Indifferent as always but for the slight narrowing of his icy blue eyes, Shiki met her frightening gaze with an unperturbed one of his own. "I saved you – nothing more, nothing less."

At this Yomoriko laughed, a high-pitched maniacal sound that was unmatched in insanity by anything Shiki had heard before. Her face, now the healthier pale of a harvest moon rather than the sickly ghost-like aura of before, contorted in a crazed sneer that made even the indomitable Ichijou (who had returned to the room after his failed attempt to catch up with Rima) want to back away.

"Saved me?! Is that what you think?" she screeched. "You haven't saved me, you fool! You've damned me! I was finally going to be free; I was finally going to be able to rest in peace! And now you've ruined it! You were never any good at saving me Senri, you idiot! If you'd really wanted to save me you'd have let me die tonight!"

"I won't do that, Yomoriko." Shiki replied in his calm, almost lethargic way, addressing her by name for the first time since their confrontation the day of her arrival – addressing her for the first time full stop actually.

Ichijou – glad for once to remain a spectator – cocked an eyebrow at his old friend, giving him a strange look that he either didn't see or did but refused to acknowledge. It was beyond the blonde's ability to comprehend how the guy could remain so calm when the situation was turning ever more sour by the second.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot you finally found your backbone after our some ten years apart! How silly of me; Senri-nii is noble now. Senri-nii is brave." Yomoriko snarled scornfully. "Where was that valiance when I actually needed it, Senri? Where was my saving when I needed saving? I'll tell you where; half way across the yard with his tail between his cowardly legs, that's where!"

He didn't reply this time because in all honesty, he could think of nothing to say. What she'd said was true; he hadn't been there when she needed him. But he was here now. Wasn't that enough for her? Couldn't she see he was trying to put things right? Or was she really so blinded by her hatred that she wouldn't recognise his effort?

"It's funny really," she chuckled blackly, managing to make it sound like someone had made a tasteless joke at a funeral. "All those long years I spent in that damn prison I kept thinking you'd come; kept telling myself you hadn't really abandoned me. But the days turned into months, the months turned into years and I got no closer to freedom. Even when I finally escaped on my own – yes Senri, I escaped –," she giggled madly, seeing the tiny change in his eyes at her words – the subtle glitter of thinly veiled surprise that turned the ice to rippling water. "- even then, my only thought was to somehow get back to you and mom. I was a stupid, deluded brat – happy endings aren't for vampires and I should have known that by then!

"...Then I met him,"

Her voice became tender, the wild edge of madness dissipating for the first time since her awakening. Had things been a little different, Shiki supposed this was the kind of thing he'd have gotten overprotective of her for – that saddened affection in her voice as she spoke about the boy she obviously liked. But things weren't different and he spared no more than a passing interest for the subject.

"Who?" Ichijou asked, unable to help himself. He was far more romantically inclined than his statue friend was and the unspoken adoration in her tone called to that part of him that saw through rose-tinted glasses. Yomoriko's eyes softened and when she resumed she seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"Taijo." she whispered, as if that explained everything. Although it was Ichijou who'd asked the question, it was Shiki she directed her speech at. "He took me in when I was on the cusp of death; nurtured me, gave me a home and a family to love again. He gave me a reason to live – something my real family couldn't provide I came to realise after meeting him. He was human but he never suspected me; never shied away like most humans did. I was happy there. I loved him. And I loved his family. But of course," she laughed humourlessly. "love between humans and vampires never ends well, does it? I killed him. Nearly got his mother and little brother too. The people who were good enough to take me in, the ones who'd loved me like their own daughter – and I thanked them by decimating their family. That is the true nature of the beast that calls itself vampire; that is the creature that masquerades as human."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Shiki interrupted. He was finally understanding – if only a little – the warped mind of his little sister. She'd been through so much and all because he'd been too afraid to help her when he had the chance. But why was she bothering to tell him anything? It's not like he deserved it.

"Why? Because you have to understand, Senri!" she yelled, throwing her arms in the air. "You need to know why I don't want to live anymore! It's your fault after all. Might as well let you see the full extent of the damage so that maybe, when I'm dead, you'll look back and regret it. This isn't over – I will die before this year's over. Maybe when I'm gone and you're living out your sham of a life with that pretty blonde who was just here, you'll remember me."

Whether it was the mention of Rima or the surety with which Yomoriko spoke of her own demise, Shiki couldn't fathom. But his self-control snapped completely with her last sentence and – moving on autopilot – he moved faster lightning and struck her harshly across the cheek with enough force to make Ichijou wince. The resounding 'thwack' was loud and ominous, reverberating, it seemed, off the four walls that made up Rima and Ruka's bedroom. Yomoriko reached up to hold her now glowing, red cheek, glaring balefully at him.

"Struck a nerve, did I?" she sneered indignantly. Shiki grabbed the front of her uniform and pulled her up to his face with a rough tug.

"If you want to die that's fine – it doesn't look like anything I say's going to change your mind," he said, still – amazingly – as calm as the surface of an untouched pond. "But I won'tlet you do it here. Stop making everyone watch. I'm sorry for what I did. I'm sorry I left you. But I was only six, Yomoriko; what could I really have done anyway? Everyday it's haunted me, the thought of what might have happened to you and every day I've hated myself for letting him take you without a fight. I loved you Yomo; I still do. But time has moved on and I'm not going to let you hurt my friends anymore. It's time to let it go."

Yomoriko stared at her older brother in stunned silence, pondering his words distantly, like listening to thunder rumble far off in the mountains. He loved her? How many times had she wished she could hear him say that again? How many times over the years had she wished to just be with him again – as the little sister she used to be in days that seemed too far off now to have possibly been real? His confession, as stoically as he'd said it, pulled at hear heart with painful, almighty jerks. Senri lovedher? He loved her? She'd wanted to hear that – and to believe it – for so long...

In a spark of intuition – or something equally as mystical – she knew that Senri meant what he said. He did love her, more so than she thought should really be possible given the circumstances. And for the life of her, she didn't know quite how to feel about that. It's what she'd wanted but, regardless of what she'd said earlier, it had still been one of those things she thought she could never have because it was just a fantasy.

If nothing else sensible came from her tangled mess of thoughts and half-feelings, she realised she'd been terribly unfair to her big brother. He was right; he'd been a six year old little boy when Rusuke kidnapped her, regardless of how she'd viewed him. Even if he'd been brave enough to help her, it would only have ended with them both being taken. And with that understanding she found that her opinion hadn't changed; she still deserved to die, though the reasons were different now – what she'd done to Senri these past few days was unforgivable...

Suddenly, with a clarity that was almost painful, Yomoriko recalled the words of the silver haired boy she'd spoken to earlier that evening – the one with the attitude. What was it he'd said?

'At least I'm not giving up!'

Was he right after all? Was that all she was doing in the end? Just giving up?

Unable to do anything else, Yomoriko raised her arms; they were heavy and numb but she managed it, the aches as remote as if they were someone else's. A sob ripped from her throat and she launched herself at him, wrapping arms around him tightly as the cries tore through her, turning her into little more than a stuttering wreck.

Shiki didn't resist – he understood that this was her way of apologising and he hoped it would end the self-destructive path she'd set herself on at long last. He hoped maybe she'd find that peace of mind she so longed for.

Forgiveness isn't something to be bought or sold, begged nor borrowed, restrained or stolen; forgiveness is simply something to be given unconditionally, for who among us can claim not to need it?

A little philosophical statement I thought was appropriate for this chapter. :D