Disclaimer- I don't own Vampire Knight.

Chapter 11

Almost

It was deathly quiet in the large room and throughout the entire house. The young man lying in the plush, elegant bed in the center of the room pushed himself up with a pained groan, a hand going to his neck and the slowly fading marks that marred it. Looking around to be sure that he was alone as his senses were telling him he was, he slid to the edge of the bed and lowered his long legs over the side. It took him a moment to steady himself on the weak limbs before he began the long trek to the white door across the room. He used the few objects that were in his path to steady himself, a chair, a small dresser, the wall until he got to the door where he paused and closed his eyes, concentrating on the several auras he had become accustomed to feeling moving around in the extravagantly large manor.

Breathing out a slow and shaky breath, the young man turned the golden door knob and quietly pulled the heavy door open. Trying to make no sound, he crept into the hall that was decorated with elegant cream wallpaper that had pale blue accents and several old paintings with delicate gold wall lamps spaced evenly throughout the hall. Slipping silently down the hall unnoticed, the man reached a stairwell that led down to a quiet and empty living area. There were expensive rugs tossed over the marble flooring and an ornate royal blue furniture set that consisted of a high backed sofa and several over sized chairs. It was none of these things that caught the man's eyes though, it was the small hand held phone that sat atop a round wooden table that was on the opposite side of the room.

Gripping the banister tightly for a moment the man took a quick look around before flying down the stairs at an inhuman speed. The fingers of his left hand wrapped around the phone and pulled it from the dock while he used his right hand to turn the phone on and quickly punch through a series of numbers, praying that he had remembered them correctly.

When the line connected and began to ring he nearly lost his footing in his relief as he breathed out a long gust of air and impatiently waited for someone to answer the other line.

"Please...Please pick up the phone," he pleaded under his breath, closing his eyes and grasping the phone so tightly his knuckles began to turn white.

No one answered his pleas. The phone continued to ring unanswered and a wave of despair washed over the man, his hand loosened its grip on the phone as his eyes opened and he looked up at the high ceiling above him, tears filling the green orbs.

The man's eyes widened when he suddenly realized that he was no longer alone. He turned his head to look over his shoulder at the small blond woman that was standing in the now open door, her wavy hair falling over the white cloak she wore as she stared evenly at him. The phone he was holding just away from his ear went dead and fell from his hand, clattering loudly to the floor just before he lost consciousness himself and collapsed.

"A misbehaved toy is troublesome. Didn't I warn you to behave yourself?" the woman said, walking to where the man lay on the ground, she untied her cloak from around her pale neck and let it carelessly fall to the floor. Kneeling down beside the young man and brushing some of his long hair from his face, the woman let a small smile that spoke of nothing that resembled happiness but malice and hate form on her lips before chuckle glided through them. "I'm beginning to grow tiresome of this game...I believe it's time we made some changes to the rules, it will make things much more interesting. Kaname and his little princess can't stay hidden forever and the last Tsukina is proving to be much more of a nuisance then I would have thought possible..."

"Kaname-sama, they're on the move," Seiren announced, stepping into a dimly lit, but lavishly decorated office where Kaname sat behind a large desk, a stack of mail and other papers in front of him.

"How many?" Kaname asked, looking up from his work to look at the silvery haired vampire.

"All three purebloods and at least thirty nobles. All Takamora's."

"I see. Try to contact Reina or anyone else that's with her. Warn them," he said, rising from behind the desk.

Seiren nodded once and gave a small bow before turning to leave and do as she had been asked.

"Get her out of here," Ken ordered seriously, putting a hand on Reina's back and shoulder and trying to steer her towards Zero, but she wasn't having any of it.

"I'm not going anywhere," she stated, an icy ring to her calm voice as she turned her narrowed sapphire eyes on Ken.

"Reina," the man began to protest only to be cut off when Reina lifted a pale hand in the air.

