And here's the completely original chapter. I've realized I said that I would have cooking be a bonding experience and then failed to deliver so I'm dropping it in here! If it feels a little jumbled, it's because I hadn't been planning to add that at all. Initially this was only going to be Zero getting the Bloody Rose, but I got carried away. Next chapter will be either the start of the manga or one more filler that will be something school related, because I've been glossing over that.
That said, this is probably the longest chapter so far.
To the guest who mentioned Yuuki not standing for injustice or cruelty, you are absolutely correct! But the trouble with that is that Yuuki is a socially isolated girl and also painfully emotionally oblivious. Just because it upsets her or infuriates her doesn't mean she's going to know how to stop something or speak up.
To the others who complimented my work so far? Thanks! Makes me really happy!
"Zero? What's that?" Yuuki orbits the boy as he fiddles with the package Cross had given him maybe an hour ago. Flicking his eyes to her, he pulls it into clear view. "A gun?"
It's a little big for his hands, as while he'd been shooting up in height ever since he'd turned fourteen, he still wasn't yet completely adult sized. Based on his growth, she figures that he'll be an appropriate size for the gun by about next year. Pointedly not thinking about how little she's grown since she turned thirteen, she studies the gun. It has a wood sided grip, and is otherwise made of a silvery metal. The sides of the barrel are etched with the words "Crossing" and "Bloody Rose", along the top are the words "Crossing Danger".
"It's an anti-vampire weapon," he tells her after she spends a time studying it. "Cross said it's called Bloody Rose." Yuuki kind of wants to compliment the gun, because it's really a nice looking gun, but she isn't sure how to do that. It seems strange to compliment someone for their weapon. Then a thought occurs to her.
"Wait, do you even know how to use a gun?" She blinks. She has a vague idea of how to use a gun, though she isn't sure how, as she's never had first hand exposure to guns, but she's not sure if Zero has even that much. Yuuki really hopes he does, or else she would have to worry about Cross' level of responsibility. She'd been giving him plenty of hugs and spending plenty of time with him, so he shouldn't be being too erratic.
"I know the basics," Zero confirms. "Now I just need to practice."
"Oh, good." There's a noise off to the side, and Yuuki glances up at the doorway to Zero's room, where they're hanging out, and sees Cross there, half crumpled to the floor.
"My children are bonding!" Is his fervent whispering, slightly high pitched and sounding entirely too ecstatic for her comfort. Zero twitches, and Yuuki jerks a little in place as his hand flies out and he shoots at Cross. The guns barrel glows a livid purple, a vaguely familiar sigil appearing out of light just before something shoots out of the barrel. It misses Cross by a large margin, and the sigil blooms for a second time where the bullet has hit the wall before disappearing, leaving nothing behind to show that Zero had fired the gun at all. Yuuki stares at the spot for a moment before her eyes move back to look at Zero, who had gone tumbling backwards and landed on the floor due to the recoil of the gun.
Yuuki snorts as Cross, who had gone still at the shot, begins to wail and lecture Zero about gun safety and "reasonable use of force". Before long, Yuuki is falling to the ground as well, Zero's surprised face as he'd laid on the floor etching itself into her memory as she breaks into peals of cackling laughter. Zero tries to kick her, but she rolls to avoid it, still uncontrollably laughing, but shrieks as he abandons the gun on the ground to try and tackle her, red faced and indignant.
Cross dives out of the way as they streak past him, hearing Yuuki's shrieking laughter and Zero's dire threats as he stares after them with a soft smile. His eyes land on Bloody Rose, abandoned on the floor, and the smile disappears, replaced with a look of worry and sadness.
There's a crash somewhere in the house, the sound of shattering glass and Yuuki's yelled apology. Cross twirls in place and hurries to the sound, hoping that nobody had been hurt and forgetting all about the weapon.
