Rima was a very quiet girl in general - some called her cold, or stoic, but she saw herself as just reserved. She reserved her energy for her best friend, Shiki Senri, for when the met up and played around childishly, eating pocky and bugging Takuma.

You wouldn't believe it if she was to tell you that - they were the ones who bugged Takuma.

It was one of their hobbies. When the three of them hung out, she and Shiki would bug him with strange questions, or pose rhetorical questions for him to answer. He would get flustered. What many saw as a "cheery personality" that Takuma had, was in fact his method of distraction, hoping that he could distract them from pestering him.

It was all in good fun though. Ah, she missed them…

Often she wished they were her brothers. But then she would realise that this meant she couldn't crush on them, because that would be incest (and that was usually only allowed in Pureblood families, for the means of preserving the purity of their blood). And she unfortunately was crushing on-

"Rima-chan, how much longer is this ride?"

She blinked, turning to the princess beside her. Yuuki could be a model. She was petite like Rima, but had a prettier face than her even. Of course, this was due to the Pureblood genes.

Incomparable beauty.

Rima sighed, "I'm not sure, I'd say around two hours, Yuuki-hime,"

When Yuuki had been made aware of her heritage, and re-announced as a princess, the dynamic had changed within the group. Though Rima was quite on the periphery of their "Inner Circle" group of friends - she was friends with Takuma, but not as close with Kaname - yet she still noticed the change.

Their Inner Circle was comprised itself of two smaller groups that interlinked.

Souen Ruka, Kain Akatsuki and Aidou Hanabusa had grown up very close together, since their families branched, and they stood on the side of the monarchy.

Ichijou Takuma had grown up with Kaname, and thus they were practically brothers. He later grew close to Shiki, and herself on extension.

Between the groups, Ruka and Rima made good friends - particularly because they could both complain and giggle about the boys together, and they understood the importance of clothes (well Takuma dressed well, she had to admi t- he was quite good with fashion. But Shiki was shockingly bad at choosing matching clothes. She had to dress him - which she wasn't completely complaining about).

When Yuuki came along, things changed.

Kaname had always been suspiciously involved with the supposedly Human girl, but when she had been revealed to be his sister, he had begun to spend time accommodating her and enjoying playing "big brother" with her.

Around this time, Shiki's relation to Kaname had been revealed. It had been a shock to see them related as cousins. The only feature they seemed to share was their dark auburn hair - trademark of Kuran genes. Kaname began turning his attentions to him as well, drawing him into the "family", since the three of them (Kaname, Yuuki and Shiki) were all that remained of the Kuran clan.

This left her and Takuma together for most of the time. They got on well together, and she had begun to enjoy his sole company. (he was a true gentleman)

Aidou and Ruka had fumed quietly at the invasion into their group by Yuuki. She was stealing even more of Kaname-sama's attention. Kain hadn't really been that bothered.

But there was this uncomfortable change in their group. She couldn't really explain it. Whenever they were all together in the common room at the Academy, they were fine. But when Yuuki was around, there were these "boundaries" that suddenly appeared. She couldn't feel comfortable like that. It was as if one of them were to offend Yuuki in a certain way, or to reveal something unpleasant about Vampire life (Kaname was introducing Yuuki to Vampire life very carefully to not spook her), Kaname would punish them.

She could hardly imagine Kaname punishing them.

He was an unusually kind Pureblood (from what horror stories she'd heard from other Pureblood clans), who rarely was angered to the point of violence.

He only disciplined Aidou when he was becoming "too much", or Ruka when she was "smothering him".

But there was this very real, detectable danger in the room whenever Yuuki was present. She could almost imagine Kaname being crouched over the dainty girl in a protective stance, daring anyone to corrupt her.

Rima found the change disturbing. She couldn't even be comfortable around her friends anymore.

Kaname had begun relying on her and Ruka to spend time around Yuuki, since they were "all girls, so they would get along fine", she rolled her eyes. Boys. They thought they could stick a bunch of girls together and expect them to get along fine? What were they? Puppies in a crate?

