; ever since they had decided that the Chairman should not be allowed to prepare breakfast, that duty had been passed onto Zero_the best cook in their house. However, this morning, Yuuki was taken aback as soon as her sleepy eyes laid on the empty kitchen. And now, she found herself taking hurried strides towards his rooms, worry nagging her mind. What happened to Zero? He would never ever be late.

She stopped in front of the silently closed door, and raised a knuckle to knock it softly.

“Zero?” She called when the door stayed closed. Was Zero still sleeping?

“Zero! Are you okay?”Her knock became louder and more anxious. With his vampire hearing, Zero couldn’t have missed that?

“Zero, I’m coming in!” Making up her mind, Yuuki reached for the door knob and twisted it open. Zero hadn’t locked his door.

She was greeted with a bunch of blanket on the bed, with Zero hidden and sleeping inside. Sighing, the brown haired prefect yanked the blanket away in an attempt to wake him up. “Seriously Zero, I never thought you would-ZERO? “

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Yuuki sure hadn’t expected this.

Both of them were now late for school, but none of them cared. How could school cross their mind when THIS happened? Yuuki stared at the raging hunter with dumbfounded amazement. Zero was…pretty. Beautiful.

Long, soft looking silvery hair poured down his back like a river, and ended at the middle. Strands of hair closely hugged his heart-shaped face, as if trying to draw attention to the uniqueness of it. Zero’s usual sharp, manly features were now replaced with softer lines, becoming more delicate looking although his eyes still held their narrow gaze. His eyes…They had became bigger and rounder, however, no less captivating as it combined with the amethyst color and created an attractive sense of mystery. His lips were now fuller, and were as kissable as they could get. A soft flush adorned his cheeks, and all together, Zero looked like a doll, but with the burning fire in his eyes, a very lively doll at that.

Zero was undeniably handsome as a guy, although not as handsome as Kaname-senpai. No one could be as handsome as Kaname-senpai. But he made an even better girl, and now, Yuuki found her hands itching to caress his hair, to see if it was as soft as it looked. Or his flushing cheeks. Or, best of all, his lips…

Okay, you can stop now Yuuki_the girl mentally scolded herself.

Zero wanted to ask Yuuki why she was looking at him with an expression torn between hunger and shame, but then decided against it. He had a more pressing matter at hand. Last night, after the shower, he was out as soon as his head hit the pillow; and now, he woke up late only to find himself a girl. He hadn’t quite believed it at first, but after yanking at his long hair and a quick check in his pants and a blood-curdling scream, it was confirmed. Also, he just had to sleep only in pajama pants, so the clear sight of his bare chest didn’t help much. At least Yuuki had pitied him and thrown him a shirt to protect his dignity.

“I uh…umh… IthinkIneedashower” the hunter quickly broke the awkward silent between them with an incomprehensible speech. He just needed to be alone. And he also didn’t want Yuuki to see him like this.

“Okay” Yuuki answered in an understanding tone. Zero didn’t sound like himself, literally. His voice was now higher pitched, although not as high as hers. The gender-bended prefect seemed to realize this, and without uttering a word, he slammed the door shut.

Zero resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall or punch the mirror. God, he really needed a lesson or two in anger management. However, he doubted that therapists could teach people how to calm down when they discovered that they were now the opposite sex after a single night. He stared at his small hands. They looked weak, and that made him sick. How the hell did he turn into a girl? His body felt weird all over, with the added weight on his chest and the missed weight in his pants. Zero really didn’t want to look at himself in the mirror, knowing that all he saw would be a stranger, yet instinct would tell him that it was still Zero Kiryuu he was looking at.

However, Zero wasn’t the kind of guy to just sit there and pity himself; he would stand up and find solutions to his own problem. Yes, there had to be reason why all of this happened. God just didn’t wake up one day and decided ‘hey, why don’t I turn Zero Kiryuu into a girl, and watch him suffer?’ Not that he really believed in God. Let’s see…Nothing weird happened yesterday. Nothing, except Kuran trying to lick his neck like a dog in heat. That was completely uncharacteristic of him, seeing that he always wore this mask of a calm, collected, almighty pureblood. Heh, maybe that was him displaying his true nature. If he ever showed it to Yuuki…But Kuran would never risk breaking his perfect façade. Something must have happened before that…Aido! _ Zero seethed in his mind. Seemed like the liquid inside that vial he had been holding wasn’t just some random water. The hunter shouldn’t have let his guard down; those vampires sometimes liked to play with charms and potion. Aido might as well poison him, and this was just one of the effects. His hands itched for the Bloody Rose, feeling the need to test if anything happened with his power. First, he needed to find that vampire; then pressed the Bloody Rose to his head, demanding for some answer as well as a cure for this…body.

Zero suddenly dreaded having a shower and washing himself.

“Kukuku…Kaname-sama, you will never catch me” Aido snickered triumphantly as he crawled through the ventilation system of the dorm. Being the genius that he was, the noble had predicted that Kaname would eventually come to suspect him, and therefore, he had escaped before the pureblood was able to make the first move. Aido had only been in the vent for ten seconds before his door was flung open, revealing a frighteningly calm Kaname. Luckily, the blonde vampire had managed to hide his scent, leaving no evidence that he had left the room through the vent_ which he was able to move in because of his small frame. Kain would never fit into this. Upon seeing the empty room as well as the absence of his scent, the pureblood remained emotionless and just silently closed the door, walking away. Aido was wise enough to know that he shouldn’t come down for a while, and keep pretending that he was away at the moment.

His thought drifted to Zero. Aido estimated that the potion would have taken full effect by now. And if he knew Kiryuu, the hunter would be in a fit and rushed here to find a way to kill him. However, just like Kaname-sama, he wouldn’t be able to find him either, and Aido would have the chance to freely witness his success. Little did Kiryuu know, when the changes were finished, the estrogens would take a strong effect on him. It was similar to when a vampire was first created; his first sensation was always a thirst for blood. However, this thirst was not for blood, it was a thirst for…exposure to testosterones. Which means Kiryuu would try to jump any man in the area who had a decent number of the hormone. This was going to be fun…

Aido started to wonder why he was so evil lately.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Zero’s hands clutched his skirt in a death grip as he ran through the school ground and headed for the Moon Dorm. There was definitely something wrong with the Chairman’s taste in uniform. Apparently, he had shrunk a bit after his transformation_ Zero was now thinner and shorter than his original male body. He wasn’t able to fit into his own clothes, so Yuuki kindly offered him hers. However, despite becoming shorter, he was still taller than her, and thus couldn’t wear her pants. He had protested with all his might when he saw that decided look in her eyes. In the end, Zero had bitterly accepted his defeat, because all those years knowing her, he had realized that Yuuki Cross always got her way, and this time was no exception. So now he was running as fast as he could, trying his best to keep the painfully short skirt from getting blown up in the wind and revealing his panties to the world. The hunter had been dead flushed when Yuuki lent him her undergarments, and he didn’t even have the heart to tease her about her flat chest when the girl couldn’t find any bra of hers that fit the hunter. He decided to do without it, because Aido would have to pay. Very soon.

