TYL (Vamp Side)

Ichijou Takuma nearly threw himself down on his bed, sighing long and hard. He needed something soft under him to digest his recent…revelations.

Five weeks.

It was five arduous weeks since Kaname went wonky one unassuming night (he'd left class, and as Aidou stated, he never does that) and Takuma hadn't the faintest idea what set him off. Until now.

Kiryuu Zero, or rather, infamously known throughout vampire circles as Silver Bullet – one of the most celebrated hunters of his generation (by the Association of course) – was the very source of Kaname's wonkiness. Not many knew of him personally; he was more likely to be seen in a lingerie store than a vampire gala, and when he was younger, some mocked him as Cross' shadow, following the older man to certain events, but never speaking a word, perfectly content with letting people make up their own views of him, flattering or no. Nobles had taken to ignoring him.

But not Kaname. Oh no, not Kaname. Takuma sighed again. It was just like his friend to have eclectic tastes when it came to anyone and anything. Of all the hunters to be enamored with (if it had to be a hunter at all), it had to be Silver Bullet. The man being such a competent hunter didn't help.

Most of the Night class had been instantly aware of an unfamiliar presence in the building. Takuma hadn't paid it much mind, but the moment the man had come striding down the hall and Kaname's eyes focused in on him with a disturbing amount of intensity, Takuma had known. Thiswasit. Well, 'him', it had turned out. This man, who looked identical to the new professor they'd had for the past five weeks, was The Reason for it all – the nostalgic looks, the tea, the pudding…all of it.

"Dear lord…" Because seriously? "He's doomed."

Takuma could already see it happening. Years' worth of graphic novels and dramas he'd watched played the whole story out like a melodramatic tragedy. Kaname, so in love with his hunter, destined for his feelings to remain unrequited, unable to fall for anyone else, getting left behind, while the hunter himself finds another love interest (probably a woman) and lives happily ever after (till he was old and wrinkled with grandkids), and Kaname watching wistfully from afar, in total heartbreak, wishing he could—

"Is that the sort of impression I give?"

"Eurgh!" Takuma flopped back up, his hair in complete disarray. "Hello."

Leaning against the doorframe, Kaname loosely crossed his arms and smiled amusedly, eyes cold. "Hello."

"Lovely breakfast we had this morning! The waffles were just—"

"Takuma."

He swallowed. Then laughed. "Er, yes?" Waffles were out then. No talk of waffles.

"I've a favor to beg of you."

"What?" His back straightened and he patted the space beside him, shifting into no-nonsense mode. "What do you need?" The last time Kaname had asked for anything, the garden gnomes had come to life and left him with an entire month of trauma. (Those gnomes had been ugly. And frightening.) Kaname and 'favors' came equipped with serious consequences, the likes of which challenged every last shred of mental stability. Takuma had a lot of layers in store before he reached the edge, but he'd rather salvage as many as he could.

Kaname closed the door behind him without ever touching it and lightly sat at the end of the bed. "Now that you know, I'd like to request you refrain from anything…unnecessary."

Takuma stared. Okay. No garden gnomes; that was a plus, but, "…You're saying…" He frowned softly. "Kaname, I would like nothing more than to agree, but I'm hardly the first person that is going to notice your…familiarity with Hunter Kiryuu." Hilarious plots aside this sentimentality could change tides politically if anyone else knew: The only remaining Kuran pureblood promoting co-existence, now known to be infatuated with a hunter…? They had to bring the issue some closure so it wouldn't get out of hand on the off chance this got out.

He coughed. "And sorry about the, uh…the love story thing." Not one of his best moments. To be talking aloud, he meant. Because Kaname and 'tragic romance' just fit too well together to not make cheesy drama plots out of. (Even now, he was thinking Hunter Kiryuu fit well into the 'aloof-but-actually-nice-yet-dense-in-the-romance-dept.' personality…)

"But what you're saying is that you want to…leave this as is?" He leaned in. "Kaname…I know this isn't any of my business, but I saw you call out to him. You said his given name." He softened at the way Kaname's face tensed. "You wanted to talk to him. You wanted him to see you." Was it so terrible for his friend to want acknowledgement from someone he thought of highly? Takuma didn't think so.

And he came to a clear decision right then and there.

"Silver Bullet…" He crossed his legs like a pretzel. "I never would have guessed, you know."

Kaname smiled ruefully.

"I mean, he's," a hunter? "A he, and…he looked exactly like Kiryuu-sensei," Takuma smiled. "…Different." Kiryuu-sensei wasn't a hunter. It couldn't have been more telling with a seasoned veteran standing right next to him. "He's…intense."

