Author's Note: Hey everyone! I'm Poryu! *bows shyly* This is my first ever attempt at writing a fanfic, so I'm still very unfamiliar with everything. Please do forgive me for any silly mistakes I (will) end up making! Okay, let me tell you more about myself and the inspiration for this fanfic. Like many KxZ fans, I absolutely LOVE Blackened Wing's duet series. (And all her other fics, of course!) Her stories are legendary (if you haven't read them GO DO SO RIGHT NOW!) and I've been reading them over and over again. I do hope she's well and will come back when she's ready, to complete her SitD fic and to bestow upon us many, many more wonderful stories. (If anyone has any news of her please do share it with me T.T) I love how she makes her stories so believable, portraying the transition of the relationship between Kaname and Zero from mutual dislike to mutual love, all the while keeping both of them in character. Because of her stories, I fell in love with the KxZ pairing 3 So that's why, in this fic, I've written it (or tried very hard to) using her style of the characters. Another author I must definitely mention: TammyTBoneTTB, for it was her Time Switch fanfic that gave me the inspiration for this little fanfic. I took the idea and applied it to Blackened Wing's fanfic universe, and hence this was born. Timing-wise, it's probably set not long after her Take the Lead story. I haven't figured out if SitD has taken place yet.

Whoa that was a long A/N. Especially for my first. I'm pretty sure most of that should've been in my bio or something, but heh, that's okay. LOL. I have no idea if anyone will come across this beginner piece - how do people find new fanfic to read, anyway? -, and am really pretty curious to see how many views and comments, if at all, it can get. I would appreciate any feedback at all, so please don't hesitate to leave a review. It'll make my day :) Also, I'm not very sure of how this should be rated. Just going to put M first. If that's wrong, please inform me :)

Plot: After so much suffering and loss, Kaname and Zero are finally taking it easy, enjoying each other's company in the villa where they live together. Unbeknownst to them, enemies are hatching a devious plan: to switch the hunter with his past self, in the hopes that the ex-human of years ago will betray the pureblood. When it unexpectedly works, both vampires, in the past as well as in the present, must struggle to deal with the consequences.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Well, nothing much. Credits to Matsuri Hino, Blackened Wing and TammyTBoneTTB.

PRESENT

'...Kaname?'

The soft voice next to his ear stirred Kaname from his sleep. He had always been a light sleeper, but the only voice that could penetrate his thoughts, whether conscious or not, had always been that of his lover.

'Mmm?' Kaname stretched lazily, raising his right arm above his head on the pillows and letting the stretch make his toes curl. Mm, that feels so good.

His left arm remained where it was, holding his bed partner pressed tight against his bare chest. His lips turned up into a small smile as he realised said person had been trying to push away from him the last few minutes. He tightened his hold, adding his right arm to further trap his 'prey' in his embrace.

Zero scowled at the pureblood.

'Hey. Stop being so clingy so early in the mor-evening,' he admonished, despite the warmth in his eyes when he looked up at his lover. Despite the years that had passed, he still had difficulties translating human terms into vampire terms; it was just too damn confusing.

'I would've thought that after last night, you would have had enough of me already...'

Kaname chuckled at the light flushing of Zero's cheeks as the latter recalled their activities of the previous night. They had finally found time to go out for their second date, going to Happy Burger as Zero had promised, but that had turned out to be a far cry from their first date, with them having to leave midway during the meal because, as Zero put it, 'Kaname was an insatiable beast who could get turned on by any damned thing'. Well, in Kaname's defence, the way Zero had been licking ketchup off his fingers had been innocently seductive, bringing to mind other... things... that Zero could've been licking. His imagination had gone into overdrive, with images rapidly flashing through his mind, causing heat to rush to his lower regions. In an instant, as if a switch had been thrown, his hunger had switched from food to something very different, but much, much more pleasurable.

Zero had glanced up from the half-eaten burger in his hands only to see that all-too-familiar darkening of the pureblood's gaze, before he had been hauled off to the restroom by his lover. After that, Kaname had quickly managed to persuade Zero to return home to their villa where he proceeded to have Zero carry out some of the images he had seen. They had gone at it relentlessly for hours, until they had both passed out from exhaustion in each other's arms.

