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 & the Fujiwara Clan featured in this story.
Author's notes: Continue from where I left off last chapter, I know I'm bad but well… I'm running out of time so XDDD
Chapter 48 – Meeting the in-laws!
Kaname Kuran winced when the slightest movements of his body caused pain to wreck through his system, he felt sore all over his torso and particularly in his lower part of the body. Inwardly, he wondered if Zero was having every intention of taking revenge on him last night when he offered to be on the bottom for a change.
"How are you feeling this morning?" Zero smirked inwardly as he questioned his lover, the pureblood prince still look a little 'out' of it but judging from that wince he caught on the man's face a while ago – he dared say that soreness is the only description that fits Kaname's current plight.
"What do you think?" Kaname responded his tone flat as he threw a look of annoyance over at the silver-haired hunter.
"You had it easy; I only do you once – if you are already this sore, think about my situation back then. You took me thrice in a row without break on my very first time with you, compared the two and you tell me who is more pitiful." Zero throws back at Kaname Kuran, dryly and in a mock-like manner.
"…" Silence was the only response from Kaname, while he did enjoyed the sex last night – the pureblood decided that he prefer to be the dominating one in the relationship. Although, he had to admit Zero had more self-control than he does on himself. Not only was Zero considerate enough to do him only once last night, he was also considerate enough to not leave hickey marks all over his body knowing that his pride would be wound if any of his followers had noticed the marks. Therefore, Zero only marked him in places whereby nobody would notice and could be easily hidden by his clothes.
"Just how long do you intend to lie in bed and not move a single inch?" Zero arched an eyebrow up in question, he highly doubt that the pureblood prince was that tender to not be able to withstand soreness of such mild level as compared to the ones he was usually subjected to after a night of sexual activities.
"…"
Zero sighed, obviously Kaname was not a morning person and the discomfit after their last night activity is not helping. Giving in, Zero addressed the Kuran heir and said.
"I've drawn you a bath in the bathroom already, a warm bath would do you good – it will help to ease the soreness between your legs. I don't know about you, but I am quite certain that I had a good control of my urge so I didn't really do you that much damage. The dinner is set at 7.p.m. tonight at my uncle's place, now is only 9.a.m. – you have more than enough time to get yourself back up in perfect condition. I shall leave you to your own privacy now." Zero announced, as he approached the silent pureblood and pecked the former gently on the forehead before leaving the room.
"Morning Zero…" Akane greeted cheerfully when she saw Zero stepping into the kitchen.
"Morning…, what time did you people get in here?" Zero asked, he was quite certain when he retired for the night with Kaname – the trio was still at his childhood home.
"Around 6.a.m. this morning…our dear uncle Ichiru received a call from Maria Kurenai and went off in a rush. So Ayano and I hurried to call in the driver to drive us back here before the twins woke up and find their uncle missing." Akane explained.
"So I gathered the twins are still sleeping now?" Zero double-confirmed next.
"Yes, but I think they would be waking soon. They slept rather early last night and didn't wake in the middle of the night at all…" Akane added, because recently the twins sometimes will slept for three hours then wake and create havoc for some time before going back to sleep again.
"I'll check on them in a while time, so did anything happen last night over there?" Zero questioned as he brew some coffee for his own consumption.
"Nothing much, we were just looking at photos and all – Ichiru told the twins some old tales about your parents…and then he spends the hours staring at the Sakura Tree outside the house for the whole night." Akane answered, matter-of-factly.
"He did, didn't he?" Zero mused aloud to no one in particular.
Zero knew Ichiru would most likely be reminiscing about Shizuka Hiou for the whole night once he went back to their childhood home, because Zero knew the sight of Sakura Tree reminded him of the same thing. Unlike Ichiru's – his memory of the woman was nothing pleasant; because it would be full of how their parents' were killed by the 'mad blooming princess' of the Hiou Clan. Hence, for Zero's constant dislike of going back home.