"Yuuki, if you touch that, you'll be dealing with the consequences," Zero intones without looking away from his task. Yuuki freezes where she'd been reaching for the salt to add to the soup, her eyes wide as they move to Zero. He's cutting up strips of meat right now, something he'd forbidden her from doing because she cut them too small, and her job had been to watch the soup pot and taste test it on occasion.
Last time she'd tried to do anything more complicated, she'd started no less than three fires, two of which had started while she'd been supervised.
"How did you know I was doing anything?" She pouts at him, sidling away from the pot to look at what he's doing. The meat in his hands is tinting his pale skin red with the leftover amounts of blood, and his hands are also covered in the seasoning he'd pressed into the meat. Yuuki half expects to smell the blood from the still raw cuts, but can smell nothing but meat and spice, as well as the simmering stew pot behind them. The scissors in his hand cut through the meat and separate each inch-thick slice into cubes.
"You're always doing something when you go behind me and go quiet," he tells her blandly before glancing at her, lilac eyes stern. "Watch the pot." She pouts further but obligingly turns back to the pot.
"Are we even doing this right?" She complains, watching the pot as though it will combust and her gaze on it is all that's stopping it from doing so. Which might be possible, as it wouldn't be the first time, but she doubts will happen. The soup broth and veggies inside are only barely bubbling from the heat, as they can't let it get too hot without adding in the meat, and Zero had been the one to turn on the oven in the first place. It's only on the fourth out of eight settings, two of which are High and Low. She can understand why it's only on medium heat now, but when the meat is added, she's sure that Zero will turn the heat up. Or let her do it, but she doubts that as well.
"Hey, move," Zero instructs from behind her. She steps to the side as Zero moves past her holding the cutting tray, which is topped with the cubes of beef. He slides them into the pot carefully so it won't splash, and then taps the board against the side of the pot so its accumulated liquid will fall into it as well, rather than collect on the board. Yuuki watches with rapt attention as he hands her the board to set aside before stirring the pot and turning the heat up to five.
"Why not high? Or six?" She pesters. Zero frowns a little at her before pushing against the top of her head to move her away, his palm against her forehead and his fingers wrapping around the crown of her skull. She goes without resistance but keeps her eyes on him.
"Well for one, the recipe said five. And two, last time we put a pot on high, it caught on fire."
"But if it was on high, I bet it'd cook faster," she wheedles, not bothering to address the comment about the fire. That had absolutely not been her fault and she would deny any responsibility for it until the day she died. How had she been meant to know what you didn't drop frozen chicken into boiling oil? She hadn't- she'd been left unsupervised with boiling oil and it wasn't her fault that nobody had thought that was a bad idea. She'd protested! But no- "Yuuki, just add the chicken when the oil heats up, it isn't that hard."
Zero sighs, as though she's being incredibly tiring, and herds her away from the pot toward the sink, where she's supposed to put the cutting board. Giving in, she drops the board into the sink and turns on the water to rinse it off, glancing at Zero from the corner of her eye as he picks through the spice rack, occasionally glancing at the recipe paper on the counter.
"What about garlic salt?" She offers. It's her favorite kind of salt, and he'd already vetoed normal salt so far. She's given a deeply suspicious look the second she moves away from the sink, and a warning glare, so she returns to cleaning off the cutting board, not really paying it any attention.
"The beef stock already had salt, and the beef had season salt on it. We are not adding more salt," he denies flatly.
"... What about soy sauce?" She suggests after a second of thought. His look turns into a blank stare that tells her he is becoming progressively less amused and tolerant of her suggestions.
"That's even more salty!" He refuses. She huffs a little, releasing the cutting board to cross her arms over her chest.
"Fine. I'll just add it to my own bowl when it's finished," She grumbles, puffing out a cheek and turning her face away. She's treated to an incredulous stare but when she stops, Zero returns his attention to the spices. Trying to decide if it's worth the risk, she mumbles some random noises of discontent before speaking louder. "I'm getting something to drink. Want something?"
