It all started with what should've been a simple trip to the store. It wasn't even my turn to go—it was supposed to be Mineo's but the little tyke managed to trick me into going for him. I really need to stop falling for cute things.

I took the ferry from the island and fixed Taimen's jacket over my shoulders. He'd made himself pretty clear that if I was to stay with his family, I had to keep my…condition a secret. It wasn't as easy as he had made it seem.

We decided that the best way to keep me from being ousted as a female Vampire would be to disguise myself as a male Hunter. Out of all the laws that the Council has set for the city, male Hunters have the least restrictions: they have no curfew and are free to go into any part of the city they desire.

I don't mind disguising myself as a boy. Not saying I like cross-dressing, but I understand the necessity of it in this case. Besides, I personally feel that things like gender or species don't matter. When people get caught up in things like that, that's when the rebellions begin. When they try to determine a person's greatness based on those things, that's when problems start. What's most important is what's inside a person—their character is what truly determines their greatness.

But it's not like I'll ever be able to tell the world that. I'm not a Royal or a part of the Council—the closest I'll get to the Council is through Taimen, and since I'm not a part of his actual family, I have no say in anything—I'm just a commoner.

"Are you gonna buy something, boy," cried an angry shop owner, "or are you just gonna stand there?"

I guess the disguise works. I pulled out the list that Sage had given me and peered at the items. I saw a variety of foods, but none of which I actually needed to buy. "Do you have any papayas?" I hate papayas, but Sage is pregnant—very obviously pregnant—and she is craving them.

The old vendor seemed even more annoyed at me for asking such a question. He tossed a finger up into the air and drew attention to a sign above his head. "We sell meat and vegetables. Do you still think I have any papayas?"

I turned around and walked away from him. I didn't have time to waste arguing with a crotchety old man. A pregnant lady was counting on me, and I had a good book waiting for me at home.

It wasn't my fault, anyway. I'd only been here for three weeks, and this was my second time going out into downtown Sai City. It was different every time I came here, but it never ceased to be amazing.

Vendors yelled over each other as they tried to attract the attention of shoppers like me to their carts. A few kiosks even offered entertainment while they served you. I stopped to watch a vendor as he spit fire from his mouth.

At first I thought he was a Vampire—Vampires aren't allowed to sell their wares in this area—but a second glance at his mouth told me that I'd been wrong. I was mesmerized by his trick as I tried to figure out his secret. Hunters and humans aren't infused with magic like Vampires are, so how had he managed to pull that off without harming himself?

I was so busy trying to figure out the trick that I didn't realize I was being tricked—at least, I didn't realize it until the person who was pickpocketing me accidentally wiggled my wallet.

"Hey," I cried as he grabbed my wallet and disappeared into the crowd. I was careful not to use my Vampire speed to catch up with him—it was a real effort. Instead, I managed to find the man again. "Stop him," I pleaded with someone as I ran harder.

No one helped me. I remembered that I was no longer surrounded by kind people like Taimen's family, but wounded animals who were more likely to give me up for their own skin instead of helping me.

The shaggy haired man jumped around, trying to lose me. He led me into the Vampire section. A chill settled over me as glares turned toward us. Though I was a Vampire myself, I didn't feel comfortable with all the looks my fellow kinsmen were giving me.

I had stopped paying attention to where I was going anymore. In one quick movement, the man disappeared from my sight, and then I found myself tripping over a stand. The sound of breaking glass reached my ears as my hands scraped across the ground.

"Oh, now you've done it," said a pair of voices at the same time.

I sat up and turned to see twins glaring down at me. Their fiery red hair burned almost as brightly as their beautiful hazel eyes. They crossed their arms and looked behind them as a smaller boy made his way up to me.

"Aw, it looks like you've broken our special vase," he said to me with a pitiful—but somewhat adorable—face. The ferret that sat on his shoulders stared me down. "That's a problem, isn't it, Takeo?"

The giant he was referring to gave the slightest nod of his head. "Yeah," he said in a deep voice that filled me with fear. His stoic expression made it hard to determine what he thought of me at that moment.

"What's going on here," said an officer as he entered the scene. He glanced down at me in disgust and then turned toward the others.

I looked down and realized that my hands had been cut on some of the vase's shards. "I'm so sorry," I told them all as I stood up. "I'll pay you back, I will." With what, I thought to myself. That thief got away with my money.

