Vampire Knight Fan Fiction ❯ Heart of Everything ❯ Heart of Everything ( Chapter 1 )

~Heart of Everything~
~A Zero/Kaname Oneshot~

Warnings: YAOI, swearing, Zero-centric, slight OOCness, kinda AU, fluffy. Don't like, don't read.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Phooey.
Author's Note: I know it's a day early for a Valentine's Day story, but I probably would've found no time to post it on V-Day with it being a Saturday and all. Anyway, my mission with this story is to make you go `Awwww' at one point or another. I'd appreciate a review if I succeed in this endeavor, so let me know. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the oneshot thing. ^///^

~~

Kaname always wins.

If I have learned anything over the years since I've known him, it is that statement right there. I don't know why, he just… always does. It pisses me the hell off though. It's always been like that throughout my life. He would win our arguments. He would win in getting Yuki. He would win as a vampire. Hell, he would even beat me at holding chopsticks.

It was even like that when we first started dating. He initiated the first kiss. He would always find a way to pay on dates; he would be able to reduce me to a quivering mass of jelly and yet still look completely refined. God knows I won't tell anyone this, especially him, but that damn vampire always wins in bed too! It's not fair! When he first started having feelings for me I didn't even want to be in a twenty foot range of the guy! But what happened? He won. He won me. Bastard.

But because of his oh-so-superior attitude, he led me to the situation we were in now. My mouth open and catching flies, my cheeks flushed and my chest tight. While he was smirking up at me with a strange sort of gentleness that just made me freeze up even more.

But to really understand what happened, you would have to go back about a week. You really just have to understand how much I hate this guy. Him and is stupid goddam—

---------

I woke up with Kaname still curled around me, lost in sleep. His soft breath was against my ear, letting my drooping, sleep-mussed hair brush against my face every time he exhaled. I had to stop looking at him. I was creeping myself out the way I couldn't tear my eyes away from him. Why did he have to entrance me even in his sleep? Already he was cutting down my ego and he hadn't even woken up yet.

Usually he wouldn't even get up until around eleven on weekends so that left me here for two hours just staring at either him or the ceiling, trying my absolute best not to wake him up. It takes all the energy and self-restraint I have to not brush my lips against his until he wakes up and I hate that. How the hell does he have so much control over me? It doesn't make sense!

I looked to the clock again, fifteen minutes had passed and I let my eyes travel back to Kaname. How could he sleep so late, it didn't make sense. How could he be so peaceful this late at night? Nothing about Kaname made sense to me. But a part of me liked that, a part of me liked that a lot.

Another fifteen minutes, God this was getting old. I would just get out of bed and actually do something if he wasn't clinging to me like a stuffed animal.

As if reading my thoughts, he has to actually shift away from me so that he was on his back not even touching me now. I frowned.

Maybe I could get in a few more winks of sleep...

I slowly shifted closer to him, scowling at his stupid perfect face right when I was close enough to feel his breath I slowly wrapped my arms around him, being careful not to wake him when...

CRASH

"Whazzat?!" Kaname suddenly snapped up still half asleep colliding his cheekbone with my nose causing me to fall off the bed on the floor writhing in pain. Some days you just can't win.

"Ahhhhh," I groaned painfully.

"Zero?" he asked, his hair mussed from sleep and his eyes half lidded. "What are you doing on the floor?”

"Shut up, Kuran."

------------------

No, there really are just some days you just can't win. Not at all. There are some days that start out meaningless then snowball down a cliff into annoying and then into just plain bad. That's the part where the snowball has actually completely formed into a giant mass of snow the size of Tokyo and then crash lands right into a tree. In a nutshell that was my day. To make it even simpler, I think that Ruka was dropping me into a pot of acid with her eyes.

Awkward. That was the only way to describe the situation. While Kaname seemed to have a bored, still slightly sleepy, attitude everything in the room was just so damn awkward. Yuki was sweating bullets and looking around the room, probably thinking of ways to break the ice. Ruka was glaring daggers at me while I tried to avoid her gaze with all my might and Cross was at the head of the table grinning like an idiot.

It had been six months. Six months since we told everyone about our three year relationship. Can't she get over it already?! And now we're going to have to fix the door since she practically ran through it. Oh, my mistake. I was going to have to fix the door again, knowing Cross.

Kaname yawned and everyone turned to look at him, he looked around the room and then, without saying a word, rested his head on his hand which was propped up by his elbow. How the hell was he so damn calm?!

Finally after what felt like ages Cross cleared his throat. "So... Ruka, what brings you to my house today?"

"Yes! It's good to see you!" Yuki chirped and I felt my shoulders relax a bit.

"Oh I just wanted to drop by and see how everybody was," Ruka said with a smile not even looking away from me, even so I knew that smile was not directed toward me. My shoulders tensed up again. "Is everything going okay?" Her grin slipped off her face and turned into a slight scowl. I felt Kaname grab my hand from under the table and I turned to look at him who was now facing Ruka.

