ᴀ ɢɪʀʟ's Dᴇᴍᴏɴs

| F O R T Y - O N E |

Shiro's Point of View

      "Nope. Not happening. Ever~" My eye twitched as I crept away from Shuya. He followed my example and scurried away, as far from me as possible.

      "Aw..." Chiyo poured, "I really do ship you too though..."

      Standing there with growing horror, I felt sick as I heard Chiyo mumbling under her breath. I thought she was supposed to be the nice one!

      "But then...that conflicts with my other ship! Ohhh maaan, I can't choose between my two top pairings!" She cried, a frantic look on her face.

      Shuya seemed to have heard it too because he looked about as white as the snow back at home, "Uh...Chiyo...?"

      Her head snapped up at the sound of her name, "Wha--oh, yeah?"

      "Let's...just, I don't know...focus on what's important." He bit his lip, looking away. Chiyo's lips twisted into a frown as she opened her mouth in protest.

      "But my ships are important!"

      "So is my safety. And I really don't feel very safe with you acting like this." Arching an eyebrow, I glanced around us, "But this small passage lead into a big space."

      I turned around, coming face to face with a large fish. I panicked for a minute, flapping my arms wildly in order to escape that animal's beady gaze. Instead, it only came closer.

     "Wait...you're just a goldfi..." I trailed off as I caught sight of what was behind it, "You have got to be kidding me."

      A massive serpent loomed above me, silver eyes glinting in what I declared was evil intent. Green scales glimmered darkly in the shadows.

"Of course it chooses to focus on me!" I whined, pushing back with all my might. Shaking, my legs propelled me backward until I'd slammed into someone.

"Please for the love of this world start running--" I hissed, only to find Chiyo frozen in fear. Her eyes were glued on the serpent, terror reflected in her eyes.

Pushing her, I cried, "Stop standing there! Move!"

She fell back, her back slamming against the floor. Horror flooded me as I rushed to her side. Instead of responding, Chiyo simply floated in the water silently. I shook her shoulders, "Chiyo!"

"Chiyo? Shiro!" My head snapped up to find Shuya a few feet away. He glanced up, "What happened? Bring her over here!"

"But--what if--" I was cut off by Shuya, as he narrowed his eyes.

"Stop whining, Shiro!" He yelled, "Would you rather die?"

A flash of anger rose in me. Of course not! But now...I didn't have time to argue. I slipped my arms around Chiyo's waist. Glancing behind me, I saw the serpent slowly slipping toward us. Pushing off from the floor, I shot toward Shuya.

"What do we do?" I asked, "It's coming closer."

"Well obviously..." he muttered, "We can..." Shuya's eyes widened as the serpent closed in on us, the water around us shaking.

"I...I have no idea."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mizuko's POV

        "Wow...those eyes." I muttered. Kazuki arched an eyebrow. My cheeks flushed as I realized I'd said that aloud.

        "Thank you for the compliment." He grinned, "Nice to know you find my means to see rather beautiful."

Groaning inwardly, I bit my lip. Kazuki waved an arm, "Anyways, why don't we get to know each other! I'll start...hm, well I've always been rather fond of music."