"Oh my goodness! He drove them away so violently!" Kaien cried out alarm. "Though I only asked him to bid them all farewell..." He turned his head and pouted childishly at Yagari, asking, "Don't you think you disciples are too violent?"

"What did you call me here for?" Yagari questioned, positioning himself on his crutch. "I'm in all sorts of trouble right now."

"Hey, Yagari, you're unwilling to wander in a freezing, deep, dark forest until you die, right?" Yagari sweatdropped, unsure of where this was leading.

"What the...? All of a sudden..." He sighed and said, "I suppose not." Kaien smiled,

"I thought so. Therefore, if you happen to stumble upon a place filled with sunlight, you'll probably head towards it without thinking, right?" Yagari frowned, still confused, and began,

"Well,"

"Right!" Kaien cut in, annoying the Hunter. "Well, perhaps such a thing will appear before you as well one day. No matter how dim the light filtering through the trees is, you can still try your best to grasp it. One of your students has already done that.

X.X

"If you've found your resolve," Kaito began, talking to Zero, though he was already far away from him now. ", then bravely face the pain, Zero. And prove that you're able to overcome it."

Yuuki glanced at Zero nervously, before looking away, and looked back, only to stop walking and say with a chibi-face, "Be reasonable and listen to me..." You could almost hear Amaya's face-palm in the background and her sigh. Zero deadpanned,

"It was you who said that we'd all pursue them together." He looked down at her and continued, "I don't know what's come over you, but don't just take back what you said for convenience sake."

"The same applies to you," Amaya said sharply, casting Zero a quick glance before looking away. "You stupidly cut your hand on Kaito's sword, idiot. Didn't you know that the wound would heal slowly because of the blade being serrated?"

Yuuki added, "I want you to refrain from such reckless behavior, if we're going to be working together." She started to walk again, holding up a pair of keys, "This is the Kuran's main residence." She explained while unlocking the door. She opened it, saying, "This is where I was born."

"We were thinking about checking out the places Kaname owns and that includes this place." Amaya said, casting a sorrowful look around the house. She did live here with Yuuki while Hanabusa tutored them. It was bound to hold some memories, whether they be good of bad. But...It also held memories of he father-in-law, Nagamichi.

"This is also that person's home," Yuuki added as they walked in. "And although Takamiya-Sensei...Kaito-San also told you this, I want to make it clear."

"Our relationships." Amaya stated bluntly. Zero walked in, standing in front of them, "We can't live with you. Not to mention that I am Hanabusa's fiance and Yuuki is Kaname's." She looked Zero in the eyes as she said this, trying to get her point through to him. I can't be with you and I can't love you. I belong to Hanabusa and only him. She loves them both and she craved their blood, she'll admit it. She wasn't going to hide it. Zero knows, Hanabusa knows, Yuuki knows-everyone who should know, knows. Even Nagamichi knew before he... Amaya blinked and swallowed deeply, looking down at the ground.

"Ah," Zero began, walking forwards. "You are the the fiance to the man who set up my family and I, and are the benefactor who saved me with those hands when we first met. And you," He gripped both Amaya's and Yuuki's wrists. "are the daughter of a murderer, who took away someone I cared for deeply," He gazed into her emerald eyes, which widened. "and the cousin of the man who set up my family and I, and are the fiance to someone I am rivaled with. Say, what do you two feel about this, then? If everything was a setup from the beginning, then does that mean our meetings were manipulated as well? Until now, what we thought and what we felt...How can either of you say it wasn't orchestrated?"

Both girls froze and Yuuki began, "Zer-!" Both girls flinched when Zero released his grip on them and flicked them in the foreheads.

"Ouch!" They rubbed the red spots and glanced at Zero confusedly.

"I want to put together the answers to everything, and see with my own eyes. Therefore, I'll accompany you both."

I think it's safe to say that Zero's words pierced us both deeply. This mission, or journey as Yuuki would call it, is also a pursuit for Zero's sake.

"Don't make those kinds of faces." He told them softly, causing Amaya to blink in surprise and look up at him with wide eyes. She didn't even realize she was frowning sadly. Yuuki merely continued to rub the aching spot on her forehead, pouting.

"It's painful..." Yuuki protested.

This, among all other, shall be out last journey...together, just the three of us. Like it used to be, with all our differences set aside, the three "musketeers" ready for action. Heh, who am I kidding? Nothing will ever be the same...

