I'm back~~

So a few of you were confused by my previous chapter (which isn't the last chapter, in case you guys are wondering). So maybe this chapter will clear some things up?

I wake up with a slight headache, the room spinning around me. I growl and curse. Dammit, Natsume drugged me.

I clutch my head and try to stand up just as Nono and Anna burst into the room, their faces paler than ever. "Mikan-sama! He...he...Hyuuga-sama—"

My head clears slightly at their panicked voices. "Did something happen to Natsume?"

Nono purses her lips into a tight line. Anna looks solemn as she says, "The castle is on fire. The entire Hyuuga family is still inside. No one can get near or distinguish the flames since they are caused by Alices."

And with that, I run out the house towards the burning castle.

There were crowds of people outside the castle grounds in complete panic. Several guards attempted to rush in to save those who were still inside, but they couldn't even go near the unbearable heat.

"Mikan!" Yuu calls me as I stop, panting. "The Hyuugas are still in there!"

"What about the others?" I gasp to catch my breath.

"Everyone's out except for them." He answers, his face painted in worry. The others are also there, but they aren't able to do anything but watch and wait.

My heart is hammering against my chest and the cackling of fire isn't helping. A layer of sweat is forming on my forehead from the heat.

"Don't worry," I tell them. "I'll get them."

I don't know where my fake confidence comes from, but I run into the fire with them screaming behind me.

I cough violently as I make my way through countless hallways, trying to find where Natsume, Aoi and his father are. Finally, I stumble into a room where flames are pouring out. It's hot, but for some reason none of the flames burn me.

Immediately, I freeze as I see the three of them. It was strange, almost like a picture. They were sitting together, forming a distorted triangle. Their eyes were closed as if they were just asleep.

I see the flames devour the walls and the ceiling is starting to collapse. My vision is becoming blurry and panic surges through me, more intense than before. It's going to hit Natsume. With all my might, using all the air left in my lungs, I scream, "NATSUME!"

I see flashes of white, red and then black.

My head hurts and my throat is dry like sandpaper. I try to cough, to get whatever is stuck in my lungs out, but nothing comes. I breathe in deeply, so glad for fresh air.

"Mikan," I hear a familiar voice, but it's sort of droned out. "Mikan! Are you okay?"

I open my eyes and wince at the light. The world is spinning, but when it finally stills, I see everyone around me, including Natsume.

"Nat—" My voice is raspy and I end up coughing again.

"Calm down." I hear Hotaru tell me as Natsume rubs my back softly.

After the coughing dies down, I turn towards Natsume slightly teary. "Wha-What happened?"

"Why were you in there?" Natsume growls, his eyes blazing.

I bite my chapped lip. "I went to save you! Why were you in there? Why didn't you run? Why—"

"You should've just let us die." Natsume's voice drops to a whisper and his words make my heart squeeze.

"You wanted to die?" I soften my voice. "So it was all intentional?" I hoped it wasn't, but one nod from him silenced everything. "...Why?"

"Your mother is right." Natsume closes his eyes. "It will all be over with our death."

A tear runs down my face at the thought that he could've died, because of me. Of my mother. Of our past.

I wrap my arms tightly around his neck.

Then a loud wail sounds somewhere. Turning to look, I see a crowd, everyone kneeling and crying in loud, broken wails.

"Wha—" I start but Natsume pulls me back into his embrace, his arms tight around my waist.

And then he whispers, "The king is dead."

My entire body stiffens at the new information, my eyes trailing back to the crying people. As if sensing what I want, Natsume slowly let go of me and I went over, almost as if I was in a trance.

The crowd opened up for me so I went through them easily. In the middle was a body, a familiar body.

He looked peaceful. No scars, no burns. Just like he was sleeping.

I slowly kneel down next to him, bringing my hand over to gently touch his face. I let a tear drop. I lean in and give him a light kiss on the cheek. "Thank you. I'm sorry." No matter what, he was my father-in-law.

Natsume is behind me, a comforting hand on my shoulder. Then I realize something. "Where's Aoi?"

Natsume doesn't say anything and I shake. Don't tell me... "Where is she, Natsume?"

"The Alices took a very large toll on her body. Her body was always very weak...She's unconscious and Subaru is with her right now."

"How come..." I force the words out my mouth, my heart dropping to my stomach. "How come you're fine?"

Natsume shrugs and answers simply, "Luck."

"Mikan!" The gang catches up to us, all looking paler than they were. "You're okay now?"

"I'm okay." I answer with a nod and meet Hotaru's eyes, but she looks furious and looks away immediately. I frown at that. "Hotaru?"

"She's angry." Ruka explains. "She was worried about you."

"You don't just run into fire." Hotaru hisses. "Especially not fire from Alices. Especially not the Hyuugas' Fire Alice."

"I'm sorry." I pout and go up to her for a hug but she smoothly avoids me.

"Speaking of which," Koko comments. "How did you get in and out without a scratch?"

The gang goes silent as the same question resonates in their head. The question catches me off guard as I, too, don't know why. But it certainly isn't the first time I was able to get past Natsume's fire without being harmed.

"She has the Nullification Alice." Natsume answers for me. "Her mother is Yuka Azumi."

