AN: Lemons removed due to complaints.
The clouds were covering the sky in a dull grey, turning an ominous black shade as they swirled above. Signalling the start of something colder and darker to come as light porcelain flakes snowed down on the ground below. A gentle breeze flowed through the air, making the snow swirl and dance as it descended down to frozen ground. Tiny and delicate snowflakes would bring joy and ore of the children as they stuck to the ground, letting them hope for a blanket of snow to wake up to in the morning. The snow was here to stay, at least for a little while, may be even long enough for a snowman or two.
The cold air would make even the bravest of people, wrap up warm, or better yet, stay in by the roaring fires.
It was December, near Christmas, making it near the middle of winter. The shops were full of Christmas goodies. Homes were decorated in the finest tinsel and ornaments. Even the dullest of homes still shone in some sort of Christmas finery, bright colours and metallic shine. Everyone had managed to squeeze in the biggest tree they could, making sure it was decorated within an inch of its life. Homes had been cleaned and kept tidy for the arrival of the Christmas guests, the sort of family and friends you won't have around any other time of year. People you can name and point out in a photograph but you don't really know much about them or in some cases how you know them. Whenever someone asks, it's always, 'oh, that's my mothers, cousin's, husbands aunty' or something along those lines.
Fires roared in every home, keeping people inside and safe from the cold. Children sit around the fireplace, watching flames dance together as they kept themselves cosy. While their parents sit in their own seats. The armchair that was known as daddy's chair or the spot on the sofa that their mother had claimed as her own as she knitted or did some sort of needlepoint. Possibly repairing their Sunday best, clothes that only a few times a year saw more than the inside of a church. The picture-perfect families that only happened once a year as the children tried their best to be on the nice list. Not that Father Christmas, St Nicholas, Santa Claus or whatever you called him, would suddenly choose to ignore all the naughty things they had done since last Christmas. But at least they were all on their best behaviour for a little while, a break from the chaos. Something all parents would be thankful for.
The smells of baking breads, fruit and rum from Christmas desserts, and roasting meats filled the air. The closer to the market you would get, you'd smell roasting chestnuts, along with the call of the stalls selling them. In sweet shops, the store was filled with the refreshing scent of peppermint, probably the only time any parent could get minty fresh breath from their children. Tea and coffee had been replaced with hot cocoa; a drink often reserved for a before bed drink to warm the body, if chocolate had been brought as a treat.
Despite the joyous time of year, you could never know what the future would and could throw at you. You could only hope and pray for the best as you navigate your way through the maze called life.
A lone man sat on a bench in a park, seemingly ignorant of the frozen snow that fell down around him. His dark grey tweed many caped greatcoat was left open, despite the harsh cold. It allowed his smart and regal outfit to be seen but more so, would have left any normal man shivering and blue. He was wearing a high collar dress shirt, with a simple carvat. His double-breasted waistcoat was a black with a large raspberry red floral damask pattern. The buttons were silver and engraved with a similar pattern. His walnut hair was neatly combed back and tied into a low ponytail. He looked up at the snow, thinking. Thinking, just thinking.
"Lord Kuran?" A soft voice brought him from his thoughts. He blinked before looking over from where the voice came from. His eyes fell on a blonde-haired woman. Her hair had been pinned back so her long loose curls ran down her back, most likely to accommodate the rather large velvet blue hat on her head. It was decorated with a number of blue feathers of different shades. It almost reminded him of a bird's nest, after the young had left, leaving behind their baby feathers. His eyes moved to her face, taking a her grey, no, light violet eyes. A rare colour, almost one of a kind. She wore a sapphire blue coat with an exaggerated collar that flared over her shoulders, showing off her layered pearl necklace. The tied bow around her waist showed her slim figure before flaring out, no doubt hiding a ballgown of the same or similar colour. The sleeves were also flared, loose fitting. Her hands were hidden in a light brown fur hand warmer. Her face reminded him of someone but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Lady Hirano." He finally greeted her as he took in the image before him. She smiled at him softly before moving closer to him.
"Lord Kuran, people will suspect something if you keep wearing your coat open." She told him, her tone was light, trying not to tell him what to do. He smiled at her slightly before standing up.