"I said I'm not going anywhere," she repeated coldly. "They're here for me and if it's me they want to see, then so be it."

Without another word, Reina stepped around Ken and made her way to the doors that were being blocked by the three Hunters. At first it appeared none of them were going to let her pass, but as she neared them, Zero took a step back and to the side. Reina strode past him and wasn't surprised when he fell into step several paces behind her. Cross and Yagari followed after Zero, their main objective there was to look after Reina and keep her safe, something they couldn't do if they weren't with her.

The five nobles exchanged uncertain and worried glances before focusing on Ken. The pureblood sighed, frowning as he looked over his shoulder and out the window.

"The choice to fight is yours. There are three purebloods leading the others, but so long as you stay far enough away, they won't be able to control you in anyway. They also won't likely go after any of you unless you get in their way, which I suggest you don't," Ken said knowingly, his face which had become so much more full of life was blank now and there was an unnerving emptiness in the way he spoke and hidden in the depths of his stormy gray eyes.

Aido didn't wait or even hesitate as he turned and strode from the room. His stride was proud and sure and it was what made his cousin nod and follow after him. Ruka was the next to go, she was determined to show everyone that she was a strong woman and to protect one of the things that was precious to the man she had spent so long pining away after. Shiki and Rima exchanged glances before shrugging and linking arms to follow after their friends, they had no intention of losing anyone else that was important to them and they would protect the person whom their best friend had loved dearly.

Ken was the last to go, taking one last look out the window that faced the front of the house, Reina and the others had gone towards the back of the house to meet the fast approaching threats. Though he couldn't sense her any longer and had only caught a fleeting hint of her aura, he knew she was there. A woman with wavy golden blond hair that fell below her waist, beautiful in an ethereal way, like an angel, but this woman was no angel. She was a pureblood and she had been concealing her aura effortlessly as she observed the manor from the surrounding forest. "Just what role are you playing in all of this," he mused under his breath before slipping from the room and past the still ringing phone.

The dark purple dress that Reina wore over a pair of black slacks danced around her as she calmly made her way through the house, a pale hand atop her round stomach and a look in her eyes that Zero had never seen there before. Anger, hate, bitterness. Though her eyes clearly stated this, she herself wasn't exuding even the tiniest hint of any of it, she was the essence of serene at the moment as she opened the back door and glided barefoot into the neatly trimmed yard and towards the meadow where the tall grass was swaying lightly in the cool late evening breeze. The sun was a deep shade of red as it began to sink into the distant trees and mountains, staining the sky with a wide array of beautiful colors. She stopped halfway to the meadow and simply stood there, waiting.

She was not frightened as she stood there, something that struck her as odd. She had hardly any experience in fighting and here she was about to stand up to three purebloods who were much, much older and experienced than she was. Still it didn't bother her, she felt a strange sort of calm throughout her body as well as an immense amount of anger and bitterness, but she was able to keep the emotions hidden underneath the calmness she felt. It was these emotions however that made her aware of something else...Something dark and violent with an unnerving amount of power and strength that was moving through her.

"You were too strong. You could probably evenly match a Kuran, Reina, easily."

Ken's voice floated through her memory and she realized with little surprise that he was right. Now that she was actually preparing to fight she could feel it. The hidden depths of the dark and ancient destructive power that was intertwined with the red liquid that flowed through her veins was almost frightening. Though this new amount of strength was new to her it was not unfamiliar, she felt attuned to the flow of it, as if she had always possessed such massive amounts of it.

It was as if there was a procession of some sort since everyone was following behind Reina, slowly, calmly until they were out of the house. Zero took up a position to Reina's right, Yagari to her left, Cross stood beside Zero while Aido stood behind her, Kain beside him joined shortly after by Ruka, Shiki and Rima stood with them. Ken however stepped around them and nodding to Yagari took the space to Reina's left.