Since Ruka detested Yuuki, it had fallen on her to befriend the girl. It wasn't very difficult to do, to be fair. Yuuki was a very sweet girl, whose childish innocence was charming, and like her brother, she was incomparably kind.

"Rima-chan! Were you listening?"

"Eh?" she blinked again. Maybe that was a reason why people thought she was cold. She daydreamed too much. "Pardon me, I was not paying attention."

"Rima-chan…" Yuuki mock-scolded, grinning as she wagged her finger, "I was just asking you if you knew what Kuran Castle is like."

"Ah, no, I don't. I've never been there before. Takuma has though, and he told me many things."

"So? Tell me, tell me, please!"

Smiling a little, Rima said, "He said it is the most beautiful place in the world. It's a place he can imagine fairytales happening."

Yuuki's eyes twinkled and she giggled excitedly, unable to stop herself, Rima giggled too. It was rather exciting to be finally going to a place she had only ever heard of.

"I wish I could remember. Kaname told me I was there as a child. Well, I must have been, I guess. But I don't remember anything…" Yuuki whined. Rima laughed, patting her hand comfortingly.

"I'm sure it will all come back to you when we arrive."

Nodding, Yuuki grinned wildly again, bouncing in her seat like a sugar-high toddler. Rima laughed again. Yes, she liked Yuuki like this - when she wasn't with Kaname. With Kaname around, Yuuki somehow, despite being sweet and gentle, also became unintentionally deadly.

Kaname folded the packet of sweets and tucked them away. Barely a half a handful were left, but they'd been put to good use. Zero was walking beside him, his ridiculous wooden suitcase making a rattling sound every time it knocked against his leg as they walked in the tight spaces between the crowds of people.

There was, however, a marginal path that cleared wherever Kaname walked. That was one of the perks of being a Pureblood, he supposed - even Humans tended to give him his respectful space.

Zero shuffled behind, in his wake, making use of this privilege.

He was being stubbornly silent and moody. The plane landing hadn't been a fun experience. In fact, it had been worse than take-off, he was sure they were crashing as the walls of the plane had rattled and the landing wheels had bounced on the tarmac three times before landing properly.

But Kaname didn't realise that Zero was actually paying attention to where they were walking, and he was noticing that Kaname was taking an unusual path through the crowds, swerving every now and again. How long was it taking for them to get to the damn exit?

"What the hell are we doing, senpai?" Zero finally snapped, as they almost reached the edge of the crowds to double back a bit and head for a different exit.

"What you cannot detect, but I can, Kiryuu-kun, is the number of Vampires in this place,"

Zero growled.

"I can detect Vampires, you - you! I'm still a Hunter, you know!"

"Lower your voice please, the Humans are listening."

Zero snapped his mouth shut, glancing around at the Humans suspiciously.

"You know, even Humans are sensitive to powerful auras, Kiryuu-kun. They don't see everything, but they can notice when a big enough danger is near," Kaname said quietly, "There are a surprising number of us here in this airport at the moment, which is unfortunate. So I'm trying to avoid overlapping my aura with theirs, or else we could make a scene."

"I heard that you Purebloods can suppress your auras. Just do that and stop leading us in circles!"

Kaname sent him an amused look, "What do you think I'm doing? My aura is suppressed. It's just too big to be ignored," his lips quirked.

Zero rolled his eyes at the "size" joke, but quickly snapped back to his previous scowl. He wanted Kaname to know exactly how annoyed he was, putting up with his Pureblood nonsense.

They eventually made it to the parking lot, where Kaname got them into a fancy car. Zero didn't even bother checking out the type (AN: because the author doesn't understand cars!) before belting up. He breathed out in relief and snuggled into the seat.

But he was too restless to sleep. He had slept on the plane too, after the freaky take-off. He was now full of pent-up energy that needed a release.

He glanced at Kaname driving. He didn't know the guy could drive. Didn't he have personal drivers?

Kaname glanced at him, his lip still quirked in quiet amusement.

