So I outline the next couple of chapters for this story, thinking it would make it easier to write, only for Yuuki to hijack the chapter. I didn't even get in half the things I planned on in this chapter.
For once, the inhabitants of the Kuran mansion were operating on a typical vampire schedule. Yuuki slept deeply during the sunlit hours. It was only to be expected. Purebloods, with age, could fight off the natural pull to sleep during the human day. Yuuki had been an exception in that regard. A combination of sheer stubbornness, wanting to prove herself as a newly rediscovered Pureblood, and her refusal to give up the bonds she had with Yori and her father. The last three weeks, however, could not be held at bay with willpower alone. Yuuki's body had been pushed beyond her limit.
She slept for three days straight, feeding unconsciously when one of her companions gently pressed his wrist to her lips. Akatsuki, Aidou, and Kaname were well aware that the female Pureblood had been denied the supply of fresh blood she required. Concerned for her wellbeing and those of her children, they offered blood frequently. Aidou would have trashed all the synthetic blood tablets in the mansion if not for the other's Aristocrat's reminder that it was they who need them in order to provide for Yuuki.
The brunette finally stirred on the fourth day.
"Kaname-nii-sama?" she mumbled, wondering why he was stood by the window and not in bed with her. She forced heavy lids open as she raised herself into a half sitting half reclining position. Her brother was watching her expressionlessly.
"Join me." Yuuki didn't know whether it was more of a plea or a demand.
Silence stretched between and Kaname remained unmoving. Then the bed dipped as he molded himself to her, pressing against her back.
Yuuki sighed, blissful. "I've not had such a wonderful dream for some time."
Kaname's grip tightened. "This is no dream, my love."
She twisted in his arms. Wine colored eyes pinned her. Her own eyes never left his as he spoke. "You're home. You're safe. I'm here."
"And the baby?" Yuuki hunched in on herself, carefully cradling her distended stomach. The bump was hardly noticeably. Calculating the math in her head, the brunette estimated she had seventeen weeks to go. For the first time since she had learned of her pregnancy, she was irritated.
The two month shorter gestation period messed with her ability to gauge how well she was doing. She was halfway through her pregnancy and she felt like she had no control. Yuuki was aware of how thin she was. Her stomach was starting to look like she swallowed a beach ball. And even though her malnourished state wasn't her fault, she felt tears well up in her eyes. She was going to be a horrible mother. Her child hadn't been born yet and she was incapable of taking care of it.
Her lover grasped her chin, drawing Yuuki's head up to meet his gaze once more. Instinctively, she steeled herself. As the bodies of three vampires had turned to dust, Kaname had promised to stop hiding things from her. And while recent events had rekindled her doubts that he shared all of his plans with her, Yuuki knew he wouldn't lie or sugarcoat. She appreciated his candor, even at times like this where it did nothing to ease her fears. He gently brushed away her unspilled tears.
Indeed, his next words were like ripping off a bandage. "You've consumed a large quantity of false blood in the last three weeks. While fresh is preferable, theoretically, there should not be any complications because the tablets do contain all the same nutrients and vitamins. Being a recent development, a polite alternative so this generation could attend school alongside humans, I don't know how your body will react."
Yuuki exhaled. Looking down at clenched fists, she missed noticing how her brother ultimately hesitated on saying something else and remained silent. No more than she had expected. All she could do was resume drinking fresh blood and hope for the best.
'Everything will be fine,' she encouraged herself. If she had had nothing else, the brunette had always had hope. Belief had sustained her thus far. Hope had seen her rescued. For her family, Yuuki would continue to believe with all her heart that everything would be okay.
The distinctive sound of knuckles rapping on wood had hardly sounded before her brother called for Aidou and Akatsuki to enter.
"Is that smile for me or the drink, Yuuki-sama?" The ice wielding vampire teases, shaking the pitcher of blood he carries. She laughs, delighted that her friends aren't going to treat her like she's made of glass. "We've been saving up, so no need to hold back. Drink as much as you'd like."
Yuuki briefly considered the drink glass Akatsuki carried, and promptly threw manners and her dignity out the proverbial window. She swiped the crystalline pitcher from Aidou's hands and set about noisily slurping it. The taste of fresh blood, which she had been denied for so long, was exquisite.
She licked ruby covered lips, not wanting to waste a drop, and passed on Akatsuki's offer to fetch a second pitcher if she was still famished. She was pleasantly full, for now.
"So what exactly did I sign myself up for last night?" she asked.
"It wasn't last night!" Aidou said, rushed. "You've been asleep for three days."
Yuuki stared at him, nonplussed. Three days. That certainly explained her being able to drink a whole pitcher of blood. "Right. So what exactly did I sign myself up for four days ago?" she repeated.
"It's an Olde tradition," began Kaname. "The Right of Contention allows for a vampire of any stature to challenge another under certain circumstances. Traditionally, it was issued by Pureblood families that didn't have two children of different genders. They would fight for the right to wed an already betrothed Pureblood."
Yuuki's mind jumped to her parents and Rido, wondering if the younger of the brothers had ever challenged her father for the right to marry her mother. It would go a long way to explain his obsession if Rido had felt entitled and yet failed to win his challenge.
"Being as the Right of Contention is a well-accepted and even more so respected tradition, it quickly became connected to a Pureblood's honor. While it is allowable to decline, the Pureblood who rejected the Right is viewed as lesser."
"And no vampire would swear to a Pureblood Queen who was seen as dishonorable," whispered Yuuki. Her stomach flip-flopped uncomfortably.
"The Right of Contention was never written into law," her brother continued, "but it is socially disastrous to back down when challenged, especially in our situation."
