IMPORTANT MESSAGE: For those who are readers of Cross our hearts, don't hope to die... I apologise but it may take a much longer while. Even the update of this story might take an even longer while. Old grandma of mine is currently under critical condition and... well... I will leave the rest unsaid.
Forewords (from months ago): Hurr hurr… I am being very, very bad… Anywho. Burning Lantern Bright is a sequel to Fighting Fire with Fire. It is recommended that you read Fighting Fire with Fire. And it may fill some loop holes.
Now, this story is mainly KainXZero, with some KanameXZero. I can see the demand for this pairing is moderately high, yet when I look through 's vampire knight collection… correct me if I'm wrong, but I hardly found any KainXZero fics. O.O it's kinda sad because I rather like this pairing (actually I like any yaoi pairing with Zero the uke XD)
This would be my second attempt on a KainXZero story. But I'm really happy that those who read Fighting Fire with Fire had loved it so. And the demand for the sequel or another KainXZero… WELL NOW. here you go! Both wishes are granted! A sequel AND a KainXZero. O.o I think I might get hooked onto this pairing. Nah I still love KanameXZero :heart:
Anywho, go ahead and enjoy
Burning lantern bright
Kain couldn't stop thinking about that night. It had been a few days since then, but it still felt like yesterday. He could still distinctly remember the texture of those soft lips… and that kinky piercing of his tongue. It had actually scarred him. Every time he looked into the mirror and stuck his tongue out, there would be a small indent at the very spot where Zero bit him.
For some reason it had scarred. Maybe because it was on his tongue. No one's going to find out that easily (and even if they tried Kain would've made them fodder for fire). But his cousin did comment that Kain was being 'so not funny' every time the blond caught Kain with his tongue out in front of the mirror.
Kain hardly bothered with what Aido said, but got a major yelling from his younger cousin when he came home one day with a tongue piercing.
The slight indent made the tattoo-man more than happy since he didn't have to do much. What shocked him was that Kain, wanted the pierce without numbing. Tattoo-man tried convincing him but to no avail. He simply thought Kain was a sadist or something.
No matter, he never knew what got over him. Kain actually ended his day with a pierced tongue, with a stud at first. The pierce was positioned off-centered, towards the right.
He purchased a silver ring, about a third of a centimeter thick with an engraving. After he left the store, he immediately went back to the dormitory and headed straight for the bathroom.
As swiftly as he could, he removed the stud and in order to replace it with the ring. It had hurt. A lot. And there was a lot of blood as well. Kain was cursing almost every other second. Luckily Aido was deeply asleep at that time. No one commented about the scent of his blood either.
Screw the healing abilities of vampires. Sometimes it's not all that beneficial after all. The pierce was closing right after he removed the stud. He had to literally break his own flesh to get the thin bit of the tongue ring in.
When evening came around, everyone in the Night Dormitory was shocked to see Kain with his new tongue piercing. Not that it was uncommon, but a tongue pierce tends to be almost unseen. Even Kaname was surprised. But since it was Kain, he turned a blind eye despite him breaking a 'school rule'.
The next night, the vampires were in class, listening to the teacher who babbled on about human ethics. Most of them were deaf to it, simply reading a book or doing whatever they wanted. Kain wasn't doing anything, simply staring out at the full moon.
About an hour of class, Kain noticed something white falling from the sky.
It was snow.
Vampires tend to be unbothered by weather, and pretty much lose track of the seasons coming and going.
Furthermore, being a fire manipulator, feeling cold was hardly possible for Kain.
"Sensei," Kaname interrupted smoothly, and the older vampire at the front paused. "If I may be excused for a while…?"
Not that the teacher had the obligation to stop the higher ranking vampire… "Yes, you may."
"Kaname-sama, are you feeling unwell?" Aido and Ruka asked almost simultaneously, getting up from their seats.
The pureblood raised his hand, placing his book on the table at the same time. "It's alright. I just wish to check on something."
Check on Yuuki… huh… Kain thought silently.
It was occasionally exhilarating for him to know why Kaname cared about that human child so much. It was definitely a sin for a vampire to fall for a human, but it wasn't as if any could prevent a pureblood from doing that. What's the worse which could happen anyway? The next child born was simply an aristocrat…
Flame-colored eyes averted to the windows of the classroom. The amount of snow descending from the skies was increasing. It started no more than a few minutes ago, but the ground was already a white bed.
A movement occurred at the corner of his eyes, and he saw three silhouettes at the balcony where the prefects tend to keep watch.
