The night before

Zane reached the front door and rapped his knuckles on the hard wood. He heard TV sounds inside before the scrabbling of someone trying to get the door. As he waited, he absent-mindedly looked at the house itself, he particularly like how the thin stain-glass panes surrounding the door were light blue and pink, matching the inhabitants preferred colours and hair. A lucky coincidence.

The door opened and Zane was relieved to see it was Kawaii~Chan, the very person he'd been meaning to talk to. Also, he still didn't like Katelyn much. Their relationship still held a substantial amount of hostility despite the times they'd hung out together with Aphmau.

"Zane!?" The Mei'fwa blinked her golden eyes in surprise. She was wearing bright pink checked flannel pyjama pants and a pale pink t-shirt, little white bunny slippers on her feet. It was adorable but Zane thought it'd be weird if he said anything.

"No 'kun' eh?" he said instead. Out of the corner of his eye he saw what she was watching. "You're watching that 'Miraculous' show, or whatever it's called?

Kawaii~Chan perked up, eyes shining.

"Yes! Have you seen it? It's SOOO cute! The ship is ADORABLE! And Marinette is so amazing, making clothes and cooking sweet-"

"Kinda like you I guess" he said and he could have sworn she blushed slightly "but no, I haven't seen it. Aphmau keeps trying to make me but I'm not too sure about it…"

"You should! Kawaii~Chan seriously recommends it" she smiled, obviously lost in thought about the show. A moment later, her eyebrows furrowed and she shook her head, apparently remembering something.

"So… what're you doing here Zane~Kun?" she asked, curious once again.

"Oh, right" he cleared his throat and found his words. "So, you texted me about meeting to cook something for Aphmau before we went to her place tomorrow. I was about to reply but then my phone died and Garroth, the idiot, had borrowed and lost my charger. Again.

"So I was trying to ask if I could borrow his phone to text you but he and Laurance were being stupid and loud, playing some video game and messing around, so nothing I was trying to say was penetrating his thick skull

"So I thought it would be easiest if I just came over real quick to give my reply, considering you live across the road"

Kawaii~Chan nodded like she understood, but still looked mildly bewildered.

"Um, so, I thought it'd be a good idea to make her cupcakes, because she used to always make me them and I know you're good at making all kinds of sweets" Zane said, noticing her ears and tail perk up at his compliment. "We could do it at my house, I'm pretty sure Garroth and Laurance are going out with some friends tomorrow, so no one'd be in the way…?"

The Mei'fwa nodded and they agreed on a time. Zane was in the process of saying goodnight and walking home when he interrupted suddenly.

"Oh! W-wait, Zane!"

He flicked his head back to look at her, noting she seemed slightly nervous, and raised an eyebrow.

"Uh… You really should, um, watch this show" she gestured towards her TV in the next room where the show was still paused. Now he was confused.

"I-if you want, you can watch some with me…?" she asked, looking down at her hands which clasped together "That is, i-if you weren't busy… It really is quite good and you might like it"

Zane considered her for a moment before replying.

"Alright, when?"

"Kawaii~Chan meant n-now…" She looked back up quickly, blushing. He blinked stupidly in surprise before fully processing her offer. He wasn't doing anything right now, in fact he'd rather not be at his own home considering his house-mates, and he was kind of interested in the show… besides, he didn't mind Kawaii~Chan much anymore, not since they'd become better friends the past few months.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind that" he smiled despite knowing she couldn't see it behind his mask "That is, if you're sure..?"

"Absolutely!" she said, golden eyes sparkling, before gesturing him inside. He followed her to the lounge room and sat down on the pastel pink couch.

She found the first episode for him and they sat in silence, watching. He would have found the comfortable silence they shared as they watched intriguing, had he not been distracted by the show. After a few episodes it was clear he was going to enjoy the series immensely and he began to find himself laughing along with her at the funny moment, feeling tense and slightly worried for the characters when something went wrong. They were about halfway through the season when she got up and brought back warm chocolate-chip cookies that must have been baking in the oven. She turned to find the next episode and he took a bite of one.

