Sorry this is a bit late; I needed a bit of time to develop a good twist. I hope you enjoy, and thanks for all the readers and reviewers out there!

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Lucky her father's plans for marriage were delayed. She had a few more weeks of waiting and in those weeks she discovered something. She was pregnant. Her position as a respectable princess would be shattered if anyone found out, and she dreaded to think about it. Although she was overjoyed with the thought of carrying the Chairman's child, she was very worried about what would happen if her father found out. So Suzume came up with a clever little plan to get herself out of all the things she hated most about her family status. Runaway.

She packed a bag of simple necessities and bided her time wisely. Her father was so preoccupied with connecting the two families that he never even noticed her daughter's disappearance. It was her younger sister, Kei, that notified her father. It was days after she had successfully escaped the palace when he found out too, but he didn't believe it. He spent days combing the entire castle for her, but eventually he gave up. Now it was Kei who would be wed to the Prince from the east.

Suzume walked along the dirt roads for some time. She felt an odd sense of freedom in it, and almost preferred it. She no longer had to wear those uncomfortable shoes and her feet didn't start to hurt until late in the night. She walked past a village, and around a rice field, avoiding as many eyes as she could. She didn't look like a princess because she was able to get her hands on some of her servants normal clothing, but she had to make sure that she wouldn't be recognized as the vampire princess and heir to the thrown of Suoh. She slept in a hollowed out tree when she saw the sun peak over the hill tops. If felt a bit strange, but she really didn't mind it at all. She was never suited for princess life anyway.

It would be weeks later that she finally made it to the town her and her baby would live happily in. It would also be only a few days before Suzume saw the Chairman again. If it had been any other circumstance she would have run and told him that she was going to have a baby, but he was in a situation that made Suzume's heart break. There in the center of a field, her beloved Kaien fought a group of vampires. With the skill he possessed in using his sword she could tell that this was the job that he talked about. She felt betrayed and used all of a sudden, and a cry made it way up her throat. Unfortunately it was after the last swing of the Chairman's sword, and he heard it as clear as day. She saw him look her way and tried to hide behind the tree she was leaning against. She closed her eyes tight and prayed that he hadn't seen her, but when she felt a hand on her wrist and a strong tug she knew she would be the next to meet his blade.

"Suzume?" he asked completely stunned "What are you doing here, your miles away from the castle."

"I ran away, I was not going to marry that prince." She said keeping her gaze at the ground.

"Is that so?" he noticed her uneasiness, and glanced back at the battlefield behind him. "Suzume, I-"

"You killed them! Why did you kill them?!" she nearly screamed, eyes finally locking with his and containing a fiery anger.

"It is my job Suzume, a job that I fell most shamed to have." She was shocked at his answer, too shocked to say anything else. "It is something that I was forced into, and something that I do not enjoy doing. I do not enjoy killing creatures from the race that the woman I love is from." He looked at the ground.

"Why not runaway?" she asked placing a hand on his cheek. Her anger towards him was gone, and the betrayal gone with it.

"I can't, they will always find me. I cannot leave this life, it is my obligation as a, a vampire hunter."

"Kaien," she moved closer to him, standing on her toes. "I probably won't see you ever again," she kissed him. It was long but bittersweet. She pulled away, grabbed her things and ran off into the direction she planned to go in the first place. "I love you," she called back as she waved to him.

"I love you too, Suzume." He waved back a sad smile graced his lips. She was right; he probably wouldn't see her ever again…

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"Excuse me, Miss, are you alright?" someone said from behind Shiori.

"No," she answered without looking. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and pulled away. She wiped the blood from her eyes and mouth, and stood. Turning to the person behind her she kept her face definite. "I don't need your help; I can take care of myself."

"Really? A beautiful girl like yourself weeping in the forest at night, you couldn't possible need my help." The man said. He hand dazzling blue eyes that pulled Shiori in and blond hair that sparkled with each graceful movement. She was stunned for a moment, and the man took this opportunity to introduce himself.

"Hello, my name is Tetsuo, and who might you be?" he took her hand and kissed it, much like Aidou did when first meeting Shiori.

She pulled her hand away, snapping out of his charm quickly. "Why should I tell you?"

"It was our fate to meet, Miss. How else would I have found you here in the woods?" he winked at her "Please tell me your name, so that I may have something to say when I dream of you when I sleep."

She pulled back, only still listening because he said something about fate. Could this be the man that Kei said would answer her questions? She cringed at the thought.

"I will only tell you my name if you tell me something I need to know." She said keeping her distance from the man.

"Anything for you," he said

"Do you know anyone by the name of Kei? She had long hair and," she couldn't find any other words that would help.

"Kei? Yes I know a Kei! She is the princess of the Suoh clan, her sister went missing a few days ago, Princess Suzume I think."

