..:::Demons:::..In Love:::.. (Nero Love Story) 2

..:::Chapter 2:::..

So it began…. Our training I mean, it became tougher than ever! We would go to bed sore, tired, aching all over. Then the next day we’d go to school, come home, eat and start training again. We had to learn to endure the pain, to keep going even if we felt like passing out. That’s exactly what we did… we learned how to use our abilities in an actual fight. Sword fighting, using guns, martial arts, the list could go on. Father thought that we should also learn how to activate and deactivate our demon powers or Devil Trigger. That was the hardest training I had ever had. I could only hold it for a few seconds after concentrating for almost a half-hour! Still, I had to keep trying, practicing every night in my bedroom.

My brothers, on the other hand, had no trouble at all. They could Devil Trigger whenever they wanted to.

‘Personally, I think they just like to show off… That doesn’t mean I’m jealous….right? Whatever, I guess.’

After months of intense training, I was able to stay in demon form for as long as I wanted. Oh, joy! Even more training to perfect my demon form! Woo hoo! I’m being sarcastic, if you didn’t notice. Soon, we learned how to move swiftly during fights using our strength, agility, and speed to our advantage. Kyo and I can run faster than any average human while Tatsuya can outrun anyone since that’s his ability.

Clouds rolled lazily, the sky a brilliant blue as we trudged up the stairs to the training area. The tress swayed, rustling gently, soaking up the sun. Today would be a sparring day. You don’t know what a sparring day is? For those of you who don’t, it’s a day when we ‘fight’ someone wearing protective gear. We train like this so we know how we can use certain moves against an opponent, how we can block or so we can learn on what we can improve.

"Alright, Tatsuya and…" Our martial arts teacher, Master Kim, eyed Kyo and I. "Kyo! Come on up!" Kyo stood up, brushing his pants and tightening his belt.

"Get into your positions, facing each other- good. Bow and begin!" Master Kim ordered, signaling for them to begin the match.

Like I said, this isn’t a real fight, just training. Kyo ran with blinding speed, charging at Tatsuya. He swung his right arm: Tatsuya ducked, narrowly missing him. He then swept his right leg across him in a sweeping motion causing Kyo to trip, almost. He managed to stay balanced and round – house kicked Tatsuya in the stomach. Staggering from the blow, he tried to kick Kyo, but he leapt backwards before it hit him. I watched, intently, at my brothers.

Tatsuya, scowling, trying to find an advantage while Kyo grinned, enjoying himself. Kyo was finally able to lower Tatsuya’s defense, kicking him in the chest sending Tatsuya to the ground. The match was over.

"Good job, both of you! You’ve been practicing, I can tell!" Master Kim said, smiling. "Kyo that was an amazing kick! You have potential, my boy! Tatsuya-" He stood up, staring at Master Kim. "We need to work on your blocking techniques, learn how to anticipate your opponent’s movements. Like Kyo and Mizuki." Although I wasn’t as good as Kyo, I could still kick some ass! He nodded, curtly, struggling to control his temper. I jogged up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey Tatsuya, you okay?" I asked, worried. Tatsuya is the type of person who doesn’t like to lose. And even if he does, he won’t admit it. His dark eyes found mine as he tried to calm himself down.

"Yeah, I’m… fine,’ He replied, brushing past me to the stairs, fists clenched. I could almost feel the anger, embarrassment and jealousy emanating from him. I should’ve done something that day. Should’ve have known what was going on with him, but I didn’t. I stood there watching my brother fade away to darkness.

..:::End flashback:::..

"Mizuki, you okay?" I looked up, staring into Kyo’s black, almost violet eyes.

"Um, yeah." I shook my head. " I guess I just spaced out. Sorry," I replied, sheepishly. He smiled, gave me a pat on the head and took his seat. Three chairs stood in front of a large, mahogany desk with its occupants, looking almost dead from boredom. I was wearing a black dress, no sleeves, with straps, hanging neatly on my small frame. Tatsuya was wearing a white, long sleeved shirt with a vest on top accompanied by black pants and black dressing shoes. Kyo was wearing a black suit, no tie, with a white, long sleeved shirt and black dressing shoes.

Fancy, huh? We had to dress appropriately since today we would find out what my father left for us in his will. I’ve never really liked all of this stuff. Funerals and the will of the person who passed away. Funerals freak me out, period. The fact that there’s an open casket with a lifeless body in it gives me the chills. It feels like he/she is going to jump out at you and yell "Boo!" I know that won’t happen, but it feels that way! Then there’s all that stuff about the will and who gets what. Just a bunch of people fighting over another person’s belongings.

