Kiss From a Rose

"In a perfect world, human beings would co-exist, harmoniously, like a rainbow. A multitude of colors, each layer vibrant and clear by itself

But in unison...

Boundless,

Breathtaking,

Celestial..."

-Mariah Carey

Prologue

"Who even cares about you anyway?! You're not my sister, and you never will be! Never! I don't care if I never see you again!" Makina yelled at her five year old sister, Odayaka. Makina stormed off to her room, leaving Odayaka on the floor of the orphanage. Odayaka didn't fully understand why her older sister hated her so much, but she figured it was because of the strange things that happened to her every full moon. Odayaka was not a normal child, and neither was her sister, Makina.

The girls had been sent to the orphanage a year earlier after the death of their mother. Both girls had displayed strange powers that kept both of them from being adopted. Strange things that the orphanage workers couldn't explain. Small things such as Odayaka's immense strength that came with every full moon, as well as a mysterious anemia that came with it. Once a month, Odayaka had to receive transfusions, or she became violent. Makina had a strange habit of making things in a room shatter when she was angry. Strange fires has plagued the orphanage every now and then as well. They blamed it on faulty wiring, but Odayaka and Makina knew better.

On this day, however, everything would change. A young couple with a small child of three years entered the orphanage. Each member of this family possessed similar strange powers to the girls and this was what had attracted them to the orphanage. They had heard about Odayaka and her sister and decided that their daughter, Emerald, could benefit from having an older sister.

The couple approached a tearful Odayaka, the mother holding her daughter, a rather small child for her age with shoulder length deep, forest green hair and equally green eyes. Odayaka looked up, her ice blue eyes clouded with tears. She searched the group slowly, as if searching for an answer that would not be found. The mother set her child down next to the other girl and stood back with her husband to observe their reaction.

Emerald made the first move and crawled toward Odayaka. "Why you crying?" she asked in a small, innocent voice. Odayaka wiped her eyes with her arm.

"I.. I don't know," she answered honestly. She was used to her sister yelling at her like that, but she had a feeling that her sister would be getting her wish. Emerald grinned from ear to ear.

"You cry no more... sister."

~*~

"Our only problem is that this child... is extremely anemic. Once a month just before the full moon we need to give her transfusions... or she gets extremely violent. You will have to make sure you take care of this," the orphanage worker said, handing Emerald's father, Taiki, the adoption papers.

"That won't be a problem. We'll work something out," Taiki said confidently. He had already figured out what was wrong, but he wasn't about to say anything to this muggle orphanage worker, as it may upset them, and they certainly didn't need that.

"Well, just in case, we need you to sign a few more things."

"Alright," the mother, Atsuko, said gently.

Atsuko and Taiki were confident they were doing the right thing by adopting Odayaka. The orphanage certainly couldn't take care of her forever, and muggles wouldn't understand the changes she would soon go through. They would work through everything and have it all sorted out in due time. They decided they would just live day by day.

~*~

Ten Years Later...

"Do you see her?"

"The one walking with Emerald?"

"Yeah, have you heard the rumor?"

"What, that she's a vampire?"

"Yeah, I heard her father is Alucard von Hellsing."

Odayaka endured the whispers as she walked down the hall and out the door of her school, Tokyo School of Witchcraft for Girls, with her sister. They headed down the street toward their flat where they lived with their mother and father.

"I'm sorry, Odie," Emerald said sulking. "I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

"Don't worry about it. You just need to learn not to punch every person who says something bad about me. I don't really mind."

"Yeah, well, she deserved it." Emerald put her hands behind her head as she walked. Both girls had grown considerably since their first meeting. Odayaka's now waist length brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and fell around her shoulders. Her almost full figure (even if she was rather short) was accented by her almost too-small sailor school girl uniform (standard for all schools in Tokyo--muggle and magic). Her younger sister, although not as matured as her sister, was still beautiful. She now had long, deep green hair and fair skin. Her school uniform was still too big for her, but she'd only just recently begun to fill it out. Emerald was also covered in cuts and bruises, apparently from a fight with the toughest girl in school (who, by the way, suffered a broken nose and a lovely black eye). The girl had apparently bad-mouthed Odayaka and Emerald was to have none of that, so she began to fight with her.

"I won't be there to always pull you out of every fight you get yourself into, Em-chan," Odayaka scolded.

"I know... thanks for back there, by the way." Emerald smiled. "You've always known how to kick some--" Just then, the girls spotted their mother outside of their complex, a rare occasion and usually was company to bad news.

