DISCLAIMER: See Prologue. If you skipped it...bad! Bad puppy! (gives a toothy grin) Anything that you recognize is probably not mine. And I'm not making money out of this anyway...well I did make a bet with a few of my non-otaku tomodachis that someone would review it hahaha 0_o

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Kodomo Hikari: Wheee! I got a reviewer! (starts jumping up and down and running around her room).It is such a big deal for me! (does cart wheels). Gomenasai, it took me a week to upload the next chapter. The real world intruded for a while. Plus, I had to figure my way around this site. I'm such a newbie...hmm...how did I stumble on this site anyway? (looks puzzled).

Kaeru Soyokaze - Thank You! Thank You! I will! ^_^

          Oh, yeah...I can't write songs but I love music as much as I love anime, manga, computers and rpgs so you might see a lot of them here. I honestly don't know how this fan fic is going to end up so your ideas are welcome. Gack! Sugar high O_o Well, here we go, next chapter please...

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                                                                        Chapter 1: The Castle Outsiders

Earth, Present Day

~\\ Oh, I wanted to be just like you. I prayed endlessly, "Don't go away" But to me, it was just a wish. And everyone left me. This world is so hard to live in.\\~

          "HARRY POTTER! STOP THAT INFERNAL RACKET RIGHT NOW!" It was immediately followed by a loud banging sound on the door.

          The young man in question jerked up in bed. The banging sound was replaced by the sound of the door being kicked...twice.

          "YOU LET DECENT PEOPLE SLEEP!" High-pitched this time. His Aunt Petunia.

          "I'm sorry Auntie. I'll be quiet now."

          "YOU'D BETTER BE!" boomed his Uncle. He heard them shuffle away and a door banged somewhere in the house. The night was quiet again. He got out of bed and shivered. The nightmare had come for him tonight. He must have been screaming. He was covered in sweat, his heart was racing, and boy did his scar hurt.

          He saw him die in his dream repeatedly. There was always a new twist every time he dreamed about it but always he was powerless to save him. He wanted to hit something. Anything. It was so unfair! What was so damn special about me anyway? The Boy Who Lived? So what? He did not have any fancy powers, and whatever magick he had sure failed Sirius Black.

          Not fair!

          He groped at the window and opened it. The cool night air filled his room. He sank to his bed. Yes. It was not fair. First, it was his parents and now Sirius. Not to mention all those innocents caught in the crossfire. There was a time that he looked forward to being in Hogwarts. Anything to get away from his blood relatives. He had been so happy when he found out that he was not just an ordinary kid, that he was a wizard. Oh sure, he found out about Him-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named but back then, the good things far outweighed the bad. In the Wizarding world, he had friends and he felt like he belonged. It made living here, in the muggle world, so much more bearable.

          But now...everyone he cares about seems to be going away. He curled up into a ball and started to weep. He should not be thinking like this but...

          …Who's going to die this year?

~\\Is everyone trying to close their eyes? I am looking at everything in this world with Darkness. For everything, just to remain surviving, I, who am different from everything of yours, I'm exhausted from the struggle in my heart everyday. (Always)\\~

          Yukina.

          His sister. He could not tell her. Will never tell her. Everyone else thinks he's nuts for not telling her. After all, she had been looking for her brother all her life. Oh yeah? Then what? Hello, Yukina. I'm your long lost brother. Let's live happily ever after! Fire Demon and Snow Maiden. What a gas.

          "You are a strange one, ne?"

          The voice jolted him from his reverie. Mokuro. One of the three Ruling Demon Lords of Makai. Amazing that a demon that could pass for a frail ningen woman could be so strong. Well, that is if you could ignore the cybernetic attachments on her body. She had gotten them at a young age when her body was nearly destroyed by a demon attack. She survived of course. However, the demon attacker did not. No one crosses Mokuro. Maybe that is why he found himself hanging out with this demoness. No one crosses Jaganashi Hiei.

          "Our kind does not have a heart...yet one would think..."

          "Hn"

          Something like a smile seemed to cross her face. She held out a parchment. He ignored it.

