I'll be updating two chapters at once quite often now! Stay tune! Thanks!
Reason I Love to Fly
Chapter 4
"Are you going to follow me into the school?" Yuri asked nervously.
"I'm supposed to watch over you," Krad replied as the limousine pulled over in front of the school's main gate. Yuri hung her head and was silent. Krad looked at Yuri and asked, "Are you afraid of the attention?"
Yuri looked up at her new bodyguard in wonder when he knew what she was thinking. She nodded.
"You have my word that I will not be seen inside the school with you," Krad smiled, "I will still watch over you. Is that alright?"
Yuri looked at him and nodded with a smile, "Thank you."
As Yuri began to walk down the path into the school building, she caught the white turtleneck shirt that Krad wore from the corner of her eyes and realized that he was walking down the pavement outside the school gate.
"Good morning!" Yuri turned as a soft tap landed on her right shoulder. Grins greeted her as she faced her classmates.
"Good morning," she replied with a smile.
"Yuri-sama! What have you planned for this year's spring break?" a black haired girl asked her.
"Well…" Yuri began, "I didn't have anything planned for now."
"Great! Will you camp with us?" she asked.
"Camp?" Yuri questioned.
"Yeah! We will be camping-" the girl did not finish as another brunette joined them.
"Forget it, Hi-chan," she said, "There's no way the prim and proper Yuri-sama will go camping with us in a dense forest for three nights!"
"But Karin-chan, you said-" Hikari was stopped again.
"Yes, yes, 'the more the merrier' but come on, this is Yuri-sama we're talking about!" Karin said. "Alright, let's go, we're going to be late for class," she said as she pulled Hikari with her into the school building. Yuri smiled as she watched them disappeared into the school hall.
Krad sat on the tree branch and watched as Yuri continued with her school life. He became aware that she was quite a lonely female student in school. Her conversations with her classmates were short and they never spoke to her outside of the classroom. It made Krad came to the conclusion that Yuri's classmates were only using her as a source of knowledge.
Krad saw that Yuri still smiled to her friends even though they never showed any sign of recognition that she had ever existed. He saw something different in her smile. There was the sorrow of loneliness that she tried to hide behind a cheerful smile.
"Why?" Krad mumbled as they got into the mansion.
"Hm?" Yuri asked, her eyes looking innocently at Krad.
"Um…nothing," he quickly replied. Yuri nodded and walked ahead.
"Krad-san!" Yuri turned as she remembered that she needed to get a book to occupy her time during the holiday, "I need to go to the library tomorrow. Can I go alone?"
"Absolutely NOT!" came a very commanding voice. Yuri gasped and turned back to face the owner of the voice. Krad bowed her, the owner of the mansion.
"Mother!" Yuri exclaimed and fiddled with her bag as Krad looked on.
"Krad-san is hired to be your bodyguard and guarding you and your safety will be his job," Rikada explained, "I will not let a scratch land on you, do you hear me?"
"Very well Mother," Yuri replied with a slight hint of disappointment in her voice.
XXXXX
"Give me a call whenever you want to go home, Yuri-sama," Jima bowed and told Yuri.
"Thank you," Yuri returned and walked towards the library, with Krad following behind her.
"You will not try to get out my sight, will you?" Krad asked.
"How could I? I can't think of a way to run from you," Yuri smiled at him, "But you'll be really bored in the library though."
"As long as I can watch over you, I could stand the boring hours in a library," Krad said. Yuri laughed, which caught Krad's attention. There was a slight hint of playfulness in her laughter which made his heart skipped a beat.
As both of them made their way though the square towards the library, Krad noticed that there was a trace of Greece architecture in the design of the library as there were two identical statues of a maiden reading a scroll by the main door. And the square library was supported by nine Roman styled pillars.
As both of them walked up the stone pavement, they entered the majestically built library through its beautifully carved wooden door. It was not the silence of a library that greeted them but the voidance of human beings in the library that greeted them.
Krad could see that the tables and chairs prepared for readers were empty except for one. There was only an old man who sat by the window, reading an old book. When the old reader became aware that there was someone in the library, he looked up.
