"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light."– Plato

Chapter 2

Sasuke woke up in a bed that he didn't fall asleep in.

That seemed to be becoming a habit, one that he wanted to get rid of.

"Where am I?"

Looking around the room he found himself in, it seemed like the guest bedroom in someone's house. Why was he here? The man that attacked him did mention someone wanting him for something.

Deciding that being in a bed that wasn't his wasn't one of the things he really enjoyed in life, Sasuke got up, despite his muscles screaming out in pain at his every move.

He noticed that he was bandaged up slightly, but only his head had any new bandages on it. The bandages normally on his left arm looked untouched and his normally hidden torso bandages looked like they were left the same as well.

Creeping his way to the door, making no noises as he walked on instinct, he could pick up a conversation just outside the room.

"So my job is done?" He recognized the voice, it was the guy who beat him last night. His tone didn't seem to have changed, even though he was talking to someone Sasuke assumed was his employer.

"Yes, we've had a... change of plans. Your inability to do your job right has proven useful this one time, but fail like this again…"

The second voice was a woman's. It sounded like silk, but everything about it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"It's not my fault you can't give instructions to save your life. And you didn't even confirm if your info was correct!" The man sounded more annoyed and offended than angry, but his voice had been raised to the point that Sasuke thought it would have woken him up if he was still sleeping.

"Hmph. Anyway, I'll be taking my leave. You are no longer of any use, till next time, Gin." Sasuke assumed she left by the sound of the opening door he heard faintly and the footsteps coming in his direction.

"God, she's a bitch." The man, who he assumed was named Gin, muttered as he got closer to the room Sasuke was in.

Now, he wasn't sure of the situation, and the best way to get information currently was to pretend to be asleep. Not to mention it couldn't hurt to hide the fact that he'd heard a large portion of the conversation between Gin and the lady who hired him. Who knew how the man would react once he learned that Sasuke had eavesdropped.

So, being quick, but silent, Sasuke got into his bed, assuming a natural sleeping position and evening out his breathing. For some reason, all of this felt natural to him, but he'd think more about that later.

The door opened and in came Gin. Of course Sasuke's eyes were closed, so he couldn't see how the man looked currently, but he could feel it as the man approached, Gin was annoyed beyond belief. He didn't expect the blanket to be torn off of his body though.

"Time to get up! Turns out you weren't the one I was supposed to be after!" Sasuke jumped up from the surprise, surprise being something he didn't experience often. He almost yelled out about 27 profanities, but stopped himself when he realized he was supposed to just be waking up. He made a point to make his voice groggy, but some of his surprise was still evident in his voice.

"What? What do you mean?" Sasuke found himself to now be on the floor after jolting out of the bed. The fall hadn't hurt much other than his pride.

"I'm saying that my employer was too dumb to get the proper info for me and accidentally painted a target on your back. You fit all of the criteria they mentioned but apparently it's someone else I was supposed to grab. Even if I had gotten the person right it wouldn't have mattered anyway." A sigh escaped Gin's mouth as his normally smiling expression was turned sour.

"This means I can go home?" Sasuke talked cautiously, Gin already seemed to be on edge and he didn't want to be a potential 'stress reliever'.

"I guess so. No point in keeping you here any longer than I have too. You'd just be mooching off me. I do need to tell you a couple of things before you leave though, so wash up and meet me in the dining room. You'll be able to find it quite easily if you're looking." Gin pointed to the bathroom door that was open on one side of the room, something Sasuke somehow hadn't noticed before.

"Got it…" His wariness around the man was deserved, but he hadn't really switched up how he acted toward Sasuke. He had stressed it was simply business the night before, but even then, it paid to be cautious around people who could incapacitate you in a matter of seconds.

After washing up in the bathroom, Sasuke left the room he was staying in and finally saw the rest of the place he was in. It was a modern mansion, one that most couldn't afford if they didn't spend a single penny and worked every day of their lives. Marble floors, what looked like polished oak wood provided contrast with the lighter elements of the building.

