She was infuriatingly intelligent, Shu thought bitterly to himself as he chased her down the hallways of the mansion. Scarlet had given him his violin back when he tackled her to the sofa, but had darted away with his earbuds as soon as she was released.
He followed her scent- she had trailed her fingers along the wallpaper purposely- down to his room, wearily opening the door, half-expecting something to be thrown at him. But instead, he was greeted with the sight of Scarlet sitting cross legged on his bed, earbuds dangling from her fingers. Her eyes were bright, her cheeks flushed a rosy pink and hair looking wind blown.
He would never see her with long hair. He had once said that she would look beautiful with such hair, so when he was gone, she began to grow it out, never cutting it in his honor and his name.
"Took you long enough," She grinned, "What, feeling tired today?" When he was younger, he would have pulled a face at her, but now, he just looked at her, unimpressed.
"I'd find you anyway."
"Hmm." She threw the earbuds to him, stretching out on the bed she had slept in less than an hour ago.
He had loved Edgar. Not romantically, no, but as a brother. Edgar had never told him what to do because of his status. They had been friends because they truly liked each other. So when he lost Edgar, he lost himself as well.
In a way, they were the same, both lost in their pasts, haunted by memories, desperate for help but never admitting. She just put up a fake front so no one knew while he acted like he never cared.
"Reiji-san," Yui asked in the tense silence of the car, "Where is my sister? Did she tell you anything?" The addressed vampire made no acknowledgement of her question which led to the human repeating it once more.
"Reiji-san," She asked a third time when he did not say anything, "Reiji-san-"
The book he was reading slammed shut, cutting her off mid-sentence, eyes behind his glasses narrowed and cold.
"Must you continually make such a ratcheting noise?" He asked her sharply, snapping at her but not really. Yui instinctively recoiled, afraid once more.
"I-I just wanted to know where my sister-"
"So now you do not?" Yui hesitated, feeling unbelievably awkward without Scarlet there. Swallowing weakly, she protested, attempting to remain strong, as Scarlet did.
"No! I- I still do-"
"Then use correct grammar. You want to know." His voice was sharp, clearly irritated with the human. Yui nodded slowly, warily, the message finally getting across that he didn't want to talk to her. When the limo pulled up to the school, she was the first one out, desperate to get away from the heavy silence of the car.
"Heh." Ayato snickered, not sparing a glance at Yui. "Oi, Reiji, what are you gonna do when that fucking scarlet demon hears?" It would have been concerning, but Ayato was clearly looking forward to the consequences. Reiji walked past him, dismissing the question with a uncaring flick of his hand, but nonetheless answering his brother's question.
"She won't hear of it."
"Your Highness." The familiar was bowed low to the ground, eyes lowered. The figure looking through the window did not turn.
"What is it?"
"There have been reports of two sacrificial brides, Your Highness, but only one is human." The figure standing by the window turned to look at the familiar, fine white hair almost transparent.
"What are their names?" The man asked, sitting down a chair.
"Yui Komori and Scarlet Silver, Your Highness."
"Scarlet Silver?" Golden eyes that narrowed, malice filling them. The familiar nodded once, black eyes trained on the ground.
"Yes, your highness. She can be eliminated if she is to be an issue." A thin smile crossed his features, just barely showing his sharp fangs. Nodding his head once, Karl Heinz leaned back in the chair, golden eyes promising.
"That one is not a bride. Destroy her. She will do nothing good."
The familiar bowed even lower, fine strands of hair nearly brushing the polished wooden floor before backing out of the doorway.
"Hello, Yui!" Yui walked into the mansion to be greeted by Scarlet sitting on top of the railing of the stairs on the second floor, waving down at her. "How'd school go? Anything interesting?" Yui blinked upwards at her sister.
"Um-" She stuttered, being put in the spot. "Uh- no- not really I suppose-?" Scarlet smiled a lazy grin, the corner of her lip curling upward slightly. She swung her legs over the railing, calling out for Yui to back up.
"What are you going to do?!" Yui cried, concerned suddenly. "Scarlet, are you sure you're not going to break a bone?"
"Relax, Sister," Scarlet hushed her, not listening. "Your older sister knows what she's doing." And she fell forwards, tucking into a ball right before hitting the ground a rolling to absorb the impact. Springing up from her curled form, she raked on hand through her hair, brushing the stray hair out her face.
Yui gaped at her, still overcoming the shock. Scarlet only grinned further upon seeing her expression. "You just- how-" She scrambled for words. "Scarlet!"
"Yes?"
"Actually, I'm not going to ask." Yui sighed.
"Good for you," Scarlet smiled sweetly, "Now," She hooked her arm with her sister's. "Tell me about school. Did you talk to Em?"
"Oh, yes, Emily was telling me that there's a party over at uh- what's his name? She says you're invited as a VIP. And that you're her promise for- uh- well, she'll be sinning, and maybe you should talk her out of it, but she says you're her ticket to a good" and Yui dropped her voice, whispering even though everyone in the household could probably still hear if they cared. "A good F-word."
Scarlet burst out laughing at her sister, pushing open the door to Yui's room and shutting it firmly. "I always forget you're Christian." She snorted, "What's wrong with Em wanting to have sex with a hot guy?"
"Because you're supposed to save yourself until marriage!" Yui protested, but Scarlet waved her off, grinning from where she sat on the bed.
"Emily's not a virgin," She said easily, "She's not interested in long term relationships as of now. She's the sort of girl that'll never cheat, but she'll break up without a second doubt. No one's christian in that school but you."
Yui just winced, not bothering to argue. She and her father had come to accept that Scarlet had no faith in God, and if she acknowledged a deity's existence, she would have hunted it down and killed it for making her life miserable.
"But I'm her ticket to a good fuck?" Scarlet mused aloud. "Not a fuck, but a good one? Damn, this must be one hell of a sexy guy that she's after." Scarlet suddenly grinned, decision firmly made.
"Yui, think you'll survive one day without me?" Yui gave her sister a look.
"Yes. Why? Are you going?" Scarlet grinned, eyes gleaming, kicking open the bedroom door and shouting for Ayato.
"Yeah. And I'll need a credit card. And I want one that belongs to a rich dude or one of his sons."
As Scarlet fought Ayato with the bet of a credit card as her prize and Yui looked on, Laito and Kanato played pool on a pool table and the eldest son slept and Reiji worked in his lab on something private, none payed attention to the shadows that moved outside the mansion, the demons that were waiting for blood.