“Where IS that girl?!”
Sara munched on her chicken sandwich, and side-glanced Kaji beside her. He was watching the soccer practice, but he looked pretty bored. Sara took another bite, keeping her eyes on Kaji. She watched him yawn, shift his weight from his right arm to the left, then scratch his hair with his right hand. Another bite. Kaji closed his eyes, and for a second, Sara thought he was going to doze off right there beside the soccer field.
“GOAL!”
“Go, Kamui!!!” Aiko cheered beside Kaji. Sara grinned mischievously as Kaji flinched a bit.
“Man, he’s really good, ne?” Aiko said enthusiastically to no one in particular.
“Mmhm…” Sara nodded without looking at her.
Another bite. Kaji sighed and finally looked at Sara, raising an inquisitive eyebrow at her.
“What?”
“GOAL!”
“WAIIII!!!!!! Another one! Yeah! Arayt, Kamui!!!!” Aiko, now standing up, waved at Kamui, who waved back at her.
“Nothing,” Sara said casually. Aiko sat down again with a smile on her face. Sara popped the final piece of her sandwich into her mouth, then smiled at Kaji before turning to the game in the field.
“Ahem.” came a voice above the trio. Sara and Aiko looked up to their left to see Midori, her arms crossed on her chest.
“Hao Midori!”
“Miss Girls’ Track Team Captain,” Midori started, emphasizing the last word. “It seems to me that you are forgetting something.”
“Hm?” Aiko blinked. Midori’s left eyebrow twitched.
“What day is it today?” Midori asked.
“Tuesday.”
“And what do we do during Tuesday afternoons?”
Aiko looked absolutely clueless. Midori sighed. She couldn’t believe that Aiko, of all people, would forget.
“I do believe you got some business at the TRACK field,” Kaji offered.
“AIYA!” Aiko stood up abruptly and ran for the locker rooms. Midori glanced at Kaji, earning herself a glance from him as well, then shook her head and walked back to the oval.
Kaji leaned his arms on his knees. For some reason, everybody seemed to notice him too much today. It happened that morning: Aiko’s brother paused and looked at him before entering his own classroom when they saw each other in the hall. It happened that noon: the group fell silent for a second when he arrived at the table. Now, he knew he and Yuki had been eating lunch with them for the past two days only, but, man, that can tug a bit on your paranoia, even if lunch did go along pretty well. It happened the whole day: he had been recieving (and ignoring) glances from several other girls (which, he hoped, didn’t mean anything) and guys (which, he hoped, wasn’t hostile) in school. And now it’s happening after classes. What was up with everyone?
“You look bored.” Sara commented.
“Because I AM bored.” Truth be told, he was. There was just nothing to do after school. He knew he was supposed to stay at the school while Aiko was still there, but still, he wanted to go to Ran’s, or patrol around, maybe. But noooooo, Aiko told him to stay after school, and hang out. “If you’re going to stay with me in school, then you’d have to get along with the ‘normal’ people,” she had said. Yuki (as well as Ran), to his dismay, agreed with Aiko — though he had no idea where she was right now. Though he was happy that Yuki should be finding something to temporarily take her mind off yesteday’s events, it just wasn’t fair. She had lived like this before she was a Star. Kaji, on the other hand…
“Is it because Ai-chan left?”
Kaji turned to the younger girl. She was looking at him curiously, and Kaji’s impression of her being the conniving, manipulating kid who saw the underlying currents of everything and was too smart for her age, was momentarily reconsidered to be false. She looked like a totally normal 15-year-old girl. Kaji tried to put on an approachable face. Bored as he was, he wasn’t planning to be a hermit any time soon.
“And who gave you that idea?” he said as nicely as he could.
She shrugged. “You like her, don’t you?”
“WHAT?!”
Sara ignored his outburst and made it obvious that she was waiting patiently for his answer.
“Wh…what gave you THAT idea?”
