Growing Pains

Chapter 13

A knock at the door caught Araile's attention as she sat on the floor. Pushing herself up on her elbow, she raised herself up into a sitting position, intent on answering the door.

"I'll get it," Shinrai said quietly, and turned away before she had the chance to say anything.

"Oh...um okay," she said, shocked and a bit surprised.

Shinrai continued down the hallway, silently willing his heartbeat to slow. Thankfully, Araile didn't seem to notice how red his cheeks had gotten when she looked at him. Shinrai could still feel the heat in his cheeks.

As he opened the front door, Shinrai blinked in surprise when he noticed a young man standing there, a mixture of shock and rage filling his golden eyes. Blinking against the glare of the sun, Shinrai noticed how much the stranger looked like Araile. Were they related somehow?

"Can I help you?" Shinrai asked, studying the stranger on the doorstep.

"Who are you? You don't live here!" the stranger bit out angrily, gold eyes flashing dangerously.

"N-no. I'm staying with her. I'm a friend of Araile's," Shinrai stammered, taken back by the man's anger towards him.

At the mention of her name, the stranger growled low in his throat and lunged forward, grabbing Shinrai by his throat and slamming Shinrai against the side of the apartment.

"How do you know my sister? Who are you?!" the man snarled, leaning close to Shinrai's face.

Gasping, Shinrai grabbed at the man's hand as he tried to work through his mind on how this man was so fast.

"Answer me!" the man shouted, his hand squeezing Shinrai's throat even more.

"Kane! What're you doing?! Quit it!" Araile cried out as she walked towards her brother, who was holding a very blue-looking Shinrai.

The 14 year old had decided to investigate as to why it was taking her friend so long to answer the door. When she noticed the door was wide open and no Shinrai, she jogged over to see what was going on.

And good thing she did. Kane let out another snarl, pressing Shinrai to the wall even more. Letting out a growl, Araile did the only thing she could think of: she ran towards Kane and rammed her head against his side and fell back on her back.

Letting out a surprised grunt, Kane released Shinrai. Shinrai slid down to the ground and rested his head against his knees, coughing and spluttering. Raising an eyebrow, Kane gazed over to his sister as she let out a whimper while rubbing her now-sore back.

"You know this boy?" he asked calmly.

"Yes! He's my friend!" Araile said in an exasperated tone while still rubbing her back.

"Hm, I see," Kane said, and gazed over to Shinrai, who glared right back.

"What do you want anyways?" she said, angry that Kane was acting like this.

"I came to see my sister. Is that a crime?" Kane said smoothly.

Araile scoffed at her brother, and went to help Shinrai up off the ground. Putting an arm around Shinrai's back, she guided her friend back inside the apartment.

"I don't mind you coming to see me, but I would really like if my big brother not beat up my friends," she called over her shoulder as she walked Shinrai to the couch.