Fallen Angel
By: michi-hikari and Blondie
Chapter 3: Hold Me Close
Misha paced around Kotarou's apartment. He needs me, she told herself. Hallia wasn't telling the truth. Kotarou-kun wants me here. He doesn't want me to leave She shuddered. I don't want to go…there again. I want to stay here. Kotarou-kun wouldn't hurt me that way, that much….. But she was still unsure. She needed Kotarou himself to assure her. Just in time! Kotarou walked in slowly. She ran over to him.
"Kotarou-kun!" she exclaimed, forcing a bit of cheerfulness in her voice. He looked up at her, his eyes cold and dark. Misha shrank back, wincing at the nothingness in Kotarou's eyes.
"You do want me to stay here, right? Right?" Misha's voice grew shrill.
Back at Tricot, Koboshi had left, saying she needed to finish a project they were working on. Ten-chan stayed with Shia and waited patiently until she was off-duty. After awhile, she finally walked over to him wearing normal clothes instead of her extravagant waitress outfit. As usual, Ten-chan was amazed by how pretty she was. He gulped, and Shia looked at him.
"Is everything all right?" she asked him. Her cat, Nya-san, looked up at Ten-chan with its large eyes.
"Shia-san?" Ten-chan felt himself grow red, and he started to stammer. This was unusual. Normally, other girls were the ones who grew red and stammered around him. Ten-chan was the one who kept his cool. But, he did feel differently about Shia. It wasn't that much of a surprise that he would act differently when she was around. He noticed Shia staring at him worriedly, and he realized he must have been gaping for quite awhile. So, he blurted out, "Will you go out with me?"
"As friends?"
Ten-chan shook his head. "No, as something more. Kind of like friends, but more…. intimate. On a date"
Shia smiled brightly. "Of course! Only, we have to drop Shino off at day care. Kotarou forgot." As she, Ten-chan and Shino walked out of Tricot, Nya-san shook its head. Oh, Shia. It sighed. You're falling too fast, too deep. I can't save you now. I can only hope that the boy will take care of you.
Koboshi moaned, walking through the park. Everyone was acting weird. She could understand Ten-chan and Shia, and she was happy for them, and sure, Poops was just weird, a simple fact of life. But, Misha was incredibly not hyper, and Kotarou was cold, and distant, probably because of that girl Hallia. And why is Shino always so scared of Shia? There's nothing scary about the girl. Now, Koboshi understood that, she was important to Kotarou, but only as a friend, and nothing more. And she accepted that. Still, she couldn't help but feel a little sad that her friends had romantic interests and not her. She passed by the school and sighed, looking up at the huge building, engrossed in her own thoughts.
"Excuse me," she heard. Koboshi turned to stare at a guy with dark brown hair, and twinkling green eyes.
"Yes?" Koboshi asked, marveling on how calm she sounded, while her heart was beating fast.
"Do you go to this school?" He asked, gesturing towards the school Koboshi and the others went to.
"Yes," she replied. "My name is Koboshi Uematsu. You are?"
"Oh, sorry. I'm Eric Mordeski" He held his hand out for shaking, but Koboshi didn't take it, a frown deepening her features.
"You're Hallia's brother? You seem so different."
"Hallia's half-brother, actually. And yeah, we're way different. Did she do something wrong again?"
"Again? Well, yeah, I guess you could say that…." And Koboshi told Eric all about what happened since Hallia arrived, and he listened intently. When she finished, Eric groaned.
"That Hallia," he frowned, and glanced at Koboshi. "Do you have any idea where she is right now? I might be too late."
"No, but can't you at least tell me of you have any idea of what she's up to? I do have a right to know…I think. Too late?"
Eric smiled at her nervousness, but at the same time, at her determination. "Well, okay." He sat down at a bench and patted the space beside him. Koboshi sat next to him, and he began his story.
"Hallia and I have the same mother. That's why we have identical green eyes."
"I noticed," Koboshi blurted out, and blushed when Eric smiled at her. "Sorry, go on."
"Well, when we finally met, I quickly realized that Hallia was… special. I asked our mother, and found out that my mom could see stuff other people couldn't. Hallia got that from her, but unlike Mother, Hallia wanted to find other people with special gifts, and steal their power from them."
"Wait," Koboshi cut in. "How does Hallia take their power?"
Eric looked at her levelly. "By a kiss. She sucks out their power when she kissed them. But first, she needs the person's approval for a kiss. She seduces them first. Of course, when I figured out what Hallia was off to do, I tried to stop her. The first time she tried to steal another's gift, she took my best friend's, Mark's, ability to manipulate others' feelings. But that specific power is hard to direct, and, fortunately, Hallia hasn't quite controlled that yet. So now I'm afraid that Hallia's found someone else to steal from. Do you have any idea who that might be?"
Koboshi thought, and suddenly remembered something. "Well, my friend Kotarou has been acting weird since that day Misha-san came."
"Who's Misha-san?"
"Hallia said once that she was an angel, but we didn't believe her. Now, after what you told me, I'm beginning to think that it might be possible. Misha's… not normal, to say the very least."
"Hmmm…" Eric said aloud. "He might be the person Hallia's after. This 'Kotarou' might have the ability to see supernatural creatures. We have to go find and warn him."
"Okay," Koboshi agreed. "We'll try his apartment first."
"You need me, right?"
Misha waited for Kotarou's answer. He has to say yes! If he doesn't, then… Misha didn't want to think about it.
"No," Kotarou said coldly, putting his bag down and glaring at Misha. He felt a little pang in his heart when Misha looked absolutely destroyed, but it quickly went away. Kotarou didn't know it yet, but that was Mark's (Eric's best friend) power at work, unleashed at Hallia's order. "Don't you get it? Hallia's here now. She would help me in a way that you never can." The words just came out.
Misha was frozen. Her heart hurt so much. "No," she whispered. "No! Don't let me go there again!"
But even as she said that, thorns had started to grow up from the floor, starting from her feet, and it steadily climbed up, intent on covering Misha. She struggled, and her tears fell. "Kotarou! I can't believe that you'd say that! I care for you a lot, and I saved you! Saved you! I've always tried to make you happy when you were sad!" All this was said while she resisted the thorns. Her heart still hurt, and finally, she gave up. She looked up at Kotarou, her eyes wide and full of tears. After her confession, her clothes changed into this pretty white dress, and the thorns rose higher, faster.
"Kotarou," she whispered. Now it hurt too much to even whisper. "Goodbye. I…I'll miss you." She closed her eyes and allowed the thorns to surround her. She disappeared from view.
"Misha?" Kotarou said softly, carefully. He had started to fight Hallia's control. Misha was gone, thorns and all. There was no indication that Misha or the thorns were ever there. He stood there, unable to move. Now, there was a deep, gaping hole in his chest, one that nobody would be able to fill, now that Misha was gone. He kept staring at the spot where Misha had vanished.
"She cared." Kotarou whispered, still in shock, staring at the empty apartment in front of him. "Really cared. And now she's gone. Because of me. Because of me!" He punched the wall next to him. His knuckles hurt like crazy, and through a daze, Kotarou saw that it was bleeding. But nothing could hurt as much as his heart did.
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Michi Hikari: Oh no! How sad!
Blondie: I know! (Michi and Blondie put their heads together and cry)
Misha: Aw, don't be sad. I'll be back. (looks at readers) Right?
Blondie: The more you review, the higher probability of Kotarou and Misha getting back together.
Michi Hikari: So you better start reviewing for a happy ending!