Embarrassment 1: An Average Night

"What's the rush, Kanon?" the manager of the bakery asked.
The young, fifteen year old girl put down the boxes she was carrying and wiped a few beads of sweat from her brow. She looked at the manager and gave her a smile. "Sorry, Manager, I'm just a little excited today."

"Oh, and what's the occasion?"

The girl gave a little giggle. "It's almost my birthday. I just can't wait to get home."

The manager just gave her a quizzical look. "But it's almost closing time, ain't it a little late to be celebrating your birthday?"

"Oh.. No. My Mom works during the day so I only get to spend time with her at night."

It was a bit of a lie but the manager bought it without question. She just gave her a playful laugh. "Well, go ahead and take that box to the back room and you can go home early. Okay?"

"Thanks, Manager," Kanon said, bowing before him.

The girl picked back up the box with the bakery's new cookies and brought it to the back room. This little teenage girl with off-red eyes and purple hair tied up in a ponytail was Kanon Usui. A lot has happened to this special girl in the past year. Ever since she turned fifteen, she had been spending most of her afternoons working at Hina's Bakery. All the money she got helped with her family. Electricity and food mostly. It was a job that young Kanon liked working at.

After unpacking the box, Kanon went to the locker room and changed out of her uniform. Absentmindedly, she looked over at her reflection in the mirror. To any passerby that happened to see Kanon Usui, she looked like an average fifteen year old girl in every way, even if she did look a bit young for her age. But Kanon knew better. She was one of a kind and there would never be another girl like her ever again. At one point, she hated what she was. But at this point, she was proud to be who she was. It had made her life so interesting.

Kanon got dressed into her clothing, grabbed her bag and ran out the back door. Like always, she was one of the last to leave the bakery and always stayed late. It was dark outside and the sounds and smells of Tokyo life was alive. It was late November, and the cloudy sky above threatened snowfall. Kanon pulled out her cellphone and looked at the time.

It's only eight-thirty, Kanon realized. Manager Hina really did let me off work early tonight. I bet my family is still asleep.

Just then a smell went by Kanon's nose that made her heart pound. She brought her hand to her chest. It was such an amazing smell, but even after over a year, young Kanon wasn't used to the effect it had on her body. She could feel the blood within her body boiling. She closed her eyes and laughed at herself.

Why does it have to be tonight? she wondered. It's almost my birthday. I guess I can take care of this before I go home.

Ignoring the pain that the blood was causing her body, the teenager followed her keen nose to where the smell was coming from. Like most times, it led her straight to the city park where she found a middle-aged man stumbling down the dark path through the trees, probably drunk. Even though it was dark, Kanon could see perfectly fine. Her eyes had gone a dark shade of red as she stared at the man like he was the tastiest thing on the planet. The aroma that came from the man's body was one that a normal person wouldn't be able to smell. But Kanon could smell every bit of him. Her heart was pounding extremely hard, and she felt like her brain might snap from all the excess blood her body was producing. But she waited and watched.

"Stupid woman," the man cursed, raising his fist to the sky. "How dare she rejects me."

Kanon's eyes darted around. Nobody else was around. So she knew that she was safe. She walked up to the man calmly. In her mouth, two razor sharp fangs poked out of her gums, aching to be used. Kanon stepped up behind the man and tugged on his sleeve. When he turned to face her, she kept her head at the ground, hiding her face from him.

"Ehh?" the man wondered, turning to see her. He was slightly surprised. "Where did you come from, Little Miss? You lost or something?"

When Kanon didn't respond the man squatted down so that he could get a better look at her. He was so close to the girl, that she got a good whiff of his body. She had a lot of pain in her own body as her blood was begging to be set free. Kanon didn't wait any longer. She looked up from the ground, showing the man her long fangs. Before he could react, she hugged the man and sunk her long fangs into his neck.

"What the...nnnn," was all the man could say.

Immediately, Kanon felt his warm blood draining down her throat. It was the most amazing taste in the world. Better than the best of foods that she had ever tasted in her life. Meanwhile, as she drank his blood she released all the excess blood that had been building up in her system. It felt so great to get rid of her own blood, taking the pain away. When she finished, she injected a small amount of venom from her fangs into the mans bloodstream. It wasn't two seconds before the man went limp in her arms and she let him drop to the ground.

