A pair of hazel eyes glared at me.
Only a few meters separated Shirane Nakagiri and I.
'All criminals are scums for me!' he spat at me, bitterly. 'So, don't even expect to have a whatsoever relationship with me, understood?!'
I lowered my eyes, trying hard not to be affected. I could hear the girls giggling in the distance, from where they watched, sitting by the swimming pool.
'Alright, let's get started!' the boy muttered, then. 'Show me what you can do!'
Without any warning, he surged at me.
My head snapped up automatically and I only saw something coming at me in a blur, before I felt his fist connect with my gut and I was knocked out of breath.
I doubled-up in pain and fell on my fours on the ground, gasping for air. When, I looked up, I thought I saw Shirane Nakagiri smiling to himself.
'What the hell was that?' he snapped. 'You were supposed to skip the blow! Dammit, I can't believe that you can't even do that! Gonna have to teach you from the very beginning! Now get up, will'ya?!' He added with a snort, then, "Or maybe, you intend to go to the infirmary for so little?'
I struggled to my feet again and we continued with the training.
Shirane Nakagiri didn't use kid gloves with me.
I took several blows and I had the unsettling impression that the red-haired boy was kind of enjoying what we were doing, as it gave him a chance to hit me by disguising it into training. But he taught me a few things just so to make it look like he was actually doing the job he had been ordained to do.
Inevitably, I ended up at the infirmary.
It was still noon and Shirane Nakagiri and I were to resume training in a while again. But I couldn't allow myself to complain.
'It's not very serious. The bleeding will stop in a short while,' Doctor Tsunan informed me, about the nose-bleed I had earned from a blow. I kept the handkerchief- he had kindly offered me- pressed under my nose, trying to control the bleeding while the doctor worked onto my injury at the hand.
My left hand had been severely bruised during one of my falls and I watched Doctor Tsunan cleaned the wound, disinfecting it.
The infirmary was found on the right side of the corridor upstairs. There were four windows on the back wall that gave off onto the backyard. At each window was a patient's bed. On the opposite side, sat the doctor's desk which was placed against the wall and there were two cupboards filled with medical supplies next to it. A door on the left opened onto a room where there were medical imaging machines amongst other equipments.
When Doctor Tsunan was done with my hand, I came back downstairs and sat by the pool to eat my bento. The girls were nowhere to be seen anymore and neither was the red-haired boy.
When Shirane Nakagiri showed up again to resume my training, it was during one of my bouts of sleep. He was utterly pissed off when found me sleeping, but I couldn't tell him that I was narcoleptic. It was something I preferred to keep for myself. Only Master Kagami and Doctor Tsunan were aware of it.
The rest of the training lasted one good hour, before the boy decided to stop it here for today.
Grabbing my bag, I headed for the bathroom to change back into my kimono when, out of the blue, I was hit by a terrible headache, accompanied by nausea.
I slowed down my pace, taking support on the side wall to walk; feeling utterly sick.
Why am I feeling like this?
My stomach twisted with pain suddenly.
Dropping my bag down on the spot, I dashed for the bathroom, my hand clamped over my mouth. I only managed to make it to closest lavabo to throw up.
The nausea passed as quickly as it had come after that and I rinsed my mouth clean.
'Someone has eaten something not fresh, eh?' sniggered a female voice and my head snapped around to see the dark-haired girl with the umbrella, standing- with her arms crossed over her chest- against the open door, a twisted smile on her lips.
My eyes widened at her in shock.
I remembered that when I had gone to the infirmary, I had left my bento by the swimming pool, unattended, and thus, at the disposition of anyone who would think of slipping a drug or something in it.
'Well, well, Agasa Tsudzuri! Kururugi, Hakushū and you seem to have a lot of time to lose at playing pranks onto others. Shouldn't you instead be putting that free time at the profit of others, by accomplishing a few missions for example?' declared a male voice, in a casual tone, at that moment, and we both stared at the ginger-haired boy who had entered through the second door of the bathroom.
'Ha-Hattori!' the dark-haired girl stuttered, flushing bright red.
Mortified, looking as if she was going to burst a vessel, she stomped away, getting out of sight.
'I think I've vexed her,' stated the ginger-haired boy, who moved up to me and I saw that he was carrying my bag in his hand. He must have picked it up in the hall.
He handed it to me and I held my head with my head, feeling a bit dizzy.
'Are you alright?' he inquired, grabbing my arm to help me walk. 'I'll take you to the infirmary!'
Oh no! What will I tell Doctor Tsunan? What will he think?
