Blood Lust Chapter 11: Broken Bonds, a shugo chara! fanfic

Title: Blood Lust

Author: CryingInsideOut

Summary: After three months of fuzzy memories and getting used to her vampire senses, Amu finds comfort within the Hoshina vampire clan. As she tries to piece together her previous mundane memories, war is coming, but the Hoshina clan will have little survival without help from the enemy Tsukiyomi vampire clan. Relationships will be made and waters will be tested as war looms ahead.

Disclaimer: Shugo Chara!, Rapunzel, and The Little Mermaid, and associated characters are not a property of mine.

Chapter 10: Broken Bonds

{Edit 08.26.14: It's been 109324802384 years. Rewatched a few eps of SC!, and am ready to finish the story. But first things first: gotta rewrite/revise all these crappy chapters bc there's like friggen plot holes and I am NOT satisfied. Please be patient bc currently fixing all the chapters. Some things might be different, but hopefully it won't affect the story too much. Thank you so much for being patient, encouraging, and super supportive. Love you. (: }

"Ohayo, Kaasan!" A small six-year-old boy gave his mother a mischievous grin before running to pounce into his mother's awaiting arms. Hoshina Souko gave her young son a dainty smile as she combed his messy hair straight with her delicate fingers.

"Kaasan," Ikuto whined and swatted his mother's hands away, "you're ruining my perfectly good hair!" Souko laughed an airy laugh and nodded, acting like what he said was to be taken very serious. Ikuto continued with his pout, but within a few seconds, a smile broke out.

"What are we gonna do today Kaasan? Can we go to the park? Are you going to make me jello? Blood jello? Did you know it's actually my favorite even if it sounds really gross?" Souko cut off her son with a finger to her lips. Ikuto watched curiously, but nodded, keeping his mouth shut.

"Gomen, Ikuto-kun, but Kaasan has chores to do around the house today. Of course I would make you jello, but after you feed for lunch. And yes, I do know blood jello is your favorite." Ikuto perked up at the mention of jello and nuzzled his head into this mother's chest.

"You're the best, Kaasan!"

"Hai, hai." Souko gives her son a soft, appreciative smile. "Run along now. Why don't you go play with Utau-chan?" Ikuto pouted but climbed off his mother lap nonetheless. He gave one last glance at Souko's smile and stalked off to find his younger sister.

It wasn't like he didn't like playing with Utau. It was just that she was always clingy and always forced him to play tea party with her and her dolls. Ikuto was a boy! He doesn't play with dolls and pretend to drink piping hot tea in dainty little princess cups!

"Utau!" A tiny girl with already long blond hair that rivaled Rapunzel's glanced up from the picture book she was reading.

"Ikuto!" Utau threw the book aside and scrambled to attack her brother in a crushing hug. The girl was only three-years-old, but she already had half the strength of a pure-breed warrior vamp that had unlocked their full power. Ikuto let out a groan in protest and lightly shoved his sister away.

"Ikuto! Did you come to play Family with me? What about Tea Party? Or how about you read to me? Hide and Seek? Ooh! I can be a princess and you can be the prince that saves me!" Utau squealed happily and bounced from foot to foot.

Ikuto sighed and rubbed his eyes. All of the options sounded stupid and boring to him. The only one that didn't sound troublesome at all was reading to Utau. Except for the fact that Utau sometimes interrupted him and made him change the ending because she just didn't like the ending. But then again, it was definitely much better than playing Family or Prince and Princess with his eccentric sister.

"I guess I can read to you," he paused and let a smirk crawl on his face after an afterthought. "Or I can teach you a new technique." Utau's violet eyes widened visually.

"B-but Okaasan doesn't like it when you teach me things," Utau whispered quietly and twiddled her thumbs nervously.

"Kaasan doesn't have to find out. Besides, Tousan would've encouraged us to learn more techniques so it doesn't really matter anyways." Ikuto smiled triumphantly and began to exit Utau's pink-infested room.

