From the pilot:

Before everything else... Hello to all of you. This is my first Cat Returns fanfic in english, so you can expect a lot of mistakes since english is not my native language, but even so, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it. I don't know if I should move this to the crossover section since this is not exactly a crossover as much as an adaptation, so if you think I should, don't hesitate and tell me.

Two, this fic will be full of blood, like the original series, that means, if you don't like it, you are free to abandon it. It will have swordfights (mostly by Haru), monstrous vampire-cats, a lot of characters dead, guts and blood everywhere...

And three, (don't hang me for this!) my Machida is a little different from the one of the movie (not so different, really, I think) and from the one on other fics. I think Machida is a jerk. Yeah, is a jerk. But I think it's only to the ones he doesn't feel like his close friends/family, so in this fic, Machida will be "gentle...r" with Haru, because she is his little sister, just like Kai is in the original series (a jerk with all the people, cool with family and friends). Oh, and he's a yankee by the way XD.

Extra note: for the ones who know what I'm talking about, I'm NOT going to make Baron a copy of Haji. They are both cool, gentlemen, but Baron won't be paranoid or schizophrenic and I will make him speak his mind (when needed, of course, we can't have a Chevaliere ordering his Reine around). Virtual cookies for the ones who guess who I'm going to put as Diva (very obvious), Anshel, Moses and Solomon.

*And, by the way, information about Yume no Machi on my profile, if you are interested*

So... I don't own The Cat Returns, nor Blood+, I'm only using them as an escape from reality.

Hello again! Nice to know some people where interested in this story, enough to enter twice n_n. I'm sorry about the delay in updating, but the independence day school-break turned into a surprise travel to the north to see my little sister's baby, so I didn't have much time to write or upload the file. Im very, very sorry *bows* This is the first official chapter from the series. I will erase the pilot one soon, don't worry. I didn't change much in the first part, so if you already read it, just scroll down, this is the complete first chapter.

*I want to share it with some people who might understand me, I found the original "The cat returns" movie, in my native language (spanish) and right now, I'm dying to watch it! It was weird, mostly because I wasn't even where I live, but in the middle of the highway, in Paradero San Pedro, by San Luis Potosi. I jumped up and down in excitement and earned a lot of weirded out glances from people, including the poor cashier. I pray for Sergio Coto to be Baron's voice in this version.*

Oh, before I forget, Thank you Catsafari!, I really appreciate the encouragement and feedback!, thanks. I hope this chapter satisfies your curiosity, at least a little, and don't worry, I will finish this even if it kills me!.

So... I don't own The Cat Returns nor Blood+, and its the last time I will say it in this fic!.

Chapter 1: First kiss

Blue.

The sky was the purest blue above her. The wind calmly swept over her, cooling her skin. No sounds could reach her, only the silence of her own breath ripping through the air. She closed her eyes for just a moment, allowing her mind to play its tricks. Weightless, she was flying for a little time, above the clouds, above the world and its worries. The feathers of her wings grazing gently the skin of her face, arms and legs. She inhaled once and let out her breath, warmer than the humid summer air.

She opened her eyes when the sound of a whistle reached her ears, breaking her daydream. She was just sitting up when her best friend came to her, running from the fields to the "forested" zone. -Haru!, what do you know? I will come to the meet tomorrow!- Hiromi half-screamed cheerfully, whipping the sweat from her brow with her arm.

Haru smiled at her, extending a bottle of sport's drink to her friend, who took it gratefully -You must be happy- Haru commented, earning a wide grin from her best friend.

-Thanks...- said the tanned girl around loud gulps. The paler girl giggled until a loud, gurgling sound came from within her, making her bound her arms around her stomach, a bright blush on her cheeks. -How can you eat that much and never gain an ounce? And you don't even do any kind of exercise...- Haru blushed even darker, but even so, she extracted a huge bento box from her schoolbag with a shrug and began attacking it with her chopsticks.

Hiromi watched with horrified fascination how the rice, takoyaki, fried shrimp and chopped vegetables disappeared from the box into the mouth of the girl. The only times she paused was for taking air before attacking again. And it made the lacrosse player think of a nature program on TV, a carnivore attacking its prey, not even the wind moving all the tropical plants around them distracting the feline from its dinner.

