Chapter 22—Free Falling

"I'm not going!"

"You are going! If you don't go they'll think it's strange."

"Don't you understand that he's dead! Charlie's gone! I loved him and he's gone!"

"But do you want the rest of the school to see you staying away? They'll think you had something to do with it."

"I don't care."

"You are going." This was a new voice. Hika's father walked into his daughter's room and tilted his head as he stared at his wife and his daughter as they stood off, glaring daggers at each other. His wife was stately as always despite her glare. His daughter on the other hand was glaring as hard as she could. Hika's eyes were red from shed tears that she had cried the night before.

Hika turned that glare on her father after he'd spoken. "I'm not-"

"You have to go. Cry if you must. Spread the story that he's been kidnapped or ran away with another girl. Spread something. We must still live here Hika, even if you don't want to," the man said, giving his daughter a look that said that he wouldn't take another answer from her besides that she would go.

Hika growled in frustration and turned away to hide the look of pain that had crossed her face at the idea that Charlie could have ran off with another woman. She looked at the flame that burned on a candle that she had lit the night before when she'd returned home. She'd spent the night crying over Charlie's death and looking into the flame in an attempt to see him. She didn't care if it was only a small flame, she still felt close to the man that she had fallen for when she had been ignorant of the emotions that her body had felt for Kuronue for two lifetimes.

When she hadn't been crying she had been trying to comprehend the knowledge that she wasn't just the reincarnated version of Hiromi, but also of Deshiri. This new information had only made her feel worse.

Hika grabbed her clothes and stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. It was childish, but it was the only way she could think of taking her hatred at the world out on anything that wasn't another person. Once she was in the shower, cleaning furiously at her skin with a washcloth, she lost the anger as if the water was washing it out of her. She was left with a numb feeling that threatened to overwhelm her.

She had truly started to fall in love with the elemental. While she had known somewhere that someday his bindings would break, she hadn't thought it would be so soon. As selfish as it was she wished she had the power to bring back the dead—or at least the power to go up and visit Koenma and demand he bring Charlie back. But that was impossible. There would never be a Charlie again. He was part of the fire and would never be able to separate again in any complete way. The closest she could be was by having a flame near her at all time.

She pulled herself from the shower and pulled on her clothes before leaving the house with her bag. She didn't care about anything else. She just wanted to get out of the house where everyone expected her to get over her attachment to the elemental. Her steps fell in line with Kuronue that was also walking to school in a stunned state.

Much like Hika he had not wanted to come to school, but he had been unable to come up with an excuse that his parents would believe. Unlike Hika's parents, he couldn't tell his parents that he was a demon and wouldn't need this schooling. Of course he was still human. He was simply a human with demon memories and high spiritual energy. He looked over at Hika as she walked next to him and then away.

While it was nearing the beginning of summer, instead of wearing the simple white dress shirt that the boys were allowed to wear at the time, he had brought his black school jacket and had it on. His eyes were cold to anyone that dared meet his eyes though they didn't hold any emotions. He was mourning in his own, quiet way. He wasn't going to cry like Hika, but nor was he just going to forget it like Inane would when she graduated.

The two separated when they reached school each to their own locker and then to their own class. As he thought about her he realized that his previous jealousy had been unwarranted. It hadn't been her fault that Charlie was an elemental and not a weak human. The moment that the Demon had attacked Hika and taken over Inane, Kuronue should have made sure Inane wasn't involved. It was really all his fault that Inane had gotten involved. He supposed that hindsight was twenty-twenty as so many said.

For Hika the day went slow. Everyone that had been friends with Charlie came up and asked where he was. Each time, if she could, she'd manage a quick smile before leaving the group. When she couldn't get away she'd simply say that she hadn't talked to him since the day before. Either way she kept a calm face while her insides raged at the stupidity of human and of life.

For Kuronue, he kept his jacket on and didn't speak to anyone that wasn't necessary. Anyone that did talk to him, save for teachers, got a look that scared them from asking him what was wrong a second time.

As the day wound down, Kuronue slowly changed for track where he was determined to run as fast as possible and get as much of this energy he couldn't seem to get rid of out. When Hika hadn't shown up by the time that the rest had, Kuronue asked one of the girls if she had seen the girl. No one had seen her since lunch the girl told him and he sighed. He put that girl in charge and took off on a slow jog.

