Disclaimer: Vampire Knight doesn't belong to me….That's why I am writing this~
Chapter 2: A New Light
Grumbling, Zero pulled on his coat. Taking a glance out of the window, he took note of the still grayish sky and decided to pick up his pace before it rains again. The rain had finally stopped about two hours ago but unfortunately, Yuki and Chairman Cross had used the sealing charm as a leverage to ask (read: DEMAND) him to make something for them to eat as it was already tea time. So, he had begrudgingly put on the apron and after much suggestions from Yuki and Chairman Cross, he ended up making tuna sandwiches, egg sandwiches, ham burgers, scones and a variety of bite-sized biscuits that could probably feed a group of ten people. It was a miracle that they did not have enough ingredients or Yuki might have made him bake a strawberry cake while Chairman Cross would have demanded a Chocolate Mousse Cake. Zero shivered at that thought. Thank god there was someone up there who liked him and decided to spare him from such a fate. Making two cakes would mark the end of the evening and with prefect duties at night, he would surely be unable to slip away to look at the horses.
Pushing open the now unsealed door, Zero stepped outside and was graced by the smell of moist earth and the unique scent of trees and flowers mingled together. Combined with the cool breeze outside, it was certainly very refreshing. Taking a deep whiff of this scent, Zero then made his way towards the stables. Ever since he became a true vampire (since he had received a pureblood's blood and all that), he found his senses heightened incredibly. As he was a half blood, he was certain it could not compare to those who are born a vampire or those of pureblood like Kuran. However, he was still immensely content with his abilities as he did not really need all those abilities anyway. His main choice of weapon was always guns and his Bloody Rose gun was more than enough. But that doesn't mean that he is only good with guns though, it's just that he liked working with guns better. Come to think of it, while training to be a vampire hunter, he had found out that the weapon that he could use best is swords. He is most efficient with a katana. By the end of his classes, he even surpassed his own teacher.
Reaching the stables, Zero put an end to his trail of thoughts and pushed open the doors to the stables. Again, his more sensitive senses picked up the scent of earth, dirt, hay and the slight smell of horses. He smiled slightly when he took note of the horses' restlessness. A particularly loud neigh caught his attention. Looking up, he found himself staring straight into the jet black eyes of Lily. Noticing that Zero was looking back at her, Lily threw her mane and neighed again.
Chuckling a bit, Zero said: "Alright, alright, be patient a bit will you? I still have other horses to attend to first." As if understanding what Zero said, Lily neighed again and then lowering her head, she began to nibble on her stack of hay. Smiling a bit at Lily's antics, Zero continued on to clean up the stable and also grooms the horses.
By the time he had finishing grooming all the other horses, it was already half past six. Walking towards Lily, he put his hand on her mane and caressed her gently. "Sorry I took so long." Zero apologized. As if in response, Lily bit on Zero's hair. "Hey! Haven't I told you not to do that already?! God, I swear I am going to go bald if you keep biting my hair away…" Lily neighed happily. Zero rolled his eyes. Pulling gently on Lily's white and shiny hair, Zero said: "Come on, want to go catch some air?" Again, Lily neighed happily.
Unintentionally, Zero laughed: "So many years and you still behave like when you are still a pony." Pulling Lily gently, Zero stepped out of the stables. "Come to think of it, the only thing that has change might be that your personality seems to be getting worse." Glancing back and noting Lily's 'glare', Zero laughed again. And Lily bit down on Zero's hair out of annoyance. "Hey!" Zero retaliated.
Being occupied with Lily, Zero did not notice the approaching footsteps, nor did he recognize the scent of the person which was so distinct. It was only when the person cleared his throat that Zero noticed that he was not alone. Whipping towards the direction of the sound, he found himself staring back into deep hazel brown eyes.
"Kiryuu-kun." Kaname spoke.
Shocked to find himself face to face with Kaname Kuran, Zero found himself speechless for a moment. Confused, Kaname inquired: "Kiryuu-kun? Are you alright?"
