Disclaimer- I don't own Vampire Knight

Chapter 15

Consequences

"Didn't I warn you of what would happen if you touched her again?" Kaname questioned icily, leaning away from the wall and unfolding his arms from over his shirt that was such a deep blue it almost looked black in the bright lights of the kitchen.

"Can you stand?" Zero asked Reina, his lavender eyes focused on Kaname.

"Yes, but-"

"I'll be fine," Zero cut her off, lowering her feet to the floor and keeping a hand on her back to make sure she would be alright.

"You should go and get some rest, Reina. I'll have Aido come and check on you in a few moments," Kaname coolly stated as he too kept his eyes focused on only Zero. "Kiryu and I have something we need to discuss."

Frowning, Reina looked between the two men, the hatred they both felt for each other was making the atmosphere almost suffocating, but she still didn't want to leave. She knew that if she did the two men would fight and with so much at stake with the nearing peace agreements between the Hunters and vampires, Reina didn't want the two to ruin any and all chance there was for a better life for both races.

"Stop," she murmured, putting her hand to Zero's chest as he reached for the Bloody Rose that never left his side. "If you want someone to be angry with, Kaname, then be angry at me." She looked the other pureblood evenly in the eyes as she spoke. "I am the one who gave him my blood, I am the one who offered it and willingly allowed him to take it. He didn't have the intention of taking my blood when I first cut myself, but I knew he wanted it and so I offered it. I won't allow you to hurt him for something I chose to do."

"You chose to offer him your blood, but he chose to take it. You are a pureblood, it is not acceptable to give your blood to such a fi-"

"I said stop," she shouted, a light bulb in one of the overhead lights shattering and sending a spray of glass tinkling to the tile floor. "You're both just looking for an excuse to try to kill one another and I refuse to be that excuse for either of you. On top of that, right now there is much more at stake than a feud between two stubborn men, or have the both of you forgotten why we're here?"

Kaname remained silent while Zero snorted angrily and tossed his head to the side so that he was looking at the far wall instead of either pureblood.

"While there is plenty at risk should a conflict between a vampire and a Hunter arise, I believe that given the circumstances, the Hunters would side with the vampires instead of a Hunter who isn't even human and can't control his desire for blood," Kaname smoothly informed her.

She gritted her teeth when she felt Zero respond to the taunt, his body stiffening and a small growl leaking from his throat. Regardless of what she said, the two were itching to fight, they had been for years and now that Zero could likely hold his own against the object of his ire, he wanted a crack at putting an end to it. He stepped away from Reina, drawing the Bloody Rose so quickly even she couldn't stop him. He was thrown backwards before he had a chance to fully raise the barrel of the sleek silver gun, his back smashing into the table Reina had been sitting at, breaking it into several pieces and scattering the chairs. The scent of Zero's blood filled the air and Reina's eyes widened as Kaname stepped forward with every intention of killing him since the boy was no longer useful and was more of a nuisance to him than anything else.

Zero righted himself quickly, squeezing off a shot that missed Kaname by barely a hair's width. The brown haired male moved fluidly towards Zero, reaching for his throat only to retract his hand when a mass of silvery vines seemed to shoot out of Zero's hand. Kaname's eyes narrowed when the thorny vines slashed into his arm, slicing the fabric of his shirt and biting into his flesh.

This had to stop before either one of them was seriously hurt and before they drew the attention of anyone else. It wouldn't bode well for any of them should anyone come to see what all the commotion was only to see the pureblood king and the future president of the Association trying to kill one another while they were supposed to be trying to come up with a way to live peacefully together.

The fighting continued, both men were fairly evenly matched much to Reina's surprise. She figured it had a lot to do with Zero having just drunk her blood only moments before. Wood and plaster exploded as Zero was sent skidding back into the wall, grunting as the force of Kaname's anger smashed his back into the breaking wall.

