Crimso's Notes:
You know, there are days where I have a ton of things to say here, and there are days where there is nothing to say at all. This would be one of the days where there just isn't anything for me to say right here, other than it is still Winter Break. New Year's is coming up soon and I'm not sure what I'm going to do. 2012 should be an interesting year.

Note one: Okay, so this chapter is going to take place throughout MANY years of Takeru's life, so I will mention what year it is and how old he is at the beginning of each scenario in italics. When there is no date at the beginning, that means that it occurred in the same year as the last one. This is all flashback, and because of that, the flashbacks will not be in italics like they usually are. No one wants to read a chapter fully in italics. It would be like me writing the whole Makoto legend in all italics.

Note Two: 3rd to last chapter. I can't believe it.

Note Three: Takeru, in 1983, is fifteen in case you do not remember.

Note Four: I hope I didn't get the years wrong.

Note Five: These scenes are snippets of his memories, so they may occur in the beginning of a scene, in the middle… etc. It may feel as if you are hopping into a scene that has already started.

~~~~X~~~~

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Corruption

1973, age five.

In the middle of a room, mostly empty, sat a young Takeru, the age of five. He was wearing a rather traditional and expensive looking kimono as he looked up at his Grandmother, the only other person in the room. She had a serious look in her eyes, but then again, when did she not have a serious look? Every time the boy would look at his grandmother, he would find not one bit of comfort in her eyes, they seemed cold and dark. However, what she could act like sometimes was a completely different matter.

She had brought him into her room for a lecture on who he was to become later in the future, when he was big and all grown up. He had heard stories about what he would have to do, and had a very good idea about who he would become. However, his grandmother would constantly have to remind him of this, for some reason Takeru couldn't figure out.

"So, Child, do you understand who you are?" Oryou spoke to the boy.

"Y-Yes, Grandmother…"

She eyed him. "I do not think that you truly understand, Takeru," she grumbled. She turned towards the window, looking out of it. "Come here, Takeru."

Takeru was about to ask why, but he realized that he shouldn't be asking questions towards his grandmother, for she was the one in charge. He nodded and did not hesitate as he advanced towards the window. He stood on his tip-toes as he tried to stare out of the window, only catching a small glimpse of what was outside.

Oryou sighed as she noticed this, but did nothing to fix the problem. "Listen, boy. Outside the window is our village, Onigafuchi. It may not be too populated, but as you can see, it is large for how many people live in it and contains a whole bunch of look. Every single acre of land out there that is called Onigafuchi will belong to you one day, and you will have to control it." She paused as she turned to look towards the struggling boy, who then stopped when he saw her gaze on him. "You will have to become a great head, Takeru. Every one will be looking up to you to make the right choices and you will have to do so. As a Sonozaki, you cannot seem weak."

Takeru nodded in response to her words, not even questioning them. "Yes…"

"Even if that means concealing who you truly are, Takeru, you have to become a true Sonozaki Head, one that rules his people rightly and one that is great. You have to be someone respected, someone who makes people fear to disrespect you." She looked back out the window, at the land before them. "That is what a Sonozaki head is, Takeru, and you will be no exception."

Takeru could only nod his head. At times, he could be a little too scared to say anything back to his grandmother. She could be scary to a boy his age.

"But that is not the only weight on your shoulders, not the only weight by far," she spoke, turning to look at him. "Takeru, please sit down. I have something to discuss with you."

Takeru look up at his grandmother in confusion, wondering what it could be. Her voice seemed serious to him, even more serious than usual. That thought scared him. He didn't like it when people were serious. Wondering what it could be, the boy took a seat on the floor once again, bringing himself away from the window showing off what land would become his in several years.

Oryou sat down as well, right in front of the boy, and as she did so, her stern expression did not change.

"Takeru, I'm sure that you have heard of The Legend of the Hero," she spoke to the boy.

The young boy thought about that for a little bit. The Legend of the Hero… where had he heard that from before? After giving it a bit of thought, he recalled his mother mentioning it to him, though the context in which she mentioned it he wasn't quite sure of. He was sure it involved the incident his mother kept talking about whenever he wasn't around, but that aside… The Legend of the Hero was a legend about a hero who would save Onigafuchi from danger one day, a hero that was very great and strong. He nodded upon recalling most of it.

"Good. Then you know that in the legend, there is a great hero that will arise and save Onigafuchi from danger of destruction, a powerful hero who will be forever remembered," she said.

Takeru just nodded along with every word.

"You're old enough to know now, Takeru. The Hero would be born when a certain number of children are born in one of the Three Great Families, and you are that number child for the Sonozaki family. The Kimiyoshi family and Furude family have yet to reach it," she explained to the boy.

He blinked in confusion. "H-Huh?"

"You're the Hero, Takeru."

This was a little much for the boy to take in. All he had heard about the Hero were great things, how powerful he would be and how great he would be. Does that mean that he was powerful and great? And did that mean he would save Onigafuchi? His eyes grew wide at such a thought, and he could feel his heart race increase. He was not sure what to think about it, and wasn't sure if his heart was racing from fear or excitement.

"I know, that's quite a bit for you to take in." She sighed. "One day, Takeru, you're going to become someone great and take down the enemy, saving the village. For that reason, Takeru, I want you to understand more what responsibility rests on your shoulders, for what you are you are going to become."

He looked back out the window. That was going to become his, he would have to rule over it, and he would have to save it. That was a lot. But it kind of reminded him of those stories he sometimes heard about great heroes, so for a little boy like him, the idea made him excited. While he had previously been a little worried and scared, when he thought about it more, the opinion he had changed very quickly.

"So, what do I have to do?" he asked excitedly. "Does this mean I'm gonna be trained?"

Oryou nodded. "We're going to teach you how to fight when you're a little older, but for now, I am going to stick to teaching you what it is like to be the head." She shot him another look, narrowing her already stern eyes to make them a little more serious. "As long as for now you understand what lies on your shoulders, I am fine. We will continue this session later. You may go."

Takeru nodded and left, feeling a little excited about the whole situation. Was he going to be one of those awesome heroes he had heard about before? Well, yes he would. The Hero was called the Hero for a reason. He was a great, strong, powerful hero. These thoughts made him smile as he walked down the hallway, back to his own room.

However, as he was walking, a door opened, revealing the figure of his mother. He turned around to look at her, a huge smile on his face.

"Mom!" he cried out to her. "Guess what Grandma just told me!"

Akane blinked at her son, a smile growing across her face. "Hm, what did she tell you?" she asked him.

"She told me that I'm the Hero!" he bellowed out, throwing his hands up in the air for emphasis. His mother didn't seem to be surprised, however, though he took no notice of that and continued onwards. "I'm going to save Onigafuchi one day, Mom! Just like the Heroes in the stories! I am going to become very powerful and strong and everyone will look up to me become I'm a Hero!" he cried out, excited about the whole matter.

His mother advanced towards him, then patting him on the head with a smile on her face. "Oh, that's wonderful, sweetie. I'm glad you finally found out. You'll make a good hero."

But as Takeru looked up at his mother, there was something strange about it. She seemed uneasy, uneasy enough for a young boy like himself to tell that there was something funny with her smile. It looked kind of fake.

But he ignored that and continued on. "Mom, who is the bad guy I'm going to have to beat? I think that you told me once but I forgot," he asked.

"The twins," she answered, her voice shaky as she spoke those two words for some odd reason. "They're your enemy."

He grinned. "Those stupid twins won't stand a chance against the great hero Takeru!" he called out, raising a fist into the air and doing a fake punch. "WHAM! I'm the Hero!"

Akane faked a giggle. "You show them," she told him gently before walking off.

As Takeru watched her leave, he noted that she didn't seem very enthusiastic about the whole situation. Usually she would act very shocked or happy whenever he told her sometime good that had happened to him or something exciting, but she didn't have that kind of reaction. He stared at her as she walked by, wondering why she had that kind of reaction. And when she did, it seemed a little funny; a little different from the other reactions.

He blinked and wondered what that was all about.