'Zero,' drawled Kaname, turning his head to sensually lick a circle on his lover's pale cheek. 'You should know by now that I will never tire of you... or your beautiful body.'

Zero shivered, both from the sensation of the moist flesh on the sensitive skin, and from the words. Despite Kaname's playful tone, he knew that the pureblood meant every word he said. And even though he had no doubt whatsoever of his lover's whole-hearted love for him, he would always appreciate being told so. His heart swelled with happiness and love, and the painfully honest part of himself couldn't hold back a reply.

'Me too, you big goof.'

Kaname grinned and turned on his side, arms still entrapping the silver-haired hunter. He pressed his lips against the other's, feeling Zero gasp softly as he pushed his tongue into the warm cavern without warning. As he kissed his lover senseless, tongue playfully nudging Zero's, his hands started to wander around the naked body he held. One hand curled behind Zero's neck, fingers reaching around to lightly massage his sensitive bite area. Zero gasped again, one hand shooting out to wrap his pale fingers around Kaname's wrist, as if to pull it away. Before he could, however, Kaname let his other hand trail down to Zero's waist, tracing small circles on his hip.

Zero gave a little yelp, fingers tightening around Kaname's wrist, not to pull it away, as he had originally intended, but to be able to hold on to something to stop him from getting lost in the pleasure his lover was giving him.

'Kaname,' breathed Zero. 'Don't...'

'Don't what?' Kaname murmured with a smile, not breaking their passionate kiss. 'Don't stop?'

His hand at Zero's waist trailed across the skin, circles getting closer and closer to something that was in need of a little more attention.

Zero groaned, torn between annoyance at how his lover knew exactly how to render him putty in his hands, and pleasure from his lover's gentle, sensual ministrations.

'Don't...' he panted, trying to find the strength to resist and to say what he had wanted to.

'Don't what?' Kaname repeated, fingers straying dangerously close to Zero's straining flesh.

'Don't do anym- uhh!'

Zero couldn't hold back his strangled cry as Kaname's fingers finally struck gold, lightly brushing against his length. His free hand went to the back of the pureblood's head, fingers burying within the brown tresses.

'...Don't...' panted Zero.

Kaname's hand and lips paused, waiting for Zero to continue.

'...stop...'

A sweet flush covered Zero's cheeks and ears as he turned away in embarrassment.

'Stop? You want me to stop?' queried the pureblood, cocking his head to one side in mock puzzlement. The glint in his eyes, however, betrayed his amusement.

Zero's flushed deepened. His eyes flickered back to meet Kaname's gaze in a heated glare that betrayed his need.

'Don't stop, dammit!'

Kaname shot his lover a triumphant smirk, before his lips fell back onto Zero's again.

XXX

An hour later, Zero finally managed to escape the pureblood's arms. Deliberately ignoring the pureblood's seductive leers and calls, he ducked into the bathroom for a quick shower, slipping into a soft tee and jeans. When he returned into the bedroom, Kaname was still lying on the bed in the same position, eyes half closed, breathing slow and even.

Zero paused, cautiously approaching the side of the bed. Kaname opened his eyes more fully, shooting him a cheeky grin, an invitation in his raised eyebrow, but Zero could tell that the pureblood was more drained than he was letting on. It was still early in the evening after all, and Kaname had exerted himself right after waking, despite having passed out from the same kind of exertion just a couple of hours ago. Zero leaned down and pressed his lips softly against the pureblood's forehead, at the same time pulling up the covers over his body.

'Go back to sleep, Kaname,' he murmured. 'I'll go make us some breakfast.'

Kaname nodded, eyes already closing despite his efforts, fatigue unexpectedly winning over his desire to admire and ravish his freshly-showered lover.

'Mmm... Love you, Zero.'

Zero smiled, gazing down tenderly at his lover.

'Love you too, Kaname,' he whispered to the sleeping vampire, before he quietly left the room.

