"Just give me a few more days, please! I promise that I'll have the rent by then!"
It was the same thing every week. She would beg the innkeeper for just a little more time to round up enough cash to pay the rent, and each time she would just barely manage to get by. However, she had a dreaded feeling in her gut that it wasn't going to be like that this time.
"I'm sorry, Evaline, but I simply cannot keep waiting for you late payments. I've got a family that is willing to pay triple for that room." The innkeeper stated, causing the girl to groan, "Just until the end of the week, I promise that I'll have your payment!" She begged.
He shook his head, "Evaline, there are others who need that room. I ask that you pack your bags with whatever belongings you have when you get back from school.
She wanted to protest, but resisted, knowing the answer wouldn't change. This was how it always had been, and always would be. She'd be late on rent so many times because of how little her annoying part time job paid her. But out of all of the current places, her job as a waitress was the only thing she'd qualify for, considering that she was only 15.
With her shoulders slumped, she trudged away.
Evaline had to hold her breath for a few seconds, letting the growing anger ebb away as she neared the school. She stopped in front of its gates, and, with a sigh, pushed past them. She kept her head down as she made her way to her class, quickly taking her seat and setting her bag under her desk.
Almost immediately she heard them, that shallow, gossiping group of girls whom thought anyone who didn't conform to their ways qualified as beneath them.
"Ugh, the freaks back." One girl grumbled.
"Honestly, who does she think she is with that uniform? It's hardly considered school protocol."
'Ha! At least my skirt safely covers my rear.'
"Forget that, have you heard of the wild new transfer student?" Another one of the girls asked excitedly, "I heard that he's-"
The room fell silent immediately.
Somewhat astounded by the sudden silence, Evaline looked up to see a boy with spiky brown hair, tanned skin, and dark, cold eyes.
"Class," The teacher began, "This is the new transfer student, Gen Shishio. Gen, you can sit..." The teacher trailed off, and everyone watched, horror struck, as the boy made his way toward an empty desk.
One which just so happened to be in the back corner of the room.
The desk which sat right next to Evaline's.
Fine. Let him sit there. He'd move once he heard the rumors. Everyone else did.
She didn't miss the sympathetic looks directed at him, and resisted the urge to give him one herself, from her unhidden eye, that is. She wore her dull black hair limp over her right eye, for reasons entirely her own. Her visible eye was a simple grey, a common find.
XOXOXOXOXOXO
The moment that school was over, she planned to leave, but held back just for one reason.
To see the look on his face when he found out.
Some could call it a sick pleasure of hers, taking joy in another person's fear, but she'd experience it so many times, and in so many different levels, that it had begun to become amusing to see the shock written all over their faces.
One of the girl's approached him, and Evaline lingered outside the door, allowing her hearing to pick up the conversation.
"I'm so sorry that nobody warned you about her," The girl said to him, and when he didn't say anything, she continued, "That girl, with the black hair over her eye, she's like, a witch or something. You should pick a different seat. She tends to bring bad luck to whoever gets too close." There it was. The reason everybody avoided her.
The new boy said nothing. He'd probably been unable to speak from shock.
With that final thought, she turned around, and began on the way back to the inn.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
The stone bench was hard, and grew colder as night fell. She'd probably have a cold in the morning.
With an irritated sound, Evaline dropped a plastic bag that contained everything that she needed onto the bench, before sitting down, resting her head in her hands.
"Now what?" She asked herself quietly, staring at the concrete sidewalk beneath her.
"Um, are you okay?" Her eyes widened, and she looked up to see a girl, probably a high school student, staring down at her. Her dark hair was up in a ponytail, and her brown eyes held a sort of kindness Evaline was not accustomed to.
"I'm fine." Evaline stated, standing up and picking up the bag quickly. The girl watched this with a worried gaze, before looking back to her.
"If you don't mind my asking, what are you doing out here? It's getting cold…" The girl trailed off, her concerned gaze unwavering.
Evaline hesitated. This girl, whom she didn't even know, was showing concern for her.
"I got kicked out of the inn I was staying at."
The girl frowned, "And you have nowhere else to go?"
"Obviously," Evaline said somewhat snappishly, "If I did, I wouldn't be out here, would I?"
Soft laughter followed that, "No, I suppose you wouldn't."
It was silent for a moment, stunned grey orbs locked with soft brown ones.
"Would you like a place to stay?"
Evaline's eyes widened, "W-what?"
"We have a pretty big home, I'm sure my family wouldn't mind lending you a room." The girl smiled.
"But…you don't even know me." Evaline protested, and the girl giggled at this, "I'm Tokine Yukimura. What's your name?"
"E-Evaline." She replied, startled when the girl suddenly grabbed her by the wrist and started hauling her along.
"Now I know you!"
XOXOXOXOXO
Tokine frowned ever so slightly as she pulled the younger girl along.
'I've heard rumors, but...' She glanced back to the girl, who was staring at her hand, as though amazed that she would even come into contact with her, 'I never thought that it'd be true.'
Tokine wasn't sure what, but there was something about this girl…something…different. It was an aura which she'd never felt before.
She looked back to the street, "We're almost there, you'll get to meet my mother and grandmother, and they're very kind. I'm sure that they'll agree to letting you stay."
