Chapter 1
He watched her silently from the darkness. This young woman that conjured passionate flames with her katana was none the wiser. He had been following and watching her for days now, living up to his breed.
Mutsuki remained a spectator of the woman and the functioning city, gathering information on the evolved world. On the surface, it appeared as if the world had barely changed at all. There were still smiling faces and fast food joints littering the city. Technology had, of course, improved drastically, but the concept was still the same.
However, beneath the peaceful exterior, there lay a small secret society on temple grounds that thrived on collecting specific rose petals. Mutsuki could feel himself being slightly drawn to the power of these petals. They felt like a familiar presence.
The society trained and worked their members to the bone. More specifically, the young woman Akane. It seemed that she was one of the rare few that had an ability to manipulate a power similar to a rose knight's. He was left to wonder if this was an effect of the sought after rose petals.
However, beyond that, Mutsuki had a much more important reason to follow. Although it was faint, he could feel a familiar type of string connecting Mutsuki to the young woman. But he pushed the most prevalent explanation to the back of his mind. The demon seal had already been destroyed. There was no reason for a continuation of the Rose Princess era. Furthermore, the connection felt different. It was faint, but it was a distinctly different connection.
His attention returned to the training grounds on the temple premises. Akane swept her long dark fiery hair into a high ponytail with a black ribbon. Unlike the others on the temple grounds, she never wore a kimono. Instead, she opted to stay in her school uniform even after returning to her home. Akane took a wooden training stick to practice her combat skills.
"Alright. I'm ready."
"Idiot. I won't go easy on you."
"I never expected you to, Yuki."
The younger silver-haired boy unsheathed a katana instead of the traditional wooden stick. He glared at his older sister from across the field. There was intent to harm in his eyes.
"Come!" Akane yelled and got into stance.
Yuki didn't need to be told twice. He ran towards the young fire-haired woman with full force. Yuki leapt up and brought his katana swinging straight down onto Akane. The young woman was better than that. She stepped out of the way and brought her own wooden stick down to the ground, sweeping her brother off of his feet.
"You're wide open, Yuki."
"Shut up!"
Yuki rose back onto his feet and tried to land a hit on his older sister. But he failed each time. He hated how his sister always seemed to go easy on him. It never looked difficult for her either. All she did was simply step out of his way. She would never raise her weapon against him. It was as if she enjoyed toying with him. He couldn't take it anymore. He called upon his own ice powers from the rose petal in his body to freeze Akane's feet.
"That won't work on me." Akane calmly melted the ice by raising her own body temperature with her fire.
As Mutsuki watched from the dark, he wondered how many people had attained these unusual powers. He hadn't seen these powers used by other rose knights from the previous era. His thoughts were cut short when an onlooker shouted at the two sparring siblings.
"Illegal move!" It was the eldest brother of the two siblings that forced himself in between. "You are forbidden to use the powers of the rose knights to spar among the society. You both know this."
"… Hai." Yuki glared at the ground before angrily sheathing his weapon and walking away.
Both of the siblings parted in opposite directions of the field. Mutsuki followed Akane from the shadows as she embarked to her home on the edge of the temple grounds. Luckily for him, her small home was secluded next to the edge of the dark forest. The eldest brother, Koichi, followed suit behind his little sister.
"Akane. Don't let him get to you."
"He started it!"
"Then you need to end it. You are the successor to the rose. Don't act on impulse."
'Successor to the rose?' Mutsuki frowned. 'Could he mean a descendant of Anis?' Mutsuki's curiosity kept him from leaving. What was going on? The age of the rose knights had ended already. Why was there still talk of it? He examined Akane more closely. She didn't resemble his former love interest at all. Her long hair was a dark burgundy and her eyes; a dark chocolate brown.
"I know that!" Akane swiftly turned around to face her older brother. "But the rose knights don't exist anymore. The demon seal has been destroyed."
"But you have the ability to forge a new contract."
"We don't know that."
"If you would just try."
"I won't."
"Why? Do you not see that we need them? Fragments of the rose are scattered every which way, throwing the balance of the world out of order. You can't tell me that you don't see that."
"I don't need a rose knight. I can collect the fragments of rose on my own."
"If I hadn't followed you yesterday-"
Akane glared at her brother and turned to leave for her home. Koichi stopped in the midst of his sentence and sighed. He hated arguing with his stubborn little sister. No matter how he said it; no matter how many times he said it, Akane had a one-track mind that couldn't be swayed. He was never a match for her fiery personality when she was angry.