Utau reached out her hand but quickly withdrew it back. She honestly wanted to learn a new technique, but she also didn't want to be the bad girl who got scolded by their mother. Utau bounced in anticipation for a few seconds, watching Ikuto's back disappearing down the hallway. She let out a soft squeak and quickly ran down after Ikuto, calling for her brother. "Matte kudasai, Ikuto!"

Ikuto could feel the satisfying smirk grow on his face as he felt his little sister's tiny hands clench the hem of his shirt nervously.

"Daijoubu," he murmured softly. "We'll be careful."

The two Tsukiyomi siblings stealthily slipped past the kitchen when their mother's back was turned away from them and quietly pulled open the heavy front door. Before Utau could take one step through the door, their mother cleared her throat. Ikuto and Utau froze in place.

"Where do you think you two are going?" Souko asks.

Ikuto turned around and caught the sight of their mother's beautiful face sporting a slight frown. She crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for an answer. Ikuto's eyes darted towards Utau who was frozen in place.

Racking his brain for ideas, Ikuto feigns a sigh. "You caught us, Kaasan." Souko arches an eyebrow at her young son's response. A slight shriek escapes Utau's mouth as she looks at Ikuto, surprised at how easily he was to give up.

"Pardon?"

"We were going to go out and play Tag or Hide and Seek." There was definitely something going on, but Souko just couldn't put her finger on it. She gives her son a look that reads "you're lying," but doesn't say anything otherwise.

"All right, you two be careful then." Utau nods her head rapidly and runs out the door. Ikuto discreetly rolls his eyes at his younger sister's antics. 'Way to not make it obvious!' he thinks. Before Ikuto could give his mother another innocent smile and run out the door as well, Souko's hand wraps around her son's arm lightly. Ikuto gives his mother a puzzled look.

"Please don't do anything reckless. He's watching us," she whispers into his ear quietly. Ikuto grits his teeth and clenches his fists tightly, his knuckles turning white.

"Aa, wakatteru. Don't worry." Ikuto puts on a brave smile and runs out the door to find Utau hiding behind a cherry blossom tree.

As the beam of sunshine hit his face and the sound of chirping birds reached his ears, he let out a breath he hadn't realize he had been holding in.

"That was close." Ikuto turns around to face the younger Tsukiyomi who was to become the heiress in the future alongside with Ikuto, who would become the heir to the clan. Utau emerges from behind the tree with a small frown on her face and an expression that read "I told you so!"

Before Utau could open her mouth, Ikuto interrupts her.

"Okay! Today I'm gonna show you the skill where you can summon a weapon so you don't always have to carry one around with you when you're older!"

"Can you really do that?" asks Utau with excitement in her eyes.

"Yup! Tousan taught me it before you know…" Ikuto pauses and frowns.

"Anyways, I was taught Slash Claw, but I don't think that will suit you." Ikuto adds, quickly changing the subject before Utau would start crying.

"Slash Claw?" she asks.

"Oh! You've never really seen it before haven't you? You were sick the last time Tousan taught me it. Here, I'll show you!" Ikuto grins mischievously and tells his sister to step aside.

Closing his eyes and concentrating on molding his raw energy like what Tsukiyomi Aruto had taught him, Ikuto takes in a deep breath before opening his eyes once again. "Slash Claw!" With a skilled flick of his left wrist, a giant purple cat paw lunges towards the bush in front of Ikuto and swipes at it, cutting the bush in half.

Utau's eyes widen in awe, and her mouth forms a perfect 'O.'

"Teach me that! That was super cool!" Utau giggles and jumps up from the ground to attack her brother in a hug.

"U-utau!" Ikuto stammers and falls onto his back from the sudden force. Utau falls with him and continues to giggle, not letting go of him. Ikuto groans and tries to pry her arms away from his waist.

"Get off," he complains, a twitch of annoyance on his face. Utau finally gets off and stands up, bouncing with excitement.

"Ikuto, you have to teach me that! That was super cool!"

"Er, I don't think you'll be able to perfect that technique. It was pretty hard even for me to learn it. But since you have really good energy control, I can teach you to summon a weapon. How does that sound?" To Ikuto's annoyance, Utau gives off a high pitched squeal in delight.

"Yes yes yes yes yes yes ye–mmph!"

