A year, one entire year… I can't believe it. It's been one year since I came to Kuoh, and what a year it has been. Adventure, fun, danger, intrigue, some romance in-between, mystery, and so much more. Somehow I was even able to do my homework and pass my classes… That was the truly insane part. Hopefully, life won't get any crazier after my seventeenth birthday… Speaking of which…

"So how are you going to celebrate you're birthday Magnus?" Aika Kiryuu's face splits into a wide grin. "You going to go and get freaky in that red-light district?" Aika is a rather petite glasses-wearing brunette, with long brown hair is tied in brains, gold-colored eyes shone with mischief behind her glasses. She has on the standard Kuoh Academy girl uniform. Which consists of a white long-sleeve button-down shirt with vertical lines, a black ribbon rests at the collar of her shirt. A black shoulder cape and matching button-down corset, with a magenta skirt with white accents, and brown dress with thigh-high long black socks.

Rolling my eyes at the brown-haired girl, I slowly stand up from my desk. "No and seriously why are you acting like that still?" This girl I swear she is even crazier and more perverted than my friend Issei. I wonder how he is. I haven't spoken to him since he and his family moved to Europe.

"It's fun, and it annoys you." The girl giggles and punches my shoulder. "In all seriousness what are you going to do?"

"Not sure yet, I think I'll just-Oh I get it. When and where?" I ask the girl with a small frown. If I know Aika as I do, then she already has a party planned.

"Saturday at eight, we're going to the karaoke place near the park." Aika points at my face. "Don't be late."

I roll my eyes with a snort. "A wizard is never late, nor are they early. They arrive precisely when they mean to."

"Hey, why don't you invite that girl you used to date?" Aika asks blowing past my reference. "What was her name again?" Aika taps her chin in thought, before snapping her fingers as realization dawned on her. "Yuuma! Why don't you invite her?"

"I would, but she's… Not available." I mutter sadly.

Aika sighs as she shakes her head. "I'll never understand why you two broke up in the first place."

"Just some… Personality differences." Personality differences would be an understatement… When I first met Yuuma was sweet, kind, and extremely caring. It was nice at first, great even but slowly things began to change. She became less sweet and more… Dark. While we were having dinner one night, some guy accidentally spilled his drink on her. She flipped and threatened to tear out his throat.

It freaked me out, especially since she never did anything like that before. Luckily, I was able to talk Yuuma down and keep the guy from pressing charges. After the incident, Yuuma and I spoke at length about it, but she said it was nothing to worry about.

I didn't believe her, but I let go for the time being hoping it was a one-time thing. But it kept happening, more and more I began to freak out. Especially since Yuuma seemed to have no idea why it was happening, which was extremely concerning because it only got worse.

It happened one night when we were walking through the park, when we got jumped I pushed Yuuma behind me, intent on dealing with the jokers myself. When she rushed out and began to beat them, which was more surprising then bad… Until she almost killed one of them, and when I tried to stop her Yuuma backhanded me into a tree. Luckily, she snapped back to reality after that, but still… The damage was done.

Yuuma and I broke up after that, despite my protests about wanting to help her through this. She told me that I needed to get on with my life, if things changed for her, she would let me know. While we weren't together for long, I still did care about her and hoped things worked out for her.

"Anyway, Aika I'll see you later." Slowly standing, I leave the classroom with a wave at my friend.

"Remember Saturday at eight!"

"Got it!" I shout back. Walking down the hall I made my way out the school, but I was stopped by a group of older looking guys. From the way they are dressed, I can tell they are a part of the basketball team. Only they had pink hair. Snorting at their appearance I try to walk past them but was stopped and pushed back a little. "Uh... Can I help you gentleman?"

"We know what you did Maverick-san." One of them says with a murderous glare.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I've been in class all day, how could I've dyed your hair pink?" I reply feigning innocence.

"You changed out our shampoo with pink hair-dye!" One of them shouts angrily.

I hold my hands and look around. "Calm down, calm down. Now, what proof do you have that it's me?"

"Proof? We know it was you!"

