Laito bumped into the couple as Karlheinz interrogated the young girl inside the tower chamber.

"Can we go in?" Yuuki inquired.

"Sure. He's almost done asking questions," the older brother said as he tipped his signature fedora, hiding his humiliation with a smile. The visiting father quickly discovered that Nakusa had not been fed since she had been locked up, and the eldest triplet had been thoroughly reprimanded for neglecting it.

Yuuki took a deep breath to steel her nerves before stepping into the tower.

Face it head on, girl.

"Oh, it's changed inside." Yuuki noted after climbing the flight of stairs. Behind the iron bars was a simply furnished bedroom, nearly bare compared to her memory of Subaru's mother.

"Changed?" Ayato asked.

"Yeah. Did you guys move Christa's stuff after she died?"

The boy belatedly remembered that Yuuki once claimed to have experienced visions around the time of the awakening. "Nah, pancake, you've got it all wrong. She used to stay in the other tower."

"Oh. I shouldn't of assumed that there was only one, I guess."

Well, that was anticlimactic. Yuuki thought to herself. She was tensing up for nothing.

Karlheinz had his back towards them as he stood facing the prisoner, who was sitting on her bed. Beside her was a tray with a bowl of soup licked clean, with only a few bread crumbs left on the plate to indicate the meal's former existence.

"Ah. Yuuki, Ayato. Come in." Karlheinz said when he noticed their presence. Nakusa's one teary eye widened with fear at the sight of them and she shrunk into herself. The older vampire gestured at the part-nephilim. "I've heard about this young lady's situation and I don't mind leaving her under your care, my dear."

Eh?

"It seems my sons came up with a fair decision for once. I can take care of the necessary arrangements."

"Why?" Ayato asked in Yuuki's stead, since she seemed a little too startled to respond. The vampirette was wondering why Karlheinz even bothered to intervene if he wasn't planning on rectifying the products of their poor judgment – and further calling it fair. Was this how the boys got away with murdering their own mothers?

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Karlheinz suggested, moving away to the side. He preferred remaining an observer.

Yuuki peered at the dark-skinned nephilim. She felt something akin to anger before it was replaced with a deep sadness. The girl's huddled, vulnerable posture somehow piqued her sympathy. Her logical side told her that it wasn't worth letting her emotions getting the better of her – the attacker deserved no pity from the victim. Nonetheless, the vampirette let go of Ayato's sleeve and slowly walked over to the bedside.

"Hey." Yuuki greeted softly as she crouched, resting her weight on her toes with her elbows perched upon her knees. "I never got your name."

The girl's gaze fled towards Karlheinz, whose impassive face gave her no encouragement nor reproach. "Nakusa," she eventually croaked.

"Naku? As in to cry?" Yuuki asked, drawing the character in the air with her finger. It was a fitting name.

The girl shook her head and stuttered, "No, it's an Indian word."

"Indian? Cool," the vampirette said, attempting to be friendly. "What does it mean?"

Nakusa stared at the other female for a moment. These weren't the kind of questions she was expecting. After all she and her former companions had done to Yuuki, she expected some harshness in Yuuki's behavior. It scared her. What was the girl plotting behind her casual expression? But despite her doubts about the vampirette's true intentions, she knew better than to remain silent.

"Unwanted. My mother named me that when my father told her that he was a nephilim's son."

Ah, that explains her outburst earlier.

"That must have been a shock for her..." Yuuki murmured in sweet, hushed tone. It was the kind of voice teachers used to soothe agitated kindergartners. The kind of voice a pesky therapist might adopt.

"Why do you care?" Nakusa sneered once she realized that the vampirette meant no immediate harm. "It's none of your business."

Yuuki was taken aback by the bitterness in the girl's voice.

"You're not in any position to talk to her like that." Ayato growled from the wall he leaned on. "Don't make me regret keeping you alive."

"Hush, child." Karlheinz commanded, watching the pair of girls intently.

"Don't threaten her, Ayato." Yuuki gently chided although he had already fallen silent. She turned back to the prisoner. "I don't want to harm her."

I simply used the wrong approach. She wasn't talking to Subaru here, but a battered mutt licking its fresh wounds. The former had time to repent and brood and despair. The latter didn't have that luxury.

"Why not?" Nakusa challenged once again. "We did terrible things to you."

"And we did terrible things to you," the vampirette responded sadly, refusing to be provoked. "I'm sorry about your friends."

"We weren't friends."

"Then what were they to you?"

"I don't know. Fakes. Allies? Enemies? I hung out with them but hated every minute."

Biting her lip, Yuuki stopped rocking back and forth and shifted her balance to her heels. "Why would you stick with them if you hated them?"

"Insurance, mainly. But Lilith's gone now." Nakusa's expression hardened with anger. "Defying her is the one time I stood up for myself. Big help that was. Now I'm stuck here."

