Hello! Woot, new reviewers! Hehehehe, Rozi wasn't too happy when I told her people think she's a bastard and can't wait for her to die...LMAO, she knows it's just a joke. Or is it...?
This is the score so far for the reviewers - the one with the most points at the end will get in the story, and a draw between reviews will result in a randomised win. Or I could just put all the winners in...we'll see what happens.
Iridaceae - 1
Kandrisia - 1
SupaNinja4Evah - 1
beachbum330 - 1
Thanks to all the above for reviewing! (hands out cookies to all)
I've just realised some new logic. Why should I bother putting the disclaimer at the start of every chapter if I've already put it for previous? Only a fool would think that halfway through a story I suddenly own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy and Square-Enix. Pssh. So that will save me a little bit more of boring writing. Anyhoosy, let the chapter BEGIN! (cuts ribbon with pair of humungous scissors)
Kairi slowly tiptoed along the roof, slipping slightly on the damp tiles, ignoring the misty rain falling on her skin. She clutched Hikari and Hikage and crept further down the rooftop, knowing the exact place she needed to be. Room 13...Ryosei's room. Her mind was made up - she was going to kill him. Silently, of course.
He deserved it. Ryosei was more than a bully. He'd beat up kids for no reason, he'd verbally and physically abuse them, he'd vandalise property, and by the look of him, he was a drug pusher. He'd made a big mistake picking on Kairi and her friends; it was the last thing he'd ever do.
Kairi approached the balcony of the room she knew was 13. She climbed over the banisters and tiptoed to the large french doors, which had curtains concealing the room inside. She reached into one of the pockets on her night outfit and grabbed a small, stiff piece of wire. Kairi rammed it into the small keyhole lock on the door and began twisting it around, trying to familiarise with the inside of the lock.
It wasn't too long before there was a click and the door swung open. Kairi stepped into the room and was instantly overwhelmed with disgust. There were empty pizza boxes strewn out across the floor, and pieces of half-eaten food decorated the worktops. Chewing gum had been trodden into the filthy brown carpet, and Kairi could see multiple 'adult' magazines poking out from under Ryosei's bed, along with several other things she didn't want to mention.
Peering over the duvet, Kairi could see Ryosei was asleep - she could hear him, too. His snoring sounded like a chainsaw buzzing through a forest. She silently unsheathed Hikari and Hikage and approached the bed. She'd left Ikioi-kujiku at home - it was too valuable to waste on filth like Ryosei.
The steel blades glistened in the dim moonlight as she prepared to deliver the killing blow to Ryosei. She careful laid the two swords in a cross pattern across his throat, and was just about to slide them down when a faint noise stopped her.
Kairi whipped around to see a shadowed figure walk through the french doors, with two feathered wings folded at his side. The two assassins froze as they saw each other, none of them daring to even breathe. Kairi felt her blood run cold as she realised she'd left Ikioi-kujiku in her room. Damn! On the one night he finally reappeared she leaves her weapon behind!
Suddenly, the assassin's eyes flashed menacingly.
"You again..." he snarled. "I didn't finish you off properly last time, I take it..."
"What are you doing here?" she demanded.
"That's none of your business." he said coldly, and took a step towards her. Kairi backed off slowly, and clutched one of the shuriken on her belt. Then, as quick as a flash, she flicked her wrist around and threw it at him. The assassin ducked it, and it shattered one of the glass windows in Ryosei's room. This shattering seemed to stir him.
"Wh-wha...?" he frowned, and rubbed his eyes groggily. His face turned ghostly white as he saw the two assassins standing in his room.
"A-A-A-ASSASSIN!" he bellowed. Kairi swung her head around to look at him, and in the split second she did, the other assassin's fist came crashing down on her face. She swore as pain shot through her already bloodied lip, and she felt warm blood gush down her mask. She shivered as it trickled into her mouth.
The assassin leapt at her again and hooked his foot around her ankle, then proceeding to sweep her feet out from under her. Kairi landed heavily on the ground, and swore as her head knocked against the wooden table in the middle of the room. Meanwhile, Ryosei ran across to the other side of the room.
"HELP!" he cried. "HELP!"
Kairi cursed under her breath, knowing that his cries would attract attention. She scrambled to her feet just as the assassin attempted to grab Hikari and Hikage. As she stood up, she swung the swords at him. Blood splattered across his black suit, which was similar to hers, and he swore angrily, looking at his cut arm. He charged towards her and rammed her in the chest with his elbow, then brought his knee up heavily and caught her in the ribs. Pain shot through her body and she collapsed on the floor.
