A/N: Looks like another update. Truth is, I should be working on my homework but instead I spent the afternoon writing. Oh well, I have tomorrow and Sunday afternoon to do any and all homework. Such a boring weekend. So there's no counting on another update any time soon. Well, maybe next Friday or something, since it's I don't have school, or maybe I should wait till Saturday? Don't know. You'll just have to wait and see which day I pick.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and anything else I on the previous chapters.
Warning: Uh, nothing that the other chapters didn't say. Just look at the previous chapters if you want a warning. This one doesn't have much else then what has been happening.
Chapter Nine
Arms wrapped around starling the raven haired freshman, "Cheryl, don't do that. You'll give someone a heart attack," she stated.
"Sorry Shino-Chama, I didn't mean to," her younger sister back away. She had light black hair tied in two pig tails. They swayed as she spun around, "I'm just so happy I get to stay with my great, big sister!"
Izuki watched her reflection as the memory continued to play out. The face of her younger sister was twisted into a sadistic smile her true colors showing.
A piercing pain was sent through her head and she backed up. Her back hit the cold, metal stall doors and she slid down. She tried to fight back the memory, the pain surging through every vein in her body. Even her old wounds were starting to prick at the thought.
"Cheryl," she breathed as the memories flooded her thoughts again. This time she couldn't even fight them.
"Shino-Chama, we'll be going to that school starting this week. Doesn't that sound like so much!" Cheryl smiled as she pointed to a castle-like school with walls boarding it up.
"Hmm, I didn't expect you to be so excited," Izuki said keeping her face serious.
"E…eh! Shino-Chama, am I not supposed to?" Cheryl asked.
"Enough with that suffix. We're sisters and twins, it's getting old," Izuki sighed.
"Really, but I love Shino-Chama so much. I'll do anything for you," Cheryl smiled as she got close to Izuki's face. Izuki backed up until the vehicle's door stopped her.
"Cheryl," Izuki sighed as her sister returned to the proper seating.
"I will protect Shino-Chama all the time, I promised," Cheryl continued to say and then just sat there smiling.
The two were let out at the entrance of the mansion. They met with the person who would be taking care of them, "my brother's children, Shino and Cheryl. How was my brother when you left?" a tall, dark haired male asked. He had a mustache that added to his mysterious look.
"Father was still sleeping when we left. The doctor's said he has only a slim chance of waking," Izuki stated, whether she was unhappy about it was unnoticeable.
"Ah, Shino-Chama you sound too cold like that. It should be a joyous occasion," Cheryl puffed out her cheeks. The two only looked at her in mystified surprise.
"Cheryl, you do know you're talking about our father?" Izuki asked.
"Yep, father was always so strict. Telling me to do this and to do that, I'm glad that he…" Izuki slapped her sister hard enough to make her fall to the ground.
"Cheryl, it's better to show your respect to adults then mocking them, no matter who they are or how you feel," Izuki stated and turned to enter the mansion. Cheryl looked up at her sister while holding her sore cheek.
"Are you alright Cheryl?" her uncle asked and she stood up quickly.
"Yep, this is just the way Shino-Chama shows me her love. I really love Shino-Chama," Cheryl ran off towards her sister happily.
The two went to school the next day, starting their freshmen year of high school. They both knew what it meant if they couldn't fully make it through school, and they would study as hard as they could. In order to ascend the top of their family name since they were both the only living heirs left.
"It is required to join a club that matches your chosen career path Izuki-San, here is a list of clubs that you can enter based on your career," the class representative handed her a list of clubs. Her eyes glanced over the list, none of them catching her eyes until she reached the bottom.
"Leader's of Today, and Tomorrow?" she asked curious as to what it meant. It was even written in the English form.
"It's a fairly new club, it was started about a year and a half ago. I don't know what it really is about but the seniors enjoy it. Ah, and before I forget, the student council members were curious about a new system. They are pairing freshmen up with upperclassmen in the clubs. You'll be paired up with an upper classmen when you join the club properly," the representative said before moving to the next group.
Izuki didn't really mind since she was curious about what kind of club it actually was. That's when she decided that it would be the one she'd join.
The club wasn't exactly what she pictured, but the upperclassmen she was paired up with was something entirely different. She didn't know what to think about him. He had longer, dark black hair and wore glasses. He was fairly taller than her and she instantly started feeling something from him.
"I'm Izuki Cheryl and this is my big sister Izuki Shino! Please take care of us," Cheryl smiled as she held onto her sister.
