Chk. Chk. Chk.
The door was locked.
The duffel bag was on the floor, leaning on the bookshelf that took up nearly three quarters of the wall adjacent to the door. There were novels: fantasy and real-life, classics and contemporary, Asian and Western. There were also several manga and sports magazines, and a bit of poetry compilations. On the wall itself above the shelf were posters for the book launchings. The wall to the left was what they called the “Art Side”. There was the low glass-doored cabinet that houses the CDs and cassettes, and on top of the cabinet sat the stereo system. Beside it were the tall box where the canvases were kept, and the drawers for the paint, oil pastels, different kinds of paper, brushes, and other materials. Paintings, posters and scribbles were pinned up on the Art Side’s wall, thus the name. The next side of the room was the one opposite the door.
Chk. Chk. Chk.
Dark green curtains hung above the slightly opened window, through which a soft, tense wind blew occassionally, making the curtains lightly brush the lamp on the table. The table itself was actually neat. The books were arranged and a bookend kept them standing together. A painted stone paperweight prevented a paper stack from making a mess. All the pens in the mug — with the broken handle — had ink, and all the pencils were sharpened. To the right of the wndow, just above the full trashbin and the soccer ball, was a corkboard, full of reminders, notes and jotted down ideas. Pushed to the wall opposite the Art Side was the bed. And on it, a silent, still figure lay. He was still in his full school uniform — save the shoes — though his white polo shirt was already opened. His hands were tucked under his head, and his black eyebrows were furrowed with impatience. The room was silent, except for the muffled rustling of trees outside, and the sound of the second hand of the clock on the table.
Chk. Chk. Chk.
Seconds pass…Minutes pass…But he didn’t feel any better. Nowhere close. And he hated it. He hated the feeling of knowing somehow that someone was in danger. He hated it that he didn’t know what to do. He had been getting this sudden urge to go somewhere — a call to help someone — for so many times in 16 years that he had already lost count. Yet he didn’t know what to do.
Chk. Chk.
I still don’t know what to do…
Chk. Chk. Chk.
Frustrated, Kamui tore his eyes from the ceiling and got up from bed, and put his head in his hands. What was it?! What did he have to do to make this feeling go away?!
“Oniichan?” came Sara’s muffled voice. Kamui chose not to respond. Maybe she’ll think he’s asleep or something. Outside, the sister pressed her ear on the door — actually, on the bright yellow “No Trespassing” sign. “Oniichan? Are you OK?”
Chk. Chk. Chk.
“I know you’re awake…It’s only six o’clock. You never sleep this early even if you’re tired.”
Inside, Kamui just wished she would just give up.
“Oniichan?”
“Go away, Sara.”
“A–”
“GO. AWAY.”
Chk. Chk. Chk. Chk. Chk.
There was silence again, and after several more seconds, Kamui grabbed the duffel bag and took out his soccer shoes. They would have to do for now. After putting them on, he stood from his bed and went to his desk, stepped on it, climbed through the window, and jumped diagonally to the tree nearby. His hands held on the nearest branch, and he swung down, landing on the ground with a silent thud. He had done this so many times he could probably do it with eyes closed. Kamui started walking, then smiled a bit, imagining what would be said if Sara were here. She’d probably say “Are you NUTS? Going out for a walk when there’s a storm!” And then he’d say “It’s not raining, is it?” Then she’d say “No, but there’s this thing called lightning that could most probably cook you!” Toriyama Sara. The perfect little sister that could well be Kamui’s older sister as well. Kamui suddenly hated himself for shutting her out earlier.
Kamui lifted his eyes from his feet, and saw that he had reached the “entrance” to their “secret garden”. The garden itself was a long way off, but he and Sara found a shortcut through the shrubery. Kamui gently pushed the leaves away, and walked through “entrance”. After a few minutes of walking an pushing vines and bushes aside, cool air broke through, and Kamui finally reached the clearing. It was, simply, a clearing with two swings on the right, surrounded by trees and tall bushes. It was like being in the center of a grass labyrinth. He, Sara, Aiko and Hikaru usually went there when they wanted to do some stargazing.
