Patterns in the Snow

Chapter Two

Akio's eyes continued to glance up from his book, in annoyance. He looked across the room at Sora, who was twirling his pen. Click. Spin. Click. Spin. Akio felt his eyebrows scrunch and his fists clench in frustration. He wanted to slap the back of his head to shut him up, but the teacher would see, and how the hell could one explain that? Irritated, Akio rolled his eyes. He hated doing this sort of thing with such a stupid reason. He sighed, and with a flick and snap of his finger, the pen dropped to the ground.

Sora looked down at his pen that lay motionless on the floor. Akio could see in his eyes his confusion. Sora's face made it clear that he knew for a fact that he had performed the trick correctly, and his disbelief gave Akio just a hint of satisfaction. He deserved it for spinning his pen, making that ridiculous noise. With a blank expression that merged into a slight smirk, he quickly diverted his eyes back to his book.

The school bell rang, and the students dispersed. Akio slung his schoolbag over his shoulder and walked through the heavy doors of the main building. Suddenly, he felt a large smack on his shoulder, and Sora's face appeared.

Akio said, "Finally escaped detention, have you, Sora-kun?" Sora laughed and said, "Well, you know how Nakamura-sensei is. He seemed to have a problem with me since our first year." Akio slapped Sora's head and said, "I can't imagine why. Let me think, was it the snoring?" "Shut up."

Akio ruffled Sora's hair and said, "Perhaps you should lay off the video games and, oh, I don't know, sleep." Sora retorted, "As if you don't." "No, actually," Akio said, "I have better things to do." Sora challenged, "Oh yeah? Like what?" Akio said, "None of your business."

Sora groaned and said, "Come on, telling me won't kill you." True, but it will kill you.

Akio said, "So what? I have some business to take care of." Sora said, "Fine. You aren't budging. I suppose I'll just go spite Kaito-kun. I could use a good fight. Enjoy your 'business'." The boy used air quotes as he walked away, carelessly.

Akio shook his head and thought, I socialize with a halfwit. He ruffled his black hair and turned around to go home. He sighed as he thought of all the chores he'd have to kill before he got to sleep. What was so great about souls anyway? They're just tickets to immortality, which is so boring, and not even the slightest bit as pleasant as it had been made to sound.

Akio's eyes flickered back and forth across the hallways as he walked. No, no, no, where is she? Then, he caught sight of what he was looking for. Akio hid behind a wall as he watched her.

The girl's long, dark hair had been messily put up in a ponytail, with a single cherry blossom clip for her bangs. Her bag was cluttered and messy, yet full of straight A grades. As the girl came closer, Akio's eyes hyper focused on her face. He frowned as he saw her deep, dark circles under her eyes. Do you ever sleep, you idiot? He concentrated, and then released. He murmured to himself, "She didn't eat anything last night. She gave away her breakfast." Akio sighed and thought, Why is she like this? She is so difficult to keep an eye on. She'll be dead before I ever get back to normal.

The girl continued to walk towards him. Akio smirked inside his head. She had no idea that he was watching her. Akio always found that the slightest bit entertaining about being in his profession. You'd watch over a person for years and they'd never suspect a thing. Sure, she was his first and only charge, but it was nonetheless amusing. So far, he'd kept his distance. Akio wasn't the sort to confront. He worked with a significantly more efficient method of subtlety. He took a glance at his notes:

Name: Yui Murakami
Age: 18
Sex: Female
Height: 154 centimeters
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Brown
Hometown: Kyoto
Residence: Happy Bakery

Akio had to admit that even though keeping an eye on her was certainly a heavy task, he was grateful that she wasn't an opposing gang member, a cigarette addict, or a heavy metal singer. Of all the horrible charges he could have had, she had turned out to simply be the polite daughter of a baker. Plus, he'd been given all he needed to know about her, so so far, his job was done for him. Now if she would save some food for herself so that she wouldn't become a skeleton, it would be perfect.

Akio returned his notes to his pocket and glanced down at his watch. Ten minutes. He had just enough time to watch her go home, and then he could meet up with his first chore of the night. It was a very familiar chore, one that was frequent, and tough to beat. Still, Akio had beaten it plenty of times before. He had his bandages ready at the temple, worst case scenario. Those shape-shifting idiots were complex enough for his skill area, but he worried that he'd seen increased numbers. If only- oof

Akio felt himself collide with someone, and he doubled back. He hurriedly said, "Gomen nasai," He glanced down and stopped. The girl lifted her fallen bag from the ground and held out her hand to him, saying, "It's alright. It was an accident, wasn't it?" She smiled kindly, but her smile turned into surprise. "Wait," she said, cautiously backing away a few steps, "You were the boy who helped me this morning. Akio was your name?" Akio nodded quietly. "Well," The girl said, "My name is Yui." "I know," Akio answered quickly. Yui's eyes widened. "Do I know you?" Akio shook his head, saying, "No, but - I just -" He bit his tongue. He'd never been good at interacting with mortal peers, let alone a female one. How does one hold a conversation with someone they were tasked with watching for three years? Yui slowly said, "Well, thank you, Akio-san, for your help today. I am glad that I could return the favor." Akio nodded and said, "It was no trouble, they're all stupid." He asked himself if his gang members actually were the stupidest beings he interacted with. With all of the creatures he'd seen, it was a difficult question to answer. Hormonal teenagers mixed with terrible influences versus everything else? A truly difficult question. At least they didn't inflict mortal wounds, not on their leader, anyway.

"Are you alright?" Yui's voice snapped Akio out of his thoughts. He quickly tried to come up with something that would make him sound completely unfamiliar with her, but all that came out was, "Fine." He felt himself growing frustrated. The temple had never told him what to say when confronted by his charge. What was he supposed to do, disappear in a puff of smoke? Slap her? Take off in the opposite direction? It was so difficult to pretend that he didn't know everything about her.

"Well, I should be getting home," Yui said awkwardly, "My father needs my help this afternoon." Akio nodded and said, "Goodbye then, Murakami-san. And try not to run into Sora again. He doesn't play nicely." Yui said, "Arigatou, Akio-san. Goodbye." And with a swish of her ponytail, she had turned on her heel, passed through the doors of the school, and down the hill to the bakery.