Chapter 3

Awakening

Haruki returned home late that day. He had stayed late as usual, and it had begun to rain before he left. He hurried toward home in the rain.

His parents were still not home. Haruki turned on the TV. It was on the news. There were reports of three murders in one night, without any apparent reason and no suspects. Haruki turned off the TV and went upstairs.

Haruki looked out the window of his bedroom at the rain outside. A flash of lightning illuminated a dark corner across the street and Haruki saw something that wasn't there before.

A man with pale grey skin and long red hair. His eyes looked evil and seemed to glow red. He had no shirt and wore pants made of blue cloth. He was looking up at Haruki.

Haruki quickly moved from the window and the evil man. He began working on his homework. Slowly, the rain stopped.

Haruki heard the doorbell ring. He moved halfway down the stairs and looked out to see who it was. Hisano was at the door. Haruki ran to the door and opened it, wondering why she was here.

"Hi" said Hisano "I wasn't sure if you were home. There wasn't a car parked in the driveway. I was wondering if you wanted to come up and see where I live. Its about an hour's walk from here."

Haruki was indeed interested. His parents wouldnt be home until 8pm anyway. He nodded.
"Ok! Lets go!"

They walked slowly through the city streets, crossing several streets and making it to the deserted foot of the mountains before being stopped by someone. The very same man Haruki had seen through his window. His voice was deep and lacked emotion.

"Haruki yes? I'd like to speak with you, son."

Hisano stepped forward and looked up at the man.

"Haruki isn't coming with you. Crawl back to your hole."

"An ice maiden? Here of all places? Interesting."

Haruki did nothing but stare.

"Ignore him Haruki. He's crazy. Let's get going."

"You wont be going anywhere. The pshychic dies now and if you interfere then so do you, ice maiden."

The man took an offensive stance. He was preparing to attack.

Hisano looked at Haruki and also took an offensive stance.

"Sorry you had to find out like this. Please stand back."

The red haired man charged at Hisano and Haruki saw that he had claws instead of hands. Hisano stepped sideways as easily as if she had seen the attack 30 seconds earlier. She stuck out her right hand as if she was holding a stick.

A wave of what seemed like blue electricity appeared in Hisano's hand in a sword shape. Haruki took another 5 steps back.

Hisano leapt away from Haruki, leading the fight away from him. It was an incredible jump, she went 10 feet into the air and 15 feet away from the red haired man. The red haired man seemed more interested in fighting Hisano then taking Haruki now.

Does Hisano stand a chance against this strange man?