Yuuki entered the house alone and headed towards her room for a short respite. Someone tapped her shoulder and, when she turned her head to look, poked her cheek.

"What took you so long, pancake?" Ayato grumbled as he gently dug his index finger further.

"Oh, it's just you." Yuuki replied with a smile. "And it's not like I'm under curfew. You should know better than to expect the world to run on Ayato Standard Time."

Ignoring her verbal jab, he asked, "Where's that guy?"

"He went to put the mares away. I never knew you had a stable here."

The vampire grunted in reply and continued poking her face multiple times just for the heck of it.

"Will you stop that!?" Yuuki complained as she entered the bedroom. Pochi was snoozing deeply.

"Well, you seem chipper."

She whirled around and pinched both sides of his cheeks. "You overconfident, little rich boy." Yuuki sneered playfully, tugging his face from side to side.

"Ow, whatter you doing, 'hanc'ke." Ayato protested, putting his hands on top of hers.

"Hmm..." Yuuki stared at him with appraising eyes. How had she described his father... Confident, wealthy and powerful? "Yup, I see the resemblance. You'll do."

The boy pried her fingers off and she placed them on his shoulders instead. "Care to elaborate?"

"Well, if that guy is supposed to be your king – then I guess a rascal like you could be one. If you brush up, that is."

He wrapped his arms around her. "Should I take that as a compliment?"

"Nope!" Yuuki giggled in reply. "But Karlheinz wasn't as bad as I was expecting him to be," the girl continued dismissively. "Y'all made him seem like the plague. It wasn't that much of a national emergency, now was it?"

"It's not my fault if you can't recognize a sheep in wolf's clothing."

"You mean a wolf in sheep's clothing," the vampirette corrected.

"Whatever." Ayato mumbled into the crook of her neck. At least she was safe and in one piece. Not that he would admit his relief at seeing her unharmed.

"Ayato."

"Yea, pancake?"

"Do you really hate your father that much?"

"I don't hate him. I just avoided him as much as possible since as long as I can remember."

"Why?"

The vampire pulled back just enough to study her expression. "Why do you care?"

Yuuki shrugged. "Just curious."

"It's not like I hold a grudge because of any one reason – I'm not that critical. 'Sides, there's a lot of history behind it."

"Then tell me a story."

The boy thought for a moment. "So there was this one time when Karlheinz sent that woman some flowers-"

"- Your mom?"

"Yeah, her. I knew the meaning behind the flowers, so I tried to get rid of them before she saw. This was back when I was really little, by the way. I thought she would be brokenhearted but apparently she didn't know. Well, she caught me in the act and punished me."

"What did they mean?"

"... Hatred."

"Oh," the girl gasped. "I'm sorry."

Ayato raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"You shouldn't have seen that. That's horrible."

"It's not like I really care now."

"Why would he marry someone he didn't even love?" Yuuki asked sometime after she noticed that they had unknowingly started to slow dance without any music.

"Psh, as if I know. Her wealth maybe? Connections? Anyway, she's a hypocritical slut who wanted the world to bow down to her."

"Hypocritical?"

"You know her – she abused everyone around her for her own benefit. And yet, that bitch wanted everyone to love her unconditionally."

Yuuki chuckled. "Well, she's not the only one I know that wants to monopolize everybody's attention." She pecked him on the lips. "Weren't we talking about your father?"

"I'll kill him too if it comes to it."

The vampirette flinched. "But you just said that you don't hate him."

"I don't. He's in the way of my ambition."

"Oh, Ayato. What are you talking about?" She stopped moving and stared at him anxiously. The last thing she wanted was more unnecessary death. "If you're worried about me, don't be. Karlheinz said that he doesn't oppose our being together. Isn't that enough?"

"When did he say that?"

"Ah, we were talking about a lot of things and it just came up." Yuuki responded while blushing at the memory. She refused to meet his gaze directly.

It was almost criminal to be that cute. Ayato brushed a strand of her hair back into place. "... Do you know why I chose you?"

She shook her head gently.

"It's because you are the best."

The vampirette moved away from his embrace. "And you're probably going to say something like you deserve only the best. I get it, Ayato. But listen carefully – don't make the same mistakes your parents did. If you want to take the throne then fine, I don't care. Good for you. I've said it before and I'll say it again; I will only agree to be yours and yours alone when I know for sure that it's because you love me and not just my blood. Your issues with your family are your problem, and you are not going to drag us down with them." Yuuki stated coldly.

"That's not like you, pancake." Ayato commented with a frown. Yuuki was always the one who cared too much for her own good. This declaration sounded nothing like her.

"Don't worry. I'm only warning you because I don't want us to repeat the past. I would've abandoned you long ago if I wasn't willing to face these challenges together. We're a team, right?"

He relaxed at her reassurance. "So basically, you're saying that you couldn't live without me."

"So basically, I'm saying that you don't have to be Mr. Number One, Ayato. Cordelia might have pressured you to be the best, but I don't expect that from you. The fact that you're a misbehaving, reckless, egotistical, cocky hot-shot who's totally clueless about life makes no difference to me. I'll accept all your imperfections."

"What imperfections?" Ayato joked. "And who said that I was trying to be the best? I was born this way."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. More importantly, where's Laito? I want him to take me that girl, what's-her-face."

"Tsk, as if I'll let him." Truthfully, he didn't feel all that threatened by Yuuki's interactions with his brothers. "You're not going out of my sight again."

Meaning that you don't want to be left all alone again.

Yuuki sighed. "You really don't have to ask in such a roundabout way - you can tag along if you want."

"Tag along? That's not my style, pancake," the boy said, winking at her. "I'd rather take you there myself."

"Haha. If that's the case, lead the way."

"You forgot the please."

This coming from you of all people.

The girl shook her head in exaggerated disbelief. "Please, Oh Well-Mannered and Generous Soul. I am ever in your favor." She curtsied to add to the theatrics.

She closed her eyes and Ayato took her outstretched hand with a chuckle. When she opened them, Yuuki found herself standing in front of a tower.

"Oh my," the vampirette whispered, vaguely recognizing the general location. She squeezed Ayato's hand. "This is where they're keeping her?"

A/N: I love how Ayato opens up to Yuuki and how he tells her the story about the flowers, which is canon by the way. I also like Yuuki's resilience in wanting to do things the right way for the right reasons.

Ayato's way too dense. He loves her for grounds he can't even articulate, believing it to stem from his ambition since Cordelia has really messed with his perception of what love truly is. I'm sure Yuuki understands this to be the case and thus forgives it and continues to stick by him, despite feeling a little insulted and objectified. Externally, she challenges his desire to be the best in order to let him realize it for himself. Basically, planting a doubt in his head so that the concept will be born out of his own mind. Yuuki knows that Ayato won't change for the better if she states this idea directly. Sure, he might try to understand, but ultimately the feeling has to come from within him.

Anyway, I'll leave you to speculate in bliss.