Chapter 4

If Emi were to be honest, being a baby wasn't bad. It was a chill life, many rewards with none of the responsibilities – just eating, sleeping, playing, all the while receiving love and attention. And even though she still didn't feel comfortable around Rido, by now she was sure he wouldn't harm her (yet?), her being the beloved baby of the family. Such a laidback life wouldn't last forever, so she might as well enjoy it now.

There were already signs she was growing up, slowly but steadily. She could now sit up on her own, and she also had more hair on her head. After an indeterminable period from the moment she first turned over, she reached her next major milestone: crawling.

One night in front of both Kyoko and Juri, she finally managed to prop herself up on her arms and drag herself roughly a meter from where they had placed her on the rug. Despite the underwhelming distance, the effort had been overwhelming – moving her body often felt like moving a character in a game with a faulty controller.

"Mother, look at Emi!" Juri exclaimed and pointed. "Look at her moving her tushy."

"Where did I place the camera?" Kyoko asked, frantically looking around. "I have to capture this!"

While the two women were preoccupied, looking behind cushions and under the sofa for the missing camera, Emi noticed the family room's door was open.

Aha, sweet freedom! All that planking paid off! She thought, racing towards the exit as quick as she could.

She crossed the length of the carpet and almost reached the threshold when a pair of trousered legs blocked her way, and strong arms picked her up.

"Where are you going in such a hurry, Emi?" Haruka asked, smiling playfully.

Darn it, Haruka! Emi huffed as he easily carried her back in a few strides.

Kyoko found the camera and many pictures were taken. Though Emi sulked through most of it, she was comforted by the fact that she was now more independent.

For a while, days passed by with nothing new happening. Emi spent most of her waking time crawling around the nursery or the family room, and while those rooms were relatively large, it wasn't long before she had explored all their nooks and crannies. Although the Kuran manor was large, she was mostly confined to those two locations; the rest of the mansion seemed a maze of corridors to her.

Occasionally Kyoko would take her to visit Hiroshi in his study or to their bedchambers. Now that the weather was getting warmer, Kyoko also started taking her out to the gardens for fresh air. Emi crawled on the grass and examined flowers as Kyoko sipped wine and leisurely read through her pile of mail, mostly invitations to this or that event.

Emi longed to see the rest of the mansion, but that was out of her league for now. Crawling was not an efficient mode of movement, stairs were challenging, and she couldn't get past the obstacle of doorknobs (too tall and out of reach). Just when she was starting to get listless again about her lack of progress, something happened that cheered her up: Her mom and Tae finally decided to introduce her to solid food!

It seemed that while vampires in this universe could survive on just blood, they still ate human food frequently. Food lessened their thirst for blood to some extent and provided other nutrients. And from what Emi had observed of her parents and their blood exchange sessions, drinking blood was more a treat than an essential, something done mainly for pleasure.

Emi was pleased she could now join her family at dinner instead of being fed separately in the nursery. The first time she was carried to the dining room and placed in her highchair, she turned her head left and right taking in the sights. Although her nursery and the family room were luxurious, she was still shocked by the opulence elsewhere. Everything in the dining room was fancy – even her highchair! Amazingly to her, this wasn't even the formal dining room.

At times like this, she was reminded of how different this life was from her previous life. Not that she had been poor (she had been middle-class), but this wealth was something she had only seen in magazines and museums. She finally sat still when her mom fastened a bib around her neck.

"Emi must be dazed by the new environment," Hiroshi commented, amused from his seat at the head of the table.

The rectangular table was set for 6, and Emi noted the seating arrangement. In the seat opposite of Hiroshi was Kyoko, and Emi was seated to her left. Her highchair faced Haruka, who was seated to the left of Juri. Emi noticed the seat left of her highchair was empty and guessed it belonged to Rido, who incidentally was absent.

Ah well, it's not like I want to sit next to Mr. Tall, Dark, and Brooding anyway, Emi mused.

She was soon distracted by the aromas wafting from the kitchen. Servants carried in the first course, setting bowls of soups down. Kyoko proceeded to feed Emi, who relished the taste of vegetable soup. It was the first time in this life she was consuming something other than milk or water. She had never found vegetables so tasty.

