Chapter 1

Yawn Riku Crepusculum sighed as he woke up from the four poster bed he slept on. His disheveled white hair reached his shoulders and he pushed it out of the way from his silver tinted eyes. He got up and stretched, his blood rushing through his fox ears and tail.

"Dammit," he sighed. "Damn seal." Pressing his left clawed hand on his chest, he concentrated and a black aura pulsed from his hand, causing the fox like features to recede. After looking himself in the mirror, content that he could pass as a human (not that he would like to), he sighed and said, "Much better."

"Onii-san!" a child-like voice cried out from his doorway. Riku turned around to see a five year old girl in pajamas running to him, her arms overloaded with various foodstuffs, all obviously stolen.

"Oh, Konohana," Riku said, a smile gracing his features. Konohana was the only thing that could truly bring a smile on his face, seeing as they were siblings; half-siblings, technically speaking. They were both orphans, as both their mother and their fathers died during an attack on their village. Fortunately for Riku, his younger half-sister could not remember the attack. Kneeling down in front of her, he asked, "So, what'd you get today?"

"I managed to get a lot of stuff!" Konohana chirped, laying down her quarry on Riku's table and smiling while she looked through it. "Let's see…I got meat buns, sweet rolls, some fruit platters, fresh bread, and some cooked dishes, and…"

"Konohana!" another girl's voice yelled. Riku looked up to see a young woman, about his age, dressed in a flowing night gown with a robe to cover her figure. Her golden yellow eyes matched her hair that seemed to flow to her waist. "How many times have I told you, stop taking things from the street! I've already got things that we need, so stop stealing!"

"Sorry anee-chan," Konohana said, her black fox ears drooping. "I can't help it sometimes."

Riku, noticing her ears, said, "Stay still for a bit Konohana." His right palm began to glow with a soft white light and the fox features receded. Then, turning to the one who addresses her, he said, "Calm down, Hikari. Her seal weakened over night, which probably caused her to revert to her kitsune instincts when it came to getting food."

Hikari sighed. "Very well. Let's eat then, I'd hate to see all this food go to waste."

"Yay!" Konohana cheered, getting a sweet roll and munching on it happily.

Riku said nothing as he got a meat bun and slowly bit on it. His mind slowly went back to the time he and Konohana met Hikari, almost four years ago.

Flashback

Eleven year old Riku held his one year old half sister Konohana as he and his mother, both in their kitsune forms, ran for their dear lives. His mother was a pure black kitsune, while Riku was white and had small black wings protruding from his back. Konohana, being on Riku's back in a small sack, was pure black.

"Hurry Riku!" his mother said, picking up the pace. "I'm sure father will be alright! Just don't look back!" However, that statement was long overdue. Riku had seen his adoptive father brutally butchered by humans with small noise makers that shot out rocks, though not before he gave Riku his own sword, which now lay over Riku's shoulder.

After what seemed to be like hours, they stopped and reverted to their hanyo forms. Riku's mother turned out to be a beautiful woman in her mid thirties wearing a silk kimono. Riku was rather small and lean at the time, and wore the same thing. Konohana, being the baby in the group, was in a blanket now held by Riku. His mother started the fire and took the baby from her son while laying out some dried strips of fish over the fire on a spit.

"Mother?" Riku asked, after eating a fish. "Why did the humans attack us? Aren't't we on good terms with them?"

Riku's mother did not reply at first, but took her son in her arms and held him close. After a while, she said, "The humans...are afraid of what we are. And what they fear or do not understand, they destroy."

"Why?" Riku asked. "Why would they do that?"

"I do not know, Riku," the mother replied. "But know this, the humans are not really at fault here. It is their-!" She was immediately interrupted as a man that looked as if he was possessed by a demon jumped into the clearing where they were, gun in hand.

He laughed as his hand changed into a claw, yelling, "DIE, DEMONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Riku's mother immediately jumped in front of Riku, throwing Konohana to him and pulled out some a pair of shining daggers and got into a defensive stance. The claw got entangled with the small daggers and they both struggled to overpower each other. Riku, still with Konohana in his arms, jumped up and pulled out a revolver that his late blood-related father had given him fired off several rounds. The bullets hit the man in the shoulders, making him scream in pain. As Riku landed, the possessed man charged at him, claws in the air. Riku could only watch in horror as he held Konohana close to him and brace himself for an early death.

However, that wasn't the case.

He heard a sickening shlicking noise and a gasp of pain.

He looked up and saw...

His mother, arms outstretched, with the possessed man's claw through her chest! But Riku's mother only smiled as she coughed out blood. With the daggers she still had in her hands, she stabbed both sides of the man's head, which burst into a bloody pulp. The body began to convulse and it slowly turned to dust.

