Reaper

Chapter 1

High school was hell for most, but even more so for those who stood out. What better way to stand out then curled ram horns jutting from your forehead towards the back of your head? Kouzen was from a wealthy family, his mom was an effeminate demon male – a man who could birth – his father a human who managed to win his mom’s heart over. He had twin older half brothers from a previous relationship his mother had.

His mom was a brilliant genius. He had no reason to work but maintained a laboratory dedicated to finding solutions to illnesses. He wasn’t quite sure what his dad did, he thought maybe he ran something of a mafia but he’d never seen any illegal happenings or mobster like thugs around. His parents were quiet about what his father did, his mother always supportive of what he needed.

He stared at himself this particular morning, eyes narrowed at his reflection. He had golden eyes and short black hair. He looked like his dad in his face, handsome strong jaw and perfect cheekbones. His body however came from his mom, soft and curvy with a broad pale chest. That was about where the similarities ended.

He was the odd man out in his family. His older brothers were outgoing and popular. They had graduated years before him and his teachers still gushed over his siblings each time they found he was related. They had friends they still met with regularly and they did well working for his dad.

By comparison he lacked friends, not that he hadn’t tried. He found it hard to connect with others-- no one quite knew how to feel about his personality. His horns didn’t help. Horns were seen a sign of evil in demon culture. His mother didn’t know why he’d grown them, just that as he started teething they also started growing giving him a hard time.

His mom had told him they rushed him to the hospital once they noticed the bumps only to be told they’d have to wait and see what it was. His scans were all normal, nothing was impacted other than he was extra fussy. His parents had monitored him endlessly and when the horns broke skin they hadn’t known what to do. His mom insisted he wasn’t evil, loved him so dearly even when others told him he’d regret it.

His mom hadn’t told him that, he’d overheard his uncles one time talking about a demon duke who’d insulted his family. His whole family loved him thankfully, his grandfather was the ruler of the realm and the large family was very close knit. Even to someone who wished they’d back off and maybe love him a little less.

“Kou, are you almost ready? Dad’s ready to drive you to school,” His mom’s voice flittered through the house. His mom made him think of light and joy and he sighed taking one last look at himself. He ran his hands along the horns on his head, he hated them.

“Yeah, I’m coming,” He brushed his dark hoodie free of any lint and left the bathroom. He rushed down the stairs, long legs carrying him down into the foyer. They had a very nice house, something that other kids also teased him for. Being a weird rich kid wasn’t working out very well for him.

“Hey kiddo, you ready?” His dad’s face was kind towards him, he was very close with his dad. He’d been there through each weird turn of his life so far. From the phase where his mom had to bring him bags of barbies to dissect to his weird interest in murder documentaries. He’d even managed to sneak peeks at crime scene photos in his dad’s cabinet in his office. He had a sick interest in these things and while it made his mom uncomfortable his dad was good at hiding if it unsettled him.

“Shika, I’m heading out,” His voice boomed deep through the house. Kouzen heard whatever his mom was holding drop onto the counter with a metallic clang and rolled his eyes as his mom appeared in seconds, throwing his arms around his dad.

“Have a fantastic day, Nick,” He grinned so big Kouzen thought his head might split open. Both of them were tall, his mom just under six foot, his dad just above. His dad was broad with muscle and his mom looked small when wrapped up in his arms. Slender waist caught in the arms of a tough guy. His mom did him a favor, blocking his son’s view as he giggled and kissed his dad goodbye.

“Bye mom,” Kouzen mumbled as he opened the front door.

“Excuse me! Kouzen Micah Tarasov,” His mom’s tough guy voice was playful and he sighed, turning to look at him. He was grinning and approached, gently smoothing Kouzen’s hair back around his horns. He kissed his forehead making Kouzen scowl, “I love you, have a great day.”

Nick snorted and put his huge hand on the back of shoulders, escorting him out of the door, “Good luck today, Shika. You’re gonna do great on your presentation, see you at dinner.”

“One more kiss!” His mom stole it, his dad’s hand leaving his shoulder with a soft laugh.