"I'll wait here," Zero told them, standing by the entryway, leaning against the doorframe. "Take your time." Amaya and Yuuki nodded at him and took up the stairs. Amaya ran her hands up the rail as they walked up them, and frowned, noting, There's a bit of dust... A pang of sadness and guilt and sorrow hit her all at once, It was...Before, Nagamichi-Father, did all the housekeeping...He-He was a good man, Kaname shouldn't have killed him! She stopped walking and Yuuki paused, glancing down at the ginger curiously before frowning once she realized what was wrong. He shouldn't have died like that...

"Amaya," Yuuki said softly, gently taking the redhead's hand. The girl snapped out of her thoughts and glanced up at Yuuki with alarm, surprised. "Come on..." Amaya nodded, grateful for the distraction.

Not long after, they were finished, they headed down the stairs, Amaya speaking up,

"Zero, we're done-" She cut herself off, surprised. Zero's sleeping? Slowly, Amaya walked forward quietly, knelt down, and reached a hand forward to brush the bangs out of his face, only to freeze when he opened his eyes, gazing at her as he caught her in the act. Her fingers twitched and she like lightening she stood, bringing her hands behind her back while she gripped the one she was outstretching, nervously.

"Are you finished already?" Amaya nodded quickly, sweat beading down the side of her face. Yuuki took over for Amaya's sake, and said,

"Yes, let's leave quickly." They left and where quite a bit away from the House when Zero asked,

"Shouldn't you both have taken your time?"

"It's alright for now," Yuuki replied. "Besides..."

"The memories we have here aren't all good." Amaya replied solemnly, looking down at the ground as she walked. Her "Rat's nest" hair fell and curled crazily around her face, tickling her neck, chin, and overall her entire face. She sneezed and made a face as she ran a hand through her, brushing her bangs back. "I hate long hair..."

"But it looks good on you!" Yuuki argued, frowning, "Don't say things like that!"

"But it's true~!" She whined. "Besides, shouldn't we go to the next place quickly? It's boring just walking around."

"You're so impatient," Yuuki sweatdropped, while Zero rolled his eyes in the background. "But yes, we should. We need to hurry. The more time we waste talking, the more time they can use to kill off more Purebloods." They walked onto a bridge just as Zero said,

"Understood." And next thing the girls' knew, Zero wound his arms around their waists and picked them up, pressing them against his sides, as he jumped off the bridge and causing them to he jumped, he slung them over his shoulders, causing them to scream even louder and more proficiently.

"Z-Zero-!" Amaya screamed, "What-What the hell're you doin'!?" Her voice gained a slight accent as she screamed. Unintentional of course.

"H-Hey, Zero-!" Yuuki screamed.

"If you want to make haste," Zero began as he ran down the mountain, dodging trees and rocks and all the like. "then it'll be quicker to bypass the road and descend the mountain!"

"But-!" Yuuki tried to argue, but was cut off by Amaya,

"We can do it, our-!"

"People who are sluggish from bloodloss shouldn't talk." Zero cut in, frowning as he jumped again. "In order to rescue those guys in the Night Class, you've been letting them drink your blood. And you've been letting on two many people drink your blood, Amaya." The ginger froze. Indeed, she has. First it was Hanabusa, which was normal for her, then she forced Zero to drink her blood that one time. And with the arguement with the pills and Yuuki getting her blood drained, Amaya had Yuuki drink her blood. And then there was the Ruka incident.

Zero hopped off a brick wall and released the girls, setting them down on their feet, asking, "So, where to now?" Yuuki pointed at the train station, saying,

"It's half a day's ride by Speed Train from this train station." Amaya added,

"We're going to ask for Isaya's cooperation. He's-er, was, a friend of my mother and Yuuki's parents."

"The senior Pureblood, Shouto Isaya, huh?" Zero asked them.

"Oh, and, uh, thanks for worrying." Amaya said, slightly awkwardly. "But we had some blood tablets, earlier."

"Yeah, Amaya's right." Yuuki agreed, nodding. We can't let him realize... "Sometimes this Vampires instinct is really confusing." That we, Yuuki and I, need blood. Badly. Zero stared at them for a few moments before they headed out to get tickets to board the train.

