Instinct

Mei lay flat on her back staring at the dark ceiling. Hana didn't want to give her his bed to sleep in, but his mother insisted upon it, forcing him to move to another room. She convinced him this evening, however, to sleep in the same room with her, noting the difficulty they would encounter in trying to sneak out of the house. Hana's bed was much more comfortable than hers was; it had been raised from the floor and the mattress was much thicker. Despite the pleasant atmosphere, she was wide awake and had been in this state for several hours. The plan they were about to act upon made her extremely uneasy, and she was beginning to consider not going. But, she knew Hana was determined to meet his uncle with or without her, and this fact forced her to go along with it.

"Hana," she said with a weak whisper. "Hana, wake up."

He was lying on the floor a few feet from the bed and grumbled under his breath when hearing his name.

"...What?"

"She'll be here soon. You should be awake so we can leave."

He sat upright and stared hazily at the window for a few moments. Mei knew he was exhausted; he slept soundly through the night on a regular basis and wasn't used to being awake this late.

"Do you still want to go?" she asked reluctantly.

"Yeah," he replied under his breath. "I know you don't. You don't have to say it."

"It's not what you think, Hana." She tried to explain. "It's just that—"

She suddenly gasped with an awkward pause, sitting upright in the bed and clutching her chest in her hand. Her expression was of slight shock, and Hana noticed her widened eyes from the weak moonlight piercing the window.

Tamao walked slowly down the hallway upon hearing heated voices in one of the bedrooms. She didn't have a habit of spying, but curiosity overwhelmed her when she was able to confirm Yoh's weak replies. Darkness crept over the entire house in an eerie haze; she knew it was much too late to be wandering around but didn't want to stop. If Yoh was in some kind of distress she needed to know about it.

As she neared the bedroom door, she noticed it was slightly ajar. This discovery relieved her; she knew opening it would have stirred too much commotion and she would have been caught. This could also allow her to see what was happening, even if it was a partial view. She leaned her back against an adjacent wall momentarily and waited until she could hear the direction of the voices.

"You're making this more than what it is." She faintly heard Yoh's voice and leaned toward the door. She blinked a few times and then apprehensively peered inside.

Yoh leaned against the window with his hands buried in his pants pockets and stared at his feet. His demeanor appeared sad or frustrated; Tamao was unable to decipher which. He opened his mouth a few times to speak but didn't. He appeared alone for a moment until she saw someone else pacing in front of him. She recognized the man immediately as his brother; he was wearing a dark jacket and denim jeans as if he had just arrived and was planning to leave soon. His long hair was unmistakable and covered his back as he paced. She didn't get a very good look at his face but knew from his movements he was irritated.

"Hao, just...listen to me—," Yoh sighed but was quickly interrupted.

"Yoh." He stood directly in front of him with a towering stance. "You can't see you're making a big mistake."

"I thought you would be happy." Yoh attempted to back away but realized he was already against the window sill. "You're supposed to be happy about this."

"Why would I be happy about you ruining everything? None of this would be happening if you would just accept who you are and stop trying to fight me."

"Do you hate her that much?" Yoh turned his head away and closed his eyes briefly as he waited for an answer.

Hao stood beside him against the window sill and didn't answer.

"What is this, Hao?"

"She's trying...to take you...away from me." His voice snarled from the bottom of his belly. "That was her plan from the beginning."

"I'm not going anywhere." He exhaled. "You're being paranoid again."

"You don't have to marry her." He folded his arms over his torso and stared at the opposite wall with eyes of disgust and rage. "A few dates from time to time would be enough, but this is excessive."

"I love her, Hao. People who love each other get married."

"If you...love her...I mean nothing to you. If you marry her...you don't love me."

Hao's bitter reply triggered an emotion Tamao couldn't decipher initially. She couldn't see Yoh's face since he was staring at his feet again, and he didn't speak for several moments.

"That's not...fair," he said with a frail whisper.

"She's trying to replace me! How do you think that makes me feel?"

"It's not...the same thing," Yoh mumbled then cleared his throat. "You're not talking about the same thing, Hao."

"You surround yourself with these people you call friends..." Hao's tone was more frustrated than before. "They keep getting closer and closer. They will never understand us, but you keep pushing it like you want to get rid of me."

"Why are you...doing this?" Yoh sniffed a few times. Tamao knew now he was crying.

"She's trying to separate us." Hao wrapped his arm around his shoulders and pulled him close to his chest. "Don't force my hand, Yoh."

Yoh's crying was more audible, an action that shocked Tamao and forced an aggravated frown. She couldn't remember ever seeing him this vulnerable. The display made her uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry," he whimpered. "Please don't be mad at me. What do you want me to do?"

Tamao clenched her teeth unknowingly as she squinted her eyes. Why was he being so permissive and obedient? This entire exchange didn't make sense to her. She softly scratched the side of her neck with her hand.

"You should save her. If she died because of your selfishness, you'd never be able to live with the guilt."

Yoh closed his eyes as he kissed him gently on the head. Tamao couldn't stomach anymore of this. She quickly left the door as sudden nausea claimed her body. Her steps were hurried, and she was almost sprinting when reaching the end of the hallway. When she opened her bedroom door and stepped inside she was startled to see Anna sitting on her bed. Her expression was stressed, and she stared at Tamao gravely when she closed the door.

"What's wrong, Anna?" Tamao asked uneasily. This was the first time she saw any distress in her eyes and was now very worried.

"Hao...is insane." She clasped her hands tightly in her lap. "You were there; you saw what happened."

"Well, yeah." Tamao sat beside her on the bed and stared at the floor.

"You saw what he did to me. But, somehow he convinced Yoh it was an accident. He'll believe anything that psycho says."

