Chapter 3 – Protector
Mika worked to prepare tea while Kaito sat on a mat at the chabudai – the small and low-to-the-ground table. She had turned on the TV and had given him the remote, telling him to put it on whatever he wished. Mika brought out the tea after a couple of minutes and poured Kaito a cup before pouring her own and sitting down on the opposite side.
Kaito mindlessly flipped through the channels, finding nothing particularly interesting. He didn't have an interest in watching shows and played with the remote simply for lack of anything better to do. Kaito glanced at Mika before picking up the cup of tea. “You live here with your uncle, do you not?” he asked breaking the silence. “But he does not come home often I take it?”
“Yeah... but, how did you know that?”
Kaito didn’t answer. Instead he glanced back at the TV. He'd ended up changing it to a history channel which was currently airing Japanese mythology. An older, balding man was shown talking about demons that once roamed among humans in the world. Kaito snorted.
“Do you not like the old stories, the mythology of Japan?” Mika asked curiously.
“It’s not that I dislike it,” Kaito said, “I just think it’s interesting what humans come up with to fill in the gaps of their knowledge.” He suddenly turned and looked at Mika. “Do you believe what they say, that demons once lived in this world?”
“Of course not,” she stated as if he was insulting her intelligence. “That’s ridiculous. It’s simply impossible, and there’s nothing to prove it.”
Kaito laughed slightly. “I see. So if there is no proof then it mustn’t be true. However, what would you do if I told you that you were wrong?” His eyes blazed as he met her gaze.
“Are you saying I am?”
“I’m saying you must never close your mind to the possibilities that are beyond your comprehension.”
“But they are not beyond yours?”
He rested his chin on his hand, and stared at Mika, watching her reactions as he spoke. “What if they’re not?” He couldn't help but smirk at Mika’s puzzled expression. Kaito took another sip of tea and began flipping channels once more. After he was done with the tea, he stood up and stretched. “Well, I’d best be leaving now.”
“Oh... well come back any time," Mika said as she walked with him to the door. And Kaito left, causing the house to sink into silence once more, but it seemed even lonelier than it had the previous night now that Kaito had come and gone.
Mika slept very poorly that night. The words that Kaito had said about Hatori and others coming after her again rang in her mind. She ended up getting out of bed a couple of hours early because she lost all hope of getting any more sleep before school. She grabbed a towel from the closet, and turned on the shower. The warm water felt good running over her tense muscles, and for the first time in the past twelve hours, she relaxed.
After standing in the shower for nearly thirty minutes, Mika dried herself off and began to rummage in the closet for clothes. She grabbed her uniform and once dressed, headed down the stairs into the kitchen. Mika rummaged around half-heartedly for food, only to decide that she wasn’t hungry. Instead, she made her lunch for the day trying to keep herself busy for another half hour. She failed. It didn't take long to scoop a bit of rice into a bowl or grab a bag of snacks.
In an attempt to waste more time, she flipped on the TV and aimlessly watched an anime that happened to be on. Finally it seemed late enough to leave the house. As she went to gather her things for school, she heard a knock at the door. Quickly grabbing her bag and lunch she ran to the door and opened it cautiously.
As she creaked it open, she recognized the person that stood before her, but it took her a moment to believe it was real. “K-Kaito-san? Why are you here?” she asked astonished.
“Why else do you think I would be here?” he responded.
Mika stared at him blankly in response.
“I’m here to accompany you to school,” he elaborated.
Mika continued to stare at Kaito dumbfounded. “But why?”
Kaito smirked at her expression and said, “If you don’t move along, we’ll be late.”
A switch finally clicked into place in Mika’s brain, and she nodded, shutting and locking the door on her way out. The walk was much like the night before. An awkward silence hung in the air, and neither bothered to break it. As they continued, Mika began to consider what she would say to Kana and Ayako when they met up.
As Kana’s street came into view, Mika saw her new friend standing in the corner as she had yesterday. Mika ran up to her trying to put some distance between herself and Kaito, as if pretending she had no idea he was with her. “Ohayou(Good morning), Kana!” she greeted cheerfully, perhaps a little too cheerfully.
Kana glanced at Kaito first, who was coming up behind them, and then at Mika. The question obvious on her face.
“It’s kind of a long story,” she replied to the unspoken question glancing over her shoulder at Kaito who had stopped behind her.
Kana dipped her head in a greeting, and Kaito nodded back in reply. And so the walk continued; however, the silence was now two times worse, with two relatively quiet people in the group. Mika didn’t have any confidence in breaking it, so she just trudged along awkwardly.
Then the form of a person that had to be Ayako loomed in the distance. As Mika neared, she noticed the strange way Ayako was standing. She also had a crutch in her right hand and all her weight on her left leg. It took Mika a minute to remember her injury from yesterday.
