Katherine Tachibana's Story

On a seemingly normal morining a loud thump was the only thing breaking the silence in Katherine's bedroom. Katherine'a only response was an ow and a stumble while standing. She had to hurry or she'd be running late. She sighed before heading into the bathroom. She showered and was about to finish brushing her teeth when her older adoptive brother started pounding on the door. "Hurry up Kat!" his voice was muffled by the locked door but she heard it perfectly even over the running water. After finishing she finally replied. "Mikato how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me Kat! I'm not an animal." she said right before opening the door abruptly making said male fall into the bathroom.

She sighed once again before walking out of the bathroom and downstairs where her father was setting breakfast on the table. "Sorry dad I'm running late can't stay and eat." she said apologetically and now it was time for her brother to comment as he walked out of the bathroom. "It's probably cause you take so damn long in the bathroom." he added and with a roll of the eyes she replied. "Oh shut up I'm a girl and I, unlike you, like to be hygenic." she commented making him glare at her. "Okay okay you too. Katherine don't worry I'll drive you to the clinic. I'm sure doctor Silverstein is used to our tardiness." her father reminded her and with yet another sigh she sat down at the table.

"Running late as usual I see." her younger sister, Misaki, had made an appearance. Lucky for Katherine she had no school for the day as she was given a day off as was her siblings and they had a day off for some appearant reason. Katherine didn't bother replying to the fact and stood up after hearing the resounding familiarity of her father's car keys. Katherine was outside quickly and made her way to the car parked outside in seconds. Within minutes they had made it to the clinic just in time for Katherine's dizziness to just start kicking in signalling her need for her treatment. Another few minutes had passed and she was lying in a hospital bed getting a blood flowing to her arm through IV.

Her father was outside the room talking to someone she didn't know and Katherine had just begun thinking what the importance of getting a blood like this every other day was necessary. For a year she has been unable to remember anything of the past and the reasoning for this is supposedly an accident she was in. In that time her two siblings were adopted and she was in a pretty normal family except for the part of having to receive blood so frequently but the doctor had said it was all part of the after-affects to her accident so Katherine never arugued this. Still she couldn't feel that something was missing in her life. Something important. Like if a whole huge important chunk of her life was missing and she's unable to remember it in the slightest.

Shiki stared up at the hospital, with a sad look on his face, just like he had done every day for the past year. Being one of Katherine's Chevalier, he had a burning desire to be near her. But this was as close as Red Shield allowed him to get. And for her sake, he had listened. But it was becoming too much. Unlike the days before, Shiki began pacing, something he rarely ever did. He took a hesitant step toward the hospital enterance, only to be stopped by a gentle, yet firm, hand on his shoulder.

Shiki turned to see Hagi, his mentor and closest friend. Hagi shook his head. "Not yet." Those two words said a lot more than they seemed. Shiki knew that Hagi understood what he was going through, he had gone through it himself before. Shiki looked down at the ground, his crimson hair getting in his eyes. "I know, its just so hard." Shiki said with a sigh. Hagi nodded, showing his understanding, then left Shiki to go do something else, knowing that Shiki would be there until Katherine left.

The Chevalier forced himself to stand still, and returned to staring up at the hospital.

Katherine's treatment had almost finished when she heard her father speaking to someone outside. To who he was speaking to she was unsure of. She has always for the past year felt that something was being kept hidden from her for some odd reason and she felt that was unfair but she never commented on it. Meanwhile her 'father' had quickly spotted Shiki and ws actually unsurprised to see him here. "Shiki you know how risky it is for you to be here. If she sees you I doubt it'll end well." he said but nonetheless smiled at the young male.

"I know it's been a long time but we just need to hang in there just a little longer. Any word on Amber's location?" he asked hoping there was some good news for now. He had hated keeping such a dark secret from a girl he took in as his own and it never helped with Red shield's cnstant interference but he understood why they kept getting involved. It was crucial because if she remembered anything it could help reveal where Amber is or more about their past. Shiki was someone he has gotten to know over the past year along with Haji but they haven't actually interacted with her as of yet.