X.X

How the hell did I talk to Zero before? Amaya wondered nervously from her spot beside Yuuki, across from Zero. I mean, he's still the same as before but-Oh, yeah, that's why. I basically just altered Yuuki's "Lines" from the "Manga" and "Anime" and just said that. But, there were a few times where I actually said things by myself, like, my conversations with Hanabusa. Or, when Yagari basically tried to kill Zero...Or anything like that. Okay, so I didn't use Yuuki's lines alot, but cut me some slack here! Gah! What do I say, damn it? The ginger tossed some Blood tablets angrily in her mouth and chewed them, pissed. What the hell am I supposed to say? I mean, I know he's craving blood and that makes it more awkward, but I can't just be like, "Hey, I let you drink freely from me before, so here! Here's my neck, drink all you want, buddy!" God, damn it... Yuuki blinked at Amaya worriedly, seeing her face change rapidly at her thoughts.

"Zero...?" Amaya spoke up hesitantly. The boy said nothing, merely kept his chin resting in his palm, elbow propped up by his knee. She looked down and ran a hand through her long hair, annoyed, "It's like that, then, huh?" She huffed and stood, walking over to he door, before grabbing the screen and pulling it down. She ignored Yuuki's confused look and quickly tied her hair up in a messy braid, before walking over to Zero. He barely looked up at her before he was pinned back in the seat, gripping the wrist (His wounded hand) and his chin. But not before she dug her nails into her neck and causing herself to bleed, "Zero, how long was it since you've last had blood?" Not counting the time I forced you.

Yuuki could barely say anything, shocked at her friend's actions.

Blood dripped onto Zero's cheek and she said, leaning down slightly, "I'll know even if you try to hide it..." She leaned down closer and sighed, "What a waste." She licked the blood off of his cheek. NOT going as to how I planned... Damn you, Vampire instincts... "Drink my blood." Said blood trickled down her neck and down her collarbone, the warm liquid cold against her skin. "The wound you have is healing too slowly." She was alarmed when Zero shouted,

"Stop it!" And grabbed her shoulder, pushing her back into the seat next to Yuuki, who jumped slightly. Amaya said nothing, merely gazing at him with a serious look in her eye, and began,

"How did you endure your thirst this past year, Zero? I know for a fact that you're able to take Blood tablets now, but..." Her eyes started to water slightly, "Once you've drank blood for a while, it's hard to endure the tablets and resist. I know that for a fact, Zero. I get it!" She stood in front of an already-standing Zero. He began to explain, slowly,

"At night...I went out to hunt Vampires. And occasionally, I drank their spoiled blood. Until Kaito came to supervise me..." He paused, before continuing, looking down as he remembered their disgusting taste, "Their spoiled blood, tainted with madness..." A hand rose up to his face as he bit out, "Therefore-"

"If that's the case-!" She paused, seeing his look. His eyes were wide, almost with madness, and horror. Amaya couldn't talk-she didn't know what to say. What she did know, was that something should've been said after that. Yuuki glanced nervously between them, knowing the same thing.

Zero placed a hand over his eyes, saying, "No...It's none of your business." Amaya almost flinched at those words; so cold, but so familiar to her.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it..." She muttered and tried to figure out what the old her would do in situations this awkward. It hit her and Amaya grinned, laughing nervously, and said, "Sorry, dude, my bad! I guess I heard you wrong or something! I mean, I tend to do that a lot, misunderstand things, if you get what I mean..." She sweatdropped slightly and Yuuki, in the background, face-palmed.

"Yeah..." Zero muttered, removing his hand from his face. He looked at the two girls and asked, "Can I sleep?" Yuuki and Amaya blinked. He explained, "We haven't had a break up until now. We're all tired."

It's almost as though we're all wearing masks. Whether it be over our hearts or over our faces, there's a thick wall, covering us. Separating us. Acting as thought nothing has ever happened between us. The kiss, the year-long distance...It's as though we pushed them to the back of our minds and forgot all about it. It never happened. But I knew better. I knew what had happened and I know that I'm deeply affected by it. By it, the war, the death, and the painful thirst that comes with when you long for two completely different men. One you have and you love deeply, and another you don't have, can't have, and won't have, because you know that man, yourself, the past, the present, and the future. Only glimpses, but you know it. It's almost impossible to act as thought nothing has ever happened between us, and yet I can't help but try to...