          "It is from the Prince of Reikai."

          "So what does the brat prince want now?"

          "Something about the 10 Commandments..."

          Hiei's eyes snapped open. He grabbed the parchment and started for the door. Mokuro watched him with amusement in her eyes. It was strange. A year ago she would never had thought that this little Fire Demon could change her.

          "And when will you tell your sister the truth?"

          He stopped and turned to her, "Never. She is safer not knowing." Then he was out of the door.

~\\It's a different gaze that I get from you guys, You look at me with prejudice. Solitary among people that do not even care, I am living a lonely life. But still, the reason I live, what makes me live, Is because there is love. Hope and love alive in my heart.\\~

          To say that today was a weird day was an understatement. First, his mother was sober and making him breakfast. That had never happened in like...say...ever? Second, a stupid owl had crashed on his window and knocked itself out. The next minute he saw two more owls flying down and...holy shit...are my eyes deceiving me or are they trying to help that other owl?

          As if that wasn't weird enough as soon as he stepped outside to go to school, another owl flew down, crashed into him, and was knocked out promptly.

          "Crazy bird."

          He bent down and saw an envelope clutched by the stupid bird.

          "What's this?"

          He turned it around and saw that his name was on it. He tore it open and read the contents. His dark brows furrowed. What the hell?

          " YUSUUUUKEEEE!"

          He winced at the sound of his name being mangled. He looked up just in time to see a tall clumsy red head waving across the street like an idiot.

          " YUSUUKEEE! Wait UP!"

          The red head suddenly made a mad dash across the street nearly creating a traffic incident. A few cars beeped at him indignantly. The red head made it across safely and then wagged a fist at the cars. He turned to Yusuke, a goofy grin on his face; "Hey did you get a weird letter today?"

          "Uh yeah. You too?"

          Kazuma nodded so hard it seemed to Yusuke his head would come off. "It says Koenma wants to meet with us after school at Genkai's place," Kazuma said. He stopped when he saw Yusuke frowning at him.

          "What?! Do you want to fight?!" Kazuma dropped into a fighting stance and faced his silent friend.

          People stared. It seemed to Yusuke that people had always stared at him. A lot. Troublemaker. Their eyes said. Good for nothing. Useless. Street punk. Whatever. He didn't care anymore. He never really belonged anyway. Especially now that he knows he was Raizen's son, former King of Makai, and a half-demon. If he wanted to, he could blow up Tokyo with just one blast from his Spirit Gun. Come to think of it, why not? He ignored his friend and went ahead.

          "Oy! Chotto matte! What's wrong with you today?"

          "Nothing." Odd. How come I got a different letter? Someone caught his eye. A girl with long brown hair was waiting for him on the corner. His face broke into a slight tentative smile. The girl was frowning. Uh oh. Not good.

          "You're late!" Keiko said to her friend. Her eyes twinkled as she said it and immediately he relaxed. It was all right after all. Moreover, he just remembered why he returned from Makai and why he could never blow up Tokyo.

~\\I, I, in this world I've lost myself without love. I… I… was I struggling that much? \\~

          Demons do not feel, do they? Especially not him. He gazed at his reflection. A tall red head, his hair falling softly and framing a handsome face, gazed back at him from the mirror. A sardonic smile appeared on his lips. Funny. He had taken possession of this body to escape and survive the hunters in Makai. In the end, the ningen form had taught his youkai side a lot of things-like family and friends. But it made it so much more difficult for him. The youkai side was his true form and with it came all the urges and desires of a demon. What am I now? Neither demon nor human? The reflection in the mirror shimmered.

          "Oni-chan! Oni-chan!"

          He broke from his thoughts and the image in the mirror returned to that of a young man in his teens. The door to his room opened and in came a boy of 12. Shuichi. His younger stepbrother from his mother's new husband. They both shared the same name. Whereas the older Shuichi was quite composed in his manners, the younger one was more relaxed.

          "Well, what is it?" he inquired mildly to his younger brother. Back in Makai, all the demons thought that he had gone soft for even caring about humans. They quickly learned that that was not the case at all. Not the case at all.

