Previously...
A cool breeze wafted some hair across her cheek. The blood drained from her face and her heart skipped several beats. Something was wrong here. Something was terribly wrong here.
She wasn't alone.
Chloe lay in her bed, her heart pounding, eyes squeezed tightly shut. 'Please God, don't let me die!' She prayed frantically, feeling slightly nauseous. She wanted to call her mother, father, brother, anyone to come save her. Knowing she couldn't do that she slowly opened her eyes, for once glad that she had to sleep facing the window, a habit she'd picked up as a child.
She could see a crouching figure by her window, peeking out through the curtains.
Chloe carefully slid her legs to the edge of the bed closest the door, gnawing on her lip as she nerved herself up for sprinting for safety. If that didn't work she'd just scream. She glanced at the figure once more before flinging the blankets and leaping for the door. She'd barely made it off the bed before something barreled into her. She, somehow, was shoved against the wall silently, a hand clamped tightly, almost painfully, over her mouth.
"You should have stayed asleep." A young woman's voice whispered in her ear, annoyance running rampant through her lyrical tones.
Chloe felt a tear threaten to drip from her eye at the strength of the grip on her. Her jaw felt like it should break soon if the pressure were not released.
"Promise not to scream?"
The frightened girl nodded as best she could, by no means planning on keeping that promise.
The attacker slowly loosened her grip on the girl's jaw.
Chloe saw her chance and took it, taking a breath and opening her mouth to scream. She didn't get a chance to blow out any air. A fist hit the side of her head, sending her reeling and making stars burst in front of her vision. She slid to the ground, shrinking away from the intruder.
"I wouldn't even think of making a noise if I were you. I could kill you with my little finger alone." The woman locked the bedroom door and returned to the window, glancing out for a moment.
Chloe huddled against the wall, a hand to her throbbing temple, her body shaking. She stared at the woman, confused and frightened. From the moonlight coming through her window she could see the intruder wasn't very tall, probably only coming to Shuiichi's shoulder. She had a long braid pulled over her shoulder that almost seemed to glow green. Her body was small, compact, and looked like it was made for action.
The woman turned suddenly, coming over and crouching down in front of Chloe. "Sorry about the head. I forget my own strength sometimes. But you see I'm hiding from an awfully nasty bunch of creeps out there, and I'd really rather not have them find me with this treasure on me." She pulled a small box out from under her shirt.
Chloe swallowed hard, but remained silent. This was definitely unexpected. Was the intruder trying to be..nice to her? It didn't make any sense.
The woman sighed. "Look, I didn't mean to give you a fright, honest. I thought you were sound asleep. I was just gonna pop in for a few minutes until they went their merry way. How about we start over, eh? I'm Carmen."
Chloe was still finding this whole situation to be a dream. 'This is a dream...it will go away soon...this is just a dream...it will all go away...' She kept telling herself, just staring at the stranger.
Carmen sighed, poking Chloe's knee. "Didn't you hear me? I said my name's Carmen. What's yours?"
Chloe swallowed, afraid of getting hit again. "Chloe." She whispered, uncertainty clouding her small voice.
Carmen nodded in the darkness. "Pleasure to meet you." She purred, leaning forward. "Can you keep a secret?" She asked.
Chloe was a little taken aback. "E-excuse me?"
Carmen repeated her inquiry. "A secret – can you keep one?"
Chloe was bewildered. "Yes...?"
Carmen giggled. "No need to put a question mark at the end. Alright, here's how things are going to play. This box stays with you. You don't take it out of this room, you put it somewhere safe, and, I can't stress this bit too much, don't. tell. a. soul. about. it. Okay?" She didn't seem to need an answer, merely pushed the thing into Chloe's limp fingers. "Now, I'm going to go back out the window same as I came. You count to a hundred before you crawl back into bed and go to sleep. No peeking after me, okay?" Carmen seemed to smile in the darkness and stood, bounding over to the window. "Pleasant dreams." She disappeared, leaving only a flutter of the window curtains.
Chloe sat there, staring at the window. Had that really just happened? What, exactly, had just happened? She wasn't at all sure. The box thing sitting in her hands seemed to testify to its truth, although even then she couldn't be sure. She stood, walking over to the window. She pulled the curtain back a tiny bit, peering out.
Out in the moonlight Carmen was dancing away from two men who were both continuing to advance on her. Chloe's eyes widened when she saw silver glinting behind their backs. Knives? Swords? She shook her head frantically. No. No. That sort of thing only happened in the movie. The was reality. People didn't go around trying to kill people with knives. Not here in Japan.
