Author's note: Finally a chapter where some
of the FY characters come in. I'm not telling you which one of them,
though... you'll have to read to find out =P
"Well, well, well... what do we have here?"
"Fuck off, Jason."
They call me Tora, which means tiger. Many say I have the same abilities of a tiger... their aggressiveness, their need to hunt and their speed.
The guy I told to take a hike? Jason. School's most spoiled brat, if you ask me. He's been bugging me since pre-school. Every girl in school drools over him... everyone except me. He's nothing to drool over. A stupid prick, that's what he is.
"Aww c'mon on now, Tora. You know you wanna go out with me."
Oh, how I'd love to wipe that grin off his face. I stared at him, one eyebrow raised. "Is that so?"
"Yep. You simply can't resist me. So, how about you and me go somewhere private to have a little "fun", huh?"
That was the last straw. Many students jumped out of the way when I grabbed Jason by his collar and rammed him up against the lockers. "Listen here, ya prick!" I hissed between clenched teeth. "Talk to me like that again, an' I swear, I'll mess up yer face so bad, not even yer own mom will recognize ya!"
They call me Tora. I'm seventeen years old, and I hate self-centered, egoistic and idiotic guys.
I rammed him against the lockers again, and grinned when I saw the fear in his eyes. "Is that clear?" One of my eyebrows twitched up, as I waited for his reply. "Is that clear?!"
"P-perfectly..." he stuttered. I let go of him, and he fell to his knees. Without paying him another look, I turned around and walked down the hallway.
"She wants me..."
I don't know what happened, but I turned around at Jason's last remark. My vision went blood red and before I knew it, Jason's screams echoed throughout the school. After a while, my vision turned normal again and I saw Jason run around, screaming something about being burned to the bones.
I snapped out of my daze, and to my very surprise, I saw that Jason's jacket was on fire. He desperately threw himself on the floor and rolled around, trying to choke the fire. A lot of his friends jumped to his rescue, and what did I do? I whirled around and got the hell out of there.
I sprinted down the hallway, headed where, I don't know. I just ran. I had to get out of there. I felt like I had a big part in Jason's little accident, which scared me. I don't get scared easily, but right now, I was terrified.
I finally collapsed by a tree outside school. I slid down the trunk and took a seat on the ground. Then I sighed and buried my head in my hands. What had I gotten myself into? Jason was surely going to blame me for what happened. He'd probably say something like; "she put my jacket on fire with her lighter!" ... and I don't even smoke!
I've been suspended from school enough already. My parents aren't too happy about my grades, and frankly, school bores me to death. Imagine how this little incident would look on my report card... not good, huh? Tell me about it.
My head snapped up suddenly when I heard footsteps approaching. When I looked up, I was greeted by the familiar frown of my principal, Ms Akiko.
I had two choices... get up and run, or stay and let Ms Akiko make me feel guilty. As much as I liked our principal, I couldn't let her suspend me for something I was sure I had nothing to do with.
I scrambled up on my feet and ran in the opposite direction. Towards the school gates. I heard Ms Akiko's desperate calls of my name, but only pushed my legs harder and sprinted as fast as I could down the schoolyard. Judging the height of the big gates, I jumped and started climbing them, much like a cat. "GOMEN NASAI, AKIKO-SAN!" I called out and jumped down on the other side.
A wave of pride rushed through me and I ran down the street.
I had to lay low for a while, so I decided to visit the little coffee shop around the corner of where I lived. Its owner was a chubby old man, whom I knew as Hiroshi-sama.
I entered the little shop, gave Hiroshi-sama a little wave and then took my usual seat in the booth in the corner. Looking around, I noticed there weren't many customers, which meant Hiroshi-sama would soon grace me with his presence. I didn't have to wait long...
"You're early today."
I looked up to meet his smile. "School ended early, no big deal." I replied and took the cup of hot cocoa he had brought for me. I put the cup down on the table and stared at it a moment.
Shuffling reached my ears as Hiroshi-sama took the seat across from me. "Tora... it's 10 am." His voice held a bit of amusement but also worry.
I looked up, not being able to hide the smile that slowly crept up my face. "I'm busted, aren't I?" I stirred the cocoa with a spoon and watched the swirls with big interest.
"What happened?"
I knew I could trust him, so I told him the whole story. About Jason, the fire and last, me running away from the principal. When I was finished, I was surprised to see that Hiroshi-sama was doubled up in chuckles. Without being able to help it, I had soon joined him in laughing.
"You're too much, Tora... you know that, don't you?"
"I know." I grinned, my unnaturally prominent canine teeth tickling my lower lip.
"Now drink up, your cocoa is getting cold." Hiroshi-sama got up and moved back to his place behind the counter.
I nodded and brought the cup up to my lips to take a sip. Hiroshi-sama had been right. The cocoa had gotten cold. I grimaced with distaste and put the cup down on the table. Keeping my fingers wrapped around it, I stared at the swirls in it again. Suddenly, a warm feeling tickled my hand. It got warmer and warmer until the heat got to a point where my hand felt like it was on fire. But I was unaffected. Somehow, the feeling was soothing and familiar.
I removed my hand from the cup, only to see that the cocoa was steaming hot. Whoa. That freaked me out. When I looked at my palm, I saw it glowing red. The red light faded and my hand returned to its normal color.
"Tora."
I jumped. When I looked up, I met Hiroshi-sama's worried glance. "H-hai."
"Everything alright?"
I nodded and swallowed hard. Then I glanced down at my hand again.
The bell above the door gave away a shrill ring, but I paid no notice of it. I was too wrapped up in my thoughts.
When the sound of someone approaching reached my ears, I lifted my gaze and caught sight of a most extraordinary sight. A pair of golden eyes stared down at me. I gulped and took the sight in. It was a man. He was rather tall and was extremely good looking. I felt some kind of strong connection to him, though I couldn't explain why.
He seemed drowsy. I didn't understand anything until suddenly his knees gave away beneath him. Luckily, I caught his head, preventing him from hitting the stone cold floor. "Somebody call an ambulance!!" I yelled and cradled him in my arms.
"The..."
"Shh, don't speak. Just rest." I soothed and looked up. A crowd of people had surrounded us, looking down at the figure I held in my arms, curiously. Hiroshi-sama approached us in a rush, telling me that the ambulance was on its way.
"The... war... has begun..."
I placed my hand on his throat to feel his pulse. That's when I noticed the trace of blood that led down to his chest. "You're hurt..." his hand was clasped over his wound.
"Doesn't matter... need help... Fire..." he lifted his hand and to my surprise, placed two fingers on my forehead. A warm and fuzzy feeling went through my entire body. "Don't let... " he swallowed hard. "them get me..."
"It's okay, the ambulance is on its way. You're gonna be fine. Just relax."
"No!" I was surprised by the amount of desperation in his voice. "They'll never... understand... Find Mitsukake... he'll help..."
His eyes slowly closed and his breathing became even. He was unconscious...
Everyone stared at me, as I kept my gaze on this mysterious guy. Mitsukake. What had he meant by "Mitsukake"?
"Step aside."
I looked up at hearing the deep voice. A very tall man pushed his way through the small crowd and kneeled next to me and the unconscious man I held in my arms. He took the man from me and placed him on the floor.
"I told you to keep out of trouble, Tasuki..." I heard him murmur. Then I felt light-headed and wavered. Before I knew it, blackness enveloped me...