Charlotte had her eyes open. They were open but they were unseeing and dull. Slowly, the pain intensified, her throbbing head almost unbearable. She slid her arm down and pushed herself up, her left completely spent. It was darker, which meant night had crept in. The pool of blood at her head had soaked her hair and some more spilled from her mouth in torrents. Gradually getting onto her feet, she tried to fight against the blinding moments as every movement she made tried to pull her back into darkness.

Staggering over to a wall, she leaned against it, keeping her broken arm pinned to her side. Her chest rose and fell as she tried to calm herself. She gritted her teeth.

"Bastards," she growled, a dangerous aura igniting.

The thugs in the vicinity scrambled into their shelter as they felt the bloodlust and hostility multiplying with every second. Charles ripped a part of her shirt and tied it roughly around her head, keeping the hair back as well as suppressing the head wound.

She got to her feet and walked, almost too gracefully for someone who might have a minor concussion.

"Kenny... huh...?" a mad smirk pulled at Charles' lips. "Guess today is the day I die."

_

Kenny and the three kids he's been raising lived in a small shack in the far corners of the underground. He's a man on a completely different level and as such, raised the kids like demon's spawn. There was an unspoken rule that everyone was aware of. Don't mess with the infamous serial killers and you won't end up dead in a pool of your own blood.

The military police never manages to get close to capturing them, but on the other hand, who would dare lay a finger?

Now, the little ruin of a shack was surrounded by thugs keeping the perimeter. Their boss trapped in the confined building with the infamous demons, trying unsuccessfully to tap into their humanity. The man shivered on the spot as the tall figure rose to greet him. The trembling man glanced around. A girl with bright scarlet hair and a crazy grin was sitting cross legged on a barrel, her eyes glowing at him. On the other side of the room was a tall boy with his arms crossed and gazing at him like he was seeing right through him. Then, lastly, was a rather short teen, leaning against the wall with no apparent interest to the proceedings. But as the man stared, the boy's steely grey eyes whipped to land on him, almost convincing the man to bolt out right then and there.

"You have the money you owe me?" Kenny asked in a low gruff voice.

"Y-yes," the man fumbled with the tie that attached the pouch of money to his belt.

Just as he was going to hand it to the man, there were shouts and curses coming from outside. All their eyes went to the door as time passed and the shouts progressively died down, until it was deadly quiet.

Everyone's breathing could be heard as the person outside kept them waiting. The boy who had been leaning against the wall straightened up and regarded the door as footsteps became louder.

"1, 2, 3," the girl on the barrel counted down.

Bang!

The door flew off its hinges and narrowly missed decapitating Kenny's head. It fell onto the floor in pieces. The silhouette in the doorway took a step in.

"Shisturei shimasu*," the boy said in a soft voice. Blood dripped onto the floor and the girl on the barrel cried out.

"He's bleeding like a busted barrel of whiskey!" the red haired girl said with an out-of-place grin.

The ebony haired boy scrutinized the boy, noticing that his left arm was hanging limply and that blood had streamed down from a wound on his head all the way to his shirt. Bruises were forming from the assault he had just went through and the flesh on his hands were peeling.

"Huh?!" the thug man pointed at the boy. "You—"

The boy almost teleported in front of the thug and without a moment to even blink, Charlotte kicked the man with all her might. The man flew and torpedoed through the wall, causing it to collapse. The man lay unmoving in the rubble.

With an exchange of glances from their master, the three teenagers surrounded the boy, prepared to fight and subdue.

The boy's eyes were half lidded and full of resolve. He ran at the tall pale brown haired teen and they immediately engaged in tight hand to hand combat. Charlotte's eyes were round as she realized how outmatched she was. The boy didn't even flinch as she aimed a kick at his head. He lifted a hand and blocked it as if it were swung with the strength of a pillow.

"Che," Charlotte swung the leg around and kicked out with the other, completely off the ground for a millisecond.

The teen bent backwards to dodge and threw himself to the side, spinning in the air and kicking out. Charlotte had to jump back to keep from getting hit and almost as soon as her feet touched wood, the scarlet haired girl's fist narrowly missed Charlotte's face. Charlotte grunted, and saw that the girl had elbowed her in the gut. The ginger beamed in triumph. So, that punch had been a feint.

The Demons lived up to their name.

But she hadn't come to defeat them. Charlotte dashed for the money that had been thrown to the floor when the man had flew. She only needed to grab what she came for and bolt out of there.

The pouch of money was kicked to the side, and Charlotte looked up a pair of legs and into grey eyes. Her heart skipped a beat in fright. This was that boy who her mysterious ability had no effect on. She got kicked across the face and was thrown back from the force. She winced and squeezed her eyes shut. Landed badly. Her shoulder burned like hell.

"You're not getting that money," the boy said in monotone.

Charlotte glared at him. The boy took slow steps nearer and before Charlotte could get to her feet, he pushed her down with the sole of his shoe. Right on her dislocated shoulder.

"Gah!" Charlotte gasped.

It was agony, pure pain ridding any amount of sense. All she could do was struggle to get free, but the teen didn't yield, instead, he applied more force. Charlotte yelled bloody murder. Saliva dribbling down the sides of her mouth, tears pouring out, and thrashing around inhumanly.

"Levi aniki!" she heard the girl yell. "Stop!"

Charlotte felt his foot recede and she cradled her arm, gasping for oxygen on the floor of the Ackermans' house. She looked through bleary eyes at the four people standing over her, their profiles blurry and undefined.

"You went too far, Levi," said an exasperated voice.

