Misery Loves Company II - A Vampire Knight Fanfiction by Clue-sama .{Sequel}.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything legally affiliated with Vampire Knight as made by Matsuri Hino. But I do own Nezu Harita and Eiji Nanako. Any ideas regarding things not explained already in the manga/anime that I use that other authors have already used, credit goes to them.
Author's Notes: I started on this one right after I finished the last chappie, but got all tired! So I hope you enjoy the (kind of) quick update! I believe things will unfold a bit in this one!
Ahaha- Ash4ever, I know Eiji is kind of... well... gay, but that's how I wanted him to counter Nezu's personality and besides, yes, it IS funny! :D I luff him, he's fun to type out. X3
Chappie Warnings: Hm. A little KanaxZero fluff and drama! :o
For the love of all that is holy and sinful, enjoy it!!! XD
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Chapter 5- Knowledge
His fingers ran through the silvery-white locks tiredly. This was going absolutely nowhere. Zero closed his latest research book with a frustrated slam. His thirst was still acting as if he wasn't a Level D going on E, but he didn't know why, or if it was really a good thing. Of course, it was good now, but what if it actually meant that he had some disease or something like that? Kaname kept saying that he would know if his lover were ill or anything dangerous, but still... it would be nice to have official proof. But any records of changed vampires not going mad, it was simply because that vampire had gotten its master's blood. And Zero hadn't ever directly had Shizuka's blood so that couldn't be the case.
Reaching up, he crossed another theory off of a piece of paper tacked to his bulletin board. There was only a few more left and the one that was up next for intense research was...
"'Once removed'."
Zero had noticed that he had drank from Ichiru, who had used to drink Shizuka's blood to make him stronger, before his thirst started easing up. But... Kaname had also told him that he had also taken from the crazed pureblood when he killed her. So what Zero had to work with was the fact that he had two sources of once removed blood from his maker. Tapping the pencil against his lips as he did when he thought, Zero pondered over this before looking into it further.
"But when I took from Kaname the first time, it only held my hunger at bay, not leveled it. When my bloodlust would come back, it would be even worse, but now, it's still bearable. It wasn't until I bit my brother that one time that it started to ease up. ...So maybe, since it's just mixed forms of her blood, it had something to do with the percentage I absorbed..."
His eyes sparked slightly with another lead and he leaned over to look around in the books he'd already checked out from the Moon Dorm's library for something that may have material on this, but as he did, he heard someone knocking on his door. He used his keen senses and found that it was Yuuki.
"Door's unlocked, come in," he called, sitting back up.
As his friend came in, looking excited, Zero grabbed another sheet of paper and scribbled down notes so he wouldn't forget his train of thought on the percentage thing. While he wrote, Yuuki suddenly started to tug at him.
"Zero! What are you doing?! The party starts in five minutes and you're doing homework?" she squeaked.
Zero smiled softly and finished, standing up from his desk that was strewn with things that had nothing to do with maths or language arts.
"I'm ready to go, so don't worry." Yes, he was already wearing his dark grey overcoat that ended just above his knees, buttoned all the way down to his waist. Kaname's gifts were all ready wrapped and in a gift bag by his bed. He'd gotten his lover more than a scarf- he couldn't help it. Yuuki's gift was also ready, but that was small enough to fit in his pocket and she didn't catch him buying it so it was a surprise, too. Zero hadn't seen her get him anything, but he secretly hoped she did because the older prefect saw her pick out a really nice billfold for the pureblood. It had the English letter 'K', for his name, sewn into the outside with a fancy script in red thread while the actual leather was black.
"I was waiting for you, Yuuki. ...Is Kaname out there too?" Zero continued, looking out into the hall where Yuuki had left the door open.
"No. He's already at the party. I told him to go ahead of us while I got you in case you hadn't wrapped your gifts for him."
The silver-haired vampire frowned slightly in disappointment while he murmurred, "Well they were wrapped." and Yuuki saw his pout before he could catch himself.
She grinned and teased, "Aw, it's okay, Zero! He also looked sad that he wouldn't be able to walk his princess to the ball."
The taller teen blushed and hissed, "Princess!"
