Part 1

Hanamichi Sakuragi sighed as he stared at the girl of his dreams from the classroom window on the 3rd floor. She was sitting with her 2 friends under a tree just outside the classroom Hanamichi was in, looking like a beautiful flower in a sea of grasses. Her long, brown hair moved with the wind as she laughed at a joke one of her companions told her. Her laughter floated in Hanamichi's ear as if it was music to his heart. He sighed again. He was in love with the most beautiful, delicate, and sweetest girl in Shohoku High...

Haruko Akagi.

He ran a hand lazily through his red hair and continued gazing at her, wondering when he was ever going to tell her of how much he liked her. He tried twice, but to no avail, nothing ever went out his mouth. He chuckled miserably. Right. The loudmouth of the century, the arrogant and strong Hanamichi everyone knew in Shohoku and in the Basketball world, couldn't even confess his feelings to a girl. How pathetic.

He groaned, annoyed at himself. He called himself a tensai, but he couldn't even find a solution to a simple problem such as this. He buried his face in his arms, wondering what to do.

"WOAH MAN! You two are going out?!"

"Yeah! And all it took was 500 Yen!"

Hanamichi's ear's perked up at that statement and he peeked out from the corner of his eye to watch two of his classmates grinning and slapping their friend in the back. He raised an eyebrow. 500 Yen? Going out?

The leader of the group nodded his head and pulled out an old book. "This book cost me 500 Yen! And I thought it was full of bull man, I mean, casting spells and witchcraft stuff to get the girl of your dreams to notice and like you! It's so stupid and childish! But hey, I gave it a try, and look! She came up to me yesterday afternoon and told me she liked me! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Hanamichi was getting more and more interested. Witchcraft and spells? Get the girl that you like to like you?

"Hey man, what's the title of the book? I can't read English, ya know." Asked a very excited boy beside the leader.

The leader grinned and said, "It's called 'The Underworld's Secret.'" He sighed. "Ya know, this was the second to the last copy there in that old bookstore called 'Rewebs'. Hell, it was about to be thrown away, but I-"

Hanamichi couldn't wait anymore. In a flash, he passed the group and ran down the school stairs. It was still lunch break, so he had about 20 more minutes before break was over. That was enough time for him to get to the other side of town. With that, he ran down the street like a mad bull, hoping that the owner hadn't thrown the last copy yet. Even though he called himself a tensai, and knew that this was probably the most stupid thing to do in the world to get Haruko to like him, it was still worth a try. Besides, there was no risk involved.

* * * * * *

Camry Maxwell stepped out of her father's shop, known as 'Really Weird Books', but codenamed by many youngsters as 'Rewebs'. Even though it was a strange store field with strange books, Camry loved it. She practically grew up in it, besides the school and her house, and she was just as interested in every book as many young people her age were.

She smiled. No school today...meaning lot's of free reading time!

"Hey Camry! Can you come in here for a second?" Her father, Alexander, called loudly from the back of the store.

She turned away from the piles of books in front of her and made her way to the storage room, noting how dusty the entire area seemed to be. She cautiously poked her head in and saw her father rummaging through a box. "Yeah?"

Alexander tossed her something and she deftly caught it, used to her father's actions. "This is one of the oldest books ever. Can you throw it away? It doesn't look like it will sell anyway."

Camry turned the book over and read the title. 'The Underworld's Secret.' "Hmmm..." She mused for a while, then asked, "Hey dad, is it okay if I look this thing over before tossing it away?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure, sure." Alexander replied gruffly, obviously not enjoying cleaning out old books.

Camry made her way towards the counter and sat down on the chair, carefully opening the book from left to right. It was a logical action, since it was an English book, but what Camry found interesting and surprising was that the content was still written in Japanese. She read the top inscription, which was also in English, and murmured to herself,

1. "He who opens this book must know the consequences of their act.

2. He who recites the most powerful incantation and draws the most powerful symbol,

which is located at the very last page, will release the most powerful force imaginable.

3. He who seeks for his answer, will find it in time."

She shook her head at that middle part and blinked. "The most powerful incantation and symbol releases the most powerful force imaginable?" She didn't understand what it meant. She looked at the last paged nervously and swallowed. Well, there was only one way to find out. She drew her finger to the last page, held it, turned it over-

"SUMIMASEN!!!!!"

"Ack!" Camry instantly fell on her butt at that loud greeting and at the same time, dropped the book. She groaned, rubbing her backside when she felt pain emit itself from that area. "Damn...that hurt!"

"Ah! Gomen!" The person replied. Then, before Camry knew it, she was being pulled off the ground and up to her feet. She staggered for a while, her back still recovering from the blow, and looked up to see fiery red hair. She blinked. A gaijin?...

Then, the stranger spoke, and Camry automatically knew he wasn't a foreigner. "I'm really sorry, but I'm in a hurry. Do you have a book called, 'The Underworld's Secret'? My classmate said he bought a copy of that book from here."

