Disclaimer: I do not own anything!

WARNING: This story contains YAOI !

~~ 1. Someone New ~~

~~ 9. December, Midday ~~

"Ne, Fujiko, have you heard it, too? These rumours about the new transfer student, nya?" The red head spoke with joy and hugged his lightly brown-haired friend. His red hair was styled in a funny way and he was too energetic for his age, even when the weather was a mess, the red head was still as excited as always. The sun was blocked from big clouds, it would probably rain in the evening, but the air from the rooftop was the clearest, so mostly the little group of friends would be there to eat their meals.

"Saa, Eiji, how could I haven't heard it? Shida-sensei is thinking about him all the time. She surely should learn how control her thoughts." The boy, who Eiji embraced brotherly, chuckled and put more wasabi-sushi into his mouth. Fuji couldn't understand why all of his friends disliked wasabi-sushi so much. His eyes were closed and a smile was formed on his face. The closed eyelids hid the sapphire blue and sharp eyes, which froze every person as soon as he showed them.

"You know, Tezuka said you and Yukimura shouldn't read the thoughts of strangers when you're in human form? You should only do it when it's necessary, Fuji. It's so damn unfair! The two of you are the only one who can read the thoughts of other people in the human form!" Momo said and finished eating his third sandwich. A nod came from everyone as an agreement. Every manbeast had his own speciality in their human form – like the older one of them had the ability to read the thoughts of other people and could control their movements if the mind wasn't to strong-willed. Momo ran his hand through his short, black hair and lay down on the cool floor. Everything was better than the unbearable heat of his. The body heat of a manbeast was much higher than of a human.

"Saa, I was just interested in how the new boy looks like. The picture of him was really cute. Do you think he'll model for me? I would like to take some photos of this beauty!" The tensai chuckled again and finished joyfully his meal while his friends stared blankly at him. Had he just called the boy a 'beauty'? They felt immediately sorry for the boy! Momo was the first one who broke free from the shock.

"I doubt that. No one would model for a sadist like you! The last time you had asked someone to model for you ended in a scandal! The poor girl ran with tears in her eyes out of the room!" He snorted out and laughed a bit at the memory.

"Fshuu, by the way, does anybody of you know who the guy is or where he comes from?" The snake, Kaidoh, spoke and everybody of the group looked automatically to their omnisciently data-man, waiting for the answer. Inui grinned at his friends and a sparkle reflected from his glasses. He took out a little notebook from his jacket pocket, opened it and started to read.

"Echizen Ryoma, fifteen years old, weight is unclear but he is pretty short – he is only one meter and sixty tall and is very popular by girls and also by a few boys. He loves to play tennis and has, for now, never been beaten in it. He comes from America and will be, because of his good grades, in our class – a third year."

"Is he really so good in tennis? I'm the first one who will play against him!" Momo said - nearly shouted.

"Fshuu, I'll be the first, idiot!" Kaidoh hissed to his rival and the fight between them started for the fifth time today, even if it was still Midday. Their record lay by ten times before midday which was hard to believe 'cause they were in different classes but Inui had counted everything so it must be right. While the two were fighting each other on the roof – Oishi tried to stopped them as always and Fuji giggled by the sight - Eiji had just noticed the last words which Inui had said.

"W-Wait, he'll be a third year with fifteen years? How can it be when neither Tezuka, Fuji nor Yukimura had reached that?" Eiji snorted out in amazement. Absolute silence. All friends were stunned. Had they heard it right? The little boy would come in one of their classes, if he would be really a third year.

"Fshuu, you're kidding, right, Inui?" Hard to believe - a normally freshman would be a third year.

"No, Kaidoh. My data is correct. The boy is, indeed, a tensai!" He said proudly and mumbled something more to himself like - "good new data... information... excited... new Inui juice!" The group talked several minutes about the new topic but it was silent again when suddenly Oishi spoke up.

"Maybe he's the one?" Whispered the mother-hen of the group, Oishi, with hope in his voice. This single question was in everybody's head. The time went on and if they wouldn't find the person soon… no one wanted to think about the consequents.

"Tonight, we'll meet up in the old building again. And be careful everyone, new hunters are on their ways here." Tezuka spoke up in his monotone voice and left the roof with his emotionless face. The group stood up with serious faces and walked along the roof as the bell rang. As much as they all hoped to be still alive in the next three weeks, the fear about this little wish wouldn't come true was much bigger. The reality was hard to believe.