"Everything's great," he said with a gentle smile that made my insides implode, but I just frowned and looked away.

"I see..." Ruka said skeptically. Silence again.

"So... Ruka! Are you going to make it to the dance this weekend?" Kaname's hand tensed against mine.

"Oh... that's this weekend?" Kaname asked, his voice quivering ever so slightly though his face only showed a light surprise in his eyes.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that too. Was it really only a week left until Valentine's? Seemed like summer just came and left in a second. Already the cold winter winds were beginning to take over the school. Everything's so damn cold, I hate it. You can't do anything outside! And really, the only thing worse then rain is snow. Stupid crap. Soon enough it'll be completely dominating this place, it seemed as though the snow was coming later this year. That just means another two more months of winter instead of having March becoming the peak of spring.

And what seriously did not help this along at all was that Cross just had to throw a party for everyone. Everyone. As if I don't see them enough. No, this weekend would not be a good one. Suddenly I felt my hand tingle and I looked down to see Kaname subconsciously tighten his grip on my hand, which caused the blood to stop flowing through my fingers. I looked up at his face but he showed no emotion… at least that was what he was trying to do. It was like all his frustration was coming out on my hand.

"Kuran... ow...." I whispered to him discreetly and he shot his head up and looked down at our hands before letting mine go.

"Sorry," he mumbled trying to turn his attention back to the conversation. I frowned at my now cold hand and then laced my fingers back through his.

"I didn't tell you to let go," I whispered angrily and he smiled at me.

"...So I've already heard from most of the Day and Night Classes. The only Night Class members who haven't responded yet are Kain and Aido. But besides that everybody's coming," Yuki said to Ruka with a bright smile.

"I can't wait," Ruka said sickly-sweetly. Sometimes I think her mood swings only happen around me, just to piss me off.

"I can't believe Valentine's is here so soon. What a romantic time of year," Cross said in his affectionate voice.

"So...." Ruka began looking at me and Kaname. "There's something I've been wondering..." Ruka started and everyone looked toward her. "Who's getting the present for Valentine's?" Ruka asked innocently and we blinked at her and then turned to look at each other.

"Ummm..."

"Well..."

"Oh yes that's right it's usually... the... girl who...." Yuki began, a light bulb going off in her head, seriously sometimes she's just a tad slow.

...

Wait.

Wait a minute.

If it's usually the girl then....

"Hmmm, well I guess that's up to you, right Zero-chan?" Kaname said lazily with a mock-smile.

...

"OH HELL NO!" Kaname chuckled at my response. "There is no way in hell; I'm not playing the girl in this relationship. No. Way. In. Hell. You are not winning this one, nope, uh-uh." I glared at him but he just continued his obnoxious snicker.

"Well, we'll see about that."

------------------

Monday, Monday, Monday.

Dammit.

I hate Mondays worse then I hate snow and bloodsuckers, and that's saying something. My classes are boring, I haven't even finished my homework and trying to wake up Kaname was a pain since his reflexes are set to "kill" during the day. So when I mean it was a pain, I seriously mean it was pain.

"I said I was sorry," Kaname said with a light smile as he pressed the bag of ice against my face while he escorted me to school. I just scowled at him and took the bag of ice from his hands.

"That does look pretty bad, Zero. Maybe you should go to the infirmary!" Yuki chimed in as she tried to keep her pace the same as ours. I hissed as I pressed the bag against my face.

"Who the hell punches someone in the face as a reflex? You know not even. Who does that when they're asleep?" I asked Kaname, letting the bag come off my face. He grabbed it again and pressed it against my cheek. I let out a small yelp in pain as he did. "As if it wasn't cold enough," I growled.

"No Yuki, I think he's fine," Kaname said, ignoring me. I growled at him.

"Hey Yuki!" All three of us looked over to see Yori on the path to the school.

"Hello Yori!" Yuki waved. "Oh... do you mind?" she asked turning around suddenly.

"Of course not, Yuki."

"Do whatever the hell you want," I mumbled as she smiled and thanked us. Now it was just the two of us as Yuki ran off to go walk with her friend. For awhile we walked in silence down the pathway, the school almost in sight when suddenly I felt my cheek warm up a bit and a hand on my wrist. I turned around to see Kaname smiling at me, the hand with the ice at his side.

"I never thanked you for waking me up this morning," he said softly, walking toward me as he lifted his hand to place on the back of my neck. Before I knew it, his lips were connected to mine and I found myself wrapping my arms around him. He kissed me gently but that was enough to extinguish every cold feeling in my body.

This has been true from the first time he kissed me, but I love it when he does. His lips just seem to mesh against mine. I stopped trying to deny it about two and a half years ago because it just didn't make sense to kid myself anymore. No matter how gentle or how rough the kiss is, it always hits something inside me that just makes my entire body warm up.