The room he had been in led right to the living room through a small hallway. Connected to the living room, was the dining room, where Gin sat with a serious look on his face with a flyer or newspaper, Sasuke couldn't tell which it was.

As he was told, Sasuke made his way to the dining room and sat across from the silver haired man, who seemed to be ignoring his presence. About 30 seconds passed before Gin spoke up.

"As you learned of last night, you are a Yokai. Your physical abilities speak for themselves, and those red eyes of yours practically scream vampire. The energy you give off is also far from human. And as a Yokai living in today's society, you need to learn how to blend in." Gin took whatever he'd been reading and tossed it to Sasuke, prompting the boy to read it himself.

"Yokai Gakuen?" The large print at the top of the page seemingly advertised a school, though no further details were visible on the front.

"Yes, I suggest you enroll there next year."

"For what reason?" Of course, Sasuke wasn't stupid and had already come to a couple conclusions in his head about what Yokai Gakuen was for based off the name alone, but confirmation was needed.

"It's a place where you can learn to blend in with society, at least a little. The point of the school is to prepare the next generation of Yokai for the human world, since humans now outnumber Yokai by more than 1000 to 1 in some areas of the world. Not to mention Exorcists are still a prevalent threat, especially after you reach adulthood and they're able to track you down with relative ease."

Sasuke opened his mouth to interject but was stopped by Gin raising his hand up in a stopping motion.

"I know all of this stuff is new to you, but it would do you some good to listen. You may think that something like this is completely pointless for someone like yourself who has lived out most of their life as a human, but once you fully mature, your power will just be screaming to all Exorcists nearby that they need to take you out."

"Why are you helping me?"

Gin chuckled a but, his serious demeanor falling slightly. "Because if you get in trouble with Exorcists, it snowballs. As you are now, even an apprentice Exorcist would be able to put up a good fight against you, and if anyone kills you or takes you in, the Exorcist's power grow. They take our Youki and use it to grow exponentially stronger and track more of us down. You getting caught by anyone could cause me just letting you go to come back and bite me in the ass. Even I'm no match for the power of an Exorcist who's absorbed more than just a fully matured vampire."

The answer placated some of Sasuke's suspicions about Gin telling all this. Gin didn't seem like the type to help others out of the kindness of his heart, and he really wasn't. Someone like that doing an act of goodwill just to do an act of goodwill was something you needed to keep an eye on, since they had no qualms with stabbing you in the back at any time.

Silence was held between the two for quite some time before Sasuke broke it with one word.

"Fine."

He didn't want to go to Yokai Gakuen. Not because he had plans for his future that required another high school, or because he'd be leaving his friend behind, but for another reason entirely, one that Sasuke himself felt, but couldn't decipher.

He was sure if he chose not to go to Yokai there could be a couple of things that went wrong , including Gin doing plenty of things to try and make him go, so agreeing himself, despite his feelings was the best course of action currently.

"Good!" Upon his agreement, Gin's serious expression fell in a moment, bringing him back to the man whom he had met the other night. "With that out of the way, lets get you home."

Faster than Sasuke could react, Gin placed his pointer finger on Sasuke's forehead and injected him with what Sasuke assumed was the Youki the man talked about earlier with the Exorcists. He felt his consciousness start to slip away, and his own energy fight against the Youki that entered his system, allowing him to stay awake long enough to ask a question.

"Who… are you?"

"I guess I can tell you now, I'm Okuri Gin, it was nice meeting you, and I'll love to see how you grow from here."

The last part of Gin's sentence sent a shiver down Sasuke's spine, pricking a part of his mind he couldn't quite pinpoint. He was about to get it when he fell unconscious, preventing him from piecing together a memory. Internally, he cursed, as all perception of the world around him was robbed by the relieving feeling of sleep.

Togashi Sasuke was gone.

The raven haired student had been gone since Suzuki had found the note on his seat, and he wasn't sure what to do.

Did he spill about the note? Would that launch an investigation into Togashi's personal life? What exactly would it do?

In any case, it had been about three days since Togashi had come to school, and this would mark the fourth.

