The demon Inside him

His purple diamond eyes glowed in the darkness, as if they were devouring light itself.

A cold, distorted grin spread across his face-unnaturally wide, almost inhuman. His body was bent forward, as if he were about to leap up, ready to devour her.

Beneath his skin, the veins pulsed, bulging unnaturally.

A demon.

"Well, heroine? Long time no see," he said in his deep voice.

"Mark... W-what are you doing here?", Sad quoted, her voice trembling.

"Mark is the name of this idiotic soul. I am Nishimura Niki," the demon said.

That night, Sad had no doubt-she had seen a real demon.

And that face...

But the strange thing was, it was the same boy she had saved from the bullies at school one day.

The boy who was an outsider at school. A victim of bullying.

He barely spoke, kept his gaze lowered, and was mocked by the others as if he were invisible.

It was the same boy. Sad knew that for sure.

Yet nothing about him reminded her of the creature from that night. Not a trace of that dark, oppressive aura. Not a flicker of those abysmal eyes.

How could they be so different?

What was behind it all?

And that was precisely what frightened her most.