A ruthless gale got close to sweeping the young boy off his feet. In response, he cried out and clutched onto a thick oak branch, looking around helplessly, his voice dying before it reached the clammy air. Over him, the sky was a deep sulking grey and thunder rumbled in the far distance. It was late autumn and the first snowfall was sure to arrive soon. Although rain was to come first, many days had already passed and deemed that the wetter season was coming to a cold close - soon to be replaced by the icy winter's blanket.

The boy was lost. Lost in the deep and obscure woods - stuck in a maze among the shadow of the great mountain. Beyond that mountain lay his home, but he was far from it. Somewhere along his journey, he'd fallen off the carriage he'd been traveling in with his parents. He was alone - not even animals resided in those woods. They were morbid, the trees were dense and the air thick. A truly horrifying place for a young and unknowing boy to be. The half-dead labyrinth.

But something about those precise winds, blowing in and out of the trees made the hair on the back of the boy's neck stand on end and he looked around with wide cerulean eyes, filled with worry. His lips were quivering as he clutched at the single coat he wore. He hoped it to be a bad dream - he hoped for it to end. He understood not why he was to have been left on his own in a desolate place like those woods. He yearned for the presence of others – to no longer feel as if the very air was choking him, gripping him by the neck and forcing reality in his face.

So cold and so alone he felt - abandoned and forgotten. Aimlessly wandering in the hope of finding some comfort in the next clearing on. But then! Suddenly. All noises halted as if the air was holding its breath.

Silently, something stirred. A dim figure emerged from within the depth of the network of trees, sweeping down from the distance and gliding silently and gracefully. It drifted across the forest floor and over to the boy. The poor forsaken boy who was so lonely. He could do nothing but watch as it looked down upon him with bright, crimson eyes, hidden in among the threads of shadows, clinging so desperately to it. Down to his soul did he shake with fear as he watched the demon as it enveloped him in his darkness, terror sewing him to the spot. In all his short life, the boy had never seen something so benevolently eerie – the combination of his anxiety and curiosity driving his mind insane as the earth underneath him seemed to bubble. Vexed he felt not, for there was no room for it. While those tranquilly fiery judgements stared so vigilantly, all sensation the boy experienced was dread.

"My poor child… What does a youth pure as yourself seek in these woods?" Those silky words glided from the figure's tongue in a mellow tenor, filling the air with an almost strange warmth - so very different from the forest it placed itself in. Those hollow crimson eyes grew larger as the figure knelt, shadows embracing it while he stared into the young boy's deep pools. No distraction could break their intense gaze at one another. As if the world no longer mattered or even existed. No. It was just him. The demon and the boy. The boy and the demon – the demon of the woods.

"Lies your home beyond these frightful territories?" Questioned the being while he examined the boy, so very little and insignificant before him. So very fragile and so very pale. Meek and beautifully fresh…

The boy did not speak before the superior being in fear of angering it by doing so – it wasn't his common sense to instruct him so but his instincts. Yes, common sense was the last of the poor boy's worries. Instinct was what was driving him – instinct was what kept him rooted to the spot. Instinct screamed inside of him, telling him that a wrong move meant assured death.

"Fear not my child, for I bear neither ill judgements nor cruel exploits. In simple terms, I wish to direct you to safety – for as your instincts rightly provoke, my being is not of a friendly nature and any mortal unfortunate of meeting me, is assured to have no ordinary life onwards… But what is this?" The contact between eyes red and eyes cerulean shattered as both instead, looked up at the grimacing sky, as the first worldly tears dropped – shimmering in the light of the hammering lightning which naturally foretold the oncoming roar of thunder.

"It seems fate has been unkind to you my child. Alas, despite my supposed conduct, I would feel but gravely guilty for abandoning you here. Therefore, we will stroll my child, onwards and headed for your home. I will see to it myself." The darkness split apart to show a shimmering white hand which lurched forwards and then gently rested upon the small boy's head. Shuddering, he continued to stare up into those deep crimson pits with a frightful feeling.

Yes, the being he had come across was the very reason he was afraid of the forest to begin with – why all animals were afraid of it as well. The keeper of the darkness and god of the mother tree. That tree kept all the other trees living in the half-dead labyrinth – feeding them with her darkness while the keeper watched over her. None of the home told myths compared to what the boy was seeing before him. For upon second glance, the darkness cowered, clinging only around the slim figure of a man with skin of a ghostly form and red tresses of beautiful hair that, despite there being no wind, swayed gently in the quiet air.

Everything was so perfect – not too sunken, not too gaunt, but not too filled and over exaggerated. A beautiful and proportionate face he had, one the boy could only dream of having himself. Meanwhile, the boy pondered over the strange appearance of the god of darkness and, trying to gather what little courage he had, he addressed the demon who had retrieved his hand and stepped away.

"My lord. Please, I beg to ask you about yourself." And the boy felt so overwhelmed by the other's powerful presence, that he went into momentary shock when the being flashed him a wry smile, eyes kindly examining the younger.