Finally, he was in front of the dorm. Zero tightened his grip around the Bloody Rose in his hand. He hated it that the gun felt heavier with this weak arm; were he to get into a fight with Kuran now, his body would be at a big disadvantage. However, the ex-human was sure that Kaname wouldn’t lay a hand on a girl. He was just that gentlemanly, the bloodsucker.

Without hesitation, Zero stormed into the dorm.

.

.

.

It had been an hour since Kaname entered Aido’s room, and until now, the noble was still nowhere in sight. You figured out that I would suspect you, Aido? Kaname contemplated. Then all of this makes you even more suspicious. In fact, Kaname had already known it was Aido’s doing, but didn’t know exactly what he did. Well, if you still want to play this game of cat and mouse, then hide all you like. I will just stay here, and eventually, you will have to come to me. One couldn’t stay in a vent for all their life, after all.

“Kuran-senpai.” an unfamiliar yet extremely familiar voice pulled Kaname from his thought.

He didn’t know that when he turned around, he would see this.

Zero Kiryuu in a girl Day Class uniform, panting as if he had been running miles.

His face and elegant neck an adorable color of heat due to exhaustion.

His hair long and flowing behind his back, dyed by moonlight, complimenting his big, shining violet eyes.

His skirt was short, revealing a pair of slender, attractive legs.

His frame small and delicate, just begging to be hugged.

His lips full and pouty, begging to be kissed.

His feminine scent and look, begging for him to be thrown onto the bed and dominated.

Kaname was frozen in place, his gaze glued to the hunter’s chest.

“You have breasts?” was all he managed to say after a long awkward silent.

Zero’s eyes twitched. There it was again, the urge to injure the freaking bloodsucker. It was already deadly embarrassing for Kaname, of all people (except Yuuki), to see him like this. But the hunter knew that finding Aido would be easier through the pureblood, what with their ranking and all. “You pervert, is that what you always lay your eyes on first?” he retorted. Zero waited for Kaname to defend himself with that annoyingly smooth voice of his, but no reply ever came.

Kaname was too lost in fighting the beast within himself. Whatever Aido did to Kiryuu, it stirred up the worst inside him, to the point that a battle now broke out in his mind. He wanted so much to just carry the ex-human into his room, strip him of his clothes, and do unspeakable things to that temptress body. Another voice suddenly protested, saying that he should be more controlled of himself and find a way to turn Zero back. The other voice said to hell with it and that he should just take advantage of the situation here and now. The ‘good’ voice reminded him that he was a pureblood and a dorm president; he shouldn’t break the rules by harming a Day Class student. Kaname tell both of them to just shut the hell up.

Meanwhile, Zero was staring at him impatiently. The hunter suddenly sensed a dark aura emitting from Kaname, an aura of lust and desire. And to Zero’s horror, his body started to react to it. By some twisted logic, his body found the dark gaze Kaname was giving him extremely sexy. The prefect’s eyes trailed down Kaname’s opened collar, over the pale skin and partially exposed collarbones before travelling downward the pureblood’s lean and sinuously tempting body. By the time his eyes stopped at the straining erection in his pants, Zero’s body was nearly exploding in heat and he felt a certain wetness between his legs.

The hunter jerked as if he had just been electrified and tried to feel disgust at himself upon this discovery.

“Um…Do you happen to see Aido anywhere? That prick is responsible for this”

Unfortunately for him, Kaname had caught the scent of his arousal, and Zero felt like he had just tried to distinguish the fire with a bucket of fuel.

“Oh, how unfortunate, Aido has been out all this afternoon. I’m afraid he can’t fix his damage right now. You will just have to wait” Kaname’s voice was abnormally collected.

“Can’t you just use your pureblood power to summon him or something?” Zero discreetly tried to rub his legs together in a desperate attempt to ease his arousal, but the pureblood’s silky voice only made it harder.

“I’m sorry, I’m afraid I can’t do so” Kaname was starting to lose all reasons as the heat inside him threatened to explode.

“What, why? He was clearly breaking the rules” The sexual tension between them was so hard to ignore that Zero had to resist the urge to whimper. What the hell…

“Because for once, he actually did something right.”

And Kaname snapped.

Aido could have cried in happiness if he was there at the moment, but unfortunately, he was currently lost in the maze-like ventilation system only to be pulled out half-dead several hours later through a hole Kain had ripped open in order to rescue him, under the command of a very satisfied Kaname.

Meanwhile, a worried Yuuki was pondering why Zero refused to ever come out of his room, even though he had returned to a male. Must be some damaged masculine pride.

A/N: Poor Aido (and Zero-chan). I know you guys would kill me for cutting out the lemon, but this is a humor story, so intense smut just doesn’t fit. I may finish that particular scene and post it in a near future, and clear up about what happened after our sexy Kaname snapped

Thank you for reading this fic, and please forgive my grammar. I am still in the process of learning English, so some of the expressions and sentence structures may sound unnatural and awkward.

Love you all <3

     It started yesterday at about 10:00 pm. I was just about to get ready for class when I saw my beloved little Yuki sitting on the concrete of the water fountain. She looked stressed about something so I sat down beside her.
    “What is the matter?” I said. ” Nothing.” she said back. She smiled at me and looked down at her knees. ” I upset Zero again. All I said was how I can’t help but rely on Kaname-sempai, but he got really angry and stormed off.” “That’s what you’re so upset about? I thought it was something serious. Don’t worry about it. If he wants to be mean to you fine I’ll punch him!” ” Kaname-sempai that isn’t necessary really.”

   I walked Yuki back to her dorm room then headed to class. On the way there I saw a angry Zero panting back-in-forth . Who does he think he is? How can he act like that after upsetting  Yuki? I thought.
  
