[Vampire Knight] Deeper than Blood (Book 1)

Prologue

"Akiko!"

Akiko Kuran looked out the window to see the black haired boy outside her bedroom window, shaking his hands around wildly. He grinned when he saw Akiko's black head hanging out of the window and waved again wildly, his piercing blue eyes lighting up.

Mikio was his name. He was an orphan, his parents both having died when he was five, leaving him on his own. He was now seven, a year older than Akiko, and he was still on his own. Akiko had met him two years ago, when she four and he was five, six months after his parents' deaths. Akiko still remembered that time when she saw the black haired boy sitting on the sidewalk in the street when she went out with her uncle and cousin.

"What are you doing out here on your own?" a four year old Akiko asked a five-year-old Mikio, separating from her uncle and cousin to go talk to the boy. Akiko wasn't afraid to be on her own - no one was stupid enough to attack a Pureblood - and she could sense that the boy sitting on the steps was also a Pureblood.

The boy looked up as Akiko approached, his blue eyes taking Akiko all the way in. The boy had jet black hair that was very long, reaching up to his shoulders, an oval face with sharp features, almond-shaped eyes that were an impossible shade of blue, an electric blue and his skin was as clear as porcelain.

The boy couldn't stop staring at the girl because she was so beautiful. She had long black hair, almond-shaped eyes, a heart-shaped face and flawless white skin. The one thing that caught his attention about her were her eyes: they were two different colours, the right a beautiful purple and the other red, like roses. She was wearing a pink dress that fell to her knees that matches her right eye, white stockings and pink ballet flats. Her hair was pulled back into a French braid over her shoulder, a navy blue flower clipped to the side of her head.

"I live on my own," Mikio answered, not being able to stop staring into her mismatched eyes.

"Where are your parents?" Akiko asks.

"Dead," was Mikio's answer.

Akiko jumps down onto the sidewalk beside Mikio, the scent of roses filling Mikio's nose as their shoulders almost touched. Akiko's pink dress rubbed against Mikio's bare leg, causing Mikio to shiver. He has never been this close to another vampire before, especially another Pureblood. The only vampires Mikio had seen before were Level E, and he had used them to feed, draining them of their energy before they eventually turn to dust.

"I've never met my real parents," Akiko tells the other Pureblood, not looking at him. "I had been taken away from my mother when I was born, and I've been living with my Uncle and Aunty. My name is Akiko Kuran by the way. Will you be my friend?"

"I'm Mikio Shoto, and of course I'll be your friend," Mikio answers back, grinning like he's never done before. Akiko cheers along with Mikio until Haruka and Kaname Kuran, Akiko's uncle and cousin, call her back. Akiko pecks Mikio on the cheek before jumping up, leaving a blushing Mikio sitting on the step holding his cheek. He could still feel Akiko's lips on his cheek.

"Mikio!" Akiko called back in the present, jumping out of the window and landing beside Mikio, landing beside him as graceful as a cat. The two Purebloods brace each other before pecking each other on the cheeks, laughing happily with each other. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you silly," Mikio laughed, pecking her on the cheek again. "Can't I see my best friend?"

Akiko giggled but stepped back, her red eye glowing brighter. Mikio frowned at her, reaching for her, but Akiko turned away.

"What is it Akiko?" Mikio asked.

"He's here," Akiko answered, looking at Mikio.

"Who?"

"My father."

She ran around the side of the house but froze at the sight in front of her: her aunt and uncle were standing on the porch, their faces contorted in anger. And standing in the distance, his blue and red eyes glowing, was Akiko's father, Rido Kuran. Akiko doubled back, breathing heavily in fear at the sight of her father.

"What are you doing here?" Haruka calls to his older brother.

"I've come for our daughters," Rido answers, spreading his arms. "How dare you keep my daughter from me!"

"Like I'll give you free pure vampire blood," Haruka calls back.

"I'm not after my daughter's blood; I'm only after your daughter's blood. I want to raise my daughter as the heiress of the Kuran clan!"

Haruka and Juri growled in anger and the Level Es behind Rido Kuran sprang at them. Mikio grabbed Akiko's hand and dragged her away from the scary man, jumping over fallen tree trunks and ripping Akiko's blue dress in the process. Akiko didn't look back as they came to a small cottage, where Mikio had lived since his parents' deaths.

"Don't worry," Mikio cooed, petting Akiko's black hair. "You're safe here."

Akiko did feel safe with Mikio, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching her. Something red and blue.