Chapter 1 : Lie

It was another normal night in the overcrowded city of Tokyo. The sounds of buzzing cars, and the crowd filled the street with talk and laughter. Neon signs filled the streets with those who had fears of the dark. Neon signs that ranged from Udon Shops to Love Hotels. However, the people of this town didn't realize the danger that they were in, with their danger lurking in the dark shadows of the corners and alleys.

A shadowy figure hid in the shadows for none to sense. It was something unordinary, literally out of this world. In terms of what people have said about things like this, it was what was called a demon. It had no features besides eyes and mouth, but its shape took form of the outline of a human, and it feasted on corrupt human souls. Fortunately, it didn't feast yet, and it wouldn't have the chance. An arrow pierced the demon's body, and imploded. The arrow stuck to the wall, until a pair of young hands took it out, and the arrow disintegrated

Hiromushu Daisuke was the name of the young boy to have taken out the arrow. He was only fifteen years old; just turned fifteen to be exact. His hair the color of a light brick red, and his bangs hung over his eyes, and the back of his hair was kept hovering over the end of his neck. He was around five foot seven, taller than most of his classmates, but not gigantic. There was, however, one thing that was exquisite about him were his eyes. They were light gold, deep of concern for others, and understanding. But at the same time, it also full of pride and a little hint of cockiness. They were strangely colored, for any person, let alone a Japanese. But odd was written in his personality.

Daisuke had a bow connected to his arm, shining with a light blue and yellow effect. The bow was entirely made up of Spiritual energy. Nobody but could see the bow, or demons, except special people. Nobody could hear, see, smell (Sometimes demons reeked) demons at all. And those who could, were scattered around the world, and usually hunted demons. And that's exactly what Daisuke was: a Demon Hunter.

Daisuke looked around the alley, making sure nobody saw him, and then slipped into the crowd. Even though nobody could see what was going on in the battle between Daisuke and the demons, it would look very odd to see a boy his age swinging his arms around, talking to invisible things, and worse yet, seeing him fly through the air when he was hit or thrown by a demon. He kept his whole hunting a secret, even from his father. No, forget that. Especially his father. If his father had found out about him hunting demons, he couldn't imagine that conversation. And if Daisuke tried telling his father about this little secret of his, his father wouldn't have believed him, just like before in the past. It was too weird and unusual to tell people that he hunted demons around. Besides, Daisuke had to protect people around him. If demons found out that Daisuke's father knew his secret, they'd torture Daisuke's father until he cracked.

Daisuke couldn't tell his mother, because she was no longer living. She might have believed him a little, thought about it for a couple of days before thinking it was ridiculous. She had died in a horrible car crash that lead Daisuke into hating demons and his hunting them. It was the whole reason he hunted with such a passion.

It had been a cool fall evening on her death. Daisuke was in the backseat since his mother was a worry freak, and wouldn't let him sit in the front of the car until he was thirteen, just like the instructions said. The fall rain started and the roads became slicker by the second. Daisuke and his mother, Hiromushu Taki, were on their way to Osaka, a three and a half hour drive over there. They were heading there for three reasons: to visit Daisuke's grandparents; his mother hated the city noise, and wanted much less of it; and Daisuke's father was out of town on a business trip.

They were on a mountain pass, with a one-way road that was slim, hardly fitting two lanes on. Daisuke wondered why there was a road on such a slim part of land. Even though he was ten at the time, he was a good observer, then and now.

As Daisuke looked out the window, he saw a large gargoyle-like thing flying, hovering over the ground, getting as low as possible without hitting the ground, and going the same exact speed as the car. Daisuke rubbed his eyes, wondering if what he saw was real. When he still saw it, he tried warning his mother about the monster at the side of the car.

"Daisuke, I didn't think a boy your age would believe in such–"

That was the last thing she said, ever. Three tires blew out, and the car spun out of control. With a sudden jerk, Daisuke found himself on the ground. Daisuke opened his eyes to see himself looking at the ceiling, and felt a bad stinging at his head. When he touch his head, it stung a little more, and he felt moister. When he looked at his hand, he found more blood than he had hoped. Blood dripped from his fingers, and he looked at it in disgust. Than he heard the noise. He looked at the ceiling; he saw claws quickly making way around the car. Soon, the front of the car had departed from the back.

