Hello fellow fangirls/fanboys!

This chapter is the one I've been leading up to for a while, the big reveal of the girls' pasts! Also, how cute is this smol bean up top?😋 

And don't forget! Italics means they're in the dream realm, which will be the majority of the chapter anyway.

Enjoy!

Sakamaki Brothers' POV:

Opening their eyes, they groan almost all in sync as they lift their heavy heads up from the rough ground. Beneath them lies a dark, moist brick floor, the smell of mould hangs in the air while accompanied by a strong metallic rusting smell. They slowly stand up and dust themselves off, checking for any possible threats and questioning where they are, while taking a good look at the area. Examining the surroundings, the walls of the large basement are lined with worn metal bars, most likely where the rust smell is coming from, and inside the cells lie a pair of also rusted cuffs, hanging by a metal chain attached to the wall. Noticing the barred cells continue down the hall for miles, they immediately recognise this as an old dungeon.

"Where are we?" Subaru asks, his low tone echoing down the endless hall.

"That is a good question" A voice says in front of them, causing all the boys to turn and look.

"You are in your mates' memories, the ones they've tried so hard in hiding from the world, and from you" The mysterious man continues, the boys sending the lilac haired-male hateful glares.

"Memories?" Kanato tilts his head in confusion.

"Trust me, there is a lot more to those girls than it may seem" He indicates.

"Why would we trust you over them?" Ayato snarls.

The man simply chuckles at his foolishness and begins to walk down the hall, into the darkness. The boys follow him with their cold gaze before running after him for more answers.

"Hey wait, get back here! Yours Truly isn't done with you yet!" Ayato declares, as they chase the strange man down the brick halls.

As they slowly begin to lose sight of him, they come to a halt in the middle of a similar looking place to which they woke up in. Now, the only thing that can be heard is their heavy panting, the dripping of moisture coming off the walls and ceiling, and almost silent...sniffling? Using their enhanced vampiric hearing, they follow the sound of the sniffling as it becomes louder, until finally, they come across an occupied cell.

The only occupied cell in the entire dungeon, holding a young red-haired girl, whose hair is pulled into a messy high pony and she is wearing a dirtied white shirt with brown overalls over the top. The chains clasped tightly around her wrist are what attach her to the moist brick wall behind her, while she supports her body upright by kneeling on the filthy floor. Her wrists are already rubbed raw, probably from trying to escape the metal shackles, while her knees are badly scraped after resting on the scratchy brick for so long. About a foot away from her sits a small metal tray with a small supply of water and next to it is nothing but crumbs leftover. Along with the young girl's sniffles, the only other noise escaping are her ragged breaths that are a result of struggling to inhale and exhale properly.

"Melons?..." Ayato calls, mostly to himself

A loud screeching of rusted metal grinding against each other, is what snaps them out of the ordeal of studying the poor girl's state. Watching as the same purple headed, emerald eyed man stalks into the cell, a completely displeased look upon his face. Lifting the girl's head, her tired eyes widen and her mouth opens to speak. Her normally gleaming emerald eyes, now drained of life are what catch one particular tomato head by complete surprise, his breath hitching in shock.

"Please, I-I beg you to let me out" Her voice cracks at the strain of having to talk after not doing so for a while.

"I'm afraid you haven't yet earned the right to be set free, your punishment still stands to the end of this month" His eyes narrow into deadly thin slits.

"I-I'm sorry, I promise I'll behave! Just please let me go!" Tears brim in her eyes, as she tugs harshly on her cuffs that restrain her, clenching her teeth in pain as they dig farther into her skin.

Instead, the man steps forward to silence her by sending a blow to her cheek, causing Ayato to let out an audible growl as he snarls viciously, bearing his fangs at the man who dared lay a hand on his beloved mate. Although knowing he couldn't do much in a mere memory, he controls himself and clenches his fists at his side. The man continues out of the cell, locking it behind him as he abandons the child once again, disappearing into the darkness of the dungeon. As he leaves, the girl shouts out one last reply, in hopes he will turn back and set her free with a change of heart.

"Please don't leave, I hate being all alone! Don't leave me down here!PLEASE" Her voice rebounds off the dungeon walls and bounces straight into the skulls of the six vampires, her  words sinking in deeply.

