Chapter 9. I hate writing sad stuff man. But I'm so happy so many people are reading my story
I felt a hand touch my shoulder, but I shook it away. "Akane?" I stood up, knocking my paper off my desk. "Ms. Kurenai. Can Akane be excused?" Kiba asked, seeing I was to shaken to talk. The red-eyed teacher looked at me with pity and nodded. "Thanks. Come on Akane." Kiba grabbed my arm and walked me out to classroom. We stopped by a water fountain. "You going to be able to hold up?" "Sure. I mean. I shouldn't be upset. I'm probably just jumping to conclusions." I answered. I didn't know what was making me think this way, why I was refusing to say anything negative, but Kiba did. "Okay, Look you're clearly in shock. But you need to think strait right now." I coughed into my sleeve, my throat hurting all of a sudden. "Maybe their cat died or something." "They don't have a cat." "Then mayb-" Kiba grabbed both my shoulders and looked me strait in the eyes. "He's dead Akane. Kimimaro's dead. He was really sick and today he died. That's what they just told Tayuya and that's what I'm telling you now!" I looked at him, my eyes wide. "I….I just." Then it hit my brain like a splash of ice water. I didn't even try to stop myself when the tears started. "Akane...I didn't mean to say it like that." I wiped the tears from my eyes but they kept coming. I must've looked like a five year old standing in the hall, rubbing my nose with the sleeve of my jacket. "Don't cry please. I know you liked him, and you'll miss him." He reached for my arm but I stepped back clumsily, hitting the wall. Where my body touched it left a light burned impression. At my feet, tiny, insignificant flames danced around my feet. "If you don't calm down, you'll burn the school down." "I Don't Care!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, then ran out the fire exit doors just at the sprinklers turned on, leaving a group of screaming kids inside.
Another tree went up flames as I ran by. I didn't know exactly where I was going, I just knew I had to tire myself out or someone would get seriously hurt. My phone went off in my pocket. It was from Kiba.
"Where r you?"
I ignored it, shoving the device back in my pocket. Every bush I passed burst in a fiery blaze. I couldn't control it, my emotions making it impossible. I fell to the ground and hugged my knees. I was somewhere in a field or woods, but I didn't know where exactly. Tears soaked my face and my heart felt as if it had been ripped out of my chest. I couldn't breath, my mind refusing to work logically. It was like the panic attack in the park except a million times worst.
"Where r u?"
I still didn't answer. Knowing Kiba, he was trying to track me down right now; his stupid talent always made him a good tracker. I coughed loudly, still sobbing like a baby. I cried so much I felt sick, throwing up on the grass beside me. I leaned my head back on a tree, praying it wouldn't burn like the others.
"Akane. Answer me now."
I closed my eyes, feeling tired. I didn't know how much time had passed, at least an hour, maybe more. Dark clouds had rolled in, and the first few raindrops hit my face, mixing with the tears that had dried on my cheek. For some reason Tayuya's lyrics played in my mind
The fires die down
Under harmonious rain
Washing away fear
Washing away pain
I was exhausted and hurt. The rain gave me a sense of peace, or relief. I sniffed, wiping my face on my other sleeve for the millionth time, and let sleep take me wherever it wanted.