‘Hey, who wants his house?’

‘I’ll take it!’

‘No, I will!’

Back and forth, people will start arguing until one or the another gets it. I’m pretty sure that won’t happen to us since we get along pretty well and the only people attending are our mother and us. Standing up, once again, I walked to the back of the office, looking out the window. Placing my hand on the cold glass, looking out onto the gloomy streets. Clouds covered the sky like a blanket, leaving it a misty gray. People walked slower than usual with a tried look on their faces. The streets deserted with the occasional car passing by. An overwhelming feeling of sadness came over me, memories of my father washed over me like an unwelcome guest. I felt my eyes go watery with tears threatening to fall. Sniffing, I tried to get rid of the tears and focus on something else.

‘I have a feeling it’s going to rain later’

Ah, the rain. The feeling of small drops of water, falling onto my face, cold yet refreshing. Running around, hair sticking to my face as I splash around in puddles, laughing like a child. Then when it clears up, it feels so clean. Like the water washed away everything, leaving this pure feeling. You’re probably thinking ‘That’s so corny.’ But that’s what it feels like, at least for me it does.

"Mizuki, why don’t you just sit down and stop walking around?" Tatsuya said, shaking his head.

"But it’s so boring!" I whined. "I wanna leave…"

"We’ve been here for like fifteen minutes! It hasn’t even been that long. You’re complaining over nothing." Tatsuya replied, rolling his eyes.

"Mom has been gone for a while. I wonder where she went…" Kyo muttered, hand resting on his chin. I turned around and walked back to my seat. Both of them were waiting patiently, unlike me. A few minutes passed when we heard the door begin to open. We looked up, my mother is a beautiful woman with almond colored eyes, a heart-shaped face and silky brown hair. She had on a white skirt, which cut off at the knees and a white jacket on top of a white shirt. The man had on a very business-like suit, complete with a tie. He had bronze-colored hair with soft brown eyes. His face held a certain emotion, I couldn’t figure out, sadness…no… jealousy? Why? I’ve never seen this guy before so why is he glaring at me? I turned my attention to the bundle he was holding in his arms. He placed it on the desk, carefully.

My mother stood in front of us, her eyes becoming sad.

‘It must be about father’

My mother is a very strong woman. She always hid her emotions from us so when our father died, it shocked me to see her cry in front of us. My parents had kept their distance from each other, it was hard for them to express their emotions with actions. What I’m trying to say is that they weren’t too lovey-dovey with each other. At least that’s what they would say to us when we asked them why they wouldn’t hug each other or even hold hands.

To me, it seemed as though there was no love in my parents so called ‘marriage.’ When my father passed away, seeing my mother cry, holding my father’s hand, I realized how much they truly loved one another.

"Before your father died, he wanted to leave his most prized possessions to his children," my mother began. "This was your father’s dying request and I shall do as he wishes." With this, she opened the bundle, revealing what was inside. The blanket was spread across the desk, slightly falling over the sides. Lying on the blanket were my father’s devil arms. The sword "Pride", the twin blades "Savior" and "Demon" and the custom made guns "Knight" and "Hell." My mother waved a hand over the weapons, marveling their beauty.

"Each weapon has the owner’s name engraved on it. The guns are the only ones who do not." She picked up the guns, clutching a small tag with neat writing. I thought I was going to get the guns, I didn’t do well with swords even though I tried my hardest. It’s just like when I was trying to activate my demon form. I felt as though I had let my father down. Kyo and Tatsuya were better than me at… almost everything. I stared at the floor, ashamed at my weakness, waiting for her to continue.

"For my son, Tatsuya, may these guns help you in your time of need." Did I hear right or am I going deaf? A look of shock came over my face, digesting what my mother had just said. Kyo looked shocked, too. He was probably thinking I was going to get the guns. He knew how bad I was with swords, he had the scars to prove it. I guess he wasn’t expecting this either. Tatsuya’s face was unreadable yet his eyes seemed furious for some reason. He stood up, grabbed both guns and sat back down without a word. She then picked up "Pride", reading the name on the hilt.

"To my oldest son, Kyo, may this sword guide you to a brighter path." Kyo stood up with that same grin on his face. I smiled; Kyo can make anyone smile. He walked up, giving mother a bear hug. She smiled softly, handing him the sword. All that was left were the twin blades.

