As I stare at her, I consider asking her about the darkness and what is going on. But, what if she didn't see me this morning and I just freak her out? I would hate to cause fear in this girl when I could be confusing her for somebody that looks a lot like her. No doubt I'll just make my reputation worse if I scared her.

I think somehow she sensed my focus on her and looks up, her eyes locking on mine for a second before she jerks her head to the left, breaking contact immediately. I watch as she glances down at her hands once more and then once more at me. Is she wondering if I have any connection to her darkness being unavailable? If so, I don't blame her. Right now I'm assuming that she is the cause for my haven being taken from me.

With her gaze completely on me, she leans a little bit towards me and whispers quietly so nobody hears, "I have a question and I hope you don't think I'm crazy for it." Her voice is timid, but quite sweet at the same time. It's a sweet melody that is short, but satisfies you in the small period of time you hear it.

"Does it have to do with the darkness in your dreams?" I ask, getting straight to the point. Despite my fears of scaring her, I sense that we'll be on the same page if I just spit it out. And, isn't it better to know now rather than later?

Her eyes widen and for a second I worry that my instinct was wrong, but then she engulfs me in a hug and says quietly in my ear, "Thank you for taking away my darkness, even if it's for just a little bit. How can I ever repay you?"

Okay, so maybe we're not on the page, but at least we're in the same book. And…she's got a nice pair under her shirt.

After the little hugging session and my imagination going wild with all the possibilities of what I would do with the girl, I found out a little about her.

Her name is Dokuro Chrome. She was born in Tokyo and has recently moved to Namimori after some drama went down in her old home. She didn't continue on with any information about the drama, so I assumed that she didn't want to talk about it. I can respect that. We all have our secrets and if I have a choice, nobody on this planet would know. Unfortunately, some of my secrets are easy to find out about.

With a sigh, I open the door to my home and father's old sushi shop. Every time I walk in here, I can't help taking in every little detail that is around me. Dust covers the counters and the sense of abandonment floods the atmosphere. Empty bottles litter the floor and a sign on the window announces that the reopening of Takesushi is indefinite.

Where did everything go wrong? Nothing was supposed to happen like this, but it did. I think the problem is that none of us left in this family know how to deal with the problems we face. We use to have so much confidence, but then the incident happened and our lives were turned upside-down.

As I look back, I wish I could change the course life has taken. But, how much help would I be? Resorting to the darkness every time I feel alone, I'm not in the position to help anybody I care about and all of them are far from helping me.

A slight snore enters my ear canal and I look over by the entrance to the rest of the house and see my old man lying on the ground, passed out in a puddle of his own vomit. I look away, ashamed at what I see. But, is any of this really new? No, it's not. Every day I come home and have to clean up whatever mess my dad has left for me. I'm not the only one that could do this job, but that isn't an option.

I drop my bag to the floor and do the usual after-school routine: carry my father to his room, clean him up, and then getting rid of the puddle of vomit. I used to cringe slightly at the last thing, but that changed forever ago. After the puddle is gone, I sit on the ground and look around the shop, imagining what my father might be thinking as he tries to drink away the pain. Eventually I give up and go to my room, taking my bag with me. I don't think I could ever know the emotions my father experiences. Sometimes, I don't even know mine.

From my room, the snores are so loud and they echo, telling me things I don't want to hear. I want to get away. I need to get away. With this in mind, I lie down and close my eyes, letting the darkness consume me, taking me away from this scary world.

I'm sorry that it's been forever. :c And it might be forever until the next update, but I'll try to get something out during winter break. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter though! :D Review please~
-Ashley(dolphinherovamp5)