(Lidia- I hope you liked the last chapter, regardless of my many spelling errors. I was rushed. Forgive me! And sorry I took so long to put this one up. I've been so busy, so distracted! But this is a long one people! It's like an apology in itself. lol
Reviewer Responses:
Magical Proof- Once again, Thanks for reading! Reviews make me so happy!
Bobbyneko- Thanks for reviewing! You and Magical Proof review a lot. glows with happiness without reviews, why write FF's? lol
Ephona-New reader or new reviewer. Doesn't matter. Thanks for reviewing! I've been meaning to enter it in earlier but yeah…well…I don't have much of an excuse besides the fact that…that…I'm lazy! whines…fake tears…bows sorry for prolonging it. Sorry!
Lulu belle- Thanks for the long and entertaining review! It was funny! Not that big a Lord of the rings fan though. My loss right?
Natsuke-Thanks! You've never heard of that idiot card trick. I thought everyone heard about that.)
"Hey," Himeno sniffed when the two awoke the next morning. "You smell funny."
Kai got nervous. "What?"
"Yeah. You smell like…peanut butter…soda…grape soda…and shampoo?"
"I sorta pigged out…then fell asleep in my food. How embarrassing."
"You smell like cream soda too." Himeno got a sheepish grin on her face.
Kai froze momentarily before thinking up another lie. "Well I couldn't find the grape soda at first, so I opened the first can I found, and it squirt in my face. It was shook up."
"O, well that's no fun," Himeno sulked.
"Fun? Talking about guys is fun to you?"
"Well…yeah."
"Fine. Did you do Hayate yet?"
Himeno turned a very deep red and looked at her rather surprised. "Wha- No!"
"Did he even try?" Kai asked nonchalantly.
"He wouldn't. Hayate respects me."
"It's not about respect. If that were the case I would have asked if he raped you. Did he even say I love you? I like you?"
"He-…no," Himeno answered a little depressed.
Kai noticed and sighed. "Don't go getting all depressed. It's not like I didn't already know the answer to that. He doesn't seem like the type that would just out and say it. He probably wants to, but I doubt he's not too embarrassed to. It's not like he doesn't. When you're around, Hayate's less of a bastard. If I may put it bluntly."
"Uh…that's good…I guess. But he really is a sweet person."
lllllllllllll(flashback)lllllllllllll
"Ow!" Kai immediately sat down and held onto her knee with a death grip. "You didn't have to hit me so hard!"
"Yes I did. Now stop whining and get up."
"I can't. It's bleeding you jackass!"
Hayate sighed and kneeled down beside her. He held his hand over it, flashing a small blue light on it. It stopped bleeding and stopped hurting. "We're done for today. Go back inside."
llllll(end)lllllll
"Yeah, I guess. In an odd, mean sort of way."
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Kai and Himeno walked down the stairs, just as up for the morning as ever. "I hope you girls are hungry. I had the cooks make everyone a good breakfast!" Mrs. Awayuki smiled.
"Yeah. Sure hope you didn't fill up on peanut butter and soda last night." Hajime walked in passed the two. Kai stiffened momentarily but brushed the comment off for the time being.
"As always, your father insisted on helping."
They all sat down at the table and began to eat. "I'd like to make a toast to my long streak of alcohol absence and to our visitors we consider family!" Kaoru raised his glass while everyone else stared at him.
"Hiyaah!" Himeno dropkicked her father down into his seat. "A toast is no reason to start drinking now!"
Kaoru whined with fake tears. "I'm so hurt that you would think I'm drinking again my Himeno! It's just ginger ale!"
"It better be!"
"Is this normal?"
"It happens all the time!" Shin replied with a smile. Kai returned the smile.
"Well you must be a morning person to be so happy so early."
The boy's cheeks turned red a bit before he muttered a, "Y-yeah."
Kai looked over at Mannen, wondering why he was being so quiet. He was picking at his food. She thought she saw him glance up at her but he turned away just as quickly as he looked. Then she in turn became quiet while mouthing the words, "O yeah…" Goodnight…
Goh looked over at the two quiet ones and smiled. "Wow a semi-quiet breakfast for once. Did the old married couple finally decide to get a divorce," he laughed.
"Huh?"
