Helloooo!

So, um, this is my first fic, so please don't kill me it it's not that good ;A; I'm trying my best to make this work! I've never written something like this, I'm more into drawing than writing and English isn't my first language, so…please bear with me ^^;

This story actually starts after Chapter 23, after the whole Shizuka thing but before Rido. Rido is not going to be in this story, nor is the rest of the manga after Chapter 23. So Zero is still drinking Yuuki's blood, hasn't drank from Kaname…yet XD And…well, yeap, kind of an AU because Yuuki is a born human in this story and Kaname was born from Haruka and Juri.

The wonderful characters of Vampire Knight belong to Matsuri Hino. Only this story is by me :3 I hope you like it and please tell me what you think about it! I'm not sure how often I will update, but I will try to do it as regularly as possible. Thanks for reading and…enjoy :)

Chapter One

"A date?" Zero nearly choked on his water as he placed his glass back on the table before he could break it or something. He turned to look at the short girl behind him who was holding a big bouquet of beautiful flowers, mostly consisting on roses with both her tiny hands. Her blushing face was hidden behind the big arrangement and Zero had to take it from her hands to see her expression, which quickly turned the other way as it was revealed. Zero looked into the flowers and grabbed the little note attached to one of them, careful not to damage any of the surely expensive bouquet. He didn't like it at all, but he knew Yuuki would be mad with him if he were to ruin any of these or the many other flowers that had been crowding Yuuki's room for the past month.

Around 5 weeks ago Yuuki had gotten a small letter from "a secret admirer". After that, countless gifts and love letters had reached her door everyday, all of them from the same secret person. At first, Zero had blamed Kaname for this, thinking all these expensive stuff could only be afforded by the pureblood, but to his surprise, he had not only denied any connection with the abundant gifts but had also insisted that Zero would keep him informed about the whole matter.

He had only agreed to it because he was worried of who might be sending all this to Yuuki, and he wanted her safe. So everyday he would meet with Kaname and inform him of everything. The pureblood had also begun to look into the case. A couple of weeks ago he had assigned a guard to keep an eye around the school in hopes that he would catch this "secret admirer" in the act of delivering more of his presumptuous gifts. But all they had managed until now was to scare the poor delivery guy who apparently knew nothing about the source of the packages.

Both Zero and Kaname were about to send spies all over the town when Yuuki had practically ordered them to stop overreacting.

"I appreciate that you two are worried about me, but I don't want you to be" Yuuki had told them when she had finally managed to get the courage to speak to Kaname, right after finding out he was planning on assigning her a private guardian. "Especially not you, Kaname-senpai."

Zero and Kaname couldn't help but worry over her. The whole Shizuka mess had left them kind of paranoiac. Who knew what kind of sick bastard could be trying to get to her. What if it was a trap? What if it was a vampire? What if they wanted to hurt her by luring her out like this? What if they wanted to get to her to then get to Kaname? What if she got kidnapped or even killed! Or what if…they were just overreacting? What if it was just a normal guy who had feelings for her and just happened to have a considerable amount of money to buy her presents? …Nah, that couldn't be it.

"I am capable of taking care of myself and if I ever find something suspicious I promise will let you know, okay? But stop worrying so much, please"

After that, both vampires had kept in touch through the phone and still trying to find out who this guy was and why he was so hard to track, while making sure Yuuki wouldn't know they were still doing it. They just couldn't take any chances. If it was indeed something harmful and Yuuki got hurt, they would never forgive themselves.

Days had gone by and the gifts kept coming, its sender still keeping himself anonymous. But that was apparently going to change. Tonight.

"Um…yeah" Yuuki finally spoke, snatching the note from Zero's hand before he could read it. "It says he wants to meet me tonight at that new place they just opened a few months ago"

"Where? The Red Carpet? That place is horribly expensive, Yuuki! Nobody gets in there unless your skin is made of gold or something" Zero said, his worry now intensifying. If Yuuki went to that place, Zero wouldn't be let inside, not without a reservation; he wouldn't be able to watch over her. He couldn't even stand outside the door without getting kicked away; they guarded the place like a freaking bank! "You can't go, I won't let you."