Reina could only watch, fearing the outcome, but it wasn't until Zero raised the Bloody Rose in preparation to take a shot at Kaname and Kaname lifted his hand with every intention of using his powers to end Zero's life, that she moved. There was no thought in her mind as everything slowed and she saw Zero's finger begin to tighten on the silver trigger of Bloody Rose and Kaname's fingers begin to move. She knew she would never get to Zero before he could fire off his gun, he was farther from her than Kaname, who she knew she could easily reach.

Her body melted into a dark writhing mass of liquid like tendrils, Zero had already pulled the trigger when her body reformed in front of Kaname. His eyes widened as the bullet pierced her right shoulder instead of Kaname's heart. She didn't cry out in pain, but she did clutch onto Kaname's shirt, breathing raggedly as pain washed over her weakened body.

"Stop, please," she whispered pleadingly, resting her head on Kaname's shoulder as his arms wrapped around her to keep her from falling.

"Reina," Kaname uttered, holding her head to his chest tenderly and kissing the top of her head.

"I will never forgive either of you if you let this continue. I don't want to hate you, so please stop. Please... I don't want to-"

Kaname shushed her, smoothing her hair as her body started slackening in his grip. He lifted her into his arms before her body could give out entirely and with a single chilling glance at Zero, he turned and left the kitchen.

Hanabusa was standing besides his cousin in the hall outside of Reina's room, everyone else was gathered there as well. Rima was leaning into Shiki on the opposite wall and Ruka was standing on the other side of Kain, Seiren stood slightly apart from the group in the shadows. As Kaname approached with the injured white haired Reina, they all watched him carefully take the woman into her room. Hanabusa followed Kaname into the room, as did Seiren who shut the door quietly behind them, leaving the others to guard the halls while she took up a post just inside the door of the darkened room.

"Will she be alright?" A worried Hanabusa asked as Kaname gently laid Reina in her bed.

"She has lost a lot of blood and the wound is from an anti-vampire weapon and isn't healing as quickly as it should. The wound needs to be cleaned and bandaged., Seiren," he called, the young girl stepped from her place by the door, bowing to him and awaiting her orders. "Have Rima and Ruka assist you in changing her clothes and cleaning the wound, Aido and I will be outside."

"Yes, Kaname-sama," Seiren answered.

After Reina's wound had been treated and bandaged, Aido and Seiren were left to watch over her, the others remained outside and Kaname went to speak with Cross about the events that had led to Reina's injury. There could be possible repercussions for both sides and the peace that they were trying to attain could be threatened if anyone were to learn of the long standing hate that the pureblood prince and the future Association president harbored for one another. Not to mention Reina, a pureblood, had been shot by a Hunter and that news would not sit well with the vampire world.

When the situation had been handled, Kaname returned to Reina's room. The woman was still asleep, covered in clean sheets instead of the linens that had been on the bed when he had first laid her down. Her hair was free of any blood and had been braided by Ruka and laid over her left shoulder. She had been dressed in a blue and white polka dot nightgown, the white of the bandages that had been neatly wrapped around her shoulder were visible beneath the straps of the gown.

Her breathing was somewhat labored and her forehead was damp with a thin sheen of sweat, her face showed signs of strain and her hands were unconsciously clenching every time she took a particularly deep breath. Kaname sat in a chair by her bedside, watching the rise and fall of her chest and listening to the sound of her heartbeat. It was weaker than it should have been and her face was paler than normal as the toll of her blood loss paired with the effects of being shot with a weapon that was meant to incapacitate and kill vampires, took it's toll on her body.

It was an unavoidable fact that when Reina woke up she would need blood. Whether or not she would willingly take some from one of them was not something that Kaname was sure of. He was, however, willing to do whatever was necessary in order to make sure that she healed and regained her strength.

Several hours would pass before Reina showed any sign off waking, pained groans were the first sounds to fill the room followed whimpers as she tried to move only to find that to move made intense fire filled pain shoot through her arm and shoulder making all the nerves in her body scream in agony.