He kept his lips connected to mine as he teasingly let his tongue out to lick my lips and I would have opened my mouth if he hadn't pulled away. "Thank you," he whispered in my ear and I felt my face flush.

"Yeah, well... AH!" Suddenly the bag of ice was back on my face and it hurt like hell. "What the hell was that for?!" I yelled at him, my face still felt red and I assumed that was why he continued to laugh slightly. He grabbed my hand, still keeping the bag of ice on my face as he kissed it.

"You're going to be late for school," he said simply and put my other hand to the bag before pushing me toward the building.

I hate Mondays.

-------------------------

Classes are horribly boring. It's just not even funny how much I wish I could just go to sleep right now its hard just keeping my eyes open. The teacher has been going on for what seems like hours. I just want to get the hell out of here. And of course the longest class just has to be the one at the end of the day.

Still 30 minutes to go….

I just have to think about something else. Ummmm. Ah-hah. Like that party. How am I going to get out of that party? I mean Yuki really wants us to go but maybe if I think up an excuse that's good enough to keep her happy and get Kaname and I the hell out of there.

Let me think... can't say anyone is injured, she'd want to come along. Can't just tell her I don't want to go, that would hurt her feelings.

Oh I could talk to her in private and tell her I already had something planned for Valentine's Day with Kaname. That would make her happy, plus she would practically push us out the door.

Ha, that will be fantastic. I'm sure Kaname would be completely on board to. He's told me how much he suffocates at formals, I think the last thing he needs is to be in a room with all of those people for a neverending formal dance. Hell, maybe I can be a bit of a romantic. That place we went to last year was good. We didn't get each other anything last year either. We both agreed to go Dutch on a meal and did the same thing for White Day.

But there's something about this year that almost makes me feel bad about not getting him a present. If I don't cave then it's like I'm ignoring that damn holiday completely, and I know for a fact that he will not cave either. It's just so frustrating how whenever I have a spare moment I start thinking about what a good present for him might be. Grah! Ok this needs to stop. I am not getting him anything for Valentine's and that is final.

But still.... there's something that feels off about it.

We had been together for so long, and it would be a lie if I were to say that I was anything short of being in love. Yeah. I'm in love. Damn him again and again.

So don't people who are in love... get each other presents... or something?

You know I bet that damn pureblood plans this, I bet he does everything in his power to make sure that I end up getting him a present. That's his plan, I can just tell.

Suddenly I heard the bell ring and I yelped in surprise. Why the hell do they make those damn bells so loud? I heard half the classroom laugh in response and I just groaned and left the room post haste.

"Well, somebody's jumpy today," Kaname said falling into step beside me.

"Not my fault..." I mumbled and he laughed. "Anyway, are you going to get ready for your classes? I'm sick of this place." I asked, pausing in the pathway between the Day and Night dorms.

"Actually I have a bit of an errand to run tonight..." Kaname trailed off and I gave him a suspicious look.

"But you can walk with me, Zero!" Yuki suddenly said from behind me.

"AHHHH! Yuki, why do you insist on sneaking up on me? " I snapped at the girl who got a sudden look of surprise splashed on her face.

"I'm sorry Zero, I'll try not to next time.” I opened my mouth to say something but suddenly I felt my shirt collar being snatched and my lips covered by Kaname's. I felt my face go immediately red and my eyes widened instead of shutting themselves closed. I knew Yuki was the only one around now, but... still! Suddenly his lips were off mine as soon as they had come, leaving my lips cold and my entire body frozen. I could see Yuki's red face out of the corner of my eye.

"Yuki, if you will excuse me," Kaname said suddenly, standing up to leave.

"Oh are you...!" Yuki asked and I finally got myself together and turned to look at Kaname who had a hand over her mouth and his eyes wide even though she was smiling insanely.

He looked over at me and let his hand slide off of Yuki's smiling mouth. He took a deep breath and left.

"...What the hell?" I asked to really no one in particular and Yuki giggled.

--------------------

After what had happened Monday afternoon things started getting a lot weirder around the house. Yuki was smiling way too much. And not like... "Yuki-smiling" this was like... Yuki on steroids.

And that's just the half of it I can't even explain how Kaname's acting. For the past two days Kaname has had three moods. Insanely happy, horny, and nervous. That is the only way to explain it. If he's not smiling at me like an idiot or smiling at Yuki then he's pinning me to a wall while no one is looking, and if he isn't doing that then he's got his eyes wide looking at me like I might strangle him with my bare hands. He doesn't make sense. At all. It bugs me.

I pulled myself out of the bath and tried to scrub my hair dry before pulling on my Prefect uniform. I am so tired, but I'm not going to bed until I get an answer out of Kaname. I continued to scrub my hair as I headed out to the Moon Dorms and Kaname's room. But outside of his room, something caused me to stop. Was he... talking to himself?

"I couldn't go on and... things just wouldn't be the same... and... and... ugh. That's not right, that's horrible," I heard Kaname grunt in frustration as I leaned against the door.

