Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/11936031.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Major_Character_Death, Rape/Non-Con,
      Underage
  Category:
      Multi
  Fandom:
      Vampire_Knight_(Anime_&_Manga)
  Relationship:
      Kiryuu_Ichiru/Kiryuu_Zero, Kiryuu_Ichiru_&_Hiou_Shizuka, Kiryuu_Zero_&
      Hiou_Shizuka
  Character:
      Kiryuu_Zero, Kiryuu_Ichiru, Hiou_Shizuka, Assorted_Cannon_Characters
  Additional Tags:
      Incest, Biting, Possessive_Behavior, Bondage, dub-con, Alternate_Universe
      -_Canon_Divergence, Blood_Drinking, Vampire_Sex
  Stats:
      Published: 2017-08-29 Updated: 2018-01-29 Chapters: 8/? Words: 7531
****** When the Monsters Come Out to Play ******
by Elfin_Queen
Summary
     Ichiru makes a different request when he meets Shizuka beneath the
     cherry tree and everything changes.
Notes
     My brain asked the question "What if Shizuka took Zero along with
     Ichiru, and raised them to be her sexy, incestuous vampire children?"
     so this is my answer XD
     Characters will be very ooc! (both because their circumstances are
     different and because I don't have experience writing them)
     I don't have a beta, so there will be mistakes. Feel free to point
     them out, but it'd help if you were specific
     This is pure self indulgence, so there may be shark-jumping in the
     future!
     I hope you enjoy it :)
See the end of the work for more notes
***** Chapter 1 *****
Zero has grown used to waking to darkness.
His eyes are better for the dark than they were before that woman changed him,
but there's almost no light at all in the cellar he's been locked in for the
past several weeks. At least, he thinks it's been weeks. He hasn't been able to
measure time properly since...
Zero shakes his head, rattling the chains that lock his wrists to the wall
above his head. He doesn't want to think about it. Not again. He's relived it
too many times since he first woke in this cellar. The darkness and lonelieness
lend themselves to reflection far too easily. Reflection on what he was going
to become-
The hunger makes it hard to stop his thoughts from wandering to the dark places
he doesn't want to look at again, but the only kind of food he's offered is
something he doesn't want, will never want. He'll never be a monster
like...like...
His parents thrown aside like nothing, like toys, and silvery hair almost the
same shade as his own falling past his face as pain explodes through his neck
and he screams...
Zero shakes his head, closing his eyes and trying to calm his breathing. The
bite was already gone, already healed, without leaving so much as a scar. He
wishes it was still there, on his neck, because the pain of it would be better
than what it's abscence means. Better than becoming like them.
Once he's calmed a bit, he opens his eyes. It barely makes a difference to how
much he can see, there's still only the dim glow from beneath the door he
couldn't reach. He'd tried, of course, tried and tried and tried, but all he
managed to accomplish was scrapping his wrists raw against the manacles. He
shouldn't have been surprised. That woman was ancient and powerful, and
Ichiru...
Zero shakes his head, refusing to think of his twin. There weren't a lot of
things he wanted to think about. Even the escape he was detirmined to make
would mean leaving the last of his family behind...
"They're dead." The woman had practically crooned the words against his neck.
It had shocked him into stillness, his flailing limbs going ridgid as his mind
blanked because they couldn't be, not his parents, not-
Fangs had sunk into his neck, and then there had been nothing but burning...
Too many flashbacks. Too many memories. Nothing to chase them away in the
darkness.
He'd tried screaming at first. To make someone hear, to make them let him go,
just so he wouldn't break in the oppressive stillness of the room...It had
dried his throat until he choked on air and could barely croak out the simplest
of words.
The drink he'd been given to soothe his pain made him sick. The thick, red
fluid had smelled so deliciously sweet...But he'd forced himself to turn away,
even as his throat throbbed. He didn't know where they had gotten it, and he
didn't want to, but he wasn't going to drink blood like a monster.
Like her.
He remembered the first time he'd seen her, standing like an otherworldy
creature beneath a cherry tree bursting with pink buds despite the cold.
He remembered the second time, staring up at her from the ground as darkness
clouded his vision and blood gushed from his neck and his parents screamed.
He remembered the last time, her powerful voice whispering words of comfort
against his skin, his own body too weak with hunger and bloodloss to retaliate.
Her visits were always full of pain and false kindness. But they were still
better than Ichiru's.
Staring up at his younger brother, silently telling him to run, to flee this
monster that had invaded their home. Ichiru's eyes softening as he smiles and
kneels in front of Zero, brushing hair from his face and murmuring that it
would all be alright even as he was begged to leave them and just go.
Zero rattles his chains, the noise of clanking metal freeing him from the
memory. He hadn't understood then. Hadn't realized what Ichiru had done. Had
thought his younger brother in shock, vulnerable, in neeed of protection...
How very wrong he'd been.