As it would have it, the car was hanging on the edge, the front dangling. Even with the large weight difference, the back of the car had held. Daisuke saw the front fall to the rocky waves at the foot of the cliff, and cried, "Mother!" one last time. That was the last time Daisuke saw her alive.

An hour later, the police, ambulance, and fire department were at the scene. A person came and helped Daisuke out, and called the police. The police reported it as an accident. When Daisuke tried reporting what really happened, the men chuckled. They knew that it wasn't the time for laughter, but it was the only way to tell the kid he was imagining things without him growing too upset.

Daisuke was sent to hospital, where Daisuke met his father six hours later. Daisuke's father mourned for no more than three years after the funeral. But Daisuke wouldn't stop mourning after that. Five years past and he was still upset. He wouldn't stop until he found the demon responsible for the death of his mother.

The Yokohama Company, the car that Daisuke's mother had drove, thought the car snapped in half due to bad designs, and sent a couple thousand yen check. Daisuke tried writing to company to take back their money and find the demon that killed his mother. He never got a letter back, and then money was still in his father's grasp, which meant they didn't believe him.

Daisuke walked all seventeen busy block until he reached home. He grabbed the keys from his back pocket and unlocked the door. When he looked inside the kitchen, and saw the clock, it read 1:24 AM. He was out later than he thought he was. He listened for any signs of his father still being up: TV, lights, anything. Everything was a positive. Yep, his father was awake.

"Daisuke!" he heard his father's footsteps heading to the front door, and his voice didn't sound too happy. "Where have you been?" his father asked, coming out of the living room.

"I went… out." Daisuke lied; shrugging his shoulders and his eyes left his father and were glued to the floor.

"Daisuke! Your cram school let out three and half hours ago! Where the hell have you been for so long?"

"Nowhere you'd understand." Daisuke said under his breath, but his father still heard him. Daisuke realized that he had no such luck as to get away with that.

"What was that?" his father asked. His voice was far tenser than before. Daisuke still refused to look at his father. "I couldn't hear you. What?"

"I said, 'nowhere you'd understand'."

"Is that so?" his father asked.

"Yeah!" Daisuke shouted back. It was one of the first times Daisuke yelled back at his father, and his father was surprised. So was Daisuke. But Daisuke couldn't show that now. He had to hold his ground, and keep what was his at the moment.

"Fine." His father said in the, "I-don't-care" voice. "We'll just have to discuss it with Dr. Hiru."

"Dr. Hiru? The psychiatrist?" Daisuke asked with surprise.

"Yeah. You have an appointment on Wednesday."

"That's in two days!" Daisuke cried.

"I know. And I think we might have lots to talk about, Daisuke. I think I'll actually enjoy this one."

Daisuke knew his father would only enjoy this because Dr. Hiru had a way of making you tell her things without realizing what you're doing. Dr. Hiru was a middle-aged woman. She wasn't uncool; in fact, she was really easy to talk to. If she was younger, and didn't spill everything that he had said to his father, Daisuke could have thought of her as a friend.

"We go in at three o'clock."

"Three!?" Daisuke cried again. "But that's when me and my friends have baseball practice!"

"That's right. I think you've been hanging out with the guys too much, plus the wrong crowd of guys. You need a positive influence on you. You've seemed to harden yourself ever since…" his father's voice trailed off.

"Ever since what?" Daisuke knew what. "What? You can't say it? Since mom's death, right? You think I can't handle those words?"

"Daisuke, it's not just you–"

"So, you don't think I can handle those words!"

"That's not what I was saying!"

"But you're saying it now!"

"I was going to say that this isn't easy for me either!"

"How can you say that!? You were never even home when she was alive. You were always on business trips. Mom was depressed because of you!" he shouted.

His father didn't say anything. Daisuke knew he hit a fatal spot, and he could tell that his father was trying to hold back the tears. Daisuke used this moment as a time to go to his room, and he slammed the door.

"Hello Mr. Hiromushu…" Dr. Hiru said as Daisuke's father walked in. "Daisuke, I trust you are doing well?" she asked as he walked in.

