~I do not own any of the characters other than Anastaji and I relinquish all rights to those characters and any non original content to Matsuri Hino and publishers. Thank you for reading.~
The purebloods were a race near extinction and long forgotten. Small classes of Aristocratic Vampires acknowledged them and continued to pay their allegiance but they too were dying out. It had been years since any of them truly had been together in any one place so when Anastaji heard about the Academy and its night class she was bemused and desperately curious. She had spent the past few hundred good years in and out of a languid slumber so any old change didn't phase her but this was special. Her half-brother had become quite involved it seemed and she wanted to protect him always of course, in her own special ways.
Coming out of such a long sleep wasn't easy, even for a pureblood though they found it easier to take it in their stride. She was no different so it took her a while to even get the message to an old friend that she needed a boost.
Rido as always was happy to oblige her. He came in the night on the third day she was awake and they talked for hours. They spoke of what had happened to their family but this was all old news and before long she was feeling weary again.
Shizuka and her attack on a hunter family were enough to pique her interest and they talked about this for a while in ways that only purebloods would do amongst each other. Her family was so similar to theirs in some ways and others not so much. The Hio family had a penchant for madness the Kurans simply did not possess. Being only half a Kuran, Anastaji found it easier than others to get along with Rido, even considering his distasteful nature. She quite enjoyed listening to his stories, the human hunting romps. She was quite removed from the human world and though she thought she would maybe like to get to know one of them, it was hard having them so breakable and so so easily fooled. They also speak of the senate.
Knowing his motives before Rido knew them himself she avoided discussing her plans to go to Cross Academy. Not wanting to jump the gun on getting to the point of the matter she indulged him in discussion almost far more than she could tolerate before they got down to the business at hand. She needed to feed.
Rido as so many years ago was quite willing to submit that essential part of himself to Anastaji as he knew she had the upper hand and they were family after all. Rido would never want to risk a fight with her nor the opportunity to use her for gain. One pureblood is good but two is nearing ultimate powers. Being outcasts the two stuck together, usually. She never did like how he would treat his youngest son.
"How is Shiki?" She picked at her fingernails and dragging them along the wood of the table noted their sharpness.
"I haven't seen that boy for a long time. He is attending that academy. One day I must pay him a visit, he and our other boy."
"Kaname, is he well?"
"Exceedingly." Rido rolled his sleeve back and she noted the impeccable materials used. His ostentatiousness and love for luxury hadn't subdued itself in the past few hundred years it seems. Rido was as luxurious as ever. Outstretching his hand he rested his face in his palm and stared at her.
Without hesitation, she drove her fingernail into the veins of his wrist and waited for the droplets to roll before bringing his wrist to her mouth. They both much preferred this for the intimacy of biting didn't suit either of them much and it was always one way for them anyway. Anastaji had rejected any plea for her own blood from Rido, her powers in his body would be far too great of a risk on even the purebloods. Besides, they only way to keep the power balance falling on her side was to make him feel needed. Rido was a lonely soul for much of his life and he would have to fight brutally to find any attention. She had made herself god in his eyes just by needing him. He looked so much like her father sometimes, so much like her brother others. He looked most like her father when her mouth was on his wrist and he became weaker and her power grew again. It reminded her of her father's sacrifice not that her father loved her at all, she still found a way to think fondly of him.
She drank for as long as she thought he could take and before hs instinct would make him snap at her. She felt as though her body had hit the reset button and her insides were warmed. As warm as a Vampire could feel. "They say you know, drinking from a pureblood leads you down the road to misery," Rido mumbled as his head rolled over onto the table, he would have to rest a while.
"All of us are doomed then. Father, your sister. Kaname. You. We all take from each other I don't think there is a single one of us left that is safe from that path."
"You are right, I just felt that I should say it. You mustn't take advantage of me anymore, Ana. I have been awake all these years while you have been sleeping I may well be stronger than you now. Just because I love you-you shouldn't abuse it. I don't mind so much though. I will stay in the mansion for a few days, then I will hunt. I shall spare you the details."
They continued to have frank and honest conversations as only they could together before they assumed their separate personas and went their separate ways. Anastaji the day before he arrived had sent correspondence to Kaien Cross had opened the academy that her brother was attending asking for a meeting with him. She had decided to begin immediately without waiting for any response back, Kaname would dare not say no though maybe he had become bold with the small time she had been gone. She didn't need any transportation as she could move faster than most though she wasn't ever the fastest and she had arrived in the town before the sun was down. To save face she arranged for a driver to take her in the next afternoon straight into the academy grounds.
She prepared her outfit feeling concerned that she had not put more thought into her returning look. She considered many things before settling for her black silk gown she had worn to a ball years ago that she had attended alone. Despite being quite a lavish dress it sat on her in a way that looked almost casual, like it was not so unusual for a person like her to be out in something like that. Though the summer heat did almost nothing for her apart from making her feel slightly sickly the dress with it's open back made her look less vampiric. Her hair had grown long and unsightly so she sharpened some fabric scissors and expertly fashioned it back into the chin-length bob she favors and appreciated the thick bounce it had. She cut herself a fringe and wore it slightly that she would have in the past.
Under the harsh artificial lighting of the hotel room, she could vividly see the redness of her hair that was hidden away in the everyday light. It was evident that she was a Kuran for those who have known the lineage for years. A Newer vampire would not spot it so easily though because though she is a pureblood she is still a mutt. The illegitimate child of Haruka and one of the Hanadagis. Her father rejected her as even his, his love for Juri was immovable and her conception was his greatest regret. She never knew her Mother and like most of her other family, they were asleep. For all her life she lived with not been wanted and her only company was with Rido.
Not that she minded, of course, she liked to be alone. Anastaji loved the thrill of being the wildcard one of the only mixed purebloods they were unsure of what she could do, and so was she. It seemed every battle something new could happen. It was believed that she was the only living illegitimate pureblood which put her in a position that nobody quite knew how to react too. This may be why she only truly rose to anger at Rido because she felt deeply for his son, Shiki. Shiki was both her blood relative and the other illegitimate child and she felt only the desire to protect him.
She brushed her newly chopped hair and wonder if Kaname could feel that she had arrived. She could feel him in the air as she remained breathless and stagnant, waiting simply for the afternoon to come. She could feel he was not as well fed as she and felt up for a fight, come what may.