Blood Ties,
Chapter 23

Vampire Knight © Matsuri Hino

He couldn't stay anything; couldn't comment on her accusations as her pained eyes watched him through thick lashes. His body stayed still, though he ached to hold her, to wipe away any traces of hurt she must have been feeling, but he thought if he held her now -in the current situation of confusing feelings and memories- it would be too cold, not helping in any way to her comfort. Much like if one embraced a statue; the frozen lack of response would just make things worse. But, still he hoped.
The ice like resolution to their problems was painstakingly sharp in their silence; neither of them able to find in it themselves to make an approach towards the other, and each passing second seemed to be a tick of the clock too long for their sanity.
It was like they could suddenly breathe again when they were interrupted; for once happy about not being the only ones in each others presence. They would have been grateful for anyone; but it just happened to be the particular person who had the attitude that made everyone want to adjust to in order to make her happy. Juuri Kuran, for sure, was a force of nature that effected everyone in her path of life.

"Darlings, there you are! We've been looking all over for you. Breakfast is going to be served soon, but your friends said that they hadn't seen you since dinner yesterday so they got worried something was wrong," Her words were as oblivious to the oppressing situation as her expression; happy and bright at being the one to find the pair first, "I told them that there was no reason to be alarmed, that the both of you used to run off together all the time when you were kids; me and your Father nearly used to destroy each other with worry each time- even though you always used to come back safe...-"

"I'm sorry, Mother, but I'm not hungry at present. Please excuse me, I have council reports to catch up on," After interrupting, the Kuran Princess escaped their company with haste, disappearing around the corner before the older woman could even finish her sentence,

"But they still insisted on searching for... Is she ok, Kaname?"

"She knows, Juuri,"

••••••••••••

She pushed them away before they could get damaged, leaving only a single smudge of ink from when the first of the new batch of tears came, the salt flavored water leaving a transparent stream of misery upon her cheeks. The current, sinking emotions of depression were evident in her broken expression; anger, confusion, sadness and hurt all portrayed in her silent cries. She had hoped to be able to put her head down on the desk she sat at, to use it as a way to block out the rest of the world and leave her to think numbly; or not to think at all and, if she was honest with herself, the latter of the choices was more desirable. But, despite the choice being desirable to her, it seemed that reality had other plans for the Kuran Princess and the door chose that moment to swing open and reveal a very distressed, very concerned -almost reflection like- female that stared the younger one down compassionately and with a look that almost seemed guilty.

"Yuki," She murmured, almost remorsefully, taking a step into the room almost gingerly; as if testing the emotional waters of the environment, but as she saw the tears that cascaded down the soft cheeks of her daughter, the elder female rushed to her daughters side, her arms wrapping around the body that seemed to continuously tense every couple of seconds "Oh, Yuki..," She cried to the teenager, using a bone-crushing hug to emphasize her apology, "I'm so sorry, Yuki, none of us wanted to hurt you by keeping it from you, we just thought that it was best!"

"Mother...please, for once, just tell me the truth. I need to know everything because it keeps circling through my mind. I can't think straight because of how much it hurts!" Her eyes were pleading, tearful and begging for honesty as she looked up at her Mother; the dark circles and still messy hair adding more depth into her desperate appearance, "Please..."

She knew how important this was as she unlatched herself from the smaller girl and moved to inhabit the seat across the desk; how essential it was for her to be serious -and her attitude and approach was indeed serious- but Juuri couldn't help but notice the similarities to this situation and one from a soap opera. Only now did she realize that the actors and actresses she fawned over the T.V for honestly did display it terribly, but then again, how could someone possibly act out how either of them were feeling right now? The silence was catching, it seemed that the longer it continued, the harder it was to end it and neither of them knew how. It was only when the repeated silence became suffocating to the older female did she act out the purpose of her presence. She couldn't sit there and watch the tears continue to slip down the cheeks of her daughter when there was a possibility that she had a selection of the words to make it better. Juuri knew that Yuki and Kaname loved each other; it was impossible not to know if you saw the way that they looked at each other. Neither of them were ever fully content if they weren't with the other, and it seemed that it was never healthy for them to be apart. They completed each other completely and were absolutely perfect for one another to the point that they just had to be together for things to be normal.

"Yuki," Said girl nearly jumped at the sudden sound of her name, looking up to the reflection-like woman across from her as she burst into speech before she could possibly have known that the younger was paying attention, "I'm sorry. We thought it was for the best, for both you and Kaname... you're always so happy together, we didn't want to ruin it. You were only a child, it was the easiest option and it just grew so over the years,"

"What happened to your... real son...my real brother..?"

"Rido,"

That single name left an impressive impact in the room. For Juuri, a long hibernating hatred was re-sparked with the return of bitter memories of her brother, and for Yuki, it was the first taste of pure, indescribable hatred that the innocent teenager had felt.

••••••••••

With the ever looming arrival of the moon close by, the dull shine of the sunset was a stunning view to look out upon even with the lack of sun during the dull, winter day. It was nothing new for the Kuran heir to look out of the window with unseeing eyes, it was quite common in fact when he was forced to grow up again under the care of Haruka and Juuri, but now he appeared to look out even more absentmindedly than usual. A form that could have been passed for as sleeping was it not for his open eyes that stared out. He sat there for what felt like hours, and eventually the cold glass warmed up to suit the temperature of his skin that was pressed up against it, but he soon felt the cold again when he sat up sharply at the sound of approaching footsteps, looking over at the door in anticipation as the sounds got nearer.
The scent of her through the open door got to him quicker then she did, and the crease in her eyebrows made him believe she would turn around and walk back the way she came when she saw him, and so he was thoroughly surprised that she looked him straight in the eye as she walked into the room and towards him, gingerly seating herself beside him on the window seat, and shocked him even more when she went out to grab his hand.

"I'm sorry.." She whispered, leaving him utterly confused at her apology.

"What could you possibly have to be sorry for?" He questioned her, running the backs of his fingers down the skin of her palm in a comforting manner.

"What have you?"

He raised her hand up to press over his chest, and she could feel the subtle raising of his breast as he spoke to her, his voice carrying the serious meanings of his words, "Do you feel it?" He asked, "It beats only for you. My heart belongs to you, and is yours to treat however you wish, for if it's not you it reaches out to, it means nothing to me.
"I can't lie to you about this, Yuki, I want to share everything that I am with you, so I will admit that I do still love her... so much, but the intensity of my feelings for you is like nothing I have felt. You may believe you're just a replacement, but you underestimate the way I view you; the way you make me feel is in no way how it would be if that were true. "If you were to cast me away, I wouldn't complain or fight against your decision, it it was what you truly desired, but all I ask is that you allow me to show you the truth. There's so much that you still don't know."

A/N: Yes, I'm back with a new chapter of 'Blood Ties' I swear it's getting harder and harder to write this storywith the current manga plot. It may well turn out that this story will have to be even more AU then I originally intended.
I know I've been dead for a while, but I hope that you're all not too mad at me and that it doesn't stop you from enjoying this chapter.

As always, please review and let me know what you think, I still appear to have lost my writing touch and would appreciate it hugely if you gave me your opinions.

Thanks very much my dears, and see you all soon. :)