Kain narrowed his eyes at the sight of the human girl, ex-human vampire and pureblood. They were speaking to each other. What, he could not hear, but he didn't like the look on Zero's face. The hunter looked very crossed… yet very saddened at the same time.
Yuki was standing behind him at first. Then, Kaname reached his hand out. Kain would have thought Zero wouldn't let Yuki go over to the pureblood's side, but surprisingly, he did. In fact, he reached to the back and ushered her towards Kaname.
Kain got up from his seat and exited the room with haste, although not showing it. Aido had called out to his cousin in wonder, and so did the teacher, but he didn't care. He didn't like the look on Zero's face at all.
Within seconds, he was up the staircase which led to the balcony. Kaname and Yuki were already within the confines of the building where it was warmer, and Kain could see the flushed cheeks on the girl's face. Out of the cold or embarrassment, he didn't know, and didn't care. His eyes were affixed on a large, black jacket which definitely did not belong to her.
Kaname greeted the other vampire with a tiny smile. "Is something the matter?"
Some part of Kain wanted to ignore the pureblood. Zero was nowhere in sight of the corridors, so he must still be out in the balcony. It was probably freezing out there for a human, and Yuki had his jacket warming her back. He just wanted to get to the hunter's side…
"It's nothing," he replied and walked pass the two, briskly walking towards the balcony. As he did so, he heard Kaname and Yuki making their way down the stairs, softly conversing among themselves.
Zero was still on the balcony. He was settled on the floor, with his back against the wall. Indeed, he wasn't wearing his jacket and was only in the collared piece. That white top was heavily spotted from melt snow, and Kain could distinctly see his shivering.
As he approached, the hunter lifted his gun in his direction. Without even looking, Zero knew he had an accurate aim at the intruding vampire's head. With a glare, he side-glanced at Kain.
"What do you want?"
"Wouldn't it be better if you came into the building?"
The safety of the gun was removed with a click.
"Don't answer with a question."
Kain wanted to shake his head at Zero's die-hard attitude. He was sure that Zero was using the gun only because he wanted to be left alone. But seeing Zero in this state, shaking against the ridiculous cold, Kain could hardly bear to do nothing.
With a dry look, he approached Zero, heedless of the gun. If Zero really did dare pull the trigger, he was confident his speed would surpass that of the bullet.
As Kain had expected, Zero did not pulled the trigger at all. His breathing hitched instead, sounding like he was in pain. Out of concern, the redhead was by the hunter's side, partially pinning the hand with the gun onto the floor. Zero hardly resisted.
Kain managed to see that the other's lips were slightly purple, as if bruised. He was sure it was due to the cold, and he knew he had better get Zero into the safety of the building or else… well, who knew.
Shrugging off his white jacket, Kain threw it over Zero's head. The other vampire blinked.
"Come on. Let's go in," Kain said softly, reaching for Zero's hand.
Zero avoided Kain's hand, only to find his hand numb from the cold. His fingers were already barely grasping his gun.
"I… don't want to go in…"
Kain let out a loud sigh. If Zero was trying to be difficult, he didn't have to try to be. So the kid wanted to freeze his ass off before he's content? Not under his watch.
The redhead sat down on the snow, feeling the cold seep through his pants. However, it went unbothered as Kain reached over to the prefect. Despite Zero resisting by elbowing him, he gave a rough tug which forced the prefect onto his chest.
A small blush crept to Zero's face. The incident a few days back was still vivid in his head. He couldn't tell if Kain was serious about it, or simply mocking him. Obviously, he leaned on the latter reason; it was mockery more than affection. Not that he wanted to really stereotype him as a vampire… but Kain was just unreadable.
Zero found himself leaning against Kain regardless of his suspicion towards the other. For something supposedly cold-hearted, he could not help but admit that it was relaxing. Kain felt like a fully fuctioning heat pad. He kept telling himself to either push Kain away, or walk away on his own. But his body was doing otherwise. He could hear a strong heartbeat, although his ear wasn't totally pressed against Kain's chest.
Vampires had no heart…
But that thought drifted away soon enough. There, sitting in the freezing open, Zero had accidentally let his thoughts wander, which ended with him sliding into sub-consciousness. He felt Kain shifting, but he was partially asleep enough that his mouth didn't utter his annoyance.
Kain had been staring into the distance, where it was pitch black. Even the town lights had faded in the snow. He averted his gaze down. He gave a small smirk. Zero let his guard down too much around him. Not that he had an evil intention.
"You'd better not be like this when you're with other vampires…" He whispered. Kain leaned over, wrapping his arm around Zero's lithe form, able to feel the other's shivering form. "You're too vulnerable."
Reason of why Zero didn't want to leave will be explained later.