The Vampire Knight

Rating: T (coarse language, profanity, ideas generally unsuitable for those not open-minded enough to accept them)

Genre: Romance/Adventure

Plot Summary: Zero retired from being a Vampire Knight because of his agonizing, headache-causing visions. And now, he's being blackmailed into guarding the heir of the Kuran family, Kuran Kaname.

By the way, if you want to check if I've made an update, and you haven't alerted this story, you can always go to my profile. I usually keep track of my updates there.

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight.


~~o~~

'He that will not sail till all dangers are over must never put to sea.' - Thomas Fuller

~~o~~


It had to be pretty pathetic that Zero Kiryu, a fucking ex-Vampire Knight who had been reinstated just five hours ago, was on a plane. He knew he could have ran faster than the plane could fly to the landing deck some twenty miles off from the Square, and he could have been at the Square by now, but Kaien had insisted on him staying on the plane so he didn't run off. Newsflash: he couldn't. He swore that stupid blood pact and couldn't do anything about it, and he hadn't even seen the Pureblood he was assigned to yet.

Currently, Kaien was showing Zero pictures of his wife. Zero wondered where the hell Kaien pulled out that big-ass photo album, but Kaien bombarded him with questions before he could ask his own. Questions like, 'Isn't she beautiful?' or 'Do you want to meet her?' or 'Want to see another one?' were just answered with well-timed nods on Zero's part. But truth was: Zero didn't really care. All he knew was his head hurt like hell, and though he had already fed off of a mountain lion two days ago, his stomach squirmed inside of him for blood.

Of course, as soon as he got to the Square, some sort of shit ceremony would be initiated, and Zero would officially become the Vampire Knight of the Kuran male. Then there was this whole other shit ceremony in which Zero drank some blood from the Pureblood he was assigned—no, bound— to, and then Zero would have to keep a silent vigil inside the vampire's room all night. No sleep, no food, no drink, no talk, no nothing. Just himself, the vampire, and any pedestrians daring to cross the door to the room he was situated in.

"Oi, Cross," said Zero, finally bored out of his mind. The vision bugged him a lot. "How long are the two ceremonies going to take?"

Kaien rolled his eyes at Zero. "You know how long it takes." He poked Zero in the chest. "Remember? Last time, you were temporarily assigned to that Shirabuki girl. Although you didn't do taking blood or any of the sort to make the bond, it took an approximate two days."

Zero groaned when he remembered Sara Shirabuki. "I hope I never see her again. Guarding her was a nightmare. She was a sadistic Pureblood." Suddenly, he sat up in his seat and held Kaien in a firm gaze. "Is my Pureblood some sort of sadistic bastard as well?"

"For one, I don't think you should call him 'your' Pureblood, Zero. Two, no, he's not a sadistic bastard, and you shouldn't call him a bastard either…" Kaien sighed. Zero's bad habits and sarcastic, blunt nature didn't go away at all. "Kaname Kuran is quite nice, actually, when you get to know him."

"His name is Kaname?"

"Yes. His name is Kaname. His sister's name is Yuki. His sister's guardian's name is Ichiru. Would you like more details?" Kaien replied. Zero grinned at him. "Zero, be on your best manners when you meet him, okay? Purebloods command respect, and Kaname Kuran and his family deserve the most respect of all."

Zero felt his grin grow wider. "Am I taller than him?"

Kaien sighed to himself. Sometimes, Zero asked the weirdest questions. "Well, he's the same height as me, so yes; you're taller than him now." He sniffed at Zero and wrinkled his nose. "Go take a shower. Goodness. How long have you been in the wild, you animal?"

"Two hundred and seventy-eight years," Zero replied smugly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'll have the attendant set out some clothes for you then. The shower's just down the walkway, next to the bathroom. You don't want to offend the Kuran family by showing up stinking to high heavens…"

"And you think I will?" Zero shot back, getting out of his seat and crossing the distance to the shower. "Make those clothes comfortable and not formal! Otherwise I'll go across the Square naked!"

"You better not!"

After changing into his clothes—Kaien threatened him into them because of the fact that there was a festival today and he was required to dress formally to meet the Kuran family—Zero found himself stepping off of a plane in the shadow of dawn. With a yawn, he stretched his arms and rolled his shoulders, feeling sore all over. He wasn't quite used to being pampered, and wild animal blood helped staunch his lust for blood. Now, he wasn't thirsty at all, and the fact that he'd be drinking the purest blood of all the four hundred years he had lived only served to make him feel squeamish and uncomfortable.

