A/N: Hey guys! I know, I know I always start the A/N's with 'Hey guys!' But I really can't think of another greeting, hmmm…I could say 'こにちは' (Konichiwa) though Ohayo (good morning) is my favorite greeting, it just sounds so peppy! But I know that people will not always be reading my story in the morning so…that wouldn't work…
Although now I can imagine that if I had said Ohayo and someone was actually reading it in the morning they'd be like 'Whoa! How does kd-chan know that I'm reading this in the morning?' *suspiciously looks out window*
XD, yes, I know that this wouldn't really happen…it was just a weird daydream, alright? A girl's allowed to dream!
Ummm…anyways…I'm sorry it has been a long time since I updated T.T There's been some…well here's what happened…
First, I got on 'probation' because of bad grades…which mean no computer. No computer = no writing…
Second, my family came over for thanksgiving. Company = rude to go on computer = no writing…
Third, now finals are coming and I have to study! Finals = study a lot = no computer = no writing…(sheesh, I just wish that my actual math class was as easy as the last three equations that I put together…)
Alright, so those are my excuses. Oh but one more excuse…I wasn't really motivated to write (a bit of a lie) because I don't think anyone has reviewed the last chapter! I thought I would get more reviews on it because it was the longest chapter yet…but I guess that it was too long that it might've bored some people. I probably should've split it up into two chapters…oh well!
So y'all better review this time! :(
BTW…I kinda made Takara's mom a bitch…but she's not really supposed to be bitchy, she just doesn't believe in the paranormal…
Rin was exhausted by the time he got back to his dorm room. Rin sensed something unusual…oh! Bon wasn't there! Usually the teen was at his desk, doing homework. And Rin would often interrupt him with a whine that he didn't understand his homework and that Bon should do it with him to help him. Sometimes Bon would agree to but other times…he response was much more hostile. Just yesterday Bon had lost his temper and threw his book toward Rin's head, but missed, hitting the wall, and yelled at him, "Shut up! It's not my fault you're not smart enough to figure out the homework on your own! If your dad wasn't the paladin you'd have never even set foot in the academy!"
Rin had to fight the urge to whimper and hide in a corner, like a dog being punished by its owner. That day Rin had ran up to Takara's room to do work with him. Takara had gladly accepted him and helped him do his cram school homework. Takara was a pretty cool guy.
Rin's thoughts returned to the present. I wonder if he's avoiding me…I know I'm not the best roommate in the world, but this is just cold! He shrugged and decided that he would just do his homework with Takara again.
Rin finished homework and was free for the rest of the day…so he decided to pester Takara, he was done, too. "Hey, Takara, why do you always talk with a puppet?"
Usagi and Takara looked at each other before Takara looked back at Rin and shrugged, "It's just something different." But his voice sounded a bit bothered.
Rin, completely bored, decided to question Takara further, "So…where did you get your puppet?"
Takara humbly scratched the back of his head, "I made him myself…he's very important to me…"
Rin wondered how a mere puppet could be so important to someone. But he shrugged and realized that he shouldn't judge others for being weird if he was pretty messed up himself…
Rin said goodbye and returned to his room to find Bon sorting through grocery bags.
His roommate jumped as Rin spoke up, "You know, you didn't need to go shoping…we already have enough food for making lunches throughout the week…"
"Sheesh! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Bon growled, frustrated that it felt like he just had a heart attack.
"Here," Rin walked closer, grabbing one of the bags, "Let me help you with that," he could hear the sound of glass clinking together as the contents of the bag shifted and bumped into each other as Bon snatched it out of his hand.
"No, that's ok, I've got it…" Bon scowled at the smaller boy.
Rin's eyebrows furrowed closer together, "Bon…are you ok? You seem really jumpy right now…"
The large teen rolled his eyes, "I'm find…I'm just afraid I'll catch your stupidity if I stick around for too long."
Rin's face turned red, "My stupidity, huh? Well the only stupid thing I can see here is your ridiculous haircut!"
Bon's expression darkened at the insult while he slowly crept closer to Rin.
Rin yelped as his stronger roommate quickly picked him up and threw him out into the hallway, where Rin landed on his ass outside the doorway. The door slammed behind his back as Rin looked at the closed doorway with something that sounded like a whimper.
