15th story in my series of short stories with various VK characters. Independent from the previous 14. :D

#: 15
Title: Unlikely hero
Character: Rido, baby Kaname, Juri and Haruka.
Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Knight, this is a fanfic written for fun and for love of the series. I'm not making any money with it.
Warnings: Possible vague spoilers for some manga chapters, mostly 35, though feelings etc also make reference to ideas stemming from 43.

It's fluff with Rido and Kaname, how screwed up can such a thing be? XD
Rido is as creepy as ever. XD

Blame chapter 43 of the manga. It seriously messed up my mind. lol XD
Btw, if you haven't read it yet, I scanlated it and it's up on my livejournal and on Onemanga, so rush to read it and you'll see what I'm talking about. :D

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Things were as awkward as ever.

Rido walked towards the buffet, ignoring his siblings as they slid along the dance floor in the perfect harmony of movements that only bonded vampire lovers could have, their waltz an ageless one that got all the other vampires to instinctively stop to watch in mesmerized adoration.

The empty end of the severed bond he used to have with Juuri throbbed in Rido's chest, made worse by the sight of the two so happy.

He loved her, but he hated them for showing themselves that way where he could see them.
He hated that they were happily married while he was alone and devoid of all he'd ever wanted – Juri.
And he hated with all his being the embodiment of their union, the physical personification of it -- their child, Kaname, a toddler a little under two years old now.

Dark ideas swirled inside Rido's head, until he decided that whatever purpose attending this party may have had, it wasn't worth the pain of seeing them together so happy, and all the other fools adoring them like that.
Not to mention that if he stayed any longer, even his near perfect mask of control would slip, and the hatred might show openly on his face. Things were still officially okay, even if keeping that façade was harder each day. But Juri had wanted it all to seem okay, so for now he had indulged, if anything so that they wouldn't be suspicious the day he actually did get around to doing something for revenge. He had many ideas, especially concerning Kaname, but he wasn't ready to carry out any of them yet, and he wasn't even sure yet if he would go through with it when he was actually ready.
He weighted the pros and cons between the intense satisfaction he would feel in crushing the boy, and the drawbacks in the way Juri might look at him afterwards. But she barely ever looked at him now, didn't she? He had lost her completely.

He swallowed the dark ball of anger in his throat and turned away, forcing himself to stop looking at them, and making his way to the ornate stairway leading to the second floor where several rooms had been prepared for the guests to spend time alone or in a smaller group if they so wished.
Purebloods rarely mingled with the crowd more than for a few instants, and as such, vampire parties always had a few separate rooms set up like a pleasant drawing room so that they could spend an enjoyable time away from the bother that the adoring masses could quickly constitute.

As Rido made his way to the room that had been prepared for him, he glanced in the direction of the one where he had seen his siblings leave their child earlier when they arrived at the party. Perhaps they felt safer by taking him with them rather than leaving him alone at home, but it was a foolish notion, Rido mused.
Especially since Haruka and Juri were still blissfully waltzing right now, far away from Kaname and unable to know if anything happened to him, while he was there, much closer to the boy than they were, close enough that they would never even know what happened until it was too late, if he decided to spirit the boy away.
But he would do no such thing, or in any case, not tonight. His plans, if he ever decided to take them to completion, would take a much longer preparatory period, and kidnapping the boy tonight would serve no purpose.

As he walked into his own room, he glanced towards the boy's room again, and caught a glimpse of an aristocrat vampire leaning against the door that was now partially open. The vampire seemed to be about to exit, and had a sickeningly sweet smile on his face that reeked of fakeness, as he apparently cajoled the boy.
Rido could have easily stayed where he was, concealed by the welcoming darkness of the corridor, and listened to what they were saying, but he didn't feel like bothering and just slammed shut the door of his own room before plopping down on a fauteuil and trying to coax his mind to slip away towards less exasperating directions than his infuriating siblings or their spawn.

