Disclaimer: Vampire Knight belongs to Hino Matsuri.

Come on, skinny love, just last the year

Pour a little soul, we never here

Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer.

Tell my love to wreck it all, cut all of the ropes and let me fall

Right at the moment, this order's tall.

-x-

THE PRELUDE

-x-

Chairman Kurosu calmly hung up the phone.

And dove from his desk.

There was no hesitation. He did not pause. He did not falter. He did not grab his coat, and he almost forgot to open the door. He barreled down the stairs of his on-campus home, darted out the door, and beelined across the Grand Courtyard.

The sun was shining, the wind was humming, the birds were chirping, but the Chairman barely seemed to notice. He did not slow his rapid gait until he was smack dab in front of the gates of the Moon Dorms – hardly an obstacle. He threw open the wrought-iron gates and barged through. Taking a deep breath, and preparing his most ominous and serious voice, he leapt up the steps to the formal entrance in threes, and threw the heavy double oak doors open with inhuman strength.

"Students! Attention! Pack your things! You must be immediately transferred to a new facility!"

Silence.

The main hall of the Moon Dorm mansion was utterly abandoned. The chandelier glimmered, newly dusted, in the middle of the room. The pillows on the couches had been very recently plumped. The carpets and rugs were freshly laundered. The marble floors had been recently scrubbed. It held no signs of human or nonhuman inhabitation. Kurosu remembered that it was Sunday morning, and midday, no less; he kicked himself a little for the lapse in judgment and remembered that it was ridiculous to expect anybody to be up in the Moon Dorms anywhere within a six hour radius of the morning, regardless of what day it was. His harried trek across campus was not to be wasted, though. Undaunted, Kurosu slammed one oak door shut and proceeded to torpedo around, setting records for scandalized vampire shrieks, waking up more people within ten minutes than Ichijou ever could.

The Kain/Aidou suite was greeted by the morning as Kurosu ripped the curtains – and the curtain rod – from the wooden window frames. The Shiki/Ichijou suite was welcomed into the day with two basins brimming with cold water. The Soen/Touya suite was awakened by the banging of what used to be Rima's bedpost against the rapidly disintegrating doorframe. Leaping from door to door, with angry, tired, homicidal teenagers stumbling down the hall in his wake, Kurosu made his way up and down the hall, twice, and quickly gathered every resident, grouchy and sleep-deprived, into the lounge at the atrium. As they settled around the room in barely contained rage, the Chairman restated his prior ejaculation, beamed cheerfully at his cute students, and waited patiently while they turned it over in their sleepy heads.

"What? Why?" Aidou demanded, sprawled inelegantly in a chintz chair. He was the first to successfully run the message through his tired brain and come out with something even close to decipherable. The majority of his dormmates were still dozing off, cross-legged on the carpet.

"Well," Kurosu replied happily, "What do you know, and surprise of surprises, but I just got a call from your mother to check my calendar."

"My mother called you?" Aidou deadpanned, staring incredulously at the impudent sunlight streaming through the still-open doorway. "Why is she up?"

"Excellent question, Aidou-kun!" Kurosu beamed, seemingly unaware of the irritating effect his perpetual cheeriness was having on the population of the atrium. "I was rather confused as well, until she asked me quite pleasantly if I intended to do anything about 'it'. Now, I know what you're all thinking –"

"That it's two in the afternoon?"

"– but when I expressed my confusion and desire for further clarification, the lovely source of half your chromosomes suggested that I check my calendar!" Kurosu paused, looking around, and was rewarded with nothing more than a round of annoyed eyes.

"Go on."

"Well," the Chairman continued, unfazed, "I did so, since I am rarely graced with calls from Kaoru-dono, and I ran this curious sequence through my head, and discovered that, what do you know, starting tomorrow, it's the first week of mating season."

Loooooooooooooong pause.

"We have a mating season?" Rima rubbed her eye from her belly-down position on the couch.

"I never knew," muttered a male vampire crouching by the coffee table.

"What's a mating season?" said Shiki.

Kurosu paused, thought for a moment.

"When a girl and a boy love each other very much, Senri –"

Shiki made a disgrunted noise and slamed his head into a couch cushion.

"Not that," Rima deadpanned, bleary-eyed and cross.

The Chairman blushed slightly, then amended his prior statement.

