Chapter 2 -Shou Bordeaux

She whipped her head in the direction of the unfamiliar male voice. In front of her stood three men that seemed her age. They had a priceless expression as they stared at her. "W-who..." She started to respond to their previous comment. Mika fell to the ground, passing out from the shock of the traumatizing event earlier.

After a moment's hesitation, one of the young men walked over towards where Mika had fallen. "You don't s'pose she's one of them now?" The one who spoke up was named Menes Isa - he was also the same one that spoke up earlier. Rai had a dark complexion with dark wavy hair, but what stood out the most, were his piercing electric blue eyes. He knelt down, proceeding to pick her up.

It wasn't just a simple question. Before Mika fainted, the three men didn't just see a girl crying, rather a girl who had no eyeballs. Visually, it looked as if someone had gauged her eyes out, but that wasn't the case. It was just something temporary. Her eyes returned to their normal state as she fell out of consciousness.

"No... She just temporarily overused her powers." This time, another spoke up. Shou Bordeaux. Unlike Rai, he had a fair complexion, but similar to his companion, he had odd colored eyes - golden. To add upon his uniqueness, he had light pink hair. Something most normal people don't have. He sighed while making his way over towards the second girl. There was a moment of grief as he looked at the corpse and proceeded to pick her up, being delicate to the bruised body. "First of all, we need to take her to her family..."

Some time passed before Mika woke up. She opened her eyes slowly, noticing that everything was a blur. The girl sat up and looked around with confusion written all over her face. What she noticed, first of all, was that the bed she was lying in, wasn't hers. Next - was that it wasn't her room that she was in. Her brows furrowed and she frowned. 'Where am I?' Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she pushed herself off the mattress.

For a moment, she stopped and stood there, retracing her memories. There wasn't much that she could remember - just after school, she and Nao made her way back home. But - what was the stinging pain she kept on feeling in her chest? She bit her lower lip, pondering once more. ...Why don't I remember making my way home? Why... Her left hand gripped at her chest, scared that someone was going to rip her heart out of her chest. She closed her eyes tightly as she kept replaying the scene over and over again in her mind.

School, convenience store, park - home?

School, convenience store, park... home...?

School, convenience store, park...

School, convenience store, park...

Her eyes opened all of a sudden, while stumbling backwards back onto the bed. In her memories, she imagined a black dripping monster coming towards her. Sweat started to roll down her cheeks and her breath quickened. It was all coming to her. She remembered. She remembered. They were in the park, sitting innocently on the swings, talking about their day before they were engulfed in darkness. She remembered the screaming. The crying. She remembered Nao. Nao. Nao. Tears began to form. Mika remembered her best friend calling for her help, while she cowered, praying that everything was happening was a mere joke.

She covered her face behind trembling hands as everything became clear. She remembered seeing her best friend's lifeless body in the hands of the demon. She remembered how it shook Nao and taunted Mika. Her shoulders trembled and her cries came out as loud sobs.

It was a few minutes later before the door opened slowly. Shou peaked into the room with a worried expression painted across his face. Mika didn't notice the visitor until he knocked on the door. She quickly lifted her head and silenced her sobs into little hiccups.

"There's no need to stop." He spoke softly, "The best way to relieve pain is to cry it out." He made his way into the room, carrying a set of extra clothes.

"W-where am I?" Mika spoke slowly as she paid close attention to him. Her crying came to an almost stop but the hiccup continued on.

"You're at my house. We brought you back after you passed out. You slept for about twenty hours." There was a sympathetic smile to his response. "Here." He handed Mika the clothes. "You must be hungry." Mika took the clothes but made no comment. "If you want to eat, feel free to just head over to the kitchen. Just take a left and make a way downstairs and you'll hear a lot of voices. Just let it guide you to the kitchen." Mika nodded and stared down at her feet.

Shou headed back towards the door, "Oh, I'm Shou Bordeaux. Feel free to just call me Shou."