"It deems only natural for you to experience curiosity – however, time is not in our favour and we must make haste; for when the rain comes, I fear I may not be control my own actions young one. Now come." The legs of the boy carried him involuntarily across the ground and towards the demon who wrapped him in his darkness which, to the boy, felt almost homely…

In utter silence they paced through the forest, having to seemingly never wander of course to avoid the forces of nature – and the boy had a strange suspicion that the demon high above him but at his side was the cause of such an occurrence. He felt tempted to ask the superior further questions but found his voice incapable of making another sound while in the company of the other – still oppressing and heavy as ever.

The demon, the superior, the powerful other however, took every step with great caution, seemingly afraid of his own darkness as his red eyes quivered in their sockets, darting around the area, as if he knew not of his own home. Slowly, it dawned on the young boy, that not only did the demon's darkness hold him, but an icy hand rested upon his shoulder, and looking, he watched the pale, clawed digits resting there, digging into his simple coat slightly. It was strange for the youth to be with the stranger, who seemed so much more powerful than any other entity he'd ever come across in his short life. However, something about the touch, something about meeting him in the first place, felt right to the boy. No words could describe what exactly he felt – perhaps he was simply too young.

"My child, we have neared the end of our journey… I will set you off on your own from here on out. Before we part ways though, I wish one thing of you." The young boy shivered as out of nowhere, the fierce face was at his level, the eyes bigger than ever and drowning him in their intensity. Slowly, the boy felt his numb body tremble and his head give a meek nod.

"Share with me your name, my child." The hand from the boy's shoulder moved and he shuddered as it placed on his small and heated cheek instead while the demon leant in, those dominant red eyes boring into his soul. The boy felt the tears inside well up but he swallowed them down along with the upcoming lump in his throat and he bit his lip.

"Kuroko Tetsuya…" Gasped he, almost choking on the words while he stared wide-eyed at the powerful being before him who watched him so very closely.

"Tetsuya…" It sounded so beautiful as it rolled off the demon's tongue, smoother than silk and lovelier than the lilies that grew in his hometown around spring. How could such a beautiful voice possibly belong to an evil and corrupt entity, shrouding both the boy and the entire forest in such demise, in such shadow, in such darkness. The boy knew not of the reasoning. Demons to his imagination had always been ugly and wicked creatures, but whatever it was that stood before him now, suited not a single one of his images. Although no human stood equal to his asset or beauty, the boy knew, from those glints in his eyes, that he should fear the entity which so warmly embraced him in his supremacies, encasing him and binding him in a twisted oath.

And again, he said his name.

"Tetsuya. We part ways here, but I leave you with my words and my memories." The demon looked down at the boy almost sadly, emotion finally breaking through his hard-shielded surface like a crack in a perfect mirror.

"You my child, have met a very calamitous providence. I wish not to do it but however young the perpetrator of my realm, shall not walk away unmarked. Therefore, I leave you with this." And with that, the demon leant in, suddenly pulling the boy in two strong arms and forcing him rigid. The boy did nothing, too shaken with surprise and fear anyway.

In that instant, the being, the entity, the demon presented him with a kiss to the forehead – soft and delicate, as if kissing a fragile baby bird, small in his hands. The boy felt an unknowing urge to lean into his touch, tempted by the allure and gentleness of the supposedly ruthless creature. While the demon's arms were still around him and his hand still placed on the boy's neck, they were both in trance – submitted to the demon's will, desire or something else possibly.

But when the demon pulled away, the boy yearned for more, feeling strangely sad and lonely again. All was gone from him, the demon slowly vanishing back into the darkness from which forth, he'd come. While the crimson eyes met cerulean one final time, the boy had the kismet of hearing that succulent voice one more time.

"It is a cruel deed of mine indeed. I have abused your little trust in me – I have lied. In the future, Kuroko Tetsuya, I have ensured we will meet again… For I have taken something, oh so very precious to you…"

Once again, the boy felt so desperate to reach out to the disappearing demon, to shout, to yell for him, to want him so bad. But he could not speak. There was no way he would be able to produce another word after being left with such a riddle. But then, as by surprise to earlier circumstances, the boy found himself shout out once again.

"What do they call you?" His voice was lost in the void, the wind returning and sweeping the words into their dark midst. Branches swayed heatedly, attempting to knock the boy over as another breeze from inside the forest picked up and abruptly blew over the boy harshly. But among the many gusts, the boy heard the name, subtle and almost indistinct and for no reason at all, it brought the tears to his face, his head back to reality and his body back to fatigue. Underneath him, his legs collapsed and he collided with the dimming forest floor after turning to see the lights of his home town. He listened to the wind speak to him as his eyes slowly closed and he sobbed silently – sadness, loneliness, desolation and emptiness finally taking over and settling over him. He heard the word ring in his mind.

Seijuurou.