Snapping out of his shock, Zero glanced up at Kaname and replied: "Kuran. Yes, I am fine." Staring into Kaname's eyes, he saw the flicker of concern in it. Sighing, he repeated again: "I'm fine. Now will you please stop staring at me?" Hearing Zero's disgruntled response, Kaname nodded and looked away, only to find himself staring straight back into Lily's eyes.
"This is quite a horse." Kaname said simply. Zero raised his brows. He did not expect Kaname to make such a remark. Glancing backwards at Lily, he found that she was also staring back at Kaname. It occurred to him that they seemed to be having a staring match. But after a moment, Lily lowered her eyes and nuzzled Zero's cheek. Smiling a bit, Zero patted her head affectionately.
Kaname observed this interaction with interest. He had honestly never seen Zero smile in such a warm way before. Even though they had become what he supposed could be called comrades during the war, everything he and Zero spoke of were always business or strategies. It was rarely about something informal and Zero treated him formally too, sometimes a bit too cold for Kaname's liking, even though this was a fact he did not really admit.
"You're very attached to her, aren't you?" Kaname remarked simply.
Still patting Lily, Zero replied, "Yeah." But then he added, "She was raised by me, so I think that's why she likes me so much and vice versa."
Surprised that Zero chose to tell him such a thing, which was considered quite private, Kaname could find nothing to reply except, "I see."
Looking up at Kaname, Zero said: "What are you doing here anyway?"
"Well, I decided to take a walk since the rain finally stopped." Hearing his reply, Zero nodded. Pulling Lily after him, Zero made his way towards the large field near the stables. "It has been raining a lot lately hasn't it?" Following Zero, Kaname replied: "Yes. It's good that it might soon be over though." Again, Zero nodded. His focus now entirely on Lily, he did not notice that Kaname was now walking side by side with him.
Walking along with Zero, Kaname savored this unexpected moment. Somehow, he did not expect to find himself in such a situation with Zero when he decided to go on a small walk. He still could not believe that Zero actually talked to him. Not in a formal way, but just chatting about mundane things like the weather. Although it intrigued him, this new development, he found himself liking it. It was unbelievably refreshing for someone to talk to him so normally without the usual bows, formal speech or respectful tone. Taking a sideways glance at Zero, he found himself staring. Zero's hair was longer now, and it fell on his shoulders. But it was still as unruly and unkempt as it used to be, and a few strands kept falling down and brushing Zero's cheeks as he leaned forward to brush Lily's mane or to whisper in Lily's ear. Yet, this new hair somehow gave Zero a more warmly feel; maybe it was because it provided him a soft touch to ease his usual brash and raw attitude. However, in the current situation where Zero was not at all frowning or being angry or sighing or being cold and impassive, all the hair did was just accentuate the striking beauty that Zero possessed. Zero was actually very good looking, with a well-sculpted face and porcelain skin, it was only his attitude that deterred girls from drooling all over him. What made Zero even more striking was the colour of his eyes and hair, a lovely grayish silver colour which just seems to be the painted by the angels themselves. Yes, Kaname himself was handsome and good looking but Zero was just beautiful—of course, sans the frown and temper.
All of a sudden, Zero smiled. It seemed that Lily had done something which was hilarious to Zero. His cheeks dusted a faint pink and then his smiled progressed into a ringing laugh. And Kaname found himself caught in a trance. Zero's laugh was full of joy and melodious; it also seemed to have the ringing and shining quality in it which catches a person's ears. If Kaname thought Zero was beautiful before, then the Zero now was just breathtakingly gorgeous.