"To answer your question, Senri, it's like a thing animals do. Sorry," he excused himself at the rather incredulous looks caused by his metaphor. "In the interest of propagation, most species experience a sudden hormonal rush in the spring that, well, gives them the urge to merge. But technically, since everybody here is of Noble class, you don't really have much of a mating season…"

"Well, then," Ruka yawned from the loveseat, "Why are we being moved?"

"Because," Kurosu frowned, trying to find a way to explain. "The mating thing sort of filters down the bloodline purity chain. Humans don't have it, because they're a purified, homogenous race. But in vampire society, only the purebloods are, well, pure. Everyone else – even you lovely children – have the potential to degrade down to bloody animals. Don't look at me like that, Ruka-chan. I'm not saying it's going to happen. But we all know what the C-classes are like. I guess you can think of it as the more beastly you get, the more mating season affects you. For most of you, there will be…urges. Honestly, I'm rather surprised none of you know this."

"We're nobles," Aidou said bluntly. "I think we can handle urges."

The Chairman sighed, and considered explaining. He ran an eye over the room, trying to find one of the older vampires, spotted a target, and leapt.

"Kain-kun!" the Chairman rounded on the redhead. Kain looked up, surprised.

"Yes?"

"You are of age, aren't you?"

"Have been for fifteen years," he replied with no enthusiasm.

"Good, so you've experienced it before," Kurosu nodded. "This will be better than me trying to preach to you. Be a dear tell them how uncomfortable it is to resist the urges."

Kain blinked. Most of the room was now wide awake, and concentrated on him.

"Well…yeah," he shifted uncomfortably. "It's nothing much around the beginning…a few twinges, and you're a little more aggressive and impulsive, some changes in behavior, but nothing too out of the ordinary. Towards the end, it hurts. It gets worse, later and later in the week."

"Week?" Aidou demanded. "How come you never told me about this?" The blonde suddenly looked scandalized. "Is this why you wouldn't leave the bathroom for three whole days last year?"

"It's only the first week that affects you," Kurosu interjected, "After that, it doesn't, anymore. After the first week, they…you know…have kids. It's why the regular class is much more densely populated than you are. Besides, even if it's just trifling urges for you dear children for a short period during the spring, please note, my cute little vampires, there are still some issues. Vampires are naturally drawn to those with greater bloodline purity than they themselves. This tendency is exaggerated during mating. Considering the massive influx of newly ex-human and E-class vampires caused by the late Rido-sama –" the entire room simultaneously bristled, "we – that is, your parents and I – are extremely concerned with the increasing possibility that you will be…victimized."

The blonde man cocked his head as if fishing for the right word. "You know what I mean, don't you?"

"We can just kill them," Shiki offered.

"Ohoho, now, we can't have you doing that," Kurosu chirped happily, "This is a peaceful facility. I will not have any killing of anything on this campus. We get all our meat imported, you know. But preparations have already begun. I put in a quick ring with the Association before I headed over here. We will be shutting down the Day Dorms and sending the students home for spring holiday. Vampires often need to feed more frequently during mating, you see. In the lower classes, it's a free-for-all – and an unfortunately busy season for the hunters. Not only do vampires become aggressive towards each other, but they are almost blindly aggressive towards humans. Your parents, of course, contacted me to convey their decision that you are likely safer here than at the open expanses of your estates."

"Wait," Ruka held up one hand, the other pinching the bridge of her fine nose. "Why is this even a problem? Trifling romantic urges? I don't understand what you have to fear. There has never been an issue before. I have never had a problem not jumping someone."

"Well, I think it's more of a problem of them getting us than us getting each other," Takuma offered cheerfully.

"Like they could," Rima grumbled. Before the Chairman could rebuke her, two pairs of feet - one leather-clad, one bare - appeared on the stairs. Kurosu started, and jumped from his seat.

"Kaname-kun! Yuuki!" the Chairman beamed. The gathering of vampires shot up from their slouched perches, bowing before the descent of the two purebloods.

"Chairman?" Yuuki blinked from the staircase, yawning. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, well," Kurosu sighed dejectedly. "Now I'm going to have to explain it all again."

