A/N: Hello y'all. Yeah. I rewrote the first two chaps. So for the first timers, bear with me.
WARNING: As mentioned in the summary, there's implied M-PREG. And for those who have preferences, Zero is NOT the 'mother'. While I have nothing against him getting knocked up, I've my own reasons why not :)
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Displaced 01
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"Not doing it."
Chairman Cross pinched the bridge of his nose. "Zero…"
"If you want someone to play babysitter, you can go hire a professional." Kiryuu Zero flicked his wrist to send the summons he had received fluttering back to Cross' desk. He had been enjoying another nap in between classes when Yuuki had harassed him back into reality with a written message from the chairman demanding his presence.
Actually half concerned, he immediately came to regret wasting his thoughts on the matter the moment Cross uttered, "The Night class needs…"
He was a Prefect. He was a Guardian. He was a Student. He knew there were certain responsibilities that went along with his unwanted social titles, but he would offer nothing more than was required. Chaperoning a group of level B vampires on an outing on his free time was certainly not one of them – especially when he could be getting paid to kill vampires instead. As a hunter who enjoyed his profession unlike a certain chairman, there was no doubt as to how Zero was planning to spend his evenings.
"Zero, you can't let Yuuki do this on her own…"
Zero's smirk resembled that of a pleased shark. It helped he actually had fangs. "Yuuki," he stressed, "is leaving with Wakaba for the weekend. It's Friday." Yuuki always chose a single weekend during the month for 'Girl Time' with her best friend. No distractions. No school. No Guardian duties. Just two days of fun and relaxation.
The cajoling smile on Cross' face dropped. "…I see."
Yeah, Zero bet he did. So. "Not doing it."
Turning for the door, he nearly stumbled when a bright flash of light went off in the middle of the room, blinding him and the chairman. The light went out as fast as it came.
"What…!" He quickly tried to blink out the after image and shook his head.
"Zero, are you okay?" Cross was doing much the same, placing his glasses back on his face, squinting at him from behind the lenses.
"Ye—"
"Whoa… Dad…?"
Bloody Rose was out and ready in less than a second. The third presence he felt in the room couldn't be mistaken for anything but a vampire.
Wide eyes stared up at Zero in complete surprise as he aimed his gun – eyes that seemed unnaturally familiar.
"Uh, Dad…?"
The grip on his gun tightened. "Who are you and what are you doing here, vampire?"
The vampire's jaw dropped. "Dad, what are you…?" He then blinked. "Oh." He blinked again and looked Zero up and down. "Oh…so… You're not Dad." He groaned. "Oh man…! So then I… Oh man…!" He bit his lip and tugged uncomfortably at the hem of his tailored shirt before glancing back up hopefully. "You're really not Dad…?"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"You're not Dad." The boy moaned. "Holy fuck." He gasped a bit and quickly amended, "I mean, darn it!"
"Who are you," Zero ground out. Cross seemed too busy gaping to ask any questions.
"If you don't know me, I shouldn't tell you." The boy shook his head.
Zero aimed Bloody Rose at his forehead and clicked the safety back.
"The name's Natsumi!"
"Full name."
"Uh…" Wide eyes went cross-eyed at the barrel of the gun and Natsumi swallowed. "…Kuran Natsumi." He answered lowly.
"Kuran…" Zero shot the chairman a look. The man shook his head in confusion. He obviously didn't know about another Kuran existing.
"You're related to Kuran Kaname then."
"I shouldn't—"
His finger went on the trigger. "Are you?"
"Yep."
"How?"
"…Can I just say we're very closely related?" The boy slowly pointed at his face. "I look enough like him for it to be true, right?"
Indeed he did. Annoyingly so. It was a wonder Zero hadn't noticed it sooner.
"Another pureblood." He spat.
"Uh, yeah, that too." Natsumi muttered.
"And why did you call me…that?" Zero said, referring to the kid calling him his dad.
"Ooh." Natsumi smiled nervously. "Just a mistake. You look a lot like him. That's all." He shrugged. "Sorry."
