Soft White

Zero woke up on February fourteenth, a supposedly relaxing Saturday, to a flurry of activities. Blinking in confusion, he lightly rubbed at his eyes and headed for the bathroom. He should freshen up first before he tried to understand what in the world was going on outside in the halls from his room.

Stepping out in a towel, drying his hair, he heard a strained cough from the side of the room and saw his roommate staring. Natsume Takashi had been a recent addition; the chairman claiming there weren't any available rooms for the second year to stay in. The older boy was only staying for a semester, for a transfer program, before going back to his own high school.

"Natsume?"

"Kiryuu, how many times have I told you to get dressed before stepping out?"

Zero lightly inclined his head, "Sorry."

Natsume merely sent him a wry smile. This had been a repeating occurrence since he'd moved in. Kiryuu just didn't care, though Natsume wasn't necessarily bothered by it. He was more worried about his own classmates involved in the transfer program with him, who'd once walked in when the younger boy was walking around, not topless, as it usually was for males, but bottomless, his long milky legs in plain view.

Tohru had stared, Jun had stared, and even Atsushi and Satoru had stared. When Kiryuu just casually walked across them with a nod of acknowledgement, it was as though someone had run electricity through them and they nearly jumped, flushing, stammering and quickly turning around.

Since then, Natsume had caught his friends eying Kiryuu differently, and didn't want to give them any more chances to catch the boy in even more of a vulnerable state. Tohru and Jun tended to get a bit…weird when they saw something they liked. Kiryuu already had enough girls in his own school after him; Natsume didn't think he needed any more stalkers.

Disturbingly enough, he had also heard rumors about Kiryuu unintentionally succeeding in…well, turning a number of guys. Natsume could see why (more than he'd ever wanted), but he never put much into rumors, and a majority of the male population saw Kiryuu as a way to prove guys in the Day class could be just as capable of attracting girls as the Night class.

The unique diversion between Day class students and Night class students was what had first interested him in choosing Cross Academy in the transfer program. He'd never heard of such a system before and had been intrigued. Many high schools offered night classes for part time students or those that needed to make up a class, but those were usually offered to all students. For the student body to be permanently separated into Day and Night classes was a first for him.

He couldn't exactly see the reason for doing so until he saw the well-admired Night class students themselves during class changeover. He'd promptly paled, shivered, and hoped he never had to face them personally. They all had a certain atmosphere to them that was terribly unsettling. He wouldn't go so far as to say they weren't human (that sounded ridiculous and insulting), but there was something to them that his natural instincts disliked.

Well, intimidating Night class students or no, Natsume had enjoyed his stay here so far and intended for his pleasant days to last before having to go back.

"Natsume, do you know what's going on?"

Kiryuu's soft voice brought him out of his thoughts and Natsume followed the direction of his hand to the door.

"Oh, is that what got you up?" He chuckled lightly. "I wouldn't advise going out until things calm down for a bit."

"Why is that?"

"The girls apparently put up some embarrassing unmanly decorations overnight and the guys want it gone. I think they're overreacting." It was just some holiday day cheer. He was fairly certain the girls hadn't done it out of care and sensitivity, but for them, it was a special day, and with it came rights for sudden bouts of impishness.

"Unmanly decorations?"

"You know, long frilly stuff you hang up against the walls, glitter, shiny pink things, hearts (there were plenty of those), glitter, flowers, glitter…did I mention glitter?"

Kiryuu cracked a smile before asking, "Why did the girls feel the need to put them up?"

"Today's Valentine's Day. It'll either be their best or worst day, depending on how things go."

Zero nodded. So it was Valentine's Day. He didn't know much about it, as vampires didn't bother to honor it with chocolates, but he knew humans had a certain liking to it. The girls would usually give chocolate (preferably handmade, Raiga had mentioned) to their desired partner as a form of a love confession.

