〄Aʟʟ Bᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ᴏғ Yᴏᴜ〄 [Ch. 5 up!]

[scmarshtacky]

So this is a story that I have been working on for quite some time. At this point, it's starting to be a tradition that I post this on whatever sites I join, so if you've seen some of it before I wouldn't be surprised. Right now, ABY is more than just a 'story' it's a full-out novel. I have almost 600 pages on a document and 68 chapters written, so if you begin and wish to get through it, know that it's going to take you a little while. Of course, it will take me a little while to get everything up here.

Summary:
All life was normal in Tokyo, Japan, or so it seemed, before Mika Minamoto, a new transfer student, was thrown into the mix. A few days after her arrival, she uncovers the secret behind the chaos surrounding the city, herself, and her two newfound friends, Ayako Hanashi and Kana Tsuyoku, a secret that was undoubtedly best left uncovered.

A few things to note before you read:
~ I wrote this with a kind of anime theme, therefore, it can be a bit episodic at times, but I promise it does have a plot! You don't have to like or know anything about anime to read it, just know it is written a bit like one.
~ My knowledge of Japan is limited to what I can look up on the Internet (I have done a good bit of research) so if you do have a working knowledge of Japan and you believe my information to be wrong, let me know and I will change it.
~ I love comments and kind critiques! Even just a simple 'this is interesting' will make my day. If I misspelled something, or have a grammar issue let me know.
~ And lastly, if you don't like it, don't read it or comment. I sincerely hope everyone does like it though.

Important Note: This story has been more or less discontinued on Eld because I'm a lazy person. The full story can be found here. If there is a burning desire to have more chapters up here, than I can do so, but since this topic has more or less died, I don't really think there's any point in it.

[scmarshtacky]

Table of Contents

~Chapter 1~

~Chapter 3~

~Chapter 2~

~Chapter 4~

~Chapter 5~

[scmarshtacky]

Chapter 1 - The New Student

Kaito sat playing with his pencil as he stared mindlessly out of the window. It was a normal day, or so it seemed, at his school in Japan. The bell hadn't rung yet and his classmates were standing around chatting with their friends

He heard footsteps approaching from down the hall and looked up to see his friend, Daisuke, bursting though the door of the classroom. The bell rang as soon as he reached the threshold of the door. Daisuke slumped over panting and then walked to his seat slowly with the teacher glaring at him on the way.

"Cutting it short are we?" asked Kaito as Daisuke sat down.

"It's not my fault!" he argued as he shoved his dark brown bangs out of his eyes. "My idiot kid sister was being even more stupid than usual, and I couldn't leave the house until I had to make her lunch! Do you know how incredibly hard it is to make lunch for her? She practically hates all foods!"

"Suzuki-san, if you don't mind, I'd like to get started now," the teacher interrupted Daisuke's ranting. A couple of people glanced at him and snickered, but he looked down pretending not to notice them.

Kaito smirked and whispered, "Good job..." just loudly enough for his friend to hear.

"Oh, shut up Kaito."

"Now then class," the teacher began again. "We will have a transfer student joining us today."

Everyone in the class looked up as their teacher gestured to the door. It slid open and a girl stepped slowly through it. She had straight, brown hair that went about midway down her back. She glanced quickly around the room, her brown eyes taking in the people and the scenery.

"Please introduce yourself."

"I'm Mika... Mika Minamoto..." Her voice was so soft that the majority of the class couldn't hear it, but luckily for her, the teacher didn't force her to speak again.

"Alright then Minamoto-san¹, you can sit behind Takahiro-san near the window." Mika's gaze followed the teacher's finger, and she nodded before heading to the seat he had indicated.

She put her bag down, pulled out her newly acquired books, and kept her head down all through class. She could feel the curious stares directed at her but refused to meet any of them. Finally the bell rang for lunch, and people began to leave the room in large groups. There were still a couple glances and whispers in Mika's direction, but for the most part she was ignored.

She looked up as the black haired boy in front of her shifted and then stood up. He stretched and then walked out alone without a lunch or anything else. Her focus shifted again as she heard footsteps coming closer to her. She glanced up to find two girls standing at the side of her desk looking down at her.

"Hey, I'm Ayako Hanashi," the slightly taller of the two stated. She had dark brown hair and eyes. Even without knowing the girl, Mika could tell that she was very athletic. "And this is Kana Tsuyoku." Ayako pointed to the shorter girl beside her, who had circular glasses pushed far up on her nose and short black hair. "Anyway, you can eat lunch with us if you want."

"Th-Thanks," Mika said. She grabbed her bento(lunch) from her bag and let Ayako and Kana lead her out of the room. They turned left down the hallway and headed up the stairs until they came to the roof. Ayako opened the heavy metal door and let Mika and Kana through. Mika quickly scanned the area. There was a small bench over in the far right corner, but other than that, the roof was empty.

Ayako walked to the left of the door and into a small area that was sandwiched between the small structure that was built to cover the upper most platform of the stairs, and the brick wall that went around the perimeter of the roof.

"This is where we like to eat," Ayako announced. "Few people think to come up here, although I don't really know why, but that's why we chose it."

"It's really nice," Mika commented lightly. She sat against the wall around the perimeter. Ayako sat directly in the corner and Kana sat facing Mika. She had just sat down and opened her bento when she looked up. On top of the platform she could just barely see a lump of a person. She bent her head slightly trying to get a better look at who it was, but with no luck.

Ayako followed Mika's gaze. "Oh, that's just Kaito. He usually stays up there during lunch. The lazy bum is always sleeping."

"I'm not in such a deep sleep that I can't hear you, you know." The person on the covering shifted and sat up to face the girls.

Mika immediately noted it was the same guy who sat in front of her. She had already noticed his hair was solid black, but now she also realized that his eyes were a shocking, royal blue. His bangs fell slightly into his face, but they didn't detract from his eyes at all. Mika gave herself a mental shake and looked back down at her lunchbox hoping he hadn't noticed her staring.

"If you're not always sleeping then why do you stay up there?" Ayako retorted.

"Well, it used to be quiet enough for me to sleep during lunch until a bunch of noisy girls started taking over my area."

"We're not that noisy, and since when has this area belonged to you? As you can see Mika, this is the idiot that happens to sit in front of you. I'd probably keep your distance from him."

Mika glanced at Ayako and then back at the boy called Kaito, who was rolling back over.

"Oh, and since you've disturbed me Hanashi, I think you at least owe me some of that fish in your lunch box."

Ayako grabbed a piece of the aforementioned fish, stood up, and threw it at him as hard as she could hoping it would nail him in the back of his head. To her dislike, he moved his hand and caught it in a flash without even turning around. "Thank you," he replied, his voice dripping in sarcasm.

"You're very welcome," Ayako stated, matching his tone.

The rest of lunch break continued without any major events. Kaito stayed silent, and Ayako continuously asked Mika questions about where she came from and why she moved.

"Where did you used to live?" was Ayako's first question.

"I lived in a small town in Hokkaido," Mika replied.

"Really? Cool! So the amount of people in this school is a lot different then?"

Mika nodded. "My previous school might have been one tenth of the student body here. They can't even begin to compare."

