Moeko stared in horror at the sight before her. It had not been long since Orihime, Tousen, and her had exited the taxi; in fact five minutes probably hadn't even ticked away yet. A few seconds after entering the city of one-roomed, unpainted, brick houses, the kids and even adults began to walk as if zombies. Their eyes held no emotion not even coldness or hostility, nothing. Their eyes were empty, hollow, just one big abyss of nothing.
To add to the list of horrors, according to Orihime, there appeared to be more than one ghost. More than one. The sentence kept repeating itself over and over, how many were there? What was it after in the first place? Was it just a bored spirit that felt like torturing the mortals for fun? Or was this spirit here for some sort of revenge? That nobody knew only the spirit.
Orihime activated her spiritus, five butterfly-like figures glowing with light slashed at the humans. Nothing, however, happened to them. Bewildered by how Orihime's spiritus seemed to have no affect on the humans, Moeko stared at the butterfly-like stars with more intensity.
Her concentration broke as she felt daggers being thrown at her back, as her head turned to discover the individual who was staring at her she met scornful eyes. Or glasses to be correct, but you could still feel the scolding glare that was being sent behind the glasses.
She knew the teachers wouldn't approve of her tagging along with anybody without doing anything, she just knew it. No matter how many times the principal reassured her that teachers wouldn't lower her grade or anything for not fighting Moeko knew, she knew they would feel some sort of resentment towards her for slacking off. Insecurity scratched at the freshman's insides was every teacher assigned to her going to resent her like that? To mentally scold her for being human? The black haired girl gulped quietly, her imagination picturing the worst.
Suddenly, a knife cut through her thoughts, missing her head by a few centimeters. Moeko's eyes shot towards the perpetrator, nothing but a mere child. That's when she noticed, the eyes, they held…Anger? How come this kid's eyes had emotions but the rest's were as blank as a piece of paper?
The black haired girl broke into a run as the small child began swinging at her again. All she could do was run…Run and wait for Orihime or Tousen to save her. That irked Moeko, it annoyed her. Her thoughts were once again interrupted by something. This time a dog…Wait! A dog?
Trying to outrun the dog was hard, especially when a person's fitness wasn't good. You wouldn't believe how much Moeko wished she had taken seriously her PE classes, she'd probably need it a lot in the near future. And right now, too! The freshman attempted to fasten her pace, only to almost trip on a pile of broken bricks. Her eyes dared her to look back, to see how close the dog was from biting her leg, along with the knife equipped child.
Finally not resisting the blue orbs flew to take a good look at Moeko's rear. The sight wasn't pretty. Not only did she have a crazed dog along with a knife holding kid she had some adults on her trail now! Moeko could feel her heart burn with exhaustion, along with her whole body. She was dead tired, yet her legs kept running. Fear fueling her body to continue onwards.
She gulped as she could hear the paupers and animals behind her catch up. She begged, prayed, everything you could imagine that this wasn't the end. She didn't want to die yet, not yet. Luck didn't seem to be on Moeko's side today, as she was distracted with her prayers to continue living she didn't notice a pile of stones. Her already aching muscles cried in pain when her body collided into the sharp and hard stones. While she lay on the ground, cursing her luck, Moeko's pursuers continued to advance. Intent to kill filling the mostly empty abyss that was their eyes.
Eyes wide, Moeko lay paralyzed with fear. This was the second time she was in a death-threatening situation…On the same week. This was a never going to end, was it? If she escaped she would only face more scenarios similar to this one, some even harder and tougher. What if she died here, though? How would her mother react to that? How would she react by knowing that her daughter was murdered by spirit-controlled paupers in Brazil? The questions taunted Moeko's thoughts, her body generating yet another layer of paralyzing fear.
Just as the pursuers were only a few centimeters away a light struck them, paralyzing Moeko once more, this time of shock. From the child that first attacked her some sort of gray smoke left his mouth, trying to escape. The light struck once again, this time slicing through the smoke.
