.Nothing's Ever Easy With You- A Vampire KnightFanFiction by Clue-sama.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything legally affiliated with Matsuri Hino's Vampire Knight and am not making money with these fanworks.
Rating: I put T- mostly for safety.
Author's Notes: XDDD Byakko's bad luck strikes again!! It was funny... *is always yelled at by Byakko for using her crappy life as muse fodder* Anyway, aside from where I got this, I'm taking some liberties with a bunch of things, including Zero's stubborness/temper and Kaname's compassion/own-brand-of-stubborness, so don't be like, "Pshaw. That so would not happen." XD Anyway, with a lot of the unlikely things shown here, I would not put it past Byakko's unluckiness. I'm serious here, people- her life is way unbelievable. X3 Much luv to her though ^^;
By the way- this was supposed to be a part of Assorted Sweets, but it got too long XD That, and I'm about fifty percent sure a bunch of people will ask for some kind of follow-up(s) X3
Warning: Actually, not really yaoi, but it can be if you fangirl hard enough like I did. 8D But if I can think of something original and people poke me for a sequel, it'll probably get less squinty and more real later on. If not, well, eh. XD Either way, I'll leave it in-comp cos right about now, my muse is stabbing me. *sacrifices plotless plot bunnies to muse* o_o
Read, Enjoy and Review! (No flames please...)
-x-X-x-
Zero fumed in his seat in the back of the car, glaring at the rain flying by on the other side of the window. Kaname sat opposite him, also looking out of his own window. They weren't talking and why would they? Zero only went with Kaname to the stupid soiree under Headmaster Cross' order. The prefect needed to go as a kind of escort since Kaname was a student at Cross Academy, but now it was time to go home. And personally, Zero was glad that he would soon be able to get away from the haughty pureblood after having to follow him around like some kind of arm candy. And Zero didn't even want to think about how Kaname had told him to not say anything unless spoken to as they had walked in.
Zero's foot was tapping anxiously on the floorboard now as his temper flared, but he tried to keep himself calm enough until they reached the school... Of course, his luck wasn't that great and the car slowed to a stop suddenly. They definitely weren't close to anything worth stopping by and even Kaname looked a bit confused. This wasn't a limo, but it did have a partition and after a short moment, Kaname lowered it, intent on finding out what the matter was. Curiosity got the best of Zero and he looked over a bit in time to see and hear the very, very nervous looking driver say, "Kuran-sama, I'm truly sorry, but it seems we've almost run out of gas..."
Zero rolled his eyes and let his head thump against the cool window while he heard Kaname lowly ask, "Do you not check that before using the cars?"
"W-Well, another driver had it before me and I thought--"
Kaname sharply cut in with, "Just call someone."
The driver fumbled to get his cell phone and opened it...
"..."
"What?" Kaname asked, seeing the driver pale.
"The storm outside... Well, what I mean is--"
Zero growled, the situation seriously tearing at his nerves, "There's no service, is there?"
Kaname also took out his own phone, but with the trees surrounding the road they were on and the dense rainstorm over the area, there indeed was no service at the moment. Tonight just wasn't a good night to be alive. The pureblood's aura was foul by now and the driver, a vampire, felt every bit of it. Glad to escape it, the driver hurriedly offered to find a gas station or a place where his phone got service while the two students waited in the car. Kaname testily agreed that the driver should do so and he leaned back in the seat, glaring out of the window like Zero had been doing the whole time. Someone was definitely out of a job when the brunette returned to school...
There was thick silence in the car after the driver left, save for the banging of the rain hitting on the roof of the car. After about three minutes, Zero sat up straight and opened his door. Kaname looked over to see the hunter stepping out, his uniform promptly getting wet.
"What are you doing?" Kaname asked.
Zero ducked to look into the car and said, "I'm walking back. There's no way he'll find service out here and I'm not looking forward to spending anymore quality time with you tonight, Kuran." And he slammed the door. Kaname was able to see him walking off in the rain.
