"I think you have some explaining to do, Shiki." Kaname addressed the brooding red-head. He said it softly, kindly; it was an invitation and a request, not an order. Though he led them and controlled them to an extent where the drinking (or not drinking as it were) of blood and other such forbidden activities within Cross Academy were concerned, Kaname was not a tyrant. He didn't feel the need to know his subordinates' every move nor their pasts if it was something they chose not to share. But, if it was their want, he would listen to their tales. "Who was that girl? What is she to you?"

Shiki was silent for a moment, watching the door through which Seiren had taken the girl with a look somewhere between regret and irritation. Kaname actually thought he wasn't going to answer; that he would leave without telling them anything. And perhaps, for a second, he considered it. But at last, after a deep breath which was two parts resignation and one part exhaustion, he turned away from the door and told them what he knew.

"Her name is Yomoriko. Shiki Yomoriko." he revealed, remaining completely unattached as he said it. Amid shocked gasps from most, surprised stares from some and hurt, confused scrutiny from Rima, he went on to explain. "She's my younger sister. Half-sister, I should say; we have the same father but different mothers... I thought she was dead already..."

"Different mothers?" Rima queried, doing her best to conceal how upset she was that he'd never mentioned the existence of his little sister before. They were best friends, right? Didn't he think he could trust her? Why would he keep something so big from her? She told him everything, not that there was much to tell. What reason could he have to hide something this huge? "But her name is Shiki? I thought Shiki was your mother's name?"

"It is." Shiki affirmed, sensing Rima's unhappiness but unable to bring himself to face her just yet. He knew she thought he'd betrayed her somehow by not telling her about Yomoriko. And he guessed he kind of had; he'd been selfish in keeping the presence of his little sister a secret from everyone. But it had been too painful for him to talk about – to even think about. He hadn't, at the time, thought about what it might do to the people he cared about most (Rima...) if the time came when he was forced to confront his past like this. Granted he'd believed his sister to be dead all these years but even so... He should have said something, at least to Rima.

With a sigh he moved away from Rima's lap, wandering to the window across the way so that he could better see the moon's calming visage. There was something about that big pale disc that always managed to settle his nerves no matter how bad things were. He owed them a decent explanation. Short of that he'd just have to hope they'd understand... and forgive him for not mentioning it sooner.

"My dad... whoever he is... isn't what you'd call a 'family man'; in fact, from what I've heard he falls miles short of being a man at all."

Shiki sighed before continuing, weary already from delving into the deepest, darkest memories of his childhood in order to provide his friends with the information they deserved.

"When my mother fell pregnant with me my father left her for another woman – Yomoriko's mom – and within the year she fell pregnant too. She was strong willed, Yomoriko's mother – she wasn't intimidated by my dad like my mom was.

"Apparently, shortly after Yomoriko was born they had a fight one night – a big one – and he killed her on a whim. That's the official story anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if the truth was he overfed on her blood; he was renowned for that, so I was told...

"Rather than look after Yomoriko himself he brought her to my mother and left her with us... For all my mother's faults she's a kind-hearted woman; she raised Yomoriko like her own, giving her the Shiki name and telling people she was her daughter if they asked. The three of us lived together pretty happily, I guess. Yomoriko and I were as close as a brother and sister should be and mom loved taking care of us... But then..."

\/\/\/\/\/ - Many Years Ago – Senri 6, Yomoriko 5 - \/\/\/\/\/

"Onii-sama! Look! Look, Onii-sama!" a small voice of excitement squealed from the window. Senri looked up from his colouring book at his little sister's bright smile and couldn't help but smile in return. She was pointing through the panes of the frosty glass window into their huge front garden, at the feathers of white which fell slowly from the grey-white sky above to lay thickly on the cold ground like a carpet.

"It's snowing, Onii-sama! Can you see it? Can you?" Yomoriko persisted, hopping down from the window and grabbing her big brother's arm. She pulled him to his feet and up to her 'watching spot' – the place where she said she liked to watch the world go by – and he went willingly, indulging in her childish enthusiasm as always, letting her have her way because he didn't have the heart to deny her.

"I see it, Yomo!" he laughed, patting her little head fondly and gazing with her at the white flakes making their lazy way to earth. "It sure is pretty, huh? Do you wanna go build a snowman now? I promised we would, didn't I?"