The twins laughed. Though they sounded similar, I could hear the slight differences in their voices. Maybe it was because of my Vampire hearing.

"How can you," said the one with his hair parted on the right.

"From the looks of you, you can't possibly hope to afford the price of this vase," said the other twin who had his hair parted to the left.

"You don't know what I can afford," I told him.

"How much was the vase priced at," the officer asked.

The twins smiled devilishly. "Eight million yuons," they said together. "We were going to use that vase in order to help out with the rebellions before this Hunter decided to do otherwise."

"No," I told the officer. "That isn't what happened."

"Yeah, I'm sure," the officer told me as he spun me around and placed a pair of handcuffs on my wrists. "I've had it with you Hunters and your rebellions and whatnot. Let's take a little trip downtown, shall we?"

I could've easily gotten away from him, but I didn't. Instead, I decided that I would use my one phone call to ask Taimen to bail me out. He would be upset about having to come fetch me from jail, but I think he would understand once I explained the situation.

The officer shoved me into the first jail cell that he could find and locked the door. "You stay put," he told me, as if I was going to go anywhere else. "Chief Botan will want to have a word with you before you go. And speaking of going, if you need to, the bucket's in that corner over there."

I turned toward the corner he'd indicated and frowned at the smell. I could tell that someone—probably a couple of someones—had used the bucket before and the police department hadn't bothered to clean it out.

I sat on the bench with my wrists chained in front of me. It wasn't entirely painful, but it wasn't a position I would've liked to have been in for a while.

Luckily for me, Chief Botan came quickly. She frowned at me and opened the cell door. "Come with me," she ordered before she walked down the hall. Obviously, she wasn't worried about me trying to escape or attack her. Not that she should've been; I could almost smell the Vampiric power coming off of her.

Whoever she was, she was powerful. And maybe dangerous. By the looks of her, she was probably both. She was a person who was to be as equally admired as she was feared.

She sat me down at the end of a long table and pointed a recorder to my mouth. "Okay, Hunter," she growled through her fangs. "Here's how this is going to go. I'm going to ask you a few questions about the rebellion, and you're going to answer me. And if you don't…" Her fangs extended.

Sweat built up on my skin. I had nothing to tell her. Hopefully she would see that. Vampires as powerful as her can sometimes tell when people are lying to them.

"Let's begin. Where are the Hunters meeting? We know they're underground, but we don't know where." She stopped and looked at me as if I was supposed to tell her more.

I couldn't. "I don't know where they are. Honestly," I added as her frown settled into a glare. Her eyes changed from a dark grey to a fierce red. "I haven't been here long enough to know anything."

"How long have you been here, then?"

"Three weeks."

"That's plenty of time to get to know things around here."

"No, really, I don't know anything. I live on the island with Taimen and Sage Kawaguchi."

"Impossible," she growled. "I know the Kawaguchis. They have children, but only three—and the boy isn't old enough for you to pass as."

"Ask them," I told her.

Her eyes narrowed. "What's your name?"

"Eri Fujioka." I had to remember to shorten my real name. Otherwise, it would be obvious that I was a girl. "I'm telling you the truth—I don't know anything."

Chief Botan slammed her fists down on the table so hard that I swore it was going to break. "But you see the problem is that I don't think you are telling me the truth. I think you're a good liar, and you're using your connections to—"

"Chief Botan," cried an officer as he burst into the room.

"What," she roared.

"Someone has offered to post bail for the Hunter."

Already? But I hadn't even had a chance to call Taimen yet.

Chief Botan sighed heavily. "Well, it looks like your story just might check out," she told me. "I'll ask Taimen if what you say is true."

"It isn't Taimen, Chief," said the officer.

"Then who is it, then?"

That was a great question. I followed them out into the lobby and felt my mouth drop down in surprise at who I saw.

Six Vampires stood before me with their arms crossed over their chests. I know that as a Vampire, we're supposed to be "outrageously beautiful creatures", but this is a little ridiculous. Among them were the twins, the giant, and the smaller boy that I'd seen before. I looked up at Chief Botan, but she seemed just as surprised as I was.

"You posted bail for this young man," she asked them.

A blonde Vampire stepped forward. The others obviously regarded him as their leader. "Yes. We realized that it was just as accident, and we decided to keep it from getting too serious. No harm was done." He smiled at the chief.

His smile didn't seem to faze her. She was just as rough with me as she had been before. She took off my handcuffs in the most painful way and then threw me towards the boys. "I'll be watching out for you, Fujioka." She gave us all a stern look and then shooed us out.