Standing from the chair he had taken a seat in, Kaname walked towards the bed and sat on the edge of it, brushing some of Reina's hair from her damp forehead. "Aido, Seiren would you please leave us for a few moments."

Aido hesitated, but did as he was told leaving the room before Seiren who seemed to sense that though she too had been dismissed there was something else that her master wished to say, her suspicions were proven true when Kaname looked up at her.

"Keep everyone outside, no one is to enter this room until I say so."

"Yes, Kaname-sama," with a quick bow the thin, but deadly girl turned to leave, shutting the door behind her and positioning herself in front of it.

Kaname ran his hand along Reina's feverish cheek, the girl's eyes clenched shut and then slowly began to flutter open. She blinked a few times to try and clear the haze from her vision, trying to focus on the form of the dark haired man she could see hovering over her.

"K-Kaname," she stuttered hoarsely.

"You're awake, everyone's been very worried. How are you feeling?" He asked, letting the backs of his fingers trail over her cheekbone.

She moaned, shifting slightly and bringing her left hand to her right shoulder only to have Kaname carefully stop her hand and covering it with one of his on before lying it in his lap.

"It hurts," Reina gasped, her eyes filling with tears.

"I know. I'm very sorry, Reina." His fingers continued to soothingly sweep his fingers over her flushed skin. "But I can make that pain go away." The hand that was tracing her face ventured away from her and rose towards his neck.

"What?" She asked, her voice tinted with confusion and sleep.

"You need to drink, Reina," he said, his nails piercing into the thin skin of his neck and drawing a thin line of blood.

The scent of the blood invaded the room. Reina groaned, fidgeting as her body responded to the tantalizing scent. Her throat became dry and started to ache, her lungs began to burn and her heart beat became almost painful as it sped up and made her painfully aware of the fact that she was in desperate need of blood. The hand that was still folded in Kaname's tightened its grasp on his and her head tossed to the side to try and evade the scent of his blood.

"Don't fight it, Reina, you will only hurt yourself," Kaname said, leaning over Reina and slowly easing her into a sitting position, keeping his arms firmly around her so that she wouldn't fall back onto the pillows.

She tried to struggle out of Kaname's grasp, but she was too weak and even though his hold on her was so light and gentle, she still couldn't break free of him. Whimpering in not only pain, but frustration Reina turned her head away from the small puncture on Kaname's neck and the thin line of blood that trailed from it.

"Why are you doing this? Let me go," she demanded. "I don't want your blood."

"It's necessary and I don't wish to see you in pain because of me and my actions. This is my fault and I intend to make it right. I know you don't desire my blood, I know you're angry with me and I'm not asking you to forgive me, I'm just asking that you let me help you. Please let me help you, Reina," Kaname whispered into her ear.

Tears streamed down Reina's cheeks and her small hands clutched onto his shirt. His words had made her miss the Kaname that she had fallen in love with, the one she couldn't be angry at for more than a few days and the one she had sworn to always stand by. The old Kaname before something in him had twisted and become dark and frightening instead of comforting and warm.

"I'm not going to let you go, Reina. Not until you drink and are healing as you should be."

"Why...why do you have to do this to me?"

"Because I care about you and I-"

"No, I mean why do you have to make it so hard to hate you and yet make it so easy at the same time," she sobbed, her voice thick and tired with stress.

Kaname smiled softly. "I'm sorry I make things so difficult for you. It's not my intention to do anything but protect you and see you smile."

Her fingers clenched around the fabric of his shirt again as she buried her head into his shoulder. She knew she needed the blood he was offering her, that if she didn't take it she would remain in pain and that the wound would only get worse instead of heal. Wounds made by anti-vampire weapons were not easy to heal for any vampire, but a vampire who was starving for blood as it was had an even harder time trying to heal. Kaname's hands were stroking her back and hair, calm, soothing touches that threatened to lull her back to sleep.