"whatever…"
Goh blinked. "That's it? No shut up? No yelling? Not even a glare? What's wrong?" the man asked suspiciously.
"Nothing's wrong," Kai said shoving a bite of food into her mouth. "I just don't feel like arguing today. And it's rude to argue in another's home anyways."
"It's also rude to speak with your mouth full," Hayate pointed out.
"Who asked you Kaze-Baka-sama?" Kai snapped.
"And you say that's not rude!"
"I said sama didn't I? Sounds pretty polite to me."
"Calling someone an honorific wind idiot isn't polite!"
"I apologize on their behalf Mrs. Awayuki. Just as she and Mannen argue, the two of them do as well."
(bicker! squabble!)
"They really mean nothing by it."
"Yeah, you should have seen them when she got that tattoo," Hajime laughed.
"Tattoo?"
"It's nothing, really," Sasame smiled before giving Hajime a please be quiet look.
(shout! bark!)
"It's quite alright."
"You're an embarrassment!"
"Well you've made that clear already!"
"You don't have any respect for your elders."
"Elder? I didn't know you were that old. But now that you mention it, you've got a gray hair right there," she pointed.
"That's it! We're going home!"
"Since when do we have to listen to you?"
"I'm your superior."
"And who decided you were above me?"
"You don't have to come if you don't want to!" Hayate boomed, almost jumping out of his seat. Then it got quiet.
"Hayate," Sasame said in a harsh whisper. Then he smiled nervously. "Everybody settle down. He didn't mean it."
He didn't bother arguing with Sasame. He just sat back down and continued eating. Kai ate also but wouldn't take her eyes off him. The table got quiet. "Well how about these eggs. Aren't they delicious? Made 'em myself!"
"They're great, Mr. Awayuki. And let me apologize."
"O you don't have to."
"But I do. I apologize on behalf of me and my brother's rudeness. He takes after his father's temper." Hayate froze and Kai had been staring at him just to see his reaction then she no longer had a reason to look at him anymore. It sickened her how much he looked like him. Especially when he was angry which was all the time. Kai finished the rest of her food while everyone just stared at Hayate.
"O, Sho-Chan! You have a brother? Where is he!"
Everyone looked at Kaoru and sighed. Such a brilliant writer. Such a dense mind. :Now before you all jump to conclusions-" Sasame began but was cut off.
"No. If everyone must know. That woman is my little half sister," Hayate spat.
When everyone looked back at Kai, she didn't look angry or happy or sad. She looked…sick. She knocked over her glass cup, causing the drink to spill and it to break. Kei immediately stood up. "Is it…that again."
She nodded momentarily before darting to a nearby bathroom and puking in the toilet. She rinsed her mouth out with water and made for the door when it closed by itself and locked before her very eyes. She tried opening it but it wouldn't work. What the-I'd like to have a word with you. She froze at the sound of the other voice in her head. She knew she heard it before. Kai slapped herself in the face with water. You're just over reacting. It's all in…your…head…She stared at herself in the sink mirror. I beg to differ love. It's not all in your head. Not yet. Her own demonic reflection smirked back at her.
"Kai, are you done in there? We're going to take you home alright? You still have you visit with the elders tomorrow." There was no answer and Kei became worried. "Kai?"
"It's your fault…You made me-" I didn't make you say anything you weren't already thinking. Pardon me if I have the backbone to actually step up and say it. That body's wasted on such a feeble mind. So why not let me have it? "Leave me alone. It's mines not yours."
"What? Who are you talking to?"
Don't be so mean to me. I could make it a lot worse when I take it from you. Kill off the real you piece by piece. Or, you can just let me in, no harm done. The figure reached through the mirror out to her. One way or another you'll be mine. You can come home with me. And I'll lock your soul away in the cellar where it deserves to remain. Your poor, poor blood guilty tortured soul. It tried to grab her but a bright light repelled her. Damn you sister. Stop scaring the girl with threats you can't follow through with. I can't. Not while I'm in here. But it will be her who lets me out. Enough! The figure in the mirror vanished and the door Kai was leaning on swung open.
"What's wrong?" Kei asked.