Half an hour later, when Akane noticed Kaname Kuran walking down the stairs heading for the dining room – her eyes took in how careful the man was with his steps and end up having to bite the inside of her cheeks to prevent laughing aloud. Looks like last night was the first time her future adoptive parents had does a switch in routine, with Zero topping Kaname instead.
Zero, having caught sight of the mirth lurking in the depths of Akane's eyes – shot her a warning look. Kaname was self-conscious enough already, no point irking him further. The pureblood is a very private man; likewise it was the same with him. If Kaname knew what was going through Akane's mind, the girl would sure be 'in' for it. Thankfully, this morning the house was quite empty to begin with.
Yuuki was most likely tired out from the party last night, and was now in the midst of her beauty sleep. Sayori had taken Risa out together with her, probably to the archery club for some work-out in order to vent off some steam. Aidou had most likely tagged along on the trip, while his cousin and Ruka were running groceries errant in town. Shiki and Touya – the two models most likely was sleeping in late today. Ichiru and Ayano, like what Akane mentioned earlier on were on their way over to the Kurenai. Seiren knew this would not be a good time to make her presence known. So, yeah – the 'family' of three were on their own now.
Brunch was carried out in silence, since the twins were still sleeping away – there are no trouble makers this morning. Akane was more than willing to keep her comments to herself, she have no death wish on her list yet. She might have the guts to poke fun at Zero after his routine nightly activity with Kaname Kuran, but she dared not attempt anything of that sort when it was the other way around.
"Where's Aidou anyway?" Akane started, finding the silence unbearable – she was used to that blue eyed blond popping up at the most inappropriate timing that she actually finds it weird for that guy to not be around.
"He tagged along Risa and Sayori on their trip to the archery club." Zero answered with ease.
"…In the board daylight?" Akane questioned skeptically, previously he was yapping on and on about the hot weather when he was out to do an errant with Akatsuki and herself and yet he was now tagging along the two girls to the archery club without complaint?
"Yes, it's not in his nature but I gathered – he would do anything for the sake of Sayori. Speaking of which, something needs to be done about that…" Zero answered truthfully, he was no idiot – he had seen how Aidou Hanabusa was always staring at his 'assistant' and he had confronted Sayori about it, in fact. The girl's response was quite similar to his thoughts about the situation, and it vexed him to no end.
"What are you two yapping on about?" Kaname Kuran finally spoke up, not wanting to be out of the loop for something that concerns a fellow member of his flock.
"Apparently, a certain blue eyed blond had a crush on one Wakaba Sayori." Zero answered in a deadpanned manner.
"To put it a crush was too mild, if it's anything like what I've seen back in my own time era – I'll say he spend his lifetime pining for someone impossible to have in his life." Akane cut in blatantly.
"What do you mean by that?" Kaname directed his gaze towards Akane then, and the sandy-haired vampire girl precedes on to relay the tale of one Aidou Hanabusa that she observed and knew from her own time period.
By the time Akane was done with her tale, both Zero and Kaname were completely speechless by the situation.
"Would it actually escalate down to that point at all?" Zero asked, curious to know how Akane was viewing the current situation at hand.
"It had a very high possibility of turning out the same way if something was not done to rectify it in time. As of current, from what I've heard – Akatsuki was saying something about Aidou turning down prospective match-making sessions that the lady of the Aidou clan was trying to fix him up with. Also, whenever the name Wakaba Sayori was brought up for conversation between Akatsuki and Aidou – the latter would sure clam up like a shell and refused to discuss anything of that sort. It was worrying the fire wielding vampire to no end." Akane commented truthfully.
"What do you suggest to solve the problem at hand then?" Kaname asked next.
"Send Aidou to keep an eye out on Yuuki, and to be her personal guard or something. As long as he had something to keep him occupy, it would lessen his time spend on observing Wakaba Sayori. I would suggest roping Yuuki in about this, making sure to let her know that the attraction between Aidou and Sayori must be cut off at all costs and what would be the final outcome if this were to carry on." Akane said, and then she turned towards Kaname and added as an afterthought.
