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Chapter 5

Not Alone

Takuma walked silently beside Rido, his eyes focused on the ground that was passing beneath his feet. Only moments before the two had sensed Yuuki's re-awakening as a pureblood and Takuma knew that that meant things would soon start to progress rapidly. He felt empty and cold as he walked beside the man who had ultimately been responsible for the death of the woman he loved and who would take the lives of others he cared about without hesitation and it was his duty to help him do so. He was desperately trying to keep himself from falling apart, he had yet to grieve for the loss of Reina and he wanted nothing more than to hurry along the path he had chosen.

Killing his grandfather meant giving up his own life, but he didn't mind if that meant that his grandfather would never again be able to destroy the lives of innocent people like the poisonous monster he was.

"Your face tells me that you are dissatisfied," Rido said to the silent blond that was so obediently following beside him. "Is it because I want to make that little girl my prey? Or because you betrayed Kaname? Or could it be because I'm holding Shiki's body hostage?"

Looking up at the words, Takuma's eyes widened as Shiki's hand was brought to his throat, his nails biting into his flesh. "Please stop," Takuma pleaded, grabbing the hand that was causing damage to his friend and wrenching it away from his neck.

"Why don't you come down here?" Rido calmly ordered, shaking Takuma's hand from his borrowed limb and turning to face the pigtailed girl that was perched daintily on the brick wall to his right. "Rima."

"You aren't Shiki, are you?" the girl accused, sliding off the wall to glide to the ground, her eyes fixed on Rido. "I won't let you get away with this."

Takuma worriedly looked between the two, Rima was poised for a fight and there was a feral grin on Shiki's face as the mismatched eyes leered at the girl hungrily.

Yuuki stood at the broken window of Kaname's room, staring out into the night, her eyes wide and curious as she searched for the scent of blood that had pervaded the air seconds before. She didn't recognize it, but it made her feel ill at ease as she gripped the windowsill tightly before casting a quick glance back at the empty room. Her new heightened senses were making her a bit too sensitive to every little sound or smell and it was distracting her constantly.

Kaname had left a few minutes before, where he had gone or why, she didn't know and somehow felt that she didn't want to. There was something dark and sinister stirring nearby and it made her not want to stay in one place for long. She was also worried for the Day class students, she could sense that things at the Academy were soon to become less peaceful and much more violent. She felt useless sitting by herself in the large room with nothing to do and only her dark thoughts for company. Many of which centered around Zero and how he felt towards her now that they both knew what she truly was. She knew that she had no right to worry about him now, he hated her kind, he hunted her kind, but she couldn't help but hope that some part of him would accept her, after all he had seemed to accept Reina. Remembering the beautiful snowy haired girl, saddened Yuuki, she knew that it was hurting Kaname and she had noticed the change in Zero's attitude, Aido's too. She had been loved and respected by just about everyone in the Night class and her death was hitting them very hard. Turning her attention back to the window, Yuuki carefully pulled herself over the edge and leapt to the ground below with every intention of going to the Sun dorms to see Zero.

Kaname stood over an open black coffin. His hand resting on the chest of the man within it as he pulled the sword in his other hand back, prepared to plunge it through his flesh and that of the man in the coffin.

"Kaname!" Takuma cried, opening the door to the room that belonged to Shiki to see Kaname standing over the coffin, sword poised to strike. "What..what are.."

"Why are you so flustered, Ichijo?" Kaname inquired evenly. "No matter how many times I cut him, I can't deliver the final blow. So.. I thought that I should let him return to his original form."

Takuma set Shiki down on the bed, glancing at the motionless silver haired boy that was Ichiru Kiryu, Zero's twin who had also been assisting Rido and the Council. The boy merely stood back and watched without showing any emotion.

"Take it, Rido, the thing that you want most. The thing that drove you mad with desire... the thickest blood of a Kuran," Kaname said before stabbing the shiny steel of the sword through his hand and into the body of the man in the coffin.

"Kaname..what do you mean by can't kill?" Takuma asked uncertainly as he watched the blood of the two purebloods mix and begin to bubble. "No, that's not the question. I don't care if I live, but your life...Do purebloods always do things so recklessly?" he cried, stepping forward to try to pull Kaname away from Rido's true body, stopping when he realized that there was now an aura of life coming from the man in the coffin.

"To be awakened under such disgusting conditions," Kaname commented, more to himself than anyone else as he pulled the sword from his hand and stepped away from the coffin. "Don't worry, a chop on the head or heart will kill him," he said, noticing the surprise in Takuma's wide eyes as he stared at Rido's bubbling body.

"Then why can't you kill him?" Ichiru asked.

