Chapter 7

"Leaving already?" The pretty young woman asked, sitting up in bed as she watched her lover get dressed.

"I have to be home for dinner tonight," Rido replied and finished buttoning his shirt.

She slid her arms around his waist, hugging him from behind and asked, "Is it that important?"

He felt her breasts against the fabric of his shirt and her breath against his ear. Strands of her chestnut brown hair lightly brushed against his cheek.

"I'm tempted to stay, especially with that goblin at home, but it's a family obligation," he said then turned and removed himself from his lover's embrace.

"I see…" She made a coquettish moue of displeasure before eyeing him curiously with her light blue eyes. "But what do you mean by 'a goblin'?"

He smirked. "Believe me, you don't want to know." After kissing her goodbye, he slipped on his shoes, retrieved his suit jacket and departed.

As he quickly and discreetly made his way to where Kohei was waiting, he reflected on his latest lover and sighed. He had met Nanami at a soiree a few months ago, she was the daughter of an aristocrat he worked with at the Council. She was a pleasant lover, and he was fond of her smile which vaguely reminded him of Juri's. However she was getting too clingy, and of greater concern was the fact that she increasingly bought up the topic of children. He knew most of his aristocrat lovers wanted him to gift them a half-pureblood child to boost their bloodlines, but he was not inclined to father a child anytime soon, illegitimate or not. Thus he would have to break up with her soon, even if he would miss her adroit kisses and the warmth of her body against his. No matter...it never took him long to find a new lover.

Kohei greeted him as he approached and held the door for him. After Rido slipped into the car, he relaxed against the leather seating and closed his eyes, trying to push the impending break up with Nanami out of mind. It was now time to mentally prepare himself for other problems, namely his parents, Haruka and Juri, and the goblin.

Emi automatically opened her mouth and accepted the spoonfuls of ice cream, not as engrossed as usual in dessert. She was too busy staring across the table at the handsome man with platinum blond hair and eyes the deep blue of iris flowers. The man sat directly across from her, beside Rido, while she sat beside Juri who was feeding her. Takeru Shoto caught her staring and smiled kindly, then returned his gaze to Kyoko who was busy grilling him with various questions.

Before Kyoko could inquire further into the health of Takeru's finances, Rido interjected.

"Mother, Takeru and I'll be leaving early tomorrow for a conference so we should wrap this dinner up."

"Oh," Kyoko placed down her fork. "Where will you be going?"

"Nagoya, and I won't be back for a week."

Kyoko and Hiroshi exchanged a quick glance before Kyoko spoke again. "Perhaps you can skip this conference dear, Shizuka's birthday is coming up and you haven't seen her in years."

Upon hearing Shizuka's name, Emi finally looked away from Takeru. She waited excitedly for Rido's response.

His face darkened a bit before he replied, "Let's discuss that another time. I have to go over some documents with Takeru for the conference, so we'll be excusing ourselves."

Despite his parents' disapproving looks, he placed his linen napkin on the table and stood up, waiting for his companion.

Takeru thanked his hosts for the dinner, then politely took his leave, following Rido out the dining room.

Over so soon? Emi was disappointed. She had expected more drama and didn't feel she had learned much about her potential fiance. Thankfully the later could be rectified, as Takeru was staying overnight at their manor before he departed the next day with Rido.

Rido handed his friend a glass of brandy then proceeded to sink into the chair facing him. They were currently at the guest room Takeru was staying in, enjoying a drink after finishing work-related matters. The windows were open to let in the crisp night air.

"I'm glad you came for dinner," Rido said. "That creepy goblin finally has a new target."

Takeru chuckled. "Don't call your sister that, she's very cute."

Rido raised an eyebrow at his friend. "Even though she stared at you the whole dinner?"

"Babies are always cute," Takeru replied, then added, "As for a fiancée, she'd make a better match with my son, if only he was a pureblood."

Rido snorted. "Lucky for your son that he isn't a pureblood, otherwise my mother would kidnap him for Emi. Anyway, you realized the true reason my parents invited you over tonight?"

Takeru laughed. "It's hard not to realize once she started interrogating me. Hopefully she stops considering me a candidate for Emi's fiancé though."

"Why? I wouldn't mind being brothers-in-law with you. But as a friend, I'd recommend you to run for the hills because that kid isn't normal." Rido paused, then asked, "Anyway, is it because of Reika?"

Takeru nodded.

"You seriously plan on spending your life with an aristocrat instead of marrying a pureblood?"

Takeru was about to reply when Rido interrupted.

"Goddamn it."

Rido had finally noticed the small figure lurking behind a nearby divan. He got to his feet, strode over, and plucked the spying Emi up. How long had she been there?

He turned towards Takeru and pointed at the toddler he held. "This is what I mean when I say she's a creepy goblin. This here is the face of evil."