He sat on the swing, and pushed himself a bit. If Sara and Aiko can’t make him feel better, then this swing would most probably do the job. Kamui shook his head, smiling, realizing how weird that sounded. The trees rustled as the wind picked up. But amidst the sound of the leaves, Kamui faintly heard something not quite right. He looked up at the trees, strangely feeling someone watching him. He waited for several seconds, getting himself ready for anything. The crisp sound of leaves scratching against each other started to ring in his ears. Kamui’s eyes darted back and forth the surroundings, but he tried to act calm. But then, there were odd shuffling sounds again, this time behind him. Gritting his teeth, Kamui stood up and turned around sharply.
But it was just Sara.
After a moment’s hesitation, she stepped forward and emitted a quiet “Thought you’d be here.”
“Sara, what are you doing here?” If he was being watched, he’d better get her away from there.
“I’m your sister, Kamui, I’m supposed to worry about you.”
He didn’t miss the switch in the names. Sara calling him Kamui in that tone was NOT a good sign. He looked up at the trees again, and, though sensing nothing odd this time, decided it was time to go. “No, as my sister, you’re supposed to bicker with me and annoy me. And my job as your brother is to throw you out my room and put a ‘Keep out, Sara’ sign on my door.” He tried very hard to sound irritated instead of worried. It worked.
“Well, I must be doing a good job, then,” replied Sara, glaring at her brother. But then Kamui suddenly smiled.
“C’mon,” he said, leading a confused Sara towards the way out of the garden.
“Hey…wait a second…” Sara muttered, though she followed her brother anyway. “What’s going on?”
“When we get home.” Kamui said firmly, and began paving his way through the shrubery. Even though the feeling of someone watching — and the one of someone being in trouble — was still there, Kamui would have to think about it later.
————–
Keep going. Aiko told herself. The plan was to get to the soccer field while defending themselves, which was a pretty hard thing to do, for Aiko’s part. Icicles shot from behind and beside her, and ice stalactites threatened to keep her from going forward. Vines shot from all directions, and it was all thanks to Kaji’s sword and Aiko’s daggers that she was yet to be mummified with plants. She had gotten a few cuts from sharp leaves, though. It was really evident that she was the target, and that the two Roses pretty much ignored Kaji.
Now, she was flying ahead of Kaji, so that he could “filter” the attacks from the Roses behind them. The field was very close now. Aiko squinted as she saw something red in the field.
“ARGH!”
Aiko abruptly turned around, and saw that Kaji was hurtling to the ground, his feet caught by a thick bundle of vines. She quickly threw wind daggers at the vines, but the vines were “reconnected” in an instant. Kaji hit the ground with a thud, and one vine suddenly unwound itself from the bundle and went for her. It missed her head by millimeters as Aiko quickly turned sideways, but she swore she felt it hit her hair. Aiko suddenly turned towards the soccer field when a shrill “IYAAAAAAAAAA!” resounded from the field. Yuki! Aiko worriedly looked to the field, and then to Kaji again.
“GO!” he yelled at her, just as the vines pulled him to Haruna.
Aiko lifted her eyes, and saw Maya flying towards her.
“GO!” she heard Kaji yell again.
Aiko nodded and flew to the field, and her eyes widened at what she saw. Flames were scattered on the field, and an igloo-like structure was erected in the sidelines. A guy with short black hair, and looked slightly older than Kaji, was standing there, and on the ground several meters away from him was…
“YUKI!!!”
Aiko rushed to the unconscious form of Yuki, momentarily forgetting her opponents. The Ice Maiden’s body felt hot, parts of her uniform were scorched, and her breathing was ragged. Suddenly, Aiko’s eyes widened, and she generated a shield around Yuki and herself a mere second before thick flames enveloped them. Aiko could only guess that the red thing she saw earlier was in fact Yuki caught in flames.
Yuuji walked towards the two Stars, a bit amused. This novice was a pretty quick thinker. Good. He didn’t want to get too bored. Besides, he wanted to see her face before he inflicted any kind of damage.