Turning his attention to the Kiryu twin, Takuma blinked before shifting his attention to Kaname who was licking the blood from the cut to his hand.

"Because I am the ancestor of Kuran and he awoke me from my grave," Kaname answered.

"Kaname, I-"

"You have nothing to answer for, Ichijo. I need to go, I still have some preparations to complete before tonight," Kaname cut in and then swept elegantly from the room.

Reina sat at a high square table of beautiful dark wood. Ken sat across from her, his posture much more relaxed and at ease than hers as she listened to him speak. She had changed out of the nightgown into a pair of black slacks and a black cowl necked long sleeved shirt, there was a necklace resting on her chest, a black diamond carved to resemble a blooming rose which she kept running her fingers over absently as Ken talked.

"It wasn't as easy as I had hoped, but I managed. What I did was similar to what Juuri Kuran did for her daughter. She put the vampiric side of Yuuki to sleep, but I killed your vampiric side. Mostly, so that your aura would disappear. I ran into a few problems when I went to reawaken you, it seems that I wasn't the first one to try and kill part of you," Ken explained. "I had suspected as much, but very powerful magic had been used and it took a little while to release the old spells that had been placed on you and fully reawaken you."

Reina's emotionless eyes narrowed minutely. "What do you mean?" she asked blankly. In the few hours since she had awoken, she had remembered most of her past, there were still a few blurry spots, but they were getting clearer as time wore on. So was her anger.

"It always struck me as odd that after my brother bit you, he didn't seem to get any stronger and that you couldn't beat him in a fight. You should have been the stronger of the two, your blood should hold more power, but for some reason you didn't seem to possess the power that you should have. Both of your parents were incredibly powerful as you know and their families were considered to be almost as strong as the Kuran's. You would think that their combined blood would produce an heir that could rival both their lines and possibly match the Kuran's, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, but in this case, it's only my blood that holds any power, not me," Reina replied, sipping at the red beverage in front of her.

"Wrong," Ken answered, causing Reina to look up sharply. "If your blood was as strong as it should be then why didn't my worthless excuse for a brother get any more powerful after taking some from you?"

"He nearly drained me, he had to have gotten at least a little stronger."

"No. Like I said, someone had already tampered with you before I had. Someone used very strong magic to hide how strong you truly are and so he didn't gain anything from taking your blood."

"But that makes no sense. I gave my blood to Zero too, he got stronger."

"That's probably because he was a human turned vampire and regardless of how weak your blood was, it was still pure. Over time, it's likely it would have become ineffective."

"But...Why?" Reina asked disbelievingly. "Why would someone intentionally weaken me?"

"Because you were too strong. You could probably evenly match a Kuran, Reina, and easily. My guess is that your parents were trying to protect you by weakening the potency of your blood. After all, they were on the Kuran's side and if someone were to get a hold of you, it could prove quite a problem for them if you were turned against them, especially Kaname. It's probably also the reason you were betrothed to him. You can remember how strong you were before, can't you?" Ken inquired.

She nodded slowly. "I can."

"Do you feel any different now?"

There was something in the way that he was looking at her that made Reina feel as if there was some hidden meaning to his words that she was missing. Taking a moment to assess the way she felt before answering, she searched for any major difference. Frowning, she answered, "Yes, I feel like I'm not the same person as I was then. I can also no longer sense any familiar auras, everything feels new."

"In a way, it is. It will take some getting used to, you'll have to relearn a lot of things, but others should come more natural to you. Is that it?" He asked curiously.

Reina's eyes examined the chiseled features of the dark haired man and scrutinized the gray eyes that were staring back at her evenly. She got the distinct sense that he was hiding something from her even though she could find no hint of it anywhere in his eyes or body language.

"There's something you're not telling me, isn't there?"

Ken's face remained impassive, he was excellent at hiding his emotions and what he was thinking. "I don't know that now is the time to tell you."

"Why did you help me?" Reina asked evenly, her sapphire eyes scrutinizing the man across from her. Everything about him seemed sincere and honest and he didn't strike her to be anything like his family.

"My father is a vile man, my brother was no better. They are controlled by the last of the remaining elders of our clan as well as the Council. As I technically am also, but I don't agree with what they are doing. Rido is a monster that should not be allowed to live and I do believe that vampires can live in peace with humans, they do not. They view humans as little more than insects and deem themselves as beings akin to Gods. There's not much that I alone can do, but you, you may be able to do so much more than I could ever hope to," Ken answered, his eyes and tone telling Reina that he wasn't lying.

"So you want my help," Reina replied. "With what exactly?"

