AUTHORS NOTE: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE :)

Chapter Three: Unwelcome Feelings

"She's been delivered safely."

Towards the back of a candle lit room stood a long, wooden oak table, seven chairs of the same make behind it, each with their own special markings. All but one of those chairs were occupied by the most exceptionally strong and beautiful beings of the monster world, male and female alike. The one who usually resided in the open seat was instead standing in the middle of the room.

"No issues along the way?" asked a middle aged male who sat in the dead center, his chair standing just a bit taller than everyone else's.

"None, my Lord. It was an easy transition."

The speaker on the floor, a woman with long, white, billowing hair that came down to her hips, took a few steps forward as she spoke, a white rob covering her slender body.

"Leaving was quite hard for her after the loss of the Witch, but she did none the less."

"The loss of the elder was an unfortunate event." Spoke another female who sat at the end of the left side. "She was always good to us, and a close friend of yours, was she not?"

"She was. I am truly saddened that she is lost as well. She loved the girl and took care of her. She's been safe all of these years being in her care."

The loss indeed saddened her more than she let on, but she couldn't show it. She would grieve over it on her own time, but for now, there was other business in play.

"You're care, too. You've done well to help out."

The woman humbly gave a small bow.

"Thank you, my Lord. I am doing my best."

"So what's your next move?"

"For now, I am going to keep things as they are. She still isn't quite over the death, so I fear that reuniting her completely too soon will be too much. She already doesn't respond well to the thought of her old family. In her mind, the Witch was the only family she had, so nothing before her memory loss mattered. I know she will reject it all if I try right away, so I will let things play through for now."

"Have the two actually met yet?" Another male asked, this one residing way on the right.

"Yes, but no suspicions, it seems, have come from the mother or father. The seal was well done. Perhaps the girl seeing the Akashiya's more will jog back old memories, allowing her to return on her own without trouble."

The man in the center chair nodded, his deep, red eyes locked with the female below.

"Perhaps, but for now, yes, do as you are. We are pleased that these years have gone smoothly. As I've said before, you've done well. "

"As a member of this council, I will always do my best to perform my duties to the highest of standards. I also want nothing more than to expose those who would wish to go against our laws."

"And we will in time." The man replied. "We are S-class vampires, not mindless killing machines. This is not the ancient times. We must learn to live with all in this world peacefully. We only kill when necessary and only show our place when necessary, not for petty reasons this unknown family seems to have."

"Well, almost unknown." A female, who was sitting next to the lord, spoke. "We have our suspicions."

"But still no proof." The lord replied. "We will get it though, when the time is right. These laws are not made to be broken, and those who do will face the wrath of the High Council. Continue to keep your eyes open as you have been. Report back when you can."

"Yes, my Lord." She replied. "As you wish. I will be in touch."

"Hey, Misaki?"

It had been exactly three weeks since school started, and even now, the eleven year old brunette still had trouble wrapping her head around things. There was just too much to think about.

First of all, there were the classes. Although they weren't terribly long or boring, there was already a lot of homework to do, so she had to focus a lot to keep up with it.

Then there were her teachers. They weren't terrible or boring either, but they were definitely…unusual. For example, there was Ms. Kurono, Chiyo's mother. Misaki and the gang had her for P.E, and let's just say she was very…open about things. She also had a tendency to speak about her boobs…a lot. It was interesting to see how completely opposite Chiyo was compared to her. Aside from the looks, they were nothing alike.

Another teacher that threw her off was Reiko's mother, Ms. Shirayuki. She taught them music. She didn't speak of her body like the other, but she definitely was different. To put it simply, she took role call while hanging upside down from a ceiling tile. She strangely caught Reiko doing that on occasion as well. Like mother, like daughter.

"Hellooooo…."

And then there was Mrs. Akashiya. Now this teacher was always the hardest one to face. The girl constantly had to fight to keep her eyes down whenever she was near. Unfortunately, Misaki had her for both homeroom and English, so there was no real escape.

"I just wanna know why she looks like me…"

That was the big question.

"Or rather, why do I look like her? And not only that, but why do I get this déjà vu feeling when I am around her…and why does her smell seem so…so…"

"Oi! Mi-sa-ki-chaaaaaan!"