"Wow..." Ayako paused with a bit of a dreamy expression on her face. "That must have been so nice. Why did you move then? It sounds like that town was good enough."

"It was..." Mika's expression fell slightly. She paused for several moments before continuing. "When I was a kid, my parents died, and I was sent to live with my grandmother. Well... she died just a few days ago of a heart attack. So I was sent here to live with my mother's brother..." Mika impatiently brushed away the tears that were trying to force themselves into her eyes. She still just couldn't believe that it was real, and saying it aloud made the impact of it significantly stronger.

"Sorry," she murmured. "I'm still not used to the idea that she's gone..."

Ayako shook her head. "Don't be." She wrapped her arm around Mika and pulled her closer to her. They stayed like that until the bell rang. The group stood up slowly, and Mika packed up the lunch that she hadn't eaten. Then, she looked at Ayako with a warm smile. "Thanks."

"You okay now?" Ayako asked.

Mika nodded enthusiastically. "Yep!"

The group of three walked back down the stairs for the rest of the classes. As they arrived in the classroom, Mika was surprised to see Kaito already at his desk. She hadn't heard him or seen him get down from the roof, but then again, she had been a little detached near the end of lunch. She walked over to her desk, sat down, and took out her books again ready for the class to start. Kaito, who was sitting with his back against the window, glanced at her every now and again as if he was expecting something. Mika finally acknowledged his glances and lifted her head.

"What is it?" she questioned him.

He looked at her again. "Nothing really."

"Then why do you keep staring at me?"

"I'm waiting for you to break apart again," he said casually, running his eyes back over her as if contemplating the likelihood of it.

"You-you heard that?" Mika stammered blushing slightly and averting her eyes out the window.

Before Kaito could respond, the bell rang for class to start, and Mika buried herself in her books not looking up even once. The class on continued slowly, and Mika found herself glancing at the clock every two minutes or so which didn't help the apparent passage of time. At long last, the final bell rang.

Mika sighed in content and pushed all of her books into her bag. Ayako and Kana came over to her desk while the rest of the class poured out into the hallway which was filled with noisy students ready to enjoy their afternoon, or what was left of it.

"So how'd your first day go?" asked Ayako who was smiling down at Mika.

Mika stood up with her bag and smiled back. "Not bad at all."

The three of them made their way down the nearly empty hallway and to the front doors. They all turned left out of the school, but Ayako branched off down another street shortly after they had left the school.

Kana and Mika continued together down the bustling road in silence. All the while Mika was attempting to start a conversation; however, every time she opened her mouth, words would fail her and she would close it once again. After a few minutes, she began to wonder if Kana disliked her. The girl hadn't' even said a word to her.

As Mika contemplated this, Kana stopped. It took a moment for her to notice, but when she did she turned around quickly to face Kana. "Is something the matter?" she asked worriedly.

Kana shook her head. "My home is down this way," she said indicating another road to the left. Her voice was quiet and gentle, but also had a undertone of strength to it that Mika hadn't expected from the girl.

"Oh... well I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" Mika hesitated slightly wondering if Kana would even want to see or talk to her tomorrow or if it would be just like today.

"You will," she stated. "Mika, it was nice to meet you," she said smiling ever so slightly. She nodded a farewell and turned down the street.

"You too!" Mika called after her bowing slightly. She continued on her way down the street happily humming to herself. As she got further out of the main portion of the city, the foot traffic lightened up allowing her to travel a bit faster. Mika reached her new home and paused in front of the tiny gate that led into the yard.

It was still so strange to think of this place as home, or to even think of Tokyo as the city she now resided in. To her, everything still seemed like a bad dream, and she just kept waiting to wake up. Of course, that wouldn't happen, and she knew it.

Shaking herself from her thoughts, Mika slowly walked through the small front yard and up to the door. She dug in her bag for the key her uncle had give her on the first day she had stayed in the house. He had told her then that he was not her babysitter and she should not expect him to be home constantly, and he had stayed true to his words. She had not seen him again after the first day.

Mika finally got the door open and looked around the dark house. "Tadaima," she murmured to herself. "I'm home," her voice echoed in the gloomy darkness.


¹ -san honorific - For those of you who know nothing about the Japanese language, adding '-san' to the end of someone's name is considered common speech when addressing someone. In contrast, using '-kun' (male) and '-chan' (female) are informal. Just for the sake of easy reading, I won't be adding honorifics often.

A/N~ Congratulations, you've completed the first chapter. No matter how many times I edit this thing, I still can't make it flow the way I want it to. I wrote it about four years ago, and back then my writing style was far from developed. It's better than it was, but still not perfect. Anyway, if you think it's interesting, comment!! I love comments.

[scmarshtacky]

Chapter 2 - Target

Mika left the house bright and early the next morning. She slung her school bag over her shoulder and set off down the street following the vaguely familiar path to the school. She couldn't help feeling slightly uncomfortable in her short sleeve and mini skirt she had for a school uniform, as she'd had a slightly longer one in her old school, but it the uniform was required and she'd have to get used to it.

Mika had found the package after arriving home last night. It had been placed outside the door just right so that when she'd walked in, she'd tripped and had done a face-plant into the floor. For the moment, she'd been extremely grateful no one was home to see her.

As she walked along, she began to think of her new friends. They contradicted her own personality, but that didn't matter. Some of her best friends back in Hokkaido were opposites of herself. Ayako was very outgoing and drew attention to herself. She seemed to like being the center of all happenings. Kana was quiet but she didn't really give Mika the sense that she was shy. She just didn't waste unnecessary words on unimportant things. Mika on the other hand, was indeed shy and usually quiet. She could stand up for herself when need be, but she'd much rather just fade into to the background and pretend like she didn't exist.

Mika shook away her thoughts and looked up. A figure ahead immediately drew her attention. Even though she had only known her for a day, she immediately recognized the person standing on the corner of the street. "Kana!" she exclaimed running up to her new friend. "Were you waiting here just for me? Have you been here long?"

"No, not very long," Kana said with a small smile. "Shall we go?"

"Yep!" Mika agreed with an enthusiastic nod, and the two of them started off to school together. It was surprising to Mika that even though they hadn't even known each other for even twenty-four hours, it seemed like they had been friends for months.

Ayako met them at a later intersection and the three happily walked to school together laughing and giggling all the way there. It was still relatively early when they arrived, so Ayako led the group to a large sakura tree.

"We like to sit here in the mornings when we have a little extra time," Ayako explained. "It's really pretty when it is in bloom."

"I bet so," Mika commented glancing up at the deep green leaves on the branches. She wished it was a cool spring day, but the heat and humidity wouldn't let her forget that it was only the beginning of the summer. Mika could only imagine how good it would feel when fall finally set in.

"Mika? Mika!"

Mika startled at the sound of Ayako's voice. "What?"

"Were you listening to anything I said just then?"

"Ah... oops..." she quickly apologized and sent Ayako into laughter. Kana followed shortly after chuckling, and Mika joined last in the merriment. Too soon, the first bell rang, indicating students should begin moving to their classes. The girls sighed and headed in the building together to begin the school day.

