All SM characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi, but the OC's and the story belongs to me. Do not steal!
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1
Two months earlier
The roaring sound of a strong, fast engine filled the afternoon air. A small smile made it to her lips when her dark green eyes finally spotted the black Harley on the distance, making its way down the road and to the manor.
The woods all around, with tall, green trees offering shelter from the heated sun, also offered a nice, gentle breeze, and she willed herself to wait, resting against the double oak door. One hand lazily playing with the ponytail that was keeping her chestnut, wavy hair tied up at the top of her head.
The Harley finally made it, stopping right at the front porch, and she smiled again. Wrapped in a black leather jacket, with tight, faded blue jeans covering long legs and black riding boots, the rider surely knew how to pull off that -completely intentional- hot biker look.
"Welcome back," she greeted, not moving from her spot, as the rider took the helmet off, letting the wind play with short, blonde hair. "I really don't get it," she said, tilting her head to a side. "What's with you and that stupid bike?"
"I like the speed," came the husky reply.
She rolled her eyes at the answer. "Like you're not fast enough on your own," she noted. "Why the bike, when you can just go out and run wild through the woods?"
One blonde eyebrow went up at that, as green eyes looked at her. "In the middle of the afternoon?" came the half mocking, though amused, question. "Kind of risky, don't you think?"
She blinked at the obvious being pointed out to her like that. "Right," she agreed, frowning lightly and shrinking her shoulders. But then she straightened up again, narrowing her eyes. "You know what I mean."
"Comes in handy when going to the city," the blonde finally answered, with a sided, confident smile. "Besides, chicks dig it."
She arched a questioning eyebrow at that last sentence. "You mean the ones that don't know you're actually female, right?" she pointed out, teasingly. But then she frowned at her own words, tilting her head to a side. "No, wait... chicks still fawn at you even after knowing you're a girl..." she mumbled to herself.
The blonde laughed at her, obviously amused, walking past her and getting inside the manor.
And she followed her right in. "But you don't even like humans!" she argued.
"True," the blonde agreed, with a slight nod of her head. The cocky smile never leaving her features. "But that doesn't mean I can't mess with them from time to time, now does it?" she said, taking off her leather jacket to reveal a white racerback tank top with a rounded cleavage. A white gold chain was proudly hanging from her neck, with a small, circular reliquary resting right over the valley of her full breasts.
"You're completely hopeless, did you know that?" she asked, amused at her friend's never ending annoyance towards humans. Though, for someone who declared to hate them so much, she surely knew her way around them. "Anyway," she said, shaking her head, "Mamoru asked for you."
The blonde stopped in her tracks to look at her, frowning curiously. "Any new lead on the Bloods?"
She shrunk her shoulders at her then. "I don't know..." she mumbled, admittedly. "He just said he wants to see you..."
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Sunlight was pouring in from the opened windows, illuminating the room. Shelves with books of all sizes and kinds filled two of the walls entirely. A glass cabinet with ancient weapons against a wall, a large, oak desk with a last generation laptop right next to one of the windows, and a set of green velvet sofas set in the center completed the room.
A handsome man stood there, in the middle of the room. He had jet black hair, short and well kept, and his dark, deep blue eyes, framed by thick black eyebrows, added to his already handsome, deceitfully young face; he didn't look a day older than twenty five, though he was much older than that. And he was reminded of that fact as he eyed the small pocket book he held in his hands; the printed words bringing kind memories of his childhood, long ago.
It was rather curious to him, the way months could feel like centuries, yet how things that happened decades ago felt as if it had just been a few days ago.
He chuckled upon his own thoughts, shaking his head, as he willed himself to wait. Though muffled because of the structure of the house in itself and the way it has been built, he had heard the sound of the motorbike's engine, and her distinctive sent reached his senses, getting stronger and stronger, until the soft knocked on the closed door finally announced her presence.
"Come in," he said, in a low tone, turning around and smiling gently at the tall, slender blonde woman as she walked in.
His smile disappearing from his features when she closed the door behind her, taking a few steps into the room and stopping right in front of him, bending down on one knee, bowing at him.
He always hated it when she did that.
"Haruka, please," he called out to her, shaking his head and frowning lightly.
"You asked for me?" she asked, raising her eyes up to meet his.
"Come here," he said, helping her to stand up again, to then place his hands on her shoulders, gently kissing her forehead and chuckling lightly when he noticed her fidgeting uncomfortably.
Some things would simply never change...
Deciding that going through that one argument would be, once again and as usual, unproductive, and knowing better than to set her into a bad mood when he was just about to ask a favor of her, he simply shook his head, sitting down on one of the single sofas. He waited for her to take a seat right in front of him, resting his elbows on his knees and looking straight into her green eyes.
"I'm afraid I'm going to need your help," he started to say, as he took a photograph he had purposely hidden inside the small pocket book. "There's someone I want you to look after," he said, handing her the photo.
A curious frown came to her face as she took the offered picture, studying it for a moment, before looking up at him again. One blonde eyebrow going up. "A human?" she asked. "You want me to look after a human."
Here we go, he thought to himself, as he prepared himself for the rather long explanation. "She's very special, and..."
