CHAPTER 1: UNUSUAL

"Is he going to be alright?"

"Yes, my lady."

"He's just sleeping. When he wakes up he should be back to his usual bright, happy self."

He was dragged awake by the surrounding voices. He reluctantly let his eyes open, seeing if the scene was like he imagined.

He was right; the two maids of the house to his left while his sister to his right. He remained lying down as the three pairs of eyes stared at him with a slightly confused look upon their faces. He sat up, breaking the little staring session.

"Are you alright?" Asked on of the maids to his left, her face was brimmed with happiness.

"Ah, yes. I'm fine, thank you, Kohaku." He replied with a polite smile.

"Are you sure? You're not hungry? Thirsty?"

"No, Hisui. Thank you, both of you."

"No problem, Shiki!" The happier maid shouted out, "By the way, I changed your clothes."

"WHAT!?" Shiki looked down to see he was wearing light blue pyjamas with teddy bears holding balloons on them. He suddenly looked up and his face went red.

"See, Hisui, I knew he'll like them." She turned from her sister to Shiki, "she told me the plain pink ones would do, but I disagreed. So we decided on a game of Russian Roulette. I lost but - "

"ENOUGH!" Shiki's sister had slammed her fist on the side table, "Back to work, both of you!"

"Yes, Lady Akiha." They both replied in completely contrasting ways. Hisui had said it quietly with a bow. Kohaku jumped in the air with a raised fist and shouted it with determination. They both swiftly left.

Akiha watched as they left with burning rage behind her eyes. When she saw them close the door behind themselves she shut eyes and sighed relief.

"I'm glad you're OK." She said with her eyes still closed.

"So am I. You didn't have to bring me home, though. It was just another fit; they could've put me in the medic - "

"It was more than that this time, Shiki." She said with a serious tone.

This caught his attention and he leant forward.

"You didn't just have a fit. You began to act up during the school assembly." Akiha said looking into his eyes.

"How could I – I was unconscious, how can I 'act up' when I'm unconscious?" Shiki said with genuine confusion.

"It wasn't you that was acting up. It was - " She broke away and stared at the ground.

A familiar impulse flickered at the back of Shiki's mind.

"But don't worry, Shiki. It was nothing major. Nothing anyone would remember or talk about. To them, you just fainted." She said trying to comfort the worry she could see on his face.

He turned and looked at her. Her shoulder length charcoal hair hung from her head and covered her face from view as she looked at her hands.

Shiki turned away and thought.

This was unexpected. He hadn't fallen unconscious since the events that happened six months ago. As he stared away he realised he could see them…the vein-like lines on everything; both animate and inanimate objects.

"Akiha, my glasses, please." He opened is hand.

She placed the glasses in his hands before standing up.

"OK then, brother, I'll be going back to school now. If things get worse or it happens again, tell one of the two to contact me immediately." She said with firmness.

Shiki nodded and watched as she walked out. She had a certain elegance and pristine about her, although the more you were around her the more you got the impression it was a facade.

He looked at his large room. He had never got used to the excellence of the room, let alone the whole mansion he now lived in. The floor was a deep red carpet while the walls and ceiling were covered in various shades of gold, giving the whole house a fiery look.

He got out of bed and stretched. He wondered what he was going to do for the rest of the day, but it didn't take long before he decided to head back to school.

Shiki walked slowly to school, mainly due to his thoughts on the abnormalities of his life. The major one being his vision. He could see vein-like lines across all the objects he could see, alive or not. Shiki often remember during his youth that he was told the lines were not real, just a figment of his childish imagination as the adults around him said, but as he grew up he realised they weren't imaginative and were a part of his life; eventually he accepted it. But before his acceptance of uniqueness came to be something happened to him; a memory that he would often recall and never forget.

A nine year old Shiki walked along the path in the park. The lines stood out more in the summer's blessing light. As he walked he realised that sound had snuck away, as well as all the people. Shiki looked around more; he was worries growing within him. He took a step forward and bumped into something. He didn't just get knocked down it repelled him.

"What the – Huh? A kid…?

The person he had bumped into was wearing a loose white t-shirt, blue jeans and white trainers; all of which looked as though they have been worn for a while. He then noticed something, something that confirmed that the situation was now strange. The person had strikingly bright red hair and, by the looks of it, went way past her back.

Shiki stood up at once and took a few steps back, "W-who are you!? W-what do you want?" He shouted even though he wasn't that far away, though he was scared there something attracting him to the person.

