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Chapter Text

Ichiru didn’t really know what he had expected. Death was something he had never seen before, something utterly alien to him.

He had the feeling that he should have felt something as he stared at the bodies of his parents.

“Ichi-nii?” The soft, confused voice of his twin snapped Ichiru out of his reverie and he turned to look at his younger brother.

“Zero...”

“W-what’s going on?” Zero’s eyes were filled with unshed tears of confusion. Ichiru scrambled forward, grabbing for his twin’s hands.

“I’m not sure, Zero. We have to go before whoever did this finds us, though.”

“But... Mamma and Papa...” Ichiru shook his head.

“They’re already dead, Zero. There’s nothing we can do.”

“Why are you bleeding, Ichi-nii?” The change of subject made Ichiru blink in surprise.

“What?”

“You’re bleeding, Ichi-nii...” Zero lifted a perpetually-shaking hand and ran his fingers over his twin’s neck gently. He pulled it away and stared at the crimson liquid decorating his fingertips. “Why are you bleeding?”

Zero’s voice was calm, now. The tears which had previously filled his eyes were gone, leaving no trace. Ichiru could tell that Zero knew full well why he was bleeding.

Outside, the blizzard howled, and the windows rattled in the wind.

“We have to go.”

“Go where?”

Ichiru shook his head.

“I don’t know. Away from here.”

“It’s snowing, Ichi-nii. We won’t survive out there for long.” Ichiru met Zero’s unwavering gaze, reading what he hadn’t said in his eyes. I won’t survive out there for long.

Ichiru squeezed his eyes shut. If it had just been him, he would have taken the risk. But Zero was just too fragile.

“We’ll just have to head to town.”

“But Ichi-nii, the town is more than eight kilometres away. We’ll never make it.”

“There’s that house just a little while away, though. Even if it is in the opposite direction of the town.”

“But, Ichi-nii... Mamma and Papa said never to go near that house...”

“Well, Mamma and Papa aren’t exactly in a position to complain, are they?” Ichiru snapped. He immediately felt guilty, expecting Zero to start crying, but the younger twin simply sent a clinical eye over the mangled bodies of their parents.

“All right, then. I’ll get my coat. But I’m bandaging that bite before we leave.” Zero’s tone brooked no argument and, as the younger boy turned away, Ichiru felt an ironic smile twist his lips. Zero was, after all, far from stupid.

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“When will it start?” Zero’s question was quiet, but it held no trace of fear as he carefully bandaged the bite on Ichiru’s neck.

“I’m not sure.” Ichiru responded without looking at him.

“Do you know who it was?” Ichiru stiffened, but there was no accusation in his twin’s voice.

“Not really. It was a woman. Definitely a pureblood. I’ve seen her picture in that folder Mamma and Papa keep of all the purebloods. But I don’t remember her name.” Zero nodded in acceptance. “How did you know it was a pureblood bite?”

Zero shrugged.

“You’re afraid of it.” It seemed that, to him at least, that was a good enough explanation. “I would be too. Mamma and Papa didn’t exactly have the most favourable view of vampires, and logically at least some of that prejudice will have coloured our opinions of the race.”

Ichiru blinked. “You don’t hate them?”

“Why would I?”

“Well, one of them did just murder Mamma and Papa in cold blood.” Ichiru responded dryly. Zero shrugged again, disturbingly calm.

“Yes. But she was just one of thousands. You cannot judge a people on the actions of one man. Or woman.”

Ichiru narrowed his eyes at his brother. “Was that a quote?”

“It might have been. Regardless, I can’t hate all vampires. You are, after all, going to be one soon.” Ichiru realized belatedly that Zero had long ago finished bandaging his neck and was now resting his quivering hands on his seated brother’s shoulders. Ichiru turned on the stool to look at him.

“You’re not scared?”

“Of you? No. I could never fear you for what you are, Ichi-nii.” Zero told him gently, kneeling before his twin and taking Ichiru’s hands in his own shaking ones.

“But you are scared.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes. Of the fact that you may end up taking this opportunity to hate all vampires. That you might hate yourself for what you are becoming. That you might push me away in a misguided attempt to ‘keep me safe’. That you might try to deny what you are.”

“And what am I?” Ichiru’s bitter question was almost too soft to hear.

“You are my Ichi-nii.” Zero told him simply. “And you always will be. Nothing else matters.”

Ichiru choked back a rather hysterical sob, and forced himself to his feet, pulling his twin up with him gently.

“We have to go. The Association is sure to notice what happened here soon, and they won’t hesitate to kill me now for what I’m becoming.”

Zero nodded easily. “I’m assuming the people in the house we’re headed to are vampires, judging by Mamma and Papa’s reluctance to let us near them. We can only hope they’re the good sort.”

Ichiru squeezed Zero’s hands. “Don’t be afraid, Zero. I’ll protect you.”

Zero smiled at him. “I know you will, Ichi-nii.”

“I wasn’t talking about the vampires.”

Zero met his older brother’s gaze. “I know. I have no fear of them.”

“I won’t let you die out in the snow, Zero.”

“I know, Ichi-nii.”

------------------------------------------

"Do you know where Hanabusa is, Rei?" Aidou Rei looked up from her book at the sound of her husband's voice.

"He's either in his room, in the library, or in his laboratory. Why?" Her husband shrugged.

"No real reason. Frankly, I'm bored." He told her easily, collapsing into the armchair adjacent from her.

"You could actually do some work, for once." She teased him with a grin.

"I finished it all!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air dramatically. She raised a sceptical eyebrow at him. "It's true! We've been basically snowed in for more than a week, Rei, no one wants to come all the way out here in this weather just to give me paperwork."

"If you say so, Yaga." She told him amusedly, returning to her book.

"Don't ignore me-" Yagamichi's whine was cut off by a knock at the door. The couple exchanged looks of surprise.

"Who could be visiting in this weather?" Rei murmured, setting her book down and standing to answer the door.

"No one with good news," her husband responded grimly as he moved to stand at his wife's side. They exchanged worried glances as she carefully eased the door open.

----------------------------

I shouldn't have made Zero come out here... he thought wretchedly as he dragged himself onto the doorstep of their 'neighbour’s' manor at long last. He's too fragile. Please... please let him be okay.

He could no longer feel his brother breathing. He couldn't tell if it was because he was too numb to feel anything or because Zero was truly not breathing anymore.

He only barely managed to slam his violently shaking fist onto the exquisitely carved door before his strength gave out and he collapsed gratefully to the ground.

The door didn't open for a few endless moments and Ichiru found himself praying to a god he didn't believe in that these people would find it in their hearts to open the door.

A shaft of light cut through the frozen darkness, illuminating a small strip of the untouched snow next to him. As the door eased open cautiously, he felt his eyes drift shut in relief.

He could do no more.

-------------------------------

"What in the world..." Rei murmured, kneeling to touch one of the small, snow-covered children on his exotically-coloured hair.

The thought drifted up before she could dismiss it as ludicrous. Are they angels?

"They're frozen solid, Rei." Yagamichi commented quietly, trailing a finger down the nearest child's cheek. "We should get them inside, in front of the fire."

Rei touched the boy's cheek and was startled to find that her husband was correct.

"Oh..." She scrambled to lift the child who lay sprawled atop his doppelgänger into her arms. "You're right. Will you grab the other one?" She turned to see her husband already cradling the other child in his arms, and she shot a tender smile at him.

He carefully shut the front door as his wife rushed into the study to lay the child in her arms before the fire. He followed suit.

"They're so small..." she marvelled quietly, brushing a strand of semi-frozen silver hair out of the face of the child he had carried in. "Like little ice angels."

Yagamichi couldn't dispute the likeliness. "Where did they come from?"

A wistful look overtook her face. "Perhaps they're a gift from heaven. Perhaps the gods decided to donate two of their own to a lonely family missing their children."