A pink haired monk stopped in his tracks when he heard the noise, thinking that it had belonged to a dog…and dogs weren't allowed in the dormitory…
"Oh…that whimper was from you…" Shima said to himself when he discovered the small boy sitting against the door in fetal position. "So…Bon kicked you out…again…"
The boy nodded. He sighed then looked up at Shima, "What's his problem? Why does he hate me?"
Shima scratched the back of his pink head, sitting down next to Rin, "Well…I wouldn't say he hates you…hate is a strong word…"
Rin rolled his eyes, "Alright, then, why does he strongly dislike me?"
Shima cupped his chin in his hand and made a thoughtful face, looking away from Rin, "Well…he generally dislikes people who have a less strict work effic…"
"But everyone works less than Bon…even his closest friends…" Rin glared at Shima. Why was Bon so nice to Shima but so mean to Rin if Rin and Shima were rather similar?
Shima nodded, "Yes, I said generally…"
Rin groaned.
"Well…he also generally dislikes people who are too lighthearted…" Shima muttered.
Rin's eyes widened a little at Shima, "But you're really lighthearted, too…aren't you, Shima?"
The monk shrugged, "Well, I said generally…"
"Shima, I don't really think you're helping me much…"
"Alright, fine," Shima looked at Rin with an unusually sincere expression, "I'm not sure why Bon dislikes you so much, why he always acts angry in front of you…but don't worry. Sooner or later Bon will warm up to you…you're a really good guy, Rin…I honestly don't know why you're here when you look like you wouldn't harm a fly…"
Rin eyes widened with realization, "That must be it…"
"Huh?" Shima sat down next to Rin against the door to the smaller boy's room.
"Bon…he worked really hard to get a scholarship to get into the Academy and all I had to do to get in here was be adopted by the Paladin, it didn't even matter how bad my middle school grades were, it's like I instantly got in. But I don't even want to be here!" Rin sighed, "I guess he's frustrated that I'm willing to throw away something he would almost die for…something he worked really hard for…"
"Wow," Shima's eyes widened, "I think you're right…" He leaned more against the wall, deep in thought, "I know I've said this before but…why are you here if you don't want to? You shouldn't feel like you should follow your father's legacy and become Paladin…he's not ever your real father." Shima flinched and slapped his hand over his mouth, making an audible smack noise, "I'm sorry," he apologized, "That came out wrong…"
Rin laughed, shaking his head, "Don't worry about it." Rin then breathed deeply, trying to piece together what he would say next, "But…I don't really have a desire to become the Paladin…or even an exorcist. And if I did, it wouldn't be because of chichi."
Shima's eyebrow furrowed together, "Then why are you here?"
Rin sighed, closing his eyes as he leaned his head against the door, before his head then dropped back down to meet the top of his knees, "To be honest…I've asked myself that many times. But…you see…it's complicated…"
Shima slide a little closer to Rin, "Complicated, how?"
Rin shook his head, which was sheltered by his folded up legs as he continued sitting in fetal position, "Just…complicated…"
Shima sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be able to squeeze answers out of the boy today, "You know…you're a pretty strange guy…"
Rin raised his head to look at Shima with dazzling blue eyes full of worry, worry for what Shima didn't know.
The pink-haired monk ruffled Rin's dark blue hair, instantly wanting to calm the worry in those eyes, "But that's why you're a cool dude."
The smaller boy flashed Shima a smile, "Thanks a lot, man…"
Shima got up and returned Rin's smile, "No problem, man…" He then walked off to discuss with Konekomaru.
When Shima knocked on the doorframe to his room, because the door was already open, he found Konekomaru sitting peacefully on his bed, reading the bible. He was probably trying to memorize it. Shima shook his head, it seemed like everyone was a harder worker compared to him and Rin.
Konekomaru looked up from the book and greeted the pink haired boy with a smile, "Konbanwa, (A/N: good evening) Shima-kun."
