Solitary Mask
Chibi Tsuki
A/N: I apologise (again) for the late update. I was away for two weeks during the holidays and I didn't have time to write this. But here it is!
Chapter 11
Short Farewell
He tore the bandage and wrapped it tightly around her arm, tying it with a knot. Not much blood had managed to flow out of her body but it had to be cleaned and properly dealt with. Iryoku put away the first aid kit and headed to the kitchen, preparing some tea for them all. It had been an interesting night, Mikazuki fighting against Kurama and testing her strength against him. Neither had of the two fighters had unleashed their full limits, in fact both of them were just trying to figure out each others power. But Iryoku had to admit that Kurama was definitely experienced in battle, his sensitivity excelled Mikazuki's but during the fight Iryoku could feel strange vibes emitted from Kurama. They were emotions. Kurama had been worried about something else other than his opponent. Iryoku wasn't a mind reader, he wasn't able to read Kurama's thoughts or in fact anyone else's mind; his ability was to sense emotions and feelings.
Rubbing her eye with the back of her hand, Mikazuki yawned and parted for her bedroom in her human form. "We'll wake you up before dawn," Hiketsu uttered, smiling cheerfully. When she was finally out of the room and deep into sleep, they sat on the sofa, thinking seriously with only darkness as their company. There were some things that weren't for Mikazuki's hearing, and Iryoku had made sure that by playing a tune on his flute-like instrument, reassuring that she would sleep heavily. "You know why our leader has chosen Mika for his purposes. We all know that she'd been selected since the day he met her, everyone except for her knows why. But the question is how will we protect her afterwards?" Hiketsu murmured the tone of his voice much unlike his usual self. It was low and uncertain.
His companion replied, "It reminds me of our childhood. All there was in our childhood was continuous training. It never ended… There was never time to play or rest. But Mika's training was just as harsh if not worse, she'd been confined, punished, tormented, starved and yet the current her never shows the emotions that she'd been taught…" Iryoku held his head with both hands, his face scrunched up in distress.
"She does, but it is her nature not to show it. Although she was suffering, she looked up to us. I guess you could say that she wanted to be like you and me because all we revealed to her were our happy feelings, but when she wasn't with us our true feelings showed through.
"All she's learnt is that there's only you and me in her family, not even the leader is close enough to her. She only knows how to obey, and never truly follow her own path." He paused. "She's only a puppet, a confused creature but her actions suggest the opposite. We have had personal experiences with humans and youkai, we know them, but she doesn't.
"If you never knew this, I suppose I should tell you now. The year before she was sent to Makai, our leader taught her to hate humans. His reasons for sending her to Ningenkai was to see their traitorous acts and if he ever gets his hands on that treacherous tape stolen from Reikai, she may turn out to be like him-"
"Sensui…" Together that sat in silence, both thinking alike. "If he shows any interest in that tape, we must prevent him from getting it."
~*~*~*~
While she walked down the street on her way to school, Mikazuki was deep in thought. In five days she would be 'moving out of the city' and 'going to a different school' because of particular family issues; that was her excuse to get out of school. She needed it to be able to go back to Makai without being the least bit suspicious. Not that the students at her old school liked her anyway. As a matter of fact no one thought of her as 'part of them' anyway. Perhaps except Emi… Maybe it was true; perhaps it was because of her mask which made everyone nervous around her. But then their leader had always said that humans will forever be a youkai's enemy. There is a possibility that he is never knew the other side of humans… A sharp pain seized her temples, making them thunder with immense pain. She groped at her forehead and breathed heavily, her belongings falling from her hands. Mikazuki fell onto her legs and tried to calm her body down. Resting for several minutes on the pavement had helped her relax. This wasn't the first time such an unexpected seizure had attacked her, it's reason was still unknown.
The bell rang just as she entered the gate, the faded cherry blossom leaves littered the gutter. It was just the end of the cherry blossom season, and the entering of the hotter days of spring. She made her way down the path towards the shoe lockers. By the time she had reached her homeroom, morning prayer was already over and all eyes were staring at her revealed face. No one made a comment, not even the teacher who merely pointed her to her seat. Her blue eyes were looking at no one in particular, but for some reason the students were staring at them with curiosity.
