Part 1:

A dark figure dressed in a long, black cloak, and wearing his mask, loams at the entry to the ballroom. I slowly pull my mask off in disbelief and stare, afraid to move in case he disappears. I look at him with sadness in my eyes, hoping to be able to show him how his actions have affected us more than he may have thought.

"Kaname…" I choke.

Kaname's eyes pin point me under his mask, and I feel like a pair of daggers have been pointed in my direction instead. He gracefully turns around and walks slowly into the ballroom. I begin to run after him, not wanting him to get away again. Zero follows closely behind me, silently.

"Wai-" I shout as I run inside, but stop as I realise he's no longer there. The room looks completely undisturbed, and vampires are still dancing as if nothing happened. Maybe they didn't see him.

He disappeared…

A feeling of dread strikes me as I remember that Kaname is still after all of the purebloods.

"Isaya-san's place!" I shout, as I begin running. Zero instantly realises what I suspect and starts running with me. We run together and I hear the sound of clattering as masquerade masks fall to the marble ground.

I try to let what happened moments ago sink in, as I run. The kiss Zero and I shared, it was perfect. But it had to end as quickly as it started. I almost feel a stab of aggravation that Kaname had to show up and break the moment, but I decide that's an extremely childish thought and brush it away. Capturing a murderer - whether or not he's my own brother - has more things at stake than one kiss… Part of me also thinks that's a silly thought; that that kiss was special. I can't think straight, I'm too full of adrenaline from running through the dark, empty halls of the mansion.

Part 2:

I lower myself to sit on the stool located next to my bedroom window. I sigh slightly, sensing that 'that person' must be here now. Will my 2000 years of life eventually meet its end, in a matter of a few moments?

"Isaya-sama…" Kaname says to me, revealing himself form the shadows, almost as if appearing out of nowhere. As usual, he makes a dramatic entrance.

"I thought I could not continue to stay a spectator, if I were to end up as a target anyway," I say, "I hoped to have a chance to talk with you alone, so I organised this ball. Welcome Kaname-kun. I'm glad to be able to meet you like this. Did you come to take my life, or did you come to request my assistance? Or, don't tell me, you came to confirm that girl's safety for the sake of the being who inherited your blood most strongly?"

I rest my elbows on my knees, and close my eyes, placing my head into my hands. Kaname remains silent, as he has always done so. The only remaining ancestor… The only one of the first vampires to ever come into existence, who is not only still alive, but standing before me, right now. I speak again:

"The majority of weapons that are able to slay purebloods have disappeared. For you to destroy purebloods alone, I believe the remaining number is beyond your capacity. In this situation, you know full well that coming to this place was a trap."

"I had thought to, one day, use this life of mine to make Yuuki human," Kaname says, quietly, "however, that is no longer accomplishable, for I will become the new 'parent'."

I quickly look up at him in shock. Is he intending on doing what I think he is? Is he intending on sacrificing himself to create new anti-vampire weapons?

Part 3:

I hear Zero's heavy breathing as we eventually reach Isaya-san's room. His fatigue due to lack of blood must be getting worse. We shuffle slowly to a stop as we reach the end of the hall. I gasp as realise there are two cloaked figures guarding the entryway to his room. Kaname must be here.

The guards pull their hoods back from over their faces and to my surprise, I spot Rima-chan and Shiki-san.

"Excuse me a little, eh…" Rima begins, with an awkward-looking expression.

"They're in the middle of doing business, so we are unable to let you pass." Shiki finishes; a firm tone in his voice.

Zero and I make brief eye-contact, and we simultaneously ram into the two, the force of our raging impact pushing them into the door, which flies open. It feels as if time goes in slow-motion, and as I fall with Rima underneath me, I glance up to see Kaname looking at me, with Isaya-san sitting behind him, looking surprised. Kaname's face is expressionless.

"We're done. Come, Shiki, Rima," Kaname breathes.

Then suddenly, they all whip around, and shoot out of the window into the black night. I try to run after them, but as I reach the balcony and look in all directions for any sign of the three, I know they're gone.

Zero, for the first time since we realised Kaname was here, walks next to me, knowing that we can't do anything more. He looks like he's in thought, though he's slightly scowling.

"It would be near impossible to stop him, when he's so focused on escaping." He mumbles, more to himself than to me.

"Yes, it really is exactly as you say…" I say, also more to myself.

