Ruka Souen

Ruka Souen (早園 瑠佳, Sōuen Ruka) is a female student of the Night Class and one of the most faithful, protective and loyal followers of Kaname Kuran.

Appearance
As custom as most of the Aristocratic Vampires, Ruka is considered to be a very beautiful vampire, which makes her popular among the Day Class males with wavy waist-back length toffee-colored hair that has messy bangs framing her forehead on both sides, large coffee bean brown eyes, a slim and feminine frame, her skin (though fairly pale) is a little bit darker than most her classmates and she is probably one of the taller female students in the Night Class.

As custom of a female Night Class student, Ruka wears the white Night Class uniform which is a black undershirt, a white button-down blazer with black stripes running along its seams and a red bow just underneath the collar of her jacket. She also wears a purely white skirt, along with black socks that don't quite reach the stretches of her middle of her thigh and brown lace-up boots.

Personality
Ruka usually reflects a haughty, bored, unapproachable and uninterested person to the rest of the world, probably due to her noble upbringing. She is portrayed to show disdain to those considered lower than her, or just simply ignoring them, refusing to acknowledge their presence. Ruka is sometimes cold to others affections, as shown when she rejects the Day Class Representatives' dance proposal by stating she cannot dance with someone she does not know.

One of her defining characteristics is her love for Kaname Kuran as she has been tied by loyalty and admiration for him ever since they were children, angry at all those who disrespect him and disdainful of all girls who fawn on him. Her possessiveness made her hot-tempered and jealous, but her love for Kaname also brought out a vulnerable, self-doubting aspect of her usually proud personality, which she usually only expresses to Akatsuki Kain (Ruka's close friend).

She later matures after she realizes that she was only thinking of her own feelings. Since giving up on him, she has shown a gentler side to her personality. She even gave Yuki Kuran, whom she was jealous of before, etiquette lessons and during the ball where she told her that she was glad Yuki and Kaname were getting along so well. Akatsuki, who is her cousin, has been in love with her since they were children. She seems to recognize his feelings for her later on after he pulls her aside and confesses his romantic interest in her, albeit she was surprised by his bold confession.

History
Ruka grew up privileged as the daughter of a noble family whose is part of what is referred to by Asato Ichijo as the "Aido faction," which is comprised of the Kain, Aido, Souen, Toya and other clans. Not much is known about her parentage,  but her father or mother are possibly part of the Senate or in another high position, as Ichijo refers to her as "The daughter of Souen." Ruka came to Cross Academy to be closer to her long-time idol, Kaname Kuran, whom she is in love with. On their first night at the school, she asked Kaname to drink her blood to prevent him from drinking Yuki's blood which he accepted. He has refused it since, which deeply hurts her, even though she has always expected such and she was roommates with Rima Toya. The Souen family are Pro-Monarchy like the Aido, Kain and Toya families.

First Beginning
At the beginning of the story, Ruka is very loyal to Kaname Kuran as she despises all those girls who try to get close to him, especially Yuki Kuran to whom Kaname gives special attention to. She tries to ask Kaname to drink her blood after their encounter with Asato Ichijo but Kaname refuses, causing Ruka to be rather sad (although she knew he was going to refuse anyway) as he had drunk her blood on a previous occasion when they first stayed at Cross Academy.

She becomes upset with the fact that Kaname chose Yuki to be his lover and locks herself all day in her room. The possessed Senri Shiki attempted to toy with her but was halted by Akatsuki Kain and Takuma Ichijo afterwards. She is seen noting that Senri may not really be himself as she notices his left eye is a different color. She overhears Kaname telling Hanabusa Aido and Akatsuki that Yuki is his sister and wife-to-be and finally accepts Yuki being Kaname's lover. She even gives Aido a pair of shoes to give to Yuki to wear. She seems much more mature and level-headed now, recognizing the foolishness of her obsessive feelings for Kaname, though she still shows just as much dedication to him as before but with a new calmness. When Rido Kuran's servants invaded Cross Academy and attempted to attack the Day Class students and present them as gifts to their Master, Ruka alongside Kain worked to defend the Day Class girls. Following the breakup of the Night Class, Ruka, Hanabusa and Akatsuki returned home to see their families for a little while, because they did not know where he had disappeared to and decided that they would search for Kaname and Yuki after their short visit.

Second Beginning
Following the one year time-skip, Ruka has been aiding Hanabusa Aido in training Yuki Kuran in order to turn her into a lady. Later, Kaname Kuran sent Ruka and Akatsuki Kain to monitor the Hanadagi estate for any signs of movement. Upon returning to update Kaname, Ruka troubled by their upcoming plan, gives Yuki a cold response, who concerned by the out of character response, asks Kaname if he has done something to Ruka. Ruka later takes care of Kaname after his hand is damaged by wielding the anti-vampire sword.

