Chapter 1

Even thought Nakajima Naohiro was a prince, he was a pretty average guy. After graduating college with a major in teaching, he worked as a writing teacher. And he liked it much better than being a prince. He loved his students. Especially one; Nomura Mitsuko. She was his favorite student. He enjoyed going to work every day, getting to teach 8th graders.

"Good morning, my little novelists." he cleared his throat and began cleaning the board from the day before. He glanced around the room. Good, he thought, a multiple of three. Nice. He continued, "Today, we'll be learning about explosive words. Can anyone tell me what they are?" he smiled. An arm raised.

"Aiko. What are they?" he asked, dusting chalk off of his suit coat.

"Words that create a vivid image in the reader's imagination." the blue-haired girl replied. He beamed.

"Excellent! So, any of you, just shout out examples of 'em. I'll give you one. Scurried." he began writing. He scribbled on the board several verbs such as struck, bustled, beamed, shone, flashed, devoured (I wonder who said that one), and grimaced. Wow, he thought, they're pretty good.

"Now," he fought the urge to laugh, "come up with the most boring verb you can think of." On the other side of the board, he wrote went, sat, said, and ate (I still wonder who's saying these consumption verbs). He drew a line in the middle, dividing the passive verbs from the active ones.

"Okay, if I wrote, 'she went to the post office', would that paint a picture in your mind?" he continued. The entire class answered with a resonating NO.

"But if I wrote, 'the girl rocketed to the post office', can you see an image of what's happening in your mind?" he asked in an excited tone. They all nodded.

"Good, you're getting it. I'm proud of you guys."

After the class had ended, Mitsuko walked up to his desk. She handed in her homework from the day before, her deep blue eyes gleaming.

"Nakajima-sensei, I finished all of it. Even the extra stuff." she spoke in a soft, sweet voice. He glanced down at it, his fuchsia eyes scanning over each prompt. He flipped the papers over, checking her written work. Her hand was beautiful, with neatly written letters. It almost was better than his.

"Looks good, Mitsuko. I'll check it more thoroughly when I get everyone else's. I'm certain you're going to get a real good grade." he replied. He grinned, his smile was beautiful.

"Thank you, Nakajima-sensei." her eyes glittered as she skipped off to her next class.

The next day, when he looked around the room, he noticed that she wasn't there. He racked his brain trying to figure out where she was. No matter how thoroughly he searched the class, he didn't see her.

He started to panic.

He didn't want anyone to see the fear he had in his eyes, so he spent most of the class time facing the board writing. His voice wavered whenever he thought of her. He couldn't concentrate on the lesson he taught. He felt relieved when the class was over. After correcting everyone's work, he strode quickly to her house. Her father answered the door.

"Good afternoon, Nomura-sama. I was worried when your daughter wasn't at school today. Has something happened?" the young teacher asked her father.

"Something terrible happened yesterday afternoon. You might as well see for yourself." the widower lead him to the girl's room. He knocked, "Mii-chan, your teacher wants to talk to you."

"But he won't want to see me." she whimpered.

"Just let him in and explain it to him." he solemnly replied. She let her in. Nao was taken aback when he saw she had light blue hair. His heart jumped. One of her eyes was covered by her bangs, supposedly hiding something. Her father left the two alone.

"I was playing with my dad in the garden, and a big storm came. We thought it was just rain, but there were demons in the sky. They came down and tormented us. One of them possessed me. It hurt so bad. All the colors seemed to be distorted. I felt so much pain. Even now, it still hurts. I feel a constant clawing sensation deep in my throat every minute of the day. It hasn't stopped. Ever." she explained. Nao thought for a bit about that.

"I'm so sorry." he whispered, holding her tight.

"Father's sending me to a boarding school. I'll be here for a couple weeks more. I'll miss you so much. I don't think they'll have a teacher like you." she nestled up to his side, listening to his heart. She liked that. It gave her warmth. Comfort. Peace.

"I-I'm... Going to miss you too. I don't know if I can get by without you." he choked.

Nao was summoned by his father. He had to be there Friday, so he called in a substitute. He didn't like that. He missed his class. That morning, he had to get fully dressed in ceremonial clothing. It was the king, after all.

As he stepped up the stairs, his cape drifted in the wind. His father welcomed him with open arms at the top.

"Welcome home, Naohiro." he spoke majestically. Yep. His father's a king.

"Thank you, father." he replied respectfully.

The two were having a conversation at a table. The old man called for his daughter.

"Hotaru, go get your brother a glass of wine."

"Yes, father." she obeyed. Instead of hiring maids or butlers, he had his children do all the serving and stuff. She ran down to the wine cellar. Now was her chance. She'd be the next in line after Nao, so her solution to that: kill him off so she'd be next. She had been waiting for this moment her whole life.

After selecting a bottle, she poured a glass, and out of her jacket she fished a flask. In it was scientifically prepared dhatura. She had prepared it so that it'd leave no trace in his blood. She poured a few drops in the glass and took it up to him.

"Thank you." he took the glass from her. She watched attentively as he took a sip. Her heart pounded as he waited for a few seconds before swallowing it. She breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't notice. Good.

"So, tell me, what have you doing these days?" Isamu asked his son.

"I work as a teacher. I really enjoy it." Nao replied.

"Ah, teaching. There is no greater call. Wonderful. I'm pleased that my son can teach."

"I love my students. They're very smart." Nao smiled.

Later on that evening, Nao was writing a sample story for his students. His mind was in a fog. He wasn't being very creative. So, to clear his head, he decided to take a walk. He liked the night. It's what he usually did to get inspiration.

As he strolled through the night, the moon seemed to illuminate the paths. He took the path that lead into a park. He found a nice grassy spot, laid down, and began thinking. His mind still wouldn't clear.

After a few minutes, he felt a sharp stabbing pain in his chest. He closed his eyes, and the pain subsided. But, he didn't feel anything. He wasn't breathing, nor was his heart beating. When he looked down, he saw himself on the ground. He jumped back, not knowing what happened. As he glanced around, he saw others. Many others. It seemed like daytime, only it was 3:00 in the morning.

"What? Am I... Dead?" he whispered.