"No need," Kaname waved him off. "Hanabusa's father has contacted me. I will proceed from here. Ruka," he now directed his attention towards the brunette, "it is an issue of your safety now, because lower level vampires only attack non-mated vampires and vampires of mating age who have not yet entered into a blood-bound engagement contract. Mated or engaged vampires are at no risk, as well as the younger vampires, those who have yet to reach reproductive matuirty. It is unfortunate that this year, in addition to the increased population of volatile C-classes, most of you are now of, or have just reached, age. And to my knowledge, none of you have yet to begin negotiations for blood contracts."

"I can vouch for the Chairman," Takuma chirped. "I've been of age for some time now, too. And I think, Seiren?"

Kaname's bodyguard nodded tersely.

"Though most of you can more than capably protect yourselves," Kaname continued gently, "in this case, neither the Chairman nor I see any reason for you to be put at risk of attack by mating vampires. You are all still young and inexperienced with the situation. The lower classes are many, and they are especially strong during mating season. They will find you, like moth to a flame. While you may begin the week with the ability to fend them off, you will find that your actions and your self-control will rapidly erode. Eventually, you will be blood contracted, or experienced enough to know how to properly deal with the prospect of constant attack. You will learn how to handle the situation on your own. But this year, there are too many hazards in play."

He paused, letting his words sink in.

"Tonight," he continued in his soft, measured voice, "You will be transferred to an isolated facility that is being remodelled and reinforced as we speak. Shiki, Rima, and a few others here will be enlisted as control. The rest of you will be sent home, unless you wish to volunteer to guard the building. Those two dozen who are of age, you will be contained and locked, separately and individually, within facilities equipped to see to all your needs. This is the easiest and most efficient way we can ensure your safety, and reduce the amount of damage to both the school and the Chairman's reputation."

Kaname sat down, looked up and locked eyes with each member of his audience.

"This is not a request. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Kaname-sama," came the wave of voices. There was no arguing with Kaname Kuran. The chairman beamed happily from his place beside Kaname's chair.

"What about you, Kaname-sama, Yuuki-sama?" Aidou questioned. "Are you to be locked in as well?"

"No," Kaname replied, softly smoothing Yuuki's hair as she blinked tiredly. "As the Chairman has stated, mating season does not affect purebloods. However, we will be more hindrance than help here. Our blood may draw more dangers than you may otherwise incur. We will leave tomorrow morning. We are going with Ouri as guests of the Earl of Hargreaves in England."

Aidou sat back, satisfied that the Kurans would be living under considerably better conditions than the rest of them (as, of course, purebloods should be). In the wake of the announcement, the Night Class began trying to settle into the idea of being in a confined space for a yet unspecified amount of time.

"Chairman," Kain said suddenly, "How long is this detention going to last? Will we be confined for the entire season?"

"It's not detention," the Chairman protested, then paused, "Well, actually, I guess if you choose the correct definition it is detention…nevertheless, mating season lasts two months of the spring, but you only need to be contained for the first week; from thereon your urges will subside. However, I must encourage you to remember that this is a new experience for most of you. While you have chosen to spend time at the Academy, most of your peers are already contracted by your age, and will never experience it. I myself have never experienced the phenomenon, but I have read the literature. And I assure you," he almost winced, "next Sunday will be thoroughly unpleasant to live through."

He paused to let his words sink in, and then smiled, brightly.

"Considering the circumstances, classes are cancelled today. Household staff are being sent from the Aidou and Kain compounds to assist you in packing your belongings. Please cooperate with them. You will be situated within the compound before midnight. Understand?"

A wave of halfhearted mumbles was his reply. The Chairman took their response as a positive, beamed, waved cheerfully and flounced away.

-x-

Ruka stood at the center of her room, lording over the half-dozen maids frantically trying to pack her entire closet before midnight. Poplin and silk and chiffon were being flung madly around the room, items disappearing into large trunks and cases as her side of the dorm was stripped and tucked away. Rima's side looked absurdly lived-in – Ruka swears she can see an exact boundary line between what was being bundled up by the maids and what lay untouched. Her roommate had left for the mysterious complex hours ago, halfway through the consolidation of Ruka's vintage blouses. Ruka didn't really see the point of packing so much clothing for one week of residence, and had campaigned relentlessly against bedding and pillows and things that would without doubt be provided, but they had insisted on the wardrobe – she was a noble, she was a noble daughter, and she was the only daughter of the noble family of Soen. Anything less would be positively shameful, thoroughly unheard of. Aidou's housekeeper had told Ruka in no uncertain terms that the old woman's neck would be on the line were it to be leaked, somehow, that the staff had not treated Soen's daughter with adequate respect. So Ruka relented. And she was starting to regret it.