Sensing Kaname's stare; Zero coughed and immediately ceased laughing. Now there was an embarrassed look on his face. His cheeks got redder. "Sorry." He mumbled. And his normal stoic appearance came up again. Somehow, Kaname felt a fleeting sinking feeling in his heart. But pushing it aside, he said: "It's alright. Joy is a very normal human behaviour." Zero merely nodded. Clearing his throat, Zero said: "Well, I am going to take Lily to the field for some exercise. Er…See you around then." Pulling Lily and walking into the field, Zero suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking back, he found Kaname face-to-face with him. Again?! Zero suddenly had a sense of déjà vu.
"Yes?" Kaname could almost taste the annoyance in Zero's voice. The frown was back again, and so was the anger. Somehow, Kaname felt a strange familiarity and resisted the urge to smile. "Well, I was hoping to sit at the bench there and watch, if you don't mind." Kaname said while pointing to a bench on a side of the field. Zero's frown deepened. "Are you really that bored you have to come and annoy me?" Smiling in a sweetening polite way, Kaname replied: "To tell the truth, I am most intrigued by your horse. I would like to see the way it gallops."
Finding it unbelievable, Zero retorted: "You want to see the way it gallops?" What in the world is wrong with this pureblood?! Zero's mind screamed. Didn't he have better things to do then watch a horse gallop?! Still smiling, Kaname replied: "Yes. One can know a lot through a person's stride. It is considerably the same with horses too. I think I like your horse very much and would like to understand it's personality better."
If it wasn't because he had a reputation to keep and dignity to retain, Zero would have screamed like a three year old in frustration. But being who he is, he merely grumbled: "Fine. Do whatever you like." As an afterthought, he added: "And, the name's Lily. Don't call her 'it'. She gets annoyed quickly."
Just like you. Kaname couldn't help but think. Nodding, he headed to the bench while Zero led Lily to the middle of the field. He watched on as Zero began to let Lily run on her own and when Lily suddenly decided to chase Zero, the shocked yelp and look on Zero's face made him want to laugh. Suddenly, Kaname felt peaceful and relax. A cooling wind picked up. It nuzzled Kaname's face and danced through his hair, pulling them along and twirling them around his face. He watched as it did the same to Zero too. The two blots of white which were Zero and Lily began to merge with the relaxing green around them as Kaname's vision began to blur. He leaned back against the bench and closed his eyes. Hmm…The sound of the leaves rustling was suddenly given another melodious quality when Kaname heard Zeros' laugh again. He wanted to open his eyes to catch a glimpse of Zero's face but found his eyelids unbearably heavy. Without knowing why, he found that it soothed him in a way that no person or thing has ever done. He find himself struggling to make his thoughts meet by trying to make sense of this new found feeling towards Zero but failed miserably as sleep slowly overtook him.
And when Zero finally decided he had played enough with Lily and made his way towards the bench for a seat, he found himself greeted with the scene of a peacefully sleeping Kaname. His head tilted and he was leaning a little bit sideways onto the bench. A gust of wind brushed past the field. And Kaname's hair was again blown in all directions. But none of the strands seemed to be able to disturb the serene look on Kaname's face.
Suddenly feeling a bit hazy, Zero found his eyes glazed over. Maybe it was because of the wind, or maybe it was because of his sight being blocked by strands of his hair. But whatever the reason, he found himself moving to sit beside Kaname, in a way that their shoulders might almost be touching. But Zero blamed it all on the small bench.
Looking upwards into the sky, Zero felt a surge of drowsiness swept through him. His eyes narrowed a bit and his eyes became a bit clouded. A steady breeze was in the air now, and the leaves of the trees and the scent of the grass seeped into his senses. Maybe it was because of having nature's embrace as Zero abruptly felt relaxed.
Finding his eyes closing, Zero's cloudy mind vaguely seemed to be telling him something but he could not really register it. All he knew was that he was very sleepy and the slightly sweet and fragrant smell which was so unique kept invading his senses and lulling him into slumber.
Just before he lost all hold of his senses, Zero remembered something. Somehow…Just somehow…The unique sense which made him serene always seemed to be in the air when Kaname is around…
*End—Chapter 2*
A/N: Please read and review~! Thanks~!