Attributes he'd pass off as delicate on Kiryuu-sensei were…not at all on Silver Bullet. The longer hair might have added to the steely, yet fragile quality to Kiryuu-sensei, but Silver Bullet, while with identical coloring, looked striking, like a white tiger out on the prowl – sleek, graceful, but wild. Even before knowing who he was, Takuma could tell he wasn't someone to cross, especially as a vampire. Aidou was the only one bold enough to call out to him, though he'd paled drastically on hearing Hunter Kiryuu's field name.

Kaname blinked slowly. "Takuma, are you earnest in your belief my feelings towards him are…non-platonic?"

Takuma cleared his throat, though it sounded like a muted choking sound. "Mm, well." He told himself his voice wasn't usually so high; he should lower it. Pauses however, pauses couldn't necessarily be bad. It just had to sound like an intelligent pause.

After a few minutes, the curtains started fluttering impatiently.

"I suppose." He finally admitted. "The way you looked at him…"

Kaname tilted his head as if to say, 'Yes?'

"And the way you've mentioned him…I just assumed."

"I am not accusing you of anything. I want an objective view."

"He's very important to you."

"He is."

Takuma nodded.

"Over time, I feel he has become…symbolic."

Takuma nodded again. "I can see that. He represents a certain part of you, part of your memories you're fond of." He rocked contemplatively from side to side, hands resting on his ankles. "Are you really all right with not doing anything after getting to see him? How long has it been?"

Kaname looked to the window, but didn't offer a response.

That long, huh… Takuma withheld from a sympathetic sigh that would only earn him dire injuries to his fatal regions.

"I won't lie to you Kaname. I'll try not to resort to anything unnecessary, but I can't promise I definitely won't." Because Hunter Kiryuu's obliviousness to his friend's plight – which was due to him anyhow – was enough to prickle anyone's heart into taking some kind of action.

Kaname smiled teasingly. "I suggest you fix your hair, Takuma." He said over his shoulder as the door closed behind him.

Haphazardly running his hands through his blond locks, Takuma got up determinedly. Kaname should know better than to think he'd do nothing.

_._._

"What! He went on his own?" Hanabusa squeaked. "Ichijou, why would you, how could you let Kaname-sama…!" He couldn't even seem to finish voicing his outrage he was so…outraged.

Akatsuki did think it strange; Kaname never bothered with something so trivial. He left it up to them to deal with. By Takuma's mild smile, however, he supposed there was a specific reason. Those two never operated without one or thirty. The president and vice president had always been thick as thieves. It was questionable whether Kaname actually went out to do what he was letting them assume he was doing.

"I thought we agreed we would be doing the 'clean up' for blocks 11 to 21?" Ruka frowned.

"Last minute changes. He wants you to add 25 to 27. He will take care of 22 to 24. Works more to our advantage."

Or more like Kaname's.

"When is he returning?" Akatsuki piped up. "If in the unlikely event…"

"I'm sure he'll settle things on his own." Takuma reassured. He was completely unreadable. If Akatsuki didn't know better, he wouldn't have been able to tell there was anything seriously amiss.

"Besides, if Kaname goes, the place will be completely free of Es for the next few years at the least. Less work for him in the long run."

While that was true, neither Ruka nor Hanabusa were entirely convinced. Discontent scowls marring their delicate features, they reluctantly backed off. Akatsuki went after them; exasperation lining his brows as he practically saw what they were thinking drawn over their heads. Regardless it was against Kaname's wishes, they were going to go after him. He wished they'd grow out of their weird delusion of Kaname ever needing a savior. Ambiguous as he was, Kaname was fully capable of taking care of himself.

Even if he did need one, it wouldn't be Ruka or Hanabusa he would choose for the role.

Personally, Akatsuki couldn't envision him looking remotely vulnerable in front of anyone. He didn't seem the type to allow comfort from someone else. Kaname wasn't all winter blizzards and dry deserts when it came to emotion, but certain impressions leave strong imprints, and seeing the twisted detachment, eyes so disturbingly clear of grief, from Kaname at what must have been his most desolate moment – at his parents' funeral – was enough to make him think.

Kaname couldn't afford to allow for other vampires an opportunity at gaining any sort of hold over him. That included his feeling for his deceased parents, and so soon after their loss. He'd been expected to get himself together on his own, to be calm, levelheaded, and coherent. The amount of strength that must have taken when he was six… Not many grown vampires had such composure. What else could Akatsuki think, but that Kaname was simply that internally strong?