As Mika walked, she had the sudden feeling someone was watching her, and she spun around and stared into the bushes. There was a slight rustle and she froze dead in her tracks. A squirrel jumped from the bushes and onto a tree a moment later. "Must have been nothing," she muttered to herself still feeling a little on edge.

"Come on Mika! Class is going to start without you!" Ayako called from the front door. Mika held her bag tightly and ran up the stairs to join the other two. The trio took off down the hallway and just barely managed to make it to class before the final bell rang.

Mika hurried to her seat and sat down panting. It was only after she sat down, that she realized Kaito was not here yet. She couldn't help but glance around to confirm what she already knew.

As the bell rang and the teacher entered the classroom, Kaito did as well. He followed right behind him, and the teacher never noticed that he'd been late. Kaito took his seat quickly without catching his teacher's attention.

It was then that Mika noticed that the boy sitting diagonally to her, across from Kaito was staring at him. Kaito had also noticed Daisuke and smirked. He could tell exactly what he was thinking by his glance.

'Why is it that when I'm late I get in trouble, but no one notices when you come in late?'

Kaito merely rolled his eyes and shook his head slightly at his friend before pulling out his textbook and a binder for the class.

Daisuke glared and pretended to pout, but couldn't quite keep the smile from his face. It wasn't until the teacher began class, that he turned toward the front once more.

Class was extremely uneventful as always. Mika continuously found her mind wandering as the teacher droned on and on. She had already covered English up to this point in her old class and was also relatively good at catching onto foreign languages.

The next class was math. Although, depending on the day, this period would either be math or science. Math was scheduled on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, while the Science classes were scheduled on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mika was decent in math as well. She solved all of the given problems correctly and ended up being called to the board to work one out in front of the others, which she did easily to some of the students' amazement.

Literature was the class was after that. It was probably Mika's worst academic class, but she wasn't terrible in it either. The lunch bell rang after this and people began to disperse, exiting the classroom to find a suitable spot to eat lunch with their friends. Ayako and Kana met Mika at her desk, and they all headed up to the roof.

The three ate with minor conversations between each other. Near the middle of the lunch break, Mika became aware that Kaito had taken his place on the uppermost part of the roof. She wasn't sure how long he'd been there, or even when he'd gotten up there. The ladder was in front of her, and she was positive he couldn't have used it without her noticing. Did he jump that high? The platform was well above her head, it didn't seem like any person could've made the jump, but somehow he had.

The bell rang once more and they headed for the door. Ayako faced the unmoving lump that was Kaito and said, "You're going to be late again if you keep sleeping! Just like you were this morning!"

An incoherent grumbling came from Kaito.

"Lazy bum," Ayako muttered under her breath, and then he moved so suddenly, that it was a blur. Mika jumped back in astonishment as she saw him leap down and land right in front of Ayako. How he did not break his legs from the impact of landing, Mika had no idea. However, he landed lightly and without a sound as if he were jumping off of something that was just several centimeters instead of meters.

Ayako stumbled backward a few steps, astonished, as he landed right in front of her. She blinked, and he smirked at her baffled face.

"Now then," his voice was soft and honeyed, but it had the slightest edge to it, "who were you calling lazy?"

"I...Y-you could hear that?"

Kana took a couple of steps toward the two, and said, "If we don't get a move on, we will have a repeat of this morning, except Takahiro-san will not be the only one late."

Ayako huffed, spun around, and took dramatic, marching steps to the door and down the stairs. Kana nodded her head to Kaito and also followed with Mika beside her, and with a sigh Kaito followed after them.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It was finally the last class of the day, but Mika was dreading it as she changed. Ayako even noted her concern, asking if she was okay. "I'm just really bad at P.E." Mika answered swiftly with a small smile.

"Don't worry about it," Ayako encouraged. "It really doesn't matter how good or bad you are. As long as you do something you get an A for the class."

Ayako, Mika, and Kana walked out onto the field together, and joined the rest of the class that had already gathered there. When all of the students had joined them, the coach walked up holding a soccer ball. "Today," he said in a loud booming voice, "you will be playing soccer. We will need two teams and two captains, so who wants to be a captain?"

Ayako's hand shot up and she glared at Kaito. It was obvious in her eyes; she was going to challenge Kaito for what he'd said on the rooftop earlier. He sighed and consented, raising his hand

"Now then, divide yourselves in half and join a team!"

Most of the girls migrated to Ayako's side while the guys headed for Kaito's team, and then the game began. Mika immediately noted how athletic Ayako was, but then again, Kaito was just as athletic. Despite there being so many team members, it still seemed like a one-on-one battle between Kaito and Ayako.

After ten minutes, no one had scored a goal, but also as Mika watched, she noticed that Kaito was not playing seriously. His expressions and movements in every way indicated he was playing around with her.

Kaito snatched the ball from Ayako and kicked it across the field to Daisuke who headed straight toward Mika. She froze knowing that she needed to move, but couldn't seem to make her legs work properly. Daisuke flew by her without a second thought and scored the first goal.

From her spot, Mika could see Ayako panting and scowling at the goal as if it had betrayed her in some way. Though she supposed she was really the one to blame. This was why she hated sports.

As Kaito walked passed Ayako he whispered just loud enough for her to hear, "You'll never beat me. You won't even score."

Ayako's already red face brightened even more with her fury as she glared after her opponent. The game resumed quickly and didn't leave her time to dwell on his words, but longer the game went on, the more desperate Ayako became. She would pass to a teammate, only to have someone steal the ball. When she kept it, Kaito would block her movement forward and steal it back, and once he started running with it, getting the ball back was hopeless. Kaito was the fastest in the school, Mika decided, and no one could catch him.

The game ended with a score of four to zero, Kaito's team completely dominating over Ayako's. The coach dismissed them, and everyone trudged back to the locker rooms, sweaty and exhausted. Mika was halfway across the field when it dawned on her that Ayako wasn't coming. She turned back around, and her eyes locked on her friend, who was kneeling in the middle of the field. When Mika reached her, she realized immediately something was wrong. "Ayako?" she asked hesitantly.

Ayako managed to smile up at her, but the strain on her face was evident. "I'm fine," she said, but it was obvious that she was far from fine. She put all of her weight on her left leg and pushed herself to her feet, but when she took a step forward on her right foot, she crumpled to the ground once more.

Mika tried to grab her friend's arm to steady her, but she soon realized she wasn't strong enough to support someone who had no use of one leg. Ayako's face was clearly pained now, and Mika could feel her panic level rising.

A movement from across the field caught her attention, and she looked up to see someone walking slowly in their direction. Mika waved her hand hoping whoever it was would come over to help, but as he neared, Mika regretted her actions. It was none other than Kaito. Naturally, it had to be him.

Ayako gritted her teeth and stood up, determined not to appear weak in front of him. She moved forward determinedly, and for a brief moment, held herself on her right leg, but before she could take the step onto her left foot, the right one gave, and she began to fall.

Kaito was next her in an instant, grabbing her arm with his left hand and wrapping his right around her waist to steady her. Ayako regained her balance on the left leg, but as soon as she saw who it was that had grabbed her, she began trying to pull away.