Part 4:

I knock on the large, wooden door and urge Zero to come out.

"Are you done preparing?" I ask, still knocking.

"Just a while more… you're fast." Zero replies from behind the door.

"It's a relief that nothing happened to Isaya-san and the other guests."

"Aren't you curious to find out what Shoutou Isaya said to Kuran Kaname?"

"Recalling what happened tonight, I am. I learnt many things, like the fact that you could dance…"

"What do you mean?"

"Yes, that's right. It was a fantasy. The Zero I know is not supposed to know how to dance. I recall that time when we had the Dance Festival at the Academy. During the decoration of the venue, Zero, you arrived late, blood-stained all over. Girls who wanted to dance with you invited you to do so, but you rejected them easily… Hey, since the masquerade ball, it has been on my mind.

If you were never a hunter, nor I a vampire… if we had met as totally normal human beings, how would we have turned out to be, you know? Would I have thought, 'Hey, Zero's cool'? Things like that? You wouldn't have had to stay back a year, so I suppose you'd be a year ahead. But you'd definitely not get along well with Kaname Onii-sama. On the day before the festival, I would coincidentally find 'Zero-senpai' who had gotten himself all bloody because of a fight, and I bet, I would have passed you a band-aid and said 'it's no good to fight', and become angry.

While mad at you, I would take care of your wounds. 'Zero-senpai' would get taken care of, and then I wonder what would happen after that… or perhaps nothing would come out of it. The human 17-year-old Yuuki, what would she have done?"

Not noticing I started leaning on the door, it suddenly flings open and I crumble to the ground, realising that I had rambled my thoughts out loud again. Still behind the door, Zero speaks quietly.

"You're really an idiot."

I look up, and he steps out from behind the door and looks down at me, a distant, sad expression on his face.

"If we were both humans to begin with," he says, "we would not have met. Stop indulging in delusions that will never happen in reality. Let's go now."

I put my head down and look at the ground, thinking. I spread my hands out on the floor, and clench them again. Zero starts walking out, but I whip my hand up and drag him into the wall, hard. I need to do something. Something that will stop all of this. While still recovering from what just happened, I grab Zero's other wrist in my free hand and pin him against the wall.

"Zero… I say, wanting to cry. I won't forgive myself after this. He looks down at me with a bewildered expression, which makes me want to cry even more. Before he can fight back, I stand on my tip-toes, and reach my mouth to his neck.

"Zero," I say again.

"Yu-" he chokes, before I plunge my fangs into his neck, and begin drinking his blood. I dig deep into his mind and locate every memory he has of Cross Yuuki, Kuran Yuuki. I dig into the deepest part of his head, avoiding any other memories. The memories of me; they will vanish. They will disappear. I will rip every single memory he has of me out of his head. It's better this way.

Zero begins to struggle, and he puts his hand on my face and pushes me away.

"What… are you doing?" He strains.

I grip his hand and take it off my face, holding it so he can't move it. I hear the jingle on my bracelet on my left wrist, remembering the time the Chairman gave it to me. It's the bracelet that he gave me to protect myself and others against Zero, the one that immobilises him when it comes into contact with the hunter tattoo on his neck. I reach it up, and Zero sees it, struggling more. I hold him back, hard.

Electric sparks fly everywhere as I push the pendant against his neck. His grip on me loosens, and he falls down to the ground, immobilised.

"Yuuki," he says, looking worried.

"If I just erase my existence from your memories, it will be easier on you." I say, trying to keep my voice sturdy. I lower my mouth to his neck again, and now he can't fight back. I hate myself for doing this to him. I hate myself for putting him in this position, abusing the bracelet and using it for something like this, and everything else I have done to hurt him. But after this, he won't be in pain anymore.

"…Erase?" Zero whispers.

I feel him tense as he tries to fight against the immobilising effects. His head shakes from side to side, which makes drinking more difficult. I place my hand on top of his head and hold it there.

"Stop it…" he says, with sadness and a little bit of anger in his voice, "I won't forgive you! Stop it Yuuki!"

His voice is now riddled with hopelessness and despair, and I lift my head to face him, blood dripping down my chin.

"I'm sorry, but if I don't do this, I won't be able to go," I sob, "I won't be able to stop Kaname. I wouldn't forgive myself for leaving you again, so it's better if you don't remember me when I… when I end my life to make Kaname human."