Hakumei held her arms, shivering with fear as she looked around the sterile room, tears brimming her eyes as memories flooded back to her. A hand on her shoulder made her jump and turn to Julia, who was holding a needle.

"Daijobu," she smiled gently, "We'll only take a few blood samples, a skin sample of your Chiropteran arm and then one of those spikes of yours okay?"

Hakumei nodded in fear as Julia gingerly took her arm and held the needle to her skin.


"Don't you think you were unkind in your approach?" Haji asked as he followed Kirei down the street.

"You mean with Hakumei?" Kirei asked, glancing back and receiving a nod, "Iie. There's a reason I needed her gone today."

"Why's that?" Haji asked.

"Just follow me okay?" Kirei asked, staring straight ahead.

Haji nodded as Kirei led him into a music store with guitars in the window displays. Inside, guitars and other various instruments lined the walls and were set up near the back. Behind the counter, near the entrance, a young man read a magazine.

"Why are we here?" Haji asked.

"Just lemme do the talking, okay?" Kirei replied with a smirk as she approached the guy behind the counter, "Konban wa. Kirei desu, anou…a little over a year ago, I came in here and left you a guitar, and I asked you to repaint it for me—I have my order right here."

She handed him a slip of paper, which he looked over.

"Oh hai," the man nodded, "Wait here."

"Arigato," Kirei smiled.

"When did you drop off a guitar?" Haji asked, turning to her.

"You remember when we came here about a year ago when Riku was still alive?" Kirei asked, to which Haji nodded, "Well, while you guys were off with Saya, I was off here, I decided that I couldn't have Hakumei's guitar with me while we were hunting for Diva—it'd have surely been destroyed. So I came here and, for when we got her back, I had them repaint it."

"How so?" Haji asked.

"Oh," Kirei smiled secretively as they heard footsteps approaching, "You'll see…"

"Is this the one miss?" the man asked, handing over the instrument.

Kirei gasped as she held it in her hands delicately. She'd asked him to decorate it with blue roses and vines. It was stunning.

"This is it," she smiled in a sigh, "Oh! And do you have that special pick I asked for?"

The man held up a small box.

"Right here," he handed it to her; "There are a couple in there with different styles of the same designs like you asked."

"Arigato," Kirei sighed as she gazed at them; all emblazoned with a blue rose in some way, shape or form.

She handed over the charge—and the interest she'd had to pay for him keeping it—and smiled at Haji as they exited the store.

"Now," she began, handing it to him, "I want you to be very careful and take this to my room. To be on the safe side, go into my room using the window. After you're in my room, I want you to delicately hide this in the closet. Can you do that?"

Haji nodded and held the guitar close before looking around and then disappearing in a blue streak while no one was looking.

"Hopefully this'll help patch things up a little…" Kirei sighed, "And it makes for a great birthday gift as well…"


Hakumei glared at the wall and one of her eyebrows began twitching as a few Red Shield scientists tried to pry out one of the spikes in her arm. They'd already taken about two or three—she didn't care to remember—blood samples and had taken a few skin samples of her transformed arm. Her anger reaching its peak, she shot a two-foot long spike out of her arm unintentionally, making it shoot through the wall beside her. A man on the other side of the wall who just barely missed being hit by it shouted in fear and shock.

"What the fuck?!?!" he yelled jumping back.

Hakumei raised her left hand and laughed nervously.

"Anou…oops…?" she laughed innocently.

"Y-You're free to go…" Julia told her, somewhat distracted by the impressive new 'window' in the wall separating two of the many labs.

"Hai…" Hakumei jumped up and skulked out of the room putting her hand to the side of her face to be 'discreet' about her exit.


Hakumei sighed as she walked into the room Kai had provided for the babies. With a smile, she sat down nest to them playing on the floor and played with them.

"You know," she began in a quite voice, "You're mama was very beautiful. She could sing like an angel…and she was so sweet. We used to play hide and seek in the gardens and we'd have tea parties together…play tag…it was so much fun…"

She began reflecting on those happier times. She would never reveal how cruel Diva had been or how she'd ordered her Chevalier to do such unforgivable acts…

"Yes, she was so sweet..." Hakumei tried to fend off her anger and sadness as those horrid memories flooded in.

-----Flashback-----

With that evil smirk in place, he came to tackle her; for she began to sit up. Hakumei squeaked in shock as his body came against hers. The moment came slow, almost as in slow motion, as his hands found her face and he tried to kiss her. She denied and his body collapsed into hers, her legs being fiercely parted and she cried out, feeling him warm against the most sacred part of her body.

"Iie!" she wept as he kissed her earlobe, trying to get at her lips, but she would not let him.

He growled in the pleasure of her rejection, taking the sides of her face and holding her head in place as he kissed her. He slipped his tongue into her mouth, exploring it, and she screamed into his lips, weeping…

"Onegai...Stop..." she wept as he ended the kiss, kissing her fiercely down the neck, making way to her sensitive breasts.

She burst into sobs as he spoke.

"Diva..." he whispered.

-----End Flashback-----

Tears lingered in Hakumei's eyes; she wiped them away and picked up one of the teddy bears. She made voices and made the bear act as a puppet for the babies as she tried to forget the anger and sadness dwelling in her belly.

A few days later…

"David," Julia called him over to her computer, "Take a look at this."

David stared at the screen while she explained.

