Egg Rolls

Posted Saturday, August 1, 2009 by ♫ Vampire_Ashleyuu ツ ღ
Egg Rolls
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Yuuki fidgeted nervously, her clammy hands grasping at the hem of her skirt for the umpteenth time. She didn’t want to ruin her brand new uniform, but it was rather hard to keep from her bad habits when she was so nervous. She hoped her father wouldn’t be too mad when seeing her wrinkled clothing.
Keeping her eyes lowered to the polished tiles under her soft leather shoes, she tried to keep herself distracted with the rhythm of her feet as she walked, left right, left right, left right—
“Yuuki-chan, we’re here,” a soft motherly voice reached her ears. “This will be your class from now on.” Her eyes still lowered, she heard the woman beside her rap the door a few times. The noise inside the classroom subsided as Yuuki heard the teacher’s voice filter through, asking for her students to settle down before the door was slid open.
“Kazuki-sensei, this is Kuran Yuuki-chan, she’s the new transfer to your class this semester.” A gentle hand touched her shoulder and lightly encouraged her to step forward.
Holding her breath, she squeezed her skirt even tighter, and finally managed to look up into the face of her new homeroom teacher. Long honey brown hair framed her face, and her eyes were bright, matching the soft smile on her pink lips. Yuuki relaxed just a bit. This new teacher seemed nice.
“Well, Yuuki-chan, come on in, let’s introduce you to everyone.” Her teacher moved to step aside to let her in, and Yuuki felt nervous all over again. She didn’t like standing up in front of so many kids on her own. They always stared, and it made her uncomfortable.
But by the time she noticed, she was already inside the classroom, next to her new teacher, and she had no choice but to say something or they’d all laugh. Swallowing to get past whatever was lodged in her throat, she whispered, “Um, I’m Kuran Yuuki, it’s nice to meet you, please take care of me.”
“Yuuki-chan is new here, so please be kind to her, and show her around,” Kazuki-sensei placed a calming pat to her back. “Now, where should we put you? Yuuki-chan, would you prefer a seat next to the window or one up front?”
Oh, her seat…right. “The window is fine, thank you.” She tried to smile.
“Then you’ll be next to Ichiru-kun. Ichiru-kun, please raise your hand so Yuuki-chan knows where you are,” Kazuki-sensei requested. Yuuki looked up to see a pale boy, with even paler hair, raising his right hand. Unlike the other kids in the room, he didn’t seem at all interested in her, his gaze bored.
Hesitantly settling in her seat, she sent him a cautious glance. He was busy taking out his notebook and pencil case, flipping through to a clean page, and taking out a brightly colored pencil that contrasted sharply with his pale hands as he wrote down the notes their teacher was already starting to put up on the chalkboard.
Yuuki rushed to do the same, quickly fishing out a pencil. When she chanced another glance in his direction, she blinked when she realized he hadn’t been using a pencil, his characters written out in a beautiful dark blue hue across the white of his page. Looking back to his pencil case, she saw that it was filled with color pencils. Red, orange, green… There were five others in total, all in different colors.
She nearly jumped when she felt a sudden poke at her back. Turning around, the boy behind her snickered as she pouted, her cheeks flushing. Not even ten minutes since she first stepped in and already they were teasing her. She tried to block out the other boy’s snickering, concentrating on getting her notes right.
“Ow!” Yuuki blinked when she heard the laughing boy behind her hiss in pain.
“Ryu-chan, shut up, you’re gonna get us in trouble,” another boy reprimanded. ‘Ryu-chan’ scowled and sent the boy a glare. “If Ichiru didn’t fling his eraser at me, I wouldn’t.”
Ichiru? Yuuki’s eyes widened as she turned to the boy next to her. He was still taking notes. Why did he…?
“If you don’t want the next one in your eye, shut up and sit still,” Ichiru spoke, not even looking up from writing in his notebook. He hadn’t even turned, his bored gaze still on their teacher and the lecture.
‘Ryu-chan’ grumbled but went back to scribbling pictures on his page. They looked rather strange in Yuuki’s opinion. One of them was an oval with four legs all on one side, and another had six.
She had to stifle a smile when she heard the girl next to ‘Ryu-chan’ laugh and point out, “Ryu-chan, what is that? You’re so bad at drawing.”
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When it was time for lunch, the other kids all surprised her by suddenly crowding around Ichiru’s desk. She wondered what the fuss was all about when the boy pulled out a lunch box from his bag, unlike the rest of them, who all had school lunch.
“He chooses who can have a bite of his food everyday.”
“Eh?” Yuuki blinked up into warm honey brown eyes. “He gives them his food?”
The other girl nodded. “Yeah, but in return, they have to take over for whenever he has cleaning duties.” Yuuki’s eyes widened. “Isn’t that…bad?” She whispered. Skipping out on his own assigned class duties couldn’t be good. But she thought it was clever of him to have come up with a system like that so he’d never have to stay to clean up.
“Yeah,” the girl smiled, “but they don’t mind it, so…” She shrugged. “Oh,” she held out a hand, “I’m Wakaba Sayori, nice to meet you.”
“Kuran Yuuki, but you already knew that.”
About to nod, Sayori paused, looking back from Ichiru’s desk to Yuuki, and back again. “Ah, Yuuki-chan? I think you just got your first clean up duty today…” She tried to sound sympathetic, but she was smiling.
The empty glass bottle on Ichiru’s desk was pointing in Yuuki’s direction. Apparently, they spun it, and whoever it landed on got to have a part of Ichiru’s lunch and clean up duty for the day Ichiru was assigned to it.
“Eh?” The lunch box was pushed in front of her, the rest of the students giving her envious looks.
“Hurry up and pick something,” Ichiru said smoothly, looking directly at her for the first time. Yuuki thought the color of his eyes were unusual, but still, they were beautiful. She hadn’t ever seen anything like it before.
“Oi, what are you, deaf?” The lilac eyes she’d been busy staring at narrowed in slight irritation. Not wanting to anger him, Yuuki swiftly took a random piece and plopped it into her mouth. Her quick nervous chewing started to slow as she realized,
“It’s really good…”
One of the other students laughed, though not unkindly. “Of course it is, Ichiru’s Dad makes his lunch for him, and he owns, like, five restaurants just in Tokyo.”
“Really?” She looked to Ichiru who just shrugged. The pale boy took his lunch back and ate at a steady pace.
“Um, it was only an egg roll, but it was really good,” Yuuki murmured. She hadn’t known something as simple as an egg roll could taste that good. She bet not even the chef her father liked could get it to taste that way. “Thank you.” She whispered. Her father had always told her getting the chance to enjoy delicious food was a blessing and should be properly appreciated. Yuuki personally thought whoever Ichiru’s father was, must be an amazing person to be able to make something so wonderful.
“You’re welcome.” Ichiru said softly, sending her a smile. Yuuki blinked before ducking her head, feeling her cheeks warm. Ichiru had a nice smile. He should do it more often. He’d first seemed unfeeling and a bit cold, but when he threw that eraser…and just now, when he smiled… Yuuki felt her lips lift. Maybe Ichiru was a kind person that just didn’t seem like one at first glance. She hoped she could be a friend.
“But you know you still have cleaning duty right? Mine is a week from now, just so you know.” He added with a slight smirk, going back to his food.
Yuuki deflated. Maybe not so nice. “Right.” She muttered.
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As the bell rang for the last class, Yuuki looked on incredulously as she watched Ichiru ready himself in record time before rushing out the door. Terribly curious as to what could have him in such a hurry, she quickly grabbed her things and ran after him. Normally she should have been waiting for the driver to come pick her up, but she’d determined she wanted to get to know Ichiru a bit more, and she felt this was also something that would help her understand him better.
Coming to an abrupt stop by the entrance, she saw Ichiru run into the arms of a tall pale haired man that looked very much like the first grader himself. Milky white skin and the silvery hair…Yuuki didn’t doubt his eyes would also be the same beautiful lilac Ichiru’s were.
She watched, a bit awed, as Ichiru smiled brightly in a way she’d never seen during class and leaned in to press a kiss to the man’s cheek. The man in turn gave Ichiru a kiss to his forehead and hugged him close, turning to walk out of the gates.
The man was obviously someone very close to Ichiru, probably the wonderful father that made the egg roll she’d eaten. The way he was with Ichiru reminded her of her own father, and she suddenly had a desperate urge to see him. Unfortunately, she wasn’t as lucky as Ichiru in being able to see her father so often. He was usually always very busy with work, and she hardly had any time with him.
“I…won’t be able to see him will I?” She mumbled.
“Yuuki-sama?”
“Kurata-san,” she smiled. She followed her driver to their car, getting in and looking out despondently through the tinted windows. Going by a particular street, she perked up when she saw Ichiru and his father walking down the sidewalk. As they entered one of the buildings, she vaguely called out, “Where are we going?” This wasn’t the usual way to her home.
“Kaname-sama has requested you get fitted for a dress, Yuuki-sama. I’ll be directing us to the designer he’s appointed for your formal wear.” Kurata answered.
“Oh.” Yuuki didn’t sound at all thrilled to be getting measured and dressed up again. Unlike most girls her age, she disliked getting laced up in fancy dresses she couldn’t even walk comfortably in. She’d never forget the look Seiren, her father’s bodyguard, had on her face when she tried to (and succeeded) climb a tree and caused a huge rip in the silk gown she’d had on for that evening.
Her father hadn’t seemed to mind, merely cautioning her to be more careful the next time she felt like taking a swing on the branches. He did, however, get rather upset at her for possibly endangering herself by climbing so high. She could’ve fallen to her death, he’d reprimanded, and he didn’t find that amusing at all, whatsoever.
Kurata sent a sympathetic look through the front view mirror. “For what it’s worth, Yuuki-sama, I hear he has a special evening planned.”
Of course he did. A need for a dress always meant ‘special evenings’. Only for the adults though, Yuuki grumbled. None of it was special to her, unless getting bored out of her mind for hours on end was somehow special.
Well, she tried to think positively, at least wherever she might be going in that dress was bound to be nice. The places her father took her to, were always beautiful. She could at least count on that to make up for her less than interesting evening. Would there be shiny sparkling chandeliers, she wondered, or the high ceilings, with every surface painted with the style of famous paintings past. Or maybe it would be some place she’d be able to gaze up at the stars during the night.
Feeling a bit more excitement enter her veins, Yuuki smiled and relaxed back into her seat.
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Ichiru wriggled from the warmth of his father’s arms as he was placed back down, and looked up expectantly. His father had told him on the way, that two of the cooks were out today, and he needed to help out in the kitchen. Unsurprisingly, Ichiru had offered to help and his father accepted.
“Ichiru, go ahead into the kitchen for me?” His father was already discussing things with a waiter on the current situation. Nodding Ichiru did as he was told, swinging open the doors to where, as his aunt would sometimes say, ‘The magic happened’.
The kitchen was a whirlwind of activity, men and women dressed in white whipping back and forth, pots and pans clanking, and everything seemed to be steaming, the air a lot warmer than the controlled temperature in the restaurant. Orders were being shouted and demanded from one chef to the next, not one of them looking up from their cooking as they talked over all the noise.
Even as the owner’s son, they’d hardly noticed on his presence, and when they did, they never paused to greet him, merely sending him nods or smiles as they passed by. Ichiru sent back nods of his own, quickly finding something to do. He was a child in an adult setting, and admittedly couldn’t do much, but he liked to do whatever he could to help his father out.
“Ichiru-chan,” one of the senior waitresses called over. “Bring this order over to that table? Make sure you give them that smile of yours,” she winked, handing him a tray of food and two drinks.
The two middle-aged women he’d served had actually tipped him, admiring his desire in wanting to help out his father. Tucking the money into his pocket with a smile, he moved to head back into the kitchen, where he saw his father was already cooking in.
“Ichiru,” he smiled, beckoning him over. He lowered the plate of whatever food he’d just placed on it down to Ichiru’s level, crouching next to him, “can you tell me what sauce this is?”
Ichiru grinned, nodding. “Apple cider.” He loved it when his father tested him this way. Despite how busy the kitchen seemed to be, his father always took some time away from it to teach him things. Everything he knew about food, he’d learned from his father.
Going into a swift explanation of why he thought his answer was correct, his father smiled and pressed a quick kiss to his forehead. “Good eyes, Ichiru. Now can you take this, along with the rest of their order, to the right table?”
Stepping out of the kitchen again, concentrating on serving the customers properly, he didn’t notice a young girl and her father walk in, nor did he see the widening of her eyes as she noticed him.
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Yuuki had been so terribly glad the dress set up for the night wasn’t restricting or overly decorative. It was simple and elegant, and most of all, she could move in it. Her father had seemed to notice her relief, his eyes amused as he’d held out his hand for her to take.
The ride to their destination hadn’t been far from where she’d met up with her father, and when stepping out of the car, she noticed the area looked familiar.
“Yuuki, this way,” her father called gently, leading her in the right direction. “I finally had the chance of trying this restaurant, and I wanted to enjoy that first time with you.” His schedule hadn’t the time for a quiet evening meal, and now that it did, he wasn’t letting the opportunity slip by.
Entering the restaurant, Yuuki still felt it looked familiar, and was only half aware of her father talking with one of the waiters as she took a wide sweep of her surroundings. The atmosphere was warm and friendly, very much different from the coolly professional dining places her father had taken her to numerous times.
Seeing the happy smiles on everyone’s face as they ate, Yuuki felt her own lips lifting in an involuntary smile. She could understand how her father might’ve wanted to eat here, but she’d thought he’d be meeting with other adults again, and this wasn’t the type of place he usually chose to have those meetings in.
About to ask what they were really here for, Yuuki froze as she saw a very familiar figure walk across the restaurant, a tray in his pale hands and his face serious. She’d never mistake those eyes and hair.
“It’s Ichiru-kun…” Yuuki murmured, her hand tightening around her father’s fingers.
“Yuuki?” Her father inquired. He looked in the direction his daughter had been gazing at, but didn’t see anyone.
“Um, I just saw a boy from my class. He’s the one that gave me his egg roll and cleaning duty.”
Her father chuckled softly. “Is he eating here as well? What a coincidence. Would you like to see him?” He knew his daughter was expecting another boring meeting, and didn’t think it’d be bad to keep letting her think so until he had everything ready. He dearly hoped she liked her surprise. It pained him to see his daughter had forgotten her own birthday, more concerned with being happy over seeing him.
Every child should be expected to demand attention and presents on their birthday, and yet Yuuki had merely asked what the special occasion was when he came to see her. He’d almost faltered then, and nearly gave himself away. He only became more determined to make this night special, one she wouldn’t forget any time soon.
“It’s okay,” Yuuki replied, “He looked kind of busy.”
“Kuran-sama, this way please,” the waiter them led to an empty table. Yuuki sent the man a smile when he pulled her seat out for her, “Thank you.”
The waiter bowed. “Only the best for the Lady of the evening. I will be back in a moment to take your order.”
“Yuuki,” her father smiled, “choose what you like, this night is yours.”
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Back in the kitchen, things hadn’t calmed a bit. Rather, as the hours went by, the orders increased, and they were all running amuck in an ordered mess. Even through the chaos, Ichiru’s father kept a tight reign over his kitchen, looking over every plate that went past him and making sure the food was being made on time.
“Kei, is that cake ready?” Ichiru watched his father call to another one of the chefs, even as he expertly poured sweet caramel over the shaved coconut vanilla ice.
“Two minutes, Chef!” Kei called back, “Just the icing and it’s done!”
“Great, keep at it! I’m not having a little girl cry in my restaurant on her birthday, Kei,” his father smirked, checking another dish and nodding an okay for it to go through to the tables.
“Birthday?” Ichiru asked aloud. He hadn’t known the restaurant was hosting a party. As though reading his thoughts, his father smiled down at him, “She’s turning seven, and her father asked us to make her dinner tonight real special.” The menu for their birthday girl was personally requested, and it only contained her favorite foods. Her father had offered to pay additional fees for it, which he’d immediately declined. He wasn’t going to make a father put a price to his daughter’s happiness on her birthday.
Ichiru blinked. Seven? So she was the same age as him?
“Ichiru, why don’t you go with Kei when he brings out the cake? Wish her a happy birthday for me while you’re at it.”
Ichiru smiled, “Okay.”
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“Everything is so good! And they’re all my favorites,” Yuuki happily commented as she ate quickly and cleaned off her plate. The food was delicious, and she got to enjoy all of it with her father. It was just the two of them tonight, and she couldn’t have been more thrilled to have her father all to herself. Now she just knew tonight had to be special.
