Chapter 5

"Igarashi!" I screamed as we fell. What on earth was he thinking?!

Before we could hit the ground he opened his wings and swooped us up into the sky again. I clung to his arm like a wet cat.

"Open your wings!" he commanded and I realised that I was keeping them tightly closed on my back in fright. He was flapping his wings to keep us both airborne.

I pushed them open and tried to imitate what he was doing. Slowly but surely I could feel how the wind responded to the motion of my wings and I understood what I needed to do. Eventually we managed to gain quite a bit of height. The school looked very small beneath us and I could see street lights and the lights of houses.

"This is amazing!" I called out.

Just then Akiro let go of my hand completely and my mind went blank in panic. I was falling again and screaming. I didn't want to die... Just then there was a 'swoop' sound and I felt myself being pulled up. It happened so fast that it took me a few moments to realise that I was being hugged against Akiro who was again taking us up high again.

"Why on earth did you stop flapping? Do you want to die?" he asked in an irritated voice.

"I...I...panicked when you let go...don't surprise me like that!" Just after saying that I hickupped.

"Don't tell me your crying!"

"I'm NOT crying!" I protested, but I could feel warm tears streaking down my cheeks. I was so scared...

"Hold on, I'll put us down on that cliff."

With a few flaps of his wings he set us down. I felt relieved to feel solid ground under my feet again and sunk down. My legs were not going to co-operate anytime soon. My wings disappeared soon after I landed. Apart from still being in shock from almost falling to my death, this cliff was very high and there was no way to climb off this ledge. This reminded me that I was actually quite scared of heights...

"Hey..." Akiro was saying next to me, but I refused to look at him. I didn't want him to see that I have been crying. The next moment he grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him.

"What are you doing?!" I yelled and then realised too late it was his plan to get me to look at him, even if I was going to do so while shouting at him.

"I didn't mean to make you cry... I guess I am not the best teacher when it comes to flying..."

"You can say that again," I muttered under my breath but knew he could hear it anyway.

"Ouch."

We sat in silence for a bit and I noticed that we actually had a very nice view from here. It was dark now and below I could see many stars in the night sky above, spread out like a blanket of diamonds.

"Wow... it's beautiful..."

I have no idea how long we just sat there looking at the stars. There was a slight breeze which had been refreshing at first, but now I was starting to feel a bit cold. I could feel goosflesh all over my arms.

"Are you cold?" Akiro asked without looking at me.

"Er...no, don't worry about me. I'm fine," I replied. There was no way I was going to snuggle up to him. Just then I was surprised to feel soft warmness suddenly folded around me and realised he had spread his wing around me. I sat in shocked silence. What was he trying to do...why was he being so nice to me all of a sudden?

"You are thinking why I am being nice to you, huh?"

"What?! Can you read mind or something?"

"That would explain the expression on your face and why you suddenly turned to stone when I put my wing around you...unless you have fallen in love with me and want me to kiss you."

"That's redicilous!" I shouted, "I said I would never beg for you to kiss me and I never will."

"Is that so?"

In my outburst I didn't realise that I actually ended up moving closer to Akiro so I could wave my finger at him. I tried moving away from him again, but his wing didn't allow me to.

"What are you doing...Igarashi?" I asked and then was mesmerised by his dark eyes. I suddenly found I couldn't move or look away. Was I enchanted? He was slowly leaning closer to me. Was he...going to kiss me? His lips looked very inviting and I remembered that night in the classroom. How it felt to have his lips on mine, his tongue in my mouth... It seemed like Akiro was thinking along similar lines. His lips were now barely an inch from mine. Somewhere in the back of my mind sanity was screaming as loud as it could and managed to get through to me. Why couldn't I resist him? With my last willpower I could barely whisper.

"Please...don't."

These two words seemed to stop Akiro right in his tracks. He blinked his eyes and then sat up and looked away. The fogginess also cleared from my head.

"Please can I go home now?" I asked.

"Do as you please," Akiro suddenly said sounding cold. Why was he suddenly being like this?

"Um... I don't trust myself to fly down here, I will need your help."

He seemed to be ignoring me now. Was he...sulking?

"Hey, I don't appreciate it that you tried to force me into kissing you. It's not fair!"

He still didn't say anything.

"Fine, I'll find my own way down!" I said and got up. Just then I had a bad feeling of vertigo and slipped, but at lightning speed Akiro had grabbed me and pulled me against him. He then spread his wings and after scooping me up bridal style took off.

"How is it that you are so defenceless and clumsy, but at the same time so strong?" he was muttering while we were flying.

"What are you going on about?"

"No one else had ever been able to resist me like you did just now. Not even other demons. I wonder why that is?"

"How should I know? And you just admitted that you did try to force me to kiss you. Did you do the same that other night too?"

