x.X. The Shadow .X.x

A/N: So I edited the first chapter a bit, I just added a few things here and there. If you've already read the first chapter, it's alright since my editing doesn't really effect much in the story line.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

melkkj20: Thanks :)

EclipseKuran: Chapter posted and thank you.

Nao Desista: Yeah, the GOM will be seeing Kuroko very soon and as for Kagami... well, it's going to get interesting from here on out :)

hitomi65: Thank you.


History of Shadows (Part I)

A long time ago, when the gates of hell were accidentally opened, seven sins escaped. These sins later on became known as the Seven Deadly Sins. As time passed, the sins traveled onto earth and began creating havoc. From the skies of heaven, the Archangels watched before they finally decided to send Iri, an angel to watch over the earth. With Iri, she brought her daughter, Esme.

Along with these two angels, the Archangels sent a group of elite warriors for the specific purpose of sending sins back into the depths of hell. Their souls of past heroic spirits, some of mythical beings. They were called Shadows.


I

I look at City of Angelus.

The world was beautiful here, but outside of Angelus... Sometimes I wonder what would it be like to enter 'that' world again? Before, I would have dismissed it as nothing like the past centuries of my life but now... I can see them. The sins are almost everywhere, and they know what I am just like how I know what they are. These past two years have been a blessing, and I don't want to leave Angelus but I must. My training is over, and now I must take my place in this unseen war. I chose this life, I chose to be a phantom. Sighing to myself, I took one more look at Angelus and then I shifted.

Three years later (after prologue)…

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"Mizuki, let's go, the temple's closing now," A young woman said as she sent her daughter an annoyed look before quickly looking back at her wrist, where a brown leather watch was strapped on. The young girl, Mizuki stood before us, eyes closed with her palms together.

"Please may I get asked out to the Graduation formal," She whispered lowly before placing a coin into the slot box beside me. "Alright, I'm done." She yelled running back to her mother.

Her mother sent an apologetic nod to the groundskeeper, Mister Takanaka, an elderly man whose eye sight was fading dearly. According to Medea, he had a somewhat idea of what happens here at night but to what extent, she didn't really say. "Thank you, I'm so sorry for the trouble." She told him, but the old man shook his head and assured her it was fine. As they left, he locked the barred gate to the temple's shrine grounds before him himself left. It was a quarter to eight.

There was a gush of wind as I hopped off the statue's podium in my dog form, my body made of stone before I shifted back to my human state. Other shadows had also done the same, stretching their limbs from another long day of watching. Whatever sins they had sensed and spotted during the day, they had to locate tonight. For me, I hadn't sensed much from where I was positioned. Looking to the podium, I watched as Medea stepped down, her skin of grey stone fading to reveal a milky colour and her wide white eyes. Her long hair was violet, matching her cherry blossom kimono with her war katana strapped securely to her back. Unlike other shadows, she didn't wear the black uniforms required. As she walked down from the podium, I noticed her posture stiffened slightly.

"Do you smell that, Tetsuya?" She whispered as she looked up at the moon. I glanced at her before following her gaze. "Something is happening not far from here," She said. "Kishimoto playground."

"Would you like me to investigate?" I asked her. Medea nodded.

With a bow, I shifted to a shadow and made my way to Kishimoto Playground. Due to the bright intensive light of a clear moon, it was faster to travel with the amount of shadows splayed across the town. Within moments I reached my destination before sitting myself down on a tree branch, my eyes doing a perimeter check. Some swings had been destroyed, and there was a trail of wreckage left behind but it was hard to pin point where the attack had truly begun. My eyes narrowed as I noted the claw marks embedded in the slide's body. "Definitely not human," I murmured as I hopped to the ground, attaching myself to the slide's shadow before scanning around once more. There had been some cases where sins would attach themselves to something other than a human but I had yet to come across one so far.

"Help!" A voice suddenly yelled.

My head snapped to the direction of the bushes as I followed the voice. My eyes widened slightly at the sight but I quickly recomposed myself as I stared blankly at the scene. 'So we meet again…' I mused as I watched a familiar red head fend off a rogue vampire but unlike last time –this was a sin infested rogue. This man was stronger.

"Shit! What the hell?" The hunter exclaimed as he stabbed the vampire in its heart yet it was deemed useless as it continued to move forward. Using its free hand, it smacked the man aside.

"Kagami!" The girl that had cried out exclaimed. Her legs were bleeding, claw marks trailed from her knee to her ankle; she must have been grabbed from beneath and dragged around. On her dress was the Seirin Church's crest, she must be one of Kagami's accomplices but she wasn't the only one I could see. There were a group of them, all from Seirin. My eyes narrowed back at the single rogue. Using my shadow senses I could see several sins already.