“I can't mess this up, what the hell is happening to me!"

"Kaname?"

"Eh?!" I opened his door suddenly and I saw him turn around to face me with a look of total fear in his eyes. He was on his knees in the middle of the room though he quickly stood up to face me. "Kiryu! ...Hasn't anyone ever told you to knock?!" Kaname asked, glaring at me.

"Heh, we're far past that I think," I said smirking at him and his glare deepened before he closed his eyes and looked up at me with an amused smile. I smiled back at him and closed the door behind me before lying on the bed.

"So..." Kaname started sitting on the bed, his back facing me. "Get me anything for Valentine's yet?" Kaname asked looking at me over his shoulder, a smile occupying his face. I immediately turned my face into a scowl.

"No! And don't expect one either! I'm not the girl in this relationship!" I scoffed at him and he turned around on the bed.

"Oh really?" he asked in his most seductive voice, which I will admit, was damn sexy.

"Yes, really," I replied trying to act annoying when the way he was inching closer toward me was seriously turning me on. "You're the one with the pretty famph--"

Dammit, he did it again!

Suddenly he was lying on me with his lips connected to mine and my wrists pinned down next to my face. Not only that, but he was too damn strong! I kept on trying to flip him over and he kept me pinned down easily. He explored my mouth with his tongue and I immediately tried to fight him for tongue dominance since it didn't look like I'd be getting it anywhere else.

I felt myself sink into the kiss even more, falling further into his touch. All of the sudden his lips were off mine and I let my eyes slide half-open to look at him. He was smiling… oddly though. His smile it turned into a large toothy grin and suddenly he was laughing. He was laughing almost hysterically like some invisible force was tickling the life out of him.

“…What's so funny?” I asked my voice kind of raspy but still kind of pissed. He continued laughing for a second before he answered.

“I… Hahaha, I love you… I really really love you,” he laughed out. This made me think. I didn't really find anything that funny about it…

“What…”

“I mean, I really hahahaha, really love you a lot.” He kept laughing, still on top of me and still holding on to my wrists.

“I don't see anything funny—AH!” Suddenly he had flipped me so that I was on top and he was on the bottom, his laugh now dying down to a soft chuckle. This was… strange. In the past three years we've been together I've been in this position with him… probably once. I remember that one night, he had come back to the dorms completely empty, his eyes were so sorrowful and his touch was so cold and lifeless. I remember kissing him with as much emotion and passion as I could just to bring him back to me, just to know he was still there. That night, I knew I couldn't lose him. But on regular occasions he never even lets me try to get on top but here he was, wrapping his arms around my waist pulling me closer to him.

“Come on, Zero. Tell me you love me,” he said in the softest, most seductive voice I had ever heard and it made something flutter up in my insides. I looked down at him with wide eyes to see him smiling the most sincere smile I had ever seen from him, and I like to think that I have seen the more sincere side of Kaname. But that smile… it just blew me away.

“I… I love you, Kaname,” I said and was startled by how easy and how natural it was to say. “I love you, Kaname,” I said it again just to feel that sense of belonging. I've never noticed that before, I've said that phrase so many times and every time I do I feel just a bit safer. But something about the way he's looking at me… the way he's pulling me closer… I've never felt so perfect in my entire life “I love you,” I said one more time, just for myself and he slid a hand up my back into my hair and pulled his head up oh so gracefully so his mouth was next to my ear.

“I'm all yours,” he said without so much as a sliver of hesitation. He put his head back down on the pillow and I let my breath hitch at the expression on his face. After I connected my lips to his the rest of the night was a complete blur.

-----------------------------

It was insane how well he fit into my arms. It just didn't make sense. It was like we were born to fit together like this, I just couldn't help but stare in amazement. Was this for real? The way his chest rhythmically moved up and down with mine as he kept his eyes lidded with deep sleep.

I looked at the clock with caution knowing that this time I actually could wake up Kaname considering we had to be at school in about an hour or so. I wrapped my arms more protectively around him and he seemed to do the same in his sleep. I smiled and closed my eyes. Mornings like these--

"KANAME-SAMA!"

Sucked.

"KANAME-SAMA I HURRIED OVER... We-he-he-ell! HAHAHA I SEEMED TO HAVE FOUND YOU IN QUITE THE COMPRIMISING SITUATION HAHAHA!"

God. Damn. Aido.

"What the hell are you doing here?! GET OUT!" I felt my self snap up, and suddenly feel very exposed with my bare chest and I could feel my face heating up mercilessly.

"WHAT A WONDERFUL TIME, ENJOYING EVERY INCH AREN'T YA, KIRYU-KUN?!" He let out that damn laugh again and I thought I might break something in half. I thought I felt Kaname twitch a bit under the covers but I looked down to see he was still sleeping peacefully. How the hell can he sleep through this?!

"Aido, Yuki made some breakfast." ...Kain... is here too? "Oh hello Zero."

