Thanks for the support every, I really appreciate it. :D You guys are awesome! After this chapter, I don't think any of you will be confused with Shiori and Hotaru's short past they shared before the fanfic's plot started. Yes, I did not continue the cliffhanger from the previous chapter, so you all have to wait some more. Bwahah! I know I'm evil.

Contract

Odd square-shaped pattern ran across the shiny floor. There were no walls, no ceiling, no nothing. The platform the young girl was standing on was surrounded by a black abyss. Shiori didn't want to think what would happen if she accidentally fell of the edges of the floor that was elevating in the middle of nothing.

Who are you?

Where am I?

Am I still me?

Shiori found herself wanting to ask these questions as she saw black smog immersing and forming into a human figure one out of thin air. She found herself being mesmerized by this unfamiliar aura that had made its way to the eternal abyss, she was unable to speak or move.

Infront of her stood a man with ebony-colored hair and eyes that looked like they were made out of burning lava, his skin seemed like it lacked color and was frosty-looking. The man smirked at the baffled girl as last bits of smog drifted away, revealing his bizarre clothes that looked so out of place to her. Nonetheless, Shiori found the man enthralling somehow.

Shiori then noticed she hadn't been breathing for a couple of seconds. The blue-haired girl inhaled deeply and hugged herself, gathering all the strength she had cooped inside her to talk and move again. "A-am I dead? Are you a death god or an angel? – am I going to heaven? Please tell me I am!" her voice echoed through the place and she could feel the sound waves hitting back in the face, making her knees quiver.

That's right, she had fallen into the waterfall and remembered hurting her head in the fall. She was floating in the water, surrounded by her blood. She had to be dead. But as she looked down clothes, there weren't bloody or torn like they had been a while ago. Her bruises, cuts, injuries, and any sorts of marks somehow disappeared.

The man in return laughed out loud at the young lady's question. His eyes seemed to be glowing even more brighter as he laughed at her then, lighting up with amusement and deviousness. Shiori waited for an answer till he composed himself, spellbound.

Was what she said had just said really that hilarious? Her death didn't seem like a joke to her.

"Why, are you not a peculiar one! Angel? Heaven? – my, you have got it all wrong there, miss. Humans are such foolish creatures." The man said the last bit to himself but loud enough for Shiori to hear as he massaged his temple with a sneer.

"Yes, you are dead. But I am afraid I am not an angel, and I am definitely not here to take you to heaven. I am a demon, a pleasure to have a chance to meet you, miss." The man said pulling Shiori's hand forcefully and planting a kiss on it. Shiori hastily pulled her hand away from him.

A demon? Why did a demon appear in her death? Was this some kind of an obstacle for her to pass to go heaven? God's test? If she really died, she'd rather be in heaven with the rest of her family.

Shiori had been taught about demons and spirits ever since she was little, priests in Hikari even held rituals so that demons and impure spirits wouldn't harm the people of the small, peaceful village. However, this demon didn't fit the descriptions of the ones that were told. He looked just like a human, with a gorgeous appearance.

"I know what you are thinking right now, miss. I was summoned by the hatred in you as you fell from the waterfall to embrace your death," the man spat miss in a sweet but vicious tone at the same time, matching his smile. "I am here to make a proposition. I am giving you a chance to live again. For a price, of course.."

The demon's sneer widened as the young girl's eyes widened in horror. He could taste fear and anxiety.

Scrumptious.

---

"Another revenge scenario? – Oh my, have we not seen enough of those already? Humans are so predictable." The demon said as he pressed his palm against one of his cheeks and yawned, seeming obviously unexcited about his situation.

They were now sitting in a traditional Japanese rock garden, also known as the zen garden. The demon had somehow transformed the dark environment to an outdoors one. Shiori figured it was all an illusion.

There was no grass but tiny stones scattered across the surface in a wavy pattern with large rocks scattered around everywhere, the two being were occupying two of them. Shiori made a face at the dark-haired creature from the top of her rock. So far, she had noticed he was really rude and had no manners at all, even for a demon. He was quite the horrible thing.