The tanned girl blinked twice, at the comparison in her own mind. Yes... Haru seemed a big feline attacking some innocent, herbivorous animal when eating. But it was just in her imagination. Yeah, it was her own mind when she saw those huge fangs in the mouth of her shy, klutzy friend. A sound at her right catched her attention, throwing her out her train of tought, and she reached Haru's shoulders with her hands, pushing both of them to the grass.

-He...hey, my food!- Haru shouted moving her arms to take her food far from the ground, while her body collided with the soil below, Hiromi on top of her. Something in the sky catched the pale girl's attention. A huge, white metal device, sailing the air, casting its giant shadow on the school grounds. -What a huge airplane!- Haru exclaimed when the airship was leaving their sight.

-It's a bomber- said Hiromi, her eyes never straying from the empty spot in the sky.

-What's that?- came the innocent question from the pale girl. She turned to her left to see Hiromi's face. The tanned girl sighed once.

-A bomber is an airplane that drops bombs.- the tone in her voice made it clear she had said the same quite the number of times before -The American military is always going to wars from Okinawa. Even during the Vietnam war they flew their airplanes from here. My mom knows about this stuff because she works at the base. I can't stand them, but she says it's thanks to the U.S. Army base that we have food to eat.-

Haru was a little sad at the tone in her best friend voice, blank, with a touch of anger, and she felt guilty about making her feel like this. -I don't really know about this stuff- she muttered.

-Right, of course Haru, you have...- but Hiromi bit her lip before saying the next words, all the anger from before forgotten, while they seated again.

Because Haru had no recollection of any event in her life that had occurred more that one year ago.

Calling it amnesia seemed exaggerated, and it wasn't a problem in her day-to-day life. However, was in moments like this that she truly felt about the memories lost in her past. A sense of desperation at not knowing who she really was.

-Haru!- a voice called from behind them and both turned around to see an uniformed boy standing on the stairs leading from the sport's fields to the principal building of the school. He had black hair, cut to fall on his eyes to give him a mysterious aura and his face a strong, attractive, rough look. -Time to go to the clinic!- he called once he had the girl's attention.

-All right- Haru muttered, fighting a bright blush that spread across her cheeks at the sight of him. And even tought she had to go, Haru struggled to finish all what contained her bento box, with the double intention of not being hungry and stop blushing.

-It's so cool that Machida-sempai takes you- Hiromi joked with her, since she knew about Haru's crush on the boy, what caused a hilarious look on Haru's face, with rosy cheeks and rice-stuffed mouth.

-Mmmfff- Haru said with her mouth crammed, earning a giggle from her best friend. Hiromi put a hand on Haru's cheek while the last of the lunch was gulped down. The little bit of rice that stuck on Hiromi's finger disappeared into her plump lips.

-I mean, he was a baseball ace. He is cool- she leaned closer with a conspiratorial smirk -even if not as cool as Tsuge- and leaned out -and a bunch of girls are after him- she gave Haru a nudge with the shoulder to help her stand -Good luck- she whispered to her friend -I might not being able to see you tomorrow because of the meet, so see you on Monday!- Hiromi said before pushing her in the direction of the stairs leading to where Machida was surely waiting for the girl.

-See you!- Haru called back with a bigger blush on her face an a small wave.

Haru appeared running through the school gates, to find Machida waiting for her, sitting coolly on the front edge of his motorcycle. She catched his melancholic gaze, while watching the baseball players in their field, practicing for the incoming meet, but when he just turned a little and saw her, all the sadness disappeared.

-Sorry I'm late- the girl called.

-Yeah, yeah- he answered, a mischievous glint in his eyes betraying his true feelings despite the harsh words.

-I'll take the bus home today, to save you problems...- Haru casted her eyes down, never being able to read his mood.

-Hmph, here- the boy offered her a helmet, and she put it on before sliding one long leg over the seat of the bike, behind Machida, and wrapping both her arms around his waist.

-Machida... you used to play baseball, didn't you?- Haru asked, leaving her own embarrassment behind to help him, hating the sadness in his gaze.