Daisuke had only shrugged his shoulders. He walked in and sat himself down where he knew to sit. Daisuke scooted his chair away from as his father as it would look normal. It may have been a couple of feet, but it was a couple of feet further than he was supposed to sit, which made it a little victory for him.

The building that the office in was in a small skyscraper, 13th floor. He could see all of the people that looked like ants below. He saw two or three other skyscrapers around this building. There were tall windows, each as large as a wall.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Hiromushu. I'm going to have to ask you to stand outside for a couple of minutes. I'd like to talk to Daisuke all alone for a minute."

"Suit yourself, Doc." He said, and he took leave.

Daisuke's eyes followed him until the door closed, and then it met with Dr. Hiru's. A smile spread across her face. Daisuke knew that she loved every moment to talk to Daisuke. He had overheard her say, once, that he was the most entertaining person she had to treat. He actually talk, and what he had to saw was interesting, even if it hadn't always been logical.

"So, how are you?" she asked.

"Eh." Daisuke said, shaking his hand in a "so-so" way.

"Only, eh?" she asked, arching her eyebrows and getting a pad of paper and a pen. She looked at him, and he felt to violent urge to tell her about the fight he had with his father the other morning, but he refused.

"I'm missing baseball."

"Really?" she asked. She seemed amused, as if somebody told her a little joke. Daisuke watched her expressions carefully. She was too amused.

"What?" Daisuke asked.

"A couple of visits back, you told me you hated baseball. Why the sudden change?"

Daisuke didn't say anything. It was true. He did hate baseball. He usually made that excuse to hunt the demons around town. His father was a big fan of western sports, so it got his father off of his back for a couple of hours.

"I think I may know what this is about." She said with a grin, and Daisuke thought she couldn't possibly know his secret. He tried to hide his fear, and swallowed. But the moment he did, he knew he would regret it.

"What?" he croaked.

"Let me ask you a question, first."

Daisuke leaned back in his chair, waiting for the question to come down with a boom. He waited, but she paused, drawing out the moment. He hated when she did this.

"Are you…" she asked slowly. "Sure of your sexuality?" she finally said.

On the inside, Daisuke couldn't believe she was asking this question. He wanted to hit her as hard as he could for asking such a stupid question. She was asking him if he was gay. What the hell was this about? But on the outside, he pretended to be a little embarrassed.

"Of… of course." He said in a pretended to fake lie. "I'm perfectly straight."

"C'm now. Tell me the truth. I'll keep this one away from your father if you want me to."

She took the bait. His secret was kept safe. Sure, he had to sacrifice the thought of him being thought gay, but it was all worth it. He had a couple gay friends. He would just tell her stories of what they told him. It would be a piece of cake.

"Alright." He said, feigning confession. "I've taken… a little interest in guys that I haven't before." He had to stutter. It mad it all the more believable. He even taught himself how to blush on cue. He practice the art of lying for a couple years now, making excuses to hunt a demon out in the quad or such.

"How much interest?"

"I've had…" he stopped. He did the whole drawing out the moment thing she did. But instead, he made her ask the question.

"You've had…"

"I've had one wet dream." He explained.

"Did you like it."

Daisuke didn't answer, only looked away. But he could see her smile of pleasure when. She had gotten an answer she wanted. This acting gay stuff was easier than he thought. All he had to do was pretend like he wanted to pretend to be straight. Fake being gay and obviously pretending to be straight. It may sound confusing, but the logic was pretty simple.

There were a couple more gay questions that Daisuke pretended like the pro he was, until the window crashed. It was not the entire window, but just a circle with about an inch radius. Next to Daisuke's arm, was a dart that had demonic aura. Dr. Hiru looked at the window with a strange look and muttered to herself about pranksters. She thought that young teens had done this for fun, but Daisuke noticed that it was a perfect circle coming from a direction. Straight forward.

When he looked, he saw a demon on the roof with a blow dart. It may have been poison, to Daisuke's knowledge, but it didn't matter. It never touched him, and that was good enough. The demon looked human, except for the eyes and ears. His eyes were pitch red, and the ears were stuck out. More than an elf's. An elf's ears looked normal compared to these.