"Oh yes, Onii-sama! Can we? Can we, can we, can we?!"

"Okay, okay! I'll tell mom we're going out, so you get your coat and stuff on – I don't want you to catch a cold." Senri grinned, giving her a brotherly hair-ruffle before running off to find their mother.

It didn't take long to find her – she was in the kitchen preparing a lunch of potato and leek soup for them. Whenever they needed her and she wasn't around she was usually in the kitchen cooking. She loved to cook for them. It made her feel good to know they were eating properly, or so she said. Made her feel like she was doing a good job of taking care of them. It was better, even, than the feeling she used to get when she was a famous actress; that feeling of being loved by many millions all over the world – to her the love of her children meant more than the love of her adoring fans.

"Hey mom, Yomo and I are going out to build a snowman, 'kay?" Senri told her, attempting to dip his finger into the pot behind her back as she chopped the leeks with pinpoint precision on the counter. Without turning his mother reached across and slapped his hand with her wooden spoon, chuckling as he shook it in surprise. She bent and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, smiling indulgently like the happiest mother in the world.

"Okay sweetie. Make sure you both wrap up warm and be back in an hour for lunch." she waved him off, turning to stir her concoction using the spoon she'd hit him with. Before he could cross the threshold she called him to a stop, sounding tense and serious for the briefest second. "And Senri?"

"Yeah?"

His mother visibly hesitated before smiling again, a smile that was a little too big and earnest to possibly be a hundred percent real. "Don't talk to strangers. If you meet any... run." she told him; the same mantra she'd been repeating since they'd been old enough to talk.

"Sure thing, mom."

Sometime later, as the snow settled in their hair like tiny white flies before melting and disappearing again, they started on their way back to the house. Yomoriko's cheeks were red from the cold – they'd long since finished their snowman and he'd stood watch over their naïve fun, donning Senri's hat and Yomoriko's scarf. They'd laughed, chasing each other around the yard, throwing snowballs and tackling each other to the ground; they'd made snow angels with long, spreading wings and flowing dresses; they'd played hide and seek, concealing themselves beneath drifts of snow like polar bears. And now, at last, cold, wet and content, they made their way home, ambling through the bare trees towards food, warmth and an evening spent laughing together.

But from nowhere – or so it appeared to their young, easily-influenced eyes – a stranger appeared, standing casually between them and the safety of home like the gatekeeper from one of Senri's favourite books. It was a man, tall and slim, with skin as pale as the snow in which they played. His hair was black, his eyes brown and from his mouth they could see gleaming, elongated fangs peeking over his lips. Another vampire, they knew at once – a thought that didn't fill them with reassurance.

Senri, eagerly taking on his role as elder sibling and protector to his sister, stepped in front of Yomoriko to shield her from view. He had a bad feeling about this stranger; remembering his mother's words the pair backed away slowly, keeping a close eye on the man as he slowly approached lest he make any sudden movements. But before they could get far enough to truly flee he spoke to them.

"Good day, children. I'm a friend of your father's; the name's Rusuke. He sent me here to bring you to him – he so longs to meet you."

His words, although innocent enough in meaning, struck a chord of pure fear in Senri's little chest, making his small heart beat faster, the blood pounding heavily in his ears. He'd heard stories about his father from his mother; stories that painted him as a dark monster of frightful proportions, evil to the core. He had no desire to meet such a man.

Yomoriko, it would seem, wasn't thrilled at the thought of meeting him either, a small frightened squeak escaping her chilled lips. She tugged insistently on Senri's sleeve, pulling him backwards with her even as the strange man advanced on them.

"Come now, Senri-kun, Yomoriko-chan; surely you wouldn't deny your father the right to see his son and daughter, would you?" the man grinned, a sadistic tint to his menacing aura that the siblings only now began to appreciate.

"R-run, Yomo!" Senri cried, his nerve breaking. He turned and, like his mother had told him to, ran away from the stranger who by this point he knew could only mean trouble. He dragged Yomo behind him, her slightly smaller stride struggling to keep up with his panicked, boyish one but doing pretty well given the circumstances.

They ran like the devil himself was at their heels. But it wasn't good enough. They were only children after all and the man, whoever he was, was a fully matured vampire, in his prime and no doubt freshly acquainted with a supply of human blood.