"Water," is his short answer as he swipes the recipe paper and squints at it dubiously. She hums obligingly and goes to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water and a bottle of apple juice. She quickly swipes the soy sauce and tucks it in a reverse-knife grip to hid it, holding tightly so the bottle won't slide free. She hands Zero his bottle of water and he opens it without looking, lifting it to his lips then draining the entire bottle in one go in maybe ten seconds. Frozen in place as the bottle crunches and Zero throws it to the back of the counter, Yuuki only stares before asking hesitantly.
"Do… Do you want a second bottle?" Zero pauses in where he'd been reaching for a season shaker, staring blankly for a moment before giving her an indecipherable look.
"Yeah." The second bottle, he pays attention to as he drinks. It's still gone in less than thirty seconds, and his face as the bottle crunches hollowly in his grip is one that Yuuki can recognize. Worry and slight fear. But then the expression is wiped away and he's grabbing both empty bottles and making his way toward the trash can. Shaking off her own worry, Yuuki deposits the apple juice to the side and lets the soy sauce fall into her palm at the correct angle as she lunges toward the soup pot, which as slight foam building on the top.
The cap is off the bottle and she's just tipping it over the soup when a hand enters her field of vision, yanking the bottle from her grasp. A small bit of the dark liquid splashes into the soup, but not nearly as much as Yuuki'd intended to add. Her collar is seized next, and Zero bodily moves her away from the pot with a stern and irritated expression on his face. She smiles up at him hesitantly before lifting up the cap in her hand as a peace offering. His face darkens and he releases her collar before grabbing the cap.
As soon as the bottle is closed, she is pushed in the direction of the kitchen island. It isn't quite a gentle push, but it isn't incredibly rough.
"Sit down and stop trying to make everyone else sick from too much salt," he commands before walking to deposit the soy sauce into the fridge once more. She has a single second of temptation, as the spice rack is almost exactly ahead of her and she can see the garlic salt, but she resists and then Zero is in front of it once more after stirring the soup a little.
He goes completely still eventually, and she watches his shoulders tense up and then go slack with something like defeat as he sighs.
"Yuuki." She's up immediately and peering at the recipe as she shoves her head through the gap between his torso and elbow. "Go and get the little measuring cups." He covers the recipe before she can get to the part he is on, but she doesn't make too much of a stink about it, because he's allowing her to help again.
She gets the cups from the utensil drawer and returns. She wants to feel starry eyed as she sees the garlic salt on the counter, the top already popped.
"Half a teaspoon," he tells her sternly.
"Everything's better with salt," she whisper cackles as she pours the required amount of salt into the measuring cup then dumps it into the soup. She gives it a vigorous stir immediately after and yelps as the hot broth splashes her forearm a little.
"Stupid, get away from the heat sources!" Zero snaps, grabbing her collar again and yanking her away from causing a potentially even bigger mess or getting hurt even further. She makes a pitiful sad-puppy noise as she is forcibly sat in a chair and Zero checks her arm. He scoffs at her, but seems less annoyed and more fond as he inspects the limb.
"You're fine, there isn't even a mark," he tells her firmly before returning to the stove, cleaning up the spilled soup and then giving it a more sedate stir. Yuuki inspects her arm curiously, as it had really felt like she would have gotten a welt at the very least, but there really is no mark. It's barely pink in the area where she'd felt herself get splashed. Maybe my pain tolerance is weak for heat?
It's three hours before the soup is finished and they're calling Cross to the dining room. Zero carries the pot to the table, keeping a careful eye on everything but Yuuki in particular, as she had continued to try to either steal soup or add salt to it. Yuuki, herself, is holding onto the heated bread roll and bottle of soy sauce, being mostly behind Zero.
"We've taste tested it and it's fine-" Zero explains as they all sit down and begin to serve themselves soup and bread.
"Just a little bland," Yuuki coughs. Zero lashes into her ribs with an elbow and she squeaks in mixed pain and surprise.