"After testing her blood," Julia explained, "I've discovered these…strange abnormalities in Hakumei's blood. It appears that her blood has not lost its potency like Diva, even though she too was to bear her Chevalier's babies. I can't say for sure if my suspicions are correct, but I believe that perhaps, seeing that her blood heals, it could also possibly restore the D Nucleotide's potency when a Queen gives birth due to its healing properties. It's possible that her blood potency was simply regenerated once it was given away, but I think we ought to bring her in for questioning—on the off chance that she may know something about this."

David nodded and pulled out his cell phone to call Kirei.


"Why do I have to go back there?" Hakumei asked fearfully as Kirei explained what David had told her.

"They aren't gonna perform any tests, don't worry," Kirei eased, "David said they just wanna ask you some questions. I'll even come with ya if that'll make ya feel better."

Hakumei sighed, but nodded.

"Okay," Kirei turned to Lewis, "Oi, you ready to head out?"

"Hai," Lewis nodded, opening the door for them, "Let's get going then."

Hakumei took a deep breath before following Kirei out the door to the car.


"I don't really know what you're asking…" Hakumei turned to David after Julia explained her conclusion to her.

"We want to know," David began calmly, "if you have any idea why your blood potency is up instead of gone like Diva's if you had bore Karl's children."

Kirei turned to Hakumei and gazed at her uneasily. Hakumei's eyes fell and she fiddled with her hands in her lap.

"Anou…" she began, trying not to cry, "I didn't technically bear his children…Diva ordered Amshel to abort my pregnancy…so they were killed before I could give birth to them…"

"I see…" Julia stroked her chin thoughtfully, "So there's no real way of knowing if my suspicions are correct or not without more testing—which we already have the necessities for—don't worry," she added when she noted Hakumei's frightened expression.

"Listen," David continued, "We'll continue with out research here. You two go back and relax okay?"

"Hai," Kirei nodded, taking Hakumei's arm gently and helping her up.


"Daijobu ka?" Kirei asked as they rode back to the Miyagusuku residence, "You're awfully quiet…"

"Daijobu…" Hakumei replied sadly as she stared out the window.

Kirei shrugged and tried to make small talk with Lewis. Hakumei, meanwhile, pondered over the past few nights. She'd been quite alone for the most part. Karl hadn't visited her since she left for the labs…She'd started to get the feeling that...perhaps Kirei was right…Perhaps Karl really didn't love her? With a sigh, she leaned against the door and closed her eyes sadly. Kirei glanced at her cautiously as Lewis went on about some new menu he'd prepared for the restaurant. Hakumei had been growing more and more depressed as the days past…Kirei hoped it wasn't because of her—and she seriously prayed it wasn't because she'd had Haji patrol outside her window in case Karl decided to pay her a visit…Kirei knew Hakumei had no idea that Haji was there, but she certainly hoped she wasn't sad that Karl wouldn't come to see her…Was she really still smitten with him? Kirei scoffed at the thought. How could she be? The bastard raped her and left her, calling her a toy—his 'plaything', his 'doll'. There was no way Hakumei could still love him!! Kirei stole another glance at her lonely friend…Could she? A thought suddenly occurred.

"Oi, Hakumei-chan!" she smiled, "Don't forget, tomorrow's a special day!"

"Doshite?" Hakumei asked, giving Kirei a blank stare.

"Nani?!" Kirei gasped, "Don't tell me you've forgotten your own birthday!!"

Hakumei's eyes widened.

"My birthday's tomorrow?" she asked, putting a finger to her chin in thought.

"Hai!" Kirei smiled, "And we're gonna have a party for you like the ones I threw at Lycée—it'll be great!"

"H-Hai…" Hakumei nodded solemnly, still a little down about not seeing Karl in so long.


Hakumei tossed and turned under her covers. Why was it so hard to sleep tonight? She sighed miserably as she pondered over the events that had recently taken place…After Saya had gone back into her long sleep, Kirei had taken Haji—who'd somehow survived that huge crash in the Opera House—and was now sleeping with him. She and Kai were put in charge of Diva's children—Kai choosing to take over more often and leaving him busy most of the time. Hakumei pondered him for a moment. Kai seemed like a nice guy, but he reminded her a little of James the way he seemed to be so uptight all the time. Julia and David had also gotten together and apparently Julia was pregnant with his baby. Everyone seemed to have someone to share their time with…except her. She didn't understand why she felt so lonely. Maybe it was because Nathan had also died. Or perhaps it was because she just missed Karl? He'd recently started telling her that he loved her…did he mean it? No…he'd stopped coming to see her recently as well…he couldn't have meant his words…Sitting up, she realized that she wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight and turned on her light. Pulling her legs up, she sighed and rested her head in her arms. Her mind reeled back to when she'd finally been reunited with Kirei, Haji, and a very ill-tempered Saya and when Karl broke her heart by simply leaving her. She'd heard once that a woman's heart was truly the most fragile part of her body. It was said that a woman could love—truly, truly love—only once in her life. Her 'once' had come and gone far too early in her life. She feared that she would now be alone forever. Seeing as now she was a Chiropteran, she would live her never-ending life alone.

Her face was buried in her arms as she cried. It hurt so terribly that she didn't notice one of the windows in the room she'd been provided open to let a figure step inside…


A/N: Japanese translations:

'Kirei desu...' : 'I'm Kirei'

If you have any questions please submit them in a review okay bye!