A cool breeze blew by, rustling the leaves of the shrubberies and trees near a quaint little wood-panelled house. Exiting from it, a tall man was greeted by a bright early spring day. Sounds of branches creaking from the nearby cherry trees – their light pink flowers in full bloom – and of songbirds singing could be heard on the wind. Another gust brushed silver-blonde bangs over circular wire-frame glasses covering hazel eyes as they squinted in the sunlight.

After a quick scan of his surroundings, Tatsumi Souichi set out on the dirt path, his long strides briskly taking him amongst the cherry and maple trees dotting the landscape. At the end of the trail, the blonde man came upon a small shrine made of cedar and birch with curved dark green roofs. Leaving his shoes at the genkan, he entered the small shrine; his white socked feet making little noise as he threaded through silent halls, making his way from room to room. Souichi made quick work with his morning chores. However, no matter how much work was needed to be done around the shrine, it always took him longer than planned to finish everything to match his high standard. He really was a meticulous man when it came to his work. It didn't help, though, that he was nearly a lost cause when it came to cleaning and house chores. He wasn't exactly suited for this type of work.

Sadly, that couldn't be helped. Ever since his father, Tatsumi Soujin, started leaving to go on his trips, traveling for months and months at a time, Souichi was left to run the place. Ever since he could remember, him, his parents and his two younger siblings had always lived here. From a young age, he was told that his family had been in charge of taking care of this small shrine for countless generations.

Souichi, like his father, and his father before him, was a priest of the shrine hidden at the edge of a very small village. To visit the shrine, one has to climb a descent flight of stairs. At the top, a Shinto gate guards the path leading to the shrine gracefully standing amongst majestic cherry trees, interspersed with gorgeous Japanese maple. Tall oaks stand guard near the outskirts, overlooking the serene landscape. Somewhere to the right, a gentle stream could be heard trickling by. Further, towards the back of the property, the house lies somewhat hidden from view. Nestled to the far left, not too far from the house, is a pool of a natural hot spring. This tiny bit of land is truly a little piece of heaven.

Once his work was done, Souichi slipped his feet back into his shoes, and headed back down the path he came from. Taking a moment for himself, he stared up at the other building once he got close enough. This house was all he had left of his mother. She had left this world when his youngest sibling was really young. And now, he lived here all by himself. Both his little brother, Tomoe, and his little sister, Kanako, had moved away.

His younger brother took to the family 'business' and became a priest himself as soon he was of age. Like their father, though, he enjoyed the thought of traveling since the very beginning, inspired by all sorts of different cultures, and decided to become a kind of traveling priest. He had more or less taken upon himself to discover new places of spirituality, purity and divineness hidden around the world where kamis could be felt and could manifest themselves. But not long into his travels, he found a place to settle down in America, running his own shrine there.

His little sister, however, moved away for a different reason. Seeking for a better education at a larger town outside of the prefecture, she ended up living at Matsuda-san's place whom was a friend of the family's.

Deciding to go in by the back door, Souichi took his time circling the house, admiring the blooming cherry blossoms.

'They really are gorgeous this year.' Letting his gaze roam, the young priest stopped abruptly in his tracks, spotting a lifeless form on the ground.

Lying amongst the bushes, totally beaten up, was a man, or at least what mostly looked like one. He was lying on his stomach, head tilted to his left side, facing towards the house, totally unconscious. Upon first glance, Souichi didn't recognize the man with the mess of black glistening hair hiding part of his face. But considering the shape he was in, that didn't surprise him. The stranger wasn't wearing a shirt, or shoes for that matter. He seemed to be only wearing a pair of pants, and those weren't in the best condition. Sadly, his body wasn't any better. Bruises of all shades and sizes bloomed on nearly every square inch of his visible skin, small cuts and gashes added to gruesome state he was in.

However, he had something that Souichi had never seen on a human before. He literally had a tail which joined with the bottom of his spine. It came out of a strategically placed hole in the stranger's now thoroughly ripped and red-stained pants. The long slim tail was the same colour as the man's skin and the end of it was triangular tipped. It kind of looked like the head of an arrow one would see in cartoons.

'Or a demon's tail.' Souichi had heard and read many depictions of a variety of evil spirits and demons, or akumas. He had also seen many images and drawings of demons in a variety of books throughout the years, and this tail looked very similar to those he'd seen. This one, though, seemed smaller and far less jagged or pointy than those in the books, but there certainly was a resemblance. Also, unlike the images, the tail laid limp in the grass, just as lifeless as its owner. Only the tell-tale sign of the rise and fall of a bruised torso, as well as the sound of ragged breaths told Souichi that the strange looking man was still alive. Or was he more like a creature than a man?

Kneeling down, the long-haired blonde peered closer at the unconscious face, looking past the mop of black hair slicked with sweat. With a start, Souichi jumped back, landing squarely on his ass. He hurriedly shuffled backwards on the ground, until his back met with the trunk of a cherry tree, in order to but some distance between them. His heart-rate had increased dramatically as he stared eyes wide in shock. What surprised him wasn't the bruised black eye or cut lip, disfiguring what might have been a handsome looking face. What freaked him out was the small horn jutting from the side of the man's head, right above and in front of his ear, near his temple. It grew out and towards the front, curving up and back, stopping right above his ear.

'What the hell? He really does look like a... a demon.' After slightly shaking his head in disbelief, he glared back at the limp form, willing the abominations to evaporate in thin air.

'How ridiculous. There is no such thing.' But when the tail or horn peeking out through dark bangs didn't disappear, he had to conclude that the stranger might have some sort of genetic deformity.

