after much deliberation i have decided to re write the first chapter of reverse nature, i have also combined it with the second because both were of short length. i noticed a high dropoff rate after the first chapter so that pushed me over the edge. i hope you all like the revisions and its still worth rereading because i changed it significantly

Natsuno woke from a restless sleep. he had been having bad dreams as of late and it was causing his sleep cycle to be spotty. They were beginning to interfere with his studies, and he needed to get into a good university in order to leave sotoba village, an isolated little town his family moved to as a means for artistic inspiration. Natsuno hated it bitterly. There was nothing to do, and some the people left a bad taste in his mouth, especially Megumi shimizu. The girl was his age and had a huge crush on him. She often stood outside of his window at peeped at him. Generally she only saw him studying, but who knows how much she had seen, how many of his secrets she knew. It even started to give him nightmares. Then again, nastuno had never so much as looked at her, so there wasn't any particular reason why he disliked her, other than the spying. He shuddered as he remembered the night dream.

"Damned dreams again…" Natsuno sighed.

His nightmares were harsh. Usually he would be sitting at his desk studying. After many moments of boredom he would inevitably fall asleep. Megumi was waiting in the bushes nearby, something would prompt her to enter the home, the room was dark and the air chilled. Natsuno could see her shadow looming overhead. Her eyes were black, and her skin was pale. She opened her mouth, and in the dream Natsuno could clearly see ivory fangs, two inches long. As she continued to edge her way closer her mouth opened wider….and wider….she was mere inches from his neck…as she was about to sink her teeth in, Natsuno rose from his slumber.

"Jeeze, I know shimizu can be creepy…but she's no vampire…" Natsuno thought. He could imagine her sitting perched outside of his window even now. Just how many hours had she spent pining after his affection, just beyond his threshold?

"Hmm…its 8:15…I guess I really should go" Natsuno said apathetically. He said goodbye to his father quickly as he jogged out of the door. Natsuno walked along the dirt path along to the bus stop. it was an incredibly bright sunny day, very hot but pleasant all the same. The villagers were out and about, performing their daily errands and talking about this that and the other thing, stopping occasionally to gawk at Natsuno and spew their gossip. Natsuno paused to look at the mansion up on the hill. it had an ancient European style of construction and reminded him of a castle...an extremely creepy one.

"gehhh...creepy…why would someone build that here? " he said with a slight smirk cracked across his face

natsuno arrived at the bus stop and took a rest, the walk was long, and in this hot weather it was a little exhausting. He turned south, the direction of the city he moved from. He let out a disappointed sigh.

"Man...What were my parents thinking moving to this place, there is nothing to do save for look at dirt, and most of the people here think outsiders are strange. Not that i really try to make friends, that would make it hard when i leave someday, hopefully soon. i-"

Natsuno was interrupted mid thought

"Good morning yukki! staring off at the city again?" a familiar voice said enthusiastically

A dreadful look crept across his face" her again…"

He remained silent.

"Your still ignoring me then? you hate me so i guess that makes sense" she said gloomily

"What if I said something to her? Maybe she would leave me alone…or at the very least stop spying on me if I deal with her." Natsuno sighed.

"Look, its not like that…guess its too late to call it back…"

She lit up instantly

"Oh my god! yuuki talked to me for the first time!" she was ecstatic

"great…I'm in deep now…shimizu, I don't hate you…not more than any other villager at least…..i'm not really the friendly type, so don't misinterpret my silence as contempt."

"oh….okay" she looked sullen for a moment

"I just want to leave this village and go back to the city as soon as I can, so I'm not in the neighborhood to make friends. "

"I've always wanted to go to a city! i can't stand sotoba!" she said excitedly.

"didn't you hear me, I'm not trying to make friends…don't bother talking to me…I have nothing interesting to say anyway." Natsuno rubbed his forehead.

"oh, I'm sorry….but will you answer one question?" she stared at him hopefully. "will you tell me what the city is like?" he could see the stars in her eyes.

"well….there are lots of lights and signs at night. Tall buildings everywhere…and everyone stays out of your business…in short…way better than sotoba"

"really?! Wow! It sounds way better than this disgusting little village!" she sneered.

"I'm in this far …I guess talking to her isn't so bad….i take it you don't like sotoba either?" he said reservedly.

Megumi pulled down her eyelid and stuck her tongue out at him. "bleeghhh, this place is the worst" Natsuno couldn't help cracking a grin, but hid it as soon as it took a deep breath and dared to ask her another question.

"So…you've been living here your whole life right? What do you do…besides spying on me… to stave off boredom." Megumi responded to him enthusiastically and with a smile.

"well…there really isn't much, not even a single clothing store….i like to look at the big mansion on the hill." Her eyes gleamed. "its soo pretty!"

"The one with the blue roof?...its totally creepy." Natsuno said, looking in its direction. Megumi looked disappointed for a brief moment.

"At least its new, I hate living in a village where nothing ever changes." She lowered her head.

"yeah…I understand that much at least…." Natsuno said, looking her in the eye.

