Disclaimers: I don't own anything except Raimi, Haru and Nayumi. :D
A/N: The All family has its secret quote was inspired from Johnny Depp's Dark Shadows. I love that movie. :D. I love all of his movies—especially Sleepy Hollow, The Pirates of the Caribbean Saga and etc.!

-;-

When the lights fade out, all the sinners crawl

All family has its secrets

Death is only the beginning.
-;-
No one was able to know how much pain Ayuzawa Misaki has seen, how much torture she had undergone and how many deaths she had witnessed.
-;-

The Grim Reaper
.
The Grim Reaper
.
The Grim Reaper

Eight:

Mornings are the bleariest event in my life.

I wasn't usually this sluggish until I entered Miyabigaoka and was bombarded by tons of assignments and school stuff tirades that even my food tonic—Milo—wasn't enough to keep me up whenever my alarm clock would start making that irritating noise made up to annoy others. And it wasn't until then that Shizuko and Sakura would come bursting into my room because they were disturbed enough by my clock and would start an early morning cat fight with me that I would realized I was fully awake. Back in my place, I was always up early ahead of my parents because I wanted to surprise them with breakfast. I was always energetic despite the lack of friends and normalcy in life.

I don't know what's really happening to me here in this place.

Miyabigaoka makes my life a living hell!

I was quiet as I made my way towards the food court where the others awaits me when a clump of blonde came charging into my way and next thing I knew, I was already being squashed into a tight embrace by someone smaller than me. I was startled, and was untimely paranoid by the astonished stares thrown at my direction, before I look down on the person giving me a hug and was surprise to see that it was none other than Usui Maria.

"Misaki-samaaaaa!" she exclaimed, her voice was high pitched and, if I were being honest, painful to my ears, as she literally tackled me down the snowy ground. She was really beautiful with her green eyes and pale skin—that doesn't really look unhealthy unlike mine—and foreign flair that just makes it more obvious every time I'd stare into her green eyes that were slightly identical with her brother—except that she's got bubbly eyes, that is. "I'm sooo glad to meet you here! You know, I've been repeatedly asking brother to give me your dorm room but he was pretty stubborn so I managed to get him to hand over your contacts instead! I miss you so, so, sooo much, Misaki-sama! I've always wanted to see you ever since that fateful event in the Northern Forest! I wanted to see my hero, my love, my one true love, my—"

I grabbed her by the shoulders and carefully placed a reasonable distance between us because she was literally choking me before I smiled at her. "Maria-chan, you surprise me." I cut off because I don't really want the kid to have something akin to worshipping me. "Why are you all by yourself again? Didn't you know it's dangerous especially after what happened to you last Saturday?"

She laughed it off, casually removed my hands from her shoulders before she fell into place beside me and linked her arms around mine. "Don't worry about it. Takumi made sure I wouldn't be put into such a situation again—the two of us! You know, he's Authority here and everybody follows what he says even if he's annoying and all."

I nodded. "I agree with that." I turned to her again as she pulled me towards the food court. "So, what are you doing here?"

Maria laughed again, and I was beginning to have a feeling she wasn't really a relative of Usui Takumi because she was just so bubbly and Takumi isn't and if he suddenly started acting frickin' bubbly, I swear I'm going to kill him! "Silly, Misaki-sama, of course I am here to see you. I had your schedule that same Saturday night and realized we have the same lunchtime period. Isn't it a coincidence?" she cackled again.

Honestly, the kid is starting to freak me out. "So, you've already seen me." More like captured me. "Do you have, er, any plans in mind?"

"Let's have lunch. My treat!"

"Oh no, no, no, no. It was stated in my unwritten rule that I will never allow anyone," when she pouted, I quickly made excuses. "—as cute as Maria-chan treat me." I sighed in relief when she beamed enthusiastically. "It'll be my treat. You specifically came here to see me without guarantee you would see me. The least thing I could do is be the gracious host that I am and treat you."

Her blush was prominent again and she was still squealing with delight as she pulled me and tightened the link of our arms and dragged me towards the food court again. I easily spotted Shizuko and the others on a nearby table but the frown on her face made me wonder what's up with her. She seemed obviously displeased that I was with Maria-chan.

I wonder why?

"Maria-chan, there's Shizuko and the others. Don't you want to join—"

"No, no, no. This is a date between us—hero and damsel—so we shall have a seat somewhere far from them." she smiled sweetly at me and there was just something about the way she smiles that makes me think there was something up with this kid. She walked up to the line and started jumping up and down to see the menu. "Aw, I couldn't see the menus! Misaki-sama, can you see the menus? I couldn't see it."

