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BEST SUMMER EVEER
~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 4: Rabbit is a good snack. More and more confused!~~~~~~~~~~
The beginning of the next day... And why am I sleeping on the roof? How did I get here, on the first place? Maybe I shouldn't ask too much, I mostly know the reason. Yesterday, after lunch, my Uncle approached the Portuguese twins and, believe me, you really wouldn't like to see the scene. The Yellow Hammer of Doom was used and both boys were knocked out. They also got punished – taking cleaning duties in the camp's kitchen for a week. Only that? It's too little for them, they should be sent back to wherever they came from! But I guess I shouldn't be thinking about that right now. I have to get out of the roof... What? A camp alarm could be heard all over the place. Darn! It's 7 a.m.! It's highly possible that everyone were getting up, washing themselves, dressing up and intending to leave their houses....
"Wow, good morning, short-stack!" I looked down and saw the door of my house opening and the two tanned boys were smirking and mocking with me... "Enjoyed your sleep?" Was that just a revenge for reporting them to my Uncle? I didn't want to, but Lavi was persistent. Lavi... We were supposed to talk after swimming. I wanted to see his covered eye and show him my hideous arm. ACHOO!... I think sleeping on the roof made me catch a cold...
"That was so nice of you...ACHOO!" I really don't feel well.
"We're always trying to be nice to you, Allen!" The blond hippie giggled. "We really want to make friends with you!" And vice versa... I'd always had a hunch that they'll try to be my pals.
"Well, we'd better go or else we might get into trouble for being late!" The taller, black haired twin smirked. And they left. Great, I'm stuck. Maybe calling for help would do something? No, I have to save myself alone. Though jumping form 8 meters tall building may cause a physical damage, in worse case even breaking legs... All depends on landing! Let's see... How the hell am I supposed to jump!? ACHOO!
"A-A-Allen?"...Don't tell me.. It's him again? I don't even dare to check, but by recognizing voices I'm 100% sure it is my redheaded carer, Lavi. I turned around to face him and we were staring at ourselves a few moments, before he decided to break the silence. "...What are you doing up there?" He grinned, his green eye flashing with happy curiosity.
"Sunbathing... What else would I do?" Lavi chuckled, seeing how my face dark and my eyes were twitching.
"Well, you won't get any sun so early in the morning. Plus, look there." He pointed at the West. I turned my head and saw massive, dark-gray clouds, slowly making their way to our camp. "Stupid weather is going to change and today we're having 'hare and hounds'! I hope the organizers won't cancel it." Well, nice to hear he cares more about stupid game than me. I don't want to be on the roof when the storm comes. "Again those freaking Jasdebi twins put you there?"
"Maybe or maybe not." I smiled, trying to get off the topic.
"Allen..."
"I've got here on my own. And fell asleep accidentally. ACHOO!"
"That's a lie."
"Prove it."
"Don't need to."
"Then let it go."
"Fine." Lavi sighed in annoyance. I really don't want him to report the twins again. It may cause even more troubles than I'm having now. "Well then, see you in the canteen." What! No, he can't leave me here! What am I supposed to do if nobody helps me!?
"Lavi!" I called and the redhead looked at me in amusement, small smirk forming on his lips. "Um... Can you... help me get out of here?" I smiled sheepishly, trying to hide my embarrassment. He whistled and and moved closer to my house.
"Well, if you had got on the roof on your own, then you should have something to escape from there now, right?" Logically, it is true, but current circumstances won't allow me to get down. "How you ended up there?"
"I borrowed a ladder." New lie.
"How did you get the ladder?"
"Borrowed from the camp's janitor." Stupider lie.
"...and he let you get on the roof..." Sarcastic comment, I recognize it clearly. Is it really obvious of me that I'm trying to make fool out of him. "So where's the ladder now?"
"I have no idea." I smiled, half-lying, half-telling the truth. I wish there was any ladder here. "So can you help me?"
"I usually don't help big, fat liars." He grinned. Was that supposed to be funny? And I'm not fat... So what should I do? ACHOO! "You're sick, maybe? Well, no wonder. Especially, when you ACCIDENTALY fall asleep on the roof. " Sigh. I really didn't want to tell him, but...
"You won. Jasdebi put me here."
"Now, that's what I like better!" He laughed. "Alright, Allen, you need to jump." He moved even closer, so he was directly standing under me. He opened his arms and uncovered his broad chest, where, I think, I was supposed to jump in. Fall into his arms... WHAT THE HECK!? "Come on, I'll catch ya!"
"Are you out of your bloody mind!? ACHOO!" This stupid sneezing is unnerving. My reaction must have been funny, because Lavi was laughing like a madman, yet he didn't ruined his 'catching' pose. "It's freaking high! Are you blind!?"
