'The Pure Ones'

Chapter Two.

Toshiro's POV.

Kenji dismisses hisself from the conversation with the elf shortly, starting up the stairs. I glance at her and a nervous smile forms on my face as her eyes meet mine. I say a shaky hello to the woman, god I'm so shy. Why do I even try to deny it? She chuckles a little and answers my hello, "Hi, Toshiro! It's nice to meet you. I'm Sora, the mother of Erai. You are quite handsome, aren't you?"

My eyes widen the tiniest bit, I don't get much flattery. That's probably because I rarely interact with anyone..except Kenji. I thank her for the compliment. She sends me off upstairs so I didn't leave them waiting, slightly touching my back.

I climb up the stairs, my feet making a thud each time I took another step. I really need to control how heavy I walk. I sigh and look down the left side of the hall to see if there is any opened doors to indicate Erai's room. There was two, which I decide to check the first one. It was only a little open, so I had to push it to see if I was correct.

Unfortunately, I wasn't and there was a blonde elf, that was female. She looked up upon my entrance, staring right into my eyes. I feel heat take over my cheeks and I turn away, returning her door to it's original position.

Thanks Kenji.

I try the next door that's open and this time I'm right. I could've been the first if Kenji told me where he was going. I sigh and look at the two and mutter Kenji's name to get his attention. My auburn haired friend turns around and flicks his hand. "Hey Toshiro. You took forever to get up here." I groan and clench my fists, forgetting the presense of Erai. "I wouldn't be if you happened to wait for me! Or you know, tell me which room is Er-" My eyes widen as I abruptly stop. Turning to Erai, the blush I had earlier returns. "Uh...Hello."

He laughs and stands up, coming to shake my hand. He was quite skinny, had dirty blonde hair, and green eyes. His ears were longer than his mothers, attracting more attention that it already does. "Hi! I see you already know my name, wanna tell me yours?" He says and I slowly grab his extended hand, giving it a shake. "Toshiro..."

Erai beams, "That's a nice name! I was just talking to Kenji about some snacks. I'll go get them now. You can go ahead and sit down." He walks past me and out of his room. I sit by Kenji, my face still tinted pink.

"That was quite an entrance."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

Kenji snorts and I shoot a glare at him. He stops and a smile is left on his face. "Oh, right. I need to tell you something. I asked out Katsumi. She said yes." I raise an eyebrow. "So where are you guys going?" He tells me that she is a fan of sports, so he figured he'd take her to a baseball game. I stay quiet for a moment, then say, "You and her make me sick."

"Huh?!"
"Love. It disgusts me. Makes me wanna puke."

He jabbed me in the waist with a laugh. "Dude, love isn't something you should be disgusted by." I tilt my head a little, "Oh, really? I wasn't aware." Sarcasm strings in my voice as I speak the words. Rolling my eyes, I continue. "I can have my own opinions, Ken."

He nods over and over. "I know, I know." His phone then buzzes. He picks it up and answers the call.

"Hello?"
"Oh my god! I'll be right there!" Kenji gets up quickly, shoving the phone in his pocket. I give him a look of confusion. He grabs his jacket. "Uh-- I got to go. My sister and-and her friends got in a car wreck. I-I'll call you later." Kenji talks quickly, stuttering a little. He races out of the room, leaving me here.

I sit on the bed in shock. Staring at nothing in particular, I don't notice the sound of Kenji driving off. I wonder if his sister is okay... Wendy is a tough girl, but this is bigger than some bike accident. The memory of the accident drifts into mind.

"Ken! Ken, can we go bike racing?" Wendy asked, putting on her helmet, but not strapping it on. Kenji beamed and strapped it for her. "Sure...Can Toshi come?" He asked and she nodded with a smile back. "Yeah, he can come!"

I lifted my head sharply from my knees when I heard the question and the answer. Oh, great. Kenji is involving me, again. "Uh. I'm going to decline on that one." I say, and Wendy roles her eyes and marches up to me. She grabs my hand and forcefully pulls me down from the brick lining I was sitting on.

"You're coming, no matter what. Don't be a baby." The little brunette crossed her arms in front of me. I sigh. "Fine, whatever." I got on the bike she directed me to and put on the spare helmet they had. Wendy starts down the road to the right, Kenji following her shortly. She leads us to a hill, which she goes down with no hesitation.

I slow my pace as I decend down the hill, but Wendy seemed to only be going faster. I heard her little giggle right before her bike flipped. I slid to a stop and jumped off the bicycle. Worried, I ran down quickly to see if she was okay. Kenji, being ahead of me, was already by her side when I reached them.

Wendy sat up and rubbed her shoulder. "Ow," she groaned. It was bleeding, but not too much. Her leg was scraped pretty bad though. She looked up at Kenji. "Hey, do you think this will leave a scar?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

Ken sighed with relief and ruffled her hair, glad she was okay. "We'll see. Let's just get you home and clean you up."

Erai snaps in my face.
"Toshiro! What's going on?! Why did Kenji leave in such a hurry?" He asked and grabs my shoulders, shaking me a little. I grab his elbows to stop him from shaking me any more and look up at him. He stares at me and I quickly let go of him and lace my fingers with each other.

"His sister got in an accident. That's why he left in a hurry." I answer, staring at the floor. He removes his hands from my shoulders. "Oh." He gives me a sympathetic look. "Sorry to hear that." Erai then smiled a little.

"It's good for him that he left though."
"What...? Why?..."
"Oh, because he isn't going to end up dead anymore." Erai responds with a little chuckle. My heart starts pounding as he takes a step forward.

"W-what do you mean?" I ask, which is probably the stupidest question ever. He reaches down into his boot and takes a small knife out. Erai flips it in the air. "It means, I am only going to have the thrill of killing only one person today."

"You."