Ruki threw open the door, his footsteps heavy and his breaths loud against the pitch silence. Ayato leaned back on the couch in the hallway, his chin resting in the palm of his hand, his hair a bit messier than it usually was. Ruki felt his chest collapse as he realised the obvious truth in Ayato's eyes.

"You did it because you were positive that she wouldn't survive," Ruki said, his knees buckled under his weight as he proclaimed his deduction. Ayato shifted a bit, making himself comfortable. Thoughts passed through Ruki's mind. Some of them unbelievable, some of them cruel. But each little though begged the question of why?

Was Yui so dispensable?

"I only did what you told me to," Ayato said, his voice lacking any emotion, his face devoid of any empathy. "You told me to use her to my advantage by utilising her emotions towards me."

Ruki stared at the monster he had thought had been tamed by his Eve. Instead, the monster had tamed her instead. He made her care for him; in the same way he had gathered Ruki's trust. Ruki did tell him on the night of the eclipse that he should make Yui fall in love with him, but he was using that in order to save Yui from the obvious violence she would have faced after the eclipse at the hands of Ayato. Instead, Ayato had flipped that logic out of the window, making her compliant and docile with each day that passed. He'd lured her into the bed so that he could have the last of her firsts, and after that Yui would have been left to her own devices, either to be molested and killed by Shu or sacrificed at the altar by Reiji.

Reiji…

"Today is the day they summon Beatrix." Ruki gulped. Ayato stood up from his couch, stepping into the full moon's light, his hands clutching his blazer lapels, his head cocked to his side, as he said in a sardonic voice, "Today I set her free, Ruki. Today we both witness her serve her crimes in hell."

"How can you say such a thing, Ayato." Ruki stood up, his anger boiling, "She saved you from damnation! It was for her sake that you are still alive! Otherwise you would have been cast out like a cur by your father, just like the disposable experiment that you are!"

Ruki felt the knee slam into his face a bit too late. His emotions overflowed, as he wiped his bleeding nose on the cuff of his coat, looking at Ayato, his eyes now bloodshot as the effect of the full moon took off. Ayato's eyes turned into a solid crimson colour, as he said, "Well, tonight is the night I exact my revenge. You committed a grave mistake by taking what was essentially MINE!"

The punch connected with Ruki's ribcage, as he felt his bones snap. A pained scream escaped Ruki's lungs, his hands clutching his shattered ribcage, protecting it from Ayato's wrath.

"Why did you take her back, huh?" Ruki said, his voice punctuated by sobs as Ayato whistled, his hands reaching to grab a poker from the fireplace, dipping it long enough into the fire so that it glowed red hot. Ruki's eyes glared at Ayato, his face losing colour when he realised what he was about to do.

"No, Ayato," Ruki gasped, stumbling backwards. "Keep it away from me."

Ayato smiled, as he left the poker in the fire, his hands brushing of the soot that settled on him. "You are getting the wrong idea, Ruki." He walked towards him, his hands crossed on his chest, observing the half-blood writhing in pain and agony. Ruki wondered if torturing an immortal would be as enjoyable to Ayato as torturing a human. Did Ayato like inflicting pain on everybody? Was he so devoid of emotion that he wouldn't think twice about the girl he had saved from the Founders? Had he forgotten that he was saved by the very girl he had tricked into his trap?

"You asked me why I took her back, did you?" Ayato said, getting down on his knees, to Ruki's level. Ruki coughed up blood, staining his white shirt a dull red. Ayato tutted in fake sympathy. "I was expecting to save this secret for the grave, but I think you deserve a bit of pity from my side. I just didn't like the fact that my bitch mother's heart was inside her body. I decided that her very existence should be wiped from the face of the earth." Ayato whispered to Ruki, "But don't tell Pancake, for I will be the one to swipe her heart from the altar when Reiji finally beheads her to raise his mother."