And abandon them to die in a blizzard? But Yagamichi did not voice his doubts, choosing to leave her to her fantasies.

"We need to get these wet clothes off of them." Yagamichi had divested the boys of their trousers before Rei could react. His wife squawked in protest.

"That's an invasion of their privacy!"

"They're children, Rei. They're not going to care." He told her quietly. She heaved a resigned sigh. "Would you go see if we have any of Hanabusa's old clothes lying around?"

When she had slipped out of the room to begin the hunt, he lifted the other boy up partway to pull off his coat, revealing his fragile white neck, partially covered by a well-wrapped but bloodstained white bandage.

Yagamichi's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

--------------------------

The blizzard let up a few days later, but the two children remained unconscious for almost a full week after their arrival.

Rei had indeed found an entire wardrobe filled with clothes from Hanabusa's childhood. They were old-fashioned, but once they were washed, they discovered that they fit the two children acceptably.

Yagamichi and Rei had also determined that, despite the boys' many ethereal qualities they were, in fact, human (though that did not dissuade Rei from thinking they were just disguised as humans to hide their divinity).

Yagamichi had also confirmed his suspicion that the bandage around the more muscular twin's neck did indeed cover a vampiric bite mark, though there was no way to tell if it was the work of a pureblood or that of one of the lesser vampires.

Despite his injury, however, the boy with the bite mark was the one to wake up first.

-------------------------

It was almost four in the afternoon when one of the boys began to stir. Rei, seated in a comfortable armchair and engrossed in her book, almost didn't notice.

The boy sat up groggily, staring around his unfamiliar surroundings uncomprehendingly.

"You're awake!" Rei exclaimed happily, dropping her book carelessly to the ground as she rocketed to her feet. The boy jerked back automatically.

"Where's Zero?" Rei blinked.

"Zero?"

"Zero. Where is he?" The boy's young still sleep-slurred voice was laced with defensive terror.

"You mean the boy you were with? Hana-chan's with him. He's right next door, but it's best not to disturb him. He's still unconscious." Rei couldn't help but mentally coo over how protective the boy was over this 'Zero'.

A curious name. Perhaps it was a nickname, though if it was it would be a cruel one.

She was interrupted from her ponderings when the boy attempted to lever himself out of bed.

"You're in no condition to be out of bed, dear." She chastised gently, pushing him back onto the pillows.

"Who the hell are you?" In most other circumstances, Rei would have admonished him for his language, but she could see how scared he was despite how hard he tried to hide it.

"Aidou Rei. You're in my house."

"Why?" The boy asked warily, eyeing her suspiciously.

"My husband and I found you two unconscious on our doorstep," she explained wryly. He blinked, then his hand flew to his still-bandaged neck.

"Do you know what happened?" She questioned him gently. He nodded tersely, but offered no explanation.

"What's your name?" She prodded. He scowled.

"Ichiru." She raised an eyebrow.

"No surname?" His scowl deepened.

"Not anymore."

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"No."

Rei considered this briefly. "Why not?"

"Because it doesn't matter."

She hesitated, unsure of how to progress.

"Do you know why your neck is hurt?" She ventured at last. He shot her a look which somehow managed to seem dry.

"Because I was bitten by a vampire."

She blinked in mild surprise at the flippant way he referred to her race. "Do you remember what this vampire looked like?"

"She was a pureblood." Rei's eyes widened, both at the news and at Ichiru's knowledge of the intricacies of vampiric society. "I'm pretty sure her name was Shizuka, but I don't remember her surname."

From the opposite end of the manor, the doorbell sounded. Rei immediately dismissed it, though a passing curiosity as to who would be visiting so late did float through her head. She focused on the more immediate problem before her.

"Do you know what's going to happen to you?"

He met her eyes unwaveringly.

"Yes."

And for just a moment, she feared this silver-haired angel who knew far too much to be anything but the child of a hunter.

------------------------------------------

Yagamichi hesitated again before opening the door. It was daylight once again, and he was exhausted and reluctant to leave the fragile child he had been tending to the dubious mercies of his young son, but he was aware that someone should check and make sure there weren't more young children freezing in the snow.

The moment he opened the door, however, he regretted his decision.

"Aidou," the hunter before him sneered. Yagamichi fought down a sneer in return, forcing himself to nod politely instead. "A pair of hunters living in the house nearby have been found dead, killed by vampires. We're searching your house."

As Yagamichi opened his mouth to tell the young man that he would do nothing of the sort, a sharp voice snapped "Souske!" and the hunter scowled as a much older man stepped up beside him.

"Forgive us, Aidou-san," the man- a middle-aged hunter with calloused palms wrapped around twin revolvers and a gentle face- said politely, bowing his head respectfully. "My partner is young and foolish. Of course we shall not encroach on your family like that. We were wondering, though- the hunters found dead had a young son, Ichiru, and his body was not found with his parents. Have you seen him?"

"Father?"

Yagamichi turned to look at his son as the other descended the staircase and opened his mouth to ask why he was not with the child, but Hanabusa widened his eyes theatrically as he glanced at the hunters.

"What's going on? Father, is something wrong?"

The older hunter glanced at Yagamichi before answering the younger vampire.

"We're looking for a young hunter child- a boy, around ten, with silver hair and purple eyes. His parents were killed sometime recently, by vampires, and we have reason to believe that he may have survived."

Hanabusa put on a faux-worried look and answered, "Oh, we certainly haven't seen anyone, not out in that storm. We couldn't see our hands in front of our faces with how thickly it was falling. I'm sorry, but I can't imagine that a child would have survived out there."

The older hunter deflated, clearly having expected the answer, as Yagamichi stared at his son.

"I understand. Thank you for your time."

"Shouji, you can't just-" the younger hunter began to protest, but the older man held up a quelling hand.

"Let's go, Souske."

"Shouji-"

The older hunter nodded hurriedly at Yagamichi and dragged his companion away with an unashamed hand on his collar, and the blonde closed the door somewhat numbly before turning to look at his now-deflated son for explanation. Hanabusa shook his head tiredly.

"The smaller boy is awake, Father. And he made it very clear that it would not be a good idea for hunters to find them."

"Why?"

Hanabusa sighed. "Something called the 'hunter's curse'. Apparently, hunters who give birth to twins are expected to... feed the weaker child to the stronger, somehow, and when their parents didn't do that, they violated the hunters' code and therefore their lives, along with the lives of their sons."

Yagamichi stared at Hanabusa in horror.

"We'd better talk to Mother. She's not going to like this."

-------------------------------

"What monsters! And they call us abominations!"

"Rei, darling, calm down-"

"I will not calm down! They wanted those poor people to murder children! What kind of half-brained, dim-witted, demented fool decided that would ever be all right?"

"Rei-"

"What are we going to do with them?" Hanabusa asked, interrupting his mother's tirade with no grace. She ground to a halt, staring at him. "Well, there's not exactly anyone we can hand them over to, is there?"

"Then they'll just have to stay with us." Rei said determinedly.

"Rei-"

"No, Yagamichi, they're staying. I will not turn children out of my home when they have nowhere else to go, regardless of their birth status."

Yagamichi sighed, knowing he had already lost.

"Very well. Hanabusa, I suppose we should all go and be formally introduced to your new brothers."

Hanabusa grinned.

"I've always wanted a little brother."

Chapter Text

When Ichiru opened his eyes again, the first thing he noticed was warmth. Not the cold, biting chill of the blizzard, but the inviting warmth of a fire. The second thing he noticed was that Zero wasn’t with him. This immediately gave rise to panic. Where was Zero? Had the hunters found them?

He sat up groggily, staring around the room he was in. Aside from the large bed he was in, the room was fairly bare. The only other piece of furniture in the room was an armchair that was occupied by a blonde woman with electric blue eyes. She shot to her feet, exclaiming happily, “You’re awake!”