"You can use the soy sauce in your own bowl, stop complaining," he snaps. She makes sad noises at him and he rolls his eyes, ladling himself some soup then landing it to her. She carefully fills her bowl halfway then puts it down, settling back in her seat. It's under Zero's mildly disgusted gaze and Cross' flabbergasted gaze that she promptly pours about a mouthful of soy sauce into her bowl of soup, stirring it slightly before tasting it. Zero snatches the bottle away from her immediately after it's left her grip, hiding it.
"This is more like it," she says happily before noticing Cross' now slightly horrified gaze. "Want to try some?" She offers, lifting her bowl slightly with careful hands and offering it in Cross' direction. Zero shakes his head quickly, trying to intercept her.
"Don't do it," he warns quickly. Cross reaches out and takes a spoonful though, and while he is hesitant, he places it in his mouth. His reaction is immediate and over-dramatic, gasping as soon as the soup is in his mouth completely. Some of it drips out of his mouth but the rest slides down his throat. He makes a strangled noise and grabs a glass of water, guzzling it down with a garbled shriek. Zero sighs and Yuuki crinkles her nose in distaste and disgust at both the messy eating and his dramatics.
"It isn't that bad," she complains, taking another spoonful into her mouth thoughtfully. She might have slightly overdone it with the soy sauce, but now she knows to use a little less next time. It isn't at all as salty as Cross is making it seem.
"It's terrible," Zero denies as Cross rushes to the sink for more water, his tongue hanging out of his mouth and tears streaming down his face. "You just have freaky taste buds." Yuuki grumbles in discontent as Cross returns to the table, giving her an outrageously betrayed look.
"How could you like something so salty?!" He demands. "It's so salty it's painful! Yuuukkkiii!" He takes in a horrified breath as he watches her take another spoonful. She stops and pouts at him.
"It isn't that bad." She promptly turns her attention to her food, refusing to respond to Zero's grumbling about how she's going to get a heart disease and Cross' wailing about how his "sweet and innocent daughter could like something so awful".
Dodging yet another purple streak of concussive force, Yuuki yelps. Artemis spins in her hands, now only slightly taller than her, and strikes against Zero's hand around the grip of Bloody Rose. It strikes his fingers the hardest, and he yelps, the gun dropping from momentarily paralyzed fingers before he catches it with his non-dominant hand, fumbling it slightly. Luckily it doesn't go off with his catch, like it had done once before, and after shaking out his fingers, he places it back into his correct hand.
"I still say this is unfair!" Yuuki complains loudly. Zero rolls his eyes at her.
"You offered," he reminds, "and it isn't like you'll really get hurt. The most it's done is blow you off your feet." She huffs at him as she uses Artemis as leverage to push herself straight into the air, going momentarily vertically upside down.
She swings her center of mass, Artemis sweeping off the ground just as Zero is preparing to kick it, and her body plummets downwards with as much force as she can create, her heels aiming for his chest. Recognizing the tactic but not able to get out of the way in time, Zero braces for impact. The drop kick connects, and Bloody Rose flies out of his grip as he flies backwards. Yuuki manages to contort her body around so that she lands on the ground in a crouch, but Artemis connects with the ground preemptively at an odd angle, causing the rod to jerk out of her grasp.
"You can't hit a stationary target yet, though! And I assumed we'd be fighting without weapons!" Honestly, the only reason she has Artemis with her is because she's taken to carrying it with her all the time now that the vampires have permanently moved onto campus. It isn't that she doesn't trust them, but there's a sense of unease, nonetheless. Beyond her control, she's waiting for the other shoe to drop with the vampires. She hates feeling like this, but she can't help her animal instincts, and it isn't like Zero isn't feeling it, too.
She also hates that. That Zero is so distrustful and angry about all vampires just because some bad vampires killed his family and attacked him. She can understand his feelings, mostly, but she doesn't like them. They're coloring so much of his world view. But ever since that ill-advised late night trip to the temporary dorms a month back, he's been less twitchy and furious. She can tell he still doesn't like that they're so close, or that they exist, really, but he's less paranoid and prepared to decry them of their bestiality.
