Author: My mom has been asking me what I am typing in my laptop. I just said: "Typing is my new business. I am writing a story." She noticed that because I wasn't playing my PSP or PS3 for the past days. I think my mom says it's a miracle I am not playing it.
Latter from the last chapter:
"I don't want to die! Who are you, anyway?!? Why do you know my life? Are you even my mother?!" Hitomi angrily shouted, confused at her own mother.
"You don't have a right to tell me when and how I'll die!" Hitomi yelled again.
"I am tasked to take care of you. I am not your mother." These words came out from her mouth, even though it pierces her heart.
Chapter 8
Morning, great. Hitomi was already prepared for school but she was mumbling something to herself.
"Hitomi, be your normal self. Normal. NO evil. No danger. Don't think about those leprechauns… no Acherons." She sucked a deep breath, as if it was her last breath.
"Please…" Hitomi crossed her fingers. She stepped out from the room, out of the wild. Some noise came out from the bush. This made herself feel nervous, and stroke a defense pose.
"If he or she comes out…where would I hit him? Nose? Eyes? Abdomen? No, head. So he'll be woozy." Hitomi thought to herself and crunched her fist.
Then he cam eout.
"Kya!" Hitomi attacked him, slapping her bag on every portion of his body and punching his head.
"Take this you! Get this you Acheron--- oops."
"Aw! Stop it! It's me Haiiro!" Haiiro shield his face with his bag.
"Sorry."
"Acherons? You are getting paranoia after coming back from that world. Get a grip! Sheesh." Haiiro wiped off the cold sweat on his forehead.
"They are our enemies." Hitomi looked around like an idiot.
"You know, it'll be nicer if your eyes have black circles around it. You'll get the look of a mentally disordered human." Haiiro cackled a laugh.
"Shut up!" Hitomi started to walk.
"I am not mentally disordered! I am serious, I'm not safe."
"What do you mean?"
"I might die anytime." Hitomi replied.
"Don't say that! You won't die!" Haiiro touched her shoulders.
"Let's go."
Hitomi entered first inside the room. There were still few students; one of them is Minoru and a new guy. New face. Hitomi seemed to get him weird. His hair, his clothes, and gestures were weird enough to call him a freak. Kuraine was white-skinned, tall, dark-red haired and orange colored eyes. He has somewhat this nice face. Hitomi sat down on her seat.
Later on, to feel a bit comfortable, she decided to have a small talk with the new guy.
"Ohayo! I'm Hitomi Kanazawa! You're new here… You're Kuraine Okada, right?" She introduced herself, smiling while looking on the name tag.
"Yes."
Hitomi shook her hand on his but Kuraine seemed to be a snob. He didn't get along in shaking his hand with Hitomi.
"Nice meeting you…" Hitomi smirked, feeling an electric shock. She quickly released her hand. Her mind tells her he is different. She returned to her seat.
For a while, Hitomi was- let's say ignoring everyone and just focusing her sight on one thing. She was holding her pen and keep on scribbling at the paper in front of her with some non-sense words and characters at it. She was really looking tensed. Haiiro, on the other hand, was staring at her with worry.
Haiiro patted his finger at Hitomi's shoulder.
"Wha?" Hitomi jumped a little and dropped her pen.
"Are you okay? You seem tensed. Is something the matter?" Haiiro asked her and reached the pen then returned it to her.
"Su-sure I am. Don't worry about me. I'm fine. It's nothing for you to worry about." She gulped and flashed a feign smile.
"You know, Kuraine's not a good guy. I don't like him. I'm going to war you now, don't get closer to him please."
"Don't judge him. Maybe he's shy. Why are you like that? Aren't you used for new students acting like that?! Just leave me alone." Hitomi got pissed off and went quiet.
"Okay."
He stopped talking to her and he opened his physics book.
"Something's not right…" He whispered to himself.
"He's someone we shouldn't trust and getting close with. He's different… dangerous, I must say." Haiiro continued, giving Kuraine a suspicious look.
It's break time. Every student there shared their food but sometimes they already eat up all the food their classmate has. Kuraine on the other hand was alone in one corner, sitting there like a statue-waiting-for-a-life.
"May I?" Hitomi stopped eating and approached KUraine.
"Go ahead." Kuraine said icily.
"So… what city did you come from?"
"I came from Hokkaido." Kuraine replied, not even looking at her.
It was like Hitomi was talking with herself.
"What school?"