Katherine's treatment had finished and she didn't bother waiting for the doctor before taking the IV out. She went over to the door and put her ear to it to attempt to at least try and hear what they were saying but all she caught was the name Amber and location. It was certainly confusing but for some reason she felt compelled to open the door. When she did she was met with the gaze of her father and a bright crimson catching her eye that belonged to a male that seemed oddly familiar. "Uh dad I finshed." she said as it was the only thing she could think of.

"Shiki you know how risky it is for you to be here. If she sees you I doubt it'll end well. I know it's been a long time but we just need to hang in there just a little longer. Any word on Amber's location?" Shiki was talking to Katherine's father, Red Shield had finally let him inside the hospital. Shiki shook his head. "Nothing yet, sir. I'm going to fly out as soon as I'm done here and see if I can find any trace of them. But even a Chevalier can only go so far at a time without needing to rest."

The door next to them opened, Shiki looked over to see who it was. "Katherine..." Her name escaped his lips before he could stop himself. Katherine's dad shot him a look that said, get out of here now. But not in a rude way, simply out of concern for Katherine. For a brief moment, Shiki reached out his hand to Katherine, then caught himself and let his hand lay down by his side. "I, uh, gotta go." he said while looking off to the side. Shiki turned around to leave and almost crashed into a nurse. He quickly mumbled an apology and started heading down the stairs.

"Katherine..." she heard her name and looked to see it wasn't her father saying it. The other male had said it. 'How did he know my name?' she thought. As far as she could remember of the past year she had never met him. So why did he seem familiar to her? Yet with each other question she asked she could find no answer. It was odd yet not unusual but now she certain something was being kept from her. "Dad who was that?" she asked the question when the male had left but yet a small sliver of her was shocked she even asked that.

"Oh no one Katherine. Don't worry about it." he said before they left the hospital and drove home. Katherine hated feeling such doubt about her father but what else cold she do? That boy had known her name somehow and her father had no explanation as to why the boy did know her name. Could he possibly be someone from the past she could not remember? She was frustrated of not being able to remember him. Along with the fact that something she was unaware of was going on it was a bit overwhelming. Yet at that moment a flash of a memory hit her. In the quick flash she saw herself seemingly helping someone with bright crimson red hair up despite his bloodied form.

'Could it be him?' she thought. Katherine sighed for the umpteenth time that day. What was really going on and why couldn't she know about it? Katherine was offcially curious and she knew that curiousity killed the cat so what could possibly happen if she knew of the truth?

Katherine was pacing in her room. What was she going to do about her father's secrecy? It all made no sense to her. Right now all she wanted to do was remember everything. She soon stopped pacing and went downstairs. "I'm going out for a bit. I'll be back by supper." she said before leaving and not bothering to wait for her father's reply. Right now she could use the fresh air. With that in mind she decided to go to the nearby park. She sat at the swings enjoying the fresh air. She hoped now she may be able to clear her mind.

Katherine knew she couldn't just forced the memories back but she wished she could. Dr.Silverstein said it would take time but how long? The blood transfusions were another things that confused her. What was that about? She hadn't lost a lot of blood. So why did she need it? None of it made sense. There were too many questions and no answers to any of them. None of these things could be pieced together to hopefully find an answer.

Katherine had been able to clear her mind and decided to go home and was shocked to see an unfamliar black car parked outside. She saw some strange man in a suit talking to her father. It was an odd and an unexpected sight. When she walked into the house she saw the man slide a sall brown envelope to her father and she wondered briefly what it was. She quickly glanced over at her father and the strange man stopped talking. "I'll see you soon Jack." the starnger said before leaving. Katherine simply shook her head and went upstairs.

---

Akito was walking as normal as he could but the smirk on his face betrayed his feigned normalcy. He had walked into Amber's room with a grin adorning his features. "How has your morning been Amber?" he asked in a cheery tone. For some reason he was happy which wasn't unusual for him but right now so early it was odd. Last night he had gone off in search of blood and like his usual sadisitc personality he happily inflicted pain on someone for what he needed and did so without hesitance and without faltering.

He walked over to the wall directly across from amber yet not too close to her and leaned against it. "So what are the plans for today?" he had wanted to start the day off already but really he was hoping she had something in mind that had to do with hurting someone in some way though even if it didnt he'd still carry out her orders successfully.

