Ummm, I had to edit this part. Thanks Xelena, for telling me my mistake. And to Bluumberry, from now own a large percentage of the story will take place in the Demon Realm, so you don't have to worry about the confusion.

To Tsugath-yes there will be more Yuki action. Always!

To ChibiChimp- I'm really glad you like it & there'll be more cute moments for you to enjoy!

To panatlantic- Ironically enough, I never even knew Michael or Judy existed until I read about three weeks ago. (And knowing me, I'm probably not even using "ironically" in the correct context... Oh well.)

I'm ecstatic that you guys like my fic! Thank you so much!

PROLOGUE: AND SO… THE DEMON MET HIS ANGEL

Shindou Shuichi was sitting on his mother's bed watching the magical show before him. A small child of eight, he was adored and frequently called "sweet" or "cute". He had short, messy pink hair and intense purple eyes that only matched one demon on the entire planet: his father.

The servants had prepared this show for him. The lesser demons were his friends. Because he treated his servants with respect, they gave him the same honor, which was why he was getting special treatment today.

The show Shuichi was watching was a humorous tale of two rabbit demons trying to outsmart the cunning wolf demon that wanted to eat them. This tale was a continuation of previous shows his creative servants had conjured up for him.

"Oh no!" Shuichi stood up excitedly on his mother's fluffy white bed and began to jump up and down. "Run away! Run away! He brought his pack with him!" As if hearing his call, the two small rabbits hopped into a nearby hole, which was a fox demon's den. "I sure hope the fox doesn't eat them…"

Shuichi himself was a half-demon. His mother was Lady Seki, a famous miko and a tajiya throughout Japan. Her slaying techniques were rare and she was often called upon to exterminate demons. Her marriage to Lord Shindou appalled the country of Japan. Both demons and humans (who knew that demons existed) hated her now.

And where was Shuichi's father, Lord Shindou? Back in his demon realm, far away from all humans. He had abandoned Shuichi and his mother in their time of need. He did give her a large estate in Kyoto and twenty demons servants to stay with them.

Lord Shindou was a powerful demon lord in his realm. His two closest allies were King Uesugi and King Sakuma. Lord Shindou's closest advisor was Lord Nakano. King Uesugi's nickname was Lord Lucifer. So in other words, Shuichi indirectly had ties with the devil himself. But of course, he didn't know that.

King Sakuma had only one son, the heir to his throne. Prince Ryuichi Sakuma was one of Shuichi's best friends. His other best friend was Lord Nakano's son: Hiroshi Nakano.

Lord Shindou was one of the Elemental Demon Sovereigns. In the demon realm, he controlled the season of winter. His element was ice. King Sakuma was the second Elemental Demon Sovereign. He controlled the season of summer and his element was fire. Lord Nakano was the third Elemental Demon Sovereign. He controlled the season of fall and his element was wind. The last Elemental Demon Sovereign was unknown to all. He or she did control the season spring, but his or her element was also unknown.

Shuichi was thinking about his best friends' last visit to his manor. The trio had spent the entire day playing about the house. Hide-and-seek, karaoke, freeze tag, treasure hunt, and of course training with each other. Training was every demon's top priority. If you wanted to live.

Because he was only a half-demon, Shuichi always had to train harder than Hiroshi or Ryuichi. Then again, considering the fact that Ryuichi was two hundred years old, of course Shuichi looked weak compared to Ryuichi. In fact, the only reason why Ryuichi bothered with Shuichi was because Ryuichi's child alter ego adored him. When the child alter ego wasn't present Ryuichi was his babysitter. Hiroshi was only two years older than Shuichi.

Shuichi thought about his two best friends fondly. He hadn't seen them in over a week and missed them horribly. He heard shouts come from downstairs and then an explosion. The magical show in front of him flickered and then blackened completely.

Any type of magic that continued even though the conjurer was not present was a very rare and ancient type of magic. It was used in ancient times to warn the helpless in times of war. Whenever a magical show goes out without the conjurer physically dismissing it, it means the conjurer has died. Which would explain the numerous explosions and screams Shuichi heard from downstairs.

