Cross was ecstatic when he read Akari's latest letter, Zero had managed to gain access to Akari's home. However, he wasn't pleased to hear about Kaname's antics, he was thankful that Akari had managed to defuse the situation then and there. But now they could possibly be thrust into war for his childish carelessness. He hoped that Akari would be able to defuse Rido's rage to stop things from escalating before they were ready. He also hoped that she would be able to warn them before anything happened. He sighed to himself before looking at the second letter that had accompanied Akari's. The handwriting told him it was from Zero.
'Cross,
I believe more is going on between Akari and Rido. I believe she lives in fear of him, he holds something over her. We all know she could take him but chooses not to.
The night I was sent to her, he forced her to give him oral to apologise for taking me in without asking. If he can do this over something small as not asking. I wonder what more he has done to her and what he may do to her.
He almost caught her writing to you, she looked terrified of him. But she hides it well.
If you stop receiving letters from Akari, send help.
Zero.
P.S. Next time tell me everything. I didn't know she had been sending you letters.'
Cross was slightly shocked by Zero's words. He had believed that Akari had no fear, not towards Rido anyway. She willingly stood between Kaname and Rido when they were about to fight. May be things were different behind closed doors. Maybe she got her confidence from the people around her. He sighed once more, he now had to inform Kaname and Toga of the letters.
A few days had passed and Zero was getting impatient.
"Akari, can I ask you something?" Zero asked her. They were sat in another drawing room. Zero assumed it was used as a ballroom during a party due to its size. He wondered how she could stand the golden interior. The walls were painted bright gold with white floral patterns. The sofas and armchairs were almost matching the walls with an equally bright yellow fabric. Akari hummed as she read the book in the hands, sitting by one of the two fireplaces. "Kaname and Rido are equally matched, correct?" He asked and Akari nodded, not looking up from her book. "So, what happens if one of them doesn't win?"
"Then they will train, collect followers and gather information. The same as they're doing now." She answered, she wondered why Zero was asking but she assumed he was just curious.
"What will happen if one of them wins?" He then asked. Akari paused, thinking things through.
"If Kaname wins, he will more than likely continue to create peace between humans and vampires. If Rido wins, he will take the throne and probably kill those he sees as weak. I also expect he will start breeding humans like cattle." She finally told him.
"You're OK with humans being treated like that?" He asked, a hint of venom in his voice.
"No, I like mine organic and roaming free." She answered as she went back to reading. Zero growled at her. "It was a joke." She told him with a sigh, not taking her attention off the book. Zero glared at her, not finding anything about it funny, his arms crossed over his chest.
"What if they kill each other?" He suddenly asked, this took Akari by surprise. She looked at him, shocked by his suggestion. It took her several moments to recover from it.
"I doubt that would happen." She told him, it something she had never thought about happening.
"But if it did?" Zero was curious about her reaction, he would have thought she would be glad that both men would be gone. No more fighting over her. She would be free.
"The vampire world would be in a state of chaos. The Vampire Council will assume control until a new heir can be determined, if one can be determined. It may be a worse outcome than one of them winning." Akari explained. "Purebloods may fight among themselves for the throne, lower vampires will fight and cause trouble during that time. I would suspect that humans will be directly affected by this." She went into more detail as Zero stared at her, taking in the information. She had never entertained the idea of Rido being killed. She knew better than that, Rido was strong and roofless in his fighting approach. Kaname was young and in a way naïve as he often refused to stray from his plans. He was also emotional during a fight whereas Rido had learnt to control his but many wouldn't believe that. He often started fights because of his emotions. Rido, in her mind, was certain to win. "Why are you asking about this?" She then asked after a short silence in which she thought was strange for Zero to ask such questions let alone talk so much.
"I'm just trying to work out what might happen, what I need to prepare for." He told her, sensing her unease of the questioning. He wasn't ready to tell her his real reason for his being there. Not yet anyway. "I'm sure whatever the outcome, we will find a way forward." He then added, making her frown in confusion. She had no idea what he meant by it; she could only assume it was because he thought she was helping Cross.
Again, days had passed. Akari had been staring at a piece of paper in front of her. Zero could only guess she had learnt more from Rido, like he had learnt more about Akari's relationship with Rido. He was concerned about her wellbeing more so than he would ever thought he would be. He had caught Rido holding her by her neck. As soon as Rido saw him, he had let her go. Akari played it off, she told him it wasn't how it looked and he was simply touching her neck. That he was kissing her and moving to take a taste of her blood. That nothing more was happening. Zero didn't believe it, he had seen the tense grip on her neck. Rido was hurting her. Zero was sure he had almost caught Rido hurting her more than he realised.
He came up behind her before resting his hand gently on her shoulder. He felt her flinch under his touch.
"Zero!" She hissed at him, a hand over her heart. "Don't sneak up on me like that." She the huffed, relaxing back into her chair.
"Sorry, do you have news to pass on?" He asked, moving to her side.
"He has calmed down, for now. He is calling for more followers and for them to be ready. I think he's planning an attack but is waiting for an opening." She told him with a sigh. Zero frowned, she sounded so frustrated.
"What is the problem?" He asked concerned. It was unlike her to get frustrated about passing on such information. She would normally get nervous but not frustrated.
"Rido is looking to possess another, to get back into Kaname's inner circle. But if Kaname would somehow know when Rido possesses someone, then he will surely know that I'm betraying him. I don't know how to stop Rido from gaining the information he needs." She told him, laying out the plan that she and Rido had come up with, to put Zero to better use than being her loyal pet.
"How will we deal with this?" Zero asked, more to himself than her. Akari shrugged and rubbed her head. "You need a spy but one that Rido can't control." He continued to think out loud.
"Yes, to give him enough good information to satisfy him but not enough to act on or act well on." She added.
"I could be that spy." Zero stated simply.
"How? Wouldn't Cross find it strange that you would disappear back here all the time?" She asked, she had to ensure that Zero thought it all through himself. Make their idea, his idea. "I know he wouldn't find it too strange that you disappear anyway. You did it quite a few times as a guardian. But Rido will question how you expect to get away with it."
"Hmmm, tell Rido that we will trick Cross. That we will be convincing Cross that I will be working for him as a double agent so to speak. That he will think that I am feeding information to him but I will be actually be giving you information." He spoke every sentence with careful thought, trying to figure out if such a scheme would work.
"I can suggest it to him but I don't know if he'll bite." She admitted as she stood from the desk. She bit her lip, looking nervous.
"Convince him. I'm sure you will be able to. Tell him that I will stay at the academy for the school days and come back on weekends. The students won't wonder and ask questions about me disappearing that way. It will be easier to come up with information that will be hard to work with." He told her, trying to calm her nerves. She nodded and quickly made her way to the room she shared with Rido. Zero hated seeing her disappear into that room.