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.

Thanks to all who are reading, reviewed, alerted, and favorited.

Congratulations! The Vampire Knight is no longer on hiatus! But be warned of totally late updates. I'm very sorry. School's years started, but I can't just abandon this story. D:

Early update. Merry Christmas. :) It's only two thousand words, but I think that there's enough action in here to make you guys laugh somewhat.

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight.


~~o~~

"In a real dark night of the soul, it is always three o'clock in the morning, day after day." –F. Scott Fitzgerald

~~o~~


"I think there's a reason why you can't walk for more than a mile before sitting down, Zero," Kaname informed him as he pressed a cool cloth, courtesy of the abundance of rain, to Zero's forehead. "And I believe it is also your bullheadedness."

Zero mumbled an incoherent reply, groaned, and rolled over on his side, swatting at Kaname's hand and then ignoring him all together. Man, he felt like shit. Total shit. What was in Rido's poison anyway? The mass of an entire elephant? Because that's what Zero's chest felt like it was being restricted by. He groaned again, wrested the cloth from Kaname's finger, and pressed it against his forehead. Yes, he felt like so much shit that it was completely unbelievable. In all those years of surviving by himself in the wilderness, he made it just fine, without poisoning—never coming down with a fever unless he had caught some sort of disease from the blood of the animals…but then he recovered.

And faintly, he remembered one time that he was put through the exact same situation—drinking from a stream of poison, the source of it a giant factory, flooding out waste by the gallons. Zero had been pretty pissed. The factory did shut down…but definitely not because of Zero. No. Definitely not.

He thought about those times while Kaname silently sat next to him.

All those times, he had been alone, without anyone to take care of him. And though Kaname was doing a pretty shitty job at being a nurse, Zero supposed he was better than nothing.

So he turned over on his side, yawning, and tapped Kaname's arm.

"Yes?" Kaname asked, looking down at him with a confused expression.

"I know that it's raining, but to be honest, I feel too much like shit to do anything about it…so if you don't mind…" He curled up into a little ball, his head resting only centimeters from Kaname's hand, and pulled the damp cloth over his eyes.

They sat under a little enclosing of trees, somehow keeping themselves somewhat dry. Their shoes were soaked, their clothes had specks of rain, and their hair was somewhat salvaged, but everything was all right. For Kaname, anyway. Zero felt like the shit left behind by a smug dog. And because he felt like that, that must have been a perfectly valid reason for him to start taking off his shoes and socks to dry as he placed them up on a large tree root.

"What are you doing, Zero?" Kaname's voice floated over to him tiredly.

"We won't be walking for a while, Kaname," he mumbled in response just as tiredly. "The rain is rather heavy, and I don't fancy taking a stroll with my eyes drowning in water."

"And you were the one who said we had nine days to find and kill him," Kaname pointed out.

Zero swatted blindly at him. "Shut it. That was before I realized that the poison was this bad."

The poison had to have spread throughout his body now. His lungs were in tatters, his heartbeat like a kid who couldn't carry a tune, and his entire body ached crazily. His legs were sore even after a mile—when he could have run for two with no sweat—and his fingers hurt from gripping Bloody Rose too tightly (ironically, to alleviate the pain), his wrist also hurting from the strain his fingers were exerting. He expected to have recovered, but it was raining, it was evening, and the sky was getting dark.

Zero shifted his head slightly, his neck sore too.

Kaname watched him mutely, feeling Zero's smooth silver hair glide over his fingers. It was soft, and he wanted to touch it for himself…but then Zero would definitely shoot him. There wouldn't be any qualm about the 'laws' that Zero had to uphold—he would have been too far gone in the poisonous haze. The stubborn vampire! If only he would drink Kaname's blood, everything would be much easier. Instead, Zero had to insist on staying like this, stating he would recover easily and they could get going in no time.

Well, they certainly weren't going right now.

Why can't you rely on me? Kaname thought, frustrated, looking down at Zero with a miniscule frown. His fingers brushed over Zero's hair.

And then he tugged. Sharply. His eyes narrowed as he realized he couldn't hear Zero breathing. "Zero."

There wasn't a response.

"Zero!" Kaname dragged him up by the collar and started to shake him. "Zero!"

The rain pounded in his ears, to the point where he couldn't even tell if that harsh breathing was his. And then, he detected a faint murmuring and leaned closer to Zero's mouth, brow furrowed, mouth thinned.

"Kaname…you…bastard… M'm…sleeping…" Zero muttered, his voice slurred.

Kaname let go of Zero's collar with a surprised face, and Zero dropped back to the floor with a pained groan.

"You…fucker…"

But Kaname ignored him and stared down at his own fingers, wondering why he had overreacted. If Zero had died, he should have just left him there. He had a mission to fulfill. And the Knight had been nothing short of annoying from the day Kaname met him…

"Zero," Kaname said to him softly, right next to his ear.

"…Wha…?"

"Drink my blood."

Zero's eyes shot open, narrowing, even as flashes of pain traveled through his gaze. "…No."

The night blanketed the sky. Everything was dark. And though it stopped raining, everything was damp and silvery in the moonlight. Kaname's eyes, visibly narrowed and undistinguishable from red and garnet, pierced Zero with absolute command. He grasped Zero's collar again, pulled him up by the neck despite the fact that Zero was aching all over, and pushed Zero's head into the crook of his neck.

"If you don't drink, I will make you this time."

"…Don't…want…to…" Zero protested weakly, but his eyes flashed red. He was weakened, he hadn't drunk blood for more than a week, and Kaname's blood… oh goodness, Kaname's blood. He tried to inch away, uncurling and digging his foot into the damp grass as he tried to shift away. "…Let…go."

