Itachi knew exactly what Kanda had come to discuss before he even entered the room; but he let him speak first as a way of continuing this tentative acquaintanceship of theirs.

"I'm guessing you know that the Noah of Pleasure contact me?" the panther said without preamble, striding into the office with water dripping form the hood of his robes as he pushed it off.

The Reaper inclined his head in an affirmative, turning around slowly to face his companion.

"He challenged you," Itachi declared, not bothering to act as though he hadn't seen exactly what the younger had. He shot Kanda a look that gave the panther the peculiar sensation of being x-rayed. "And you want to accept it."

Kanda shifted in place, not denying it.

"Well, you said you wanted me to kill him, anyways," he pointed out flatly, lifting his shoulders in a shrug. "And now he's giving me the opportunity, so what's the harm?"

Itachi continued to stare at him, his thin features unreadable.

On the one hand, Kanda was correct; he had ordered him to kill Tyki, and this was a perfect opportunity. But on the other hand, it was also a chance for Tyki to get in Kanda's head-about Walker, about what happened to his parents-again and Itachi couldn't have that. Not with the other operation he had going still in its early stages.

And there was also a chance that his vision-and the knowledge he had of Kanda's destined death-could be defied and the panther could be killed that was his real fear

He exhaled soundlessly, then spoke again in a low, measured tone.

"You can go," he agreed after weighing the options carefully, dark coals still characteristically blank as they bored holes in Kanda's pale face. "But I will back you up."

Kanda's eyebrows shot up in a mix of surprise and suspicion.

"And why would you do that?" he retorted, folding his arms across his chest.

Even someone as powerful as you cannot face someone like Tyki Mikk alone

"Call it an insurance policy," the Reaper replied evasively. "Or maybe I just want to see you give that final abomination what he deserves."

It was Kanda's turn to stare at the elder, eyes narrowing as he searched Itachi's face for any trace of deception or ulterior motives, What he found instead was something he never would have expected: concealed-but genuine-concern. Did Uchiha actually care about what might happen if he faced off with Tyki? Could he actually be worried that Kanda might be defeated?

did he really matter to the elder Uchiha as something other than a weapon

He cocked his head to the side musingly, looking at Itachi in a new light. If that were the case, maybe it would be a good idea to have him along.

"Fine," Kanda conceded fake grudgingly. "But we're doing it my way."

Itachi inclined his head a second time in wordless consent. He could live with that.

Kanda let out a deep breath and turned his thoughts to plotting out how to approach this situation; he knew the Noah wasn't above using this to set some sort of trap, and he had to be ready for that.

Tomorrow was going to be…interesting.

Back to where it all began everything comes full circle

Tyki was already at the declared meeting place when Kanda arrived the next day, in the center of what was once the Black Order's library, sprawled out in one of the few remaining undamaged chairs with a cigar poised between his curved, darkly smiling lips.

He stood up when Kanda entered, though the panther did not reveal himself, lowering the cigar and calling out into the unlit room.

"Come to hear your story, after all, panther?" he said tauntingly, amber eyes gleaming in the darkness, making him look almost demonic. "I thought you might. Why don't you come out into the open so we can discuss this like men?"

Kanda didn't reply, nor did he remove his hood or even come out from behind the bookcase near the entrance. He hadn't come here for a cozy chat.

Apparently unbothered by Kanda's refusal to show himself, the dark-skinned man let out a soft, frigid chuckle and continued nevertheless.

"No? Well, I guess I'll just have to tell it to you like this, then," he stated carelessly, lifting his shoulders in an offhand shrug.

"For Lord Orochimaru, it was always about Uchiha-even recruiting you. It was his idea, after all; you were always meant to be the catalyst for destroying us. We just figured it out too late-but Orochimaru had an inkling. That was the reason he had Walker start a relationship with you, and then betray you. That was why your family's execution was carried out by someone you now call your ally."

Kanda grew rigid behind the mahogany panel, clenching both his fists and teeth to keep from breaking his cover and throttling the Noah. He knew the elder was just trying to bait him to give away his position and do something stupid; but a small part of him-the damned rational part-told him that just because the words were meant as a trap didn't mean there wasn't some truth in them.