Letting her hands snake around Kaname's lean body and grasp onto his back, Reina pushed herself up with a little help from Kaname. Her head stayed on his shoulder, she may have known that she needed to drink, but that didn't change the fact that she didn't want to take his blood. She also knew that the person whose blood she did want would never again offer it to her and sooner or later she would have to take from someone else anyways.

She tilted her head to look at his neck where the blood he had intentionally drawn was beginning to dry. Moving closer to his neck, Reina hesitated, her hands unconsciously tightening their hold on him. After the moment's hesitation, she closed her eyes and leaned forward, her tongue ran over the spot she was going to bite in to quickly and her fangs plunged into his skin not a second later.

Kaname could feel the tears that leaked from her eyes sliding down his neck and dampening his shirt as she let his blood fill her mouth. "I'm so sorry, Reina."

She took more than she had anticipated, but her body just wouldn't let her stop until she had had enough. When she pulled away, her body was in a slight state of shock as it tried to process the new source of energy and she couldn't stop her eyes from closing or her head from falling onto Kaname's shoulder.

Pushing some strands of hair from her face, he kissed her temple and carefully lowered her limp body onto her pillow. There was blood on her chin and he wiped it away his finger and proceeded to lick it off the digit. "I expected you to struggle so much more, it seems you really have grown," he ran his thumb over her cheek before standing up.

Reina was growing impatient and fidgety, two more weeks had past since her first confrontation with Kaname in regards to the fact that the meeting between themselves and the Hunters was only supposed to last a few days. Still nothing had been decided. They were beginning to head in the correct direction though, the two races were starting to agree on more things and discussions were progressing nicely, but still nothing had been solidly decided and it was making Reina anxious.

It had now been three weeks since she had seen her daughter and though she spoke with Midori on a daily basis to be sure that she was okay and that Setsuka was handling her position as her caretaker well, she still wanted to be at home with her, where she should have been.

She raised her pale hand and knocked against the thick wood of the door that led to Kaname's room and without waiting for a reply she let herself into the room, closing the door behind her. Things between the two purebloods had been very awkward in the past several days since Reina had taken Kaname's blood, at least on Reina's part. She no longer acted so cold towards him, but she was far from friendly, she barely spoke to him now and she tended to not look him in the eye either. It was a step up from how she had been acting towards him, but Kaname almost preferred her anger, at least then she was talking to him and looking at him.

The room was dark, the thick burgundy damask curtains were still pulled shut, blocking out the last few rays of the sun that was sinking below the horizon and not a single light was on. She could see the lump beneath the blankets on the bed and knew that Kaname had yet to actually get up for the evening. Whether he was still asleep or not, she wasn't sure.

"Kaname?" She inquired softly, stepping around the bed so she could see his face. He was indeed still asleep and she couldn't help but to let an unnoticed smile grace her face at how utterly relaxed he looked, he rarely ever seemed so free of care and it was nice to see him so peaceful for once. Unconsciously, she reached forward to brush a strand of his hair from his face, but her hand paused just inches away from him when she realized what she was doing. Lowering her hand to her side, she turned and left the room without a sound.

Though she wanted to speak with him, she didn't return to his room. Instead, she waited for him to show himself a few hours later just as dinner was being served. He sat at the head of the table and she took the seat to his right.

"How much longer is this going to go on, Kaname? I know that what we're all doing here is of great importance, but.. I want to see my daughter and I'm sure everyone else would like to be able to visit their families as well. Isn't there anyway to, if not hurry things along then at least allow there to be a short break for both sides involved," Reina asked.

"I'm afraid there isn't. I'm sorry to have caused you all so much trouble, but I'm afraid I must ask you to be patient just a little longer," Kaname replied, addressing the entire table.

Kain, Ruka, Shiki, Rima and Aido all nodded their understanding while Reina sighed and her shoulders drooped.

"Of course," she feigned a smile as she pushed her seat back. "Please excuse me, I'm afraid I'm not that hungry this evening. I'm going to be in my room, I'm a little tired."

