(*A/N: This story's set some five years or so ever since Kaname and Yuuki left Cross Academy. Aido, Ruka and Kain are staying over with them, and it's a total fastforward thingy...there's a new Council and everything...bleh ....

Aido's kinda angsting in the first bit, but it's more subdued now that he's accepted Kaname and Yuuki's relationship etc. etc...I've tried making him grow up a lil...he's still the same but his feelings for Yuuki aren't really...THAT obsessive anymore lol ... this one starts with a Kain and Aido thingy lol ...god i just love these two!! XD)

Disclaimer: I'll give you three options and there's only one of them that I actually CAN choose without a lawsuit being filed against me ^_^

Snow. Pure, falling, sunlit snow. Falling white tears frozen into flawless, crystallized purity, fading away to a silent, untainted death.

Untouched. Unclaimed. A mere remnant of what once I had known you to be.

So…beautiful.

The falling blossoms of the sakura tree planted right by your window drench the air in their subtle, delicate sweetness, a scent vivid enough to drive one to madness, and yet neither strong nor weak—merely there…a faint whirring insistence tugging against the senses.

I watch them fall, watch them mingle with the snow, watch them glimmer white-silver in the numinous winter moonlight which makes them appear no more than falling silver-flecked tears…I see only you. Frozen purity. Untainted innocence.

A soul so pure against the darkness of its world that to deny its virtue would be a lie in itself.

Even after all this…I…I still love you, Yuuki-chan.

Or should I say…Kuran Yuuki-sama?

The raw, aching wounds torn into the untouched flesh of my chest upon Kaname-sama's revelation have diminished now to dull, intermittent throbs of an agony I do not attempt to save myself from. My gaze loses focus. Nails no longer drive into sore flesh. My heart no longer finds within itself the strength to grieve, to rage, to storm so uselessly at a fate no power in this world could ever save you from.

A fate that, so swiftly, so inexorably, drew you away from me, carrying you away on its white wings towards the man who can spend an eternity and more by your side.

It has been…so long. So, so very long. A mere five years, and yet what would otherwise be mere, fleeting brushes of ephemeral transience to my senses, now stretches long and relentlessly—leaving my existence now a cruel, tainted mockery I know holds no more value.

A mere five years since you were revealed as the younger sister and…and… fiancée of the royal pureblood heir, Kuran Kaname.

A mere five years since Kurosu Gakuen was annihilated, an empty hollow shell of what was formerly a symbol of peace, of coexistence between two worlds that should otherwise never have ever met.

A mere five years since you and that hunter, Kiryuu Zero, parted ways.

A mere five years since you were that innocent human girl with hair cropped short till your shoulders and eyes that gazed wide and unknowing and so innocently at a world so dark, so terrible that a soul such as yours should never have been born into…she who stumbled over her feet and slipped over her words, who always blurted out the first thing that came to her mind, and who followed her prefect duties with the innocent, unwavering sincerity of a fool…

That girl who held a heart within her as loving, as affectionate, as accepting as it was strong, unshakable, capable of giving its love to anyone…anyone seeking its warmth—no matter how vile…no matter how tainted.

That girl…that girl that Aido Hanabusa had fallen so deeply, so irrevocably in love with.

No, no…she no longer lives. She is now a woman.

A woman I had lost myself to…whom I had already lost so…so many, many years ago, as she sat, waiting for another, by the Night Class staircase. A woman that was never mine to lose.

Kuran Yuuki.

Her hair now ripples in elegant jet-black skeins down her back—still gleaming with hints of its former wine-scarlet beneath the sunlight, her eyes hold now a composed serenity, a self-possessed guardedness so expected from those of her stature—her movements are fluid, sensual, holding the feline, vampiric grace of a Kuran pureblood…no longer the lively, springing trot of a young girl. Her face lacks the childlike softness of her youth, now planed and angled, yet still holding an exquisiteness absent in her brother's…

What now I see in my mind, is a woman—her features now planed, finer, a subtle sharpness along the dainty chin and high, refined cheekbones, a darkening somehow to the brows and lashes, a sudden, yet gradual appearance of pleasing shape and curves to a formerly girlish frame that only my heated, feverish, sweat-riddled dreams of yearning, unfulfilled desire can lay claim upon…

