Yay. my 2nd chapter!

I’m so happy about the way this is going. I’ve already written the ending and planned out everything(which is pretty hard because all of the evil math, which you’ll understand later) my friends love it so far but I’m only on chapter 3 written. I hope to put up another chapter soon! Thanks!

kharris

Change of Heart

Chapter 2

“Tetsubanyo”

Mitsukuni laid back onto his bed. Feeling tired, confused, and frustrated with himself, he stared at his blank ceiling. His arms outstretched at his sides, his breathing slow, the teen tried to figure everything out.

But his eyes betrayed him, and he fell asleep.

“For every stolen kiss…”

“Every heartbeat stopped…”

“You will mend a heart… You will break a heart.”

“Decide yourself this a punishment or a time to train.”

Dreams could be confusing, weird, different. Sometimes just the minds images, sometimes a future event.

The sound of rain.

It echoed in the near distance before suddenly stopping. Footsteps were heard following it, after, a second sound of water.

Dark brown eyes opened to a hazy surrounding. Mitsukuni propped himself up onto his elbows and glanced around. His eyes followed the foggy atmosphere to a distant wooden structure holding a vast amount of water. A portion of steam drifted from view, revealing the lithe form.

Immediately a dark blush appeared over his cheeks as he moved back a metre. His shock was purely laughable.

“Hm?” A pale-pink haired girl glanced over at the sound. “Mitsumi?” She pushed a wisp of hair behind her ear as her eyes found Mitsukuni. Her face grew just as dark as his, her arms flailing in an attempt the shield herself from view. She settled for simply sitting in the water.

Her scream was heard in the other room by another.

“So,” a woman’s voice started,” you’re the one that walked in on Kazumi…”

Mitsukuni’s vision returned to him as his eyes opened. He saw an older female, perhaps in her early twenties. Her dark brown eyes rested beautifully above feminine lips, whish were currently bent into a smug smile.

With the lack of a reply, she continued, “You lost quite a bit of blood,” she laughed. “As if someone your age hasn’t seen a naked girl before…”

In fact, he hasn’t. “Blood?” was the single-worded reply.

“Nosebleed.” The woman sighed and shifted her legs to the other side of her. “By the way, my name’s Tatsuki. The one you embarrassed is Kazumi, my younger sister.”

Mitsukuni mentally nodded, making a small mental note to remember their names; possibly needing to for later. “I’m Mitsukuni.”

“Ya’ got a last name?” Her left brow rose in question.

“Takeda,” he sat up. ‘You lacked the manners to tell me your own…’

The woman ran a hand through her nearly burgundy hair. “Arashi. Nice to meet ya’.” Her other hand, the right, moved near him in a greeting gesture. Their hands joined and shook.

“I’m… sorry, for walking in on her.” Mitsukunis brought up the touchy subject again. “But I didn’t really walk in anywhere. I-“ At the loss of words, he looked down again, his eyes finding his wrists.

“So, you’re probably another one.” She laughed, further confusing the young male.

“Tatsuki-chan!” Kazumi’s voice called from the next room. “I-is he gone?”

“No, but you can still come out,” Tatsuki quietly laughed to herself as the door was hesitantly opened behind her. “Hey, Kazu-chan, he apologized, if it helps.”

“But he- he saw me…. naked!” Her eyes shook, threatening tears.

The image returned to Mitsukunis mind, the shade of crimson returning as well. “R-right, I’m sorry.”

“Oh jeez… there he goes again.” Tatsuki rolled her eyes, leaning her weight on her hand.

“Its fine… really, it’s fine.” The girl struggled for words as she sat beside her sister.

“By the way, where am I?” Mitsukuni glanced around the small room, noticing many pictures and knick-knacks.

Kazumi opted not to speak, forcing her sister to instead.

“This is our humble abode,” the woman laughed, hugging her sister with her left arm. “West district of Koryun.” Her smiile faded only slightly. “Proud for is fine craftmans ship and greatest bounty-hunters! Actually, my bounty friend hasn’t been around lately… maybe he’s out…” she pondered aloud.

“Koryun…” Mitsukuni repeated. That place doesn’t exist in Japan, at least to his knowledge. He turned to look outside, the trees were similar to sakura blossoms, but deep purple in colour. The bark was a pale white, matching the stone pathways. He noticed the aforementioned crafts hanging from porchroofs.

“Yup, that’s right,” Tatsuki commented his perfect pronunciation, finally letting go of her sister. “So, where’re you from?” Her long hair cascaded around her arm.

“Sapporo.” He wasn’t sure if this ‘dream world’ was really a dream. Also he was unsure if this place connected back to Japan in any way.

Tatsuki’s eyes closed as she turned her head down in thought. “Oh! Sapporo! I know that place!” This confused Mitsukuni further. “That place has some awesome beer.” Theis proved is other theory: she was an alcoholic

“What country is this”

“You must’ve really lost some memory with that blood or something.” Again, she laughed. “This is Tetsubanyo.”

The boy’s eyes widened, pupils shrunk. He wasn’t home, he remembered falling aseep but now he wasn’t anywhere near to home. He would just have to deal with it. “I’ I’m not from anywhere around here…”

“I know.” Tatsuki laughed. “There’s no Sapporo here. You came from that other world.” It was alarming that she knew this, and proved this was another world completely. “So, what’d you do to get here?” Now her curiosity was piqued.