~~~~X~~~~

1974, age six

Training continued onwards for the next year, with Oryou educating him about what he needed to do to become the perfect leader and hero. Despite being at a young age, he was taking this in quite well. In his mind, he knew that he had to become someone great, that he would be the best Hero and leader the whole village of Onigafuchi would ever have. She would tell him how to do many things, like how to control someone or how to act properly in front of someone. The training for combat had not begun, but she didn't plan to give him that for a while.

Recently, though, she had been talking about another subject, something that he found rather interesting.

Demons.

He knew well about the demons that lived in the village and how they owned some and controlled them, but learning about their behavior was interesting. They used to be evil creatures under the rule of the evil Demon King, Makoto, until a brave man named Koichi killed him and forced the demons to obey humans. Since then, all demons obeyed humans no matter what the order was. He could tell a demon to clean his room and they would, something he enjoyed, simply because the boy hated cleaning his room. They also didn't have human emotions, so they would not be happy or sad or anything similar to that.

He had not seen a demon before, but when he asked his Grandmother if he could go down and take a look, she would always say that he was too young.

He didn't understand why, though. He was six! He was old enough to look at demons! He was big now, after all. A demon could not scare him.

Grumbling as he walked back from his grandmother's room after another attempt at convincing her, he muttered things to himself about how the hero should be able to see demons from a young age so that he could take them down. The twins, the bad guys of the tale, would probably have demons or be demons. He would have to understand that to take down the twins, and learning now would be good so that he could become even stronger when he was older.

That's when his ear picked up something, a word. It was a word he had been thinking about just then when he heard it.

Twins.

He turned towards the closed door, wondering what the conversation in there was about. Did it have to do with who the twins were and how he could take them down or anything similar? No matter what the case was, it had to relate to The Legend of the Hero, so he listened closely.

"…I know the whole legend is upsetting, Akane… but I think we need to accept it," he heard his father speak.