"Mizuki, come up here." I stood rather shakily and walked up to her. She handed them to me, smiling warmly. I smiled, looking at them. Letting my fingers trail the cool metal from the tip to the hilt. These swords were my father’s and now they belonged to me. I heard a growl from behind me. Tatsuya came up out of nowhere, shoving me to the side.

"Hey! What’s your problem?" I yelled. He ignored me, glaring at my mother. Kyo had gotten up and stood next to me.

"Mother! What is the meaning of this!? Why do I get these crappy guns while they-" he pointed to us. "get father’s swords. They aren’t worthy of inheriting them! They’re too weak!" he shouted, slamming the guns on the desk.

"You will not speak to me in that tone! Your father thought it was best that you inherit the guns. You should be grateful!" my mother replied, sternly.

"Grateful?" he scoffed. "Grateful for what? A father who was weak and couldn’t embrace the fact that he was a demon?! He was a coward! It’s a good thing he died! He didn’t deserve to live! Afraid of his own kind, he helped Sparda seal the demon world! He was a pathetic, piece of worthless-"

"You will not talk about your father that way!" she hissed, venom dripping from every word. Tatsuya glared at her, pure hate in his eyes.

"This whole family is weak! I’m ashamed that I have a human for a mother! You want me to go out there" he points to the door "and fight demons? Oh no mother, I’m going to help them. I will become the strongest half-demon and open up the demon world once again. I will gain father’s powers. I will rule over this world, erasing the existence of humans!" He turned around, abruptly.

"Mizuki, Kyo will you join me?" he offered. I stared at him, taking in his features. His face had a taunting look to it while his eyes held malice mixed with traces of hatred. Was this really my brother? This couldn’t be the same Tatsuya who would play pranks on us. The same Tatsuya who would always joke around and play with us.

"Tatsuya, have you completely lost your mind? What the hell are you thinking?" Kyo said, angrily. Tatsuya laughed, throwing his head back.

"Come on, Kyo. Think about it. We could control the world! People bowing down to us. All of that glorious power. The demons will worship us as gods! What do you say?" Kyo shook his head.

"No, Tatsuya. I agree with father. He had a point when he said demons should not be part of this world. There’s no way I’m joining you." Tatsuya glared at him, he then brought his gaze to me.

"Mizuki. Do you agree with me?" he said, holding out his hand. I was scared of him. I’ve never seen him like this before. How did he become this way? I didn’t even need to think about an answer.

"I’m sorry, Tatsuya, but I won’t join you. Father did what was right and I’m going to stand by him." I said, staring at him. His face contorted into a look of pure rage.

"What is wrong with you!? Can’t you see? Father was using us! He made us believe demons were evil and all of that crap! He was afraid that we were going to join them, too! He wanted to use us so we would destroy the demons, but in reality the only demon was father!" he growled. Suddenly, the windows shattered, a man in a preacher’s suit with a burn mark on the left side of his face walked in. One of his eyes was brown while the other was blue.

"Tatsuya, are you ready to leave?" he asked, signaling behind him.

"Arkham. I was just having a nice chat with my beloved family before I leave," he answered, a smug look on his face. "I guess there’s no point in staying here anymore. Farewell, my dear family." He smiled. Kyo quickly ran towards Tatsuya. He spun around, grabbed Kyo and hurled him out the window.

"Kyo!" I screamed, running to the window. He landed on his feet, gracefully.

"Mizuki, I’m going to get those swords one way or another. Make sure you tell Kyo." Tatsuya smirked. With that, Arkham put his hand on the wall; it crumpled to the streets below.

"Wait, Tatsuya! Don’t do this!" I yelled. It was too late. The spot where Tatsuya and Arkham were standing, seconds ago, was now empty. Kyo came back up, staring out at the sky. I was speechless, he wanted to help the demons, not kill them. I didn’t understand why he would want to help them. It made no sense.

"Kyo, Mizuki we have to go." My mother’s voice filled the office. Wait, where’s the man who was with us? I searched the room; he wasn’t there. So that must mean he was working with Tatsuya. She walked towards the door, motioning for us to follow. Kyo put his hand on my shoulder, tugging me to the door. My legs felt numb even while I was walking. Silent tears fell down my face, thinking about what my brother had said.

‘Tatsuya, I’m not giving up on you. I want you to come back and be with us again. I’m taking you back even if it means taking you by force’ I vowed.

Rate and message please! The next chapter will have Nero and Dante in it! Woo hoo! :]