Reoto was panting heavily, his eyes filled with fear and horror at the display in front of him. Corpses, piles and piles of corpses all around him, blood stains all over the floor and walls.

'N-no, not here. W-Why am I back here?' He panicked, seeing the dead bodies before him, he was back at here, the place that caused him so much misery and the reason why he has what he has now.

He looked up the board and saw words written in blood.

Killer, Murderer, Monster, Psychopath, Scumbag

All things that was given to him when it happened, things that were out of his control, things that he never wanted to happen, things he wished he could forget.

'Please, leave. Leave me alone." He whispered as he had his hands on his ears, trying to drown out the sounds of screaming whether it be agony or anger, he wanted to leave this hellish place. He wanted to get away.

"Stop, why do you weep for these sheep? Are they not the cause of your pain, the reason for your suffering? They mocked you, humiliated you, bullied you, and not once did you ever fight back!"

Reoto looked up and saw a darker version of himself. Wearing a cloak of some kind and his eyes… they were glowing.

"You have all of this power at your fingertips, all this potential within you and not once have you used it. Why keep your talents hidden when you could control anything and anyone you want? Why cower like a fool and hide behind the façade of a weak foolish mortal, when you can be so much more?"

'I'm not… I'm not good. I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want to be a monster… I just want to be normal.'

"Well normal left the window the second you were left at that doorstep. You are going to use this power, no more hiding. If not…" The darker version paused before reaching down and grabbed Reoto by the throat, choking him as the latter tried to get out of his grip. "…I will take over your body and make you watch from the sidelines as I slaughter every person in this world and you will be stuck here, reliving the painful nightmares of your past."

"As long as I'm here, they will all pay for what they've done. And you can't do anything to stop it. So, will you reject your gift or accept it? The choice is yours but only for a matter of time. Make your decision and choose wisely." The darker version threatened as Reoto started turning blue from the lack of air.

"Now wake up."

Reoto was close to dying from the lack of air and then at the last second his eyes widened at what he saw. He saw a hand with sharp claws in front of him and before he knew it…

His entire body was sliced into many pieces.

"AAAHHAHHAHHH!" Reoto screamed as he got up from the covers, panting frantically as he tried to regain his bearings. Sweat dripping down his cheeks, his arm unconsciously moving towards his stomach to feel the giant shaped hole that was there when he was pierced in the stomach.

At the same time, the door to the room opened up and in came Harumi whose eyes were filled with alert as she looked around the room for any intruders. She searched and sensed no one before glancing down to Reoto who was still in panic mode.

"Hey! Hey! Snap out of it! It's only a dream!" Harumi barked, shaking the boy to bring him back to reality. Her words seemed to reach him as his eyes started moving first towards his stomach seeing there was no whole and there at her.

"W-what?"

"Have you calmed down, yet?" She asked in a firm tone.

"S-sorry, I um… i.."

"It's fine." Harumi said. She then cupped his cheek with her right hand, leaning forward and pressed her forehead against his. "You're warm but you don't have a fever, just a bad dream."

"Yes um… you are…" Reoto asked only to receive a small glare in return.

"Harumi, I'm in your class remember." She said in an annoyed tone, watching the boy blink in confusion until his eyes lit up in realization.

"Oh! Tt's you, the delinquent of Kuoh Academy." He remembered as the said girl scowled at the name.

"!"

"Aah! Sorry!"

"Um… why are you in my house?" Reoto asked, unaware of where he was causing Harumi to cross her arms.

"Correction, you are in my house." Harumi pointed out as Reoto was confused, then he looked around the room and noticed that it was a bit bare. There were some posters here and there, a dresser with a closet next to it, and two doors, one to the bathroom and another to the hall.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude." He apologized but Harumi waved it off.

"Don't worry about it, it's not often a boy gets to sleep inside a girl's bedroom after all. You should be feeling lucky." Harumi said with a smirk on her face at attempt to tease him.

"Wait, how did I end up here?" Reoto asked, still wanting to know why he was in her place.