He hugged her shivering body. "I'm scared Kei."
llllllllllll(2 days later)llllllllllllll
Kai yawned and scratched the back of her head. This isn't my room. Geez…She looked around but no Sasame in the room. She ran over to the window. "Snow!"
"It's snowing in the outside world so a lot of the people in Lefaenia who never get snow begged Mannen for it," Sasame explained with a smile.
"I've never seen it so white before."
"Well what other color would it be?" Goh asked when he overheard the conversation on his way past.
"It's always red every year on the island. Only when it hits the floor though. The elder of the clan said it was because our land was cursed or some superstitious crap like that. I just thought it was all the blood on the land making it like that."
Before either knight could say anything, she sprinted out of the room. After she was bathed, dressed, and fed (sped through breakfast) she jumped outside into the snow head first and started making snow angels. "You'd think she'd never seen snow before," Hajime stared at the hyperactive woman.
"I think it's adorable," Himeno smiled.
"I knew you'd say that. That's why I didn't ask." All the other knights joined Kai outside. "How about a little friendly competition? A snowball fight."
Kai perked up. "Alright!"
Kei stared for a moment. "I'll be the referee. If someone gets hit, they're out. And no powers."
"Alright!…not that I have any…Me, Sasame, Goh, and Shin against Himeno, Hajime, Mannen, and the old man."
"What did you call me brat!"
Kai threw a snowball at his face and it made even more angry. "Tsk tsk tsk, you should pay more attention Kaze. You're lucky the game hasn't started yet."
"Begin," Kei rushed before Hayate got any angrier.
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
You go that way, I'll go this way," Hayate whispered. He and Mannen split up. They were apparently the only two left on the team and Himeno, surprisingly had been taken hostage. She wasn't necessarily hit with a snowball. Just being restrained and used as a shield. Hayate grimaced at the fact that he knew who's idea it was. There were a few trees down the path he decided to walk down and it made him a bit paranoid. Then he saw something wiggling slightly behind one. He picked up a clump of snow and hurled it at the figure.
Kei, who was hovering above and saw the action announced, "Player Himeno, out."
"Himeno?" Hayate rushed over to find her half buried in snow so she couldn't move.
"That hurt!"
"I thought you were-"
Goh grabbed Hayate from behind and Kai leaped out from behind another tree and threw a snowball at his face. "Player Hayate, out." Kai laughed at the angry knight but that laugh was short lived. She snapped her head out of the way and the snow ball hit Goh. "Player Goh, out."
"That sucks."
Kai scooped up some snow and hurled it at Mannen, who moved out of the way and let it hit Sasame. "Player Sasame out."
"Crap. Where's Shin?"
"He's out already. You didn't think you'd beat the knight of ICE in a snowball fight now did you?" Kai charged at him with a drop kick. Before he could even think about what to do next, instinct took over and he made a wave of snow to push her back.
"Player Mannen, disqualified."
"What! That's not fair!"
"If I may point out. She did it on purpose. Quite clever."
Kai was literally rolling around in the snow with laughter shouting "I win! IwinIwinIwin I win!"
"You cheated!"
"It wasn't against the rules was it Kei?"
Kei shook his head and came back down from the air. "Great, we lost because air head over here broke a rule," Hajime complained.
Mannen-STAB1
(IwinIwinIwinIwin)
Mannen-STAB2
"Nice going block head," Hayate muttered
Mannen-STAB3
"You know what? I wanna make a snowman—"
Mannen-EXPLODE
"YOU'RE ON!" Mannen shouted.
"On what?"
"You way have beaten me at this but there's no way you'll make a better snowman than me."
They both began but Mannen finished way earlier. Kai's was the traditional frosty the snowman while Mannen's was and exactly duplicate of what he would look like when pointing and laughing at Kai's snowman. "That's great, Mannen!" Shin cheered. "But it's a bit mean, don't you think?"
"Beat that!" Mannen taunted.
"It's very nice, Mannen. You wi-"
"Hold it!"
"What? How are you going to weasel your way out of this one?"
"If I may. That's a snow version of Mannen. Given Mannen's age and immature attitude, that is not a snowman. It's a snow boy."
Everyone paused for a moment. "She's right. She wins."
"What!"
"IwinIwinIwinIwin!"
"That's not fair!"
"You have lost yet again ice princess."
