Chapter 8: Stormy Isles
Izumi could hear mumbled voices coming from the door, but she couldn't make out what they were saying, but eventually there were no voices left and that made her wonder. She opened her eyes slowly letting the light flood in and managed to pull herself up, "Aoi?" she called out meekly, "Aoi, are you there?" she tried again. She rubbed her eyes, as they were swollen all over again and the pain in her leg was really starting to bother her a bit. She heard the door close and when she turned around hoping to see Aoi, her heart almost stopped when she saw Takuya standing by the doorway instead. Izumi scrambled off the couch making her fall over, Takuya walked over and reached down to help her up but Izumi flinched when he did so. His heart sank, never in his life has a girl ever reacted so negatively to his touch before. It wasn't like he wanted to hurt her on purpose. He remembered there was once a time when she loved it when he would kiss and touch her ever so gently across her soft porcelain skin. Now, she barely wanted to be in the same room as him.
"Izumi…" Takuya tried to cajole her into talking to him, "Please, I'm so sorry," and he really meant it. He didn't want to see her like this; he didn't want to know that it was because of him that she was like this: Broken and hurt. Izumi's eyes widened with fear before her shoulder began to quiver, her deep pools of green overfilling themselves with tears. "Don't cry…" his own voice sounding weak and unconvincing. Please, he begged in his own mind, just let me protect her again. Somewhere in the distance and upstairs in Izumi's room, two bright lights shimmered to life. A soft aura of light had surrounded itself around the locket that Izumi had hidden away under her drawer. It hovered for a second and just as quickly as it came, the light dimmed and the locket rested back in its place.
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Aoi felt a jolt in her heart and looked up into the cloudless sky through the car window. Scenes of the city flashed past them in an instant, but she took no notice of them. A sense of urgency flooded her body for a moment before the feeling dissipated. She clenched the sleeve of her arm and watched the sky tentatively. So it has begun, there was a new energy that was covering the city now and she was afraid that if she had sensed it, other beings were also well on their way to look for it as well.
"You all right?" Kouji's voice shook her awake from her thoughts and Aoi just smiled at him, "You look a little pale," he noted. Aoi did indeed did feel drained momentarily of energy.
"I'm fine," she reassured him although she wasn't so sure her expression hadn't already given her away. He gave her one more glance before shrugging watching the road ahead. Aoi couldn't shake off the feeling that something bad was coming this way and if her feelings were correct an evil presence was lurking about. "You think those two are going to work things out? I mean what happens if they don't?" Aoi inquired almost to herself, but it was quiet enough in the car that Kouji heard her.
"They'll work it out, it's not going to be easy or pain-free… Knowing those two, they're destined to be together." Kouji answered, "As cheesy as that sounds," he added with a small chuckle.
Aoi's lips frowned, "Destiny, huh…" It was an interesting way of putting things, if this was destiny at play then Takuya and Izumi was about to face things that's going to test them as individuals and their relationship as one. She closed her eyes and said a little prayer, hoping that everything turns out well in the end.
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"Go away!" she yelled at him as she slapped his hand away from her, she was crying now, heavy tears once again staining her face, "I hate you I hate you! I hate you!" she threw the heavy words at him over and over again as if they were going to make him go away. She had backed up into the wall and she slid against it huddling herself from his presence. She wanted him gone from her life, never wanting to see him again if that were possible. Never in her life had she felt so much emotional pain from one person before, the way he would drive her to the edge with just a simple look.
Takuya had always been stubborn and persistent, how did they end up like this? They were so in love with each other before, now they're just pieces of themselves left ruined by unfortunate happenings. He just couldn't let this end like this. He slid his arms underneath her legs and the small of her back and lifted her up in one swoop. She struggled against him at first, fighting and kicking screaming for him to let her go, but he held on tight refusing to let have her way. He made his way upstairs, the familiarity of the house still fresh in his mind like it was yesterday and pushed the door of her room open with his foot. The sun was turning a heavy orange as the sky began to darken as well, Takuya left his princess on her bed whom turned swiftly to her side, her back against him. He drew the shades, which threw her room into darkness with just a few strand of light coming from the window. He took off his jacket, placed it gently against the chair and climbed onto the bed with her. They didn't say anything at first, the two just lying there in the quiet room, listening to the faraway sounds of cars and jet planes passing overhead.
Izumi was tired. She'd been crying so much lately that she didn't know she had that ability within herself. She had never meant to hurt him, she wanted so badly to stay here and spend her days with him, grow up with him by her side. But her dreams lied elsewhere and she only took that route because she thought that was the best choice for her life. If only she had the courage to have told him earlier, to talk it out, they wouldn't be here right now. She knew that everything had started because of her, she made one bad decision and everything else just went to shit. She couldn't admit to herself, but now that she was finally home, seeing Takuya in the flesh and letting out all those tears that has been bottled up inside—she realized that she's been miserable without him. Even though they were separated by thousands of miles, she never forgot about him, he was always on her mind. She couldn't selfishly blame him for what he has done. It wasn't like they were still together. He had the free will to do whatever he liked.
Takuya looked at the nape of her neck, her hair flowing across her bed. He reached out subconsciously and stroked her neck, but she moved away uneasily and he retracted his arm. "Please, Takuya. Don't touch me," her voice cracked weakly under the last of her strength. He sat up and the girl only curled tighter into her ball of safety, "Just leave," she begged finally. Even if she had felt miserable without him, what she had seen today could not be unseen. The last punch to her heart was a little more than she could handle. At this point she didn't know if what was left of their relationship was repairable.
From the darkness she felt his strong arms wrap around her tightly and she shrieked at him to get off. She fought him with all that was left in her body, but he just held on tighter. Her cries were muffled into his shirt as she punched his chest feebly, "I hate you..." Izumi hiccupped out. She was exhausted, her eyes felt like heavy coals hot and corpulent with tears still in them. She just wanted to sleep now, to be covered in the warmth of another's arm felt never felt so good to her, even if that one person was the last person she wanted to see. But in the haziness of her delusions, she knew that the only person that could calm her stormy heart was the person that had hurt her the most and she was glad that he didn't let go of her as she drifted off into a deep slumber.
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A/N: You know what to do! Review, review, review! Thanks! :)