'No. I don't think that would be necessary.'
'Alright, if you say so. You sit down for a minute and then I'll walk you home.'
I nodded, making to sit onto the bench at the closet table in the hall when, unexpectedly, Doctor Tsunan showed up.
He gave me a bewildered look, before his eyes zeroed onto Katsuya Hattori.
I thought I saw his eyes narrowed at the ginger-haired boy for the matter of a second, but I couldn't be sure for, he was looking back at me again right after that.
'Are you feeling unwell?' he asked me, and it was Katsuya who replied, informing him, 'She's suffering from food poisoning. The girls have slipped something into her meal.'
An upset frown appeared on the doctor's forehead.
'Come with me. I'm going to give you something.'
My head wasn't spinning anymore.
Katsuya released my arm and I followed the doctor to the infirmary.
He handed me a pill and some water, which I drank.
'I'm sorry for troubling you so much,' I murmured, fearing that he would take me for a scape-grace.
'It's my job to ensure the well-being of everyone.'
I smiled, slightly reassured.
'Do you want me to have a discussion with the girls so as they leave you alone?'
I looked up at his face a minute in consideration, before I lowered my eyes again and shook my head.
'No. I fear that it would only makes things worst.'
I could already imagine the reaction of everyone, if Doctor Tsunan or someone, began defending me. They wouldn't tolerate it.
'They'll eventually grow tired,' I murmured.
He gave me a small nod, lost in his own thoughts.
'Do you think you're going to be able to make it home by yourself?' he asked, then. 'I could drop you, if you want.'
'No, it's alright,' I refused, politely. 'Hattori has proposed to walk me home. Thank you.'
I gave him a tiny smile.
'Okay.'
When I came back downstairs, Katsuya Hattori was waiting for me and after I had changed back into my kimono, we headed out of the building.
The medication Doctor Tsunan had given me was really very effective. For sure, I would have felt sick time and again for the rest of the day, but thanks to the doctor, nothing of the sort happened.
'Ayame didn't come today, right?' said the ginger-haired boy.
It wasn't really a question, but still, I shook my head, growing a bit sorrowful.
'Don't take it too badly,' he said. 'You know, he's probably the one who's the most affected by your story.'
I looked at Hattori, staggered.
'In fact, his father, Rinshō Tsuge, was a member of the organization before him. Rinshō was someone truly affectionate and gentle. But one day, when Ayame was eleven, out of the blue, Rinshō mysteriously lost his head and he killed his wife and his fifteen-year-old daughter. He pursued Ayame in the front yard of their house and stabbed him several times before he had put an end to his own life by committing suicide.'
A gasp of horror escaped my mouth.
'Miraculously, Ayame has survived and Master Kagami has taken him under his wing.'
I covered my hand with my mouth, my mind in chaos.
How can something so atrocious happen? Ayame Tsuge has seen his family being murdered in front of his own eyes; he was pursued and stabbed, and all that by someone he knew, someone he cared for, someone who cared for him and loved him.
'When you read something like this in the newspaper, you often wonder how can such a thing happen. What goes on in some people's head at times? Were they mentally sick? Or were they perfectly sane people and something just snapped in their heads at that particular moment? What were they thinking at the time that they committed that blood-curdling crime? Is there even an explanation? Or is it that searching for an explanation is finding that person an excuse?'
He sighed.
'Ayame has suffered a lot after that. Not only because of the traumatism that it has left him, but also, for being treated as the son of a murderer. The worst was probably the way that people watched him. They were scared that he'd lose his head too without any warning like his father and kill someone.'
Deeply affected, tears welled up my eyes but I held them back.
'With time, he has learned to accept what his father did. So, I let you imagine what Ayame must have gone through when you showed up and declared that you were possessed when you massacred the people of your village.'
For the blond teen, I was without any doubt the most despicable person on the planet; someone who has no scruples to decimate a village and put the blame on the back of a mythical creature.
Hattori's phone rang at that moment.
Answering the call, he talked for two minutes, before he disconnected and told me, 'I'm sorry, I completely forgot that there's someone who's going to come pick up a few materials at my place. I need to go. That person is waiting for me right now. Do you think you'll be able to manage on your own?'
I nodded.
We had Shiratori neighborhood and the veterinarian clinic was only a few buildings away down the street. I could see it from where we were.
The ginger-haired boy said goodbye to me and I greeted him back furtively, unable to think of any other thing than what had told me on Ayame Tsuge's dark past.
Absent-mindedly, I entered the vet's clinic. I noticed that the bat seemed to have recuperated a lot in a day.