“Ayako!” she greeted as they came closer to each other. “How’s your ankle?”
Ayako took no notice of Mika. She was staring at the person beside her. At first words seemed to have failed her as she glared at Kaito. The glare turned to Mika, then Kana, and she studied them as if trying to find out who it was that invited him. In a moment, her gaze settled on Mika. “Why is he here? Did you invite him?” she demanded.
Mika flinched away from Ayako's harsher tone and backed up a couple of steps. "I...He...S-sorry?” she stuttered.
Ayako whirled around as best she could with a crutch and a bum ankle and stalked off in the direction of school. Kana glanced at Mika who had no idea how to react. “I’ll talk to her,” Kana assured Mika and headed after Ayako.
Mika looked back at Kaito who was staring off in another direction. Frustrated by his lack of concern, she marched after Kana and Ayako. Mika arrived at school with Kaito still vaguely walking behind her. She was glad that he was far enough away for them not to be considered as arriving together.
Mika trudged into class miserably and plopped down into her desk not even bothering to glance in the direction of Ayako’s and Kana’s desks. The morning passed by even slower today than it had yesterday. By the time the lunch bell rang, Mika was ready to pull her hair out in frustration, and of course, the more she thought about Ayako disliking her, the more she was beginning to dislike Kaito for causing the issue to start off with. She knew that wasn't really a justifiable reason, but she couldn't help it.
Mika was walking up the stairs to the roof when it hit her that the only people on the roof would be Ayako, Kana, and Kaito, none of whom she wanted to see. She immediately changed direction, heading instead toward the large sakura tree that she and her friends had sat under yesterday morning.
It seems like yesterday morning was such a long time ago, she thought to herself. Mika settled herself down under the cool shade of the tree, leaning back against the trunk. She unwrapped her lunch and took a bite.
It was not long after, she looked up to see three men walking in her direction, staring straight at her. Then she saw him, Hatori, slinking behind the three walking in front. He wasn’t done with her yet, she realized, and her blood ran cold as she froze on the spot.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Around this time, Kaito had made his way to the roof, and the two girls had just settled into their corner. When Kaito realized Mika wasn’t with them, he sat up and looked at the others asking, “Where is Mika?”
“I don’t know,” Ayako replied curtly.
“She isn’t with you?”
“Nope.”
“Well then,” Kaito’s impatience was becoming evident now, “Do you know where she might be?”
“Nope.”
Kaito sighed in frustration and leapt down from his spot on the roof. "Just because you have some unexplainable hatred of me, does not mean you should take it out on someone else." Kaito let the sentence hang for a moment before he flung open the door to the stairs.
Kana glanced at Ayako. “Why do suspect he is so uptight?”
“How should I know?” retorted Ayako. “They can just go be happy together for all I care. There’s no need for me to get in their way.”
Kana glanced at Ayako thoughtfully. She cared deeply for her friend, but sometimes jealousy and vengefulness clouded Ayako's judgment. With a small sigh, she returned to eating her lunch without another word
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Kaito flew down the stairs and immediately traced where Mika had been. He headed quickly out of the school and around to the side, where he saw four others in the distance. Only one of which he recognized, but he didn’t need to know the others to get a firm grasp of the situation.
Mika was unable to move as the rough looking boys approached her. It was only then, when it was too late, that she remembered Kaito’s warning of staying in a group. She had been so disoriented by Ayako’s sudden hostility towards her that she had forgotten, that is, until now of course.
As it were, she was frozen to the spot, chopsticks still held in the air. She had three choices then: try to run, it was unlikely that she would be able to get away from the three men. Two, fight, this really wasn’t an option at all considering her lack of physical ability, and three, scream for help. This one was definitely the best of the three options, but of course her mouth had to be as dry as cotton, and she couldn’t even manage a sound.
They were almost within touching distance now. Mika rose to her feet to face them, but because her legs were shaking so badly, she had to use the tree to support herself.
“Well, well, well...” Hatori said as he walked to the front of the small group. “I found my prey once again,” he whispered the words getting closer to her ear. “You’ll never escape me. I have a much greater power and force than you. Even with Kaito on your side."
Hatori took a step back from her and snapped his fingers. One of the guys, naturally the biggest, stepped from the group.
“Let’s have some fun together girl.” His voice was gruff and deep. To Mika, he definitely screamed gang member. He was heavily built and probably had a couple hundred pounds on him, but he didn't look old, perhaps around his mid-twenties. His bulging arm muscles told her that he was incredibly strong, and that she wouldn't be able to fight back even if she wanted to. He also had several large tattoos, and his hair was very long, which just added to the thug look.
Mika attempted to back up, but because of the tree, she was stuck.
His hand moved slowly, reaching for her face. Mika closed her eyes and prepared herself for some sort of impact. Instead, she felt a warm breeze against her face, but there was no contact with the hand that was looming towards her moments ago.