She must be seeing things. She blinked several times, trying to clear her vision, but it didn't seem to be helping any. They were still there, threatening to girl. Chloe looked down at the box in her hand, then back up at Carmen. She didn't know what had happened exactly, but she didn't deserve to die.
One moment Carmen was dancing down there, but when Chloe blinked they had all moved. Carmen was sliding off the the Minamino's house wall, her face turned downwards and hidden by shadows. The men were getting closer. They all disappeared suddenly. Chloe looked around curiously, trying to find them all.
Everything down there seemed a little blurry, fuzzy, yet there was nothing in front of her eyes. She rubbed them anyway, looking down again. She now saw the two men holding Carmen, one of them raising a hand as if to strike her. Carmen seemed to spit some words at them, and then suddenly there was a flash of light and all three flew backwards.
The two men simply landed on their feet on the dirt, but Carmen had flown up onto the Minamino's porch. She continued to hurl comments at the men as she picked herself up; she raised a hand by her head, holding her hand is if holding a ball.
'What is she doing?' Chloe shifted, trying to get a better look. Her eyes widened and she gasped involuntarily as a hand suddenly came out of the shadows behind Carmen and clamped onto her shoulder. The woman attempted to twist out of the grip, unsuccessfully.
Chloe clamped a hand over her mouth when Shuiichi stepped into the moonlight, pulling Carmen with him. Chloe couldn't see his face from her, but she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
'No Shuiichi, don't do it, they'll hurt you!' She yelled in her head, fear squeezing at her heart.
Shuiichi confronted the two men, his back to Chloe, annoyingly enough. But the men were facing her, and with the moonlight coming right down on them it was enough. At first they had seemed startled, then suspicious, now they seemed a little....frightened; they were backing away from Shuiichi.
"I don't believe it..." Chloe whispered, eyes wide as she stared. Those two thugs looked like they could kill a man with one hand, yet they were afraid of calm Shuiichi? She'd never in her life seen him so much as raise his voice at another human being, much less threaten them. So what had he said to make them scared of him?
The men suddenly disappeared, leaving Shuiichi and Carmen in the front yard alone. Shuiichi turned to face the girl, and they seemed to be exchanging words. Chloe reached out a hand slowly and pulled her window open slightly, leaning in so her ear was to the opening. She could just make out what they were saying, although they were speaking in very low tones.
"-wasn't in any trouble. I would have taken care of them long before any humans decided to start sniffing around."
'Humans?' Chloe's eyes widened startled. Just what had Carmen meant by that?
"Fair enough. But that still leaves the questions of what you are doing in the human world, how you got here, and why those men were trying to kill you."
Carmen waved her hand dismissively. "You don't really need to know that, now do you? I'm not here to cause trouble, I didn't come here in any form that would allow for other demons to follow me, and those men are none of your business."
"I still have to report you in to Spirit World."
"No, you don't. You could just let me go on my way. I don't want to cause any trouble."
"I have no reason to trust you. You-"
"I'm not going, say what you will."
"I don't see as you have a choice in the matter."
Chloe froze when she saw Carmen's eyes lock onto her own. Then Carmen's lips twisted into a smirk. "No, I believe it is you who has the choice. How far will you go in front of that neighbor girl of yours?"
Chloe didn't bother waiting to see if Shuiichi actually looked. She fled to her bed, leaping under the covers and burying herself in the blankets. She held her breath in suspense, waiting to see what happened next.
"Get up Chloe!"
Chloe jerked awake, her eyes darting around. She was in her room, in her bed, the curtains wafting lazily out from her window thanks to the breeze. "I can't believe you!" She muttered angrily at herself, crawling out of bed with an exhausted yawn. "How could you fall asleep? Didn't you want to know what happened next?" She fumed, grabbing a robe and a towel. She bathed quickly and got dressed, following her mother out into the cool morning. Her mother silently handed her a sandwich, which the teen took gratefully. She couldn't help sneaking a peek over her shoulder as they walked away; all seemed peaceful and quiet at Shuiichi's house.
'It must have been a dream.' She told herself, quietly eating her breakfast. 'That's it. It had to have been a dream. There's no way any of that could have been real.' She glanced at her mother, surprised to see her mother looking at her. "What?" She asked finally, feeling the urge to look away. "Is there something on my face?"
Her mother frowned and pointed at her eye. "What happened to your face?"