"What?!" her mother, a princess, and now Kei was her aunt?! "Take me to the castle, now." Shiori said

"But you still haven't told me your name."

"Shiori, now take me to the castle." She said

"Anything for you, Shiori." He said her name gritted her teeth as he took her hand and pulled her through the snow.

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Finally after hours of Tetsuo talking her ear off, they arrived at the castle. It was nearly day, and Shiori could see that Tetsuo didn't like the sun very much. As day got closer he talked slightly less and his pace quickened. She saw guards standing outside of the gate and smiled. She cracked her knuckled behind her back and walked up to the guards with a confused look.

"Excuse me, sirs; I think my friend and I are lost. Could you please tell me where we are?"

"You are in Aurora. This is the Palace of the Suoh family, it getting late run on home now." One of the guards said with a small smile.

"Thank you very much." She placed her hand on his shoulder, tapping his pressure point in the process, he fell to the ground and Shiori quickly did the same to the other guard. "Quick put on one of the uniforms." She said to Tetsuo as she pulled the long shirt from the first guard and the belt holding his sword. She placed the helmet on her head after putting on the shirt and strapping on the belt, securing the sword in place.

"How did you learn to do that?" Tetsuo asked

"I had self defense lesson when I was young." She said as she moved to open the door. "My teacher said that I was good at using the pressure points to my advantage. What do you think?" she smiled at him from behind the helmet.

"I think that you are a very dangerous woman." He laughed as they walked through the gate and down the long hall way.

"Shh, we must blend in." Shiori whispered.

"Oh course."

They slipped down a hallway and into some rooms, most were empty but if they encountered anyone they pretended to be mere guards passing by. It worked very well; most people didn't even give them a second look. When the two got to a hallway leading in tow different directions they decided to split up. Shiori went to the left and Tetsuo went to the right.

She heard a familiar voice and stopped. She hid behind the doorway and looked into the room slowly. A man sat on his thrown and a young girl sat beside him, another man stood in front of them and Shiori's breath hitched in her throat. It was the man that killed her mother. The vampire hunter was much younger and had a lot less scars, but she knew it was him. His eyes were exactly the same, hard and cold. Although here he looked like a prince. She looked back at the girl sitting in the chair and couldn't really tell who it was, but when she spoke the answer was clear. It was Kei.

"Of course father." Kei said "It would be an honor to marry this man."

"Good, then you will take the place of your sister. The wedding will commence the day after tomorrow.

"Thank you, your majesty." The hunter disguised as a prince said

"I'll leave you two alone to get to know each other for a moment." The king said as he got up from his chair and left the room.

Shiori watched as the vampire hunter stood up straight and walked over to Kei. He leaned in very close to her face and said something that Shiori couldn't hear. Kei looked very frightened, and Shiori assumed it was from something that the man said. She looked like she was about to say something, but the hunter took out a knife and held it under Kei's throat, Shiori was about to jump out and tear the man to pieces but she felt a cold sensation on her back. She turned around and noticed a painting on the wall. It was the same as the one in the house that pulled her into this world. She tried to get away from it but it had already started to pull her inside. She could have screamed but it would have alerted the vampire hunter to her eavesdropping. Quicker then before she was plunged into the in between world. With no time to breath she fell back into the old house back in the Cross Academy forest.

She sighed and pounded the ground. She got to her feet and made her way to the door quickly, hoping to find Kei back at the moon dorms. She stumbled out of the house and looked around. Sitting at the base of a tree was Takeshi. He looked shocked to say the least, but he jumped to his feet and rushed over to her.

"Shiori!" he pulled her into a hug "What happened?" he pulled away and looked her up and down, her scratches and bruises worrying him.

"Are you alright?" she asked him

"Yes," he looked at her again "Are you?"

"Yes,"

"Why did you ask me?" he seemed confused

"You look, sad?" she couldn't quiet tell.

"You were missing for nearly an hour, I was worried about you." He said

"Worried? There was no need to be." She said as she turned to the direction of the dorms.

"No reason, that house disappeared and then reappeared! How was I not suppose to worry about you?"

"I can take care of myself, Takeshi."

"It doesn't seem that way to me, your hurt." He took her wrist "What happened?"

"I got into a fight." She winced as he touché her injured shoulder. "Be careful, please, that hurts."

"It's dislocated." He grabbed the upper part of her arm and moved up. A crack echoed through the trees and Shiori bit her lip, trying not to cry out. "Sorry," he said as he took off his uniform coat and draped it over her. He untied the ribbon around her neck and gave it to her so tat she could wipe any blood or dirt from her face.

"Thank you,"

"Come on it's nearly day, you need to sleep." He walked away and she followed behind him quickly.

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That's it for now, I hope you liked it. I won't update until I have 4 more reviews. Thank you!