Finding My Way

Chapter 22

We find the Moon Dorm almost exactly like I'd left it, our inner circle lounging around the common room. Seiren is still absent, but I notice Hanabusa is not there.

Kaname immediately appears at my side and wraps his arm around me. Its weight is comforting and I'm grateful to be at his side.

"Where's Hanabusa?" I ask.

"He's preparing to leave to go check on Yori," Kaname replies.

"Bring him here," I order. "Now."

Kaname raises a brow at the order in my tone but doesn't look displeased. In fact, he looks pleased that I'm taking on more of a commanding role.

Kaname looks at Akatsuki, who immediately disappears to fetch his cousin.

"We've got some things to tell you all," I say to the room. "Let's wait until Hanabusa gets here. Please settle in. We've got a lot to discuss."

Most people are already seated, but my father, Yagari, and Zero find places around the room. My father sits down next to Ruka, who I notice looks vaguely uncomfortable. Zero positions himself against the wall by a window and Yagari mirrors him on the other side of the window. Those two can never relax around vampires.

It's not long before Hanabusa and Akatsuki emerge. I motion for them to sit. Akatsuki takes the middle seat between my father and Ruka, to which she gives him a grateful smile and Akatsuki rests his hand on her thigh. She takes his hand. Hanabusa does not sit.

"What is it?" Hanabusa asks. "I want to get going."

I take a deep breath. "There's no need," I say. "Yori's not at home. I presume you were going to go to check on her."

"What? She's not?" Hanabusa exclaims. "Where is she?"

"We don't know," I reply, my voice cracking at the end. Kaname stills and begins to rub my back. "She's been missing for about a month now. I only just found out." I gave a pointed look at my father, who had the grace to look sheepish.

"I kept this from Yuki and conducted my own investigation," he says. "I foolishly thought she had enough on her plate. And, I made the old man's mistake of forgetting how capable young people are." He looked over at Yagari. "We both did." Yagari nods, looking first at me and then at Zero.

Hanabusa's gaze is murderous and a quick glance at Kaname shows a similar expression mirrored on his face. I quickly step in.

"We've already discussed this. This will not happen again," I stare at my father, Zero, and Yagari each in turn until I get a nod from each of them. "Mistakes were made."

I stand up straighter. "I'll tell you what I just told those three," I say, gesturing at the 3 vampire hunters. "We're a team. We came together under a shared hope that humans and vampires can co-exist. We share this belief. This mission. We have too many enemies and non-believers trying to bring this apart. We can't afford to not be a team. We need to trust each other. Secrets kept, no matter the good intentions, fester away and create more problems than they're worth. And often cause more pain than if the secret had just been revealed initially." I look at Kaname for a moment. He looks thoughtful and guarded.

"It's risky to share secrets," I continue. "Sometimes we do need to keep them for the sake of others. There are always exceptions. But we have to weigh the cost of not telling a secret. In this most recent case with Yori, who knows what damage we've done to her by not revealing that she's missing." The grief threatens to overwhelm me, but I press on. "We find her. And we destroy whoever had the audacity to take her."

Hanabusa's crushed face when I mentioned the damage and then its transition to pure wrath is the mirror to my own feelings.

"Yes," he says, clenching his fist. "They will pay."