Yuki Kuran

Yuki Cross or Yuki Kuran is the adoptive daughter of the headmaster of Cross Academy. Yuki is a first year student at Cross Academy and is a member of the school's disciplinary committee, which is a Guardian for Cross Academy. In her capacity as a Guardian, she is responsible for the nightly duties of monitoring and protecting the Day Class. Yuki carries the anti-vampire weapon, the Artemis Rod.

Name

 * Officially published as "Yuki" in Viz media publications and Chuang yi publications.
 * Fan translations prefer the accurately transcribed "Yuuki"

Personality
Yuki is generally a cheerful and comedic girl. She exhibits a strong attachment to her close friends. Her indecisive nature and reticence can be attributed to her insecurity regarding her missing history. She has a fear of vampires which means she rarely leaves the Cross Academy grounds on her own. She is protective over Zero and fears the fact that he might become a level E. She is a bit shy of realizing the fact that she has been in love with her own brother for all those times she was a little girl, as a human and when was reawakened, having grown as a human for 10 yrs. She also acknowledges the fact that there's a link on a part of her heart she cannot cut that is attached to Zero, but her thirst for his blood did not keep her beastly need for Kaname’s blood and the want to be with him. Her personality as a pureblood lessen her indecisiveness, her determination to do things she likes often put her and Kaname in disagreement where she normally win in the end. Yuki’s pureblood nature is not far from being a jolly and comedic young human girl she was, but when a situation asks, she can put in an authoritative face as is expected for a pureblood princess just like her brother/fiancé Kaname.

Appearance
When Yuki was a human, she was around 5 feet tall, and possessed short brown hair. She had red brown eyes and appeared rather flat and didn't have curves which made it look like she had a young boys type of figure. When she was transformed back into a pureblood vampire, her hair grew waist length and she appeared to have grown a little taller and she appeared thinner because of this with a much more defined waist giving her that supermodel quality. She looks much more mature than her human self and possesses the typical features of the Kuran's maroon eyes and light auburn hair. Yuuki bears a striking resemblance to her deceased mother Juuri, who appeared more mature and had curly brown hair but she has Haruka's "soft" gaze.

Background
Yuki was approximately 5 years old when Rido Kuran attacked the Kuran family seeking to take Yuki. To protect her daughter, Juri sacrificed herself to seal Yuki's vampire side and erased her daughter's memory. Yuki's first memory is that of Kaname saving her from a vampire. Yuki grew up harboring deep feelings for him and they had a mutual relationship though Yuuki is shy in admitting that it is love as she sees that Kaname is different from her, that a vampire and human can’t be for each other.

Yuki as a child had troubled nightmares nightly until Zero Kiryu joined their household and Yuki formed a strong attachment to the boy. Yuki's relationship with Kaname became distant after she witnessed his vampire nature as he fed on a vampire classmate and as a human, Yuki believed she had no chance with Kaname and began to distance herself from him, but her admiration and longing for him remained.

She is in love with Kaname but also cares deeply for Zero.

Yuki's best friend is Sayori Wakaba whom Yuki calls "Yori-chan". Sayori is her roommate, too.

Plot Summary
Following her discovery of Zero's awakened nature as a vampire and his subsequent struggles with blood lust, Yuki chooses to go against taboo and allows Zero to feed upon her in secret even if she felt a pain in her heart realizing that Kaname found out what she did. In order to prevent Zero running away, Yuki promises that she will be his ally and that she will kill him if he becomes a level E vampire. Yuki then meets Shizuka Hiou disguised as Maria Kurenai, who offers to allow Zero to drink her blood, thus preventing him from falling to level E, in exchange for either Yuki's humanity or Kaname's life. After dancing with Kaname during the inter-class ball, Yuki decides that she cannot kill him, and that she will instead let Shizuka have her humanity. However, Zero stops Shizuka from biting Yuki, saying that he does not want Shizuka to take anything away from him.

Troubled by the gap in her memory, Yuki attempted to ask Kaname to reveal what he knew before he found her in the snow. Kaname refused to answer her instead, confessed her his love and telling her that it would be better for her to remain innocent from the bloody truth. As Yuuki insisted, he bargained the answer in return for her becoming his lover which Yuuki accepted as she loved him the most. Being Kaname’s lover did not give her the answer of her missing past, and so she attempted to remember on her own, causing herself bloody nightmares, at one point almost suffocating Zero. To save her from further frightening hallucinations and nearing insanity, Kaname then bit Yuki and re-awakened her as a pureblood vampire and drinking his blood brought back the complete memories of her past. Yuki was reunited with Kaname as his sister and his betrothed.

Returning to her vampire self, Yuki exhibited the uncontrolled return of her vampire powers return and physical changes also occurred. Yuki chose to break her friendship with Zero, aware of the new antagonism between them, however Yuki retained her friendship with her best friend, Yori. Yuki began to sense the danger of Rido's revival and Kaname attempted to remove her from danger. Yuki refused to leave the school, but convinced Kaname to do the things that only he can do after kissing him and assuring that she will definitely come back to his arms. Yuki's ignored the Artemis Rod's attempts to reject her vampire nature until finally it morphed into a new weapon as a scythe.

