Yuuki ran a gentle hand through the silky strands of Yui's fringe as she listened to Zero explaining what had happened to Kaito. She could almost feel the suspicious glare on her back, but Yui's prone form was more important to her.

"Stop looking at her like that. She's been ruled out."

"By you, maybe."

"There shouldn't have been anyone in that town at all. It has been abandoned for a while." Zero sounded deep in thought.

"What about their familiars?"

"I've had no reports of odd animals in the colony."

"That doesn't mean it didn't happen."

"There wasn't enough time. She only knew about the outing a week in advance."

"She has you wrapped around her little finger."

Yuuki allowed the words to disappear into a vague drone behind her. Zero could try and convince his friend all he liked, but she was certain that he would never buy into it. Any words from her would only hinder his attempts, though she knew best that she was innocent.

"Use my blood." The drone behind her stopped, and she turned to the two males behind her. She was greeted with silence, prompting her to continue directly to Zero. "He'll die if we don't do anything. It's too late to use medicine. Giving him my blood is the only way."

Kaito looked like he was about to say something nasty, but Zero got there first. "You're right. We'll use your blood."

Her heart lifted a little. She was grateful that he was trusting her enough to help now. She wasn't so sure that he'd accept her blood for the other, less life threatening cases, but this was a good start.

"He can't swallow, so we'll need to inject it. How are you with needles?"

"They can't be any worse than fangs, right?" She, being a pampered pureblood princess, had never actually seen a needle before. That was something that the servants… slaves had, not the higher classes. They didn't have to dirty themselves with such objects. But from what she had heard, they were thinner than her brother's fangs.

"I don't know, a lot of people don't just don't like needles."

"Of course, you're not a person." Came the mumbled slur from Kaito, who looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Kaito, don't you have duties to attend to?" Zero asked him as he waved over the medic who was tending to another patient on the other end of the room. "Go and see to Shinmei."

"Shinmei? Why?"

"I'll explain later." With one final shrug, Kaito left the medical wing. "Get a needle. We're drawing her blood."

She had heard that name before. As the medic easily slid the newly acquired needle into her arm, she focused her gaze on Zero.

"Shinmei… Is that the name of the man who guarded me?"

"Yes. That's the one. He's also the man who brought you to me when you regained consciousness."

"Oh." She had been closer to his man than she had realised. She wondered what Zero wanted with him. She wouldn't pry this time, however.

"Why did you come back? You didn't answer me." She chewed the inside of her cheek as she thought about how much she should tell him. Not all of her reasons needed to be out there. "You knew that we'd be able to take care of the other hunters. You didn't know just how badly Yui was injured."

"I couldn't abandon them. I… really don't like that vampires could do such awful things to people." She considered further. "I guess I don't want them to think that all vampires are the same."

He gave a thoughtful nod at her response. She wondered if he was thinking about the reasons for her not mentioning the vampires who had attacked her. Who had to have known that she was a vampire, at the very least. If he was, he chose not to ask about it. "What about your family?"

She felt a painful clench in her chest.

"Of course, I miss them. I miss them a lot. But I can do good here. These people…they need me."

She expected some sort of rebuke, but none came.

"Yes… If you don't mind, is your offer to use your blood for the injured still on the table?"

"You want to do that?"

"You have a good heart, Yuuki." A playful smirk appeared on his face. "It's just a shame that you're a vampire."

Yuuki felt her heart speed up. This was the first time he had called her by her name, not just Kuran. Coupled with that was the confirmation that he both trusted and liked her. She covered her face for a second, trying to play it off as just wiping her face. She turned to Yui, whose breathing had begun to lose the terrifying bubble effect.

"Yes. I want to help in any way that I can." She hadn't realised that Zero had sat with her until she saw him rise out of the corner of her eye. She caught a vibrant flash of red, and realised that she had been smelling his blood for a while. Had that wound on his arm been bleeding for the past few hours? How did he even have the strength to stand?

She got to her feet with him, grabbing hold of his arm and bringing it to her mouth. As soon as his blood touched her tongue, she noticed the distinct difference between his blood and that of the injured. It was a powerful, satisfying taste that caused her to unconsciously close her eyes in pleasure. She felt a tingle in her fangs that she hadn't felt before, and she prepared herself to bite…

Until she remembered just what she was doing and jerked back.

"I'm so sorry!"

"No, it's fine." He glanced over his arm. "It feels a lot better."

"That's good." She wasn't sure how to act now. Though he didn't seem bothered by it, she had almost lost control. She wasn't exactly thirsty; Zero had been supplying her with blood in the form of blood bags. So why had she felt such a strong urge to drink from him?

"I trust you'll watch over Yui? I have something I need to do."

"Yes. I want to make sure he gets better."

"We'll take some blood tomorrow." Yuuki nodded, before she sat herself back at Yui's bedside.

"See you later."

"Yeah." And then he was gone. Yuuki returned to stroking the boy's hair, the motion a soothing distraction from the thoughts swirling through her head.

~Z~

Supplied with Yuuki's healing blood, Yui began to recover rapidly. His breathing returned to normal and the external bruising on his body had dimmed to nothing. However, he still hadn't regained consciousness. The medics had reassured Yuuki that he was out of the danger zone and that he would wake up any day now.