Akito had shcukled a bit but nonetheless danced with her and listened to her. "We could go to Okinawa. It's close to the beach." he recommended. In truth he wasn't very hungry but he was more than willing to feed with Amber especially seeing as how it would only benefit him. He wasn't concerned with Red Shield as they have yet to be spotted so as of right now they didn't have worries about that. His grin grew wider at the thought. "So are you planning on telling Chi or Morgan what it is we intend to do?" it was simple question really. He didn't have any isue with either of them tagging along why would he? If it's what Amber had wnted then why not?

---

"So who was that?" Katherine had asked after coming downstairs for supper. Her siblings hadn't the slightest clue who it was she was talking about but her father did even so he pretended to not know what she was talking about which irked Katherine a bit. "Who are you talking about Katherine?" he asked and got in response her rolling her eyes. "That man that came here. Who was he?" she asked this time clarifying more and he had sighed. "No one important." he replied and it was now Katherine's turn to sigh. "The same answer you gave me to at the hospital. Nice dad." she said and stood. Right now she could use another walk. She wasn't hungry surprisngly.

Katherine is able to eat a lot and yet not gain the weight of it all for some reason but she forgot about that thought once she left not bothering to answer her father's questioning of her intended location. She wasn't going to go far. In the recent ear not much had happened in Oinawa so she wasn't scared to go out at night besides she could hold her own if needed. Right now no matter the time she needed time away from the secrets plaguing the house she lived in and whatever it was her father was covering up.

Katherine wasn't completely sure where it was she was headed but as of right now unfortunately anything was better than home right now. She continued walking until she ended up bumping into someone thanks to the fact that she wasn't paying attention. "Oh I'm so sorry." she said but when she looked up again she was shocked to say the least. It was the same boy from the hospital. The same one that uttered her name unexpectedly then left after doing so. "It's you...from the hospital." she wondered what he was doing here now but she didn't ask as it wasn't any of her business.

"What a surprise seeing you here of all places." she noted but didn't know what else to say.

Shiki had been so worried about a Chiropteran attacking had hadn't actually been paying attention to where he was walking. He was looking anywhere but in front of him. He bumped into someone, or they bumped into him, he couldn't quite tell. "Oh I'm so sorry." Said a very familiar voice. Shiki looked down to see that it was Katherine. "It's you...from the hospital. What a surprise seeing you here of all places." Shiki had no idea what he was suppose to do. Anything he said might trigger her memories. Then she might go insane. Things were not looking good. Shiki finally decided to give one of his trademark goofy smiles and make up some BS lie. "Its Katherine right? I live nearby and was just out on walk."

Before Shiki could continue the coversation he heard a growl to his left. He looked and saw glowing red eyes from an alleyway. "Aw crap." he said as he got between the Chiropteran and Katherine.

Katherine was about to reply back to what he said when she saw his gaze travel elsewhere. She didn't know what it was that made his expression change the way it did until she turned around and as well saw what he was looking at. When she did see it she wished she hadn't. "What the hell is that?" she asked hoping he would hopefully know. Seeing such a creature had her more than spooked. From what she could remember she hasn't seen one of those things before. Yet a small part of her found the thing to be familiar somehow. For some unknown reason she hadn't run yet and she didn't want to. Her fear was now gone replaced by curiosity and some other unknown feeling.

So what was she to do? For a moment she wasn't in control any longer once she gazed down at a sharp slab of a rock. She picked it up and cut her hand on it staining the slab with her blood. The creature came at her and Katherine had yet to regain control let along intake on what was happening before her until the slab was imbedded in the creatures chest and she was on the floor from it pushing her. When she finally did regain control she saw the odd creature cystalizing right in front of her. 'W-What the hell did I do?"

Shiki partially shifted, letting only the curved blades appear on his forearms. But before he could do anything Katherine stabbed the Chiropteran with a sharp piece of rock covered in blood. The Chiropteran immediately started crystalizing and Katherine asked what she had just done.