Koichi followed Akane into her home. It was a just a small simple room disconnected from the rest of the main house. Akane left to change in the bathroom and emerged in her usual plaid pajamas. She wouldn't even look at her brother while he stood in the doorway.
"Akane. For the sake of the innocent, you need to choose a rose knight."
"There are no rose knights left."
"Stop. There are plenty."
"You're wrong. Those creatures are not knights. They're homunculus no matter how you look at them."
"…"
"I'm going to bed. Goodnight." Akane lay down on her bed with her back facing Koichi. Koichi merely sighed and gave up on pressuring Akane into choosing a partner again. The conversations had been brought up before and tried. Akane's resilience tired him. He turned to leave, reaching at the nearby wall to turn the light off.
"Don't."
Koichi glanced back at his sister. Her earth brown eyes were wide; pleading with him silently from across the room.
"Akane…"
"Please leave it."
Koichi abided by her plea and left the lights on as he returned home. The tall black-haired Mutsuki watched the young woman in mild interest from outside of her window. This was interesting information that he had gathered tonight indeed.
Akane slipped the covers over her head, engulfing her whole body entirely under the downy plush.
'I hate the dark.'
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"Please welcome our new transfer student, Mutsuki."
Akane turned her eyes from the window of her classroom to examine the new student standing in the front. The boy was tall even when he wasn't standing straight up. His posture was relaxed with his hands resting in his blazer uniform pockets. His slightly long black hair was strewn messily around, almost covering his deep red eyes. His eyes narrowed at Akane from the front of the room as soon they met.
His eyes made her nervous. Akane lifted her head from its resting place in her palm and glanced away from his intense stare. 'Why is he looking at me?' She kept her eyes on her own table.
Without notice from the teacher, the tall boy moved on his own and took a seat in the desk right behind Akane at the very back of the classroom.
"Ah, that seat is taken already…" One of the other boys in the class piped up.
"Well, they're not here right now, are they?" His voice was cold and commanding.
The entire class fell silent and the teacher let it rest. As the lesson continued on, Akane shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She felt a chill travel up her spine. It felt like the new student behind her was glaring a hole into her back. She couldn't concentrate on the lesson no matter how hard she tried.
It felt like forever until their lunch break arrived. As soon as the teacher announced the end of the lesson, Akane shot out of her seat as if it were on fire and left the classroom.
"What is up with him?" She grumbled to herself.
"Boy troubles?" One of her best friends caught up to Akane and walked beside her.
"I hope not."
"Did you notice? That new 'Mutsuki' boy kept his eyes on you the entire time during lesson!" Her friend smirked. "Looks like you've got yourself an admirer."
Akane frowned. "Don't be ridiculous. I don't have time for frivolous things like romance."
"Too bad. He's cute!"
"I'm sure." Akane returned sarcastically. She took a seat on the stairs next to her blonde friend and began eating her sandwich.
It hadn't taken long before she heard some low shouting from down the hallway. She exchanged curious looks with her friend before finishing her sandwich quickly and walking over to see what the commotion was.
As Akane dusted off the breadcrumbs from her hands, she watched a group of girls cornering a smaller petite girl. It seemed to be some kind of girl drama. From what Akane could gather, the surrounded girl with glasses had received a pencil from a popular boy. Ridiculous. It didn't seem too harmful at first until another one of the girls stepped up to push the surrounded girl with glasses. Akane didn't spare another moment before forcing her way through the crowd of girls.
"Back off, you jealous hoes!" Akane managed to push past the crowd. She extended a hand and helped the girl with glasses up from the ground.
"Jealous? We are not!" One leaders of the girl group cried out.
"Are you serious?"
"This is none of your business, Akane." Another girl said harshly. "Butt out."
"Well then, I'm making it my business. I can't very well stand back and watch some catty girls take advantage of her. "
"How dare you? She started this whole thing!" The first girl retorted.
"Meow." Akane taunted the girls.
She watched as one of the girls raised a hand, ready to slap Akane in the face. It was clear that the girl wouldn't go through with her body's rage. However, Akane merely fed the fire when she smirked at the girl, tempting her to let the anger control her body. The other girl was absolutely outraged. Her raised hand swung towards Akane's face. Akane prepared herself to move out of the way but before she could go anywhere, the hand was stopped just inches from Akane's face.
It was the new boy. Mutsuki's fair fingers were wrapped around the angered girl's wrist, holding it back just before it could touch Akane's skin. Everyone just stared at the tall boy.
