Crimson Kiss

Disclaimer: I do not own sailor moon or any of the characters; all credit goes to Naoko Takeuchi, creator of Sailor Moon.

Prelude

A slender figure browsed the streets, seeming to be unmoving as various individuals passed by. They didn't notice her and her dark eyes, covered by shades of the purest black. Luscious curls, dark also dark in color, fell down to her shoulders, framing her oval shaped face. Amidst her perfect body she wore a plain v necked sweater and it was a dark grey in color. A smile spread across her perfect face as she spotted the reason she had come here.

A human, taller than her by a little, with dark golden hair cropped short but styled enough to make the person attractive to nearly anyone. Sharp lips curled into a smile and a hint of fangs showed through her crimson lips. Without another moment's breath she was already gone after the figure who had exited the building in front of her.

It was so hard to find good prey these days...

Chapter One: A Meeting Of Sorts

"Faster! Do you really expect to save anyone at that pace?!" a deep voice instructed.

Haruka listened to her own words, angry with herself for not being strong enough. Her fist landed on the punching bag, making the entire structure shake. Out of breath, she rested her hands on her knees and attempted to catch her breath. The soft sunlight that poured through one of the few windows in the gym stretched across the blue mat.

It had been so long since then...almost three weeks. She frowned as she realized how much her time had twiddled down. Two of those had been figuring out just exactly what that woman had been...A week to find and hunt down the master vampire of Tokyo city...okay that wasn't so hard. It wasn't like she could just blow this off either and she couldn't get help from anyone because who would believe her? Still angry she shook her head and watched the punching bag swing lightly back and forth.

"Damnit..." she cursed and hit the punching bag angrily with her right hand so that her knuckles stung slightly.

The fighter's attentions drifted off to a rather lean figure that had braced their weight against the doorway. Smiling slightly, she was darker-skinned with bright eyes and long black hair. Haruka realized that she found herself gazing into the eyes of perhaps the only woman who had helped her. Noisily the punching bag thwacked back and forth as though someone had taken a baseball bat to it. But Haruka's attentions were placed on the figure.

Setsuna.

"Oi, Setsuna! What brings you here?" her voice was less stressed and the angry tone seemed to have disappeared.

Looking into the eyes of her companion, Haruka grabbed the still-swinging punching bag and stilled it. Sitting down, she cracked out her water bottle and took a long drink and finally placed it down on the ground besides her. The matt felt soft underneath her weight. It was a small comfort that she had enjoyed upon previous work out cessions. Her eyes filed up to the black haired woman who stood so gracefully in the door way watching her. Setsuna smiled.

"Just checking up on you, I was right in thinking that you would overwork yourself just to get stronger," She laughed lightly.

Haruka looked forlorn at Setsuna's accusation but didn't say anything about it.

"I need to keep in shape, how else could I keep so gorgeous a body?" she joked, brushing a hand through her golden locks. Amber eyes gazed out around the empty work out room, fingers dancing over the scar on her neck. Two perfect puncture marks...a vampire's kiss.

"I should have known!" Setsuna laughed, moving away from the door frame and approaching Haruka," Actually...I do have a reason in coming here." She began, standing besides Haruka.

Feeling a little out of place sitting while Setsuna stood, she rose and placed her water bottle on a nearby stand. It wobbled a little bit from the force that she had let go of it on but other than that stayed steady. Haruka gazed around the gym, wondering about why Setsuna could be coming to find her so early. Normal people would be asleep right now. The entire gym was quiet, nobody else but the two were in there, though mostly because it was very early in the morning.

"Oh?" The blonde spoke, a sign for Setsuna to elaborate.

"This is going to take a while to understand, maybe we should go somewhere else..." The graceful mentor proposed, her bright eyes smiling as she herself did, "How about breakfast at that place down the street?"

Skeptical of Setsuna's proposal but still trusting the woman to know what was right, Haruka smiled. More than ever the clockwork of her mind was spinning, trying to figure out just what the smart figure had found. Anything would help at this point. Only a week left until she became just like that creature...and Haruka would make sure that she didn't last that long.

Picking up her jacket, she slid the black over her frame and proceeded to open the door for Setsuna.

"Sure, ladies first," she grinned, still holding the door.

Still smiling, Setsuna nodded to Haruka and exited the gym to head for Haruka's convertible. Following soon after, Haruka paused to run her strong fingers over the scar once more. Her dark green eyes gazed out at the gym and found that everything was alright, not at all disturbed from her visit. Pressing her white fingers down on the scar, she found that her hopes were dashed. Of course it wasn't going to go away. It hadn't changed a bit but she could still feel the pull that the vampire who had dealt it gave.

Shivering, she followed Setsuna out to her car.