The other man suppressed another malicious grin at the continued lack of reaction to that dramatic pronouncement. The panther was a tough one, he had to admit-but his little half-truths were sure to draw him out sooner or later.

"The executioner has been acting like they didn't know who killed your family all this time," he carried on conversationally like he was merely commenting on the weather. "they wanted you to think they were your friend so they could use you for their own purposes. Twisted, isn't it, how you simply went from one master to anoth-,"

His monologue was suddenly cut off mid-sentence, and Kanda tensed, wondering if he'd been discovered. But when the elder didn't apprehend him after several moments had passed, he frowned and chanced a look around the shelf to see what had occurred.

There was a flash of silver at Tyki's throat: a shuriken was what had silenced him, evidently.

"If you want to keep your tone, I suggest you stop speaking."

Kanda's frown deepened; he recognized that voice. Itachi was early-he had shown up before Kanda had given his signal. What was he doing?

Itachi's elbow came up in a blur to meet the Noah's face, and Tyki was knocked back onto the floor. Before he could recover, the Reaper's weapon stopped him again.

"Just give me a reason, Mikk-not that I really need one to kill you," that inhumanly emotionless voice breathed into his ear, sending the unfamiliar sensation of a shudder coursing down his spine.

"And why would you want to do that, Uchiha?" Tyki replied with a feeble return to his usual smooth, unaffected bravado; but it fractured, revealing his fear.

Even Kanda, still watching from the corner, got chills when he heard Itachi let out a soft, mirthless chuckle.

"I told you once that your meddling would be the end of you," the Reaper declared quietly, voice like ice sliding across Tyki's skin. "Now it appears my prediction has come true."

"Well, obviously it was going to come true if you planned on killing me all along," Tyki retorted, clearly trying not to flinch or let his voice shake-but failing.

Kanda saw Itachi's lips twitch faintly.

"Oh, I won't be the one killing you," he whispered, gaze lifting to meet Kanda's from the other side of the room in an obvious cue.

It wasn't the plan, but Kanda saw no reason not to go along with the alteration Itachi had made. The end result would still be the same.

He saw Tyki struggle not to move as he made his way out from behind the bookshelf, removing the hood of his robes, Mugen glowing almost violently as he drew it with deadly skill into his gloved hand. There was no surprise in his stare, though; after all, he'd done exactly what Tyki had called him here for.

"See you decided not to follow the plan, Uchiha," Kanda said as he came to stand by his one-time partner, deliberately looking anywhere but at the defenseless Noah on the floor.

Itachi didn't bat an eyelid, lowering his shuriken but keeping Tyki pinned to the floor at his feet.

"Is that a problem?" he quipped colourlessly.

Kanda huffed.

"I guess not," he said metronomically, turning his sword toward his enemy.

The Reaper shot him a thin, humourless smile.

"He's all yours, panther; do what you want with him. But don't take too long. We have other matters to attend to after this."

With that, the blacknette tucked his blade away and vanished.

Kanda was confused by that parting statement-he wasn't aware of any other matters that required their attention-but he shelved it, returning to the situation at hand: executing the current object of his loathing.

"Well, I imagine you wanted to make this nice and slow-but since I'm apparently on a schedule, I'm going to have to speed it along," he said, trailing two of his fingers along the edge of his katana, drawing an electric current through the blade.

Tyki raised his palms in a feigned gesture of surrender. "I only did what I was to-,"

"No, don't give me that bullshit," Kanda cut him off harshly. "You're an immortal just as powerful as the snake, and you could have denied his orders at any point in time, but instead you followed them because you agreed with his fucked-up philosophies. You helped turn the only person I ever loved against me, and for that, I will never forgive you-for that, you go to hell."

He made to drive his sword straight into the other man's chest, but Tyki's next attempt at diverting him actually gave him pause.

"I know of a way to break the snake's sorcerer's hold on Uchiha and end this game without any more bloodshed; spare my life and I will help you do just that."

Kanda stared hard at him, scrutinizing his face to discern if he was telling the truth.