"Hey kid, how did you ge – Your eyes…"

She walked towards him, Shiki didn't move. He was in fact fighting the temptation walk up to her.

She stopped front of Shiki and looked down at him, "Yep, you definitely have the eyes. Which is odd… "

This caught Shiki's attention, it confirmed to him that he wasn't crazy. He grabbed her by the coat in plea, "You know about my eyes!? Then please, help me. What are they? What are the lines?"

She stared at him for a few moments before, sighing and reaching into her pocket. "It's good I took these then, eh? But don't fret, kid. The eyes of Death Perception you have are a given gift; use them when the time is right." She took out a pair of white gloves with bright orange dots on the knuckles; she reached her whole arm into her briefcase and took out a pair of glasses that that had a peculiar gloss to them.

She kneeled down and put them on for him, "There. Is that better?"

When the glasses were on the lines were no longer there. Not just past lenses, around them too.

Shiki was left breathless, "Thank you….Thank you v-very much."

The woman smiled back, "It's best you keep them on, kid. You're just a human after all. Using something that naturally doesn't belong to you strains the body and you don't want to do that, do you?"

Shiki shook his head.

"Good. Take care of yourself, Shiki." The woman said kneeling down and looking at him with affection in her eyes. Shiki gasped as she had the most mysterious eyes he will ever see. They gave off power, yet kindness. He could see valleys of knowledge and mountains of experience within them. Not only that, but they were a sky blue colour that looked vast enough to get lost in.

She rubbed him on the head before leaving in the opposite direction.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, Shiki waved and shouted, "I'll see you again, Aoko-sensei."

Just then he realised they didn't exchange names. He went to chase after her, but then with a knock to the head sound came back Shiki turned to see a Frisbee hit him.

"Sorry." Said the thrower, before running to receive it.

Unconcerned with that Shiki looked back to see Aoko gone.

Unknowingly, the memory brought a smile to Shiki's face. He remembered being so happy at the thought that he wasn't alone in the surreal things he saw. He came to a crossing. He looked left and right and when to walk when someone had jumped on his back. It wasn't aggressive enough to be an attack and knew it was only one person.

"Hello, Arcueid." He said with a smile looking at her.

"Morning, Shiki! Why aren't you in school?" She asked not moving from his back.

"Oh, I had an anaemic attack. I was taken home while I was unconscious. I'm fine now, and going back there now." He said adjusting himself for her weight.

"Ooo, Shiki can't you come over and quickly make me breakfast." She asked as she was a young child.

Shiki lowered his head. He knew it was coming, "But, Arcueid, my school is just ar - "

"Thanks, Shiki! You're the best!" She shouted before jumping off him and dragging him in the opposite direction he was heading, "It's good because I have to show you something too!"

Shiki couldn't reply as he was struggling to keep up with her speed. At times his feet didn't touch the ground, which made him worry if anyone would see them moving at such unnatural speeds.

"Ahh…Another amazing breakfast. You're fantastic, Shiki" She exclaimed rubbing her stomach with one hand and picking her with the other.

"No problem." Shiki smiled back, he turned and sighed, "Oh, what could I possibly tell my teacher? I bet some of the students could see me from the window…" He continued to wash the dishes while staring outside. He noticed someone on the roof on the other block. Suddenly, his vision went hazy and began to lose feeling in his body except for right hand. It began to move: move out of his control. He slowly slipped inside his pocket and reached for his knife. A smile crept up on his face…

"Shiki!"

Shiki snapped out of it and looked around in confusion.

"Shiki, are you OK? I called you several times…" Arcueid had got up and now standing behind him. She sounded worried; a side that Shiki rarely saw.

"I'm fine…Another attack that's all. This time, not so major…" He said closing his eyes and shaking it off. He opened them again; the figure on the building was gone.

"Are you sure?"

Shiki slowly nodded. He suddenly realised he was sweating and went to wipe it with his hand when he suddenly noticed that his knife was in his hand and open too. Something was going on, two anaemic attacks in the same day was rare for him. Something inside told him it wasn't his health.

Arcueid opened the door and Shiki stepped out, "I'll come by after school, then you can show me what you had to show me, OK?"

Arcueid nodded, "Alright…" The look of worry was still evident on her face.

Shiki turned and left. Arcueid shut the door and went to the table where there was a tablet with an ancient language on it; a language Arcueid herself had long forgotten. She went to touch it, but sense told her not to. She put on gloves and placed the tablet in a box before storing it away.