Kaito glanced at Mika as he held onto the flailing Ayako. "You should go back to class. Homeroom will be starting in less than a minute."

Mika hesitated, glancing at Ayako and looking for any indication of what she wanted. She sighed when Ayako paid no attention to her and ran off toward the school. She didn't bother changing, and made it to her classroom a just second before the bell rang. She took her seat quietly, relieved to find that no one had noticed her entrance.

The teacher began, going through the list of club meetings and upcoming events. As the final bell was about to ring, he said, "Hanashi Ayako and Hatori Tatsuya will be in charge of the cleaning this evening."

Mika raised her hand. "Sensei(teacher), Hanashi-san hurt her ankle in gym today. I don't think she can clean..."

"I see, well then Minamoto-san, you will be in charge of cleaning in her stead."

"Yes sir," Mika complied quietly.

She glanced at Hatori across the room. She had never really noticed him, but now she studied his appearance. He had longer, wavy dark brown hair that fell over his eyes. It didn't really look like he brushed his hair, but at the same time, it didn't look knotted. She could tell he had glasses, but couldn't make out any of his other facial features due to the hair that fell into his face.

The final bell rang and interrupted Mika's thoughts and she watched as the class poured out into the hall. Mika stood up but didn't leave her desk. Hatori also stayed across the room, but as soon as the teacher was gone, he turned to Mika with a glint in his eyes. "I'll leave the cleaning to you then, Mika Minamoto."

Unable to say anything, Mika watched as he left the class and listened to his footsteps fade down the hall. She sighed and looked out the window at the flood of students pouring out of the school gates. After a moment, she turned back around and began to gather any trash that had been left. She tied up the trash bag and set it near the door to take out later. Then, she worked on cleaning the white board and wiped off the desks.

By the time Mika was done, the sun was significantly lower in the sky. She grabbed the trash bags from earlier and headed down the stairs and out the back door to the large trash bins.

As she was walking back into the school, she realized that she was still wearing her P.E uniform, so she changed directions, praying that the locker rooms were still open. Thankfully, they were, though from the look of the room, many of the club students had already gone home.

Mika changed quickly back into her school uniform and grabbed her bag from the locker she had set it in a couple hours before. She headed back down the hall once again, hopefully for the last time. As she walked, she felt the chill on her spine again, much like it had been this morning, as though someone were watching her. Mika looked slowly around but saw no one. She took a step forward and then heard it, footsteps heading in her direction from behind.

She whirled around, and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw the figure. Then, upon recognizing him as Hatori, she relaxed and took a deep breath. Mika was about to open her mouth and comment on how he had scared her just now, but she hesitated upon seeing his eyes. Even through his hair, she could see that they gleamed with bloodlust.

He walked steadily towards her, and for each step he took forward, she took one back; however, he was still quickly closing the distance. Before she knew it, he was only arm's length away. He was smiling in a mad sort of way, like an animal that had gone rabid. He took another step and reached out toward her face, and Mika immediately jumped backwards.

In the middle of her mad leap for freedom, she hit something. Knowing it could only be a person, since the end of the hall was still quite a distance away, she flung herself against the wall on her left. The scene that she saw took several seconds to process. Two men stood in front of her. Hatori was of course one, but the other caught Mika off guard. Kaito had appeared in front of her once more, and his hand held the wrist of Hatori which was outstretched toward Mika.

Hatori's body had gone rigid when he realized who it was. He ripped his hand out of Kaito's grasp and dropped it to his side. Mika was utterly speechless upon realizing how much power Kaito really did hold within the student body, even though he was a freshman. Somehow, she felt that all of the other students would obey him without question. He was stronger, faster, and smarter than anyone else in the school, and he held the respect of everyone.

Kaito straightened and glared at Hatori. "Go home. Now," he commanded in a low voice filled with utmost authority.

Hatori did not make eye contact with Kaito, but he heeded the orders and walked slowly down the empty hall.

Kaito then turned to Mika who was still shaking slightly against the wall she was pressed up against. "Are you alright?" he asked studying her.

She nodded but was momentarily unable to speak. After a couple of deep breaths, she managed to ask, "How's Ayako?" her voice was shaking slightly, but she was beginning to get her adrenaline back under control.

"Eh, she's alive. It wasn't really that major, just a twisted ankle."

"Oh..." Mika finally pushed herself away from the wall, and dropped the bag she had been clutching to her chest, down to her side. She glanced outside. It would still be light for another hour or so. She had enough time to get home if she walked quickly. She turned back to Kaito, and realizing that she hadn't thanked him, she bowed. "Arigatou(Thank you), Takahiro-san."

"Kaito," he corrected. "You can call me by my first name."

"Then, Kaito-san, arigatou gozaimasu.*"

He nodded in acceptance of her thanks. "Are you headed home now?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll accompany you on your way."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Mika glanced over at Kaito for what seemed like the hundredth time, but he didn't even acknowledge her. She was about to go crazy from the silence that seemed so incredibly awkward to her, although Kaito seemed to be unaffected by it. "W-why did you want to accompany me?" she asked in an attempt to start up a conversation.

"Does it really matter?"

"I-I guess not..." Attempt at a conversation: failed. She sighed and continued walking down the street toward her house. Well, perhaps having company was better than nothing, or so she tried to convince herself.

Then, out of the blue Kaito spoke, continuing Mika's attempt for a conversation. "You of course, would not know; however, Hatori Tatsuya is part of a decently well-known gang in this area."

Then he stopped, and Mika turned around to face him. For the first time since she'd met him, his eyes met hers. "This will not be the last time you see him, Mika. He will come with more forces if he wants you as badly as I believe him to. Be aware of your surroundings and the people in it. I would recommend not traveling down the streets at night, especially not alone."

Mika's eyes went wide and she stiffened. "H-he'll come back? But I thought you-"

"I have only chased him away for today. It won't be permanent, but at least he shouldn't go after you tonight."

"But why is he after me?" she demanded. "I didn't even know his name until today! We've never talked before!"

Kaito shook his head slowly, "I cannot answer that." He began moving forward again walking past Mika so that she had to run a couple of steps to catch up once more.

They continued down the road with Mika's mind in utter chaos trying to figure out what she would do if he did indeed come back. They reached her house too soon and she stopped at the gate, staring into the ominous black house.

"Well then," Kaito said looking at the house that was obviously hers, "I leave you." He turned to walk away, and without thinking, Mika took a step towards him. He glanced over his shoulder at her.

"W-would you like to come in for tea since you brought me all the way here?" She dropped her gaze to stare at the asphalt. "If you want to I mean..."

"I suppose I can, if that is what you want."

Mika looked up and a relieved smile broke over her face. She opened the gate, led him to the door, and fumbled with her key for a moment before opening the door to the dark house; although it didn't seem nearly as lonely as it had the previous night.


* Arigatou Gozaimasu ~ A more formal way of saying 'Thank you'.

A/N~ Another chapter, and it's a bit longer than the previous one. I ended up editing and refining this chapter a good bit, so hopefully, I caught all of my grammar mistakes while I was playing with my sentences.

