Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But, it was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great beast was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Revelations 12
It's cold. It's so, so cold.
People will tell you it's hot, but what do they know?
I'm talking about Hell, of course. The ninth circle, if I had to narrow it down.
Not only is it cold, but it's dark. I can't see a thing. I'm pretty sure I'm standing on ice, but anyone's guess would be as good as mine. My fingers and toes are numb, and I'm past the point of shivering.
How ironic is it that I'd die in Hell? I'm sure someone would get a kick out of that.
"You are not allowed to die."
An absolutely monstrous voice spoke over the frozen...river? Lake? I don't even know. My body is numb. I can't think straight. I mumble something in a vague response and try not to close my eyes. I think I'm on the ground? I can't be sure.
"Get up."
I struggle to reopen my eyes, and am rewarded by my right eyelid forcing itself wide enough to see almost as much nothing as I could before.
"...who…?" I croak one word, barely a whisper. There are a million questions in my dying mind, but none of them reach past my frozen throat.
"I said, get up!"
The voice booms, and the whole cavern quakes. I'm forced to my feet by an invisible force, and my eyelids are peeled back by wrenching fingers. I feel myself being held up by frigid hands, but I don't have the strength to struggle against my unseen assailants.
With what little awareness I have left, I hear something massive moving in the darkness. The ice creaks and cracks, and I feel more than see a massive creature moving toward me.
"Tell me, child of my Enemy...would you be forgotten here?"
The monstrosity moves in front of me. I can't see it, but I can feel that it's there. It's like the very concept of suffering has presented itself before me. But, the voice asked a question, and I was too numb to be afraid.
"...I...want...to...live…" With my throat and lips cracking from the strain, I manage to murmur four words that would both save my life and doom me to damnation, all at the same time.
"Good, good! Then, o vessel mine, I offer you my mantle! Take it and live!"
Just before I passed out from the cold, I smiled.
I wake up with a start, nearly leaping from my bed in fright. Gasping for breath, I sit back down, pull my blanket against my face, and wipe away the cold sweat I know will be there.
It happens the same every time I go to sleep. I have a nightmare I can't remember about something my body can't seem to forget, and I wake up hours too early, drenched and terrified.
Sighing, I pull myself from the bed, dragging my feet out of my room and down the hall to my bathroom and resigning myself to get ready for the day. It's not even daylight yet, but I'm used to it. I haven't woken up on time or late for years.
I go into the bathroom, and close the door behind me. It's pitch black, but I don't bother with the lights. Why would I? Because I am the freak I am, night vision is second nature to me. I brush my teeth and hair in the dark, without looking in the mirror.
I hate mirrors. They always show me something I can't stand to see. But, against my better judgement, before I leave the bathroom, I look anyway.
Brown hair. Brown eyes. Fair skin. A little tall, semi-muscular.
All average features. A completely normal human male, with nothing out of the ordinary to speak of.
Except, of course, for the two horns atop my head.
Yeah, two big horns. Just like those of a ram, they were black and curled. They sprouted from my temples, went up, and curled back down, just in front of my ears. They're the major reason my life sucks.
I grit my teeth, and try to resist punching the mirror out. Mom is already well past her budget on mirrors, and I didn't want to put any more strain on her by letting my anger get the best of me.
I leave the bathroom, trying to ignore the whispers telling me to come back and look again. If I listened to them, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from shattering the stupid mirror.
But, of course, that didn't stop the whispers from chanting "Come and see, come and see!", like it was some sort of macabre cheer.
I ignore the voices and walk into the kitchen, where my saint of a mother is already hard at work preparing breakfast for the both of us. She didn't need to wake up for several hours at the least, but she always got up when I did, and always tried to have some sort of food ready. She didn't always make it, but it's the thought that counts.
"Hi, sweetie. Are you hungry?"
Whereas most mothers might ask "Did you sleep well?" or "Rough night?", mine knew better than that. She knows I can't sleep unless it's during the day, and she knows I have night terrors. So, she just asks me if I'm hungry, and of course...
"Of course."
...I am. Who isn't hungry after waking up from a terrifying dream, right?
She nods and hums, and places a plate of eggs and bacon on the table in the center of our kitchen. I sit down in front of it, and watch her expectantly. She doesn't join me at the table, nor does she seem to be making another plate.
"Are you waiting on something?" She asks, noticing my gaze.
"Aren't you going to eat?"
