It was a spring afternoon in Washihara, Japan. In this city you could see a mass of young teenagers walking out of a school. In this mass of young adults, you could see a boy the age of 16 walking towards the back of the mass. He wore the standard school uniform consisting of a white blazer, black button-down shirt, white slacks, and a pair of white shoes. He had a medium build and stood around 5’ 7” with long black hair that curved outwards at his neck and golden-yellow eyes. He carried the basic tan schoolbag and wore a chain necklace that held a digital camera. He also had a black camera bag hanging from his side, held there by the strap that went from his left shoulder to his right side, along with a pair of black gloves that he wore and a white Casio G-shock DW-6900NB-7ER wristwatch.

“Oi! Kyuu!” he heard from behind him. Running towards him was a boy about a year older with black, spiky hair. He stood at 5’ 6” and wore nearly the same uniform, except his blazer and slacks were navy blue, though he held the same bag. His eyes were as distinctive as Kyuu’s, as he had silver eyes that seemed to glow like the moon.

“Oh, hey Tanoshii. Why’re you here? Miss me?” Kyuu asked with a chuckle at the end.

“Psh, yeah right. I came to see Yue-chan,” he replied.

“Oh yeah, what is it now? Your one year anniversary?” Kyuu asked.

“Yup, we’ve been together for one whole year,” Tanoshii confirmed.

“Wow, it feels like just yesterday you two went one your first date,” Kyuu started. “I’m so proud!” he told him, tears flowing comically.

“Whatever. There she is! Yue-chan!” Tanoshii shouted, spotting his girlfriend. She soon saw them and waved, walking over to them. She wore a black blouse, black skirt, and white shoes. The blouse and skirt though, had a white trim to them. Her eyes were a light shade of brown and her hair was black. She also held the same brown bag in front of her as she walked.

“Hey guys. Why are you here hun?” she asked, only for Kyuu and Tanoshii to face-plant. When they got back up Kyuu soon went into a laughing fit.

“Um, it’s our uh, one year anniversary hime,” Tanoshii informed her. At that moment, something seemed to click inside her head.

“Oh! That’s why I felt I needed to bring this,” she said, pulling out a box. “Happy one year anniversary hun,” she told him, handing him the box that was wrapped with black and yellow wrapping paper.

“Thanks, and this is for you,” he told her, grabbing a small black box from inside his bag.

“Thanks,” she said, taking the gift. She then proceeded to giving him a kiss, only for him to deepen in and in seconds they were in their own world. They were then brought back to reality by a flash and a clicking sound from beside them. Like always, when they turned to look, it was Kyuu, his Canon Eos Rebel T2i in hand.

“Seriously?” Tanoshii asked.

“Of course,” Kyuu replied simply. “Oh, I know you two are gonna be going off and going on another date to celebrate your first anniversary but stop by my house later alright? I got something to show you.”

“Okay, we’ll come over later,” Yue said before dragging Tanoshii away, this in turn caused Kyuu to chuckle. Just as he was about to walk home he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see a girl in the same uniform as Yue, though the colors were flipped. Her silky brown hair reached down to her mid-back and her chocolate brown eyes were only a shade lighter than that of her hair; it all was a contrast to her smooth, pale white skin. She was the top idol in the school; Kana Haruyana. She was one of the elite of the elite. She, along with Kyuu, was part of S Class. They, along with everyone else in the class, were the top fifteen students in the school. Kana was the second highest scoring student, only beaten by Hiro Haruyana, her older brother.

“Hey Kana-chan, how’re you feeling? That cold gone yet?” Kyuu asked, starting to walk home.

“Yeah, that medicine you gave me really helped!” she told him happily, following him.

“Good. So how’s life been at home? Your mom okay now? I know her boyfriend breaking up with her really hit her hard,” Kyuu said.

“Yeah, and Kyuu?” she asked.

“Yeah?” he replied.

“That was two months ago,” she told him.

“I’m behind on everything again aren’t I?” he asked, his head held down.

“Yup! You're such a dumby, I don’t get how you’re ranked #5 in the whole school,” she admitted.

“I don’t either Kana-chan. I guess I’m just awesome like that! Ahaha, just kidding. But I think I get smarter during tests. Like, I can suddenly use more of my brain during tests or something,” Kyuu told her.

“Yeah. I know. You’ve told me before,” she said.

