Whaaat yes another upload how is this possibru...

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Chapter 36: Our Glory Days – Part 3

Twelve years ago.

Kuchiha Rikugou.

12 years old.

I was surprised by the sound of his voice. It was very soft, and he really sounded very young. He walked around as if he knew the world and everything in and on it, yet he talked like a new born. Alright, maybe that is an exaggeration.

"I…I…" was all I could say. I licked my lips, and told myself I should calm down. "Do you live in the new house?"

He frowned a little, which made his face look funny. "The new house? What do you mean?"

I started to regain some strength and confidence, which I think I got from my mother. She was very good in tricking people into believing everything that came out of her mouth was the truth.

"The house on top of the hill. It wasn't there before. Now it is. And you're here, too. And the principal brought you into class. Why?"

I thought I was explaining it pretty clear, but Ravin seemed to only get more and more confused. "Wait…so, you're not part of…you know…"

"Uhm, no? I mean, I'm in your class. I don't do any sport, and I'm also not a member of a club or anything. I am a Rikugou, but my family didn't really do anything."

This was the most messy conversation I would ever have, yet these few sentences seemed to help Ravin understand what was going on.

"You have no idea, do you?"

I opened my mouth to snap back, but then figured I should maybe adjust my strategy a little. "I do. But I'm asking if you do."

Ravin turned his head a little to the side, as if a different angle would shine a different light on the situation. It didn't. "Why, though?"

"What?"

"Lot of stuff you don't know about, yet it has a lot to do with you."

"Can you be more specific?"

You thought this was weird. Wait till you visualize this; Ravin laughed. And it had a nice sound too. I don't think I can find the words to describe it, so I think we're gonna have to let go of that visualizing idea.

"What is going on?" I said, in the hopes of putting more pressure on him. Not that I could do anything if he didn't tell me. His smile did disappear.

"I'm not sure if I'm allowed to" he said. "But I got an idea. Meet me tomorrow before school, and I'll explain it all."

He then turned around, and I felt I was losing my advantage.

"Tomorrow?" I said, and I did nothing to hide my disappointment. He stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"Yes, tomorrow. It'll be worth the wait, trust me."

Then he walked away. I was a bit too nervous about the strange wind that came when I got too close to him, so I stayed where I was. I wanted to go after him, but knew my mother was probably already pissed at me for staying out so late. I probably had to do the dishes or something, as punishment.

My mother didn't ask when I came home, but ignored me, which is even worse. My father didn't even need to pretend not to see me; he wouldn't normally care if I was home or not. It's been like that ever since he found that the baby growing inside my mother's belly (me) wasn't a boy.

I couldn't sleep that night. I found myself staring at the glow-in-the-dark stars at my ceiling, and watched them slowly fade out. The darkness never made me feel so safe.

It may have been a good thing that I couldn't see the hill from my room, otherwise I would be staring out the window the entire night.

Somehow, I managed to fall asleep. I woke up late, washed my face, got dressed, and left. I was too nervous to eat anyways.

Ravin was already waiting for me by the fountain. The morning sun shone on his black hair and almost made it look like glass. When I got close enough, he knew I was there, just like the day before. He turned his head to look at me. He didn't seem particularly pleased to see me or anything, and I almost felt like we were business partners and about to make a big deal which would profit both our companies.

I liked to tell stories.

"Morning" I said when I reached the maximum distance. He just slightly nodded, and then turned his head again. I blinked. It almost looked like he didn't know who I was. Or didn't know we met yesterday.

"Uhm, Ravin?" I said, in an attempt to get his attention. He turned around again and looked again. Now, he stared at me while slightly shaking his head. That scared me.

Next, he was moving his eyes towards a small alley, which looked similar to where we met yesterday. I understood, and headed over there.

I waited around the corner, and looked at my watch. School would soon start. Whatever it was that had to be so secret, he better spill it fast, or we'd be late and our parents would be called, which was the last thing I needed.

I suddenly felt a hand around my arm. Black hair awed across my cheek, and I got very confused. How could he get that close to me?

"Just a little further. They won't hear us there."

He basically pushed me further into the shady alley, with more questions rising with every step I took. I kept my mouth shut until he let go of me. "What is going on?"

Ravin was still very close, and I just couldn't understand it. He glanced around again, before talking.

"Look, this is gonna sound weird, but while I'm in the sunlight, they're able to hear everything that happens."

I felt the world shifting under my feet. Maybe it was because I hadn't eaten, or it was all just very dazzling. "Who is 'they'?"