He advanced on her again, raising his foot above her body. With all the energy left in her, Kairi rolled over and hurled another shuriken at him. He groaned and it grazed his neck, leaving a visible red slash. The shuriken hit the wall and fell to the floor with a metallic clatter, followed by a shriek from Ryosei as it narrowly missed his head.
The assassin lunged at her again, and grabbed her by her collar. He slammed her against the wall, hands pressed tightly against her throat. Kairi felt her feet leave the ground slightly as he crushed her windpipe with all his force. Kairi's face turned blue and she began coughing. With each splutter searing pain jolted through her, due to the injury inflicted on her ribs.
Everything began to swirl in and out of focus as her oxygen began to run out. She fought for one last breath, trying to pull his hands from her throat. She could tell he was straining under the force he was inflicting on her, and she wondered if she could find enough energy left in her to kick him off...
Just before she blacked out, Kairi heard a hammering of footsteps, and then the door was kicked open. In rushed Reno, closely followed by Riku and Roxas. The two teenagers immediately paled at the sight of the winged assassin and backed against the wall. Kairi spluttered for breath again, her struggles and kicks weakening to the point where she was barely moving. Reno, as opposed to Riku and Roxas, didn't seem as if this was his first time facing the assassin - but he sure looked scared.
The assassin glanced quickly at the headmaster, then at Kairi. He must have thought she was about finished, because he swore and dropped her. Kairi's legs buckled from under her and she slumped to the ground, while the assassin jumped onto the balcony and spread his wings. Kairi watched him jump onto the other roof, then run into two shadowy figures. She couldn't tell if she was hallucinating due to lack of oxygen, but she swore the other two sprout shimmering platinum coloured wings and take off with the assassin.
Kairi groaned and rolled over, pain shooting through her. Reno ran over to her.
"Are you okay?" he asked. Ryosei's eyes widened.
"WHAT? WHY ARE YOU BOTHERED THAT HE'S OKAY?" he screamed. "KILL HIM, FOR FUCK'S SAKE! HE TRIED TO KILL ME!"
Kairi shot a fearful glance at Reno, and stumbled backwards onto her feet, ignoring the pain that followed. She staggered out onto the balcony and disappeared into the night, moving as swiftly and silently as a shadow.
"Dammit!" groaned Reno, putting a hand on his forehead.
"Wh-who were they?" gulped Riku, with a dry throat. His face had turned the same greyish white colour as his hair.
"Some goddamn assassins..." spat Reno.
"Assassins?" squeaked Roxas.
"Yeah."
Ryosei butted in.
"Why did they want to kill me!" he demanded.
"You could have done something to upset them without realising." shrugged Reno.
"I haven't ever met and asa...assay...murderer!" he said, unable to pronounce such a word due to his low level of intelligence.
"You may have without realising it." said Reno knowingly. Ryosei gulped.
"W-Will they come back for me?" he asked.
"What about me?" asked Roxas. "Am I safe?"
"You kids, just calm down! I'll get security if that's what you want." said Reno. This seemed to calm the three down a little.
"So we'll be safe?" said Roxas.
"Whatever, kid. Stop panicking."
"But--"
"Look, whatever you do, don't tell anyone else about this."
"Why?"
"Everyone'll panic. Please, I'll pay you to keep quiet."
"Sir? You're bribing me and Riku?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Well...alright then. We won't tell anyone."
"Good lads!"
Meanwhile, back in Room 15, Kairi was staggering back into her room. She looked to see Sora still asleep, thankfully. Kairi groaned as she went to the bathroom to get undressed - her chest was really hurting. Maybe she'd fractured a rib...nah, she'd be in a lot more pain from that. When she's changed into her night clothes, Kairi stumbled back into bed. She had multiple bruises all over her body - especially on her neck. How was she going to cover that up? Maybe she could wear a scarf.
The pondering of these questions seemed to relax her mind, as within a matter of minutes Kairi had fallen asleep.
"Uhhn..."
Kairi groaned as a shrill ringing echoed through the small room. The telephone next to her bed was trilling madly.
"What the...?" she groaned, wincing in pain as she leant over and picked up the reciever.
"H-Hello?"
"This is the Kurama High School wake-up service. Have a nice day."
"The hell...?" she groaned, glancing at the wall clock. "It's 6 am..." (A.N: This is exactly what happened to me in Spain...grr...)
In the bed next to her, Sora stirred.
"Good mornin'." he yawned.
"Good?" she asked. "I've never got up this early in my life!"
Naturally, Kairi was tired from what happened last night. She wished it was dark in the day so that she didn't have to lose sleep going out at night. Just then, something caught Kairi's eye.
"Sora," she said sharply. "There's blood on your pillow."
Sora's head jerked over to look at his pillow, and a look of fear came over his face.