Soon enough, the memory wavers and fades into a different atmosphere, inside a dark, deserted room. The room consists mostly of blacks and dark purples, some couches and lights here and there.

"Aya..." Ayato mutters lowly to himself, guilt slowly setting in.

Along with this came a sense of empathy and wanting to embrace his poor mate, stroking her hair gently in comfort and silencing her cries by whispering sweet nothings in her ear, eventually falling asleep in each others warm hug. But that was a fantasy that would have to wait until after they discovered more about the secretive girls.

The noise of a door slamming harshly against the wall, pouring light into the room, is what snaps the brothers out of their deep thoughts. They notice again, the same messy purple-haired man from the last memory, dragging a young girl. She has long lavender waves, tumbling down to below her shoulder blades, wearing a white linen shirt and a strapless dress with a flowy skirt that reaches her knees. In her arm that isn't being pulled along by the man, she holds a familiar feminine teddy bear. Kanato and the others immediately identify her as an un-mature Kana.

Her beautiful delicate features are twisted into a look of pain, as the man finally releases his iron grip on her small hand, leaving behind a very noticeable red mark. In some sort of soothing manner, she rubs her wrist gently and keeps her sad eyes downcast, far away from the angered glare projected at her from above.

"Do you have any idea how much you have disgraced me, particularly in front of everyone!" He scolded.

His harsh words cause her to flinch, but she continues to keep her head down in fear, making the man above her even more angry at her silence. Thinking the girl before him is ignoring his scolding, he wraps his large hand around her pale, skinny neck, gripping it tightly between his palm as he effortlessly lifts her from the ground with only one arm raised. Immediately, her face twists into one of pain as she claws helplessly at her neck, digging her nails into the clenched hand blocking off her supply of precious air.

Seeing this before them, the brothers are shocked that someone would want to harm a small child for this specific reason, is absolutely absurd. While most of the brothers hide their anger and continue to watch the scene unfold, one particular purplette cannot contain his escalating anger. In a matter of seconds, he parts his lips and he sneers menacingly at the person who dares lay a finger on Kana. Seeing his dear mate being harmed before his eyes truly sparks his anger, filling it to the maximum as he watches her fragile body struggle in the man's grasp.

"Thanks to you, my reputation is ruined! They all think I'm a liar because my stupid, insignificant daughter couldn't perform one, simple, song!" His voice thundered in anger, his hold around her neck tightening as he takes pauses for effect.

Hearing a strangled gasp escape her already damaged throat, this finally sends Kanato's anger limit over the edge. Widening his almost animalistic eyes, a fierce growl vibrates through his mouth, striking fear in his brothers as they have never seen Kanato this upset before. The eldest triplet steps in to prevent any further outrage, giving him a firm stare and a shake of the head, as if to tell him to calm down before he hurts someone, or himself. Temporarily suspending his feelings, he sends a death glare towards his brother but returns to his calmer nature, making sure to hide his poor eyes behind his teddy. Although he couldn't help but peek when he could hear more strangled gasps escaping Kana's blocked throat.

As the small girl slowly began to fall unconscious, he let her drop to the ground like a broken doll, before she could completely black out. While Kana lies on the ground gasping for air, her rough voice comes out sounding like shattered glass because of her already lost voice. Now it would take even longer to heal, meaning a longer time before she can sing properly again.

Once again, the vision blurs and wavers like a disturbed lake, distorting and changing into a bedroom shrouded in darkness. Everyone sends a look towards the troubled Kanato, although he seems to be more sad and unhappy than angered. Must have something to do with his bipolar personality...well that's what they all assumed.

Outside, a pair of voices are heard behind the bedroom door, one voice raised higher in volume than the other. The voice quickly becomes audible once it is raised even louder.

"Your existence means nothing to me, you will never be worthy of my love. Unlike your useful sisters, you were born last, making your life simply pointless to me so stop trying to gain my attention, you annoying, worthless brat!" The voice yells.

The door is suddenly wrenched open and closed so fast, that the brothers don't have enough time to identify the person who newly enters the room. A shuffling sound is heard, accompanied by some small whimpers, before almost all is silent, besides the almost inaudible sound of weeping.

Suddenly, a loud rumbling sounds throughout the room, startling the brothers. Searching around the room, their gaze lands on a tiny lump balled up underneath the covers of the bed. Before they can investigate the strange lump any further, a knock sounds from the door behind them, as a woman dressed in a maid outfit steps into the room and turns on the light.

