So here's Chapter 3 for you guys! Really, you all are so great and I'm thankful to everyone who has reviewed this story. Please continue to do so!

Warnings: This is a shonen-ai/yaoi/boys-liking-eachother story. Slight drama and angst ahead. Other than that I think this story is pretty clean.

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight or any of its characters…I simply want to rewrite the story and cause havoc. xD

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From Chapter 2:

He knew he couldn't be one hundred percent sure that this was the girl Kaname was talking about without evidence…but no matter what he thought otherwise, he was not wavered from his conviction. He knew from the slight stirring of his heart who this girl was. It was Yuki Kuran.

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Zero deftly opened the front door to his house for his Master. Later he would realize that he didn't remember opening the door, much less the silent walk back to the house. His mind was still reeling over past events.

He had met a delicate and dark haired boy named Kaname, whom he also practiced playing doctor on. He had left just as fast as he came into Zero's life. But even though his physical self wasn't present, it didn't mean that Kaname wasn't the most tangible and foremost thought on the hunter-in-training's mind.

Zero didn't want to admit that the boy had so easily gripped at him. After seven years of not having the need to interact much with others, he could not have all of a sudden grown this strong of a bond with someone with mesmerizing, inhuman red eyes.

'Vampire eyes.' Zero corrected himself. Indeed the one person who he'd probably get along with was someone he shouldn't be anywhere near. He didn't even entertain the fact that it was in his blood and lineage to destroy those like Kaname.

Zero blinked as he felt someone crash into him. He felt arms immediately encircle his upper back, and was tugged more fully onto the other body.

"Hey Ichiru." Zero said gently, trying his best not to sound melancholic. He returned the hug to his twin brother and waited for Ichiru to release him.

But the other didn't let go. Zero looked on as Ichiru had his face buried in his left shoulder.

"I was worried." Ichiru spoke, voice muffled by the winter coat Zero still had on. "I couldn't stop thinking about what could have happened to you."

"But I am alright Ichiru. You shouldn't worry about me." Zero spoke honestly.

"hmm." Ichiru lifted his face from his brother's shoulder to stare into familiar silver eyes. Ichiru narrowed his eyes, and Zero couldn't fathom of what the other saw to cause him to release Zero and take a step back.

Zero gave a worried frown. "Ichiru?"

Ichiru stared for another moment until he suddenly gave a bright smile. Zero didn't know why, but that smile made him anything but easy.

"You're right, Zero." Ichiru spoke smiling. "Why should I worry? You're you. You always do things better than me. You never get injuries while we're training. You never have to do something twice because Master Yagari wasn't satisfied…You're nothing like me. Why should vampire hunting be any different for the perfect son…? "

Zero frowned at his sibling. "Ichiru, what are you talking about? I'm not perfect, I still make mistakes. And stop putting yourself down! There are tons of things that you can do, that I'm horrible at. Besides…I didn't even do anything on the trip."

Ichiru ignored his brother's words and only commented on the last bit. "You didn't do anything?" he repeated, as if he didn't believe it.

Zero nodded. "Yeah, Master did everything."

Zero watched with relief as the skeptical look washed from his brother's face. In its place was a troubled curiosity.

"So then…what did you do?" Ichiru asked.

"Oh I-" Zero paused, not knowing how to continue. He was about to say that he had met Kaname, but for some strange reason he didn't want his brother to know about him. He guessed it was because Kaname was a vampire and Ichiru might tell their parents. It wasn't that Ichiru ratted him out to their parents, it's just that sometimes his brother wasn't aware to speak discreetly about the secret. Their father was allergic to pet fur, so when Zero had found a stray cat and stored it in the family shed he told Ichiru about it because he felt bad about leaving his brother in the dark. However at dinner that night Ichiru let slip that he should feed his scraps of chicken to 'it'. By then it had peaked his parents' interest, and needless to say they got the truth out of him and they had to let the cat go. Zero was sure Ichiru was sorry about it, but he learned not to always confide in his brother if his secret was something his parents didn't need to know. And Kaname was surely a subject his parents needn't know.