  “Kiryu.” I said with a calm but angry smile. ” What are you standing there like a mad man for?” I said as I walked towards the door to class.
   ” Because I am waiting for the right time to punch you!” ” How mean Kiryu-kun, just when I was beginning to like you to.”  I said sarcastically. I walked off with a playful smile then shut the classroom door, leaving Kiryu with even more of an angry face.
 
  I had even more of a reason to hate him because the night before he had the nerve to almost kiss Yuki. That pissed me off a great deal. So tonight I’m gonna return the favor.
 
 ” Kaname-sama, are you sure?” “Yes, thank you everyone.”

                                                  The Next Day
                                                          (Saturday)
        “Awww, guess what Yuki? Kaname decided to come over to see us!!!! Lets through a party.” Me and Yuki said, “No!” at the same time then we stared at each other for a brief moment. She blushed as I said, “I did indeed come to see Yuki but not to stay. I just wanted to take a few pictures of you.” She blushed even harder then said, “O-okay.”
  
    (Later on that day.)
     
     I saw Yuki’s face get super red which means she saw. Zero’s face got even more angrer by the minute.
     “Kuran! Why the hell do you have posters of Yuki? Second why the hell do you have ‘I HATE ZERO’, posters all aroung the got damn school?

                                              The End

You are as you are the essence of the sun’s glory. I am and always will lie as your roots in the soil.

• * •

“When did I complain? When did I blame you for something not done right?” Akemi stormed through their quarters, furniture, glass windows, lanterns and chandeliers trembled in her wrath.

The door stood idly open and crept wider as her husband entered in shy distance.

“When do I expect you do to anything right? Tell me.” She growled from behind a couch. Notorious in her anger, she ripped her hairpins, ejected brooches and seals off her person, and unfastened her sash. Her boisterous appearance forced his sense of self-possession to splinters, like wood splattering from age and misuse, and she verified another vicious display of her temper with her kimono drooling close to the floor at her feet. Akemi screamed in frustration at a resistant button.

Ken clenched and unclenched his fingers as he watched her accessories spring on the couch. She hadn’t let him speak nor paused to catch her breath, and he wondered if she’d taken voice lessons for the breadth of her lung capacity was enormously outstanding. He held it in high regard, as he did with every quality about his wife. “Akemi, dear, you know I didn’t mean—”

“I don’t know anymore. Sometimes I don’t even know if you’re the same man I fell in love with.” Akemi hissed.

“Of course, it’s me. I haven’t changed.” Ken defended.

She threw her arms up in exasperation. “Yet you act like romance is unheard of. You remember how awkward and frightened I was when I first came. Don‘t you?” She impatiently shrieked, punching a pillow.

“I-I do. Absolutely I do, but what’s the need to get angry over it?” He nervously floated closer and closer, like a boat lurching back and forth on begrudging waves.

Akemi squared her shoulders and blinked at the ceiling, her mouth skewed in a narrow line. “I’m saying this for the sake of our son’s marriage. Kaname is not experienced with women as he is with swords and military tactics.”

“He will learn.”

“Learn what?” Akemi cried, grabbing his shoulders. “He completely shut himself! Don’t you remember after that creature scorned his heart?”

“Enough, enough!” Ken picked her up and shook her as if he were wringing damp clothes dry. “I don’t want to talk about that woman. We both swore not to bring it up again. Why are you getting anxious? He’s married to a foreigner. We didn’t force it on him, it was all his doing, and he may be pleased with his decision.”

Akemi grounded her feet and huffed with adversarial hatred, one he’d never known or confronted in his kingship. “Oh, you don’t understand hearts like I do.”

“He is my son too.” Ken bellowed over her turned head. She wandered toward their bedroom and tore open her clothes violently. All components of comeliness and elegant pulchritude of her gown and jewelry crumbled from indolent contempt at her feet. “I very well understand what he endures even though he tries to hide it. He is strong.”

Distressfully she slapped the mattress where she’d stopped and whirled back around. “He’s pretending everything. He’s pretending to be good, pretending he has his wits together, pretending to be collected—it’s all pretend.”

“Don’t accuse your son of such vile audacity!” Ken roared that even the bed and vanity bounced up and down. Akemi leapt in terror and snatched her shoe, jerking it at his head. He smacked it out of the way with a palm and advanced upon her. “You really belittle your son, have you no confidence in him? He is our future king!”

“You still don’t get it!” Akemi shrilled, pounding on his chest no different than smelted iron. “He may have suggested marriage to get over that woman.”

“He is not so weak, she’s history. Why do you women always feel insecure about trivial things like that? Move the hell on.”

“Your generalizations are awful!” She spat back. “It’s not about women all over the world. It’s about your son’s marriage, and the poor bride who has no clue about his heart’s equivocation—She’s terribly lonesome.”

Ken gripped her fists in smoldering hands. “Speak no more, or you’ll wish you hadn’t brought this up.” His maroon eyes blackened in warning.

Her mouth tweaked and her red eyes softened. He gestured her to turn around, and she did, falling back to the nightly routine when he helped untie her inner garments and removed her collection of hairpins dangling on unkempt locks. Ken caressed her heavy tresses between his fingers and traced the delicate curve of her creamy shoulder.

“Akemi.” He spoke with a weary mind and soul, common of kings and fathers alike. “I also want Kaname to be successful. I don’t want him to suffer. His bride is extraordinary. I trust them to be happy together. As parents, we should help nurture their marriage and let them live together for eternities. It’s rare these days for purebloods to remain scrupulous. I wish Kaname and his wife to live long, even better if they have children.”

Her underclothing faltered from her frame, gracing her signature curvaceous body for his eye. She turned around with black hair dripping over her breasts and waist. “I do too.” She somberly replied, “Sometimes he has a haunted look on his face, like he’s trying to push back the pain.”

“He has someone else by his side.” Ken wrapped her in his arms. “That’s all he needs, and he’ll be fine.”

Akemi firmly stabled her hands on his shoulders, her caution sonorous. “I put them in the coldest room in the palace.”

Ken’s eyes strained as he forgot to blink. “Who?”

“Kaname and Yuuki are in the Western Quarters without heat and light.”

He swallowed his shock and dunked his head in the stream of logic she drank. “Isn’t that the same room—?”

“Yes.” Akemi tapped his chin. “The same room every royal couple gets sent to mate. If our ancestors’ hunch is true, combined with the damaging cold, they’ll have no choice but to seek warmth from each other and have consummated by tomorrow. Kaname can forget his past. Yuuki will start to feel comfortable here. Mating has other benefits than procreation.”

He moved over. “That I know.” Ken dropped her on the bed.