"Who are you?"
"I don't like to give out my name to ugly girls."
The girls ripped her wrist out from Mutsuki's harsh grip. There was a light bruise starting to form where his hand had grasped. The girl nursed the wrist in her hand and glared at the dark-haired boy before her friends tugged at her to leave the situation.
"Learn to mind your own business, Akane." The girl spat before leaving with her friends.
Akane watched as the group of girls swiftly left the hallway. She turned back to thank her new classmate. However, he was nowhere to be seen.
"Where'd he go?" She pondered.
"Um…. Thank you, sempai!" The girl with glasses spoke.
"Huh? Oh. No problem!" Akane smiled widely.
"But you shouldn't have. Now they're going to terrorize you…"
"Hahahahaha. Bring it. If I can't take a few catty girls, then I definitely can't save the rose."
The girl with glasses stared at Akane quizzically. Akane walked away and waved back at the girl.
"Don't worry about it."
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As Akane tucked herself into bed that night, she found herself wondering about the new transfer student. She was torn between feelings of appreciation and nervousness. There was something about him that just didn't sit right with her. He barely spoke and when he did, it wasn't very nice. On top of that, he had continued to stare at her back as if nothing had happened between them. It was unbearably discomforting.
"Ugh! Stop staring at me, you creep!" Akane threw her comforter over her head and tried to sleep.
Meanwhile just outside of her window, Mutsuki's back straightened out in alarm. When he saw that the girl didn't stir again, he wondered if Akane had sensed his presence or if she was just talking to herself. After another few moments of watching the young woman, he left the window to return to his own bed.
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'Why is this happening to me..?' Akane closed her eyes and sighed lightly. Today marked the fourth day since Mustuki's arrival at her school. Not once had she been able to rest easy during class. The dark-haired boy sitting behind her made her significantly uncomfortable.
There was no way for her to tell him off. Every time that she turned around, his eyes had already averted to the window next to them. But the second that she looked away again, she could feel that intense gaze back on her. At this point, all she could do was squirm in her seat and plead at the clock at the front of the classroom to speed up. Akane couldn't wait to leave. Her foot subconsciously began to softly tap against the tiled floor.
The second that the bell rung to dismiss the class, Akane jumped out of her seat and made her way to her after school activity. She dashed through the hallways and flew through the doors of the clubroom before anyone could follow her.
"Akane? The bell just barely finished ringing. You look like a bat out of hell."
"Thanks, Koichi. Much appreciated."
Akane rolled her eyes and took a moment to catch her breath before straightening herself out. She watched her older brother gather the track equipment to set up outside. Having her brother as a coach and teacher within the school had helped her out plenty of times. Of course, it was a double-edged sword since he would always know everything that was going on with Akane.
"A couple of girls came by the other day looking for you. I heard you got in a fight?"
"It wasn't a fight. Just an intense talk."
"Did you start this one too?"
"I never started any fights!"
"I hear very much otherwise." Koichi dropped several training javelins into Akane's arms. He sighed and pick up the green medicine balls. "When will you learn to calm your temper?"
"When people stop being complete idiots."
"Well, we both know that won't happen." Koichi laughed.
"Then I guess my temper stays." Akane grinned.
After setting up the equipment outside, the other club members arrived. Track training carried on as it usually did. They were getting ready for an upcoming competition with the other schools so it was imperative that the individuals could excel within their specialized test.
For the first time in a while, Akane felt like she could finally concentrate. The new student was nowhere in sight. She silently thanked the gods and began to stretch before finishing up on her last sprint lap. When Koichi blew the whistle, Akane took off as fast as she could down the track, leaving the others far behind her. She had always excelled in running since she was a little girl. Her grandmother had taught her how to run fast and how to breathe properly. She had learned from the best after all.
"Time! Good work, Akane. Go home and get some rest."
"Yes sensei!"
Akane had to catch herself before addressing Koichi as her brother. None of the students knew about their connection and Akane preferred it that way. She wiped her face with a towel and chugged down a bottle of water before hitting the showers. Once she finished her shower, she realized that she had forgotten her homework folder in her desk in her classroom.
"Tch." She glanced up at the sky. She had just a little bit of time left before it got dark.
Akane made her way back to her classroom. When she arrived at her desk, she found scribbles of obscenities on her desk. The girls must have done this while she was as training. Akane paid no heed to the scribbles. She took her folder out and placed it in her book bag before slamming the desk table back down.
