A/N: By Jove, Watson! Is that an update? Ohaiyo everyone! It's 12:00 a.m. (I told you in my profile I wouldn't sleep until I'd updated. XP) over here so Ohaiyo! Ohaiyo! Before we go on to this long belated update I must request a moment of your time. For you see there are a few people here who have done me a great honor and I would personally like to thank them…These people are…
Gaara's Pyro Raccoon! – You were the first ever! It's your threats that keep me going!
Aviarianna O Lorien! – Never once has anyone told me my story was original. That's what I go for and so it means a lot.
incessant embers – Holy kung fu ninjas, Batman! My fight scenes are interesting! Who'd have thought? Personally I go over them so much I don't know if they make sense but I'm happy you enjoyed them!
blackpanzer! - 'returns bow' Wow. Enthralling is a new one for me and dead to the world as well. I didn't think I could reach that sort of writing status.
kcauz – My cliffhangers are paying off! I never thought they really worked so this is a big help.
Rima – Power to ya! I thought I was the only one who was annoyed at how fast these characters seem to fall in love. Where's the romantic tension? The cute scenes of nope I won't say I even like him? Where'd it all go? I'll grantee this is going to be a relationship they'll both have to work for, but don't worry I have lots of things (hopefully original) to happen in between. That's even if they end up saying the L word. XP Muwhahaha...
firerose13 – I'm keeping someone in suspense! 'checks that off of life goa'l Really you people give me the guts to write horror novels. Another dream of mine. XD
Honestly. these people deserve a hand. They've taken the time to speak with me and I'm very grateful. Too many warm fuzzes…too few words…
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
A pale arm swung with experienced accuracy in a downward arc on the incessant noise. With a satisfying 'SMACK' the ear grating alarm clock ceased its outcry and the pale arm swiftly retracted back down from whence it came.
Hikari groaned, pulling the covers up over her head as she rolled over. "School can wait an extra five minutes," she muttered into her mattress as she snuggled deeper into her warm sheets.
Early morning light spilled down from her window, casting her bed and some of her room a light blue grey. A particular stubborn ray of light had sneaked onto Hikari's face, somehow it had skirted past her thick blanket of defense and was now teasing her by becoming brighter as the seconds slipped by.
As the little light got slowly brighter she watched with more annoyance, unable to sleep with the mini flashlight shining in her eyes. Does anybody want me to sleep? Abandoning the futile effort of rest, she glared down at her mattress and began drawing shapes and designs into the blue material with her index finger. I might as well get up…Don't want to fall back asleep and have another freaky dream. Demons, scrolls, spirit world, killer smoke from who knows where….little different from my school related nightmares, that's for sure…Still that had been pretty vivid. It almost seemed as if I had been there….the screams…the blood…Heck even my shoulder still hurts from the-
Hikari sat up with a jolt, her left hand flying toward her right shoulder. As she quickly spread back the fabric of her shirt to see she noticed that she was still wearing the same clothes that she had had on the night before and that there was a long slash mark across the right side of her shirt…
The short black sleeve of her hodie pulled back from her shoulder and instead of seeing skin there Hikari saw a white linen bandage. It was wrapped tightly around the wound that lay underneath and she could make out a small spot of dried blood that had came through the many layers.
No way…
She rotated her arm slowly in a full 360 degrees. The muscles in her shoulder replied with a dull ach and a slight stinging pain, but thankfully nothing that serious. After making sure there was no further damage done to that particular limb Hikari let her arm fall limply back down to her lap. That cannot be a coincidence…but if my arm is hurt then my hands… She glanced down to her palms that were folded loosely on the bedspread.
Until now she hadn't noticed the three large, brown band-aids covering her right hand and the many scratches and scrapes that dotted them both like a Light Bright. …Sweet Buddha…my shoulder, hands…but what about?
Hikari quickly reached back behind her back and pulled up her shirt. Her pulse quickened as her fingers grazed across the fresh scabs that decorated her lower back in a rough rectangular patter. Where I fell onto the demon's spiked belt… Her hands came back around and she stared at them as if not knowing who's they were.
It wasn't a dream…all of that happened…Everything's true…Spirit world, Yukio, that demon from the fog, the scroll…
Her head jerked up. "Shit! The scroll!" She glanced at her open hands almost expecting the fuda to have suddenly appeared but was disappointed when all that she received was the wounded palms that she had had just a few seconds earlier. Not finding it there, Hikari looked around her wildly, throwing back the covers and digging in her blankets.
Futile. Nothing was there. Only one of her socks that had somehow slipped off of her feet during the little bit of night that she had gotten to sleep through. "Where is it?" Hikari flew around the room. Searching under the desk, the small lamp, the bed, in the closet, everywhere that the small bit of paper could have gotten. But it denied to show itself.
Hikari paced the middle of her room, running her fingers distractedly through her tangled hair, trying to figure out where the scroll could have gotten. It's not here…It could be in the main room…She threw her sock into the laundry basket as she passed. No. Kiyoshi must have dressed my wounds so he would have seen it there and if I had brought it in here he would have taken it. Alright. Calm down. It's gotta be somewhere…
She stopped her pacing and breathed deeply, putting her mind on rewind as she tried to remember what she had done with the fuda. Her memories quickly skimmed over the encounter with Batman in the fog, past her near death experience with Suki and to just before the strange smoke.