And yet…and yet…her heart remains the same. The same generous, almost foolish welcoming of all drawing to the warmth she unconsciously allows all the world to partake of—even despite the lack of familiarity her role of a pureblood demands of her…the same trusting nature, the same endearing constancy of honorifics when she speaks to us—even now she sometimes, mistakenly, addresses me as senpai…

Of that…I have no fear. Her role as a pureblood has not taken away that untainted purity of spirit that had so made me love her as I did…that same undefiled innocence which, despite her growing maturity in this new world she had been so abruptly thrust into, remained untouched…the same girl Kiryuu Zero had loved with a love that rivalled my own for her in its dark, violent depth, in its jealous, murderous, possessive intensity…that same girl he had sworn to kill were they ever to meet again, merely because he the hunter and she the pureblood could never be truly be as one…

The sole cause of her tears. The sole cause of the thousands of sleepless nights I spend, fighting back my own tormented anguish to sense the dark, serpentine ripples of grief that brush against my consciousness—so intimately linked with hers, knowing it to be her grief…knowing it to be her pain…knowing, hating that bastard for causing her so to weep at a friendship so recklessly broken…

And yet…knowing that I would have reacted the same way—knowing that I too would have sought to distance myself from her…this last, futile attempt of denied emotion, knowing as I would have that in light of the present circumstances, no power in the world could ever have compelled her to want to belong to me as I so longed to belong to her….

Knowing that it is Kaname-sama's arms that close around her, comforting her those nights…

Knowing that it is Kaname-sama's lips that press softly against her own, brushing away her tears, murmuring gentle words of comfort…

Knowing that it is Kaname-sama who holds her heart within his grasp…"Hanabusa, that's the fifth glass of wine you've managed to freeze over."

Akatsuki's voice is short, clipped—even now, his slight irritation over his inability to refuse my skipping duties yet one more time, rankles.

I glance up at him, already clad in his dark travelling cloak, tie drawn neatly up to his neck—an anomaly somehow to his usual near bare-chested appearance, the languid lack of a tie, the casual unbuttoned exposure of the shirt, and feel a small tug at my lips. "Prettying yourself up already, huh?" I observe, feeling a sudden lightening fill my chest. Trust Akatsuki to save me from the inner hell I must acknowledge as my ignored conscience. Trust Akatsuki to know. Trust Akatsuki to accept my love for her. "Is that really what being engaged to the woman you've loved since you were in your diapers do?"

He growls and swipes at my head—I duck, grinning, holding up the glass of wine towards him. "You mind? I'm going to need it to keep me up and about with Yuuki-ch…sama-" even now my tongue falters slightly over the honorific. "-under my protection."

Akatsuki glares at me. His engagement to Ruka, after the customary half-year of courtship, had sobered him even more than her inability to accept his feelings for her during our younger years had. "It's the fifth damn time you're staying back…" he grumbles now half-heartedly, though continuing to dust the ruffles along his collar, neatening himself up even more for the impending visit to the newly-reinstated council under Kaname-sama's unacknowledged supremacy, where his soon-to-be father-in-law, Souen Shoutaro, Ruka's otousama, would be one of the members—a duty he and I shared in turns to accompany our pureblood leader for, a duty I now found myself escaping from more and more, so as to fulfil the other, far more appealing prospect that lay for me were I to do so. "Thank your stars Kaname-sama's not suspecting anything…not yet at least."

I grin as he runs a solitary finger over the wine glass, melting its contents into dark fluidity. I take a long drink, feeling the spiced darkness flow down my throat. "Ah, come on…it's not like you've ever enjoyed staying back either, eh? From what I remember, you always wanted to be the one in the middle of all the action."

Akatsuki rolls his eyes. "You speak of a council Kaname-sama has wrapped around his little finger. They fall to his feet, fawning and slavering, were he even to look their way."

"Including Shoutaro-ojiisama?"

He flinches slightly at the sound of the name, a momentary shudder passing through him. I chuckle with glee at his discomfort. "He alone may be the sole exception," Akatsuki mutters, running a hand nervously through his mussed red-gold hair.

Another sip of wine. "Which would explain why you'd make a far better advisor to Kaname-sama than me, Akatsuki."

My cousin pours himself a drink as well. Unlike the sweet languor of the red wine I now drink, he prefers the sharper tang of white. "I see not how. Enlighten me."

