Laito, like many of his brothers, had to grow up too fast.

There simply wasn't a lot of time to be a kid. Laito knew that, and sometimes he would try and ignore it and play around like a regular kid anyways. He would forget about his daily problems and all the secrets he was keeping, and he just did kid stuff. He built secret hideouts with Kanato, and Ayato joined when he could. He found his mother's makeup stash and he made a mess while trying it out. He played with the pet bats that their family kept. He named a few of them, but he couldn't tell them apart so he would have to name them again later.

He did these things because he knew kids were supposed to do these things. He did them because if he didn't, he thought people would worry. Surely if Ayato and Kanato just saw him moping around, not doing kid stuff, they would surely think Laito was hurting. Laito didn't want them to know he was hurting, so he played around.

But Laito never got over his fate as a sympathetic crier until he was a teenager. Throughout his whole childhood, watching other people cry made him cry too. It was just something so sad to watch. So, sometimes, he had to cry in front of his brothers. But only when they had started crying first.

So Kanato would approach him, tugging on his sleeve to get his attention, his eyes swimming with tears. Laito didn't even have to ask what was wrong. It was pretty easy to assume what had gone wrong in their household, anyway. Something to do with their mother. He must have seen something he didn't want to see. He must have been troubled, as a child, to see that. Laito understood. Laito cried along with him.

It felt so much better to comfort his brothers, to hold their hands and cry next to them. It made him feel like, even if no one could do anything for him, he could at least do good for other people. And it tortured him to think about how someday they might grow up normal and mature, and they wouldn't cry anymore and they wouldn't need his help anymore. But he'd still be Laito, because he did all of his growing up when he was still a child. He would still need help.

He didn't want his brothers to grow up as quickly as he did.

As Ruri grew up, she learned a lot of things.

Her mother's breakdowns were far less frequent than they were when Subaru was a child, but eventually she did witness them. The very first time she saw one, she remembered what Subaru told her about how she would "see her at her worst someday" - and she got frightened and ran off to beg the maids to help her. She was still a child and she didn't understand what was going on. But Christa wouldn't calm down till she had her daughter back in her arms.

Ruri got much better at handling it over the years. She would sit with her mother and comb through her hair and tell her stories about times she had spent with her brothers. Christa enjoyed hearing about Ruri's experiences, especially those with Subaru. When Ruri was a bit older and wiser, she got the feeling that Christa was trying to relive her own youth through Ruri. She did not know her mother's story yet, but she got the feeling that she did not get much of an opportunity to be young.

Ruri had also, as Kanato had predicted, gotten quite a few marriage proposals. She found herself greatly disinterested in each boy she met with, and she would hand letters from these boys to her mother, who would tear them up on the spot. Christa did not want to see Ruri married off either. But everyone seemed to want to get their hands on the Vampire King's only daughter.

There were a few attempts on her life too. Ruri was stuck in bed sick for weeks because someone had poisoned her cup of tea. The culprit ended up being her favorite maid, who Ruri had liked and trusted very much, and she was subsequently executed by her father. This had left Ruri heartbroken and unable to eat or drink anything while she was sick, which only made her condition worse.

As years went by, Ruri's body grew along with her mind. Her figure matured and she grew out of all the clothes Laito had bought for her, but she kept them tucked away in her closet (Actually, Ruri had grown up to be quite a hoarder - she had difficulty throwing anything away, except for the gifts she had received from her suitors, most of which she tossed immediately). Since she was now sensitive to sunlight, the already-faint freckles on her cheeks disappeared. She could now speak fluently without any problems, and she took up a few books on sign language just in case, so now she could sign fairly well too, even though she was a bit out of practice because no one else in her house could sign. She was still a quiet and not very expressive person, though she had gotten much better at conversation since she was a kid.

She still visited her brothers periodically, on each of their birthdays and again on her own. It brought all the brothers together, surprisingly enough; everyone was, in one way or another, looking forward to seeing her again. At first Laito appeared worried every time she visited - afraid she was going to be drastically different from how she was as a child - but after a number of years, he realized Ruri wasn't going anywhere. She was still his adorable little sister.

It was early august. Ruri's physical age was about fourteen. Her brothers, in a physical sense, had not aged any noteworthy amount. In the next few weeks, Ruri was scheduled to visit the Sakamaki house for Reiji's birthday.

A young blonde girl had entered the mansion, her hair slightly wet from the rain outside. One hand was clutching the handle of her rolling bag tightly, and the other was gripping the rosary around her neck. This girl's name was Yui Komori.

Mere minutes within her arrival, all of the boys had gotten the scent of her blood and had headed downstairs to get some of it. She had been passed back and forth between them, grabbed at, even licked, and she was doing everything she could to struggle free. Doing so, she had worked up a sweat and her legs were shaking.