Her mind played out her complete fear of the moment all too vividly. She could almost see herself as the tears spilled down her face and onto her hands. The whip was twisted around her leg, digging in deep, she clawed at it her skin ripping, blood running between her fingers, down her arms, staining the fuda red, and then she screamed. Those three simple words. That's when her hand had started shaking and the fog rolled in.
That's the last time I saw the scroll…It was in my right hand and all the fog started coming in and I threw the whip off. Then I crawled backwards across the floor and grabbed the broom handle with my right hand…But the relic wasn't there...I didn't drop it. So where?
Hikari came back from her mental ponderings with a jolt. Everything began to slide into place. The missing pieces that she couldn't identify at the time clicking together with the only possible explanation.
Did I activate the scroll?
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
The alarm clock's revenge resounded within the room. It almost seemed to become louder with its triumph of scaring Hikari so bad she jumped about three feet to the left, tripped over the edge of her bed, went sailing over the end of it, and onto her backpack filled with some of her heaviest text books.
Getting unsteadily to her feet, Hikari stomped over to her clock and swiftly pulled the cord out, watching with a slight smirk as it died mid BEEP. Swinging the cord idly she glanced down to the wristwatch that rested peacefully on the small nightstand by her bed.
5:45 a.m.
"Wonderful. I think I just activated the thing my family has been protecting for hundreds of years and used it to unleash a demon that's so powerful he kills 5 of his own without so much as a handshake and now I'm going to be late for school." Cursing under her breath Hikari raced into the bathroom, pulling off her other sock as she hopped along the hall.
Upon entering she deftly closed the door while at the same time trying to tug her shirt off her head. Through some weird twits and some close falls Hikari managed to successfully get into her shower and lay out a towel within an estimated 15 seconds. Quickly, she turned the water on full blast and reached for the shampoo as a jet of warm water soaked her hair.
I'm dead if Kiyoshi finds out what I did. I don't even know how I got the thing to work but that was what must have happened. Apparently I wished hard enough for someone to come save me that the Scroll granted it. But why? I'm sure that more experienced monks have tried with much more concentration than what I had when they attempted to get the scroll to work.
Regardless, who knew it would just disappear like that when I used it? I better not tell Kiyoshi. He treats that thing as if it were his second grandchild and if he knew it was gone forever and what I had done with it…She grimaced, but it wasn't because she had just gotten a nice squirt of soap in her eyes. Kiyoshi will be in a rage about what happened last night so I better let him cool off before I break the news. I'm not going to like coming back home…
Hikari sighed as she shut the shower off and wrapped the fuzzy towel around her. Wringing out her hair she stepped out of the tub and walked to the small medicine cabinet on the wall.
"Until he does cool off I'm going to have to find some way of avoiding him so he doesn't bring the subject up." She opened up the mirrored door and took out a brush, thinking of all the possible escape routes she could take this morning in order to avoid her grandfather. She groaned quietly, imagining her grandfather's reaction when she broke the news. "He's going to be so disappointed in me." Closing the door she pulled her hair over her shoulder and set the brush to taking care of the rats that had taken to nest in the thick strands.
"Oh, don't be negative! Think positive thoughts, things will turn around."
The brush fell with a clatter to the floor. Hikari gripped her hair tightly as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. What stared back out at her wasn't a girl with dark purple blue hair and brown eyes. This strange person had electric green hair pulled up into two extremely messy buns at the top of her head. Her eyes were such a light brown that they seemed almost yellow and she was wearing ared kimono with yellow pants underneath.
The girl beamed back out at Hikari, clearly pleased that she had finally taken notice of her, she continued in a high, flute like voice. "Oh, you don't know how glad I am to see another girl! Now I can finally have a decent conversation instead of morbid grumblings!" She twirled around in a fast circle and then leaned against the sink eagerly.
There's a girl…with green hair…in my bathroom mirror… A few slow blinks greeted these thoughts. Is this how people start to go insane? Hikari stared for a few seconds with her mouth slightly open before she got the hint that the girl was waiting for her to say something. Closing her mouth and trying to wrap her mind around this new turn of events she managed to stutter out.
"Oh..umm..yah..eh…Who…Who exactly are you?"
Mirror girl thumped herself on the head. "How silly of me! Of course you don't know who I am…" She chuckled, scratching the back of her head. "I'm Kasumi! The slightly bouncy, always optimistic, companion to Takeshi, Guide to Spirit World!"
Hikari raised an eyebrow. The Kasumi girl had to be a hallucination brought about by the chaotic events of the last few hours. Deciding that placating her overly taxed mind would be best Hikari replied deadpan.
"Hey, I'm Hikari, soon to be responsible for the death of my grandfather via heart attack and the one who brought about the destruction of the sole reason my family has existed for the past several hundred years." I'm just so stressed out about the scroll and about what happened last night that now I'm imagining things. That must be it. Hikari thought this to herself forcefully; it was too early for her mind to quit on her.
She bent down, picked up her comb, and resumed her attack on her hair. 'Kasumi' watched.
"Someone woke up a little pessimistic today, didn't they? But never fear! I'll soon have that frown upside down and-Hey! Wha, no way! What's this do? Oh, how cute!"