"Drink my blood. Drink it."

Zero growled, but it sounded more like an agonized groan more than anything. "…No… Let…go of….me…d-damn you—" He let out a strangled cry, and his eyes assimilated fully to crimson as his fangs sank into Kaname's neck. This…bastard… Now I am truly his Knight.

They were too absorbed in the odd feeling of the final ceremony being initiated to hear the cracking of branches beneath feet. And then, a shriek rang through the woods, and Kaname's eyes shot wide open; Zero quickly pulled away from his neck and wiping his mouth with his hand, wiping his hand on the grass. He rapidly turned around, almost getting whiplash, as pure power coursed through his veins. He could run for miles without tiring.

A young woman stood there, eyes widened, a lantern hanging from her outstretched arm as she stared at the two. Kaname cupped a hand to his neck, but she didn't see it. Rather, she only saw what had happened before.

"I-I'm sorry…" she mumbled. "I… I wasn't aware that there were people…here…"

Zero exchanged a glance with Kaname. "What did you see?"

"N-Nothing!"

"We won't hurt you if you tell us," Kaname added, his voice gentle and kind. A giant contrast to Zero's demanding, impatient tone.

"Uh… Well…" She blushed. "I didn't mean to…stumble upon your…intimate moment… I just—"

"Our what?" Zero interrupted, and she flinched.

Kaname placed his hand on Zero's shoulder, restricting and warning. "I assure you that we do not mind." He smiled at Zero, who scowled at him. "Either way, would you happen to know where we might find a cave? It is particularly popular as a tourist attraction somewhere within this region."

"Oh, uh, the Cave of Candor?"

I suppose that will do… Unpleasant truths and candor do match up somewhat, Kaname mused. "Yes."

Her face brightened. "It's five miles from here, as long as you keep straight to this path. Then there's a small town that hosts the tourism business, so if you want to visit, you'll have to get an admission ticket…"

How troublesome. "Thank you for your help."

Zero, meanwhile, turned away, sulking with a horrorstricken face. Intimate moment. Intimate moment. What the fuck is wrong with girls these days? Do they automatically assume that everyone is in some sort of an intimate moment?

Kaname nudged Zero as the girl hurriedly scampered away. "That was very impolite."

"Screaming while I was drinking blood was very impolite," he retorted. "And then implying that I was… with you…" He shuddered.

"Oh, do you want to drink more?"

"No thank you, bastard."

The pureblood smirked. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I want to murder you," Zero replied honestly. "But I can't, because I'm officially your Knight."

"You say that as if it were a crime."

Zero groaned. "I liked my freedom while it was unhindered, you know."

"When this is over, I assure you that I will find another Knight while you wander off in the wilderness to do as you please," Kaname replied.

"Fine with me."

"Well, shall we get moving? It is nighttime, and your energy is probably sufficiently replenished."

Zero mutely put his shoes and socks on as Kaname towered above him.

~~o~~

They reached the town by morning, and Zero thought with triumph, eight more days. Eight more days, and then he could retire from being a Knight, like Kaname said, and everything would be perfect. He grinned with expectancy and felt better at this fact. The streets were bustling with people, young, old; men, women. Kaname looked much more apprehensive here, but Zero felt perfectly relaxed. He would shoot down Rido, and everything would fall into place. No war, no destruction, and an era of peace.

"The first thing we should do is find shelter."

Zero grinned. "Since we lost the bag..."

"So for once you aren't the one indignant at the thought of it!"

"No, because you have to sleep with me in the wilderness." He smirked triumphantly. Then the smirk faltered as what he said registered, and an embarrassed blush tinted his cheeks instead. "That came out…really wrong. Extremely wrong." He sighed. "Just forget it."

Kaname's lips quirked upwards. "I see that you're very eager to reenact what happened last night, then." He continued walking, and Zero matched his stride easily as soon as he recovered from that humiliating moment.

"Wait. The first thing we should do is try to find the cave. How do you know he will be there?"

Kaname finally smiled fully as he turned to Zero. "He is very weakened. His body, from contracting all of those Level E's and placing them under his own control, is currently unable to move very far. But as soon as the tourist attraction opens up…he'll have many victims to feed from."

"That doesn't sound good."

"It doesn't," Kaname agreed solemnly.

~~o~~

"They've been missing for three days, Yuki. They wouldn't disappear without a reason," Haruka insisted, sitting at his desk, pinching the bridge of his nose. "What would incite him to run away…?"

Yuki shifted in her seat listlessly as Ichiru knelt by her side, gaze resting on the floor. "I don't know, Father," she said quietly.

For five days straight, she had been interrogated, gently by her mother, sternly by her father. Both were worried for Kaname's wellbeing, but Yuki had promised not to tell, and Ichiru would never betray his twin's trust for the world. Surely…surely they could see the internal suffering that caused her to writhe in her sleep? She wanted to tell them, but she couldn't. She knew that this was something Kaname had to do by himself, with his Knight, Zero, at his side.

For the good of the vampires and the Knights.

"The major war is causing an uproar," he said, rubbing his temple now irritably. "The last thing we need is for them to have run off."

Yuki gripped the hem of her skirt, and almost jumped when she felt Ichiru place his hand over her. She looked over to him, and he smiled reassuringly.

"He'll come back," Yuki said with conviction.

And meanwhile, in the other town, Zero swatted at Kaname's hand, shouting, "I refuse to pretend to be in an intimate moment with you!"