Heads immediately snapped towards our direction upon hearing the loud voice of Maria and by some unnatural circumstances, they started making way for the little girl. Some stared at me too in curiosity and the first thing I wanted to do is cower in a corner and hide inside a garbage can to dodge away from the stares.

Maria smiled at the students sweetly and pulled me to the front again. "Thank you, minna, thank you. Now, Misaki-sama, come on and let's order some food. What do you want, Misaki-sama?"

"I—I'll have what you're having." God, somebody save me please.

When she was done ordering, I quickly paid it with my Mom's card she gave me before I left for Miyabigaoka and together, we occupied some vacant spot that seemed to be obviously vacated for us. I had to roll my eyes. Seriously, popular people. On the same table, Shizuko and the others are deeply submerged in a conversation while darting quick glances on me.

I smiled at Maria-chan when she placed my food before me. "Er, you don't really have to do that. Don't serve me food. Your brother might kill me."

"No, my brother is the least of your worries. He wouldn't find us here."

My forehead creased at that. "Why? You're studying here, right? Of course there's a huge chance you two would bump each other here." and then, I paused and remembered the confused look on Shizuko's face at the sight of Maria. "Oh, my God, you didn't skip class to see me, right?"

"Of course not!" she laughed at that. "I specifically came here to see you, silly!"

"Um," I really don't find this situation positive. "—okay. Well, the food is waiting—"

"Maria." We both paused upon hearing that deeply alluring voice and I snapped my head behind me only to see Usui Takumi standing before us with that irritated look in his velvet green eyes.

Across the table, Maria beamed. "Oh, hello, Takumi."

My forehead creased at the sudden drop of temperature between us—it's like a battle of telepathy here. From the table where the others are seated, I thought I saw Shizuko shaking her head. What in the world is happening?

"I was just inviting Misaki-sama for lunch. And she gladly obliged." She laughed at that and I wondered if I had done the right thing. "We're going to get along so much, right, Misaki-sama?"

"Er…" I glanced at Takumi who glared at me heatedly. I decided to stare at Maria-chan since she seems safe to have a staring contest with. "—yes, of course. There's nothing wrong about it." I was startled because her reaction seemed like she's won a lottery prize. But what surprised me more is when she suddenly jumped towards me to hug me tightly. I coughed. "Maria, if you keep doing that, you're likely to kill me."

She probably thought I was kidding because she didn't latch herself off me. She's like Sakura—she's a barnacle. "Oh, Misaki-sama, you silly girl. I love you so much! I really, really, really like you so much!"

I coughed. "Er… thanks."

Takumi sighed. "Look, Polka," I glared at him. "—Ayuzawa, you don't understand, okay? You better take back what you said and you, Maria, get off her right now—"

I frowned at that and irritably stand because he's starting to piss me off; again. "What's your problem? Your little sister is just being friendly at me. Is that what you're worried about? Your little sister being friendly with me?" I winced when Maria's grip around my waist tightened. "Hah, you really are an impossible—"

"Being friendly with you is the least thing I'm worried about. In fact, I could care less if she's being friendly with you as long as she'd put it in place." He glared at Maria and I was vaguely aware of the fact that students seems to be watching our situation now like we're in a movie. "Maria. Get off her. Now."

Maria furiously shakes her head. "No, I don't want to!"

"Yeah, she doesn't want to. What's your problem?"

"Look, you don't understand—"

"Usui Takumi, you really are a party poop!" Maria suddenly screamed in a voice so high pitched it caught everybody's attention and sent the entire food court into silence. "Why are you being like this? I only wanted Misaki-sama's attention! Is it wrong to want somebody I actually like?!"

"You're way of liking is abnormal."

Abnormal? I glared at Takumi. "What's happening here—"

I winced though when Maria suddenly faced me and embraces me tightly again, her face buried against my chest. "Misaki-sama, will you go out with me?"

What the—

In defeat, Takumi exhaled. "She's lesbian. And she's actually older than me."

WTF?!

.

"Stop laughing!"

But Sakura was undeterred. In fact, she continued laughing while the three of us are slumped down the couch back in our dorm while watching some badly comical sitcom I don't find amusing at all. I was still pretty miffed over what happened in the food court. How come nobody told me she's actually the eldest of the Usui siblings? She belongs in the college department of Miyabigaoka, for goodness sake! And me, why haven't I notice that she wasn't actually younger than me?! She's frickin' twenty!