• * •

It seemed the blizzard was about to gnaw off the windows. The locks rattled and the wood squeaked. Yuuki hoped like never before for a lock to give off and she could barge out, smuggle back to the haven of her quarters where there was light, heat and pictures of her family, which she could hold to her chest as her agitation of her new home abated for sleep. The food was frozen, and the surface of the table collected a layer of frost.

With throbbing bones, Yuuki stumbled out of the first room into the smaller, darker bedroom. Kaname was affixed in shadow somewhere. She didn’t care where so long as he didn’t came near or touch her. She ducked in a random side of the room, fighting for breath and shivering in the cold. Her extremities had numbed from sitting on the icy floor and the tight socks snipped circulation. She couldn’t move her toes and whimpered as she sunk her forehead on her knees.

She had a good sense on the architect’s identity, it was no other than her in-laws. Such a ridiculous and driveling expense to isolate and urge them vulgarly into consummation, they had neither decency nor deference for her qualms in her new home and as Kaname’s wife. 

If she were versatile, hesitation and fear, all the mind-numbing second thoughts would defunct, and she’d be easily receptive of necessary steps to secure the marriage. All marriage endowments were conspicuous from taking a new name to performing martial rights under bedcovers. She was told about everything, and yet for her own sake, she presented conditions, to sculpt the relationship in her leverage or else she couldn’t imagine giving herself to a complete stranger on the first time of their meeting.

How were some women capable of such things?

Yuuki was not, and as discourteous as it may be of a princess to reject her marriage rights, so be it. She deserved to be scorned by in-laws. The urge to cry and bawl over her bedroom was compelling. She threw her head back and wailed with the wind. She wanted to be in her own warm room, under comfortable blankets and as far away from the freezing place as possible. She wanted to drink hot tea or thrust her feet in fire, as they were as good as numb. Yuuki sobbed some more all by herself in the dark corner.

I can‘t take this anymore. She wept on her silk sleeve. I just want bed rest next to a fire.

Her companion had yet to make a move from his confining galaxy, since he sat stonier than statues and caves, hallow-eyed and impenetrable like the dropping temperature.

Warm, warm fire. Hot, hot fire. Please! Yuuki begged at the back of her mind. All furnitures quivered in the razor impetus wind. The unlikeable marginal work her claws made on the screen windows allowed cold air to barge in, worsening the situation. Sorely she wished to have kept Kaname’s advice. Regardless of fatiguing interests to escape the room, they were both isolated and imprisoned like two animals in a cage, prepped to mate under any circumstances.

This should be out lawed. Yuuki scowled with shivers. When I‘m queen, I‘ll punish anyone who forces two martial parties into copulation.

She screeched in her throat at another strangling shiver. Screw that last thought, first she had to make it through the night, then she could dream about being a queen. The best procedure to keep her body warm was movement. Heavens, in her exasperatingly heavy gown agility had to be compromised. It was almost ridiculous. What was important to a woman? Looks or fleeing from peril? The latter should be notable, of course. Only in her eccentric fantasies, and she wore a veil, none except maids saw her face anyway. She began rocking back and forth, sputtering in her jaw-clattering illustrations.

It was what kept Kaname amused and preoccupied as he watched her hound for ideas to win over the cold. He should add there were no heaters in the room, and they were out of luck. Instead he waited silently and Yuuki began pacing, several times she jumped on her spot, skidded over her silk skirt, tumbled over the floor, bit her tongue accidently, whined and made sobbing noises at the back of her throat, and finally hunched over in her corner with her face buried on her knees. She sniffed for sometime and rubbed her feet.

He could try to help, but needless to say, she didn’t want salvation from him. After a long time of watching her sniff, Kaname let out a drawling sigh. From the corner of his eyes, he caught her stiffen in the sound. Her veiled head tipped forward in his direction, fascinated that he had been there the whole time. With shaking jaws, she commented incoherently to herself and turned her back on him, pretending to be alone, as she had been on her own harmony over the last few hours.

Kaname picked himself from the corner and went to a cabinet. Random package and papers were tucked inside. He crumbled them on the floor and held out his large palm over the pile. Yuuki peered curiously from over her shoulder as a fire ignited, streaming on the paper.

He gathered more and continued crumbling, murmuring slowly. “There’s no fireplace.”

Cautiously she eyed him from the fire. “What if the place catches fire?”

“Even better for us, no?” He returned.

She blinked emptily at the blaze he crouched over. “I…suppose. We can’t leave because of the spell, am I right? We’re still trapped.”

“The spell is on the quarters, not us.” Kaname explained. “What spell will there be if there is no quarters?”

Vaguely she smiled at the growing fire and crawled hurriedly toward it. Her large gown spread like a sea as she knelt over and rubbed her frozen hands. Kaname quietly molded the fire to avoid it from reaching walls or her clothes.

“Th-thank you.” She breathed before a pause, “Why aren’t you cold?”

His brow hiked significantly and disappeared under dark locks, as if expecting her to know better. He said nothing for a long time and seemed to debate the widening fire. One palm speared the orange heap from the top and the other creased it around the side, clumping it in one position. “Wasn’t your father in the military?” Kaname said softly.

Yuuki blew on her fingers. “For a long time, why?”

He took a gander of her again. “Then you should know why.”

Yet she blinked blankly behind her veil, mouth contorting in usual variations at the askance answer. “What do you mean?”

He sighed, “I assumed your father was brought up the same, if not, it’s fine. Tradition here is stricter and all palace men are enlisted in the army at a young age. We live and breathe in the wild. I was cast off to survive on my own for three years in the wilderness. It rained, snowed, and the summer was scorching hot.” He continued, “Winters were the toughest. I had to kill to eat, and the sight of a cave or a shelter for the night was a blessing. There’s a particular hour when everything turns to frost in the night. I fought that kind of weather nearly every day.” Kaname smirked idly at the ceiling of the room. “This is nothing compared to the wilderness.”

Yuuki had been rubbing her arms and slowed the motions. “I…I’ve never done that sort of thing so I-”

“You can sleep on the bed. The floor is fine for me.” He reached for more paper in the cabinet.

She gaped at the mattress and back at him. Beneath her extremities, the floor was a sheet of ice. “You also slept on strange places?” She deduced.

“Mm.” Kaname stared at her over his arm. “We’re going to be locked inside for a while. You might as well go rest.”

