Merry Christmas, everyone! It's also my 2nd anniversary in FF, so I hope you will enjoy this Christmas and anniversary present. Thank you for your continued support of this story. There are two more chapters left, I hope you will stick with me 'till the end.

Warnings: AU, OOC, un-betaed

Disclaimer: VK and its characters belong to Matsuri Hino

Life 12: Problem Solved?

"Daddy!"

The triplets left their Ninjago lego set on the floor and rushed to the door where their father stood with a smile and open arms.

"I'm home!" greeted Kaname as he hugged them. "Did you behave when I was gone?"

"We did!" said Rido proudly.

"We built the Ninjago Ultra Sonic Raider ," said Haruka as he pointed to their lego set. "I am Kai, the Ninja of Fire!"

"I am Jay, the Ninja of Lightning!" declared Rido.

"I am Cole, the Ninja of Earth!" declared Ichiru.

"Haiya!" the trio shouted in unison while doing the spinjutsu and air kick.

Kaname laughed and patted their heads.

"Great job boys! I am glad you played together nicely. Let's go upstairs and check out if the new clothing that I just bought suit the girls."

"Can I help changing them?" Ichiru tugged Kaname's shirt, looking at him with puppy eyes.

"Can I?" asked Haruka.

"Me too!" said Rido.

"Of course all of you can. I change Juuri and Yuuki, Rido change Shizuka, Haruka change Seiren, and Ichiru change Maria."

"Okay!" the triplet ran upstairs toward the octuplets' room.

Kaname shook his head and smiled as he followed his oldest sons upstairs. All six sets of clothing had been laid out on the bed, courtesy of his maids. There were five sleep-and-plays, five nightgowns, five flower-patterned pajamas, five blouses, five pants, and five dresses; each set were identical and consisted of light purple, dark purple, bright pink, red, and yellow.

"So... red is Juuri, bright pink Yuuki, dark purple Shizuka, light purple Seiren, and yellow Maria. Since your Mom is coming soon, let's change them to shirts and pants."

"Okay."

The triplets picked up the shirts and pants with the color that had been assigned to their girls, Kaname picked up the red and pink ones. They walked to the cribs, each was labeled by Kaname for convenience. Upon finding the right crib they replaced the girls' sleepwear with the new shirts and pants. They smiled when the girls cooed.

"I'm home!" a familiar baritone voice greeted them at the door.

"Welcome home, Mom! Do you like Shizuka's dark purple pants and shirt?" Rido asked excitedly while holding Shizuka in his arms.

"I do," Zero smiled and walked closer to Rido. "The dark purple clothing was a nice contrast to her pale skin and silver hair."

"Look at Maria, Mom!" Ichiru tugged Zero's sleeve, urging him to look at the baby girl in his arm.

"Wow! She looks so bright!" Zero smiled.

"And veee...ry pree...tty! I want to marry her!"

Kaname and Zero laughed; the silverette pinched his left cheek lovingly.

"We'll see about that."

Zero approached Haruka, who was playing pat-a-cake with Seiren.

"And sweet Seiren looks even sweeter in her light purple clothing."

"Coo... coo..." Seiren vocalized as if agreeing with her mom's compliment.

"What do you think of the color I picked for Yuuki and Juuri?" asked Kaname as he was rocking the identical brunette girls in his arms.

"Perfect! The color compliment their red-wine eyes. You chose well, Kaname. Great job!"

"Thank you," Kaname smiled proudly.

"So... what's with different color clothings for the girls?"

"That is, my Dear, to help me identify them. Your brilliant idea of name bracelet didn't work for me."

"Why didn't you come up with this idea sooner?"

"Because you insisted they should wear matching clothes."

"Right. Well, I am glad your problem is solved."

Eight years later...

"Ugh... I hate pink. And this dress is too flowery. Why did Daddy pick pink for me? It's too girly!" Yuuki pouted as she threw her dress on her bed.

"Do you want to switch color with me? I love pink. You can have all my outfit." Juuri opened her wardrobe.

"Okay. Let's switch wardrobe."

Yuuki took off her flowery dress and picked out a pair of black pants and a red V-neck silk shirt from Juuri's wardrobe, now hers. She put them on and smiled when seeing her reflection in their shared dresser mirror.

"I like it!" she said excitedly and danced around the room.

"I like mine too," Juuri said as she turned around, the flowery pink dress twirled.

"Let's trick Daddy!"

Yuuki held Juuri's hand and led her downstairs toward the family room, where she knew their parents were playing a board game. They ran into the silver-haired girl trio as they turned the corner.

"Hi Yuuki and Juuri. Are you going to trick Daddy, too?" asked Maria, wearing Seiren's dark purple blouse and mini skirt.

"Yeah, can you tell we are switching color?" Yuuki asked back.

"Yeah," replied Shizuka, dressed in light purple. "I gave all my clothes to Maria and Seiren gave hers to me."