"Chizuyama High School."
"Hmm, I haven't heard of that yet."
"Oh."
"You're a shy type. Well that's normal but if you won't mind asking you… Why do you answer straightly per question? One question, one answer." Hitomi said frankly, looking directly at his eyes.
"It's me. I am not designed to answer questions not to be straight-forward." Kuraine said, clearing his throat but he sounded dark.
"I feel a lil' bit of awkward at first." Hitomi replied, while drumming her fingers at the table.
"Well you should." He sounded back by his teeth.
These words keep on playing back at Hitomi's mind right after she left his table and ate with Minoru instead.
The hallways where the shoe lockers are were filled with students, getting out their shoes for their volleyball. Hitomi was walking to her shoe locker to change into her white, gym shoes. She clamped her right hand to the handle of the square, gray-colored locker and then pulled it out. She noticed a white folded paper; laid at the top of her gym shoes.
"Huh? I wonder who this is from…" She wondered then unfolded it.
There were seven words. It was written simply, but its contents were strong and seem to be interesting. She read it by her mouth and then took a single step backward upon reading the letter.
"Let's meet at the cafeteria after school."
"No name, eh?" Hitomi checked and scanned the paper to look at the name of its sender. Neither at the back, front and sides, the name nor the shadow of it wasn't written at all.
"Who the heck is this?!" Hitomi frowned, her eyebrows meeting together.
"This is interesting. I'll go. Maybe it's important… well why would he want to meet me then? Well, maybe it's necessary."
She said to herself, raising her eyebrow and then reached for her shoes. She slammed the locker's door and proceeded to the gym to play volleyball.
She stretched her arms up high first, her long legs the second for a teeny warm-up, while her left leg was placed over the brown bench. Haiiro was beside her stretching too.
The gym was quite simple but it is complete with regards to the sporting equipments. The girls and boys are wearing their dark-blue jogging pants and their white t-shirt with blur trimmings at the end.
"Hitomi, I want to tell you something." Haiiro started to talk then sucked a deep breath.
"Yeah… what is it? Go ahead, I'm listening." Hitomi bent her back and then to sides, but still somewhat pissed for what happened back then.
"You seemed very nice with Kuraine… but I think it's not a good idea to stick with him." Haiiro tried to warn once again.
"If you're trying to warn me about him, stay away from me. He is not a bad guy; he's just quiet that's all." Hitomi looked at him and then bent to the side where Haiiro is, till she hit him strongly that made Haiiro stumble.
"Hey!"
"Okay, explain why he is a bad guy for you." Hitomi stared at him for a moment with a sudden glum.
"He doesn't get to be nice to you at the first place, I can see that and I am not fine with it. I don't like the way he treats you." Haiiro creased his brows, making Hitomi to stop stretching.
"What? I don't understand you at all. How many times have I told you he's just shy? Or…" Hitomi grinned.
"Or what?!" Haiiro frowned.
"You are jealous?" Hitomi teasingly continued her words.
"Jealous?! Me? I am not! Are you kidding?! You've gotta make up your mind!" Haiiro said aloud, surprised and began to sweat like a pig.
"Hehehe." Hitomi guffawed and her eyes were teary because of laughing.
"Idiot!" She continued once more, touching her stomach while pointing at him.
"I am serious." Haiiro changed the subject, wiping off his sweat.
"If you can try, please refrain from talking to him. I feel something about him, he is just…just that… I don't know, evil?" He continued again warning Hitomi as his protector.
"Don't worry about me anyway. Oh yeah, before I forget, take a look at this letter. It says that I should meet him or her at the cafeteria this afternoon." Hitomi pulled out the crumpled paper from the pocket of her pants.
Haiiro's eyes went dark and piercing.
"Who sent you this?" He stared at her in horror.
"I don't know, and it was weird. The name of the sender wasn't even written."
"Better not go. Or I'll come with you." Haiiro uttered, worrying for her safeness.
"Tssk. No. You stay. I was thinking, maybe he is an admirer who's going to confess his feelings. I've always watched that on t.v." She laughed and twirled around.
"You?! Heh. No one will EVER confess to a girl like you." Haiiro emphasized the word "ever" while pointing his finger at Hitomi.
"Shut up. You're just jealous. Jealous because no girl had been confessing to you." Hitomi said like a child.
"I tell you. Don't go there. Go home after our game." Haiiro said, but Hitomi didn't seem to listen.