"Oh… no…" Shuichi gulped fearfully. He looked around for somewhere to hide. Where had his mother told him to hide in times of danger?

Under the bed! Mother always said that she put a special barrier under the bed! Shuichi grinned weakly and hurriedly scrambled under the bed. Since the bed was fairly large, so was the space underneath. He found a small box with some toys, books, and a flashlight.

Shuichi began reading the book. He didn't even realize that demons had flooded into the room until he heard snarls. Startled, he looked up, careful not to move. There were fifteen demons in the room and they all smelled of blood.

"Where is the boy? We have to kill them both!" One demon snapped loudly, scurrying about the room. Suddenly, all the snarls hushed. One new demon entered the room. But this one was different from all the others. Shuichi could feel his power. It was impressive. Scary. Extremely scary…

"The boy you seek is under the bed." The demon's cold voice said. Immediately, all fifteen demons lunged for the bed and were simultaneously killed by the barrier. "Serves the fools right. Now then, Shuichi, won't you come out?"

Shuichi was shaking in fear. Where was his mother? Had this demon killed her as well? The demon knelt down so that he could see Shuichi. To his surprise, he wasn't scary-looking. He had whitish blonde hair and black eyes.

"My name is Lord Seguchi." Lord Seguchi smiled sinisterly. "I was assigned to assassinate every living being in this household. I don't usually like killing children, but since you're a half-breed, I'm probably just putting you out of your misery."

"My… my father is going to get you!" Shuichi managed to say.

"Come now. Your father couldn't have any importance in my world. If he did, you wouldn't be under the bed, now would you?" Lord Seguchi raised an eyebrow. The boy's father didn't care about him.

"Ryuichi… talked about you… He never said you were an assassin…" Shuichi sniffed. The demon lord before him narrowed his eyes.

"You know Sakuma." It was more of a statement than a question. Lord Seguchi frowned, closing his eyes in concentration. "This changes everything. What is your last name, Shuichi?" The dreaded question. Shuichi froze. His mother had always warned him to never-under ANY circumstances-say his last name.

"I promise Mother I would never speak it. And I won't." Shuichi narrowed his purple orbs at demon. Yup, I'm definitely going to get killed now… But… if he doesn't know who I really am… Does that mean that he won't kill me if he knows? Should I tell him? But wait. What if my father is his enemy? Then I'll really be in trouble… I wish you were here with me, Hiro…

Lord Seguchi uttered a few words and they both heard something shatter. The barrier. Without warning, Shuichi's small body was slid from underneath the bed. "There's no use in you staying under there, right?" He smiled menacingly. Shuichi stood next to Lord Seguchi.

"Enough." A surprisingly cold voice said from behind them. Shuichi's mother, Seki stood there defiantly. Exhausted, bleeding, but amazingly persistent. She was tall with long pink hair and dark blue eyes. Her long, flowing white dress was stained with blood.

"Lord Seguchi, step away from my son." Seki narrowed her eyes at the demon lord before her. She held a bow in one hand and a small red book in the other. A quiver was on her back. Without blinking, Seki tossed the book to Shuichi, who instinctively caught it.

"You're on the verge of death, Seki. Don't you think you should say your last goodbyes to your son?" Lord Seguchi shook his head. "I suppose you want to die. Very well then." He dove forward and slashed at Seki with his sharp claws.

Shuichi held the book close to him, not bothering to look at it. The silver cross that adorned his neck seemed to shake in anticipation. The demon blood in him cried out to be released, unsealed. But Shuichi could never let that happen. Not now, when things were so dire.

"Open the book!" Seki cried out as she shot a spiritual arrow at Lord Seguchi, halting him for a moment. Shuichi obeyed and was amazed to find that each page was blank. "I seal thee away, thy treacherous demon. I seal thee away to Gehenna for all eternity." Seki closed her eyes and allowed her remaining spiritual energy to form a ball around Lord Seguchi.

"NO! NO!" Lord Seguchi roared as his body was transported into the book, which closed as soon as his body went in. Shuichi dropped the book in shock and slumped to the floor. His mother's arms enveloped him.

