It was a very awkward ride back to the Kuran house; although Kaname had the gas pedal to the floor, it seemed as if hours had gone by. I didn't dare to look at Yuuki. After what she saw, I'm sure she was going through some kind of mental trauma. Letting out a yawn, I pretended to study the dark country side once we passed through the city.

"I understand, Kiryuu-kun...."

"Eh?" I asked, turning back to Yuuki.

She blushed, looking down to her hands and twirling her thumbs. "I'll have to say, though, I'm kind of shocked; but I've understood for a while now."

My brow furrowed with confusion. She understood? Did that mean she knew about me and Kaname this whole time and never said anything? It made no sense. "How... how did you know about us?" I stammered.

Yuuki shrugged, looking away. "Kaname-sama never made advances on me after you solved the Jack the Ripper case. I figured something was up, so I decided to let it be. But..." her voice died away as she covered her blushing face. "I didn't know you and Kaname-sama... were..."

"Well, I don't care that you know," I stated, patting her head roughly. When she backed away, I narrowed my eyes and said, "Don't worry, I washed my hands afterwards." I glanced up to see Kaname looking back at me through the rearview mirror. When I felt my face get warm, I looked back down to Yuuki and asked, "So, Cross? What else can you tell us about what happened?"

Yuuki lowered her head. "I... I don't know. The doctor said he was going to be okay, but it would take him a while to heal. And there's also the matter of his anti-vampire weapon."

"I'm sorry."

Her eyes widened. "Why are you saying sorry? You didn't do anything wrong."

"Yeah, I did. I told Cross to stay with you tonight, and look what happened. It's my fault he was there in the first place."

She rubbed my arm, saying, "Well, at least he's alive. We have that to be thankful for."

We came to an abrupt stop, which nearly sent me and Yuuki head first into the seats. "What the hell, Kaname?! You could've gotten us killed!" I yelled.

Kaname didn't reply, but instead stared silently out the window. With an annoyed sighed, I clambered into the front passenger seat and looked to where he was staring. "Why'd you stop?" I asked.

"Shush; I thought I saw something," the vampire replied.

I fell silent, looking around at the darkness outside. A thick fog had settled, so there wasn't much to see. Then a shadow passed before the car, a huge mass of darkness. "Whoa!" I gasped. "Did you see that?"

"Kaname-sama..."

We both looked around to see Yuuki, who was trembling with fear. Kaname smiled softly, reaching back to stroke her cheek. "It's okay; you have us here to protect you."

"HOLY SHIT!!!"

The shadow appeared at my side of the car, large yellow eyes glaring at me. I scooted up against Kaname as close as I could, fumbling for Bloody Rose. "Drive, Kaname, drive!" I shouted.

The engine revved up loudly as Kaname hit the gas and sent us speeding into the fog. Yuuki screamed as the hard bumps sent us jolting up and down, forward and backward. We could barely see anything, thanks to the damn fog. What we could see, though, was the large shadow and yellow eyes following closely behind us. I lowered my window and stuck Bloody Rose out, firing a few quick shots; it didn't slow the thing down at all.

"The bullets... they have no effect..."

"Hold on," Kaname hissed as he braked suddenly, sending us flying forward. The beast fell for the trick, though, running a steady pace ahead before realizing we had stopped. Then Kaname switched the car into reverse, yelling, "Yuuki, be my eyes!"

We lurched forward again as the car sped backwards, no with the beast in clear view. My eyes widened as the thing tumbled towards us, yellow eyes aflame. Thick black fur stood on end and crooked pointed ears were laid back against its neck. Sharp claws the length of a pen reached out for us. Never before had I seen anything like it. "Is that... a werewolf?!" I breathed in shock.

Kaname's eyes narrowed. "It's a lycan, but they went extinct a hundred years ago," he said through bared fangs. "Why is this one still alive?"

Before I could open my mouth to say 'I don't know', the monster took a giant leap forward and swiped at the car. We yelled and screamed as the car went tumbling, rolling over several times before coming to a stop upside down. I came crashing down on the back of my neck when the seat belt snapped, jabbing my shoulders with shattered glass. With hazy eyes, I looked back to Kaname; his eyes were closed and blood streamed down his face.