Yuuki just giggled and whapped him in the chest saying, "Come on, or we'll be late!"
--
"Welcome, Disciplinary Committee! Please, come in. Dinner will be in little while, so make yourselves at home," Ichijou cheerfully greeted Zero and Yuuki. The bouncy noble sure made a good people-greeter.
The two prefects stepped into the foyer, after the blonde took their coats and gifts, and were further welcomed by beautiful reds, greens and whites and maybe some gold and silver. They both had helped decorate, true, but it seemed different when it was completely lit up and warmed by a fire in the old hearth and dotted with people. It seemed... nice. And actually, now that Zero was here, he was feeling a little nervous. He never really got along with the Night Class when they weren't working together for a like-minded cause and now that that was over... what reason did he have to be around them? They had been much nicer since Kaname had let his inner circle (who were really the only people here) know that he and the hunter were together, but still...
"Zero?" Yuuki quietly said, touching his arm to get his attention. She had noticed him looking a tad uneasy and wouldn't want him to be uncomfortable here.
The silver-haired teen started slightly and told himself to calm down. What was there to be nervous about? The others didn't HATE him... well, not like they used to anyway and besides, it was the holidays; if he were all tense tonight, it would ruin the mood.
"I'm fine. Come on, I see food."
Yuuki gave him one more run-over with her eyes to see anymore signs, but he did say he was fine so...
"Good! I'm starving!"
Zero watched his friend head over to the table set up with snacks so people wouldn't get too hungry and as she did he difted along the wall for a moment, discreetly looking for a certain pureblood. The hunter could feel that he was here, but where exactly...? He saw Takuma and
Rima... Aidou, Kain and Ruka...
"Kiryuu-san."
Zero started slightly at the soft, low voice that sounded near him and he looked to his right to see a sytlishly ruffled mane of cranberry-colored hair. From under it's fringe, two greyish-blue eyes looked up at him.
"Shiki... san..." Zero said, adding 'san' in quickly. He used to just call them all by their surnames, but maybe some respect was due now. After all... it wasn't as if he wanted them to not like him.
The young model tilted his head slightly and although he seemed bored, Zero kind of could tell that Shiki wasn't really here to ask him anything that wasn't short of conversation. Besides, Shiki always looked bored.
"Are you keeping warm? It's getting cold," he simply said, his clear eyes holding Zero's lilac ones effortlessly even as the taller teen felt a little confused. Why was Senri asking him this? Did someone tell him to- were they teasing him... But... no, it didn't feel like that. It felt like Shiki was actually talking to him like Aidou was talking to Kain or Takuma to Rima. As Zero glanced around the room swiftly, no one's eyes were on them as if they wanted to see how their dare was going. Of course, occasionally they would catch this strange sight, but only because they were as surprised as the silver-haired vampire was.
"Um... I guess I have. I mean... I haven't caught a cold yet, so..." Zero murmurred a little awkwardly.
Shiki's perfect lips curled a little at the ends and he said, "Kiryuu, you are a vampire, you can't catch a cold."
At first, Zero felt his chest tighten at that, but it quickly ceased. He had come to terms... He was a vampire and there wasn't anything he could do about it... And maybe, because Senri was saying this to him so casually, it meant that maybe they accepted him at least, as one of their race.
"Oh... I seem to keep forgetting," the hunter chuckled softly, shifting to lean on his other hip. Looking at him, Shiki didn't look like the type to be able to talk to so easily, but he was.
At a summon from Takuma to help set the presents under the tree, Shiki nodded to the hunter and said in his calm voice, "Merry Christmas, Kiryuu-san" and left. As he did, Ichijou noticed and called to Zero, "Sorry to take him... And good job on the tree, Zero-kun!"
In the corner of his eye, Zero saw Yuuki turn at the shout and he nodded slightly to Takuma before looking at her. She looked between the two other nobles and her prefect buddy and smiled. Still over by the wall, he smiled back. This wasn't too bad... They were being nice so far. Of course, Ruka and Aidou hadn't been giving him simple or friendly glances yet like the others. But, because of this, Zero knew that Kaname had not asked them to be nice! If the pureblood had, even Ruka and AIdou would be exchanging polite looks with their dear President's lover.
