I didn't even attend the school I was going to for a full two months before I realized that I hated it. It wasn't that the breaks were too short, or that the lunch wasn't delicious, it was because it was so easy. So terribly, painfully easy. I needed a challenge, something to rack my brain. I groaned in frustration before hitting down all of the answers on the test that laid in front of me.
The only thing left to do was to write my name down on the top right corner. I wrote down quickly, yet neatly, the name 'Mizukage'. The teacher came up to me as she most likely saw me nearly rip my hair out of my scalp from frustration and interrogated me. I was on the verge of a mental breakdown at this point. It was a boring, gray Monday morning, two days after I saw my best friends' spirits bid me goodbye one last time.
I guess you could call them ghosts, or spirits, or even just lost souls. Call them what you will, honestly. The small 'Forever Flame' that Lin created one last time resided in a metal tin in my backpack on the bottom. I would put it in a plastic one, but the metal one is more durable and the plastic would catch fire. Though I do suppose that the Forever Flame doesn't spread, it just stays a small flame.
It never goes out, hence the name Forever Flame. I kept it hidden and took it wherever I went. I never let it out of my sight. Never. I saw a shadow looming over me and saw my homeroom teacher, Mrs. Cho, glaring at me.
"Is there any particular reason why you decided to interrupt the whole class?" She asked, our eyes locking with one another's.
I scanned my eyes across the room, searching for any disrupted students. I only spotted one. Kai. He had his pencil loosely gripped in his hand. His mouth was slightly open and his eyes were fixated on my cold glare towards the teacher.
"Nobody is being disrupted by me, so what's the problem?" I rose from my seat and asked the teacher coolly.
I craned my neck up at her, cracking my neck in the process. Several students heard our exchange and turned their heads to face us. Mrs. Cho realized she was making a big deal out of nothing and held her tongue. I saw her bite the inside of her cheek and click her tongue. She snatched my paper from my desk, snapping her head back at me.
I raised an eyebrow, wondering what could come next other than a bad attitude from my teacher, who was teaching us about respect in and outside of class. She continued to stare me down. I eventually turned to face her and looked her dead in the eyes. My glossy, jade green eyes glimmered from the slight ray of light that wiggled their way into the classroom through the blinds. My jade green eyes soon shifted to a white color.
My teacher seemed shocked by it and stood still as if she was in a trance. I waved my hands in front of her, trying to capture her attention. The tension in the air soon turned to confusion. Everybody's eyes seemed to be fixed on me. I snapped my fingers in front of Mrs. Cho and she appeared to be back to normal again.
Mrs. Cho shook her head and turned back to me, the same mean expression returning to her stressed face.
"Did you double-check your work as I asked?" Mrs. Cho asked in a low voice.
"Do I look that stupid to you? Of course, I did," I growled lowly.
The teacher marched towards her desk, taking out a red pen. She slapped my paper against the wooden desk and started grading my paper. Her eyebrows raised and then furrowed again. My eyebrows knitted together as I was wondering what she was thinking. Sooner, rather than later, the teacher stood up from her desk, her chair creaking and scraping against the floor.
Mrs. Cho looked around at everyone in the room. She finally strode over to my desk and raised the paper in the air for everyone to see. I looked up at it and saw that I got full marks plus extra credit for my name. Nearly everybody had their jaws on the floor and stared at me. For whatever reason they seemed to praise me, I had no clue.
"Since Miss Mizukage here is so smart. Let's hear how she got full marks on her paper. Shall we? Well, Mizukage, what did you do. Did you cheat on anyway?" Mrs. Cho looked at me with an evil grin and an evil look in her eye.
She must've sensed that I was having a hard time outside of school and decided to make the worst day out of the week even worse for me.
"I used my brain," I answered simply, earning a chuckle from everyone in the class.
The teacher huffed and spun around on her heels, making her way towards her desk again. Her chubby figure plopped down into the chair as she started pouting like a two-year-old. I noticed Kai glancing at me once in a while. I felt slightly uncomfortable knowing that someone was watching me, particularly somebody that I knew. I had a weird gut feeling. It gave me a sudden urge, but what for?
I knew nothing bad would happen during school hours. I knew something nearly almost happened at night, yet I knew to stay alert. I know my Spirit guide said to trust those close to you, but I'm not sure if I trust Kai that much yet. We just aren't that close, at least not in my eyes. Call me mean or rude, but we only met a few weeks ago, how am I supposed to let someone in that quickly?