“I hope you still have room for something more, Yuuki,” he smiled softly, holding her hand across the table. “I’ve been wanting to tell you this all day, and it’s finally time.”
“Eh?” She followed her father’s line of sight and her eyes widened. A cake…? But why, was it dessert?
“Yuuki, happy birthday,” her father whispered, squeezing her hand.
“Oh, I forgot,” Yuuki blinked. Her father chuckled. “I guessed that, yes.” He watched as she looked down at the cake set in front of her, the chef sticking in seven little candles, lighting them with a match. “Do you…do you like it?”
Instead of answering verbally, Yuuki just slid off her seat and climbed onto her father’s lap, hugging him with all the strength she could muster. “Thank you, Papa,” she whispered tightly. “I like it, I like it, I really, really like it,” she rambled.
Ichiru and Kei exchanged a brief glance. Their well wishes could wait a bit more, they decided, and gave the two some privacy to share the moment.
“Thank you,” Yuuki whispered again. Her father merely pressed a kiss to her cheek and held her against him. “You’re the most important person to me, Yuuki, perhaps I should have done more—”
“No! This is good! I liked everything! It was all…everything was perfect,” she interrupted, glaring up at him, daring him to oppose her words. When he stayed silent, she continued to murmur, “I was really happy when you said there was no one else, and it was just you and me.” She bit her lip. “I never said it, but I, I never really liked those parties with all the other people. I just wanted to see you.”
Her father closed his eyes. “I know Yuuki, and I’m sorry, so sorry, for always forcing you to come…” But it was the only way he could spend time with his daughter, see her for more than a few minutes before having to leave again. He knew it was selfish of him, but he just had to see her face at least once everyday, and if that included having to take her to the parties he’d no choice but to attend, then he’d decided he would.
“It’s okay, Papa, as long as I got to see you, it was okay.” She hated that he looked so sad and lonely whenever he said things like that. Sometimes, even when he smiled for her, he still looked sad. Admittedly, he didn’t smile often, but when he did, she swore she could feel all the love he held for her in that one smile. It was his eyes, she’d concluded. They were always a dark wine red, but when he smiled at her, the colors seemed to change into something softer, warmer.
Everyone liked her father’s smiles, she’d heard many people say so, but Yuuki doubted no one loved them as much as she did.
But there were days like today, and small moments like now, that even with how much he loved her, she could tell something was still missing. Her father wasn’t the happiest he could be, she just knew.
He’d done so much for her birthday, she thought guiltily, and had given her a lot of things, but she hadn’t done anything for him in return. With her father’s arms around her, Yuuki turned on his lap to face the table. Smiling softly, she pulled the cake closer and closed her eyes, making the traditional wish before blowing as hard as she could, watching in satisfaction as all of the candles went out.
She couldn’t really give him anything, but she could at least do this much…
Both father and daughter turned at the sound of clapping. It was the chef from before, when her cake was brought in, and…
“Ichiru-kun!”
“Yeah, that’s me,” he said blandly, waving a hand. “My father wanted me to tell you happy birthday.”
“Your father?” Yuuki’s eyes widened. “Oh! That nice man you left school with,” she nodded. Ichiru flushed. “You saw that?” He demanded. He never acted like that in front of anyone but his father.
This time, it was Yuuki’s turn to blush. “Um, sorry, I just wanted to know why you left so fast. So that was your father right?” The man had looked too much like Ichiru not to be, and Ichiru’s reaction just now was proof enough.
The boy in question averted his eyes. “Yeah…” He muttered.
“Does your father happen to be the owner here?” Yuuki blinked up at her father. Owner? Oh! She remembered one of the boys during lunch mentioning something similar, that Ichiru’s father owned many restaurants. So this was one of them? Well, it was no wonder the food had been so delicious.
“Yes he does.”
“Is he, is he here?” Even Ichiru looked up at the question. Yuuki lowered her brows at the strange tone in her father’s voice. She’d never heard him sound so unsure of himself. Not to mention, he looked…scared?
“Papa, are you okay?”
“N-Yes, yes, I’m fine.” He tried to smile, but Yuuki was far from convinced. Neither was Ichiru. His lilac eyes narrowed.
“What do you want with my father?”
Want? Nothing more than to see him again…just a glimpse would be fine, he’d have blurted, but he could imagine how confusing, not to mention suspicious that would sound, and simply answered, “Nothing, Ichiru-kun, I just…is it alright if I can meet him? I’d like to thank him for the wonderful night we were able to enjoy because of his outstanding services.”
Phew, a rocky start, but a clean finish.
Ichiru raised a brow, crossing his arms. Yeah, this one was a smooth talker alright. He had half a mind to just simply reject him out of spite, but the man was still a customer, and his father would never forgive him if he deliberately caused trouble. Shrugging, he turned to go. “We’re really busy, but I’ll ask him.”
He completely missed the look of utter relieved joy that filled the man’s eyes at his answer. Yuuki, however, hadn’t missed a thing, and now she was more than curious. Why did her father want to meet the owner so much?
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Ichiru entered the kitchen just in time to hear his father bark out, “I need that chicken done now, Izumi!” and the other chef’s quick reply, “Yes Chef!”
“Chef, the lobster pasta is up!”
Checking it over, there was a sharp nod of approval. “Good job, Karina!”
“Dad?”
“What is it, Ichiru?” His father stuck a chopstick into one of the pots and tasted the sauce, nodding to himself, briskly moving over to stand behind one of the newcomers, advising them to lower the heat for that beef dish.
“Yes, Chef,” Jun murmured, doing as he was told. He looked back over his shoulder and was rewarded with a slight smile. “You did well today, are you sure you can stay longer?” Jun had a sick brother to take care of.
“It’s fine, he’s on one of his better days today.” Jun smiled.
“Take a few minutes after this one anyway. Call him to say you’ll be late at least. Have Kei take over for you in the meanwhile.”
“Thank you boss,” Jun said softly. His father didn’t seem to be able to hear it over all the noise, but Ichiru did, and he sent the young chef a smile before tugging on his father’s pants.
“Dad,” he called.
“Ichiru? Right, you needed something?” His lilac eyes scanned another plate, wiping off a bit of grease on the rim before handing it off to be delivered to another table.
“The birthday girl’s father wants to meet you.”
“Was something wrong?”
“No,” Ichiru wrinkled his nose, “he just said he wanted to thank you or something.”
“Mm,” his father looked over another order, quickly calling out the next few dishes that needed to be cooked. “Sorry Ichiru, but could you tell him I’ve got my hands full right now?”
Ichiru would’ve more than loved to do just that, but “I think he really wants to meet you.”
His father actually paused, for the first time since entering the kitchen, and crouched down to look him straight in the eyes. “Ichiru, he didn’t say anything to you, did he? If he’s pushing you to do this—”
“He isn’t, he just really looked like he wanted to meet you.” Ichiru shrugged, trying to look unconcerned. His father could be a protective worrywart sometimes.
“Alright,” his father sighed out. “Karina!” He called, “Take over for a few minutes!”
“Yes Chef!”
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Yuuki watched, as her father seemed to grow more and more nervous as time passed and they had yet to see either Ichiru or his father. She’d already asked him once whether he was okay or not, and he didn’t tell her anything, so she’d kept quiet since then, but it did worry her to see her father so beside himself.
It seemed she wouldn’t have to worry for long, though, as she saw Ichiru walk up to them, his hand in his father’s.
The two looked even more alike than she remembered when seeing them from a distance. One big and one small; Ichiru was like a miniature of the owner. Yuuki inwardly giggled when she realized they were even dressed similarly, with white shirts and dark pants under a white waiter’s apron tied firmly around their waists. She doubted Ichiru did a lot of cooking in the kitchen, so the lack of food stains on his shirt wasn’t anything out of the norm, but she’d always assumed chefs had at least those few stains, like a painter, on their uniform.
The owner’s clothing was spotless, save for the wrinkles around the arms. His long sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, exposing his pale forearms. He and Ichiru even shared that same glowing paleness.
“Zero…” She heard her father breathe a name by her ear. His arms grew tense around her, and he felt rigid behind her back. His eyes were glued to the tall man standing with her classmate. She assumed that was Ichiru’s father’s name.
“Kaname?” Zero blurted, nearly in a reflex to having his name called, as his eyes had already widened when recognizing the familiar figure waiting for him, even at a distance. It was Kaname, he thought a little incredulously. If his executive chef hadn’t called in sick tonight, along with the sous chef (he was starting to suspect there was something more going on between them), he never would have met him.
An amazing coincidence, he thought a bit wryly. Well it was no wonder Takuma had looked so happy today. Zero didn’t doubt the blond had had a hand (he’d probably just went right along and suggested for the brunet to try Red Clover’s) in helping Kaname choose a place to eat and celebrate his daughter’s seventh birthday.
“Dad, you know him?” Ichiru asked. That came as a surprise (the new girl’s father did seem a bit iffy), though his father seemed even more shocked than he was, at the moment.
“Yeah, he’s a friend of Takuma’s,” his father answered. When Ichiru sent him a blank look, he explained, “The one that’s always with Sara, the blond.”
“Aunt Sara? Oh, that Takuma, the smiley one,” Ichiru nodded.
“Yes, that smiley one,” his father said dryly. He looked back up to the tall brunet. “Sorry Kaname, I can’t talk right now, but I’ll have Ichiru give you my number. We can catch up some other time when my kitchen isn’t about to get rundown.”
“I’m sorry as well, for interrupting your work,” Kaname said softly. Ichiru refrained from scoffing. Yeah right he was, he thought derisively, the man looked way too happy for someone who was supposedly feeling sorry.
“That’s fine, it was good seeing you again, and happy birthday to you,” Zero nodded to Yuuki before going back to the kitchen.
Ichiru narrowed his eyes into a glare before reaching out to pull Yuuki out of her father’s lap and tugging her into the waiters’ changing room. Making sure the door was locked, he turned to the small brunette.
“What in the world is up with your dad?” He demanded. “He got all weird in front of mine, what’s going on?”
Yuuki blinked. “Um, I don’t know, I really don’t. They’re…they’re friends, right? Papa knew your papa, and it looked like they liked each other, so…”
“Friends? I guess…but still, your dad’s weird.”
Yuuki pouted. “He is not! I don’t think your papa’s weird, so don’t say mine is!” She crossed her arms.
“That’s because he isn’t,” Ichiru rolled his eyes. Yuuki glared. “Papa is not weird!”
“Is too!”
“Is not!”
“Is too!”
“Is—”
“Whoa, little children, what are you doing in here?” A dark head poked in. Ichiru frowned. “Keigo? Are you going home already?”
“Nah, not yet, just taking a break. What’re you two going on about? Could hear the both of you having it out way out here.” As the two seven year olds glared at each other again, it only took a second for him to figure it probably wasn’t a good idea to have asked that. The shouting started all over again.
“He said Papa’s weird!”
“Her dad is weird!”
“He is not!”
“Yes he is!”
“O-kay, hold it, little munchkins,” Keigo interrupted, waving his hands. “Don’t really know (or care) what’s going on, but,” he looked at Ichiru, “her papa’s not weird, and Ichiru, don’t say things that’ll upset girls, nothing good comes out of that, trust me, and you,” he looked at Yuuki, “I think that’s your papa out there, looking for you.” He jabbed behind him with his thumb.
“What?” Yuuki rushed out. Huffing a sigh, Ichiru followed her out. Keigo had a habit of smoking whenever he took a short break, and he had no plans to be anywhere near him when it happened. The smoke smelled horrible, and his father didn’t like it.
He gave Yuuki’s father an apology for taking her so suddenly, and handed off his father’s number to him, written on a napkin.
“We close at midnight tonight,” he added.
Watching them leave, he frowned. “He’s still weird,” he muttered.
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“Night Chef!”
“Good work!” Zero called back as two more of his chefs retired for the night. All of them had looked exhausted as they changed out of their uniforms. He was going to have to advise his executive chef to keep the fun late night activities at a minimum, especially if it was going to affect negatively in their work efficiency.
“Damn it Yagari,” Zero muttered, wiping off one of the steel counters, “you could at least put in the effort to be a little more subtle.” The other chefs and waiters had all talked about it with no small amount of amusement.
Feeling his phone vibrate against his thigh, he paused to answer it. “Yes?” Wiping the rest of the counter off, Zero held his phone between his ear and shoulder to untie his white waiter’s apron, nodding a thanks to one of the other remaining chefs for taking it for him as he continued his conversation. “Yeah, he did. Takuma told you?”
“He tells me everything.” Zero could hear the smile in her tone. “So, what did you think? Seeing him after ten years?”
Zero chuckled. She was fishing for information already. He had no doubt she’d be relaying everything to her fiancé once she was done interrogating him. “It was good. I’ll be having a nice talk with Takuma though, the next time I see him.” She laughed. “But he looked good, Sara, and his daughter was cute.” She had Kaname’s dark coloring, but looked more like her mother, he guessed. He hadn’t an idea what Kaname’s wife looked like.
“Is Ichiru going to have competition?” Sara asked teasingly. She was aware of how much her nephew was attached to his father. Zero shook his head, a smile on his lips. “Ichiru knows better than to think that.”
Her tone softened. “Right, you’ll always be his father, whether you’re related or not, right?”
“We are related, Sara,” Zero laughed, “You make it sound so dramatic. But you’re right.” He admitted affectionately, “I’ve raised Ichiru since he was just out of the hospital; he’s my son. It wouldn’t have mattered if we weren’t related.” Though on a more practical level, he was glad Ichiru looked so much like him, as no one questioned their relationship and Ichiru hadn’t any trouble in school about who his parents were. Everyone just assumed Zero was his natural father.
“I wish Shizuka were here to hear you say that.” Sara whispered, her eyes wistful. She dearly missed the woman who could’ve been her sister-in-law.
“What? Sara, did you say something?” Zero frowned. Her voice was too low.
“Nothing interesting,” she answered airily, “so are you meeting him yet? Has he called you?”
His smile turning flat, Zero asked, “You aren’t planning anything are you? You sound pretty invested.”
“Oh I am,” she smirked. That was between her and Takuma. She was more than sure she’d win though. “I hope he calls you, and soon.” She was tired of hearing Takuma whine about his childhood friend being so sad and alone, always trying to convince himself his daughter was enough.
Men could be so pathetic; they needed a woman’s firm support in making sure they didn’t self-destruct from being so emotionally constipated. Though, of course, Takuma was an exception. He just became a bit too involved when it came to things regarding Kaname. Sara on the other hand, was able to keep a somewhat objective perspective.
Well, she smiled, if it was for Takuma, she supposed she didn’t mind helping too much.
Ending the call with Zero, she stared down at her phone for a few seconds before shrugging. “Oh what the heck,” she scrolled down her contacts list, “I should give him an extra push. He’s probably floundering around like an idiot.” Coming upon ‘Lord of the Night’ (he hated the title, hence the reason why she used it), she pressed down on the call button.
“Sara, what do you want?” As expected, he sounded a bit off. Glossy lips lifting in a smirk, she answered, “What a rude way to talk to someone who gave you the chance to find your beloved Zero again. Not to mention, you even have his number, you sneak. I didn’t think you worked so fast,” she teased.
“Sara!” She laughed delightedly. Ah, how good it felt to get one over him. He was always such a perfect prince when it came to everything else it’d been a surprise to realize even he had his insecure moments. Zero brought out all kinds of interesting sides she’d never seen before, and it certainly made him more fun to mess with.
“Sara, what is it?” She frowned at the wariness in his tone. “I had a feeling you were just spending your darling time staring at that number and thought you might’ve needed a push in the right direction.
“I just got off the phone with him you know, and he said it was good seeing you again. He said you looked good, and that your daughter was cute.” She informed casually, staring at her nails. After a few seconds, she wondered whether he’d stopped breathing, it was so silent on the other line.
“Kaname?” She cautioned out.
“He…did he really say that?” His voice sounded so…awed and light and wonderful, she just knew he was daydreaming or something.
Biting her lip to keep in the laughter that was extremely close to slipping out, she nodded, “Mm-hm, almost word for word, there.” Bowing her head with a smile, she sighed affectionately. Goodness, he really had it bad, didn’t he? “But you know he didn’t really mean it in that way, and you have to help him see and understand you. He can’t connect the dots if there aren’t any to connect. You know that don’t you? If you really want him, give him everything you’ve got.
“And I hate to say this,” she really did, “but there aren’t a lot of people who can say no to your everything, Kaname.”
“Sara…” He actually sounded thankful she pulled the phone away from her ear to stare at it incredulously before shaking her head.