Aiko could hear Yuuji’s footsteps coming towards them as the fire intensified. She gritted her teeth, feeling their sanctuary grow hot. She had an idea, but she wasn’t sure it would work. Still, it wasn’t nothing. The second the footsteps stopped, she quickly covered her face with her left arm and dropped the shield, making it surround Yuki alone. In one swift motion, she stood up and threw a punch at Yuuji just as her formerly-ponytailed hair fell loose on her shoulders. Yuuji calmly pushed himself backwards so that the punch didn’t hit him. He was about to counter it, just as Aiko prepared to punch him with her other fist, when he stopped, wide-eyed at the sight before him.
HIME?!
Yuuji wasn’t able to focus more on her face, however, as Aiko’s fist came in contact with his right cheek. Using the momentum, Yuuji got down to one foot and swept Aiko’s legs, and reached for her hands, pinning her to the ground. Once he got a good look at her face, surprise, bewilderment and concern were evident in his features.
“What’re you doing?!” he asked.
Aiko, underneath him, struggled to get out of his grasp. “What does it LOOK like I’m doing?! Get off me!”
“But..Hime-sama—”
“Wha?” Aiko suddenly stopped and stared at Yuuji. “Hime-sama”?
“GEROFF HER, IDIOT!”
Yuuji and Aiko looked up just in time to see Maya collapsing to her knees and holding her stomach. Yuuji jumped off Aiko when Kaji went to tackle him, and tried to hide the confusion written all over his face, but completely faling to do so. Aiko stood up behind Kaji, who was seething by now. And Kaji… well, he didn’t know what to think. Why the heck was Yuuji staring at Aiko like that?
“Watch your back,” Kaji whispered to Aiko. Remembering that they had more than one opponent, Aiko whipped around and saw Maya. Aiko realized that she had never gotten a good look at Maya — heck, she had been running away from her for the last 15 minutes. And now she was close enough (they were now only about 5 feet away from each other), she saw that Maya was a bit young. Definitely younger than Sara. But what caught Aiko’s attention was the fact that Maya was wearing the same face Yuuji was.
Behind her, Aiko felt Kaji lunge at Yuuji, so she made her move herself, and unleashed a wind wave at the girl. But Maya didn’t move, even with the threat of being cut in half! Relief oddly washed over Aiko when vines shot from behind Maya, wrapped around her, and pulled her out of the way.
A few ways away from the girls, flame went against flame. Flaming punches were thrown and dodged, burning spheres flew towards the Rose, while a whip cracked at the Star. Of course, neither of them were affected too much, since both had high tolerance to heat. That’s what Kaji hated most about fighting with Yuuji. He never seemed to win. Oh well, at least Yuuji never did, either.
Haruna had had just about enough of this. She wanted to get this over with and go home. She prepared to jump forward when Maya was suddenly in her face.
“Haruna, what’s going on?” the redhead asked, panic and confusion in her voice.
“Let me GO, girl!” Haruna growled at her as Aiko prepared to attack the two Roses.
“But—” Maya got cut off as Haruna pushed her away. Just before the younger girl hit the ground, though, her eyes widened…
Haruna?
“She is NOT the princess!”
Aiko was just a few meters away from Haruna, and was about to attack her when leaves from the nearby trees shot towards her and engulfed her. She covered her face with her arms, knowing full well that anything Haruna used was sharp. More and more leaves came, and soon formed a wall around her.
“ROOKIE!” Kaji yelled. Come ON! You can do better than this! he wanted to yell at her. What was keeping Aiko from using her full potential? Yuuji threw a punch at him, but Kaji blocked it and caught his wrist. Stepping ahead of his opponent, Kaji reached for the other wrist and caught it, too. But then, Yuuji pulled himself, and Kaji, backward, landing on his back, and kicked the Star upwards. The instantenous pain of the kick made Kaji release the Rose’s wrists, and Yuuji made a break for it.
Aiko opened one eye, and peeked from her arms. She realized that the leaves DIDN’T touch her this time. Her eyes snapped open when she realized: the leaves had surrounded her, and now a narrow hurricane had formed around her. She was in the eye of a twister. She tried flying vertically to get out of it, but for some reason, the wind generated by the leaves won’t let her. There has GOT to be some other way. But before she came up with another plan, she saw Yuuji above the eye. She watched in frozen terror as Yuuji withdrew his hand and released a powerful flame blast directly down at her.
