Title: Visitors from the Future
Genre: General/Romance/Friendship
Rating: T
Pairings: Zero/Kaname
Disclaimer: No, I do not own Vampire Knights. It belongs to Hino Matsuri - I only borrow the characters from the series and use it in my own fic. However, I do own the three original characters featured in this story.
Author's notes: In this chapter, I don't have a lot of KanZe but I put in more twins scenes in here. I hope it would do for now.
Chapter 41 – In which the twins visits their 'Father' childhood home…
"Chairman Cross, I do believe we have some issues to be speaking about?" Zero prompted from the front doorway of the Moon Dormitory, putting a stop to his foster parent's act of stupidity.
"Oh… Zero-chan, why did you have to go running off without telling me... Papa is so hurt…" The Chairman was force to stop blabbing nonsensical words when something hits him square on his head.
"Ouch…" Whining slightly, he caught hold of the item that hits him on the head and sighed. It was the empty gun holster belonging to Zero – looks like his foster son had no need to keep this around anymore.
"Eh…? You are leaving Ichiru behind with the Chairman to tend for?" Yuuki gasp aloud at Zero's words, she had assumed that Zero's twin would be traveling along with them.
"Yes, Ichiru was hardly in a condition to be traveling just yet and quite obviously he needs some time alone to sort things out." Zero replied matter-of-factly as he addressed the girl's question.
"Sort things out…?" Yuuki blinked, still had yet to catch on to the meaning behind her silver-haired friend's words.
"Ichiru had come this far with the idea of revenging Shizuka Hiou, I didn't think he had it in him to survive through Rido's attack so… I gathered that he would need some time to think about what he wants to do in future." Zero responded with a sigh, thinking back to the instance whereby his whole mind was crowded with the ideas of getting his revenge on Shizuka Hiou.
He, certainly, had not expected his life to end up where he is – at this moment in time. Getting romantically involved in a pureblood vampire definitely was not on his list of priorities, in fact, killing them all top the list. Now though…he had blurred the lines by sleeping and bonding with one. Inwardly, he was thankful that his embarrassment of being around Kaname Kuran had more or less being overcome by now – if not…
"But… but your Master is residing here with the Chairman as of current! Wouldn't that be a disaster to keep Ichiru here while we're away?! I mean, your Master detest Vampires right?!" Yuuki pointed out trying to keep her voice from pitching upwards – seems like her own sensitive ears could not tolerate her own shrill cries as well.
"Yuuki, I can very much assure you – while my Master detested the idea of being under the same roof with a vampire and it remains a truth that he don't really like Ichiru among the two of us. He would never harm Ichiru – too. Besides, I hardly doubted that with Chairman Cross and Sayori around – he would dare to shoot my twin." Zero shakes himself out from his walk down the memory lane, as he turned his attention back to the panicky girl.
"Huh…? Yori-chan is staying behind with Ichiru too? I thought that it was agreed that the day-class students are not going to be allowed to stay behind during the period of the school closure?" Yuuki asked next, this time with confusion.
"…" Zero flicked his glance over to Wakaba Sayori - that is not a question he could address.
"Yuuki…my job here is to assist Zero, and if he wanted me to guard Ichiru while he's away then that is what I will be doing." Sayori told the flustered girl - patiently.
"Yori… what do you mean by your job here is to assist Zero? And while on the subject, why is Zero being addressed by some members of the night-class as 'Zero-sama'?" Yuuki questioned the doubt from before worming back into her mind now.
"Miyazaki addressed Zero as 'Zero-sama', because her mother belongs to the clan of Fujiwara. Fujiwara has a total of three sides to the family, vampires; humans and hunters. Human belongs to the outer range of the clan; the hunters and the vampires are on par in terms of authority within the family. They keep an eye out on one another's actions, routine meetings are carried out within the family and each branch take turns to organize such meetings. Any form of decision-making need to be bring up for discussion and later on decided upon as a whole team using polling or voting methods so to ensure a just and fair play.
Anyway, I shouldn't be giving you history lessons on the clan – to simplify things, let's just says that both Zero and Ichiru are highly looked upon within the clan of the Fujiwara because of their mother's reputation. That's why they have the right to be addressed with the honorifics of 'sama' behind their names." Sayori summarized everything to its simplest form in order not to confuse Yuuki further.
"Okay… so what about you then? You haven't answer that question for me." Yuuki asked next, what Sayori had just explained to her pertains to the reason behind Risa Miyazaki's actions and not Sayori's own reason.