“Okay, icky bonding moment over!” She made a face. “Go call him and take him out on a date or something.” Without waiting for a reply, she hung up. It always made her feel weird when she did too many good deeds in a day. She had a limit, you know.
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Pressing a kiss to Ichiru’s forehead, Zero gently tucked him in, smiling as he closed the door to his son’s room. Ichiru was only seven, he shouldn’t be staying up so late, but his son was so purely determined he couldn’t say no.
“He’s so much like you, Shizuka,” Zero whispered. “I wish you could see him now, he’s grown so big since you last saw him.” His twin sister had only been given the chance to see Ichiru once, right after he was born, before her life had been cruelly stolen, so soon… She’d been so excited to have Ichiru, to be the mother they never had. Their father had raised both him and his sister; and he never remarried.
Though, now that he thought about it, he doubted Shizuka would have been too forgiving of having a stepmother. Their father had told them so much about their natural mother he didn’t think Shizuka would have been accepting of another woman filling that role.
The moment she saw Ichiru and held him in her arms, she’d laughed. “Don’t freak out when I say this, Zero, but he looks like our love child!”
Zero hadn’t, and still couldn’t understand how she’d known Ichiru would look so much more like him than her lover, but she’d been right. Getting their light hair and eyes wasn’t anything surprising, but his facial features were very similar to his own. If Zero were to bring out any old photos, Ichiru could easily look like his twin.
Shizuka hadn’t seemed bothered by it however, merely extremely amused. “I can only imagine what strangers will say if they saw us together.” Indeed.
But, he smiled wistfully, that never came to pass.
Heading for the fridge, he paused in surprise when his phone vibrated. It was in the wee hours of the morning; he didn’t think anyone would call…
“Hello?”
“Zero…?” The voice on the other line sounded adorably hesitant, but Zero hadn’t any trouble figuring who it was.
“Hey Kaname,” Zero smiled. “I guess Sara was right. She said you’d call.”
The brunet on the other line chuckled breathlessly. “She did, did she? Has she told you anything else?” It was so good to hear his voice again…
“If you know Sara, and I know you do, you can’t be seriously asking that,” Zero leaned against his kitchen counter, playing with his cup.
Kaname laughed dryly. “You’re right, and I shouldn’t.” He and Sara’s relationship was…complicated, he’d say. The simplest way to describe it was a love/hate friendship that spanned for most of their life. They’d never really liked each other in the least, and most likely wouldn’t have, until Takuma.
For the sake of a mutual bond, they’d both learned to slowly tolerate one another, and could now claim to be hateful friends. Of a sort. Mm. He could just be exaggerating. They had their soft moments. Very (extremely) few, but they did have them. The phone call from her just scant few moments ago could be used as an example.
“So, how’ve you been?” Zero asked softly. “It’s been pretty long, hasn’t it? I never even thought of you having a kid.”
“Neither did I,” his feelings were bittersweet on that particular subject. He didn’t like how it came about, but he’d never give up his daughter for the world. “And yours, your son, he’s in the same class as Yuuki.”
Zero blinked in surprise. “He never told me.” Though understandably, things had been really hectic as of late, but…
“I just had Yuuki transfer in today. She seems to like Ichiru-kun enough.”
“Does she?” So they’d just met today? “I’m glad she does. Ichiru can come off as a bit…” What was the word? “Detached.” A word one of the teachers had worriedly used. Zero had settled her concerns, of course, saying his son made up for his lack of energy at home.
And it wasn’t as though Ichiru had any trouble interacting with other children his age. Zero actually thought he was maybe a little too versed in knowing what to say and how to approach them. He was well aware of how his son used his lunch as a bargaining tool. He hadn’t been surprised at all when he found out. Ichiru was Shizuka’s after all.
Kaname chuckled. “I didn’t get such an impression.” On the other hand, he had the opinion Ichiru was a rather passionate individual; especially with how much he thought of his father. Kaname had easily detected the protectiveness in his eyes when he went to retrieve Zero. He was, in many ways, much like his father…
“Really? Then I think he’s taken a liking to you,” Zero said amusedly. His son hardly ever let anyone see anything of himself besides the bored and uninterested face he put up if they didn’t mean anything to him. He suspected Kaname had sparked something in him to act differently.
Well, this was Kaname, Zero shook his head, it was only expected. The brunet affected each and every person he met, whether it was in large or small amounts, though he himself had only seen two extreme reactions. Whenever someone met Kaname, they either liked him or hated him, and he’d never seen anything in between. Their opinions could change over time of course, but not many had the chance to have that time. Kaname never really cared for their thoughts anyhow. He had a hard enough time meeting his own expectations to care for any others’.
“Are you so certain?” Kaname tilted his head. The young boy hadn’t seemed to like him especially. He could only remember seeing disgruntled glares and sullen frowns from him.
“Yes. I know Ichiru.” Kaname smiled along at the light tone in Zero’s voice. He never thought he’d be able to hear him again, to talk with him so casually, and about their own children no less.
“Then I’ll trust in your words.” Kaname sounded amused.
Zero nodded. It felt surprisingly comfortable to talk with someone he hadn’t seen in ten years. It wasn’t as though their line of conversation was anything interesting, but the awkwardness one might expect from the amount of time they hadn’t seen each other was nearly nonexistent. Their words weren’t rushed or self-conscious, and their pauses weren’t uncomfortable or uneasy. “I never thought I’d see you around here again,” he commented, “felt a bit homesick? How did your daughter say her first day went?”
Kaname’s eyes turned wistful as he gazed out of his window. “Homesick…yes, I guess you could say that, but I just wanted Yuuki to enjoy her time here and find some fun at the schools I spent my childhood in.”
Zero paused from turning his cup around. “Kaname? Are you alright?” The tension he could feel from the other man was worrying. He didn’t doubt those were the reasons why Kaname had enrolled his daughter into Cross elementary, but it sounded as though there was something else…
“…I wanted her away from Yasuko,” Kaname muttered lowly.
Zero lowered his brows. Kaname? Who was Yasuko? He had a feeling he didn’t want to know. It was rare for Kaname to actively dislike someone. He felt plenty of apathy and indifference for a majority of those that he met, but unless they attacked him personally, Kaname never spared his attentions on anything that he deemed was a waste of his time.
Whoever this Yasuko was must’ve done a great disservice. Zero couldn’t even bring himself to feel any sympathy on her part. It took a lot for Kaname to show such disdain just with your name.
“Kaname, would you come by Red Clovers again?” Zero abruptly changed subject.
“If I can find the time, of course. Yuuki and I really did have a wonderful time there.”
“It’s good to hear you say that,” Zero smiled. “If your daughter is in the same class as Ichiru, I’d like to get to know her better.” She was Kaname’s after all. He’d like to see how she was like.
“Two of my chefs are going through a rough patch, and I don’t think a lot of work will get done even if they do come in,” Zero hinted. I’ll be around the restaurant a lot more often.
Kaname’s lips lifted in a slow smile. “That sounds rather terrible. Are they alright?” Not that he could feel much sympathy for them if he got the chance to see Zero again because of them.
“Mm, it’s nothing they haven’t gone through before.” Probably Yagari getting a bit too eager, and Cross, in turn, getting fed up with the lack of sleep. Otherwise extremely cheerful (on a near exasperating level), without his sleep, Cross was one disgruntled short-tempered chef.
It was like a cycle. They’d have everything patched up in a few days, most likely. “So will I be expecting you?”
“Most definitely.”
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And true to his word, Kaname arrived, with his daughter, a week later. Zero usually would have been gone by then, but unfortunately, his two chefs were apparently going through a more serious (Zero and the others thought the matter rather small) rougher patch than the usual, ‘I hate you, too much sex, leave me alone’ pattern.
When Kunuki, one of the senior waiters, poked his head into the kitchen to catch his eye, his expression anything but enthusiastic, Zero sighed. “He’s here again?”
Kunuki nodded. “Yagari-san’s ex? Yeah, he’s waiting at the usual table.” He paused. “Are you sure we can’t just, I don’t know, kick him out?” He whispered, his voice taking on a hint of desperation. He didn’t know how much more of the tension he could take.
“I feel you,” Zero said sympathetically, and he did, “I wish I could, but he hasn’t really done anything to earn it.”
Kunuki sent him an incredulous look. Zero shrugged. “Not to the restaurant, I mean. He’s being a perfect antagonist to Cross, but other than that, he’s just like any other customer here. Besides, both Cross and Yagari are nearly always in the kitchen. They shouldn’t be so affected.”
“Chef, the soup is up!” Karina called. Zero nodded and gave her an affirmative. Giving his attention back to Kunuki, he smiled wryly. “I know it’s a pain in the ass, but it’s only until those two get their acts together, and it shouldn’t take that long.” The intense physical attraction would do them in sooner or later. They could never keep their hands off of each other for long.
“Oh, and tell me when Kaname gets here?” He smiled. Kunuki blinked, but nodded.
He and the others had been surprised when they heard their boss had a history with the world renowned Kuran Kaname, but after knowing Zero for some time, they supposed it shouldn’t really come as a shock.
Their boss had a wide range of colorful contacts they couldn’t even begin to fathom. Shirabuki Sara, famous model and actress, along with Ichijou Takuma, another member of high society, were just two of many on a long list. Adding Kuran Kaname wouldn’t be too much of a stretch.
“Chef? Table ten’s ready!”
“Right. Just hold out for a bit more, Kunuki?” Zero patted his shoulder.
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Yuuki smiled excitedly as she looked around the restaurant again. It was only her second time here, but Red Clovers was quickly becoming her favorite place, especially as it was with her father. She couldn’t believe she was getting the chance to spend so much time with him again.
Ever since her birthday, she saw a slight change in her father. It wasn’t something she could place an exact name to, but he did seem lighter, and his smiles were genuine. Yuuki couldn’t claim to be the smartest person in the world, but she had a feeling it had to do with Ichiru’s father, Zero.
They both seemed like great friends, and she hoped he would be able to see him more often. Zero seemed like a busy person too, from what she’d observed last week. He had to return to the kitchen so quickly…
Ichiru had said it was normal though, for the kitchen to be that busy. They usually had more people to help, which was why things were more manageable, but that night his father had had to take care of most things, and as a result hadn’t any extra time to spare.
Yuuki still frowned when remembering his comment about her father, but Ichiru had apologized for it the next day at school and they’d agreed he wouldn’t mention it again. Besides that, the boy was fairly nice. Yuuki had seen his sharp words were hardly meant to be taken seriously, and it was how he communicated with his friends.
“Mm? Yeah, Ichiru’s real nice once you get to know him.”
Yukimi, in particular, was rather close with Ichiru. Apparently, when his mother had passed away, and he couldn’t bring himself to come to school, Ichiru had been the one to visit him everyday (with his father’s food) to coax him out of his house and back to school.
“I kept telling him to go away, but he came back even after that. Ichiru’s a good person, and his father’s pretty cool.”
From what she’d heard of Zero from her own father, she quite agreed that yes, he was rather nice. Zero had helped both Takuma and her father through a particularly hard time when they were much younger, and they’d felt grateful to him since.
Not to mention, for Takuma, Zero had introduced him to the woman who would later become his fiancée. Sara was really very pretty, but Yuuki had some reservations regarding the famous actress, as it was more than evident that she didn’t exactly like her father. Well, Yuuki supposed their interactions were much like something between Ichiru and his friends, though their ‘insults’ were on a level Yuuki had a hard time following.
Grown ups could be so confusing sometimes.
“Yuuki,” her father gently called, “which table would you like to sit at tonight?”
Smiling, she tugged on his hand and led them to a table for two by the window. In her enthusiasm, she failed to notice the waiter and the customer, and yelped when she was nearly tripped over by another tall man.
Her father immediately scooped her into his arms and held her at his hip, soothing her with gentle strokes to her hair. Admittedly she was a bit surprised, but she still turned to give the man an apology only to see him snarling at the waiter with a rather fierce look in his eyes.
“Come on, just let me see him once! I just want to see what kind of who—”
Yuuki never got to hear the rest of his sentence with her father’s hand resting firmly over her ear, the other pressed to his shoulder. She was glad for it; the man’s expression was scary enough, she didn’t think she’d have wanted to listen to the rest of whatever he might have had to say.
Her father quickly took them to the table she’d chosen and kissed her cheeks, asking her to wait for a moment. She just gave him a nod to show she understood, and he was off. A kind waitress served her some juice and fruits while she waited for him and gave her some new napkins to tear apart in her anxiety when she ran out of those that were on the table.
She perked up when she heard the owner’s voice nearing their table. “Kaname, I’m really sorry about this, is your daughter okay? She wasn’t hurt, was she?”
“She’s fine, Zero. He wasn’t trying to hurt her.”
“He could have, Kaname.” There was a sigh. “Kunuki was right, we should have kicked him out the first time he came here only to be an ass.” Yuuki heard her father give further assurances before Zero spoke up again, “You don’t have to pay for anything tonight. I don’t think I would’ve been as calm if it was Ichiru.” He laughed a little. “I would’ve used one of my pans for something other than cooking.”
“I would’ve reacted the same way if he actually wanted to harm Yuuki,” she could hear the smile in her father’s voice.
“Right,” Zero sighed again, though he didn’t sound as tired as before. “You’re free to ask for anything on our list. Just tell Miki about it and everything should be fine.”
“Zero, you don’t have to—”
“Well I want to Kaname, so sit down, shut up and eat.” Yuuki giggled into her hands. She’d never heard anyone talk to her father that way, except for maybe Sara.
“Yes Mother.”
Zero snorted, “I would’ve hung myself years ago if I were your mother, Kaname.”
“Will you be making our food tonight?” Her father’s voice softened.
There was a moment before she heard Zero’s answer. “Don’t give me those eyes, and yes, I’ll be making your food. You didn’t have to ask.”
Eyes? She wondered what kind of eyes her father was making. Craning her neck, she tried to lean over and pouted when she only caught sight of the owner. She wished she could see him.
“I’d like it if you could make our food every time we’re here.”
“Of course you would,” she saw the smile on the owner’s face and was immediately reminded of Ichiru. “I’ll try, Kaname, but it’ll depend. I’m here most often, but I never know when something might pop up in another one of the restaurants.” Yuuki felt her lips lift along with the owner’s as she saw his eyes soften. “But give me notice in advance and I’ll try to be here for you.”
“Thank you, Zero.” Yuuki didn’t have to see her father’s face this time to know what expression he had on.
They really are great friends, huh? She sighed happily. When she saw they were approaching the table, she quickly covered up the torn napkins on her lap and faced back around.
By the smiles she saw on both of their faces, however, she supposed she didn’t seem quite convincing enough. Zero gave her a smirk and discreetly held out a hand, murmuring, “I’ll talk those for you, yes?” Laughing sheepishly, she handed him the torn napkins, her cheeks a bit flushed in her embarrassment.
Zero gave her a gentle pat to the head with his other hand before leaving.
Deciding there wasn’t much use in hiding what she’d overheard, she leaned over the table to ask, “So we’re coming here again?” She still remembered how much she liked those rolls. She felt extremely lucky to have Zero make food for them.
“I do hope so, Yuuki, I do.”
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“Sorry boss, I should have handled him better,” Chiaki kept his eyes on his shoes. Zero shook his head. “You did the best you could. I was the one who should’ve seen this happening beforehand.”
“It’s good we can at least keep him out from now on,” Kunuki said encouragingly. “He was a right jackass.” Not to mention, maybe the executive and sous chef can start to work together a little more smoothly. He knew how much they were starting to aggravate Zero. He wouldn’t be surprised if his employer just decided to send them off on an unpaid suspension of some sort.
“Zero, everything all right?” Kei walked over, his eyes narrowed, wiping his hands.
“Mm, at least for now.” Zero sent him a smile before turning to one of the waiters. “Chiaki, take Kaname’s table? And let me take care of their orders for tonight.”
Kunuki and Kei blinked, sharing a glance, and smiled. “He’s taking their order?” The chef asked rhetorically. Kunuki chuckled, shaking his head. “Apparently, they’re close.” Kei snorted. Close. Right.
Kunuki checked the time and rolled his shoulders. His break was over and it was time to head out into the front lines again.
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“Cooked for him?” Sara made a face. “Takuma, that’s nothing!” So much for her excitement at hearing something interesting, she lamented. She should’ve known there were some differences between what she perceived as ‘progress’ and what her fiancé did.