I shrug. "Simple," I said, beginning to count off my fingers—knowing that he knows the true, unspoken reason, our banter a mere casual mockery between brothers. "You know all too well your place among vampiric nobility. I do not. You prefer actually being in the middle of a course of events which will eventually shape the movements of vampiric history. I do not. You prefer accompanying our…um…what was it? Gang leader? Ah, yes…gang leader, to such events. I do not. You find no reason to want to disobey his every, cursorily-thrown order towards you. I do not. Need any reasons more? I have several."

He frowns, folding his arms across his chest, gazing at me. "You would disobey Kaname-sama?" Akatsuki's words are incredulous, eyebrows raised in mild disbelief. "Hanabusa, am I hearing this from you?"

I look at him, tone and gaze rivalling each other in their categorical manner. "My loyalty to Kaname-sama was relinquished a long time ago. You know that, Akatsuki."

Akatsuki continues to frown at me. "And that would explain why you've been drowning your sorrows all this while?" He waves a hand over the several glasses of wine littering the table.

I gaze unseeingly at the glass in my hand. "Perhaps," I murmur, accepting with a sense of grim fatality how unconsciously I continue to suffer without her.

Akatsuki shakes his head, sighing at what I know to be my gaze when I turn to stare longingly towards the darkened staircase, which I know lead to our lady's chambers. "Yuuki-ch…sama-" I pause, closing my eyes, taking another, deeper draught, feeling the familiar sensation akin to champagne bubbles rising in my chest at the thought of…of her, knowing that it is not merely the wine which causes this. "Yuuki…sama is the only reason I no longer wish to accompany Kaname-sama to the Council, Akatsuki. You…you of all others should know that."

My cousin sighs, taking another sip of his drink. He leans forward, abruptly smacking me across the head.

Riled, I round on him angrily—angered at him for spoiling the mood. "HOI! What the hell was that for, Akatsuki?"

He finishes his wine with another gulp, palm swiping across his chin to capture the white droplets. "You're overly melodramatic today, Hanabusa," Akatsuki comments. "It bores me to death."

"So that's no reason to hit me for it! That hurt, Akatsuki!"

"Ahhh, that does it," he relaxes. "Now you're back to your normal self. Yell, yell some more, will you? You're beginning to sound more and more like Ruka-"

"Don't say it-" I growl, taking menacingly to my feet—the intent to mildly incapacitate, if not kill, rising in icy sheets from my fingertips. "Don't say it, Akatsuki-"

Akatsuki rolls his eyes, unfazed. "Drink your wine like a good boy, Hanabusa…" he pours me a drink and passes it over. A peace offering, Kain Akatsuki-style. "It'll…keep you up for Yuuki-sama, ne?"

Stymied momentarily at the sound of her name, I merely sulk—raising the drink to my lips and taking a long gulp. "I know I can't…I shouldn't feel like this for her," I admit, knowing and hating the tremble in my voice, sipping again. The wine keeps away the pain. "But there's no reason for you keep reminding me of it!" I snap nastily at him with renewed vigour, glaring at my cousin.

His eyes raise slightly, lips moving silently, forming soundless words, fingers twitching a little.

My glare deepens. "What is it?"

Akatsuki smirks. "Just counting down the days, Hanabusa."

I feel my irritation rise, threatening to explode through the roof of my skull, almost feeling the steam rise from my ears. "Counting down the days till what exactly?" I ask snappily, knowing that it is something that will cause me to want to empty the fluid contents of the glass I hold in my hand over his head.

Akatsuki's grin widens fractionally. "Counting down the days till the gang leader decides that Hana-chan's pretty blonde head looks even prettier off its shoulders."

I let out a yelp of outrage, more so at the childish nickname Ruka had made up for me—aiming a smack at my taller cousin's head, forgetting completely the better weapon I held in the form of my wine-glass.