~~ 9. December, Night ~~

The night was dark, it rained badly and the streets were empty in this city. As always at a time like this. The people in the city were smart enough to save their short lives by hiding in their house. Not a single person, who had lived here long enough, would leave its home after the darkness began and the howls started to get louder. The creatures came mostly at night, ran around the streets and left if they hadn't found anything. Nobody knew who these creatures were, they would transform into the human form whenever they liked. Some people said they could read the thoughts and control their victim's movements with their eyes. Other said it was all a joke, so what was true?
These creatures, living somewhere in the town, were running through the streets more often in the last time. Only a few old people knew the reason.

They were searching for their last chance to live in peace – searching for the last beast master. Every person who had dared to cross their way, when they're in the beast form, had been found dead – bitten into pieces - on the next day. Some other times there were also a few people dead because of an enormous loss of blood. All their blood was gone but then nowhere was a sign of a cut or some other bruises. The bodies were completely empty of blood.

The war between humans and manbeasts had started hundreds of years ago and only a few people knew about it, the only difference now was there were only a handful of hunters left who were brave enough to face the creatures and hunt them down. The monsters were uncontrolled and wild, only their missing masters had had the gift to control them but sadly they were all killed by a stranger. Only one more master existed somewhere in the world. Would the last beast master die so would it be all the manbeasts' death, too! A connection deeper than a blood connection.

The little group sat, as arranged, in the old, ruined building and waited for the others to appear so they could discuss their nightly route, where they would search for him.
The building was empty and stood in the middle of a dark forest were no normal human would walk around. The person only needed to walk along a wrong way and he/she was lost. The trees stood too close to each other which made it really hard to see through them, even when it was still midday.

"I have heard some more hunters will come in the next few days. Hopefully they're stronger than the last ones." Momo spoke in a playful voice. He leaned against a cold wall, closed his eyes and listened to the rain. If he would be still human he would sleep now for a few hours, but most of the manbeasts didn't need more than seven hours of sleep in a week if they weren't injured. "It's soo boring here, hopefully the new guy is someone really cool!" He yowled out.

"I hope so, too, nya. I think it's good that someone new will come to our school. I'll have someone new to play with, nya." Eiji giggled and jumped up and down in excitement. He would have a new friend and someone to tease.

"Saa, but we need to be careful when he is with us. We can't expose our real form." Spoke a soft but piercing voice out of the dark corner. Everyone was startled by the sudden tone.

"Oh Fujiko, don't appear so suddenly from out of nowhere! Is the meeting over? What had Yukimura and Atobe said?" The red head said in a happy tone. The answer was a simple smile and a gaze with open blue, shining eyes with a touch of gold in them. The smile alone was strange but it was even scarier with his eyes open.

"Fuji, your eyes are starting to change colors. What is it? What have they said? It isn't normal for you to be so emotional." Oishi, worried over everything as always, asked in a soft tone. The eyes of a manbeast in human form would change if they were emotional stressed. It was always dangerous if humans were in sight. If the emotions were too strong they would transform into their real form.

"The people in the town are all thinking about their own and about a man who seems to be a very strong hunter. Tezuka was right; in a few hours it'll be swarmed here full of deadly hunters. It'll be harder for us to search for him when so many of them are here. Seiichi and Keigo made the idea to stop searching for him and wait up." The tensai's eyes got even more golden then before. Eiji hugged his friend to calm him down while the others were deep in their own thoughts.

"I think it would be really better if we stop searching and… "Oishi didn't come any further with his sentence. He was cut off.

"If we don't find him soon, we're all dead! We have only two more weeks before the hell will break out here! Cole will be here in two weeks, at Christmas Eve, and as soon as he finds him, it will be the end for us! He will do everything to kill the last one which will be our death too!" Tezuka's voice was unbelievable sharp and harsh. He came out of the dark edge; his eyes were as golden as Fuji's.

"Do you really believe we'll find him before Christmas Eve?" Momo whispered. His eyes were still closed but the emotional chaos inside of him was clearly seen by his friends.

"The chance for us to find him right in time lays by…11,8 %." Inui said in a sad tone. The heads of the group fell down; the search seems more and more hopeless.

"Saa, It's a pretty small chance, isn't it? Maybe we won't be alive after Christmas Eve." Fuji's voice was calm, almost relaxed. The small circle turned silent by the realization. Who was crazy enough to feel relaxed when he heard he would die in the next two weeks? Answer: Fuji Syusuke.

"Fuji, you're scary, you know? How can you be so relaxed when we'll probably die in the next couple of days?" The jumping boy cried out, let go of his scary friend and hugged his lover next to him.

"We're searching all over the world for him but for now, nobody has found or seen him. Kevin is searching all over America and Paen is looking in Australia for him. Some others are looking in Europe and in Africa for him. We can only continue to search for him or hope he'll come soon and find us." Pause. "I'm worried. Will it be our last two weeks?" Oishi said and hugged the shaking and crying boy back. His own feelings went from fear to hopeless and back to fear.