I roll my eyes with a sigh. "Now who can refute evidence like that? Let me guess, there is nothing I can say, or do that will convince you to let this go. Right?" When the guys nodded, I slowly let out a sigh. "I guess there is only one thing to do now…. Bye!" With a grin, I take off in the opposite direction as the group.

"Get him!"

(Third Person POV: Rias Gremory)

Rias Gremory the next head of the Gremory household was bored, classes were over for the day and the rest of the members of the club were out and about doing various jobs, expect for Akeno. Though she was out of the room for the moment. Sighing the red-head walked to the window, looking for anything to alleviate her boredom.

"There he is! Get him!" A random voice shouts.

Rias arches a little and tries to find the source of the disturbance. Running outside the clubhouse is a group of male students, all of them have pink hair. They were chasing after a single individual. An individual with wild bronze-spiky hair and large goofy grin. The devil heiress shakes her head, with a small laugh Rias starts to smile in amusement. "Magnus Maverick, you silly boy. What have you done this time?"

"It seems he switched out the men's basketball teams shampoo with pink hair dye."

Rias turns to see her best friend, and Devil Queen, Akeno Himejima. A tray with a cup of tea in her hands, Rias takes the cup and returns to watch the chase once more. "How many is that this week?"

"After the incident with the airhorns? This one makes it three." Akeno sets the tray on the large desk in the room.

Rias snorts at the mention of airhorns. Several teachers found airhorns set up underneath their chairs in the faculty office, of course, they only discovered them after they sat down. The crimson-haired devil was there when it happened, despite how startling it was the incident was quite funny. "What was the one before that?"

Akeno taps her chin in thought. "If I remember correctly he set up hundreds of cups, filled to the brim with water in the hallways. It was quite difficult to get to class."

"I'm surprised Sona hasn't nailed him to the wall yet." Rias laughs as she looks out the window again. The bronze-haired idiot had vanished, leaving all of his pursuers baffled. If only they looked up, they would see the American up in a tree. Doing his best not to laugh.

"He is hard to catch; it also doesn't help, that he never leaves evidence that it was him." Akeno shakes her head with a small smile. "Despite the fact we all KNOW he did it."

"So true." As the men's basketball team gives up the search, Magnus climbs out of the tree and starts to leave. He stops for a brief moment and looks up at Rias, waving with a large goofy grin the teen leaves.

"Seems like you've taken more of an interest Rias, are you thinking about turning him into one of us?" Akeno asks curiously.

After returning the wave, the devil heiress turns around. "No. As I've said before, I want him to live a normal life. Well, as normal as someone like him can have."

(First Person POV, Magnus:)

As I walk back to my house, I couldn't keep the grin off my face. "You know… Today was a great day. I ace that math test, had a great lunch, and then there was that prank. Hopefully, those assholes will leave the Kendo Team alone." I stop walking for a moment with a small frown. "I'll need to be careful and avoid the basketball team for a while, but a little inconvenience is a small price to pay." Shrugging I continue walking.

The only real downer today was the mention of Yuuma… I wonder if she is okay? It's been a long time since I've heard anything from her. Hopefully, she is getting the helps she needs and who knows? Maybe I will see her again someday-

"Um… Excuse me?"

Slowly I turn around, my eyes widen in shock at the person before me. "No way… Yuuma?"

"Hello Magnus, it's good to see you again." Yuuma smiles as she stares at me.

"I… You too…" My god she… She looks practically the same, her uniform looks the same. The red blazer is pristine, the embroidered gold 'P' shone brightly, her white undershirt looks freshly pressed and the red bow looks like it came just off the shelf. Her spring green skirt is picture-perfect in every way. Her amethyst eyes shone brightly and were full of life, only two things about her were different. Her raven black hair now has a long streak of silver through several of her bangs.

The second thing was her voice…. On the surface, it sounded as melodious, but underneath the surface… Her voice was hollow….

Empty.

Hells bells, what happened to her? Aside from the voice, the whole uniform thing is freaky…. She looks perfect… To perfect, like a doll or a painting.

