A/N: Yes, Another one before my others are finished. It's an unhealthy addiction that I must sate. But I do appreciate everyone who indulges my little wanderings off the beaten path and I hope that you like this one. As usual... I really own nothing but my own twisted imagination and my penchant for torturing those that deserve it. 8)

A New Life

Chapter 1

"Corn...h-hel..p... me." She whispered in a quiet gurgle as the blood ebbed from her throat and the light began to fade from her golden eyes.

His eyes went wide with the revelation. He knew who she was the second his name slipped from her lips. He had to act quickly. "NO!" He hissed as he quickly ripped the skin of his wrist and placed it against her dying lips. "Don't let me be too late. Don't die on me Kyoko-chan." He held her closely in the alley behind the television station. Hoping beyond all hope he wasn't too late.

Slowly the gaping wound that crossed her elegant throat began to close, her skin became more pale, she inhaled sharply, her eyes closed and her final breath of life escaped her lips.

"Ren..." His friend called to him from the entrance. "Did you get to her in time?" He asked in a worried tone.

"I think so." He answered in a hoarse tone. He picked up her limp form and turned to his friend. "We need to get her out of here Yukihito."

Yuki held up his hand to stop him. "Hold on."

"Sho... I'm just telling you, you shouldn't have treated her like that. You may come to regret it." The woman's voice scolded as she and the young man left the building.

"Pfft. Like Kyoko would ever do anything. That girl? Are you kidding? She doesn't have it in her. Not only that, she'll never get anywhere. She's too plain, boring and unattractive. She'd never make it. She'll probably go crying back to Kyoto with her tail between her legs. Trust me, it was an empty threat." The young man chuckled confidently.

Yuki felt a chill go down his spine and turned to see his charge trembling in anger. "Ku-Ren... We need to get her out of here and somewhere safe." He reminded him. "We can't afford... for this to get out."

Ren's gaze snapped back to him and then to the unconscious Newly Born in his arms. He nodded to him. "Alright." He calmed himself and conceded.

Yuki waved him on as soon as the pair entered their car and drove away. "It's clear."

The two men carefully placed her in the backseat of the little silver sports car, buckled themselves in and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Where are we going?" Yuki asked as they drove down familiar streets.

Ren sighed. "For now... My place, where she can recover. She's going to be disoriented and hungry." He explained remembering how hard it was on him. "Plus... It's soundproof there. We're going to need that."

Yukihito nodded in agreement. "When do we tell Shachou about this?"

Ren froze for a moment. "He doesn't need to know just yet."

For 24 hours her mind and body would go through the torturous transformation. The body of the 16-year-old girl would be forced to finish developing in a matter of hours. Her mind would relive her death over and over with all of the pain and events surrounding it that went with it. The voice of the boy that tossed her aside echoed in her mind along with the feel of the thug's blade that crossed her throat. In the darkness a gentle voice coaxed her from the nightmare to give her the thick, sweet liquid that quenched her burning hunger.

"Drink this Kyoko-chan... There you go... It's almost over... Everything will be alright... I'm here." A soothing, male voice calmed her mind as he administered the elixir that would relieve the excruciating pain temporarily, long enough for her to fall back into a fitful sleep.

Ren covered the sleeping girl in the light silk sheets after Ms. Woods had changed her, cleaned the grime and blood from her after setting the little blue stone she had tightly gripped, on the nightstand.

"Ren-chan... Who is this young woman?" She asked curiously.

"She's a dear childhood friend Ms. Woods. Thank you for coming. I really owe you for this." He gave her a polite bow.

Jelly Woods sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you? It's Ten... You do know you're going to have to let Darling know, right?" She whispered.

Ren groaned. This happened to be the most impulsive thing he had done since coming to Japan. The thought to turn someone had never occurred to him and when presented with her impending death, he reacted instinctively. Had he and Yukihito not smelled the blood in the alley, he would have never found the little pixie that changed his life when he was a boy.

Jelly giggled then patted him on the shoulder. "It's okay Ren-chan. Somehow I don't think Darling will be too hard on you." She consoled him. "Hmm, weren't you about the same age when it happened to you?"

Ren nodded. "Yeah... My first year here." He had to admit, he was now glad it had happened to him.

She smiled mischievously. "So... I guess you two could now be considered about the same age now, huh?" She pondered.

He winced. He remembered the pain and suffering from the change. Being forced to grow and change in 24 hours to an eternal 20 year old was complete hell for a 16-year-old boy. He had literally grown in height and muscle mass overnight. He wasn't quite sure what was going to happen to her.

