Hello again! So, I've had a massive writers block, yes? It's been really frustrating because I have had no idea how to continue this story. I think I might have a good idea of what the rest of the plot will be like. The only thing for certain so far is this chapter! Well, since it's been long enough, without further ado~!
Chapter 38:
Life had been a bit dull, lately. To put it in better words, life had been at a standstill. They were neither any closer or further away from finding out how to bring an end to this curse. It frustrated Tohru to no end, though she never showed the frustration. They only had one vital piece of information: Akito was female. Other than that, any other information they had was relatively worthless without the other pieces of the puzzle. The rest of the sparse information included: Shigure was somehow affiliated with Akito in a deeper way than thought, but how and why? The curse, of course, corresponded with the legend of the Zodiac that was told to Tohru as a little girl. But what relevance did a children's story have with this curse, which was much darker than the light-hearted children's tale?
And they had to worry about Momiji- Who knew, and they had to worry about Hatori, who knew because Momiji told him, as well as Shigure who always hinted about knowing. There was absolutely no way that anybody else could find out.
It was so much for one teenage girl to handle. Whenever she felt as though she wanted to break down and give up, she would remember and mentally recite words of inspiration that her mother had given her. She would also remember the English-boy who had been contracted to this demon, and took everything much more calmly. She used the thought of that boy, who she didn't know much about, as a reason to keep going on.
"Tohru" came the voice of Uotani at her side, leaning on her left elbow as she starred at her friend, "Are you alright?"
"Yes! I am fine!" Tohru replied as she was snapped out from her worried thoughts.
Hanajima remained expressionless as Uotani furrowed her eyebrows together. Her friend hadn't been the same for a long time now. She was . . . much more isolated and thoughtful than bouncy and air-headed. It bothered her. Uotani had come to miss this light-hearted girl who seemed to be evolving into someone much more serious and calculative.
Uotani seemed bothered as her friend gave her a small smile.
"Oh, okay, yes" Said their teacher, who had just been conversing with someone else on the phone. There was the quiet click of the phone being placed back on the receiver as she hung up the phone. "Are there any two volunteers who would like to take a folder to the gym teacher?" Asked their teacher.
It was questionable why the teacher would send two people to do a one person job; But the logic behind it was simple. Two people would go so that one wouldn't be tempted to skip out on class.
Many students were about to raise their hand when the calm, yet dark sounding, voice of Hanajima split through the air,
"Tohru-Kun and I would like to go"
"Alright, both of you can come get the file. But return quickly! My class will only be delayed a short period of time for you!"
Hanajima stood up, her braid falling down her back,
"That's understandable"
Tohru shyly stood up, not liking the eyes that were on her, well the fabric that concealed an eye, as she walked behind her friend to go retrieve the folder with the needed information in it.
Hanajima grabbed the folder and lead her friend out the door.
Halfway of the walk there had been spent in a dreaded silence, thick and heavy over in the atmosphere. Something seemed to be churning in the raven-haired female's mind but she refused to speak it for the longest time until, out of impulsive care for the girl, she stated very quietly,
"I know"
"You know what, Hana-Chan?" Tohru smiled at her.
"I don't like to play games like these, Tohru-Chan. I have waited for you to come to me about it but you don't seem to have any intentions of telling me so I will state it bluntly. I know about your deal with the devil. I can tell from your wavelength that something changed when you first struck it. I didn't know what it was at the time though, not until the day of the cultural fair. Your wavelength seems bound to the wavelength of the demon, which I must add is completely different from the wavelength of a human, and his wavelength is bound to yours. It was undetectable at first, but the more you allowed yourself to be around him the more obvious the connection was becoming. It's . . . Unhealthy to have such a dark bond like that. Not just because I know for a fact that it's going to end in your demise, but because that dark, unbreakable, bond seems that seems comfortable at first, as though nothing drastic is going to happen, but it only gets worse. The longer you go on with that unhealthy entwinement of wavelengths, the more and more miserable you'll become, and it'll only get worse. You'll soon enough find yourself forgetting how to smile . . ."
Tohru had been struck speechless by this monologue her friend had given her. She had known that Hanajima had a gift that others did not, but she did not know that her friend knew. Maybe she should have seen the obvious hints that Hanajima dropped, though.
"I-I" Tohru faltered for words.
"And those around you so love your smile, some of us depend on it to get through the day. Don't forget how to smile, Tohru-Chan . . ." Hanajima said as she stopped at the gym doors, pulling one open.
"I-"
Hanajima sighed,
"It's okay if you don't know what to say, Tohru-Chan. I wouldn't expect anyone to know how to respond to everything I just stated. Take your time in recuperating your thoughts"
Tohru beamed up at her friend brightly,
"You're the best, Hana-Chan! I love you!"
Hanajima blinked but then smiled down at her friend, her own smile bright and happy. Her smile really meant the world to her, helped her through the hardest days of her life.
Moving through the gym, Hanajima opened the office door without giving a simple knock on the door before entering.
As it was Sebastian's free-period, the demon sat at his desk working through paperwork that needed to get done and thinking up of new things to occupy his students with while fitting the guidelines of what had to be done.
"Is there something you require?" Asked Sebastian, his red eyes flicking up to both girls.
"This is for you" Hanajima said as she set down a file of papers.
"What is this?"
"How would you expect me to know? I am merely a young female student" Hanajima replied a bit tartly, pulling back and placing a hand on her friend's shoulder, "But as a young female student, I suppose my emotions are very wild so I will impulsively say that if anyone hurts my friends, I will have to get rid of them, That is a promise" Her eyes flashed at the demon.
Sebastian let a smirk form on his lips,
"Don't make promises you can't keep, Hanajima-San" He replied.
Her eyes flashed before regaining her composure,
"We should head back to class, Tohru-Chan"
"Actually, I would like few words with your friend. Would you mind so terribly if I took her off of your hands for a little bit? I will send a note explaining why your friend didn't return with you" Sebastian looked down at his desk and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, quickly jotting down a quick explanation and handing it to the girl, "Here's legible proof"
"As a student, I am obligated to listen to you" Hanajima stated before opening the office door again, "Goodbye, Tohru-Chan"
"Walk safely back to class, Hanajima!"
Sebastian remained silent until the two double-doors came to a close, echoing through the gym.
"What is it you wanted, Sebastian-San?" Tohru asked the demon.
Sebastian let his red eyes skid over to her, looking her over before standing up himself. He seemed to tower over her, though everyone seemed to tower over her so it wasn't much to state that fact.
He strode over to her, keeping a foot distance from her as he starred down at her.
"We are having an important visitor over at the house tonight, she demanded that I allow her to come over" Sebastian stated blantly.
Tohru looked up at Sebastian with a smile on her face,
"I love visitors! Who is coming over?!"
"Nicole"
Chapter Fin
I'm seriously having awful writers block for this, it's taking baby steps with these chapters now and it's driving me insane. Please bear with be, as I am consulting my cowriter about further ideas for this story.