His mother's scream, high and shrill, and the crash of something breaking. He
couldn't be sure what. He could barely see Ichiru anymore, but his brother's
hand still stroked his face, and Zero thought that a faint smile played on the
youngest Kiryu's lips
A loose board in the hallway creaks and Zero's head snaps up, watching the
door. He's pretty sure they hit that board on purpose, so he'll know they're
coming, although why they bother giving him that much warning he isn't sure. He
prays that it will be Shizuka. Prays she's come to take his blood and offer
hers. To throw another bleeding human at his feet. To offer another sip from a
suspiciously opaque container. Or, even better, that it's a hunter come to save
him from the darkness and pain. To put him down like the monster he knows he'll
become. Anything.
He knows, of course, even before the creaking door swings open that it is none
of those things. He knows Ichiru's scent too well to mistake it for another
person's. Knows the lightness of his step and the feeling of his prescence.
His younger brother smiles at him, innocent and sweet, crossing to where he's
chained to the floor and straddling his legs. Zero doesn't move. Shizuka he
fights with all his might, but he won't hurt Ichiru, can't hurt Ichiru who's so
vulnerable and prescious and dear to him.
Ichiru presses a chaste kiss to Zero's forehead. "How have you been, big
brother?" Zero doesn't meet his eyes, doesn't respond at all, so Ichiru moves
lower, kissing his nose. "Are you hungry?" Zero keeps his eyes averted, even
though his stomach practically growls at him. Ichiru seems unperturbed, which
is to be expected. They've done this many times now, and Zero doesn't flinch
away like he used to when Ichiru presses their lips together.
He has no right to deny Ichiru anything. Not after failing him so badly.
Ichiru hums softly and gently runs a hand over Zero's bare chest "Your shirt
just gets in the way, Zero." and breaks the kiss, moving instead to lick Zero's
neck. "May I?"
Zero just nods, not trusting himself to speak. He feels the lightest prick of
pain and then hears the strange sucking noise that goes along with drinking
blood. His own fangs elongate at the scent of his own blood and he shudders. He
does not want to be this creature, this monster, but he can't go back to what
he was. Shizuka killed him as surely as his parents.
Ichiru finishes quickly. He never takes much, just enough to sate himself. Zero
wishes he would take more, punish his older brother for failing, delay the next
part that they both know will come...
The white shirt Ichiru had been wearing flutters to the ground as he tosses it
aside, bearing his neck to Zero. He doesn't wait to see if Zero will break his
skin first, instead digging a nail in until blood begins to flow.
Zero's tongue laps at the spilling blood and some part of him savors the flavor
of his twin, his other half, his everything. Most of him is horrified, but the
deeply buried vampiric instincts awaken and he jerks forwards, sinking his
fangs into Ichiru's neck. His brother lets out a soft sigh, nearly collapsing
against him as he begins to drain the blood that sustains him.
It is an eternity before Zero can bring himself to tear away, but at the same
time it seems to pass in only an instant. Ichiru stands on unsteady legs,
picking up his shirt before turning to leave.
"I'm sorry." Zero murmurs, his brother's blood still trickling down his chin.
"I know."
Ichiru leaves and Zero is once again left in darkness. For now, at least.
Zero always hopes for Shizuka. With Shizuka he can scream and cry and curse her
name, do his best to kick and hit and knock her off of him. He can be angry at
Shizuka.
He cannot be angry at Ichiru, at the younger brother he failed to save. He
cannot harm the frail boy he's spent so many years watching over, protecting,
loving.
Shizuka is easy. She forces him and he fights her every inch of the way.
But he has never been able to deny Ichiru anything.
***** Chapter 2 *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
Zero refuses to drink human blood.
No matter what they do to him, no matter how much Ichiru pleads and Shizuka
tries to compel him, he refuses.
It is the hill he is willing to die on, the one thing that keeps him from truly
being a monster like them. It's the only thing that's helped him stay sane in
the dark.
He isn't sane, not really, but if he repeats it to himself enough he can almost
pretend it's true.
He knows that if he gives in it will make him the thing he hates most, make him
a monster and a parasite, make him evil.
Drinking from a human would break something inside him. Killing one would
shatter him.
Shizuka is all too aware of this and spends most of her visits trying different
ways to force him into it. Starving him, beating him, ripping their throats
open so the hot blod splashes on his face and he has to bite his tongue hard
enough that it bleeds to keep from taasting the salty liquid.
Drinking from Shizuka is safe, for all he loathes it, because she is a monster.
Drinking from Ichiru is also safe, for all that Zero wishes it wasn't, for all
that he hates everything they've become.
Humans are not safe. Humans are not prey. Humans are innocent of vampires,
untouched by the corruption that pulses in his veins, and should be protected.
It's a perversion of the Hunters' main mandate- Destroy Evil, Protect the
Innocent differs wildly from 'drink from vampires'- but Zero is not really a
hunter. He didn't really have the chance to become one before, and now...
Any hunter would stake him on sight. They would be right to.
