A/N: This is just a story idea I came up with and wrote last night, so I'm sorry it's so short. I'm not sure whether or not I will continue it—it depends on the response I get. I'm also not exactly sure where it will go (I have a general idea—nothing too definite, though) but what I do know is that it will absolutely and positively include KaZe yaoi good-ness, so just be prepared. Also, Zero discovers that he is really a pureblood, but shhh! don't tell Zero yet. ;)

World: First of all, forget Yuuki. She's annoying, so I've written her out of the story. She's not a pureblood—or even a vampire, for that matter—and Kaname doesn't really notice her at all. His entire reason for being at cross academy is peace between vampires and humans, nothing more. Also, the starting point of the story is almost a year after the Shizuka incident (SI), and it is now summer. I have also changed the way things turned out from the SI. Shizuka came to Cross Academy to take Zero as her slave and to kill Kaname, both so she could gain power over Rido (he was the reason her old fiancée's name was on the hunters' kill-list) and kill him. However, eventually Rido finds out and kills her (instead of Kaname killing her, like what happened in the manga/anime). Rido doesn't kill her until after she tries to take Zero as her slave, however, and Zero fights back. During the fight, Shizuka escapes Zero (only to be killed later by Rido, of course) and Ichiru starts to fight Zero in her stead. Zero and Ichiru are evenly matched, though, and wind up mortally wounding each other. Then, at the last minute, Ichiru has an unexplained change of heart and forces Zero to drink his blood, saving Zero but sealing Ichiru's death (but this part is explained later in the story).

Disclaimer: Personally, I think these are stupid, because I obviously don't own Vampire Knight, but here goes: I do not own Vampire Knight or its characters. All rights belong to the author of Vampire Knights, Matsuri Hino.

If you have any questions about the story or the world, if you find misspellings/grammatical errors, or if you have any suggestions, please feel free to PM me or to leave them in the comments.

Read, review and hopefully enjoy! ^_^

o0o0o0o

Fated twins—the seed of sins—have now become one, the spell half-undone. When tainted blood at last is purged, the missing eighth will have emerged.

The fog that had previously obscured everything from view suddenly parted. A figure began to approach. As she got closer—for it was apparent now that it was a 'she'—her features became more defined. Long, shimmering silver locks drifted behind her, framing her tranquil and beautiful features. She was wearing a simple, flowing white dress that blended in with her equally pale skin. She was tall with a surprisingly petite frame, and what little substance she had was mostly lean, sinewy muscle. However, her most remarkable feature was her clear, all-knowing lilac eyes. She exuded a calm and reassuring aura.

But suddenly that aura was shattered as she flew from the ground in a flash of light and remained there, suspended in mid-air and radiating pure power. Her irises glowed crimson and a single whispered word escaped from her lips: "Zero."

o0o0o0o

Zero's eyes flew open and his head shot up from the pillow, his body shaking and drenched in a cold sweat. When he calmed down enough to regain his senses, he cursed his idiocy. How could he have let that dream disturb yet another night of much-needed rest? He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but his brain just wouldn't cooperate, still focused on the dream. When had he first had it? Ah, that was right—almost a year ago, that terrible, fateful night he had killed his brother.

It was so strange, and he pondered it even to this day—why had Ichiru saved him? It simply didn't make sense, considering his twin's deep-rooted (even if it was misplaced) hatred for him. Although it pained him to no end, Zero didn't really believe that he would ever know what had changed in Ichiru's brain that night. One moment they had been fighting, guns in one hand and blades in the other, and the next moment they were both helpless bleeding heaps on the floor, nearing their untimely deaths. And then there Ichiru was next to him, forcing Zero to bite him and take his blood, saving Zero but dooming himself…

Zero shuddered at the pain of that memory, squeezing his eyes in vain in an effort to block out the horror. Yes, that had been the night the dream had begun. At first, he had the dream once or twice every month. But lately, the dream had been becoming more and more frequent, until now, when there was scarcely a night that went by uninterrupted by the interloper. The lack of sleep—coupled with his duties as a hunter—was beginning to take a serious toll on him—physically and mentally—and both Cross and Yuuki, the worrywarts they were, made sure to point it out to him on a daily basis.

