DISCLAIMER: I do not own Vampire Knight, but most of this plot is mine along with the names and most of the actions of KATSUR and AKIRA. The name 'Kuran' does not belong to me, though.
A/N: Hello, I am Hisaharu, and this is my first real STORY, excluding my poems. I've written the first six chapters ahead of time, and I assure you my writing gets better.
Well, please get involved and review for me and most of all…ENJOY.
Names and other info.
((A/N: All the name translations will be put into the beginning of each chapter like this. Most of the names below are not featured in the story let. My OOC Rido is because he basically went crazy AFTER Juuri married Haruka in the manga, so don't be surprised if he's not VERY crazy….But you can still see allot of his 'tendencies' here. ^^))
Juuri Kuran- the 'Ju' Is Juuri means 'tree,' and the 'ri' is a traditional unit of measuring for distance. Kuran means 'Nine orchids.'
Haruka Kuran- Haruka means 'distant,' or 'remote,' and Kuran means 'Nine orchids.'
Rido Kuran- The 'Ri' in Rido means 'plum,' and the 'Do,'
means 'Earth.' Kuran means 'nine orchids.'
Katsura Kuran- Katsura translates to, 'The moon,' 'The laurel crown', 'gem', 'woman', 'cave' or 'spirit.' Kuran means 'Nine Orchids,'
Akira Kuran- Akira translates to, 'A harvest moon', 'Ultimate serenity,' 'bright eyes,' or 'gem,' 'a crystal clear mirror,' 'dawn.' Kuran means 'Nine Orchids.'
Kakai Kuran- The 'Ka' in Kakai means 'beautiful' and the 'Kai' is sea. So her name is roughly translated to: 'Beautiful Sea.' Kuran means 'Nine Orchids.'
Shiratou Shiki- The 'Shira' in Shiratou means 'white, and the tou in it means 'night.'
So, 'White Night,' and Shiki meaning "Shi, 'to support', and 'ki', 'Mollow,' a flowering plant with white or pink blossoms. 'To Support Mollow, White Night.'
Oboroi Hio- 'Oboro' means 'A hazy moon,' 'light,' 'shadow,' 'cloud,' 'gaze.' 'Something vague.' The 'I' in Oboroi means 'To really on.' The 'Hi' in Hio means 'scarlet,' and the 'o' means 'cherry blossoms.'
Shizuka Hio- 'Shizuka' means 'Calm and quiet,' the 'Hi' in the 'Hio' means 'scarlet' and the 'ou' is 'cherry blossoms.'
Hana Shirabuki- Hana means flower, and the 'Shira' in Shirabuki means 'white' and the 'Buki' is a flower with white petals.
CHAPTER ONE:
The boy's mismatching eyes watched the people running around in a hurry, all of them bustling about in a flurry of scents and emotions.
For hours his mother and father had been gone, and every few moments the sixteen year old would hear his mother's agonized cry, then his father's pleas and orders to the Pureblood woman. "Katsura, get through this! Be well! Please!" Kuran Akira would shout to his laboring wife, Kuran Katsura. The boy stifled a laugh.
His parents where such a bother over the last nine months. Baby this, baby that. Boy or Girl? Twins? Then it was; Twin this and that, will they both be male? Female? Will they be the next clan leaders? Lovers?
Kuran Rido's Mother gave another cry, and Rido's ears perked up. A baby's wail screeched through the household.
One of the new baby twins had been born.
"Kuran-Sama," A hesitant voice came to his left, and when Rido turned his head, a maid with dark brown- slightly plain hair peeked into his room. "A twin has been born- the boy. Do you wish to see it?" Rido laughed shortly.
"Why not, I have nothing better to do." He mused, and watched as the human woman swayed out of his room, choppy brow locks tussling in an unappealing way. Still, the woman was pretty.
For a human.
With that thought, Rido Kuran pushed off from his bed, taking a quiet peek out the window. He took a deep breath of the fresh night air, bracing himself for the blood scented room his Mother was wallowing in, bearing total agony.
Rido turned and waltzed out of his room, leaving the window open to cleanse his room of the inside air. His Mother's wail sent a shiver of disruption running through him. His mother was not one to suffer in silence, and that certainly wasn't going to change through the years.
