La Vie En Rose ~An IZ*ONE vampire story~

Regrets and forgiveness

"Yo, it's been a long time, Nako-chan."

Nako covered her mouth, shocked to see a familiar face she hadn't seen in so long.

"I can't believe it... Juri-onee-san?"

The girl named Juri smiled, opening her arms wide. "Come 'ere!"

Nako felt tears well up in her eyes. She cried out in joy as she ran to Juri and hugged her tightly, the werewolf girl picking her up and spinning her around.

"You really haven't changed, huh? How've you been?"

"I've been good! What about you? What are you even doing here?"

"I just happened to be passing through. Thought I'd stop by and check on the place. I heard that Sakura was..."

As her voice trailed off, Nako saw Juri's smile disappear.

"Is she really... gone?"

"She was, but she's okay now!"

"Wait, what? Sakura's alive?!" Juri's eyes widened. "How? Where is she? Can I talk to her?"

"It's a long story, and she's not here right now, but you can stay until she gets back."

"Oh, okay!" She then glanced over Nako's shoulder, noticing Wonyoung staring out the window of the mansion. "Who's that?"

"Oh, that's just Wonyoung! Don't worry, she's super friendly."

"Good. Hey, uhh..." Juri then scratched the back of her neck. "Do you think they'll mind if a couple of friends come in, too?"

"Friends?"

Nako and Juri heard what sounded like a dog whining. When they looked back, they saw a wolf with dark brown fur peeking out shyly before hiding away.

"Guys, it's okay," Juri said. "This is a friend. She won't hurt us."

Then, Nako saw a group of five girls approach them. One girl had a bit of an intimidating aura, one was really tall, one had her hair dyed blonde, one had short hair with violet-blue highlights, and one was hiding behind them shyly.

One look, and Nako instantly knew who they were, and what they were to Juri.

"Is this your pack?" Nako said with a wide smile.

"Yeah. This lone wolf's got a pack now, hehe!" She pointed to each girl in order, "This is Yeonhee, Suyun, Yunkyoung, Sohee, and Dahyun."

"Is this your vampire friend you told us about?" The intimidating looking girl named Yeonhee approached Nako with the tall girl.

"She's pretty small," Suyun said.

"Hey!"

"Well, this is actually Sakura's adopted little sister," Juri explained.

"She's so cute!" The short haired girl Sohee smiled.

"Dahyun, it's okay," she then heard the blonde girl, Yunkyoung, say to Dahyun. Dahyun cowered behind the blonde as they approached her. "Sorry, she just gets nervous around people she doesn't know."

"It's okay, I was like that with other Nightlings, at first, too," Nako said, kindly smiling at the shy werewolf. "It's nice to meet you and your friends, Dahyun."

"Mm-hm..." she bowed her head timidly.

They then heard a low growl coming from the youngest, making her blush intensely.

"Well, you guys are welcome to come inside! I can fix something for you all to eat, too!"

"Aww, you've really grown up," Juri patted the little vampire's head. "Lead the way."