Chapter 2 – Morning Surprises
The sea stretched out before her shone a brilliant, azure blue, gleaming as the sunlight hit the waters. Rays of light reflected off the constantly changing surface bounced all around the inside of the cave she stood in, somehow managing to mingle with the dark shadows in perfect harmony. The glossy surface of the cold stone in the cavern was smooth and cool to the touch. Gusty winds whirled around the cliff overlooking the sea, carrying the tangy scent of saltwater with it.
Ayu turned away from the breathtaking scenery and began walking inside. The deeper she went, the more shadows appeared, and light become scarce.
She knew this place well. This wasn't the first time she'd come here, and she knew what to do.
The dancing shadows slowly merged within the glassy walls, no longer just twirling about in random patterns. They coalesced and began forming images -black projectiles lancing through the air, obsidian strings latching onto a humanoid shape, dark, swirling masses that pulled at everything around it.
It showed her what she was capable of.
Ayu came to a stop when she arrived at the back of the cave: a pitch black mirror stretching from top to bottom that was completely blank.
"What I must do?"
Her soft, simple question reverberated throughout the grotto, echoing endlessly in an underwater fashion.
The abilities she possessed had been with her from birth, revealing themselves the day she had been attacked by a huge monster with a gaping hole through its chest. From that day forward, she had been pulled to this place erratically, learning a new skill each time.
A dark line appeared faintly in the obsidian surface, flickering before its form solidified. It was rather thin, with something resembling tassels swaying at one end.
Knowledge flooded through her mind, and she knew exactly what she was being shown in that moment.
Ayu reached out for the object with a shaky hand, easily passing through the wall, and began curling her fingers around it-
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP
"Gah!"
The girl bolted straight up, light blue eyes snapping wide open at the sudden, loud noise that erupted right next to her ear.
"That hurt..." She winced as she yawned sleepily, rubbing her ear as she turned off the annoying alarm clock with her other hand,
Ayu climbed out of her makeshift bed -a couple layers of towels and cloth on the ground acting as a mattress, with a thick, warm blanket on top- and stumbled into the small bathroom a couple steps away.
Her uncle had been more of a cheapskate than she thought. This apartment had just one small, bare room and a miniature bathroom to the right, with a kitchen on the left. It was in bad condition when she'd arrived last night, but she managed to get some cleaning done before she set up her bed to collapse on. After all, mold on the counter wasn't exactly what she wanted to see first thing in the morning.
Taking a white ribbon and biting it so as to have her hands free, Ayu gathered her short hair up into a high ponytail before tying it tightly. The bangs on the right side of her face weren't quite long enough, so she just left it there. Her hair seemed to spike out a little due to its length... or rather, lack thereof.
Ayu let out a long breath of air as she finally finished getting ready, putting on a short-sleeved white shirt and gray skirt.
Idly fixing the red bow that completed Karakura High's female uniform as she came out of the bathroom, she grabbed a smaller, black cloth bag that contained her school utensils.
"I guess I'll get there a little early today..."
Ayu snatched the small pack of onigiri she'd bought at the convenience store yesterday, stuffing it into her bag, and grabbed the apartment keys that lay next to it as well. Stepping outside and locking the door behind her, Ayu turned around and began making her way to the new school.
"You there! New girl who just moved in last night! Yeah, I'm talkin' to you!"
Ayu sighed in irritation as she turned around, finding...
She blinked several times in rapid succession.
... Was that a gang of seven guys or so? Really? This early in the morning?
The one who'd shouted out stepped forward confidently, a smirk visible on his face, "Goin' somewhere?"
"Look, if you have nothing to do, go bother someone else. I need to go to school early." Ayu was quickly becoming annoyed.
"Aw, why bother going at all?" she hated his cocky attitude and the smug way he spoke, "After all, we don't bother going. Why don'cha join us today and go later, hm? We can... educate you in some subjects, sweetheart." he changed to a suggestive tone.
"Not interested." Ayu was ticked off by this behavior. "Scram."
"Should we teach 'er a lesson, boss? Newcomers need to know the rules around 'ere, after all." Another boy strode out from the group.
The apparent leader of the gang leered at her, "Guess we'll have to show her things the hard way."
"… I guess I'm not getting out of this without a little scuffle, hm?" she muttered under her breath.
"Eh? What was that?" One of the boys cupped a hand around his ear, "Speak up, darling!"
Ayu tossed her bag onto the low wall bordering the sidewalk she was on as the gang erupted into laughter and began closing in on her.
"Three minutes." She turned back around to face them, "This will be over in three minutes."
The leader cocked an eyebrow, "Oh, a feisty one, aren't we? Well-"
He never got to finish his sentence as Ayu promptly punched him in his face, sending him flying.
"SHE HIT THE BOSS!"
Before the gang got over their shock that a 'harmless' little girl had just decked their leader, Ayu was already in front of her next target.
"Hya!"
The elbow strike to the boy's temple made him black out in one blow.
"Who's next, huh?" Ayu smirked evilly as she spun, kicking out backwards and catching another boy on the chest. He was knocked into two others from the force of the sudden attack, which created a painful domino effect.
Lashing out with several quick palm strikes at the next closest victim, she was well-prepared for an incoming blow coming from behind.
"Don't think you'll get away with this!" the boy shouted, lunging towards her in a flying side kick.
Ayu ducked at the last possible moment, which caused her current opponent to receive a smashing kick into the face. Taking the chance that the boy who'd tried a sneak attack on her was off-balance by his missed attack, she struck his neck swiftly in several points, successfully paralyzing him. Another hard kick to the stomach sent him hurtling through the air, colliding painfully with the boy who had been charging towards her.
