The house was empty like I expected. I closed the door and left the cold night behind me. I switched on the front room light, unraveled my scarf, and shed off my jacket to hang on the coat tree. A soft thud sounded near the stairs and I whipped my head over to see Kiba, cautiously swaying his tail over to me. I stretched down to scratch behind his ears as much as he graciously allowed me to. He then left, pointedly making his way to the kitchen. I followed him, lighting the house as I went.

After setting down the cat food Kiba was obviously vying for I did a quick once over of the kitchen and noticed the signs of untidiness that revealed my father was living alone. He was most likely still in the lab, having lost track of the late hour it had become. I sighed and went to defrost some chicken before organizing the mail on the kitchen table and doing the dishes in the sink, which were mostly just used coffee mugs.

I heard the front door open as I poured the pot of cooked pasta into a strainer.

"Seina, is that you?" He asked loudly from the entryway.

"Yeah," I yelled back, pouring cold water on the noodles to keep them from cooking any further, "Dinner's ready."

Dad stepped into the kitchen, wrinkled lab coat still on and a good scruff growing on his cheeks, "This is a surprise, I wasn't expecting you."

"Get some plates out," I instructed him, "You haven't eaten, right?"

"Not yet," he admitted and did as I told him. "Is" he paused while placing another fork on the table, "everything alright?"

I disregarded him, "Do you want one piece or two?" I asked, serving the chicken onto his dish.

"One is good, are you okay?" He asked again, sitting down.

"You need to eat more," I placed an additional piece on his plate, "... and I'm fine."

His mouth pursed into a thin line, but he didn't push anymore. We ate quietly, neither having any interest to pursue any shallow small talk.

Absent-mindedly picking up both of our empty dishes he went to the sink to clean up, "So, I heard Kaito got a teaching position at the Academy. Must be nice to see him again."

"Yeah it was," I agreed, tightening my hand around the cup of tea I brewed earlier. We had fought, if that tiny argument could even be called that. Nonetheless what he said still hung in my mind, not allowing itself to dissolve. I bit my bottom lip before taking a deep breath, my fingers found their way to the locket resting on my chest and they felt the intricate designs on the hard metal, "Dad?" I asked.

"Hmm?" he hummed, almost done drying the plates.

My voice was hesitant, my back tense against the wooden chair, "We never talk about… mom, do we?"

His shoulder visibly tightened up and his arms stopped, but only for a moment and he resumed drying. He turned around to look at me and I noticed the lines that were embedded in his face which had deepened over the years were made especially noticeable in the glow of the kitchen light.

"Do you want to?" He responded, voice slightly tired and slightly surprised.

"I don't know," I answered truthfully, I really didn't.

He nodded and put the plates back, motioning for me to follow him. Before entering his bedroom, he stopped, "Wait here."

I stood in front of the door, feeling the weight of my words come upon me. Why was I doing this now? I had the past 12 years to do this, there was no reason to. But I knew why, Kaito was right. He was right and he knew exactly where to find the locks I set in my heart and smash them to pieces. I clenched my jaw and wrung my hands together, feeling anxious and impatient.

The door swung open and Dad had a box in his hand.

"This is for you," he said, handing it to me.

I took it and felt the smooth polished wood, a small brass keyhole kept it locked. "What is this?"

"Your mother meant to give it to you eventually," he rubbed the bottom of jaw and studied the box like it was his first time seeing it, "I don't know where the key is, she never told me, so I wasn't sure if I should."

I swallowed the small lump in my throat, "Thanks."

"Yeah," He paused to look at me and carefully patted my head, "It's late, get some rest."

" 'Night, Dad."

"Yeah."

I squeezed my arms around my torso, shivering slightly as I walked briskly to the Hunter's Association. The house was left basically untouched since I'd left, being that most of my father's time was spent in the lab. After one load of laundry, a light dusting, and cooking some extra food so he wouldn't resort to too much take out or even forget to eat, I didn't have anything else to do.

The box Dad gave me had not left my mind and the image of it stored in the drawer of my nightstand was in the forefront of my thoughts. I had examined and reexamined it multiple times last night and this morning. At this point I wasn't even sure I wanted to even try to open it. I couldn't really think of anything that it would accomplish if I did.

Opening the large wooden doors, I made a beeline towards the room which held the list of level E's that needed to be taken care of. The heel of my boots echoed throughout the large stone halls. I was aware that we were still under orders to not hunt alone, but I felt too restless to care. Besides, I could handle a level E no problem and it was easier to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission.

Before my last turn into the hall adjacent, an, at the moment, annoyingly familiar face appeared and called out, "Seina, what are you doing here?"

"Hey," I sheepishly greeted him while dodging his question, as he walked over to meet me.

"Dad called and said that you went back home last night, he sounded worried…" he trailed off and rubbed his chin, "Did something happen?"

"No?" I brushed Toga off, "I just wanted to check up on him. He's not much of a homemaker, is he?"

Without missing a beat, he went right back to his original question, "What are you doing here then?" Toga squinted his eyes and looked down at me, "You're not about to go off and hunt alone are you?"

"Of course not," I lied and smiled weakly, "I would never disobey orders."

