The first chapter of this story was originally posted in my collection of short stories and drabbles, "Scattered Leaves", but it ended up growing into a short series. I didn't want to post the chapters all out of order and make the drabble collection all messy, nor could I erase the chapter that's already in it since then all the chapter numbers in the reviews would be off... So the first chapter will work both as a stand-alone short story in "Scattered Leaves", and as the first chapter of this short Rido & Kaname series.
Sorry for the mess. XD;

So, if you already read the first chapter in "Scattered Leaves", just skip it and go directly for chapter 2, I guess? XD;

Title: Family bonding?
Characters: Rido and little Kaname. (A bit of Juri and Haruka as well.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Knight, this is a fanfic written for fun and for love of the series. I'm not making any money with it.
Warnings: Implied spoilers for chapter 35-36 of the manga, and a tiny bit of 42, possibly.

Summary: Haruka and Juri fail to realize the danger that Rido is, and entrust little Kaname to him for babysitting. The experience may teach Kaname much about survival...if he survives it, that is! Passed some years before the incident with Rido. Creepy slice-of-life fic.

By the way, the fic is not yaoi, although one could say there are yaoi vibes for some years later, but the fic itself is just a mix of comical moments and drama, in a slice-of-life type of situation just to see the interaction between Rido and Kaname before things became even more complicated.
It's a mix of angst and fluff with a creepy twist! XD lol
Although there are rather creepy moments and hints of Rido abusing Kaname in the future, so if that squicks you, don't read.

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The doorbell rang, musical and eerie in the silence of the early evening. Snow had been falling all afternoon, blanketing the manor and the nearby countryside in a veil of white that muffled all sounds of nature and gave the place a dreamy feel. The area was already normally a little isolated, but this made it seem even more so.

Little Kaname was well used to snow. He had seen four winters already, and had his fair share of snowball fights and other winter activities. But when it came to this house, he found the dreamy feel of a white winter to be unsettling and kind of scary.

He clung tighter to his mother's hand, shivering and instinctively sucking up the warmth emanating from her body as he clung closer to her. She looked at her watch and sighed warily, ringing yet again. Where were the servants?!

The door finally opened, suddenly and without warning, startling the little vampire and making his mother take an instinctive step backwards. Her eyebrows rose at the sight of who came to greet them. Rido had opened the door himself, his right arm folded behind his back and his other one leaning casually on the doorframe to his left.

"You have no servants to greet your guests anymore, my brother?" There was bite to be clearly heard in her words.

"Come, come, have I made you wait, Juri?" His voice was as charming as ever, but his smile belied it, as usual a mix of seductiveness and danger hidden not far beneath the surface.

"They were annoying me, so I sent them away and will be hiring new ones. That's why I didn't realize at first that you had already arrived." And turning to little Kaname, he continued "It's just the two of us, little friend."

Instinctively, Kaname felt a sudden urge to hide behind his mother. But he was a pureblood vampire, child or not, and it was also in his instincts to know better than show any fear in front of someone dangerous enough to actually instill dread in him.

Especially when he was scheduled to spend the next 24 hours with said person while his parents traveled to a vampire congress in a nearby country.

Juri was suddenly more cautious, however. "You're alone? Perhaps we could postpone this then, after all, it will be too much trouble and I wouldn't want to burden you with-"

"Nonsense!! Kaname and I are big enough to take care of ourselves, aren't we, Kaname?" In saying so, Rido quickly reached for Kaname's other little hand, tugging him slightly towards himself. The little vampire didn't resist, but didn't release his mothers hand either, and gazed up at her face inquiringly, standing between the two.

Juri's lips were pressed together in a thin line, worry starting to become clear on her face. "I don't know, I wouldn't want him to annoy you. He's still small after all." But the reason of her hesitation was obvious to the two of them, and probably even to Kaname despite his age. Juri wasn't too reassured about leaving her child alone with her brother. Not that the servants would have made any difference against a pureblood vampire, but they would perhaps have avoided Kaname getting in Rido's way and provoking his anger by accident.

