It was Halloween, again. Usually kids around Misaki Yata's age would be excited walking around town dressed up and talking excitedly about parties. But Misaki was anything but excited. More kids walking around meant more people mistaking him for one of them. One of the brats who went to school and had to obey the law. Like hell he needed to obey their laws. Not when he was from Homura. He was rolling slowly down one of the many back alleys when he heard the shouting.

"Leave me alone!" a girl's voice cried.

"Hey, hey, girlie, just show us what's in the box and we won't hurt you," a rough voice taunted.

"Now that much, anyways," another leered.

He looked down to see about three guys cornering a girl with dark brown hair. She was clutching a box in her arms and one of the guys was trying to pry it from her. Once more she shouted for them to leave her alone and kicked her leg out which connected with the groin of the one in the middle.

"You little bitch!" the guy screeched in a soprano tone. "Hold her down!"

The other two grabbed her arms and pinned her to the wall.

Tch, he scoffed internally. Not my problem….

As he made to skate away he heard her scream once again and turned to see them tearing at the front of her shirt. He scowled and hefted his aluminum bat.

I'm gonna regret this later….

The first guy didn't know what hit him. One moment he was holding the girl's arm and watching the boss undress her and the next he was on the ground holding a plum-sized lump forming on his skull.

"You fucking bastard!" the guy shouted as he turned to swing but Misaki knocked him out with another swing from the bat.

Flames were licking its gleaming surface, now as he glared at the men and the other one holding the girl let her go as he backed away. Good. They were afraid. They should be.

"Leave the girl alone," he growled.

"Who the fuck do you think you are, kid?" the leader demanded.

Misaki grinned maliciously. "If you knew, you wouldn't still be standing here."

"You little bastard!" the leader growled and swung a fist at Misaki which he caught with red flames dancing along his arms.

"I'll say this one more time." He squeezed the guy's fist and let fire creep down over his hand. "Leave her alone."

The guy pulled free, grabbed his comrades and ran away screaming bloody Mary. He laughed at the sight before looking down at the girl who was picking up the contents of her now smashed box and holding the tear in her shirt together. With a sigh, Misaki set the bat aside and crouched down to help her. It turned out that her precious cargo was….

"Cookies? Those assholes were going to…," he couldn't bring himself to say the word. "Over a box of cookies?"

She wiped a tear from her face before answering. "They're for my parents' Halloween party."

Great. Halloween, again. He rolled his eyes and hefted the box. "Where are we taking these?"

She looked up at him incredulously. "Um… the Gōman'Na Taido District," she replied looking away. "And thank you… Yata-san."

"You know me?" he asked.

"I should, we were in the same class all throughout middle school," she said. "You disappeared in high school, though. People say you joined the Red gang. I guess the rumors were true."

"Y-yeah, they're practically my family," he replied. He was still stunned that he had just saved an old classmate.

Her face looked familiar but he couldn't place her name. The more he thought about it, the more he became certain that he was missing something important. And the Gōman'Na Taido District they were heading for… that was significant. It was the richest neighborhoods in the city. He wracked his brains to try and remember people he knew from that hoity toity neighborhood but to no avail.

Finally, they arrived at a tall and wide house with a red tiled roof and shutters. He looked up at the house- no; it was more of a mansion, really. How could he have gone to middle school with someone who lived here? The girl was obviously bonkers. At the door he handed her the box and turned to leave but she stopped him.

"Thanks, again, Yata-san," she said softly placing the box on the ground. "You probably don't even remember me, huh?" She smiled at him but he seemed to be very interested in the wind chime above her head. "But I remember you… and I guess that's what matters… so thank you." Then she surprised him by reaching up and planting a soft kiss on his cheek before grabbing the box and rushing into the house.

He stood there stunned and would have stood there for the rest of the night had the shocked cries of the girl's parents yanked him from the state. Anger rushed through him. How dare she just do that out of nowhere? He didn't even know who the fuck she was and she went and kissed him! With a low growl, he snatched up his board and stomped back through the front gate. Before he placed his foot on the board and sped off, though, he looked at the name on the plaque. Himitsu. Now he remembered. Otome Himitsu. She really had grown since middle school….

With a scowl and a scoff, Misaki mounted his board and sped off kicking up angry flames in his wake.