AN: I've been studying for a month for the exam I'm having this Friday. And I'm so exhausted, too many facts and unnecessary information make my brain boil. I have yet to fill it with a lot of crap, but I dunno if I can anymore. So I'm gonna write this story in order to relax, and then take a nice, relaxing bath. Good plan, eh? And you please be kind and review after reading this. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight, this is only a fanfiction. This story belongs to me.

Rating: M

Pairing: Kaname/Zero

Genre: Romance/Angst

You and I

Chapter 1: Worlds that Collided

They had been doing this for quite some time now. He would come to his room, never bothering to take a better look at it. He would just come to finish the business, and leave as quietly as he had come. The other party never cared to change their routine, as well. It was a business in a sense. And it was simple. A simple trade of goods, as Kaname liked to name it in his mind. He loved Yuuki. And Zero loved Yuuki. And he needed blood, in order to be stable and be able to protect her. And they were doing it only because of her. Well, initially, they did.

But that particular day, when Kaname entered Zero's room, he found the silver haired youth sprawled out on his bed, reading some kind of a textbook, and frowning as if he was going to rip it into pieces. Never in their time knowing each other had Kaname seen Zero so concentrated on something that was most likely related to school. The vampire hunter was obviously studying for some exam, and was trying really hard. But it seemed that he was having hard time following. Kaname smirked at this. He would often hear from Yuuki about Zero's frequent absence from classes. Not that the pureblood particularly cared, mind you. It was just that it had to do with Yuuki, something she wanted to share with him. So he'd listened. And memorized. And now he found himself in wonder. Zero was actually studying.

His smirk was of sadistic nature. He liked to see Zero suffering. Even if it was school-related, it still made him suffer. He cleared his throat in order for the other boy to look at him.

"I have come to get it over with and leave as soon as I can, please." he said. He hated staying in this dark place named Kiryuu Zero's room. Not that he had ever taken a good look at it, but the atmosphere was dark even for a vampire. Something akin sorrow was lingering in the air, so heavy, so torturous. And Kaname had his share of suffers, thank you very much. He never cared to know more about Zero than he already knew. This unpleasant air of someone who was not a lowlife human being, but some pitiful mixture of a vampire hunter and a vampire who had pureblood's blood within his body, was not something Kaname wanted to inhale.

Zero looked up at him, with a dose of hatred in his eyes, of course. He closed his textbook and made some space for Kaname to sit next to him. He was feeling fine, but he didn't refuse a new dose of blood from the dark haired boy. It would prove useful to him later, he mused. To prolong his normal state. Kaname sat beside him, and broke the skin on the side of his neck with his fingernail, tilting his head to the right, in order for Zero to have a better access. The white haired boy dug his fangs deep into the flesh, gripping with his left hand the dress shirt Kaname wore. The blood tasted metallic. Zero always yearned for more, but would always restrain himself. Just a bit of blood was enough. Ten to twenty gulps. No more and no less. Even though he despised the vampire next to him, he was grateful for the blood given to him. He would not drink it all.

Kaname placed his hand on Zero's back, to still the vampire hunter and make sure he took equal gulps. He certainly didn't want Zero to become greedy and take more than necessary. He was looking at the books scattered on the bed. Maths. He smirked. There was one notebook opened, and Kaname took a peek, noticing that Zero had started the equation well, but probably the number he got as a result for x, which was 27, he changed into 72 by mistake. Just a permutation, but later on, it'd made him confused and he couldn't finish it to the end. The paper was almost torn by harsh movements of the eraser. Poor guy, Kaname thought. He must've been thinking of Yuuki or something. And he was probably pissed because of the unsolved task.

He could feel Zero's throat spasm, and the boy soon let go of him. He stood up to wash his mouth. Kaname's eyes followed him for the first time, in curiosity, to the sink in one corner of the room. It was a simple sink, and a simple room. Dark wallpaper, one closet, bed, a nightstand, a lamp, a window, and a curtain. No desk. So simple. Kaname wondered why there wasn't the desk. Zero was a student, and in the dorm, in every room, naturally, there were at least two desks. He found it awkward, much like everything else about Zero.

"I can help you with your problem." he said. Zero didn't even look at him.

"I don't need your help." he muttered darkly.

"You just wrote 72 instead of 27." Kaname said. But it wasn't just that. Zero couldn't understand other things regarding that equation, that didn't have anything to do with the wrong number. He had figured it out by himself, but didn't bother to change the number.

"I know that. It's not it." he said. Kaname raised his delicate eyebrow. Such a strange boy, he thought. The very idea of him being slightly interested in Zero's peculiar way of thinking and behaving was out of the question. Zero was a pitiful mongrel, wasn't he? Why would Kaname care, when he'd greeted him nicely when they first met as small children, and was attacked by Zero just because he was a pureblood? Just because he was a vampire? But he asked anyway.

