I must’ve called a thousand timesssssss

yume-ship:

Hi there!

There’s no such thing as a dumb question :)

Without a doubt, Kaname held a deep level of respect and love for Juuri and Haruka. However, due to the sad circumstances that led to Kaname’s revival (e.g. the sacrifice of baby Kaname - Haruka and Juuri’s real son), I feel Kaname’s love for them, and the way he expressed it changed when he regained his memories; which I think is where your confusion comes from.

Growing up as a child, we can assume Kaname was probably very close with Haruka and Juuri, and loved them as any child would love their parent. During this period, the type of love Kaname held towards them could be arguably be described as ‘Storge’. Storge or ‘Familiar Love’ is related with kinship and familiarity. It is a natural form of affection that often flows between parents and their children, and children for their parents.

As Kaname regained his memories, and learnt he was not Juuri and Haruka’s real son, he seemingly becomes less open in expressing his love for them, and receptive to their affection. 

In chapter 35, Kaname appears almost embarrassed, awkward or surprised to receive affectionate gestures from Juuri:

Note that it’s not because he doesn’t like it - we can tell he does from his blush and facial expressions! It’s because he believes he doesn’t deserve their love. In his mind, he is living a life that was never meant to be for him. He is tortured by the guilt of being ‘involved’ in their baby’s death. Although this fact doesn’t change how Juuri and Haruka view him, it does from Kaname’s perspective.

In chapter 58, Kaname says:

“Back that night…If only you hadn’t taken that couple’s baby, whom they had also named ‘Kaname’ like me. If only you hadn’t…taken and sacrificed that baby…”

As a punishment, Kaname denies himself of Juuri and Haruka’s affections, and views them as a couple he owes everything to, after giving them such grief, instead of being his parents. He establishes this formal boundary between him and them. But as we can see in the above image, Kaname suffers from the contradiction of wanting to belong to their family as their ‘son’, and the belief that he does not deserve it. 

In relearning he is the Kuran Ancestor, Kaname seems to also demonstrate a ‘protective’ type of love for Juuri and Haruka as if he were their parent. From this new perspective, Juuri and Haruka are not only significantly younger compared to him, but also his descendants that he has a duty to protect as Head of the family.

For example, in chapter 38, Kaname stands in front of Haruka to protect him from Rido:

“Father, fall back, destroying him is my most important duty.”

At this point, Kaname’s love for the couple could be argued to be a blend of Storge and Philia. Philia refers to the feelings of loyalty among friends, camaraderie among teammates,and the sense of sacrifice for your pack.

So to answer to answer your question, yes, Kaname did love Juuri and Haruka as his parents, but as he regained his memories, the guilt of the past impacted his relationship with the couple. Of course, please take the above with a grain of salt; this is merely the opinion of one person!

Thank you for your question!

Yume-ship