Kaname suppressed a shudder as the needle was pulled out of his arm. He stared at his blood contained in the transparent membrane, connected by a tube. He thanked the doctor, who held the blood bag like it was made of gold. He watched him take the blood and store it away in the locked freezer.

He was handed the key.

"You should sit for a while, sir," the doctor said, tentatively taking off the nose plug. He sniffed the air, his eyes flashed red once, and then he shrugged, deciding that he could cope. He handed Kaname a juice box and offered him a cookie.

"Cute," Kaname mumbled, poking the straw in the juice box.

"Ha, don't think that I'm patronizing you, sir. I'm only following protocol. You should rest for a while, drink something, and have something to eat."

Kaname ate the cookie.

He brushed off the crumbs and stood up. The doctor tsked loudly as he began to walk to the door, but only shook his head.

Kaname checked his watch, tsking himself at how late he was. He "flew" down the corridor, running at speeds only Purebloods could really reach without breaking a sweat.

He stopped outside Zero's door, leaning his head towards it to listen for any movement in the room.

He could only hear the whistling sound of quiet snoring. He sniggered, pushing the door open slowly, to not aggravate the old hinges that squeaked sometimes.

Zero was sprawled on the bed, his head hanging off to the top-right corner. Kaname couldn't see where his pillow had ended up. The duvet had been kicked completely off him, and was crumpled in a heap at the bottom of the bed. Zero's face was half hidden by his arms, which were folded around his ears, crossed to create a cradle for his head to lie in.

Kaname's mouth twitched. The fearless, grumpy Hunter curled up like a baby when he slept.

He silently shuffled over to the bed, taking in the musty, warm smell that enveloped him as he stepped closer to Zero. The smell of sleep. Sweet and warm.

He tucked the key into Zero's curled up hand. The Hunter didn't even stir. Kaname wondered why he hadn't woken up already. He remembered once before when he had come to feed Zero and he had been asleep, he had only managed to glimpse Zero on the bed before the Hunter had leapt up, fully awake, snarling about his stinking Pureblood aura when he went to sit on his bed. The bed had been warm where Zero had slept, and it smelt sweet like it was now.

Now, Zero barely reacted to him.

Kaname's happy mood sank when he caught sight of the bruise, the large dirty mark on Zero's left wrist, now spread to cover the back of his hand and a few centimetres up his arm.

He stroked it gently, feeling the swollen tissue under his fingertips.

Before he could stop himself, he dropped down on one knee, bent over and kissed Zero's hand, right on the bruise.

Kaname flew back in the following milliseconds, just as Zero let out a huff and shuffled around to stick his leg out so it hung off the bed.

What did I just do?

Kaname stared at the hand, as if he could see an imprint of his lips on it.

He touched his lips, blushing. There was nothing, no lingering warmth, no evidence of the kiss. It was only evident that something strange had happened because his cheeks were flushed pink. He was happy Zero was sleeping, and they were otherwise alone, without anyone to see him like this.

All he had was the imprint of the two seconds he'd spent, with his face so close to Zero, so close that he could feel when his eyelashes had caught on Zero's arm and smell the Sleeping Smell's intensity multiplied by a hundred, the wash of moist air on his forehead where Zero had huffed-

Kaname's hand moved without his permission, shooting out to touch Zero's lips.

What am I doing?

His hand shot back.

You know exactly what you're doing, he told himself, forcing himself to step backwards, you're giving in. You're losing contr-

Kaname chewed on his lips and closed the door carefully, quickly "flying" back down the corridor towards the castle entrance.

Maybe he should've listened to the doctor.

The blood loss must be making him act funny.


Ruka peeked into the library, though this action was not incredibly useful, because the library was huge and she couldn't see anything from where she was. That didn't matter. She held her breath and waited, listening carefully.

Yes, there was someone flicking through a book, and there was a hum of interest. That was Takuma. She left the library.

Next on the list was Shiki, so she hurried over to his room, even though the guy was still probably sleeping. She wondered why he had bled himself out. Was Rido driving him mad? Before, when Kaname had asked her about Shiki, she'd told him the truth. There was something strange about Shiki. She couldn't feel the presence of Rido in him, but when she tried to scan him, there was nothing there.

Ruka wasn't very practised at mind reading at all, but like all the Nobles and their powers, there was always this connection she had with her power. It was instinctive, a part of her, something she was always doing subconsciously and had no control over. When she was around people, she would not only take in their appearance, what they were saying and what they were doing. She also picked up on what their general mood was, what thoughts were currently at the forefront of their minds, sometimes she got a little taste of who they were, when they were being nothing more than themselves.

She didn't know Shiki very well, or at least, not as well as she knew the others. She even knew Takuma and Rima better than she knew him. As a kid her friends group (with Aidou, Kaname and Kain) sometimes included him, when she and the Troublesome Two came over to visit, and Takuma was already there with Kaname. With Rima- she shared a room with her at the Academy, so they were pretty close with just the fact that they had to live with each other and their daily interactions building a solid, comfortable friendship.

All she knew about Shiki was the general sweep she did with all people she met. She knew basic things, like he had an obsession with sweets, he always looked bored with the world when he was actually intrigued by it, he thought that Takuma was the world's happiest idiot because was the most optimistic fool he knew. She related his mind to the colour teal. At first, you would think he was blue- sad and cold, but she could sense that if she dug deeper, the colour blue would go by another name… he was mysterious, like Kaname.