Hikari put her brush back down and watched as Kasumi wandered around the bathroom's reflection, messing with the taps, outlets, shower, and toilet. It was like she had never seen any of these things before. Everything was new to her. For a 'Spirit Guide' she should have been more acquainted with technology and she had yet to conviently fade away. Hikari was beginning to doubt that this girl was a mirage brought on by stress.
Kasumi skipped back and forth across the bathroom as Hikari watched, doubting her earlier suspicions more and more. Shaking her head Hikari cleared her throat loudly and turned to walk toward the bathroom door.
"Well, it was nice talking to you Kasumi but I can't stay and chat. I have a bus to catch." Waving over her shoulder Hikari quickly exited the bathroom without even noticing the frantic hand gestures of Kasumi and sprinted down the hallway to her bedroom. All the while keeping a look out for her grandfather.
Back in her room Hikari frantically started stuffing her books into her beaten bag and pulling on her school's uniform. Every few hurried movements she would glance anxiously at the clock. It was 6: 04. The bus would be waiting for her at 6:30 and no later. If she wasn't there in time for the bus driver to be done with the 3 cartoons on the back of the newspaper than she might as well camp out in the woods.
Hikari quickly threw her damp hair up into a ponytail and slung her backpack over her shoulder. She had 24 minutes to run four miles downhill through trails that even a park ranger would have trouble on. Taking a deep breath she crawled out her window. "Here goes."
Mr. Shang came to a skidding halt on the gravel road just outside a small trail on the largest mountain around. With skill only known to the transportation industry he swung open the door and carefully opened up his crisp newspaper. With sure movements he flipped the black print over and scanned the lines of font until he came upon the most important piece of any part of any newspaper in the world. The Funnies.
Upon careful inspection of the day's samples he chose what he felt to be the least gut buster of the three supplied and began to digest it fully. A few seconds later he let out a satisfied chuckle and moved onto the next one, saving the best for last. It was then when he snickered under his breath and moved his damaged eyes up to the last set of animated blocks that he heard it.
No human being alive can mistake the sound of someone running for their life. The frantic feet flying out in all directions, the breathing fast and irregular, just enough to supply oxygen to a rapidly over heating brain. Still, Mr. Shang continued onto the next frame, one more to go and he would reach the finale, laugh heartily, close the door, and careen down the mountain to the next stop. It wasn't his problem if the person needed his help or not.
"WAIT!" A breathless and leaf ridden girl flew through the door and proceeded to collapse upon the grimy steps, thus adding to her already dirty attire. Mr. Shang didn't even throw her a glance, already in the middle of a giggle fest over the cartoon. Yes, like only the very diligently trained, he had chosen well. The last was truly the best.
With a sharp snap he folded up the newspaper and glanced down to the half dead creature that had dared fly into his bus. With a permanent wheeze he said, "Most unlike you Hikari. You usually show up somewhere in the middle of the Zits, but you barely made it to the grand finish of Calvin and Hobbs."
Hikari could do nothing more than give a feeble wave and crawl her way past the gum wrappers and pieces of lead to the back of the bus. Lifting up her scratched arms she hauled herself into her seat, third from the back on the left, and ended her glory filled entrance with a flop onto the torn leather seat.
Mr. Shang made sure that Hikari was at least stationary before he shut the door and revved up his only joy. Snapping on his flying goggles he let a dare devil smile add more creases to his egg shaped head before his foot flew like a steel rod to the accelerator. Hikari had just enough will power to grab the bar under the seat before the gravel flew and they were doing 70 down 2 miles of traffic free road.
As they bounced along Hikari managed to pull herself over onto her back and latch her left hand on the back of her seat. Those things weren't there for sudden crashes; they were there for the passengers of city bus 183 to hang onto something.
When Hikari had first started taking this bus she had imagined that Mr. Shang must have been some sort of racecar driver back when he lived in China. But that didn't fit in with where he got the aviation goggles, which he had told her, were more for excitement than show. Mr. Shang didn't need any more excitement. It was common knowledge that on the weekends he would act as the stunt double for anyone who asked. That included women, animals, children, flying props, and the occasional robot. He was truly one of a kind.
Hikari looked up at the sand blasted windows. Odd bits of detached scenery flew by while her reflection stared back at her with bright cheeks, leaves, dirt, and twigs. She groaned as they took a sharp turn to the right and thought, Why did I even take a shower?
There was a sharp bump and then the bus's four wheels began making their own tracks on slick asphalt. She sat up; her breath restored for now, and began picking the twigs out of her hair. After a considerable pile of assorted vegetation lay beside her on the seat Hikari looked in the window again. She nearly screamed at what she saw.
Kasumi, the 'spirit guide', was sitting on the seat next to her bouncing in rhythm to the bus. Hikari glanced back at the bus driver, but Mr. Shang apparently hadn't noticed that his soul passenger had almost taken a nosedive into the aisle. Keeping as far away from the window as possible Hikari brushed the twigs the ferry girl was playing with onto the floor and gingerly asked, "Kasumi? What, ah, what are you doing here?"
The girl's head shot up and she giggled before responding, "I'm coming with you silly! I haven't been outside in decades and besides," here she turned serious, "you still don't know what you're up against." Hikari glanced back over to the bus driver. He still hadn't noticed that she was having a conversation with the emergency exit window.
