Here's where things get interesting. Enjoy, and please review!

High School Noir

VIII

Demons Can Love

The world burned around me. My senses were heightened. My power had increased tenfold. I was strong, I was fast, but still, I was weak. The constant desire to kill was always in the back of my mind. When I killed my brother, my disgusting new instincts were confirmed. Killing was now something that was part of my "genes" if you will. I compare it to the situation of a vampire; however, while a vampire needs to drink blood, I need to kill. To try and describe it, I would say that when I would look at another person, an unnatural instinct would kick in. I would lust to end their life. Containing myself was all I could do.

It was now two weeks after I killed my brother. So many things happened in those two weeks. Firstly, my brother's body was removed from his apartment. I was not attributed to the killing; they guessed he had killed himself. A recluse reputation will make people look at you differently. While it was extremely hard, I attended his funeral with my father. He was devastated. Secondly, I was brought to the hospital for inspection (on demands of Naomi). Of course, they found nothing out of the ordinary in my body, and we can't tell them what to look for. After all, we still didn't understand what had been injected inside me either. From the lack of results in blood tests and bodily scans, I myself hypothesized that the change in my body lied in my genes. Thus, I dubbed the substance that was injected into me the "Demon Gene." A fitting name if I do say so myself.

I continued life normally. At least, as normally as I possibly could. The killing of my brother had stirred the Demon Gene inside of me; basically, the need to kill was now ever-present. After two weeks it had not created much of a problem. At that point it was more of an irritating itch. I had no idea how long that would last though. I had no idea how long I would last without killing. My plan was to try to never kill again, but who knew how possible that was. If there was one thing I was sure of, it was that I would not let myself stoop to Kuro's level, who was obviously infected with the Demon Gene. Our difference, however, was that he no longer had control of the Gene, while I did. Because me and my friends could do nothing to report my situation and we had no idea what might happen to me, they tried to keep at least one of them in my presence at all times in case something went wrong. They were brave to remain in the presence of a "Demon" like me.

"Shin, you okay?"

I opened my eyes. I had been in such deep thought I didn't realize that school had ended.

"Oh. Ah, yeah, I'm good, Naomi." Of course I was lying. While it wasn't unbearable (yet), the itch was there. This is going to be hard to get used to...

"Great!" She smiled. My friends tried to remain upbeat in an attempt to keep me upbeat. Of course, they had no idea how I felt. I did not even tell them of my unbearable itch. It was embarrassing; I was ashamed.

"Hey, let's go get something to eat. Sound good?"

I waited a moment, then nodded. "Yeah."

My looks gave me away; I couldn't hide all the pain I was feeling. Naomi could tell I was hurting. As I stood up she grabbed a hold of my hand and put her other hand on my cheek. "Shin, don't be afraid to talk about it. We're here to help you." Her eyes teared up a little.

I looked away. I couldn't take it. "I'm fine."

We were leaving school from the front courtyard when I saw a commotion through the crowds of students milling about. In a corner of the courtyard under a tree, there was something that looked like a brawl. Two bigger boys, probably about my age, were seemingly picking on a smaller first year. Of course, the much smaller boy couldn't fight back.

My instincts kicked in. I might as well use this power for something...

I approached them calmly and stopped behind the two boys that were my age. Over their shoulders I saw that the smaller boy was bruised and had a scar across his cheek. I guess it wasn't a fight, it was a beat-up.

I tapped one of the bullies on the shoulder. "Hey."

He jumped. I guess they hadn't heard me coming. "Who the hell are you!?"

"Shinji Sato, Class 2-C. Yourself?"

"Doesn't matter to you!" He nudged the other bully and they both grinned. I was now glad I elft Naomi back among the crowds.

"Hmph." I blinked. "Stop beating up helpless kids. They didn't do anything to you."

"Oh yeah, and you're gonna stop us?" The second bully asked smugly.

I looked at them with a dead-serious face. "If I have to."

They cackled with laughter. "We'll see about that!" The first bully took a swing at me, but I dodged the punch without even thinking. Just a quick, easy sidestep for me must have stunned the two. They could hardly comprehend the speed at which I had just moved. These new powers aren't too shabby... shame that they come at a price...

"What the...!?" In fury, the second one also swung at me, but sidestepped back to where I started. After that they lost it. I dodged their punches left and right. After doing this for a few blows, I figured it was time to end it. I waited for the two of them to both swing a punch at the same time. A sort of smacking sound ensued; I caught the first bully's punch with my right hand and the second's punch with my left hand. Their eyes widened in fear. I couldn't help but grin a bit. Deciding to test my strength, I gave each of their fists a push with my hand. The two of them flew back into the tree's trunk, breaking small pieces of bark.

I just shoved two people, each with only one hand, into a tree hard enough to break the bark, and I barely even feel like I put power into it at all! I couldn't help but imagine what would have happened if I had done that with all my strength.

The two bullies gave up and ran off. I turned my attention to the small first year. "You alright?"

His eyes were wide with awe. "Yeah, thanks! How did you do that!?"

I stuttered. "Oh... uh... I don't know, I mean..."

I looked around. All eyes in the courtyard were on me. Oops, I attracted too much attention.

I gave a quick nod to the first year and made my way back through the sea of stares to where Naomi was still standing, seemingly in awe as well.

"Shin, that was..."

"Come on, let's go."

And so we left. I couldn't help but feel proud of myself; however, there was something else. While fighting those two bullies, the itch had been incredibly strong. It took a lot too hold myself back. Avoiding fights may be a good idea... At any rate, the itch died down a bit and we left the school.

Naomi and I talked as we walked the streets, looking for a place to get some good food.

"Shin, that was incredible!"

I laughed a bit. "Thanks, I guess." Of course, I couldn't tell her the real feelings I had during that brawl.

Naomi stopped walking. A backtracked a few steps to stand next to her. "What's up?"

She turned to me and grabbed my right hand with both of hers. She approached, close enough to embrace me, but kept our hands between our bodies. "You are okay, right?"

I looked at her, her face close. "Yeah, I'm okay." This time I smiled.

Naomi smiled. "Good."

I stared into Naomi's eyes for what felt like a long time.

Naomi broke the silence. "Well, shall we go?"

I blushed a bit. "Oh, uh, yeah, let's go."

She led the way, keeping my right hand in her left.

As I looked into her eyes, I felt a wave of emotions. At first I was scared... I swear I felt the itch surge up inside of me. But then I thought about it. It wasn't a desire to kill, it was a desire to love. 'I guess I can still be a human after all. At the very least, I'm glad "Demons" like me can love.'

Lemme know how it was, and thanks for reading!