"I reckoned that the head of the Aidou clan had once again brought up the issue the possibility of joining a union between the Aidou and the Kuran Clan?"
"Surely, you don't mean to put them together – do you?" Kaname raised an eyebrow up in a questioning manner, once he caught on to the underlying meaning behind the girl's words.
"It's just one of the suggestion, and come on – obviously, you cannot honor your end of the previous engagement with Yuuki now. Matching her up with another random guy that comes along would not sit well with you, so why not pick someone whom you know by the back of hands?" Akane responded, in a logical and analytical manner.
"I'll think it over…" That was all Kaname was willing to respond after Akane's words, he figured he would want to run the suggestion by Yuuki first. He does not feel like forcing Yuuki into a situation, if the girl herself did not wish for it.
"You know, I agree with Akane – fixing Aidou up with Yuuki just might work out the way we wanted it to be. Yuuki is close with Sayori, and I am certain Aidou knew why he couldn't be with Sayori – that was why he never makes any move to pursue the girl and merely watched on by the sidelines. Anyway, coming back to the topic at hand – feelings could most definitely be nurtured. For instances, between you and me – what we used to have was mutual hatred for one another… if people like us could end up together with time, I don't see how Aidou and Yuuki could not. After all, their relationship with one another was nothing like ours – it cannot be anything worst than merely maintaining a union based on friendship." Zero told the pureblood later, when they retreated to the Study to continue their respective work.
"You seem quite keen on the idea, why is that?" Kaname quirked an eyebrow up in question as he regarded his otherwise cool and unfazed lover.
"Anything to get Yuuki away from that Kishimoto Hideo guy..." Zero muttered aloud, a dark look flashing on his features when he recalled the conversation between the father and son of the Kishimoto Incorporation last night.
"Was that the guy you were staring at for the whole of last night during the party?" Kaname piped up, recalling how irritated he was when he noticed Zero's unwavering gaze on that particular man last night.
"Yes, and before you asked – I am not attracted to him in any sense. The only urge I get when I stared at him was to shoot him into oblivion." Zero throws out before Kaname could start behaving like a jealous freak again.
"You seemed to detest him with a passion, why?" Kaname pressed on, curious to know the reason behind Zero's irritation for that Kishimoto dude.
"He spends nights prowling the red light district looking for potential prey, and he's well-known for his womanizer ways of life. I would not be surprised if he has more bastard children out there in the market than I could keep track of. Not only was he a womanizer but also a pedophile; I remembered a time whereby Ichiru and myself was undergoing hunter training – Master was chasing after a Level E who ventured into that district.
Not wanting to let us being tainted by the acts in the red light district, he told the two of us to wait two alleys away before the district started. Then out of nowhere this jerk came about and tries to hit on Ichiru, and we were both six years old or were it seven back then. Thank goodness, Makoto came about and kicked him in the shins – throwing him out from the alleyway. Still, it was enough to send Ichiru into a hyperventilation mode." Zero growled upon the sheer memory of that event, while Kaname's features took on a shade of darkness too.
Inwardly, Kaname Kuran vowed to drive the Kishimoto family into bankruptcy and probably take over their business in time. Pulling Zero into his embrace hurriedly, the pureblood heir of the Kuran Clan took a moment to comfort himself that nothing damaging had been done to his precious Zero and that the timely arrival of Sawashiro Makoto had saved them before more damage could be done.
"Akira, are you quite done yet?" Subaru knocked on the attached bathroom to his shared room with his twin.
"I'm coming, give me another five minutes." Akira called out to his elder twin; he was now standing on a stool facing the mirror in the bathroom sorting through his hair. He wanted to be on his very best appearance for the dinner tonight at the Chiba residence of the Fujiwara.
"Gods, you are so vain – do you know that? For pete's sake, you are only six – nobody is going to comment if you are having a bad hair day, you know?" Subaru Kiryuu rolled his eyes at his twin's words, apparently Akira wanted to gel his hair up so that it won't be seen falling all over the place. For that purpose alone, his brother had sneak into their uncle Aidou's room and take the liberty to 'borrow' the former hair gel without seeking permission first.