It was quiet. The only sounds were the soft sighs of the wind through the meadow and the trees. There were no birds singing or animals calling out to one another, just the airy voice of the cool breeze. No one spoke as they stood in the fading dusk and watched the sun creep lower in the sky and continued to wait.

There was a whisper of movement, a soft flutter of sound accompanied by an amused, dark chuckle. A slight twitch from Reina was the only response as she watched the three pureblood males appear several yards away, Ken's father, Daiki was standing about a foot in front of two other males, the Elders of the Takamora clan. The elders were dressed in lavish suits that made them look as if they belonged more in the late twentieth century than the present, Daiki was in a more modern black suit with a cocky smile on his face as he eyed Reina, his eyes flicking to her stomach. Seconds after the three purebloods arrived a group of thirty nobles appeared behind them, all of them were from the Takamora line.

"Why it's so nice to see you again, Reina," Daiki said with feigned happiness as he smiled at her. "You're looking well compared to the last time I saw you."

The light breeze kicked up briefly, sending a rippling wave through the meadow and stirring Reina's hair around her body. "Yes, I suppose I do. After all, being beaten while surrounded by Hunter spells that are meant to immobilize us vampires can leave one in a less than acceptable state. You have your son, Ken, to thank for me no longer being in that state though, aren't you glad?" Reina asked, a sharp edge to her calm, musical voice that sounded almost playful as she tilted her head and smiled amusedly.

Daiki's own smile faltered and a flicker of unadulterated hate flickered through his aura as well as annoyance at being taunted by a woman a fraction of his age, but who was acting superior to him. "If anything, I have him to thank for saving me the pleasure of killing you."

"You, kill me?" Reina replied with a dainty giggle that melted away to reveal a challenging smile. "I'd like to see you try."

Another flicker of hate swam through Daiki's aura and without hesitation the man glanced behind him at the nobles and nodded towards Reina.

The white haired woman didn't move a single muscle as a group of ten vampires flew at her. There was a hiss of fire and a cracking sound of ice before a wall of each circled around the five that stood before Aido and Kain, shooting towards the fast approaching enemy, two of the vampires fell prey to the fire, one to the ice, erupting into a spray of red dust. There was a crackle of electricity, and the snap of a whip and four more vampires disappeared. The three remaining all suddenly froze, their eyes widening in confusion before they were engulfed in a mixture of flame and ice.

"Hmm," Reina mused, letting a thoughtful frown twist her lips. "Not very impressive, I didn't even have to do anything and they sure didn't get very far. You're going to have to try harder than that if you want to kill me, Daiki."

The much older pureblood's face contorted with anger at Reina's taunts and the emotion spilled into his aura, he was no longer able to keep calm in the face of a woman that was little more than a baby when compared to him but who was humiliating him with her cool exterior and her arrogance. "Don't forget there are three purebloods here, your little following is worthless against us. Should I show you the true strength of what I can do?"

Ken went to take a step forward to protest, but Reina raised a purple clothed arm in front of him, her eyes remained locked on the narrowed gray eyes of the man's father.

"There may be three purebloods on your side, but don't forget there are two here and three vampire hunters that won't succumb to your tricks, not that the others will either."

"What do you think a little, inexperienced girl like you can do?" Daiki replied darkly.

"Shall I show you?" Reina offered, tilting her head and lifting a snowy brow.

The spotlessly dressed pureblood didn't have time to respond, Reina's small hand had risen off of her stomach and there were pained shouts of surprise from the nobles behind him. Blood scented the air, so strong that it was almost disorienting and when he turned to see what the commotion was, he was surprised to see that not a single noble remained. Eyes wide and teeth smashed together in fury, Daiki lost all control he had managed to keep over himself and flew at Reina with an animalistic shout.

Zero and Ken were suddenly in front of the white haired woman, Zero with his Bloody Rose drawn and pointed out before him while Ken had no weapon but his powers that he was gifted with as a pureblood that were still unknown. Loud bangs shattered the silence of the approaching night, but Daiki continued to advance, undeterred by the bullets that flew at him, he evaded every single one effortlessly.