I just have to stick it out until I know for sure I can trust Kai. After all, it doesn't change the fact that Kai is a human and I'm not. I'm the last of my kind, I can't leave anything to risk. I just have to fit in and be careful about what I say and do. I need- I need honor. No. I need vengeance for my friends. They were more than just my friends, they're my family.
My fists clenched up, releasing slowly as I took a few breaths. I closed my eyes and laid my forehead softly on my arms. I pulled my hood up to my head and fixed my hair so it wouldn't be in my eyes. As soon as I tried to take a nap, though, I felt my arm being poked by a pencil. I lifted my head and fixed my gaze and who poked me.
I saw Kai's hand slowly retreat with his pencil in it. I blinked slowly, waiting for Kai to say something. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. I'm assuming he was waiting for me to say something first, as he looked nervous. I sat up straight and looked him in the eyes.
"Yes, Kai?" I asked slowly, "what is it you need? I'm trying to take a nap."
"I-I just wanted to know if you're okay. You've been feeling down lately. And you look a bit skinnier than usual," Kai noticed at last.
"I'm fine," I lied right through my teeth.
"That's a lie. You and I both know it," Kai whispered loudly enough for me to hear.
I clenched my jaw, not knowing what to say next. I couldn't think of a comeback for the truth that Kai spewed out of his mouth. It was undeniable. I knew I wasn't all right, and Kai knew I wasn't either. I pulled my hoodie over my head and looked away yet again.
Kai tried to get me to talk, to which I shut him and every other voice around me out. I laid my head against my arms. I heard Kai's voice faded and eventually, I heard nothing. Just- silence. The silence soon turned to loud ringing in my ears.
The loud ringing soon faded until I heard my teacher's muffled voice scolding a student for not paying attention and for talking, I assumed she was scolding Kai. I turned my head slightly to see which student she was telling off and sure enough, it was Kai. I threw a slight 'tsk' at the teacher, but luckily, she didn't notice. I saw Kai's expression turn emotionless. I witnessed his eyes grow cold as soon as he looked to stare the teacher down.
He narrowed his eyes and for the first time, I saw him talk back to the teacher.
"You should be paying attention in class, Kai! Not chit-chatting with other students! I expected more from my star pupil-," The teacher got cut off by Kai's rough, angry voice.
"I'm trying to help my friend out, so just leave me alone!" Kai snapped.
My eyes slammed open just as quickly as when I closed them to try to take a nap when I heard this. I lifted my head and sat up straight. I side glanced Kai and saw anger flash in his eyes. Yet, as soon as Kai saw my eyes widen and my ears perk up from this, his expression softened again. My eyes went back to normal and so did Kai's tone.
"Unexceptional behavior! I should give you detention, but I won't. Instead, you get five more pages of homework along with your five-paragraph essay and a two page paper on why you should not disrespect your teachers, all of which are due tomorrow," And with that, the teacher stormed back to her desk, got the five pages of math homework, came back, and then plopped it all down on Kai's desk.
I felt so bad for Kai. Had I not ignored him, he wouldn't be in this situation. But thanks to my dumb ass, he had way more stressed out on his shoulders. I saw Kai scratch his scalp and sigh heavily. As soon as the teacher wasn't looking, I snatched the pages from Kai's desk, holding my finger up to my mouth to signal him to be quiet.
I whipped out my pencil and quickly started jotting down the correct answers. There was a maximum of ten problems on each page, no backsides, which meant there was about a total of fifty problems. Some were word problems, some were equations, some were proportional relationship problems, and some were multiple choice. I did these all with ease and even copied Kai's handwriting. I did a problem for each second, getting it right each time.
I didn't even need to check my answers, my mind was a vast ocean of knowledge and experience. It was like my mind was drawing the equations and solving them like I was a calculator, a supercomputer at that. Just seconds before the bell rang, I wrote the last answer. I looked at the clock and saw there were five more seconds in class. I wrote down the name 'Kai Ambrose' with a slight slant, exactly like Kai's handwriting.
I finally put my pencil away, slid the papers back onto Kai's desk, and started packing up as soon as the bell rang. Kai didn't even bother packing up, he kept flipping through the pages, examining the problems one by one. He had his jaw on the floor by the time he looked up and saw me hovering over him. I smiled, amused at his amazement, causing my mask to shift slightly. Kai finally packed up his things and started rushing towards me.
