(A/N: I'm sorry for my lengthy absence as well as the shortness of the chapter. I felt a little bad because I've been working so slowly and have had much to do before starting my next school year. I do hope those who have decided to so graciously follow my story enjoy what I've written here. Thank you! Happy reading~~)

Midorima had not prepared himself for returning to school after a month. Everything had seemed as if it had gone by at a snail's pace. His sleeping patterns were upside down and his teachers had been notified of his current condition. His parents had grown concerned with the increasingly silent way he was dealing with the entire ordeal. They asked if he wanted more time. Had he cried? Did he need to speak with a professional? Maybe he was traumatized. He had brushed off their concerns. This was fine. He was fine. There wasn't any real need for this any longer. He wanted something to do so it didn't feel as if he were losing his mind (the shadow came and went and he didn't know whether or not that was a good sign). School had always kept him busy before. He was counting on it to do the same thing now. He needed something to do. He felt better when he was busy.

Walking into the classroom that morning had been somewhat of a scare. People talked. His classmates knew about the incident and it became much more apparent when people fell silent at his presence. His straight face remained so and as he weaved his way to his desk, Midorima ignored the stares, ignored hushed whispers. He made it a point to look only ahead, never making contact with anyone for too long. Never before had he felt uncomfortable in silence not his own. What were they thinking? Was there pity? He had, of course, received their flowers and get well cards that he had received while he had been in the hospital. Many were still alive and settled around the house. Placing his lucky item on his desk, a small frog statuette, he got out his notebooks as well. His faith in horoscopes, despite the incident, had remained unshaken.

In a matter of long moments, everything resumed as if someone had pushed play after pausing a movie. He looked up when a pair of girls crowded his desk along with a few of his male classmates. He didn't say anything, merely looked up for a moment before glancing away. It seemed to be all anyone needed.

"Shin-chan are you okay?" one of the girls exclaimed. She was loud and he remembered her name as Asahina. She was the class representative, a mother hen of sorts. It didn't surprise him that she was asking about his condition. He wondered how many students knew about him. "A-are you okay to be here today? You know if you're feeling sick at any time you're allowed to go to the nurse's office!"

Midorima nods his head slowly. "I am fine." he pushed up his spectacles, saying nothing else on the matter. There was no desire to converse about his "condition". He was at school. He was going to go through his day. He was fine. It looked like Asahina was going to say more but people interrupted her.

What was it like?

How did he survive?

Had he been afraid?

Did they ever catch the guy that did it?

He didn't appreciate the barrage of questions but it was natural wasn't it? He recognized that much. He didn't offer any answers however and after a while Asahina managed to push them all away, yelling that they shouldn't ask so many traumatic questions. She apologized on their behalf before taking her own seat. With breathing room, Midorima remained staring ahead. His eye glanced down.

Getting back into the school day had been just a tad difficult for Midorima, who found himself falling asleep during some part of the lectures. He could answers questions as well as he had always been able to but with the little sleep he had accumulated over the last few days, over the last month, he found it hard to keep his eyes open. His eyes would close before he knew it and he would barely manage to keep his head from dropping.

Forcing himself awake the sixth time that morning, Midorima set his pencil down. His mind wasn't going to focus. He knew the material. He wasn't going to suffer. Briefly bowing his head to take a breath, the startle came from when he was lifting his head. Outwardly, he made no sound, but the beating of his heart sped up. The shadow was there. The light flickered. He ignored it.

For long moments it seemed the entity was merely going to stay where it was beside the teacher, smiling in the eerie manner it was accustomed to. If that were the case, he could handle that just fine. He returned his attention to the teacher but something cold refocused his attention minutes later. A chill ran up his spine as if the temperature had dropped around him but it was his imagination, Midorima told himself. It was his imagination. Instead of glancing around, the male dropped his head and let out a quiet breath. Picking up his pencil he attempted to busy himself with taking notes. Classes cycled in and out.

He copied equations down from the board, never allowing his one eyed gaze to stray from the board too long. While students worked at the board, called by the teacher, he bowed his head and buried himself in his notebook. He felt another chill and instead of cooling down with it, his body burned warmer, his heart beating faster. He ignored it.

There was something close.

