Disclaimer: I do not own Hana to Akuma or any of the characters therein.

Chapter 1: First Impressions

Hana gingerly raised her head as the fog of sleep slowly dissipated. Looking around she became fully conscious of her surroundings. Yawning she tried to stretch her aching shoulders. "Oh… I fell asleep." Glancing at the clock she realized that it was almost midnight. I better get home, she mused to herself. As she began making her way to the door of her little office she heard a loud crash like a window being broken. The sound came from the room next to hers and Hana's movements froze instantly. She suddenly became aware of how lonely the ground floor of clinic now was. Yes, there were numerous patients on the higher floors, but where she was in the basement, in the Virology and Blood Testing Laboratory, there would be no one.

She broke out into a cold sweat and remained perfectly quiet attentively listening for any indication of what was happening. She heard a deep creaking and moaning sound like metal bars being warped and bent. Someone is breaking in she thought and then it suddenly dawned on her that the alarm did not sound off. But what would someone want in a clinic or a laboratory? Straining her ears she listened once more. She heard a soft flapping sound followed by hurried footsteps and loud banging… then silence. Praying to whatever divine power there may be, Hana hoped to remain undetected. But the room in which she was located was illuminated unlike all the surrounding rooms. This realization only increased her terror. If I stay perfectly still and silent, I… Her thoughts were severed as she saw the doorknob to her room begin to turn.

Trying not to panic, she looked around for a place to hide; but in such a small room there was nowhere. Swallowing a scream she tried to stop her knees from shaking and facing the door she steeled her nerves as best she could and prepared to meet whoever or whatever was coming in. The door opened, and as someone walked in, the light of her office revealed a tall, slim man. The first thing Hana noticed was how black his hair was and if it was not for her fear, she would have noticed just how handsome he was. But at the moment she could not since he seemed to be exuding a powerful and very dark aura which left Hana awe struck and petrified at the same time. Suddenly the man staggered forward clutching the door for support which swung wider as he leaned into it. Then she noticed that the lower part of his shirt was torn and covered with blood and dirt.

Despite the feeling of dread that had washed over her at this man's arrival, Hana sprung into action. Without thinking she ran to his side and gave her shoulder to him for support. He was so heavy! She then noticed that the top of and the right leg of his pants were soaked in blood. How could he have lost so much blood and still be alive? She managed to get him into the sofa tucked away to one side of her office and raised his shirt to get a better look at his abdomen. She gasped audibly when she saw the wound. It was long and jagged extending from right below his diaphragm all the way to his hip. It must have been quite deep because it continued to bleed profusely.

"Stay right here. I have to stop the bleeding!" She stood up and was about to run to down the hall to the supply room when he grabbed her hand.

"Blood…" he said weakly, "I need human blood."

"Human blood?" She asked. She shook her head in confusion and then said. "You're becoming delirious. You'll need a transfusion. But first I have to…"

He cut her off, "Bring me human blood. I must drink it."

"What?" she almost screamed. "You've lost too much blood. Let me go and get gauze to stop the..."

He immediately lost patience. "Stupid girl!" he shouted "Bring me blood from your blood bank. I need to drink it. Human blood is the only thing that will cure me!"

Becoming afraid of his sudden hostile outburst, she did as he asked. Quickly moving into the room he has just exited, Hana was too overwhelmed to notice the broken window and the deformed iron bars that had previously served as burglar proofing. She did, however, notice the depressions in the blood refrigerator. Did he do this? How could anyone be strong enough to dent this with their bare hands? Throwing her thoughts aside, she produced a key from her pocket and unlocked the fridge. Grabbing three pints of blood she returned to the man.

Grabbing the bags of blood, the man sunk his fangs into one of them and drank greedily. Hana thought that she was going to pass out at any minute. Not only was she scared senseless but she was rather disgusted with what she was witnessing. What in the world is he? Is he a vampire? "Uhh…" was all she could say before she fainted. She didn't realize that just before she made contact with the floor a pair of strong arms caught her and placed her next to their owner. Nor could she realize that the hostility in his voice was replaced by amusement as he said "Humans are such dumb and fragile creatures."