“It is, Sara,” Takuma smiled, unperturbed by her lack of enthusiasm and critical words. “Kaname sounded so happy.” Sara sighed and nodded pityingly. “Of course, with how long he’s been pining after him, being able to eat his food must be absolute heaven,” if Takuma noticed on the underlying hint of sarcasm in her tone, he never called her on it. “And? Anything else? He has to have done something else, right?” It’d been a week! Were men so slow?
“Oh, well, Zero got to know Yuuki-chan a bit more,” Takuma added, as though it was something huge that needed to be commended. Sara stared. “Sweetie, as much as I love you, you’re a bit of an idiot.”
“Sara,” Takuma frowned. “Kaname is trying—”
“Not enough,” Sara cut in decisively. “He should just jump him and get it over with.”
Takuma sent her an exasperated look. “You know he can’t do that.” Zero would hate him forever. Or something.
“Well, I’m going to give him plenty of chances.” Sara smiled beautifully. “And he better take the generous offers I’ll be presenting him with, or else.”
“And just how are you going to go about doing that, dearest?” Takuma asked dryly. Sara raised a brow. “I’m not telling you,” she said in her best ‘no duh!’ tone. “You’ll go off to tell Kaname all about my nefariously entertaining plans and everything will be ruined.”
Takuma nodded, defeated (for now) and contemplated sending a mail of warning to his best friend anyway.
Sorry Kaname, Zero too…
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Kaname suspiciously found himself with a lot more free slots in his schedule than he’d ever had in years, and it was rather unsettling. He wished he had an idea why, but he’d gotten nothing from besides the seemingly obvious.
Not one to waste his time, he’d of course, used it wisely. His phone between his ear and shoulder, he slid on his coat and smiled as he replied, “Yes, I’ll be there.” Coming to stand outside his office to lock the door, he received a raised brow from his secretary when he suddenly laughed softly, nodding, “Yes, I fear that as well.”
Mitsuki watched him go with a blink and a shrug. It was nice to see her boss actually lightening up for once. He was always so serious she’d wondered if he had a life outside of work at all.
Maybe it was a new special someone to start anew with, after that first disastrous marriage? Mitsuki hoped so, as Tsubaki Yasuko was one huge bit— she immediately cut off that train of thought, not wanting to insult her boss’ first wife even in her mind, and even if she deserved it and much more.
She also thought it was a sign – Yuuki-chan, her boss’ adorable daughter, didn’t look a thing like her mother and didn’t act anything like her either. Mitsuki liked to think of it as a personal gift from the high heavens to her boss for putting up with someone like Tsubaki Yasuko for two years.
It was a good thing they separated right after Yuuki-chan was born. Who knows how that woman could have corrupted that sweet girl?
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Zero had actually found himself worrying over what to wear before berating himself and reasoned, it was only Kaname, he needn’t dress up for him like a woman, and stepped out in casual clothes.
The past month and a half had taken a rather unexpected turn, all starting with meeting Kaname that night, and he was half afraid of where it would all lead. He knew all of this had to be leading somewhere, what with Sara and Takuma being involved. He was in the same boat as Kaname on this; completely unaware of what was being planned for them every time they met.
But their shared hours and days were wonderful; he had to admit. He distinctly remembered the brunet as more of a serious individual, and his recent bout of soft smiles and genuine laughter was a refreshing sight to see. Kaname looked good with a smile. Zero was glad to see his life had been so generous to him since the first time they’d met.
They’d touched nearly every topic possible, but there was one that had Zero rather concerned than not, which was the subject of Yuuki’s mother. He knew enough to conclude she was still alive and that Kaname…disliked her, but not much else. It wasn’t something he was dying to know, and he doubted it’d change anything between them if he did, but it was something he was definitely curious about.
If they were separated, then—
“Zero?” Zero nearly jumped at the soft voice by his ear and took a breath before turning around. “Kaname,” he sighed.
“I’m sorry if I surprised you,” the brunet smiled. Zero narrowed his eyes. “I’m sure you are,” he responded dryly.
“Anything planned for today?”
“Actually…I’d like to visit our school,” Kaname quietly murmured, his voice clear, yet his gaze uncertain, as though he expected Zero to refuse.
“You mean Cross elementary? If we can keep Ichiru and Yuuki from finding out we’ve been there,” Zero shrugged. It would be around lunch break for them and he’d like to avoid getting caught by his son. Ichiru would never let him live it down.
Kaname relaxed a margin, though he still felt as if his limbs were made out of lead and stone. He’d never felt so…nervous in his life. It was all he could do to keep from suffering from a panic attack right there on the street.
Breathing slowly, he tried to focus on Zero and their line of conversation. Even as they talked, Kaname couldn’t help but marvel at how much Zero brought out in him. Every moment they spent together was a mixture of wonder, awe, and of course, on Kaname’s part, the soft ache that came from the love he held for this one man and the possibility that his feelings would continue to be unreciprocated.
He hadn’t enough courage back then, to say anything, and with how his arrangement with Yasuko went, he’d regretted that lost chance so deeply… He was forever thankful for Yuuki however. He didn’t know how he’d have survived without her presence.
“Kaname? Hey, you alright?”
Kaname blinked down into soft lilac and couldn’t stop himself from stepping back, his hand pressed to his mouth, desperately trying to keep the flush from his cheeks. That…that had been too close. Zero had been much too close.
His reflexive reaction only seemed to worry the restaurant owner even more, however, as his hand tightened a fraction around Kaname’s forearm, his brows lowering. “Kaname…?” Raising his other hand, Zero gently pulled the brunet’s away from his face and cupped his jaw, running his palm down his warm neck and back up to his forehead.
He wasn’t suffering from a fever, his temperature felt normal, but still, something was wrong, wasn’t there? It wasn’t like Kaname to be so absentminded. Not to mention, his rather jerky response to having his name called…
“Kaname, you shouldn’t push yourself. Takuma would kill me if he saw you were over doing things again and I didn’t stop you,” Zero said softly, his lips lifting in a teasing smile.
Zero thought he was working too much? Kaname held in a laugh. Well, if thinking about the person you loved more than was healthy could be called ‘working’ Kaname was way past overtime.
“I’m fine, Zero.” He couldn’t stop the rush of warmth that came from seeing the blatant worry and concern that still lingered in Zero’s eyes. It was nice to know he cared, even as a friend. Kaname closed his eyes remembering Zero’s warm hand against his skin, feeling a childish part of himself wishing he actually had been sick and overworked if he could feel that again.
Ugh, are you listening to yourself? A voice that sounded suspiciously like Sara reprimanded. Kaname could care less. He was perfectly aware of how different he sounded whenever it came to Zero.
Still looking plenty skeptic, Zero slowly nodded. “Alright, but if you faint on me, don’t be surprised to find an ‘I told you so!’ post-it on your forehead. I’ll tell Yuuki about it too, so she can guilt-trip you into making sure you never do it again.”
“Oh Zero, not Yuuki, please,” Kaname shook his head, widening his eyes. “You’ve no idea how much she resembles my mother when she glares.”
His lips twitching, Zero tried his best to keep a straight face. “Then that should teach you better than to neglect your own health.” When Kaname’s eyes glistened, he couldn’t keep in the laughter and leaned up to rest his forehead against Kaname’s, murmuring, “She has no idea how much she has you wrapped around her finger.”
Kaname’s breath caught at Zero’s proximity, and tried to keep his pounding heart from killing him. Zero…Zero, Zero, Zero… He so wished he could hold him, just have him close, if only for a minute, a few seconds…
Did the man not realize what he was doing to him?
Zero was still laughing a bit as he tugged Kaname along. “Come on, we should get going if we want to explore the school a bit before classes end and we’re run over by midgets half our size.”
Kaname sent him a rueful smile. As much as he loved Zero, the man could be bad for his heart.
But I’m telling him today…
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yuuki hummed a bit as she wrote down her notes. Lunch had just gone fairly well, and she was in a good mood. Ichiru sent her an annoyed look for the low melody escaping her lips, but she merely smiled back and continued to write.
Tapping her chin at a particularly hard problem the teacher had set up, she diverted her attention to the nice weather outside and let out a gasp. Thankfully, it was only loud enough for Ichiru to overhear, and he raised a brow, trailing her line of sight.
“Dad?” He whispered incredulously, exchanging bewildered glances with her. Yuuki herself could only shrug as she turned back around to stare out the window again. “Papa’s with him too,” she murmured. “I wonder why they’re here. School’s not done yet.”
“They’ve been spending a lot time together lately…”
Yuuki nodded. “I don’t mind though, since Papa always looks really happy.”
Ichiru frowned. “Mine does too.” Good friends, huh? He narrowed his eyes. Sure, they could be friends, but they didn’t seem like it. He didn’t think they were pretending or anything, but they were close in another way, friendship, but not. Close like Takuma and Aunt Sara.
He’d first thought Kaname was just weird, but he’d soon recognized the way Yuuki’s father sometimes looked at his Dad as the same way Takuma looked at Aunt Sara. He wasn’t stupid. He could at least see that much.
Sparing Yuuki a glance, he wondered whether she’d noticed. He’d learned the girl could be insightful in unexpected ways. It was possible she’d already seen the way her father was around his own, and came to her own conclusions about what was going on between them.
Giving her a soft nudge to get her attention, he smirked and nodded to the door. He almost thought she wouldn’t get it, but she smiled brightly in return and nodded. Setting his pencil down, Ichiru raised a hand,
“Kazuki-sensei, may I use the bathroom?”
“Of course, don’t forget to take the pass with you.”
Ichiru waited outside for nearly ten minutes before Yuuki slipped out and met him at the corner of the hall, the girl’s bathroom pass held tightly in her small hands. They both laughed quietly and made their way down the stairs, determined to see what their fathers were up to.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Well, we’re here,” Zero said as they walked around. Kaname smiled softly, spotting the playground. “I can’t believe we were once so small.” The swings, the jungle gym, the slide…they were like miniature toys.
Zero nodded. “I have to see a double of myself everyday. Ichiru looks just like me when I was a kid. And the things he sometimes does… Was I that annoying?” He rested against one of the bars on the jungle gym, using it as a temporary chair.
Kaname chuckled, coming to stand next to him. “I think we all ask ourselves the same question once we have kids of our own.” Yuuki was a darling, but she could be a handful.
“I can’t help but wonder how our father managed both Shizuka and I.”
“Riku-san was a wonderful father,” Kaname said softly. “I was rather envious of you for having someone like him back then.” If his own parents had lived, he imagined his own father to be somewhat like Zero’s.
“You never told me that,” Zero smiled up, tilting his head.
“Oh, but I was.” Kaname said wistfully. “I couldn’t help but think, ‘If only I could have someone as kind and caring as Riku-san as my guardian…’ I don’t doubt Takuma thought the same, despite his loyalty to his grandfather.” Riku was such an easy man to get along with, and even easier to love.
“But I’m glad you didn’t,” Zero suddenly whispered, his gaze unwavering, “I wouldn’t have met you if you did.”
Kaname’s eyes widened. “Zero…”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“I can’t really hear what they’re saying,” Yuuki mumbled out, squinting as she tried to get a better look at her father and Zero, crouched around a corner of their school.
“We could get closer,” Ichiru whispered, nudging her along as they slowly neared their targets.
“They’re…really, really good friends, huh?” Yuuki murmured, her eyes strangely contemplative as she saw how close they were standing. Well, her father was; Zero had his bum resting on the jungle gym. Though actually, maybe it made them look…closer, in a way. And the atmosphere that surrounded them…it wasn’t anything she’d seen before with her father. Something new.
Ichiru snickered. “Yeah, really good friends,” he echoed, as though he knew exactly what she was thinking.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Could…was it alright for him to hope? Did Zero…? Kaname could barely breathe.
“Sorry to sound like an insensitive asshole, but it’s true,” Zero smiled sheepishly. He leaned back a bit to better look up at Kaname from his position.
“I, no, you don’t, Zero,” Kaname whispered, “Sound insensitive, I mean, and thank you.” Not many people told him they were glad to have met him and actually mean it.
Zero laughed softly. He hoped Kaname didn’t look at everyone as he did now, in that completely captivating way, or it’d definitely be a bit disheartening.
Kaname swallowed, resisting the urge to fidget, and settled next to Zero on the jungle gym, closer than was strictly necessary, and inwardly sighing in relief when Zero made no move to keep any distance between them. A good sign, his inner Sara nodded with approval.
“Zero, I…” Kaname had to keep his lips from trembling; he just had to. The last thing he wanted was to lose control over his speech and babble like an idiot at what was possibly the most important moment of his life. He couldn’t, couldn’t, he emphasized, screw this up.
“…Kaname…?”
“Zero, I—”
“No! Don’t get that close!” They were interrupted by a hissing whisper.
Zero blinked and exchanged a look with Kaname before slowly getting up, heading behind the huge cherry blossom tree and raising his brows at the sight of Ichiru and Yuuki looking up at him guiltily.
“And what are you two doing here, instead of class?”
Before Ichiru could think of a fast reply that might pass off as a believable excuse (he hadn’t much hope of fooling his Dad, but he could try), Yuuki blurted, “We saw you from our room and wanted to know why you were here.”
Zero sighed and turned to send Kaname a look. “I was half afraid this might happen.” Looking back at the kids, he narrowed his eyes. “I don’t have to escort you back to class, do I?”
They both simultaneously shook their heads and rushed off. Zero saw them turn the corner and nodded, his gaze softening affectionately as he let out a slight laugh over the kids’ antics. He just knew he and Shizuka would have done the same if they’d seen their own father at school before it was even over.
Smiling, he turned to Kaname again and paused, surprised at how close he’d gotten. Raising his eyes, he tilted his head inquiringly. He wondered if he should just save Kaname the trouble and ask what was on his mind; the tall brunet looked rather desperate to say something.
He was trying to tell him something when the kids had interrupted, and Zero hoped it wasn’t anything terrible. Kaname looked far from happy, even now, as he looked up at him. Were they not going to be able to meet anymore? Had something happened? Zero briefly remembered thinking about Yuuki’s mother and his heart clenched. Maybe this was about her?
“Kaname—”
“Zero—”
They blinked then laughed, instantly relaxing. Shaking his head, Zero placed a hand on Kaname’s arm. “If it’s so difficult for you to talk about, you don’t have to force yourself, Kaname.”
“No Zero, it is rather difficult, but I do need to say it.” He covered Zero’s hand with his own.
The younger of the two raised his brow playfully. “Then out with it, Kaname, you’re only making me—”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Oh my god,” Yuuki marveled.
“Holy shit,” Ichiru whispered, knowing he’d regret saying it later. His Dad just knew when he said things he shouldn’t. But when you spent any amount of time in a busy kitchen, learning a few inappropriate phrases was inevitable.
“They’re…they’re…”
“Kissing? Yeah, big time,” Ichiru breathed out.
“Like Uncle Takuma and Sara-san…” Yuuki blinked, her wide dark eyes glued to their fathers. Ichiru laughed lightly, turning to her with an amused smile. “You thought that too?”
Yuuki nodded, her attention still on the two men under the cherry tree.
“When did you notice?” Ichiru asked, wanting to compare notes.
“I didn’t really get it until I saw Papa with your papa a third time.” She answered softly.
Ichiru nodded absently. “I wasn’t there for most of the time they met, but your dad looked a lot like Takuma when he’s with Aunt Sara, so…yeah…that was the weird thing I was talking about. Sorry about that, by the way.” He added quickly.
“It’s okay, you already said that,” Yuuki smiled. “So, um, my Papa and your papa… What are they now? Like Uncle Takuma and Sara-san? Are they going to get married?”
Ichiru shrugged. “Dunno, but if they did…”
“If they did…” Yuuki trailed off, “That would make your papa my Papa too, right? And my Papa would be your Papa.”
“That would make us siblings.” Ichiru finalized. They both shared a cautious glance before laughing quietly.
“That’s so weird,” Yuuki giggled. Ichiru sent her a smirk. “Well, as long as you don’t act too much like Aunt Sara, I wouldn’t mind you as a sister.”
Yuuki laughed harder, nodding. “I wouldn’t mind you as a brother either, Ichiru-kun.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“What?” Sara cried. “In a school? What were they thinking?”
“I know,” Takuma sighed. The number of students that could have seen them…
“Goodness, could Kaname get any more lame? You do not share your first kiss in an elementary school! So unromantic,” she chided.
Takuma stared.
“But,” Sara considered, oblivious to the incredulous look she was getting from her fiancé, “it was at their school and under that really nice cherry tree I’ve always liked. I guess he’s not a completely hopeless case,” she nodded to herself.
Takuma shook his head affectionately. “Thank you Sara.”
“Mm?” She momentarily broke off from her thoughts. She gave him a bemused smile as he pressed a light kiss to her forehead. “Thank you for helping them, even if it was only for Zero on your part.”
“Well, I had to save you somehow,” she teased. “Kaname was giving you premature wrinkles, and I couldn’t have that!”