By the time it was lunch, she had hidden herself in a new hiding spot; on the rooftop of the school where no one usually went. It was too hot to be up there but Mikazuki easily coped with the heat which gave her the privacy she wanted. But then her intentions to be alone were shattered. "Hey Tsukishiro, now that your mask is gone, you look no more intimidating than a rabbit," a girl said, twisting her long brown curls with her fingers. She was one of those who were known as a bully; never letting others have their way when she's around. "Hand over your most prized possessions and we'll let you off today." Her group surrounded Mikazuki, grinning like Cheshire cats. Mikazuki glanced up at her, wincing slightly from the sun's rays that flashed into her eyes. Taking the bottle of water from beside her, she offered it to the leading girl. "I don't want your stinking bottle of water! Don't take me for a fool." The bottle of water was batted out of her hands, and wasted on the concrete floor. Concentrating on retrieving the water through her ability, she ignored the warnings given to her. "You're not even listening to me, you disrespectful thing!" The sent a kick at the youkai which was immediately caught with a deadly grip. The area around it started swelling pink but then Mikazuki let go; she had no intentions of killing a human; just not at the moment.
"Mikazuki," Kurama's voice sounded as he walked up to the rooftop, pausing when he saw the situation.
"Minamino Shuichi! Look at what Tsukishiro did to my leg, it's swollen and hurts a lot!" the girl whined, obviously sucking up to the handsome gentleman who had shown up. She was using one of the most popular flirting techniques; trying to get the boy's sympathy. But Kurama paid no attention to that and instead noticed Mikazuki's blank stare. She was deep in thought, making him wonder what was going through her mind. Returning back to normal, Mikazuki greeted Kurama cheerfully as he grabbed her by the hand and led her down the stairs, leaving a group of speechless girls.
"Where are we going Shuichi?" He stopped in front of a classroom door and looked right into her eyes.
"Those girls were bullying you, did they hurt you in any way?"
Mikazuki shook her head, "They didn't do anything. I'm perfectly fine." He smiled in relief and together the two held a conversation in the empty classroom. Why am I getting so protective of Mikazuki? I've only known her for nearly two months and it seems as if something about her has attracted me to be her friend, a close friend.
~*~*~*~
Just as she was walking to the gate to meet Kurama, Mikazuki was stopped by the girls she had encountered during lunch. "You're not going anywhere until I settle a score with you!" the girl yelled and immediately two girls grabbed Mikazuki by her arms and dragged her away to the old school gym which had been used for sword practise. A wooden sword was thrown in Mikazuki's hands and the only light available was the afternoon sunlight which was barely sufficient. "How dare you hypnotise Shuichi with your demon powers, Tsukishiro! Today, I represent every girl in the school who is a fan of Minamino Shuichi and I will punish you! Just remember my name when you realise my superiority. My name is Shisseki Rika!" Rika was wearing the uniform for the sword club; looking rather professional. She held her sword up in an attacking stance, ready to charge at her opponent. Looking slightly confused, Mikazuki held the sword in same position and as Rika who came flying straight at her. Mikazuki avoided the attack, slipping to the side, cowering. Rika swung her sword expertly at Mikazuki; feinting an attack before going for the knees. The youkai dodged the attacks by jumping up and crashing into the girl on purpose; tipping them both over. Others around them laughed, clutching their stomachs before toppling over.
"Get off me!" Rika yelled as she pushed the silver-haired person off her, a crimson blush racing across her face. When both were standing readily again, Rika waited for her opponent to be the first to attack; but they ended up circling each other, causing Rika great fury. This time, she approached with precaution and lunged at Mikazuki who once again ducked from the assault. "Stop running away! I've seen you during sport class. I know that you know the basics!" Mikazuki stood up and chuckled; the fading light giving her a sinister and deadly look. "If you want me to play this game properly, then you'll have no chance in winning." She gave her opponent an evil grin, flashing her fangs at Rika. It could give even one of the bravest humans a chill through their bones. The match ended quickly as Mikazuki sliced through her opponent's clothes, shredding them with her wooden sword. Rika's clothes had been turned into pieces of fabric; no longer usable except for washing rags. "Evaluate your opponent's ability next time," she smiled, her voice no longer wild and chilling as before. The small group of five stood utterly speechless in the gym as Mikazuki left, a placid and innocent look on her face.
Kurama looked at his watch, leaning casually against the gate while he waited. His companion was currently ten minutes late and she still hadn't turned up yet. "Sorry Shuichi, I got held up a bit but I'm ready to go now." He smiled at the voice's owner and shrugged as if he had only just arrived. Maybe cleaning the homeroom took longer than necessary and that often happened.
