Daisuke was awaken by the pounding of the door. When he turned over to see what time it was, he saw it was five thirty. It was too early for him to join the girls, but he walked to answer the door anyway. He rubbed his eyes as he gripped the icy cold handle of the door. All he had on was a white T-shirt and some boxers, but he didn't care. He opened the door as he finished rubbing his eyes.
"Hello?" he asked, as he saw Yuri and Kori.
"Get ready, you only have half an hour." Yuri demanded. "We're going to the cafeteria to get some early breakfast. Meet us there. And put some clothes on!" she yelled.
As they walked away, Daisuke couldn't see how any more pointless Yuri could be. He had an alarm clock. She didn't have to slam on the door to wake him only to tell him to take a shower and get some clothes on. Either way, the alarm clock had just gone off as soon as he closed the door. He figured he might as well take a shower.
He turned on the hot water, and left the bathroom, waiting for it to warm up. He looked outside of the balcony. He looked at the tree with the target. He started to walk towards the bathroom, and then quickly turned around to fire an arrow at the target, which hit the bull's-eye. He felt like he was going to have a good day today.
After his shower, he met the girl's in the cafeteria like they said, and found them finishing breakfast. He grabbed a bowl of cereal, which was a real treat in Japan. Cereal didn't come cheap with the shipping internationally to a small country. He sat down, and started to eat quickly, trying to catch up with the girls before they pulled him away from his food to join them. Luckily, he finished around the same time they did, and the three left to head over to the hallways.
"Where are we going?" Daisuke asked.
"Well, me and Raine enjoy a good morning's work out. We do kendo for a couple of hours."
"All five of you? Even Deíji?" Daisuke tried imaging Deíji trying kendo, and couldn't help but crack a smile.
"Deíji just studies the art of Kendo. She's an observer."
"But the rest of you do kendo? Even Uri?"
"Momo? Yeah. She's not as good as Raine or Yuri, but she's pretty good." Kori explained. "Have you ever tried kendo before?"
"Nope. I've never really gave it much thought. I thought it seemed too disciplined for me. It didn't seem like something I would enjoy."
"Well, I guess we're going to teach you."
"Well, I know the rules, I just don't know the techniques you guys do."
"Doesn't mean we're going easy on you." Yuri said.
"Wouldn't have it any other way." Daisuke replied with a grin.
After they had gotten ready and had their wooden swords, they were sent to the gym where two mats where. The mats were both about fifteen-foot radius. Kori sat next to Deíji. Daisuke guessed it was because of a one-on-one thing, and there were only two fighting couples.
Momo had looked a little girl who had just made a new best friend. She held her wooden sword behind her head, and she rested in her position easily.
"This is going to be fun!" she exclaimed.
"It'll only be fun if you don't go easy on me." Daisuke said.
"Not a problem, captain!" she said, and she came to a samurai-like stance. She held her sword out, and her expression grew focused and serious. Daisuke held his sword like a thug held a baseball bat before a fight. Momo charged at full speed, and swung as hard as she could. Daisuke raised the sword and held it with both hands, and deflected the blow. Three more quick shots were made, and they were all deflected by Daisuke. An overhead swing was made, and Daisuke duck underneath it, and jerk his sword, where the tip had stopped right before her neck, defeating her. The two had been panting, and the only noise in the room were the clanking of Raine and Yuri's fight.
"That went by pretty quick." Kori said to Deíji with a grin. "Hey, Momo! Mind if I give him a try."
"Go ahead. But he's pretty good for a newcomer. When he says don't underestimate him, he means it."
"I'll try not to." Kori said, stepping into the ring, where Momo took her place. Kori got in the same samurai-stance, but with a grin. "Don't stick to defense, because I plan on not attacking until you do."
"Fine by me." Daisuke said.
In a flash, he was in front of her, his arm releasing the cocked arm to attack. Kori hardly saw him come up to her, and the attack threw her off guard. The sword's collided, but Kori didn't have much grip on it as she wanted to. It took almost all her focus just to keep the sword from slipping out of her hands. But Daisuke kept swinging, harder and faster, making it harder for her to regain grip. To try and regain control, Kori had to try to move backwards. And with every attack, she felt more to move back. Until Daisuke stopped swinging. She regripped her sword and grinned.
"That was a mistake." She said.
"No. Moving backwards was a mistake." He said, pointing to the ground. When Kori looked, she was off the mat, completely. She lost by going out of bounds.
"What did you do that for?" Momo taunted. "That was so careless."
"My mind got distracted." Kori said, pulling up a chair next to Momo. Raine and Yuri's fight had just ended, and Yuri had won this round. "Hey, Raine!" Kori called. "Try fighting this kid right here. He's pretty good."
"I doubt that." She said. "You guys think that Ryoko is good at fighting. She's nothing compared to Yuri."
"Try him." Momo said with a grin that said, "I-dare-you".
"Fine." She entered the ring. She didn't even need talk, but rather started to attack Daisuke, which threw him off guard. She swung, and he had deflected everyone, but losing his grip with every blow. Until he had seen a large blow coming, and prepared for the worse. He held his sword tight, and felt the blow bring him back. He felt his feet skid on the ground, and looked forward to see Raine a couple of yards in front of him.