A hand closed on the furry hood of Yomoriko's coat and she fell to the snow covered ground choking, half from the pain and shock of near strangulation and half from fear and a helpless sobbing which had started at some point during their flight, though Senri hadn't noticed until now. Senri stopped, inevitably, and turned back to retrieve his little sister from the clutches of the man – how he should go about doing so, he didn't know. He only knew that he must.

"Let her go!" Senri cried reaching for his sister, whose small arms fumbled helplessly for him from the strong, immobilising grip of the stranger. "Let Yomo go, you jerk!"

"I can't do that, Senri-kun. Your father wishes to meet you both – you in particular." the man replied, adopting that condescending, patronising tone of voice adults sometimes used when explaining something relatively complex to a child.

"I don't care! I don't wanna meet him!" Senri screeched, swiping for Yomo's hand again and missing when the man spun her away from him, treating her for all the world like little more than a rag doll. "Yomoriko!"

"He'd be so upset to hear you say that. But that's alright. Not to worry, Senri-kun; you'll have plenty of time to make up for such a cruel remark when we get there."

This time the man jerked forward and grabbed Senri's forearm, fingers digging painfully into his soft flesh, almost touching the bone through the flimsy covering of skin. Senri yelped in pain but struggled fiercely, pulling with all his might against the iron hold of his father's henchman to no avail. The man's grip tightened and kept on tightening until Senri thought he might pass out from the flares of agony shooting up his arm. Then, like an almighty clap of thunder, there was a loud, ominous 'CRACK'...

In the seconds that followed the cracking sound there was silence, the sort that forewarned a storm. Yomoriko stopped crying to look at her brother, an expression of absolute horror on her face as she – like everyone else – realised what had happened. Her tear stained face drained of all colour while the man watched with sick, twisted pleasure, waiting for something...

Senri glanced at his arm, the one the man held tight to, in astonished, uncomprehending wonder. It was bent at a peculiar angle now, deep red liquid oozing freely into the thick fabric of his winter coat and dripping to the snow covered ground where it hissed – a sound imperceptible to the human ear – melting a little of the flurry before cooling sufficiently to settle like fallen rose petals on the surface.

Then came the pain. A torrent of sheer agony which very nearly knocked him out completely; his arm – which was undoubtedly broken – seemed to burn, throb, sting and ache all at the same time. He was only a child, a six year old who by and large had lived a moderately sheltered life up till now – he had never felt such pain as he felt in that moment. So he did the only thing he could be expected to do – he screamed. He screamed at the top of his lungs as tortured tears spilled over his eyes unchecked. Screamed until he thought his voice-box might explode.

Yomoriko started to cry again too, this time not from fear for herself or of the big scary stranger but from fear for her elder brother, whom she idolised to the extent where she'd previously thought it impossible for anything to make him cry. He was too strong to cry. He was supposed to be her hero – the one who saved her when she needed saving. It shook her to see him in such a state.

"Come now, children. You're vampires! Something like this shouldn't affect you at all!" the man exclaimed, thoroughly enjoying the situation by the sounds of it. "Why, when I was your age I- ARRRGGGHHH!"

His speech was cut off by his own cry of pain and suddenly Senri found himself on his bottom in the snow, his broken arm jarring painfully in the fall and making him cry out again. Gritting his teeth he looked up through tear-blurred eyes to the man and his sister... who had her teeth, fangs and all, clamped firmly on the hand that held her hood. Her eyes started to glow red, the blood-lust taking her as it took all vampires when they tasted that red elixir – without reservations. She didn't drink but she didn't release his arm either and Senri understood that she'd done it to make the man let go of him.

Wasting no time while Rusuke struggled to unhinge Yomoriko's jaws from his hand, Senri got to his feet with difficulty using his remaining good arm as a prop and started to run mindlessly in the direction of the house. His brain was fogged with pain, confusion and fear – he didn't have room left in his tiny body for concern over his little sister any more. He just ran and kept running, cradling his broken arm against his chest like a baby.

Behind him he could still hear struggles; Yomoriko struggling against her captor's grip while her captor struggled against her powerful bite. At last, it would seem, the man managed to get her off him because across the frozen garden as Senri stumbled woodenly up the front steps of their house, he heard her call to him in terror, panic and helpless desperation.

