Author's Notes
Hello everyone! I told you I'd update weekly, and it's not even been a week! Thank you so much for the reviews and the positive feedback! It made me feel so good! And someone said I rushed the first chapter a bit… you're right! It's my big weakness… I tend to get straight to the point and I don't even give you time to keep up with the action. I'm sorry! I'll try and slow the rhythm a bit! Since this is my first fanfic, I guess I'll get better with my writing with every chapter.
To those who don't get it, stuff in italics is Hitomi's thoughts. I just wanted to get that clear!
Now… here comes the second chapter! Please take a minute to review it and tell me what you thought. Also, I've created a forum for all of you who'd like to discuss this story or talk to me about it. For those who don't know how to get there, just click on my nickname and then click 'my forums' on my profile page. Once again, THANK YOU!
"The moon is beautiful tonight, isn't it?"
Hitomi was startled and quickly turned her head to see a boy standing by her left, about 3 meters from her. Unlike her fearful first thoughts, it wasn't a middle-aged rapist or some drunk. It was just a boy. She sighed with relief. Her heart was beating so fast she thought he could hear it.
The boy looked harmless, standing calmly looking at the moon. The moon shone so bright that night that Hitomi could see him well.
He had raven-black hair, which was being ruffled by the wind in that moment, looking wild and untamed, giving him a rebel look. His eyes were brown and reflected the moonlight. He looked to be about Hitomi's age and he was wearing… what? Her school's uniform! He's from my school! Why haven't I ever seen him there? My school isn't that big! Someone like him wouldn't go unnoticed! My friends would have told me if a guy this cute was in out school… What? Did she just think that?
Hitomi blushed fiercely, not just from her thoughts, but also because she had been staring at him for about 3 minutes AND hadn't said anything yet. She finally gathered her wits and said "Huh… yeah, it is…"
He then turned to look at her and seemed to be evaluating her. Not in a bad, nosy way. He just looked into her eyes with an expression like he was reading her soul.
Hitomi just sat there, trying to figure out what kind of guy he was. Was he a jerk? Or one of those guys who looked oh-so-innocent but deep down were the worst? Somehow, looking into his eyes, Hitomi couldn't think of him as a bad person. He looks like a decent guy…
After a minute of soul-searching stared, he finally spoke "Hey, why are you here?"
"What! What do you mean?" Somehow that wasn't what she was expecting him to say. Actually, she wasn't expecting anything…
"I meant, what is a girl like you doing all alone at night in the beach?" he asked softly.
"Well… I… I needed to take a walk to clear my head. The beach just looked like a peaceful enough place to go to."
"You seemed sad" he just said.
Hitomi waited for him to continue, but when he didn't she just replied "Well, maybe that's because I am sad"
"Wanna talk about it?" he asked, while looking at the moon.
"No, I was just feeling lonely. I'll get over it" she said with a blank face.
"Well, if you don't wanna talk about it I won't push you" he the smiled at her "But I'd like to cheer you up a bit. Do you want to go with me for an ice cream? My treat."
"What! I don't even know your name! Sorry but I don't go around accepting invitations from complete strangers. Even if you look harmless, I don't know a thing about you." She said with a sarcastic tone. It wasn't that she didn't want to go… but the world is such a dangerous and unpredictable place that you can never be too careful.
The boy just laughed lightly and told her "You're right, I'm sorry" then he extended his right hand to her "Hi, I'm Van. I'm 18. I just moved to this town and I don't know anyone here."
She took his hand and shook it "Hi, I'm Hitomi. You're wearing my school's uniform. I take it you'll be attending it from now on."
He smiled and let go of her hand "Very observant. If you mean that school next to the town's library, then yes. I went there today to speak to the principal. I'll start attending classes tomorrow."
Okay, he seems nice enough… She was feeling that weight on her chest from all the sadness becoming lighter now. It had been a long time since she'd met someone new. When she was losing herself in her thoughts, he spoke again.
"Well, now you know something about me. Now how about that ice cream? Maybe you can tell me something more about you too. Come on, I promise I won't bite!"
She laughed at that "Hmm… sure"
"Come on then" he smiled and offered his hand to help her get up.
She took it and stood up, shaking off the sand from her legs, and grabbed her bag. They walked together in silence for a few minutes. He had his hands on his pockets and she was playing with the hem of her skirt.
They reached a street parallel to the beach. There was a lot of commotion. There were people everywhere walking around, completely relaxed and enjoying the night. They spotted some shops and restaurants which all looked traditional and homey. There were big vases with flowers along the street and only people were allowed to walk in this street.
Hitomi finally spoke "Where do you want to go to?"
He looked at her, expressionless face, and said "I don't know… I'm new here, remember?"
She blushed a bit and looked down, laughing nervously, "Oh yeah, I forgot. Well, I think there's an ice cream shop close by" she pointed.
They soon reached it, entered and got seated. The waitress came and asked them what they'd like. Van asked for a cone with coffee-flavored ice-cream and Hitomi asked a vanilla-flavored one.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Van finally asked without looking away from the window "So, tell me about yourself…"
"What do you want to know?"
He seemed to think about it for a minute "Hmm… how about how you came to be in this place. Were you born here?"
"Oh… no… I wasn't born here" she looked down at her ice-cream while talking "My parents died when I was young and then I moved in with my aunt and uncle. They took me in and I've been with them ever since…"
"Oh, I'm sorry… and are you happy here?"
She looked up surprised. He was now looking at her. "Well, define happiness… I have everything I need, a loving family, I'm okay at school…"
"And is that enough for you?" he said, looking deep in her eyes.
She returned the look, intensifying it by getting her head a few inches closer to his, "There are people who don't even have that! I should consider myself lucky to have this!"
