"I asked them to leave as you requested," Verona said as he sat by Yuki. "But I'm going to record it for them later." She looked up from her lap, and he froze. She looked worse than a few hours ago. Her eyes were bloodshot and she was dripping sweat. He ignored it and asked her to close her eyes and hold his hand; he started the recorder. "I want you to sketch your fear. Tell me what your power is feeding off of," he said softly. "...Abandonment...the dark..." she said in a low voice. "...betrayal." He now leaned forward to get a better audio. "Who betrayed you Yuki? Or are you worried someone will betray you soon?" Verona asked. She kept her eyes closed and didn't say a word. He sighed and rubbed his hands together.
"What are you afraid of in the flesh? Anything physical? A person, an element, an event..." he continued, as he stood up and went to retrieve a few objects. "I can't tell you," she muttered. He swerved his head to look at her as he brought forth a candle, a notepad, and a glass of water. "We're going to try some different items just to see how your memory is doing alright?" He first set her hand on a pencil and asked her draw something and keep her eyes closed. Her sweat started to bead down her body like she was just out in the rain; she would not draw anything. They then tried the water; he asked her to put her hand into the glass, but she didn't move; he ended up manually putting a few fingers inside.
The water turned to blood as it always had. He'd seen this mysterious power before when she'd showed him at a confession, asking him if it was normal (she didn't realize she was "human" at the time); otherwise, she had no reaction. This was all until the fire test. He set the flame under her palm and she flinched as her sweating became nonstop. "It's hot...it's hot..." she whispered. He picked up the recorder. "She seems to respond to the fire well. Although she appears to be sweating somewhat badly," Verona recorded. "Too hot...the building's burning," she said opening her eyes and raising her voice. She stared straight ahead. "The building? This building?" Verona said, standing up with her.
She had a look of fear on her face as sweat fell down her face onto her chest. "They can't...do this!" she screamed. Verona watched her closely as he brought her hand closer to the flame until the smell of burning skin hit Yuki's senses. She awoke from her trance and screamed. He stopped the recorder and looked to her. She looked at him as her hand shook with the singing of her skin burning. "They won't stop...until they find their idol," she whispered. Verona stared. Tears streaked her face as she shook her head. "No more. Please," she sobbed. He slowly nodded and put a hand on her shoulder as she sat back down. "Go up to the sanctuary upstairs and rest. I need to run an errand. I'll ask one of your friends to watch you," Verona suggested.
Yuki stood staring at the wall for hours. Verona hadn't been back yet like he said he would. A tear seeped from her eye as she heard the door creak open. He shut the door quietly. "You should lay down..." he said. She shook her head as the tear fell down her cheek. He sighed and put a hand on her arm and she flinched a bit. She looked at him slowly. "Yuki," he said a bit shocked. It'd been so long since he'd seen her cry. "I'm...not going to get better. Am I?" she asked quietly. He frowned. "...Verona's trying Yuki. We all are. And if it doesn't fix anything...it will eventually heal on its own," he reassured. She nodded vaguely and picked at her beige sweater's snags. He held something out for her and she looked at him.
"I thought it might make you feel better," he said, extending a small rose. She smiled and took it slowly. "Thank you," she said, wiping a tear. He gave her a half-smile as she sat on her bed. "Not a lot of good things have been happening to me lately but...this was really nice of you." He sat down next to her. "...Do you remember those 2 years ago...right before you left the academy?" he asked. Yuki nodded as she returned the loving gaze his lavender eyes gave her. "I told you I would kill you and that I could never trust you again...but I didn't mean it. And I was too self-indulged to admit it." "I knew you didn't mean it. That's why I never left you alone," she said. She shook her head. "I'm a mess Zero...but I'm aware of how I feel," she continued.
"How sweet," they heard a sarcastic voice say. Sara stood in the doorway; Yuki's expression looked like a wolf choosing the smallest lamb in the flock to eat. "Zero, you might as well say your goodbyes now. Her madness will eat her whole. You wouldn't seriously believe her stories anyways would you? She's just a delusional bitch on some kind of drug. Cocaine perhaps," Sara purred. Verona was just entering as Sara approached Yuki abruptly and grabbed her neck. Yuki was unpleased with Shirabuki's sudden actions and was immediately provoked. "Your stories won't hold up for long, Yuki. You will eventually fall to pieces and be nothing but a worthless druggy-" Zero reached his arm out to get Sara away but Yuki already took action. She threw Sara into a wall with brute force and started to choke her to death.
Takuma came in and tried to rip Yuki away from Sara as Kaname watched calmly, knowing Sara deserved it; however there was a look of stun as Yuki started to make Sara turn blue. Smoke arose from Yuki's grasp as she held onto Sara as long as she could. "Yuki!" Takuma screamed as he ripped her away. Sara was in utter shock. "Get out of here Shirabuki," Zero shouted. She calmly walked out like nothing happened. "Meet me outside Takuma," Sara sighed. Yuki looked ready to faint. Yuki's hair was a mess as she clawed at Takuma to let her go. "YOU AREN'T GOING TO WIN YOU BITCH!" Yuki screamed, her malevolent energy causing the lightbulbs in the room to fizzle out and the bed to move.
Verona suddenly struck Yuki with a syringe causing her to fall unconscious in Takuma's grasp. Zero pushed Kaname back as he tried to grab Verona. "What did you do?" Kaname snapped. "Her madness was at its peak. If she wasn't weakened, she would have killed us all," he retorted. He looked at Takuma. "Son, take her down to the basement. I'm going to take her blood pressure."