I couldn't believe my luck! Now if only I could find my wallet again…I stopped walking as we turned the corner and told the boys, "Thank you for bailing me out. That was kind of you. If I am ever needed to repay that kindness, please let me know what I can do."

"Will you do anything we ask," said the blonde leader.

"Of course," I said slowly, hoping that I wasn't getting myself into something horrible. I know there are Vampires out there who like to feed on Hunters.

"I'm so glad you said that," he told me with a smile. He snapped his fingers and the boys formed a circle around me. "Have you ever heard of the phrase, 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do'?"

Of course I had. That phrase was popular several centuries ago. What did that have to do with anything that was going on right now?

"We've decided that in order for you to pay off your debt and our kindness, you will join our group."

"What," I laughed. This was too unreal. And just when I thought my luck had started to change! "What group?"

"We are the Rebels," he told me. "Six beautiful Vampires who were so bored with their lives that they began a club to help better the lives of others."

"We fight the war in our own way," said the twins.

My breathing felt irregular. I didn't want to be a part of the war, and now I was being forced to. "I won't do it," I told them. "I'm sorry, but I can't. There must be some other way."

The blonde leader shook his head. "This is the only way. And besides, you already promised."

I cursed myself for making a promise before knowing what that would mean.

"Don't worry," said the small boy with a large smile. Being this close to him made me realize that despite his height, he was still taller than me. "It'll be fun!" He held out his ferret to me. "I'll even let you play with Pabu," he told me.

Pabu scrunched up his nose and made a face at me. Then, it sneezed. It was a cute and adorable sneeze, like that of a kitten.

"How cute," I whispered as I locked eyes with the creature. I realized that the small boy was staring at me weirdly, so I turned away from him and Pabu.

"You've got some pretty large eyes," said the twin with his hair on the right.

"Yeah," said the other one. "Such a feminine face you have for a boy."

I turned away from them too. I was a little unnerved at how close they all stood to me. One of them was bound to discover my secret soon.

"Eri Fujioka, right," said another tall Vampire as he spoke up. He'd been a part of the group the entire time, but this was the first thing he'd said. He pushed his glasses up his nose and glared down at me. "You moved in with Taimen Kawaguchi and his family three weeks ago, yes?"

My heart stopped. "Yes. How did you—"

"There's nothing that gets past us. We can get our hands on any information, so don't underestimate us. Oh, and while you're with us, should you think to use your…abilities on us—"

The giant grabbed me and lifted me into the air. "Bad idea," he warned.

A small cry escaped my lips as he slammed my back against the wall behind me. I also noticed that his hands were dangerously close to my breasts. If anyone was to discover my secret in this group, it'd be him.

I caught a glimpse of a red flush across his cheeks before he dropped me back to the ground. I stood up and tried to think of a way I could talk myself out of this situation.

"So," said the blonde as he stepped forward again. "Do you understand the conditions of our agreement?"

There was no way to get out of this. "Yes," I whispered, defeated. How was I going to tell Taimen that I had been arrested and forced into some type of fraternity all in one day?

"Good. Now for introductions," he told me as the boys lined themselves up.

The small boy with the ferret stepped forward and gave me another one of his giant smiles. "My name's Honey."

I looked around at the others, not sure if his name was supposed to be a joke or if he was serious. No one laughed or said anything otherwise, so I assumed Honey was telling the truth.

The giant behind him muttered, "Mori." And that was the end of that. I guess he doesn't speak much.

"I am Kasai Osamu," said the devil with glasses.

The twin with his hair parted to the right said, "I'm Keiji."

"And I'm Hiroshi," said the twin with his hair on the left.

"And I," said the blonde leader, "am Taoreta." He clapped his hands together. "And now that we've been introduced, it's time for you to go on your first assignment."

Already? I hadn't even had time to settle into this. "What's my first assignment?"

"You were in the market place for a reason. We need supplies back at base."

"You want me to get things for you at the Vampire market?"

"We need these things from the Hunters' side," said Kasai. "Obviously, we aren't able to buy things from there." He handed me a list of things they required.

"That's why we're counting on you to buy them," Honey cried as Pabu circled his shoulders.

"So get to it, slave boy," said the twins with an evil smile.

"And how do you expect me to buy all of this," I asked them after I looked down at the list. I remembered that I was supposed to be buying things for Sage.

