With Your Half-Wired Broken Jaw
Chapter 1
AuthorNotes: So as you may or may not have noticed, I'm straggling to stay afloat with my stories, lol. So I put the other two on haitus and worked on my Kurama series and found that writing it is more fluid than the others, even if the beginning. I'm hoping it stays this way. As you'd realized in the first chapter, the character is both easy and hard. So to all you Kurama fans, enjoy! :)
I could hardly remember my dream the next morning. I knew it had something with a tree mirror that stretched up into the clouds when I had tilted my head back. I couldn't see my reflection, which was odd, but when I walked forward, a form began appearing in the mirror. It started out smoky and hardly recognizable but after a while, it formed to a solid shape. I noticed it as me. But I looked different. I had a large black choker collar on with a red diamond and my eyes seemed blank. The only thing after that I could remember were the words my other self had stated and as I gripped my chest, breathing hard and my eyes wide, they replayed in my head. "What was once forgotten will find itself again."
I had no meaning of that but it didn't sound like something I should forget. I looked over to my right and frowned at my small alarm clock. It was early in the morning and I had about an hour and a half before I had to really wake up for school. I knew I couldn't go back to sleep so I pushed my covers off and sat on the edge of my bed, thinking of that bizarre dream. The reflection looked like me with the thick bluish hair and soft brown eyes that reminded me of my father. The only reason my hair looked bluish was because I had the darkest shade of black for hair. It came off dark, dark navy blue but when light touched it (especially blue light), it turned straight blue. It was weird. I hated it. My father explained to me that I got it from my mother, whom I've never met. I looked back down at my alarm clock and sighed, slightly irritated. Barely any time had passed in my thinking.
I shrugged and stood, stretching a bit as I headed toward my closet. I grabbed my plain and rather boring school uniform and laid it on my bed. I grabbed some other things for my outfit from my dresser and began heading out my bedroom door and to the bathroom across the hallway. I looked at my reflection in the mirror, almost daring it to change, and when it didn't, I smiled, thinking myself a fool, before I stripped and warmed up the shower as I tied my hair up to keep it dry. I took a quick shower, almost too quick, but I found myself brushing my teeth and hair in minutes and finishing that quickly. I wrapped a towel around my body and kept my hair pinned up as I headed toward my bedroom to get dressed.
I decided to leave my hair down for the day and I combed through it briefly before heading out of my bedroom and down the hallway, toward the main living room and then to the kitchen. I'd make a surprise breakfast for my father. Every morning he'd wake up before me to make me breakfast and I decided today I should do it for him. I decided on bacon, artichoke, asparagus, cheese, and bell pepper omelets for him with a side of buttered wheat toast. It took me a while to get it cooking and when it started, I felt a presence behind me. I turned my head to see my sleepy looking father watching me before yawning and shaking his head. "Good morning, Ardelia," he greeted. I smiled at him. He made his way to the coffee pot and pushed for it to brew before looking over at me. "You didn't have to cook breakfast. I would've made you something, like always." I shrugged and flipped his hefty omelet before leaving it there for a second and pushing it onto a plate and smiling over at him, holding his plate.
"Thanks, baby," he stated, taking it and leaning over to kiss my forehead as I turned around to start my own, less hefty omelet. If I ate his omelet, I'd die from eating too much. I buttered some toast and gave him some before preparing my omelet. In the midst of it, I made my father a cup of coffee, just the way he liked it with two lumps of sugar and a tablespoon of flavored creamer. I was soon eating with him, in silence. There's not much to say when the person you're sitting with is a mute. "You're already ready for school?" my father stated, noticing my attire. "You must've been awake for a while." I nodded, smiling at him as I ate my omelet. "Did you want a ride to school today? I don't have to be in until nine this morning," he stated. I thought about that one. Usually I walked down a block and waited for a nasty smelling bus full of elementary kids and spit wads hitting the back of my neck or head or just walked when I wasn't in the mood for being teased about not being able to talk.
I instantly nodded my head after that thought.
My dad smiled at me. "Alright, give me time to take a shower and get ready and I'll get you to school." I nodded and he quickly did the dishes, which wasn't hard since he got a house with a dishwasher, and headed on down the hallway to take a shower. I headed to the living room to watch some television, which happened to be showing my favorite morning show. I smiled and listened to it as I waited for my dad. When my show finished, I got up, shutting off the television, and went to grab my backpack. I couldn't help but wonder what today would bring. I've been so used to meeting my close ring of friends, who weren't in the popular kids' ideal looks and attitudes, and we'd get teased on our way to class. Ritsuko, my closest friend, usually started fights. She was like my bodyguard but with no morals or limits. Since my father banned me from using spells or sorcery, I couldn't hoax them or turn people into toads.