Normally, moving her gargantuan closet was a task that required at least a week's notice, seeing as the Soen family maids had taken three days to accomplish the feat in time for her to go move to school. But under the sharp eye of the slightly frightening multifunctional manor maid, the women were making amazing progress. Ruka threw cosmetics from her vanity into a bag and plopped it onto the impressive mountain of trunks already piled in the center of the room. Around half of her clothes were still hanging, and it was already ten. Ruka was now beyond displeased. She was never late. Scions of the Soen family are never late. If she was late, there would be hell to pay.

"Could you hurry p, please?" the golden-haired girl demanded with as much patience and politesse as she could muster. It had been three hours. She had expected to be long gone by then. The maids decided to stop wrapping everything in tissue paper before throwing it into the trunks.

"Hey, Ruka."

She diverted her aggravated gaze from her closet to the door, to see a slightly rumpled Kain, carrying a duffel bag, followed by two identical brunette maids pulling a small luggage trolley. A single large suitcase sat on the vehicle. Ruka felt almost jealous.

"I'm on my way out," he told her.

"Okay," Ruka turned back with a frown. "I suppose I won't see you there."

"I can wait for you," he offered.

"That's alright," she sighed. "This is going to take a little longer."

"Are you sure? I don't mind."

Ruka smiled wanly. Of course he didn't. Kain never minded doing anything. His excessive concern and overprotective bearing became strikingly clear only a couple of years after they'd met. She wondered sometimes if he'd been born that gallant, coming out of the womb bearing roses for his poor mother.

"I'm a big girl, Akatsuki," she replied with a wry grin. "I think I can move some bags by myself, at the very least."

He smiled and shrugged. "Don't be late."

With a slight creak of the trolley, he disappeared from her doorway. Ruka's brow furrowed deeply, a vein beginning to twitch in her jaw. Despite her reassurances to Kain, Ruka wasn't so certain she could handle the absurdity of her current situation. Maybe it would've been better to have asked him to just pick two trunks and take her with him. She would, at the very least, reach her destination before the week was out.

"Hurry up," she hissed. The slightly frightening multifunctional manor maid decided it was time to employ the services of her two black-robed assistants if the feat of packing were to be accomplished at all that night. Dismissing the staff sent from the Aidou estate, she wove her two servants into action with a cheerful smile. The black blurs threw themselves into their mission with alarming speed.

"Would you like a drink, Soen-sama?" the manor maid questioned, cocking her head cheerfully.

"No, thank you," Ruka sighed. "Just…please get me there in time."

"Of course, Soen-sama."

The black blurs sped up. Ruka was baffled. She didn't understand why they didn't just start with these things. Within the half hour, the other half of her wardrobe was packed and ready to go. The slightly shorter black hood slammed the cover of the last suitcase shut, closed the door to Ruka's walk-in closet, and disappeared with its twin. Ruka took a deep breath, turned to her mantle, and found that they had packed her gold and mahogany clock as well.

"What time is it now?" she asked the maid.

"It is quarter to eleven, Soen-sama."

Ruka released a long breath in irritation.

"Okay. Let's go. Lead the way, please."

"Of course, Soen-sama."

Waving one thin arm, the maid summoned a baggage cart and single-handedly loaded twenty suitcases and three duffels onto a precarious pile upon it. Directing a nonchalant smile at the astounded look on Ruka's face, she wrangled it down the stairs and out the door. Ruka followed.

It was eleven on the dot.

The maid led Ruka through a veritable maze in the grounds, in the complete opposite direction of the school building. Ruka ran her eyes hesitantly over the tall fir trees lining the path. She had no idea there were such intricate stone passageways through the forest behind the dormitories. The rough path wove between the trees in a direction that was decidedly westward, but Ruka could not make out any indication of their destination. The maid, however, lead the way with great confidence, effortlessly pulling the loaded luggage trolley behind her. Ruka didn't know how long it was supposed to take to get there, but the possibility of tardiness worried her. She hated pushing deadlines. What use would eight ball gowns be in solitary confinement?