"Konbanwa," Shima replied as he dropped his book bag onto his own bed. He suddenly felt great appreciation for his roommate as he thought about Rin's difficulties with the very stubborn Bon. He sighed, "Rin and Bon are fighting again…"
Konekomaru instantly become interested again in his bible when he heard the conversation topic, "That's not news…"
Shima frowned at Konekomaru's disinterest in the subject, "Well, yeah, but we should at least try to do something about it…"
Konekomaru's eyebrows rose as his gaze hesitantly focused on Shima again, "Why should we intervene? Bon is too stubborn to listen to even his childhood friends…and plus, he's too prideful of his intelligence to say that he was wrong. And Rin has a personality that makes him easy to victimize, but at the same time he's also pretty stubborn. Even if we were to intervene…it wouldn't make much difference. The fighting will only stop once they push away their stubbornness enough to compromise, which is a bit unlikely, and also put aside their victim and victimizer personalities to see each other as equals…which is ever more unlikely…"
Shima just stood there with his mouth agape, had everyone suddenly become more socially inclined by the time he had left his room? Not only was he unable to help Rin with figuring out why Bon disliked him, now Konekomaru was giving a lecture to him on why Bon and Rin were fighting from the view of a therapist! What in the world was going on?
"Oh, yeah," Konekomaru spoke up, as if suddenly remembering something, he pointed to Shima's clothing wardrobe, "We have the sleepover tonight, you should probably pack up for it, if you haven't already."
Shima nodded, grabbing a bunch of clothes and shoving it into a plastic bag, along with toiletries, before he nodded with satisfaction.
Konekomaru just rolled his eyes at his roommate's sloppiness.
"This is so exciting!" Rin ran around in circles and giggled childishly. Bon grunted as Rin accidently bumped into him and his head hit his chest. Rin recoiled and landed his butt on the cold, hard asphalt. He let out another giggle.
"Watch where you're going! And stop laughing your head off like some stupid girl! You're going to get us caught!" Bon scolded.
Rin got up, an idiotic grin still plastered on his face, "Sorry, it's just that…" he giggled, "Sneaking out makes me feel like a bad-ass!"
Bon rolled his eyes, "You're more of a dumbass than a badass…"
Rin's grin turned into a scowl.
"For a demon, you're not very discreet…" Bon muttered.
Rin groaned, "You're still going off about this whole 'me being a demon' thing, aren't you? Would you just stop with this, already?"
Bon shook his head.
Rin folded his arms and pouted, "Well, what makes you sure that I'm a big, bad demon?"
Bon almost laughed out loud, Rin looked like anything but a 'big, bad demon' but he didn't laugh because he remembered those eyes, "Your eyes…" he stared straight ahead on space.
"Huh? What about my eyes?" Rin actually took out a mini mirror from his bag and looked into it, though it was really too dark to see, "Ok, yeah, my eyes are kinda unusual, dark blue eyes are uncommon, but I wouldn't really say that they're demonic…"
Bon looked at Rin, at his eyes, "Not those eye…the other ones…"
Rin shot Bon an incredulous look, "What in the world are you talking about? I only have one head with one pair of eyes, you know. You're starting to sound like a crazy person…"
Bon shook his head, dropping the subject. He knew what he saw, even if Rin truly didn't know what he was talking about.
They arrived at the dorm and climbed up the stairs to the planned room number.
A shrill voice greeted Rin's more sensitive ears, "Hiya guys!" Usagi waved one of his stubby arms toward Rin and Bon, "Lovely night we have here!"
Though Usagi might've been enthusiastic, Shima and Konekomaru looked like they were about to fall asleep.
"Sheesh," Bon scratched his chin, "Looks like the party ended before we even arrived…"
"PARTYYYYY!" Rin threw his arms up and shouted, still on a high from sneaking out.
Everyone, excluding Takara because his eyes were always closed, rolled their eyes. Though Rin didn't notice at all.
"God," Shima muttered, "I wish there was alcohol or something to improve the mood…"
Konekomaru elbowed Shima's chest at that comment.
Bon sat down next to Shima and whispered something in his ear.
Shima's eyes widened in surprise, but he just nodded and got up to do as Bon suggested. He walked over to Bon's bag and unzipped it, producing 4 bottles of cheap beer.
Rin face-palmed as he realized that it was beer that was in the grocery bag Bon brought to their room…which explained his jumpiness.
"B-beer?" Konekomaru squeaked.
Takara just shook his head in disapproval.
"Oh, come on, guys" Shima prodded, "One drink ani't gonna hurt ya!"
