Hey people! It's me again, yay! Thank you so much to those who have read the first chapter already, I really hope you enjoyed it! I didn't expect to get that kind of response so quick, so thank you! Well, as you have probably guessed, this is chapter two! Last time where we left off, Yuriko had just murdered the boy who had stolen her coins..or had she? :3
Maybe this criminal has a heart in her after all, eh? Or is she just cold to the bone? (See what I did there?) Sorry, I know I'm a terrible joker, I just couldn't resist.
Anyways, on with what you really came here for! Chapter 2!
Yuriko sat against the brick wall of her alleyway, her home. The night air was warm against her skin and she drew her arms tighter against her chest. Yuriko had recently stolen more clothes for herself; ripped jeans, a black leather jacket and knee-high boots. Personally, she liked the boots the best; with heels like this, it was much easier to wound an enemy – that is if she hadn't sliced them to bits with her talons already.
Looking down at her hands, she rubbed a thumb over a shiny, silver nail. At first glance it just looked like nail polish, but it was actually metal. Janos hadn't known it, but the blades she had cut him with that night had come from her fingers. Yuriko was a mutant; she could extend her nails to the point where they were half the length of her arm. So when that boy, Janos, had cried that he was like her… Yuriko couldn't have described her feeling at the point. She had always been alone, only crossing paths with others when she needed to. Well, now that had changed.
Turning her head to look at the wall opposite her, she watched as Janos breathed in his slumber. After his heart had given out, Yuriko had dragged him back here and proceeded to take care of him. She didn't want to at all – she had wanted to leave him dead – but she couldn't.
Using the money from the bag she had brought medical supplies to keep him alive. In order to tend to his back, his shirt had been removed. Five slashes cut across the skin of his back, a whole hand of her talons; the wounds would scar wonderfully. From all the blood he had lost, Yuriko had been forced to transfer some of her own into him. It didn't bother her; she had a healing factor meaning that her blood regenerated like crazy.
In the light of the full moon, she had a full view of the boy's stomach muscles moving as he breathed. Most women dreamt for a man like this, Yuriko mused as her eyes roamed over his abs and up to his face. He was certainly handsome, there was no denying that. With a strong jaw and long, black hair – dishevelled as it was. Pity he was a criminal; someone would gladly take him as a boyfriend.
Yuriko was snapped out of her thoughts when he gave a small moan, his head jerking to the side. Instantly, she drew her knees to her chest. Jesus – is he having another nightmare? Every time one struck, she felt the strength of his mutation. The wind would pick up, tossing leaves around like ragdolls. As she watched, Janos' breathing fastened to the point where it was normal speed. No, he wasn't dreaming…he was finally waking up.
Janos' head jerked again; she saw his eyelids flutter as he tried to wake. She wanted to look away from him, but for some strange reason she couldn't. So instead she saw his eyes open and stare straight at her. They were glassy, both from sleep and the medication she had been giving him. His cracked lips moved and his voice came out, choking into the night sky. "Y…Yuriko?"
Yuriko stared at him, narrowing her eyes to the point where she saw him through slits. "Good. You're finally awake."
Janos looked around once, groggily, then put his hands to the ground and started to push himself straighter against the wall. "You don't sound very pleased to see me –"
He was cut off by a sharp cry of pain and instantly slumped back down; with her highlighted senses Yuriko heard that one of the bandages over his wounded back had been torn. Idiot, she hissed in her mind.
As she watched him try to make himself comfortable Yuriko snapped, "I'm not. I should have left you there once you'd died."
"Wait…Wait…" Janos' eyes were gradually coming clearer as he absorbed this information. "I died?"
Yuriko nodded, no words being needed to answer his question.
"How long was I…gone?"
"Forty four days. One month and two weeks exactly."
She watched as Janos looked down at himself, suddenly realising that he was bare-chested. "You… you took off my shirt?"
He looked back up into her stony gaze and grinned at her with boyish charm. With a raise of his eyebrows, he asked in a smug tone, "Like what you see?"
Yuriko snorted though her nose, trying to hide the slight blush that had crept into her cheeks. "Stop flattering yourself. I only did it to tend to your wounds. If I hadn't you would have remained dead."