Chloe was honestly surprised. "P-pardon? My face?" Her hand came up unconsciously and she winced when they hit the bruising on the side of her face. Her jaw dropped, a shocked feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. "I-I think I fell off the bed last night." She covered, her mind racing.
Her mother seemed to accept it, but Chloe was still in shock. Carmen hadn't seemed to put any effort into the hit, and yet it was bruising like this? 'Embarrassing....' She grumbled in her head, pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind. She needed to stop thinking about it. Okay, so maybe it had been real. She was just so tired last night she'd misunderstood what they'd been talking about. That was it. Yeah.
Chloe was just stepping outside to eat her lunch when her phone started ringing. With a sigh she set down her lunch and put the device to her ear. "Hello?"
"Chloe!" An excited male voice came through the device.
Chloe broke into a smile. "Haru! How are you?"
"Not too bad. Why weren't you in school yesterday?"
Chloe rolled her eyes. "I sort of knocked down a box of canned peaches."
"Sort of knocked down a box of canned peaches? Either you did or you didn't knock down a box."
Chloe giggled. "Alright, so I knocked down the box."
"....And?" He prompted.
"And they all came tumbling down on my head."
"On your head?! Are you okay?"
She could hear the genuine concern in his voice, and it made her smile. "Yes, yes, I'm perfectly alright. A bit of a headache, but that's what painkillers are for."
"Glad to hear you're doing alright. You missed out on cleaning yesterday, and everyone was talking in school about how shameful it was for you to skip out on school when you weren't dying. You may have lived here you're whole life, but you still act like a foreigner." He teased.
Chloe sighed. "I know, I know. I can't help it. I get it from my parents."
"I'm not blaming you, I'm just telling you. So, anyway, the point of my calling, is that I was wondering if I could come over to watch some movies, maybe do some homework. We could even do some prep work for the entrance exams."
Chloe wrinkled her noise, moving into the alley to talk. "I doubt my mother will care, but I'll have to double check with her. As for the prep work, I don't know...I don't think the school will actually let me graduate early."
"Chlo, I've told you a hundred times, my father will make sure they do."
Chloe bit her lip – nervous habit. "I know, and he has a lot of money, but....I'm not eighteen. I'm seventeen. They only let eighteen-year-olds graduate. This is a fact, just like my hair being as brown as....mud."
"But mud is filled with interesting objects and green things."
"Are you implying I have green things growing in my hair?"
"Of course not. You miss the point."
"Then I fill it with interesting objects?"
"....Still missing the point. Your hair is not mud. It is hair. Beautiful brown hair."
"Hardly beautiful. If I colored it maybe..."
"Get over yourself." He sounded a little exasperated. "Must you always contradict me on this point? I think you have pretty hair."
"I'd agree, except that it matches my eyes. How stupid is that? So I either get colored contacts or color my hair."
"Or do nothing." He pointed out.
Chloe smiled a little, but rolled her eyes regardless. "You know I don't really have a choice in the matter, now do I?" She sighed. "My parents would never let me get it cut, much less colored."
"Thankfully you have me to brighten your boredom."
Chloe looked longingly at her food, but still didn't touch it; that would be rude. "I have other distractions you know." She retorted.
He was silent a moment, then responded brightly. "Like what, watching that neighbor of yours?"
Chloe went stiff as a board, her cheeks turning bright red. "H-Haru!" She stuttered – another nervous habit. She could hear him laughing on the other end, but she couldn't quite bring herself to forgive him. "Th-that was a low blow!" She hissed, looking around to be sure no one had been around.
He brought himself under control. "Come on Chloe. He's always on your mind. He's already been at college for over a year now, and you still have a crush on him?"
Chloe continued to blush furiously, and she stared intently at the ground, refusing to say anything.
"What happened, did he come home this weekend?"
Chloe chewed harder on her lip, her whole face red now. "H-Haru, please...."
He laughed a moment longer, then quieted himself. "Alright, I'm sorry. How about I make it up to you by taking you on a picnic?"
Chloe blinked, taken aback. One moment he was laughing at her expense the next he was offering to take her on a picnic? What the heck? "A picnic? I don't know. I'll have to-"
"I already talked with your mother. You have the rest of the afternoon off." A limo pulled up in front of the store and the window began rolling down.
Chloe looked at the car, unsurprised to see Haru's bleach-blonde hair appear from behind the dark tinted window. "Most people give the other person a chance to say no." She pointed out dryly.
"Ah, but that would be rude to refuse. Even your foreign sensibilities must be sensitive to that." He replied cheekily. "So, you coming?"
