Kanato yawned as he made his way towards the entrance of the manor. He felt too cranky to go to school since he was busy painting during the day, when the colors were best perceived and applied. Before he knew it, sunset had come and gone and it was time to leave.

"Ah!" Yuuki's voice cried out some distance away. "Sorry, Hitomi! Can you hold my bag for a second? I left something in my bedroom."

He entered the hall just the vampirette had just rushed out, leaving her companion waiting at the top of the grand staircase.

Kanato frowned at the part-nephilim's back. Some sort of anger began to reignite within him as he expertly looked over the dark youth with an eye of an artist and a predator.

He wanted to hurt her. He wanted to crush this insignificant being that followed Yuu-chan everywhere like an annoying fly.

Without realizing it, Kanato began to take small, padded steps in the equally-unaware target's direction. Hitomi glanced over her shoulder just as the boy prepared to push her down the stairs.

"Kanato-sama!" Hitomi gasped. She moved away from him before adding, "You surprised me. What are you doing?"

It was an understated reaction. She felt threatened by his very presence. The others always regarded her with a cool indifference in passing, but he always went out of his way to sneer at her whenever Yuuki wasn't watching.

"Tch." His glower pierced her very soul with the singular feelings of a trapped mouse. "Looks like we've been caught, Teddy. Should we go ahead and continue anyway?"

"Continue what?" Hitomi asked with a shaky voice.

"I wasn't talking to you!" Kanato suddenly snapped, causing her to flinch.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry..." She remained quiet for a moment and began to wonder why he continued standing there. "Oh, I'll wait for Yuuki-sama. You should go down to the car."

"Who the hell are you to suggest what I should or should not do?" Kanato muttered in response. "Pah, what insolence! You seriously think you're good enough for Yuu-chan?"

The part-nephilim didn't respond.

"It's obnoxious, really," he continued at her silence, taking a step closer. "That face you're making isn't cute at all."

"I wasn't trying to be cute." Hitomi said while wearily moving back until she was stopped by the railing.

"See? You can't even do that much. How worthless can you be?"

When she finally opened her mouth, Yuuki's voice was heard instead.

"Kanato."

The boy turned around with a broad smile on his face. "Ah, Yuu-chan! We were ju-"

*SLAP*

"How dare you act like such a bully? Grow up will you?!" Yuuki demanded angrily as he gingerly touched the still-stinging cheek without a word. The vampirette addressed the brunette with concern etched on her face. "Are you hurt?"

"... Yuu-chan..."

The blonde ignored him and waited for the answer to her last inquiry.

"No, I'm fine." Hitomi replied with a fidgety glance between the duo.

"That's good." Yuuki's stance relaxed and she moved to retrieve her bag. The vampire started at her gentle tone.

"Why? … Why do you care so much about a thing like her?" Kanato began softly. "Don't you see she's manipulating you? She's using you," he continued with increasing volume, "for comforts she doesn't deserve."

"Hush, Kanato. Hitomi has every right to live here in peace. This is the smallest repayment I can afford to give her."

"Nonsense! She has no right to an ounce of your pity. She's human! She doesn't belong here!" Kanato roared.

"That's precisely why she's my special charm. She's the only one who can remind me of my own humanity on a daily basis."

"Yuu-chan, you don't need to try to be human again."

The vampirette scowled. "You can't ask me to willingly forget a crucial part of myself, Kanato."

"I'm not telling you to be different. I'm telling you that we're enough – you don't need her."

"What are you acting all jealous for?" Yuuki retorted with a biting edge. "You know very well that I don't play favorites - I'm not like your mother."

"You sure as hell act like you're my mother sometimes!" Kanato roared back. "Telling me to grow up and shit as if you'd be proud of me and all."

"Of course I'd be proud of you. Anyone would."

"No, only you think like that. You believe that a good mom should act like that and you're trying to be a substitute for that woman. Well, you can't." The boy took a deep breath to calm himself down as he noticed that angry tears had threatened to fall from her eyes. "But neither of us need that kind of pretense, do we? We don't need fake human friends either."

"... They're not fake just because they happen to be human, Kanato. You're acting racist."

"Don't kid yourself, Yuu-chan. We're two capable vampires and you know that. Stop trying to deny what you really are."

"I'm not denying it, am I?"