"Okay, okay!" Ikuto shuts her up by placing a hand over her mouth.

"First things first," Ikuto says and sits down on the soft grass, Utau following suit. "What kind of weapon do you want to use?"

"Hmm," Utau thought and placed a finger to her lips–a habit she had always had whenever she was thinking hard.

"What kind of weapons are there?"

"Well, it depends; there are all sorts of different types of weapons. There are swords, daggers, giant fans, bows and arrows." Ikuto also sheepishly adds after a few seconds, "and there's also a lot more, but I can't really remember what Tousan had told me."

"A trident!"

"Eh?" asks Ikuto puzzled at his sister's sudden outburst.

"I want a trident as my weapon."

"Why do you want that?" His sister could have any type of weapon in the entire world and she chose a trident? Sometimes he just couldn't understand his sister at all.

"Because it looks cool. Duh, Ikuto! And in The Little Mermaid, Ariel's father always carried one! I want to carry one too! Maybe I can be a queen when I carry that!" Ikuto sighed wearily, but nodded nonetheless.

"Aa, a trident then. You can use a trident." If he heard one more thing about The Little Mermaid, he was going to kill himself. It was always "The Little Mermaid this, The Little Mermaid that!" around Utau. The Little Mermaid had always been Utau's favorite princess story, and she had once proclaimed that it will always be her favorite no matter what other new princess stories she will read. To be honest, Ikuto had always thought Utau would like Rapunzel more because of her hair. But apparently, it was The Little Mermaid Utau had favored.

"Okay, first you have to close your eyes and take in a deep breath," says Ikuto remembering back to what his father had taught him. Utau nods and complies, closing her eyes and taking in a somewhat overly-exaggerated deep breath.

"Now keep your eyes closed and imagine your energy in your hand." Utau kept her eyes shut tightly and imagined her energy swirling in her hand. She let an airy giggle escape her lips as she felt something tickling the palms of her hands.

"Utau! Don't laugh! It's going to ruin your technique," Ikuto whines. "Now you have to start over!" Utau snapped open her eyes and pouted.

"No! I won't giggle! I promise! I don't want to start over!"

"Just start over. You already lost your concentration."

"Fine, meanie!" Utau stuck out her tongue and shut her eyes once more, taking in another exaggerated breath and concentrated on molding her energy into the palms of her hands, feeling the tingling feeling once more, but this time holding her giggle in.

"Okay, now imagine the trident in your head."

Inside Utau's mind was a black trident, shiny and sleek. She couldn't wait for it to appear in her hand!

"Okay, now you have to concentrate as hard as you can so it can appear in your hand!" Utau complied, but nothing happened. Not even after a minute passed. She opened her eyes and stared at her empty hands.

"Hey! It didn't work you liar!" Ikuto raised his hands defensively.

"Don't blame me! Slash Claw didn't work the first time either! Try again," commanded Ikuto.

And so the two Tsukiyomi siblings spent half the afternoon trying to get Utau to create a weapon for her. Even with her flawless energy control, it was hard for her. But then again, she was only three-years-old.

When it was around one in the afternoon, Utau had finally managed to summon a black trident. She let out a soft squeak at the sudden weight in her hand and snapped her eyes open. She gaped at the sleek and shiny trident in her hand, the points on the weapon pointy and ready to either offend or defend.

"Woah," Ikuto breathed out. "Now we need a name for your technique. Tousan and I came up with Slash Claw, so what do you want yours to be?"

After thinking for a couple of minutes, Utau spoke her thoughts. "Princess's Trident." Ikuto grimaces slightly.

"Ano… that doesn't sound very nice with it. Your trident's black. Don't princesses like the color…pink?" Ikuto was slightly afraid at that moment. He was afraid that Utau would get mad and burst into tears, causing a scene. Instead, Utau thought for a few seconds and slowly nodded.

"It's black… like a nightmare," she whispers. Before Ikuto could open his mouth, Utatu interrupts. "Nightmare Trident. I want it to be called that." Ikuto grins and gives his sister a nod.

"Aa, then it will be called Nightmare Trident!"

