Disclaimer: These are works of purely speculative fiction. It is not intended to infringe on any rights by and of the companies and/or individuals involved in the production of any series mentioned here.

The Light in the Darkness

Chapter 1

'The colors outside today are just exquisite.' Ayumi mused to herself as she allowed her eyes to gaze out of her bedroom window. The final stages of fall were beginning to settle in and the street below showed evidence with an assortment of red, yellow and brown leaves scattered about. Ayumi could hear the wind howling and see leaves dancing about in the fall air. The whole experience brought her a sense of peace that she didn't realize that she had been missing since last autumn.

She released a soft sigh before walking away from the window pane and moving toward her white vanity dresser that settles in the corner of her room. She took a seat in front of the attached mirror and grabbed her hair brush out of one of the many drawers.

She sat there for a moment and looked at her reflection. Her black tank top clinging to her thin frame and a pair of black ripped up jeans resting themselves on her thin torso. Her hair a wild and tangled mess, sticking up in all directions. She then proceeded to run her brush gently thorough her black shoulder length hair. Once she finished she fixed the square rimmed glasses on the bridge of her nose.

"Perhaps a walk in the park would do me some good." Ayumi muttered to herself with a small smile on her face. On days like this it was simply impossible for her to remain indoors. Feeling excited bubble within her, Ayumi quickly scoured her messy room to find her brown leather jacket. She finally found it under a mountain of dirty clothes she had yet to attend to. She slid her arms through each sleeve and zipped it up half way. Ayumi then grabbed her purse, iPod and keys before exiting her room.

She tumbled down the stairs in her hast to leave. "I'm going on a walk, I'll be home later." Ayumi announced as she strolled towards the front door. She slipped on her high top convers and then paused for a moment. Silence was her only reply. Not that it surprised her though since her parents rarely acknowledged they even had a younger daughter. Their lack of attention was mainly due to the fact that they have always been more focused on her older sister Mei.

The distant sound of chatter drifted to Ayumi's ears as she heard her parents conversing with Mei in the kitchen. Moving away from the front door, Ayumi walked down the hall before opening the kitchen door just a crack to peek inside.

The three of them, Ayumi's mother, father and sister, were all sitting at the kitchen table talking over a cup of tea. They all looked quite happy and the atmosphere was pleasant. Ayumi watched her mother set a plate filled with cookies on the table before reaching for a cup.

"Do you have to leave for the library now Mei?" Mrs. Ono asked, as she handed her oldest daughter a cup of hot coffee. "Now Hina, I want her to stay as well, but you and I both know that her studies come first." Mr. Ono said, then placed his hand on his wife's shoulder.

"I know that Nao." Hina sighed, "Will you be home for dinner?" She asked as she squeezed her husband's hand that still rested on her shoulder. "Of course, I still live here after all. I would never miss one of your amazing meals mom." Mei said as she pushed her waist length black hair behind her.

"What a sweet thing to say." Hina beamed, "Anyways, how is this semester going?" She asked with enthusiasm. "College is a blast mother!" Mei said as her face brightened up, "Everyone is so kind to me and my honor classes are comparable to my excelled high school classes, I have all straight A's." She spoke proudly. "You are doing a wonderful job Mei, your mother and I are very proud of you." Nao said as he gave Mei a hug.

Ayumi clenched her teeth as she turned away from the sight and moved once again towards the front door. The sudden movement did not go unnoticed though; Mei followed her down the hallway. "Ayumi, are you going somewhere? I'm on my way to the library right now, I could give you a ride somewhere seeing as it's getting a bit late." Mei said as she moved toward her. "No, thank you. I can walk just fine on my own. I don't need you to drive me anywhere." Ayumi said sharply as she stormed outside the front door.

Leaving a stunned Mei behind, she walked away quickly feeling guilt already begin to set in for her attitude. Mei was a very loving person at heart and Ayumi loved her dearly for being the only one to acknowledge her in the family, but it is a difficult task to not be frustrated with her. Mei excels at everything.

Mei also has a beautiful face and a body that would make any man kill to be with her. She is extremely smart, getting straight A's on every assignment that was thrown at her. And on top of all of that, she is very kind to everyone, and people are instantly drawn to her. These were all the reasons why Mei was clearly the favorite child.

Ayumi would be a liar if she said she wasn't jealous of her sister. To put it simply, she had never been good with her school work and was lucky enough if she got a barely passing "D" on her report card. Her face wasn't as flawless as Mei's because she had received scars due to acne and dry pale skin. And unlike most girls her age, makeup wasn't something she liked to wear often because she didn't like the feel of it on her face.

She wore black glasses that covered up her dark chocolate brown eyes. She had contact lenses, but chose not to wear them because she hated the struggling that came with putting them in her eyes. Her wardrobe was nothing at all like Mei's either. Her clothes are not as reveling and flashy as hers. They are comfortable and very basic, when she wasn't wearing her school uniform she could be found in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

It was hard for people to believe that the two of them were related, and while Ayumi had never been teased for it, people would often overlook her for how simple she choose to be. Which is what her parents unfortunately did; even though Ayumi knew they loved her, she wished that they would give her some indication that they even cared about what she wanted and what was going on in her life.