"Mr. Hiru? Can I go to the bathroom?"

"Ten minutes." she muttered, still looking at the window. "I should talk to your father for a while anyway."

Daisuke ran out of the building and dodged honking cars until he got to the other side of the street. When he entered, he noticed that it was a hotel, but he ran up the stairs anyway, even as the clerk yelled at him. The stairs were a lot faster than the elevator compared to Daisuke. When he hit the roof, the demon was still there.

"Hey!" Daisuke said with a prideful tone. "Mind tellin' me why you're tryin' to hit me with demon spitballs."

"Are you the one they call Daisuke?" the demon asked, not even looking at Daisuke, but rather the building he was just in. Daisuke didn't know his name was known in the demon world, so he spoke with caution.

"Yeah. So?"

"Still on your search for revenge?" the demon's voice was dark and rigid. It was like an old man who smoked most of his life.

Daisuke's hand turned into a fist. He couldn't lose control though. This guy might have come valuable information. Perhaps Daisuke would be able to get a new clue as in where to find the killer.

"Yeah? Why? You have information?"

"Maybe." The demon said, finally turning to face Daisuke. His eyes were creepier up close than far away. They had a white pupils, instead of dark.

"Why did you try and kill me? Or was that even your intentions?"

"You think out, don't you?"

"So, you were trying to get me up here? Why? I'm not sure how much my body is worth exactly in your demon world, but I know it's a hell of a lot."

"Perhaps I have come to take you in. Perhaps I want to talk."

Daisuke snapped his right hand fingers and a spiritual sword came out of nowhere. Daisuke grabbed the hilt and grinned.

"Might as well say your prayers, demon, cuz I a'int talking today."

"An oxymoron, isn't it? A demon saying its prayers?"

Daisuke didn't even answer, but rather charged toward the demon. It would probably fell good for another slaying. Especially to a demon who wouldn't answer your questions. As he charged the demon floated backwards. However, Daisuke charged after him faster, until he lost track of where he was going while glairing into the demon's eyes, and hit over the edge. As he began to fall, Daisuke yelled, "Damn you!"

A fifteen-story fall was not something a person usually lives through, and Daisuke knew that. The moment after he passed the thirteenth floor, he started to look for ways to survive. But there was nothing that was coming to mind. Daisuke was going to die a fool's death. He prayed that he would be able to see his mother in heaven. Luckily, before he could even finish his prayer, a hand grabbed his wrist, and stopped him from out of one of the hotel windows.

Daisuke's body jerked, and when he realized he stopped, he looked down, still seeing he had a long ways to go if he was to fall again.

"Thanks. I thought I was a goner." Daisuke said in a panting voice. But when he looked up, he saw the angry faces of two security guards, a clerk, a man that looked like the manager, and across the street, in a semi-broken window, Daisuke's father was more pissed off than Daisuke had ever seen.

"Running away from the office, going on top of a hotel roof, falling off, getting caught by security, hating baseball…" his father was naming off all the things Daisuke did wrong that day. His anger was beyond what Daisuke was used to. Daisuke just sat there, listening. He didn't even want to speak to his angered father. "And worse of all…" his father continued. "You're gay?" he asked. "When did this happen?"

"I don't know. Middle-school." Daisuke said.

His father sighed. And rubbed his eyes, before coming down and stroking his chin and then coming up to rest his forehead on his hand.

"I don't know what to do with you." His father said, standing up and putting a dish in the sink. He sat back down and looked at a piece of paper, and then Daisuke. He did this repeatedly, until Daisuke couldn't take it anymore.

"What?" he asked.

"Your psychologist recommended one thing…" his father said.

"And what's that?"

"Boarding school."

"Boarding school?" Daisuke asked.

"Yep. A nice little one in Omuta. But not just any boarding school." His father, angrily feigning a TV show host voice. "Since your gay, you get to go to an all girl's boarding school."

"A WHAT!?"

"Guess what? Since I didn't think you'd mind, nor did I care if you did, I already bought you a ticket. Pack up, son. You're heading out to Sakura's Boarding School first thing in the morning."