Disclaimer : Vampire Knight isn't mine. I'm sure you've known it.
Warning : Time travel fic. MalexMale and MalexFemale pairings. Alternate reality. Alternate Universe. Out of character. Typo. Bad grammar.
"People think dreams aren't real just because they aren't made of matter, of particles. Dreams are real. But they are made of viewpoints, of images, of memories and puns and lost hopes."
― Neil Gaiman
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BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS
CHAPTER 01
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Zero follows a maid that guided him towards dining room, ignoring disgusted stares and snide glances from others. He's used to that, vampires are creatures with high pride, even the level C vampires. Have to serve a vampire with status that's lower than them in their eyes, Zero snorts, certainly that must have pierced their pride.
He sees a long decorated mahogany table in the middle of dining room, lacquered wood chairs beautifully lined up neatly next to it. A magnificent crystal chandelier hanged on ceiling that painted with Renaissance oil painting. Red carpet covered floor, the walls colored in white, red curtains decorated large windows. Zero's eyes then focus on three people who are sitting at the chairs, he recognizes Juuri that sits next to a man who has short dark brown curly hair.
"Ah, Zero-san, good evening!" Juuri says, smiling at him. "Or... according to you... it's good morning," she continues with shy grin. "Considering that 'your life' is on the day."
Zero nods, polite and proper and detached. Juuri knows, by observed Zero for two days, that this particular tone signals when he's very alert and observing any potential threats. "Please take a seat, Zero-san." She smiles while pointing a chair beside her. "I know that you're hungry and bored, considering that you only ate soup and porridge for two days," she continues with a mischievous smile.
Zero gives Juuri a small smile. Within two days, he and Juuri became friends, which made him surprised because he hates vampires, especially purebloods. But, despite her status as a pureblood vampire, Juuri doesn't degrade him and she doesn't act like most purebloods do but like humans, maybe that's what makes him a little tolerant to her, besides to her resemblance to Yuuki.
"I've told you, Juuri, that it's not good to feed the sick just by porridge and soup." The man that sits next to Juuri says. Reddish brown eyes followed Zero who moves to sit next to Juuri. "Hello, Zero-san. I'm Haruka Kuran," he says with a warm smile. "But you must have heard about me from my beautiful wife," he continues with a laugh.
Juuri pouts. "Mou... Haru-nii!"
"I told you not to call me with 'Haru-nii' again. You know how awkward I am when my own wife called me 'brother'."
Juuri giggles. "Okay, okay. Haruka."
Zero stares at the couple who currently flirting at each other, tries to make his awkwardness not visible on his face. He turns, looks at the man that sitting across the table staring at Haruka and Juuri with a strange gaze.
He recognizes that look. Zero had always seen that look when Yuuki was with him. He had seen that look from his love rival.
Jealousy... anger... possessive... obsessive...
Something startled him as he glances at Juuri who is still in her world.
That man is...
"Zero-san, what do you want?"
A question from Haruka interrupted his thoughts. Zero blinks his eyes as he inhales softly and focused his mind again. "Ah... what?" he asked.
Haruka raises an eyebrow. "Do you want to order something?"
"Oh," Zero sighs. "Just a glass of coffee,"
Juuri's eyes widen. "Coffee?! You just want coffee?!" she shouts. "You're still recovering! You have to eat a lot!" Zero opens his mouth, which quickly stopped by Juuri. "Don't. talk back. to me." She then turns to the maid. "Bring him coffee and all of breakfast menu."
"Juuri, I don't think he'll be able to eat that much," says the man that sitting across from Zero.
Juuri cast a glare towards the double-colored eyes man. "Don't you see him, Rido-niisama?!" she snaps. She then points her finger to the bewilderment Zero. "And you! You should pay more attention to your own body! You're so skinny, you should eat more!"
A sweat drop runs down at the back of Zero's head. Haruka laughs at his wife who is giving an 'advice' to their guest. "You better follow her words, Zero-san. I highly recommend it." He smiles gently. "After all, you know what people said, don't you? Never ever denied what a pregnant woman has said."
Zero blinks in surprise. Pregnant? His violet eyes lead to Juuri's stomach that looks a little rounded. Ah... why he didn't notice that before?
"Juuri," he calls, make her silent. "Congratulations on your pregnancy."
Zero's words make her face brighten, she then grabs his hand and placed it on her belly. "I want to introduce you to my son," she said, a smile on her lips.
Zero stares at his hands that held by Juuri. At first, he doesn't feel anything, but a few seconds later he feels something kicks his palm, which makes his eyes widen in amazement.
Juuri chuckles at the expression on Zero's face. 'It seems behind that stern and expressionless face, still tucked away a childish nature,' she thought, amused.
0************0
Rido's observing the silver-haired teenage boy he found three days ago. He can't be blamed for being cautious. The boy suddenly appeared from the future, and quickly became very close to Juuri. But what makes Rido more anxious is the boy's nature. The boy actually is a hunter. Currently there is a war between vampires and hunters, he's afraid that the boy is actually a spy from the association.