"Wow. That's pretty good." Daisuke said with a compliment. "Say, is it illegal to dodge an attack?"
"No. Why?"
"Oh. Okay. Just making sure."
Daisuke started to charge. But before he could get a swing in, Raine already did. He blocked again, and quickly retreated back a little. So that's how she played. She hated defense, so if someone tries to attack, she'll strike and throw them off guard. Which she did.
Raine's blows were growing fiercer, but so was Daisuke's blocking. Eventually, he dodged an attack, which didn't seem like he would dodge. It seemed so much easier to block, but he moved out of the way, and swung his sword, where she miraculously blocked. But as she blocked, Daisuke's legs met behind Raine's and he made a quick sweep, and she fell. AS she fell, Daisuke's sword's tip had followed her throat the entire way, and stopped where she had.
"Pretty good." Daisuke said, helping her to her feet. "That was kinda fun."
"Yeah." Raine said, giving him a weird look. "I'm going for a smoke. Make sure that nobody comes, will ya, Kori."
"No prob."
Daisuke noticed that when she spoke, Raine had seemed angry. Daisuke wondered what could have made her so upset.
"You know, besides Yuri, you're the first person to ever defeat Raine in kendo in her entire life. Well, anyone that hasn't been her sensei." Deíji said.
Daisuke didn't say anything. Now he knew why she had been so ticked off. She had been defeated in something she had possibly completed perfection in, and she was completely destroyed by a person who had never even done kendo before.
"Let's go." Yuri said quietly, in a harsh tone as she walked past him toward the mat he was using.
"What?" he asked.
"You heard me. We're doing this. Let's go."
"Are you sure you–"'
"I said… let's go." She said, angrier than ever. She had been acting the way that Raine should have been acting. Her eyes were hard and determined.
"You ready?" Daisuke asked, but she didn't give a reply. She only held her sword in the stance as everyone else.
She charged, and when she made her first, Daisuke swore he had seen tears fling off her cheeks. She charged quickly, and swung quicker and faster than Daisuke thought was mortally possibly. Sure, he wasn't immortal, but he was right next to it, and he was having trouble. She had struck with rage, and a pissed off mood.
Daisuke moved out of the way of a swing, and turned the defense into an offense. He started to swing at the same speed, but she was always a step ahead of him, and turned it into her offense. After a couple of times of the turnover game, Daisuke retreated back, but she followed after him, trying to strike him. She was trying to hurt him. She swung from up to down, and missed Daisuke. When she hit the mat, dust partials had departed even the walls. Her strikes were hard, and if Daisuke was to get hit by one… he didn't want to think about it.
Eventually, Daisuke was growing tired, and had to think of something quick, before he was hurt. He ran as far as he could from Yuri, who still chased him. He only had one shot at a plan he thought of, and he was going through with it. He tossed his kendo stick as hard as he could towards her. It bounced off her kendo stick, which she lost grip to, and it flew out of her hands. As she saw the sticks fly, Daisuke ran as quickly as possible, and grabbed her throat. He tripped her, and threw the momentum on her throat until she hit the ground. Daisuke held the other hand open, and kendo stick fell into it, where he pointed the tip to her face.
Yuri's panting went from thick, heavy, and angry, to normal and tired. Her eyes changed dramatically. She was no longer angry. She was herself again. Daisuke released her, and the two got off the ground. Daisuke excused himself to go change his shirt, which was all sweaty from practice. But Yuri stayed on the ground.
Yuri's eyes were weird. They had seemed deranged, possessed. As if a demon soul was inside of her. She seemed more angry than a normal person looked. Daisuke wondered if he should watch her carefully for the next couple of days. Maybe see if she was something unworldly. Her movements were something a person shouldn't move like. In fact, while he was in his room, Daisuke would grab Gi. Maybe he knew a little something or two.
"That's not possible." Kori said. It had been five minutes since the fight, but Yuri remained the ground, now no longer panting. She seemed to be thinking seriously about something, probably picturing the fight in her mind. "it's not possible that somebody who had never used kendo defeated these two."
Raine had just come back in, with her eyebrows raised as she saw Yuri on the floor. Raine smelt like smoke. God, Kori hated that smell, but it was what Raine did when she was pissed. It wasn't really an addiction. When she said she could have stopped at anytime, she meant it. It was the first time she had a smoke for two weeks.
"She lost, too?" Raine asked.
"Yep. It was interesting. Probably the longest out of us." Momo said.
"How'd she lose?"
"Daisuke tossed his sword, and it hit hers, and he tripped her to the ground. What was really cool was, the second after he had her pinned to the ground, Daisuke caught a sword without thinking about it, or at least it looked like that."
"You sure you're not smoking anything?" Raine asked. "That seems a little, you know, unbelievable."
"That's what I said when I saw it!" Kori said. "It was insane."
"Not you, too." Raine complained.
"It's true, Raine." Deíji said. "I've documented everything." She said, holding a camera.