Konekomaru hesitantly took the bottle Shima handed to him, "Well…I guess just one won't be too bad…"
5 minutes later…
"Let's play 'confessions'," Bon groggily suggested. Though he was pretty drunk, he wasn't going to let that get in the way of his plan.
"No way!" Shima exclaimed as he took another sip of his bottle and hiccupped, "That game is for girls who just want to talk about their stupid crushes." Shima grinned wolfishly as he spoke his next sentence, "Guys don't talk about crushes…they watch porn together!"
"You're going to hell, you pervert of a monk!" the high-pitched voice of Usagi accused Shima.
"You're just jealous of my lady skills," Shima hiccupped, "And that you can't drink 'cause you're a stinky rabbit." Shima then entered a strange fit of giggling and hiccupping. He was obviously too drunk to remember that Usagi was actually a puppet.
"I think we should play 'confessions'," Bon suggested again.
"Hey, Shima," Konekomaru giggled, "Do you gots porn on your iPod?" Konekomaru's face turned red at Shima's reply.
"Like hell, I do!" He quickly took out his iPhone and huddled next to Konekomaru to watch the erotic images on the touch screen together.
"We're all going to hell for this! Just you wait!" Usagi shrieked.
Rin was huddled in fetal position against the corner wall, "I wanna go home…" he mumbled/whined as the alcohol took its affect on his judgment on what he should and shouldn't say.
Bon wasn't going to give up. He walked over to Rin and kicked his back, "Rin…I'll be your friend if you play confessions with me…"
Rin instantly looked up, "How do you play?"
His eyes looked into Bon's with such eagerness and naïve excitement, with a strong desire to please Bon, that Bon, himself, started having trouble believing that Rin was even a little demonic. But it's all an act…it has to be…
Rin tugged on the bottom of Bon's shirt like how a small child would try to get the attention of their parent, "Please teach me how to play, Bon…"
Bon snatched the bottom of his shirt away from Rin, trying to ignore the innocent aura the small teen was emitting. "Alright, here's how you play. It's quite simple," and as Bon started talking, the entire room ended up listening in on the rules as Bon explained, "We really just take turns telling our deepest, darkest secret…" Bon grinned, Now you're in my trap, demon. Hopefully the alcohol has loosened your tongue enough…
Bon walked to his bag and produced a single candle and a match box. He set the candle in the middle of the floor and walked to turn off the lights. In the complete darkness Bon stroke a match and walked to the candle to light it. He sat next to Rin.
The room became deadly silent. Shima had already turned off his iPhone and the pink-haired and bald monk both stared into the single flame, neither speaking a word. The entire atmosphere had turned from unfocused and cheerful to dark and somber.
They could hear Takara clear his throat, "A secret? Fine then, I'll go first," Takara said in a serious tone using his own voice.
Bon was surprised that Takara had decided to go first, he was the only one in the group who hadn't taken a single sip of alcohol. He was even more surprised that Takara continued in his normal voice, instead of using the puppet.
"Well…the first thing you need to know is that I'm a physic median." Takara explained.
"That's your deep, dark secret?" Shima interrupted.
"Let the boy talk, you perverted monk!" Usagi hollered at the drunkard.
Takara nodded his thanks to Usagi, "Anyways, yes, I've always been a physic median. Ever since I was little I've not only been able to see demons but also spirits."
Bon rolled his eyes, "What's the difference?"
"Sheesh! Some friends you have here, Takara!" Usagi muttered, "They won't even let you speak two sentences without interputting."
Takara clear his thoat and ignored Usagi, "Well, the difference is that the spirit is the wandering soul of a human before it turns into a ghost, a demon. They are only spirits if they're recently departed. That's why not all exorcists, who can see demons, can't see spirits. And that's why there are also people who can see spirits but not demons." The small boy looked around the room to see if anyone got it. The people who were too drunk to understand just nodded their understanding.
Takara continued, "I only know my mom, she raised me by herself. But the thing is…she doesn't believe in ghosts…or demons…heck, she's an atheist. She thought I had shitksophriania for a long time! Especially since I didn't just claim to see ghosts but I also claimed to see someone who was never born."