“Hey, remember this place?” Kyuu asked, pointing over to their right. He was indicating a forest that was on the outskirts of the town.

“Oh, yeah. It’s where you and I first met when we were kids. I still remember that day. I had run away, but you found me and brought me home,” she said.

“Yeah. That was ten years ago and we only met each other again two years ago. It seems like it’s been so long,” Kyuu said. “But how about I walk you home? Just like that day.”

“Okay,” she said, accepting his offer. They then proceeded to walk to her home. After only ten or so minutes, they stopped outside a gate. Through the gate, you could see what could only be described as a mansion. To its sides were lush gardens that were extremely beautiful, full of all assortments of flowers and plants of all types.

“Well, we’re here. So I guess we’ll see each other tomorrow,” Kyuu said.

“Yeah, it’s not like you don’t come pick me up every day,” Kana told him before hugging him and going through the, now opening, gate in front of them. Kyuu waved farewell before turning around, walking home. On his walk home, he passed the forest again, just like any other day, but the difference today was that he felt an urge to go in. It was like a pull on his chest to go, and in minutes, he found himself back in the clearing he had found Kana in, all those years ago.

“Help,” he heard from behind him, it was a female voice. This voice caused Kyuu to spin around, only to find nothing there. “Help, please!”

“Who are you? Where are you?” Kyuu asked loudly.

“Follow my voice,” it said again. This time, Kyuu followed it, going into a full sprint, jumping over and ducking under everything that came in him way. He soon found himself in another clearing and in this clearing was what seemed to be a giant metal eagle.

“Please, help it,” the voice said.

“Okay, how am I supposed to do that?” Kyuu asked.

“Ask it,” she said.

“Okay. Giant metal eagle thing, how am I supposed to help you?” he asked skeptically.

“It’s no use, I’m about to go,” it said in a deep voice, indicating it was male. This made Kyuu jump slightly because it was able to talk.

“No, just tell me how I can help. I’ll do what I can,” Kyuu told it.

“Why do you wish to help me so much?” it asked.

“Because I want to help everyone I can,” Kyuu told him simply while trying to examine him for injuries.

“What if I told you I was a demon?” it asked.

“So? You still have a life. And every life is precious,” he told him, finally seeing a hole on the underside of its torso that was oozing a golden yellow liquid.

“It’s no use, I’m dying. But there is one way to help me,” he told Kyuu.

“How?” Kyuu asked.

“Like this,” it said before it suddenly moved and bit Kyuu’s neck, causing him to scream out in pain.

“Aaaaaaaaaaagh! Aaaaaaagh! Aaaagh. Aagh. Agh,” he screamed, with it getting softer with each scream, until finally it became a whisper and he passed out from the pain. But as his eyes closed, he could see the eagle glow with a white light as a human shape seemed to form beside it, and then, everything went dark.

When he woke up, he found himself in the same clearing, but beside him sat a girl that looked around 15 or 16 years of age. She had long midnight black hair that was braided and piercing green eyes. She wore a school uniform that looked just like Yue’s.

‘What happened?’ he thought, ‘I don’t remember.’

“Finally awake huh?” they girl said, her voice sounding like a siren’s call.

“Do I know you?” Kyuu asked.

“Well, you should, but we haven’t seen each other in a while so let me introduce myself to you again,” she said, getting up and facing him before lowering herself a bit and holding out a hand to him with a smile that could turn the arctic into the tropics. “Hi, I’m Ako, Tatsumiya Ako.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t remember you,” Kyuu told her.

“That’s okay. It was a long shot that you would,” she said.

“What do you mean?” he said before looking at his watch, showing it was already 6:30. “Damn, I better get home and print it out,” he said to himself. “Sorry, I gotta go home, but you look like you go to our school so just come see me tomorrow or something,” he said before sprinting home. About five minutes later, he stopped in front of a simple, white, two story house with a gate in front and a small yard and garden. He smiled at it before turning right and walking a bit more. This time, he was standing in front of an enormous gate and if you looked past it, you could see what could only be described as a mansion. It was about as large as twenty of the normal sized houses and twice as tall. He smiled in content at the house before opening the gates’ small door to the side and walking through.

Once he made it to the house, he was greeted to the sight of his mother, tending to a few rose bushes with a few other women. His mother was a short, slim woman, only 34 years of age. She stood at 5’ tall, a whole head shorter than her son and had long, flowing black hair. She wore a yellow sundress with black flats and a black hat, making her look similar to a bee.

