AN: I apologize for the wait, but I won't waste your time with excuses.

Disclaimer- I don't own vampire knight if I did Kioshi would be in it and it would look like a child's finger painting.

Warnings- Incest, Twincest, General vampire warning.

Enjoy!

Having access to another mind is nothing like in the movies, or at least it wasn't for me. In the two and a half years Juri was pregnant with Yuki, my power had matured past the point of getting a low-level guard to stop for ice cream. The only problem was… I didn't notice.

It wasn't was as if the Kuran family were social butterflies, and Juri and Haruka were old enough that my power had little to no effect on them. I could tell when they were near, but I had chalked that up to being a vampire, not being a mind reader. With Kaname, I had never even really felt his mind. He was ten thousand years old and even when he thought he was a child he could keep me out.

I first noticed was when Yuki was around six months. Vampires grew physically slower than humans, but mentally they matured much quicker. So by the time she was half a year old she could make small noises in relation to things, though she had no real control over her movements.

A part of my brain had felt the pressure of new mind from the moment she was born. But it was like a high pitched noise. You don't notice it until it either stops or changes. I felt the moment Yuki's mind changed.

We were all in the lounge. Haruka and Kaname were both occupied by their books, both of them glancing up every few minutes to smile at Juri and Yuki playing on the floor. I was sitting at the chess table across the room playing with the black knight and contemplating cannon.

I'm not sure what happened. Maybe Juri made a face and Yuki's mind made it's first connection, or maybe it was just the moment her mind grew just a tiny bit. It doesn't really matter. What mattered was that the pressure I had growing in my mind since the day she was born seemed to pop, and suddenly I could feel Yuki's mind.

It was like simple music playing in the background while you study. There were no thoughts or clear words. Only the feeling of innocence, love, and happiness. I knew she thought what Juri was doing was funny, and that the blanket beneath her felt soft on her back.

Her mind was like a whisper into the loud rushing of my mind. Yet it was so loud it stopped every other thought in my mind. My vision tunneled and all I could see was the red-brown eyes of my baby sister as she stared up at Juri half a room away.

She knew that Juri was okaa-sama. Whether she always knew that or realized it right then, will always be a mystery. All I know was that moment, she knew Juri was mom. She knew she was with family.

My little sister.

I must have made some sort of noise or movement in the moment, because when I became aware of my surroundings again, everyone was staring at me.

"Kioshi?"

Kaname was squatting in front of me. When did that happen?

"Are you okay? You're crying."

I raised a hand to my face, it came away wet. Had I started crying?

My hand stayed hovered near my face, I realized it was shaking. Kaname grabbed it in his own, drawing my eyes to his face.

"Kioshi."

He hadn't called me Kio since he remembered who he was. I missed it.

My fingers found my way to his pulse point, his heartbeat filled my ears. It was too fast. He was worried. I needed to say something.

"I'm fine," I said. "I just- I can feel her mind."

Kaname's hand tightened. "Who's mind?"

"Yuki's."

At that, his hand loosened and let my hand drop from it. A look of awe spread across his face.

"You can read her mind?"

I shook my head. "No, I can feel her."

Yuki grew annoyed at the lack of attention, its echo spreading across my mind. I didn't need to hear Kaname's echoes to know he desperately wanted to be in my shoes. It was written across his face in the biggest letters I had seen since he found himself.

A heavy feeling settled in my stomach.

"Tell me what it feels like," he begged.

So I did.

And my tears grew cold on my face.

After that day Yuki's mind was a constant presence in my own. Though it was a wonderful feeling to have such innocence in my mind, I found I grew tired of never feeling alone. I was a loner, I hated people. But as much as family had never counted as people, I needed to be alone in my own mind.

Now I never would be.

Juri was the one to teach me to block her out. Her powers were similar to my own, and after just a few week under her guidance, I could push Yuki to the very edge of my mind. I could also go much deeper.

She thought mostly in shapes and pictures, but as months, and eventually years passed, I got see her mind as it developed. The first real word and not just feeling was Otou-sama. It was a simple thing. Like how you see an apple in the middle of oranges and think: 'Oh, that's an apple.'

Haruka was holding her in his arms, cooing nonsense about how he was her Otou-sama and he loved her and would always protect her, etc. Then she thought, 'Otou-sama' as she looked up at his face.

I wanted to comment on it. But I didn't. The moment was not for me.

Winter came and passed, and Yuki's thoughts turned to words. Her legs grew stronger and her thoughts more complex. I tried my best to keep out of her mind, but it was harder than it seemed. If I got tired or distracted, my control would slip, and I'd be right back in her mind.

It was a constant struggle.