'Superbia, avaritia and gula,' He had three of them. I had no choice, I had to come in and descend the sins. The rogue is too far gone, his soul has been completely damned. Shifting into my stone phase, I pounced onto him with my claws held out. Holy water washed onto them as I slashed the symbol of the Angelus, a cross, onto his face. Satisfied I landed on my paws and watched as he descended. Cracks trickled along the rogue's skin before he let out a cry, his body catching itself on fire before the sins flew out in rays of flames, leaving the rogue to disintegrate in its own hell fire. I was satisfied with my actions as I turned on my paws to leave.

"Did we just get saved by a dog made of stone?" My ears perked up as I turned to see a cat looking member of the Seirin Church. My stones eyes bored into the man's brown ones. He seemed to sweat slightly before I looked away, shaking my head.

"Wait a minute," I paused in my steps once more before jumping away as a rather large hand lunged at me –it was Kagami. "Those eyes and that scent," He said, his red eyes glaring into mine. I was stunned that he could pick up my scent since shadows rarely gave of a scent at all. "They're really familiar and I don't ever forget the scent of a bloodsucker," He told me. "It's you, isn't it. That guy from three years ago." He remembers me.

"Kagami, what are you talking about?" The girl exclaimed at him. "Vampires can't shape shift, they can only use the abilities they gain when they first change." She told him.

"Riko, you know me. I never forget a scent." He told her sternly, his eyes never leaving mine.

Deciding that I might as well give him the satisfaction, I shifted before him as I brought my hands together, clapping. "Your nose is impressive, Kagami," I told him blankly as he took out a hand gun.

"Finally we can end this," He said; bringing the gun to my head.

"Wait!" The girl, Riko yelled at him.

Kagami scowled as he glared at her. "What now!" He demanded. "Can't you see that I'm in the middle of killing this bastard," He said.

"But he's not a vampire," Riko told him. Kagami paused for a moment, but the gun remained pointed at me.

"Riko's right," A man with glasses said. "His scent is different; he's definitely not a vampire." He informed Kagami. "But he's not human either."

Kagami glared right at me. "What the hell are you?" He asked me in a deadly low tone. "The last time I saw you with the kid, you were definitely a bloodsucker but now…"

"You're right." I said bluntly. "I was a vampire, but not anymore."

"Then what are you?" Riko asked me. I could smell the fear in her voice, the fear of the unknown was truly powerful.

'Tetsuya,' Medea's warm voice suddenly flooded into my mind, interrupting my thoughts. 'Return now.' Closing my eyes, I melted into my shadow form. My black cloak wrapping around me as I sunk into the bushes' shadow, my blue eyes watching the hunter's bewildered expressions.

"I am merely a shadow," I whispered before completely phasing as I returned to the temple's grounds.

As I returned, I noted that only Medea remained in the temple. It appears that all other shadows had gone for their nightly routine of patrolling the town. I shifted to my human form as I walked up the entrance's steps to her silently. "The sins had been eliminated," I reported, getting on one knee before her. "However it seems that the sins have been getting more courageous," I informed her. Medea did not look down as she sat at the temple's main gate. Her eyes looking up at the moon, bored as she was forbidden from leaving temple grounds.

As Esme had explained before, each corner had a pillar and the main gate of Sakura Temple was one of them. If the gate was to be harmed or destroyed in anyway, one of the four seals guarding hell would be weakened or broken. It was a large role to fulfill, yet it was also quite boring. Each General was forced to remain by the pillar's side at all cost, thus the reason why she sends me or other shadows to gather information.

Medea turned to me, her lips in a thin line at the latest Intel. "Are they?" She mused.

I took a deep breath as I began to explain. "In Kishimoto playground, I encountered a group of Seirin hunters. It appears that the sins had taken refuge in the soul of a rogue vampire, yet it seems that the sins now seem to be sharing souls." I told her. "Despite their alliance in power, the rogue was easy to destroy and the sins were descended."

"I see," Medea stood up, brushing her kimono. "I'll inform Esme. Tetsuya, stay and guard the gate." She instructed me before disappearing to the prayer chambers as I shifted to my dog form and sat on a step, my body not moving as I took the state of a statue.

It was not long before the sight of a white eagle flew out of the temple, on its leg was a scroll attached to it.

"Are you sure you smell him here?" My ears perked up as I spotted the group of Seirin hunters from before. Kagami led the group as he began walking up the first few steps to Sakura Temple.

