〄Aʟʟ Bᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ᴏғ Yᴏᴜ〄 [Ch. 5 up!]

[scmarshtacky]

Fixed~ I try not to make mistakes, but it happens no matter what I do. For the longest time, my first sentence was "Kaito sat playing his pencil" and no one bothered to tell me that he should be playing with his pencil. XD Yeah, great way to get people into your story, throwing a grammar error in on the first sentence.

My mind automatically corrects the sentence so I don't catch nearly as much as I should. Well, anyway, I'm glad you like it. ^^ I'll try to get a couple more up soon. They're already written, I just have to have the motivation to edit and post them.

[scmarshtacky]

Chapter 5 – Questions and Explanations

Mika was flooded with a million questions she was dying to ask Kaito, but no matter how hard she tried, her brain just would not get her thoughts together enough to form a sentence. Mika trudged mindlessly down the road with Kaito every now and again having to pull her out of the way of someone going the opposite direction. In her mind-numbed state, she felt a hand grab her arm. Slowly, Mika turned to face Kaito who had stopped her.

“We’re turning here,” he informed her indicating another street to the left.

“But my house is this way,” she replied pointing in the direction she was headed.

“If you think I’d let you go home to that empty house when you can’t even walk in a straight line, you’d be wrong.”

“Where else can I go?” she asked, puzzled.

“You’ll find out once we get there,” Kaito said shortly, walking down the street he had indicated.

Mika ran to catch up, curious about where they were headed. Kaito turned into the driveway of a larger apartment complex a few minutes later, and Mika paused to admire the large, expensive-looking building.

He walked to the left side of the marble-tiled lobby where the elevator was located and pressed the up button. They didn’t have to wait long for the beep that accompanied its arrival.

“Go on and get in,” Kaito encouraged Mika who was still looking quite confused. He partly shoved her in, and then got in himself.

“Why did you bring me here?”

“Didn’t I already answer that question?”

Mika fell quiet after that. She still wasn’t entirely sure why she was here, but she didn’t seem to have a say in the matter, so she let the ride in the elevator fall to an awkward silence. It seemed like an eternity before they reached the floor that Kaito had pressed. It was only after they had stopped that she realized they were on the eighteenth floor, the second from the top.

Kaito ushered Mika out first and then followed, getting out of the elevator right as the doors closed. He then took the lead and headed right down the long hallway until it dead-ended at a room. Kaito slipped the key into the lock and stepped through the door first before holding it open for Mika to follow. They both slipped off their shoes and stepped past the entry way.

Mika sucked in her breath when she saw the apartment. It was expensive, anyone could see it. The living room was rather spacious and directly across from the door was a stairway that led to the bedroom. To the left was a small kitchenette, and near it was a short-legged chabudai table. There was a sliding glass door on the back wall that opened onto a small balcony, and on the right was a long couch placed in front of a flat-screen TV.

Kaito smirked at her reaction. “Well are you going to stand there gawking all day or would you like to come sit down?”

Mika walked to the little table and knelt beside it, but not without shooting a glare at Kaito as she passed.

“Now, is that anyway to thank a person who just half an hour ago saved your butt?” he asked lightheartedly.

“Are you going to explain what happened today?” Mika asked straightforwardly.

“I might... It all depends on what you want to know,” he replied, forcibly keeping the light tone to his voice.

Mika opened her mouth and drew a breath to start the interrogation. “But, before we get to that lets have some tea, shall we?” Kaito interrupted her.

Mika closed her mouth impatiently. Why is he avoiding the subject? She couldn't help wondering. Rather than making the situation better for himself, she figured that this aversion would worsen it. The more time she had, the more questions she could think of.

While he prepared the tea, Mika couldn’t help but stare around the room and take everything in. The apartment was clean, almost too much so for a teenage guy. During this free time, her mind began to wander back to the incident. What was that thing? What if I didn’t see what I thought I had? It was late in the day to begin with; perhaps my eyes were just playing tricks on me. That must’ve been it. However, no matter how much she tried to convince herself what she saw was an illusion, she couldn’t make herself believe it. Kaito's reaction to the matter was just further proof that something was up.

“Hey! Are you alive?”

Kaito’s voice pulled her back from her mind’s wanderings. She was surprised to see him sitting in front of her. She hadn’t even noticed when he had walked over.

“Oh... Sorry...” she mumbled as she took the cup.