"My family serves the Fujiwara Clan since the olden days, as of current – my mother served under Fujiwara Yumi, my brother has his allegiance sworn to Fujiwara Akemi whom is also Zero's cousin by the way. My allegiance however was tie to Zero, and therefore my reason to assist Zero in whichever issues he might required my assistance in." Sayori said, throwing out her last secret to the girl – keeping away the information pertaining to her father's allegiance to Fujiwara Haruto and that she actually had to use a tranquilizer dart upon her own father to keep the man from interfering with her actions to protect the twins earlier on in time. The last thing Sayori needs from Yuuki was for the girl to go into frenzy state of apology mood.
Later on around early evening, the family attorney of the Fujiwara Clan finally dropped by for a visit with the legal papers in hand – pertaining to the inheritance for Zero. By the time the legal procedures were all settled, Zero had gained his hands on at least five private estates ground of the Fujiwara Clan.
Among them, three of which are situated in the European region and only two in the Asian district. Atop of the fixed assets, Zero also gained 25% shares of a hot spring resort operated and managed by the 'Fujiwara Corporation' out in the public market. The hot spring resort was situated in Hokkaido and with the 25% shares inherited through his mother's name would entitled him to enjoy a fair share of dividends following the end of each year end period.
"Okay, next up on the agenda – you might not enjoy the fact of it, but well… I have with me some legal procedures for the settling of the Hiou's Clan left behind following the death of Shizuka Hiou as well." The attorney was saying, causing Zero's eyes to snap up at him immediately.
"Sorry, come again – what did you just say?" Zero responded, his eyebrow raising a notch to show just how skeptical he was with the entire thing.
"Like I'm saying, next on my agenda was to brief you on the amount of inheritance left behind relating to the Hiou Clan." The attorney responded, in a deadpanned manner.
"…" Kaname Kuran take a peek from the corner of his eyes at his lover's expression, it was one of incredulity mixed with mild annoyance. Although, he was immensely curious just why exactly would the Kiryuu be eligible to inherit the fortunes for the Hiou Clan – the pureblood heir of the Kuran Clan had wisely maintain his silence of it.
"I thought all the inheritances will be going straight into the bank vault of Shizuru-san following the death of Shizuka Hiou?" Zero eventually questioned, the term 'sister' failed to come forth because of his reluctance to admit that sheer fact subconsciously in his mind.
"You could perhaps think of it this way, Shizuru wanted to abide by her late father's will to split the family fortunes evenly among the three children from her grandfather's lineage. In which case, it would relate to Mamoru Hiou or Kiryuu if you prefer to know him in that manner; Masaya Hiou – father to Shizuka and herself and also lastly Masumi Hiou – the current lady of the Kurenai's Clan." The attorney explained.
"… So Shizuru-san draws up a new will after she inherited everything from the Hiou's side?" Zero concluded in a deadpanned manner.
"Exactly…" The attorney agreed easily enough.
"Kaname, please hand me that blasted pen again." Zero sighed aloud as he told the silent pureblood seated by his side on the couch of the lounge, inwardly thankful that no one else was around to witness the legal settlement of his family's inheritance. Last thing he needs was for a certain blue eyed blond aristocrat digging into his overly complicated and ironic family history.
"There you go, Zero…" Kaname smiled a regal smile as he handed over his fountain pen to his silver-haired lover, and watched with a bemused expression as the silver-haired teen glared at the legal paper with some venom before signing upon it grudgingly.
"Thank you and this will be all." The attorney responded with a smile before making his move to depart from the Moon Dormitory Building.
"Careful Akira, don't run … you might fall." Zero called out to the excited boy, when it comes for the time to set off for the Kuran's estate.
"Okay…Daddy!" The boy beamed up at Zero, before zooming to the front again.
"Risa, go after him." Zero added, not really trusting in Akira's promise – since the boy was kind of accident prone.
"You seemed rather accustom to the idea of bossing my flock around now, aren't you?" Kaname commented, taking a peak at his silver-haired lover from the corner of his eyes. How he yearned to hold the man by the waist as they walk side by side to one another, but he knew that would not be wise. They are not quite alone as of current; dozen of eyes were surrounding them during this particular journey.
"Excuse me, Risa was hardly considered part of your flock – I'll have you know, she's residing under the roof of the Fujiwara. That would meant her loyalty was bound to me first, then you." Zero throws back at Kaname, with mild irritation lacing the tone of his voice.
"Okay…okay, no need to flip on me for this. Why are you still so uptight about these things? I am more than certain; whatever transpired between us was no longer a secret to the rest of them. They might have sworn their loyalty oath to me, but you are equally eligible to boss them around – you know?" Kaname responded with utmost sincerity in his speech.