"These are… really, really good Kawaii~Chan…" he said, demolishing the rest of the cookie and picking up another. Her tail swished happily.

"Thanks! It's Kawaii~Chan's special secret recipe!"

"I… I'm not very good at baking" he said a moment later, pulling his mask back up after finishing his cookie "I mostly just get Aphmau to make sweets for me"

The Mei'fwa turned around, a peculiar expression on her face. She visibly swallowed before continuing, her ear twitching nervously.

"I… could teach you…?" she said. Zane blinked widely, processing her offer. After a moment's consideration he nodded.

"Yeah, that'd be nice. Thanks Kawaii~Chan"

"If you want, we can start tomorrow. We can bake some cupcakes for Aphmau~Senpai!" she smiled brightly and Zane felt himself smiling back.

"Sounds good"

Kawaii~Chan selected the next video and they waited for it to load. Zane studied her carefully.

"Kawaii~Chan…" he started. Her ear twitched.

"Yeah?"

"…nothing" he looked away, out the window to his house across the street where the windows bottom half of the house were lit up. A moment of silence passed between the two.

"Zane~Kun?" she said in a small voice, nervous and quiet. He didn't turn around.

"Yeah?"

"You're… you're really…"

"What?" he flicked his head back towards her finally. Their eyes met before she forcibly looked down and the remote in her hands as if contemplating what button to push. She took a deep breath before continuing.

"Have you always been like this?" she said. Zane stared.

"Like what?"

"Like, genuinely kind when you want to be, and perfectly friendly too" she paused before continuing "was it all just underneath a guise or something?"

"I don't know" he said, assuming that 'it all' meant his harsh actions towards everyone "To be honest I've never thought of myself as those things before and I always have a hard time understanding why people don't mind spending time with me"

"Well don't" she said simply.

"Huh?"

"Why shouldn't people want to? I mean, you can be a bit blunt or harsh sometimes, but it's honest. I like that you can be perfectly clear about your opinion of things, I rarely have to be wary of whether or not you're trying not to hurt my feelings about something."

She smiled down at her lap where her hands were loosely clasped together "It's kinda refreshing actually"

He looked at her. It was strange, she was acting differently. Maybe she really had taken his 'lessons in seriousness' to heart. He felt himself smile again.

The rest of the night went mostly without incident. However, several episodes later, when Zane was leaving; He bid KC goodnight and started walking through her front garden.

When he reached the gate he heard her jog up behind him. He turned to find her outstretched hand and the last cookie rested there, he looked back up at her before taking it.

Zane nodded in thanks and started walking away again. Pulling down his mask to take a bite, he saw a flash of pink before two arms were flung around him. She pulled him down quickly and planted a kiss on his pale cheek. Flushing bright pink to match her hair, Kawaii~Chan tore back up to her door and slammed it shut behind her. Thus, leaving Zane blushing from the roots of his pitch black hair to his neck to stagger home, completely and utterly bewildered.

Notes

AND HERE's THE END AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!

Thank you all so much for loving this fic even when I was having trouble loving it myself. In fact, the reason this took so long to update each time was just coz I wasn't enjoying it so much *shrug* but it's over now, so that's cool. :3

BUT DO NOT DESPAIR MY FELLOW ZANE~CHAN/ZANA SHIPPERS AND APHMAU LOVERS!

I have two other fics about those two that I'm writing and will update more because I enjoy writing them significantly more than this one (I hate to say it but it's true).

I'll put the links below:

Who are you? (chatfic) (if u've never read a chatfic; read a chatfic. I find them hilarious and generally great)

/works/12399327/chapters/28212999

Short of Breath (MCD au that I made which I'm kinda proud of)

/works/11862024/chapters/26783019

I also co-write a oneshot series that is has a bunch of One-shots and drabbles from different fandoms. I've written one Zane~Chan fic there and there will probs be more to come:

Setting Sail

/works/11680116

Again, THANK YOU MY LOVELIES~3

~Wishful