The prefect didn't care that the rain was quickly soaking him through the thick fabric of his uniform and if anything, he liked it cooling him off. He shook his head sharply, his silver hair flinging rain everywhere. Perhaps it had been a bit harsh on Kaname, to talk to him like that and leave him alone, but Zero had been having a crappy night, and overall week actually. It was very dark outside, no streetlights lining the road, but Zero could see fairly well without any light, his vampiric senses improving everything easily... It also improved his hearing and after about a minute of walking, he heard a car door closing in the distance and he stopped walking.
No way...
But his hunter and vampire senses alerted him to a pureblood vampire approaching and as soon as he turned around, he saw Kaname beside him, also dripping wet.
"Kuran?!"
Kaname smiled cryptically and said, "I will come with you."
Zero blinked incredulously at the pureblood before asking slowly, "Why?"
Kaname looked at the road ahead of them, aware that it would at least be two hours until they reached the academy at a human's pace, but said, "Yuuki would not like it if I let you walk alone in the rain at night." He turned back to Zero. "So I will walk with you." Never mind that I wasn't thinking about Yuuki when I got out, but...
Zero scoffed and stomped along, shoving his hands in his pockets. So what if Kaname wanted to be out here and get soaked because of the hunter's decision? Wasn't Zero's fault if his expensive suit got ruined or something. Neither one of them could catch a cold, but being wet like this was hardly fun. And they both knew that Zero wasn't going to use his vampire speed to hurry back because the former human did whatever he could to avoid reminding himself that he was one of them.
Actually, Kaname himself didn't mind. He didn't make it a habit to go out in the rain and let himself get soggy, but it was... strangely refreshing to feel his clothes getting wet and have his hair cling to his skin with the cool precipitation as he walked leisurely alongside Zero. Like... he wasn't a pureblood vampire with a million responsibilities on his shoulders. All he had to do for now was get back to the academy.
After about thirty minutes of awkward silence on Zero's part and simply relaxing quietness on Kaname's, the pureblood said, "You didn't seem too pleased at the party, Kiryuu-kun."
Zero was a little too tired to blow up at Kaname for such a stupid observation and he just growled, sarcasm saturating his voice, "Really, now? I'm sorry, I meant to wear my happy face tonight."
Kaname looked at Zero now and the hunter already looked huffy again, but the pureblood didn't regret talking to him. They obviously could use a little less tension in their relationship and talking about anything at all, even if it made Zero angry, would help.
"I see..." Kaname said, feeling a slight smile tug at his lips at the comeback. Anyway, Zero was kind of amusing at times. "But I am aware that you probably did not like it when I advised you to remain silent."
"What was your first clue..." Zero grumbled.
"Would you have talked either way?"
Zero sent a scowl Kaname's way.
"No, but I'm sure you knew that, so you didn't have to order me around."
"...I apologize, then."
The prefect's expression softened ever so slightly, not used to hearing Kaname apologize to him, and he just sighed, looking ahead once more. Although he initially left the safety and dryness of the car to escape Kaname, he found that he didn't mind it too much. Maybe it was because he was getting out some stress by walking or something...
After a moment of Kaname wondering what he should talk about next, a chilly wind blew, making the rain strike them a little harder. The pureblood wasn't really affected by the coldness, but he heard Zero shudder a bit and he glanced over to see the hunter tugging his jacket closer around himself, even doing up some of the buttons he usually left undone.
"If we stand closer together, perhaps my body heat will warm you a bit."
Zero looked to his left at Kaname's request and just stared at him, slowing to a stop. Had he just bascially offered to warm the prefect? Kaname also stopped, holding Zero's lilac gaze, the soft hue easily discernable even in the dark night and pouring rain. The pureblood wondered randomly how it was that Zero was so dynamic, looking enraged and ready to murder at one moment and then looked so confused and gentle, like now.
The hunter's thoughts weren't very different after the initial What the hell did he just propose we do? and he also was wondering why in the world the untouchable Kaname was out here in the cold rain with him. Kaname had claimed it was so Yuuki wouldn't get mad when her prefect partner came in, dripping wet and all alone, but that couldn't be it. Zero doubted that her remedy would be to have both of them trudging in that way. But Zero had to admit, he probably would have been kind of lonesome out here, walking all the way back. Kind of. And... it was rather cold out here...