"Good girl," Kyoko praised. She was pleasantly surprised by how cooperative Emi was, since the baby did have a stubborn streak.

Next was the appetizer of stuffed mushrooms which the others ate over light chatter as Emi was fed the remainder of her soup. Right when she finished, servants brought in the following course. Emi stared with starry eyes at the juicy steak placed in front of Haruka. Her mouth was already watering when to her dismay, instead of a steak, she got a bowl of orange mush.

In her excitement, she had forgotten that she was a baby with only one tooth – no steak for her. With 'dead fish' eyes, she automatically opened and closed her mouth to be fed her carrot mush. The rest of the dinner proceeded similarly, with everyone else enjoying a dessert of fresh fruit while she was fed another mush – this time banana. She reflected with disappointment that "real food" was a long way off, and that she was in for a lot of mushes and purees.

Besides adding solid food to Emi's diet, Kyoko secretly started feeding her blood.

Kyoko would slice her fingertip, then place it in Emi's mouth. The first time it happened, Emi thought she would be more reluctant. However, her curiosity and baby instinct to suck at whatever was put in her mouth took over and within seconds, she was sucking at the blood as though it were the most familiar thing in the world.

It was not a great amount, only a few drops given how quick the wound healed. The blood tasted exactly how Emi expected it to taste. It had that metallic tang she remembered from the few instances in her past life when she accidentally pricked her finger and sucked the blood to staunch the wound. Of that experience and the ones afterward, if Emi were to leave a review, she would say she was underwhelmed, and give 1 out of 5 stars.

Given how vampires were so hung up on the stuff, she had expected blood to taste amazing. She had never done drugs her previous life, but she had expected blood to be dangerously addictive and give a high of sorts, like cocaine or meth. All she felt as she tasted those drops was maybe a tingle of warmth. Maybe she could only appreciate the taste when she reached vampire puberty, but for now, she preferred the warmed milk she was fed before nap time.

As for any qualms she might have had about drinking blood as someone who had once been human, well...she didn't have much. To be blunt, she had been sucking on titties for sustenance the past few months, so blood wasn't a big deal. It was just the way of nature – chickens eat bugs, humans eat chickens, and vampires drink blood.

It was uncommon to feed a vampire child blood before they reached puberty and developed blood thirst. However, Kyoko needed Emi to become stronger.

Ever since the fiasco with Juri choosing Haruka over Rido a few decades ago, Kyoko had been haunted by the fear that something bad would eventually happen between her three older children. Rido had never been the type to forget and forgive unlike Haruka, and at times she sensed a dark anger in him that frightened her. She and Hiroshi had hoped that he would take to the Hiou girl they had arranged to be his bride, and forget Juri, but he had continuously resisted the engagement and stubbornly clung to the notion that Juri should be his.

If anything should happen when she and Hiroshi were no longer around, she hoped her youngest would help prevent it. However, Emi had the disadvantage of being 400 plus years younger than her siblings, resulting in a considerable power gap. Kyoko had lived almost 3000 years. The older a vampire the more powerful they were and the more potent their blood. Even though her blood wouldn't compensate for that power gap, it would ensure that Emi wouldn't be helpless if she had to face off against her older siblings, something Kyoko hoped would never happen.

Being able to eat more foods turned out to be a mixed blessing, something Emi found out when she was once again left in Juri's care. The parents had gone to watch a famous opera singer perform, and Haruka had gone on a business trip. Rido was home, but he was shut in his room as usual.

The night started off innocently enough: Juri read picture books to Emi and then they watched TV. This time it was a serial about an office lady stuck in a love triangle with her already-married boss and her childhood friend. Emi was somewhat concerned about the adultery, but it didn't seem to detract from the romance for Juri. The week's episode ended just as a maid appeared to inform them dinner was ready.

When they got to the dining room, Juri placed Emi in her highchair. The food arrived, and Emi was fed her puree – this time a green spinach mash. As Juri finished feeding Emi, Rido sauntered in and sat down across from Emi.

Look who decided to show up. Emi stared; it had been almost a week since she last saw him.

"Rido onii-sama!" Juri greeted him with a mildly flustered smile. "We weren't expecting you to join us."

A servant came with food and drink for Rido and retreated.

"There wasn't much work today," Rido said simply as he started on the appetizer.