As Yuki got older, Haruka and Juri started to leave the house more and more. Juri often stayed behind, but the public tended to get antsy when purebloods stayed away for too long. So we made appearances, talked with the council enough that they wouldn't ask too many questions.

And I learned more control.

Non-purebloods, even nobles, had a hard time blocking their minds. Most of them didn't even know that they needed to. The dark mind of a politician was not a fun place to be, but it had its uses. So I put up a filter. When their echoes pushed against my mind, only important ones made it through.

Sometimes it was hard to hear myself over them.

People wanted to be heard, even when thinking. Even when thinking sinister things.

They screamed their thoughts out for anyone to hear, and they led me back to their home. There I could whisper back. Not many could hear the difference between my thoughts and theirs.

Little things were easy. What they were going to wear or do with their hair. But every mind was like a lock. I could hear things out the hole, but I had to pick it to get in. The more stubborn the person, the more complicated the lock.

Kaname had no key.

Humans were easy. They were all so young and naive. The littlest thought could sway them. Vampires were older (mostly) and set in their ways. Many I didn't even attempt to influence. Though every so often I didn't even realize I was doing it.

Like the guard, I made stop for ice cream. It happened, especially with Yuki. I was so familiar with her mind and thought process I would end up controlling her without even realizing it. I would stop her from climbing up things that would fall, or pull something down on herself that would hurt her.

I guess it wasn't really such a bad thing. But it still made me feel a bit sick. As time went on I fine tuned my skill, and it happened less and less.

It was hard to practice in a house full of people I had no access to. Though it went far easier when I was feeding on them.

Blood was the essence of being. We were taught from a young age it was the part of the body that held the soul. So while all vampires caught glimpses of memories and thoughts from the one they were feeding off of. A psychic like me was led straight into the mind.

I was feeding on Juri when this first happened.

It started with a burst of light, then I could see so clearly her very self. I was the echo, her the mind.

It was a meadow. With a full moon above. Birds flew in the air, among the stars. Each one carrying a thought of their own. The flowers were each a mirror, reflecting memories. The larger ones were more important. Yuki being born, my first words. The more colorful ones were happier. Haruka holding an umbrella. Cross telling a joke.

In the middle of the spiral of flowers and birds, stood Juri. With her cloak and Artemis clasped firmly in her hands. Her red-brown eyes were closed, and her hair blew in the wind. Every flower was turned to face her. She was their sun.

I stood on the edge of her meadow looking in awe, acutely aware how much I didn't belong.

It lasted seconds, hours until I managed to tear my mouth away from her wrist with a loud gasp.

"Koi," Juri soothed. "It's okay."

She drew me to her chest and started to pet my hair. Letting me close my eyes and be claimed by her heart.

"I'm sorry," I said, as soon as I caught my breath.

"It's okay," she said.

"No, it's not," I argued.

"It is," she whispered. "Your gift is one of the most natural things there is."

"It doesn't give me any right to invade your mind."

"It does, in a way," she whispered.

I drew back and locked eyes with her.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Juri gave me the type of smile only a mother can give her child. "Your gift, gives you access to places others have no path to. Denying that part of you will only cause you stress and misery. What you have to do, is embrace it."

"But-"

"No buts! You can get into others minds, influence what they do. It could be a terrible ability. But only if you let it be. You can also let it be a tool."

"A tool for what?"

"Anything you want," she smiled. "It's a part of you, and to push it away, is to push away yourself."

I nodded like that made sense.

Even though it didn't at the time.

Kaname was playing with Yuki.

They both sat on the floor. Yuki babbling a mix of words and nonsense as she played with her dolls. Her head popped up every few moments to make sure Kaname was still listening and nodding along. He knew her better than even Juri and Haruka. Which was to be expected given he was thousands of years old and the Kuran ancestor, implying he had children.

Though him playing with her and understanding her was not a problem. I loved Yuki and I wanted her to be happy. I also loved Kaname and wanted him to happy. And they made each other happy, which made me happy.

The problem was that I had walked into the room nearly five minutes early, and both of them had yet to notice.

The weight was back in my stomach.

There was no change. No change in either of their facial expression or heart beat or breathing or mind. Proving it was no trick.

I didn't take it personally, they were destined to be together. I was simply the spare.

Kaname was my twin, no matter what was added to our minds, and he had always sent me at least a look when I entered a room. Even when he was staring at the chess board.

It didn't hurt. He had ignored me before. This was not much different.

Yuki let out a delighted squeal that echoed into my mind. Kaname's mouth stretched into a smile I had never seen.

I slipped out the door, as my breath slipped from my lungs. I took a step down the hall. One foot in front of the other. I had things to do, I needed to plan.

Storms were on the horizon, and they were raining blood.

AN: Okay, so that was a bit angsty. Though it's only going to get worse from here!

Lots of love

Scarlett

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