Yuki & Kaname

Yuki Kuran and Kaname Kuran are one of the main romantic couples in Vampire Knight. They have a daughter named Ai Kuran.

Background
As a child, Yuki adored her older brother and the two shared an extremely close relationship. Due to fears over her safety, Yuki's birth was kept secret from the rest of the vampire society, and for the first five years of her life, she was kept hidden in the basement of the Kuran mansion from the outside world with only her parents and older brother as companions.

Yuki's parents managed to keep their daughter safe until the night Rido Kuran attacked the Kuran household, murdering Haruka in the process, and leading to Juri sacrificing her life in a final attempt to protect Yuki by transforming her into a human. After severely injuring Rido (though unable to land the killing blow), Kaname took the unconscious Yuki to the home of Kaien Cross, a former Vampire Hunter and longtime friend of the Kurans. Upon awakening, Yuki no longer remembered the first five years of her life, instead with her first human memory was of Kaname saving her from a vicious level E vampire. Yuki then spent the next 10 years of her life living as Kaien's adopted daughter, while Kaname was taken in by the Ichijo family under the watchful eyes of the vampire council.

During this ten year separation, Kaname was often tricked by Kaien into visiting Yuki, giving the pair opportunities to grow close once again, and allowing Kaname a temporary respite from the vampire council. With Yuki, Kaname is able to laugh and relax and behave more like a normal human as he fondly watches over her. Kaname also made a point to visit Yuki each year on the anniversary of her being saved from the Level - E, a day that Yuki calls her birthday. The human Yuki grows to trust and care for Kaname, and strongly believes in his kindness due to his gentleness towards her. She soon falls in love with Kaname and begins looking forward to each of his visits.

Despite their closeness in her early childhood years, Yuki and Kaname's relationship changes after the creation of Cross Academy. Knowing that Kaname is living nearby in the school's dormitories, Yuki decides to pay him a visit. Unable to locate him, she falls asleep on the dormitory stairs whilst waiting for him. Kaname finds her soon afterwards, and due to his affections for her, nearly gives into the temptation of drinking her blood. Kaname then takes Yuki to his bedroom and proceeds to drink Ruka's blood in an attempt to quell his hunger. Yuki awakens from her slumber in the guest bedroom and stumbles upon Kaname whilst he is still drinking Ruka's blood. Knowing that Yuki is watching, Kaname continues to drink from Ruka causing Yuki to run away in shock and fear. Finally having come to understand that vampires and humans are truly different from one another, Yuki's relationship with Kaname becomes more distant than it once was, though both still continue to love each other.

Whilst At Cross Academy
Despite her anxiety of being from two different species, Yuki loves Kaname and even confesses to Zero that her mind is full of him. However, Yuki's insecurities stay with her, and after seeing Kaname with Sara Shirabuki at the vampire ball, Yuki becomes anxious and hurt, believing that Kaname would be better suited with someone from his own kind. Upon realising that Yuki had seen him and Sara together, Kaname returns to Yuki's side and lays down on her chest. He asks that Yuki let him rest there for a while until he forgives her for sneaking into the ball and putting herself in danger. Whilst Kaname rests in her arms, Yuki cradles him close and thinks to herself that she loves Kaname, and that he is the beginning of her world and everything in that world. Seeing Yuki become emotional beneath him, Kaname begins to thirst for Yuki's blood, and licks her neck. Kaname then asks Yuki if she would like to become a vampire and live for eternity with him, to which she says yes. Just when he is about to bite her however, Kaname pulls back and says that he took things too far. After this, Yuki is returned to Cross Academy. Due to searching for answers about her past, Yuki begins to hallucinate and is slowly driven mad by the frightening images that she sees in these hallucinations. Unable to stop Yuki from triggering the memories of her past, but not wanting her to suffer any longer, Kaname chooses to awaken Yuki before she completely goes mad. After being awakened, Yuki's memories return and she remembers that Kaname is her elder brother. Due to not having drunk blood before, Yuki wakes up incredibly thirsty and pins Kaname to the bed in order to drink from his neck. Before biting into him, Yuki thinks to herself that she only wants Kaname's blood. After having satiated her thirst, Yuki struggles emotionally with the loss of her parents and loses control of her powers which causes the windows in the room to shatter. Hugging her close, Kaname comforts Yuki and asks that she not deny herself of her powers. Feeling immensely confused, Yuki turns and says that there is something wrong with her, as for the past ten years she had been in love with her brother. Kaname then explains that it is normal for Purebloods to marry their siblings, and Yuki recalls that her own parents were brother and sister.

