Fighting.

He was fighting that day wasn't he? Was it anything like this?

Haise Sasaki was lying face down in the mud, his white and black hair now a dull filthy brown, his clothes were torn and ragged much like his unsteady breathing as he rose to his feet once again only to be knocked down again in the same moment.

He couldn't win, not as his current power level, if only he had more power...

Haise.

A familiar voice echoed in his head.

Do you want... power?

Sasaki nodded, he was desperate after all, he couldn't let everyone die.

Then give me back my body.

The boy screamed in agony as the voice clawed into him, into his body and moved his limbs without consent. His mind was now the only thing under his own control and it burned, god did it burn, but he couldn't do anything as the rest of his body fought on without him until he heard the voice once again.

The time is coming Haise, next time won't be a dream.

With those words the eyes of Haise Sasaki shot open as he lurched into a sitting position drenched in a layer of sweat. His breathing was as ragged as in his dream as he gasped for the cool night air. he clutched his left arm as the scar that ran down it flared with immense pain for a few moments before slowly subsiding into a dull throbbing.

The door to his room flung open, the landing light illuminating the figure who stood in the doorway with a worried expression, Yuuma.

"Are you okay? You were making some pretty strange noises and you don't look so hot" she asked in a worried tone.

It took a minute for the boy to answer.

"I'm... alright... now, just a uh, bad dream" he tried to muster the best expression he could.

Yuuma raised an eyebrow but didn't question it.

"Alright, well if you need me i'm right down the hall" she reminded him before closing the door and going back to her room.

Sasaki sighed deeply.

'That was way too real to be just a bad dream' he thought, taking it as a frightening sign of things to come.

(Partner!)

"Huh? Oh Ddraig, what's wrong?" Sasaki fumbled to ask.

(You tell me, i'm in here happily snoozing away when your vitals start going haywire while you sleep, some sort of disturbing dream perhaps?) the dragon queried.

"Uh, yeah you could say that" Sasaki replied tiredly.

(May I ask what happened? I wasn't kidding when I said haywire) the dragon asked his host, a tinge of worry in his voice.

Sasaki gave a weak smirk.

"Worried about little old me are you softie?" he chuckled.

(Never you little brat, i'm just trying to keep you alive) Ddraig huffed.

This earned a second chuckle from the boy.

"I know, thank you, i'll tell you in the morning because as much as I don't want to I really need more sleep for school tomorrow" Sasaki replied turning over and laying back down before pulling the covers to just below his chest and turning on the ceiling fan to help with the sweat.

(Alright partner, i'll keep one eye open for you until you wake up) the dragon gruffly stated.

"Thank you Ddraig" Sasaki smiled before closing his eyes.

(No problem, Haise) Ddraig replied a little softer than before.

The next morning Sasaki was up early, his alarm had been set for 7:30 but thanks to waking up in the middle of the night his body hadn't fully entered deep sleep and he woke up a couple of hours later at 6am.

Sunlight streamed through a small gap in the curtains to his large bay window and the birds could be heard chirping through the open pane. Some may think it's dangerous to leave the window open overnight but Sasaki wasn't afraid of such things, he'd seen and heard worse in his own head not including his past life, besides he found the nighttime sounds quite calming to lull him to sleep.

The boy stood up from his bed and gave his arms a wide stretch accompanied by a satisfying pop either side of his neck. He walked over to his wardrobe and dressed in the school uniform, he was about to go downstairs and fix himself and Yuuma some breakfast when his phone began to vibrate on the desk.

Mentally scolding himself for almost leaving it behind, he picked it up and noticed the caller ID was unknown. After some hesitation he decided to hit the answer button and held the phone up to his ear, something he'd soon regret.

"HAISE SASAKI WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!" a familiar voice all but bellowed down the line.

Sasaki took minute to cringe and hold the phone far away from his now 'bleeding' ear before responding.

"Good morning to you too Azazel" Sasaki replied in an unimpressed tone.

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT CRAP YOUNG MAN, I'VE BEEN TRYING TO REACH YOU FOR 2 DAYS! Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

Sasaki sighed and rubbed the back of his head guiltily before answering.

"I'm... sorry, I was a little preoccupied" he told his worried father figure with a reserved tone.

Said father figure immediately realised something had happened when he heard his son answer in that way.

"What happened?" he asked worriedly.

"Well there were a lot of little things but two main ones, the second i'll explain to you both, Ddraig wake up" Sasaki called upon his partner.

The line went quiet for a moment.

"It... can't be? The red dragon of domination?" Azazel questioned.

(Indeed) said dragon replied before speaking to his partner.

(What did you need from me boy?)

"I said i'd explain what happened in my nightmare last night, I thought it best to explain it now to you both" Sasaki replied logically.

(I suppose it's a good idea if you think the governor should know too) Ddraig stated.

"Azazel? You still there?" Sasaki asked.