Sara rolled her eyes. “It’s the way you look at her. I’ve seen it a gazzillion times, y’know.”
Kaji turned silent and looked at the field again. Sara fiddled with the grass, and continued talking.
“It’s not unusual to like her… Ai-chan, I mean. She has this weird ability to get everybody to like her without even trying…”
“It’s called charisma.”
“Right. Exactly. She and Oniichan both have charisma. Most people actually think they look great together… I mean, like, together.”
Kaji was silent again.
“That’s why most guys here are jealous of him,” Sara added.
The maroon-haired boy beside her still gave no response.
“She’s pretty popular here, y’know.”
“So I noticed.”
Sara wrinkled her nose. “You’re stressed, aren’t you?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“The short interviews, the quick glances from everyone, the silent whispers… Y’know, being the center of attention.”
“Being under a microscope is what I’d call it.”
Sara smiled. “It always happens when you’re connected to someone famous. Believe me, I know what it feels like. I wouldn’t say I’m in my brother’s shadow, but I was somewhere close. For quite a time, I wasn’t Toriyama Sara. I was ‘Kamui’s sister’. Not that I wasn’t happy being my brother’s sister, but it frustrated me to the core when they called me that more than they actually call me by my name. So I strived to prove myself, and here I am, president of the gymnastics club at my school!”
“Good for you.”
Sara cocked her head a bit. “A man of a few words, aren’t you?”
“Not really. I’m ’stressed’, I suppose,” Kaji replied with a smile. “A girl of many questions, aren’t you?”
“Yes, sir. But definitely not a conniving, manipulating, kid as you might think I am. Although I have to admit, I do try to understand the underlying currents of everything, which most girls my age won’t do.”
“Uhuh…” Kaji said, his eyebrows furrowed. Sara noticed this, but kept smiling at him nonetheless. Kaji just shook his head. This girl is something else. Silence fell for a few seconds, until Sara decided to talk again.
“So…jealous of Oniichan yet?”
“WHAT?!”
Sara giggled. It was fun to catch people off guard sometimes.
“Wait a second! What—”
“6 times!”
Kaji blinked. “What—”
“7 times!”
“Huh?!” Sara was giggling again. Kaji slapped his forehead. “Sara!”
“Ooooh, getting familiar, aren’t we?” she teased.
Kaji grinned. He can play this game. “Would you rather I call you Sara-san? Or maybe Toriyama-san? —Nah, that won’t work ‘coz there’s two of you around— I know! Kamui’s sister, then?”
Sara harrumphed. “I think I’ll stick with Sara.”
Kaji smirked. “Fine by me.”
“You haven’t answered my question yet.”
Kaji hesitated, then said, “No.”
“No, you don’t like Ai-chan, or no, you’re not jealous of Oniichan yet?”
Incredible. And here I thought I got out of that one.
Sara suddenly jumped up to her knees, then pointed at Kaji with a big smile on her face.
“HA! Thought you got out of that one, didn’t you?” Kaji blinked in wonder as Sara stood up completely and put her hands on her waist. “Nope, Sara-chan here has a steel cage for a brai—”
“LOOK OUT!!!”
Sara turned to the source of the yell, but before she saw why someone had to “look out”, she felt herself get pushed to the ground by Kaji. She was about to protest when she saw him, now standing up, jump up and kick a soccer ball, sending it into the goal fast. Sara’s jaw dropped. Judging from the height that the ball was when Kaji kicked it, and the velocity it was going, the ball would’ve hit her head hard. She blinked, then furiously faced the field.
“ALL RIGHT! WHO SHOT THAT?!”
“Cool it, woman, I don’t think anybody meant it,” Kaji said calmly.
“SORRY!” a boy called as he jogged towards them. Sara gaped.
“ONIICHAN?!”
“Yeah, sorry, sis.”
“That’s it?! You almost nailed my head and you casually say ‘Sorry, sis’?!” Sara asked dramatically. “Without even a trace of concern?”