When Rido begins his attack on Cross Academy, Kaname suggests that he and Yuki leave Cross Academy in order to escape from Rido, a plan Yuki refuses out of a sense of duty as a school prefect and a need to protect her friends. After only just having Yuki regain her memories, Kaname is scared to lose Yuki again as she refuses to leave the academy. However, Yuki kisses him and promises to always return to Kaname's arms, reassuring him before they part ways. Yuki keeps to her word, and after the fight with Rido ends, she parts with Zero and returns with Kaname to their family home, thanking him for keeping the promise he made to her (he got her the rose solidified in resin).

Upon entering their new home, Kaname finally confesses all that he has done to protect Yuki, and states that he is far more tainted than she can imagine. Understanding that Yuki's perception of him may have changed, Kaname says that it is fine if Yuki never speaks to him again. Though initially upset, Yuki accepts Kaname's sins and states that if he is to be branded as a tainted and sinful vampire, then she wishes to fall to the very furthest depths with him.

In The Kuran Manor
Having murdered the corrupt vampire council, an act which sends the vampire society into disarray and earns him a number of enemies, Kaname spends the following year reorganizing vampire society and maintaining peace between humans and vampires. Unable to control her own powers and afraid for her safety, Kaname has Yuki remain inside the Kuran manor during this time and limits her contact with the outside world, requesting that Yuki neither communicate nor have visitors at the mansion for fear that their enemies find her before she makes her official entry into the vampire world. During this time, Yuki returns to calling Kaname "brother (formally)", despite his repeated requests to simply call him "Kaname.". Yuki has many difficulties accepting her new existence as an undying vampire, and because of this, is reluctant to use her fangs, forcing Kaname to give her blood like a child. Yuki also often has hallucinations where she speaks to her inner vampire, who desires Kaname so much that she wishes to devour him. These thoughts appear to trouble Yuki, and her fear of her desires leave her in a perpetual state of blood lust and hunger, desperate for Kaname's blood. The situation is made worse by Kaname's frequent absences from the mansion, however during one of her hallucinations, Yuki regains her ability to use her fangs, and her delusions and blood lust soon stop after that moment. Despite having learnt how to use her fangs however, Yuki confesses to Kaname that without Zero's blood as well, Yuki's thirst will never be fully quenched. In spite of this however, Yuki asks that she still be allowed to remain by Kaname's side and continue to touch him the way she does now. Kaname accepts her request and explains that he would rather have Yuki kill him than be separated from her.

Soon after, Kaname returns Artemis to Yuki and she leaves the house but is then attacked by another Pureblood vampire, Toma. Whilst this occurs, Kaname reflects on his feelings for Yuki and is tormented by Rido's spirit who mocks him for how he wishes to both let Yuki be free in the outside world, but is also terrified that she will be hurt and taken from him. It is at this point that Kaname senses that Yuki has been attacked, and his bats bring Yuki home whilst he severely punishes Toma for attacking Yuki. Upon returning to the manor, a wouned Yuki lies on the bed whilst Kaname drinks her blood. Yuki begins to worry that she is a useless individual and questions why Kaname acts as though he is filled with nothing but despair. Kaname explains that it is because he is so desperately afraid that one day Yuki will throw her life away to a useless cause, and that he will lose her, stating that he does not wish to relive that a second time. Seeing that Yuki is confused, Kaname reveals that he is not her older brother, but is actually her ancestor from many thousands of years ago.

Inside Kaname's Memories
After revealing that he is not her real brother, Kaname takes Yuki to the underground mausoleum in the Kuran Manor, where Kaname had slept for approximately 10,000 years. Kaname then asks if Yuki is thirsty, to which she nods yes, and Kaname allows her to drink his blood. Once Yuki begins drinking his blood, she is able to see Kaname's memories and witnesses his awakening by Rido. It is shown that, in order to take Kaname's power for himself, Rido had taken Haruka and Juri's first child (also named Kaname) and had killed the baby and used his blood to revive Kaname who had been sleeping in a coffin. After waking up however, Kaname was able to overpower Rido, and transformed himself into a baby so that his blood lust did not force him to attack Haruka and Juri. Following this, Haruka and Juri find Kaname and realise what has happened, however they choose to adopt and raise Kaname as their own son.