"I suppose." He responded, doing up his coat before holding out his arm for her to take. "Are you on your way to the party?" He then asked her as she looped her arm around his.
"Yes, I was invited by your uncle. Something I never expected." She told him, making him frown.
"Curious." They started to walk through the park, leading the way.
"Indeed, I haven't seen him since we were children. He never took notice of any us growing up, called us all brats if I remember rightly." She informed him, hoping to get more out him. He chuckled lightly before nodding.
"Do you know if Yuki was invited?" He asked, the question itself came out of nowhere.
"Lady Kuran doesn't speak to me anymore." She admitted with a sigh.
"But you both were such good friends, what happened?" He asked concerned. He had not seen his sister for some time. It appeared time had allowed them to drift apart. He had tried his best to keep in contact with her and often relied on his staff to keep track of her. As much as he adored her and wanted to protect her from the world, Yuki needed to make a life of her own before he would allow her to take on her duties with him. He wanted her to grow up in her own time, build some experience up. Unfortunately, he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep the future at bay.
"I'm not sure why. We just grew apart; it didn't help that my family moved away." She explained with a shrug. It wasn't really a big deal for her. Once she had gotten used to Yuki not being around, she grew up pretty quickly. She had to.
"Well, we'll just have to fix that now, won't we?" He told her with a smile. She smiled back and nodded. He knew that she was good for Yuki, a good influence.
"If it's not too much trouble." She replied with a smile. She hoped Yuki was a strong and happy woman. She wondered if she had changed. She remembered Yuki could be very childish and quick to please without thinking of the consequences. She hope Yuki had grown from that.
"No trouble at all when it comes to you." He told her, making her blush.
They soon arrived at a grand looking manor. All it need was a tower or two and it could quite easily be called a castle. They walked down the gravel driveway, large trees sheltering them from the snow and the cold breeze. In between each tree ornamental cast iron light posts lit the way forward, even though the light from the manor itself illuminated the way.
The front of the manor had an imperial staircase leading to its front door. Four large Corinthian columns held up the towering porch which was as tall as the manor itself. The door itself was just as ornate, double mahogany door with intricate stained glass with red roses taking over the top half of the door. They were greeted on the porch by a doorman who quickly led them inside.
Once inside, she removed her coat, revealing an almost off the shoulder ballgown in a different colour than the young Kuran had expected, dark grey with a light purple hue. The bodice was velvet and laced tightly around her body. The bodice was also dangerously close to revealing more than it should of her breasts, something that was very in fashion at the moment. The sleeves had two inches of velvet before changing to pastel grey velvet. The seam of the two shades were covered by silver lace and pink velvet flowers that wrapped loosely around her upper arms, stopping just before the elbow. The sleeves themselves stopped just before her wrists, flaring outwards. The same lace and flowers were wrapped around her waist. The skirt was made of the same pastel grey velvet. She took off her hat, showing she had strings of pearls woven into the curls on the crown of her head. She also removed the finely embroidered cream leather winter gloves. She smiled at him as he simple stared at her. She blushed lightly and cleared her throat to get his attention.
"Sorry." He apologised sheepishly. He had never though anyone other than Yuki would be able to turn his head.
"Ah, I see the last of my guests has arrived." Someone spoke up, causing them to turn. The man was wearing a black tailed jacket with gold floral embroidery on the front and the cuffs of the sleeves. The jacket had matching gold silk lining and matching gold waistcoat, keeping his waterfall carvat in place. His leg length trousers were a matching black, his crisp white stockings stood out against the black. His hair had been tied back like Kaname's. But the first thing anyone would notice about the man was his mismatched eyes.
"Lord Kuran." She curtsied, bowing her head.
"Please call me Rido." He told her. "Lord Kuran makes me feel old." He then added, making her smile.
"You are old uncle, unless you think a few several centuries is young." The young Kuran piped up, earning a glare from Rido. "Lady Hirano and I were curious as to why you of all people had invited her."
