AN:

Four chapters in four days! Would you believe I started writing this on a whim four days ago and I still work a 9-5 job? I'm just spoiling you guys. I should probably edit more, but it always drives me nuts waiting to see what happens next when I read other folks' stories. So, I figure if I have to go back and add a punctuation mark later, you'll all live.

Thanks for reviews.

Michi Leona, I tried to clarify things for you. Thanks for pointing out that some of it is confusing. It is a flashback, as you suspected, and I tweaked it to make it clear that Takuma is the "spy." There's also now a paragraph near the end of chapter three that clarifies that Kaname was simply assuming that Takuma was spying for his grandfather (although maybe he really was, muahaha). I kind of meant for it to be vague until the confrontation in Kaname's room, but hopefully it works better now!

Anyway, get reading.

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THE EVENING AFTER THE LAST CHAPTER

Kain was decidedly uncomfortable.

Kaname was in his room sulking, Zero was in his room sulking. Yuki was in the forest green wingback chair across from Kain sulking because Zero and Kaname were sulking. Aidou would start smiling around the room cheerily, only to get notice the drab atmosphere and start sulking. A few minutes later he'd try smiling again. Then there was Rima and Shiki.

They were lounging on a pink couch overflowing with cushions and pillows. Rima would nudge Shiki.

"Ne, Shiki…"

Shiki raised an eyebrow.

Rima turned her head toward him with a blank face.

He turned his head toward hers.

Rima shrugged a shoulder with a sigh.

Shiki tilted his head.

Rima sighed again.

Shiki sighed.

They turned their heads forward again.

Shiki held the box of pocky out across the couch, and Rima grabbed two sticks and munched quietly.

"Ne, Shiki…"

Dear goodness, Kain had just caught himself twitching again. Please make it stop.

A knock on the sitting room door answered his plea. On second thought, their options were that behind that door was a stressed Kaname, a disgruntle Zero or some fiendish vampire or hunter come to kill them all. Maybe the last option wouldn't be so bad.

But in walked Kaname, tangible cloud of…was that gloom hanging over head?

Kaname stood there for a bit before, Kain jumped from his seat to relocate to the piano bench, opening his chair for Kaname. However, the pure blood just stood there a bit more.

"Uhh, Kaname?" Kain held his breath as Aidou made an attempt at conversation. Such daring!

Silence.

"Remember when I went to the docks three days ago to scout out that Level E hideout we just raided?" Aidou asked.

He paused for a sign of acknowledgement but supposed the fact that Kaname hadn't turned and left was the best sign he was going to get.

"Well, I thought, well, there was this other warehouse along there with other vampires. I think I mentioned it. Lots of vampires down that way. I saw, well, I thought I saw, but I thought it was impossible at the time, so I had to be wrong, but…"

Kain wondered where on earth his cousin was trying to go with this.

"IthoughtIsawIchijou…but just for a moment. It couldn't have been, or I thought, umm…"

Everyone was staring at Aidou now, including Zero in the doorway. Rima took the box of pocky from Shiki. A moment later the box connected soundly with Aidou's head.

"Yeah, so I should have mentioned it, obviously, but it was only for a second. I sat there five hours and didn't see any sign of someone who looked like him again. I was sure I was mistaken, you know? I mean he died."

"He's not dead," Shiki was surprised to realize he had spoken the words at the same time as Kaname.

"Where?" Zero asked.

"Zero cares!" Yuki broke the tension with a cheer, throwing a fist in the air.

Zero sweat dropped, "He has the scroll Yuki."

"Oh." Yuki said with a pout, but a much more amiable pout than 10 minutes ago.

"Where?" Kaname repeated the question.

"Like I said, one of the warehouses by the sea," Aidou explained. "I don't know what it was called, but I'd definitely remember how to find it again. It had serious security and whoever owns it must have money. I thought, well, I figured it must be a pure blood's."

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ONE DAY LATER

"He's going to kill you if we don't find Kaname," Kain leaned over to Aidou's ear from where they were perched on a park bench across the street from a massive pale blue warehouse. The park was clearly meant for the dock workers who lived in the deteriorating apartments at the end of the lane. A few families were walking past a little duck pond, and a small child in a kiddy sailor uniform was playing on a swing.

"Kill me? Shiki or Kaname? And Zero will send a bullet through me, too, if the scroll isn't here."