The child gasped slightly at the sudden poke to her forehead, that poke coming from none other than Naomi, who had a habit of doing that every time Misaki wasn't paying attention.

"Wh-what?"

"About time you came back to us. For a moment there we thought we lost you."

"S-sorry…"

"Are you all right?" Chiyo asked, the mini succubus looking on worriedly. "You seemed to be really lost in thought."

She was indeed very lost in thought. After being pulled along to eat lunch with them in the cafeteria, she was kind of forced to sit there and try to enjoy it with them, but she just couldn't keep her mind straight.

"I'm fine." She replied, her eyes falling. "I was just…"

"Thinking." Naomi finished with a smirk. "We know."

That was another thing the young vampire couldn't wrap her head around. Aside from Kiya and her Grams, she never really had any friends before. She had a hard time fitting in back at her human school because she knew she was different, so she always just confided to the two she trusted. Here, however, she was surrounded by other monsters, so now she felt less like the odd one out. Granted, she didn't tell anyone what kind of monster she was (it was against the rules, although some students, like the three beside her, didn't seem to pay much mind to it), knowing that others around her were monsters, too made her life a little easier. What she didn't get was why these specific three decided to hang around her. Though not rude, she wasn't particularly welcoming, and while the others generally talked away, she hardly said much to them at all, finding it easier to be quiet. She was just so used to keeping her own self company at school that she didn't know how to act in a group, but they didn't seem to care. Naomi still tugged her around, Chiyo liked to sit and study with her, and Reiko, well, Reiko just liked to follow her around. The infatuation the snow girl had from day one seemed to have grown.

"Anyways." Naomi continued. "We were talking about our dinner tonight. With our last class being cancelled, I was thinking we could all go hang out in my mom's dorm and have dinner there later."

"Dinner there?" Misaki asked.

"Mhm!" the witch replied. "See, the teachers here have dorms that are like little mini apartments, so they can cook their own food and stuff. And, after some talking with our families, it was decided that every Friday night would be our little dinner night. The first one is today with my mom! Our parents and us all get together and just hang out. Aunt Moka and Uncle Tsukune come, too! It's just a family thing."

"Okay….well, why did you need my attention for that?"

"Well because you're coming, too, duh." Naomi replied as if it was plain old common knowledge.

Misaki snapped her gaze back up to them, confusion clearly on her face.

"Wait, what? Me?"

"Yes." Chiyo replied. "I m-mean, if you'd like to anyways. It will be a lot of fun. And Aunt Yukari is a great cook."

"She is. I have never met a better cook than my mom. And you have yet to really meet her because you don't have any classes with her, so this will be your chance."

"But…I'm not family…"

"Family, friends, same thing."

"Not to mention, you could probably use the food seeing as you have barely touched yours."

This statement came from Reiko, who had been silently watching Misaki the whole time.

"Oh…um…yeah." The brunette replied, looking down at her still full bowl of rice. "I'm just not all that hungry."

"How can you not be?" Naomi asked. "You hardly ate breakfast either."

Usually Misaki had no issues eating, but lately, she hadn't been craving it. There was a reason for her lack of appetite however, and a not so good one as it meant that she wasn't exactly taking care of herself, but she wasn't about to share that.

"Is the food not good to you?" Reiko suddenly asked, getting incredibly closer.

"N-no, it's not that, I-"

"Or maybe you're sick…are you feeling well? Do you have a fever?"

"No! I don't! Will you-"

"Or maybe your food is too hot?" she asked again, her usual soft spoken voice never changing. "I can take care of that if it is…"

Her arm then suddenly transformed into a huge chunk of ice that was similar to the shape of her hand!

"No! Put that away you'll just freeze it!" Misaki shouted, having to lean back to avoid it.

"Oh….right…well then let me do this…"

She then leaned in and blew on it gently.

"R-Reiko!" the girl exclaimed with a blush. "I never said it was-"

….

"What the…"

Misaki stopped mid-sentence moments after Reiko had leaned in, a certain scent suddenly catching her.

