Chi! Episode 1

Step. Step. Steps. My breaths became harder as I walked closer and closer to the door. “DING! DING!” I jumped, startled as the bell rang. I limped in, feeling sick as ever. Good thing the teacher didn’t see that I was late. I had just came in from the bathroom. Someone had spiked my lemonade at lunch. I knew I shouldn’t have let dumb shiny have any. He simply can’t be trusted! Anyways, same sickening life, same sickening story, same sickening day over and over again. Wake up 10 minutes before the train leaves only to rush out without breakfast, carrying a bag full of random snack items pulled out of the cabinet. I’m way too lazy to wake up early and make a bento. Afterwards, i’d run up the escalator to the train station and watch perverts look up the skirt of my uniform, as I brutally pounded them on their heads with a miniature baseball bat I keep in my briefcase. I even got someone into the hospital once and got off scot free, yay! Then the train would usually be delayed, causing me to be late to class, being marked down as tardy. Tardy, tardy, tardy. Usually at that time, the teacher would call for homework and hand out a quiz. Then, i’d look at the quiz and realize that I have no idea what the heck was going on. This was likely due to the following: I had studied, but accidentally used a short term memory loss spell for no apparent reason, I had studied, but then went somewhere and forgot everything that I had taught myself, I was too busy to study in the first place given my demanding schedule, or... I was off killing those disgusting creatures. After class, i’d get back on the train, and catch the bus to a special place, usually morning glory cliff near the beach, or the bamboo forest an hour away. Firefly meadow, occasionally. Osaka was a great place to live. After i’d performed spells, gone to temples, eaten ramen, and gotten back on the train, it was usually about 9:00 pm. At that time, i’d go back up into my room, write more spells in the Libro dei Cieli. Lastly, I would go off.... Leave my house to go kill those vile things. Vampires. Those nasty, bloodsucking killers. They deserved to die. All of them. Although it was time consuming and took a lot of my effort, physical strength, and magic energy, I made it back alive and satisfied. It was usually 1:28 AM when I would come back. But that’s ok. I wasn’t like all of the other girls at all. Blech, actually. I would hate to be normal like them and live normal lives with no excitement, and only the contentment of everyday life. See, I wouldn’t exactly call myself a sorceress or anything, but I tend to get myself into trouble with supernatural entities because of my... Well... Curiousity. With not many friends and a wandering and open mind, you get curious sometimes. Last week, I accidentally summoned an incubus, and boy was that bad. I had to take out a katana from the basement and slice it to pieces before it started to like... Rape me to death, or something. And as soon as I thought that it couldn’t get any worse, i’d just been transferred to the lowest class in the school, 1-F. It’s absolutely horrible, and if I can see the filth, there’s nobody who can’t. There is trash on the floor, cobwebs in the corners, soda cans on desks, fried-chicken-boxes under the table, layers of dust and soot on the ground, and little “friends” scurrying about everywhere, who mysteriously disappear as soon as class starts. The cleaning committee won’t even come in here, it’s so ratchet. You know, I used to use spells and stuff to cheat on tests to prevent situations like the moving-down-of-classes from happening, but I was too busy recklessly drawing crop circles on the playground with spray paint on the night of the full moon to absorb its energy to keep up the spell. I used the rest of my strength and energy in the hunt last night. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I banged my head on the desk. “Taomi, care to read the rest of page 48 in the English textbook aloud to the class?” The whole class giggled, and I angrily sighed. “Ay me! For aught that I could ever read, could ever hear by tale or history, the course of true love never did run smooth. But either it was different in blood-” I was cut off by an immediate chill up my spine. Just thinking of the word blood turned me off, now. Those stupid bloodthirsty creatures! Ugh! The reason why i’m in this class, the reason why I get no sleep, and the reason why everything in this place is so screwed up! I shivered. “Miss Taomi, can you continue reading?” Asked the sensei, impatiently tapping his foot, with the whole classroom staring at me. “I refuse,” I said, sitting