Kasumi made a dismissive gesture toward the Indy 500 driver. "He can't hear me. Only people who are spiritually aware can hear and see me. So to them it just looks like you are having a friendly chat with non living objects." She gave a dental commercial smile and wink. Oh, that's perfect. More of a reason for society to steer clear. Hikari thought this bitterly when the bus suddenly pulled to a stop so fast that she became reacquainted with the seat in front of her. What do you know; they would be useful in the event of a crash. This thought went with her as Hikari grabbed her things, gave a cheery wave to a pouting Kasumi, and hopped off the bus.
Hikari stepped onto the cracked sidewalk in front of her school. It was one of the best in the city and held some of the all time records in academics. It was spotless, well, almost.
Mr. Shang exchanged the universal signs for good-bye with Hikari before he peeled out to acquire the other unfortunate souls who rode his bus. Hikari actually only rode the bus down the mountain and about 5 blocks through the city. It wasn't far and since it was early he didn't have to worry about the city complaining that he was running a charity drive with local high school students.
Brushing off the excess dirt Hikari decided she was as presentable as she was ever going to get, conquered the grounds in front of the school, and pushed the large front doors open. The cool A/C instantly sent goose bumps on the march across her arms and she was once again reminded that she was wearing a skirt.
It was only 6:45 yet the halls were already packed. She stood before the throng of the moving mass, watching science projects and term papers floating above heads, and books flowering out of nowhere. Deep breathes before the plunge. Baring that single bit of advice she hurtled into the wave, becoming yet again, another mindless drone. At least until 3:15.
Like a single living organism the school's population did everything together. Only the most experienced of the building could separate themselves from this primordial beast and get to their individual cubbies in the main entrance where they would switch out their shoes.
Since Hikari was in her second year of high school she was more experienced than the poor freshman that practically got trampled in their efforts to change their shoes. Hikari pitied those souls and used her prestige of being of a higher classman to put on the school's required footwear.
Near the end of the third row on the right side two desperate hands shot out of the mass of uniforms and latched themselves onto the sides of the cubbyhole. Hikari pulled herself free from the student body and quickly slipped out her sneakers and into the school's. Taking another deep breath she plunged back into the throng and let it guide her to the staircases toward the end of the second hall. Once there she grabbed the railing and like a desperate mountain climber she began her ascent to the third story where her classroom would be waiting for her.
On the third floor the population dwindled considerably. There were only a few classrooms up here; the majority of the floor was dedicated to offices and extra rooms for meetings. Straightening the red skirt out from the askew position it had managed to get itself into Hikari turned down the hallway toward the second room on the left. Room 6-C.
Hikari sat in her usual seat, second from the back, row closest to the windows. Her academic success at this school was average, which suited Hikari just fine. She doubted if the school would ever be graced with the brainiacs like Minamino or Yu Kaito ever again. The students a year ahead of her were still reeling from the feeling of medocrity they experienced trying to learn with them.
With a distracted air Hikari rooted around the confines of her desk and pulled out the mornings materials along with a beat up sketch pad. If she was lucky she could get in a few sketches to clear her mind before the morning bell rung.
An hour later the rest of the class had filed into the room, sitting with friends and getting last night's homework assignments finished. Hikari was still at her desk; well, what could be seen of her desk since the majority of it was covered in eraser shavings. She sat glaring at her smudged piece of paper. In the last hour she had accomplished nothing. For the life of her all she could think about were the night's events. The doodles were not helping her relax at all, it seemed to have the opposite effect; instead of her usual still life she had drawn what looked to be a very cartoonish lizard getting chopped in half.
Irritated at her own distractions she brushed the pink shavings onto the floor where she would sweep them up at the end of the day.
At 8:00 the teacher swept into the room in all her glory. A mug of coffee in one hand and the day's assignments in the other; she scanned the room like a living corpse. The liver spots on her hands seemed more pronounced today than usual. A sign to the rest of the class that her temper was just a few degrees from being set off.
Mrs. Kuramoti was the physics teacher, but that was just her day job. During the morning hours she was like any other 80-year-old woman. Crabby, irritated, and especially annoyed at the younger population. Well, maybe she wasn't quite like your average 80 year old. Around Hikari's class she had gotten the nickname of Harpy. Why? Simple. Her fingers were gnarled hooks that took to grabbing the back of the neck of anyone who dared turn their head and talk to their friends during an assignment or test and her black hair was cropped right at her ears and weighted down with so much hair spray it stuck out violently. But the thing that really gave her name were her beady black eyes drenched in far too much mascara. Despite her initial hatred toward the students that was just her day life. At night she hit the gambling bars and casinos; amounting small fortunes in poker chips and custom dice.
With her squinty glare she surveyed the room and rapped a ruler on the desk. Squawking in her high, gravely voice she declared, "No school announcements outside today. Principal's sick and the student council's still recovering from that 'chicken' incident." Her beady eyes turned a size smaller as two boys in the back of the class did a small air high five to each other.
Grumbling to herself she turned her back on the room and picked up a piece of chalk. The atmosphere turned heavy as she rasped out laws and intentionally raked her nails against the board.