"Do you not remember anything from yesterday?" Harumi asked him.

"Yesterday, yesterday I was…" Reoto trailed off as he tried to think about what had happened and, suddenly his eyes widened shock as the memories hit him. He was having a headache, went to search for his meds and forgot to take them, ending up with a migraine and was on his way home. He was walking home, met up with a fallen angel that tried to kill him and then… then… everything went dark.

He couldn't remember anything after that.

"I… I was… on my way home with a migraine and then… the fallen angel… she attacked me and…" Reoto trailed off until Harumi interrupted him.

"You killed her." She said bluntly, earning a shocked look from the boy.

"W-What?"

"You killed the Fallen Angel, she was trying to kill you. She was very close to but then…. you retaliated and pierced her stomach and…" She trailed off as the boy was trying to come with the grips that he had killed someone.

"I spoke in a dark tone…. had a smile on my face… and killed them… right?" He finished while hanging his head.

"Yeah… you um, killed the fallen angel and toyed with her like she was nothing and then finished her off with a smile on your face. Then when you found me, you didn't attack me but said that… I wasn't like the others." Harumi answered as she observed his facial expression, trying to make sure she was very careful with how she asked her question.

"That's not me… that's…" He trailed off as he gripped the bedsheets tightly as he didn't want to think about what he had done.

Harumi noticed his shaking hands and knew that it was a touchy subject right now, she would have to get the answers out of him but not right now.

"Okay, we can talk later. First, let's get you something to eat." The brunette said bringing the boy out of his thoughts as he nodded his head.

"Oh, um yes of course." He agreed as he sat up and was about to walk away until he finally realized something. Looking at Harumi, he noticed that she was wearing a black tank top, with one strap hanging loosely off her shoulder and a pair of panties, along with being barefoot. Soon his face immediately turned red, and he turned his head around.

"S-s-sorry!" He apologized abruptly as Harumi tilted her head until she looked at her appearance and let out a realization sound but was just shrugged her shoulders as if she was not bothered by it.

"Oh, right sorry about that. Though if you want, you can take a picture." She teased him as her lips curled into a smirk when she heard a small squeal of surprise from the boy. "Most boys would kill to be in this position."

'I'm not most boys!' He yelled mentally. "T-that's fine. Can we just um… is there something I can wear?"

"Sure. I brought a pair of my brother's clothes and set them on the dresser. You can put them on once you take a shower." Harumi instructed while pointing to the pile of clothes and turned around to leave the room. "I'll be making breakfast so once you're done meet me downstairs."

Harumi then left the room while closing the door behind her, allowing Reoto to breathe and sigh in relief.

'I never thought that I would be in a girl's room in my life… or ever.' He thought to himself as he got out of bed and went into the bathroom. After taking a quick shower and washing off all the blood, he immediately put on the clothes and looked in the mirror. He frowned as he wasn't too keen on wearing someone else's clothes but nevertheless he thanked for having some since he was a guest here and he should show respect.

Leaving the bedroom, he walked down the house and noticed the blood stains on the walls. He would ask about it later.

Coming in view, he saw Harumi cooking some breakfast as he could see some smoke sizzling right beside her head. Sensing his presence, the female turned around and pointed to the table.

"I'm almost done with breakfast. You can go ahead and sit at the table." She said as the boy nodded his head and went over to the said table. As he sat down, Reoto looked around and noticed the state of the house that it was a bit dirty and dusty as if he hadn't been clean for years, and it was also getting old.

"Order up." Harumi said as she sat a plate in front of the boy, bringing him out of his thoughts as he looked down at the plate filled with food. A simple dish of scrambled eggs, bacon and grits along with toast. "It's not much but it's something."

"Thank you for the food." He said before grabbing a fork and scooped up the eggs before setting them into the grits.

"You combined your food together?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I've always been one for a variety of flavor. I mean you only live once so why not enjoy it while you can." He said as Harumi glanced at him before shaking her head and shrugged her shoulders. "This is really good."

"Really?" Harumi eyes perked up at the compliment, not expecting him to comment on her food.