"How-," I cut him off at the last second.
"How did I do the math? Simple. Math is easy for me," I chuckled at his loss for words.
"Thank you," He smiled gratefully.
"No problem. If you want, I can do the rest of the homework for you?" I offered willingly.
Kai nodded his head vigorously, earning an earnest laugh from both of us.
"Hey, how come you looked so down in class? I noticed you haven't been yourself. Ever since the- you know..." Kai's voice suddenly went off track and I took over.
"The day of the incident? On Saturday?" I finished for him.
"Y-Yeah," Kai turned away slowly.
I raised my hand to his face and turned his face towards me, making him look me in the eyes.
"Don't worry about me. I'm fine," I lied yet again.
"Did you know that the most common lie is 'I'm fine'?" Kai asked studiously.
"Damn, maybe you should study psychology," I commented.
"I do, I have a scholarship in it. And when I go to college, my major will be psychology too!" Kai seemed excited about his opportunity, I was happy for him.
"What college are you going to try to get into?" Kai asked.
"I'm not sure yet. I haven't thought about it," I replied unsurely.
"What?! We're seniors and you don't know what college you're going to?!" Kai shrilled in shock.
I covered his mouth with my hand, trying to silence him. He clamped his hand over my hand, rubbing it with his thumb. Both of our eyebrows were raised at the same time. Kai took my hand and started examining it carefully. He seemed interested in my hand for whatever reason, it was almost creepy, hence his nickname.
"Your hands are soft. And cold. And how come you have such long nails? They're almost like claws," I pulled my hand from him, but he wouldn't let go.
He cupped my hands with him, rubbing them softly and blowing his hot breath onto them, making me shiver. He felt my hands, to which his eyes widened.
"You're still cold! It's like you're frozen solid!" Kai squeaked.
"My hands are always cold, bro," I punched his shoulder playfully, to which he did it back.
We laughed and carried on with the school day. The lunch that day was particularly amazing, I'm assuming because today was an ordinary, boring Monday and we all needed a little spice in our lives on Mondays. I think Kai has a thing for feeding me and for the Yakisoba. I had a taste for Takoyaki, Dumplings, and the Cherry Coca Cola they sold in the glass bottles. Hell, our cafeteria even had candy and cookies, they even had multiple selections of tea!
My admiration for the cafeteria and its food choices were interrupted by a Takoyaki ball and a pair of chopsticks being waved in my face.
"OOoohHh~. MiIizUuKaaAgEee~. My fellow Takoyaki and I that you have eaten have come to haunt yoUuUuUu~," Kai said in a fake spooky voice, which was more funny than eery.
I waved some of Kai's Yakisoba in his face, doing the same thing. He put on a fake scared face and squealed quietly. We both burst out into laughter. We were playing with our food like little kids. I wondered if this was how normal people played with their food.
"C'mon, lemme feed you!" Kai exclaimed, to which I denied the offer again.
"I would have to take my mask off and you, as well as other people, would see my face. So, lemme think about that. Nah," I dismissed the subject with a wave of my hand.
I looked down and saw yet another one of my Takoyaki gone from my tray. I looked up and saw Kai about to eat the Takoyaki ball. He was doing it as if he were in slow motion. My stomach growled and Kai grinned, knowing what would come next. I smiled evilly and put on a fake pouting face.
I crossed my arms and began to pout like a little child who didn't get the toy they wanted on Christmas. If that holiday was still even a thing nowadays. I think we still do Christmas in the Ancient countries, but not in the Newfound ones. Kai stopped in his tracks and frowned slightly. He turned to face me and blinked slowly.
"Well, if it means that much to you then I won't force you," Kai started to place the Takoyaki back onto my plate, which surprised me a bit, it was unlike Kai to give up so easily.
Yet, just as I thought, Kai closed his eyes, took my mask off with one hand, fed me the Takoyaki with the other one, put my mask back on, and opened his eyes again. My eyes slammed open, I was scared that he might've taken a small peek and saw my face. I turned away from him and started chewing. He was fast, no doubt about it. Almost- too fast.
Something about his reflexes just- it wasn't right. A normal human wouldn't have gone past five inches from my face without me striking them across theirs. So, how was it possible? I knew I sounded clueless and completely stupid, but he couldn't be like-, like me. I'm the only one.