Maybe if she had worked harder and had gotten straight A's like Mei then they would say that they were proud of her too, but school had always been too hard for her. Also there was the fact that her pride denied her the option of asking for help in fear of looking and sounding like a moron.

Shaking her head suddenly, Ayumi cleared her head of negativities and focused more on her surroundings. The sky was clear and the sun felt so warm on her chilly skin. She was nearing the community park when she remembered that there was a playground up ahead with a park bench. It would be the perfect place to sit and read for a while. She was currently reading pride and prejudice by Jane Austin.

As she drew closer to her destination she saw her classmate, Nanami, dash away quickly in panic. Ayumi sighed sadly as she realized she had missed a chance to talk with her.

Nanami was always so kind to her, and would help her in class when she was struggling to do her work. Even though Ayumi never asked for her help, Nanami could always seem to tell when she needed it and would still help her despite Ayumi telling her she didn't need any help. Nanami was the only reason she was able to get a good grade on her homework assignment a few days ago. Ayumi could safely say that she considered Nanami to be her friend because she didn't make her feel stupid.

As Ayumi moved closer she noticed a young man that looked to be around her age dressed in all black. As she walked closer she noticed that there was blood covering his body. Gasping quietly, Ayumi sped up the pace until she was standing face to face with him.

He looked so badly injured, and Ayumi scanned her surroundings to see if she could find the person who did this because it diffidently was not Nanami. Whoever had done it was long gone by now and the park was silent.

"Hey, are you alright?" She asked concerned, but the man only glared at her before deciding to speak. "What a foolish thing to ask." He sneered, wiping the blood off of his lip. "I beg your pardon?" She said, completely stunned by how entirely rude and cold the man was being toward someone asking if they were alright.

"Are you truly that unintelligent that you cannot understand the words leaving my mouth?" He spoke tauntingly. Ayumi felt her cheeks grow hot in embarrassment and anger at being called stupid. "God I was just trying to help!" She shouted, feeling her blood boil. "You can help me by leaving." He said as he turned away.

"No, let me help you." Ayumi said as she grabbed onto his wrist, stopping him. She looked down at the ground as she felt her anger wear off, and she found herself wondering why she was trying to help this ungrateful man when her help was clearly not wanted. "What did you just say?" He asked as he turned his head back to look at her.

He spoke to her as if he was threatening her. Ayumi took her eyes off of the ground to look at his face. The first thing she noticed was that he was quite handsome, even with blood caked on his face. His eyes were a bright red, which she found both interesting and creepy at the same time.

"I said let me help you." She all but demanded as she dragged him over to the park bench. Kirihito grounded his teeth in annoyance at this infuriating human girl. Being so demanding and freely touching him. If his body didn't feel so weak he would have shoved her away from him the minute she started pulling him toward the bench.

He watched as she rummaged through her bag intensely, and he found himself looking at her face. An idea came to his mind while watching her. Although she was not as pleasing to the eye as some of the other human women he had encountered, she was not exactly repulsive to look at either. So what he was about to do next would not be too terrible.

Ayumi's eyes widened as she felt a hand roughly turn her face. The man's eyes were closed and he was leaning in as if to kiss her. Quickly panicking, she shoved his head away from hers before their lips could touch.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She shouted, face bright red. The man smirked at her in amusement and chuckled. "Again with the foolish questions." He smirked, then grimaced and clutched onto his abdomen.

Ayumi moved closer despite feeling a little bit apprehensive. Guys barely even spoke to her, let alone try to kiss her. This guy was so bipolar, wasn't he just insulting her a moment ago? Kirihito groaned in pain, this human body was such a bother. Getting bruised so easily, another reason why humans were such a disgraceful race. Suddenly, gentle hands moved his own hands away from his body and lifted his shirt up slightly to get a better look at the wound.

"Undressing me already?" He smirked, pain temporarily forgotten. "You need to go to the hospital." She said, deciding to ignore what he had said. "I refuse." He said irritated, if she had just let him kiss her then he would have been fine by now. However, the fact that she chose to stay instead of running away like that human god had left him feeling intrigued, which was the only reason he had not chased her away by now.

Ayumi pushed all feelings of shyness and uncertainty aside for the time being. This man needed her help whether he liked it or not. So if he refused to see a doctor then she would do all she could to help him right now. Even if it wasn't much it was still better than nothing at all.

She lowered his bloody shirt back down. Always the prepared one, she reached for the mini first aid kit she carried in her purse. It contained Band-Aids, Neosporin, cotton balls, gauze with medical tape, and hand sanitizer inside it. It wasn't much but she would have to make due.

She quickly rubbed some sanitizer onto her hands to kill any bacteria, then she grabbed the Neosporin and used a few cotton balls to disinfect the area around his stomach. She looked up to see how he was doing but his expression was void of all emotions as he looked at her. It made a shiver run down Ayumi's spine.

She then wrapped the area in gauze and applied the medical tape. After that was finished she then moved up to his face and dabbed at the wounds with Neosporin and another cotton ball, then applied a series of Band-Aids over all the cuts, all while avoiding eye contact with him.

