Chapter 72- An Explosion- Arisa
I walked into the lounge to see that only Alma was in there. "Hey," I said. He looked at me, and I thought I saw anger flash in his eyes. Without saying a word, he turned towards the door.
It wasn't the first time he'd acted that way. So before he could leave, I grabbed his arm. "What did I do?" I asked.
"Let me go," He said.
"Not until you tell me why you're mad," I said.
"You don't even notice, do you?" He asked.
"Notice what?"
Alma gave a harsh laugh and grabbed the bridge of his nose. His eyes were closed and he was shaking his head. "You are all so simple minded," He muttered.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.
Alma glared at me and for the first time since I've ever known him, I saw that dangerous power that everyone was afraid of. I let him go and took a step back shocked.
"To all of you, the world of romance and love means that there is always one male and one female," Alma said. I could hear the anger in his voice. "No one ever thinks that there can be something else other than female and male love."
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"You don't even get it when I'm practically telling you!" He said. "Listen carefully, Arisa, because I'm not going to tell you once. There is a different side of romance that no one seems to think about because it scares them and makes them angry. The people who have this romance are shunned, so no one comes out and says what they feel because they'll be all alone. I know what it feels lie to be alone, and I thought that I would finally be accepted, but I'm not."
"You are excepted," I said. What the hell was he going on about?
"My kind is not excepted," He said.
"What 'kind'?" I asked.
Alma looked at the floor. I could feel the vibe coming off of him turn from angry to sad in moments. "I… I love him," He said.
"Love who?" I asked.
"Who do you think?" He snapped. He looked back at me and I saw tears rimming his eyes.
It took me a moment to realize just who he meant. "You mean Kanda, don't you?"
Alma nodded. "But he doesn't feel the same way about me, I know that. He said that he would continue looking for her. But he gave up when he met you."
"What do you mean?" I asked. "Who was he looking for?"
Alma wiped his tears away. "The girl he was in love with as a child. He said that she appeared in his dreams. He fell in love with her. It was soon after he saw a vision of her walking around, when we became friends. It… it took me a long time to realize that it was that woman who brought us together. It was after that when I found out that I was the woman's new form. While I am who I am, she still lived inside of me. It was because of her why Kanda and I were together. He said that he would never stop looking for her; and that made me happy. I was able to die in peace knowing that I would someday have him by my side again. But now… I don't know what'll happen now."
I felt my heart drop. I knew that Alma was blaming me for everything, and he had a right to. I was the one who showed my feelings to Kanda years ago. I was the one he knew loved him. I pushed those thoughts away. I didn't care if Alma was blaming me. I loved Kanda, and he liked me. I was about to say something, when Alma spoke.
"That's bad, isn't it?" He asked. Everyone else says that a romance between two guys is bad."
"Don't listen to them," I said, a little annoyed at the sudden change of subject. "It is not bad at all. It just shows that everyone is unique in his or her own way. It doesn't matter if you love guys or girls, you're you, Alma."
"Then why does everyone say what I feel is bad?" He asked.
I shrugged. "I don't know. People say that it's a sin, but I don't see how. God made us who we are, and if he made you gay, then no one should hate you because of that…" I paused before saying, " I'm sorry, Alma."
"For what?" He asked.
"I'm sorry for making you angry," I said. "I didn't know that you felt like that towards Kanda. However, I love him. I've never loved anyone like I do him. I will never hurt him o purpose, Alma. I promise you that."
"That's what Zhu told me," Alma said. "He said that he would try to protect us, and he never did. He let them run experiments on us. He never stopped it."
"You've had your trust broken," I said. "I understand why you won't take my word. But I don't care if you trust me or not. I will do anything in my power to ensure that he's safe. If you can't take my word as his lover, than take it as his friend and comrade. It's my duty to make sure that everyone I love is safe, and I will do anything to keep it that way. That's why we exist, Alma. Our existence isn't only to fight a war and save the world- it's to save each other. We're all outcasts- whether we're a scientist, exorcist, or from Central. It's all of our jobs to help each other feel like we belong. The only person I know that seems not to understand that is Leverrier; but unlike the others, I don't want to save him. He can go and float in a little part of space all alone with nothing other than black surrounding him for all I care."
The thought of the inspector surrounded by black with nothing around him made me smile. I saw that Alma was trying not to laugh.
"You really hate him, don't you?" He asked.
"If I had my way, I would chop off his head with a toothbrush," I said.
Alma smiled. "Wouldn't that hurt?"
"It would hurt a lot," I said. "Which is exactly why I would do it to him. I want to ground him to little bits and feed him to evil akuma."
"Eww!" Alma said. However, he was laughing. He had a high-pitched laugh that was full of joy and happiness- despite all of his pain and sorrow. It was contagious too. In seconds, we were both on the ground laughing.
"What's going on in here?" Mana asked.
"We're coming up with ways to kill people we don't like," I said. "Such as cutting their head off with toothbrushes." Mana's face was a mixture of pure disgust and confusion. That only sent Alma and I into another fit of laughter.
Our laughter stopped immediately as when we heard something explode. The entire building shook. Alma and I jumped to our feet, and all three of us ran out of the lounge towards the sound of the explosion.