Ha, the jokes on you because apparently my face looks like yours! Emi thought as she dangled in Rido's hold.

Takeru came over and examined the toddler who was in her pajamas. "Shouldn't you be in bed Emi?"

Emi shook her head. "I no sweepy. I here give you gift." She reached into her pocket and took out a piece of candy.

"Thank you,"Takeru accepted her gift with a smile.

"This for big bwother," Emi looked innocently at Rido and reached into her pocket again, this time taking out a piece of lint.

Takeru turned to the side, shoulders shaking with barely suppressed laughter. Rido smacked the lint out of Emi's hand and pondered justifications for beating a toddler up. Not that he would actually beat up a toddler as the eldest son of the Kurans ...but it was nice to dream. He settled for roughly dropping her on the carpet instead.

"That reminds me, I got you something too." Takeru managed to resume his composure and went to his luggage. As soon as Takeru's back was turned, Emi stuck her tongue out at Rido, causing him to scowl harder.

Takeru rummaged around a bit then returned with a stuffed toy. It was Detective Meowman, the main character of a popular kids show where the cat detective constantly faced off against his rival, a cunning criminal tanuki. Emi took the calico cat wearing a trench coat and detective hat and made a show of hugging it, causing Takeru to pat her head.

"Tank you!" She sent him her most winsome smile. "I wuv Detectit Meowmun."

"I'm glad you like it," he smiled back then added, "Takeo loves Detective Meowman too."

"Tako?" Emi asked.

"My son...he's 5 years old. Maybe you'll meet him soon."

"Tako come, I pway wit him."

Rido observed the interaction between his friend and sister with disbelief. Look at her go, acting like a good girl. That demon was leveling up every day.

"I'll let Takeo know, but you should go to bed now. Should we take you back to your room?"

Emi shook her head. "I big girl, I go myself."

Takeru chaperoned her to the door and waved as she toddled off. He then returned to his seat where Rido was waiting, having already poured himself another glass of brandy.

"Your sister really isn't afraid of strangers, compared to my son who was so shy at that age. They're both adorable though."

Seeing the grimace Rido made, Takeru chuckled. "I see you still don't like children."

"Definitely not." Rido had never seen the appeal of children, and this view was exacerbated recently thanks to a certain someone.

"Then you better be careful with your lovers."

Rido grunted. The warning was redundant, for he always made sure to minimize that possibility. He changed the topic. "How is Reika lately?"

"The same as usual. She went shopping with Juri just the other week." Takeru paused, eyeing Rido. He wanted to ask something, but stopped. Some things were hard to bring up, even among close friends. Instead he asked, "Anyway, will you visit Shizuka as your parents wanted? I can finish the conference on my own."

Rido took a deep sip of his drink."Why? Do you agree with them?"

"It has been years since you last saw her. Do you dislike her that much?"

"I don't dislike her...I just don't care about her." Rido set his glass down. "Anyway, enough about my fiancée. What about you? You can't marry Reika, and eventually you'll be asked to take a pureblood wife. The Council and other aristocrats will hound you about it."

"I love Reika too much to make her a mistress, and it wouldn't be fair to my hypothetical wife either. Even if I can't give her an official title, I won't marry anyone else."

Rido shook his head, unable to understand Takeru. "Reika is a nice girl, but why do you go so far? She's not one of us...even if you keep giving her your blood, she'll still age and eventually die."

Takeru was quiet for a while. "That doesn't matter... There is no forever Rido, not even for us purebloods. Almost all of us choose to enter eternal sleep eventually, and I doubt I'll be different. Thus I'll be content spending the span of her lifetime with her, even if it's only a thousand years."

"...You really are a romantic."

Takeru laughed lightly. "That's your polite way of calling me a fool isn't it?"

Rido didn't deny the accusation. No matter how deep Takeru's love for the aristocrat was, the reality was that only a pureblood could stand beside a pureblood. Unlike Takeru, he had never been idealistic, especially when it came to love. The very notion that a pureblood would choose a lesser blood for a life partner was ridiculous to him.

Emi returned to her nursery and put Detective Meowman beside Dumbo before climbing into her crib. She reviewed what she had observed and concluded that she liked Takeru so far. She didn't want him as a husband, but he seemed a decent guy. She briefly wondered why a decent guy would be friends with Rido, who was the opposite of a decent guy. The only plausible reason was that there were few other purebloods around their age when they were growing up, and as the Shotos and Kurans had always been on good terms, they had naturally befriended each other. (Apparently, Takeru was only a decade older than Rido.)

Despite physically appearing the same age, Takeru behaved more maturely than Rido and Haruka. Did those ten years make such a difference? Emi didn't think so, as they were all in the 400 something age range, and 10 years didn't amount to much in the grand scheme. She wondered if Takeru was more mature because he was already a dad. On a side note, if he had appeared in the manga, Emi could totally see her friend Jenny and other fangirls adding him to their DILF list.

