Hey, look at that CHAPTER 2! How exciting 3
anyway, enjoy reading.
—
Having two sons made Harukas's heart full and heavy at the same time. After fully establishing that their ancestor had sealed away his memories and powers. A task that would have looked rightfully hilarious to anyone who might have overseen, as both adults tried to talk to and communicate with the infant, holding up toys and drawing pictures. Successful in only making both boys laugh. The two parents eventually sat and discussed life for a while, and how on earth are they going to explain this to the council. When both had exhausted their patience and the babies fell asleep. Haruka retreated to the storerooms to retrieve a second bassinet for his new son to sleep in.
'Thank god the Kurans were hoarders' he had thought deciding to retrieve his own crib from one of the many spare and empty rooms in their maze-like home. When struggling to maneuver the clumsy furniture through the halls and wishing for a helping hand Haruka was thankful a second time. As Juris desired privacy for the birth of her first child they had sent the house's staff away for the last few months. No one else knew they had only had one son but their older brother.
Being reminded of that man made Haruka sick. The couple, unable to truly kill their brother had instead opted to reseal the door to the crypt in which his body lay heartless and in pieces. Juri had resealed wards and the two hopped, that in his weakened state and without access to blood, their brother will be forced to send his body into an eternal slumber. And maybe, when their sons were grown and capable of defending themselves Haruka and Juri will awaken Rido. Maybe.
Returning to the nursery Haruka watched as Juri sat holding her son as their ancestor slept in the available crib sucking his thumb. It baffled him how a being so old as the first Kaname was rumoured to be, could be sleeping so easily, sucking his thumb, soothing himself to sleep.
"How are we going to explain him Juri". Haruka sighed placing down the new bed and lifting the sleeping child. Juri fidgeted in her seat keeping her eyes trained on her son. "I mean we can't name both our sons Kaname, and we had just sent that letter off to the council officially announcing his birth" Haruka went to place the baby in the new bed but the child started to stir, instead Haruka opted to hold and rock the child.
Juri continued to fidget in her seat, a habit of hers when she was hiding something. Juri was a terrible liar. A hmmm sound brought the woman's attention back to her husband. In defeat, she handed him a piece of paper.
"What's this?"
"A copy of the letter I sent the council…" Juri replied sheepishly. Haruka opened it up to read over the letter. "I think our problems might have already been solved, but you're not going to like it" It took him a second to read what Juri was talking about, but then he spotted it, He didn't like it. Juri had miswritten the kanji for Kaname and instead wrote Hitsugi* in some places. It made the already disorganised letter out to be a jumbled mess. "From what I wrote there we already had two sons" Juri blushed from embarrassment. "Kaname" she motioned to the child in Harukas arms "and Hitsugi" She looked down at the bundle in hers.
"I guess Coffin is oddly poetic" Haruka agreed with a sigh. "I wish you had shown me that letter before you sent it off" Haruka sighed, Juri was not known for her eloquent writing and over the years Haurka has given up trying to teach her to be more careful with her spelling. At the time however Haruka had been too busy keeping up with the housework to write or read over letters "We will have to take the boys to the council soon for registration anyway, that will clear up any confusion"
Juri flinched at this idea holding the child in her arms more tightly. "We still have time, a few months, let's wait until they are one"
Haruka nodded in agreement. The council their father has established is nothing like the council of now, they are much more power-hungry and the idea of exposing any baby let alone one of his who is lucky to be alive made the man feel sick "We should get the staff back at least, let them gossip about the Kuran twins, it will soften the news before we finally take them into the world"
Still holding her son tightly Juri whispered "Not yet" Haruka nodded once again and kissed her tenderly on her forehead.
The baby in his arms looked up at him and smiled. Little was really known of their family's progenitor, outside of the man being a recluse before he eventually retired to his coffin below in the family crypt. There were stories of the man being a monstrous tyrant, massacring 1000s in the great war, subduing the rival families and reining above them all as the most powerful and feared. But these were only stories. Haruka hopped. 'Please be a kind soul' the man prayed, 'be nothing like my brother'. Baby Kaname only blinked at him and yawned.
—
Both boys sat cross-legged on the couch trying to pay attention to the Ex hunter Kian Cross reading them a story in the upstairs living room. It was the first time the boys had met a hunter retired or otherwise and the twins were unsure what to think of him. Although to be fair it was hard to think of much over the muffled screams of their mother in labour down in the basement.
