Three Weeks Ago
Yuki Hamasaki opened her eyes.
How long did I sleep this time? She wondered. She gazed at the bottle of sleeping pills in her hands. Empty again.
She sucked in a breath. She didn't want to go back to the world. The world full of…noise.
There was a knock at the door.
"Don't come in," she whispered, her voice weak from unuse. She repeated herself, louder. "Don't come in!"
"I only want to help you, Yuki," it was the voice of a boy near her own age.
She couldn't move. The door opened.
Before she knew it, the odd boy with blue eyes that matched his hair was sitting next to her.
"W-What do you want?" she asked. Why does he feel so much guilt that he can't look at me? "Who are you?"
"Your eyes flashed blue just now," he said, avoiding her questions. "You can…read emotions, right?"
"How do you know?" Yuki asked. She still couldn't move; she hadn't had any nourishment in days. "Can you make it stop?"
The guilt coming from him increased as he looked away again. "No. But I can help you learn control."
Today
"What are you going to show me?" I asked Kai. "Kai, if this is a trick, I'll hit you or something."
"It's not a trick," Kai said irritably. "And stop calling me Kai! You'll blow my cover."
Kai led me down the hall on the third floor of the school. She pulled a key card from her pocket, just like the identical ones for rooms across the campus.
"Why does a storage room need a lock?" I asked.
"Because it is not a storage room," Kai replied, swinging open the door.
I stepped inside. It was…well it looked like a lobby, or a lounge, or something.
"Are you kidding?" I said. "This is what we came down here for?"
"No," Kai said, then closed the door. She flipped a switch on the wall, one that I had mistaken for a regular light switch. "This is what we came here for."
The TV switched on and the computers all turned on. They all showed a map of Azumano and the surrounding areas. Several blinking dots showed up on screens and there were readouts.
"W-What is…" I asked, cut off sharply by Kai.
"They show where any person with Hikari magic in them is," Kai said.
"How did you-" I began, only to be cut off by Kai again.
"My blood," Kai said, as if it was obvious. "The only parts of me that remains consistant are my eyes, my blood type, my DNA, and my general personality. At least I think...I mean others could rub off on me and I'd never know…never mind."
There was a knock on the door.
Kai hit the switch and the computers went off.
The door opened easily after a moment to reveal…Daisuke Niwa.
I cursed, immediately directing all of my anger inward, a technique I had learned over the years. If I knew I was going to get mad, I would just think of a reason I hated myself, focus on it, and the power would hit me instead. Since I healed quickly, it was okay.
But I still twitched, and it drained me so much I could pass out.
I quickly sat on the couch.
"What are you doing here?" Kai asked. "We reserved this room for private study."
"I'm sorry," Daisuke said. "I thought this was the storage room."
"Niwa," I said softly. "I'm sorry…about the other day."
"What…happened?" he asked.
"Nothing you can prove," Kai said. "Now get out, we don't have time for you."
"Hey!" I yelled suddenly. "Don't talk to him that way!"
Kai flinched. "Y-You're hurting me, Elyssa!"
I gasped at the same time Daisuke did.
"You're doing this?" he asked. "You're the one who made me hurt that day?"
I looked away from him. "Yes. If I could erase your memory of it, I would; but only the angels have that power."
"Hey!" Kai said. "Girl in pain here!"
"Shut up, you have no internal damage," I said, barely looking at her.
"Yeah? Well what's this?" Kai asked, showing me a cut on her arm.
I shrugged. "Not all of us can be as fast healers as me."
I turned to Daisuke. "Maybe you should go, before she thinks of a way to annoy you too. I'm sorry I hurt you. Please believe I would never hurt you on purpose."
He looked at me, not leaving. "Is it just…whenever you're mad? That's not really fair…"
"I can heal," I said, smiling. "But on two conditions…I cannot heal death, and healing…takes a lot out of me."
"That's right…you almost drowned. Are you okay?"
I almost killed him, I thought. And he asks if I'm okay?
"I-I…Hiwatari saved me," I said. "Not like I can die…what about you? I thought someone else had me for a moment…that's why I got mad…"
"Um…" He began.
"Are you two done?" Kai said. "Because if you are, I'm going to go find Yuki Hamasaki."
"Who is she?" I asked.
"I've been watching her ever since I got here. Hiwatari has her."
Yuki walked down the hallway. "Niwa? You down here? The teacher's looking for you!"
She knew she felt something from this area. She walked to the door that was pulsing with different emotions. Locked. She knocked on it.
"Who is it?" Said a sharp voice.
"Yuki Hamasaki," She replied. "I'm looking for Daisuke Niwa. The teacher sent me. He went to the storage rooms hours ago and never came back…"
"He encountered our girl's club, and won't leave," said the same voice.
The door swung open.
Yuki gasped. Anger from the one…mixed from the other….could they be?
"I'm going back to class now," Daisuke said, turning and going out the door.
Mostly sympathy….and sadness. That kid always wants to help everyone. Satoshi told me about him.
"You know who we are," the mixed emotion girl said. "My original name-"
"Kai…Kai Akiyama!" gasped Yuki. "I thought I was all alone! And you…you're Elyssa Valentine!"
She hugged them both. Elyssa returned the gesture, and Kai halfway did as well. They were the only family each other had.
"Now all we need is the Seer," Kai said. "Oh and in this form, I'm Anya Himura."
"Got it," said Yuki. "But don't you guys feel it…like this is…maybe it's because I'm the youngest…but I really think that…it's almost over."
Elyssa eyed Yuki. "We say that every time. Only the Seer knows for sure."
