Chapter 1
Note: I took some liberties with Haruka's personality, but I think he makes more sense as a bad boy turned good anyway.
The thing that Rido hated most was waiting, especially waiting to be scolded by his grandfather. Running his right hand through his dark hair, he reflected that the problems that Haruka was causing…could be Rido's own fault. Rido was ten years older than the younger and wilder pureblood, so he played little attention to how Haruka was raised. Their parents disappeared soon after Haruka was born; apparently grandfather is the only one who knows if they are dead or alive…but Rido knew better than to ask.
The doors, that Rido was facing, opened with the accompanying sound of a door chime. Turning his head to the sound, his gaze met with the commanding mahogany eyes of the newcomer. The eyes, the dark full head of hair, and the tall, upright frame belonged to grandfather Kaname. What a joke, having to obey a grandfather who looked young enough to pass for a drinking buddy of Rido's…young enough to get all the ladies' attention.
After the customary bows and murmurs of "Kaname-sama" by the restaurant employees, Kaname took a seat at Rido's booth.
"Where did you leave Haruka? The last time I spoke to him, I made it clear if he made that mistake again, he is risking losing the Kuran name."
Rido kept his eyes lowered and responded emotionlessly, "Haruka is home alone with Juuri. Juuri knows how to keep Haruka out of trouble." After a few uncomfortable moments of silence, Rido looked at expectant Kaname, took a deep breath, and decided to be direct.
"Haruka might behave better for a week, but he does not take punishment seriously. Like he never took his studies seriously. Haruka's acting out because of Juuri-"
"I know. I never told Juuri that she will be marrying one of her brothers for a reason…" Kaname paused and looked out a window, his gaze flicking over people who were probably much happier than himself. "Your mother knew from an early age what was expected of her, and she never fully accepted her responsibility."
Rido had enough control to keep his eyes from widening; grandfather has thus far never talked about his mother or father. Exercising restraint on his curiosity, Rido kept his focus on the topic and said, "Juuri is smart enough to see that being a Kuran princess means marrying a brother. She also is smart enough to continuously refuse Haruka's advances. There is almost no way that she will hold to tradition, and I don't blame her Grandfather."
In response, Kaname's eyes flashed red, something that always annoyed Rido. Juuri and Haruka could always defy grandfather to his face, but grandfather never showed signs of losing his temper to them.
Through gritted teeth and a hint of fangs, Kaname responded, "For now, keep Haruka from trying to hump any brunette with brown eyes that has is stupid enough to believe his promises. I recently hired a new servant in the summer house who needs to be warned against Haruka. I will speak to Juuri, but then I will be away on business for a week on Monday. I need you to keep control of the situation Rido. I trust you."
With those ominous last words, Kaname left the building, leaving a wake of admiring glances from women of all ages. If those ladies only knew…
When Rido entered the Kuran mansion, he heard only silence. A little worried, he asked a servant where his siblings were, and he was directed to the library. Upon entering, he received a cheerful hello from Juuri, dressed in a bright yellow sundress.
She was tutoring Haruka from a textbook, and writing out notes. The taller Haruka seemed to be intent on looking down through Juuri's collar. Rido walked over to the table, smiled warmly at Juuri, and slapped Haruka's face hard, in the direction away from Juuri.
Rido explained, "Haruka, try studying the topic, not human anatomy." Juuri gave a glance at where Haruka's head was and blushed. Then Juuri also raised her hand, and slapped Haruka's other cheek.
"Rido-onisan, I'm leaving Haruka to you. I have been babysitting him for over five hours and I've had enough." With these words said, she gave a last glare at a smirking Haruka and the jostling wave of wavy brown hair in a dress stormed off to her room.
Sighing, Rido asked, "Why can't you control the hormones Haruka? If you were serious about Juuri, be a responsible person. Juuri even has crushes on responsible guys."
Haruka responded by laughing uncontrollably. In the midst of the laughing fit, Rido noted how exactly the same Haruka looked like Kaname: the same height, frame, same hair color and texture, and the same handsome face. But they were so unalike…
When Haruka finally decided to talk, the words were not pleasant to hear. "I'm not serious about her. I just want her once. I'm tired of her goody-two-shoes act."
Rido was pretty unflappable when it came to Haruka; Rido was heard this phony machismo act before. "So all those years of devotedly following your big sister around…"
"…Stopped when she grew breasts and hips."
Rido was pretty sure he gave a reasonable response here, -but reflecting on the unpleasant conversation, the misogyny and outright lust bothered him. So did the mental image of his younger sister Juuri being evaluated like a piece of meat. Before sleeping that night, he had two simultaneous thoughts: (1) He was a virgin because he believed in waiting for true love, and, (2) Juuri is beautiful.