Snakes.

As if moths are drawn to a hot light, they laid dead, scattered around the girl. She coughed as she flicked off one of the many that had been blown away.

Dust reigned supreme, taking shrapnel into its domains. An ear-piercing shrill rang throughout the air, ripping her attention from the snakes.

The girl rushed for the sides, grabbing whatever would get her to the action quicker. Sticks, rocks, ledges.

She had to get to him quickly. Give him hope. Let him know she was still around, he wasn't alone.

However, her own body, riddled by bruises and cuts, protested against these thoughts. A nice fluffy bed seemed like a gift from the heavens. It would be so nice just to stop, rest, give in to her own desires...

Growling, she threw away these thoughts, only doubling her efforts to get to him. After what had seemed like an eternity, the girl had made it out of the hole.

But after looking around she almost regretted her decision. The source of the shrill was the only one left, hunching over with his back to her. She saw his tears hit the ground unevenly.

Her- no their beloveds laid around him just like that snakes had to her.

Dead.

Wincing, the girl dragged herself towards the male, wrapping her arms around him when she reached her destination. Her own tears flowed along his back.

He tried to face her, but his body had given out, exhausted from all his yelling. Her attempt to steady him was nullified by her own fatigue, and he fell to all fours.

When he finally looked at her, the girl was met with an implored expression, as if he were trying to remember her features.

His expression then suddenly lightened up, possibly for the last time. He placed a comforting hand on her head and brought his forehead to her own.

"Live..." he rasped out.

The girl clasped her hand with his.

Sweat ran from her pores.

"Please live... for us..."

"You're going to be okay," the girl told him.

"Live..." The boy repeated.

The boy's jaw slackened and his head slides forward, dragging the rest of his body with him.

On instinct, she quickly grabbed him, calling out his name solemnly.

No answer.

The war between her and her body ran out, her body tumbling backwards, dragging his body along with her. As his head rested against her lap, the reality of what happened sunk in.

She futilely called out to the boy. He didn't answer. Using the fumes of her remaining energy she settled for stroking her hand through his hair.

A false state of comfort.

Around her, there laid broken machines. It was easy to tell that they had been broken only recently as they were still spouting sparks of electricity.

The blood of the men who operated them still flowed in a seemingly never-ending fashion. The men- no the monsters who had tortured her, was unliving, dead, never to inflict harm on another ever again. She allowed herself a small smirk over this.

But this train of thought brought her back to what had happened to her. Who she had lost today.

All 7 of them and now it was just her left...

They had died for each other and for the rest of their beloved. The first "sacrifice" had opted to die so that the rest could live. Child-like thinking never got anyone anywhere, so the third brother was swiftly eliminated as a "defective".

She could hear his last words resounding in her ears.

"Do anything to me, just let them be."

The "second" and "third" sacrifices were forced to fight each other to the death. But the second brother had impaled himself on the fourth's brother sword, hoping that would be enough to let his brothers go.

Natural selection. Irrelevant information. The fourth brother died, killed by the very men who had created him.

His elder brother raised his swords, going on a mad rampage, hacking away at out any guards that were foolish enough to stand in his path. He would refuse to let his own brother die in vain. But of course, the men had planned for this, hiding behind the glorious metal of their machines.

A sword was nothing compared to a few hundred bullets. He too, fell, joining the rest of the lost souls that day.

The last brother was quickly round up and brought into the presence of her and the crying boy. His death was slow an agonizing; torture. Obviously done in order to frighten the children into complete submission-

But he was strong.

Despite the fact that he was going to die, he kept his smile, practically taunting the uniformed men. They weren't amused. He continued to smile even as his heart was ripped out from his body.

She hated the glass cylinder, the prison that surrounded her and the crier; the fact that she was too weak to fracture it. Too weak to make a difference. Pathetic. With mad rage she pounded and pounded, red overtaking her vision.

She ignored the electric shocks that hit her, ignored the blood thickening on her knuckles. And right when her efforts were about to pay off: her brother had died. It was all for nought. The tube opened and there the girl fell; into the Snakepit.

The stress had gotten to her last brother, and he began sparking with electricity, an inhuman sound erupting from his mouth. She felt it before she had seen it. Misery, despair, defeat.

All those emotions seemed to come together in one big blast. It had blown away the snakes that had strangled her but not the emotions that had stuck with her.

She would have gladly died in that pit...

