Yuuki was a bawling fit when she saw me walk in with the handcuffs. With a yelp, she grabbed her pillow and hugged it tightly, burying her face in it. Kaname was standing off in a corner, his arms crossed and head bowed. Judging from the look on his face, I assumed he knew what I was here for.

"Why did you do it?" I asked, shutting the door behind me.

The trembling pureblood before me didn't answer, but instead cowered further behind her pillow. Before I could threaten her to answer, Kaname had calmly walked over and grabbed the pillow from her.

"No!" she cried, reaching for her only protection from me.

The sound of skin smacking skin rang loudly as Kaname's flat palm found its mark on Yuuki's face. "You will answer the question," he growled through bared fangs.

I could never understand what he must have been going through. To find that the one you've loved for so long would go to such extremes to keep him and me apart… it must have been excruciating.

Yuuki hesitantly touched her bruised cheek, the tears swelling up in her eyes. For a while, she was speechless, her mouth open but no words were coming out. When Kaname raised his hand again, I calmly took hold of his wrist, saying, "I got it, Kaname. Let me handle this." Then turning to Yuuki, I repeated, "Why did you do it?"

"… I thought… I thought if something happened to me and Shizuku… Kaname-sama would love us again… I thought it would make us a family again," she replied shakily.

I sighed and lowered my head. I wanted to feel sorry for her, but at the same time I couldn't stand to look at her. The very thought that she would have her son kidnapped for the sake of tearing me and kaname apart sickened me. "That's not the real reason, is it? You're jealous," I muttered.

"Jealous?" Yuuki repeated as she glared up at me. "Why would I be jealous? I was angry! You took Kaname-sama away from me! He was my past, present, and future, and yet you thought you could get in the way!"

"Zero-kun did not purposely step between you and I," Kaname's voice said behind me. "You allowed for there to be enough space between us, and I wanted it filled. I put Zero-kun between us."

Yuuki's eyes widened, a pitiful expression on her face. "Kaname-sama…" she gasped.

Kaname scoffed and looked away. "Don't look at me like that; your pity won't cover up your mistake. You went too far, Yuuki."

"But I didn't!" she shouted back. "I had to do this, for my sake as well as Shizuku's! I know… I know that Kaname-sama is not Shizuku's father. I've known that for a while now. It's just… I thought Shizuku would bring us together, but when you kept ignoring us, I knew I had to do something."

"How do you expect me to love someone who isn't mine? It's not natural."

Yuuki nodded towards me. "Kiryuu isn't yours to keep and yet you love him. Why can't it be the same with our so-"

"He's not our son! He's your pathetic attempt to force me to love you!" Kaname did not look so forgiving, his eyes dark and narrowed. "Yuuki, in the years that you have been living under my roof, you have yet to fully accept your pureblood nature. I've been waiting for so long, and yet you never came to me. I got tired of waiting for you to become what you were born to be."

Yuuki wailed, throwing herself onto Kaname and holding him tightly. "Please don't leave me!" she cried. "I only wanted what was best for us! I… I love you!"

I watched on painfully as Kaname pushed her away and turned towards me, he eyes glued to the floor. "Yuuki… my love for you died a long time ago," he muttered. Then glancing up to me, he said, "I'm finished here."

With a deep sigh, I pulled the handcuffs from my back pocket and said, "You can make this easy on yourself, Yuuki. Tell us who took Shizuku and where he might be now."

"… they're lycan hunters… maybe they could tell you where they took him…"

"What?"

I was too shocked to spear at her response. She didn't even know where her son was? But she planned it all, so she of all people would know. Even Kaname stopped to glare at her from over his shoulder. "How can you not know?" I asked in disbelief.

Yuuki shook her head. "They diverted from the plan. They knew Rui would be there, so I asked them not to hurt him. But when Rui got shot… I knew things had gotten out of hand. It… it wasn't supposed to be like this…"

Her wrists were so small and fragile as I locked the cold handcuffs to her. My words were slow and shaky as I uttered, "Kuran Yuuki, you are under arrest for the planned kidnapping of Kuran Shizuku and assault of Mao Rui. You have the right to remain silent, and anything you say can and will be used against you."

Another hunter was waiting in the lobby to take Yuuki off my hands. It felt so strange, having to hand her over and know I might never see her again. She didn't look back as the hunter led her out the double doors, and I was thankful for that. I didn't think I could bear to look at her face.

"You did the right thing," a familiar voice said behind me.

"I don't feel right about this whole thing," I replied, turning to Cross. "I didn't think I'd be arresting her."

Cross sighed deeply, crossing his arms. "None of us did."

"Did you tell Rui yet?"

"Yeah," the man replied. "He's not too happy about it. He doesn't understand why Yuuki would betray her friends and family and then have her son kidnapped. Rui was especially questioning about the lycan hunters."

"I don't want Rui on the case anymore."

"Why's that?"

"Lycan hunters. Rui's kind of a lycan. Piece the puzzle together."

"… oh…" He patted my shoulder comfortingly, adding, "I know this is a hard time for you, but don't forget that Kaname-kun must be going through a rougher time. He needs you now."

"… I know…"