YUI – 4 Years old
Yui stared at the foundation outside her bedroom window. She had always wanted to see it up close and see if the water was cold or warm but her mum had grounded her ever since the Laito incident. Yui didn't understand why though, Laito was very nice and even gave her a nickname…which her mum also forbid her to ever say again. Her mum had once again left and Yui had to find some way to entertain herself.
"If I wasn't always so bored I wouldn't want to explore," Yui muttered as she saw that only 10 minutes had pasted from the last time she had looked.
"Yui?" a voice called out. Yui whipped around with a large smile on her face. She knew that voice anywhere.
"Big brother!" she squealed in excitement as she ran out of her room. Standing in the living room was her older and much loved brother Subaru…but Yui can tell something was wrong. Subaru wasn't smiling at her nor was he even looking at her. Yui slowly started walking towards him, unsure of how to act around this side of her brother that she had never seen.
"Subaru?" Yui asked in concerned.
"It's your fault". Yui blinked in confusion. What was he talking about? Subaru whipped around and glared at her with such hate filled Yui that it caused her to flinch.
"If it wasn't for you she would still be here!" he shouted. Yui's eye filled with tears. What was he talking about? Why was he yelling at her?
"I d-d-don't u-understand," Yui whimpered. Subaru started charging towards her and Yui quickly walked backwards before she slammed into the wall. Subaru towered over her and Yui wished for nothing more than the ground to swallow her up. It was evident that her loving brother wasn't here.
"It's all your fault!" Subaru's fist slammed into the wall above Yui head causing the young girl to jump in fright, "If that man hadn't given you to mum than she would still be here".
"M-Mum? What's wrong with her?" Yui panicked, "Is she hurt?".
"That man took her!" Yui flinched at his harsh tone and closed her eyes. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes but feared that if Subaru saw them, it would only make him angrier.
"W-W-What man?" Yui whimpered. Subaru shouted in rage and smashed his fist against the wall above Yui's head before it suddenly went silent. Yui stood as still as she could. She was terrified. She was terrified of what happened to her mum. She was terrified by her brother's behaviour.
A bell chimed in the distance causing Yui to slowly open her eyes. That bell only ever rung when it reached 12 o'clock. She had standing like a statue for four hours. As Yui tried to move, her body started to spasm causing her to fall to the ground. Her body contractions lasted for a few more minutes before they started to fade away until finally stopping. Yui laid on the floor with no desire to move. Her mum hadn't returned yet which confirmed her greatest fears that Subaru had been telling the truth. She was gone.
"What do I do?" Yui whispered to herself. A few moments passed before Yui's eyes widened in realisation, "Laito". Yui sprung to her few with a new fire. If she could find Laito, he could tell her what was going on and help her find her mum. She ran over to the door and pulled on the handle hard, half expecting it to be locked, but the door swung open.
"Laito!" Yui yelled as she ran down the hallway. A strange noise from behind her made her whip around. Yui didn't see anyone but all her instincts were telling her to run.
"Hello?" Yui was met with silence, "Is anyone there?".
"What are you doing?" a voice asked. Yui turned around and saw a lady with shoulder length black hair wearing no clothes. That wasn't what creped Yui out though. The lady had a thick, black collar around her neck and her eyes had no pupils. However, Yui remembered her mother's teaching that everyone deserved manners and respect unless they did something otherwise to warrant them.
Yui swallowed her nerves, "My name is Yui".
"I asked what you were doing?" the lady responded. It was only then that Yui saw the bloody knife she was holding. Yui slowly started walking backwards in fear but she didn't get far before the lady charged at her. She grabbed Yui by the hair and jerked her head backwards causing Yui to squeal in pain.
"I heard you calling one of their names. I can use you as bait to get the hell out of this place" the lady pinned Yui to her body before putting the bloody knife to Yui's throat.
"Here kitty kitty," a voice that Yui recognised as Laito called out. She went to call out for him when the lady quickly covered Yui's mouth with her hand and pressed the knife harder into her neck. Yui noticed though that she was very careful not to draw any blood.
"What are you drinking mummy?" Yui asked as she watched her mother drink a thick, red liquid from her glass.
Christa didn't pause or slow down her drinking until the glass was empty, "It's mummy's happy drink".
"Happy drink?" Yui studied the now empty glass.
"You know how water makes you happy?" Christa ran her fingers through Yui's hair.
"Yeah. If I don't drink enough of it, I get a headache or grumpy. You said it keeps me living," Yui rattled off her knowledge.
Christa smiled at her fondly, "It's the same for me sweetie but it's for adults only. It keeps me living".
"Then you need to drink a lot of it! I don't want you to die," Yui chirped as she pushed the empty glass towards her mother. Christa laughed softly as she poured herself another glass of red liquid. The two ladies sat in a comfortable silence. Christa happily drinking from her glass while Yui went back to drawing in her colouring book.
"Yui," Christa suddenly spoke, "If you are ever in trouble or ever feel in danger, promise me something". Yui looked at her mother in confusion but nodded none the less.
"Myself and your brother have very good noses-," Yui cut her off.
"Like a dog!" Yui chirped excitedly.
Christa chuckled softly, "Like a dog yes. If you are ever in fear or need, draw blood. We will smell your blood and come to your aid".
'Save me mummy' Yui thought before she bit into the lady's hand.
The lady gasped in pain as she dropped the knife and started hitting Yui trying to dislodge her, "Let go you little brat". Yui bit harder and harder until she could taste blood.
The lady's eyes widen in horror before she slapped Yui hard enough to detach her from her hand, "You idiot! They'll know where I am!". Yui hit the ground hard and whimpered from the impact.
