Operation 3: Hilarity with Hunters
Kaname and Zero had to bring all the kids. They had initially opted to bring two or at most three to make their point when they were going to meet the headmaster, but nooo the kids had to be picky with whom they wanted to be accompanied with.
Kain refused to stay or leave without Ruka, and Ruka didn’t want to be the only girl so Rima had to follow. If Rima followed, Takuma was following, vice-versa. Aido refused to leave Zero’s side and Shiki was too young to be left alone.
You had no idea how pissed those two were.
It took them a full half-hour to decide to bring all of them.
The trip to the headmaster’s office was more excruciating than pain. Kain tried to run away and Aido almost followed. Shiki’s enjoyment in blinding Kaname cost the pureblood to stub his foot again a small, wooden stump. Zero hadn’t been spared either – the two girls suddenly took to screaming when a lizard crossed their path, frantically trying to climb to the safety using Zero’s height.
It took a lot, a lot of effort for the two to stay calm and not yell at the kids. Firstly, they were young(Zero preferred calling it ‘immature’). Secondly, scolding them would only cause them to be frightened and they could all decide to run in six different directions.
Zero was also constantly reminded Kaname to keep his aura down.
When they finally reached the front of the headmaster’s office, they breathed a loud sigh of relief.
When they did, Cross heard visitors and happily flung the door open.
“Hello you two…?” Cross blinked at the sight of the several kids. “My, my. Congratu-”
He got cut off when Zero punched him, quite painfully.
“DON’T even try saying that word!” Zero growled, slightly flushed. Kaname, diagonally behind him, chuckled into a hand.
Cross did know of their relationship and occasionally pushed his luck by saying things Zero was sure to get embarrassed or angry at. Kaname hardly bothered with the words of the headmaster, but found it amusing to see Zero’s responses.
Cross, with teary eyes, rubbed his cheek. “But Zero! You’ve just made me glad I’ve got grand-”
Zero grabbed the headmaster by the front of his shirt and dragged him into the office. Kaname ushered the shocked kids into the room.
“They are NOT your grandchildren. Where the hell did you get that idea from anyway?!” Zero hissed after he heard the door shut behind.
Kaname continued chuckling silently. Zero was always rough with the headmaster. It was the opposite when they were in bed, however. Oh how tempted he was to let Cross know what Zero’s weaknesses were…
Cross’ face suddenly lit up despite pain. He raised a hand, pointed a finger to the ceiling. “Maybe you’re following the new trend - adoption!”
Zero lost it, and tossed his god-father out the window.
Lucky for Cross, they were on the first storey. The unlucky thing was, there were thorny rose bushes growing outside his window, and Zero had the satisfaction of hearing the older man yowl in prickly pain.
Kaname had felt a little sorry for the man, and ‘picked’ the guy up, placing him back into the room. Zero huffed at the action and dropped himself onto the couch. He noticed that the kids were huddling in the corner of the room, suddenly fearing him.
Groaning, Zero buried his face into a hand.
“Alright, alright”, Cross smiled, brushing away plant parts stuck onto his clothing. “So, what happened to these kids? Were they lost?”
“These kids, Headmaster Cross, are the living miniatures of the Night Class”, Kaname replied.
Cross started adjusting his glasses and knelt before the six kids.
“It’s not the first of April, is it?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Where’s Touga-sensei?” Zero suddenly demanded, not really sounding like a question.
“He went to grab some snacks. He ought to be back soon.” Cross laughed when Ruka caught hold of his long pony tail. He thought it was cute, until she pulled and refused to let go.
Zero crossed his legs and sighed into his hand. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Aido approaching, together with Shiki. Kaname, who was half-heartedly attempting to make Ruka release the man’s hair, noticed the two kids moving on their own accord as well.
The pureblood smiled when Aido suddenly demanded that he wanted to sit on Zero’s lap, as Shiki did as well.
“Kaname, stop laughing”, Zero growled although he let the kids did as they wanted to. In the end, Aido and Shiki were sitting on either leg and the hunter sulked, arms crossed.
Kaname gave up trying to save Cross, and instead went over to sit by Zero’s side, sneakily having an arm across the other’s shoulder.
“I’m rather jealous Zero. Ever since the kids arrived, you seemed to have abandoned me.”
Zero threw Kaname a scowl (he wasn’t in the best of mood, so excuse him).
“They’ve only been here for what? Less than two hours?”
“My two hours. When they’re normal again, I’ll make sure there’s compensation”, Kaname grinned as he playfully tugged on Zero’s ear cuff. The hunter jerked his head away from the annoying contact.
“Keep your hands to yourself.”
“Now, why- ow!” Kaname pulled his hand back and saw two tiny spots of red on his hand. He looked up and found Shiki facing Zero, facing the shoulder Kaname had left his hand at.
Zero blinked in confusion at the sudden retreat.
“Senri bit me”, Kaname said softly, out of surprise more than anger.