Yuuki twitched on the floor in hesitation. His eyes trailed her as she scooted to the transversal side of the bed and slumped on the mattress. Her clothing had covered the entire mattress. She began loosening her garments with trembling hands. The sound of her ribbons coming undone and silk falling off snuck pleasantly into his ears.

 Kaname heard her rustle and tug something, then another round of mysterious dispute between unsteady hands and firm fastening. He frowned at the fire and turned back. One of her arms was craned over her shoulder to pull off an elusive tie from her jacket. Her veil was yanked nastily by her other clumsy hand.

This princess, this foreigner whom he married, had never undressed without assistance in her life. She was overindulged by palace resources and lived among the guided and loved care of maids, a mother and father. Despite her influential role as a pureblood monarch, she was naïve, uncontrollably nervous with new customs and around the idealism of marriage. Kaname dropped the papers in the fire, a taut frown hooked the corners of his lips.

No doubt it was his first marriage. He had a woman who’d be dependent on him, and he couldn’t ignore the fact that she was dissatisfied with her new lonesome life already. Her first counsel would be him, or so it should be his priority to offer guidance and necessary help. He was responsible for her. Haruka expected her to be well cared for and loved as Kaname’s wife.

Moving away from the fire, Kaname went toward his muttering bride. “Need help?” He asked.

She went rigid and refused to turn her head. Embracing her body, she glared at the floor. “I’m…I’m fine.” She informed. “I can do it alone. It’s not like I’ve never done it like…The maids tied my clothes tightly. I thought I’d go straight to my room afterwards. I had no idea I’d get stuffed in here for the night.”

Kaname rubbed his eyelids tiredly. “So you don’t want my help.”

“No!” Yuuki cried. “I said, I’m fine, didn’t I?” Her fingers attacked the knot of strings. Locking them in holes, she pulled angrily, grunting and twisted her hand around several times.

He set his cheek against a knuckle. “Doesn’t look like it to me.”

Yuuki deposited her hands on her universal skirt. “Ugh. It’s just a knot!”

“Here, let me.” As he was reaching for the ties, she jerked away. The veil on her hand knocked off her shoulder. He locked eyes with two glowing stones underneath and realized she had turned around to caution him.

“Don’t try anything with me.” Yuuki reminded.

Kaname smiled delicately at her clothes, “I wouldn’t want to touch someone who isn’t ready to be a married woman yet.”

Her shoulders hitched several inches higher. “Excuse me?”

“It’s obvious you aren’t ready to be my wife.” He implied, “I don’t want to touch you either.”

Yuuki blinked at the remark. “The other night you—”

He stacked a finger on what was her forehead and tapped it twice. “I was testing you, my pigeon brain.”

Yuuki flinched, “Pige-pigeon brain?” She stuttered, not knowing where to start. How insulting, how rude! How—how—? He doesn‘t want me sexually.

“Turn around.” Kaname promptly pivoted her to breach the back seams. He detached the hooks and countless knots, some roughly than others, occasionally coming off halfhearted and brazenly impatient with undressing.

“Be gentle.” Yuuki hissed, “These are priceless. My mother made them.”

“I will, once your skirt decides to stop having a grudge against me.” He reproached, callously wrenching attachments in an assortment of what could be dangerous to valuable silk. He didn’t care, he needed them off or she’d never cease whimpering.

“You just don’t know how to walk.” She sharply interrupted.

Kaname chiseled open the back and guided the material off her small shoulders. Her veil caught onto some of the hooks, yanking her head sideways and helplessly she clawed her hair to pry it off. Amusement frothed from the pit of his stomach at the deranged image of the princess. She tugged harshly and quivered in pain at the large hairpins. He couldn’t resist contrasting the depiction of the woman whom everyone adored at the gala, and the sniveling child in front of him, inconvenienced by veils and tight clothes.

Did he honestly marry a girl who couldn’t undress by herself?

“If you keep doing that, you’ll rip your head off.” He spoke with a hand covering his beam. She only thrashed her arms and legs anxiously, ridiculed by his observation and hissed to herself. Kaname, nonetheless, took the chance to examine the destructive pins.

“Try wearing heavy ceremonial gowns as a new bride.” Yuuki reprimanded a moment later. “And you’ll see how hard taking it off is.”

“Or you can simply not wear the veil?” Kaname hinted.

She steeled and crudely snorted over her shoulder, but she took it no further. Kaname delicately unbolted the curvy pins heralded by hair and veil. He let go, withdrawing in sound silence that she stiffened her shoulders. The sensation of his warm breath crawled over her neck and slender back.

“Wha-what is it?” She trembled and difficultly accepted the shiver was associated with the heat of his breath instead of the cold.

Kaname relaxed on the soft mattress and blinked at the mess on her head. “You’ll need to remove the veil.”

“Forget it!” Yuuki twisted off the bed.

He grabbed her sleeved arm and sent her lurching backward on top of him. She tipped and swayed, losing balance until he steadied her with a hand against her shoulder and promptly dunked her down on the mattress. She plopped inelegantly and decided it was little her fault, the one controlling her stance was the hand waiting on her shoulder and massive gown. Unable to hide her blush, she covered her face in shame and huffed. 

She was a sophisticated, loveable princess and no men on earth convened on the opportunity to notice her under discourteous circumstances. Everything was out of place. The room, the bed, her clothes and hair, her whole life and now the insipid prince sitting inches over her shoulder as he pretended to ‘submissively’ undress her.

She had an unrestraint urge to stomp her foot and wail for her maids back at home. Things would be better if she was in the presence of women. Any female ought to do, so long as it wasn’t Kaname.

“Get over yourself.” He muttered pitilessly behind her veil. “Or I’ll tell everyone how pathetic you can be when you can’t take off your wig.”

“Ohhh.“ She growled, “What do you know?”

Kaname twisted her head back around to the front. “I won’t look at your face.” He added less intrusively.

She had been thinking something while he talked. Her toes curled as if some form of subconscious life within her was set to fire. She raised her head as he continued removing the large pins from her hair and set them on the floor by her feet. Her brown hair loosened and splattered in his hands and her back.

“How did you know?” Yuuki whispered suddenly, eyes narrowed.

Kaname slipped off her veil altogether, but her long hair stood out, enshrouding her back and shoulders. His fingers lightly grazed the tips of her hair, drifting along the bristling curtain that tickled the wires of his warm body. “Know what?” He heard himself whisper, deviously catching a timorous curve of her cheek and the rest withdrew in mystery as he let his gaze bask over her shadow upon the wall.

“Know what I was thinking? That I was embarrassed just now?”