"Oh, no. I'm not hungry."
She's a bad liar, my mom.
"Show me the egg carton."
"What? I don't know why-"
"How many eggs are left, mom?"
"...That's the last of them."
"The bacon too?"
"Mhmm."
I sigh and close my eyes. Out of food again, huh? Of course. And, because my mom is who she is, she gave all of the rest of it to me. Out of experience, I know she won't accept my food if I try to share with her, so I just quietly start eating.
Without another word between us, she goes to her room to try and get some more sleep.
"This is all your fault, of course."
Oh, damn it. Not this again. I look down, into my plate. I feel someone walking around behind me, but I don't hear any steps. Not that I expected to.
"Leave me alone."
"If you weren't here, you father wouldn't have left, and she'd be living good."
I look up from my plate, just to see a being of pure shadow walk out from behind me. It has the exact same size and features as I do, horns included. It stalks over to the wall on my right, leaning against it with a smug visage. I can't see it's face, but I know if I could it would be smirking.
"Shut up."
"If you weren't such a freak-"
"I said SHUT UP!" I roar, throwing my plate at the wall where It is. I hear a sick laugh as the plate shatters, the ceramic shards falling to the floor in an ungraceful heap. I grind my teeth and look down, trying to calm myself down. When I look up again, the Shadow is gone. My face twitches in anger, and I get up to clean the mess off the floor. It talks like a snake, and the voice is innately irritating. It never fails to make me angry.
Within a couple minutes, the pile of shattered plate and wasted food is gone, thrown away and disposed of. Mom hasn't come back in to check one what happened, which means she probably was able to get back to sleep. That's good. The less she has to hear me complain about the voices, the less she worries, and that's weight off my shoulders.
I don't know what the voices are, and I don't know why I have them. I've had my brain looked at before, and there's no physical reason for me to hear the whispers or see the shadows. Japan's best doctors couldn't come up with a reason, and they basically dismissed my symptoms as nonsense. Of course, they aren't nonsense, and the voices are very real.
Most of the time, they'll take a shape, like just now. It'll normally be the shadow-me, whispering something horrible or just downright stupid. Sometimes it'll be a beast, with seven grotesque heads and ten monstrous horns. Even rarer than that, it'll be corpses. People I recognize, but can't remember ever having seen before. On a couple occasions, the voices took the shape of a massive mouth. No eyes, no nose, none of the things that would normally go with the smile, just a huge mouth. It was disgusting, but helpful for the most part.
But, I've learned to ignore the voices to the best of my ability. There's sometimes when I can't keep myself from reacting, like just earlier when I broke the plate. Normally, they appear when I'm alone or looking in the mirror, but sometimes they show up in completely inappropriate times, like while I'm trying to take a test. What's worse than that, is sometimes I find myself listening to the whispers.
I suppose I should elaborate. While, normally, the whispers are completely awful and unhelpful, sometimes they offer genuine advice or answers to questions. A good example would be one time I got into a fight at school. The shadow-me appeared just behind my left shoulder and coached me through the whole fight. I won without a scratch on me. And, of course, there was one time where the Mouth helped me pass the test I mentioned. But, sadly, those are the rare cases. Normally, they're just assholes.
"Ready for your first day at the new feeding ground?"
Again? Really? I sigh. Turning around, I see the beast with seven heads perched on the fridge. This one was arguably the least helpful of all, save for the corpses. It told me to kill, kill, kill, all the time. If this beast had it's way, I'd bathe the town in blood. It talks exactly how you'd expect a
beast with seven heads to talk.
"Leave me alone."
"I know you know what's going to happen. You'll get there, and you'll think 'this time is going to be different!' but you know that's not possible. They're going to eat you alive."
"They'll try. They always do."
"Which is why you should eat them first!"
"Buzz off."
"Just wait. Soon enough, you'll come to see it my way." The beast disperses, fading into the shadows atop the fridge.
I scoff. Like hell I'd ever kill someone just for being a dick.
Today is my first day as a second-year in Kuoh Academy, a school I busted my ass to get accepted into. I did so good, in fact, that mom wouldn't have to pay a dime for me to go there, so that's a major plus. It's almost a shame how excited I am to go, because I know what's going to happen, and as much as I hate to admit it, the beast is right.