There was one student who seemed to miss Togashi for some reason, despite never being seen with him in the time he had come to school. It was strange idea in it of itself due to her being somewhat of a loner, but from what Suzuki could tell, it was the truth.

For someone to disappear after getting a letter like that… It brought ideas into his mind that Suzuki would have rather avoided. Either way, he was gonna turn in the note as evidence if Togashi didn't show up within the next couple of days. Even if something was found out about Togashi, at least they had a better chance at finding him.

His thoughts were cut short as Hasegawa-sensei entered the room, silencing all of the chatter in an instant.

"I'm sure that some of you have noticed the absence of Togashi-san from school, he is simply sick and staying with his mother until he recovers. Now let's get on with attendance."

Suzuki didn't buy it for a second, the note he had was the main reason for that.

Either way, now that they knew his supposed whereabouts, giving them the letter could be trouble for him or Togashi, so he put it at the back of his mind to focus on other things.

The best he could do was hope that Togashi hadn't gotten himself hurt or anything.

There were perks to having a doting mother.

The second Sasuke had said that he wasn't feeling well, she had driven all the way into the city to pick him up.

There was no way he'd be able to deal with everything in a place where he was supposedly a possible target, even though this time his capture was a coincidence.

Upon entering his room, he went straight to the bathroom, puking his guts out into the toilet. He had held it in the entire time he was in the city, due to fear of being seen as weakened, an easy target. Something in him told him that it was unacceptable to be seen like that.

After wiping his mouth, Sasuke stared at his face in the mirror, his anger spiking as it always did when he saw his own face. Something about him pissed him off, and when his eyes turned red in his anger, it pissed him off even more.

Splashing some water on his face from the sink, he cooled down, tearing his vision from the mirror and retreating back into his room. Looking at the time, he decided he should finally take a rest.

"3:56. I'll just sleep for an hour or two and get to the bottom of everything."

As he flopped down on his bed, the tiredness he had fought off since the last time he slept nearly two days ago came crashing down on him, pushing him into the realm of dreams.

Opening his eyes, Sasuke found himself in his body, but younger, around 13 or 14 instead of the 15 he was now.

His left hand was unscarred, but startled him when it sparked to life with electricity, staying condensed in his palm. Rushing forward against his will, Sasuke accelerated, his world tinging red as he did so. He sped toward a giant bolder, stabbing his left hand into it somehow.

For a moment, nothing happened, but then, he felt electricity flow through his body into his hand, exploding outwards and destroying the boulder from within. As he turned around, the dream started its transition into another.

But Sasuke still had questions. Was one of the powers of vampires electricity manipulation? How was he able to do it if not? He was barely able to grasp an idea before the dream fully shifted, bringing him to pure white space, with seemingly no end.

"Sasuke."

Hearing his name called from behind, Sasuke turned, coming face to face with the younger version of himself he was just occupying.

"You're…"

A slight chuckle escaped the boys lips, but it sounded empty.

"I'm you. And I'm not gonna let you make the same mistakes I did."

Sasuke stared at himself incredulously. What had he done in the past that was so bad?

"Watch yourself, don't despair. This is simply the next step in our lives. I left behind everyone, and you're not gonna do the same. Go live your life, and take the advice Okuri gave you. It might not be entirely accurate, but it'll be helpful."

Not entirely accurate? What?

"Until next time." With that, his younger self faded from existence, catapulting Sasuke back into consciousness.

Looking at the alarm clock on his bedside table, it turned out to be 7:30, but looking outside his window, it must've been 7:30 am, not pm. It was too dark out for 7 in the middle of spring.

There was no way his short dreams lasted over 15 hours in his mind, but dreams were a strange thing.

Hearing his stomach growling at him, Sasuke decided to go make himself some breakfast, but when he left his room he could already smell bacon, eggs, and waffles.

His mother was already up and making breakfast for the two of them. A small smile crept onto his face as he walked down the hall to the dining room, seeing his mother in her blue short sleeved shirt and jeans leaning over the stove.

"Oh! Sasuke! Good morning honey, I'll have breakfast done in a moment."