"What are you doing with that?" Raine asked. "When did you get a camera."
"I've had it." She said. "My father was big on memories, even if they weren't his. Besides, mother wanted to know what my school was like."
"Anyway," Raine said, shaking her head. "Let me see it."
Deíji showed the entire fight, and when she saw it, Raine's eyebrows raised. She was speechless at the moment.
"That's not humanly possible." Raine said.
"There's something weird about this Daisuke guy." Kori said.
"And that's why he has to stay with us for the rest of the day." Yuri said, coming over. "I say we watch for any suspicious activities. That' what I've been saying since day one."
"Yuri's right." Momo said. "He doesn't seem to talk too much. And he hardly eats anything in cafeteria. Perhaps…" Mom left off, thinking, and leaving the girls in suspense. "He's the curse of the sacred Noh masks of Kyoto!"
"Momo, quit joking around. We're serious." Yuri said. "This kid is unnatural, and I want to catch him in the act."
"What do you suppose we do?"
"Well, as soon as he gets out of the shower, we divide up, and then we…"
Daisuke felt nice after taking a shower. As soon as he got out, he read the clock, 7:02 AM. It was still early in the day. He hoped the girls didn't catch on to anything in the gym. He had liked competition a little too much, whereas he could forget that his strength was a secret.
"Hey, Gi?" Daisuke asked as he put on his pants.
Gi got out of a cuddle position that a small four-legged mammal put itself into. He looked up at Daisuke who was now putting on a shirt.
"Do you have any info on Hotomutsu Yuri?" He asked.
"What would ya like to know?"
"Strength, Spirituality, Special, you know. The basics."
"Strength: 87 Spirituality: 210 Special: Up close combat."
"Her spirituality is 210? Are you sure that's not a typo?"
"It's no typo. Just because you have a lot of spirit doesn't mean you know how to use it."
"And her strength is 87? She's as good as I was back three months ago. Is she a Demon Hunter?"
"Not that I know of. She could be a new recruit."
"How long did it take before DHA noticed me?"
"When you were eleven years old."
"That was three weeks since my first fighting." Daisuke said.
"Yeah, we find things out relatively fast." Gi said.
"Do think there's a chance at her being a Demon Hunter?"
"Maybe. Unless she's not a demon herself."
"But she looks human." Daisuke replied.
"Yeah, but demons can take the appearance of humans. Didn't the demon you faced on the roof of that hotel human looking."
"Besides its ears and eyes, yeah."
"Some demons look exactly human. Usually, the reason is because they can't hold a demon form without being seen by human eyes, or they want to spy on their enemy. It's not all that hard, actually. Plus, the more human your demons looks, the deadlier it is said to be."
"So, you're saying that she might be a demon."
"I'm just throwing out possibilities. It's only a maybe. Either way, you might have to keep a close eye on her. The more time you spend with her, the better."
"But she hates me. How am I suppose to hang out with someone who hates my existence."
"Well, if you'd like, I can always peek on in there."
"You're the opposite of me, right?" Daisuke asked with a concerned face.
"Yeah, why?"
"Then you a'int going anywhere near woman. I'm not a pervert, which means you must be."
"You're pretty good. If you'd like, I can order another DSC."
"A what?"
"A Demon Slayer Collaborator. That's what I am. Or as Hatchi had called me, a Demon 411."
"I can have more than one?"
"Yes. You can have up to three, different personalities if you'd wish."
"Whoa, cool. Well, if you can get me one that acts like me, I think that might be for the better."
"Alright. It should be here in three weeks."
"THREE WEEKS!"
"Yes. It's a very complicated delivery service and it's hard to make DSC's. Just deal with it for a while."
"Fine. But if there–" there was a knock at Daisuke's door. He held out his index finger, telling Gi to be quiet and to hold a on a second. Daisuke walked to the door, and opened it. When he looked, all he saw was Raine. He looked down the halls and didn't see the others.
"Where are–"
"They've decided that we should get to know you personally. You have two hours to spend with us."
"Each?" Daisuke asked.
"Do you have a problem with that?"
"No, not at all. We'll be in time for cram school by the time we're done."
"That's the plan."
"Okay. So, I'm guessing you're the first person I come along with."
"You guessed right, baka."
Baka? The Japanese word for "Stupid" or "Idiot"? Well, it was better than a large list of things. He went to get a sweatshirt, and then stepped outside and closed the door. As he did, he tried reaching Gi telepathically. Gi? I need you to follow us, okay? Tell me if you sense any demons around, got that?
Yeah, sure. Have fun on your date
It's not a date! They want to get to know me, and I want to get to know them. That's all it is. It's a, "Get-to- know".
So, in other words, a date
"What's wrong?" Raine asked. "You seemed a little upset."
"Nothing. It's just my pet."
"You brought a pet with you? You know that's against the rules right."
"What? Really?"
"Yeah. Your not suppose to hold animals anywhere in this school. You better not get caught."
"So, does that mean you're not going to tell."
"Me? Tell? I hardly talk, why would I even bother telling on you. You're nothing but a waste of words." She paused for a moment, and then, as if she forgot to add something, she did. "Baka."