I glared at Sakura when she burst out laughing again. And I highly doubt it was because of what we're watching. Even Shizuko seemed to have trouble hiding her own amusement because her eyes were also smiling and it wasn't every day I would get to see her smile. In fact, in a sum of an entire month that we've all been together, she scored a zero on the smiling department. I glowered at the two of them and thoughtlessly grabbed the throw pillow and used it to smash it on Sakura's head.

"I said, stop laughing!" I snarled at her.

But all the more she had laughed. "You idiot! How could I stop laughing when your expression awhile ago was just priceless?! You should have seen your face. God, you looked like you shit on your pants."

I rolled my eyes at that. "If a woman asks you to go out, anyone would react like they shit on their pants. And you," I whirled at Shizuko who was barely able to contain her amusement. "—why didn't you tell me she's lesbian? And that's she's older than us?' I started pulling on my hair. "And why the hell is everybody calling her frickin' Maria-chan?!"

Shizuko collected her expression first before she shrugged. "Its family secret, you idiot."

My forehead creased. "Huh?"

"It's family secret. Ever since we found out Maria was lesbian—although she doesn't mind her engagement with the future CEO of a diamond conglomerate—we decided to keep everything a secret." She squared her shoulder again. "We were sworn into secrecy never to tell it unless needed be."

"It's a needed be situation!"

"I didn't know she was going to fall in love with you immediately. Maria's actually super picky. And I didn't know you were her type." She eyed me from head to toe before smirking. "Well, you weren't bad yourself."

On cue, Sakura started laughing again.

I groaned at that. "I'm doomed."

"Not really. Takumi's putting her on a leash."

"As if that helps!" I exclaimed, mortified. "She was able to escape Takumi a while ago. Why would I think she wouldn't do something like that again?" I glared at Sakura who was still laughing like an idiot. "Stop laughing, please."

"Trust me, I couldn't. This is a first. I didn't know Maria Usui was actually a lesbian—wait." She paused and darts her red eyes to Shizuko. "If it's a family secret, why do you know this?"

I paused too. "Yeah. How did you know?" when she didn't answer, I contemplated whether I should really strangle her now. "It's a needed be situation!"

Shizuko sighed in defeat. "Because we're family."

Sakura laughed at that. "You're kidding!" but it quickly died away. "Are you?"

"My mother was the youngest sister of Takumi's biological father." She said this in a way that made Sakura and I lost our jaws. "We're cousins, to be exact."

There was a loud thud on the floor. Beside her, Sakura had fainted dead.

.

"I heard from someone…"

I glanced up upon hearing that voice and instantly frowned when I realized it was Usui Takumi standing beside me during our educational trip to the wide greenhouse of the Horticultural Club that was a few miles from the main Academy. And as unfortunate as it may sound, the trip was a mixture of males and females and his class just has to be scheduled with the time period of mine. I looked straight to our path since there were many humps on the greenhouse and there was a great risk I would suddenly tripped on one of those dangerous looking humps and crashed down the floor like a fool.

I jabbed my frozen hands inside the pockets of my coat. "What is it?"

He chuckled darkly—what a weird guy. "I miscalculated you. You weren't as bad as I thought you are."

My frown deepened. "And I was supposed to be honored? You lied to me."

"I didn't. You already heard it from Kaga. It was a family secret. And it never crossed my mind that my elder sister would take a liking to someone as insignificant as you." I glowered at him when he said the word insignificant. He raised both hands and continued walking beside me, following the line of the students. "But the fact that she likes you is a significance that you're something."

"Don't look at me for my worth." I hissed irritably. "I hate it, thank you."

"I was actually trying to make a decent conversation with you." when I stared up at him, I notice the dark shade of pink that was stretching from his cheeks to the tips of his ears. Well, that was just adorable. "Don't you think we're too old for a cat and dog relationship?"

I smiled sardonically at him. "Mind you, you started it."

"Because I thought you were trouble."

"I—" well, I couldn't really deny that. It was true. I was, indeed, trouble. I sighed. "You should just stick with your belief. I might be trouble."

"You save my sister."

"I was merely the nearest person to the entrance of the forest." I glanced up at him, and tried my best not to be deterred by his green eyes. "You should stay away from me. It's better that way."