He had just begun to doze off, when he heard a sharp rapping at his door.

"Zero?" called a voice so soft that Zero knew it could only belong one person.

"Yuuki," Zero replied, making sure to express every ounce of his displeasure at the disturbance.

"Oh, good, you're awake!" she exclaimed, her smile apparent in her tone. "I just came to tell you good-bye, in case I don't see you again before I go. I'll be leaving for my vacation with Yori-chan, and we won't be back for a while. Also, I wanted to tell you that you should probably get up soon, or you might miss the meeting." she finished, already skipping off down the hallway.

Zero groaned and rolled out of bed, heading towards the bathroom to take a shower. He'd forgotten about the meeting—the damned meeting where he was going to have to sit for three hours and look at that arrogant pureblood's stupid face. It made his blood boil, just watching the vampire and his flawlessly composed demeanor. Granted, most vampires—Zero himself included— weren't known to be too expressive, but there was just something about the pureblood that caused Zero to lose his cool, never failing to bug the hell out of him. He shuddered as he imagined the pureblood's sadistic delight if he ever discovered how much he got to Zero. Oh god— Zero would rather die than have him find out.

o0o0o0o

Zero gave a quiet growl of annoyance. The meeting between the Vampire Council and the Hunters' Association had been going on for almost ten minutes, yet the only thing anyone had accomplished thus far was to stare blankly at the individual across from them. Thankfully, Zero's individual was not the pureblood, but rather a comfortable-looking Takuma, who was too busy throwing companionable smiles around the room to pay much mind to Zero, which Zero didn't mind one bit.

For lack of anything better to do, Zero glanced around and admired the room. He had a begrudging respect for vampires' sense of style and architecture. After all, the entire building had been designed by the vampires, as a part of the compromise, since the hunters had chosen the location.

The room had a high vault ceiling, and was very large, as it had to accommodate not only the Council but the Association as well. The room was decorated in a warm, velvety tone of red, with dark accents of walnut wood scattered about. The theme seemed to be Victorian, but with an odd though refreshing touch of modernity. In the center of the room was a gigantic U-shaped wooden table. The hunters were seated at the right and the vampires on the left, so that the heads of each organization sat beside each other. This meant that Touga Yagari, who had attended in Cross's stead, was seated right next to the man who was sitting in for Asato Ichijou, Kaname Kuran. To Kaname's right sat Takuma, and to Takuma's right sat Shiki. The rest of the Night Class was scattered throughout the line of seated vampires, but Zero didn't really care enough to look for them. Conversely, he sat to the left of Yagari, and to his left was Kaito. There were, of course, more hunters seated to the left of Kaito, but Zero only knew but a few of them, and he couldn't remember the names of the few that he did know.

Zero was snapped from his thoughts as he heard a chair being pushed backwards. The previously confused silence was now one of reverence, as the chair had been the pureblood's. Annoyingly enough, not only did the entire vampire population worship Kaname—a great number of the non-anti-vampire hunters did, as well. All ears were trained as he began to speak.

"The eleventh meeting of the Hunters' Association and the Vampire Council has commenced. We have gathered here the finest each organization has to offer, for one united goal: peace," the pureblood began, looking at each individual in the room as he spoke. "However, today, we are gathered to address a specific problem, upon which Touga shall elaborate." The pureblood sat down and politely handed the floor to the hunter seated beside him.

Yagari gave Kaname a nod of thanks, and stood up. "Level Ends are the reason this partnership between our two organizations exists," he began, garnering nods of agreement from both sides of the room. "However, they are gaining in strength and numbers, and some have even begun to operate in groups. They are organized, and even more deadly than before, killing not only civilians, but our own as well. Someone or something is behind this, and we must stop it while we can—before it becomes too late to do something. It is for this reason that we have developed a partnering system. You will work in pairs—one vampire, and one hunter—starting now and working far into the foreseeable future. The pairings will be as follows, with the vampire named first, and the hunter second." With this, Yagari sat down and a noble vampire Zero didn't know stood up and began to list off names.