_._._

Well. This was an extremely careless mistake on his part, Kaname thought as he looked up at the stormy sky above. He had known it was going to rain, had told himself he needed an umbrella, and what did he do – forgot about it like some idiotic girl too preoccupied with her upcoming first date. Pathetic. Had he fallen so low in a week? Or had he been on a steady decline for the past month and a half since meeting (and freaking out) his symbol-and-maybe-but-maybe-not-romantic-interest hunter from ten years ago?

In all honesty he didn't know what Zero was to him. He couldn't place a specific label on his feelings. The man had saved his life, had been his hope, his inspiration, his rock for an entire decade. That was more than half of his life. Granted, Zero hadn't been on his mind all day everyday, but he was largely the reason Kaname had bothered to get this far. All the politics, the gatherings, parties, meetings, quelling his surprisingly violent homicidal urges for arrogant vampires and humans alike, the fucking pressure, he'd dealt with it all, because he knew there were people like Zero out there. People who could care about vampires the same way they did humans. There were hunters who could still spare a few words and tea and chocolates and pudding for a crying boy they had no obligations to.

And that was amazing. Zero, barely fifteen, already an active hunter for a year, had found it in himself to give Kaname a chance. Someone who had been taught since he could talk, not to trust vampires, had reached out to Kaname in the lowest point of his life with not just the bare minimum to get him on his way, but genuine warmth and a true desire to help.

He had yet to encounter anyone like that again, but he saw shadows of it in the chairman of the academy, in the president of the Hunters Association, in some of the idealistic wealthy humans supporting his cause. Tinged with calculative eyes and quick aggressive minds constantly weighing pros and cons though they were, it was there. What his parents had dreamt of, what he aspired for, was possible.

He grimaced, attention coming back to his surroundings as he heard the faint roll of thunder overhead. This wasn't just going to be rain. Not a second later, as if in answer to his thoughts, he felt a drop land on his shoulder. Walking closer to storefronts, where there was a measure of shelter from the drizzle, he tried not to seem hurried as the unobtrusive sign to his destination came into view.

Stylish crimson letters, the 'o' represented with the shape of a leaf, was encased in a simple horizontal oval – Red Clover.

One of his very few favorite places to stop by when in need of peace, quiet and a cup of honey lemon tea. He needed moments to himself, to recollect, immerse in the comfort of warm memories, and Red Clover was the ideal spot for self-reflection. From what he knew of Takuma and what he was capable of, he was going to need it.

He was aware of the 'adjustments' that had been made to the E-patrol for this week. Aidou, Ruka, and Kain would most likely be 'advised' to add blocks 25 to 27, claiming Kaname himself would be looking after 22 to 24, utilizing a classic method of distraction to keep them preoccupied. Their return to the academy would be delayed by another few hours, in which Takuma somehow found a way to get Zero into the Night class building or their dorm for Kaname's 'surprise'. There would be no better week to drag Zero from HQ, as the chairman was going to be busy with Hunter Cross in one of their official-yet-not meetings along with Hunter Takamiya.

In response, Kaname had sent Hunter Cross a short message to keep an eye out for Zero, lest his kind nature be taken advantage of by a well meaning, but nonetheless annoying blond noble. In the meanwhile, Kaname would bide his time at Red Clover to avoid any awkward encounters. Because while he could admit to loving nothing more than to talk with Zero again, he didn't want it to come about this way. Rather, a large part of him didn't want to talk at all. It was the part of him that whined ten years had been too long; Zero obviously hadn't remembered him, there would be no cathartic reunion to get excited over, and he would look more the fool for his unrealistic, unreasonable expectations.

'Keep walking.'

'Clean it up and give it time.'

The words he often repeated over in his mind were now tinged with not only the soft tenor of a teenager still growing into his body, but the smooth, low tone of a young man. It'd been a decade; of course he'd sound different, but the rich, soothing quality of it was similar enough, Kaname would never mistake it anywhere. He could forget everything else and that voice would always pull recognition from him.

A mere few steps from the door and he nearly froze when a damp, yet familiar scent reached his nose. Solid boots making light splashes and squelches, with the shoulders of his shirt wet and nearly transparent, a hassled looking Zero got to the entrance of Red Clover before him, rushing into the store, jostling the small chime at the top and making it clink dangerously against it as he roughly ran a hand through his limp hair to push it out of his face.