Akatsuki doubles over, shaking helplessly now with laughter—holding back my half-hearted effort at striking him with a single raised elbow. "You're priceless…" my cousin declares, eyes lit with mirth—something I had only seen in him as a child. His union with Ruka had mellowed him greatly. "You're becoming more and more like…like Kiryuu these days, you know that? Always whining and bitching about Kaname-sama—and behind his back too—and that he's the only reason you can't…you can't…"

It is only a deep swig of the wine that alleviates the slow burning in my chest—glaring peevishly at him, tamed now into sitting back to my seat, arms crossed over my chest. "I know what it's like for both of us, okay? You're bored stiff here at home, I'm bored stiff off there in the Council. You fall asleep here at home and Yuuki-ch…sama gets horribly bored and sets about finding the most adorable ways of setting the house on fire. I fall asleep in the Council meetings and have to suffer being mentally beheaded by Kaname-sama every time. Every. Damn. Time! You see your being seen standing next to Kaname-sama as license enough to elope and have a thousand babies with Ruka were Shoutaro-ojiisama to even glance your way. I…" I pause, closing my eyes, feeling the familiar warm strains of protectiveness creep into my chest. "Whatever little time I can spend by Yuuki-ch…sama's side…I will."

Akatsuki is silent for a while, a hint of a grin playing at his lips, though only my eyes can see the slight melancholy behind it. "Sentimental bastard," he mutters.

"Opportunist."

"Simpleton."

"Baka!"

"Village idiot."

"Juvenile!"

"Hana-chan."

I fling a cushion at him. "You're no better, Su…Suki-chan!" I howl back at him. Were we still to have been children, I would perhaps have stuck out my tongue.

Akatsuki chuckles, raising his hands in a placating manner. "Doesn't change the fact that you speak of Yuuki-sama as though she were a puppy or kitten, Hana-chan…" I fling another cushion at him in outrage. He catches it easily, replacing it onto the couch, and straightens up, tugging onto his tie once more. "Just what exactly do you do whenever you two are all alone together, huh?"

I feel a heat steadily beginning to rise up my cheeks. "That's none of your business," I mumble, crossing my legs unconsciously.

Akatsuki's brows rise in a manner so reminiscent of Ruka's that the similarity does not go by unnoticed. "You…you…" His head falls to his hand, shaking with suppressed mirth. "Hanabusa, you brainless wanker-"

"That's not what I meant!" I howled, leaping for him, knowing how he so had interpreted my crossing of legs. "Pervert!" I lunge forward, intent on punching him when—

"Kaname-sama-" Akatsuki tawny, hawk-like gaze falls towards the staircase, holding me back with a single open palm resting easily against my head, while my wild struggling slowly ceases. "You'd best clear up this mess, Hanabusa." He motions towards the several opened bottles and wine-glasses that littered the table.

I straighten, feeling my movements turning strangely stiff, jerky, almost robot-like with the impending arrival. I feel Akatsuki sigh, shaking his head at what he perceives to be my childishness, my inability to accept my place—and I do not blame him. As much as my vampire senses compel me to revere and fear a pureblood—and especially Kaname-sama, whom my conscience refuses to allow me to betray, because of the terrible, inexplicable jealousy that had compelled me to speak so cruelly of him as an ignorant child…the emotion that stirs now within me at the sight of the tall, dark-haired pureblood making his silent way down the stairs, is something akin to…to…resentment. Bitterness. Almost…almost hatred.

My reasons for these are simple. I was jealous. Plain and simple. Dangerously, murderously, inexplicably jealous.

Jealous that he could so lay claim upon the only woman I had ever truly loved.

Jealous that he held this power before me like a child mocking its playmate with a shinier toy—taunting me, tormenting me, intent on having me lose my mind to the boundless, impotent anguish that it so causes me to see her belong so…so irrevocably to another.

Jealous that…that he is the only one who causes my beautiful Yuuki's eyes to gleam with love and darken with desire, who causes her body to soften against his in pliant yearning, and causes those lips to tremble, whispering that she is only…only his. His.

Were I to have been born a pureblood…I would not have hesitated to take his life with my own hands then.

Even as I bow, a toneless "Kaname-sama…" escaping my lips—not needing to see from the corner of my eye Akatsuki's actions mirroring mine, his bow far, far deeper than my own—the motions my body involuntarily assume are hollow, meaningless, almost mechanical—no longer holding the desire to atone, nor seek forgiveness, and acceptance. Call it a weakness of nature that compelled me so to…to pity the pureblood almost—compelling me to so will myself to occupy a lesser, inferior position to him…the least I could do somehow, to lessen the pain my cruel words must have caused him as a child.

My feelings for Kaname-sama were far from being the same as Ruka's. Unlike her, I actually had a tangible reason for so wishing to serve the pureblood. There was no reason for infatuation. It was the same as putting a reason to an occurrence as wonderful, as inconvenient and feared and celebrated as love.