The trio eventually fell asleep and once they awoke, the got off the train. They arrived at Isaya's, only to be greeted by a messenger who was holding out two envelopes, saying,

"I am Isaya-Sama's messenger. I have come with invitations." The blonde handed the invites to the cousins, who took them confusedly. "This evening, Purebloods and Nobles alike, are invited a masquerade ball.

X.X

"I feel completely ridiculous..." Amaya muttered, still not a fan of dresses. Yuuki grinned at her and pulled up the hood of her white cloak, saying,

"Aw, don't be that way! You look great!"

"Says you. Compared to me, you look drop-dead gorgeous." Yuuki giggled and shook her head at Amaya's choice of words, who realized what she said and corrected with a sweatdrop, "No pun intended of course."

Yuuki was wearing a dark blue dress with a ribbon wrapped around her waist, tied into a bow that somehow managed to resemble a rather big rose. The back of the dress was tied up like a corset, but much less painful, and the dress itself was strapless. She had a dark blue ribbon wrapped around her neck and a pair of dark blue gloves to complete the dress. And of course, tied underneath her dress on her thigh, was her trusty weapon Artemis.

Amaya, however, was wearing a white, strapless dress, that poofed out at the waist and stopped at mid-thigh. But underneath the white skirt, was black lace with ruffles, causing it to end there. She had a black ribbon wrapped tightly around her waist and tied loosely at her hip, causing two long strands of fabric to fall and end at her knees. Located at the knot of the ribbon, was a red rose. She wore a pair of black fingerless gloves with white straps that wrapped around her arm and ended just below her elbow. She also wore a pair of white heels to complete the look. Luna was tied underneath her dress, on her thigh, like Yuuki. She quickly pulled on a black cloak, similar to Yuuki's and pulled on the hood.

"The dress makes me look even darker than before...And my hair stands out way too much!" She tugged on the long strand of her hair, annoyed. Yuuki curled it for her, which only made it more troublesome.

"You look fine..." Yuuki deadpanned, then threatened, "If you don't stop complaining, I'm gonna thump you upside the head, got it?" Amaya held her hands up in surrender, grinning,

"Hai, hai!" There was a knock on the door and it opened, revealing Isaya,

"Misses, are the dresses suitable?"

Yuuki smiled at him and twirled, "Somehow! Thank you very much on his behalf as well!" Amaya muttered a small,

"Thanks..." The pale blonde smiled softly at them, saying,

"You're welcome. And he is?" He asked, walking in, talking about Zero. Yuuki and Amaya headed over to the banister, Yuuki saying,

"Let's see..." They looked for him and Amaya spotted him first, saying,

"He's still working in accordance of the agreement." Yuuki continued,

"He's surveying the party, at least, until "They" show up." Amaya sighed and ran a hand through her long hair,

"This is going to be bothersome..." Not her hair, the fight. "I really don't feel like fighting again, but..." She sighed again, laziness taking over. Yuuki looked at her, as did Isaya, "I'm going to have too, won't I?" Yuuki glanced at her apologetically, giving her a small smile,

"I'm sorry..." Amaya let out a small, bitter laugh, eyes narrowing with that slight age again,

"It's fine...I'm just sick of everything that's going on." I want it all to end...

"This is a ball, afterall." Isaya spoke up, his blue eyes glinting slightly with mischief, "Why don't one of you lovely girls dance with him?"

Yuuki didn't know how to answer, so she was grateful when Amaya spoke up with a small, sad, grin.

"Nah...,he wouldn't like that. Besides," She chuckled. "he told me last time that he couldn't dance. So you know what I told him anyway? "And when you get asked to dance by a girl, don't say no! Or I'll kick your ass!" That was so long ago..." Amaya frowned slightly, eyes narrowing in sadness as he heart panged against her chest painfully.

"It was only a year," Yuuki replied, but knew how she felt-slightly. Isaya spoke up again,

"You both are probably wondering why I set up such a dangerous trap." He explained, "I can't remain a spectator while the children that my friends left behind are at the heart of these issues...That's all." And then, he extended a pale hand towards Yuuki with a soft, sad smile, "May I have this dance?" She looked so much like Juri...One of his closest friends, "My old friends' precious daughter."

Yuuki nodded and took his hand, Isaya leading her off to the dance floor. Amaya let out a sigh and she calmly placed on her black mask, that was embedded with green jewels. Amaya then stalked around the balcony, accepting a blue-haired man's dance.