Emi did not have a daddy kink though. If she must get married, she wanted someone she saw as a partner, not a pseudo-father or uncle figure. And the issue of his loyalty to his aristocratic lover aside, Takeru would probably continue seeing her as a child, even after she had grown up.

Emi suddenly recalled Sara and Ori from the manga. Was that what Sara had felt with her much older fiancé? She vaguely remembered reading somewhere that Ori kept seeing Sara as a little girl and thus rarely paid her any attention. Besides other obvious reasons, it was no wonder that engagement had failed.

And on the topic of failed engagements, Rido keeps dragging his feet when it comes to Shizuka. Emi wondered how long he'll keep pushing off visiting his fiancée and gradually drifted off to sleep.

The issue of Rido visiting Shizuka eventually came to a head one night as Emi sat in a corner of Hiroshi's office playing with a train set. Hiroshi sometimes let Emi play in his office when he worked, as long as she didn't disturb him too much. On her part, Emi liked to rotate spending time with her family members. It quickly got boring and repetitive hanging around her mom, Juri, and Haruka. Meanwhile, Emi didn't see her dad as much as she did the other three since he still had some work and wasn't home all day.

On this particular night, Emi was about to set her train on another journey around the office when she heard a knocking and saw Rido enter after being summoned in. Upon spotting her, he made an annoyed face but decided to ignore her. There were more important matters to deal with.

Hiroshi gestured for Rido to take a seat, but Rido remained standing.

"Suit yourself," Hiroshi said and leaned back in his chair to contemplate his eldest son. Rido resembled him more than Haruka, yet frustrated him more than Haruka ever did. More often than not, their conversations devolved into arguments with Rido storming off. He had a feeling tonight was not going to be any different, but he would see to the task at hand no matter what.

"Why don't you take a break this month?" Hiroshi asked. "In fact, you can go on leave starting tomorrow. You haven't rested in a while, and I can deal with the Council while Haruka handles our enterprises."

"Fine…"

"Around this time of the year., it's best to visit an onsen. There are many nice ones not far from Shizuka."

"I already have plans elsewhere."

Hiroshi's eyes narrowed. "Do those plans involve that aristocrat girl you bought to the soiree last time? Or the blonde one I saw you with last month?"

How many side chicks do you have, Rido? Emi shook her head reprovingly and loaded more marbles onto one of her freight cars.

"I don't care about your affairs, but you should at least visit your betrothed. You haven't seen her in years, and you refused to visit her last month for her 17th birthday. Until when will you stop avoiding her?"

Emi looked up from her toy train, surprised by how young Shizuka was. In fact, Shizuka was much closer to her age than she was to Rido, Haruka, and Juri. It seems the light novel wasn't completely wrong after all. Emi had known Rido was older than Shizuka, but not by that much...though four centuries isn't really a big deal for purebloods. Still, it gave her icky child bride vibes and she shook her head reprovingly again, this time at her father.

"You know I have no interest in that girl." Rido had only seen Shizuka three times so far, the first time when she was 5, the second time when she was 10, and the last time when she was 14. He recalled her to be a pale, sullen child that had stared back at him silently, her emotions unreadable. She was the opposite of Juri, who as a child and even now was bright and cheerful like the sun.

"It's pointless to say that when you've only met her three times. Feelings take time to develop."

"You bring up 'feelings' when you've denied my feelings for Juri? Rido scoffed, and his voice increased in volume and anger. "You and mother knew what she means to me, and yet you engaged her to Haruka instead!"

Although Emi had gotten used to Rido being annoyed or pissed with her, this was the first time she saw him really angry. Angry enough to actually get violent. Her old and powerful father may be fine, but she probably wouldn't be. Taking her toy train, she scooted closer to the wall, further from her father and brother. Immortal though she may be, she'd rather not get hit with shrapnel or stray attacks if those two physically skirmish.

"Juri chose Haruka on her own volition. It's meaningless to insist on Juri when she already loves someone else."

Rido laughed harshly. "Yet I have to marry that Hiou girl when I don't love her?"

"Even if you don't love her now, you could come to love her eventually. And objectively speaking, Shizuka is the best option for you. Even though she isn't a Kuran, she is still from a strong and distinguished clan, the one that has been the biggest threat to us for millennia. You marrying her could finally end the longstanding discord between our clans and gain us a powerful ally."

"No, me marrying her is the best option for you," Rido snarled and slammed his hands on Hiroshi's desk. "If you want to unite our clans, have Haruka marry her instead while I marry Juri! I've always done as you wanted, even putting up with you dissolving the monarchy when I've worked my entire life to be the next king. Despite all that, you took even Juri from me, and now you're forcing me to marry someone I don't care for, claiming it's what's best for me?!"

