Zero spent the rest of the weekend worried about Akari. She had suddenly taken to wearing all black and keeping her head covered. She barely spoke to him either. He suspected that if he pulled her hoodies off, she would be covered in marks. Why else would she suddenly cover up? Before she would wear loose but still very feminine clothes when she was at home and comfortable. Any other time, she wore the correct outfit for the occasion, anything from a tailored suit to an elegant dress and everything in between. She also enjoyed colour, especially a bright solid colour. Her hair was kept down too, no plait, no hairdo. This was nothing like he had seen before. He had tried many times to talk to her about it but she refused to. Rido had pretty much disappeared, only coming back occasionally to check on Akari. It made hi wonder what Rido was up to, his concern was that Rido could be mobilising his forces.

Zero arrived back at the academy, he could feel that something was off. Something was about to happen and he didn't know what. Once again, Kaname and Toga were in Cross's office. He told them of the events that had unfolded.

"He's going to attack." Kaname spoke up. "We need to be ready now, he'll be attacking very soon.

"How do you know that?" Toga asked with curiosity.

"Because I know my uncle. Because Rido has been looking for a reason to trick Akari to allowing it to happen." Kaname explained.

"If she knew of the attack, she would have told me." Zero snapped at him.

"She was. She was wearing all black, the sign of death. Her hair being down was to signify flowing blood." Kaname stated like it was the more obvious thing in the world.

"I doubt that." Toga grumbled.

"Look, Rido has been disappearing, intel from my followers has shown me that he has been seeing a number of different people. People who have always sympathised with him." Kaname stressed.

"In any case..." Cross spoke, ignoring Toga's comment. "We must ready ourselves. Warn everyone, now!" With that, everyone went their separate ways.

Soon after, Rido came knocking at their door, Akari right behind him, along with hundreds of followers, both his and hers.

"I will deal with Rido." Kaname stated. "Zero, try and get Akari away from all this." He added.

"Why? Don't want your women getting hurt?" Toga teased while Zero rolled his eyes.

"No, I told Zero why before. Akari will get involved in my fight with Rido. It will be Rido's advantage because even though she has been helping us, her heart will rule her head in this moment. Zero is the only one here who is capable of going head to head with her if needed." Kaname explained, rather annoyed that they didn't just trust his judgement when it came to his fellow purebloods.

"We need Zero while we deal with the followers." Toga argued, he wasn't about to be ordered around by a vampire.

"Toga, Kuran is right." Zero spoke up. "Out of everyone here, only myself and Kuran can fight her with relative ease, for some time at least. Kuran is a pureblood and as for me, she has always gone easy on me." Zero tried to explain.

"This is war, and you think she will go easy on you?" Toga asked in shock, he had never heard of any vampire going easy on someone unless it worked for them. He doubted that this fight would mean she would go easy on any of them.

Rido and Kaname immediately squared up to each other and without a word, started their battle. But before Akari could make her way to Rido, Zero stepped in front of her.

"Move." She commanded simply, looking past him towards the battling giants behind him.

"No." He told her with his hand on his bloody rose. This time she looked at him, taking in his stance and the threat of gun fire. Her head tilted ever so slightly. Zero had seen her do this on a number of occasions, during her time in the Night Class and at her home. He knew its meaning. Her thoughts were ticking over, running through every possible outcome and then picking the best one. Zero knew this was her second ability, he had never known anyone to think and understand as quickly as she could. It was like she was a vampire super computer.

"Why?" She asked, breaking the silence between them but only adding to the sounds of chaos around them.

"We all know who you will pick. We both know you would get yourself killed protecting him." Zero stated calmly. Akari raised an eyebrow to his statement.

"That would you know Zero? You're just a boy." She retorted, earning a growl in return. But before he could say any more, he felt tiny vibrations under his feet, the slight sound of a rumble. He immediately jumped back and as he did, roots erupted from the ground, chasing his feet. He knew how deadly and precise her attacks were, but he had recognised the faint rumble from encounter with the two Level-E's. He was quite sure that was only thing that had saved him in that moment.

"Akari just listen to me!" Zero all but screamed at her as he dodged a number of attacks. He hadn't however expected her to pause after he did shout at her. He quickly caught his breath, unsure how long her ceasefire would last. "Why don't you run?" He asked her, causing confusion to show on her face. "If you run and hide, you can find out who wins at a safe distance. If Kaname wins then you can run and hide as much as you want. If Rido wins, you can do as you please, you can let him destroy everything or you can help curve his madness." He told her, hoping to get through to her. He watched her blink as if she hadn't thought about do it.

"I have to face this whether I want to or not." She finally answered, and before Zero could counter, her roots had a hold of him. He cursed as he allowed his guard to come down long enough for her to position her roots. He suspected at that moment; she had paused to trick him. They wrapped around his body, not once did they attempt to squeeze or crush him. They cradled him, protecting him from outside attacks as she held him prisoner. Zero wasn't sure if he enjoyed being cocooned in her roots but he could relax enough to know she meant him no harm, even during war.

Once she was sure that she had removed Zero as a distraction, she turned her attention back to the warring men. She could see that Rido was starting to struggle, she had to intervein. She charged towards the pair, placing herself directly between them.

Rido smirked when Akari squared off against Kaname. Kaname sighed annoyed that Zero had failed him once more. He looked over to where she and Zero were, he quickly spotted the wooden cocoon. Zero had let his guard down. Stupid boy.

"Now is not the time for games Akari." Kaname growled at her.

"This isn't a game. I should have never come here with you. Rido is mine and I am his." She told him calmly while her glare cut through to his heart. Kaname's nostrils flared in anger and his hands balled into fists. He knew she would always feel for Rido but now she was just insulting him with her actions.

"Akari you are choosing the wrong the Kuran." Kaname hissed at her, stepping forwards to stand over her. He hoped it would make her shrink back, that she would second guess her decision.

"No, I have always chosen the right Kuran." She hissed back, stepping backwards towards Rido. Rido's hand rested on her shoulder, showing her support.

"She has made her decision Kaname. Respect it while I kill you." Rido growled, leaning over Akari ever so slightly, using his hand to push her back. He couldn't be sure that Kaname wouldn't aim for Akari to get to him.

Kaname let out a roar of anger, before Akari could blink, Rido had almost thrown her out of the way. The two were now fighting with their full force. Akari couldn't stand it anymore, she had to fight too. Once more she found herself charging towards them.

Blackness took over.