"Let's hope the best and calmed down now. We'll meet up with Keigo and Yukimura in a few minutes to discuss our route for today." The leader said in a strong, steady voice, his feelings almost back under control, as they all stood up, ready to search anew for their last hope. The day would rise up soon and as soon as the first sunshine touched the ground, they would break up their searching. There were too many people who could notice them while they were too focused. In their human form, they would be only some young man from the tennis team of their high school. No one would suspect them to be the killers in the quiet town.

~~ 10. December, Afternoon ~~

A new town, new people and most likely a new life - this was exactly what Echizen Ryoma, a fifteen year old boy, didn't want to have. Why did his whole family need to move when only his father needed to go to Japan because of his job as a monk? He would have liked it when his father would have left his mother, his brother and him, Ryoma, so they could still live in America! Why must it be Japan? He could speak and understand the language, that wasn't his problem but…

his friends were in America – not in Japan,
his life was in America - not in Japan and
the strongest tennis players were in America! Not in Japan!

Ryoma's new home was an old temple-like house. He had a big room for himself and the house was one at all – huge and surprising modern, but he would need around thirty minutes to go to his new damned school. They had a private court in their new garden, which his father had made as a gift for him and his older brother to say sorry for the move. His cat, Karupin, had made himself a home at Ryoma's huge bed while he finished unpacking his things. He was tired and wanted to lie down in his soft bed and sleep, but his parents thought others as they called for him.

"Ryoma, can you go to Mrs. Yamashira and ask her if she has some medicine for us. Your father and brother have probably caught a cold." His mother spoke in a louder voice as she stood at the end of the stairs. Her son was sometimes really helpless. Always tennis or naps in his head, well, and sometime it was only his lovely cat. It was time her son got himself a girlfriend! Perhaps, he would get some new friends tomorrow and maybe there would be his love in his new school, who knew?

"I'll do it later." Came the tired reply. Rinko shook her head; her son was really lousy and lazy sometimes.

"Ryoma!" It was a soft warning from his mother. She would take his rackets away if he wouldn't do it in the next few minutes.

"Alright, I'll do! I'm on my way!" Ryoma shouted back. Gosh, he was so tired! He didn't want to go to the old woman at the end of the city. The sun was already on her way down and the moon could be seen lightly on the night sky. He stood up from his bed with a growl, Karupin still sleeping in the warm and comfortable bed. He stumbled down the stairs with an annoyed face, put his jacket and his shoes on and left.

"Hey Chibisuke, thanks and take care, alright? I know how to appreciate it." Ryoga teased him and smirked out of his window. Ryoma assumed it would be better to ignore his annoying brother and so he did. After he had made half of his way, it was slightly dark outside, the street lanterns, which were still unbroken, were already on and it snowed a little bit. The ground would be icy tomorrow by the combination of rain and coldness. He walked slowly further along the city and suddenly a cold shudder ran along his spine, something was wrong here but he didn't know what it was.

It got rapidly colder and colder, Ryoma snuggled further into his warm and white jacket while his mind was absent in his own little world with his eyes half closed. He was tired as hell and now he needed to go to the creepy old woman because of his stupid brother and old father. But there was one more thing which angered him more. The thought about his new school annoyed him. He would go to the only school here in this big town – it was unbelievable that there was only one school in a city where so many people lived – the school's name was KotoKara High*. A little noise brought him out of his thoughts.

Ryoma stopped in the middle of the empty street, turned his head to the right then to the left, he turned around and looked back, searching for reason of the noise but nothing was in sight. Especially this was what brought him a shiver over his back anew. No one was at the street, all the shops were closed, nowhere was a single sign of a human. What the hell was going on here? Weren't normally some restaurants or clubs open at night? He would never admit it but he started to fear that something was very wrong. What was going on here? Why was everything so quiet?

The young boy walked – ran – along the streets, his heart thumped so hard against his chest, from the panic, it nearly hurt. His lungs burnt from the sudden long sprint. His whole body felt as if it was under electricity, his entire body felt rather hot but cold at the same time. His feet stopped from time to time, it was as if they had their own will now. He didn't like it, whatever was going on here! Just when Ryoma saw the house from the old woman, he heard it. A dangerous, loud howl and some nearer growls came out of the closest alley next to him. He panicked and ran faster but stopped abruptly when suddenly something big and furry stood in front of him with a pair of golden, glowing eyes. The eyes were completely focused at him, held him tightly in the grip and the fur of the giant monster was long and purple. This THING had five tails and looked like a bigger version of a fox.

'A bad dream? Something like... that... doesn't exist!'

