[He truly does not want to cause her any pain. Maybe it's unnecessary, to be so cautious, even now when everything has already been compromised, but he never thought his own brother would hurt he and Juri as he had, or that the vampire society would sink to the lowest depths, snakes slithering on their bellies and eager for the ambrosia that was the purebloods. He doesn't want to doubt everyone, to be suspicious about everything. He just wants a quiet, peaceful life and to remember what those days were like, so long ago, before fear and worry took residence in his heart.
Haruka's eyes focus on the scythe she summons, even while he listens to the memories she has that he can't confirm. The truth is, if they know of his 'crimes', they know of everything else, so he's not sure he could confirm without drinking her blood.
Artemis, however, cannot be replicated, as far as he knows. Nothing can match the power of an anti-vampire weapon. There's a weight on his chest as he gazes at the weapon his wife wields with precision, so beautiful, so strong. Artemis is temperamental. Though Juri can use it, he cannot, and he always suspected Yuuki, rather than Kaname, would be the one to inherit it.
This girl is not Juri. He can say that without a doubt. Haruka can name the numerous reasons why he knows, but it's unnecessary. Maybe she's not her, but she would pass as his child, if she were given time to mature.
The idea is still strange, his daughter grown into a young woman, seventeen and almost as lovely as her mother, but...
He reaches out to touch it. To confirm, as much as he can, if this is his child, if this is truly an anti-vampire weapon, he'll endure any pain he must. Though without his power, he is still a pureblood, and it should react. It wouldn't be the first time he's tried to touch it (though that time was to get Juri's attention!) and he's paid for it.
Her father doesn't flinch when Artemis reacts, arcing at the hand trying to grasp it, burning the palm that seeks to take it. It's the pain of a vampire trying to claim a hunter's weapon, a weapon meant to save humans, to give them a power over even the god-like purebloods.
His eyes lift to Yuuki, guilt piling on top of the conflicting emotions already there. She's Kuran. She's Yuuki and he just voiced his doubt. Doubting his own child, who only wants her father, needs him in a time like this. He's hurt her and nothing he can say or do can fix it.
Haruka pulls away, leaves it in her hand, ignoring the burning pain in his palm. It's unbelievable, but it can't be faked, can it?
Minutes pass before his lips move, warring with the things going on in his head that need much more time to organize.]
How cruel. It's unforgivable. [More to himself than her.] To be unable to trust even my own child... to cause her pain.
[Scorched fingers curl, his eyes close. Despicable, demanding proof.]
Forgive your foolish father, Yuuki.
[Uncertainty with those words remains, but that's understandable. He doesn't have a seventeen year old daughter, but a four year old one, and this is the most bizarre thing that's happened to him. To deny what he feels, though, is beyond cruel, and eventually, he can confirm it, if he still needs reassurance. Does he really need more, though? What powers do these people have, anyway? Is it really proper to doubt anymore?]