He couldn't understand the purpose of doing something like that (if you liked them, you liked them, why the need for chocolates?), but Raiga had said it was due to the romanticism of it all, that drew the attention of young girls. He'd given a blank shrug then, not expecting to ever experience Valentine's Day, as he was a pet.

Now though…well, he hoped Kaname would be alright. Surely he and Aido would be main targets for today.

'Who were the main targets again?' A taunting voice rang in Zero's mind (sounding suspiciously like Raiga) as he gazed down at the large pile of cutely wrapped chocolates on his desk. Some were on his chair and a few had landed on the floor.

Frowning, he asked the amused professor to be briefly excused in search of a bag to stuff the chocolates in so he could clear his desk and chair.

That…had been unexpected. But if Zero had received so much for no reason (that he could see), then how bad would it be for Kaname?

He couldn't see the pureblood outright rejecting every girl that was brave enough to approach him, but Zero couldn't imagine him gorging on chocolates either. What did he do with all of it?

No, wait. Before that, Zero had to figure out how to get rid of his own stash. He couldn't just keep it in his room to rot, but throwing them away seemed a bit rude. What if the girls found out or something? His bond with Kaname or no, his life would be forfeit if that happened.

"What am I going to do with you?" He grumbled, lightly shoving the bagful of sweets with his foot, his arms crossed.

"I don't know, why not eat them?"

"Yuuki." He hadn't even noticed she'd been at his door.

"Hi, Zero-kun. I was right. You got a lot today."

"I said you can drop the suffix." Really, he didn't know how many times he'd reminded her about it. "How did you know I'd get so many?"

Yuuki blinked. Was he for real? He hadn't noticed the stares? Ever since Yori-chan's brilliant 'plan' in practically using Zero as a dress up doll, the girls couldn't keep their eyes off of him, probably wondering what else he'd look good in. Their favorite was obviously the tight leather, though Kaname-sempai had been quick to rectify that.

"A lot of the girls like you, Zero."

"Why?" He seemed genuinely perplexed.

"Well…uh," you're hot? Sexy? Pretty? Handsome? She couldn't exactly say that out loud. "You're...fun?"

Zero blinked blankly. He'd never felt so lost in his life.

Cheeks flushing, Yuuki coughed lightly into a fist and went for a change in subject. "So, I came here for a reason…"

"Which is?"

She grinned. "This!" She flashed a small elegant bottle and pushed her finger down, letting the liquid inside spray out in a soft misty shower.

"…"

"What?" Yuuki pouted at his flat look.

"I don't know, you tell me. Was that supposed to do something?"

She just giggled. "Zero, you don't mind taking off your shirt right? I promise it's nothing bad." She sprayed the first patch of visible skin with whatever she was holding, and as the rest of his shirt came off, she went around and sprayed some more before pausing.

"It should start soon…" She murmured.

Zero blinked. He hadn't really noticed, since there was already a large pile of chocolates in his room, but as he raised one of his arms to his nose and took a sniff, he found himself smelling just like the sweets in his bag.

"Yuuki," he sighed. He couldn't go around smelling like this.

"I think it's cute. I didn't get to help the girls redecorate last night so I'm having my own fun." She went ahead and sprayed the scented liquid along his collarbone, her smile cheeky as he tensed at the coolness against his skin.

"It smells good, doesn't it?"

Zero just sent her a narrowed stare. He'd have liked to ask where that squeaky girl had gone, when she'd first met him, but it was obvious she'd seen him undressed one too many times to be shy around him now.

"Will this come off?"

"Yeah, but we have class changeover soon." They should already be at the gates, in fact. Zero quickly put his uniform back on and both prefects headed outside.

Holy… "They're like rabid beasts."

Yuuki elbowed him in the ribs. "Shh! It'd be bad if they hear you. Those 'beasts' are going to be after your butt, and believe me, you don't want an angry mob of girls after you on Valentine's Day."

Zero nodded. "Roger that. Now what should we do to keep ourselves from getting killed anyway?"