"Then what is it?"

"It's none of your business. You can leave now." but he was hesitant while saying it. His voice was low and shaky, as if he was changing his mind. When Kaname took a better look at his face, he saw bags under his eyes. "You can't solve the problem? I can help you. Yuuki told me you're having an exam tomorrow and that it is very hard, even for you." he chuckled. "I helped her with it today. God she was scared! Is that exam so important?"

"We will have to repeat the year if we fail it." Zero said and reluctantly sat next to Kaname. "So, Kuran, you said you knew how to do it?" even though he hated it, to admit his defeat, to ask for help from Kaname, he let him stay. He let him stay, and they stayed for hours, practicing. It wasn't until midnight that they noticed how late it was. Luckily the students of the day class were studying hard as well, so they couldn't come and bother the night class. Yuuki probably hadn't had much work other than to escort the vampires to the classrooms.

So Kaname stayed up until one am. And the two actually started talking about other things. Neither of them knew how and why. They just talked. Of course, Kaname more than Zero, but the vampire hunter listened, and nodded from time to time. Then Kaname left for his classes. And Zero remained alone and confused. 'I let him stay because he wouldn't leave anyway and Yuuki would be pissed if I used force to throw him out', he thought.

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In the blink of an eye, the next time when he needed blood, Kaname sat and helped him do his English essay. Neither he asked for his help, nor Kaname offered him his help. They simply sat and did it.

"What are you doing?" Kaname asked out of politeness.

"An English essay." Zero replied unwillingly, wiping his mouth. Kaname picked up the notebook and looked at the draft.

"Hmmm..." he said. "I think you should change your thesis statement. It should be more intense." he advised. And so they sat and did it together. Again, Zero tried to justify it with him not wanting to make Yuuki pissed because he kicked Kuran's ass. But the truth was that Kaname looked less hostile towards him in their hours of joint studying. He looked a bit friendly, in fact. Still, Zero resented him and was very cautious when it came to him. Deep scars in his heart, all the things he'd been through with Ichiro, Shizuka, Yagari-sensei, his parents....A smashed dream, replaced by other significant people, different species he belonged to now, and enemies. It bothered him.

Seriously, who wouldn't be scared to hell watching their parents dying, their brother betraying with a smile on his face, and that same brother who was endlessly loved saying he hated them? And vampires messing him up, making something awful of him, a monster, a collateral damage, a person who loved with all his passion, but was never loved...He had no usual childhood and adolescence. He had nothing to grasp but air. And new powers that terrified him. All of it made him resent vampires, especially Kuran Kaname, who'd stolen Yuuki from him, who resented him back. Why did he let him stay longer than necessary and talk about his childhood memories with Yuuki? Why would he let the vampire help him with school?

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And their meetings went on, in some other places, during weekends, when they would meet in bookstores, sat to drink coffee or tea together and discuss their newfound mutual interest--literature. It started with brief conversations, then with exchanging books, then discussing about books read, and so on. Kaname was so passionate when talking about some great poet or novelist, or some novel or poem he found absolutely fantastic or utterly awful, and Zero would listen with great interest. Not that his face expression changed or anything, not that he looked at Kaname when said man was speaking, but he listened while staring at his tea or coffee, or anything that was not Kuran Kaname. He listened anyway, and briefly, without any enthusiasm in his voice, said his own opinion on the subject. Although his replies were usually brief, Kaname could see profoundness; the way Zero could tell the very essence of the subject was simply astonishing.

The vampire caught himself liking the way Zero spoke, the way he illustrated his point with not much of a vocabulary. It sounded raw and tender at the same time, when he spoke about his love for literature, about anything regarding it. Zero was not refined, not distinguished, but there was some grace in the way he just existed; he just sat there and said this and that, held the mug of hot chocolate in his hands, while staring at it. There was some sorrow in his eyes, but also some kind of a relief. And fear. He was so complex, so paradoxical, so interesting of a specimen. But, of course, the vampire would never admit something like that. At least not out loud. He was that kind of a person who knew where his heart lay, who was never confused, and he knew that it was inevitable for him to feel a bit of kindness and admiration for the boy. He had to acknowledge it. It would be futile to deny it, anyway. But some kind of his old feelings for Kiryuu Zero-- hatred and despise, still remained. He simply couldn't help it but allow the things to develop in an unknown direction. It was too amazing and too confusing, and too dangerous.