Because of my horns, I'll be ostracized. The kids will all look at me like trash, and they'll try to bully me. I won't let them, of course, but they'll try. And then, as soon as I put one of them in his or her place, I'll be looked at like a monster. Oh well. I'm nothing if not used to it, by now.
I grab my mostly-empty bag, and head out the door. It's still an hour before the school even opens, but that's fine. I'll just take a walk, like I normally do.
As I walk onto the street, part of me wishes I had more to wear. The dawn air is cool, almost cold, and this Kuoh Academy uniform isn't doing much for it. It's not an issue. I put my earbuds in, and just trudge silently down the street.
I walk several blocks, just keeping to myself and trying not to pay too much attention to any one thing. I stop at a crosswalk, watching the cars pass by in front of me. Must be nice to have one of those. It's already time for school to open up, so I start heading that way. It's not far from where I am, and I definitely won't be late.
"You...might...want to...turn around…"
Oh, hell. I turn my head slightly to the right, seeing the Mouth itself hovering in the air next to my ear. I know I said it was gross, but I don't think I can even accurately describe it. It's got mangled yellow teeth, cracked lips leaking pus and blood, and a forked tongue.
"What are you talking about? I was having a nice walk." I say, taking out my right earbud.
"Turn...around." The mouth talks slow, unbearably slow. It'll say a word, and then wait a few moments to say another. It's annoying, but I listen.
The only thing I can see behind me is a girl far off in the distance, with red hair. She's walking with a group of other people, and they're all wearing the Kuoh uniform.
"Alright, they're other students. What about them?"
The mouth, as annoying and grotesque as it was, normally had something useful to say.
"They...are inhuman..."
Okay, maybe not. Looks like this time, it's spewing nonsense.
"Inhuman, huh? Sure, and I'm the Devil. Can't believe I was going to listen to you..." I say, putting my earbud back in and ignoring the Mouth. I walk on, the apparition frowning and disappearing behind me.
The crosswalk is clear, so I head across the street. Once I'm on the other side, the light changes and cars start moving again. I look back for a second, thinking about the Mouth's words. The group had taken my spot on the other side of the street, all of them just idly talking, except for the red-haired one. I'd caught her eye, and she was looking at me quizzically.
"Off to a good start, I see…" I mutter, shaking my head. Someone was already looking at me funny. I turn back around, and continue to the school.
"What is it, president?" Kiba Yuuto asked, looking at his King with concern on his face. The red haired girl had just suddenly stopped moving, standing on the middle of the street with an odd look on her face.
"Did you see that boy in front of us?" Rias Gremory asked Kiba, not looking away from where the boy had been.
"I didn't, why?" Kiba replied.
"Is something wrong, president?" Akeno Himejima asked, standing beside Kiba.
"President?" Koneko Toujou echoed, looking up from a bag of chips.
"Something was...off, about him." Rias said, lost in thought.
"Really? I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. I guess I just wasn't paying attention." Kiba said.
"Do you think he has a sacred gear?" Akeno asked, tilting her head.
"I...don't know. He felt...rotten, if that makes any sense."
"Sounds like a sacred gear to me." Kiba replied.
"Are you sure you're not imagining things? I didn't feel anything special about him." Akeno said, frowning.
"You're probably right. Anyway, let's keep going."
I walk into the school, ignoring everybody around me. I've already learned where to go and what classes I'm in from the student council president via email, so there's no reason for me to stop and ask for directions.
I approach my class, noticing who can only assume is the teacher waiting outside. He's a tall-ish man with gray hair, a very pronounced widow's peak, and a kind look in his green eyes. He smiles at me from behind his wire-thin bifocal glasses, and waves me towards him. I walk over, a little confused.
"You must be Issei Hyoudou, right?" He asks, in a boisterous and jovial voice. I half expect him to slap me on the back, with the way he talks, but he doesn't make any sort of move at all, other than extending his hand for me to shake.
"That's me. How'd you know?" I ask, taking his hand. We shake for a brief moment, and he smiles before answering.
"Your horns, of course. Miss Souna told me about you, and she mentioned you having a beautiful pair of horns. I couldn't agree more, I hope you don't mind my saying so." The man says, looking at my horns with...admiration.
"...What?" I ask, dumbfounded. The Shadow pours itself out of my back, then stands up straight and walks behind the man. The Shadow looks at him like he's stupid.
"Did he really just say that?" The Shadow asks, tilting it's head this way and that like it's trying to get a better angle on a puzzle.