Yep, it had nothing to do with the fact that he felt a tinsy bit of possession towards his friendship with Kaname and he didn't want to share. Nope, not at all.

"I sat outside as Master investigated a mansion." Zero said nonchalantly, as if he didn't take a suspicious pause before.

Ichiru's eyes widened. "A mansion? I thought you were supposed to go to an abandoned hut in the forest to kill the Level E vampire."

Zero nodded. "That's how it was supposed to happen. But we heard this strange noise and we had to investigate it. What we found was the mansion…and…there were…."the boy resisted the urge to wince, with the horrific image all to clear in his head. "There were dead bodies of vampires. Everywhere. A great battle must've been fought."

"Oh wow…That's so cool Zero! I wish I was there to see it." Ichiru spoke with fascination in his silver eyes.

Zero blinked at the blasé reply. He was starting to think that his brother was crazy to think such a sight would be 'cool' until he came to reality. For most boys their age, any mention of violence fascinated them. Lucky for them though that most boys didn't have this type of childhood, going up against beasties and training to be murderers. However, Zero conceded that Ichiru was still innocent on seeing the horror of their clan's occupation. Those adult rated action films their father let them watch in secret might have encouraged that boyish fascination in his brother as well.

"Uh, yeah. It was…cool." Zero spoke, not once thinking it was interesting. The sight of those vampires had scarred him. In fact he would'nt be surprised if he saw them in his dreams when he went to bed that night.

Zero shuffled his feet. On that cheery thought, he couldn't think of what else to say.

Luckily the awkwardness for Zero was dissolved as their mom called for them to enter the living room.

The Kiryu living room was surrounded with deep red wallpaper. Essentially, their house was a good sized log cabin that accommodated well to the four-member family. The floors were wooden, with miscellaneous sheets of plush white carpet laying around for comfort and visual appeal. Much of the furniture they had was wooden. They ranged from dark wood, mahogany, to painted white wood. To Zero's chagrin, his dad was a hunter who liked to display his trophies. Such taxidermy was mounted on the main wall of the living room above the fireplace, and coincidentally was the first things you saw when you passed the room. More than once had Zero blinked in surprise when he saw the beaded eyes of an exceptionally large deer head peering down at him.

If it weren't for the fact that his family had installed indoor plumbing, electricity, running water, had a working heater and AC unit, and were the owners of a television set (with cable) Zero would've felt like he was living in the boonies of Japan.

Zero looked away from the beheaded deer on the wall with disdain to catch the last bit of conversation his father and Master were having.

"-believe, we weren't notified. It looked like a war between vampires was unleashed back there." Yagari said tersely.

A short distance away Zero's father had his eyes closed and was shaking his head. "Toga I'm sure there's a good reason we weren't told. The Alliance obviously had it under control."

"Don't feed me that bull Sho. The Alliance may have had it under control because they didn't do anything. No one was investigating the area when we got there. Who knows what those vampires could've done if they weren't all killed. And what about the thing that killed them? How are you so sure that your family would be protected? That mansion wasn't so long a way from here. They would've come here first."

Sho was about to open his mouth to give his retort, until Zero's mother spoke up.

"Now boys, enough. I hadn't realized you two were not finished with your conversation. If I knew, I wouldn't have called the children in here." Kanna admonished from her place in the doorway between the living room and kitchen.

"hmpfh. If you ask me both Zero and Ichiru have the right to know if their lives are in danger." Yagari muttered darkly. However after receiving a warning glare from the mistress of the house he remained silent as he took a seat at one of the single sofa couches.

Kanna relaxed her gaze once she realized that she had won that particular battle. She then glanced down to her twin sons and couldn't help but give a smile. "Hey guys, what do you think of this little girl?" Kanna gestured toward the sleeping girl on the two-seater couch.

Zero stared to his right to the mentioned couch. He saw that the girl, who he thought was quickly becoming familiar to him, was still soundly sleeping. She still had the coat on when Master Yagari found her, but he noted that she was presently wrapped in his old baby blanket and had her shoes taken off. Or was she wearing boots in the first place? He couldn't remember.