Zero couldn't say that he was particularly pleased with the development. A vampire, to put it lightly, was not exactly the thing he most wanted to work with, let alone spend a majority of his time with. He sighed, closing his eyes and waiting for his name to be called.

CRUNCH.

Zero cursed under his breath in pain. Some deadman had smashed his foot—probably cracked the bone. He looked beside him to find the perpetrator, only to meet the gaze of an extremely displeased-looking Yagari, whose boot heel was still resting on top of Zero's much-abused foot. Zero threw a sheepish look of apology in response to the glare Yagari gave him out of the side of his eye. Discreetly rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he turned his attention to the vampire still droning on, listing the pairings. He noted that the hunters called were increasingly high-ranked, so he took this as a sign that things were almost over. Fortunately his name had probably not been called yet, as he was arguably at the foremost of the Association, next to Yagari and Cross, of course.

"Senri Shiki and Kaito Takamiya."

Zero found himself grinning at this pairing. Kaito held no love for vampires, as a general rule, and Shiki was a bit wary of humans, himself. It would be interesting to see how things turned out.

"Takuma Ichijou and Touga Yagari."

He watched as the two exchanged polite smiles. Zero was happy with this pairing, relatively speaking. He held, of course, a certain fondness for his old teacher, and if he had to be paired with a vampire, he supposed he was glad it was Takuma. He was strong and seemed to be a genuinely good person, and Zero respected him.

"Kaname Kuran and…"

This took Zero by surprise. He hadn't expected the pureblood to participate in this hunt, much less allow himself to be partnered to a hunter. Zero snorted. He really pitied the poor guy who had to be partnered to that thing.

"Zero Kiriyuu."

Zero's eyes popped out of his skull. He clenched the edges of the table so hard his knuckles turned white. Kaname? He was partnered with Kaname? How could Yagari possibly let this happen? He stole a glance at the pureblood, certain that he would see the pureblood's customary evil smirk. But what he saw surprised him; Kaname wasn't smirking, or showing any other expression, for that matter. He was simply staring, transfixed, at an imaginary spot on the immaculate floor, seemingly deep in thought. Whatever, snorted Zero. He was certain that pureblood was behind this ridiculous pairing.

Contrary to Zero's belief, however, Kaname was not behind the pairing—in fact, he had almost no say in it. The idea had originally been put forth by Takuma, who in turn presented it to Yagari, who had, after some thought, agreed to it. Of course, as the stand-in leader of the council and as a pureblood, Kaname could have rejected this odd pairing, which he was quite tempted to do. However, he had no real reason to refuse the partnership, and doing so would only cause unnecessary suspicion. So, he allowed it. But that wasn't to say that he liked it. Zero, strangely enough, was the only individual—let alone hunter—who could cause Kaname to waver. To falter. To question himself—his actions and his feelings. But why was that? The question intrigued him to no end, but despite his hunger to know, he really didn't want to involve himself with the hunter any more than possible. Zero seemed to bring out a part in him that he didn't even know existed. He aroused feelings that were uncomfortable and unnecessary, to say the least. And Kaname feared that if he spent too much time around the hunter the feelings might become more...permanent.

Zero's sulking was interrupted by a last announcement from Yagari.

"You will all spend the rest of the day becoming acquainted with your partner. Most of you will not be dispatched for missions yet, however, you must remain ready to leave within a day's notice. This concludes the eleventh meeting of the Vampire Council and the Hunters' Association. You are all free to go."

As hunters and vampires alike began to drift out the door, Zero stood up and confronted Yagari.

"Why?" he demanded.

"Why not?" Yagari replied, raising an eyebrow. "Kuran has proven himself to be a strong and trustworthy ally, as much as I'd rather not admit it. It's simple logic to put the best with the best. What objection do you have, Zero?"

