"Thanks," Toga said gruffly as I placed another mug of black coffee next to the large piles of paperwork he had yet to get to. He grabbed the cup and chugged, "Aghh!" Toga quickly yanked it away from his mouth and wiped the remaining liquid off with his sleeve.

"By the way, it's hot," I took a seat across the table and threw the napkin I had over to him.

Catching the ball of cloth he shot me a sardonic look and then cleaned up the rest of the small bit of coffee that had spilled over.

I twirled my pen and asked the same question for the tenth time, expecting the same answer, "Want any help?"

He didn't hesitate, "No."

I gave him a pointed stare and threw the pen down, "It's about midnight now, you don't want any help, but you need some."

He huffed and continued on to the rest of the paperwork. I rolled my eyes at him and set my own completed school work to the side. The homework was getting annoying, but I had to keep up the appearance to the rest of the people in the academy that weren't in the know.

I pulled a small pile towards myself and picked up the dropped pen. He glanced again and I started before he could, "I can do this much, at least," I pointed to the papers.

Toga huffed once more, but this time with a sound of resignation, "Do what you want."

We both fell into another easy silence. The scribble of the pens and the occasional shuffling of papers took up the lack of sound, until a strangled, "hrumph," of frustration left his lips.

I stopped writing and my brother looked up once more, "What?"

He sighed out loud, placed his pen down, and rubbed at his temples, "What is that boy doing?"

I quirked a single brow, "Care to explain?"

Toga placed both of his hands behind his head and leaned back, looking up at the ceiling, "Yuki Kuran and Aido Hanabusa were at the safe house near the cemetery."

"Zero was-"

"He brought them in, Kuran left," he put up air quotations, "and Hanabusa remains in Zero's custody, he's transporting him back to headquarters for interrogation."

I leaned forward and rested my chin on my knuckles, "That sounds… I really don't know what to say about that."

"Do you think I do?" Toga gripped the bridge of his nose, "At best we might be able to get some information out of this."

"I'm coming with you. Wouldn't hurt to be actually in the know for this one, since I seem to be involved, unlike the last time around," I tapped a finger on the table. The workings of last year's battle was kept mostly in the dark from me and during the unfolding of events I was no where even near by, I had heavy suspicions that Toga was instrumental in that.

"Fine," He ran a hand through his hair and scratched, "Nothing really changes does it? And now we have all of this Sara bullshit to deal with too."

"Well," I pushed myself up from my seat to get another fresh cup for myself and Toga, "At least I'm here for you, Onii-chan," I said, coyly.

I turned to the door and a reluctant snicker echoed into the kitchen from behind me.

"By the way," Toga looked down as we walked into the Association Headquarters, "What is that?"

I looked down at the bag I was holding. It contained the clothes that Kaito had lent me the night I had stayed over.

"Nothing," my face flushed as I couldn't come up with a straight answer quick enough, "Um, I gotta..." I hurriedly scanned the surrounding area to see if I could get away from his question and luckily I spotted Kaito entering one of the side corridors, "go, see you soon."

I ran away from him and towards the hunter that had just escaped eye view, "Kaito," I called out for him when I was sure I was far away enough so Toga wouldn't have heard.

"Kaito, hold on."

He halted mid step and spun in time to catch me before I ran into him, "Careful there," he grasped the side of arms and righted me.

"Yeah, sorry about that," I stuck the bag out, "I brought your clothes."

He took it and kept his other hand on my arm, "You didn't have to wash them or anything."

"It's fine," I insisted.

"And I should be thanking you," he looked at me and his brown eyes became so earnest, "for… everything."

I frowned in concern and took my now empty hand to place on top of his, "Are you…"

Kaito clenched my arm quickly, pulled away, and offered a quick flash of a grin, "Top notch, don't worry about it."

He brushed it off and I wasn't surprised. That night was extraordinarily rare coming from him. I've never seen Kaito so vulnerable before, but we hadn't been able to discuss any of what happened. I knew he preferred it that way, making it even the default choice in the morning when I woke up to an empty apartment, a note, and some cold tea resting on the kitchen table. I wasn't about to pry into anything he wasn't willing to talk about, but I still had the inclination to ask, to be there.

"Alright, well, if you need anything, I…" I glanced back down and rubbed the locket hanging from my neck, "I'm here."

I faced him once more and his lips were pursed in a firm line. Kaito nodded and clapped his hands together, clearly changing the topic of conversation, "Now what are you doing today, hunting?"

"No, Zero's suppose-" I was cut off as Kaito's attention was caught and he yelled out into the main hall.

