To Akari's surprise, Zero was who was now fully dressed, was leaning on the wall opposite her bedroom door.
"We need to talk." Zero stated once she carefully closed the door. She nodded in response and lead the way to her study. He noticed that she was not herself, the scare really had gotten to her.
"What were you able to come up with?" Akari asked, her voice was rough and quiet. He had never heard her voice sound such a way before. It concerned him.
"That Kaname is already planning his life with you." Zero began. "The association is planning to attack, mostly with the help of Kaname. They are currently scouting out numbers to ensure they will outnumber Rido. They won't tell me more at this moment. They are waiting to see if anything happens after I return." He added, telling him everything they had told him to say. Akari nodded before sitting down on her chair.
"Very well, you can go do what you want." Akari told him before sighing as she stared at her hands on the desk in front of her. Zero frowned slightly, she would normally sit and talk to him about just about anything while she was away from Rido.
"What's wrong?" He asked, staying put.
"Nothing, I said go do what you want." She told him; frustration clear in her tone of voice. Zero couldn't understand why.
"What I want to do is find out what is wrong with you." He stated clearly. He watched as her hands balled in fists. She had yet to look at him. He couldn't see her face thanks to the hood covering her face from all angles. It was like she didn't want to be seen.
"Just leave." She all but hissed at him.
"No." He answered, using as much authority in his voice as he could. His arms crossed over his chest as he leaned on the door frame. This got a reaction, not a reaction that Zero had expected. She jumped up and faced him. Blood red eyes stared back at him, only just peaking from under the hood. Strands of crimson red flowed from behind the hood and the shade it created. Her hair was barely held together in her bun. Her fangs beard at him. Her fists at her side and her legs slightly apart, ready to run. What little of her face he could see, he saw a number of emotions running across it, never settling on just one. Zero had never seen her like that before.
"She's upset." Rido's voice came from behind him. He had never heard him come up behind him. Akari glared at both men before turning so her back was to them. Rido slid past Zero, making sure to bump his shoulder into him. He slowly and carefully approached her. "Akari, are you still upset about that dream?" He asked her softly, slowly and gently placing his hands on her shoulders. She growled at him and he quickly took his hands away from her shoulders. "Is it the dream that is making you angry?" He asked again, from the day he met Akari, Rido had never seen her this angry, sad, disgusted and whatever else was trying to show though. Akari nodded, Rido almost missed the small movement of her hood. "What can I do?" He asked.
"No." Her voice wavered. "You can't change the future." She added, trying to clear her throat. Rido frowned in confusion, as did Zero.
"What makes you think it's the future?" Rido asked, he knew that Akari should have acquired more than one ability but he thought that the fact that her current ability was so impressive, she wouldn't get her second power. Besides, the power of premonition wasn't known in her family.
"It felt so real, it had to be real." She murmured, looking down at the floor.
"It wasn't real." Rido tried to reassure her but she just growled at him again.
"It could be Kaname." Zero spoke up. Rido huffed, annoyed. He had forgotten that he was still there. But the statement had caught Akari's attention. She had turned her head as if to be able to hear him better. Zero took this as a sign to continue speaking. "He could have found someone who can alter your dreams. There have been some new students in the night class. No one has been fore coming with their abilities. At least not to me. One of those students may have that ability. I know Ruka has the ability to manipulate lower vampires and create illusions but I don't know if that would include or cross over to dreams."
"Find out when you go back." Akari ordered, her arms wrapped around herself. When she turned around, she looked like a lost child. She was a lost child in a sense, she always had been. Despite being strong, capable and being bewitching on her own account, she still had a naivety about her. She could walk into a room and command it, but she never chose to, she would rather find somewhere to hide, most likely climb up something or dangle from a railing. She was like a child. Zero's eyes softened momentarily before he stepped up to her. Rido tried it hard not push Zero away from her. Zero promised her that he would do everything he could. Akari nodded before gently pushing pass both men. Zero went to follow her but Rido grabbed his arm.
"Let her be on her own. If she wants you, she will call for you." Rido told him, his voice sounded like a warning of sorts. Zero nodded before pulling free of him. "Have you reported to Akari?" He then asked, earning another nod from Zero. "Will you tell me now?" Rido ordered and Zero sighed, he didn't see the point in denying him anymore.
"Kaname is already planning a life with Akari." Zero informed him. Rido growled, his mind racing, his blood boiling. "The association is planning to attack, once they know your numbers and I'm assuming with Kaname's help. I can get more information but only if you don't let it be known I passed this on to you." He added, watching Rido closely.
"Don't worry about it, little boy." Rido growled and stormed off. Zero huffed and rubbed his face in frustration. He was sure that Rido was about to jeopardise what Akari and he had built. He just hoped nothing would backfire on either of them.
Rido had stormed off to find Akari, he was sure that she would be hiding away, she often hid when she thought life was getting too much for her. She may be a strong woman, strong enough to spy on Kaname while entertaining a relationship with him. But now with war on the horizon, it meant that she could lose her safety net, him. It scared her, it scared her that she could lose him and be taken by a man who loved her looks not her.
Rido eventually found her, she had gone up in the attic and managed to climb over everything to get to the lone circular window. He stood at the top of the stairs in the attic, allowing her time to acknowledge him. When she failed to, he moved so the that he close the trapdoor in the attic floor would close on the steps with a bang. She didn't jump or flinch, it told him that she knew he was there and chose to ignore him. "It's not nice to ignore people." He called across the room. Akari's head slowly turned to look at him. It was clear that she had been staring intently out of the window for the past two hours, not moving. She still didn't speak. "Akari, I want to attack as soon as Zero leaves." He told her and she shot up, paying full attention to him. "We will not warn them, I am fed up of playing this cat and mouse game. I will not give Kaname the satisfaction of having you again."
"We need to do this with a strategy, we need to be clever about this." Akari finally spoke.
"We attack when your pet leaves. I am sure he is more than capable of defending himself if that's what you are worried about." Rido pretty much growled at her. He couldn't understand her hesitation, surely, she would want this over with as soon as possible.
"We need to think this through." Akari told him as she climbed over everything to get to him, almost falling over as she did.
"Why are you being so reluctant!?" He roared at her. By this time, she had reached him. She slapped him, hard. He glared at her as he held his face.
"I do not want to lose you!" She growled at him, stepping up on a chest to be eye level with him. "I almost lost you when you fought Kaname before. And I have already had a taste of what little of a life I will have with Kaname." She added, explaining it all to him. Rido's glare disappeared, he pulled her to him and kissed her.
"I'm not going anywhere, I promise." He told her with a small smile.
"I don't want to risk it." She told him in a whisper.
"If we don't jump now, how much longer will we have to live like this? How much longer do you have to live a fake life, pretending to help them. I don't want that boy in our life either. I don't want Kaname to bother us again. I want him dead." He told her. She sighed and rested her head against him.
"OK, I trust you." She told him, giving into him. Rido smiled and kissed her once more.
Now all that was left to do was wait.