If you haven't guessed by now, I'm not your average person. I was born from a sorcerer (my father) and something else. My father never told me my mother was different, or a demon as he called us, but I didn't think she was human. But for now, I tell myself she was a completely normal human being who had died giving birth to me, so my father says. I tried looking online for ancestry but never found a file so I always figured he was telling the truth.
"Ready to go, sweetheart?" my dad called as I grabbed my backpack from my bedroom and looked over at him, nodding. "Let's get going now. I don't think we should be late for your friends." I smiled and headed out after him toward our sedan. My father just bought it last month since his last car had engine trouble so instead of just having it repaired, he bought a new car. I thought it'd be a better idea just to repair a reliable car but it's not like I can voice that or anything. It takes too long to write it and there's not much of an argument when you can't interrupt.
It didn't take long to get to school, since it was only a couple blocks away, and I was gathering my bag in my lap when my dad placed his hand on my shoulder, stopping me. I looked over at him. "I'll probably be at work until late tonight so if you want to go to a friend's house, you can. Just text me and let me know," he stated. I nodded and smiled, leaning over to give him a kiss on the cheek before heading out of the car. I shut the door and began heading onto the grounds. It was the first time this year my dad gave me a ride to school and some of the other students were looking over at me, whispering. I always wore raggedy clothes on my days off from school and I never wore make up and my hair was usually always down with frizz and too much body. I didn't really care about outer appearances; my dad raised me into looking at someone via personality.
I grabbed my backpack strap and headed toward the school building. I was hoping my friends would make themselves known soon so I could feel a bit braver with them. I always felt vulnerable whenever I was by myself. I don't know why high school kids pick on people with disabilities. Isn't that some sort of cruelty? But, like usual, there's never any teachers around to see it so they never get in trouble. And it's not like I can be a witness or anything. I don't think the judge or the defendant would accept someone writing down what they saw, with or without a disability.
"Hey, mute girl!" If I could curse out loud, I would've but I just sighed and turned around, frowning as the school bully, Akita, strode toward me. She looked like some sort of Viking warrior with raven black hair that was pulled into a braid at the nape of her neck and dark grey eyes. She was wearing the uniform but the skirt was hiked up and it showed off her runner's legs. She ran track so outrunning her was impossible, especially for someone like me who stays away from sports, unless its tennis. "Where's your little bodyguards?" she teased, stopping just inside of my personal space and crossing her arms with a twisted smile. I frowned. It's not like I can answer, you stupid bitch. That's what I wanted to say and I screamed it in my mind, hoping she'd get some telepathy from it, somehow.
"Aw, look, she can't even speak up for herself," Akita stated, making a false sad face and her friends all laughed behind me. I wished they'd just leave me alone already. I really hated explaining bruises to my father since he'd read faster than I could write. I always made up bogus explanations and he'd blow a casket and threaten to see the principal and I'd start crying, shaking my head because that's worse. By the looks of it, Akita was in a good mood, which meant that I'd get a picking today. "Say something, punk!" and after that, her hands slammed against my chest and I fell backwards, right into a muck puddle, from the previous night's rain. I frowned and held my arms up staring up at the mud that now caked my skin. "Next time get over yourself and learn to talk, big ole baby!" Akita stated before striding off. I frowned and went to stand but I slipped on all the mud and fell back down. I really wanted to cry. I hated starting out my days like this. And now I had to do laundry. This was my last uniform and I was hoping to wear it again tomorrow since I don't sweat, like a normal human. I think that comes from my father's side, I think…
"Are you okay?" I looked up, my eyes wide from shock and saw one of the guys that I saw most of the girls swoon over. For the life of me, I couldn't remember his name. But he was one of the more handsome ones with long red hair that fell just to his middle back and bright, emerald green eyes. He wore the guys' maroon colored jumpsuit with the yellow trimming. I nodded my head, embarrassed as he held his hand out for me. I gladly took it and he helped me out of the mud. "You know, Akita is just a bully. I bet if you said something, she'd stop." I blushed. Here's when he'd start picking on me like everyone else.