He mirrored the smile back at me, "Perfect. Since I have such an obedient sister, than you'd be happy to bring these files to Zero, won't you?"

I inwardly grimaced and kept up the grin, "Sure, I'd love to."

Toga handed me the pile of paperwork and crouched to my eye level, placing a hand on the top of my head. "I'm aware that you'll do what you want to do, but be safe, alright," he lightly squeezed my scalp a couple of times, "especially now more than ever." He stood back up straight, but left a hand on my upper arm, "Word is, Hanadagi has been killed."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion and I tightened my grip on the files he gave me, "The pureblood, Hanadagi? By who? How did this happen?"

"Kaname Kuran, right now he's being labeled as a 'Dangerous Vampire.' He's fled from the scene after also beheading an aristocrat, Nagamichi Aido. And his sister has been secured as a 'vampire needing special care'."

"So in other words, the older one is on the run and the younger one is in custody?"

Toga nodded, "More or less."

I blinked for an extended two seconds and let out a large sigh, "Well, I'd better get theses files to Zero."

"That's the spirit," he put his arm around me and squashed me in an one-armed hug smelling of old cigarettes, "I'll see you."

"See you."

I began to walk off as he called back at me, "Remember, be safe." I nodded and didn't bother looking back at him.

My pace was slow as I made my way to Zero's temporary office, knowing full well who was going to be there with him. I still didn't want to see him after our little argument. I felt childish and immature for the things I had said, and I also didn't like the feeling that he was so easily able to affect me in the magnitude he did. After two sentences I was rendered almost immobile, frozen and unable to speak up. We both had brought up some sensitive topics, but that didn't mean it was okay, it wasn't eye for an eye. Neither of us were close to ready to mention anything about our respective problems, and that made the whole situation even worse.

As I got closer to the connecting hall my gut twisted in a mix of embarrassment, shame, anger, and irritation. I didn't want to be inside that room and face him. To face Kaito.

The guards stationed in front of the door recognized me and moved aside to let me in. So much for the next Association Head, they couldn't trust Zero to be left alone as he did paperwork. Zero, in a lot of ways, definitely deserved the position as head, but the fact remained that he was a vampire. There was no going around that, and it became a complicated situation for a lot of the association members.

I opened the large door and stepped in, automatically seeing his mop of dark brown hair. I steered clear and walked directly to Zero, not looking anywhere but what was directly in front of me.

"Here's some additional files from Toga," I placed them next to Zero's growing assortment of paperwork.

He offered a quick nod and a thanks and I responded with the same before turning around and heading directly out of the room. I quickly took off and again headed for the list, hoping to finally shed some of my pent up frustration. Toga would've definitely disapproved, but I really needed to vent in some form or another. I slowed down and let out a big breathe of air that I wasn't aware I was holding in until now.

"Seina!" I heard Kaito yell out from behind me as I just turned the corner.

I froze, but didn't turn around. I let out another big breathe of air as I listened to his footsteps come toward me, trying to settle the anxious knot in my chest that grew as he got closer. A part of me really wanted to run away and not have to face him, but a part of me also could not bear to take another step. I had no idea how to proceed from our last conversation, though that didn't mean I didn't want to at least try.

"Seina," he said my name quietly as he reached me.

I grabbed at the sleeve of my jacket and turned around, not quite ready to look him in the eye. It felt like an eternity before I looked up at him and I was met with intensity as he peered down at me.

"Kaito," I replied. I squeezed at my sleeve hard and noticed that the dark circles around his eyes had become lighter, "...you look…," I hesitated, "have you rested?"

"Yeah," he paused, looking almost sheepish as he wrung his hand around his neck, "are you alright?"

"Yeah." I mimicked him and paused, not finding the right words. "I… I'm," I started, almost letting an apology slip out, but I stopped it in its tracks. I didn't want to apologize. It wasn't the right the thing to do, because Kaito and I both knew that what I had said wasn't wrong. I didn't want him to apologize either. I needed to hear what he had said even if I didn't want to hear it. We were going to have to deal with our issues eventually, but eventually was the key word we both held onto. Not right now, when we're barely starting to acknowledge the fact that we have these problems.

The faintest curve of his lips softened his previous intensity as he studied me, "Do you want some tea? I know Zero could use the company."

"Sure," I nodded and followed him back to the office.

Nothing was resolved. But as I walked behind him, eyes fixed on his back, I felt as if an immense weight had been lifted from me.

A/N: I didn't forget about this!

Again, I apologize for the long (long) absence, life has definitely changed since my last update. But I'll keep updating till the end, no matter how long it takes. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

Juliedoo: I always appreciate your reviews. I'm very happy that you found the spat realistic. I really dislike arguing for the sake of arguing and I'm really glad you felt that way.

Hailos: Thanks for the review, I updated! Better late than never right?

Topflite: Yeah I didn't like how vague his ending was, especially when he's such an interesting character. Hope you enjoyed this fic so far.

LaughterLover98: Thanks for the review, appreciate ya! And yes, someone needs to give Zero a hug.

Anne: I updated!

Thank you guys for following, favoriting, reviewing, and reading!

Much love,

-Vanesky