But much as he tried to relax and bring under control the anger that whirled inside him ever since he saw the two dancing, the image of that vampire leaning against Kaname's door kept coming back to his mind over and over.
He recognized him now. It was someone from the council, a low ranked noble he'd usually seen conspiring in the corners between meetings, and who behaved in a way much above his means. The man hardly had a right to be at this party to begin with, and probably had convinced someone else to allow him to tag along.

Rido attended the council meetings and did all the necessary to maintain the very useful close relation he had with the council, but he focused on the people who actually mattered and rarely paid attention to that type of presumptuous upstart, so he hadn't recognized the man right away.
Now that he did remember though, he also remembered having heard other council members saying among snickers that that man had a reputation for ruthlessly trying to take whatever he could to get ahead, regardless of what means he had to employ.

Rido's mismatched eyes flew back open. Now it suddenly seemed very clear why the man would be there, loitering by the unguarded door of an unprotected little pureblood at an age where he wouldn't be able to do anything if someone tried to prey on his blood. The laws protected a pureblood's blood, but Kaname was young enough that it would probably be easy to turn things around in a way that the boy believed he let the other drink, when in truth he was taken against his will. The arrogant upstart could gain immense power if his ploy succeeded. It could have dangerous consequences, but with the position of power the council currently held, there were big chances the man could get away with it and be fine.

Rido got up suddenly, striding out of his room and down the corridor. He swung open the door to Kaname's room without bothering to knock. It was empty, both the older vampire and the little boy having vanished without leaving any tracks.

Anger made Rido's fangs extend by their own accord as he seethed. He gripped the door frame in a way the made the wood splinter under his fingers.

How DARE he?! Take my prey, no less. If someone will destroy that boy, it will be me, no one else!!

Walking back into the open area of the corridor that surmounted the dancing hall, Rido looked down and saw that Haruka and Juri were still blissfully enjoying each other's presence and completely ignorant of whatever situation their child might be in.

Perhaps that was precisely why the man had taken the boy away, so that his blood wouldn't be scented by anyone present.
He had to act fast.

Knowing the building and its surroundings, where would he take Kaname if he was kidnapping him?

He would probably take him much farther away, where they wouldn't be found out, but he took into account that the other vampire didn't have pureblood speed.

The inside of the building was an ornate party hall, but the outside of it was more like a decrepit old building. It was set up in an isolated countryside area, and the surroundings were rather empty and blank, especially covered in snow as they currently were.
It would be too open and too awkward to do it in the woods, too easy to be spotted, and so Rido guessed the vampire must have Kaname still somewhere within the building, but in a place far enough from the ballroom that his blood would remain unnoticed. He effortlessly stepped on the windowsill and jumped out, landing two floors below in the snow, with a graceful and completely silent movement, his natural agility further honed by thousands of years of the power in his veins building up.

Rido stalked along the outer wall of the building, his aura masked and blending in with the night completely, the most unlikely rescuer that fate could possibly have sent after Kaname.

Quickly, he found what he was looking for. A square of light on the snow indicated the presence of a window right after the corner, and with his sensitive pureblood hearing, Rido could easily pick up the talk that was going on inside. The scent of pure vampire blood was already in the air, but Rido could tell that the kidnapper hadn't drank any of it yet. With how long Rido had already lived, he could tell from the subtle variations in the energy he perceived coming from each of them that the other had probably only cut Kaname so far.

A little voice complained weakly, as if trying to push someone away and failing – Kaname was still too small to use his powers or even to call out for his parents with his aura. His kidnapper had planned things perfectly, appearing gentle while they were still within a range where the boy could have called out for help, and suddenly being more forceful now that they were far enough away that no one would hear Kaname. If Rido hadn't seen and recognized the man earlier, the plan would probably have gone through perfectly, and no one would have found out until it was too late.

Kaname struggled weakly in the man's arms; a clear tinge of fear had made its way into his little voice now that he realized how alone he was, and just how much he was completely at the other's mercy.

