A/N I don't own Vampire Knight nor do I make any profit from it
Chapter 1 – Taken
A baby's cry filled the room.
The white haired woman, the mother, lay back on tatami floor. Her lavender robes were disarrayed and sweat rolled down her forehead.
"It is a girl, Shizuka-sama," one of the midwives said with a bright smile, "Rido-sama will be most proud."
Shizuka Hiou attempted to sit up but her sweat slicked limbs cried out in agony and exhaustion, "Let me see the child…" she whispered as she eventually supported herself on her forearms. The midwives looked at each other before whispering something indistinguishable, "Didn't you hear me? I want to see my child."
The midwives hesitated again as the wrapped the small baby up in a thick blanket, "We have had orders from your uncle that you should not see the child."
"What? Because they have me locked up in this God forsaken cage and taken away my freedom, they have taken away my right to see my child? I think not! Give me my child of your own free will or I will use my pureblood powers to make you do so. Which one will it be," Shizuka said with a hint of desperation in her voice. The midwife holding the baby girl nodded and handed the little girl to the tired pureblood, "She's beautiful… so much like me… but so much like that feral beast."
She had tufts of curly hair from her father, Rido, but was white like her mother's. Like her father, the child has complete hetrochromia in her eyes: one eye was cherry blossom pink and her other eye was blue. The pink was reference to her mother's eyes and the blue was the one half of her father's hetrochromia.
The child gazed up at her with innocent curiosity, "Do you have a name for the child, Shizuka-sama," the voice tore the pureblood out of her revelry and looked up at the impatient midwife. Shizuka thought for a moment before looking back down at her baby.
"I will call her Airi," Shizuka said as she delicately caressed her child's cheeks with her forefinger, "My beautiful Airi… born on a full moon…"
"We must take Airi-sama now," the midwife said as she, almost forcefully, took the baby girl away from the fragile pureblood. Shizuka's cherry blossom pink eyes widened with panic.
"No, don't take my child away from me," Shizuka said as she gathered all her strength to stand up. Before the midwives could leave, they heard heavy footsteps coming from the corridor. Shizuka's uncle, Lord Keichi Kurenai, and the child's father, Rido Kuran appeared in the doorway of Shizuka's cage.
"What gender is the gender of the child," Rido asked in a slow drawl. Shizuka glared at him intensely.
"It is not male," Shizuka replied, "The child is a girl… her name is Airi."
"You promised me a son, Shizuka," Rido snarled, "I cannot take back my rightful position as the head of the Kuran family until I have a son."
"Unfortunately, Rido," Shizuka said, "It takes two to tango and it is the man who decides what gender the child will be. I did not promise you a son, I promised you a healthy child and I have delivered you a healthy daughter."
"Shizuka-sama is quite correct, Rido-sama," Keichi said, "We must be glad that Shizuka was able to have the child in the first place."
"Still, it is not a son," Rido snarled fiercely, "If I cannot get a son from you, I will get it elsewhere and I know the perfect candidate."
Shizuka growled, "I can't believe you still have hope for Juuri! She is not interested in you and she has made that perfectly clear."
"I didn't say it was Juuri," Rido said, albeit a little sadly. Shizuka clenched her fists and took several deep breaths.
"Then who," she asked calmly.
"Lady Sawako Shiki," Rido said before he stormed away. Shizuka fell to her knees, on the brink of tears.
"Be glad that a Hiou princess was born, Shizuka-sama," Keichi said, patting her gingerly on the shoulder. Keichi took the child from the frightened midwives, "She is truly a Hiou princess and she will grow to be as beautiful treasure for us all to cherish."
"You're not going to put her in a cage as you did to me when my parents died," Shizuka asked bitterly and Keichi shook his head.
"Airi Hiou-sama is the hope of this family," Keichi said, "You are far too damaged to lead this family."
"How dare you," Shizuka screamed at him. Keichi headed towards the door and stepped out into the corridor, "Don't you dare take away my child!"
"Midwives, help Shizuka-sama make herself presentable," Keichi said as he disappeared down the dark hallway. Shizuka stood up, angry tears streaming down her pale cheeks.
"You can't do this to me, Uncle! She is my child! Give her back to me," Shizuka demanded, "Give her back to me!"
One of the midwives held the distressed princess back as the other locked the door behind her, sealing her away from the rest of the world. Along with the apparent rejection of her lover for not providing him with the son he so desperately needed, her uncle had taken her new born daughter taken away from her.
All in all, it was now that she truly felt alone and unwanted. It hadn't been so bad before but now that she was a mother, she had expected to be just that.