So it is about the legend! He had to listen more closely now, he decided. He was the Hero, after all.

"I don't want to, though. Why is it that this cursed legend is hurting our children?" said his mother's shaky voice.

Huh? What did she mean by "her children?" They only had him!

"I don't like it at all, either. But we have to accept what's happened and move on. We have Takeru now, so you don't need to remember them," his father's voice reminded his mother.

"But it's not the same! I don't care about that! I just wish my little ones had never been killed, then there would be no need for all this silly hero business," she spoke out.

Takeru, at this point, was very confused by what they were talking about. It had to do with the hero and… their… children? He could hear his mother crying on the inside of the door, and that was the fact that was scaring him. He had never heard his mother crying before.

"I know what you want, Akane…" said his father's voice. He sighed. "You just wish you had the twins back."

The Twins…! An alarm went off in his head as they mentioned his enemy, and he gritted his teeth. Did they appear to them? He would crush them if they did! But something was odd about that, he was saying that she wished that she had the evil twins back. Why would she wish for such a thing? The twins were evil, so they should not come back, unless it was for him to defeat them and prove himself a hero.

There was more sobbing. "I do, dear, I do. I wish I had them here with me…"

"Instead of Takeru, huh?"

He blinked. His name had been mentioned.

"Yes. Instead of that boy…"

He could feel his heart race in his chest, along with confusion and all similar emotions that went along with it. What in the world were they talking about? ! They were mentioning twins, and how they wanted them instead of him? Why would they want two, evil people instead of him, the great hero? And why were his loving parents SAYING these things in the first place? ! He also didn't like how his mother placed emphasis on "that boy." It sounded mean and he didn't like it.

"I just want them back. I know it's been eight years since they died, but I want my twins back. I wish I could have just kept them. Then she forced me to have another child, a child I don't even want! That stupid Legend of the Hero… I hate it." This time, her voice seemed to be a little bitter and harsh, tainted by the fact that she was still crying.

"Don't say that. Takeru didn't do anything wrong."

"Except exist. I'd trade him for the twins in a heartbeat. I'd do anything to get my beautiful twins back. I… hate the legend. And… I hate that Takeru…"

Something went off in his head that told him to back away quickly and run back to his room, so he did. Thoughts swirled in his head as he ran back, and he realized that he had done a bad thing by listening into what they were talking about. No boy his age should have ever heard that from his parents. His mother had just said that she hated him, and that she would do anything to get the twins back, who were evil. And since she had mentioned children…

Were the twins her children? His siblings?

He froze.

This was just too much for a boy his age.

He ran into his room, throwing himself down onto the futon and burying his face in his hands.

His mother had just said that she didn't love him, and that she would trade him for the twins in a heartbeat, who were supposedly his other siblings. This very thought made his heart crash and sink, and it killed him on the inside. He finally understood why his mother had seemed uncomfortable when talking about the legend to him last year, and how she had seemed to fake her smile, acting with fake emotions and pretending to be happy for him.

But wasn't that how she had always acted?

He thought about it. Now knowing the truth, he realized that that was indeed the case. His mother had always acted that way in front of him, having been hiding something.

She… doesn't love me.

That thought kept echoing in the boy's head, and would not leave.