Ruki stared at him, his eyes wide in disbelief. He shouldn't have accepted when Ayato begged him to help him save Yui from her sure demise this day. "Reiji said to Kou that he would be using Eve's body as a vessel to house his dead mother's soul."

"Then I cannot wait till Beatrix occupies Pancake's body," Ayato replied with a sadistic grin. "I will personally make sure her ribs are cracked open and her heart is torn out by Oresama."

Ruki couldn't feel his body flying towards the pure-blood, his fist landing on his jaw, dislocating it. Fists flew at Ayato's face, till even Ruki could not identify him. Swollen, battered, bruised, Ayato couldn't match up to Ruki's fast blows, and he started to heal fast enough, his broken nose fixing itself in a matter of moments, his swelling retracting back into the skin. At the end, when Ruki had had enough, his fists coated with blood, Ayato's face dripping with his coagulated blood.

Ruki could not hear anything above the loud beating of his heart, or the bated breaths he took as he smashed Ayato's head repeatedly on the floor. Not even when delicate hands pried him off Ayato's twitching body. He collapsed into a heap, breaking down into tears, his head pressing against someone's chest. Fingers combed through his hair, as he sobbed.

"Ruki kun," Yui said, pulling away, her touch comforting and soft. Her shoulder had been torn into by someone's fangs, and her pretty frock had been stained with blood and moss. Her head was swollen on the temple. Ruki noted, with strange worry, that her flower clip had gone missing.

"Eve," Ruki said, his voice trembling, as he admitted into her embrace, "I'm sorry. I wouldn't be able to save you."

"Pan… Yui," Ayato scrambled himself to drag closer to her. She look at Ruki accusingly, and left to look after Ayato. Ruki couldn't bring himself to admit Ayato's true intentions. It would break her heart if she got to know how ruthlessly she had been used by the whole Sakamaki family. Ruki saw Yui press her handkerchief against his wounds, and now he was sure that he would stand no chance of explaining to Eve that the boy she was nursing was plotting to murder her.

"Yui," Ruki's voice was deep, unsettling. "What happened to your shoulder?"

Yui rested Ayato's head in her lap, her right hand crossing over to her left shoulder, her eyes unfocused as she said, "Subaru kun… attacked me."

Ruki's eyes went wide. There was no way Subaru would try to harm her. Especially this night, when he was supposed to work together with Kou to thwart Reiji's plans to sacrifice Eve at the altar. Kou had discussed at length how they were going to escort Yui out of the place. Kou had been using his truth seeking eye to see through Reiji's intentions, and that was the time when Kou had noticed anomalies in Reiji's statements and intentions. That had been the time when Ruki had approached Ayato. He couldn't fathom how Reiji was walking all of them back into a corner, countering their plans so ahead of them.

"Eve," Ruki pleaded. "We need to find shelter. Tonight is not safe for you to roam around the mansion. Subaru was supposed to help you escape from here." Ruki swallowed, not able to dance around the subject for too long. "They are going to sacrifice you, Eve."

Yui turned towards him, her expression full of rage. "You think I need shelter from these heathens, do you, Ruki kun?" She looked at the door closed ahead of them. "I'm no damsel that you are going to rescue. I've been cowering in fear for too long. If I shall die, shall go like a martyr."

Ruki looked at her hands, bloodied with Ayato's blood, his desperation at its peak. "It's no use dying like a martyr when you aren't going to save anyone, Eve. Try to understand…"

"Ruki kun," Yui said, running her fingers through Ayato's hair. "Help me take Ayato kun to his coffin."

Ruki stood there, astonished. This girl was walking back into the corner at will. She was willing to enter the trap Reiji had created for her just so that that pathetic piece of meat Ayato could live a few more centuries of his miserable life. Ruki wrapped his hand around Yui's shoulder, as he picked Ayato by his arm, slinging one across his shoulder and hauling him up the stairs. Ruki's energy had been spent beating him up, and noticing this, Yui extended an arm towards him, as she supported the other side.

