One of the more interesting things is that Miyu is not a typical vampire. Oh, she's got the pale skin, glowing eyes and ability to disappear, but she's certainly not a vampire of old. (In fact, when she first sees Raen, she remarks that he looks just like a vampire of legend... A bit too much like a vampire of legend.) She, to the extreme surprise/fear/fascination of Himiko, walks around in broad daylight, does not react to garlic, crushes crucifixes into faerie dust and licks up holy water, and has a reflection. Nor does she turn into a bat or mist at any time. Her eyes are golden and her skin is pale, but other than that, she resembles a typical vampire not at all (I have yet to notice her fangs: they're normal size, not sticking a foot out of her mouth).

Miyu's secret is a terrible one: the Shinma were released by her fault, and her parents were frozen in time as a result. So long ago that the exact amount of time has slipped her mind, Miyu was just a normal, thirteen-year old girl. One night, as she stood at the edge of the sea, gazing out at the alluring waves, a man floated across the water toward her. He is entirely in color, while she is in black and white. Her previously reddish eyes are black. He whispers: "Do not be afraid." Miyu watches him come, uncertain. The man looks at her and repeats: "Do not be afraid." He puts a sharp nail to her throat and sighs. He explains to her that he is sorry to have to do this; that it is not her fault, but that she cannot be allowed to awaken. Unfortunately, the man waits too long. He mentions the word "blood", and Miyu starts from the trance she had fallen into. She gazes at him as the man, unaware of the change, reaches out to caress her cheek. She hears the pounding of blood in his body, sees the veins throb in his neck. The scene flashes to the man, who looks sad. He reaches out to kill her, but the scene goes back to Miyu, who's eyes are now a brilliant gold. She reaches out and takes the man's head in her hands. He looks frightened. She reaches over and bites his neck soundlessly. He is stunned. A trickle of blood courses down his neck.

Miyu's mother and father speak quietly in the next room. Miyu comes home and apologizes for being late from school, promising that she'll never be late again. As she runs off, her mother looks anxious. "Do you think it's happened yet?" she asks her husband. He ignores her, staring deep into his very red wine.

Miyu dreams of the man and the seashore. She sees a hand reach out to the kneeling man, a hand much like the man's own. It places a white mask on the man's face. The man screams soundlessly, his hands trying to tear the mask away. She thinks: "And now his voice and face are sealed away forever." She tries to convince herself that all this was just a dream, but she does not believe it. She begins to cry.

At school the next day, a girl faints. Miyu's eyes glow gold. Her friend, Akiko, approaches and asks if she knows anything. Miyu says no. After school, she runs through the woods, crying desperately. "Larva! LARVA! Where are you?!" She laments that she did not mean to take the girl's blood, it just HAPPENED. She couldn't control herself. Larva appears, robed and masked, and takes her silently in his arms, comforting her.

At home, Akiko has dropped by unexpectedly. Miyu is sad and withdrawn: her mother has told her that the girl at school has died. When the girls are alone in the garden, Akiko smiles slyly and says: "I saw you. At school. I know you drank that girl's blood." Miyu protests feebly, but Akiko says that she wants eternal life and bares her neck to Miyu. Miyu tries to look away, but after a moment, her eyes glow gold and she reaches forward. Akiko, frightened, backs away. All of a sudden, Miyu's mother arrives and the two girls look guilty. Miyu's mother slaps Miyu and sends Akiko home. Her mother explains that Miyu is a vampire. Miyu asks if her mother is a vampire too, but her mother does not respond. Instead, she places a glass of blood in front of Miyu. "This is for you, but it will be your last. You must not drink blood." Miyu remembers how her mother stopped Akiko from leaving earlier and bursts out: "This is Akiko's blood, isn't it? You killed her!" Her mother says nothing, turns and leaves. Miyu stands, sobbing hysterically, as her mother sighs and glances at her husband. He looks disinterested. The glass falls from Miyu's hand, empty. She cries harder; her eyes fade from gold to red.

The leader of the Shinma comes for Miyu that very evening. Her mother explains that she and Miyu are Shinma, of the only tribe left on Earth to guard the Dark. Now, Miyu must become the new guardian and watch over the Dark, where the Shinma have chosen to retreat. Miyu is terrified and clings to her mother. The leader of the Shinma reaches out to grab her, but Miyu's mother summons a flame - much like Miyu's in the future - and keeps him away. "Run, Miyu, run!" she cries, grabbing her daughter by the hand. The leader of the Shinma reaches out for Miyu again, but this time it is Larva who breaks the creature's hold. Miyu and her mother run away while Larva and her father stay behind. Miyu cries out in worry for them, but is dragged away.

In the next scene, Miyu is drinking from a tap of water and crying. "It doesn't help, mother. I'm still thirsty..." Her mother shakes her head and makes her promise to try not to drink blood anymore. Miyu says she'll try, but it's so hard and she's so very thirsty... Her mother reveals that she made Miyu's father into a vampire, to keep him at her side eternally. Unfortunately, Shinma age as a human does, while vampires made by Shinma do not. Now, her husband has nothing to live for, and is a man without purpose or will to live. (I'm uncertain if Miyu's mother is a vampire, or just a regular Shinma). They run again, and Miyu falters, her throat burning. She's so very thirsty... She falls and her mother protects her from the Shinma again, then Miyu finds herself staring at her mother's neck. She hears the blood beat and her eyes go gold. She is crying as she takes her mother's blood. Her mother is horrified and faints. Miyu is crying, but couldn't help herself. As she tastes the blood, she remembers the glass of blood she had assumed was Akiko's. But the blood then tasted the same as her mother's does now.

Now, Miyu hunts the Shinma that escaped the Dark on the night she fled from her destiny. Her parents are sealed in a room filled with glass until the day she returns all the Shinma to the Dark, Larva included. Until her mission has been fulfilled, she will not age, and she has been granted security from the weaknesses other vampires face. When Himiko asks why she hunts the Shinma, she replies that she hunts them for one reason only. It's easy to realize that she wants to apologize to her mother.