Along with Akatsuki, Ruka follows Kaname in his new mission, though it's not clear if she is happy with their new course as she has some gloom about her nature, sut she appears determined not to leave Kaname's side. Kaname told Akatsuki when the time came, he would force Ruka to leave. Ruka and Akatsuki arrive at Cross Academy with Kaname, and the two run into Maria, who is carrying Handagi's servant. Maria attempts to attack them, but Aido shows up and he attempts to start a fight with Akatsuki, but he and Ruka leave. Ruka then uses her power to make the Day Class fall into a deep sleep. The class president, along with Yori and Shindo, are caught outside, and the class president recognizes her, although the feeling is not mutual. After sending them back inside, Kaname calls her and Akatsuki.

They arrive to see Yuki and Kaname fighting, and Ruka allows Kaname to get away by creating an illusion for Yuki to believe that Zero shot her. She later apologizes to Kaname.

During Kaname and Zero's fight in 82nd Night, Ruka watches as a window breaks and Kaname's hands clutch Zero's throat. Kaname asks Zero, "Is it enough?" of him taking out his poison. Ruka stops Kaname from stabbing Zero by shielding Zero from harm. Akatsuki attacks Kaname in anger for hurting Ruka, but she stops him, claiming that it was her fault for acting so impulsively. Kaname considers this as an act of betrayal and severs his ties with her. After he escapes from the Hunters, Yuki offers her blood to Ruka to heal her wounds. Akatsuki drinks the blood from Yuki's wrist and gives it to Ruka through a kiss. It is then that Ruka realizes that he was in love with her.

Ruka is later seen with Akatsuki fighting alongside the Hunters against the Pureblood vampires to protect Kaname before he is sacrificed to forge new anti-vampire weapons.

Powers & Abilities
Ruka's power is stated to be manipulation through illusions and she has used the technique against Yuki Kuran. However, as Yuki was able to see through the illusion, it is unknown what Ruka's true power lies. She also has the ability, unique to only her through her Aristocratic blood, to confuse those lower than her own station within the Vampiric society to attack their own colleagues (compulsion) into thinking that they were each others enemies instead of her; this trait is shown in the anime.

She has a talent for sewing, found in the fan book.

Kaname Kuran
Ruka has had an unrequited love for Kaname ever since she was a child, having a crush on him even before she met him and remains one of his most loyal followers. Even before meeting him Ruka spoke highly of the young Pureblood and defended his reputation from Hanabusa Aido's criticism. Kaname remains aware of her love and in return respects her. She decided to set aside her feelings for him after she learned of Yuki Kuran's true identity.

In the second arc, Ruka is one of few trusted allies of Kaname; however, Kaname severs his bond with Ruka when she protects Zero Kiryu from an attack from Kaname. Still, even after that, Ruka maintained a strong loyalty towards Kaname and even fought with him in his battle against the Purebloods.

Akatsuki Kain
Akatsuki is Ruka's second cousin (both are direct cousins of Hanabusa Aido) who have been playmates ever since they were children and they have remained very close as they grew up. However, while she cares and respects him greatly, Ruka was unaware of Akatsuki's unrequited love for her until he kissed her in 83rd Night.

In the final chapter of the manga, she is shown with Akatsuki and she finally returns his feelings.

Hanabusa Aido
Hanabusa is Ruka's cousin who has known him ever since they were young. Although the two do love and care for each other, Ruka is constantly seen berating or scolding Hanabusa for getting in trouble or doing reckless, non-permitted actions.

Zero Kiryu
In 82nd Night, Ruka blocks an attack from Kaname Kuran that was meant to hit Zero (Zero says that this attack was not meant to kill himself in 83rd Night). It's still not quite clear why Ruka does this and even Zero himself asks Ruka "Why..."

Quotes

 * "Why does Kaname-sama show consideration to a human like you? I can't allow it."


 * "We have nothing to fear. The Senate is indeed the highest governing body of our world... but they are not our sovereign."


 * "Hmph. Even you guys are here as his loyal greeters. Are you that afraid of that old geezer in the Senate?"


 * "Kaname-sama...you haven't reprimanded me yet...you're a kind person Kaname-sama... you rescued Aido from Ichijo, didn't you?"


 * "You know...Kaname-sama wouldn't drink my blood."


 * "Lord Kaname, you seemed awfully interested in that girl."

Etymology

 * The name Ruka means "lapis lazuli" (瑠) (ru) and "good, beautiful" (佳) (ka).
 * Ruka's surname Souen means "early" (早) (sou) and "garden" (園) (en).
 * But, the kanji also has an obscure meaning like Sou stands for "strong fragrance".