Rido chuckled, entering the dark room where the smell of blood and his mother's cries racked his brain the strongest. Two large windows stood beside the bed, where at least five female maids crammed around. One blotting Katsura's head, one rushing more water soaked towels to her, a blonde watching over the child birth of the other twin, whispering encouraging words.
A maid in the back gently rocked a baby boy, trying and miserly failing to shush him. Rido walked towards that maid, stopping and leaning down towards the baby she was holding. His ears rung out in agony over the child's wails. He could feel the maid's eyes on him as he pressed his hand down on the baby's head mutely. "Sleep," He ordered, watching as the child's eyes shot open, its tongue sticking out at him in a teasing way, before lulling into sleep.
"Figure's," Muttered Rido with a smile. "First thing the brat dose is stick his tongue out at me. Such a brat." But even Rido could tell the baby would be a good change around the household.
A new wave a squeal's and shouts made Rido look over to his parents, laughing at his poor Father.
The man knelt on his knees by the bed, eyes open and watching pleadingly at his wife. His left hand was being gripped tightly, and with every scream his Mother would squeeze it tightly, making his Father moan out with her in pain. Rido was sure he even heard a few bones snaps every time.
"Aughh! Bastard! You did this to me!" His mother screamed out, twisting the poor man's hand around so it looked like it might be ripped off any second.
And he didn't doubt his mother would do it.
"Katsura," He Father squeaked "It was a mutual decision!"
"MUTUAL!" His mother screeched; the high pitch and her powers making the windows by the bedroom break, but Rido was pretty sure it was mainly her voice. Rido made a mental note to get the windows, his father's hand, and his own ears repaired when this was all over.
Shaking his head Rido decided to spare his poor Father the agony of having his body ripped apart section by section that his mother could reach in her position, and knelt by his mother side.
"Mother," He drawled "Push."
His mother's glowing blue eyes shot through him with intensity, before her head tilted back in a scream that was the loudest, shrillest and by far the most painful yet. Her open mouth gleamed with a pair of parched fangs, and her deathly pale sweat slicked skin seemed to glow. His father's bone seemed to scream too, as a echoing crack came in the room.
His mother's stiff body relaxed, her mouth and eyes shutting peacefully, almost as if dead. Rido watched as a maid pulled the body of a child out of his mother, the still form catching his attention.
"No…" His father breathed out, the sound shocking Rido.
Filled with pure agony and sadness, the voice startled Rido to look at his mother. Her chest rose and fell slowly, her eyes staring at his with meaning. "The baby…" Her voice was undeniably steady, even though her eyes gave away the turmoil inside of her, or was reality a better word?
With a nod, Rido leaned up to give her a kiss on the cheek, small smile lighting up her face.
Rido stood and left the room, following the maid who was trying to make the baby move, to show some sign of life.
Rido bit open his wrist, and hung it over the baby's mouth. Slowly, drop by drop, the baby's heart started beating, faster and stronger with every movement.
Only then did the baby's eyes open, the wide orbs staring warmly into his. Her eyes where large and round, and a few small curls and mahogany hair softly hung around her head like a wide halo. Pureblood babies aged very fast over the few moments of life, and the girls curls where very long. The girl had long hair, reaching her shoulders, and was just shy of looking like a two month old.
There was no pinkness to her skin, only soft paleness. The eyes had an alluring quality Rido couldn't get over, and he eagerly leant forward-
"Rido-Sama!" His head twisted sharply to the maid. "Y-Your Mother…Kuran-Sama is dying!" Rido took the baby from the other gasping maid's arms, motioning for the sleeping baby boy, and then taking him in his other arm.
Sweeping into the room, his white dress shirt ruffling as a warm hand gripped it, Rido shuttered. The girl took one look at him, and then ruffled its brow. She reached out toward their Mothers from. Rido took three long strides, the knelt at his beloved mothers bed.
"She's…Ok." Katsura smiled, her red hair spiraling off of the bed in long waves making like a web around her. "Good."
"Her name?" His Father gasped, gently holding Katsura's hand.