Slowly, he peered up, his eyes raising. Everything told him not to look elsewhere. The feeling was not diminishing with time. It was drawing stronger, drawing him to do what he didn't want to. To give in now was easier than giving in later. He hadn't been expected to be so unprepared. What little color had gathered in his face drained away. Black sludge, that was what the shadow was made of. It was grotesque, the faint imprint of faces translucent on its surface. They were sorrowful in expression, trapped. Metal glinted at its side and he could see the scissors in its hands. A more morbid part of his mind wondered if it were the same scissors from that night. The more terrified piece of him had lost breath and felt like it was suffocating as his only good eye followed the raising of the arm attached to the scissors.

Midorima flew out of his seat upon reflex, hands wrapped around his throat as if air would come easier that way. The teacher turned his attention towards his student and Midorima wondered if he looked terrified, possibly crazy, as he backed away from his seat, tripping over his own unsteady feet. The balance and grace he normally held was gone now and he would probably be void of them for a long time.

"Midorima-kun!"

"N-nurse.." he managed to croak out as he felt few people crowding around him. His eyes never strayed from the shadow that seemed to be moving closer, its mouth open in a sinister smile. Someone tugged him up, a hand on the small of his back and the other on his arm. He was forcefully removed from the classroom.

"I'll make sure he gets there safe and sound!"

The door closed and what spell Midorima had seemed to be under broke. He pushed himself away from the person beside him and turned at the same time, his stoic expression back on his features. He pushed his glasses up with a single finger and glowered. He did not need help and he would deny that he needed help to begin with. A cynical place in his mind wondered what would have happened had he remained transfixed there like a weakling.

"Whoa, hey. I'm not your enemy here!" the exclamation was loud between the two of them, though not loud enough to carry. The male was black haired and had straight black, short, with a few strands hanging in front of his face, falling in front of his silvery blue eyes. They were strangely colored eyes but they drew him in curiously, sharp as they were. He had…never seen this person before in his life.

"...you're in my class?"

"...seriously? That's the first thing you have to say?" the male gave an exasperated sigh. There was no surprise, however, within the tone of his voice that says he had expected otherwise. "I'm Kazunari Takao." He greeted, offering a hand. When it wasn't accepted after a ten second pause—yes, ten whole seconds because he had counted them!—he retracted his hand. "Anyway, let's get you to the nurse's office. I have some stuff to ask you."

Midorima arched a brow. " 'Stuff?' As far as I know, I have nothing to say you. I didn't know you before this moment and I intend to keep it that way." Because friends were something he didn't need. In this place he knew what children his age, children who weren't as studious as he, said and did to each other. He had no need for that. He had no need for people who would eventually come to give him up.

Takao arched a brow. "If I wanted to tell you what it was I would tell you right here in the open, now wouldn't I? Come on. Already out of class and I doubt you want to go back inside." Takao paused for effect and turned away. "There's something you're running from as well, right? What better place to hide than the nurses office?" and with those final words he walked off, whistling.

The green haired male didn't know if Takao was doing this because he knew that he would follow or because he didn't want to return to class, Midorima couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance as he followed. He was going to follow. He knew not how the other had figured it out but no, he did not want to return to class. That shadow lingered. With a resigned expression hidden behind his spectacles he followed after his classmate.

The nurse wasn't in the office when they arrived and Midorima briefly recalled that she came and went for the most part but was there when students predominantly needed her assistance. She was an American woman with a loud mouth and most students, afraid of her temper, attempted to steer clear of the office all together. Takao, who had kindly held the door open for Midorima shut it moments after the male was inside. The black haired male moved on to lean against the door as if blocking the way should his classmate decide he desired to leave.

The silence between the two of them lasted quite a while and he commended Takao on lasting as long as he did. When faced with Midorima's silence, people opted to remove themselves from his presence. With an expression that screamed discomfort, he clicked his tongue and spoke, "So….that thing you fled from…I assume you have no idea what it is but it is standard protocol for me to ask if you know what it is."

"What relevance—"

"Will you please answer the question?"

Cut off, Midorima furrowed his brows. The easy air around Takao had mixed into something else reminiscent of seriousness as he gazed at him with eyes that seemed to see everything. Taking a disgruntled breath, he answered, "I do not know what it is."

"As I thought." He clicked his tongue again and there seemed to be a hint of relaxation or relief in his tone. "That thing that was after you today is what we call a negative entity. It is an otherworldly creature that is made of the negative emotion and manifested due to its creators will. I don't know where it came from or why it's targeting you specifically but…" he trailed off, his brows furrowing in frustration. It was so frustrating. He theorized that Midorima's near murder and the entity were entwined with one another but there was no real way of knowing unless he exposed the other male to everything and it was still being decided on as a matter.

