Disclaimer: The Vampire Knight anime/manga series does not belong to me.

Hey you guys! Sorry for the slow update… Well- it's slow in my opinion, anyways. I was struck with numerous plot holes that needed to be filled, and quite frankly, I wasn't too proud of this chapter. Sorry if a lot of you are disappointed- I am trying my absolute best. I have no idea what kind of freakish mood I was in when I wrote the first chapter…

Warning- Chapter 3 has not been thoroughly reread. If you spot any mistakes, feel free to tell me and I will correct them.

Anyways- here's chapter 3.

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"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

A gold metallic surface pressed against Yuuki's temple.

"Please put down your weapons, we mean no harm." The vampire beside her replied, and Yuuki slowly nodded in agreement, eyes wide with horror.

"How do we know? I will repeat my question. Who are you and what are you doing here?" The beefy vampire guard asked yet again. His companion behind him had a spear in his hands, ready to attack. Both of them had been on night shift outside the Drake mansion when two intruders disrupted their nightly 'games'. Thank goodness they hadn't gone too far.

"I am Vampire Lord Kaname Kuran, an associate of your lord." Came the reply.

"And the girl?" The gun was lowered slightly, but still in position.

"She is my Wife."

"…And what is a rich and mighty Vampire Lord doing here, unprotected and in such a condition?" A facetious remark. The guard's night vision scanned over Kaname's tux, ruined by the forest's thorns and roots. His voice mocked them, laden with insolence, his disbelief was obvious.

"That's why we're here. Please let us speak to your lord." Yuuki marveled at how calm Kaname's voice was all the time. She didn't know if it scared her or relieved her. Instead she kept her eyes on the ground and went along with whatever her elder brother and husband said. After all, they'd had an agreement. Sometimes Kaname would demand in his confusingly kind voice things from her, and Yuuki couldn't refuse, even if she had no idea to what she was agreeing to. Sometimes, just sometimes, Yuuki wondered if she was taken advantage of. After a year of marriage, Yuuki's love for Kaname had grown, but the intensity of it had dulled. It was like dough, fed with more and more flour and yeast, but less and less sugar.

"…" The gun was put away, and the guard stepped back to speak with his companion for a few seconds.

Kaname gripped Yuuki's shoulder tighter around him, and whispered sweet nothings into her ear. Yuuki pressed closer to her husband, closing her eyes at his voice, washing over her like the most refreshing river.

Apparently, the guards caught sight of the whispering, and grew stiff with caution, but apparently, they'd reached an agreement.

"Well then, follow us." The second guard pushed open the grand gates just so little so the three vampires behind him could enter.

--

Zero was kneeling on the floor, lightheartedly scooping up the pieces of hair that had fallen, a small smile tugging at his lips. Kegan watched from outside his open door, with a broom in his hand, but he did not move. 'He's cut his hair without Leviathan's permission.' Kegan realized, and slipped away with the broom. 'Though now he looks like the day he arrived. Does he remember?' There was still no reason to help him in any way.

--

Kaname smirked. They couldn't possibly reject their entrance. Every vampire knew of Kuran Kaname, and that he was a powerful pureblood. Should they have not allowed their entrance; Kaname would have entered by force, and minding their current situation, no one could blame them.

As the gates creaked close behind the two purebloods, the guards led them through the front garden; stocked with what Yuuki could tell by smell must be night-blooming flowers. And it would've looked beautiful if the moon was shining tonight. At the front doors, two more guards stood. The guards all conversed with one another silently in the dark using only their eyes and Yuuki could almost feel the anxiety drifting from one man to the other.

"Open the gates, Laur." A low voice sounded, and not soon after, the front doors opened, and light almost blinded them all.

Yuuki had to blink several times before her eyes adjusted to the extravagant lighting inside the mansion, as apposed to the dead night outside. She absentmindedly took in the details of the building, and acknowledging its beauty and grandness as they moved deeper into the mansion. Her muddy shoes left tracks on the polished marble floor, and she could almost see the anger radiating off some of the maids they passed.

