-1
Second Chapter
Officially Beta-Read By Hidden Guardian!
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
I should go back in there, he thought, I can't leave her like that. He knocked on the door.
"Go away!" she cried.
Fine, you asked for it, he thought, and kicked the door in.
She glowered at him. "How dare you—!"
She got no further, however, because Kyohei sat next to her and grabbed the album from her. It was open to a page that contained a picture of Sunako from a few years ago.
Kyohei barely recognized her. She was wearing, of all things, a pink, frilly dress! He nearly laughed before he remembered her tears. Then he noticed the shadowy figures next to her in the photo. "Who are they?"
"They took this two years ago," she murmured.
"Are you still stuck on that stupid guy?" Kyohei asked, tired of that guy.
"No, it was before that," she murmured softly.
"Well?" Kyohei asked.
"I don't want to talk about it," she replied.
"Fine," Kyohei said with an evil grin. "Then I guess I'll just take this." With a swift movement he snatched the photograph from her hands.
"Give it back!" she cried, lunging for it. He danced out of her reach.
"What's it worth to you?" he demanded jokingly.
"I'll do anything," she replied seriously.
Kyohei was taken aback. "Really?" he asked, but a knock at the door interrupted his query.
Ranmaru poked his head through the door. "Sunako-chan, your aunt is on the phone and wants some girl talk." He shot her a pleading look.
"Fine," she grumbled, getting up. Kyohei followed her out of her room, forgetting that he still held Sunako's photo. He headed for his room. Finally realizing that he still held the photo, he dropped it on top of his schoolbooks.
"I'll give it back to her later," he said aloud, and went back downstairs. He promptly forgot about the whole encounter as Sunako screamed and fainted after discovering that her aunt had booked her a manicure for the next day.
The Next Day
Kyohei slept late the next morning and had to rush to school. He grabbed his books and ran to class, stopping for nothing.
More Time Passes; Later The Same Day
Sunako walked into the house, glowering. Her nails looked really good, though. She set to work on dinner without a word to anybody.
Dinner was excellent, as always. As Kyohei, his stomach comfortably full, helped dry the dishes, Sunako brought up her photograph.
"What do you want for it?" she asked abruptly.
"For what?" Kyohei asked.
"My photograph!" He can be so dense sometimes….
Kyohei thought back. Oh, yeah, it's with my schoolbooks.
"I might charge a small fee," he teased.
"What kind?" Sunako demanded.
"Well, now that you mention it…." Kyohei let his voice trail off.
She frowned. "It's not funny. That photograph is really important to me. I don't want anything to happen to it."
"Why is it so important?" Kyohei asked curiously.
"One of my friends is in it," Sunako replied.
"So?" Kyohei wanted to know. "Why don't you just call her?"
"I can't. She's dead," Sunako replied flatly.
"Oh….well…" Kyohei did not know what to say. "I'll get it as soon as we're done with the dishes."
"Thank you," she said softly, and he noticed that her eyes were damp. He set down the dishcloth and walked over to her.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she lied. Her voice gave away that she was about to cry. Kyohei was not sure what to do, so he gently put an arm around her shoulders. To his surprise, she did not attack him. Instead, she moved into her embrace, so he stroked her hair soothingly.
"It was all so sudden," she murmured. "We were walking along the path from school, the two of us, and a driver swerved off the road and hit her…."
Kyohei lost track of how long he held her, letting her cry. He knew that this was no teasing matter. This was too serious. Especially if it was bad enough to make Sunako, of all people, cry.
When her tears stopped, they finished the dishes in silence. She seemed embarrassed about her display of emotion. They did not speak again, and once they were finished, Kyohei went to his room to retrieve her picture.
Where is it? he thought frantically as he tore through his schoolbooks. I know it was here this morning…
The phone rang. "I'll get it!" Sunako called. There was no hint of her earlier tears.
Kyohei's heart stopped beating as he heard Sunako scream, and then a thud as her body hit the floor. He rushed down the stairs and to Sunako. The phone was hanging off the hook. He snatched the receiver as he tried to awaken Sunako.
"Who is this?" he demanded.
"I have the picture," a raspy voice whispered on the other end. "And it was no accident."