"Miss Samaka, dinner has been served" The maid announces discreetly.

"I won't be joining the others for dinner tonight, I'm not hungry at the moment" A muffled voice replies, coming from the lump in the bed.

"If you insist, mistress" The maid bows before exiting, leaving the lump alone in silence.

Removing the covers, the lump reveals itself to being a younger version of Laita, with the same short, layered, dark maroon hair and lime green eyes. Although she lacks the stylised fedora.

"Not like they'll notice I'm gone anyway" She heaves an almost silent sigh, but they all heard it.

Then, almost instantly, her face contorts into one of pain as she clutches her stomach tightly, groaning in agony. Clenching her teeth and squeezing her eyes shut, she bares the ache for a couple of seconds while her stomach rumbles in hunger. When the pain finally subsides, she relaxes and pants heavily, the strong feeling of hunger extremely evident from the loud growls sounding from her stomach.

"I can do it, all I have to do is wait it out until father finally notices me" She encourages herself.

Laito stands frozen in his place, regretting ever mentioning her figure to her at all. Although he could never have known that it would spark unwanted memories. Now it is clear why she seems to be so self conscious of her body and about what she eats, just like at the monthly dinner the other night.

Soon enough, the memory fades as the boys are transported into yet another. This scene shows, for once, a sunny day, outside in a lovely garden with flowers of many different kinds blooming from every bush. They can also spot a young dark-haired girl working away at a polished stone table. Deep black bags gather below her shiny cherry coloured eyes, covered by some rectangle shaped spectacles. Clamping her eyes shut in exhaustion, she takes off her glasses and firmly rubs her eyes of the sleep that drags her into the depths of her mind.

Pulling out of the trance of sleep, she returns her glasses to her face, continuing on with her studies. This young girl and her qualities were soon easily matched with the grown up Reika.

"e X pi + 2=..." Slowly, her eyes shut and her head drops gently onto the textbook below.

Almost as soon as her head hits the book, a tall and elegant male figure enters the garden, the loud clacking of his shiny black shoes against the cobblestone waking up Reika from her brief nap. The man has tame orange hair, neatly slicked back to perfection and has bright pearl blue eyes, along with a very formal black suit and red dress shirt underneath. Reika's eyes widen as she notices the man inspect the white irises *Romeo x Juliet anyone?😂* nearby, so she takes this opportunity to tell him about her academic excellence.

"Father! I have completed every math equation in this book correctly without fail, as well as memorised the strategic patterns to follow when solving the problem" She elaborates, although her father ignores and continues to pluck away the dead petals of his precious flowers.

For a second her eyes drop in sadness, but light up again with a determined glare.

"T-This means that, I have an extremely high mathematic level for my age!Are you proud of me?" She specifies.

Stalking over to Reika, she warily eyes him and backs away as if he were about to attack her...and he did exactly that.

In one swift movement, he lifts his arm and backhands her across the cheek, the force of the blow sending her plummeting into the ground. On impact, her glasses were sent flying into the concrete and shattering. Not even reacting to the strike, she continues to lay on the floor, waiting for the next punishment to come. Luckily it never did, which faintly surprised her.

"I do not tolerate annoying children, if you continue to disturb me, the punishment will be more severe" He states in a menacing tone.

After slipping one more harsh stare towards his daughter, the man marches away down the path. Looking up at his retreating figure, the brothers notice the tears brimming in the poor girl's eyes. Seeing this broken look on his younger mate's face, Reiji couldn't help but feel almost heartbroken. Even though his heart does not beat, he could feel it being clenched painfully at the sight of this mistreated girl. No, his mistreated girl. Now he was ready to admit that she belonged to him solely as his mate and the one he loves, and no one could ever take her place in his heart.

Then, the girl's eyes narrow in hatred and she begins to snarl over in her father's direction. They notice this anger is not projected at her father, but rather at the little blonde girl he is talking to. Though the little girl's face could not be seen, Shu knew that girl's back all too well. As Shu walks in their direction to eavesdrop on the conversation, his younger brothers follow, having the same desire as him.

"Where did you get this filthy rose?" The man's voice questions in a demanding manner, his hand gesturing to the blood red rose that sits neatly in the hair above her ear.

"This? A kind old lady I passed by on the road this morning offered it to me" She remembered the story and smiled as she played with the rose.