"Should we just let her go?" Kain asked after Reina had vacated the room, the melancholy air around making everyone worried for her.

"I'll go-"

"No, Aido. Leave her alone for now, she's having a very hard time being away from Emiko, among other things. There's nothing any of us can do to help her right now," Kaname spoke up.

The scenery outside of the window was dull, just an inky blackness that stretched on for miles in all directions. There was a subtle hint of icy moisture on the air and Reina suspected that it would be snowing again within the hour. She wondered what the manor looked like, she had always loved the snowy landscape of her home, there were many happy memories in the snow that had surrounded the manor every year.

There was no bench or chair in front of the window and Reina didn't feel like moving one of the heavy chairs from the other side of the room, instead she just leaned in to the wall and rested her head against the casing. Her arms were folded over her chest and she just stared over the gardens that were covered in white. A figure was moving through the garden, shrouded in darkness, but she knew who it was and when lavender eyes looked up at her she looked away as if she hadn't noticed.

Zero frowned as Reina turned her head away from him, he had been getting much the same treatment as Kaname. Silence and no eye contact. He had only seen Reina in the meetings that were held everyday, but she rarely spoke and she sat between Aido and Kain, neither young man would let anyone near her. The rest of her time she spent holed up in her room. He had tried to speak with her once, but he hadn't gotten very far down the hall before Kain appeared with a glowering Aido behind him and told him it would be best to leave her be. He hadn't wanted to listen, but he didn't want to start a fight with every vampire that was standing in the hall at the moment either.

As he stared up at her, he watched her turn away from the window and smile a fake smile at someone before pulling the window closed and closing the curtains. It was just a moment later that he heard footsteps and looked up to see Yagari walking towards him, a lit cigarette dangling from his lips.

"Come on, Cross wants to see you," Yagari grunted, glancing at where Zero eyes had been focused a moment before. "It's about her."

This seemed to grab Zero's attention and he nodded, following his teacher when the disheveled man turned around to start walking back the way he had come.

"Why does Cross want to see me?" Reina asked Kain who had been the one to inform her that Kaname and herself had been summoned to see Cross.

"I'm not sure," Kain replied.

"They summoned Kiryu too," Hanabusa said harshly from beside his cousin.

"Did they?" Reina mused quietly, glancing to her window.

"Yes, I heard Cross telling Kaname-sama that the filthy-"

"Hana," Reina scolded. "You may not like Kiryu, but I won't have you talking about him like that. Don't ever forget that if it weren't for him Rido would still be alive and Kaname most likely wouldn't. We owe him a lot."

Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, Hanabusa tried to nod apologetically. "Sorry, Reina."

"As for what happened to me, that wasn't Kiryu's fault. At least not his alone," Reina sighed, rubbing at the side of her head tiredly.

"Kaname-sama never really told us what happened, just that it was an accident that you got shot," Kain said.

Being used to the forwardness that Kain seemed to possess, Reina nodded. "It was an accident that I got shot because it wasn't me that Zero was aiming for. He and Kaname hate each other enough to disregard everything and everyone else and try to kill one another over trivial matters. I simply refused to be the reason they fought this time."

"Why tell us this?" Kain asked.

Reina smiled at him, chuckling. "Would you rather that I lied to you? Kaname didn't tell you everything and that was his choice, but he was worried about what would happen if everyone were to find out that the pureblood lord and the future Association president tried to kill one another and I was accidentally shot in the midst of their fight."

"It just seems that he doesn't trust us sometimes, we've all-"

"He's aware of what you've all done for him, Kain, he just doesn't know how to express that. He wasn't always like that, but the deaths of Juuri and Haruka changed him greatly. He's been a different person since then, scary almost, but he knows and he trusts you. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here and he wouldn't be asking you to look after me," Reina cut in. "Anyways, we shouldn't keep Cross waiting, should we?"