"Onii-sama!!! Don't go! Don't leave me! Onii-sama!!! ONII-SAMA!!!"

Then he was inside with the front door closed, blocking all sound from the outside world as he slid to the floor with his back against the smooth wood, as though expecting the man to invade his home – and, truth be told, he half did. But as he sat there in agony, his tired, erratic panting echoing through the entrance hall, amplified by the room's large emptiness (his mother had never believed in collecting trinkets), it dawned on him what he'd just done.

Shiki Senri had just abandoned his little sister to save his own miserable hide. He'd left her behind even though she had put herself at terrible risk by biting their captor – something, he realised wincing, she would probably pay dearly for sooner or later – just to free him. And he hadn't done the same in return. He'd repaid her courage, her love for him, with cowardice. He'd run away when she needed him most. And regardless of how much he desperately wanted to, he couldn't bring himself to go back out there and save her. He wasn't brave enough... and that knowledge killed him inside.

When his mother came upon him not much later – she'd heard his sobs and breathless whimpers – she didn't ask what had happened. She didn't ask where Yomoriko was. She didn't even ask how he'd broken his arm. She merely picked him up and carried him to her car, sliding him into the back and putting his seatbelt on while he continued to wail piteously. As they left the front garden Senri looked over to the last place he'd seen his sister, confirming with a sinking heart that she was long gone, along with the man Rusuke.

At the hospital Senri eventually calmed himself, the drugs working wonders on the pain while the doctors fussed around discussing surgery and the like.

"Bones all crushed..." one said.

"May lose the arm," said another.

He didn't care. He thought only of Yomoriko and how he'd betrayed her so completely in a matter of seconds. His mother had been quiet ever since finding him and – though he couldn't know it at the time – this was to be the beginning phase for her downward spiral. By the end of it – when she would at last hit rock-bottom – she would barely be able to even brush her own hair.

It wasn't until many months after this event that Rusuke at last came back, this time entering the house itself. Senri had stood frozen in the hallway, his mother clinging to him like a lifeline – she, like himself, thought the man had come back to take him as well. But he didn't. He merely gave them a message, one that would haunt Senri from then on, lacing all his dreams and turning them to dark nightmares.

"If you want your sister to stay safe you should live as a puppet from now on."

\/\/\/\/\/ Present \/\/\/\/\/\/

And he had. He truly had. A small price to pay for deserting Yomoriko that way. Even after all this time, when the journey to adulthood had shown him such terrible things that the notion that Yomoriko could be alive seemed like an impossibility, some small part of him – the shadow of the man he might have become – had clung to the hope that his sister would still be alive and well somewhere. For that wish Shiki had destroyed himself from the inside out, slowly working away to become the puppet he was now. But now, seeing Yomoriko this way, Shiki fully understood that it had been inherently selfish of him to desire such a thing – after all, hadn't he himself seen that death wasn't the worst thing that could happen to a person?

Seeing her again – not at all the bright fifteen year old he would have imagined her as, had he the guts over the years to imagine her at all – brought back painful memories of that day, as if he were reliving the whole experience all over again. The screams, both his own and Yomoriko's, rung in his ears like incessant bells; Rusuke's malignant grin as his arm snapped clean in two like so much brittle tinder flashed hot against his eyes; his mother's slowly deepening descent into madness played itself in his mind like a horror movie for which he could not find the stop button.

And for all that, for everything that was going on in his mind, Shiki appeared to the rest of the class to be as distant and empty as before Yomoriko had even entered the room. Even Kaname was a little nonplussed as to how he could possibly remain so calm when the sister he hadn't seen in ten years – who by rights should be dead – had just ambled back into his life as she had. Further, she was on the brink of starvation, subjecting herself to a fate that not even the most crazed vampires her age would consider – assuming there were any other fifteen year old vampires out there who wanted to die.

Needless to say the Night Class was mostly silent for the rest of the evening; no one knew what to say in light of recent events. Even Aidou, the resident playboy of Cross Academy, had decency enough to hold his tongue for once.

Another chapter up and running. I checked my story traffic earlier and was surprised to find that this story is surprisingly popular. I reckon it's mostly because of the pairing but even so it was a nice little surprise! Now if only more people would tell me what they THOUGHT of it...