They had been walking in steady silence for a long while, when suddenly, from out of the canopy of trees, sprouted a shining, black tile rooftop. The stately, gargantuan red brick mansion rose quickly into sight, almost a mile and a half from the dorms. As they approached, Ruka observed it had large bay windows caged in iron bars, and French doors leading to black balconies. In ten more minutes, a wrought-iron gate appeared before them, the only breach in the soaring brick wall surrounding the entire facility. Shiki and Rima stood before it in adorable orange mechanic uniforms, bearing clipboards. Ruka couldn't proccess the absurdity of the juxtaposition.

It was eleven thirty-five.

"It figures you're the last one, Ruka," Rima told her matter-of-factly as Shiki pushed opened the gates.

"Where would you like me to put these, Touya-sama?" the maid cocked her head, waving an arm at the mountain of luggage Ruka had brought.

Rima eyed the trolley apprehensively. "Hey, Ruka, did you really need this much for one week?"

"It wasn't my idea," Ruka said defensively.

"Aidou brought about twenty sets of his scented sheets and pillows, and memory foam, too," Shiki reminded her from off to one side. "It was about the same size. Maybe a little bigger."

Rima shrugged and flipped a page on her clipboard, running her finger down a list of names.

"Third door on your right on the second floor, Ruka," Rima put a check next to Soen, Ruka and handed her friend a slim velvet box. "This is your intercom, your key card and a Swiss Army knife, just in case," the blonde girl said flatly. "If you need anything, just 'com the control room for your floor. I think there's a button for that. That's where Shiki and I will be."

Eleven forty.

Ruka took the box a little cautiously, pulled out what looked like a big silver plate, and raised an eyebrow at Rima. The younger girl shrugged.

"Go on," she said. "Hurry, you have twenty minutes."

The maid had disappeared immediately after Rima had given directions. Ruka gave the blonde an apprehensive glance, and marched down the yellow brick pathway to the door.

The heavy double doors opened to a short, dark hallway, leading to an empty lounge, at least a dozen times larger than the one in the dorm. The manor was saturated with decadence – Persian rugs sat under stuffed antique chairs in the lounge, and the walls were papered in red and gold. On Ruka's left and right were two golden, spiral staircases, cut evenly by landings, leading to a second and third floor, each framed by a wrap-around balcony fenced in white. There were no ceilings separating the floors. A massive crystal chandelier hung from the high, vaulted dome of the room, shimmering dimly with candlelight. Along the walls were alternating black and white doors, each spaced an even, massive eighty feet apart. Candlelit sconces were placed evenly between rooms, bathing the thick carpet in a warm, mellow light. A center door faced the main entrance on each door, painted deep red.

The right, Ruka thought, spotting her luggage cart halfway between two rooms on the second floor. Where do I start counting doors from?

The manor was sparsely lit. Ruka could barely make out the shape of the luggage cart even as she ascended a staircase towards it.

Eleven forty five.

As she closed in on the landing, it became clear that none of the doors were labeled. No numbers. No letters. Just bare, blank, nothing. Ruka sighed. Great. She paused at the top of the staircase, made a wild guess and started counting. Upon reaching the third door, she turned and tugged on a single bronze bar of her baggage cart. It wouldn't budge. Furrowing her brow, Ruka pulled. She had not realized how heavy her collective belongings were...slowly, she made her way down the carpeted corridor, pulling and pushing, towards what she hoped was her door. It was unlocked.

Weird.

Ruka eyed her key card suspiciously. She nudged the door open with one hip, pushing against the heavy obstruction with the full weight of her body and, pulling her luggage with her in opponent force in an impressive display of experimental physics. It took a few tries, but a final, frustrated tug sent Ruka and her trolley tumbling into the pitch black, unlit room. Eleven fifty three.

The room was dark, save for a small pool of moonlight seeping through the lace curtains on the far side of the room. Ruka blinked, her night eyes adjusting rapidly. Pushing away from the luggage cart, she felt along one wall, then the other, before her fingers caught on something knobbly. Within seconds, the entire room was flushed in a mellow light.

Eleven fifty five.