"I- I'm Mika." She quickly looked up as she noticed his presence growing smaller.

"Sorry that we had to meet under these circumstances, Mika." He nodded and closed to door behind him.

Her shoulders slumped as soon as she heard the click of the door. She sniffled a few times before standing up and making her way to the mirror that rested on the drawers. She stared at herself in the mirror for a moment, raking her fingers through her hair straightening them. Once that was done, she proceeded to move her fingers over her left eye, pressing into them lightly. It was gray unlike her right one which was brown. Mika was blind in her left eye. Aside from that, her eyes were puffy and red from the crying. She glanced down at her clothes, noticing that they were dirtied and caked with dried blood.

'Right, the clothes...'

Although Shou invited her down to the kitchen for some food, she didn't feel up to meeting whoever else was living in the house. She also didn't have much of an appetite with all the remembering she was doing. Even though the pink haired guy claimed that she slept for nearly twenty hours, Mika still felt exhausted. So, with doing just that, she laid back down on the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

It was only a few hours later when she woke up. The lights that were previously on were turned off. She shut them tightly, afraid that it was another replay of the event in the park.

Chapter 1 - Happy Birthday

"Ne, Mika, what did you get for number six?"

"87"

"Wah! I had that originally! Then I changed it to 85.. huu~"

A smirk danced across the second girl's lips as she watched her best friend pout. The two of them were making their way down a busy road. The sun was beginning to set, stretching their shadows across the gravel. They stayed after school to get the answers from their professor after finishing their exam. Only one of the top student at the university would do that - Shukuyu Mika.

The two girls chattered on as they made their way home. It was nearly winter now and the darkness grew on them quickly, but they paid no mind. After all, they've been taking the same path ever since they were in grade school. Always together. They made a quick stop by the convinence store, grabbing something warm to drink before they reached their daily destination, the playground.

It was free of screaming children, in which meant that the swings were free as well. They laughed and giggled while they swung themselves back and forth all the while trying to balance the hot cocoa in their occupied hands. They enjoyed their time there, not realizing that the sun had disappeared. The lamps were what kept the playground from being shrouded in complete darkness. Minutes passed by before their swings grew lower and their laughters calmed. The girls merely sat there, smiling to themselves.

However, that peaceful moment soon disappeared when all the lights suddenly gave out. Nao was the first to make a sound. "M-Mika?" There was a hint of panic in her voice, but before Mika had the chance to respond to her, Nao screamed. Though it was loud, the voice wasn't next to her anymore. Her heart thumped loudly and her throat dried. She gripped onto the chains tightly. Her entire body was scared frozen, yet she shook so much from fear that it rattled the chains. There was only silence. She hoped for her eyes to adjust to the darkness; she told herself not to be scared - that Nao was merely playing a prank on her. After all, today was Mika's 19th birthday. A prank just like all the other times.

Just a prank.

"MIKA!"

If it was just a prank - just a prank - why did her voice seem so panicked? Why did she sound so scared? She shut her eyes and held her breath. Just a prank. Just a prank. Just a prank. Just a prank.

"MIKA!"

Her eyes snapped opened. They darted left and right, hoping to see something - anything. Nothing. "N..." Her voice trembled. "N....Nao?" She whimpered, shifting slightly in her seat. "Nao?" Mika called out once more before she waited for a response. She heard a scream from the left, and without thinking twice, Mika jumped up. She ran towards the sound. Her hands were out in front of her, hoping to see whatever obstacle stood in her way, but it didn't help especially when she still tripped over what felt like a lump of log. Her hands saved her from falling flat on her fac, but she still managed to make a scratch on her face. "Ow..." She groaned. Her brows furrowed as she pushed herself back up, wiping off the sand that was stuck on her damp skin.