“Welcome home Kyuu-san,” the other women said to him as he walked by, each receiving a nod and a smile as he walked by.

“Hi, Kaa-san,” he said, giving her a hug.

“Hello Ku-chan,” she replied, looking up at him.

“Ugh, Kaa-san, stop calling me that, I’m not a kid anymore,” he said.

“But you’re still my kid,” she said, “And so I’ll call you whatever I want Kuku-chan.”

“Ugh,” he groaned.

“Is your mother bullying you again?” they heard from beside them, turning to see a middle aged man. He wore a light grey suit consisting of a light grey top hat, light grey blazer, white button-down, light grey slacks, and a pair of white dress shoes.

“Hey Otou-san,” Kyuu said.

“Hi Kyuu, hi hun,” he said, giving his wife a quick kiss.

“How’s Akane doing these days?” Kyuu asked.

“Eh, she’s been okay, but being my secretary isn’t easy,” he replied before he looked at his watch. “Oh, shoot, that’s right, I have to get going. I’ll see you two tonight at dinner,” he told them before turning around and walking over to a black limousine just ten feet away. As soon as the door closed behind him, the limo drove off.

“Sigh, he’s not going to be back in time for dinner,” both mother and son said.

“Well, I’m gonna go to my room for now,” Kyuu said before walking into his house and to his room. Inside his room, there were shelves upon shelves of books; manga, novels, magazines, etc. These shelves took up a whole wall, spanning from the floor to the ceiling and from one corner of the room to the other. There were so many books that every single shelf was filled up. The rest of the room looked quite normal for a teenager of his status; a king size bed was up against the farthest wall, a large flat screen TV set was on the wall near the door, a few sofas were located around the TV, a door was near his bed, six desks were located towards the center of the room, put into a hexagon, and on each desk was a computer along with a stack of notebooks next to them.

Kyuu then walked over to one of the desks further from the door. He opened up a drawer on the side of the desk and took out a black laptop. He then took the memory card from his Canon and inserted it into the laptop. Then he opened an application, Kyuu used it for about ten minutes before a man in a black suit came in.

“Pardon my intrusion Kyuu-sama, but would you like your evening tea as usual?” the man asked.

“Oh, yes please Kiyoshi,” he replied. The butler then put a cup of tea down on the desk the teen was sitting at. “Oh, Kiyoshi, would you mind running down to the store and getting this printed out? I need it as soon as possible.”

Kiyoshi then looked at the picture on the laptop’s screen. He chuckled a bit before replying, “Gladly, Kyuu-sama.”

“Thanks you, and print it out on a poster size paper please,” he told Kiyoshi before saving the picture on a flash drive and handing it to him. Kyuu then simply waited there, listening to some music to pass the time.

After about half an hour, Kiyoshi had returned, a rolled up paper in his hands. “Oh, thank you Kiyoshi,” Kyuu said before taking the poster and walking over to the door near his bed. The door led to a walk in closet. Inside the closet were his clothes obviously, along with many other things, such as drawing and writing equipment. He then opened a drawer and pulled out a large poster picture frame. After getting the frame he closed the drawer and walked out of the closet.

“Will that be all?” Kiyoshi asked, still standing by Kyuu’s desk.

“Yes, thank you Kiyoshi, you may go now,” he told the butler.

Kiyoshi simply nodded before leaving the room, but just before he left he told Kyuu something, “I almost forgot to tell you, but Tanoshii-san and Yue-san seemed to arrive just as soon as I got back, they’re waiting in the foyer.”

“Thank you for telling me, please tell them I’ll be down in a sec,” Kyuu said.

“Gladly,” he responded before he left the room. Minutes later, Kyuu arrived downstairs to see his two friends sitting on some chairs off to the side of the foyer. Kyuu walked over to them, the picture behind his back, though it was too large to be hidden, it was facing away from them to make sure they couldn’t see it.

“Hey Tanoshii, Yue,” Kyuu greeted, gaining the couple’s attention. “Here’s the reason why I wanted you two to come by. It’s my gift to you,” he said before he moved the picture from behind him, to in front. As soon as Yue’s eyes caught sight of it, they seemed to sparkle and a smile emerged from her lips as she gasped, awestruck by the picture before her.