Kaito watched her for a moment in silence before saying. “I’m sorry about what happened today. My carelessness is to blame for it all.”

“Why did you abandon me, just to come back and save me!? I don’t get you at all!”

He laughed slightly. “No, I don’t suppose you would understand. You never will. As to why I left you, I’ll leave that to you to ponder over. I have my reasons.”

“But you’re not going to tell them to me.” Mika filled in.

“Exactly.”

“Then...” she hesitated for a moment before continuing. “What was that thing that was there...? It transformed into some sort of demon, monster thing...” She trailed off again becoming unsure of what she had really seen.

Kaito didn’t look at her. He was still debating whether to respond at all, but under Mika's glare, it was hard to keep his silence. Instead, he picked another evasive answer. “You’ve already answered that question.”

“Why are you being so cryptic?!” she shouted in frustration, as she slammed her fist down hard on the little wooden table. "Oww," she muttered softly, shaking out her now throbbing hand.

Kaito chuckled. He couldn't help but be amused by her impulsive actions. “Fine then,” he held up three fingers, “I will answer three questions. Choose them wisely.”

Mika opened her mouth and then closed it again. After a moment of thought she finally asked, “What was that thing in the room?”

Kaito sighed. “So you decided to stick with this as a first question?” he muttered to himself. “The thing that’s been trying to get at you, the one in the room, it was a demon.”

“A...demon...?”

“Yeah. It’s what’s been controlling the others, all those that have come after you in the past couple of days.” Kaito watched her reaction carefully, but she showed little emotion as she tried to take in what he had said.

It just seemed so impossible. Demons? Suddenly the TV show and Kaito’s questions to her about demons made sense. But how does he know about them? She glanced at him a couple of times to gauge his reaction and to see if he’d explain more, but his face never changed as he watched her.

“Okay then,” she finally said. “Next question: Why was that thing, the demon, after me? I don’t have any special qualities that it would want. I’m just a normal person.”

“I can’t be entirely sure of that answer myself, but if I had to guess what motivated him to do this, it would be your scent. It seems to have attracted the demon, and that’s why he came after you.”

Mika laughed stiffly. “Well then, I guess I’d better take a shower more often, and wear a really strong perfume from now on.” She scoffed at the suggestion, but it really did scare her. If it was just her smell that had attracted that thing, what could she do to prevent this from happening again?

Even Kaito’s serious face broke at her remark and he smirked. “Probably wouldn’t hurt. Every demon is attracted by something different, and that one just happened to discover you. You get one more question,” he reminded her.

Mika paused, and looked into her tea cup wondering what would be a good final question. There were many she wanted to ask, and they all flooded her brain, but one seemed prominent in her mind. “Okay, I’ve got it.” Her voice grew quieter with the next sentence. “Who are you Kaito? Why do you know all of these things?”

Kaito shifted his head in a way that cast a shadow over his eyes. “That’s two questions,” he mumbled.

“Then just answer the first one.”

No response. Try as she might, Mika couldn't read his expression through the bangs covering his eyes although she could take a guess as to what he was going to say next.

“I’m sorry Mika... That’s a question that I cannot answer. You can ask another if you’d like, but I can’t answer that one.” His voice was intended to be emotionless, but Mika almost thought she heard a twinge pain in his voice.

“Then,” she spoke slowly and carefully, “can I make an assumption? Will you confirm it if it’s right?”

“Maybe.”

“You...” her voice was a whisper now, “are one of them... aren’t you?” The words tumbled from her mouth before she could stop them. It was the only thing that made sense. He knew about things that no one else did about these...these ‘demons’. His physical skill was way beyond that of a normal person’s. The way that he acted, and the look in his eyes seemed older than that of a teenager.

Again there was no response. He was frozen, his face still consumed by shadows.

“Then I’m right. You’re a-a demon...” Silence followed uninterrupted for several minutes.

Finally he spoke. “Are you afraid, now that you know what I am?” He looked up. His blue eyes blazed at Mika, almost pleadingly.

“I don’t really know what to think.... You protected me, and then abandoned me, just to get me back again almost like some sort of toy. Did you just want to mess with me or did you want to have me yourself?” The thought unnerved her. Was she going to become the competition among demons? Though the logical part of her brain told her she should be scared of the being in front of her, she just couldn't muster up the energy to shy away from him.