"..Right, let's go Hanabusa," Kain replied.

Kain was the first to exit the room, followed by Reina and then Hanabusa, it was as they were walking that Reina decided to hide her aura, she could already sense Kaname and Zero in Cross' study and she could sense the anger radiating off of them. When Kain looked back at her, having noticed her aura practically disappearing, she merely smiled, he shrugged and kept on walking.

Neither Kain nor Hanabusa made an attempt to enter the room, but instead stood on either side of the door. Reina didn't want to open the door, she wanted to know what was going on in the room without having to draw attention to herself. She knew that it was highly unlikely that Cross, Zero or Yagari who was also in the room could sense her, but she knew that Kaname most likely could. Ignoring this fact, she put a palm to the door and stepped forward, her palm disappearing, followed by the rest of her body as she walked through the wooden obstacle. She didn't completely reform once she was through the door, instead she let her body became something like smoke and she stuck to the shadows in the back of the room.

"I know the two of you don't like each other," a tired looking Cross was saying to the two men in front of his desk as he plopped into his chair and removed his glasses to rub at his nose. "But this has got to stop. The tension between the two of you is understandable, but now that Reina's attitude has changed towards the both of you, people are beginning to wonder what happened."

"It's not their business," Zero growled, unhappy about having to be standing beside the one person he couldn't even stand to look at.

"That's where you're wrong," Cross sighed. "You're to be the future president and Kaname is the pureblood king. If there's to be peace between the two races, the two of you need to start seeing eye to eye and not trying to kill each other every chance you get."

Zero snorted and tossed his head to the side.

"What happened before won't happen again, I assure you. I just got carried away," Kaname said smoothly. "As for Reina, she's unhappy with the both of us. She wants peace, but she also wants to go home. She's willing to remain here as long as it takes, but our.. disagreement almost ruined every chance at peace and that would have meant all the time she's spent away from Emiko would have been for nothing."

"What about you, Zero, are you willing to put this feud aside?"

His lavender eyes flashed as he looked back at Cross. "I already told you that I know Kuran is a necessary part of restoring peace. Without him it would be impossible to keep the rest of the leeches in line. As soon as he's no longer needed, I will kill him," Zero hissed.

A small smirk pulled at the corners of Kaname's lips, but he didn't speak. The only sound to be heard after his statement was a sigh from Cross and then the sound of footsteps.

Zero's eyes widened as he shifted his body to see the oddly calm Reina, her hair floating behind her as if it were suspended in water as her body reformed and she stalked towards him. She didn't say anything as she approached him, but she did raise her right hand and forcefully slap Zero.

"How dare you," she hissed, despite the calm look on her face, her aura was becoming dangerous. "It was all a lie. Everything? Accepting what you had become, wanting peace between the two races. All to kill him. I haven't forgotten what I told you and I doubt that you have either. Touch so much as a hair on the head of anyone I cared about and I would kill you. Those words are still true."

"I-"

She shook her head as Zero tried to speak. "I don't care what you have to say. Neither one of you cared about the repercussions of your actions when you fought and neither one of you bothered to care about how I felt about any of this either. If the two of you cared as much for me as you say, then you would have stopped that fight before it had begun, but you didn't. Excuse me, I'm not feeling very well and I'd like to go lay down."

When she opened the door, she smiled wanly at Hanabusa and she couldn't fight the mist that clouded her vision. He was surprised by the sad look in her eyes and when she took his hand in hers and laid her head on his shoulder, he just stared at her for a moment before starting to lead her back to her room.

"You knew she was there," Zero accused, narrowing his eyes at Kaname after Reina had left the room.

"I did, I figured it best to let her do as she wanted and observe. She needed to know the truth and now she does."