"Yeah, I wonder if you can make any other types of dishes." Reoto said with a beaming smile as he continued enjoying the small plate before him.

"It's nothing… it's the only thing I know how to make. I used to make a good portion food but after that day I—" Harumi paused as the memories of her parents and her brother came to her mind, a feeling of sorrow and pain flowing through her as she stared at her plate. Reoto saw that he may inadvertently asked a personal question and quickly apologized.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to overstep boundaries."

"It's okay, you didn't know. Can't blame you for something that you have no knowledge of." Harumi waved off but Reoto could tell that she was faking it and hiding her pain, so he quickly changed topics.

"So um, back to earlier, why am I here?"

"Depends, what else do you remember about the other night?" Harumi asked, as the boy tilted his head. "You left the school holding onto your head like you were headache, and you were swaying left and right like you were about to pass out, so I followed you." Harumi explained.

Reoto was thinking back to the day prior, going through it normal, then met Reya, and then when he heard his voice…

...Oh...

That's when things got bad for him. His voice reached him and when he tried to take his medicine, he didn't have any pills and had to go through the rest of the day without them. Which led to him having the headache and hearing his voice over and over again… reminding him of that day…. and then the dream….

"Did I…. did I hurt anyone?" He asked in a low tone.

"Just the fallen angel that tried to kill you. Which brings me to my next question." Harumi pushed her plate to the side and leaned forward, staring at the boy with cold eyes. "Do you know anything about the supernatural?"

"Yes… I do…." Reoto admitted as he also pushed his plate aside. "I've known about them since I've had this thing inside me, n-not that I didn't believe in them. I always knew that there was always stuff in the world that you can't explain by logic or reason alone, but I never really looked into it. I was too busy with… other things…" He answered cryptically.

Harumi wondered what he meant until she remembered the bandages wrapped around his forearms, adding with the fact that he was not social and how he isolated himself towards the library.

'He was bullied.' Harumi thought with a frown as she felt a bit of sympathetic towards him. She knew how it feels to be ridiculed and judged by her fellow peers along with having a lack of self-esteem, but she stopped listening to their opinions a long time ago.

"After a… incident, I have moved up here to Kuoh so I could get a fresh start, so much for that." Reoto answered with a frown.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm going to be pulled into the supernatural again and all because I made a mistake of forgetting my pills and ended up killing someone…. again… and once again out of my control." He answered while whispering the last part to himself as Harumi listened.

"Do you have anyone to help you about this?" She asked.

"No. I don't. I had at least two people help me but… one disappeared on me and another…. Well… I'm not even sure if they would want to be even near me after that day." He explained in a tone filled with sorrow.

'So he has no one, he's all alone, like me.' Harumi thought as she sympathized with the boy across her. At least she had family from the start, he had nobody and they left him over something he had no control over.

"Um… do you know about the supernatural as well?" Reoto asked wanting to change topics.

"Yes I do, like you I found out about them a few years prior to today and in turn it did not end well for me. Since then, I've been looking up on everything I can about them and why. Do you at least know the basics?"

"Basics as in?"

"Devils, Angels, Fallen Angels, and what they represent?"

"Yeah, I do know that much at least."

'Good I don't have to give him the whole rundown on the whole supernatural exist theatric.' She thought before going into a different subject. "Then we can skip the whole formal introduction about magic existing and all that, so let's go to the part about the fallen angel. That Fallen Angel Kalawarner, she said that she was hunting for you even though you have no sacred gear."

"Sacred what now?" Reoto repeated in confusion.

"Sacred Gear. Items with very powerful abilities that are given to humans and hybrids known as God's Artifacts." Harumi clarified.

"You making it sound like God made these items himself." Reoto said.

"That's because he did." Harumi stated as he gave her a dumbfounded look.

"W-why?" He asked only for the brunette to shrug her shoulders in response.

"I dunno. I couldn't tell you answer if I wanted to, all I can say is that these gears are powerful and those that wield them become targets of interest."

"Targets?"

