This is from my NaNoWriMo for 2010... I typed like a ton of words, but I'm nowhere near done with it. XD At least I broke 50K before NaNoWriMo ended!

So...here is the first chapter of my novel...which is full of tons of hurried crap. XD

Please read and enjoy!

This is a boys' love novel, but...you don't have to be a BL fan to read it or like it or comment! XD I'm going to get shot...

A silver-haired young man stood at the edge of a cliff, the wind blowing around his face comforting and cold at the same time. He closed his violet eyes. "...I can't believe he's gone." He was the one who had saved the entire kingdom of Altier through a sacrifice that had ended the war. The silver-haired young man bit his lip. "...I can't believe it..." he whispered as a tear trailed down his cheek. "...Why, Kai...?"

A black-haired young man awoke with a gasp, sitting up in an unfamiliar bed. "What? Where am I?!" he asked, crimson eyes looking around hurriedly. "I...I have to save Kirin!" He hastily got out of the bed, slipping on his boots.
"...You cannot leave, Kai," a voice said from behind him. Kai turned to find a faceless cloaked figure. "This is a place from which people cannot leave."
"What do you mean by that?!" Kai asked angrily. "Where is this?! Is this jail?! A
dungeon?!"
"No...this is Elysia." The words the figure spoke struck an indescribable fear into Kai's heart. Elysia...the place where the dead resided...the place for dead heroes. "Rest, hero...your mission is complete for this life...until the next--"
"No!! Let me back out!!" Kai yelled, trying to grab the figure by the shoulders. However, the figure teleported just out of his reach.

"...There is only one way you can go back...and that is a method that is difficult and painful...can you handle it?"

"...it's so peaceful now..." Kirin murmured into the wind. "The war's over, and all is quiet..." He closed his eyes. "But...I would trade all the quiet in the world for you to still be here, Kai..." He gave a little laugh. "...It looks like your sacrifice didn't last that long after all..." He turned slightly when three men armed with swords stepped out of the bushes. "...are you all here to kill me? Even after the war is over?"
"Prince, the war may be over, but our country is still not satisfied..." Kirin hurriedly drew his sword and blocked an attack that came straight at him, the sound of steel on steel resounding. The man laughed. "Keep fighting, prince...but you'll soon die without your dear retainers."
Kirin gave a grim smile. "That may be so, but I can't just die and let Kai's sacrifice go to waste..."

"...I...have to give up my memories and any chance of living past twenty ever again...?" Kai asked softly.

"Yes...that is the price for getting another chance at the same life..." Kai stared at his hand, the same one that had held Kirin's several times, the same one that had defended Kirin so many times before, the same one that had sworn to protect Kirin for the rest of eternity. Would he give up so much...to defend his prince? He looked up and nodded at the figure.
"Yes. I'm willing to take your deal."

Chapter 1: Falling Backwards
Beep. Beep. Beeeeep. A hand slapped the top of the loudly and annoyingly beeping alarm clock. "...ugh...it can't be morning already...?" Kirie rolled over in bed and slowly sat up to stare at the numbers on the clock. 7:02. He frowned. "Maybe I should go back to sleep..." He sighed and rolled over, mind already thinking about what it had showed him minutes ago. He sat up again and sighed, running a hand through his black hair. "...I can't believe I had that dream again."

Somewhere in the same town, another young man woke up. He stared at his clock, not willing it to go slower, but willing it to go faster. He couldn't wait. "I can't believe that he's here..." He gave a slight smile. "I can't believe that I had that dream again."

Kirie frowned as he walked into a classroom full of people he didn't know in a town he had never been in before. He had never felt more alone before, but he was definitely not going to show a weakness to a class of strangers. He introduced himself calmly, like he had practiced. He walked through the aisles to his seat without event. He breathed a sigh of relief as he slid into his seat. Good. Everything had gone well...so far.

"Well then, shall we start with reading our stories?" the teacher asked. Apparently, it was English class first. Kirie rested his cheek on his hand with an interested smile. This would be an interesting time to find out more about his classmates. "Any volunteers?"

Kirie's teacher looked surprised when the student next to him eagerly raised his hand. "I'll do it!" the person said, his crimson red hair falling over his blue eyes. Kirie looked interestedly up at the person's face, wondering what kind of person he was, and why the teacher looked so surprised.