There were the French doors on the far side of the massive, spacious room; the same ones she had observed on the exterior of the building. A circular, glass-topped bistro table stood in front of the glass panes, accompanied by a pair of raised-leg wrought-iron chairs. Two doors separated the far wall from a large, plush couch, sitting close to Ruka, and another its other side. In front of the couch was a coffee table, with several cups of various sizes arranged, rim-down, upon white plates. A massive plasma TV spanned the entire opposite wall, a low TV stand nudged under it. An empty doorframe on one side of the television led to a spacious kitchen. Ruka could see an island and several wooden barstools. On the other side, several other doors graced empty spaces on the walls, leading to yet unexplored rooms. The mere size of the living area made Ruka understand why the spaces between each door were so formidable. She stepped forward, intending to locate the master bedroom, hand firmly wrapped around one metal pole of her luggage trolley.

Eleven fifty six.

Suddenly, one of the doors on the far side of the room burst open in a cloud of steam. Kain stepped out, a towel slung low on his hips, another rubbing his dripping wet hair, framed by the bright light pouring out of the room he had just exited. Ruka started, hands darting to her mouth, eyes fixed on the tall redhead in indecipherable surprise. Kain noticed Ruka a split second after she saw him, and blinked, rubbing an eye as if she were some sort of illusion.

"What – Ruka?" he stared at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Sorry," Ruka fumbled, cheeks flushing pink, unnerved by his unexpected, half-naked presence in the room. "Rima said – Akatsuki, can you put a shirt on?"

"Oh," he seemed to realize, and blushed. "Yeah sorry, one second."

Eleven fifty seven.

-x-

"Hey, Rima," Shiki straightened from his relaxed recline on the couch of the second floor control room. "Come over here."

"What?" Rima turned from flipping through the massive music collection in the stand under the TV and shuffled towards him, leaning over his shoulder to look at the clipboard Shiki was examining. The black-haired boy was tapping the board a little agitatedly with a pencil.

"Ruka…you told her the third door on the second floor, right? On the right?"

"Yeah," Rima replied.

"That would be room 2C."

"Theoretically, yes," Rima cocked her head at the clipboard. "What's the problem?"

Shiki pointed a finger at the checked box beside Ruka's name.

2D.

"Oh."

"It's barely two minutes to midnight." He ran a finger up the list to 2C. "Look where you put her."

The blonde girl blinked. Tugged on a ponytail. Frowned.

"Oh. Oh no."

She paused.

"But ironic, yes?"

-x-

The velvet box Rima had placed in Ruka's hands began beeping shrilly. Startled, Ruka fumbled with the clasp, and popped it open. The silver plate was vibrating. A click from the far side of the room - at the sound, Ruka looked up at Kain, walking out of what she assumed to be the bedroom door. "How do I – ?"

"Here," he strode over, took the plate from her hands and pushed on the bottom. It sprung open to reveal Rima's face on a circular screen, with rows of little numbered buttons coating the opposite plate.

Eleven fifty nine.

"Ruka?" Ruka leaned over. "Ruka, get out of there now."

"What?"

"Ruka," Shiki's face nudged Rima's to the side. "You're in the wrong room. Rima put you in Kain's room."

"Yes, I noticed," she replied dryly, pointing over her shoulder to Kain's head, now hovering near the balcony.

"Your room's actually two doors down," Rima sounded a little panicked. "Ruka, the door locks in a minute, so just get out and we'll figure out what –"

Click.

Ruka and Kain whirled around, staring at the door as identical, resounding clicks echoed from rooms to their left and right.

"What was that?"

"Crap," Rima was viciously pressing buttons on her own intercom now. "The doors lock ten seconds early. Shiki!" The black-haired boy reached for the keypad and swiftly keyed in three numbers. "Okay, thanks. I have to get the Chairman on the 'com…sorry, Ruka…"

Ruka took a deep breath and tried not to scream. "Okay. It's going to be okay. Rima, just tell the Chairman to unlock the door and let me out."

"Hey," Kain drifted from the French doors he had been attempting to open. "Are these fake?"

"Yeah," Shiki's voice replied dryly, "The balcony's inaccessible. It's decorative. Sorry."

The dial tone sounding from the silver disk cut off, and the round intercom screen split to reveal a jubilant Chairman Kurosu on one side, and Rima on the other.

"Good midnight, my cute little children!" the Chairman chirped happily, "Was my plan successful? Is everyone locked in? Is everyone safe – wait a minute, Rima-chan, why are Kain-kun and Ruka-chan on one screen?"

"Rima gave Ruka the wrong room," Kain deadpanned. "She's locked in mine. Can you get her out?"