Kaien handed Bloody Rose back to him in a case with girly pink ribbons and all of that sick girly shit. Zero, for the first time in his life, pushed his gun away and pinched the bridge of his nose, breathing in through his mouth. Nausea was not his thing. Headaches and pains were, but nausea wasn't. He was never getting on a plane again.

"You okay?" asked Kaien, patting him between the shoulder blades. "You don't look too hot."

"I always look hot," Zero mumbled, finally taking the little box from Kaien. "What the fuck is this?" he asked, regaining his composure and looking distastefully down at the ribbons.

"Your gun," replied Kaien cheerfully.

Without even blinking, Zero ripped off the ribbons, left them to fall to the floor, and cracked the plastic encasing with his fingers, pulling his gun out and throwing the thing into the nearest trash bin there was. "You… You humiliated my gun. You put pink ribbons on it. And then you drew smiley faces and hearts with smiley faces on the plastic cover. The hell?"

"It was a welcome back present. And I wasn't the one who did that."

"Then who? It probably wasn't Ichiru or Yagari—no, definitely not Yagari, and definitely not Ichiru either since Ichiru wants to castrate me and wouldn't give me a gun to save myself the pain…"

Kaien sighed and picked up the ribbons from the tiled airport floor. "No, it was young Miss Yuki."

Zero paled and thanked the heavens that the young Kuran girl wasn't here. "Oh. It was? Whoops. Does she want the plastic box back?"

"Now she doesn't."

"That's great. Just great. Why the hell didn't you tell me this earlier? I thought you did all of this!"

"You think I'd give you that much of my time?"

The two stood in silence, their shadows cast across the floor as the sun prepared to rise over the horizon. Zero looked to the giant window wall with a sigh. "I guess I'm going to have to lie and say that I dropped it on accident and it cracked."

"As if she'll buy that shit."

"Shut up." He glanced back to Kaien. "Where do we go? I'm actually itching to shoot some E's. And on the other hand, I want to sleep to my heart's content, and I've got to get to the Square at eleven."

"We go to the hotel, and you do the latter while I go and inform Yagari that you're back."

"Er—don't."

"Why not?" Kaien eyed Zero suspiciously.

Zero shrugged. "Let him come tomorrow. I prefer not to see him at the Square, you know."

Kaien huffed. "You still aren't going to tell me about the vision?"

The silver-headed Knight grinned. "I prefer not to." He made his way over to the glowing red exit sign. "You'll find out soon enough.

~~o~~

Sometimes, being a fortune-teller, as Ichiru put it so affectionately, was like constantly being trampled into the dirt. Zero felt pain in both. The vision came again and he sat up in his bed, groaning. It was now full daylight, and Zero was cursing the Hanadagi Festival as much as one could curse an event. Why the hell did it have to be held during daylight, of all times? Weren't the Purebloods going to get burns? Damn. He leaned against the headboard and placed his head in his hands. Absentmindedly, he allowed his gaze to relax on the ivory covers, rimmed with gold and sapphire.

He glanced over at his alarm clock and grimaced. He was going to be late if he didn't hurry the hell up. It was ten forty-seven, and he needed to be at the Square by eleven sharp.

Zero jumped out of bed, pulled on pants, and attempted to comb his hair down as he opened up the window and leapt out of it. As he landed on the pavement, drawing the astonished gazes and gasps of passersby, he gave up on taming his hair and realized abruptly that he had just landed in a street filled with humans. Oh damn. Damn it all. Oh, and Kaien had his gun.

"Um, just forget I did that," he told all of them awkwardly.

Then, he ran. He was actually quite used to running, since he had to escape several of the Association hunting dogs so they didn't track him and bring him down in the dirt, but he could smell the scent of level E's in the air. Thankfully, Zero was long under control. But he was pretty sure that he was the only Vampire Knight who was a vampire, besides his twin. He passed a gun shop and knew that one level E had come to this place recently. Recalling his vision, he knew that the gun was a pistol.

Then, he kept running, because he definitely couldn't stop. He was about twenty miles off from the Square, and it would take him at least ten minutes to get three-quarters of the way there since he didn't know the place. Truthfully, he'd never been to the Square.

Heptagon, he thought to himself, and laughed breathlessly as he sped up.

~~o~~

Kaname honestly didn't understand why his mother insisted on him having a Knight. He didn't want one, and he certainly didn't need one to boss him around like a second mother. Sometimes, Juri Kuran overreacted too much for her own good. But Yuki didn't seem to mind when Kaname said that she could have his Knight; she liked her Ichiru just fine. In fact, she loved her Knight to the point that Ichiru Kiryu was constantly following her every day like a shadow as she spoke to him in front of others. Kaname wasn't sure how to think about Ichiru.