But then, he decided it didn't matter: he didn't want to stop the bloodshed. The Eidolons all deserved to die for what they had done.

And that included Tyki.

"Even if you're not lying, I wouldn't spare you-you deserve this," he hissed-and, that said, he pulled Mugen back and drove its crackling point straight into Tyki's heart.

Leaving the Noah of Pleasure's decaying corpse in the remnants of his former home, the panther transported himself to Itachi's new location, hastening to catch up to him.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded quietly as he fell into step beside the elder man on a rather familiar path. "You agreed to follow my strategy for that, and then you just deviated without a word."

"Circumstances changed," Itachi responded simply and unrepentantly, not meeting Kanda's stare as he continued walking, apparently not bothered by the raging storm. "Like I said, we have other tasks to attend to."

Kanda arched a single cobalt eyebrow in bemusement. "Like what?"

"You recall what Tekla said about how we plan to defeat the Eidolons?" he said quietly; when Kanda nodded, he elaborated, "Well, the first part of that ritual needs to occur today: the Vampire Lords need to do their part to summon the weapon that we will use to destroy the ghosts."

"Okay," Kanda said slowly-he could understand that-but then he frowned because there was still something he didn't understand. "But why did that mean we had to rush killing Mikk?"

Itachi exhaled soundlessly before responding this time, still not looking at his current partner.

"Because it must occur before sunset-and you are integral to every aspect of this plan, especially this one," the Reaper explained matter-of-factly, walking with his head lowered so Kanda wouldn't be able to see his face.

The panther's other eyebrow rose to join the first, bemusement filling him as he digested that information. He hadn't expected that, either; he hadn't expected to be that crucial.

But then, he reasoned, it did make sense. His importance to the Eidolons' defeat was why Tyki said that Orochimaru still wanted him even more than the others-and why he had gone through such lengths to keep him on his side.

That reminded him of what else Tyki had said-about Allen, and about the person who had carried out his family's murder. He wanted to rbing it up-it was relevant to the current situation-but when Itachi sped up, he decided it would probably have to wait.

They traveled the rest of the way in silence, Kanda gradually becoming aware of where they were going: the Vampire Lords' mansion, the road leading to it looked different through his human eyes-the last time he'd walked it, he'd been in his panther form-and it seemed longer on foot. He wondered why Itachi had simply transported himself directly onto the grounds; but he didn't ask that, either. It wasn't really that important.

It was only a few moments later that they arrived at the lamia's residence; as they approached, Kanda could sense the presence of the owners of the place inside-clearly, they were home-but there was also a third presence.

A human presence.

He side-eyed Itachi to see if he was as curious about that as he was; but the Reaper appeared unconcerned, continuing ahead and entering the mansion without so much as a knock.

His frown returning, Kanda followed him inside. When he crossed the threshold into the room where he'd sensed the unfamiliar presence and found himself facing the Vampire Lords-and someone easily recognizable as a Hunter.

But that wasn't what gave Kanda pause about him; no, it was the fact that, besides his clothes and his slightly slimmer form, the third man was practically identical to the Knight.

Itachi, on the other hand, seemed completely unsurprised by that; he didn't even look surprised that there was a Hunter here. Kanda definitely wanted to know what that was about.

And Itachi apparently sensed that because he prompted Zero to explain.

"I think, Kiryu, you'd better introduce your visitor before Kanda tries to run him through," he said by way of a greeting, a trace of amusement in his deep, usually metronomic tone.

The corners of Zero's thin mouth twitched faintly at Itachi's comment before he heeded it and told Kanda who the Hunter was.

"Panther, meet Ichiru, my twin brother-and the current leader of the Vampire Hunters' Association."

As he spoke, the aforementioned silverette stepped forward, removing his mask and raking a slow, penetrating look over Kanda.

"So, this is the one they call the panther," he observed in an unreadable tone. His gaze shifted over to Itachi. "What brings the two of you here?"

"It's time for the first step," Itachi said, addressing Kaname and Zero. "The two of you must perform your part of the ceremony to get rid of the ghosts."

Both of the lamia turned towards him, faint creases appearing between their brows.