I quickly withdrew my iPhone and wrote it out, showing it to him. His cheeks lit read. "Oh! You're mute?" he asked. I nodded. "I'm surprised Akita would pick on you then. She seems like such a nice girl to people with disabilities…" I rolled my eyes and made the motion of thank you in sign language as I started heading toward the school building. "Wait, I didn't mean offense!" he stated, walking next to me. I looked up at him, narrowing my eyes. "I swear." I gazed him for a moment and smiled, shrugging it off. "So, you know sign language?" he asked. I could see he was trying to start conversation with a mute. At the moment, it seemed pointless. So I nodded. He smiled at me. "Oh! My name's Shuichi." That was his name. Now I remember…
I began writing my name down when I heard a voice yell, "Ardelia!" I looked up, as did Shuichi, and saw Ritsuko heading toward me with flailing arms. "There you are cutie! Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you…" Ritsuko finally noticed someone standing next to me and her defensive part came out and she raised her fist, in which Shuichi held his hands out and I pushed a hand against Ritsuko's torso, shaking my head. I quickly explained, in sign language, that he helped me and Ritsuko nodded, smiling at him. "Well, Shuichi, I do believe you do deserve the sweetest guy award in the yearbook," Ritsuko stated. "Thank you for helping my little cutie! But for now, we need to get her to class!" I made a face that read what-are-you-on and Ritsuko grinned at me, grabbing my wrist and smiling over at Shuichi. "Thanks again, Shuichi."
"Anytime," Shuichi stated. I smiled back at him and made the sign for thank you again, in which he shocked me and did the sign language for "you're welcome" back at me with a smile before heading off himself.
"Come on, lagger," Ritsuko stated, dragging me through the locker hallway. "Natsumi and Rio are waiting!" I looked over at her with a glare. Why in the world was she shouting? I wasn't more than a few feet away from her. I was mute, not deaf. I loved Ritsuko to death but her natural hair color was a completely lie; she should've been a blond, not Natsumi. Oh, as for what Ritsuko looks like. She had that jealous-making reddish brown hair to her lower back and dark, swirly brown eyes that were like a chocolate fountain. She was also tall and lean and played on the school's basketball team and wrestling. She was a beast and I was glad to have her as my best friend slash bodyguard.
As for my other two friends… Natsumi was more like me than the others. She was quiet, on her own and when she spoke, it was usually intelligent stuff that put Ritsuko or Rio in their places. Natsumi was someone I could relate too more if I could talk. She looked like one of those little cherubs you see on old lady's lawns or in churches with soft blond hair cut just to her chin and pretty blue eyes. She always wore the uniform exactly how it was supposed to. I think she had a slight OCD problem, if you asked me. She was always straightening stuff and stealing my backpack to straighten it or coming over just to clean my room; she did that once and I thought it was really weird but I didn't say anything.
Rio, on the other hand, was more Ritsuko's friend than mine. It was understandable since they were really cousins from Ritsuko's mother's side but hardly anyone knew that. Rio was almost just like Ritsuko, except she had a wittier tongue than Ritsuko while Ritsuko could knock someone's head off with one blow. Rio was a different looking girl. I thought she had slight Down syndrome when I first met her. Not to be rude or anything. She's a nice girl, very nice. She had brown hair to her upper back and light brown eyes. She was taller than me, but shorter than Ritsuko. Her clothes always had wrinkles in them and as Ritsuko slowed to a leisurely walk and I saw the two, chatting a little bit, my assumptions were correct. Rio's shirt was wrinkly and her skirt had very noticeable wrinkles along the sides. She had her hair tied up and the ponytail looked full of knots. I felt bad for the girl. Her parents didn't have much money and when they had extra, they'd save it so they could splurge on groceries. Ritsuko told me all about Rio's family, which is why I always tried to take Rio along with us when we went places.
"There's Ardelia," Natsumi greeted, smiling over at me and saying "good morning" in sign language. I motioned it back and she smiled, walking up to me to link her arm in mine. "Why are you all muddy?" Ritsuko filled them in with her own graphic tale that was nothing close to what happened. It didn't even involve dragons but she added one in there. She was so weird. So I started texting it on my phone so I could send it to Natsumi. I told her the whole tale via text, including the part with Shuichi helping me out of the mud. "Oh, Shuichi helped you?" she asked after reading my text. I nodded. "How nice of him. We should send him flowers. I heard he likes roses." I grinned, my shoulders shaking a bit. Natsumi smiled at me and began leading me toward our first person as Rio and Ritsuko headed to theirs. "Maybe you and him will get married and have pretty babies!" Natsumi teased and I blushed, shoving her slightly as she laughed. "I'm just joking, dear!" I smiled up at her, still blushing.