“Hino,” Kamui started.
“He even IGNORES me!!!” Sara wailed.
“That was…that was a great kick!” Kamui was obviously impressed.
Sara blinked. Her brother, Toriyama Kamui, was complimenting Hino Kaji. Wasn’t it just yesterday that her brother most openly admitted his dislike for their sempai?
“…Thanks, Toriyama…I guess…”
“Ever thought of joining the team?” Sara’s jaw dropped yet again as Kaji raised an eyebrow. “You DO know how to play, don’t you?”
“Well, yeah…”
“GREAT! With your reflexes and your killer kick…”
Kaji shrugged. “Yeah, sure, I’ll think about it.”
“Cool. Well, I’d better get back there — Sorry again, Sara — See ya ’round!” With that, Kamui jogged back to the field.
“Well, that was fresh,” Sara commented.
“Yeah…” Kaji said, then reached for his bag. “I gotta go now.”
“OK. Nice chatting with you, sempai.”
“Anytime. See ya.” Kaji then turned and walked away.
“Hino-sempai!”
“What?”
“8 times!”
Kaji shook his head. “Sure, sure, keep counting.”
————–
“I’m home!”
Yuki put her bag on the table, and walked to the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, she took out a pitcher, and poured herself a glass of water. After a few gulps, she smiled as she put the water back to the refrigerator.
“Do you have any plan of speaking or are you just gonna stand there?” she asked. Behind her, Kaji had been silently leaning on the doorpost.
“Welcome back.”
“You’re home pretty early.”
“You’re home pretty late. Where were you this afternoon?”
“I joined the skating club today. D’you cook dinner?”
“Yeah…Call me if you wanna eat already,” he said, turning to go back to his room.
“Oh, hey, Kaji!”
“What?”
“9 times!”
“Great. Not you, too.” Kaji said dejectedly. “Sara told you, hm?”
“Yup. She also told me about how you saved her face from getting flattened,” Yuki said, sitting down at the table, then laughed. “Kamui-kun was going on and on how fast your reflexes were for you to actually push Sara-chan out of the way first, and THEN kicking the soccer ball, and into the goal, too! Strong, fast and accurate. Quite impressive for a guy who’s never played soccer in his life.”
“Yeah, well, being a Star and all, Ran’d clobber me if I wasn’t accurate enough for soccer.”
“I think you should join the team. At least that’ll give you something to do after school.” Kaji just shrugged. “Besides, your rival for Aiko is a soccer player.”
“Now, wait a second.” Kaji said pointedly.
“What, you don’t consider him a worthy rival just because Aiko’s a Star, and you’re a Star, and he’s not?”
“Now see here—”
“Remember that he IS her best friend. I think you’re going to have to work hard to compete against that.”
“YUKI!”
“Woops, careful there, I don’t think it’s wise to burn the house down,” Yuki laughed.
“I’m going back to my room now.”
————–
This was great. Aiko was quite surprised the previous afternoon when Kamui mentioned the idea of Kaji playing soccer. She had never heard Kaji himself talk about soccer, much less seen him play. And earlier today, she was delighted when she saw that Kaji and Kamui were talking more during lunch — as opposed to before, when they didn’t even seem to care if the other wasn’t existing — and now Kamui got to convince Kaji to play goalie for the soccer team. Watching the game with interest, Aiko couldn’t help but smile widely every time Kaji made a great save. The team seemed to be impressed with their new goalie. At last Kaji found something to do after school, and he’s making friends, too!
“I’m glad Kamui finally convinced Kaji to join the team!” Aiko said excitedly.
“It wasn’t Oniichan. It was you.”
Aiko turned to Sara beside her. “What do you mean?”
“I swear, Ai-chan, sometimes you could be so dense.”
“Why is that?”
Sara just shrugged. Aiko was about to try again, when she felt water hit her nose. She looked up, and noted that the skies were dark.