Zero ran his eyes over the rare picture Kaname made, rain dripping off of his elegant nose and streaming over the smooth swells of his lips. The dark brown waves of his hair stuck to his face and neck, the ends of some locks curling on his graceful cheeks and throat. Even the pureblood's eyelashes looked darker, wet as they were, while they framed his brown, crimson-swirled bedroom eyes...
Whoa, there...
The hunter shook his head slightly to clear his rapidly meandering thoughts, not answering Kaname as he went ahead. Of course, Kaname seemed to take that as a 'yes' somehow, and Zero tensed as the brunette now walked closer beside him, their bodies near enough to have their shoulders and hips brush at times. Zero felt himself warm up, but he wasn't sure if it was due to Kaname's body heat or something else. Zero let Kaname stay where he was, but promised himself that if the pureblood got any closer, someone would get hurt.
--
It had been about an hour and a half now since they left the car and no one had come yet. Kaname was allowing his aura to be felt so he knew it wasn't as if the driver couldn't feel him if he had gotten gas for the car and was looking. If not, well, the driver wouldn't leave the car alone like they had, so if he returned, he wouldn't set out again on foot to find Kaname and Zero... In other words, apparently the driver had not gotten gas or service yet.
The rain still hadn't let up and the wind only got a bit worse as they walked on the edge of the road. Zero had shivered a few more times, but he unconsciously curled a little more into Kaname's warmth so it was all right. However, apparently, the grass that they had been walking on decided that it didn't like to grow where they were walking now so the ground had become trecherously muddy. Their shoes made squishing sounds and occasionally sunk into the mud and Zero wondered why Kaname wasn't worried about his fancy shoes. He snuck a glance at the pureblood and indeed, he was just walking along.
But somehow, Zero's footing depended on his paying attention to where he was walking and he felt his foot slide forward suddenly. His balance went to hell and he felt himself grabbing at whatever was near enough to save him from falling. Which just happened to be Kaname. All of Zero's fingers gripped at the other's arm closest to himself and he half-expected Kaname to go down with him. That or Kaname would let his jacket slip off, making Zero splat into the mud. But neither of those things happened and instead, in the split second it would have taken to fall, Zero felt himself be caught and hauled up swiftly. Kaname pulled the hunter against himself, his own balance remaining flawless even in the slippery mud and the wild shifting of both of their weights.
They, of course, had stopped moving. Zero was panting in Kaname's scent in as his body calmed down from the unconscious preparation to fall and 'get hurt'; Kaname holding Zero until the hunter regained his own balance and such.
Zero closed his eyes in mortification and didn't move even though he had planted his feet firmly. His fingers were still curled tightly in Kaname's sleeves, but all he could think was, I just made a fool of myself in front of freaking Kuran. He gritted his teeth together and wished that mud could die.
"Kiryuu-kun?"
Kaname pushed Zero into a straightened position as he called his name, wondering if he was all right. It looked like he had slipped but now the prefect seemed as if something was wrong. However, the hunter released him, looking away.
"Sorry," was all Zero said, his voice low.
Kaname figured that Zero was humiliated and was thinking that the pureblood thought less of him for slipping in mud... but the brunette just smiled to himself, shaking his head. Zero...
"You can walk on the road, if you'd like." Kaname suggested, knowing there was no mud there and they'd be able to hear it if a car was coming, so Zero wouldn't get run over or anything.
Zero wordlessly switched spots with Kaname and they continued walking in a less tense atmosphere. Well, Zero was feeling some kind of tenseness but it wasn't one he was used to feeling with Kaname around. This one had more of a self-conscious flavor and he noted that Kaname's slacks were muddy at the bottom where they brushed the ground every once in a while. The pureblood hadn't worn his uniform like Zero had, but by now, the hunter was pretty sure that both of their outfits were ruined in terms of fabric. Zero didn't care about his, practically having an endless supply since his adopted father ran the place, but he knew that Kaname wouldn't wear that particular get-up any more. Having thought all of that though, Zero was in fact wondering about his own appearance. He usually looked kind of rag-tag anyhow but now he was speckled with mud and probably looking like he walked out of a car wash tunnel. Only less clean.