“That’s absolutely disgusting,” Kouzen looked at him as they walked to the black SUV in the driveway. His dad shrugged, smile still plastered on his face.

He reluctantly participated in small talk the whole ride to school. His dad asked about his classes, some kids he’d mentioned before, tests. Everything a good parent does. He answered each question, watching out the window with little interest in the actual conversation, “Kou, you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just thinking about what to do after school tonight,” Kouzen rolled his head to look at his dad. His dad nodded a little, concern flashing across his face for only a second.

“Well, why not invite a friend over? Or maybe go to a friend’s house?” Nick suggested delicately. He knew his son’s struggles.

“Dad, I don’t have a ‘friend’,” Kouzen moved back to staring out the window.

Nick thought hard for a moment. He could honestly hire someone to be Kouzen’s friend, he had the money even without his husband. He looked to his son then shook the idea from his head, Kouzen hadn’t expressed interest in friends, “Just a suggestion. I hate to see you by yourself all the time.”

“I like being by myself, you don’t have to worry,” he hurt. His dad had this talk with him a lot over the years. Just one friend and his dad would leave him alone, but it was so tedious trying to keep up with someone else. He didn’t pressure or chastise him, he knew his dad just worried.

They pulled up into the drop off lane and Kouzen gathered himself and jumped out. He waved to his dad who gave a quick wave back and left him standing on the sidewalk. His safety net for the day was gone, now he had to face the school day. He trudged up to the door and stepped inside with a deep breath.

“Looking pretty horny today, coo-coo,” the first taunt came flying down the hall towards him. He rolled his eyes, he was so glad this was his last year. He continued to his locker, putting his bookbag away. He shut the locker, holding his first book and notebook for the day. He tucked a pencil, eraser and pen into the pocket of his hoodie and headed towards his first class.

He was intercepted by a rag tag group of boys. Their leader stood in his path, leering down at him. Evander stood a head taller, built like a norse god which was unfortunate for him. He was a dragon shifter, making him one of the top of the food chain. He glowered as Evander pulled his notebook from his hands, “Where do you think you’re going, horns?”

“To class, where you should also be headed,” Kouzen ripped his notebook back. Evander had tormented him since grade school.

“Nah, I think maybe you should come with me,” he grabbed his arm, shifting so they looked like buddies as a teacher walked by. The teacher eyed them suspiciously as Evander escorted him into the bathroom. Kouzen didn’t dare fight back, he’d learned a long time ago to just let it happen.

He looked at Evander boredly as he was shoved up against a urinal. Evander took his books, setting them aside before rolling up his sleeves. A smirk spread across his face as he looked at the boy in front of him and Kouzen glanced to the side. His dad had told him he needed to fight back in these situations but he always just wanted them to be over. He’d be upset if he came home with another black eye.

“Don’t hit my face,” Kouzen looked at Evander, no emotion.

“Not your face? You think you’re in any position to tell me what to do?” Evander froze, his smirk turning into malice.

“My dad will see it if it’s my face,” Kouzen sighed, still not interested in their exchange.

“Maybe your dad should see what a p***y he has for a son,” Evander was approaching him now, his boys making sure no one interrupted.

“Just get it over with, I have a class to get to,” Kouzen was so used to it, his body wasn’t even anxious. He relaxed his muscles, waiting patiently for the first blow. It landed square in his eye socket. He felt his head smash against the tiles behind him, barely missing the pipes for the urinal. The next blow hit his gut making him double over. A knee came up and he dodged it as it came for his face but a shove pushed him back against the tile.

He caught Evander’s gaze and his chest felt tight. Fists wrapped up in his hoodie and pulled him to his tip toes, his nose inches from Evander’s. He hated when he’d get close like this, his body responded illogically to the threat. Evander shoved him hard enough to make him grunt, his head bouncing off the tile again as his spine slapped against tile. Before he had time to be embarrassed about his cheeks turning pink against his will, a teacher finally pushed into the bathroom.

