All For the Love of You
chapter 2
by Manille
Do you believe in fairies?
I did, when I was young. I didn't imagined them to be holding magic wands; I just assumed that their magic came from the tip of their index finger.
"How about you, Saikaku?"
"Eh? What are you thinking of, hypnotizing Hosokawa into marrying you?"
"Pak!"
I watched Saikaku fall flat on the ground face first. I cracked my knuckles, smiling over my victory. I must have sent his head spinning into another realm.
"Okay, Saikaku, if you don't want another, then don't talk about Ryutaro like that."
"Fine, fine," he mumbled, trying to stand up.
I held his arm and helped him put his feet on the ground. "You okay? Gomen ne."
"You don't have to say gomen, Misako. You always slap me hard, you say sorry, then you do it all over again."
"Oomph!" I pushed Saikaku's head forward. He staggered, moaning. I walked away.
"Ouch, darn, Misako!" he yelled.
Well, another round of fight was on.
I felt his hand on my shoulder. "Sorry."
"No prob." I smiled at him.
But then again....
"Um, as you were saying, Misako?"
"What...?"
"The...er, fairies."
"Oh, the fairies." I cleared my throat, ready to disclose another strange topic. "You believe in them?"
"Oh, okay. So this is the conversation for fourteen-year-olds."
"Saikaku!"
He held both palms up. "Sorry!"
"I'm trying to open a topic here! Forgive me for being weird!"
"Don't worry, I'm used to it."
"Arrgh!!!" This guy was beginning to annoy me again. I walked away again.
"Misako...I don't believe in them!"
I suddenly stopped. Finally, a decent-enough answer. "That's all I want to hear."
"Right." A ghost of a smile fell on Saikaku's lips as he stood beside me.
I felt his hand take mine. "Come on."
I let him lead me away.
I sighed. I felt...happy as Saikaku and I walked home. Happy? What a word.
But strangely enough, there was a kind of feeling in my heart that always came whenever I was with Saikaku. It wasn't a flutter, like my heartbeat whenever Ryutaro passed by. It was a feeling of peace...of security, of knowing that Saikaku will always be with me.
Heck, I love the guy. Very much.
"Do you believe in fairies?" he asked me. I felt his fingers entwine with mine. He gripped my hand tightly.
"Once upon a time. You know, their powers just come out here." I held my free index finger up.
"Powers."
"I wish I have powers."
"Powers? To...?"
I shrugged. Then I chuckled at the silliness of the statement. "I wish I have powers." "I don't know...nah, forget about it."
"Hey...what if you do have those powers? Why don't you just try?"
I chuckled once more. "I'm not the only strange person in our junior high," I said.
"Hey, that's why we're friends."
"Oh, yeah. I forgot." Smiling, I held my index finger up again.
"All clear."
"Huh?" I looked around and saw what he meant. The road leading to our house was completely deserted.
"Hey, as if something is gonna happen!" I exclaimed. But, I reasoned, there's no harm in trying, after all. Feeling playful, I closed my eyes and concentrated.
I imagined the energy from every part of my body moving, collecting in my finger. Unconsciously, I inhaled. More of those little sparks moved. I imagined it so vividly that I almost thought it were for real.
Moments, seconds, minutes passed. My vision was pitch black, and I could only hear my own breathing. I concentrated that way until I felt myself drained and exhausted. I gasped for another breath, but I felt as if something blocked in my lungs. Then I felt my heart beating hard against my chest, hard. Beads of sweat popped out of my forehead.
"M-Misako...stop it, will you? You're scaring me."
Saikaku's voice was very far away, yet I can still feel his hand. It grasped mine tighter.
My head spun. Small knives twisted painfully in every part of my body. I couldn't breathe...couldn't think....
Then I heard a strange sound, somewhat like a gun that would be made in the future.
"Misako!"
I mustered enough strength to open my eyes.
There was my finger, bathed in a diffuse glow of yellowish-white light.
I felt myself tremble. I shook my hand, but it didn't leave.
"M-Misako--release that!"
"I...I...." I closed my eyes again. With my remaining energy, and with a loud scream, I gathered more energy into one part of me...and with it, I pushed the light on my finger away.
I heard a blast. And another. I opened my eyes.
"What the hell--"
Saikaku's mouth was agape as he stared at something. I followed his gaze.
A concrete fence in front of us had a gaping hole on it, as if a bulldozer had broken in.
"What happened?" I didn't hear my voice. It came out as a gasp.
Saikaku didn't answer.
Suddenly, my knees buckled. I felt a pair of strong arms hold my body.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm...okay," I gasped. But as I said it, I felt my body failing me, until I was numb all over.
"Misako?" Saikaku leaned close to me until I could see the clearness of his blue eyes.
Then those eyes blurred. I exhaled.
"Misako!"
I winced at the light before me.
Or rather, above me, I thought as my head cleared. I was lying down.
"Hey...where am I?" I asked the silence in the room. The room was strangely familiar. A computer terminal on one side, a shelf of books opposite it, pieces of paper scattered everywhere.
I sat up. Oh, right. I was in my own room.
"Misako!"
It was Saikaku. He suddenly bolted into my room. He looked at me strangely for a second, then without warning, he ran to me, sat on my bed and enveloped me in a huge hug.