“Looks like rain,” Sara said, getting up. As if on cue, it started to drizzle. The soccer team’s manager blowed his whistle, and everyone started running for the building. Aiko noticed, though, that Kamui was just standing there, looking up at the skies. She told Sara to go on ahead, then ran for Kamui.
“Kamui! What’re you doing? Let’s go!” Aiko said when she was close enough. He didn’t seem to notice her. “Kamui?”
Still no reaction.
“Kamui?” Aiko asked worriedly, putting her hand on his shoulder. Kamui still didn’t look at her. The rain was getting harder, and Sara and Kaji, now under the dryness of the building, shouted for Kamui and Aiko to go inside.
“Kamui, talk to me,” Aiko urged.
“I have a bad feeling about this…” Kamui finally said. Aiko sighed.
“Kamui, concerned as I am, I’d rather that you DON’T ponder about it in the rain. C’mon, you’re gonna get sick. Heck, we’re both gonna get sick.”
Kamui finally nodded, then ran with Aiko to the school building. When they got there, he got reprimanded by his sister, but he wasn’t paying attention. He was still looking up at the sky. Kaji tossed a towel at Aiko, then pulled her aside.
“What’s with him?”
“I dunno. He said he had a bad feeling…”
“Yeah…” Kaji replied, glancing at Kamui. “So do I.” Aiko’s eyebrows furrowed. When Kaji spoke like that, it only meant one thing.
“Roses?”
“Possibly.”
“But… why would Kamui be affected?”
“I dunno…” Kaji said in a monotonous voice. “The last time it felt like this…” he trailed off.
“What is it?”
Kaji looked at Aiko, and then shook his head. “We’ll talk about this later,” Kaji said. “Why don’t you go dry up?”
“OK.” I hate it when he does that.
Kamui worriedly watched at Aiko as she walked away while drying her hair with the towel. The last time he felt like this was…
…the day Aiko almost died…
————–
Kaji ran as fast as he could. He turned around a corner and bumped into someone, making that someone go “OW!” and fall down if he hadn’t caught her wrist. Kaji sighed in relief when he saw who it was.
“Geez, Kaji, what’s the rush?” Aiko demanded, rubbing her nose. “That hurt, y’know…”
“Sorry.”
“Hmph. So, what IS the rush?”
“Uh…” Kaji looked at the ceiling for an answer. He saw the words “Tell her the TRUTH” appear.
“Well, whatever it was,” Aiko was saying. “I guess you could go back and run to it again. Just be careful.”
“Actually, I was…I was looking for you.”
“You were?” Aiko blinked. “OK…Umm…I’m here now.”
“Yeah…right,” Kaji said. Aiko waited for him to continue. “Well, now you’re here, I guess there’s no reason for me to run anymore.”
“That was lame,” Aiko said flatly. “Honestly, Kaji, what is it?”
“Just making sure you were OK…”
Aiko’s face clearly said “HA?!”
“I just…” Kaji sighed, then started walking. Aiko walked beside him. “It’s just…the last time I felt like this was…the day of your accident.”
“THE accident?”
“THE accident.” Kaji shrugged again. “I guess I was just making sure you weren’t in trouble or anything.”
“Oh…Oh, so here we are again with that Mr. Hero attitude of yours. Y’know, my life isn’t exactly in your hands, Kaji.”
“And what’s wrong with trying to protect you?” Kaji said with such a straight face that Aiko blushed.
“Nothing…But you don’t have to try so hard to look out for me…”
“I don’t mind.”
Aiko smiled, and felt herself blushing even more. Thank goodness Kaji was looking straight ahead.
————–
Yuki leaned back in her chair. History was never her favorite subject. She wished Kaji was here already. Not that he was any better than her, but two heads were better than one. She twirled her pencil in her fingers, wondering why Ran-sama sent for Kaji. He sounded pretty serious when he did so… So if it was serious, why is it that she was ordered to stay behind? Why can’t she, Aiko and Kaji all go to the palace? Sighing, Yuki answered her own question. Ran has his reasons. She would just have to have faith that he knows what he’s doing. He knows a whole lot of things that they didn’t, anyway.