"Well, he's-" Zero stopped himself. What, 'an arrogant bastard'? No, personal problems just weren't a valid argument, and Zero knew it. "Nothing," he finally mumbled, glowering at the floor.

Yagari grinned. "That's what I thought. Now, you'll be heading out on a mission today, so go and get acquainted with your partner."

Of course, Zero groaned. He would be one of the few to leave today, wouldn't he? Zero scowled at his misfortune, all the while making his way to the back entrance in an effort to avoid the enormous crowd. Pushing the doors open, Zero was only half-surprised at who was waiting for him.

"Kiriyuu," Kaname nodded in acknowledgement.

"Kuran," Zero replied. He waited for Kaname to say something else, but the pureblood only…looked. It wasn't a stare, really—it was more of a pondering gaze. And Zero found himself gazing back, caught in those strange, captivating russet eyes…

Zero snapped to out of his reverie, noticing the amused look the pureblood was giving him. Zero flipped his eyes away, attempting to appear disinterested. Struggling to distract from the situation, Zero searched for something to say.

"So we're partners."

Kaname arched a delicate eyebrow. "So we are."

o0o0o0o

It was about nine or so hours after the meeting, and they were finally almost to their destination, after five hours of car travel. Zero had spent the two next-to-last of those hours accidentally asleep on Kaname's shoulder, much to Kaname's amusement and Zero's chagrin. In some corner of his mind, Zero couldn't help but wonder why Kaname had even allowed that to happen, but he pushed the thought out of his brain.

Kaname glanced out at the darkening sky. The driver had said that they would be arriving at their destination—a small but prospering town—soon, and he was quite grateful for that. The car ride had mostly consisted of the two staring impassively out their respective windows, and honestly, it was starting to bore him. The only respite had been the two hours when Zero had fallen asleep on Kaname's shoulder. At first it had annoyed him, and Kaname was going to shove him off. However—and he knew it was entirely out of his character to do so— after looking at Zero's peaceful, defenseless face, Kaname decided to let him stay there until he awakened. When Zero finally did wake up, he gasped in horror at the realization of on just whom his head had been for the past two hours, and Kaname couldn't help but chuckle at his reaction. Thus, for the past hour, Zero had been sulking out the front windshield.

The car slowed down and finally came to a stop in a cobbled clearing. The driver directed them to the quaint inn, and after they retrieved their luggage, drove off. When the two reached the building, they checked in with the manager, and a young maid led them to their room.

Zero stared at the maid in confusion. For the past three minutes, the maid had been stiffly walking in front of them, face red as a tomato and never speaking a word. Was she sick? Zero couldn't tell, but there was certainly something going on with this girl.

The maid stopped. "Your room, sirs."

Kaname smiled in thanks and Zero nodded in appreciation. But when they entered the room and shut the door behind them, the maid gave a loud squeal and ran off down the hallway.

While Zero was still staring at the door in bewilderment, Kaname had turned to face the room.

The pureblood chuckled in amusement. "Fangirls," he sighed.

Zero turned to question what he meant, when he realized: there was just one bed.

"Uhhhgh," Zero groaned. "How is it that they got this wrong? It's the only thing they ask you when you book a room: 'Do you want one bed or two?' How. Do. They. Get. That. Wrong? The idiots."

Kaname grinned at the outburst. "That's a nice change from your silence, Kiriyuu." Zero frowned at the statement, which only made Kaname's grin wider. To be honest, he was surprising himself—he might actually enjoy this mission. Kaname picked up the phone receiver and dialed the manager. When she picked up, he proceeded to inform her of their situation. After listening for a few minutes, he thanked them and put the phone down.

He turned to Zero to notify him of the news. "It seems they can do nothing about it. The rooms are all booked full tonight, so we're stuck with what we have." Seeing Zero's displeased expression, he added as an afterthought: "One of us could sleep on the floor."

Zero raised his eyebrow at the suggestion. "Well, it won't be me."

"Nor shall it be I," replied the pureblood, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.