A Shadow in the Dark

Chapter 7- Setting the Trap

AN: Okay, guys, so pretty much its gonna be Megumi vs. Tsukio+Emma from here on out! Enjoy! ^_^

Tsukio POV

Saturday. Just wonderful. Now I had absolutely no excuse to be gone the whole day. And, just to add to my wonderful day, I thought, sarcastically, Mrs Akai wanted to do some 'family-bonding exersices'. Greeeeeat.

"Come on, Tsukio! Were a family!" No, actually we aren't. I thought, begrudgingly. Megumi didn't look very thrilled, either. Atleast he has to suffer through it, too. I grinned. In three weeks time, I had kissed a girl, got a girlfriend, and slept outside in a tree. Not half bad. I should be able to get through this alive... As long as I avoided any 'trust' exersices with Megumi, that is. When Mrs Akai told us we were doing trust falls, both Megumi and I refused to work together, worrying her further. "Whats going on with you two?!" She demanded. "You boys were friends untill last week! I want to know what happened, and I want to know now! Right now!" Perfect. now Megumi's mom is bugging me. Just wonderful.

"Just a minor disagreement that we haven't yet found a resolution to." Megumi lied smoothly. Mrs Akai seemed to drop all her worries at that point, which was a releif.

                                                                                    ~~~~~

That Evening, I met up with Emma near the edge of the forest. I was still at a loss by how she was able to cope with all this... For some reason, she trusted me competely, which I still had never gotten any explination to except that I had never done anything to her. Which really isn't a good way to judge somebody... Like, if a stalker only watched her, but never did anything... I don't think she'd think that was ok. I thought to myself. Not like I was comparing myslef to a stalker or anything... but still.

"Isn't the sunset pretty?" I snapped back into the real world, outside my own mind at the sound of her voice. Emma was staring at me, smiling.

"Oh, uh, yeah." I said. She always suprised me. How she trusted me, I didn't know. If I were in her position, I wouldn't trust me, nonetheless be at all comfotable being near me. I smiled at her, still blown away by her tolerence of fear. She was obviously terrified of me before, so I really don't know why she chose to trust me. Hell, she trusted me more than I trusted myself... And that concerned me.

Emma POV

I still always found myself marveling at how mysterious he was. He seemed to always be staring at something I simply couldn't see.

"You never gave me a real answer- I mean like a lagit answer -to why it is you trust me." Tsukio was also looking at the sunset, obviously thinking hard. He had been sleeping out in the tree in his front yard every night, and avioding Megumi at school because he just couln't stand him. Not like I blamed him. I had avoided Megumi as much as I could scince last week. Of course, that made almost every class an akward situation... Algebra and Spanish being the only exceptions. Of course, I noted, I would have five out of seven class periods with Megumi...

"Okaaaaaay..? So... What counts a a lagit answer?"

He thought for a moment. "Well... Like, saying, 'I trust you because...' Then... Then an answer anybody could agree on." I couldn't help but laugh as he struggled to find the right words.

Tsukio POV

I smiled when Emma laughed. Her laughter was so contagious that I ended up laughing as well. We sat and watched as the sun set over the horizon, then I walked Emma home, lingering outside and debating wheather or not just walk for a while instead of returning to the tree I usually slept in and eneded up just retiring to my sleeping bag for the night.

Megumi POV

It wont take long now. I can tell he had already started peicing together the truth; how he reacts, will determine how the game plays out, I thought, and, to my pleasure, I noted, all reactions, no matter how irrational, with lead to my success in this game of strategy. I smiled, satisfied by my work and ability to predict future situations and make solutions so all the tables would turn in my favor. And now that Emma had been dragged into the situation, I had a bargaining tool to use against Tsukio. And, I closed my eyes, smiling even wider. Apparently, it seems, he will do anything for her. Winning this game will be easier than what I had first predicted. Much easier.