Disclaimers: I do not own Vampire Knight or any of its characters.

A/N: AU. All the characters in this story are human beings.

Chapter 1: Two little runaways

It was already past midnight. There were no moon nor star light, as the clouds had covered the whole sky. If it had not been for the dull light emitted from the streetlamps, one wouldn't have seen anything. Snowflakes were silently drifting down from the sky, covering everything in their dazzling white. They made the road slippery and very unpleasant to walk on.

On the empty street, there were two children trudging wearily through the thick snow, their fingers entwined as their hands clasped together, trying to retain the warmth. At this time of the night, it must be strange to see kids wandering around, let alone two frightened-looking ones. The two were walking relatively fast and the boy kept looking back over his shoulders, as if someone were chasing after them. Though the boy was carrying two heavy bags, one on his back, the other clutched in his hand, he seemed not to have so much trouble in walking like the little girl beside him. She was stumbling on her tiny feet, panting heavily as she struggled to keep pace with the boy's hurried strides. She wanted to tell her companion to slow down, but his eyes were staring to the distance and he seemed to be deep in thoughts, so she kept quiet and tried to follow him. Nonetheless, the speed he was walking at was too unbearable for her, and she felt her breath getting sharper and sharper.

"Kaname… slow down…" She said under her breath, desperately clutching the boy's hand.

Kaname seemed bewildered being snapped out of his thoughts. He slowed down and gave the girl a warm smile only she could ever see:

"I'm sorry, Yuuki. Do you want to stop now for some rest? You must be very tired by now."

"No… I don't want to stop until we can get there." Yuuki said, returning her brother's smile to reassure him that she was fine, but Kaname saw it through. Apparently she was tired, and worse, scared that her step father, he might be pursuing them. And that was what Kaname was afraid too.

Staring at their shadows, Kaname realized how small they were, two little kids clinging to each other, struggling against life. And there was no one, not even a kind soul was there to help them. Kaname took a quick glimpse at the houses on the sides, feeling anger building up inside him. How could everyone be sleeping so peacefully, so serenely while there were two kids right in front of their house, homeless and frightened and exhausted?

Looking down at his sister, his anger gradually faded, replaced by guilt. When they had stormed out of their house, Kaname was absolutely certain that they could no longer be there, that the only way to save Yuuki was run away. Nevertheless, after several hours of walking wearily in the snow, feeling more lost and lonely than ever, his certainty had much drained. He started to wonder whether the man they were running to would open his arms and happily accept two children suddenly knocking at his house, or he would shut the door in front of their faces and tell them to get lost. Kaname could then come back home; he was used to his father's meanness, but he could not let Yuuki do the same. She was too innocent, too fragile.

All of a sudden, Kaname heard loud steps sounding from behind their backs. Swiftly, he turned around, eyes widened in shock when a tall man came in sight. Under Kaname's intense gaze, the man still seemed composed; a devilish smirk played on his lips:

"Kids… Are you lost? May I help you find your parents?"

Before Kaname even noticed, a deafening scream was let out of his throat. Gripping his sister's hand, Kaname frantically dashed forward. A hand grabbed his shoulders; he broke free. An annoyed growl was heard, a painful kick in the back and Kaname fell down on the icy ground.

"That would teach you some manners, you little brat." Satisfied, the man said, his smirk grew wider.

However, his pleasure did not last long. Upon seeing her brother defeated, anger quickly boiled up in Yuuki's eyes. She quickly turned around, lunging herself forward with an angry scream:

"No! Yuuki won't let anyone hit nii-san!"

Tiny fists thumped at the man, which seemed not to cause him much pain. He looked startled at first then helplessly burst out laughing:

"Oh my, that's really scary. What else have you-Arghh!"

Annoyed by his words, Yuuki grabbed his hand in her small ones then bit hard into it. Crying out, the man shook his arms violently, throwing the girl to the ground.

No words could ever be enough to describe the feelings that were burning inside Kaname right at that moment. Without actually knowing what he was doing, he launched forwards, pummeled at full force at the man's stomach. While he was still groaning in pain, Kaname took the time to quickly grab his sister's hand, running as fast as he could away from danger.

"Is he chasing after us?" After having run for a while, Yuuki nervously asked her brother, too scared to turn around.

"No… I hope he's given up." Kaname said with much uncertainty. Looking at Yuuki, he noticed she was panting heavily, beads of sweat glistening on her forehead. They had been walking for hours; it must be exceptionally harsh to a five-year-old girl.

"Take a break now, Yuuki."

"But I can still continue…"

"I know." Kaname smiled slyly at his stubborn little sister, knowing she would have to submit to his explanation. "But I really need some rest."