And what had Ruka's emotions been but confused infatuation? What had mine been but an inescapable encounter with a conscience that would not let me rest until I gained Kaname-sama's acceptance, his forgiveness?The pureblood's dark, crimson-flecked eyes flicker momentarily over us, before his voice—smooth, dark, silken, speaks.

"You wish to stay back yet once more, Aido?"

My eyes snap up towards him in disbelief, momentarily stunned at the faint, unfamiliar trace of amusement lightening a tone otherwise so cold, so cursory—feeling the familiar unpleasant coil of bitter jealousy flare to life within me at the near-impossible magnificence of the dark-haired pureblood leader. I had, earlier, fixed my eyes resolutely to the patent suede-leather shoes concealing his feet.

Hair darker than the midnight sky by the windows falling in straight, untamed locks to his shoulders, dark, slanting eyes holding, almost tauntingly, the same hints of wine-scarlet as that of his younger sister, a slim, ascetic face—holding the remote melancholic beauty so seen among royalty—graced with the features of a young god, a frame lean and pale—as slender as a birch branch, and yet holding a strength, a power inexplicable to my mind, veins rife with the purest, most undiluted blood of the vampire ancients.

The pureblood stands before me—his dark raiment simple, and yet the understated appeal holding to it a seamless elegance, a faultless refinity I cannot ever truly hope to reach to.

Kuran Kaname. A god among men and vampires alike. The undisputed pureblood among purebloods.

The sole barrier to the only true happiness I had ever known.

And yet, I continue to assume this position of willing servitude to him.

"I-I…I do, Kaname-sama," I mumble, lowering my eyes once more, feeling a sudden embarrassed heat beginning to rise along my neck, knowing that I had no reason to offer were he to question my motives. I had no reason, no explanation to give…save for the one that would have me lying, broken, bleeding onto the ground in mere moments were he to hear it. "If it were to act in accordance to your wish of Yuuki…sama's protection-"

He does not miss the delay in the honorific—the fractional raise to his eyebrow is sole testament to this. "They remain so, as much as I do doubt the reasons behind your repeated stays," the pureblood murmurs, beginning to pull on the dark trench coat lying atop the table in a neat pile Akatsuki and I had avoided like the plague. "I do so wonder why."

Akatsuki stiffens slightly, gaze flickering slightly at me. All time seems to stop. I keep my gaze lowered, unwilling to meet his own dark, dangerous one—knowing that were I to do so, it would be my own undoing, knowing this and cursing my weakness. "I…I…"

"To where do I see this shift in loyalties, Aido?" Kaname-sama questions, his voice conversational, almost perfunctory—and yet, it would be a fool to miss the ominous flicker behind what would otherwise be a simple intonation. "Do you see this evasion as some kind of an escape from a duty you would not otherwise choose? Or am I to wonder…" the air around me chills as he takes a step towards me. Kaname-sama's stride has now been reduced to the languorous stalk of a predator, the slight amusement in his voice now lost in a darker, shadowy reminiscence of its earlier form. "Am I to wonder then that your abstinence from the Council hints that you choose to alienate yourself from such…trivial matters, hmm, Aido?" His voice is a silken threat. "That you would rather spend your time in the pursuit of a foolish interest that would most probably have your ashes lying at my feet?"

The familiar dark spear of agony probing into my mind—I reel back, gasping, as the flashes of memory fill my very being.

"You're really…really…tempting me…Yuuki-chan…"

Hot, heaving breath. Aroused, feverish sweat. Blood, rushing in sweet, silken spurts through vein. Her wrist in mine—the skin as smooth, as pale as a sheet of milky porcelain; she stands now in my arms—her frame so slender, so delicate that I fear the smallest release of the passion curling a fire in my belly at her nearness would break her…our proximity almost an embrace—and my senses, starved of her sight, her scent, the taste of her breath, the color of her smile, the cool breeze of her laughter…they now crave for her blood.

"Aido-senpai…stop! Please! Drinking on the academy grounds is forbidden, you know that! Please stop!"