Zero sighed and gently lowered his gun. It would just be his luck to look like a pureblood vampire's father. He held in a shudder. He was almost insulted.
"Don't worry." Natsumi grinned. "You act nothing like him."
Small comfort and all that.
Cross interrupted with a cough. "Kuran Natsumi, was it…? You claim to be a pureblood of Kaname's line, but," he gestured vaguely, "there are no records of your identity anywhere. Considering your age…" He sounded awkward; Zero suspected he was just blurting out the first thing that came to mind.
"Can't tell you." Natsumi shrugged again. "Seriously. I'm in enough trouble as it is, coming here. Never mind Dad, Papa's going to blow like a volcano." He shivered.
Catching onto the distinction between the two paternal titles, which should have referred to the same person, Cross asked, "You've two different fathers?"
Natsumi's smile was disturbingly bright. "Yeah! And if you got a problem with that, you can keep the nasty comments to yourself."
Zero made a vaguely confused strangled grunt. "What the hell?"
Cross chuckled. "I've no problems. So both of your parents are alive, then."
"Of course! They're not planning to die for a long, long while."
Zero was still stuck on 'Dad' and 'Papa' not being the same person. Was the kid adopted? It wasn't uncommon for same sex couples to do that, right? But he'd never heard of vampire adoption. They were big on blood and ancestry and other complicated shit that came along with it, so he assumed it was rare. Could Kuran Natsumi have been a special case, considering he was a pureblood?
The thought of an orphaned pureblood brought to mind another pureblood he couldn't help comparing.
Kuran Kaname had been made Ichiou's ward after his parents' suicide. But even as a Kuran pureblood, he hadn't been adopted. It could have been a preference, to merely have a legal stand-in, not a legal parental figure, but all the same, Kuran Natsumi's situation just seemed to get iffier the more he talked.
Not to mention, "How did you get here?"
The chairman had obviously been thinking along the same lines.
"Eh. Just pulled the usual."
"I'm afraid I don't follow."
"…I tried out a few rune-based charms. Thought it was cool, you know. I thought I could help Dad skip his meeting so he could be with Papa – it's his birthday – but I guess it got screwy and I went back a lot further than I wanted." Natsumi's sheepish smile dropped when he was faced with blank looks for his rambling explanation. "…I activated two overlapped charms and then came here." He flatly simplified.
If he'd thought things strange, they were definitely bordering on mind-boggling now. Charms, runes, 'going back'…it sounded like the children's books his brother liked to read when they were younger, filled with miracles, fairies and princes, damsels in distress in need of a dragon-slaying knight. The kid mentioned it with mildness that spoke of familiarity, as if he encountered magical charms and its 'screw ups' everyday.
"I…see. Is it safe to say you don't know how to get back?" The chairman looked just as lost as he did.
"It was only supposed to be for three days. If I'm not gone by then, I'm in trouble."
"A time-based charm."
"Pretty much. But since I messed up on the most important part of the charms, I don't know if the three days part is done right. If I don't get back by then, I'll either do my own research or my parents come to drag me back." He paused. "…I like the 'going back on my own' plan a lot more, just so you know."
"I'm sure."
When silence followed, Natsumi pointedly coughed. "You have some sort of library nearby? This is the academy, right? It should be decently stocked."
"Ah, yes!" The chairman clapped, the tenseness in his shoulders making the sound a lot sharper than intended. "The Moon dorm library should have whatever you need, but we would need to speak with the Dorm President for permission."
More silence.
"And you can't do that now?"
"I imagine he would be extremely inconvenienced to be forced awake in midday." The chairman waved to the open window where the light of the sun clearly shone through.
Zero briefly entertained ditching the whole issue altogether for some shut-eye – the chairman seemed to have things in perspective, and this was more than he was willing to handle – but a distinct presence walking steadily closer to the building and into the halls had his hunter senses perking in attention. The casual confidence and composed undertone didn't leave him second-guessing.