"Insurance?"

"Damn, you're nosy." Nakusa mumbled, wiping away the left over streaks of salt water on her face. "My dad brought me here to Japan and left me in Lilith's family's care before disappearing. Abandoned me, is more like it... You see these?" She pulled back her chocolate brown locks to reveal scars on her tan neck.

"Fangs." Yuuki breathed, instinctively reaching for the area where her own wounds used to be.

"Lilith's responsible for them. Oh, and Arachnae when she couldn't find any prey. You always looked so... unfortunate when nobody was looking. It pissed me off. Hah. I've been a meal for years and I'm supposed to be grateful that I've been handed off to another vampire?" Nakusa shook her head before actually addressing Yuuki. "You don't have the right to complain - acting so chummy with the Sakamaki's after a few months of being their snack. Arachnae said that you weren't even a human anymore. Why did you have to be the one to turn?"

"So there's you're personal vendetta against me. Thank you for explaining it so fully." Yuuki replied with a hint of sarcasm.

Nakusa felt like she would earn a slap for her next biting remark.

"Oh, this is nothing. Lilith, on the other hand... She was in love with a certain red head and wanted to crush the little cockroach who stole him away from her. And of course her buddies decided to join in the fun."

Time stopped in the chamber.

"Ahh~ What a relief." Yuuki sighed as she got up and stretched. The other three gawked at her apparent lack of displeasure. "I could let that night at the bathroom traumatize me forever, but I'm not going to be depressed over such a shallow motive."

Ignoring Karlheinz, the blonde peeled the certain red head off from his wall and placed a hand between his shoulder blades. Ayato uncrossed his arms in surprise, but smoothly followed her lead so that they were holding each other.

"It looks like this really is all your fault." Yuuki joked before facing the prisoner once again. "This is the easiest way to get revenge on Lady Jumbo Tits. Excuse my french. As for you... I will make a proposition."

Although Nakusa maintained eye-contact, her gaze darkened.

"You may have your freedom as long as you agree to leave me out of your hatred. A destructive feeling, that is," the vampirette added while nodding sagely.

Ayato looked at her sharply. "Pancake, don't tell me you've forgotten-"

"I haven't. But now your dad's here so whatever we said in the morning doesn't matter anymore. Am I supposed to offer her my protection even if she doesn't deserve it?" Yuuki pouted, sounding more selfish than she intended to. "I just don't want to be near anything that reminds me of what happened... Unless..."

She dropped her hand and deliberately walked back to firmly clasp the prisoner's shoulders.

"Nakusa, I will put everything behind me if you remain loyal to me."

"I-"

"- Oh, and I don't mean that horrid relationship you had with those girls." Yuuki interrupted. "If you are willing to become a genuine friend of mine, then forgetting the nasty comments you've made is a small matter."

"I don't understand." Nakusa stammered, utterly confused by Yuuki's smile.

"Don't forget," the vampirette whispered, "I also know what it's like to be alone. Why make an enemy out of the one person who understands you?"

"You don't understand me." The part-nephilim tried to shimmy out of Yuuki's grip, but the vampirette trapped her in a hug.

"You're right." Yuuki agreed. "You've had it worse than me. But you're the only one who survived. Doesn't that count for something?"

Nakusa paused. "That doesn't explain why you want to be my friend all of a sudden."

"Pancake makes it her business to try and be nice to everyone she meets. Get used to it – despite what she says, you're not getting out of this tower."

"Unless she agrees to my deal." Yuuki stated, letting go of Nakusa to silently glare at both Ayato and Karlheinz, as if challenging them to deny her claim. "I was brought to this home against my will once. I'm definitely not going to let that happen to another girl without doing something about it."

Nakusa tugged Yuuki's shirt, her ears flushed with a deep wine color. "You're really stupid. Even if I say I'll do it, I would probably be faking it."

"That's why I specified loyalty. If you're willing to forget the past and move on, then the feeling is mutual. If not..." Yuuki's eyes narrowed and her grin faded. "I have no further business with you. You can rot in here for all I care."

A/N: Hey guys! I just wanted to let you know that I'll be participating in Nanowrimo this year so I won't update for a month. I know, I know, it's a long time. But I'll be back in December =)

Yuuki's totally experiencing mood swings here. On one hand, she wants to help Nakusa out and therefore let the negativity blow over, on the other hand, she wants to destroy everything keeping her away from happiness. I feel like forgiveness will win out in the end because pancake is such an idealist. Normally, people run away from bullies but Yuuki tries to face them head on smh.

Is it wrong to make the one dark-skinned character in this story clearly below the others in social status? I just realized it's sort of racist, although it's totally unintended. Let me know if you want her to be a good person or not... Hope you're wondering why Papa Sakamaki's creeping around for – he literally did nothing except "observe" and tell Ayato to shut his beautiful face.