"Ah, Yuri-sama," he greeted, "How are you this fine morning? And who is this fine young man with you?"
"I'm fine. This is my friend, Krad-san," Yuri answered him as she walked up to him, "And I can still tell that Uncle Homer is still reading to his delight." She smiled and Krad realized that it was a sincere smile.
"Yes, yes, yes," the old man laughed, "But I still couldn't keep up with you. By the way, something interesting came early this morning." He set aside the book he was reading and stood up. He stood a little taller than Yuri but his back was slightly bent due to his old age. Yuri held his arm and helped him to his seat at the counter.
"Uncle Homer," Yuri began when she saw the stacks of new books on the floor beside the counter, "You really shouldn't be doing so much heavy lifting. You could have gotten hurt and no one is here to help you."
"Don't worry about me Yuri-sama," he said, "I can take care of myself." He opened his drawer and took an old looking book out. He read the brown cover of the book before he handed it to Yuri.
"Ice and Dark," Yuri read the words on the cover of the book, "Wasn't it supposed to be 'Ice and Snow'?"
"'Ice and Snow' is the rewritten version of 'Ice and Dark'," Krad answered when the old librarian shrugged.
"Rewritten?" Yuri turned to face Krad. "Why is it rewritten?" she asked and her eyes shone with wonder and interest.
"Well," Krad hesitated, "It is complicated and it is nothing important. The rewritten version is much better, or so I have heard."
Krad lied as he did not want to tell Yuri of the dangerous Hikari artifact, 'Second Hand of Time'. It will most definitely make Yuri question his past, which Krad too had doubts of it.
"I see," Yuri replied, "Nevertheless, I will still read the original! I have always thought that the original is better than the revised version."
"Young man," Homer called Krad, "You do know something about literature too, don't you?"
"I'm not really a literature student," Krad answered, "It's just that I have been listening to them."
"Listening?" Yuri looked at Krad with the same wonder in her eyes.
"Well," Krad realized that he had said the wrong word, "Well, most people around me are readers and they mostly read classics. I only hear them talking about it."
"I see," Yuri said but she sensed that Krad was trying to hide something from her. 'Well, everyone has their secrets. So, Yuri can't force Krad-san to tell them to Yuri. And besides, Yuri isn't that close to Krad-san!' Yuri said in her mind.
"By the way, Yuri-sama," Homer cleared his throat, "I supposed you are not here to show this fine young man to me?" And he smiled at Krad, which made Krad felt uncertain and wanted to leave his sight.
"I almost forgot!" she gasped, "Please excuse me!"
Yuri left 'Ice and Dark' on the table and fled into the jungle of books. A blush began to creep up her face as she realized that Homer was smiling at her as he looked at Krad. She could hear Krad's soft footsteps behind her and she kept her face away from Krad's sight.
"Yuri-sama, I have just rearranged that rack," they heard Homer's voice booming in the library, "The books are not at the same place!"
"Alright!" Yuri replied back.
"Shh…" Homer hushed, "Silence is GOLD!"
"Shh…" Yuri hushed the old librarian before she laughed. Krad smiled as he watched Yuri hushed Homer who was speaking loudly in the library.
"Julius Caesar…Shakespeare…" he heard Yuri mumbled softly as she scanned the rack for the book. Krad helped Yuri look for the book. He saw all books on Shakespeare's poems but not the play. As he looked higher, he saw fingers trying to reach a book. He laid a hand on Yuri's head and easily took the book for her with the other hand.
"Thank you," she said to him and blushed. 'Yuri! Stop that!' she scolded herself and looked away.
"You are welcome," Krad replied with a smile. 'Did she just blush? Nope, I was just seeing things,' he assured himself, 'I just realized that she only stood till my chest. I guess I'm born too tall.'
"Well then, I'm done!" Yuri said as she hurriedly walked out of the rows of book towards the counter. Krad, who leant against the wall, saw Homer place the two books into a white bag before handing it over to Yuri who took it graciously and hurried to him with a smile.
