Hunting Darkness

Chapter 11

I walk with Mizuki to school. I look around frequently, still very uneasy about being around so many humans. Soon, Yuma Tsukumo and the cat girl join us.

"Hey Kotori," Yuma says with a smile. That smile dissolves as he looks over to me. "Who's your friend?"

"Hi Yuma. This is Kasai." Mizuki gestures to me.

I look around Tsukumo to see if any Agent is trailing him. Okay, none. That's good at least.

"Hey, nice to meet you, Kasai!" Yuma raises one hand. "I'm Yuma Tsukumo."

"Hi," I mumble without looking at him. I ignore his hand.

Tsukumo lowers his hand with an awkward look. "Okay then..."

"This is Cathy," Mizuki then says. I look over to her. So that's her name. Cathy.

Cathy waves shyly. I ignore her, too.

While we walk, they try to get me to talk some. I only utter a few words, though.

I won't bore you with all the details of checking in, getting my schedule, finding the class, and all that bullshit. By the end of the day, my head nearly explodes with all this shit about humans that I didn't know.

When we walk home, I'm a little more open just to keep up the act, though I still refrain from getting too close.

"So, how'd you like your new school?" Tsukumo asks. 

"It was okay. I felt very uncomfortable being around so many people, though," I answer.

"You'll get used to it," he assures.

Sure. Keep telling lies. I know that I can't trust anybody.

I smile faintly to keep the act going. "Yeah, sure." In my mind, I throw up.

I break away from the group and tell them I have to go home. They wave, and I laugh to myself. Humans are such idiots!

I sneak into the shadows and morph into my Spirit form. Ah, much better! I make my way back to the house.

Mizuki arrives one hour after I do. I'm perched on the wall above her door, my hands and feet melded into the wall for stability.

"Hello, Mizuki," I say suddenly.

She jumps in surprise at my voice. She looks up. "When did you get there?" she asks.

"Exactly one hour before you," I answer while separating from the wall. I hover in front of her. "I sure hope this idea is worth it, though. I seriously hate being around humans."

"You do?" she asks. "Oh, yeah! You told me once!"

I face-palm. "Baka!" I settle myself on he bed. "You forgot?"

"Yup."

I sigh. Feeling lazy, I whip one tendril out to Mizuki's nightstand, open the drawer, and take out my knife. I set it on my open hand and squeeze my fist shut, enjoying the familiar sharp sting. I don't know why humans stay away from this pain. It takes away those more painful memories for me. I open my and, remove the knife, and lick the blood off my wound.

"Gross," Mizuki says. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her shudder.

"What?" I ask innocently. I smirk. "Don't tell me you've never licked your own blood before."

"No, and I don't intend to," she returns with a shudder. "Where'd you get the knife, anyways?" she asks, changing the subject.

"Some people I killed a while ago." I continue licking the blood off my hand. "It came in handy too. I enjoyed watching Astral writhe in pain as I drew little lines in his chest. It was fun!" I giggle.

Mizuki comes up to me and runs a finger over my cut, making the sting worse. I hiss as the sting intensifies. She inspects the blood with surprise. "Oh, so this is why I couldn't see the blood."

"No shit, Sherlock. Careful not to get it into your own bloodstream though," I warn.

"Why?" She wipes the blood on a handkerchief.

I smirk. "It's a sort of poison to those who weren't born with the black blood, and it can cause..." I pause. "You know, now that I think about it, I have no idea what it does to certain people." I shrug. "Oh, well. Let's just say nothing good will happen." I run my tongue on the last of the blood.

The door bell rings. The front door opens, and voices float up. Damn! Tsukumo's come for a visit!

Fuck! I have no place to hide!