Title: World So Cold

Genre: hurt/comfort, romance

Rating: K+ for very mild language and slight violence (might go up)

Pairing: JohanXJudai (spiritshipping)

Song: "World So Cold" by Three Days Grace

Summary: AU. Long ago, Odin banished the god Johan out of Asgard and sent him to the world Midgard, world of the humans, after banishing Johan's lover, Judai AKA Hel, to the world Niflheim, the realm of the dead. Now, Judai, after being tricked by Odin into thinking that Johan abandoned him, wants revenge against his former lover. Can Johan prove his innocence, and prove that he truly does love Judai before Judai is dragged into Niflheim again?

Me: Okay, my readers! I know we have been updating and posting a lot lately, but this one is just to keep y'all entertained until a few more of my fics are updated, so no worries!

Lucy: This is going to be really short! Only four chapters!

Me: It's sort of angsty and really romantic and kinda depressing, so please read if you are in the mood for seeing Johan or Judai in emotional pain for a little while!

Lucy: Please enjoy the first chapter, you guys!

Chapter One: The Shadow is Alone

Late one evening, a young blonde woman walked around the library with a book in her hands. Her pale lips sported a smile, and her blonde hair bounced playfully in curls around her chin.

The book she held under her arm was the old favorite, Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet".

The girl smiled and swung her hips to the side as she scampered across the red carpets of the library. Besides the librarian, she was the only person in the library.

"I guess no one likes books that much anymore," the young woman said aloud.

Deciding that there was nothing else that she wanted, the young woman headed towards the door of the library so that she could leave. In order to go out, she had to pass a small area with a few tables and comfortable chairs for people who were reading or doing work in the library. It was quite a lovely room.

As she walked by, a young man caught her eye.

The young woman stopped and turned to see the young man, about seventeen or eighteen years old. He was seated at a small table near the door, and seemed deeply into the book that he was currently reading.

He was a strange boy, to say the least.

He had brown hair with two layers; a lighter layer on top and a darker chocolate brown in the bottom; and his hair was short in the back and long in the front.

His eyes matched his hair perfectly in color, though they were hidden behind what appeared to be a pair of reading glasses. His skin was a pale peach color, like most skin, and he looked healthy enough.

Despite the time period, 2010, the boy was dressed in a red plaid closed vest with a white button-up dress shirt underneath. He wore a black ribbon at the base of his neck, and the girl imagined it was a very subtle example of a tie. He wore a pair of brown plaid shorts that came to just a bit under his thighs, but his legs were covered by maroon socks that vanished underneath the shorts. On his feet he wore black shoes that looked like something from a school uniform.

The girl glanced down at the pile of books he had beside him.

All of them were on Norse mythology. The one he was currently reading was unknown, since he had it laying flat on the table and was reading it with interest.

The girl turned and walked towards the young man. "So, you... are interested in mythology?"

The boy ignored her and smirked as he skimmed over the book in his hands. "Hmph. It figures that he wouldn't be mentioned in any of these," he said with a dry, viscious laugh.

The girl jumped a bit at the boy's wicked laughter. "P-pardon?" she asked.

The young man glanced up and slowly shook his head. "It's nothing," he murmured. Ignoring the girl, the young man returned to his book and read on in absolute silence.

A moment of silence went, and the girl felt uncomfortable.

As she turned to leave the library, she heard the boy singing something under his breath. She turned as he started to pick up a bit more pitch, and sang just a bit louder.

He was still reading while singing softly. "I never thought I'd feel this, Guilty and I'm broken down inside, Livin' with myself, Nothing but lies," he sang under his breath. "I always thought I'd make it, But never knew I'd let it get so bad, Livin' with myself, Is all I have."

The girl gulped.

The young man sounded so sad.

He had a blank expression on his face, and yet through his soft song, he sounded as if he were going to start crying any moment. The young girl just stared at him and listened.

The young man kept on reading while he sang. "I feel numb, I can't come to life, I feel like I'm frozen in time." The young man closed his eyes and sang the next part a bit sadly. "Livin' in a world so cold, Wasting away, Livin' in a shell with no soul, Since you've gone away, Livin' in a world so cold, Counting the days, Since you've gone away, You've gone away."

"That's a Three Days Grace song, right?" the young woman asked.

The young man stopped singing and glanced up at the woman with a blank look. The woman gave a nervous smile and walked towards the young man sitting at his own table.

"It's a nice song, you sing it well," the young woman said. "Do you like the song?"

"It's all right," the young man said as he closed his book. "I like singing it because it is the only song that truly expresses me, y'know? It fits me so well that it's almost... horrifying."

The young woman frowned. "Isn't it sad... being compared to such a sad song?" she asked.

The young brunette stood up, took his book from the table and walked towards the door after pushing his chair in. The young girl, not wanting him to be angry, gave him a nervous smile.

"I-I see you like mythology," she said. "I'm more into romance novels, you see?"

The girl held up her copy of "Romeo & Juliet" and grinned. The young man eyed it carefully and then continued to walk by the young woman, not saying anything to her.

The girl turned towards him. "I-I'm sorry if I bothered you," she said. "I wasn't trying to."

"Wishful thinking," the young man answered.

He stood in front of the automatic door as it swung open, and he started walking into the night, clutching his book on Norse mythology as close as he possibly could, his body trembling.

Somewhere, deep in his mind, he thought of the man he once loved.

A young man with blue spiked hair and loving emerald green eyes. He was always a kind man, or so the young man had grown to believe. He closed his eyes and bit his pale lower lip at the memory.

"That's all love is, after all," the young man whispered.

Saying nothing more, the young man vanished into the darkness of the night, leaving the young woman to stand in absolute stunned silence, holding her romance book close.

Me: Aw! Poor guy! I bet you all can tell exactly who the young man in the library was!

Lucy: But what happened to make him think so badly of love? And what will happen in the next chapter? That, my dear readers, is the amazing mystery of life!

Me: We chose the song "World So Cold" because while thinking of the idea for this fic, we were listening to this song, and it fits the "young man's" personality and his history soooo well that we just had to put it in!

Lucy: So, please review and we will update our other fics and this one ASAP!