"And you willingly took this rose from an old hag? You should know better than that Shae. As the eldest and the successor to your mother's business and fortune, you will need to make wise decisions and become a strong woman in her place should anything happen. You must learn not to trust anyone, whether they are suspicious or innocent. Foolish actions like this will not be permitted in your duties. You could fail this entire family, and as my daughter I expect nothing of the sort to occur" Her father declares harshly.

The young girl goes quiet, before running far away from her father with tears escaping her tightly shut eyes. As the brothers watch her flee, Shu notices the beautiful rose sitting sadly by his feet. Before he can stare any longer, the dream blurs and distorts, eventually stopping. This surrounding shows an old style village in decent shape, but very eerie and mysterious considering its lack of light and abandonment of people. The night sky above is engulfed in dark clouds, the only thing lighting up the sky being the vivid full moon that illuminates parts of the village below.

A small crunching of shoes on dirt alerts the brothers, as they turn around and notice the younger Shae from before. Her brilliant zircon blue eyes are wide with wonder and energy as she strolls cautiously down the road. Scanning the houses and far in the distance, her mood seems to drop at the state of the deserted village.

Suddenly, hundreds of torches pour out of a nearby alley in front of her, marching dangerously towards her. Once they get close enough, the many lights are identified as lit torches being held by villagers.

"There she is, the filthy bloodsucker!" One villager shouts.

"What?" The young Shae utters in confusion.

Whipping her head around, behind her stands another hundred villagers with lit torches, gathered closely in a large bunch.

"Kill her!" Another calls.

They begin to close in frighteningly fast, scaring Shae out of her wits as she begins to panic. Beginning to get too close for comfort, Shae immediately sprints down the nearest alleyway, hoping to discover a way out at the end. Although, to her luck, she trips across the ground and lands in a filthy puddle before she can reach the end, splashing grimy water over her valuable clothes. Hearing the villagers close behind, she swishes her now mucky brown curls out of her face and scrambles towards the dead end of the alley. Eyes widening in shock at the large brick wall, all hope flees from her eyes and is replaced with a look of pure terror and fear for her life.

Turning around and picking herself off the ground, she presses herself up against the wall as far back as she can, away from the barbaric people with the intent of murdering an innocent child. Laughing briefly at her pathetic state, they finally decide to step towards her trembling frame and wide eyes that beg for mercy. One man raises his hand holding the torch, preparing to bring it down on the small girl, so she quickly clamps her eyes shut.

Shu's eyes widen as he releases a small gasp, the wooden end of the torch slamming into the side of her head, causing blood to spew down her face from the new open wound. As the villager constantly bashes her, embers fly from the burnt parts of the wood, falling onto her clothes and bare skin. Small shrieks emit from Shae as the hot embers burn holes through her clothes and painfully scar her pale skin permanently. Her pained shrieks continue to fill the air all night long, while the merciless torture increases as people begin to join in. In this moment, he could have sworn he felt his heart split at the horrible sight of his mate being abused by these people. Yet here they are, torturing her to her death, for nothing she did wrong. Although at this time, he didn't have it in him to feel hatred or anger towards these people. Instead, he felt completely shattered inside.

More people ganged up on her, continuously hitting, bashing, kicking, scarring and burning her with whatever they had. The heavens began to open and the dark clouds poured rain onto the people, burning out their torches and soaking them to the bone. After they had enough torturing the poor child, they decided to retreat back to the warmth of their homes.

After they had cleared, the six boys got a clear view of the broken, bloodied, bruised and burnt girl, lying helplessly on the ground in the pouring rain. Goosebumps run over her skin as she silently shivers in the cold. The pale skin of her arms and legs are littered in bright, red burns and a range of small and large cuts everywhere. Blood seeps from her wounds and stains her clothes that are ripped and torn, black and purple bruises scattered along with other numerous inflictions. Her eyes are wide and unblinking, mirroring the image of death, but that isn't the only thing that strikes pure fear in Shu's precious heart.

A silver blade stuck out from a specific place in her chest, deliberately put right in the place of her heart. Tears brim in Shu's usually bored ocean eyes, threatening to spill at any moment. The only thing that was stopping them, was the fact that this is only a memory and that he knew his love was waiting for him back in reality.