"Only a half." He shrugged. That's an annoying honesty... "I won't miss you, just jump and I'll catch you. Isn't that simple?" My face fell into worry. If I don't react in time, soon I'll become a show for other camp participants. Too much time to wait for the actual janitor to pick me up. ARGH! ACHOO! "You can do it, Allen! If you're afraid, just close your eyes!" I looked down and swallowed. Lavi was standing with his arms wide-opened and waiting for me to jump. But he was so little from this perspective... I moved my left leg out of the edge and joined the right. I was sitting and waiting for a shot of courage to push me over... But instead of that, I just got paralyzed.... "Allen!"
"I-I can't do it!" My body got disobedient. Oh, come on! Not now!
"I'll count to three and you'll just slip, alright!?" I thought for a moment and shut my eyes tightly. Not seeing anything or anyone I gave an insecure nod. "One." I tried to move a little closer to the edge. "Two. "My arms were shaking and I reached the limit of tightening my eyelids. "And... THREE!" As if someone pushed me from behind, I jumped. God, please, if you listen to my prayers, then save me from any serious injuries after I hit the grou-... Eh? "HA! Gotcha!" In a moment I found myself being embraced by two strong arms and my body stopped from any falling down. Falling. What a strange feeling, when you don't have any tough ground under your feet and you're just being dragged down by the gravity of Earth. And, to my surprise, Lavi did what he promised. He actually caught me. "See? I'm not that bad as you think. Catching people from any kinds of roof is my specialty! ...Hey, you can open your eyes!" Was I still having them closed? That's probably because falling down scared the crap out of me! I was almost saying goodbye to this cruel world! But, not feeling any movement, I slowly opened my gray orbs to look at my 'savior'. His green eye was staring at me and a usual big smile showed up. "Well, that was fun, wasn't it?"
"Y-Yeah..." It was almost like flying! But all the way down... "I don't think I want to repeat that..."
"Too bad. I would catch you, again." He giggled, making me smile in appreciation. Suddenly, I noticed what kind of a show we were putting, because we were circled by lots of people. They were whispering something among them and giving us suspicious looks. I looked at myself for a moment, thinking if I have something (except my scar) on my face. And I noticed the way how I was being held by the redhead.
"Lavi... Could you please put me down?" He was holding me in a BRIDAL style, having one arm under my back and another under my legs. Lavi blinked at my request, probably not getting why I started to blush. This looks ridiculous!
"You know, you look cute when you're blushing." Is he mocking with me!? I blushed even deeper. It's not a freaking time to give compliments!
"I-I'm not cute! Put me down, please?" My voice gave a hint of nervousness. I was completely aware of my position. One: the way he was holding me was embarrassing. Two: gosh, isn't his eye fed up with looking at me? Three:... My personal space is being violated. I'm so close to his face that I can see his well-preserved, clean skin, his medium eyelashes and thin, pink lips... This thorough analysis made the matter worse, because Lavi saw me staring at him and turned his head. Did I made him feel uncomfortable? Is he BLUSHING? O my God... NO! I'm sorry, Lord. I meant... Umm... Whatever... After a moment, or two, he put me down and coughed, still not daring to look at me. "Umm, Lavi?" It took some time, but he finally turned at me. His face looked at me questioningly. "Thank you for helping me." I smiled. Even though Lavi is kind of dense and careless, he really can be helpful. And he's really friendly and cheerful and... What's wrong with me?
"No problem." He grinned. Not in an annoying way and that made my cheeks burn up, again... Do I have something for Lavi? "Clean yourself and let's go. We don't want to miss breakfast, do we?" I nodded and got inside the house no. 5. Inside I could see a total mess. Chaoji's, Johnny's and my things were tossed everywhere, even outside the building. My Chinese friend was tied up to the bed and the little nerd could be heard inside his small wardrobe. Yeah, I really need to do something with it... By it, I mean those horrible two twins...
Here I am with the rest of the camp. We're facing the big, black and scary forest. On breakfast there was an announce from the head organizer, Mr. Komui Lee. Despite any weather disadvantages, the big 'hare and hound' is going to be prepared. Everyone just had to make sure to dress appropriately to the weather. After the breakfast all organizers ordered to look under our empty plates. There were two kinds of pieces of paper: yellow or red. Everyone had to take them and bring to the meeting ground. There were three places: meeting point for yellow ones, meeting point for red ones and the final aim. I got the yellow paper and went to the point. To my surprise, Lenalee and Narei were in my team. Great, it'll be fun. I looked through the crow, wondering if I catch the glimpse of red lock. Well, I caught many, but they weren't Lavi. He probably got moved to the red team. Mrs. Cloud Nine appeared in front of us.