从0开始 part 01

Posted by ♫ Vampire_Ashleyuu ツ ღ
第1章
“如果你是吸血鬼的话,就吸吸看我的血吧……”看着优姬,锥生零冷静的说道。玖兰李土已经死了,一切……也差不多要结束了吧。
  “零……”优姬担忧的看着锥生零,眼中渗出泪水。
  锥生零走上前去抱住优姬,“如果……你是我应该憎恨的吸血鬼的话……就吸吧……”说着,锥生零弯下腰,轻轻的歪过头,将脖颈直接呈现在优姬眼前。感受到怀中人颤抖着,然后……一阵刺痛……
  优姬……
  优姬……
  优姬……
  我……
  鲜血慢慢的渗出优姬的嘴角,锥生零轻轻的推开优姬,“你是吸血鬼。”    “嗯……”
  “我不能和你生活在同一个世界。”我是吸血鬼猎人。
  “嗯……”
  “但是……总有一天我会去……”诶?为什么优姬的脸越来越模糊?锥生零觉得头昏昏的,该不会是之前为了杀玖兰李土而消耗了太多的体力,这会儿又被优姬吸了血,要昏过去了吧。锥生零很想笑,自己怎么可能会如此的脆弱?“总有一天……我……”锥生零摇摇晃晃的向前走了两步。    “零?”优姬担忧的看着锥生零,为什么觉得他随时都有可能倒下?
  ‘该死!我想说,总有一天我会去杀了你!’锥生零在心中大叫,可是嘴怎么也张不开,然后,只听见‘砰!’的一声,锥生零倒在了地上。
  “零!”优姬立刻跑到锥生零的身边,怎么会昏过去了呢?“零……”
  锥生零只觉得优姬的声音离自己越来越远,然后……直到什么也听不见。该不会是要死了吧?也好,省的到时候去变成LEVEL E危害人间,为了和平随时做好自杀的准备。
偶是o(∩_∩)o的分割线
  好舒服的床……好清新的味道……锥生零翻了个身,然后把脸埋在被子里,只露出光洁的额头和一个银色的脑袋。自己好像……很久都没有这样休息过了……
  “哥哥?”
  谁在叫自己?锥生零郁闷的把整个头都埋在被子里,就不能让自己多休息一会儿吗?会叫自己哥哥的,难道是一缕?啊……这个玩笑一点也不好笑,一缕明明已经死了,再说,这分明就是个小女孩的声音,锥生零迷迷糊糊的想到。
  “哥哥,你醒了吗?”
  对了,记得自己杀了玖兰李土,然后优姬喝了自己的血,然后自己……自己怎么了?昏了?那就先不要醒好了,这个时候优姬一定已经和玖兰枢那个吸血鬼走了,醒过来就要面对这样的现实,这不是很残忍吗?所以……再睡一会儿吧。
  “哥哥……哥哥……你是不是醒了?”
  锥生零感觉到有人在推自己,伴随而来的是那个一直吵着他无法安宁的声音,烦死了!锥生零一下子坐起来,为了告诉这个声音的主人自己已经醒了,请不要再吵了。然后,又倒了下去。    “哥哥!哥哥你又昏过去了吗?哥哥!你要是醒了就睁开眼睛啊!”
  怎么会有这么锲而不舍的人!想到这里,锥生零终于妥协了,他慢慢的坐起来,然后揉揉眼睛,酝酿一下睁开眼后该说的话,比如……把这个声音的主人狠狠的教训一顿等等。    然而,当锥生零真的睁开眼睛的时候,他呆了……好小的优姬!啊……应该说是优姬小的时候。“你……”是谁?
  “妈妈——!妈妈——!哥哥醒了!”小女孩开心的叫着往门外跑去。
  锥生零还没有从呆楞中完全恢复,这是怎么一回事?这个小女孩是不是优姬?是的吧,和自己小时候见到的优姬一模一样,可是,为什么是小时候呢?想到这里,锥生零决定亲自去一探究竟。习惯性的跳下床,然后……
  ‘砰!’好痛,锥生零从床上栽了下来。眼睛里开始冒着泪花。不该这样的啊!与那些LEVEL E缠斗受伤的时候自己都没有哭过,为什么现在只是摔了一跤,眼泪就抑制不住的往外冒?锥生零抬起手擦去脸上的泪水,然后……“啊——!呜……”锥生零想大叫,可是随即用手捂住自己的嘴,阻止声音外泄。
  自己的手,自己的脚,自己的胳膊自己的腿!为什么都变得这么短,这么小?对了,镜子!锥生零从地上爬起来,在房间里找到了一面落地的镜子,“为什么……”锥生零喃喃自语,自己……九岁的时候,好像就是现在这个样子的吧。
  哈哈!这是什么情况,自己变小了?回到八年前?那优姬……不对啊,刚才那个优姬怎么看都不是一个九岁的孩子。最重要的是……她好像不认识自己。如果说自己是回到了爸爸妈妈刚被杀害的时候,那么,现在优姬应该已经认识自己了吧。
  锥生零迷茫了,一时之间不知道发生了什么事情。看了看四周,这个屋子……装潢华丽而精美,很有一种……该怎么说,贵族气息?总之,与一般的房子是不同的。就像是看到玖兰枢与LEVEL E时一样,虽然同样是吸血鬼,但是锥生零承认,玖兰枢是纯血,那种气质是优雅二字都无法形容的。而现在的房子就是这样……其实……锥生零就是想说,这里……并不是理事长的家。    那……这是哪里……自己又为什么又会在这里……
  “孩子……你没事了吧……哎呀,你怎么下床了?衣服穿这么少,会生病的!”    锥生零回过头,看着走进房间的女子,优姬?是优姬吧!虽然有哪里感觉不太一样,可是……痛!锥生零惊讶的看着在自己发呆的时候走到自己面前的‘优姬’,她居然用手捏着自己的脸颊用力的向外扯。
  “哎呀,好可爱好可爱!”‘优姬’放开手,然后从门外拖进来一个人,“你看你看,他和我们的儿子一样可爱呢!”
  玖兰枢?虽然这个‘玖兰枢’与‘优姬’一样,有哪里不太对劲儿,可是……这个人是的吧……    对了!是气质,他们的气质比自己印象中的要更加高贵,更加优雅!能让一个人变得更加成熟稳重的原因有很多,时间也是其中之一。难道……这是优姬与玖兰枢结婚很多年之后?那么刚才那个小女孩,该不会是……他们的孩子吧!锥生零感到心很痛……为什么要让自己看到这些?    “小孩子不要露出这种表情啦!”‘优姬’这样说着,又跑上去捏着锥生零的脸颊,似乎想让锥生零笑一笑。
  锥生零承受着脸部的疼痛,看着地面不说话。
  “孩子,你在生气吗?是被我捏疼了吗?”
  锥生零还是不说话。
  “悠……我好想惹他生气了,真是的。”
  “悠?”锥生零突然开口,然后头就遭了重重的一捶,“你干什么?”锥生零发现变小的自己特别容易哭,也许,仅仅精神上是十七岁是没用的,肉 体还是小孩子,因此,小孩子爱哭这一点是无法避免的。
  “要尊敬长辈!不可以叫悠!要叫悠叔叔!”
  “悠叔叔。”锥生零抬起头看着眼前名叫悠的男人,好耳熟的名字。“那……您是?”锥生零问道,既然这个人是什么悠,那么眼前的女人应该也不会是优姬了吧,优姬怎么可能不和玖兰枢在一起,反而这么亲密的搂着别的男人?
  “我?我叫树里!玖兰树里。不过,你不可以叫我树里阿姨,要叫我树里姐姐。”玖兰树里开心的说道,“这位就是我的亲爱老公兼哥哥!玖兰悠。”
  看着眼前酷似优姬和玖兰枢的两个人,锥生零混乱了,再听见他们名字之前的玖兰二字,锥生零迷茫了……在做梦,对吧。