After seeing this, Yuki asks Kaname who he really is, to which Kaname says that she should ask his blood. Falling into his memories, Yuki sees that Kaname was one of the first vampires to ever appear in the world, and that he had lived for so long that he had forgotten his own name. At one point Kaname had lived in a human village and helped the villagers, but eventually he was chased out of the village after the villagers discovered that he was a vampire. Kaname then wandered alone before he was found by the Hooded Woman, another vampire who organized the Pureblood vampires and chose to protect humans from Purebloods that wished to control them. After joining the Hooded Woman and finding other vampires, Kaname began to research how to kill vampires, and eventually discovered that only the power of Purebloods could kill them. Kaname had planned to sacrifice himself to create the first Hunter weapons, however the Hooded Woman chose to sacrifice herself instead and asked that Kaname continue to fight for the sake of humans. As his friend, mentor, and almost lover, the Hooded Woman's death left a deep impression upon Kaname, and he continued on fight on until eventually he and his supporters had won the war against the other Purebloods. During these battles however, Kaname lost many comrades, and his fear of losing those he loved began. Whilst still in Kaname's memories, Yuki sees Kaname standing alone looking over a battlefield. She steps onto a broken mirror which alerts Kaname to her presence. Shocked, Yuki questions if Kaname can see her to which he replies yes. Inadvertently, Yuki ends up naming Artemis whilst in conversation with Kaname, and after sensing the Hooded Woman's presence in the weapons, and perhaps feeling some jealousy, Yuki questions whether Kaname intends to replace the Hooded Woman with someone else? Kaname then replies that no one can be a replacement for someone else. Kaname's memories soon shift however, and Yuki sees that, years after the deaths of all his companions, Kaname eventually falls into a deep depression and lies down in his coffin, intending to sleep forever now that he had been left as the last of the ancestors.

After awakening from Kaname's memories, Kaname seeks confirmation from Yuki that she understands he is not her brother. Yuki declares that she will call Kaname by his name from then on, rather than "brother (formally)" as she had been, as she realizes that he is fragile. Nagamichi Aido who is visiting with Kaname, asks Yuki if she would be able to stop Kaname if she disagreed with his actions. Yuki declares that she can't do anything until she is Kaname's equal and mulls over the distance between them.

Kaname faces Yuki and asks what she thinks of him, she responds that she knew him as her brother, her senpai, and now he is her ancestor. She also states that Kaname as a man is more beautiful than her, is powerful, yet fragile, is conniving and sometimes deceptive using lies to hide many secrets. She feels uncertain of his feelings for her, but he amends that he loves her, however there are other things mixed up in his feelings for her, by which he means the conflicts arising within him whether to hold her close to him eternally or watch as she spreads her wings. Ultimately her best answer to his question is to ask if they can start over and she can watch him properly, to which he hugs her tightly and agrees. Yuki is happy that she has finally faced him as an equal and they can start over.

Separation
After saying goodbye to Yuki, Kaname leaves saying that he has very important duties to attend to, Yuki troubled, begs him not to leave. Kaname asks her to look after the house and tells her not to hesitate, before leaving the house. Yuki, as always sees through his pretence and runs out of the mansion in search of Kaname and she runs into Kaien and Hanabusa. Following her sensing of Kaname, Yuki directs them to the Hanadagi Castle and they arrive to witness Kaname murdering Hanabusa's father. Kaname turns to Yuki and advises her that he can no longer hesitate and is returning to his original plan. He apologies and thanks Yuki before disappearing. After Yuki unfreezes from her shock, she chases after Kaname in a desperate almost crazed state (unlocking a new power in the process), unable to believe what has occurred when they just promised to start all over again.

Yuki gets taken to the Vampire Hunter's headquarters for questioning, but she knows nothing about Kaname's intentions. Yuki vows to take Kaname's place and keep the peace between vampires and humans, but she demands to be the one to confront Kaname. Yuki sets up the Night Class and continues to promise Aido that she would go after Kaname, but continues to delay until things are more stable. Yuki hears about Kaname killing more Purebloods, she refuses to accept it and mentally begs for Kaname to stop. The hunters declare they have no intention of stopping Kaname, but Yuki tells Zero that she wants to stop Kaname.