Mannen-STAB1
"Idiot," Hayate muttered.
Mannen-STAB2
"Obviously this isn't a fair competition," Kei observed. Mannen perked up. "Kai's too clever go against Mannen. We should find someone less…smart…to put it bluntly."
Mannen-STAB3
"Don't call Mannen stupid." Mannen sighed. "Just call me REALLY REALLY SMART! IwinIwinIwinIwinIwin!"
Mannen-…+….+….Explode!
"That's it! Another game! Another one!"
"Huh? You sure must like loosing. But what else would we play?"
"SOMETHINHG! FIND SOMETHING!" he said a bit crazed.
"You're scaring me. What's wrong with you?"
Mannen blinked momentarily. He didn't understand what she was talking about. "He gets like that sometimes. He absolutely hates loosing," Sasame explained.
"Though he continues to," Hayate smirked.
"You never beat me you bastard!"
"You're not on my level. So why bother wasting my time?"
(bicker, squabble)
Kai yawned aloud, then shivered. It's getting cold.
"You should get inside."
"I don't want to. I'm fine," she said gripping the coat closer to her. Then she smiled. "Besides, I'm having fun."
Hayate glanced over at her smiling face and frowned. He threw his jacket at her, and covered her head. She yanked it off and threw it back at him but it just landed at his feet. "Take it."
"I said I'm fine."
Hayate rolled his eyes. "Let's go Sasame."
Kai perked up. "Where are you going?"
"None of your business."
"I wasn't talking to you," she said, averting her attention toward Sasame.
"Oh, heh, they gave me the day shift again at the radio station. I'll be airing early today."
"Can I come. I won't fall asleep this time."
"No," Hayate answered for his nervous friend.
"I wasn't asking you. Don't you have to go fertilize something anyways. Or did you get fired already?"
Hayate ignored her comment. He, Goh, Kei, and Sasame left. Kai narrowed her eyes toward the knight standing beside her. "What?"
"Don't you have a job you should be getting to?"
"I called in sick."
"Lazy," she muttered before grabbing Hayate's jacket off the floor and walking inside.
llllllllllllllllllllllllll
"I'm going with the staff grocery shopping. And maybe to help shovel a little snow for others with the Lefaenian children for their community service hours in the outer world," Himeno said as she put on her coat.
"I could could just blow it away," Mannen offered.
"That defeats the whole purpose of community service, moron," Kai sighed before placing to poking fingers on his forehead. "Maybe you should try doing some work for a change."
Mannen moved her hand away. "At least I have a job. When was the last job you had?" Kai looked at him like he was stupid. O right, she had a job before she got here in the first place.
"I think I deserved the early retirement, even if it is with you people…"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing…much." Kai shoved a few too many marshmallows into her hot chocolate and smashed them in with a spoon.
"Uh, Kai?"
"What now princess?"
If she calls me that one more time… "Don't you think that's too much?"
"Huh?" Kai looked down at what she was doing. "Oh, I wasn't paying attention."
"You weren't what?"
"They never left to work together before? Why now?"
Mannen got nervous. "You're imagining things. And you're making a mess."
"Oh…eh, you're probably right." She grabbed the knight's sleeve and wiped the table with it until he snatched away.
"Why the hell did you do that!" Mannen said, wringing out the spot on his sleeve.
"It seemed convenient at the time," Kai shrugged. Kai chugged the entire cup of fresh, molten hot chocolate down at once. "That was actually pretty good."
"That didn't burn?"
"Was it supposed to?" Mannen sighed and drank his cream soda. "You're drinking that when it's so cold out?"
"It's not like it's going to hurt me-"
"Mannen…"
He looked at her but didn't say anything.
I can't stop thinking about it. Why didn't he…why didn't that bastard…"Am I ugly?"
Mannen spit out his soda at the surprise question. "Wha?"
"Nevermind. I'll take that as a yes." She sunk farther down in her chair.
It was quiet for a long time…a long…long…long time. Really it wasn't that long, but it felt that way. "No."
By now, Kai wasn't thinking about it anymore. "No what?"
Mannen froze. Is she serious? "No your not ugly," he said before chugging down the rest of his soda. He felt his face turning red and looked away. She just stared at him. First she looked surprised he even bothered answering. It did seem like a rather stupid question after a while anyways so she had forgot. "What? Stop staring."