Shizuka clicks her tongue impatiently at Zero and he blinks up at her, emerging
from the strange warren his mind has become with no food and too much time to
ponder. She stands just outside the reach of his chains, her arm wrapped around
a young girl's chest. The girl can't be more than nine, a mousey little thing
with unremarkable hair and eyes. Zero knows why she's here- another offer of
blood after what feels like weeks of starvation- but if Shizuka thinks he'd
ever harm a child she's-
"If you don't bite her, I will." The woman smiles as he gapes at her, because
that is not something he's prepared to deal with. "Oh, don't worry child. I
won't kill her."
Zero snarls at the word 'child,' more a habit than anything else at this point.
His mind whirls as he thinks through what the woman means. It would be cruel to
subject someone else to this change, to make them monsterous, but he can't hurt
a child. And maybe it's selfish of him, but he won't cow to the woman's games
when she's probably planning on turning the girl anyway so she has another
minion...
Shizuka smiles at the conflict playing out over his face. "Oh, don't worry. She
won't wind up down here with you."
That's probably the best case scenario for Zero, and even if it's selfish,
sacrificing the girl's humanity for his own, he just can't-
"No, I think I'll dump her in a nearby city." She strokes the girl's face. Zero
feels his entire body go ridgid because as much as he hates it he knows what
Shizuka's blood has done for him. Not having it would mean...
"Decide quickly, child. I am not a patient woman." Her gentle smile makes rage
boil in his gut, but he forces it away. He can't give in. He must stay strong.
He won't-
Shizuka tips the girl's head to the side, her fangs protruding from her gums,
and Zero speaks without realizing, practically screaming through his raw
throat. "Don't!"
He's afraid that he's too late, that the woman will spill the girl's blood all
over the floor and make him watch as the life drains from her, that this child
is going to sink into the deepest deapths of insanity because of him...
But Shizuka stops and looks at him, quirking an eyebrow.
"I...I'll do it." His voice sounds hoarse and strange, even to him, but from
how the woman's smile stretches it could be a choir of angels.
"Very good, child." She pushes the girl towards him.
Zero closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm the hunger
inside him. He just needs to drink some of her blood, and then Shizuka will let
her go. He...he can do that. It won't even be hard.
The girl drops to her knees in front of him, tipping her head to the side, and
he leans forward. He can hear the pulse thrumming in her neck, smell the sweat
on her skin, practically taste the delicious red blood pumping through her
veins-
He shakes his head to clear it and calm himself, then gently pricks her with
his fangs.
The girl shudders slightly as he drinks from her. He's careful to take only a
few mouthfuls, even though the beast inside of him is starving, screaming to
rip her open and drain her dry. It gets harder to resist, the more he drinks,
the voice getting louder and louder until it drowns out everything else,
erasing all he's ever been taught-
Zero jerks back, his shoulders slamming into the wall as he tries to get as far
from the girl and her blood as possible. He pants, squeezing his eyes shut and
desperately trying not to lunge towards the sweet smell.
Shizuka chuckles, high and light and beautiful, and touches a hand to his head.
"You did well."
Zero doesn't respond, doesn't look at her, just focuses on shoving the
monsterous instincts away. Shizuka doesn't seem to mind, scooping up the girl
and leaving him to the darkness that has become his entire world.
The next time Zero is brought a living thing to feed on, it's a vampire. He is
so unspeakably greatful, so ready to destroy an evil creature, so hungry from
starvation and his personal restraint, that he drains them dry and watches them
turn to dust. And that is...good, in a way.
He may never be a Hunter, but at least he won't need to make himself more of a
monster.
Chapter End Notes
     So...there goes Zero's resolve XD
     The next couple chapters may be disjointed and unstuck in time.
     Zero's going to be molded into what Shizuka and Ichiru want (mostly)
     so there will be quite a lot of important moments where he's
     changing, spread out over the next few years of his life
     It won't always be that way (I have a plot, I swear!) but I think
     having things a bit vague and disjointed helps convey how very lost
     and alone Zero is. It'll get better as the story goes on, though :)
***** Chapter 3 *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
Zero's life is many things, but most of all it's...easy.
Easy to fall into patterns when you have no other choice. Easy to become
complacent when there's nothing to do. Easy to grow weak when there's no reason
to stay strong.
Shizuka and Ichiru are both capricious in different ways, but they're also
predictable, so Zero's life falls into a rhythm of sorts, his long periods of
solitude broken by short visits. He eats what he's given, usually his brother's
blood or that of some nameless vampire that quickly falls to dust. He doesn't
question who the vampires were before they became his prey, and he doesn't ask
how Ichiru looks so full of vitality, how he has so much blood to give.
He doesn't want to know the answers.
Shizuka dissapears sometimes. Zero isn't sure how often or for how long, but
sometimes there are breaks in the routine of his life. Visits missed, Ichiru on
edge, the scent of her fading from the air.
It's another thing Zero doesn't question, less because he's worried about the
answer and more because he knows he won't get one and doesn't want to waste his
breath. But he notes them when they happen.