"Ah, I don't mean any offense by that! It's just...I was a doctor in Tokyo for fifteen years, and never once in my life have I seen such perfectly formed cutaneous horns! Of course, I've only seen a couple cases, but...anyway, you're a very lucky man! Normally they look all misaligned and malformed."
"I think lucky might be the wrong term, but I appreciate it." I say, thinking about all of the extra things that came with the horns. One of them was staring at me from behind the teacher, grinning.
"You feelin' lucky, punk?"
The Shadow enjoys making movie references, when it's not actively trying to piss me off.
"That makes sense." The man says, nodding with a pondering expression on his face. I stand there for a long moment, waiting for him to say something else, but he seems lost in thought. I cough into my hand, getting his attention. "Oh, of course! I'm so sorry, I'm quite scatterbrained. Let's introduce you to the class, shall we? I'm Doctor Kotegawa, or just Mister Kotegawa if you prefer."
"I'm Issei Hyoudou."
"Don't tell me, tell them." Kotegawa said, opening the classroom door and ushering me inside. He closes the sliding door behind us, and I'm left staring at twenty sets of wide eyes. The Shadow walks between the rows of seats, looking at all the different people.
"They...aren't shunning you." It remarks, sounding about as shocked as a hissing snake can sound.
I see that. They're curious. It won't last. Well, time to get it over with…
"Hi, everyone. My name is Issei Hyoudou." I say, writing my name on the board. I turn back around to face the class, and of course, most of the eyes go straight to my pointy hood ornaments. "As I'm sure most of you have noticed, I have horns. No, they aren't fake, and no, you can't touch them. That's all. Call me Issei."
I move to an empty seat at the back of the class, as Kotegawa takes his place at the front of the room.
"Well, with that out of the way, let's go ahead and get started-" Kotegawa's sentence is interrupted by someone throwing open the door and flying into the classroom.
It's a girl, with light blue hair. Odd. That definitely isn't a natural color. She's bent over, with her hands on her knees, panting from exhaustion.
"I don't think you're looking at the right things here." The Shadow said, standing behind my seat and looking straight at her.
What do you mean?
"She's...weird. Almost as fucked up as you are, I'd say."
Piss off.
The girl blows a heavy sigh, then stands up and gives everyone a halfhearted wave. She's got a kind of look that gives the impression she's better than you and knows it. Elegant and regal, if I had to describe it. At the same time, she's got a mischievous smile betraying her true personality.
Kotegawa looks completely shocked. He's standing there at the front of the class, looking back and forth between her and all of us, trying to figure out what to do.
"Are you...a new student, perhaps?" He asks, regaining his mental footing.
"Yup." The girl replies shortly, nodding. She's wearing the Kuoh uniform, but he skirt looks...too low, and her shirt...seems a little tight in the chest, if you catch my meaning.
Kotegawa looks at a paper he's holding in his off hand, and purses his lips. He stares at it hard for a second, and then his eyes light up in realization.
"Ah, I see! My mistake! And yours, for being late, hm?" Kotegawa says, giving her a stern but happy look.
"Sorry...kinda." The bluette says, grinning and shrugging. She walks up to the board, and begins writing her name. "Katherine. Kath-er-ine. My friends call me Kat, but since I don't have any friends, they aren't calling me much of anything. My hair is natural, yes, and no you can't touch it. Also...don't even think about hitting on me." Katherine says, much to the dismay of several boys in the room, not counting me, of course. There would be no point in me hitting on anyone, not with my horns.
"Do you have a last name, Miss Katherine?" Kotegawa says, voicing the thoughts of everyone in the room.
"Nope." Katherine says, shrugging.
"I see...well, anyway, great introduction! There's a seat open by Issei back there, if you wouldn't mind…" Kotegawa says, pointing to an empty seat to my right. Katherine nods, and starts walking back here.
Altogether, she's an extremely beautiful girl. It's almost a shame she's so far out of my league.
"Damn right she is!"
How long are you gonna be here, asshole?
"Till you die."
Burn in hell.
"Funny you'd say that."
I elect to ignore the Shadow, and focus on the bewildered look Katherine is giving me. I zoned out for a bit, so I didn't really notice anything happen, but something must have, because she stopped about halfway down the row of desks and started staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed at my…
...at my horns, of course.
"Not polite to stare." I say, looking up at her.