…now I'm confused, if I'm not ugly then why didn't he…? She frowned at him now.
"What!"
"You're-, you're-, such a dumb ass!" She shouted before punching him in the arm and storming off.
"What did I do!" he said, chasing after her. "It's not like I insulted you or anything!"
Really, the problem was Kai just didn't know how to react. She was confused and angry because of it. Soon she just stopped walking. "…sorry," she sighed.
Mannen froze where he stood. She actually apologized for something. What's wrong with her? "Uh, okay-"
"I'm leaving. It should still be snowing on the outside world. You coming?" She didn't bother looking back at him when asking.
"S-sure."
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
iehdkhyoufdjgjjyhgrfanojhbfkgfkjshfgysfyhcan'tfhkhfgjkhxuhhyygzalways-nofshgiurigsiygrisrgrjidyyguyforevergrfyyfgkygfu…my head hurts. Kai kept walking mindlessly until suddenly she felt someone jerk her back.
"What the hell's your problem! Are you trying to kill yourself!"
"Huh?" Kai snapped out of her thoughts and suddenly became aware of her surroundings. She was so close to the rushing traffic covered street it almost sent her into shock.
Mannen let go of her coat hood once she was firmly on the sidewalk. "Just start paying attention to where you're going." Kai didn't respond and the quiet between them started to bother him. "Where are we going anyways?"
"Goh's job."
Mannen froze. "W-why?"
Kai noticed that he stopped walking and finally looked up at him. "I just got bored is all. And I've got this sudden craving for fried Calamari!"
Does this girl ever not think with her stomach. And where does all the food go? She should be an elephant by now. A small grin spread across the knight's face.
"What's so funny?"
Mannen turned red. "Nothing."
Kai narrowed her eyes at him momentarily, then approached the restaurant. Kai looked at the woman oddly as she watched her lock up. "Um, excuse me?"
"O, Kai, Mannen, what are you doing here?" the woman greeted before closing up.
"Uh, where's Goh?" Kai asked as she looked around the woman.
"Hmm? What do you mean? He and Mannen both know they don't have to come in today with this snowstorm. I'm just here to make sure everything's all right."
"So Goh didn't show up at all?"
"No. Not that I know of."
Kai looked very angry. She turned to Mannen with fire in her eyes and a threatening scowl that made the knight feel 2 inches tall. "What's going on, Mannen?"
"Nothing, nothing, really." He waved. Kai grabbed hold of the collar of his shirt and asked again. "All right. I'll tell you. But don't say anything okay?" Kai agreed and Mannen whispered something in her ear.
"They went where?" she asked in disbelief.
"It's the truth. Kei was feeling a little depressed with all the work suddenly shoved on him and they wanted to make him feel better."
"And they must have dragged poor Sasame-kun along with them."
Mannen rolled his eyes and muttered, "whatever…"
The woman standing aside interrupted their conversation. "I know how you always like to stop by and get these from Goh so here." Kai immediately recognized the smell and grabbed the bag. "I made them to have for a little midnight snack but you poor shivering baby, looks like you need them more."
"Thank you!" Kai popped one of the fried calamari into her mouth.
Mannen shook his head as they headed back to the house. Shameless…
"Want some?"
"No."
"Your loss," she said shoving another handful into her mouth. Then she shivered again.
"You okay?"
"Y-yeah, I just need to sit down," Kai replied before curling up on a nearby bench. Mannen sat beside her looking worried. "Don't look at me like that. I'm fine."
"It's getting really cold out here. The snow is really coming down. It's supposed to storm like hell too. We should get back."
"Geez, will you people stop telling me what to do…When I say I'm fine it means-"
"You're not. But if you want to be stupid and freeze to death then by all means-"
"Thank you, now shut up princess."
"Stop calling me that!"
"Well what should I call you? Dumb ass?"
"Why the hell would you think that's any better?"
"Because you are one."
"How?"
"Because you didn't-…!" Kai's face turned red and she looked at the floor. "Forget it."
"When I don't finish a sentence it's such a big deal. So go ahead, finish it."
