Disclaimer- I don't own Vampire Knight

Chapter 3

Sides

Green eyes watched the ever changing landscape outside of the window of the black car. Takuma was headed back to Cross Academy and he wasn't alone. Tearing his eyes from the calm beauty of the dark forest outside, Takuma turned in his seat to smile at the person seated behind him, his arm resting on the top of a shiny black coffin as his mismatched eyes stared boredly out the window to his right.

"We're almost there, Shiki," Takuma chirped happily.

The eyes of the brown haired boy moved, but his body did not. Takuma felt a slight chill when looking into the one crimson and one blue eye of not Shiki, but Shiki's father who had possessed his friend's body. Rido Kuran was a pureblood, one to be feared and not taken lightly.

"Good. I wonder how my dear nephew will react to seeing me again? Especially now that that little princess is dead."

Takuma cringed at the reminder that his fiancé was dead and turned back around in his seat to continue staring into the night.

The closer they came to the Academy the more uneasy Takuma became. There were a number of people he didn't want to have to see at the moment, particularly a blue eyed blond he had made a promise to, and broken. He was also betraying the trust of one of his closest friends and it didn't sit well with him.

'I can only hope you understand, Kaname, that I'm doing the only thing I can. I'm sorry for betraying you too,' he thought before pushing the unhappy thoughts aside to prepare to seem more like his usual self which he really had no desire to be at the moment. The only reason he bothered trying was because he had a part to play and he would play it until the end when he could be reunited with Reina.

Two figures stood outside of the headmaster's personal living quarters. One was leaning against the wall under one of the windows, while the other leaned into a tree and stared up at the starry night sky. The only sound to be heard was the quiet chirping of crickets in the distance and the sighing of the wind in the trees.

The two figures were Aido and Kain who had been told to watch over the now sleeping Yuuki Cross. The reason for this was something that they both didn't understand, but didn't question since the orders came from Kaname.

It seemed the pureblood heir had decided to take Yuuki as his lover and she had agreed, even if it was a bit unwillingly. From what Aido knew, the girl was trying to find out about the five years of her life that she was mysteriously missing, her memory before five years old was nonexistent and it was weighing heavily on her as she grew.

Aido frowned at the grass beneath his feet, shifting a little to get more comfortable against the brick wall. His arms were crossed over his chest and the look in his eyes clearly said he felt he had better places to be at the moment.

Kain ignored the shuffling of his cousin to continue to stare into the sky while contemplating just how many weather balloons it would take to get someone to the moon. If it was possible anyway, which he figured it most likely wasn't since the atmospheric pressure would likely pop all the balloons well before anyone got close to the moon, and that would just result in a very messy ending that made the tall boy shiver.

"It looks like it's going to snow," Kain said, breaking the quiet tension that had drifted over the two of them and taking his eyes from the sky to look at a lone figure standing on the top of the Academy.

"Umhm," Aido hummed in reply.

"I'm a little surprised you're going along with this little lovers game so willingly. Ruka locked herself in her room and won't come out because of it," Kain said, trying to start some sort of conversation to fill the silence that was beginning to get just a little too loud for his tastes.

"You have to know by now, Akatsuki, it's not a game. He's deeply attached to her and even Reina, who didn't seem partial to her, was protective of her. There's something more to this," Aido replied thoughtfully, his brows drawn together in thought.

Kain sighed, running a hand through his constantly disheveled fiery hair. "To me it's just a game. How should I say this...It's like he's trying to protect something precious from breaking and he's making us protect it as well."

"But what is he trying to protect her from, Akatsuki? What is Kaname-sama planning and why hasn't he done anything about Reina's death? What is he waiting for," Aido asked even though he knew his cousin wouldn't have the answer.

"I don't know, but have you noticed?" Kain asked, turning his head in the direction of the Moon dorms.

"Yeah, I noticed," Aido replied, trying his best to keep the contempt and anger from his voice as he too looked towards their dormitories.