But he had asked her to live.

The telltale thumps of heavy boots came closer, and electricity sparked around her once more. 'A survivor.'

She still wasn't aware that the anguished cry she heard was her own.

In a small country called Fernopia there was an Island called Sheear, the island was very small but dangerous. The inhabitants of the island were mostly Scientist. They made the island as their homebase not only to do their research but also to train their apprentices, hence people outside the island called the facilities there 'The Academy'.

The Academy had been there for centuries and had resulted and contributed dearly to the country. All the students that had been graduated from there were guaranteed to have a bright future. They could find and choose job easily, they were respected by the whole country. Including the government.

Such existent of the great place like The Academy was a blessing for the country. The Academy had a great security so nobody ever able to stole any of its secrets. Even others countries thought that such place wouldn't able to be destroyed. Yet, two years ago that same place which had been penetrable all those centuries ago was destroyed in just a night.... and nobody know who did it, why it happened or how it was destroyed.

It was like a massacre, the official who were handling the case said in one of the interviews. No survivors. The facilities were almost plattened to the ground. All equipments and its handler all gone. A lot of valuable being passed. People were speculating about the reasons, but in the end it was said it might be caused by the backlash of a big experiments.

The country mourning of the lose of their big supporter and the lost of their most honoured Scientists... But what already happened, happened... no-one can do anything about it anymore. It was a pity that they lose their most valuable resources, but now they can only move on.

The destruction of The Academy become a mystery. No body ever knew what really happened that day. Who did it and why.

Nobody ever know that such a tragedy was a blessing in disguise.

and that day a life was saved.

•~•

Riiiiiing!!!

The alarm began its daily cry, much to the agitation of the one hearing it. A hand sneaked beneath the blanket, grabbing the torture tool.

The alarm kept ringing, even as it met its fate at the far wall, joining the others before it.

"That has been the fifth one you have broken this week, Young Master," the butler said with a mellow baritone.

"..."

The Young Master didn’t respond, instead of pulling the covers over his head.

"I would like to inform you that if you keep this up, you will be late for school," the butler rephrased as he stared at the lump in the bed.

"..."

Still no response.

"The second Master has informed me that he will arrive home tonight. In fact, he is already on his way to the airport."

The butler sighed, lifting a voice full of pity. “Oh, well. I wonder what will happen if he comes home to find a deep sleeper in bed"

"Alright, alright, I’m up now! Are you happy, Grandpa?!" The raven-haired boy scowled as he emerged from the depths of the abyss.

"Certainly, Young Master," the butler smiled warmly as he backed out of the room.

The boy sighed, knowing that skipping school would be nigh-impossible; especially since his brother was coming over. He threw on some clothes and slid to the kitchen.

Seeing as breakfast was one already on the table, he downed his milk (Hey, he gotta be tall like his big brothers!) and grabbed his toasts to eat on the way home.

"I’m going, Gramps. See you later," he called out before racing out the door.

"Have a good day, young master," the butler replied.

The old man was the who had been taking care of him, his older brothers and the house since he had been born. Hence the nickname 'Grandpa'. Of course, who would ever suspect that the gentleman grandpa would turn out be a professional bodyguard?

It was the perfect disguise.

Unfortunately, being the youngest of the brothers, he was still stuck in high school.

He was envious of his oldest brother, Kou-nii, who was the CEO of a company (and the one providing his funds). The eldest brother always seemed to spoil him, letting him do what he wanted and cleaning up after his messes.

The second one was a model, but he always liked to tease him. Even if the Raven-haired boy attempted to avoid him, he would always be found out in the end.

The eldest brother was the one who resembled his father the most, with the same black hair and dark eyes. The second brother got his looks from his mother, having her blue eyes and blond hair.

The Raven-haired boy ended up gaining blue eyes and well... raven-coloured hair.

Even though they didn't have parents the brothers never felt incomplete. Just them and the old man was enough to sustain them.

The old man was the one who had saved them from the slaughter of their household. Their parents, grandparents, maids. Not even the house itself was spared as it burned down to the ground.

The reason?

The public was told that it wasn’t known but they knew what the public didn’t; the reason for their parent’s deaths.

They were told by the old man that their parents were scientists who were opposed to an inhuman experiment happening within their own group. By bringing the experiment to court, they hoped to stop it in its tracks.

