It had pasty white skin, blue lips, and purple smudged makeup.
There was a face in the water, and it would always come back when Arisu least expected it.
But that was normal and that was life. The imagery was not bothersome to the girl- it was stupid. And it was that stupidity that would slam her mind into the real world. Just when her oblivious, tactless mind would separate from reality, float in space, and touch absolutely nothing…the face would come and pull her back. The important thing you need to know about Arisu L'Écarlate is this:
She had a horrible memory.
And it pissed her off.
Almost as much as not being able to whistle.
But…what was the face exactly? Was it a memory? (If so, a very lucid one) Or was it a fabrication of creativity? (Which would also be very surprising – Arisu was never one for telling stories.) One way or another, the face existed in the girl's mind, and it would never leave.
The face was especially irksome that afternoon, when Arisu sat alone in a nearly empty classroom. Though, as you might have guessed, she did not see a classroom, but instead saw a bleached membrane and foggy green eyes. Did you put me here? It seemed to ask her, those eyes, that face. And the girl would respond, NO. 'ou being in ze water is 'UR problem. It's none of MY business. I really don't care. Then, the face grew quiet and pulled Arisu under. Mud, fluid, liquid saturated the teenager's lungs, her eyes stung with blurry vision. She struggled, but her windpipe was already crushed by gruesome fingers-
This was the part where Arisu snapped back into reality.
What date was it?
What year?
Where the hell was she?
Instantly she attempted to ask her younger brother these nonsensical, yet routine questions.
"Er-uh…Aidyn…where uh Aidyn?...Aidyn?...Aid…yn…?"
She looked around the classroom. The girl saw only the dull, stupid faces of people she didn't know and didn't care about… Then it occurred to her, Aidyn was not there-but wait…then where…? Arisu slammed both hands down on the desk, causing a loud, hard thud to echo throughout the room. Many turned, with confused, startled, or irritated expressions. The girl cried out in a thundering voice.
"AIDYN!"
Without a second thought she bolted through the door and down the hallway. The teenager attempted to string together past events. Why-why am I 'ere again-what ze 'ell am I doing here? Where's my brothzer? Arisu remembered the face of her eldest brother, Isaac. He demanded her to enroll…enroll at this foreign school…in Japan…leave France. And Arisu remembered arguing. She couldn't remember what she actually said, but she knew the words had been biting. And she knew she had kept her arms wrapped tightly around a trembling boy as she spat those protests. She refused to attend True Cross without Aidyn.
But now he was gone and she had no idea where he was. This was always the issue with Arisu's bad memory, it put her little brother in danger. She'd commonly blank out, and, one second Aidyn was with her, the next he wasn't. What would happen is that the girl would unintentionally leave him in some place alone, forgetting he was there. And now she did it again-
-in a completely different county.
I AM AN ASSHOLE!
Why couldn't she remember past events? The medication wasn't helping at all…
Arisu continued to run, only, in a matter of seconds she crashed into something…something big. She was pretty sure it was a person…it really didn't matter. The two collided with the floor. One person with….pink…with pink….with….pink….? What the hell? Some guy with pink hair responded to the situation with a "Whoa." Arisu immediately got up and continued to run. The person she had collided with, still on the floor, held his head and called out.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!"
Arisu couldn't resist, still running, she turned her head and called out. "Oh-SHUT UP! 'Ou Stupid oaf!"
Furious, the stranger immediately retaliated. " Stupid and oaf means the same thing… YOU REDUNDANT BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!"
Who was this asshole?
From the distance, Arisu heard the pink guy attempt to calm his friend. "Oh let it go Bon, its just another exchange student. At least it was a girl this time-" Zis time? Did he see my-? Pink stopped talking when he heard the clacking of Arisu's cleats, running back towards them. She grabbed the guy with both hands. The teenage-girl grimaced and stared at him with strange widened eyes. "Where's my brothzer Pinky?... Huh?"
Pinky looked at her with a chill, yet frightened expression. His mouth was twisted in what seemed to be a reluctant smile. He spoke in whiny voice, indicating he was creeped out. "Hehe…Aww man you're weird..."
"Let go of Shima.." Another whiny voice…only it didn't come from Pinky or the gorilla she ran into. Oh, there was another kid with them… he was bald…Arisu didn't notice him. She was to fixated on finding her brother.
"Well? 'ou said 'ou saw another student did 'ou not? Did 'e 'ave blond 'air?" Still trying to be chill, the pink kid closed his eyes and continued to smile.
"I don't understand what you're sayin-"
Another voice cut him off.
"Don't bother Shima!"
Arisu did not let go of Pinky. However, she did turn her head and spoke in a nonchalant tone. "What? Who are 'ou?"
"WHO AM I? I'm the guy you just pummeled into five seconds ago!"
"….Zat's it? I don't care."
"WHAAAAAAT?"
"Is zere something 'ou want? I'm busy."
"HELL YEAH THERE'S SOMETHING I WANT-I WANT AN APOLOGY!"
Once again the pink-haired student tried to ease his friend. "Haha…come on, take it easy. It's not everyday I'm mugged by some French chick, right?"
The ticked off friend ignored him. "FIRST you crash into me, THEN you harass my friend-AND NOW, YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT YOU DON'T EVEN CARE?"
Arisu glared and blinked. "Oh go apologize 'urself, it's 'ur fault for not using ze hallway correctly."
At this, the gorilla exploded.
"YOU BRAAAAAAAT!"
There was a joyous leap of victory in Arisu's stomach, but it turned sour when she remembered her brother. She gripped Pinky's collar tighter her expression grew serious.
"'Ou said zat 'ou saw another exchange student, where?"
Pink-boy raised his hands in defense. "Hey, hey now relax. I'll tell ya where that weird guy went."
Arisu's eyes narrowed. "Weird?"
Pinky gave a nervous laugh.
"AH-hehe… no, well…he's with Okumura…"
"WHO?"
He is wiz someone? Do not tell me…
"Okumura, he's a student… He said he was going to show the guy around school-"
"WHERE DID THEY GO?"
"Ok! Ok! Geez, relax, I saw them go towards the courtyard."
Arisu released the student and once again bolted down the hallway. Gorilla-boy called out, but this time she did not answer. She was too concerned with her brother… he was taken by some stranger again. How many times had this happened? How many times was he nearly killed? Whoever this Okumura was…she would destroy him.
She would not allow her brother to greet the face in the water.