So, until it did, he sat there and cried.

~~~~X~~~~

1975, age seven

After the situation had happened, the boy had actually asked Oryou about the twins, and if she knew anything about them.

This was the response he had gotten:

"I do know about the twins, Takeru. It's about time I told you about what happened before you, about the children that came before you. Before you were born, two years before, actually, your mother gave birth to a pair of twins. However, seeing as they may be a threat and the villains that would bring destruction to Onigafuchi, I took them away from her before she could see them and murdered them both, just minutes after they had been born. This may seem cruel, but it was for the best. Now, your mother has not gotten over this and is heartbroken over the whole incident. She still may say that she misses them, but I want you to remember one thing. They are dead. They will never come back. She will outgrow them in time, and you will have nothing to worry about. So forget if she's been acting odd towards you, she will soon forget about this and love you more than she ever loved those twins as time passes."

He had kept these thoughts in mind for the last year, and he had decided that there was no trouble in waiting. Those evil twins would be forgotten about soon. They were dead, after all.

But one day, Oryou had finally complied with his request to go and see the demons. When she did, though, she seemed very solemn for some strange reason.

"I think you're old enough to know now," she said as they walked down the steps leading to the main room in which the demons were contained. He was looking at the wooden door that was blocking his view from the demons curiously, wondering what could be on the other side. He wasn't really paying too much attention to what his grandmother was saying because his head was full of curiosity.

"Takeru, when I show you this, you have to promise to tell absolutely no one. No one."

He wasn't sure why she was being so strict about it, but he nodded his head.

Oryou eventually pulled open the wooden doors blocking their view, and as soon as she did, the boy excitedly stepped inside and took a look around.

The whole place had brown walls and a gray floor, and there wasn't very much color in sight. There was one main cell sitting there in the front, and that cell was positioned in front of a wall that went down the middle of the room, separating the place into two aisles. On the opposite side of the wall on both sides were endless rows of cells, cells that contained demons of all kinds. Some cells within the wall separating the two sections became visible further down the aisle. He blinked curiously as he looked at the demon in the main cell, a demon with black hair and large white horns.

"Master!" he cried out.

"Hello, Kenji," spoke Oryou as she walked up to the demon. "I am here to show my grandson around the place and teach him a little more about demons."

The demon, apparently named Kenji, looked at the boy and nodded his head. "He looks like he'll be a good head someday," he commented.

"Yes, and you will obey him," grumbled Oryou.

"Without question," Kenji added.

"Yes, good to know that you still follow orders after all these years…"

Takeru looked at the demon, confused. His big, green eyes were blinking at him as he observed the demon very closely. He looked like a completely normal human, aside from the horns on his head. He looked down at his neck and saw a collar around his neck, one that was made of strong metal and was lined with spikes that did not look like they were sharp at all. In the front there was an engraving of his name, Kenji.

"Takeru, this is my head demon, Kenji. He is the strongest of all demons and he is in charge of the other demons, though under us when it comes to orders. You will control him some day along with the rest of these demons," the old woman explained.

His eyes went wide. "Whoa…" he whispered as he stared at the demon before him. He was so cool and he looked so strong, and he would be under his control when he grew up. Suddenly, he couldn't wait until he was older.

"Moving on," Oryou spoke.

The two of them took the left aisle and began to walk down the path, looking at the demons that were trapped in the cells. There were all different kinds of demons. There were some with horns and some without horns. There were some that had sharper fangs and some that had rather small fangs. There were some that chose to keep their claws unsheathed and some that chose the opposite. On top of that, many of them had different hair colors and eye colors. It was very interesting to the boy.

One thing that did not change from demon to demon, though, was the fact that each one of them was wearing a spiky collar around their necks. What did change about that was the number that was written on their collar.

"Why are there numbers on their collars, Grandmother?" Takeru asked.

"I have explained to you. They do not have names, so they have numbers." She pointed to a demon in one of the cells. "He is Number Eighteen," she switched the direction her finger was pointing in to another demon. "And she is Number Nineteen. No demons deserve to have names unless they are the head demon, so Kenji is the only exception. Kai is a demon owned by the Kimiyoshis who has a name, and Kaede is the one who is owned by the Furudes."

"Oh…"

He did recall that fact, and he realized he was stupid for not remembering it. He had been listening to intently to the facts about demons, after all.

As they came to the end of the aisle, Oryou halted, and Takeru took this as a sign to do the same. He looked at his grandmother, wondering why she suddenly stopped like that.

"Takeru, allow me to correct what I said to you before," she spoke.

Takeru didn't say anything to that.

"You can tell people what you have seen up until this point," she said, "but you are not allowed to say a word about what you are about to see to anyone at all besides me and the servants who work down here. Especially not your parents." She turned to him, a gaze sterner than ever before burning right into Takeru's green eyes. "Do you understand?"

All Takeru could do to that was nod. Her look was scaring him too much.

"Good," she breathed. "And don't be mad."

Those words caused his curiosity to grow to its highest level, but he still remained silent. The two of them exited the aisle, and the first thing that greeted Takeru was a single cell in the very back. It was completely away from all the rest of the cells of some strange reason, causing him to blink in confusion. Slowly, the boy walked up to the cell, wrapping his hands around the bars as he looked at what was inside of it.

Inside the cell were two, young girls with the same color green hair, both of them fast asleep. The two of them were cuddled up against each other, their arms wrapped around each other and one of the demon's heads placed near the crook of the other's neck as they slept peacefully. Because of this, their eye color could not be determined. But this did not stop Takeru from realizing what they were.

They were identical twins.

He turned to Oryou, his eyes wide.

"They're the twins!" he cried out. "They're the bad guys! What should I do? Should I kill them? !" he asked. He whipped his head back to the two demons, knowing that the two of them were evil beings that had to be destroyed. He was the Hero, after all. He wasn't too sure of what he should do, though. They had just appeared to him like this, and they certainly didn't look evil.

"No!" she hissed almost instantly, taking the boy aback. "Do not lay a hand on them!"

"I don't get it, though. They're the evil twins!" he cried out. "I'm the Hero! Shouldn't I take them down or something?"

She shook her head. "Child, you don't get it, do you?" she sighed.

"I don't get what?"

Oryou sighed once again. "It looks like I have to spell it out for you." She stepped closer to the cell, wrapping a hand around one of the bars of the cell. "Those two twins in there are your older sisters," he told him.

His eyes went wide and he whipped towards them. Now that she mentioned it, they did have a similar color hair as him, only lighter. He gasped as he realized what this meant. Oryou had not killed her granddaughters. The words that she had spoken were echoing in his head, the ones about the fact that they were dead meaning that his mother would move on and forget about them. If they were alive, then his mother would never move on!

"Your mother doesn't know. Don't tell her or your father, no matter what," she said, sternly. "But I am sure you weren't about to, judging by the look on your face right now.

Takeru did indeed look horrified at the very sight of them.

"Listen, your mother doesn't know. She will never know. I will never show them to her. As such, she will forget that they existed mostly and move on. Every thing is going to be okay," she spoke.

She was right, Takeru realized. He had no reason to fear his mother finding out about the twins and losing his place in life. As long as she never saw them, they didn't need to worry, and he could continue onwards in life. With this in mind, he set his goal in mind. He would never ever speak about this to his mother, and he would hide them from his mother no matter what the cost was. If he could do that, then everything would be okay, even if they were still alive.

He nodded with this plan. It would all be okay.

