A Path To Freedom [Oumasai]

Trouble

Kokichi smiles up at me. "Cmon Shumai, let's get out of here!" He tells me. "Okay," I agree, glad that he wasn't embarrassing me anymore. "So, I guess you should go now." Kokichi tells me. "Yeah..." I say, feeling somewhat sad.

"That was the most fun I've had in a long time..." He remarks while smiling at me. "Me too." I say smiling back at him.

"Well, bye Shumai!" He says lightening up. "Bye." I tell him, still smiling. He waves at me as I walk away.

I was right about one thing though. That I should've gone home sooner. I sigh to myself knowing that I should've been more careful going to The Town. There was someone that I could trust to come get me though. I pull my phone out my pocket, dialing a number.

"Hello?" I hear a feminine voice answer.

Thank god she answered.

"Hey Kirumi..." I say, knowing that she was going to lecture me on the way home. "Yes?" She nudges me to continue. I sigh to myself, preparing myself to tell her.

"Can you pick me up? I'm at the main entrance of The Town." I hear Kirumi sigh, before agreeing to pick me up. "Very well, master." She spoke softly.

I hope she doesn't take too long, but if she does I can't really blame her. I am the one that stayed out for way too long. Kirumi was probably worried sick about me. I bet that Kokichi doesn't have a curfew. I wonder if he has made it home by now. What about his parents? Are they strict and rude, or are they kind and considerate? Geez, I don't even know if he has any parents.

I find myself shuffling through the pictures that Kokichi and I had taken, trying to guess which one was which. Doing this turned out to be very challenging however, since it was pitch dark outside.

Kirumi couldn't take that long to get here, considering that Kaito and I had walked here. Speaking of Kaito, I feel quite bad for the boy. I had just shooed him off, and not to mention cursed at him. I don't think that I've ever cursed at Kaito before. I wonder if that hurt his feelings? I doubt it though. Kaito has pretty thick skin. Even if there are no hard feelings, I will apologize to him next thing in the morning. Kaito is probably asleep by now.

I was almost too caught up in my thoughts to notice a pair of bright lights heading straight for me. I step back, out of surprise. I see a black car heading for me. The car was very fancy, and I immediately knew who was driving the car. The person driving the car was none other than Kirumi Tojo.

She briskly steps out of the car and ushers me in. As I get into the back seat, I heave a sigh of relief. My legs almost immediately give out from under me. I couldn't take much of more of standing. I must have been a lot more tired than I thought. Today was quite a long day for me.

Kirumi closes the door behind me, and walks over to the front of the car. She quickly opens the car door and gets into it. I look at her black gloves, as they grasp the steering wheel angrily. I knew that I was in for it.

"What do you think you were doing?" She asks me, anger appearing through her tone. "I decided to go to The Town." I quietly tell her.

There was no way that I was going to blame this on Kaito. It's not his fault my family isn't fond of The Town. Besides, he's one of my only friends. If my parents found out that he was having a "bad influence" on me, we wouldn't be allowed to speak to each other anymore. I hope this cancels out being rude to Kaito earlier.

"You know you're not supposed to go there." She states sternly. "Yes..." I mutter.

I try not to be affected by Kirumi's tone, but it doesn't work. I start to break down into (somewhat) silent tears. Mom and dad will be sure to punish me if they found out about this. They just can't find out! They might smack me, ban me from any social contact (which didn't bother me that much), or give me their simple, but complex disappointed stare. I hated it when they stared at me like that, because it made me believe what I had done was wrong. Going to visit The Town wasn't wrong, was it? I can't think straight from all of their manipulation anymore.

I bet Kirumi can hear me crying, because she tries to soften her tone. "Shuichi, you mustn't go there anymore, unless you absolutely have to." She says lightly.

"Please Kirumi, don't tell anyone." I beg her.

"Is that an order?" She asks me.

I hate it when she phrases things like that. She made it sound like I was completely in charge of her. Which I guess I actually am. She makes it seem like I have no other option than to boss her around, which is the last thing I would like to do. I thought that we were friends, but now I'm not so sure. Friends aren't normally in charge of the other. Maybe it's just a one sided friendship, and Kirumi doesn't want to be my friend.

"I guess so." I respond to her sadly. "Then I will keep your secret, master." She says. "Thank you Kirumi." I thank her. "It is just my duty." She tells me.

I really hated ordering her around, but that was the only way to keep my secret safe. I wish that I didn't have to keep everything secret. One of the reasons I hate doing this, is because I'm a terrible liar. I just have to hope that no one asks me about any of my secrets.

I look out the window, into a black, starry sky. I see the moon shining brightly in the sky. I smile a bit to myself, the night sky putting me at peace. My eyes start to close, so I fight to keep myself awake. I want to cherish this beautiful sky more. To try to force my eyes open, but in the end sleep overcomes my desire to stare at the sky. I can feel my eyes slowly closing shut, so I just let them. There will always be other days to look at the night sky, I reassure myself.

Cryhara.