Instinctively, Ichiru jerked back at the imposing aura of this woman. Vampire. his mind hissed at him. Danger. However, he quelled his instincts, focusing on a more pressing issue. “Where’s Zero?” the woman blinked at him.

“Zero?”

“Zero. Where is he?” Did this vampire throw him out? Refuse to take him in?

“You mean the boy you were with? He’s next door, but he’s still unconscious.” She seemed to lose herself in her thoughts, which Ichiru took as a sign to attempt to get out of bed. However, this caught her attention and she gently pushed him back onto the pillows. The conversation that followed entirely focused on getting his bearings and finding out what happened. He responded to her questions with short, curt answers, until a knock came on the door and his head whipped around.

A young, blonde boy stood at the door staring at him. Ichiru stared right back. The boy broke the staring competition and turned to the woman. “The other boy is awake, mother, and father wants to see you.” The woman raised her eyebrows, “Did he say for what?” The boy shook his head, “but I have a good idea of what it is.”

The woman sighed and moved towards the door, but before she could pass through the doorway, Ichiru found his voice. “Take me to Zero.” He demanded. He wanted – no, needed – to make sure that Zero was alright, or he would drive himself crazy. The woman and the boy shared a look before the boy turned to Zero. “I’ll take you to him.”

-------------------------------

Zero was sitting up on the bed when the boy led Ichiru into the room, and Ichiru immediately rushed over to his side. “Are you feeling okay? Do you need any help? Are you breathing okay?” He shot his questions rapid-fire as the blonde vampire child left the room.

“I’m okay, I don’t think I need any help for now, and I’m breathing fine.” Zero responded calmly, used to his brother’s worry. Ichiru heaved a sigh of relief as Zero moved over to one side of the bed and lifted up the covers in invitation. “What’s going to happen after this, Ichi-nii? Where are we going to stay?”

Ichiru moved to lie under the covers next to Zero. “I don’t know. Maybe we can head into town. There’s likely to be someone wanting to take on an apprentice of sorts and that could solve the problem, but if not, we’ll figure it out later. I’ll figure something out.” He didn’t mention his belief that there would not be any chance of him taking on apprenticeship. It would be too easy for them to be found that way.

Zero took the hint and changed the subject. “How’s your neck?”

Ichiru’s hand flew to the wound on his neck and was surprised to feel fresh, clean gauze on the injury. He tried to get a good look at it, but the angle as well as the pain from moving his neck quickly prevented him from doing so.

“I changed your bandages. The blood had soaked through the old ones.” The voice from the doorway startled him, and he instinctively took on a defensive pose – or as much as a defensive pose he could strike while being half hugged by his brother. The woman stood in the doorway, along with the boy from earlier and a man with the same blonde hair and blue eyes.

Ichiru dropped his pose, but still eyed them warily. “Who’re you, and what do you want from us?”

“My name is Aidou Yagamichi. This is my wife, Rei, and my son, Hanabusa. You two showed up half-frozen on our doorstep about a week ago in the middle of the blizzard. We don’t want anything from you.” The man spoke.

Zero spoke up. “My name is Zero, and this is my twin, Ichiru- ““Zero!” Ichiru hissed. The woman spoke up. “I know you don’t have any reason to trust us, but I can assure you that we are neither Level D nor Level E vampires and have no reason to drink your blood, so you don’t need to worry about that. We also have no reason to kill you, hunters or not.” Ichiru eyed her suspiciously for a moment, but relented when he saw the sincerity in her eyes.

“We’re from the house a little while away. Our parents were killed by a pureblood outside our home and that same pureblood also bit me. We would’ve headed into town to find shelter but we knew we wouldn’t survive walking 8 kilometres in that blizzard so we came here.” He muttered.

Zero picked up the story. “We’re sorry for having bothered you for so long, but if you give us another day or two to recover, we’ll be on our way.” The three blondes shared a look before Yagamichi turned to them. “Do you have anywhere to go in town? Or were you just planning on figuring it out as you go?” he asked. “What’s it to you?” Ichiru retorted.

The man didn’t flinch at his tone. “I understand you were bitten by a pureblood,” he nodded at Ichiru’s neck. “It usually takes a week or two before the turning starts to occur. We would be happy to take you in and provide for you, because it will be hard for you to control your urges in a town full of humans. Here, we would be happy to help you with said urges, and even provide lodging and food.”

Ichiru narrowed his eyes at him, but before he could say anything, Zero piped up. “If you insist, but we would hate to impose on you any longer- ““But you wouldn’t!” the boy – Hanabusa, who’d been silent up till this moment, burst out, before turning red and looking away.

Rei smiled fondly at her young son. “You see, Hanabusa may not look it, but he’s quite lonely here. My husband and I both work, so we aren’t often free. My two daughters are much older than him and are married, so they aren’t here very often. We have one more child, another girl, but with just the two of them it can get fairly boring and lonely in this house. We’re not saying that this is our intention, but if you two were to stay it would certainly bring some more life to this house. We really just want to help you.”

Ichiru was still suspicious of these vampires, but as he opened his mouth with another retort, he remembered Zero’s words.

“She was just one of thousands. You cannot judge a people on the actions of one man. Or woman.”

“You are my Ichi-nii. And you always will be. Nothing else matters.”

And so he bit back his retort, and muttered, “Fine.” Next to him, he felt Zero let out a deep sigh of relief, and knew, suspicious or not, he had made the right choice. For the time being.

-------------------------------

Ichiru and Zero met another member of the Aidou family later that day. The twins were sitting with Hanabusa in the study, listening to the blonde vampire ramble about his latest experiment when the front door creaked open and a quiet voice called out “I’m home”.

Immediately there was a resounding crash from upstairs, and Hanabusa, completely ignoring the noise, stood up in a rush. “She’s back!” he exclaimed, gesturing for them to follow him. They trailed after the enthusiastic boy as he rushed into the foyer.

“Who?”

Before Hanabusa could reply, they entered the foyer and found a pale, petite girl wrapped in Hanabusa’s hug. He kept up a stream of chatter even as Rei flew down the stairs and swept the girl up in yet another hug. Ichiru and Zero stood awkwardly at the side until the newcomer noticed them and asked, “Who’re they?”

Hanabusa calmed down and Rei let the girl go, finally giving the twins a chance to get a good look at the girl. She was slim and small, barely reaching up to Hanabusa’s shoulders, and had silver-white hair that went up to mid-back. A pair of ice-blue eyes sat on a pale face, making her look almost like a ghost. She made the Aidous, who were pale like most vampires, look tan. Hanabusa wrapped his arm around her shoulders and said, “Kimi, these are Ichiru and Zero, twins. They’ll be staying here with us. Ichiru, Zero, this is my younger sister, Kimiko. She’s been away for about a week with my older sisters.”

Ichiru grunted and mumbled out a hello, while Zero smiled and greeted her softly.

Kimiko eyed them for a moment before she bowed. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

-------------------------------

The Aidous were an… interesting family to say the least, and Ichiru wasn’t quite sure what to make of them. They went against almost everything he’d been taught.

They may look elegant and sophisticated, but in reality, they’re bloodthirsty, evil creatures who kill for pleasure, his teacher had once told him.

The Aidous were anything but. After a week staying with them, Ichiru got used to Rei rushing out of the house, once again running late for a meeting, for Yagamichi to whine about his work, for Hanabusa to spend a whole day in his laboratory, for Kimiko spend all day by the fire with a stack of thick volumes. They seemed to keep odd hours – sometimes, they were awake even when the sun was high in the sky, though they were lethargic. They had shown the twins nothing but kindness since they arrived, making sure that the twins were as comfortable and satisfied as they could offer.

They had also all taken the time to teach Ichiru about being a vampire. The evening after Kimiko returned, Rei rapped her knuckles on the door of Ichiru and Zero’s new room beckoned for them to follow her. She led them down to a small fridge that sat in one corner of the kitchen, and it opened up to show red.