Ryoma couldn't move. He felt as if he couldn't even breathe or scream for help. The eyes multiplied; there were closely ten pairs of glowing golden eyes after only a few seconds. Every monster had its own color and numbers of tails but what scared him the most - not even one of these eyes looked not hungry at him. As if they wanted to eat him.

'What the hell is going on here? My body is on fire, my mind is cracked up and…'

Ryoma stopped in the middle of his thought. Had one of these… THINGS… just moved closer?

'What, and? Continue! Ore-sama is curious what comes after and…!'

An arrogant and proudly voice said. The small boy stared at the purple creature in front of him, which had probably spoken.

"Y-You can speak my language?" He stuttered, a little scared and took two steps backwards, just for safety, only to regret it as he noticed the other two creatures behind him. One of the two had lightly brown fur and the other had a dark blue fur. They both had five tails and also golden eyes.

'What?'

Came the sharp reply and Ryoma understood why it felt so strange to speak. It wasn't spoken with the mouth, it was more in his head. The young boy's eyes widen. Was he so tired? He heard already voices in his head? Was he tired enough to see monsters around himself or was it just his fantasy?

'Oh god, what's going on here? I must be crazy! This isn't real! It can't be!'

He thought and it was quiet in his head, he didn't get any answer. Was it really all an illusion? No, he still stared in these golden, glowing eyes. He couldn't look away. Only now, Ryoma noted the worst thing which could have happened in such a situation...

...They had surrounded the poor boy.

It was already pitch black outside, Ryoma couldn't see his own hand in front of his face and most of the street lanterns were suddenly dead. The creature before him looked away; the pair of glowing eyes loosened the grip around him. The boy could move and breathe normally again. His first instinct was 'RUN!' but the creatures had already surrounded him and some others were on the roofs – looking down to him. The boy turned around in a circle, cold sweat ran down his spine, he was still too young to die and the panic was written in his face. The creatures may have loosened the grip around his body but they came closer with every breath! He didn't know where he should run! He took one step forth only to make one back, the creatures were so near he would have reach them if he would take five steps forward. And then, without a warning, voices ran across his mind and screamed at him.

'You can hear us? You can understand us?´

'Please don't fear us! We won't do anything to you!'

'We promise!'

'You can hear us, nya?'

'Please!'

'He can hear us, nya!'

'Help us!'

'Fshuu, unbelievable!'

The voices screamed in unison in Ryoma's head. It was as if someone shouted something into his ear and stood right next to him. Ryoma's head nearly exploded from the noises and he fell onto his knees, his head in his hands.

'Stop! Stop, please stop! What have I done? Stop; let me wake up! STOP!'

He screamed inside his head. His voice had somehow disappeared and his body was trembling badly from the pain. His body burnt or better said something burnt itself into his skin. He would have moved his clothes to look what it was but the fear about his head breaking if he let go of it was bigger. The yells were still going on; he felt horrible, every part of his body ached but at least they stopped when a louder and soft voice shouted.

'Stop, everybody! We hurt him!'

Ryoma saw how the dark blue and lightly brown monster came closer again but it didn't matter to him, if he wouldn't be eaten by these creatures than he would be burnt to death. The fire inside of him didn't get weaker. He couldn't help but let a painful sob escape his mouth as tears started to stream down his cheeks. He lay on his knees, his head was near them and his hands were still clenching his head tightly. It hurt so much. He had never felt anything which hurt as much as this.

Then suddenly something warm and soft touched him on his shoulder, tried to sit him up straight. Another thing touched him softly on his forehead. In shock and panic, he pushed his head up and tried to look at what had touched him, but his vision got blurry. He wanted to scream but the next thing he saw was the darkness which fell over him. He lost his consciousness and something warm and soft lifted him up before he would have crash the ground with his face. Ryoma's head lay against a soft and warm pillow and a steady 'thump' echoed in his ear.

Sadly the small boy didn't hear the cheering calls and happy tones from his destined family anymore.

~~ 11. December, Morning ~~

"…..ma…oma…Ryoma!" The named boy's eyes fluttered open. Bright light blinded him and he closed them again. He opened his eyes anew and stared into a familiar face. His brother with a cheerful smirk on his face shook the little boy on his shoulders. Where was he? He looked around and found himself in his room, in his bed with only his underwear on. Had he taken off his clothes last night? Wait! He was home? How…? Wasn't he yesterday…?

"Hey, Chibisuke. We'll be late if you don't hurry!" Ryoga said and walked out of his room.

"Was it all a nightmare? Or was it real?" Ryoma spoke to himself as he got up and put his new school uniform on, still trying to decide if it was real or all a bad dream.