Hanako Norene's Past

Chapter Eight

I giggled a little bit as I watched Lone pour vinegar all over the food. I knew that he really disliked the food, but I was really curious about how vinegar didn't make it worse. I think it would taste awful on it's own. "Hanako, are you sure you don't mind? You have a look on your face like you don't like it..." I shook my head to clear my thoughts and looked back at Lone. "Oh, I don't mind it. How does vinegar make it better though? Wouldn't it taste really bad alone?" I was actually really curious about this, vinegar did smell really foul and I thought it would probably taste foul too. "It just adds more flavour...wanna try some?" I glanced at the vinegar, thinking. Uhm.. should I? Eh, I guess I will. It can't be THAT bad. "Sure..." "Ok." Lone handed me a bottle and I studied it for a moment before pouring some of the vinegar over some bread that I had before giving the bottle back to Lone. I looked at it for a moment, the foul smell of the vinegar kind of making me a little frightened about trying it. "Lone, one more question. How the hell do you stand the smell of vinegar?!" He shrugged before speaking. "I just like it...um...you don't have to eat that if you don't want to, ok?" I looked at him for a moment before also shrugging and taking a bite of the vinegar drenched bread. I barely managed to get it down before I grabbed my water canister, taking a long drink. "God.. damn that was strong!" I exclaimed before looking up at Lone. "Well, it was better than stale bread. That's for sure.." "You didn't seem like you liked it all that much.." He took the bottle back, slipping it into his pocket." I looked up at him, thinking of a way to word what I was trying to say before speaking. "Oh, I just wasn't used to that. I usually always act like that when I'm about to try something new." "Well, you shouted and drank water immediately after eating it... it's ok if you don't like it. Really, I won't be offended." "Lone. It was just really damn strong and I wasn't used to it. It was.. OK. Not bad, not great, OK." I shifted uneasily, feeling a little awkward about this conversation. "All right. Just, uh...all right..."

I decided to change the subject, since my curiosity about Lone's shades was just growing. "Hey, Lone... Why do you wear those shades anyway? I mean, the first day you wore them, even when it was completely cloudy outside.." I spoke as I looked up at him, studying his shades. Lone blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "U-um..well, I like how they look...plus...it makes me seem kinda...mysterious..." He stares down at his food, his face beet red. For some reason, I felt like Lone was lying to me. I knew I should trust him, but I just felt like he was lying. I sighed and decided to say this out loud. "Lone, I think you're lying.." I spoke as I rose my hand up towards his shades. "I'm not!" My eyes widened as he swatted my hand away. "Just.. trust me, all right?" This only made my curiosity even stronger. I put my hand on the side of his face, my fingers curling around one of the handles of his shades. He backed away from me, trying to prevent his shades from being removed. "I'm serious, Hanako, you do NOT wanna do this!" I looked at him and tilted my head. "Is that so? I think I really want to.. You wear shades when it's not even sunny. Mysterious indeed.." "T-that's just cause..." I got to my feet and walked over to him, grabbing the handle of his shades yet again. "Why are you so worried, Lone? I won't judge you or anything..." "I'm sorry, Hanako. Just remember that no matter what, I'll never hurt you, ok?" He slowly took his shades off. "Wait, why are you saying t-" I went silent when I saw his eyes. His eyes were crimson red, glowing with the rage of a thousand dying stars in the depths of the darkest reaches of the universe. At first I was scared and shocked. This explains why he flinched anytime I said the word human. I finally calmed down and leaned forward, looking at his eyes closely. "Why would you hide something so bad-ass?" I asked, my voice a little quiet. "Your eyes are red, so what? You are still you. No matter what you look like, you are my friend." Lone suddenly hugged me, he seemed overjoyed. The next thing that he said really shocked me. "I love you.." Lone and I were both blushing heavily, and I stood there for a moment, completely in shock before I hugged him back, whispering softly. "I love you too, Lone."