"Please," she begged to Reiji, who looked like the most sensible out of all of them. "I think there was some mistake. My father sent me here saying that you were extended family of his-"

Reiji had his arms crossed and he appeared to be thinking hard. "Well, your father most certainly lied to you."

She was trembling and her face was flushed. "That can't be!"

"Now, now, Bitch-chan," Laito interrupted them, suddenly hugging her from behind. "Forget about all that stuff and come have fun with us for a while!"

"No!" she squeaked, trying to get away but unable to muster the strength to do much. "I don't want to!"

"Laito, please. I am trying to get to the bottom of this."

"But who cares where she came from~ As long as we have someone to play with now~" Laito sniffed at Yui's neck. "Ahh, you smell so good…"

"Cut it out, Laito! Yours Truly saw her first," Ayato snapped. "And Yours Truly is going to be her first everything."

"Don't be like that...Here, we can bite her together?"

"Bite me?!" Yui yelped. Tears sprung to her eyes. This was all too much.

"It will cause a lot of trouble for me if you make a mess now, so please refrain from doing so."

"What can I say? I'm the kind of guy who likes to make messes," Laito laughed. With that, he bared his fangs and sank them into Yui's neck.

Yui wanted to scream, but she found her voice getting caught in her throat. Her muscles tensed up with the pain of her skin being punctured, and she slowly lost feeling in her legs. Laito had to wrap an arm around her torso to keep her from falling to her knees.

"Laito, that's no fair…" Kanato whimpered.

"Laito, you bastard!"

Laito laughed to himself. "Sorry, sorry...But Bitch-chan, really...you taste so good…" His cheeks had turned red. "I don't think I can stop myself-"

While his guard was down, Yui threw her arm back and elbowed Laito in the ribs. Out of surprise, Laito released her, and Yui ran like her life depended on it (because it probably did) toward the front door.

She threw it open, but there was already someone in the doorway, looking like they were just about to knock. It was Ruri.

Ruri was shocked to suddenly see such a pretty girl in her brothers' house. She stood there mouth agape, unsure of how to react.

Yui backed up. "Another one…" she whispered. She looked horrified of Ruri.

Laito appeared behind Yui and grabbed onto her shoulders. When he saw Ruri, his eyes lit up. "Ruri! Ruri, you're here! But it's so early!"

Ruri hesitated and lifted up the bag she had in her hands slightly. "I went shopping for gifts earlier. But after I bought them, I was so excited to give them to you that I couldn't wait."

"That is literally the cutest thing I've ever heard. Come in! As you can see we have a guest right now, though~"

Ruri took a closer look at the guest. She was most definitely a human, and a very beautiful human at that. She looked near Ruri's age, perhaps a bit older. Her eyes were wide and moist with tears, her pink lips were parted slightly, and she smelled wonderful. Ruri's eyes fell onto the girl's neck, which was stained crimson with blood. A drop of that blood slipped from the bite marks on her neck and rolled onto her collarbone. Ruri felt her mouth start to water.

Yui stared at Ruri, tears still swimming in her eyes. Her shoulders and knees were still shaking. This girl was scary - her eyes were a dull red, and she looked like a possessed doll. She watched in horror as this creepy girl observed her, and she flinched when she opened her mouth to speak-

"She's bleeding."

Her voice was quiet. Ruri stepped towards her and brushed Yui's hair away from the bite marks on her neck. "Are you alright?" she asked Yui.

"I- Um-"

"Laito-" Subaru growled. "You better not do anything weird in front of Ruri. I'll break you."

"Eh? I would never!" Laito released Yui immediately. "Ruri's still innocent, after all."

Out of fatigue from the traumatic events she was facing, Yui's legs could barely hold her own weight. She staggered, but Ruri caught her before she could fall, and she allowed Yui to rest some of her weight on her.

"Careful," Ruri said in a voice barely above a whisper.

Yui whimpered; Ruri's face was so close to hers now. "Are you going to hurt me…?" she asked weakly.

Ruri didn't know how to respond to that. She didn't remember doing anything to make herself look dangerous. Come to think of it, she's met very few humans in her lifetime, but every one of them had been scared of her. Maybe Ruri was just scary.

"I don't think I'll hurt you." That answer didn't inspire much confidence in Yui, but Yui didn't have much of a choice but to stay near her since she could hardly stand on her own. "You should sit down, I'll get you a bandage."

Reiji had still been in deep thought, but he snapped out of it. "Oh, Ruri. Please take her to one of the guest bedrooms. And Subaru, take her bags."

"Yes sir," Ruri responded, and then added, "Happy birthday, Reiji."

Reiji coughed. "It's too early for that. Do as you're told."