Chapter 3==>

[CertainNorth]

Just thought I'd say I'm interested so far. I want to know more about Kaito and Mika and what this secret is. I feel like some people know more than we're being told lol. Keep it up! :)

Also, I like anime, but my pronunciation isn't always spot on lol, so how do you say Kaito's name? It might help people like me if you put a brief guide to character names in the beginning?

[scmarshtacky]

I'm glad this caught your attention. I'll try to upload more chapters if you're interested. ^^ I would write out pronunciations if I were better at writing them. Kaito's name is tricky for me to try to write out the pronunciation of. XD

KÄ« (as if you were pronouncing the word "kite") - toh
Google Translate will actually say it for you if you click the speaker-looking button on the right side. That's not what his name means though, but I'll skip the explanations of the different types of characters.

[CertainNorth]

Thanks! :).

And I'd definitely be interested in reading more, but only if it's convienent for you to post. No rush :)

[scmarshtacky]

Chapter 3 - Protector

Mika worked to prepare tea while Kaito sat on a mat at the chabudai, the small and low-to-the-ground table. She had turned on the TV and had given him the remote, telling him to put it on whatever he wished. Mika brought out the tea after a couple of minutes and poured Kaito a cup before pouring her own and sitting down on the opposite side.

Kaito mindlessly flipped through the channels, finding nothing particularly interesting. He didn't have an interest in watching shows and played with the remote simply for lack of anything better to do. Kaito glanced at Mika before picking up the cup of tea. "You live here with your uncle, do you not?" he asked breaking the silence. "But he does not come home often I take it?"

"Yeah... but, how did you know that?"

Kaito didn't answer. Instead he glanced back at the TV. He'd ended up changing it to a history channel which was currently airing Japanese mythology. An older, balding man was shown talking about demons that once roamed among humans in the world. Kaito snorted.

"Do you not like the old stories, the mythology of Japan?" Mika asked curiously.

"It's not that I dislike it," Kaito said, "I just think it's interesting what humans come up with to fill in the gaps of their knowledge." He suddenly turned and looked at Mika. "Do you believe what they say, that demons once lived in this world?"

"Of course not," she stated as if he was insulting her intelligence. "That's ridiculous. It's simply impossible, and there's nothing to prove it."

Kaito laughed slightly. "I see. So if there is no proof then it mustn't be true. However, what would you do if I told you that you were wrong?" His eyes blazed as he met her gaze.

"Are you saying I am?"

"I'm saying you must never close your mind to the possibilities that are beyond your comprehension."

"But they are not beyond yours?"

He rested his chin on his hand, and stared at Mika, watching her reactions as he spoke. "What if they're not?" He couldn't help but smirk at Mika's puzzled expression. Kaito took another sip of tea and began flipping channels once more. After he was done with the tea, he stood up and stretched. "Well, I'd best be leaving now."

"Oh... well come back any time," Mika said as she walked with him to the door. And Kaito left, causing the house to sink into silence once more, but it seemed even lonelier than it had the previous night now that Kaito had come and gone.

Mika slept very poorly that night. The words that Kaito had said about Hatori and others coming after her again rang in her mind. She ended up getting out of bed a couple of hours early because she lost all hope of getting any more sleep before school. She grabbed a towel from the closet, and turned on the shower. The warm water felt good running over her tense muscles, and for the first time in the past twelve hours, she relaxed.

After standing in the shower for nearly thirty minutes, Mika dried herself off and began to rummage in the closet for clothes. She grabbed her uniform and once dressed, headed down the stairs into the kitchen. Mika rummaged around half-heartedly for food, only to decide that she wasn't hungry. Instead, she made her lunch for the day trying to keep herself busy for another half hour. She failed. It didn't take long to scoop a bit of rice into a bowl or grab a bag of snacks.

In an attempt to waste more time, she flipped on the TV and aimlessly watched an anime that happened to be on. Finally it seemed late enough to leave the house. As she went to gather her things for school, she heard a knock at the door. Quickly grabbing her bag and lunch she ran to the door and opened it cautiously.

As she creaked it open, she recognized the person that stood before her, but it took her a moment to believe it was real. "K-Kaito-san? Why are you here?" she asked astonished.

"Why else do you think I would be here?" he responded.

Mika stared at him blankly in response.

"I'm here to accompany you to school," he elaborated.

Mika continued to stare at Kaito dumbfounded. "But why?"

Kaito smirked at her expression and said, "If you don't move along, we'll be late."

A switch finally clicked into place in Mika's brain, and she nodded, shutting and locking the door on her way out. The walk was much like the night before. An awkward silence hung in the air, and neither bothered to break it. As they continued, Mika began to consider what she would say to Kana and Ayako when they met up.

As Kana's street came into view, Mika saw her new friend standing in the corner as she had yesterday. Mika ran up to her trying to put some distance between herself and Kaito, as if pretending she had no idea he was with her. "Ohayou(Good morning), Kana!" she greeted cheerfully, perhaps a little too cheerfully.

Kana glanced at Kaito first, who was coming up behind them, and then at Mika. The question obvious on her face.

"It's kind of a long story," she replied to the unspoken question glancing over her shoulder at Kaito who had stopped behind her.

Kana dipped her head in a greeting, and Kaito nodded back in reply. And so the walk continued; however, the silence was now two times worse, with two relatively quiet people in the group. Mika didn't have any confidence in breaking it, so she just trudged along awkwardly.

Then the form of a person that had to be Ayako loomed in the distance. As Mika neared, she noticed the strange way Ayako was standing. She also had a crutch in her right hand and all her weight on her left leg. It took Mika a minute to remember her injury from yesterday.

"Ayako!" she greeted as they came closer to each other. "How's your ankle?"

Ayako took no notice of Mika. She was staring at the person beside her. At first words seemed to have failed her as she glared at Kaito. The glare turned to Mika, then Kana, and she studied them as if trying to find out who it was that invited him. In a moment, her gaze settled on Mika. "Why is he here? Did you invite him?" she demanded.

Mika flinched away from Ayako's harsher tone and backed up a couple of steps. "I...He...S-sorry?" she stuttered.

Ayako whirled around as best she could with a crutch and a bum ankle and stalked off in the direction of school. Kana glanced at Mika who had no idea how to react. "I'll talk to her," Kana assured Mika and headed after Ayako.

Mika looked back at Kaito who was staring off in another direction. Frustrated by his lack of concern, she marched after Kana and Ayako. Mika arrived at school with Kaito still vaguely walking behind her. She was glad that he was far enough away for them not to be considered as arriving together.

Mika trudged into class miserably and plopped down into her desk not even bothering to glance in the direction of Ayako's and Kana's desks. The morning passed by even slower today than it had yesterday. By the time the lunch bell rang, Mika was ready to pull her hair out in frustration, and of course, the more she thought about Ayako disliking her, the more she was beginning to dislike Kaito for causing the issue to start off with. She knew that wasn't really a justifiable reason, but she couldn't help it.

Mika was walking up the stairs to the roof when it hit her that the only people on the roof would be Ayako, Kana, and Kaito, none of whom she wanted to see. She immediately changed direction, heading instead toward the large sakura tree that she and her friends had sat under yesterday morning.