"Ah-ah, right...you just...caught me by surprise, is all." Katherine stutters, her confident demeanor from before gone in the blink of an eye.
I don't say anything else, and she takes her seat beside me. Kotegawa begins class in earnest, going over things I've heard a million times before from other teachers.
About fifteen minutes in, I feel a poke in the side. I ignore it, figuring it's just the Shadow being a dick again, but a couple seconds after that, I feel another, harder poke.
I turn to my right with a ticked-off expression.
"Do you need something?" I ask shortly, looking at Katherine.
"Hey...are those real?"
Seriously? I guess she wasn't here when I said that, was she?
"Yes, they're real."
"Can I touch them?" Katherine asks, an excited look in her eyes.
"No." I say, looking back at the teacher.
"Oh…" she mutters, turning away.
Within a few seconds, I feel a hand touch my right horn, and go away just as quickly.
I turn to my right, glaring a hole into the smirking Katherine. She's waving innocently, but her smug face tells a different story.
"Screw off." I say, scooting my desk away from her. She scoots closer to me. I scoot further, to the point where I'm touching the left wall of the room, by the window. She scoots closer, almost on my arm. How Kotegawa hasn't noticed by now, I have no idea.
"Aw, come on. You and I have a lot in common, you know." Katherine says, tilting her head and flashing me a predatory smile.
"Oh, really? Like what?" I ask sarcastically, turning back to her.
"We're both in trouble~!" She says, waggling her finger at me.
"What…?" I ask, not understanding at all.
"Come closer."
"No."
"Come on, come closer." She says, gesturing for me to lean in.
"I'm not going to."
"Fine~." Katherine says, turning away. I sigh in relief, thinking whatever she was planning was done, and then in a flash she's turned towards me again, with her hand around my right horn. She yanks me close to her, and I'm just about to yell when she captures my lips in a kiss.
I don't even know how to react. It's my first ever kiss, stolen by some chick for no reason.
Although…
...it feels pretty good.
"aHEM. Miss Katherine and Mister Issei, if you wouldn't mind escorting me to the student council's office, please." Kotegawa's voice says, stern.
Katherine breaks the lip-lock, and releases my horn.
"For someone who didn't want anyone to flirt with her, you sure are quick on the uptake." Kotegawa said to Katherine, shaking his head. He turns his gaze on me. "I'd assumed you wanted to stay out of the spotlight, Mister Hyoudou. I'm disappointed in you."
I wanted to defend myself; to say anything like, 'wait, I can explain' or 'this isn't what it looks like!'
Instead, I made a serious of very intelligent noises.
"Durh hur wakka wakka me pshoop?"
Look, it was my first kiss. I'm understandably shocked.
"Good going, numbnuts!"
I shoot the Shadow a dirty look.
"Yes, I agree. Well, let's go. Come on." Kotegawa says, directing us to the door. Katherine stands up with a cocky smile on her face, and I stand up without my face even attached to my head. I'm pretty sure it's still hovering over there by my desk, actually.
"You sure are making a big deal out of one measly kiss."
Do you have to be here right now?
"Probably not."
Does that matter?
"Nope."
Dick.
Kotegawa leads the two of us outside and down the hall, stopping in front of the door to the Student Council's office.
"I want the two of you to know, I'm very sorry to have to do this. As I'm sure you're aware, public displays of affection are very against the rules. Before you go in, I just want to know...why? I never thought the two of you would even know each other, much less kiss in the back of my class!" Kotegawa says, shaking his head in disbelief.
I share a glance with Katherine. He thinks we know each other?
She grins. I frown.
Uh oh.
"Yeah!" "No—" "We do know each other, it just took me a bit to recognize him. The horns were a dead giveaway, of coure. We're actually lovers separated by circumstance." Katherine started explaining, stopping me before I could even start.
"Really?" Kotegawa asks, a suspicious expression on his face.
"Mhmm." Katherine nods and hums.
Well, shit.
Do or die, right?
I nod with her.
"Alright, then tell me...where was Katherine born, Issei?"
I look at Katherine. She grimaces. I look back to Kotegawa. He's tapping his foot, waiting for an answer.
I kinda...freeze.
How am I supposed to know what to say?
"Tokyo…"
Oh, shit.
Hello, Mouth. It's hovering right behind my right ear, just like normal.
"She was...born in...Shinjuku, in a hotel room…"
What, the, fuck. How in the world did the voices in my head know where this girl I've never met before was born?
