Matsuo Yuki has been cursed since birth.

The most apparent evidence of this is that he was born in the kingdom of Yami. Darkness. There are plenty of reasons why everyone born there is cursed to some extent. Yami covers the most land, but most of it is uninhabitable; icy cold, bare, and with little resources. Yami is, undoubtedly, the poorest kingdom in all the lands.

The people of Yami are hated by everyone, of every race. For a citizen of Yami to step on foreign ground is like a death wish. As a prince, Yuki knows this well. He sees the hatred filled glares he receives, the fact that any opinion his kingdom has is disregarded. A lot of the time, other kingdoms go out of their way to oppose the desires of the Yami people. They think that the Yami are monsters. The only thing keeping him alive is the peace treaty.

But the peace treaty even seems to have found it's loop holes when it comes to Yami, only preventing flat out genocide. Terrorists are not uncommon; hundreds die each year.

The reasons all of the kingdoms seem to agree that Yami is such a terrible race are vague. It's different for every culture. For some, it's merely the dark presence they seem to carry. For most, it's something to do with their diverse cultures. Many have pegged the Yami as being the breeding site of witches. Others disagree with their religious practices; their rituals are much different than other cultures, with complex ceremonies and traditions, some of which involve sacrifices.

The point is, for Yuki to have even been born in such a kingdom is more misfortunate than the all of the misfortune most will face in their entire lives, let alone be born their as a prince. His people expect him to bring them a better life, but it is beyond his control to do so. It is unsaid, but widely known, that Yami is on a downward spiral to extinction.

Yuki's parents were assassinated before the peace treaty had been signed, when his older brother was only nine years old. Regardless, his brother was made King, but his eldest sister, who was much older, seemed to be making most of the decisions for him. Yuki grew to hate foreigners as much as they hated him.

When Yuki turned fifteen, he couldn't pass the test. The one that every fifteen year old boy in Yami has to go through. It's tradition. The ritual is simple; after reciting a few sacred words, a priest hands the boy a goblet full of a dark brown liquid. He announces that it's the blood of a demon in the goblet, and he must consume the substance to prove he is strong enough to fight off the demon. It tastes terrible, and swallowing it alone is a difficult task, but that's not the challenge. The boy must then remain in that spot until nightfall. Friends and family will wait with him, waiting to see if he is able to fight off the demon blood. Most of the time, after a few hours of suffering pass, the boy will puke the blood back up, and he was able to prevent the demon blood from possessing his body.

However, Yuki never did. He writhed in pain for hours on end, his stomach feeling like it was trying to dissolve his internal organs, but the pain simply subsided. He did not puke. The demon never left his body. In such a case, the boy's father would normally kill his son; an abomination. Yuki's father was dead. Instead, his brother stood in front of him sword in hand.

But he did not kill Yuki. He stood there, shaking for an endless amount of time, before he threw his sword on the ground and told the onlookers that, as king, he would allow Yuki to live.

Yuki thinks he would have rather died. He was possessed. He wasn't sure what the demon was making him do, but he was sure it was still living in him, perhaps waiting to strike. If his body was so weak to this minor demon that almost every boy in Yami was able to fight off, then what would he ever do when faced with a stronger demon? No, he didn't deserve to live. His was too susceptible to evil.

As though living with himself was difficult enough, everyone hated him. They feared the fact that a prince was possessed. Of course they felt this way, Yuki had reasoned, because who would want such a man in a place of power? He was ridiculed, insulted, hated, and he deserved it.

The only one who didn't hate him was his brother, and Yuki hated him for allowing him to live. There was no place for him, not anywhere. Yuki decided that if no one else would kill him, he would kill himself.

He managed to get a hold of a small dagger, but, despite its size, it was surely lethal. As he brought the dagger to his chest, he heard a voice. He was sure it was the voice of the demon, screaming for help. Yuki almost smiled, realizing that when he would die, the demon would go with him. He would be a martyr of sorts, dying to protect his people from the trouble he would cause them. This made him all the more confident he was making the right choice.

But, he had forgotten the reason he was in this situation was because he was weaker than the demon. And he passed out, the dagger clattering on the ground in front of him.

When he awoke, he no longer desired to kill himself.

When he awoke the day after, he no longer desired for people to like him.

When he awoke the third day, he no longer desired happiness.

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Another short chapter!  I'll try to get the next one up by the end of next week.  Finally, stuff is going to happen in the next chapter!  Things are slowly, slowly, becoming faster paced... I'm doing my best not to bore you, but what can I say?  I like character development.

I'd ask you to guess who this one is, but I realize I pretty much gave you nothing to go off of, sooo...

@sarako:  Thank you very much!  I was worried that people wouldn't like that, since everything is so slow, but, I guess that's not entirely true. ^^

@sseonflower:  It makes me really happy that you were excited to see me update xD  I'm glad you're still reading, after not updating in so long.  I'll try my best to keep the story going from now on.