从0开始 part 02

Posted by ♫ Vampire_Ashleyuu ツ ღ
第2章
“你们是……吸血鬼……”锥生零说道,他现在脑子有些乱,这是……十年前的玖兰家?不会吧!如果是十年前,自己应该是七岁,可是自己看起来明明就是九岁,这样的话……是九岁的自己来到了十年前的玖兰家?多么……神奇的事啊!锥生零一边这样想着,一边想狠狠的捶自己的大脑一顿,怎么感觉,从行为到思想,自己好像变幼稚了?
  “啊……悠,这孩子知道我们的身份呢。”玖兰树里对着玖兰悠说道,然后又转向锥生零,“孩子,你叫什么名字?我们在家里的花园里发现了你,你怎么进来的?”
  “我……我不知道……我只知道……我叫锥……我叫零……其他的……”锥生零低下头,“我什么都不知道,什么都想不起来了。”的确,锥生零没有骗人,自己不明白为什么只是让优姬吸了自己的血,就来到这里了,可是,自己能说‘树里姐姐因为你们的女儿吸了我的血,所以我就来了’这种话吗?很显然不能。
  “你家在哪里?我们可以送你回去。”玖兰悠说道。
  “我……我家的人都死了……”该死!锥生零在心中暗骂,为什么自己说话不能连贯一点,现在看上去就像是个胆怯害羞的小孩子!虽然自己现在的确是小孩子……锥生零感觉一阵悲哀。    “这样啊……真可怜……”玖兰树里一把将小小的锥生零搂在怀里,摸着他的头说道。    锥生零很想挣扎,可是……这个怀抱太过于温暖,与优姬的不同,这是一种来自母亲对于孩子的温暖,也是自己……消失了很久的温暖。
  “妈妈。”
  “啊……优姬。”玖兰树里放开锥生零,“这个哥哥叫零哦!你以后要叫他零哥哥。”    “零哥哥!”优姬听话的向锥生零问好。然后又说道,“爸爸妈妈,能让零哥哥留下吗?”优姬的眼中满是渴望,因为,她觉得这个哥哥长的好漂亮哦!银色的头发在月光下折射出柔和的光,紫色的眸子看起来十分美丽,简直比自己的娃娃还要漂亮!
  “这……”玖兰树里看向玖兰悠,似乎是在征求玖兰悠的意见。
  玖兰悠无奈的笑了笑,“我能说不吗?这么可爱的孩子,树里一定很喜欢吧!就把他……”    “不行!”
  突然,一个虽然稚嫩却带着几分威严的声音想起,“爸爸,怎么能让一个人类住进我们玖兰家?更何况,他还是一个来历不明的人类!说不定……就是猎人派来的,仗着可爱的外表,很容易欺骗人,对吧。”
  我的确是猎人,你能把我怎么样?看见那个比自己印象中小了N倍的玖兰枢的脸上出现成年人才会有的表情,锥生零就觉得不爽。这样的孩子注定早衰,幸好是个不会变老的吸血鬼。“死小孩一点也不可爱……”锥生零轻声说道。
  “你在那里嘀嘀咕咕的说些什么?”玖兰枢突然大吼道,还往锥生零的方向跨了一步。    锥生零看着那张怒气冲冲的脸,以及完全不注意形象的大吼,心想,原来还没有到无可救药的地步。想到这里,锥生零突然笑了,然而,当他发现自己在想什么的时候,立刻止住笑容,瞥了玖兰枢一眼,然后就低下头。
  “你!”玖兰枢觉得眼前的这个人类十分不知好歹,居然用那种眼神看自己,想到这里,玖兰枢的眼睛慢慢出现血色,似乎有什么力量要发出来。
  锥生零的猎人不是白当的,他自然知道玖兰枢要做什么,然后习惯性的拿枪,抵上了玖兰枢的额头。
  “你在做什么?”玖兰枢眼中的红色更盛,“爸爸,他果然是猎人派来的!哼,不过……你的主人似乎没有给你准备好武器呢!”
  锥生零看看自己的手,他忘记了,自己现在身上根本就没有血蔷薇之枪,而此时抵着玖兰枢额头的东西,正是自己的食指。‘砰!’锥生零听见东西破碎的东西,然后他立刻放下手,做了一个非常幼稚的动作,只见锥生零往玖兰树里的怀里一扑,“树里姐姐,我怕……”
  玖兰树里好笑的看着玖兰枢与锥生零,从来没有见枢这样生气过呢。“好了好了,枢不要这个样子嘛,零一个小孩子,怎么会是猎人?是猎人的话,又怎么可能不带武器?”玖兰树里说道,她觉得零刚才用食指低着枢额头的样子实在太可爱了,“再说,零留下来,你和优姬就多了一个玩伴啦!”    “我才不要玩伴!只要优姬一个就够了……”玖兰枢脸上立即出现厌烦的神色。    锥生零把脸埋在玖兰树里的怀里,呵呵……怪不得最后优姬会和玖兰枢走,而玖兰枢……也能为了优姬做这么多事,原来十年前就是这样了……锥生零突然感觉心痛,原因……不明。    “枢!小孩子不要这么说话,你看看你,你把零都吓哭了!”玖兰树里感觉自己的胸前湿了,低头一看,才发现那个银发的小孩子正在默默的流眼泪。“零什么都不记得,他现在最需要的是人的关怀,我现在要留下这个孩子!”
  锥生零听着玖兰树里说的话,心里一阵暖流蔓延开来。但是……小孩子就是讨厌,为什么总是要哭?要是在黑主学园的话,怎么可能因为玖兰枢的一句话就哭出来?现在……好吧,自己也没有血蔷薇之枪,个子又这么矮,也不用理会什么吸血鬼不吸血鬼的了,从现在开始,自己要尽情的欺负玖兰枢,把在黑主学园的一切给报复回来!
  “好……好吧……”玖兰枢非常不甘心的看着在自己妈妈怀里的锥生零,突然,他走上前去,一把将锥生零给拽出来,非常认真的说道,“不许你这样抱我妈妈!”
  “我就要抱!”说着,锥生零又张开双手准备抱住玖兰树里。
  “不行!”玖兰枢强硬的掰开锥生零的手,然后拖着他就往门口走去。
  “你干什么?”锥生零被玖兰枢拖着从这个房间到那个房间,然后就听见们‘砰!’的一声门关了起来。
  “不许你抱!还有优姬也是!”
  “不抱就不抱,你也用不着把我拖出房间吧。”锥生零十分郁闷。不过……看着眼前气呼呼的玖兰枢,锥生零的心里又有一种说不出来的感觉。本以为,玖兰枢是被唤醒的始祖,那他的童年估计和成年没什么区别,不过现在看来,似乎不是这个样子。除了刚开始那一下子有那么点气势,之后的,分明就是小孩子在闹脾气嘛。那是什么把他变成那样的呢?是玖兰李土吧,杀害了他的父亲与母亲,是谁都会变的吧,就好像……自己当年一样……
  “你刚才叫我死小孩,我听见了。”玖兰枢在一旁面无表情的说道,声音听起来也很冷淡。    啊……又成始祖型的了,“那又怎么样?”锥生零耸耸肩。
  “你也是死小孩!”
  天……童年型!转换的还真快!难怪长大之后面对着优姬能装的那么好,原来从小就有天分。“你才是!”锥生零反驳。   “我不是你是!”
  “你是!”
  “你是!”玖兰枢说道,然后又沉默了一会儿,“死!小!鬼!”
  “你!”
  “为了能把你和我区分开来,所以我决定叫你死小鬼。”玖兰枢一脸平静的说道,眼中也完全没有温度。
  “你是在变相的承认自己是死小孩吗?”锥生零比玖兰枢还要平静。
  现在,两人的模样像极了在黑主学园每一次对话的样子,只是……内容变得无比幼稚,还有就是……身高的剧减。

从0开始 part 03

Posted by ♫ Vampire_Ashleyuu ツ ღ
第3章
“孩子们,来吃饭啦!”玖兰树里在门外喊道,很奇怪这两个孩子跑出去干什么了。    “哼!”玖兰枢轻哼一声,然后迈着优雅的步子走出了房门,一点儿也看不出生气的痕迹。    锥生零跟着出来,然后看看外面的天,是漆黑的夜。他差点忘记了,吸血鬼与人类是不同的……    来到餐桌之前,锥生零坐在了优姬身边,然而,玖兰枢却突然站起来,一把将锥生零拉起来,“你不能坐在优姬身边。”
  “那我坐哪里!”锥生零气恼的看着玖兰枢,这个死小孩做什么?吃个饭还要出来闹场,“再说了,为什么不能坐在优姬身边?我又不会做什么。”难不成还杀了她。
  “你坐我的位置。”说着,玖兰枢十分优雅的坐在了锥生零刚才坐过的位置上,然后安静的吃起牛排。
  锥生零想,这里是在别人家,还是不要当着大人的面生气比较好,于是,他也安静的走到了玖兰枢的位置上,慢慢的坐了下去,同样安静的吃起牛排。
  玖兰树里看看玖兰枢,再看看锥生零,突然开心的说道,“呵呵……零和枢的关系很好呢!枢从来不让别人坐他的位置吃饭。”
  “谁和他关系好!”
  锥生零和玖兰枢异口同声的吼出这句话,然后互相瞪了对方一眼,继续吃牛排。    “果然关系很好。”玖兰树里又说道,“很少看枢做出这么没教养的事情呢,不过……”玖兰树里伸出手在玖兰枢脸上狠狠的捏了一把,“我现在似乎有些喜欢这个没教养的枢了。”    “枢哥哥……”优姬在一旁怯怯的喊道,伸出手扯了扯玖兰枢的袖子,不知道为什么,她觉得今天的枢哥哥好奇怪,“枢哥哥……我想和零哥哥一起吃饭。”
  “你们不是正在一起吃吗?”玖兰枢说道。
  “可是……可是……”优姬紧紧的皱着眉,“可是我想和零哥哥坐在一起。”    玖兰枢的眼睛突然变红,看起来似乎非常的生气,“不行!我说不行就是不行!”说着,餐桌上的红酒‘砰!’的一声裂开了,玻璃的残渣四处飞溅。
  “哎呀!”玖兰树里突然叫了一声,然后她将滴着血的手指举到玖兰悠面前,“悠,枢真不听话,我的手都给他划破了。”
  “妈妈……”优姬的声音颤抖了,“枢哥哥好可怕!”
  “枢,优姬想和零坐在一起,你就同意嘛,干什么发这么大的火?”玖兰悠有些郁闷的看着眼前的一切,树里可怜兮兮的看着自己,优姬可怜兮兮的看着树里,枢面无表情的漠视着这一切,而零……诶?零到哪儿去了?玖兰悠环顾四周,最后……“零,你躲到桌子底下去干什么?”    听见了玖兰悠的话,玖兰枢也将视线转向桌子底下蜷缩成一团的零,“喂!死小鬼,你在干什么?”
  锥生零把自己抱成一团,为什么……他本以为在这里自己是个正常的人类……可是……怎么会这样?刚才看见玖兰树里的血……自己居然……有了冲动,怎么办?停止不了,想要血!为什么!不要……
  “喂!死小鬼!”玖兰枢见锥生零不搭理自己,于是也做了一件自己从来没有做过的事情,爬到桌子底下,然后用力的掰开锥生零的手,“你干什么?是不是刚才伤到你了?你抬起头让我看一下。”玖兰枢安抚似的摸了摸锥生零的头,然后将锥生零从桌子底下拖出来,接着拼命的想将锥生零的脸抬起来,不知道为什么,玖兰枢突然觉得自己很担心眼前的人,零为什么要埋着脸呢?难道是在哭?想到这里,玖兰枢觉得自己也有些难过。
  “枢,有血的味道。”玖兰树里蹲下身子,“零,是不是受伤了。”
  “没有……你们……不要靠近我……”锥生零轻轻的说道,可是言语里尽显虚弱,一听到玖兰枢的声音,他就会想到在黑主学园时自己吸食了优姬与玖兰枢的血液……就会记起血液的味道……就会忍不住……“求求你们……”
  玖兰枢站了起来,他突然觉得自己对于眼前的这个人一点都不了解,没错,这个死小鬼是今天才到自己家的,不了解也是正常的,但是……玖兰枢就是没由来的烦躁,他觉得自己面对着这个死小鬼根本就不能保持风度。想到这里,玖兰枢狠狠的向前踢了一脚,可是触到的确实柔软的物体。    “呜……”锥生零捂着肚子倒在地上,玖兰枢为什么要踢自己?
  “你……”没事吧……玖兰枢没有说出口,他看着眼前的零,血色的眼眸,还有……獠牙?“你是吸血鬼……还是……LEVEL……”
  “不是不是!”锥生零拼命的摇头,他不想听玖兰枢把话说完,他不想听到LEVEL E这几个字!为什么要这样?为什么变小了,却不能让自己快乐一点!
  “零!”玖兰树里突然叫道,“零,喝我的血……我们玖兰家是纯血种,可以抑制你体内的狂气。”玖兰树里一眼就看出了锥生零的异样,于是便把手伸到锥生零的唇边。
  “不要……”锥生零摇头,树里姐姐你不要和优姬一样……这么善良……    “零……吸吧,没关系的。”玖兰树里担忧的看着眼前的零,她觉得……不能让零这样,因为,枢难得有这么亲近的朋友呢。
  “树里……”玖兰悠突然站起来,“先不要逼他,这孩子现在很痛苦。”    “零哥哥……呜……零哥哥你怎么了?”优姬也跑过来看着锥生零,大眼睛里扑闪着泪水。    玖兰枢看着混乱一片的屋子,突然有些自责,要是自己不生气,红酒就不会炸开,妈妈的手就不会受伤,零……就不会这样了。唉……说到底,自己都有不可推卸的责任吧。想到这里,玖兰枢突然蹲下来,然后把锥生零抱在怀里,手顺着锥生零的背,想让他冷静下来。“死小鬼,你吸我的血吧,以后……都吸我的血吧,只要你有需要……”说完,玖兰枢又稍稍有些后悔,自己……明明不想这么说的,他明明是想先嘲讽几句,然后天神般的把血施舍给眼前的人,但是……为什么……    锥生零意识有些模糊,他只知道……有一个人在自己的耳边说些什么,而且,声音好温柔,那人叫自己死小鬼,呵呵……该不会是玖兰枢吧?自己在想些什么呢?玖兰枢那个死小孩怎么会对自己这么温柔?但是……锥生零慢慢伸出手,抱住给自己温暖的人,然后张开嘴,咬了下去。一瞬间,鲜血涌了进来,那种特殊的芳香……啊……这好像是玖兰枢的血……意识渐渐远去,锥生零满足的舔了舔唇,睡了过去。
  “悠,他昏过去了!”玖兰树里说道。
  “你啊……”玖兰悠无奈的看着玖兰树里,“零是睡着了。”说完,又看向抱在一起的玖兰枢和零,这两个孩子……为什么感觉异常的契合?简直是像比兄弟更加亲密的感觉。玖兰悠有些不敢相信自己的眼睛,刚才……玖兰枢偶尔在面对优姬才会出现的短暂温柔,居然对着零……一直……他的脸上……表情虽然有些复杂,但是却能明显的看到疼惜。
  “妈妈。零就睡我的房间吧。”玖兰枢说着,站起身子,然后背着锥生零走向自己的房间。其实,他很想用抱的,可是……没力气。
  进了房间,玖兰枢把锥生零的衣服脱了,然后找了件自己的睡衣给锥生零穿上,动作温柔的就好像是对待一件珍品。啊……皮肤真嫩啊……想着,在锥生零身上捏了几下,之后,又捏捏自己的脸,好像也挺嫩的。突然,玖兰枢有些能理解自己的妈妈为什么这么喜欢捏自己和零的脸了。最后,发现自己在做什么,玖兰枢皱眉,把锥生零扔进被子里,然后把人用被子裹得严严实实的,就好像在蚕蛹里的蚕宝宝。