He didn't need to run to find her. She wouldn't hurt herself. The demon that had killed Charlie was still out there. And if her emotions were anything like Kuronue's, he knew that she wanted revenge more than anything in the world at that moment. That wasn't his human part speaking either. Hika had grown from the immature young woman that he had met that first day on campus to a woman with a sense of reality.

No, Hika would not harm herself, Kuronue knew. "Three lifetimes sure can make you know a girl," he muttered as he shook his head and headed up the stairwell that would lead to the roof.

The girl was standing, looking out over the city with a calm look. Despite that exterior calm, her insides were in a riot. It had been Edmund that had released Charlie's tattoo. It had been Edmund that had sent Bleathe after her. It was Edmund that had hurt Inane and then convinced Koenma that Inane's memories had to be erased.

She didn't need an explanation from him. Everything had come back to her—her love life as Deshiri with Edmund, the friendly suggestions Edmund had made to Hiromi, and the way he had watched her as she'd gone through the house. To Hika it was clear. This was revenge on her for having found another that suited her better, first Kuronue and then Charlie.

The girl didn't even turn when Kuronue stepped up next to her. She inhaled deeply and then exhaled slowly, closing her eyes as the sun started to dip down into her eyes.

And that was where the two stood for a good half hour, listening to the shouts of the team below them. It wasn't until the school yard was quiet that Hika stepped forward and leaned against the railing that her body had slammed into the day before. It wasn't stable, but she didn't care for a moment.

"It's unfair," she whispered finally, breaking the silence. Kuronue opened his eyes that he'd closed in a silent prayer to the elements that Charlie would be welcomed easily into the Fire.

"Everything about this situation is unfair," Kuronue agreed, watching her as she leaned there. "Why should we be punished for our past lives?"

"Let's not get philosophical, shall we?" Hika asked, turning to look at him with dull eyes. She turned her body and leaned back against the railing. She started to bend back, looking up at the darkening sky as she tried to get her back to pop.

"Only stating a question," Kuronue said, unable to help smiling a little at the whine that had come unbidden to Hika's voice. Deshiri had hated philosophy. He wondered if the woman standing before him knew that part of the woman he had once loved. Of course, he supposed he still loved her, even if this wasn't the most appropriate time to admit it.

"Your questions have a tendency to get us into trouble. Remember the one that got Edmund, Deshiri and you thrown into a prison for two weeks? The one about 'Why should we worry about guards?" Hika asked with a weak smile as she continued to bend back, putting more pressure on the rail that started to bend a bit. No matter how far back she went she still couldn't seem to pop her back.

"It wasn't 'Why should we worry about guards'," Kuronue said before hesitating. Hika looked up at him and blinked. It was in that moment that she realized that she hadn't been the only one that remembered everything. Her gaze saddened a little and she went back to trying to pop her back despite the railing's wobbling.

"That's right. It was 'Why did Edmund say there would be two guards when there are obviously no guards'? And then twenty guards showed up," Hika whispered.

"Maybe you should—"he started to say, but it was too late. The railing busted just as Hika heard a satisfying pop from her back. Back the girl demon fell, a look of shock on her face. She pulled out her wings as she tried to fly her way out but it was no use, she was falling, and fast.

Kuronue didn't even think. He launched himself forward, jumping off after Hika, reaching out to grab her wrist. As if time slowed for a second his eyes widened and sharpened. Wings appeared behind him as something in his mind clicked. He flapped wings that had not been there a moment before, breaking their fall so that they landed in the grass as if they had floated down like a leaf. The girl was cradled against his body, his arms wrapped tightly around her.

As she looked up from where she lay curled up, she looked up into the eyes of Kuronue as his wings disappeared. He was able to smile weakly. "At least we didn't get injured. Imagine what Charlie would say if he found out I let you break your neck before we got those bastards that killed him, huh?" he asked.

"You and your stupid questions," the girl growled, shaking her head before realizing that he was passed out. His spirit energy—the amount that he'd had at least—was depleted she realized as she checked him over for any wounds. "You and your stupid, stupid questions Kuronue." She sighed and shifted so that her lap was underneath Kuronue's head, giving him a pillow. She looked down at him with a sad smile. "He would have said that I was a stupid girl for having leaned against the railing. And he would never have blamed you Kuronue. Charlie wasn't that kind of man." She said this to his unconscious body as she sat there, his head on her lap as the sun dipped down under the far away horizon.