Indeed, nine months later, Lady Shiki did give Rido Kuran a son.
Sixteen Years later…
Airi sat in front of her dresser as she slowly combed out her hip length snowy, silken curls until they mirrored the moonlight which poured into her room. Sighing deeply, she placed her brush on the table and adjusted the obi sash of her lavender yukata. Her large, duel colour eyes of cherry blossom pink and sapphire blue were accented by her straight cut fringe of white hair. Her skin was as pale and as smooth as carved marble. She was a petite girl, in structure and in height.
"Airi-sama," she heard her faithful servant, Tsukasa, call from behind the door, "You have a guest."
Airi stood from her dresser chair and hummed slightly before answering her maid, "Let them enter."
"As you wish, Airi-sama," Tsukasa said as she slid the door open. Tsukasa, in appearance, was a tall young woman with waist length, soft brown hair and large brown eyes. Her skin was pale and she had a slim figure, accented by a yellow and pink yukata.
"Who is it, Tsukasa," Airi asked.
"Kaname Kuran-sama, my lady," Tsukasa answered. Airi frowned a little before smiling lightly. The young man who went by that name entered the room. Tsukasa followed him inside and walked over to Airi,
"Kaname-sama, what an unexpected surprise," Airi said, "What do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"
"Airi, I will not be staying long but I have a request I would like to make of you," Kaname said frankly and evenly. Airi blinked and nodded.
"What is your request, Kaname-sama," Airi asked.
"Have you heard of Cross Academy," Kaname asked and Airi regarded him for a moment.
"I know of it," Airi replied flatly, "What of it?"
"Headmaster Kaien Cross and I have set up a special class from vampires to attend school and to bridge the ever so large gap between humans and vampires," Kaname replied as he saw Airi's doubt, "It is the called the Night Class and many of the vampire noble families have already sent their sons and daughters to attend this new programme. It would be beneficial for the other vampires to see another pureblood vampire committed to peace."
"How does it bridge the gap between vampires and humans," Airi asked, "Surely… this is a dangerous proposition?"
"It does have its risks, Airi, but then again, what doesn't," Kaname said conversationally. Airi looked up at Tsukasa who raised her eye brows in a "don't look at me, I don't have the answer" way.
"Why do you want me to join, Kaname-sama? Surely it would be explosive to have two pureblood vampires in the same class together? Besides, I have been homeschooled."
"Yet you are still of school age," Kaname replied, "What are your views on humans?"
"My views on humans," Airi mused, "Well, they're human… I don't have much of an opinion. However, I do wish for the meaningless bloodshed and violence to stop so peace is rather appealing."
"So would you consider joining the Night Class? It is self explanatory; it takes place at night and you sleep during the day. Contact with humans will be restricted to change over where the Night Class goes to school and the Day Class goes back their dormitory. Drinking blood on school grounds is strictly prohibited and I am sure you have heard of the blood tablets. We use these to sate our blood lust."
"I see," Airi said with sigh, "May I think on it? It is a huge step which I must think about first."
"Very well," Kaname said as he turned to leave, "I will return next week or you may contact the school if you make your decision sooner than that."
"Thank you very much," Airi said as Kaname kissed her delicate hand respectfully. Airi nodded, "You will hear my answer soon enough."
Kaname nodded in reply and swiftly left the room, as quickly as he had left. Airi turned to Tsukasa and fell back into her chair, "Tsukasa, what should I do?"
"Well, obviously the Hiou family are aware of this or they wouldn't have permitted Kaname-sama to visit you today," Airi nodded and turned back to her dresser to look back at her reflection and tears began to flow down her cheeks.
"I miss my mother... even though I didn't even know her," Airi said with a sigh, "Tsukasa, do you know what my mother looked like or what happened to her? I have asked many of my family members but they will not answer me and brush me off coldly as if she didn't even exist."
"I do not know what your mother looked like but it is said that you resemble her greatly," Tsukasa said with a small smile, "It is sad though that you do not even know who your father is. It is also said that you inherited his hetrochromia and curly hair from him. Some people say that it is Rido Kuran but we cannot be sure as he is supposed to have been killed the night Juuri and Haruka Kuran died."
"Well, I will not dwell on it. I know that he is dead and that's all I need to know," Airi said as she sprayed some lavender perfume on her neck, "I have lots of time to find those things out."
"Indeed," Tsukasa said, "So, are you going to take Kaname-sama up on his offer?"
"We'll see," Airi said, "But it sounds like fun."
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