Chapter 1-School Project
Kurai lay in a small puddle of blood for a long time feeling the liquid
slowly dry on his cheek. Finally deciding that he wasted enough time, he
slowly got to his feet. HE staggered to the wall and drew in several sharp
breaths. He glanced down at the now crimson carpet and sighed. He'd have to
clean that up before his father gets home and beats him for that. Moaning
slightly, he limped into the kitchen and grabbed a rag that was so worn
from previous beating and wetted with warm water form the sink. Staggering
back to the living room with a bottle of stain-remover, he scrubbed the
blood away until the carpet seemed clean enough for a person to not guess
what was just there.
How he managed to crawl upstairs into his room, he couldn't remember, but somehow he was in his bedroom bathroom and was digging around for the first aid kit. He applied medicine on a purple bruise on his cheek and carefully bandaged his head. He discovered his ribs were overlapped with a large red bruise. Wincing, he carefully rinsed it with warm water and applied medication to it. This time, he'd gotten off easy, but he didn't plan to die tomorrow. Praying, he hoped he had enough strength to play soccer tomorrow as it was the big game of the season and got out his English homework to do an essay about the Civil War. After that, he moved to finish his 25-problem math homework.
When all of his homework was done, the alarm clock read 11:45 P.M. Time to go to sleep. He flopped down on his bed and fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.
~~~~ *** ~~~~
Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep be-
Clunk.
The alarm fell to the floor as Kurai sat up on his bed, moaning and rubbing his eyes. 'Stupid alarm clock.' He mentally grumbled as he got out of bed, wincing. His body still ached from the night before, but at least he could actually go to school today and play for the game.
He dressed in a white t-shirt and baggy jeans in a few minutes. Glancing in the mirror, he noticed that the bruise on his cheek hadn't fade away during the night. He pulled out his drawer and pulled out a silver container. When he removed the lid, a large cloud exploded making him cough. He dipped his finger inside and smeared the skin-colored powder on his cheek until it seemed undetectable to the naked eye. It was chalk powder. He couldn't use make up because he was.well, a guy. But people didn't need to know his secret. After all, guys don't show up at school everyday covered in cuts and bruises. That would make people suspicious. Satisfied, he dumped his books into his backpack and slung it over his shoulder and walked out the room.
Reaching the kitchen, he found it empty. Good, maybe his father was still out partying with some woman. Whatever. He toasted a piece of bread- all he could find in the pantry-and munched on it as he walked to school.
"Yo Kurai!"
Another boy was running in his direction, his born hair flying against the wind. He skidded to a halt next to Kurai.
"Hey Aki," Kurai grinned, "Sup?"
"The sky, the cloud, the birds, the atmosphere."Aki trailed off into a list of item of what were above their heads. "Ready for the big game today?"
"Mm-hmm!" He nodded.
"And your cheek's a little pale," he observed, "Did your father.he.you know." Aki didn't need to finish his sentence.
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Kurai smiled. Aki was his bet friend and he could always tell him everything and hopefully he would keep it secret.maybe, Aki being a blabbermouth and all. It depended on how confidential it was.
"Hey man, we're going to be late, come on!" his friend sped ahead with Kurai following, wincing as he ran.
"Ame! Time for school!"
A girl with long black hair a couple inches past her shoulders tied back in a ponytail lowered the staff she was holding.
"I'm coming mom!" she called back. Ame (pronounced Amae not Aim)grabbed her backpack and rushed out the door before she was late.again.
"Hey, wait! You forgot your lunch-"
The 14-year-old ran down the sidewalk and spotted another girl walking about half a block ahead, nose deep in a book, She grinned and quietly snuck up behind and grabbed the girl by the shoulders.
"GAH!"
"Morning Yoru!" Ame greeted cheerfully.
"Morning to you too," Yoru stuck out her tongue before returning to her book, still walking. "Hey, there's this soccer game, you coming?" she suddenly spoke up.
"Nah," Ame replied, "It's going to rain anyways." They hurried into the school and sure enough as soon as they stepped foot in, there was a loud thunderclap.