But there is something that very interesting from the Zero boy. Rido watches Juuri who is currently showing Zero her rose garden. Zero is anex-human, but he's still sane. Of course Rido knows that if a vampire that had given blood by their master, the vampire will be a level D or C, and can control their blood lust. But the tattoo that's printed on Zero's neck makes his instinct restless. No doubt that tattoo is a suppressant tattoo, the hunters use a tattoo like that when they catch feral vampires and ex-humans that hadn't given blood by their master. To see an ex-human with that tattoo near Juuri... it's really make him uneasy.
"Juuri, it's time for me to leave," Rido says, made Juuri suddenly turns toward him.
Both of her eyes widen. "Eh? Now?" she asks sadly. She then walks over to Rido, and gave him roses that she picked just now. "Then be careful. I don't know what Haruka and I will do if you're..." Juuri paused.
Rido pulls his sister into his arms, his hands gently stroking her long hair. Oh, how much he really wants her. "Really, you know how strong I am, right?"
Zero watches the purebloods who are hugging each other. At first glance it looks like an embrace between siblings, but Zero knows better. While Juuri is really considers that's a hug between siblings, but Rido doesn't show anything like that. Rido's eyes don't indicate that he thinks the woman in his arms as sibling, but as a woman he loves so much. Zero really understands this because he felt that too to Yuuki.
He frowns as Zero looks at his own hands that touched Juuri's belly this morning. The child in Juuri's womb is Kaname Kuran, he's very sure about that, but why the child felt different? His instincts were screamed "pureblood", but the feeling he received was different. He never met a vampire who's pregnant before, so he doesn't know if a vampire has different aura when they still was a fetus.
His instincts screams loudly, makes him wince because it feels like an electric jolt in his head. He raises his head, sees Rido standing very close right in front of him. "What?" he asks.
Rido doesn't speak for a moment, before he lifts a bag that is very familiar to Zero. "I found this bag in the cave where you found, I think it's yours."
Zero takes the bag from Rido's hand, ignoring pain from his instinct that shrieked. "Ah... thank you."
Rido nods, but he doesn't go. Zero raises his eyes and finds the eldest Kuran stares at him. There's something intent in Rido's expression, like a summons, and when he tilts his head towards the trees it drives the point home. Zero shifts his weight and very wary as he follows the vampire.
"Something else?" he asks, raising his awareness, although his voice doesn't sound so.
"You could say that." Rido leans on a tree trunk nearby and stares Zero down, eyes glinting dark and a little bit threatening. "I don't know why, but my gut tells me I can trust you," he says. "But you should know, if you do anything to hurt her, I will hunting and slaughtering you until no one can recognize you anymore."
Zero's mind reacts. 'Her', that's the keyword. "Do you mean… is 'them'?" Zero asks, cautiously. He doesn't want to be defeated in his own psychological trick.
Rido's silent for a moment. "Haruka can take care of himself."
Bingo, his guess is right. "You don't have to worry about me," Zero says. He tries to hold back the sympathy and anxiety that comes out of his conscience. Oh, he is sympathetic to this man, because they're both same. They're both fight over a woman that they couldn't get.
Rido nods, cursory approval, and Zero feels uneasy when the pureblood stares at him again. "Is there anything else?"
Rido cocks his head. "You're really quite something for an ex-human." He turns. "I'll be back Saturday night," he says over his shoulder. "There's a spare library key on your bag, if you want to do your own research about your condition."
Zero watches him retreat with wide eyes. His hands unconsciously reach into the bag in panic, worried that any his things taken, and he let out a sigh of relief when he sees his Bloody Rose still in its place. His mind mixed remembering Rido's last words.
What does he know...?
0************0
Saturday comes very quickly, over a few days Zero spent his time in the library to find information about whatever he can get, or accompanied Juuri. Juuri's pregnancy is quite old for vampire, makes her mood always change rapidly, and that's not including her craving. Zero laughs softly, as he split the fish very neatly, remembering Haruka when Juuri said that she wanted to eat cake with chocolate cream covered lamb's blood and sprinkled with fried onions. Oh gosh, queasiness and disgust on Haruka's pale face was really funny, though he himself was sickened by her craving.
He still wonders how the both purebloods can have a child that cold, cunning, manipulative, and cruel, like that fucking Kuran.
Zero pours cooking oil into a pan. Today Juuri asks – or rather demands - Haruka and Zero to accompany her have picnic in the city park. After Juuri knew Zero's extraordinary skill in cooking yesterday, she immediately asked him to make lunches that they will bring. He doesn't mind, he loves cooking, besides cooking makes his mind too busy to think about negative things.
"Zero, has been done yet?" Juuri asks, as she poked her head into the kitchen.
He turned the fish in the fry, before stirring the curry in a pot. "Soon, juuri," he says as he lifted the fish into a plate.
"Hurry up!" Juuri whines in impatient.
Zero sighs, listens a pregnant woman proved very troublesome. "Patience, Juuri. I'm putting the foods into the boxes."
"Juuri, you want delicious foods, right?" Haruka's voice sounded quite faint from behind the walls. "So, don't bother him. Moreover, it's still early."
Juuri silenced his husband with a stare. "Precisely because it's still early, we can be free hanging out anywhere. Are you willing to go out under the blazing sunlight?"