The storefront was made entirely out of glass, and when Zero turned around to peer outside, eyes flicking to the grey sky in resigned irritation, he blinked when his line of sight settled on Kaname, who was still standing on the other side.

As though jolted by the attention, Kaname felt himself move, entering at a more sedate pace (if only out of uneasiness) than Zero, and coming to a stop right beside the door, his gaze never leaving Zero's.

…And he'd wanted to avoid awkward encounters? Kaname inwardly swore he could hear someone laughing. Irony could be quite a cruel mistress.

"Sirs, are you in need of any assistance?" One of the waitresses wandered over. "We've some umbrellas if—"

"No." Zero shook his head. "We'll have a table in the back." He flicked his wrist towards Kaname. "If he wants to order anything, I'll take care of it."

She nodded. "Of course sir, this way."

About to protest (he would gladly leave, and even if he didn't, he could pay for his own share), Zero shot him a Look; one Kaname didn't doubt many other hunters who worked under him knew well – "Do as I say, or Else."

Once seated, Zero promptly asked for a cup of Earl Grey and sent Kaname another look that implied this was going to be even queerer if Kaname just sat there without ordering anything.

Throat dry he automatically requested his usual: hot honey lemon tea with vanilla pudding, and nearly missed the way Zero's lids lowered in cautious contemplation.

Now self-conscious (should he have asked for something else? Those were his comfort foods, he couldn't do without them, especially in this setting) Kaname distractedly studied Zero's hand, curled in a loose fist, his long sturdy fingers mostly unseen, resting atop the table. His forearms were bare, slightly tanned and unmarred save for the faint scar on his left, leading into his rolled sleeves in a pale arch. Kaname vaguely wondered if there were any more scars he couldn't see and the possible stories behind their cause. Zero must have a fairly large collection from eleven years of hunter service.

It wasn't long before their tea and his pudding were ready (the waiter sent he and Zero a speculative glance, most likely surprised Kaname was with someone else; he'd always enjoyed his time here alone).

Having his tea in sight somehow made it easier to breathe, and he sighed softly.

Sensing some of the tension ease, Zero spoke, "This is a little far for an academy student."

"It's our day off, and I…like it here." Kaname wished he could will himself out of existence he was so mortified. What was he saying?

Zero didn't seem to find his answer strange, however. His eyes sparking, he lightly murmured, "That chairman gives free days?"

"He can be generous."

Zero chuckled gently.

Kaname made sure to enjoy the view – the curve of full lips, the softening of handsome features – but not for too long, lest he make Zero uncomfortable. He didn't think he'd ever heard Zero laugh. Grin, smile, or smirk, maybe, but not laugh.

"May I ask…were you intending to come here, or is this a pit stop?" Had Takuma...?

"I was heading for the academy and it started pouring. No umbrella – handed it off to this drenched kid – and my shirt is white." He gestured to his shoulders. Though the shirt was drying, Kaname could see the tone of his skin coming through the damp fabric. He hadn't intended to come to Red Clover then.

"Are you without your bike today?"

Zero's eyes suddenly burned with a disconcerting amount of curiosity at the question. It was a moment before he said, "What's the color of my spare helmet?"

"Pink." He automatically answered. The color was hard to forget even after a decade; just as humorously unique as the cat-themed thermo and the inanely designed bag that it came in.

Zero smirked as though he'd gained confirmation on a longstanding suspicion. "It's blue now."

What?

"I changed it five years ago."

What did that have to do with anything?

Zero took a languid sip of his tea. "Do you always eat your pudding that way?"

Kaname glanced down at his dessert decorated with diced fruits – strawberries, kiwis, and two whole raspberries – just the way Zero's pudding had been arranged for him when he was six.

"And your tea, with exactly one and a half teaspoonful of sugar?" Zero continued.

"…Yes." He was starting to see where this was going.

"Mm."

Kaname refrained from snapping the spoon handle between his fingers at the vague response. Mm? Was that it? What did that mean?

Zero placed his cup back down. He shifted in his seat and pulled out his phone ringing for his attention. Sending Kaname an apologetic glance, he checked whatever messages were left to him and quickly typed one back before setting the phone down on the table.

Outside, the rain fell harder.

Kaname scooped a spoonful of pudding along with a bit of the strawberry. "I would be nine years younger than you if I were human."

Zero nodded. "You shouldn't know me, but you do."

Thunder crackled and rumbled.

"You don't know me, however."

Closing his eyes, Zero smiled slightly. "But I do. I'm just looking for when." He made the tea in his cup swirl with a twist of his wrist. "And you're not making it easy."