PRESENT

'Are you sure this will work?'

The taller of the two clocked men shot the other a withering glance, causing him to immediately regret his question.

'How many times are you going to ask, fool? It'll work if it does. If not, no harm done anyway.'

The younger figure nodded hastily, bowing his head slightly in a show of respect, but mostly in fear.

No harm done... except to their sacrificial lamb.

The young teenage girl lay unconscious in the middle of the dirty floor. Her unawareness of what was happening was probably just about the only thing she could be grateful for, for it saved her from the pain that she would otherwise be feeling, and also the horror of what was to come. Her wrists had been slit and her blood had been used to trace a symbol onto the floor, before she had been dumped there. The two men had seen no point in tending to her wounds, instead letting her blood drain slowly but surely all around her. Though the smell of her blood filled the room, the two vampires were not the least bit affected. Being the high-ranking nobles they were, such low quality human blood was not the least bit appetising to them.

As the elder vampire chanted the words of a spell from the ancient book he was holding, the symbol painted onto the floor glowed, lightly at first, then brighter, ending in a flash that had both vampires reeling backwards, stars exploding in their vision despite the sunglasses they had thought to don.

And then there was silence.

When the two vampires finally managed to recover sufficiently from the damage to their highly sensitive eyes, the girl was gone, having been absorbed by the spell. The blood on the floor was all that remained of her.

The elder vampire smirked ominously.

'It is done.'

PAST

A breeze stirred the air, mussing up Zero's silver locks and rustling the leaves in the maple trees around him. His hands shoved deep in his pockets, Zero scowled, shaking his head to flick off a lock of hair that had had the gall to fall over his eyes, obscuring his view.

The prefect was on his nightly patrol around the school. Yuki was strolling next to him, chattering on about a funny incident that had happened earlier in class. Zero was barely listening, more focussed on scanning his surroundings for any vampire presences. There weren't any, but his senses were tingling, as if sensing something was coming. He was on edge, but he didn't quite know why. Something just felt... wrong.

'Zero?'

Yuuki had paused in her story and turned to him, perhaps realising that he had been silent for the past few minutes.

He glanced at her, and found that she was just a blurry figure next to him. He could barely make out her features. What the hell? Dragging the back of his hand over his eyes, Zero blinked a couple of times, before looking at her again. It was getting worse. Now he could barely see her at all, her black uniform blending into the darkness of night. If he hadn't known she was standing right beside him, he wouldn't have been able to sense her at all. As he cast his gaze around, he realised that it wasn't just Yuuki that was blurred. Everything else was too – the trees, the dorms, the light posts – everything.

Zero's head spun and a sudden dizziness hit him. He swayed on his feet unsteadily, before ending up on his hands and knees on the grass. From a distance, he heard Yuuki's worried voice calling out to him, but his vision was totally dark. Cold horror gripped him as his brain started to shut down and he was no longer able to support himself. He felt himself hit the ground hard, but couldn't command his body to move according to his wishes.

What the hell was going on? Had he been poisoned?

That was all the time he had to think before the rest of his consciousness faded away and he sunk fully into the depths of darkness.

PRESENT

'Zero! Hey, wake up! Zero!'

A low voice was yelling into his ear, forcing him to leave the comforting darkness in which he was submerged. He moaned softly as he felt himself being shaken awake, despite his desperate attempts to remain in the quiet, peaceful sanctuary of unconsciousness.

As he slowly regained consciousness, he could feel a bright light shining down on him from behind his closed eyelids. He gradually became aware of a warm body pressed up against his, one arm tightly cradling his body, the other lightly slapping his cheek. The next second, he felt something brush his consciousness. He shuddered at the unpleasant, invasive contact. As the foreign force probed at his mind, Zero's mind immediately cleared, and he slammed up walls around his mind, preventing further access. Thankfully, the force retreated almost immediately.

Though his mind was reawakening quickly from its previously unconscious state, it still took a while before he sensed the vampire presence next to him.

And it wasn't just any vampire.

Of all vampires, he was him.

