Sunako was relieved that the evening was finally over. What was with this guy? Couldn't he just leave her alone? Why did he even bother with her?

She hated his kind the most… the bright people… they could neither be trusted nor understood. Obviously Kyouhei's behavior couldn't be explained by some sprung-from-nowhere affection for her, so why would he keep following her like a shadow? Bright creatures hated to have to deal with girls like her. She didn't belong to their spotless world, and that bothered them for some reason. They would tease and harass her; tell her that her mother was too pretty a woman to have given birth to such an ugly child.. She had never understood why her ugliness seemed so difficult for them to overlook, but one thing was sure: she had experienced too much pain to let herself be fooled again.

It frightened her that this guy seemed different. He didn't act like he didn't belong to her world. He seemed to be honestly seeking her presence, her friendship. What would he gain from that? Had he made a bet with someone? No, it couldn't be that. He remained at a safe distance from everybody and probably didn't know anyone here since he came from Tokyo. Was he not aware of how beautiful he was? How could he not be?

She had told him about so many personal things, and this as though she believed he really cared about it. But what was truly confusing was that it seemed to be the case. He had listened to her, and asked relevant questions. That frightened her.

She shook her head in annoyance. She had to stop thinking about him. This guy was just no good.

She heard a knock and instantly froze. She knew it was very unlikely to be her mother. She waited, hoping for the sound to stop, but it just wouldn't. She tried to ignore it, but it kept on worming itself inside her head. After ten minutes, she gave in and carefully opened the door. As she slowly bended over to take a peek outside, a DVD popped up just in front of her face, which lit up. It was Invasion In Forster High. She had wanted to watch this movie so badly for weeks, but was too broke to buy it. She tried to grab it, but someone pulled it away and it vanished into the shadows. She hesitated. One step further and she would be out of her safe haven. However, once again, the cover of the DVD flashed in front of her eyes. She grunted and stepped out, making sure she could come back quickly, if needed.

As soon as she left the room, a delicious smell titillated her nostrils. She looked for its origin, only to find out it came from the guy who was standing four feet away, the DVD concealing his beautiful face. She felt thankful for that. A popcorn box –the smell of which had caught her attention - was stuck between his left arm and ribs, his right arm was hiding something behind his back. She would never admit it, but she was curious to death to know what it was. She tried to feign indifference.

'Leave me alone. I'm busy.'

'Well I s'pose you're not hungry then.'

'I'm perfectly fine.'

'Even though we haven't eaten anything? I don't know how you manage that, I'm starving.'

As to corroborate his words, he crunched the popcorn he had already put in his mouth beforehand and ate it slowly with delight.

Sunako's stomach grumbled.

'I don't like popcorn,' she lied.

'Then what about this?'

He unveiled the thing he was hiding behind his back and presented it to her, like a trophy. Sunako gulped. Man this guy was cunning.

'I don't like it either.' She said it with so much pain in her voice that even she was ashamed of her obvious lie.

'Mmm, fine, I'll eat it by myself then.'

As he was leaving, she insidiously tried to grab the ice-cream bucket but he turned around before she could even get close to him, a triumphant smile on his face.

'It will be all yours if you watch the movie with me.'

Sunako had locked her gaze on the ice-cream. Chocolate-flavored, with black and white chocolate chips on top. She glanced at the door of her bedroom. It was only five feet away. It would be so easy to turn around and lock herself in it. They were so many DVDs that were waiting for her. But the bucket of cream kept catching her eye. And she had wanted to watch this movie so badly.

She sighed.

'Okay, I'll let you in, but you leave right after the movie okay?'

Kyouhei's face lit up and he nodded vigorously. He had already walked into the room before she could change her mind.

The young man couldn't believe his luck. Of course, he knew how she couldn't resist an ice-cream of her favourite brand, but still, he was so used to rejection that he only half-believed this stratagem would work. But here he was, sitting in a cushion, waiting for Sunako to put the DVD in the player. He couldn't help but grin dumbly. She sat as remotely as she could from him, and it didn't bother him. Nothing could ruin his good mood. The movie began.

As soon as the movie started, as Kyouhei had expected, Sunako had forgotten his existence. She was totally absorbed by the images. The movie was about a beautiful girl whose perfect doll face made all the boys admire her and all the other girls envy her. However, her beauty drove her mother crazy with jealousy. She totally rejected her, and kept her locked in the attic. One night, the mother took a knife and scalped her daughter's face, to put it on her own and let the poor girl bleed to death. The daughter became a vengeful spirit who would kill the girls who wanted to be prettier than they were. To do so, she would change them into china dolls.

