Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight or any of the characters within this story. Contains yaoi, OOC and all the other things purists hate. Rated M for later chapters (c'mon what's wrong with a little romance first!). Please Read and Review If you have any storyline clarifications, ideas or requests pls send me a PM.

KanamexZero

Many thanks to x3CAMden for Beta!

Authors note: This is the second chapter of my new fic. Don't worry I'm going to finish Moonlight before I really jump into this story.

Sorry for the odd formatting I dont know whats up with that!

Hana

Le Chat Noir Chapt. 2

(The Black Cat)

By

Hanamaru

Zero

The bus ride seemed to take forever but Zero was used to hard travel from his
vampire hunting missions. They were anything but luxurious and usually
resulted in him being covered by blood, guts, dirt and sweat, along with a
horrible smell.

His own vampiric tendencies had been resolved a year or so ago. A liquid substitute been developed and Zero found he could tolerate the new substance. That
had ended his brief and uncomfortable reliance on Kaname Kuran, something he
did not like to look back on. The intimacy of feeding had affected both of
them and it was a relief when he could tolerate the blood substitute.

The bus stopped in the small hamlet that serviced the college, the local school for hunters', and the surrounding areas. The village and campuses were located amidst lush rolling hills dotted here and there with large mansions on many
acres of land. Occasionally horses could be seen grazing, their immaculately groomed coats gleaming in the sun. Though the village was small, it held several high-end restaurants and clothing stores to serve the inhabitants of the mansions and the stray college student with money to burn. There was also an old fashioned general store, a small but well-stocked grocery, and a music store that sold CDs, DVDs and concert tickets. He hoped he could find a job in this small village but the odds were not good.

Zero left his suitcase at the stop where the Hunters' shuttle would pick him
up and roamed around town briefly. It seemed pleasant enough. He
totally missed the uproar he caused among the shop clerks, bank tellers, and customers.

"What a hottie!"

"That guy is gorgeous!"

"IWDH!" (Short for 'I would do him' without embarrassing yourself in a crowd;
true story!)

"OMG I hope he's not gay."

"OMG I hope he is gay."

The boy concluded his survey of the town and returned in time to meet the
shuttle. Approaching the hunter school, he could see a large building on impeccably maintained grounds. There were a variety of outdoor structures for training in
various scenarios as well as an Olympic-sized pool and track. He could see a
few horses grazing and assumed that there must be a small stable as well. That
pleased him as he loved horses and riding things were looking good.

He was greeted warmly but the staff at the training center. He knew many
from the various missions he had been on, and the rest knew of him by
reputation. He was given a private dorm room, cafeteria privileges, and was told he could stay as long as he needed. He knew he could always earn money by going on a few missions over the summer. They were risky but paid very well. He went to his room to settle in and perhaps catch a nap.

Although staying at the hunter school would be economical, Zero wanted to at
least try being a regular student and live on campus.

Kaname

Kaname arrived at the main mansion for his family. Although they had
holdings in many places this was considered home. He was taking on the family
business full time, in addition to being an advisor to the Vampire Council. Although he had been running a great deal of the business from Cross Academy, it was a protected atmosphere and he needed to focus on international projects and politics. To this end he had decided to take a few higher level business classes at a nearby institution that met his standards and requirements. Pulling a few strings, he had the basic requirements waived and was taking classes of his choice in the fall. That would give him the summer to assess the Kuran holdings and to decide what areas he would focus on in the fall.

Zero

After a few days acclimating to the hunter's school and surrounding area,
the hunter decided it was time to look for a job. There was larger town a short
distance away, but the transit system was sporadic and would limit his work
hours. He had prepared a resume and decided to pass it out around the
businesses in the village. He was willing to do almost anything as long as it
paid decently and would work around his schedule in the fall. Taking hunter
missions would be profitable but too chaotic for his school schedule. He was also determined to live a "normal" life for the first time.