"You're safe, Shuichi, you're safe…" The only thing that Shuichi noticed was that there was no "we" in that statement. Seki kissed him numerous times and then told him to open the book again.

"Yes, Mother…" Shuichi obeyed, tears falling from his eyes. For the first time, he noticed all the blood that his mother had brought in the room. "Are you… dying, Mommy?"

Seki didn't answer and instead, used one of her special arrows to give herself a new wound. Blood dropped onto the open white page and disappeared. Seki made sure there was enough blood on the arrow's tip and leaned forward to write in the book. She wrote the numbers "666" twice.

The book glowed and floated away from them. "My son, I love you. Remember: never take off your seal or tell anyone of your last name. You will survive, Shuichi, because your heart is strong. You will survive. You will-" Seki, Shuichi's mother, closed her eyes for the last time and her body slumped forward.

Shuichi stood up and watched the dead body of his mother fall to the ground. He began to cry. Wail, in fact. "You must be the brat." A voice said from behind him. "Aw, leave him alone!" Another voice said. Shuichi whirled around.

Two figures stood in front of him. The book was gone. They were both demons and powerful at that. The first had blonde hair and amber-colored eyes that narrowed at him coldly. The second had black hair and black eyes. It was obvious that they were related in some way, because their facial structure was exactly the same.

"Sorry about him." The dark-haired one walked forward, kneeling down by Shuichi. "My name is Tatsuha. And the sourpuss is Yuki. Your Mom called us here to keep you safe until King Sakuma returns from his negotiation trip or whatever. Then we deliver you to Ryuichi. Good friend of yours, right?"

"Yes…" Shuichi was terrified. But then again, his mother did send them. They could be trusted. And these two new beings took his mind off his mother. "How did you get here?"

"Your mother made a pact with us years ago. She killed off ten of our greatest enemies. In return, we have to keep you safe and out of the reach of the assassins. Did you happen to catch one of their names?" Tatsuha asked kindly.

"Lord Seguchi…" Shuichi's chin quivered. "M-mother sealed him away to Gehenna for all eternity… and now… and now…"

"Hey, hey. It's alright. Boy is Tohma going to be mad!" Tatsuha held Shuichi close to him. Shuichi allowed the tears to flow once again. And so their friendship began. Tatsuha and Shuichi became close.

Over the next three days, Shuichi matured a lot. He and Tatsuha buried his dead mother along with the other dead servants in his manor. He learned that Tatsuha and Yuki were the sons of Lord Uesugi. He learned that Yuki was first in line to the throne and that Tatsuha was third. Shuichi felt as if he had a special connection with Yuki, even though he hardly spoke to Shuichi.

Tatsuha placed a special spell on two ordinary twin daggers. They each had a black hilt with a crystal in the middle and each blade had a ruby, an emerald, and a sapphire embedded in it. "To protect you from harm." Tatsuha grinned as he placed them in the boy's hands.

Tatsuha and Shuichi spent plenty of time together, talking and having fun. "I never thought the son of the devil would be so nice." Shuichi had grinned happily. The pain of losing his mother had almost diminished.

Then, on the third day, Tatsuha and Yuki had to leave. Shuichi was slightly saddened, but Tatsuha promised that they would see each other again because he had ties with Ryuichi. "Brat." Yuki spoke up and Shuichi looked up at him in shock. "I hope to see you again one day, resilient one. You have potential."

Shuichi gasped in surprise. Lord Yuki was complimenting him? Was it the Apocalypse? Even Tatsuha looked surprised. "Seems you took a liking to Shuichi, huh?" Tatsuha grinned as Yuki gave him an annoyed look. Shuichi closed his purple orbs for a moment and then opened them. He saw two words in his head.

'Marriage' and 'Yuki' were the two words that seemed to implant themselves in Shuichi's head. He opened his eyes, staring intently at the first-born son of the devil, Yuki. "I'm going to marry you, one day." Shuichi said simply.

A beeping sound was heard. "We're late. See you, Shu-chan!" Tatsuha and Yuki vanished, leaving Shuichi alone in the manor. King Sakuma was to pick him up soon. But something went wrong. The hands of fate went counterclockwise.