Finally, chapter 4 is out! This took a bit longer because I wanted to take the suggestions and focus more on describing. Hope it improved.

This chapter, I also had a friend edit it for me...so, credits to toujoursavoir for the help!

I do not own Blood+ nor any of its characters.


The next morning, Saya had managed some time to play catch with her niece before David arrived in the SUV. She opened the door to the passenger seat and literally had to jump to get inside.

"It's strange. I still find it difficult to believe that she's only a year older than me," David mused as he kept his gaze on Akemi happily skipping into the Omoro.

Just as Saya had managed to get comfortably seated in the leather seat, Haji had already shut the door to the back seat and placed his cello case next to his feet. The engine roared as David turned the key in the ignition and the car drove off, leaving a small cloud of dust behind.

For the entire duration of the thirty minute ride, Saya stared out the window to see how the world had changed around her while she was asleep. Many of the stores she remembered visiting often were gone and replaced by new ones and even some of the homes. The structures that were not torn down and replaced were either closed or threatening to collapse at any moment. A lot has changed, Saya thought and soon after, thought about what had happened in the previous night. Her discovery of what the world had turned into in her absence was not anything close to what she had in mind, but at least she made it back in time to stop this from turning into an all out war again.

Saya snapped out of her thoughts as the car suddenly made a sharp right turn into a large Japanese style home.

"Sorry. I always forget where to turn until I get to it," David apologized as he released his foot from the gas pedal to steady the car.

The car slowed to a halt and the car fell silent. The three were greeted by a man dressed in a suit and were led to an empty room. Although confused, Saya trusted David and followed him in. Without warning, the wall to the right of the entrance started to slide, revealing a laboratory. Despite never having paid too much attention to scientific technology, she still noticed that it had also improved as time passed.

Amongst the bustle of people dressed in white lab coats, which surprisingly never seemed to change no matter how long she stayed asleep, she noticed a familiar face seated at the end of the lab hunched over a microscope. The glasses, the ponytail, the stoic look on her face when she focused on her work, everything about her remained the same except for the slight streaks of grey running down her light brown hair and wrinkles forming around her aged skin.

"Julia-san," Saya whispered to herself as she did notice something different in the doctor. She looked tired and worn down. If Julia had merely closed her eyes, Saya would have believed her to have passed away.

"Mother, she's here. Saya's here," David called out upon entering the lab.

Immediately, at the sound of Saya's name being spoken, the woman shot her head up and scanned the room for the source of the greeting. When her eyes landed on Saya, the latter noticed that there was no spark of hope remaining in her eyes. They were lifeless, without a single trace of the determination and passion that once lit them. However, Saya understood. Her husband had been taken from her, and her one and only son faced the possibility of meeting the same fate every day.

She could still be happy. If only…if only I…Saya's thoughts were cut short as Haji placed his bandaged hand over her shoulder with a worried look on his face. He had known her and loved her longer than anyone else, and knew what was racing through her head. The Chevalier simply shook his head and Saya understood.

Trying her utmost best to forget about the pitiful look in Julia's face, Saya forced a smile and simply greeted her as if she didn't notice anything wrong. "It's been a while Julia-san. I understand you need a sample of my blood to run some tests."

"Yeah, come over this way," the woman responded. Moving seemed to be a burden as she struggled out of her seat and slowly made her way over to a room. There, Saya saw a bed with white sheets and next to it, a tray of syringes and cotton swabs.

After an hour of waiting around in the manor, Saya noticed the wall slide open and Julia step out of the lab.

"After running multiple tests, I can safely say that Saya's blood does crystallize when mixed with Akeno's blood," she announced.

Saya didn't exactly know how to react to the news. By being able to crystallize Akeno's blood, she was still able to help in the battle against the chiropterans. At the same time, her blood was poison even to her nieces.

"That settles it then," David broke in. "Saya, you'll be joining us on our mission in China."

"China?" Saya blurted out in shock.

The man looked over at Saya for a moment, puzzled. "Kai didn't tell you?" he asked.

Confused, Saya looked up at Haji for any answers but only received an equally puzzled look followed by a shrug. Judging by the expressions on the two chiropterans' faces, David understood what the answer would be and led them to his office.

Upon entering, Saya noticed a thick, worn-down book resting on the center of the large oak table. She was barely able to make out the letters etched onto the book even despite the condition of the book, and read Joel.

"Joel's diary? Why do you have that?" Saya asked.

"I inherited it," David answered, solemnly, "from the last Joel."

"Then you mean," Saya couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence and David understood, simply nodding his head.

"Just last month actually," David informed her. "He was assassinated and we're guessing it was done by whoever is behind the chiropteran uprising. Guess they thought that getting rid of Joel would get rid of the Red Shield since he didn't have any descendents to inherit it."

"So then you're the new head of Red Shield?" Saya said, breaking the silence that lingered in the office.

The blond shook his head as he answered, "No. We want to keep our existence as secret as possible. It would be trouble if we were being targeted."

Saya nodded gravely in understanding and decided to drop the subject. "So this mission in China you were talking about. What is it?"

"Right. We narrowed down all of the locations of Cinq Fleches' research buildings to three locations based on its surroundings. The bases in China, Mexico, and Russia all have prisons located right next to them. And since we know that they're using prisoners to research on, there's a high chance we'll find Akeno in one of them," David explained. After briefing them, he told Saya and Haji that they had three days to prepare for the trip to Shanghai and that Kai and Akemi would also be coming along.

After an hour of planning their infiltration, the man in black who greeted them when they arrived drove Saya and Haji back to the Omoro.

"Welcome back," Akemi cheerfully called out as her aunt walked into the pub.

Saya remembered David's plan to take the small child with them on their mission and tried to mask her regret with a smile.

"What's wrong auntie Saya?" Akemi asked as she clearly did not fall for Saya's guise.

Kai, who had already figured out that David had told her everything, decided to interfere and sent Akemi to her room. "Your auntie's just tired from the long day. Why don't you go play in your room while we have a short talk?"

After much struggle and arguing, Akemi finally gave in to waiting in her room until Kai and Saya were done talking. They decided to take the conversation outside as they were afraid Akemi would hear.

"You know what the three days David gave us is for, don't you?" Kai started off and only received a puzzled look from Saya.

He let out a deep sigh before saying, "It's to tell Akemi everything. She already knows she's different from the other children, but she has no idea what really happened to her sister and the kind of situation she's in."

"But she's so young. I can fight, so why do we need to drag her into this?" Saya shot back.

Kai was taken aback for a moment and continued as he understood what she was thinking. "Because…it's because she can sense her sister's presence. And right now she doesn't feel anything. We don't know what happened to Akeno and she has a right to know." Saya saw the look of pain in his eyes and it was clear that he felt the same way as her.

Just then, the two heard a small yelp and turned around to see that Haji had caught Akemi listening in on their conversation through the doorway. Tears poured down her face as she screamed, "You're lying. Akeno's not dead."

Kai rushed over to calm her down as Saya could do nothing but helplessly look over at her niece apologetically. He then carried her to her room and came back out as soon as she had fallen asleep.

"We'll let her sleep for today and explain everything tomorrow, I guess," Kai said and headed over to his own room for some rest.

Not so long after Kai left, Saya retreated into her own room followed by Haji.

"Haji. What should I do? How do I tell her the truth?" she asked, half asleep.

"Trust yourself and have faith in your niece," the chevalier responded, although by then, Saya had already fallen asleep.

The next morning, Saya woke up to the sound of Kai pounding on her door.

"Saya, wake up!" he yelled, "Akemi's missing!"