Lily: Hey guys! if you're reading this chapter, you obviously enjoyed the first one some-what, so thank you!
Ikuto: You couldn't think of something more interesting to say?
Odelle: Ikuto, how could u be so rude?
Ikuto: sorry... -gives her a charming smile-
Odelle: Brick.
Lily: Okay! Odelle, hit it!
Odelle: Lily doesn't own anything except some characters like me and Susie!
Susie: Did I hear my name?
-everyone looks down shaking there heads in disappointment.-
Chapter 2
After dinner, we decided to go for a walk. We didn't really know where we were going, we just walked. Finally, about 9:30 came and we realized we had no idea where we were.
"Close your eyes until I say you can open them." Ikuto said, looking dead serious. OH GOD! I thought. It hit me I was alone with a stranger in the dark and he now wanted me to close my eyes. I wanted to run. I wished I had mace. I wished I'd been more careful. I think he saw the fear on my face.
"Alright, you don't have to close your eyes." He stepped back a ways, looking at the ground. After he stopped, he looked up, and I swear I saw an evil glint in his eye. However, I was gladly wrong on what I thought it was. I think.
He zoomed up. In one great leap, he was on the top of a nearby building. I had no idea what to do. I felt my head get numb. Or was that my knees? Either way, I know that after five seconds of him reaching the roof, I was out. I woke up in my hotel room with ice on my head.
"Odelle!" cried Susie. She sure said that an awful lot today. "O my gosh, what happened?!"
"grah…" My head was killing me. I must have hit the asphalt. I looked over and saw Ikuto not too far away. I screamed and started towards the corner of the room. "H-h-him! He….he….zooom and I was like ahhh and then I was like plop!" It wasn't until after I said it I realized I sounded insane.
"I don't have a clue what she's talking about." He said in defense.
"It's okay, we don't know either." Her mom said. I still sat there shaking in the corner. "I'm so sorry, Ikuto, you're scaring the girl half to death right now just being here. Could you please leave?"
"Of course, it's no problem. Tell me when she gets better."
"Of course, Ikuto. Have a nice night."
"You, too. Good night Susie, Odelle." He gave me a small wink. I wasn't sure if I was more afraid with him gone or in here.
Susie told me to go to sleep and tell her what happened in the morning. By the time everyone else was getting up though, I was finally getting to sleep. I'd been shaking all night and nervous as anything. I figured out what I was going to say, though.
"Y-you know me, so you know I'm insane, but not technically a mental disorder insane, right?"
I tried to sound convincing as if nothing was wrong with me right now. Susie just nodded, knowing I was usually pretty hard to scare, except with insects and other things like that.
"Ikuto and I got lost, then he told me to close my eyes. Of course, I totally was like 'nuh uh! No way!' So he was like 'okay, fine you don't need to.' Then he stepped back some, head down. Then he lifted his head and had an evil glint. That's when he jumped up in the biggest leap I've ever seen! He got to the top of a nearby building that was at least two stories! Even one story in one leap is freaky! My mind couldn't take it, so I was just like….well…plop. Knocked out cold."
Susie gave me the biggest 'Holy crap, you need a doctor for mental disorders' look I've ever seen. I guess I couldn't blame her, but it still hurt. She then wiped it off.
"I believe you." She had to take a breath. "It seems completely impossible, but I believe you. Why? You are not the kind of person who could just make that up." I gave a huge sigh of relief.
"Thank you. Now, I didn't sleep at all last night. Wake me up at eleven!" She laughed at me and let me sleep.
At noon, we decided to go get lunch in the hotel's café. It was very peaceful until Ikuto walked into the lobby.
"Oh sh-" Susie started. I grabbed her head and bobbed her down. We could barely see Ikuto's legs from under the table, but we saw undoubtedly him walk towards the café; specifically, to our table.
"You do know I can still see you, right?" Susie and I both winced and we came back up.
"H-hey, Ikuto. D-didn't see you there." I tried to sound convincing, but it didn't work at all.
"Sure. Look, I'm assuming you told her?" I nodded to him. He lowered voice when saying. "I told you to close your eyes, but obviously you didn't have enough faith in me. Those with no trust end up hurt." He mumbled quietly to himself, but I still barely understood him. "They always do."
"Huh?"
"Nothing. Anyway, I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted to speak to me again, but just in case." He pulled out a slip of paper with a phone number on it, and then slowly turned away. I felt kind of embarrassed, like the enemy almost.
"Thanks." is all I could say. I tried giving him a smile, but when he turned to look at me and we made eye contact, I flashed-back to that look he gave before jumping up to the building's roof. There was a sudden impulse, and before I knew it, I opened my mouth.
"Wait!" I stood up. I don't know why, I just needed to know one more thing. "What was with the look from last night?" He walked back, a confused look on his face. "The look, right before…" I didn't want to say it again. It was hard enough the first time, just saying to my best friend.
"I don't know. I always feel a sense of power and ability when I character change." He smiled like it was a fond memory, but I just looked at him confused.
"Character change?" I asked, almost afraid to know the answer.
He looked at me, with a slightly different evil glint, but still evil. He put his pointer finger and thumb under my jaw, and rested his middle finger on my chin. After that, he put an arm around my waist, pulling me closer. "If you dare to follow me, I'll tell you." There was never a quiver in his voice, or the slightest pause in actions. I felt something quiver fiercely inside my stomach and my senses pause though. My gut was telling me not to go. Sadly, curiosity won. Hopefully, this time it won't kill the cat.