back down on the broken desk. “Well, you’ll be staying after school for detention, then. Also, your English skills are deteriorating, and I would recommend that you practice more often.” I felt like rolling my eyes, but I didn’t want to get myself into more trouble with the sensei. “Yes, sensei. I apologize for the interruption.” And so, class continued, ugh, etc. All of the students walked out of the classroom, and I was left sitting at the back. “Miss Amaya, what is the matter? You seem to be acting awfully strange lately.” I looked to the other side of the room, avoiding his eyes. I mean, what would the sensei say if I told him the truth. “It’s nothing.” I said, slowly closing my eyes. Knowing that if I dropped even a single, extremely discrete hint, he’d be on to me. His level of intelligence was flying out of the ceiling, and it was annoying the heck out of me. “Well, I just wanted to see if everything was okay. You can go now.” I bowed, and ran out of the classroom. He kept me there for THAT!? I could have been happily scribbling in the Libro dei Cieli on Asagao Cliff right now! What gives!? I angrily huffed, with my medium- length, navy blue hair flowing behind me. I walked down the stairs. Suddenly, I felt a crawling sensation down my neck. I shrieked, jumping up into the air, with my arms flailing, and all of my papers slowly falling. The one thing that I was scared of losing was a letter to the one I liked. An upperclassmen named Hiro. If anybody saw or touched that letter that I didn’t plan to give to him anytime soon, they would die. But I was falling, what could I do? In one flash, something grabbed me, while standing  me up straight, and also putting all of my papers back where they were, like some kind of reverse- button. In a blink of an eye, I looked to the corner at the bottom of the stairs. A streak of red was all I saw, before nearly being in shock for a minute. Blinked again, and it was gone, whatever it was. Such incredible speed, and impeccable timing. Such grace. The only creature I knew that was capable of such, was a vampire. Those nasty things. There’s no way that a vampire could have been what had saved me. I walked home, unusually. It wasn’t ever typical for me to walk straight home after school. But for some reason, my gut was telling me that I needed to put on my gear as if there was some kind of threat coming.  I went home and got my special pistol and special katana. They weren’t just ordinary weapons, they were made specifically for slaying vampires. I got both from my great great grandparents, who had passed the items down generation after generation. As of what I know, no family members except for I have slain a vampire, or even touch the weapons, at that. If any of my family found out, I wouldn’t have as much of a chance at killing vampires as I did now because my weapons would be put far away, where even a vampire couldn’t get to them. I walked out of my house, my vision a bit blurred. I looked closer at my katana, and there was a small crack on the side. “Shouldn’t do much harm to my victory plans...” I said, wobbling down the sidewalk. I was in no condition to fight, yet I kept trudging on. It was getting harder and harder to see for some reason. Suddenly, I smelled one. They were so lifeless, yet they had such an floral and aromatic scent to them. Well, at least the more elite ones did. The others smelled of blood and rotting flesh. Right now, I began to smell more and more of them. And not the kind that smelled somewhat pleasantly fragrant. The kind that was definitely bloodthirsty, and wanted nothing more than the taste of human blood running down their throats. The kind that could kill a human in seconds. I regained consciousness, pulling out my katana. If I pulled out my pistol, the battle would be over way too early. No fun! “Alright, you suckers. Come on out.” In seconds, I realized that I was surrounded. Not by the usual 7 to 10, but more like 20.  As I looked around closer and closer, I saw that there weren’t just 20. There were 30. 45. 