-I quit before you came to live with us- There was no nostalgic tone in his answer, but the sound of the bike's motor turning on seemed to have all his feelings in it. Anger, sadness, resentment, deception... frustration. None of these were the Machida she knew for all that year and the weight of all she didn't know seemed to hit her again. Feeling more shy than normal, Haru put her head on Machida's back to avoid the whipping of the air, causing him to stiffen slightly.

-It's been a whole year since Mom took me in, but there is still so much I don't know about- she said around a sigh, the depressive feelings reaching her.

-The past does not matter, Mom said that to you too. We may not be from the same blood but we are family.

-You... are right- she answered hesitantly, and Machida didn't insist, knowing she might retract back into herself if she was pressed. Haru closed her eyes to enjoy the warmth from Machida's back, wich felt like an oasis in the middle of the wind that blew either side. In that last year, how many words of encouragement she had heard, riding on the back of this bike. For her, it seemed no surprise to fall in love with the young man who was her adoptive big brother.

At the beginning, with no memories at all, she had been as good as a baby, and like that, she was adopted in the Yoshioka clan. With no abilities at all, Haru had to be taught everything to work normally, but Machida, his younger sister Yuki and their mother, Naoko, were kind and supportive to the new member of the family, teaching her everything that needed to be learned with a lot of patience and affection, making her feel like a real part of a family.

She opened her eyes again when the smell of water and salt reached her nostrils. Beyond the highway was a white-sand beach, with a calm sea the color of the sapphire, extending as fas as the eye could see, the light of the sun creating small white streaks in the water. A big rock was sitting in the middle of the sand, with the waves caressing it constantly, but never moving. Haru just loved this view of the sea, it gave her a sensation of comfort and security. Machida knew this and that was the reason he took her that way.

-Thank you- Haru whispered into her big brother back, thrilled he cared enough about her to give the necessary detour from their route.

-The next story is a follow-up on the recent string of murders in the Nago region. According to the local police, it appears that a sharp-edged blade was used by the attacker to murder his female victims, but the lack of blood at the scenes of discovery suggest that the murders must have taken place elsewhere, and the bodies were moved...-

-How are you feeling Miss Yoshioka?, Is anything coming back?- Haru could hear the curtain sliding open and the crispy sound of a doctor's robe moving. She was staring at the cream-colored ceiling and vaguely listening to the news on the radio, playing somewhere out the private room. Carefully, so not to move the IV drip hooked to her right arm, Haru lifted to a sitting position to see directly to the young doctor at her left.

-No... nothing yet- Haru answered and the woman gave a nod.

-Right, return to rest until we are done for today- said the doctor before directing her gaze to the IV to check it.

-OK-

Haru laid back and turned her head to watch at the doctor. One could not find a female doctor, comparing the rhythm of the IV drops with her watch, strange but in Okinawa it wasn't that normal to see a caucasian on regular basis. Her face was delicate, with smooth white skin and glasses on her face that gave the woman an aura of distance and coldness. Haru's impression was reinforced when the woman turned around without another word and closed the curtain behind her. One of the few things the teenager knew was the doctor's name was Julia.

She was acquaintances with her foster mother Naoko and was supposedly a very good physician. That was the main reason Haru's case was followed in this little clinic, rather than in the big hospital in Sogo. And with her regular appointments set in advance, she never saw another patients when she was there.

As for her, all the efforts to recover her forgotten memories seemed fruitless, since not even the drug in the IV had any effect at all. It was a monthly routine for her, the appointments consisting in a prick in the arm with a needle, a little catnap on the room bed and a brief talk with the doctor. But she didn't mind at all. All she wanted in the world was to get better, to know who she was.

The sun wasn't near setting when she left the clinic. At the southernmost region of Japan, the summer lasted longer than in other places, leaving the same weather even tough it was technically autumn.

-Haru-neechan- As she exited the bus at the stop near her house, a voice called her name from behind her. She turned around to see Yuki, her little sister, running towards her from the convenience store across the street, with a plastic bag hanging from one hand.

Everyone tought she would grew up to be a real beauty, with her platinum-blonde hair and delicate face. She had big, expressive blue eyes, always showering everyone in kindness and milky-white skin. And fitting her appearance, she had come to meet her big sister in her bus stop.