"Well, Emi and I are pleased to see you," Juri said. She finished wiping away bits of puree from Emi's face and started on her own meal.

Emi watched them with a slight pout as they ate. The dinner was lighter than usual since half the family was absent, but the food was still tantalizing. They were having salmon tonight, but all she had gotten was spinach in goopy form – the injustice! Maybe they would have mango pudding for dessert... she was allowed to eat that.

"How have you been recently? You shouldn't work so much," Juri said after a while.

"I enjoy working," he replied.

"Even so, a break would be good. Perhaps we can take a family trip to the beachside villa this summer, it's been a few years since we went," Juri said and took the chance to squish Emi's cheek. "Emi would love it."

"She's a baby – I doubt it makes much difference to her."

"Don't say that, Emi is a smart baby!" Juri said with a slight admonishing tone.

"Really?" Rido said, arching an eyebrow in obvious skepticism.

"It's true! She's always looking around like she is observing her surroundings, and she learns quickly. The other day she escaped from her playpen – I found her halfway down the stairs!"

"She's active, I'll give her that," Rido said as he took a sip of wine. "But a lot of babies like to wander around, she's no different."

"That's not all – Emi's reactions are so oddly in sync with the situation. Sometimes I swear she understands what we say or do around her," Juri insisted.

The older Kurans turned to look at Emi, who froze under their sudden scrutiny.

"Emi hasn't fussed the whole time, doesn't she look like she's listening to our conversation?" Juri asked.

I've underestimated Juri, Emi thought nervously. Time to do something a baby would do... She grabbed her bib and stuffed it in her mouth, sucking it while looking anywhere but those two.

Rido frowned and leaned back in his chair. "Clearly, you're overthinking. Look at her – she's just a baby, and an annoying one at that."

You rude, Emi thought as she tasted cotton.

"Hmmm, maybe it's just my imagination," Juri conceded as she watched Emi suck at her bib. "Still, Emi isn't annoying, she's a cutie! Look at that little face!"

Rido gave a little snort of disagreement, but he didn't bother arguing with her. Women love babies after all, finding them cute even though they were such troublesome creatures.

Servants came to clear the dishes and Juri clapped her hands excitedly. "I just remembered, I prepared a little surprise tonight! I'm glad you're here, Onii-sama!"

Rido furrowed his brows, suspicions of what was coming already crossing his mind. Perhaps he should've stayed in his room tonight...

A maid returned, carrying a silver platter with 3 glasses and 3 spoons. The glasses were pastel pink and decorated with a pattern of strawberries. Inside was a creamy pink substance, topped with a dollop of cream and sliced strawberries. Emi's eyes lit up as she recognized it to be strawberry mousse – her mom in her previous life used to make chocolate mousse often.

"I was shopping the other day and saw these charming glasses and absolutely had to get them; they're perfect for desserts, so I made strawberry mousse!" Juri explained happily as she pulled the bib out of Emi's mouth.

"Unfortunately, I had a big lunch earlier so I'm afraid I'll have to miss out," Rido said and stood up, ready to exit.

"But I put a lot of effort into making them, Onii-sama! And it's been so long since you last tried food I made," Juri said pouting.

Rido clenched his chair, mentally preparing himself. He had never been able to say no to her pout – it had been like this since they were children. Even though circumstances were different now, he was ultimately still at her mercy. With a small sigh, he sat back down. "I suppose I can't let your efforts go to waste.

Juri beamed, then turned to Emi who had been staring expectantly at the mousse placed before her. "You're in for a treat Emi!"

Emi opened her mouth and Juri placed a spoonful of the pink mousse in. As soon as the substance touched her taste buds, Emi felt a spark travel down her spine – and not in a good way. She had been expecting the sweetness of strawberries but had tasted the saltiness of the sea instead! It deserved a rating of negative 100!

Did she mix up the salt and sugar?! Emi thought, already starting to feel queasy. She knew Juri had a sweet tooth and occasionally liked to make desserts, and now she understood why their parents had always declined eating her food with various excuses. Emi had already found it odd, given how their mom enjoyed the sweets at high tea. Meanwhile, Haruka always ate food Juri made with genuine happiness, looking so content Emi had given little thought to the parent's reactions.