"at least you talked to me right?" she blushed. Natsuno could goosebumps on his skin as his spine shivered.

"whatever…" he groaned. "oh look, the bus is here…." Natsuno hurriedly got on before Megumi could get another word in edgewise. The school day passed uneventfully, Megumi didn't try to bother him, or tail him anywhere. And his whole day was more peaceful than usual. He ended up walking the path home , Megumi stopped him once or twice to ask him questions about the city, and one about their assignment, but other than that much, left him alone.

"well, this is where I leave you shimizu….maybe I misjudged her...then again, she'll probably be outside of my window tonight….later."

"yeah…bye Yuuki." She blushed as she peeled off for her own home. As Natsuno walked into his homes den, his father met him with a greeting.

'how was school son? Who was that girl?'

Natsuno shrugged him off.

"nothing, she wasn't anyone to me…..just needed help with an assignment." His father was about to give him a hug, but Natsuno brushed him away as he walked to his room. He immediately made a dash for the window, a quick peer outside made him realize that Megumi was nowhere to be found. He smiled with delight for a moment. Soon though he grew exhausted. He meant to lay on his mattress and stretch, but ended up falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The next day

*yawn* Natsuno clicked his lips after that long sleep. This was the first time in weeks he had a restful slumber. The nightmares Natsuno was plagued with for the last several days had all but vanished after his conversation with Megumi.

"what a dumb thought," Natsuno sighed

A thought occurred to Natsuno. He wondered if Megumi perhaps got the wrong idea from their chat a few days ago. She kept saying things like "At least you talked to me!" Did she think he was interested in her in a romantic way? Natsuno only talked to her on a whim. After all, he didn't really care what Megumi did, as long as she wasn't spying on him.

Natsuno got dressed in his school uniform and went to leave. He was moving quite fast and missed the greeting his father gave him, he couldn't care less about his parents or what they said, and after all, they moved him here in the first place.

"i wonder when Shimizu is going to get here." Natsuno scratched his head

Natsuno waited for a while and realized she must have been sick. He felt k relieved, he wouldn't have to explain his actions the day before,

"Where is the damned thing? I'm gonna be late for school at this rate!" Natsuno was growing irritated when someone on a scooter drove by.

"HEY! Do you know when the bus is supposed to get here today?!" natsuno yelled at the man excitedly.

The man stopped to talk with Natsuno for a bit "You are aware that it is sunday today right?"

Natsuno's jaw dropped."i-its sunday?...i put on all of my school clothes and its sunday?! Damn it!" Natsuno thought about the words his father said...He realized that his father must have tried to tell him the same thing.

The man laughed a little bit "You are Mr Yuuki's son right, the artist? how are you finding sotoba?"

"Wait, who are you?" Natsuno said

"I am terribly sorry about that. haha. My name is Seishin, I'm the Jr. monk at the temple up on the hill over there. We actually have not seen your family there before so i thought i would talk to you if i ever found the opportunity." he smiled politely

"my family is strictly non-religious.." Natsuno smirked a little.

"My, that's a shame. Well, if you ever find yourself needing something, you will find that the temple is always open to you"

"Haha! I'll keep that in mind! Maybe you can help me walk up to the old mansion on the hill.!" natsuno meant that in jest, but Seishin looked a bit concerned.

"You know, the owners moved in today, you should pay them a visithe had an earnest look about him.

Natsuno thought back to Shimizu, she seemed so smitten with that foreboding place. Natsuno himself was curious, and sotoba was tedious. So he decided to give it a look. He thanked Seshin before he set off on the path to the hill.

two hours later

"I hate sotoba! I hate it! HATE! IT!" Megumi shouted at nothing in particular. "I'll show them im not like these villagers, i'll show them my style, I can walk like a model!" Megumi started an awkward gait forward, one foot in front of the other with the leg in a diagonal position. She didn't have the grasp of it quite right though and fell flat, nearly twisting her ankle.

"oww! That really hurt, *sniffle*" she sulked at her failure.

"shimizu? Hey, what happened?" natsuno came bounding up the hill to meet her. "ii was walking up here to check the place out myself."

"oh my god! yuuki saw my fall! Oh! I Hope he doesn't think less of me!" shimizu had an uttely flustered look plastered all over her face as she thought that. but she tried to play it off "nothing happened to me! hehe. i was just walking and tripped! yup! i was just yelling about my fall!" she desperately hoped he did not hear her yelling about the village, as far as he knew, she was just dissatisfied with it. if he heard that yelling he would think she was a total freak.

"try not to do anything stupid alright" natsuno had a warm look on his face, despite trying to hide it. "the last thing you need is to get hurt…" he moved his hand and scratched the back of his hair.

Megumi was utterly starstruck, a million thoughts raced through her mind at once, Natsuno noticed and backed away a little.

"oh crap... i think she got the wrong idea again." Natsuno quickly dusted Megumi off and they started to talk a bit more. Suddenly the doors to the mansion opened.

hope you liked please review. the newest chapter will probably take a while, i want to write to tempt fate a bit more, but in a week or so both should have a new chapter