Susie decided to go with her parents to the mall while I walked with Ikuto. I had no clue what in the world could happen. Luckily, I had my mace with me this time. I would have had a knife or gun, but since I was in a foreign country, I went with this. We got to the park and went to a bench where there was almost no one around. We sat and Ikuto explained everything to me; about the heart eggs, guardian characters, Yoru (his guardian character). He explained about character transformations and character changes. He said anyone can see a transformation but only other people with characters can see changes.
"It's funny though," He started, but then looked down at me. "When we first met, it was like every stranger danger rule you tried to use, but Susie and I made you push a few aside. Now, though, you would have had every right in the world to have said no to me in the café, but you came anyway. You did a character change without a guardian character." He smiled. It wasn't like the anything he'd ever smiled at me before. This one said nothing but thank you. I couldn't help but smile back. Everything he'd said hadn't fully sunk in, but I couldn't wait for it to.
Out of the blue, he stood up and held out his hand. "C'mon."
"Where are we going?" I said, hesitant to stick my hand out.
"As the most amazing person ever, I am going to take you into the forest and show you my transformation, so you can get an idea of how I look when I character change." He smiled, thinking it was the most brilliant idea ever. I took his hand, not because I thought it wise, but because I was learning to trust him. Something I needed to do more often for other people.
He led me on, until there were no more sounds from anyone else. No one could hear us either. Ikuto let go of my hand, then stepped backwards. Without another word, there was a bright flash of light and he stood before me; a cropped shirt that went three inches above the belly button, showing his six-pack. It had tails like a tuxedo, with a cat tail below them. He had cat ears on top of his head, and tight navy pants. The thing that freaked me out the most, however, was on his right hand there were three metal claws, like the wolverine, but not in his skin. They were strapped on. He crossed his arms and looked at me, obviously amused.
"How do I look?" He was really good and making a good freak out. I couldn't say anything as I walked up to him. I lightly touched the side of the blades so I wouldn't get cut if they were real. After that, I reached up and pet his cat ears. He started chuckling quietly to himself. This was probably his favorite game to play. He uncrossed his arm and then put them around me. I instantly realized I was being hugged by a guy with ears, claws, a tail, and barely a shirt. My second realization was that I had my hands on his chest. To think, I thought I turned red with the first realization.
"So, does this freak you out enough, or do I have to take you to the final step tomorrow?" My fingers curled in. Every good sense I had was saying that I should run, but there was still something in me that said go. I went with that tiny feeling.
"I… I… I…" Okay, maybe realistically I wasn't sure, but I'm a people pleaser. "Yes." I let out a sigh of relief after I said it. I felt Ikuto's hug loosen a bit. I could feel he was shocked by my answer.
"Would you rather it be today or tomorrow?" he asked. I decided to let it get over with.
We moved to an area still far from people, but far more open. Ikuto no longer was transformed, but I could tell by his expression he was in his character change. He now told me to stand one meter away, since obviously Japanese people use the metric system. I did as told and mentally started writing my will.
"Don't worry, Del. I'll be gentler with you than most of my friends without characters since you're a delicate girl."
"Oh, yay. That makes this sound so much better." I let out a fake laugh, and he just shook his head smiling.
"When I raise my hand, you'll know it's beginning." I nodded in understanding.
A few seconds later, he lifted his hand then held it straight in front of him. All of the sudden I was being pushed back, to the side, and then the other side. I looked and he was doing this by just slightly moving his wrist. Finally, he held it straight towards me. I braced for impact, but right before it got to me, he made his hand do a slight curving motion. I felt something go around my waist. He then pulled me towards him at a rapid speed. Again, I braced myself for impact. Also again, my hands ended up on his chest. He started laughing uncontrollably, and I had no idea why.
"What the fricken heck is so funny?" I said breathily. He had to take a few seconds to stop laughing.
"Just you. I don't why, but this game is far more amusing with you." He continued laughing while hugging me, which totally ticked me off.
I pushed away, anger written all over me, and I could tell Ikuto knew this was not going to be good for him. "A game?! I wasn't sure several times if you were going to kill me or not! And I've only known you two days! I don't know what kind of 'games' you play, but if you consider this one, it is seriously sick!" When I started stomping off, he reached for my hand.
"I'm sorry. I didn't think of it like that." He gave me that charming look again, only more so making me pull away. I looked away, not wanting him to see my face as I spoke.
"Just, don't do it again?" I could feel my cheeks getting hotter, and although he didn't say anything for a few seconds, I could tell Ikuto was smiling.
"C'mon, let's celebrate." He picked me up and put me into a princess hold.
"First, where are we going?! Second, put me down, now!"
"It's a surprise, and me carrying you is the only way to get there. Hold on tight." He smiled and made a huge leap over the trees and bushes. We landed on a building about 150 yards away by my guess. This was still the weirdest part to me, so of course, I wanted to hurl. Instead I just grabbed him tighter and buried my head into his chest so I wouldn't see anything. I could feel his heart pound faster when I did, or he might just be getting tired. It could also have been both, though. Who knows?
Finally, after about five minutes or so, Ikuto put me down on the ground. It took me a second to get it registered in my brain that I was on brick sidewalk and could let go. He chuckled at me a bit, as though he half expected it.
"I'm not sure how I feel about you, Ikuto; if I hate you or think you're the best thing ever."
"Maybe you think I'm the best thing ever so you hate me?" He stuck his tongue out at me and me at him. I don't remember why, but for some reason I felt like giving him a quick hug, so I reached up and did such. When I came back down, he looked like he'd seen a ghost.
"What, I can't choose to hug you?" I teased. He shock off the look from his face.
"No, sorry. I just was a little bit shocked, that's all. Anyway, look behind you and take a look at where we are." He smiled thinking there was no way I could dislike this, so I trusted and looked behind me. I couldn't believe my eyes.