Silence followed her words, in which Janos finally managed to push himself up against the wall more. Yuriko looked away from him when she saw that he was staring at her; she didn't trust the look in his eyes. It was soft and gentle, something that no criminal should be. You couldn't be a thief or a murderer and be soft, it just didn't work. You would become a Waste.
"Why did you save me?" Janos asked quietly, breaking the quiet.
Yuriko gritted her teeth in frustration; didn't he know anything about these streets? "Haven't you even heard of the truce law?"
"No, what is it?"
"It states that once a street person has given their born name to another, they can not kill them. A truce passes between them, only for two months. Once those two months have passed, they become enemies again."
"So you've been looking after me all this time to keep me alive?"
"Yes," she snapped at him, finally looking at him again. "Do you know how restless you get when you have a nightmare?"
Janos knew she was referring to how mental the wind got when he dreamt. He looked sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry to put you through that."
Running the hand through his messy hair, he managed to smooth it down a bit. In the light, Yuriko could see his eyes soften into a look of complete gratitude.
"Yuriko," His voice was so kind that she had to look away again, "Thank you."
She stiffened at those two words, never having them directed to her before. "Don't thank me, boy. If I could have left you, I would have."
Janos looked at the ground, face flushed. Yuriko knew he was trying to befriend her but her heart was as hard as the metal on her bones. She had never had a friend, nor did she want one.
"So," Janos began, clearing his throat. "First things first: how old are you?"
"Why would I tell you that?" She snarled at him viciously; now he was starting to anger her with all his questions and his cocky attitude.
"Because," he smiled at her a bit, making her nails bite into her palms. "We've got two weeks before we're allowed to rip each others throats out. We might as well get a bit familiar with each other."
Yuriko wanted to snap at him again, but held her tongue. He was right, she realised. Besides, what harm could it do? Once the two weeks were up, she would gladly kill him. "Seventeen."
Janos' smile brightened. "I'm eighteen. Look at that, we're only twelve months apart."
"Great," she mumbled under her breath.
"How did you end up on the streets?"
Yuriko whipped to face him, eyes blazing. "I'm not telling you that."
"Aw, come on!" He teased with a disarming grin. "A beautiful girl like you? You must have had a family at some point –"
"I said no! I don't want to talk about it!" Yuriko was so close to pushing herself up and launching at him. Her fingers itched to release her talons, yet she somehow managed to hold them back.
Janos' hands rose in surrender; he could see how he had nearly made her snap.
"Okay, okay," he apologised hastily. "I'm sorry!"
Yuriko let a growl rumble in her throat, relaxing against the brick wall again. If he knew how close he had really been…
"Well, I'll tell you my life story, then."
"Please don't." Yuriko muttered, yet he didn't pay any heed to her disinterested tone.
"Why?" he smirked at her, that boyish glint making its way back into his eyes. "You afraid you might start to like me?"
Yuriko's face twitched; even she couldn't hold the hint of a smile that was playing on her lips. God, what did this boy do to her?
Janos cleared his throat twice, moving around to make sure that he was comfortable before starting his story. "I was born in Spain, the second youngest child of four. I had two older brothers and one younger sister; Pablo, Luis and Marisol. When I was nine my family moved to America because my father had been offered a promotion."
The smile on his lips started to fade away and his eyes turned dull. "Our happiness didn't last long, though." He swallowed deeply and fixed his gaze onto his bare feet.
Yuriko would never tell him so, but she found herself enchanted by his tale. She waited patiently for him to continue, watching as he stared listlessly at the ground. All the charm had left him and now his shoulders slumped helplessly.
"I was eleven and we were driving in the car one night in the summer." Janos finally answered."That was the night I discovered my powers. I was playing a game with Marisol; I guess I twisted my wrist too sharply. The car flipped and –"
His breath caught suddenly, making his chest shudder as he drew the breath out. "And I woke up and everyone was dead."
The silence was so thick Yuriko could feel it pressing against her chest like a brick. Why was it suddenly so hard to breathe? There were chills across her whole body yet the air was still warm. All Yuriko could do was watch as Janos a single tear fell from his eye.