Tonight Ichiru is on edge more than Zero's ever seen his brother, twitchy and
anxious, and Shizuka's scent is at least a few days old, so it's no surprise
that when the perimiter alarms sound his younger brother yanks fangs from his
neck and hurries off. They're vulnerable alone, still new as vampires go, and
Zero would be a severe liability. The fact that every other time the alarms
have sounded it's been a deer or other animal doesn't matter.
What is surprising is that Ichiru leaves his shirt and jacket behind. That has
never happened before and Zero stares at the pile of clothes for a stunned
moment before pulling them closer with his feet.
Manuvering the small knife from a hidden interior pocket of the jacket to his
hand takes considerable effort, and unlocking the chains with it moreso, but
when he finally walks out the door of the room that's been his cell for god
only knows how long, he feels a grim satisfaction.
He hurries through the house, weak and atrophied fingeres clutching the knife,
unsteady on his legs but unwilling to stop or even slow. He needs to get out
and he needs to get as far away as possible before Ichiru realizes he's gone
and comes after him. He needs to-
Zero freezes as the clash of metal on metal reaches his ears, the sound of a
fierce battle, and curses quietly to himself. He immediately turns in the
direction of the noise and picks up the pace, because even if he was willing to
abandon his brother to Shizuka's tender mercies- and something inside him rages
at the very idea- he doesn't want Ichiru to die.
When he reaches the large reception room and sees his brother, surrounded by
men brandishing weapons, bloodied katana raised to defend himself, Zero doesn't
hesitate. He dives in with claws and fangs and knife. He's weak and slow
compared to most vampires, but he has the element of surprise and a lifetime of
combat training and he will not fail Ichiru again.
He sends one man flying into a wall and rips the throat out of another, dousing
himself in warm, rich blood. His vision goes red, bloodlust and rage
overwhelming him completely a he hacks and slashes and bites, barely even
noticing the few strikes that manage to land on him.


Ichiru finds Zero just where he left him, kneeling in the reception room
surrounded by bloody bodies that have been ripped almost limb from limb. But
his brother isn't looking at the mangled corpses. He's staring at the pack one
of the men had been carrying. A stupid thing to bring, as any extra storage
capacity would be more than offset by the encumberance in battle. Perhaps the
man had viewed it differently, but since his head is now firmly seperated from
his shoulders, Ichiru feels justified in his assessment.
But it's not the pack itself holding Zero's gaze, nor is it the headless man
that bore it. It's the crest decorating the bag. To most people, it would
simply be a design, but they both knew what it meant.
"What have I done?" Zero's voice was quiet and small, almost as if speaking to
himself. "How could I have...They're Hunters."
"You did it to protect me." Ichiru shifts the small bag over his shoulder and
moves to kneel beside Zero. "To protect us. They wanted to kill us, big
brother."
Zero looks at him, eyes blown wide with a mix of terror and bewilderment. He
looks so sweet, so vulnerable, so innocent that it takes considerable willpower
for Ichiru not to just pin him down and bite him.
Instead he smiles and reaches out to cup Zero's face before pulling him to his
feet. "Come on."
"B-but-"
"We need to go, Zero." Ichiru takes his brother's hand and pulls him out of the
house, despite the elder twin's feeble protests, and fights the smirk that
threatens to cross his face.
Zero had killed hunters for him. For him.
Ichiru presses the heavily bandaged wound on his side, courtesy of the Hunters,
and lets himself smile.
That made everything else worthwhile.
Chapter End Notes
     Ichiru is a possessive bastard and poor Zero just can't cope
***** Chapter 4 *****
Zero tells himself that he was still in shock.
That's why he didn't notice Ichiru's injury while they ran, why he didn't spot
the Hunter ambush, why he let his brother get hurt again.
Why he reacted to the attack with lethal force, ripping the men apart.
But that doesn't change the fact that Ichiru got hurt- again, and how could he
not have noticed it before?!- injured by a Hunter's weapon. And he wasn't
healing.
They'd made it to the nearby safe house, more a shack than a house with only
two rooms and one bed, but hopefully well hidden enough that the Association
wouldn't track them down immediately. Ichiru had practically collapsed. Zero
had tried giving his own blood to his twin. It had kept him from oughtright
dying, but the amount he'd need to recover from a wound from an anti-vampire
weapon would drain Zero nearly dry and leave him recovering for days.
They didn't have days. Zero may not have made full Hunter, but even he knew
that for a large, important operation if there was no contact from the team for
more than two days, the Association would send out scouts at the very least.
Given the number of Hunters and the fact that they were probably after
Shizuka...they would be lucky if fifty Hunters weren't breaking down their door
tomorrow.
It was the first time Zero had ever wanted Shizuka. She wouldn't have hesitated
in doing whatever was necessary to save them, he knew. Much as he hated her,
she seemed to genuinely care for his brother...
But she wasn't there. And he had to make a choice.


Hunting humans was both easier and harder than he'd expected. On the one hand,
they were everywhere in the nearby town. On the other...they tended to move in
packs or groups. And transporting one back to the safehouse alive would be
difficult.
