A/N: I shouldn't...but I am.

Disclaimer: Vampire Knight is Matsuri Hino's brainchild. I just like playing with the pretty characters. OCs are mine.

"Zugzwang is like getting trapped on a safety island in the middle of a highway when a thunderstorm starts. You don't want to move but you have to."

-Arthur Bisguier (Müller & Pajeken 2008:173)

"Moira Lockhart. By order of the council you are under arrest for the murder of Samuel and Coralline Lockhart as well as the disappearance of Morgan and William Kaldwin."

"I didn't murder anyone."

"You of all people should know that the murder of a pureblood is a sin."

"I am well aware, hence why I would never think to commit such an atrocious act."

"Please, my lady, do not make this any more difficult than it has to be." Her cornflower blue eyes hardened to ice, the temperature in the front foyer dropping several degrees. Taking a controlled breath she offered the group of Level B's before her a polite smile.

"I did not murder anyone," she said once more, careful not to infuse any power in her voice. She could have easily done so, made the men forget why they had stopped by, had them accuse another of the murders but that would have been suspicious. It wouldn't have done her case any favors so she refrained from doing so.

"Will-will you come with us of your own accord?"

She pursed her lips, clicking her tongue in annoyance. The guards the council had sent to fetch her would be no match for her, physically or otherwise. She could tear them all limb from limb before they realized their heads were no longer attached to their bodies.

But that wouldn't be very lady-like and Moira Lockhart was nothing if not a lady.

"On what grounds is your evidence based?" she finally asked, resting a hand on her hip and cocking an eyebrow questioningly.

"Your twin brother-."

"-is a compulsive liar and insufferable twat, pardon my language," she huffed, rolling her eyes. "What would I have to gain from killing my elder siblings?"

"Power," a gruff voice said suddenly from the back of the pack. "Consuming the flesh of a pureblood vampire allows one to absorb their powers."

"First off, gross," she shuddered lightly at the thought of devouring her kin. "Second, I had a blood bond with my sister. It would cause me physical pain if I were to hurt her and vice versa."

"You say that but it is awfully coincidental that you of all people found their remains, don't you think?" An unearthly growl tore from her throat. Cracks exploded in a spider web pattern across the marble floor from where she stood and the other vampires present drew back in fear.

"You would do well to remember who you are speaking to, Marcus. Elder Brisbane is not here to protect you," she snarled, fingers twitching as the tips of her nails and incisors elongated to sharp points.

The scent of fear suddenly permeated her nose and she could hear his heart begin to thud faster against his breastbone

Perhaps I should make an example out of you…

Moira rubbed the back of her neck tiredly, forgoing the urge to do just that and offered the nobles present a tight-lipped smile, willing the crimson to recede from her eyes.

"Did I miss the party?" Several heads whirled around in unison to face the vampire standing in the entryway of the foyer. The lower level vampires each took a knee, heads bowed and hands over their hearts.

"Why are you here Thomas?" she muttered. The last thing she needed at the moment was to see her former fiancé.

They had been engaged for a red-hot minute ten years earlier though it was merely a political engagement, meant to strengthen the four remaining pureblood houses in Europe. He was the one to call it off however, his reasoning being he had known her since she was born and that it would be odd marrying someone whose diapers he had changed once upon a time.

"L-Lord Rousseau-."

"Are you meaning to tell me someone as young as her was able to get the drop on a pair of purebloods centuries older than her and much more powerful?"

"She can conceal her aura," Marcus snapped, forgetting his manners as he stood abruptly. "It would not surprise me if that made her capable of wielding hunter weapons without repercussions and explain why we found no trace of another vampire at the scene."

"You know who else doesn't have a vampire aura and can wield hunter weapons? Vampire hunters," Thomas pointed out. "Besides, I know of a family of purebloods that could wield hunter weapons without being harmed by them that live over in Japan; it isn't that unusual of a talent to be honest."

"I've never heard of such ability-."

"Bullshit," Thomas laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. "I recall a certain pureblood we all know who carries around an anti-vampire jackal knife just for shits and giggles."

Marcus furrowed his brow before his eyes widened in understanding. "Are you implying that Lord Mason had a hand in Lady Coralline's death?"

Thomas gave the guard a lazy smile, running a hand back through his perpetually disheveled blond hair. "You said it, not me."

Nervous whispers broke out among the other guards at those words.

"You should consider yourselves lucky; had you entered my home or any other pureblood's with accusations such as these and the walls would have been painted with your blood."

"M-my lord-."

"You even admitted that your evidence is based on the fact that you have absolutely none. I suppose the ability to conceal her aura does make her a mighty fine scapegoat for the council," he commented, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Thomas, please don't-," Moira began to say though he shot her a look that read 'be quiet'.

"So, if you don't mind we will be taking our leave. Come, Moira."

