Children of the Mirror
...4th Part: Dark...
I ran through the dark halls of what appeared to be a museum, feeling sure of myself as I easily got past the brainless guards everywhere. I didn't understand why I was doing what I was doing, but it felt great. The thrill of it gave me an adrenaline rush that only made me to feel more arrogant.
Then I reached where I guess I was headed. There was a painting hanging from the wall which caught my eye. I had the notion that I had to steal it. Presumably, this was only a dream, so I figured, Why not? and plucked it off the wall.
'Dark, look out!'
Something rammed into my back, startling me even more than the odd voice that seemed to have come from inside my head. With that voice still occupying my curious thoughts, I pictured a red-headed kid with unruly hair and big, innocent-looking crimson eyes. He was a few years younger than me, if I had to guess.
I turned in the direction of whatever it was that had hit me, then, and I saw... Krad!? What was he doing here – and decked out in huge white wings, too! He looked like an angel, save for the menacing expression on his face.
I woke with a start, sitting up and rubbing my forehead in total confusion. Who was that read-haired kid, anyway? I came to the conclusion, then, that dreams would never make sense.
. . .
I walked to school, still puzzling over the dream, and then thinking about my parents' lectures about the world going against one boy. It sounded like a cliché load of crap to me, but then there was this tiny part of me that almost considered it. Still, my parents had a knack for overstressing things.
"Hey, Dark!" I heard Tsuki's voice behind me – and the engine of Furishi's car.
I glanced sideways at them as they pulled up next to me, following me slowly along the road as I walked.
"Why're you walking, baby?" she asked, straightening the bill of her studded cap over her choppy, punk-style hair.
"Because I feel like it," I retorted. "Why else?"
Tsuki raised an eyebrow at me. "Uh-huh." She gestured to Furishi to speed up and waved once to me. "See ya in prison," she chimed.
Prison is what we sometimes called the school. I shook my head at her as she settled back into the passenger seat of the shiny black convertible. "See you," I muttered.
The real reason I was walking to school, was not because I wanted to, but because I had to. I felt reluctantly obligated to, on the chance that I might run across Krad. My parents had told me about Krad's family – or lack thereof. His mother was a prostitute, and no one would ever know who his father was. Some family. My parents were a little wacky, but I knew I had their love, and they weren't really that bad. And when they had heard that I kissed Krad – against his will – they told me all about it, and now I would be grounded for even longer if I didn't apologize. That, and now I felt a little guilty.
And I was getting confused. Very confused – mostly by that stupid dream.
. . .
Soon enough, I saw a familiar blond figure turn onto the street up at the next intersection. For a moment, I watched him walk, his long ponytail swaying slightly with each step he took. Then, sighing heavily, I ran to catch up to him.
"Krad!" I shouted, putting my hand up in the air when he looked back, hoping he would stop. "Wait up!"
He did stop, surprisingly. "What do want now?"
"Look," I said, clapping a hand over his shoulder. He wasn't quite looking at me, so I rolled my eyes apologetically at nobody and grabbed his face, turning it toward me. "I'm sorry," I said. My voice sounded fiercer than I was intending, so I backed off a bit, refusing to touch him anymore. "You know... about... yesterday..."
Krad almost looked astonished. But then his face shifted and he was smirking at me. "Well, I suppose I got my payback, Mousy," he commented.
This confused me. Mousy...? Why had he just called me that? This is the end for you, Dark. I shivered. I had just heard his voice in my head, like a pictureless continuation of my dream. "Yeah..." I said, ducking my head to hide the marks of his teeth behind the collar of my jacket. "Why did you call me that?"
"That girl, Tsuki, often taunts people with the phrase, 'Are you a man or a mouse?' and by the way she was laughing after you kissed me, I think you fell for it, just like anyone else. You, Dark, are a mouse for letting her push you around," he explained, very obviously.
"I don't let anyone push me around!" I argued. "And I'm no mouse!"
Krad started walking again, and I walked with him. "So why are you walking to school, then? Why apologize? That's not the rumored Phantom Thief we all know."
"You don't know me," I argued again, shoving my hands in my pockets. "I can walk if I feel like it, and I can apologize if the urge to strikes me. It has nothing to do with anyone else," I stated.
"Of course," Krad said. I couldn't read the tone in his voice.