"This is the best option," Zero refuses. A crawling feeling spreads along Yuuki's spine and she jerks slightly as she straightens into a stand, her attention diverting to the trees around the small back yard of the house where they'd taken to training. She can't see anything, and as far as she knows, neither of them have drawn blood so she doesn't think they've attracted any enterprising vampires, but the feeling persists. There's a metallic click and she turns immediately, seeing Bloody Rose being pointed at her stomach from less than two feet away, Zero's eyes narrowed slightly into a playful glare as he kneels next to where he'd picked the weapon up.
She has barely a second to shift her weight before it fires, and the force slams into her. She flies backwards a few feet, tumbling head over heels the moment her center of mass shifts due to the force. When she lands, Artemis is collapsed next to her and she's absolutely covered in dirt and minor scrapes, Zero standing where he'd been before.
There's a crunch of leaves, and both of them turn their attention to the figure emerging from the trees, Zero stiffening immediately and Yuuki going still. It's Kaname, one pale hand reaching down. Instead of grabbing her or helping her up, his hand wraps around the metal of Artemis, the metal sparking immediately. From how close she is, Yuuki can see his skin flaking away under it's onslaught, can smell his skin searing. A hint of déjà vu strikes her, though, as she stares at the rod along with Kaname. The feeling disappears as Kaname offers her a hand, his other hand still occupied with holding Artemis as the rod makes its displeasure known.
She lets him help her up, feeling vaguely unsettled for reasons she isn't willing to dwell on, and then he presses Artemis into her hands. It continues to spark for a moment longer, though it does not hurt, before stopping as Kaname takes a step away.
"Kuran, what are you doing here?" Zero asks after a moment, walking to stand closer to Yuuki. His voice is cold, but no longer does it hold that furious edge to it that it had used to hold. More dislike and wariness. For a moment, Yuuki contemplates the idea that they've gotten together to talk things out without telling her before dismissing it. Zero's never too far lately, watching her like a hawk in case she does something dumb again, and he doesn't trust Kaname nearly enough to be alone with him.
"I heard the gunfire from the dorms, and thought to investigate," Kaname tells them. Yuuki looks around, feeling a second set of eyes focusing on the clearing, even if not her exactly, but doesn't call them out.
"We were just training with Zero's new weapon," Yuuki decides to answer, pushing aside her unease to smile at Kaname and regain the bounciness she hasn't showcased in awhile, studying him carefully through the crescents of her eyes. Kaname looks impeccably dressed, like always, but his hair seems messier than it used to be, his eyes darker and skin slightly paler. "It's an anti-vampire weapon and doesn't actually fire bullets!" She explains, grasping onto Zero's arm and lifting it with Bloody Rose still in his hand, pointing the gun into the sky with the pretense of showing off the weapon. Mainly she's trying to make sure he isn't going to randomly open fire on Kaname, as Zero gets sort of trigger happy when he holds the gun.
Cross has already been shot at nine times, and she's been actually shot twice. Both times she'd been trying to tackle-hug him like she does with Cross sometimes, and she'd ended up denting the walls with the force.
"I see," Kaname says, studying the weapon in Zero's grasp before looking at her own weapon. "And you were training with Artemis?"
"Yep!" She confirms with an exuberant nod. "Can never train too much!"
"I suppose you're right." Kaname smiles at her before casting a glance up. "I have to get back now, classes start in an hour, and I'm sure the others are worried. See you, Yuuki." He bids them a goodbye, not addressing Zero even once before he's gone. Yuuki frowns at his back, confused and hurt on Zero's behalf, though she's pretty sure he prefers Kaname not acknowledging him.
They stand in silence for awhile before Zero gives the sky a considering look similar to what Kaname had done.
"We should probably head inside," he tells her. She glances at Zero before looking at the sky as well, finally nodding.
"Alright." She tucks Artemis into it's holster on her leg and they make their way into the house, Zero beginning to rib her on her botched landing as they move. They both miss the faintly glowing eyes watching them from amongst the shadows of the trees.