Kaname clashes with Kaien when he feigns an attack on Isaya and asks Kaien to tell Yuki that he killed Ouri and that Sara is next. Kaname arrives at the school and Yuki tries to go to him before she realizes he has not come to take her away. Kaname reiterates that she is a hindrance to his plans crushing Yuki. He tells Zero and Yuki that he released Shizuka from her cage because he wished her to attack a certain hunter couple and leaves as Yuki cries about everything. Yuki comes to the realization that she is the source of everything and becomes determined to stop Kaname.

Their Relationship
Due to Yuki's widely changing circumstances, the nature of Yuki and Kaname's relationship has gone through many changes.

Yuki as a Human
Often uncertain of Kaname's feelings for her, Yuki claims he sees her as nothing more than a pet, despite the fact that Kaname often refers to her as "his dear girl." During their separation, Kaname often appears lonely, and Yuki observes that besides herself, few people are close to him.

As a child, Yuki always referred to Kaname as her "Onii-sama" (a respectful and formal Japanese term for elder cousin or brother), while after turning human, Yuki at first called him "Kaname" (informal), but after their relationship became distant she began referring to him as "Kaname-sama" (respectful and formal), and "Kaname-senpai" (respectful address for an older student) while at school. Yuki revealed in 25th Night that she had been determined not to refer to Kaname as "Kaname-sama" in a deliberate attempt to not distance herself from Kaname, but still accidentally finds herself using it.

After Yuki's Awakening
Following her reawakening, Yuki returns to calling Kaname "Onii-sama" and occasionally "Kaname-senpai," despite his repeated requests to simply call him "Kaname." During this time, Yuki and Kaname appear to be affectionate with one another and share occasional kisses; however, it's later revealed that Yuki continues to feel distant from Kaname, making her unable to address him informally and preventing their relationship from progressing forward.

In spite of her feelings of inequality, when asked by Kaname how she sees him after revealing his past to her, Yuki responds that she thinks he keeps too many secrets, is a liar, and is somewhat vicious. Yuki suggests that they start over, so that she can get to know the real Kaname. Unfortunately, this does not lead to many answers as Kaname leaves Yuki shortly after this, determined to carry out the plan he had formed prior his revival. Kaname's own feelings regarding Yuki are contradicting. He wants to love her dearly and keep her all to himself as he had lived 10 years away from her, silently watching her from the background. But at the same time he wants her to be able to smile from her heart, which he knows won't be possible as long as the power of Purebloods is not eliminated. The conclusion can be drawn that Kaname's plan to eliminate the supremacy of purebloods was all for Yuki's sake so that at least she doesn't go through the same ordeals that he was subjected to as a Pureblood king. Yuki however, is determined to save Kaname from self-destruct.

She fights Kaname with her Artemis and he uses his sword, and Yuki wonders if killing the Purebloods was "her" wish - her being the Hooded Woman who sacrificed herself to create the Vampire Hunters and Anti Vampire weapons. However, as she steadily recognizes her feelings for Zero, she still hopes of saving Kaname by giving up her life and turning him human because she knows that as long as he exists as a pureblood, he will always embrace weakness. Kaname and Yuki are reunited, Kaname feeling guilty over not giving up his life sooner to turn her human. Yuki knows that he intends to burn his heart in the furnace and become the new parent and she wants to stop him at all costs. Even after he insists that he will not run, again, she refuses to let him go, calling him a "LIAR", and telling him that every memory she had of him since he rescued her from the Level-E Vampire (the night her memories were erased by her mother, Juri) were all lies. Kaname, wanting to show Yuki where her heart truly, belonged, makes love to her.

Two months after Kaname was encased, it is revealed that Yuki had not left his side since. After she nearly attacks Yori due to blood-lust, she finds afterwards that she is pregnant with Kaname's daughter and resolves to live, for him and their child.

Later on, Yuki dreams about Kaname as a human, outside on a sunny day and holding a baby. She says how wonderful it would be if that could really happen.

A thousand years after he became the parent metal, she gives up her life to turn him human, leaving her children in his care.

Trivia

 * Yume is the western naming convention for this ship. The name combines Yuki and Kaname to create the name. Yume also means "dream" in Japanese.
 * In the January 2008 LaLa magazine poll, Yume was voted 3rd most popular with 1200 votes.
 * Two other fan names for this shipping are KanaYuu or Kanaki.