"More than one bullet I'd suspect," Kain replied.

Then he nearly tipped forward out of his seat, when Snowflake caught sight of a squirrel and ran between Kain's legs and under the bench with his leash still looped around Kain's hand. Snowflake was the fluffy, white pooch Yuki and Rima had come across during the second half of their dash to the mansion. Rima had been skeptical of the muddy paws, but Yuki's eyes had shot to the size of tea saucers and when the eyes started sparkling, Rima knew she was doomed.

Now Snowflake was on a mission. Yuki was convinced Aidou and Kain would look less suspicious staking out the warehouse if they were walking the dog at the same time. The dog, Kain had pointed out, had no training. Yuki assured him Snowflake was clearly a fine dog and must have been well-trained under his previous owner.

The well-trained dog was now attempting to yank Kain's arm off while dragging him under the bench. Kain had to admit, he probably didn't look much like a spy at the moment.

"Kain, pay attention."

"Oh, right, Aidou. Pardon my interruption," Kain nearly achieved sarcasm as he slowly reeled in the dog.

When he looked up, Kain noticed something was indeed finally happening. The gate to the compound was slowly opening for a convoy of flashy SUVs.

The chain-link fence topped with barbed wire rattled open. They watched the vehicles proceed to the second fence, this one concrete, topped with more wire and blocking any view of the inside. The warehouse loomed up behind it, with just a few windows in the far corner. The convoy disappeared through the second gate, and the guards began to pace the perimeter once more.

"The fences would be easy, but that can't be everything," Kain thought out loud.

"If it's a pure blood, there are bound to be blood protections. Maybe even stuff like what the NeoC are doing," Aidou frowned at the words.

The NeoC were apparently experimenting with sacrifice magic. That is what Kaname had told them all after speaking with Zero about his experience with the two NeoC henchmen with the odd accents.

The stone Zero had heard them speak of was a blood stone, and a blood stone apparently absorbed vampiric power released when a vampire's blood was spilled. The NeoC were using it to gauge how many sacrifices they needed for some sort of spell. Blood was a powerful thing, and it sickened the former Cross Academy students to picture someone using it in such a way.

Vampires all had heightened senses and the more powerful their blood, the more magic-like skills they possessed. A jolt of lightning, the ability to manipulate a whip of blood, or, for a pure blood like Kaname, the ability to shatter a wall of windows with a small bout of anger.

Vampire blood magic pooled the blood of others to cast spells no one vampire could manage. This is how Kaname came to the conclusion that the NeoC wanted the scroll, and if they wanted it, other people probably knew about it, too. Blood magic could ensnare a thousand humans with the ease that Aidou's pheromones could win them over. It was all the same principle, and it was supposedly only one of many sacrifice spells outlined in the scroll.

So, if someone in this fortress of a warehouse by the sea had the scroll, that person would be dangerous. Not that any of them could quite picture something associated with Takuma as a danger to themselves. The only time any of them had ever been on the receiving end of his katana was when Rima foolishly ripped a manga from his hands and threw it in the trash to get his attention. She'd had to pin back that section of hair back for weeks, although Takuma, with a murderous smile, had teased that his sword had simply trimmed a few split ends.

"I don't like this," Aidou spoke up from the bench, breaking Kain's train of thought.

After a few more minutes, the rest of Kaname's crew rounded a corner on the sidewalk, headed for the bench. This time Snowflake, the demon dog from hell, succeeded in pulling Kain off the bench, flat onto his stomach, as the dog raced for Yuki. Kain was on his feet in a flash.

"What a good boy! You've been helping big brothers Atasuki and Hanabusa haven't you? Yes you have!" Yuki giggled as it licked her face.

"The dog is already on first name basis with you two?" Rima asked, her blank face not betraying the fact that she was clearly loving this.

"Oh yes, we're such good buddies that we've decided to send him ahead as a scout in the warehou…" Aidou cut Kain off with an elbow to the ribs.

"So what have you found?" Kaname saved them.

"They come in, they go out. Shady vehicles, going through shady gates into shady compound, sir," Kain reported.

"And pure blood magic, too," Kaname verified, somehow perceiving it with those pure blood senses of his. He continued, "Our group couldn't get very close from the water, but they bring in big empty covered barges and they leave with piles of something under the tarps."

"Did you see Ichijou again?" Zero asked.

