AN: I really love this series, I wonder if you guys knew that 😉. I know it's not the most popular on this site but I hope that you guys like it. Also, I've nearly finished Voice Over/Seiyuuka for the first time and I love it 😊 Thank you for taking a chance on this story.

More than Human

Chapter One - Scale

It had started with a table tennis match during a post-graduation trip that the seven of them had taken (with the addition of Finn, Sakura, and Yahiro of course). While most of their group had gone to discover the other parts of Sakura's new summer home, Kei, Hikari, Tadashi, and Akira had gone to play in the game room. Tadashi was lured down by the scent of cookies.

It was one moment when Kei's eyes had been distracted by Hikari running her tongue over her lips, she had become even more glamorous and beautiful during their last year at school, and the ball had gone shooting off in a random direction, Hikari had managed to hit it back but then it rolled off the table. She had won.

Somehow, she had won against Takishima and they had witnesses.

It was only some very short, very small moment, the rolling of a single ball but she had beaten him and he….he couldn't have been happier. In the two years that had followed, Hikari had beaten Kei a total of three times. Once was a nationwide contest involving crosswords. Once was when they were playing chess, which was something that Hikari couldn't believe she had won at. Once was when they had made a bet on what gender Akira's baby would be.

Four times in total she had defeated him and although the odds were in her favor and she usually ranked second place to him, it was possible to best him. He supported her winning but he had always been asked to never let her win. That made every success even better.

…

…

Hikari smiled as the sun dawned and she opened her eyes and put her hand on top of the loving arm that was wrapped around her. She smiled as she let her fingers slip between his and smiled at her engagement ring. It had only been a month after the table tennis match that he had proposed to her and she had said yes even before he had finished asking.

She still couldn't believe how lucky she was to be engaged to her best friend and the only man that she had loved in this way. She knew that he had put his name all over her heart but she had the feeling that she had done the same to him. What Kei Takishima was best at was making her feel loved.

"I have to get up soon," Hikari said as she heard him hum and felt his lips at the back of her neck. "Kei," she said as she still blushed a little calling him by that name, she hoped she could overcome that before their wedding date which had yet to be announced. "Come on, let's go for a run before classes."

"Hmm, maybe we should stay here all day, Number Two," he grinned and Hikari closed her eyes. She turned so she could look into his eyes and smile up at the heart melting expression on his face. Super Effective.

"I wouldn't want you to do that to your father," HIkari smiled to him as she managed to wriggle out of his embrace. "Don't you have that meeting today with the stock investors."

"Just tell them to buy the company," Kei smiled with his eyes closed. He looked at the ceiling and then turned back to Hikari who had gotten out of the bed. Kei stood up too, stretching as he looked at her. "The bed isn't fun anymore if you're not in it," he commented and Hikari laughed gently.

"It's not fun?" she asked with a raised eyebrow before walking over to him and hugged him again. "How about if we have a little fun tonight," she said and Kei smiled at her. They had taken all the time that they needed for Hikari to be ready to take their relationship to the next step and when their first time had happened, Kei was as gentle and patient as Hikari needed him to be. It was what showed their strong love.

"Well, I'd never turn down that offer," Kei said before he looked at his wrist. Sticking out of his wrist was what looked like a silver teardrop, it shone in the light and now Hikari had noticed it too. It didn't look as if it were stuck on him but rather that it was growing out of him.

"What is that?" Hikari asked as she touched it and saw Kei flinch, was it painful or sensitive or was it from the shock of seeing it? It didn't look normal. Hikari pulled her fiancé back to the bed and sat down with him. She studied his wrist and very gently brushed against the scale. How didn't she notice that last night? "You are doing some interesting work," she tried to smile as Kei stared at it.

"I'm going to find something to extract it," she told him as she got up. After trying hard to decide on what she should study in school, Hikari had chosen two different degree programs. One was in humanitarian aid and the other was a pre medical degree. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do but Kei had always stressed that he would help her if she needed it and that the two of them could live wherever she wanted since he could work remotely or set up another office.

Hikari picked up a pair of tweezers but as she looked back the scale was gone from Kei's arm and there seemed a faint cut on his arm with no blood on it where it had been. The scale was in his other hand and he was studying it in the light.

"What do you think it is?" she asked as she approached him and Kei set the scale down again.

"It looks like a fish scale but much bigger," he said before smiling to her with that playful grin that always made her feel like he was finding everything so funny. "If there's more then I'll just take them off again," he told her and Hikari paused, paling a little.

"If there's more, why would there be more…" she said and Kei laughed.

"It doesn't matter if there are more, number two," he said as if the fact that there was some unknown scale in his hand so humorous, "I'll just take them off." He looked at her and she nodded slowly. He had to act as if this was nothing too serious or otherwise he would frighten her. He didn't know what was happening to him but the fact that he had grown a scale seemed like some huge allergic reaction and he had no idea what had happened. He didn't want to scare her though. He would just keep an eye on it himself.

