Chapter 1

There it was…dark…black…filthy…

It's headed towards me!

I ran, and ran…hoping to get away from it. I stretched my wings and soared upwards. But the shadow formed a long string of darkness and pulled my leg: I fell downward. A wave of panic washed over me. This was it…there is no way that the human race could survive now…

Just as I was about to be devoured by the black beast with no shape, a bright light glowed.

I looked up, right into a pair of blue eyes…

…Blue eyes, brown hair, a pair of snow white wings…

He slashed his sword at the string of shadow holding me in place. I flew up, free of the beast's grasp. I grabbed the hand of my savior and motioned him to follow me to my hiding place, which was safe of any shadows.

Though…it was not easy…

The shadow pounced at us and reached up to devour us. It wanted our power and our shadows so that it could be stronger.

I turned to look at the beast behind me, I did not realize until the blue-eyed boy shouted for me to look out. It was, of course, too late. I flew straight into the darkness of the shadow's body. Blackness swallowed me, muffled me, it stopped me from crying out. It suffocated me, took away my powers and broke up my shadow. Without my shadow, I floated into a black pool of nothingness…

- - -

A girl with chestnut hair and icy violet eyes bolted out of bed. Beads of sweat covered her face. She panted as she tried to remember what of her dream scared her so much. All she could remember, however, was a black ocean of nothingness.

14-year-old Rika Nonaka frowned as she checked the time. It was 2 hours before her radio alarm clock was supposed to ring. She got out of bed and dragged herself to the bathroom. She opened the tap and splashed cold water on her face, waking her up. She looked at herself in the mirror. Ever since she was old enough to think sophisticatedly, she felt as if there was a gap in her memory, a gap in her life, a gap in her soul. Something was not clear to her.

Since she turned 14, Rika has been having nightmares about a certain thing, yet when she wakes up, she does not remember a thing. All she could see from the previous night is a black sea of nothing. Sometimes, if she was lucky, she could see a pair of clear blue eyes, or even a flash of snow white feathers of a pair of wings.

15 minutes later, Rika emerged out of the washroom. Her hair was wet from her shower and she was wrapped in a bathrobe. Reaching into her closet, she brought out a black pair of pants and a black shirt with a skull on the front. She slipped off the robe and fitted herself comfortably in her random garments.

She yawned and wandered into the kitchen of her house. It was her mother's house, to be exact. She opened her fridge and looked inside, she pulled out an apple and closed the fridge door. She peeked down the hallway to her mother's room; there was no sign that told her that her mother was there.

Gasp…She thought sarcastically. She went to a photo shoot…big surprise…

Rika thought of her mother's job and shuddered. Why do people have models anyways? Why don't they just use dummies? Why do people design clothes? Especially those crazy kinds, they weren't needed. If she wanted, Rika could design a whole fashion show with a few different pairs of jeans and shirts.

"Adults…" Rika muttered and bit her apple. She was careful to be quite, incase she woke her grandmother, who will surely insist she eat something more than an apple. If she refuses, her grandmother would take it that she was on a diet. Rika frowned and walked to the door of her house. She slipped on a jacket and slid the door open and took a step out; only to almost be ran over by some crazy guy on rollerblades.

She took a surprised step back just as the blader sped past her. She shook her head and cursed under her breath. It seems like people don't know how to have control these days. However, the guy who skated past her skated back. She was surprised because she expected the guy to just go away without doing anything to do with her. The guy, however, pulled to a stop in front of her.

"Hey…sorry I almost hit you. Are you alright?"

She turned to make a smart comment when she met his eyes. It looked so familiar…clear blue…it was the pair of eyes she saw in her dream.

"No…problem…" She said and slowly turned around. Her brain ran about one hundred thousand kilometers per second, trying to relate the situations. Though, as fast as that is, no answer came to her.

Rika slowly started to walk towards the park, when she realized that the guy was still there.

"Have we met before?"

The guy said with a curious frown. He slowly skated towards her.

"I don't believe so." She replied.

"I'm sorry then, because you look oddly familiar." He gave a smile.

She turned to face him. "Unless we met at our previous lives, then no I have never seen you before." She said. "Or…unless you are relating me to my mother, who is quite well known, sadly."

"Who is your mother?"

"Rumiko Nonaka" She sighed and continued to walk towards Shinjuku park.

"Ah, her…" The guy said. "No it's not that…it's just…" He said, and his voice trailed off. "Never mind…sorry to bother you. Maybe I'll see you again." He shrugged and skated away.

"Hopefully not…" She muttered, but inside, she had an urge to figure out more about him. But there is more than one person on this planet that has blue eyes, so meeting him was probably just luck. Rika felt she knew the answer; somewhere it lies in the shadows of her mind.

- - -

"Hey Rika!"

Rika turned to see a girl with pale blond hair smiled at her. She put her backpack down on the seat next to Rika.