Now on full alert, Zero's eyes snapped open, and faster than the wind, he shot out of the other's hold, throwing himself across to the other side of the room. No, not a room, but a kitchen, Zero's mind told him, even as he steeled his features and tensed, all his attention focussed solely on the vampire that had risen from his knees to his feet.

'Zero...?'

Zero's upper lip curled at the sound of Kuran Kaname's voice.

'What are you doing here, Kuran?' sneered Zero, eyes narrowing as the other vampire took a step towards him.

Kaname blinked at his lover's cold tone. He hadn't heard him speak to him in that voice in years. Was Zero mad at him because he had hurt him somehow during their earlier activities? Or because he was pissed at his insatiety? But still, Zero had never reacted to him quite so violently before.

'Uh, you said you were going to make breakfast, but you never came back. I woke up on my own and it had already been two hours, so I came to look for you,' remarked Kaname mildly. He chose his words carefully, not wanting to say anything that would make his lover even angrier. Already, he could see Zero's scowl deepening with confusion and disgust and he mentally backtracked, puzzling over what he had said wrong.

The hunter almost scoffed. Breakfast? He had been going to make breakfast for the bloodsucker? Right, like that would ever happen.

Kuran must be playing some kind of game here, surmised Zero. With a start, he remembered how he had unexpectedly passed out. As if he had been drugged. Then, his blood suddenly ran cold. Yuuki. She had been with him when it happened. Dammit, the pureblood must've done something to make him pass out, then took that opportunity to steal her away.

Zero's glared intensified, making the pureblood furrow his brows in confusion.

'Where the hell is Yuuki? What have you done with her, bastard?' he spat, hands automatically drawing Bloody Rose and training it onto the other male when he saw him shaking his head, as if to deny his words.

Kaname's eyes had widened at the mention of Yuuki's name, but the insinuation in Zero's words that he had done something to her instantly brought to the surface old scars and feelings of guilt. Yuuki on that hospital bed, deadly pale, after he had bitten her. The pain in her eyes, her weak frail body... Kaname shook his head firmly, chasing away the ghosts of his past. Zero had told him repeatedly that he didn't blame him and it was not his fault. Kaname held onto his lover's past loving words, stopping himself from being buried by his memories. But when he had seen the flash of silver – when had Zero changed into his prefect uniform? And since when did he carry his gun with him to make breakfast? – he froze in shock. This time, he had no way of stopping the memories of the last time Zero had pulled a gun on him. It had been in the Night Dorm library, and the other nobles had been present. Kaname had thought that Zero had attacked him unprovoked, and what he had done to the hunter after that... it was something that would stay with the pureblood forever, no matter how many years passed.

'Zero, why-' started the pureblood.

The ex-human cut him off. Undoing the safety catch of his gun, he rested his finger warningly against the trigger. 'That was not a request, Kuran. Tell me where she is or I swear I'll shoot you where you stand.'

Kaname was bewildered. Zero was acting all sorts of strange today. It was almost as if he had returned to the person he had been before all these had happened. Before Zero had been attacked by Ichiru. Before Kaname had rescued him and then been kidnapped. Before their blood bond. Before Yuuki. Before their whole relationship.

Then he frowned. Had Zero had somehow hurt his head? That would explain why he had been lying on the floor. Amnesia? Was that it?

'Zero, please calm down.'

'Stop calling my name, Kuran. We are not friends,' snarled Zero, taking one step closer to him, gun still threateningly aimed at his heart.

In a way, Zero's words confirmed his suspicions. Somehow Zero seemed to have forgotten everything in the past few years. Thought the pureblood now knew that, his heart still constricted at the cold darkness in those beautiful amethyst eyes. Since a few years ago, those eyes had only ever darkened in passion, never in the hate and disgust that it now did. It was hard to see them now in his sweet, wonderful lover.

Kaname took a step forward, raising his arms with the palms facing Zero, showing that he meant no harm. Regardless, the hunter growled, finger tightening around the gun trigger. The pureblood froze immediately, still maintaining his position.