The Chairman froze.

"You mean – unlock the door?"

"Yes," Ruka enunciated. "Unlock the door."

"But," the Chairman now looked more flustered than Rima. "But…those doors have been programmed by the Assocation to be locked from midnight tonight until midnight on Sunday."

"So call the Assocation and have them come unlock it," Shiki stated, with less than no enthusiasm.

"But," the Chairman was now blatantly panicking. "But, I ordered an unconditional lock."

"So?"

"So…they can't unlock it. Nobody can."

Silence.

"Excuse me," Ruka seethed, "Please say that again."

The Chairman cringed. "An unconditional lock…you're in there for the week."

"So…I'm stuck in here and you can't get me out?"

"…yes?"

Ruka froze. Kain scowled.

"Can't I just…kick it down?"

The Chairman shook his head, wringing his hands. "Well, I mean, you can try…but it's a triple platinum enforced titanium door. Even the hinges are titanium. It's made so you can't force your way out. Or rather, that no one can force their way in. Everything that looks like iron is actually made of the same material…the glass is actually an amorphous compound used on the space station, and it's diamond-coated…"

"Oh no." Rima sighed. "Sorry, Ruka."

"Where did you get the money to pay for all this?" Shiki inquired.

"Can't you…melt it or something?" Ruka turned to Kain expectantly.

"With the temperature necessary to melt titanium? It would probably kill us both."

Ruka was pretty sure she was going to have an aneurysm.

"Chairman," she turned back to her disc, pleading desperately. "Is there no way you can get me out?"

"Surely you do not find Kain-kun repulsive?" the man cocked his head curiously.

"That is definitely not the point here."

"Ruka-chan…" he frowned apologetically, "I will wrack my brain from hereon out, but at the moment I see no way to remove you from the room."

"So," Kain surmised slowly, "So…she's in my room…for a week…unconditionally…during mating season? Ruka?"

The Chairman ducked his head as the gravity of the situation smacked him in the face.

"How could you fail to see the possibility of such a situation?" Ruka snapped, distraught.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know! I thought you would be smarter than that!"

Rima cringed.

"Okay," Shiki's face now dominated the control half of the screen. "Okay. We messed up. But we have to deal with it, so here's the plan. All you have to do is resist the urges. Kain, keep it in your pants. Ruka, lock your doors."

Kain glareed at the black-haired boy.

"Yeah," Rima's voice floated through the intercom, "You can do it. It's just slight urges, right?"

"Well," the Chairman's voice was shaky, "Well, the longer you are exposed to it, the stronger the urges are during mating season. I can't explain it. Nobody has ever researched the exact stages of hormonal alterations, but those are also bound to happen. And some shifts in behavior patterns. But Kain-kun's been through this a few times, right?"

Kain tried to resist the urge to kill something. "Yeah," he said finally, "My mother told me the discomfort is a good way of convincing someone to get engaged."

Somewhere in the distance, a tree erupted in flames.

"Well, I believe in you," Kurosu attempted a cheerful tone. "I have absolute faith that you two, of all people, can make it through the week with minimal damages. Now, I have to call your families before I send a crew to locate and stop the forest fire I'm sure Kain-kun's started…and I'll have control check on you every few hours. Keep me updated. So long!"

His half of the screen receded. Shiki and Rima's faces now dominated the screen, one perplexed, one anxious.

"We have to go," Rima said apologetically. "We're supposed to check in on everyone else…"

"Yeah," Shiki's hand appeared. "We'll check back on you guys. Just…keep your hands off each other. Okay?"

The screen turned black before either recipient could react. Ruka blinked at the intercom, then dropped it, wordlessly, to the ground.

"This is great," she blanched, plopping down on the couch and burying her face in her hands. "Just great. Grandmother is going to slaughter me."

Kain stood, silently, by the door. Weighed his options.

"Grandmother is going to do no such thing," he offered, though he wasn't so sure. Izayoi Aidou was a terrifying woman. He decided to amend.

"If Grandmother is going to kill you, she's going to kill me, too."

He could've slapped himself. It was probably the least reassuring thing he could have come up with. Ruka groaned.

"I'm so sorry about this, Akatsuki," she mumbled through her fingers.

"It's fine," Kain said almost automatically. Like his accommodating her was a matter of principle. Her shoulders tensed in frustration.