Unable to feel disappointment at the light tone, Kaname smiled. Just like their first meeting, he couldn't hold onto his darker, negative emotions for long when with Zero. It would be natural to feel wistful or down right depressed with such a clear admission of being forgotten, but all he felt was the amusement Zero was projecting and the urge to tease back.

"It'd hardly be fair for you to be given a direct answer." He liked to see Zero putting in the effort to remember him. "But I wouldn't mind offering another clue to…move the process along. Humans have such faulty memories." He tucked a lock of hair behind his ear.

"'It's really complicated. Extremely difficult. Can you do it?'" He recited some of the first words he received from Zero. "You were rather mean." He felt compelled to add. "I was only six. You had me completely fooled."

"Was I?" Zero's lips twitched. Something was starting to come alive in his voice.

Kaname nodded, though the other man still had his eyes closed. He swallowed before softly reciting another phrase: "'I want to know your name.'"

Zero's breathing stopped for a few seconds. "Your name." He breathed out. "Name…"

The phone vibrated.

Brows creasing, Zero reached for it, tapped at its screen without even looking at it (he hadn't bothered to open his eyes), placed it at his ear, and after whoever had picked up on the other line, demanded, "I'm on a date with one of your vampires, whine at someone else." And then pointedly turned it off and stuffed it back in his pocket.

Unfortunately, not a second later, Kaname's phone rang.

"He said DATE! Tell me it's with you!"

Kaname nearly cringed from Hunter Cross' high, excited shout. "I've no idea what you speak of, please excuse me, I'd like to get back to my tea." He calmly replied.

Zero smiled into his cup at the sounds of protest from Hunter Cross before they were cut off as Kaname snapped his phone shut. He huffed a laugh under his breath and murmured, "If he knew there was no need to push us together, I can only imagine what else he'd have in mind for us."

Kaname tried not to let his teenage mind twist Zero's words into something…more than they were. His use of the term 'date' for example, was obviously very liberal and 'pushing together' must be in relation to Hunter Cross' unusual delight at the prospect of he and Zero developing a friendship.

The man still evidently thought him a child, and remembering him at age six would in no way encourage him to see otherwise. He would be regarded as a high school student first even before the fact he was a pureblood vampire.

"By that, do you mean we're acquainted enough to not require his help?" He allowed for a measure of sarcasm to color his tone, considering this was their first proper meeting, and even now, hadn't really introduced each other. Zero had yet to figure whom he was, much less his name. He wasn't counting on Zero being able to bury through a decade's worth of foggy memories to come to,

"My… My name is—"

"Your imprint on my life will last as long as I live. I think that's more than anything Cross can manage." Zero carefully said with what Kaname could definitely tell this time was affection, and finally, his bright lilacs were back, clear and steady.

Stunned, Kaname slowly set his spoon down, lest he drop the next mouthful of pudding into somewhere other than his mouth. He wrenched his gaze away from Zero's, hardly ready for what the older man might see, and made the monumental mistake of staring at Zero's lips instead. Half-panicked, though he was sure none of it shown on his face, he then lowered his eyes to Zero's shoulders (still not good), proceeded down to his arms, before landing at his hand. Again. (Still, still not good.)

He held in the urge to swallow nervously and decided it was much safer to stare down at his own dessert, however rude it might seem.

"Imprint?" He whispered out, infinitely glad his voice revealed none of his nerves.

"Mm. Sounds better than 'permanent mark', doesn't it?"

Permanent mark… Throat constricting, Kaname tightened his fingers around the spoon handle. Zero was…dangerous, he thought mildly exasperated. It was a miracle the man hadn't been assaulted by a frustrated admirer. He really had no idea what his casual words could mean to an interested party. Especially when the interested party was a vampire.

"What made you realize…?"

Zero simply shrugged.

"But you haven't recalled my name."

The spark of curiosity was back in Zero's eyes. "No." He agreed.

Kaname nodded. "I have doubts you truly knew who I was even then. No one had acted with anything close to the amount of familiarity you showed to me, before and after that day, with the exception being my parents."

Zero's brows creased, bemused, but smoothed as he said, "Right. You're a pureblood." He might as well have announced Kaname was a cat by the utter lack of weight he placed on the normally overwhelming title. He was completely untouched by the implications, the baggage, that came with the social station, 'pureblood'.

"All I have is your last name, but that's not what I want." Zero added.