Apparently, their fellow colleagues didn’t take disturbances very nicely.

The Raven-hair was only a baby back then, so he didn’t know his parents that well.

But his fellow brothers were seven and ten in age, so they knew their parents better, and they are looking into the 'who' in their murder.

With the help of Grandpa of course.

"Oi, ya bastard! You dare show your face ‘round here, eh?" A voice popped the illusionary bubble around his person, dragging him back into reality.

The Raven-hair turned to find delinquents from a neighbouring school advancing on him.

He sighed, bringing a hand to his head. "I guess no matter what I do, I’ll be late to school," he muttered. Taking this shortcut was a big mistake. It was mostly quiet and devoid of any actual activity, marking it as a goldmine for delinquents and the like.

The Raven-hair brought his hand away from his head. "I’m sorry, but I’m running late. May we continue this at a later time?" he asked politely.

"Who do you think you are, mocking us?" The leader replied, cracking his knuckles.

Shit.

Fighting would just be an annoyance but passing out would just be as bad. He didn’t need to give any more ammo to Ryou-Nii- his second brother -so that he could pester him constantly.

Unfortunately, while he was lost in thought, the leader had closed the distance, already having a hand on Raven-hair’s collar.

The shadow of someone’s silhouette caused the Delinquent to falter, passing to let go of his collar.

It was a second too late as Raven-hair fell, not being able to notice that he was being pulled down with him. He held his hands out instantly and braced himself for the impact.

But what he didn’t meet was the ground.

It was an angel.

Kagiura Ace has been living in the world for 17 years. He has met many beautiful girls and boys, yet this is the first time in his life that he thinks that his heart throbbing inside his ribs. He always mocked and scoffed at someone who was talking about love at the first sight. He never believes it before. Maybe this is Karma that now he is the one who experiences it?

The angel is talking to him, but his mind is going somewhere else. His IQ seems to have dropped to the bottom. He can't catch even a word of what the angel was saying. He was to busy being stunned. he never meets someone this gorgeous. The angel was asking him about something and he needs to say something to her, he told himself. Man, talking about lame, why is it now that his brain decided to stop functioning again?

He opens his mouth to apologize to the angel for being so absentminded and going to ask her to repeat her question again, but it seems that his mind and his mouth are also have stopped to cooperate.

"Are you an angel?" He asked instead.

Damn! his mind curses. Good job Ace, what a lame first impression. He thinks.

"Nah, it's not lame. It was cute actually." The angel commented. He froze for a second, don't tell him that his monologue isn't a monologue and he is been talking it out loud all this time?

"Er.. should I pretend that I didn't hear that?" the angel said with a smile.

"Nah, forget it. I am already beyond lame. God, what an embarrassing event!" He groaned.

The angel laughed, "To answer your previous question, I am not an Angel. I am just a transfer student who is lost and probably late to her school on her first day" she continues.

Ah, now he noticed her uniform. "We are from the same school. Would you like to go together?" He asked absentmindedly, immediately after he utters the question, he turned red.

Oh, God. He just asked his crush to walk with him on the first day he realizes he got a crush. Wait, it is not a big deal, they just walk together because she doesn't know the way. Why the hell he makes it into such a big deal? He is being silly!

"I would be grateful. Thanks. I am Shieru, Hoshizora Shieru. You are?" The angel introduces herself and offered him her hand to shake.

"Ace, Kagiura Ace." He shakes her hand nervously, hoping that his hand is not sweating.

They walked and chatted together on the way to their school. The angel or Shieru, she prefers to be called is a very nice girl. Each step toward the school, Ace feels that his attraction grows. How did this happen? He asked himself. He just meets her today, besides if she knew how people think about Ace here, She sure will distance herself from Ace too.

Ace has a bad reputation at school. People label him as a delinquent and because of his brothers who are always on his side and never scold him for whatever he has done, people started to say that Ace is a scary demon that nobody can control. Even his own family already gave up on him, they said.

Like, what the hell? they don't even know him, let alone his family. How dare them just assumed something as they like?

While Ace was lost in his own mind again, they had reached the administration office. Shieru still doesn't know what class she is, so she still needs to go and asked the teacher. He hopes Shieru would be in his class. Or maybe it would be better if she was in a different class so she wouldn't know how everyone treated him?

"I will see you again, Ace. Thank you for sending me here" Shieru said as Ace excuse himself to go to his own class.