Zero became aware of the fact that he had moved to the foot of the couch, directly in front of the girl's face. He took a step back in order to let the girl have some breathing room but came into contact with his mother's leg. He looked up to Kanna's face and blinked, like the silly child he tried not to be.

Kanna smiled down to Zero. "She's cute huh? I'm still surprised on why such a cute girl was left alone in that mansion."

Zero looked to his right to see Ichiru give a slight nod of the head. But other than that movement, he seemed to be frozen to the spot, his gaze fixed on the slumbering girl Yuki. He would've teased his brother if this was any other girl. He had a fascination with Yuki too, but unlike his brother, Zero wasn't captivated by the girl herself. She was mesmerizing, undoubtedly, but Zero guessed it was her relation to the boy he found fascinating the reason for his awe.

Zero shook his head. He'd probably never even see Kaname again. Sure they had promised before they parted that they would meet again someday, but Zero was more inclined to take faith in the fundamentals of reality. In reality, when friends part, most often times they never meet again. And promises were sometimes too impossible to hold.

But there was still Yuki…What was there to do about her? Right now her brother believed her to be dead, where the contrary resided in the slight noises of breathing from the sleeping girl. He had to see Kaname again. If not for his own selfish desire to see the boy, then to reunite the dark haired siblings again. It was the least he could do for his friend.

And yet, now that he had a drive to do the inevitable…he had to come up with a plan to accomplish that inevitable. If Zero was alone he would have groaned in dismay at the mental labor he was about to go through.

"What's her name, I wonder?" Kanna mused aloud. Apparently she was still going on and on about the girl on her couch. Zero supposed he couldn't blame her, she had always had her sights on a daughter to play dress up on. Perhaps her wish would be granted, if Zero wasn't mistaken by that rare twinkle in his mother's usually serious silver eyes.

"Yuki." Zero said. And like everyone else in the room, he was surprised by the words he spoke.

He looked up to see his mother stare at him with bewilderment. "Yuki? Is that her name?"

"How do you know that Zero?" Sho asked with a slight frown.

Crap, crap, crap! Zero thought panicked. How was he supposed to explain how he knew her name? Not the truth definitely. Okay, he had evaded his brother and Master from finding out about Kaname. If he could evade those two who were closest to him, he could surely allude his parents with a quick fib.

"It says her name on the inside of her coat." Zero said calmly. On the inside he congratulated himself on the very plausible explanation.

"huh." Sho said after a minute of silence. Zero didn't realize that he visibly relaxed when his father went back down to seat in his reclining sofa chair.

"Yuki…Yuki…'Snow'..." Kanna said, testing out the name on her tongue. "Short and sweet. Of course it's only fitting that this child's name be snow when we found her in winter." His mother spoke approvingly.

"Yeah. Like Fate." Sho pitched in with a smile.

Kanna looked to her husband and gave him a slight frown. "No Sho, not Fate. There is no such thing as Fate…there is only inevitability". She corrected like a professor would to their clueless pupil.

"Oh boy." Yagari spoke under his breath. Kanna didn't appear to have heard him.

Zero looked on as the adults interacted. Bored, he looked to his right to find that his brother had gently pulled the lapel of Yuki's coat and was inspecting it critically.

"Ichiru…What are you doing?" Zero asked, lowering his voice so that the adults didn't hear.

Ichiru stared at no specific spot on the coat until he raised his gaze to Zero's. Zero looked on in confusion as his brother retracted his hand from Yuki's opened palm. How long had Ichiru been holding her hand? And what for?

"There's no name on the inside of her coat Zero." Ichiru spoke, with equal volume to his brother.

Zero cursed his brother's perception of detail and persistence. And he said he didn't have skills!

Ichiru took a step away from his current position and approached Zero.

Zero remained where he was, but he felt slightly unease. 'Why do I feel this way? It's just Ichiru, my brother. I was never…wary of him before now. There's nothing to fear from him.' Zero thought reasonably.

Ichiru narrowed his eyes. Zero once again tried to crush the irrational feeling in his gut, and now an unreasonable urge to narrow his eyes too.