"Lord Rousseau, you can't just-."

"Let me put this in words you simpletons can understand," he said suddenly, the smell of ozone filling the air as electricity sparked at his fingertips. The lights overhead flickered ominously and thunder could be heard echoing menacingly outside. "If you are truly wishing to go through with arresting her you will have to go through me first." His smile was completely disarming, eyes glinting garnet for a moment in the low lightning before fading back to stormy gray.

"The council will hear about this," Marcus stammered weakly though Thomas simply shrugged.

"I do not fear the council. Let's go."

Moira swallowed thickly, bowing her head and obediently followed the older vampire out the door.

No further words were exchanged between the pair until they were both in the car and off the manor grounds.

"Why are you doing this Thomas?" she asked, voice barely above a whisper though she knew he heard her.

"Years ago I made a promise. If anything happened to Cora and Sammy I swore to her I'd look after you," he grinned boyishly, playfully tousling her tawny hair and she resisted the urge to smack his hand away, keeping her own folded neatly in her lap. "Of course, I never actually thought I'd have to." His smile slowly faded to a more neutral expression and it was then that Moira could finally see a sliver of sorrow in his eyes.

"I felt it," she said softly after a moment. "I knew something was wrong but I just-."

He glanced over at her, a frown on his lips. "I forgot you two had a blood bond."

"Since I was born, thanks to our parents," Moira replied, resting a hand over the side of her neck. "I'm not sure exactly what happened but I do know this; she suffered."

"I didn't know such a bond reached so deeply."

"Neither did I," Moira agreed. "Thomas, may I ask you something?"

"Always."

"Do you-," she trailed off, clearing her throat. "Do you truly believe I am innocent?"

"To be honest, I have no doubt in my mind you could have killed them," Thomas said after a moment, merging onto the freeway. "I've seen you fight. You are as beautiful as you are deadly."

"Thanks Thomas," she scowled, turning to look out the passenger window as she swallowed past the lump in her throat.

"You misunderstand. I know you, Mo. Despite the dangerous blood that runs through your veins you are the most noble and merciful vampire I've ever met and I've been around a lot of vampires in my lifetime."

Moira glanced down at her lap, blinking back tears. It had been so long since she'd had someone on her side she'd forgotten how nice it felt.

"Anyway, I had to get you out of there before Marcus killed you."

"He wouldn't have been able to," she scoffed under her breath, grunting a bit when Thomas reached over and gave her a swift punch in the kidney.

"Listen to me Moira. I know of a place you can go for the next year or so. You're not gonna like it, but it's better than you staying here and having to constantly look over your shoulder."

"And where might that be?" she asked, borderline indifferent and curious.

"Japan."

"Japan?"

"You remember how I mentioned that pureblood family that lives over there?"

"The family that can wield hunter weapons freely?"

"Yeah. There's only one left. The rest of his family was killed by his uncle."

Moira frowned, fussing with a strand of hair that had fallen into her eyes. "How sad. I assume he did it for power."

"I don't know. My point is he attends a special school that allows humans and vampires to coexist though the former aren't aware that the latter are vampires."

"How interesting. I've never heard of such a thing. Whoever runs that school is either very bold or very foolish."

"You can say that again. The man who runs it is the 'Vampire without Fangs' after all."

Moira's eyes widened comically at that. "You're kidding me. That man's a legend, even over here."

Thomas grinned a bit. "Apparently he retired from hunting and runs the school."

"Is he even qualified to be running a school?"

"No idea. Anyway, that pureblood attends the school and acts as a sort of liaison between the school and the council in Japan. Do you see what I'm getting at Moira?"

She closed her eyes, sighing lightly when the realization set in. "No vampire would dare set foot on his territory without permission."

"Exactly. It's the safest place for you to be."

"I would figure the safest place was by your side," she replied with a raised eyebrow, a smile working its way onto her lips for the first time in a while.

"I wish I could say that was true," he murmured, giving her a sad smile.

Moira exhaled a soft sigh. "My Japanese isn't that good."

"Surely a sixteen hour flight will be plenty of time for you to brush up on it."

She dragged a hand through her hair, shutting her eyes before looking over at her new 'guardian' and sealing her fate. "Fine. I'll bite. What's the name of this school?"

"Cross Academy."

Sorry not sorry. Always wanted to write a Pureblood OC. We'll see how this goes. Pairing is eventual Kaname/OC and Zero/Yuuki. Yes, Yuuki doesn't deserve Zero but eh *shrug*. This is sort of a romance mystery if you want to categorize it as such. I needed some way to steer away from the typical VK story hence the introduction of a few original characters. I don't like writing multiple OCs in fanfiction because I feel like people then have to remember them all and it gets confusing. Thomas will be the main one, everyone else is sort of a background character. Taking some creative liberties with this one. Hope you enjoyed.