Hello! Darkdemon here! I just wanted to explain some things before I started the story.

First, bold italicized words mean thoughts or in Kurama's case, Youko's inner voice.

Second, the lines you see are there for a purpose. It seperates the point of view in which the story is being told. It switches between characters. For now there are only two characters and they should be easy to figure out. i will help you out when I change point of view between more than two or three characters. Do not fear.

Third, the main heroine's sister is in fact actually scarred and has a lame leg. She is almost 30 in the story. Neither their mother or their father is alive. Just in case you become confused later on in the story.

That should be about it. Any questions you may have, just leave them in a review I will answer them in the next chapter.

Till then, I give you Chapter One: Enter Aniko and Shuichi; A Budding Passion

3 Darkdemon

I watched her as if she was were a drug I was addicted to. I never talked to her. I only watched her from a distance with subtlety. No one knew how much I craved her touch. No one but myself and my not-so-quiet alter ego. He was the first to notice her and then she was all I ever saw. She was a cheerful youth, only a year younger than myself. She possessed dazzling amethyst eyes and her hair was the color of the midnight sky. It bounced in curls around her doll-like porcelain face. She had a small form but her figure was perfect, in the shape of an hourglass. She never looked at me. Once and awhile her eyes would flit in my direction but as soon as I noticed, they were off somewhere else.

"Ani! Please let me copy your homework!" A classmate begged the girl. She firmly shook her head and smiled.

"No, Kayako. You'll never learn by just copying. I'll help you with the problems but I will not give you the answers." She stated firmly, leaving no room for argument. I admired her even more for her firm but kind approach to her friends and their school work. She's the top of her class, I noted as I read the scores on the bulletin board.

Of course she is. Did you doubt her?

I could hear Youko striking up another conversation that revolved around her.

"Shuichi Minamino?" Her voice entered my eardrum like silk, wrapping my mind in her heavenly presence. I turned to look at her in surprise and she smiled at me.

"My name is Aniko Kurosaki. My teacher asked me to speak to you about my joining the science team." Her voice echoed slightly in my shock. I quickly regained my composure and smiled good-naturedly at her.

"Yes, she spoke with me earlier. I see no problem in you joining. It'd be a pleasure." I rolled out the words flawlessly and a smile lit up her face.

"Thank you!" She beamed before disappearing into a nearby class room. Her scent wavered in the air around me and I basked in it before I was surrounded by many of the females who made up my fan club. All of them looking like they had just had their hearts broken.

"Shuichi, who was that girl? She isn't your girlfriend is she?" The leader asked. I quickly shook my head.

"No, no. Miss Kurosaki was just asking me about joining the science team. Nothing more."

Though we may wish it…

Youko growled and I smiled.

His voice swept the air around me. I had never been bold enough to speak to him before now. He held this air around him that made him seem untouchable to me. His emerald eyes seemed to sparkle with untold secrets and hold centuries of information though he was only a year older than myself. He was the top of his class, a fact many of the more threatening of his fan girls had instilled in me after my encounter with him. Of course I had already known that about him. His handsome figure had drawn my attention from the first moment I had stepped foot into this school, though he may never realize it. His crimson locks were the first thing to lure me in and his emerald eyes are what had locked me in. I would unconsciously stare at him from time to time but I would dart my eyes away before he could notice. It was an effort to save my tattered heart. Just as long as I didn't get too close to him, I could admire him from afar.

"Are you listening, Aniko?" I shook my head at my sister and smiled goofily.

"I'm sorry, Yuki. I was thinking about something." I apologized and she smiled, softening the scars that marred her once beautiful face.

"It's alright. How was school today?" She asked and I smiled.

"Fine. I'm the top of my class again. I'm also joining the science team." I announced proudly. Her smile widened and she clapped her hands together in excitement.

"Oh, Ani-chan! I'm so proud of you! I knew you could do it!" She exclaimed before climbing to her feet. She wobbled and I stood quickly to steady her. She blushed faintly and smiled her thanks. I smiled back and helped her limp over to the kitchen. She nodded when we were far enough in for me to release her and she pushed me out.