Either way, he didn't want a Knight. He never needed one; not even for all his years as the Ancestor of the Kuran family. It wasn't even a secret that only the family knew; it was something that all of the Purebloods knew and respected him for. The last thing he needed was a slight to his honor by assigning a Vampire Knight to guard him.

And by the rumors he caught around the manor, this certain Vampire Knight fled the Association three hundred years ago and was never to be heard of again. At first, Kaname didn't even care as long as the Knight didn't get in his way, but now he was sure that a rogue, wild Knight was sure to impede his plans and give him giant headaches. Also, the Knight was apparently a vampire as well. A level D vampire with heightened senses and Knighted parents. A level D vampire who was related to Yuki's own Knight.

Well, this wouldn't turn out too good, Kaname thought to himself as he carefully constructed flowing words of a long letter to his uncle. It was somewhere along the lines of 'Back off' but with a more polite air. And he was, after all, writing in place of his mother, who had not received the original message because Kaname himself had intercepted it.

Honestly, the Pureblood didn't give up, did he?

After finishing another paragraph, he gloomily looked to the window. It was day time, and normally, he would be asleep right now, had it not been the day of the Hanadagi festival. Each year, they celebrated the re-awakening of the Hanadagi family by having every vampire traipse outside in daylight like idiots. Kaname just didn't care. Yuki, however, was fairly excited about it, and she had planned a giant picnic for herself, Kaname, and Ichiru to go on.

Kaname turned back to his letter with a faint smile. He had written six paragraphs so far, and if he were to write the last one, one could see that the calligraphically inscribed first letter of each paragraph formed, in order, to say, 'Fuck off.' No doubt Rido Kuran would be able to tell. It was like saying, Take that, Uncle.

"Sir?" The servant knocked at the door, and Kaname glanced up to look at her. For a moment, Taro's expression withered into something akin to slight fear; then she straightened up and mustered a polite smile. "The young mistress would like to see you outside of the manor."

He waved her off. "Tell her I will arrive momentarily after I am finished writing this letter."

She bowed respectfully and left the doorway, closing it behind her gently.

There wasn't much left to say, and Kaname knew that Rido wouldn't pay attention to anything but the vulgar sentence hidden lightly in the letter. He simply flexed his elegant fingers and continued to write. 'For all the care in the world, no, Juri Kuran will not see you. And even if you are my creator, I have no qualms about obliterating your body. Your nephew, Kaname.' Then he rose from his seat and strode over to the door where Taro had been standing beforehand.

He took one glimpse at the letter, and it vanished into smoke. He opened the door and stepped out, allowing it to close by itself with a satisfied click.

The giant lawn of the Square was visible from where Kaname looked, through each window that he passed. He was growing used to seeing the soft red carpet of the hallway beneath his shoes, the beige colored wallpaper he constantly walked by, and the stone pillars imbedded into the walls of the manor. He recalled awakening in this…awakening this manor to her. He couldn't remember how long ago it was; ten thousand years, maybe? But that was the first time he ever spoke to her, and her words were so tender. Kaname would have been lost further in recollection, had he not reached the main entrance hall and strode through the open portal.

"Brother!" Yuki exclaimed, hugging him as soon as he stepped into daylight.

As his pupils contracted in the sunshine, Kaname returned the embrace with significantly less excitement. If he had a choice and it didn't mean practically spitting on the Hanadagi name, he would have chosen to remain inside, in a coffin, for all he cared. He consented to having Yuki lead him across the lawn of the Square, around the marble fountain and along the green grass. He was almost getting lost in his thoughts again.

Then…there was a gunshot.

And he was pushed aside into the grass, and something landed on him.

"Kaname!"

~~o~~

If Zero hated anything more than needles, it was getting shot with anti-vampire venom, potentially lethal but not enough to bring him to the doors of death. In the arm. He had already cocked his stolen gun and shot the level E vampire as he himself got shot. At least he possessed good enough aim to actual hit the level E in the heart; the bullet pierced his arm and went ramrod into his bone. If guarding Kaname Kuran entitled him to a bullet wound a day, he was sure to kill himself first. Screw the blood pact—

–no , blood was oozing out of his wound like…like melted ice cream out of a cup.

And where the hell was Ichiru? Zero didn't see him anywhere.

Damn, Zero wasn't used to be being shot. Back then, when he guarded the Shirabuki girl, he didn't get shot every single time he tried to protect her. Mostly, she shot them before he could.