"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you don't trust me? I'm your brother!"

The half-smile on his face was that same one that usually reminded Juri why she had broken up her engagement with him, and chosen the mellow and soft-hearted Haruka instead, facing a scandal in the vampire society and causing the drastic change of the head of the Kuran clan.

But if Rido was creepy, he was also very persistent when someone opposed him. "If you don't trust me, trust that husband of yours then. It was his idea that the boy and I spend time together more often to get to know each other better and all. The importance of family links and yadda yadda, you know those things, it's so Haruka." He vaguely rolled his eyes at the end of the sentence, but the tone in his voice, whether it be artificial or not, was endearing enough that Juri couldn't help but let a little smile creep into her eyes, worried as she may still be.
Ah, a little victory there.
Rido continued "You trusted him enough to ditch me for him. You must trust him enough to follow his decisions, no?"

It was hard for Juri to refuse now without openly disavowing Haruka's ideas and choices.

She hesitated, and shot a last gaze at her son and at her brother before deciding. Rido was smiling at her sheepishly, and Kaname glanced up innocently. Her heart squeezed in her chest. She told herself that in the worst case, the two would get on each other's nerves, but there wasn't much Rido really could do. Kaname was the heir to the Kuran bloodline. Laying a hand on him with harmful intent would be suicide for any vampire of lower station, and for a pureblood it would be life in imprisonment. Which, in itself wasn't very far from how some female purebloods lived, but for a male, especially a Kuran, it was unthinkable. And creepy as Rido may be around women, Kaname was a boy, surely he was safe?
No, she didn't think Rido would do anything foolish. He would never dare. How could he do anything? And in the worst case, whatever he may do to annoy Kaname would just be a useful lesson that not all vampires are perfectly safe to be around, and that even a pureblood –especially a pureblood-- had to be wary of lowering his guard, even around a closer relation. Kaname was normally over-protected, so this might do him good.

Perhaps it was denial over the very real danger Rido may come to represent one day, but at this point, Juri didn't quite realize yet how bad things could be, and her motherly heart was trying to rationalize what she knew she had to accept for the sake of social relations, and in hopes that the Kurans would be all on friendly terms as Kaname grew up. She made up her mind and let go of her son's little hand.

Rido grinned at her, pulling the boy closer. "I'll see you tomorrow-ish then? Around the same time as usual?"

"Y-Yes. I'll come pick him up earlier if I can, but otherwise, yes."

"Well, you and Haruka have fun with whatever the hell you two are doing. Kaname and I will be enjoying some fun fun bonding time together, won't we?" The fake eagerness in his voice wasn't too reassuring either.

She eyed them warily for a little bit, before Rido let go of Kaname's hand for a second to wave at her in an exaggerated manner, then grabbed the little hand again and pulled Kaname inside quickly, closing the door with his foot.

Juri frowned and stared at the door a little bit longer, as if it would magically open and return her child, then she backed away slowly and went for her car, her heart sinking a bit in her chest. These 24 hours ahead weren't going to be relaxing at all.

Kaname didn't like the cold dark hall of Rido's manor. He shivered a bit, feeling less brave now that his mom had left. Rido was still holding his hand in a tight grip, unmoving from behind the door, staring from the peephole until Juri drove away and disappeared from sight.

At which point he turned to the little boy and cheerfully thrust forward the bottle he had been holding in his other hand, hidden behind his back throughout the whole time he had the door open.

"Want some blood wine, Kaname?! I bet your mom doesn't let you have that!"

The puzzled look on the wide open little dark eyes was in perfect contrast with the corruptive grin on the older pureblood's face.

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(tbc)

Sagakure, August 15th 2008

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The setting is not that Rido is an alcoholic or anything. He's just a jerk doing this on purpose. XD lol