It seems like yesterday morning was such a long time ago, she thought to herself. Mika settled herself down under the cool shade of the tree, leaning back against the trunk. She unwrapped her lunch and took a bite.

It was not long after, she looked up to see three men walking in her direction, staring straight at her. Then she saw him, Hatori, slinking behind the three walking in front. He wasn't done with her yet, she realized, and her blood ran cold as she froze on the spot.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Around this time, Kaito had made his way to the roof, and the two girls had just settled into their corner. When Kaito realized Mika wasn't with them, he sat up and looked at the others asking, "Where is Mika?"

"I don't know," Ayako replied curtly.

"She isn't with you?"

"Nope."

"Well then," Kaito's impatience was becoming evident now, "Do you know where she might be?"

"Nope."

Kaito sighed in frustration and leapt down from his spot on the roof. "Just because you have some unexplainable hatred of me, does not mean you should take it out on someone else." Kaito let the sentence hang for a moment before he flung open the door to the stairs.

Kana glanced at Ayako. "Why do suspect he is so uptight?"

"How should I know?" retorted Ayako. "They can just go be happy together for all I care. There's no need for me to get in their way."

Kana glanced at Ayako thoughtfully. She cared deeply for her friend, but sometimes jealousy and vengefulness clouded Ayako's judgment. With a small sigh, she returned to eating her lunch without another word

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Kaito flew down the stairs and immediately traced where Mika had been. He headed quickly out of the school and around to the side, where he saw four others in the distance. Only one of which he recognized, but he didn't need to know the others to get a firm grasp of the situation.

Mika was unable to move as the rough looking boys approached her. It was only then, when it was too late, that she remembered Kaito's warning of staying in a group. She had been so disoriented by Ayako's sudden hostility towards her that she had forgotten, that is, until now of course.

As it were, she was frozen to the spot, chopsticks still held in the air. She had three choices then: try to run, it was unlikely that she would be able to get away from the three men. Two, fight, this really wasn't an option at all considering her lack of physical ability, and three, scream for help. This one was definitely the best of the three options, but of course her mouth had to be as dry as cotton, and she couldn't even manage a sound.

They were almost within touching distance now. Mika rose to her feet to face them, but because her legs were shaking so badly, she had to use the tree to support herself.

"Well, well, well..." Hatori said as he walked to the front of the small group. "I found my prey once again," he whispered the words getting closer to her ear. "You'll never escape me. I have a much greater power and force than you. Even with Kaito on your side."

Hatori took a step back from her and snapped his fingers. One of the guys, naturally the biggest, stepped from the group.

"Let's have some fun together girl." His voice was gruff and deep. To Mika, he definitely screamed gang member. He was heavily built and probably had a couple hundred pounds on him, but he didn't look old, perhaps around his mid-twenties. His bulging arm muscles told her that he was incredibly strong, and that she wouldn't be able to fight back even if she wanted to. He also had several large tattoos, and his hair was very long, which just added to the thug look.

Mika attempted to back up, but because of the tree, she was stuck.

His hand moved slowly, reaching for her face. Mika closed her eyes and prepared herself for some sort of impact. Instead, she felt a warm breeze against her face, but there was no contact with the hand that was looming towards her moments ago.

Mika opened one eye tentatively, which immediately turned into a wide-eyed stare. He was before her once again, much as he had been before. His black hair flittered across his face in the wind, almost hiding the murderous, cold blue eyes.

Kaito stood stiff with his hand gripped around the assailant's wrist, and no matter how hard the huge man pushed or pulled, Kaito's gripped neither softened nor gave way.

"You little brat!" he yelled in frustration, through gritted teeth. Forgetting that his left hand that was immobilized, the attacker hurled his right fist straight at Kaito's head. However, Kaito held up his hand and blocked the attack.

The man's face twisted in utter rage and his face got so red that Mika thought he would literally explode any minute. The thug seemed to be unable to utter any words so he just growled incoherently. The other two members of the group stood back watching as if to say, "It's your fault you're in this situation; get yourself out on your own."

Hatori was the only other one in utter shock. Even though he was perfectly safe behind the other two, he acted as though he were the one that was facing Kaito. Slowly Hatori's face contorted in anger.

In blinded rage, the first thug pulled back his fist again, but before he had even got his arm back far enough to throw a good punch, Kaito twisted his right hand hard, which in turn, twisted the attacker's wrist. In the same breath, he picked up his right leg and landed a solid kick in the guy's stomach.

The force knocked the breath out of the assailant, and he collapsed on the ground gasping for breath. After watching their comrade fall, the other two charged forward simultaneously with a loud shout of rage.

Kaito dodged to the side to avoid the punch of the smaller thug and hit the second man with a strong punch. Thug number two toppled over backwards and lay still in the grass. Then, Kaito whirled around to face the third and landed a kick that made the shorter man to drop onto the ground. With the moaning of the third individual, one might've thought he was dying, but in reality, he was only suffering from bruised ribs.

Mika realized that she hadn't taken a breath since the brawl had begun, and instantly gasped for air. It took her a moment before her eyes would focus on Kaito once again. He strode forward slowly, but powerfully, toward Hatori who was staring panic-stricken at the immobilized recruits Kaito had struck down in a matter of a minute.

Kaito grabbed the collar of Hatori's shirt and jerked him upward so that their faces were centimeters apart. Kaito murmured something to him and thrust him backwards onto the hard ground.

Tell your boss to start counting his breaths. He won't live much longer. I'm coming for him.

Kaito then turned to Mika. As he walked toward her, his gaze began to lose the mad and murderous look it had, and fell back into the expressionless mask. When it finally hit Mika that the skirmish was over, her knees gave way.

Neither said a word for a long time. Neither wished to talk nor had a clue what to say. It was Mika that finally broke the silence with a simple question, "Why?" she whispered.

Kaito didn't answer, or even look at her, so she turned to face him. "Why are you protecting me? Why would you..." she trailed off not exactly sure how to word the questions that arose.

"Who knows..." he finally answered with a small shrug. "But before you worry about that, class has started," he announced gazing at the school.

Mika jumped up, and immediately regretted it. Her head spun and she felt nauseas and dizzy.

"Follow me," Kaito ordered her without looking back.

"But - " Before she could say anything more, Kaito cut her off with a sharp glance. Mika lowered her head in consent as she followed him into the school building.

He walked into the school and headed right, down a hall Mika hadn't been on before. She followed him, wondering what in the world he had up his sleeve now. Kaito stopped outside a door labeled "nurse's office" and Mika understood what he was doing.

Although she didn't like the idea, she took a deep breath and tried to play the role of looking sick. It wasn't too hard considering she was pale and in a cold sweat due to the recent trauma.

Kaito slid the door open and younger girl's head popped up to look at the newcomers. Mika figured she was probably in her mid-twenties. "Hello Amano-sensei," Kaito greeted her cordially.

"Ah, hello Takahiro-san," she replied with a small dip of her head. Her voice was soft and gentle. It had an immediate effect in calming Mika down. "What seems to be the problem today?"

"She's not feeling too well," Kaito replied glancing back at the girl behind him.