- - -

The cafe was all but empty when Haruka opened the door and the two strode in. Weak morning sunlight emerged from the bay windows on their right. With a stern walk, Haruka pointed out a table that was overlapped by one of these beautiful windows and the two sat down. Setsuna seemed to be in a good mood despite the reason why she had come. Maybe it was all just an act of false happiness so that nobody would know that she was really sorrowful on the outside. Haruka could relate easily to that.

"So...what's the big news?" she asked, directing the waitress to order two teas and some pastries for breakfast.

"I'm not really sure about this..." she began, her eyes darting to the tea.

Seeing that the two had stopped talking for her to place the tea down, the waitress seemed to go twice as fast as normally. Haruka gazed down at the steaming cups, satisfied with the light green tea. It didn't have any milk or sugar, just tea, and that was just the way that Haruka liked her tea. Straight. Sighing, she drew the cup to her lips and let the warm liquid bristle down her throat. The waitress left once more and the conversation was resumed.

"It doesn't have anything to do with vampire bites, right?" Haruka asked, feeling a little strange. Thankfully hardly anyone was in the cafe and the waitress had taken to staring at Haruka like one would a T-bone steak. If the young Senshi hadn't been discussing her possibly non-existent future, she would've given in with the urge to flirt and hit on the young waitress. But not today.

"No," the words cut through Haruka, "I was reading up on vampires and I came across this book," Setsuna's slender fingers placed a large, dust-ridden book on the table in front of Haruka. The lettering on the cover was fading but she could make out the words The Prophecy clearer than day. Haruka bit her lip slightly while eying the cover and letting Setsuna continue, "It's the vampire prophecy."

"Prophecy?" Her voice asked, curious.

"Hai. It tells of a pure soul whose blood has the ability to make a vampire able to walk in sunlight," Setsuna's voice was grave as she delivered this news. Haruka understood the meaning to Setsuna's words. This was not good.

"So then...have we figured out who it is?" For a dreaded moment Haruka thought that it was her own blood that had done the trick. If that vampiress could walk out in the daylight...they would be in trouble. Haruka began to unconsciously fiddle with the paper place mat set out on the table in front of her, bending the edges back and forth.

"Michiru Kaioh."

"Michiru Kaioh? I have never heard of her..." she began, "What else does the prophecy say?" Her voice was sharp, her attention close on what Setsuna would reply with.

"That the vampire can only gain achievement if the child of Uranus is reborn and the light of Neptune is drained." Setsuna spoke.

The words were like another language to the racer. Child of Uranus? Neptune? How could they tell such things?! Did that mean that they needed to find this other person as well? And which one was this Michiru? So many questions brimmed in her mind that Haruka didn't even want to think. Taking another sip of her tea, she let the warm liquid calm her down slightly.

"So she's which one?" Haruka asked timidly.

"Not sure. I can't make out the rest of the words because someone tore the page," Setsuna sighed.

For a moment the silence around them was incredible. Setsuna took a sip of her tea and crossed her arms over the table. The waitress, having hovered close to the two (upon the assumption that they were lovers) had no idea of what they were speaking of. Her mind was dancing over the tomboyish form of Haruka. Placing their breakfast down in front of them, she asked them if they needed anything else and was instantly brushed off by Haruka. Depressed, she sulked away and Haruka continued their conversation.

"So, do you expect me to save her then?" the words were dangerous, borderline anger for Haruka. Setsuna seemed to weigh her response and Haruka's anger level with it. She didn't want to upset her companion anymore than necessary.

"If you don't do something...it might be too late to stop the vampiress."

Haruka dreaded those words but she understood. She didn't want to snap at Setsuna because that wouldn't be fair. Setsuna wasn't the one who had bitten her and sentenced her to be the savoir of the town. But it wasn't right; Haruka didn't think that she could do it. Somberly, she spoke with zeal on the subject.

"But I can't even save myself!" Her protest arose.

"I'm going to do some more research. Just keep an eye on her Haruka, that's all I'm asking."

Setsuna's words were calming, much like the older woman's aura. Haruka could only scowl at the idea but understood the request. Nodding, she eyed the clock. It was almost time for her to go to school. Senior at Infinity College, the girl wasn't very fond of anything to do with the school. Except for track, but she had quit that a while ago. Making friends also hadn't been her specialty for Haruka quite often came off as cold and critical and most people couldn't take criticism very well.

"All right. I'll find her. I'm skipping school today," she finished. Setsuna raised her eyebrow.

"So I'll have to go in without you?" She teased. It was fun to joke around.

"You'll have to find a way to live without me, gomen." Haruka's laugh was echoed by Setsuna's, "now I don't know about you but I'm starving. We should definitely eat before our food goes cold."

Agreeing with the vampire bitten human, Setsuna smiled and reached for her fork. Haruka grinned, hand poised above the handle of her tea cup. Before her a light pastry tempted her to eat. Hand wrapping around her fork, she dug into the pastry.

Michiru Kaioh...where ever she was Haruka would find her.