"Kaname, you're free to come in." The chairman cheerily called when the slight footsteps neared the door.
Kaname stepped in with a nod, lips set in a curious smile. "Good evening." His eyes were immediately drawn to the youngest vampire in the room. "Our dorm is in quite a ruckus over your mysterious guest."
Looking between said guest and Kaname, Zero's lips pursed, disconcerted.
Placed in the same room, the resemblance was uncanny. Natsumi could have been Kaname's double save a few minor differences. The lines of his brows, his jaw, and the curve of his lips were perhaps someone else's, but the rest was Kaname. Even their scent was near identical, though Natsumi's carried the soft tenderness that came with being a child.
Cross slowly shook his head wonderingly as he glanced from one pureblood to the other before coming up with an unimpressive, "Kaname, this is Kuran Natsumi. Natsumi, this is Kuran Kaname."
Kaname blinked and Natsumi blinked back. He then tucked his hair behind his ear and tilted his head, only to watch as Natsumi did the same.
"…I see."
"…I see." Natsumi echoed amusedly, eyes twinkling.
What the hell were they doing? Zero shot the chairman a bewildered glare. This wasn't some strange greeting ritual vampires practiced when meeting someone, was it? Having had enough, he crept for the door, tucking his gun back into its holster – the chairman and Kaname could very well deal with one stray vampire he didn't want to have anything to do with if not to kill. With his lunch break already squandered for the ridiculous meeting with the chairman, he wasn't going to waste any more time on matters he wasn't interested in.
That, and he was hungry. An image of the diner he frequented was already on his mind when he reached for the knob.
"Kiryuu-kun, would you join me for an early breakfast?"
What?
"No thank you, sempai."
"Oh, did it sound like a request? I'll reiterate: Join me for breakfast."
He thought that'd make a difference? "No thank you."
"We'll be dining in the same place; it'll be convenient for us to take a single table. I'll pay."
Zero nearly snorted. Dine at the same place? Kaname would never think of eating at a greasy diner. And Zero could pay for his own damn food. Not even bothering with an answer, he pulled the door open and tried to step out.
The deceptively delicate hand pushing the door closed kind of interfered with his plans.
"Not eating with you, sempai." He groused, tensing at the warmth at his back.
"You will, Kiryuu-kun. If I have to carry you over my shoulder out of campus for the entire academy to see, I will, but either way, you are eating with me."
Zero hated to admit Kaname was probably serious.
He glowered down at his shoes.
Kaname smiled and removed his hand, following him out into the hallway. "And Natsumi, you may have complete access to our public resources." He commented like an afterthought over his shoulder before the door sealed shut.
Natsumi and the chairman watched them leave, the former in incredulous bemusement and the latter in a mixture of humor and suspicion.
"…Is that how people hit on each other in this time? 'Cause where I come from, that's pretty messed up."
The chairman choked a little and laughed. "Ah, I don't think so. It's simply how they communicate when in proximity with each other."
"Yeah. Whatever. It's weird."
. . .
Taking a sip of his ordered tea, Kaname added another spoonful of sugar, smiling at the boy across the table. "Kiryuu-kun I've some immediate concerns I'd like to discuss with you in relation to Natsumi."
"Yeah?" Zero kept his eyes on the rich color of the walls. He should've known Kaname wouldn't eat at a diner. But they served his comfort foods here supposedly just as well prepared as the diner he liked, so he'd warily acquiesced to Kaname's choice.
"His name and blood status are inconsistent with his appearance. He looks very much like you Kiryuu-kun."
What?
"He looks exactly like you." The poor kid.
Kaname absently scooped more sugar. "On the surface, yes. But the color of his hair and eyes are hardly sufficient in claiming genetic similarities with my line."
Zero threw him a bemused glare. "The," he waved a hand at Kaname's face, "shape of his…facial structure – it's exactly like yours."
"You know they aren't." Kaname added yet more sugar. "He shares much of your features, to an alarming degree, as well as your scent."
"…What are you saying?"
