Disclaimer: Though the locales used in this fic are true-to-life, the story, plot, and characters themselves are purely fictional. Any similarities to real life are purely coincidential.

Act 1 - First Gig

Chapter 1: Kiva Power, Ready

March 20, 2008.

Meet Sirius Regulus Kurogane, Sirius for short - though some of his friends called him 'Sire', for unknown reasons. A high school student at Ateneo de Manila, this year was to be his final year. He was already assured to graduate, thanks to the work he put in - unlike his classmates in class 4-K, he avoided cramming whenever he could, doing most if not all of his work ahead of time.

It was these thoughts that were running through Sirius's head as he washed his face and ran cold water through his hair. He smiled at his reflection; he felt good, really good. And when he was done grooming himself, he stepped out in order to knock up breakfast.

By 7:15 that morning, Sirius had already finished his morning rituals - he'd eaten, taken a bath, brushed his teeth and dressed in his uniform. With nothing left to do, he got his bag, exited the condo, and took a tricycle going to school. It was fine; since he was near school, he could afford to take his time.

As he got off a few minutes later, Sirius remembered something: today was his 17th, and he almost forgot! He felt incredibly stupid; no one forgot their birthday, right? Although, now that he remembered... it was great timing. Their exams were finally over, which meant that today was a good day to celebrate. With this happy thought in mind, he dashed to his classroom, in the area right in front of the Chapel and the Covered Courts...

...until someone cleared his throat. Sirius stopped dead; it was the vice-prefect. Puzzled, Sirius looked at himself; he was wearing rubber shoes!

"S-sorry, sir!" Sirius pleaded as his voice shook. "I-I was rushing this morning - wrong pair of shoes - "

But when he looked up next, he was looking at what looked like a glass sculpture of their vice-prefect. Strange... Sirius thought. Maybe it's his birthday too, and someone's giving him a glass sculpture of himself?

With a feeling of mingled puzzlement and relief, Sirius ran on to his classroom; the glass figure crumbled to dust a few moments later.

"Alright, class, it's someone's birthday today..." said Sir Mao, their class adviser. "Sirius, can you come up front for a bit?"

Sirius complied; as the class sang a birthday song for him, he felt himself blushing. When they finished, Sirius made his way back to his chair, but then Mao put a hand on his shoulder. He leaned in, as if to say something.

"Come by the workroom later. I've a present for you."

And then he went back to his seat. "Alright guys, second order of business," Mao resumed. "Next week's graduation practice, and here are the schedules..."

Later that day, Sirius went to the faculty workroom, as Mao had requested. Sure enough, five minutes after he had him paged, Mao opened the door, smiling at his student. "I've got a present for you," he said, then looked behind him. "Kivat!"

A black-and-yellow bat, or what looked like a bat, flew out of the office and around the bewildered Sirius. "This is him, huh, Mao!?" he asked in an eager tone. "Don't worry kid, we'll get along fine!" he added to Sirius, his fanged mouth curling upwards in a smile.

Sirius then looked at his teacher, his own face cracking into an awkward grin. "...I don't know what he is, sir, but... thanks."

He walked to the tricycle terminal, but when he got there, another strange sight met his eyes: glass sculptures of students and drivers alike, lying on the ground. As they crumbled a moment later, Sirius felt something wrap around his neck and pull him backwards. He looked round; what he saw nearly made him scream...

It was a monster, with a reptilian head and stained glass-like patterns all over its body. "Don't struggle, cutie..." it said, in a feminine voice. "You don't need to die painfully..."

Horrified, Sirius desperately tried to free himself, but to no avail; the monster was too strong. It was then that he felt a stinging pain in his left hand: the bat thingy that Mao had given him just bit him on the hand as chains materialized around his waist and fused into a belt. "Put me on the buckle, kid!" the bat said urgently. "If you wanna live!"

Sirius obeyed; chains wrapped around him as the metamorphosis ensued. What emerged from the chains was a figure clad in scarlet armor and bright, yellow eyes. After he got over his surprise, Sirius chopped off the tendrils that wrapped themselves around his neck.

The monster was shocked, but she advanced on Sirius nonetheless; he looked simply too delicious to pass up.

tbc