"O-oh, Rui. You're the first volunteer." The teacher gave an embarrassed laugh, as if trying to cover up her shock at seeing him raise his hand. "You don't usually raise your hand, you know..." She gave him a smile, apparently over her shock. "But come on up then, Rui."

Rui stood up from his seat rather easily, seemingly shooting Kirie a slight smirk. Before Kirie had time to react, Rui had already begun walking towards the front of the class. All Kirie could do was stare at the strange person's back as he walked by everyone else. "Alright, then," the person said with a smirk as he shook his papers to straighten them, giving a slight smile to the entire class. "My story doesn't have a title yet. Is that okay?" With a nod from his teacher, Rui continued.

"The one I'm supposed to watch over is my prince, the ruler of the kingdom of Altier. Without a doubt, there is an unspoken difference between us that cannot be bridged. Our hands can touch, but they cannot meet. Our words can be exchanged, but not whispered. We know each other's real name, but we can only call each other by titles. We are so close, yet so far.

I walk alongside him in the hallway, laughing with him over the latest fiasco the head chef has invented. He comes up to just beneath my ear, his silver hair waving slightly in the breeze of our passing. Walking so calmly about in our castle, I can hardly believe that we are fighting a war with a country many times our humble country's own. I look down into the cheerful violet eyes and wonder what lies behind them and how prince Kirin could be so bright, even during times of war. Perhaps it is his eternal optimism, or perhaps his strong belief in our knights and our ability to protect the kingdom. I know we are strong, but I am sure that we all know that there is a very slim, perhaps even nonexistent, chance of our victory unless something barely short of a miracle happens.

"Kai, do you think we have a chance of winning?" Kirin asks me. I pretend to think about it for a moment before answering.

"We may have a chance to win if we play our cards right," I finally answer, trying to pick my words carefully so as to not give him a false sense of hope or a sense of impending doom. Apparently, it is satisfactory, for he smiles and laughs.

"It's not like you to answer like that!" he replies, smiling up at me. "Normally, wouldn't you be yelling about how we're going to win without hardly a scratch?" Yes, normally, I would have, but this war was different. There was an end in sight for our kingdom, and I did not like how it seemed.

I blink, and I realize that I had been reminiscing about the past. A tear blurs my vision. If only it hadn't had to end this way... If only I had had some more time with him... If only, if only, if only... I close my eyes again. "I'm sorry...prince Kirin..." Hazily, I hear someone calling my name. It sounds like him...perhaps it is, perhaps it isn't. My eyelids are too heavy to lift anymore. I slowly let my vision blur and the darkness takes me.

I wake up with a gasp, sitting up in an unfamiliar bed. "What? Where am I?!" I ask, my crimson eyes looking around hurriedly. "I...I have to save Kirin!" I hastily get out of the bed, slipping on my boots.
"...You cannot leave, Kai," a voice said from behind me. I turn to find a faceless cloaked figure. "This is a place from which people cannot leave."
"What do you mean by that?!" I ask angrily. "Where is this?! Is this jail?! A dungeon?!"
"No...this is Elysia." The words the figure speaks strike an indescribable fear into my heart. Elysia...the place where the dead resided...the place for dead heroes. "Rest, hero...your mission is complete for this life...until the next--"
"No!! Let me back out!!" I yell, trying to grab the figure by the shoulders. However, the figure teleports just out of my reach.

"...There is only one way you can go back...and that is a method that is difficult and painful...can you handle it?"
"...what method would that be?" I ask warily. I am tired from all the struggling and denial, but I am not willing to just give up and remain here in this far-too-quiet place without the one I need. If there was any way to get back to my duties, I would take it.
The figure holds out a crimson book. "This is the book of your fates. As you can see, it ends rather short." There was a pause as it let me contemplate what it was saying. "However, it can be altered during a second chance. That second chance, although tempting, also comes with many consequences."

"What are they?" I asked, already considering taking the second chance without even hearing the consequences. I would take almost anything to protect Kirin again.

"You will lose any and all memories of your previous life and all chances of ever living your life out to its quiet end. All of your lives will end no later than this one. Are you still willing to take this chance?"
"...I...have to give up my memories and any chance of living past twenty ever again...?" I repeat softly, trying to take in what I have just been told.