He breathed slowly, though his eyes were still dull. Janos hadn't risen his head to meet her gaze, only drew his knees carefully to his chest.
"So," his voice was completely drained of emotion, "That's how I came to be."
"How could you ever forgive yourself for that? You murdered your entire family." Yuriko's thoughts flew out of her mouth before she could stop them.
Janos snapped his head up instantly; the look in his eyes chilled Yuriko to the bone. "It that what you think I did?"
His voice came out in a snarl. "You think I killed them on purpose?"
The wind began to pick up again, though this time it stung against Yuriko's skin. It hurt her, and she pressed herself closer to the wall. It did nothing to shelter her from Janos' growing rage. Glancing around she squinted as dust flew into her eyes."Janos, you're making it –"
"Don't you dare use my name again!" His eyes looked soulless, brutal and cold. Yuriko saw that he was beginning to fist his hands; the wind howled so louder she could barely hear him as he screamed, "God, you make me sick! I pour all my secrets out to you and you blame me for my sins?"
Janos stood to his feet, apparently no longer feeling the pain of his back in the mist of his anger. "How could you! I trusted you!"
Yuriko wanted to leap up and dig her talons through his heart – but she couldn't. The wind kept her pinned to where she sat on the ground. All Yuriko could do was look up at him; the wind was moving so fast, she could see his hair blowing around his face and over his eyes, making him appear more intimidating.
"Th –the wind is h – hurting me –" Yuriko hated how weak she sounded right now, but everything was starting to get to her, making her stammer.
"It's going to hurt a hell of a lot more when I'm done with you," he hissed in reply, his jaw and fists clenched.
"P – Please," Yuriko's whisper was raw; the wind was drying out her lungs. "The truce –"
"I don't care about your stupid truce!" he spat mercilessly at her.
A certain expression crossed her face, and his eyes glinted sharply. "What's wrong, Yuriko? Do I scare you?"
Janos backhanded the wind; the force of it hit the side of Yuriko's face like slap. She gasped and nearly fell to the ground but managed to catch herself. Her cheek burned like she had been cut with a knife. Though Yuriko had been slapped before, it had never felt like this.
Her chest was heaving as she tried to steal back air into her lungs but it was hopeless; the wind continued to snatch it from her. A shot of fear stabbed into her heart – followed by pain. If her lungs dried up her body would shut down. If – if he would just let her get air –
But when Yuriko looked up at him and saw the animal in his eyes, she knew that he would never let her live from this. She had blamed him for killing his entre family. Yuriko almost wanted to say sorry, but her wounded pride would not let her. She was Yuriko, the ghost who could outrun and kill anybody. Except this boy. Except Janos, with his charming wit and dangerous edge. Finally, after all these years on the streets, she had met her match. That was a day she hadn't see coming.
Yuriko was lost so deep in those black eyes that she almost missed it when he spat through clenched teeth, "What ever happened to your family, I hope they hate you. Because that's the least you deserve."
Then he pulled both fists toward his chest; Yuriko's body jolted forward and she was slammed face first onto the ground. The impact shattered seven of her ribs and her left cheekbone; already the blood streamed from her chest and face in a pool. It was sticky and hot like molten lava; never before had she felt so much pain. The agony raged from every broken bone, it sunk into all her pores and drilled deep into her had a healing factor – why wasn't she healing?
All she could see of Janos was his bare feet; he walked forward till his toes were right up in her field of vision. A crashing sound made it to her ears; were the brick walls crumbling around them? Yuriko tried yet again to breathe but nothing made it to her lungs.
Slowly, her vision began to blur, the grey of the ground and Janos' dirty feet blending together. Yuriko's eyelids felt extremely heavy; she knew that if she closed them her heart would give out. More than anything, she wanted to fight it…she wanted to tell Janos that she was sorry for what she'd said to him… but it all too late for that. Here she was, lying at the feet of the young man she had killed and brought back to life…and now he was about to kill her. Well, she found a smile coming to her lips in her last seconds, at least now we're even. Her heartbeat came to her ears, incredibly slow. It was the last thing she heard before…everything…fell away…
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Wanna know what happens next? Please tell me in a review! Once again, thank you so much for taking interest in this story! You're all awesome!