'Or maybe it's fake. It could be a prosthetic, like they do in theatre or in movies.' At the same time that thought crossed his mind, the lifeless looking tail started to twitch. Souichi held his breath while he watched it swish a little, from side to side, like a cat's tail, before it went still again.

'... Or I could just be going insane.' When the tail didn't seem like it was going to move again, Souichi got up onto his knees. He stayed there, eyeing the creature-man for a moment. His muscles were held taught, but motionless, as he hesitated, contemplating his next move. Before long, though, curiosity won over and he leaned forward. Shifting his weight onto his left hand, he reached out with the other. He had to touch it; he had to know if they were real. Before his fingers reached the horn, however, the body started to move.

"Nnnn... Huh..." The stranger was gaining some sense of consciousness. Souichi quickly got up on his feet, regaining his composure. He glared down at the other, willing all signs of surprise and uncertainty to disappear from his features, not wanting to show any weakness. Heavy eyelids slowly blinked open. A weak gaze roamed around, analyzing its surroundings. It didn't look like the beaten man knew where his was.

'Maybe he's scanning for any sign of danger... or for somewhere to hide.' The dark-haired stranger gazed up, and their eyes met. Dark green, pained and pleading; those didn't look like the eyes of a demon. Souichi even saw what looked like a hint of fear hidden in them. Now that he had the other's attention, not knowing what to say to this creature looking man, Souichi poured all of his irritation into his voice in order to hide any hint of uncertainty that might be lingering.

"What the hell are you doing trespassing here, on sacred grounds?!" The demon-man's features morphed first into confusion, and then regret.

"Do you even know where you are?" A head shake, meaning 'no'.

"S... S-sorry..." Souichi barely caught the mumbled words. Green eyes looked down and away.

"Pl... Please... H-help..." The stranger's voice was strained and weak before it died off. Closing his eyes, he took a few steadying – though shallow – breaths, as if to muster up the last of his courage. When he looked up once again, meeting the blonde's gaze, his eyes were moist. He seemed on the verge of tears.

"P-pl.. Please..." Souichi's glare faltered. Hazel eyes looked away. Did he really look so merciless and unforgivable that the other had to cry?

'Shit! Why does it feel like I'm the evil one?' The priest let out a heavy sigh before kneeling next to the injured man. He made up his mind. Stretching his left hand out towards the horned man, he noticed said man flinch away from the unexpected gesture. A more irritated sounded sigh escaped the blonde's lips.

"Come on. I'll take you inside where you can rest up and get better before continuing on your way." Green eyes shot up to look into hazel ones. They gleamed brilliantly as relief and happiness sunk in, shining through its owner's features.

Unable to stand properly, Souichi had to help the stranger; first onto his feet, and then through the back door into his house, half carrying him along the way. Since he was having some trouble supporting the slightly taller man, the priest had to drop his charge onto the nearest bed, which happened to be his own. A whole house to himself, and his bedroom had to be the closest one to the back door.

Entering his room, Souichi tried to lay down his charge as gently as he could. Leaving him lying on his bed, the blonde hurried to get a bucket of water, cloths and bandages to clean the angry-looking wounds. Having two younger siblings, cleaning minor cuts and scrapes was, in matter of fact, something he could do.

Once he got back, Souichi saw that the stranger was only half-conscious, fighting the drowsiness as best he could; eyelids seeming too heavy to keep open. The mattress creaked under the added weight as he sat next to the injured and beaten body. With steady, gentle hands, the blonde priest swiftly got to work, cleaning and bandaging cut after cut. He started on the horned man's chest, and worked his way to his arms.

Able to take a closer look, Souichi analyzed the bruises on the other's forearms. There were five nasty blue-black bruises in a line – five digits. They looked like fingers had dug into skin, probably holding him still while others threw punches.

'It wasn't a fair fight. He was beaten on mercilessly. No matter what this guy did, he didn't get a fair fight.' Feeling anger for this poor man, Souichi noticed something else: dry, cut lips. He soon returned with a full cup of water. After the stranger nearly gulped it all down, he noticed that the other seemed more awake and aware of his surroundings.

'He seemed to be doing better now that he had something to drink and somewhere to lie down.' Questions started to bombard Souichi's mind. Who was this strange looking man? Where did he come from? Why was he here? What happened to him? However, he highly doubted the still injured man had much energy to answer all of them. So he decided to start with one.

"What's your name?"

"Huh?" A quizzical look was directed his way. With a heavy sigh, the blonde tried again.

"My name is Tatsumi Souichi. What's yours?" With comprehension flitting through dark green eyes, a small sweet smile graced the cut lips. The person now lying in his bed seemed genuinely happy with this new information, like he was just given a present that he would forever treasure. He then attempted to clear his throat. The reply still came out ragged and weak, but Souichi understood him clearly.

"Tetsuhiro. My name is Tetsuhiro."

A/N: Alright! I have a new story!

Ok, I'm actually doing the one thing I told myself NOT to do – write multiple stories before finishing one… :S

Oh well… I had trouble concentrating on my other one, and just needed to get this one out there. But no worries, I will finish all my stories, even if it'll take me a while. :P

So this story was inspired by another one of Hinako Takanaga's mangas, Akuma no Himistu (The Demon's Secret). Throughout the whole time I was reading it, I kept on picturing our lovely Morinaga and Senpai as the characters, so I just had to write it! Even though the main idea and storyline is based off of Akuma no Himitsu, it is Souichi and Tetsuhiro we are talking about, so some details are and will be different.

I hope you like it!

As always, let me know what you think. :)

Until next time…

-Getsuei