•Book 1 • To Defy Fate • KageHina•

•15•

I put my pen down right as my teacher gets up. 'Time's up,' she notifies us.

A sigh escapes. I can't believe I got to finish all questions. They were pretty damn long, and we only had one hour. Revising with Hinata surely helped; about 40% of the questions were about the topics we went over. And that's a lot. If we hadn't practiced, I would've missed 4/10th of my exam. Damn.

I don't get much time to think about it, though, as the teacher immediately continues with her lessons. I grab my notebook, ready to focus, as something I didn't miss at all returns: Hinata's staring at my back.

Please don't. Somehow, I got through this morning without being looked at. Or maybe I didn't notice it due to my headache. And yesterday, I was sleeping, so I wasn't aware either. To be honest, I had forgotten about it.

But there it is. Did it get more intense? My hands find the end of my sleeves again. It's as if he's trying to look through me instead of at me. And why isn't he looking away? Don't tell me it's permanent now...

Nervously, I start tapping my feet on the ground silently. If these lessons feel as long as they did this morning, I'll go insane.

Once again, I try to distract myself in any way I can think of. But it doesn't work. His stare is burning on my back.

What exactly does he find so goddamn interesting about it anyways? It's just my shirt. What in the world could he be looking at, so intensely, for so long?

I need something to escape him. I could just tell the teacher that I have a headache, even though it disappeared. But would she believe me? I'm not the best liar in the world...

Or I could give myself a headache. My fingers graze over the red bottle through the fabric of my pants. Killing two birds with one stone...

Though hurting my own brain doesn't exactly sound appealing, it seems better than staying here. It feels like I am unable to breathe. So much pressure coming from his weird gaze. I still don't understand the feelings behind it. Maybe I never will.

But that's none of my business right now. I just need it to stop. I slowly pull out the bottle, and the world changes drastically once again. Everything is bright. It sure has the effect I wished for.

I think about the last two scenes I saw. First, the girl. Brown hair, brown eyes, red dress. I shiver. If I ever see her, I should avoid her, for sure.

Then, the scene that I couldn't see. I could only feel. And it felt wrong. Guilt, sadness, but also... Something warm. Something I can't identify; something that I also notice in Hinata's gaze.

My head was hurting too much to see it, so I don't know what happened, or how I get to that point. But I don't want that either, so I guess that's fine..

Maybe I should research some of the short ends. Just so I know what not to do.

After taking a silent but deep breath, I softly untangle one of the shorter strings. There are two shiny parts, pretty close to each other. I decide to take the last one between my fingers.

I am outside. But I'm not alone. Something, or rather, someone, is holding me back. Or at least I think they are. I can feel two arms around my stomach, and something against my back. Is someone choking me?

I can't look down, though. I can only see what my future self would. And apparently, that me knows very well what is happening.

Just as I am about to question how I will die in this, the arms around me loosen as a yell sounds. I turn around just in time to see orange mixed with red in the corner of my eyes, before my vision goes black.

I have to suppress a loud gasp when the red world returns. Was that Hinata? It sounded like him. And I did see orange... But what was the red stuff?

My body freezes. Wait. That wasn't blood, was it? Did I... Did I get him killed? It can't be. What was he doing? Why was he behind me? And who would want to kill us both?

I try to find one that is about as long. Maybe it contains answers. Maybe there's one where I can see. Though, do I really want to?

The scene replays in my head. Yes. I want answers. I need to protect us. So, I grab one of the glistering parts that isn't stuck in a bunch of other strings. It's really short. How scary...

The scenery changes. My headache increases. Seems like I'm running. There's something in my head. Luckily, this time, I turn around.

The thing I'm holding is Hinata's arm. He's here again? Does that mean it's the same situation?

It doesn't take long for me to get an answer. My vision focuses on something behind him. Though I can't currently feel it, I'm sure my blood ran cold.

Running behind us is the brown haired girl I saw in one of my earlier visions. Her eyes are filled with pure hatred. Slowly but surely, she is catching up to us.

Hinata is ripped away from me, yelling my name. This time, there is nothing red to be seen; he simply falls to the ground, looking at me with anxious eyes.

My lungs are burning. My legs are starting to feel tired. I never had a great condition, but it seems the fear rushing through my whole being is making it worse.

She lunges at me, my body hitting the cold, hard concrete. Once more, I hear Hinata's scream before everything goes dark.

This time, when I wake up, I notice I am breathing pretty loudly. I think the teacher is looking at me, but I'm not sure. Everything is a blur. My head feels light, and it hurts. A lot.

I see the person in front of me walk towards me. My ears are ringing. There is some sound, but I can't hear it.

For the third time in a short while, my consciousness fades away.

~I'm not even kidding when I tell you this: every morning I wake up, and I think of DaiSuga. And I imagine the smallest details. And I think of how stupid and boring the idea is. But my heart beats faster every. Single. Time. How about my brain calms down and thinks about BokuAka and KuroKen instead :) -J~