When it was done, Riku's mother fell to the ground, holding her chest where the claw had pierced her. She looked at her children with an expression that seemed to hold regret and sadness. She made a beckoning motion with her hand, and Riku obliged immediately. The minute he knelt down next to her, both he and Konohana began to glow.

"Mother?" Riku choked out, suddenly crying as he embraced her.

The dying woman merely smiled and returned the embrace and said, "Remember this, Riku. Humans are weak and contemptible creatures, creating monstrosities that they unleash upon themselves. Always be wary of them, even if," she coughed up some blood, but continued, "even if they seem kind or compassionate." At this, the tears were flowing freely from Riku's eyes as he held his dying mother close. "Take this," he heard her gasp. He looked up and saw his mother giving him her necklace and her daggers, while chanting in an arcane language that Riku could not understand. When she finished, Riku and Konohana began to glow and disappear...

Only to reappear in front of a gigantic tree situated in a large city like campus. With their clothes, they stood out like a flashlight in a pitch black room. Fortunately, though, the streets were empty, as it was late in the night. Riku, with Konohana in his arms, sat and leaned on the soft bark of the tree when it suddenly glowed with a white light and a girl about his age appeared. A human at that.

Riku immediately got up, slung Konohana over his shoulder, and clumsily pulled out his late mother's daggers , cutting himself in the process. He disregarded the pain and fell into a stance, feeling Konohana'a weight on his back and his mother's necklace bouncing of his chest. He glared at the girl, waiting for her to make a move.

The girl looked at him and frowned. "Be at peace," she said, raising her arms. "I am not your enemy."

"Liar," Riku spat. "You humans just destroyed my home! How can I possibly trust y-!?" He was cut off as the girl came out of nowhere and kissed him passionately on the lips, effectively cutting off his ranting.

Finally, she broke off, saying, "I am not a human." That statement surprised Riku. She continued "I am the spirit of the World Tree, and I share your contempt for humans. They have constantly destroyed and depraved the land of the natural wealth that it rightfully owned. They have killed each other out of greed and hatred." Riku looked at her, and saw that she was no longer frowning, but smiling at him. "And yet my hatred for humans is not as deep as your own. For you, the last survivor of the Kitsune--Byaku-U clan, has seen the true darkness that they all hold in their hearts."

"True darkness in their hearts?" Riku repeated, thinking back to the possessed man that had attacked them not moments before.

"Yes," the girl said. "Their darkness has begun to manifest in the souls of the tainted. They continue to run rampant throughout the world, and yet no one will do anything to stop them."

"Then I will do it," Riku said suddenly.

"It will not be easy," the girl said, warning him. "It will..."

"I don't care," Riku replied, cutting her off. "I must avenge my clan...at all costs."

The girl said nothing at first, but then smiled and extended her hand saying, "Then come with me. I will provide you lodgings, food, and overall, training to make you stronger to protect your sister. Will you accept?"

Riku looked at her and said after a pause, "Yes."

For the next four years, Riku had trained underneath the girl, whose name was Hikari, in the magic (both eastern and western), the use of his aura, suppressing his own demonic nature, various sword, dagger and gun techniques, all while getting an education that reached beyond the college level. Konohana also grew, and Riku hid his hatred for humans from her, not wanting her to hate at such a young age. However, like all Kitsune children, she was very mischievous, often pulling many pranks on her brother and Hikari.

All was well, except that Riku just couldn't let go...

End Flashback.

"...and you're starting today," Hikari finished, looking at Riku.

"What am I starting today?" Riku asked.

"Your new teaching job at the school!" Konohana spoke up, licking her fingers.

Riku said nothing at first. He sat still for five whole minutes and asked, "You're kidding, right?"

Hikari just smiled at him and said, "No. You really do need to get connected to society if you want to do your other job effectively. Besides," she snapped her fingers and a silver white suit appeared before Riku, complete with glasses and a pocket watch. "The school is one of the best in the country, and your students should be well behaved."

Riku sighed. He couldn't defy Hikari's orderr, he was honor-bound to do what she asked after all. Shaking his head, he took the clothes and grumbled, "This is going to be a disaster."

"What was that?" Hikari asked.

"I said this is going to be fantastic," Riku replied, with a fake smile.


Well, here's chapter 1. Sorry for such the long wait for the chapter (I had so much other crap to do...(and no, this does not count your work Notorious))

By the way, does anyone happen to know the Japanese? I really need a translator...

Ja Ne.

Dragonkey258