Later on, they decided that they should hold their meetings at more secret places; not that anybody had found out about their friendship (if you could call it that) yet, but some precaution couldn't hurt, right? They had to keep it secret from both vampires from school and humans. They were archenemies for the public, and their sudden friendship would definitely cause many rumors and such. And, given the fact that there was a silent war led between some vampires, such as Rido, who hadn't awoken yet, and the rest of the vampires and humans, their friendship being discovered certainly didn't go to their advantage. Plus, it was more exciting this way. Because of these reasons, they found some secluded locations for their meetings.

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Their discussions about literature turned somehow into something more meaningful. Kaname expressed the desire to taste some of Zero's blood, wondering what it tasted like. He was such a mixture, such an exotic creature, and Kaname wanted to know more about the nature of this boy, about his darkest secrets and feelings. He would discover just a little bit of Zero's world. If he wanted to know it all, he'd have to kill Zero. And currently, he didn't have the reason to do so. So just a little bit of blood would be enough.

Zero, of course, could not object, since he was indebted to Kaname by drinking his blood over the course of time. He lay down on his bed, unbuttoned his shirt, and let Kaname lay beside him, dig his powerful, bloodthirsty fangs into his long, pale neck. To break the tattooed skin. To suck greedily, like he never sucked before. Zero was such a cocktail of blood. Yuuki's blood, a bit of his twin brother's blood, Kaname's own blood, Shizuka's blood...So many familiar bloods. So many different tastes, mingling, making this new, sensational drink. Something only Kaname was allowed to drink. He was ready to give as much as Kaname wanted, anyway, since he didn't value his life so much.

He had tried to kill himself, but Yuuki stopped him once. And he remained in this world of living only because of her. He didn't care if Kaname killed him, though. It'd been three months since he first talked with Kaname about literature. Kaname sometimes talked about other things, as well. He never said anything big or some secret, but he'd always tell some crucial things about lives of vampires such as Aido and others. He talked about slaying the Level Es. He talked about the endless war between desire to bite and desire to protect humans; about the thin line between being a civilized, tolerant vampire and a disgusting beast like Level Es. The temptation. The struggle. And a big amount of good will. The iron will to endure.

It amazed Zero, but he never entirely believed it. Years of hating vampires had made him the way he was. How come that they turned out to be good guys, after all?! He wondered, and took all Kaname's word with skepticism, but he kept it to himself. There was honesty and sadness in Kaname's voice.

The pureblood drank, wanting to discover more of Zero's background, originally because he wanted to know who the hell this guy was, a genius for literature. It struck him like a thunder, caught him off guard. Endless sorrow, images of two corpses, one male, one female, an enormous amount of blood, ambivalence that grew towards so many people...and himself as well. Kuran Kaname was, for once, touched. Deeply. And he immediately let go, not wanting to be swept away by such intense images, emotions, sordidness yet purity of Zero's vast, troubled heart. It tore him. It made his own heart bleed.

He looked at Zero, hoping that he hadn't taken much. The taste of his blood was bittersweet and metallic. He saw his tired face, eyes half-open, such a blissful state. The boy was about to pass into deep slumber. He still held Kaname tight. He was obviously not aware of Kaname letting go. So Kaname shook him a bit, and the boy slightly winced.

"I'm afraid I took too much." he tilted his head. "Here, take some of mine."

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Months had passed. Kaname would steal glances at Zero whenever he could, noting that his behavior towards Yuuki changed drastically. He never talked to her, never mentioned her, and never looked after her. He simply stopped. Kaname wondered why it was, but he kind of felt glad. He was sure now, that Zero had taken too much of him. It wasn't much of a significance. It was just some larger amount of kindness he felt. A crush, perhaps, since whenever he saw the vampire hunter, his body reacted in awkward ways. His palms were sweaty, his heart nervous, and all that symptoms he hadn't been familiar with up until now. He always thought of them as exaggeration. But not anymore. His heartache grew with every following day. Zero looked beautiful in his eyes, like a precious jewel. His rare words were like a bird's song. His meetings were making him endlessly happy and fulfilled.

He never denied his new feelings. He kept them deep inside, and never revealed them. He knew that this friendship wasn't possible and that it wouldn't last long. This lovely truce would be soon over. Let alone a relationship. It couldn't even begin. It would die as an embryo. Another catch was that if Zero drank any more of his blood, he would soon discover his feelings. He didn't know what the boy would think of him then. Would it make a huge rift between them? Maybe that would be the best for them. To return to their old positions. But the greater fear Kaname had was, what if Zero harbored the same feelings as him?

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AN: I wanted this to be a oneshot, but it kinda became this long, and so much analytical, so I decided to make it a multi chapter story. Maybe two or three chapters. Still dunno. But the idea is there! Please be kind to read and review. I won't update if I don't receive at least 6 reviews, so that I would know that somebody's actually reading this! :) Sex and lovey-dovey things in the next chapter!