-Did you brought some snacks?- Haru asked with a mischievous grin, eyeing the bag in Yuki's hand, before the fourteen year old girl hid it behind her back.

-Yup... they are mom's. Are you coming back from the hospital?- the girl asked conversationally.

-Yes...- Haru asked absently, her consciousness focused in what she could hear. A graceful tune flowed across the humid summer's air, to Haru's ears and landed on her heart, filling it with warmth. It was coming from the neighborhood's park, where there were few cars and almost no noise, so the music could travel with ease. Her sight was only a second slower than her hearing, scanning her surroundings for the source of the music, and she saw a small crowd around someone. Magically, the crowd parted just enough for her to see the musician.

Dressed in a light suit, something between white and light grey, a tall man sat near the swings, in one of the benches distributed around the playground. He had dark golden hair and pale skin, near an unhealthy shade, as if he never came out to the sunlight. He had to be around his late twenties, a westerner, definitely, but very different to the americans who lived in the city. He had a dignified, elegant aura and a noble graceful look wich came from the slanted slits of his eyes and high bridge of his nose.

"Isn't it a violin" she tought. The instrument he was playing looked like a big sized violin, wich sat across his chest and reached the ground at an angle. The bow caressing the strings was in his right hand, but the movement must have been painful for him, since the hand was wrapped in thick bandages, but one wouldn't guess it, the sound being extremely beautiful.

-It sounds... familiar- she whispered to herself. Her eyelids fell closed in the same moment the eyes of the man were opening, a marvellous shade of mint green greeting her sight.

Darkness...

So much darkness and a light at the end of the darkness.

She followed the direction of the light and sound, leading her to a place she had never been before. A corridor, an arched exit. The walls of the corridor were made of stone and ancient looking, with patches of ivy.

There was the music from a cello.

She continued walking through the corridor, a chilly wind reaching her skin. Humidity... damp smells. The sound of water dripping, mixing with the music.

A spiral staircase. Up, always up.

And a door. A wooden door, reinforced with rusted metal bindings.

A lock, she needed a key. She had the key in her hand. She had to open the door.

-Don't open it!-

The vision suddenly disappeared. Haru's eyes flew open, her hands in front of her, in the same position they were in her vision. The momentum made her fall, landing in the sandbox in the park.

-Haru!, are you okay?- asked her sister with a worried voice, but waited for no answer and helped her sister to stand again. Haru was completely red with embarrassment.

-Y...yes, it's ok- Haru mumbled, trying to get far from there. She had to have interrupted the performance, no sound coming from the cello in the man's arms. How did she know the instrument was called a cello? She turned once again, before leaving the park and his eyes were pointed straight at her, boring a hole in her soul wherever her forgotten memories were.

The name of the shop her family owned was Omoro, like the famous compilation of poems from Okinawa. It was an arts and crafts shop that took up the ground floor under the Yoshioka family residence. Yuki and Haru were turning the bend, the store's sign coming onto view, when Haru saw a familiar car parked in front of it. She had seen that sedan before...

She drowned a chuckle when the familiar sound of fight came from within the car, a large man with copper colored hair and a slim man with black hair shouting insults to the other, the sounds muffled by the closed windows. She remembered the first time she had seen them: They began to fight inside the shop, breaking things when they took the fight to physical levels. Haru have been in the shop, called by the sound of the shouts, curious. Her mind was that of a three year old back then, and when she came within Naoko's sight, the woman have covered Haru's ears, her face a shade of red rivaling that of her hair. "I would be grateful if you don't teach my little girls your foul-mouthed words". And Haru could swear she watched the hairs on the back of their necks bristling in fear at the cold tone of the woman. After that, they stood inside the car for the sake of Naoko's mental sanity. Or their own health, Haru would never know.

She pushed the door -We're home!- she called and walked inside the shop. Naoko raised her head from the notebook on the counter and smiled tiredly at the girls.

-Welcome back, Haru and... Yuki too?- the woman asked with a note of incredulity, earning a soft glare from her younger child.

-I met her in the bus stop- answered the younger one, extending the plastic bag towards her mother -Here-

Naoko took the bag and peeked inside, her gaze turned annoyed and she extracted a sponge from the bag. It was shaped and painted to look like a panda bear. -I asked for a kitchen one...- mumbled the woman.