Chloe shut her phone and walked over to the car, shaking her head. "Scoot over."
He pushed open the door before sliding over to make room.
Chloe slid easily in and pulled the door shut. "Alright then maestro, where to?" She smiled, beginning to roll the window back up.
"Good gods Chlo, what happened to your face? Is that from the peaches?" He exclaimed, staring at the bruise.
Chloe looked self-conscious and covered the injury. "No..." She muttered.
Haru raised an eyebrow, leaning in closer to her. "Then...what is it from?"
Her mind raced, trying frantically to find an excuse for it. There was no way this side of heaven or hell that she was going to tell him the truth. As silly as it might sound, Carmen's threat still hung heavy in her mind. She was more scared of that woman than of Haru not believing her. "I tripped into my desk." She said finally.
"Tripped?"
"Yes."
"Into your desk?"
"Yes."
"With only that small part of the side of your face?"
"Yes."
She swallowed, nervously chewing on her lip and shifting her weight at the same time. His green eyes bore into her, trying to read her innermost thoughts. Suddenly he leaned back, shifting his gaze and shrugging. "Whatever."
Chloe struggled hard not to sigh with relief. She wasn't sure she'd have been able to hold up the facade much longer under close scrutiny.
"Thanks Haru." She waved as he left, turning and walking up to her front door. As she fished out her keys she glanced over at Shuiichi's house, freezing when she caught sight of Shuiichi and his mother sitting out on the front porch. They looked over, both giving her a smile of recognition.
Chloe flushed, barely managing to raise a hand to wave before she bolted into her house, shutting the door tightly behind herself. She took a deep breath, smiling like a school-girl. Even if he did have to return to school soon, she still had some time with him over this weekend. She sighed happily as she thought of the walk she'd taken with him after dinner last night....
Shuiichi shut the door behind them, falling into step beside her. He seemed relaxed, easy right now as they strolled through the darkness.
Chloe felt giddy and almost light-headed, although thankfully anything her face might betray was hidden by the darkness surrounding them.
Shuiichi was the first to break the silence. "Our parents seem to get along well." He commented lightly.
Chloe nodded, forgetting they were in darkness. "Yes they do.." She murmured, lacing her fingers behind her back.
"I'm glad my mother has people around her." He seemed to smile in the darkness. "It was hard for her when I left."
Chloe didn't say anything, but she knew it was more true than he probably guessed. His mother had, and probably still did, miss him terribly. "Your step-father took extra good care of her when you left." She added reassuringly.
When he said nothing she felt a little foolish for trying to reassure him. He hadn't asked to be reassured, he probably hadn't want to be reassured, she'd just felt somehow that he-
"I know. I'm grateful for his presence in her life." He spoke quietly.
Chloe felt as if the subject were terminated, and thus did not pursue it more. "Soo..." She roused her courage and continued quickly. "How is sleeping in your own bed again?"
"Just the same as sleeping in my bed at school. A bed is a bed."
Chloe pulled to a stop. "You can't mean that." She protested timidly.
Shuiichi also stopped, turning to face her. "Why do you say that?"
She blushed, once again glad for the pressing darkness. "W-well, I mean...." She swallowed, licking her lips. "There's something different about your own bed, something magical. Even if you own an apartment and are moved out, there's just something..magical about sleeping in your own bed in your parents' home. There's a safety and security and love that you can't find anywhere else."
"You speak from experience?" His voice had a slight teasing note to it.
Chloe shook her head slowly. "As much as I can at seventeen. I just assumed..." She trailed off, feeling foolish now.
He chuckled a little. "No need to feel embarrassed." He looked up at the sky, his face thoughtful. "You are right, though. It is different once you move out. It's..nice."
"You mean...you miss it?"
Shuiichi looked at her, finally nodding slowly. "Yes, you could say that. It is difficult at times being away from home."
Chloe clasped her hands behind her back, swaying slightly. "I can't wait to move out of my house." Her words were quiet but emphatic. She wanted to be away from her parents, out from under their fairly strict rules. To finally have some freedom.
"You may find that you wish to be back once you actually leave." Shuiichi commented, his eyes studying her face. He saw her eyes harden, a flash of something the shortly disappeared.
"No chance of that. Once I'm out I'm gone." She said flatly, tilting her head back to the moon.
Soft music began playing from one of the near by houses. Shuiichi listened for a moment, then stepped forward. "Miss Scott, would you care to dance?"
Chloe's head snapped down, her eyes wide. She could feel her heart racing, and chills ran through her body. "E-excuse me?"