He didn't even flinch "You didn't answer my question"
She was caught off guard and turned her face away from him. She started wondering. Was it really enough? It should be! Her mind said it was but her heart said it wasn't. She had never asked herself if it was enough or not. She'd spent her life looking at things in the good side, thinking that no matter what happened, life goes on.
While she thought about this, three men came in to the shop. They wore jeans, white t-shirts, black coats, black sunglasses and black caps. The only thing that distinguished them was that one of them had a beard and another one wore gold earrings.
They entered the shop quietly and separated when they reached the counter. The one with the beard remained at the counter, the simple one went to guard the door and the one with the earrings started walking in the direction of Van and Hitomi's table.
The waitress smiled at the guy in the counter, oblivious to the negative that radiated from him in waves. "What can I get you, sir?"
The man kept a straight face and said very calmly and quietly, like he was simply ordering a coffee, "Shut up and don't move or I'll blow your brains out"
The waitress's blood was completely drained from her face. She nodded silently with her head and stood there rigid and scared out of her mind, while he discretely pointed a gun that he had hidden in his coat at her.
There were only 5 costumers in the shop, Hitomi and Van in one table, a couple in another table and a guy alone in the other table. The guys were being so discrete that nobody seemed to notice them or the situation.
The man guarding the door didn't pull out his gun, he just leaned against the door with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
Hitomi and Van were quiet, Hitomi was still contemplating her question. Van was looking at her, waiting for her answer. The strange man with the gold earrings came over to them and looked at Van, then Hitomi.
"Keep quiet" he said quietly, then pulled out his gun and pointed it at Van. "If you do what I say, then nobody needs to get hurt" he said, but didn't sound honest.
Van began to look angry. Hitomi was just petrified. What was happening? Who was this man? Was that gun real? There were alarm bells ringing in her head. A feeling of dread crept up her spine. Then, Van started talking.
"What do you want from me! Money from my father! Let me tell you, he doesn't make deals with scum like you!" he sounded infuriated.
The man with the earrings laughed dryly and said "We don't want anything from you! You Fanels must think you're so important that the world moves around you!"
The man at the counter yelled at him "Stop wasting time! Do it!". The other costumers looked at him and started realizing what was happening.
Then the man with the earrings brutally grabbed Hitomi by the arm and pulled her against his chest. He had his left arm around her neck and his right hand pointed the gun to her head.
"Let her go!" she heard Van screaming. Time was passing so slowly, each second going by like an hour. The costumers at the shop were looking at them, shocked, scared and impotent.
Hitomi tried everything to escape his grasp, from biting to kicking him, and nothing worked. She wasn't weak… but the man was too strong. This is it… I'm going to die…
The man started dragging her backwards but stopped when one of the costumers got up. It was the guy sitting alone at a table. Hitomi looked at him, he was wearing a long brown coat, brown hat and big sunglasses. It had only been a minute since Hitomi had been grabbed.
Before you knew it, the guy pulls out a gun from his coat and starts shooting against the three strange men. He'd pointed at their right hands. The man holding Hitomi let out a scream of pain and let her go. She fell to the floor right in front of him, still so shocked that her legs seemed to fail her.
Then the guy in the long coat ran to them and threw a huge punch at the other man's jaw. He hadn't seen it coming, since he was busy holding his bleeding hand, and fell on his back. You could see in his face the shock and anger.
The guy in the coat finally spoke and looked at the three men "Get out of here! Go tell your boss he won't get what he wants!"
They seemed to consider it for a moment, reluctant to let it go, and looked at each other until the man at the counter said, "We'll go now, but you haven't heard the last of us! Next time we'll get it!". Then the three men fled the shop. Outside they heard the sound of motorcycles and assumed the men were gone.
Van went to Hitomi's side, putting his hand on her shoulder "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"
She breathlessly said "Yes… I'm fine… just… shocked"
The guy in the long coat knelt down in front of Hitomi and said softly "I'm sorry you had to go through all this."
He then took off his sunglasses, reveling stunning blue eyes, then he took off his hat, letting his long blonde hair fall around his shoulders. He looked at Hitomi with a sincere apologetic face.
She was looking at him absolutely stunned. She managed to say "What… who are you?"
He gave her a small smile, took her left hand and said, before kissing it, "My name is Allen Shezar"
Her eyes widened at the gesture and she just said "I'm Hitomi Kanzaki, thank you for you help"
He got up, put his sunglasses in a coat pocket and put his hat back on. He smiled again and said "I know. You look just like your mother" and left the shop without another word.
It took her a couple of minutes to digest what he said. My mother? He knew my mother? But he must be 30 years old at the most! How could he have met her? When?
Van had to shake her out of her thoughts "Come on. Let's get out of here before the police comes and presses you to give a testimony. I'll walk you home"
When they were outside, they walked in complete silence. Hitomi clutched her pendant and thought about the guy's words. Also, it had been a very tiring day and she was exhausted. Van was also re-living the events of the evening in his mind.
When they got to her house, Hitomi opened the gate and said "Thanks for everything. The ice-cream and walking me home and all". He looked at her and said "Yes… sorry about what happened…"
Hitomi smiled and shook her head "It wasn't your fault. Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school, right? Goodnight"
"Goodnight" He watched her close the gate, climb up the stairs of the entrance and open the door. Wow… what a day…
Hitomi went to her room and closed the door. She got dressed in her pajamas and went to the bathroom. After washing her face, she looked herself in the mirror and thought. My eyes look different… it's like they're glowing…
In fact, her eyes were lighter, looking almost like two pools of water and they seemed to give a strange light.
Then she saw a strange pink light coming from her chest. She took out her pendant from under her pajamas and saw that it was glowing.
"What's going on? You never did that before…"
Suddenly everything went white…