~*~*~*~
That night she'd told Emi about her departure to another city due to 'family problems' and apologised about the sudden need to quit working at the cafeteria. Mikazuki didn't even accept that month's payment when it was offered to her. This affected Emi much more than Mikazuki as Emi had to look for another employee since one of hers was leaving. But it seemed as if Emi understood her situation perfectly and they would have possibly been chatting over a mug of tea of coffee if they hadn't been so busy with customers.
~*~*~*~
It was already the fourth day since they'd met up with the two youkai but they still hadn't found out their intentions nor have they attacked again. Currently it was very frustrating for Kurama, having to cope with the enemy, school and boys who were hitting on Mika when they realised that the girl they had been prejudiced against was actually quite pretty. At least the bullying had stopped even though he didn't know how she had done it, but he knew that she was strong enough to oppose those trying to bully her. He was so deep in thought that he didn't even realise Mikazuki sliding up beside him and propping her elbows on his desk. It wasn't until she started tickling the bridge of his nose with her hair that he noticed her. "Sorry Mikazuki, I didn't see you there," he apologised and rested his chin against his palm. "There are so many things in my mind recently that I haven't been paying much attention."
"I understand. I understand you perfectly," Mikazuki muttered, leaning against his desk for support. "We all have problems, coping with school and personal things, but I'm sure you'll be able to get through all of this, someday." They stayed in silence for sometime. "Um... Shuichi, do you want to see a movie after school?" Mikazuki asked, twirling her hair with her fingers.
The bishounen sighed as he neatened his pile of books. "I'm sorry, but I'm busy this afternoon. How about tomorrow? I'm free tomorrow," he suggested.
"I'm not available tomorrow. Maybe next time if we ever get the chance," she smiled rather falsely and slid off his desk, lacking her usual enthusiasm. "I'll see you later. I know we'll meet again, one day." Quickly, she embraced him with a hug and darted out of the classroom, racing back to her own homeroom. A suddenly confused expression escaped him as he stared at the figure flying out of the door. There's something wrong with her, I can sense it. Just as he was about to exit the room, his friends surrounded him, led by Jobi and Raku.
"We saw Tsukishiro running out. She looks upset, what did you do to her?" Jobi demanded. "Did you just reject her?" When he received a blank stare from Kurama, he immediately held him by the collar. "How dare you reject her! I'm not going to let you get away with reject such a cute girl, it's against my policy!" Beside him, Raku pointed out how Jobi originally had been gossiping about her.
~*~*~*~
Why am I getting upset over something so stupid? Why would I care that he's busy and can't come with me to watch a movie today? I hate these feelings! I hate these weak emotions! Her classmates had already finished homeroom cleaning and afternoon prayer was about to begin. Hiketsu walked in and since he was their substitute homeroom teacher, he was the one to dismiss the class. Everyone stood behind their desks and waited for him to deliver the last notices of the day. During the entire time, Mikazuki's mind was off somewhere else, thinking about what had happened a while ago. She hadn't even noticed that everyone had left the classrooms, except Hiketsu who was waiting for her. Could it be because of that that makes me so upset? Could it be that I like him? She felt pain running through her body, as if her muscles and tissues were burning. Her temples started throbbing again and her forehead became surprisingly hot. It was that seizure again; the one that would never leave her alone. Immediately, Hiketsu was beside her, lowering her onto a chair.
"I feel as if my body's on fire," Mikazuki murmured, gripping onto his arm. "It hurts."
"Don't think about anything, try to blank out your mind. We'll be home tonight, let that feeling relax your mind," he instructed while soothingly stroking her hair.
"Home…"
~*~*~*~
Approaching his science room, Kurama frowned at the conversation he'd just heard. "Apparently Tsukishiro's moved to another town. Do you think she left because we saw her face?"
"I kind of doubt that, or else she would've left earlier."
"I heard it was because of family problems. Kanari-sensei has also gone, now that Nikarayagi-sensei's back."
Kurama sat at his desk, clutching his head in his hands. Is that why she asked me to the movies yesterday? Is that why she hugged me and said that we'd meet again? Why didn't I realise that? Kurama why could you be so insensitive?!
~*~*~*~
A/N: What's with all those seizures and doesn't Kurama realise that Mikazuki's leaving? (Obviously not) Does Mikazuki like Kurama? Or is it just infatuation? - (changed from lust) I was half asleep when I wrote that part. I didn't mean 'lust'! (Read too much Shakespeare.) Thanks for pointing it out! Hopefully there'll be more serious action in the next episode and not just beating up bullies.