Haruka just smiles, cold sweat running down the back of his head. Vampires can go out during the day, but the more intense sunlight, their skin will be more affected. Haruka doesn't want his skin burned, he had experienced it once as a kid, and it's very awful.
They head to the city park as soon as Zero finished set their lunch boxes in a basket, and almost forgot to bring a beach umbrella for their shade as he's dragged by Juuri. He's carrying the basket in his hand, while Haruka brings the beach umbrella. While Juuri chatters beside him, every word directed at her husband, Zero listens as he looking around him in a rising and falling tide of constant déjà vu. He feels as much like an outsider, like he shouldn't belong here, and that's understandable because he shouldn't exist for five years in the future.
Zero spread a cloth on the grassy area near the trees, he then takes out their lunches from the basket and set them on the cloth. Juuri sit while watching Haruka arranges the umbrella, she closes her eyes as she feels a light breeze brushed against her skin.
"It's so peaceful…" Juuri murmurs, smiling. It has been awhile since the last time she was at peace, she glanced at the two men who sat beside her, 'If only Rido-niisama and Kaien-kun could with us…' Juuri thinks, a little sad.
Zero watches some children plays in the distance away from where he was. He remembers Ichiru. He didn't expect that Ichiru betrayed him, betrayed his family, and instead chose Shizuka Hio. And he also didn't expect about Ichiru's feeling about his family. He recalls the times when they were little, Ichiru was fragile at that moment but Zero convinced that his brother could become a hunter, or he could become a part of intelligence division. He had several times saw the plans that made by his brother when they were still a trainee, and all of the plans is excellent that when applied to real missions, they'll just have a little loss.
"So what do you think, Zero?" The question from Juuri made him turns.
"What?" Zero asks.
Juuri pouts. "You're not listened me!" she whines.
Haruka smiled. "We talk about our plan to make vampires and humans can coexist. What do you think?"
"I want to make a school!" Juuri says, cheerfully. "We have a suitable building near Kaien's house – he's my hunter friend, you know - and we want to make the building into a school where vampires and humans can coexist!"
Zero stares at the purebloods in silent.
"The coexistence between vampires and humans is very difficult, so that school will be the beginning of the peace," Haruka continues with sincere.
Silence happened between the three of them. Juuri fidgeted when they don't get any answer from Zero. "A-anou... our dream may sound silly to you, but..."
Zero laughs, he laughs so hard and doesn't realize the hurt in Haruka and Juuri's eyes. Hell! It's been a long time he didn't laugh like this! Zero holds his forehead. His laughter stopped, before he sighs and glanced up, sees the face of hurt, anger, and anxiety from both his pureblood friends, makes him a little guilty. "I'm sorry..."
Haruka hugged Juuri tightly, his voice implying extreme annoyance. "You might think our dream is so ridiculous, but…"
"No, no, I laughed not because of that," Zero cuts with sad smile. "I'll tell you, the school is really exists in my time."
Haruka and Juuri blinked, their face becomes brighter. "Re... really?" Juuri asks, unsure.
Zero nods. "Yeah. Kaien became the headmaster in there." He smiles at her happy face.
"Can you..." begins Juuri, hesitated. "Can you tell me about that school?" she asks.
Zero lay down as his hands folded under his head. "The school is divided into two: Day Class and Night Class. Day Class for humans, while Night Class for vampires. And like the names, Day Class held during the day and Night Class at night." Both of his violet eyes are staring at the sky in nostalgic. "The place is very peaceful, although there's a bit chaos, but only sometimes. And the most annoying is the girls from Day Class."
Haruka smiles in interest. "Oh, yeah? Why?"
Zero glanced at the purebloods beside him. "You certainly know very well that the vampires have a perfect physical appearance and exceed the expectations of people, except the level Es. You try to imagine what if male vampires in front of a large group of female teenage humans who doesn't know anything about vampires."
Juuri snorts, before she giggles. Oh, she can imagine it! She also always saw how the woman humans when they look at her husband.
While Haruka, his reaction is quite opposite with his wife. Gosh! The thought of him stuck with the fan girls in one place is so terrifying! 'I sympathize with the vampires who will enter that school!' he thinks, paling.
While Zero watches the two pureblood chatting excitedly, his mind conflicted again. On one hand he wants to tell them about their son, about what their son had done to him, but on the other hand he doesn't want to make them upset and sad. He stares at flock of birds flying in the sky. He won't tell them about it, he decides.
Perhaps, it's better that way.
To Be Continue ...
A/N :
Thank you very much for read, review, fav, and alert, my fic. I really appreciate that you want this story to continue. I, once again, apologize for my bad grammar and tenses, because I'm just a beginner in English. ( T-T)
Thanks to hellwitch, ben4kevin, PickleToast, FreakyMe99, miarath, Waterling, Moar, God-d-e-ss Eternity, and GermanAngel, for your review.
And to Moar, I can translate my other fics into English if you want. But understandable for my bad English, okay?
Also to God-d-e-ss Eternity, thank you very much for your information about beta readers.
Last, please review if don't mind.
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With crimson camellia,
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Scarlet Natsume.