Ugh, and how is it that Kuran looked good dripping wet? ...Don't even think about that sort of thing.
Zero rolled his eyes at his own thoughts, tearing his thoughts from the path they were headed down. It didn't matter how he looked in front of Kaname, damn it... As long as he didn't look like an unworthy rival, that was all that mattered. So if Kaname thought the ex-human looked ridiculous, sliding around in the muck that way, hair somehow wet and sticking up at the same time, his clothes wrinkled, then who cared?! Zero sure didn't...
...Zero reached up and smoothed his happily misbehaving hair down a tad.
Kaname heard Zero huff again and looked at him, musing over what the other could be thinking about now. Probably assuming something incorrect about something or other. It was odd. When he looked at Zero, the pureblood didn't feel the urge to make him feel insignificant like he did when they were at school. At the moment, he only wished that Zero hadn't been so stubborn and stayed in the car where it was warmer. And it wasn't for Kaname's own sake that he wished that. It looked like Zero was the only one really having some trouble out here and Kaname almost wanted to ask the hunter why he insisted on making everything harder than it was. That went deeper than flailing around in the rain. His vampirism. His relationships with others. Zero always rebelled... Sympathy bubbled up in Kaname's heart, but he knew better than to show it to the hunter. Zero would only reject it and go off again, and Kaname didn't want the (what sort of resembled a) companionable company to explode.
--
They both almost sighed in relief when the academy came into view and a sleepy Zero perked up, his steps more even and motivated. Kaname hadn't really minded being out here with the hunter, but he was getting a little annoyed with the relentless rain and he also visibly brightened. Well... Kaname's mood dipped a bit again when he wondered where that driver was. It had been almost the two hours he thought it would take to walk to the school and still no sign of him.
Just as he thought that, the sound of a car echoed from behind them. Kaname stopped and Zero came back on the grass so he wouldn't get hit. The car seemed to be going pretty fast as it approached. They found out that it was, indeed, going very fast because it ran through a puddle as it flew by, splashing Zero with mud and cold rain water. He snarled and tried wiping it out of his eyes fruitlessly while a screeching sound was heard as the car stopped. Kaname held back his laughter as he came closer to Zero. Turns out, pureblood reflexes really do trump ex-human ones because Kaname wasn't any muddier or wetter as he used his own sleeve to get the mud off of Zero's face. The hunter's fingers were curved into claws and he was almost trembling with the effort of not skinning the first thing he could get his hands on while Kaname cleaned him.
The car that pissed Zero off backed up to where they were and Kaname looked over his shoulder to see that it was their car. The passenger window rolled down and the driver shakily said, "K-Kuran-sama, I'm very sorry it took so long, but--"
Zero, hearing who it was that splashed him and got him even more filthy, pushed Kaname's arm away and roared, "I'm NOT getting back into that thing! I'm almost there and I don't CARE anymore!!" He turned his searing violet gaze on Kaname. "When you're around, nothing ever goes easily, does it?"
He turned and stalked off.
Kaname watched him for a moment and then sighed, leaning down to tell the driver, "Go on ahead and tell them I'm on my way."
"B-But, Kuran-sa--"
"That is, unless you want me to put him in the car, in which case, I'm sure he would kill you."
The driver nodded and left, passing Zero very slowly this time.
Kaname caught up with Zero, walking close and making sure that if the grass gave way to mud, he would be able to catch him. When Zero angrily asked why the pureblood hadn't gotten into the car, said pureblood responded with, "Somehow, with you, making sane decisions isn't that easy."
--
Author's Notes: XD Well, the mud in the story had been... something else in Byakko's story and I told her I was gonna make that happen, but when I got there in the fic, I didn't have the heart to make Zero step in that. I'm sure you can guess what Byakko encountered though XDDD Also, a car didn't splash Byakko, but I needed something else unlucky to get Zero with. Poor Zero X3 Love to him as well for letting me torture him yet again. :D
Zero (soaking wet and covered in mud): "I. Hate. You."