A/N: I finally got a break from some of my school work, so I decided to do a bit more work on this story. I haven't changed this part much from the original version but I have made some changes to the "timeline" so the ages are a bit different.
I want to dedicate this chapter to LuanRina ( I hope I spelled that right) who's review made me smile when I was having a really bad day. Thanks a million!
As always thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourite and followed this story. You guys are the best. Enjoy!
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Takeshi Kiryuu tapped his foot impatiently as he stood in the doorway of the pristine training room. He had to admit that Juri had done a stellar job in renovating the place. It was absolutely immaculate. Especially considering that, before they had begun training the boys, it hadn't been used in 3 or 4 hundred years. The hunter president fondly recalled many a happy hour spent in the room with Haruka, sometimes even Juri when she decided to grace them with her presence. His mood, however, turned slightly sour as he thought of the elder Kuran brother; Rido.
In Takeshi's opinion Rido had always been a no good, slimy, bastard. It had taken a while for Haruka and Juri to agree with him but in the end they had to. Takeshi wasn't sure if it was Rido trying to kidnap Juri right before her and Haruka's wedding or the time that the madman attempted to sacrifice a baby Kaname to resurrect some dusty old ancestor vamp that had brought them around to his way of thinking, but he wasn't going to question it.
The eldest Kuran had been the subject of many of Takeshi's thoughts of late. He had been forced to think of the nut job on an almost daily basis for the last few months, Rido had been behaving suspiciously around the time Yuuki's birth, almost 11 years ago; meeting with many powerful purebloods (who weren't on the associations good side), buying up properties left, right and centre, even getting involved in the illegal hunter weapons trade. The association president was concerned on both a personal and professional level, and rightly so, however when Rido's illicit activities had suddenly ceased 3 months ago many of his hunter subordinates had seemed content to drop the case. But not Takeshi he had turned it over and over in his mind countless times, and he was convinced; that scumbag was up to something and Takeshi was going to find out what.
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"Training" was, in the generally not-so-humble opinion of Kaname Kuran, one of the most ridiculous activities known to man or ...vampire. He would not have minded participating in the infernal deed if "training" was in fact what occurred, but unfortunately every time his father and Kiryuu-san enforced another "training" session the outcome was sorely predictable; he would be irritable, Zero would be bored, Ichiru would be studious in the extreme, his father would be distracted and Kiryuu-san would be determined. The clashing of these eclectic dispositions would invariably end in tears, with at least one argument breaking out in the first 20 or so minutes.
Kaname leaned against the wall of "training" room as his thoughts proved to be prophetic. His father and Kiryuu-san had started quarrelling, and they were only 14 minutes in. Although the two men were, the Kuran heir had to admit, hiding the subject of their disagreement quite admirably Kaname knew that reason why the men were at odds. Rido Kuran.
The man was technically his uncle however he only filled the role in the biological sense. Kaname had only ever met the man once and, considering Rido was in the process of kidnapping him at the time, not under the best of circumstances. So, Kaname felt, the man was certainly not a uncle in any kind of emotional context. Kaname wondered if there was such a thing as an emotional uncle, he supposed if there was then his must be Cross-san. The man was eccentric in the extreme and Kaname was often at a loss to explain the man's actions, nonetheless he felt a genuine affection for the hunter that he most certainly did not in relation to his Kuran uncle.
Thinking of Cross-san shifted Kaname's musings back to those of more a pleasant nature. The hunter was due to dine with them that evening and the Kuran heir was looking forward to the event. His mother had organised a dinner party to celebrate the 15th birthdays of Ichiru and his Zero-chan. Being the proper and upright lady she was, Juri had invited all the right people to the soiree; important hunters, the purest of purebloods and, of course, family and friends.
Kaname was particularly excited for Zero to meet his old friend Takuma Ichijo. The other boy was his opposite in both looks and personality; sporting blond hair, blue eyes and a sunny disposition which was nothing like the astute cool that was the signature attitude of the Kuran Heir. However cheerful he was, Kaname saw potential in the blond. Takuma was intelligent and warm hearted, even at 14 he had people skills the Kuran heir could never hope to possess. They had first met a few years ago when his father was attending a council meeting. Takuma's grandfather, who served under his father, had taken the other boy in after the tragic death of his parents, incidentally at the hands of the man who was the cause of the argument currently unfolding right before Kaname's eyes. Rido. Everything seemed to be about Rido at the moment. The brunette pondered this for a moment and decided that he would have to do a little digging into what his dear uncle was up to but later. Right now he had a party to attend.
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