"How do you know her name, brother?" Ichiru asked tilting his head slightly, a slight smile present. His actions were friendly, but the gaze of his eyes were cold…

"Lucky guess." Zero answered neutrally. "Who knows? It might not even be her name, I just spoke without thinking." Which wasn't that far of the truth anyway, he didn't knew he would speak aloud her name when he did.

"I don't believe you." Ichiru responded.

"That's your decision." Zero dismissed easily. "Now why do you care so much about her?"

"You mean Yuki." Ichiru asked, but came out more like a statement.

Zero gave a shrug of the shoulders.

Ichiru's slight smile grew as he answered. "I think…Yuki…is my destined. I'm going to marry her."

Zero widened his eyes at that. He had not expected that one at all. Ichiru never said such words, or with such…conviction...almost possessive in nature. His twin wasn't like that at all. Just who was this person he was talking to? Zero wondered uneasily.

"Oh?" Zero replied finally, letting none of his inner turmoil show on his face.

His brother's smile grew amused. "I don't expect you'll interfere, right Zero? I'm sure there are others you can get together with."

Unfortunately a vision of Kaname laughing as he laid down in the snow came to Zero. He mentally shook his head. Why did he think of his friend now of all times? Maybe it was because Yuki was involved in the conversation…Of course. That had to be why.

"Not at all, Ichiru. I just hope you won't startle the girl is all." Zero said.

Ichiru nodded to Zero. "Your concern is appreciated, dear brother." He then turned away from Zero to gaze again at Yuki, with a stare that he now recognized as reverent. Just looking at his twin made Zero uneasy for the girl. No one wanted to wake up to a stranger gazing at you like they would kill someone if you'd only ask.

Their mother came into Zero's peripheral vision behind them once more.

"Dinner's ready. You two wash up now. Two minutes." Kanna said smoothly, not expecting any complaint from her sons. She had taught them not to after all.

"What about Yuki, mother?" Ichiru asked, finally taking a moment to turn away from the sleeping girl.

The woman thought about it for a minute, but then gave a gentle smile. "We should let her sleep for now. I'll set an extra plate from dinner if she does wake up…now come on guys. Go and wash." Kanna commanded of her sons.

Ichiru was already up on the stairs when a thought came to Zero. An abrupt thought that he should've thought of much sooner. Before, he was thinking about what Yuki's favorite food might be, or Kaname's for that matter. Then it had clicked in Zero's brain.

If Kaname was a vampire, and Yuki was his sister…didn't it mean that Yuki was a vampire too?

Zero turned his head back to the living room. Were they in danger? But Yuki was a child…and asleep to boot. She couldn't harm them… And Yagari didn't seem worried when he had carried her willingly from the mansion and to the house. No, she was okay. She had to be.

Zero mentally gave out a sigh. At least there was one thing less to worry about when it came to Kaname and Yuki.

"Zero hurry up." Ichiru teased as he passed Zero down the stairs and into the kitchen.

The boy left shook his head and hastened to wash his hands.

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Kaname glanced discreetly at his two bodyguards. Both were wearing nice looking tuxedos and matching blank faces as they escorted him to the Council room. They were, if nothing else noteworthy about them, serious and silent. Common and cliché regulation of their profession, Kaname guessed.

They walked upon the snow-covered earth towards the prestigious building known simply as the 'Gala hall'. This place was the central gathering for fancy parties among aristocratic vampires or used for whenever the Order decided to hold meetings. A meeting was certainly necessary for this day, due to the fact that the ruling vampire family of centuries had, as of hours ago, been decimated.

Kaname wondered angrily if they would shrug off the real reason why the powerful Kuran family fell. It was well known of the tryst between Rido and Kaname's parents. It was not so far-fetched to believe Rido had a hand in their deaths. Kaname knew that the allegiance between his parents and Rido were mixed in the vampire world. The vampires that believed or tolerated the pacifistic views his father practiced were sadly dwindling as each day more and more families were siding with Rido. They were all being deceived by Rido's words of ruling humans, like they were born to do, and were guaranteed a spot in the new regime if they followed him. But Rido didn't care for them, not a single one. He only cared for money and power. This was evidenced enough by his neglect of his alleged wife and son: Kaname's wasted aunt, and silent cousin Shiki Kuran.

