Chapter 2-Mitsui
'Hi-nii, is our house safe?' Mitsui stared at his little sister, a little surprised.
'Why'd you ask?'
'Err…'
'Well, it should be. We don't have an alarm, but we do have dogs and a few guards don't we?' Mitsui smiled at his sister affectionately
'Don't worry, we'll survive,' he said ruffling her hair playfully. She nodded, standing up. she disappeared out of sight into the kitchen then returned with a cup of water.
'Hai… anyway, Hi-nii is always here, right?' she asked, smiling a little mischievously. Mitsui, who missed the smile, nodded his head, laughing, until…
*Splatter*
Mitsui spluttered.
'Teme!' Mitsui shouted, and proceeded to chase his sister, who was chanting, 'never mess my hair!'
'You'll get it for pouring water on me!' He was answered by her laugh.
* * * * * * * *
'Even if you're a basketball player, that gives you no right at all to be late…' Mitsui sighed. His sensei had been going on for at least half an hour when he had only been fifteen minutes late.
I'll get you for this, Ri-chan! Images of his sister flooded his mind, and he smiled unconsciously.
'What are you smiling about?!'
'Err…' Mitsui gulped.
'Detention after school!' the sensei roared.
Damn! Stupid sensei! Mitsui fumed. Detention meant being late for basketball practices…
Damn it!
* * * * * * * *
Oh, crap! Mitsui thought when he saw his bunch of fan girls enter the detention classroom.
'Hisashi-chan!' one of them squealed. Mitsui shuddered.
Who the hell gave you the permission to call me Hisashi-chan? He fumed
Man, this is a nightmare…
'Nightmare?' a voice whispered. 'Let's try this.'
'Help!! Help! God, it's burning me! Onii-san, please help!! Please, stop it, it hurts… HELP!'
Mitsui looked up, startled at the sound of the voice. Suddenly, all his fan girls seemed to fade away. Their screams were doing the same… fading…
Another voice was taking their place, another voice pleading for help and mercy.
'What are you doing? Onii-san!! Please… it hurts… ITAI!!! Please, onii-sama!!! Onegai, stop it… ahhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHH!!"
Mitsui snapped his eyes open. He didn't recall ever closing it… but he didn't care, not now at least. All he could think of were the two screams. A guy, the other a girl, screaming like hell… and they couldn't be older than twelve.
Goosebumps crawled up Mitsui's skin. He felt cold all over, and yet, he was sweating. The girls who were pressing in were like a confining mantle of claustrophobic, choking him.
Burning, melting, onii-san…
Were the kids being killed?
Far away, as if tucked in his memory, he heard his sister's voice.
'Hi-nii, is our house safe?' He could remember her snuggling into his bed last night.
Another memory shot up from his subconscious. A memory of a newspaper… the memory of the front pages of newspapers…
The killings of so many kids… since February, five months ago had appeared on the front page countless times.
'Ri-chan,' Mitsui breathed out softly.
So far he had never really felt all that worried as the killings had seemed unimportant to him… far away. His sister had never been in trouble, and he had always for some unknown reason, felt secure…
… But that scream, that cry of agony and pain…
Mitsui felt a thread of fear slip down his back… and from his heart, deep down, he felt an overwhelming sense of sympathy, pain, and anger.
'Don't talk about nightmares when you don't know what a real nightmare is,' the voice whispered into his ears.
It was so close…
'Help the kids, Mitsui. Get them, before they get your sister.'
His sense of security had fled, leaving him feeling so worried and insecure.
'Alone?' Mitsui croaked, anger coating his real terrified voice. Without his realization, the girls were staring their "Hisashi-chan", questions written all over their face.
'Nah… five for five. Five good for five evil… Careful, they are terrible…'
'Who are the rest?' Mitsui whipered, almost inaudibly… almost.
'Those who are… those who can… those who are willing…'
Mitsui gulped.