Yuuki laughed lightly. "Good question. They're a bit more…excitable today. We have to be careful…"

Just as she said this, Zero felt the Night class students approaching and for a brief second, wished he had a trumpet. Or a drum. Anything that was capable of loud noise would have sufficed.

Keeping in an exasperated sigh, he just followed routine procedure and tried to keep them back. "Please, keep back, I don't think they'd want girls pawing at them when they're going to class." He droned out. When the girls all pouted at him, he merely raised a brow. "I have access to all of your private information. If you want pictures of yourselves from today sent to your parents, then by all means, do continue. I'm sure they'll be very interested in what their daughters get up to after school."

Some of the members of the Night class shared a smile, having heard Zero's threat. And when they stepped through the gates, the path was (mostly) clear. It was almost unbelievable. Today was Valentine's Day after all.

Kaname, as always, led the class, staying ahead of everyone else. He nearly paused however, at the sweet scent coming off of Zero. If it didn't mix and mingle so well with the younger boy's original scent, he might have been a bit peeved. He never liked it when Zero's presence felt smothered, and when he couldn't smell him, it made Kaname uneasy.

But it was wonderful to find out Zero and chocolate went along so well. He should call Zero to his rooms later; he smiled to himself.

Natsume couldn't keep in a snort when he saw the bag filled with sweets by Zero's bed when he came in. It was such a contrast to his own friends lamenting about feeling so utterly unloved, having only received 'friendship' chocolate from Tohru and Jun. For many of the males he knew, Valentine's Day was just another way to score who was most popular with the girls – like a competition of sorts.

And Kiryuu obviously won it this year, he thought amusedly.

"Natsume," Zero gave a nod. Seeing his eyes on the bag, he sighed and sat on his bed. "Do you know what I should do with it? Frankly, it's a bit of a bother."

Natsume smiled, imagining his friends' reaction to such a statement. Atsushi and Satoru would throw a fit for sure. "A friend of mine, back at my school, would usually give his off to the kindergarten nearby. The chocolate wouldn't go to waste, and it makes the kids happy to get a few treats."

That sounded well enough. He'd have to ask someone if there was a kindergarten within walking distance.

"You're not dressing down for bed?" Natsume asked, seeing the other male still fully dressed in his uniform.

Zero shrugged. It was usually around this time when Kaname called for him. If he didn't, Zero simply assumed the pureblood had no need of his company for that night and would change for sleep.

And surely enough, he felt a warm tingle at his thigh, from his mark. Getting up, he headed for the door, to his Keeper, wondering how he might service him for the night.

"Kaname?"

Zero felt him before he ever saw him, and his body was much too late in responding, though he doubted he would have, if given the chance. Kaname's arms went around his waist, lightly pulling him back against him, his soft lips brushing his ear.

"How was your day?"

"I would be lying if I said it was just like any other day, but there wasn't anything too remarkable going on." Except for the girls going a little high on the spirit of Valentine's.

"And the reason for your change in scent?" The tip of Kaname's nose brushed against the back of his neck.

Zero tensed. Damn it, he should've taken a shower to at least try to get it off before Kaname had called to him. He would've loved to blame Yuuki, but he'd had plenty of time and opportunity to wash it off. He only had himself to blame.

Turning in Kaname's arms, he kept his eyes on the pureblood's chest. "I'm sorry, I could—"

The back of an elegant finger pressed to his lips, stopping his apology and offer to wash the scent off now. "Why say such things, Zero? I know enough to assume you didn't do this on your own."

"Yes," Zero whispered. "You've mentioned your dislike of anything masking my scent." He would never do anything to deliberately anger Kaname. "But still, I could have washed it off before coming here, and—"

"It's alright. I don't mind it." Kaname smiled, tilting Zero's down turned face up with a gentle nudge of his finger. "It rather suits you."

"Me smelling like chocolate?" Zero asked incredulously.

"Yes." He dipped his head, glad Zero had a certain dislike for ties and a tendency to keeping the top few buttons of his shirt undone, burying face against the elegant slope of his neck, breathing in through his nose.