Honestly, she was mildly irritated that the girls would have gone that far to single her out. As Akane stomped around the corner to the stairs, she didn't pay attention to the janitor's cleaning sign. With another step at the edge of the very top of the stairs, Akane felt her foot slip in front of her.
Just as Akane closed her eyes, expecting to fall on her butt, her body was yanked back. A strong arm had snaked around her waist, pulling her back. Akane's eyes snapped open and she quickly turned her head to see who her savior was.
Mutsuki.
The black-haired boy towered over her small form. His dark red eyes gazed down at Akane's brown ones. His facial expression was unfazed. Before Akane could recover from her surprise, Mutsuki released her from his grip and turned to walk away. Akane stood in stunned silence before her body instinctively acted on its own. She quickly stepped forward and grabbed Mutsuki's hand, effectively capturing his attention.
"Wait! This is the second time that you've protected me."
"…"
"Why?"
"…"
"Why won't you say anything to me?"
"…"
"I know you can talk."
"…"
"If you're going to keep staring at me during class, then I demand that you at least follow it up with a few words."
There. She said it. After all, the boy had been staring at her nonstop ever since he had arrived at her school.
"Words are enough to satisfy you?" Mutsuki finally spoke.
Akane had heard him speak before in short nasty little retorts before as well, but his voice never ceased to surprise her. It was surprisingly smooth and deep. Almost soothing. Yet at the very same time, she could feel chills traveling up her spine.
"Are you going to deny it?" She continued.
"Why should I?"
"Maybe because it's weird and it's rude."
"You never told me to stop."
Akane stared at him for a moment. "Will you stop?"
"No."
"What do you want?
"…"
"Come on. We both know that you're not-"
"How did you come upon your rose powers?"
Akane's eyes widened instantaneously. She instinctively stepped her foot back from the taller boy, getting into a defensive stance. Her voice lowered.
"What do you know about it?"
"What do you?"
"Don't you dare toy with me, bastard! Who are you?"
"… Foolish human."
"Human? You are a homunculus?"
Akane bent her knees slightly. She brought her clenched right hand back, ready to strike on the word.
"Do you think it wise to fight here?"
"I will do whatever is necessary."
"…"
Mutsuki turned to walk away, leaving Akane to follow.
"Don't run away from me, coward!"
"…" He didn't reply. He simply turned the corner down the stairs.
"Stop!" Akane reached out to get hold of him again, but as soon as she turned the corner after him, he had already disappeared. 'Where did he go?'
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Akane had search high and low for her next potential case, but the boy was nowhere to be found on school property. Eventually, she was forced to give up and return home. Who was he? How did he know about the rose? Was he really just another homunculus? He didn't act quite like the other artificially made homunculus…
As she reached the large temple house, she slid the old-fashioned rice paper doors open. Akane opened her mouth wide, but before she could let her sigh escape, she finally saw it.
The bloody massacre. There were bodies upon bodies of the temple people strewn across the center yard. Blood was splashed onto the poles, the rice paper windows, the hard wood floors, and the grass. There had to have been some mistake. There was no way that the temple people so dedicated to fighting and protecting had died so easily. What the hell happened?
Akane regained herself after a few minutes. She stepped slowly through the mess, looking to see if anyone was alive. Not a breath was heard. Even the children were dead. The children. Akane turned suddenly and ran out to the more familiar part of the temple belonging to her siblings.
"Yuki! Yuki!" She called loudly. Her eyes darted every which way, looking for any sign of movement. Her trembling feet carried her through the temple grounds in search of her little brother.
"…. Akane."
His voice… Yuki.
The fire-haired woman turned suddenly to see her little brother standing just a few feet behind her. His head was down, covering his eyes. He looked like the little boy that Yuki had tried to protect for so long.
"Yuki!"
Akane rushed to her silver-haired little brother. She quickly knelt down and wrapped her arms around his smaller frame.
No. He wasn't a little boy anymore. Akane's arms did not fit around her little brother's body quite as she remembered. When had been the last time that she hugged him? Akane squeezed tighter.
"Are you okay, Yuki?"
"…"
"Are you hurt?"
"…"
"What happened?"
"…"
"Yuki?"
Akane separated herself from her little brother slightly. What was wrong with him? She brought one hand up to lift up his face towards hers. Was he really okay?
"Akane! Get away from him!" Akane's attention snapped over to the temple stairs to see her older brother, Koichi, running towards her.
But it was too late.
*Author's note: Whew! Done with the boring chapter. Now on to the actual plot/good stuff! =)