"Those who wield a Sacred Gear have a target painted on their back immediately and doesn't matter what type of gear it is, it's an extremely rare artifact to get your hands on. Think of it as a casino, you know those slot machines that eat your money." Harumi explained as she leaned forward and propped her elbow on the table, resting her head in the palm of her right hand.

"Oh, so basically the higher the quality, the higher the reward or something like that." Reoto thought as the brunette nodded her head.

"Yes. Now you don't have one but she targeted you anyway… why?" Harumi asked.

"I don't know. Too much of a headache at the time." The boy shrugged his shoulders.

"Does your other half know?"

"My what?"

"The other you?" She clarified.

"Oh right…. Um I don't know. I can't bring him out willingly. He only comes out on two occasions." Reoto explained with a bit of nervousness in his voice.

"And they are?"

"Whatever he wants to, or if I'm in a high state of stress." He answered causing the brunette to sigh in annoyance.

"So I can't even get him to answer then, huh?

"No." Reoto stated with a frown, feeling a bit guilty that he couldn't help her out.

"Okay, do you have any type of power then?" She asked, changing topics.

"Yeah but it's nothing special."

"Show it to me." Harumi demanded as Reoto looked at her in shock from her tone.

"You want to see what I can do?"

"Well, I feel like I should at least get to see it considering I've fed you and make sure you were healed." Harumi said, reminding him of what she had done for him even though she didn't have to.

"Oh well um… do you have anything with least value or something that you don't mind getting destroyed?" He asked carefully.

"You can do it on the floor, it's not like I'm replacing it anytime soon." Harumi said, pointing to the floor with non-caring gaze.

"Okay." Reoto stood up and took a deep breath before raising his right hand in the air and then thrusted downwards to nothing but air. Nothing happen until…

SLICE!

The wooden floor was suddenly ripped to shreds as if something had slice through it.

"Whoa." Harumi said in awe.

"Yeah, it's not much but it's something. Threads… I can either slice through things, wrap them up, or control people and inanimate objects and manipulate their movements." Reoto explained as white threads appeared around his fingertips.

"Like a puppeteer."

"And if I concentrate hard enough…" He trailed off as he narrowed his eyes in concentration, then the threads changed into something else as they were now black with a metal shine to it. "I can turn them into metal wires or silk."

"So, your like Spider-Man."

"No… more like a dark version of that. I don't have family and I was cursed with this instead of getting bitten by a radioactive spider. Not really a virtuous power." Reoto denied while also downgrading himself.

"So uh, what's your power?" He asked.

"Let's just say, I've trained with a specific person that have helped me to get stronger. Even if she does only appear when she wants to." Harumi said with a scowl marring her expressions.

"Uh?"

"Oh right, well I'll show you sometime later but we need to get ready for school." Harumi said as she turned around and started heading towards the steps.

"Wait what?"

"We will but, I have a feeling that you want to stop by your house first so you can get your pills or at the very least the amount you need to take in order to keep you know who at bay." Harumi answered as Reoto eyes widened realizing that she was right and he didn't want another episode like last time.

"Right. Um… do you…"

"I'll come with you that way in case someone asks, I can take the blame for it and say it's my fault." She said as Reoto frowned.

"That wouldn't be right." Reoto said, not wanting her to get in trouble because of him.

"Do you have a better explanation?" She challenged as he went to speak but nothing came out of his mouth as he had no other suggestions, leaving him to sigh and shake his head. "Then let's go."

(Reoto's Apartment)

After changing clothes, the pair was now in front of the apartment as Reoto looked both ways as if he was searching for something.

"Something wrong?" Harumi asked, wondering why he was searching all over the hallway.

"No, just needed to be sure of something." He said before turning his head and unlocked his apartment, giving her a heads up. "Okay I'll be back."

As Harumi was left alone, she leaned against the wall with her arms folded and her left foot propped against the wall. Waiting for the boy, she was aware that there was a presence lurking nearby. The thing about it was that it wasn't any of the normal energies she sensed at school.

"Hi there!" A girl greeted her with a smile.