-That's all they had- Yuki countered. The woman sighed and put the half-full plastic bag under the counter.

Naoko shrugged and turned to soak the sponge in a bucket Haru knew was hidden behind the counter, to clean a suspiciously chocolate-looking stain on the same counter. One of the first things the family had discoverred in their life with Haru, was that she was mortally alergic to chocolate, so it was banned from the house, but habits die hard and Naoko was addicted to the candy. The woman had red hair with some streaks of grey traveling down her head, almost reaching her shoulders. Her shoulders seemed thin, but the way the woman moved talked about incredible strength. From all Haru had seen in her life with her, a mere word from the woman was enough to get people doing what she wanted, and not even the drunkards that came inside the shop from the near pubs could win against the woman.

-Oh, right, you must be hungry Haru- the woman said after finishing the cleaning of the counter. Haru's stomach answered for her, growling again. Naoko laughed. -I'll close the shop for the day and prepare dinner- and walked around the counter to go to the shop's doors. Haru put her schoolbag on the counter when a sudden cold feeling came to her stomach.

-Wait a sec...- the girl said and looked inside her bag. She removed everything inside on the counter, but it wasn't there. Her diary wasn't there... Her face turned white. -My... my diary!- she screamed, a blue color reaching her face from worrying -I left it at school!-

When she was laying on the ground, waiting for Hiromi, Haru tought. She had been drawing the cat-man again, before turning to the sky. She had left it on the grass. The only thing that was a clue to her past, on the grass, where everyone could take it... Her diary, where all those weird repetitive dreams were written on...

-Why not going school tomorrow?, that way you can cheer on Hiromi too- asked Naoko, worried about the color on her daughter face.

-They won't let outside people to watch it- Haru mumbled.

"Not to mention Haru is not able to wake up early" the younger girl and the woman tought at the same time, seeing Haru turn around and run to the door.

-I'll go for it and come back- she said, reaching the door to push it -Don't start dinner without me!-

-Right now?...- Naoko asked, but sighed and nodded -Just be careful- she said to the girl as the doors were closing behind her.

Haru bumped with a body, not even three steps far from the shop. -I'm sorry- she mumbled before looking up at the person in front of her. He was a tall, blonde male, dressed in a dark suit, according to his expression, his light blue eyes looking at her with enough coldness to freeze her mind. -Hello, David-san- she greeted as the only thing she could actually say and his gaze changed to glare sternly at her.

-Any business with my daughter, David?- her mother's voice came from behind her, a distasteful tone to it, melting some of the ice in her body. Haru turned around to see Naoko standing outside the store. Haru instinctively took some steps away from the man and near her mother and catched a better look at the woman's expression. According to the tone of her voice, her face was showing anger, anger bordering hate, an expression Haru had never seen, even when scolding Machida. It made Haru's heart pound with worry in her chest.

-We need to talk- were the simple words falling from the blonde. Naoko continued to glare to the man a little longer, but nodded and opened the door to the store a little.

-Yuki, go upstairs and watch TV, please- the woman ordered and all Haru could make of he sister's response was a muffled "okay" and the sound of clicking from the inside door of the shop.

Haru had heard that Naoko and David were old friends, but she could never relate the cold and stony man with her warm and gentle mother in her mind. It seemed strange, that the owner of an art's and craft's shop could have anything to do with a man whose life seemed... Well, it wasn't he was obnoxious or anything, but it was more about something around him, an aura surrounding him, like he didn't lead a very normal life...

The concern filling her heart must have shown on her face, because Naoko turned to her with a forced smile covering the angry expression from before -Didn't you forget something? if you don't hurry, I'll start dinner without you-

And everything besides her notebook suddenly disappeared from the teenager's mind, making her run in the direction of the school.

Maybe the weather was still hot. Maybe the chill from the autumn wasn't coming yet, but one thing was betraying the true season of the year: by eight o' clock, the sky was already painted with dark colors.

And just as Haru didn't expect, the gates to the school were already locked, the school day and sport practice long finished by then.

