An Assassin's Dark Omen

Finally Awake

     Her golden hair glimmered as it caressed the sides of her face. It surrounded the outline of her face like rays of sunlight peaking over the horizon. Her eyes held such a deep green that I couldn't pull away from them. The longer I stared, the more she pulled me in. Her smile filled me with both joy and dread. She could easily break into laughter, and this whole situation would become just another joke: how I feel would truly be just in my own head. Even with that fear, I couldn't help but feel like a child seeing that smile.

     It's all in your head...

     Shut up.

     You think I'm wrong? Go ahead, then... tell her EVERYTHING...

     I said shut up!

     You can't hide from the truth... you remember each life you took... you don't deserve love, killer.

      SHUT THE FUCK UP!!

     "Kazu?"

     My eyes flew open, and I realized that I had been twitching and writhing. I fought back tears, but she knew me better than anyone; she saw but said nothing. A warm smile was all that she bore. The silence was almost deafening as she went back to stroking my hair. I was paralyzed in her lap.

     "How is he?" Denki asked as he walked up.

     "Sound asleep," Chika answered in an oddly mature voice as she covered my eyes.

     "You're enjoying this too much," he sighed.

     "Not at all, it's actually taxing, and my legs are falling asleep," she chuckled.

     "I already said I'd take over if you got tired," Kaori joined. "Let me get a spot, and we'll switch him."

     "I can hold out," she replied. "If I can't, I'll just make him wake up."

     "I guess that's fine," Kaori sighed before the two of them walked off.

     I didn't even have time to try to force my way out of her clutches before another duo approached us. Her hand seemed to press on my face more than before. Her voice changed a bit as well.

     "Hello, President Ishigami, Vice President Fujiwara," she greeted.

     Oh no...

     "Good day to you, Miss Tachibana," Yui responded in her normal facade of elegance. "I heard a student collapsed earlier, and I came as quickly as I could. Is everything okay?"

     "Yes," Chika calmly responded. "Kazu just took a sudden nap since he hadn't been sleeping much. The nurse already checked him out and said to let him rest."

     "Shouldn't he be resting at one the first aid stations?" Fujiwara quickly asked.

     "The nurse there said it would be fine, so we've been keeping him here," Chika remained calm.

     I finally squirmed free and quickly sat up. I tried to play it off as just waking up. I stared at one point and barely moved. The three of them became extremely quiet. After a seemingly long time, I turned back and saw their differing faces.

     Chika had lost lost her composure and turned a bright shade of red. Vice President Fujiwara had almost no expression on her face, but that was normal for her. My sister's expression was the most off-putting: instead of malice for Chika being my pillow or some other weird reaction, her eyes were watery, and concern covered her face. I nervously scratched the back of my head and chuckled.

     "Man, that was a good nap. Sorry for making you guys worry."

     "Zu... Ishigami," Yui started. "You should go home and rest if you're feeing ill."

     "I'll head home if I feel tired again, President," I lied.

     Before she could say anything else, Vice President Fujiwara tapped on her shoulder.

     "We're needed at the football field. We were supposed to be there four minutes ago."

     "Very well," Yui sighed, her elegant facade returning. "Enjoy the competition, and give it your all." With that, they were gone.

     The silence lingered as Chika and I continued to sit. The droning, headaches, and nausea had subsided, but I still had no idea what had caused them. They had started before the lack of sleep. I had only assumed that the lack of sleep came from the nightmares and other ailments.

     "It's a good thing you woke up when you did, Kazu," Chika started. "I was starting to think I'd have to act like the prince in a fairy tail." Her embarrassed face had changed back to her teasing face.

     I don't know what else I expected.

     "Look, act any way you want," I said. "I'm sure you were just as scared as my sister."

     "Well yeah, of course," she sort of squeaked. "You had been getting worse since day one of this stupid competition... we all were worried."

     "Aww, I'm touched that you'd worry about me," I smirked.

     She was silent. I moved over beside her but was too scared to touch her. She smelled wonderful, like a fresh breeze coming down from the mountain on a spring morning. Her face continued to glow a bright red.

     Not the reaction I had expected, but there's something about this one that I can't get enough of.

     I nervously put my hand on her shoulder. "I'm serious," I started. "I'm thankful for you and the others. I don't know where I would be without you... without all of you."

     She turned and looked at me with a sheepish smile. I gave up trying to rationalize it. I brushed her cheek and ran my hand through her hair. I don't know what came over me: I grabbed the nap of her neck and pulled her close. I felt her breath brush my lips as they drew closer to hers.

     RUMBLE

     "What the hell was that?" I jolted away snapping out of whatever trance I was in.

     "Kazu?" Chika's face switched from giddy embarrassment to crippling fear.

     RUMBLE

     "I need to get you out of here," I said picking her up and activating my ability... or so I had hoped.

     No one stopped moving. Everyone's scared voices still filled the air. Chika wrapped her arms around my neck and quivered. My ability hadn't activated. The droning returned.

     RUMBLE

     Over the loudspeakers that filled the stadium, announcements of times and locations for the teams had gone silent. All of a sudden, there was an ear-splitting feedback before the sound of tapping on a microphone.

     "Testing, testing," a venomous voice filled the air. "Is this thing on?"

     "Kazuma!" Denki called out as he and the other rushed up to us. "What's happening?"

     "I don't know," I responded. "I'm as confused as you!"

     "Ahh, that's better. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls," the loudspeaker resumed. "Welcome to the main event of the Hoenn City whatever competition. I'm your host, Anthony White, and have we got a show for you!"