"Ze... Zero-kun..."

Yuuki's face was so weak, so fragile. When I saw the large cut on her cheek and the tears forming in her eyes, I couldn't help but tear up myself. "Yuuki... are you okay?" I asked weakly.

"I'm fine... is Kaname...?"

I managed to crawl closer to Kaname and gently placed my hand on his chest. "He's breathing," I sighed in relief. My fingers were stained with Kaname's blood as I brushed back his hair to reveal the large gash on his forehead. "Oh, shit..." I breathed. "We need to get him out of here."

"Zero-kun... where's the lycan?"

Now that I thought about it, we hadn't heard the monster once since we stopped spinning. I gazed out the cracked and broken windows, searching for the huge shadow. "I... I don't see it..." I muttered.

I had barely managed to utter this before a large hand grabbed my leg and dragged me from the broken passenger window. Yuuki screamed as she reached for my hand, but I was already flung away from the car. My ribs cracked as I landed hard and rolled, coming to a stop at the base of a tree. I coughed up blood which only shocked my lungs and ribs more. The beast hovered above me, a low growl emitting from its throat. "Kiryuu... Zero..." its deep voice rasped. "It's your time to die..."

Large fingers wrapped around my neck, hoisting me up from the ground and holding me a good four feet high. I had no strength to fight back; I couldn't fight back. "What... do you want with me?" I gasped.

The yellow eyes narrowed as the beast's lips curled back to reveal large fangs. "You... are protecting... Cross..."

My eyes widened as my airway constricted. "Ga....aah..." I couldn't breathe... I couldn't breathe... I needed to breathe. My lungs felt as if they were ready to explode. As I began to fade into unconsciousness, I heard a faint voice in the distance:

"Lycan... va...nish..."

Next I knew, I was dropped and the lycan was howling above me, covering its ears from something I couldn't hear. Behind the beast, struggling to stand, was Kaname, his arm outstretched towards the animal. One eye was closed, the eye below the deep gash in his forehead where blood ran down his face. He didn't look hurt in his eyes, though; he looked fucking pissed off. As I lay there gasping for breath, all I could think about was how to help him kill this cursed beast. Bloody Rose had no effect on it; why would it? An anti-vampire weapon is useless against a lycan. So, once again, I was utterly useless in this fight. Kaname's legs gave out on him as he fell to the ground, breathing heavily. "Zero-kun... get Yuuki out of here... I'll... hold him here..."

I rolled over on all fours, coughing up more blood. "No way..." I rasped. "I'm staying here..."

"You kids sure are amateurs when it comes to fightin' lycans, ain't ya?"

Strong arms hoisted me up off the ground, and when I looked at the owner of the gruff voice, I couldn't help but be shocked. "Yagari-sensei?" I gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting your sorry asses out of trouble," he replied, setting me against the tree. Then he turned to Kaname, yelling, "Oi, pureblood! Get your ass back in the car!"

The lycan's roar was enough to deafen me for a few seconds. It turned towards me and Yagari, growling, "Kiryuu Zero... you must die."

A smug smirk spread on Yagari's face as he stepped between me and the lycan. "Suck it, lycan," he smarted off, holding his rifle ready, "but you ain't eatin' him tonight." Then he cupped his hand around his mouth, yelling, "Spring it!"

Ropes went flying everywhere, wrapping around the lycan's arms and legs. With a roar, the beast fell to the ground, struggling against its tight bonds. Yagari smiled, saying, "Yosh! Now we can haul this pile of shit off to headquarters and wait for the lycan branch pick it up. We'll get answers from him later." He patted me roughly on the back, completely forgetting the fact that I was disoriented and falling apart. At the simple touch of his rough hand, I went sprawling forward, landing face first on the ground. "Oi, baka student, get up. You ain't dead yet," Yagari stated as he poked me with his foot.

"Stop poking me... damn it..."

"Hey, dumbass! I don't wanna here that language from you!"

"Fuck it... get us to a fuckin' hospital, you dipshit..."

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!"