Kanon Usui was not a normal person in anyway. In fact she wasn't even fully human. She was a Half-Vampire, born from a loving human father and vampire mother. Not only that, but Kanon was also a special breed of vampire known as the Pushuke. Unlike all other vampires, when Kanon was near the blood that she liked, she would overproduce blood. It was a quite painful and annoying aspect that forced her to feed at random times. If she didn't, she would produce too much blood and get a massive nosebleed that could kill her. This man's anger was the perfect blood for her body to react.

"You can really be scary when your hungry," a familiar voice said from behind the girl, pulling her out of her euphoric state from the blood.

Kanon spun around and almost jumped for joy when she saw who had snuck up on her. The young man had spiky black hair and a smooth face with brown eyes. He stood almost half a foot taller than Kanon and wore a long black coat with purple trimming and an insignia on the back.

"Keitaro!" Kanon exclaimed, running up and hugging the vampire hunter. "How did you know I was here?"

"Come on, Kanon. You think it's that hard to track you down for me?" he joked, giving her a gentle smile. He looked over Kanon at the man passed out on the ground. "Don't forget to wipe his memory again."

"Oh yeah," Kanon said completely forgetting.

She spun around on the ball of her feet and raised her hand to the unconscious man. With little effort, Kanon's hand started to glow a bright yellow light. The man's forehead also started to glow with the same color light. After a few moments, Kanon lowered her hand and turned back around to face Keitaro. He was actually quite surprised.

"Where did you learn to wipe memories so well?" Keitaro asked.

Kanon blushed. "I don't know. I just find it really easy."

Keitaro held onto Kanon's hand and the two of them made their way out of the park before the venom wore off on the man. Kanon walked extremely close to Keitaro, putting her head on his shoulder. When she was near this young man, she always felt extremely safe and comfortably. It wasn't even because Keitaro was a half-vampire like her. It was because she sincerely loved him and he loved her back.

"So, where to, Kanon?" Keitaro asked once they were out of the park.

"I was thinking of going home," Kanon said. "You know what tomorrow is, don't you?"

Of course Keitaro knew. It wasn't like she hadn't been waiting for it since July. Kanon was a little over two years younger than Keitaro. He had turned eighteen four months ago.

"You really are excited about your birthday, aren't you?" Keitaro asked.

"Of course," Kanon said smiling. "Come midnight, It'll be my sixteenth birthday."

"Don't most people celebrate their birthdays during the day? Not right at midnight."

She giggled. "Well, I guess so. But most people don't have vampires for family members."

Keitaro and Kanon walked across the street as they made their way to the Maaka family mansion. It wasn't that far of a distance, but Kanon loved every second that she got to spend with her boyfriend. Keitaro worked for his father as a vampire hunter of Cross Organization. It was a very special organization that protected a balance between the humans and vampires of the world. He always worked during the days and every once and a while, spent the entire night with Kanon. Kanon didn't get to see him more than once or twice a week now that he had gone back to working.

She actually missed when he was her job. Back when he was protecting her from his brother and all the vampire clans, she got to spend a lot more time with him. He had gone so far to save her life so many times back then and even saved her from death. She was the only Pushuke to ever give her blood and live to tell the tale. Keitaro had given her his own blood so that she may live. But now that she didn't see him nearly as much, she wasn't too happy.

When they crossed through the barrier surrounding the Maaka mansion, the first person Kanon and Keitaro saw was Kanon's mother, Karin Usui, sitting on top of the roof, starring up at the clouds overhead. When she saw her daughter with Keitaro she gave them a wave. Summoning a few bats she glided down to her daughter. At one point, Kanon's mother looked and acted just like a normal human. But ever since Kanon had given her blood to Karin, the girl acted completely different. It was almost as if she had completely forgotten her life as an unvampire. Kanon just never asked her the truth.

"Good evening, Karin Usui," Keitaro said, bowing before the vampire. He was still amazed by the resemblance between Karin and her mother. "Beautiful night, isn't it?"