I'm the only Peculiar left on Earth. Unless, unless he's not from Earth, or his existence wasn't marked as anything abnormal. But that wouldn't be possible. There's no other Peculiar other than me. Am I? Am I the only one left?
This had my mind reeling for the rest of the day, making my happy, cheerful mood turn sour and cold again.
"Hey, Mizu! Wanna have a study session tonight? We could have it at my place if you want, or yours if you want," Kai suggested thoughtfully.
I supposed Kai caught up with me after school. He jogged up to me and asked if I wanted to study with him to get our work done. But no, of course, there was always a catch in my world. As soon as Kai started talking, a group of exceptionally sassy girls strode past me, bumping into me purposefully. Most of them snickered, while the ringleader stopped us in our tracks, trying to get Kai's attention.
"Hey, Kai. I just happened to overhear your conversation and was wondering if you wanted to have a 'study session' with me instead?" The girl crawled in her sexiest voice, which failed utterly.
"Why would I want to have your version of a study session with a slut like you?" Kai snapped.
"Excuse me?" The tall girl hissed.
"You heard me. Out of my way, slut," Kai growled.
Kai attempted to help me pick up my things, but not before the group of girls kicked my stuff away. I clenched my fists tightly, slowly releasing them and crawling to my scattered belongings. Kai stopped me from going an inch closer to my stuff, picking me up by the arm gently. I patted his hand to signal that it was all right. I guess Kai wouldn't take no for an answer, simply since when he released my arm, he put the leader of the group in a chokehold, making her drop to her knees.
"Listen here, you little bitch. I have three tasks for you. One, you're going to get on your knees and beg for Mizukage's forgiveness. Two, you're going to pick her stuff up on your hands and knees and place it all back in her bag. Three, you're gonna go burn in Hell. Understand me? Get started, you have two minutes, and if Mizukage doesn't forgive you I'll kick your ass. Go," Kai barked his orders roughly, shoving her to the ground.
The other girls backed up from Kai. The leader scowled and started picking my things up one by one. Half a minute had already gone by and she had just finished putting my stuff away. She then got on her knees, looked up at me, clamped her hands together, and started begging for forgiveness with a fake sorry tone lining her voice. After about thirty seconds, her begging stopped and we all awaited my answer.
Everybody was dead silent, the halls were dark due to the lights flickering on and off every once in a while, everybody held their breaths, Kai was clenching and unclenching his fists, cracking his knuckles in the meantime to prepare to kick the girl's ass. I crossed my arms and stood there, waiting for time to tick away. Everything went cold as I suddenly had a toothy, evil, psychotic grin plastered on my face. I chuckled as there were only ten more seconds left before my answer would be given. I started to count down the seconds in my head, waiting until zero.
10...
9...
8...
7...
6...
5...
4...
3...
2...
1...
Time's up, bitch.
"I...do not accept your 'apology'," I laughed psychotically as the girl's briefly bored expression turned desperate and fearful.
Kai looked at me with a shocked, yet almost proud expression. He too grinned evilly and cracked his knuckles one final time before getting ready to clock the girl in the face. I stopped him, craning my neck towards him slowly. He seemed to understand that I and I alone wanted to have the pleasure of beating her ass. We nodded to each other, Kai rounded up the other girls and kept them from getting close to me and the girl.
I lifted the girl's chin and cackled. She couldn't see my crazed smile, but she could see the evil look in my jade eyes. I rolled up my sleeves, waiting for her to try and run. She didn't move. It was like she was paralyzed- with fear. I ordered her to stand up, and she did.
She trembled in fear, and I guess Kai sensed what I was about to do because he nodded in approval. But first, I punched the girl in the throat, surprising Kai yet again. Just as the girl took a few steps back, I rotated my body to have my body facing the rest of the girls and Kai, while my heavy work boots clashed with the leader's face. I smirked as the girl took a fall and hit her head on one of the lockers. I knew that this would get me in grave trouble, which I was prepared to face, just not in the daytime.
I quickly erased all of the girls' memory of this afternoon. I grabbed Kai's arm and my backpack and sped off with him. I cackled and turned to face Kai as soon as we were out of school grounds. Kai and I were both panting heavily. Kai nodded and smiled in approval.
"I told you that you have a powerful kick. And a powerful punch from what I could see as well. So, back onto our original topic, wanna have a study session at my place?" Kai asked yet again.