Delicious.

And, his eyes widened in wonder, it tasted even better. It was as though there really was chocolate poured over Zero's pearly white skin. Parting his lips further, he took his time lapping up the column of Zero's neck, leaving a trail of cool, wet skin. Closing his eyes, he cradled the younger boy's head against his palm and suckled gently, scraping his teeth as he dragged his mouth down.

Zero let out a soft, breathy groan, tilting his head into Kaname's hand, giving the pureblood more access. He hadn't expected for Kaname to react in such a way, and he'd also expected for a quiet night, but (his breath hitched as Kaname's hot mouth moved along his jaw, slowly making its way to the spot below his ear) it seemed tonight was going to be anything but quiet.

Kaname smirked as he gave a firm suck right where he knew would work to speed up the process in completely undoing Zero, relishing the long moan that poured from his throat. Settling him against the wall, Kaname slowly dragged his hand down the other boy's clothed chest, 'undoing' the rest of the buttons as he went, and sliding his fingers along Zero's sensitive sides, making the muscle under his silky skin tremble.

The younger boy was still so delightfully responsive… The pureblood loved being the only one to ever to gain such honest reactions from him, the only one Zero gave complete trust to, the only Zero gave his complete attention to… A part of him briefly wondered how much chocolate Zero had received from those girls today, but the thought was gone just as fast as it came, his mind and body much too taken with giving his precious pet all the pleasure he deserved.

"Nn…" Zero's grip tightened around Kaname's dark shirt, pulling it down as he bit his lip, shuddering at the careful attention being paid to one of his nipples, and getting a clearer view of Kaname's pale shoulder as he tugged on it further.

He didn't know if he could continue to keep himself up, and when he felt Kaname's fingers ghosting over his skin, right above his waistline, one of his knees gave out, eliciting a startled gasp from him and an embarrassed flush adding to his already flaming red cheeks. Thankfully, Kaname had caught him before he fell any further; pressing a kiss to his brow as he gently led them to the closest piece of furniture, his couch.

"I'm sorry," Zero whispered, his lips trembling. He wanted to be able to serve Kaname to the best of his abilities in all ways, but when it came to being physically intimate, he felt like a twelve-year-old boy visiting a lingerie store for the first time. Not to mention, the way he just seemed to lose himself whenever Kaname initiated anything sexual was a bit of a problem. It should be him paying attention to what Kaname needed, not the other way around, but he had no idea how to proceed or even start, and that frustrated him enough to bring angry tears to his stinging eyes. He was afraid (deathly afraid) Kaname would soon get tired and disappointed with his lack of experience, always having to do all the work.

"No, I'm sorry Zero, I shouldn't have rushed things," Kaname smiled gently, running a hand through Zero's silvery locks. "I didn't mean to scare you." He'd seen the fear in his kitten's beautiful eyes and knew it was time to stop.

"I wasn't scared." Zero said softly. Not of you or what you were going to do. "Just…I, I don't know anything, and I thought…"

"Thought?" Kaname continued to slide his fingers through the other's hair, knowing it calmed him to some degree.

"You…wouldn't want t-to do anything to me," Zero forced out. Ugh, it was so hard; did Kaname even understand what he was talking about? He sounded like an idiot. His face felt like hot burning coals; he was so embarrassed.

When he heard Kaname laugh softly by his ear, he wanted to melt into the couch. Since that wasn't possible, he turned his face into Kaname's shoulder and squeezed his eyes shut as he felt them sting. He felt so useless...

"Zero, you have no idea how much I want you," Kaname murmured, his voice husky and his breath hot. Zero really didn't. He'd thought Kaname wouldn't want to do anything to him? Wait till he found out just how much Kaname did want to do – he'd probably have wished to stay blissfully ignorant.

"It's okay for you to not know anything," Kaname continued. He was to blame for that anyway, not that he felt the least bit guilty. "Everything has a starting point. You will learn as we go, there's nothing wrong with taking things steady."