Across the table, Rido quickly gulped down three spoonful's. He was about to put his spoon down when he saw Juri looking at him brightly, which made him consume another two spoonful's before stopping. After dabbing his lips with a napkin, he smiled and said, "That was delicious. Thank you, Juri."

If you actually found that delicious then I'm Batman. Emi glared at him.

As if he sensed her glaring, he turned his head slightly to look back at her. He smiled a smile which made Emi shiver, and said, "Due to my large lunch I cannot finish the mousse. But I'm sure Emi would enjoy the rest of it in my place. Children need nutrients to grow properly."

No! Emi gasped. You did not just throw me under the bus, you fiend!

She opened her mouth to express her opposition, but Juri took the opportunity to shove in another spoonful of the abominable mousse. Noooo!

Juri cocked her head and frowned. "Emi seems reluctant though. Perhaps she doesn't like it?" She then tasted her own mousse. "It tastes alright to me though."

Your taste buds are defective! Emi thought.

"Of course Emi likes it, she's just being stubborn," Rido said and walked over, settling into the chair next to Emi. "She wants big brother to feed her instead."

He lifted Emi out of her highchair and placed her on his lap, using his arm to clamp her in place as she squirmed like a cat forced to take a bath. Oh, how he relished this moment, after all the times this little flesh blob puked and pissed on him.

"Here is a trick I learned when you were a baby and refused to eat your carrots," he said and demonstrated to Juri, "Tickle her sides and her mouth will open."

Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh! Damn you to Hell, Rido! Emi raged as she was force fed another bite. I'll get you back!

In this way, Emi was fed three-quarters of her mousse, and would have finished it if it hadn't been for their parents' return.

Kyoko and Hiroshi returned earlier than expected, having been warned a big storm was approaching. They had left the opera hall early to avoid complications on the way home. Kyoko wanted to see her baby and thus they showed up in the dining room, still in the fancy clothes they had worn outside. Taking one look at the scene, and seeing Emi's nauseous expression, she quickly pieced together the situation.

"Rido!" Kyoko screamed, jolting everyone present. "Stop right now!"

She ran over and ripped her baby from his arms.

Mommy! Emi was glad to see her.

Hiroshi gently took Emi so his wife can continue raging. It wasn't often that Kyoko got mad, she was generally mild and non-confrontational like Haruka. However, the rare instances she was angry, she went off like a fury. He rubbed Emi's tummy and felt it rumble – not a good sign. Poor girl, he was aware of Juri's deficiency in the culinary arts but could never find it in him to tell her the truth.

Glaring at her two older children Kyoko yelled, "Are you kidding me? You two have lived over four centuries, and yet you do something so stupid? Can't you see Emi looks sick?"

"But Onii-sama said it was nothing," Juri said weakly. She wasn't used to being yelled at and there were only two times she had seen her mother this angry.

"If Rido says to jump off a bridge, would you? Use your brain!"

Kyoko then whipped around to face her son. "Rido, you know better! What kind of horrible big brother are you?"

He didn't bother excusing himself but just kept silent with an unapologetic look.

"Unbelievable!" Kyoko exclaimed. "I'm beyond disappointed. Juri! You're grounded for a week – no shopping or hanging out with friends! And Rido, you're grounded too! No work or going out for a week!"

Rido and Juri started protesting, claiming they cannot be grounded for they were adults, not children, but Kyoko shut them up, reminding them she was still their mother, and they were still living in her house.

Yeah, mommy, show them who's boss! Emi encouraged her, feeling queasier. It was a tad shocking how different Kyoko was acting, but Emi was loving it.

With a scoff, incredulous at this display of parental authority, Rido turned to head back to his room when Kyoko stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going, young man?"

He looked back at her, a partly defiant and partly confused expression on his face.

"You two have to clean up your mess! Take care of Emi as I go and get changed! No funny business because I'll be back soon!" Kyoko commanded and stormed off.

"Listen to your mother," Hiroshi said, placing Emi in Juri's arms. He then hurried after his wife for he knew enough about babies and upset tummies to know he didn't want to be around for the consequences.

Rido blinked; this was surreal. His mother had never yelled at him or punished him even when he was a child, and she was doing so now? Over something so trivial? It's not like the brat would die.