Packets of blood in every type imaginable, each meticulously labelled and sorted, small round red spheres that Rei called ’blood bubbles’ labelled ‘H’ or ‘K’, and some packets of blood labelled ‘V’. Ichiru instinctively recoiled from the sight, and Zero flinched slightly.

“I know you may not accept it for now, Ichiru, but eventually you’re going to crave some form of blood. For new or younger vampires like Hana-chan and Kimi-chan, we don’t give them human blood just yet. They first start with the blood bubbles, which are frozen spheres of blood. They’re good for small dosages, which is good because Hana-chan and Kimi-chan don’t need to consume that much blood for the time being. Eventually, their effectiveness starts to fade when the child gets older, which is when they then move on to vampire blood.” Rei pointed to the packets labelled ‘V’.

“The blood in those packets are from me and Yamaguchi. Vampire children don’t start on human blood until they are about twelve. Hana-chan’s about ready to move on to those, but Kimi-chan is only ten, and you’re new to vampirism, so I would suggest blood bubbles first. You’re not quite at the stage where you need so much blood, and it might help you ease into a routine better.” Rei pointed at the box of round spheres.

Ichiru’s head was spinning from the onslaught of information, and he stumbled away from the fridge, muttering, “I need to think for a while,” before walking out of the kitchen in a daze. After he left, Rei met Zero’s eyes.

“Aren’t you going to follow him?”

Zero shook his head. “There’s no comfort I can offer him. He needs to work through it on his own for now.”

-------------------------------

Somehow, he found himself lying on a bench in the Aidous’ expansive backyard, staring up at the sky. This is it. He thought. I really am going to become a vampire now. I’m going to become the creature that my parents swore to kill.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the footsteps that were nearing his position until Kimiko’s silver head suddenly appeared in his vision. Startled, he shot upright, almost crashing into her nose, and stared at her. She stood there, head cocked, eyes scrutinising him, before she opened her mouth. “Mind if I take a seat?”

“N-No.”

The small vampire perched herself gracefully next to him on the bench before she too leaned her head to look at the sky. The two of them sat in silence, until…

“You know, I used to come here all the time to think.”

“Yeah?”

“Yep, when I wasn’t sure of my place in this family or if I would fit into vampire life.” She said nonchalantly, as if she were discussing the weather. Ichiru turned his gaze towards her and stared.

“What do you mean, ‘fit into vampire life’? Aren’t you a noble?” he asked. Kimiko took her eyes from observing the setting sun and ice-blue met lavender. She shook her head and chuckled lightly. “I guess I just assumed they’d told you. I’m not biologically an Aidou.”

“What?”

“I was abandoned at the doorstep of a human household right after I was born. I had no idea of my heritage, no idea of who I was, until I turned seven. I was out with my parents one day, and we were ambushed by a group of Level Es. My parents were killed protecting me, and I was badly injured. Had Hana-nii and father not been there, I would have died.”

“Did they know you were a vampire?”

“That was part of the reason they managed to rescue me. Somehow, my parents’ death and the scent of their blood managed to awaken my dormant vampire and when my aura flared, they were able to find me. Hana-nii told me that when they found me, my eyes were bright red and I was near going crazy with bloodlust. I was brought here, and given blood bubbles to drink, and I still had no idea what was going on until they asked me if I knew that I was a vampire.”

“And did you?”

“Nope, not a clue. I had no idea vampires existed. Up till then, they were just stories to me, fairy tales and myths. The adults had no idea what to do with me. They didn’t want to hand me over to the council, so Mother suggested they take me in, and here I’ve been ever since. But you realise that at that time, I had no idea how to act like a vampire. I had lived seven years of my life as a normal human and in the blink of an eye, I couldn’t go out in the sun without protecting my eyes properly. I had no idea how to act as a noble vampire. I suddenly had an elemental ability that I couldn’t understand and even now I try not to use it – I don’t have very good control over it. It’s been three years, and I still don’t know how to use it very well.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Ichiru couldn’t help but ask. “It’s not like we’re friends.” Kimiko grinned at him, a sudden, wide smile that looked foreign on her face. “Not friends yet.” She said, then her smile dimmed. “I think we have some things in common. We don’t know how to cope with this new, sudden part of our lives, and it’s making us all confused and angry at ourselves because prior training has taught us that drinking blood is disgusting. But,” her eyes became sharp, “please do not attempt to starve yourself of blood. It is a painful, terrible experience that no one should have to go through.”

Ichiru suddenly felt tears gather in his eyes and he buried his head in his hands, suddenly feeling much older than his ten years. “I don’t know how to accept it.” He whispered. “I’ve been taught my whole life that being a vampire is the worst thing that could happen and now that I am, I don’t know how to react.”

A hand was suddenly on his back and slim fingers raised his head to meet ice-blue eyes. “You make a conscious effort to keep your mind open.” She said firmly. “Your experiences with vampires may not be the best, but I can assure you, the Aidous are not your typical vampire family. They will be there every step of the way if you will allow them, and your brother will be there with you through it all too. They did the same for me and they will do the same for you if they can. Don’t let one experience cloud your vision.”

Ichiru choked out a laugh. “Zero told me the same thing.”

Her eyes crinkled in a smile. “Zero is a smart kid.”

He took a deep breath and composed himself before standing up. “I guess I should go talk to Ms. Rei.”

“You probably should.”

“Kimiko?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

-------------------------------

Rei looked up from her book when she sensed a presence hovering at the door. Her eyes met Ichiru’s as he stood awkwardly in the doorway, wringing his hands. “Yes?”

Ichiru took a deep breath before opening his mouth. “I think… I would like to start with the… blood bubbles… first?” he voiced out hesitantly, as if he were asking permission.

Rei’s face lit up in delight. “Of course! The blood bubbles are available for whenever you feel thirsty, but Hana-chan and Kimi-chan generally take theirs every four hours. You just pop it in your mouth and eat it like it is candy. You know where to find them, and the general rule in this house is if you take the last blood bubble you need to inform me or Yagamichi so we can restock as soon as possible.” She listed, ticking off her fingers as she finished each point.

Then she smiled gently at Ichiru. “I understand it will be hard for you to adapt to your new circumstances, so I’m just putting it out there that Yagamichi and I are always willing to listen to any concerns you might have. Just knock on the door.” Then she looked at the clock, and shrieked. “Goodness! Is that the time? I have a meeting in half an hour!” and she was gone, leaving Ichiru blinking bemusedly at the spot where she last stood.

What an interesting family.

Chapter Text

Two months later, the children were gathered around a low table in the living room listening to Hanabusa ramble excitedly about his latest project when Rei knocked on the door and poked her head in. Her eyes scanned the room before landing on the twins, and she beckoned them over, saying “Come along, twins, Yagamichi and I want to have a talk with you.”

The twins met eyes curiously before following her to the study, where Yagamichi was reclined in his chair behind his desk. Rei perched herself on the edge of the desk and motioned for the twins to take a seat. Once they were seated, Yagamichi leaned forward in his chair and asked, “How have the two of you been?”

Ichiru cocked his head in confusion as he replied, “We’ve been good. Why?” He wasn’t lying. Once he got used to it, the idea of blood bubbles no longer bothered him and he had not felt thirsty at all. Zero mirrored his twin’s action. “We have been quite happy here.”

The two of them watched as the adults exchanged glances before Yagamichi turned to them.

“We have been waiting for the right time to bring this up, and we felt that the two of you have settled in quite well, considering your circumstances, we decided to let you know that on the day the two of you woke up, two hunters came to our door.”

The twins exchanged panicked glances before Ichiru rose out of his seat angrily. “And you told them we were here?”

“Of course not. Hanabusa came down just as the hunters were questioning me at the door and told the two of them that we had been locked up in our own home by the blizzard and no one had come to our door. That sent the two hunters off quickly enough. But what I want to know about is this curse Hanabusa said Zero mentioned. What is it about? We only know what Hanabusa told us.”