"That smell...it's so…good…really good…"

Her chest gave a little jolt. It was more than good, it was great. She already knew it came from the girl who was still leaning in front of her, but what she didn't understand was why now? She had hung around Reiko before and never had these cravings. And why just Reiko? Why wasn't she getting this from Chiyo or Naomi?

"Well…your sudden craving for it is probably for the same reason why not only your appetite, but your whole body has been off lately…still though…why only Reiko? And why is it smelling this good?"

Oh yes, she was smelling her blood, and mind you, it was sweet, and to the vampire who hadn't had a drop of blood to drink since her arrival…

"I want it….I…really want it…"

Without noticing, she had moved in a little closer to the other, Reiko blushing now a little herself.

"Misaki, are you all right?" Naomi asked.

"I'm hungry for it…so hungry…"

For as long as she could remember, she always had to have at least one blood transfusion to drink during a week. She could live off of human food and tomato juice, the juice proving to be a good supplement, but regardless, she still needed blood. If she went longer than a week she would start feeling funny as she was today. Now, she could easily go to the nurse's office and get it worked out (according to her Grams) but…she had yet to do that.

It was Reiko's turn to move closer now, their faces only inches apart.

"Misaki…" the eleven year old whispered, her voice containing no confusion in the slightest, but more…recognition, and for a split second, a moment passing by so quickly she barely realized it happened, Misaki felt recognition, too.

"I know it…I know it…I…"

"That look…I know that look. Only one other person has ever given me that look…" Reiko said this in a whisper so quiet that the others could not hear. "Misaki…my Misaki…is that you?"

In was in that moment something even stranger happened. At hearing the words "my Misaki", an image flashed through her mind, and image of Reiko herself, but a younger one. The same sentence came from the younger version as well, the place she was sitting it all too familiar…so much that…

"Misaki?"

"No!"

Whatever image that played through her mind left as quick as it came, and out of panic, she stood right up, knocking her chair over in the process.

"Woah, woah." Naomi said, a concerned look now on her face. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Misaki's eyes jetted towards the others, both Chiyo and Reiko looking as worried as their friend. No, she wasn't all right. She felt slightly out of breath, somewhat weak, and really, really confused. She had no idea what had just happened, but she wasn't about to tell them that.

"Y-yes…yes." She lied. "I'm fine. I just…I don't feel good."

"Oh…well, do you need to see the nurse?" Chiyo asked.

"No, I don't. I just need to go back to my dorm."

"Well, let us walk you there." Naomi offered.

"It's okay…I'm good on my own."

"But-"

"I need to go…sorry…"

And before they could try and stop her, she tore off.

"Misaki, wait!"

But she didn't listen, the girl running and not stopping until she reached just outside her room. When she arrived, she leaned back against the hallway wall, needing a moment to catch her breath.

"What…in the hell…was that…"

Never could she remember having a craving that strong. Then again, she never went this long without having blood either. Her grams just warned her on what could happen if she did, and she sure wasn't lying about the effects. Mild dizziness, restless sleep, loss of appetite…

"But…she never mentioned anything about weird flashes…" she thought, resting her head back against the wall. Flashes meaning the weird memory thing that happened when Reiko was near her. She could have sworn that, for a split second, she could really see the younger Reiko calling her name. "It almost felt like I had seen it before…but, I never even knew she existed up until a few weeks ago…And why did I only react from her?"

She let out another heavy sigh and placed her hand on her head, a small headache forming.

"I know I need blood…I know it. I didn't mean to go this long, but lately, I just…"

A familiar heavy weight grew inside her chest, her hand now coming down and clenching it.

"I don't have much in me to do anything anymore…I'm not happy…I don't feel safe, aside from Kiya, I'm alone…I wanna go home…"

But there was no home anymore. After her grams died, there were some social workers, surprisingly from the monster world, that told her she would be going into some sort of foster care. That really killed her right there. She didn't want to go anywhere. She didn't want to be with someone new. She just wanted her Granny back and for everything to go back to normal. Hell, the only reason she was at this school was because she made a promise to the only family she had ever known.