With their eyes they could both easily see the black car that had pulled up to the front of the white building. They could also see the blond head of the boy who got out of the front seat, but they couldn't quite make out much else in the darkness from this distance with all the trees and shrubbery in the way.

"Remember what President Kuran said, Hanabusa. Leave him alone," Kain warned, sensing the growing anger and anguish from the blond.

Aido gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing red for several seconds as he stared after the blond. It took him a moment to relax, breathing out deeply and lowering his head and kicking at the grass. "Reina would be angry if I did anything to him anyway," he mumbled.

"And did you also notice the strange ominous feeling that's beginning to creep up on everything?"

"I did. Something's going to happen, Akatsuki, and I don't think it's going to be good."

"All we can do is continue to be on guard like this for the moment," he replied.

Yuuki lay in the bed that she used to occupy before she had decided to move into the girl's Sun dorms several years before. It was comforting to be back in the Headmaster's home, but that did little to help calm her nerves as she curled into a ball on the bed, her hands clutching at her brown hair as she clenched her eyes shut, not wanting to see the room covered in blood like she knew she would if she opened them.

The visions had started when she began trying to recall anything about her past before she was five years old and was brought to live with the headmaster. Now that she was growing and becoming an adult, a part of her felt the need to know why she had no memories before the age of five. If only because she felt that she was living a lie. Something was telling her that there was something she needed to know about who she was because she felt that she was not who she had been told she was.

It was rather confusing and scary, to question your own existence. To wonder why your parents would abandon you in the middle of nowhere in winter, or if you even had parents. There were so many questions roving through her mind that she was unsure what to believe. Was she really Yuuki Cross, was she even human, why was it that vampires seemed to be unusually attracted to the scent of her blood? And why was she seeing everything through a veil of blood?

It was frightening to see everything that she was so familiar with covered in a thick crimson liquid every time she opened her eyes, but that was all she could see and even with her eyes closed the visions still plagued her. She didn't want to fall asleep either though, for her dreams were more frightening than the blood covered visions.

Mismatched eyes haunted her, leering at her and laughing at her as hands reached out for her in the darkness that surrounded her in her nightmares.

These dreams and the visions were the reason she had agreed to become Kaname Kuran's lover. She wanted answers and she knew he had them even if he wouldn't tell her so. That and she knew that Kaname would never take advantage of her or do anything she didn't wish to do. Not long ago she would have been happy to have been asked to be Kaname's lover, she had been in love with the pureblood since the day he had saved her from the vampire who had tried to kill her.

That blood stained snowscape was the first memory she had. She had been playing in the snow in the middle of nowhere when a crazed vampire had attacked her. There was a shower of blood, splashing her and staining the whiteness around her a deep red. Looking up, she had seen Kaname standing over her, his hand covered in the blood of the vampire he had just killed. She seemed to understand that he had protected her, saved her and she loved him for it.

But now that she was trying so hard to remember what her past held, she couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe her love for him was simply because he was in her first memories and because he was in a majority of the happy onces since then. She was beginning to question not only her own existence, but her love for the only man she had thought she would ever want.

Kaname stood atop the Academy, his long coat left unbuttoned and billowing around his thin frame with every gust of chill wind. Seiren wasn't far behind him, standing off to the side, waiting. What it was she was waiting for was unknown as Kaname stared out over the world from his high perch. He had been here for quite awhile now, standing watch over the young girl he had promised to protect and unwilling to break another promise to someone he cared about. His senses were an alert, the vampire he needed to protect Yuuki from most was headed in his direction and it made the muscles in his body coil in anger.

After a few more moments of silence the sounds of footsteps could be heard approaching the two vampires. Two figures soon came into view as they stepped out of the doorway that let out on to the roof.

"It hurts me to call you my nephew, Kaname," a silky voiced cooed tauntingly as Takuma and Shiki came into view.