He grinned at me, but it didn't reach his eyes. "You're right. I should really stay away." We walked side by side each other for an awkward silence until he spoke again. "But some reasons I don't know, I can't seem to do so." I paused walking when he said that and couldn't help but stare at him because what he said completely surprised me. He had paused walking, too, and one thing I thought about him was that this guy had a remarkable height, beautiful face, smoldering green eyes and one heck of a profile. He angled his face on my direction and I was bewildered with the way his eyes seemed to be burning while he was gazing at my direction.

I looked away but then, I notice this three male students hanging out next to the drum and when one of them met my eyes, I notice how his expression suddenly perked up as though I caught his interest. I tense immediately when he elbowed his friends and pointed out my direction with malice. They stared at my direction and started laughing while whispering with each other. He bobbed his head as if to say approach me and without thinking, my fingers automatically clutched on the sleeve of Takumi's coat and almost automatically, the hold I unintentionally got of them automatically disappeared.

My forehead creased because it happened again.

Takumi cleared his throat and I uttered an apology when I paused. "Wait!" he arched one eyebrow at me and I searched the crowd again and when I found what I was looking for, I mentally reached out for their minds and ushered them to walk towards me.

More than two men caught the effect of the foggy curse and, with my heart beating rather eccentrically fast, I reached out for Takumi's arm again and held on to his elbow tightly.

And once again, the effect of the curse disappeared.

"Wow." I whispered in disbelief. "This is unbelievable."

"Let go of my arm."

I paused upon hearing Takumi's voice next to my ear, and embarrassedly, I let go of his arm. "Sorry."

He casually squared broad shoulders, his coat fitting his body quite well and showing a large expanse of well-muscled chest and arms before he walked ahead of me. No, he doesn't walk. Nobody walks as gracefully as that guy. My single steps equate two steps of him I knew right then and there it would be hard for me to stay right by his side. I sighed and stared at the Venus flytrap growing beside me as it caught its prey and devoured it slowly.

Don't. Stay away from me. Don't come near. It's dangerous.

But still, why does the effect of my curse seem to be disappearing whenever I would touch him?

"Out flirting with my cousin?"

I met amused red eyes and rolled my eyes before I continued walking. Up front, Takumi was already beside Yuki and Kanou-kun discussing something about the plants in the greenhouse. I winced when I felt Aoi elbowed me on the ribs. I kept my eyes down. "What do you want? I thought you don't like me?"

He laughed at that. "Well, just because I don't like you doesn't mean I couldn't try." She smiled at me. "And is it wrong to approach a classmate?"

"So I say, what do you want?"

"Nothing much." He lolled playfully. And for someone who's previously cold to me, his sudden friendliness is, once again, freaking me out.

I was reminded of Maria's sudden confession of me and whenever I'd be paranoid enough to think I would be put into such a situation again, the best thing I could muster of is run towards somewhere safe.

Beside me, Aoi chuckled again. "I know you were stupid but I didn't know you were pretty stupid. Was it true? You weren't really aware Maria's a lesbian?"

"Are you family, too?"

His forehead creased. "Huh?"

"I promised myself I wouldn't be surprised if you, Shizuko and Usui Takumi are actually relatives. But now that's its out in the open, I was hardly surprise myself that I was actually this surprise to know you're all blood relatives." I smiled weakly at him. "Sorry for my French, but you three annoy me sometimes."

Instead of being peeved, I was miffed myself that he had the nerve to laugh. "We all get the same reaction but only you had the nerve to say that one out. I think I'm starting to like you."

I busied myself with some random flower. "Honored."

"So, are you going out with Maria?"

"Will you please stop that?"

Aoi snickered, it should feel nice he was having lots of fun about it but still, the fact that it was concerned about my ever disastrous love life is annoying. "I was just kidding." My forehead creased though when he wordlessly linked his arm around mine and started pulling me ahead of the line. "Come on. Don't be a loser about your confession and be happy someone was fooled by your…" he gazed at me from head to toe. "—well, you weren't so bad yourself."

Ugh. He really is a cousin of Shizuko Kaga.

.

"Where are you going?"

I smiled at Shizuko and started doing some stretching on the living room before I reached out for my iPod on the center table and attached it on the waistband of my jogging pants. "I'm going out jogging. Want to come?"

She stared at me in disbelief. "Misaki, we've got school within three hours."

"It'll be short. Don't worry about it. And my English class starts about eight. I'll see you!"

"Hey, bring your phone!"