"Does that mean this game is finally almost over?" Kaname queried shrewdly, raking a hand through his thick brown locks, burgundy orbs betraying a hint of hope.

The Reaper tilted his head forward.

"Almost," he confirmed softly, loping over to the brunette and his partner. When he was in front of them, he beckoned the panther to join him and conjured an ornate onyx basin and a dagger from the air. "But first, in order to win, all three of you must donate your blood. And you must give it at the exact same moment."

Zero took the knife from him, examining it closely. It definitely wasn't any ordinary blade-no ordinary blade could cut a lamia, after all-as it was trembling slightly in his gloved hands.

"And that's all we have to do?" he asked sceptically, ivory forehead still wrinkled as he eyed Itachi with unconcealed suspicion.

Kanda did the same at that; he wanted to know the honest answer to that question as well.

Itachi set the basin down on one of the end tables nearby replying with typical evasiveness. "For you, yes."

Zero shot Kaname a sideways glance as if asking his opinion on the matter; when the King stepped over the end table, removing one of his gloves and holding one of his now bare hands out over the basin, he let out a soft breath.

"Very well," he consented, mimicking his partner and placing his hand on top of Kaname's.

His and Itachi's eyes turned to Kanda.

The panther lifted his shoulders; he still wanted to know what else Itachi wasn't telling him about this ceremony, but his desire to take out the Eidolons was intense enough that he could handle finding out as he went. So, he strode forward and laid his hand on top of the two vampires', lifting his gaze to meet the Knight's.

"Do it," he said tersely.

Heeding his command, Zero raised the dagger and, at Itachi's cue, plunged it straight through the center of all three of their hands at once.

Blood flowed instantly from their wounds into the basin; but Kanda's was different from the tohers. When his blood was drawn, there was what looked like electricity coming out of the crimson fluid and it spread the basin, coiling around the vampires' fingers and binding their blood together.

At the same time, Itachi lifted one of his hands as well, allowing a trickle of shadows to escape his fingertips and directing it into the basin.

The second it made contact with the others' bodily fluids, there was a flash of white light-and underneath their hands materialized what looked like the top part of a slightly curved metal staff.

Zero withdrew the dagger from their hands without flinching-but both his and Kanda's eyes widened a fraction when they saw the piece of metal; that wasn't at all what either of them thought would happen.

"Pick it up," Itachi instructed Kanda softly, hands retreating back into the pockets of his cloak.

Frowning once again, Kanda obeyed, wrapping his fingers tightly around the metal and lifting it out of the bowl.

Another shock went through as he touched the cool rod, and, in another flash, the entirety of the ritual was laid out inside his head.

The blood of the shifter brings together the blood of the lamia the knight the king and the tiger the power of the sorceress creates the center and the fire elemental seals it all

The staff will shatter the ghosts' grasp on the world and restore the balance of light and dark victory will be theirs

"That is done; we are that much closer to the final play," Itachi was speaking again, although, it appeared, more to himself than to any of his companions.

"But we need Kon's blood, too," Kanda piped up suddenly, swiveling his head around to face the elder. "Don't we?"

Itachi inclined his head a second time.

"That can wait," he stated swiftly, not even wondering how Kanda suddenly knew that without being told. "We don't need it until closer to the culmination of the ceremony-and, in the meantime, we need to put that somewhere safe."

Nowhere is truly secure

They were getting closer to victory; she could sense it.

Tekla knew everything would change after she'd told everyone about the endgame the other day; it was what she was counting on. She wanted them all to know the truth so that they could work as a team; they needed to work as a team if the ceremony was going to have a chance of succeeding.

They were doing so, finally, and it was having the exact effect that it should. The first step was complete-she'd seen Kanda and Itachi performing it with her powers, by using them to see what the panther saw. She also knew what Kanda had seen when he'd touched the first part of the weapon they were building: he'd seen the full extent of what the ceremony required, including the aspects that neither she nor Itachi had told him.

That was fine, though; she knew that would happen, considering his connection to all of this. She trusted him not to misuse the information now.

