Kuro, in anxious denial of what Kaname had just imparted to them, resolved to persuade Shiro against it. He didn't want to go – not yet and not ever, if he could help it. Previous to Kaname's news, they had thought their father to be dead. Why did they not remember him, then, if their father really was Kaien Cross?

Shiro and Kuro exited Kaname's room, dazed and, in Kuro's case, apprehensive to the news they had just discovered. Shiro took Kuro's hand and led him towards their room.

"Pureblood!"

Shiro jumped as the sudden voice sounded behind them. She and Kuro both turned to find Hanabusa, Ruka and Akatsuki behind them, glaring furiously at them. Kuro growled lowly and took up a defensive stance in front of Shiro. The latter touched his arm, gently pushing him backwards – pushing him to submit to her.

"Is it us you address?" she replied, seemingly ignorant of the aura emanating from Kuro. Hanabusa smirked – an expression that did not befit his handsome face. Shiro frowned.

"I address your brother, Kuro," he taunted, hissing his name sarcastically. Shiro sighed; Hanabusa must have still been sour about the events of the Changeover. Yes, she was not so unobservant as to miss the envious glare he had directed at Kuro. And if Hanabusa hated Kuro, then he hated her too.

"What?" Kuro snapped impatiently. He only had so much patience, and half of it had just been wasted on trying not to kill Kaname.

"We came to tell you that just because you're a pureblood doesn't mean you have our service. We will oppose you as a rival to Lord Kaname, and will not hesitate in protecting him against you," Ruka replied. Kuro huffed some sort of maniacal laugh – one that Shiro did not approve of at all. He strode forward until he was nose-to-nose with Ruka, and hissed at her. He belittled her like a giant would a dwarf.

"You may address me when you find something worth addressing me for," he said slowly. "I have no time for your petty declarations. Get. Out. Of. My. Sight."

He bared his fangs and swiveled on his heal, offering a grin of triumph to Shiro as he did so. Hanabusa, Akatsuki and Ruka were left in shock as Kuro grabbed Shiro's arm and continued on their way back to their room.

Shiro frowned; it seemed the Kuro was growing stronger, and she did not like it at all. And as he got stronger, so did the aspects of him that were opposite to her. She would tell Kaname, she thought. She knew that Kuro would remain the same – he would not harm her – but she feared for the power that grew in him as a pureblood. And she feared for the lives of the students at Cross Academy if she did nothing to stop it.

I know...brief chapter. But I felt it was necessary to clarify a few things before the upcoming chapters. But three chapters in one day, huh. It's a record for me anyway~

XO Ellerosa