I swallowed, trying to put together my words, trying to rearrange my thoughts, scattered by the her glittering feline eyes, her dangerously perfect face. "Wha-how-wha-?"

She mimicked me, her eyes going wide as we jerked our faces closer together with each stuttered word. An inch away now, I could feel the heat of her face and see the sharp edges of each sparkle her eyes gave off. She smiled warmly, her eyelids half-closing seductively. "This is where you indignantly ask 'Who the hell are you?'"

I pulled back violently and scowled at her. "Who the hell are you?" I demanded indignantly. My expression lost its strength as I realized I had done exactly what she said.

The woman leaned back and put one leg up on the seat of the booth, the sleek black pants ending in tight white boots, both gleaming like her eyes in the pale yellow light. "Haruko Haruraba. Nice to meet you." She tossed the fry up into the air and snatched it out of the air with her teeth, which might as well have been fangs. She then held her hand out for me to take.

I made no move to take the hand. I folded my arms over my chest and glowered at her. "You're the one from that night."

She tilted her head, giving me a puzzled look as her eyes traced a path over the sharp edges of my face. "What night?"

I averted my eyes, focusing on a single black tile on the floor. "That was the night that."

Her smile spread like a bloodstain and her head bobbed excitedly. "Yes?"

"That you.that I."

She gripped the table and leaned still closer. "Yeees?" Her eyes were swirling and sparkling.

"That you." I growled and turned back to glare at her. "You hit me with that.thing."

"You mean this?" With one swift motion she reached behind her and pulled out a blur of blue that she dropped bodily on the table. The guitar landed with a crack on my plate, the glass of it shattering and the food lost somewhere beneath the polished exterior.

I jumped back and gazed in shock, not so much because of the sudden demise of my hamburger, but because the weapon had appeared out of nowhere and now lay idle and harmless before me. I shot a quick glance over to the owner of the diner to see if he noticed, but he was busy gazing fixedly at Haruko's legs. A low grumble rattled through the body of the guitar as it lay there, and I felt that same grumble echoed through me, making me shiver in tune.

"Yeah.that'd be it." I swallowed and looked up at her. Her smile expanded dramatically, the clean white teeth gleaming with an almost painful brightness. "Who are you, really?"

She stretched herself out elegantly, her long, slender body stretching out enticingly before me. "I already told you."

I closed my eyes and sighed heavily. "No, I mean." I stopped. What did I mean? It was as if there were too many questions in my head for me to ask anything at all. Here, in front of me was the attacker and her weapon. Here, I was faced with something real, something finally proving to me that I wasn't dreaming. And that I wasn't about to wake up. I opened my eyes. "You hit me, right?"

The girl, Haruko, snatched another fry and tossed it easily into her mouth. I almost swore I saw her mouth extend to fit the length of it. She swallowed and grinned. "Yessir."

I nodded. "Okay. Why?"

She shrugged and turned her head to gaze thoughtfully at the splotch of light thrown upon the drab wallpaper by the bulb above. "Why does it matter?" Her eyes flicked to lock with mine again with a movement that reminded me of a blade flashing in the light. "Did something happen?" The left corner of her mouth twisted upward sickeningly.

Instinctively, my hand fingered my bandage and I turned my eyes away. "No," I defiantly met her stare again, "It's just not everyday someone chases me down with a guitar and hits me with it."

Her small nose shivered slightly as she sniffed. "Would you rather me just pass you by without saying a word and never see you again?" I had to admit, she had me there. Rather than admit defeat, I simply folded my arms and looked away. She simply smiled that knife-smile and continued. "So.what's under that bandage, then? A bump?"

Something about those eyes, the way they sparkled at the end of her sentence made me think that those weren't questions, but statements. Like she knew the answer. I examined the expression carefully. The woman wasn't exactly the most trustworthy person. "What do you know about it?"

The look didn't falter for a second. It seemed almost as though her mouth didn't even move over the words she spoke. As if I was imagining them, not hearing them. "About what?"

I narrowed my eyes slightly. "You did this to me."

"Did what?"

I pointed stiffly at the bandage on my forehead. "This."

"What's that?"

"You know damn well." I hissed.

"Remind me." She cooed.

"No." I growled.

"Tell me." Her voice was the embrace of flesh around the blade of knife.

"I don't need to." My voice shook.

"You want to."

"No."

"You know you do"

"No!"

"Just tell me-"

"NO!"

"What's under the bandage, Tama?"

I stood up with a sudden flash of motion, the table wobbling dangerously from the sudden change. My head throbbed viciously, and I felt a rage well up like wildfire inside me, charring my insides ash black. "NO!" I screamed, my voice echoing like a thunderclap off the walls of the diner. All present looked up at me. The waitress, nostrils smoking gently, the manager, who had managed to tear his eyes away from Haruko's sleek, hairless leg, and the one other customer, who warmed himself desperately over a small cup of coffee like it was his last hope of survival. And, of course, the mystery woman, Haruko, who simply smiled her knife-edge smile, gazed with her eyes, little sparkling jewels of pollution.

I looked from one face to another, smoke, anger, melancholy, satisfaction. I was the center of attention again. I let out a low growl and without another word pushed myself away from the table and stormed my way towards the door. But at the doorway, Haruko called after me.

"Watch your head."

And I was gone.