"Nope. The first time was just a glimpse of him through a car window at the gate. Most of the cars come in with the windows up," Aidou explained.

"So how do we know if he's really here? It might not even have been Ichijou the first time. Why would he come here? Why wouldn't he come to us?" Yuki wondered.

"I don't know, I just think he's in there," Aidou sighed.

"No, he's not."

Aidou prepared a retort, then looked around trying to figure out where the voice had originated. Kain pointed down with a bewildered look on his face, and Aidou felt a tug on his pants.

It was the little boy who had been playing on the swing.

"Oh ho ho. We're just playing a silly adult game. Pay us no mind little boy. We aren't sketchy adults at all. We're perfectly normal. Aren't we everyone," Yuki said (in a very sketchy fashion) as she squatted down beside the little redheaded boy. He couldn't be more than eight years old.

"No, you're talking about Takuma," the boy replied, rolling his eyes at the patronizing adults.

That caught their attention.

"You, you know Mr. Ichijou, little boy?" Yuki asked.

The child raised an eyebrow and Kaname intervened.

"Who are you?" Straight to the point as always, Kaname.

"My name is Moca. I would prefer not to give my last name to such a lot of shady characters. But pleased to make your acquaintance, and whose company am I in, might I inquire?"

"We're … friends of Takuma's," Kaname replied.

"Hmm, I give you the courtesy of my first name and that's all you have to offer?"

The child wasn't haughty, but he was wearing a mask of superiority. Moca was playing a game. He was testing them and it reminded Kaname of himself at that age.

"Your first name isn't very helpful. If I gave you my first name, you'd know who I was. That's not a fair trade," Kaname replied, not giving the child an inch. Moca seemed to respect the response.

"You're Kaname Kuran aren't you? Takuma told me about you," Moca's eyes were guarded, but when Kaname didn't immediately deny it, something akin to hope seemed to shine in the child's eyes.

"I told you he isn't here," Moca said. "He's with the mistress … but he's coming in two days."

Kaname's eyes were fierce and Moca seemed to like the reaction. He was pleased he knew something they didn't.

"All the important people come on the first of the month, and Takuma will come, too," Moca explained.

"Who is the mistress?" Shiki asked.

Moca pursed his lips at the interruption in his conversation with Kaname, but he answered anyway.

"I don't know. That's what the guards all say, that Takuma stays with the mistress. They don't worry about telling me just because I'm a kid. They're fools."

"And how do you know Takuma Ichijou?" Kaname asked.

"He's nice and not scary like the rest, at least not to me. Sometimes he comes to the park and pushes the swing for me," Moca commented.

It grated on Kaname's nerves that this boy spoke so flippantly about his almost-thought-dead follower/friend. The tone of the child's voice was calculated, as though he was showing off the fact that Takuma liked him more. Kaname almost wanted to give in and argue about that. He wanted to say that Takuma was loyal to Kaname to a degree this whelp couldn't begin to understand and put the boy in his place.

Instead he said: "And how can we trust you?"

"I don't know," Moca said. "I'm just a boy who rides the swing in the park. But those other vampires seemed to believe me, too. They said they'll be here Wednesday. Hmm, it's getting late. I'd better head home or my big sis will get mad."

The boy turned to leave and Kaname snatched his shoulder, nails digging in.

"What other vampires?"

"The level Es, oh, and the Neo Council goons. I think there might be two separate groups of level Es."

"Who are you?" Kaname demanded again.

"I told you, I'm Moca. Now let me go Mr. Kuran before I scream for the whole park to hear that you're trying to molest me and offer me chocolate if I get in your van with you."

Kaname didn't budge, but Yuki laughed awkwardly.

"Ah, Kaname, he really is a little boy. A fishy little boy, but we can't kidnap him," Yuki tried to reason.

"Why can't we?" Shiki asked, glowering daggers at the imp.

Kaname released the boy. He could tell by the child's eyes that they weren't going to get anymore answers, and the redhead really was just a boy.

Kaname turned to leave. Snowflake trying to follow, tail drooping.

"Kaname?" Yuki asked hesitantly, as he kept walking. "Er, thank you Moca."

"My pleasure. Don't get killed. It's dangerous down by the sea."

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AN: Ok, there we go. The plot thickens. Next time: Takuma makes his appearance…and so do a whole slew of vampires after the scroll. We'll get a little more from Kaname's childhood in the Ichiou mansion, too.

Please review!