~~~~X~~~~

A few months later, Takeru found himself playing in the garden, bored. Ever since that day, Oryou had said that he was not allowed back down there and that she had just shown him so that he could take a look as the head, and that he could go back down there when he was older. He grumbled with this thought as he kicked a ball he had brought outside without any thought. He wanted to see those demons again, and check up on his sisters. For some reason, something was telling him that he needed to keep a very close eye on them. He felt as if if he were to leave them for one second, his mother would find out about their existence.

He hated that thought. His mother could never know.

He kicked the ball without thinking, watching as it rolled across the grass. He was bored of playing with the ball. It was never his sort of thing, anyways. He needed to find something else to do.

Without even bothering to put the ball away or anything like that, the boy wandered off. Looking about the garden, he wondered what interesting place he should go for an adventure. Should he visit the koi pond? No, he decided. That was boring and the most entertainment he could get out of that was sticking his finger into the cool water and watching as the koi went to inspect it. Should he see the flowers, then? No… he wasn't into flowers, either.

He turned around and looked into the forest. Smiling with mischievousness, he decided that was the place he wanted to go. He ran into the forest without a thought, grinning. He wasn't supposed to go in there for a number of reasons, a lot of them being the fact that the entrance to the basement where the demons were kept was there. This was something that increased his need to explore, however.

When he got to the end of the forest area, he noticed that the steal doors that kept the demon basement shut were wide open. The servants were probably doing some work in there, he concluded. A thought filled his mind. What if he were to go in there? He was curious to see it again, after all. He would be scolded later, but who cared? He just wanted to take a look inside.

He entered the basement and walked down the stairs, getting to the open wooden doors. He went right by them right away, and then into the area in which the demons were kept.

He looked about. Servants were in there with plastic bags full of meat, and they were throwing some slabs into cells. The demons then proceeded to chomp down on the meat hungrily, enjoying the taste of it thoroughly. Now that he thought about it, he remembered Oryou saying that they didn't often feed the demons because of the money it required to feed them every so often, so they would get food maybe once a month. The demons were always eager to get new food.

But what was on his mind right now was the subject of the twin demons, his sisters.

He went down the aisles, ignoring the servants who questioned what he was doing there. He ignored all the other demons who stared at him curiously (well, the ones who didn't get the food yet, anyways. The ones who did were too busy eating) and ran to the very back of the basement, where he was met by a man pulling out some meat from a plastic bag, gazing at his still sleeping sisters.

He ran up to the servant right away, much to the man's surprise.

"Takeru? Did Oryou say you can come down here?" he asked.

Takeru nodded. "Yes," he lied. "She said I could observe you feeding the demons."

He held the meat at his side, and he looked at the two, sleeping twin demons. "Do you know about them?" he asked, referring to their identity.

"Yes, I do," he answered.

The man nodded. "Good." Then, he paused, looking at the meat that was in his hand and then at the still sleeping twin demons. "Well then, would you like to try out feeding these two for yourself? It will be an interesting experience," he offered, a smile on his face as he suggested this idea to the boy.

This did sound interesting to Takeru, so he nodded his head and smiled. "Oh yes, I would love to try!"

The man patted him on the head as he handed him the slab of meat. "The door is open. All you have to do is set down the meat and they will wake up instantly at the smell of it. It's that simple! No danger involved at all. The demons won't hurt you or scratch you or anything like that," he explained to the boy.

Takeru opened the metal door, which let out a creaking sound as it did so. This was enough to stir awake the twin demons, and when they caught the scent of the meat, they instantly shot up from sleep and sat next to each other, gazing at the meat with identical looks of eagerness on their face as they waited patiently for the boy to give them their food.

He stepped into the cage, holding the meat above their heads, ready to drop it.

But before he could, one of the demons grasped for the meat, and he reflexively pulled it back up higher, much to the demon's annoyance. The other twin tried to reach for it too, batting at it with her claws, but he pulled it away from her once again.

Suddenly, a fun idea popped into his head. He held the meat above them teasingly, and one of the demons swiped for it. He brought it away from her the moment she did, causing the next twin to try to do the same. He stood on his tip-toes as he held the meat up higher and higher, as high as his hands would allow him to as the demons tried snatching it.

They stood up and went for it, causing the boy to hide the meat behind his back. When the demons reached for it behind his back, he held it higher.