Zero wound up settling for some thugs- he wasn't going to hurt anyone innocent
if it could be helped- and luring them into the forest using himself and a fat
purse as bait. It was similar to a tactic Yagari had let him attempt while he
was training.
Luring the two men deep into the forest before knocking them unconcious was
easy enough. Carrying them back to the safehouse without leaving a trail proved
slightly more challenging, but Zero made sure to cover his tracks and conceal
his sceent. He dropped them in the front room of the small shack and went to
check on his brother.
He finds Ichiru sitting up in bed with his katana grasped tightly in one hand,
clearly ready to leap at the intruder if they proved to be an enemy. Zero
winces. He had hoped that Ichiru would stay unconcious until he returned.
"Zero...?" Ichiru relaxes marginally, but doesn't set down his weapon.
"You...came back." The small smile on Ichiru's lips is so reminicent of their
younger days, of Ichiru sick in bed, feverish, begging Zero not to leave him,
that Zero smiles back and responds gently.
"Sorry to worry you, Ichiru."
"Where...where did you go?"
The simple question reminds Zero what he did and why, and he feels the smile
drop off his face. "You need to eat."
Ichiru blinks at him, curious and questioning, the katana slipping from weak
hands to fall on the floor. His skin is almost the same shade as the bandages
that wrap his body, although they're stained slightly red from where he's
reopened his wounds again.
Zero focuses on his brother's injuries, his pain, rather than the words when he
speaks. "There are two men in the other room for you. Humans. You need to eat."
His voice sounds far away to his own ears, cold and hard and dispassionate, but
Ichiru still smiles and reaches for him.
"Help me up?"


They fled that evening as the sun dipped below the horizon, leaving behind the
corpses of the two men. Zero told himself that no one would miss them. He knew
he was lying.
Ichiru had debated hiding the bodies for a short while before deciding it was
better to put as much distance between themselves and the area as possible
before more Hunters were on their trail.
Zero didn't ask where they were going or how Ichiru knew how to find their
maker. He didn't even argue that they should try to make it on their own. If
the Association was after them- and it would be, after the bloodshed they'd
caused- the safest place for Ichiru was by her side.
Much as he might hate her, Zero loved his brother more.
***** Chapter 5 *****
Chapter Notes
     Sorry it took so long to get this chapter written!
     I know this one is pretty short, but there'll be another in the next
     few days
     (and sorry I haven't been replying to comments. I do read them all
     and they make me very happy, I'm just never sure what to say back...)
Ichiru was rather surprised by Zero's...compliance.
If he'd known getting stabbed was all it'd take to make Zero accept his fate,
he would've done it long ago
His elder brother had been caring and supportive and sweet in a way that Ichiru
was surprised to realize he'd missed. So long keeping a prisoner captive had
made him forget what it was to have a brother.
Even now, sitting in a plush, if dusty, sitting room in one of Shizuka's
numerous estates, Zero was almost docile. He'd accepted Shizuka's offered blood
with barely a grumble. He didn't seem happy exactly...but it still gave Ichiru
hope.
"Child," Shizuka's fingers muse Ichiru's hair as she speaks to him, "You should
sleep. You are still weak, and you will require your strength tomorrow."
Ichiru looks up at Shizuka. "Are we leaving?"
She chuckles and shakes her head, long white hair swaying almost hypnotically.
"No, child."
Zero stiffens slightly where he's seated across the room, but Ichiru ignores
him. "Hunting?"
"Of a sort." The ancient vampire sighs. "I have a responsibility, as vampiric
aristocracy, to help...control the Level Es. You will assist me with that
tomorrow."
Ichiru nods and rises. "As you wish." He looks at Zero. "Tuck me in?" It's
foolish and childish and he should've left such things behind the day he asked
Shizuka to remove his parents from their lives, but the past few days had given
him a taste of the old Zero, the real Zero, the wonderful twin he's always
wanted all to himself.
Shizuka chuckles quietly, but the sound is happy rather than mocking. Zero
simply nods and stands to walk Ichiru to his room.
Fourteen is too old to still want to be tucked in, but the younger Kiryu- no,
not Kiryu, he relinquished that name when he asked to be turned- the youngest
Hio thought he might be allowed some foolish, childish things.
Zero kisses him goodnight. It's just a brief peck on the lips, but it's still a
kiss, and Zero still instigated it. That's progress.
Ichiru falls asleep smiling.


Destroying Level Es is easy enough for Ichiru- flush with blood and practically
buzzing with power it would be hard to lose- and surprisingly cathartic. He
finds the crunch of bones and the agonized screams as his katana rips them
apart incredibly satisfying. He knows he probably looks a mess, practically
coated in blood and dust, but he feels alive.
He wishes Zero would join them in the fray, rather than watching quietly from
an overlook, sitting stock still and quiet as death. Something like shame worms
its way into Ichiru's chest, as his brother watches him brutally hack vampires
into pieces- especially ones that used to be like them- but he shoves that
aside.