"Granny…why did you go…why did you have to leave me? I still needed you…now I don't have anyone…"

She reached up and wiped a few stray tears from her eyes, cursing at herself silently as she did. The mild depressive state she had fallen into due to the death and sudden changes left her feeling terrible, but she was trying to fight it, hence all the constant focusing she had been doing on her school work.

"Get a grip, Misaki. Don't let this get the best of you…"

It hurt everyday knowing she couldn't have her grams back, but she had to move on. She had to keep going.

"And you have to take care of yourself…what would she think if she knew you weren't drinking when you were supposed to…"

She finally got rid of the rest of her tears and straightened back up. She wasn't happy in the slightest and wasn't sure if she ever would be, but she had to stay strong. She knew she made a promise before her Granny died and she intended to keep it, her mind made up to work hard and do well in this school.

"Though I highly doubt there is anything in this school that I need…" she thought, thinking back to the last words the witch spoke. "Whatever…I think I have some tomato juice left in my dorm. I'll just drink some of that, lay down a bit, and then maybe go to the nurse for a transfusion."

Turning around, she reached out and opened the door to her dorm. However, as she did…

-Pounce-

"Nyaa!"

Out of nowhere, her cat jumped on and leaped right onto her chest. She did so hard that Misaki actually fell back onto the floor.

"Holy jeeze! Kiya, what are you doing?"

The female creature leaned in and stared deeply into the eyes of the child, the gaze looking on as if pondering something.

"Kiya?"

Not a second after she called her name, the cat jumped again, landing on the floor. For a few seconds, she looked at her owner, and then suddenly, she just took off.

"Woah, woah, Kiya wait!"

The cat didn't seem to want to listen.

"Hey! I said wait! Kiya!"

But that cat was hearing none of it, leaving Misaki to dash after her.

"Kiya, wait up! Where are you going? Wait! Don't go out there!"

With it being spring time, the doors to the buildings were left open to let the nice weather in. This proved to be a bad thing in Misaki's case as Kiya had now left the girl's dormitory building, scampered around outside, and then headed into the main school building.

"No! Come back!"

But nothing. The cat just kept running. A few times she thought she lost her, but always caught a glimpse just in time before her pet took off again.

"I so don't have time for this…" she mumbled. "Why now…"

She chased the cat for a good five minutes before finally gaining up on her.

"Come on, Kiya…" she mumbled again as she turned a corner. "I really don't want to be doing this. I-oomph!"

Just as she was turning, she bumped into an unexpected figure, both of them hitting the ground with a thud.

"Ow…" Misaki grumbled, rubbing her head as hers had collided with the others. "Who the…"

She looked up and found herself facing a boy looking to be about her age, bearing the school uniform that males wear.

"Ouch…" he said himself, rubbing his own head. He then looked up and spotted her, but instead of getting mad, he simply smiled.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you all right?"

Misaki, who had frozen up just a little, couldn't help but blush. She had never seen a boy quite so…nice looking before. He had smooth, golden hair and bright honey colored eyes.

"I…I…"

"Well, well…" he told her, adjusting the glasses he was wearing. "Aren't you a cutie…"

This caused Misaki to blush even more. She opened her mouth to try and speak, but nothing came out. It was then she realized, however, that his eyes had dropped, their gazes no longer locked. Following his gaze, she looked down and saw that her skirt had opened from the fall…so that meant…

"Oh yes….very cute…"

….

"Kyaaaaaa!"

Standing right up, she kicked the boy directly in the face.

"You pervert!"

"Hit again…" he mumbled as he hit the ground, a nice mark from her shoe on his head. "But it was so pretty…"

"You little…"

"What!" he said, standing up quickly to avoid being hit again. "I couldn't help it! It's not my fault you're cute!"

"You could have kept your eyes elsewhere!" she shouted. "There was no need to look there!"

"But when skirts open up, isn't that what it means?"

"Why you-"

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry!" he said quickly, holding up his hands to protect his face. "I won't do it again. A-anyways. You're Misaki Fumiko, right? I'm Heero. Heero Yamata."

"How the hell do you know my name?" she snapped, an angry glare still on her face.