The servant frowned. "I don't think you should do that, Takeru. Just give them their meat…"

He ignored the man. This game was just too fun! The demons tried grabbing it higher up behind his back, but he removed the meat from behind his back and at his side. They went for his side, and he held it high up in front of him. When they went for that, he changed the position of the meat again. It was really fun for him!

But not for the demons. Tears began to fill their eyes in frustration, just wanting the meat so that she could go ahead and eat it. However, one of them quickly shook off those tears, while the other began to cry a little more. The demon that shook off the tears grew a very, very, very angry look on her face. She began viciously grabbing for the meat, and the boy took it as a sign to increase the pace. He changed positions of the meat over and over again, much to the demon's annoyance.

"Give me the meat!" she demanded.

"You have to catch it first if you want to win!" he teased.

The demon got even more angry with this and began furiously grabbing for it. But once again, the boy would just change it. When she went for it in the front, he would put it behind his back. When she went for it in the back, he would hold it higher. When she went for it higher, he would put it lower at his side. When she went for his side, he would go back to the front and repeat this process. It was fun for the boy. It was much more fun than playing with a stupid ball!

The demon's frustration was at its peak. She became so frustrated that she brought her claws out, and quickly swiped her claws right down the boy's chest, digging deeply.

He screamed out in pain and dropped the meat right away. The demon who had been crying lunged for the meat, the tears instantly fading away like they were never even there, while the other just sat there with a triumphant smirk on her face.

"I win!" she declared before moving to go join her sister and eat her meat.

"Number Twenty-Seven!" he yelled out. "I'll have to scold you for that later!"

The demon ignored him and ate her meat.

"Whatever, that doesn't matter right now." He turned towards Takeru. "Let's get you up for some aid, right this moment!"

He quickly locked the door and ran the stairs with the injured Takeru, who was clutching the long rake mark across his chest. It was bleeding horribly, and the pain was simply terrible. The demon had clawed him very deeply. They ran across the yard, the servant helping him across as the loss of blood was beginning to make him rather dizzy.

"Oryou-sama!" the servant yelled out. "Oryou-sama!"

The old woman came from her room, looking a little irritated. "What is it, Yu—" She was instantly cut off when she took a look at her son. "What happened? !" she instantly demanded.

"I'll explain later. Take him to your room and I'll get the doctor!" cried the servant as he handed Takeru off to the old woman.

Oryou sighed as she looked at the boy. He could tell she wanted to be harsh with him, but she knew that it probably wasn't the right time to be mad at him. He was horribly hurt, after all. She could scold him after he was healed. She took him to her room and lay the crying boy right down on the futon, though she did not tuck him in so that the wound was still visible.

The doctor came shortly and bandaged up his wounds, dealing with them and putting treatment on them.

"It's a pretty serious cut, it'll probably scar," the doctor informed the woman. "Demon cuts are usually serious and deep and they take a while to completely heal, but I have all I can do. Only time can do the rest," he explained, packing his stuff back up. He looked at the boy sternly. "Please don't go near demons ever again, they usually don't attack but it's not good to be near them so young." He stood up with his things.

"Thank you, Doctor," Akane spoke.

"It's no problem. Do tell me if things get worse. With that…"

The doctor left the room, leaving behind Takeru, Akane, Oryou, and the servant who had been with Takeru at the time of the injury.

"So, tell me what happened," Akane spoke to the servant.

He sighed. "Well, he came down here and told me that Oryou-sama had told him to come down so that he could see us feed the demons. Naturally, I offered him if he wanted to feed the demons. He accepted… but…" he rubbed the back of his head. "He made up this game in which he moved the meat around so that the demons could not get it, and one of them got so frustrated that she went ahead and clawed him, causing him to drop the meat."

Oryou sighed. "Which demons?"

"Number Twenty-Seven and Number Twenty-Eight."

This caused her to sigh once again. "Thank you, you're excused. Go finish your work or something," she ordered the servant,

"You are welcome." The servant bowed and left.

As Takeru lay in bed, he thought about the game and how the demon had scratched him. That demon was his own sister. With that scratch and how painful it had been, he decided that he did NOT like his sister one bit. He was curious about them before and felt fine because he knew that Akane would never find out about them, but now, a burning hatred was running in his veins. He decided that he would not just accept them. He would do whatever he could to prevent Akane from finding out about them, no matter what the cost was. His sisters were cruel and evil, like the legend said. They didn't look all that evil when he saw that at first, but… no. He knew now that they were definitely evil.

Don't worry, Takeru. You will kill them one day.

That thought calmed him down a little. One day, he would be able to get rid of those evil beasts once and for all, and become a true hero, just like the legend said. He suddenly really wanted the day to come, and he was suddenly very aware of his position as a hero. He would not be evil if he were to kill those stupid demons. He would, in fact, become someone wonderful and great for killing those evil twins.

He grinned at the thought.

One day, he was going to become someone great and destroy what had just caused him pain. Then, everyone would recognize him for doing so.