Ken merely lifted his right hand, his palm facing his father, but nothing seemed to happen until the attacking vampire hit what seemed to be an invisible barrier. There were sparks and a ripple of color, but nothing else as Daiki hit the barrier, growling at his son's impertinence.

"I know all of your tricks, do you think you can stand up against me my darling boy?" Daiki inquired, his deep voice echoing with the anger in his eyes.

"Not all of them, father," Ken replied evenly, the hint of a smile on his lips.

Daiki narrowed his eyes at his son and then let his eyes slide from him to Reina's sapphire blue eyes, he didn't fail to notice the way the young hunter boy that had killed Rido moved just a little closer to her. "What a burden you must be to these children, Reina," he taunted, smirking when Reina's jaw tightened and her eyes narrowed. "Just like you were to your precious Ichijo."

Her hands trembled at her sides and she was struggling to keep her calm when Aido spoke up from behind her. "Reina is not a burden to any of us. She didn't ask us to come here, she never asks for anything. She would have been content if we had left her here to fight alone, but we're her friends and could never do that. We've never ever felt burdened by knowing her, but thankful, just like Ichijo. Reina isn't like you, she's loved and always will be."

She could feel the sting of tears in her eyes as her hands stopped shaking and she was grateful to Aido for saying what he had. He knew that she always felt as if she were nothing more than a burden to everyone, that she blamed herself for Ichijo's death and so much more.

Reina noticed it first, the slight flutter of one of the elders' sleeves, but there was no time to react. Aido was sent flying through the air to slam into the manor and slide to the ground like a useless doll, leaving the wall a broken mess. Slowly she turned back around to stare coldly at the man who had been responsible for harming Aido, there was a dangerous and dark feeling mixing with her aura as she stared at the elder that had been to Daiki's right, he was tall, thick and his face was beginning to show signs of age, his dark brown hair was worn similarly to Ken's, tied at the nape of his neck. He was regarding Reina with slate gray eyes as she turned to him.

"Ah, so now we have your attention," the man drawled, his voice was smooth, polite. "What a pleasure it is to meet you, Reina Tsukina. I am Kenichi, this would be my brother, Taiki," he said, introducing himself before gesturing to the other man who greatly resembled him, only was a bit shorter and thinner with short black hair and black eyes.

"And to what do I owe this little visit?" Reina asked icily.

"We wanted your help my dear," Kenichi replied.

"My help, hmm?"

"Yes, of course, now if you would be so kind as to die without much fuss, it would be greatly appreciated," Kenichi said smoothly.

"I'm afraid I'm not feeling very giving today."

"Is that so? What a shame. I would prefer to not have to do this, but you leave me no choice." Kenichi raised a hand and flicked his fingers in Reina's direction.

The ground exploded around her, forcing Zero and Ken to leap aside as grass, dirt and chunks of earth flew into the air. There was a gust of wind and Reina's aura vanished completely. When the dirt and dust settled the white haired woman was nowhere to be seen.

"That was far too easy," Kenichi sighed.

Zero wasted no more time, he squeezed off five shots in quick succession. It didn't take long for Yagari to do the same, firing repeatedly at the two elders. Only two shots were landed, both on Kenichi, but the man didn't seem to even notice, that was until he lurched forward, his eyes widening in shock. He coughed harshly, sending a spray of blood over the grass.

Everyone looked on in uncertainty until the man fell forward, revealing that Reina was standing behind him, her hand covered in blood and shiny red crystals of dust.

"Don't underestimate a woman. Especially one whose fiancé is dead because of your meddling," she stated before the man erupted into a volcano of red crystals.

