Hello and welcome to my first fanfiction ever! I hope you all enjoy reading and leave a comment!
Please note that my first language is not English, so if you notice spelling and/or grammar mistakes, forgive me and tell me about them so I can correct them.
Disclaimer: I don't own either Vampire Knight, nor anything relating to it except this fanfiction.
Kaname looked around in the empty training room. Seemed like another one of his so called partners had quit. Judging by the boy's personality or what part of it Kaname had been able to glimpse at in the four sessions they had had together, he hadn't left without complaining thoroughly about him. Meaning he'd be in for a „serious discussion" with his trainer later this day.
Well, whatever. Kaname had disliked the boy from the start, which was only natural given that he had high standards when it came to choosing his friends, but this case had been particular.
That guy had been nothing but trouble. He'd had no stamina, wanted to discuss and fight with Kaname about the order that their sessions should follow to guarantee „maximum benefit for body and mind" rather than practice the steps, had been insistent on claiming Kaname was at fault when he made a mistake and ended every single one of his sentences with „you see?".
In truth, Kaname was glad he was gone. Really glad. This time, even Yagari would probably be glad, even though he'd pretend that he wasn't so he could reprimand Kaname in hopes to change his "attitude" toward his partners.
Sighing, Kaname made his way to the office at the end of the dance studio. Better endure Yagari now than later, when his mood got foul – or fouler, as the case may be – because of his hurting leg. He didn't see what was wrong with expecting full concentration, some talent and hard work from his partner. He expected nothing less from himself, after all. What could be so difficult about finding a partner who could keep up with him?
Truth be told, if Kaname's chosen type of dancing had been one for solos, he'd had given up long ago, convinced that there was no partner who had the same proficiency as him, much less one who could make him evolve, get him to be a better dancer. Actually, deep inside his mind, Kaname was already convinced of that, which was probably why he didn't like his dance partners and they described him as an "arrogant, self-sufficient bastard". But Kaname was way too stubborn to acknowledge that, and way too much in love with Sutomu Tsuri, the kind of dancing he was doing.
His infatuation had begun in early childhood, when his father and mother took him to a dance spectacle where two dancers performed it. By now, he knew that their dance had been erratic at best, but as a kid, he'd been stunned by the fluency of their movements, the stunts and the amount of trust two people had to have in each other to let someone's head swing mere centimeters above the ground. He'd wanted that kind of trust, too, even as a small boy. When his parents died in a car crash years later and Kaname distanced himself from people because he knew they lusted after his money, it seemed all the more worthwhile to look for and yet impossible to find.
How exactly he was supposed to find that trust, Kaname wasn't sure. He just imagined that when he finally met someone who could keep up to his standards, it would work out on its own and, well... happen.
Kaname came to a halt in front of his teacher's office and opened the door after knocking politely.
Zero had been in the city of Ikezu for three days to enjoy his "holiday" from school by doing some sightseeing when he decided he'd head over to Cross Academy to visit his uncle.
The decision hadn't come easy. Of course, he did like his uncle and it didn't take long to the town the school was situated next to, but there were other things to consider. For example, the other inhabitants of the compound. The so-called Day Class seemed to consist of mostly normal students and let him alone when he glared hard enough, survival instinct kicking in. The Night Class though... those were a wholly different matter. Zero had been told that the class was highly elite and could only ever be entered if you either had the money, the skill or the looks to get in. To Zero it seemed as if you needed everything – he hadn't yet seen a single Night Class student whose wristwatch didn't scream "rich!" nor one whose face couldn't be plastered into a GQ model magazine. As for the skills – one look at the results of the spring exams in one of his visits had been enough to leave Zero gaping. Not that he'd admit it.
It wasn't the scores themselves that shocked him – he himself had been one of the best students in his school – but the sheer number of people having those scores.
But there was a petty little side effect to belonging to the rich, the famous, and the rich and famous – you became arrogant as hell. Zero had yet to witness a single occasion when the Night Class treated someone outside their little exclusive circle like a human being instead of a dog. Or one when he just left alone instead of being harassed.
But not even the Night Class would have rendered him this hesitant. No, something worse lurked in the shadows of Cross Academy. And that being would be Cross himself, namesake founder and owner of the school and self-announced ray of sunlight. Okay, so maybe he didn't lurk in shadows, but he did had a habit of sneaking up on people, especiallyZero, who did not approve. In fact, Zero tried to evade the man as much as possible, even if that meant he didn't get to see his uncle (who somehow seemed to put up with that horrible guy and spent time with him out of his won volition) quite as often. Cross' hippie-like way of dressing made him want to puke on his colorful shoes and then drag him into a shop where they only sold black and white clothing, his constantly happy, smiling face either smash his fist into his exposed teeth or get away as fast as possible. Since Zero had had some education though, he resisted those urges and constricted himself to glaring. He only ever got a little violent when the man tried to hug him again (which he did all the time) or insisted on making Zero call him "Dad". He explained his attitude by saying that Zero needed a strong male father figure in his life since his real father died when he was a small child – one who wasn't as "grumpy and impolite" (at this part, he'd pointedly look at his uncle) as Yagari.
