Chapter 11

Screaming out like that was stupid; it's not like I didn't know that, but at that moment it was simply an automatic reaction to the situation at hand. Forcing myself to calm down a little, I kneeled next to the hopefully just unconscious blond, shaking him. No reaction… how was one supposed to act in these situations again? Uuh… that's right, I needed to check the pulse first since I wasn't sure what had happened. If I recall correctly it's easier to find from the neck than wrist, so that's what I'll do. I wasn't really sure where on the neck it should be found, but I'd seen it on TV so it couldn't be too hard… and there it is! I think… yes, I could definitely feel his pulse. That was good. Now what? Call an ambulance?

"Is everything alright?" I jumped, looking behind me. That sounded like Mrs. Mitarai; she must've heard my yell and was now behind the door. Of course, I was such an idiot! The first thing I should've done was to go tell her!

"Kiyoshi fainted!" I called back as a reply. It was weird to call Mitarai by his first name, but it would've also been weird to use his last name while talking to his mom. Besides I have heard him use my first name when talking to my mom, too.

Mrs. Mitarai opened the door, swiftly coming to my side as she asked: "What happened?"

"He- "I stopped. How much did Mitarai say his parents knew about spirit energy? Not much, if anything "I don't know; he just collapsed out of nowhere!"

She tried his pulse too. After finding it she seemed to relax a bit. Sighing, she said: "Help me to put him in the bed."

I complied, and after Mitarai was on the bed she took the glass from earlier off the bed and put it on the table. Good thing it hadn't fallen on the floor and gotten broken; I didn't feel like dealing with glass shards. I watched as Mrs. Mitarai started to move her son's body again, putting his other hand on his chest and then bending his knee. She bent his other arm up and pulled him on to his side, putting the arm that had been on his chest under his head. I think I've seen all this somewhere before…

"This is what you need to do if someone is unconscious but breathing" she told me. Turning to me fully, she said: "Normally, you should call an ambulance first, but since this is my son we're talking about it's fine to do it in this order."

What did she mean by that? Did this happen often? I asked her that, and she just smiled sadly.

"It's rather common; the doctor said that his body is just weak and that's why this keeps happening."

Really now? Something about that felt like a lie; she wasn't telling me everything. Mitarai had told me the excuse he'd given to his parents, so she probably thought it was about drugs and didn't want to tell me, but I had been with him and she knew it! So, what didn't she want to tell me?

"Is that so?" I asked, and it was probably the tone of my voice that got her smile to disappear. We stared at each other, me not wanting to back out and her probably wondering what I knew. Eventually, she averted her eyes.

"Not really, as I'm sure you already know since you were with him." she said with a sigh "Things like this have been happening after he started working for that detective. It's… worrisome."

So, this was a usual occurrence? Then why didn't she tell him to stop? I bit my lip, wondering if I should voice my thoughts or not, but she continued before I could.

"Even if he's exhausted, this isn't normal. I worry that he takes some kind of drug at work on regular basic, but doctors haven't found anything…" as she trailed off, another question popped in to my head, one that seemed far more appropriate than my first: "Why are you telling me this?"

The sad smile returned, and Mrs. Mitarai sat next to her son on the bed before answering: "Because you're his only close friend that I can talk to."

I raised an eyebrow, wondering what she meant by that.

"The others... they don't come here often, and Kiyoshi doesn't really talk about them, either. I can barely put together their names and faces" she turned to Mitarai, caressing his hair "But he talks about you a lot. He never refuses to answer my questions if I ask something about you, either. But it's different with the other people he's close with."

"Why?" I blurted out, immediately wondering if it was insensitive. I was about to apologize, but she continues again before I could: "I don't know. I know you two met in high school, but his other friends… he was in junior high back then, but he didn't meet them there. Those years were… hard for my son."

She knew he had been bullied? Well, of course she did. Now that I think of it, Mitarai once said-

"He once told me how he chose "the wrong bath"" as I said this his mother visibly tensed "But that there was someone who showed him the right way again and that that person is the reason for who he is today."

I watched her again. She stayed quiet, unmoving before she asked: "Did he tell you the person's name?"

"No" I replied, but I could've been wrong. It was a long time ago "But from what I gathered it was someone who could easily be judged as a bad person from appearance alone."

"Kuwabara" she said immediately. Unfortunately, the name didn't ring any bell to me "He looks and at times acts like a delinquent, but I know my son respects him more than anyone ever. I can see it from his eyes."