Alright, whatever. I can't see how this could ever possibly backfire.
"Shinjuku prefecture, Tokyo. In a hotel room. She doesn't like to talk about it." I say, without the slightest hesitation.
Katherine's eyes go wide. Kotegawa nods, accepting my answer.
You know what? The man didn't even know she was going to be here, how would he have known if I was wrong? Ah, shit. Too late to turn back now.
"I didn't realize that was the case; you should've told me from the start! Ah, to be young and in love...you two wait a bit and then come back to class, alright? I'm sorry I snapped at you. Reminds me of my wife and I, back before she..." Kotegawa says, trailing off as he walks back towards the class.
As soon as he's out of earshot, Katherine turns towards me with a deadly look in her eyes.
"Uh...lucky guess?" I say, anticipating her words.
"What the fuck, man? How did you know that? Who are you?" She asks, getting closer to me with every word. I instinctively back up, shrinking under her intensity.
"I...it just came to me…" I say, stuttering. Wow. I really should've thought twice about doing anything the Mouth said, I guess.
"Not...my...fault...you're stupid…"
Wow. Thanks, dick.
"Have...fun…" The Mouth says, grinning and fading away.
"Just came to you? My birthplace, which I've never told anybody, just came to you? How about telling me the truth, hornboy?" Katherine says, practically snarling. She's backed me all the way against the wall, and I...
Wait...hornboy?
Hold the fuck up.
"Uh, excuse me? Did you forget who got us in this mess to begin with, huh? With you randomly kissing me, a guy you don't even know, getting me in trouble in a school I worked my ass off to get in to, on my first day? And you want to get mad at me for a lucky guess? How about fuck you?" I say. With each sentence, I step towards her. Each time I step forward, she steps back, and by the time I'm done talking, she's against the wall, opposite where she had me.
I slam my hand against the wall, just to the right of her head, and lean in close.
"I think you owe me an apology." I say, nearly growling. I can hear the beast laughing, somewhere.
"You…"
"What? Got something else to say?"
"You're so hot right now."
I deflate like a balloon with a hole in it.
She laughs, and I notice how pretty her smile is. And her hair, and her eyes...she's gorgeous.
"You...you can't just do that…" I stammer, trying to regain any of my lost anger.
"Yeah I can, watch me. Alright. Here's the deal. You made a 'lucky guess' on me, I called you hornboy. The way I see, you're still in the red here. So, to make up for it, I'll let you treat me to dinner." Katherine says, swishing her hair.
"As...not completely terrible as that sounds...I can't." I say, taking my hand off the wall. I started to feel awkward with it there, now that I wasn't even mad anymore.
"Why's that, hotshot? Don't tell me you've got a girlfriend?" Katherine says, getting in my face and smirking. It's kinda funny, because she's tall, but not quite as tall as me, so she's basically looking up.
"What? No, it's just...I can't afford it." I say, avoiding looking at her.
"Aw, you know what? Don't worry about it! I've got a couple thousand yen to blow. Let's go somewhere." Katherine said, taking my arm.
"What? No! We're in school."
"So?"
"So, I'm not going anywhere." I say, pulling my arm away from her.
"That's no fun at all!"
"Neither is getting kicked out for truancy."
"...Touche."
"Hey…"
"Hm?"
"What did you mean when you said we have a lot in common, earlier?"
"Oh! That! Right. Well, uh, this might come as a shock to you, but try not to freak out, okay? This is actually the reason I needed to get you out here in the first place." Katherine says, getting really close to me. I suppress my initial reaction, of moving away, and stay still, ready to look at whatever she has to show.
She's within a couple centimeters of me, close enough to kiss again, and she looks down, her head touching my chest.
"What am I looking at, exactly?" I ask, bending my head to look at her face.
"The top of my head." She replies, touching the forefront of her scalp. She pushes the hair aside, and there's…
...two horns. They're both tiny, the size of grapes, but they're definitely there. Unlike mine, though, which a black, hers are ashen gray, and razor sharp. Now that I know they're there, I can totally see them under her normal hair.
"You...I...but...what?!" I yell, shocked.
"Called it." The Shadow said, suddenly behind me. Rather than sticking around like he normally does, though, he just disperses again immediately after that one comment.