They started playing volleyball but Haiiro was left there, clenching his fist in anger.
"You already said to me this morning! You're not safe!" He shouted.
That afternoon…
Hitomi changed back into her school uniform. She went out of the girl's locker room after changing.
"It's 4:00 pm, I've better hurry." She gazed at her watch and half-ran in the hallway.
She entered the cafeteria. The thin crisp of air entered too. The place was empty, the food already finished and the tables were clean. She slowly walked, and the squeaky sound of her shoes can be heard due to the silence occupying the room. She now had the urge to speak.
"Hello? Anyone?" Her voice echoded. At first there was no one answering then,
"Hello. Thank you for coming." A male voice replied back.
"Kuraine?" She surprisingly spoke.
"Why…why did you?"
"We're getting there, don't worry." Kuraine approached her, smiling like someone who's a bonafide pervert. His right hand was behind his back. He was straight bodied, and his hair was glowing along with the sunset.
"Where is she?!" Haiiro stood up from the staircase waiting for her to arrive and then walked back and forth, head spinning, thinking and looking for Hitomi.
"It's already 4:30 p.m. and she's not here yet." Haiiro thought and then the letter came out from his mind. He pulled it out and read it again. In worry and anger, he crumpled and threw it somewhere. Littering…
"Hitomi, wait for me. I'll be there."
He ran to the cafeteria which is a bit away from the staircase he was sitting.
"Good to see you. So what is it you want to talk about?" Hitomi smiled.
"About you." Kuraine answered back with his eyes closed.
"Me? Oh, I like playing volleyball, soccer… I like-" Hitomi's words were cut off by Kuraine.
"Not that. Your history. Your life."
Hitomi went silent upon hearing it.
"I was born and that's it. I lived ordinarily, that is all." Hitomi lied.
"Maybe you can tell me more if…" KUraine whispered to her hear. She found herself having some goose bumps, a sharp knife on her neck- blood sparkling on the edge of the wedge. She trembled nervously saying:
"I won't tell…"
"Tell me!" Kuraine hardened the pressure on the knife slicing Hitomi's neck.
"I won't!!! I knew I should've listened to Haiiro! Who are you?! Why are you doing this?" Hitomi shouted and her arms were locked with Kuraine's strong hands.
"Don't you see? I am not the person you thought. I'm different. I am created to kill you. Now, tell me what you are!" Kuraine yelled and growled at her, and his eyes was almost losing its pupil.
"Help!!!" Hitomi screamed. She kicked Kuraine's back and punched his face; running to the door but the keys was with him. He laughed.
"Don't shout, Nobody can hear you. That was good, but I outsmarted you." Kuraine wiped ff the blood on the corner of his mouth. He chased and pulled her hair.
"Any last words, before you leave this world?"
She couldn't even speak. She was so scared, frightened. The knife was over her chest. What a terror she has been to.
The door suddenly banged and opened and Haiiro was there, standing,
"Hitomi!"
"Haiiro! Help me!!! Please!" Hitomi squeaked. She was trying to get away but the hands of Kuraine were so tight like a handcuff.
Haiiro ran and attacked Kuraine. His eyes went darker with anger. They were getting the sharp knife back to each other's hands. A plash of pure red blood splurted… It even stained Hitomi's face and arms. She didn't know whose blood is it. The two boys stopped, eyes went big and mouth opened.
Hitomi didn't know what to do. If Haiiro would die, who will protect her? Now she realized how important Haiiro is in her life right now.
Haiiro didn't kneel, but Kuraine did. The blood came out from his mouth and stomach. Slowly he laid down. He closed his eyes.
"Haiiro…!" Hitomi whispered. Her tears fell to the floor and almost stained it. She ran to Haiiro like he's going to leave.
"Y-y-you're not safe…" Kuraine whispered on his last breath.
"Who told you to kill me?! Who?!? Equinox?!"
He didn't reply.
"Tell me! Damn it!" Hitomi yelled punching her fist on the floor. Haiiro was there in front of her and held her hand.
"Don't be scared. Everything is fine now. Let's go home. Nothing happened, okay?" He grabbed Hitomi and snuggled her to him.
After they left, the body of Kuraine became a dust and flew outside. It was only the start of the dangerous adventures of Hitomi's life.
"I told you not to go, didn't I?" Haiiro sighed.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" She said, without any reactions.
"And thanks for saving me."
"Don't do that again, okay? You're making me feel scared." He replied.
TBC