Third Fanfic! :D

To keep this long story short, this story is based off of Beast Master. The manga xD

Disclaimer: All belongs to James Patterson and Motomi Kyousuke.

REWIEW !

The sun slowly dipped behind the horizon, not that I cared. Homework wasn't really important at the moment, and the facts that my friends were off doing something, I found myself busy with a different situation.

"It's all right," I murmured, softly stroking the black coat of the kitten with the tips of my fingers. His body was tense, slightly afraid of my touch. He meowed at me, a scared kind of meow.

I sat there, slightly cold from the absence of the sun and from the only layers of my school uniform. A distant clap of thunder came to my ears. Oh joy.

I let the cat sniff my fingers, and in return he allowed me to pet him again with a less terrified look on his feline face. Absently running my fingers along the fur, I hadn't realized the soft touches of rain now coming down.

A round of lightning. Thunder.

With a sign of terror, he scratched my hand with his little paws and bolted off toward the tree in this lone playground/park.

A series of colorful swears and plenty of "OW" exited my mouth as I headed off to catch up with that little wimp. I only caught up in time to catch sight of him scratching up the tree and disappearing in the deep green leaves of the old tree there.

Damn, animals reeeeaally hate me.

"Don't climb trees now! I gotta get you home!" I said stepping up to the wooden bench set right next to the tree. The only response I got was angry meows and four hisses.

I'm so pro.

Sighing, I turned and searched around my pockets for my cell phone. Once I did, I dialed my neighbor, who owns that pitiful and hateful cat. He asked me search for him. Always does.

He picked up, "Hello? Is that you Max? Oh, is little Midnight with you?" he asked, with that old grandfather-ish voice of his.

"Err, Midnight kind of ran up a tree so it's going to take a bit longer to get him home. I'm sorry Mr. Takahashi. I'll get him home soon." I said, shaking hair out of my eyes from the storm wind.

"Eh, no worries. That little demon never listens to anybody. If it weren't for his cute looks, I'd throw him off a cliff…" he muttered.

Christ, old men reaaaally know how to scare both people and cats.

"Alright, so I'll get him now."

I hung up after he gave a farewell. Turning back to the tree, I saw Midnight perched lightly on a branch with his black head standing out among the green of the leaves.

I tried again, stepping up on the bench when the wind blew even harder and small droplets of rain transformed into sharp plunges onto my skin. Hair and uniform skirt tumbling around, I only managed to grasp onto the truck for mere support before the tree rustled. Loud and heavy.

Craning my head up, I caught sight of leaves tumbling down from some kind of movement when the wind blew once more.

A tree branch snapped.

Thud.

Whirling to my right, there was a guy.

No way…did he…from the tree?

Stepping off the bench, I headed toward him. Closer, slowly. I noticed his sharp features, pitch black hair, the strong build of his body underneath the black t-shirt, the silver chain that bounced around when he jumped out of that tree.

And cradled in his arms was a purring Midnight.

Eh?

That, evil demon cat, was being nice? Midnight meowed. It was so unlike the other meows that he gave.

"Um, excuse me. I'm sorry, but that cat belongs to my neighbor and…" I began. He suddenly was all tense. Like I was a danger to him.

That's when he shifted his head toward me. Or, more so like turned his head to the side.

Just enough to see his piercing dark eyes, they were scary. Guarded. Those were the eyes that would scare the shit out of anyone. Deadly, yet fear also laced in between. For…

Survival?

Lightning pierced through the evening darkness, lighting up his face, only outlining the intensity of his eyes even more.

I just stood there, not knowing exactly what I should be doing when he gently set Midnight on the ground. He stood up.

Midnight meowed.

"Ah, wait. Hold on!" I called out. But he was already running at a fast pace. The speed from his legs, and his arm…was bleeding.

Blood welled over the long and deep cut, also spilling over. My mind set on the worry of him.

Midnight meowed again. And again. The cries were the sounds of longing. Picking him up, I watched as the mysterious guy disappeared from my sight.

Amidst the thunder, his silver chain gleamed brightly.

Just simple shock was in my thoughts. I could feel Midnight tossing and turning in my arms, his annoyed meows reaching my ears. The rain didn't really improve his attitude.

He got me out of the deep sea of my thoughts when he gave me one long and deep scratch with his sharp claws.

"Ow! That's so mean, why? You were so nice with that person just now!"