"Aw, man!" he cried, and clapped a hand to his mouth, running into the bathroom. "My lip's been bleeding?"
Kairi heard him run the tap and splash his face with water, and before long he walked back into the room, with a few beads of blood seeping from the cut in his lip.
"Damn that Nobu." he said, sitting back down. "I hope he gets fired. You shouldn't keep your job if you go around smacking kids."
"Yeah..." said Kairi, and then suddenly hunched her shoulders up to hide the large bruise on her sore neck.
"You okay?" asked Sora.
"Uh, yeah. I've just got a stiff neck. I slept awkwardly." she lied. Sora shrugged, nodded, then walked over to the balcony. As he opened the windows, an icy draught swept into the room and blew around Kairi's bare ankles, causing her to shiver.
"Hey, Kazu," called Sora. "Come see! It's covered in ice!"
Kairi's ears pricked up. Ice? That was a perfect excuse to wear a scarf and cover up the ugly, telltale bruise on her neck.
"Cool!" she cried.
"Not cool." he groaned. "We've got gym today, outside."
Kairi's joy suddenly plummeted to fear.
"G-Gym!" she whimpered. How would she get out of this? The guys would definately notice something different as she got changed...
"Yeah, fifth period." said Sora. "Everyone has gym fifth period. Well, everyone in the high set."
"Is Ryosei in the low set?" asked Kairi. Sora nodded, and she gave a sigh of relief.
"Riku'll know your classes." said Sora. "We'll go see him."
Kairi nodded, and grabbed her clothes, racing into the bathroom. She quickly got changed, making sure she wrapped a thick scarf around her neck, and then headed out of the door to Riku's room. Luckily, she didn't have to travel far, because a certain silver-haired boy was making his way down the corridor already.
"Ah, Riku!" she said. "D'ya know what classes I'm in?"
"Um, sure." said Riku, shrugging. He fished around in his pocket.
"Here." he said, handing her a timetable. Kairi glanced at it.
PERIOD 1
Music / Ms Mirumachi
BREAK
PERIOD 2
Art / Ms Neil
PERIOD 3
Resistant Materials / Mr Takafumi
LUNCH
PERIOD 4
Science / Mr Palmer
PERIOD 5
Gym / Mr Endo
"Not bad..." she shrugged, and shoved it in her pocket.
"So, what've you got first period?" asked Riku.
"Music." she replied idly.
"With...?"
"Ms Mirumachi."
"Ah. Me too."
Riku grinned.
"I'd watch out for her, if I were you." he said. "She's nuts."
Thinking this was a joke, Kairi laughed.
"No, seriously. She's loony."
Kairi gave another laugh, but then stopped abruptly as the familiar, searing pain shot through her chest again. Her laughter changed to choking, as she coughed her way into fighting for air.
"K-Kazu?" asked Riku. Kairi doubled over, coughing and spluttering. Sora suddenly came out of the room, dressed in his smart school uniform. The second he saw Kairi doubled over, clutching her chest and coughing madly, he dashed over to her.
"Kazu!" he cried. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"
If Kairi could have answered, she would have told him to piss off. Did he think she looked okay!
After about a minute or so of painful coughing, and desperately trying to stop Riku thumping her back, Kairi finally regained her breath and weakly stood up. She winced as she felt blood rise up through her face, and forced herself to swallow it down again, shuddering at the disgusting feeling and taste.
"You look really pale." said Sora concernedly. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," she said weakly. "I think I've caught a chest infection."
She knew this was a downright lie, as the source of the problem was almost certainly due to the fight the other night.
"Hmm," grunted Riku. "You might wanna do something with your hair. You look kinda girly."
Kairi blushed a deep crimson and tried to fluff up her hair.
"I-I'll be right back." she said, and headed back to the room. She grabbed the pot of gel from the bathroom and began spiking it up, using the same technique as Keiko and the others had done back at home. This only took a few minutes and, after perfecting it, she walked back out again and met up with Sora and Riku again.
"That's better." said Riku. "Come on, let's...oh, god."
Kairi turned to face the same direction as him, and saw Ryosei walking towards the three.
"Hey, freaks." sneered Ryosei. "I'm done with your shitty laptop. The film was cool."
Sora muttered something under his breath that sounded like 'pervert'. Ryosei shoved the sleek, black laptop into Sora's arms.
"Your laptop's shit, by the way." growled Ryosei. "It's too slow. Like you, eh Sora?"
"Why don't you ever shut up!" blurted out Sora suddenly. Ryosei's face suddenly turned into a scowl.
"Don't mess with me, punk." he snarled, grabbing Sora by the collar. "I fought off two assassins the other night."
"Ryosei!" hissed Riku. Ryosei laughed.