"Why the hell does it have to rain TODAY of all days?!" Kurai was moaning 10 minutes before the bell rang. "Now the game is going to be cancelled!"
"Hey Kurai!" a boy with sandy blonde hair ran over, "The soccer game's cancelled!" Kurai groaned."
"Gee, why am I not surprised?" he muttered.
"Kurai!" Aki skidded over. "The game's cancelled!"
"So I heard." He mumbled. Another boy with jet-black hair came over.
"Hey Kurai, th-"
"I KNOW THE FREAKIN' SOCCER GAME IS CANCELLED!" he roared. His group of friends slowly backed away.
"That's not what I was going to say-" the black-haired boy started to say.
"Oh, sorry Ryuun, spill."
"The teacher's giving us some project today." Ryuun made a face, "At least we get partners, let them do all the work." All of his friends chuckled and agreed to this.
"Hey look, it's them!" Aki's face lit up like Christmas lights as two girls entered the room. One had long black hair tied back in a ponytail with very dark brown eyes. The other had very long midnight lack hair that fell blow her waist and almond-shaped golden brown eyes. That was Yoru, who Aki had been in love with for some strange reason ever since 4th grade. Kurai had to admit, she was pretty, though she had this habit of hitting guys on the head with textbooks. He looked over at them, who were both buried deep in their books. They were bookworms and very quiet. They barely spoke in class and hardly said a word to anyone, though Yoru was the more talkative one. The other, Ame, barely speaks to anyone and it was rare to get more than a sentence out of her. They were so obsessed with reading that they even read in class when the teacher wasn't looking or was saying something pointless.
"Shouldn't you ask her out already instead of staring at her?" Ryuun waved a hand in front if Aki, who looked like he was in a trance.
"I did," he sighed heavily, "She's turned me down for 4 years." They laughed as the bell rang, signifying that school has started. When Mrs. Toshishoro came in, everyone was sitting at their desks doing last minute homework or throwing bits of paper across the room.
Being age 56, it took some time for her to calm the class down, who was still throwing papers behind her back. When they settled down, she cleared her throat.
"Now, class, as some of you have heard, we'll be doing a project about famous architectures around the world." The class let out an obvious groan that seemed to touch a nerve. "I will not tolerate such behavior!" she barked. "Now, I will be assigning partners-" the class groaned again. Obviously they think of her as a bad and boring teacher. "Now keep your mouth shut before you work on this alone!" The class instantly became eerie silent. She sighed, "Alright, Keiko and Fome.John and Itsumei.Yoru and.Ryuun.Mikago and Aki." Aki turned around and gave Ryuun a glare. "Ame and.Kurai-"
Kurai's jaw dropped. Even Ame dropped the book she was reading.
"WHAT?!" he protested. "I can't work with her!" Even Ame was throwing a glare at the teacher.
"No excuses." Mrs. Toshishoro said, firmly, "Now, as I was saying, Goto and Annemarie.Juan and Elizabeth."
Kurai couldn't believe his bad luck. First the soccer game was cancelled because of the stupid rain and now he has to work with a bookworm who never talks. Great, just great.
Ame was appalled and shocked. Since when did she ever give any thought to Mr. Oh-so-popular-and-smart? Never, and she wanted to keep it that way.
"You may get together with your partner and come up to decide what famous architecture you're going to research on." The teacher was saying. Grumbling, Kurai got up and dragged his feet over to Ame, whose head was hidden under the desk as she bent to retrieve the book she dropped.
"Hi." He mumbled.
"Hey." She straightened up ad put the book into her desk. He blinked. No one had even managed a "hi" from her; they had only received a look to show that she noticed them.
"I'll go get what we're researching, ok?" he tried, not really knowing what to say. She shrugged in response. He sighed and turned to walk toward Mrs. Toshishoro's desk.
"Oh Kurai," she turned away from a glaring Aki, "You'll be doing the Great Wall of China." Shrugging he walked back to Ame's desk and told her what they were researching on. She nodded and got out a sheet of paper and labeled it "Great Wall of China."
"Do you ever talk?" he asked, beginning to get annoyed. "'Cause I don't know how I'm going to get this project done if I'm working with a mute." She shot him a death glare.