"That's enough," Cross cut in before Zero could finish. "You should already know, Kaname, that Reina isn't just upset with Zero. She's upset with the both of you. I may not know that girl well, but I know that the both of you have gone out of your way to protect her and to see her smile. Are you really going to let your own hate for one another destroy your relationship with someone as special as her? Because that's exactly what's going to happen. You've just told that poor girl that's separated from her daughter and who has lost so much, that the peace her parents wanted, that her fiancé wanted isn't going to last because the two of you can't get over your own selfish feelings."

And it would be those words, their meaning and the thought of Reina in anymore pain because of either one of them that would set in motion events that would finally lead to a solid and well thought out peace treaty between the vampires and humans. It would later strike Reina as odd that she was the main reason why peace had been possible between the two races. If it hadn't been for the fact that the two men who would be leaders of the two races were in love with her and wanted to see her happy more than anything that peace would never have been possible. It was a very foreign feeling to her, being the cause of a truce between two men that loathed each other with so much vigor that they would disregard the safety and well being of anyone else just to try and kill one another.

It took another month's worth of deliberation, but finally the Hunters and Kaname with help from Reina and the others were able to agree on terms for the start of a newer and more peaceful coexistence.

It was finally time to return home and Reina was so excited by the prospect of seeing her daughter again that she had been unable to sleep the day before and was now leaning tiredly into Hanabusa as they climbed the steps to the inviting and familiar doors of her manor. Her arm was enfolded in his and her other hand was clutching on to him so that she wouldn't fall, she stifled a yawn and blinked as the door was opened by a smiling Midori with Setsuka beside her, holding on to a bundle of pink blankets that Reina couldn't help but grin proudly at. Removing herself from Hanabusa's side, Reina found that the sight of her baby daughter provided her with a much needed jolt of energy and she skipped up to Setsuka to smile down at Emiko who smiled right back and reached her tiny little hands towards her face.

Carefully taking her daughter from Setsuka's arms, Reina lost herself in a sea of happiness at seeing her child safe and sound again. Brushing a kiss against Emiko's forehead, she rocked the baby girl in her arms and stepped out of the way and chill of the door. However, she soon became quite confused when she saw that Yuuki and Ken were standing off towards the back of the entrance hall together and looking rather out of place.

The young Yuuki was fiddling nervously with her fingers, her hands clasped in front of the knee length beige skirt she wore, her sweater was a pale blue and she wore it over a white collared shirt. Her long dark locks were left down and she looked very pretty, but almost too pretty just to be greeting them from their rather long trip. The same was true for Ken, though he was usually very well put together he had become much more accustomed to more relaxed clothes and didn't always wear nice matching suits any longer. Yet he was standing beside Yuuki in very nice charcoal slacks and a red button up under a charcoal blazer.

Tilting a brow at the two, Reina sauntered over to them and scrutinized them for a moment. Yuuki turned bright red and bowed her head in embarrassment while Ken smiled down at her. Reina returned his smile with a frown, all the while unconsciously rocking the child in her arms.

"What are you up to?" She asked curiously, suspiciously.

Ken's smile grew. "Nothing at all. Why do you ask?"

Reina's brow arched upwards again and she studied the gray eyed man for a moment. "Because you have a look on your face that clearly says you're up to something."

"I smiled."

"No, you smiled innocently. There's a difference," Reina countered.

"She's right," Rima said as she walked past the group to go into the parlor with Shiki who yawned before nodding and mumbling his agreement.

"See," Reina chirped with a cheeky grin.

"If it was an innocent smile then why are you assuming that I'm up to something?" Ken asked. "It was just an innocent smile."

"You're a Takamora. No offense, but do any Takamora's know how to smile innocently?" Reina inquired.

"Good point," Ken conceded with a small chuckle.

"Well," Reina pressed. "What is it that you're hiding?"

"I think it would be best if we-"

"Ken and I would like to get married," Yuuki yelped suddenly.

What a way to end a chapter, huh? At least it's not a cliffhanger, not really anyway. Well things will start to change a lot in the next chapter or two, expect some romance, violence and weddings. Not in that exact order though.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter!

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