Here's chapter 3. Thanks for all the comments! Glad you guys like this. Some credit goes to my cousin. Well hope you guys enjoy this too.
When I opened my eyes in the morning, something was different. It was the light. It still had the same gray-green light of a cloudy day, but it was clearer somehow.
I got out of bed and looked outside. A fine layer of snow covered the yard, dusted the top if my car, and whitened the roads.
Father had already left for work. Living with father is like living by myself. I found myself reveling in the aloneness instead of being lonely.
I made a simply breakfast. Just toast and eggs. I felt excited to go to school. I knew it wasn't the stimulating learning environment nor was it seeing my new set of friends. If I was being honest with myself, I knew I was eager to get to school because I would see Natsuki. I'm quite curious and suspicious of her; why would she need to lie about her eyes? The hostility I sometimes felt emanating from her felt refreshing. Whenever I picture her beautiful face I couldn't stop the smile on my face. I was well aware that her league and my league were spheres that did not touch.
I carefully walked to my car. I wouldn't want to embarrass myself by falling on my butt. Holding onto something whenever I get the chance. Driving to school, I distracted myself, instead of thinking about Natsuki, I thought about the girls who admire me back in Kyoto. There was an obvious difference in how they all react towards me than Natsuki did.
When I got out of my car, at school, something silver caught my eye, and I walked to the back of the car to examine the tires. There were thin chains crisscrossed in diamond shapes around them. Father must have put these on for me.
I started walking toward my first period. When I was about two cars away I heard an odd sound from behind me. It was a high-pitched screech, and it was fast becoming painfully louder. I turned around startled.
I saw several things simultaneously. The rush seemed to make my brain work much faster, and I was able to absorb in cleat detail several things at once.
Natsuki was standing five cars down from me staring at me in horror. Her face stood out from the see of faces, all frozen with the same mask of shock. But the most important thing right now is the red Toyota Corolla that was skidding and spinning towards me. It was going to hit the back of the truck and I'm standing in between them.
Just before I heard the shattering crunch of the Corolla folding around the truck bed, something hit me hard. Something hard and cold had pushed me down onto the floor. Before I knew it I was lying on the ground behind the blue Accord parked next to the truck. I didn't have the chance to stop and think what was happening because I could see the Corolla was still coming.
I heard a frustrated grunt which made me aware that someone was with me and that voice was impossible to recognize. Two white hands shot out protectively in front of me, and the Corolla shuddered to a stop just mere inches away from my face, the hands fitting providentially into a deep dent in the side of the Corolla's body.
Then these hands moved so fast before I knew it one was suddenly gripping under my body of the car and the other swinging my legs till they hit the tire of the Accord. A groaning metallic thud hurt my ears, and the Corolla settled, glass popping, onto the asphalt where my legs were a second ago.
It was silent for one second, than I heard people screaming my name. But more clearly than all the screaming, I could hear Natsuki's low, frantic voice in my ear.
"Shizuru? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," I tried to sit up, and realized she was holding me against the side of her body in an iron grasp.
"Be careful, I think you hit your head."
I then started to feel the throbbing ache centered above my left ear. "Ow."
"That's what I thought." Her voice sounded like she was suppressing laughter. Then something suddenly hit me.
"How did you get over here so fast?"
"I was standing right next to you, Shizuru." She said her tone serious again.
I turned to sit up, and this time she let me, releasing her hold around my waist and sliding as far from me as she could in the limited space. I looked at her concerned, innocent expression and was disoriented by her emerald eyes.
And then they found us, a crowd of people with tears streaming down their faces.
"Don't move," someone instructed.
"Get Nina and Arika out of the car!" someone else shouted.
There was a lot of activity happening around us. I tried to get up, but Natsuki's cold hand pushed my shoulder down.
"Just stay put for now."
"It's cold," I complained. It surprised me when she chuckled under her breathe. There was an edge to the sound.
"Natsuki, you were over there." Her chuckle stopped. "By your bike."
Her expression turned hard. "No, I wasn't."
"I saw you." There was chaos all around us, but I held onto this argument. I must find out why Natsuki's so different.
"Shizuru, I was standing with you, and I pulled you out of the way." She unleashed the full, devastating power of her eyes on me, as if trying to communicate something crucial.
"No."
The green in her eyes blazed. "Please, Shizuru."