Mitsukuni move back a little, due to her sudden close proximity to his face. “I- I don’t know, I just woke up here.” His eyes almost crossed to focus on her, being so close still. The shifted from her and noticed something moving behind her. “What’s that?” he pointed, nearly falling backwards.

“What else? It continued to sway. “My tail.” It flopped to her right. “Isn’t it cute?”

“I-it moves?” the male’s voice caught in his throat.

She nodded, her dark eyes opened only slightly. “Of course it does.” She sat back down.” Kazu-can’s got one too.” Her hand lifted the rose-hued extension of the girl’s spine. “And these ears are adorable too!” Both cat-like ears were quickly assaulted by intimate petting. Kazumi’s face turned into one of content.

“Hyuu…” the girl sighed; leaning into the embrace like a feline would, unable to help it. Her tail as well swayed behind her. When each of the cat-like features was released, she returned to her normal self. Her face showed a light blush, and the soft purring in her throat had died down. “Tatsuki! I hate when you do that in front of people!” Her long curled tresses of pale-pink followed her quick and sudden movement.

“But I couldn’t help it. You’re so cute.” Tatsuki laughed. “Remember ho Izumi reacted?” she again laughed as a deeper colour appeared on her younger sister’s face.

“Um, excuse me,” Mitsukuni spoke up, although he had to admit what he just saw was adorable. “You seem to know a lot about this. How did I get here?”

“That’s easy,” she smiled. “You did something in your world and you were sent here to ‘repent. If that’s what you’d call it.” She shifted her weight again. “I’ve dealt with a few of these cases. They’re quite fun.”

“How do I-“

“Get back? Do you remember hearing anything before you woke up?”

Mitsukuni sat back, his arms crossed at his chest as he thought to himself. “I… remember a voice.” He reopened his eyes and looked back at her.

“What did it say?” the woman leaned forward, intrigued.

Recently, crimson was an often seen colour on Mitsukuni’s cheeks, which it was now. “I told me…” he wasn’t sure if he could mention something like that to a complete stranger. Two even. “I have to… well it said I-“

“You know, you’re a cute kid when you blush.” Tatsuki smiled, her tail swaying a liitle behind her. She was starting to remind Mitsukuni of Yayoi, the cause of his being here, causing his colour to increase.

“I’ll just- quote it then!” he stammered, surely unable to state it normally out of pure embarrassment. “For every stolen kiss… and every heartbeat skipped… you will mend a heart, you will break a heart.” His eyes closed tightly as he tried to will the blush away.

“So, you have a relationship problem?” Tatsuki purred, eyeing the young male. “Were you not ready for her? Was she too-“

“He,” Mitsukuni corrected, unsure exactly why.

“Demanding?...” she finished, wondering if she had heard right. “Kazu-chan, he just said it was a ‘he’, right?” the older one blinked. She turned her head to face her. Receiving a nod as an answer, a light pink tinged he own cheeks. “So, you’re…?”

“No! but… he is.” Mitsukuni looked outside again. “He… kissed me. a few times. I didn’t know how to react to him at all.” His voice as almost shaky compared to before.

“Oh…” Tatsuki blinked again. “I didn’t know. Is he your friend?” She watched his slow nod.

Mitsukuni was the type of person who felt more relaxed talking over a difficult subject with a stranger rather than his own family. Maybe it was since the person had no recollection of the teller’s past so it would be difficult to judge them, making it a ‘if it was me situation. “For the past six years he’s been almost my only friend.”

Her tail twithed as she turned to Kazumi. “Y-you’re actually enjoying this!?”

Kazumi held in a small laugh. “No, not at all,” she lied.

Tatsuki threatened her ears by raising her hands near them. “Liar.”

“All right, I am.” Her bright green eyes danced above her smile. “It’s just he’s… too cute to have a boyfriend.”

Tatsuki smiled wide. “You may have a point, Nee-chan.”

“Stop it!” Mitsukuni stuttered. “Please, just tell me how to get home. Please...”

The older sister spun back to face him, “You do what the voice thing told you to. ‘Mend and break.’” She was sitting ‘Indian style’ with her arms crossed and the hands on her ankles. “I’d suggest starting with Kazu-chan if she didn’t already have a boyfriend.” A snicker was heard, quickly interrupted when Kazumi hit her in the upper arm.

“Don’t pawn me off like that!” Her cat-ears flattened against her head.

“I was jo-king” Tatsuki half-glared, rubbing the soon-to-be-bruise. “So what I was saying, just follow the ‘instructions’.”

Mitsukuni nodded, “Right… thank you.”

“But if you didn’t…” Tatsuki smiled, “I wouldn’t mind having a new little brother.”

“No thanks.”

Kazumi finally spoke up, holding back another laugh. “So would you… what happened between you two? You and that… ‘what’s his name’?” She played with one of the many bows that adorned her dress, flicking on of the bells periodically.

Hoping his dark hair would hide the shade of his complexion; Mitsukuni looked downward, away from the girl. “N-nothing.”

Tatsuki leaned forward, grinning widely. “Was there tongue involved?”

“Wha-?” Mitsukuni fell back onto his hands. “No! he kissed me like… seven times.”

“It was a legitimate question!” Tatsuki stated.

Kazumi’s tail flopped, “Cute! He must really like you, huh?”

“This is too much…” The male of the room muttered, turning his head more from them.

The cat-tailed woman pulled him close by her right arm, startling him. “Don’t worry Kuni-kun, I’ll help you out.”

Still blushing, incredibly dark, Mitsukuni half-smiled, somehow managing a slight “Thank you,” under his breath.