"I said forget it Mannen-"
"I didn't what! You know what! I'm just tired of arguing with you! Everyday it's the same thing! And for what! If I even try to be nice you just find a way to turn it into an argument-" Mannen's eyes shot open and his face turned red. He could feel his entire person go rigid when Kai crashed her mouth over his loud one. But just as quickly as it happened, Kai pulled away and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She just sat there staring at the floor with an expression on her face that looked sad yet angry at the same time. Mannen sighed and lowered his red-cheeked face to look at her. "I'm sor-"
"It's getting worse outside. We should go," Kai said, standing up in the middle of his apology as if he weren't saying anything. Deep down she knew she was just trying to avoid a reaction. That was just stupid…stupid, stupid, stupid.
"Kai wait," Mannen said trying to catch up.
Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid—
Mannen grabbed her by the wrist so she'd slow down. Upon doing so her face went red. "Will you wait up!" Kai snatched her wrist away turned to look at the red knight.
"Forget it. It was a stupid thing to do and I'm sor-" …ry…Mannen shut her up with a kiss just as swift as the one before but not as rushed. Kai blushed an even darker shade of red. She felt so small under the grip Mannen had on her shoulders. Given the previous argument she was even more confused on how she should react. Mannen pulled away slowly and whispered to her.
"I am a dumb ass, and I'm sorry."
lllllllllllllllllllllllll
Kai walked in and shook the snow from her hair at the door. "Welcome back! Where did you go?" Himeno asked with a cheery little smile on her face. She smelled like fresh crab and butter.
"You smell funny," was the first thing that came out of Kai's mouth which wasn't so polite.
"Ah! I do?" Himeno sniffed the back of her hand. Then smiled. "I see what you mean." Kai and Mannen both took their shoes off at the door, set their jackets on a nearby hook and walked further in. "So did you two have fun today?"
Kai noticed the devilish hint in her voice and her faint blushing grew again. "No. Stopped by Goh's place, he wasn't there, so we came home."
"That's it?" Himeno asked a little disappointed.
Mannen faked thinking about it. "Pretty much."
"Why wasn't Goh there?"
Kai got this bright look on her face and rushed over to whisper something into Himeno's ear. "They went where!"
"It's the truth. Mannen told me."
"Now wait a second," Mannen waved.
"And it was probably that Baka-Kaze's idea," Kai accused and it made Himeno a little angrier on the inside. "Can you believe they dragged our innocent little Sasame along with them?"
"No," Himeno asked in disbelief.
"O poor him," Mannen said sarcastically.
Just then the group of snow covered men walked in and they all seemed to be angry at something. "Hey guys," Goh waved as he kicked his shoes off.
"Don't you hey me pervert," Kai glared.
Goh was a little taken back and began trying to think about something he may have did wrong. Kai and Himeno both rushed to Sasame's side. "Are you alright?" Himeno asked.
"Yeah. Those pervs didn't make you look did they?" Kai asked while eying Hayate.
Sasame looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"Mannen told us all about your little trip," Himeno announced angrily. All of them tensed.
"I can't trust you to keep your damn mouth shut!" Hayate shouted at Mannen.
"Don't shout at him!"
"Why are you coddling Sasame over there, it was his idea!"
It was quiet for a while. "Of course it wasn't! Unless you convinced poor Sasame-kun it was a good idea you pervert!"
"And I thought you were different!" Himeno shouted before turning away from the knight, who quickly went from angry to confused.
"Wait why are you angry?" Hayate asked.
"And how does what we did make me a pervert?" Goh asked.
"Because going out to see naked women is disgusting!" they both shouted at the same time. The group of men fell quiet. Mannen became immensely nervous.
"You girls have got it all wrong," Sasame tried to explain.
"Now, now Sasame, don't go trying to explain their actions."
"It's not your fault."
"Wha-! B-but we didn't," Kei tried to explain out of his surprised state. He was absolutely appalled.
"Tell them where we really were Mannen!"
Mannen froze. He was torn between bailing out the guys and telling the truth, or getting a really good laugh. Laugh…truth…laugh…truth…He glanced over at the guy's pleading faces and sighed. "I told them…the truth. That you three took your depressed friend Kei over there to see a couple of strippers to make him feel better. But I couldn't keep such a vile secret from them now could I?"