“He has a knack for biting. Don’t worry, you’re not the first”, Zero assured, rolling his eyes. He pulled Shiki and made him sit on the couch beside him. He ushered Aido off as well when he heard his god-father crying.
“Zeroooo help meeee”, came the cry.
Zero glanced up to see Ruka still holding his hair, but only half of it. Rima had the other half and the two girls were tying plaits on either side. Kaname had a look too.
A second later Zero burst out laughing despite his usual calmness and initial sullen mood. Kaname was shaking very, very hard against the back rest of the couch.
Even Kain and Takuma were laughing, adding to the noisy chorus.
“Don’t laugh!!!” Cross cried out, frantically waving his arms but careful that he did not hit any of the two girls.
“Schoolgirl!” Rima giggled out to Ruka, who nodded and giggled as well.
Kaname got off the couch and walked to the girls, this time putting in a little more effort in dislodging the children. He managed to get all six of them to sit on the couch, squeezed in with Zero.
The hunter was giving the pureblood glares. In order for all seven to be accommodated on the two-seater, Shiki and Aido were back on his legs. Rima was beside him, then Takuma, then Ruka and finally Kain who decided to sit on the couch arm.
“One big happy family”, Cross commented, undoing the plaits in his hair. “Shouldn’t you join in, Kuran-kun?”
“Stop saying things like that”, Zero growled.
“Maybe I should…” Kaname walked over to Zero, looking down at him.
Zero frowned, suspicious of what the pureblood was going to do.
“Wha…?!”
In half a heartbeat, Kaname had pulled Zero up with the two kids on his lap. Then, he settled himself on the couch quite comfortably, grabbing Zero by his waist and forcing Zero back down, just sitting between his legs. Shiki and Aido were oblivious of the change, since their eyes couldn’t catch the high speed movement. The one-second episode ended which Zero sandwiched between Kaname and two clueless kids.
“Hell, I am not going to be sitting like this”, Zero hissed over his shoulder.
“Why not? I’m pretty comfortable here”, Kaname replied, having an arm around Zero’s waist.
Zero grumbled but gave up, leaning stiffly back against Kaname, arms crossed.
Cross was pretty used to the odd form of affection Kaname openly displayed. Actually, there were a few times when the word ‘embarrassing’ never existed in that pureblood’s dictionary. Although, the sight before him was cute, he mentally admitted.
The two vampires heard footsteps and Zero froze. He recognized the beat of the footsteps and attempted to get off Kaname, but the pureblood didn’t let go.
“Kana-”
“Too-san!! I got the Sun dorm settled-” Yuki paused at the doorway. She stared at the crowded couch, mind processing the unfamiliar faces until she saw two she knew. “That’s a lot of children.”
“Yuki! No, it’s not what you think”, Zero frantically tried to explain, because if he didn’t, Yuki would start jumping to her own conclusions.
Yuki raised the few sheets of paper in her hand and shielded her wide grin. “What’s not what I think?”
“Well, that is…uh…” The hunter had a sudden loss of words. He freaked out too badly at that point in time and forgot whatever he wanted to say.
“A misunderstanding, Yuki. There is a perfect reason for the existence of them”, Kaname helped out.
“Oh reeeally?”
“Yes”, Zero said quickly. Aido slipped off Zero’s leg and ran to Yuki, catching all the adults by surprise.
“Ne-chan!” He called out, raising his arms.
“You know, I think it is what I think”, Yuki sneered as she picked Aido up, although she did not know that.
Zero picked himself onto his feet, taking Shiki along. This time Kaname let him, laying back on the couch with an elbow on the armrest and placing his chin in his palm. Rima made a crawl to replace Zero’s spot and Kaname got amused by the kids’ demand for attention.
“That kid there is Aido. This is Shiki”, Zero started.
Yuki blinked. “Wow, you even named your children after the guys?”
Zero felt like burying his head into sand.
“No! They are the guys! They just got turned into kids. ”
“Really?!”
“Yes, so stop taking us as family.”
“Mom!” Aido called out again, one hand reaching for Zero.
The hunter buried his face in a hand, trying hard to ignore Cross and Yuki’s laughter.
“No, I am not your mom”, Zero muttered back. “She’s not here.”
Then he realized it was not the best words to say to a child, because Aido started to tear and cry.
“Zero!” Yuki scolded.
“I didn’t mean to…”
“Well, you made him cry”, Yuki huffed and passed Aido to the other. “So you make him stop.”
“Wha? What am I supposed to do?”
“Kiss it better!” Takuma sounded from the couch and Zero cringed in partial fury. Maybe that had been a bad line to say. Takuma seemed to be saying it when someone got hurt or started to cry.
Kaname was busy chuckling as he half-listened to the on-going conversation.
Just when Zero thought the situation could just be worse…
Touga was standing at the doorway, in his hands several bags of packed bentos.
“Zero, you must be one hell of a baby making machine.”