"No... I genuinely just wanted to heal your wounds, then something came over me...it was like...surely that can not be..."

"What?"

"Nothing for you to be concerned about. Hold on, I'll have you home before curfew."

"What...I don't have cur..."

My words were then blown away as Akiro picked up amazing speed. Everything was starting to fly by in a blurr so I just pressed my face against his neck and closed my eyes. I was fighting the urge to want to throw up.

Then we stopped moving and I realised we were standing on my balcony. Akiro let me down. I felt like someone who just came on land from being on the sea for a month.

"Um...thank you?" I said looking at Akiro.

"What, no goodnight kiss?"

"Like I would!" I said and quickly hurried inside and slammed the door. I was still mad at him. Again, why was I so excited? Did I truly still hate the idea of kissing Akiro? Why did I have a feeling that if I kissed him again it would somehow mean the end? I watched through the curtains and saw Akiro stand on the balcony for a while, he smiled to himself and then flew off.

The next couple of days I crammed to get as much studying done as possible before the exams. With all the body-switching and other distractions I had not been able to do as much as I usually did and was worried that I might actually fail some of my subjects. Akiro still came to join me and Kari for lunch as usual, but never again complained about any of the food. He just quietly left the mushrooms for me.

I was surprised one afternoon to hear a knock on my door and find Yukiya there. Ocassionally Aveline would come by, but this was a surprise.

"Come in."

"I see you are studying," Yukiya commented looking at my desk that was covered in books.

"Yes... I can't have my grades suffering because of everything that has been going on lately."

"That is actually why I came to see you. Ayane, why are you keeping the form of a guy?"

"Because...it's convenient?"

"I like Ayane better."

What was it suddenly with Yukiya? Why did he care so much?

"I do too, but it is troublesome at the moment. This is just until I can find a way to break the curse."

"Why don't you just kiss him and get it over with?"

"Because he's arrogant and want me to beg for it!"

"Isn't it sometimes better to let go of your pride?"

"Yukiya, why are you so insistent that I do this?"

"I am worried about you, that's all. It is not good for you to be trapped in a man's body. There is not much known about this 'curse' you have. What if it becomes permanent after a while?"

"What?! Do you think that is possible?"

"Who knows...my father hasn't been able to find any new light on the matter either. Please think about it carefully, Ayane. I would hate to lose you."

"Yukiya?"

I was stunned to silence as Yukiya left quietly. What was that about? Why did he say all those things to me? I thought he was with my sister? I felt very confused. Did he like me? I've had a bit of a crush on him since we were young, but his eyes were always on Aveline.

Now I definitely wasn't going to be able to concentrate on studying. I sighed in frustration and opened the balcony doors and went out to get some fresh air.

"Do you need help studying?" a voice suddenly asked, making me jump. Akiro was sitting on the balcony wall.

"Igarashi! Don't do that! Gosh, you almost gave me a heart attack! How long have you been here?"

"It must be fate. I was longing to see you and here you came out."

"Yeah right..."

I stood next to Akiro and looked up at the night sky.

"It is so calming to look at the stars. It makes me forget about the things pressing on my mind," I said.

"Are there things troubling you?"

"Well, exams are starting tomorrow and then there is the school trip to the hot springs. Normally I would look forward to it, but somehow I find myself dreading it now..."

"Why?"

"I will be in close confinement with girls and guys. The chances of me turning into a chameleon is significantly greater."

"Then...why don't you just kiss me?"

I looked at Akiro and saw nothing of his usual arrogance. In fact he somehow looked...sad?

I felt something inside me rebel. I remebered the feeling of before, that it felt like something would end if I kissed him again. I didn't know what it was though...

"Igarashi..."

"Please stop calling me Igarashi. My name is Akiro, use it."

"It is not right to call people you don't know well by their first name."

"You hurt me. After all my flight tutoring and helping you out at school you still consider me a stranger?"

"You mean after putting a curse on me, nearly letting me fall to my death and embarrasing me at school you want me to consider you a friend? But that aside... I don't think I will kiss you...yet."

Akiro looked a bit surprised.

"You mean you will sometime?"

"Who knows...but I will not beg for it so wipe that smirk of your face."

"Okay, okay! I'm just...surprised. I was sure you would..."

His words died off and I realised that he must have heard some of the conversation between me and Yukiya.

"You know it is considered rude to evesdrop on other people's conversations."

"I can't help that I have good hearing...Ayane, what is your relationship with Yukiya?"

"Why do you care?"

"I don't particularly care, I was just curious."

"Then it doesn't matter, does it?"

"Fine."

"Fine."

I could see that Akiro seemed irritated, but I was too stubborn to give in either.

Exams was brutal, but I managed to pass all my subjects. I was curious to see how Akiro did and looked at the lists posted for the seniors...he got straight A's for all his subjects... I suddenly felt super gloomy...