"Ikuto! Utau!" Ikuto and Utau whip around to face an angry Souko. She quickly runs over to her children and tugs on their wrists.

"Put it away, Utau," demands Souko. Utau, who was horror-stricken at her mother's unusually angry appearance, nods dumbly and dispels the technique.

"What's wrong, Kaasan?" asks Ikuto.

"I told you not to be careless! I told you so many times to never use another technique. If he finds out, we'll all be in trouble!"

"Oh, but he already found out, dear Souko." Souko's eyes widen in fear as she turns around to face her new husband; Hoshina Kazuomi.

Kazuomi had a blank expression on his face as he stared down at his new wife and her children.

"Che. I tell you to never teach your children anymore techniques and you don't listen to me. Come, Souko. Let's a have a chat." Kazuomi turns around and expectantly waits for her to follow him.

Souko looks at her children worriedly and stands up from the crouched position she was in earlier, dusting off her apron.

"Please go back to your rooms. I'll call you when lunch is served," she says to Ikuto and Utau. Utau nods and runs back into the compound without another thought. Ikuto, on the other hand, grits his teeth.

"But Kaasan –"

"Ikuto. Please." Ikuto sighs and nods reluctantly. He runs ahead of his step-father and turns his head to glare at Kazuomi. Kazuomi returns the glare, but with a modified version that sent shivers down the young Tsukiyomi's spine.

"Souko," Ikuto heard his step-father bark out. Curious, Ikuto hid behind the door and listened, making use of his young vampire skills.

"Kazuomi," Souko began but never finished. Ikuto heard a sickening slap and watched as his mother fell to the ground, holding on to a red cheek.

"What did I say? I told you not to teach them any techniques, but you went behind my back and disobeyed me!"

"It wasn't me who taught them that!"

"What are you trying to say? Lying won't do you any good, you piece of trash!" Ikuto bit back his tongue as he watched his mother look up at her new husband with angry tears in her eyes. Hurt, he saw in her eyes.

"So you're trying to tell me that you don't believe me? Despicable," Souko spat out.

"Pathetic. You can't even go a single conversation without crying. Annoying piece of trash." Kazuomi sneers and kicks Souko in the ribs, smirking as he heard a satisfying crack. She lets out a pained howl and clutches at her chest, trying to keep her breathing even. Ikuto's eyes widen and his hatred for Kazuomi has been taken to another level.

As Kazuomi walks away, Ikuto runs out and kneels beside his mother. He notices the palm of her left hand glowing a pastel lilac.

"Kaasan? Are you okay?" he whispers and frowns at his mother's pained face. Souko places the glowing had to her ribs and manages to rasp out a 'don't worry about me.'

"K-kaasan. Gomen… I didn't mean to get you in trouble!" Ikuto's bottom lip quivers and he tries to stop himself from crying. He was six-years-old for crying out loud! Most six-year-old vampires were already out and crying over broken bones and ripped arms, not because he had gotten his mother in trouble!

"Shh," Souko cooed, ruffling Ikuto's hair. "I'm fine. Don't worry about Kaasan, ne Ikuto-kun? Smile. Smile for Kaasan." Ikuto manages to give her a watery smile, which she accepts.

"Good. Now don't cry, baby. Everything will be fine."

At five in the morning, Ikuto was woken by a loud explosion that shook the Tsukiyomi compound. His eyes snapped up and he sat up, gasping. He flung his covers off his body and jumped from the bed only to be caught in a tangle of blankets. He heard five more explosions going off continuously, and he heard the high pitched wail of his sister next door. What was going on, he asked himself over and over again as he finally freed himself from the blankets and bolted out the door.

As he slammed open Utau's door, he noticed the little girl curled up in a lump underneath the blankets, trembling.

"Utau," he called out. His sister's blond hair poked out from underneath the covers, and he realized she had been crying. Her violet eyes were flooded with tears as she reached out her hand helplessly towards her brother. Ikuto ran over to her princess bed and picked her up, carrying her close to his body.

"Ik-ikuto! What's going on?" she asked through choked sobs. How could Ikuto answer if he didn't know what was going on himself? He chose to ignore her, and instead ran out of her room and towards the master bedroom where his mother had slept in.

