Me, Myself, and My Haunted Shadow

By Ryoken

It was a dark and stormy night...ah, that's just cheesy. C'mon, you can come up with something better than that old line, thought Kento as he was trying to sit down and write his language writing assignment. The class had been assigned to write a short story at the beginning of the week and Kento had promised himself that instead of just blowing it off or writing something cheesy, that he would write something really cool. However, he hadn't promised himself not to procrastinate about it and it was beginning to get late. Out of no where, his frustrated face became quite serious as he began to quite write down what idea had come to his mind. Children have good reason to be afraid of the dark. They don't know what lurks in the dark corner of their room or what monster is peering out at them from inside the closet. When they grow up, they grow out of that fear, with the knowledge that there are no such things as monsters, that they're "made up". Not real. But if they're made up, then why is it that when we think about it, they don't seem so unreal anymore? ...

"Hey Kento, this actually isn't half as bad as I thought it would be," Rowen snickered as he finished reading Kento's five-page-long homework assignment.

Kento merely glared at him for a second, and then snatched it out the blue-haired boy's hand. "Ne, I can be creative when I feel like it!!"

Rowen merely shrugged and hopped off of the lunch table as the first bell rang. Kento and Cye walked to Kento's sixth period together, seeing as Cye's class was just down the hall from Kento's.

"Hope you get a good grade on it, Kento!" Cye said as he walked away from Kento, leaving him at the door to his language class.

"Me too. I think I did a real good job on this one," he said, waving to his best bud as he entered the classroom and sat down.

Kento's language class teacher, Sensei Haun, wasn't one of the meanest teachers around, but she wasn't exactly one of the nicest either. When the last bell rang, Sensei Haun told the class to turn in their papers and, without even looking at the two who were trying to sneak into the class unnoticed, promptly told "the students who are now officially late to class" to go to lockout. Most of the students STILL wondered how she did that.

Sensei Haun then began the lesson for that day, but Kento just couldn't concentrate. He really wanted to know how he did. Maybe, he thought, he could publish it or something and get loads of cash if his teacher thought it was an A-paper. Then his mind started to wander and daydream about what he'd do with a million dollars. At that moment, Sensei Haun gave them some class work to do while she began the long grading process of the assignment. Kento was so busy daydreaming that he didn't even know what the assignment was. D'oh!

He tapped the person next to him, a guy named Kilin, and asked "Eeto, what's the assignment?"

Kilin sighed. Kento was always asking him what they were doing. Why couldn't he ask someone else around him for a change? "We're supposed to be writing a Haiku poem."

"Ohhhhhh, arigato man," Kento said with a smile. Kilin sighed and smiled back. Well, at least he always thanks him, unlike some OTHER people he knew, who didn't even give him an acknowledging grunt in return for his information.

A Haiku poem, huh? Er, hmm...I wonder what I should write about...Kento thought to himself. But it seemed that he had a case of writer's block (we all know how that feels!) and he just couldn't think. Time flew by as Kento scratched his head worriedly and he looked at the clock. Five more minutes!? A whole hour had passed in what appeared to be a minute. Okay Kento, time to get serious! And his writer's block was broken in half as he produced the Haiku within the time that was left. As the bell rang and the class began to file out into the hallway, Sensei Haun shouted to them that their papers would graded by tomorrow. Kento just couldn't wait that long. As soon as he packed up his things, he walked nervously over to the sensei's desk.

"Uh, Sensei Haun? Could I ask you something?" He asked.

"Yes, Kento-Kun?"

"Have you...um...have you read my paper yet?" He asked eagerly.

"Iie, not yet. Why do you ask?"

"Oh. Well, I just tried really hard on it, and I kinda wanted to know what I got, butIguessthatcanwait, bye!" He said, hurrying to the door. As he went through the doorway, Sensei Haun raised an eyebrow and smiled. He was a nice enough kid, but Kento actually wanting to know what he got on an assignment? This was new. She searched through the pile of papers on her desk and found Kento's short story. It was much longer than she had expected and so, as her last period students began to go to their seats, she began reading it. Children have good reason to be afraid of the dark...