"Be quiet or else you won't have any idea about the game!" Silence came and she huffed. "I'm explaining the rules. 'Hare and hound' is a game about reaching the aim, where the prize is hidden. Your task is to go there. But it's not that simple... You're going to take those bags of yellow, plastic balls." She moved her hand, silently ordering the stuff to give us bags. "You are 'hares'. On your way you have to drop balls. This is your 'scent' for the opposite team." This sounds odd. Scent? And what are others going to do? "The red team is a bunch of "hounds". You'll have some time before we let them chase you. Both groups are starting from different spots, further or closer, I don't know. If someone from red group catches you, that's the end of the player. If you reach the goal, you're safe. I hope your legs are prepared for bigger running!" ...This game seems so brute... "You have to search through the forest. Be careful of wild animals." SAY WHAT!? "On my sign you're going. Leave the first ball here. And remember, you have to leave your 'scent'. No cheating allowed, we're watching you." The game under surveillance. So sweet... "Alright, prepare yourselves!" I sighed...
"Allen! Let's stick together, we'll make through this!" My Indian friend approached me and patted my shoulder. I nodded and smiled. "It's exciting, don't you think?"
"It may be interesting. I hope we win." Well, I don't feel like whining. It's the first time I played this game.
"That's the spirit!" Narei gave my back a hard smack. It really hurt...
"Umm... Guys, is it okay if we join you?" The familiar girlish voice showed up. It was Lenalee accompanied by Chaoji, Johnny and two unknown to me people: Gothic-styled girl with brown, shoulder-long , wavy hair and panda-like make up; and a vampire-looking guy with black and white hair, and big ears. Both of them seemed to be older than us and equally scared of what was going to happen. "Introduce yourselves!" The Asian girl giggled at the newcomers. Firstly the brown haired girl moved closer and stuck out her hand. Really pale, bony hand...
"M-M-Miranda Lotto... N-Nice to meet y-you..." I nodded and introduced myself. Was she shaking in fear of my person or something? In her voice I could take a hind of strong accent with lots of stresses, especially on "r" letter. Maybe she's from Germany? The other elder came.
"Alister Crowley. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Walker." Such a formal way of greeting... He's quite behaving like a really old man. But this Romanian accent. I bet he came from Dracula's kingdom, Transylvania.
"Call me Allen, no need to be so uptight." He nodded and we formed a small group of seven people. It's quite dangerous to move around with so many people, 'hounds' may sniff us easily.
"YELLOW TEAM, ON YOUR POSITIONS! You have 5 minutes until the red team will be released!" Mrs. Nine yelled and everyone got prepared. "On my sign. Three. Two. One. GO!" She blew on a whistle really loudly and everyone moved. I opened my bag and dropped the first ball, so did Narei, Lenalee, Miranda, Alister, Chaoji and Johnny. And so, we found ourselves among tall, thick trees. Narei rose his hand, stopping all of us.
"Guys, wait! We have to make a plan!" He said, but all of us weren't too keen on planning.
"I don't think we have the time for that, Narei." I claimed. "We need to run and avoid the red team as much as possible. ACHOO!" Stupid sneeze! I have cold.
"Gesundheit!" Miranda whispered. All of us looked at her dumbfounded "I-I'm sorry! I meant 'Bless you'!" She looked as if she was on the edge of crying, but Lenalee grabbed her mouth, silencing her.
"Shh! They may find out where we are." Lenalee made a point.
"We shall not worry, Lenalee." Alister spoke. "I think we still have some time, before the red-"
"RED TEAM, ON YOUR POSITONS!" A loud echo ran through tree branches. It was really loud. Means it was really close. "ON MY SIGN! THREE. TWO."
"OH, NO WAY! They're releasing HOUNDS!" Johnny took Chaoji's hand and shook violently, big tears coming from the corners of his eyes.
"RUN!" I had yelled right before we heard a loud 'ONE' and accompanying whistle. But not only that. The red team made some howling and barking noises, completely getting into their roles. We left another balls and ran for it. "We should divide and drop balls somewhere else. It'll fool them!" Everyone nodded and we formed three small groups. Lenalee and I ran straight forward, Chaoji and Johnny turned to the left, and Narei, Miranda and Alister – to the right. Now only God knows what's going to happen next...
"GYAAA!!! THEY'RE HERE! RUN!" Was it Miranda's voice? We looked at each other in terror. So hound's were coming from the right. Lenalee grabbed my bandaged arm and dragged me to the nearest bushes, though we had forgotten to leave the balls. Were we breaking the rules? Another howling.
"HIYA! Devid! Look! The British short-stack!" Oh no, not this voice. Not again! "Devid! Come on!"
"We're targeted, Allen!" Lenalee yelled and we moved faster. I looked behind, only to see that Jasdero was the only one, who was chasing us. Where is his stupider other half? "He's alone! We should separate, Allen!"