"You know, for one who doesn't talk a lot, you sure are getting along talking to me, aren't you."
"I'm only getting to know you because we all think something's wrong with you."
"I'm gay, aren't you?"
"No. Physically wrong with you."
"I get turned on by guys. Isn't that wrong?"
"You know, for a gay, you don't act very… gayish."
"How would you know how a gay should act?" Daisuke asked.
"My brother is one." She said flatly.
"Oh." Daisuke could feel the heat rushing to his face, making him blush in embarrassment. "Sorry."
"It's nothing." She said.
Daisuke looked around. He noticed that they were leaving the campus, and were heading to the edge of the school towards a forest.
"So, how old is your brother."
"He's my age. My twin. Fraternal."
"So, he doesn't look anything like you?"
"No. But people think you have to be identical to know what the other's thinking, but that's not true. Me and my brother can finish each other's sentences all the time. Not that we don't have our own arguments or anything, because we do. But, other than those times, he's a really cool guy. Somebody I can really rely on." Raine stopped herself, realizing she was getting deeper than she meant to get. "So, what's it like in your family?"
"Well, I'm an only child, and I live with my dad."
"What happened to your mom? Divorce."
"No." Daisuke said sadly. He could feel the bitterness of that day all over again. It was just as strong, but he tried bearing it. "She died in a car crash."
He figured he would tell her what everybody thought happened. It didn't make sense to make her think he was crazier than she already thought he was. She looked at him with concern. But she was too quiet, too badass to say, "I'm sorry" even if she wanted to. As if the words didn't exists in her vocabulary.
"Yeah," Daisuke continued. "I hung out with my dad since I was ten. I don't really talk to him much anymore. The only time we talk is to argue, most of the time. Either he's at work or on a date, or I'm out with the guys or in cram school."
"Your dad's dating?"
"Yeah."
"How do you feel about that?"
Daisuke and Raine had come across a little river that flowed downhill and a little bank of grass fairly close to the rushing waters. Daisuke and Raine had taken a seat in the grass, and just relaxed. Daisuke thought about her previous question so he could answer.
"Well, personally, I think it's way too soon. I'm not over her yet. I still feel like there's something I can or should do before I can move on and only think of her as a memory. I mean, she was my mom. Nothing is going to replace that. When my dad was in business trips, my mom and I hung out at the park, or in the closest museum. My mom loved museums. She loved art and history and a little bit of science. Learning was my mom's best friend when she was alive. And she wanted me to be best friends with that."
"Do you pass that on?" Raine asked.
"I guess." He said with a shrug.
"Well, what High School did you get into?"
"Only Dokio High. I was third in the whole school."
"Dokio! Third highest grade!? Are you serious!?" she yelled. "Dokio is famous for being the toughest and greatest school for your child to get in all over Japan and Australia if you're interested in Japanese like me."
"Really? Well, it's not that hard. But probably because I know a lot of facts thanks to my mom. She pointed out things I don't think I would have found out from here now if it wasn't for her."
"You really miss her, don't you?"
"Yeah. A lot."
"I can understand. My whole family had mourned for my grandfather for four years. But, he died an old age, and he was ready to go. He wouldn't want us to mourn for him. Although, your mother was in an accident. She most likely didn't want to die yet. So, your mourning is longer than you wish. You feel like you need to complete something before you move on."
"Yeah. That's exactly how I feel."
"What is that thing? You know. The one you're hunting."
"Sorry." Daisuke said standing up and gave her a smile. "That's my top-secret thing."
"Fine. I see how it is. You keep some things to yourself, and I'll keep some to me. That's fair."
When their time was up, they had headed back to campus. Daisuke didn't think he would learn as much as he would with Raine. She had once been a young model for a little girl's magazines. That was her mother's only reason to love her. When she found out that her mother didn't only love her for who she was, her initial idea was to learn Japanese to curse her mother out. But when she learned about the culture, she grew interest in it. And this was all in the fifth grade. But one thing lead to the next. After all the anime and manga, she started to seek out Japanese friends, who had taught her how to speak the language fluently. And then she showed her father, who had walked away on his mother and her, and showed him a school she wanted to go to in Japan. She said that if she went there, she might forgive him for what he did. Ever since he left, he had felt sorry, but her mother had always shoved him out of the door before he could explain. Hearing that his daughter would put such a small price compared to his burden meant so much to him, that he had signed her up for the rest of middle school, high school, and half of her four year college application. Compared to Daisuke, she lived a fairly tough life.
When they returned to the campus, they saw Deíji waiting in the middle of the quad, just sitting on the edge of a fountain. She looked deep in thought, but the presence of the two had snapped her out of it.
"Are you ready to take him?" Raine asked, pulling out a cigarette.
"Only if you're willing to let him go for a while." Deíji teased.
"Maybe." Raine teased back, with the cigarette tip in her mouth, and was now searching for her lighter in the back of her pants.
"Alright." She said, and Raine left as she found her lighter, and Daisuke could smell the flicker of smoke that came out as she exhaled after a long drag. Daisuke looked at Deíji when Raine was at a far distance away.