"Something light, happy, like the Earth…She's…Juuri." His Mother nodded. "And he Haruka, for he reeks of distance."
All of the maids gathered in the dark corner of the room, bowing deeply, some weeping. Soft shards of glowing crystal wafted up from his mother skin, her chest struggling to keep rising. "Katsura…" His father wept.
"Come," She smiled. "I want my loved ones around me." Her arms stretched out, her right arm hugging her husband, her left arm winding around her eldest son. The two children rest upon her bosom, and her smile faltered. Two twin tears streaked own her face, and she sobbed once.
Then Kuran Katsura, Mother of Rido, Haruka, Juuri, and loving wife of Akira Kuran, died with only the words 'I love you all' left in her place.
His father gave a loud sob, and the crystals burst in thousands of directions, making the girl- Juuri, squirm in his arm. The two babies reached up, both grabbing a large crystal shard, and held it in their tight little grasp.
Rido just watched the scene with calmness, but an under yielding of sadness.
Picking up the children he handed them to a maid, who rushed the out of the room. "Don't take the crystals." He commanded.
His father was still looking up at the sealing, the remains of his beloved wife all scattering around him. "You knew," He sighed, ruffling his brow, "Didn't you, Katsura?" His Fathers dark hair stuck against his head in a mass of straight locks, his long and lean body sagging in defeat.
If Rido has seen a man weep like that man had, he would surly think of him a coward. Instead all Rido did was sink to his knee's by the end of the bed, bowing with a hand over his heart.
His Mother, who Rido loved very much, was no longer here.
His mind flashed back to the dozens of fight they had had, but all had been playful. His Mother and Father teased each other, but never in their life had they truly fought. Never, not even in the end.
His mothers scent came to mind, her long blue dresses and heels, with the beautiful long red spiral curls that swept the floor when she stood. Her soft angular face and blue eyes, blue eyes that held the depth of a Mothers love. Her full pink lips, and her happy smile, her warm hands, her soft hugs, and even her beautiful teasing.
Rido did not weep, but he mourned his mother's death with sadness, listening to the heartbreaking sobs of his Father.
Rido awoke to the dark lonely room, the smell of his Mother's blood still coting the air slightly. He blinked away the last of the blackness of peace, stretching his muscles. The softest weeping sound came from down the hall, and with a small gasp Rido stood and clambered down the hall, reaching out for the door knob gently.
The weeping came from a child who lay crumpled on the floor, and Rido rushed to her. Her long baby clothes were made for a small newborn, and they were restricting the girl who overnight had become a year old.
Sighing, Rido lengthened his nails, making them at least two inches long with wicked points. Grasping them around the tight clothing he swept them up and away, cutting them apart with a rip. The girl's wide eyes looked up at him, her eyes big, and a soft burgundy like her Fathers.
Rido could smell her soft and delicate blood, and quickly he stood, walking to a cupboards and grabbing a small nightgown that looked the size for the growing Pureblood child.
Reaching out, Rido held the soft cloth at his feet, while the child whimpered and scooted away.
Rido was stunned.
Most children cried, or where very unruly. Juuri had an air around her- one that quickly baffled Rido. It was a calming air, and the look in her eyes showed no fear- only caution and curiosity. "Juuri," purred the male Pureblood, reaching out once more. "I am your Onii-kun, don't fear me." The child simply blinked, as if to say he was being ridicules. She turned her head, her baby fine red brown hair swaying down the middle of her back. She looked back the Rido, then up at the other baby bed.
That's when Rido got the full idea of what she was trying to tell him. Jumping up he could see the baby boy, Haruka, pulling at his collar, looking more and more pale. The clothes where tighter on Haruka, and he was bigger than Juuri, looking maybe one and a half. Rido remembered when he himself was born, the next day he too looked like a two year old. That was what Purebloods where like.
For the first two or three days they would grow rapidly, looking the age of around six before the growing cycle stopped. Every few years the cycle would repeat, and around the age of their physical body looking out of puberty, stopped ageing. Rido had been fourteen when his cycle ended, and he knew that Haruka would be a little older when it stopped, Juuri most likely stopping younger than any of them.