"Has he given you any indication of his ancestry? Mentions of family members, close relatives, perhaps."
"…He said he had two fathers." Zero said slowly, wondering where this was going. "That they were still alive. Something about a birthday for one of them." About to add the kid had mistaken him for his father, he quickly chose not to suffer through any more humiliation on what was turning out to be one crap-tastic day.
Finally satisfied with his tea, Kaname offered a nod. "Two fathers. It would explain his being a pureblood, not his resemblance to you."
"What does it matter what he looks like?" From what he could see, Kaname was making a mountain out of a molehill. Wasn't purity the only priority? As long as the kid was a pureblood, he was good to go, regardless of who his parents happened to be.
"It matters significantly." Kaname said quietly. "…You recall him mentioning a birthday."
Zero gave an affirmative grunt.
"And yours is yet to pass, while mine is…"
Deciding to stave off how creepy it was Kaname somehow knew his birthday (on top of what he usually ordered at his favorite diner), he demanded, "what?"
Kaname sent him a sharp look of disappointment and murmured, "I suppose it was presumptuous of me to assume…" He gently shook his head. "The remote chance hasn't even crossed your mind." He seemed strangely subdued.
Sensing the conversation was over for now, Zero felt utterly relieved to see their food coming. He'll just eat, pay, leave, and put this bizarre talk behind him.
Stuffing himself with a forkful of meat, he ignored Kaname's next inquiry. "Natsumi aside, I'd advise you to reconsider your choice regarding our trip this weekend."
He went for a bit of the salad. Not bad. The cucumbers were nice.
"Kiryuu-kun."
And tomatoes. He couldn't do without the tomatoes.
"Kiryuu-kun."
His hand paused. On its own. Without him telling it to. No amount of strength could get it to move.
Glaring across the table, his eye nearly twitched at the sweet smile he got in return.
"I know your stomach is calling for attention, but if your feeble mind has the capacity for multitasking, I strongly encourage you to make use of it. Now."
Temper. Temper.
Nodding, he felt his arm released from whatever supernatural pureblood powers it was enchanted with, and went for another tomato just because he could. "I already told the chairman I'm not going."
"And deprive our entire class a rare educational opportunity?"
Zero slowly blinked, surprised Kaname would bother to ask a question with such an obvious answer: Fuck yeah.
As though reading his mind, Kaname's smile turned stiff. "You are forcing my hand, Kiryuu-kun. Do you want me to invite the Day class students to this trip as well? The chairman would be delighted, I'm sure."
Douche.
"I'll go."
"I'm glad to see you're capable of some form of thought."
The knife by his plate looked extremely tempting. He could claim for momentary insanity and people would believe him. Whatever damage he might inflict would heal over in seconds anyhow. He would go for the spoon too (they were useful for gouging things out), but he needed it for the soup.
"How do you find the food?"
"…I'm eating it, aren't I?"
"So you are." Kaname sounded mockingly amazed.
"What the hell is your problem?" He muttered. Kaname usually didn't go so out of his way to annoy him like this. The animosity he felt towards him was never disguised as something other than what it was, but it was rare for Kaname to vocalize it, most likely out of courtesy to Yuuki. Could Natsumi have made that much of an impression? He hadn't realized how unsettled the pureblood was at meeting the young boy.
Kaname poured himself another cup of tea. Zero vaguely noted the amount of sugar he dumped into it this time increased by two scoops.
Even knowing he'd regret it, Zero held in a sigh and reluctantly murmured, "…the kid. What's wrong with him?"
He received an assessing stare. "…I might have an idea of who his fathers are. If I'm right, Natsumi did not only skip time but entire dimensions. It would not be possible otherwise."
He mentally completely glossed over the 'skipping time' and 'entire dimensions' bit, instead frowning to ask, "Is returning him going to take longer than three days?" The kid's reaction to the possibility of his parents coming to find him after those three days indicated nothing good.
"…Are you not interested in knowing who fathered him?"
He absently swirled the spoon around in his soup before bringing some to his lips. "Are his fathers a threat?"