"Why?" I demanded.
"Trust me," she pleaded her soft voice overwhelming.
I could hear the sirens now. "Will you tell me later?"
"Fine," she snapped, abruptly exasperated.
It took six adults to shift the Corolla far enough away from us to bring the stretchers in, Natsuki vehemently refused hers, and I tried to do the same, but Natsuki told them I'd hit my head and probably had a concussion. It looked like the entire school was there watching them load me into the back of the ambulance. My father arrived before they could drive me to the hospital.
"Shizuru!" he yelled in panic.
"Father, I'm completely fine, there's nothing wrong with me."
He turned to the nearest medic for a second opinion. When they'd lifted me away fro m the car, I had seen the deep dent in the Corolla's bumper- very distinct dent that fit the contours of Natsuki's shoulder, its as if she had braced herself against the car with enough forced to damage the metal frame.
And then there was her family, looking from the distance with expressions that ranged from disapproval to fury and held very little hint of concern for Natsuki's safety.
When we got to the hospital, they put me in the emergency room, a long room with a line of beds separated by pastel-patterned curtains. A nurse put a pressure cuff on my arm and a thermometer under my tongue. I hope they cleaned this before they stick it in my mouth.
There was another flurry of hospital personnel, and two other stretchers were brought to the beds next to me. I recognized Nina Wang and Arika Yumemiya from my history class beneath the bloodstained bandages wrapped tightly around their heads. They looked a hundred times worst than I did. Arika Yumemiya was staring anxiously at me.
"Fujino-san, I'm so sorry!"
"I'm fine, Yumemiya-san. You two look awful, are you alright?"
As we spoke, nurses began unwinding their soiled bandages exposing a myriad of shallow slices all over their forehead and cheeks.
"Fujino-san, I'm sorry I was driving too fast."
"It's okay Wang-san. You missed me."
"I thought Nina was going to kill you. Thank god you are saf…" Arika winced as one nurse started dabbing her face.
"Fujino-san, how did you get out of the way so fast?"
"Ara? Are you planning to run me over again?"
"Uh! NO! Sorry…"
"Wang-san, I'm joking. Natsuki pulled me out of the way."
"Who?" Arika asked.
"Natsuki Kuga. She was standing next to me."
"Kuga-san? I didn't see her there…Is she okay?"
"Yes, I think so. She's here somewhere, but they didn't make her use a stretcher."
I knew I wasn't crazy. What had happened? How did Natsuki get over to me so fast? There was no way to explain what I'd seen.
They wheeled me away then, to X-ray my head. I asked if I could leave, but the nurse said I had to talk to a doctor first. So I was trapped in the ER, waiting, and listening to Arika's constant apologizing and promises to make it up to me. I closed my eyes for awhile.
"Is she sleeping?" a musical voice said. My eyes flew open.
Natsuki was standing at the foot of my bed, smirking.
"Kuga-san, I'm really sorry…" Nina began.
Natsuki lifted a hand to stop her.
"No blood, no foul. Just don't die," she said, flashing her brilliant teeth. She moved over to Arika.
"You? Are you okay?"
Arika nodded. Natsuki then moved to sit on the edge of Arika's bed facing me. She smirked again.
"So, what's the result?" she asked me.
"There's noting wrong with me at all, but they won't let me go," I complained. "How come you aren't strapped to a gurney like the rest of us?"
"It's all about who you know," she answered. "But don't worry, I came to free you."
Then a doctor walked in. My eyes stared in disbelief, and my mouth fell open. She was young; she had short dark purplish hair and purple eyes. She was pale, tired-looking, with circles under her eyes. From Father's description, this had to be Natsuki's guardian and she was indeed very beautiful.
"Fujino-san," Dr. Sagisawa said in a remarkably appealing voice, "how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine."
She walked to the light board on the wall over my head, and turned it on.
"Your X-rays look good," she said. "Does your head hurt? Natsuki said you hit it pretty hard."
"It's fine," I repeated, throwing a quick glance toward Natsuki.
The doctor's cool fingers probed lightly along my skull. She noticed I winced.
"Tender?" she asked.
"Not really."
I heard a chuckled, and looked over at Natsuki's patronizing smile.
"Well, your father is in the waiting room- you can go home with home now. But come back if you start feeling dizzy or have trouble with your eyesight."