Yuuki, however, didn't hear a word he had said. She felt like there was cotton stuffed in her ears. All she could make out was Kaname's muffled low tones. Lightning had struck, and suddenly she realized this was his plan all along.
Kaname would reintroduce her to the vampire nation as his lost, and therefore Pureblood, sister. Unable to deny a Pureblood, the rest of her kind would accept her on Kaname's say so, never voicing their doubts. Freshly woken as she was with barely three months of training, it wasn't like Yuuki could display mastery of her unique Pureblood power. She wasn't even sure what her special ability was, aside from the fact that she could touch and wield anti-vampire weapons, which, while useful in her upcoming fight against Shirabuki, definitely wouldn't endear her to the rest of the vampire nation.
And that was what Kaname's plan boiled down to. He backed Shirabuki into a corner by producing Yuuki as her competition. Sara would have no choice but to either remove the newly established Pureblood or challenge her. Sara had tried to stack her hand by doing both, locking Yuuki away so the Kuran princess would be unable to answer the challenge set to her, and thus have her honor besmirched. If Kaname had chosen a queen without honor, there would be another war, this time with the vampires attempting to rise up against the Purebloods.
With the gauntlet thrown, not only would the other vampire classes accept the winner as their Queen, if Yuuki won it would quiet their concerns about her Pureblood status. After all, who else but another Pureblood could beat a Pureblood in battle?
A horrible thought she had once dismissed as out of hand returned. Had her brother been part of her kidnapping? It would be just like him to let Shirabuki think she had the upper hand, manipulating her into making the decision for him via the Right of Contention.
Yuuki felt her lungs tighten, squeezing out any air that may have been in them. Kaname's entire plan hinged on her beating Sara in a one on one fight. How was she supposed to win when her opponent had several millennia under her belt? It didn't matter that she had Artemis. Yuuki only had a few years training. What had she been thinking challenge Sara to battle? She didn't have any chance of winning.
"Why?" she cried helplessly, startling her three companions.
How could he justify risking her? Their child? Did Kaname care for them at all, or did he only see how he could use them? Were they all just pawns on his chessboard? And what about Yori? The other girl hadn't been included in their escape. Was she worth less because she was human? It was because of Kaname that her best friend had been working for Sara. Yuuki had spent three weeks cursing her best friend, stung by what she believed to be a betrayal. It didn't make it any less of a betrayal if her brother was the mastermind behind the decision, but Yuuki was well aware of how convincing said brother could be. Undoubtedly he had work his charm, or maybe even his Pureblood magic, to persuade Yori that such an action was for the best.
"Yuuki, darling." Kaname reached out a hand to caress her face. Yuuki slapped it away, angry tears sliding down her cheeks.
"You promised no more secrets! Why would you lie to me?"
"I don't understand," Kaname said slowly, like he was trying to think about what he could have done to upset. He always spoke with this low, soothing tone when she got emotional and he wanted her to understand his point of view.
Recognizing it for the stalling tactic that it was, Yuuki levered herself to her feet, sidestepping a visibly nervous Aidou who didn't know whether to prevent her from leaving the behind or hide from her building wrath.
"You planned for this!" she practically shrieked. "You always intended for it to come down to this ridiculous Right of Contention. You couldn't allow for any other scenario. Never mind that you're essentially the first vampire reborn and could probably force the vampire nation into following your bidding. You want them to feel like they chose you."
The last line was spat at Kaname with a spectacular amount of derision. Behind him, Akatsuki and Aidou were exchanging bewildered looks, silently debating if this matter concerned them. Normally, they'd leave the two Kurans to their privacy, but the two Purebloods were arguing over a plan both Aristocrats had been part of and supported, even though they weren't aware of every stage involved. Both males had expected this treatment, as Purebloods were extremely inclusive, and very used to it after years at Cross Academy under Kaname's leadership.
But Yuuki was perturbed, and rightfully so given their lord's lack of rebuttal.
"Did you think that I wouldn't agree if I had known? Are you just too used to not having to share that it didn't even cross your mind to let me know the full extent of your plan? How do you expect me to beat Sara when I'm pregnant?"
Kaname made to speak, but she continued to steamroll over him. "Oh, I know I won't be come the Winter Solstice, but that's far from the point. I could have been. It's not as if we've been careful in that regard." Yuuki would later remember that Aidou and Akatsuki were present for that revelation, and blush furiously when either met her eyes.
Her rage vanished suddenly, and the adrenaline that had kept her standing had fled with it. She collapsed into Kaname's waiting arms. Exhausted, she curled her fingers into the fabric of his shirt. "I just don't understand why you would keep this from me. We're supposed to be partners."
Her brother gathered her close, positioning Yuuki so she perched as comfortable as she could in his lap. "I didn't want for you to worry or stress. It's not healthy for you," he murmured into her ear.
"Those are excuses," she said flatly, "and bad ones at that."
"There are times when we are going to have to work separately to achieve what we want."
Yuuki shoved against his chest until the arms around her relented and she could pull back enough to meet his eyes head on. "I don't care about have to work separately! I just want you to stop lying to me 'for my own good.' You promised men," she whispered brokenly. "No more secrets."
"No more secrets," he vowed, wine colored eyes shining with sincerity.
"So there's nothing else you're keeping from me?" she tested.
"Yuuki-sama, you're going to have twins!" shouted Aidou.
Both Pureblood vampires whipped their heads around to face the ice wielder, who was hiding behind the taller Akatsuki with hunched shoulders and both hands clapped over his mouth. Yuuki stared at him, uncomprehending while her lover's gaze threatened disembowelment should Aidou say another word.
Was it possible for vampires to get headaches? Because Yuuki was starting to think she might be getting one.