I take a peek into my room before I step out for school. Oumi lays sprawled out like a tired cat on my bed with a single drop of drool escaping her lips. I walk up to her and cover her with a blanket stuck between the wall and my bed. I guess Oumi is tired enough to sleep without a blanket and pants, knowing I'm here and able to see her.
I start to think about her words from the night of the attack as I tuck her softly into bed. It wasn't the first time that Oumi had said something about our relationship or even confessed that she wanted to hang out with me. She asked me if I really hated her when the same thing was on the tip of my tongue as well.
Yes, Oumi and I have been together for many years, but to this day I'm still unsure of how she feels most of the time. If I didn't know any better I'd say she was still a stranger to me. For the longest time, I've been banking our relationship on our flaws and lately I've started to believe that I should try to get to know Oumi more.
Even as she lays in my bed, snoring soundly like a baby, I still feel so distant from her.
Do I really know nothing about her?
I leave the room quietly and shut the door behind me. Waiting for me by the front door is a wide awake Tae smiling at me almost creepily. She was asleep not even a minute ago. She stands proudly, leaning against the wall next to the front door. In her hands is a glass bowl full of cereal and I watch as she eats like she hasn't eaten in weeks.
Must be a side effect of Kjilmir.
"You're in a good mood," I said. "Something good happen to you?"
"Not exactly," she says, scarfing down the bowl of cereal.
It's a little hard to watch, if I'm honest.
"For some reason, I've been really hungry lately," Tae said, with a mouthful of cereal. "This is my second bowl this morning."
"Try not to eat the pantry while I'm gone," I chuckle, "I want to eat when I get home, too."
She swallows hard and gives me a wide smile.
"For the first time in years," Tae says, "I woke up and don't feel like absolute shit."
"Congrats," I say.
Personally, I got almost zero sleep last night. Hearing that Tae is well rested is like hearing a married couple say they are getting along perfectly. For a second, I started to doubt it, but I watched Tae as she slept and I for one know that she slept like a rock.
"It's good to hear that you slept well," I say. "I know how rare it is for you to get even a wink of rest."
It was the first time I had seen Tae look so energetic. For as long as I could remember, she was always living her life like a lazy house cat, so it was weird seeing a new side of her. Too bad it took her getting possessed by a demon for it to happen, though.
"Well," Tae says, handing me a small metal box. "Have a good day at school, Kei."
I take the box from her hand and look it over before I open it. Inside is a huge load of rice topped with some curry.
"You made me lunch?" I ask, utterly shocked.
"Of course!" Tae beams. "It's the least I could do for the boy who's been taking care of me all this time."
Tae can cook?
"Thank you, Tae."
Tae gives me that smile again before shutting the door behind me. It was the first time that she recognized everything I've done for her. I never thought the day would come, but now that it has I almost don't know how to react. Through all the mixed emotions, I'm able to decipher one of them: I was truly happy.
When I reach my school, I realize how lonely it is to walk without Oumi. As much as I hate to say it, I miss her. A familiar face looks up from a cell phone and waves to me from the gate.
"Morning, Keisuke!" Kagami says, practically jumping up and down.
"Morning," I say "What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for you," she says "I heard Oumi was sick, and I knew you were going to be lonely without her. So I thought that I might as well accompany you in her place."
"Ah," I grunt. "You don't have to."
Kagami pushes her hair out of her face.
"Do you not want me to come with you?"
"It's not that," I mumble. "I'm just not used to people being nice to me."
I don't notice it, but my head droops to face the ground.
"Well, now you have me!" Kagami says, giving me a smile. "I know you don't have a lot of friends, so I'll do the honors of being yours!"
A part of me wants to believe she's just being nice but another part says she just pities me. I don't mean to, but I think I might've made Kagami pity me enough to make her feel obligated to be my friend. I've found that I have this kind of effect on others.
"Thanks…" I say. "It means a lot."
Kagami punches my shoulder and gives me a quick wink.
"Anything for you, Keisuke-kun."
Kagami and I walk to class together the same way me and Oumi would. But when I walked with Kagami I felt different. It was like I was walking around with underwear on my head, the way the other students would point, gossip, and whisper as we walked down the hallway. It especially didn't help the situation when Kagami wrapped herself around my arm, almost drowning my elbow in her bosom.
When we finally reach the classroom, she walks up to the teacher after I sit in my seat. Ten seconds later, Sensei is giving me a thumbs up while Kagami kicks someone out of their desk to sit next to me. She scoots the whole desk over until it's touching mine, lets out a little giggle and rests her head on my shoulder.
For the rest of the day, I'll be convinced the walls have eyes, the way my classmates continued to gossip and whisper.
Kagami looks up at me and smiles again.
"Did Sensei say you could sit next to me?" I ask.
"Yep."
"What did you say to him?"
Kagami winks and sticks her tongue out.
"Just did a little mind trickery," she says, "I told him we were dating."
"Eh?" I grunt. "Why'd you tell him that?"