"I see you fit in quite nicely, Zero..."
The male prefect's skin crawled at the sweet whisper and he resisted an urge to yelp as he turned.
"Kaname!" he hissed. "You did it again!"
The brunette laughed softly as his friends turned to look their way, and Zero blushed as Kaname leaned over to kiss his cheek gently even though the others were looking.
"I'm sorry."
Zero swatted at the pureblood and turned to sulk closer into a secluded area of the room. They had grinned knowingly! (Except for the two gung-ho members of the inner-circle, naturally.) Did Kaname have no shame!? But when the hunter couldn't help but redden some more at being kissed, even on the cheek, in front of the others, he felt a strong, lithe arm wrap around his waist.
"Zero, calm down. I couldn't help it..." the pureblood pouted. The hunter tried not to fall for it... but he did and with a sigh, let Kaname lead him back towards the middle of the room, heading for the couch that was placed in front of a coffee table.
Kaname let him go, with a slight smirk, upon seeing his beloved's blush still on his face and he said, motioning towards the large pine, "I heard you trimmed the tree. It's very lovely."
The distraction worked a bit and Zero glanced up as they both sat down.
"Thank you... It looks better than I thought it would."
Smiling faintly, the prefect sat back on the couch, looking up at the tree as Takuma and Senri finished putting everyone's gifts under the tree. He glanced down to see that Ichijou had kept his gifts in the gift bag and put them among the others. Zero felt a slight tenseness come over him- for some reason he didn't want to be all... noticable. He was also glad that the gift exchange had a rule not to write who the present was from, though, so people wouldn't get jealous of anyone else. Now he wouldn't have to endure the mortification of everyone knowing what gift he got their lovely pureblood.
After a few moments, Yuuki had come to sit with the couple and they all chattered and laughed; even a few of the other nobles came over and eventually Zero felt comfortable. But one of the house cooks came out and said, "Takuma-sama, could I borrow you for a moment to verify the champagne and wine that just came in?"
The blonde nodded and pardoned himself from the multi-personed conversation and after a little longer, it had become just Yuuki, Kaname and Zero once more. As the hunter sat there though, he felt an odd urge to go to the window... It wasn't a bad feeling and it wasn't that he wanted to get away from his friends but he usually was good on his instincts and they were telling him to go to the window- the one that was kind of blocked by the tree.
"I'll be right back," the silver-haired teen muttered, somewhat confused by his own behavior as he stood.
The two brunettes just nodded slightly hesitant as they watched him go.
Zero felt the tug cease, though, by the time the tree blocked his two friends' view. However... by the window, someone was standing there, looking outside at the snow that hadn't been falling a moment ago. It was very pretty, but there was something more pressing. Something like how this person, a boy, was a stranger!
The prefect opened his mouth to say something, but the teen turned, engaging him with bright blue eyes, slightly veiled by blonde locks of hair. The alien grinned. Zero could feel that he was a vampire... not a very high class one, but still.
"Hello, Kiryuu," the blonde said cheerfully.
Zero looked over his shoulder quickly and saw that no one else had seemed to notice this foreign vampire among them. But he drew cautiously drew nearer and regretted that he thought that it was fine to leave his gun in his room.
"Who are you and how the hell do you know my name?" the hunter hissed.
The other vampire giggled and leaned against the window, the heels of his hands, which were covered by a black hoodie's sleeves, holding him up with the window sill.
"Oh, I have my ways," he tittered again and waved a hand. "Okay, no I don't, but what I do know is that your boyfriend is going to be mating soon, isn't he?"
All of the silver-haired teen's threatening air left him and he stiffened.
"I... I know, but that doesn't mean anything..." he nearly whispered.
The blue-eyed teen, looking about sixteen, smirked, but his smirk lacked any kind of malice, and he said, "Are you sure? You must notice how he acts around women by now... Just look- through there." The stranger nodded between the half of a foot wide space between the tree and the wall and Zero glanced at him suspiciously (and maybe a bit sadly because it was as if he were having the conversation out loud that he often had in his head) before leaning over to look.