"Okay," Hikari nodded before pointing at him, "but you promise me that if anything else weird happens, you'll let me know immediately."

"I promise," Kei replied and Hikari watched him for a few more moments wanting to take faith in him and his word. She nodded, "Can we discuss what's going to happen soon then?" she asked as he looked at her.

"What's going to happen soon?" he asked and Hikari moved forwards, putting her arms around him.

"I want to really celebrate your birthday this year," she said with a grin, "my future husband is going to be twenty-one, I need for the event to be great with decorations and food and all of our friends and maybe make it like a festival," she said and Kei wrapped his arms around her even more.

"Whatever you choose will be wonderful," he told her and then kissed her passionately as she returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "I love you," he told her as he pulled out of the kiss and Hikari placed a hand on his cheek with a smile.

"I love you, too," she said proud that she had finally mastered how to say those words.

…

…

After the meeting was done, Kei felt something painful against his arm. Maybe when he had taken that scale off he should have let Hikari do it instead of just pulling it off. It was starting to irritate him. Was this the type of thing that he needed to go to a doctor about. He rolled up his sleeve to inspect the cut and his eyes widened as he saw two silver scales and one gold one. Okay, this was beyond weird at this point.

Satoru looked over at Kei, noticing something wrong with his son and then froze as he saw the scales. He had shock in his eyes but more than that he had some depression as he saw them. "We need to talk," he said as Kei quickly rolled down his sleeve. He stared back at his father with wide eyes.

"Talk?" he asked as he put his arm behind his back. He couldn't risk the investors seeing this. He didn't know what was happening but fortunately the only person who had been witness to this illness had been the one person who would die before letting the secret out. Well, if the chairman was here he most likely would do the same.

"About the scales," Satoru said in a quiet voice, he put a hand to Kei's shoulder where they both could feel something sharp there, Satoru moved his hand just a little before gesturing with his head to an empty office room in the building. "We need to talk about what's happening to you."

"Nothing, it's just an infection," Kei said quickly, still feeling very awkward about what had just appeared on his arm. Was this like the hydra? Whenever he would pull off one, three would grow back in its place?

"Kei, I know what it is," Satoru said as the blond stared at him confused, "Come on," he gestured, almost tugging his son to the office and made him sit down. Satoru took some deep breaths before going and locking the door. "How do you feel about taking your clothes off?" he asked and Kei looked at him.

"Do you know how creepy that would sound if you weren't my father?" he asked bluntly and Satoru nodded.

"I know but I want to see what the damage is here," he said and Kei stared at him. "You're about to turn twenty-one, this is when they said it would happen. I thought they were just….well your mother and I didn't think they were really telling the truth."

"Telling the truth?" Kei asked as he looked at the scales again. He had read a ton of medical textbooks, he had always achieved top marks in high school, he had gotten through college in a year and was taking some masters classes on the side and yet he had no idea what these scales meant. This wasn't in any human medical textbook, it reminded him more of a lizard or a science fiction movie with aliens, not the type of thing he had ever been into.

"You didn't really think that you were just my son, I mean look at me," Satoru said and Kei stared at him.

"You're telling me that I'm not your son?" he asked and then paused, "And what's wrong with you? Dad, you know that I love you and that I admire you so much. You're driven, intelligent, you're capable of running this company on your own if you develop a backbone."

"Biologically you are my child but even Midori doesn't possess what you have," he said, "not even her father does."

Kei froze. He had always know that he was special, always known that he could do things that his dad couldn't. He had only been able to seek comfort in the fact that things came so easily to Aoi, maybe he was a little bit smarter or more athletic than him but it hadn't felt that he was too different. He wasn't the monster that people had called him before, he wasn't a robot, he had fallen and he had bled and he knew that his heart was strong because of his love for Hikari.

"What does that even mean?" Kei asked, not realizing that his iris had turned a dark red. His vision was fading, it was getting fuzzy for him and that was making his thoughts fuzzy. "What are you talking about? You just admitted that you're my father biologically and you raised me. How does that make you not my father?"

Kei sighed and closed his eyes. When he opened them, everything turned strange. It was as if he was looking at thermal imaging instead of the normal vision. He backed up, trying to get used to what he was seeing. He closed his eyes again and this time slowed his breathing, when he opened his eyes this time, it was clear again.

"Dad?" he asked and saw that there were now two red scales on his arm and another silver one. "Dad, what is going on?" he asked sounding more afraid than he ever had as a child.

"Kei, you're not human," Satoru told him and Kei tried to keep himself still, "You're a dragon."

What the hell!?