Man what's wrong with me today? I haven't been that nervous since the last time I had to stand up in front of the class and give a timed presentation, Kento said, recalling how difficult it was just to say the lines on his note cards. Ah well, maybe I'll just come after school and- Kento stopped his thoughts. He couldn't believe what he was thinking. Him?! Staying after school, WILLINGLY?!!?!?!? Something really was the matter with him. Maybe I'm getting sick or something...Or maybe I'm starting to catch Rowen's disease of studying? He then completely forgot as he finally saw Cye coming out his own classroom. "It's about time, dude!"

Kento had completely forgotten about the story as he arrived back at his house. His brothers and sister greeted him with the same eccentric hugging and toppling that they usually gave him and he went upstairs to his room. As the day passed, and Kento did his usual routine of homework, video games, and dinnertime, the thought of the short story he'd written drifted further and further from his mind, and in it's place came a strange feeling in his gut. It stayed with him even when he was in bed, trying to get to sleep. The feeling just kept growing and nagging on him until he realized what it was. D'oh! I forgot to go and check on my paper! Kento began to think about the plot of his proud "work of art" when sleep began to overwhelm his conscious mind.

R-R-I-I-N- CRASH!!!! as the blur of a hand knocked the alarm clock off the lamp table. Uuuuuugh...damn alarm clocks... Kento thought. He groggily sat up and bent over to put the nuisance back in its usual spot. However, as he began to yawn, the scent of breakfast reached his ever-faithful nose.

Kento bounded down the stairs, now fully-dressed and ready for the day when a plate of pancakes was placed on the table by his mom. Excited even more than usual, he practically jumped over the back of the chair to sit down and dug in. Even though it was only Thursday, Kento was still excited because this weekend he and the guys were going to the lake for a camping trip. He had planned to get the school day over with ASAHP(as soon as humanly possible). Grabbing his backpack, he hurried out the door and quickly started his car as he headed for Cye's house.

"You're in an awfully cheerful mood today, Kento," Cye noticed on their way to school.

"Yeah, I know. I just can't wait until tomorrow, it's gonna be great!

"Here's your schedule. Are you sure that you'll be able to find your classes?" The lady at the front desk asked kindly.

"Yes, Ma'am, I'll be fine," said the girl in front of her. She hastened her step in order to leave that place. Once outside of the office, the girl looked at the paper in her hand, took a deep breath, and exhaled. She hoped the day would pass by quickly as her left index finger stiffened in pain again.

"Class, we have a new student joining us today. I hope you'll all make her feel welcome," said the old history teacher. Ryo looked up from his drawing. New student, eh? He watched silently as the teacher hurried over to the door and opened it. "Come in. Take whatever seat you'd like that's open," he said gently. That was a first. Ryo had never heard that teacher speak so...nicely to anybody, except maybe the principal. The girl that stepped in wasn't exactly gorgeous, but she wasn't ugly either. From where Ryo sat, he couldn't make out the color of her eyes, but she had dirty blonde hair that stopped at her shoulders and it was extremely wavy, but not curly. She nodded to the teacher, not smiling or frowning, and took the seat diagonally behind Ryo's right side. With this new person here, the class began talking extremely loud. Where was she from? What school had she gone to before theirs? Heck, what was her name? Wasn't the teacher going to have her introduce herself? However, no one seemed to ask her directly as the girl merely got out her notebook, opened it up to a blank piece of paper and seemed to wait for the teacher to give his lesson. Now that she was closer, he tried to determine the color of her eyes, but it was just impossible.

The old history teacher sighed as he noticed how engrossed his students were in this new event. He wasn't even going to TRY and calm them down. He remembered what had happened last time, and he wasn't exactly too keen on losing his voice again. His eyes went to glare at the new kid, whom he assumed would be talking to the other students and becoming the best friend of that popular girl, what's-her-face, but to his surprise, she was calmly waiting for him to quiet down the class and start the lesson. Weird kid, he thought, and he shrugged and returned to his book.

"Hey," Ryo said, trying to get her attention, but she didn't seem to know that she was being addressed. He said "hey" once more, this time a little louder, and she looked over at him, startled that this boy wanted to speak to her. Her cheeks turned a slight shade of pink, and Ryo merely smiled his cheerful smile. "Desu Sanada Ryo. What's your name?" The class seemed to quite down a little as they wanted to hear what she would say.