Yuuki's POV

The guards led us up a grand flight of stairs, and we managed to get mud all over the lush red carpet beneath our feet. Kaname seems slightly embarrassed now. Good riddance for that, too. A smile threatened to pull up my lips, but I couldn't bring myself to show such emotion after what had just happened to us, just hours before this moment. Kaname wasn't holding on to me anymore, and I suddenly felt very awkward next to him, because I couldn't keep up to his speed. I was tired and hungry from not getting very much sleep or blood last day, and now the effects were wearing at me. I wished he'd slow down- I must be looking so foolish right now.

Kaname thankfully noticed this. He took my hand and finally slowed, smiling at me reassuringly. I reluctantly smiled back, sparks of warmth spreading out from my chest. Sometimes I still couldn't believe I was married to Kuran Kaname.

Kaname looked away from me as a servant boy came up to us. Now we were in front of yet another door, this one made of wood instead.

"Excuse me; I am Kegan Law, lord Levathan's humble servant. How shall I announce your entrance?" The boy's surprisingly deep voice was laced with honey. He probably could tell we were pureblooded.

In the corner of my eye, I saw one of the guards snort.

"Kuran Kaname and Kuran Yuuki, if you'd please."

I stayed silent as Kaname introduced us to the boy, and watched with mild interest at his sudden change of expression. His eyes widened a fraction, and his hand twitched by his side. Poor boy was probably just reacting to Kaname's name. Maybe he was scared.

"O-of course, my lord." The boy opened the door a crack disappeared. I could see through the tiny slit that it was a work room behind the wooden barrier. I saw a shelf of books and a fireplace. Yes, most likely that or a library? I reached out to grasp Kaname's gloved hand and squeezed it tightly. I pursed my lips, trying to keep my expression unreadable, like he asked of me. Was this because I couldn't be trusted?

The doors finally opened and a man dressed finely in satin and silk stood before us. He had blonde hair just a bit longer than Kaname's which was tied back neatly in a low ponytail, and his clothes screamed royalty. A tuxedo not much different than Kaname's own covered his back, the only difference was that it was laced with gold trim and was pressed neatly. I couldn't see a single wrinkle or fault in his clothes. His cold blue eyes threatened to freeze me.

"Ah, Lord and Mistress Kuran… Please come in," His voice sounded much kinder than his expression portrayed, and Kaname smiled at him, so I did as well. We were led inside by the man, who must be lord Leviathan. The guards stayed outside.

"Please, take a seat and make yourselves comfortable." He motioned to his leather collection. I was glad it was leather, for the mud we would print upon it would not stain the material forever.

I didn't like being silent. 'Only for tonight,' Kaname had promised. Fine, then.

Kegan took my coat off my shoulders, and I nodded at him. I longed to thank him, but my instructions were to stay quiet. Great. Now he probably thinks I'm some sort of rich snob.

Kaname and I sat on a long leather couch, and Leviathan sat on a smaller one. We tried to look as dignified as possible, but it was quite hard, considering we were pretty much covered in mud.

"So, my friends, what has brought you here to my estate?" The man's voice was deep and intimidating, well at least to me, since it seems to have no effect on Kaname.

"Leviathan," Kaname starts and pauses, and I looked up at him, waiting for him to reveal why were we're here.

Kegan left suddenly.

"Leviathan, my friend, we have been robbed."

My head snaps up, and Kaname squeezes my hand. I look down again, shocked at myself, and Kaname. Why lie?

"Oh, that's rather unfortunate… Do you know by whom?" Leviathan asks, staring straight at me. I felt the room temperature rise by a few degrees as my heartbeat sped up. I must not mess up Kaname's plan, whatever it may be.

"No," Kaname replies.

"Is there anything I can do to help? Please don't hesitate to ask." The other lord was playing it nice. Of course we had something to ask of him, why else would we be here?

Kegan appeared again with glasses of blood. He set the tray on the glass table in front of us and bowed. Kaname nodded at me, and I reached forward hesitantly to take a wineglass. It was elaborately designed with pink floral patterns, and was filled generously with rich blood. The drink warmed me and gave me something to do at the same time, so I wouldn't look absolutely useless next to Kaname. Kaname himself didn't take a glass, and that worried me slightly. He needed blood just as much as I did.