从0开始 part 04

Posted by ♫ Vampire_Ashleyuu ツ ღ
第4章
  锥生零一觉醒来,外面的天还黑着。看来自己没睡多长时间。环顾四周,这个房间好像不是自己一开始醒来时的那个房间啊,“呜……”锥生零爬起来,“啊——!”
  “死小鬼你叫什么。”
  “死小孩你干什么一声不响的坐在我床上!”吓死了!锥生零说道,他刚坐起来,就看见玖兰枢像个鬼一样拿着一本书坐在床上,而且还是面对着自己,面无表情,一动不动,这让锥生零直接想到了僵尸。   “你的床?”玖兰枢突然笑了,“这好像是我的房间吧,快要变成LEVEL E的死小鬼。”说完,玖兰枢意识到自己刚才说了什么,“对不起。”
  “呵呵……”锥生零突然笑了起来。
  “你笑什么。”
  “你居然……会对我说对不起。”锥生零说道,要是在以前,这根本就是不可能的事情吧,以前的玖兰枢,只会对优姬这样说吧,而那些温柔……大概也只会给优姬吧!呵呵,来到这里似乎也不错,可以见到不同的玖兰枢,而且……还能得到自己以前绝对不可能得到的东西。    等一下……为什么自己要这样想?该不会是……自己其实一直都在渴望着……玖兰枢的温柔吧!想到这里,锥生零使劲儿的摇摇头。
  “你又怎么了?”玖兰枢看着仿佛要把脑袋给摇掉下来的锥生零,不由得问道。    “没什么……”
  玖兰枢见锥生零这样说,也就不再追问,安静的看着自己的书。一时之间,两人都不说话,房间里一阵沉默,安静的能听见两人的呼吸声。
  “那个……”锥生零打破沉默。
  “怎么了?”玖兰枢抬起头。
  “我睡着之前,吸了你的血吧。”锥生零说道,“你为什么给我吸?”
  “看你这么痛苦,就给你吸了。”说完,玖兰枢继续低头看书。
  “你是……为了谁?”
  “不是说了吗?看你这么痛苦,就给你吸了,当然是为了你。”这次玖兰枢连头都没抬。    听了玖兰枢的话,锥生零不知道为什么感觉心里被填的满满的,记得第一次吸玖兰枢的血,玖兰枢十分坚定的说‘这不是为了你,这是为了优姬’。可是现在,他居然说是为了自己,锥生零突然觉得,有些开心。
  “喂……”
  锥生零抬头,然后就看见一双酒红色的眸子盯着自己,锥生零连惊呼的劲儿都没有了,他觉得自己的灵魂仿佛都掉入了这酒红色的漩涡之中。脸不禁开始发烫。
  “我说……死小鬼你该不会爱上我了吧。”
  看着那眼眸中明显的戏谑,锥生零一瞬间恢复了冷静,他推开玖兰枢的头,“死小孩,要喜欢也不是喜欢你,优姬比你可爱多了。”话刚说完,锥生零的手就被玖兰枢狠狠的抓住,“你干什么?这么用劲干什么?”
  “你不许喜欢优姬。”
  听了玖兰枢的话,锥生零突然觉得很难过,早就知道玖兰枢喜欢的人是优姬……啊……不是,是早就知道优姬喜欢的是玖兰枢不是自己,但是……玖兰枢怎么可以喜欢优姬?啊!自己到底在想什么啊!
  “喂,你听见我的话没有?”
  没听见!锥生零一把甩开玖兰枢的手,倒在床上用被子把自己给蒙起来。然而,被子却被玖兰枢给掀开,锥生零感觉玖兰枢骑在了自己的身上。
  “你不许喜欢优姬,听见没有!”
  “没听见!”
  “不喜欢优姬,听见没有!”玖兰枢狠狠的掐了锥生零一下。
  “你凭什么不让我喜欢优姬!”锥生零疼的眼泪水都快要出来了。
  “因为……”玖兰枢愣了下,“因为我喜欢优姬!她是我的。”
  “我……我……”锥生零被玖兰枢堵的说不出话来,“我也喜欢优姬!他才不是你的!”你也不是他的……
  ‘啪!’
  玖兰枢打了锥生零一巴掌,然后就呆呆的看着自己的手,显然没想到自己会动手打锥生零。    锥生零也呆了,他觉得自己的脸肿了,因为那儿正火辣辣的疼,当然……莫名其妙的……心也跟着疼。眼泪止不住的涌出眼眶,“玖兰枢……我讨厌你……”
  “我……”玖兰枢恢复过来,“我也不需要你喜欢。”说完,下了床,拿着书走出了房门。    玖兰枢走后,锥生零坐起来,抱着双腿,他突然感到害怕,为什么,突然觉得自己不是在嫉妒玖兰枢,而是在嫉妒……优姬……天啊,这有多可怕,没人能理解,锥生零觉得自己内心原本坚持的一些东西正在慢慢的改变。
  想不通……那就……不要呆在这里好了。这样想着,锥生零下了床,衣服也没换,鞋子也不穿,直接从窗户跳了下去。“疼……”锥生零摸摸直接与地面接触的屁股,看看玖兰枢房间的窗户,原来是二楼,而自己如今变得这么短小,不摔疼就怪了。“死小孩,优姬住地下,那你住一楼不就好了?住什么二楼啊!”
偶是o(∩_∩)o的分割线
  玖兰枢坐在客厅的沙发上,胡乱的翻着手中的书,内容是一点也没有看进去,拿起杯子喝了一口咖啡,突然觉得很苦,玖兰枢皱起眉,那个死小鬼……应该不会有事吧。自己其实……该死的,怎么就打下去了呢?
  “枢,在烦恼些什么吗?”玖兰悠问道,从玖兰枢出房门的那一刻开始,自己就一直在观察这他,一开始,脸色很不好,似乎是很生气的样子,看书的时候,没过多久眼睛就停留在纸上发呆,喝咖啡的时候……居然皱眉了,这可是……从来都没有过的事情。
  “没有。”玖兰枢平静的说道。
  “是吗?”玖兰悠问道,“零……醒了吗?”
  “不知道。”
  唉……玖兰悠无声的叹气,果然是在和零闹矛盾啊。
  “枢哥哥……”优姬跑到玖兰枢的身边,“枢哥哥,我们和零哥哥一起玩嘛。”    “不行。”玖兰枢面无表情的说道。
  “可是……可是优姬都还没有和零哥哥说过话。”优姬可怜兮兮的看着玖兰枢。“枢哥哥……”    “优姬乖……他死了。”玖兰枢说道,就是不想让你和他说话。玖兰枢突然抬起头,自己刚才再想什么?
  “呜……”优姬大大的眼睛里溢满了泪水,她快速的扑向玖兰悠,“爸爸——!枢哥哥把零哥哥杀死了!”
  “好了好了,枢哥哥不会这么做的。”玖兰悠安慰道,“枢,你别这么说,把优姬吓到了。”    “枢哥哥好可怕……呜……”优姬边哭边控诉着玖兰枢,“优姬还没和零哥哥一起玩……呜……”
  玖兰枢放下书,站起身子,“我去找零下来。”
  来到房间门口,玖兰枢顿住了,零……会不会还在哭?摇摇头,应该不会吧,这样想着,玖兰枢打开门。“零?”窗户敞开着,窗帘被风吹的不停的飘扬,房间里什么都没缺,唯独不见了零,“零?”
  你……到哪儿去了……

从0开始 part 05

Posted by ♫ Vampire_Ashleyuu ツ ღ
第5章
锥生零一个人走在大街上,现在也不知道是几点,反正不是人类会活动的时间。锥生零撇撇嘴,都是玖兰枢那个死小孩,他居然打自己,锥生零摸摸脸,还疼着呢!不过……自己不过是被打了一巴掌而已,想以前在黑主学园的时候,玖兰枢对自己何止是打一巴掌这么简单?    “呵呵……”锥生零笑了笑,记得有一次,玖兰枢把指甲陷入自己的皮肤……那个时候自己只觉得屈辱,现在想一想……真是血淋淋的让人心痛。
  算了,不想那个死小孩了。锥生零摇摇头,把玖兰枢从大脑里驱逐出去。可是……锥生零悲哀的发现,如果不想玖兰枢,那么大脑就是空的。难道,玖兰枢已经占满了自己的全部?优姬呢?自己心中的优姬……到哪里去了……
  锥生零突然发现想着玖兰枢的时候自己莫名的痛苦,而不想着玖兰枢的时候……那就是一种折磨,因为,那让自己发现了一件事情,那就是自己根本就无法不去想玖兰枢。
  不会的,锥生零猛的对着身边的墙狠狠的捶了上去,自己想的是死小孩,不是玖兰枢……啊!死小孩和玖兰枢明明就是同一个人!这下子,锥生零是彻底的悲哀了……
  “小朋友,这么晚了,你一个人在这里做什么?
  锥生零回过头,看见一个男人不知道什么时候来到了自己的身后,这个人是吸血鬼!锥生零看见那人突然变红的眼睛,往后退了一步。
  “小朋友,你的血……似乎非常的美味。”
  锥生零转身就跑,该死的,为什么血蔷薇之枪没和自己一起过来。突然,锥生零踩到一块石头,石头深深的扎进脚掌里,虽然没有破,但是好疼……锥生零一个趔趄,摔倒在地,胳膊蹭破了皮,手掌也不可幸免。
  “小朋友,给我你的血,我带你回家……”那人见锥生零身上受了伤,对鲜血的欲望更加浓烈了。
  不要!锥生零爬起来,继续跑,但是,他现在只是个小孩子,哪里跑得过一个大人?当锥生零反映过来的时候,他已经被扑倒在地上。感觉到獠牙触上自己的脖子,锥生零紧紧的闭上眼睛。一瞬间,他想到了玖兰枢,记得优姬说过,她小时候也曾经遇到过这种情况,可是,那个时候玖兰枢救了她,现在,谁会来救自己?还是说,从自己到玖兰家开始,一切根本就是个梦。    突然,锥生零听见‘噗!’的一声,仿佛是血肉崩裂的声音,浓浓的血腥味渗了开来,压在自己身上的吸血鬼也好像消失了一般。锥生零爬起来,看见一个人站在自己面前,锥生零没有抬头。    “零,你没事吧!”玖兰枢走上前去抓住锥生零的手,“你受伤了!”
  锥生零低着头,一把甩开玖兰枢的手,“谁要你管,死小孩,你走开。”    “零……”玖兰枢担忧的看着零,“我不是故意要打你的。”
  “我知道,你只是忍不住了。”锥生零说着,抬起手,看着被擦破的胳膊和手掌,“死小孩,你怎么来了。”
  “我当然是担心你才来的,回到房间就发现你不见了,衣服也不换,鞋子也不穿,而且,夜里正是吸血鬼活动的时间,如果你遇上危险了怎么办?”
  “我觉得我还是被吸血鬼给咬死比较好。”锥生零说道。
  “零,你怎么这样说。”玖兰枢有些生气了,明明自己就是十分担心的来找他,看到他被吸血鬼袭击自己差点把这一片全部毁了,要不是怕伤了他,自己才不会连发动攻击都变得如此小心翼翼。    “你不怕我回去之后和你抢优姬吗?”锥生零抬起头,反正总要抬头的,总不能一辈子低着头吧。以前的自己哪儿去了?就算是小孩子也不能示弱。
  “你!”玖兰枢抬起手。
  锥生零下意识的再次低头,把脸埋在膝盖里。可是疼痛并没有到来,反而感觉有人在摸自己的头,然后,自己被拥进一个并不宽厚但却十分温暖的怀抱。
  “零,为什么总是拿优姬来刺激我?”玖兰枢抱着锥生零,现在,他也不太清楚自己此时的想法了,明明,优姬才是自己最总要的人。“零,我们回家吧,爸爸和妈妈,都很担心你。”玖兰枢想了想,“优姬……也很担心你,她现在正在讨厌我呢,她以为……我把你杀了。”    “呵呵……”听了玖兰枢的话,锥生零笑出声音来,“优姬会讨厌你?”真难得啊……    “那你到底回不回家。”
  锥生零点了点头。玖兰枢放开锥生零,把他扶起来,“我背你回去吧。”玖兰枢看着一双嫩白的小脚说道。
  “不要!”锥生零立刻拒绝,“我……我我……能走!”
  “可是,你受伤了。”玖兰枢说道,“今天吃饭的时候也是我把你背回房间的。”    “好吧。”锥生零还是答应了,在锥生零眼中,现在的玖兰枢正介于始祖型与童年型之间,那么偶尔欺压一下这个死小孩也好。
偶是o(∩_∩)o的分割线
  回到家里,锥生零和玖兰枢就看见玖兰悠和玖兰树里正坐在沙发上面等着自己,优姬趴在沙发上面睡着了。
  “悠叔叔,树里姐姐。”锥生零说道,“对不起,害你们担心了。”
  “零,没事吧。”玖兰树里站起来走到锥生零和玖兰枢的身边,“都是枢不好,我替你打他。”说着,在玖兰枢的头上猛捶了几下。
  玖兰枢被玖兰树里打,可是他也不反抗。因为……被打的时候自己的脸就会歪向一旁,然后就会和零的脸靠在一起。玖兰枢微微笑了下。
  玖兰树里停下手,疑惑的看着玖兰枢,“枢,你受伤了吗?”
  “没有。”
  “那为什么……我打你,你还笑?”
  玖兰枢看了自己的妈妈一眼,“你看错了。”然后背着锥生零回到房间。    “刚才你笑了吧。”回到房间后,锥生零说道。
  “去洗澡。”玖兰枢说着,眼中有微微的笑意,“死小鬼。”
  “死小孩!”锥生零走进浴室,‘砰!’的一声关上门。泡在水里,锥生零把身上的血迹洗干净,感觉手臂和手掌一阵阵的痛,自己差点儿忘记了,自己的手掌和手臂都破了。想到手掌和手臂受伤的原因,锥生零陷入沉思。现在的自己……根本就无法自保,除非永远不出玖兰家的大门。但是……就算不出玖兰家的大门,这里也不会安全吧,自己差点忘了,那个千年不灭的老不死玖兰李土,现在应该没有死吧。
  而现在,正是十年前的玖兰家,也就是说,玖兰李土就快要来了,但是具体又是哪一天?自己是不是能保住玖兰家?锥生零苦笑,不可能的吧,现在,只是多了一个什么都不会的自己而已,凭什么保住玖兰家?
  可是……锥生零闭上眼睛,也许自己喜欢上玖兰枢了,但是……自己不希望在经过玖兰李土的事情之后玖兰枢就陷入黑暗,自己也不希望玖兰悠和玖兰树里死去。
  要是……永远都这么和谐该有多好……
  正在锥生零沉思的时候,玖兰枢推门走了进来,“死小鬼。”
  “怎么了。”锥生零睁开眼睛。
  “你受伤了吧。”说着,玖兰枢走到浴池旁边,抬起锥生零受伤的那只手,伸出舌头,轻轻的在伤口上面舔舐。
  锥生零猛的缩回手,皱起眉,虽然现在大家都是小孩子,可是……可是毕竟自己认识长大以后的玖兰枢啊!他这样做……会让自己感觉很奇怪。
  “怎么了?”玖兰枢皱着眉问道,“我只是帮你疗伤而已。”说完,玖兰枢就一直看着锥生零。    原来是帮自己疗伤啊,疗伤也不能这样啊!看着那双酒红色的眸子,锥生零感觉自己的脸突然火烧一样,“不……不是……呃……我只是觉得有些痒。”
  “是吗?”玖兰枢说道。
  “嗯。”
  “就算痒,也不能不治疗。“说着,又伸出舌头。
  锥生零的手被玖兰枢用劲的抓住,看着伤口渐渐愈合,锥生零才把手抽出来,“好……好了……”
  “嗯……”玖兰枢站起身子,“洗好了就去睡觉吧。”说完就走出了浴室。    待玖兰枢走后,锥生零又用水洗了洗身子,然后站起来,把身体擦干。走出浴室的时候,锥生零发现玖兰枢已经躺在床上了,而且闭着眼睛,好像睡着了。锥生零看看外面的天空,早晨了吧!锥生零摇摇头,不知道这段时间自己的作息时间会不会被改造?
  “你怎么还不睡?”玖兰枢突然睁开眼睛,酒红色的眸子仿佛蒙了层薄雾似的,明显的属于困倦状态中。
  “那个……我睡哪儿?”锥生零问道。
  玖兰枢慢慢的爬起来,在床上坐了会儿,然后眼睛突然变红,锥生零就听见‘砰!’的一声,转过身,一个漂亮的水晶器皿就这样报销了。
  “那个……你怎么了?”难道自己打扰他睡觉了?锥生零十分不解的看着玖兰枢。    “死小鬼。”玖兰枢重新躺下身子,面对着锥生零,“你当然和我一起睡。”    听了玖兰枢的话,锥生零怔了怔,然后踌躇了半天,最后也爬上床,钻进了被子。突然,一只手臂横上来压住自己,“死小孩把你的手拿下去!”
  “零……我想保护优姬……”
  “我知道。”锥生零心痛了,自己倒是忘了,再怎么和谐的生活,也不会只有自己和玖兰枢,优姬……那个自己曾经想要守护的女孩,她不可能不存在。
  “但是……我也想保护你……”
  听着耳边渐渐沉稳的呼吸声,锥生零轻轻的转了身,然后向玖兰枢靠近了些,死小孩,你也想保护我吗?锥生零抱住玖兰枢,够了……谢谢……如果以后我突然不见了,你千万不要想我。    是啊,世事难料,谁知道自己会不会突然回到原来那个世界?