"You can't tell me what I can or can't do," Yuuki argued. She was not sure if she would go, all of this just seemed pretty weird. The gifts were all still wrapped in their package, in her closet, waiting for her to find their buyer and return them. She couldn't keep them! All those things...the necklace, the dress, the beautiful shoes, those amazing earrings, the bag, the expensive chocolates, cookies and other sweets. How Yuuki wanted to taste them, they looked delicious and she didn't think she would ever get the chance to have a box of those ever again, but it didn't feel right. All those things were too much for her. She didn't like the idea of someone she didn't know spending so much money on her. And it also scared her a little that all the clothes and the shoes were just her size. Whoever this person was clearly knew more about her than she felt comfortable with.

But even with all that, she was curious. The letters were so sweet and made her blush so much. It was such a confidence booster to know that she had caught the attention of someone. For some reason she hadn't wanted Kaname to know about this, but Zero had told him all about it, and without her permission! Zero was kind of her brother, so she could understand why he would get worried, but why had Kaname also shown the same amount of concern over it? Suddenly all the attention was making her feel…good. She really wanted to know who this guy was, and she needed to return all the gifts to him. She was extremely grateful for them, but she couldn't keep them. She just couldn't.

"Yuuki, that guy may be dangerous, you could get hurt and I can't keep you safe if you go into that place alone," Zero warned her "Please, don't go"

"But Zero, I need to know who he is," Yuuki insisted "There will be a lot of people in the place, if he means harm he can't do it in front of so many, so I will be safe."

"Yuuki…what about Kuran? You said you loved him, you can't run off with another guy" Zero almost bit his tongue at that. He definitely didn't want Yuuki to be with Kaname, but if that kept her away from this guy for now, he would insist.

"Zero!" Yuuki blushed, taking the flowers from the table and turning for the door. "I just want to know who he is" she made her way through the hallway to her bedroom door with Zero close behind her "Besides, let's face it, I have no chance at all with Kaname-senpai."

"Of course you do!" Geez, Zero was definitely going to punch himself for this. "If you have a chance with a mysterious rich guy, you have a chance with the pampered vampire"

Yuuki let herself into her room, closing the door before Zero got the chance to get inside. "I am going to think about it, Zero, okay? I know the risks, but I really want to know more about this person. I-I have my reasons, okay?"

Zero let out a frustrated sigh before reaching for his phone. He never thought the day would come when calling Kaname Kuran on the phone would become something usual. This past month they had been spending way too much time socializing for Yuuki's sake. They had both agreed on forgetting their hate for each other until they knew for sure Yuuki was safe, which had resulted on them constantly meeting and calling each other several times a day. Zero preferred phone calls a lot more to meetings. He appreciated not being so near the pureblood and the phone granted him the comfortable feeling of knowing that if the vampire got on his nerves, he could just hang up and ignore his calls for the rest of the day.

"He asked her to meet him at The Red Carpet," Zero said once the pureblood had answered his phone, which had only taken one ring, as usual.

"He must be pretty wealthy to manage a reservation at that place" Kaname responded, his worry matching Zero's level now. "Is she going?"

"She said she's not sure yet, but I think she is" Zero sighed. He had to admit that between all that worry, there was a spark of jealousy. He knew that if all this resulted only in a normal guy with a crush, and a lot of money apparently, he wouldn't be able to hold Yuuki back. Why would he deny her someone who could take care of her the way he would never be able to? He didn't want Yuuki to be hurt, he didn't want this to be fake. He wished this guy were some wealthy human that would give her the life she deserved…and then he wished the opposite.

"What time is she planning on meeting him?" Kaname asked.

"Eight o'clock" Zero answered. He had managed to read part of the note before Yuuki had taken it back thanks to his quick vampire vision. There weren't many times when he was glad of his vampire abilities.

"Let her go" Kaname said, "I'll get us both inside that place to keep an eye on her and to finally know who this man is."

Zero grinned, remembering his earlier words to Yuuki. Nobody gets in there unless your skin is made of gold or something. Finally, this annoying self-centered pureblood would be of use! He could protect Yuuki now that he had his golden-skinned vampire to get him into the place.

"It's a date, then" Zero grinned, walking into his room and opening his small closet. He needed some formal clothing for this and he doubted he had any.

"No, it's not" Kaname stated through the phone, making Zero conscious of the words he had used. It's a date? The hell!

"No, of course not." Zero quickly responded before flipping his phone shut, feeling extremely embarrassed. He needed to pay attention to what he said. He had been too close to the pureblood and too worried about Yuuki these past weeks that he had let his guard down in every sense. He just realized just how casually he and Kaname had been talking lately, and that made him suddenly uncomfortable.