As I drank I tried not to wonder where the blood came from, and focused on its sweet taste. Soon my glass was empty.

"Well we are in need of assistance, as the robber took pretty much everything, and we are convinced they're coming after us. Our servants have fled and friends are suddenly unreachable. We haven't been able to go anywhere without being in grave danger. We've even been ambushed in the forest south of here on our way…"

That never happened. My grip on the empty wineglass tightened. What did Kaname have in mind?

"And I take it you'd like to stay here until your fortune rebuilds?" Leviathan seemed troubled now, and Kaname tensed beside me, sensing trouble.

"If it's not too much… If it is we could always find other shelter…" Oh course we couldn't. We'd risked our lives to come here, where else can we go?

There was a long, very long pause.

--Third Person POV--

Leviathan couldn't let them stay. He just couldn't. Of course he sympasized with them greatly, but it would bring so many problems not to him, but to Zero. What if Zero remembered Kaname and… Left him?

His eyes narrowed dangerously at himself. How could he be so selfish? If it brought Zero happiness to be with Kaname... He's supposed to feel happy for him, yet he didn't, and wouldn't. If Zero left him, he'd be torn apart. Yet if he didn't allow the couple to stay, the Kuran lord would bear a grudge against him, and that could cause problems later. Plus, he'd have a lot of people after his head if the other lord was rejected of help, and died later on because of that. It was a no-win situation.

But there was always the chance that Zero wouldn't remember him.

"How long do you think you'll be staying?" The blue eyed vampire knew it was extremely rude to ask, but he needed to know to make his decision. He was torn, simply torn.

"Not long, maybe a month at most." Leviathan watched as Kaname finally took his own glass of blood, but gave it to Yuuki. The girl seemed surprised, which lead him to wonder if the Kuran lord always acted like this.

A month… That's rather long, but it would have to be so if they needed to wait for their fortune to build up enough so they could manage by themselves, and after a month in Leviathan's protection, most of the thieves following them would have given up. They wouldn't dare try anything while they were here. The couple had arrived with only the clothes on their backs because of an ambush in the forest, his forest, and if he denied them now, they would be left completely unprotected. This would cause various troubles later on business- wise, and also on his conscience. The pureblood couldn't help but noticed Kaname's tired eyes, and Yuuki's languid movements. That small glass of blood wouldn't satisfy their bloodlust, which had to be growing in both of them.

"I think I can provide for both of you for a month." He said, breaking the awkward silence that had settled upon them all.

"Thank you so much, my friend." Kaname seemed genuinely grateful, and hugged his wife tighter, if that were possible.

"Very well. Kegan will show you your rooms-" He was already starting to regret his decision. Nothing good can come of this.

"Oh, no, we'll share a room. Don't trouble yourself, please." Kuran interrupted him, and Leviathan nodded, feigning kindness. Kegan led the couple out.

Soon the pureblood lord was alone in his study again.

The clock on the wall read 2:52 AM. So many things were troubling him right now that he couldn't begin to process. There was the problem of Zero. Of course that problem was always with him, wherever he went… But now there were so many more problems he had to account for. Yuuki had confused him. From what he'd heard of Kuran Kaname's wife, she was supposed to be flamboyant, always happy and optimistic, but what Leviathan saw tonight, in comparison, this Yuuki was almost dead. As dead as Zero, he could even say. Maybe it had been the shock of the robbery?

A robbery in itself is highly unlikely. Leviathan mused silently. The Kuran mansion should be surrounded by guards and protected with the highest quality security, like his own mansion, so a robbery…?

But there was absolutely no evidence to go against the Kuran couple's claim, thus the blond lord had no reason not to believe their story.

He needed to see Zero right now.

What happened yesterday morning still hung fresh in his mind, eating at his conscience. Was Zero okay? Was he mad? Leviathan hadn't sensed a single spark of anger through the bond the entire night, but instead of being reassured, he was worried. Does this mean that nothing mattered to Zero anymore, or is it that he forgave him?

Leviathan rose from his chair slowly and left the room for Zero's.

