Chapter One: Of Disasters and Yuuki

Zero sighed…then sighed and sighed once more for good measure.

His eyes were stubbornly averted from the spectacular disaster in front of him—and the bright-eyed sheepish look one brunette-haired girl was giving him—mouth set in a firm line. He was leaning against the doorway of what used to be the kitchen, arms crossed, but what now was the mass destruction left by one Kurosu Yuuki.

It was beyond his comprehension how Yuuki always, always managed to make the easiest thing the most difficult task known to mankind. Give her a bucket and a mop to clean the floor, and she'd be as wet, if not wetter, than the newly cleaned floor. Ask her to buy something, and she'd come back with anything but what was asked of her. Tell her to do something, and in a roundabout sort of way, she'd manage to do exactly the opposite of that.

Of course, most of the things that came from her mouth were beyond him, too.

As was demonstrated by what sounded like a string of gibberish that she was currently sprouting at him, the words running together and entirely too difficult to separate from each other if you weren't listening closely enough. Which he wasn't. Not that it would take a genius to figure out what she wanted.

Zero was pretty sure that his body language was a clear giveaway as to his response, but as the seconds and minutes ticked by, Yuuki still pleading earnestly to him, it became apparent that she simply wasn't getting the message. Or more likely, she fully understood what his response was, but was just steamrolling over him in an attempt to get her way.

He wasn't going to relent. At least, not outwardly.

Yuuki could plead all she wanted until she was blue in the face—not that he was actually trying to encourage this by his standoffish manner, but was unfortunately what she was starting to look like as she forgone breathing for her rapid-fire words—but Zero wasn't going to be swayed…he hoped. Maybe.

And each time it seemed as though she had gained one ounce of common sense and left her clumsiness behind, it came back with a vengeance. As the current situation clearly showed, Yuuki's culinary skills—or lack thereof—were both a danger to herself and those around her, but given the circumstances, it appeared as if the poor kitchen had taken the brunt of her abysmal cooking abilities.

White powder covered every inch of the kitchen, including the little troublemaker herself, running blobs of something were staining the cabinets and a sticky substance, of which Zero had no interest in identifying, were sporting randomly around the room.

"Zero…" Aforementioned little troublemaker wailed, turning her large eyes on the silver-haired boy.

He dared not to glance at her, having already been victim to her puppy-dog look that she was most likely giving him, countless times in the past. But when did he really turn his back on her, ignore her cries for help?

Slowly, reluctantly, his eyes strayed over to her, taking in her lithe form covered head to toe in white, her expressive brown eyes pleading silently with him, and those lips pouting ever-so-slightly.

When finally he could ignore it no longer—and she really was starting to look too pitiful for her own good—he straightened up and grudgingly walked over to where she was, carefully picking his way over a spilled bag of strawberries, the cracked halves of some egg-shells, an unopened container of icing and…was that a frying pan? What the hell did she need a frying pan for?

Wordless, he extended a pale hand and almost startled when her miserable expression changed into one of extreme happiness in the span of a second. Yuuki smiled brightly…but made no move to grasp his hand.

Just when he was about to withdraw his hand, a small warm hand gripped onto his and something strangely like relief swept through him, leaving Zero to feel utterly confused. Being childhood friends, and because she was Yuuki, Zero had had his fair share of contact with Yuuki, whether it was bone-crushing hugs, or the innocent peck on the cheek—that he always treasured but would rather die than admit—but something about this seemed different from the other affectionate touches.

"Don't you read the instructions?" He grumbled as she latched onto his pro-offered hand and pulled herself up, spotting the opened cookbook half-hidden underneath a large up-turned mixing bowl. Obviously not, Zero concluded a second later, eyes flickering from Yuuki to the kitchen to the pathetic mess of a chocolate cake flopping miserably on the counter. In fact, he was pretty surprised that she had actually bothered to find a cookbook, which was an improvement in and of itself. Usually, she would have just taken the natural course of action, translation: made things up as she went along.

The kitchen suffered from Yuuki's lack of skills, but Zero was certain that he himself would suffer from the mountainous task of cleaning up the kitchen.

As if to prove his point, the nearly-empty bag of flour on the counter suddenly toppled over, rebounded on his chest and showered him in a cloud of white. Apparently, the bag wasn't quite as empty as he thought it was.

Zero glared.

Yuuki giggled.

And what came out of her mouth made him want to slap a hand against his head.

"Yeah! Now Yuuki and Zero match!" Apparently pleased, she sprang to his side, as if to prove their matching state of floury whiteness.

…as if that was something to be proud of.


AN: I've been a fan of the Zero and Yuuki pairing every since I watched the anime, but just never got around to writing a fanfic. This idea popped up randomly, so I hoped you enjoyed the first chapter, but I do have a plan of where to take this story. For those of you wanting to see more of the angsty relationship that the Zeki couple is so famous for, be reassured that not everything is going to go smoothly for Zero and Yuuki. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Thanks!