"Well... call me when she wakes up." She collected her things and left with a bounce in her step.

Ren sighed, took one last peek into his guest bedroom at the sleeping angel and trekked tiredly to his kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and pulled a little clear vinyl bag filled with red liquid from the top shelf, shut the door and bit into it, then savored the sweet flavor.

He tossed the empty bag into his bathroom garbage for incineration later and began his nightly routine. "Tomorrow's going to be a long day." He groaned as he stepped into the hot shower.

The next morning he awakened. The night before had been eerily quiet. Not once did he hear her scream or, cry out in pain. That is not to say that she wasn't suffering. It just wasn't in her nature to show weakness, not even in her fitful sleep. The fact that she was whimpering and moaning from it was saying a lot for the young woman. She had conditioned herself long ago not to show suffering, even in her sleep.

The average Asian female's hair grows at a rate of about 6 inches per year. Average bra cup size A and average height 158 cm. Average body measurements of weight, bust, waist and hips: 50.4 kg, 78.4 cm, 60.6 cm and 85.6 cm respectively. Kyoko was not average. Not average in looks, personality or, anything else. When Ren Tsuruga/ Kuon Hizuri checked on the sleeping angel the next morning, not even 8 hours later, he would find a goddess in the making. Undeniably he certainly believed that her beauty could easily rival his own mother's.

He found that her hair had easily grown at least 20 inches overnight and he could clearly see the enchantingly dangerous curves that were outlined by the flowing silk sheets that pooled around her. Her height had increased to a little over 167 cm and most of her childlike features had melted away. He could still see the cute little pig-tailed girl if he looked really hard, but other than that, she had changed dramatically.

"That little bastard will never recognize her." He chuckled to himself as he quietly shut the bedroom door and went to the kitchen to retrieve their breakfast. "She's mine now Sho-chan." He smirked as he poured the thick red liquid from a pouch to a glass for her.

It was disturbing. The apartment had been cleared of all of her belongings, but it hadn't even been 12 hours since he spoke to her last. He had Shoko-san check her workplaces, and she hadn't shown for any of them since they last spoke. What had happened? She wouldn't just leave, even though he had said all of those things to her. She didn't have the money for it. He was starting to worry. This was not like Kyoko to just disappear. Aki Shoko had suggested they backtrack to the Station and check with security to see if they had heard anything from her since they evicted her last night.

They had made it to the station finally at around noon to find several police cars and security combing the alley. Shoko approached the area with apprehension. She had a really bad feeling about this. "Umm, excuse me officer. Could you tell me what happened here? We're looking for a friend of ours that's missing." She asked the middle-aged man in a suit.

"Miss, I'm going to have to ask you to step back. This is a possible murder scene." He told her as She and Sho watched another officer carry out a blood-soaked Moz Burger windbreaker and hat.

Sho froze in shock when he saw the bloody name-tag on the jacket that clearly had the name Kyoko written on it. He fell to his knees and let loose an inhuman howl of emotional pain. "NO! It can't be. It can't be her! What happened? Why? Oh god! This is my fault!"

The investigator reprimanded the rookie for showing the evidence in plain sight. "Miss... I need you and your companion to follow me." He told Shoko after witnessing Sho's display.

Shoko helped him to his feet and led the despondent teen into the station where the detective sat them down in a small conference room that had been reserved for witnesses. He slid the packaged name-tag across the table, and Sho caressed the plastic encased item gently with his fingers as his tears fell onto it. "Young man... Did you know the victim?"

Sho nodded shakily. "What happened? Where is she? Where is my Kyoko-chan?" He whispered brokenly.

"Son... I don't know how to say this without being straightforward about it. Her body is missing; however, with the amount of blood loss... there is no way she could have survived. The coroner is telling us that it is quite possible that an artery was cut, most likely her throat. We have been investigating several cases similar to this, but this is the first time our perpetrator has taken the body with him." He explained quietly. "Could you tell us about this young lady... Kyoko-chan? What did she look like, how old was she?"

Sho quietly began sobbing. "She was my best friend. She was only 16. We came here from Kyoto together. She was like a little sister. Oh god, Kyoko I'm so sorry." He whimpered. "I'm so sorry I said all of those horrible things to you last night." He cried with remorse. "It's all my fault. I should have protected her." He wailed as her gold eyes haunted his mind.

Aki Shoko wiped her own tears and wrapped the broken teen in her arms and held him tightly. "Sho... There's no way you could have known." She consoled him.