"Alrig-ACHOO! Ugh... Alright!" She set my arm free and moved into opposite directions. Catching the glimpse of the blond, I noticed his mixed and scared face. He didn't know which way he was supposed to go. Poor guy, without Devid he was useless. I had been running for a long time and, sadly, I felt really lost. And alone. Where the heck I should go? The surroundings look so familiar to each other... Should I run to the oak trees, or spruces? To the left, right? Where is the North? ACHOO! Dammit. ACHOO! My sneezing is going to kill- HOLY CRAP, SOMEONE CAUGHT ME FROM BEHIND!
"It's the end for you, Mr. White Rabbit." I stood still for a while and turned my head. Behind me was standing a tall, tanned man with curly black hair and golden eyes. His features were quite attractive, I can feel the sunshine of country he's coming from... Did he just say I lost? "He he he, you look pretty disappointed."
"Well, I didn't want to lose so quickly." I smiled as he let go of me. He returned the smile and patted my head. Is he feeling superior or something?
"Fist time playing such a bizarre 'hare and hounds'?" I nodded, though didn't understand why he used the 'bizarre' adjective. "Well... I might let you play a little longer."
"But you caught me." Ain't I supposed to end my game?
"But I haven't given you a mark. Without it you're completely free." He pulled out from his pocket the red sign. So that's how it goes. "I'll pretend I've never caught you, alright? Now go, before I change my mind."
"Thank you!" That was a really nice guy. I took my bag of yellow balls and threw some of them before going back to running. I wonder where should I be heading to... Maybe to the left? Alright... some running, some running. Oh! I see a trace of yellow balls. Am I on a good way? Well, I don't know, this forest is hell big and- DAMMIT! A great force pushed me from the trail and made me fall into the bushes. I got caught... Again... The person was crushing me with his weight, so I looked up and... What the...
"ALLEN! I've finally caught you!" Lavi. Lavi was right in front of my face. Lavi was lying on the top of me and smiling like a madman. Lavi's arms were wrapped around my body and were giving a painful hug. "Gosh, I wouldn't guess that you can run so fast! I was chasing you for almost 8 minutes!" He was violating my privacy for the second time! This is too close! "You're really something, Al-"
"Lavi... Get... Off... Me..." I put my hands on his chest and pushed him forcefully. Good thing I'm not as weak as I may look. Under my Uncles 'wings of Hell' I had to learn how to defend myself and it took some time to work my body. Lavi's eye opened in surprise, when he felt himself being lifted.
"W-W-Whoa, Allen! Put me dow-OUCH! That hurt!" Before he could beg me, I threw him away and his back hit a medium rock. He started to sulk. I huffed in annoyance. And suddenly, the light entered my mind. Lavi hadn't marked me yet, so... "W-WHAT THE- COME BACK HERE!" I started my sprint. There's no the hell way I'm going to be caught. "Stop!"
"Over my dead body!" I stuck out my tongue and ran even faster.
"But I freaking caught you!"
"But you haven't freaking marked me!" I could see how Lavi was slapping his now-not-so-cheerful face. Probably, he forgot. But then, he took out of his pocket a red sign and, also, started to sprint. The distance between us was gradually closing. I have to get faster! But the tiredness is also coming and my breathing became heavier. COUGH! COUGH! I wasn't sneezing anymore, but I could feel my lungs burning up. I wonder... If I force my body too much, will my cold change into something nasty? COUGH! COUGH! I'm coughing really loudly. That's no use, I can't risk my health for a game. So I slowed my run and so did Lavi. He caught up with me, but didn't give me the mark. Instead of that he lifted my head and took a look at me. COUGH!
"Gosh, are you alright?" He asked. I felt a concern in his voice. COUGH! "You're coughing quite badly."
"He he, I don't feel too good." I scratched my neck and smiled, trying to calm the redhead down. "I think I should stop."
"Well, that's true." I smiled again and took the red mark from his hand. I got officially caught and it's time to go back to the house. I passed Lavi by and headed towards the main building... Where the heck I'm supposed to go? "Need some help? I'll come with you!" I jumped in fear. Since when he was so close to me!?
"You don't have to. Go back to the game."
"Nah. I don't feel like catching anybody else."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"He he he..." He smirked his mischievous smirk. Should I regret my question? "I couldn't find you in the red team, so I presumed you're in the yellow one and made you my victim from the beginning. Now, that I caught you, I don't have anything else to do..."
"Umm... Thank you?" I don't know if I'm supposed to be flattered or... confused, or just stupefied. He shrugged and smiled. I'm starting to like his features, when he's having that big, bright smile on his pleasant face...
…
...I'm really starting to act weirdly around him.
And we have all the way to the camp together...
~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER FOUR ENDED!~~~~~~~~~~
Hi, I'm back!
After half of year I finally get my writer's block off! Quite a long time...
I'm having my driver's license exam in two days! Wish me luck!
Hope you enjoyed the chapter ^^
Next time I'm going to upload the newest chapter of 'Neighbor'!!!