"Kaname has already made his move. He has awoken Yuuki and it won't be long before he awakens Rido-"

"What? Why would he awaken that monster when he can't kill him?" Reina exclaimed, showing the most emotion she had so far.

"You don't know?" he asked and he seemed surprised by the fact as he looked at Reina.

"Know what?"

"Zero Kiryu. Kaname has been raising him to deal with the threat of Rido. My sources say that Kiryu drank the blood of Kaname on the same day that I supposedly killed you. All that's left is for him to consume his twin, the fragment of himself that he's missing and he will be-"

"The strongest hunter," Reina finished grimly.

"I'm surprised that you hadn't put the pieces together already, Reina. Kaname has been planning to use Kiryu from the start," Ken told her.

Reina frowned, looking down at the dark grains of the wood of the table. "I guess I'm not entirely surprised. Everything that he did makes more sense now. He didn't want me getting too attached to Zero because he felt that I wouldn't agree with what he had planned for him. He really is a fool and he underestimates me. As much as Zero has already gone through at the hands of our kind, I know that there is no way anyone else would have been able to kill Rido. It's unfortunate, but Kaname used what was at his disposal."

"Rido will not win against Zero if the boy takes all that is his. After that, all Kaname has to do is get rid of the Council and he will be the ruler of our race, as he should be. However, the road will not be an easy one, the Hunter's Association will take this act as an act of madness and those that support the Council will rally against him. He will be hunted as will Yuuki and anyone who helps him."

Reina said nothing as she stared at the shimmering diamond ring on her left hand. The consequences for anyone who dared to go against the Council would be severe. Even if the Council no longer existed, there would always be those who supported them and there would always be hunters to list them as uncontrollable menaces and hunt them. Kaname was playing a very dangerous game and the lives of many others were at stake.

She was worried for Takuma, she knew he was being forced to do his grandfather's bidding, Ken had said as much and she knew that it must be eating at him to have to betray Kaname. He must also blame himself for her being taken away to be used as a pawn. Her thoughts also wandered to Hanabusa and Kaname, curious as to how they would have reacted to her disappearance. A thought suddenly struck her then and she tilted her head to the side, her brows drawing together.

"You had to make my aura disappear to make everyone believe I was dead...But what about now, I can be sensed, can't I?" She asked worriedly.

"Yes, but your aura is not the same. No one who knows you will recognize it," Ken answered.

Reina paled. "Everyone thinks I'm dead. Takuma, Hana, Kaname.."

"Yes," Ken replied. "It was the only way to protect you. My father would have killed you and I couldn't let that happen."

She opened her mouth to reply when there was a strange shift in the atmosphere and she could sense the distant aura of another pureblood, the exact location was too far to pinpoint. Ken had sensed it as well and his posture suddenly became more stiff.

"He's awake."

"I need to go," Reina said abruptly, standing from the table.

"Where?" Ken asked her calmly, remaining in his seat as he tilted his head to look up at her evenly.

"To the Academy. They'll need me, and Takuma...He thinks I'm dead, he'll blame himself and I'm afraid he'll do something rash. I can't let that happen," she replied frantically.

"Do you even know where you're going?"

Reina froze, her eyes widening. She closed her eyes and focused on trying to find a familiar aura, any familiar aura, but she couldn't and her head fell into her chest.

"No," she whispered. "I can't sense anyone anymore, it's like everything I sense is unknown to me."

"You can't go alone. You shouldn't go alone. Once word gets out that you're alive, you'll be hunted by my family, as will I. Our only option is to stick together and I will gladly protect you and go wherever you wish with you," Ken told her with a warm smile.

"Why?" she asked quietly.

His smile grew as he stood up. "The reasons are partially selfish. I will be signing my own death warrant once we walk out that door and I'm no match for my family alone. You will be hunted too, but for different reasons. You are being held responsible for Michael's death and you are also a threat to them, and they know it. My family has put you through a lot, at least let me do what I can to show you that not all of us are cold hearted monsters. I also think that you can make a difference in our world and I'd like to do what I can to support you."

"What are you hiding from me? If you want me to trust you, then you can at least tell me that much," Reina pointed out.

Ken sighed and made no attempt to answer her, instead he walked towards Reina, she was regarding him closely, almost suspiciously as he stepped behind her and took her hands in his. It was where he placed them and what he then quietly said to her that made her eyes widen and her breath hitch in her throat. Her knees buckled, but Ken caught her effortlessly, he had anticipated this reaction which had been part of the reason why he had stepped behind her.

"Do you see now?" Ken asked Reina, who was trembling in his arms, her eyes still wide and disbelieving. "You need my protection, both of you."