“You’re predictable.”

She imagined him rolling his eyes at the fact. Thrusting her hands on her lap, she shook her head, her hair whipped and fluttered like serpentine strings. “I’m not predictable. Stop blabbing like you know me. You know nothing about me—nothing!”

“Yes, mistress.” Kaname sat on his knees to plucked off the last of her headband. It snapped the back of her ears and she cringed in pain, rolling on her side.

“Are you trying to chop off my ears?”

“Who told you to wear such useless things? They’re better off unworn.” Said her husband with no particular interest or sympathy as she cupped her ears. As for her veil and other garments, he tossed them to her like dirty laundry to a maid and snatched her outer gown, picking the skirt over her legs. “I need this.”

Yuuki covered her body protectively, averting her face from view. “I’m still wearing them.”

Kaname blinked softly and sweetly with the patience of an endearing nana. “No problem. I’ll take them off of you.”

“Get back!” She sprang away from him, “You must’ve thought I wasn’t serious. Don’t you dare touch me—I-I’ll scream! I’ll use my powers on you.” She knelt and readied her arms and legs defensively.

The only thing moving on Kaname was the edges of his mouth struggling to maintain its enigmatic line. His dewy red eyes goaded on her with strong glee. “I can’t get over the hilarity of the situation. You look more like a midget in an old man’s dress.”

Yuuki glowered at her hands that disappeared under long sleeves. The island of skirt flared, covering her petite frame. He neared and leered over her, she dunked her head in her hands. “Oh, if only I knew how this night would end. I’m going to die, I’m going to be deflowered, I’ll never be the same—” Kaname unbuttoned quickly and snagged the material off her bodice, she spun and tripped. He left her crouched on the mattress and charred off with the large skirt.

“I thought I made it clear.” Kaname said from the other side of the room. “There’s nothing to touch, so I’m not interested.”

Yuuki peeked from over her shoulder. On the top hinge of the sliding door was a wheel of wire. He tugged it over his head and sauntered straight toward the wall over the bed. Tying the wire on the waiting hook there, Kaname draped the gown on it, separating the room in two compartments. She was designated the side with the fire while he was cornered with the windows. Yuuki blinked at the heap of flames that was still in a controlled pile. She heard his feet pad over the cold tiles and settle down on the floor.

It happened too quickly, she hadn’t realized what he had done. The fact that he closed a good portion of the large room and spared her the fire, which incidentally kept her warm as he festered in the dreadful cold next to the plowing windows. She had the privacy she wanted, and the gown was dark, further absorbing heat to filter the room. She began moving quietly in the spitting silence. Sneaking glances at Kaname’s side and opened the collar to her under dress. Her second layer of clothes lay folded, next to hairpins and her veil. She rubbed her suddenly free shoulders and relaxed on the mattress.

The back of her throat was sharp and stung as if barbwires wrapped her vocal cords. “Um. Kaname?” Yuuki whispered in the swallowing silence that had been penalized over the hour.

“Mm.” A sound returned from somewhere in the dark corner.

Yuuki imagined him laying on his side, one arm curled under his head and eyes sealed shut. His robes flaring ever so slightly in the moonlit breeze.

“Thank you.”

His eyes startled open before he turned his head to the bed. “Why are you surprised? Did you really think I’d force myself on you?”

Her eyes widened and her mouth drooped. “Well. Yes.”

A throaty chuckle exploded. “You wish.”

Yuuki stared at the red sheets wound around her body. They were significantly warm on her, she tucked them over her mouth and winked at the dark ceiling. “Judging by the dexterity of your hands when you opened my clothes, I can assume you’ve undressed countless women.”

“Assume away.” Kaname murmured.

She cringed at his readily complacent response, neither emotionally driven nor contradicting. He didn’t care what she thought about his conquests. He had many lovers over the years, and for some reason, Yuuki was far from being blank minded. 

The more she mauled over his series of women, curiosity enveloped, and she wondered from the edge of her heart, which was empty as it had always been since she was born, hoping and waiting for someone to fill its river, she wondered about who these women were, how many and when? He wasn’t much older than she, but an alpha pureblood, young and brimmed with masculine strength who was encouraged to adopt lovers. The more the better.

“Yuuki.”

Her flinched as her heart banged to the surface of her chest at the sound of her name leaving his lips. She found it inviting, its warmth hauled her up to her toes and left her falling forward. She didn’t hate her name coming from his lips in the dark. The power of the strange feeling sent her ticking with fear and wonderment. Was he using a spell on her? Yuuki lay on her side, facing in his direction. 

His magic wouldn’t enrapture her compared to low-leveled vampires. The stark equality between purebloods made using powers and steering emotions in each other difficult, often redundant. They were too powerful for each other. Neither had the capacity to engage and maintain each other’s interests.

She beheld fear at the idea of their losing focus and feelings in their relationship. Yet it was too soon to ruminate on exchanging emotions. They had to know each other first, construct a friendship before they could soar to the skies.

“Yes?” She whispered back.

Kaname was analyzing the shadowy ceiling and blinked in thought. “You’ve never been with a man before?”

She clenched the pillow under her cheek. “…No.”

Kaname clenched his jaw, tearing and sowing her answer at the back of his mind. “You’re a virgin?” An eerie silence pulsed between them. He waited for several minutes, half uneasy and other half uncaring. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” He added.

Yuuki crawled out of her mind’s corner where his inquiries shoved her and held her breath to the ceiling. “Yes.” She clenched her toes. “I was never with a man, not intimately.”

“Then it’s not fair to you, is it?” He replied with a struggling quality in his tone. “That you married someone who isn’t.”

She had known he wasn’t one, but another thought struck her harder than his admission. One , which drew her up and she sat gazing worriedly at the perceptible pureblood through the streams of silk hanging between them.

“How did you do that?” Yuuki whispered again. “How did you know what I was thinking?”

“You’re pre—”

“Exactly what I was thinking. The exact words.”

“Maybe it’s your blood I drunk.” He answered.

Yuuki inspected her hands. “Why doesn’t your blood affect me?”

“Your heart is closed.” Kaname murmured distantly, “You haven’t accepted me.”

• * •

Akemi hoped for too much. Usually her plans were accordingly receptive, and she had been absolute that locking Kaname and Yuuki in a single room would help escalade their relationship. In the morning, she bounded toward their quarters with servants and barged inside. The pair had been up, ready for the doors to open. Yuuki was neatly dressed in ceremonial robes and her son, nothing about him ever changed. She scrutinized them and was soon hit by the mere confirmation of their lack of copulation. The bed was arranged, and no scent secreted that a mating ever occurred.