"Eh, Cheryl I could have introduced myself," Izuki complained only to get a retort, "but you were spacing out so I took initiative." The moment they stepped into this school, this club, and met this one person who change everything that they knew. It took them one step closer to their fatal outcome.
Izuki pressed a finger to her temple trying to calm the overwhelming headache as the memories kept coming. They were growing harder and harder to suppress.
A new memory took the place of the previous one. It was one of the moments she'd started to understand what was really going on.
"Shino, you are going to stand at the head of this family and Cheryl will work from behind you. She's already shown her undying loyalty to you, though it seems more so then anything I'd ever experienced," her uncle said.
Izuki felt her own blood boiling as anger surged through her, "and what, because of that I have to put all my loyalty and faith into this family? Wasn't my father the same? Didn't he run away this imprisoning life? Why would I want to fallow a life he escaped from?"
Izuki found herself knocked to the ground, her cheek stinging, "even as you are the heir, you are still a child. I brought you here out of care in my heart and loyalty to this family. I expect nothing less from you as you ascend to the top," his shoes tapped furiously and he slammed the door.
Izuki sat on the floor her knees pulled to her chest and her hand rubbing her, now red, cheek. She didn't even notice the door opening and the weight added to hers.
"Shino-Chama, you made uncle mad again. Do you want me to make everything better?" Cheryl asked as she buried her face deeper into her sister's neck.
"Cheryl, why are you so clingy? Why are you so loyal, and only to me?" Izuki asked.
"Because I love you, Shino-Chama. You can never do anything bad, you can never hurt me. I'll take all your pain away when you are sad, so just leave everything to me," she smiled happily.
"Maybe uncle is right, you are something else," Izuki sighed as a giggle rose from her sister's throat.
"I will only do whatever it takes to keep you safe. You are the only one I need in my life," Cheryl said and walked toward the door, "do you feel the same?"
Izuki looked at her sister, "Cheryl?" Cheryl closed the door and left the room. Izuki could only looked after her sister puzzled by the comment.
Izuki felt her pulse rate speed up as the memories switched again, growing deeper into the hell she'd built up herself.
"Why would you do it?" Izuki yelled at her sister who was covered in red splotches. Her eyes pierced and filled with a glowing red color.
"Huh, why? It's so simple you silly. They were going to hurt you, Shino-Chama. They were going to take you away from me," Cheryl laughed happily.
"Cheryl," Izuki couldn't get anything else out. Cheryl had walked up to her and leaned in next to her ear.
"It'll be the same for that sempai of our too. He doesn't take a hint, does he. And here I thought I'd keep him alive since I knew you'd be sad if he died," she pouted as Izuki felt all the blood drain from her face.
"Cheryl, don't. Don't you dare kill him," Izuki felt her own anger boiling inside her.
"Huh? You really care about him that much? I guess it can't be helped," Cheryl sighed grabbing a hold of her older sisters arms. A smile playing on her lips.
"You will fly away, like a free bird right? But you're just a flightless, little bird who hasn't been shown the way yet. If I can break you now, then you'll never leave me," Cheryl smiled as she pulled her sister's arms behind her. It was futile to struggle as Cheryl had a tight grip. She pulled hard enough till a slight pop sound came from her arms. Izuki cried out in pain.
"This way you'll always remember me, right? Shino-Chama, that way you can always rely on me and only me. No one else will matter," Cheryl whispered as Izuki fell forward. Her eyes were seeing dark circles and the pain started to numb. She didn't know what she could do, or had to do.
"Cheryl, what happened to you?" Izuki asked before the pain was too much to handle and she blacked out.
The last memory that floated into her mind was the one she fought so hard to forget. The memory played on the one night she'd never be able to forget.
"Shino-Chama, you've become so strong," Cheryl smiled and giggled with glee. She was so happy despite lying on the ground covered in her own blood.
"Cheryl," Izuki croaked as tears flowed out of her eyes.
"But this is no good. You can't cry when you're about to shoot someone down," Cheryl pouted playfully as she struggled to sit up. When she was upright, the barrel of the gun was touching her forehead. The cold steel sending sensations through her skin.
Izuki jumped as her sisters hands touched hers, effectively keeping them on the trigger.
"You're supposed to pull the trigger, that way you can be free, Shino-Chama," Cheryl smiled up at her, "do you remember that one day, in the forest near our house. The day you found me when I got lost? It was then I decided I'd do whatever it takes so you won't get hurt. And if I am the cause, then it has to be you who pulls it."
