A brief synopsis of the last chapter: Takuma told Ruka, Kain and Aidou Jr. about the state Kaname is in which became unnecessary when Kaname returned to normal after a slap to the face and some harsh words from Yuuki. Additionally, Kaname now knows that there is another pureblood who is working with the hunters.

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Kazuye felt her eyes fly open as her connection to Kaname's mind shattered. The recoil from the tendril of her mind being severed by his shields left her panting. She felt panic flood her veins for the first time in a very long time as she recalled the pure unadulterated fury she had felt before she had been roughly thrown from his mind.

Not bothering to hide the fear in her eyes, she looked at the president of the association. "I think we may have made a mistake," she said disgusted with herself for the tremor in her voice.

"What do you mean?" he demanded approaching her for the first time since they had begun this venture. She felt herself flinch at his tone. Even though she normally would have scoffed at him for trying to chastise her, she was feeling vulnerable at the moment due to being ejected from Kaname's mind. She looked at him for a moment, her blue eyes unreadable.

"I think this all may have been a mistake," she clarified. She felt like a fool for aligning herself with the hunters. Kaname was more powerful than even she had anticipated. She had miscalculated her own strength in relation to his and in her arrogance had challenged him. And now, her challenge had been met and countered and all she had accomplished was angering him. She knew there was no way that they could now win this war.

"It's a little late to decide that this war is a mistake," the president replied coldly. He couldn't understand why she was so indecisive about this. She had long told him that she wanted to avenge her mother and kill Kaname. He had wanted to eliminate Kaien Cross. Together they had the perfect chance and perhaps the strength to do it and now, once the end was in sight, she wanted to stop.

"I haven't decided it is a mistake," she snapped, regaining her composure and pride as time began to pass. "I have decided that it is hopeless."

"You can't back out now," he snarled. "You owe us."

"I know," she snapped. "I owe you, but that does not mean that I am willing to stay and fight a war that is futile. Kaname found the suggestion that I planted."

"I thought you said he would not be able to do that," the president barked, cutting off her next words. She felt her anger flare at his rudeness. She may be willing to fight with them because she wanted Kaname dead, but she didn't intend to die to accomplish her goal. She wanted to live to savor her victory.

"He shouldn't have found it," she said. "But he did. And now he is more than just angry. He is livid. He's also more powerful that I thought and more dangerous for his anger. I understand why we started this, but for now I think that we would be wise to pull back and wait."

"We can't do that!" he yelled. "If we give the men time to think they will realize that they do not want to kill women and children—even if they are vampires. We have to press on while their anger is high. We have to finish what we have started."

"No," she said. "You have to finish what we have started. I do not."

"You do unless you want to go back into the vaults of the association," he threatened raising his hand to brandish his bracelet. Her hand unconsciously rose to touch the tattoo on her neck. She glared at him with impotent rage. She wanted to tell him that he couldn't do it, but she knew that he could. She had spent too many years there already and had no desire to return.

"Fine," she said looking away from him. "I will see your war through to the end. But only because I desire revenge. Once I have eliminated Kaname you are on your own and I am free to go where I will."

"We have a deal," he replied with a smile. "Once Kaname is gone, there will be no true resistance left." She didn't tell him that she knew that he was wrong. There was more strength to be found in that place than was contained in the body of Kaname Kuran. She could have, but in her heart she had no problem with the idea that the hunters association would be wiped out in retribution for Kaname's death at her hands. She only wished that she could do it herself.

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Eventually the nobles had decided that they would see if Aidou had been right. They would give Kaname a few days to recover from his exertions before they did anything. Although they did intend to talk to Yuuki in the morning to see if what they had heard was true. Once it had been decided, they had each gone their own way. Takuma had stood there watching them leave.

Once they had left, he felt worse than he had before they had talked. He hated seeing the same hopelessness that he felt fill their eyes. He hated himself for spreading the fear, but he knew that they had to know.

He hated himself even more for the fact that—in a way—the whole situation could be viewed as his fault. Not entirely, of course, but some of the blame was his. If only he had said no to his grandfather this may not have happened. Rido would not have been resurrected, or at least not yet. Yuuki would never have been hurt. Kaname would never have killed the senate and president of the association. The war would never have begun.

This could all be traced back to that one, weak moment. It was his fault. More people would die and it was his fault. His musings had carried him to his and Senri's room. He hadn't actually decided to go there but with his brain otherwise occupied his feet had traveled of their own accord. If his mind had been in control he would never have gone there. He had been avoiding his room ever since Rido had left Senri's body.