-Oh, shoot!, I should have known it would be closed- Haru mumbled to herself, thinking on how Yuki nor her mother had said it to her. An idea came to her mind, making her look in all directions. The coast was clear, nobody was around at that hour of the night. Haru mustered her courage and made a jump for the superior edge of the metal-barred gate. For most the students it was an incredible feat, the gates being a little over 2.5 meters long, but for Haru, it was easy to climb and jump, making the track and field team of the school fall to their knees in frustration about her not wanting to join them. She was fast, she could jump really high and always fall on her feet, but she didn't want to have her time occupied with clubs' activities. She wanted to have time to herself and her family.

She landed with ease in the schoolgrounds -I'm sorry- she said to no one, apologizing for her intrusion, before making a run for the place she left that same afternoon. From the corner of her eye she could see the teacher's offices had the lights on, seeping through the window, and she made a mental prayer to not being caught. From all she knew, it could gain her expulsion.

She reached the tree she had leaned against to draw the character of her repetitive dreams and looked around frantically for the white-colored piece of ground. Nothing. Her diary was nowhere to be seen. She began to think of all the places it could be, when a sound came from behind her. Footsteps.

Her heart froze in fear of being caught and turned around slowly to see the source of the sound. The person came from around a tree and Haru could see he was not a teacher. A teacher would not be dressed in a light suit, nor a top-hat, both in a shade of grey bordering white. The stranger had pale skin and short, dark golden hair. She had seen him before, didn't she?... Yes, the cello player from before. How do you know it's called a cello?

-At last, we meet- he spoke quietly, a tone of anticipation dripping from the words, sending a warm thunder through her spine. Her eyes were glued to his bandaged hand. She could feel her mind aching, knowing what was under those bandages. She had the words in the tip of her tongue, when a silver glint came from within its folds. It was a blade. He had a knife.

"It appears that a sharp-edged blade was used by the attacker to murder his female victims"

Everything in her froze remembering the news broadcasted on the radio few hours ago. Her mind was so gone, she could not even see what was in front of her... but her ears registered the sound of the steps on the dirt, coming closer to her. Her sight returned to see the stranger raising the hand with the blade in towards her and her body reacted instinctively. She began to run in the direction of the school building.

Her body collided against the glass doors of the teacher's offices' entrance and fear gripped her heart at finding them locked. -Help!- she shouted, pounding her fists against the glass at the same rhythm of her heart. -Anybody, please help!- she continued until the feeling of a hand in her shoulder made her jump and turn sharply. -No!

-Whoa, there!- The man held the hand wich had touched her shoulder to his body, as if it was burnt. He wasn't her teacher, but she had seen him before at the other side of the field where Hiromi practiced her favourite sport. He was the soccer couch, she tought, relieved beyond words at seeing him, his nametag attached to his hoodie sweater, and a scowl on his face -What are you doing in here at this hour?- he asked with a stern voice.

-Sensei!- she said with a shaking voice -There was a strange... suspicious man on the fields.- she almost stuttered in anxiety. The teacher's face lost the scowl.

-A suspicious man? Got it, wait here.- The tone in his voice made it clear for her he wanted her to stay where they were. But to begin with, the doors were closed and there were no lights left. With no other teachers she could be with and the idea of being all alone in that frightening, open place, Haru decided to stick with the adult. Yes, even the man with the knife was less scary than being alone. So she followed him at a prudent distance to the place she had just left.

They reached the forested section of the school, the teacher illuminating it with his flashlight. The shadows casted seemed imposing in the complete dark of the night, the few lamps of the campus casting their lights on the fields. They were in complete silence for a full minute, but no sounds were heard by the teacher.

-Just like I tought, there's no one in here- the teacher said, turning around to meet a very nervous Haru who could clearly hear something moving close by. But just as the girl was going to beg him to look again, the flashlight fell to the ground and the teacher disappeared in front of her. The man have just been sucked by the night air.

Cracking, slurping sounds reached her ears from above her. Inside the tree foliage.

-Sen...sensei?- she asked, barely a whisper, afraid to turn up and see. The man may not have answered, but he did could see in the darkness how he fell in front of her, falling on his stomach, his neck barely holding his head to his body by some little strands of flesh, his head facing her in an impossible position, looking at her with huge dead eyes.