从0开始 part 06

Posted by ♫ Vampire_Ashleyuu ツ ღ
第6章
第二天,锥生零睁开眼睛的时候玖兰枢已经醒了,啊……说是第二天,嗯……是第二天的晚上吧!锥生零揉揉眼睛,眼神慢慢恢复了焦距。“死小孩,你干什么一直盯着我看!”
“呵呵……”玖兰枢轻声笑道,“死小鬼。”说着,用手指轻轻的点了点锥生零的嘴唇,“今天……有人要来。”
“你……你干什么?”锥生零完全忽略玖兰枢刚才说的话,而是……盯着那根点着自己唇的手指看了好半天。
“没什么。”玖兰枢平静的说道,“每次妈妈生气的时候,爸爸就会这样做,然后妈妈就不会不开心了。零,你有没有突然开心起来?”
锥生零看着一脸理所当然的玖兰枢,想到那冰凉的手指在自己唇上滑过的感觉,然后翻过身把背对着玖兰枢,“没有!”真是的,一个不过八岁的小孩子玩什么情调?
“原来是这样啊。”玖兰枢慢悠悠的说道,“被骗了。”
两人都不说话,如此安静的时候,锥生零才想起玖兰枢刚才说的话,“你说,今天有人要来?”  “谁?”
“一群和你一样的小鬼。”
该不会是……锥生零突然有了不好的预感,想到了在黑主学园时那几个跟在玖兰枢身后的男男女女……“是吗?”
“啊……是啊。”玖兰枢说着,突然把锥生零强行的转过来,“不过他们都没有你可爱。”  “是吗?”此时的锥生零根本就没有意识到自己在问什么,反而摸摸自己的脸,然后再看看玖兰枢,“你也很可爱。”
玖兰枢笑了笑,“零最可爱了!”
锥生零很想说,玖兰枢你忘了更加可爱的优姬了吧,可是,这句话却没有说出口,还是不要说这么容易激起争端的话题比较好吧。
‘咚咚咚!’“枢,零,起床了哦,客人都来了。”玖兰树里在门外说道。  
“妈妈,我们已经起来了。”
“嗯。那快点哦!”
玖兰枢坐起来,看了看身边的锥生零,锥生零也坐起来,同样看了看玖兰枢,就这样重复的看了对方几眼之后,两人都发现自己所做的事情是多么的幼稚,然后推开被子下了床。  
刷牙,洗脸,两个人挤在镜子面前,动作很机械。把脸擦干净,锥生零又对着镜子里小小的自己看了很久,然后就发现玖兰枢也正在看着他自己,眼神有些复杂。一瞬间,锥生零觉得眼前的这个人是十年后的玖兰枢。
突然,玖兰枢笑笑,“零,我们下去吧。”
锥生零一下楼,就看见了几个自己熟悉却又不熟悉的吸血鬼。
锥生零看着眼前一起鞠躬的人,难道是训练过的?这么整齐,转头看向玖兰枢,他只是略微的点了点头,和平时与自己相处的样子完全不同。锥生零开始走神了,现在的自己,是不是玖兰枢心中……有点不同的存在?
“枢大人……啊——!”蓝堂英比较‘活泼’,他兴冲冲的跑到最前面想和玖兰枢来一个近距离接触,可是谁知到,才走到楼梯口,那个一直跟着玖兰枢下来的小孩就猛的扑在了自己的身上。  
其实,锥生零也只是因为在走神,所以没看脚下的楼梯而已,然后……居然不疼?锥生零睁开眼睛,入眼的是一双好大好大的蓝眼睛,白皙的皮肤,看起来像个混血,好漂亮的好可爱的……蓝堂英啊……
而蓝堂英也在此时睁开了眼睛,哇!蓝堂英发出一声叹息,好漂亮的眼睛啊,这个人是谁?他好像不是吸血鬼,但是,为什么长的这么漂亮?大大的眼睛,银色的头发,还有皮肤……蓝堂英伸出手摸摸压在自己身上人的脸,好滑啊!
“零……”“啊?”‘砰!’
锥生零听见玖兰枢在叫自己,然后就下意识的应答,结果……就听见了东西破碎的声音,接着,手臂一痛,整个人就被玖兰枢拽了起来。
“他是我的。”玖兰枢说着,就面无表情的牵着锥生零的手坐到餐桌前锥生零下意识的回头看蓝堂英,不知道他会不会讨厌自己呢?以前在黑主学园的时候蓝堂英就充分的表现出对自己的厌恶,如今,玖兰枢这样说,自己是肯定会被再次讨厌了。唉……难得见到这么可爱的一群小吸血鬼。
然而,另锥生零惊讶的是,他看到的并不是厌恶,而是满脸的憧憬,“那个……你好,我叫……零……”多可爱的孩子啊,眼睛还一闪一闪的
“零大人!”蓝堂英脱口而出,他看着眼前的银发男孩,这个人一定很厉害吧,枢大人这么喜欢他,一瞬间,蓝堂英仿佛找到了又一个崇拜对象似的奔向眼前的人。
锥生零好笑的看着蓝堂英,本以为蓝堂英一定会扑上来,然而,在距离自己一米远的时候,蓝堂英停了下来,然后一脸恭敬的向后退,直至退到瑠佳他们那里去。锥生零觉得奇怪,突然,他感觉到了一阵刺人的视线,回过头,玖兰枢正盯着自己。
“零很喜欢他?”玖兰枢的声音里面不带一丝温度,仿佛正在询问一件与自己无关的事情。  “也不是很喜欢……”锥生零吞吞吐吐的说道,“可是……他真的好可爱,而且长的很漂亮啊!”“是吗?”“呃……”“那零就去和他们玩吧。”玖兰枢优雅的说道,“不用吃饭了。”说完,顺便瓦解掉锥生零手中的玻璃瓶。
锥生零看着玻璃的碎片,再看看自己满是鲜血的手,记忆仿佛回到了黑主学园,那个……对自己十分恶劣的玖兰枢。“你……”“还不快去?”
一滴眼泪流出来,锥生零感觉委屈极了!比以前优姬选择与玖兰枢离开还要委屈,自己明明什么都没有做,为什么要生气?“快点。”
玖兰枢就像没看到锥生零哭泣的脸一样,完全公式化的声音让锥生零一下子就跑下座位,然后往蓝堂英他们的方向走去。
“我来……和你们一起……”锥生零第一次觉得自己说话的时候是如此的可怜。“零——!”蓝堂英最兴奋了,他立刻把零拉入自己的圈子内,“零是枢大人的什么人啊?”蓝堂英十分的好奇,一双大眼睛不停的眨着。“英,窥探别人的隐私是不对的。”架院晓说道。“可是我真的很想知道嘛。”蓝堂英垂下头,“而且他长的那么漂亮。”“这样啊……”架院晓盯着锥生零仔仔细细的看了一遍,然后,仰起脸,“你和枢大人是什么关系?”
锥生零看着眼前两张充满好奇的小脸以及时不时抬头仰望自己一下的瑠佳,还有远处对着自己微笑的一条拓麻……锥生零的心中感觉更委屈了。为什么这些人都变了,可是玖兰枢那个死小孩……开心的时候对自己温柔,不开心的时候可以打自己,现在自己受伤了他也不会管一下。“我……我……”就在这个时候,锥生零看见玖兰枢慢慢的向自己走来,然后……擦肩而过……锥生零憋住快要掉下来的眼泪,才不要为这个死小孩哭!“我们……什么关系都没有……”  

从0开始 part 07

Posted by ♫ Vampire_Ashleyuu ツ ღ
第7章
  “啊……这样啊……”听见锥生零这样说,蓝堂英的小脸上满是失望的表情,然后他抬起头看了看锥生零,突然又笑的一脸灿烂,“那零和我做好朋友吧!”
  锥生零看了看满脸期待的蓝堂英,“好!”
  ‘砰!’
  锥生零抬头,看见玖兰枢的房门被用力的关了起来。锥生零想,唉……这大概就是吵架吧……可是,自己好难过。
  整个晚上,锥生零都一直闷闷不乐的,除了看到蓝堂英搞笑的样子时会笑一下,其他时间一直都板着张脸,因为从玖兰枢进屋之后,就再也没有出来过。也许,他是再也不想理自己了,说什么也想保护自己,那都是骗人的吧!锥生零悲哀的想。
  “零,怎么一个人在这里,不和他们一起玩吗?”玖兰树里拿着一瓶红酒坐在锥生零的身旁,“和枢吵架了吗?”
  锥生零看了看玖兰树里,然后点了点头,“他不理我了,莫名其妙的。”    唉……枢是在吃醋吧!玖兰树里这样子想到,然后摸了摸锥生零的头发,“零现在很难过吗?”    “嗯。”锥生零使劲儿的点点头。
  “那零想不想开心一点?”
  “想。”锥生零又点点头。
  “那喝一点吧。”玖兰树里把手中的红酒递到锥生零的面前,“喝一点就不会难过了。”呵呵……喝醉了就好了呢!到时候枢一定不会不管零的。
  锥生零接过杯子,然后张开嘴喝了一小口,接着把杯子还给了玖兰树里。    “怎么了?”玖兰树里看着动作明显变的有些机械的锥生零问道。
  锥生零摇摇头,然后一头栽倒在沙发上。
  “啊!悠!零他昏过去了!”玖兰树里十分惊讶的看着锥生零,他好像只不过是喝了一小口红酒吧!怎么……连喝醉的过程都省了,直接昏过去了?
  “把他抱到枢的房间吧。”玖兰悠看着沙发上的锥生零,即使再优雅也忍不住嘴角要抽搐一下,这孩子……
  就在玖兰悠的手碰到锥生零的时候,锥生零突然坐了起来,眼睛里没有焦距,一副昏昏沉沉的样子。他看着眼前的玖兰悠,然后伸出小手捧住玖兰悠的脸,仔细的看了看……呜……不对……死小孩没有这么大……放开玖兰悠,锥生零步伐不稳的跑向在一旁玩乐的蓝堂英等人。    “零你怎么啦?”蓝堂英跑到锥生零面前,睁大眼睛看着迷迷糊糊的锥生零。    锥生零看着眼前的人,个子和自己差不多,皮肤也滑滑的,长的也很漂亮,应该是死小孩吧!想到这里,锥生零张开双臂缠到蓝堂英的身上,“枢……”然后在蓝堂英的脸上狠狠的亲了一口,“呵呵……”
  玖兰枢在房间里听着门外小孩子打闹的声音他就觉得十分不爽,特别是那个蓝堂英,凭什么吸引零的注意力?而且,零还答应要和他做好朋友!想都别想!这样想着,玖兰枢打开房门,然后看见了隐藏在角落里的优姬。
  “枢哥哥……”优姬轻声叫道。
  “怎么了,优姬?”玖兰枢看着优姬,为了保护优姬,不能让别人知道优姬的存在,平时优姬都是乖乖的呆在地下的屋子里,从来不会到地面来,怎么今天跑出来了?玖兰枢有些疑惑。    “枢哥哥……枢哥哥是不是很喜欢零哥哥啊?”优姬扑闪着大眼睛问道。    “这……”
  “可是优姬也很喜欢枢哥哥呀!”
  “我也……喜欢你……”玖兰枢抱住优姬,但是……这并不是……爱……玖兰枢被自己的想法吓到了,明明自己爱的就是优姬,现在怎么又说这种话?如果这不是爱,那自己爱的又是谁?    “可是……可是……优姬又觉得枢哥哥和零哥哥好配哦!每次看到枢哥哥和零哥哥在一起,优姬就觉得好幸福,比枢哥哥和优姬在一起感觉还要幸福呢!可是……”优姬皱着眉,心里正在天人交战之中,“枢哥哥……你和零哥哥定血契吧,这样你们就能一直在一起了!”很显然,小优姬已经想通了,虽然没人知道她是如何想通的。
  血契……传说几百年前一个吸血鬼爱上了一个人类,由于人类的生命与吸血鬼是无法等恒的,于是吸血鬼便吸了那个人类的血,然后又将自己的血哺入人类的口中,从此,人类的体内进行了一次‘大换血’,人类变成了吸血鬼,体内留着与吸血鬼相同的血液。
  可是,自己与零到了这种地步吗?大家都是小孩子,真的有爱存在吗?如果与零定血契的话,那么零也就成了一个纯血种的吸血鬼了……可是……如果自己是……爱上零的话,那么优姬又算是怎样的存在呢?
  “枢哥哥……”
  “怎么了?”
  “零哥哥正在亲那个金发的哥哥诶!”说完,优姬就慢慢的爬回自己的房间。    什么!玖兰枢快速的走到楼梯口,然后就看见了被零抱着已经石化了的蓝堂英,而且,零还口中念念有词的亲着蓝堂英的脸!玖兰枢立刻走下楼梯,不……说飞下楼梯也许更准确一点。玖兰枢来到两人身边,然后用力的将零和蓝堂英给分开来。
  “你在做什么?”玖兰枢抓着锥生零的胳膊问道。
  “呜……枢……”锥生零已经完全的被酒精冲昏了头脑,也就是所谓的发酒疯,他向蓝堂英挥动着小手,“枢……救命……”
  玖兰枢把锥生零转过来,用手把锥生零的头固定住,“我!才!是!枢!”    “呜……”锥生零看着那双酒红色的眼眸,眼中泛出泪花,“怕怕……”    “枢很喜欢这个孩子啊。”一条拓麻拿着酒杯微笑着看着眼前的一切。
  “闭嘴。”玖兰枢说道,周围的温度瞬间下降了不少。
  “冷冷……怕怕……”
  “和我回房间!”
  “放开……坏坏!”
  “和我回房间!”玖兰枢忍不住发火了。
  锥生零不再挣扎,而是可怜兮兮的看着玖兰枢,眼睛一眨一眨的,每眨一次眼眶中就多了一层薄雾,然后看了看自己被拽红的手腕,“哇——!”
  嚎啕大哭……
  看见哭成这样的锥生零,玖兰枢虽然无奈,可是心却突然一下子软了。他把零抱在怀里,柔声的说道,“零,我们回房间好不好?对不起哦……对你这么凶……”
  “呜……呜……”在玖兰枢的安慰下,锥生零渐渐由大哭转变为了轻轻的呜咽。    “乖……”
  “抱抱……”
  玖兰枢把锥生零背起来,然后回过头狠狠的看了蓝堂英一眼,可是,他发现蓝堂英正傻傻的看着自己,一点反应都没有。唉……估计给吓到了吧。
  回到房间,玖兰枢把迷迷糊糊的锥生零放到床上,拿着锥生零的睡衣给他换上,啊……说到底,这件衣服一开始还是自己的呢!
  锥生零被脱光了衣服,感觉冷气来袭,于是不安分的动了动,玖兰枢费了好大的劲儿才帮锥生零把衣服给穿好,然后把人推进被子里,自己也上了床。睡在锥生零身边,玖兰枢发现身旁的人不停的翻滚,于是他爬起来,把锥生零摆成一个大字型,接着自己压上去。
  由于被玖兰枢压着,锥生零也渐渐不动了,过了会儿就安稳的睡着了。玖兰枢把头埋在锥生零的颈边,慢慢的闭上了眼睛。
  两个小孩子心贴着心,头靠着头,就这样睡着了。