"Is there anything you need help with?" Sasuke walked over and hugged his mom, going over to the cutting board with a couple of uncut tomatoes still on it. "This?"

"If you could, that would be great." His mother's smile woke him up, so he washed his hands and got to cutting the tomatoes, making small talk with his mom as he moved his hands rhythmically.

For a moment, all of the problems present in his life disappeared for a moment. He felt as if everything was back to normal, back to how it was before he left for the city. But that wasn't possible, never again.

Sasuke reckoned his mother didn't know anything about his abnormalities. Something deep within his gut told him she never would, and that it would be better if she stayed oblivious. And even though Sasuke didn't like the feeling, he kept her out of it.

She knew he was experiencing problems because of his "special" abilities, that's why she brought him home without questioning much, and Sasuke appreciated her for it.

If anything, Sasuke would have to tell her about Yōkai academy, the only place he could learn more about himself. She'd understand, she would.

Togashi Sasuke was at school today.

He acted the same as always, but there was a tension to his movements not previously present. He'd always been stiff, but now, the boy was even more rigid with his movements than normal.

His coal black eyes darted across the room every time he entered, evaluating everything, looking for a single thing that changed, not sitting down till he was satisfied with his assessment.

It was something he'd heard of, and in those stories it only every had negative connotations.

So Suzuki needed to break the tension.

It was bothering him. Nobody else was close enough to the raven haired transfer student to notice these differences but him.

Togashi's eyes were wrong, just wrong. They didn't, or more like shouldn't, belong to someone Suzuki's age.

No, he didn't have the haunted thousand yard stare you heard about in veterans.

No, he didn't have the eyes of someone hurting beyond belief.

He simply looked scared.

Not scared as in a fear of spiders, or the dark, but a fear of something big, was present in his eyes.

The fear of something unimaginable. It was as if the fear was threatening to take over the teen's entire being.

So during lunch, Suzuki went to the roof, as per usual, and saw Togashi sitting in his usual spot, his eyes running a constant scan of the area.

Suzuki did something he hadn't done before and lifted himself onto the area above the door that Togashi seemed so fond of, and plopped himself down right next to the pale boy.

Apparently, he was the older of the two, catching Togashi's birthday by accident when Hasegawa-sensei was talking with the headmaster about something. He didn't need to be formal in any sort of way, but it was sort of an unspoken agreement between the two whenever they did talk, however briefly.

"Ne, Togashi-san,"

The black haired boy who had simply remained silent, although slightly surprised by Suzuki's actions, now seemed to ignore his classmate, not acknowledging the words spoken to him, but Suzuki continued nonetheless.

"I don't know what's going on in your life, and it's none of my business, but is it worthy of influencing you to this extent?"

Getting no response from the younger teen, Suzuki continued.

"Sure, for all I know, you just found out you'd die in the near future, or something just as bad, but is such a thing as fear capable of controlling you? Figure out what you need to do, have to do, and work from there."

Suzuki internally cringed at his words. He sounded like some character from an animanga, and he knew that wasn't how the world worked, yet his vocal cords continued to move and his mouth opened with his words.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't fear things or anything like that, all I'm saying is that you should control what you instead of letting your fears tell you what to do. That's all." This was the most either of them had talked to each other since they'd formally met, and it was hard to say that it wasn't awkward.

No response came from Sasuke, and this time, Suzuki didn't continue, choosing to start eating lunch in silence.

The next day, Sasuke looked better. It wasn't like he was back to normal, but he was better.

And that was more than Suzuki thought would happen.

I didn't mean for this to come out on Easter but it did so that's nice. Happy Easter I guess? I'll try to get one to two chapters out a month, but things might happen that stop me, my life is a little busy and there's the fact that I can't write too much or else I'll get burnout.

Anyway, the next chapter should be where canon starts, and from there I hope to branch off from canon as soon as possible without rushing things. Hopefully you guys can guess which version of Sasuke was transported into the Rosario verse, it should become more obvious as time progresses and there will be hints in his scattered memories.

Oh yeah, kid Sasuke's words will give some of you a hint as to what Sasuke is. Hopefully that hidden thing was clear.