Oh, my God, what had happened? I asked myself. My face was buried in Saikaku's clothes. I inhaled the scent of Drakkar Noir that clung to his uniform.
Then it came to me. The light. The energy. My body draining out.
"You brought me here?" I asked, my voice muffled in his clothes.
"Yeah. I took the key from your pocket," he replied. I felt his lips move on my hair.
For a while, I felt strange as Saikaku held me--intimately close. I knew it was out of friendship, but...somehow, my very imaginative mind hoped for something more than friendship alone....
Shut up, shut up, I warned my head mentally.
As if reading my mind, Saikaku released his hold. He looked at me closely and touched my forehead. "How do you feel?" he asked softly.
"Kinda...dizzy," I said honestly. I lay back on my bed.
Saikaku propped both feet on my bed. "You look pale," he told me.
"Yeah?"
"Very pale." He looked at me closely. "Are you sure...other than dizziness, you don't feel anything?"
"I feel...numb all over...." It was the truth. Although there was a banging in my head, the rest of my body felt like rocks. I touched my face involuntarily. "Oh, where's Kaasan and Toosan?"
"It's still early," Saikaku said.
I sighed slowly. I looked away, thinking of the events of the afternoon.
Was I really a fairy? Someone with magical powers or the sort? Where did the ball of light come from?
It can't happen, but it did.
"Saikaku...?"
"What?"
"Should I...tell my parents about it?"
He looked at me, frowning. "What do you think?"
"I don't know...where did it come from, anyway?"
"From yourself."
"No," I growled, scratching my head. "I mean, yeah, sure, it came from me, but...one can not just...do that."
Saikaku nodded solemnly. "I've tried doing that while you're asleep, but I can't. I should have done it easier than you did, for I'm used to concentrating in my self-defense class."
"I know," I replied quietly.
Saikaku suddenly opened his mouth wide and yawned.
I giggled. "Yuck."
"The sight of your bed reminds me that I slept at four in the morning."
"What?!"
"I was surfing the Net," he replied.
"You're impossible, you know that?"
"Ha-ha. You sleep late at night too, finishing your stories." He stood up and sank back down on the floor. He leaned his head on the bed. "You don't mind, do you?"
"No," I said. When we were younger, we often slept together. No malice about it, even now.
"I'll just wait for your parents...then I'll be off." He closed his eyes.
I smiled at Saikaku's sight. He looked like a baby, so childish, in contrast to his cool-guy image. I changed my position so that my head was close to Saikaku's.
"Saikaku?"
He groaned.
"Thank you," I whispered.
He looked up. "Just rest, okay? I want to see you in school tomorrow."
"Don't worry."
"And...I want to talk to you about the fireball."
I nodded.
On the other hand, that ball of energy was the
last thing on my mind as I dozed off.
"Hey, Saikaku, Misako-chan, wake up."
My eyes snapped open. I knew that voice. I sat up quickly, but all of a sudden, another wave of headache hit me. I sank back down, closing my eyes.
"Misako-chan? You okay?" It was Kaasan. I felt a warm hand touch my forehead. "You look pale."
"Oh, wow," I heard a boy say. Saikaku. "I'm sorry, Keiko-san. I must have slept too long."
"That's all right," Kaasan assured him. "You guys...remind me of when you were young, when you slept together."
Saikaku snickered a bit. Then I felt a hard shove on my side. "Misako, your parents are home," he said.
As if I hadn't noticed.
With a grunt, I pushed myself off my bed. I looked at Kaasan wearily. "How long have you been here?"
"Not for very long," Kaasan answered.
She must have noticed that something was wrong with me.
"Misako, is something wrong?"
"Uh...." I glanced at Saikaku.
"Um...Keiko-san," he started to say, "Misako...fainted as we went home." I noticed him gulp. I also noticed that he glanced at Kaasan's tummy fairly often. "So I brought her here."
Kaasan gasped. Her eyes wide, she looked at me frantically. "Goodness, Misako! You...what...thank goodness Saikaku was there!"
I rolled my eyes. Kaasan was always a walking hyperbole, I admit that. "Yeah, thank goodness."
"Oh, Saikaku, arigatou gozaimasu!"
"No problem, Keiko-san," he responded kindly.
Kaasan then turned to me. "What happened? You were perfectly fine this morning...."
I swallowed. It was my turn to fib. (Okay, so Saikaku didn't lie; he just didn't tell her a big part of the story.) "Well...I started to feel dizzy just this afternoon."
"Let us take you to the hospital." Kaasan started to stand up.
I pulled her back down, feeling alarmed. "No, please...I'll be all right." I wouldn't have the doctors check me, to find out that this girl has out-of-this-world powers!
"I'll call your father, all right?" Kaasan stood up once more and headed out of the room quickly.
I felt guilt wash over me. I had just told a huge lie to Kaasan, then she would tell it to Toosan, and the baby in her womb added up to my guilt. Even Saikaku had to help me lie. They didn't deserve it. Nobody ever did.
But the fireball.
I had a crazy feeling in my gut that the
fireball, whatever it was or wherever it came from, would change the course of
my life forever.