"If you assert something enough it'll eventually manifest itself."
I swallow hard.
"You believe in that sort of thing?"
"Of course."
Kagami averts her gaze. Her smile fades away.
"I know from personal experience."
Later, Kagami moves her desk right next to mine and talks to me about drama as I eat the lunch Tae made for me. We sit in a triangular shaped assortment of three desks, while Kagami feeds Shiori and the class speculates.
"Aren't you glad I came up to you?" Kagami asks, feeding Shiori a mouthful of rice.
"I guess," I say. "I never thought I'd be aimless when Oumi's not here."
"Eh?"
Shiori swallows the rice and frowns at me.
"So what is your relationship with Oumi?" she asks, expectantly.
I pause for a moment.
"We've been friends for as long as I remember," I say. "People joke and say we're soulmates but I've never thought of her in a romantic way before."
A subtle smile appears on Kagami's face.
"Does that answer your question?" I ask.
Shiori gulps down another mouthful of rice.
"I guess."
Kagami shuffles in her seat.
"It doesn't match what I'm hearing from everyone in class, though," she says. "Rumors say you and Oumi live next to each other, visit each other's houses, and even go on dates after school."
Looks like someone found out. I had hope that maybe the class would believe we were just friends, but after the whole fiasco yesterday I knew it was sort of impossible.
A worrying thought appears in the back of my mind. If someone saw us leave school together, go out for ice cream, and kept following us until we went home, then that person saw the fight between Tae and I.
Before my nerves explode, Kagami takes her chopsticks and grabs a mini sausage cut and shaped like an octopus.
"Want one?" she asks, holding it up to my face.
"I'm fine," I say.
Kagami leans in closer, touching the sausage to the surface of my lips.
"Oh come on," she gripes, "Don't you wanna try my amazing cooking? I spent so many hours toiling away in the kitchen to bring you this wonderful meal."
"I didn't ask you to make me something."
"And yet I made you something anyway," Kagami grins.
I let out a sigh and allow her to feed me the sausage. I chew for a couple of seconds until I notice that Kagami is waiting for a reaction. After a couple seconds, I swallow the sausage and give her a thumbs up.
"It's good," I say "Thank you."
Kagami giggles and picks up another sausage, eyeing Shiori as she lifts it from the box.
At first, I'm convinced I'm going to be force fed another sausage, but I watch in surprise as she feeds it to Shiori.
"Kagami…" Shiori mutters, attempting to reject the sausage.
Eventually, Shiori gives in and eats the sausage whole. Kagami lets out a loud laugh.
"Shiori-chan?" she asks. "Did you just indirectly kiss Keisuke?"
Shiori stares at me the way a serial killer looks at their prey. Suddenly, her entire demeanor changes to that of a murderer.
"What…?"
Kagami giggles again as Shiori's face turns a bright red. In a fit of rage, Shiori spits out the sausage and runs to the bathroom to wash her mouth out with soap.
"She's so sensitive," Kagami chuckles.
Kagami places the top back onto her lunchbox with the chopsticks inside.
"You guys seem close," I say, closing my box as well. "Are we done with lunch?"
Kagami nods.
"Shouldn't we wait until Shiori comes back?" I ask.
"No," Kagami sighs, "Knowing her, she'll be in that bathroom until school ends."
"Oh," I mumble, "Sorry about that."
"You're fine."
For a moment, Kagami and I sit in silence.
"This is good timing, though," she finally says. "I have something I've been meaning to tell you."
"What's up?" I ask.
Kagami looks around the room.
"In private."
Kagami grabs my hand and practically drags me out of the classroom. We head all the way up the stairs to the roof, where Kagami closes the door and locks it.
My heart sinks.
"Kagami…?"
Kagami turns away from the door and walks toward me swiftly. As she walks she starts unbuttoning her jacket.
"I've been waiting to tell you, Keisuke," she says, "but, I just can't hold it back anymore."
I stumble backwards and crawl away from her as she gets closer.
"Kagami…" I say, "Wait a second…!"
Kagami continues unbuttoning her jacket until it hangs like a vest on her shoulders. She proceeds to unbutton her blouse next as she gets closer and closer.
My back hits a wall, causing my head to snap back and smash against it. For a second, I start to feel dizzy. Kagami stops half through unbuttoning her blouse and kneels down before me, falling over into a cat position. From this angle, I could see her cleavage as she crawled over me, her laced red bra just barely holding onto her breasts.
"I know who you are, Keisuke…" Kagami says, leaning over me. "It's about time you get to know me."
Suddenly, she stops crawling and stops when our lips are but inches apart.
"No Kagami!" I say. "Not at school! Kagami!"
Suddenly, Kagami pulls her collar away from her neck, and I have to squint to see what she was trying to show me. My eyes adjust in time to see two red dots situated on the base of Kagami's neck.
A gasp escapes my mouth.
"That's right, Keisuke," Kagami says, licking her lips. "I'm a vampire."
My eyes widen.
"Just…like…you."