The people froze; they're positions ready to strike, before suddenly dropping to the floor, unconscious. Still shocked by the sudden light Moeko lay paralyzed, unmoving. Hearing footsteps only inches away from her still body, Moeko's already shocked body tensed even further, if that was possible. A gentle, pale looking hand touched her cheek softly, surprising the black haired freshman, even more.
"Are you ok, Yuurito-chan?" The soft voice of Orihime reached the younger girl's ears. Forcing her body to relax, Moeko attempted to stand up. Only to be pushed back down by the orange haired sophomore. "Calm down, I'm taking you back to the hotel. I'm done with the spirits here, but I'm afraid there are more." A hint of worry tinted the words on the last sentence. More, huh? This wasn't going to end soon…
Moeko felt strong arms lift her body. What surprised her was the fact that the arms currently holding her were actually quite muscular…Could it be that under Orihime's soft and gentle looking figure there were brick hard muscles? Nearly gagging at the mental picture that unfolded along with the disturbing thought Moeko's blue orbs trailed towards the arm, meeting dark skinned arms. Sighing of relief and almost slapping herself for such a idiotic thought, the freshman allowed the teacher carry her injured body to the hotel.
"Hey, Inoue-senpai, how do you know there are more spirits here? How can you tell?" Asked a recently bathed and bandaged Moeko, a towel still gracing the top of her head.
"I think there's more spirits because this attack seemed relatively small compared to the others I read about recently." Orihime began, her statement causing the freshmen's mouth to open, the other attacks were stronger than that? "I want to confirm my theory, so we'll both stay here two more days. If nothing happens by then, we'll leave and file this case as over."
Nodding to her elder's decision Moeko removed the soaked towel from her head. As she moved her legs again to take the towel to the bathroom, a sudden pain struck at the various scratches located there. Causing the freshman's hands to quickly grasp the area of pain, as if that would somehow relieve all the pain.
A gentle and soft arm grasped her shoulder. Pushing Moeko's limp body upwards the sophomore allowed the younger girl to lean against herself. Leading the other's small and bruised body towards the bed Orihime analyzed the younger girl's wounds, checking to see if any scratches or small wounds began bleeding again. Relieved to find no bleeding the orange haired girl settled Moeko back in her bed.
"Try not to move so much, you might hurt yourself again." Orihime said, her tone gentle yet still somehow strict. Silence spread after the sophomore's statement, both girls were left to their own minds.
Moeko felt…Felt frustrated. All se had done was run, and yet she still managed to injure herself! Not only that, she was being a complete hindrance to Orihime. Blue orbs scanned the bandages covering her small frame, she truly felt guilty. Again, Moeko mentally abused herself, reminding herslelf of how useless she was.
"Hey Yuurito-chan," The soft whisper broke Moeko's trail of thoughts, as her eyes met the elder orange haired girl, she listened carefully "Are you sure you want to go back there tomorrow? You might hurt yourself again…"
Shock pumped through the injured girl's veins, was she really that useless? That useless that Orihime would actually ask to see if she was willing to accompany her? Abruptly Moeko stood up, causing her to fall down back on the bed, gripping her throbbing legs.
"O-of course!" She began, gritting her teeth at the pain thanks to the quick movement. "I came all the way here to help, so that's what I'll do" Determination dripped from every word. She needed to help in some way, even if that meant only following Orihime around. Even just that would help her soothe her mind, even if only a little.
"Ok" Orihime said awkwardly, surprised by the younger's sudden outburst. Walking towards the black haired girl, the sophomore gently hit her in the head. "I told you to quit moving so much, you'll hurt yourself again."
Grinning gratefully at Orihime for breaking the serious atmosphere, Moeko settled herself under the covers, finally realizing how exhausted she was. Following her partner's suit Orihime also dumped herself underneath her covers. With a silent 'Goodnight' both girls finally gave in to the slumber that was biting at their eyes earlier.
Chapter 6 is done! Thank you Hana Ryuuzaki for Reviewing! I'll try to update as soon as possible! Please review!