"He's way out of your league," a girl's voice suddenly piped up next to me. I looked at her and was quite surprised. She was beautiful. She had curly red hair, perfect skin and clear green eyes. She must be a senior since I pretty much knew all the faces of those in my grade.

"And what does that have to do with you?" I asked with a lifted eyebrow. She somehow rubbed me up the wrong way, perhaps because I felt inferior to her. I wondered if she was a demon too? Perhaps she could also tell that I was a girl... or perhaps she was just a human girl who was jealous because Akiro and I are supposedly a gay couple.

"I am his fiance."

It was like a cold bucket of water had just been thrown over my head. Must be a demon then...

"Oh, is that so?" I asked and saw she looked dead serious. No hesitation. Could it really be?

"In that case...well, congratulations."

I walked off before she could say anything in reply. Okay, so Akiro has a fiance, in the same grade as him. It made sense since she was his age, and beautiful...

Lunch time I was not in a great mood. My thoughts had been tormenting me and I had many questions swirling around in my head. I didn't even ask the girl who she was so it's not like I can suddenly say to Akiro: "So, who's the redhead to you?"

Akiro and Kari sat with me like usual. I didn't have any appetite and told them I had eaten more breakfast than usual and wasn't feeling hungry.

The school trip to the hot springs came sooner than I thought it would. I dressed in long pants, closed shoes, long sleeved top and gloves, as well as a hoodie. I didn't want to risk being touch by a girl and changing on the bus. Some of the students looked at me like I had gone mad. It was quite hot, but I had no choice. Kari pretended not to feel embarrased, but I noticed. It made me wonder what I was doing all this for? Why did I want to prolong the borrow and put up with the constant switching? Akiro would have accepted my kiss there on the balcony if I had asked. I don't think he would have wanted me to 'beg for it'. Was that it? Did I actually... fall in love with him?! That could be the only reason why I was holding on, because I feared that he would disappear once I return what I had borrowed from him... This realisation made me feel very frustrated. Now that I know how I feel I can't tell him because he already has a fiance... That really sucks...

I had to share a room with two other guys, but they seemed a bit wary of me and pretty much let me be. One said something about Akiro warned that if anyone touched me they'd be dead meat. It made me feel a little happy thinking that he cared, even if it was only like a friend.

I looked out to see what the commotion in the corridor was about and noticed Akiro and others from his class. Why were they here?!

"Hello Sou, did you miss me?" Akiro said as he came over. I knew the other guys were all watching to see what would happen. It looked like Akiro was leaning closer. Was he serious?! I retreated.

"I didnt' really get the chance to miss you, since it has not even been one day yet. Besides...why are you all here?"

"We are also coming to the same place as your grade for the school trip. The camp we originally would have gone to had to be closed due to unforseen circumstances."

"O...kay..."

I couldn't help but wonder if Akiro had something to do with it... Why would he go through all the trouble to be here?

"And the teacher said we would have to share rooms with you guys since there aren't enough to go around."

With that Akiro pushed passed me and dropped his bag right next to my stuff. The teachers had us go on a tour around the town which I quite enjoyed. It took my mind a bit off Akiro and his fiance. Even though we shared rooms with the seniors the teachers had different 'programs' for the grades so he didn't come with me.

That evening we arrived back before the seniors. The guys were all excited about getting into the hot springs. I declined, saying I would go a bit later because I wasn't feeling so well.

"It's because you are wearing all that clothes, it can't be healthy for you you know!" one of the guys had told me. I could hear the others talk amongst themselves as the left.

"Yeah, I don't get it...he's in great shape but he still choose to hide it."

"At this rate he'll never get a girlfriend!"

"Shhh...remember he's with Akiro, he's not interested in girls!"

"Really? I didn't know!"

"Do you think we should tell the teachers? They are even sharing a room..."

"Oooh, are you jealous Huo? Do you want to join in on the fun too?"

I could hear their laughing and play-fighting fade as they left. I was feeling very embarrased. I fell asleep and only woke up when the other guys who share this room came back. They were excitedly talking about the girls and somehow they managed to peek over the bamboo wall that separated the hot springs and got to see some boobs. What was it with guys... They were seriously rating the girls boob sizes! I got up and excused myself, saying I would go for a bath. Everyone should have finished by now so it should be fine. I was just about to enter the guys area when Kari stopped me.

"Akiro!"

"Kari?"

"I heard you weren't feeling well, are you okay?"

"Er...yeah, I'm better. Probably just something I ate at lunchtime. Don't worry," I said laughing awkwardly. I'm going for a bath and then an early night. See you tomorrow, okay?"

I turned, but then was surprised that Kari grabbed my sleeve and before I knew what was happening she was kissing me! It was a very quick peck on the lips, but still...

"Um...goodnight!" she said nervously and then ran.