Chapter 20:

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN SHUGO CHARA… Don't sue me, I don't have money…

To refresh the readers of the characters just for the record:

Amu (17) – the main character. A not so normal girl.

Ikuto – a vampire who sank his fangs on Amu when she was a child. He appears years later at Amu's schools as a new teacher, the start of Amu's troubles.

Yoru – the familiar of Ikuto who rarely appears.

Tadase (18) – a hunter who considers Ikuto a threat. He attends the same school as Amu as the school president. Uses a pistol as a weapon.

Kuukai (23) – a senior hunter to Tadase. Close to a big brother to Yaya.

Yaya – a child living with the association due to a tragic past that befall to her family. The only living relative of Tsubasa.

Ren – a high positioned man in the organization that hunts vampires and other dark creatures.

Kagami – ex-partner of Kuukai. A dhampir.

Kairi – a vampire working with the organization.

Eiri/ Venus – Partner of Kagami. The one who released Vlad. Dhampir turned vampire.

Vlad – the pure breed vampire that Eiri released. Ancestor of Ikuto.

Elizabeth – the woman that Vlad loves in the past

Utau – sibling of Vlad.

Sub characters:

Haruka – a member of the organization

Nagihiko – friend of Amu.

'Damn it!' Ikuto cursed as he approached Kairi, Kagami and Kuukai. He looked like he had woken up in the wrong side of the bed; his walk unsteady.

'What's wrong?' Kagami asked the vampire. It is rare that he would see a vampire look sluggish. He had always though that vampires would always appear so noble before humans and dhampir.

Ikuto stared at Kagami surprised that the dhampir would ask him such a question. 'Ah nothing. I just dreamed something.' His expression suddenly looked bitter. I just had to appear in my worst before these guys.

Kagami have met a lot of vampires enough in his lifetime to know if one is lying or not. 'Come on and tell me.'

'Telling you won't change anything.' Ikuto stated.

Kagami stares at Ikuto waiting for an answer. He knows well that Ikuto would answer him anyway.

Ikuto sighs, 'Nothing really. I just went of to breathe somewhere.'

'Shall I play around a bit?' Utau uttered. She walked the streets as if she were a normal person.

Under the sun, she received the gaze of the people admiring her godly beauty. She gave an aura of a star that cannot be approached by anybody. Hmmm…. What shall I do now? Vlad is watching Amu and Venus. I suppose I could check the other side on what they are planning. But I doubt they have any idea what to do. The last resort I guess is playing around and filling my stomach then.

'Excuse me.' A man approached Utau with a smile. 'Can you help me with something?'

Utau stopped; she faced the man realizing that he is a dhampir. She put on a grin and invites the man to accompany her. 'I'll help, but you'll need to do a favor for me as well.'

The man smiled. He agreed and follows Utau.

Not all dhampirs join the organization just as they were all aware of their difference to a normal human. Dhampir are having exceptional ability – superior intelligence or superior strength.

Utau dragged the man into a café. There she spoke like a normal person would do when flirting. She manipulated the man slowly until she had him under his control. She wanted someone to do her bidding at the moment; to keep an eye on the organization discretely.

'So Utau-san when we will meet each other again?' the male named Kamio asked.

Utau smiled.

The man, Kamio, could tell that there is something brazen in her smile that made him think twice for a moment to follow her.

Amu stared at Vlad enter. She watched him as he untied her hands. The air felt cold as she is left alone with Vlad in the warehouse.

'Don't think that you can roam free here. Even if you escape, I will sure to hunt you down.'

Amu grits her lips knowing that Vlad would not be lying. 'So how long do you plan to keep me? Just what is it that you want?' She glares at him waiting for a response from him. Just how long do I need to tolerate this? Ikuto.. Please come and save me…

'Keep hoping, I doubt that he would come unprepared. I would very much like to see how he will face me – my kin.'

She decided to interrogate more the man. 'So you are saying that Ikuto is blood related to you?'

'Yes. He and I share the same blood.'

'So what will you do when he comes?'

'It depends on how he will entertain me. I really like to have a good reunion with him as well.'

This guy is a real threat… she thought. She couldn't read his mind.

He smiled. 'You really have beautiful eyes, not so different from her.'

'?' she wonders who he could be referring to and then recalled the dream that she had. Uhmm… Wait... Could it really be a dream? She stares at the man before her. She wonders if he and the man in her dream is the same, but there is no way of asking him. 'I don't know much the situation, but you were sealed by the organization correct? What did you do in the past?'

He showed a grim smile. 'Do you want to know? The things I did in the past?'

She stared at him, couldn't help think that he is playing with her. 'You wouldn't speak about it huh?'

Who said I wouldn't? You are free to ask me anything. Anyway the boy you said named Ikuto… I could tell that he is my kin. I could tell it from the scent from you. To think that a kin of mine would choose the same woman as I would show the great resemblance.'

'Same woman?'

'Shall I tell you more? The beauty of the woman I loved. She is more beautiful more than anything that I have encountered as if she shone like a holy being. She treated everyone equally despite living a luxurious life. She showed kindness to a creature even to myself.'

She listened as he narrated almost his life.

'… … Although she is a human, she loved me, the same love that I gave her. Though the humans later condemned her. She was given a choice to live or part with me as her parents left her. She is adorned, but they wanted her for themselves, away from the dark creatures as if she would be soiled.' He paused realized that he almost went out and said the words he didn't want to say to her the most – the promise he had with her to meet once again.

She stares at the reaction that he had momentarily. She wasn't expecting that he would look alarmed when all he had shown her is the expression of coldness, and a straight face the moment they had met.

He realized that he had let his guard down; he turned around and left her alone.

TBC…

A/N: Sorry. It appears more like a fill-up page rather than a chapter. Thanks for your continuous patronage… I read all your reviews… Thank you for reading.