Her eyes, coloured as the blackest roses, widen in fear, bewilderment, confusion, anger, worry—flickering towards the two Day Class girls lying in a heap a few feet behind her. And yet…what is this? A flicker of nervous excitement? Desire? Longing? Blood fires through my veins in a heady rush—I pull her closer, tongue beginning to lave the warm, moist flesh of her wrist…

"Just a bite…just a little bite…just a drop of your blood…Yuuki-chan…"

Do you see what you do to me? Do you feel the pleasurable hardening of my aroused manhood pressing against the back of your thigh as I tighten my hold over you—both from the dark sweetness of your scented blood, as well as your nearness to me? Do you feel the frenzied pounding of my heart beginning to tear wounds of inexplicable sweetness into my chest? Do you sense the first drops of sweat beginning to stain my brow, the slight panting rush to the breaths I draw in now, blood rushing to my steadily-hardening manhood as I draw you even closer?

Liar. I know you do.

"A-Aido…sen…sen…pai…"

My tongue reaches out, keeping the bite of my fangs as gentle as I can, lapping softly at the trickle of blood blossoming against the pale silk of your wrist…a dark pearl against a swathe of gossamer…

The agony recedes with the abruptness of intended torment, leaving me winded—knees crumpling beneath me—I collapse atop the table, breathless, panting, breath wheezing in shallow, laboured gasps, pride allowing only my palms before me to break my fall and have me sprawled across the gleaming wood.

A trickle of blood by my cheek. I had bitten my tongue in an effort to negate the pain.

This…lack of trust, this suspicion arising from the pureblood…it does not surprise me. And yet…and yet, why do my eyes burn with unshed tears? Why? From the memory, perhaps? From the longing drawn from my barren heart, watching a memory of the days when I was freer to love her as I so wished to?

From the fact, perhaps, that Kaname-sama saw me as a threat because of my irrevocable desire for blood? From the fact that, perhaps, he perceived the depth of unrequited emotion I held for his lover? What else could have aroused such a deep bloodlust, aside from love—or a yearning, lust-ridden hunger deep enough to banish all thought of restraint?

A hint of triumph quivers within me. Could it be possible that the formidable pureblood saw me as a…as a rival?

A rustle of cloth. A jarring darkness crashing softly against my own like the waves of a poisonous ocean. "You see now where my fears most lie, Aido?" Kaname-sama's presence is a dark, swirling sentinel against my own, which cowers now like a wounded animal. Haggard. Faded. "You see now why I cannot but question your motives of suddenly assuming that you even have a choice in the matter? How then am I supposed to trust my Yuuki's protection upon your hands?"

The faint hint of an emphasis on my is an agony far greater than any suffering I may experience by the pureblood's infliction. The faint underlying message behind his eloquence is clear—he thought I longed to stay behind and protect my beautiful Yuuki only because…only because…

Only because you desire her blood…

Akatsuki's eyes are closed in pain, steeling himself away from a natural brotherly instinct I know he would otherwise react to—leaping to my defence for a cause I know he sympathizes with me for. He does not move to help me—knowing at once that to do so, would court death, as well as shatter whatever little pride I had salvaged by remaining as I did so.

I straighten up with whatever little dignity remaining with me, keeping my eyes fixed resolutely onto Kaname-sama's shoes, watching the patterns of light glimmering upon the dark leather. "You have no need to fear. My loyalty…lies with Yuuki-sama and Yuuki-sama alone," I speak softly, but from where within myself I find the strength to raise my eyes and fix them onto his, to bring that note of steadiness to my voice, I will never know. "You need not fear for her safety…Kaname-sama. I…I would not dare to forget my place so."

The pureblood is silent, dark, fathomless eyes seeming to scour within my soul, mercilessly wringing out its deepest, darkest secrets—hunting for that faint, elusive trace of revelation which would so justify his arm to raise, striking me down to an effortless death. Even now, I feel the dark spears of agony jabbing against my consciousness—seamless, unforced, almost…almost half-hearted now, knowing as he does that I would never intentionally do anything to hurt his…his lover.

A momentary lapse. I wince, tears springing to my eyes at a particularly sharp probe—grasp tightening over the chair nearest to me, teeth gritting, an involuntary "Unh!" of pain escaping my lips.

But even then, I give him nothing. He can never know. I will never let him know. My cousin, standing by the pureblood—silent, suffering—will forever remain the only one to know the dark, hopeless depth of my love for his younger sister and lover…Yuuki.

