(Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or anything else! These disclaimers are starting to get annoying, aren't they? This one's dedicated to, well, you can guess. But I'll say it anyway! Yukinataangel, you rock girl. This is getting too long for my liking, so here's the story!)
I glared at our captor; my family'd happened to be the lucky foreigners he'd picked up from the airport. Now, he had my mother, father, and me tied down to chairs with chains, ten feet away from each other.
"Please, just let her go! We'll give you anything, everything you want if you just let my baby go!" Mom yelled. Technically, I wasn't her baby anymore, at age twelve.
"Sorry madam, but I just love children." He purred, looking at me for a second before turning back to my parents. The reason his gaze didn't linger on me was my cold stare, one I'd never had to use since I'd stared down an African wild cat that had gotten into my family's tent when Dad had worked in South Africa. Now that we were in Japan, a much more dangerous cat had been stalking us.
So naturally, my family and I reasoned with this man in Japanese.
(Author's note: Yeah, it's called imagination. I doubt you guys could read this if it was in Japanese, so consider this a favor. You're welcome.)
"Please, there must be something you won't be able to get from us by killing my family. Name your price." My father was much calmer than my mother, but I could still see the desperation in his eyes. The man smiled, enjoying my parent's fears.
"Once again, sorry." He walked back over to me, pulling my chair, which was the only one not bolted down, ten more feet away from my parents.
"Wait, please! We'll do anything! We'll-" He ran over to my mother, slapping her so hard then she was knocked unconscious almost instantly.
"Robin!" My dad yelled, struggling to no avail. Annoyed, our captor struck out at my dad, knocking him out too.
"Shut up! Or I'll make sure that you're awake when I kill your daughter!" Of course I was terrified, but at that moment the strangest emotion I had was anger. How dare someone do what he did to my family, to anyone. He turned around slowly, ignoring my now silent parents.
"Now for you." He grinned crookedly, taking a step closer to me. I stared at him levelly, letting him know through my eyes that I thought him under the poorest person in society.
He stuck out his left hand, reaching for my cheek.
Before he could touch me, a person who was dressed in all black jumped out from the shadows, pushing him away from me.
The stranger pulled out a katana, and cut the man's left hand off. My captor ran for the exit, howling in pain.
"I'll kill you! No one's ever escaped, no one ever will!" He dashed out the door, holding where his left hand used to be. The person in black, who was probably my height, turned to face me. Not wasting any time, he sliced through the chain that was binding me to the chair. He turned and set my parents free.
Then he turned to follow the man out the door.
"Wait! Please!" He paused, turning around to face me again. He had dark, expressive eyes. I could see some black hair coming out of his face mask.
"Thank you. So much." I could feel a tear slip down my cheek. His eyes softened, and he nodded at me before he dashed out of the exit.
I shook my head, looking at the road in front of me. Even though I could drive, Dad had insisted that he give me a ride to school. He parked in front of the high school I would've been going to for the past two years had I not been in Puerto Rico.
Because Dad was moved around the world every other year or so, I knew how to speak and write in a bunch of different languages. I was pretty lucky that I had photographic memory too, because I could hear something once and know it forever. That meant I could learn an entire language much faster than most of the people I knew, and already have secretly homeschooled myself-to an extent-all the way up into twelfth grade. Of course, it also meant I'd never forget memories like the one I'd just thought of, and I'd never forget the fear or pain.
But I'd also never forget the person who'd saved me and my family. I smiled at Dad.
"Good luck sweetie! Try and make some friends, okay?" I nodded, giving him a quick hug before I opened the door and stepped onto school ground. Almost immediately, I saw who'd been-and still was-my best friend.
"Yuki-chan!" I called, and she turned around, her face going from shock to joy. We'd always kept in touch by email even after I'd moved to England in seventh grade, and all of the countries after that. Thankfully, Dad had let me buy a Japanese laptop before we'd left Japan, which allowed Yuki to actually understand what I wrote.
"Shan-chan!" She called, wrapping me up in a bear hug. I'd always hated the nickname she'd given me, but I'd let her call me that since I met her and she didn't do a good job of pronouncing my full name.
"It's so good to see you again!" I laughed, breaking away from the hug. I was about to say something until I saw something so unexpected that I stopped my train of thought.
It was him. The person who'd save my family and I; that was definitely his eyes. He was dressed in a school uniform like the rest of us, so I had been right at guessing that he was around my age when I first saw him. I blinked, turning back to Yuki and forcing back my shock. Right now, I needed to focus on my friend.
"Which class are you going to for first period?" She asked, and we launched into multiple conversations, trying to catch up what we didn't say over email.
Another good thing about being ahead of everyone else in school was when I was in first period; I didn't have to focus on the teacher. Thankfully, the person who I'd seen earlier wasn't in my class-my first period at least-but now that I wasn't talking to Yuki, my mind was wrapped up around the fact I'd probably see him again.
