Yuki Kuran

Yuki Cross (黒主 優姫, Kurosu Yūki) was born as Kuran Yuki (玖蘭 優姫, Kuran Yūki? ) is the adoptive daughter of the headmaster of Cross Academy. Yuki is a first year student at Cross Academy and is a Guardian for Cross Academy. Yuki carries the anti-vampire weapon, Artemis. Towards the climax of arc one, Yuki is revealed to be a pureblood vampire, and the Kuran princess.

Character outline
Yuki has the rare pureblood ability to use an anti-vampire weapon, which is an ability that features in the Kuran family. Her mother, Juri Kuran also once wielded the Artemis. In her capacity as a Guardian, she was responsible for the nightly duties of monitoring and protecting the Day Class. Yuki is mocked for being flat-chested and resembling a young boy. Following her transformation back into a pureblood vampire, her hair grew waist length. Yuki bears a striking resemblance to her deceased mother Juri, but in look and has a similar smell of sunshine coming from her. She was described by the Day Class boys as being small; 152cm/16yrs, but one who eats well and considered pretty cute by a few. Yuki's best friend is Sayori Wakaba whom Yuki calls "Yori-chan." Sayori is her roommate, too.

Personality
Yuki is generally a cheerful and comedic girl. She is considered a bit stupid and a poor student. She exhibits a strong attachment to her few close friends. Her indecisive nature and reticence can be attributed to her insecurity regarding her missing history. Prior to becoming a vampire, she had a fear of vampires which meant she rarely left the Cross Academy grounds on her own, because of the attack. She always maintained that Kaname was different to the other vampires until she witnessed his biting Ruka, but she refused to allow it to change her love for him. It did however, cause a distance between the two and revive her old fear of vampires. Yuki doesn't like to reveal her fears and wears a smile over her face instead. She is intensely protective over Zero. Following her re-awakening as a pureblood, Yuki shed the fears she once retained, but her personality has notchanged much and when a situation asks, she can put in an authoritative face as is expected for a pureblood princess. Yuki's overwhelming fault is the tendency to burden herself with guilt over her ignorance when she learns the sufferings of other characters that they have kept secret.

Hino Matsuri described Yuki as the character who possesses her justice side. She acknowledges that Yuki is the healing and soothing character in the story.

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 as a human in the care of Kaien Cross, who also adopted her. Kaname stayed as a presence in Yuki's life whom she constantly looked forward to seeing and missed leaving, falling in with love him.

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 also 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 and chose to believe that his interest in her was the result of seeing her as a pet or similar.

Plot Overview

 * Main Article: Plot Summary for Yuki Cross

Yuki discovers that Zero has awakened as a vampire and is struggling with his blood lust, so she allows him to secretly feed on her blood. Yuki promises to be his ally and that she will kill him if he becomes a level E vampire. When Shizuka Hio offers to save Zero at the price of Yuki's humanity, Yuki agrees, though is stopped by Zero.

When Yuki's memories begin to resurface, Kaname bites Yuki to reawaken her true nature and then gives her his blood to restore her complete memory. Before she was bitten by Kaname and turned into a vampire she had blood halutionations. It is revealed that Yuki is actually a pureblood vampire and the last child of Juri and Haruka Kuran. Following Rido Kuran's attack on the Kuran's, killing Haruka, Juri had sacrificed herself to seal Yuki's vampiric side and erase her daughter's memory. Upon returning to her vampire self, she begins to sense Rido's dangerous revival. Though Kaname attempts to remove her from danger, she refuses to leave Cross Academy. Resolving to fight Rido, Yuki's Artemis Rod then transforms into a scythe.

Yuki and Zero stay allies to defeat Rido. When Zero tells Yuki he intends to kill all purebloods including her, Yuki decides not to allow it. Unable to shoot her, Zero drinks Yuuki's blood and they kiss. Zero confirms he will still kill her, but Yuki counters that she will always run to keep him alive. Following her admission that she has a bond to Zero in her heart, Yuki requests to stay by Kaname's side regardless expecting rejection, Kaname agrees and counters that he would rather die than be without her. Following the murder of a vampire at the peace ball, Yuki decides she needs a purpose and she vows to kill any pureblood intending suicide, to prevent the sacrifice of others. Yuki has an accidental run-in with Zero, because she is injured, Zero takes her to a safehouse. During her semi-consciousness, she almost bites Zero. Flustered Yuki calls herself a scatterbrain and returns home with Kaname, where he finally reveals that he is not her brother, but the Kuran ancestor re-awakened.

After learning that Kaname isn't really her brother, Yuuki drinks his blood to see his memories of his awaking by Rido. After viewing the horrifying death of the real brother and how the ancestor reverted himself into a baby, Yuuki gently reassure Kaname that the only Kaname she knows is him and that he can tell her anything without holding back. Yuuki tells Kaname she wants to know about his past, not just about the awakening but his past as the ancestor. As she goes deeper into his memories she sees them as children again in the snow after the death of their parents. They were being pursued as they escaped and Kaname who was carrying an unconscious Yuuki, set her down so that he could fight the enemies so he could take her to Cross' place for Yuuki's safely. Kaname looks so sad as he says that the next time she wakes up, she'll look at him with the eyes of someone that don't remember him.

She later wakes up to find herself in the same spot he put her but in her Cross Academy uniform and her hair short. She falls into Kaname's memories of his past and reflects on the beginning of the vampire race and on how Kaname and Zero are just alike.

Trivia

 * Yuki's last name, Kurosu is the Japanese pronounciation of the English word "cross." However, kanji has a different meaning, kuro meas "black" and su means "master": "black master." The kanji of her real surname Kuran, is a combination of the old fashioned way of writing ku, meaning "nine," and ran, meaning "orchid": "nine orchids". Yūki is a combination of yuu, meaning "tender" or "kind", and ki, meaning "princess". Interestingly enough another meaning of "yuuki" ( ゆうき, yūki) is "courage", where as yuki can also mean (勇気, yuki) "snow" as well.
 * Officially published as "Yuki" in Viz media publications and Chuang yi publications. Fan translations usually use "Yuuki".
 * 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.'