"Hey Alice…"

Alice McCoy was Rika's friend since they were in grade 5. Not very long, but the bond between the two friends were unexplainable. They both were new at the school that they met in and they were friends instantly, without realizing it. They both 'didn't need friends', yet they became friends. It was, in fact, unexplainable, but true.

"I like the new seating plan…" Alice said as she looked at her desk. It had a piece of tape and the words 'Alice McCoy' on it. Rika had the same piece, but instead, it had 'Rika Nonaka' on it. They hooked their backpacks on the backs of their chair and they sat down.

(A/N: Being Chinese, in Asian countries such as China and Japan, there are two terms. After every term and in the middle of every term, there is a big test. Seating plans are rarely changed, but it does change after every term. The seating plans are usually pairs, and there ware usually boy-girl and boy-boy seats. Yes, the number of males is larger than females. Took me a while to adjust… . It might be different in Japan, so I am allowing all possible pairs for seating: boy-girl, boy-boy and girl-girl.)

"I hear we have a new student, eh?" Alice whispered and nudged Rika. Rika turned to listen – there was no point in trying not to.

"Another snobby brat who wanted to change schools?" Rika raised an eyebrow.

(A/N: Yes, another thing…it was quite rare for people to transfer in the middle of the year. nod, nod or at least, it was in my old school. My old school was the second best in the whole city, so I trust it. I'm not trying to brag, just telling ya incase you don't believe me.)

The second bell rang, the whole class straightened up to wait for the teacher to enter.

"Nope, I heard he transferred in from America."

"Ah…an American…joy…" Rika muttered. "I hate all the Americans that were my mom's boyfriend."

"You hate ALL your mom's boyfriends…" Alice pointed out.

Rika thought. "True…" She said.

Suddenly, the door slid open and a brown-haired woman who was dressed formally stepped in. She looked superiorly at the class. "Good morning class."

"Good morning Miss Kamiya." The class chorused.

(A/N: I'm borrowing Kari and Tai's last name, because Kari was a teacher. I know Kari is OOC so far, but this is not Kari. It's…just her last name.)

"I hope I do not have to move you from your new seating. I tried to put you where you will be happy, yet you won't talk too much." She said sternly. "Now…"

She turned to get a piece of snow-white chalk. She turned sharply back. "We have a new student. His name is Ryo Akiyama." She turned again to write his name on the board. "Please enter, Ryo." She called out.

The door slid open. A boy with brown spiky hair and blue eyes walked in. He slowly made his way beside the teacher's desk, which is in front of the class.

"Do introduce yourself, Ryo." The teacher said in an almost sarcastic tone.

"Hai. My name is Ryo Akiyama. I came from America, but I was born in Japan. I simply moved to America because of my parents' career, which included jumping back and forth between countries. They happened to have a long research project to do in America, and they had to move to America. So I moved there as well. I'm happy to be back in Shinjuku." He concluded, his clear blue eyes flashing. He looked directly at Rika.

Rika blinked. As if things couldn't get any worse, the boy she met earlier transferred to her class. It seems fate is way to lucky today.

"Yes…very ahem…interesting." The teacher said. "You may take a seat in front of…ah…Rika."

Rika groaned silently and her head fell onto the desk. The teacher, however, noticed this. She frowned.

"Seeing you are so happy to see our new student, you may show him around the school at recess." She smiled viciously.

Rika closed her eyes. "Hai…" She replied with poison in her voice. Pleased with her work, the teacher opened her book. She started to write on the board and teaching about elements of a good story. Rika had her head propped onto her hand, but she was listening and jotting down a note or two with her free hand. After 30 minutes, the bell rang for the next period. The teacher closed her book.

"Before you go, turn to page 268 in your writing book and you will see the expectations of an adventure story. I expect the first copy, at least, done by tomorrow."

The whole class said a 'Hai' and packed up. There was a 5-minute break to get their stuff in between periods.

"What do we have next?" Alice asked Rika.

"When will you ask for another schedule?" Rika asked Alice back. She sighed. "We have gym."

"Yeah!" Alice cheered and pulled out her gym clothes from her backpack.

Rika sighed and got hers.

- - -

They were doing touch football reviews for gym, and despite the fact that Rika was good at it: it was boring. Finally, after 5 minutes, the teacher divided up the students into teams and started up the game.

"HUT!"

The football was thrown and caught. A trail of people ran after one person, who was running towards where Rika stood. The person was Ryo, the blue-eyed boy that Rika met earlier. Rika yawned – she didn't feel like playing.

"Afraid you can't catch me?" The boy smirked and said as he ran past Rika. Rika twitched and within a second, she bolted after him. Reaching out and picking up speed, she touched Ryo with both her hands. The force caused him to fall onto the ground. Though he was slightly hurt, he started to laugh.

"Easily angered, I suppose?" He smirked. Rika closed her eyes.

"Just don't challenge me at things I am good at." Rika said calmly, despite how she just ran across the football field to catch Ryo in less than a minute.