If he could look up at the ceiling and plead (loudly) 'WHY?' without coming off as a lunatic, Kaname would have. As it was, he was just that close to shaking Zero by the shoulders and screaming, 'Do you have any idea what you're doing to me?' Instead, he muttered out, "Please stop talking."

Zero blinked.

"And as for my name, you'll have to keep guessing." It wouldn't take long at all to deduce the full name of the only remaining Kuran pureblood.

Zero nodded, not at all affected by the deliberate withholding of information. In fact, he looked…pleased. "Why not." His lips lifted in a minute smile.

He glanced outside and finished the rest of his tea before standing. "Rain's let up. Come, I'll take you back to the academy." Kaname could barely get a word in protest as he was guided out the door and Zero paid for both of them.

The time it took to reach the academy felt far too short, it felt like mere minutes since they left Red Clover and now they were standing at the academy gates, with Zero seeing him off with an amused glint to his bright eyes. It was as though he knew what Kaname was thinking, how much Kaname wished to stay, but couldn't bring himself to dare ask for more of the man's time.

The rest of the day passed without incident, though Takuma looked highly disappointed at the lack of a certain hunter paying the Night class a visit.

_._._

"Oi, Kuran."

Kaname turned to his Ethics professor as he was leaving to his next class. "Yes?"

Grimacing at the rest of the students behind Kaname, Kiryuu-sensei gestured to his own empty classroom. "Got something for you. Tell them I'm not going to maim you while you're with me and let's get this over with." He headed back into his classroom, muttering, "I'm not the freaking delivery boy, Zero!"

Perking up at the mention of Zero's name, Kaname told the rest of the Night class to move on without him. It'd been close to a week and a half since the day at Red Clover and he hadn't seen or heard from Zero at all since.

"Here." Kiryuu-sensei thrust a bag (just as brightly colored and decorated as the one from a decade prior) at him. "You should know who that's from. He never pulls lame shit like this. He just couldn't make it here tonight and he said he wanted to give this to you right away. That's all." Kiryuu-sensei let out a gusty sigh. "That's it, all right? I am not going to be a go-between whatever thing you two got going on. It's just this once." He crossed his arms, expression uneasy. "It was creepy as hell seeing Zero act all…" He waved his hand dismissively as if to swipe the disturbing image away. He turned back to Kaname with a frown. "He says you didn't do anything to him, I'll believe that, but just watch it, all right? No one gets to manipulate Zero into doing what they want, but me."

"Is this your way of…warning me not to hurt him?" Was this how siblings were with each other? He vaguely wondered what his brother would be like, if he'd ever had one.

"Yeah. And don't tell him I said any of it. It's bad enough he still frets like a mother hen over me; I don't need the 'You're so fucking adorable' look making a comeback." Kiryuu-sensei roughly shook his head. "Other than that, welcome to the fucking family, Kuran. The only good thing about it is Zero, so," he shrugged, "you're lucky he's the one that likes you. Just prepare yourself for some major overprotective hovering. It's part of the Older Brother Syndrome."

Nodding, Kaname smiled softly, trying to hold back laughter. "I see."

"And be careful about letting anyone taste those," he pointed to the bag. "They're… Be careful with them. I'll give you a pass; you can put them in your dorm room before going back to your next class."

"If they're not meant to be shared, they won't be." Though he was now incredibly intrigued as to why…

Once classes were over and he was free to return to his rooms, he immediately took out whatever gift Zero had left him, lifting his brows at the scent-blocking charm drawn over the bag. Peering inside, he blinked, then laughed, reaching in to lift several glass cups of pudding, all tastefully adorned with fruits.

"Thank you…?" He murmured, placing them on his desk. He nearly set the bag down on the floor before he noticed a short note.

Tracing the words with a finger, he tried to memorize the handwriting. It was Zero's; the man's scent was all over it. Reaching the end of the note, his eyes widened as they read the last word, twice, three times, before he closed them and smiled.

'Red Clover's is probably good,
but I bet mine is better,
Kaname.'

_._._

Aaaand that's all. Yup. Done. Finally. Done. All done. *wipes forehead*

Um, thanks so, so much for all of you who've, well, kept up until now, and sorry for Kaname and Zero's rather...anticlimatic reunion ^^; I didn't know whether it should all be dramatic and gasp inducing, considering this is Kaname and Zero, but ah, yeah, I obviously didn't go that route. I was hoping to keep the really normal, nothing-out-of-the-ordinary sort of thing from the first chapter. They met by chance, and when they meet again, it's by chance too. Eh. Dunno if that got through...

Once again, special thanks to WolftheForsaken! :D

And no own, no own. :)