The vampire's lips dropped to the delicate little neck with a lecherous delight as he repeated poisoned words into the little boy's ear to silence him. "Don't worry, it will only hurt a little… No one has to know how shamefully scared you are either, it will be our 'little secret', you just have to say you let me do this."

Before the vampire's mouth could close on the little pureblood's skin, the door exploded.

Panic was obvious on the vampire's livid face as he stared in horror at the furious pureblood standing in the frame of the now-inexistent door.

"Ri… Ri-Rido-sama!! I can explain!!"

What was HE doing here?! I thought he didn't care?!

"Really?! Then explain fast what you were doing to my nephew!"

Rido was initially going to say 'my prey', but it would have sounded bad, and there was always the possibility that Kaname would repeat his words later, so he slipped in a protective 'my nephew' instead, at the last second.

Needless to say, one could hardly explain why they were holding a bloodied and very visibly scared pureblood child, while having their fangs a half inch away from said child's neck.

Rido didn't bother waiting for whatever explanation, and moved in a blur. Before the other vampire could even see what happened, Kaname had disappeared from his hands, and was now nestled safely against Rido's chest, securely held in his uncle's right arm while his unlikely rescuer loomed dangerously in front of the kidnapper.

The man stepped back until his back slammed against the wall, trembling at how close the pureblood had moved before he could even blink..

"Ri… Rido-sama… It doesn't have to be that way. We… we could reach an agreement perhaps? Share perhaps?"

Rido snarled.

"I'm sorry, but 'sharing' isn't my style."

Rido's fist tore through the other vampire's chest in a blink of an instant, and there was a sickening noise before he ripped out his heart, blood spraying onto them both before the body stiffened, started to shatter, and finally exploded into a cloud of dirty dust looking like damp ashes.

Rido shook his arm, a revulsed look on his face as he tried to get rid of the ashes that clung to the blood on his arm, turning to something akin to mud. "I hate those lowly bastards and their dirt."

Kaname's hands were balled into tight little fists as he clung to the fabric of Rido's clothing and tried hard not to cry. He was still very small, and the experience was all very shocking to him, especially how unable he had been to do anything to protect himself.

Power struggles were deeply ingrained in purebloods, and Kaname hated the weakness he had already displayed – he didn't want to cry now, on top of it all. But pureblood or not, he was also a small child, and desperately in need of comfort and gentleness after being so scared.

His uncle knew nothing of the way a small child's mind worked though, and failed to realize the exact nature of the perceived distress coming from the boy.

"Are you wounded? What's wrong?!"

From what he could smell of the boy's blood, he shouldn't be badly wounded or anything, so Rido wondered and wondered what could be going on, pulling the boy away a little to get a better look and try to figure out what was wrong. Kaname's little dress shirt was partially open, a little crumpled and smudged with blood, his little tie hanging undone in a messy manner, but from the look of it all it didn't look like he'd been undressed further or anything, and because of how fast Rido had come after them, there hadn't been any time for the vampire to do anything other than get access to his neck and try to coerce him to give him his blood, so he shook away the initial idea he had. Suddenly, he realized that Kaname was trembling slightly, the cold getting to him hard now that the fear and tension had burst.

"Hu- huh…" Kaname opened his mouth and then closed it quickly, realizing he couldn't speak right now. His eyes were wet, but he was still well decided not to let the tears fall.

Unconsciously, he was clinging to the arm his uncle had wrapped around him as he held him over his hip.

Rido offered the only comfort he knew how to. He thrust his wrist in front of the boy's face and commanded.

"Drink. You'll feel better."

Kaname hesitated, surprised and unsure.

"What, don't tell me you're such a baby you don't know how to bite?!"

"That… that's not it at all!!"