"So, what do you want to do?" he asked.
"Do you like books?"
"Yeah." He said. He didn't think anybody would ever ask that question to him in his entire life. "Why?"
"I know this nice bookstore in town. It has a café, and pretty large selection of books."
"In town? We're aloud to leave campus?"
"Yeah. It's Saturday. We just have to be back here for our cram school. It's actually pretty nice to get out of the school once in a while."
"How do we get there? I mean neither of us can drive."
"The bus." She said with a smile.
Daisuke had hardly noticed how nicely she was dressed. A thin, sleeveless blouse with a mini skirt. Her bangs were grown out, and it covered as much as Daisuke's hair covered. She was attractive, Daisuke knew that much. There was no way in the world no guy would have thought that at that second.
"Why are you blushing?" she asked, getting closer to make sure her thought were correct.
"I-I'm not." Daisuke said as he started to walk away. "Let's go get that bus."
"Um, Daisuke?" she asked, and when he looked at her, she was pointed the opposite direction he was heading. "The bus station's that way."
"Right." He said, and started walking toward the right way. They walked to the bus station, and got a ride. The station wasn't too far from the school. Perhaps a half a mile. When they boarded the bus, it was jammed pack, and they had to stand. But luckily, by the next stop, two seats were open. But from there, nobody got off, only more people getting on. Daisuke had let Deíji have the window, so people were standing next to him. And with people holding on to the railing above, their arms were lifted, which meant it was a half an hour ride of sweating fat guys armpits. Daisuke didn't think he could hold his breakfast down with this. Luckily, the ride went a little faster than it was suppose to, and they busted out of the bus when they had the chance.
"Whew." Daisuke said as he took in a deep breath of clean air. He had to support himself with his knees as he leaned over. "That was gross."
Deíji smiled. She had known of the torture he had to go through in the bus. She herself had smelt it, even from a somewhat far distance. But she couldn't imaging being as close as Daisuke was.
"Are you ready?" she asked as he stood up.
"Yeah. Lead the way."
They walked a couple of blocks before finding a bookstore no larger than an average supermarket. Daisuke was amazed how big it was for only books. Sure, it had a small café inside, but it was still pretty big for books. But nowhere near as close as their school library. They walked inside and went into the café, were the two had just wanted an ice cream cone. They sat down at the tables in the sunlight.
"So," Deíji started. "Are you sure you've never done kendo."
"Positive. Why do you ask now?"
"Well, I'm still pretty amazed that you were able to defeat Raine and Yuri on your first day."
"So was I." He said shrugging his shoulders. "It was kind of weird. I mean, it was like everything was moving in slow motion for me, and I was the only one doing things at normal speed."
That's exactly how things felt when he fought a demon that was at average speed. Daisuke was the master of speed, or so he thought. Nothing was too fast for him.
"Sounds kind of cool."
"You know, for somebody who likes to read a lot and supposedly keeps to themselves, you sure do talk a lot. I didn't expect that from neither you nor Raine."
"Well, I guess when there's a subject to talk about, I'm open."
"So, where were you from?"
"I was born in Korea as my family was on vacation. My family jokes that I'm the 'Korean baby'." She smiled. "How about you?"
He told her the same thing that he had told Raine. She seemed to soak up the words he spoke in their conversation. She seemed really interested in what he had to say, and he was interested in what she had to say. They chatted for ten minutes straight before heading into the book section of the place.
"So, do you have any siblings?" she asked they headed down an isle.
"Nah. I'm an only child. My mother wanted to have other kids, but…" he didn't really like talking about his mother, but he knew he was going to have to.
"But…" she asked, but then realized he may have not wanted to bring back old memories. "Never mind. You don't have to tell me if you don't–"
"She died in a car crash. Tires popped, front of the car went over edge, her half broke off the half that had supported her to the ground, and she fell into the ocean where rocks were sticking out and waiting for her."
"I'm so sorry." She said.
Daisuke actually hated that sentence with every time he spoke this tale. He hated the pitiful look that people gave him. He hated feeling angry and sorry felt. He hated the reminder that his mother was gone. He hated it all.
"So, do you have any brothers or sisters?"
"Six of them." She said.
"Six?" Daisuke asked, feeling very surprised. Normally, people in Japan hardly had two kids, let alone six. "Mom says that she couldn't get dad off of her, and dad just smiles." She said smiling about it, remembering every little detail of when she was told that.
"Isn't it hard to live with that many people?"
"Sometimes. But most of the time, it's pretty fun. Except…" her smile altered into a frown.
"Except for what?"
"When my sister comes to town."
"Your sister."
"Yeah. Every time she comes back from Tokyo, she has news of her great, perfect life. And my parents know she's perfect. Every time she comes over, it's 'why can't you be like Sunji,' or 'hope that you become as successful as our sister some day.' I'm sick and tired of it. I'm nothing but some thing that's suppose to follow my sister's footsteps."
"Why don't you tell your parents that?"
"I'm already barely getting a decent grade according to my family. Disobedience or talking back isn't in my best interest at the moment."