"How dare you raise your voice at me!" Hiroshi bellowed, finally losing his temper. He stood up and also slammed his hands on the desk. "I've let you do as you want for far too long, and your obsession with Juri has only worsened. You'll forget about her, and you'll go visit Shizuka tomorrow – I won't put up with your impertinence anymore!"

It's not so shocking that Rido eventually kills his own father, Emi thought as she watched the two with a mixture of fascination and concern for her safety. In their heated exchange, they had completely forgotten about her. Their stormy auras threatened to clash, causing the lights to flicker erratically and the furniture to start shaking. She flinched when one of the light bulbs shattered, and was about to take refuge under a nearby armchair when the doors burst open and Kyoko ran in.

"Stop it right now, the both of you!" Kyoko screamed.

The two men restrained their powers, though they still looked angrily at one another. Meanwhile, Kyoko rushed over and scooped Emi up, pressing her baby tight to her chest.

"What were you thinking, what if Emi had gotten hurt?" She hissed at Hiroshi. "And why must you yell at Rido? I heard you two all the way down the hall! Can't you discuss things normally?"

"He was the one who raised his voi-"

"I don't care!" Kyoko snapped. "You're his father, set an example!"

She then turned to Rido, her expression softening somewhat. "Dear, your father and I only want you to find happiness too. Why don't you give Shizuka a chance? I'm sure she has grown into a lovely young lady by now."

Rido clenched his jaw. "I don't want anyone other than Juri."

Kyoko knitted her brows, not knowing how else to convince him.

"Whether you like it or not, you're engaged to Shizuka now," Hiroshi declared. "Go visit her tomorrow, even if it's only for an hour. You can leave right afterwards. Do that, and we won't ask you to visit again for a long time."

Kyoko looked beseechingly at Rido. "Please do that dear, we won't ask more..."

Rido looked bitterly from his mother to his father. His gaze then fell on Emi who was in their mother's arms, staring at him.

"Fine...I'll go," he muttered. Even if he didn't care to see Shizuka at all, he wanted to be away from his family. At the very least, the creepy goblin wouldn't be haunting him there.

"I'm glad," Kyoko smiled and squeezed his hand. "I'll tell Kohei to get ready for your trip tomorrow."

With that she carried Emi out of Hiroshi's office, relieved the issue was resolved even if only temporarily.

Over Kyoko's shoulders, Emi looked back at Rido and Hiroshi. She saw Rido give their father one last dark look before departing for his own quarters.

Rido's reluctance to visit his fiancée seemed pointless to her. He acted as though he was getting his teeth pulled when it was just a visit. It's not like he had to marry Shizuka tomorrow. Why couldn't he just drop by, say hi, drink a cup of tea, then leave? That's what she would do if she were in his place – at least that would get the nagging parents off his back.

More than anything, Emi didn't understand Rido's obsession with Juri. Maybe she couldn't understand because she had never been in love herself, but why did he insist on Juri when it was a lost cause? Their dad was right when he said it was meaningless. What did Rido expect? That Juri would just one day wake up and magically forget Haruka and love him instead? Even if he could somehow force Juri to marry him, Juri still wouldn't love him.

Everything would be much simpler if Rido just accepted Shizuka and moved on from his one-sided love. And even if Shizuka wasn't his type, there were so many women out there. He was a pureblood: handsome, rich, and powerful – the world was his oyster. He could find a partner that actually loved him back, or if monogamy wasn't his thing, live a happy playboy bachelor life instead. And yet he chooses to mope over Juri, his stupid obsession eventually ruining so many people's lives, including the life of the very person he claims to love.

Emi sighed and gave up on trying to understand Rido's fixation on Juri. Instead, her thoughts turned to Shizuka. In the manga, her entire character had been tied to vengeance, and apparently even her fellow purebloods were wary of her. What would she be like before she met her lover, before he was killed, and before she went down the irreversible path of revenge? Emi snuggled closer to her mom and started planning.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Work has been (and still is) very busy, so I haven't been able to write much. Anyway, on to the notes:

It's never really addressed in canon but in this fic at least, non-purebloods still age and die even with a constant supply of blood from a pureblood, with those of lower levels doing so faster than those of higher levels. The blood extends their lifespan, but doesn't make them live forever as purebloods theoretically could – hence Rido finds Takeru foolish (among other reasons).

The light novel referred to is Fleeting Dreams, specifically the chapter with Rido and the part where he tells his parents he wants Juri instead of Shizuka, "who was still but a tiny child".

At animemaniaca97 – Thanks for your review! Emi and Rido definitely have a peculiar relationship, but it will not turn into romance. Emi only sees her siblings as siblings, and I'll keep it that way because there isn't a single normal sibling relationship in canon (e.g. Rido and Juri, Ichiru and Zero, Ai and Ren etc.) and I want a VK story with "normal" sibling squabbles and shenanigans.