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"Children," Juuri beamed, bustling into the nursery, "Come and meet mummy's best friend. He's a Hunter, so he'll feel strange to your senses, but you don't need to worry."
Kaien Cross, it had to be. No other Hunter would be welcome here.
"Yuki's sleeping," Kaname lied immediately and without a speck of guilt.
True, Cross had been a friend and ally once upon a time – but with his mind healed, Kaname had rethought everything he'd thought he'd knew.
Kaien had not been so neatly labelled again.
He'd taken Yuki in at great risk to himself. He'd raised her as a daughter. That took courage and compassion.
And yet…
Cross had also taught Yuki to address Kaname as Kaname-sama, as if he were not her brother, her friend, but something far away, far above her and it was not a feeling she'd ever grown out of. Yuki had always been unsure and self-conscious especially around him, and Kaname knew her upbringing had given her those doubts.
The formative years were incredibly important when you'd live forever.
The question Kaname brooded over was had Cross done that to her deliberately? Had he tried to tame her like she was a thing and a project. Something Cross could use to prove his own theories about co-existence? Living proof, perhaps, that vampires weren't all evil, here, look at my daughter, Yuki Kuran, purest of the pure and oh so demure. Isn't she nice? Sweet? Kind? Helpful? Humble?
And maybe it would have been OK, normal even, if Yuki had truly been a young Japanese mortal girl, but she wasn't and never could have been and now Kaname doubted. Before the Seal, Yuki had been vivacious, after it, a blank slate – and that nervous, hesitant creature had been entirely Cross' creation.
Had he done the best he could by society's standards of the time – a standard that just happened to be everything a pureblood shouldn't be – or had it been nefarious?
Perhaps Cross had been scared of her potential. He'd seen some small fraction of what a pureblood could do in battle; perhaps he thought the key was to influence the children whilst they were young and mouldable to despise violence of their own accord? A trap of their own mind?
Perhaps, Kaname was being too paranoid.
It could just as easily been love. Maybe Cross'd thought that Kaname was dangerous to his human daughter – that it was better if she never forgot that he had the power to hurt her… but the power to didn't also mean the desire to. There were other paths to take. Cross could have trained her to be a Hunter instead, taught her to protect herself – but he hadn't. He could have told her everything he knew about vampires to prepare her – but he hadn't. He could have sat her down and had a very serious conversation about acceptable risks – but he hadn't.
He'd brought Zero to be her brother instead.
Kaname had had a hand in arranging that – there were no other Hunters who'd have trained an ex-human to Hunt – but adopting Zero had been Cross' decision alone. The replacement.
Kaname loved Zero – the future version at least when he'd grown out of his brooding teenage phase, but heck, Zero would have been the first person to decry that decision. Zero hadn't been safe around Yuki but Cross didn't do anything about it or seem to care, until Zero had succumbed at last to Shizuka, and bitten Yuki.
Yuki would have died that night if Kaname had been a minute later.
Ex-humans' rarely learned to control themselves. If Kaname hadn't been enthralled to Haruka, Zero would have been dead too - dead for Kaname's jealousy, dead for Yuki's safety, and Cross should have expected that too.
He's been reckless. Negligent.
Cross had suffered, Kaname had no illusions how horrible some of his kind were, the sort of scars the Hunter must bear, the things he'd seen on the job, but his coping mechanisms had been obnoxious to say the least, and his decisions questionable.
Even the Academy had been flawed.
"Nuh uh," Juuri tapped him on the nose. "Turn that frown upside down!" Juuri singsonged with a smile, and then scooped Kaname up into her arms and ran at full speed to the parlour they were using.
Kaname sighed loudly as the corridor blurred past. He'd have to meet the man again now. At least he'd protected Yuki.
"My eldest," Juuri beamed, holding Kaname out with both arms like a sacrifice when they arrived.
Thank fuck, Kaien seemed terrified of babies and could not be persuaded, not even by Juuri's impressive skills, to hold him.
"A lovely child," the newly retired Hunter muttered, keeping both hands plainly visible on his lap.
Wise. If Haruka and Juuri had been anything like they were supposed to be, they'd have never let Kaien see Kaname, nor admit to the presence of another child by using the word 'eldest.' It was despicable but Kaname could only fume in silence as they risked everything, too young, too weak to do anything about it.
Thankfully, they quickly forgot about him as they got down to the real reason Kaien was here: business.
"I'm willing to lend our name to the venture, of course," Haruka said, "and that will certainly fill out the enrolment lists, but we simply cannot start building before we've sorted out the blood issue."
"It'll be much easier to research a viable blood alternative when we have the resources and influence of the students' families to call upon," Kaien countered. "You can't deny your own labs have failed to come up with anything."
"We've only just begun research!"
Blood tablets were more than just food, although it had started out that way in the Night Class study group.
They were a step towards a true vampiric civilisation.
In their natural state, vampires were forced to spread themselves throughout humanity, to take a sip here, a sip there, never too much – never too often. Tablets let them control that. They could gather in numbers, step out of the shadows, and build something that was their own – not humanity's castoffs.
Tablets were discreet – no screaming humans. Tablets were not affected by pollution – no more reliance on a prey species with multiple vulnerabilities. Tablets could be stored for decades – allowing actual stockpiling.