"A human," she stated again, interrupting him. "What about the Bloods? The war is not over..."
"I know."
"I'm a hunter, Mamoru."
"I know that, too," he agreed, nodding his head. "And you're the best one."
She frowned again. "Then why do you want me to look after a human?" she asked, not nearly as offended or exasperated at the idea as he had expected her to, though obviously not pleased either. "Kunzite could do it. Or Rei," she offered. "You can ask someone else. Anyone else."
"But I need you to do it," he insisted. "I need you to keep her safe. If the Bloods find her..."
"Why would they want her?" she asked, interrupting him yet again. "Besides food."
He let out a sigh, massaging his temples. She was being particularly stubborn today. "She's more than just a simple human, Haruka," he offered. "And the loft's been already set up for you."
She arched an eyebrow again, keeping his gaze for a moment, before looking down at the picture in her hands. Surely studying the young girl's features, or as much as that one photograph allowed her to. It only showed what it looked like some kind of music room, as a girl in her late teens stood there, eyes closed, with a violin resting under her chin and long, curly aquamarine hair cascading down her back and shoulders.
It wasn't much, but it was all he had right now. And he allowed himself to take the fact that the blonde was even looking at the picture as a good sign.
"Why me?" she finally asked, in an honestly curious voice.
"Because I trust you," he answered. "You know your way around humans, even if you don't like them so much. And you're strong and independent."
"And I don't have a mate," she added for him, nodding her head. "I see."
"It's not that..."
"This way, no one would miss me, right?"
His gaze softened at her then. "Haruka..."
"It's ok," she was fast to add, shaking one shoulder, unaffected. "I don't want a mate, anyway."
"What one wants and what one needs are often two different things," he pointed out. "One day you'll find your mate."
Green eyes rolled at him, and he frowned, already knowing how she felt about the subject. She had said herself she didn't particularly want a mate many times before. She was a loner, and she preferred it that way. She claimed it made her job easier, free to come and go as she pleased or needed to. But he suspected it had more to do with her not wanting to attached herself so deeply to someone while the possibility of losing her mate to the Bloods was still quite real, with the war still going on.
She was a tough one.
Hard to reach at times, she had built hard, concrete walls around herself over the years. And though he could understand the feeling, having been there himself, and knowing a cold, clear mind was needed in order to do the job, he couldn't help but think that a mate would do her good.
Sure, she was only seventy two. She was still young, she still had time. Some elders still considered her a cub, regardless of her entering her proestrus cycle decades ago. She still had to enter her estrus cycle though, and that would only happen with her mate. And the blonde kept on arguing on how pointless and actually unproductive it would be for her to have a mate, saying how the last thing she needed right now was to be in heat. She didn't want a mate, and she clearly didn't bother on finding it. In her mind, it only meant one more thing to worry about.
She was a hunter, a fighter; her only purpose was to hunt down the Bloods, one by one if necessary.
And though he understood her point, he couldn't help but think her way of thinking on that particular matter was entirely wrong. For him, finding his mate had opened him up, presenting an entirely new perspective to the war against the Bloods. And he was willing to do just about anything in order to protect the ones he cared for.
And that included the stubborn blonde in front of him now.
"Despite what you may think, you are dearly missed when you're not here," he said, smiling softly and gently.
She adverted her eyes at his words, unable to look into his caring blue eyes. Understanding where she was coming from, he moved to sit right next to her, encircling his arms around her shoulders. His smile widening just a little when he felt her silently accepting the embrace, slightly resting against him.
"No one would ever replace your family, Haruka," he whispered, gently. "And you are a part of this coven as much as anyone else. And we all care about you."
"I know," she whispered back, low and huskily.
"I'm asking you to do this because I trust you, and I know you'll be able to do it," he explained, gently cupping her face with his hands and looking into her green eyes. "But also because you need to understand, not all humans are bad."
She shut her eyes close, fighting down the uneasy feelings he knew his words brought to her. No matter how much time passed, she still missed them. Her family…
And she blamed and hated Bloods and humans alike, for it was their fault.
"Whatever,", she mumbled, shaking her head and breaking the embrace, putting herself together again. "So what makes this one so special, anyway?" she asked, taking the photograph once again and staring at it. "She looks young."
"She's eighteen years old."
"Oh, I see," she said, as her trademark sided smile came to her lips. "A little kitten."
Mamoru chuckled at her choice of words, nodding his head. "Yes," he agreed, amused. "She just moved into town two days ago. Edward's been looking after her..."
"Edward?" she repeated, frowning again. "She's from England?"
"She's been living there for the past twelve years, yes," he answered. "But she was born here."
One questioning eyebrow went up at that. "You seem to know an awful lot about this one human," she pointed out. "What are you not telling me?"
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Original A.N.: estrous cycle is like the menstrual cycle in animals (mammals, of course). It marks the females hitting maturity. Proestrus cycle basically means she's an adult, but not sexually active, and therefor not able to reproduce quite yet (not that it matters that much in Haruka's case... if you know what I mean... *winks*). Normally, the proestrus cycle last somewhere in between a few days and a week, maybe two. But bear with me, and lets ignore that little fact, kay?
