Probably the shortest chapter yet, I'm sorry! There's just a portion of stuff I want you guys to absorb before I move on. Don't want you guys to be hanging on and going like, "o_o omg.. wtf?". This is Hotaru's self-reflection chapter. :O So you all Sebastian can get a glimpse of what I think goes on his head during this story.

This won't make sense to you guys until after you have the read chapter, but -- I know Japan wasn't colonized by anyone but Americans and I adore Germany, I think they're pretty cool and played an important role in the world's history. This is just a work of fiction that was made by a chocoholic who has all sorts of things swimming around his head, nothing more.

Plan

"You broke one of the terms in the contract yesterday – I'm curious to know the reason. Did you forget it? Or are you too stupid to understand? Which one of the two is it? Well?" Shiori confronted me in our room before both of us went to eat breakfast. The pure and angelic image she had been wearing the night earlier was long erased and now disclosed the Shiori I saw everyday. Her eyes were narrowed at me, seeking a trace of expression. She crossed her arms like she always did when she was agitated by something, this time probably the lack of reaction I was giving her. She still tried to instigate me.

"How are you thinking of paying for breaking one of the terms in the contract, Hotaru? With your body?" the blue-haired girl mocked.

I just stood there, immobile, staring down at the hard floor like Yasu always did. I was unable to meet her gaze for some reason. Was it because I was too embarrassed since this was the first time a female reacted this way to any sort of physical contact from me? Usually human girls appreciated gestures like this from me.

What was the big deal, anyway? It was just a kiss, it only lasted for a few seconds before I pulled myself away from her; it was not like the act was out of love or lust. I was a demon, I ate human emotions. That is how I survived. When she was weeping back then she had all sorts of mixed emotions oozing out of her that I could not resist. I acted out of instinct and immediately groped her and devoured them. She even felt better after it – the weight on her shoulders became lighter. Should not she be thankful to me? Why was she angry instead?

Hmm. This is a guess but when I kissed her I tasted her being astonished and perplexed. Like she didn't know what to do or how to react. Was she reacting this way because this was her first...

Kiss? My eye's widened as I continued to stare at the ground below me.

Shiori groaned in frustration as she finally realized I was not going to be answering her, she began rubbing her temple. "I guess it was just a strange night filled with bizarre events, I'm going to pretend like it was all a nightmare," Shiori said walking away and tying a chunk of her wavy strands into a tiny ball infront of a mirror as she normally did every morning. "Well, anyways, I'm kind of glad I went through it all – except for the last bit of course," Shiori paused and turned her head at me, narrowing her eyes again at me. I tried to hide my strong urge to chuckle. "I'm over with all the weak, suppressed feelings I thought I did not have. Now, since everything's been taken care of, it's time we should start our plan."

"Yes, I suggest we do it right away," I agreed with a nod.

"Oh, and Hotaru, I may have excused this incident this time but if anything like this ever happens again, the consequences are going to be a lot more drastic. I hope you understand what I mean."

I did.

---

Long ago, this village that was known as Hikari was a part of a bigger village that was known as Omura. Because of the people's differences, the two were torn apart.

After a while, the village of Omura had allowed German forces known as Flugel to discreetly enter Japan and colonize them since the people of the village were easily bribed by their money, goods, and technology. This was the only way they could come in Japan since the government of this country banned all foreign countries to come in their territory. The village of Omura was then developed, it was transformed and ruled by the Germans who acted as shadows and worked behind the scenes. Omura was now a town that was known all over in Japan.

The Flugel pressured Shiori's family to agree to this colonization act, but they refused immediately and wanted nothing to do with it. They didn't want them spreading the word around about what they were trying to do, so they killed all of them. No one really knows about this. I, of course, am a exception. I used my special researching skills and found all of this out.

Well, I did have to shed blood a little for this tiny piece of information. Tiny details, you know..

Our mission – it was simple.

We were going to eliminate them.