I stared at the ceiling, thinking…it seems like I'm thinking a lot these days: thoughts about my school; how to avoid rabid fan girls looking for me; thoughts about my job; how to capture Dark WITHOUT Krad bursting forth…
"You know as well as I do that you CAN'T capture him without me."
…and thoughts about a girl sleeping on a park bench somewhere with my jacket…
Why DID I give her my jacket?
Because she'll freeze to death, that's why, and because it's common sense to leave her my jacket because it's the polite thing to do…right?
"Face it, Satoshi-sama. You LIKE her don't you?"
"You're wrong, Krad. I don't like her."
"Oh really now, what about that time when you saw her and HIM when you were going to return that ribbon; or that time you asked her out; and the time that you 'fell' on her en route to the beach; or the time when you were alone with her at the beach; or the time that…"
"Enough Krad! First of all, my only intention was to give back the ribbon that she lost. Second, the only reason I did that was because of research…"
"You also told her that she was beautiful, Satoshi-sama…"
"I didn't say that Krad you know that. Anyway the reason that I fell on her is you draining my energy the other night and because of the boat rocking; and that time when we were alone at the beach? I was merely checking up on her, to make sure that she's breathing and if I needed to resuscitate her."
"You can't lie to me, tamer. I am you and you are me; two sides of the same coin. What you feel I can feel as well, Satoshi-sama."
"YOU ARE NOT ME KRAD! YOU, YOU'RE A PARASITE; SOMETHING THAT LIVES OF ITS HOST KILLING THEM SLOWLY BUT SURELY. YOU'RE NOTHING WITHOUT ME, KRAD."
"Yes, tamer. Get angry. The angrier you get, the closer I get to roam the night!"
"I'd rather let Niwa's mother kill me before I lose my temper to your petty proddings."
I'm not sure why but when he laughs. It's the kind of laugh you hear when you know that your opponent will lose…it sends chills up and down my spine.
"Ah, Satoshi-sama. You getting angry isn't the only way…"
He suddenly retreated to the back of my mind and went silent. Leaving me with my thoughts on her again; that silly little girl that chases after that phantom thief. I don't know what she sees in HIM. He's flirtatious, rude, and a thief for crying out loud!
Argh! Enough of these thoughts, I need to sleep; I've got classes in the morning…
(divider)
I think the fates are against me. Curse them for tainting my existence with Krad and curse them for giving me low blood pressure. I think it was about five-thirty when I woke up. It took about thirty minutes for me to get up, start preparing for school, start making my breakfast and lunch for the day.
While eating, I noticed the ribbon that she lost a few months back. I thought nothing of it, since it wasn't mine. However, every time I scan my house, my eyes always fall on that piece of white silk.
My thoughts immediately shifted to what would she look like with this tied to her hair? I quickly dismissed the idea before Krad starts with the 'You like her' thing.
"You need to be returned to your owner…"
(divider)
After leaving the apartment, I let my mind drift for a moment and let my body be on auto pilot. Until something, scratch that, SOMEONE bumped into me.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! It's just that I'm going to be late and…"
"No need to apologize, Harada-san. It was an accident."
She looked like she saw a ghost when she realized it was me she bumped into. Do I really have that impact on other people?
"Hiwatari-kun, oh my god, I'm really sorry and…"
Great, first Krad getting hyped up about something that's totally wrong now this; someone must really hate me up there.
"As I've said, Harada-san, no need to apologize…"
That shut her up for a few minutes and started dusting off her skirt. A few moments later I've restarted my trek to school only to find that she's walking along with me. It seems that she wanted to say something, but something's holding her back. It seemed that she was afraid…
"She's afraid of you, tamer…"
I would be to if she knew about you, Krad.
"…Hiwatari-kun, Hiwatari-kun! Are you ok?"
That snapped me out of my musings. Damn you, Krad. I could hear him laughing his brains out. He must be having a field day.
"Hiwatari-kun, have you heard anything that I've just said?"
"Yes, Harada-san, I heard you."
She looked like she wasn't satisfied with that as an answer…
"Then, what was I talking about?"
"You were talking about how your sister is mean by leaving you, and that you're asking me if I did the difficult assignment that was assigned to us yesterday."
That should shut her up for a little while. Why can't people learn to appreciate the value silence? In our day and age, it's rare to find a place where it's silent.
"So did you do it? I mean it was so long and so hard that I wasn't able to finish it…"
Calm down, Satoshi; calm down. You don't want Krad out. Why can't she stop talking?
"Yes, Harada-san, now if you don't mind, I would like to spend my mornings in silence."
As we headed for school, I noticed that it actually became silent. I looked at her at the corner of my eye. She looked like she's hurt…
"I think that you've hurt her feelings, tamer…"
I can see that Krad, but what do you expect? She was talking like there was no tomorrow. What was I supposed to do? Listen to her and her unintelligible gibberish, talking about nothing? I'd rather listen to Dark insult me than waste my time listening to her.
"But, Satoshi-sama, that isn't the way you treat girls. Especially the one you like…"
This is going to be a long day…
(divider)
"You divide both sides by five to get the value for X…"
I think Sensei discovered a new way to make algebra boring. I scanned the class for some signs of life; half of the class, as expected, is asleep or doing something else. For example, Niwa-san's taking notes; Saehara-san's reading some sort of comic book; Harada Riku-san's eating some chips.
As I scanned the room, my eyes fell on a Harada Risa. She seemed to be…distracted, but it seems that isn't the right word for describing her… she's sighing every few minutes, she is slouched, and she's uncannily silent.
Is she still sad about what happened this morning?
"Maybe, she is, Satoshi-sama…why are you starting to worry about that pretty little girl, my dear tamer?"
She's nothing to me, Krad…
"Yes, my dear tamer. Keep lying to your self. But one of these days, I'll get out because of that girl…"
There he goes again with that laugh that could send chills down your spine. I can't believe he can go from being so noisy all the time to a dead silence in just a matter of seconds.
"…Hiwatari-kun, Hiwatari-kun! Are you all right?"
Damn it! That's the second time I've been caught of guard, and this time, it's Niwa who tried to get my attention.
"Yes, I'm all right, Niwa-san."
After Niwa-san caught me off guard, I heard some girls giggle. Niwa-san motioned to get out of the room. Of course I follow him. As we were walking, I noticed that he's hesitating about something…here we go again with the I-want-to-tell-you-something-but-at-the-same-time-I-don't-want-to thing again…
"Niwa-san, if you have something to tell me, could you please get on with it?"
"It's that obvious, eh? Oh well, let me get to the point, Hiwatari-kun. Did anything happen to you and Harada-san? Riku-san saw both of you entering the school and she noticed that Harada-san was a little down."
"There's nothing wrong, Niwa-san."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes Niwa-san, everything is fine…"
Right?