Kaname-sama withdraws, a faint glimmer of reassurance flickering across his dark eyes—deeming me no longer a threat, and steps away, his stride smooth, unruffled. My cousin follows silently.

I know not what stops me from collapsing onto the table once more.

The pureblood lord pauses abruptly—a movement as fluid as liquid silk, and yet what causes Akatsuki to nearly walk into him. A pale profile—as finely-carved as the purest sculptures of ice-like ivory found in the mountains of the north—turns towards me, eyes dark, infinite, to all appearances mild, almost amused—the ominous waves of danger rolling off in subtle waves, causing the hair along my arms to stand on its edge.

At his closer proximity, I wonder what Akatsuki must feel—to experience, from a nearer immediacy a pureblood's warning of future punishment.

Kaname-sama says nothing, merely gazes at me—marvelling somehow at this newfound strength, at once impressed as well as guarded, knowing what lies here at stake. I pray that he knows nothing, that he senses nothing, that he remains ignorant of the emotion that binds us together to the same woman. The pureblood lord is not known as omniscient for nothing.

And yet…to have hidden something as life-threatening from him for so, so very long…

When he speaks, it causes a ripple of coldness to cascade down my spine.

"Know your place when you so choose to remain behind, Aido. Know that the only reason I allow you even the slightest propinquity with my lover, is because she has…requested it," the faintest hint of aghast disbelief flicker across his features. "Know that it is only the power roused within your blood along with her awakening as a Kuran pureblood because of your…attentions-" he spoke the word as though it made his teeth hurt. "-that allows me to have you remain her shield. Know that I shall make you beg for your death were you to…overstep your boundaries, Aido."

Somehow…somehow, I have accustomed myself to this cold, cursory treatment. It is no different from his treatment of me during our days at Kurosu Gakuen.

But to know that Yuuki herself has requested me to stay…a quiver of hope trembles within my chest—one that I suppress now, for fear of Kaname-sama discovering it…feeling a sudden heady sensation explode to life within my heart, exhilarating me, like the thrilling intoxication of dark wine. Yuuki…Yuuki had requested me to stay? She had…she had requested it? She wished me to stay with her? She wished me to stay by her side?I dare not raise my eyes, for fear of Kaname-sama catching sight of the irrepressible joy that gleams there now.

And despite my happiness…the pureblood's words are relentless. To break a man's spirit…it is child's play for Kaname-sama.

"Know that Kuran Yuuki's blood, body and heart are mine and mine alone, and forever shall remain so…Aido Hanabusa."

And he is gone, stride holding the same undeniable majesty of the power he so effortlessly wields, cloak flaring from behind him as the great doors of the mansion open of their own accord, letting in a rush of cold wind, allowing him to leave. As a whim, the pureblood leaves them slightly open to admit Akatsuki.

My cousin lingers—an overt break of protocol, which demands one of lesser status to immediately follow a pureblood. Despite this, he stays. Akatsuki's eyes are lowered, shameful, unable to look at me. "We'll…be back come dawn," he mutters, his voice a low growl. He shuffles uncertainly. "Just don't…don't do anything stupid, okay? You…you know he knows. And he still lets you stay with her. Don't…don't give him a reason to kill you…okay?"

I cannot look at him, merely standing there by the table, eyes fixed onto its polished garnet surface. A clench of nails against fist. Blood trickles from between my fingers. Teeth dig violently, helplessly into the flesh of my lips.

Even now…even now, I am pushing away the pain.

Akatsuki turns. "You really do still love her…ne, Hanabusa?" he throws over his shoulder, gaze now meeting mine—eyes rueful. "Enough to court Kaname-sama's wrath? Even though you know…"

The wine glass splinters—dark, fluid wine now crystallizing into crimson shreds of frozen serration that fall down to the table in thousands of shards, settling into soft crimson ash. Blood pounds through my veins. A numbing sensation begins to envelop my limbs.

"Leave, Akatsuki," I whisper.

My cousin's eyes cloud over slightly, but he does not speak, turning on his heel and striding briskly away. The doors close. I am left alone.

And even now, I cannot allow myself to yield to temptation and so allow this agonized despair to overcome me completely as I so wish it to. My duty forbids me this. I have…someone to protect.

Someone more precious to me than all form of life and existence itself.

My princess. My sweet, beautiful angel. Kuran Yuuki.