The house was unusually quiet, Ikuto realized. Despite the fact that it was only five in the morning, there would usually already be servants up and bustling about. With his hands full, Ikuto kicked the double doors to the master bedroom open with two kicks, calling for their mother. To their surprise, no one was inside and the bed had been made neatly. It was odd to Ikuto and to Utau as well; their mother was never up this early. The latest Souko would sleep in until would be seven.

"O-okaasan," Utau choked and wailed for their mother.

"Shh!" Ikuto hushed his crying sister and darted down the narrow hallways and towards the kitchen. Again, there was no one. It didn't take Ikuto long to realize that the whole Tsukiyomi compound was abandoned except for the two Tsukiyomi siblings. The last place to check would be the front yard, which was where Ikuto dashed to next. Throughout the scavenger hunt to find at someone – anyone – Ikuto had switched Utau to carrying her on his back so the both of them would be more comfortable.

As soon as Ikuto pushed the front door open, his eyes widened and his mind went numb as he took in the surroundings. Fire. Blood. Smoke. Dead civilians scattered everywhere. He could hear Utau's breath hitch in her own throat as she also absorbs the scene, scarring her young mind.

"Foolish Souko. Look what she has done to our compromise between the humans and the vampires." The voice registers in Ikuto's mind, and he finally realizes it was Kazuomi who had stood behind the two siblings.

"K-kaasan did this…?" he asks dumbly.

"It would seem like it. Tell me Ikuto. Who is it that you see standing in front of you mercilessly stabbing an innocent human with her katana?" Kazuomi almost purrs in delight as he kneels down and whispers into his step-son's ear. Ikuto slides Utau off his back, taking a small step back.

Standing in front of them not only a few feet away, was their mother dressed in a white yukata that was bloodstained with human blood. Her dirty blond hair blew in her face, and she slowly reached up to hook a piece behind her ear, staining it with the blood on her hands.

"Kaasan!" Ikuto screams, terrified. His mother would never do this. She was the gentlest person he had ever met! So why? Why would she go around slaughtering and creating a massacre? Souko's eyes darted towards her children and husband. She coldly ignored her son's cry and her daughter's paralyzed form. Taking a step back, she pulled her katana out of the victim's body and raised it to her lips, licking the blood clean off the metal sword with her tongue.

"Tell me Ikuto," she began, her voice cold and eyes hard. "Do you hate me? Do you hate your own mother?"

Confused, Ikuto took another step back and tripped over Utau's body. For an unknown reason, Ikuto couldn't tear his gaze away from his mother's eyes. They were filled with blood lust and something else. Was it regret? He didn't know as he landed on the floor next to his pale-faced sister.

"If you hate me enough because I killed your friends," she points the tip of her katana towards Ikuto's group of human friends that lay slumped together surrounded by a pool of blood, "then come find me. When you are fifteen, come find me. I will wait for you arrival. You will be filled with enough vengeance and hatred to have the heart to kill your own mother who has murdered almost the entire village. When you turn fifteen and have your full powers, come find me."

Ikuto stares back with tears blurring his sight. His mother walks to him, and he begins to tremble, unable to move like he had been paralyzed. His eyes widen as his mother leans in to give him a ghost of a kiss on his cheek. His breath comes out shaky and uneven as he watches his mother leaning over to do the same with Utau. Instead, Ikuto finally manages to grab a hold of his senses and holds up his fist to punch his mother in the jaw with enough force to send her head flying to the right and cause her jaw to swell and bruise.

"Don't touch her!" he screams, voice full of hatred and disbelief already. Startled, Souko backs away with her hand pressed upon her swollen cheek and quite possibly broken jaw. Turning her back towards her children, she disappears in flutter of peacock feathers, leaving the two Tsukiyomi siblings forever without another word.

"Che. You have no mercy even for your own dad?" Kazuomi managed to speak even though there was a katana stabbed dangerously close to his heart. He spat out the blood that clogged his throat.

"You are not my father," Ikuto replies rather coldly. "Tell me, where is Souko?"

