Embarrassment 1: An unpleasant surprise

Young Kanon made it to her classroom with just seconds to spare, however was still quite winded. Her teacher just shook his head. Embarrassed, she quickly took her seat at the back of the class and put her head in her hands.

Why am I still so tired, she thought to herself. After sleeping in you'd think that I'd be wide awake. And why is it always the same dream.

"Hey Kanon," she heard a girl say. She looked up to see her best friend, Nariko, just inches away from her face. "I thought you weren't going to make it to school again. You really need to go to sleep earlier so that you're not late to class all the time."

"Sorry Nariko," Kanon replied. "It's just that I've had a lot on my mind lately."

"Oh, like a boy?"

"Nariko!"

Nariko laughed and turned around in her seat. "Just joking. Just joking."

Kanon had a hard time staying awake in class that day. She tried everything from staring out the window at a bat that was hanging on a tree outside to actually paying attention in class. Nothing worked, and before long she was out.

The dream that she had was the same as it had been for the past couple of nights. Kanon was standing in a dark area with only one beam of light shining down upon her. In front of her was a boy looking no older than fifteen, passed out on the ground.

"You know you want to bite him, Kanon," a voice called from the darkness.

"Why would I ever want to bite him?" Kanon asked, bewildered.

"It is your instinct, Kanon. Just like your mother, you are a Pushuke."

"I'm a what?" There was no answer this time. "Hello."

Suddenly, Kanon's heart started to pound. It felt like she had just run an entire marathon. She dropped to her knees clutching her chest in pain.

My heart, she thought to herself. It hurts so much. What's happening to me? Is this a dream or not? Why do I suddenly feel so warm?

Many other questions were flying to her head. Her vision seemed to narrow and her breathing became more rapid. Not only that, but her heart continued to beat more and more rapid, causing so much pain in her body. The next thing she knew she woke up screaming, completely scaring the rest of the class.

"Kanon, what's wrong?" Nariko asked, completely frightened.

"I'm so sorry," Kanon said, tears forming in her eyes.

She quickly grabbed her things and ran out of the class room before her teacher could say anything. She ran straight to the girls' restroom. After making sure no one was there, she started crying. Her heart was still aching and it didn't take long though to realize that her nose was bleeding.

Miles away at the Maaka mansion, Anju was nervous. Her bat had just seen Kanon run out of the classroom. It was still too early for her to leave the mansion, but she was curious as to why her cousin would be so scared. She focused all of her bats attention on Kanon.

Kanon didn't leave the bathroom until her heartrate had fully subsided. She had no clue why she kept having this dream. But this was the first time she had ever had a nosebleed. The thought came to mind of bringing it up to her mother, but that was just too embarrassing. There was no way her mother would understand what was going on.

"Just like your mother," the voice had said to her in the dream, "you are a Pushuke."

Her teacher decided to send her home for the day. After all, she was a good student who made decent grades. Kanon thanked her again and again, before running out of the school. She couldn't help but notice that the bat from the tree was flying above her.

Why is our family always being followed by bats?

When she got home she decided to take a cold shower. For some reason, her body felt steamy hot. However, she screamed again when she looked in the mirror. Poking out of her gums was none other than two small fangs. She cautiously reached up and touched them only to freak out when she realized they were razor sharp. Not only that, her normally bright blue eyes now had a red tint to them.

"What the hell is happening to me?!" Kanon screamed, tears forming in her eyes again. "This has got to be some sort of dream!"

Instead of taking a shower she quickly went back to her room and locked herself inside. At this point she needed some time to think things out. The bat outside her room saw everything from Kanon constantly touching her new fangs to her completely crying. That meant that Anju saw it as well, and she knew exactly what was happening to Karin's daughter. Her vampire powers were awakening.

"Big sister," Anju said quietly, "I'm so sorry."

Anju couldn't go straight to her parents with the news of Kanon. They would only freak out. The only person she could turn to was none other than Kanon's father, Kenta Usui, the only man who still knew the truth of Karin's family.