'Do you intend to keep it as pet?'
'I don't know,' I replied to the man. 'Once it can fly again, it'll decide whether it wants to stay or not.'
After I had signed the discharge and thanked the doctor, I made a short stop at the market two streets away to buy some fruits for the small animal.
But then, instead of heading for my apartment, I decided to go for a stroll by the river in town. It had been a long stressful day and I hoped that it would help me relax a bit.
Sitting myself on the verdant slope, I put the bat down next to me, giving it an apple to eat. This seemed to rejoice the animal.
The place was absolutely calm and desert, except for a few cyclists crossing the bridge now and then.
Sighing deeply, I laid back onto the grass, gazing at the blue sky for a few minutes before, I rolled onto my side and closed my eyes, feeling extremely exhausted.
A moment later, I was shocked out of sleep by the abominable souvenirs of the massacre of six years ago which ran through my sleeping mind, in the form of a nightmare.
I sat bolt upright, panting hard.
I had fallen asleep without realizing it again!
Every night, it was the same nightmare. And even during my bouts of sleep, the images of that cursed night haunted me very often.
After I had calmed down a bit, I glanced at the small winged animal in my company, which was watching me, intently.
I pet its head reassuringly. I had most certainly scared it when I had jumped. I
As my eyes traveled around of us, I caught sight of a little girl who was walking by the river at that moment.
She had her head lowered. She couldn't be older than ten and was clothed in a pink dress, her dark hair reaching down to her chin.
Just as I was watching her, unexpectedly, the child collapsed.
Automatically, I sprung to my feet and rushed to her side.
'Hey, are you alright?' I called, anxiously.
Crouching down, I placed her onto my lap.
The child had fainted; her face pallid.
'Hey, little girl! Open your eyes!'
She scrunched her eyes, moaning.
She wasn't unconscious., that was good.
I carried her up to where I had left my things and she managed to open her eyes just a bit as I sat down with her still in my lap.
Grabbing a bottle of water, I brought the mouth of it to her lips.
'Here! Drink some water!'
She obeyed, drinking slowly.
This seemed to do her some good and when she came back fully to herself after a few minutes, she got out of my lap.
Her stomach groaned loudly at that instant and we both looked down at her belly. I guessed that if she had fainted it was because she had an empty stomach.
'Are you hungry? I have also got some food.'
I took out an apple from my fruit bag and handed it to her.
She hesitated to accept the food for a minute, but then, finally, she accepted.
I watched her quietly as she ate and offered her some more food.
'Feeling better?' I inquired, when she was done, and she nodded, blushing in embarrassment.
'Thank you for the food,' she said, softly.
Her eyes zeroed onto the small animal with me at that moment and her eyes brightened.
Picking the animal up, I held it up in front of her, and she pet its head affectionately, smiling joyously.
'Do you live far from here?' I asked, and she shook her head.
'Hm, what's your name?'
'Gakkuri.'
Gakkuri? What a strange name!
It meant heartbreak.
'Nice to meet you, Gakkuri. My name is I'm Shun Shutsuki.'
She froze, abruptly.
Terror gained her eyes and when she realized that she had stopped breathing, she began to gasp for air, staggering to her feet.
She stared at me in horror for a second before she took to her heels in a fluster. She tripped and fell down several times, but she picked herself up almost instantly and rushed out of sight.
I didn't try anything to catch up with her, knowing fair well that any such attempt on my part would only terrorize the child further. All I could hope for was that she'd reach her home safely by herself.
I would never have thought that the child would have heard about me- the "mass murderer".
And even if her reaction was only natural, I couldn't help but feel melancholic.
After this little misadventure, I decided to head back home, but only to be greeted by an unpleasant surprise when I opened the door of my apartment.
During my absence, the place had been intruded again. My bed covers, my clothes- which stood in a pile on the floor- as well as the couch, had been wet with water while some of my personal things, including my sandals, had been robbed.
There was a new fresh tag on the wall opposite my bed.
Tears threatened to flow, but I didn't allow them to.
Sitting in a ball against the front door, I wondered if someday the persecution will ever stop.
The day Master Kagami had proposed to me to join his organization, I knew already, back then that, there didn't have an inkling of a chance for me to be accepted by the members of the organization.
All I could do was put up with it.
***
In the meanwhile…
Katsuya Hattori was a soft-spoken, polite, intellectual young man. He was over-confident and never seemed to show any sign of alarm or distress. Everyone put him on a pedestal and the latter seemed to be perfectly at ease where he was, never mixing with the "small" people.