Before the vision completely flashed to another, Shu watches the young Shae one last time, as a loud pained gasp tears through her lips and cracks the silence...then it all fades.

They are then transported to the inside of what looks like, a grey cobblestone tower. On one of the red velvet chairs, there sits a grown man with neatly parted, angel white hair, with beautiful strawberry eyes. Then a metallic mechanical noise is heard from the lock on the wooden door that leads to this room. The door is slowly pushed open by a small white haired girl with a cute pink bow clipping up her long hair at the back, holding a shiny silver tray with an entire tea set on it...and a single white rose. Carefully, the young girl makes her way over to the man without spilling the tea or dropping the tray, placing it gently in front of him.

"Thank you, my dear Sura" The man smiles, taking the cup to sip its delicious contents.

"That bow looks ever so adorable on you" He adds a compliment.

"Thank you, big sister Shae leant it to me" The youthful Sura spreads a small smile, fiddling with the bow behind her head.

Turning back towards the door, she scurries quickly as if she were trying to escape for an unknown reason.

"Sura dear, I don't believe I asked you to leave yet" The man's eyes darken while he sips his tea, now glaring holes into her back from behind the cup.

Sura visibly flinches, her hand just millimetres away from opening the door again, as he places his cup back down on the tray with an audible 'clink' to cut through the tension. Lowering her hand, she turns around and slowly paces back towards the man with a fearful look in her eyes. Getting up from his chair, he stands just in front of her and holds out his hand, expecting something in return. Sura reaches into her pocket and pulls out a very familiar trinket, her precious silver knife, and places it hesitantly in her father's palm.

"Now, which part of you has been the least tainted?" He asks himself, smiling sadistically.

Kneeling down to her height, he exposes her torso which is covered in thick scars large and small. Their eyes widen at the horrific sight of damage, some scars seem to be healed but others have only just produced scab to cover them, meaning they are new. He softly turns her around so her back was facing him, unzipping her dress and revealing another large area of tarnished skin. Searching higher up on her shoulder blades, he spots a patch of unharmed flesh, smiling in glee as he raises the knife up to this position.

"This should do~" He sings crazily.

Scrunching her eyes shut and keeping her jaw firmly closed, she braces for the oncoming pain.

If Subaru had a heartbeat, he would surely be able to feel it thumping against his chest as he waits for the worst to happen next. They all watch on as the tip of the blade touches her shoulder, slowly digging into the delicate skin and endlessly dribbling blood down her back. Witnessing this and Sura's face scrunched up in pain, hot tears trickling down her rosy cheeks as the dagger is finally pulled from her shoulder, Subaru clenches his fists. Continuing to attack her other shoulder, his actions become faster and more vigorous and Sura drops to her knees, still clenching her fists tight until her knuckles turn white.

"Filthy abominations like you never deserve to be born, so this is the punishment you must bear, because death is just too good for corrupt little girls" He smiles widely, with a crazed expression.

"I'm sorry I'm such a disgrace to you, father" She cries, voice cracking.

Unable to take this kind of treatment anymore, as the knife strikes again Sura lets out an earsplitting scream. Subaru shuts his eyes and tries to block out the awful sound, but can't help his growing anger and grief.

"Stop!" He yells, and all goes silent.

When he opens his eyes again, he sees Sura passed out on the floor, the back of her once pristine white dress stained red. As her father drops his knife on her body, he whispers one single word.

"Freak"

Then...all becomes pitch black...

Slowly, they are all able to open their eyes, and at first their vision is blurred. Above their not so unconscious bodies, sit their worried mates, relieved when they finally see their eyes open to greet them. When the brothers see the girls' gorgeous faces smiling down at them, they altogether embrace them in a bone crushing hug. Although the sisters are shocked at first, they slowly recover and hug back with equally the amount of love and comfort.

The brothers sit frozen for about the millionth time today, snuggled into the warmth and sweet smelling scents of the girls. Mixed emotions of confusion, grief, anger, sadness, anguish, despair, and many other unnamed emotions swirl in the minds of these vampires, most they have never experienced before. These emotions are all for them, their beloved, precious human mates who they will love, comfort and protect for as long as they live.

In other words, forever.

Welp...

Sorry if I hit you too hard in the feels there. Aside from all that morbid stuff, I hope you guys all enjoyed!

So long fellow fangirls/fanboys! Until next time!

XXX