--

After disposing of the pile of hair, Zero inspected himself in the mirror one last time before leaving the comfort of his room. He'd only done so by himself once or twice. Most of the time Leviathan would accompany him. The ex-human was excited to show the lord what he'd done, and the thought really didn't occur to him that maybe Leviathan would dislike his new hairstyle. It grows back, right?

Venturing out into the halls, Zero heard some distant voices. They were unfamiliar, not of Leviathan's or Kegan's, but then again, he hadn't heard the voices of many of the staff in this mansion. He was too far down the hall to turn back now, so Zero continued on in his way. He had a pretty good idea where Leviathan is now, and any staff seeing him wouldn't bother him.

So when he passed by two brunette vampires down the hall, he hadn't expected such a reaction.

The female vampire screamed.

The male vampire flinched and stared at him with wide eyes.

Zero stopped dead in his tracks, gaze flittering from the male to the female, deeply confused. Obviously they were nobles, probably even purebloods. Was it the way he was dressed that disgusted the female? He looked down at his clothes- no, they were quite acceptable, and so what was the problem then?

Kegan was there as well, standing in the background, expression impenetrable.

The shaking female vampire reached out towards him all of a sudden with the strangest expression on her face. Zero didn't move, curious, and when she touched his face, she fainted.

The male vampire shouted her name as he caught her- Yuuki. The name rung a bell and Zero frowned, trying to remember where he'd heard that name before… Something unraveled in him- a new thought. Was Leviathan hiding things from him? The thought died out as quickly as it was formed- like a match lighting and dying, because said lord was here.

"I heard a scream- is there something wrong?"

Oh no.

Leviathan didn't know whether to cry or laugh. His eyes traveled over Zero's form, stopping at his head, his hair. 'He'd cut it? Himself?' the thought in itself seemed so far away, so improbable, but apparently it happened. Blithe pride blossomed in his chest at the thought of having made progress after all. But right now there were more serious items to attend to. He'd have to question Zero on this later. Leviathan sensed only curiosity and slight confusion in Zero through their bond, so he sighed in relief.

"Well… Uh…" Kaname stammered, still staring hard at Zero.

"Your wife must've collapsed due to lack of rest, please make your way over to your room now and I'll send someone up with blood…" Leviathan stood in front of Zero now, both shielding him and trying desperately to divert Kaname's attention somewhere else. Anywhere else. He didn't care how rude he was acting right now.

Zero couldn't know. While Kaname and Yuuki were here, the lord had been determined to keep the hunter from finding out the truth by carefully avoiding the couple. But already his plan was shattered. He felt a head trying to look over his shoulder, and shifted to hide it. A quiet but threatening growl was ripping low in his throat.

However, the brown-haired vampire lord did not move at all. He looked at Leviathan calmly for a moment, and asked bluntly the one simple question Leviathan feared he'd ask.

"What's Zero doing here?"

The blond lord felt a spark of shock in his bond with Zero, and his growl rose noticeably in volume.

"Who is he?" He heard Zero's hoarse voice ask him from behind, and watched Kaname's eyes grow hard at the tortured sound.

"What have you done with him?!" Kaname's eyes turned a bright crimson, and fury flared.

Leviathan was surprised at Kaname's sudden change in mood, but said nothing. One wrong word, and anything could happen. Right now, he wished he could just disappear with Zero, or chase the Kuran couple out of his property. The latter choice would be preferred.

"Who are you?" Zero asked again, his words directed at Kaname, and Leviathan stiffened. He turned his head to look back at the hunter pleadingly, asking him- almost commanding him with his eyes to go back to his room. But Zero simply put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. Leviathan was speechless- his shoulder was burning pleasantly from the contact, and before he could react, Kaname had answered Zero's question.

What happened next, Leviathan didn't know, because he almost doubled over from a sudden pain in his chest, pain from the bond, he'd realized. This pain was unbearable, ripping him apart, and his eyes swam red and black ink splotches, and his head spun. It was a miracle he was still standing when he felt the pain lessen, and by then, Zero was nowhere in sight, leaving him, Kaname and the unconscious Yuuki in awkward silence.

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Does that count as a cliffhanger…?

No. More like a hillhanger.

Anyways…

Today is my birthday! Reviewcookies and happy-birthdays are loved!