Chapter 1: Not What It Seems

'Grinning evilly, I finally wrapped my small clawed hands around the demons throat. My ebony black hair fell around my shoulders, shielding my face from the suns' gaze. My sapphire blue eyes glinted dangerously behind the strands as I strangled my victim. Cuts and bruises adorned my pale skinny body as I tightened my grip.

I faltered for only a minute when I heard a voice. I tried to concentrate more fully on my task, but hands and voices were reaching for me now. As I tried to ignore all the noise, I studied the demon in my grasp. He had cuts and bruises that covered his body, much like mine. White hair made a half circle around the top of his head, which was completely bare save for the seemingly purple markings that adorned every inch his partially exposed body. The only hint of his modesty was the white fur pants he wore to his ankles.

The demons hands clawed at my own, painfully trying to remove my hands from his neck. The voices grew louder, the hands more persistent, as I tightened my grip. Suddenly I felt something hit the back of my head and I let go of my victim in surprise. The demon bucked me off and-'

Something actually hit my head and I woke with a start, my books and textbooks falling to the floor with resounding thuds. The class erupted with giggles as the teacher glared from the front of the room. As I reached for my stuff, a larger hand picked them up and placed them on my desk. I looked up into the smiling face of Shuichi Minamino, the prince of the school.

With his long red hair and vivid green eyes, he's always seemed gentle. Combine all of that with a quiet disposition and mostly peaceful presence, he's an enigma. Unlike the other boys in the school, he wasn't cocky, he didn't try to date every girl that came his way, and he tried to help his mom without complaining. At least, that's what I heard. The whole package made all the girls, including me, crazy in love with him. I was probably the only one smart enough not to try to get too close to him. He didn't want any of us, that's for sure.

"I hope I didn't startle you; I was hoping to get your attention." He muttered, helping me up off the floor as he stood up. I was too shocked to reply, staring into his eyes. They seemed odd though, a little dull, but still looked the same color as everyday. He didn't normally speak to others… He handed me the folded up piece of paper that had hit the back of my head. "Please read this."

The teacher, probably shocked that his best student had disrupted his class, cleared his throat several times before telling us to return to our seats. After Minamino-kun had sat down, he turned back to the board, determined to get back to the lesson. Obviously he didn't want to be the first to give the boy a detention. Looking around, I noticed some of the girls staring at Minamino-kun, shocked at his behavior. Some had already recovered enough to glare at me.

I wasn't the prettiest girl in school, nor was I the ugliest. With my black hair and light blue eyes, I suppose I could've been pretty had my hair behaved or if I hadn't chosen classes that I could hide behind. Because of my mother-who had had the same problem when she was my age- my hair was unruly, always curly and difficult to brush. I kept it long though, so it was normally in a high ponytail. Not to mention, my clothes were always baggy, in and out of school, I got into trouble for reading in class, and I wasn't all that popular. They were probably wondering if he'd gone blind or stupid.

Waiting for the teacher to turn around, I picked up the carefully folded paper. It turned out to be a shredded corner of his planner, or what looked like his planner. I shrugged off my confusion to notice the small hearts he'd placed around my name, his neat hand writing, and his doodles that took up almost the whole paper.

*Please meat me at yoar laucker after scoul. I wish to speek to yoa aloune.*

Three hours later, I was still confused about the note. He's the smartest person in the school, the genius everyone wants to be. I didn't understand what he wanted from me either. Why would he disrupt class just to speak to me? Why in the world did he spell any of those words wrong? I only had him for that one class, because of his advanced classes, so I hadn't seen him since the class, but I was almost able to leave.

"Just remember to study the stars for tomorrows practice. It won't be long, but it will be hard. Have a good day. Sayonara." My club supervisor said, smiling in her red suit. Tsuki-sensei was sweet, in her own way, but she loved astronomy, which made her a great person to know.