He ended up on something really, really soft, and it wasn't grass. It was almost like…a body. A warm, soft but firm body. With horror, he came to the cognizance that he had landed on a Pureblood.

"I-Ichiru?"

Zero rolled over onto his side, groaning. He cracked open an eye and looked at the girl from his vision. His mind agreed with the girl. Where was Ichiru? "I'm not him," he replied, cradling his arm. It was probably broken, no use in trying to convince himself that it wasn't. "I—damn, that hurts…"

"Zero!"

Ichiru's arrival was tantamount to castration or something even worse.

"Shit," Zero said, attempting to elevate himself to a sitting position. His eyes widened as he saw Ichiru running towards him like the speed of light. "Oh shit, don't, Ichiru!"

Too late.

Ichiru tackled him into the grass in a giant bear hug, and Zero groaned as his back hit the grass once more. Next to him sat a very shocked dark-haired vampire, his garnet-colored eyes wide with confusion. The Pureblood he fell on.

"Damn it, that hurts!" Yes, Zero was being a giant sissy. But it wasn't every day that he got shot in the arm. "Ichiru, ow!"

"There are two of you?" exclaimed the girl, sinking to her knees in surprise. She resembled the boy perfectly. "Ichiru, who is this?"

Ichiru stood up and pulled Zero up by the collar, growling. From friendly-welcome-back-brother to I'm-going-to-castrate-you in just seconds, Ichiru glared at Zero as he ground out, "Well, Mistress Yuki, this is my twin brother Zero. And he's going to—" He caught himself just in time before he said 'castration.' The young girl wasn't ready to hear such…adult words. "—die by my hands before I bring him back to life."

Zero coughed, attempting to staunch the flow of blood. "Ichiru, as much as I'd love to sit through a ritual of pain with you, I need a giant bandage," he mumbled. "My arm hurts like hell."

"You got shot?"

"Shot the guy who shot me," Zero replied smugly. "But yeah, I got shot. In the arm."

Then, it clicked. Rocket science happened. Ichiru guarded Yuki Kuran. Ichiru just called that girl Yuki Kuran. Yuki Kuran looked just like the vampire he fell on. The vampire he fell on was Kaname Kuran. And that is how Zero came to the conclusion that he landed on Kaname Kuran. Oh god, this wasn't good. Before Zero could stop himself, his stupid mouth went ahead and probably left the most questionable impression that anyone could ever impress upon anyone else by saying:

"You know, Kaname—pardon my wandering mind—your body is very soft."

Fuck.

Kaname's eyes widened as Yuki giggled loudly. Ichiru's expression went from angry to super angry in t-minus ten seconds. He could just see his career as Kaname's Vampire Knight plopping onto the pavement like dog shit on a summer afternoon. Zero was going to have to face the fact that the loss of blood was being to make him only little more than an idiot on dope.

By embarrassing both of them in front of a flock of vampires, select few of them Pureblood, Zero was sure this was going to go down in history as one of the worst dramatic entrances too. He pried Ichiru's fingers from his collar and stood, wobbling and nearly falling to his feet. When he was sure he wouldn't collapse, he attempted a shaky bow and said, "Greetings, Master Kaname. I am to be your Knight."

And then he waited for the silence to move away so he could sieve through the awkward situation and salvage his and his Pureblood's dignities.

~~o~~

Kaname liked the idea of a Vampire Knight guarding him less and less. Especially when it was this Vampire Knight. He was glad to be out of Zero's presence and spent the rest of the hour with Yuki and her own Knight who reminded Kaname too much of the one whom had 'tackled' him. On the other hand, in the library, Haruka Kuran sat in the giant office chair of the Kuran Manor, a cordial, amicable expression on his face as he regarded the bandaged Zero. "You saved my son, good sir, from being shot in the arm. How can I repay you?"

Zero looked extremely humble, but secretly, he was attempting to fake what appeared to be modesty. "No need, my lord," said Zero extremely politely. It was a miracle his teeth weren't clenched and words not strained. "I am actually to be your son's Knight."

Haruka then proceeded to look absolutely delighted as he pressed his palms together in what seemed to be elation. "What a coincidence! I am very glad that you arrived so soon then, Mr.…"

"Zero Kiryu," Zero supplied, and Haruka's eyes widened.

"You did look very familiar—a bit too familiar," said Haruka, chuckling. "Too coincidental indeed. This worked out quite well… May I ask how old you are?"

"Four hundred and sixty-three," the Knight answered, a smile on his face as well. "As everyone has probably heard, I guarded Sara Shirabuki for ninety years and retired soon after into the woods for three hundred years."