The nurse nodded and motioned Mika over to her. She took her temperature, and after confirming she had nothing physically wrong, gave Mika a couple of plain salt crackers and a small cup of ginger ale soda. Mika picked a bed and sat down to nibble on the crackers.

"Takahiro-san, you can go back to class now."

"I was told to stay with her," he lied easily. The façade was so flawless, it made Mika feel that he was a rather experienced liar.

"Well...alright then. I need to pick up a few things from the office, so please stay here quietly," she told the two before leaving the room.

Kaito sat down against the wall that Mika's bed was pushed up against. Once again, they elapsed into silence. It was Mika of course that had to break it. "Do I have to stay here all day?"

"No, I think we can go back after the current class ends in another thirty minutes."

"Was this your solution to skipping class?"

"Mostly...but you really did look sick." He glanced up at her with his cold blue eyes contemplating her current complexion.

"Were you born in Japan?" Mika asked suddenly.

Mika noticed Kaito's back stiffen ever so slightly. "No... not really." He spoke carefully and slowly as if making sure what he was saying was the right thing.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to..." Mika replied softly.

Kaito studied the girl as he contemplated his answer. He should've lied outright, but for some reason, this little girl compelled him to respond with the truth, or at least some version of it. "In a sense I was born here, but I really wasn't. I'll leave you to take whatever meaning you can out of that."

"Here, but not...?" Mika mumbled, her brow furrowed in concentration.

Kaito laughed softly. "Why do you ask?"

"Hm?" Mika replied snapping out of her analysis of his words. "Oh, because of your eyes. It's pretty rare to see blue-eyed people around here, unless they are of mixed origin like Japanese-American." She glanced at Kaito questioningly.

"I'm not part American or anything else." Heck, I'm not really even Japanese, he added silently.

Silence took over once again; however, this time, it was interrupted by the bell for last block. Mika finished the crackers rapidly, and Kaito scribbled a note to the nurse saying that Mika felt better and they were going back to class. They raced down the halls to their classroom and amazingly arrived before the teacher had come in. Most of the students were talking amongst themselves so only a few noticed when Mika and Kaito came in.

Mika realized in that moment how odd it would seem for the both of them to be missing and then come in at the same time. Certainly people would start to talk; although, most of those types of people were busy gossiping about something else and had not noticed them.

As soon as the two had sat down, the teacher walked in. Mika hastily pulled out her books and tried to ignore the murderous gaze she felt from Ayako. Time passed slowly, and the more Mika glanced at the clock, the slower it seemed to go. She attempted to pay attention but utterly failed. Too many things were on her mind.

After an hour of torture, the school bell finally rang, although Mika didn't leave her seat. She turned around to look at Ayako across the room who had turned her way with that murderous glare.

Kaito had just shifted to look at Mika as well, and he spoke in a voice loud enough for just Ayako to hear as she approached. "If your 'friend' doesn't care about your predicaments, I think you should forget her. She obviously has no right for you to call her a friend."

Ayako cast a hateful glare at Kaito and then turned back to look at Mika.

Mika watched as Ayako's expression slowly turned into one of curiosity instead of hostility. "I'm sorry Mika..." Ayako said, though her voice still held a trace of anger as she shot another glare in Kaito's direction. She wouldn't admit it aloud, but Ayako was very protective of those she thought of as friends. The idea that Mika had run off with Kaito - who she disliked for several reasons - had hurt her.

"So what happened with you anyway?" She looked up and stared at Mika her expression clearly saying 'give me all the details'. Kana walked over as well, to listen in on what had happened.

"Well..." Mika muttered. She wasn't really sure how she should word the events that occurred.

"Hatori decided he wanted to have Mika, so he's been going after her," Kaito said in an off-hand tone.

Both girls' eyes widened. "Hatori what?!" exclaimed Ayako.

"Is that why he didn't come back to class after lunch?" Kana added.

Mika quickly shushed the two of them. "I'll explain on the way home," she said, trying to get away from some of the awkwardness of having Ayako and Kana staring intently at her.

So as they were walking home, Mika tried to give all of the details that she could, and Kaito, who decided to follow them, would chime in on parts Mika breezed over. Ayako was so into the story of Mika's attack, she skipped her road to listen to the rest of it.

When finally everyone had gone their separate ways, Mika sighed in relief. She had her friends back, and they all understood her position; although she got the feeling Ayako thought of it more as a surreal experience.

"So what are you going to do over the weekend?" Kaito questioned.

"Oh yeah, I forgot it was Friday. I'm not sure," she said with a small shrug. "Probably stay in the house and get things organized." Kaito walked Mika up to the gate of the yard. "I guess I'll see you..." Mika said as she turned toward the house.

Kaito only nodded, and stood at the gate until Mika disappeared into the house.


A/N ~ I sort of played with the mythology to make it fit my needs for this story. Although I don't believe it to be too far off since Shintoists believe that everything has a spirit, and that oni or 'demons' do exist in the world. I fixed up this chapter a bit, so if it has grammatical errors, I apologize.

Chapter 4==>

[scmarshtacky]

Chapter 4 - Assault

After returning home, Mika decided to go ahead and finish the school work she had been assigned over the weekend. This was her excuse to get her mind off of the attacks. The house remained quiet and still as the evening progressed.

When she'd finished said homework a few hours later, Mika headed down to the kitchen to prepare supper for the night. However, her laziness when it came to shopping was beginning to show in the cabinets and refrigerator. After briefly glancing in the cabinets, Mika decided there wasn’t enough food left in the house to prepare a suitable meal. Therefore, a trip to the supermarket became inevitable.

Sighing, Mika looked out the window at the darkening sky. She really didn’t want to go out. Kowai, kowai (I'm scared), a voice echoed in her head. She shook her head and resisted the urge to scream “shut up”, at her own imagination. Grabbing her coat and small purse, Mika headed out of the house and into the night.

She was as far as the gate to the yard before she heard a voice. “Where are you going at this hour?”

Mika jumped. She swore it must have been several meters in the air. A figure became evident as it slowly stepped into the beam of light created by the street lamps. Mika’s eyes widened and she tried to slow her racing heart. “Kaito!” she exclaimed. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!”

“No..." he replied sounding innocent. “However, it would be in your best interest to not leave your house, don’t you think?”

Then another thought occurred to Mika. “What were you doing waiting out here! Were you just waiting for me to come out? Are you that much of a stalker?”

“Calm down, calm down,” Kaito urged, moving his hands in a downward motion. “You’ll get everyone in the neighborhood outside at this rate.”

“But you –”

Kaito cut her off. “Yes, I was waiting out here, but not for you to come out. I figured others might try to come in instead, and I’m not a stalker. I simply decided that this would be the best spot to wait just in case your actual stalkers showed up. So, what are you doing out anyway?”

“Well I was planning on going to the store; otherwise, I won’t have any food to eat tonight.”

Kaito nodded. “I see. Well then, shall we be off?”

”We?”

“Yes, ‘we’. It would be your luck that the minute I stop following you, would be the minute you are kidnapped.”

“Why do you care about me that much?”

“I have my own reasons. None of which I’m planning to tell you.”