"Sayonara, Sensei!" The class yelled in response, rushing out the door. I followed the stampede to my locker, sighing as I put my books in my bag. I was reaching for my black converse when I heard my friends.

"MIZUKI-SAN!" Hunching my shoulders, I looked over my shoulder at the slightly tall twins that were running towards me. They must've heard about the incident as well. Everyone seemed to have heard. They latched onto me when they reached me, one pair of arms around my neck, the other around my waist. "Why didn't you tell us you had club today?" They demanded, pouting their lips. With their green eyes and brown hair, they were adorable. Yet they were taller than me so I ignored their puppy eyes.

"Guys, I always have club on Friday. You know that." I reminded them, rolling my eyes. "Just because something happened today, doesn't mean my routines changed."

Nana Noemi squealed, bouncing enough that her short curled hair jumped around. "Something happened today?" She asked, grinning. Kana, her long hair tied in a ponytail, hugged me tighter. I sighed.

"Don't play dumb; I know you've heard about it." I muttered, detaching Kana before she killed me.

"Then go over every detail. I mean, eve-" Her eyes grew wide mid-sentence and I stared at her a moment before turning around and up.

"There you are, Mizuki-san." Shuichi muttered, wrapping one arm around my shoulders to steer me towards the door. My own eyes were wide as I looked back at the twins, who quickly sent me two thumbs up, before I was steered around the corner and out the doors. Minamino-kun had a self-satisfied grin on his face when I looked up at him, seeming proud of himself for some reason.

"Um, Minamino-kun, shouldn't we go back for our shoes?" I asked, tugging lightly on his arm that was lightly slung over my shoulder. Minamino smirked down at me, shaking his head a little as he led me out the doors and down the road. A lot of people called to him, wanting to say hi or ask a question, but he ignored them, preferring instead to lead me to a park and down into a nature park that had a wooded path. His smirk grew as he guided me off the clean cut path onto a bush covered path that obviously had very few visitors.

We walked several more feet, turned onto another unknown path and then Minamino-kun led me into a clearing. It was large, about 10 feet around and 20 feet long, and completely covered in flowers and bushes. Trees made it into a circle, almost making a barrier that opened into another path that was on the other side of the clearing. What really made it cool was the lone tree stump in the middle, looking almost like a throne with part of the top cut off. I walked towards the stump, but turned to Minamino-kun as I sat down.

Minamino-kun's grin had turned almost evil, his eyes a little hooded as he stared at me hungrily. I stood up quickly, feeling a little uneasy when he took a step towards me. "Minamino-kun, what's going on?" I shuffled my feet nervously, moving around the stump instead. "Minamino-kun, wh-?"

"SILENCE" He bellowed, his voice oddly garbled and echoing around the clearing. Flocks of birds took flight as I stumbled back a little, moving quickly back. He pointed to me, his eyes glinting an odd orange color. "You will not speak, you will not talk, for I will have your tongue." His voice sounded archaic, mythical, almost lyrical.

"What?" The word was said without sound. I couldn't hear myself at all as I tried to ask him what in the world he'd done. I screamed, just to hear my voice. My throat constricted, I felt the muscles move, yet I couldn't hear anything at all. Minamino-kun grinned and chuckled as he watched my panic grow.

"Tanami-san! Run!" Turning in surprise, momentarily stunned to hear Minamino's voice behind me, I was equally stunned to see Shuichi Minamino running towards me, coming from the path that seemed so far away. My eyes widened further and I'm sure I screamed again, especially when something landed on my arm. I tried to wipe it off, feeling the prickly sensation on my wrist.

I looked down and stared at the black skinny and hairy hand that kept me from running for the hills. The hand was joined by two others that looked exactly alike, which were attached to the black, skinny, hairy, and bare shoulder(s) of the bug faced boy that just a second ago looked exactly like Minamino-kun. His stench alone sent me reeling and I struggled to get away. I gagged when the monster held me to him.