"Where r you? Please B okay"
"She got so worked up it made her sick." A female voice said softly. "Thanks for bringing her here Kiba. We'll call her parents." "You mean her sister." A male voice pointed out. "Yes ma'm. It was hard finding her in the rain storm though. Thanks for letting me bring her here Tsuyuki." "Don't worry about it. I don't think she realized how far she ran though." I slowly opened my eyes and found myself looking up at an older version of Tsuyuki, except her long, slightly darker blue hair was tied back in a motherly hairstyle and she wore an apron. Her soft sky-blue eyes smiled down at me, the ideal picture of a mother. At least from what I remembered. "I think she's waking up. Akane? Can you hear me?" I nodded. My head felt like crap, and my clothes had been replaced by a slightly loose white t-shirt and a pair of rainbow striped gym shorts. No doubt they belonged to Tsuyuki. "Don't try to sit up. I'm going to bring you something to drink. You must be feeling so down, after being caught in the rain, and the horrible news about the Kaguya boy." Tsuyuki gave her mom a sharp look from across the room as my body started to feel sick again. I remembered why I had left in the first place…Kimimaro. "Kimimaro?" I murmured. "I'm sorry Akane. They came in the class and told us everything after you left. I mean, after the fire alarms and stuff had calmed down." Tsuyuki said, causally making shapes out of an ice cube from her drink. "He's really gone?" Kiba didn't answer, probably wondering if I'd forgiven him for earlier. I searched frantically for my phone. "What are you looking for?" "My cell! It's got our picture!" I couldn't loose one of the last things I had of him. I needed to just see his face the way it was in the past, before things got all- "You didn't have it with you…Maybe it fell." I looked out the window. It was still raining. "No! The rain will mess it up. I have to find it." I stood up a little too quickly, tripping over a blanket that had wrapped around my ankle. Kiba caught me. "No." He pointed to me. "Fire" He pointed at the window. "Water." I felt as if he was talking to a 3 year old. "And while you're sick, absolutely not." "But Kiba. I have to." He threw on his favorite grey jacket and put the hood on. "I'll look for it. Just stay in bed." He walked out the room, slamming the door behind him. Tsuyuki shook her head. "Poor Kiba." "Wha?" "O nothing. Now get back in bed." She ordered. "You're lucky we lived near-by. Do you know how scared mom was when Kiba showed up at our door, soaking wet, carrying you. He insisted she look at you first. We couldn't even get him to change clothes until we had you situated." She said, flipping through the TV channels on the television I hadn't even noticed was there. "Kiba's always been a great friend." I sighed. Tsuyuki rolled her eyes and whistled. Chichi ran in the room, wagging his adorable little tail and barking. "You know. Dogs are incredibly loyal. Yesterday, I flipped on lil' Chichi here because he destroyed my old stuffed bear from my dad." She picked up the puppy and scratched him behind the ears. "I hit him on the nose and said 'Bad Chichi' and fussed and shouted for about two hours at the poor guy. It wasn't the first time I'd yelled at him, but you know what? For some reason he always runs back to me when I call his name. When I miss Gaara, he's there to do something silly to cheer me up, and when I have a nightmare, he's always cuddling right bedside me when I wake up in the middle of the night." The puppy gave a happy bark as he licked his owner's cheek. She put him on the ground and he started chasing his tail, making both of us laugh. Kiba walked back inside, petting the dog, the he gave me a weak smile. "I found your phone. It's not in the best condition. Sorry." He held out my rain drenched mobile and placed it in my hands. I opened it to a blank screen. "Maybe it just needs to dry out." He added to brighten my mood. "Yea. Maybe." Tsuyuki gave a silent laugh to herself as she followed Chichi out the room. "Incredibly Loyal."
I was sitting on a bench beside Kimimaro. He gently touched my cheek, then stood up. "Where are you going?" I felt lonely; I didn't want him to leave me. Something beside me moved, and I looked on my arm to see a large tarantula inching it's way towards my shoulder. Another was making its way up my ankle. "Kimimaro! Help me!" I shouted, frantically trying to shake the spiders off, but every time one moved, more appeared. I couldn't breathe. "Kimimaro, please!" But he walked away as if he couldn't hear me, as if he never could hear me. Or he didn't want to. He walked out of view as more and more giant, glass eyed spiders crept onto my body. I let out an ear piercing scream. "Akane?" A voice echoed. "Akane. Wake up."
"Akane. Can you hear me?" I sat up with a jolt, sweat covering my entire body, making my borrowed t-shirt stick uncomfortably to my chest. "You were having a nightmare." Kiba rubbed my head calmingly. "It was horrible! Kimimaro was there. The spiders. He wouldn't help. Couldn't hear me." I wasn't even making sense to myself. "You fell asleep, so you stayed over at Tsuyuki's." He said, still petting my head. "You're also going to skip school today. Tsuyuki's mom already called in sick for you, and talked to Rino." He stood up but I grabbed his arm. "Don't leave me please. I can't be left again. I can't take it." I whined pathetically. "I still have to go to school. But I can stay here until you fall back asleep. How does that sound?" He smiled. I nodded in agreement, lying back down. "Kiba?" "Hmm?" "DO you remember that time when we were 5, and we were on the playground?" "Which time?" "The time you challenged me to that race, and got all made when I beat you." Kiba gave his signature laugh. "If I remember it right, I beat you." "Nu uh. And everyday after that, until we started middle school, we raced by that big tree, the one with the purple flowers around it." I could remember it perfectly. The large exotic leaves, the wildflowers in the breeze as smaller versions of Kiba and I sped through the path trying to touch the tree first. We were always out of breath, and always joking about who beat who. "Yea. I remember that. Then you started dating that Deidara guy, he was pretty okay. Then you started dating Kimimaro, and we kinda got older. Everyone just seemed to get busier. Tests and people always trying to develop our Talents." He sighed. "Yep. Didn't leave a lot of time for running in the playground." I said, half asleep. I felt the covers being tucked around me comfortably and closed my eyes. This time there were no nightmares.