Takara smiled at the confused looks, "I'm a twin, but my identical twin brother was never born…but I could always see him, hear him, and I talked to him all the time. They say that sometimes, when it comes to twins, one will absorb the other. I guess that's what happened. His spirit never leaves me because…he's inside of me. But no one knew, or understood, and that made my brother frustrated…"
It was a bright day, and on my mom's day off, she had taken me to the zoo. But I wasn't paying attention to the animals. I was looking at the spirits. While me and my mom viewed the lions I saw another woman who was trying to rush along her children from the food stand near the exibit. The two boys were punching at each other and arguing. Behind them an old, kind looking woman who sighed as she watched them. We met eyes and she walked over to me.
"Excuse me, young man, but…" She pointed to the mother with the two songs, "Could you please tell my daughter that I love her and that her heart's as strong as a lion's. And also tell Tommy and Macen that it makes me sad to see them fight."
I nodded and rushed toward the woman, my mom having no idea as she continued to watch the lions.
The woman was still trying to separate her children from each other by the time I got there. I tugged at the bottom of her shirt, trying to get her attention.
When she finally turned her eyes to me she sighed in exasperation, seeing that it was another kid. She knelt down to my eye level and tried to smile at me, "Hey, are you lost, little guy?"
I shook my head, "No, my mom's right other there," I pointed her out.
The woman's smile dropped and she seemed annoyed, "Then maybe you should go back to her…"
"But I'm here to deliver you a message!" I tried to explain.
She sighed, as if thinking I was trying to play a game with her, "Look, I really don't have time to-"
"Your mother said that she loves you and that you have a strong heart, like a lion's." I tried to say before she could try to shoo me away again.
She looked at me with her mouth slightly agape before she looked fondly over at the lion pen, "She loved coming to see the lions, they were her favorite animal…"
Takara pointed to the other two boys, "And your grandma says that she gets sad when you two fight!"
My mom ran up behind me and turned me around so she could scold to my face, "Takara! What are you doing? You're not supposed to talk to strangers!" She sighed and started apologizing to the other woman but stopped when she saw that there were tears in the other woman's eyes. "Oh my gosh! Takara, what did you say to this woman?"
I stayed silent.
My mother turned to the other woman again, "I'm so sorry about my son's behavior. I should have been keeping a better eye on him!"
The woman shook her head, "Oh, no, no!" She clasped my mother's hands into her own, "Your son is a blessing!"
My mother was utterly confused as she watched the mother leave with her sons, who were no longer fighting, to view the lions. She turned to me with a look of disbelief, "What in the world did you say to her?"
"I…I just told her what her what her grandmother wanted me to say…"
My mother looked furious, "Takara! If you keep claiming that you can see dead people, you're going to upset someone!"
I looked at my feet, not wanting to look into my mom's disappointed eyes, "But I can see dead people…"
She sighed, "Honey…ghosts don't exist…"
I tilted my head in confusion, "But they do exist…"
My mom at this point seemed very frustrated as she started pulling me toward our next destination, "Look, we really have no way of finding out whether or not they actually exist, so you should keep your opinion to yourself for now…"
I tried to get free of her iron rasp on my arm, "But they do exist, I can see them!"
She quickly glanced behind at me, tears in her eyes, "Just because you see them, doesn't mean they exist, Takara…"
'Sheesh, this woman's crazy!' My twin brother said besides me.
"I don't understand why she can't see you…she thinks I'm the one who has lost my marbles…" I mumbled to him.
We arrived at the petting zoo a little later, where kids ran free and tortured undeserving farm animals. By now my mom was trying to distract herself from scolding me in public by talking to a handsome man that looked her age. As if suddenly remembering my presence she glanced at me only long enough to mutter, "Go and have fun, sweetie. Mommy's talking to someone."
I nodded before running off.
"You have a very cute son." I heard the man say to my mom when he thought I was out of earshot.
My mom laughed, "Ah, yes, cute could be used to describe him…he has a lot of imaginary friends…"
'I'm not an imaginary friend!' my brother complained besides me, 'The only thing imaginary is your mother's intelligence!'
I gasped, "You can't say something like that! She's your mother, too!"
He chuckled, 'Yeah, but she can't hear me…'
After I was done petting the goats I looked back at my brother, who was sitting on the bench outside the pen because he scared the animals. I walked out of the goat pen and sat beside him, "Do you ever wish you could pet them?"