Yuki finally confronted her uncle, Rido, and almost fell prey to his words. Zero interrupted them by attempting to kill Rido. Yuki reconfirmed her vow to be Zero's ally despite being called his enemy. Though Zero attempted to remove her from the fight, Yuki managed to score the killing blow on her uncle. When Zero announced his intention to kill all purebloods, including Yuki, she decides to defend herself, telling him that she cannot die as of yet. Both fail to attack and Kaname interrupts their confrontation. Yuki prevents Kaname and Zero coming to blows and after licking Kaname’s wounded hand telling him she doesn’t want him to make such a sad face, Kaname left giving the two of them their farewell.

Yuki confirms she is the same person she has always been and tells Zero that she only desires Kaname's blood. Zero confesses that he only desired her blood, and she allows him to drink her blood again. Zero reiterates his intention to kill Yuki and she declares she will run from him to give him a reason to continue living.

Yuki breaks down in despair over the position she is now in as Zero's enemy and she finally realizes Zero's true feelings for her. As she cannot change what she is and that how it is natural to be with Kaname, she resolves to lock up that part of her heart instead. She collects her things including the Resin Rose, finally recalling Kaname's promise. She later thanks Kaname for remembering the promise she forgot. She leaves the Academy with Kaname but not before seeing Zero carrying his brother's body and bidding her final goodbye.

Upon their arrival at the Kuran manor through a hidden entrance, Kaname confesses all his sins to Yuuki. Yuuki is not surprised and forgives Kaname's deeds and asked him to taint her too and declared her wish to fall with him to the very farthest depts if he is to be branded as a tainted and sinful vampire.

During the year timeskip, Yuuki starves herself refusing to drink as a normal vampire, forcing Kaname to pierce his own wrist to feed her. Aido tutors Yuki in school lessons and Ruka teaches Yuki the etiquette of a noble lady. She spends much time on her own while Kaname is out settling the vampire community after the fall of the Council of Elders.

As Yuuki finally accepted her true nature of being a pureblood vampire, expressing her beastly want for Kaname’s blood that she wants to lock on his neck and eat his whole life if possible so she can taste his feelings coated in his blood. Yuki finally admits to Kaname that her thirst cannot be sated by his blood alone and she has been unable to sever a link to a part of her heart that is attachment to Zero, but desires to stay by his side forever.

She is upset by Kaname’s acknowledgment and for accepting her still, telling her that he knows choosing only one of them might make her suffer and that the proof that she chooses to be by his side is more than enough proof of her love. Yuuki told him that she will not drink his blood as to punish her selfishness but Kaname told her that he welcomes anything coming from her including pain or even death if she so wishes. He then tells Yuki that her punishment is to prey only on his blood as this is the punishment Yuuki wanted, realizing that doing so will put the two of them in greater suffering, Yuuki told Kaname that she felt the same for him; she would accept anything he would feel like doing to her. Before claiming his neck, Yuuki asked how is it possible that a vampire so strong and so beautiful as him is hers? Finally claiming Kaname’s neck, Kaname’s answer reflected a grieving vampire in front of a broken mirror holding shards of what could seem a recently dead pureblood inside a ruined room and buried his face to Yuuki’s chest instead of answering her question of what’s behind the closed door where she smelled his scent earlier. Yuuki was then formally introduced to the Vampire society after a year of isolation and learning inside the manor. There she met again Zero, asking him to let go of Sara’s hand who is about to touch Yori, she was sad of his rejection but is happy once again upon again Yori as arranged by Kaname.

Following the seemingly suicide of a hunter who was bitten by a pureblood and the death of the pureblood Ouri- sama at the party, Yuki swears to investigate in order to protect her loved ones. While Kaname is spilling a little of his mysterious past, Yuuki is still unable to fully grasp of what Kaname is hiding. Following her introduction and continuing living as a couple with Kaname, Yuuki finally went out of the house bringing Artemis despite Kaname’s soft resistance by sending a part of him to stop Yuuki. She and Aidou go to all purebloods' residence to offer her assistance with ending their lives, when they grows tired and worn out. She declares herself the one who will end purebloods lives, instead of having others end them because she doesn't want any more innocent deaths. But once asked why she didn't just do nothing instead of doing something so reckless, she replies by saying if this move succeeds at ridding the world of even one person who would sacrifice someone for the purpose of ending their own lives, then it would be worth it. She wants to change the way the things are and to do that one must take action. When she tries to leave, she is asked whether or not she could actually kill someone with Artemis. She responds by saying that she once killed her uncle with it with the help of a hunter. With that, she and Aidou leaves. Before visiting another pureblood's residence, she goes to the cemetery, but only stands in front of it. She is then confronted by another pureblood who proceeds to injure her. As she falls to her knees, she tells Aidou she is fine but he disagrees. While on her knees she notices the cemetery gate open to reveal Zero.

Trivia

 * As Kaien knows Yuki's name beforehand, he says to Yuki that Kaname told him that all girls are princesses and thus will name her Yuki and she is Kaien's 'gentle princess.'
 * Yuuki is a combination of yuu, meaning "tender" or "kind", and ki, meaning "princess". "Yuki" (雪; ゆき; with only one 'u') means snow; "yuuki" (勇気; ゆうき) can be translated as "courage" and "snow" as well.
 * Kurosu was probably used in the meaning of "black master." "Cross", the original English word means "Cross".
 * Kuran, is a combination of the old fashioned way of writing ku, meaning "nine" and ran meaning "orchid".