'Zer-Kiryuu, please hear me out,' he said, in a calm tone that betrayed none of his growing horror and dread. If Zero really had amnesia, he would remember nothing of Yuuki, Cross and... them. With a sinking feeling, he realised that it was exactly like how it had been, way before he had saved Zero from Ichiru, before he had been kidnapped by Rido and Ichijou, before he had killed Ichijou, before their first time in the warehouse, before their bond had ever been made.

It had only been after so many painful experiences and suffering that the relationship between them had developed into its current, wonderful stage. Kaname had naively thought that things would only get better from now on. But now, with this, he was at a loss as to what to do. What if Zero never recovered his memories? What if Zero never recovered his love for the pureblood?

Kaname visibly paled. No. No. He wouldn't let that happen. Even in the worst case scenario that Zero never did remember, at least they still had their bond. Together with the memory necklace that was permanently hung around the boy's neck - even during their amorous activities, where Zero had been stripped of everything else, Kaname had always insisted that it stayed on, wanting it to record all their memories, especially those of their love-making. Zero had dryly replied that his necklace would be little better than a porno catalogue, what with their frequency of making love, but the tinge of red on his face and thinly-veiled embarrassment in his eyes betrayed his own similar thoughts - would be all the proof he needed to convince his lover that he WAS indeed his lover. It might be difficult, but with Kaname's patience and unwavering love, he would get his lover back. No matter what or how long it takes, Kaname swore to himself. And the blood bond and necklace would be the key to everything.

As if to reassure himself, Kaname reached out mentally to brush against Zero's consciousness. Like before, he met with the hunter's shields. But now that he was concentrating fully on it, he realised that something was clearly off. Zero's mind somehow just felt different. As closed off as it was, Kaname could still feel the wrongness of it. In a moment of panic, he abandoned his silent vow to never break into the hunter's mind unwanted, quickly slipping past the barriers surrounding his lover's mind. If he hadn't been so blinded by his worry and fear, he would've been appalled at how easily he had managed to get through, with nary an effort, as if Zero had completely forgotten everything Kaname had ever taught him about how to steel his mind during their training sessions. As it was, however, all he cared about was delving into the recesses of his beloved's mind, heedless of the actual penetration itself.

Once Kaname had finally entered his lover's mind, he pulled away almost instantly, staring at the tense boy standing across from him, numb in shock and horror. Despite having beseeched Zero to listen to him, he found his mind completely blank, no words coming to mind.

The silver-haired hunter, on the other hand, did not have quite the same issue. Trembling in anger and shock at the abrupt invasion into his mind, he marched forward to slam the muzzle of his gun hard against the pureblood's chest, directly over his heart. His other hand wrapped around Kaname's throat, squeezing as tightly as he could.

'How dare you, Kuran,' he snarled. 'How dare you force yourself into my mind like that!? Are you tempting me to kill you?'

Kaname felt his windpipe constrict and his lungs heaved painfully for air, trying to force oxygen into his body. However, he was still frozen in horror, unable and unwilling to even gasp or pull himself free. He stared mutely into Zero's eyes, unable to hide the agony lurking within.

He hadn't spent much time within Zero's mind, but a second was all he had needed.

The bond was gone.

Completely. Without any trace whatsoever. As if it had never even existed in the first place.

Though a part of his mind was running through all the different possibilities that could've led to the situation at hand - even though he had already known for a long time that there was no destroying a blood bond except in the event of death of one of the two involved -, most of his mind, as well as the entirety of his heart, just was couldn't process the fact that Zero was no longer connected to him. For a long time after Yuuki's death, years ago, Kaname had wished that the bond between them would just disappear into hell, freeing him from having his lifespan irrecovably linked to that of the ex-human's. Though he had never quite realised it then, his survival was fully dependent on whether the boy chose to live or die. Only after Kaname had pulled him out of the blood-soaked water, just barely in the nick of time, had it really hit him. Zero's appalled statement after that, showed that he, too, understood. How intertwined their fates were.

Well. Had been.

Kaname exhaled harshly, expelling precious air that his lungs were desperately trying to hold onto. Only when his vision started swimming and head spinning was he brought back to reality, awareness slowly filling him of his compromised position and the fuming hunter in front of him.