He has a job to do and his brother's dissappointment won't stop him.
Besides, he's fighting alongside Shizuka, who means more to him than he can
say. She wades through the throng of vampires, not bothering to use her powers,
ripping them apart with her bare hands instead. She smiles at him with bloody
fangs and he cannot help but grin back, blood singing beneath his skin as he
throws himself headlong into the fray.
***** Chapter 6 *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
Zero disgusts himself.
It's almost surprising to realize. He's long been disgusted by his body, this
body that craves blood and violence and...reacts to Ichiru's touch, but he kept
those things very separate from what he actually considered him.
But he can't deny, standing in front of Shizuka's door, that this is his
choice.
Maybe she intended this outcome. Maybe he's playing right into her hands. But
the choice is still his.
Zero growls softly to himself. She must know he's out in the hall, but she's
clearly waiting for him to make up his mind. It may seem like courtesy, but he
knows her too well for that. This is just another mind game.
But it's a game he knows he won't win, can't win, so he knocks on the door and
quietly hates himself as she opens it.
"Zero." Her voice is quiet and melodious and her pink eyes bore into his soul
for an instant before he drops his own respectfully to the floor. "What is it?"
"Can I..." Zero takes a breath and steels himself. "Can I talk to you?"
Shizuka nods and stands aside, allowing him into her bedroom.
Zero walks in and stands stock still, staring at the ground. He doesn't want to
do this, doesn't want to ask this woman for anything, but...
"What is it, child?"
Zero fights a flinch at the pet name and clears his throat. "Ichiru and I...if
we didn't have your blood, we'd fall to level E."
"Indeed."
"I...saw them today." He looks up at her, meeting her pink eyes with his own
and forcing himself not to look away. "I don't want that for Ichiru."
"Nor do I. It is why I have given you both my blood."
"But that won't last forever."
Shizuka nods. "Yes. If you went long enough without it, you would fall."
"Is there...is there a way to make sure that never happens?"
"It would require you to rise above your current level."
Zero blinks at her. "That isn't possible."
"It is, simply unlikely. And very illegal."
"How is it done?"
The smirk that lifts Shizuka's lips sends shivers down his spine. "Draining the
lifeblood of a Pure Blood."
Zero stares at her, dumbstruck.
"It could be arranged," Shizuka continues, "I have no desire to see Ichiru
fall, and it would be interesting to see what effect it would have on him."
"Then...you'll help him do it?"
"Yes. On two conditions."
Zero stiffens but nods. He knew this was coming and made his peace with doing
whatever she required of him.
"First, you will do the same."
"Wha- No! I don't want to-"
"Quiet. We both know he would not do it if you refused."
Zero bites his lip and looks down, hating that she's right and hating the idea
of existing as he is as long as even a level C vampire would, but...it's for
Ichiru, and it's not as if he holds any love for Pure Bloods. "Alright. And the
second condition?"
Shizuka's hand grips his chin, forcing him to look at her. "I want you to call
me Mother."
Zero stiffens, staring at her. "No."
"That is my condition, Zero."
Staring at the woman who murdered his parents, the very idea of calling her his
mother is abhorrent, vile, unthinkable. It would be for Ichiru, but... "I
can't."
"No?" She releases him and he takes several steps back. "Then I suppose your
brother will be left to fall should something happen to me."
Zero grits his teeth and looks down. "You are not my mother."
"I made you what you are. Made you something akin to myself. Even more so if
you accept. I have shaped you as much as the human that bore you."
Zero shakes his head, blocking out her words, willing them to be false.
Shizuka's voice gentles. "Ichiru is like a son to me. I do not wish to see him
harmed because you refuse to be one."
Zero winces. He doesn't want Ichiru hurt. All he wants is to protect his little
brother the way he couldn't protect his parents, to shelter him from the cruel
world they live in. He promised himself that he would always watch over Ichiru,
however he could. Protect him no matter the cost. If this would do that...
Shizuka turns as if to leave. "Very well then-"
"Wait!" He grits his teeth and tries not to choke on his next words.
"Please...please Mother."
Shizuka turns to face him, a smile on her lips. "Very good, Zero." She pats his
head. "Go to bed. You will need to be rested for our travels."
"T-travels?"
"Indeed. I keep my promises, after all. We will leave tomorrow."
Zero nods his thanks, unable to coax words from his dry throat, and hurries
out. He isn't sure if it's merely his imagination, but he thinks he hears her
laughing behind him.
Chapter End Notes
     Sorry this took so long, rl has been a little crazy
***** Chapter 7 *****
There is something familiar about going on a stake out. Zero finds it almost
comforting. Hiding and watching and stalking are familiar, the proper forms for
them drilled into his head for hours by Yagari- back when the man was his
teacher and wouldn't have killed him on sight- so he could hunt for the
Association.
Zero isn't sure if it's ironic that he's using them for a Pure Blood that seems
to stand against everything he once believed in, or if it's just sad.