By the time she was finished he looked significantly better. Not as good as a doctor would have done, but it would be enough to keep him from bleeding out in the middle of the park. Ayumi cleaned up her mess and began packing away her first aid kit. Unbeknownst to her Kirihito was watching her intensely.

It was entertaining for Kirihito to watch the girl tend to his wounds. She seemed nervous about doing it. He could tell she was nervous by the way she avoided eye contact with him throughout the whole process, but she had done an adequate enough job.

Ayumi stood up from the park bench, after gathering her stuff she turned and said "I should get going." She received no reply. He just sat there on the bench with a blank look on his face. Ayumi mentally sighed, judging by the attitude of this guy she would not be getting a thank you. It was no big surprise to her that he would not say thank you to her, but she still would have appreciated hearing it.

She took a few steps away from the man, and then stopped. "You know, you should really take better care of yourself, humans aren't exactly invincible." She said softly before getting ready to leave. "I am well aware of that, go away." He growled in irritation.

Ayumi sighed in annoyance before she started walking farther away from the infuriating man. When some distance was put between them she slowed her footsteps and turned her head back slightly to see what the man was doing. To her amazement, he was no longer alone. 'Where the hell did they come from? I didn't see anyone around a moment ago.' She contemplated as she watched two oddly dressed men stand in front of him. They were dressed in oddly designed fox masks that she found quite interesting to look at.

"Master Kirihito! What on earth happened to you?" She heard one of the men in the fox masks ask. Ayumi shook her head slightly and thought to herself. 'It's none of my business what they are discussing. I finished helping him and now I must take my leave.' She resumed walking down the parks cemented pathway until she could no longer hear them speak.

Ayumi exited the park and made her way out onto the street. Following the familiar roads home she began to think about the young man she helped and the name she heard him being called. "Kirihito," The name rolled off her tongue in a strangely pleasant way, "So that's your name." Feeling satisfied, Ayumi rounded the last corner that would lead her back home. Although she didn't want to admit it, she couldn't evade her thoughts of the young man she had just encountered. That in itself was quite unsettling to her but she brushed it off as finally made it home.

Previously at the park

Kirihito had watched the strange girl walk out of sight before he turned back to his shikigami. "Pardon the inquiry master but who might that young women be?" Monjiro asked, bowing his head in respect. Kirihito stayed silent for a moment before answering, "Just a vexing human, nothing for you to be concerned about." Kikuchi simply accepted his masters' answer and moved on.

"Now," Kirihito proceeded to say as he sat back down on the bench. "Have you done as I asked?" He inquired as he glanced around the now abandoned park. It was getting quite late, the sun had already set and the street lamps were the only thing illuminating the three men. "Yes, master Kirihito! I've done everything you've asked of me!" Monjiro exclaimed in excitement, the goofiest smile adorned his face. "Quiet down Monjiro! I already have a headache and I don't need you making it worse." Kikuchi scolded the other shikigami.

Kirihito hummed as he tuned out the two bickering shikigami, and looked out in the direction from which that girl had left earlier. 'I wonder where she took off to. I bet I could easily find her if I wanted to.' Kirihito thought to himself before deciding that he must have been delusional from the lack of blood for having ever thought what he just did. "Although it is a pity" He countered his previous thoughts, "She would have been fun to toy around with."

"I'm home." Ayumi announced once she had entered her house. The first thing she noticed was that Mei was gone, and she couldn't help but feel slightly relieved. She could also hear her parents still chatting in the kitchen.

Ayumi walked into the living area and dropped her bag on the sofa before making her way toward the kitchen. She could smell a divine aroma coming from something on the stove. "What's for dinner tonight mom?" Ayumi asked, poking her head in the doorway to the kitchen. "Sushi and ramen." Hina said as she barely glanced in her direction before she took another sip of coffee from the cup in her hand.

Ayumi nodded, before making her way to the stove to make herself a plate. She collected her food and then left the room. She walked upstairs to her room so that she could eat in peace without having her parents awkwardly talking and not including her. Upon entering she looked around at her room. It was nothing elaborate like her sisters bedroom. The walls were painted a light shade of yellow and the trim was white. Her furniture consisted of a light wooden desk that had her notes and homework scattered across it, a futon bed that was messily thrown together, a white vanity dresser and finally a large bookshelf she had received from her grandmother last Christmas.

Ayumi maneuvered around her room before plopping down onto her futon, feeling tired after the events that happened that day. She took out her phone and propped it against a pillow so she could watch something on Netflix. She was currently enthralled in a new show that started last fall. She discarded her dishes after she finished eating and finished watching her show.

Once the episode ended she laid back in bed and shut her eyes. Her mind drifted to thoughts of Kirihito. She hoped he had taken her advice and went to seek medical attention. Even if he had been a jackass to her, she still didn't wish him any harm. That was the humane thing after all.

Within minutes of laying in her bed she fell asleep peacefully to the sound of the wind rustling about outside of her window and the thoughts of an arrogant man sitting on a bench in the park.

Authors Note: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, and I would like to thank my beta Katface-Chan.