Yuuki frowned in irritation. She noticed Kaname was still breathing quite normally and did not seem to be really exhausted. Her mouth opened as if she was going to protest, but finally she gave up and followed Kaname to sit on the threshold of a house nearby. Kaname dropped his bag down, from which he pulled out a loaf of bread, holding it out for the small girl.

"You barely ate anything at dinner, did you? Take a bite, or else you won't even be able to stand on your feet."

Her big brown eyes lifted to meet his as tears were welling up in them. The painful memories she had been trying to suppress were rushing back.

There was a nauseating smell of alcohol in the air.

A hand reaching out for her. It was clammy and trembling.

A slurred voice rang in her ears as he kept calling someone else's name as if it had been hers.

But what she feared most was his eyes, his unseeing eyes that were filled with something the little girl could not easily comprehend…

Yuuki shook her head; she deliberately averted her gaze from his, and took the bread.

Looking at his poor sister, a tender feeling suddenly came flooding over Kaname. He pulled her in a tight embrace, his voice trembling uncontrollably as he whimpered:

"I'm sorry… Yuuki…"

Choking up, Kaname slowly closed his eyes, pulling Yuuki closer to him. He still could not believe that once again, he was not able to protect her. Once again, all he could ever do was watch her suffering. The boy was now horribly aware that he was just a small helpless child and they were powerful adults. It was obvious the winner would never be him.

"I'm alright, Kaname… You did your best to protect me. So please, don't say sorry to me." Yuuki said, her hand patting his back soothingly. The girl gently pulled Kaname's head to her chest, right over her beating heart. A weak smile flickered across her face.

"Did you hear that? I'm still here, safe and sound."

Ba-thump. Ba-thump. Ba-thump.

It felt so soothing listening to her heartbeats.

"Don't worry about me; you should worry more about yourself instead," said Yuuki, a touch of sadness evident in her voice. She pulled away a bit to have a better look at her brother, hands cupping his face. There were several scratches on it due to the struggle earlier. "Does it hurt much, Kaname-niisan?"

"No, not at all…" he murmured, savoring the comforting warmth he always felt when his sister was around. Why was it that every time he tried to save Yuuki, eventually he would be the one who was saved?

'It has always been the case, from the first time I met you…'

"You once had a brother, right?" Kaname asked feeling sadness welled up inside his chest. He absent-mindedly played with a strand of Yuuki's hair, twirling it between his fingers.

"Yeah… Mummy said Yuuki used to have a brother, but he doesn't stay with us any more. She said he came to heaven before Yuuki was even born. Heaven is a very happy place isn't it?" asked Yuuki.

The innocent question caught Kaname by surprise. His eyes widened, and then adverted from her face. He could not stand looking into those innocent eyes; tears were brimming in his eyes. His hand froze, letting her hair slip through his finger tips.

"Yeah… I heard so."

"Isn't that great? Then brother and Daddy can get together and be really happy there. Yuuki wants to be there too." A radiant smile lit up her face; genuine delight sparkled in her eyes.

Kaname stayed quiet. He pulled Yuuki closer to him; his arms drew her in a tight embrace.

"Don't you feel lonely when they left you…?"

Yuuki seemed startled by his thought. Her head dropped slightly when she said:

"Yuuki did… sometimes. But now Yuuki doesn't feel lonely any more. You know why?"

"Why?"

The toothless smile once again spread over the little girl's face as she spoke, her breath felt warm against his chest:

"Because now Yuuki has a new Daddy and a new brother, too! And Yuuki loves Kaname-niisan so much~! Yuuki hasn't seen Daddy much, but Yuuki will sure love him too!"

Having heard his words, Kaname remained silent. His arms tightened almost painfully around Yuuki, making she gasp softly.

Kaname put his hands on Yuuki's, gripping them as tight as he could; strong determination revealed in his eyes. All his wounds, all his pains did not mean a thing if he could possibly protect his beloved sister.

"From now on, I will always stay by your side no matter what. And next time, I definitely won't let anyone hurt you. I promise."

Yuuki shyly smiled breaking away from Kaname, her hands dropping to her sides.

"Thank you, Kaname-niisan. Now let's get going! It must be very late by now."

Standing up, Kaname took her hands in his. He still did not know what was awaiting for them in the deep darkness. Nonetheless, there was one thing he knew for sure. He would be his little sister's shelter, keeping her away from all the cruelty of the world. Because he was her brother. And the only one the little girl could be dependant on right now.

A/N: I already have a few more ideas that may be about 4 or 5 chapters long planned neatly in my mind, but I'm still unsure about writing more. So what do you think? Is it worth continuing or should I just leave it as a one-shot?