The Stars in the Sky [Love is a Journey- Book 1]

A Cheerful Present; a Dark Past

~Before we begin, I'd like to thank @PieandPizza (your name is making me hungry, BTW), who helped me cure my writer's block by giving me an idea. Thanks to this idea, rest, and imagination, I'm sitting here, completely healthy again, writing this for you guys. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the chapter!

{Nagisa POV}

It's been three days since Jem first showed up in our classroom. Things seem different than before, which is sort of odd. Karma's pranks have stopped almost completely, and there's a strange tension between he and Jem...

"Nagi!" I hear a cheerful call from behind me as I climb the mountain. Speak of the devil... Jem skips as she nears me, laughing. The way the light is shining, I can see a huge scar on her forehead... I had always thought that it was a frown line. That's odd. Her huge scythe is perched on her shoulder, like always, but something's different about it. The handle.... it's...

"Look, look! I bedazzled my scythe!" She screams, swinging it wildly so that it glimmers in the sun. Upon closer inspection, it's decorated with... are those real gems?! Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires...

"U-um..." I stutter, "Jemmy, are those gems... uh... real?"

"Huh?" Jem blinks, grinning. "Of course! One of the perks of having a rich uncle!"

It takes me a minute to process what Jem said. "What? Lovro's rich?"

"Well, Uncle Lov's one of the best assassins out there," Jem explains, unwrapping a sucker and popping it in her mouth. "So he's charged with the hardest jobs. The biggest names. The bigger the name, the bigger the reward."

I suppose that makes sense. As I ponder the thought, Jem pulls another sucker from her bag and offers it to me. I kindly refuse; I'm not really one for sweets. We make our way up to the school building, Jem cracking dumb jokes and me trying to pay attention. But really... my thoughts were elsewhere. Something seemed off about Jem when she was telling me about the jewels. Her grin was a bit too big. Her eyes were a bit too bright.

"One of the perks of having a rich uncle."

Was Jem lying to me when she said that?

{1 Year Earlier}-{Jem POV}

Rubies.

Diamonds.

Emeralds.

Sapphires.

I sneak a glance around me. No one's there. Good. I open my bag and start shoving the gems inside, muttering to myself happily as I go. Soon I'll have all of the jewels I want. And no one will ever be able to trace it back to me.

When my bag is full, I zip it shut, smiling. Now that I have all of this, maybe my want will finally subside...

I slip back out of the window that I came in through, making sure to be completely silent. Then, in the cover of night, I quickly make my way back to my home... rather, the home of all assassins currently undergoing my uncle's training: the Dorms.

I reach the dorm building and head to my usual late-night entrance point: a tree near my window that's relatively easy to climb. I strap my scythe to my back and begin the climb, careful not to drop the jewels. What an easy robbery! There wasn't any trouble at all. It must be my lucky day!

As soon as I enter the room, a pleasant voice calls out to me. "Hey, Jem. You out stealing again?" My dorm-mate clips me on the shoulder as I pass. "You ever gonna take me with you?"