The latter seemed to approve of his behavior in those situations rather than rebuff him for it, though, and since he was his legal guardian, Zero guessed he didn't have to feel guilty about it.
Today, he seemed to be lucky, though – Yagari didn't tell Cross that Zero would come for a visit and Zero had been careful to hide himself in places where Cross wouldn't come in a lifetime – mainly the gym.
An hour or so ago, Yagari had come to his office, where (thanks to a spare key) he'd been hanging around in all day. His uncle had probably meant to be strict when he told Zero off about stealing his key (which had originally been the only one) and getting himself a replica, but Zero had seen the laughter in his eyes. That was why he liked his uncle so much – Yagari didn't seem to mind Zero's behavior as long as he didn't go too far. Because Zero, glare and abrasive attitude aside, had an unswerving code of honor, that didn't happen often. But he somehow had a feeling that today, it would be different, another reason why Zero had been hesitant about coming here. Not only were his news very bad, but Yagari was kind of pissed anyways today. According to the mutters that broke the content silence between the two from time to time, it had to do with one of his dancers.
Zero would have waited with his announcement until his uncle had calmed down, but there was no telling how long that would take – Yagari could be in a bad mood for days, if not weeks. Zero didn't have that much time, his money limited since he didn't have a job.
"Yagari", he began. His uncle turned around in the chair by his desk where he'd been filling out paperwork. The atmosphere in the room changed when that single piercing eye landed on him, immediately noticing Zero's hesitancy.
"What is it, boy?", Yagari said in his typical rough, no-nonsense way, his attention never wavering.
Taking a deep breath, Zero braced himself and announced: "I was kicked out of my school. My homeroom teacher tried something and when I punched her in the face for it, the school's director came around and told me to get the hell out."
His uncle's eye widened when he took in his words, only to narrow once again in anger, his face turning slightly red and his jaw clenching together. After long moments of silence, the words finally came, every single one of them a punch in Zero's gut.
"Just so I understand this correctly. You got kicked out of one of the best schools you can find in Japan because you punched your teacher?"
Sensing that Yagari expected him to answer, Zero simply nodded.
"And why exactly did you do that?" His uncle's voice was a growl by now. Zero shrugged. He'd explained that his teacher had tried something, so why bother and repeat it? Yagari knew him, knew he wouldn't just beat someone for no reason.
"And I understand you want me to enroll you in another school now?" Zero sat up straight where he sat at the window, his pride rebelling against the words that made him feel like a spoiled brat expecting no consequences when it didn't behave.
"My grades are good enough that most schools won't even bother to look up what led to my sacking.", he answered somewhat bad-tempered.
"So you got kicked out of the school, snatched away the letter they undoubtedly sent me to inform me about this shit, went on a trip while making me believe you're studying and even have the guts to come visit me under the pretense of having a prolonged weekend; then expecting no punishment at all?", Yagari shouted, his voice having grown exponentially louder while speaking.
Zero glared, now pissed off as well. "I did expect a punishment of sorts, but it's rather logical to send me to another school since I won't ever be able to find a job without graduating school and that would be kind of a hard punishment, wouldn't it?"
Yagari stood up, his face turning ever redder, the vein on his forehead standing out. Just when Zero began to believe he'd explode any moment, the door opened and a guy his age entered. From the rather confused and a little startled look on his face, he hadn't heard their argument when the door was still closed. No wonder since the door was a soundproofed relict from a time when the gym had been a military building before it was bought and renovated by Cross.
A second later, Yagari turned in a blaze of movement to see who had come in and the guy finally seemed to realize what he'd gotten himself into, his expression turning slightly alarmed. Yagari, on the other hand, managed to look even more infuriated than before. Zero concluded that this must be the dancer who had previously pissed his uncle off. Internally groaning at the turn of events, he watched as Yagari suddenly seemed to calm down, looking contemplative all of a sudden. Somehow, that managed to cause an uneasy feeling in Zero's gut.
Turning back to Zero at a more moderate pace than before, Yagari raised his voice and his tone made Zero realize he was in for more than he'd expected.
"So you accept any punishment except exclusion from school, yes? Good. You'll get your punishment. Both of you."
The uneasy feeling in Zero's stomach began to knot up.
So, tell me how you liked it in the comments! Hmmm, what will Yagari do to our boys? You can probably guess from the summary, but anyways.