Kaname's little face had turned beet red at the taunt. But truth is, he was still weaning and had only ever drank blood from his mother or father when they had cut their own wrists first. He tried to bite, but his little fangs scratched Rido's skin without piercing deep enough. Rido scoffed and held back the urge to say it was just tickling him. Kaname felt even more embarrassed, but the teasing was slowly taking his mind off the fear he'd felt earlier.

"That's how you do it, kid."

Rido pulled back his wrist, bringing it up to his mouth and sinking his fangs into it deeply, drawing blood to the surface instantly. He handed it back to the boy, who hesitantly closed his little mouth around the wound and sucked the blood into his mouth.

It was surprisingly thick, even more so than his parents', and more bitter too, but not in an unpleasant manner. Kaname may be a small child, but he had an eclectic taste, and in his mind, Rido's blood was more like dark bitter chocolate –which unlike most small children, Kaname did like-- while his mother's was sweeter and gentle like delicious milk chocolate. His father's was similar to hers –perhaps because they often drank from each other—although a little stronger.
The difference wasn't unpleasant, it was a new discovery, and the blood was warm and soothing after all the fear and the cold Kaname was feeling.

Rido's eyes were lost in the past for an instant. Kaname looked a lot like his mother, and it jolted back memories, thousands of years before, when a toddler Juri innocently drank from her older brother's wrist, clinging onto his arm with the same single-minded determination Kaname was currently displaying as his little hands wrapped around Rido's wrist and he sucked the blood harder. Rido felt a harsh lump rising in his throat.
He interrupted the boy's drinking, nudging him off his wrist. "It's enough."

Too long had passed already, and it would be best to get back inside quickly before someone noticed they were both gone and came out with the wrong conclusions.

But perhaps it was too late for that already.

As soon as Rido stepped in the snow outside and made to rush back to the entry with Kaname in his arms, an unexpected blow from above heavily crashed into his side, sending him sprawling into the snow with a jarring pain. The boy in his arms was gone instantly, snatched away from him, which triggered an instinctive surge of worry, unfounded as it may be considering the nature of the people attacking him. Through the pureblood fury muddling her aura, he distinctively recognized the presence of Juri crushing him into the ground, her nails extended into claws pressing painfully against his ribs.

The danger in her voice was as visible as her fangs gleaming in the dark as she leaned over him, her eyes glowing red like blood.

"What were you doing, Rido?!"

"Saving your son!!"

An unlikely answer, and the look on her face told him well that she didn't believe a word he was saying.

Haruka --holding little Kaname-- quickly moved towards the spot where Juri was still pinning Rido to the ground. He had probably snatched the child out of Rido's arms when Juri slammed into him.

Two purebloods on one would be impossible odds for anyone, even him. Not to mention that whatever Juri may think and however much rage Rido may feel, he didn't think he had it in himself to fight her.

Luckily, that wouldn't be necessary, as an unexpected intervention was suddenly taking place.

"Mommy, no! He really did help me, it's true!"

Little Kaname was stretching his arms, leaning forward from his father's hold, worriedly trying to reach for his surprised mother and stop her.

Some quick explanations later, and a calmer Juri and Haruka realized embarrassedly that the blood all over Rido and Kaname belonged indeed to a third party –in fact, Kaname had Rido's blood on his lips, of all things… one would have expected the opposite to be more likely.

They were as apologetic as they could get – even if they were also very glad to have Kaname back in their arms rather than in Rido's. He may have saved him this time, but they were never quite sure whether his intentions were always truly all innocent, and they had seriously panicked earlier when they realized that not only Kaname was missing, but Rido had disappeared as well, his scent clearly present on the splintered frame of the door leading to Kaname's room.

But for once at least, fate had taken things not quite in the direction one might have expected...

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Fluffy ficlet for once? :D
Err, even my fluff is full of angst. XD;

By the way, while I'm here, thank you so so much to all the lovely people who've been leaving your kind comments on my fics! :D
I love knowing what you think of my stories, and it motivates me to write more, so thank you so much! You are all awesome!
(And sorry that I can often be so slow in managing to catch up with replies. :X)