"Hi… can I help you?" Harumi asked slowly.

"Oh sorry, my names Lyra. I'm Reoto's neighbor, who are you?" Lyra introduced herself.

"His…friend from school, Harumi." The brunette replied with hesitation.

"Oh, Reoto's never mentioned that he had friends, especially with a girl." Lyra said with a confused expression while tilting her head.

"is that a problem?" Harumi asked, as Lyra waved her hands back and forth.

"Oh no, if anything I'm glad that Reoto has someone to look after him. He seemed so lonely when we first met, so thank you for being his first friend." Lyra thanked as she gave a bow.

"It's… nothing." Harumi said while gazing at her appearance. Lyra was a young woman with shoulder-length purple hair and red eyes wearing a blouse and pencil skirt, and had quite the figure for her age. The brunette was about to ask another question but stopped when she heard the door open.

"Lyra, everything okay?" Reoto asked, as he noticed his neighbor.

"Yes it is. When were you planning on about your girlfriend?" Lyra asked with a tease in her voice.

"She's not/I'm not my/his girlfriend." They both stated with a blank face.

"Oh not her, the other one?" Lyra clarified, earning confused looks in return.

Other one?'

"Someone from school came by, saying that they were looking for you."

"I don't—" Reoto started but was hushed by Harumi who clamped his mouth shut with her hand.

"Who were they and what did they look like?" The brunette asked in a serious tone.

"She had long brown hair and matching brown eyes." Lyra said as she put a hand on her chin trying to think real hard back to the person she had met.

"Reya?" Reoto called out, remembering the girl he had met in the library.

"Yes that's her name." Lyra answered.

"Why did she come here?" Harumi asked.

"Oh, well she was looking for Reoto. She had heard that you had disappeared from school yesterday and had spent all night looking for you but was very worried when she saw drops off blood from where you were last spotted. She had then came here asking if you had come home but I told her that I haven't seen you and then she left right afterwards." Lyra explained.

"Now that's suspicious. Why someone like Reya would suddenly be worried about Reoto , they literally just met yesterday?" Harumi asked.

"How did she even know where you I live? I mean it's not like she followed me. My headache was bad but I could still feel my surroundings." Reoto questioned while thinking about how Reya knew where he lived.

'Probably had Sona go through your files or have someone follow you home, but I would've felt their presence.' Harumi guessed while gritting her teeth. The devils were now interested in Reoto, if they do somehow know about his abilities then things could only get ugly from here on out.

"Well anywho, I'm glad you're okay and also how did you like my bento?" Lyra asked.

"It… was good." He replied.

"Really, well I'm glad you liked it. You're skinny and you need some meat in your bones." Lyra said while poking Reoto in his arm and sides.

"I'm fine the way I am." Reoto argued as he grabbed her hands to stop her from poking him.

"No you're not. Now take this." had out another bento and set it in his hands.

"What!? Wait I can't—" He tried to deny but Lyra shushed him.

"Nope. I'm making sure you are well fed and getting lots of rest. Besides, you look like you eat the bare minimum and leave it at that. Therefore, as your lovely and amazingly sexy neighbor, I'm in charge of making sure you eat your food and become a strong healthy boy!" Lyra declared with stars in her eyes.

"That's not how that works." Reoto said as sweat drop down the side of his head.

"Just take it already and bow your head." Harumi said with annoyance.

"R-right, thank you!"

"Now you two have a nice day! And Harumi-chan, if he decides to skip make lunch again, I give you permission to bop him on the head."

"Now that sounds like a great idea." Harumi agreed as she had a glint in her eye while staring at Reoto who had a look of disbelief on his face.

"Seriously."

"Alright bye you two! Have a nice day!"

As the two teens left the apartment building and walked towards school.

"She seems nice." Harumi commented.

"Yeah, she's a bit weird but she means well." Reoto agreed while rubbing the back of his neck.

"There's more to that girl that I think we know.' Harumi thought but put the speculation in the back of her head for now.