This is mainly how Hikari's day went. From one teacher to the next, struggling through economics and science until at last lunch came around.
The bell rang for lunch and the English instructor gave a weary smile. He could now satisfy himself with a nice round of onigiri before the next class. Hikari watched half interested as the class arranged themselves in their own little groups, eagerly opening their lunches and displaying the bounty before their friends.
Hikari reached into her own desk to retrieve her hastily packed lunch. The exotic contents were an apple, a small bowl of cold rice, some rice crackers, and a thermos of nuked green tea. Oh, boy.
It took only a whooping five minutes to consume this feast and Hikari found that nuked green tea was something one could never get used to. Packing away her lunch box in the small lockers at the back of the classroom she mused on how she was going to approach going back home. By now Kiyoshi will have noticed that the scroll was gone. She sighed, I guess I'll just have to tell him the truth and hope it doesn't kill him.
Feeling her own personal rain cloud escort her back to her seat Hikari slumped into it and felt in her desk for her sketchbook. Flipping through it she found the half finished drawing she had done of a rose. It was simple enough, first the whole rose bush had been drawn and then she'd picked one rose and darkened, detailed, enhanced, and shaded it according to the mood she was trying to bring across. The rest of the bush she had lightened and smudged slightly in places to give it the feel that it was out of focus.
Getting lost with in the complicated pattern of rose thorns and vines Hikari let herself go. Her mind wandered through the days events, past experiences, the night's adventures, everything slipped through her mind's eye in quiet recognition. Fingers scratched with the simple pencil, lines were rubbed out, lengthened, and the simple rose bush expanded on the page until it was covering the whole sheet in twisting greenery.
It wasn't until 10 minutes of this bliss had passed that Hikari began to become aware of her favorite electric buzz. Feeling a slight tick in her right temple Hikari slowed her pencil movements to sloth speed and closed her eyes.
In the past 24 hours the feeling had been going off like a metal detector at a stapler factory. It was draining Hikari and irritating her. Deciding that she had had enough of this little buzz she curled her legs up underneath herself, (making sure the skirt didn't show anything that might end up in a year book somewhere), in a lotus like position and flipped her notebook to a fresh page. Letting the pencil squiggle freely in the white confines she concentrated and began the exorcises that Kiyoshi had been teaching her since she was 6 years old.
First she had to slow her breathing and her heart rate. With precision her breaths became gradually slower, each one was a little longer than the last with just a little more time in between the next breath until her chest was barely moving. As she was doing this she slowed her heartbeat. This was even more important than her breathing. If she wasn't careful she could slow her heartbeat too fast and end up in the emergency room and if she lowered her heartbeat too much then there would be no need to go to the emergency room.
Luckily for Hikari, Kiyoshi had demanded she perfect this extreme meditation technique, so it only took a few minutes before she felt she was ready. The next step was harder, though. Using her memory Hikari placed herself in a spot that she could picture with exact detail. She had to know every inch of the place. This took a little more time. Block by block she painstakingly built her small world. Every centimeter was paid close attention to and nothing was spared a double check. In this new world Hikari opened her eyes and examined her handiwork closely.
It was the garden outside the temple. Exactly as she left it the last time she had been meditating. Every detail was perfect, even the stain on the temple roof where lightening had struck it the year past. For a few seconds Hikari enjoyed the simple peace that her home brought her, and then she set to work dissembling everything she saw. Everything was stripped in layers from her world. First the leaves, the outside of the temple, then the grass was gone, the flowers, the water, the dirt, the whole temple, and then the sky, the sun. Everything was taken away until Hikari was left in a totally white world.
She gazed around; it was like a new piece of paper in her sketchbook, just waiting to be imagined. But Hikari didn't come here to draw in her mind. Instead she imagined a barrier around herself and with care she stretched it out all around her. Blocking the shivers that were cascading up and down her back. This is what she always did when the feeling got particularly bad. It was the remedy that Kiyoshi taught her to prevent the strange electic like feelings from becoming to much. Sometimes a rebellious thought would tempt her with the idea of letting the feelings build, expand inside her, a let loose, but Kiyoshi had cautioned against those actions. Saying it was better not to find out and stay safe.
30 seconds was all it normally took to quiet the feeling, at least for a few days. Then she would emerge from her meditation, go back to her drawing and spend the next 20 minutes of lunch in solitude like she did every day.
But for some reason, today, of all days, the feeling wouldn't go away. The longer she meditated the stronger the vibe would get. In her white world the shield she had put up around herself was shaking with the force of the feeling. In some places it was even cracking. This had never happened before.
The shield broke and a wave of noise and feeling broke over her. Frustrated Hikari broke out of her mental exercises and glared into the back of her eyelids. A bead of sweat ran down her temple. That had been tiring, more so than usual. She couldn't go back and try to chain the feeling back up like she had been doing. It wouldn't allow that and more frustrating was Hikari realized she wasn't strong enough to try again.
I can't take it. There have been too many chills running down my back in the last 24 hours. I'm exhausted and I can't keep it locked up anymore. A frown worked its way onto her face. It did save me many times last night...Maybe I should try…Kiyoshi is only worried I can't handle something so foreign, but I think I can. It must be inside me for a reason. An electric current ran through her body so fiercly that goosebumps followed behind it and her finger and toes tingled. Alright! I'll listen to what it has to say! Happy!