"I wish math was more interesting." Yuki complained on our way to second period. When we'd checked our schedules, I'd found that Dad must've pulled a few strings and have me and Yuki in every class together. I'd thank him later, when he asked about my first day back.
Eventually, we made it to lunch. I was surprised that my lunch was similar to Yuki's; but then again, I had fallen in love with Japanese cuisine ever since I had first come here when I was twelve.
You know how you get a feeling when someone was staring at you? Well, about halfway into lunch I turned around with that guess.
And was looking directly at the boy whose name I still didn't know.
But for less than a second. As soon as he'd seen me turn around, he'd looked back to the person across from him. I sighed, turning to face Yuki again.
"What's wrong?" Even though she was my best friend, this secret wasn't mine to tell. The only people who'd found out about what happened when my family first came to Japan had been the police. We'd even managed to keep it from the press. So, even though the thing I wanted most was to talk about it, I'd have to lie.
"Nothing." I decided to change the subject. "Is you mom still selling her art? Or has she decided to keep it for herself?" Yuki smiled.
"She's still selling them. In fact, I think she's making a picture for you. I'm pretty sure at least. I think it's a kind of 'welcome back to Japan' thing for you." I laughed, thinking about her mom sitting down on her stool and making the canvas coming to life.
"If she is, that's really, really nice of her." I glanced at the clock across the room.
"It's time to go; I really don't want to be late on my first day." Yuki laughed, packing up her stuff.
"You really can't say today's your first day Shan-chan! You've probably had more first days than anyone in all of Japan. But you're not moving this year, are?" I shook my head, smiling.
"Dad's vice president of the company now, I don't think he's going to get promoted again. In any case, I made him promise that we wouldn't move after this." Yuki led me to our science class.
"I assigned new seats today class. Look at the seating chart on the board to see them." Our teacher, a man with salt and pepper hair, said with his back to us. He was writing something on the board with his right hand, and I carefully walked up to the seating chart with Yuki, acting as normal as I could, talking just loud enough to be heard. The reason being was that this man was missing his left hand.
I reluctantly sat in the middle of the room, watching Yuki take her seat in the very back. But my luck was getting worse and worse.
Just as my new teacher turned around and confirmed that he was the man who'd picked my family up from the airport that day, another familiar face walked in.
"Kiku-san, you'll sit next to our new student." I looked down as Kiku, apparently our teacher hadn't guessed his identity yet, sat next to me.
During the lesson, I could tell that our teacher, called Takashi-sensei, was making sure not to pay much attention to me either. I hoped it meant he was going to leave me alone, but I remembered his promise to kill me. So it probably meant he was keeping a low profile so that no one would suspect him for my murder. When he turned to write something on the board, I clenched my hands into fists, cursing him. I didn't want my dad to move us again, and I'd already promised Yuki I'd stay here.
Finally, the bell rang. Out of the corner of my eye, I looked at Kiku. He seemed emotionless, and I wasn't brave enough to talk to him. In any case, I'd already thanked him. Anything important had already been said at our first meeting, as scarce as it had been. Sighing, I looked over to find Yuki walking towards me. I heard Kiku get up, and what was probably my only chance to talk to him today was spent.
But then again, what would you say to the person you and your family owed their lives to?
"Shan-chan, are you staying after school? Or can we go home together?" Yuki's eyes sparkled. I laughed, always feeling better to see my friend so happy.
"Sorry, I have to get some forms from our teachers later. But next time for sure, okay?" She nodded, following a wave of students out the door, dragging me along.
"Actually, Johnson-san, I want you to get something signed for me too. Please come to my desk." I froze, forcing the fear out of my eyes before Yuki could turn around. Almost out the door, I saw Kiku stop and turn around. I shook my head, willing him not to blow his cover. Before I could see if he turned back or not, I faced the teacher.
"Here you are. Make sure I have it by tomorrow." I smiled at him, nodding.
"Of course Takashi-sensei." He grinned at me, leaning in to whisper in my ear.
"I know you remember. But if you move or tell anyone about me for any reason, I will hunt down your family and kill them while you watch. Got it? And don't give me anything about having the wrong girl. I know you have photographic memory."
"Of course Takashi-sensei." I repeated shakily, walking towards the door, noticing that Kiku was still there.
"I'm afraid I haven't introduced myself. My name is Shannon Johnson. You're Kiku-san, right?" He nodded, frowning at my expression.
"What did he say to you?" I sighed, looking at him. He was exactly as I remembered he'd been.
"Nothing I can repeat here. I need to get to my next class right now, is it okay if we talk about this later?" He nodded again, still looking concerned. I quickly caught up with Yuki in our next period.