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS DOING IN HERE?! GET THE HELL OUT!!" I don't think I could even imagine how red my face was right now.

"Now now, what's all this ruckus... oh my-" Of course cue Cross who came up with his smug snicker that made me want to gouge out his eyeballs. I felt like pulling the sheet up more but I couldn't find myself to move and clenched my fists in the sheets my face burning like a Christmas light.

"Well it seems like you two had some fun today," Cross' voice was drenched in un-spilt laughter.

"Reminds you of your young days Headmaster?"

"I was just thinking it was like a mirror image."

......

"Breakfast...." Kain repeated.

"WILL YOU GUYS ALL GET OUT!?!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"Why of course! We mustn't get in the way of young love! Come Hanabusa and Akatsuki let us feast on little Yuki's beautiful meal!" And just like that the door as slammed behind the crowd of intruders. I finally felt my shoulders relax and I scowled at Kaname's sleeping form.

"How the hell did you sleep through that?" I asked aloud to Kaname.

"Ngh... I didn't," Kaname said his eyes still closed but his lips curved into a somewhat devious smirk.

"...YOU BASTARD!" Kaname started laughing as his eyes fluttered open. "You left me alone with them!""

"Aww, was my hunter scared?" I wrinkled my nose at the nickname and he chuckled again reaching his hand up to cup my cheek affectionately. He smiled at me and I tried and failed to fight the smile forming on my face.

"Come on, get up, you're gonna be late for school," I said getting up leaving Kaname sleep-mussed behind me.

----------------------------

Despite that fact that this evening had certainly been awkward, I did not expect this much tension at breakfast/dinner. I mean yes the usual yelling back and forth and I was expecting everyone to piss me off in one way or another, but...

I wasn't expecting this weird silence to over come the table. The only ones who seemed out of the loop were me and Cross, but it didn't seem like he cared as he just seemed to shrug and go back to reading his newspaper.

But I was watching very closely at this whole ordeal.

Aido, the smug bastard that he was, was grinning almost triumphantly at Kaname who seemed to be glaring at him mercilessly, and Kain too. He alternated sending them death glares while Yuki seemed to smile this large wide smile that really kind of creeped me out.

"Akatsuki... what did you do?" Kaname's voice was low and gravely and, might I add, very unnerving.

"KAIN TOLD ME EVERYTHING AND I FEEL OVERJOYED KANAME-SAMA, OVERJOYED TO THINK-!" Suddenly Kaname's hand snaked over Aido's loud mouth and clenched around his jaw. The noble's eyes softened a little bit and Kaname scowled in return. Kaname grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of the room.

"We'll be just a second," Kaname said strictly pulling Aido along behind him.

After that all we could really hear were soft mumbles coming from the other room and Kaname raising his voice occasionally at Aido. Everyone else remained silent as they continued to argue/talk/execute/whatever in the other room.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair as Cross flipped a page in his newspaper. "Why did you come here again?" I asked Kain and he took another bite of the food Yuki had prepared.

"Breakfast," he said simply.

"Ah."

Finally the door slid open with a blushing Kaname and a smiling Aido.

"Let's go to classes," Kaname suggested and he walked to the front door. Aido and Kain followed quickly after and they all put on our shoes and grabbed their packs as they began to head out. Yuki and I were already ready for our Prefect duties, so we waited for them at the door. I tried to ask Kaname what had happened without... saying anything but he refused to look at anything but his shoes.

It was when we were all about to head onto the path in the forest to get to school when Aido called Kaname to the far front of our group and I could see his shoulders slump a bit.

"Hang on just a minute, I'll be right back." I watched as Kaname walked forward to talk with Aido, and my eyes nearly bulged out of my head as he seemed to pull Kaname into a hug. Kaname seemed unresponsive at first but then hugged back, though the scowl didn't leave his lips.

After a few seconds Kaname pulled away and I saw him say something as he wagged his finger and the ice-vampire nodded happily. I looked over at Yuki and she seemed like she was on Cloud 9, her eyes were sparkling and everything and I turned my eyes back to Kaname as he ran back to join us.

Tonight was going to be weird.

-----------------------------

It was finally Friday and I stared out of the school window absently. Luckily for me the day has been going by faster then the rest of the week, which isn't saying much but it's an improvement. Currently it was lunch break. Yuki was kidnapped by her friends and was now eating lunch with them somewhere. Kaname had come over and was eating lunch with me but suddenly got up and left, saying he had to do something, so that leaves me here, just kind of staring out the window and really nothing in particular.

I grunted a bit in frustration. Sometimes I just can't get Kaname. After Wednesday his insanely happy mood was drifting away and was being replaced by raw nervousness. It's like every time he's around me he gets all antsy and has to move around a ton. I wouldn't say that it was awkward between us because we kind of got over that in the first couple of months. But the air between us is certainly tense, and I have no freaking idea why. Whatever tension is coming between us its all from Kaname's end. I've thought about talking to him a couple of times but he still keeps smiling. It's almost like he's happy nervous or… on speed or something, I don't know.