Kaname and his guards entered the oak doors and into the spacious dancing hall. However, there were no dancing and the wardrobe consisted strictly of satin black out of respect for the deaths of Haruka and Juuri Kuran. Kaname knew that his sister was a secret to the rest of the world outside their family, so her death was not acknowledged.

'But I do my dear Yuki. I miss you so much.' Kaname said in his mind, as reverently as a prayer.

A handsome blonde-haired couple closest to the trio approached. They looked down at Kaname in sympathy.

"My lord Kaname, we are deeply distressed over your loss. Lord Haruka and Lady Juuri were admirable and died so unexpectedly…But we know you will lead well." The blond-haired and blue-eyed male said with a bow. His wife, who looked eerily like his twin sister, nodded/bowed lowly in turn.

Kaname gave a slight nod of his head. "Thank you. My parents are indebted to your loyalty, and I wish you will show me the same." He spoke serenely, already having prepared what he'd say to the sympathetic condolences of his fellow vampires. He sighed internally, already foreseeing the long night ahead.

The two nodded deeply and turned to depart. However Kaname heard the words in both their minds.

'How did that brat survive? Could it be that the great Rido miscalculated in his attack?' The blonde woman thought angrily in the un-privacy of her mind.

'…Nonetheless we shall rid us of this Kaname Kuran. Soon master Rido will rule.' Kaname heard from the ending thoughts of the handsome male.

Kaname thought ironically how the saying 'swimming with the sharks' was never as true as it was now.

After several more rounds of sympathies from various families: three whom he knew were loyal to his parents, and the rest whom were only putting on a farce, the Head of the Order spoke from the front of the room, just in front of the wide-opened marble staircase. The representative did not need a microphone; all vampires were equipped with impeccable hearing.

"Ladies and gentlemen. We are gathered here today to mourn the heavy loss of both Haruka and Juuri Kuran. They have ruled for a joyous, but entirely too short, century..." The orator paused for a heavy beat as an implied moment of silence. All the vampires bowed their heads, like clockwork. Some even muttered, brokenly, the names of Kaname's parents.

"Alas..." the orator continued, as his audience looked up again. "We still have with us, the heir of the Kuran line. He is in this room, Kaname Kuran."

Although Kaname, thankfully, did not have a literal spotlight flooded over him, he could not ignore how all eyes in the room were now trained on him. However he did not glance at any of the faces that he walked past; he resolutely looked toward the front of the room. Thankfully his parents had taught him at a young age on how to properly act in public, or more correctly; the vampire aristocracy. Kaname would've smiled at how he remembered his father would state, after he described what Kaname needed to do, 'despite having any urges to run out of the room screaming'. Kaname certainly wanted to do so now.

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Zero opened his eyes. He looked out in the darkened bedroom he shared with Ichiru, from his laying down position on the queen-sized bed. After a couple seconds of just hearing his brother's deep breathing and saw that nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary, Zero wondered why he woke up. They had gone to sleep about two hours ago, after Yagari had left with a curt nod and oddly affectionate ruffling of hair on both Zero's and Ichiru's heads: much to their chagrin.

As a family they had discussed the fate of Yuki and decided that after two days, Yuki will go to an orphanage. Their parents didn't think it was right to have Yuki live with them, when they were the targets of vampires. They felt that it wasn't their say to have Yuki lead a life of vampire-hunting either, so that was out of the question. However much to the pleading of both his mother and Ichiru, it was decided that the girl could stay for a few days. But then she would have to leave to an orphanage a few miles away. His parents were convinced that she would be adopted immediately and would grow up in a nice normal family.

At this Zero grew more anxious. How was he to contact Kaname now, before his sister was shipped off to live with an unknown family? It seemed that the likelihood that he would was increasingly growing more and more against his favor.

Zero sharply turned his head to the front door. He had heard it softly creek open, and because it was a sturdy door that didn't just all of a sudden move on its own, Zero knew something was up.

He almost jumped about ten feet when a hand lightly touched his blanket-covered leg. Zero quickly got over his shock and faced the owner of the hand.

