Talking in a different language.
Chapter3:
Living with a Murderer
It was bright in the morning at 9 AM. Everyone was at the table, sulking, some crying, others zoning out. Kai canceled practice after what had happened yesterday. Instead, they were going to the funerals. Miriam hasn't said a word since the event, the Barthez Battalion kept zoning out of reality, Mariah kept crying, Ray was always on the rooftop, no one was the same. Even Tyson and Daichi, they never whined, they never even said the words 'I'm hungry' or 'I'm starving' in the same sentence! Kai got ticked off at what everyone was doing and so he left to take a walk.
Kai decided to walk through an abbey, not wanting to be seen by his crazed fans. 'That girl…' his thoughts wandered back to the girl from yesterday; he's been having thoughts about her lately. 'Could she be…' he thought of the way she moved. Her movements weren't like any human and her skin was unusually pale.
As he passed by a jail, he stopped abruptly. He turned towards it and stared at the entrance. His thoughts began to decide which decision is best. He entered the building.
"Who are you?" a police officer raised her eyebrow at Kai.
He ignored her; Kai really wasn't in the mood for a conversation.
She cleared her throat impatiently.
Kai narrowed his eyes at her, "What?"
"Who are you?" she repeated the question; you could see the veins throbbing in her forehead.
"I'm here to visit someone, the girl you arrested yesterday."
"You know her?"
"No,"
"Hmm…" she stared at Kai suspiciously before leading the way to Akane.
Knock Knock!
"Yes?" a voice asked through the other side of the door.
"A visitor's here to visit the girl."
The door suddenly slammed open; an old man standing in the way, his eyes show frustration.
"Do you know her?" he asked hopefully.
"…No…" Kai answered in his usual monotone voice.
The man sighed hopelessly, his hope once again crushed. "Thank you Anna," he smiled sadly towards the officer.
"No problem, I hope you get everything worked out." She returned his smile and left.
The old man let Kai through, "Were you in the event?" he asked.
Kai nodded, staring at the pale girl sitting on the ground, her head bowed in shame. He noticed that there was a police officer in the room also. He stood up and walked over to Kai. "Hello, my name is Martin Tachibana, that man over there," he pointed to the old man, "Is Hito Haragii."
"Kai Hiwatari."
"Nice to meet you Kai." Hito smiled.
"Why are you in here?" Kai raised a brow.
"Well," Martin glanced at the girl and then at Hito. "You see, we can't get her to talk, eat, even move! Whenever she moves, it's either to wrap her arms around her legs, breathe, or blink!" he yelled irritated. Martin slid his hand through his hair in frustration.
Kai stared at the girl curiously. He sat on one knee in front of her. "Who are you?" he whispered, mostly to himself than to her.
She slowly lifted her head to face him. Who are you? Martin and Hito quickly glanced at each other.
'What is he saying?' Martin wondered. To them, it sounded as if he was speaking incoherent gibberish that only insane people think they understand.
You can understand me, can't you? Kai asked again, patience and sorrow showing in his voice and his eyes instead of the usual sarcasm and anger.
She nodded slowly.
Martin and Hito's eyes widen in amazement.
What's your name? he asked calmly.
She opened her mouth to speak but then shut it hesitantly. She was afraid, Kai realized that fact. He understood that someone in her position would be afraid, he could tell that she had a horrible life, he could tell that she wanted so much to be free, to fly like a bird and soar the sky without anything holding her back.
I won't hurt you,
She opened her mouth to try once again but shut it out of fear.
'Maybe I should show her.' Kai thought.
es, words mean nothing,Kai heard his faithful bit-beast say. Kai raised his hand, moving it towards Akane; her eyes widened in fright and she scooted back into the wall, cringing at the thought of making any contact. He pushed her bangs out of her face; her body tensed but then relaxed a little when he didn't hurt her in any way.
What's your name? he asked again, his patience never wearing.
"…A-…A-…Akane…" she whispered, staring into his crimson orbs.
"Kai." he answered.
"Oh my," Hito gasped, "You really have a knack at this! Is it okay if we could call you just incase this happens again?"
Kai nodded, his usual glare in place. "…Can I take her to an acquaintance's house?" he asked.
Martin glanced at Hito.
"I believe that she's been doing some killing around here."
"Yes she has," Martin sighed, "A lot of killing..."
"I think someone's after her."
"T-that's absurd! Why would anyone be after her! She's not from the underworld or contains mystical powers or anything!"
"Exactly, why would anyone be after her when she's seems normal enough."
"What do you mean 'normal enough'?" Hito asked hesitantly, as if afraid do know.
"Her movements, her skin, she doesn't seem normal." Kai pointed out.
"…I-I guess that is true…" Martin agreed, his hand tucked underneath his chin in thought.
"So, can I?" Kai asked again.
"Um, sure, but she's still in jail, so if she causes you any trouble, feel free to lock her up." Martin said. "Oh, and here's some chains to keep her tied." He gave Kai some chains and the key.
Kai placed the chains around her wrists and led her out of the room.
"Interesting fellow, isn't he?" Hito said as soon as he knew that Kai was far enough so that he couldn't hear.
Martin nodded, "Yes, he is."
Akane hissed in pain at the sudden brightness before quickly jumping into the shadows, glaring at the sun and the people.
"Get out of there," Kai said impatiently. "We don't have all day." The kindness and understanding didn't seem to last very long...
She hissed at him and back away when she saw that his hand was reaching towards her. She glared it angrily and tried biting it but Kai evaded the attack by pulling his hand back.
"Come on," he said, reaching for the chains. He quickly grabbed it and pulled her out of the shadows.
She hissed at the sunlight and struggled against his hold on her chains to get back into the darkness.