I was just in the middle of trying to fall asleep on the desk, the gloomy weather making me tired during the unusually long lunch break when I heard voices come closer to me.

“You've talked to him before, you tell him.”

“Oh but won't they get mad?”

“Who do you think will get angrier? Them or him?”

“I guess you're right... but-”

"Just go!"

"Alright, alright!"

“Umm… Kiryu-kun?” I opened one eye at the girl standing in front of me, fidgeting a bit and looking everywhere else but me.

“What do you want?” I asked trying to fall back asleep as I closed my eyes again.

“Well, I was talking to my friend who told me that her friend that was told by a teacher that was walking outside—”

“Can I get the short version?” I snapped. This was not helping my day at all.

“Umm… well basically a teacher saw Kaname-sama kind of… collapse outside a little bit ago. He was taken to the infirmary.”…WHAT?!

“WHAT?!”

“Well, my friend told me to tell you since you guys seemed like such good friends and—”

“Is he still there?!” She nodded weakly and I rushed out of the room stopping real quick to thank her and then continuing my run to the infirmary.

What the hell did he do! I leave him alone for five minutes and he collapses?! What the hell!

I was just about ready to storm into the infirmary when I saw the huge crowd of people huddling outside the infirmary. Apparently, word had gotten out. Not to my surprise most of them, were indeed, female so that beat just kind of smashing through them. I couldn't really tell but I think there were about three of them keeping them out.

This wasn't fair, just because I didn't get word fast enough I was practically yards away from checking to see if Kaname was okay. That was not fair. So instead what I did was clenched my fists gathered up my voice and screamed at the top of my lungs, “FIRE!”

It was about three years ago when we got the lecture in gym class about self defense. If anyone has ever attacked you while walking alone somewhere, first check to see if you have any keys and keep them ready to stab in the predator's eye. If that doesn't work and the guy takes you away you aren't supposed to yell, “Help!” Apparently no one gives a damn about whether you're in trouble or not, they gotta feel the fear themselves so they told us to always shout, “Fire!” in a situation like that.

Now of course I never thought I would actually need this lesson. I mean, any creep comes up to me I'll knock the shit out of him, but this actually proved to be really useful in this situation cause as soon as I shouted the word everybody just scattered. I had to back up against the wall just in case any girl was to accidentally run into me. Everyone screamed and ran and poured out of the hallway leaving me with absolutely no resistance outside the nurse's office.

I opened the door to see Kaname waiting almost expectantly for me. His arms crossed and his lips curved into an amused smirk.

“Don't you think that was a bit much, Zero?” he asked playfully.

“Some chick comes up to me and tells me you passed out on your way back to your dorm, you think I'm just gonna sit back?” I snapped and his expression turned almost a bit annoyed.

“I didn't pass out,” he said rolling his eyes.

“Then what the hell happened?! Why are you here?! Why were you even outside today?! Do you see how clear and cold it is?! Of course you'd probably pass out or something!” I said waving my arms around gesturing to the sky out the window. He laughed a bit.

“I was just feeling a little… anxious. I needed to do something to relieve myself. I wasn't concentrating and my breath got a little short, when a teacher saw me outside, she thought I was having trouble breathing, which was only half true, and insisted I go to the infirmary,” Kaname stated as if reading it out of a book.

“Well… don't scare me like that!” I shouted back at him. For a second there I thought I was going to come to Kaname's limp body practically hyperventilating in his sleep. The image only got worse and worse the more time passed by.

I covered my eyes with my hand and let myself seethe for a little bit. After a few minutes had gone by and a silence had passed between us he grabbed my hand and I could feel him squeeze it.

“I'm fine, okay?” He whispered in a reassuring tone and I looked at him and nodded. I sat next to him, still holding his hand and allowed myself to enjoy this peaceful moment with Kaname.

“You know,” I said quietly. “I have an idea.”

“Hm?” He looked over with a questioning look.

“I was thinking of ways to try and get out of this formal tomorrow, I think I found the perfect plan,” I said smiling devilishly at him but his face just paled. “What, what's wrong?”

“Nothing I just think that maybe we shouldn't skip out on this one that's all,” he said, letting go of my hand and gathering his things on the other side of the room.

“I thought you said you hated being at a formal.” I crossed my arms and looked at him, annoyed. He turned around looked toward me with a smile.

“As long as you're with me, it doesn't matter.” I think my heart stopped when he said that and I looked at him for a long moment before he smiled again and began to head out the door. “Are you coming?” He asked and I shook myself out of the odd trance I was in and nodded quietly and began to walk with him back to his dorm.

----------------------------------

Finally, or, unfortunately it was Saturday and everyone was busy in the school, trying to set up the decorations for the formal. Cross was hanging up balloons and streamers and Yuki was preparing snack foods and baking a cake while Kaname was rummaging through the CDs for some good music to play. My job was supposed to set up entertainment so I got a deck of cards and threw them on the table.