The twins exchanged glances before Zero spoke up. “It’s very unusual for Hunters to have twins, and even more unusual for both twins to be born alive. I heard Mamma and Papa discussing it once, saying that we were the only twins in hunter history to be born both alive. But the general rule is that the stronger twin is supposed to devour the weaker one so that the twins’ strength will be combined into one.” Rei and Yagamichi noted how Ichiru scowled darkly at the mention of “devour”, before he picked up where Zero left off.

“When Zero and I were born, our parents refused to do as tradition decreed and, in that sense, angered a lot of the Association. When they died, we knew that if the Association found us, they would not hesitate in killing Zero for me to consume, and I couldn’t allow that to happen, so we ran. The town was too far away, so we came here.” He finished.

“I see. And I assume if the Association were to find the two of you, it would not be a good thing?”

“Yes, but I don’t see why you would need this information unless you’re about to turn us in.”

Rei shook her head wildly. “Of course not! We would never feed you to such monsters! And they call us abominations!” she calmed down when Yagamichi put a steadying hand on her arm.

He looked at the twins. “What I am trying to say is, if the two of you would like it, Rei and I are planning on extending our protection to the two of you. The Association would not be able to lay a hand on either of you without incurring some sort of punishment. However,” he added, “I am not about to fool you two into thinking it is all good. While I will do my best to prevent this from happening, there is a high chance that there will be certain vampire families who will not be happy with our decision, which is not the problem. The problem is that they may target the two of you at any events the family has to attend.”

The twins exchanged glances before Ichiru spoke dubiously. “So, what you’re saying is that you would willingly take two Hunter children into your family and give them protection?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

The two adults exchanged glances. “What do you mean, why?”

“Why would you take the two of us in? The Hunters were literally born to kill of some of your kind. Why are you being so kind to us?”

Rei said, “the two of you may come from a line of Hunters, but we cannot base our opinions based on the actions of some. You two have shown no harm to our family – apart from being slightly rude,” here she raised an eyebrow at Ichiru, “and have brought happiness and joy to our household. You have given us nothing to be wary about and to be quite honest, I quite admire your desire to protect each other.”

Ichiru hesitated. “Are there any conditions?”

“There will be rules to follow, of course, the same ones Kimiko and Hanabusa have to follow. But other than that, no.”

Ichiru met eyes with Zero and knew immediately what Zero’s answer would be. His twin was looking at him hopefully, eyes almost shining at the idea of having a family again. He went over the conversation again, trying to pick out any loopholes that may have wriggled their way in and found none.

“Alright.”

“Excellent.” Yagamichi said, as Rei squealed and rushed out of the study, no doubt to tell Hanabusa and Kimiko the news. He pulled a few sheets of paper from the drawer and smiled sheepishly. “I may have gotten ahead of myself, but I was hoping that you two would agree, so I got all the paperwork done already. All you two need to do is to sign at the bottom.”

Ichiru made sure to scrutinise the sheet of paper, checking each condition stated on the page and making sure he hadn’t missed any loopholes. Once he was satisfied all was in order, he scrawled his name in untidy script at the bottom and passed the paper to Zero to do the same. Then he handed the paper back to Yagamichi, just as the study door burst open and Hanabusa, Kimiko and Rei entered the room. Hanabusa immediately ran over to the two of them and exclaimed, “I heard the news! I’m so happy you agreed!”

Kimiko watched calmly from the side-lines, not as enthusiastic as Hanabusa but still very pleased, as shown by the wide grin on her face. Ichiru met eyes with her, and she smiled happily, eyes crinkling at the corners. I’m happy you and Zero agreed she mouthed. Ichiru tilted his head in consideration, observing how Zero was laughing the most he’d seen in years, and mouthed back.

Me too.

-------------------------------

The reality of their new situation only set in a couple of weeks later, when Rei took the children out to town. Prior to that event, Ichiru hadn’t really noticed any differences, apart from having to follow a set of house rules.

It was when they were standing at the entrance of the town that he finally understood. Rei handed each of them an equal amount of money and explained to her two new charges, “I come here all the time, for meetings and get supplies, but Hana-chan and Kimi-chan don’t come here very often, so when they do I give them each some money to spend. It doesn’t matter what you buy, as long as you don’t overspend.”

Ichiru stared at the bills in his hand, finally realising that I’m part of the family now. They treat me like their own. He felt himself smiling slightly, tucking the bills away in a pocket of his shirt.

Rei turned to him. “It’s up to you, but I would suggest you and Zero-kun get a few clothing items while you’re here. You can’t keep wearing Hana-chan’s old clothes – they’re a bit big on the two of you. Kimiko,” here she turned to her daughter, “try and convince them to get some clothes. At least three of each type. You can use my card.” Kimiko took the credit card offered to her and acknowledged with a nod.

-------------------------------

Zero had never seen this side of the Aidou siblings before, and if he was being perfectly honest, he was a little terrified and in awe. Kimiko had taken Rei’s words seriously and she and Hanabusa had dragged the twins two a large department store in the middle of town.

Currently, they were surrounded by every single clothing type imaginable in every colour possible. Next to him, Ichiru had his head turned towards Kimiko as she muttered to him. Zero couldn’t hear what she was saying but he wasn’t too bothered, distracted by the entertaining sight in front of him.

Hanabusa was excitedly rifling through the clothing racks, picking out shirts and sweaters in a variety of colours. It was amusing to watch the already normally enthusiastic blonde become even more animated, exclaiming loudly at the options presented to him. He was so focused on Hanabusa that he didn’t notice the figure that sidled up to him until they cleared their throat.

“You know, when Mother said to buy some clothes, I don’t think she meant ‘stand there and look at Hana-nii shop for clothes’”.”

Zero turned to the silver-haired vampire next to him, raising an eyebrow slightly at the lack of his brother next to her. “I’m surprised you managed to convince Ichi-nii to even look at the clothes.”

Kimiko smirked slightly. “I will have to keep a close eye on him, probably have to pick out a few things for him, but at the end of the day, I will convince him to get something of his own.”

“Really?”

“Yep, I can be very persuasive. In fact, I was about to have a go at you now, but I think that will be unnecessary.”

“It will?”

“Zero!”

Zero turned his head at the call of his name, meeting eyes with one cheerful Aidou Hanabusa, who grinned and made his way over to them. Upon reaching their position, he thrust a few pieces of clothing into Zero’s arms with a smile. “Try these on! I think they’ll look good on you.”

Unused to such attention, Zero took the pieces of fabric and stared at them in confusion. Hanabusa, either not noticing or pretending not to notice, grasped his wrist gently and tugged him in the direction of the changing rooms. Zero glanced back at his brother, who was idly flipping through a collection of sweatshirts in monochrome colours, and allowed himself to be pulled away.

-------------------------------

Rei turned her head as she felt the auras of her young charges coming in her direction, and raised her eyebrows at the multitude of shopping bags they were carrying. “I must say, Kimi-chan, that I wasn’t expecting you to be quite this successful in shopping for our new friends.”

Kimiko grinned bashfully and admitted, “some of these belong to me and Hana-nii, and we did stop by some other shops for necessities and – “

Hanabusa cut in with a grin “– and she stopped by the second-hand bookstore and spent all her remaining money on those books that went out of print years ago.”

Rei shook her head fondly at her daughter. “As long as you kept to your budget, I can’t really say anything. I do hope you were able to get items that you liked?” here she turned to the twins, who were each carrying a small number of bags filled with clothes.

Zero smiled slightly at her. “Yes, we did, thank you.” Ichiru didn’t say anything, but as he passed her to stand on her other side, he pressed something into her hands. She looked at the small, rectangular item wrapped carefully in brown paper, and smiled brightly, knowing that it was the silver-haired boy’s way of thanking her.