"Well, I can't imagine this will be easy."

"Ruka," Kain sighed, squatting down in front of her and placing a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "Stop worrying. Really, this is barely an inconvenience. We've known each other since we were two feet tall."

Ruka glared. "You have never in your life been two feet tall."

Kain shot her a reassuring grin. "That's not the point. My point is, we know how to live with each other. Been doing it for decades. And we won't even have Hanabusa to annoy us."

At this, Ruka cracked a smile.

"Well, that's always a plus."

"I'm not going to hurt you, Ruka. I promise."

"I know that," she said immediately, surprised at the implication that she might be scared of him.

"Do you?" he smiled. "Well, the next few days might change that. I can't anticipate what will happen, but I will do my best to keep things under control."

"Akatsuki," Ruka sighed. "I trust you."

"Good," Kain replied. "But you need to know that things might get heated. Not like that," he amended quickly, "But the Chairman wasn't exaggerating. If at any time you feel uncomfortable with my behavior, let me know and I will leave the room."

"Akatsuki," Ruka said drily, "The last time you made me uncomfortable, we were prancing around in a sandbox and you invited Kaname-sama to prance along."

Kain chuckled. "That's good to know."

"I'm not worried, Akatsuki. Just frazzled."

"What is there to be worried about?" Kain shrugged. "We'll be rooming together for a week. It's not very different from any other night we've spent at the Aidou manor…well, sans Hanabusa."

"You're not angry?" Ruka inquired. "After all, I am an uninvited guest."

"I got over it," Kain assured her calmly, while a full blown wave of fire erupted in the woods behind the mansion. "You can take the bed, I'll take the couch."

Ruka was mortified. "But…this is your room."

"Technically, it is now our room. And you, Ruka, are a lady."

"That's preposterous," Ruka said sternly. "We will share. It's a big room; it must be a big bed. It shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Kain frowned. "Are you sure? I assure you I am all over the couch."

"Well…we did it when we were little. And like you said, Hanabusa isn't even here to kick me in the shins."

He grinned a little. "That's fair."

"We can renegotiate if things get difficult," Ruka decided. "And you'll let me know."

"Of course."

"Alright," Ruka took a deep breath. "It's just a week. We can do this, no problem."

"Yeah," he smiled. "So, how about you go take a shower and we'll sort out your stuff later? Everything's going to be fine."

He maneuvered her towards the bathroom, closed the door, insisted she lock it, and vanished. Ruka slumped to the ground, releasing a breath she didn't know she had been holding, her back pressed against the door, wondering how she began her day in a nice soft bed in her dorm room and ended it trapped in a deluxe suite in the middle of nowhere with the boy she had know since she was five. She didn't know why she was so on edge. After all, he had told her there was nothing to worry about, drawn ground rules. Same old Akatsuki. The same warm, reassuring presence she had always gone to in crisis. She knew him. They've been together for years. Kain was her protector, her cousin, her comfort, her loyal companion. His presence calmed her. He kept her in line. He kept her sane. But now, for some reason, in this room, he made her more nervous than she wanted to admit. Something about the situation. Something about the week.

And when did he get those six packs?

-x-

And I told you to be patient, and I told you to be fine,

And I told you to be balanced, and I told you to be kind

And now all your love is wasted, so who the hell was I?

Cause now we're breaking at the bridges, and at the end of all your lines.

Who will love you? Who will fight?

And who will fall far behind?

-x-

Next time...

"But you're dirty," Ruka protested desperately, "I'm dirty. We're making the bed dirty."

A/N: No, this is not an update. Before you ask where the rest is, let me tell you that I'm redoing One Week. I'm renovating it, because the original writing is just bad, and I don't like the unbelievably OOC Ruka/Kain dynamic. I just don't like it. As a result, I'm going through and rewriting this story, so many events will change, and small but significant details will fluctuate. To facilitate the process, I'm starting from scratch and pulling all of it down for continuity reasons.

This story is going to be entirely revamped and reposted over the next few months, and it will probably undergo continuous revisions until I think it's up to par with what I've recently wrote. For example, I still don't like the end dialogue, so that will probably keep changing. I want to make sure the style of this story will match the style of the sequel chapters I've completed. For more information, check my profile.

The italicized lyrics are from Skinny Love by Bon Iver because chapter one is cheesy.