I looked around at the well place house and if I didn't know any better I would think that I was going to a seven year old's birthday party. I sighed and looked over at Kaname. Ever since this morning he seemed to be worse then ever and every time Yuki would pass by him she would smile a smile ten times bigger then the first one only making him look even more nervous.

That was it, I had to get to the bottom of this. I quickly walked over to where Kaname was testing out the different CDs for the party that night and busying himself with what really seemed like pointless tasks.

"Kuran," I said in a stern voice. He looked up at me with glazed eyes and a pale face and I kneeled down next to him. "What is up?" I asked cupping his cheek while he looked at me blankly. I kept my stern glare narrowing my eyes in an attempt to look through his eyes.

"Nothing's wrong, Zero," he said gently grabbing the hand on his cheek and silently pushed it off so that he could walk away. He stood up and began to head toward the kitchen when I grabbed his wrist.

"Don't lie to me." He sighed in response and looked down at the ground for a moment before looking up at me with a smile. I stepped back a bit and he stepped forward, I hardly noticed I still hadn't released his wrist.

"I'm really fine," Kaname said with a reassuring smile as he twisted his arm around to hold my hand.

"How am I supposed to believe you?" I asked in a quiet voice, quieter then I actually wanted it to come out and he brought my hand to his mouth and kissed it lightly.

"Zero..." he started. "Tell me you love me," he softly requested, his eyes closed, his mouth still half pressed against my hand and his face turning pale again. My eyes widened at his request but it wasn't anything particularly hard to say.

"I love you," I whispered. He opened his eyes, smiled at me, let go of my hand and walked out of the room.

------------------------------------

So it was time for the formal and almost every single one of the students from both classes found a spot inside. I tried to find a place to hide from everyone but Kaname kept a close eye on me, careful I wouldn't leave. So I just sulked in a corner eating some of the snack food Yuki left out, watching Kaname watch me.

The thing was I could sense a few other people staring at me and it made me seriously uncomfortable. Yuki, for one, on her steroid smile. Kain, for another, with his blank expression, almost as if he were examining me. And, this one really creeped me out, Aido with his grand smile that made me think of those pedophiles that get arrested on cop shows.

Under the weight of their stares I felt my face heat up and I walked into the kitchen mumbling about getting more snacks to fill the already overflowing bowl. I threw the bowl of snacks on the table and sighed. Today was not going too well, it was bad enough I had to be with almost my entire family, but I had to be with them while they were acting extremely creepy.

"I can't handle days like this," I muttered.

"Days like what?" Hello Takuma. Wait.

"What are you doing in here?!" I shouted suddenly turning around.

"I followed you." So simply... "Zero, everyone asked me to ask you that we want you and Kaname to dance together." I stared at him blankly while the request processed in my mind. Suddenly I felt my face burn a bright red.

"Wh-what the hell?! I'm not gonna dance with him!" Ichijo gave me a sour look.

"Why not? Aren't you guys together? It's only a dance!" Ichijo seriously needs to have a mute button, or needs to come with a roll of duct tape, that would be so helpful in times like these.

"That's besides the point Takuma, I have some shame!"

"What's so shameful about dancing with Kaname-sama?" he asked innocently and I felt myself tense up. What was so shameful about dancing with him...?

Before I had time to actually respond to my thoughts Ichijo was tugging on my wrist pulling me into where everyone was talking, standing, and in very few cases, dancing. Ichijo pulled me right up to where Kaname was talking to Yuki and he turned around to face me and sighed.

"Yuki..." he said almost exasperated and I could tell he was getting the same talk from Yuki.

"Come on you two!" Ichijo said too loudly for me as he practically shoved me into Kaname, Yuki did the same only much more gently. By now Kaname was just as red as I was but it seemed as though neither Yuki or Ichijo would leave until we had met their request.

Hesitantly, very hesitantly, I wrapped my arms around Kaname's waist and he put his around my shoulder, we both refused to look at anyone but each other, mostly because we didn't want to see anyone else staring at us.

"And you didn't want to skip out on this... why?!" I whispered angrily and Kaname only broke out a small smile. I finally found enough courage to look around the room to see that a few people had actually started dancing too. Rima and Shiki, but they were just about as red as we were, Yuki and Ichijo, Cross and Ruka (who was staring right at me.....), Aido and a pretty Day Class girl…

"Hey." I turned my attention back to Kaname who was smiling at me, his face not as red but still tinted with a soft pink. "Happy Valentine's Day, Zero," he said simply, drawing closer to me so he could whisper in my ear. I shivered slightly and placed my mouth near his as well.

"Same to you," I said simply. Something about this moment right here was making my heart race harder then it ever had before. The way Kaname was holding me, staring at me, and the way that I felt as though there was no one else in the room even though I could sense the stares we were getting from everyone else. Kaname breathed a deep breath and suddenly stopped rocking back in forth, halting our very awkward dance.