She didn't know what she was looking for in Shiki, though. With Aidou or Kain, who she knew them like the back of her hand, she had references she knew very well that she could compare with. She could identify a "normal" Aidou from a "possessed" Aidou without a single hesitation.

But with Shiki, she wasn't completely sure what was "normal"…

She knocked on the door before entering. Shiki was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

She hurried over to him, a calm smile on her face.

"Good morning, Shiki-kun."

He turned to her, eyes bored and… vacant. She suppressed a shudder.

Something was strange.

"Hello Souen-chan."

She nodded, taking a seat next to his bed, and poked at one of the books on his bedside table.

"Those look interesting," she said lamely. Ruka inwardly cursed Kaname for this job he had given her. She knew she didn't have good 'bedside manner' and she also knew she wasn't a natural with the social phenomenon known as 'small talk'.

"I wouldn't know," Shiki mumbled. She nodded, opening her mouth to try saying something else, when Shiki cut in rudely, "You're here because?"

"Kaname told me to watch over you," she said.

Shiki sighed, tiredly. Ruka bit her lip, suddenly wishing her best friends were here. If there was one thing she hated (though there were plenty more), it was feeling awkward. Aidou would've livened the place up with his childish excitability, and Kain was actually really good at dousing awkward situations with witty small talk (in Kain's own words, which he had said whilst rolling his eyes at Aidou, he was very good at breaking the ice).

She wrung her hands together, wincing at the feel of her sharp, long nails. Maybe she should trim them soon.

"Ruka, I don't want you here."

Ruka froze.

Something was strange- something was wrong.

She could feel something settle on Shiki, like a mist. It made her gasp. It was cold.

"Ruka, I can see you."

What did he mean by that? She narrowed her eyes at Shiki, about to snap at him what the hell he was on, when her eyes caught his. The coldness trembled through her body, causing goose bumps to erupt on her skin. Was it a trick of the light, or was one of Shiki's eyes darkening-

"Ruka, I want you to leave this room."

I want you to leave this room.

Ruka stood shakily, shooting a nervous glance at Shiki, and straightening her skirt. She frowned. I can see you, echoed in her head. I want you to leave this room. She shuddered.

"I have to go now, Shiki-kun," she said quietly, wanting nothing more than to leave the room at that moment.

Shiki smiled, "It was nice to see you."

She nodded, turning the handle quickly and heading…anywhere. Somewhere far away from Shiki's room. It didn't even matter to her in the slightest that she was doing the opposite of what Kaname had told her to do. There was something very strange with Shiki. Something very wrong.


Takuma panted under the weight of the pile of books balanced precariously on his arms. Behind him a maid was in a similar state, red-faced and panting under a smaller pile. It hadn't felt very gentlemanly to agree to let her carry books for him, but he'd decided to chop off a good ten books from his pile to hers, giving her a small portion. It always occurred to him at the end of a visit to the library, when he was carrying books to his room, that perhaps he had chosen too many.

"Ah, thank you miss, can you place them there, on the floor please? I would be grateful if you could open the door for me, I can do the rest!"

He took the books the last part of the way, placing them cautiously onto the bed. The mattress dipped with the weight of it, far further than when he was sitting on it. Were there really that many books? Huh, maybe he wasn't very heavy! Or maybe he was carrying more than his own body weight-

"Is that all, Ichijou-sama?" the maid asked. Takuma laughed, patting her on the shoulder as he dismissed her. She'd done a great job!

"You must be really strong!" he cheered as he waved her out of the door. "Go to the infirmary though, make sure you've not damaged your back!"

The reason why he was so incredibly happy today was because thought he had found something. Accomplishment, even a smidgen of it, always brightened Takuma's day.

He grinned at his books.

Takuma was just a very strange boy who loved work.

The word 'workaholic' made Takuma laugh.

He reached for one that was sticking out oddly, pretending it was Jenga-

The door slammed open.

Takuma knocked the book over. The book tower collapsed. He sighed sadly at the mess he'd made.

A different maid was panting at the door this time, doubled over as she tried to breathe.

"I…I…chi…"

"Whoa, whoa, you need to sit down!"

He ushered the girl to his desk chair, scrambling around his desk for some papers which he collected together to fan her with.

After a few moments she began to vomit words in a weird order, but Takuma unfortunately found the message incredibly clear.

"…Madame Shi…ki… Kuran-sa…ma…" she grabbed Takuma's arm, "…could…n't… stop… he kill… her…"

His bright mood shattered, and his head dropped respectfully. Madame Shiki was dead. Shiki's mother. Rido had murdered her? Takuma's knuckles were aching as he tightened his fists even more.

What was wrong with that bastard? He killed his own ex-lover. For what reason? Rido didn't need a reason. It actually didn't surprise Takuma very much what he had done. He was mad. He didn't love. He probably killed her on a whim.

It was so random, so unexpected that Takuma didn't know how to react.

He hated Shiki's mother. She was causing him so much trouble, and Takuma hated to see the pain, the love and humiliation in Shiki's eyes as he talked about her. No mother should make their child feel that way. It was abuse.

Shiki loved her though.

Shiki-

Takuma's blood ran cold.

Shiki…

He ran out of the room, running as fast as he could towards Shiki's room. Why did they have to be so far apart?

"Oh Shiki no," he gasped, "No, no, no, no…"

Shiki had a Bond with his mother.

"Please!" he cried, wincing as his bad ankle gave in a little from running.

His mother was dead. Soon, since he was Bonded to her…

"No," he threw open the door to see Shiki was lying on the bed. Takuma doubled over with the force of the sobs falling out of his throat.

…he would die too.