Everyone gasps.

"The Yuka Azumi?" Sumire asks, utterly surprised, her irises wide as she looks at me.

"What?" I wrinkle my nose. "Is she that famous?"

"More like infamous." Kitsu says. "She's known as a traitor of her race. She fell in love with a human and even gave birth to his child."

"Me." I whisper and they fall silent.

"But that doesn't make sense." Yuu readjusts his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "You were human. And now...you're a Pureblood."

I glance at Natsume before sighing. Then I tell them everything I know.

A few days later, Aoi woke up but said everything was dark. After a few checkups, Subaru said that she went blind and lost her Alice. He was able to use his own Healing Alice to heal her eyes, but her Alice is unrecoverable.

"It's probably for the better, though." She said with a smile.

Natsume agreed.

The next few days was spent in preparation for the king's funeral. Not only that, but also Natsume's coronation to become the new king, naturally making me the queen. It was all a little hard for me to swallow, everything came and went so quickly.

"Mikan," Natsume calls gently, his hand coming to graze mine. "Are you okay?"

"Mentally? No. No, I'm not." I answer in a whisper, my eyes downcast and my skin paler than usual. Natsume leans down so he is eye level to my sitting form, his crimson eyes softening into concern. "You almost killed yourself for me."

"It was for the best." Natsume answered simply just like he always does, but I grab his wrist, preventing him from escaping and urges.

"Why, Natsume? Why is it for the best?"

"Because it can protect you." He snaps, his eyes blazing. "Yuka would've gotten what she wanted. She could take revenge if you, her daughter, became the sole ruler of the land."

"But why would the king agree to this?" I blurt. "Surely he wouldn't hand his kingdom over to me. Me, who is related to the AAO."

"I don't know." Natsume admits as he closes his eyes, sucking in a sharp breath. "But I'm sure he saw this coming. When he let mother die, when he became king by sacrificing everything he had…he knew. When your father stepped into the land and when your mother fell in love with him…I'm sure he knew. And he let it happen. Now he has to pay the price of his carelessness." Natsume let's out a mocking smile. "It's the responsibility of the king."

The moon is full and beautiful. Everything is quiet in the house as I look over the land from my balcony window. Natsume is somewhere in his study and Youichi is fast asleep.

That's when Shiki appears.

Startled, I almost let out a shriek, but Shiki presses a cold hand against my mouth, placing his index finger against his lips to tell me to be quiet. He slowly removes his hand as I growl at him. "What do you want?"

"The coronation." Shiki starts slowly, his emotionless eyes scanning my face. "We will be there. Watching. We want you to kill Natsume Hyuuga."

"Ridiculous." I scoff as I back away, shaking my head. "I would never—"

"Either you do it, or we'll do it." A ghost of a smile graces Shiki's emotionless face. "I'm sure you wouldn't want that, now would you? Perhaps we'll torture him first. We'll put on a show for his kingdom to see, their new king being tortured ruthlessly by the AAO."

My blood runs cold at the thought, my hands shaking. I merely whisper a weak, "You wouldn't."

"We would." Shiki smiles eerily. He hands her a small glass bottle filled with blood red liquid. "This is poison for vampires. Vampire hunters often use this to kill vampires." I turn the bottle over in my hands in horror. "Slip it into his food or his drink. I don't care. Make sure he takes it."

And like that, he disappears.

"Mikan?" Upon hearing my name, I quickly tuck the bottle into my pocket, forcing a smile on my face before turning towards Natsume.

"Hm?" I hum in response as Natsume makes his way over, his face beautiful under the moonlight.

"What are you doing?" He asks softly, tucking a strand of stray hair behind my ears. His touch makes me shiver, and I want nothing more than to hug him and cry and tell him everything.

But Shiki's voice echoes in my mind and on some level, it is better if I killed him, right? He would want that more than to be tortured and killed by enemies.

"Nothing." I answer softly. "Just looking at the moon."

Natsume follows my gaze and nods, agreeing that the moon is indeed beautiful that night. He wraps his arms around my waist and rests his chin on my shoulder, gently rocking me back and forth.

Immediately, I melt into his touch, my eyes tearing slightly at the burden I am given.

"Natsume," I graze his hand softly, turning around to face him. For a moment I almost wanted to tell him everything as I stared into his beautiful eyes, but then I force a smile and mumble, "I'm tired. I think I'm going to go sleep."

Natsume cracks a grin. "Still haven't completely adapted to the vampire life?"

Mikan smiles in return, but it doesn't reach her eyes and Natsume sees this. But he says nothing because whatever she was thinking, she kept it from him. He didn't want to pry, and it felt like no matter what he did, she probably wouldn't tell him. He watched her climb into bed, whispering a soft 'good night' before she shifted and went silent.

Natsume isn't stupid. He felt a foreign presence only minutes ago. He knew someone came, most likely someone from the AAO.

But he wouldn't say a word. He won't argue, he won't complain.

Because he said it before.

If she wanted to kill him, he'll let her.

Bit more clear? Or more confusing? Comments, critics and reviews are very welcome! I'll try to update faster -.-'''

Please R&R!