Disclaimer: I do not own Blade, Sola, Sailor Moon or any of the characters from these series. This story is a work of fan fiction. No profit is being made from it

Author's Note: This story takes place after my previous story "Night Skies and Seas." For those who haven't read it it's an AU of Sola in which rather than dying Matsuri was transported to the sailor Moon dimension where she befriended Haruka and Michiru a.k.a. Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune.

Shiho Matsuri hummed cheerfully as she collected a can of tomato juice from the vending machine and sipped it. Delicious she thought as she glanced at the machine. And I don't even need to kick this one until the can comes out.

Her thoughts turned to her 'first' meeting with Yorito and she felt a stab of hurt. The pain passed as she instead focused on the happy times they had shared together and she smiled. She loved Yorito but had made peace with losing him. She knew he would want her to be happy.

And she had good reason to be happy. After giving her life to Aono to make her human again she had somehow awoken to find herself in a new world where she had met and befriended Tenoh Haruka and Kaioh Michiru. who had accepted her unconditionally. Not only that, she had set things right by making Aono human again and had at last been able to stand beneath a daylight sky. She was deeply grateful for the second chance she had been given.

Recently she come across a reminder from her old life. While wandering around the area where Haruka had found her she had been surprised to find the sword that Takeshi had used, the same weapon she had stabbed herself with to restore Aono's humanity.

Despite the fact that she didn't really need it (after all she didn't want to hurt anyone), Matsuri had decided to keep it. The sword was currently in a rectangular nylon bag that was slung over her shoulder.

She was unaware of a dark figure observing her from the shadows nearby. Blade frowned. Something seemed off. The purple-haired girl in the deep red beret and miniskirt didn't seem like any vampire he had encountered before but he knew she had to be one as he had seen her recoil from sunlight with what looked like ash falling from where the light had touched her.

Blade had been observing the girl for a while now in hopes that she'd lead him to a vampire nest. He had been disappointed; she hadn't gone anywhere near any other vampires.

Must be a lone outlaw he thought. Guess I'll just have to settle for one then.

He drew his Mach pistol.

As she tossed her empty cup into a bin Matsuri suddenly tensed as she sensed something amiss. She turned around to see a tall dark-skinned man in a long black coat. A sword with a thick cylindrical hilt was strapped to his back and dark sunglasses covered his eyes. In one hand he held an automatic pistol.

Without a word he pointed the weapon at her and fired.

Matsuri reacted immediately by whipping up her hand and using her power. The bullets rusted away to nothing before they even reached her hand. As Blade stared in disbelief she leapt up onto a nearby roof.

Recovering quickly from his surprise Blade jumped up after her. This time it was Matsuri who was surprised. He isn't human she thought.

Again Blade fired his Mach pistol and again she used her power to dissolve the bullets before they could hit her. She leapt away again to another roof and ran.

For the next few minutes she ran across the city rooftops, jumping from one to another. It was no good; Blade easily kept up. Realising that she couldn't outrun him she reluctantly stopped and turned. He also stopped and stood ready.

She opened the bag and took out her sword. The Daywalker drew his own sword. For a moment they stood and faced each other, blades held ready, determined expressions on their faces.

Blade lunged forwards and thrust his sword forwards. Matsuri deflected the blow with a quick parry. He stepped back ready for a counter-attack, but none came.

He attacked again with powerful slashes and stabs. She backed away deflecting each strike. Blade feinted at her hip and then slashed at her head. She ducked under it and placed her hand on the rooftop surface. Instantly it began to corrode and crumble, forcing Blade to jump back to surer footing. To his surprise Matsuri used this opportunity to back away and jump off the roof rather than attack while he was off-balance.

Why didn't she attack when she had an opening? Blade thought. And what kind of vampire can make things fall apart like that?

He gave chase, jumping down to the ground below and knocking over some bins in the process. A black cat screeched angrily but Blade ignored it as he spotted Matsuri and sprinted to catch up with her. She heard his footfalls and spun around in time to bring her sword up to parry Blade's volley of attacks.

He leaped high into the air and came crashing down from above. She managed to block the attack but was knocked to the ground by the force of the impact. Blade swung his sword in a downwards slash but she deflected it again and took his off his feet with a leg sweep. Both of them flipped back to their feet simultaneously.

The Daywalker tried to move in and lock their blades together so that he could use his size and weight to his advantage. Realising this, Matsuri slipped her sword free and spun out of harm's way. Both of them stepped back and assumed ready stances.

What am I going to do? Not only was her opponent an incredible swordsman but he possessed superhuman strength and speed. Outrunning him didn't seem to be an option and although she had fended him off so far she knew she could not keep doing so for much longer.

Just then both of them heard two sounds; the roar of a truck's engine and the screech of a cat. They glanced in the direction of the sounds to see a truck bearing down on a cat. It stood in the middle of the road as though frozen, hackles raised and its fur on edge.

Without hesitation Matsuri dropped her weapon and dashed towards it. She sprang forwards and scooped up the cat just as the truck thundered past.

"There, there" she said gently as she stroked its fur. "It's okay." Content that the danger had passed she let it go and it disappeared into an alley.

Blade stared in astonishment. She's no vampire! A suck-head would never risk themselves to help anyone else, let alone an alley cat he thought.

She looked up at him warily, but unafraid. He said nothing, merely put away his sword and jumped onto a nearby rooftop. Within seconds he was gone.

Matsuri stared after him. Who was that? She shrugged and smiled. Oh well he left so there's probably nothing to worry about.

She retraced her steps, recovered her sword bag and then went home.

The next day she told Haruka and Michiru what had happened.

"Are you all right?" Michiru asked.

"I'm fine" she replied with a smile.

Haruka punched a fist into her palm. "If I see that guy I'll teach him a lesson he won't forget."

Matsuri giggled. "That's sweet of you but I'm sure everything's okay."

"He tried to kill you!"

"But he stopped and left. I don't think he's a bad guy, not really."

Michiru smiled fondly. Matsuri's sweet and forgiving nature reminded her so much of Usagi.

"All right I won't go looking for him" Haruka replied. "I'd have liked to see him in action though. He sounds like quite a fighter."

At the same time Blade was driving his Charger away from Tokyo. He wondered briefly about the strange girl he had fought last night and then shrugged. It wasn't important. All that mattered was that she wasn't a vampire and so wasn't on his target list.

Blade put his foot on the accelerator and sped away.