Yuki stood up from her seat and walked to her cabinet, getting a sweater. Though she had a higher threshold for coldness, she preferred to be warm. She had just put the sweater on when sounds of glass breaking shattered the silence. By instinct, Yuki turned around and shot icicles at the glass, shattering them to smaller slivers before they hit something. Something like her.
Yuki’s eyes widened as they focused behind the falling glass. Outside her window was a girl with brown-black hair. Her dark blue eyes shot at her. Yuki narrowed her eyes herself.
Fuu.
————–
Kamui walked along the now deserted halls of the school, trying to find Aiko. He was already on his way home with Sara, when he decided to go back and look for her again. After several minutes, he finally convinced her to go home without him. That nagging feeling was tugging at him again. It was the same feeling he had before he saw someone watching them before they drove to Chiba. It was the same nagging feeling he had when they were at his grandparents’ house. It was the same nagging feeling he had just seconds before that truck got out of control.
“Where IS that girl?!” he muttered out loud. He was back at the main entrance again, and still no Aiko. He heaved a rather panicked sigh. He had to at least warn her to be careful. He knew something was about to happen, and he wasn’t about to let it happen without trying to do something, anything.
His thoughts were cut short when felt someone at the end of the hall. And it was definitely NOT Aiko. Sharply turning his head to see who it was, his eyes widened. It was one of them! The dark people! Kamui, with his heart pounding in his rib cage, followed the dark person…
————–
Aiko practically slammed the phone down, and raced for her jacket. Hikaru, who was taking a snack in the kitchen, looked at her curiously.
“Going somewhere?”
“School,” Aiko replied, struggling to put on her rubber shoes. “Sara said Kamui stayed behind to look for me. He doesn’t know I’m home yet.”
“Call him, then.”
“His phone’s with Sara.”
“Maybe he’s on his way home already.”
“It’s been two hours, Oniichan!”
“Chill, Aiko, it’s Kamui we’re talking about. He’s got enough common sense to stop looking after a while.”
“But…” Aiko frowned. She remembered both Kaji and Kamui worrying. Something might be up. “I’m still going.”
“Bring an umbrella!” Hikaru yelled after her. But she was already out the door.
————–
All right, Toriyama, this is it.
This just HAD to be missing link. After this, whatever this is, was over, Kamui would solve the puzzle. He would find out why he was always sensing and seeing the things other people didn’t, he would find out where Aiko was disappearing to recently, he might even find out what exactly happened in the accident. Yes, he had a feeling that this may well be THE answer he had been waiting for. Kamui was excited, yet scared.
He also felt that this afternoon would not turn out well…
The dark person turned around the corner, and Kamui cautiously followed it. He watched carefully as it exited the building towards one of the smaller open fields. Taking a deep breath, Kamui ran for the wide doors, flattened himself on the wall, then peeked outside. But no one was there. He had lost him! Kamui stuck his head out even more, but still saw no sign of the dark one. Kamui swallowed, staring at the field as rain continued to pour in it. He took another deep breath, then stepped out from the dryness of the roof. He saw no one.
But Kamui certainly felt someone. Taking slow steps, he walked to the middle of the field, and suddenly felt like a sitting duck. But, no matter. He was willing to take risks. The wind blew. The trees several meters in front of the building rustled. And Kamui had this all too familiar feeling of being watched. Suddenly, the earth cracked and vines shot out from the ground! Kamui didn’t even have the time to shout “WHAT?!” as the vines took his ankles, preventing him from running. The vines also took his wrists and torso, and pulled him to the ground. Kamui grunted and struggled in his prostrate position. This was insane!
“LEMME GO!!!” he shouted at the rain. “Who are you?! Show yourself!”