"But you…well," Zero simply let his gaze fall to the obvious source of why they were having this conversation in the first place.

If he said he was completely at ease and perfectly comfortable, it'd be a total lie, but Kaname could bear it. He didn't mind holding himself back if it was for Zero. He'd never force things on him or push him into doing things he was obviously not yet ready for.

Kaname chuckled lightly and brushed the back of his fingers along Zero's fine skin, down his cheek, and pressed a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth. "It's fine, I'll take care of it. You don't need to worry yourself Zero."

"But…" He still wanted to at least do something for him. Ease his…arousal…

As if reading his thoughts, Kaname smiled reassuringly and brought Zero closer into his arms. "Just stay with me Zero." I don't need anything else. "Your presence here is enough."

Zero looked defiantly up at his Keeper, far from assured, and promised himself to learn as much as he could about…pleasing him, before something like this happened again. He couldn't leave Kaname hanging this way every time they started something.

I'm sorry, he apologized again for good measure. Maybe he could ask Natsume about some of these things. It couldn't hurt to gather outside opinions or suggestions. He was a pleasant person to be around. Zero was sure he must've had a relationship (humans liked to 'explore' in their teenage years, Raiga had mentioned) or could even be involved with someone now.

Having figured out a vague direction to go in, Zero felt a bit calmer. He could do this. He wouldn't disappoint Kaname anymore.

"Yori-chan, do you think it worked?"

"Of course. My formulas are flawless, Yuuki." It wasn't confidence that made her so certain, just the simple hard fact that she was very, very good at what she did.

Yuuki giggled, tucked warmly under her covers. "Of course. I'm glad Kaname-sempai and Zero-ku – I mean Zero, will be so happy. It's Valentine's Day, so they should spend it together."

"Mm." Sayori murmured incoherently. She snapped to attention however, at her best friend's next question. "And what about you, Yori-chan? Did you give him your chocolate?"

"Yes," she answered, unable to hide the smirk on her lips. Yuuki would've pitied the recipient if she'd been able to see it in the darkened room.

Instead, she cheerily chirped out, "Oh good, since it was made by Yori-chan, it's bound to taste really good!"

Sayori laughed softly. Of course. And it would taste so mouthwateringly delicious, he wouldn't notice a thing. She truly loved being able to fiddle with just about anything and having inherited her mother's sharp nose and talent for perfume making. It came in oh so handy at the most convenient of times.

Yuuki closed her eyes, content with the knowledge that her most important person and her fellow prefect, someone who she'd come to view as a close friend, were enjoying themselves and everything for her roommate and best friend seemed to be in perfect order.

Akatsuki looked over at his cousin, alarmed at the lack of color on his face, which was now rapidly turning green. "Hanabusa?" He questioned, a smidgeon of concern lining his voice.

"Ah, it's nothing, just a bit nauseous, ha, ha…"

Akatsuki snorted. "Too much of those chocolates can give you a bad stomach. How many times have Ruka and I warned you about that?"

Hanabusa didn't bother to refute his cousin's warning, too busy trying to keep in the contents of his stomach. Akatsuki might have been right last year, but this year, he'd only deigned to eat one elegantly wrapped piece that he'd personally received. He'd been delighted of course, and knew it was special. That getting something like this from her, couldn't compare with anything he got from those other flirty girls (though they were cute, and had their own charm, he admitted).

Groaning, he gave his protesting stomach a few soothing rubs that hardly did anything to help. Yeah, that chocolate was special alright, he grumbled. It'd tasted so good, how could it do this to him?

Disclaimer: No own Vampire Knights.

Ah, this was just something for a bit of Valentine's cheer :D Well, that, and I just finished reading Stuck With You by YenGirl a couple of hours ago...*giggle*

I hope you guys enjoyed it :)

Thank you for your reviews for My Life With You and those who've favorited or alerted this story! *bows* Happy Valentine's Day!