Well, as long as I'm here I may as well go in, Takuma thought. He didn't bother to knock but instead let himself in and sat on the edge of the bed where the young noble lay sleeping. He gently stroked back the bangs from the other vampire's sleeping face. This was his fault too. Of all the things that were his fault this was the one that bothered him the most. Senri still hadn't recovered from his possession. And he had had a hand in it.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered still stroking Senri's hair. "This is all my fault." He wished that Senri would sit up and tell him he was wrong, or even just open his eyes but it didn't happen. He just laid there, breathing steadily and sleeping. Takuma had yet to see him awake since Rido had left. He was beginning to wonder if Senri ever would wake or if Rido had not merely suppressed his spirit but had destroyed it.

"What are you doing here?" he heard a female voice demand from the door. He turned knowing that it was Rima that had spoken. He wasn't surprised that she would be here. She and Senri were seldom separate. What did surprise him was the anger burning in her blue eyes. She rarely showed emotion so plainly and for t to be directed at him . . . it hurt.

"I live here," he reminded her trying to keep the pain he was feeling from his voice. Even though he understood why she would hate him, he couldn't believe that she actually could.

She snorted in response. "I wasn't sure anymore. You've been avoiding this room ever since . . ." she trailed off sadly before she glared at him with renewed fury. "So what? Did you figure out another way he can be useful and are back now? Do you have any idea how much you hurt him?"

"I do," he said choosing to only answer her last question. "It's obvious. He still hasn't woken up. To keep a noble asleep so long he has to be gravely injured."

"That's not what I'm talking about you idiot!" Rima yelled. "And he has woken up a couple of times. Not that you'd know that since you haven't been here. You were the first person he asked for when he woke . . . not me, you. And the second. And the third. But you were never here!

"Do you have any idea what it was like for me to have to be the one to tell him that you hadn't even come to see him once since Rido left his body?" she demanded. "To watch sadness sweep across his face as he muttered that maybe you never loved him after all. To see all of this and know that I would never have done that to him if he had chosen me over you.

"And now," she continued, lightning beginning to dance along her fingers, "now you decide to come back. Why?"

He sighed before he answered. "I don't know," he finally said. "I didn't actually decide anything. I was just walking and thinking and wound up here. I'm sorry, Rima. I've made a mess of everything. I'll just go." He stood and made to leave but was stopped by a hand grasping his wrist.

What neither of them had noticed during their fight was that they had woken Senri. At the sound of Rima yelling he had opened his eyes and realized that the two people he cared the most about in the world were fighting with one another. It didn't take him long to realize what—or rather who—the fight was about. Rima's harsh words to Takuma about which of them Senri had chosen cut him deeply. He had always known that she wanted more than friendship, but he couldn't return her feelings. Not when she wasn't what he wanted. Even so, he cared about her and that was why he had allowed her to take his blood. He knew that it would provide her sustenance, even if he didn't return the feelings.

And even though he knew that it would destroy her, he couldn't let Takuma, the one person he had wanted to see, leave. They had things that they needed to discuss and after the things that Rima had said he wasn't sure that Takuma would ever come back if he let him leave. He hated the pain that flashed through Rima's eyes before she turned at stormed out the door without a word, but there was nothing he could do to stop her. He instead turned his attention to the blond vampire whose hand was currently grasped in his own.

"She's right, you know?" Senri said, his voice rough from disuse. "It did hurt me that you were never here."

"I just couldn't stand it," Takuma replied his tone begging Senri to understand though he refused to look into the blue eyes of the other and see the hatred he was sure was there. "To see you like that because of something I did. I-I couldn't do it. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"That's a horrible excuse," Senri snorted. "Especially with all the self-loathing you have spouted since you walked into this room. With how much you hate yourself at the moment I'm surprised that you didn't spend all your time here as punishment."

At his tone Takuma turned to face him. There had been humor there—a dark humor, true but it was humor nonetheless. Senri's face was not blank, but it wasn't filled with hatred either. Instead it was filled with understanding.

"What are you saying?" Takuma asked, his green eyes filled with confusion and hope. "Are you saying that I shouldn't hate myself?"

"Not unless you are prepared to hate me too," Senri said pulling the blonde noble back down into a sitting position beside him. It felt weird to be taking to a standing person from a prone position.

"Why would I hate you?" Takuma demanded taking Senri's attitude as a good sign and gently stroking his face with the hand that he wasn't holding.

"Because I could have said no too," Senri replied with a sad smile. "If I had been stronger I could have fought against Rido and kept him from controlling me. I gained the upper hand a few times. Despite what you think, all the blame in this is not on your head."

At his words, Takuma felt tears prickle his eyes. He had known that Kaname did not blame him—if he had Takuma would be dead now. But Rima's words had made him think that Senri might. The forgiveness that Senri was now showing him was too much. He didn't deserve it.

