The Devil (A Vampire Knight Fanfiction- KaZe)

Dance with the Devil

He did not care to throw his troubles at those that surrounded him.

Not any of the people that surrounded him- not Cross, not Yagari, not Yuki, and for damn sure, not Kuran.

It would appear that he had no choice in the matter though- no, he had to drink from the vampire prince's throat once a week to keep Yuki safe apparently.

Inwardly, Zero scoffed at the idea.

Him? A hunter-no, an ex-hunter? A level-D of all things?

The Nobles denigrated him even further, calling him a level-E, an end level.

In truth, he was none of those things.

Well, he had been trained as a hunter, so that was somewhat applicable, but the rest? Whoever thought that had to be dreaming.

As if his sire would sink so low as to produce mortal heirs in any race- vampire, hunter, or human.

No, Krowe would never have dreamed of sinking so low as to produce mixed children.

Zero chuckled as he took a drag from his cigarette atop the Academy's roof, keeping a careful eye on the Night Class via the window that was angled just slightly above them in their seats.

But anyway, Krowe.

Krowe was not a member of any of the aforementioned races- no, he was something far older, far more ancient- far more powerful.

In all honesty, Zero didn't know if Krowe was a he or a she or something in between- he had never been able to pen down his sire's status in all his years of living.

Indeed, Zero was far older than he appeared- older than most if not all living purebloods, including the pureblood prince who glanced up at him through the window.

Yes, even when accounting for his prior lifetime as an ancestor. It was almost pitiable, for him- the great Vampire King- to be without his memories, to be living almost defenseless if not for his clever mind and penchant for questionable interpersonal relationship skills.

Zero smirked as he took another drag.

What does age have anything to do with this, you might ask?

Well, as with most things- he had only grown more experienced, more skilled with age- he had perfected his mortal mask long ago, had long since learned the ways of magic- and with age had come a... unique brand of immortality that left him tethered with one foot in this plane and a foot in another, spectral limbs connected to more than he could count.

Zero, while somewhat flesh and bone as he was now, could just as easily ditch this imprisoning blood bag and return to living as a spirit. But no- he had been working too long to ditch this life so easily, not after all the work he had put into it.

And where would that leave Kuran if he left?

He was the Knight. He couldn't just up and leave Yuki to fateful death, could he?

Yuki.

Tsk. tsk. Tsk. Yuki.

She was a cute girl yes- more than a little annoying- but had her endearing qualities too. Plus, it was fun to see her make a fool of herself near constantly even as he forced himself to scoff at her each time when all he wanted to do was laugh.

That wouldn't make much sense though, would it? For the poor, downtrodden ex-hunter to ever feel happiness after his family had been torn apart.

Zero blew out a smoky breath with a wry smirk.

Kuran had constructed plans around the three of them since she was a child- even going so far as to trouble Zero's own plans around his descendents.

The Kiryu's had been kind to him, both caught up in a hunt overseas when Shizuka Hiou lover had been slain.

Zero had been the one to do it, of course. And he had made damn sure to not let it get out that his 'parents' had been away at the time.

It was only when a little birdy told him of the Kuran heir's upcoming plans of separating him from his family that Zero came across a fork in the road.

He could go along with the plan, making little modifications that would benefit himself and perhaps gain entertainment from it,or he could kill the two surviving Kuran's and go about his merry way.

It was easy to see that he had picked the former.

Zero had grown glad of it over time- Kaname was quite the beauty to look at and Zero got the feeling it was only a matter of time that he came into his power yet again and unleashed hell upon the world.

The very idea caused shivers to break out over Zero's flesh, his breath coming in shorter bursts as excitement at the very hint that he might soon find an equal match.

Perhaps the pureblood Prince would even surpass him.

Zero chuckled to himself.

As if that was ever going to happen.

But still- it had been so long since he had taken a lover.

No, he had lived celibate for far too long- purely due to the fact that most everyone else was hopelessly weaker.

He had yearned for someone to be able to seize control from him, to dominate his body and demand more than what he could offer.

Some might say it would only lead to bad things for the silver haired being- but oh, did he grow overjoyed at the very thought.

And all he had to do was defeat Rido to unleash Kuran's power.

But before that he had some things to do.

Find his 'little brother' for one, kill Shizuka Hiou for another.

And, you know...

Win the Prince's heart.

Fun.