Zero had to refrain from snorting aloud, as though the nobles would agree to let him boss them around. Akatsuki Kain, maybe – but Aidou Hanabusa and Ruka Souen, he highly doubted it. No comments for the two models, and Ichijo Takuma – that one is an oddball so Zero excluded him from typical nobles.
"Honestly, another train ride? What's with your obsession about traveling via trains these days?" Zero's voice was dripped in sarcasm when they finally arrived at the subway train station; they are here to catch the last train heading for their destination. Why the pureblood had refused to take the car and call in the driver to drive them directly to the place – Zero had no idea.
"Well, I'm just indulging in the boys' curiosity of how a train ride would feel. Speaking of which, how did you know that this wasn't the first time I'm taking a train out to my destination area?" The pureblood responded with a shrug of his shoulders, and to keep his supporters more at ease. Kaneme had purposely taken the liberty to book the tickets for the last train out. Since he gathered that the last train scheduled for departure would be the least crowded as compared to the other times of the day.
"Hard to not know anything about it, with the way Aidou was complaining earlier on in the evening." Zero throws back nonchalantly.
"I see." Kaname commented, as he shot a look towards the blue eyed blond aristocrat causing the said vampire to freeze for a minute before his expression soothe over into relief.
The train ride this time was generally shorter as compared to the time they went to Aidou's family resort for vacation. The trip then had took them a whole of nearly eight hours, but this trip to the Kuran's estate only took them approximately three hours time.
The family estate has long been abandoned with no one tending to it on the outside, so it does look kind of bare and unkempt. Inside the house though, was still presentable enough. Well, at least there have not been any cobwebs left hanging around yet. The furniture has all been covered by large white cloth to prevent dust from getting onto them. This was the first time in history since Kaname was taken under the wing of Ichijo Asato to be stepping foot in here.
"Yuuki, welcome back to our childhood home…" Kaname said, as he takes the lead in stepping over the threshold first.
"…Okay, this place officially needs some housekeeping." Akane allowed her eyes to roam the area briefly before commenting – then again, nobody has been stepping foot in here since eight years ago. Therefore, it would only be right for the house to be engulfed with stale air.
"Indeed." Kaname agreed the air in the house was stale and definitely need to be air out.
Under the command of the resident pureblood leader, the cohort of vampires whom had ventured out here to this particular estate started to get down working on the housekeeping chores within their means of handling. For starters, it was the basic procedure of opening up all the windows and doorways of the house allowing fresh air to sweep through the entire area.
"Akane, can I trust you to take charge of the lot down here while I bring Zero and Yuuki with me on a walk-through of the house to familiarize them-selves around here?" Kaname spoke up then, catching the attention of the eldest among the future trio.
Judging from the short conversation with the twins earlier on in the day when Zero was away conversing with the Chairman, Kaname was willing to bet that the trio would at least been here before. Though they might not be coming here on frequent occasions but they should still be familiar with the layout of the house – in general.
"Sure, I can do that and the boys can help too." Akane nodded in response to Kaname's request, and the two boys nodded in unison following the end of Akane's statement as well.
"Right, Takuma – you shall assist Akane in controlling the lot of them." Kaname added, taking into consideration that Aidou might not be that willing to obey Akane's instruction.
"Of course, you can count on me to keep Aidou in line!" The green eyed blond vampire beamed in response.
"Good." With that Kaname left with Yuuki and Zero in tow, as he showed them around the house.
"So boys… how about make your-selves useful by removing those shades off the furniture?" Akane suggested, directing her words to her siblings while the rest of the nobles bustled around with the task of airing out the house.
The tour around the house took only about forty-five minutes, and not trusting the rest of the nobles with the housekeeping task – Zero had purposely ignored Kaname's attempt at trying to steal a private moment with him and went straight back to the front hall.
"Daddy…did we do a good job here?" Akira asked, as he ran straight into the figure of his young 'Daddy'.
"Hm..m…? I don't know, why don't you tell me what you have done to help Akane – first?" Zero prompted, taking in the scene of Ruka Souen wiping the tables and ornaments in the room using a wet rag of sort.
"We helped to remove the white shades draped over the furniture!" Akira piped up, eager to receive some praise from Zero for his work done.
"Well then, you did well – I supposed. Now why don't you boys help Daddy in tidying up the rooms? I am sure your uncles and aunts would be able to do a good job out here by them-selves." Zero suggested, inwardly counting and making a mental list of how many rooms he would need to tidy up for the number of occupants here.