She spent most of her days effectively glued to Yui's bedside. The familiar sense of responsibility was with her every moment. He would have died if she had not set him loose, but would he die here anyway? She knew what the medics were telling her, but she couldn't feel it. He was still only a human. They were weaker than vampires.

The medics had repeatedly told her to sleep in her room, but she was steadily ignoring them. She was going to be here when Yui finally woke up; he would know that she had worried about him enough to stay with him. If they had a genuine complaint about her hanging around, they would have to take it to Zero.

He did encourage her to eat, bathe and sleep. Occasionally, he would put forward the suggestion that she sleep somewhere more comfortable but that was simply a suggestion. She knew that he understood her anxiety. As such, he would try and make her awkward sleeping positions at the side of the bed as comfortable as he could for her. It didn't necessarily work, but she was grateful for his efforts, either way.

~Z~

Yuuki was dreaming. She was six years old again, and she was struggling to fall asleep. Her big brother was there, gently stroking her hair as he had done until Yuuki was able to fall asleep on her own. There was a warm and comforting aura around her vibrant pink room.

Dream Yuuki secured a sleepy gaze on her older brother's face, whose hand moved fluidly with her change of direction.

"You're going to be king one day, right?" Dream Kaname tilted his head at her sudden question.

"One day, yes. Not for a long time."

"What about daddy?"

"I'll only be king if daddy is gone. That's why it'll be a long time."

"Then, what about Uncle Rido?" The room had been steadily getting colder; Kaname's breath now coming out in white, wispy puffs. The vibrant pin had become a dull grey. The dreaming Yuuki could see a dark presence in the corner of the room that Kaname also appeared to be unaware of. The present Yuuki longed to call out and warn him.

"Uncle Rido won't be king." The darkness took a single step forward, ignored by both of the younger Kurans. Dream Yuuki took on a confused look.

"But why not?" Another step. Present Yuuki's unease grew.

"He can't be, because of you and me." He paused stroking her hair to affectionately boop her on the nose.

"You and me?"

"Because daddy has us, Uncle Rido won't get a chance."

"That doesn't seem fair." The dark presence was directly behind the oblivious Kaname now. Present Yuuki was screaming for him to run; to take her younger self and go. Now.

"That's how it's always been. So, I will be the next king and Rido won't."

The darkness took its final step and enshrouded Kaname in an angry embrace. The younger Yuuki continued talking to the empty air in front of her. The present Yuuki screamed.

~Z~

Yuuki jerked awake. She took in the familiar, boring brown and grey of the rock walls captured behind the simple bars of the bed frame. There was a familiar sensation on her head as she came fully back to consciousness. Was someone stroking her hair?

She pulled her heavy head up, and was happily surprised by what she saw. An excited squeal escaped her mouth before she flung her arms around the now conscious Yui.

"You're awake! Thank goodness!"

"Almost good as new!" She squeezed him tightly, drawing a small pained sound from him, before she pulled back. Something rolled down her back as she moved, landing on the ground with a soft flump sound.

She lifted the light grey jacket that had apparently been put over her as she slept. She brought it to her nose, inhaling the heady scent of home that she recognised as Zero's. A flush of happiness that was different from the happiness of finding Yui awake brought a hint of red to her face. She took another breath, subconsciously bringing the jacket close to her body for a second as she sniffed.

"You look better too. You were making some weird noises in your sleep. Were you having a nightmare?" Yui's voice brought her back to the present and she gingerly placed the jacket at the foot of the bed.

"I wonder. I don't remember." A hazy fog seemed to replace the images that had played out in her subconscious. "It probably doesn't matter."

"You've cut your hair." Yuuki blinked at the sudden change of subject. She herself still tried to twirl her once long strands around her fingers on occasion. The reminder of their failed outing caused a new thought to blink to life in her. As she had spent her days intensively in the medical wing, she had heard many interesting tidbits.

One such tidbit had been the fact that Zero's birthday was coming up soon. And what better excuse was there to throw a celebration party? This could be just what the downtrodden humans needed to get them back in the right frame of mind. There seemed to be a perpetual mist of despair over the colony that needed to be lifted. It was Yuuki's turn to surprise Yui with a change of subject.

"Say… I heard the medics say that it's Zero's birthday soon."

"Yeah?"

"I was thinking that we could have a party. Lift everyone's spirits!"

Yui's eyes lit up at the thought of a party. These were things that he had only heard about, and as a curious youngster, he was interested in experiencing such a wonderful thing. And then a look of doubt followed.

"I don't know. Zero doesn't like his birthday. It's when the attack started."

"Even more of a reason to do it! We just need to make it a positive experience for him!"

Yui seemed to agree with her logic, even though the look of doubt remained. In fact, his answer had made her more determined to throw the party. Zero deserved better than to have such an awful experience tar such a positive day. She wanted him to be able to look to the future, not the past. Maybe she could even change his mind about his planned suicide. She wondered if he had trusted anyone in the colony enough to tell them his plan? She was quick to discard this thought. He wouldn't want to let them down; he worked hard to keep up the image of the brave, strong leader for their sake.