The next day, I was confined to bed until Hiroki came to take me home. "I swear if you puke on the seats, I'll strangle you." He said, half joking as he helped me into his deep red mustang. "I feel better don't worry." I assured, not telling him that I hadn't fully recovered my fire using ability yet. "You better be. Rino was worried sick. All we heard for hours was how you better be okay, and how we should've been watching you more, and how she'd failed as a sister." "But I was in school!" "That's what we told her!" Hiroki said with an exasperated look that I couldn't help but laugh at. "But you do look kinda tired. I'm sorry about your boy." I looked at the floor of the car. "In all seriousness. It's hard for me to say this, and don't expect me to be this nice often, but I knew how much you liked him, trust me you told me all the time." He gave a weak smile. "It'll be hard to get over him, but just think would he want to see you this beat up?" "What do you mean 'Beat Up?" I asked offended. He pulled down the mirror and pointed. I looked like a wreck. My hair was all over the place, and there were dark circles under my red, puffy eyes. "Damn." "Damn Indeed." He agreed. "O shut up." I leaned back in the chair and took a deep breath. "I almost set the school on fire." "I heard. I did that awhile back, when I failed one of the big exams." Hiroki, like me, used fire, except his flames burned white, and things like the cold didn't weaken him as much as it did me. "Really?" "Yea. I remember that day well. Ask that Ebisu guy, I bet he remembers it to." My big brother said with a mischievous look in his eyes. "You're probably the reason he's such a dick." I accused. "Probably. He hated me. Think of it as justified revenge. He shouldn't have failed me." We both laughed as I reached for my phone, which was sitting on the dashboard. Kiba was partially right about it needing to dry out. The light had come back on, but the screen was very messed up. Damaged water lines crossed the screen, blocking out most of my background. Through the lines, a part of my red shirt, Kimimaro's dark purple Tee, and his eyes could be seen. I felt as if I was going to cry again. "Looks pretty bad." Hiroki said, looking at me from the corner of his eyes. I wiped my eyes, God, I'd cried more in the past two days than I had in my entire life! I hated it with a passion. "Lemme see it." I placed my cell in his hands, and the screen started to clear. "How are you?-" "A lil trick I picked up awhile back. It's complicated, but pretty cool. Here." He handed it back to me. The smiling wallpaper that should've made me feel better just made a lump form in my throat. "Thank you." "Anytime Little Sis."
After an alternation of hugs and scolding, Rino had allowed me to go back to my room. I opened my closet, rummaging through the clothes furiously. I knew what I was looking for was here somewhere. A few weeks ago, I'd had one of Kimimaro's jerseys from one of his favorite teams. I didn't care for them, but he had given it to me as an attempt to bring me to the dark side. I pulled it from under a pair of navy jeans, and hugged it close to me. Having it somehow made me feel as if he was still near me. There was a soft knock on my door as Dain peeked his head in. "Hey sis." "Hey Puppy dog." I said in a weak attempt to show I was okay. "That's his jersey right?" He pointed at the shirt in my hand. "It was one of the last things he gave me. It makes the pain go away a little." "You know, you've always been the one I looked up to the most." Dain said in a quiet voice. I knew what he meant. We had always been the closest siblings, from me beating up the kids that bullied him, to hanging out together when Mom and Dad still hung around. He'd always seen me as the protective, ready to fight older sister. I didn't think about how it would effect him, seeing me like this. I put my hand on his head and forced a smile. "I'll be fine Dain. I promise." "If you say so." He replied reluctantly, turning to leave. "If it makes you feel any better. I think Tayuya's a bitch too." I laughed. It actually did make me feel a little better.