Mika glared at him for a moment before she proceeded to walk down the road to the store with Kaito following slightly behind her. The streets were still fairly crowded with evening traffic which made Mika feel more at ease. They reached the store without any problems, and Mika hurried to gather up what she needed for the next couple of days.

After just a few minutes, they were headed back toward the house with a couple of bags filled with food. They didn't pass nearly as many people on the return trip. It didn’t bother Mika at first; however, with an overactive mind and a relatively quiet travelling mate, she couldn't help but think that the lack of passersby seemed slightly ominous.

They had not gone far when Kaito moved closer to Mika. His muscles tensed, and his eyes took on a wary, cautious look. As he moved beside Mika, he bent his head to whisper in her ear, “We’re being followed.” Hearing this, Mika stopped dead. “Don’t stop!” he whispered urgently pushing her forward with this hand.

It was too late though. A small group of about six guys stood in the road in front of them. Kaito quickly turned to the right onto another smaller road. However, this turned out to be a bad decision. It was less like a road and more like a wide alley with buildings lining both sides, and a group of at least fifteen guys were closing in behind them.

We were herded… Kaito thought bitterly to himself. Oh well, it should be okay like this…

After reaching the end of the short alley, Kaito turned to face those perusing them. He could feel Mika quivering fearfully behind him. As soon as they stopped, the group did as well. Seeing that the two were cornered, most of the thugs reached into their pockets to grab a knife. Those few that didn’t have one, took out a gun hidden in their belt.

Kaito glanced at Mika who was now shaking, but she kept her head out far enough to see the events unfolding.

One of the buffer guys stepped to the front. He was clearly the leader of this particular group. “I think you know what we want. So, hand her over, and you’re free to leave. If not...” he flipped his knife in and out several times, “we’ll gut you.”

Kaito’s face immediately turned cold. “I see. Well then, it can’t be helped can it?” Kaito grabbed Mika’s arm and shoved her forward. “Just don’t get too cocky. You’ll regret it in the future.”

Mika whirled around. “K-Kai...to?” Her eyes were scared, pleading, begging him not to abandon her. The look she got in return froze her to the very core. It was the same look he had given to Hatori, to all those he had fought off previously. Now she was receiving his murderous gaze. It must be the end now...all hope was gone...

Two of the guys walked up and grabbed Mika's arms. She didn’t fight. She didn’t have the energy, and there was no way she could win anyway. She was dragged along by the group that surrounded her, and then herded out of the alley.

Kaito watched the group leave. His expression never changed, but he bent down to pick up the bags Mika had been carrying, and set them in a corner so that he could collect them later. He walked out of the alley, took a deep breath, and then began to track the gang that had kidnapped Mika. It was about time for the hunters to become the hunted.

Kaito followed far behind the pack. He couldn’t see the group but it didn't matter, they were easy enough to follow. The gang never got near a main road, preferring to keep to the shadows of the back roads that always seemed to lead into even smaller back roads.

Eventually the maze ended at an old, run-down, hotel, or at least it looked like a hotel. It had three floors, many of the windows were cracked or broken, and the bricks seemed like they would crumble any moment.

Kaito studied the building for a moment. He saw a small gap between the gang’s base and the building next to it on the right. He slipped into the gap and began to look for ways into the building. He found what he was looking for in a small window well above his head. It had a ledge for potted plants, which provided a perfect handhold. Kaito took a deep breath and leapt.
 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Mika was vaguely aware of being dragged into a run-down building by the rough gang members. They fiddled with a door for a moment and then shoved Mika into the dimly lit building.

“You have what the boss wanted I presume?” said Hatori as he emerged from the shadows.

The man leading the group answered, “Do you think we would come back empty handed?” He gestured, and the members that had surrounded Mika parted so that Hatori could confirm that they had obtained the prize. Hatori assumed the lead and guided them to a staircase which opened into a narrow hallway. It led to only one room on the end.

Hatori moved to the door and knocked. “We’ve brought what you requested Boss!” he called into the room.

“Enter,” a cold and scratchy voice replied.

Hatori opened the door and Mika was shoved inside by someone behind her. She stumbled forward and fell, rather ungracefully, into the room. Hatori also stepped in and shut the door behind him. After a moment, Mika dared to look up. The man in front of her, who must've been the 'boss', was sitting back comfortably on a couch watching her intently.

Mika couldn't help but take in his appearance as well. His long, brown hair fell into his eyes, in such a way that Mika wondered if he could see at all. He didn't exactly look like a common gang member, but he had a darker presence, as if was just waiting to do something unspeakable. Mika felt her heart jump into her throat.

“You may leave Hatori,” the man commanded, and once Hatori had left, he stared at Mika without saying anything for a period of time.

“W-who are you?” Mika finally got the courage to ask. No answer; although he stood up from his seat and walked to where Mika was still sitting on the floor. He took her chin in his hand and tilted her head up slightly to get a better look at her face.

“Well, well, you are a beauty aren’t you? For a human at least. And with one of the best scents in the world.” He ran his hand through a lock of her hair.

Suddenly, the man stiffened and went quiet. “He got here faster than I had planned...” The wooden door groaned as if it were being strained, and then cracked at the hinges. It fell to the floor with a loud thud.

“Get your hands off of her,” came a low growl from the threshold. Recognizing the voice, Mika whirled around to see Kaito standing erect and threatening.

“What interest could you possibly have in this human?” The man replied as his face slowly contorted in anger.

“That doesn’t concern you.” Kaito’s voice was still dangerously low.

The stranger stiffened, and his eyes got a wild, mad look to them. Mika watched in astonishment as his hair seemed to grow even longer, as did his nails. His teeth sharpened to a point, and the white around his eyes faded into a dark blood-red. His skin paled, making his eyes stand out even more. His whole appearance was extremely devilish.

Mika put her hands over her mouth, and her eyes widened in horror. The demonic-like creature lunged at Kaito. Mika closed her eyes, and a heartbeat later, scream reverberated around the room. Then, everything was still and quiet once more, as if nothing had happened. Mika opened her eyes slowly, and turned around prepared for the worst, but the creature had simply vanished. It was at this time she became aware of a smoky smell in the room. She slowly raised her eyes to look at Kaito who was glaring in disgust at a small mound of dust on the floor.

Was that there before? she wondered to herself. "W-Where d-did it go?" Mika questioned, in a shaky tone that matched the quivering of her body.

"He's gone," Kaito replied simply. “Can you stand?” She nodded, although when she tried to get her legs under herself, she found her knees had the consistency of Jello. She would have crumpled to the floor had Kaito not grabbed her elbow to steady her.

He helped her over the broken door on the ground, and they walked silently out of the building and back onto the dark streets.


A/N~ And cue the supernatural element of this story. In the past, when I've presented this chapter, this is where I've lost a couple of people. Well, this one and the next. If you like supernatural stuff, great. If not, stick around anyway and see what you think a few chapters from now. ^^

Chapter 5==>

[CertainNorth]

To be honest, I was wondering when the supernatural part would kick in lol. When a character starts throwing out the word human like Kaito and now this gang boss guy, it's very clear they are different beings lol

One small grammatical error I noticed, 18th paragraph, "After just a few minutes, ..." it should say something like "bags filled with food."

Keep it up! :)