"Gotcha!"
A boy grabbed her from behind and flipped her over his shoulder, a sickening grin on his face as he waited for the sound of a bloody crunch signifying her head hitting the pavement...
Ayu laughed as she twisted herself in the air, angling her body, and thrusted her hands forward when she was close enough to the ground, using the momentum from his throw to execute a quick backflip and land on her feet lightly in a slight crouch.
"Is that all you've got?" she taunted, grinning as she saw his expression of shock and fury, "My turn!"
He had no time to react before he realized that Ayu was right behind him. A quick neck chop let him slip blissfully into unconsciousness.
Adrenalin rushing through her veins, Ayu looked up eagerly for her next target, uncanny aqua eyes glinting in anticipation, preparing herself to retaliate for the punch which would-
Wait. Why was nothing there? She glanced around her surroundings curiously.
The gang lay sprawled out all over the ground in mangled, bloody heaps, groaning and cursing in pain. Some were clutching their heads, others cradling their arms, and a few were massaging their legs.
"N-no bore! W-we'll leab you a-alone!"
Turning towards the source of the voice, she saw the leader of the group clutching a bleeding, broken nose, and trying to nurse several bruises all over his body.
Ayu began walking in his direction.
He whimpered in fear as he tried to scramble backwards to escape from her.
"S-stob id!" He sobbed as Ayu struck his side with her foot brutally, "Blease!"
He let out a scream of pain as Ayu kicked him again, this time in the ribs, and the sickening snap of bones breaking filled the air.
"Demon..."
"Monster..."
Ayu froze as she heard these whispers around her.
"Did you see..."
"Ruthless..."
"She was laughing..."
"Psychotic..."
Ayu stopped.
Those whispers and groans of pain, along with the sniffling whimpers of the boy slumped before her...
"Don't mess with me again." She forced the words out of her mouth and turned away, grabbing her bag and continuing on her way.
This wasn't the slums in Tokyo anymore, where your life was on the line. There was no longer any need to be callous and thorough because you'd be back-stabbed the moment you showed mercy.
This was not Tokyo.
"What would you say to me now... Kinjiro?" She sighed wistfully.
Ayu felt rather subdued on the rest of her trek to Karakura High.
She grew up in one of the messier slums, where crime was rampant and death a daily occurrence. Her mother was almost never home, always drinking or gambling away at a casino or some place. In fact, she would've died a long time ago if Kinjiro hadn't shown up when he did, helping her escape from a rather vicious mob. The two of them managed to fend off the dangers with each other, though it was a miracle in itself that they managed to survive.
There was also the fact that they were both... different from everyone else. He could manipulate the energy in the environment to some degree, and he helped her successfully utilize her own energy in some ways. It was a good thing they both had their respective special abilities, since the monsters with holes in them always came after the pair for some weird reason.
They were also the only ones who could see ghosts. Go figure.
Kinjiro had been living partly at the local orphanage and partly with her before he'd been adopted by a wealthy couple who were moving to America. That had been two years ago, and she'd never seen him since.
Oh well... I guess he's happy where he is, now.
Ayu trudged up to the gates of her new school, trying to shake the depressing thoughts from her mind.
Monster, they called me... Demon, am I? You would be ruthless if you had to grow up like I did. You would be psychotic if it was the only thing keeping you sane in this lonely, crazy world...
Ayu took a deep breath to steel herself and calm the churning emotions inside her before she knocked on the door of the class she was supposed to be in. 1-3.
Well...This is it, I guess.
She raised a hand to knock politely.
"BATHROOM!" Her eyes widened as the door suddenly flew open, and she was nearly bowled over by the orange-haired boy who burst out and sprinted down the hallway.
What. The. Frick. Just. Happened.
Ayu stared at the boy as he turned the corner sharply. He looked familiar, for some reason...
"Bathroom already?" A woman -most likely the teacher- stuck her head out the door to look for her wayward student.
"Sorry!" his voice floated back.
Ayu was about to take another step to walk into the classroom when two more blurs bolted out as well.
"Hey! Hey! Sado! Inoue? Hold it!"
"BATHROOM!" the two of them shouted simultaneously.
"Um... ah..." Ayu peeked into the doorway to see if any more people were suddenly going to tear out.
The woman caught sight of her at this moment and promptly forgot about what just occurred.
"Oh! You must be the new student! I'm Ochi-sensei, please come inside!"
Ayu sweat-dropped at this sudden change in attitude. Is she really a teacher?
She hesitantly stepped into the classroom after the cheerful woman.
"This is our new transfer student from Tokyo!" She exclaimed.
Ayu bowed slightly from her spot in front of the class, "Hello. My name is Kiyomizu Ayumi, but please call me Ayu. I hope we will work well together."
... What was that about? Ayu wondered as she walked down to one of the empty seats, carelessly glancing out the window...
Ayu froze.
"Is there something wrong?" She heard the teacher call out.
"No… it's nothing." Ayu replied, shaking her head slightly and finally sitting down at the desk. Wasn't the person in black she saw the guy who just ran out? What was he doing with such a large sword in broad daylight?
… This was going to be interesting.
Chapter 2 – End
Please leave your thoughts on this! ^^ Some things are hinted at in this chapter, and Ayu's background is explored a little. She will probably be involved in the actual story starting in the next update. I'd really appreciate it if you took a little time to tell me what you thought about this!