"Fine, you want to avoid the sunlight, then let's avoid the sunlight." Kai yanked her chains so that she would follow him instead of dwelling around here. They entered an alleyway; Akane stopped struggling against his hold and followed him, her despair returning.
They walked in silence with except for the clinking of chains and their breathing. Akane stared at everything, intrigued at the "devices" that was around them. Never, has she seen anything like this.
They walked out of the alley and into daylight. Again, she hissed at it, all of the misery was replaced with blind anger.
'Here we go again.' Kai thought irritably as he struggled to keep his hold on her chains. Eventually, he was able to pull her into the dojo.
"Hey homey!" Tyson's grandpa greeted as Kai and Akane entered the kitchen. "Whoa!" he gaped at Akane. "Who's the dudett?" he then noticed that she was in chains. "…And why's she in chains?"
"Don't get too attached to her, she's a murderer." Kai rolled his eyes as he led Akane towards the room the team was staying in.
"Oh, okay." Tyson's grandpa said simply, but then stopped and stared into space for awhile. His eyes then widened, "…YOU BROUGHT A MURDERER INTO MY DOJO!"
"Hey Kai, you're--" Max immediately shut his mouth once he saw who was with him. A picture of Emily flashed through his mind as his eyes showed pain, but then they darkened.
"What's she doing here?" Lee growled, standing up and ready to pounce upon her in fury. "Isn't she suppose to be in jail?" he narrowed his eyes at her as she bared her fangs in response.
"She's with me."
"Kai, you've just brought a murderer in my house, that's the stupidest thing you've EVER done besides joining our opponents' team!" Tyson glared.
Mariah hid behind Ray while everyone else glared at Akane; one thing on their mind: revenge.
"Get out of my house," Tyson ordered.
Akane didn't answer but held her glare.
"I said, 'get out of my house'."
"Don't waste your breath Tyson, she won't answer you." Kai said coldly as he walked towards another door.
"Kai you doofus! Why'd you bring a freakin killer here!" Michael yelled.
Kai ignored him and walked towards his bed and pulled Akane down. He tied her to a hook in the wall that he installed today, he thought it would come in handy and true enough, he thought right. "Don't move." Kai instructed.
"Like I can..." she muttered, sitting down and crossing her arms. She glared at everyone who dared to make eye contact with her.
"Don't kill her," Kai commanded before he left. "That goes for you too," Kai glared at the Michael who was holding a baseball bat, ready to strike Akane once Kai was out of sight. Michael sighed and cursed under his breath as he placed the bat down. After he was sure that nobody was gonna kill anyone, Kai left the room.
"Great, now we're stuck in the room with an assassin!" Kenny sighed.
"It could be worse: you could be stuck with 2 assassins!" Dizzy said, trying to lighten the mood but failing miserably.
"Not now Dizzy." Miriam said, glaring ice daggers at Akane.
Kai came back in with a cup of red liquid in it.
"What is that?" Mariah asked disgusted. "Here," Kai handed it to Akane.
She took it cautiously, sniffed it, took a small sip, and then drank the entire thing.
"You still didn't answer my question," Mariah placed her hands on her hips impatiently.
"Blood," he answered simply.
"BLOOD?" her eyes widened. Kai smirked at her reaction. "She's drinks blood! But that can only mean one thing: she's a vampire!" she clung to Ray's arm. "Whose blood was it?"
"Mine." Kai replied as he sat down.
"Yours?"
"Do you understand Japanese?" Kai said impatiently. "Yes, it's mine!"
Mariah hid behind Ray once more.
"Calm down Kai, she was just asking." Ray advised.
Akane listened to every word they said, intrigued at what they were discussing about. She was trapped in a dungeon for so long; it wasn't everyday that she was able to be around people who didn't whack her...although they tried...
"Shouldn't we keep an eye on her?" Rick raised a brow, every now and then eyeing Akane suspiciously.
"He's right guys, we really should be figuring out who's gonna be watching her." Max agreed.
"Well, it can't be any of us since we're leaving." Eddy said.
"What?" Max gasped. "How come?"
"Sorry Max, but we can't live under the same roof as a murderer."
Max sighed disappointedly. He didn't want his friends to leave; it had been months since they saw each other and in only two days, they were already leaving. "…It's okay…I understand…"
"Yeah, we're going too," Gary said.
"Alright, say how to everyone for me." Ray smiled sadly.
"…We're going too…" Claude announced.
"Bye," everyone said as he 3 teams left.
"At least you guys are staying." Daichi grinned.
"Sorry, but I have to go also." Julia got up and left. "Take care," she smiled, then turned to Akane and glared.
"Are you guys leaving too?" Hilary asked.
"Nope, we don't live very far so we'll be staying." Ozuma grinned.
Grandpa then walked in. "Turn—wait, where are the other dudes and dudetts?"
"…They left…" Tyson answered.
"Oh, well, turn off the lights and get some shut-eye cause tomorrow you're gonna wake up pretty early to move into the mansion." He handed Kai a blanket and pillow, "F-For h-her." he stuttered, then quickly left.
Tyson turned off the lights and got into bed, same for everyone else. Kai placed the blanket and pillow next to Akane and got into his corner. Ray and Max sat in the dark, disappointed that their friends couldn't stay. Ray finally laid down and fell asleep. It's amazing how mourning for your friends can use up a lot of energy!
Akane stared at him, sensing their misery, feeling it, and also, feeling guilty. "…Sorry…" she said.
"Huh?" Max stared at her. "For what?" he blinked confusingly at her.
Akane didn't answer and instead, closed her eyes to try and let sleep consume her. But, as usual, it refused, and so she was forced to spend another night staring into space.