"That must suck."
"That's why I wanted to come to this school. So my parents wouldn't have the chance to yell at me in person."
"So, you're basically running away from your troubles?" he asked.
"It's not like that… it's complicated."
"Sounds an awful lot like denial to me."
"You don't understand." She exclaimed. "I'm not even a person in that family. I'm more like a shadow. I've never really meant anything to my parents. All they care about is me being as successful as my sister."
"Why don't you be better? We settle for equal?"
"What?"
"What do you love to do? More than anything in the world?"
"Reading."
"Do you like writing?"
"Almost as much as reading." She replied.
"Than become successful in that. Become a great writer. It doesn't even have to be books. I know of plenty people who know how to draw, and just need a decent story. You could make a lot of money."
"You really think so."
"Yeah. And if nothing else works, I guess you could marry into a rich family." He teased.
"Thanks, Daisuke."
"Now the next time you see your folks, I want you to sit them down, and talk to them. And don't let them interrupt you or leave the room until you're completely finished with what you have to say, you got that?"
"Doesn't sound easy."
"Nothing that worth anything is easy. That's why you have to work at it."
"You're right, thank you." She said and she looked out the window, the bright sun reflecting off her face. Was it just Daisuke's imagination, or was she blushing just now? Either way, everyone thought Daisuke was gay, so he couldn't make a move on her at the moment anyhow.
The remainder of the time, they had looked around in he bookstore, just talking about books and authors and poetry. When their time was almost up, they went back to the station to get back to the school property. On the way there, the bus was quiet and completely empty besides the two and the bus driver. The tourists were all in town now, and there was no traffic until sundown. On the way there, Daisuke felt a slight pressure on his shoulder, and when looked to see what it was, he saw Deíji fast asleep with her head resting on his shoulders. The feeling that had rushed through Daisuke was a feeling he hadn't felt since his mother died.
"So, let me get this straight." Daisuke said as he closed the door. "You think I'm gay?"
"That's right." Kori said with a smirk on her face as she laid down on her couch.
"I'm as straight as an arrow." He defended.
"Don't kid yourself."
The two had been in Kori and Yuri's dorm. Yuri had gone out to do some shopping. Well, she had been out. They had been with her for the most part, but the whole situation with him being actually came up, and the two had been at the argument for the last hour. They were asked to leave the store because they couldn't be quiet, so they headed to Kori's dorm.
"I'm dead serious. I'm as straight as you!" he said.
Kori cocked a brow, seeming amused. Then she shrugged her shoulder, as if she was somewhat believing him. She stood up and walked to him. She looked him dead in the eyes, and Daisuke looked back at her with a defensive look. Her cockiness drove Daisuke crazy sometimes. Her eyes looked like she could take Daisuke on anytime.
All of the sudden, Kori grabbed Daisuke's face, and pressed her lips against his. Daisuke was surprised, that was for sure. He wasn't expecting this at all. He figured she would break off at any second to prove him wrong. He would say exactly what he would if people thought he was straight. But she didn't let off. Her arms slithered around his back, and pulled him down, where the two landed on the couch. Her tongue had found way into his mouth and their two tongues had gotten to know each other very well.
Then Daisuke quickly jerked back, standing, and backing up, wiping his mouth. He panted, and saw Kori stand up, looking somewhat satisfied. But satisfied with what? He hadn't said anything to make him appear gay. He hadn't done anything, either. Was she satisfied due to that fact that they…
"What the hell was that about!?" he shouted.
"What are you so upset about?" she asked, walking closer to him. "I thought you were straight."
"I am."
"Then, why are you so shaken up?"
"Well…" Daisuke said, still panting a little. His eyes lit up, trying to say what he wanted to. Kori looked at him with her grin. But then it faded. Her hand found its way up to her mouth and her eyes were deeply amused. She looked hysteric, disturbed, and entertained all at the same time. She had understood what Daisuke wanted to say to her.
"Oh, my god. Was that your first kiss?" she asked.
Daisuke didn't say anything. She couldn't help but bust up laughing. She held her stomach to gain control of her balance. When she was done, she shook her head.
"You're kidding, right?"
"Shut up."
Daisuke had usually been fighting demons, hanging out with his friends, or studying. His life had taken up so much time, he had never even thought about girls much. Sure, there was the everyday encounter, but he had never thought about ever getting serious with one until recently.
There was a girl at his school who he had developed a little crush on: Biotsu Yuki. She was an average student that went to his school, but she was the only girl who ever made it an effort to talk to him. He usually blew girls off, thinking they were just a giant conspiracy to mix with your emotions, even if they were desirable. But Yuki had tried proving him they were just the opposite. People who were sensitive and needed a lot of loving.
He had grown attached to her, and was going to ask her out, but then the whole thing with him "being gay" had turned that all against him.
"So, what is it?" Kori asked. "Are you really gay, or was that your first kiss?"
"What does it matter to you?" Daisuke asked.
"It's not just me who wants to know." Kori smiled. "The whole school is wondering if you're really gay. You say your straight, but I haven't seen you with the glare of a lustful eye, or seen a single clue of porno in your room at all. It's like the female race is something irrelevant to you."