Yuuji held his breath as he watched his attack barrel down the twister. Fight it! he thought. If she really was the princess, she’d use her other powers to get out of this. Man, she’d better or he’ll never forgive himself.
IDIOT! Kaji mentally kicked himself for releasing Yuuji. But it was too late now. Even if he pushed him out of the way, the blast was already released. Still, he ran as fast as he could to the Rose. Suddenly, Kaji stopped in his tracks.
“HAAAAH!” came Aiko’s angry voice from inside the twister.
Haruna’s twister burst in vertical halves. Kaji and the Roses saw that Aiko, arm extended to her side, had unleashed a wind wave upwards, causing Yuuji’s attack to go up back at him, before it even reached her. At the last second, Yuuji jumped sideways, not so much to prevent from getting burned, but from getting cut in half as well, and landed beside an equally stunned Haruna. Aiko sharply turned to face the Roses, her eyes fierce, and her breathing heavy. Lightning forked above her, and thunder clapped loudly.
Kaji landed beside Yuki. Sensing that her ki was still OK, he leaned to check her pulse, and found out that it was still normal. He let out a small, relieved sigh. Yuki had gotten into worse conditions, and even then she had been able to fight and win. He silently wondered what Yuuji did for Yuki to be unconscious so quickly, but decided to ponder about it later. He glanced at Aiko before returning his attention to the Roses. Haruna opened her mouth, but was unable to speak. He grinned. That was smart of Aiko. If she had tried that earlier on, the wind would just go up freely and won’t have had any effect on the twister. What he didn’t know was the fact that Aiko almost had not been able to breathe in there, and that the wind wave was unreleased in a moment of inspiration seconds before she would’ve been fried.
Nobody spoke as the wind blew through the trees. Yuuji’s mind was whirring. This girl used WIND. That means…that means…
What the HELL does that mean?!
“How was that possible? The wind inside should have trapped her in! Whatever wind she generated wasn’t supposed to have ANY effect!” Haruna exclaimed to no one in particular. “The wall was too thick for you to cut! You should have suffocated in there!”
Aiko said nothing. She just kept looking at them, her facial expression unchanging. Yuuji clenched his fists. This would’ve been a great opportunity to take the Angel. Angry as she might be at the moment, she was tired. The Ice Maiden was down, and Fire Soul wasn’t at his best anymore. Not that the Roses weren’t tired, but they could get back-up at his signal. But there were issues that he wasn’t informed about.
“Roses!” Yuuji yelled, then kicked the ground. He was going to have a word with a certain someone.
Kaji watched as the Roses flew away. If it were any other day, he would’ve followed them. But Yuki was unconscious, and Aiko…well, he didn’t want to push Aiko too much. After all, it WAS her first time to fight with the Roses.
“I almost did,” came a quiet voice. Kaji turned to Aiko, and his eyes widened as Aiko dropped to her knees.
“ROOKIE!” he rushed to her side, and put a hand on her shoulder. “You all right?”
“Yeah…” Aiko said, then sighed. Her bowed head didn’t seem to help convince Kaji. He started to consider that Haruna must have done something else to that twister. Aiko looked up at him and tried to smile. “I’ll live, Kaji. I think that blast took a lot outta me.”
“The twister was that strong, huh?”
“Yeah.”
Aiko heaved another sigh, then, after a few seconds, started to get up.
“O-Oei.” Kaji muttered. “Don’t try to walk if you can’t…”
Aiko snorted. “And how do you propose I find out if I CAN walk if I don’t try?”
“…OK… Need any help walking, then?”
“Nah.”
Kaji blinked. She didn’t look tired at all now.Well, that was a speedy recovery. Kaji shrugged and went to Yuki, kneeling beside her. Aiko remained standing.
“How is she?” Aiko asked.
Aiko’s question was answered when Yuki stirred. Blue eyes slowly opened, and blinked just as slowly.
“Yo.” Kaji said, smiling down at her.
“Osu.”
————–
Yuuji paced around the room, every once in a while pausing and looking at the girls at the table. He rubbed his temples in frustration.
