Hunting Darkness

Chapter 12

"Don't freak out," Mizuki whispers. "Just turn into your human form and pretend I'm helping you with stuff."

"Fine," i huff and start transforming.

By the time Tsukumo comes in, we have everything set up. He walks toward us.

"Hey, Kotori. Hey, Kasai," he says.

"Hi, Yuma." Mizuki waves to him. "I was just helping Kasai with something."

I notice his Key glowing slightly, and Astral emerges, completely unseen by humans. I quickly look back to Yuma as his gaze settles on me.

"What do you want?" I ask calmly. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Astral studying me. I block all traces of my real self as his mind starts probing mine.

"I wanted to know if you two wanted to hang out with me, the guys, and Cat."

I think for a while. Should I or should I not go? If I do, I can get closer to him and gain his trust. I hate being around humans, though. What to do?

Mizuki answers for me. "We'd love to go!"

I stare at her in shock. "We would?" I start feeling a bit nervous at the thought of being around so many humans again. My mind hasn't yet been cleared! I need time!

Astral disappears into the Key as Yuma says, "Alright, let's go!" He practically drags us outside. He then turns to me. "You cold or something? You feel like Death."

I smirk in my mind, but I smile innocently externally. "Just proves how much time I spend inside."

He shrugs and continues taking us outside. Once we're out, he lets us go. We follow him to a weird place, and human boys I've never seen wave to us.

Tsukumo introduces me to them since I haven't met them. "This is Kasai. He doesn't really like hanging out, but he agreed for today."

"Hey, Kasai," a big, overweight boys says. "I'm Tetsuo. Nice to meet you!" He's got on an orange shirt, shorts with suspenders, and a cap turned backwards. He slaps me on the back, and I growl at him.

"Do that again and see what happens," I snarl.

"Alright, alright," he says, backing off.

"Moody, much?" a short, shrimpy kid asks, waltzing up to me. He tips his small, blue, stupid-looking hat. "The name's Flip." He gives me a stupid-looking grin.

I snort in my mind. What a weirdo. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Flip," I say without looking at him.

"You must be the new kid at school," an annoying voice says. I turn to him. The nerdy kid has nerdy blue hair and something resembling the school uniform. Also, his voice is nerdy. Heh. The Nerd.

"And you are...?" I ask.

"I am the class representative, Takashi. I'm in the same class as you," he says.

"Okay?" I grin. "If you're so important, then why haven't I noticed you?"

The other boys snort with laughter. My grin widens as Takashi's eyes widen in surprise.

In the midst of all the laughter, I notice a guy who's been standing a ways off from the group, but I can tell he's associated with them. He's more serious than the others, and he seems lost in his own little world. He has a purple jacket with greenish diamonds along the opening over a darker shirt. He has dark pants and white shoes with green gems. His eyes are closed, so I can't see their color. Carefully so he won't notice, I probe his mind. His name is Ryoga "Shark" Kamishiro, his sister, Rio Kamishiro, is in the hospital, and he's worried about her. Well, there's a caring brother. I can't imagine where that'll take him.

I make no attempt to make any sort of conversation with anybody, but they somehow get me into a conversation about my past. It's hard to come up with a lie, but hey, I'm the master at lying! Other than that, I remain silent and watch them.

After a while, Yuma and Tetsuo get into a duel. We all watch as Tetsuo crushes Yuma, apparently not for the first time. I nearly laugh at Tsukumo's ignorance. He's so stupid!

After the duel, Yuma asks, "So, how's your sister, Shark?"

Shark opens his blue eyes. "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with, Yuma. She's fine," he replies in an irritated way. Much like me. Don't know if that's good or bad, but what the heck.

Being my evil and nosy self, I ask, "Is there something wrong with your sister, Shark?"

I laugh in my mind at all the irritation radiating off of him from that one question. It's as if he hates it when people ask him. "None of your business."

I shrug. "Alright then. If you say so." Suddenly, the minds of the humans are crowding my mind. See, this is exactly what I didn't want! "I have to go," I say briskly. I walk away, relieved that I can clear my mind from all those thoughts.

I sigh. Humans need to learn how to put up a mental barrier! Though, if they did that, it would be harder to track them.

When I reach the window to Mizuki's room, I transform back. I flex my muscles, glad to be back in my original form. I sneak through the window and crawl under her bed for a quick nap.