From this spot, he could see the couch he'd left Kaname and Yuuki on. At first, he saw nothing strange, but then the stranger leaned up to his ear and whispered, "Doesn't it kinda look like Kuran is leaning towards her...?"
Zero jumped slightly at the sudden breath on his ear and was about to react, but at the other's words, he focused on the two on the couch.
"...No, it doesn't..." the hunter whispered.
But the blonde continued, his voice sounding like Zero's own doubts...
"Subtle, yes, but it's there, I see it. And his eyes look like they're trying to seduce her or something!" the stranger hissed like he was excited.
The older vampire's eyes widened as he seemed to see what the odd vampire meant. It... it did kind of appear like Kaname was leaning towards Yuuki, didn't it...? Zero stepped back slowly, thoughts racing again. Was that why it seemed like Kaname hadn't even tried to resist the call to mate with Sara? Because he craved to be with a woman again? It was no secret that Zero wasn't really Kaname's first and that the pureblood's previous lovers were (probably) female...
He probably just wants to feel a woman once more...
As Zero turned to question the smaller vampire, he was met with a window filled with a torrent of white snowflakes.
--
Later, they opened presents and everyone settled into the main room, surrounded by their gifts. They started to tear into them. Actually, Zero got more than he expected and he noticed that a lot were most likely from Kaname, since they were things that he would enjoy- things that were probably to be found at your local Hot Topic. And other gifts were nice, but not something he would ever really think of getting or asking for like a manga called Pita-Ten, but as he glanced up at an eagerly peeking Takuma (who it undoubtedly came from), the hunter gave a smile down at the book as if he loved how cute it was. The noble smiled happily and carried on. Zero's face took on more of a My God... look as he put it down. Well, at least they got him something.
One gift he opened was obviously from his dear Yuuki because when he eyed the leather choker, she giggled and winked at him. With a killer blush, he stuffed that into his designated bag before anyone, especially Kaname could see. That thing was too... sexy-looking to have the pureblood knowing about. Zero would hit Yuuki later. That is, if he could stand to be near her for long enough without feeling a very awkward jealously. After all, it wasn't as if she meant to activate Kaname's natual urges as a young, healthy male.
Although, as he pouted, he tore another gift open, this one was very flat. He wasn't really paying attention, but once he did, he was confused. It was a letter. Who wraps a letter? Looking around from his spot in front of the couch, leaning back against it, he didn't see anyone paying any special attention to him. But he opened the label-less letter and he extracted a piece of very normal paper. Very curious by now, he opened the single folded, white sheet and once he read it, he nearly snarled aloud.
When you need me:
684 Hirohito Fields
I'll be welcoming you,
Nezu Harita
Of course it was him! How'd he even get this in here?! But as his aura darkened, Kaname looked up immediately. To avoid a jealous explosion, Zero looked up at him innocently and smiled as if nothing was wrong and when the pureblood smiled back, reaching for the bag the hunter had given, the silver-haired vampire seethed mentally and balled up the letter and tossed it in his bag so it wouldn't get picked up later and seen by whoever would be cleaning up. The sound of the crumpling lost among much more ripping and flailing wrapping paper.
That was his last gift.
Kaname on the other hand had many, many more. He only internally felt a bit embarrassed by how much everyone had gotten him, but on the surface, he seemed cool. Everyone always did this and he just took it in stride. The bag he held in his lap now had more than one object in it, but before he could even consider feeling a little bad that someone had gotten more than one gift, he smelled a familiar scent coming from it. It could be considered cheating to smell the present for whoever sent it (even though Takuma had come up with a plan to rub the packages on other vampires to mask the original odor), Kaname focused... and smelled his beloved Zero. Oh, he felt like diving off the couch right now and giving the hunter a hug... but he didn't and just managed to not destroy the gift bag as he reached in.