"Yes, Daddy – we would help." Subaru responded, making the decision on his younger twin's behalf.
"Good, now come along with me then." Zero instructed, and the two boys followed dutifully behind him.
"Zero, was there anything that I could help with?" Kaname then interjected, not wanting to be left out from all these 'bonding' moments with the twins and all.
"Yes, Zero – I'll help too." Yuuki chipped in next, she also do not wish to be the only one standing around doing nothing. Offering to help the nobles was out of the question, they would no doubt simply tell her to stand aside and wait until they are done.
"In that case, Yuuki – can you take charge of cleaning up the kitchen? Akane, you will handle the bathrooms – and while at it, keep Ichijo out from there. He would be more of a nuisance than a helping source in the bathroom." Zero said, clearly remembered the incident that took place the other time in the bathroom with that Vice-President of the Night-Class.
Akane smirked when she noticed her cousin flinched under the warning gaze of Kaname Kuran, Ichijo Takuma nearly cried a tear from relief when his childhood friend finally had it in him to shift the gaze elsewhere. The twins meanwhile snickered upon the sight of their Uncle Ichijo being unsettled by their parents' words and stares.
Upon receiving a nod from Kaname's direction, Zero wasted no time in taking charge of the situation – leading the whole house-keeping process by issuing out precise and clear orders for all to follow.
"Risa, you will assist Ichijo in tidying up the Study and Library of the estate. In process, make a list of every book available in the two areas and afterwards re-arrange the books on the shelves if necessary. I do not want the kids to get their hands on unsuitable reading materials in there." Zero instructed, and for the rest of the nobles – he simply told them to busy themselves with the task of wiping everything in sight clean. That should be easy enough for them to handle without any cock-ups in between.
"What about me then?" Kaname asked, it seems like everyone has already gotten something to busy themselves with – saved from him. Therefore, he was quite curious to see what Zero would have in mind for him to be doing.
"You will be listing out the numbers of rooms required for use, and also to allocate them. There are far too many rooms in here, and I certainly do not believe all of them are to be put to usage at this current point of time. Therefore to save time, you are going to list those requiring immediate attention out to me." Zero stated flatly as he shifted his attention to the pureblood prince of the Kuran Clan.
Unlike Yuuki, the silver-haired teen has no confidence in the man's housekeeping abilities and would very much like to prevent said vampire from screwing up his job.
In the end, it was arranged in the following manner: Yuuki and Akane would be sharing a room, this was after taking in the consideration of Yuuki might not be accustom to sleeping in a foreign place alone. Despite the house being her childhood home, she had been away for far too long and when she was young – the only place she had stayed in was the underground room with no windows to it. Now with the threat of Rido gone, there was no need for Yuuki to be hidden from sight anymore – let alone to let her go back to that underground room.
Moreover, Kaname gathered Yuuki might probably be more at ease if there was someone rooming in together with her. A quick look at the number of female vampires they had brought along to the estate finally had Kaname fixing his eyes on his future adopted daughter. Ruka and Seiren would be stiff around Yuuki; and Risa – Yuuki would be uncomfortable around. Akane seems to be the best candidate among all, and needless to say Yuuki and Akane get along pretty well judging from the past few months.
Aidou would no doubt be sharing a room with his cousin, Akatsuki Kain and Ichijo Takuma getting a room for his own use seeing as Shiki was not around for the time-being. The twins would be sharing a room, obviously and then Ruka would be getting a room to herself. Risa and Seiren stayed together, since they will be taking their turns in the shift duty of guarding the house on routine basis.
Zero although was rather skeptical about the boys staying on their own, but was forced to let it go after Subaru and Akira both expressed the wish to get their own room during the period of their stay here. The boys' insistence of getting their own room was of course indulged by a very satisfied pureblood prince, because he was also quite eager to be sharing a room with his beloved Zero without any possible disruption.
Akira and Subaru shared a common look between them-selves, and then hurry to run off before they could burst out into laughter at the 'satisfied' look in their 'Father' eyes when he agreed to their request of wanting to get a room for their own use instead of bunking in with their young parents.
"Did you see that?" Akira asked, stifling a giggle as he looked at his twin.
"Yes, Father couldn't have been more obvious – if it wasn't for his 'image' I would say he would be spotting on a Cheshire-like grin now." Subaru responded to his twin's words, in a tone laced with dry humor.
"Oh boy… Daddy would be mad tomorrow…" Akira said next, wondering if his 'Daddy' would be seen out of bed tomorrow with a limp or not.