Kaname and Zero were waiting downstairs for the twins' arrival, but when the time neared for their departure – the boys' were still not here yet. Zero decided to head back upstairs and see for himself what the boys' are up to.
"Subaru, I see that you are ready but why aren't you downstairs yet?" Zero asked when he looked into the open door-way of the twins' shared room.
"I wanted to use the toilet, but Akira was hogging it to himself." Subaru muttered aloud, trying to keep himself from sounding whiny.
"…Why is he hogging the bathroom then?" Zero prompted.
"He wanted to gel his hair, says it would look more presentable in that manner and that only then he would not risk disgracing the Kuran's namesake or something." Subaru rolled his eyes at his twin's words.
"…I'll handle him; you can use the bathroom in your father's room instead." Zero told the silver-haired boy; before he proceeded on to knock on the bathroom which Akira was hogging on for himself.
"Akira, by the count of five – I want the door to be open. I'm sure you don't want me to knock the door down – right?" Zero warned, and then started to count.
Akira yelped in response, and hurried to open the door for his 'Daddy' entry without too much of a protest. Zero took in Akira's appearance, and found his eyebrow twitching uncontrollably. The boy was dressed up in a piece of white plain button down short sleeves shirt, with a pair of black jumper shorts. Definitely attire suitable for a dinner outside, but with that gel hair in sight – it makes Akira looking like some kid who is going on stage to perform.
"Are you done?" Zero sighed aloud as he asked, no point changing Akira's style now – they were kind of running late already.
"Yes, Daddy." Akira beamed up at him in response.
"Then let's go, and do return the hair gel to your uncle Aidou later on in time. Unless you want him to chase after you with his ice dagger again…" Zero told the boy of six, before lifting the boy up in his arms and proceeds to leave the room. The smell of cologne probably one of Ichijo Takuma hits his nose, and he had to inwardly agree with Subaru's words – about Akira being vain, that is.
Subaru, on the other hand, was dressed casually in a white polo shirt, with brown shorts and matching outer coat. When Zero emerged downstairs with Akira in his arms, Akane Kiryuu took one look at the younger twin and promptly commented.
"Good gods, Akira – you are just going for a dinner at your Aunt Akemi's home… not to a posh restaurant for some high class dinner. Is it necessary to dress yourself up to this extent?"
"Akane, just drop it – we have no time to change him." Zero cut in before Akira has the next brilliant idea in mind to give himself another makeover.
"…" Kaname Kuran took in the younger twin's appearance, and thought Akira most definitely took after him in dressing sense. Still, gelling up the hair and putting cologne on is a little bit to the extreme side – even he doesn't do that when he pays a visit to the Ichijo back in his childhood days. Hair gel was never his thing, and cologne only comes in when he hits his teenage days.
"Come on, let's not dawdle any longer – I don't want Akemi hounding me with calls." Zero commented, as he ushered the boys into the limo car that will take them to the train station to catch a subway down to Chiba.
Just like the Kyoto estate, Fujiwara Satoshi's residence in the prefecture of Chiba was also a typical Japanese Style house. The only difference was that unlike the Kyoto estate whereby it was surrounded by maple trees, the Chiba estate only had two maple trees in sight – one to each corner of the front gate. The front part of the house was being used as the Doujo practice area; the residential areas were situated towards the back part of the estate.
"Ah… always the punctual one, aren't you – Zero-nii?" Fujiwara Akemi greeted the silver-haired teen cheerfully with a bright smile upon her features.
"Here I thought we were running late…" Zero throws back almost immediately, only to receive a giggle back in response from the girl.
"No, not quite… Satomi's later than you today. Apparently, some stupid Level E out there thought it would be fun to terrorize the neighboring town. Satomi went out earlier to sort things out." Akemi responded.
"Level E…was that a mission from the association?" Zero asked next.