"Fine. You know what? You stole my first kiss." He admitted. "I had imagined doing it with somebody else. Actually, I kinda promised that person…"
And this was true. Yuki had tried kissing Daisuke once. But he said, very nervously, that he wasn't ready for it yet, but he would wait for the right moment. But that was never going to happen now. Both the fact that he was a couple hundred miles away, but also Kori stole it.
"If you had never even kissed a girl before, how could you consider yourself straight?"
"What do you hope to accomplish by even asking these questions?" Daisuke threw back.
"Just answer the original question. Are you really straight?"
"What did I say before?" Daisuke said.
"You said you were as straight as me, was the last thing I can remember."
"Exactly." He said, feeling a little victorious. He could feel the end of this argument. Kori started to leave, pointing at the clock. Their time was over. She opened the door and stepped halfway out, and then stopped.
"Oh, by the way…" she said. "I'm Bisexual."
With the door closing, Daisuke had never felt like a bigger idiot in his entire life.
"Is this all you do?" Daisuke asked Momo who sat in front of the TV with a controller in her hands.
"Nah. It's just what I feel like doin' today."
"Is this all we're gonna do?"
"If you want, you don't even have to hang out with me. I just wanted to chill today."
"Nah." Daisuke said, sitting on the floor next to Momo. "If Yuri found out I bailed on you, she would kill me."
"Sounds like you've know Yuri for a while."
"What? Would she really do that?"
"Yep. That's Yuri." She said with a smile.
"You know, you don't seem like the type of person that Yuri would hang out with. You're a lot cooler than the group you hang out with."
"Ya think?" she asked.
"No doubt."
"I'd like to think so. But, you know, Yuri is the school anything and everything big that goes on usually gets told to Yuri. It feels kinda cool to be with the head honcho of the school. I feel important. You know?"
"Accepted?" Daisuke offered a word.
"That's a description." She said.
Daisuke knew what she meant. Before Daisuke met the guys, he was a loner, who had ate and hung out with himself. This was all before he could see demons and before his mother died. His mom had always said to be optimistic and friends would be drawn to you. But instead, the bigger kids stepped on his lunch and pushed him to the ground for his cheerfulness. But when his friends had come and saw him getting beat up for the first time, there was only two of them. Leo and Mitch, two Americans that had moved to Japan since they were very little due to their father's jobs. And it seemed every year, a new kid would be found eating alone, and they all recruited him to the group, and everyone talked and hung out. It wasn't a cult, anybody could have joined if they wished to.
"What do you think of Yuri?" Momo asked, her voice interrupting his thoughts of the past.
"What?"
"What do you think of Yuri?"
"Well, she could be pushy sometimes, but I haven't gotten to know her, so I couldn't really say. Why, what about you?"
"She's my hero." Momo said quietly.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I mean, when there's chaos around her, she keeps her cool and handles it, usually on her own. And when she does need help, she doesn't hesitate to ask. But at the same time, she doesn't take advantage of people. Me? I'd be going crazy, wondering what I did to deserve the mess I was in, or hide behind my comic relief. I don't know."
"Sounds like you're a little unsure of yourself."
"Nah, not really."
"You really admire her, though, huh?"
"Most defiantly. She's the coolest person I'd ever met."
"Don't you have an older sister who you think is cool or something?"
"Actually, I'm an orphan."
"Oh…" Daisuke said, and then he remembered the sentence he had hated more than anything in the world, and decided not to say anything about it.
"It's alright. I don't mind talking about it. I hardly knew my parents. I was an infant when they died."
"Really? What happened, if you don't mind me asking."
"Well, they were killed in the middle of a theft. Three other people were shot, and all three were only injured. My father died instantly, but my mother was rushed to the hospital. I saw her a couple of times a day for about a week. They said she was going fine in recovery, and said she was going to make it. But then, somebody had told her that my father had died, and she died within five days. I think she might have died of a broken heart."
"Sounds like she died to her own selfish feelings." Daisuke said.
"How can you say that?" Momo asked angrily.
"Well, sure, she could have mourned a while. But her dying was due to the fact of her feeling empty and sorry. But if she had only remembered you, and how much she loved you and how much you needed her, maybe she would still be alive, and you wouldn't be so lonely."
"Who said I was lonely?" she smiled.
"Don't hide behind comic relief." Daisuke said. "Be serious about your feelings."
"Sorry." She said. "Heh. I guess I have a habit of doing that. I don't know why, but every time I feel upset or insulted, or anything, I usually crack a wise joke. I know, it's stupid."
"No, just the way you operate."
"I guess." She seemed a little disappointed or upset. Daisuke couldn't help but feel that it was his fault.
"Hey, how 'bout we get some ice cream, huh? My treat."
"Are you serious?" she asked.
"Yeah. There's a nice little ice cream shop in town. If we hurry, we can make it back in time for my last meeting."
"Alright!" she squealed, and rushed to get ready.