She felt a flash of light behind her eyes and Hikari could almost swear that she felt a silent yes resonate throughout her body. Feeling a sense that she was about to unleash something that should have stayed locked up Hikari went back to her meditative state, repeating the steps she had just done. Imagining the garden, taking the garden down and then sitting in the white world. But this time, instead of forcing the feeling away, like she usually did, she remained still and called for it. Searched for it.
At first there was nothing. Just emptiness. Then distantly she began to hear a dull thud, almost like an extremely low bass drum pounding away in the corners of her mind. It was hesitant drumming, as if the person pounding away wasn't sure it was doing the right thing.
Curiosity began eating away at Hikari and the doubt she had had most of her life about the feeling vanished. She wanted to know more. Taking a breath Hikari stood up from her lotus position on the floor and gingerly began walking toward the noise. It was a steady rhythm, but soft and quiet.
Hikari walked faster, wanting to find the source of the noise. It got a little louder, almost as if encouraged by her increasing pace. She walked a little faster, gathering herself up into a light jog; it got faster, matching her footsteps. Hikari went into a full jog and grinned as the drumming got louder and faster. It was intoxicating. She had to know. She had to know what had been living with her in her sub-conscious for all these years. Watching her. Looking out for her.
She ran. The white world was endless but she felt as if she was getting closer. Desperately she looked around wildly for the source. Willing it to be there. Be it a crazed native on the bongos or some possessed marching drum, she didn't care. She had to know.
That's when she saw it. A door. It was white like everything else around her, but it was floating a few feet up from the ground. This wasn't entirely new. When she was little Kiyoshi had put Hikari through a 'mind journey'. In it she had explored her own mind and discovered that things such as feelings, memories, wishes, even her own personality were behind doors that were hidden in the strangest places in her mind. The doors were usually painted to sort of symbolize what might lie beyond and each had a simple doorknob on them.
This door was different.
It was stark white with a black handle. It was made of thick wood and covered in chains. Hikari felt her heartbeat picking up and quickly slowed to a walk. Furrowing her brows she concentrated and brought her heart back down. If it sped back up she would come out of this state and there was no telling if she would be able to do this again.
Stopping before the door Hikari realized that the awesome drumming was coming from the chains. They were all beating against the door frantically, no longer in sync, as she got closer to them. The chains spread against the door in waves and some sense told Hikari that each chain symbolized every meditation she had ever done to try and 'seal' this door away.
Looking at it she realized that it was very close to actually being locked away for good. One more intense meditation would do it and then it would be gone, possibly forever.
Hikari was at a crossroad. Either she sit down now and seal this door, vanish the feeling and finally feel as if she belonged, as if she were normal, or she open the door and realize just what the feeling truly was.
The answer was simple. With a slight smirk Hikari whispered to her own mind, "Who really wants to be normal?' And she opened the door.
An explosion of noise and color rushed out at Hikari. It engulfed her with symbols and hues. All breathtaking and frightening in their complex patterns and almost violent intrusion upon her white world. They blended together forming shapes and designs. Fusing together and then breaking off to join with another. At first Hikari couldn't tell where the colors were coming from and then she saw it. In the center of the room was a brilliant orb, pulsing with colors. She gazed at it and nothing but dazzling diamond greeted Hikari's eyes, so much so that she nearly lost her concentration and ended back in reality.
Gritting her teeth, Hikari shielded her eyes and drew back slightly. The light continued to stream through her subconscious, seeking every nook and cranny. It invaded everything. Seeking her dreams, thoughts, fears, wishes, and desires. The light took complete control in that one second, making sure it's imprint would remain and that it wouldn't be pushed back or forgotten ever again.
That's when Hikari realized what the light really was. It was her feelings, that extra sixth sense, premonition, intuition, whatever you wanted to call it, that sense that went beyond seeing, but truely feeling the world around you. This was the electric shock that invaded her senses whenever something terrible or wonderful was about to happen. If she were in danger or if she was about to get an unexpected wish it would ring like a crystal bell. Telling her, warning her.
Now here it was. After so many years of Hikari rejecting the feeling it rejoiced at her finally accepting it. It realized that Hikari was willing to try and so it was going to as well, but it was going to see to that Hikari wouldn't back out when things got complicated. The feeling was going to make sure she wouldn't forget it.
The light dimmed slightly and Hikari let her arm fall to her side as she watched the light gently cascade down to a soft pink, then purple light. It coated her with ripples of color and warmth. Then small pieces began to drift away from the source and like fireflies they surrounded her. Coming close, as if examining her, and then floating away. It looked as if she were underwater in greens, blues, reds, and purples.
Hikari smiled and the light responded with a brilliant yellow pulse that raced across the corners of her mind. Taking a small step forward Hikari reached toward the orb of light that acted as conductor. The orb pulsed gently and shimmered as Hikari's fingers grazed across the cool surface.
Smiling Hikari let her hand fall to her side and quietly asked, "So, was there something you wanted to tell me?" The orb glimmered, almost like it was winking, and the colors that had been dancing across the walls suddenly morphed into Hikari's classroom. It showed herself, sitting lotus style, completely motionless, except for her right hand at her desk, and the rest of the class enjoying their lunches within their groups.
