It was drizzly outside when they departed; Reiji had left too, though he, as a matter of fact, had other plans far more sinister and of less importance than Shu and Yuri. His departure to the Makai was a serious matter, for Shu had been defying Karlheinz in many a ways, and, since Reiji found that his elder brother and the girl had been developing a romantic love affair, he would be spoiling that to his father.

However, Shu wouldn't let this get in his way. After all, he'd wasted many years moping for himself, locking himself away in his room. So, when they arrived in one of the quarters near downtown Kyoto, he opt to open the door and help Yuri from the car. She looked rather pretty, her darkly tainted locks falling over her shoulders, her pale skin contrasting wonderfully off of the curls.

He dare not say this to her; rather, he would prefer to show her instead.

"I'm rather excited!" Yuri practically squealed in a childlike manner, smoothing out her dress and shyly clasping onto his hand. This caused Shu to smile warmly at her antics. After all, why should he deny himself a moment of happiness and contentment?

"I haven't been out like this in a very long time," She began, Shu responding to her touch by gently squeezing her hand, causing her cheeks to tint pinkish. "N-not since I was a kid..."

Her glance shifted side to side, eyes locking intently on the shabby heals fastened to her feet. Shu turned upwards to the lanterns hanging overhead, directing the two down the alleyway full of many shops, restaurants, and other places of sorts to occupy them for the time being.

"To be honest, neither have I..." He responded, beginning to lead her underneath the archway decorated in lanterns and golden ribbons, the street beginning to crowd.

Yuri looked up at Shu, as she was several inches tinier than he, and thus easier to fit in his arms if Shu had decided to hold her. "Really, now? I-I would have assumed that since your father is so wealthy...you would have spent a lot of time at shops and fancy restaurants..." She explained in a shy tone, and this assumption caused Shu to laugh a little beneath his breath.

"That's a stupid assumption," He cackled sarcastically, causing Yuri to pout and swat his shoulder, spinning abroad and gripping both of his hands.

"Shu Sakamaki don't you be that mean towards me!" She huffed in a playful banter, her cheeks rather rosy and warm. "This is supposed to be a d-date..! And I'm your date..! So p-please treat me kindly!" She replied as Shu began laughing and patting her head.

"Maybe you shouldn't have such a standard for the rich," Shu retorted, causing his date to pull her hands away from his palms and sway from him. Her body departed ahead, her hands interlocked with themselves and fastened behind her back, between her hips. Shu spectated the sight with a curious expression, and could faintly hear her hum to herself.

"I suppose you have a standard for poor people too, huh?" She began, her tone shifting to be rather flirtatious, and this made Shu cross his arms against his chest.

"A stereotype, yes." His voice retorted, eagle eyeing the young woman swaying her hips about as she walked about the cobblestone pathway in a rather elegant manner. "I'm sure you were met with that when you arrived, right?"

"These are depressing times, aren't they? It's not just about money, either. People die every day, poor people. They can't afford to get help...but the rich, you bathe in luxury, but at a price, yes? You're all as miserable as we are," Yuri hummed, her smile beginning to lock itself on her face. "I want to hear all about your life, your childhood," Suddenly, she spun back to him, offering a rather childish expression as she stood still beneath the lanterns. Her hands were still fastened behind her back, and Shu continued to find her as lovely as always.

"Shu Sakamaki,"

It was drizzling outside as they walked about the district; their hands were fastened tightly, and Shu began explaining his childhood to her in a quiet way, his fingers brushing over on her knuckles. While it felt nice to confess some of the terrible things he'd suppressed over the years, he was nothing short of embarrassed admitting many of them to her.

"You'd think I spent a lot of time doing things like this, but it's a lot different..." He explained, Yuri listening intently to every bit of memories he had to tell her. "There are two worlds he has to keep this charade up in...a world of humans, and a world of vampires," He explained, Yuri nodding slightly at this.

"In this world, you think it's all lavish parties, fancy dinners, life of a celebrity," Shu explained, and Yuri interrupted before he was able to go on.

"There was animosity...towards you people for that...especially where I had lived at the time...some people looked up to the rich, others spat on you...I'm sorry," She confessed, beginning to stop in the center of the path.

Shu shook his head, glancing over towards her from beneath his sun-kissed bangs. "It was more like...psychological abuse.." His voice seemed to leave him, and Yuri took that as a message to change the subject matter; she didn't want him to seem so in pain, so she took it upon herself to talk of her childhood. Subsequently, gripping his hands firmly now, glancing up at him and brushing the hair fallen in his eyes, she smiled a bit.

"When I was a child, things hadn't gotten bad yet.." She began, returning to her spot as Shu gazed down at her. "My mother made decent money working as an editor for the paper, and my grandmother worked as a seamstress and sold our vegetables and flowers from our garden. I got to help pick flowers!" She smiled, gleaming rather happily in hopes to brighten up his mood a bit.