With his back to the two vampires, Kaname simply looked over his shoulder at them as if disinterested in anything they might have to say. He was well aware that Shiki was not the one speaking even though it was the boy's voice and his lips that moved, it was Rido Kuran, Kaname's uncle and Shiki's father.

"The last time I saw you was ten years ago, wasn't it?" Rido continued. "It hurt so badly, Kaname!"

Still refusing to speak, Kaname simply stared at Shiki with slightly narrowed eyes. He hadn't failed to notice that Takuma was a step behind him, seemingly his usual self.

"The body that you destroyed took ten long years to repair itself. I guess I should thank the strong vitality of purebloods for that. It seems that a lot has happened since I've been gone," Rido went on. "My fiancé, Shizuka, has been killed by a hunter you allow to remain here..He was bitten by her, wasn't he? Can't say I really blame him for killing her, it saved me the trouble anyway. She wasn't obedient enough, not like this one's mom," he said, smiling a cold smile as he pointed to himself, indicating that he meant his son, Shiki. "It would have been troublesome to marry her."

"You haven't changed at all, Uncle," Kaname stated evenly, finally turning around to face him. "You're just the same as when I killed you."

"Am I? How interesting," Rido mused through his son's lips as his hand went to the pocket of the coat he wore. "Before I forget, I have a gift for you," removing something small and sparkling from his pocket he threw it at Kaname who easily caught the glimmering object.

Kaname's eyes flashed dangerously as his hand closed over the delicate black diamond encrusted hair comb he had given to Reina, it had been in her hair the day her aura had so quickly vanished from everyone's senses. "It seems I don't have to hesitate about killing you again," Kaname said in a voice much calmer than he obviously was.

There was a loud cracking noise as the stones in front of Kaname broke apart and tore themselves free of their places to form a sharply spiked mouth that lunged for Shiki.

"Stop, Kaname!"

The stones came to a halt mere inches away from Takuma's seriously set face. The blond had stepped in front of the intended target, his arms out to his sides to keep Kaname from attacking. "I won't let you involve Shiki in your dispute."

"So I can assume you're on the Council's side," Kaname said darkly.

"You can think that if you'd like," Takuma replied calmly, not showing an ounce of fear as he stared at the pureblood who could easily kill him in less than a second.

"What happened to Reina?"

Takuma jolted, he should have expected the question, but he wasn't prepared for it. His head dropped and his gaze left Kaname's. "I don't really know."

"I see."

"Don't worry. Takuma had nothing to do with the little girl's untimely death. She was trying to protect him, but she misbehaved and was punished for it. What about the other little girl? Has she awoken from her daze yet?" Rido asked.

"Don't think a filthy lowlife like you could ever touch her, Rido," Kaname hissed quietly as his body began to melt into the blackness of the night.

Ken sighed as he walked through the halls of his home, it was modest when compared to the Ichijo manor or even his own family's manor, but he preferred his privacy and bought the rather modern home for himself. He was currently in the basement, which looked nothing like a basement with it's lushly carpeted floors and bright paintings that adorned the walls. Stopping at one of the doors, he pushed it open to be greeted by one of his servants.

"How is she?" Ken asked, closing the door he had just walked through behind him as he took off the gray coat he wore and tossed it carelessly onto the top of a chair to his left.

"Welcome home, Master. The young lady has not yet awoken," the woman he had addressed answered, bowing low so that he could actually see some of the pins holding her dark brown hair in its intricate bun. She was dressed in a black skirt suit with a white button up beneath the blazer and plain black heels on her feet.

"I think I'll pay her a visit," Ken replied, walking through the room and its modern furnishings before turning into a hall way to the right. "Make sure we aren't disturbed."

"Of course."

The room he entered was dark, but he could still see the figure on the bed, her white hair gathered over her shoulder in loose waves and her face peaceful as she slept. "It really is a shame to see such beauty so tainted."

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