"You're sped dial 2, I know!" I kicked the door shut and zipped up the matching tracksuit of my pants before I walked towards the elevators and punched in the Ground Floor. I attached the earphones to my ear and when I reached the ground floor, I immediately made my way out to the brightly lit jogging area despite the wee hours of the morning. I glanced at my wristwatch that reads about quarter to five and shrugged it off before I made a run to the open space where I could sweat out.

I wasn't usually a sporty person but the constraints in my lungs signified I really need a good dose of workout now since I haven't been in one ever since we left Sapporo. Clouds are a fluffy thing. And while I was out jogging, I busied myself in between trying to break in some sweat and figuring out what's it with clouds and their weird shapes. When I was a kid, I remembered wanting to eat them because I thought they were some sort of fluffy candies. But when I realized they were actually poison gasses and is made out of pollution, I decided to stick with real candies instead.

Yeah, they were indeed beautiful. Too bad they are made by pollution.

While I was running, I hadn't realized I was thinking of Usui Takumi again and how weird it was that my curse seemed to be disappearing whenever my skin would touch his. I thought it was nothing at first. But it happened the second time and when I tried it the third time for experimentation purposes, I got the same reaction. So, what does that mean? What's with my curse and Usui Takumi? Does that mean I should stay next to him to avoid peril? But I couldn't do that! I dislike him. He makes me… uncomfortable. Yes, there was something about the way he looks at me that makes my insides go squishy and soft as though I wanted to vomit out what I've previously eaten.

And I hated that. It's bad enough that he's got this bad effect on me whenever he'd stare at me. I don't want to feel extra conscious whenever our skins would touch, too. And of course, since he was way too smart for his own good, he would start wondering too why I was sticking with him like an awful barnacle. I never like it when he said he couldn't seem to stay away from me. It must be because of the curse. Yes, it must be because of the curse. He must be getting affected too. I would be a fool to believe that he's an exception to my curse. All of them are the same. I was fooled by one before. I wouldn't be fooled again. Because if the past repeats itself and someone I care about was taken from me again, I might end up exploding. I might not be able to control the curse anymore and there's a great risk it would spiral out of my control and destroy everything—including myself.

"Oof!"

"Oops, sorry." My forehead creased when Aoi's voice echoed before me because he had intentionally tripped me. I scowled at him and when I looked up; I notice he was on tracksuit too. He grinned at me. "So, you're jogging too, huh?"

I got up and dusted snow off my pants before smiling at him. "Yeah. And it was a bit peaceful too until you arrived. May I ask why you trip me?"

"Nothing. I didn't see you at all."

I snorted at him and started running off again with him trailing beside me. "I didn't know you were trying to stay fit, too. Are you all by yourself?"

He nodded. "Yep. What about you? Didn't know a girl like you is fearless in the dark."

"Not really. I'm used with the dark." We started jogging around, discussing about trivial matters and just when we're having fun being acquainted and all—he was busy asking me whether I would really date Maria or not—I notice the drivers of this car parked near the forest staring at us. I glanced around the path Aoi and I would take and when I notice that we would past by that direction, I grabbed on Aoi's elbow and pretended as though I was tying my shoelaces.

He arched an eyebrow at me. "What?"

"Let's not take that path." I told him, still pretending as if I was tying my laces.

"Why?"

"They would attack us."

"Who?" he snapped his eyes to the men by the car. His forehead creased. "Why? How did you know?"

"You wouldn't understand even if I tell you." I panicked when four men jumped out of the car and the expressions they have was just so obvious they weren't up with something good. I shot up my feet and started tugging on Aoi's elbow. "Come on before they catches up with us."

"Hey, Ayuzawa Misaki, right?" I shut my eyes closed and since I don't really want Aoi to be suspicious about my behavior around men, I faced them and arched an eyebrow at them. The first guy with the spectacles smiled at me. "Hi, are you going back to the dormitories? Can we give you a ride?"

I shake my head. "No. No, thanks. Um… we're planning to jog back there, right, Aoi?"

"Huh?" he steeled himself and nods at the guys. "Yeah. We're jogging back."

"Come on. It isn't like we mean you harm—"

"Cut it out." I winced when Aoi suddenly grabbed me by the elbow and yanked me back behind him with brute force. "Didn't you hear what Ayuzawa said? We're jogging back to the dormitory. So, back off." He nodded at me. "Come on." He pulled me towards him and together we started walking towards but until we heard the loud footsteps coming our way had we only realized we were actually being chased. My eyes rounded when one of the four men grabbed my arm and roughly shove Aoi aside. Amongst the four, he seemed to be the one who runs the fastest since the others are lagging behind him.