Riko stood beside him, her legs bandaged as she looked over at the gate. I shifted away to my shadow form as I followed her eyes to see Medea, standing at the gate, her hands in the air, posed as a statue. "I don't think this is the right place," She told the group. "Sakura Temple is one of the most sacred places in Japan, it's practically wrong for us to even be here this late at night." She said to the group. Most of them agreed with her as they begun to turn back but Kagami remained.

"I'm telling you, he's here." He protested. "My nose does not lie."

"Just leave it, Kagami," The man with cat features said. "Like Hyuuga said, he's not a vampire anymore. We have no right to hunt him." He said, following Riko and the others.

Kagami still looked determined to find me. "But Koganei, aren't you at least interested to finding out what the hell he is?" He asked the man now identified as Koganei.

Koganei shrugged. "Whatever he is, he doesn't seem to be doing any harm to humans." With that, the Seirin group left, but not without Kagami giving the temple one last glance.

As soon as they were gone, Medea looked to me and ushered for me to come forward. "Are those the hunters?" She asked me, her eyes narrowing at the path that they took. I nodded as I bowed on my knees, ready to receive my punishment for leading them here. "That Kagami has a strong sense of smell; he was able to track you down." She said, her white eyes narrowing. "He poses as a threat but he does not possess a sin within him." She murmured.

"What shall we do then?" I asked her.

"I want you to follow him." She said as I glanced up at her. "I can't explain why but I have this feeling that something is about to happen," She told me. "Something that may include his soul becoming permanently damned,"

I nodded as I stood up. "So you want me to make sure that does not happen?" I asked her.

Medea nodded. "If that man becomes damned, the sins would use his sense of smell to track you and when he does, he'll be able to find us all. That is something I am not willing to risk, do you understand, Tetsuya?" She looked at me seriously. I replied with a nod before one last bow to follow the Seirin group.

By the time I had found them, they were at this burger joint. I figured that the safest way to watch Kagami would be by attaching myself to his shadow discreetly. At first, he looked around, probably trying to spot me but after a while, he gave up and returned to stuffing himself. 'If I was to predict which sin was to possess him, it would definitely be gula.' I mused as I watched the hunter wash down a dozen more burgers.

"Kagami, stop hogging all the food," The man with glass scolded as Kagami shivered from his glare. "You're going to get fat and become a glutton soon enough."

"Fine, Hyuuga-senpai," Kagami muttered, shoving his tray of remaining burgers at the man who grabbed it to share with the rest of the hunters. Kagami sighed as he lay back, yawning as he stretched his arms out. "As soon as we get back to the hotel, I'm going to sleep." Kagami said before he shut his eyes and fell asleep.

In my mind, I could already see gula sharing this soul with acedia as well. 'This hunter is truly lazy,' I said, glancing back at the others. The group was quite big compared to the teams that hunters usually traveled in, so they must have been here for something else. But what?

"Hey Riko," Koganei said as the girl looked up. "Do we have to go to the conference, I mean, why can't Kaijo or Seiho attend?" He asked.

The man named Hyuuga smacked Koganei on the head; it was quite clear right now that he was the leader of the Seirin hunters. "They are attending the conference along with Shutoku," He told him.

"But what's the point of the conference anyway?" Koganei asked.

"It's to form a treaty with the vampire's most elite group," I felt my entire body freeze for a moment; it couldn't be them, could it?

Another male from Seirin put his hand up as Riko pointed at him. "Who would that be?" He asked.

Hyuuga smacked his forehead. "Don't any of you pay attention during briefing?" He demanded as he looked at them. "Izuki, who is always at the top of the vampire food chain?" He asked the man that had asked previously.

"The creators," Izuki replied.

"And who is the most known creature in Japan?" Hyuuga asked.

It was a different person that answered this time. "Akashi Seijuro," I didn't like where this conversation was going.

"That's right Kiyoshi," Riko said as she finally spoke up. "We are going to be forming a treaty with the Generation of Miracles."

'...' I found myself blank as I decided to relay the information I've gained back to Medea.

'I see,' Medea replied quickly. 'Continue your mission, Tetsuya, I shall be sending Liala and Granger to back you up. When you reach this meeting place, inform me and I shall have Quadrant A on standby. If these Generation of Miracles are how Esme had described them to be, I fear that many sins would use this opportunity to manipulate their souls, if they hadn't already.'

'Understood.' The link was cut.

Hyuuga turned to Kagami before smacking him in the face. "Bakagami!" He exclaimed, waking the red head in the process. "Let's go, we have a big day tomorrow and I don't want you sleeping during the conference." Kagami grumbled as he stood up and stretched. From the corner of my eye, I spotted two shadows slip through the door before attaching themselves onto Kagami as well.