"You think too much," comes Ichiru's quiet voice from beside him. "We have a
job to do, Zero. I need you focused."
Zero sighs and nods, looking back at the impossing manor that houses their
quarry and tries not to yawn. He has always had trouble sleeping while he's
hunting, and given how far they've come to find this supposedly perfect Pure
Blood pair, it's only natural the deprivation would catch up to him.
Even so, he carefully notes the vampires he can see and smell- surprisingly few
for a home of that size, with only a few minor vampires acting as servants or
guards and the couple themselves.
They sneak away from their hidden reconaissance point and return to Shizuka,
reporting what they know before settling in to await dusk.


The defense is pitiful, easily avoided or disposed of. Shizuka leads the way
through the house, her kimono and hair catching a slight breeze that make them
ripple. Ichiru follows at her right shoulder, while Zero trails behind them
both, doing his best to kill as little as possible.
They die anyway, the people, but it is not by his hand. Sick as it might be,
that is a comfort to him. He is not that sort of monster.
"Not yet,"a voice in his head that sounds like Shizuka whispers to him, even as
he tries to shove it away.
Then they're at the cellar where the Pure Bloods are hiding and there is no
more time for thoughts, only action. He throws himself into the fight as soon
as the man launches himself at Shizuka and doesn't stop until the vampire lies
unconcious on the floor.
The scene that greets his eyes when he finally does glance around is not what
he expects. The woman crouches in the corner, weak and surrounded by the scent
of her fear, clutching a bundle to her chest.
Zero looks to his companions, only to find Ichiru with fangs sunk deep into the
man's throat. The woman lets out a noise somewhere between a sob and a
strangled scream as her mate crumbles to dust.
Shizuka strides towards the woman, wrenching the budle away from her- it is
only when it starts to cry that Zero realizes it's a newborn baby- and kicking
the other pure blood back when she tries to attack.
Shizuka smiles down at the infant in her arms, tongue flicking over the points
of her fangs. "What a sweet child..."
"No...please...not my baby-" the woman is silenced by Shizuka's cold smile as
she licks her lips and leans down over the crying infant, ready to bite and
drain the small life away.
Zero know he shouldn't interfear, knows he shouldn't try to stop his master-
mother- from taking what she wants, but he's moving before he can stop himself.
Shizuka's eyes are cold when she looks at him, and there's a warning in her
voice. "Zero..."
Zero shakes his head, backing away and holding the baby to his chest. "We don't
have to hurt her."
"It's hardly fair, Zero." Shizuka tsks, still keeping a wary eye on the Pure
Blood woman. "Three of them for three of us."
"Take her, then."
Shizuka quirks a pale eyebrow. "Are you so attached to the child already?"
"I..." he shakes his head. "I won't let you hurt them. Please, mother." The
title tastes like poison in his mouth, but letting her harm a child is
unthinkable.
A surprised expression flits across Shizuka's face before she smiles slightly.
"You would give up the power of her blood to help a vampire?"
"They're just a child."
Shizuka's gaze sweeps over him, apraising, then she nods. "Very well. You will
drain the woman, but the child may live."
Zero nods, praying to gods he doesn't believe in that she'll honor what she
says, and crosses to the Pure Blood woman. She's clearly weak from childbirth,
but there's strength in her eyes when he meets them. "I'm sorry."
She glances to the bundle in his arms, then tips her head back. "If you having
my blood will save my child, I gladly give it.
Zero stares at her, at this vampire so willing to die for her newborn, and
feels doubt worm its way into his heart. Their kind are selfish and cruel, not
protective and never selfless. The sacrifice seems almost...human.
"Zero." Ichiru's voice is commanding from where he stands by Shizuka's side,
still dusted with the ashes of his victim. "We don't have all day."
Zero nods and leans forward to sink his teeth into the pale throat in front of
him. True to her word, the woman doesn't try to fight. She crumbles to dust
around him, her power rushing through his veins and making him feel strong and
full of life, immortal even-
The child in his arms begins to cry again, and it breaks through the haze of
power pulsing through his blood. He soothes them as best he can, cleaning their
face with his sleeve and murmuring calming words. He doesn't want to know what
Shizuka will do if the child annoys her, doesn't want to push his luck any
further than he already has.
A slim, cool hand comes to rest on his head. "Come, child. We should depart."
She smiles when he looks up at her. "And I suppose your new sister may need
some things."
Zero looks back at the girl in his arms. He wouldn't mind having a sister. Once
it was unthinkable, Ichiru needed everything he had and he owed that to the
younger brother he'd weakened in the womb, but now, with Ichiru so strong...
He rises and looks at Shizuka with a slight smile on his face. "What now,
mother?"
She smiles back. "Now, we leave and find somewhere safe for you to grow into
your new powers. Come along." She sweeps out of the room, Ichiru following
behind. Zero smiles down at the baby girl in his arms and follows.


Ichiru slinks into the sitting room of their temporary abode, freshly liberated
from a human couple, and waits for Shizuka to acknowledge him.