Kyouhei knew that Sunako would relate to the themes of the movie. She jumped with excitement every time a beautiful face was scarred, and cheered the mother when she expressed her pain to live everyday with such a beautiful girl who reminded her of her own ugliness.

As for him, if he had been excited at first – as a big fan of horror movies – he now felt sicker and sicker. He could understand the girl's pain, her feeling of injustice, her wish for revenge. The one she trusted, the one she loved, had rejected her. He couldn't help but think of his own mother. His mother who had thrown him out of the house, who humiliated him every day because of crazy girls, who couldn't stand being in the same room as him. But it was his mother who had saved him many times from kidnappers; it was his mother who had knitted a haramaki* in the colours of a traffic light when he was little, in order to keep him warm in winter. He couldn't hate her. He wanted to – it would have been much easier if he could, but despite her rejection of him, her hatred, her cold shoulder, he loved her.

The final scene left him dumbfounded. The young girl decided to forgive her mother. In doing so, she freed her spirit and went to Heaven. Kyouhei was so shocked that he remained speechless, his eyes fixed on the screen that now showed the end credits.

'That's ridiculous,' he murmured after a while, when the DVD had returned to the main menu. 'how can she even forgive her, after all she's done to her?'

He was sure the mother didn't even feel a bit of remorse, even though she cried for her daughter's forgiveness, and told her how sorry she was. Easy to say when a ghost is glaring at you, a seven-inch long knife in their right hand.

Kyouhei glanced at Sunako. She wasn't next to him anymore. She was rummaging in a chest, already oblivious of his existence. He sighed. Why did he expect some empathy from her? He suddenly felt tired and got up.

'Night,' he said to nobody.

'Wait a second, I'm looking for something…'

He turned over, extremely surprised. Was Sunako holding him back? He waited expectantly. A few seconds later, she exclaimed triumphantly 'Found it!'

She was holding a DVD. Kyouhei sighed. Was she even talking to him?

'I'm tired,' he said.

'But it's Invasion of the Living Dead. It's also a story of invasion,' she added vainly.

'Well I've had my share of invasions with this movie,' he replied bitterly.

'There are no family issues in it I promise. It's just a bunch of high school students who try to escape a zombie invasion at school.'

'He?' Kyouhei asked, puzzled. Then he smiled. That was Sunako for you. She couldn't stand seeing someone in pain, and would move heaven and earth to make him happy.

'Show it to me.'

Kyouhei took it, and was instantly thrilled by the cover. A bunch of students, all from different social groups, and probably enemies in other circumstances, were fighting together for survival. They were brought together at the center, back-to-back, surrounded by zombies.

'Oh it reminds me ofTeens vs Zombies!'

'What is it?'

'Don't you know it? It's a manga that…'

He stopped himself on time. How could she have known the manga ? The first volume had only been released six months ago… in two years. Right now, the mangaka probably hadn't even thought of the idea.

'Well, I read it in an independent magazine, you wouldn't know about it.'

Sunako frowned, but didn't insist.

'You wanna watch it or not?'

Kyouhei smiled.

'I'm going to fetch some more pop corn.'

When he came back, she was already engrossed in the movie. He silently sat next to her and watched it.

He liked it so much that he hadn't noticed that Sunako had fallen to sleep, lying partially on the floor. She looked so peaceful that he felt tempted to touch her. However, he knew the consequences it would bring too well, and didn't want to wake her up anyway. Therefore, he settled for lying next to her, and watching her peaceful face.

'Why do you always have to hide how sensitive and caring you are?'

Absent-mindedly, he gently grabbed one of her strands of hair that was hiding her eye, and placed it behind her ear. He closed his eyes, his hand slowly stroking her hair.

The following morning, when he woke up, Sunako hadn't moved an inch. The young man watched her a few instants, her face illuminated by some rays of light that were pervading the curtains. Before he couldn't resist the urge to fondle her face, he decided to leave. He didn't want to risk meeting her disdainful gaze if she woke up now.

When he had just closed Sunako's bedroom door, he found himself face to face with a huge and husky man who was at least twice larger than him. He looked furious and absolutely not lenient.

'What were you doing in my daughter's room?' he said in a deep voice.

*Item of Japanese clothing that covers the stomach. It is worn for health and fashion reasons. Source: wiki/Haramaki_%28clothing%29