"Sara...but my friends call me Riko," she said quietly, almost inaudibly. Her voice was like a wisp of air.

"Well, Riko, I wouldn't get your hopes up too high on taking notes today. Whenever something new happens, there's no way to calm this particular class down," he said with a bit of a chuckle. She smiled gently, almost...relieved. "So...where are you from?"

"Kariforunia." Riko said. At first, Ryo wasn't sure what she had said, but he then realized she had meant she was from California and was trying to say it in Japanese. She seemed to relax a bit.

"That's in the United States, right?"

She nodded.

"Cool. My friends and I went to New York once. Man, is that place big."

"Yeah, sure is."

"You been there?"

She nodded again, but this time kind of avoided his eyes.

"May I ask you a question?"

"Okay."

"What color are your eyes?"

"Has anyone seen Ryo yet?" Rowen asked as he approached the lunch table with Sage. Kento and Cye were already sitting down, eating their lunches. They shook their heads. None of them had seen him that day. Kento hoped that Ryo hadn't gotten sick. He'd have to miss out on all the fun that was going to happen that weekend.

"Ne, did anyone else hear about the new student?" Cye asked. "I heard from someone that she's from the US." The shook their heads again. They hadn't heard.

"Hey guys!" Came the familiar voice of their leader, but he was coming from a different entrance today. They looked behind them to see him stopped at the entrance to a different hall and he seemed to be trying to convince someone to come out.

"They don't bite, no da," Ryo said so that his friends couldn't hear him. Oh, come on, just get it over with, girlie, she thought. She stepped out into the light.

"Picking up chicks before the weekend, are we, Ryo??" Rowen asked. The girl seemed to turn bright red as the others laughed and she tried to hide her face .

"Very funny. Her name is Riko. Say hi," Ryo said. Riko mumbled what sounded like a konichiwa. "Riko, these are my friends Sage, Kento, Rowen, and Cye," said, pointing to each of them in turn.

"Say, you're that new student, aren't you?" The Britt asked. She nodded slowly towards him as Ryo and herself sat down.

"Yeah, she's from California," Ryo said for her. She was thankful for that.

"Honto?" Said Kento. "Sweet! Maybe you could show us a few moves on a surf board sometime!" Riko blushed brighter. She hadn't a clue as to how to surf, it's wasn't like she had lived right next to the beach.

The boy next to her seemed to whisper in her ear without the others noticing. "Try not to be so shy. You don't have to try to speak Japanese all the time either," he said. She looked to see the one they called Cye smiling gently towards her.

"Sorry," she whispered back. To him, she seemed a bit more relaxed now.

"Which part of California are you from?" The boy with blue hair asked.

"Southern California."

"So she DOES talk!" Kento said, jokingly. She smiled. "You must surf a lot then!"

She laughed weakly. "Actually, I don't know the first thing about surfing," Riko said as she scratched her cheek. Kento seemed to be the only one who was surprised.

"NANIIIIIIIIII?! You come here all the way from California and you don't know how to surf?!!?" He said, standing up to stare at her in the face like she had said something that everyone else knew but him. She seemed to become more nervous with that action.

"Kento, take it easy on her!" Cye said. He put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Don't mind him, he can get extremely 'emotional' at times."

"I do not!!"

"Don't worry, they always act like this, but they've been best friends for a long time," Ryo told her. She seemed to notice that one of their members hadn't spoken a word yet: Sage. He just sat there, his one visible eye closed, and his arms crossed.

"That's the typical Sage for ya; the strong silent type," Kento said, noticing her gaze towards him. She blushed again, seeing that she'd been caught looking at him. "Heh, don't worry, every other girl has a crush on him, too!" At this, Sage opened his eyes and looked at her face. He seemed to try and focus his own eyes on hers, but couldn't figure something out.

"Riko," Sage said, for the first time that lunch period. "What color are your eyes?"

"Stick with me, Riko, and you'll do just fine," Kento said he led her to his classroom. They had the same language class together.

"Do that, and I can guarantee you won't be doing much better than him," Rowen teased.