"Scary, aniki," the girl commented, a smile in her voice.

"You saw how he moved, Farlan," a less than caring voice responded. "If the brat hadn't lost so much blood or had that dislocated shoulder, he would've been somewhat of a challenge. I was just fighting like I would've had he been at full health."

"Hey, kid," the guy named Farlan said. "I'll reattach your shoulder, don't struggle."

Somebody stuffed a dirty cloth into her mouth to keep her from biting her tongue and Farlan didn't even twitch. He popped her shoulder in without even a 'I'm going to do it on three' line. Charlotte spit out the wad of rag and sat up.

She glared up at the four in deep hatred, earning death glares back.

"Why did you try so hard to get the money?" the girl asked

"It's my money," Charlotte hissed.

The four all had grim expressions on their faces.

"Your money?" Farlan said skeptically.

"I don't care if you don't believe me, but I'm getting that back from you people if it's the last thing I do."

A little intrusion to clear something up. As Charlotte mentioned before, the money she had received was only a morsel of what her sister would receive if her book made profits. But because it was the first payment, it meant a lot to her and knew it would mean even more to her sister. And she had made a promise to herself. To buy a golden apple for her sister with that money. And she was too stubborn to change her mind, even in front of the big shots of the underground.

Levi kicked her on the head and Charlotte thudded to the floor. Levi looked passed his nose at her.

"You're getting too cocky, brat," he said darkly.

Charlotte gritted her teeth. She definitely wanted to see this guy shrivel up and die.

The adult of the group stepped up and kneeled down to Charlotte's level. Charlotte starred daggers at him.

"This money was going to be used to buy three 3D maneuver gear equipment," Kenny said gruffly.

"That's idiotic," Charlotte deadpanned. "The military corps won't sell you any."

"That's what you'd think," Farlan grumbled, as if he'd had this conversation before.

"The Military Police are corrupted bastards that'd do anything for money. We'll be using that to our advantage," Kenny explained.

You could almost hear the gears running in Charlotte's head. "If I can get you the 3D maneuver gear, will you give me my money back?"

They all looked shocked, and dubious expressions appeared on their faces. Charlotte rolled her eyes. Unfaithful, this lot.

"Without hesitation," the man swore.

Charlotte nodded and got to her feet. "I'll be back by sunrise."

"Wait!" the girl shouted. "What's your name?"

Charlotte paused. They obviously thought that she was a guy. No wonder, based on the way she dressed and the style her hair was cut. She pondered for a moment.

"Charles," she said and left the house.

_

Damn. Charles struggled with the load in her arms. Why do these things have so many parts to them?

It had been easy enough to sneak up to the surface and enter the military police's headquarters. The soldiers oblivious to her presence. Their attention span was completely nonexistent, they waned on a daily basis.

Charles hadn't realized how bulky the gear was, or how large. On normal circumstances she would've dropped one off and then went back and forth until she was done, but she had promised to have them by sunrise and it had taken 3 hours to get from the underground to the military stronghold in the capital. She couldn't waste any more time. Getting back would take just as longer.

She had clumsily put on one of the maneuver gears so her hands would be free to carry the other two. The equipment was oversized on her small proportioned 13 year old body and looked almost comical, especially when she walked.

Before she had escaped to the fresh air of the city, she had patched herself up more professionally than she had in her rage and pain crazed state. Her head was bandaged and her shoulder was properly secured so there wouldn't be as much damage had it been left alone. Her clothes and hair were starting to dry with her blood and the material became stiff. She'd have to take a bath in the underground spring soon.

"Stupid high tech titan slaying junk," Charles cursed, she really didn't know what she was saying at that point.

. . .

"There!" Charles dropped the gear she had been carrying down at their feet.

He drank in the sight of the four looking flabbergasted at the equipment as he stripped off the one he was wearing and the rest followed its brethren on the wooden floor.

"How did you do that?" Farlan asked, astonished.

"Do what?"

Charles wasn't in front of him anymore and Farlan whipped around to see that he had snuck up behind him. He's eyes widened and his friends looked just as dumbfounded.

"You can teleport?!" the red head shouted, exhilarated.

"No," Charles shook his head. "You just didn't realize I moved."

"That's impossible," Farlan gawked.

Charles shrugged.

"If you could do that, why didn't you just steal the money with stealth?"

"Because."

Sudden hostility and pressure was dropping into the house like a chill. The teens shifted into fighting positions, fear and anxiety clear in their eyes, never letting the boy out of their sight.

Charles smirked. "That's why."

They stared at him while he walked up to the dining table where the pouch of money lay. He grabbed it and turned to give them a toothy closed eyed grin.

"Nice doing business with you."

Charles walked to the door, passing the four in order. Each of them giving him a calculating gaze. The shorter one had a particular stare aimed at him, one of suspicion and distrust. Charlotte flashed him an infuriating grin as she passed.

When he was out the now door less entry, Levi turned to his companions.

"Why were you all acting like idiots?" he asked, his mouth creasing into a frown.

"What do you mean?" Isabel asked.

"You were staring at the 3D gear and didn't even notice him move behind you."

Farlan and Isabel blinked and Kenny gave his student a look.

"You mean..." Farlan said slowly. "It doesn't work on you?"

"As expected of Levi aniki!" Isabel cheered.

Levi's eyebrows creased in confusion.

___________________________________________

*Shisturei shimasu- excuse the intrusion

should i make Levi and Charles' relationship sister and brother or love like? i mean, you're not going to see the love for quite a while so.... your call peoples