A/N: And I'm back for a bit. Hello again, dearests *waves* Took me much, much longer than usual, and I would like to explain in detail, but I already did in my latest 'Eternity' update note (chapter 42) and I really don't want to repeat it here. Long story short, I got really busy at work and it won't change anytime soon for at least a year or so. Which means much, much less frequent updates from me. Sorry *bows* I really am, but it's out of my hands.

Anyway. I'm back with another chapter. Truly hope you will enjoy it.

Thank you all for the alerts, favs, and most of all, for your lovely reviews! They always make me so happy *^^*

As usual, disclaimer, warnings and so on remain the same. All mistakes are mine, and I apologize for them in advance *bows*

Would be delighted to hear your thoughts on this one as well.

Happy reading!

Chapter 10: A Trip To Town

Zero slowly came to a halt after walking a considerable distance from the Kuran manor. Sighing, he looked over his shoulder, his gaze sweeping his surroundings, but finding nothing — as expected.

Another sigh left him. He turned away with half a mind to resume walking toward his destination, but stopped himself before he could make another step and pivoted back around, his brows now furrowed and lips pressed together stubbornly.

"I know you're there," he said to no one in sight, though his eyes didn't waver in their focus on one particular spot somewhere among the trees comprising the thick forest around the Kuran manor.

There was no response, but Zero could feel a slight shift in the air, momentary and very subtle, but no less real. He waited patiently in silence. After a few moments, there was movement and from behind one of the trees appeared a familiar tall form of one Kain Akatsuki.

Zero huffed a sigh. Kain rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. At least he looked somewhat guilty.

Good.

"You suck at tailing," Zero said instead of a greeting.

Kain gave an uncaring shrug and made his way toward Zero. "Apparently."

"Not enough experience?"

"Nor any particular desire to acquire it."

"What the hell were you doing, then?"

Another shrug. "Following you just in case."

Zero frowned. "In case of what?"

"In case something unforeseen happens."

Zero's eyes narrowed. "You aren't trying to guard me, are you?"

There was a pause. Which served as enough of an answer, despite Kain's actual reply that came next, "No."

"You are."

Kain didn't deny it this time. "I might be."

Zero folded his arms over his chest underneath his cloak. "Did Kaname put you up to it?"

Zero's expression didn't change much, but Kain knew he would be in some serious trouble if he lied. It was a good thing he didn't have to.

"No. He has no idea that I'm here."

The subtle tension in Zero's shoulders eased as a barely audible sigh left him, some of his restrained irritation seeming to dissipate.

Kain was about to release a relieved breath, but had to stop when lavender eyes hardened and turned their focus to him anew. He couldn't help tensing briefly.

Boy, was Zero's glare — no matter how mild — intense.

"I don't need to be protected. Go back," Zero dismissed, turning around and resuming on his way without waiting for an answer.

"No can do," Kain replied, then followed.

Zero scowled at him over his shoulder. "I am perfectly capable of protecting myself."

"I know," Kain nodded. "But I also know that Boss will have my head if he finds out I let you go on your own."

"'Boss'?" Zero repeated with a curiously raised eyebrow, stopping and half-turning to the noble. "You don't mean Kaname, do you?"

"Who else?"

The mental image that came to Zero's mind when he applied the nickname to his mate made him laugh. "Seriously? Is he some criminal authority now?"

Kain shrugged. "He can be pretty intimidating," he explained.

Zero snorted, one corner of his lips lifting briefly in a small lopsided smirk. "I think I might be curious to see that sometime."

Kain shuddered just thinking about the idea, which made Zero's smirk widen. Still, entertaining as Zero knew it would be to mess with the usually stoic fiery-haired alpha some more, he decided to take pity on the man.

"Fine," Zero conceded with a small huff and resumed walking anew. "But if you must do it, do it from beside me."

Kain blinked, taking a moment to fully take in the words. Then, with a slight smile curving his mouth, he nodded and followed the hunter, quickly falling into step by his side.

-o-

Zero breathed a long sigh. He looked over his shoulder, briefly slowing down his walking pace, then turned away with another — yet another — sigh. "He could just join us, you know," he said, turning to his companion. "What is it with your cousin and his obsession with stalking people?"

Kain shrugged, idly thinking about the question for a long moment before saying the first thing that came to mind, "Perks of being a genius?"

Zero sighed again. "Or perks of being an idiot," he offered his own version.

"I heard somewhere the two come hand in hand," Kain answered, then shrugged. "Never knew if it was true, though."

"Seriously?" Zero gave the fiery-haired alpha a disbelieving look. "Despite all these years near him?" The man actually still had doubts left?

"Maybe it's because of all these years. His actions stopped being all that weird at some point."

One silver eyebrow rose skeptically. "Is that even possible?"

Kain gave another shrug. "Apparently. I suppose you just get used to him with time."

"Or simply resign yourself to your miserable fate and try not to think about the weirdness too deeply in favor of keeping your sanity intact."

Kain nodded with a hum of acknowledgement. "Or that, yes."

Zero thought for a few moments. "Wouldn't it be easier to just tie him up, tape his mouth shut and lock him away somewhere?"

Kain gave another nod. "Thought about it."

There was an outraged 'What?!' somewhere in the background, but Kain and Zero merrily ignored it.

"And?" Zero prompted, genuinely curious.

"And almost did it."

Another angry exclamation in a familiar voice of one Aidou Hanabusa sounded at that, only to be ignored once again.

"And?"

Kain sighed. "And we decided it wasn't worth it in the end."

"'We'? So it wasn't just you."

"Of course not. Even Ichijou was in on the plan."