50. I gasped, as I felt my heart jump out of my chest. All of their glowing red eyes. Their eyes were either gold or red, but both of the colors were scary. Suddenly, a figure flew right in front of me. “Hello, Miss Taomi. We’ve been expecting you. Surprised much, little vampire- slayer?” asked the blonde boy standing right in front of me. I looked into his teal eyes, and they seemed to penetrate straight through my soul. “Take a step closer, and you will be dead, Ryo.” I said, holding my katana up to his face. “Oh, little Taomi. You were always such a feisty one. And you have such a cute face. What a shame, darling.” he said, while gently putting his hand on my cheek. “Now, prepare to die. You are outnumbered and there is no way that you can win singlehandedly. I’m sorry, my sweetheart.” I clearly had a “Try me and i’ll kill you” look on my face. Suddenly, one lunged at me from behind. Sliced. One from above me. Stabbed. All around me, they were flying. My heart was beating faster and faster. “DIE!” I screamed, recklessly swinging my katana in every possible direction. Ryo began to fall backwards, as I had cut his stomach. “I hope you know, I won’t die.” He said, wiping the blood from his mouth. I continued to swing my katana. “STUPID BLOODSUCKERS! YOU TOOK INNOCENT LIVES, AND NOW I WILL TAKE YOURS!” I sliced wholeheartedly, as I watched each one turn to dust as I killed it. It was such a liberating feeling, knowing that they would not harm anyone else, and the ones who died because of their hunger would be avenged. While I had killed about 35 of them, the numbers seemed to grow and grow, and my physical strength was getting to an all time low. “I can’t keep fighting... But I have to.” All of a sudden, a figure stood in front of me, holding its arms out as if to shield me from the possible threat. “I got ya.” he said, mysteriously killing the beasts one by one. He looked like a plow cutting through the fields, he was going so fast. I also realized that of all of the vampires I had saw, some were merely mirages, created to intimidate me. Who is this guy, and how was he taking them out so fast? I had never even moved at that speed before! I didn’t know I had a rival! Or maybe, was he an ally? I looked closer. Red hair? I’d never even seen someone with that color hair in my life... Maybe once or twice, but it was a deep burgundy... Like the color of dry blood. In yet another flash, all of the vampires had disappeared, or so it seemed. I heard the crunching of the forest leaves, and saw someone walk towards me. “STAY BACK!” I said, holding my pistol. “It’s ok, I won’t harm you.” The mysterious figure stepped into the clearing, and the moonlight made it so that I could easily see him. I put my pistol down. It was the redheaded boy. The one who had saved me. “Hey, are you alright? That was a pretty nasty fight, especially for one person to take care of themselves. Why are you killing vampires?” he asked, politely. “Both of my parents were killed by those beasts, and i’ve seen them suck the life out of humans before.” he smiled gently. “Is that so? Well, I hope I was of service to you in some way. If you need me again, just call.” I looked at him, quizzically. “But I don’t even know your name.” I said, looking at him in a sarcastic manner. “Oh, my name? It’s Yuu.” I looked at the ground, wondering if I should tell him my name. Suddenly, I heard the noise of a sword being drawn out. “YUU! WATCH OUT!” I screamed, but it was too late. When I had opened my eyes in yet another speedy blink, The sword had already slashed a huge wound on his shoulder, so much that it must have hurt to even lift it. “Sickly bastard,” said Ryo, floating away. “GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT! I’LL KILL YOU! YOU’LL PAY FOR THIS!” I screamed, chasing after him and stomping my foot. I knew I wouldn’t catch up with him. I stopped, and ran back towards Yuu, who had collapsed on the ground. “Yuu! I said, lifting the hair off of his forehead. “Yuu, are you ok?” I asked, examining his body, especially his left shoulder. “Here, i’ll take you home! Do you have someplace to stay and someone to clean your wound for you? I insist, come with me!” he smiled a gentle, graceful smile. I finally saw his eyes. They were a dark, dark gray. “Taomi... You’re such a kind girl. I can’t impose and do something like that. I’ll be alright.” honestly, I couldn’t bear to see him in the condition that he was in. I didn’t know him, but the graceful and kind person who had saved me from those bloodthirsty vampires was lying helplessly on the ground. “Here. I forgot to give you this, Taomi.” as he lifted up, I saw that the scar on his arm wasn’t the only one. He had a cut on his face, and all over his stomach as well. His ripped jean shorts revealed that his legs were also damaged. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a little pink piece of paper with the name “Hiro” on it. “Where did you get this, and how do you know my name?” I asked, quizzically. “You don’t remember?” he said, smiling. I flashed back. Red hair. My eyes widened in shock. “Wait, were you the one who saved me on the school stairs this afternoon!?” now not only did I owe him twice, but he might have read my letter to Hiro. “Yeah, I was. I saw one of your papers fly out, and it said ‘Taomi’ on it, so i’m guessing that’s your name...?” I smiled. “Yeah. Thanks for saving me there, too.” I looked at him, and he was somehow still smiling even with all of the pain he just went through, and the unbearable pain he must be suffering now because of his wounds. “Come on, i’ll carry you on my back.” he laughed a little. “There’s no need for that,” he said, trying to stand up. But as soon as he did, he fell right to the ground again. “What’d I tell you?” I said, kneeling down. “Nobody will ever have to know.” I said, chuckling. He looked to the side, and hesitantly climbed onto my back. He had to be at least 6 feet tall, and I was a mere 5 foot 5. Surprisingly, he was very light. It felt as if I was carrying a child on my back. “Goodness, Yuu! Do you ever eat at all? You’re really light!” there was a little pause, as I caught myself being impolite. “I guess you could say... It’s a part of who I am.” he said, smiling. He was awfully cold, as well. But I could feel his hot breath on my neck and it kind of tickled. I swiped my card twice for the both of us, and I sat us down on the seat closest to the doors. I nearly fell asleep for most of the ride. When I woke up, we were two stops away from the station near my house. Yuu’s jacket that was tied around his waist was over me, and he was sound asleep as well. What a nice guy. After a few minutes, we were finally at our stop. “Yuu, wake up.” I said, gently tapping on his shoulder. “Yuu.” I said again. He grunted, and slowly opened his eyes, yawning. I looked closely at his teeth, and thought I saw something that shouldn’t have been there. “Is this our stop?” he asked, slowly getting up. “Uh... Yeah.” he stood up with ease. “Oh good! Maybe a little rest was all you needed.” Yuu made an irritated face. As soon as we walked off of the train and onto the boarding platform, he intentionally plopped to the ground. “Can you carry me please?” he asked, making a catface. “Oh my god, you can walk now. Don’t you dare pull something like that,” I said, laughing a little. He began to laugh as well. We were both laughing for about a good minutes, then he got up and we walked towards my house. “We’re almost there, don’t worry.” I told him, as he made a sigh of relief. I rolled my eyes, smiling. We reached my door, and my little sister came running out. “TAOMI! YOU’RE HOME EARLY!” She exclaimed, excitedly. Early for me was around 9:30 pm. She showed me inside. “Oh! Who’s your friend?” she asked, with a mischievous look on her face. “Oh god, Rei. He’s not my boyfriend or anything. He’s a new friend of mine, and his name is Yuu.” Yuu smiled at Rei, but didn’t say a word. “Taomi, Hitomi left for the weekend. She’ll be back on Monday.” said Rei. I shrugged. “Okay, thanks for filling me in.” I said. Hitomi was my older sister who was 20 years old. I was fourteen, and Rei was 10. “Yuu, i’ll be upstairs preparing your bath. Please stay down here and behave yourself, I know you will.” I hesitantly walked up the stairs, shaking my head. I was in the bathroom for nearly 5 minutes preparing the bath and a robe, when suddenly I hear a scream coming from downstairs. Rei pulled out a clove of garlic to cook with, and was harassing Yuu with it. For some reason, Yuu was hissing and had both feet on the table like some kind of animal. There were pots on the ground, and two broken eggs had made their way to the wall. I stand there, tapping my foot, as both of them turn around with guilty expressions on their faces.“Oh my god. I leave you both here for 5 minutes, and THIS is what happens? Rei! Do not harass poor Yuu with a clove of garlic! He’s already been through enough tonight! And Yuu? Why are you running away from a clove of garlic? Do you mind getting your dirty feet off the table? Both of you, by the time I come back down for dinner, this mess had better be cleaned up, got it? Or else.” without even turning around to look at what their expressions or apologies, I went back upstairs. 