"Hey, Zero!" He began to walk over to them and I followed suit.

Zero's gun was held out and pointed at the same blonde vampire that had invited Zero and Yori to see Yuki Kuran at the ball, Hanabusa Aido, I remembered.

Kaito leaned forward and placed his hands in his jacket pockets, "Why are you working, you had orders to rest didn't you?"

Zero let out a deadpanned acknowledgment, "Kaito…"

"Zero had a run in, he couldn't ignore," I said, starting the beginning of Zero's answer for him.

"I caught one of Kaname Kuran's lackey's," Zero continued and glared at the vampire, "I thought I would ask him a few questions."

"Lackey!?" Hanabusa hushed out in a loud whisper.

"I see…" Kaito replied and a dark smile twisted across his mouth, "that's great, come this way."

I put a fist to my lips blocking the laugh that almost made its way out at the expense of the expression which spread through Aido's face. He had heard my effort in stifling it though, and shot me a dead stare, I guess he didn't find this particular situation very funny.

We began to walk to the interrogation room, with Kaito leading the way. Aido followed him and I stayed in the back with Zero.

"Hey Hanabusa Aido-kun, I want to ask you one thing," Kaito continued walking as he looked back at him, "Is Kuran eventually planning to oppose us?"

I couldn't see the look on him, but his voice gave evidence that he was clearly disgruntled, "Where did that information come from?"

"No?" Kaito shrugged and turned back around, "Because it seems that way from his tolerance on the radical behavior stemming from a certain pureblood during questioning."

Zero offered Aido the explanation he had yet to been given, "Sara Shirabuki was recruiting followers at a girl's academy. Additionally we're seeking similar trends and associations on the matter. Assuming from the tolerant stance, no matter how harmless the behavior might seem, 'that person' is still insinuating that whatever is happening, he condones it."

The vampire paused, turned his head back, and his brows were furrowed in a mix of frustration annoyance.

"Basically, if Kuran doesn't do anything about Shirabuki's choices, it would appear like he's endorsing these actions, and choosing to let her act without any negative ramifications," I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at him, "Being that our relations are still so fragile, that's something that we won't look past."

Aido's jaw tensed and he sharply turned his back around, beginning to walk onwards again. From the miniscule amount of time I've interacted with him, I inferred he wouldn't be spilling his dear master's plans out onto the table anytime soon.

Say what you will about vampires, and I have said many, many things, when they've decided to be loyal it's not an easy feat to have betray that decision.

I leaned against the far wall in the interrogation room, watching on as Toga tried to work his magic. My hands rested together behind my back and a visible frown lined my lips. The interrogation room was dark, damp, and anything else anyone would stereotypically associate with one was in there. We still had numerous old-fashioned special devices that laid around near the stone walls, but these days they were more decoration than anything else. That didn't mean they were out of commission though, there were still used, albeit very sparingly. Of course, that didn't mean the person being interrogated knew that.

Toga leaned forward and his booming voice echoed up and through the high ceilings, "What are you plans, Vampire?"

Aido Hanabusa was strapped to the lone chair, obviously showing a little more distress that I figured he was okay with, "You're so annoying!" The volume tried to match the same level as Toga's, though it couldn't quite do so, "I told you, I don't know anything, Kaname would never do anything like that!"

Plainly, Toga was not satisfied with that and lashed his whip out against the stone floor, the crack of the whip almost vibrated over to me. He strung it back together and gripped it tight, making another snap echo against the stone walls.

"Tell it right," the gravel in his voice, evidence he would not be messed with, "Has anyone been communicating with Sara Shirabuki in secret?"

I looked at the blondie and the circumstances he was facing were far from ideal. Both Zero and Kaito flanked Toga from behind with matching death stares, and the looks Aido was also receiving from Cross and I were probably not heartwarming in the least. I could feel the menace radiating out of our little gang. Was it inherited from our genes, or maybe somewhere in our training we had learned that perfect glare, I wonder?

Aido flailed about and lifted his legs from off the floor in a visible panic, "It's impossible, Kaname definitely despises Sara, trust me!" He turned his head over to Zero, "Oi, Kiryuu, tell them that I'm not a liar."

Zero ignored his plea and faced Cross who had something in hand, "Um, Zero," he showed the candle in his hand and gave one to him, lighting his in the process and creating hot wax, "There's even this kind of stuff here, interrogation rooms are indeed scary."

"Ahh, just what I was looking for…" Zero replied coldly.

The vampire's face paled, "I didn't know hunter's could feign deaf."