Haruna smirked. Let the boy have his wish. She jumped down from the tree, and floated casually towards him. She froze, though, when the boy suddenly stopped struggling. He lifted his head and frantically looked around. He stopped again, then lifted his head again, this time forcing his neck to arch even more. Haruna felt all her blood drain from her face. This boy was looking at her!!!
Kamui almost stopped breathing. The girl looked almost normal. She was wearing a white tee and black jeans. She was blonde. She could’ve looked human except that she was a couple of feet above the ground! And on top of that, she was…transluscent! Was she a ghost or something?!
No way. No way. Nowaynowaynoway.
————–
Aiko’s eyes darted from left to right. Where WAS he?! She gasped as she felt several battle auras flare somewhere to her east. Almost all of them were definitely Roses, except for one who was definitely not Kaji nor Yuki, and it wasn’t a Rose, either. It was familiar, yet unrecognizable. There’s only one way to find out.
Aiko’s ponytailed hair whipped on her back, as she dove for the small field below. She saw Haruna’s blonde head, and someone in uniform lying on the ground. Fear gripped Aiko. Was it an attack on one of her schoolmates? Why is it that she didn’t sense it immediately? She landed a few meters from the entrance to the building, and glared at Haruna. Haruna glared back at her. Aiko noticed — without taking her eyes off the Rose — that the black-haired one on the ground between them struggled to see who the new arrival was.
“Well, well,” a new voice mocked. “Look who came in LATE.” As the sentence finished, lightning came flashing down from the sky and towards the boy on the ground!
“NO!” Aiko screamed. She ran for the boy, arm outstretched. She reached him just in time, flinging herself on him, and clenching her eyes shut. GO BACK!!! she desperately willed the lightning.
Yuki’s eyes widened as she watched lightning hit Aiko. The electricity crackled through her, then shot out again with seemingly greater intensity towards the trees. She heard Haruna scream “YA!” then she saw Kaori falling from one of the trees, and hitting the ground with a thud. Yuki saw that Haruna was in shock…Just as Yuki was herself. What on earth just happened?!
Kamui slowly opened his eyes, quite unsure if it was already safe to do so. He felt the vines on him loosen. He blinked, looking at the girl on top of him, noticing at once that she was transparent like the others. But he also knew at once that she wasn’t with the other girls. She obviously had run from “behind” him. Her head was next to his, and her hands clenched his shoulders, yet her legs were a bit “perpendicular” to his body. In short, her body was arched like an “L” on the ground. She was breathing hard, and her body was tense. Kamui didn’t know what happened to the lightning, but he didn’t really care right now. He needed to get this girl (and himself) out of there.
Hesitantly, he touched her shoulders. “Are you all right?” he asked. The girl, if possible, tensed even more. Then, she pushed herself up with Kamui’s help. Kamui froze as grey eyes met blue.
“AIKO?!” he whispered in disbelief.
“Kamui?!” Aiko whispered in disbelief. He…he can SEE her?! But she was unvisble! Aiko’s train of thought was suddenly cut short when she heard Yuki yell “LOOK OUT!” Aiko stood up abruptly and saw new vines going for them.
But then, she suddenly felt the world spinning, and she was falling, and her vision suddenly blurred.
She didn’t have time to react when she suddenly felt someone grab her from behind and jump to their right. The vines hit the ground, and Aiko faintly heard Haruna yell in frustration. Aiko chose that time to turn around and hold Kamui’s collar roughly. She didn’t dare look at Kamui’s for fear of what she’d see. She gritted her teeth, and, summoning all her remaining strength, threw Kamui to the wall with all her might. He didn’t get that far, but when Aiko’s winds came, he hit the wall with great velocity. He let out a strangled yell of pain when he did so, before collapsing to the ground.
I’m sorry, Kamui, Aiko apologized. If only there was some other way to make you sleep… She trudged to him, and collapsed beside him. It was all she could do in her state: minimize the places Yuki would have to be defending. But why she felt so drained, Aiko had no idea.