As she brushes a strand of hair behind her ear, the girl lets out a small laugh. "Surprised to see me?"

"I'm-I-Yes I am… Yuuma what happened to you?" I ask in confusion. "The last time I saw you-"

"I was a little messed up. However, I am much better now." Yuuma answers evasively.

"That's… Good." I want to believe her, I do… But something about her is setting me off, and not in a good way.

"Magnus, I know this is sudden but… Would you like to go out Saturday?" Yuuma asks with a hopeful look.

… I can't say no. Well, I could but I would be a dick turning her down. "Well… Sure… I mean I have something going on at seven, but you're welcome to come with me."

"Oh… You already have plans?"

She looks so dejected…. "Sort of… Just a couple of school friends invited me out, but like I said you are more than welcome to come. In fact…. Why don't we spend time together before then? Say around noon? We can meet at the station."

Brightening instantly, Yuuma wraps me in a hug. "That sounds great! I'll see you then!" Pulling away the black-haired girl runs off.

Leaving me confused and worried about Saturday. "I hope that I don't end up regretting this."

(Several days later:)

"Okay, this should do it." I look over my appearance with a slight frown. "Maybe I should change…" I have on a red t-shirt, a gray jacket, blue cargo pants, and gray/red sneakers. It's just a variation of what I normally wear, so maybe I should change…. Crap! It's almost noon! Leaving the house in a hurry I run to the train station, by the time I got to the station it was just a few minutes past noon. "Oh, man… I hope Yuuma isn't is here already." I am worried about this date, but I also want answers about what happened.

Yuuma and I dated for about six months or so and were friends even before that. My feelings about her had changed since then, and maybe this is just me but when you date someone. Even for a short amount of time, and they go through something…. Bad. You should check on them, make sure they are okay.

Still… I hope she understands that just because I agreed to this date, doesn't mean we are getting back together. Aside from the fact, Yuuma backhanded me into a tree the last time I saw her. There was someone else I liked. A certain red-haired beauty that attended my school…. Maybe I should ask Rias out sometime? Naw she wouldn't go for it. She probably just sees me as a goofball friend.

"Hello, would you like a flier?"

"Huh?" I was pulled from my musings by a strangely dressed woman. She has on a short red and white dress, with black sleeves in the shape of bat wings… In fact…. She has a small pair of bat wings sticking out from her back…. Man those things look realistic. Shaking my head, I focus my attention back on the woman and not her super-realistic bat wings. "I'm sorry, what did you say ma'am?"

"A flier." The woman says holding out a piece of paper. "Would you care for one sir?"

"Uh… Sure?" I say taking the paper with a confused look, as the woman leaves I look over the flier. "The hell?" Drawn on the paper is a rather intricate design. The only thing I could compare it to is a pentagram. I think I've seen this design somewhere before; the question is where? "Eh, a question for future Magnus to worry about."

"There you are, Magnus!"

"Hey, I didn't keep you waiting-Whoa, you look nice." I reply with a smile. Yuuma has on a simple black dress, a pink jacket, and a pair of open-toed heels.

"Thanks." The shorter girl's gaze turns to the woman that handed me the flier. "What was that about?"

"Not sure. Some kind of promotional thing, I think." With a shrug, I turn back to Yuuma. "Doesn't matter. You ready to go?"

Yuuma's gaze lingers on the flier woman, shaking her head Yuuma looks up at me. "Yeah… So where are we going?" Yuuma hooks her arm through mine.

"First things first, let's get some food, sound like a plan?"

The two of us directly went to a nearby restaurant for lunch. Once we were both seated, we perused our menus until a waiter came around to take our order. Yuuma and I made uncomfortable small talk after we placed our order, there was something I wanted to ask her about, and she was thinking about something.

"Hey, can I-"

"There is something I want-"

We both stared at one another before laughing. "I'm sorry. What did you want to tell me?" I ask the dark-haired girl.

"I… I wanted to say…" Yuuma frowns in thought. "For how things went the last time I saw you, I wanted to say I am sorry."