"Always boy" Azazel responded in a resolute tone, he didn't know why fate was to be so cruel to his son, but he wanted to at least be there for him while it was, after all the red and white dragon emperors were eternal rivals and as such never usually lived very happy or long lives.

"Good, then i'll tell you what happened" the boy replied.

As Sasaki retold the story of his nightmare to Azazel and Ddraig he felt a sense of relief being able to get it off his chest, the others however felt the opposite, worry.

"That doesn't sound vague enough to be a dream son, I think we're dealing with something real here" Azazel commented.

(I agree, whatever that thing was, it wasn't a normal nightmare) Ddraig added.

"You both think it's something else then?" Sasaki questioned.

"Probably, no clue what though" Azazel replied, Sasaki could practically see his mentors trademark shrug through the phone.

(In a hopefully less crude manner, I must agree with the governor, I cannot deduce what the cause of this might be, i'm afraid it may be something only you can discover boy) Ddraig stated almost apologetically.

Sasaki said nothing but his expression told a thousand words to his dragonic partner.

(Don't worry yourself too much partner, we'll figure this out together) Ddraig attempted to cheer up his parter.

"Thanks Ddraig, at least I know you have my back" Sasaki thanked the dragon and sent a joking glare into the receiver that Azazel immediately felt.

"You can be damn scary sometimes you know that son? That's coming from the mouth of a 12 winged fallen angel from the great war" Azazel half joked back.

Sasaki chuckled before saying goodbye to his mentor as it was nearing the time to leave for school. The line cut and Sasaki put his phone into his pocket before heading downstairs for some breakfast.

He could smell the lovely scent of bacon from halfway up the stairs, heading to the kitchen, he saw Yuuma in an adorable kiss the cook apron making a full English breakfast. The funniest part was she hadn't noticed him come down and was doing an incredibly embarrassing dance while making the food, her midnight black hair whipping around her neck and her generous booty waving seductively from side to side.

Sasaki attempted to contain a chuckle but failed miserably.

Yuuma froze and turned her head slowly towards Sasaki at what he believed an unusual angle.

"You saw nothing" Yuuma spoke lowly and seriously.

"Uh... s-sure" Sasaki rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Good!" Yuuma joyfully said with a big smile that made Sasaki sweatdrop at the near bipolar mood swing.

"I see you've made breakfast, sorry I couldn't, I got kinda side tracked with an important phone call" Sasaki apologised.

"No problem, I don't mind as long as you keep that little dance a secret" Yuuma half laughed, the other being deadly serious.

"No objections here, it was kinda cute though" Sasaki complimented her with a good natured chuckle.

A slight blush could possibly have been seen on Yuuma's face as she looked away from the boy, blink and you'd miss it though.

"W-well thank you, haha" Yuuma laughed almost nervously.

Sasaki took this moment to look over at the breakfast.

"I think it's almost done, why don't you take a seat and i'll finish and serve it up for you" Sasaki stated with a smile.

"Oh, it's alright I can manage" Yuuma tried to object.

"I insist, please sit" Sasaki replied pulling a chair out and motioning for her to sit down.

Yuuma relented and sat in the chair which Sasaki pushed into the table before bringing over 2 plates of breakfast and sitting down opposite.

"So how're you this morning?" Sasaki asked her.

"I'm alright thank you, how're you? You looked a little shaken earlier" Yuuma expressed with concern.

Sasaki rubbed his chin as he responded.

"Just an ordinary nightmare, nothing special" he assured her.

Yuuma gave him a look of dissatisfaction and he was sure she could see well past his bluff, however luckily she decided not to question it further and changed topics.

"How's the school so far?" she asked while chewing.

"Okay enough I guess, some things aren't great about it but they're negligible in comparison to the benefits" Sasaki logically replied.

Yuuma gave a curious expression that prompted Sasaki to continue but he chose not to in fear of letting slip about the supernatural to her.

"How's that job you got going?" he asked her.

There was a pause before she answered with a slightly lower tone, the difference would not noticeable to most.

"It's fine, just a little stressful, there's a lot riding on the success of my miss- I mean team" Yuuma corrected herself but a moment too late and bore into the neutral face of Sasaki to find any reaction to her slip up.

Fortunately it seemed he hadn't noticed her blunder, however that's exactly what he wanted her to think. For now he'd be patient, it seemed Ddraig had been right to be cautious around this woman, she seemed to have a sort of hidden agenda.

Her lips licked food off the corners of her mouth, but it wasn't food... it was blood.

Sasaki shook his head, no that couldn't be right, was he losing it?

Purple, blood and dust flashed across his mind to the point it was painful, this wasn't normal. He pressed his hands to his temples and closed his eyes as his face contorted in pain.

Yuuma's face was flush with concern as she reached out to touch the poor boy.