"Yes...that is the price for getting another chance at the same life..." I stare at my hand, the same one that has held Kirin's several times, the same one that has defended Kirin so many times before, the same one that has sworn to protect Kirin for the rest of eternity. Would I give up so much...to defend my prince? I look up and nod at the figure.
"Yes. I'm willing to take your deal."" Rui smirked out over the class, which had fallen silent as he had read more and more of his story. "What did you think of it? Was it good enough?" he asked, seeming like he was about to burst out into laughter at any moment. He returned to his seat, leisurely walking back. Rui shot a smirk at Kirie as he sat back down at his desk.

Kirie stared in silent disbelief. For some strange reason, he had seen everything Rui had read out just now, and it wasn't like the imagination of reading a story. It was like the deja vu of someone who had been there before. But there was no way Kirie had been there before...was there? He shook his head. No. What was more pressing was how it was exactly like his dream. He frowned. There was no way this person could have written a story that was exactly like a dream, unless the guy was a plagiarist and had copied the text that Kirie had probably read a while ago that had inspired his dream. Yes, that was it. The guy was a plagiarist because Kirie's dream had come from a book. He had to do something about it.

At lunchtime, people began leaving the classroom to eat in the cafeteria or seek out friends from other classrooms. It was the perfect time to confront him. There weren't enough people for Rui to really feel threatened, and there were just enough people to bear witness and keep Rui from doing anything dangerous...he hoped. "Um...Rui?" The redhead looked up at him with his blue eyes, a slight smirk on his face, slight surprise showing, probably due to Kirie's approaching him out of the blue.

"Yes?" Rui asked with a smile. Kirie looked into the blue eyes and found his own amber eyes being reflected in them. Could he do this? Kirie had never confronted a...plagiarist...before. He wondered how he was supposed to start it. Hey, I just totally noticed that your story was exactly like some other story I read that I can't remember but I think you completely copied it and that's plagiarism, you know? Kirie shook his head while Rui stared curiously up at him, wondering what in the world the black-haired boy was thinking. Rui gave a little smile. He was just like him, wasn't he.

"Uh...are you a plagiarist?" Kirie finally asked. Rui stared in surprise. He had most definitely not expected those words after that long thoughtful silence.

"Wh-what?" Rui was plainly confused. "Plagiarist? I don't...think I understand?"

Kirie frowned. "D-don't try to hide it!" he said, spurred on by the lack of denial from his classmate. "I know you copied your story from...from somewhere!"

"Copied...from where...?" Rui asked, still having no idea what Kirie was talking about.

"You know, from...from there! Th-that...thing!" Kirie yelled, pointing at Rui, unwittingly making a scene by himself.

"Uh...are you...are you referring to my story? If you are, I have to tell you that it's pretty original," Rui replied with a smile that completely defused Kirie's random rant. "Are you sure it isn't just something you remember?" he asked with a slight laugh. Kirie frowned.

"I would know if it was just a memory!" Kirie replied huffily.

Rui's smile faltered slightly into confusion. "...you...really don't remember...?" Kirie shook his head surely. Rui stared in disbelief, as if something very important to him had just fallen apart right before his very eyes, within faintly trembling hands. Before Kirie could say anything else, Rui suddenly stood up and grabbed his hand.

"W-wha--?" was all Kirie had time to say before Rui ran off, still tightly holding his hand. "H-hey, wait...!" he tried to yell as he was pulled down several hallways he hadn't had time to memorize yet and then up several flights of stairs that he had never seen before. At the top, Rui burst through the door with Kirie in tow, sunlight surrounding them, wind rushing around their faces comfortingly. "W-wow...!" Kirie panted, awestruck, staring out at the view as Rui closed the door to the stairs.

"Like the view?" Rui asked with a smirk, heading back towards Kirie, who had run up to the shoulder-height fence and clambered up excitedly.

"It's really, really pretty!" he chirped cheerily. Then he realized that he didn't really know why he had been dragged up to the roof. "Um...why are we here again...?" he asked Rui curiously.

"You...you didn't wonder why I was dragging you up here the whole time?" Rui asked in disbelief. "What happens when you get kidnapped? You go along peacefully until you get blindfolded, and then you ask what the person's purpose was for taking you?"

"W-well, you were kind of dragging me, so I didn't have time to think, and the view's really pretty, okay?!" Kirie replied with a frown. "What's your point, anyways?!"