"You came to the market place without money," Kasai asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course not," I told him indignantly. "It was stolen from me when I got here."

"Stolen," Taoreta repeated. "How much money did you have?"

"Taimen gives me an allowance of ten thousand yuons each week." I looked up and realized that the boys were giving me strange looks. "It may not mean anything to you guys, but that's a lot of money for me to lose."

"Then we shall find it for you," Taoreta promised me. "Kasai, loan Eri some money. Hiroshi, Keiji, I expect you to find the man who stole our slave's wallet. Honey, Mori, I need you to…retrieve our slave's wallet. And Eri, we're counting on you to get this job done." He snapped his fingers and led the others out.

Kasai shoved a wad of paper into my hands and left with the others.

Could this be any more unreal? I looked up at the sky as I walked back to the Hunters' market. Was my mother really watching over me with the ancient spirits? And if she wasn't, could she start now?

After reading all the signs of the shops, I was able to complete the list easily—the old vendor didn't seem too pleased at my return. None of the items on the list seemed necessary: coffee, candies, toilet paper? These weren't things that I would deem "necessary" for people fighting in a war.

Well, they did say that they were fighting the war in their own way. I shifted the bags in my hands and inspected the wad of cash Kasai had given me. Even though I had already spent over eight thousand yuons, there was still a pretty significant amount left. I couldn't help but wonder if he would end up adding more to my debt because of this shopping trip.

I groaned and trudged along to the Vampires' market. It was at that moment that I realized the Rebels hadn't given me their whereabouts. I didn't know when I would see them again or where I was supposed to meet them.

"Great," I muttered. I decided that the best place to chance by them would be the alley they'd left me in. I ignored the stares and dirty looks I got from the other Vampires and found the alley again. To my disappointment, they weren't there.

I placed the grocery bags down and crossed my arms as I waited in the alley. I thought that the Rebels had been playing a joke on me, but then I realized that if it was a joke, they probably wouldn't have given me their money and sent me to the market unsupervised.

"Move, move," cried a boy as he bumped into my shoulder and raced past me. He didn't stop to apologize or even check if I was okay.

I looked up and caught sight of the man's shaggy hair. I was immediately reminded of the man who had stolen my wallet. Without thinking, I got up and chased after the man.

He realized I was onto him and tried to lose me behind the buildings. All it did was confirm that this was the same man who had stolen my wallet earlier.

This time I chased him into the park. By this time, he was tired and was starting to slow down—but I, as a Vampire, was barely breaking a sweat. I grabbed his arm, pulling him to the ground.

He struggled against me as I tried to find my wallet. My fingers told me that it was in his jacket pocket. When I tried to wriggle my wallet back out of his pocket, he pulled his feet underneath me and pushed up.

I flew into the air and landed in the pond behind him. I blinked through the water in my eyes and looked up in dismay, expecting the man to be far away. I was surprised at what I saw.

Mori had grabbed the guy by the scruff of his neck and was dangling him in the air; Kasai was counting through my wallet; Taoreta held his hand out to me to help me up.

"You're not really a fighter, are you," said Hiroshi to the man.

"I didn't expect that much from a Hunter," Keiji said with a cruel smile.

"That's enough, Hiroshi, Keiji," said Taoreta as he helped me to my feet. "Honey, Mori, escort this man to Chief Botan. I'm sure you'll find that he has more than one offense against him."

I walked over to Kasai, who still had my wallet in his hands. "Thank you for finding my wallet."

He kept it just out of my reach. "Where are the groceries that we asked you to buy?"

"Oh," I said as I thought about the whereabouts of the groceries. "I left them in the alley."

Taoreta looked up at the twins and smiled. "Hiroshi, Keiji, can you two go and retrieve them?"

The twins groaned, but did as he asked.

"Kasai," said Taoreta evenly. "Would you join me back at the room? It would seem that Eri is in need of some new clothes."

"That's really not necessary," I started.

"Nonsense!" he cried. "Even though we consider you as our slave, you are still a member of the Rebels, and we will take care of you."

Obviously, I wasn't getting out of this either. I followed them out of the park—they told the authorities that I was clumsy and had tripped into the pond—and into the Vampire residency. We passed the apartment buildings that I had expected them to turn into and made our way toward a giant mansion.

"This is the club's room," I asked uncertainly as we passed through the gates.

Taoreta smiled and nodded at some workers who stopped to acknowledge him before returning to their jobs. I imagined the same fate would be waiting for me after I got a change of clothes.