The orb blinked rapidly and the scene zoomed in on the desk in front of Hikari. A purse was open and several of the contents had spilled onto the desk, displaying lipstick, hair ties, and an open compact. It was the compact that the orb was blinking at. In the mirror was a desperate green headed someone, repeatedly giving wild hand signals.
Hikari studied the image for a few seconds before she glanced back over at the light. "Kasumi is telling the truth. She was my ancestor's spirit guide." The orb swiftly changed from pale green to blue, a yes as it were. Hikari blew violently through her nose, "You want me to listen to what she has to say, don't you?" The ball of light floated over to her and gave her a quick bop on the head. She waved the over sized firefly away and grinned. "Alright. Alright. I know you wouldn't bother me if it wasn't important so I'll give it a try."
Hikari watched as her classroom became slightly blurry, not looking at the friendly light bulb she asked, "I'm never going to be able to see you again am I?" The orb turned gray, and floated over to her side. She could feel a small breeze brush her cheeks as the winds that kept it afloat washed over her. The little light didn't need to have words or a face to convey what it was saying. Hikari could feel its sadness, its regrettable answer. No. This would be the only time they would ever see, or speak to each other.
The orb phased through one color in a slow procession, all were a dull color. Despair spread across Hikari's face, though this was the first time she'd ever gotten to be with her inner light as it were it was like being reunited with a lost sibling. Something she'd never had and to hear that she'd never get to see this little light again was heartbreaking. Gloomily, she thought; And here I thought I might actually have someone I could share something with. How pathetic, even the beings inside my own mind can't be with me.
There was a mad buzzing sound coming from above Hikari and she realized that the orb was now bright orange and zipping around her head. She got the jolt of frustration and something hot shot through her nerves. It was mad at her.
Confused Hikari looked up at it. Did it hear me? The orb flashed a brief blue and then zoomed down to her eye level. She looked at it sadly, "Why? Why can't I still see you?" The orb drained its orange glow to replace it with a soft green and looked at her kindly, willing her to understand. Hikari stared at the ground, she'd known all along but didn't want to give in. "You're not really a person. You're me in a way and this, as sad as it is to say, is like talking with an imaginary friend. Wonderful to have but it was never real."
The glowing light bulb flashed blue and turned a soft grey as it felt Hikari's disappointment. Softly it gave her one emotion. The one it knew that she wanted most. The only one it could ever send her, but never give.
Hikari started as the warm, understanding, and safe sensation descended upon her. Her numb fingers tingled with the feeling and it was all Hikari could do to keep from smiling. It was as if she'd been locked away for years and this one time in her entire life she'd gotten to see the sun for the first time. It was beautiful.
"I don't understand! What is this? Why do I feel this way? Why do you keep sending me this feeling? At first I thought it was a warning and now." She threw up her hands in frustration. "I don't know anymore."
The orb pulsed white this time and displayed upon the walls of the room a long, thin black object with a bulky red shaped triangle on the end. Other than that Hikari couldn't make anything out. She looked back at the orb for guidance but it remained that dazzling white. Slowly, she understood. "I just have to wait, don't I?" It flashed blue.
Hikari felt a slight tremor, and her heartbeat began picking up. The lunch hour was up and people were moving their seats back. It was time to go.
She looked back up at the light, which was now a dull grey. Even through all the hell Hikari had put it through it had cared for her this entire time. Gently, Hikari wrapped her arms around the glowing mass, feeling its happiness at being accepted and loved by her. "Thank you."
It blinked at her a few times before wiggling out of her arms. Gently it blew the bangs out of her eyes and floated back. Allowing her to leave. Hikari gave a small wave and turned toward the door, when suddenly the little orb began flashing orange and the walls began morphing back into her classroom. It quickly zoomed back in on a person, one who sat towards the head of the room. They had short brown hair, and crystal blue eyes. A boy. It was Ryu Wakumuto and he was staring right at her.
The orb flashed orange frantically, but Hikari was unable to ask what the danger was because she felt herself slipping away. She was going back. Desperately she tried to hold on as long as she could but it was futile. In moments her eyes snapped open and she found herself staring at a pair of wrathful eyes.
She sat up with a jolt and noticed that her pencil had fallen on the floor, the rest of the class was still hurriedly putting their desks back in order, and Ryu was watching her. Hikari quickly reached down and retrieved her pencil; careful to keep her eyes adverted from Ryu's. The orb hadn't liked him, it was warning her against him, but why? She'd never even had a conversation with the guy.
Hikari slipped her math book out and started when she looked back down at her drawing. The whole paper was a black mass of violent scratches that covered everything in a desperate black. Everything was smothered in insane and almost murderess pencil markings. It was utter chaos. All of it except for the middle. In the center a pair of loathing eyes stared back at her, mocking her, killing her from the inside. Quickly Hikari shut the notebook and shoved it in the farthest corner of her desk. She knew those eyes.
Those were Yukio's eyes.
Hikari barely even registered herself standing and bowing as the math teacher, Ms. Kimihora, walked in. Why had she drawn him of all people? Had the experience in her mind drawn out her fears or was the orb reminding her of the most important danger?