"Is something wrong, Kiryuu-kun? Are you tired? You could sleep, the drive is quite-"

"You're not even being funny, don't start," Zero snarled. Kaname laughed. "I've slept more in this day than I have since I was a baby. I don't think I could sleep if you stuck me with two shots of ketamine," he huffed at Kaname's snort, "I'm serious. So I think I'll bug you to keep you awake."

"I'm perfectly awake, Kiryuu-kun. But I appreciate your company. And I was joking, the drive isn't long at all, we'll be there in an hour."

The scenery was far too dark to be admired. All that could be identified was the abundance of trees. They were probably passing through a wood. Zero shuffled so his head was resting on the bottom of the window, and he could peer up at the black sky, hoping to see some stars.

In the pitch black, he could pick out a few pinpricks of light.

"I've been meaning to thank you for taking me to this thing, Kuran-senpai," he muttered quietly.

"It's been my pleasure, Kiryuu-kun. Please call me Kaname. I feel like we are becoming friends."

"Don't joke with me."

Kaname laughed. His laugh was finally beginning to become more steady and relaxed. Zero smiled.

"I usually travel alone. It's customary for us Purebloods to travel alone."

"Huh, why's that?"

"Think about it Kiryuu-kun. I told you about the humans being able to sense us before. With Vampires it's even worse. My aura is like a beacon. It draws far too much attention in public. It's dangerous for me, and anyone travelling with me."

Zero blinked.

"Was that meant to scare me, Kaname?" he asked jokingly. Kaname grinned.

"I'm sure you can cope. You can be my bodyguard."

Zero snorted.

A strange shrill sound rang from Kaname's pocket. He groaned, stopping the car abruptly. He pointed at his phone, "This ringtone is almost as annoying as its caller."

He flipped it open, "Moshi-moshi."

He rolled his eyes, "Where are you Aidou?...I'd have thought you would've arrived by now. Didn't you leave yesterday? Where are you-"

Zero zoned out - Kaname was always scolding Aidou for doing stupid things. He closed his eyes tightly, willing away the grogginess travelling brought. It had been the strangest day.

During the trip, Zero found himself looking at Kaname in a way he had never seen him before. Before the War, he knew he hated Kaname with all his being. There was no question about it. He hated Purebloods, and Kaname was a Pureblood, ergo he hated Kaname.

Because, who had Made him? Who had bitten him, injecting their venom in him to curse him? A Pureblood.

They owed him his life.

The War forced him to work with Kaname, since they were working with the same goals - protect the Humans, kill Rido. It had been a simple alliance which he had grudgingly allowed, for the sake of doing what needed to be done. In the War he had seen Kaname as exactly the monster he had imagined - bloodthirsty, deadly, a killer. He was death on the battlefield. But he had also seen a military man, fiercely loyal to his people, and he respected that he protected his people.

But those three images of Kaname were the only ones he had ever seen for the whole of his life - the enemy Pureblood, blood hungry vampire and the valiant ally. He had never believed there was anything Human about Kaname.

Who knew one day could change everything?

He had seen Kaname laugh, and smile and joke. It was the little things that were niggling at the back of Zero's mind, urging him to open his mind the slightest bit wider to see Kaname in a whole new light. It was something that fought against his instincts as a Vampire Hunter - to befriend a Pureblood (he stubbornly ignored the fact that Kurosu Kaien, one of the most famous Vampire Hunters in existence was a very close friend of Kaname, a Pureblood on the basis that Kaien was really weird).

This was, perhaps the first time Zero had ever considered Kaname, the person.

Smiling slightly, Zero ran over the events of the day through his mind (obviously not the sleeping moments) and took his stash of Summer Fruits out of his pocket, popping one in his mouth.

But when he turned to check up on why the call was taking so long again, he found Kaname's face had become frighteningly stoic again, though there was a churning emotion in his eyes that Zero didn't like.

All of a sudden, Kaname flipped on the engine and they were flying down the road at a speed much greater than before. Zero was propelled back in his seat and had a momentary flashback to the plane's take-off, he turned a little green.

"What's going on, Kuran?" he asked shakily, fingers curling around the edge of his seat.

"There's been an accident. We're needed at the Castle."