"Water under the bridge," I tell her with a smile. "Though I still have a lot of questions."

Yuuma just nods. "I know and tonight you'll get your answers."

I don't know why but that sounds a little ominous. "Okay-"

"Oh look, our food is here."

I wanted to ask more but Yuuma kept on finding ways of avoiding the conversation, either by refusing to talk while eating, getting me to talk about school, or my friends, especially my friends. She was quite curious about people in my life…. I'm overthinking things. Maybe she just wants to avoid an uncomfortable subject, and is just trying to catch up with an old friend? That's probably it. After lunch, Yuuma and I walked around town, just killing time before the party tonight.

We even stopped at a movie theater to watch some move… Though for the life of me I couldn't pay attention to the film. Maybe I had too much on the mind, or maybe the movie was that boring. Either way, after the movie it was almost time for the party. So Yuuma and I made our way to the karaoke place by taking a short cut through the park, as we walked by the fountain in the center of the park the sun was starting to set.

"It's really beautiful, isn't it?" Yuuma stops walking for a moment to watch the sunset.

Taking a moment to watch the sunset as well, I couldn't help but smile. "It is." As the sun slowly slipped over the horizon, my phone began to buzz like crazy. "Crap, it's Aika… She's going to kill me if we're late. Hey, Yuuma we should get going." I say after checking my phone.

"Magnus, I am sorry but I'm not going." Yuuma furrows her brow.

"Oh… Is everything okay?" I ask in confusion.

"Yes, everything is fine." Brushing a strand of hair behind her ear Yuuma smiles. "Thank you for today, it was a lot of fun."

I slowly nod. "It was, but what about-"

"That's right, I promised you answers, didn't I? Well, can you come here real quick?" Yuuma asks in a sickly sweet tone.

At that my blood began to pump, but not in a good way. Something about this situation felt… Wrong to me. Wait why is my left arm shaking? It hasn't done that in a while. "Uh…"

"Please? It's important." Yuuma stresses.

"I… I… Fine." I hope I don't regret this. Slowly I join the amethyst-eyed girl by the fountain, each felt like a hundred and I swear I could hear my heart roaring in my ears. Once in front of Yuuma, the smaller girl wraps her arms around my neck. The sudden motion made me stiffen up. What the hell is wrong with me!?

"Relax." Yuuma whispers in a sultry tone.

Wait why does she sound older and more… Mature? "Um… Yuuma-"

"Before I tell you what happened, may I ask you something?"

Gulping I slowly nod. "Sure?" The moment the words left my lips, pain-wracked my body. It felt like I was being punched in the stomach… Only much, much, much, much sharper. I tried to say something, anything but my breath caught in my throat.

"Would you… Die for me?" Yuuma's fingers slowly trace their way through my hair. As she pulled away, her kind expression became sadistic and cruel. Massive black feathered wings sprouted from her back as she let go of me, her clothing suddenly changed into something a crazy S&M mistress would wear. Long black thigh-high black heeled boots, black stocking, a thin leather bikini with a spiked shoulder pad, and long black gloves with a chain on the left arm.

Hitting the ground with a large thud, a pained gasp passes from my lips. "Wha-" Sticking out from my stomach is a large crystal-like spear.

Flipping some hair over her shoulder, Yuuma places a hand on her hip posing seductively. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? You know, I wasn't planning on killing you. I was going to offer you a place with us, but you came into contact with them. This means I have to kill you and on your birthday too. So sad."

"I-" I touch the area where I spear was sticking out of with a gasp. I… I was stabbed?

"Though if that answer doesn't suit you, then you can blame God. He is the one who cursed you with that Sacred Gear." The winged woman kneels and touches the spear. At her touch, it vanishes in a flash of violet light. "Oh, before I go. One final gift." Yuuma lifts my face to hers and kisses me… Roughly. Seriously who uses teeth? "Happy birthday, Magnus. Enjoy what's left of it." Spreading her wings Yuuma takes off into the sky, vanishing into the fading twilight.

