Kouken

Chapter 5- Kurome

                “Ok, we are home,” Hina yells with excitement as she opens the door to her apartment. It’s a small room with one futon, a small closet, and two doorways which lead to a small kitchen and a bathroom. It is a little chilly inside and the smell of the flowers lying on a small table is easily noticeable. The minute Kensuke steps in he notices that smell. He never really had long conversations, nor started a conversation with anyone, but felt different around Hina.

“Mmm… that smells good, what is it?”

“Oh, you must mean the smell of the flowers; I like flowers that have a strong scent. It keeps me relaxed when I am alone.”

“Oh, I see. What kind are they?”Kensuke asks as he looks around.

“Hmm… I don’t know. I just know they smell good,”She responds with embarrassment.

Kensuke chuckles a little but tries to hold it in to keep his cool. “So where is your cat,” He asks, “I dont see it.”

“Oh he is at the vet, he is going to be there for one more week,” she responds in a sobbing tone, “but he is fine. Well I’ll be back,” Hina tells Kensuke as she walks in the kitchen. “Make yourself comfortable.”

“Ok,” Kensuke answers as he sits down on the futon. Five minutes later, the mysterious man walks in.

“Hm, I see you made yourself comfortable. Anyways my name is Kurome…you’re Kensuke right?”

“Yeah…” Kensuke responds breaking his joyful mood .

”Well, by the look you’re giving me, I’m guessing you have already figured it out.”

“Figured what out?” Kensuke questions.

“That humans can’t see me,” Kurome responds.

“Oh yeah that. I knew since I was small.”

“Who are you talking to?” Hina asks while walking in the room with a cup of water. She walks toward Kensuke, but before reaching him she trips, falling on top of him and spilling the cold water on him. Kurome snickers at the hilarious scene before his eyes.

 “Kenny, are you okay?” Hina apologizes helping Kensuke get up.

“Just like everyone she can’t even see him.” Kensuke murmured confirming what he already knew. “But she obviously sensed him earlier outside.”

“Kenny?” Hina asks once again.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” He replied.

“Oh, I see…” Confused she gets up and starts walking towards the kitchen again. “Well I’ll go get some more water. Oh, by the way, do you need a towel?”

“No I’m okay; it’s just a little part of my shirt that got wet.” He replies holding his shirt towards Hina. “See.”

“Alright then.” Hina says walking away and thinks, “I wonder why he was talking to himself.”

Meanwhile, Kensuke starts to sit back on the futon and looks up towards Kurome.

“Okay…look, if it weren’t for what happened earlier I would never known that ghost can talk to me…I guess it doesn’t matter as long as you’re a good ghost.”

“Good ghost?” Kurome exclaims and tries to keep his cool, “Are you kidding me?!…Ghost?”

“No? Hmm…maybe…” Kensuke thinks for a while and out all seriousness blurts out, “Spirit?”

                Kurome looks at him dead in the eye. He slowly reaches for the flower vase on the table, grips it and rapidly throws the vase straight at Kensuke’s head. As the vase spills water all over the room the flowers  float in the air. The last thing that Kensuke heard and saw was the vase hitting his head and Kurome casually saying. “Idiot.”

Thirty minutes later Kensuke is munching on some cookies that Hina brought to the little table where the vase used to be.

“So… how did this happen again?” Hina questions as she picks up some shards from the floor.

“Well… You see …” Kensuke starts to explain why he now has a bump on his forehead the size of his own head, “I don’t really remember…” He lies.

“Uh-hu… I see…” Hina responded with a confused and disturbed tone, “Okay well, I’m going to throw these shards out in the trash.”

Kensuke waited for Hina to step out of the room and then turned to ask Kurome, “Ok now I understand that you are not a ghost or a spirit but a, what did you call it?”

“Kouken.”

 ”The thing that I don’t understand is that if you say that humans can’t see you then how can I?”

“Um, that’s a good question.” Kurome thinks to himself for awhile before responding, “Hmmm, I don’t know… Hmm, Kensuke can I ask you something?”

“Yeah” Kensuke replies curiously.

“Can you take off your clothes?”

“What the heck! You pervert!” Kensuke shouts wide-eyed.

                “Shut up, you idiot!” Kurome immediately responds, glaring at him. “Dumbass, it’s not like that… you see I am a Kouken and all Kouken have a birth mark.” Kurome continues as he reveals his birthmark on his chest moving a piece of his outfit aside. The birth mark almost looks like a black tribal dragon’s body forming hook.

“That is not a birthmark, it is a tattoo.” Kensuke jokes.

“Tattoo?” Kurome asks curiously, “What’s that?”

“You don’t know?” Kensuke asks. “Hm, never mind that…so you wanted to see if I had a birthmark right?”

“Exactly.”

“I see but, you know…“ Kensuke reaches for a cookie, “I also need to check something.” Kensuke said throwing a cookie at Kurome.

                As the harmless cookie flies straight towards Kurome, he calmly moves his hand to his back, as if he is about to grab something from behind him. His arm then holds still in that position as the cookie moves closer. Black and red smoke particles start to be visible behind Kurome. The black smoke starts to separate from the red and starts to form a long shape behind Kurome. He then crunches his fist as if he is gripping a handle. The second Kurome gripped his hand the smoke rapidly condensed itself into a solid object. It became a scythe with a long red ribbon tied to the hilt. Kurome then swings the scythe forward and cuts the flying cookie into half. The two halves of the cookie flies pass Kurome’s head avoiding a hit. After seeing that, Kensuke is left speechless.

“Right ghost would not be able to touch real objects just like the vase.” Kensuke explained for his actions.

“So what… are you taking of your clothes or not.” Kurome demands.

                Five minutes later Hina is in the kitchen getting another glass of water. While she fills the glass of water she reflects to herself. “Kenny is pretty weird… but he did save me… so it is okay to have him over.” Then she starts to blush. “Plus he is also kind of cute, well I guess I should take the cat food to him now.” She then grabs the glass with her right hand and a can of cat food from a cabinet with her other hand. Entering the room she sees Kensuke sitting in the futon with only his boxers on.

“Kenny?!?” she questions astonished.

“Crap! I was so intrigued about this Kouken stuff that I forgot I was at Hina’s house.” Kensuke thinks to himself as he smacks his head.

The blushing Hina looks away and looks over to the white ceiling. “Hmm Kenny I think this is to fast…”

“Oh crap!” Kensuke reacts to what Hina said. “No no, you got this all wrong… hmm… it is because… hmm…”

“It is ok… can you just put your clothes back on” Hina suggested.

“Uh… ok” he quickly agreed.

                A couple minutes later after Kensuke left, Hina sits at the table in front of the futon thinking to herself. “Wow he really is weird, weirder than what I have thought.“