Bamboo clashed against ice. With a grunt, Yuki pushed at Haruna, then jumped back. She charged again, swishing her sword expertly. Her sword was blocked by Haruna’s bamboo again, and they were AGAIN in equilibrium.
Darn it! Yuki exclaimed inwardly. If Fuu didn’t attack me this wouldn’t be this hard! I’m freaking tired!
Yuki pushed back again, trying hard not to breathe heavily. She knew she can’t defeat Haruna without collapsing right after. And she didn’t want that. What if Yuuji and Maya suddenly show up? Who would defend Aiko, Kamui, and herself? Just before Yuki attacked again, an idea hit her. She smirked, then stood up straight. Haruna was evidently surprised at her actions.
“Hey, Haruna, are you sure you want to go on with this?” Haruna just narrowed her eyes at her. “You may be able to defeat me, but you’ll be exhausted then. Kaji’ll show up, and Aiko will most likely recover. What’ll happen to you and Kaori then? Kaori’s fried, and Fuu got a big wound from my sword earlier. She’s probably walking back to Deathrose by now.”
Yuki watched nervously — though she did a great job hiding it — as Haruna slowly walked backwards towards Kaori. She tried even harder to hide her panic when Haruna’s lips curved into a smirk.
“This ain’t over,” the Autumn Rose said, picking Kaori up and flying off. When she was far enough, Yuki exhaled heavily. She knew Haruna knew her condition. Thank goodness she agreed.
————–
Yuuji sighed, crossing his arms on his chest. If only that blasted silver-haired moron told them everything they needed to know about the Stars, they’d have a much easier time…
“Lightning, is it?”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to react at once. Kaori shouldn’t have been hurt this bad.”
“It can’t be helped. It’s a strong one if Kaori of all Roses is affected by it.”
“I’m sorry. I messed up again…”
“No. The Ice Maiden has become stronger. She defeated Fuu twice as fast originally, and she inflicted more damage. If you stayed longer, it’s possible that Ice Maiden would have a second wind and defeat you. Or worse, Fire Soul would have arrived. It’s better to stay on the safe side, especially that we have casualties. Your decision was wise.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Yuuji’s lips thinned in the darkness.
Lightning, is it?
————–
Everything was a blur of black and white.
“Kamui?” came a familiar voice.
Kamui blinked several times, trying to let his eyes focus. Man, he felt like hell.
“Kamui?” came the voice again. Kamui’s eyes finally focused, and he saw Aiko worriedly looking at him. “Can you hear me?” she asked.
“Yeah…” Kamui managed to croak out. He looked around, and saw that he was at the main entrance of the school. It was dark already, and the rain had stopped. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. I just found you here on the floor. Man, Kamui, you worried me…Was practice that tiring toda—”
“What happened to them?”
Aiko’s eyebrows furrowed as she helped Kamui sit up. “Who?” she asked slowly.
“Y’know…the dark person and the transparent women!” Kamui told her. Aiko just sat there, surprise written all over her features. Her eyes looked more worried by the second. “You saw them, too, didn’t you? You were there, weren’t you?”
Aiko slowly shook her head. “Kamui…”
“Nonononono…” Kamui said, shaking his head vigorously. “You were THERE, Aiko! Those women used vines of some sort to tie me up, and they were about to gang up on me, and then you came along, and you were transparent, too! And then… and then… and then I don’t know what happened after that…” Kamui said. He looked at Aiko again, who, by now, was looking at him skeptically. “C’mon, Aiko, you remember, don’t you?”
Kamui watched in wonder as Aiko’s facial expression went from skeptical to understanding to something resembling anger. She suddenly stood up, looking at him with narrowed eyes. She harrumphed, then started to walk away. “HEY!” he called out. He scrambled to his feet, then reached for Aiko’s hand. “Hey, what’s—” Aiko just shook his hand off.