"Urusei, Mr. Genius!" He snapped back. " 'Sides, don't you have class on the other side of school?"

"Sure, but that doesn't mean I can't crack a joke along the way, does it?" Kento grumbled. "Hey, Riko, you sure are quiet. Something wrong?" Rowen asked.

She looked up from her gaze. "Huh, no, I'm always quiet," she hurriedly.

"Uh huh..." He said thoughtfully. Riko and Kento reached their destination before Rowen could say anything more. "See you later, Riko. Don't be a stranger, you hear?" He said with a bad country accent.

He seemed have choked a mild laugh out of her as he walked to his own class. Heh, there's hope for her yet.

"Sara, you can take a seat behind Kento. I believe you're already acquainted with him, are you not?" Sensei Haun said. Sara? I thought she said her name was Riko? She nodded silently and took her seat. Then the teacher began handing back the assignments. When Kento received his own, he frowned. A +C??? How the heck could his hard work have earned him a +C??? He groaned and let his head fall noisily to the desk.

"What's wrong?" Riko asked quietly from behind.

He just handed her the paper and said "and I worked so hard on it too!"

Riko didn't even look at the grade as she read the first line to herself. Children have good reason to be afraid of the dark... She shuddered a bit as a memory hit her and her heart skipped a few beats. She read another line. But if they're made up, then why is it that when we think about it, they don't seem so unreal anymore?

"Sara-Kun, would you like tell the class what seems to be much more interesting than my lesson?" Said the teacher. She hadn't even realized that Sensei Haun had began the lesson.

"Er, eeto, I, uh..."

"She's reading my short story assignment, Sensei Haun," the boy in front of her said.

"Well, if you would kindly put that out of her reach for now, Rei-Faun-Kun, we will continue with the lesson," she said as she watched Riko unwillingly give the story back to Kento.

Once Sensei Haun was beginning to get into her lesson again, Kento turned around quietly. "What dya think of it?"

"Well, I didn't really get to read much of it. Gomen," she said.

"Ah, don't worry about it. I'll give it back to you after class," he answered, and turned back around.

'That story should be interesting to read,' she said in her mind. That's what I wish I'd said anyway.

As soon as the bell rang, Riko immediately asked to see the story again.

"Whoa, aren't we the little boss?" Kento teased. She looked apologetic. She even bowed a little.

"I'm terribly sorry, please forgive my rudeness." She looked at the ground in...was that shame?

"Hey, there's nothing to be sorry about," Kento said, looking curiously at her. He gave her the paper. "Was just playing around, you know? A joke." She seemed to blush at that comment. She sure is embarrassed a lot. Maybe she's not used to hanging out with guys? He changed the subject. "What class do you have next?"

She looked at her paper. "Pre-Calculus with Mr. uhh..."

He looked at the paper and instantly recognized the name. "Mr. Watsashi. Sage has him. From what I've heard, he's not a bad teacher." She seemed to blush at the mere mention of Sage's name. He grinned. This would be fun. "Hey, you really do have a crush on him, don't ya?"

"Iie, not at all! He just...reminds me of someone, that's all," she said, looking away from Kento and trying to figure out where the classroom would be.

"Oh? Who? Someone you had a crush on back in Cali?"

"No. Just someone I know." She smiled. She smiled a real smile. She started walking off.

"Well...hey wait up! Cye and I'll show you where it is!" He offered.

"Okay."

As they waited for Cye to exit the classroom, why is it that he always seems to take so long? I'll have to ask him about that, Kento tried to find out more about this girl. She told him, when asked, that she had lived all of her life with her adopted parents in California, and that this was the first time she'd been out of the country. She'd always wanted to come and visit Japan, but never in a million years did she think that her parents would send her there to finish school. She was still sixteen, her birthday near the end of the school year, and she loved to play video games, to Kento's surprise. He wondered why it was that the silent types were the always the most interesting people. He was about to ask if she'd like to come over and play some with him sometime, but Cye came out and said that they should get going.

"Geez, Cye, always interrupting people's private conversations!" Kento mocked.

"It's you who's always doing that, not me!" They began arguing when they noticed that Riko was no where in sight.

"Hey, where's Riko?" Kento wondered aloud. "Good going, Fish boy, now you've scared her off!"