"I'm in your class, of course." He replied, smiling as if nothing had happened.

"I don't remember ever seeing you."

"Well, I don't blame you for that." He said meekly, scratching the back of his head. "I don't exactly stand out."

Misaki's eyes narrowed as she tried to remember.

"Wait a minute…maybe he's not lying…"

Although she didn't pay attention to every single person in her class, she vaguely remembered seeing a golden haired boy in the back.

"I promise I'm not lying. I-ah!"

As he continued to speak, he went to take a step forward, but instead, he ended up tripping over his own untied shoes, landing on the floor once again.

"…Really?"

Heero just giggled and shook it off.

"Yeah, this is normal. I'm known for being a klutz."

"What's going on out here?"

While they were talking, two figures turned into the hallway they resided in.

"Oh no…not now…"

Misaki didn't even have to turn to see who was there. The smell hit her like a ton of bricks, telling her immediately. She did end up turning though, seeing none other than Moka and Tsukune.

"Dammit." She said, taking a step back. She really couldn't handle them right now. She made up her mind to just turn and run, but it was then she noticed something she wasn't expecting in Tsukune's arm.

"K-Kiya?"

Tsukune looked down at the cat, who was happily purring away, and looked back up at Misaki with a smile.

"Oh, is she yours? I was wondering who she belonged to."

Misaki just remained silent, her mind and senses racing. Handling Moka's smell, which was weirdly stronger than Tsukune's, was hard enough. She didn't want to have to deal with both. Tsukune was generally easy enough to avoid seeing as he was a counselor, but she always had to deal with Moka's.

"Leave it to my luck to have to deal with the two at once."

"Yeah…so…I'm gonna go." Heero said, breaking the silence as he stood up. "It looks like you guys are a little preoccupied now so…I'll see you later Misaki!"

And with that, he took off, leaving the young girl alone with the elder two. If Misaki had been paying attention, she would have caught Moka following the boy with an odd, almost distrusting gaze in her eye, but she was avoiding eye contact with both of them, the girl simply wanting her cat back.

"Why do you have her? She's mine…"

"Oh, I-I'm sorry." Tsukune replied, a little taken aback by the girl's apparent anger. "Moka and I were just talking in a nearby classroom when she popped in.

"No need to get upset about it." Moka told her. "It's not like we were going to take her. And anyways, if you're so attached to this thing, why did you end up losing her."

"I didn't lose her!" Misaki snapped. "I opened the door to my dorm and she ran out, so I chased her all the way here! I'm not dumb enough to lose her!"

"No one said you were dumb!" Moka said back. "Calm down."

"You implied I was dumb by stating that I lost her."

"Hey, hey, it's okay though now, right?" Tsukune cut in, hoping to avoid a mini disaster. From what had saw, the two didn't get along very well, not since the day Misaki made a comment about her smell. Moka was always telling him that there was something strange about her and Misaki was, according to his wife, always trying to get away from her.

"I wonder why though…." He thought. "I can understand Moka feeling weird around her because her name is the same as our daughter, but for Misaki to be avoidant of her…"

For now he pushed it out of his mind, smiling instead and walking over to the young female.

"Here. She's all yours now."

Misaki quickly took her in her arms and stepped back, clinging to her pet tightly.

"Awww, there you go. She seems happy to be back with you."

Misaki hugged her tighter. Kiya was the only thing she had left for comfort.

"It's nice to see that she is loved. And hey, you know, while you're here, are you okay?"

The girl finally looked up and locked gazes with him, her eyes falling to Moka's after. The woman always looked so angry.

"I'm fine."

"You sure?" Tsukune asked again. "There are some people that seem to be worried about you."

"What people?"

"Well, you're friends. They stopped by not too long ago to double check if we were going to their dinner tonight and mentioned some worries about you. They said that they were trying to invite you, but you ran off claiming you weren't feeling good. Now that I see you, you do seem a little pale."

"I'm fine." She said again, though in a way, she was a little touched that the three girls thought about her, though she wasn't about to show that.

"There isn't anything wrong. There was no reason for them to worry."

"There your friends." Moka replied. "When you do something like that, they are going to worry."

