Sorry for the late update. I was busy with all the college work and stuff. Anyhow, here's a little bit of history for all. Also, Akiha will be in this fic as well because she was so persuasive. (I randomed her in melty blood react about more than 10 times consecutively.)

…

Chapter 5: Memories remain

…

Rei woke up early. He blushed upon realizing that he had his arms around Arcueid the whole night.

After taking his usual wake-up bath, he dressed and cooked breakfast. He made enough for the three guests he has and then went out for a stroll. Now that he thinks about it, it wasn't really a stroll. There was somewhere he wanted to go. Somewhere related to his past about his past. He arrived later on at what had remained of the Tohno mansion after an 'incident' fifty years ago.

-----Fifty years ago-----

"You can't stop me!" Nanaya struggled to pull himself free of Kohaku. "I have no business with you. Don't hinder me!"

"Fight him, Shiki!" Kohaku tightened her grip around him. "I don't want to lose you."

"Hear that, Tohno?"

"Nanaya, enough already!"

"…"

"K-Kohaku…" Shiki realized that Kohaku had already begun synchronizing with him. "Kohaku, gomen ne…"

"You should be sorry…"

"Wait, Nanaya, don't—!"

It was too late. Nanaya had taken over. Something went wrong. The synchronization went wrong. Nanaya stabbed Kohaku and headed off to kill the nonhuman.

Kohaku realized that it would only be a mere hour before her death. Suddenly, a person who looked like Shiki appeared out of nowhere in front of her.

"S-S-Shiki?"

"Hmmm?"

"I see. You are not my Shiki."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Kohaku. I guess I'm your mother. Hehe."

"Mother? Hmmm?"

"I'm dying, see?" Still, Kohaku smiled. "But I'm glad that I found out that I had a son before I had gone."

"I'm your son? Everything's confusing. I don't know anything!"

"Reiku…" Kohaku thought up his name. "Your name is Reiku…Tohno Reiku."

"Reiku?"

"I'm so glad. I really am."

"Wait! Don't 'go' yet!"

"Hmmm? W-what's wrong?"

"I'm afraid…I'm afraid…"

"I wish I could stay but…" Kohaku coughed up some blood. "I can't." Kohaku gave him a foldable dagger. "Here, use it wisely."

"Wait, please—"

"I'll try to stay with you as long as I can but it can be helped for me to leave you."

"Why? Why are you going to leave me?"

"Well, your father gave me…" Her blood started to clot. "…he gave me a fatal wound."

"Father?"

"Kind of. He had lost his control to Nanaya. It's too bad he can't see you. You look just like him."

"Nanaya? What? I don't get it!"

"You'll understand someday."

"…" Tears fell out off his eyes. "…"

Kohaku closed her eyes. "Try to save him…please…"

Reiku just stood there. Seeing this person die gave him a strange feeling. A feeling he didn't know was sorrow. He set off to find and try to save his so-called father.

Later he arrived at a large room where his father stood face to face with a girl with a long purple braid. Reiku immediately saw lines all over the place, plus an urge to kill that girl.

Then he heard a voice. "I can't believe it. Are you supposed to be me?"

"What? Who are you?"

"Shiki Tohno…Unfortunately, Nanaya had taken over my body. I think this time it is permanent."

"I see. I'm supposed to be your son. I had just met my mom ago. She told me I was Tohno Reiku. She…she's gone now."

"S-She's gone. I see. Listen. I want you to kill Nanaya."

"But that's like killing you, right?"

"I can't return to it anyways."

"Are you sure?"

"…"

"…"

"Yes, I am."

"Very well then."

Reiku opened the dagger and charged at Nanaya.

"What? Tohno? No, it can't be." Nanaya evaded, letting the girl escape. "Why you! Korashite hageru!"

"No." Reiku appeared behind Nanaya in a blink of an eye. "It's I who'll kill you."

"What!" Nanaya had been slashed into seventeen pieces.