Karin went red in the face from how much of a gentleman Keitaro was around her. "Keitaro, you really don't have to act like that around me. It's good to see you again."

"Mama," Kanon piped in, "what are you doing up so early?"

"It's winter," Karin replied cheerfully. "That means longer nights. Plus I wanted to be up to see you tonight. Happy Birthday, Kanon."

"It's not my birthday yet."

"I know, but that doesn't matter." Kanon smile faded slightly. "Kenta would be so proud of you right now."

"I know, Mama," Kanon replied quickly, trying to cheer her mother up. Karin would never fully get over the death of her husband, Kenta Usui. Kanon looked up at the mansion. "is anybody else up yet?"

"Just one," Karin replied.

"Let me guess..." Keitaro said slyly. "It wouldn't happen to be Anju, would it?"

Karin laughed. "How did you know?"

"Lucky guess."

"C'mon, Keitaro," Kanon said tugging on Keitaro's arm and motioning him up to the mansion. "Let's go inside. It's really cold out here."

Karin laughed as Keitaro allowed her daughter to drag him to the Maaka mansion. She really enjoyed Keitaro's company. When her daughter came to her, telling her that she was in love with the vampire hunter, Karin wasn't all that surprised. She thought that Keitaro and Kanon made a cute couple and trusted Keitaro fully. After all, it was because of him that her daughter was still alive and well.

As Keitaro neared the Maaka mansion, he looked up at it and all it's glory. The mansion had recently been rebuilt, thanks of Cross Organization. The mansion had been in such disrepair before, that Keitaro's father, Hotaru Cross, figured the best way to say sorry was have the home rebuilt. It had been an interesting discussion, bringing it up before the Maaka clan. They agreed and had the barrier destroyed for a week while the Mansion was refurbished. Even funnier was that all of the builders had their memory wiped as soon as the project was done. They had no clue of the job that they had just done and now the Maakas had a brand new mansion to call their home.

"I'm home!" Kanon called out, when she opened the door to the mansion and dragged her boyfriend in.

It took a few moments for the two of them to get used to the darkness. But as soon as they did, Keitaro noticed a young girl sitting on the staircase. Anju Maaka. She looked no older than a young teenager but was truly in her thirties. She was wearing another of her gothic lolita dresses with the white lace trim. She had extremely long silver hair and a young face that would make any pervert lose his bearing. In her arms was a large doll with a butcher's knife in it's hand and a striped shirt. The doll was Boogie and housed the soul of a serial killer.

"Welcome home, Little Niece," Anju said in her stoic yet warm tone.

"Never mind her," Boogie joked. "She brought home that vampire hunter again."

"Nice to see you again too, Boogie," Keitaro said, completely ignoring his comments. He looked to Anju. "How have you been doing, Anju?"

Anju just shrugged her shoulders. "I'm doing fine."

"Yeah, she's definitely lying," Boogie blurted out. "How can she be okay with all the vampires suddenly annoying her with marriage proposals. Hey Keitaro. You're a vampire hunter."

"You've finally noticed?"

"Can't you get those vampires off Anju's back?"

"Hush, Boogie," Anju said calmly.

Keitaro just laughed. "Sorry, I don't think that I can help you there."

"I think it's cute that your finally looking for someone," Karin added, giving her little sister a big smile.

"I'm not looking for anyone," Anju said coldly. "They're looking for me."

"Can't stay single forever," Keitaro said.

"Don't try to tell me what I can and cannot do, Hunter," Anju snapped.

On that note, Anju left the room and headed down the hall to the family room. Keitaro, Karin, and Kanon all followed her. There was a lot of conversation between the three of them. Kanon was just glad that Keitaro was talking. A year ago, Keitaro was reclusive and showed less emotion than her aunt. But ever since that night he gave her his blood, he changed. He became accepted by the Maaka clan as almost one of the family and became much more social. Kanon sometimes wondered if it had to do with her biting him. She took away all the built up anger from him back then. It must have changed him some way. Either way, Kanon still loved him more than anyone else.

By popular demand, this is the sequel to New Blood. I just hope you like it. Think of it as season two. This time, it's a whole new game. LOL