Ayame Tsuge seemed to have a far greater esteem for him than the others and if not for anyone else, the ginger-haired boy seemed to have a soft spot for the blond teen.
But Katsuya Hattori also had a manipulative personality, which only few people- like Tsunan Hitachiin- seemed to be aware of.
'Tell me something,' said the doctor, 'Aren't poisons and drugs of all kinds, rather your specialty?
Keeping his tone casual and uncaring, Katsuya Hattori turned around to face the older male, and telling him with a denying smile, 'My! My! What are you accusing me of? I've already said it before; I trust the old man.'
The Doctor Hitachiin was far from being convinced of that.
Giving the latter a wave of the hand to say goodbye, the ginger-haired guy strode out of sight.
***
The following day, at noon, in the infirmary…
'Another nosebleed?!' said Doctor Tsunan, and he turned to Shirane Nakagiri, groaning, 'Don't you think you're going a bit too hard on her?'
It was my third nose-bleed of the day.
Today's training was more intense than the previous day, but solely in the sense that the hostility that the red-haired male showed towards me seemed to have grew up a notch. I supposed that it was due to the fact that the girls and he had surely expected me to drop out of the organization after all that happened yesterday and they were disappointed that I didn't decided to go back to my prison cell.
'Che!' snorted the redheaded boy, before he walked off, pouting.
When the bleeding finally stopped, I thanked the doctor for his care.
'You should probably stop here for today,' he advised me and I thought about it a minute.
If it continued like this for the rest of the day, I was sure to end up with a serious head. It was probably wiser to stop here, indeed.
'I'll go inform Nakagiri.'
He nodded once.
I was almost through the door when the doctor called at me, then, 'Oh, did Murakami-san come to repair the lock for you?'
'Yes,' I replied, and thanked him for that.
I pondered over the state in which I had found my apartment on the previous day. I had fortunately been able to clean up the mess and wipe off the graffiti on the wall with the chemicals Doctor Tsunan had brought me earlier during that day. The locksmith had arrived shortly after.
I considered myself lucky that only water had been used to wet my things and nothing else; I had been able to dry everything last night itself.
I didn't mention what happened to Doctor Tsunan, though, not wanting to trouble him with it.
As I came down the staircase, my eyes traveled the empty hall.
When I had crossed the doorway of the building this morning, I had almost hoped to see Ayame Tsuge at the organization, even if he had to glare at me all day.
But the blond teen was absent today also.
The two dark-haired male were still gone on mission and Hattori nowhere to be seen.
As I came outdoors, the girls weren't by the pool anymore and I supposed that they must have gone home; after all, the master wasn't present at the organization today.
Since Shirane Nakagiri wasn't anywhere around, I plumped down on the grass by the swimming pool to wait for his return.
***
Shirane Nakagiri was muttering curses under his breath as he was crossing the lawn.
Why the heck did the master have to choose me to train the damned girl, anyway?
His frustration reached its peak when he found the red-haired girl sprawled on the grass, enjoying a peaceful sleep.
And she has the guts to fall asleep during her training!
He stopped in front of her, glaring.
When he thinks that behind that angelic face, hides an abominable monster!
His eyes glistened with malice and he smiled twistedly, as an idea cropped up his mind, suddenly.
Very carefully, he lifted the girl off the ground in his arms.
Taking a peek at her face, he saw that her eyes were still tightly shut against the world.
Good!
Making as less noise as possible and no brusque movements, he walked up to the swimming pool with her.
This will teach her a good lesson!
Without much ado, he hurled her into the water.
***
Water choked its way through my nose and mouth, hauling me unceremoniously from dreamland.
Panicked and disoriented, my arms flailed and I kicked around, until my head broke over the surface of the water.
I gasped for air, my mind registering three things at that moment: I was in the swimming pool, Shirane Nakagiri and, I was going to drown.
'Help!' I cried, but the word came out half-muffled as my head went under the surface again and more water rushed down my throat.
I kicked harder with my legs, reaching out more forcefully with my arms and managed to get my head out of water a second time. '-Can't swim.'
But then, I was sinking again.
I clamped my hand over my mouth and nose, to prevent myself from swallowing anymore water and at the same time, desperate to keep the little oxygen I still had in.
Soon enough, the muscles in my legs failed though, giving up in exhaustion.
My body felt so heavy and yet, I felt like a feather falling weightlessly in an endless pit. I wanted to reach the glowing light above head, but this wasn't possible.
I pressed my eyes shut, feeling light-headed; my lungs burning for oxygen.
Thank you for reading!