When she got home, opened the package and saw the small card with the words “Thank You” scrawled messily on it and a simple silver charm bracelet, she immediately put the bracelet on and resolved never to take it off.

She definitely did not tear up. Shut up, Yagamichi, she didn’t.

-------------------------------

Ichiru stood awkwardly in one corner of the grand ballroom, feeling wholly uncomfortable wearing his suit and standing amongst vampires, many of whom were purebloods or aristocrats. Next to him, he could see Zero fidgeting nervously, and across the room, Hanabusa was standing next to his father and being introduced to yet another noble vampire who was no doubt discussing yet another potential business deal. He could see Hanabusa struggling to keep a bored expression off his face, and he was semi-successful at doing so.

“And such is the life of the biological son.”

Ichiru jumped and turned to the blue-eyed vampire next to him. “Kimiko, where did you come out from?” he raised his eyebrows, realising that he hadn’t seen the petite vampire around for the last thirty minutes.

“I went to get a drink, got stopped by a curious noble who wanted to know, in the most polite way possible, if it was true that Hana-nii’s oldest sister was having yet another child, and then got followed around by a vampire who was very interested in a marriage between his son and me, and then detoured to get snacks.” She complained lightly, raising the plate she held in her hands filled with tiny éclairs and macarons in offering. She kept her voice as low as possible to try and prevent the other vampires in the room from overhearing, but it seemed as though everyone else was not paying close attention to them.

Ichiru grinned and took an éclair. “Well, all Zero and I have had to deal with so far on this wonderful night are a multitude of side glances and almost everyone is giving us a wide berth, so I can’t really complain.”

Zero shook his head at him. “Everyone’s giving us a wide berth because he glares at anyone who gets too close to our corner.” He informed Kimiko placidly. “Does he now?” Kimiko cocked her head. “I can’t say I’m complaining either, maybe I should stick with the two of you so I won’t be intercepted by yet another stuffy noble who wants to know the ins and outs of the Aidou family.” She chuckled, leaning against the wall and taking a dainty bite out of a macaron.

“I would say that would be a good idea, except Mother sent me to tell you, and I quote, ‘Hana-chan, do bring those children out of their self-imposed isolation and take them along with you to meet your friends.’”

The three of them jumped in shock and turned to the newcomer, who was grinning impishly at them. “Hana-nii. I’m surprised you were able to escape the clutches of the adults.” Kimiko deadpanned, pointedly leaning more heavily against the wall.

Hanabusa smiled widely, flinging his hands out in a celebratory gesture. “Father said I’d met enough nobles tonight and released me, and Mother told me to bring you three along so you all wouldn’t ‘spend the whole night being part of the wall’, she said.” He grasped Ichiru and Zero’s wrists and tugging them gently in the general direction, motioning with his head for Kimiko to follow.

The three of them begrudgingly allowed themselves to be pulled to the side of the room, where a boy and a girl stood stiffly by the wall. Upon reaching them, Hanabusa let go of the twins’ hands to wrap his arms around the duo, exclaiming cheerfully, “these are my cousins! Kain and Ruka, meet the twins, Ichiru and Zero. You’ve met Kimi before.” He grinned, seemingly not noticing the awkwardness hanging in the air as the two parties stared at each other.

Zero, ever the unruffled, polite twin, stuck out his hand after a moment. “It’s nice to meet you.” Ruka simply glared at the outstretched palm in disgust, but Kain shook it, smiling pleasantly. “Likewise.”

Ichiru decided then and there that he did not like Souen Ruka, who seemed to have very different views from her cousins about humans and lower-level vampires.

-------------------------------

Hanabusa’s cousins spent the rest of the party with them, and Ichiru can’t say he loathed it. Akatsuki Kain was quite pleasant and friendly, and his calmness and level-headedness were a drastic contrast from Hanabusa’s excitable temperament and Ruka’s hot temper.

By the end of the party, he’d stopped Hanabusa from tripping five different unsuspecting nobles and kept Ruka from blowing up thrice. He did this while responding to Hanabusa’s light-hearted chatter, punctuated by Ruka’s snarky comments, and skilfully maintaining the peace between the two cousins at the same time.

Kimiko teased her brother when she could get a word in between her brother’s, and Zero contributed to the conversation once or twice, while Ichiru grunted out a number one-word answers to the questions directed at him.

It wasn’t exactly a successful attempt at bringing the twins out of their shell, but it was progress.

-------------------------------

Half a year after the twins came to live with the Aidous, they were allowed into the training room in the basement. There, Hanabusa and Kimiko learned to fight and defend themselves, and Ichiru had been dying to enter since he discovered its existence. When Yagamichi and Rei finally declared the twins ready to start training, Ichiru all but leapt for joy, much to the amusement of the vampires, who had never seen the usually grumpy twin so happy.

Yagamichi spent a couple of weeks going through basic defensive movements and drills, and here Ichiru thrived, having had prior hunter training. Zero was not so adept, and his frail body did nothing to aid him in the strenuous exercise, and he pulled out after learning the basics of fighting with a sword. “I know my body’s limits, and I don’t think it can take much more.”

However, he excelled in using a gun, and his aim, with practice, was perfect.

On the other hand, Ichiru loved training. He was adept at hand-to-hand fighting, and was decent with using katanas, but his true skill lay in using long-range weapons. Knives, guns, a bow and arrows – he excelled in that area, and his aim was tried and true. “I’ve never seen someone’s aim be that perfect in such a short training period.” Yagamichi said to Rei, impressed.

When Yagamichi deemed them ready to train with Hanabusa and Kimiko, the twins learned the two vampires’ strengths and weaknesses. Kimiko was a jack-of-all-trades, skilled at using both long-range and short-range weapons, but she favoured knives and daggers. “They’re easier to conceal than swords and bows, and faster to deploy too.”

Hanabusa, on the other hand, was not particularly skilled at any weapon, but he was able to hold his own in a fight, and had perfect control over his elemental ability, which he favoured in a fight – or as much as a fight could be when they were battling against each other in the training room.

It was only when they were out on another of their occasional outings to the town that they finally got to put their training to use.

Chapter Text

“I suppose you’ve noticed we’re being followed?” Hanabusa asked casually, keeping his voice low so as to not let their pursuers overhear.

“I have indeed. I guess they’re after the twins.” Kimiko replied just as casually, and just as quietly.

Ichiru and Zero shared a look and tightened their lips, Ichiru cursing his decision to leave his gun – generously gifted to him by Rei and Yagamichi – back at the house.

He raised his eyebrows as Hanabusa changed direction, heading for another area of town. “Where are we going?”

“We’re heading to the less populated area of town.”

“Why?”

“To take out our little fan club, of course. Can’t have a bunch of Level Es gone mad with bloodlust in the middle of a human town. That’s a disaster waiting to happen.” Kimiko hung back to stand next to them and discreetly passed them some daggers. The two of them took one look at the shiny silver, and their faces furrowed in identical expressions of concentration.

The four of them brisk-walked their way into a corner of town, seemingly run down and completely deserted, if the lack of activity was anything to go by. That is when they took action.

Kimiko abruptly turned on her heel and threw a knife through the air. Her aim was faultless and the dagger sailed neatly through the air, burying itself in the body of one of their four pursuers, who quickly turned into ash. The remaining three vampires jumped, not expecting the sudden extermination of one of their comrades, and they lurched forward for their targets.

In less than half a minute, one of them found themselves encased in a block of ice, while another one was taken down by a dagger to their heart. That left one vampire, who was not as crazed as the others, and was sane enough to have the reflexes to dodge their attacks. However, with all four of them focused on him, he eventually was taken down by one of Zero’s well-aimed knives.

The four of them stood in a row, staring at the place where the last vampire had been, and Hanabusa exhaled loudly. “Well,” he said, “that was an experience.”