"What's your problem, teacher's pet?" he sneered. Kairi felt her blood boil. Fought them off? He was screaming like a girl!
"Damn, Ryosei! We can't tell anyone!" snapped Riku.
"You actually bother listening to teachers?" he sneered. "You guys are losers."
With that, Ryosei shoved past them and headed off down the hall.
"So...what's this about an assassin?" asked Sora, holding his laptop under one arm.
"Promise not to tell?" asked Riku. "The other night...in Ryosei's room...well, there were two masked guys fighting...one had swords and everything."
"Really?" asked Kairi, pretending to sound shocked. She hunched her shoulders up, making sure the scarf was secure and hiding the marks on her neck. "It's pretty cold today, eh?"
"Yeah, I should've worn a scarf, too." said Sora. "You guys go on ahead. I'm gonna go drop my laptop off."
Riku and Kairi nodded, and then they made their way down to the hall.
"So, what do we do for breakfast?" she asked.
"We usually go buy some croissants or something at break." he shrugged. "I'll show you to class."
"What room is it?" she asked.
"03."
"Ah, I know where that is." she grinned. "I can remember it from the map."
"You've got an awesome memory." he said, looknig slightly amazed. "We'll wait up for Sora at the class."
Before long, the two teenagers had arrived at the music classroom. Ms Mirumachi gestured for them to come in, and they obeyed.
"Do I need any pens or stuff for this class?" she asked, realising she'd left all her sttuff back in her bag.
"No, we just read notes and play instruments all lesson." he shrugged. "Hey, here's Sora."
Sora walked into the classroom, followed by Roxas and Tsukasa. Tsukasa gave a small wave in Kairi's direction, and she waved back. Sora sat to the left of Kairi, and Riku to the right. Tsukasa sat on the opposite side of the table, and Roxas sat next to Riku.
In a matter of minutes, 20 or so more kids flooded into the class. There was a lot of commotion as everyone rushed to their seats.
"Settle down!" barked Ms Mirumachi. "I'm taking the register!"
There was complete silence as she cleared her throat.
"Right...Kyo?"
"Hai, sensei."
"Tsukasa?"
"Hai."
"Tomasu?"
"Hai."
Suddenly, for no apparant reason, Ms Mirumachi stopped calling out names, and her face turned red with fury.
"SHUT UP!" she roared. 'HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO ASK FOR SILENCE WHEN I TAKE THE REGISTER?" (A.N: This is what I get every music lesson, even when no-one's talking)
Kairi looked confused, and then Sora leant over and whispered in her ear: "The voices."
She giggled quietly to herself, then stopped quickly as Ms Millar shot her a death glare.
"Roxas?"
"Hai, sensei."
Ms Mirumachi was just about to call out the next name when a blond kid leant out from his desk.
"New kid." he hissed at Kairi. "Think fast!"
Before she could react, the boy threw a violin at her. It caught her in the stomach, and was surprisingly heavy. Kairi groaned in pain. Not from the violin, but from the pain in her lungs that had been set off, once again, by the violin. She began coughing roughly, and the boy laughed.
"SEIFER!" screeched Ms Mirumachi. "DON'T DAMAGE SCHOOL PROPERTY!"
"Sorry, miss." Seifer grinned. "Won't happen again."
Kairi, on the other hand, was still coughing. The pain was much worse than before...fire spread through her lungs with each breath.
"Kazu!" roared Ms Mirumachi. "Stop that coughing!"
Kairi would have replied, but, naturally, she couldn't. Something must be wrong with her. Coughing shouldn't hurt like this...
"KAZU!" she screeched. "THIS IS NOT A VERY GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION! AND DON'T LEAN ON THE VIOLIN!"
"Mirumachi-sensei, I think he's really hurt!" said Sora. Kairi clutched her throat as her windpipe closed up, and began spluttering for air. She rolled onto the ground on all fours and wrapped her arms around her stomach. Suddenly, blood leapt up through her throat again and, with a great deal of pain, splattered from her mouth onto the carpet. There were groans of disgust and concern from the class, and everyone stood around her.
Kairi kept coughing up more blood, the pain in her lungs increasing. As more blood rose in her throat, and the ability to get sufficient oxygen decreased, she felt her vision swirl and darken. The last thing she heard was the concerned chatter of the class before she blacked out.
I'M SO SORRY! I was late for uploading! Arrgh, it's my dad's fault. He made me log off at 7.00, right when I was in the middle of this. 7.00! Who does he think he is!
Just to let you lot know, Mirumachi-sensei is based on my music teacher, Ms Millar. I swear she's nuts or something, she barks at the class to shut up when no-one's talking, so me and Jade (Hotaru) decided that she hears 'voices'. Next update will be on time, I hope!