"I'll keep that in mind…" He said as he stood up. By then, the rest of the class has already reached them.

"ON SIDE…SAY…HUT!"

Rika caught the ball and threw it at Henry Wong, who was already on the other side of the field. He caught it and within a second, Rika's team cheered like mad.

"NICE!" Takato, a brown haired goggle-head said to Henry as they exchanged high fives.

Without realizing it, Rika participated in the game once again. In no time, gym class was over.

"Time flies when you are having fun, eh?"

Ryo gave Rika one of his smiles. Rika smirked.

"And I thought it only flies when you are winning…well, I guess having your ass whooped passes time too…" She said. "You're living proof!"

"Ha…ha…" Ryo said sarcastically. "Now…about that tour around the school…"

"Oh, I was hoping you forgot…shoot…" Rika said in a fake bitter voice. She shook her head mockingly.

"You don't have to take me…" Ryo shrugged. "I already know the school…"

"Great…" She said and walked away.

"Oh wait!" He said as he tapped her shoulder. Rika turned around, and then everything went black.

- - -

The being swallowing me was the last thing I remembered. Then, when I woke up, I was in a bed in my hiding place. I bolted up, but was rewarded by a sharp hot pain in…well…every part of my body. Someone was beside me. I turned to face them.

It was the person who rescued me.

"What…?" I waited for the rest of the sentence to come out of my mouth, but I had too much things to ask.

"I killed the shadow, and I had to retrieve your power crystal and your shadow in order for you to be alive again. Then, I took the image from your head of your hiding place and transported us there." He explained briefly.

"Oh…thank you…" I said slowly. I plopped back onto the bed, which made me ache more, but I soon got used to it.

I stared at the ceiling, when suddenly someone called my name.

I turned to the person beside my bed. "Did you just-"

The voice called out. But it wasn't the guy beside my bed. I frowned.

My vision started to blur…

I fell into a deep blackness…

- - -

Rika opened her eyes suddenly. She winced as a sharp pain came from her head and back. She looked around; she was in the nurse's room. The nurse smiled kindly at her.

"You were blank for quite a while." The nurse said. "But since you are awake, you may go. There was nothing wrong with you, so I don't understand why you passed out suddenly, but its ok. Just take it easy for the next few days."

"Oh…thanks…" Rika smiled at the nurse. The smile faded as she climbed off of the bed and onto the floor. She checked her watch; there was 25 more minutes to school. There was no point in going to class, so she went out the main door and walked home.

- - -

She didn't know if it was just her imagination, but there was something that stopped her from going to sleep beside the sharp pains in her back. Rika tried to touch her back, just incase there was something there that was causing the giant amount of pain. She turned to look at her back in the mirror. She frowned; it looked like she has two bumps in her back. But it must have been her imagination, because…bumps? What would grow on her back that made a bump that wide?

Suddenly, something at the corner of her eyes moved. Rika looked at that direction, but there was nothing there except the shadow of her desk.

She rubbed her eyes: she must be going crazy. Rika sighed – it was 2:00am and she isn't even tired. It was unusual. Maybe a walk would help…

Rika opened the window of her room and jumped out. She landed on the grassy surface of her lawn. Inhaling the fresh night air, Rika smiled.

Wandering down her street, she looked at the beautiful stars. They were the stars from possibly a million light years ago.

Still, they are beautiful…she thought. But then, a black shade covered the view of the stars. First, she thought it was just her imagination. But it is real – there was a giant patch of shadow hovering above her. She turned to see a giant blob of black.

Rika's eyes widened.

This was it…one of the shadows…

It was then all the past memories broke through the barrier she's created for herself. Centuries of memory flashed across Rika's eyes.

It was painful.

It was bizarre.

It was true.

Rika put her hands to her head. She bent over at the pain, both physical and emotional. It felt like her heart was being torn and stabbed at. She fell onto her knees; her hands were still clutching her head.

"It can't be…" Rika whispered.

Rika threw her head back and she gave out a cry that pierced the silent night air, a cry that could not be heard by humans.

The skin on Rika's back split, and snow white wings stretched out. Rika gave another cry, and a burst of white light escaped from Rika's body. It flashed in all directions. It clung onto the beast's body, and the black blob shattered like glass. The black bits spread out in all directions. It reformed to the being it was before.

Without any strength left over from retrieving memories from the past centuries, Rika fell onto the cold concrete of the ground.

Just as the blob was about to swallow her up, a being with a sword flew in and slashed the sword at the being. It produced a beam of light; it melted the shadow into the ground. The being gently touched down. His wings folded. His clear blue eyes fell on Rika, who was lying in a small puddle of blood caused by the sudden growth of the wings. The eyes softened.

"Welcome back, oh great slayer…" He said in an unearthly voice.

He picked the girl up, and soared upwards…

- - -

Ryuki: Hmm…I'm quite proud of the beginning…it didn't turn out as I planned, but its OK. My first Digimon fic to post…nod, nod …RYUKI4EVER!!!