Over the course of many years, with Reina now at the age of sixteen, she had matured gracefully, as any young lady would. And of course, as is the nature of life, with the progression of maturity came the loss of innocence. This is not to say a complete loss of innocence, but rather, she had grown to learn that perhaps one should not revere their parents as wholly and absolutely as she once did.

Her mother was not faultless. She knew that now. And because Reina was now old enough to understand true consequences, she began to realize that often, she was beaten with no purpose. It was something she struggled with, unable to comprehend why a woman who was supposed to love her enough to kill her father would hit her without reason.

Which is why, as the days passed, and time went on, Reina began to think that perhaps what had happened between Henrietta and Sampson was perhaps more sinister than she had been told. And although rumors were rumors, Reina knew there had to be some level of truth to them.

These days, Reina had a lot of time to think. Which was a blessing and a curse. Since the night of Edgar's death, Shu had retreated, become a shell of his former self, and nothing Reina or anyone else did could coax him out. He even left his beloved violin behind, rarely mustering up the energy to play.

It saddened her. Mostly because there was nothing she could do to fix it.

Often he'd ask her to nap with him, so that they could be warm together. She didn't understand that, and really rather hated it. They were both vampires, so creating heat in such a way was futile at best. And sleeping for no reason at all was such an incredible waste that she found herself getting increasingly anxious. How could he spend days on end, like this? Generally, once she knew he was sound asleep, she'd sneak out of the room, going about her daily routines as usual.

As a result, she became increasingly closer to Ayato. They shared the same burden, after all. When the beatings got really bad, Reina would turn to Reiji, who always handed her an elixir without question. Though she didn't ask, and Reiji never commented on it, there always seemed to be enough formula for both her and Ayato.

Shu never seemed to notice. If he did, then he didn't comment on it. There was very little Shu commented on these days.

They kissed now. Rather often, considering he was asleep a grand majority of the time. Although, it was quite quickly escalating to more than just innocent kisses. Reina was not ignorant to this. She knew what would happen soon. But the idea of it scared her. And the truth was that she didn't exactly want to do that yet. It wasn't that she didn't love him; no, she was nearly certain she loved him. But rather, she was questioning his own feelings. But if he wanted to do something of that scale then…clearly he felt the same way about her, didn't he?

She didn't know. If Laito served as any reference then one certainly did not have to be in love to make love. Cordelia was also a fine example of this. Her mother said a woman's sexuality was her greatest weapon. She didn't exactly like the way her mother said that so easily. She knew what Henrietta would say if she approached her about it. Part of Reina wanted the advice of her mother, and part of her didn't.

Shu had already made his intentions quite clear. Though she knew he wouldn't force her, she could sense his irritation. She knew that it shouldn't matter, that they would be married soon and this sort of thing would happen often, but…

There was something that held her back.

With these conflicting thoughts in her head she roamed the castle. Shu was asleep as usual. She didn't feel like reading today. Usually she's sit with Reiji in the library and enjoy a novel or two, but the heat was distracting her. Summer had never been so hot. Even some of the roses were starting to wilt. She sighed. Subaru wouldn't be very happy about that. She was no expert, but she thought maybe she'd go and water them a bit.

When she got outside, she was surprised to find Ayato looking out at the garden as well.

"Fancy seeing you here." She smiled.

"Nee-saaaaaannn…" he whined, "It's so hooooot."

She giggled, filling up a small watering can. "Then go back inside."

He whined again, "What are you doing?"

"The flowers look thirsty." She explained.

"Tch. Who cares about that?"

"They're too beautiful to die." She insisted.

"Heh. That's lame."

She stuck her tongue out at him, and continued to water the flowers. When she finished, she wiped her brow, having sweated. It was quite unladylike, and she decided she should probably take a bath before deciding to do anything else.

"I think this is the hottest its been in a while." She said to Ayato.

He nodded, a wicked smirk on his face that she was all too familiar with. Instinctively she backed away, "Well, I think I'll go freshen up-"

"Onee-san!" he cheered, picking her up easily, making her drop the can, "I got an idea!"

"Ayato put me down!"

"Tch. Like hell."

"Damnit Ayato!" she kicked and screamed, but he had grown taller than her, stronger than her.

"You said it was hot didn't you? So we're gonna go swimming."

In a matter of moments they were inside, the castle's indoor pool offering a cooling atmosphere. Reina panicked, struggling to get out of Ayato's hold, not caring how undignified she looked.

"Ayato I don't want to-"

It was too late. He had already thrown her struggling body into the pool. She sunk down, before slapping at the water, creating quite the scene. "Ayato!" she pleaded, struggling to keep her head above the water, "Please!" she stuck out her hand, trying to reach him, "I can't swim!"

His eyes widened with realization, never even considering the fact that his sister couldn't swim, and immediately grabbed her hand to pull her out. The moment he did, however, Reina latched onto his forearm, grabbing him with her other hand, a sneaky smile on her face as they locked eyes.

"Ba-ka." She teased, and pulled him in with her.

It wasn't long before the two were engaged in an all-out war, splashing the water in every direction, laughing and screaming and trying to playfully drown each other.

"Just what do you two think you are doing?" Reiji's sharp voice cut through the echoes of laughter, and despite not having particularly raised his voice, it was enough to make Reina and Ayato stop immediately.

"We're so sorry." Reina spoke quickly, apologizing for the both of them, making her way out of the pool, her clothes drenched. Ayato, however, stayed in the water, casually floating about. "I'm not. Don't group me with your kind, Onee-san."

Reiji's eyes were cold and sharp as he watched Reina get out of the water. "I expect such actions out of Ayato, but certainly not from you."

