Chapter Twenty-Four: Kiyoshi's Place, Kiyoshi 的地方

((Note))

What's up? Sorry about the last chapter, I was in a Hey-I-really-want-to-kill-off-someone-in-my-fanfic mood. I wanted to make it a lot bloodier, but I decided against it. There'll be plenty of time to write about excessive gory bloodshed in other chapters.((Pleasant smile))

AutumnXMidnight

My philosophy had been correct: boredom had been the supreme ruler of the day. I pulled out my guitar and tinkered on it for a while, but other than that, I just sat on my bed in a deep dysphoria ((yes, that's a word)) of boredom, staring at my sickeningly pink ceiling. I attempted to come up with some ideas of what to do about my excessive alien problem, but no ideas prevailed.

Well…this sucks.

A soft tapping came from the window; I excitedly tried to run to the window, but in my hastiness fell off my bed with a loud thud. I nonchalantly pushed myself back up, pretending I never fell. The incessant tapping grew increasingly louder.

"Hold your horses, I'm coming. I'm coming." I called to the window. The tapping ceased as I opened the window. Lo and behold, there was Kiyoshi perched on my windowsill.

"What's up?" he asked as he crawled in.

"You know, you could just wait on my balcony, it would be a lot more comfortable than perching on my window like a cat." I explained. Kiyoshi rubbed his chin and shrugged.

"Yeah…But where's the fun in that?" he asked as he flopped down on my bed with a soft sigh. I shook my head. I would never understand him.

I sprung onto my bed to sit beside him. "So…um. What are you here for?" I asked curiously. Kiyoshi held his hand to his chest and gasped in mock insult.

"I am thoroughly shocked! Can't I just stop by to say hello to my girlfriend?" Kiyoshi said, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"No. You always have some sort of reason for showing up unexpectedly." I said blandly. Kiyoshi shook his head good-naturedly.

"Well, okay. You're right; I do have a reason for coming." He surrendered.

Ha, I thought so.

"Spill." I said, my interest piqued.

"'Kay. Well, I was thinking that since Ryou's gone, I could take you to my place and show you around." He offered. I felt my eyes brighten.

"I'd love to!"

Kiyoshi grinned crookedly, pulled me up, and led me to the balcony.

"Look, we'll even go via balcony." He pointed out. Something dawned on me as he flung open the door.

"Hey, Kiyoshi, tell me something. How did you know that Ryou wasn't here?" I inquired as I followed him into the nippy November afternoon. He stopped and looked back at me, looking me over.

"You're much sharper than I thought." He observed.

"You still haven't answered my question." I said, knowing that he was stalling.

"Well, I sort of was sitting on your roof." He mumbled. My jaw dropped in disbelief.

"You're a stalker!" I accused. He ran his fingers through his godlike raven hair in agitation.

"Whatever. I was really sitting up there all night just to make sure that tengu hadn't tracked you down. I just happened to see Ryou leave. It took me a little while to muster up the courage to whisk you away." He explained as he snatched my hand and led me to the edge of the balcony.

"Oh." Was all I managed to say.

"We're using the 'Dark Aid Express', so remember to hold on tight." Kiyoshi said as a pair of bat wings grew from his shoulders. I draped my arms around his shoulders as his muscular arms tightly enveloped my waist. Kiyoshi tensed his legs and propelled us into the bitter wind.

Kiyoshi flew at breakneck speed; I doubted that anyone below us would even notice so much as a black blur in the sky.

So this is how he can fly during the day and never be noticed.

The harsh wind beat at my face, even though it was buried into Kiyoshi's warm chest. I imagined how hard the wind was slapping him in the face. I dared a quick glance at the world below: cars darted along the grey streets as people ran to and fro, trying to get out of the wind's path. The familiar salty scent of the sea drifted into my nose as we steadily grew closer to the ground. I buried my head into the crook of his neck as he tilted into his favorite landing technique: the nose dive. The wind whistled by as we zoomed downward as fast as a bullet.

We're going to crash, we're going to crash, we're going to crash and we're going to die.

When my panic had spread through every nerve in my body, the whistling was gone and I felt my feet standing on firm ground. My arms were still frozen around Kiyoshi's neck;

he tapped me on the back a few times.

"Um, Komori…we've already landed, sweetie. You can let go now." He whispered to me. I shakily released him from my arms' grasp, which were both still as stiff as if they'd gone through rigor mortis.

"Sorry, I forgot you didn't like nose diving." He apologized.

"N-no…p-problem." I gasped, collapsing onto the ground in gratefulness to be alive. I heard Kiyoshi chuckle as he crouched down and took me into his arms. This was the first time that my surroundings registered in my brain. The scenery around me was familiar; we were standing at the foot of the timeworn lighthouse Kiyoshi had taken me to not too long ago.

Oh hell no.

"Welcome to my place." Kiyoshi said pleasantly as he watched the expression of horror unfold across my face.

"Is this some sort of joke?" I asked incredulously. Kiyoshi lugged me to the entrance to the lighthouse, smiling at my disbelief.

"Nope." He said, seeming to think that the whole situation was hilarious. Kiyoshi nudged aside the door, shut it behind him, and sat me down on the floor. I steadily stood up and took in everything. Kiyoshi had obviously been very busy cleaning: all the old cobwebs and spiders had been swept away, the floor had been swept and mopped, the clutter that had covered the whole room was now put into various old oak shelves and dressers, a small bed now sat in the darkest corner of the room accompanied with a small lamp, and the musty mold smell had been replaced by the scent of cologne.

"Of course, I had to clean the place up before I told you it was my 'house'." Kiyoshi explained.

"You cleaned up pretty good; it's not a complete mess." I complimented as I still scrutinized the room in amazement. He seemed to be utterly pleased with that short statement.

"But it's better than having an explosion of magenta covering every little thing." He teased. I threw him a nasty look.

"How long did it take you to clean all this?" I asked.

"Do you remember that day at fencing practice that I told you I didn't get any sleep?... That long." He said.

"You cleaned all this in one night?"

"A-yup." Kiyoshi yawned.

Talk about workaholic. I wonder if he straightened it all up just for—

CRASH!

A huge bomb-like boom came from upstairs; a few small pieces of the ceiling fell onto the tops of our heads.

"What the bloody--?" Kiyoshi exclaimed. I was too shocked to say a single word, but Kiyoshi seemed to have read my mind. He looked over to me and motioned his hand upward. I nodded my head. He mouthed: 1,2,3 and we both transformed. He motioned for me to follow behind him up the rickety old stairs.

((Note))

Ooo, what could be upstairs?

AutumnXMidnight