So this is how I die… Not how I thought I would go out…. You know… When you die people say your life flashes before your eyes, or that you see the people you love or your regrets… I saw all of that… Though my only regret (aside from dying) is kind of surprising, to be honest. Is not being able to see the crimson red-haired beauty Rias Gremory, one last time. Kind of funny how death puts everything into perspective.

I wish I could have seen her… One last time…

(Third Person POV, Rias Gremory, Kuoh Academy:)

Rias felt something strange… Someone was trying to summon her? That is odd. Her normal clients just called when they needed a job done. "Is this someone new?" That would make the most sense in this case. "Well, I might as well see what they want." Calling upon her demonic power, a large magical circle appeared under the devil heiress. As the Occult Research Club room disappeared, Rias found herself in the park. The red-head looks around for the summoner when her eyes widened in shock. "What a strange place for a summoning-Magnus!?" Rushing to the side of the bronze-haired teen, Rias removes his jacket and presses it against his wound.

"Uh… Wha-"

"He's still alive… Good. Just hold on, Magnus-" Rias holds a hand up to ear as a magical circle appears. "Akeno, teleport to my location! Contact Kiba and Koneko, Magnus has been stabbed."

"What? Is he alive?" Concern filled the Devil Queen's voice.

"Not for much longer, he's lost too much blood." Rias kept the pressure on the wound, but the jacket was completely soaked in blood.

"I'll be right there, but Rias you may have to bring him back."

Rias sighs knowing what she had to do. "Magnus? Can you hear me? I can save your life, but if I do you'll have to give up your normal life. You'll never be human again. Do you accept?"

The bronze-haired teen slowly looks up his eyes glossed over. "….Ye-" Coughing in a haggard voice, blood poured from his mouth. "-s…."

"Very well. From now on. Live for my sake."

(First Person POV, Magnus Maverick:)

"Would you… Die for me?"

"Ah!" Sitting up in a panic, I look around frantically… I'm back home? In my room? "What happened last night? The last thing I remember… I was stabbed!? Looking at my stomach my eyes widen… There is a nasty star-shaped scar right above my belly button. That was… Real? All of it? Does that mean… Did Yuuma kill me? Wait a second… I'm naked!? …. That isn't important… How am I alive? I should be dead right… ? Also... What am I touching and why is it soft?

"Mmmm…uhh…"

Slowly I lift the covers to discover… I am not alone. Sleeping rather peacefully is a woman, a rather beautiful woman. Clear white alabaster skin, crimson-red hair cascading over her buxom and defined figure… This is Rias Gremory, the most beautiful girl at school, a close friend that I may have feelings for, and here she is… Asleep in my bed… Also completely naked, and… I'm groping her…

…. I'm calm, I'm calm, I'm… Not calm! "Ah!" Letting go of her breast, I fall out of bed taking some of the sheets with me.

"Why are you so noisy?" With a sleepy groan, Rias's eyes slowly flutter open. Sapphire blue eyes stare at me in confusion, relief replaced the confusion rather quickly. "Good morning Magnus, how do you feel?"

"I… I… What?"

"It's a simple question, how do you feel?" Rias asks as she slowly sits up, showing me… Well, everything!

… Does she have no shame? Turning away with a blush, I scratch my cheek. "Confused… By a lot of things."

"Given the situation, I understand," Rias says in a sympathetic tone. "What was the last thing you remember?"

"I… I was stabbed by… Yuuma… My ex." I mumble slowly looking at my stomach. "She grew wings… Changed… I…" I grip my head tightly as my head. Why does it feel like there is a spike in my head? "I… Died? Right?"

"I brought you back to life. The process can be it can be quite disorienting at first." Rias explains in a soft tone.

Brought me back…? "Rias… Not that ungrateful or anything, but who or what are you exactly?"

Taking a deep breath like she had been awaiting this moment, the crimson-haired girl smiles at me in a practiced manner. "I am Rias Gremory. Heiress to the Devil House of Gremory. and your Devil Master."

"Wait what!?"