Fortunately for them, Ayato's room was quite close to the flight of stairs, and they didn't have to walk further. Kicking open his door, Ruki laid him into his coffin, as Yui rushed to Ayato, her hand clasping his in a comforting embrace. Ruki hated how he had tamed her Eve; she had been docile enough to rush to his aide while her own life had been at danger just a few moments ago.

Not standing her ignorance that threatened her life, Ruki started, his voice almost shaking. "Eve, I need to talk to you about something."

Yui looked at him, her bangs falling in front of her eyes. She pushed them back, as she said, "All right. I'm listening."

Kou scoured the tower for a hint of where Subaru might have been. "Tch. That tsundere is always making me work hard for nothing." His complaints were usually unaddressed, for Subaru never bothered to change his careless behaviour. Kou wanted to work with Subaru without any hitch in the way of rescuing Eve, but Subaru didn't seem to care whether the girl lived or died. Kou knew that deep down in Subaru's heart, he did care for the naïve girl, for Eve's heart was pure and sinless in all regards.

And basically every Sakamaki wanted to tarnish that purity and claim it for himself.

The idol climbed down the flight of stairs in the tower, desperate to find him. It was already twilight, the moon hung low on the horizon, and they had to be prepared at all costs.

He stumbled upon something that caught his eye. Twinkling in the pale moonlight was her flower clip.

Which meant Eve had been there.

He bent down to pick up the clip, his hands marvelling at little clip in his hands. He'd been too caught up in all the drama to communicate with the masochist kitten, and only Ruki had made an effort to talk to her while the others made plans and strategized. Kou smiled to himself, trying to find some sort of peace in this mansion riddled with sadness and gloom.

Kou walked towards the mansion, finding the entry gate shut. He wondered why the pure-bloods had to shut themselves in this state. He did know the few people involved in the ritual tonight, but the Sakamakis were never ones to hide behind closed doors while they could literally wreak havoc on anyone that came in their way.

Kou pushed the door open.

The hinges creaked loudly as the ornate door swung to the side, and Kou found a pair of eyes staring at him in the dark. He crossed his hands across his chest, as he stood face to face with Laito. The youngest triplet was missing his trademark fedora and fur coat, as he greeted Kou in a singsong voice, "Kou kun…" a pause, "What brings you here?"

"I am looking for Subaru kun, do you happen to have seen him here?" Kou knew he had walked into his trap. They were picking out the people trying to help Yui. Which was why he hadn't been able to find Subaru in the tower. Why he smelled Ruki's and Ayato's blood in the hall. The Sakamakis were all collaborating to make the sacrifice a success.

"So sad," a baritone in the shadows chuckled. "I hope you find his bones along with your brothers' remains." Shu walked into the moonlight, his cardigan fluttering in the mellow night wind, his blue eyes shining in the darkness.

Kou swallowed the attack on his pride as the eldest Sakamaki insulted his brethren. He managed to pull off a cheerful voice. "Too bad, I was hoping to talk to him about torching up your bed, Shu san."

The mention of fire made Shu become a bit unsettled, but Kou didn't have much time to think as something blunt and hard smashed into his skull. A blinding pain shot through his head as he stumbled from his feet, falling face first on the ground. His vision was spotted with red, as he saw black socks and brown shoes obstruct his vision. Kou felt his hand let go off the flower clip as it dropped by his twitching body.

"Is he going to tell us where she is now?" Kanato asked, turning towards his brothers.

"We don't need his assistance in that matter," Shu said, kneeling down to Kou, snatching the flower clip from Kou. "Although now he wouldn't be so troublesome to us now. Thank you, Kanato."

Kanato looked at Kou, smiling at him. Kou felt his consciousness slip, knowing that he was now at the mercy of the Sakamakis now. And he had been plucked off from the game, just as his brothers would be.