Gently wrapping his fingers around the wrist around his throat - a sudden image popped into Kaname's mind, of HIS Zero doing the same thing to his wrist just a few hours ago, but what a stark comparison to the current situation. No, stop it, he berated himself. Don't remember things that will make it worse - he easily pulled Zero's hand away from his neck, making sure not to hurt the boy. Inhaling a deep, much-needed breath to clear his head, he closed his eyes, needing a second to compose himself. Impossible as it would be, he needed to calmly assess the situation and decide what was to be done. This was how the pureblood handled everything else in his life; this, too, needed to be handled the same way. But for the brief second his eyes were shut, he allowed pain and tears to pool behind the lids, almost choking on the agony that welled up within his heart at the same time. The next second, he forced those feelings away, along with the unshed tears, and hid everything behind the placid mask with which faced the world. He had never thought he would have to do that with Zero, of all people, but this, it had to be done. When his eyelids parted, there was no trace of Kaname's inner turmoil and suffering.

'No, Kiryuu I'm not tempting you at kill me, so please do relax.'

He decided that before he managed to find out what was happening, it would be much simpler to play along with the current Zero, than to try to convince the hot-headed hunter, who would never believe him, of their true relationship. He would be the pureblood the other expected him to be, even if it killed him to treat his lover like an enemy. He had hoped it wouldn't be too hard, considering that this was how he treated most other people, but the pain echoing through his heart even at the mere use of Zero's family name proved him oh so very wrong. He wondered how he had ever managed to treat the hunter this coldly and disingenuously for so many years.

Zero struggled violently, trying to pull his wrist out of the pureblood's unyielding grip. Glancing down at where they were connected, Kaname was unable to resist lightly running his thumb over the hunter's inner wrist, feeling the pulsing vein nestled under the thin pale skin. Then he released his hold, other hand coming up to push the gun away from its very threatening position. This Zero wouldn't realise that he didn't need a gun to hurt Kaname's heart.

Somehow, Zero was no match for Kaname's strength, unable to resist the pureblood's push. He leapt backwards, gun still trained on the other vampire.

'Yuuki, dammit. Where is she!?'

As the pureblood continued to evade his question, Zero's worry escalated. He couldn't even bring himself to do more than feel indignance at having been so easily overcome by the pureblood. He couldn't sense the presence of anyone else here, wherever here was.

'She's fine,' reassured Kaname curtly. His blunt reply was partly because of the guilt of having to lie about someone so dear to both of their hearts, and partly because he knew it was the tone he used to use with the boy, something that Zero wouldn't find unexpected.

The hunter's eyes narrowed. 'I asked where she is, not how she is.'

Kaname lifted an eyebrow, unperturbed - though of course his inner self was anything but -, saying, 'I believe my business with Yuuki is none of your concern.'

Zero gritted his teeth, eyes glimmering with hate and anger. But Kaname was right. Zero HAD indeed come to expect such arrogant responses from the pureblood. He also knew that no matter what, the pureblood would protect Yuuki even at the cost of his own life. So if he was here with him now, instead of with her, then he must be confident that she was in fact safe and sound. Zero would never admit it, of course, but despite his hatred of all vampires, himself included, he had never once doubted Kuran's love and concern for his best friend.

So why do you keep poking your head into their business, then? asked a small voice in his head. They don't need you around. Yuuki doesn't need you around. You're worthless, Kiryuu. All you do is cause trouble for the people around you.'

Shaking his head to clear his head of such worthless - just like you, Zero! -thoughts, Zero addressed the pureblood again.

Kaname saw the unreadable expression flittering across the hunter's features, before he was met with narrowed amethyst eyes again.

'Where is this place?'