Haruka held up stapled papers with a curious expression on his face. "Say, Zero. Can I call you Zero?" Upon Zero nodding, Haruka continued. "It says on these records that you were one hundred and eighty-one centimeters tall."

Zero raised an eyebrow. He didn't ever recall telling the Association how tall he was. Or how old he was, for that matter. "…Where did they get my height?"

"They?"

"The Association. They were the ones who gave the paper to you, right?"

Haruka shook his head. "My brother Rido gave them to me."

An uneasy feeling settled in Zero's stomach, but he didn't question it. "My apologies." He politely gestured for Haruka to continue.

"Now, you are taller than my son is, and my son is one hundred and eighty-four. How is this so?"

A sense of déjà vu accompanied Zero's disconcerted smile. "I lived off of nothing but the blood of boars, bears, lions, and other giant animals for a long time. I never noticed the change in my height until now, actually," Zero responded. "I never thought to think how it might have affected me."

"So you have not fed from a human or vampire in a long time?"

"No, sir. Not for three hundred years."

Haruka looked amazed and leaned forward onto the desk. "And…how am I to be sure that one with power such as yours will not betray my son?"

Zero thumbed the bandage on his left arm and looked straight into the garnet-colored eyes of Haruka Kuran. "I swore a blood pact, my lord. I am never to betray your son, because I will otherwise kill myself before I enact such a crime."

The head of the Kuran family rested back against the chair, a thoughtful look on his face as he gazed at Zero. Silence reigned, and Zero's eyes flickered over to the mahogany bookshelves, lined with books of new and old, all with the famous orchid insignia of the Kuran family engraved on the spine of each. Sunlight flickered in through the library as Haruka continued to stare with his piercing scrutinizing. Then, Haruka finally spoke, his voice calm and quiet like Kaname's.

"I believe you."

Zero stood and shook his hand with his right hand.

~~o~~

Zero entered Kaname's room without qualm, examining the place carefully. Though it was rather silly, he even sniffed the furniture just in case he missed any signs of level E vampires around. When he was satisfied with the fact that the room was safe, he grinned to himself and plopped down onto the couch, allowing the back of his head to touch the top edge of the cushioned seat. He closed his eyes and relaxed.

Then his eyes opened again.

Goodness, his arm hurt so badly. He had been shot right in the elbow. And his graceless fall was something that everyone witnessed. It resembled more of a tackle than a push to save a life, actually. If Zero had seen it, his suspicions would only have been confirmed.

And then there was the matter of falling on the Pureblood he was supposed to guard. For a moment, Kaname Kuran's eyes had turned blood red with the scent of blood as Zero landed on him. Also, God, Kaname's body was soft. It was muscular, sure, but it was like resting on a muscled pillow. Perfection.

Argh, why am I even thinking about that?

Zero resisted the urge to bang his head against the hard part of the couch.

Just when his urge nearly won out, the door opened and Zero jumped to his feet, alert at once. He grinned when he realized it was just Yuki and bowed as much as he could without jarring his arm, attempting to mask his expression before he caught it.

She smiled with that mischievous expression. "Just call me Yuki, Zero."

Zero nodded and straightened up. Yuki had to tilt her head up to meet his eyes. He could just see the expression in her eyes: …He's even taller than my brother.

"Would you like anything to eat?" she asked.

"No, but thank you."

Tentatively, she stepped around the low coffee table and stood right before Zero, a nervous look on her face. "Do you…eat food?" The smile was gone from her face, instead replaced by an expression oscillating between her anxiety and her duty as a host, though this wasn't even her room.

He smiled at her, and she stepped back slightly, a blush on her face. "Never heard of it," he answered, bending down slightly so they were at eye level with each other. Then, teasingly, he licked his lips. Sensing her conflicted emotions, he straightened up again, causing relief to flood her face. "Do you know where the young lord is?"

Yuki tilted her head to the side. "Kaname? He's actually still outside, speaking with his friend Takuma. I came here because I was going to prepare tea for him…"

"Tea," Zero repeated.

"You've never heard of tea either?"

"Oh, no, I've heard of tea," Zero hastily amended. "It's just… Tea tastes very bitter." He made a face, and Yuki laughed. "Is your brother a very bitter person?"

Yuki giggled. "No, he isn't. He's very nice." Then, fixing Zero with a gaze that he swore was so penetrating that he wanted to shy away, she added, "He's very soft too."

Zero choked, and Yuki slipped past him to the table by the window, an extremely amused look on her face as she smiled widely to herself, readying tea for Kaname.