Yui Komori couldn't stop her leg from shaking. She bit her lip, trying to quit the habit because she knew that it drove her sister crazy, and when her sister got irritated, nothing turned out well. But she was nervous, feeling apprehensive and uncertain. She wished, like she often did, that she had the confidence and certainty that her sister possessed, but she didn't.
She cast a glance at her sister, Scarlet. Her hair, a deep, rich, shade of her name, was tossed over one shoulder in a braid, the girl sprawled out across the seats, headphones in and playing music Yui could never guess. After all, Scarlet listened to a range of music, from classical to rap to kpop. The last two, Yui could never enjoy. She was sleeping, Yui guessed, sleeping without a care in the world.
She bit her lip again, trying to force her leg to stop bouncing up and down. The car's engine hummed, the ride relatively smooth for the road they were traveling. She recalled again the address of the place they were headed and her father's last words.
"Don't worry, Yui-chan. Scarlet will take care of you, won't you, Scarlet?"
And she remembered the response.
" 'course I will. Who do you think you're talking to?"
She sighed, shutting her eyes and leaning her head against the window pane. A night school. Advanced Academics. An unknown host. An unknown home for however long her father was going to be gone. How Scarlet was so carefree, she would never know. As she wallowed in a mixture of self-pity and nerves, she gave up on trying to stop her leg from bouncing.
Four cool fingers pressed down on her thigh, causing her to open her eyes and stiffen in surprise. Dark chocolate eyes met hers, and a wayward smile.
"Scarlet!" Her sister retracted her hand, now sitting up and headphones resting on her neck.
"You've got to quit with the leg bouncing, Yui, you know that drives me crazy." Scarlet grinned, her voice not matching her words. "Did you get any sleep?"
"No," Yui sighed, "Though, I suppose you did?" Scarlet wordlessly shook her head, pulling the rubber band out of her hair, quick fingers running through her hair and undoing the French braid. Yui watched with a pang of jealousy. Why couldn't her hair be as easy to manage as her sister's?
"Goddamned coffee I swiped from the kid this morning," Scarlet sighed, "I knew I shouldn't have drunk it. I couldn't sleep." Yui pursed her lips, knowing better than to argue with her sister about profanities. Scarlet did whatever she wanted.
"Well, at least you get to see a mansion, hm?" It was a mansion outside, stone and gates and gloomy in every way possible. Scarlet cast her sister a look she couldn't see.
"We're living in that mansion, Yui." Yui spun around, staring at her sister.
"What?"
Scarlet Silver was not a fan of thunder. Rain, she never minded. Rain seemed to clean her, washing away the dirt and blood that once stained her every day. But thunder, she hated with a passion. It was too loud, to sudden, and brought too many bad memories with it. Well, she thought as she watched her sister tentatively approach a boy with pale skin and a shock of bright colored hair, bad memories are going to be the norm living with him.
"Excuse me!" Yui raised her voice with uncertainty. Scarlet sighed, pulling her sister away.
"Hey." He made no indication of hearing, but Scarlet knew. They were all listening, waiting for their turn. "Ayato Sakamaki. I know you're listening. I'll go on if you want. But I know that you want to keep your element of surprise." It worked, sharp green eyes opening and an irritated scowl pulling at his mouth.
"Damn, this is the first time they've sent us on that knows." And Scarlet smiled, teeth showing, head tilted gently.
"They didn't send me. They sent my sister." She tilted her body just enough so that Yui showed, pink eyes wide.
"Scarlet-?"
"Ayato. If she knows, then bring them in." It's another one, Scarlet sighed to herself. He had glasses, and his attitude and his voice were those of someone raised knowing that they were better than most. Scarlet had to stop herself from wrinkling her nose.
She followed him easily, and Yui trailed behind casting glances behind them, hands already starting to shake. Scarlet didn't pay her sister any attention, too focused on counting the numbers of vampires in the household. They had retracted their presence almost immediately after she called the red-haired Sakamaki, but she could catch at least three other than the two in front of her.
They reached a room, sofas and fireplace and all. Scarlet sighed, dropping onto a couch, eyes trained on Reiji Sakamaki. Yui scampered into the seat next to her, eyes darting around. Ayato sat down as well, slumped into a sofa. Scarlet sensed it; the change in the air, announcing the arrival of a third vampire. She looked up.
He had the red hair of his brother, green eyes just as sharp, and a smile playing at the edge of his lips. Scarlet knew that smile. She knew it well enough so that she could track his movement, following it to right in front of her.
"Laito Sakamaki," He caught her hand in his, bringing it to his lips, kissing it and setting it down. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance." Scarlet tilted her head up, an easy smile playing on her lips, treading lightly.
"Scarlet Silver," She said, "The pleasure is mine." She watched him straighten, cast a glance at his brother, and reappear next to him. He gave a subtle nod, and Scarlet searched again, for another. It was a scowling face that she found, white hair and red eyes, and she surveyed him.
Subaru Sakamaki was the youngest of them all, she could see. He was sixteen, she would guess, or seventeen in physical terms. He met her eye once, before he broke eye contact, scowling. The next one she sensed is Kanato Sakamaki.
He was clutching his stuffed animal tightly, appearing right next to Yui, causing the blonde to jump closer to Scarlet. Scarlet turned slightly, watching. He smiled and claimed that Yui smelled sweet, bending down and asking her if he could take a taste, but Scarlet was no longer watching. There were five already, but the last one had done the best job of hiding.
He was blonde hair and blue eyes, still in the way that humans could never be. Sprawled out on a couch further away, music player in his ears, as if to suggest he wasn't royalty. As if he knew she was looking, he opened his eyes, looking straight at her. Scarlet felt the shift in the room, subconsciously realizing that Kanato had fallen silent.
"Shu." Reiji was the first one to speak, tone laced with acid. "Was she intentional?" He gestured toward Scarlet, who muttered that she had a name under her breath, rolling her eyes.
"I don't know," The blonde responded, voice low and tired. "All he said was to keep the other alive." The statement caused Ayato and Kanato to start talking, and Yui whimpered, fingers grabbing Scarlet's arm.
"Scarlet-" Scarlet sighed as Ayato caught Kanato's eye, and Laito seemed to pick up on the idea of what was going on.
"What- what's going on-"
Reiji and Subaru were aware now as well, the air shifting in the room to something dangerous. Yui continued on stammering.
"Do you know-them- or- something-?"
Shu's eyes, which had closed opened once more, sharp and catching Scarlet's eye before breaking away, watching the only human in the room.
"Scarlet, who are they-" Yui broke off into a strangled yelp as eyes glinted red and fangs flashed in a snarl. Scarlet, anticipating the reaction, sharply grabbed her sister's arm, forcing her to stay sitting as she sat, chin tilted up. Her voice was hard, dripping sarcasm and light brown eyes flickering golden for less than a millisecond.
"Yui. Meet the Sakamaki's, your new choices for death."
And she slouched into the sofa, tilting her head back and laughing. "Man, and I thought I'd already dealt with enough vampire scheming for a lifetime. Well," She shot a half-lidded smirk at them in general, falling into the velvet cushions, scarlet hair bright against the dark purple color. "For the lifetime of a human."