"I think I can get people to help us." Yui confirmed to her.

"Thank you! Oh, we don't have to start right away. You should rest more."

"But I want to get up!"

"You can walk around a little bit, but you have to get your strength back! We still have time."

Yui pouted. She understood his need for activity. Her months of inactivity had almost shattered her sanity, and she was considered an adult now. She couldn't even imagine how maddening it would be if she had been his age.

"Yui! You're awake. I'm glad." Yuuki jumped as the object of their conversation materialised beside her. She was beginning to wonder if she had lost her abilities as a pureblood. She was being snuck up on a lot lately; a problem she hadn't had back home.

"Zero!" Zero ruffled the child's hair. Yui shrank back as he caught sight of the disappointed look that crossed Zero's face as he pulled back from the affectionate action. Yuuki had been expecting something like this. She had held back, knowing that Zero would get the message home.

"I'm very disappointed in you, Yui. You knew you weren't allowed to come, but you snuck along anyway. You were very nearly killed. If we hadn't seen you, you would be dead now."

Yui squirmed uncomfortably. Zero gave Yuuki a quick look, which she took as a request to move out of the way. She gave up her seat.

"Look at me." It took a moment before Yui could keep his eyes locked with Zero's concerned ones. "I care about you. That is why I want you to stay here, where it is safe. You can't defend yourself yet. Promise me that you won't do anything so reckless again."

"I'm sorry. I promise." Yuuki could see tears pricking the corner of his eyes. Zero sighed.

"Come here." Yui shuffled forward into Zero's embrace. "You do understand, don't you?"

"Yes. I'm sorry I made you worry." His small hands fisted in the back of Zero's shirt. Yuuki briefly wondered how Zero would act to his own child, if this was how he acted towards Yui. She could see why he cared about him so much. He probably hadn't been told that he was cared about so much while he was with the Kurans, she thought to herself.

Zero returned to his feet, aiming a sidelong look at Yuuki.

"You're done with my jacket?"

"Oh yeah! Thank you for that!"

"She was sniffing it!" Yui jumped in, the scolding already in the past. Yuuki admired his resilience.

"I was not!"

"Oh, sorry. I thought I washed that."

"It's clean." Her voice shrunk. "It just smells nice, is all."

"See? She was sniffing it!"

"Stop it!" She cried exasperatedly. Zero chuckled.

"You can have it, if you want."

"No, that's fine." She crossed her arms in a huff. This wasn't fair, these two boys ganging up on her. It was just a dumb jacket. She couldn't deny a modicum of disappointment as Zero slipped it over his arm.

"You just rest, Yui. I'll see both of you later." Yuuki raised an arm in acknowledgement, before she turned to give Yui a scolding of her own.

~Z~

Yori hesitated around the living area a little longer than she needed to. She had taken on the role of a Kuran household servant while her master was with them; Hanabusa had remained for moral support after the traumatic time the Kuran family had been going through in the recent months. She mistrusted most of the Kuran family, if she was honest, but it did seem like Kaname was taking it particularly hard. Hanabusa was also in the room with them; she could have heard about the conversation taking place from him later, but she wanted to hear it first-hand.

"We have witness reports that state that they have seen Yuuki in a town a few miles from here. Shouldn't we ask around that town for more information?"

"We have enough information. The witness reports also said that she was being held hostage by the silver wolf. Who conveniently enough, happens to be a match to the hair we found with dear Haruka."

"It does appear that this 'silver wolf' is the one behind all this."

"Well, I think it's time to make an address to the people. We know the general vicinity of their base. We know that they have Yuuki. We can't keep it a secret that she isn't here anymore. They don't believe it. And they will be baying for blood."

"You're saying that you'll give them that blood?"

"Of course, dear nephew. What better way to sate their bloodlust than to let them see the destruction of the cause for that bloodlust? Or did you want a riot?"

"No one wants that."

"So sit tight and let me deal with this. We'll have our dear princess back in no time."

Yori hurried to look busy once more as Rido Kuran passed her. The dust that had dared settle on the glossy furniture didn't know what had hit it. She felt uneasy when he stopped behind her for a moment before she heard the soft click of his heels on the floor.

His similar looking nephew passed a minute later, and she was left alone with Hanabusa. He still carried that troubled look that he had adopted since Yuuki had vanished. It was like he had aged ten years in the past few months.

"Yuuki's still alive. That's good." She spoke softly to him. The worry that Yuuki would be in harm's way must have been weighing heavily on him, especially after the assassination.

"Yeah." He responded in a distracted manner. She sighed softly. It was almost like Hanabusa wasn't here; he seemed to have been drifting away from her recently. She had tried hard to bury the unwanted hurt she felt at this. "I have something I need to do. You okay here?"

Yori merely nodded in response as he hurried away. She wished that he would talk to her; they were likely harbouring the same fears and worries. If he would only talk to her, then maybe they could comfort each other. A problem shared is a problem halved, after all.

She thought back to the implications of Rido's words, and she hoped that the 'silver wolf' would be able to escape.