Shiki got out his cellphone and called Joel, not shifting back, just in case there were any other ones close by. "Um Joel, we have a problem." Shiki said, "I was walking the island and bumped into Katherine. Oh and I found the Chiropteran. Katherine stabbed it with the a sharp rock. Covered in her blood. I need a team out here quickly. And send Dr. Silverstein too." Shiki then hung up and looked at Katherine. He carefully pried the rock out of her hands and set down on the ground. Then made her sit down on a nearby step. "Don't worry, everything's gonna be fine." He said, flashing another one of his trademark goofy smiles. "Just stay put until help shows up."

Katherine was still in shock and barely heard what he had said. She heard the conversation on the phone somehow and was even more confused. "Chiropteran? Joel? Dr. Silverstein? What do they have to do with any of this? Who are you and how do you know my name?" she looed over at him unsure of what to feel. "None of this makes any sense." she stated. More questons were beginning to arise. Who was Joel and what did Dr.Silverstein have to do with any of this? It was all too crazy for her that she almost forgot about her wounded hand but when she looked at her hand where the wound was just a few moments ago it had completely healed up.

This only served to further confuse her. Just a minute or two go she wanted some fresh air and to get away from home for a minute but now all she wanted to do was go home. This made her start thinking if maybe her father was involved with all of this as well. It was all too much right now for her.

Nagari arrived before anyone else did. She didn't look too happy. But then again, she never did. "What are you doing here, Shiki?" she asked obvious disapproval is her tone. Shiki's almost non-existent temper snapped. All day people had been blaming him for things he couldn't control. How the hell was he suppose to know that Katherine was there, or a Chiropteran? He let out an unitentional growl. "I've been working all day on finding Amber, or her Chevalier, or a Chiropteran. Anything that could get us a lead. I just happen to crash into Katherine. What, you think it was my choice? Yeah I want to be near her, but I know the dangers. Remember I've been with her for twenty years." After that Shiki turned away from Nagari and focused his attention on Katherine.

He knelt down beside her and took her bloody hand in his. Checking the cut. Relief flooded through Shiki as he saw that it was gone. She still healed quickly. "You probably want to go home right? You just gotta wait a few more minutes, then we'll let you go. Just wait for Dr. Silverstein to get here and make sure you're okay."

Katherine had kept her gaze from them though she heard the conversation between the two. Suddenly her thoughts were focused on key things that were said. First was the female's revealation on his name next wer things that made no sense at all to her. Amber? Chevalier? Then she began thinking of the fact that he stated that he wanted to be near her and that he'd been with her for twenty years. How is that possible? She was only 16 so how could she have been doing anything for twenty years.

It wasn't until he had adressed a question to her that she was brought out of her thoughts. She stiffened once feeling him grab a hold of her hand but quickly realized what the purpose was. "I-I don't understand. How is any of this possible?" that was the only thing she could manage at the moment. She was still pretty shaken up a bit. All of a sudden her already confusing life has come to a screeching halt. She just killed a monster using her blood, the cut she had just moments ago healed almost instantly, and so much else has happened.

Katherine had been outside for a bit until people had begun showing up. She had wondered where it was she'd be going now. She guessed she wasn't able to just return home and be normal like before. She was right she was taken off to some large building a little while away. Her father was there as well but she wasn't even able to greet him before Dr.Silverstein took her off to get checked out and to get yet another blood transfusion. She had remained silent through all of it. Even after she left the room where she was given her blood transfusion she remained silent.

Katherine was standing outside the room and slid to the floor with her back up against it. So much was very different than what she thought. She wasn't normal so then what was she? Who was she to become? None of those questionshad been answered yet.

---

Akito had gone out with Amber like she had wished but after a bit something was off. They had fed like Amber wanted but that was when something felt a bit off. Like if something was coming or if someone was near. Oh and how right he was. He and AMber were travelling back home when he caught a glimpse of two long blonde ponytails and saw Katherine. After so long and from the looks of it she had just killed something. He just hoped Amber didn't see her as well because there was no telling how she'd react.

(OOC: I was a tad worried that this may die if there had continously had been no posts so I posted in a way where others can fit in as well for now. Hopefully TheLittleOddity can post soon.)