"I see..." He replied, seemingly uninvested into what she was saying. Yuri could tell he was spacing out, so instead, she thought for a moment before sighing.

"Am I annoying you..?" She murmured, rubbing her arms a bit, retracting her hand from his palm as Shu quickly felt himself beginning to tense.

"Of course not, my mind is just elsewhere," He said quietly, and Yuri nodded a bit.

"I-I understand..what's bothering you, Shu?" She whispered softly, rising on the highest length her shoes could permit her.

Shu felt himself beginning to blush, so, instead, he gently pulled her hand away, holding it again in his palm. "Keep telling your story," Shu replied after a second or two.

Yuri sighed a bit as she glanced about the area, her heart began to hurt, thinking of her mother, reciting all of the stories and poems she used to read her before bed. Thus, she couldn't bear the bother him with her needless clinging. "Ah! That shop up there looks rather interesting, let's go inside there!" Yuri squealed, quite literally dragging him along past a few bunches of people towards the entrance.

There were many of paintings, many statues too. Some were carved of emerald, and others of stone. Yuri glanced about the shelves and then to Shu, who had willingly followed her.

"Ah! Look at these!" She squealed, pointing about the area to an emerald dragon carved near a rather small bonsai tree in an elaborate pot. Shu brushed his fingers through the leaves on the petite plant, and then, he glanced towards Yuri, who seemed to be attempting to reach it.

"Too short?" He teased slightly, causing her to blush in embarrassment.

"A little bit," She replied. "I'm pocket sized!" Yuri giggled after a second, Shu glancing upwards to the little tree planted. Thus, within a second or two, he chuckled lowly and took the plant off the shelf, being sure she was able to see it.

"Is this good enough? Or are your eyes too small?" He bantered, causing Yuri to giggle as she admired the plant in his hands.

"I think you're just too big," Yuri replied as he merely chuckled at this, shaking his head. Oh how cute Yuri looked, brushing her small hand across the branches and leaves, almost speaking to it. He thought it was strange how she was so infatuated with plant-life, but also found it to be both attractive and adorable. Whatever the case, Yuri seemed to be completely infatuated with this bonsai tree, and after a moment, Shu handed her the plant.

"I'll buy it for you," He said quietly after a moment, causing Yuri to tense up dramatically and blush.

"O-oh Sh-Shu you don't have to!" She flushed, quickly pushing it back towards his arms. However, Shu chuckled a bit and shook his head. "I-I don't want you to spend your money on me!" She cried.

Shu looked up after a moment, glancing to the oil lit lamps crowding the area. "You did say I was rich, didn't you?" He teased. "Didn't I hear you say we had money to burn?"

Yuri pouted and reluctantly began pulling the little tree closer into her chest. "I-I said no such thing!" She huffed, a sense of guilt coming over her as she held the adorable little thing, practically overcome in heated embarrassment.

"After all, I'm the man, the man pays for things," He replied, taking her hand, though Yuri persistently holding back.

"B-but what if I see something else I want!" Yuri cried, her feet melted deep into the floor, Shu beginning to think for a moment before glancing her way with a little smirk spread across his face.

"I guess I'll just have to buy that too," Shu said; this caused her to pout and hesitantly comply before beginning to explore the remaining shelves and aisles, plenty of adorable little cat statues that Yuri couldn't help but playfully meow with.

"How cute you are, I'm many levels of stupid," He seemed to laugh at himself in his head, though truthfully, he was laced with a bit of sadness as he watched Yuri scour the shelves for plenty of beautiful, and cute, statues scattered about. Some she held up and mimicked voices with, which made him smile; others she simply pointed out with words that mimicked Shu's personality. Of course he responded to all of these with plenty of chuckles and laughs, following her about the store as the shopkeeper spectated from behind the counter.

He too was amused by their antics; oh how childish and innocent they seemed, yet, both of them had certainly no innocence nor childhood left in them. For they lived in a time when there was simply no time to be a child, one had to grow up ahead of their time, whether they wanted to or not. Both were pressured into this grueling reality; both were drawn to each other, perhaps it was because they subconsciously knew the abuse the other had been through, and somehow wanted to save them from the terrifying truths around them.

Both had been abandoned it felt like, and now, all they had was each other.

The shopkeeper was amused by their antics; especially the flirty behavior in which Yuri seemed to be carrying out around the store, making a seemingly stoic young man rather happy.

"The both of you, young kids. You look rather happy with each other, yes?" He remarked upon the arrival of the little tree. Yuri blushed and quickly nodded, holding tightly to Shu's arm contently as the young man reached into his pocket for his wallet.

"Yes sir," Yuri responded, causing Shu to fluster as he fumbled with the coins in his palm.

