vi.

chapter six - flowers on fire


Yuki was one now, while Shiori and Kaname turned eight.

The twins spent as much time as they could with their little brother , seeing how Yuki wasn't allowed to venture outside of the basement. Shiori played with him more often than Kaname— mainly since she wasn't allowed out of the mansion either.

Her family's protectiveness was smothering, and Shiori appreciated their love, but couldn't stand it most of the time. The brunette knew nothing would happen to her this soon. Rido wasn't supposed to come back for several more years. She wanted to enjoy her life and family before her uncle destroyed it.

An improvement had been made, at least. Shiori could now somewhat keep in contact with her friends through letters. Kaname typically delivered them himself when he went to visit them, but when he wasn't available, Juri and Haruka had one of the servants do it.

It was a small compromise, but Shiori was glad to know how her friends were doing.

Everyone sent her a letter once a week, although Senri's usually took longer to arrive. He'd gotten better at reading, but writing was still a work in progress. Her heart grew warm whenever she saw the messy handwriting.

Her friends told her what they had been up to, among a variety of other topics. Ruka typically asked about Kaname; Akatsuki asked how she was and when she would be back in the living world; Takuma vented about the weight on his shoulders due to his family's expectations; Senri lamented about the lack of visits— and Hanabusa…

Hanabusa's letters took longer to arrive than Senri's, but they made up for it in length. Hanabusa sent pages, almost like he was telling a story. He told Shiori that he "kinda" missed her being around, and how he "wouldn't mind" seeing her again soon. The blond gushed about his interest in medical science, something he wanted to pursue in the future. Shiori wondered what spurred this on, but always encouraged him when he brought up his wants and dreams.

Hilariously, he was much easier to communicate with in letters than in person. His tsundere attitude was hard to capture in his writing, so he was forced to be honest with his feelings so there were no misunderstandings.

"Kaname." Shiori entered Yuki's bedroom. Kaname and Yuki looked up from where they were playing with some blocks in the middle of the room. "I finished writing my letters— Can you send them when you go out again?"

"Of course, Shiori-chan." Kaname smiled as Shiori sat down beside him. Immediately, Yuki switched his attention to her with open arms and a wide, gummy smile. Kaname kindly took the letters from Shiori's hands so that she could settle Yuki on her lap.

"Have you been having fun?" She asked the toddler with a soft expression and crinkled eyes. Yuki's response was an intelligible gurgle that made Shiori and Kaname grin. "I see," Shiori hummed. "Say nee-chan?"

"Excuse me?" Kaname raised an eyebrow in amusement. "You said nii-chan wrong."

Shiori didn't even glance at him and continued to bounce Yuki on her lap. "Nope, I said it right."

"Say nii-chan, Yuki—"

"Nee-chan—"

"Nii-chan—"

"N-Neee…"

Kaname and Shiori froze as a sound tumbled from Yuki's mouth. They looked to each other, eyes wide with wonder. Shiori broke the momentary silence as she looked back at her younger brother. "Did he just—"

"He did," Kaname nodded his head, a grin growing on his face. "He said nii—"

"—Nee!" Shiori shouted at the same time. Her smile immediately turned into a frown when she processed what Kaname said. "No— Yuki didn't say that."

"How about we let Yuki-chan be the judge of that," Kaname said with a smirk. "Yuki-chan, say nii."

"Say, nee—" Shiori said with much more force than Kaname had, an expectant frown on her face.

Kaname and Shiori watched Yuki with bated breath as they awaited the toddler's response. He continued to gnaw on his fists, before finally taking them out of his mouth to say—

"Glerghh…"


It was a cold night, snow fell and swirled furiously outside the Kuran Estate. The rough weather translated to the current events— Haruka stood tall outside, despite the strong winds. Shiori stood beside him, though he made no move to acknowledge her. Shiori was a spectator— invisible to the current events, and only able to watch.

A dozen vampires stood before him, their eyes a glowing, eerie red, and fangs bared. Haruka recognized every single one of them to be a part of the Senate, somehow— obviously the paranoia that he and Juri had been harboring all those years was not unfounded.

The vampires launched themselves at Haruka, one-by-one. The pureblood could appreciate their politeness, at least. But in the end, he still turned them to dust with one hit.

Behind him, Juri watched with a calm expression. She spectated the battle from an open window within the manor; her demeanor screamed acceptance of the fate that she knew was coming.

Haruka spoke to Juri, but Shiori could not hear the words that came out of his mouth. She knew what he said regardless, and she also knew what was going to happen next.

As Juri gave a small smile to her husband, she moved her lips to speak and forced Shiori to squint her eyes to read the woman's lips— "Then… I'll go on ahead."

Shiori was shaking her head and telling her mother to stop, but her voice fell on deaf ears. She couldn't move her body. She collapsed into the snow, devastated at the powerlessness that she was feeling. Burying her head in her lap, Shiori only wished to escape it all…

When she looked up, Shiori was alone in the front yard of the estate. Only the dreary soundtrack and whispers of the night accompanied her— it was as if her father and the rogue Senate vampires were never there.

"What are you doing outside in the cold, little one?"

Jumping at the familiar baritone, her eyes widened as she turned to look at the shifting shadow. The longer she looked at it, the more she realized that it was actually bloodshifting and moving to form a figure she had never wanted to see again.