Momo had felt like Yuki a little. Yuki was a little unsure of herself as well. She never thought that what was wrong in something she did was the other person's fault. She always thought she messed it up some how. And she needed a lot of self-esteem fed to her. But anyway, she was a dear friend and a crush. Perhaps Momo could be the next Yuki…
Her eyes had never been so cold before. She had looked like she was trying to gaze deep into his soul, trying to find any flaw in him. Daisuke was about to leave the room after Kori's… incident. But Yuri came right in. She hardly spoke. The only word he had gotten out of her was, "Sit." So, here they were. Sitting as she stared at him with a glare of hatred.
Daisuke didn't know what her problem was. He hadn't done anything to her. Ever. And yet, she had insisted at he was evil. She wouldn't believe otherwise. It was against anything and everything she had ever believed in.
Daisuke stood up and started to head out the door.
"I'm leaving."
"Oh, no you're not." She said as she quickly got up and guarded the door. "You even think about leaving, I'll kill you."
"Why? We're not talking at all. All you're doing is giving me an evil eye."
He tried to gently push her out of the way, but she wouldn't budge. He tried a little harder, but she refused to move.
"What's you're problem?" he demanded. "All I want to do is pass this, and get out of this friggin' school."
"Oh, boo hoo. It's not like you're the only ones with problems."
"You should listen to your own words."
"You don't know what happened to me." She said.
"I've heard that again, and again! What the hell do you mean!?"
The room got very quiet, and Yuri's expression had went from defensive, to deeply hurt. She looked the way Daisuke felt every time he spoke about his mother.
"Sit down and I'll tell you." She said quietly and gently. Daisuke looked at her, tried looking into the eyes that were hidden behind the bangs of hair.
"When I was a little girl, my mom had gotten struck with cancer, or so that's what they told me. My mother and father fought a lot, and my father had sometimes beaten my mother. She may have really gotten cancer, but my mother and grandmother may have had used that as an excuse." She exhaled deeply. "Anyway, after a couple of months, she died. I personally think that it's because she felt that she had no way of escaping my father, and gave up on life."
"Is your father that bad of a man?"
"I hate him." She said painfully. "I can't stand anything about him. His voice, his looks, his stance, his lingo, anything. I especially can't stand his eyes. They're dark, almost dead-like." She continued her story. "Anyway, I personally found out the reason why my mother hated my father."
She took a deep and unsteady breath in, as if she was on the verge of crying. Daisuke could tell that this was hard for her to speak about. Much harder than him and his mother. This was probably the first time she had to speak about it on her own to a person she hardly knew. Daisuke looked at her. He knew she would finish. She wasn't the type to leave things hanging.
"He raped me." She said quietly, and that's when the tears flowed. It wasn't hard, like a bawl, but the tears rolled down her cheeks. "I was ten. I don't understand how a bastard like him could even think about doing that to his own daughter."
Daisuke couldn't say anything. There was nothing he could say about anything like this. He swallowed, trying to keep it to a minimum in volume, but Daisuke could hear the echoes in the room.
"And it wasn't once," she continued. "It was at least twenty times. He would find himself home, and crawl into my bed. At first it was by force that he had done this to me, but pretty soon, I had given up. There was no way to fight it. My father was stronger than me. And pretty soon, it wasn't my father. Luckily, the age went far down to my age, but they saw me as just an object. After a couple months, it wasn't considered rape. I thought if I gave them what they wanted, they would leave. And soon, they announced me as the school whore."
Daisuke could see scars on her wrist. He was surprised that he had never even noticed that before. The things people did, Daisuke thought. He had never thought twice about saving a human. But what if saving that person meant that they were doing this, or would do this sometime in the future.
"So…" Daisuke said with a clearing of his throat. "That's why you hate guys."
"Look, it's nothing personal. I mean, I know it wasn't you, but I can't even think about trusting somebody. My thoughts tell me to look for myself and those like me. Victims."
"Your strong." Daisuke said standing up and looking out the window.
"Why do you say that? I know you just saw my scars. You know I tried to escape my pain through suicide. How can you say I'm brave after running away from my problems."
"Because," he replied. "Eventually, you turned that anger into something positive. To help those who have a close case to you. Nobody's perfect, so I don't expect you to trust men. I completely understand where you stand."
There was a pause. Daisuke could feel her eyes on his back. He sighed and turned around to see her drying the tears on her cheek.
"I hate guys as well." He said. "Men like that. They give us few guys who have hearts a bad name. Perverts who only see you as objects. But woman are a lot more than that." Daisuke walked over to her. A tear rolled down her cheek, and he gently wiped it off her cheek. "Your living people. People with goals, hopes, fears, a future. And a person's future wife. But they're too shallow to stop thinking with their dicks." He removed his hand completely from her facial region. "I'm sorry." He said. "About everything."
Before she could even say anything, he had stepped out of the door. He had left it open, knowing that she would be standing outside of the door, watching him. She called his name, and he turned around. When she didn't say anything, waiting for him to explain himself, he had only given her a smile and a peace sign. Perhaps, just perhaps, she would be able to trust men once again thanks to Daisuke. Yeah, Yuri had her final thoughts of Daisuke.