"Shh! They're not as big as yours, and they certainly aren't as showy, so I just keep them hidden. I saw you, with those beauties, and I figured...maybe we've got a lot to share, you know?" Katherine says, her confident persona replaced with that of a blushing schoolgirl.
She backs up off of me, giving me plenty of space to be shocked.
"That's...we've gotta talk more."
"Right? So let's go somewhere."
"I can't until the weekend. I'm not missing any school, and I've got job interviews every day after."
"Woah, interviews every single day?"
"No one will hire me."
"Why?"
"You get three guesses." I say, pointing to my horns.
"Oh...yeah, I guess I can see that. Alright, then we'll go out this weekend! I'll buy, cus I'm super nice like that."
"Oh, so 'super nice' grabs my horn, steals my first kiss, gets me in trouble, and calls me hornboy all in the span of ten minutes?"
"Look me in the eye and tell me you aren't enjoying it."
"I-...huh."
"That's what I thought." She says, and we start walking back to class.
Katherine is right, though. I am enjoying this. What started as her doing something stupid and me getting angry has turned into the start of a probably-great friendship. Or, even more, I guess, since she wants to go out.
"Hey…"
"What's up?"
"Why did you kiss me?"
"A couple reasons."
"I'm all ears."
"You're cute, you've got horns, and I needed a way to get us both out of class. And, in that order." She says, smiling. "And...for what it's worth...that was my first kiss too, so don't think I do that to every dork with horns." Katherine continues, not looking at me.
"Right…" I say, thinking about her words.
We get all the way back to Mister Kotegawa's room, and try to avoid the awkward stares given to us by classmates. Apparently, he'd let it slip that we were 'old friends and lovers' and now everyone was looking at us funny. Great. That's all I needed.
We both take our seats, but Katherine doesn't move her desk back to where it was, leaving me uncomfortably close to her. Ah, well. I don't mind.
"Are you serious? This girl just got you in trouble and insulted you, and you're not even angry?"
The Beast is out, perched on top of Mister Motegawa's head. I struggle not to laugh at the sight.
And no, I'm not mad. She's my type.
"...Sure. I say you should kill her while you've got the chance."
The chance? Sitting in the back of class is the perfect chance to off her, is it? No, definitely not. We're going to be friends, and probably go out. Deal with it.
"Don't say I didn't warn you."
Okay, so as some of my older readers probably guessed, this is the first chapter of a rewrite of 'Just a guy with horns' my first and worst story. I enjoyed the concept, but I was just starting as an author, and it was awful work. I appreciate those of you that enjoyed the original, but this one will be a lot better, that I promise you.
For those of you that have no idea what I'm talking about, my first serious story was called 'Just a guy with horns' and was about Issei being possessed by God's dark and wicked counterpart, Belial. (Note; that's not a name I made up, or a self insert. Belial/Beliar, in old Hebrew myth, is described as the king of Demons and the source of all evil. Google it.) The first version, the plot and backstory was all over the place, the relationships were beyond rushed, and the character development was totally wonky. This story will share elements, but is, for the most part, entirely different, aside from sharing the same base concept. I'm keeping most of the lore of the first one, just changing literally everything else. With that said, I'll explain a bit more on some other things.
1. What are demons? In this story, Demons are a fourth faction, one that is far more powerful than the other three, and at the same time, far weaker. They have no physical bodies, and rely on hosts to influence the world. That's all I'll say for now.
2. Who is Katherine? One of my first OCs. In the old story, she was the wielder of the Twilight Healing, and Issei's first servant. I butchered the vision I had of her character though, so I'll be sticking to it much closer this time. Hopefully you'll like her.
3. Who are the voices? Projections of something deep inside of Issei. That's all I'll say for now. I don't want to spoil, but at the same time, I don't want to leave you in the dark.
4. Have you discontinued (story)? Nope. All of my stories are still works in progress, with the exception of His Maiden. I don't like how I did some of the things in that story, so I'm debating whether or not I want to keep it going. If you have ideas/comments about that, PM me.
5. What about this or that? Anything I haven't already explained will be a spoiler, so I won't say anything other than this.
THIS STORY AND IT'S PLOT IS VERY OPEN TO SUGGESTION.
What I mean by that, is if you have a decent idea, be it about a character, plot point, OC, ability, or anything under the Sun, feel free to tell me about it. And, if you are an old reader please tell me what you enjoyed about the last version, if anything. I think that's about it, so as always, please review!
Till next time!