"You're right." Fear overtook the nausea as she attempted a deep breath. "It definitely wasn't an accident."

"He's trying to kill me, Tamao," she whispered. "He won't stop until I'm dead."

"Mei." Hana's voice disturbed her quickly, and she blinked her eyes as if awakening from a dream.

"What is it?"

"Matilda's here. You've been sitting there for at least five minutes. I've been trying to snap you out of it."

She didn't notice until that moment that he was sitting next to her on the bed.

"Come on," he said. "She's outside."

Matilda sat against the base of a large tree in the back garden with a frown. What was taking them so long? Anxiety quickly filled her brain. This meant too much to her; she couldn't disappoint Hao again. There was no way she could bear seeing the disappointment in his eyes more than once.

"Uh, Matilda?" Hana's nervous voice startled her out of her thoughts and she stood up. "This is Mei; the girl I was talking about?"

"Yes," she replied with a smile. "Your girlfriend. I remember."

"What?" Hana's face flushed bright red from the reply, but Mei's blank expression didn't change.

"You told her I'm your girlfriend?" she asked.

"She's...not my girlfriend, Matilda." He walked toward the trees with an anxious stride. "Let's just go."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mei," she said warmly.

Something insincere and masked about Matilda's smile made her uneasy. Although she held out her hand, Mei was reluctant to embrace it and paused for several moments.

"Oh, I understand," she sighed. "You're very...traditional. Well, we should get going. It's a long hike from here."

"We're hiking?" Mei asked with a frown.

"It's nearly impossible to get there by car."

Hana rejoined them with impatience. His anxiety was getting the best of him, and he wanted to get to their destination as quickly as possible.

"Is this a journey to the center of the Earth?"

Matilda couldn't tell if the girl's question was sarcasm; her expression revealed no emotion, and she hadn't stopped staring directly into her eyes.

"Not exactly," she replied with the softest smile she could muster, "but, it will take about six hours."

"Six hours?" Hana asked with irritation. "You never said it would take that long!"

"It will be over before you know it. Which is why we should get going."

"Lead the way," Mei said. She was terrified but needed to appear courageous for their safety. She couldn't pinpoint what exactly about Matilda made her uncomfortable, but she didn't want to be a burden for Hana.

Matilda smiled at her again, this time sending chills down her spine. She walked with Hana and Mei slowly followed, allowing them to pull ahead a few feet. She tried to hear some of Matilda's thoughts but she was too weakened from her encounter with Tamao. Her father warned her several times not to over use her ability, but sometimes she was able to hear thoughts without effort. It was very difficult to control, although this was something she would never admit. If she could focus on random insignificant things like scenery long enough, her brain would be able to rest.

Hana and Matilda walked silently along the path for several minutes. She held his hand, and he stared at the ground.

"What's wrong?" she asked with concern.

"Do you think he'll...like me?" His voice revealed sadness he couldn't hide.

"Of course," she replied. "You're a great kid."

"But, what if he doesn't?"

"That's impossible, Hana. I like you. I'm sure he will too."

Hana squeezed his hand and increased his pace. Her words gave him a much needed confidence boost. He didn't want to ask Mei a question like that; she would have said something insulting or strange. Matilda was gentle, very much like Tamao, and for a reason he couldn't explain he felt safe with her.

"He's going to love you," she said.

Mei watched them from a distance as pangs bothered her stomach. Watching them holding hands made her nauseous. Her discomfort increased the further they went into the woods. She had a habit of being suspicious of people; it was a behavior her father helped her finely sharpen, but this was much more bothersome than any other suspicions she had in the past. She was absolutely certain at this point that she greatly disliked Matilda, but unlike others on this list, she didn't have a real reason for her disdain.

Matilda was a bad person. She could just feel it.


Ren gasped loudly as he was startled awake. His heavy breathing was accompanied by a cold sweat, and he rapidly blinked his eyes as if trying to decipher whether or not he was dreaming.

"What is it, Ren?"

The familiar voice helped him become more aware of his surroundings. He wasn't in his bedroom, as he originally thought, but was seated in an airplane. There was a thin blanket covering his body at the waist, and he clutched a small black book in his left hand.

"Ren?"

"Lyserg," he responded with a whisper and closed his eyes, "something's wrong with Mei."

"What?" He scratched his head and shifted in his seat. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, but something is definitely off; I can feel it."

"Are you sure this isn't one of your paranoid, overprotective father rages again?" Lyserg asked with a frown.

Ren rolled his eyes and clutched the book in his hand.

"Do you want to call Yoh? He'll let you talk to her."

"No," he sighed. "I don't want to wake her up if it's nothing."

"We'll be landing soon anyway; I'll take you directly to his house and you can see her. I won't even make any stops. Would that make you feel better?"

Ren squeezed the book again, and Lyserg pried it out of his hand. He didn't protest the movement and collapsed into the seat with his eyes closed. Lyserg opened the book, realizing it had plastic sleeves in it instead of text pages and smiled. There were five pictures inside; every image was of Mei, ranging in ages. In the last picture she sat on Ren's lap, and they were both scowling. Lyserg laughed lightly to himself and placed the book in his lap.

"Maybe you need a vacation, Ren," he said.

"What?"

"You work too much. This project can wait. I can postpone the meetings. You should spend some quality time with Mei when you get home."

Ren didn't respond.

"I'm going to make an executive decision here. I'll call Kaitlin and cancel the presentation next week. We have time; they can wait. I'll even stick around and get a vacation in myself. How does that sound?"

"So, you're using me as an excuse to take a vacation?"

"You haven't relaxed since she was born." He ignored Ren's sarcasm. "You need to decompress."

"I just want to see her," Ren sighed. "Then I'll be fine."