-Ahh...- her vocal chords forgot how to form words. Her body became paralyzed and at the same time her legs turned to jelly, making her fall on her backside. But that didn't matter. All her dazed mind could register was the gaze of the teacher in front of her.

Suddenly, she was not alone with the corpse.

A shadow had landed in front of her, on the teacher's body. It was a dirty, gray shade of brown, almost black. For a moment she almost tought of a pelt falling on the teacher to cover it from sight. That's until it turned its head to look at her.

Seemingly human features greeted her sight. Big, almond-shaped eyes looked directly on her eyes, straight to her soul, and they glowed red. The creature had the head of a cat, a monstrous cat, without whiskers and with a muzzle longer than normal. But then again, nothing was normal with a cat bigger than a human being, with long human-looking limbs and muscular shoulders. It looked like a fusion between a very primitive ape and a cat, its ears flickering to catch all the rattling sounds her bones made with fear. It opened its mouth revealing long, carnivore teeth.

Her mind never register how she got back to the offices' building, everything seeming a blur from the moment she put her hand on the grass to lift her body in order to run. But once she halted back at the cold glass, the silence was broken by a horrific sound.

-Gah!- The howl of the beast made her fall on her knees in pain, her ears aching. She could eve feel the fabric of her uniform vibrate from the powerful gust of air that accompanied the sound. The vibration reached the glass and it resonated with it. A second later, the shards from the pulverized doors fell to the ground.

Haru had been leaning on the doors to resist the pain, but she fell to the other side once they broke. -Oww- she whimpered, standing up again as her instincts ordered her, to run again to a safe place. She felt a hot pang of pain reaching her dazed mind from her right leg and both her hands. Haru turned to see a little streak of blood running down her thigh, leaving a small trail of dots in the floor. The sight made her queasy. And here she was, worrying about a notebook with dreams on it, when her life was in danger. She could almost feel a laugh coming trough her lips, the hysteria reaching her, but she couldn't allow it to. She had to run.

Turning to the night, she could see the creature moving closer, with heavy steps, and it was everything she needed to make a half turn, put a hand to her wound and run for her life.

She passed the offices and ran to the classrooms. Even from as far as she was, she could hear the glass of the doors being crushed into smaller shards and the books and papers on the desks falling to the ground. Motivation came to her, but her legs couldn't move faster. She turned around a corridor to continue running, but she stopped after just some steps. Another shadow was in front of her.

The pale glow of moonlight from a near window was all the light she needed to see his pale face. It was the man from before, the one of the bus stop and the school grounds. His haunting green eyes glowing in the dark. A dark coffin-shaped box was on his back, obviously carrying his instrument. Haru was frozen in place again, her eyes glued to his, until a silver glint came from his bandaged right hand.

There, in front of her was a serial killer. Behind her was a man-eating monster. Standing right in the middle, Haru felt helpless, the feeling crushing her heart with the knowledge of her own death

After some seconds of stillness, the floor shook, making Haru snap back to reality, but she didn't need to turn around to know what was some steps behind her, the stench of blood and rotten flesh reaching her nostrils.

The man's right hand moved suddenly and almost to fast to be noticed. A silver lightning raced past her, grazing her right ear, too fast for her to avoid it. In the same instant an angry, deafening shriek made Haru turn to see the creature throwing its head back, and moving it back and forth to free itself from the dagger, blood raining everywhere from the socket of its eye, where only the handle could be seen. In its rage, the arms of the beast moved wildly, its claws slicing the concrete of the walls and ceiling as easily as if them were made from paper. Part of the ceiling fell down on her and she jumped back in order to avoid it, hitting the stranger's chest. He slid between Haru and the monster in a heartbeat just when a claw was going to fall on her.

The man raised his bandaged arm to stop it, and Haru was dumbstruck as the bandage fell from the man's arm, being cut by the claw. Under the cloth was a hand she had never seen before. The place under the claw of the monster was a dark, shiny brown, wich looked as hard as armor. The rest, to where she could see, was covered with orange fur, a shade similar to the color if his hair. High as it was, Haru could see the padded palms and inner fingers, and claws growing from the tips of the fingers.