She laughed, saying: "Once I questioned him if Kuwabara was really the kind of person he should hang out with, and the anger I saw in his eyes after asking that… I had thought I'd never have to see that look again. I thought it was already over… but I suppose Kuwabara was the one that took that look away."

Now she completely lost me, but now I knew for a fact that this was not something I should be asking about, so I didn't. I decided to just listen quietly as long as she had something to say.

"That is why I'm glad I know at least someone important from his life" she said "And that there is someone he can talk to, since he no longer confides in his parents."

She was sad about that, I could tell. I didn't have the heart to tell her that Mitarai and I weren't nearly as close as she seemed to think. Heck, apparently, we weren't as close as I had thought. I just wish none of this showed on my face right now.

"I just hope that the news about his job won't drive you away" now this caught my attention. I might be a little mad that he hadn't told me about that, but not that mad… then again maybe I would be if I had found out before the whole spirit energy thing; it was understandable that he wanted to keep that hidden.

"No need to worry about that" I told her, suddenly remembering what I had told my own mother "I told mom we got stuck in Kiyoshi's friend's basement because- "

"Yes, I heard about the picking up food -excuse" she told me "My son tried it on me too, but knowing his job it wasn't hard to realize he was lying. But the idea of a cover up story was good; you can't exactly tell your mother that you were stuck hiding from an angry drug dealer."

Hiding from a drug dealer? Got it! Mitarai should've told me that when he had a chance though…

"I also hope you won't do so from now on either" Mrs. Mitarai said. She sounded apologetic, but there was a certain stern look in her eyes, like a warning "I don't know the details of how you got involved with this and I realize it seems like my son is up to something bad, but he isn't. Of that I'm sure, so please don't cause us any trouble."

"I won't" I said. Glancing at Mitarai, I added as an honest after thought: "Or I'll try not to. Your son seems to think I'm a magnet for trouble."

Surprisingly, Mrs. Mitarai just snorted at that.

"He's the trouble magnet here if anyone" she said. Standing up, she added: "But please, stay by his side. I don't know why, but something in him changed around the time you two became friends. And the change was for better."

I had no idea what to say to that, so I just nodded. Silence overtook us, but it didn't seem to bother Mrs. Mitarai too much. Too bad I couldn't say the same about myself.

"I should probably go" I told her "My mom's still a little mad about yesterday, so…"

It wasn't completely a lie, but I don't think mom would flip even if I did go home late. The air was just too serious and tense here; I had to get out.

"Of course, you shouldn't make her worry" Mrs. Mitarai said "Have a safe trip home."

Before that wouldn't have meant anything, but after what happened a few days ago… yeah, I hoped it'd be a safe trip, too.

"I'll try" I told her, and we left Mitarai's room as his mother walked me to the door. I bowed and walked out of the front door, but before she could close it I remembered something and turned back around.

"Um, my mom didn't exactly buy the excuse I gave her, so I told her that we got stuck while playing hide and seek" Mrs. Mitarai raised an eyebrow at this, asking: "And she believed that?"

"She was a bit skeptical, but I think so" I told honestly, adjusting my school bag on my shoulder "So if she calls- "

"I'll fill my son in with the new version of the story" she finished, which I was grateful for. If mom actually called them and told I had told her a different version they couldn't match with she'd know I'd lied. Thankfully, that was now taken care of.

"Thank you" I said, bowing to her once more before walking off.

XXXXX

It was cold; that was the first thing my panic-stricken mind realized as I hit the water after falling off the bridge. I had never been the best swimmer, but I was average, so for a split second I thought I'd be fine; that I'd be able to swim to the shore.

That was very naïve of me.

The current was strong; I think even pro swimmers would have had trouble with it. And the water was cold, so cold. Maybe that alone would kill me; maybe the current wouldn't really play a part in my death. Or maybe I'd just drown; no matter how much I tried I couldn't get to surface. It was already getting hard to hold the air in my lungs; I wouldn't be able to handle this for long anymore.

As the lack of oxygen started to get to me and I started to lose focus, I could've sworn I saw something move. Something big, and it was coming towards me.

And then everything went black.

A.N: Who can guess what the ending is about? …Well, probably everyone who've actually read the whole story. :p This isn't getting too boring, is it? We should have some action after a chapter or two, but… not sure since I always publish the chapters right after writing then (or well, I do read them through for grammar mistakes and such first but you know what I mean.)