Truth was, Tokine was waiting for this moment. She was aware of the strange aura which seemed to surround Evaline, and just the slightest bit uneasy about it.
This was definitely something she would need to speak with her grandmother about.
XOXOXOXOXOXO
Evaline couldn't help but gape, eyes like saucers, when she saw Tokine's home.
'Holy shit, I feel so poor right now.'
Tokine noticed the look, and smiled, before leading her inside. She led Evaline along, before stopping before a sliding door. Tokine pulled the door open.
"Grandmother-"Tokine stopped, staring in wonder at someone who she definitely hadn't expected to see.
Gen.
Evaline searched for any traces of discomfort on the boy's face, curious about what he thought about her now that he knew the truth. To her surprise, when he looked at her, his expression remained unchanged. What was even more shocking to her was that he actually looked her in the eyes.
Nobody did that. Ever. Was it possible that he could be different?
"Um, Evaline, can you wait outside for a moment?" Tokine asked, and the girl nodded, moving to stand by the wall. She leaned against the wall, and chose to cover her ears with her hands. It muffled the voices so that what she heard were only unintelligible murmurs.
Gen stepped out rather shortly after Tokine had gone into the room. He glanced at her for a moment. She probably looked crazy, with her hands covering her ears for apparently no reason. But she did have a reason. And what she would consider a damn good one. He seemed to shake his head ever so slightly, without the slightest break in his stride.
She frowned, feeling just a small amount of anger bubble within her stomach. She shouldn't have gotten her hopes up when he'd so willingly looked in her eyes. He would be no different from the others. It wouldn't surprise her if the seat next to her was vacant the next day. After all, she was, according to the majority of the student body at Karasumori High, a witch.
If only they knew.
XOXO
"Do you sense it, grandmother?" Tokine asked, and her grandmother nodded, a somewhat grim expression set on her wrinkled face.
"She does have a strange aura about her." Tokine's grandmother said, "I can't say that I recall feeling the presence of such an aura."
Tokine nodded, "It's hard to describe," She said, "It's almost like that of an Ayakashi's, but it feels…pure."
Her grandmother nodded once more, "Indeed. You were right to bring her here, Tokine. Though she hasn't posed a threat to Karasumori yet, you should keep a close eye on her. I will do some research on the matter."
"And as for her staying?"
Her grandmother pondered the thought for a moment, "Yes, she can have the spare room next to yours. But don't get too attached, "Her grandmother warned, "If she becomes a threat, you know what you will have to do. I also want you to take her with you tonight. Keep a close eye on her, and watch to see if she is affected at all by Karasumori."
Tokine nodded, "I understand, Grandmother."
XOXOXOXOXOXO
Evaline removed her hands from her ears as Tokine stepped out of the room.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." The brunette apologized, "Grandmother said you can stay, and I'll introduce you to everyone at dinner. Follow me, I'll show you to your room."
Evaline followed Tokine down a short series of hallways, before coming to a stop in front of two sliding doors which were placed in doorways throughout the house.
"I'll call you for dinner, so you can spend the free time putting your stuff away. If you need anything my room is right down the hall."
Evaline nodded, pushing the sliding doors apart.
The room was dark, but her eyes quickly adjusted to the sudden lighting change. Just another one of her many quirks. It seemed pretty simple. A rolled up mat, presumable her bed, a soft looking pillow lying next to it, a dresser, study desk, lamp, and trashcan.
She turned on the lamp, before setting her bag on the study desk and unzipping it. From its confines she pulled out a hairbrush, some badly wrinkled clothes, a few hair ties, and, possibly her most precious treasure, a small black stone. The stone was perfectly round, and practically flawless. She had made the simple stone into a necklace long ago, and almost always wore it on her person.
"All right Kurotsuki, you can come out now." She seemed to speak to no one in particular as she put the necklace on.
Almost immediately, a pure black fox with eyes the colors of sapphires appeared seemingly out of thin air, hovering just in front of Evaline. The fox's lips turned up into a wide, unnerving grin.
"You sure took your sweet time calling me."
XOXOXOXO
Disclaimer: I don't own Kekkaishi! I only own Evaline and Kurotsuki!
A/N: Goodness, it has been such a long time since I've messed with this story O.O To any new readers, then you probably don't know, but I pretty much took my sweet ass time getting around to writing this story again. To any readers who stuck with me through my terrible procrastination, then OMG thank you, you guys all have the patience of an f-ing saint! Well, I guess I owe an explanation (new readers may choose to ignore this) see; I lost my writing software some time ago, and only recently got it back. I'm kinda OCD when it comes to the software I use so…yeah that was kind of a hassle. And then I checked out this story and thought, "Holy shit! It's been six flippin months these people must be pissed!" And I went through and reread my story. I'm not changing the storyline up too much, I mean except for a few points I suppose. But, the point is that I'm just editing stuff, adding and taking away things here and there to shape Evaline's character a bit more. See, I picture her as a bit cold because of how she's often treated, so she tends to be a little snappy with people, as well as distant. So I'm doing that stuff and I feel like my mad skillz (pfft right) improved so I'd like to update the chapters of this story. I'm gonna edit all the existing chapters, and then start writing again. We'll see how it goes this time around. I can't get the stupid plot out of my head, so…
Enjoy :D