"Zero... are you ready for your gift?" He asked with a slight smirk but his hands were shaking, I could feel them, and if you looked close enough you could see he was quivering.

"You caved?" I asked shocked, that was the last thing I was expecting him to do but slowly he leaned in to whisper into my ear again.

"Not exactly."

As I said at the start, Kaname always wins. It's just the way he is. It is in his nature to win, whether he realizes it or not but for some reason as he slipped out of my grasp and onto his knees on the floor in front of me I didn't really care. For once I didn't feel like cursing him as he grabbed my hand which was now shaking horribly.

For a second I thought I heard the world go silent as everyone turned their attention to Kaname on one knee in front of me in the middle of the room. I could even hear the music being stopped. At first all that was audible were faint gasps and I looked frantically around the room to see everyone with large eyes and Yuki who was smiling. I let my eyes fall back onto Kaname's and he opened his mouth to speak.

"Zero... I..." It was almost as if he couldn't think of the right words to say, I couldn't think of the right way to breathe. "Zero... I never thought that I could be... this happy. With you, whenever you hold me whenever you kiss me, whenever you touch me I feel as though everything in this world, this horrible rotten world gets brighter and brighter." I could feel myself start to blush as he stopped himself again. "There were times when I thought that there was nothing to this life at all, nothing to living but darkness, pure black, pure pitch black darkness but you... you... saved me." The last part was nothing but a whisper, almost like he had breathed the words. "If I were to ever lose you, if I were to ever see you get hurt, if you were to leave me in some form I..." He clutched my hand tightly but he kept looking into my eyes which were probably very wide at this point. "I wouldn't know what to do with myself."

Slowly he reached into his coat and pulled out a small box and I felt my heart clench, I would have sworn it would have stopped if it weren't beating so hard. I couldn't bring myself to tear my eyes away from that beautiful face, but I could tell he fumbled to get the box out of his coat pocket but I honestly couldn't care less.

"Zero... I want to give you this to show you... that I will never leave you, that no matter what, I will always be by your side no matter what happens. I want to show you that I need you, I need you by me forever, to never leave me. I want to protect you and I want to love you forever."

"K-Kaname..." I whispered mostly because I couldn't find it in me to find any strength in my vocal cords.

"Zero Kiryu..." Kaname opened the box with a faint click revealing a simple gold band.

It was... perfect.

"Will you marry me?" Kaname asked the question with every emotion that he felt splotched on the words. I thought my legs were going to give out in the middle of the room and I even felt my head spin slightly as I struggled to keep my balance.

"Y-yeah," I managed to say. "Yes!" I could feel my face become pure red as Kaname's face changed to one of absolute bliss. His smile was so beautiful I never wanted him to stop. As he slipped the ring onto my finger I knew I never wanted him to stop smiling, I never wanted anything to happen to him, I wanted to protect him. I wanted to love him too. Kaname straightened himself up and immediately pulled me into a deep kiss which I responded to right away. I could hear the entire room start clapping and in some cases cheering as Kaname continued to devour my mouth in front of the whole school.

Suddenly I felt my insides clench.

Oh my God.

What the hell am I going to get him for White Day?

-------------------

"You know you guys could always have the wedding here," Chairman Cross said, sipping his tea.

"We're actually really considering that," I responded and Zero looked over the papers again, his hand intertwined with mine.

"Oh that would be really pretty!" Yuki added in. "We could set up chairs around the backyard and you could have the altar near the pond!"

"That could be nice," I said thinking it over. "What do you think?"

"Uh, well it's not like we can think of anything better," Zero said passively still looking down at the table. "And I guess it would be nice to have the wedding in the place where we first started dating." I smiled at him and he blushed a little bit but smiled back.

The rest of us continued to discuss various details for awhile but it took a lot of strength to not stare at Zero the entire time.

"Well wait a minute, who's walking down the aisle?! I will tell you right not that it will not be me."

A part of me still can't believe that all this was happening. I found the one I wanted to be with forever. My heart clenched in a painfully wonderful way.

"Well technically I was the one who proposed so..."

What was this strange spell he had on me? Even as kids the first thing I thought of was how pretty he was. And now why was it that I found myself melting at his touch, at his kiss, at his mere looks my way? When he smiles I feel as though I'm soaring and when he smiles at me I get this feeling that I can't even explain, this pure joy that makes me want to smile too.

"Oh no you don't Kuran! You may have proposed but you proposed on Valentine's! You got the gift so you're the girl. No way are you making me walk down that aisle!"

I love him far too much for him to comprehend. He is the only one who can make my world stop and start again. And if there's anything I've learned in my entire life it's one thing…

"Oh what if you both walked down the aisle! Or maybe we could make it so you both come from different sides," Yuki chirped.

"That sounds nice," I said looking toward Zero and he looked back at me.

"I can live with that." Zero smiled back and I leaned in to capture his lips and I could feel my body sigh.

Zero always wins. And I love it.