"Aoi, run!" I shouted before I turned to the guy before me who was trying to drag me back to the car and without much thinking about it, my leg moved on its own and kicked him where the sun don't shine. I rushed to Aoi. "Come on!"

We made a run but we're still far from the dorms and we've spent so much energy trying to outrun each other while we were normally jogging before that I could almost feel the constraints appearing in my lungs. They were still running after us and all the more I had panicked because Aoi seemed obviously tired beside me, too.

"The hell are they chasing us?!" he screamed at me as he run off as fast as he could too. He must have realized trying to pick a fight against four huge men means we don't stand a chance. "Did you do something to them?"

"I don't even know them!" I screamed back at him. "Just… STOP TALKING! Run!"

I look around for the shortcut I slipped into awhile ago to get to the jogging area field only to winced when someone roughly pulled me by the elbow and threw me back on the ground.

"Ayuzawa!"

I got up quickly and fear quickly enveloped me. They've got fogs in their eyes meaning it was because of the curse. I wasn't equally sure what to feel that very moment. I was scared, confused and worried for Aoi because if something were to happen with Aoi, I would be completely one to blame. I don't mind because I was at fault, but he's my friend and I would be unable to take it if something happens—

I shrieked when Aoi grabbed the hood of the person who threw me off the ground and threw a punch on his face, sending him on the floor as blood dripped down from his mouth. He grabbed me by the elbow again. "Come on!" he screamed at my ear and for one moment, I thought I have placed my complete faith and trust on him. He was helping me, not chasing after me.

That's a progress, right?

He yanked me hard again as we started to run, the dormitories and the guard house still miles apart from us and without thinking, I slipped my elbow from his and stopped running. "No. No, you should run. You should go."

His forehead creased and he seemed obviously panicking too because he was transferring gazes on me and past my shoulders. "Are you frickin' stupid?! Those guys are after you!"

I nodded, while pulling my sleeves up to unbuckle my belt. "I know. They are after me ever since the beginning. You shouldn't watch this. You should go."

"I'm not going to leave you here all by—"

"I don't want you to see this."

"What are you—"

I ripped the bracelet off and watched the disbelieving look in his face as he blinked, momentarily distracted at the sight before him, before I turned around and face the people chasing after us. I dropped the bracelet on the floor and felt myself heat up because even if I don't really want to use it this way, I've got no other choices. But the first effect of the curse must have been so strong because they didn't stop at first sight of me and continued running towards me, their eyes mad with obvious frenzy and wildness.

I back off at the familiar sight. When I was still a child, I remembered being chased like this, too. And I've got nowhere else to run or someone to call for help because I never wanted Mom and Dad to get worried at me again. The trauma started after that and ever since then, I fear people who are running towards my direction even if they weren't really approaching me. My insides started to quiver but I set it aside because right now, I have a friend to protect. I darted a quick glance to Aoi who was still staring at me in disbelief and complete confusion. He seemed… mortified about how I look.

Who wouldn't? I was the Grim Reaper himself, after all.

"Close your eyes." I instructed him coldly before I turned back to the men before me, there were maniacal grins on their faces as they slowly approached me as though I was a prey cornered by four predators. I glared at the four of them, focusing all my mentality to theirs, trying to take hold of their systems because that is what I'm absolutely good at: killing people.

I clenched my fist tightly and felt the curse—the fog, my unwanted power—spiral out of my control—something I fear gravely—as I voluntarily unleashed it out of its cage and towards the people who are trying to shame me and harm my friends. I felt heat inched up my entire system, as though I was burning, and I thought it was the Retribution because after the unleash of the curse, along with the four men before us, I dropped dead on the hard and cold floor unconscious.

The last thing I felt were Aoi's warm hands on my exposed skin.

.

I jolted awake when I felt something hard and cold brushed my cheek.

I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling the strains on my elbow and knees and entire body and I nearly concluded it as though I've run a marathon the entire week. I snapped my eyes open, and tried to move my fingers only to wince when I felt my bones cracking painfully. I looked around and realized I was back in my room again. I tried to remember what happened, why I was back in my room when I was supposed to be out—I was with someone, right?—and back into the jogging field. I took note of the bandage on my elbow and temple and the faint scent of antiseptic on both infected parts.