There was a deep silence for a moment, but it was broken when Daiki shouted out angrily and charged at Reina. A wall of ice and another of fire tried to block his path, but he merely swatted them away, Zero fired again and again as did Yagari, none of the bullets hit the crazed vampire. It was Cross that wounded him, appearing in front of him and landing a brutal blow to his chest with the beautiful sword that he held so gracefully in front of him.

"If you don't mind, Cross, I'd like to have a few words with my beloved father," Ken said, stepping forward and smiling at the hunter.

Cross nodded, lowering his blade and stepping back.

Daiki glared at his son and raised a hand, snapping his fingers together. In an instant the meadow was full of vampires who readily charged at the hunters and noble vampires.

Reina's eyes widened and she disappeared from where she stood just as something shot past her, whatever it was missed her and tore into the ground several yards from where she had been standing. There was a mix of black and red smoke coming from where the impact had been. It didn't take her long to figure out who had been the responsible party, Taiki, the silent elder was staring blankly at the spot where the smoke was curling and writhing in the air. When Reina reappeared, a few feet away, his eyes instantly turned to her and another churning mass of energy flew at her.

She disappeared again, trying to find a way to get closer to the man, but no matter what she did and how well she hid her aura he seemed to find her the moment she began to reappear and another mass of energy would be shot at her. Yagari and Zero fired shot after shot at him and though the man never moved, not a single bullet touched him. It wasn't until Cross made to slash at the man that he finally moved, raising a hand to grab the blade of the sword, ignoring the sparks that Reina could see as blood poured from the cut to his palm.

Cross suddenly found himself flying backwards through the air, his weapon still in the hand of the pureblood. Without hesitation, Reina lifted her hand and waved it in the pureblood's direction. Dropping the sword, Taiki leapt over the line of spinning blades of wind, Reina immediately flew after him. They continued to exchange blows, but neither one could land anything on the other and just ripped the meadow and surrounding forest to shreds.

Flying and running at inhuman speeds the two purebloods fought while in the meadow a war seemed to be raging. There were flares of searing hot flames, waves of ice, showers of sparks, snaps of a whip, roaring sounds of gunfire and clashes of steel.

Reina was beginning to grow tired, a side effect of being very pregnant and not being used to using her new found strength for such extended periods of time, not to mention she hadn't had single drop of blood in almost eight months. She began to slow, the attacks she was using grew weak and she began to worry that if she didn't finish things soon she would end up getting hurt. Something she couldn't risk since she didn't want to bring harm to her unborn child.

There was a loud cracking sound and a familiar shout, Reina looked toward the field to see that Aido was clutching at his right arm, blood pouring over his fingers. Her moment of distraction proved to be nearly fatal, she narrowly avoided the blast that ripped the tree behind her apart. She couldn't avoid the shower of splinters that flew through the air, several of which buried themselves in her hands and arms.

Having expected Reina to swerve to the right, back towards the meadow, Taiki had already begun moving to stop her. He appeared in front of her, surprising her and causing her to come to an abrupt halt and crouch down defensively.

She flinched suddenly, groaning and putting a hand over her stomach, she fell to her knees.

"Reina," someone shouted worriedly as Taiki slowly advanced on her.

Trying to collect herself, Reina looked up and evenly met Taiki's eyes. She tried to focus and push him back with her will, but he seemed unaffected by her efforts. Just as his hand was about to reach for her, it was severed from his body by a quick flash of silver. He had been so focused on her that he hadn't noticed Cross and the man had been able to get close enough to deal some damage. There was a single shot fired as Cross stepped protectively in front of Reina and part of Taiki's left arm was blown away. The man growled and disappeared.

"Are you alright, Reina?" Cross asked in concern, leaning down in front of the girl and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine," she answered, taking Cross' hand and letting him help her up. She stumbled slightly and Cross put an arm around her waist to steady, studying her worriedly the entire time.

"You should go inside, we can handle the rest," Cross suggested.

