Ryuichi was done.
He was tired of hurting. Of being defeated. Having the taste of despair as his only sustenance. The demon touched his chin and lifted it until his gaze met her dark yellow stare. “Don’t think that, young master. You’re worth more than you could possibly imagine.”
Could she read his thoughts?
She smiled in kindness, warming him.
Only Keiko had ever spoken to him so affectionately. Ever treated him like this. Like he mattered.
But it wasn’t his place.
He hadn’t earned any standing, and he knew it.
“Let me die. I’m worthless.”
The shadow demon tsked. “Don’t say that, Ryuichi-chan. Humanity is worthless, not you. Look at them.” His friends went still and silent. She held up her hand, and in her palm, she showed him various times in his life when he’d been mocked and ridiculed. When they’d treated him like an animal. Showed him no mercy.
“Humans take. Their greed runs deeper than any ocean. It overflows their petty minds and floods their vacuous hearts, driving out any tenderness or reason. All they care about is themselves. No one else matters.Theyare the real monsters—yet we are the ones persecuted for their crimes. They cannot stand themselves, so they blame their behaviors on us.” The demon, Nekumo, leaned in close to Ryuichi’s ear. He had no idea how he knew her name, but it had appeared in his mind with utter clarity. “Not like you,my prince.”
Prince?
Why did that title feel so natural?
So right?
“Because it is,” Nekumo breathed in his ear. “Awaken, Kage-taro. For too long you’ve slept in this world where they hid you. The time has come for you to return home and claim your place.”
Confused, he scowled at the demon while his classmates remained frozen around him.
The demon smiled. “Keiko... kitsune. She stole you from us. Betrayed us. You were never nameless. Never worthless. Yorukaze Ryuichi. You are the Night Wind. The keeper of the sacred Kimon. More powerful than your own father. You are the prize we all covet. Come with me, my prince, and let me show you exactly how very valuable you really are.”
For the first time in his life, warmth filled him. It rushed through him like happiness.
Was it love? He didn’t know. How could he? But it chased away the cold he’d always felt and filled that bitter emptiness.
His head spun. The things she had told him... Were they true?
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. That was the old saying his senseis had taught him.
Who was he?
Ryuichi didn’t really know. And that truly scared him.
When the character of a man isn’t clear, look to his friends.
The demon stroked his cheek. “You have no friends. Only betrayers. Humans will fear you, and they always attack what they fear. They will destroy you, my lord.”
She wasn’t wrong.
How many times had he been attacked for no reason?
Nekumo laughed in his ear. “Keiko betrayed you first. Stealing you from your parents to save these pathetic humans. For years she stood by, pretending to be old and weak, but secretly laughing while they hurt you. Watching them all abuse you when she could have easily stopped it.” The demon tsked. “Poor you, to think she was your friend while she mocked you behind your back.”
Like everyone else.
His despair gave way to anger over that thought. How could she have done that?
“Why?”