"Well..." Rui turned to lean on the fence with his arms on the top. "I dragged you up here to tell you the truth that I can't tell you around anyone else."

"...can't tell me around anyone else...?" Kirie asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

"Yeah. You see, the truth is...we used to be lovers in the past," Rui said, still looking out over the cityscape, lit by the sunlight.

Kirie blushed as he realized what Rui had said. "I...I think I would remember something like that!" he replied, stepping back.

"No, like in past lives," Rui said to try and clarify his previous statement.

"W-what...?"

"Yup. See, we were lovers and all that, like tons of times," Rui said, seeing an opening to keep pressing his explanation. "You know, my "story"? That actually happened, you know." Kirie remained silent for several moments. Rui wondered what was going on behind his amber eyes. "...um...Kirie...?"

"...you're kidding, right?"

"Huh?" Those words weren't exactly what Rui had been expecting. In fact, they were nowhere near what he had been expecting. At all.

"I...I know this is an all-boys' school, but..." Kirie started, then trailed off.

"Wha...?" Rui didn't really like the way this conversation was going.

"How much lamer could you get?!" the black-haired teen yelled. "Picking on me because I'm new..."

"H-huh?!" At that moment, Rui realized that he had totally lost control of the conversation, and that he was pretty much screwed.

"Get real! As if I would believe something like that! I'm not a girl in a shoujo manga, you know!" Kirie yelled before sending a right hook smashing into Rui's face. "You suck!" he proclaimed before he stormed back down, leaving Rui standing alone on the roof.

"H-hey, wait!" Rui called after Kirie desperately. "...he's gone." He touched his cheek gingerly. "Oww...I didn't think he would react like that..."

"Well, Rui, you should have told him a little better," a blonde teen said as he stepped out from behind...something. "Most people would probably react like that..."

"Oh yeah, sure, take his side, Sumi," Rui replied huffily.

"It's not like it matters," Sumi said with a sigh. "I'm on both your sides." He gave a smile. "But it seems like he's starting to "remember" already."

Rui was silent for a moment before he smiled as well. "...yeah." He looked out over the city, the wind playing with his red hair. "Soon... He'll remember everything soon."

For the rest of the day, Kirie ignored Rui, despite any attempts to try and communicate with him. When Kirie decided something, he was very stubbornly resolute about it, apparently, and he ignored Rui rather well.

At the end of the school day, before Rui could corner him, Kirie left for home, ignoring the start of the winter chill, focused only on avoiding Rui.

Kirie sighed as he finally unlocked the door. "I'm home," he called as he turned on the lights and threw his bag down on the floor. He took off his shoes and stepped up into his hallway. The apartment was small and bare, having only the most basic of essentials. The white walls were plainly clean, no signs of any decorations ever having been placed on them. The wooden floor creaked beneath Kirie's feet as he headed for the kitchen. He reached for the single pan that he had and silently began to fry some eggs.

Several minutes later, he sat down at his table for dinner. "Fried eggs and left-over rice..." He silently picked up his chopsticks. "Thank you for the meal..." He silently began to eat the meal he had made for himself. After he finished, he washed the single bowl and pair of chopsticks that had been used and put them away, his apartment looking completely untouched again. He took out his homework and began to work on it without a word. It was always silent in his apartment; he was the only one who lived there. It had always been this way, even when he was little.

When he finished his homework, he silently put away his homework and put his bag by the door and then took a quick shower and bath. He checked the clock on the wall. 10:30... It was a good a time as any to go to sleep, he guessed. He shuffled into his bedroom. The only furnishings were a bed, a bookshelf with a few books and a desk with only a lamp on it and a chair. He draped a clean school uniform over the chair and curled up on the bed. "Good night..." he said to no one before he turned off the light, pulling the blanket up to his ears and closing his amber eyes.

Rui smirked as he yawned in his bed, stretching one last time before he went to sleep. He looked up at the blonde teen leaning on his bedroom's door-frame as he rested his head on his pillow. "G'night, Sumi..."

"Yeah. Good luck with "remembering" with "Kirie"," Sumi replied, his arms folded over his chest as he watched the redhead falling asleep, being pulled towards slumber by his "other".

"Yeah...I'll see you when the long night ends..." Rui muttered before he fell asleep.