What happened to me?

But I couldn't find any answers. I don't remember anything.

Was I attacked? That's the only conclusion, right? Either I got into an accident or I was attacked because of the curse. I paused. The curse!

The door leading to my room snapped open and I stared right straight into Shizuko Kaga's tight eyes. She was usually neutral. But this kind of neutral expression… it was scary. It was as if… there was something that happened.

"You're awake." She said before she flipped the light switch open, mirror on hand. "We've got a visitor and he wanted to know some answers. Take a look at this."

I caught the mirror in time she threw it to my direction and stared at my reflection in the mirror only to gasp in horror upon seeing that my eyes looked identical to those vampires in the movie 30 days of night again. But this time, there were black patches on my face, making me look even more monstrous than before. I quickly dove for the blankets and covered my face, discarding the mirror that tumbled out of my bed and into the carpeted floor. I stared at Shizuko in horror. "What happened?!"

She shrugged. "You don't remember?"

"That's why I was asking!" I hissed at her, hiding my face carefully. "What time is it?" Shit, I wouldn't be able to attend school because the color of my eyes will return after a few more hours. I eyed Shizuko again. "What happened, tell me, please. I… I-I… I don't know what happened. I was jogging out and then… and then… arg! Why couldn't I remember?!"

"Calm down." She stepped into my room and slumped down on my bed. She looked defeated. "There is no way I could hide your secret from them. He saw you used your… curse."

My heart smarted. "He who?"

"Me."

I glanced at the door and recognized Aoi's slightly tall figure. Once again, I panicked. "Aoi…? What are you doing here? Why are you—what are you—what did you—" I shake my head. There was no other way for me to get out of this. Shizuko knew. Now, Aoi had find out too. I need to be straight to the point. I voiced out the question I feared most. "How did you see?"

"Why are you covering your face?"

"I want to know how you see." I bit my lip. There is indeed no other way out of this. "I'm not going to show you my face unless you tell me how you see." You're not supposed to see. You're not supposed to see. Nobody's supposed to see.

From in front of me, Aoi seemed obviously peeved and disheartened. In fact, he looked like he doesn't want to be anywhere near me. This time, I was the one disheartened. Of course, it would be hard for normal people like them to accept an abomination such as myself. "You nearly killed them, that's what I see… after you removed this." From the pocket of his jogging pants, he extracted my bracelet.

I could almost feel the hairs on my nape stand on its end at the sight of my precious bracelet on the possession of another person. I bristled. "Give it back. I could never guarantee your safety in my presence if you don't hand over the bracelet. That controls…" I gritted my teeth. By in the end, I know I couldn't lie now. "—me. That controls me."

"What are you?"

"Hand over the frickin' bracelet." I hissed at him while glaring at him through the holes of the blanket. "Give it to me, Aoi. I'd even say please."

"Give it to her." Shizuko finalized before she swiftly snatched the leather material off Aoi's hand and threw it on my bed. I quickly reached out for it only to gasp upon seeing my fingers had now sharp claws instead of my normal fingernails. I clenched them tightly but put the bracelet on anyway before I sunk down on the bed, disheartened. I glanced at Aoi. "What did I do?"

"I don't know." He answered me honestly. "In fact, I'm not even sure what of what you did. But I knew it was terrible. Because if it wasn't, those guys wouldn't die from blood loss after throwing out so much… blood." He cringed at the memory, and even if I couldn't remember, I couldn't help but cringed, too. "You made them do that, don't you?"

I clenched my fist tightly and felt the sharp black nails dug through the skin of my palms before I nodded. "Yes." I admitted sheepishly. "I made them do that… because I wanted to save myself from getting hurt again." I loosened my grip on my blanket and allowed it to fall off my head before I stared at Aoi in the eye. Beside her, Shizuko looked away. I was pretty certain she still couldn't take the sight of me looking like this. It was nauseating, after all. "I'm cursed. No matter how difficult it was for you to believe, our family was cursed with this kind of thing."

He sounded like he was choking when he repeated what I've said. "You're… what?!"

"Cursed." I mumbled, feeling ridiculous because this is definitely not the way I wanted to reveal this—not when I look monstrous. Peeved, I eyed Aoi again. "You want another proof?" and before he could even answer, I glared at the lamp table before me and crushed the material using the pressure in my eyes. Both Aoi and Shizuko jumped off their spots out of astonishment. But it just wasn't enough. They seem to want to know this badly. Now is the right time to scare the shit out of everybody. I glared at the mirror too and unleashed enough force that it shattered noisily, all pieces dropped down the carpeted floor like dead flies. I stared at the television next, glaring heatedly at the screen while the light bulbs in our apartment flickered on and off, being threatened to get destroyed, too.