…

Reiku walked around the mansion. There was total silence. He felt strange. The house seems to give an aura of depression he didn't like it. He wanted this feeling to end.

Suddenly, an earthquake caused the mansion to collapse. Reiku left. Wandering around, looking for his purpose.

Later Akiha and Hisui had arrived.

"Nani kore?"

…

-----Back to present-----

Rei stood at the ruin that had been his own doing. Now he understood everything, somehow.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" A voice behind him spoke.

Rei didn't turn around. "This place has some meaning to me."

"Why? Have you been here before?"

"I was an ignorant being. I killed a man in this house and then destroyed it. Those actions I regretted."

"You killed—?" That someone went to Rei and made him turn around. She slapped him. "Who are you?"

Rei saw a young girl with long black hair which seems to be turning into red. "Why would I tell you my name?"

"Because you destroyed my mansion! And…" Akiha saw Rei's face clearly. "…Shiki?"

Oh great. Another one? "Ummm… I'm his son."

"His son?" Akiha then punched him.

"What was that for?"

"You destroyed this house and killed Shiki!"

"I have my reasons for doing so. Besides, those were on his orders. Well, destroying the mansion was not but—"

"I don't believe you."

"Then don't!" Rei walked away.

…

Rei was on his way back home. "Are you following me?"

"You still have to take responsibility for destroying my mansion"

"Yours?"

"Yes, I'm Akiha Tohno."

"So you're my relative?"

"No, your dad was adopted." Akiha blurted out unwillingly. "I mean, I considered him my brother but we really aren't related."

"So your feelings for him weren't romantic?"

"They weren't" They were.

"I see." You're lying.

"Eh? Why?"

"Nothing?"

"So you are?"

"I'm Tohno Reiku but I discarded the name a long time ago. You can call me Rei. Wait, how old are you?"

"Technically, I'm very old but…well…I'm not really human."

"It figures."

"What?"

"Well, I saw your hair and face going red a while ago."

"Hmp!" Akiha blushed. "You still have to take responsibility."

"Alright. sigh" Crap.

"I have a few visitors. I hope you get along well."

"Wait, why am I supposed to stay with you?"

"That's all I have. You can leave anytime if you want."

"Hmp! I guess this will do—"

The door opened. "Rei, where have you—?" Arcueid saw Akiha. "Eh? Little sister?"

…

The four girls were seated around the table as Rei prepared some lunch. They were silent but uncomfortable of each other.

"Ne, Little Sister, what are you doing here?"

"Well, it seems that it was Rei that destroyed the Tohno mansion fifty years ago."

"Fifty years ago?" Obviously, Arcueid wasn't updated on current events. "Didn't Shiki die fifty years ago?"

Silence filled up the room again.

"Arcueid, whatever you find out, please understand."

"Sion, Doshite?"

"Fifty years ago, I lost to my Tatari impulses. Shiki went to help me but Nanaya had taken over. Kohaku tried to Synchronize with him but failed. He gave her a fatal wound. I remember trying to escape but was cornered. Then, someone whom I thought was Shiki interrupted and allowed me to escape."

"Rei..." Arcueid muttered to herself.

"Later on, I found out that the mansion had collapsed and that both Shiki and Kohaku hadn't survived."

"Then it was Rei..."

"Arcueid..." Akiha put her hand on Arcueid's shoulder.

"Little Sister. You're acting weird." Arcueid tried to smile despite the tears flowing from her eyes. "But why..."

"Arcueid..." Rei whispered as he was about to serve the food to them.

"Why did Rei have to kill Shiki?" Arcueid couldn't control her tears anymore. "I wished that he didn't exist." Arcueid said involuntarily.

Everyone was shocked at those words. They heard the sound of breaking plates. Rei had dropped them. There were no tears on his face but rather it was blank and emotionless. Slowly, Rei walked to the door and left.