-------------------------------

Later that day, Kimiko found Ichiru at their “thinking bench”. “Penny for your thoughts?”

“I might become like them someday.”

“Like who?”

“Those vampires in town. Vampires who never got to drink the blood of their turner and instead turned into crazed Level Es who know nothing but the fact that they need blood.”

“No.”

“No?”

“You will not become like that.” Kimiko turned to Ichiru firmly. “Until we find your turner, we will make sure you never go crazy with bloodlust. Noble blood isn’t as good as the blood of your turner, and it isn’t as good as pureblood blood, but it is better than nothing. I promise you; I will never let you go crazy.”

“Why do you care so much?”

“Huh?”

“Why do you care so much? From the start, you would talk to me and reason things out with me. You would reassure me and make the effort to bring me into things. Why?”

“Can’t people do things without any reason?” Kimiko stood up and brushed off her comfortable sweatpants, and turned to walk back into the house.

“People can, but you not only can’t, but don’t, Aidou Kimiko. After half a year of living with you, it’s pretty obvious you think through your every action and every word. So what is your reason?”

Kimiko tilted her head up to the sky, just like she had six months ago. “I don’t know.” She said quietly, not turning to look at Ichiru. “I don’t know.”

-------------------------------

“You think through your every action and every word, Aidou Kimiko. What is your reason?”

What was her reason, indeed? Kimiko truly didn’t know, and that fact scared her. She didn’t like not knowing. Seven years of thinking she had been human, and suddenly she’d been thrown into vampire life without so much as a warning. She had no idea who were her parents, had no idea if she had any relatives, had no idea why her vampire side was supressed and why she was left on the doorstep of a human household when she was just a baby. And she hated it.

So she made up for it by reasoning through the parts of life she could control. Her each and every action was thought through thoroughly and she considered all possibilities and outcomes before acting. She was satisfied with that, and had no plans to change.

The arrival of Ichiru and Zero had thrown her completely off-kilter. She didn’t know what it was about the older silver-haired twin. She hadn’t thought twice about going to him when she saw him brooding from her bedroom window. She hadn’t thought twice about convincing him to buy the monochrome clothes he liked so much, and even resorted to pouting and whining when he’d hesitated. Her, pouting and whining! Hana-nii would’ve never let her live it down if he’d witnessed that.

And she’d barely even thought before heading out to talk to him when she’d seen him brooding once again from her bedroom window. What was so special about Ichiru that made her not think things through?

She didn’t know, and she didn’t like it.

-------------------------------

One year later, when the twins turned thirteen, the Aidous threw a small celebration for them. There was a cake, iced to perfection – Zero was sure Kimiko did that, everyone else was hopeless in the kitchen – and presents, one for each of them from the four vampires.

When the celebration was over and everyone retired to their rooms, Zero sat at the foot of the bed he and Ichiru shared, dressed in his pyjamas, staring at the presents piled up in the corner of the room while Ichiru brushed his teeth.

“What’re you thinking about?” Ichiru asked quietly from the bathroom doorway, lavender eyes staring intently at his twin. Zero didn’t turn his head. “It just hit me. Mamma and Papa will no longer be able to celebrate birthdays with us, no longer be able to watch you grow into a great hunter, never get to see us grow up, because they’re dead.”

Ichiru crossed the room to sit beside his brother, placing an arm gently across his shoulder and pulling him close. “They may not be here physically, but they’re probably here in spirit, watching over us and making sure we don’t mess up.” He snorted softly, in a rare gesture of thoughtfulness.

“Ichi-nii?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m glad.”

“Glad about what?”

“I’m glad we came here. That you decided not to hate yourself and have grown to accept that part of you. I would have hated to see you spiral into self-hatred and depression just for something out of your control.”

“I think if it wasn’t for you and the Aidous, I might have.” Ichiru said, lying down on the bed and tugging Zero down with him. “If you hadn’t said what you said to me that day, I think I would’ve probably drowned in hatred for vampires and myself. If it wasn’t for the Aidous, we might not have survived and I wouldn’t have gotten all this help with adjusting to being a vampire.”

“I think Kimiko has been a great help in that, with her experiences.”

“I guess. She’s been very persistent and convincing too. And when we talk, it’s like she always knows what to say. I don’t know how she does it, but she makes me feel better. It’s like she understands me. Not as well as you do, but more than other people do.”

“Ichi-nii?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you like Kimiko?”

“What? Of course I like her. I like Hanabusa too, I guess, even though he’s quite annoying.”

“Oh…”

“What do you mean, ‘Oh’? What other possible meaning of ‘like’ can you mean?”

“Nothing, Ichi-nii.”

“What do you mean, nothing? Come on now, Zero, spill!”

“You’ll understand in the future, Ichi-nii! Goodnight!”

“HEY! Zero! Oi!”

“…”

“…Goodnight.”

-------------------------------

“Ichiru, I think you’re ready to move on to human blood. What do you think?”

The plate Ichiru is washing clatters into the sink.

“Ichiru?”

Ichiru regains his composure before turning to the blonde-haired vampire next to him. “Isn’t it too soon?”

“Quite frankly, you should have started on blood bubbles when you turned twelve. But you were a new vampire and not used to drinking blood. I thought, now that you’ve had some experience, that blood bubbles may lose their effectiveness soon.”

Ichiru considered his words carefully. “I have been drinking a lot more blood bubbles than usual,” he admitted, picking up the plate he dropped and running it under the tap again. “I think they’ll start to be completely ineffective soon, but they should easily last for the rest of the week. Can I take that time to get used to the idea?”

“Of course.”

One week later, he started on human blood. He found he liked B positive blood the best, and positively hated O negative.

-------------------------------

The twins were introduced to Kimiko’s elemental ability in a very anti-climactic way. Ichiru was bringing a pile of dishes to be washed when he tripped. The dishes went flying, and none of the vampires were going to be able to move fast enough to catch them all. In a split second, just as everyone was bracing themselves for the resounding crash of dishes on ground, the plates all stopped moving and hovered in mid-air.

When Zero opened his eyes again, he saw Kimiko, hand held out in front of her, eyes narrowed in concentration. “Pick them out of the air quickly. I don’t know how much longer I can control it.”

Once they’d collected all the floating dishes and deposited them in the sink, Zero turned to Kimiko. “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen you use your ability, Kimi.”

“I try not to use it. I don’t have very good control over it, and it has caused some problems in the past. The incident just now was the first time I’d used it in months, and I’m surprised nothing went wrong.”

Zero eyed her thoughtfully. “You know, Ichi-nii always tells me how you tell him that control isn’t learned in a day, and that it takes practice to control his urges. I think you should take your own words to heart too.”

“What do you mean?”

“If you don’t practice using your ability, then your control will not improve. Just like Ichi-nii takes the time to focus on controlling his urges, you should take the time to practice your ability too.”

Kimiko chuckled. “You’re quite convincing, Zero.”

“I must be. Ichi-nii is quite stubborn, after all.”

“You’re right.”

After that day, Kimiko used her ability a lot more often, and Hanabusa had a new ability training companion.

-------------------------------

“We’ve decided to send you to school.”

Four pairs of eyes, one electric blue, one ice blue, and two lavender, blinked blankly at Yagamichi and Rei from around the room, before there was chaos.

“School? But why? We’ve been home schooled all our lives!” Hanabusa wailed, looking terrified at the prospect of having to take lessons with people who were not his adopted siblings.

“For once, I agree with Hana-nii, Father. You have not expressed any desire to send us to school before. Why the sudden decision?” Kimiko raised a silver eyebrow at her father from her position in the large armchair by the fireplace.

“Mamma and Papa couldn’t send me to school because I was too ill to. I don’t know if I will be able to cope with the environment there.” Zero stated blankly, leaning against Ichiru.

“And I won’t go if Zero doesn’t.” Ichiru fired, eyes blazing.