"Not in the way you're imagining, but in other ways, yes they are."
"How?"
The smile Kaname sent him was a bizarre mix of indulgence and pity. "It's best you remain unaware of the knowledge. These three days – is that the time frame Natsumi's been given?"
Irked by the blatant deflection, Zero pursed his lips. Kaname's ambiguity wasn't anything new. "Either he returns by then, as he's meant to, or his fathers come looking."
Kaname actually let out a faint grimace. "…I see."
Checking his watch, he contemplated whether it was worth making it to his second to last class and finished off the last of his soup before asking for separate checks. He could already hear Yuuki nagging his ears off and made a swift grab for the bill only to look up when his fingers met thin air.
"I recall telling you I'd be paying." Kaname slipped a card inside and passed it with a sweet smile to the waitress.
"Sempai…!"
"You may pay for the next meal if you like."
As if he'd ever suffer through another half hour with the asshole again just to repay him. Just as Kaname got his card back, he got up to leave.
. . .
"Oh my god, where could he have gone?" Kuran Yuuki groaned. She'd felt the presence of her nephew vanish from her library while she'd been distracted by her own son. Tasking Seiren with contacting her brother and his husband, she'd rushed around the manor for any sign of her nephew to no avail. She couldn't even find a stray hair. "He was right there." She pointed to an empty spot amidst a crowd of books splayed about in an arch.
"Natsumi…" Kaname bent down to examine one of the open tombs, tracing a large diagram.
Zero crouched next to him. "Of all days to pull something like this." It was Kaname's birthday. Despite their clashing schedules, they had managed to scrounge up a few hours and planned on a simple night out at their favored restaurant. With Natsumi missing, a celebration of any kind was the last thing on their minds. He leaned in to press his lips to Kaname's temple. "I could throttle him."
"I'm so sorry," Yuuki clenched her hands. "I should've added more wards to the library considering his…past exploits." Natsumi was notorious for his elaborate stunts (he literally couldn't go five seconds without chaos reigning in his vicinity), which his fathers had more or less taken in stride, until today.
"It's not your fault, Yuuki. You couldn't have known."
"Do you know what happened? I can hardly make sense of all that runic mess."
Kaname nodded slowly. "I've no idea what motivated him to play with something so dangerous. He is very close to breaking several minor laws of magick." He followed more of the diagram. "This is a time based charm. It's set for days." There were distinct differences to the overall runes depending on seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, or years.
Zero placed his hand flat against the carpet beneath them and poured his anti-vampire magick through it, hearing Yuuki's startled "Oh!" from behind him as faint marks of a similar diagram as the one demonstrated in the book gradually seeped up in a silvery glow. Their son's magick was so in tune with his own; pulling up its residue was effortless.
"Three days…" Kaname murmured, stepping back to study the entirety of the charm their son had used.
"What could he need three days for?"
"Zero. Here," Kaname walked around and kneeled to tap at a spot on the diagram, "these runes – they're not time based at all."
Yuuki narrowed her eyes. "I recognize those. They're dimension based."
The temperature in the library lowered significantly as the implications sunk in.
"Natsumi…" Kaname whispered darkly, his aura flaring. "He's outdone himself this time. When he gets back…" The carpet under his fingertips started to blacken.
Zero took a cautious step away from his husband sharing a look with Yuuki. "Looks like we're leaving for a few days. You and Seiren can handle everything here?"
"Mm. Do whatever you need. Just," she gestured to her brother, "make sure that doesn't get out of hand." Her brother had a formidable temper when it bothered to be roused.
Zero chuckled. "He's just worried."
"Worried or not, I'd like my nephew alive long enough to give my own lecture on disappearing without a word on his father's birthday."
"No one knows how to work the guilt-tripping better than you."
She smirked.
"Zero," Kaname called sharply, "we'll need to prepare for a week long trip at the least."
Joy.
"On it." He pulled out his phone.
. . .
No own VK.
Thanks a bunch for reading guys! :)