"My oh my, your stars, they met, hm? The both of you look quite happy with each other. Why, you show a great future! A good one, indeed. I'm beginning to hear the rhythm of a wedding tune on the flute," He remarked, a white, cloudy midst in his eyes as the old man accepted the coins Shu had given him.

Yuri blushed sharply at this, looking at her feet and pouting. "O-oh my," She squeaked nervously, her fingers mingling with Shu's hand. Shu felt himself beginning to flush in humiliation at this remark and Yuri's reaction.

"Oh yes, yes, yes, yes, you and him, you remind me of my wife and I. Please, come back when these hard times are over, the both of you in a few years time, married with plenty of children running around. A babe perhaps, in a house on the hill?" The elder smiled, pushing the tree back towards Yuri and Shu, who were fifty shades of red at this man's statement.

"E-excuse me sir! Are you a fortune teller!" Yuri squeaked, Shu quickly trying to pull her away as the girl pouted.

"Come on Yuri, don't believe in such folly," Shu sighed, Yuri squeaking and pulling a single coin from her purse to hand the man, who simply shook both his hand and head.

"No miss, please keep your money," He replied, Shu smiling back at him as he led Yuri from the little shop and back into the pathway. Bonsai tree in hand, she glanced back to the man in the shop, and a strange feeling came over her as he waved goodbye. She looked up to Shu and flushed several shades of red. Oh how content she was...

They walked for a good while; the moon was overhead now, shining a dim red light through the lanterns. The rainwater had clouded up on the pathway, and splashed a bit beneath their shoes. Slowly, little by little, they began to arrive at the end, which was a little bridge of sorts overlooking the river bellow. They stopped and glanced over the railing, Yuri glancing down towards the water as she seemed to sigh.

"It's so pretty..." She whispered softly, and after a moment, she set her little tree on the cobblestone path, leaning over and glancing down bellow. Shu's hands remained in his pocket as he shot a glance her way, sighing a bit.

"I...I have to tell you something ..." Yuri whispered to him, her doe eyes locked tightly onto the water. Shu shot a glance her way, his head tilting side to side at her, slightly confused.

"Alright..." He replied, looking back out before Yuri took one step up on the railing. Shu seemed to tense as she looked down bellow at all of the little ripples of water, and the koi fish swimming bellow. The water was dark, and the lanterns lit up the space enough to see the creatures swimming by.

Yuri kept her eyes locked on a small one, watching it fall behind in the current compared to the larger one, and she began to feel her walls fall down.

"I...I wasn't trying to run away the night I came here..." She whispered lowly to him, beginning to feel herself blush. Oh how embarrassing it was for her to reveal things like this, but it hurt so terribly to keep it all to herself..

"You weren't...?" Shu muttered lowly, glancing at her from his spot, leaning on the railing as she fixated herself on another step on the railing. Shu began to eye her feet, slowly ascending the metal, black bars.

"I was..." Her voice spaced off, and now, all she could do to keep herself together was watch the fish; the little one fell behind, sinking hastily into the end of the river, falling too far behind to be saved.

"Trying to..kill myself..." She whispered, and Shu could feel his eyes widen; she'd become so vulnerable, and Shu began to feel pits filling up in his throat, looking at her stare deep into the void of darkness buried in the waterway. If his heart could beat, it would have flown away like a freight train; however, he couldn't, so all he could do was acknowledge it, sliding his hand over near her's, gently pressing his palm over her knuckles.

Yuri shot a glance to him, and Shu made out tears streaming down her cheeks; his eyebrows furrowed, and pity turned into protection as she slowly began to mouth and croak the words out to him.

"I'm so scared..."

It began raining again; this time, it was Yuri who began crying in part of the sky; they were alone, standing far from the crowds as Shu embraced her near the waterway. Her tears began soaking through his shirt as he held her there, feeling the warmth of her body enveloped deep against his chest. All he could do was hold her; Yuri wasn't fireproof, nor was she as strong as she wished. Shu knew this, and could do nothing more but comfort her with his hands, his palms running through her hair, attempting his hardest to take care of her.

They never made it to the bookstore after that; Yuri didn't mind, in fact, Shu had become a book of his own. She wanted to read more of him, and every page she searched made her crave another chapter. Perhaps it was this mindset that guided Shu's palm to her chin in that moment, lifting her baby brown eyes closer to his own. Oh how beautiful they were, Shu concluded that, despite the amount of despair that always seemed to be watering in Yuri's eyes, he could save her, he could love her.

His thoughts strayed no more; their lips met in a delicate kiss, fed by the warmth of her mouth. Oh how romantic it truly seemed to alas be this close to her, someone pure, untainted, someone who had never been kissed. Shu was perfectly happy for a single moment, longing intently to take the pain dwelling up in her chest away, and to kiss every single tear away from her cheek.

Moments later, they were just as close; embraced in the warmth of the backseat, lovingly showcasing their signs of endearment on the way home...