Ruri nodded, and led Yui away, supporting her as they walked. As she left, she heard the sound of Shu snickering from the couch, and Reiji telling him to quit laughing.

Ruri took Yui up to one of the guest bedrooms and sat her down on the bed. She then turned to go get some bandages, but Yui grabbed onto her wrist.

"Wait," she pleaded.

Ruri faced her again, staring for a moment down at Yui's hand. It was so soft. "Yes?"

"I…" Yui meekly averted her eyes. "I don't want to be alone here."

If Ruri had a heartbeat, it surely would have been racing.

Ruri placed her other hand on top of Yui's. "It's okay," she told her. "I'll go get some bandages for you, then I'll stay here."

"Answer my questions first."

Ruri nodded.

"What are you?"

What an existential question. Of course, Ruri knew what she meant. "We're vampires."

"There's no way that can be true." Yui's voice was shaking. Ruri noticed tears welling up in her eyes again.

"Oh, please don't cry-"

Yui was already sniffling and wiping her eyes. "This can't be happening. My father must have made some sort of mistake. He wouldn't have sent me to a house full of monsters."

Ruri hesitantly rubbed the back of Yui's hand to calm her. She noticed that humans had much warmer hands than vampires did. "I don't think my brothers are monsters."

"Those people are your brothers?"

"Yes." She tilted her head slightly. "...Do humans think vampires are monsters?"

Yui tensed up a bit. Apparently she thought what she said might have been cruel. "Oh, no. Well...Truthfully, yes." She wiped her eyes again. "I didn't think they were real."

"It's okay," Ruri said quickly. "When I was very small, I thought humans were a myth."

That seemed just too silly for Yui, because she suddenly started laughing through her tears. "No you didn't."

Ruri felt her face grow warm when Yui laughed, like all of a sudden all the blood in her body rushed to her cheeks. "It's true." Ruri knelt down on the bed beside her. "My mother would read me stories about human history and I thought they were fairy tales."

"No way!"

"Really! When I started studying for real, I read about a lot of historical figures who were humans and I was so shocked."

Yui laughed again, and if possible, Ruri felt her face getting even hotter. This girl was just too pretty. And she had the nicest laugh Ruri had ever heard. "Um," Ruri said suddenly. "What's your name?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Yui was through crying, and she rubbed her eyes to rid herself of the last of her tears. "My name is Yui Komori."

"Yui," Ruri repeated. "...It's a very pretty name."

"Thank you so much." Yui sniffed. "Um, Ruri, was it?"

Upon hearing Yui say her name, Ruri suddenly felt dizzy, like she had been struck by Cupid's arrow. "I'm sorry - I'm hard of hearing. Can you say it one more time?" Ruri had heard her perfectly well the same time, but she desperately wanted to hear her say it again.

"Ru-ri. Like that?" Yui smiled.

"I'm - Uh - Yes." Ruri couldn't stand another second of this. She staggered to her feet. "I'm going to get those bandages now."

Yui's hand covered the bite marks on her neck. "...Hurry back, please. I feel safer when you're around."

Ruri almost tripped on her way out the door.

She made it out and shut the door, and then pressed her cold hands to her cheeks. The difference in temperature was astounding. She heard Kanato's voice off to her right: "Are you alright? You look like you just ran a marathon."

"Kanato!" she squeaked, not expecting anyone to be nearby. "I was just…"

Kanato had Teddy in his arms, and he tilted his head to the side. "Is the human girl in there?"

"She is, but she's feeling very faint so please let her rest for now."

Kanato cocked his head a bit further. "...Ruri. You look like you have a lot on your mind right now. It's okay to talk to your big brother about it."

"Oh. Thank you. I'm fine, though."

Kanato stared at her for a moment longer. At her flushed cheeks, her wide eyes, her pursed lips. He looked suspicious for a brief moment, but he decided to leave her alone.

Ruri breathed a sigh of relief when Kanato walked away. Unconsciously, she started fixing her hair on her way to get the bandages.

Yui made her so, so curious. Even if she had just left her alone for a minute, Ruri already longed to be back in the room with her. Her fingertips still felt like they were ablaze from where Yui had touched her. Ruri had never felt the hands of a human before, and she had found that they were pleasantly warm, and she wanted to touch them more. And somehow the way her eyes shimmered when they were full of tears was so charming, even if Ruri liked her even better when she was smiling. And her hair was a lovely blonde color that suggested that she had been out in the sun frequently, and Ruri delighted in imagining how warm her body must be when bathed in sunlight. The way the light would shine off her blonde hair, and seep into her soft skin.

And, oh God, the way she had said her name. And the sweet smell coming off of her neck, which was all stained with blood...

Ruri stopped in her tracks, suddenly waking up from the fantasy that she had been lost in.

...She really was curious.