She shook her head as she sat back in her seat. The drawing had scared her, yes, but she wasn't going to let it get to her. She needed to worry about something else. Something closer at hand, something she could deal with. Her eyes darted back over to Ryu who was staring with rapt attention at Ms. Kimihora. His usual self, perfect grades, attire, and complexion. He was one of the school's brightest and most popular heartthrob.
Dreamy eyes, flowing hair with bangs that seemed to always be in his eyes, and a voice that sent chills up young girls spines he was a catch that only the most daring shot for. So far no one had shot far enough. He was unreachable. His only devotion seemed to be his schoolwork and he had the personality of shaved ice without the syrup. Many had tried but all had failed. Even some guys had gone for him, thinking he swung that way. They had left him with bruised arms and black eyes. Apparently getting chocolate for Valentine's Day from one of his fellow males hadn't really gone over well. So the girls were certain he liked them, it was just none of them knew how to reach him.
It was strange then that the orb should warn Hikari about him since she was sure he didn't even know she'd gone to school with him since they were 5. She studied him, but couldn't tell if there was anything unusual about him. Feeling a little freaked out Hikari decided she would keep her eye on him and proceed with caution for the next few days.
Now for that other task at hand. She looked over the shoulder of the girl in front of her. It was five minutes into class and Kumiko was already asleep. Keeping one eye on the teacher and the other on Kumiko, Hikari deftly reached inside the purse on the desk, extracted the compact, and quickly leaned back in her seat.
Making sure that a particularly hard problem was in the works at the front of the room, Hikari opened the little makeup applier to see a breathless Kasumi smiling at her. She was just about to give the signal for quiet when Hikari remembered that she was the only one who could hear her. Feeling slightly stupid she gave Kasumi a wave.
Kasumi twirled around in excitement in the powder-ridden mirror. "Boy, I'm so glad I finally reached you. It took forever to find a mirror in this classroom." She giggled and threw a thumb over her shoulder, "Good thing these girls are so obsessed with these little powder boxes or else I would have been done for."
Hikari raised an eyebrow. "Mirrors? You need mirrors to talk to me?" The spirit guide nodded enthusiastically. "Yep, it's like my medium. You see, right now I'm just a soul, I don't even have a ghost so it's very dangerous for me to be out in the real world. But I can use the mirrors so it's safer and this way I have a body as well." The high schooler blinked in surprise. "What? You mean you're not alive?"
She shook her head, a semblance of remorse tugging at her lips. "No, but we'll get into all of that later. Everything, the true story will be explained. But at the moment we have a little bit of a problem."
A sense of foreboding loomed over Hikari, holding herself back from twirling the ring on her hand she whispered, "What kind of problem?" Here Kasumi did something strange. She rubbed the back of her head and stared at the ceiling, as if gathering her thoughts from the fluorescent lights above. "Well…you see the thing is…When you were about to die last night…I...well…" She trailed off, at a lose of how to answer the rest of the question.
Holding the small compact a little too tightly Hikari leaned forward and trying to keep her voice low, whispered harshly, "Kasumi! What haven't you told me?" The little green haired woman retreated a few steps back into the mirror and answered in a panicky voice. "In order to save you from death I used the scroll to summon a very powerful entity from Spirit World to rescue you and kill the demons. The problem is I was very flustered and you can say, rusty, when I summoned the guy so I just sort of…choose a name at random and as it turns out…"
"Kasumi what did you do!" Hikari was barely able to keep her voice under control as she felt the strings of a deadly web begin to tighten around her. In a rush Kasumi squeaked, "I accidentally summoned a high A class demon from the 6th gate of hell and I promised him that if he saved you he was free to go. If Spirit World finds out we're done for and who knows what he'll do." She trailed off, thinking of unseen punishment and destruction in the not too distant future.
A cold hand balled itself into a fist and slammed into Hikari's stomach. A very powerful inmate of hell had saved her not even 12 hours ago and not only was Kasumi at fault for his break out, but she was as well. Kiyoshi is going to kill me…
She was starting to feel just as panicked as Kasumi was. Don't go there Hikari, deep breaths, keep your sanity, stay calm and think. Hikari closed her eyes and inhaled a few times. A few seconds passed. She opened her eyes, a little calmer, and checked back in with Kasumi. Not so good.
She was running in circles, tears streaming out of her eyes, and muttering something about spankings. Clearing her throat Hikari whispered to Kasumi. "It's okay. It's okay! Don't worry Kasumi; we're going to figure this out without anyone knowing. All we need to do is track him down, capture him or convince him to go back to hell. If we do it fast enough Spirit World will never know and he can't have done too much yet could he? Just stay calm. We'll figure it out. "
Kasumi nodded like an infant, hanging on every word. She had no clue as to what to do. Sighing, Hikari thought for a moment before turning back to the spirit guide. "We'll need information on him. Anything we can get so we can find him. What do you know about him?"
She frowned. "Not much. I'll have to get my ink set out to find out anything." Hikari nodded, "That's great, but is there anything that you know about him off of the top of your head?" She brightened and nodded rapidly, "Yes. His name is Kuronue."
A/N: 17 pages my friends….17….But the best news is this story is over 50 pages long! WOOOO! As I said in the beginning, thanks so much to everyone who's reviewed, and even to you people who just read, I know you're there, my stats speak volumes. Arigato!