Juri was more contrite. She looked at Emi and said sincerely, "I'm sorry, big sister shouldn't have done that."

Emi only groaned feebly before vomiting forth a jet of pink goop. Most of it landed on Juri's dress but some fell on her skin, causing Juri to shriek and almost drop the baby.

Apology accepted, Emi thought. Her stomach rumbled again, suggesting the vomiting was far from over.

Juri wrinkled her nose, grimacing as she examined her dress. She held Emi away from her at arm's length and glanced at Rido uncertainly. "Rido onii-sama?"

Rido eyed the trail of pink vomit coming off Emi's chin with distaste before reluctantly taking her from Juri. While he and Haruka could handle babies to some degree, Juri had always been the coddled youngest of the family before Emi came along, so she wasn't really capable of caring for babies. He made sure to keep Emi at arm's length from him.

As Rido stared suspiciously at Emi, wondering when she would puke again, and as Emi stared suspiciously back at Rido, wondering when the best time to puke was, Juri sat down. She took a linen napkin and tried to wipe away the vomit but gave up, deciding to take an extra-long bath afterwards.

Rido and Emi stopped their impromptu staring contest when Juri started speaking again.

"You know, when Emi was born, I was delighted. Mostly I was happy I was going to be a big sister, but a part of me also wanted to see what it's like taking care of a baby. Since most of my friends started getting married and having babies, I've been thinking of babies frequently..."

Oh, Juri got the baby fever! Emi thought. She glanced at Rido out the corner of her eye. His expression had frozen in a mask of neutrality and his heterochromatic eyes were focused intensely on Juri.

"Your noble friends are different from us, with their life spans, it's unsurprising they're starting families now," he managed to reply in an even tone.

"Of course, having a baby is a long way off for me. I was just thinking about the future," she said laughing a bit awkwardly. She paused, considering her words for a moment before continuing. "Doesn't Onii-sama also think about settling down and starting a family? We may be young by pureblood standards, but we're technically a few centuries old already..."

Rido sat down and muttered, "No, I'm too busy with work to think about those matters, and that girl is too young to be married anyway." Distractedly, he bought Emi closer to him, relaxing his stiff arm muscles. He hated it whenever his family bought up his engagement and reminded him of that Hiou girl.

You're using the excuse of your fiancée being too young? That didn't stop you when you shifted your sights to Yuki, Emi thought, pursing her lips judgmentally before frowning as she felt the instability in her stomach start up again. She eyed his shirt; it was so white and immaculate, would be a shame if something happened to it...

Juri opened her mouth, hesitated, and changed the topic instead. "Well, Emi reminded me that babies are huge responsibilities. My friends with babies are too busy to meet up nowadays, and when we do see each other, they're always complaining about how worrisome their children are when they're not complaining about husbands. It almost makes me appreciate being unmarried and childless."

Rido chuckled lightly, relieved Juri was no longer thinking about having children for now. Seeing Haruka and Juri engaged was already agonizing, he didn't know if he could handle them being married and having kids.

"Marriage and babies definitely have their problems, as evidenced by Emi," he said, glancing down at the baby. For a moment, he felt some goodwill towards her, it seems the flesh blob was good for something after all...

The goodwill was short lived, for almost immediately, Emi threw up on him, staining his shirt pink.

Juri gasped, then giggled a bit and handed him a napkin across the table. "I certainly didn't consider the puke when I thought about babies."

At that moment, Kyoko returned, wearing her house clothes, and prepared with a large towel draped over her shoulder. She took Emi, wiped her chin, and glanced over the pink mess on her older children's clothes.

"Well, I hope you two learned from this experience," she said, still annoyed. Judging by Emi's expression, there was more vomit to come, but she would let them off the hook for tonight. "You can leave now."

Rido and Juri rose quickly and made for their bathrooms. As he passed by their mother, Rido glanced at Emi and saw her looking as smug as a baby could look. He sucked in a deep breath, feeling a vein throb, and hurried away before he could get more irritated.

As Kyoko stroked her head and carried her back to the nursery, Emi pressed her face into the towel and smirked. There were bits of green on his shirt too...I hope you like spinach, Rido! Heehee!

A/N: Unlike Yuki, Emi leans more on the naughty side, lol.