“Honestly, Kamui, if you’re going to have hentai daydreams, I’d rather you won’t include me in them.”
“But—”
Aiko rolled her eyes and sighed. “Do you still want to make me believe that you actually saw me and some more women trying to gang up on you? Sheesh! I never thought you’d stoop so low, Kamui!”
“But, Aiko!”
“Don’t worry, Kamui, I’m not mad at you or anything, and you can come to talk to me whenever you want… That is, when you’re done fantasizing.” And with that, Aiko turned her heels and left.
————–
“Oei.”
“Hao.”
Kaji pushed himself from the wall and walked beside Aiko. Sideglancing her, he noticed that she was tired. Quite expected. “So how’s Toriyama?” he asked after a few minutes of silence.
“He’s physically fine.”
“Ah.” Kaji’s eyebrows furrowed. “Physically, huh? Anything unphysically wrong?”
Aiko sighed heavily, saying, “Did we do things right? Making Kamui forget, I mean.”
“Rookie, if you remember correctly…that IS Rule # 1.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Aiko said. “Did we do things correctly? It’s just…He remembers.”
Aiko pulled her jacket tighter around her shoulders as a cold breeze blew. “He remembers everything,” she continued. “From Haruna’s vines nearly strangling him to the Roses’ transparent appearance to the time I arrived. He remembers everything pretty vividly. I tried to convince him that it was all just a dream, but I’m not sure if he believed me.”
“So he saw you guys?”
“Yes… I don’t understand it. He saw us as if he was a Star or something!”
Kaji said nothing. Aiko finally noticed that he wasn’t as surprised as she thought he would be. She looked at him, and saw that his face was a bit dark. Did he know something she didn’t? “What’re you thinking about?” she asked.
Kaji’s head snapped up and looked down at her as if he noticed her for the first time. “Nothing,” he said as a smile broke through his lips. The smile, though, didn’t quite reach his eyes. She was about to speak when Kaji stopped walking. “We’re here,” he said, and Aiko turned around to see her porch. Aiko sighed. That was fast.
“You wanna come in first?” she offered. “It’s cold out here. Wanna have some coffee or—”
“No, thanks.”
Aiko tried to smile. “Oh. OK. See you tomorrow, then,” she said, turning around. Then, her eyes widened as a hand caught her wrist, whirling her around again to face Kaji. Her breath got caught in her throat as his deep eyes searched her own. She felt like she was frozen on the spot. Her heart pounded. She tried very hard to maintain her calm breathing when she realized how close they were. If Kaji bent down a few inches right now, he could…
“Aiko…” he started, his voice husky. Aiko’s heart skipped a beat. He…he called her AIKO?! He had always called her “Rookie” or just plainly “you” or nothing at all! The first and last time she heard him say her name was when they first met!
“Listen to me,” he said firmly. “I want you to be careful.”
Aiko was taken aback. “Huh?”
Kaji cupped her cheek with his other hand. Aiko shruddered slightly. His warm hand made the rest of her body feel very, very cold. She fought to keep her eyes from fluttering shut.
“I know you’re being careful already, but I want you to be wary even more. OK?”
“OK…”
“Go inside now. It’s getting cold,” he said, releasing her and taking a step back. Aiko nodded and turned towards the door. Just before she went in, she looked back again, and saw that Kaji was still there, waiting for her to go inside. Aiko smiled slightly then went in and closed the door behind her. Leaning on the door, she hugged her arms and let out the breath she didn’t know she had been holding. She closed her eyes, trying to process the recent events. Why did Kamui remember? Why was Kaji’s reaction to the news like that?
And why on earth was her heart beating so fast?
————–
Next on Blue Star:
Aiko had known Kamui her whole life, but there’s a side of him that she has never seen… or rather noticed. Two people, two promises. Which will Aiko choose?
“DON’T LIE TO ME!!!!”
Episode 11: Trust