"But then again – come to think of it, there is a twist in this scenario, isn't there? Usually, humans make me their servant, slave, or bodyguard but you are ready to make me your spouse? That's definitely a first." The demon glanced at the girl and a teasing smile spread across his face. "I am curious as to what is your reasoning behind this. Surely, you haven't fallen for me already, have you? Humans are such simple-minded creatures, afterall."

Shiori chose to ignore the irritating demon's later question. "If I make you my servant I can't keep you around with me all the time without making it appear suspicious to everyone since it's considered inappropriate for a master and a servant to be so close, especially of the opposite sex." The girl explained, evading the demon's gaze and looking up at the false jade-colored sky.

"This way.. you won't have an excuse to be away from me, at all. The people who want to kill me will obviously strike again, so I can't let down my guard. I can't afford to die again – not before completing my task."

"Hmm. I see."

" – I did prepare some terms, though."

The demon cocked a dark eyebrow. "Terms?"

"You said it was an official contract between a human and a demon, right? Every contract has terms. I'm giving away my soul to you, afterall. It's my right to have terms." Shiori said staring at the demon with a piercing look. Her face somehow still hinted hesitation.

Hotaru sighed. "You humans and your rights, so sickening. Fine, state them."

"First, you have to help me successfully get revenge on the people that killed my family, without a doubt. Second, you have to make sure my clan is stabilize before it's my time to go. Third, you can't be rude to me in any way – and stop saying bad things about humans! Fourth, there will be absolutely no vulgarity, you can not touch with me without my permission. No physical contact whatsoever. Fifth and the final one, is you have to train me to fight so I can stand up for myself when the time is right. You have to listen to all my other orders too, these are just the things you must know." The human anticipated the demon's reaction with high spirited Earth-colored eyes.

The demon smiled inwardly. He had to admit, he was a little taken back. She had thought about it, thoroughly.

"Oh my, so many terms.. are you really worth all that trouble? Fine, I guess I am in no position to refuse them."

Shiori beamed.

---

"Before I finalize our contract there is one last thing you are suppose to do, name me." There were now standing on the green-colored clouds. The human was starting to get tired of the random changing of environments. It felt pretty nostalgic. It was really cold, too.

Shiori cocked her head to the side. "Why can't we just use your real name? – come to think of it, you haven't even told me your name yet! I can't be bounded to a person who I don't even know the name of. What is it?"

The ominous-being grinned, revealing his tiny fangs on the top of his teeth. Shiori wondered if he was showing one of his demonic features as an act of intimidation.

"I have no name. My masters name me."

Shiori thought about this for a minute before answering again. How strange, demons didn't even have names? This was so trouble. Naming him something normal would feel really strange to her. But she had to think of something.

Think, think, think.

She got it!

"Okay, then I name you Hotaru."

The demon raised one of his eyebrows. "Hotaru? It does not really suit my style at all, but I suppose I can work with it. I am in no position to do or say anything about it."

He removed one of his gloves, exposing his long black nails and a marked hand. The newly named demon walked over to his soon-to-be-owner and shoved his hand in midair, motioning for her to do the same.

Shiori blinked, looking completely bewildered. This was all so strange, she's guessing it wasn't going to be any less strange from here on either. The nineteen-year-old took a deep breath and raised her petite hand to imitate his demonic one, nonetheless.

The demon's eyes then blazed again, this time the redness of his eyes pouring out of them. The girl flinched, she felt her feet starting to sink inside the oddly-colored clouds. The man's hand that was touching the girl's glowed and an electric-purple beam started to circle his hand, and then made its way by crawling over to the girl's body and seeping inside of her chest. Shiori gasped.

The girl felt like her entire body was on fire, she felt like something was roaming inside her body. She screamed, thinking the pain would decrease by doing so. It didn't.

The violet light sprouted across from her chest to her neck, stinging her skin. It seemed like an eternity until it slowly faded away, leaving a pentacle marked across her upper body from then on. Thus, the contract between the human girl and demon came into existence.