Zero's brows rose. "Oh, wow. That must have been something serious."

Kain shrugged. "I guess. It was a long time ago, can't remember the details anymore."

A derisive snort escaped Zero. "Not enough capacity?"

Kain felt his lips twitch into a lopsided little smirk. "Considering just how much there is to remember? You could say that."

"Any regrets about calling it off?"

Kain hummed thoughtfully, seeming to really consider his answer. "Every now and again," he said honestly after a short while.

Zero chuckled. "What a surprise." He shook his head, then turned to look at his companion anew, and a sneaky smile slowly crept over his lips. He was positively up to no good. "We could still carry out that plan, you know."

"We couldn't. He just heard everything we said. He will be ready."

"You damn right I will!" Aidou yelled from somewhere behind them.

Kain gave Zero a pointed look to emphasize his point.

Zero gave a dismissive shrug. "Won't change a thing. We will still come out on top."

Kain mulled it over for a second, then nodded. "The offer is certainly tempting," he admitted.

"You traitor!"

Kain sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose tiredly. "Now more than ever."

Zero snorted. "You should seriously consider it, then."

"I think I just might."

Zero nodded. "Tell me if you decide to go through with it."

Kain gave a quiet snort, one corner of his mouth lifting in a crooked smile. "Will do."

"And get that idiot over here already. It's bad enough everyone at the manor knows about his stalking habits. I don't want the entire town giving us funny looks because of him."

Kain chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "Will do, lady boss."

"Call me that again, and I will stab you."

"Will it kill me?"

"Depends on where I choose to stab."

"Will you choose a fatal point?"

Zero thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Not right away."

Kain smirked. "I'm still in the safe zone, then."

Zero sighed tiredly. "You really are his cousin."

Kain shrugged his shoulders. "Something I had to make my peace with a long time ago."

-o-

"You have got to be freaking kidding me," Zero said incredulously as he regarded a small group before him with a look of scandalized disbelief.

Yuuki was the first brave soul to respond, "Hey, Zero…" She waved her hand with a sheepish laugh and a strained smile, doing her best not to fidget under Zero's wide-eyed gaze and failing. It made her feel like some sort of creep. Or like Aidou. She couldn't decide which was less offensive.

Amethyst eyes narrowed. "Don't you 'Hey' me, Yuuki. The hell are you all doing here?"

"W-well, we are…" she trailed off into a nervous laugh, one of her hands previously fiddling with the hem of her skirt going up to rub the back of her head. "Uh, you see, we are-"

"Following you," a maroon-haired noble that also happened to be Kaname and Yuuki's cousin, Shiki Senri, interjected, not a single hint of shame in his expression. Then again, as far as Zero could tell from his brief encounters with the man, his countenance rarely shifted from its usual stoic state.

"Yeah, no shit," Zero said sarcastically in reply. "Thanks for enlightening me."

Shiki remained unaffected. "You're welcome."

Zero exhaled a heavy breath and shook his head, resisting the urge to massage the bridge of his nose. His night had only started and he was already tired.

"And just why areyou doing it?" Zero asked next.

"We saw Aidou," Shiki's closest friend and another noble vampire, Tooya Rima, answered next.

Zero arched an eyebrow. "And?"

"He was following you."

"So?"

"We decided to follow him," Rima finished her explanation.

"And then we decided to follow you," Shiki added.

Zero glared at Aidou briefly before returning his attention to the group in front of him. "Don't you have better things to do?"

"Not really," Shiki and Rima answered in perfect synchronicity with simultaneous shrugs.

"Ichijou-san is busy," Shiki added as an explanation.

"And we ran out of pocky," Rima finished for him.

Zero honestly didn't see how the two instances were connected, but he chose not to comment on it and simply turned his gaze to Yuuki.

The girl shrugged. "I got bored with my lessons," she offered her excuse, while the fourth member of the group that happened to be Souen Ruka gave an exasperated sigh and shook her head in what she probably meant as disapproval.

Zero's shoulders slumped with another sigh, this one of resign. Without saying another word, he turned around and resumed his trip to town. Unsurprisingly, his group of stalkers merrily followed.

-o-

Zero crawled into the bed and all but draped himself over Kaname's side before settling with a tortured groan.

Kaname chuckled quietly, the book he had been previously reading completely forgotten even before he finished placing it on the nightstand, his arms automatically encircling Zero and pulling him closer. He leaned down and nuzzled his nose into the top of Zero's silver-haired head, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply before exhaling a long sigh of blissful content.

"Long night?" Kaname asked after a few moments of perfectly comfortable silence.

Another groan sounded, muffled this time. Zero tightened his arms around his mate, and Kaname couldn't help the widening of the small smile that was already on his lips.

"You have no idea," Zero complained. "I'm so not leaving this bed for the next two days. Minimum."

Kaname gave another chuckle. "Was your trip that tiring?"

"Exhausting and back-breaking would be my words of choice," Zero corrected. "Though it wasn't so much the trip as it was the company." Zero paused, thinking for a moment, then gave a slight shrug and added, "Most of them, anyway."

"Should I have a word with them?" Kaname offered.

Zero didn't answer immediately and took a second to consider, actually tempted for once.

He sighed. "No," he declined in the end, closing his eyes and breathing in Kaname's scent. "It's okay. I can handle them. You just stay here and let me take advantage of you to my heart's content."

Kaname breathed an amused chuckle and lifted his hand to run his fingers through wonderfully smooth silver strands. "As you wish."

"Mm," Zero hummed contently with a small nod, enjoying his mate's comforting presence and scent all around him before eventually drifting to sleep in Kaname's gentle embrace.

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-to be continued-

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