"Hn. Souko, eh?" he coughs and sucks in a painful gasp as his hand clutches at his heart. After a few more seconds of coughing and throwing up blood, Kazuomi's eyes flicker towards the now fifteen-year-old Ikuto. "Foolish Souko is waiting for you…. at the church…" he rasps out.

"Hn," Ikuto smirks almost sadistically and lifts his clawed hand. "Die, old man. Slash Claw!" There was a splatter of blood drenching the master bedroom and staining the wooden floor boards. Exiting the bedroom, Ikuto steps over slouched servants, ignoring the blood and gore that decorated the champagne colored walls.

"Gomen, Utau," he murmurs and flashes out of the Tsukiyomi compound, ignoring half of the relatives and family members that lay dead on the ground. Bastards deserve this, he thinks to himself as a flash of pink and warm honey fills his mind.

As Ikuto pushes open the church doors with a loud bang, he narrows his eyes at the lone figure that stood in the front where normally priests would stand. Hoshina Souko looks up from the ground and tilts her head to side, letting her blond curls slip out from behind her ear. She gives her son a soft smile and walks towards him, placing a cold hand onto his cheek.

"My, you've gotten taller. Do girls swoon over you, Ikuto?" With lightning fast reflexes, Ikuto uses his claw and slashes through Souko. Instead of blood, an explosion of yellow origami paper flutters all around and litters the tiled floor.

"Because of you, our compromises between the humans and the vampires have long disappeared. Humans had foolishly declared war on the vampires, but have backed down on the last minute. Vampires are now hated on. All because of you. Do you have no regret?" His obsidian eyes lock onto the real Souko's eyes.

Souko's eyes flashes for a second, but she smiles nonetheless. "You've matured Ikuto. Would you like to talk things out? Come, I have made blood jello for you," she says calmly and holds out her hand.

"I'm done talking," he says dangerously. "The Tsukiyomi Clan and Hoshina Clan will never be the same anymore. But it doesn't matter anymore. Because the person I love has to go through something she doesn't deserve to go through. Because it's too dangerous. Because she's different. Because she's no longer mortal. The Tsukiyomi Clan and Hoshina Clan dies out today. And so will you." With that, he lunges towards Souko.

Our bonds are all gone. What happened, Kaasan? Bonds are broken, and so is the Vampire-Human pact. Tell me Kaasan, what about Tousan? Did he break your heart and mind so much you broke? Where has he gone? Why did he leave? He had such a strong bond…. with you. With me. With Utau. With us…

Terminology:

Matte kudasai! - Please wait!

Daijoubu - Don't worry/It's okay

Wakatteru - I know already.

Ano - Um/Uh

Fact: There used to be a Vampire-Human pact worldwide, where whenever war was to break out between the town against other town, the vampires would help out the town they lived in. In return, the humans would leave the vampires alone and often gave vampires whatever they wanted, and making them promise to never feed off of or go against their own townspeople.

Fact: After the near slaughter of the town Seiyo by Souko, all towns and villages around the world has destroyed their own Vampire-Human pact; they weren't going to take the chances of having their own village's vampires betray them, thus causing an almost chaos between the two different breeds. One of them being that vampires now feed on whatever blood they find, even if it means their own civilians.

Fact: A pure-breed vampire receives their full powers when they turn fifteen. Although born as a vampire, they don't get their maximum vampire powers until they hit the fifteen age mark. However, pure-breed vamps are still able to train and ready themselves with the little power that they have until turning fifteen.

Fact: Kazuomi is a pure-breed vampire. He just comes from a different clan; the Hoshina Clan, the same clan Souko is originally from.

Fact: Tsukiyomi Aruto was the most recent clan leader to the Tsukiyomi Clan. The previous leaders to the clan had rejected the idea of Aruto marrying Souko, but the two married secretly. When the marriage was eventually revealed and the fact that Souko was pregnant with Ikuto, the first Tsukiyomi leader and the first Hoshina leader decided to emerge the two clans into one, taking the name Tsukiyomi. Before Utau was born, Aruto had suddenly disappeared overnight, thus Souko was forced to marry Kazuomi.