Reina bowed her head, her clothes dripping water onto the floor. The only sounds heard were the soft waves caused by Ayato's strokes and the water of Reina's dress hitting the tile. "It was just a little fun, Reiji." She said innocently.

Reiji's chest clenched uncomfortably. They weren't children anymore. She should know better than this. Was she aware of how she looked? With the fabric of her dress sticking to her skin, the water heavily weighing down her lashes. It made them thick and bold, framing her brown eyes just so. It was a dangerous thing, eyes like that.

But it was distasteful, the way her clothes now clung to her body. It made her look like a lewd woman. For a brief moment, Reiji's eyes flicked downwards, before shooting back up again.

"Kindly dry yourself before you enter the castle. To leave droplets of water in your wake would be incorrigible."

She nodded, running to fetch a towel, her clothing stretching and sticking to her skin as she did so.

"You too, Ayato."

He whined, floating in the water, "Ah, Reiji, you're no fun."

"Ayato," Reina called calmly, "Do as he says."

"Tch." With an annoyed grunt Ayato climbed out of the pool, glaring at Reji.

Reina excused herself, wrapping herself in a towel, trying to drain the excess water from her clothes. Embarrassed, she left without saying much more.

"Dry off," Reiji said strictly, before turning to leave, "You'll ruin the carpet otherwise."

"Oy, Reiji." Ayato said his name seriously, different from his usual taunting tone. Reiji shot him a questioning look.

"When are you gonna tell her?"

He sighed, and pushed up his glasses, "You must learn to speak more precisely. I know neither who you are speaking of, nor to what you are referring."

"Reina you idiot!"

"Your insults prove just how simple minded you are."

Ayato shook his head in disapproval, clenching his fists. "I think…if it came down to it...if you just tried-"

"What nonsense are you spewing out now-"

"Don't play dumb! You know exactly what I'm talking about!"

Reiji flinched slightly, but whether Ayato noticed or not was completely unknown. He sighed, "She knows her place, Ayato. And I mine."

"You're a goddamn piece of shit, Reiji. Not doing anything when you know-"

"She will marry Shu. That has long since been decided."

Ayato scoffed. "Ha. You're really ok with that? You know what's bound to happen soon. He's a man after all-"

"I'm well aware of the possible relations between a man and a woman-"

"And you're ok with that?"

Reiji clenched his fists. "We will no longer speak of this. Not everything is solved through capricious banter-"

Ayato laughed, holding his stomach. "Goddamn. I feel sorry for her. Stuck between a guy who does nothing but sleep and another with his head so far up his own ass he can't even-"

"Ayato."

He glared at him.

"For her sake, enough."

Ayato pouted like a young child. "Well it's a lot like you to fuck it all up anyway. Best chance she has is running away from this goddamn place."

They both knew that was well beyond her though. Reiji pushed up his glasses, "Though I doubt she would do so, I hope you will not fill her head with such insolent ideas."

"Heh. Why? You want her to stay right?"

"Ayato."

"I wouldn't want her to leave either but…she's not happy. I mean, shit, none of us are, but-"

"Dry off. We have father's dinner tonight. I will not have you looking so ghastly."

"Oy! I'm trying to be serious for once! Don't fucking push me away like I'm some sort of kid-"

"You are a child. And until you begin to act your age I will not refrain from treating you as such. What Reina does is not your concern, nor is it for you to decide."

Ayato grumbled to himself, snatching a towel to roughly dry his hair. As Reiji walked away he couldn't help but think of him as a complete and total joke. Their whole fucked up family was nothing but a joke.

Over the years, Ayato had watched the light that used to shine so brightly in Reina's eyes slowly go out. And for the most part, he blamed Shu.

Reina wasn't happy. He knew that. Everyone knew that. Not that he exactly cared per say. But he did. They'd grown up together. It was hard not to. Especially where there was no reason for her to be this miserable. He and his brothers were all tied together, sharing this godforsaken hellhole because they were all Sakamaki's. But Reina had no part in that.

She didn't exactly have a choice, because of her mother, and because of Karlheinz, but she did have some sort of way out. Ayato wondered if she'd take advantage of that before it'd be too late.

He knew she probably wouldn't.

Really, Ayato didn't understand Reina. She was better than Shu, that much was apparent to everyone. And really, if she wanted, she could have her pick of any of the brothers. Ayato got the feeling that someone would be Reiji. If it came down to it, that is. But he also got the feeling that would never happen. Because their father had said so. Not to mention that bitch Henrietta would go on a goddamn rampage if Reina married anyone other than the heir.

Ayato hated that woman. Almost as much as he hated Cordelia.

He had never really liked her to begin with. Even when they were younger, that woman had always given him creepy chills. It made him wonder how someone like Reina could be related to someone like that. It freaked him out.

Reina was too nice for her own good. And she wasn't strong enough yet to fight back. He wasn't sure how she'd make it in the demon world on her own. She'd get eaten alive, being that nice.

That's why he had to protect her. Because if he didn't then no one else would. Shu had proven to be useless. Reiji even more so, since he was too busy kissing Karlheinz's ass.

That pissed Ayato off the most. The megane was always whining and moaning about Shu and blah blah blah, but he never did anything about it. It was such a waste. If Reiji really wanted to, he could just kill Shu. It'd be easy; the bum was always sleeping anyway.

But if he did, Ayato guessed, the man they called their father would probably kill Reiji.

So things stayed the way they were. Because Karlheinz wanted it that way.


A/N: Happy update day!

Guest: Oh no! I hope you didn't fully drop it yet. I see what you mean with the contradicting plots. I try to keep most of my stories as close to canon as I can. Yui will actually be playing a major role in all of this, but we're still in the past, so we haven't gotten to her yet. Sorry I can't say much more than that, I don't want to give anything away :)