The TV started to succumb to the force as it develop small cracks on its corners but before I could fully shatter it into unrecognizable pieces, I felt something hard crashed against me and next thing I know, I was on the other side of the bed with Aoi on top of me. Apparently, Aoi had developed a hobby too of tackling me down like the others.

But I was completely held immobile when I my injured elbow hit the floor right and square.

I winced as though electricity run rampant up and down my body. "O-Owch… damn… that was—"

"Stop that! Stop whatever it is you're doing! You're frickin' scaring me!" the lights stopped blinking as I stared at Aoi right straight in his eyes. He blinked as though I just jabbed him with a pencil before he got off me and sat down on the floor. Shizuko was right beside us to check in if we're okay. She seemed to be relieve we haven't killed each other yet.

I propelled myself up and got the eye mask from the lamp table and put it over my eyes to cover the frightening shade. "I'm sorry." I said, because no matter what happens, I was still at fault for scaring them. "I'm leaving tomorrow night—"

"No, you're not." Shizuko snarled at me. Despite my lack of sight, I was pretty certain she was mad. "You're not leaving. This is the place where you are safest."

"I killed five people—"

"You didn't kill them." I paused at that, and slowly removed my mask to stare at Aoi who was already up on his feet and is dusting invisible dirt off his pants. "The four men that chased after us, they were reported for over usage of drunks and that they caught some kind of internal intestinal infection that caused them to cough out blood. They were already tested for signs of Tuberculosis and even if their results come out negative, they would still be dismissed from the Academy."

"Cover up." I accused him angrily.

He shot me a deadly glare. "Are you stupid? Why would I do that for someone as insignificant and stupid as you?" he pulled the blanket and shoves it on my face before stepping towards the exit. "Give me a few more days to think this over. After all, even if you have done it to save us from assailants, your existence is still considerably dangerous for students of the Academy. And I'm an Authority whose duty is to kick out black sheep from the school." He stared at Shizuko, too. There was that miffed expression on his face again. "Don't forget you're involved in this too, Shizuko. And don't forget your duty as an Authority."

That and he finally left.

I exhaled dejectedly and run a hand through the messy mop of unruly raven hair. "I'm sorry." I whispered. "I'm sorry for dragging you in this."

"You didn't." Shizuko replied and kneels before me to smile—and I didn't know she was actually capable of smiling at me even if the situation is something someone normal should be running away from. "You save two of my cousins from danger, that's what matters."

"Aoi's mad at you."

"I could care less about that. I worry about you." she handed me back the eye mask I've discarded. "You should rest. Aoi will come around soon."

I got up too, wobbling slightly, before I settled on my messy bed. "With police, probably."

"No, with research papers about how to lift one's curse." My forehead creased at that but Shizuko merely shrugged. "I've been doing just that ever since you told me about the origin of the curse. Surely, there is a way for it to be lifted, right?"

"Don't! It's dangerous! You shouldn't get involved—"

"Danger? Hah, I love danger. I laugh in the face of danger." She snorted at me after staring at my miserable face before she looked around my messy room and frowned. "Clean this up as soon as you're feeling better. And don't get out unless you want Hanazono screaming her guts out." She gave me one last pointed look again before frowning. "You're right. That was indeed scary. I missed the entire morning class because of you. If I fail in any of them, you're one to blame."

I sneered at her. "Thanks."

She rolled her eyes before pulling on the latch of my door and went out.

On the other hand, I was more discouraged than miffed. Great. Two people are now aware of my secret. Just great. Keep this up, Misaki, and you'll find yourself either in two places: the loony bin if they don't believe you or in the jail if they keep this up seriously.

.

Time Check: 11:36 PM (Philippine Time) June 12, 2014

And while I was listening in If You're Not the One by Daniel Beddingfield, I got a little bit inspired to write the next chapter. I was supposed to upload this tonight but there was something wrong with the internet connection and I couldn't connect at FFN. So, yeah, blame GLOBE—they're my supplier, by the way. And it is either because the signal was slow—as always—or my subscription has already expired.

Wait, let me check it out. I'm pretty certain the WiFi connector was somewhere in the house…

AndyBunny