What even is the darkness and how did it find me?

This question echoes in my head until lunch begins, which I promptly leave the classroom and head to the rooftop. I can sense Chrome's presence following at a distance, as to not alert people. I was not known to keep company and Chrome could tell. Despite that fact being obvious, it makes me wonder. Why does it seem like she knows so much about me?

I reach the roof and take up standing by the fence, looking out to the rest of the campus. My eyes wander to the baseball field, where a few students were practicing during the lunch period. I sigh. I used to playing baseball as a child, but stopped when I had to start taking care of my father. I miss baseball. It was a great pastime and I wish I could play it now, but I'm surely out of practice. I would probably be a laughing stock compared to the rest of the players.

Chrome comes to stand beside me and looks out the baseball field. "Did you used to play baseball?" I nod and let my fingers run down the chained fence before looking over to Chrome, whom stares back at me. In her hands, she is holding two lunchboxes, which she then tries to hand one to me. "I decided to make one for you today, if you don't mind."

I shrug. "Free food. Why pass it up?" She smirks a little before taking a seat on the ground. I decide to join her and open the box. There was rice and octopus hotdogs. It looked really yummy.

As I take my first bite, she says, "You can ask me questions whenever you like, but I will probably ask you questions too. You don't have to answer, but I would like to get to know you too."

I look up and I feel a little surprised since nobody has wanted to get to know me in a long time, but I shrug it off. This girl is different from other people. I should expect more from her. "Okay, here is my first question. What happened to you that you started seeing the darkness?" I feel a little rude to be starting out with such a personal question, but I have to know.

She winces a little and looks up to the sky, but answers anyways. "About six months ago I was in a car accident and it was really serious. I had to get new organs. In the three months I was there, teetering between life and death, my parents didn't visit me. They paid for my hospital bills, but never once did I hear their voices nor did the nurses tell me that I had visitors. I wasn't really surprised. They didn't really pay much attention to me before, but it still hurt. My body kept rejecting the organs and it was scary. I didn't know whether I would live, and they still didn't care enough to just call and ask how I was." She took a deep breath, before continuing. "Eventually my body started to show signs that it was accepting the organs and the hospital discharged me after multiple tests. I waited for my parents to come, but they never did. Eventually a nurse gave me a note, saying my mom called and left a message."

I stared at her, waiting patiently for her to get the strength to finish. My food sat in my lap, untouched aside from the hotdog I ate before. After a few more seconds, Chrome looks me straight in the eye. "The note told me that they couldn't take of me anymore. She said I was a burden on them and they wanted nothing to do with me anymore. About a month before that, they had handed custody over to my aunt here in Namimori and moved to Italy or some shit like that." She places the lid on her lunchbox and sets it down on the ground. "Since then, every time I close my eyes, the darkness consumes me and I can't stop this depressive state from consuming me."

No wonder she seemed happy that I made the darkness go away. She can't handle what the darkness does to her. It probably reminds her of all the pain she has went through. It's still weird though. Why have I always taken comfort in it? It doesn't exactly brighten my mood. Maybe it's because I've lived with it longer?

She looks down and adds, "That's why I'm so glad I've met you. You make it go away. Around you, I feel lighter." Glancing back at me with tears in her eyes, she says, "Thank you, Takeshi."

I don't know what come over me, but I lean forward and take her small face in my hands. Our eyes stare into each other for a while before I say, "You're welcome" and kiss her softly.

I've kissed girls before, specifically when I was still in elementary school. And I must say that kissing never felt like this. Kissing her was like doing all the things you love to do while eating all your favorite foods. There was some kind of pleasure in doing it and I didn't want to stop. Her arms wrap around my neck and I slowly push her to the ground as I get on top her. Her body is so nice being under mine and let my earlier desires of feeling her take over. My hands wander all over her and I'm about to take it to the next level when she stops me. "We probably shouldn't do this right now, especially on the roof of the school," she states, smiling at me. I agree and get off, but not without letting my hand graze her. She giggles at the action.

I think about asking her more questions, but decide to leave it for another time, opting to continue my lunch before class starts.

She decides to ask me the same question though. "Why do you see the darkness?"

I'm silent for a moment and I think she is about to move on to something else, but I answer her before she gets the chance. "I started to see the darkness a few years back after my mother died. It was really hard on my father and I. Especially him. Sometime after she died, he couldn't take the lifestyle they started together, so he closed down the sushi shop they ran together and started drinking. I stopped playing baseball when that happened so that I could take care of him. I suppose the darkness helped me be able to do all that without killing myself." I look away. "I feel bad for saying that to you since the darkness hurt you more than helped you, but that's just how it affected me."

It's quiet for a moment before she says, "I understand. But I wonder. Do you want to live without the darkness?"

This question makes me flinch, because I never really thought about it. Do I want to? I feel like I don't know any other way of living. But I also recognize that being stuck like this won't get me anywhere in life. So with this in mind, I look up at her and answer her question, "If there is any possible way I could, then yes, I do."

She smiles and suddenly her body is against mine. She holds me close and whispers, "As you have helped me find my way out of the darkness, I will help you. I will do whatever it takes."

Tears well in my eyes as I wrap my arms around her, but I hold them back. I don't want her to see me cry, but I must admit I'm really grateful for her entering my life. What would I do without her?

Honestly, this story doesn't get much attention and it's not the best, but I really do love it and I hope the few people that read this love it also. Reviews are much appreciated. :)
-Ashley(dolphinherovamp5)