"Well, I do love to dance with young beautiful women." Rido pointed out and she smiled at him, but didn't look impressed. "But that isn't the only reason. It had come to my attention at the two most inseparable girls in this world have now stopped talking to each other." He then added, taking them both by surprise. It was unlike Rido to take an interest in the family, let alone try to help them or anyone else. "Kaname you can look at me that way all you like." He then stated as Kaname eyed him with suspicion. "Lady Hirano here has been an excellent friend to the family. More so than the company that both you and Yuki keep now." He said, his tone was calm yet he still sounded annoyed. It was as of he was trying to hold back his temper.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Kaname barked back at him, annoyed.
"You seem to think it is possible to be vegetarian. It's impossible Kaname." Rido stated simply.
"You think there's a way to stop drinking blood? What we could stop craving blood?" She asked him curiously. Kaname was glad to some enthusiasm from her. He knew that at least someone other than Yuki and himself cared about humans.
"We're looking into options and looking at how it could work, but we have nothing concrete as of yet." Kaname explained to her. "Besides, the humans have started a new war, Britain is now at war with France and they aren't just fighting in North America and India this time. They have even divided Europe in this war. How much longer do you think it will be before the rest of the known world is dragged into this one? This is the what, the third or fourth war in the last fifty years!" He the snapped at Rido. "They're killing each other enough as it is. We don't need to be depleting their numbers."
"They'll hardly get close to becoming extinct." Rido huffed back. "We can just breed them if we have to." Lady Hirano cleared her throat. Both men dropped their glares and apologised for their behaviour in front of a lady.
"How about we find Yuki." Kaname suggested.
"I will do that Kaname, after all, she is my guest." Rido snapped before gently smiling at Lady Hirano, holding out his hand. She smiled at him and thanked Kaname for walking her to the party. Kaname nodded and quickly disappeared into the ballroom, seeming to fade into the crowd.
"Aina!" Yuki's voice called out as soon as she laid eyes on the woman that was on Rido's arm. Aina smiled and Rido let her go to walk over to Yuki. Both girls smiled and hugged each other tightly. Aina couldn't help but notice Yuki's dress, it seemed rather childlike, maybe it was because Yuki still looked rather young. The cream dress was tight fitting but definitely not corseted like it should be for her age in todays fashion. The dress's neckline only just showed her collarbones and was covered in bright floral patterns. The front of the bottom of the dress had even been hemmed a few inches above the floor, this had to be a child's dress. She wondered why Yuki would still wear a dress like that anymore, she was a young woman now, not a child. Then again Yuki was rather petit for her age and for a vampire. Yuki had also kept her hair short and pinned it back into a small low bun, decorating it with a couple of bright flowers.
"Kaname, why are you hovering?" Rido seemed to ask into the air before Kaname stood next to him.
"You're up to something but I don't understand what. But you have seemingly done something good." Kaname stated. "Something I thought was impossible." He then added snidely.
"I am only helping the Hirano family." Rido answered simply, still watching the two women talking. He hadn't failed to notice as Aina's face fell ever so slightly, as if she was disappointed with Yuki. He wondered if Aina was seeing what he saw in Yuki, a weak, careless and above all useless Pureblood.
"Helping? What has Aina and Yuki speaking again got to do with helping them?" Kaname asked, snapping Rido from his thoughts.
"Because they don't have as much power as they use to, they simply want to realign with us again. Nothing wrong with that, is there?"
"What are you getting in return?" Kaname then asked and Rido shrugged.
"A chance at court their daughter, if she will give me the chance." He answered without a care. He didn't see Kaname as a threat to him, why should he care if he knows?
"A chance? I'm sure she is well aware of your rendezvous with a number of different women. I'm also sure she knows about your relationship with her aunt. I doubt you will get any chance with her willingly."
"Well, I can try. Besides, who won't want to marry a royal?" Rido teased with a smirk.
"Maybe someone will beat you to it." Kaname hinted as he watched the two girls laughing and catching up with each other.
"You have Yuki to consider Kaname. Just because your parents have been soft on you two and let you both explore before taking your places, doesn't mean they will take you to you courting someone other than Yuki." Rido pointed out as he turned towards his nephew.
"Yuki will always have a comfortable life whether or not I marry her." Kaname reasoned.
"That's not the point, you have a duty and so does she."
"We'll see what happens." Kaname stated before walking towards the two happy women.
Rido waited, watching them closely. Waiting for a time to strike.