---

It was dinner time. Rei still hasn't returned. There was a knock on the door. Akiha opened the door and saw some packaged food on the door step. It was for the four of them. "Rei..."

Later on, the four of them ate together in silence.

"You shouldn't have said those words, Arcueid." Akiha broke the silence. "He has his reason why he had done it. It was something he had regretted."

"Little Sister..."

"Will you stop calling me that! Anyways, I hope he returns soon...so we can clarify things."

The night they waited. And waited. And waited.

"Don't you think it's about time he came back?"

"Sion, it would be much better if you had asked if it was about time we looked for him."

"It seems you're right, Akiha."

"Saa, iku yo."

They were about to open the door when Rei came in. He was covered in his own silver blood. He held on to his left arm which seemed to have detached. He looked at the four of then with his right eye. He had closed his left eye because of all of the blood that had flowed from his wound on his head. His clothes were slashed and torn and covered with blood. He ignored them and headed for the bathroom. After going inside, he locked the door. The four stood in shock and could only stare at the door where he came in and the door where he locked himself in.

Later that night, while waiting for Rei to come out, Sion had fallen asleep on the couch, Akiha on the bed, Len snuck up the bed in her cat form and Arcueid had been standing in front of the bathroom door.

"You really should go to sleep you know." Rei spoke behind the door. "It's getting pretty late."

"Rei..." Arcueid put her hands on the door knob. "Please open the door." She tried to turn the knob but in vain. "I didn't really mean to say what I said earlier."

"I didn't really mean to kill my father either. I didn't know anything back then."

"What I mean back then is--"

"I understand what you mean." Rei unlocked the door and opened it. "Your love for my father is..." Rei came out of the room dressed in his usual clothes with scars all over his body and a slash across his face. "...rather, your love for me is nothing compared to your love for him. I know you might think it's ridiculous but that's what I think I'm feeling."

"Rei...I"

"Please go to sleep now. It's really late."

Rei was about to go back to the bathroom went Arcueid held his hand to stop him. "You're right. I love him so much but..." A few tears started to trickle on her cheek. "...that love can't bring him back. Nothing I can do can bring him back."

"Arcueid..."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I had been dwelling on the past. I even thought of you as Shiki when we first met but the more I had spent my time with you, the more I started to come out of that past."

"I don't understand..."

"I don't either..."

"I'm sorry..." Rei got a handkerchief and wiped the tears on Arcueid's cheeks. "...for giving you such a hard time."

"It's okay, I guess." She smiled through those fallen tears. "...but I was really worried, you know. Where did you run off to?"

"I just took care of some werewolf."

"Why? Why did you do it alone."

"I didn't want you to get hurt so I took on him by myself."

"Idiot. Did you know how worried I was?"

"Gomen." You would've been worried more if you saw me.

"I was really worried about you." Arcueid looked down. "I was afraid of looking for you because you might have done something stupid. I just...I just don't want to see you die!"

Rei put her arms around the princess. "I don't plan on leaving you alone." Rei let go and smiled at her. "Who's going to cook for you when I'm gone?"

Arcueid just smiled. "I guess you're right." Arcueid pulled Rei towards the bed. "Are we going to sleep or not? It's getting late."

"Yeah, let's--" Rei felt a sharp chill on his chest. 'Crap. I pushed myself too much.'

"Rei, doshite?"

"Nothing. I was just a little sleepy." Rei lied down next to Arcueid. "Good night."

Arcueid kissed him on the cheeks. "Good night."

Len, Akiha and Sion - Jealous

Please don't hide your pain, Rei. - Arcueid

I don't want you to carry my load, Arcueid. – Rei

Well, that's all for now. Anyways, thanks to those who suggested many things to me, I will add most of them because it would seem like fun. I would also like to thank everyone for saying that this was a very nice fic. Thanks to all. Special thanks to Martial Arts Master for a whole bunch of ideas. I'm gonna be using some of them.