"Me!?"

"C'mon, let's go find her before she runs into she-who-must-not-be-named," he said, scanning a hall.

"Maybe those Harry Potter books aren't so great for you to be reading after all..."

"Hey, it's not my fault my little sister loves those books! Come on!" He said, dragging Cye with him. I just know I'm going to be late for class...

"So YOU'RE the new girl, Sara isn't it?" came a rather snotty voice. Riko had been violently plucked from her two new friends and dragged into the girl's bathroom where she was now surrounded by a pack of girls. Undoubtedly the popular bully girl's group of "friends", Riko thought. Finally, the girl stepped out where Riko could see her. She had black straight hair and her face was something that the boys of this school probably thought irresistible. Or most of them anyway, considering that Sage probably wasn't interested in ANY of the girls who had crushes on him. "I hear you're from California. From the reputation Californian girls have, you must be a pretty wild one." Riko knew what she was getting at.

"Actually I-"

"Did I say you could speak? No, I didn't think so." She said, rudely interrupting. "Anyway, I just wanted to inform you of a few...traditions around here. Unless you want to become one of my groupies, you will stay away from Sage. He's mine, and everyone in this school knows it. I've made sure of that." Riko resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She knew she'd get beat pretty bad if she did. Suddenly the bell that told students they had two minutes to get to class rang. "Looks like that will be the end of today's lesson, Sara. But don't be surprised if you find yourself in here again." The girls left after Little-Miss-Popular and Riko left quickly after. She still had no idea where her class was and that "girl" was going to make her late. She'd never been late to class without a note, and she didn't exactly flip at the idea of going to lockout. She hurried out to see the hallways almost empty and she grew quite worried. Picking a direction, she practically ran through the halls to find her class.

"I sure hope Riko got to class all right," Cye wondered out loud. All of a sudden, the last bell rang.

"Ahh don't worry about it. I'm sure she'll have found it," Kento said. They had their own math class together, Algebra II, and were getting their books out of their bags.

"But-"

"Daijobu, Cye. She's a smart girl," he smiled reassuringly.

"Ahh, there you are! I was beginning to think that you shouldn't be showing up, Sara-Kun." Said Sensei Watsashi.

Riko was out of breath, but she had luckily went down the right hallway. She wasn't in a seat by the time the bell rang, but she was in the classroom. "My apologizes, Sensei." She panted. She had no idea how to pronounce his name like Kento did, so sensei was going to have to do for now. Over near the back row, she dreaded what she saw; it was that bully from the girl's bathroom, and she was having a fit trying to hide her laughter.

"No need, I'm sure it was difficult for you to find the room, seeing as it's your first day," he said. He looked at his seating chart. It was incredibly helpful sometimes. "Let's see, you can sit right there," he said, pointing at the empty desk in the middle of the classroom. Strange, she thought, that there would be an empty seat right in the middle of a classroom...Riko sat down gently and was relieved to finally sit down. The teacher had gone hurriedly into the lesson, leaving her no time to rest anymore as she got out some paper and pens. She hadn't even noticed where Sage was sitting. He sat one seat back from the front, in the second row from the right. She heard someone trying to get someone's attention by saying "pssssst" but she ignored it, knowing that it either wasn't for her or it was that damn girl probably trying to get her attention so as to make a threatening gesture at her.

The person saying "pssssst" said it again, only louder. Again, Riko ignored it. "Deana-Kun, I would appreciate it if you would stop trying to interrupt my class." Sensei Watsashi said as he looked at the board. Only a few laughed. Riko guessed that was the bully's name and that she'd given a threatening glare to all of the students who laughed.

For the rest of the period, Riko did her best to pay attention and not look around. But seeing as that she was very tired from her first long day, plus the fact that she was suffering from jetlag, it was a difficult task to do. But finally, the last bell rang, and she could go find her next destination: the home where she was supposed to live. Tiredly, she walked out of the class, not even taking notice that Deana was right behind her, planning to trip her, and make everyone laugh at her. But fortunately for Riko, Sage was right behind Deana, and grabbed her attention from the poor girl. Riko never knew what had happened, and Sage wasn't about to let it slip that he'd helped her. He just wasn't the bragging kind of person.