"Oh…it's you." Zero whispered in relief. On the left side of his bed, a bed-headed Yuki stood looking quiet and slightly cautious.

Zero quirked his eyebrow at Yuki's continued silence. "What are you doing up here…Yuki?" he asked.

The girl didn't seem fazed that a total stranger knew her name. She just blinked and a slight frown came over her face.

That was when Zero noticed the trails of tears rolling down Yuki's cherubic cheeks. She was definitely a few years younger than him and Kaname most likely.

"Hey, why are you crying?" Zero asked gently, not noticing that he had sat up and was now wiping away the tear streaks on Yuki's cheeks. Mentally he recoiled. He didn't often touch people if he could help it, especially strangers. That was Hunter Training 101: be wary of your enemy. So of course he wouldn't touch a potential enemy.

But Yuki wasn't his enemy…right?

Zero looked at Yuki and how she gave a slight sniffle. She drew her own hands up to Zero's and clasped them.

'She definitely doesn't come off as a threat.' Zero thought as he enjoyed the feeling of Yuki's delicate and childlike hands surrounding his.

"Did you have a nightmare Yuki?" Zero deduced suddenly. Of course, having been asleep and had undoubtedly gone through a great trauma when she was last awake, must've manifested in her dreams.

Yuki looked up silently, big deep-brown eyes slightly glazed with unshed tears, at Zero. She opened her mouth but no words came forth. She blinked again in frustration, and forced herself to say what was on her mind.

"Br-Brother..." Yuki spoke brokenly with a deep sadness and confusion.

Zero felt so much for this girl at this moment. He wanted to pull her into a hug and never let go. Yet, Zero was surprised to find that he already had the girl in his arms.

He made to put distance between them, but it appeared that Yuki liked the hug and didn't want to leave. She clenched her tiny fists onto Zero's night shirt and buried her head into his chest. Thankfully Zero found this slightly ackward and was not feeling uncharacteristically warm and fuzzy as he did a couple minutes ago.

"Uh, would you like to sleep with us Yuki?" Zero asked, not knowing for sure how he would get this young girl, now hugging him, off.

It seemed that Zero had said the magic words. Yuki dropped her arms, and promptly crawled onto the bed. Her movements could be felt by the other occupants of the bed, and Zero watched as his brother beside him roll over with a slight groan of protest. He was completely knocked out apparently, if he could sleep through this much activity.

Luckily Ichiru's repositioning left an open space for Yuki in-between the two twin brothers. She gave a pleased smile and then dropped down onto the bed. Yuki squirmed a bit to get comfortable and to pull the blanket over her torso, until at last she was content.

Zero looked on, amused, as she gave a smile to Zero and then turned over to face Ichiru, and then after a slight pause, she encircled her arms around him. Apparently Yuki dubbed Ichiru as her own, over-sized, teddy bear.

Zero laid awake for a couple of minutes, after which Yuki had quickly fallen asleep with a deep-in-sleep Ichiru who still had no idea what was going on or who's arms were encircling him, to gaze out the window closest to his face.

He looked down onto the snow-covered ground and gave a wistful sigh. How long would it be until the snow melted away and it would be spring? Probably a few months anyway…that was when he would be enrolling into the Hunter Academy and Ichiru would be going to a normal elementary school. Things were definitely beginning to change, not to mention the new chaos that had awakened when he met Kaname…

'I wonder how he's doing…' Zero thought sleepily, his eyes already drooping. However in his waning vision, he saw a distorted image of his dad leaving the old weather shelter at the back of the house.

'That's weird…'Zero deduced before he gave a yawn and fell into oblivion.

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Chapter End!

Yay; chapter 3 is complete! Next chapter I plan to put some action in here. (I'm afraid it's not romantic action…hmm…well there might be a little something in that department. -wink-)

But anyways, what did you guys think? Was it good? Bad? Boring? Can't wait for the next chapter and wish I'd hurry the dang up in posting new ones?? Ha ha.

Thank you so much for checking this story out: I hope you're enjoying yourself so far!

Oh and Please review! It's an author's encouragement and fuel!

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