“How can this be?” Akemi panted in the hallway, twirling from one wall to another, back and forth. “How? Why didn’t it work? They were locked. There was no heat or light.”

“Perhaps we should let them continue at their own pace.” Suggested Ken as he leaned against the wall with arms folded. “Kaname is not known to be self-controlled in the department. He must’ve initiated but she impeded him.”

Akemi gritted her fangs at the floor. “Oh dear.” She nervously patted her pale cheeks. “At this rate, how will we ever secure an heir?”

Ken tapped his chin in profound thought.

“They haven’t developed feelings. What if they never reach that point? We need a pureblood heir, soon!” Akemi cried in frustration. “If they decide against pursuing their relationship and acquire low-leveled lovers, it’s the end of our monarchy.”

“Now, now, Akemi.” Ken brushed her hair and shoulder. “Perhaps we came on too strong by imprisoning them to mate. Let’s project our intentions and good faith in their marriage in a different manner. Hmm?”

She stopped promptly with demanding and impatient eyes. “Let’s threaten them.”

Ken scowled uneasily, “Why, Akemi? What’s gotten in to you, sunshine?”

She shook her head and cried in her hand. “I just want to see them united, in a permanent state where they’ll never detach from each other.”

“Fifty-seven percent of pureblood marriages work, Akemi. We’re setting up a good example for them.” He lightly reminded, “Don’t worry, it’ll work out.”

“And if not?”

“What is it with you women worrying all the time?” He roared impatiently.

She jumped to her toes and growled back. “So what? What’re you going to do about it?”

“You never stop your prattling. Enough is enough!” Ken shouted.

Akemi struck her finger at his nose. “Don’t you yell at me!”

“I’ll yell as much as I want.”

“To hell with your yelling and destructive forces!” She screeched over his eruptive thunder. “I worry because I care. What about you? You don’t even talk to Kaname and urge him to reach out to her. He’ll heed your advice.”

“Like hell he does!” Ken cried hysterically.

Huddles of servants retreated behind furniture’s at the mere vicinity of their famous tirades.

A servant blinked between the pair. “My lie-”

“Try it and tell me what he says.” Akemi ordered.

“That’s just bizarre coming from me.” Ken defended. “How do I possibly tell him—”

“Give him techniques, of course.”

“Ousa-”

His eyes flared wide. “Akemi! He’s a grown man, a dominant lion. He can do well by himself.”

“You take care of him, and I’ll work on Yuuki.” She instructed.

One polite servant snuck behind the female, her head sagged in a lifeless bow. “My lieges.”

Ken swept Akemi to the right with a long arm. “There you are. We’ve been waiting for hours. Where the hell have you all been?”

“Here the whole time, Ousama.” The servant mumbled. “You were having a discussion.Usually you prohibit us from interrupting, but I had to make an exception. Hime-sama is waiting in the garden for the afternoon tea.”

“Ah, yes.” Ken stroked his bare chin and trained a soft glance on his wife. “Now is your chance to insinuate your techniques or what have you to the young child. Go and taint her.”

She slapped her fan shut with narrowed eyes. “This coming from you, I’m surprised. From my personal experience and knowledge, which is quite established, you are always exhilarated by my practice.” One sly hand slipped over the knots of muscle on his chest and slipped low to his torso.

He captured her hand and kissed the wrists, knocking on a vein with a large fang. “Well said, my love.”

Akemi pulled away and turned on her heel. “This better work or else.”

• * •

The noble court saddled back insight of the illustrious emotions fleeting the king’s mien. His servant trembled on his bowing knees, shivering like a fragile twig. He fidgeted, unable to trust the ground under his feet that may mercilessly fling from under him. The room sat rapt as the servant flinched at the hand launching amid its trek to opening the envelope. Nobles stiffened in silence as finally Haruka twitched his head to the side at the creeping man joined to his feet.

“What’re you doing down there?” He asked the servant. “Get off my leg.”

The petrified man gobbled syllables before picking his spine back up. Haruka strode out of the room without warning and hailed through palace halls. His noblemen scuttled out of chairs and darted after him, shrieking in panic.

“Ousama, Ousama, what’s happened?”

“Won’t you tell us?”

“What has made you angry?”

“Is it a battle petition?”

Haruka gripped the paper firmly. In the courtyard where horses and servants drizzled out of halls and gardens, he searched for a particular face and muttered to himself for not being able to find her. Finally, he let out a maniacal cry. “JUURI!”

Servants leapt and collapsed at the thunderous blow. The nobles standing behind Haruka ducked to cover ears.

His feverish red eyes trained all halls and over trees for her scent, pinning her location. Haruka’s eyes narrowed on the western quarters. She was running now. He could hear her faint breath and the roll of her silk skirt brushing the floor over furious footsteps.

“Ousama, has something bad happened?” One noble quivered from behind his elbow.

Haruka blinked solid passionate eyes. “Yes, something has happened, something big.” His lips trembled as well as his gaze that maneuvered over the servants. He didn’t say more and shrieked again for his wife. She launched into the courtyard, her large eyes pinned on his tall stature.

Haruka darted to meet her halfway and seized her by the waist. Servants blushed and smiled shyly behind hands.

“Juuri.” Haruka gasped as if he had been running instead of she.

“What is it?” She frantically cried. “What happened?”

His unsteady hands supplied her the parchment. “It’s—” He spoke over tears. “It’s—Yuuki…“ Her name oozed like a croon in the sob. Without a care of his witnesses, he sobbed on her shoulder.

She crudely muttered something violent that made the noblemen retreat and bowheads. None would oppose a mouth like hers. Juuri plucked him off and stole the letter. “Get yourself together. You had all of us worried. Damn it, Haruka, don’t you ever do that again. This is not something to cry about.”

He mumbled in his palms as he thought of his daughter who had spent time writing him a letter.

“I’ll slap you if you keep crying.” She hissed, wary of the vigilant group. He collected himself significantly faster than she thought he would. Juuri opened the stamp and lingered over the scent of jasmine, different yet similar than the blossoms, but essentially a scent belonging to Yuuki. She smiled at the calligraphy.

• * •

“These lessons will help you understand the mannerism that takes place at that time.” Akemi had clenched Yuuki’s hands but the pallid princess looked refrained and largely trapped by the woman’s impressive grip. “I was ordered to attend them. I thought it strange, but it’s good use after a while. Trust me, it keeps the fire burning. It’s not wise to rush in, that means it’ll burn out quickly. These lessons will help you understand how to keep it burning steadily and strongly for centuries.”