Izuki's eyes widened as the ringing sound carried around her. Her eyes could only see red as her sister fell to the ground, eyes as dark as night. A hole was now where her heart was, and the blood was pouring out in a flowing motion. Izuki couldn't help but cry out.
The memories ended as she recollected the reason she was effected so much when Furihata easily killed the upperclassman. She didn't want to see other's get hurt, she wanted to save other's so much so that she left her family in search of her dream.
"Cheryl," Izuki felt the heavy impact of her own sins and her eyes landed on a scalpel. The small knife appeared to be calling to her as she, shakily lifted it to her wrist, "this isn't good. I forced those memories away because it hurt so much. But now they have returned. That pain won't disappear," Izuki wanted to find an outlet for her pain to recede. The only way she'd survived before was changing her focus, but now, there were too many external things that her thoughts carried onto something else.
She held the knife at the base of her wrist and dragged it in a smooth, upward motion. The red blood started to flow out. Slowly, slowly, then it quickly started flowing out. The line grew longer until she reached the base of her elbow joint. The liquid was falling quickly and the pain relieved the initial pain she'd been feeling.
"Cheryl," she whispered as her head started to grow woozy and her eyes lost focus. The blood loss was quickening.
Outside the door Imayoshi and Sakurai were waiting directly outside the door.
"Hasn't she been in there a long time?" Sakurai asked looking to his upperclassman. Imayoshi didn't usually show any emotion, but he couldn't hide his irritation and worry.
"Let's go in and see what she's doing," Imayoshi stated. Sakurai looked horrified but complied at the glare he was given. The two opened the door.
Riko and Hyuuga looked at Mitobe who was still holding onto Koganei and wasn't going to let go any time soon.
"Mitobe-kun, we have to go find Izuki and the others. I'm sorry but we can't let you stay here, we've already lost Koga-Chan, we can't lose you too," Riko sighed seeing no reaction from the silent boy.
"Aida-san, if he stays here, he may not be harmed. If you think about it, this was Takao-chan's area. Even with her gone, I don't think anyone else would come here," Kuroko startled her a little when she spoke.
"Are you sure?" Riko was skeptical, especially with what they'd just seen, and what they'd seen.
"Yes, and right now. Aren't you're club members important? Takao-chan said that one of them is most likely experiencing what most of the students had here," Kuroko explained and Riko nodded.
"You're right, Mitobe just stay here. I'll beat you to a pulp if you are gone," Mitobe froze at her statement but remained holding onto his lost love. Riko sighed and turned to the remainder of her club mates.
"We're going, we'll trust Mitobe that he'll be alright on his own," Riko gave one glance back to the broken male. She couldn't help thinking it really was her fault. She had thought that this would be fun, and a perfect chance to introduce the freshmen to their worlds.
"Riko, don't go blaming yourself," Hyuuga stopped in front of her. His back was to hers so she couldn't see the kind of face he was making, "it's not like you to doubt yourself. It's better if you keep a cheerful face, especially in the face of the younger students," he pointedly remarked towards the two younger ahead of them. Her eyes glanced at the teal and red haired young adults. She was older than them and had a responsibility.
She looked down and then gave a soft smile before nodding, "you're right Hyuuga-kun. I can't get down and depressed now. What kind of adult would I be then?" she walked ahead of him to catch up with the younger kids.
Hyuuga was happy to see that she was herself again. He always went back to the memory of when they were kids. The one time he'd let her down, the one time he couldn't change how she felt. It was something that haunted him, and he vowed to always stop her from doubting herself. Stop her from falling into an endless void of despair.
"Hyuuga-kun, we'll be leaving you behind if you don't hurry up," Riko called.
He took a step forward, unaware of the eyes watching him, watching them. The eyes shaded by lose hanging bangs.
Final Notes: Nothing that I can think of. How was the chapter? I hope it didn't disappoint, and sorry for the little cliffhangers here and there. The chapter would be too long if I wrote everything that was coming in one. So it has to stop here. Anyway, cliffhangers are fun and make it easier to pick up in the next chapter.
Thanks to any and everyone who is still reading this. I am getting closer to where I want to be, but it's hard to get there. It's actually going the way I envisioned it though. Also, I have a new story that I am working on. So I am thinking about doing both since this story is really dark themed where as the other one isn't as dark and follows a happier line of thought. So I decided that in order to keep writing this story, I also need something happier. It gets a little depressing to write these kind of themes and only focus on them. So those who already know about the other story, it'll be just a little longer till I finish the first chapter, those who don't know, I have a preview up so you can take a look at it. It's more of a slice of life then anything.
Thank you for your continued support.