"…Akira, our parents' sexual life is not a topic for discussion. They would flip if they knew of it." Subaru commented in a deadpanned manner, shooting Akira a look that clearly says 'You are asking for trouble'.
"Still, aren't you curious whether or not the number of siblings for us would increase?" Akira pressed on, and Subaru had to fight against his urge to knock his twin out cold.
"For the last time Akira, I do not wish to hear that! As for the possibility of having other siblings, aside from Akane who was obviously adopted by them. I honestly cannot say for certain, but I do know – it won't be happening anytime soon. I do not think Daddy would agree to the idea of it yet, and Father would probably rather wait until his relationship with Daddy is more stable before bringing up the idea at all."
With that said Subaru eagerly escaped from his twin and decided to go into the kitchen and helped his Aunt Yuuki out. Anything to get away from Akira at the moment, even if it meant he would have to be sticking to that clumsy aunt of his for the rest of tonight.
"Honestly, Akira – I thought you had better sense in you to not go snooping around in 'their' affairs." Akane warned from behind, causing the boy to yelp in surprise.
"Akane…but it's kind of fun to see them threading so carefully around one another initially, and then slowly warming up to one another's presence. We missed out all that fun, because by the time we were born – their relationship was practically iron-clad and unshakable." Akira was saying causing Akane to roll her eyes in response.
"Of course, I hardly think they would be ready for parentage if their relationship was still threading on careful grounds. Apparently, their adopting me was just the initial step and really, why am I telling you all these anyway? Now off you go, shoo… I need to clean this area. Go and entertain yourself with that Nintendo Game or something." Akane muttered aloud, shooing Akira off as she turned her attention back to the task at hand – mopping the floor.
The whole cleaning process took them around a total of four hours to complete, and seeing as there's practically nothing to eat around there. Akane had to sacrifice her sleeping hours, and take both Aidou Hanabusa and Akatsuki Kain out on an errand to get them fresh food supplies to last for the week when dawn breaks. Needless to say, it ended up with Aidou complaining about the hot weather out there and thus pissing Akane off in the process.
"Stop whining, if you think the sun at eight in the morning is hot – you should try venturing out at noon. That's a killer! Besides, if it was not for the fact that there are just too many things to get this morning – I would not have resort to bringing out helpers, and could be very fast in my errand running.
Now though, with all your whiny episodes and stopping for ice-cream and all that random things done on the trip, it has slowed the whole process down. So why don't you stop your whine and hurry the hell up so we could get back in there before the sun becomes scorching hot for the two of you to cope with?!" Akane snap, her temper gaining the upper hand of her with all the lack of sleep creeping in on her – too.
"See…I told you, Hanabusa… you never do learn your lesson, don't you?" Akatsuki throws out to his sullen cousin, and said.
"…" The blue eyed blond trudged unwillingly behind the sandy-haired girl, inwardly wondering why on earth his beloved Kaname-sama did send him out instead of just getting Ichijo Vice-President to go along with Akane. Obviously, that would have prevented his fate of being sniped at by the girl in front of him.
Inside the house, Ichijo Takuma frowned as he turned and asked his childhood friend. "Kaname, is it really wise to send Aidou out with Akane? The two of them don't really get along … I'm sure you are aware of that."
"Akane obviously need an extra set of hands with all the groceries that she will be getting in here, and not to forget the ready-made food for our consumption. Currently, Zero is busy sorting through the list of books in the library and he had the twins with him. Yuuki had a knack of getting herself into trouble, sending her out alone with Akane – is not really a wise move at all.
I obviously need you here to help me sort out the issues following the wiping out of the council, and Seiren – I've already send her out to look for Shiki and Rima. Ruka, I need her to keep an eye out on Yuuki and Risa is helping Zero. The only other two possible candidates to send with Akane would be Akatsuki and Aidou, and I'm quite certain Akane can handle Aidou's episodes quite well." Kaname analyzed his decision in a logical manner, before he shifted his attention back to the task at hand and in process, drawing Takuma back into their previous discussion of what to do with the lower ranking official of the council.
With the death of Ichijo Asato and over 80% of the council members – it became apparent that a regrouping and restructuring of the council would be in order. The lower ranking officials were all in a panicky manner now, and not only that – many of the noble clan head had been notified of Kaname's decision in wiping out the council members and they were all up in chaos now.
Among them included one panicky Maria Kurenai whom immediately bustled off to inform her parents' of the drastic situation when she used her powers to check things out at the council. The sight of Kaname Kuran slaying off the members of the council had her panting and heaving in fear and panic as she wondered what exactly was going on in that person's mind.
Date started: 14/1/2013
Date completed: 17/1/2013