Mika opened one eye tentatively, which immediately turned into a wide-eyed stare. He was before her once again, much as he had been before. His black hair flittered across his face in the wind, almost hiding the murderous, cold blue eyes.
Kaito stood stiff with his hand gripped around the assailant's wrist, and no matter how hard the huge man pushed or pulled, Kaito’s gripped neither softened nor gave way.
“You little brat!” he yelled in frustration, through gritted teeth. Forgetting that his left hand that was immobilized, the attacker hurled his right fist straight at Kaito’s head. However, Kaito held up his hand and blocked the attack.
The man’s face twisted in utter rage and his face got so red that Mika thought he would literally explode any minute. The thug seemed to be unable to utter any words so he just growled incoherently. The other two members of the group stood back watching as if to say, ‘it’s your fault you’re in this situation; get yourself out on your own.’
Hatori was the only other one in utter shock. Even though he was perfectly safe behind the other two, he acted as though he were the one that was facing Kaito. Slowly Hatori's face contorted in anger.
In blinded rage, the first thug pulled back his fist again, but before he had even got his arm back far enough to throw a good punch, Kaito twisted his right hand hard, which in turn, twisted the attacker’s wrist. In the same breath, he picked up his right leg and landed a solid kick in the guy's stomach.
The force knocked the breath out of the assailant, and he collapsed on the ground gasping for breath. After watching their comrade fall, the other two charged forward simultaneously with a loud shout of rage.
Kaito dodged to the side to avoid the punch of the smaller thug and hit the second man with a strong punch. Thug number two toppled over backwards and lay still in the grass. Then, Kaito whirled around to face the third and landed a kick that made the shorter man to drop onto the ground. With the moaning of the third individual, one might've thought he was dying, but in reality, he was only suffering from a fractured rib.
Mika realized that she hadn’t taken a breath since the brawl had begun, and instantly gasped for air. It took her a moment before her eyes would focus on Kaito once again. He strode forward slowly, but powerfully, toward Hatori who was staring panic-stricken at the immobilized recruits Kaito had struck down in a matter of a minute.
Kaito grabbed the collar of Hatori's shirt and jerked him upward so that their faces were centimeters apart. Kaito murmured something to him and thrust him backwards onto the hard ground.
Tell your boss to start counting his breaths. He won’t live much longer. I’m coming for him.He then turned to Mika. As he walked toward her, his gaze began to lose the mad and murderous look it had, and fell back into the expressionless mask. When it finally hit Mika that the skirmish was over, her knees gave way.
Neither said a word for a long time. Neither wished to talk nor had a clue what to say. It was Mika that finally broke the silence with a simple question, “Why?” she whispered.
Kaito didn’t answer, or even look at her, so she turned to face him. “Why are you protecting me? Why would you...” she trailed off not exactly sure how to word the questions that arose.
“Who knows...” he finally answered. “But before you worry about that, class has started,” he announced gazing at the school.
Mika jumped up, and immediately regretted it. Her head spun and she felt nauseas and dizzy.
"Follow me,” Kaito ordered her without looking back.
“But–” she began. Kaito cut her off with a sharp glance. Mika lowered her head in consent as she followed Kaito into the school building.
He walked into the school and headed right, down a hall Mika hadn’t been on before. She followed him, wondering what in the world he had up his sleeve now. Kaito stopped outside a door labeled ‘nurse’s office’ and Mika understood what he was doing.
Although she didn’t like the idea, she took a deep breath and tried to play the role of looking sick. It wasn’t too hard considering she was pale and in a cold sweat due to the recent trauma.
Kaito slid the door open and younger girl’s head popped up to look at the newcomers. Mika figured she was probably in her mid-twenties. “Hello Amano-sensei,” Kaito greeted her.
“Ah, hello Takahiro-san,” she replied. Her voice was soft and gentle. It had an immediate effect in calming Mika down. “What seems to be the problem today?”
“She’s not feeling too well. I believe she feels a little nauseas,” Kaito replied glancing back at the girl behind him.
The nurse nodded and motioned Mika over to her. She took her temperature, and after confirming she had nothing physically wrong, gave Mika a couple of plain salt crackers and a small cup of ginger ale soda. Mika picked a bed and sat down to nibble on the crackers.
“Takahiro-san,” the nurse spoke, “You can go back to class now.”
“I was told to stay with her,” he lied easily. The façade was so flawless, it made Mika wonder if he lied to others on a daily basis.
“Well...alright then. I need to pick up a few things from the office, so please stay here quietly,” she told the two before leaving the room.
Kaito sat down against the wall that Mika’s bed was pushed up against. Once again, they elapsed into silence. It was Mika of course that had to break it. “Do I have to stay here all day?”
“No, I think we can go back after the current class ends in another thirty minutes.”