"MANNEN!" Hayate, Kei, and Goh shouted.
"Let's go Sasame. You spend anymore time with those Bakas and they may rub off on you."
"Really girls. It's not what you think."
llllllllllllllllllllllllll
"She's really sick and won't be coming out for a while." There was a loud sneeze from inside the room. "When I said make sure she doesn't find out I also meant make sure she doesn't go anywhere Mannen," Hayate scowled.
"I know but like hell if she's going to listen to me," he shrugged.
"Will Kai be alright," Shin asked.
"Since when were you so worried over a little cold. You like her or something?" Hajime grinned.
"N-no."
"Leave him alone."
"So that's what really happened?" Himeno asked sadly. That's so sad. When she first came here she just lied about it so calmly like it were nothing.
"Yeah. Each one of them slaughtered. It was unbelievable how many," Goh muttered in a low voice.
"That clearly wasn't the reason the snow was red," Hayate explained. "The source of the dead Lefae was coming from that lower cellar that led into the ground. When-…I used to live there, no one ever came back up from there. So I wouldn't know what was down there. But she was there. We'll ask her when she wakes up."
They thought she was sleeping soundly when really she overheard the conversation. It scared her to the point where she couldn't fall asleep. In the back of her mind that cellar was all she could think about. That cold. That darkness that sound. It scared her nearly to death and it made her angry because until now, she thought she had begun to forget…but no one really forgets…
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
"See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil."
llllllllllllllllllllllllllll
I don't…want to see it…I don't…want to hear it…I don't…want to talk about it…but I can't stop thinking about it…no one told me how not to think about it…tell me how not to think…about it…
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
This was the third morning. Mannen would walk in each day so far and it would be the same. Kai would fake sleeping while Mannen placed her breakfast tray down on the table. Then he'd close the door, open it again, and the tray would be empty. He never knew anyone could move that fast. Then he'd leave and listen to her finish off the rest of the food she probably didn't get to while Mannen grabbed the empty tray. He knew it was probably just a way to avoid talking to him. So this time he set the tray on the table, walked in place, opened and closed the door. Just as the door clicked closed, Kai jumped out of bed and froze in place. "Good morning," Mannen said with an annoyed smirk on his face. Kai sighed and walked over to the tray of food. She pulled out a chair, sat down, and began eating. "You can't start faking sick and to avoid talking to me." Kai starting eating faster. "Don't do that you'll choke." She ate even faster. "Well say something damn it!"
Kai finished off the last of her food, chugged her milk, and smiled. "Good morning," then jumped back in bed.
Mannen became even angrier but kept himself from shouting at her. "Eventually you're going to have to talk to me." He was responded with a soft snoring. "I know you're not asleep already!"
"You're not supposed to yell at sick people."
"You're not-! You're not sick."
See no evil teaches one wise man. Speak no evil teaches one wise man. Hear no evil teaches on wise man. One wise man's dead. Because he didn't want to think of evil.
"Kai are you even listening to me?"
"No."
Mannen became frustrated and sighed once more. "If you don't like me just say so." It was quiet again. "I'll just leave."
Mannen tried getting up but Kai grabbed his hand before he could. But when she realized it, she let go just as quickly. "Y-…you don't have to leave if you don't want to." Mannen's face turned red and he sat back down. She sat up and stared at her lap. "It's just that…I don't know what I'm supposed to say."
"You're not supposed to say anything. Just say what you want."
"But I don't want to say anything." Mannen glanced over at her, but quickly looked away. Kai saw it. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he said with an even redder face. I shouldn't have come so early in the morning, not while she looks like that. Kai's hair was a wavy mess that hung at the sides of her face, she wore an oversized t-shirt that hung over her shoulder and exposed her bra strap. Doesn't she even care? He looked back at her, only to see her scratch the back of her head and yawn. (sweatdrops) I guess not…
Kai leaned over on his shoulder and smiled at him. "I really am still sick though. When I feel better, can you take me back outside?"
He smiled back at her. "Yeah."
Mannen told her to go back to sleep and tried to get up again but Kai pulled him back down. "Don't leave," she muttered, beginning to fall asleep on his shoulder, "Not yet."