-o-

Kaname stared blankly at his phone for a few seconds before putting it away. He never thought Zero Kiryuu would ever be on his speed dial, or that he would ever go with him to an expensive restaurant, even if it was just to keep an eye on Yuuki. Of course, he could just go by himself, but Zero had been the one to inform him of this whole thing first and he had kept his word of letting him know everything Yuuki got from her 'secret admirer', it was only fair that he take the hunter with him to finally unmask said admirer.

"Get me a reservation for two at The Red Carpet at eight," Kaname ordered Seiren, who swiftly left the room, phone already in hand. The pureblood knew how hard it was to get a reservation at that place on such short notice, but he trusted Seiren to get it for him.

Kaname sighed and he rested his head on the back of his seat. Who was this guy? What did he want from Yuuki? Would he hurt her? Was he plotting something? The pureblood's mind raced with questions and possibilities that he hoped would be answered tonight. It was still morning and it frustrated him how slow time was moving. He needed to get his mind off things until eight. He suddenly wished he hadn't cleared up his schedule for the week. He had nothing to do and he was starting to get a headache. Without thinking he reached for the phone and stared at the screen. The urge to call the hunter surprised the pureblood. He had just spoken to him a couple of minutes ago, why would he want to call him again? It had become a habit to call the ex-human whenever he worried about Yuuki, and he was grateful that Zero always seemed eager to answer, probably expecting some news about the guy, but he had disappointed him on that every time.

Kaname remembered the past week, when he had gone away for some days on some business matters. It had taken a lot of his time and he couldn't talk to the hunter until two days after leaving. It amused him how, lately, calling the ex-human always took almost all this worries away. As long as he said Yuuki was fine, everything was fine. He would much rather assign someone to look after her and report him about her wellbeing than having to call the hunter all the time, but Yuuki had made it clear she didn't want anyone to follow her and he didn't want to displease her. If there had been no other way of knowing she was okay, he would have sent someone to keep check on her anyway, but there was another way, and that was Zero Kiryuu. He was glad the hunter seemed to follow her everywhere and inform him nothing out of the ordinary was happening, except for the gifts, of course.

Kaname frowned. He knew most of the students at Cross Academy came from wealthy families, so it could actually be any of them. But he couldn't be sure, not when this person seemed to hide his tracks so well. He had been about to send Seiren to investigate when Yuuki had 'scolded' him for worrying too much. He chuckled. There was no such thing as worrying too much when it came to Yuuki. She was a very special person for him and he was not letting anything hurt her. Anything. But he had promised Yuuki that he would drop the subject for a while. He was glad that maybe tonight he would finally know who this person is. Once he knew his face or his name, he could easily find out who he is and what his intentions might be. He couldn't wait. He was tempted on having the reservation list of the restaurant and getting every single name in it be thoroughly researched, but…no. He could wait.

He eyed his phone again and looked at Zero's name on the screen. He suddenly wondered if Zero had any formal clothes. He couldn't remember a time when he had seen the hunter wear something that wasn't his uniform or his usual jeans and shirts. If they were going to do this, they needed to be as inconspicuous as possible, and that meant going through the door without the ex-human drawing attention to himself for his lack of proper clothing. He knew how strict that restaurant was; he had been there a couple of times.

"You need proper clothing," Kaname said once the hunter had answered his call.

"What? You think I don't have any?" Zero asked. Nope, he didn't, but he didn't like the pureblood making conclusions like that with him, no matter how true they were right now.

"Meet me at the gates in 15 minutes, I will take you to town so you can get something to wear tonight" Kaname said, hanging up before the hunter could answer back. He grinned as the ex-human's name flashed on his screen a few seconds later. He let it ring a couple of times before answering.

"Don't hang up on me like that, vampire!" Zero growled. He didn't even know why he had called him again, but it had become a casual thing between them; he would hang up on Kaname and he would call back again and viceversa, and they both would call again just to insult the other and then hang up again. It made no sense, really. Good thing he had convinced the pureblood to pay for his phone bill.

Kaname held back a chuckle and hung up again without replying. He never got the chance to do childish things like these except with the hunter, and it was quite nice.

Zero grumbled as he pocketed his phone and slid his jacket on. He didn't bother in taking his wallet; he was going to make the vampire pay for everything, the bastard.