"You sure you're okay? Did you hit your head?" I asked thoughtfully.
"No? Why?" Kai replied unknowingly.
"Because you sure seem to be taking the fact that we beat a girl's ass very lightly. I like that, no doubt about it in my mind, but it's unusual."
"I've beaten lots of people up before when they tried messing with me. It's no big deal really," Kai answered, rolling his neck to get the stress out a bit.
"Hm. Interesting. And yes, I would love to have a study session," I replied.
"All right then, let's go!" Kai linked his arm around mine and started walking at the same pace as me.
We walked in silence most of the time, occasionally chatting. The silence didn't bother me. And it certainly didn't feel awkward like other times I was around people and it was painfully silent. It was heartwarming to find out that Kai liked most of the things that I liked. It was nice to see that somebody understood me.
Come to think of it, Kai was the only one that understood me. And my only, yet best friend. I'm glad I met him, truly, I am. We arrived at Kai's house after passing through the ordinary suburban area and entering a large, wide area of well-built houses. Nice ones too.
I stared at each house, in awe of each of their different structures and patterns. Kai heard me gasp in shock and chuckled. He took out a singular key from his pocket and started walking towards one of the houses. He lived in a large house in a large neighborhood. I tiptoed behind Kai, fearing that I would be seen as an intruder.
I hid behind Kai as he unlocked the front door and pushed it open. I poked my head out from behind him, unsure of what to do. Kai tugged at my sleeve and led me inside. I acted almost as if I had never been in a house before. I mean, at least not a real house.
I've never been to a house where there were working lights or working anything for that matter. Soon, Kai hung up his hoodie on a coat rack. He gestured to give me my hoodie so he could hang it up too. I was reluctant at first, but I obeyed. There was a warm fire awaiting us in the family room.
The glow of the fire dimly lit the large living room, to which we had to turn on the lights for us to see. The handrail that you use to climb up the stairs was glass. The chandeliers were made up of real crystal that shimmered. The stairs and almost everything was made up of black marble with golden flakes. There was even the latest technology right there in Kai's house.
I gasped at the sight of Kai's home and wondered if his parents were rich or something.
"Welcome home, Master Kai," The smart home said automatically, adjusting the lights so that we weren't given headaches.
"It's good to be back. Turn the temperature down two degrees, dim the lights, and turn up the intensity of the fire, please," Kai ordered his smart home.
The home did as Kai pleased as I watched in wonder.
"My parents work for two separate major companies. My mom works as a White Hat Hacker, which is hacking for the government and not against them. And my dad works as a technological engineer. So we have all of the latest gadgets that aren't on the market yet, and our home is completely safe with the latest security measures, so you have nothing to worry about," Kai stated factually.
"Damn, talk about rich," I muttered softly.
"C'mon, we have studying to do. And I wanna see how you do the homework so fast if you don't mind, it's up to you, really," Kai rambled humbly.
"It's all right, I don't mind. C'mon, I'll show you how to study for next week's test," I stated as-a-matter-of-factly.
"Awesome, let's get started."
« Time Skip to 10:47 pm »
"I think I got it. Thanks, Mizu!" Kai exclaimed, giving me a closed eye smile.
"M-Mizu?" I asked slowly.
"Oh! Yeah, that's my nickname for 'Mizukage'. Do you mind if I call you that?" Kai mumbled.
"Of course not," I replied in the same manner.
"Yay!" Kai jumped up from the couch, falling back down as he realized his legs fell asleep.
We burst into laughter until we both fell silent. It was eleven o'clock by the time that we both fell asleep. At least, I fell asleep. I thought Kai was sleeping, that is until he hoisted my legs around his waist, carrying me as if I weighed less than nothing. I felt groggy, but I knew I was safe with Kai.
I eventually felt him take off my shoes, tucking me into his bed that smelled of smoke and fog. I enjoyed the scent, it calmed my rattled nerves caused by this afternoon. I felt Kai undo my French braids and start playing with my hair. I could feel his soft fingers running through my scalp. He soon left me be and said goodnight one more time.
I snuggled up to the pillow and sheets that gave off Kai's scent. I couldn't feel more relaxed. My nerves disappeared. The stress that laid heavy in my shoulders and back was gone. And the headache that I've had ever since this afternoon vanished out of thin air.
I knew I was going to sleep well tonight.
4,773 words.