"Well it was dumb of them, too." The girl said back. "If they worried about me, that was their own fault, not mine. I'm leaving now."

And without another word, she turned to leave. Well, at least she thought she did. Just as she turned, something unexpected happened, and that was finding Moka standing right in front of her.

"What the…how did she…I didn't even see her move."

Vampire reflexes were quick. She, however, was unaware of just how quick as her powers had been sealed during the early stages of her life with her granny.

"What are you-"

"Don't be an idiot."

"What the hell! I'm not! Are you seriously calling me dumb again?"

"Yes, I am, because you are." She said, her eyes filled with more anger than usual. "Especially if you're thinking that way. They're your friends, so they are going to worry if something is wrong. If there really isn't anything wrong, then don't be selfish and make them think there is. Show them you're fine, and if there is something wrong, don't be dumb enough to try and handle it on your own. I can see that there is something wrong, too. I notice it in class. I know these girls. If something is wrong they want to help."

Misaki wasn't expecting these words, especially from the silver hair female. Yes, it was true, she wasn't fine at all. She was dealing with the loss of a loved one, dealing with all the changes she had to face, dealing with the loneliness she felt, dealing with the lack of blood, and now dealing with two people that seemed to drive her senses crazy. Whenever they were around, the familiarity of both the sight and smell of them caused something to stir inside her chest, as if something was trying to get out. Not only that, but her mind would start to panic too, as if it was buzzing her brain in search from memories that didn't exist. How could she tell anyone this? How could she tell anyone how she was feeling? Even if she could, how could she go about doing it? She didn't exactly know how. She wasn't used to having any friends to do it with.

"But maybe…with them…you can?"

Could she?

"There's no need to be scared to share things." Tsukune added, Misaki turning to meet his gaze again. "There's always someone you can talk to. And don't forget, I'm a counselor here, so if you just want to talk in private, I can help, too. So don't be afraid, okay?"

As he said this, he reached out and placed his hand on her head. A blush creeped up on her face, and out if habit, she readied herself to run. However, just before she could, another flash entered her mind as it did with Reiko. Just like with the snow girl, she saw Tsukune's face bearing a smile while looking down at her.

"She's really going to love what you did, but let's make it a surprise, okay Misaki?"

"What…is…"

"Misaki?"

It was too much.

"No!"

She tore away from the both of them and tore off.

"Misaki!"

It was Moka who called after her. The girl stopped long enough to look back, their eyes meeting. Despite the usual angered look, she could see some worry in there, too. She ignored it however, and without a second thought, she turned and ran back to her room.

"Okay, I'm done with today."

Luckily for her, there were no more interruptions on the journey back to her dorm. When she was there, she let her cat down and grabbed the can of tomato juice from her nightstand. Opening it up, she took a few sips and ended up finishing the whole thing in one shot.

"Holy jeeze…"

She leaned back against the wall and tossed the empty can away.

"Remind me to never go this long without blood…"

A low, unhappy growl came from Kiya at this comment, the cat now sitting upright on her bed.

"Oh don't give me that look. I've just been…I don't know. I just won't forget anymore, okay? And anyways, what's gotten into you? Don't ever run off again. I don't need to lose you either."

Walking over, she plopped down beside her bed and pulled her into her arms.

"I've had enough loss, thanks."

As she snuggled her tight, she reached beneath her pillow and pulled out the one picture of her old self.

"I really don't get it Kiya…" she said softly. "What happened today? Why do they seem so familiar? What does their scent give me strange feelings? Why did I have all of those flashes? Where did they even come from? Could this all just be from not feeding enough, or, is it something else? You don't think it means anything, do you?"

Kiya gave a little meow, Misaki's eyes furrowed as she stared at the picture.

"I don't know…maybe not. Maybe it really is just the lack of blood that has me all messed up. Those flashes, their scent…it's nothing. It's…nothing."

She tucked her photo back beneath her pillow, repeating those same words over and over in her mind. It had to be nothing. How could any of this mean anything?

Yet silently, in the back of her mind and heart, and lost and forgotten feeling nagged at her, telling her that despite all of her thoughts…

It was more…much, much more…