He couldn't wait for that day to happen.

~~~~X~~~~

1978, age ten

Takeru could only stand there in complete horror as he looked about the basement. It was a huge mess. Everywhere around him lay dead corpses of demons, coating with thick, red blood. He was now looking at Kenji, the head demon of the family. He was covered in blood, his face full of complete and utter shock. It was appropriate, though. He had not been expecting Oryou to turn on him, and when she ordered him to not defend himself, he hadn't actually except her to kill him.

"These demons are cursed, Takeru. We can't go on living like this."

Those words burned in his head. Those were the words she had said before she went ahead and slaughtered them all. Though, he had to wonder what she meant by that.

But that wasn't the main thing on his mind right now.

He ran down the aisles full of dead demons, ignoring the disgusting smell that was around him. It had been a day since the killing, and none of the bodies had been bothered to be moved. The stench was awful. He reached the end of the aisle, getting to the very back of the basement. His running turned into walking as he slowly approached the back of the room, to the cell.

His grandmother was standing in front of the cell as she looked down upon the twin demons, who were peacefully sleeping. Anyone who saw them would think that they were dead, slaughtered just like the rest, and Takeru would think that too if he didn't know any better.

"Takeru, I'm bringing them up," she informed him.

A small alarm went off in his head, wondering if what he thought she was saying was true.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"To their mother. To Akane. I don't want her to be sad anymore. These two have no reason to be here anymore, and they will have much more use back with their mother," Oryou explained. She reached into her pocket, pulling out a bunch of shining keys. She stuck one in the lock, and at that very sound, an even louder alarm went off in his head.

"NO!" he yelled out without thinking.

There was some stirring from the twins at that sound, but neither of them woke.

"What do you mean by that, Takeru?" Oryou asked her grandson. "Why no?"

"W-Well…" He needed to come up with some idea, so that it wasn't suspicious. "Mom would be angry with you. Imagine her reaction and you having to explain why you hid them from her for no reason and turned them into demons," he spoke.

Oryou stopped for a moment, thinking about this deeply. She sighed. "You're right. What in the world am I going to say to Akane?" There was worry in her eyes as she looked up, thinking about it hard. "Ah…"

"So don't let them go. Besides, I think we need a few demons to do chores and fighting if it is needed. Like… they could take down robbers," he suggested.

Oryou thought about this for a while, and silence followed while she did. After a while, Oryou locked the door back up and put the keys back in her pockets, grumbling.

"I guess you're right. Well, I'll find some use for them…"

She began to walk away, and as she did so, Takeru grinned wildly. He had blocked the evil twins from meeting their mother, and everything from being ruined.

And one day, I will completely take you down.

Yes, the thought of that was nice. He was the Hero. He would someday destroy the evil twins.

Hurry up, day. I want to become a Hero and destroy them… right now.

~~~~X~~~~

1982, one year ago. Age fourteen.

Throughout the last seven years, the boy had kept a close eye on those demons and made sure that they would never be shown to their mother. Even when Oryou did not kill them after killing all the other demons and suggested that they bring them to their mother so that she would no longer be unhappy, he had instantly rejected it. It was perfect, and there were no flaws in his watch so far. The twins would never be found out about until they revealed themselves as the villain, and then as the Hero, he would take them down.

The last few years had been better for him, actually. Akane actually had become genuinely loving, something he appreciated. However, the topic of the twins would still come up every so often, so it wasn't like it was completely forgotten. Well, that was impossible, anyways. She could never forget that. Still, though, there was no way to know what was on her mind when she was on her own.

Takeru had decided to study more about The Legend of The Hero. And what better way to study than to read The Legend of Makoto and Koichi? It was the copy Koichi himself had written, and he found the whole thing very interesting. So far, the most shocking part was that Makoto was not male. "He" was, in fact, female. It had been something he noticed right away and at first thought it was a mistake, but as he read on, he discovered that it was really true.

He didn't mention it to anyone, though.

He was at the great climax, reading what had happened. Koichi was now being attacked by a massive amount of demons, but he was too strong for them! He was describing how he killed each and every one of the demons who tried to attack him. But, unfortunately, it left enough time for Makoto to get away. However, he was now running through the crowd, through the battlefield stained with black and red blood, to the forest where she had run to.

He found her there, and when she saw him, she was in shock. There was already no match! Koichi noted in his book that she was a lot smaller than him, and seemed very young. Some of the other demons… no, most of the other demons seemed older than her. The size difference was too great for Makoto to do anything to hurt the man. Koichi was just too powerful.

He read through the scene excitedly. This was the part where The Legend of the Hero was mentioned.

"Any last words, demon?" I asked.

"Yes," the beast managed to speak. "Destruction will come to your village in the future. I can just see it."

"And how will this happen, Makoto?" I practically spat the beast's name out. I doubted her completely.

"It will happen like this." The vile demon paused. "…One day, there will be a man that comes to the village. He is the enemy. He will destroy all of your village, every last man and every last building you have. Everything will be gone. Onigafuchi itself will be forgotten!" she yelled out to me.