Yuuki flattened her mouth in response. “So…We have to attend them together?”

“I’m more concerned about you.” Akemi brushed her chin with a thumb. “Treat it like a preparation for the main event. Who knows when it’ll be? It’s good to be ready. I wouldn’t want you to feel awkward when it actually happens.”

She blinked at the grass under her skirt widely. It was not the doubt in the lessons; it was in the act of acquiring experience on the subject. Being a woman, the initial caution was natural. Nerves pulsed and blocked rationality when there shouldn’t be. 

Kaname was easy going and eloquent, he seemed to have all prisms of sensuality in grasp. He was a young pureblood male; his desirability had no affect whether married or single. It didn’t quite work the same with pureblood women, they almost always belonged to a pureblood, quintessentially most were bound by marriage at an early age like Yuuki, for example. However, both parties had liberties to have multiple lovers.

When it came to marriage, certain elements had to be adopted for maintenance. The lessons would be a gateway for Yuuki to become an undeniable woman who knew how to love a man’s body and heart. Akemi wouldn’t let her decide since she planned the program for Yuuki in advance.

“Yuuki, I know you’re homesick and you miss your parents but it’s important to open your heart again to your new home. I hope you start doing it soon.” Akemi leaned forward and flashed a fang. “Also open up to your marriage life. It can get hard sometimes but trust yourself and your relationship. Think of how your parents are together. This will also give you lots of help. Ken and I have a unique understanding. I am his most trusted ally because he tells me his deepest secrets and thoughts, but I’m also his wife, and it took me a long time to understand his heart but I did. I found it was as beautiful as he is.”

“I’m not worried about my relationship with Kaname.” Yuuki replied. “He doesn’t find me tempting, and we’ve established a truce from conquering one another in the bedroom. We don’t want to copulate.”

The rims of Akemi’s eyes flung wide. “You did what?”

“We don’t find each other—”

“Why not?” She shrieked.

Yuuki wished to have her hands back to cover her ears, but they lay rendered in her deathly grip. “We simply don’t. There is no other reason but that.”

“Maybe Ken was right. It is too soon.” Akemi mumbled absently. “Oh, these things can’t be forced. I should know better.” She paused, “Perhaps Kaname said that to put you to ease? He’s a perceptible character, nothing escapes him.”

“He has shown a little of that side of himself.” Yuuki admitted. “He knew my secret thoughts without my saying them aloud.”

Akemi grinned. “He is like that, always has been.”

“And he said the strangest thing, it was because he drank my blood why he knows what I think.”

Akemi brushed her sleeve. “You’re a gorgeous girl who deserves to be loved by your husband. If he acts strange, please be kind to him. He can be questionable, but learn to look in his heart first. He’s a good person.” Releasing Yuuki’s hands, she stood up and said. “Your lessons begin today. Don’t worry, who knows you’ll enjoy it? The best part is actually putting them into play.”

Yuuki bowed toward the queen. “I’ll attend them diligently.” Maids hurled from the tent to guided her in the never-ending halls.

Akemi strolled the garden and courtyard after Yuuki departed. Her eyes wandered over the walls and movable shapes of servants through ingresses. She was alone but thoughts in her head spoiled the perfect dotted line with splatters of paint, coating where the original line had been. She thought she knew her son, and each time she became surprised after learning something he’d done, it made her feel weak as a mother and woman in her inability to understand the man Kaname evolved into.

Years ago he ran through halls and porches, tugging her skirt and begging to sleep on her lap. She missed the days where she cradled him in her arms and watched him sleep. When he was small enough to capture him in an embrace, all his arms and limbs. His head would rest on her shoulder and she’d whisper in his hair, sometimes loving the softness against her lips. Together they’d sit by the pond and read under the shade when it rained.

That boy fell in love and turned into a man. He became a rusted blade and not until was he sharpened again did he hold vague interest in anything. Now he was married, and though he appeared dutiful, distrust crusaded the tight lines of Akemi’s mind where limits were set to stone. Kaname often made these lines inscrutable.

He was washing his horse in the stall, other nobles backed out in her presence but he resumed his chores without a glance. “How can I help you?” He said.

Akemi folded her lips inward and regarded his entire size. He was tall, lean as a tiger with sturdy hands. As he stroked the back of the horse, washing the debris, he massaged the creature’s muscle with elegant care. Each bulging line and curve on the stallion’s leg was assiduously cleaned and dried.

“I wanted to ask you something.” Said his mother from the doorway. “Do you think you can be honest with me?”

His eyes scurried to the side alertly. “What is it that makes you doubt me?”

“A lot of things.” She spat cynically.

Kaname smirked. “Good.” He resumed scrubbing the horse.

“I need your honesty.” Akemi began. “It concerns your future.”

“I can only be as honest as you think I am.” Kaname implied, throwing a bucket of water over the horse.

Akemi quietly reeled to where he resided. “Did you forget that woman?”

His wiping hands carried their steady and controlled pace over the horse’s legs and neck.

“You know whom I’m talking about.” She continued with narrowed eyes. “You abruptly decided to marry. Was this marriage to cover your feelings?”

“I was considering the benefits of alliance with the neighboring country.” Kaname responded, cool eyed and stiff as he took his height and met her stare. “Is that not honest enough?”

“Kaname, you now have a wife.”

“Which I am aware of.”

“Yes, you are.” She nodded. “But your priorities change when you marry. This includes resolving your past feelings.”

“Which I successfully have.” He returned to the horse.

“Is what you think.”

“I believe I am the best person to know about my personal feelings.” Kaname scoffed lightly under his breath.

“I’m concerned, my son.” Akemi whispered with a gentle shake of her head. “I don’t want you to live in turmoil.”

“Thank you for your concern.” Kaname leaned over another bucket. “You’ve made your sentiments clear but you shouldn’t fret. The marriage is a contract. Yuuki is aware of this.”

“If the marriage is plain business, then where is your heart?” Akemi questioned. His fists clenched around the bucket. “Where did you put your heart if it’s not in the marriage?”

The water within the bucket quivered. “That’s not what I meant.” Kaname whispered over his disarrayed reflection, but the face in view belonged to a streaked man with scars and gaping holes on his face. He was ruined from the inside, burned and rotted, ready to become dust.

• * •

© Nur Misurr ● Read & Review ● Thank you.