“I’m sorry…”
“It’s OK, Haruna.”
“But we lost her today because I didn’t tell you.”
“Well, we can’t do anything about that anymore. We’ll have to wait for the next attack. Just, next time, when you encounter stuff like that, tell me, OK?”
“Hai.”
“This applies to everyone. All right?”
“Hai,” came a chorused reply. Yuuji gave a nod, then sat down. He leaned back, and closed his eyes. Time for the next topic.
“Fuu. Report.”
“Hai.” Narrow dark blue eyes narrowed even more.
“The subject is powerful. But totally unsuspecting.”
————–
It was always a win or a draw. There was never a loss…
The air was cold. It was that time of the morning when there was light, yet there was darkness. The fog was hanging a few inches just above the ground, and dew covered the grass. No sound can be heard. There were no birds in the sky. Not a thing moved. Not a thing breathed. A leaf, seemingly tired of holding on to the branch, finally broke off, and gently fell to its final desitnation that was the ground.
Until it was cut in half.
Yuki put down her lifted arm, the arm from which the icicle that pinned the leaf came from. Inhale, exhale, relax. Relax. A huge drop of water came falling from the sky. Yuki’s eyes flew open darted towards it, and it froze into a tiny icicle, before breaking into a million pieces as it hit the ground. The blue-haired girl stood up as more droplets came. Just as she narrowed her eyes, the raindrops turned into icicles again. Yuki stood up eyes closed, and kicked the ground, then started thowing her own daggers at the frozen rain. She moved as if she were dancing. Turning, twirling. Her arms moving gracefully, yet with power, as icicle hit icicle. Not one fell to the ground in one piece. Turning, twirling. She picked up her pace as the rain fell harder and harder. Yuki was now a blur of blue as she continued her swift fluid movements. Then, as abruptly as she had started, Yuki halted, just as she threw three daggers to the earlier tree.
“ENOUGH!!!”
The icicles reached the ground as soft droplets of a drizzle. Her breathing ragged and head bowed down, the Ice Maiden leaned her hands on her knees. Cool water soaked her hair and clothes, and streamed down her skin.
“What’d the tree ever do to you?”
Yuki looked up to see Kaji, with his usual smirk on his face, standing in the hall. She stood up straight but said nothing, and just kept looking at him with a face that was hard to read. Kaji’s eyebrows furrowed, but he tried again. “Honestly, Yuki—”
“I’m not in the mood right now, Kaji. Sometimes I get tired, too…” she said as coldly as she could, and closing her eyes. For several moments, nothing was said. Then, Yuki’s eyes widened as she felt arms encircle her shoulders from behind.
“I know.” Yuki marvelled at how she could still hear Kaji’s silent voice through the rain. “I know…” he repeated. Yuki felt her chest tighten, and her jaws clenched. She didn’t speak for fear that her voice would fail her. But it was a losing battle. And she knew it.
“Am I that weak now, Kaji?” she asked, her voice shaking. “He did practically nothing, but I was helpless. If you guys didn’t show up when you did…” Kaji’s arms loosened around her, and he turned her around to face him.
“Look at me, Yuki.” The girl shook her head, but Kaji lifted her chin, forcing her to lift her eyes. “The target wasn’t taken. That’s what’s important, isn’t it? Or at least, that’s what I heard you say the last time…” he said with a small smile.
The Ice Maiden, the girl who had been so used to hurt and sorrow…
the girl who had cried so much, she thought that her tears had dried up…
the girl who had thought that she was ice by now to such weak emotions…
The Ice Maiden bit her lip, drawing a coppery taste to her mouth. With a sob, she leaned her head on Kaji’s chest…
And cried…
————–
Next on Blue Star:
Kaji, now living a visible life, experiences how it is to be the talk of “town”. But Yuki isn’t any help at all! Amidst all the fracas, the Roses make their move on a target…
“I have a bad feeling about this…”
Episode 10: Rain
————–
From the Author:
Yuuji kicks butt, and Yuki gets emotional. My goodness, I don’t know if I pulled that one off… I hope I did.
Glossary:
Hime – princess