"I guess I forgot to mention," said Taoreta with a large smile, "we're not just devastatingly handsome Vampires. We also happen to come from unfathomably rich families. My family owns a multitude of houses—we use this one for our club activities."

I frowned and muttered, "Is it really right for you guys to act like this whole thing is just some after school club? Don't you take the war seriously?"

"Don't mistake our attitudes for negligence," Kasai warned me. "We take this war just as seriously as everyone else."

"But in our own way," Taoreta declared with a raised fist. "But don't worry, Eri. Even though you are a Hunter, I'm sure you'll come to see things our way. After all, you're still a boy."

My frown deepened. "Things like being a Hunter or a Vampire—or even being a boy or a girl—don't matter. No matter what I am, I'm still me, and my opinion is my own."

He stopped and stared at me, as if he was really thinking about what I had just said to him. Then, he laughed and left to get me a change of clothes from his room. Kasai got me a towel and led me to the bathroom upstairs.

I waited for him to leave before I stripped myself down. The bandages that I used to press down my breasts were so drenched that they fell to my feet when I tried to fix them. I used the towel to dry my body and replaced my camisole and underwear. I laid Taimen's clothes out underneath one of the personal driers and tilted the other personal drier so that it was aimed at my face and hair—I know they're rich, but who needs more than one personal drier?

I took a moment to look at myself in the mirror. My hair was already starting to grow out again—another one of the curses of being a Vampire. Female Vampires naturally have long hair. It wasn't meant to be short. I have to cut it every night at seven, or it'll grow out again. And if it does, Sage will never let me cut it again.

A gasp sounded from behind me as the door to the bathroom opened. I regretted not locking the door now—I thought they would've knocked before entering. Taoreta dropped the clothes that he had carried in his hands and stared at me with a red face. Behind him were the other members of the Rebels.

I reached over and wrapped the towel Kasai had given me around my body. If I was embarrassed, I would've blushed; but I wasn't, so I didn't. Why should I have been embarrassed? They were the ones who walked in on me.

Taoreta looked at me as if he couldn't believe it. "E-Eri?"

"Yes," I said as I looked into his eyes.

"You're a girl?"

"Biologically," I told him. "So, pretty much."

"I see," he said slowly, obviously still stunned by the revelation.

"You've finally realized it, Tao," said Hiroshi.

"It totally slipped past him!" Keiji said with a smile as he leaned on Hiroshi's shoulder.

"I've known from the beginning," said Kasai with an evil smirk.

"Why didn't anyone ever tell me," Taoreta raged.

I stepped forward, despite the fact that I was in a towel. "I'm very sorry for surprising you."

"Why did you allow us to treat you like a guy?"

"I don't have a problem with being treated as a guy. I was dressed like a guy."

"But don't you care about how you looked?"

I shrugged my shoulders, but kept a firm grip on my towel. "I don't really care about my appearance." I caught a glimpse of my wallet in Kasai's hands. "Oh, I wanted to thank you guys for helping me find my wallet. And Taoreta, thank you for the way you chose to handle my debt. That was really cool of you." I smiled at him to emphasize the meaning of my words.

Taoreta nodded briskly and raced downstairs so that I could change into the spare clothes. Kasai smiled at me, pushed his glasses up to his nose, and said, "This is going to be interesting."

A/N: Hey, guys! So this is a TECHNICALLY a crossover (but kinda not at the same time. I didn't really know where to put it, so I put this story in the "regular" category). Basically, you'll still be falling in love with our favorite OHSHC characters, but the storyline's been mixed between OHSHC and ATLA:LOK. Oh, also, it's from the perspective of "Haruhi" herself.

Speaking of Haruhi, sorry that her name (Eri, in this case) doesn't start with the same letter like everyone else does. When I researching names, I wanted to keep them all from the same culture. Unfortunately, there wasn't another "h-unisex" name that really felt right for her. Bear with me please, but I chose "Eri-short for Eriko in this case" for her name.

I know this story is a little unorthodox, but I hope you guys enjoy it anyway. If not, I hope you enjoy other stories, then, and thank you for at least looking through my first chapter long enough to get down to here.

I'm trying to get my story updates on a schedule-I have a lot-so I'm thinking that I will update these on Mondays from now on. Hopefully, this chapter will make you WANT to wait for updates. If not, again, enjoy other stories.

Thanks! Bye! :-D