When I heard those words come from the demon's mouth, I knew it could not be true. Our glorious village would not come to an end, even if she said so. "But that's not true, Makoto. There will be two."

"What…?"

"There will be two heroes. Yes, a set of twins. They will come to the village and stop that destruction you speak of. Yes, that man will not destroy my village!"

Takeru stared at the text, dumbstruck. He went back up and read it again. Then he read it twice. Three times. Was it really true?

He turned to the cover page. It was indeed the edition written by Koichi, there was no doubt about it. He had written his own signature on the cover, even if it was beginning to fade away. He stared back at the page, the horrible truth beginning to sink into him as he read it over for a fourth time.

The Legend of the Hero was told backwards.

He was not the Hero of Onigafuchi.

He was the villain.

Horror lit every single bone in his body, every single fiber in his being, and he felt as if everything he knew had crumbled down into a lump of bitter, gray ash. If he was not the Hero, he would not become someone great. The person who would become great… no, the people who would become great were those wretched, evil twins in the basement, who had done nothing their whole lives except sit there.

He unbuttoned his shirt, staring down at the claw marks that were still there. Yes, those evil demons were not heroes. This was proof of it.

But the legend said that was not true, that they were the heroes. And the legend was the law in this case. They were the heroes.

So… I'm the villain?

Everything he had ever hoped for was now dead. All he ever wanted was to become someone great. That was why he had trained hard, why he had prevented the twins from being released. So what had be had been working for? Everything he had done was for nothing. Everything he had done was a waste if he was the a villain. He would not become someone great, but someone horribly cruel and wicked.

But… that doesn't have to be true if you don't want it to be. You've worked this hard. There has to be some truth behind it. These words were spoken by a voice in his head, a voice that he was reluctant to believe at first. Think about it. What defines a villain and a hero? You want to kill them. Maybe that's why you're a villain…

No, that was it. The reason why he was a villain was because he wanted them, the supposed heroes, dead. If he were to kill them… then… he could reverse everything. He could change his destiny and change his fate. He could still become someone great if he were to follow this path that was set for him.

If he were to act as the villain and kill the twins, he would get what he wanted. Everything could be perfect if they just weren't there…! Yes, that was it! If he played villain and murdered them, then nothing would be to waste! Everything would be just as he wanted!
This whole switch didn't matter. His plans were the same, anyways. He would murder those twins and achieve what he wanted. Those twins were the ones getting in the way of everything. If he could kill them in secret and convince everyone that he was truly the hero, he would become one. He didn't need this legend to be right to be a hero, to be someone great.

All he needed now was to kill those twins.

Yes, everything was in mind. With this, he could take down the twins… and everything would be just as he wanted. He could become a hero and be written in history as someone that was great, and be recognized for that. He could be happy and spend life with his family without having to worry about the twins showing up again and taking what attention they had on him. He could do this if he were to just follow the legend exactly and play villain.

He smirked. Yes, if he did this… everything would be perfect.

It was all set in stone. He just needed to figure out how he would execute it.

Well, whatever it was, he would think about it later. He had done enough for now. Looking back at the book, he decided he would continue to read it to distract himself. Maybe he'd think something up as he read more. Yes, I'll think of something. But whatever the case is… those twins are dead meat… and everything I've ever wanted will be in my grasp.

It's all perfect… it's just too perfect!

~~~~X~~~~

Crimso's Corner

Thirty-Seven down, three to go. Oh boy. The ending… I can practically see it! Man, it will be odd when it's all over.

It's interesting writing about a villain and how they came to be, though Takeru doesn't seem to think that he's truly the villain. And his plans here may contradict what he did later… but do note that this was a year ago and things changed, things got messed up (he wasn't expecting Masaru to come on stage and tell everyone he was a liar, for one) and that sort of thing. Takeru is an interesting OC… I've come to like him quite a bit even though he's a terrible person. In some ways. Well, it's different if you are the author, actually writing this character. I don't like him, but I've gotten used to writing him and attached to him in that sort of way. If that makes any sense. You know, he was going to be revealed as evil from the beginning, but I decided against it in the end because that's not really how this fanfiction works with his character. In GED, we had an Obvious Evil character, which I made no attempt to hide. But that was because her motive was what the twist was. Here, it just didn't work as well. Therefore, the change! And it took me forever to choose his name. I don't remember if it was the night where I was about to write the prologue that I chose it or when I was at the part where he was about to walk in the classroom. I had to go to several different websites to find a name. And Takeru just screamed… Takeru, to me. Doesn't make sense, but it does to me who knew his character since before he had a name!

I hope you will all stick with me as we go through these very last few chapters. It's all coming to an end… and it's sad to see it go. But you know what? WAN. That's what.

Man, it's late. I need to revise and upload quick. And man, I can't believe the date… 29th. 2 more days until New Year's Eve. Wow. How time and fanfictions fly… but it has been five months since BFB started. But you know, I just started picking up the upload speed...

~Crimso