-Wha...?- and she could say no more. Haru's mind stopped working normally. All she knew was she was trapped inside the fight between two enemies and her presence was not going to make the battle stop.

The monster took a swipe at his enemy and the man protected his other flank with the cello case, wich made a "thud" sound. The man responded with a powerful kick in the monster's ribs, sending him rolling down the hallway. Once the monster was at a considerable distance, the man walked back to where the teenager was. -Come this way- he said, but just one look at Haru's face was enough. He came closer to her, leaned down and before she knew it, he had lifted her in his arms, carrying her up the stairs, almost flying, as if she weighed nothing.

He let her down inside the biology lab. Silence surrounded them, but Haru broke it with a shaking voice -What... what was... that... that thing?- she said, collapsing on one of the stools of the lab.

-A Shadowwalker- he answered almost indifferently, like he had said the same thing lots of times before. He came close to her and kneeled to produce a handkerchief from his pocket and wrap it around the cut in her leg.

-A shadowwalker?- Haru asked, the english name sounding weird in her ears.

-It's a beast that drinks blood, especially human blood- he elaborated, looking at her with worried eyes. He sighed and turned to the case wich was laid forgotten on the ground. He opened the locks of the box and lifted the two lids from the middle. The cello shined in amber color with the moonlight from the windows, and, even tough she had no knowledge about music, Haru was certain it was a very special instrument, just from the way he caressed its neck before moving his hand to the inside of the lid. A hidden door opened, leaving to view a beautiful katana. He must have to hide it there not to be caught by the police. From all she knew, there were laws against carrying fixed-lenght blades.

The man raised the sword and unsheathed to wrap his feline hand around the blade. With a swift movement, he cut his hand and lowered the sword down, allowing a rivulet of black-red blood fall to the floor from the wound. He came closer to Haru, his hand near her face.

-What...?- he asked yet again that night, as the drops fell to her blouse. She looked at his face, deep regret clouding the man's eyes.

But before the hand reached Haru's mouth, a shriek came from within the hallway. His eyes moved from hers to the entrance, now void of any emotion. The door flew inward and the monster entered the laboratory. The dagger was nowhere to be seen, and Haru could see the skin, flesh and blood boil and regenerate into a new eye, as if there was never a wound to begin with. The monster scanned the room and its eyes stopped on Haru. Unknown to her, the man had sipped some of the blood from his wound.

She was about to shriek in fear when the monster jumped in the air. The lights in the ceiling broke and fell to the floor along most of the jars containing specimens on the shelves, to crash on the ground, splinters and formaldehyde everywhere. Haru was on her back, on the ground. She realized the man had pushed her from the path of the beast, and that if it weren't for him, she would be dead. Haru looked at the creature, but all she saw there was hunger, so she turned up in fear, ready to lift herself from the ground. That was until she saw the man over her and she was suddenly aware of his height on her body.

Her gaze was drawn to his big, green, haunting eyes and lost herself in them. Longing, worry, guilt, she saw them all swirling inside them. His left hand came to her cheek, caressing it lightly before lifting up her chin. He lowered his face to hers and by the time she understood what was going on, it was too late.

Her first kiss had the taste of blood.

Even with her dazed mind she could feel something that made her wish to cry. Desperation, sorrow, longing, love, those feelings falling from his lips into her heart, shared through the kiss.

-Haru...- he whispered once his lips left hers, and instead of spitting it, Haru swallowed the blood in her mouth, his left hand returning to her cheek to clean the little blood that escaped from her mouth, traveling down her skin. She felt how the vital liquid traveled from her mouth to her throat and to the rest of her body, sending jolts of electricity to the very tips of her limbs.-... fight-

She felt every cell in her body awakening to a feeling she had never known before, her heart pounding in her chest and her blood flooding inside her veins, under her skin. She could feel every muscle in her body tensing and relaxing and even every single hair on her body moving from the wind that came from the broken windows.

In that instant, a torrent of memories flooded her mind.

Ha haha, ha haha haha. Cliffy? Now I did it?... weeeeee! Well, just so you know, I will update this fic once every week on sunday, if my computer agrees with me. Until then, take care and have a great week!... Thanks for reading...