Kaname followed the silver-haired boy's actions, letting his eyes sweep over the kitchen. So many memories here, he thought, remembering the food fight between Zero and Aidou that one time; how Zero always muttered under his breath about the pureblood's laziness when the latter had asked for yet another cup of Zero's hand-ground coffee; how embarrassed Zero had looked the first time he cooked a surprise meal for his lover; how Kaname had shown his appreciation to him later on the kitchen counter; how Zero would always turn around when Kaname entered midway while he was cooking, giving him that small beautiful smile, face flushed from the heat, tiny beads of sweat peppered on his forehead and the back of his neck. How could Zero not remember all those beautiful memories replaying in technicolour in Kaname's mind?

Before he did anything that would make things worse, the pureblood composed himself.

'This is the kitchen of a villa I own,' he replied, extra conscious not to use the word 'we'.

'A villa?' Zero's eyes had widened. He had known on some level that the pureblood didn't have to worry about finances, but he had never realised how WEALTHY he was.

Kaname saw Zero's mouth opening, more questions on the tip of his tongue. But before he could ask them, the pureblood quickly posed a question of his own. He needed to find out what had happened.

'Kiryuu, what's the last thing you remember before you passed out?'

The hunter scowled at having been interrupted. But the memories unintentionally slowly came flooding back.

'Night patrol with Yuuki. Then I just blacked out,' he remarked, being as curt as the other had been. An earlier thought resurfaced in his mind. 'You bastard, you drugged me, didn't you?'

Kaname sighed quietly. He had been right about how many years' worth of memory Zero had lost. He had hoped maybe he would've been able to remember what led up to his Zero having lost his memories, an attacker breaking into the house, for example, but it looked like luck was not on his side.

'No, Kiryuu, there's no reason for me to do something like that.'

The hunter furrowed his brows.

'Then what happened?' he asked, more to himself then the other vampire.

Kaname chose to reply anyway, trying to prompt the boy to recall.

'Maybe you were attacked?'

Zero was shaking his head, saying, 'No, I sensed no one else out there other than Yuuki and I.'

Then he looked up at Kaname suspiciously.

'If you found Yuuki, wouldn't she have told you the same thing?'

The pureblood sighed inwardly. Why couldn't the ex-human be less sharp for once? Or at least focus more on himself rather than concentrate so much on Yuuki? But of course, he had always known and appreciated the hunter's dedication to his dear girl's safety and happiness. Years ago, it had been the sole reason that had prompted him to let Zero drink his blood to stop his descent to Level E.

Thinking quickly on his feet, Kaname lied, 'Yuuki came to get me after you fainted, asking me to look after you, because someone might be after your life. She was too worried and panicky to tell me much. After I made sure she was safely with Cross, I brought you here, as per her request. This villa is in a secluded area and fiercely guarded, so it's the best place I could think of. '

There, thought the pureblood. That lengthy explanation should cover everything. Zero would finally have nothing more to ask, and let him do the questioning from now.

Of course, as usual, the hunter proved him wrong.

'What's in it for you? Why not send one of your underlings here? Why are you here personally?'

Mistrust clearly showed in his eyes and tone.

The brunette ran a frustrated hand through his hair, just barely holding back a groan.

'It was what Yuuki wanted,' he replied, a trace if annoyance in his tone. He felt horribly guilty at having to feed his lie using Yuuki, but knew she was the only reason this Zero would accept for any of the strange circumstances he now found himself in.

Luckily for him, Zero misinterpreted the annoyance in his tone as being caused by have been forced to watch over him, something he was sure the pureblood hated more than anything. Reluctantly, he lowered the gun that was still pointed at the other vampire, clicking on the safety and shoving it into the waistband of his pants. Despite his terse nod of understanding, he kept a hand over the weapon, showing that he was ready to draw and fire at any time.

Relief washed over Kaname when Zero finally, finally, accepted his explanation and decided to put the damned gun away.

Alright! That's it. I really hope they weren't OOC much. I really wanted to keep to their personalities. Also, please forgive any grammatical and spelling mistakes. At this point in time, I don't know when I'm going to post another chapter, or if inspiration will dry up and leave me, and this fic hanging (I REALLY REALLY hope not though). Tell me what you think about this fic and whether it's worth continuing! :) Thank you for taking the time to give this newbie's fic a chance! *bows again*