They were going to give him a fortune, political capital, and social progression. The public relations opportunity was going to be massive. He'd be seen as freeing his people of a shackle. It would look like Kaname was taking care of his people, carrying the responsibility of his lineage with ease.
He was so stealing the patent.
He'd start with the original formula first, build up a base, and then launch the spin-off products to keep the money coming. He'd memorised everything from the earliest versions to the latest one they'd had to develop from scratch once Tokyo fell and the EMP eliminated all data records.
"There's no reason not to start construction." Kaien exclaimed loudly, bringing Kaname back into focus. "The Day Class can be up and running within two years. A few more years and we'll have built up an excellent academic reputation which will significantly ease the minds of the parents, not to mention the Day Class profits will ensure the cash flow for the rest of the operation."
Huh. Kaname had always had the impression that the Academy was Haruka's brain child – he hadn't realised there had ever been doubts. But he should have. Haruka was a blood traitor, not a complete lackwit. It was dangerous to underestimate him.
Haruka's reluctance to part with serious money – and no matter how lightly Kaien was treating it, Kaname knew how risky a venture it was – might explain how Kaien's cartel of mortal businessmen had gotten involved.
The humans had developed new, effective weapons against vampires awfully quickly…if they'd had early access – and there was a disgustingly dim memory in the back of his mind. Something about the secret of immortality in exchange for funding? Fuck it all, Kaname loathed it when his memory failed him – it could only mean the memory was too close to something else Haruka fucked with.
"How can you guarantee the safety of this Day Class? No matter how you advertise this, they are always going to look like a farm for the Night Class. Without a blood substitute that assumption alone will ruin any hope of co-operation."
"The students will rotate. The Day and the Night will never come into contact with each other."
"How would you enforce it? I thought the facilities were shared – you can't confine the students to their dorms once their shift is over. They'll want to use the library, the gym, all of it at all hours of the day and night."
Kaname leant back against Juuri, and carefully entwined his thoughts with hers. They were familiar to him now, and them to him – it was easy to nudge.
"Where does co-existence actually begin, if the students are segregated so harshly?" She said, and Haruka actually looked thoughtful at that. It had been one of the many things Kaname had realised too late to be useful.
"Mixed events," Kaien replied. "Very controlled settings at first, gradually phased into more regular dances and festivals as the years progress. Eventually I'd like joint study groups. All of it monitored by prefects."
"The vampire students are always going to be more advanced, with a few exceptions," Haruka mused. "I'm not sure if joint-study groups are a good idea. Vampires will not come to respect humanity if they feel like they are above them – and in a purely academic environment – it's not the best idea."
"Do you have plans from the architect yet? Which architect are you using? If you hire a vampire, it will cut down on questions about the security measures we're going to need, and we avoid the useless paperwork."
"Security measures?" Kaien asked blankly. "Juuri, this is a school – not a fortress."
"Vampires are vampires." She held up a hand to stop him talking. "I do not anticipate anything violent, but vampires from different Clans will have their own internal conflicts. It'd be wise to house the various Clans in different blocks."
"The more customised you make the school, Juuri, the more it will cost. Architects are used to boarding schools, they can have a plan within a month if we change it too much –"
"I appreciate that, Kaien, I really do, but you have to accept that vampires of the upper classes will not attend a school that requires them to sleep in bunkbeds."
"Economically speaking –
"We're using our name as a standard, Kaien, and that means luxury."
"I also want C's and D's to attend. This isn't a novelty school for the nobility. It's a serious social movement."
"A tiered system," Haruka compromised. "Like a hotel, is that standard enough for your architect?"
"The more you pay the better the room? Well at least that will ensure the cash flow," Juuri smiled. "Whilst we're at it, the facilities had better be the best too. If we want them to create a blood substitute, they'll need laboratories."
"Don't the Aidou's have a line of half-decent hotels?" Haruka asked absently. "They'll have contacts."
"We have to consider the politics. We'll have students from multiple Clans, a lot of high ranking B's, a lot of vulnerable C's – we need to consider codes of conduct and enforcement."
"Surely Kaname will be able to enforce order."
"My son will attend for four years," Haruka replied. "But what about after? This is not a short-term project. We need something sustainable."
Kaname focused.
"A blood-contract," Juuri offered suddenly. "A very long, very complex one, but it need only be drawn up the once – and its guard shall never waver."
"Barbaric," Haruka chuckled leaning back on the sofa, "But accurate, and vampires have always needed harsher laws. I approve."
"Will students be willing to sign it?" It was a fair point, and Kaname wasn't sure of the answer. The Old Ways were in disfavour, unfashionable and under-studied. Many vampires would know what it meant, but many wouldn't and very few would believe.
"With it, we create proof of concept," Juuri said, excited. "Peace between all the Clans, all the ranks. The Academy will be truly safe. Surely you can see the merit of living by example here?"
"How will anybody trust a piece of paper?"
"It's part of our culture," Haruka said sipping from his glass. "I could the say the same about you trusting paper contracts which lack our powers to enforce."
Kaien huffed, but smiled. "Noted."
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So, a few thoughts (plot holes) for you there on the Academy. Opinions?