"Yuuki, I'm going out for a bit" Zero said as he knocked on her door. Suddenly he felt a cold shiver go through him as he realized he was about to leave her alone. Chairman Cross had been awfully busy lately and he was not here right now. He just came for little whiles to say how his 'baby' was growing and how he would fight every man that ever dared to come near her. Zero knew the old man was concerned, but he trusted him and Kaname to keep her safe.

He was about to get his phone out when he caught a glimpse of Seiren on the window outside. Kaname had sent her to keep an eye on Yuuki then. Relief fell over him and that terrified him. Why would he be relieved to leave Yuuki in the care of the creepy stalking vampire creepily staring at him through the window?

"Where are you going?" Yuuki asked as she opened the door of her room, a towel resting on her arm. She was about to take a shower and she was kind of glad Zero was leaving, it meant she could have a little more privacy, but she wondered where Zero could be meaning to go so early.

"Um, just going to check some things" Zero said, "Kuran wants me to go see something," he added, regretting his words almost immediately.

Yuuki eyed him suspiciously before smiling. "You two seem to be getting along better."

"We're not getting along, we're just…researching" Zero said, not looking at her. Yuuki only giggled as she stepped outside her room, tossing the towel onto her shoulder.

"I'm glad you two are on better terms now, but this isn't about my 'date' tonight, is it?" Yuuki wondered, "because I don't want you two to overreact again because of this." Seriously, she really appreciated it, but she didn't want them to get into trouble and she definitely didn't want them to get so involved in her personal life. She had just decided she would attend to the dinner, and even if she preferred going alone, she was really considering having Zero wait for her outside the restaurant, in case something happened, which she doubted. She couldn't think of any reason someone would bother to get her all this things just to harm her, but these two constant worrying had made her wonder.

"Look, I'm just going out for a while, I will be back soon," Zero said, taking the keys to the house and heading for the door before Yuuki would ask something else. He wasn't going to tell her where he was going, it would lead to other questions that would lead to him admitting he was going to spy on her date.

"Um…okay, but Zero…" Yuuki didn't get to finish the sentence before the hunter left the house, locking the door behind him. She frowned at the door and then went back to her room. She was really nervous about all of this and didn't quite know how to take it. What would happen tonight? Would she have to let down this person? What about Kaname…?

Zero wasn't surprised to see a limo already waiting for him at the gates of the academy. He had traveled in it a couple of times before, when he and Kaname had gone following the delivery guy to interrogate him. The poor guy thought he was being kidnapped and had almost had a heart attack. That hadn't been a nice day.

The hunter slid into the limo as the door was closed behind him. Kaname was already there, looking out the car with his arm perched on the windowsill, barely acknowledging the hunter's presence. Zero eyed his figure for a while. It wasn't fair that he looked so good. Beasts like him didn't deserve to have such a perfect body. Monsters like Kaname Kuran were not supposed to draw his attentions this way. The hunter kept looking at Kaname before his eyes suddenly met with the pureblood's. "What?" Kaname asked.

Zero quickly turned away. "Nothing."

Kaname raised an eyebrow. What had all that staring been about? Was he…blushing? Was Zero Kiryuu seriously blushing? Wow. Kaname smiled in amusement as he looked at the hunter. He was wearing a loose shirt and his usual jeans, nothing out of the ordinary, yet his piercings and unusual coloring certainly made him look pretty interesting. And that blush across his cheeks was even more. No matter how hard the ex-human tried to hide it, he cold still see the reddish tone on his cheeks.

"Hey, you okay?" Kaname asked him, his amused grin still in place.

Zero glared at him, finally able to get rid of the unexpected warm feeling on his cheeks. "No. Could you get as far away from me as possible, please? I don't want to catch your vampire cooties."

"That won't be necessary, the seat you are on is already infested with them, so I think it is already too late to worry about that," Kaname replied, both of them continuing the childish chats and arguments Kaname enjoyed so much. It truly relaxed him to talk about unimportant things once in a while. He hadn't had much of a childhood, so it was nice to have these moments. They made him feel like getting a water gun out and spraying the ex-human's face just to see how he would react. He was starting to enjoy the company of the hunter, not that he would ever admit it.

The limo started moving and the pureblood turned back to look at the road outside, suddenly wondering where he could get a water gun.