“Was this your solution to skipping class?”
“Mostly...but you really did look sick.” He glanced up at her with his cold blue eyes contemplating how she looked.
“Were you born in Japan?” Mika asked suddenly.
Mika noticed Kaito's back stiffen ever so slightly. “No... not really.” He spoke carefully and slowly as if making sure what he was saying was the right thing.
“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to...” Mika replied softly.
“In a sense I was born here, but I really wasn’t.” He glanced at Mika a light smirk on his face. “I’ll leave you to take whatever meaning you can out of that.”
“Here, but not...?” Mika mumbled, her face screwed up in concentration.
Kaito laughed softly. “Why do you ask?”
“Hm?” Mika replied snapping out of her analysis of his words. “Oh, because of your eyes. Not really any Japanese people have blue eyes, unless they are of mixed origin like Japanese-American.” She glanced at Kaito questioningly.
“I’m not part American or anything else.”
Heck, I’m not really even Japanese, he added silently.
Silence took over once again; however, this time, it was interrupted by the bell for last block. Mika finished the crackers rapidly, and Kaito scribbled a note to the nurse saying that Mika felt better and they were going back to class. They raced down the halls to their classroom and amazingly arrived before the teacher had come in. Most of the students were talking amongst themselves so only a few noticed when Mika and Kaito came in.
Mika realized then how odd it would seem for the both of them to be missing and then come in at the same time. Certainly people would start to talk; although, most of those types of people were busy gossiping about something else, and had not noticed them.
As soon as the two had sat down, the teacher walked in. Mika hastily pulled out her books and tried to ignore the murderous gaze she felt from Ayako. Time passed slowly, and the more Mika glanced at the clock, the slower the time seemed to go. She attempted to pay attention but utterly failed, too many things were on her mind.
After an hour of torture, the school bell finally rang, although Mika didn’t leave her seat. She turned around to look at Ayako across the room who had turned her way with that murderous glare.
Kaito had just shifted to look at Mika as well, and he spoke in a voice loud enough for just Ayako to hear as she approached. “If your ‘friend’ doesn’t care about your predicaments, I think you should forget her. She obviously has no right for you to call her a friend.”
Mika watched as Ayako’s expression slowly turned into one of curiosity instead of hostility. She moved closer slowly with her head down. “I’m sorry Mika...” Ayako said, though her voice still held a trace of anger as she shot a glare in Kaito's direction. She wouldn't admit it aloud, but Ayako was very protective of those she thought of as friends. The idea that Mika had run off with Kaito - who she disliked for several reasons - had hurt her.
“So what happened anyway?” She looked up and stared at Mika her expression clearly saying ‘give me all the details’. Kana walked over as well, to listen in on what had happened.
“Well...” Mika muttered. She wasn’t really sure how she should word the events that occurred.
“Hatori decided he wanted to have Mika, so he’s been getting after her,” Kaito said in an off-hand tone.
Both girls’ eyes widened. “Hatori what?!” exclaimed Ayako.
“Is that why he didn’t come back to class after lunch?” Kana added.
Mika quickly shushed the two of them. “I’ll explain on the way home,” she muttered trying to get away from some of the awkwardness of having Ayako and Kana staring intently at her.
So as they were walking home, Mika tried to give all of the details that she could, and Kaito, who decided to follow them, would chime in on parts Mika breezed over. Ayako was so into the story of Mika's attack, she skipped her road to listen to the rest of it.
When finally everyone had gone their separate ways, Mika sighed in relief. She had her friends back, and they all understood her position; although she got the feeling Ayako thought of it more as a surreal experience.
“So what are you going to do over the weekend?” Kaito questioned.
“Oh yeah! I forgot it was Friday. I’m not sure," she said with a small shrug. "Probably stay in the house and get things organized.” Kaito walked Mika up to the gate of the yard. “I guess I’ll see you...” Mika said as she turned toward the house.
Kaito only nodded, and stood at the gate until Mika had disappeared into the house.
*Chabudai ~ Low coffee table.
Refrence if you want it.
**Ohayou ~ Good Morning
A/N ~ Have you ever had a really good friend that began to hang out with someone else? That's kind of where I'm going with Ayako in the beginning. It isn't really like she hates Kaito. She sees him as a rival, and is now jealous because she feels that he is stealing her newfound friend.
I sort of played with the mythology to make it fit my needs for this story. Although I don't believe it to be too far off since Shintoists believe that everything has a spirit, and that oni or 'demons' do exist in the world.
Anyway, this is probably one of my favorite chapters that I've written so far, so I hope you all like it too!
by scmarshtacky » Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:03 am 
But I've tried to teach myself a bit of it because I've fallen in love with the language so much. I can understand more than I can speak, but unfortunately, I still only know phrases. I would very much like to officially learn the language in the future. 