"We need to go inside," their mother said seriously, as she walked toward their apartment.

"Mom! I didn't start it! I swear!" Emerald yelled after her mother as she ran to catch up. Odayaka just sighed and walked after them.

"I'm not concerned about that--"

"Phew, that's good," Emerald sighed.

"--Yet," her mother shot her a glare cold enough to freeze water into ice. Emerald stopped dead in her tracks; this was another rare thing from their mother. Their mother was rarely concerned with their behavior in school. Odayaka nudged her sister along toward the apartment.

"Just be glad Taiki isn't home," she said quietly. Something must really be wrong...she thought.

~*~

"I think both of you need to sit down," Atsuko said, wringing her hands nervously. "I have bad news. It's about your father."

"What's wrong with Daddy?!" Emerald asked frantically.

"Not your father, Emerald... Odayaka's biological father."

Odayaka took a moment to take all of this in. She felt as though someone had ripped her heart out of her ribcage and threw it on the ground. "Wh-what about my father?" she asked, felling a lump form in the base of her throat. She knew her father was Alucard von Hellsing, the most powerful vampire alive and previous second-in-command to Voldemort. She knew he was the reason she was brought into this world, and she hated him for it.

"Well, we received an owl from the Ministry of Magic in London saying that the Aurors keeping watch over him at his home in Bulgaria haven't seen him for days. Muggle witnesses have said they've seen a man fitting his description perfectly in Hokkaido. He's definitely caught the scent and is looking for you, Odayaka."

"Why does he want me?" she asked, now finding it difficult to speak.

"You are his only child, and therefore his only heir. I guess what he would want with you."

"Make me a full vampire... and have me carry on his legacy... I won't let him!"

"Of course you won't. Neither will we, that's why we've made arrangements with the Ministry of Magic."

"And...?" Emerald urged.

"You two will be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry until this whole thing blows over and Alucard is caught and sent to Azkaban prison where he will be carefully monitored."

"Oh, COOL! A co-ed school!" Emerald jumped up. "This isn't bad news at all! Where is it?"

"In England."

"What?! You've gotta be kidding!" the girls chorused.

"You will leave for London tomorrow by way of the Knight Bus and stay at the Leakey Cauldron. School starts the day after tomorrow, so buy your things at Diagon Alley. There will be an escort for you, a volunteer from the Ministry has agreed to take care of you, he has to take his daughter and four sons there to buy their things anyway. Sunday, you will catch the Hogwarts Express from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters," their mother said, almost mechanically.

"But, what about your lives?" Odayaka asked. Now she was outraged that such a decision was made without her knowledge.

"That's all I was thinking about when Taiki and I made this decision. You'd be much safer there than here," she said quietly. Odayaka was taken aback. Just pack up and go? Just like that? No problem?

"Why do I hafta go?" Emerald started.

"To keep you safe as well. We don't know what this man is capable of."

This Man. Odayaka had never heard anyone talk about her father since she was would that he was the reason she was a half vampire. Her step-parents had informed the Ministry of Magic of her adoption soon after the fact. They had informed her parents that they should consider going into hiding because she was the only offspring of Alucard von Hellsing. She remembered reading in her Dark Arts class that male vampires could have only one child and that female vampires were sterile, so he had to find a human female--Odayaka's biological mother. Her mother had committed suicide when Odayaka was four, when she had found out that her daughter would be doomed to such a life. She couldn't live anymore, as she had been made a vampire by Alucard shortly after the birth of Odayaka. He also killed Makina's father. So that's why she hated me, Odayaka realized.

Odayaka had barely made it out of his clutches and was sent to a muggle orphanage where the Ministry was sure he wouldn't bother looking for her. They had informed Atsuko and Taiki of Odayaka's whereabouts. Atsuko and Taiki were the best candidates the Ministry had chosen to take care of her. Odayaka would be extremely dangerous if Alucard had been allowed to raise her.

"You both will leave tomorrow. Hopefully the Ministry will be able to find him soon so you can come home." Atsuko's eyes began filling with tears. "Well, you both have a lot of packing to do. I have to get dinner started." She stood up and excused herself to the kitchen, where Odayaka could hear soft sobs. The girls exchanged glances and silently agreed they should go speak to their closest friend, Insight Nekuoichi, soon-to-be-leader of the Shadow Cat Clan. She was wise for her age, perhaps she could offer some guidance.