“Relax, I’m not going to do anything to you. I’m not a savage like that minor was. I’m beyond such acts.”

He had that arrogant, better-than-anyone-else tone again. The one that Mika had now become so accustomed to, and suddenly she burst out laughing. Kaito startled and gazed at her warily, but after a moment, his eyes softened.

“Demon or not, you're still you, and you still have that arrogant, egotistical attitude," Mika said between her laughter.

“But of course,” he replied with a smirk. “If I didn’t, I’d be just like all you humans. Of course, humans are probably a lot worse when it comes to attitude issues.”

They both laughed. Kaito finally relaxed in relief, and they spent another few minutes joking around before he turned serious again. “Now that you know this Mika, you have to swear to me that you will not tell anyone else. Not even Ayako and Kana. This is strictly between the two of us. Do you understand?”

“Yeah, sure, but why?”

“Please use your tiny human brain for a moment.” He ignored her protest at this sentence and continued, “What do you think would happen if people around the school thought I was a demon sent from Hell or something?”

Mika was quiet for a moment and then said hesitantly, “Bad?”

“Yes, quite. Of course, that’s also considering that they believe that story, probably most wouldn’t and you’d be ridiculed. Everyone would think you’d lost it, and you’d be just another weird new student to be avoided and laughed at.”

“Bad,” Mika confirmed. “So do you have any powers or anything like in the myths? And are you as old as they say spirits-” Mika was interrupted by a huge yawn. She was reminded of the time and glanced around for a clock.

“It’s about three thirty or so,” Kaito answered her unspoken question.

“Can you read minds?” Mika asked suspiciously.

“Ha, no. It just doesn’t take a genius to figure that you’re looking for a clock, after being reminded that it’s late, or early.”

“Oh...” she yawned again. Mika laid her head on the table she was sitting at. She intended for this only to be momentary; however, in a just a minute she found herself falling into darkness. Kaito watched calmly as Mika’s breathing became deeper, and she succumbed to sleep.


A/N~ Here's another chapter for you to enjoy. ^^ Things are starting to come together, but there's still a lot to be revealed. I'm going to try to keep the chapters coming out relatively quickly, but some will need more editing than others. As I post here, I'm trying to develop a final draft so to speak, so lucky you guys, you get the best I can do at my current skill level.

[Silverfang]

It was finally the last class of the day, but Mika was dreading it as she changed. Ayako even noted her concern andasked if she was okay. “I’m just really bad at P.E.” Mika answered swiftly with a small smile.

Right below the stars, chapter two. ^^

Great job so far!

[scmarshtacky]

Fixed. Thanks for letting me know. ^^
There's just so many things that my brain autocorrects when I read over it.

[Secret]

Just thought you should know, two times that I have noticed you have written the word drug when Mika was actually being dragged by the 'gang members.'

Drug: A word normally associated with medicine or a concoction that reduces your capacity to function. The latter being the most commonly used definition of the word however the former can be used by people in the medical profession(s).

Dragged: The past tense version of drag.

But don't worry I make quite a lot of spelling/grammatical errors when writing too xD. This really is a great plot line, though I love anything to do with mythology

Edit: Also while reading Chapter 5 I noticed that as Mika and Kaito arrived at Kaito's apartment it says "would worsening" instead of "would be worsening " or something of the like.

[scmarshtacky]

Wow, that's actually interesting. These are the consequences of living in Southern American I'm afraid. If you ask pretty much anyone from the place I live what the past tense of drag is, they'll tell you 'drug'. XD

In any case, everything should be fixed.

[Secret]

I am really sorry but it's South America not Southern American lol.

[scmarshtacky]

Actually I mean Southern America as in the southern states in the U.S. But that's what typing at seven in the morning does to me. I'm gonna just be quiet now since I'm having typing issues.

[Secret]

Ahh right sorry.
I decided to look this up on CS yesterday and saw that you had posted all 70 chapters up there. 4 years of work is just beyond my comprehension, anyways if you're going to create a second book please let me know because I'd really love to read it (Oh and umm yeah I have read the first book already xD I read fast).

[scmarshtacky]

Okay. I'm glad that you liked it enough to look it up on CS. ^^
I am working on a sequel, but haven't had the time between school projects, essays, studying, and everything else, to do much on it yet. I figure that by the end of March (after spring break) I will have finished at least two chapters. Probably by mid-May I will have at least five and will be able to start posting them.