"You're going to pay for that," the lady stalked towards Yui and started kicking her fallen body. Yui screamed and tried crawling away from the crazed woman. The woman quickly stopped and tried covering the young girl's mouth again. Yui used the very last of her strength to put as much room between her and the insane lady. It was then that Yui felt the tip of the discarded knife on her leg. As the woman went to strike her again, Yui picked up the knife.
Shu had no intention of seeing what human girl his father had bought into the mansion. He had experienced enough pain with humans and had no desire to put himself through that again. Besides, she would be dead before he knew it so why bother wasting valuable energy. He turned a corner and froze mid step at the scene in front of him. Sitting in a pool of blood was that said little human he was trying to avoid. Behind her laid what appeared to be a dead body…the dead body of the latest sacrificial bride. The little human was covered head to toe in blood with a kitchen knife beside her. Her once white nightgown had turned a dark pink and he watched silently as blood dripped from her hair.
"What are you doing human?" Shu asked. The tiny human did not respond.
"There's where she went," Laito strolled towards his older brother. He stopped though when he saw the scene in front of him.
"Well...who would have guessed that bitch liked sadism," Laito chuckled. Shu glared at his younger brother in disgust. He watched silently as Laito walked towards the two humans. He patted Yui on the head before he picked up the corpse and continued on his way. Shu stared at Yui. He sighed and turned to leave when Yui suddenly whimpered, "Mummy". The heartbreak and fear in her voice made him stop. He looked back at the girl and could see that her eyes had a glazed look...it was obvious that the human wasn't completely there. Shu sighed before he walked over and slowly bent down in front of the tiny girl, mindful not to step in the blood. Yui didn't react to the approaching vampire but continued to stare at the blood around her. He slowly stretched his arms out and carefully picked her up. Shu waited for a reaction but he received none. He slowly brought her towards his chest, in order to make it easier for him to walk, when she suddenly clung onto his shoulders like a monkey. The sudden movement surprised him but he didn't let it show...though he seriously doubted that she would have even noticed. Shu could already tell that this human was going to be troublesome.
Shu felt the water temperature in the bath once more. Once he was satisfied with the temperature, he helped the human child out of her clothes and placed the human in the bath tub.
"Get yourself cleaned up," Shu said before he exited the bathroom and laid on his bed. He closed his eyes and fell into a light sleep.
Shu opened his eyes and after a quick glance around his room, discovered that the tiny human hadn't left the bathroom yet. He sighed in annoyance and forced his body to stand upright.
"Are you clean human?" he called out through the closed bathroom door. No response. Great, she probably drowned herself the idiot. Humans were so troublesome. He opened the door and was surprised to see that the human hadn't moved from the position that he last saw her in. Her blood stained hair was still mattered like a bird's nest and dried blood caked her arms and legs. Shu knew he shouldn't get any more involved than he already was. Humans died too easily, he had experienced that first hand…but in that moment, the bloody girl was replaced by a crying human boy. A face that he had thought that he had forgotten long ago.
Shu closed his eyes before slowly opening them again when he answered his internal debate. Shu knelt down beside the tub and rolled up his sleeves. He poured some shampoo into his hands and started shampooing the human's hair. Yui didn't say anything. She didn't say anything when he started scrubbing away the dry blood from her body. She watched silently as the once clean water turned red. Her silence made things easier in a way for Shu. Would she sound similar to Edgar? Would she ask the same silly questions as Edgar? Once he finished cleaning her off, he stood up and pulled out a fluffy towel from a nearby storage cupboard.
"Stand up," he ordered. Yui didn't respond.
Shu released an annoyed sigh. He wasn't use to dealing with humans, "Stand up so I can dry you". The human finally obeyed and slowly stood up. Shu wrapped her up in the towel and started to dry her off. Once dry, he discarded the towel and dressed her in one of his old shirt. Shu walked out of the bathroom with Yui trailing behind him.
"You sleep there," he pointed at a pile of blankets and pillows on the ground that he had thrown together. Yui nodded and made herself comfortable.
It was that night that a unique bond was born between the two. Yui slept in Shu's room every night for the next human year. Without Subaru or her mum, Yui was almost consumed by her loneliess if it hadn't been for Shu. He let Yui sleep in his room every night since the incident in which he found her and let Yui tag along with him everyday. He would sit with Yui and listen to Yui practice her reading for hours on end and corrected her when needed. He, while not necessary always happy about it, would play with the young child every day...even if he just sat there sleeping at her tea parties. There were times he would question why he was putting himself through this unnecessary effort when an image of Edgar would appear in his head. The little human boy that became his best friend and bought him great joy but had also caused him the greatest pain when he died. While humans didn't live long, his most precious memories came from interacting with them and so he continued to do so...despite every fibre telling him it was a bad idea.
For the a month, Yui slept on the floor of Shu's room in the pile of cushions and blankets. After a month, she moved her little castle of cushions and blankets to beside the vampire's bed. Another month went by before Yui moved her little castle to the edge of Shu's bed.
This continued for several weeks until one night Shu told her to 'get rid of that silly castle'. Yui was confused, fearing he would snap at her like Subaru did. He made room for her on the bed before he rolled over and closed his eyes. Tears filled Yui's eyes in happiness before she dived onto the bed next to Shu.
"Does this mean you love me?" Yui chirped.
"Go to sleep," Shu grumbled.
Yui grinned, "You do love me!".
"Yui," Shu sighed, "Go to sleep". Yui simled and cuddled up to her older brother.
This routine happened for just over one whole human year until Subaru returned.
Holy heck! The response for who Yui should be with has been incredible! There's been so much love for Subaru and Shu...makes me so happy! Don't worry Subaru fans, he'll be back next chapter and back to his normal self.
Apologises for the grammar errors, I wasn't able to go over with a fine tooth comb because I have work in...20 mins...so I have to seriously start running :(
Have a wonderful Christmas!