"Would you share this dance with me?"
She couldn't believe he was asking her, but she tentatively unclasped her hands. "I-I can't dance very well." She warned, bewildered as he took one hand in his and placed his other gently on her back.
"That's alright. We're not competing."
She swallowed hard, willing her body to relax. Was this really happening? Was he really standing here, dancing with her? It was almost too good to be true. She could hardly bring herself to accept this reality. Yet his hands were warm, his face pleasant as he moved them slowly around.
It would be nice to be able to say that he was so good she followed him perfectly, her feet and body moving in time with his. Unfortunately, reality was that she was truly not a good dancer and she was so nervous that she made it worse. She seemed to have two left feet.
"I'm sorry..." She apologized for the hundredth time after stepping on his feet yet again, her eyes automatically turning downwards to try and fix the problem.
Shuiichi his slight twitch of pain. "Please don't worry about it. You did warn me, after all." He pointed out lightly, trying to catch her eye and get her to relax.
She looked up finally, giving an apologetic smile. "I know, but I'm still-"
"Please stop apologizing Miss Scott. Your mistakes are so small it doesn't even matter."
He was being nice. Way too nice. But she decided to let him. She relaxed as best she could with her heart racing erratically and his touch sending warm tingly feelings through her back and arms.
She closed her eyes, letting a feeling of peace wash over her. A serenity took over her soul she hadn't felt in a while, and she couldn't stop it from showing on her face. Some thing stirred in her and she opened her eyes, surprised to find his eyes studying her intently.
She smiled at him; he smiled back.
Chloe sighed happily, his smile still burned in her memory. She flopped down on her back on her bed, holding the curios box above her as she studied it. "Just what do you do?" She wondered, fiddling with it. It must open somehow, but it wasn't obvious how. She sat up, examining it closely. There seemed to be a faint design all around it, but it was too invisible to made out clearly.
She squinted her eyes, peering even closer at it. She was so unaware of her surroundings she jumped and gave a short scream when her vibrated against her leg. She gasped for air, one hand on her fast-beating heart. "Heaven almighty..." She picked up the phone and set it against her ear. "H-hello?" She answered shakily, her legs collapsing so she sat on the ground.
"Why are panting? What were you just doing?" Her mother asked suspiciously.
"Nothing mother, my phone just startled me." She responded quietly.
"Why are you being so quiet? Are you alone over there?"
"Miss Scott?"
Chloe's head whipped around. "Shuiichi?!" She exclaimed, scrambling over to the window. She pulled open the curtain and motioned for him to wait.
"Shuiichi? You have Shuiichi in the house?" Her mother's tone sounded very disapproving.
"No mother, Shuiichi just came to my open window. I'm home alone."
"Fine then. I'm probably gonna be home late, so I need you to make dinner. Your father has some guests coming over tonight."
'There goes my evening.' She sighed internally, instead saying aloud "Alright mother. I'll take care of it. Good bye." She hung up then pulled the window all the way open. "You scared me." She leaned on the windowsill.
Shuiichi looked apologetic. "I'm sorry. We heard you scream and wanted to be sure it was nothing serious."
Chloe gave a small smile, waving her hand dismissively. "Y-you needn't have bothered. My phone just startled me was all."
"I see. Well, in that case, have a good day." He turned to leave, pausing a moment. "If you need help cooking, feel free to call our house." He added over his shoulder.
"I can't, but thanks anyway." She watched him walk away, a feeling of intense annoyance at her mother settling in her stomach. If not for her parents not allowing her alone in the house with anyone, boy or girl, she would have gladly accepted the offer for assistance.
With a sigh she shut her window and headed towards the kitchen, stopping long enough to shove the mysterious box under her bed before she left the room. She walked into the kitchen, checking the counters and the fridge. "There's enough here to feed an army.." She sighed, her arms growing tired just thinking about all the work this would take to prepare. But, having no other choice, she rolled up her sleeves and dove in.
She was standing in front of the stove stirring some of the noodles when she felt something sharp press into the small of her back and she froze.
"Move and this sword paralyzes you for the rest of your short life."
A/N: There's the third chapter. Hope you liked it. Please review. I hinted at the explanation behind her name, so I hope that satisfies some people. That's not all the explanation there will be, but that's all you get for now. I will be bringing in the original Yu Yu Hakusho characters, but I'm also going to be bringing in my own original characters, as proven by Haru and Carmen. :) Anyway, hope you come back for the next chapter!