Sasaki's eyes shot open and before he knew it Yuuma had recoiled with a yelp sporting a rather red mark on her cheek.

"Yuuma i'm so sorry I didn't-" he gasped before being interrupted by a low voice.

"I think you should leave" was all she said while still holding her cheek, her eyes shadowed by her midnight black bangs.

"Please I just-" Sasaki attempted to voice himself but this time he was interrupted by another low voice, this one slightly softer.

(Partner... I think it's best if you do as she says) Ddraig mentally voiced his opinion, he was just as surprised as the boy and angry as the girl but now wasn't the time to berate his host.

Sasaki hung his head in shame and made his way outside, it was time for school so he headed that way but he couldn't get what he'd just done out of his mind. How could he have lashed out at Yuuma like that? She was only trying to help him but a voice, an urge just screamed attack and he had obeyed like a loyal dog.

His mind flashed back to the nightmare from last night, that voice, it had to have been it there was no mistaking it. The thought of it being able to control him made Sasaki feel quite unwell to the point that he'd considered skipping school that day to try and relax. Unfortunately for him one Sona Sitri, president of the student council, had already seen him from the gate as he turned around.

"Mr Sasaki, where do you think you're going?" she asked in a condescending tone that irked him greatly.

But why? He had no reason to be annoyed with a woman who was just doing her job in rounding up students, he'd only talked to her once before so why was he feeling such irritation towards her?

He was brought out of his internal questioning by that same annoying voice alarmingly closer than before. Sona had crossed the road and was now merely arms reach in front of him waving her hand across his face.

Grinding his teeth, Sasaki all but spat at the student council president.

"What do you want devil" the boy snarled a little too loud, putting extra emphasis on the devil part to ensure she knew that he was aware exactly who she was.

Sona was quite surprised by the response of the boy she'd thought to have been polite if a little tardy just a day earlier, however she didn't take kindly to being threatened and this boy all but yelling her heritage in the middle of the street was something she very much considered as such.

"I don't know what you're talking about Mr Sasaki and I do not appreciate being threatened, as president of the student council I have no choice but to inform your teachers and parents of your disgusting attitude" Sona responded coldly to the two toned boy with hardened features and a glare that looked like she was trying to set him on fire.

Sasaki had heard enough, this wretched woman thought she could come up and annoy him about his own time and then lecture him for telling her to buzz off? That was the last straw, however as he prepared to rear back his right fist to knock those stupid glasses of her face when his partner finally got through to him.

(PARTNER SNAP OUT OF IT) Ddraig boomed inside the boy's head.

Sasaki did just that, his eyes snapped fully open and his mind cleared away the hazy fog to see himself standing in front of the student council president with his fist reared back ready to strike.

'Ddraig? What happened? Last I remember I was feeling sick and turned to leave' he asked his partner with a little desperation laced in his tone.

(I do not know exactly partner, after you turned this girl called you out for attempting to ditch what you call school, I sensed a spike in your emotions after that not unlike the one during your nightmare and when you struck the poor woman you lived with) Ddraig explained to his host.

'I don't understand what's going on Ddraig, i'm losing control of myself and doing things I would usually never do and now you're telling me it's happening while I don't even remember? I can't do this!' the distressed boy yelled into his mind as he broke down emotionally.

(Partner... please try to calm down, I promise as your partner we will find out what's behind this together, I will do my best to not allow you to do anything else crazy) Ddraig attempted to sooth the boy, a strict tone would only make him more scared.

Sasaki shakily thanked his partner mentally but in reality he was horrified, how could this have happened? He'd only ever hit a man if he really deserved it and never a woman, he was a pacifist through and through, a defining trait that had gotten him into hot water over the past year but one he'd kept from the start and now he was throwing it away just like that?

A wave of guilt washed over him and suddenly he couldn't bear to be on the receiving end of her glare anymore so he ran, ignoring someone's cries to wait, he didn't know or care who's. He ran as fast as his stupid, useless body could. He had nowhere to go since he'd upset Yuuma this morning and Koneko when he left the ORC club room the previous day so after what felt like an eternity, he stopped running in front of an abandoned church.

Sasaki fell to his knees coughing up blood from the overexertion of his already broken body. The pain was agonizing all over his body as he fought to stay as quiet as possible, unfortunately that wasn't very quiet to the people passing by as they looked at the weird boy screaming his head off and promptly ignored him.

But someone didn't. A girl with blonde hair was all Sasaki could make out before his body stopped tearing itself apart and filled with warmth he'd never experienced before, well never since...

He passed out shortly after dreaming fondly of three people and then a checkered floor.

I hath returned with a pretty decent piece of work if I do say so myself ;P

Less than a month after the last chapter came out too! I'm doing pretty well so far aren't I?

Reward your favorite author by sharing this around and feel free to message and review with any thoughts and criticisms, the more the better!

Well thanks for reading this latest chapter and I hope to see you all again soon :)