“Evander! Principal’s office!” She mean mugged the rest of the gang and with one final shove Evander let go of him and left. She tsked as she approached him, gently touching his face and examining his swelling eye, “I don’t condone fighting, Kouzen… but… one day that boy is seriously going to hurt you if you don’t hit him back. Don’t tell the principal I said that.”

“I’m fine,” Kouzen picked up his books from the bathroom floor. He looked to the petite history teacher as she sighed.

“Kouzen, go to the nurse’s office. I’ll let Mr. Jurgen know you will be late to your math class,” She gave him a motherly smile. He looked to her, wanting to challenge her decision but decided to wander to the nurse’s office. He turned down the hall to the administrative offices and headed into the nurse’s office.

The nurse was quick to get up and start checking to see if he had any broken bones as he always started when Kouzen showed up. He gave a sad smile as he looked at his eye and Kouzen wished it was appropriate to hit those who looked at him with pity. An icepack was quickly given to him and he was sat on one of the cots set up for sick students.

Nurse Orion never told him when he was calling home, he was pretty sure it was because of the time in ninth grade when he begged him not to call his parents to the point they thought he was maybe being neglected at home. His parents were quick to put those rumors to rest and he had felt so embarrassed putting them through it. The truth was he didn’t want to bother them with something he’d gotten used to.

He could hear him talking and based on the tone it was with his mother. The thought of his mother filled him with a small amount of joy. At least he’d probably be getting his favorite dinner out of this. He looked up as Evander was marched into the nurse’s office.

“Give the boy something for his hand, please,” Evander sneered at him, the principal looking at him before rolling his eyes at Evander, “Leave Mr. Tarasov alone. If you could just leave him alone all the time you wouldn’t be going home suspended Mr. Alfson.”

Orion checked over Evander’s hand and quickly got him ice for swelling as well. He sat him in a chair by the office door and glanced to Kouzen. He seemed to debate pulling the shower curtain hung up between the front of the office and the beds closed but left it open and proceeded back to his desk which was a tiny room to the left.

“Kouzen, your mother said your dad would swing by and pick you up. She said it was best that you come home for the day after I told her about your eye,” Orion’s voice came from a place in his office, gradually getting louder until his head popped back around the corner. He cringed, his dad was so busy, he could have just gone to math class.

He could already hear the endless teasing he’d get from Evander when he came back. Dad to the rescue… again. He gave a soft nod and the nurse came back to check on his eye and then returned the ice pack to the sore spot, “How long do I need to keep this here? It’s cold.”

“No s**t it’s cold, it’s ice,” Evander rolled his eyes at him. Kouzen looked at him boredly, lowering the ice pack from his face. He’d never had the urge to hit Evander which was odd to most, but damn if he didn’t want to hurl the ice pack at him right now. He wasn’t an i***t.

The principal was quick to chastise him for cursing and goading Kouzen. The principal seemed to see the fury boiling just under his gaze, he almost seemed to want to turn his back to whatever Kouzen had in store. It’d been 4 years of the poor man having to deal with this. Kouzen often didn’t name his attacker when he was brought in injured, but they all knew. He calmed himself, putting the ice back on his eye.

His dad arrived about 30 minutes later, greeting the principal with gritted teeth. He looked to Evander, his anger seeping out. He would take anyone that hurt his family out and Kouzen was starting to think Evander was no exception. Him being a child had protected him for a really long time. His dad’s cell phone started ringing like crazy, and he ignored the call, “C’mon Kouzen. Let’s get you home.”

Kouzen nodded and stood, returning the ice pack to the nurse. The corner of his lip barely twitched up, “Thank you, Nurse Orion.”

Orion smiled and nodded back, setting the ice pack to the side to be sanitized before it was returned to the freezer. His dad’s arm wrapped around his shoulder and he heard a snort from Evander. He barely heard ‘p***y’ from Evander’s lips and he was glad his dad didn’t have the sharp hearing he had. The Principal did though, and looked extremely wary as he glanced at his dad as they left.

They got outside the door and the phone had rung through at least 3 calls before he finally answered it, not saying a word. He let out a curse word in thickly accented Russian before glancing at Kouzen as someone spoke on the other side of the line.