Unlike some

However, there was someone she was concerned about: the younger Uchiha. She hadn't seen Sasuke since revealing what she and his brother were planning, and she worried about what that could mean. She knew the hawk pretty well, and she reckoned he probably wasn't very happy Itachi had kept him in the dark all this time-especially after not telling him about his crusade against the Eidolons in the first place.

What she didn't know-what her knowledge of him couldn't help her predict was what Sasuke was going to do about it. The fact that he had disappeared couldn't be a good sign-it was far too similar to what he had done when he'd wanted to take revenge on Itachi all those years ago.

The brown-haired sorceress sighed, cupping her chin in her palm as she pondered what the younger Uchiha could be doing. She couldn't see into his present like she could everyone else-Itachi had long ago cast a spell to make sure no one could do that-but, also thanks to Itachi, she knew all about his past.

And, if the past was any indication, what came next couldn't be anything good.

She turned away from the window, jaw clenched. Whatever he did decide to do, she had a feeling that Itachi already knew; there was hardly ever anything he didn't.

They traveled together to what Itachi called a sanctuary protected from the Eidolons' eyes so they could hide the part of the weapon they'd just created; but when they arrived, they were cut off by the appearance of the last person they wanted to see at the moment.

"I know why you're here, Itachi," the sneering girlish hiss of the snake called out as he stepped from the dripping trees into the clearing. "And, more importantly, I know how to stop it."

Kanda snarled.

"How?" he growled furiously, dreading the answer.

And he discovered his dread was justified when Orochimaru stepped aside to reveal his source of information.

"Hello, brother."

Itachi, strangely, didn't blink when he heard that distinctive, familiar voice drawl his name as the speaker sauntered up from behind Orochimaru to face down his former allies; nor did he turn around. He simply let out a soft exhale.

"Sasuke," he replied without looking at his brother-or his companion, whose fuming gaze intensified at seeing the younger standing by his enemy's side with the Eidolons' easily recognizable symbol emblazoned across the back of his brown cloak. "So, this is where you ended up after all this time. I should have known."

"How much longer do you think you can keep all these secrets from your brother, Itachi?" Kakashi asked his former comrade sharply, narrowing his one uncovered eye at Itachi's back. "You know Sasuke deserves to know the truth: after everything he's been through, don't you think that letting him go about killing the only family he has left like this will only make things worse? Allowing him to join the snake will only destroy him, too."

Sasuke stepped further forward, throwing his hood back to reveal his face contorted in an expression similar to Kanda's: only his ire was directed at his brother.

"Yes, you should have," he retorted acidly, fire blazing in his onyx orbs. "After everything you did to me, all the hell you put me through, you should have known that I wouldn't just sit back and take it anymore. For all your sins, you deserve to lose this game and endure whatever punishment the snake has in store for you."

Kanda's brows furrowed, clearly wondering what Sasuke meant by that. He knew about Itachi murdering their family, obviously, but that had happened nearly a decade ago-and, based on the interactions he'd seen, he'd thought Sasuke had already forgiven Itachi for that. So, what was this all about?

He turned to Itachi, a mix of confusion and rage on his face; but the elder Uchiha simply continued to stare ahead, his own features completely blank as if none of this surprised him at all.

He really should have seen this coming; he should have planned for the possibility of his old friend learning the truth about the massacre of his clan and his present plan for his brother. But he'd been so occupied with keeping the rest of the Eidolons and Sasuke from finding out that Kakashi hadn't even crossed his mind. And now that he knew, of course he wanted Itachi to tell Sasuke everything.

A few weeks ago, he would have simply killed Kakashi and moved on. But now…

"It isn't that simple," he responded lowly, still not meeting the elder ninja's gaze, eyes closed and face turned toward the window.

Orochimaru's flat mouth curved in a sneer.

"Well, well, Itachi, it seems that the panther's not the only one having to face a betrayal from someone he loves," he tittered, cruel amusement glittering in his olive eyes as he raked them over his former servant. "Imagine: the brother you love so much, coming to me because he wants me to swallow your soul. Isn't that just…delicious."

Kanda's nostrils flared at the reminder of what Allen had done-and at the fact that Itachi still wasn't saying a thing. "You're not going to do anything about this?"