Ever since Juri became pregnant both parents had spent hours and hours renovating the tunnels under the house, building the family a house inside their home. After the break-in and disappearance of Ridos' body 2 years ago, resulting in the massacre of all household staff while the family were out of town, Haruka and Juri had become exceptionally defensive. The discovery of Juris's pregnancy shortly after only exacerbated the issue as the whole family became reclusive, much to the young boys' great dismay. No staff were rehired and the family entertained no visitors.
"And then the prince cried for the dragon to HALT his Firery breath! And.. the…" Kaien Cross trailed off as he watched the children staring directly at the door unblinking, flinching slightly at every new scream from their mother. With a sigh, Kaien put the book down obviously accomplishing nothing. "It's going to be okay" He tried to smile. only the boy with straight sweeping hair, who looked like a spitting image of Haruka glanced at him. "Are you excited to meet another brother or maybe even a sister Kaname?" Kaien asked jumping on the little attention he was given.
The little boy pushed his lips together like he thinking about his answer, but he was interrupted by another scream from downstairs, this particular one more harrowing than the last. That must have been the final straw for the other boy as he burst into tears sobbing, his curly locks bobbing as his body shook with emotion. Immediately Kaname responded kneeling on the couch to hug his brother into his chest and pat his hair, whispering softly to calm his brother. Kaien tried not to panic much, it had been years since he was around children this young and was unsure how to deal with them.
His fluttering hands and frantic eyes must have caught Kanames attention as the boy looked at him again and then at his brother. "I wish she would stop hurting mummy soon," the boy said his tone calm as he cradled his brother.
'Finally' Kaien thought one of them was talking, although what the boy said did make the man wince a little "She? Do you know if you're having a sister?"
Kaname opened his mouth but before he could there was a call from downstairs and all three of them got to their feet.
—
"It's a Girl!" Huraka smiled as he lifted the baby up to rest on Juri's bare chest. This birth was harder than her last definitely not helped much by the stress Juri had felt during the pregnancy. For that, Haruka felt so terribly guilty.
"My little princess" Juri cooed as she held her baby close, "my Yuuki" She smiled with tears in her eyes.
"Yuuki is a wonderful name my love" Haruka kissed his wife, and then their newborn daughter. After some quick clean up Haruka turned to his wife and child "Should I call down the boys?" She gave a small nod.
A part of his heart, a sad and hurt part, was broken by the news of having a baby girl. Deep down despite the close bond his two boys had Haruka feared that as they grew older a rivalry would form and push one to retaliate much like his own brother with their fight for Juris' affection. If they only had sons then they could only fight over power and not love, maybe leaving physical scars but not broken hearts. In truth, having another child was definitely an unplanned event. It had taken 100s of years for Juri to fall pregnant the first time.
'But what is done is done' Haurka thought and as he looked down upon the face of his screaming daughter and was reminded of the first time he saw his own sister, his heart was filled with love. 'Maybe just maybe all three will get along
—
Kaname held his brother's hand as they made their way down into the crypts of their new home, where the cries of his new sister could be heard, replacing the screams from their mother. Hitsugis hand tightened over Kanames as they made their way into the bedroom.
Their mother looked a mess, sweat beaded on her face and her normally beautiful ribbons of hair lay in a mattered mess around her. Blood stained the sheets she wore as clothes. "Come here boys, meet your new sister, Yuuki"
Kaname was the first to approach letting go of Hitsugis's hand enchanted by the baby who continued to sob loudly. Her eyes mesmerised him as she looked at him between cries.
"She's very loud papa," Hitsugi said covering his ears.
"Yes well, babies are" Haruka picked up his son so he could get a better look "You were loud like that once" he accused poking a finger at the boy who grinned at him. When Haruka looked back the crying had settled as Kaname reached out a finger for the baby to hold instantly soothing her.
The two held eye contact as everyone in the room stilled "It's nice to finally meet you Yuuki" Kaname said calmly, standing on his tippy toes against the bed to look at the baby, his big brown eyes were so full of love as he smiled at the little girl. "I'm your brother Kaname."
Hitsugi looked away wiping a tear from earlier off his face.
*So I needed a name for the baby that wasn't Kaname and I was struggling to come up with one that worked sounded somewhat believable and would have some meaning. Until I was reading over the Wiki for Kaname apparently the kanji for kaname is very similar to hitsugi which means coffin that even the Mangaka would occasionally mix them up in typos. I instantly fell in love with the idea that Haruka and Juri are such dorks that they were forced to rename one son based on a spelling mistake
Also, fun fact apparently Kaname means hinge or door and Kuran means nine orchids
Thank you very much for reading!
Love and comments are very much appreciated 3