"Yellow is my favorite color." said Seiren.

"You three look pretty." Yuuki complimented them. "Let's go!"

They giggled and ran downstairs in excitement.

"Hurry!"

Yuuki looked back at her sisters as she ran, bumping into a glass stand and knocking down an expensive golden vase. The glass and vase shattered, large amount of water was pooling around the vase, and fresh crimson roses were scattered all over the floor.

"Oh no! Daddy's expensive vase!" Maria said with a shocked expression on her face, her feet got wet.

"And his favorite roses that he got from Mom for his birthday got ruined!" said Shizuka with a sad voice, holding a withered rose in her hand. She loved flowers, so it saddened her to see withering roses.

"We are in big trouble!" Juuri was in a panic and ran to the kitchen to get towels.

"Oops! Sorry!" Yuuki giggled softly, as if it's not a big deal though her pants and slippers were soaked.

"JUURI!"

An angry voice stopped Juuri from entering the kitchen, she turned around and saw Kaname's crimson eyes boring into Yuuki's. Her splitting image was trembling.

"Why did you break my favorite vase, Juuri?"

"I am sorry, Dad. I was too excited to see you and didn't see where I was going..." Yuuki looked at Kaname with a guilty expression, but inside she was trying hard not too laugh because her dad thought Juuri had broken the vase because she was wearing red.

"Go to your room for detention! No TV for you for a week!"

"Yes, Dad," Yuuki faked a pout and turned around, heading upstairs toward her shared bedroom with Juuri.

"Ngg..."

Kaname felt a tug on his sleeve and turned around, his eyes meeting a pair of watery red-wine orbs. He kneeled down and caressed the brunette girl's left cheek.

"What is it?" his voice was gentle.

"I didn't break your vase, Dad." Juuri said softly, trying to hold her tears.

"I know, Yuuki. You didn't break the vase. Juuri did."

Tears fell down Juuri's cheeks, she was sad her Daddy really thought she had broken his favorite vase. Kaname raised his eyebrows in confusion and looked up, his eyes searching three pairs of lavender orbs for an answer.

"Juuri did't break your vase, Dad. Yuuki did." said Seiren in a matter-of-fact voice.

"That is Juuri," explained Maria while pointing at the crying girl in Kaname's hold.

"Yuuki just went upstairs for detention," Shizuka said while twirling the withered rose in her hand.

"So..." Kaname looked back at Juuri. "Why didn't you say you didn't break vase?"

"Because you said I broke the vase and Yuuki who you thought was me said sorry."

"I thought Yuuki was you because she was wearing red. Why did you switch clothes?"

"Because... I like pink and Yuuki likes red. We are switching color because we don't like the color you picked for us. I'm sorry..." Juuri said while looking down, feeling guilty for not liking her dad's choice of color and afraid she would offend him.

Kaname sighed and touched Juuri's chin, lifting her face up until their matching red-wine orbs met. He smiled at her.

"It's okay if you don't like the color I've picked and want to switch with Yuuki. I just don't like you being quiet about it. Next time tell me if something bothers you, okay?"

"Okay," Juuri smiled, feeling relieved.

"Now go to your room and tell Yuuki she is in BIG trouble. And no TV for you tonight."

Juuri nodded and turned around, running upstairs to her room.

Kaname stood up and was greeted by an unpleasant sight. Shizuka was twirling his favorite rose that had withered, Maria was giggling, and Seiren was stomping her feet on the water puddle, wetting the bottom of her yellow dress and splashing water all over the floor around her.

"Maria! Stop stomping your feet on the water now!"

Seiren stopped her action, while Maria kept on giggling.

"Stop that giggle, Shizuka!"

Maria laughed harder until her eyes got teary.

"Shizuka! You are being disrespectful! Go to your room for detention! No TV for you for one week!"

Maria nodded and made a dash upstairs, giggling all the way to her shared bedroom with Seiren and Shizuka. Kaname squeezed his palms and took a deep breath, trying to control his anger.

"Mmm... Daddy... I am Shizuka." Shizuka said softly.

"What? Why are you wearing light purple?"

"Because like light purple. Dark purple is ugly."

"She gave her clothes to Maria, Maria gave her clothes to me, and I gave my clothes to Shizuka." Seiren explained with a flat tone.

"So all of you have been deceiving me all this time?"

Kaname tightened his fists. Shizuka and Seiren were afraid, they looked down awaiting punishment.

"Detention to both of you! Go to your room and no TV for one week!"

The girls took dejected steps upstairs. Kaname sighed.

"Girls... I have been outsmarted..." Kaname mumbled. "My problem is not solved at all..."

A soft laughter interrupted his rambling. Zero was standing against the doorway, his face was radiating happiness.

"Your so called brilliant idea of color coded clothing is not so brilliant after all..."

"Yeah..."

Both laughed softly.

to be continued