"Huh…? Oh, no… the Association is still busy picking up the pieces from the ex-chairperson's doings that they don't really have time to deal with the strays. The vampire council is obviously 'out' for the time-being, so it's up to us entirely to keep things under control for now. Apparently, some students from the Doujo were conversing about some creepy stalker lurking in the park at night waiting to prey on innocent females. Satomi overheard the gossips, and decided to play it safe by doing patrol around the area." Akemi explained, as she squatted down to the twins' level and pecked them friendlily on their cheeks.
"She went out there by her-self?" Zero asked again.
"Not really, I send Hiroshi out with her on the trip. Enough chattering, come along – my parents is expecting you people to turn up for some time now." Akemi ended the topic of her sister's whereabouts then, and hurried to bring the twins into the house first. Kaname and Zero followed suit, shortly.
"Mom, Dad… Zero-nii is here!" Akemi greeted aloud, as she entered the house with the twins in tow.
"Ah…Zero, it's been a long time – come here, take a seat. Dinner would be ready in ten." The wife of Fujiwara Satoshi, and mother to Satomi and Akemi poked her head out from the kitchen to inform Zero before going back to her task of preparing dinner, again.
"No worries, take your time – we have plenty of it at our disposal for this evening." Zero answered back, as he snuck a glance to his side. The pureblood was being extremely quiet ever since stepping into the house, with closer inspection – Zero noticed the stiff posture of the man and had to hide a smile from being seen on his lips. So the pureblood prince was 'freaking' out a little, eh?
"Kaname, relax… you're too tensed up. Uncle Satoshi is way better than my Master; he won't shoot you if that's what you are worried about." Zero whispered as he kept his eyes on the twins, whom were now busy playing on the play-station set which Akemi had obviously been playing before since it was lying carelessly on the floor with the TV screen still in gaming mode.
"Neh… Zero-nii, Akane didn't come?" Akemi questioned when she failed to notice the eldest sibling of the trio anywhere in sight, and successfully drawn Zero's attention away from the tensed pureblood prince of the Kuran Clan.
"Ah…no, Akane claimed that she wants to use the evening to catch up with her beauty sleep." Zero responded; though inwardly he was thinking that perhaps Akane just don't feel comfortable eating at the same table with his uncle. After all, Akane looks too much like his dead mother for comfort – and probably Akane just want to prevent his uncle from the grief of losing his mother.
"I see…" Akemi nodded, before going back to her unfinished game and was now playing Akira enthusiastically. Subaru, on the other hand, merely watched on from the sides.
Dinner with Fujiwara Satoshi finishes smoothly without any hiccups along the way, the twins were also on their best behavior which Zero suspected that it was probably due to their being unfamiliar with his uncle. Since it was obvious that the twins had no problems warming up to the presence of Akemi and while Zero did not ask the twins for the reason – he had a fine suspicion of it by the end of the evening.
The only possible reason for the twins to have warm up to Akemi this easily, would be that the twins knows her in their own time era and that would mean Akemi either had a mishap of being bitten by some random vampire out there while on a job or that she choose to pick a vampire for her future half. Either way, it is not his place to concern himself with – and besides, Akemi is old enough to handle herself.
After dinner, Akemi volunteered to 'baby-sit' the twins while Fujiwara Satoshi retreated to his Study with Zero and Kaname to do some idle chat session. The first half of the chat session consists of Fujiwara Satoshi grilling Zero for details over the last 4 years of his life, and the second half of the conversation was with the pureblood prince of the Kuran Clan. The topics involved were mainly relating to Zero, much to the silver-haired teen's embarrassment. Not to forget, it ended with the typical 'threat' of the possible outcome if Kaname had dared to harm Zero in any sense.
It amuses the pureblood heir of the Kuran Clan to no end, while Zero was absolutely mortified by the words tumbling forth from his uncle Satoshi's lips. It bloody well makes him feel as though he's a bride, saved the fact that he's a male instead of a female. By the time they left the estate, Kaname was still smirking at Zero while the silver-haired teen merely glared at the pureblood whenever the twins were not looking in their directions.
Date started: 24/1/2013
Date completed: 24/1/2013