Camry blinked at that and nodded, still staring at the tall boy. She was 5'7 inches tall, and she wasn't used to craning her neck up. But, hell, this guy was HUGE! She shook her head and turned around to retrieve the old book from the ground. She dusted the dust away from it, wondering why he wanted it. She shrugged at that thought and handed it to him. "Well, here ya go."

"Thanks!" The guy answered cheerfully, searching his pockets for money. Finally, he drew out 500 Yen and place them on Camry's open palm as he ran away. "Ja ne! And sorry again for surprising you!"

Camry waved at the stranger and smiled. "Funny guy." Then, she saw the money in her hand and sighed. "If he only listened to me, I could have told him that book was practically for free." But, what's done was done, and she place the money in the cash register. "Saa, time to start reading!" She jumped away from the counter and turned chibi, searching for a book to quench her curiosity.

* * * * * *

Hanamichi was so excited and impatient as he waited for the day to finish. He had the book, he had an idea on who he wanted to like him, and all he had to do was follow the instructions in the book. That simple! He kept on shifting on his seat, turning his body from here to there, sighing irritably every moment...yup. He was desperate to get home.

Yohei Mito watched his friend turn around for what seemed like the 8th time and asked, "Hanamichi, what's wrong?"

"Eh?!" Hanamichi was surprised, as if Yohei had just popped out of nowhere and landed on the seat beside him. He chuckled nervously and shook his head. "Nothing. It's nothing, Yohei."

"What do you mean it's nothing?" Yohei demanded, raising an eyebrow at his best friend. "You've been acting edgy since this afternoon."

"I told you, it's nothing." Hanamichi replied sincerely, his eyes trained on the school clock. Come on, come on...

Yohei leaned in closer to his friend. "Hanamichi, tell me. I'm your best friend, and you can-"

RING!!!!!

Hanamichi stood up in a flash and grabbed his books, stuffing them into his bag quickly. "Sorry Yohei-gotta go-see ya tomorrow-don't wait up, okay-ja!!" Then, he grabbed his school jacket and ran out of the room, startling a few of their classmates on the way.

Yohei stood up slowly from his seat and watched his friend run out of the school gate from the classroom window. He shook his head and sighed. "See ya then."

* * * * * *

"Okay, okay...first draw this, then write this..."

Hanamichi had gotten home in record-breaking time. When he slammed the front door shut and ran towards his room, he didn't even bother to change into house clothes as he dumped his school bag on his bed and turned the book open, from right to left. He stopped on the first page and saw the English title, 'Finale'. He didn't understand what that meant, but he saw the drawing, the instructions, and right away decided this was the spell he was going to try.

The first instruction was to draw the exact same picture in the book on the floor with a piece of chalk. Hanamichi finally completed that task and read on. The second instruction was to step into the center of that drawing without touching or destroying any of the lines and patterns he has drawn. He did that too. Finally, the last instruction was to recite the sacred incantation with his eyes closed.

Hanamichi read the incantation over and over again in his head, trying to memorize it. When he finally got all 5 lines, he put the book away, closed his eyes, and whispered the incantation. When he was on the 2nd line, he felt something lighting up around him, but he didn't open his eyes. When he as on the 4th line, he felt something soft brush his cheek. Again, he didn't open his eyes. When he finally recited the 5th and final line, he felt something pass him, and he instantly opened his eyes.

The room was still the same, the sun was setting over the houses, and the room was still lit. Crows were perched outside on the electric wires, and a cat was walking on the side of an apartment. Honks from the street made its way towards his ears, and the sound of people talking to each other could be heard clearly. He waited for a few minutes, expecting something to happen, anything at all. Nothing...

He sighed and shook his head angrily. "Who am I kidding? This was just a waste of my time." He stood up from his position, stepped over the drawing he made on the ground, and went towards the bathroom to get a piece of cloth to wipe the drawing he made. But before he could get there, the window behind him burst open and a voice said,

"What do you want, mortal?"

Startled, Hanamichi turned around and gaped at what he saw. There, standing by his window, was a man with long, black hair, black clothes, and black boots. Almost everything on and around him was black. Even his own aura, which Hanamichi couldn't help but notice, was black. But that wasn't what shocked Hanamichi. The man, the man had...

Black wings.

Hanamichi stared at the pair of wings that were tucked comfortable behind the young man's back, and lifted his eyes. It crashed with ice, blue one's, and he momentarily lost his breath and felt his knees buckle. He was beautiful! Even though he was dressed entirely in black, the color of the setting sun and the sea behind him gave him a very beautiful look. Hanamichi bit his lips. Damn! What's wrong with me?! He leaned against the wall for support and managed to gasp out, "Who-who are you?"

The man smiled wickedly and whispered, "Kaede Rukawa, son of Satan."

TBC