Reina didn't answer, but instead turned her head towards the forest, her eyes narrowing and flashing darkly. Cross followed her gaze and just as he looked up three people emerged from the trees, his attention was quickly removed from the three people when he was forced to let go of Reina to defend himself from an attack from a young nobleman. Reina was able to stay standing, the pain that had shot through her a moment ago forgotten as she focused on the only male in the group that had just appeared.

Sensing her eyes on him, Kaname looked away from the fights that were still raging on and looked over at Reina. She was pale, her hair was a windblown mess and she was protectively covering her stomach with her hands that were riddled with tiny scratches. They stared at one another, ignoring the ongoing battles until Reina let out a pained cry and clenched her eyes shut, falling back down onto her knees and wrapping her arms around her stomach.

She could feel him approaching her, moving swiftly, silently through the trees and the vampires that were fighting, but she couldn't move or even focus enough of her energy to do anything about Taiki's assault and Cross had his hands full with the three vampires that had attacked him. Taking several deep breaths, Reina tried to steady her nerves and her eyes snapped open just as Taiki appeared in front of her. She knew he wouldn't use any sort of magic to kill her, the fight was personal and he would want to use his bare hands. Thrusting her hand upwards, she managed to pierce his chest, but it wasn't a fatal hit and she had missed his heart by several inches.

Taiki grabbed her by her throat, but that was all he could do before a thin line of blood appeared around his neck, like a grotesque necklace. The man's head began to tilt at an unnatural angle before he evaporated, leaving only his bloodstained clothes behind.

Wide eyed and relieved, Reina stared up at Kaname. The fighting around them stopped as Kaname turned his crimson eyes towards the battlefield. All of the remaining Takamora nobles raised their hands above their hearts and plunged their nails into their own chests, piercing the vital organ and killing themselves.

Daiki was the only vampire left that had no ties to Reina or Kaname and he stared in disbelief at the bloody scene before him. He hadn't expected to lose both of the family elders and a majority of the nobles, he hadn't expected any of it. In his mind, Reina was just a weak child that would fruitlessly run, but would be too slow to do anything about what he had thought was her certain fate.

"I suggest you leave now, Daiki, if you want to keep your head. Come near her again and I will not hesitate to kill you," Kaname said monotonously.

"This is far from over. She killed my eldest son and stole the other from me, I won't soon forget that," Daiki replied angrily. He vanished a second later in a swirling black cloud.

"Are you alright, Reina?" Kaname asked leaning down to pick her up.

"Don't touch me," she hissed through her teeth.

"I'm sorry I was late, I hadn't expected them to-"

"Don't ignore me, Kaname," she snapped, slapping his hands away from her and glaring at him. She stood up on her own, dusting herself off as she did so.

Kaname simply stared at her, a loneliness and hurt in his eyes that almost made her relent, but instead she brushed past him and towards the house.

"Thank you for your help, Kaname, but your presence isn't necessary here," she told him blandly as she passed him.

Zero turned away from the brown haired pureblood that was staring after Reina and followed the woman into the house while everyone else stayed in the meadow. The servants had gathered in the back entryway, they had been told to not get involved in the fighting, most were lower level nobles or average vampires, none had any special abilities and would have been more of a hindrance than a help. They watched Reina and Zero as the two passed them before turning their attention to the people outside. Midori was the only one to follow after her mistress and the lavender eyed hunter.

Walking through the quiet house, Reina made her way to the stairs, intending to go to her room to clean up and change, but she never made it up the stairs. She cried out and lost her footing as a shock of white hot pain lanced through her entire body. Only a step behind her, Zero caught her before she could fall backwards.

"Reina-sama," Midori exclaimed, rushing to Zero's side as he picked the girl up. "She's burning up, get her to her room," she ordered Zero after putting a hand on Reina's forehead, she turned and hurried back down the stairs to shout for Ken at the back door.

"What is it, what's-"

"It's Reina-sama, please come quickly, I think she's going into labor," Midori interrupted.

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