Kanato shook his head at the rhetorical question and pointed accusingly at Hitomi. "See this blood bag here? That's literally all she's good at being. Open your eyes, Yuu-chan. This is no friend – this is food. When we're out there, we pretend to get along with them. But the second one of them crosses into this estate, they're fair fucking game. Even Father's just letting you delude yourself with your little acts of justice towards her. She's simply a toy to pacify you." His hand dropped. "Don't tell me to grow up, Yuu-chan. You need to grow up – not me.

Says the one holding a teddy bear.

A tense pause followed his rant.

"I'm so ashamed of you, Kanato. I really am." Yuuki finally said with grit teeth.

"Ha?"

The vampirette trembled with a complicated mixture of anger, hurt, and guilt. "I thought you had changed but I was wrong. You're just the same as when I first met you."

"Did you really expect me to become a different person, Yuu-chan?"

Pink eyes widened when she realized her own argument had been turned against her.

"That's dumb of you. You're smart enough to know better," he stated matter-of-factly but his demeanor had softened considerably. "Sure, we're friends now and a lot of things have happened but you're trying to make a miracle happen. I'm a vampire at my core, Yuu-chan. I've always been a vampire. You can't ever change that."

Again, Yuuki fell silent. She approached Kanato and hesitantly reached up, caressing his cheek apologetically.

"You're right," she said and Kanato smiled before her gaze hardened once again. At the close proximity, the intensity of the glare kept him from being able to move a single muscle. "BUT that does not justify your behavior toward Hitomi. She has been nothing but loyal to me ever since she came here." The pupils dilated once more. "At the least, can't you be good to her... as a favor to me? It's not too much to ask for, is it?"

Broken from her spell, Kanato peeled the smaller hand off. "It is too much to ask for."

"How come?"

"You can tell me yourself, Yuu-chan... What am I to you?"

Her answer was promptly given. "A dear friend, of course."

Kanato sighed and pulled her into a loose hug. "As much as I love you, Yuu-chan, that's not enough to convince me to suppress my primal feelings."

He pulled away when Reiji called out their names from the doorway. "Yuuki, Kanato! We're going to be late!"

The warning reminded the duo of where they were.

"Come, Yuu-chan." Kanato bid as she turned to face him again. "Don't worry, I won't hold a grudge against you..."

The vampirette offered a small smile before waving goodbye to the sole audience member of their quarrel, and finally exited the building. As Hitomi and Kanato passed by each other, the latter muttered his final words to Yuuki darkly.

"... I won't let a petty thing like this worm it's way between us."


A/N: Ayyy! What did ya think of that unexpected development? Has Kanato gone insane? Has he gotten cooler? Or has puberty finally hit?

Personally, I'm really happy with how this chapter turned out. It's like my thank you gift for you lovely readers.

So here's a little explanation to why I've decided to do this conflict in such a dramatic manner.

1) Out of all the brothers, Kanato has been the only one to openly and singularly antagonize Nakusa because she directly threatens his role in Yuuki's life. They are both meant to be companions that look up to Yuuki. However, it's clear that while Kanato kind of worships her and places her on a pedestal (for example, I've hinted that she is his creative muse), Hitomi merely respects her quietly (Yuuki embodies the bravery that she can only meekly attempt on occasion).

2) This was a good chance to rid the parent-child dynamic that Kanato and Yuuki were beginning to fall into. Although Yuuki is perfectly happy with this kind of relationship, she failed to register Kanato's feelings as young man. It's only a natural development - children will eventually mature and try to leave the nest. It's folly to try to hinder that process... Thus far, Kanato has stunted his own psychological growth with his refusal to leave his comfort zone. He clings on to his childhood toy, doesn't go along with his brothers (who are closer in my version because I like pretending that triplets are inherently bonded together) which would mean leaving his home behind (aka the metaphorical nest), and prefers remaining in the safety of a maternal figure (aka Yuuki). I think Kanato's an extremely interesting character once you look past the unpleasant factors and it would be a shame to leave him as a dependent "little boy" while everyone else moves on.

3) All throughout "Rebirth", there's only one thing about Yuuki's behavior or thought process that positively irks me: time and time again, she tries to refuse her fate as a vampire. She was literally depressed about the fact that she's immortal (which, to be fair, is a logical reason to despair). Even when she's actively drinking blood, she tries to deny the fact that she is a vampire. My goal is to help her cope with this unnatural dimension, but in the meanwhile, it's fun to poke at her hypocrisy and make her cringe in moral pain. Ahh~ The joy of writing.

Anyway, I hope you didn't find Kanato's sudden urge to use expletives too offensive. Toodles!