AN: Hiya, again. Tis Caligula II, delivering his first ever romantic story. Please review, but don't forget to read first.

She is running scared. It is pursuing her closely. It isn't human. Nor man-made. It's power is overwhealming. It has her cornered. She assumes her fighting stance. It assumes its own. It attacks, she blocks. It's a game of reaction now. Who will make the first and last mistake?

She does. The thing has now floored her. She feels the ground tremble as it approaches. It raises it's huge arm, ready for a final assault. It utters the last sound she will ever hear.

'You see now, I can't be stopped.'

It brings it's massive hand down...

xXxXxXx

Asuka woke with a start. Her pajamas were soaked with sweat, her entire body aching, her brain struggling to comprehend what she just saw.

Slowly she drifted back to reality. She was in her bed, safe in her father's home and the thing she saw was just something out of a bad dream.

She went to her bathroom, which was luckily enough, next door to her bedroom. She carefuly took her pajamas off and stepped in the shower.

Ice cold water poured over her. Asuka loved taking cold showers. They had always made her feel great, even after the worst of nights and most hateful of days. This time however..

As the cold water ran over her bare body, she reflected on the dream. The run, the fight, and that mysterious creature. An unusual chill which had nothing to do with the water ran across her back when she thought of it. It was as though the chill had belonged to someone else.

Asuka never beleived in dreams. She lived in the moment, with no regard for the past or the present. But this dream made her feel different. Like it wasn't a normal dream.

She stepped out of the shower, and gazed at her nude, dripping reflection in the mirror, the dream wandering off to the back of her mind.

Asuka didn't like the way she looked. In all her years, she had never had a boyfriend and she thought that she was too ugly to have one. All her friends were in some sorts of relationships. She alone was... well, alone.

Wrapping herself in a towel, she returned to her room, which looked more like a mini-gym than a girl's personal space. Asuka had adorned her walls with posters of metal bands and scattered around her room were dumbbells and excercising machines, which were tested to their very limits by Asuka's compulsive need to train.

Asuka quickly put on her school uniform and quickly scannedher room for forgotten schoolstuff. Satisfied that there were none, she grabbed her little schoolbag which was propped against the wall and strode towards teh kitchen.

There, her dad was already busying himself making an extremely unusual breakfast. Cooking was his hobby and he was arguably the best chef Asuka had ever known. The only downsize was that he liked experimenting with recipes, each experiment less apealing to Asuka's taste buds than the last.

'Hiya, dad.' said Asuka.

'Hello, Suki-chan. Care for some deep-fried caramels?' asked her dad, while holding up a plate of suspicious-looking lumps. 'Made them myself.'

'No thanks dad. Besides, I don't think human testing is legal.' said Asuka, managing a chuckle.

'Ah, damn. First the cat, now you. Isn't anyone going to try my caramels?' mumbled her dad. Asuka secretly laughed as she came over to him and hugged him.

'You know what, dad?' asked Asuka. 'I think I'll eat out today.'

'Ah, okay.' said her dad, feighning depression. 'Now, be a good girl, no fighting at school, no vigilante buisness and for the last time, your skill as a warrior is not to be squandered on mere bullies.'

'Dad, we've been through this before. Those kids have nobody to protect them.' said Asuka.

'And you have no reason at all to protect them. Bullying is a stage of life we all have to go through.' said her dad as he tapped her on her back. 'Now off to school.' she said as he kissed her on the cheek.

'Bye dad!' she called as she picked up her bike from behind the garden shed in her front yard and rode off towards school.

xXxXxXx

'Stupid idot gym teacher!' mumbled Asuka as she rode her bike through the city, simply to vent some anger.

Her gym teacher gave her detention for beating up two idiots who were picking on a short and realy shy guys. The cowards ran to the nearest teacher the moment Asuka kicked their asses. They made up a sad story of 'evil Suki who like beating up guys' and Asuka ended up in trouble. On top of it, the entire school now thought that she was insane, due to her frequent fistfights.

'What a bunch of sorry whiners.' she said to herself as she made a U-turn and headed home.

As she swerved through the many cars, she got the funniest feeling that she was being watched. She turned to see if anyone was there, but she couldn't see anyone of importance. She shrugged it of as a manifestation of her anger and carried on.

She was riding through some backstreets, when she heard someone scream, as if in trouble. She immediately turned towards the location of the screamer.

'Someone is in trouble.' she said to herself. 'Suki to the rescue.'

The adrenaline in her ears was already unbearable when she reached the place.

There was a small man, covered in blood and lying on the ground. He could have been out cold, but all that blood... Asuka thought that she might be late.

Hovering above him, was a tall, black haired man, dressed in a khaki suit. His back was turned to Asuka.

'What have you done to him, you bastard!?' shouted Asuka.

The man slowly turned to face her.

Asuka had never seen a man like that before. He was obviosly caucasian, though she had never seen anyne look this white. His pale skin stood in stark contrast to his long black hair. His face resembled a white deathmask out of which two, eerily pale blue eyes gazed at her, their lids red and heavy.

She was taken aback. She thought the man was a ghost, until she noticed his clothes.

They were most definitely a uniform of sorts, with a red tie under his khaki jacket and eagle-shaped decorations on his chest. A belt tightened his midsection and huge military boots adorned his long legs.

She looked back at his lifeless face. Those two eyes looked dead, as if there was no soul behind them.

'Who..who are you?' asked Asuka, her voice shaking with adrenaline.

The man did not answer. He simply started walking towards her, as if he was on a stroll through a park.

'Stay back!' she shouted, praying he would listen. She had a bad feeling about touching that palid skin.

The man resumed his steady pace.

'Stop! Now!' shouted Asuka as she assumed her battle stance and cracked her knuckles in hopes of intimidating her opponent.

Nothing but the soft taps of his boots on the pawement below.

Asuka could take the tension no longer. She broke into a run and tried to charge at the man. To her surprise, the man grabbed her and slammed her into a nearby wall.

'Ugh.' grunted Asuka as she dodged a fast punch. The guy was no pushover and he knew it.

She decided that a frontal assault might not be too wise of an idea. Carefully, she aimed a punch at the man's face, which he promptly blocked, but he failed to notice Asuka's foot that made contact with his exposed shin. ASuka then took her oppotunity and unleashed a powerful combo that threw him backwards.

Asuka was surprised to notice the mand did not even grunt in pain as he was hit by her powerful attack. It seemed that he was intent on staying silent.

Slowly, he got to his feet, looking unchanged. Even his breathing was still even.

Although Asuka made every effort to watch the man's every move, his next maneuvre took her completely off guard.

He charged at her in an instant, and sooner than she could think, he had her in a bone-crushing armlock. But it didn't stop there. She felt him trip her as he hooked his leg behind hers. she slammed on the mercilessly hard pawement and he sat on her hip, preventing her from getting up.

Asuka could do nothing as tha man calmly pulled out a hypodermic syringe and sunk it in her neck.

Twitching and trying to punch him didn't help. This guy was a pro. Whatever was in that syringe was already starting to work. The world around her faded out, the man's foggy eyes aimed directly at her own. They will be the last thing she sees...

AN: Like this chapter? Please review. This is my first time writing a real romance fic, so advice is appreciated.