For You I Sleep Forever
Kurama…for only a short time have I known him by that name. He had always been Shuichi, quiet, smart, near perfect Shuichi. He had seemed nothing out of the ordinary, just an exceptional boy who always gained a fair amount of attention. But his looks, his attitude, even his name I soon discovered was just a charade. Mind you I was never good at that game so it took me a fair bit of time to unravel his act. Well, I never really unraveled it per-say more like caught him in the act.
My name was and in a way still is Michiko. I was born in Tokyo, a thriving city full of life and wonder yet it never really sparked my interests. I read too many books and did my best to live in a fantasy world in which people who were cruel got their just rewards, and everyone lived happily ever after. I never had much use for people, they were never what I wanted them to be so I kept to myself and my books. In fact if I had never met him I would probably still be a girl with her nose jammed in a book living a dull life of no interest.
I was 9 years old when I first saw him, in the marketplace with his mother smiling and talking looking like he didn't mind standing in the produce aisle in what was more then likely an hour long trip. Most boys would be wandering off towards the candy aisle by now dropping whatever they had been told to hold on the way, but no he just stood there patiently. Then when I was about 10 I began going to school. Up until then I had always been home-schooled so going to school was new for me. Guess who they paired me up with to help me out? Yep, him. His smile was warm, his voice was soft and gentle, and do you know what I thought the minute I met him…phony. I thought I had him figured, but I should've known better, people are people not books yet this was not something I had learned. He changed me though…slowly and steadily my personality seemed lighter I smiled more then I think I ever had, this boy gave me something my books could never offer. A friend, someone I could really care about, I couldn't just skip a couple pages to see how his life turned out I actually was left in ever hanging suspense. A never ending cliff hanger if you will, one that kept my attention since the day he learned my name.
Then it happened…I found out about what he really was. How? Well that is a bit of a story but that is what this is, isn't it? It all started in my last year of middle school. After only the first week had started the teachers already had tests planned to see what we had retained over summer break and Shuichi and I both agreed we needed to study. We agreed on studying at his house around 7:30 after we had both had dinner. Of course this night my mother and father had to go to a party so I finished early and figured that being early by an hour wouldn't hurt, little did I know it would make such an impact on my relationship with Shuichi or Kurama as I would soon discover.
I walked to the house lugging along 3 textbooks and 2 cupcakes courtesy of mom's free time. After 15 minutes of walking to his house came into view finally but the odd part was that his window was wide open as well as the front door. His mother was a bit careless sometimes so this I could understand but why hadn't he shut it by now? It was obvious he was home alone (or so I thought) but he was usually very good at checking after his mother to make sure she closed the door behind her and didn't acciddently leave anything running. And why was his window wide open? A cold front had just come in and it was freezing, at the thought I snuggled deeper into the warm coat I had snatched from my mother's closet. "Oh well," I thought to myself, "might as well let myself in if the door's already open." So I walked in, as quietly as possible making my way into the house without a sound. I laid my coat on the rack and made my way up the stairs, "Maybe he's asleep? That would explain his carelessness but, as I made my way up I began to hear voices coming from his room. I could tell his but who owned the other? It wasn't one I had heard before and it seemed, in a way, darker. As I made my way up the stairs I don't know how but I could feel their presence, feel their beings and I could also feel, that the one with the dark voice knew I was there. The talking stopped and soon all was quiet, I couldn't take it! I ran up the stairs at top speed and flung the door open to see Shuichi looking out the window, leaning on the ledge and staring out into space with a smile on his face.
There was a long silence where the only noise to be heard was me panting and the wind blowing. He seemed distant and not once did he look at me, he just stared wearing that silly smile of his. I couldn't take it. "Who was that," he turned at me and suddenly I felt very wrong, almost unwanted but I held fast, I wanted answers and that blank stare of his wasn't going to stop me. "Just a dream, so close you can touch it yet gone before you can," he looked at me with the same stare, barely even blinking yet despite my strong face I got flustered as ever. "What do you mean a DREAM! Who was that? What was he doing here? Where did he go? What aren't you telling me!" He gave a small laughed and smiled at me, "But I did tell you. He's a friend of mine. Now shall we study?"
Since that day I felt this friend of his more often then usual, like a spirit in stories where you can only feel their presence yet never find them exactly.