Ravin breathed in through his sharp nose. "It's complicated. Short version; everything you know is a lie. All these people around us are not real. To them, I am an illusion as well. Someone they don't notice. The reason you're the only one noticing me, is because you are the key to breaking this illusion."

After that, I blacked out. I fell to the ground, hit it hard.

When I woke up, the first thing I thought was that I missed school because it was dark. Slowly but surely, all the details of the short conversations I'd had with Ravin came back to me. And as soon as I'd listed them all down, I wanted to go asleep again, wishing all of it was fake.

And in some way, it was.

"I know you're awake, Rikugou."

Ravin's soft voice. I cleared my throat, and felt tears boiling up. "What time is it?"

A snicker. "Don't be dramatic. It's only been a minute."

I sat up on whatever I was lying on. A bed, I assumed. "Where are we?"

"Don't be like that. Open your damn eyes."

I blinked, and suddenly felt the hardness of the surface I lay on. The stones of the alleyway, which was very confusing. "How…"

"What?"

I looked up. Ravin was really close, and even leaned forward a bit. He stared into my eyes as if I was a crazy person. Then he seemed to shiver. "It's you for real, huh?"

If I hadn't been that confused, I would've surely pushed him off of me. He got too close. What if someone saw us and would tell my mother…?

Ravin stood up. "On your feet. We're already late for school."

For some reason, this made me angry. I put this whole mystery before anything else, and he thought he could push it farther even more. I jumped up, flattened my skirt with my hands and then placed them on my hips, the way I saw the lady in the bookstore do when her husband had fallen asleep behind the counter again.

"Forget about school! Just tell me what this is all about."

Ravin had already started walking, but stopped just before the shadow of the alleyway ended. He glanced over his shoulder with a grim smile. "I just did. You were the one wasting time by lying on the ground."

I felt my cheeks slowly turning red. "I…that's not fair. That story of yours-"

"You go to church, right?"

I frowned. "Yes…but what does that have to do with it?"

"What did you see when you blacked out?"

At this point I crossed my arms because I wasn't feeling that confident anymore. "Nothing…but I did feel…I thought I was lying in a bed."

I thought I saw Ravin's eyes widen for a second, but it was gone as soon as I noticed. "So you felt something different?"

I nodded slowly, suddenly scared that everything was about to make sense. A part of me wanted to go along with everything Ravin said. Believe that this life I led had a meaning, but I wondered if I could handle the truth.

Ravin took a few steps back into the alleyway. "What you felt then, is the truth. When I told you about it, your mind somehow got….triggered. You were able to leave this place for a minute."

He spoke slowly, which I appreciated. I felt like I had to take notes in my head, and write an essay for every word he spoke. Or maybe he was afraid I couldn't handle it again. "You were still helpless in there…but I think I can help you wake up on the other side. That way….you might find a way to break this curse."

I gulped. Curse. He hadn't used that word before, and it scared me. This phrase suggested so many things. Mostly magic. Magic had always been the one thing I wished for. It was finally here. Not in the way I wanted it to come to me.

"How?" I asked. It hit me that I didn't know anything about Ravin. This could all just be a lie. He was just someone who came to our town one day. "How are you going to help me do that?"

Ravin raised one eyebrow, the one that didn't disappear under his hair. "I see. You don't trust me, huh?"

I shrugged. "Why should I? I don't know you. And you just said you were an illusion yourself."

"Not really. I'm just…well, a glitch, you could say. To get in here, I had to pretend I was one of them. But now they've already forgotten. Everyone but you, of course."

"Where are you from?"

Ravin seemed to get a little annoyed at my questioning, but I wouldn't blame me for doing it. "I'll tell you about it later-"

"I don't think so. If you don't tell me, I won't break this curse."

He snickered humourlessly. "Really? You're gonna use that as leverage on me? So you'd rather live a life stuck in here instead of…." He abruptly stopped speaking, and bowed his head. It seemed like he almost said something he wasn't supposed to.

"Instead of what?" I said, seeing my chance in his mistakes. "If I don't know what my life is like on the other side, I don't have any reason to help you."

"You're not helping me. You're helping lots of people, including yourself."

"Are there more people like me, then? Who are stuck in here?"

"Exactly. It would be selfish to stay here."

"Or you could just say that to get me on your side."

Ravin rolled his eyes, and it was the first time I saw his calm demeanour break. It was clear to me he was still hiding things from me, which was annoying. We were annoying each other. It was also clear to me that staying in this alleyway wasn't going to solve anything.

"Fine" I said. "Let's meet after school."