I focused fiercely in history class, making sure to block all of the bad memories that were threatening me. The bad thing about photographic memory is the fact that, no matter how little you think about something, you'd never forget it. The only thing that kept me from going insane was the fact I had a lot of practice blocking these kinds of things. The entire time I was sitting next to Yuki, she would glance at me every couple of minutes. So when class finally ended, I was expecting, and dreading, the question she was going to ask.
"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." I decided to tell truth. Well, as much as I could tell.
"You know how some people go crazy from photographic memory? It's because they remember something from the past, most likely a bad thing, and they end up living in a surreal world. I probably never will, but I'm just trying to ignore some bad memories right now. Talking helps." She stared at me, open-mouthed.
"You never told me that! Gosh, you need to try and make an excuse to get out of the classroom and calm down when that happens." I shook my head.
"The point isn't trying to escape; it's overcoming your challenges. In any case, I don't want to miss part of class on my first week of school." She rolled her eyes, but nodded.
The rest of the day past in a blur, and I didn't see Kiku. By the time I was walking out of the school, I thought I wouldn't have another confrontation with Takashi-sensei either. But how do you avoid someone who wants you dead?
"Ah, there you are Shan-chan!" Takashi-sensei said mockingly from behind me. I stopped in my tracks.
"Please don't call me than Takashi-sensei. And I need to get home; I don't think it'd look good if a teacher followed a student out of the school." He laughed, throwing his right hand above my shoulder, forcing me to back up against the lockers. He leaned closer, his face inches from mine. I stared him down. Dismayed by my lack of fear, he took a step back.
Kiku came walking up the hallway before Takashi-sensei could do anything. He smiled at me.
"Remember, I will see you again Johnson-san." Kiku watched as he walked away.
"Thanks. Again." Kiku frowned.
"How do you know it was me?" He asked. I couldn't help smiling.
"Photographic memory. And Takashi-sensei said earlier that if I told anyone or if my family moved, he'd kill my parents while I watched." Kiku's eyes widened, then narrowed.
"You didn't do anything to him. What right does he have to threaten you?" I laughed bitterly.
"I was the one who got away. And I'm willing to bet that he blames me for getting his hand cut off." Kiku glared in the direction Takashi-sensei had left.
"But you weren't the one who did that. It's not right." I sighed.
"We can't do anything about it now. If I tell the police…if anyone does…" My hands balled up into fists and I forced back tears. "He works here. He can look up where I live, where Yuki-chan lives…" Kiku looked back at me, thoughtful.
"We'll figure out something. In the meantime, don't worry about him. I'll make sure he doesn't take any more victims." I nodded, feeling relieved.
"Thank you. My dad's probably waiting outside right now, so I'll see you around?" It sounded more like a question. But Kiku nodded.
"I'll see you tomorrow Johnson-san." He gave me a small smile before he turned around. "Don't worry about Takashi-sensei." I nodded as he walked away. Turning around, I jogged out into the parking lot and got into Dad's car.
"How was your first day of school?" Dad asked. I laughed; bring back memories of Yuki so my smile would be genuine.
"It was great! Thanks for having me and Yuki-chan in all of the same classes." Dad laughed, driving out of the parking lot and onto our street.
"You're welcome!" I spent the rest of the drive home telling Dad everything about my day except for my teacher with one hand.
"Well that sounds great honey! I'm glad you had fun." He said as we pulled into the driveway. I got out and went straight to my room; getting my homework out of the way and avoiding mom, who would know if I was lying to her. Eventually though, I had to come out for dinner.
Acting as if today had just been a normal day, I came out to help my mom finish cooking when my homework was done. I talked about Yuki, and mom teased me about Kiku when I told her. Naturally.
"Mom! We just met! Just because I talk to a guy doesn't mean I like him that way!" Mom laughed, getting out the plates while I made final preparations for the soup. I rolled my eyes as Dad came in and kissed me on the cheek.
"That's right Robin, she's too good for them anyway."
"Isn't that what my Dad said about you?" Mom asked teasingly. They sat down as I started serving the soup.
"Well, that was different."
"Sure it was." I replied; bringing the rest of the food to the table and sitting down.
After dinner was over, I cleaned up the table and went to my room. Once I convinced myself that no one was going to try and kill me today, I got ready for bed. As pathetic as it was, only remembering the promise Kiku had made about not letting Takashi-sensei get another victim gave me enough peace to fall asleep. After all, when you and your loved one's lives are being threatened, you have to be able to rely on someone. Even if it's someone you barely know.
(Author's note: By the way. Please comment! I'll probably put up the next chapter soon, but I'll be pretty sad if no one comments besides Yuki. It could even be criticism for crying out loud! If you don't like something you read, tell me. If you did like something, tell me that too! I'll even take suggestions about what the next chapter should be about etc. So comment!)