(Kuoh Academy)

The two finally arrived at the academy, entering the grounds only to see that it was empty as there was no groups of students conversing with each other.

"This is going to suck, my second day here and I'm already late."

"Oh dear, don't tell you're one of the perfection type students."

"No, I'm just trying to avoid a habit that I had problem with back in middle school. Only this time, I don't think I'll have a teacher that'll just think I'm skipping."

"Your teachers weren't great?"

"No, they were biased against me. Not at first but after a couple weeks, they started thinking that I was a troublemaker and decided to not care. Then again, it's not like it mattered anymore."

"You're not there anymore."

"Nice of you to join us." Both teens stopped walking and turned their heads to the voice that spoke. Coming towards them was a girl short black hair styled in a bob cut, wearing glasses showing her violet-colored eyes, and next to her was a taller girl with long crimson red hair that flowed down her back, with blue-green eyes and had a smile on her face which the opposite of the former.

"Shitori. Gremory." Harumi greeted with irritation in her tone, something that Reoto picked up on.

"Hyoudou-san. Late again, I see." Shitori greeted.

"Of piss off, enabler." Harumi growled, not wanting to deal with any of their bs. Reoto then quickly bowed his head confusing all the girls.

"S-sorry for being late Sitri-san. I swear this isn't normal, yesterday was just a bit nerve wracking and I was also not feeling well." Reoto said in a calm tone, trying to diffuse the tension in the air.

"Relax Rikuto-san. Kusaka had told me about your headache. She and a couple of other students had watched you stumbling on your way out of school while holding your head. With the way you were walking, they were concerned about your health." Shitori reassured.

"I think we can go ahead and let this one slide. He is a new student and just started her after all, and he's quite adorable looking." Gremory complimented.

"I'm not adorable." Reoto muttered with a pout on his face.

"See." Gremory said.

"If you're done conversing, we have a class to get to. Let's go." Harumi said, rolling her eyes in annoyance and grabbing Reoto by the scruff of his collar and dragging him behind her.

"O-ow-ow-ow, Harumi! You're grabbing my collar! No need to drag me I can walk!" Reoto said, trying to get out of her hold but forgot that she was stronger than him as the brunette ignored his pleas to let go. As they were left alone, both third years watched the pair leave as they were also observing their movements.

"So?" Gremory started.

"I did not sense any magic energy in him. He doesn't have a sacred gear of any kind or magic." Shitori answered.

"Do you think he's suppressing it?"

"Highly possible. If what your rook said last night is true, then we need to be high alert with him Rias."

"Agreed. How do you want to approach this Sona?"

"For now, just observe and watch. If he makes any sudden moves, then we can interrogate him." Sona suggested.

"And Harumi?" Rias added as earning a sigh from her companion.

"She'll probably fight us." Sona stated as the redhead nodded her head.

"Yeah, she will. She's been like that since… well you know…" Rias agreed as she remembered the incident that changed her kouhai and turned her into who she is now.

"We can't change the past Rias, no matter how much we want to. The damage is already done and all that's left is to pick up the pieces." Sona said, her tone filled with regret as she also thought back to the incident. Quickly, she decided to change topics. "Did you get anything else about the Fallen Angel Kalawarner?"

"Other than she was one of the key members of the group and is dead, no we didn't." Rias answered. "Do you think they're going to retaliate?"

"They will just not against us. One of their members is dead and they will go after them." Sona stated referring to Harumi and Reoto. "Harumi is fine but it's Reoto that they're going to go after."

"Do you want to have someone watch over him?"

"Only if Harumi is not around him, if he's alone then I'll have Reya keep an eye on him. She seems to take a liking to him."

"Really? I thought she liked Kiba." Rias said, surprised at what she was hearing since she knew her knight had the interest of Sona's Queen and Bishop.

"She's not as passionate about him as Tsubaki, plus she says that Reoto is a little different. She won't say otherwise but I won't pry into her thinking." Sona stated thinking back to her bishop wondering why she was already interested in Reoto. "Let's head back to class."

"Of course." Rias agreed as both her and Sona head back to her respective classes.