Kakashi's brows furrowed in consternation.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" he questioned insistently, not letting the matter drop so easily. "If you really love Sasuke as much as I know you do, shouldn't you want him to be happy? How exactly does forcing him to rip his life apart by joining that monster fit into that?"

Itachi exhaled heavily, remaining silent for another moment while he weighed his words, before responding.

"That isn't what we came here for," Itachi said quietly, tone as blank and empty of emotion as ever-as if he wasn't currently being vilified by the only person he ever admitted to loving.

"It was the only way," he stated in barely above a whisper, slender fingers clenching over the windowsill; he sounded as if he were trying to convince himself as much as Itachi. "He needed a reason to keep on living, to become stronger. I wanted him to restore our clan's honour and become a hero, and the only way for him to do that was to kill the one who destroyed them."

"That's it?" Kanda burst out. "After what you said you'd do to me if I betrayed you, you're just going to let your own brother get away with the same thing?"

"You want him to kill you in order to punish for what you did," Kakashi corrected reprovingly. When Itachi didn't deny his statement, he sighed. "But he still loves you, Itachi-and if he does this, he will have nothing left to hold onto. What happened wasn't your fault, and Sasuke would want to know that. He still needs you, no matter what's gone on between you and him in the past.

The Reaper finally turned around, facing his brother without blinking, dark coals still impassive.

"He made his choice," he declared, still with his typical lack of emotion; but there was something in his eyes now-something Kanda couldn't identify-that was mirrored in his brother's.

When Itachi looked at him, Kanda could swear he saw the younger give his brother a nod-but the motion was so brief that he couldn't be sure, and his face remained contorted in a venomous expression the entire time. Kanda's frown deepened; what was that about?

The Uchiha was silent for nearly another full minute while he considered. Kakashi, unfortunately, had a point; he hated to see his brother suffer, and he knew that his master plan wasn't going to have the greatest effect on Sasuke. But he'd never thought he'd have to tell anyone about it-especially not Sasuke himself. He'd never even considered the possibility that Sasuke could still love him after everything he'd done; after all, his entire plan had centered around getting Sasuke to hate him.

But then, that was what this had all been about from the beginning, hadn't it? Love for his brother above the rest of his family, and even the rest of the world?

Before Kanda could demand more of an explanation, Orochimaru spoke again, clearly not able to resist making a final shot.

"I'll let you do what you came here for; but don't think for a moment that your little plan is going to work. Now that I have the hawk on my side, I will know all your secrets, and I will be there to stop it before you can complete it."

"Let's go," Itachi said mechanically, not rising to the bait as Orochimaru vanished and casting one last glance at Sasuke before entering the building behind them.

Kanda's gaze also lingered on the younger Uchiha before he left as well, and then it flicked back to the elder, wondering what the hell had just happened. Sasuke had joined the people who had ruined both their lives, and Itachi didn't even seem like he cared.

He, on the other hand, was pissed; but he didn't think Itachi would allow him to do anything about. So, for the time being, he let it go and focused instead on what they'd come here to do, following Itachi into the building without a word.

Itachi let out another quiet, resigned breath. It was a rare occasion that he admitted he was wrong; but that was exactly what he did. "You're right," he conceded, finally turning around to meet Kakashi's almost plaintive stare. "But we both know he won't believe any of it if I am the one to tell him."

The elder ninja seemed to understand what he meant by that because he nodded.

"Then, I'll do it," he decided firmly. "I've wanted to tell him myself from the second I found out, anyways."

"Well, now's your chance," Itachi commented dully, pretending like he hadn't just given Kakashi permission to undo all of the work he'd done over the past few years to get Sasuke to want to kill him. He'd never considered that this could happen; for the first time in ages, he genuinely didn't know what would happen next.

Kakashi stopped in the doorway of the cabin, casting one final glance at Itachi over his shoulder. "It's the right thing to do, Itachi," he assured his friend firmly as he prepared to leave. "Trust me."

Itachi watched as he disappeared. He hoped Kakashi was right; he didn't know else to stop the person he loved most from making the biggest mistake of his life.