"A negative entity." Midorima mimicked quietly. It was, of course, nothing he had ever heard of or seen before. It sounded much too farfetched. He would have said the same about becoming the victim of an assault just a month ago. That wasn't the issue alone. Midorima could believe in fortune and fate but could he believe in the supernatural? The proof was before his very eyes, so to speak.

Takao watched the expressions cross over his classmates face. There weren't many but it was telling. Unlike what he had expected the male seemed somewhat unshaken and willing to believe in what he was being told. Before he could speak, he was beat to the punch.

"What does a negative entity, as you called it, want with me?"

"I don't know."

"Why do you know of it to begin with?"

Takao pulled his gray gaze away from Midorima and briefly looked towards the window before he pulled himself away from the door. He closed the distance between himself and the other and, grabbing his hand, forced the both of them to take a seat. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about…" he was met with silence. "Things like this aren't uncommon knowledge for someone in my trade. Onmyouji have been tasked with protecting others from supernatural evils. There are more of us left in the dying art than what many people would believe."

"Onmyouji." The green haired male repeated, pushing his glasses higher up on his nose as he felt them shift. There was a hint of disbelief in his tone but nothing more than that. Onmyouji traditions died along with history.

"I know it might sound like a lie in this day and age but I promise its—"

Midorima who had been listening patiently up until this point, glanced towards the clock and stood on his feet. It was about time for that class to be finished with and the next to begin. "I'm going back to class." He offered up as explanation. In reality it was an excuse. He was growing tired of hearing the explanation, growing tired as he had been during the lessons. His mind could comprehend what was being said to him but he didn't have the strength to make a decision. Not yet. He wanted to listen and at the same time the rational part of his brain was against the idea entirely. His stomach twisted. Without looking back or speaking another word, he left.

"You should have known it was too easy." Takao berated himself as he mused up his own hair in frustration. He corrected himself moments later and quickly followed after the other. If he was going back to class then it meant that he had to return as well.

The remainder of the school day was filled with exhaustion and by the time it was over, Midorima found himself laying in the nurse's office. He had slept through his two last classes of the day. His teacher had seen him struggling a little after lunch and promptly sent him off with an understanding expression. Where he would normally struggle against authority when it concerned his studies, Midorima felt it best to surrender and had accordingly gathered his things and left.

As he felt himself awaken, the green haired male looked towards the window. It was late. The sun was beginning to set and while he could still see some clubs finishing up their practice outside. He felt sluggish, getting out of bed. The doctors had continued to tell him that he should take it easy and his strength would return slowly but he shouldn't feel so sluggish now. Reaching out to put on his glasses, he sighed. Vision out of one eye…it was…still disconcerting. Limited. Grabbing his things he left the nurses office and headed down the hall and towards the staircase.

As he walked straight and out of the front door, Midorima thought he saw something out of the corner of his eyes and stopped to look. There was nothing there and briefly he wondered if he had been expecting anything to begin with. Turning his head, he continued on his way. He wanted to get home before the sun set completely. He barely had the strength to walk a decent pace. If night fell his nerves would set themselves on edge. He had no doubt that with it, the negative entity would return.

The walk took longer than it would have had he been himself from a month ago. His feet dragged the closer he got to home, his vision blurring just a bit. It made him afraid. It scared him. He was already without half of his vision and when his remaining sight, even for a moment, left him, his heart jumped as if it would not return. The sun had set before he reached his home yet the night brought him in safely. Passing the threshold of the doorway and closing it behind him, Midorima removed his shoes, turned and locked the door before heading into the living room where his mother was more than likely sitting.

"Honey you're home!" she greeted, standing on her feet.

Midorima moved closer to accept the warmth of her hug and the gentle kiss to the temple she bequeathed him with. As she inquired how school went he simply told her that what he had managed to go through was fine but he had been sent to the nurses' office to sleep where he slept through his last two classes. Her concern was touching but he assured her that he would be fine to continue like this. He was made to promise that if it continued then he would consider staying home for a while longer.

"Dinner is in the kitchen if you'd like to eat, honey. Your father isn't home from work yet but he'll understand."

Midorima would have insisted he wait to eat with them if he hadn't felt so tired after walking. There was still homework he had to get through and at this moment, he felt it would take him all night to get through it. He sat at the table with his meal and homework laid out before him. He went through sections until they blurred together, his appetite forgotten and eventually diminishing. He let out a sigh as he felt himself doze and awaken for the third time. He didn't have the energy to continue resisting sleep and by the time he finished his math, his head dropped onto the table.