In Shingetsutan Tsukihime, Shiki Tohno returns to the Tohno household after years away, summoned back when his father dies and his younger sister Akiha becomes the new head of the family. As a child, Shiki woke in a hospital ward after a life-threatening accident with a terrifying ability: he can see thin lines threading through all matter, and anything cut along them is instantly destroyed. A special pair of glasses helps him suppress the vision, and he tries to keep this supernatural secret hidden while living out his sophomore year in peace.
That peace ends on his way home from school, when he encounters a mysterious woman with bright red eyes. In a sudden psychotic lapse, Shiki appears to kill her and passes out soon after. The next day, a pair of demonic hounds attacks him, and the same woman arrives in time to save his life. She introduces herself as Arcueid Brunestud, a vampire princess, and draws Shiki into her hunt for the forces behind a string of murders around town. As Shiki teams up with Arcueid, with the stern Ciel nearby and the secrets of the Tohno mansion closing in around him, he begins to unravel the truth behind his lineage, his lost memories, and the darkness surrounding his family.