10 minutes passed, as I sat in my room to make sure they had enough time to finish cleaning up the mess. When I got back down, everything was spotless and dinner was on the table. “Itadakimasu!” I said, about to eat the food. “Itadakimasu!” said Rei. Yuu looked at the bowl of soup with drops of sweat running down his face. He closed his eyes, making an irritated expression. He pushed his chair away from the table, and went to sit on the couch. “Yuu, what’s wrong? Don’t you like soup?” He squinted his eyes and looked over at me, almost growling. “It’s alright, i’ll be fine. I’m going upstairs to take my bath now, if that’s alright with you.” my eyes widened. “No, it’s perfectly fine!” I said, showing him upstairs. “Rei, i’ll be right back.” I told Rei, walking upstairs with Yuu. “Well, here you go!” I exclaimed happily, opening the bathroom door. “After the bath, i’ll help you with those scars and show you to your room, ok?” he smiled. “You’re too kind, Taomi. Thank you so much for everything,” he said, hugging me. I blushed a little. “It’s no big deal, really.” I said, smiling. He immediately began taking his clothes off. “CAN YOU AT LEAST WAIT UNTIL I LEAVE!?” I screamed, running out of the bathroom and slamming the door behind me, dashing downstairs. My face was extremely red. “Sis, are you ok?” I slowly nodded my head yes. “Ooh, I know what it is. You liiiike him.” she said, with a mischievous smile on her face again. “NO I DON’T!” I screamed at her, quickly picking up my chopsticks and slurping the noodles out of the bowl. 10 minutes later, I was still sitting awkwardly at the table, with Rei asking me strange questions. “TAOOOOMIII!!!” I heard from upstairs. “Coming, Yuu!” I shouted, excusing myself from the table once again. I knocked on the bathroom door, and it cracked slightly, allowing me to see one of Yuu’s eyes. “Have you gotten the robe on?” I asked him, making sure that I wouldn’t have to see anyone nude tonight. “Yeah, they’re on.” I smiled. “K, let me in!” I came dashing in with a bag full of antiseptics, band- aids, and topical creams. “Come to your room,” I said, leading him out of the bathroom and turning the lights out. We walked to his room and turned the lights on. He sat on the edge of his bed, nearly collapsing. “Rough day, huh.” I said. He nodded. “I’m hungry.” he said sitting up and looking into my eyes. “Yuu, dinner was a long time ago.” He looked to the side. “Well, if you don’t want anything, then don’t complain!” I shook my head, unslipping the top of his robe a little, so that I could treat the wound on his shoulder. “This may burn a bit. That’s one nasty wound you have there.” I used a wet cloth with rubbing alcohol to clean off his wound, and he had an agonized expression on his face. “Thanks, Taomi...” He said, making painful sounds. “Oh goodness. I feel so sorry for you. Ryo will pay, we’ll kick his ass together.” He smiled, still frowning a bit. Once I was done with cleaning all of his wounds, his body was covered in bandages and wrap. “Do you need anything else?” I asked him, as he rolled over, ready to fall asleep. “Taomi, i’m hungry.” he said, again, looking at me soulfully out of the corner of his eye. I rolled my eyes, taking him by the hand and dragging him downstairs to the refrigerator. Rei and I began presenting every food item that there was.“There’s tons of stuff here. What do you want?” he shook his head. “Come on, there has to be something you like in here!” said Rei. “Salad?” he shook his head. “Garlic soup?” asked Rei. Yuu hissed. “Ice cream?” he shook his head as Rei and I gasped. “Tofu?” I asked. He shook his head. We went through item after item, and there was nothing he wanted to eat. Rei went digging through the freezer, as Yuu looked soulfully into my eyes. There was something extremely sad and regretful about his gaze at the moment. “Yuu, do you want me to walk to the store to pick up something for you?” He shook his head. “You’ve done too much for me. I’m going to go upstairs now.” He trudged upstairs, not looking back. Rei snapped her fingers. “Aw, man! I thought for sure we’d found something he could eat!” I walked back upstairs with Rei, tucking her into bed. I went into Yuu’s room to check up on him, and I found him doubled over near the trash can with a bitten red apple next to him. “Yuu, why would you eat something you can’t digest?” He looked up at me. “I’m fine. Everything’s alright. You can go to bed.” although I was concerned, I walked to my room, and put my pajamas on. I shut my door, leaving only a crack, and turned out the lights. I got a good 3 hours of sleep, until I felt something heavy over me. “Tao...mi.” said a gentle voice. I opened my eyes, and there was Yuu, right on top of me. “Yuu, what the hell are you doing!?” he moved his hand to my cheek. I was frozen. “Taomi, i’m hungry. Feed me.” he said, gently. “Yuu.. what does-” he briskly moved his face close to my ear. “I thought I could resist. I thought I could hold back, for the sake of making such a lovely new friend. But your scent is what drew me closer. It’s delicious.” Yuu drew further away from my face, and his eyes began glowing red. Yuu was a-- my thoughts stopped, as I felt hot breath on my neck again. I felt the soft touch of a tongue. “I’m sorry, Taomi.” he whispered.