"Can I go back to school?" I asked.
"Maybe you should take it easy today."
I glanced at Natsuki. "Will Natsuki go to school?"
"Someone has to spread the good news that we survived," Natsuki said smugly.
"Actually," Dr. Sagisawa corrected, "most of the school seems to be in the waiting room."
"Oh." Now I have make sure my fan girls don't morn over me. I hoped off the bed and lost my balance, and Natsuki caught me. Dr. Sagisawa looked concerned.
"Take some Tylenol for the pain," she suggested as she studied me.
"Okay doctor."
"It looks like you were extremely lucky," Dr. Sagisawa said, smiling as he signed my chart.
"Luckily Natsuki happened to be standing next to me," I said with a glance at the subject of my statement.
"Oh, well, yes," Dr. Sagisawa agreed, suddenly occupied with the papers in front of him. My intuition flickered; the doctor was in on it. The doctor got up and walked over to Arika and Nina.
"I'm afraid you guys are staying."
As soon as the doctor started to examine them, I moved to Natsuki's side.
"Do you have moment?" I asked under my breath. She took a step back from me, her jaw suddenly clenched.
"Your father is waiting for you," she said through her teeth.
"I would like to talk to you alone."
She glared, and then turned her back and strode down the long room. I nearly had to run to keep up. As soon as we turned the corner into a short hallway, she spun around to face me.
"What do you want?" she asked, sounding annoyed. Her eyes were cold.
"I believe you owe me an explanation."
"I saved your life, I don't owe you anything."
I flinched back from the resentment in his voice. "You promised."
"Shizuru, you hit your head, you don't know what you're talking about." Her tone was cutting.
"There's nothing wrong with my head."
She glared. "What do you want from me, Shizuru?"
"The truth." I said.
"What do you think happened?" she snapped.
Before I could really think about what to say, I just said what came to my head.
"I know you weren't near me, Wang-san didn't see, either, so don't tell me I hit my head too hard. That Corolla was going to crush us both and it didn't, and your hands left dents in the side of it and you left another dent in the other car, and you're not hurt at all and the Corolla should have smashed my legs, but you were holding it up…" I could hear how crazy it sounded.
She was staring at me incredulously. But her face was tense, defensive.
"You think I lifted a car off you?" Her tone questioned my sanity, but it only made me more suspicious. I nodded.
"Nobody will believe that, you know." Her voice held an edge of derising now.
"I wasn't planning on telling anyone."
Surprise flitted across her face. "Then why does it matter?"
"It matters to me," I insisted.
"Can't you just thank me and get over it?"
"Thank you." I waited. Silence.
"You're not going to let it go, are you?"
"No."
"In that case…I hope you enjoy disappointment."
We stared at each other in silence. I was the first to break the silence, trying to keep my focus. I was in danger of being distracted by her glorious face.
"Why?" I asked.
She paused, and a brief moment her stunning face was unexpectedly vulnerable.
"I don't know," she whispered.
And then she turned around and walked away. I made my way slowly to the exit at the end of the hallway. The waiting room was filled with what seemed like every face I knew in Fuuka was there, staring at me. Father rushed to my side.
"Father, there's nothing wrong with me," I assured him.
"What did the doctor say?"
"Sagisawa-sensei saw me, and she said I was fine and I could go home," I said.
Father put an arm around my shoulder. "Let's go home." I waved at my friends hoping to convey that they didn't need to worry anymore.
The drive was silent. I was wrapped up in my thoughts. I was positive that Natsuki's defensive behavior in the hall was a confirmation of the bizarre things I still could hardly believe I'd witnessed. When we got home, father was the first to break the silence.
"Shizuru, you should call Kyoko."
"Mother? You told her?" I was a little appalled.
"Yes, I'm sorry."
"It's okay, she should know."
Mother was in hysterics, of course. I had to tell her I was fine at least 100 times before she calm down. Mother begged me to come back home, forgetting the fact that home was empty at the moment, but her please were easier to resist that I'd thought. I was consumed by the mystery Natsuki presented.
I decided I might as well go to bed early that night. I went over to my drawer and grab three Tylenol. They did help, and, as the pain eased, I drifted to sleep. That was the first night I dreamed of Natsuki Kuga.
A/N: Well? It's shorter than the others. Sorry about that. I'll try to make the others longer. Comments are very much appreciated.