"I'm going to make a celebratory dinner! No peeking! And no listening!" She spoke before sliding the door shut in my face. I sighed silently and made my way across the hardwood floor to the back yard. I basked in the soft breeze that caressed my skin and I unconsciously slipped out of the yard into the garden behind the fence. Technically I wasn't allowed to be in here. But what Yuki didn't know, couldn't hurt her.

"Mama…" I whispered quietly as I fell to my knees in respect in front of the shrine my father had built in my mother's memory. Covering the shrine were the many rose bushes my mother had planted while she had been alive. She had been holding one when she died, or so I had been told by Yukiko. My father had died shortly after my mother. I remembered. He had gone mad with the grief, having lost my mother in such a gruesome matter. I do not know how she died. I was far too young to remember.

"Shuichi? Shuichi? Come down for dinner!" My mother's soft voice held a rough edginess to it tonight, I noted. I sighed and exited my room, smiling at her when I appeared downstairs. She was frazzled. It happens occasionally when I go away for a few days without telling where I disappear to, leaving her to worry. I hated to do it to her but to tell her I was a demon and I disappear to fight for my life would not only put her in immense danger, it would cause her to cease loving me. What kind of human would want a merciless demon as a child? What kind of human would want any contact with a merciless demon? I could not bear to put that grief upon her shoulders.

Tell her about Aniko…

Youko insisted and I sighed as my mother asked me how my day went. I told it was well and I was once again the top of my class. She praised as always before smiling secretly.

"I spoke with Yukiko today." My mother was hinting at something so I looked up.

"Yukiko? I don't remember her." I stated truthfully. I didn't remember anything about any Yukiko.

"She was Hiro's oldest daughter."

Hiro? I killed a Hiro once. He had been a thieving traitor…

Youko hissed in my mind. I rolled my eyes at his excessive anger. If Youko had killed this man, it had been years ago and his memory would be of no use to me.

"Hiro, mother?" I asked, still pondering my mother's sudden interest.

"He was an old college friend of mine. He and his wife died about 10 years ago. I believe you go to school with his youngest. Oh what did Yukiko say her name was again? Onoki? Oh, heavens no! Aneki?" My mother pondered aloud and I froze.

"Aniko?" I asked, fearing I would be right.

"Aniko! That's it! Do you know her?" She asked and I nodded.

"I acquainted with her, yes. Why do you ask, mother?" I wondered. She smiled and I saw her stand. I noticed she had her coat on.

"Are you going somewhere?" I asked and she nodded.

"As are you, young man. We were invited by Yukiko today. We're to have a celebratory dinner with them." I froze. I told myself I would not get close to her. I would not talk to her unless it was completely necessary.

Go! I want to see her! I want to see her out of the blasted school uniform she always forced to wear! It covers her best assets!

I could hear Youko yelling at me in my head. I could already tell this night would end badly.

"Aniko? Aniko? Where are you? Come inside! We have guests!" I heard Yukiko's voice calling out into the night air around me. I sighed, unwilling to leave this peaceful sanctuary but deeming it necessary. I quietly slipped back into the yard and climbed the tree, to hide where I had truly been. I jumped down from a branch in front of Yukiko and she screamed out in surprise.

"I swear you will be the death of me one day, Ani!" She cursed and I laughed before helping her back inside. I gasped when I saw who my sister's "guests were. Yukiko smiled and introduced those who did not need to be introduced.

"Aniko, this is Shiori Minamino and her son, Shuichi. Shiori was an old friend of dad's and I believe Shuichi goes to school with you. Shiori, this is my little sister Aniko." Yukiko beamed brightly and as always her scars softened immensely, making her look almost as beautiful as she had been at one time.

I hate you, Yuki...I growled in my mind as I put on a smile, faking happiness for Yuki's benefit.

"Hello! It's so wonderful to meet you, ! And hello again, Shuichi." He appeared to tense when I turned my smile onto him. Somehow I knew he didn't want to be here which further increased my inner melancholy.

This night is going to be like a bad movie: a good beginning, a mediocre middle, and an awful ending.