His entrance was completely silent, but he isn't surprised when she sets down
her teacup- filled with blood made from those tablets that make his stomach
roil- and turns to look at him. She always knows when he's nearby. It's somehow
comforting.
"Do you require something, my son?"
There's something like pride in her voice when she calls him her son- so
different from his worthless, human mother's pity- and he can't help but smile
slightly at her. "No my mother. It's just..."
She rises and glides towards him, stroking his cheek. "What ails you?"
"I just..." he sighs, "Why didn't you tell Zero that vampire children influence
the thoughts of those around them?"
"Ah," She hums softly, "Are you worried about his attachement to the girl?"
"It just seems strange to allow her free reign with his emotions. He is
rather...fragile."
A smile plays across Shizuka's lips and she runs her fingers through his hair.
"Are you jealous?"
"No!"
The smile widens. "She will bind him to us far more tightly, my child. But if
your want him...simply take him."
Ichiru stares at her for a moment, then looks away. "I...I can't. It's wrong."
"For humans, perhaps. Not for us. He is yours. Take him."
Ichiru feels his breath catch, images of his brother's beautiful pale skin
beneath his hands running wild through his head. He realized he's nodding only
when she pats his hair.
"Good. I will keep an eye on the child. Enjoy your evening."
Ichiru nods again and turns away, striding off in search of his brother.
Something inside him still screamed wrong inside his head, but he pushed that
thought away. Zero had always been his, was his, would soon be his in every way
that mattered.
***** Chapter 8 *****
Chapter Summary
     Warnings for non-con and incest (like you didn't know those were
     coming ;P)
     This is just pure smut, and not that important, so there's no harm in
     skipping it if it isn't to your taste
Zero protests when Ichiru drags him from the room by his wrist, glancing back
at the baby who's sleeping in her makeshift drawer crib, but he doesn't yank
away and he stops when he realizes they're only going down the hall to another
bedroom.
"Ichiru, what are you-"
He's pushed gently but firmly onto the bed and Ichiru straddles his hips,
practically ripping Zero's shirt open so he can lick the pale neck beneath the
high collar. Zero shudders, but bares his throat to the younger boy. There's
the familiar prick of Ichiru's fangs, then his nerves seem to light on fire, a
thousand times more sensitive than before. He lets a little sigh escape his
lips, relaxing into the familiar sensation.
"You're hard." Ichiru's soft whisper sends a jolt through him and he tries to
jerk away as he realizes he is, how wrong it is, but Ichiru hold him in place
and claims his lips with a kiss.
It's chaste, a normal- almost comforting- part of their ritual , but there's
nothing normal about his brother stroking him hard. Ichiru hums into the kiss,
fumbling with Zero's fly one handed before finally managing to free him cock.
The cool air on his heated flesh makes Zero jerk back, scrambling away as best
he can, a voice inside his head screaming wrong, wrong, WRONG-
And then Ichiru's hand grasps his cock and strokes. "I just want to make you
feel good, big brother." Ichiru looks up at him, and even though his eyes seem
alien, bright red and glowing, the smile is the innocent pleading one that Zero
has known all his life. "Don't you want to make me feel good?"
"I-"
Ichiru doesn't wait for the answer, kicking off his own pants and shruging off
his shirt as he moves to bite Zero again, leaving him too breathless to do
anything but moan.
When Ichiru finally comes up for air his voice is husky and his eyes are heavy
with want. "I'm going to ride you."
Zero blinks up at him, but before he can speak he feels his cock slide into
Ichiru's ass.
Something inside his brother rips and the scent of blood intensifies. Ichiru
gasps and drops forward, his nails digging into Zero's shoulders as his body
bucks up into the warm tightness.
Ichiru takes a breath, shifts, then starts to move his hips. Zero whines at the
slow speed, hips bucking again and again. Then there are fangs in his neck and
it's all he can do not to scream as a panting Ichiru slams down onto him.
Pleasure surges through both their bodies and they cum together, Ichiru on
their stomachs, Zero deep in his brother's ass. Ichiru gasps as he's filled,
then shakily pulls himself off Zero's cock and sits on the edge of the bed for
a moment, panting.
What he's done hits Zero, and suddenly he can't breathe. He...fucked his
younger brother. Maybe even injured him...
"Are you alright?" He struggles to sit up despite the aftershocks. "Did
it...did I hurt you?"
"A little." Ichiru slips off the bed, a touch unsteady on his feet but still
graceful, and pulls on his clothes. He smiles at his brother. "Don't worry,
you'll do better next time."
"Of course!"
Ichiru's smile widens. "Get some rest." He's gone before Zero can respond,
leaving the eldr twin to lie back on the bed until his blood stops pounding in
his veins.
It isn't until he's calmed the frantic beating of his heart that he realizes he
agreed to a next time.
End Notes
     I'm definitely going to keep working on this story, but I have no
     idea when I'll be updating it.
     If you liked it, please leave a Kudos or a Comment! They're very
     motivating :)
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