Seeing tears fill the green eyes of the other noble, Senri scooted over in the bed and patted the space beside him in a silent invitation for the other to join him. He was happy when Takuma lay down beside him and allowed him to pull the blonde noble against him, but was a bit sad that he had decided to lie on top of the blankets. He stroked Takuma's back gently and allowed him to cry on his shoulder.

Eventually he cried himself out and fell asleep against Senri. Senri smiled down softly at the noble sleeping in his bed and allowed himself to place a chaste kiss on his forehead before he snuggled more tightly against him and allowed sleep to take him. For the first time in weeks it was a peaceful sleep despite the war going on outside.

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"Are you sure?" Yuuki asked. "Why would a pureblood be working with the hunters when they are wanting to destroy all the vampires?"

"I'm beginning to think that that is not their ultimate goal," Kaname replied sitting on the bed once more. Though he did feel better he could still feel the exhaustion from his display of power earlier in his bones. This was a conversation that they needed to have and he would be able to last longer if he remained sitting while they did.

"Then what is?" Yuuki asked. He smiled at her innocence. She didn't realize that people do not respond well to change, or the people that attempt it. He and Kaien had attempted to make a massive change. This was not an attack motivated by revenge. It was one motivated by fear. If he and Kaien had not succeeded, this would never have happened. It made him sigh. This would have been an easier war to fight if it had been motivated by revenge.

"I think that their ultimate goal may be the elimination of only us and Kaien," he said slowly. He didn't want to tell her at all but knew that she deserved to know. "On some level I was correct when I said that if I would give myself over to them the war would be over. Only I missed a couple of pieces. They also want you, Kaien and anyone else who may believe that vampires and humans can coexist."

"So, by gathering all of the nobles here we have single-handedly placed every piece that they need to take the coexistence desiring vampire community in one place. We made the wrong choice," Yuuki said with a sigh. It was discouraging that her first act a Queen-elect was to damn them all.

"No," Kaname replied gently but firmly. "You forgot to mention that that is only the outcome if we lose. We won't lose this war."

She looked at him incredulously. "How can you say that? It was bad enough when all we were fighting was the hunters and their anti-vampire weapons. Now you tell me that they have a pureblood as well. It's hopeless."

He shook his head. He could understand her reasoning but she was wrong."You forget that we not only have two purebloods but many other magic-wielding vampires, and three ex-hunters one of whom is a legend. And we have the knowledge that if we do not win we will die. Death is a great motivator. That alone is enough to make people do things that they would never do and vampires are more brutal than most even unprovoked.

"Also, even though they have a pureblood—and an old one from the feel of her mind—she is not nearly as strong as I am as evidenced by the fact that she waited until I was weak to attempt to assault me," Kaname continued. "The fact that she has not yet attempted to attack you suggests that her vendetta is against me rather than us."

"Who is she?" Yuuki asked wondering if the other ancient vampire could be a scorned lover of Kaname's and feeling a surge of jealously at the thought.

"I don't know," Kaname replied, his eyes and voice distant as he examined his memory of the mind of the other vampire. It had felt both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. He felt like he should recognize it, but he did not.

"I have never felt her mind before," he finally said. "but it seems familiar somehow."

"Well, why does she hate you?" Yuuki asked, barely restraining herself from asking the question she truly wanted to. Kaname was still emotionally unstable and she knew that attacking him over his past actions would not be the best way to handle the situation.

"I don't know that either," Kaname said. "All I know is that her mind was full of malice towards me."

"Could she have been an ex-lover?" Yuuki asked quietly, her curiosity getting the better of her. Kaname's eyes, which had been half-lidded in thought flew open at both the suggestion and the bitterness in her tone.

"No," Kaname replied, certainty in his voice.

"How do you know?" Yuuki demanded. "I'm sure you've had lots in your many years. I doubt that all of them were mutual breakups."

"No," Kaname repeated. "In all my years I have only had three lovers, including you. The first was the woman you saw in my memories. I loved her in my youth, but we never had any children before she sacrificed herself to create the hunters."

Even though his words hurt Yuuki found herself fascinated by the story. She hadn't actually asked, but he was willingly sharing something about himself with her and she was not about to stop him because it was something that she didn't really want to hear.

"My second lover was also a pureblood. I was still too heartbroken over the loss of my first love to give my heart to her, but she was kind to me and cared for me. I hoped that it would be enough. We were together for a couple of centuries before she told me that she wanted children. I cared for her enough and knew that it would break her heart if I refused so we created life.

"Together we had five children," he explained, his eyes distant once more. "I loved them more than I did their mother but it was still not enough. My heart yearned for the woman I could never have again and eventually, after I saw my first grandchildren born and the first of my children die, I decided that I was done living as well and build myself a mausoleum under the Kuran mansion and entered into sleep.