As he walked through the village, he was surprised by the friendliness of the
townspeople. They seemed delighted to meet him and engage in small talk to
find out more about him. Per his natural inclination he steered conversations
carefully away from himself and his past. Everyone he met felt that he was
easy to talk to, intelligent, polite and a bit on the shy side, but adorably
so. He had most of the girls and a few of the guys swooning. Finding a gorgeous guy like Zero who was also nice and smart wasn't all that easy in this small town. Zero was the total package and several set their hats to wooing the silver haired hunter. In his wake were murmured remarks:

"He has the most beautiful eyes!"

"His hair looks so soft..."

"He must work out, what a great body!"

"He is so mysterious..."

The local business owners seemed delighted to take his resume and promised to review it quickly. Zero returned to the hunter's school in a relaxed frame of mind. This new life was turning out to be quite pleasant. Here, he was not forced into protecting vampires. I fact, there didn't seem to be any around at all. He had wondered if he would ever feel for another woman as he felt for Yuuki in his romantic phase. This was a chance to meet someone new, someone just for him. Without competition from Kuran.

Zero smiled briefly, they had both lost out on Yuuki, to Aido of all people. The joke was certainly on them. Kuran couldn't have imagined that someone would choose another over him. The boy briefly wondered what the brunette vampire was up to these days. He sighed and pushed the thought away, he had a new life now and Kuran was no part of it.

A few days later, Zero received a call from the most expensive restaurant in
town, Chat Noir, which specialized in Asian European fusion cuisine. This
basically gave them license to serve whatever they wanted, give it a fancy
name and charge astronomically for it. Zero had mentioned his interest in
cooking on his resume, and thus, the owner of Chat Noir wanted to meet with him to
discuss his abilities and have the boy cook a few dishes to test his skill and
style. Zero was elated; finally, a job doing something he loved. He just
hoped he was skilled enough to get the job. The pay was excellent and he was
required to work only on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 4 to 10 p.m. The
restaurant was small and intimate so he could put a personal touch on each
entrée. The café served dinner until 10 p.m. but stayed open till 1 a.m.
for cocktails, coffee drinks, and dessert.

Butter browned in a pan while in another, broth was being reduced to a strong
base stock. Zero was expertly preparing a fresh trout browned in butter and
garlic while starting a base for French Onion soup. The owner of Chat Noir
had proved to be interesting and articulate, he was well-travelled and had
sold his considerable business holdings to retire in the village and realize his
dream of opening an intimate fine dining restaurant. He found Zero to be intelligent,
courteous and surprisingly, an amazing cook. The boy was quite good at
creating new recipes and improving on old ones, but didn't mind sticking to trademark menu items. With study of past menus, there was no doubt Zero would quickly come up to speed. They decided he would start the following week and the summer would serve as trial period. If all things worked out, he would be a permanent part-timer starting in the fall. They both felt pleased with the arrangement. Zero spent his time the next few days studying the prior menus and recipes, as well as looking up information on the internet. He was excited about his new job; it was so different from being a hunter or student. A chance to let out the latent creativity he had deeply submerged.

Kaname

Kaname sighed and rubbed his forehead; he had been reading profit and loss
statements, balance sheets, and acquisition documents all week and had a
roaring headache to show for it. How he wished for something to break this
crushing workload. Here at the Kuran mansion he was alone apart from the servants, and they would not dream of conversing with the master. Occasionally, his executives or those of other companies would come in person to meet with him, otherwise, he would drive to the closest large city with an airport, but these trips were few and far between. Usually, meetings were by teleconference or video conference. He detested these most of all; how could you get a feel if someone would make a worthwhile business partner if you couldn't sense their aura or determine if they were lying?

The vampire council relied on him much more heavily than he had imagined. It seemed as though there was never a single minute for him alone or with close friends. He missed the camaraderie of Cross academy, Ichijou, Kain, Aido, Shiki, Zero…

What? He missed Kiryu? Kaname thought about it, he did miss the boy. Zero never sucked up to him, was brutally honest and never hid his opinions. It would be refreshing to have some of that now.

The brunette sighed and then perked up; he would have dinner in town. That
would be a welcome break from this never ending paper puzzle, and besides, he had heard wonderful things about the new chef at Chat Noir, the village's premier
restaurant.

He called for his majordomo and requested reservations for 9:30 that night.

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Love,

Hana