She stopped halfway, realizing that she was able to see the ground. Mika looked up to see a faint flicker of light coming from a lamp not too far away. She hesitantly turned around, curious for a moment, to see what it was that she tripped over. A wave of relief washed over her as it was just a log that she tripped over.

Nao.

Forgetting about her injury, she jumped back onto her feet. Her eyes scanned her surroundings. Nao. She almost skipped over it - not sure how that happened - but she nearly did. Nao! She saw a dark creature standing in the middle of the playground. In its hand, held Nao. But it wasn't Nao anymore. It was just her body. Her head rolled lifelessly back and forth as the creature shook her.

"Gone already?" It chuckled. The sound that came from the demon was eerie. Almost like a ghostly cackle. "What a shame, I didn't even get the chance to enjoy her fully." The demon continued to shake Nao. "Whatever - she wasn't the one I was looking for anyway..."

Suddenly, Mika felt a chill running down her spine as she felt a pair of demonic eyes focusing on her. "The smell must be coming from you then. Now... don't run away." It dropped the corpse and shot towards Mika.

Despite what the monster commanded and the fact that her knees felt like buckling, Mika sprinted towards best friend's lifeless body. "Nao. Nao. Nao." She whispered over and over again, shaking her friend, hoping to see a glimpse of life return to her eyes once more. Tears streamed down Mika's face now.

"Silly little girl..." A voice suddenly whispered in her left ear. She gasped and crawled over to the other side only to find herself face to face with the creature. It was more disgusting up close. "It's okay. I made sure she died a quick death... after all, she was just at the appetizer. What was her name again...?" It paused for a moment. "Nao?"

"Don't say her name." Mika managed to whisper between gritted teeth. "DON'T SAY HER NAME." She clutched onto her best friend's body tightly. "DON'T SAY HER NAME!" She cried as her body was suddenly emersed in blue flames. The demon shrieked and pulled back suddenly as the flames licked it. "You disgusting thing." Mika growled as she stood up, gently setting her friend to the side. "You don't deserve to even whisper her name, let alone touch her." Tears continued to stream down her face as she glared at the monster.

"W-what is this?" The monster spoke up in a confused tone. "Wh-whatever. After I'm done with you, I'll be rank one!" Without a moment's hesitation, the demon charged at Mika.

She shut her eyes tightly, squeezing the last of the tears of out of her eyes. She could hear the sound of the rushing wind blowing past her ears as the demon roared. In response, she shouted at the top of her lungs and the blue flames that surrounded her, shot forward, engulfing the demon. It screamed in pain as it writhed back and forth. Its skin burned into dark crisp before it disappeared into thin air.

The air was only filled with Mika's sobs as she stood there, staring up at the starry sky. Another voice came along, this time different from the demon's.

"We were too late."

The Beginning, Middle, or End?

We've been called Gods.

We've been called monsters.

We've been called angels and demons.. super heroes...

Ultimately, we're humans...

We're not immortal nor are we all knowing...

In the year 2044, World War III broke out. Over eighty percent of the human population was destroyed.

With our advancement in technology, scientists were able to produce a single bomb with power greater than the nuclear bomb. Just one was already too many. Just one bomb, and it brought our civilization crumbling down...

The aftermath of the war created a tragedy.

At first, those exposed to radiation had missing or extra limbs. Children of those mutations were disposed of immediately, but as generations passed, our DNA continued to evolve to fit our survival on earth. Soon, our ancestors were born with mutations such as having golden eyes or odd colored hair.

However... that wasn't the end to our evolution.

This special mutation doesn't occur within everyone. It might lay dormant in one generation but become active the next. To this day, many of us remained unaffected by the radioactivity. Studies have shown that roughly one out of every ten thousand babies born will have an active mutation. However, because many still fear those with mutations might become corrupted, the babies are killed immediately.

Those are the unlucky ones.

The lucky ones are us...

We were born as normal beings, but the mutation sleeps until something triggers it.

We were given the chance to take our first breath and our first step into the world...