"No…" Shiori's body refused to move. Not even when the now fully-formed man took a threatening step forward. He grinned down at her with his dual-colored eyes, reaching his hands out to grab her.

Rido Kuran chuckled as he cupped Shiori's face and licked her cheek. "I hope you weren't waiting for too long, my love."

Shiori jolted up from her bed, brownish-red eyes wide, and sweat made her hair cling to her face. All in all, she looked panicked and terrified.

Her gaze ricocheted around the room, searching for something. She wasn't sure what until she felt a cool hand grasp her own.

"Shi-chan?" Kaname was right beside her on her bed now. He held her hands tightly in his own as he looked at her with concern.

"Kaname…? Kana..me?" She asked, unsure if she was still trapped in that nightmare.

The male brunet frowned before pulling Shiori closer and into his lap. He settled down before laying back so that she could lay against him comfortably. "I'm here, I'm here…" Kaname reassured, brushing the hair out of Shiori's face. She curled into his chest, grasping onto his shirt like a lifeline.

Shiori trembled, only making Kaname even more concerned.

He continued to run his hands through her hair and whisper reassuring words. Eventually, Shiori fell back asleep and Kaname was left alone— his mind whirling.

Pressing a kiss atop Shiori's head, he wondered, "What scared you so much?"


The next day after her daily lessons, Shiori decided to spend her free time with her little brother. Kaname was out with Haruka, so he wasn't stuck to her side for once— and Juri was discussing something with Kaien in her parent's private study. Shiori suspected they were talking about the future "Cross Academy", but she couldn't be too sure.

Obviously, this world enjoyed throwing her curve balls at every turn.

Shiori thought back on the nightmare that plagued her last night— it shook her to the core. If Kaname hadn't been there to offer his soothing presence, she doubted she would've been able to go back to sleep.

'Was it really just a nightmare? Or was Rido contacting me through my dreams?' Shiori bit her lip, hoping it was the former.

"Play! Play!" Yuki grew frustrated at the lack of attention on him, and tugged at Shiori's hair.

"Yes, yes. I hear you," Shiori huffed with an amused smile. She lightly pecked Yuki's forehead, giving him a squeeze before sighing deeply— Rido was still stuck on her mind. "I'll protect you no matter what, okay?"

"Play!"

"Okay, okay…"

Yuki definitely wasn't a born prodigy like Kaname and Shiori (though they had a cheatsheet in that department). That much was obvious when it became apparent that he couldn't pick up on things as fast as the twins had when they were his age.

Nevertheless, the young toddler was immensely loved and coddled. If anything, Shiori thought it was good her parents got to experience what it was like to have a relatively normal child— not including how they had to keep said child's existence a secret from everyone not apart of their household, sans Kaien.

Shiori continued to play with Yuki and an hour later, Kaname arrived with a brown, soft teddy bear in his hands. Immediately upon seeing it, Yuki's brownish-red eyes widened and sparkled. All of his attention went to the new plush animal, and he opened his arms in a gesture to receive it.

"Gimme!"

Kaname chuckled, holding the toy over Yuki's head. "Is that the kind of greeting I get, Yuki-chan?"

"Give, please?"

"Good enough, I suppose." Kaname smiled and crouched down beside his siblings. He nuzzled the bear to Yuki's face, causing the boy to giggle.

"Tickles!" As soon as the toy was within arm's reach, Yuki snatched it and held it tightly to his chest. "For me…" He mumbled, causing Shiori and Kaname to laugh softly to themselves.

The twins shared a fond look, and Kaname clasped his hand around Shiori's. He noticed the underlying stress that hid beneath the smile on her face— she could practically feel his stare linger on the dark circles beneath her eyes.

"How are you?" Kaname asked, giving her his full attention.

Shiori kept eye contact with Kaname for a few seconds before looking away to watch Yuki play with his new teddy bear. Shrugging, she tried to fight back a yawn, but failed miserably. "Tired, but I'm fine I guess…"

Kaname didn't change his expression, but she could tell he wasn't satisfied with her answer. Usually, he could read her like an open book, and now, with his awakened memories, he was more attuned to her emotions.

Shiori continued to avoid Kaname's gaze, but that didn't stop the boy from staring at her. He remained quiet, simply studying her now. The silence stretched on between them— Yuki was the only source of noise as he continued to play with his toy.

Eventually, Kaname broke the tension as he wrapped an arm around Shiori and gently pulled her down onto his lap. When Shiori looked up in confusion, Kaname simply smirked.

"Sleep," he said. "I'll keep an eye on Yuki."

Shiori pondered for a moment… Debating on protesting, but decided against it when she remembered how well she slept last night because of his presence. With a sigh she closed her eyes and settled down, trying her best to ignore the eyes she felt on her…. She hoped they belonged to either Kaname or Yuki, because her instincts were telling her otherwise.


author's note: this chapter is shorter than the others because the next scene i had planned involves a two year time skip, and i didn't want to include that in the middle of the chapter.

i would like to give a warm welcome to the new beta of RE:V, LittleMiniMe21! this chapter is edited by them, so let's give 'em a huge thanks! also thank you to fortheloveofb for filling in the role until i could find someone to officially take over. and finally, thank you to everyone who offered to help me out! it was much appreciated :')


story rec: "unbreakable bonds" by the eternal scribe