Yagamichi waited for them to calm down before continuing. “A new school has opened a couple of miles away. It’s called Cross Academy, and it is headed by a former Vampire Hunter, Cross Kaien. Cross has long believed that with effort, humans and vampires can live in harmony, and this is his attempt to prove that. I don’t suppose you know the Kurans?”

Kimiko raised her eyebrows. “The pureblood family? I heard that they were killed ten years ago, and the only survivor was Kuran Kaname.”

“Indeed. Kaname visited our home once, before you came to live with us, Kimiko. Hanabusa might remember him. But that is beside the point. The point is, Cross was very close with the Kurans before they died, and now, he and Kaname have come to a settlement on how Cross Academy will be run. Cross will be the Headmaster, and he will also lead the humans who attend the academy, to be known as the Day Class. Kaname will head the vampires who attend, to be known as the Night Class.” Here Yagamichi stopped, and Rei continued from where he left off.

“Cross believes that with time, the Day Class and the Night Class will be able to coexist easily, thus proving that humans and vampires can live together. We thought, since the four of you HAVE been living together, that you would be the perfect example to the other students, and the proof they need that humans and vampires can coexist. Any questions?”

“So Zero and I will not attend the same class?”

“That… is something we’re about to discuss.”

“Huh?”

At that point, there was a knock on the door. “Ah, he’s here!” Rei smiled, leaving the study to open the front door. She came back with a tall man. “Children, may I introduce you to Cross Kaien-san, the founder of Cross Academy.”

Four pairs of eyes blinked blankly at the newcomer, before Rei’s words sank in and they stood up hastily to bow. Yagamichi gestured for all of them to sit, and they all took seats around the room. Cross took a seat in a chair by the door, Rei and Yagamichi occupied a loveseat in the corner, the twins took up the couch in another corner, and Hanabusa perched himself on the arm of Kimiko’s armchair.

Cross Kaien, a smiley man with ash-blonde hair and hazel eyes, clapped cheerfully. “It’s very nice to meet you! You can call me Cross-san or Kaien-san, and I’m the headmaster of Cross Academy. I understand that the four of you have been living together for about two years now, and Zero-kun is not a vampire?”

“Yes.”

“And there have been no issues, I hope?”

Here Rei intervened. “Absolutely none. We have a constant supply of blood bubbles, vampire blood, and human blood in the fridge, and Ichiru moved on to human blood almost a year ago. The blood is free for the taking, and is frequently restocked, so we’ve had no problems of being short of blood.”

“Excellent! And when they attend Cross Academy, I assume Zero-kun will attend the Day Class while the remaining three will attend the Night Class?”

“That… is what we called you here for.”

“Pardon?”

“The four children are very close and tend to stick with each other, and Yagamichi and I feel that it would be in their best interest to attend classes together. Is there any way for Zero to join the Night Class, or for the other three to join the Day Class?”

“I’m afraid I cannot… no, wait, yes, there is!”

Hanabusa, who had deflated upon hearing the first half of Cross’s sentence, perked up. “There is?”

“Yes. When school begins, the Night Class and the Day Class will reside in separate dormitories, but will share the same school building. One of the rules of the academy is that Day Class students cannot go out of their dormitory, and I do believe that they will follow it. However, one cannot be too cautious, and I would be happy to allow all four of you into the Day Class if you would be my prefects. Your only duties, besides keeping the students in order, would be to do nightly patrols to make sure none of the Day Class students are running around outside. If you take on the role of prefects, then I would be happy to allow the three vampires to attend the day class. Do we have a deal?”

Ichiru eyed the hunter, who had not stopped smiling since he entered the room. How can someone smile so much? He wondered, turning to his adopted siblings with a raised eyebrow. A few silent looks were exchanged, before he turned to Rei and Yagamichi, who indicated with their hands that it was their decision. He turned to Cross again.

“How do you know we’ll be able to control ourselves around the human students?”

“You all have lived with a human in the house for a couple of years already, and have a running supply of blood. You wouldn’t need the blood of the human students, and if Zero-kun is still alright, then I believe that says something about the self-control of the vampires of this household.”

Ichiru narrowed his eyes at the hunter, before nodding curtly. “Very well. We have a deal.”

The smiling man clapped once more. “Very well! Here is the packing list and the list of materials you will need for class. I will see you on the first day of school!”

The four of them waited for Rei and Yagamichi to dismiss them, before fleeing the study for the twins’ room.

Two weeks later, they were packing for school.

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Packing was an… interesting process. The twins were done packing quite quickly, and they left their suitcases in the foyer before heading to Hanabusa’s room to see what the said vampire was up to.

“What on earth happened in here?” Ichiru stared at the folders and boxes strewn across the room. In the middle of the mess, Hanabusa stood with his hands in his hair, and at Ichiru’s question, he turned to them with wide eyes. “Mother said I can only bring two of my experiments with me!” He wailed. “I don’t know which ones to bring!”

“Calm down, Hana-nii. You won’t know which ones to bring even more if you don’t calm down and think.” Kimiko slipped into the room behind the twins and made her way over to the hysterical blonde. “Which one are you the furthest along in, and which one is the most important to you?” she stared sternly at her brother, the effect slightly broken by the fact that she was two years younger than Hanabusa and small for her age, and thus had to crane her neck to meet her brother’s eyes.

Hanabusa removed his hands from his hair and took a few deep breaths. “Um, this one. And this one.” He picked up two folders, and pointed to two boxes. “And there you have your answer.” Kimiko nodded firmly. She turned to the twins. “Mother sent me to tell you that the driver will be here soon, and to come down so she can see us before she and Father have to go to work.”

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Rei and Yagamichi were waiting in the foyer when they came down, Hanabusa lugging his suitcase behind him while carrying a small backpack. Kimiko and Ichiru were each holding one of his experiments, and Zero was directing them to make sure they didn’t trip over anything. The two of them waited for the four children to put down their baggage before speaking.

“You will be arriving at the same time as the other human students, so please remember to take one bag of blood before you reach the school, even if you don’t feel thirsty. The sudden influx of humans may be a bit difficult to handle, but I have faith that you all will be able to handle it. Hana-chan, please try not to explode anything when conducting your experiments. Kimi-chan, please try not to scare everyone by being purposely creepy. Ichiru, try not to scare everyone by being grumpy. Zero… I can’t think of anything, so just be yourself I guess.” Rei finished giving last-minute advice, before a sleek black car rolled up the driveway. “Here’s your ride. We’ll see you during the holidays, do behave yourselves, will you?” she pleaded. Kimiko raised her hand in semi-seriousness. “Mother, I promise that I will attempt to keep Hana-nii from blowing up anything and I will not creep out anyone purposely.” Zero did the same. “I promise to keep Ichi-nii from being too scary.”

“Good.” She straightened and brushed down her outfit, before turning to Yagamichi. “You’ve been suspiciously quiet, Yaga.” Said vampire merely laughed. “You said everything that needed to be said already.”

Rei blushed furiously. A knock sounded on the door as the driver came to inform them of his arrival, and they all helped to load the suitcases and bags and boxes into the car. Hanabusa and Kimiko allowed themselves to be hugged and kissed to their mother’s content, and shared a brief hug each with their father, before heading out the door.

Zero hesitated, then reached out to hug the adults. “Thank you for taking care of us,” he said softly, then paused. “Mother and Father.” He turned and hurried out the door before the two of them could say anything, leaving Ichiru the last one left.

The older twin hesitated before turning to the two adults. “You’ve been very kind to us.” He said awkwardly, “so thanks for that. You won’t ever be Mamma or Papa, but I guess you can be Mother and Father.” He hugged them, albeit stiffly, before turning and fleeing out the door, leaving one teary-eyed blonde vampire behind.

She turned to her husband. “They called us Mother and Father! Did you hear?” she wailed at her husband, who patted her back patronisingly. “Yes, dear. I heard.”