Kaito stuck in arm out, "Wait, I've got something better," he lifted a chainsaw and started the motor, looking directly into Aido's eyes as it went and the roar grew louder as Aido's eyes grew larger.

"Are you guys sure?" I mused, "Maybe something gradual would be more useful," I twirled around a vial of a toxic looking liquid I found on the table near me, in my hands, "more impact."

Aido let out a small yelp and hung his head down, I was sure that the lot of us were enjoying this more than ethically allowed.

Kaito stopped the chainsaw and set it down, "So what are you going to do Yagari, he's a tough one," he said looking down at the victim.

Toga crouched closer to inspect him, "Hmmm, this guy's got a reputation for his unwavering loyalty."

"I really don't know anything…" was the worn out answer from the vampire's lips.

The headmaster got in between the two and interrupted, "Perhaps, you're pursuing this in the wrong way." His voice became gentler and he went behind Aido's chair to start undoing the mechanisms, "Aido-kun, did you know? The Shirabuki princess has been a bit naughty recently. We're just assuring that this naughtiness doesn't turn into disaster, that's all."

Aido was finally let out and inspected his arms before turning his head around to face Cross, "So you're saying that Kaname-sama has something to do with it? That's quite a bad delusion, Headmaster."

Cross's voice became more grim as he knew that too, "We're sorry. We don't want to think that he has something to do with it. We just were trying to figure out why."

He tilted his head forward to rest his chin on top of a closed fist, "Kaname-kun has always had a hand in problems involving purebloods. With the unbridled Shizuka of the Hiou bloodline, and with that madman Rido, whose existence was once erased from the Kuran family tree… though there in an indirect way," his thoughts had made their way into his dialogue and the Headmaster quickly snapped out of it, "Ahh yes! Yesterday the head of the Touma family got punished severely. Thanks to that, we couldn't meet up."

"Ahh… that's…" Aido frowned and looked up at Zero, "Oi Kiryuu, explain to them… why it turned out like that."

The rest of us turned to focus on him, waiting for him to respond. He looked down and out of focus, not at any particular thing, "Um, it was just a small disagreement with the purebloods. They just punished the first one to raise his fists."

Headmaster Cross nodded, "Then that was their responsibility, I see."

"Yeah."

"Since I allowed him to sign the contract on behalf of the vampires, I can't really ignore Sara Shirabuki's matter either."

Toga joined in, "That's probably where all the weird suspicions are coming from."

The Headmaster looked back at Zero, "Zero-kun, who was Touma fighting with?"

Zero crossed his arms and let out a sigh, I raised my eyebrows almost a hundred percent sure he was going to say, "Yuki Kuran."

What was that princess' agenda exactly? The first time I met her, she swore to find and punish a murderer and now I'm hearing from him that she had fought against another pureblood. Predictability, I guess, wasn't in her vocabulary.

The silence seemed to have encouraged Aido to speak up, "I'll say it clearly. Kaname-sama's movements show in the previous events were probably to protect Yuki-chan. Sara-san's actions aren't breaching the contract currently. Those girls wanted to become vampires of their own will didn't they? If they wanted to do so themselves, I don't think it's any of your conc-"

"Are you an idiot?" I barely managed to control my volume as some of the rage that had built up as he was talking was finally making its way out.

"Excuse me?" His condescending tone changed into an offended one.

"That's precisely why we're investigating this and not kicking in any doors quite yet, you're an idiot to think Sara is acting in purely a straight line. Because what she's doing hasn't technically broken any contracts, doesn't mean we don't have the right to gather our own suspicions on the small army of vampire girls she's been steadily creating." I spout out as venomously as I could. I have had enough of this vampire's asinine beliefs.

"Well, it's still not your place to-"

He was interrupted yet again as Toga and Kaito crept towards him, Toga's sinister voice edged out of his lips, "That's a very annoying mouth you possess…"

He brought his whip out forward again and Aido let out a silent scream.

A/N: Sorry that took a bit longer! Next time I will try to shorten the time gap.

Thanks for everyone who reads, follows, favorites, and reviews my story!

And to The Unknown, I hope you had a happy birthday and that you enjoyed this chapter.

I know it's sort of dark/funny with them drilling on Aido, I just had a ball when I originally read that chapter in the manga.

I really appreciate any sort of feedback so I look forward to hearing from you guys! Also if you want any visuals, check out (Vanesky) which is my pinterest, I have some stuff posted on there. (Honestly, it's mostly for me (so much fun))

lot of love, xo,

-Vanesky