Ripping off the clothes on Haruka, Rido grabbed a pair of small sleep pants and a very loose fitting shirt. "You're so helpless," Rido muttered to the boy, who in turn just glared at him with dark burgundy eyes.
Juuri and Haruka looked at each other in the same instant, and Haruka quickly reached out a hand, putting atop her head. Juuri slowly stopped crying, looking away. Rido laughed at Haruka's rejected looking baby face.
"All in due time, boy." He muttered gruffly, before reaching around to pick up Juuri, who mutely put her arms around his neck. A small resistance by his leg, and Rido looked down to see Haruka gripping it with both of his arms. Sighing, Rido tucked them both in his arms, walking over to Haruka's baby bed, and set him down in it. He squirmed and glared ruefully at Rido, who laughed and once more forced him to sleep.
Watching Haruka fall asleep made Rido finally notice the difference between the 'twins.' Juuri had mahogany hair, and more of a red-ish color in her eyes, while Haruka had a deep brown with lighter highlights, and deep burgundy eyes.
He could see how Juuri looked like their Mother. She already had the lean figure, even as a baby. Her full pink lips and reddish hair where more signs. She had the same shape to her eyes that their beloved Mother had, but nowhere near her eye color.
Haruka had the hair of his father and his lean bone structure, and almost the same shade of eyes. But his mother's high cheekbones where eminent, even in this early stage.
Across the room Rido caught a glimpse of himself, and even then he measured his appearance like it was a shock.
He was half and half.
He had his Fathers hair with flecks of red from Katsura, and one of his eyes was too dark to be his Mothers shade, but the red was too bright to be his Fathers. His unruly curls massed around his head and neck, gently brushing his shoulders. He had a wide mouth, and with a grin he could see his mother reflect back through him. His fathers' lean body fit him, but is mothers petite pale skin covered them with appeal.
Juuri stared at him, blinking tiredly around a yawn. Rido reached down a hand to stroke the baby's soft cheek gently, and the moment he got towards her mouth she twisted her head slightly, taking the side of his finger in her small mouth. Against the soft gums he could feel two prominent points gabbing into his finger, and she gently suckled on it with pink in her plush cheeks.
Rido smiled at her, and very slowly her eyes began to shut, almost dazzlingly. Her suckled became softer, slower, then stopped all together. Chuckling, Rido took his finger from her small mouth and set her down in her crib, covering her with a soft silk blanket. Her tiny hands reached out and grasped his sleeve, and he removed it, putting it on the blanket, which she promptly grasped.
He watched her for a moment, tucking a stray curl away from her face, when a door opened. Turning, the maid bowed at the sight of him. "Rido-Sama! Please, excuse me; I was just going to attend to the babies…" She trailed off as he stood beside her, staring at her with a haunting, mismatching gaze.
"Have you been taking care of them this whole time?"
"Y-Yes," She stammered, and then looked shockingly at the cloth in his left hand.
"Do you know what these are?" He asked, her voice pounding into the poor maids head achingly.
"Y-Yes," She looked at his nails sharply, then back to the cloth.
"Weren't you given orders to put them in loose clothing?"
"No…"
He leaned forward, into the maid, and brushed a strand of hair away from her ear, leaning in and whispering huskily; "You're lying."
The woman sucked in a breath for a scream, but his clawed hand covered her mouth, cutting off her air supply and silencing her. "Shh," He drawled mockingly "Don't wake the babies."
He led her out into the hall way, closing the door. The woman shook in his arms, adrenalin pumping into her blood and scenting the air around Rido, making his eyes glow brightly in anticipation. "P-please, Master Rido. Have mercy…" She sank to her knees, tears slowly streaking down her cheeks.
Rido sighed dramatically. "Fine. Now, what did you want?"
The maid stared at him, not quite grasping his sudden mood swings, but was to shaken not to tell him anything. "Master Akira-Sama seeks you…" She said weekly.
"Fine," He started walking down the hall, but looking back over his shoulder he called down after the maid; "And if anything happens -at all- to those children…I will kill you." With that Rido turned the hall, leavening behind the bemused and shaking maid on the cold marble floor.