Struggling in my arms as I held him away from my face, Midnight meowed all sort of colorful language at me while I argued with him about his evilness.

"Freakin demon," I muttered, lightly stroking my cheek, feeling warm blood against the cold droplets of water.

Another pissed meow in response.

I sighed, turning off on a corner toward my house and Midnight's. Dear God, cats are so moody.

Mr. Takahashi was actually standing outside on his porch, lights on and with his cane, watching me emerge with Midnight.

"Oh dear. Terribly sorry Max!" he yelled over the pounding storm. I waved in response, shaking off his worries and watched Midnight stroll over to the old man. I heard some scolding and bad mannered meows. He waved me goodnight.

I nodded, not really paying attention to most of my surroundings. That weird guy, he was injured. I thought about where he fled. What was he doing up in that tree anyway?

My thoughts became trapped in him more and more throughout the night.

And that.

Was how I first met him.

The bell rang for homeroom at Riverwood High. This fancy private school really didn't match the people here. They didn't act like hot shit, nor did they act like self conscious pricks. Good reason to like this school.

Except that everyone just really can't shut up when it comes to bad mannered gossip.

"Damn Max, with those injuries, you look like that Boss of the neighborhood. What was his name?"

I shrugged, sipping from a water bottle. Classmates and friends perched around my desk, laughing about my recent encounter with Midnight's crappy mood.

"Your mom's a vet. And all animals hate you. Ahh, the irony." Another chuckled.

In the clutter of voice of people, I heard one of my good friends speak. "Max has been known to smother them with love." Nudge smiled at me, looking all prep in her uniform. "If only she used that amount of love to find a guy."

Laughs erupted from the small crowd.

Smirking, I shook my head, ignoring the boyfriend statement. "I don't smother them with love." I muttered. I kind of zoned out after my sentence, leaning my cheek on my hand and continuing to drink my water. That's when my mind suddenly pulled toward that guy from yesterday.

He was such a weird guy.

A click of the door managed to seep into my half conscious head.

He appeared from the top of a tree…and his arms and face was covered in blood…

The late bell rang along with the taps of our teachers heels clacking against the floor.

The cuts were too deep, too wide to be scratches from Midnight or tree branches…

"Well, this is kind of sudden, but we have a new student," she announced. I sat up. Chatter broke out through the class.

But those eyes. The dark, scary eyes…he gave me a glare. One just like…

The door opened. Voices died down as everyone watched the arrival of the new student. How dramatic.

He was tall, and silent. Like some black, creepy aura was around him. His head turned toward the class in a silent death glare.

A glare just like that.

"This is Nick. He just moved here so he'll be getting used to some things," she stated.

A sudden sharp pain hit my head. God, how did he get here?

"You should go talk to him," Nudge said. I looked over to her.

"Hmm?"

"That new exchange student. He's doing nothing. That's just creepy!" Nudge whispered. I turned my head toward him.

Unlike other people standing around during this free period, he was seated at his desk, propping himself up on his elbows. His face was half hidden in his long fringe.

I heard whispers of gossip. Everyone was murmuring about him on drugs, or murder. Idiots.

The scratching of a chair on the hard floor echoed across the room. He was standing up, palms on the desk. Like how people bolt of out their chairs and slam their hand on the table.

Except his was quicker, so no one really saw it.

In the next second, he walked out of the classroom. Everyone was silent.

I heard a guy let out a breath. "Scared the crap out of me. I thought he was going to snap."

Nudge responded, "Well you were being an asshole. Whispering behind his back and all." She looked pretty intense, with her arms crossed and leaning against my desk. Not the happy, preppy, talkative Nudge I knew. Personally, I think she's just scared of the new guy too. Explains her tense structure.

Nudge continued, "Besides, just because he's all scary on the outside, can't mean he the same on the inside…right?" Her voice wavered at the end.

"No, it looks like he really is the bad guy. The class pres said so." He pointed over to Sam, out class president.

Sam looked up from the book he had. "I'm not really saying the new kid is the bad guy. It's just that gang downtown was really beat up pretty bad by one guy. They said he had eyes like they'd never seen before."

"And that could be the new guy!"

I shot up from my seat and walked over to the door, pausing.

Sam's statement was ignored. They all switched to the topic of the new guy being the possible attacker of the gang. I heard of them. They were a large group. It'd be impossible for one person to take them out…

Nervous conversations reached my ears. "…it must be him!"

