Disclaimer: Characters don't belong to me, they belong to TV-Asahi and Toei.

Author's Note: This came out of nowhere. It's kind of an AU take on the recent events between Taiga and Wataru.

Worn Down Blood
by Estirose
c 2008

You watch, haunted, as your brother fights. It's something you've accepted, something that you have to accept, something that is part of you, this thirst for energy and this stronger body.

Your brother was right; the humans have betrayed you, left you, would have killed you had you given them a chance. Your brother wore you down, reminding you of what humans were capable of, what even your mother couldn't deny. Your father might have been a fantastic man, but he was an even more fantastic human.

Besides, there are very few things for you left in the human world. Nago-san, dead, Megumi-san, dead. Shizuka's all right, but your brother says that even she will begin to show the flaws in all humans.

You hate to harm humans, even now. Your brother knows this, frowns, admonishes you to stop thinking of them as people to be saved. Instead, think of them as food. Because they are food, livestock, now. If you keep thinking this way, Taiga will smile and ruffle your hair and reassure you that you're not alone.

Sometimes, Mio-san looks at you with tired, empty eyes. She's going to marry Taiga, now, she's resigned to it, because you won't kill almost the only family you have left, except for your mother. Your mother tells you to follow your heart, but Taiga makes sure you follow your blood.

Taiga had you move a while back. To safety, he said, away from the corrupting humans. He recreated your violin workshop in one of his mansion's many rooms, telling you that here, you could work to your heart's content, have your violins nearby.

He's smashed the Bloody Rose. Smashed it because he doesn't want you going after Fangire. Says that it's a thing of pain, a curse, something that keeps you back from the person you need to be. But Kivat and Tatsulot are with you, and they beg you to go back out and fight. Fight Fangire, save humans. Be what you were before Taiga found you, before he knew what you were, before he tightened your leash to make sure his little brother would not be an embarrassment. Because he knows what you're capable of doing, and what you've done, and he wants to make sure you don't do it again.

In all, you're sure he loves you, would protect you, would go to the ends of the Earth for you. But his love carries a deep price. Sometimes you think of the people you've known, the humans and Fangire, and you mourn the loss of who you were.

The King has brought his most troublesome subject under control, and you've learned to live with it, but is it worth the price?

-End