I ran as fast as I can. The cold wind brushed painfully on the wound of my stomach. My clothes were now dirty and torn. One of my sandal's straps snap off so I decided to leave it behind. And if it wasn't bad enough, it started to snow. How long have I been running? I don't even know where I am now. My feet were already numb from the cold yet I didn't stop from running.

The only thing that stopped me is when I reached a cliff. I peek down. I gasped when I saw how high I was and the current of the river was obviously strong. Panicking, I thought where to go. I decided to go back and find a different route.

But it was too late..

I can already see the army of men not far from where I was, carrying their boss on a wooden chair.

"You have nowhere to run, young oni, now come here" I heard him say. I'm the last of my clan, which was believed to be extinct.

"I'd rather die than to be with the likes of you!" I screamed as I jumped off the cliff. I can hear his curses before my body made contact with the river. It was ice cold. The harsh current opened the almost closed wound on my stomach and I gasped at the pain, which only made me gulped some water. The water ripped off some parts of my already torn clothes.

The water carried me to somewhere I don't know. I couldn't feel my body anymore, dragging me down. I couldn't breathe, couldn't call for help. Who am I kidding anyway? Who would help me? Ah right, those people who want me, who want my power.

Before I lost my conscious, I saw someone with deep blue eyes reaching his hand out to me. May I'm dreaming. But there's nothing wrong to have a dream where someone you don't even know helps you, right? I felt myself smile at the thought before grabbing his hand.

…

Whispering voices woke me up. An unfamiliar ceiling and walls greeted my aqua green eyes. I blink a few times before realizing I don't know where I am. I tried to get up but couldn't because my hands and feet were tied securely.

Where am I? Maybe those people found me?! No! I don't like them! Before I could think of a plan of escape, the door opened. The brightness of the blazing sun blinded me for a while. Then I saw a girl dressed in men's clothes entered the room with a tray of food in her hands.

"Ohayou" She greeted with a smile."I've brought you food. I'm sorry if you're tied like that. Okita-san did that. I'll untie you now"

Naïve girl giving me a change to escape. The moment she cut the ropes around my feet, I started running towards the door.

"Ah! Wait!"

I didn't bother looking back at her. I opened the door, with my hands still tied together, and jumped out. Unfortunately, I bumped into someone and both of us fell on the floor. Good thing I was on top.

"Saito! Why are you harassing her?!" I heard someone scream from my left side. This is not good. I'm surrounded already. I have to move fast. I tried to get up but whoever was under me stopped me from getting up by wrapping his arms around me.

"Please do not try to escape. Your wounds have not healed yet." His voice was really deep and manly. I raised my head and saw the same pair of beautiful blue eyes last night. His hair was kina violet which is tied on a low ponytail.

I was lost for words. He was….I admit…attractive. Before I could speak, I felt pair of hands under my armpit and raised me like a child. A part of me felt depressed because I was quite small for a 16 year old oni girl.

"Oh, so this is the girl you saved last night" The one who lifted me said, sounding amused.

"Sano, put her down! You and Saito are harassing her!"

"Shinpachi, we are not. I'm just helping Saito so he can stand up" The Sano guy said, refusing to put me down.

My long blonde hair was brushed away from my face by another hand. I looked up to see who it was. A grinning brick red haired guy with emerald green eyes greeted my eyes.

"So, how were you able to untie the rope on your feet? I made sure it was tight"

So this is the guy named Okita. Behind him is a boy with long brown hair tied in a high ponytail. I sighed loud enough for them to hear. I can no longer escape.

"Harada-san, please put her down. She's wounded and hasn't eaten anything yet" The girl said and Harada san put me down.

"You can try to escape later when you're feeling better, okay?" I heard him say and softly pushed me back inside the room.

"My name is Chizuru. Seat down so you can eat. Don't mind those men" She patted the futon I was lying on earlier. I have no choice but to do what she said. She handed me a bowl of soup to which I hesitantly took.

I smelled it, in case there might be poison.

"She thinks we're poisoning her" Saito said as if he can read my minds.

I heard the men laughed at my actions and I glared at them.

"Where's the fun in poisoning someone? We'd rather slice you to pieces. That's more fun" Okita san said as he brought out his sword and pointed it at me. I gave him my best death glare. I wanted to piss this man. I brought my tongue out at him. A vein appeared and twitch on his forehead.

"Why you-"

"Now, now, Souji, let the girl eat in peace" Harada said, pulling him out of the room. Chizuru quickly shut the door and murmured an apology.

"Please excuse them. It's not every day we receive guests" When she sat down, she untied the rope around my hands.

Guests? Me? Am I not an experimental subject? I quietly ate my soup.

"So, what's your name?"

Maybe I can tell her. She looks kind.

"Yuuki" It was more a whisper and I'm glad she was able to hear it.

"Such a pretty name!" She's the first one to say that. I involuntarily smile at her and she smiled back at me.

"How's your wound?"

"It's better now. Thank you. It's slowly healing now, see?" I showed her the wound which is literally healing. I was expecting her to scream, or to run away. But she didn't.

"Are you an oni?"

It surprised me. "Ye-yes"

She suddenly grabbed my hands and held them. Her brown eyes were twinkling with excitement.

"Are you going somewhere? You can stay here if you want! You can trust me"

I pulled my hands away from her. "I don't easily trust anyone…"

"I'm also an oni, like you"

My heart beat faster. Is she from my clan? "Are you…from the Izumi clan?" It was my turn to be excited.

"No. I'm from the Yukimura."

My excitement died down a little. But I was really relieved to find out that she's also an oni like me. There's a part of me that's jealous of her. People in this house accepted her though she's different.