"…that's so scary. No wonder he's all weird and quiet."

My fists clenched. I twisted the knob open and stepped out, making sure to leave a loud and clear bang when I shut it closed.

Silence echoed through the deserted hallways.

I should step out like this more often.

A cool breeze kissed my face.

I used to love the roof top of the school. Spent my freshman days here with Nudge and others. My head rested against the solid wall of the entranceway.

This was the difference with the school building. We had this one tall building, seven stories. The roof top was the very top floor, a quiet place. It had a beautiful view of the neighborhood and part of the city.

But since my dad died, me and my mom had to take matters more seriously. I studied harder in school, working my way to pass and now here I am. 17 year old senior.

I peeked my head around the staircase and caught sight of the new guy. Nick.

In the sky, little birds flew around in a casual manner. He was leaning against the railing, fiddling with the silver chain around his neck. My mind flashed back to the park.

Amidst the thunder, his silver chain gleamed brightly.

I watched him. Not in a stalker like way, more of an observation. His movements were so guarded. I wanted to know more about him. I took a sip from my water bottle.

Everything is so different around him. People are terrified. But…

Animals seem to like him. Mr. Takahashi's cat, and the birds around him now.

He was there, allowing a bird to perch on his finger while others settled around him on the railing. Woah.

Two minutes quickly passes, when I realized birds were balanced everywhere. His hands, the railing, his shoulders, his head.

I'm jealous. Damn, I can even get a cat to look my way and he's got birds all over him.

Suddenly, one tiny bird on his head froze. It's little head snapped my way, watching me. I guess my presense killed the happy aura.

In a flurry of feathers and chirps, they all flew away leaving a surprised teenager standing alone again at the railings.

His head turned backwards as if he knew I was here.

Surprised from his knowing, I dropped my bottle. It rolled, and rolled until it stopped at his black converses.

Shit. Cover blown.

He bent down to pick my water bottle up just as I reached him. He silently offered it out to me.

"Sorry," I muttered, taking the bottle from him. His hands were warm. "Um, I knew this could be sudden. But, you saved my neighbor's cat. Yesterday." My words came out in incomplete sentences. Looks like years of studying still have no use. And I thought I was passing Language Arts. Tsk. Shame on me.

I continued, "I'm not sure if you remember but-"

"Don't I scare you?" he said, bringing his face close to mine. His eyes were dark and yet bright with some sort of emotion.

What happened next was really stupid.

"Nope."

And the next thing that happened was even more crazy.

His eyes slightly widened. He arched one eyebrow.

I smiled in response.

Then.

His lips slowly perked into a smirk, then it grew to a full smile. He began shaking, shaking his head as if he couldn't believe it. He was laughing.

I must be dead. NO SIR, this was not expected. This guy-this scary, dark, badass guy-was not expected to smile. Even more surprising, laugh.

"I'm not scary. That's new," he chuckled. I watched him. Though it would seem like mysterious people like him, happy things would totally be out of place for him.

But his laugh was really a nice sound.

Things settled down when we both sat down, leaning against the railing.

"…I see…"

"Yeah. Up until now, it was your eyes." I muttered.

He ran a hand through his hair. "I know. It's just, I've been gone for so long, and…I don't know. It's like I forgot how to be human."

Forgot how to be human?

He explained. "I've been moving a lot. Places like Africa. But they were more like, unpopulated areas. Not much people."

But why?

He was silent after that, tugging his chain. Face composed, deep in thought. My own mind turned toward my imagination. It made up some image of him living in the wild. Climbing trees/ Hunting.

Pfft, nahhh.

But living in the wild, I guess it did explain how he would expertly climb trees.

I asked him about it, "So, what were you doing in the tree yesterday?"

He stopped, letting the chain fall back onto his chest. I could tell he couldn't say.

"Sorry, you don't have to tell me." I offered.

He shook his head. He looked at me, another smile on his face. It looked so nice.

"Honestly, I can't remember."

That's odd.

A grin came onto his face. "But, I really appreciate you for talking with me like this."

Something fluttered in my chest. Was he really the dangerous animal people said he was?

He was more like a kitten.

I leaned in real close, our noses touched. "Friends," I whispered.

Smirking, I jumped up. Lightly walking to the stairs, I was about to open the door when his voice called out.

"Max."

I turned.

"Call me Fang."