"Rido later awoke me and I repressed my memories and assumed the form of a babe. It was in that form, with my broken heart suppressed that I met you for the first time and felt love again. I knew the moment that I saw you that I would do anything for you. You needed me in a way that no one had before, not even my first love. You may not have been the first, but you are by no means the least. Do you understand, Yuuki?"

She looked at him with tears in her eyes before she nodded. She had always known that there had to have been others, she had just figured that there had been more. Somehow being one of three made it more difficult than if she had been one of many, but it also made her feel more special.

"So," she said trying to keep her voice light, "we know it's not a lover scorned. Who else could she be?"

"Anyone," Kaname replied. "Purebloods, as a rule, have no objection to eliminating other purebloods. She could still be a vengeful lover, just not my lover. I have killed many purebloods and other vampires over the years, any one of those may have had a lover who seeks revenge."

"If we can't figure out who she is what do we do?" Yuuki asked trying to keep up with the accelerated pace at which his mind was changing tracks.

"We destroy her before she can destroy us," Kaname replied with a shrug. He had promised himself that he would work on the wanton killing for Yuuki's sake, but this pureblood had drawn first blood and had attempted to kill him. This was not a wanton kill.

Even though he could see that the idea of killing another did not sit well with Yuuki he could also see that she realized that he was right. At the sadness in her eyes he wished that there was another way that this conflict could come to an end, but if there was he could not see it yet.

"Come," he said gently taking her hand and guiding her to the bed. "We can discuss this more in the morning." She nodded and lay in her spot on the bed fully clothed. He covered her with blankets before he lay beside her and pulled her against him.

"I love you, Yuuki," he whispered into her mahogany hair. "I just hope that you can remember that."

"I love you too, Kaname," she replied snuggling into his familiar warmth and attempting to sleep despite everything that she had just learned. Little did she know that downstairs in the kitchen another was also keeping a silent vigil as he thought through everything that he had learned that day.

Kaien sat at the table in the dark room and thought. Yagari had brought him more news, some of it good and the rest . . . well, it wasn't good. The day class had made it safely to the trains despite the fact that the hunters were already beginning to ring the school. He supposed it was because their quaral was not with humans. The other bit of good-ish news was that the hunters association proper was not responding to the declaration of war. It was only this precinct and not the world-wide organization that was at war.

The reason that this was not exactly good news was that the alarm had been raised worldwide in the vampire community and they would be prepared for a war that may never come. Either that or they would begin a war in an area that it would never have gone. If Kaname were well, he could put an end to that . . . but Yuuki did not have the abilities or—Kaien suspected—the respect of enough vampires to do the same. It was also bad news because it suggested that this was not motivated by the reasons the president had given.

There was more to this war than they were letting on and Kaien had a sinking suspicion that it all centered around his and Kaname's experiment. It upset him to think that his desire for peace would lead to war but there was nothing to be done for it now. War was upon them and they would have to fight it. And whether he wanted it or not, he would try to win.

This thought led him to the bad news. Yagari had no more ideas on how to stop the anti-vampire weapons than he did. As much as he hated to do it, he hoped that Yuuki was right—either about Kaname or her own ability to stop the weapons—because they had no other option. As much as it bothered him to rely so heavily on his daughter to save them all he knew that he would have to do it. He also knew that he would push her if that was what it took to get her out of this alive.

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There we are y'all. I hope you enjoyed it! And Eternal Darkness 96 I hope you enjoyed the bit of SenriXTakuma. Neither of them are characters I work with often and I hope that I did them justice. :)

As always thank you for reading this chapter. If there is anything that you would like to see before the end feel free to drop me a review or a PM and I will try to fit it in for you if it will work.

A special thank you to:

ShioriBunny:Yep :) couldn't leave him out of commission for TOO long now could I?

Kannabi888: I do that occasionally :). I almost facepalmed writing it and almost deleted it but then decided that with his obsession with her he might actually think something that stupid and decided to leave it in. And thank you so much. I hope you enjoyed this one as well.

Elliot Rose: Wouldn't it though? And it might provide some needed humor in something that has taken a decidedly angsty turn. And for now the night class won't cause problems. . . they will just come up with some contingency plans.

Akira 91: Yep. . . imagine their surprise. . . it may be quite comical. And yes. . . now they have pissed him off properly. The games have truly begun muhahahahahahahahha!

Kashim Kururugi: Thank you so much! I love it when others love my work. In thanks, I began to work the Kaname and other women thing into the story in this chapter. It will come up again later and be a major plot point (for a little hint see the end of chapter 46 ) I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter as much as you have enjoyed what came before.

Anne Fatalism Dilettante: Yep :) And thank you so much. I was going for a realistic argument. And I hope you had a Merry Christmas as well.

As always thank you for reading or adding this story to your favorites or alerts.

Until next time,

Stickdonkeys