My twin brother shook his head, 'No, they look stinky and ugly…'
I laughed, "Yeah, they are…" I looked down at my hands. It wasn't really fair that I could touch and feel the animals and not my brother. "So…do you ever wish you could talk to mom?"
He thought for a moment, 'Sometimes…if I could just say one thing…I'd ask her to give me a name…'
"Alright," I simply said, and got off the bench.
It didn't take me long to find my mother again, she was still talking to that man. She laughed and smiled at him. I felt a ping of jealousy as I saw her positive responces to the…she's been scolding her own son all day yet smiles at a stranger…
But that wasn't what was important. I lightly tugged on her shirt, trying to get her attention, "Mother…"
She closed her eyes and sighed then, apologizing to the man for pausing the conversation, directed an impatient gaze toward me, "What is it, Takara? Mommy's busy…"
"You need to give my brother a name…" I demanded.
She groaned and daintily placed the back of her hand on her forehead, "Again with this 'brother' stuff, Takara? I'm not going to give a name to your imaginary friend, Takara, that's something you have to do…"
The man was grinning at me, enjoying the childish though of an imaginary friend, "Oh, give him a break, Nancy. I had an imaginary friend when I was this guy's age."
"It's not just an imaginary friend," my mother shook her head in distraught, "It's an imaginary brother, one that he keeps claiming is real in every aspect. He pulls a third chair up at dinner and sets a third plate. He puts half his dinner on one plate and the rest on his own. Then, at the end of dinner, he claims that his brother wasn't hungry and is there for giving his dinner to Takara. Then at the park he pushes an empty swing. When there's music he dances with empty space. He…"
"Well I think it's cute that he puts so much effort into having a brother. It's normal for an only child…" The man tried to reason, still smiling warmly at me. I no longer felt jealous toward the man…he seemed nice.
'Oh please!' my nameless brother criticized, 'One smile and he wins you over? You're tougher than that!'
I glanced at him, "I am?"
"…and he also has one sided conversations that no outsider can understand…" my mother muttered about her 'troubled child'.
The man crouched down so he was face to face with me, "What did your brother say to you, Takara?"
"Uh…" I felt awkward repeating what my brother had said, especially since it was about the man, "…he said 'Oh please! One smile and he wins you over? You're tougher than that!'"
The man nearly threw his head back as laughter erupted from his throat. He patted the top of my head, "Your brother has quite a personality."
I glanced to the left, where my brother stood next to me. He had his arms crossed and was looking away from the man, but he had a smug smile on his face, 'Just one compliment and he wins you over? I thought your were better than that, Otouto!' I mentally said to him. We didn't really know which one of us would've been the older or younger, but I always considered him the younger one because he was always hyper and out-spoken, always saying what he wanted, when he wanted. Of course, he had that freedom since he was a ghost.
He stuck his tongue out at me with that comment. I grinned in his direction.
"What did he say this time?" the man asked me again.
"Oh, uh…he didn't say anything this time…he just stuck his tongue out at me…" I was starting to feel uncomfortable under his intense interest in me.
He just laughed again, then looked at my mother, "Why don't you introduce me to Takara?"
My mother nodded, "Well, you already know that this is my son, Takara. Takara, this is Mr. Sawatari." Though her voice sounded dainty and polite she was giving me a look that said 'I WILL KILL YOU IF YOU MESS THIS UP FOR ME!'
"Hajimemashite, Sawatari-sama." I said with a small bow. (A/N: It's nice to meet you, Mr. Sawatari)
He looked at me with great warmth in his eyes, "Hajimemashite, Takara-chan."
'Tell him that he should stop being interested in mom because she's a nutcase!'
My eyes widened as my face started to feel warm, "I-I can't tell him that!" I whispered to him.
"Tell me what?" Mr. Sawatari asked.
"Uh…um…my brother said you should stop being interested in my mom because he thinks she's a 'nutcase'" I looked at my feet, my face bright red.
Sawatari only laughed, rather loud, actually.
But my mother was giving me a death glare…I would hear about this when we got home.
"Why don't you run along now, Deary?" her voice was sweet yet cold, kinda like icecream.
I ran for my life, my brother following me behind me, laughing his ass off. At the moment I really didn't appreciate his wise cracks.