'Hello Tetsuya,' Liala politely greeted. Although we could not see each other, we could still converse mentally in this form. 'Is this the hunter that Medea has warned us about, the one with the incredible sense of smell?' She asked.

'Yes,' I replied blankly as Kagami walked out of the burger joint and headed to the hotel.

Granger let out a grumble. 'He seems arrogant to me, I see superbia coming in soon.'

Liala laughed. 'I have to disagree, I see Ira.'

If they were deciding sins, I decided that I would also voice my opinion. 'Actually, he's a gula and acedia.' He told them bluntly.

There was a silent pause before the two responded to my choices. 'Pathetic human/Such a waste of human life.' I could only agree from what I've seen so far.

As we reached the hotel that the Seirin group was staying in, we took this opportunity to escape from them and met up at the roof top of the hotel. Phasing into my human form as I looked at the view of Osaka. It was nothing compared to the City of Angelus. "Tetsuya," I turned to see a striking young brunette. Liala appeared to look nineteen, her hair tossed into a high pony tail with sharp black eyes that were hard to fool. She was taller than me and any average Japanese woman but that was probably due to her Greek heritage which also gave her an air of elegance. Granger on the other hand was a man from Ireland and he looked the part too. Unruly red hair with a matching beard as his build was not only larger than everyone else, but wider as well. He was practically a wall in my opinion. Not to mention how he looked when he fights...

"Alright," I said, snapping out of my thoughts as we began our discussion. "Tomorrow there shall be a conference."

Granger rolled his eyes. "We know that part lad, just tell us what we're going to do." I could only pray that something happens to him tomorrow.

Liala shook her head at the man's rudeness. "Let him speak, Granger," She told him before sending him a glare which made him shut up before smiling sweetly back at me. "You may continue." I nodded.

"From what I've observed, these Seirin hunters are not very strong. I also fear that the other hunters would not be able to match up either," I admitted. "Their level of experience with rogues are substandard, however, sin possessed rogues... they don't stand a chance."

"And what about the vampires? The Generation of Miracles? What about them, lassie?" Granger asked, his arms crossed across his chest.

I close my eyes as I remember the other five members, Momoi and that new guy, Mayuzumi. "Each of them have their own abilities," I explained. "Kise has the ability to copy other vampire abilities, however, it would be futile against a sin. Midorima's accuracy level is incredible, he'll never miss a shot when he shoots his gun. Aomine's speed and strength is ten times the ability of any normal vampire and Murasakibara's height is everything. The man that replaced me, Mayuzumi has almost the same abilities as I had, manipulating shadows but not to the same extent we shadows have. Akashi, the leader possess an eye called the Emperor's eye, he can see anything. Anything but shadows and sins that is. Finally there's Momoi but she's only good at collecting data, other than that, she does not possess a physical vampire ability." I said.

"In your opinion, do you think they'll stand a chance against a mere shadow?" Liala asked me curiously.

I opened my eyes. "No, they'll be destroyed instantly." Granger and Liala shared a looked. "I am not being biased, I am being honest." I clarified my previous statement. "Over my years as a vampire, I've watched them grow, their prides getting stronger till the point that they don't care anymore. If they were to come across one of us, their egos would affect their judgements and they would immediately deem us, shadows, weak as they do to their other opponents. From my time as a shadow, my speed accelerates to the point that I would be able to run the speed of light. That's how much the difference in abilities and strengths are."

Liala nodded. "I see."

Granger rubbed at his beard. "So do you think they'll be targets?" He asked.

I turned my back on them and looked back at the view. "Most definitely." I murmured. "Tomorrow when we enter the conference room, I will relay a message back to Medea, informing her of our location. Once we enter the room, if any of us deem any of the souls within damned, we wait first until they leave before we strike. Remember, we never attack in the public's eye, especially not a vampire's." I told them, my eyes not leaving the sight of Osaka.

"And the hunters?"

"We'll wipe their memories clean the moment we're done."

"Understood," Liala said. I heard her footsteps before I saw a black blur jump off the roof top. She turned to her statue state as a stone eagle took to the skies, flying off to the distance. I assume she's doing her patrols. This just left me and Granger then.

Looking at the man, I could see that he was observing me curiously. "You know lad, when I first heard that Esme had chosen a vampire, I was skeptical at first... but you're actually quite passionate about this job." He told me. "What did the Generation of Miracles ever do to you to make you this way?" He asked.

I shut my eyes. "Nothing. They did absolutely nothing."


Translations:

Angelus -Angel

Acedia -Sloth

Gula -Gluttony

Superbia -Pride

Avaritia -Greed

Ira -Wrath