Kagami ran after him. “Kasai! Wait!!” She called, but he ignored her. He continued into the courtyard, where Hira had just turned back into a human and was sprawled out on Takaji’s lap. She was awake now, and Takaji was stroking her hair softly while they talked.

Kasai growled as he walked into the courtyard, letting his presence be known as he pulled his sword out, advancing at the pair quickly. Hira looked up first, his eyes flashing red as she jumped up and backed away from him. Takaji stood up quickly. “What Kasai?” He demanded, making sure to block the other vampires path.

Kasai snarled, “I’m here to exterminate the vermin. Now move.” When Takaji didn’t move, Kasai shoved him out of the way, throwing him into a wall. “What, afraid your little pet can’t defend herself?” Kasai asked, smirking and then turning to Hira. “I’ll make a deal with you mutt. If you can manage to pin me down, I’ll let you live.”

Hira cowered from him, backing into the wall. “No!” She said softly. “I’d kill you..” When he raised an eyebrow in question, she explained, “I can’t control my were form.”

Kasai laughed. “You can’t control your own body? Your even more weak than I thought.” He said, running at her and swinging her sword. Hira dodged, but barely. She ducked away from him and ran, but her foot got caught in the weeds only after a few steps and she fell face first into the overgrown grass. Flipping over to her back, she stared up at Kasai in terror as he raised the blade again.

Takaji snapped out of his shock. “CHANGE HIRA!” He yelled at her. She whipped her head around and looked at him. “Do it! You‘ll get killed if you don’t!”

Hira rolled out of the way and stood just as the blade hissed past her, missing her by only a few inches. She closed her eyes and concentrated as Kasai turned to swing again. His eyes widened slightly and he backed up as she changed.

She could feel her bones popping and cracking as they rearranged and shifted into place. She shivered involuntarily as an inhuman, haunting howl escaped her lips, her wolf side enjoying the pain of her change. She felt herself fall to her knees in the grass as her body adapted. She closed her eyes tightly as her wolf side took over, grinning demonicly in satisfaction. When she opened her eyes, they were a burning shade of red, like flames. She stood up again, grinning at Kasai. When she spoke, it was a deep, growling voice.

“Silly, silly vampire.” Was all she said as she lunged at him, slashing him across the chest with a handful of half-inch, talon-like claws. His eyes widened in surprise, not expecting her to be so fast. He fell to the ground as she licked her claws patiently. “Stand up vampire.” She demanded, her eyes burning with insane pleasure. Kasai rose to his feet, his back turned to her. She lunged again as he whirled around. Her large paw bashed brutally into the side of his body as his sword connected with her shoulder. Kasai’s ribs made a sickening crack and he fell into the grass again, laying face first. He didn’t move. Hira’s shoulder began bleeding badly, but she ignored it and turned to face him again, her eyes blazing with the insanity of an angry beast going in for the kill. She stood over him, raising her clawed paw again to deliver the final blow.

She felt a sharp pain at the back of her neck, and then fainted, falling into the grass as she changed back into a human.

She awoke a long while later, blinking at the brightness of daylight. She was laying in her bed. Blinking, she thought to herself, ‘Was that just a weird dream?’ She sat up, gasping as pain seared through her shoulder like lightning. She grabbed her shoulder painfully, but someone grabbed her hand halfway.

“Don’t touch it, It’ll just hurt worse.” Takaji said softly. Hira looked up at him with frightened eyes.

“Where’s Kasai?” She asked quickly. “Is he ok??” Takaji looked at her sadly.

“Calm down, he’ll be fine. But you sure did a number to him. He wont be able to move for at least a week. You broke all his ribs.” He paused as Hira’s eyes filled with tears.

“I didn’t mean to..he made me change..I warned him I couldn’t control it…” She said fearfully. “Is he goanna kill me now?” She asked. “Or just throw me out. Taka, I don’t want to leave.” Takaji gave her a sympathetic look and then pulled her into a gentle embrace.

“I won’t let him do either, don’t worry. It wasn’t your fault.”

Hira did not notice that she had fallen back to sleep until she woke up. She was awakened by the sound of Takaji muttering to himself. She lifted her eyes to see him sitting in a velvet arm chair flipping through a book marked: Astrology and Horoscopes: an interpretation of the future.

"This time of the moon..Should have known..passionate Aries this is his month…idiot."

Hira got up on her elbows "What are you rattling on about???" Takaji looked slightly surprised then worried. He moved from his armchair to the foot of her bed, gently touching her arm he felt her pulse. Then went on to scoot up the bed to her torso. Without saying a word he tugged at her sleeve till it revealed a bandaged shoulder. He slowly began to unravel the bandage as Hira gave small whimpers of pain. Once he was finished Hira looked and saw a gruesome looking scar that lead from her shoulder to the beginnings of her chest. Takaji turned away as Hira tugged her shirt back up, he moved back to the foot of her bed and picked up the book.

" The reason for Kasai’s er.. uncontrolled passion.. How do you I explain it, ah listen to this." He flipped open the book scanned a page for what he wished to read then spoke. "Aries (the ram) march 21-April 20: Aries are people of the fire, passionate about what they do. They tend to challenge authority , Known for their quick tempers, they are the wrong people to anger. Aries prediction: In the days of your birth sign you grow more unsettled and you demand more from others. Do not start fights you know are not worthy of battling. Reacquaint yourself with old friends they will be useful for reasons still unseen." Takaji shut the book with a snap and looked back up at Hira. "Obviously he didn’t check his stars that day."

Hira nodded and observed how Takaji’s head was held lower and how he seemed to have circles around his eyes. She turned towards the window to see her heavy drapes closed tight . ‘he hasn’t slept for at least 2 days’ she thought to herself as she made a decision. "Bed now!" she commanded as she pointed to the door. As he made tiny complaints she raised her threat. "you get to bed or I’ll get out of bed and march you there!"

"You not supposed to be moving around" muttered Takaji as he stood up. "I’ll have the maids check on you in a bit. " and with that he left the room. Hira grinned he had fallen right into her dual trap. First of all she wanted him to rest and sleep Second of all she wanted hi to leave so she could visit Kasai. She waited for a couple minutes before jumping out of bed. Finding herself in someone’s over large t-shirt didn’t surprise her. She steadied herself on the bed frame before sliding over to the closet.