She finally got outside when Kento came up to her. "Hey, you ok? You look beat."

She nodded.

"Would you like me to drive you home?"

Now this was a first. Riko had never heard a guy ask if he could drive her home.

"Gomen, but I've got a ride. Maybe some other time?"

"Sure! Jaa ne tomorrow!" He shouted from behind as he raced to what was apparently his car. "C'mon, Cye, you slowpoke!"

Cye, who was now beside her, sighed. "He really has no patience for anything." He said to no one in particular. "I'm coming, hold your horses, Kento!"

Riko smiled and started looking for the car that would hold the familiar face of the person whom she was staying with. She didn't find it. Frowning, Riko sat on the sidewalk and decided to wait. So she waited. And waited. And waited, until the sun was close to setting. By this time she was fighting to stay awake.

"Hey, what are you still doing here?" came a familiar voice. She looked up to see Ryo standing there.

"Well, I was waiting for my ride, but I don't know what to do. I've been waiting here for forever," she said, standing up. "Why are you still here?"

"Detention. I'll wait with you, if you like."

"I'd like that very much, but don't you have to go home?"

"Nah, my grandma doesn't mind, just so long as I'm home by dinner. Do you have the address of where you're staying?"

"Yes."

"Then if your ride's not here by the time the sun sets, I'll walk you home." Riko blushed deeply.

"Th-Thank you."

"No problem. The streets can be a little dangerous at night if you're by yourself."

So, leaning against the fence, they waited. Just as the sky began to turn dark, a blue Ford pick-up truck pulled up in front of them. An American-looking girl who must have been in her twenties or early thirties smiled and opened the door. "Sorry about the wait, Sara, I got caught up at work. Who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Ryo. Ryo, this is my distant cousin, Justine." They exchanged hellos.

"Hey, Ryo, why don't I give you a ride back to your house as a token of my thanks?"

"Naw, it isn't very far. I just live a few blocks down from the school."

Justine shrugged. "If you say so. Thanks again!"

"No problem." Ryo began walking to his house as the car pulled away.

Riko lay her head back on the seat to sleep, but it wasn't long before they reached the house where her cousin lived.

"Here we are, home sweet home." Justine said as she shut the truck door. Riko looked the house over. It was a small and cramped two story house and must have had an attic. Something about how the house loomed made Riko want to shiver. "I know it's not the best looking place in the world, but it's cozy." Justine showed Riko inside and showed her up to the attic. "I only have one bedroom in the entire house, so I'm afraid you'll have to stay up here. But you don't have to worry about any spiders or bugs, I keep this place pretty clean."

"It's fine."

"You sure?"

"Yup."

"Okay then. Listen, I have to get back to work, but feel free to get something from the fridge or order some take out, there's some money on the kitchen counter. I won't be home until late, so feel free to do whatever," she hurriedly said as she went out the door.

Riko barely got out a "bye" as the door closed. Before Riko was about to do what homework she could without falling asleep, she decided she'd take a tour of the house. It was just like any regular old home, but the other upstairs rooms besides the master bedroom were art studios and video game rooms, etc. She made her way over to the rope that would give her entry to her room and pulled. Riko climbed the stairs to take a better look at her new room. There wasn't a speck of dust in sight and there was even a window that had window seat. She sat down, opened the window, and looked at the street below. There wasn't much going on. Just a dog barking from somewhere. She closed the window and sat on her bed, pulling out her homework. It took her a few hours and a break or two, but she was finally done, not with all the work she'd missed, it'd be impossible to do it all, but with that night's load. She wasn't tired anymore, so she decided to go down and watch some TV. By the time Justine came home, Riko was fast asleep on the couch, and Kento's story completely forgotten.

************************************************************************

In case you don't know what lockout is, it's where kids are sent if you're late to class without a note and you're counted as absent for that class.

Words that were used:

Ne-Hey

Sensei-teacher

Eeto-um

Iie-no

Desu- I am

Kariforunia- California

No da- you know

Konichiwa- hello

Honto-really

Nani-what

Urusei-shut up

Gomen- sorry

-Kun- suffix used for younger people

Daijobu- don't worry

Jaa ne- see you