          "I got a strange letter today," Shuichi said. He liked his older stepbrother. Sure, there was something a little off about him but he didn't care. He was the best bro anyone could have. "And there's a strange guy in black who's looking for you too."

          Hiei. He sensed the chi.

          "Alright. I'll go talk to him and then after that we'll look at that strange letter of yours, okay?" He ruffled the boy's dark brown hair and left the room.

~\\ A heart that's been put out, a torn heart. I'll believe that everything happened because of me. \\~

          The 16-year-old boy waited patiently for his cousin, oblivious to the stares that he was getting from the students of St. Michael's Private Girls School.

          "Oooh! He is sooo cute! I wonder who he's waiting for."

          "Whoever she is, she is so lucky!"

          It was the end of the school day and the students were hurrying to wherever it was they were supposed to go to. A few of the girls were brave enough to smile at him. He returned their smile, his dark blue eyes glinting with amusement behind his glasses. They giggled and a few swooned.

          "Eriol-chan!"

          He turned at the sound of his name. A girl. Almost as tall as him, with the same midnight blue hair and eyes, was hurrying towards him with a smile. She was wearing the standard St. Michael's uniform-a dark blue pleated skirt, knee high white socks, black shoes, white blouse with lace trimmings, a yellow vest and dark blue jacket. On her head was the standard blue, yellow and white school beret.

          A few students turned. "Oh," one said. "Well of course it would be Miriya." Another nodded and sighed, "Yeah, who else would it be?" Miriya, one of the school's best student. Love her or hate her. It didn't matter. No one could ignore her.

          "Good evening, my cute descendant."

          That earned a few puzzled looks from the eavesdroppers.

          Miriya laughed, "Very funny my dear cousin. How was your visit to Japan?" She hooked her arm around his as he took her book bag. They both started to walk to his car.

          The eavesdroppers sighed with relief. So he was her cousin. Of course, why didn't they think of that? There was a certain resemblance after all. Everyone made a mental note to ask Miriya about him the next day. She wouldn't mind. She was always nice to everyone and not stuck-up at all.

          "Let's see," Eriol mused. "Shaolan and Sakura are still together. Touya is still not happy with the idea of them going out even after several years. Tomoyo is still singing. Mei Ling...Well, boy-crazy is what I call her. Also, sugar and clow guardians are never a good mix. And oh, they love your gifts. They also said hi and yes, I'm several kilograms over my allotted plane cargo limit."

          Her eyes lit up as she realized the implications of the exceeded cargo limit, "Presents!"

          He nodded. She let go of his arms and big grin appeared on her face, "Eriol, let's race to your car!" And with that, she took off.

          He watched her. His heart was heavy. It had taken several years for him to finally convince her about who she is and that it was not her fault. Now here he was sending her off to finally face her personal demons. His fist tightened on the letter. He never did tell her everything...He wasn't sure he could...or would...

          O gods help us all...

TBC

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A/N: Ok, that's it for Chapter 1. I've set up the stage as best as I could. What do you think? I know it's rather slow and serious but I promise there will be lots of action and laughs to...somewhere. I have them in my head but I'm still figuring out how they'll fit in the story. ^_^ Oh yeah, the title is from this now disbanded Korean boy band H.O.T. Paragraphs that start with a ~\\ and end with a \\~ are English translations of the song lyrics. Please R and R. God knows I need tips to improve my writing skills. If I got some of the charas' names wrong please tell me. The Japanese words are written in the way I think they would be written in English. I could be wrong though so don't bother with a Japanese English dictionary.

Chi = energy/ spirit energy

Chotto matte = wait up

Ningen = human

Makai = demon world

Reikai = Spirit World

Oni-chan = title for an older brother

-chan = a prefix usually attached to names to indicate closeness/ term for endearment or something

-ne = no definite meaning, depends in how it is use in the sentence, could be "hey" or "right?"

Youkai = demon

Gomenasai = I'm sorry/ pardon me

Otaku = anime fanatic

Tomodachi = friend

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