He could feel the hunter's eyes on him fleetingly while he pulled out a long, auburn scarf that matched his eyes perfectly... when he was hungry or horny, anyway. The pureblood smirked at the low-key insult at how he was so "insatiable" and reached in again, pulling out two more items. One was a small velvet box that had some kind of jewelry in it, he guessed, and the other was what had taken up most space in the bag- an article of dark grey clothing folded up. That was all there was, much to Kaname's disappointment. (He liked to see what Zero got him.) The clothing was, upon unfolding, a zip-up jacket. It had a really beautiful set of writhing, thorny vines concentrated from the bottom right corner of the front and ending in an elegant tangle up on the left breast. They were a slightly lighter grey than the base color. Placed nicely on the left breast with the vines, was a stylishly battered-looking, dark red rose that faded to match the background. Kaname knew that Zero had gotten him a zip-up jacket because the hunter had always thought that the pureblood would appear more like the teenager he looked like if he wore street clothes.
Kaname would wear it as soon as it was a little warmer.
When he opened the box, there was a simple chain bracelet made from a silvery material. The links weren't pure silver because that would irritate the pureblood's wrist when he wore it, but it was a very attractive piece of work and when anyone looked at it, they would know it was from Zero Kiryuu. Just a feeling. Kaname couldn't wait to thank Zero later...
The pureblood chuckled when Yuuki opened one of her gifts and squealed again. (She'd already freaked out once at his gift.) Someone had gotten her a set of diamond earrings that just happened to match with the diamond necklace the Vampire Prince had gotten her, and when the male brunette looked down to a softly smiling Zero, Kaname knew that he had bought them for her. The hunter stayed silent as she asked who got them.
--
Eiji giggled as he bounded over to his friend.
"Did you do it like you knew it all?" Nezu asked with a smirk, knowing that the blonde enjoyed "infiltrating".
The common vampire nodded, climbing onto the back of Nezu's four-wheeler.
"Yeah! After you used your psychic power to attact him over, the rest was easy. He was totally fighting with himself when his mind started playing tricks." Eiji snickered. "Kuran wasn't any closer to the girl that he had been when they were all sitting there earlier."
The brunette turned the key, starting the ATV so that they could go back to his home.
"Thank you for doing that for me."
-Bonus-
"Nezu, here's your gift!"
The green-eyed noble blinked and took the... creatively-wrapped gift from Eiji's hands.
"You really got me something?"
"Of course!"
"...You're the only one I get presents from, you know," Nezu murmurred with a slight smile, carefully unwrapping his single, kind of large, gift.
Eiji tilted his head and plopped down on the bed next to his friend, drawing his knees up to rest his cheek on one so he could watch his friend open his present sideways.
"I'm the only one you buy for, too, silly!"
"...You got me a pet cage?" Nezu asked, confusedly, holding it out in front of him.
"That's not all!"
Flopping onto his stomach, Eiji reached under the bed and pulled out a cardboard box and presented it to Nezu.
"Don't move it around too much..."
The brunette smiled as the tell-tale scent hit him before he even opened the box. But he opened it anyway and two little beady eyes looked back up at him.
"A mouse."
"Isn't he CUTE?! He reminded me of you!"
The mouse tilted his brown head at his new master. The rest of its body was white and only its head and two round ears were brown.
"Thank you, Eiji. Now I'll have company while you're at school," Nezu honestly said, tilting the box carefully towards the open door of the cage. There were already some newspaper scraps in there and he could furnish it completely later.
"Now it's your turn, " the noble said, picking up Eiji's surprise gift from his side of the bed.
"Oh? I thought you bought me those games... and those clothes for Christmas...?"
Nezu smiled and handed it to him saying, "Everyone has to open something on Christmas."
Loudly mauling the wrapping, he practically shattered windows in Iceland with his shriek.
"A PINK DS?!!!?!?"
The brunette laughed softly and nodded while the poor mouse squeaked and burrowed into some scraps.
"That's right."
"I thought they were out!" Eiji peeped, taking out a few more games for the system that had been wrapped with the DS.
Nezu shrugged and sat back.
"I found one."
The blue eyes shimmered happily and he dove across the bed, wrapping his arms around his friend, making them both fall back to the bed. Nezu just endured his lithe friend's nuzzling and patted the blonde head under his chin. The noble supposed that this was what Christmas was about.
--
Author's Notes: AW! The bonus was fun to type! Remember how sad Eiji was when he couldn't find the pink DS? So nice of Nezu to get one for him. ^^ Ah, but it was Eiji at the party igniting Zero's doubt- did you catch that? Please review!