"I find talking a waste of my breath." She replied. "Do you want go to the library after school? 'Cause just because I'm partnered with you, doesn't mean you're making me do all the work."
"Uh, no, I, uh, can't." he replied, taken back that she had spoken more than a sentence to him. "Not today." He said, not wanting to think about what would happen if he got home late again.
"Fine, maybe we can go tomorrow." She shrugged.
"I'll check." He said. Then bell rang, announcing the end of class.
"Hey Kurai!"
"Did she talk to you?"
"Dude, I feel sorry you're working with her."
"Ryuun, you traitor!"
Kurai sighed, even walking home in the rain couldn't dampen his friends' spirits and shut them up before bombarding him with a bunch of questions.
"Did she speak?" a boy named Migati asked. He nodded just to shut him up. "Seriously? The mute spoke to you? Not suprising as all girls fall for Kurai Cumetai." He grinned.
"But not one has ever accomplished asking him out." Ryuun laughed. "OW!" Aki punched him in the head and chased him down the sidewalk screaming "Traitor!"
"You were right, Aki!" Ryuun called over his shoulder, "She is a babe!"
"ARGH!"
Aki chased Ryuun, raging with fury, but the boy, being taller and having longer legs, was too fast to catch. So, they ran down the sidewalk, Ryuun shouting comments over his shoulder and Aki with a look that could kill.
As they walked nearer to his street, Kurai saw something that almost made his heart stop. Even almost 2 blocks away, he could spot the silver car sparkling on his driveway.
How he managed to crawl upstairs into his room, he couldn't remember, but somehow he was in his bedroom bathroom and was digging around for the first aid kit. He applied medicine on a purple bruise on his cheek and carefully bandaged his head. He discovered his ribs were overlapped with a large red bruise. Wincing, he carefully rinsed it with warm water and applied medication to it. This time, he'd gotten off easy, but he didn't plan to die tomorrow. Praying, he hoped he had enough strength to play soccer tomorrow as it was the big game of the season and got out his English homework to do an essay about the Civil War. After that, he moved to finish his 25-problem math homework.
When all of his homework was done, the alarm clock read 11:45 P.M. Time to go to sleep. He flopped down on his bed and fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.
~~~~ *** ~~~~
Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep be-
Clunk.
The alarm fell to the floor as Kurai sat up on his bed, moaning and rubbing his eyes. 'Stupid alarm clock.' He mentally grumbled as he got out of bed, wincing. His body still ached from the night before, but at least he could actually go to school today and play for the game.
He dressed in a white t-shirt and baggy jeans in a few minutes. Glancing in the mirror, he noticed that the bruise on his cheek hadn't fade away during the night. He pulled out his drawer and pulled out a silver container. When he removed the lid, a large cloud exploded making him cough. He dipped his finger inside and smeared the skin-colored powder on his cheek until it seemed undetectable to the naked eye. It was chalk powder. He couldn't use make up because he was.well, a guy. But people didn't need to know his secret. After all, guys don't show up at school everyday covered in cuts and bruises. That would make people suspicious. Satisfied, he dumped his books into his backpack and slung it over his shoulder and walked out the room.
Reaching the kitchen, he found it empty. Good, maybe his father was still out partying with some woman. Whatever. He toasted a piece of bread- all he could find in the pantry-and munched on it as he walked to school.
"Yo Kurai!"
Another boy was running in his direction, his born hair flying against the wind. He skidded to a halt next to Kurai.
"Hey Aki," Kurai grinned, "Sup?"
"The sky, the cloud, the birds, the atmosphere."Aki trailed off into a list of item of what were above their heads. "Ready for the big game today?"
"Mm-hmm!" He nodded.
"And your cheek's a little pale," he observed, "Did your father.he.you know." Aki didn't need to finish his sentence.
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Kurai smiled. Aki was his bet friend and he could always tell him everything and hopefully he would keep it secret.maybe, Aki being a blabbermouth and all. It depended on how confidential it was.
"Hey man, we're going to be late, come on!" his friend sped ahead with Kurai following, wincing as he ran.
"Ame! Time for school!"
A girl with long black hair a couple inches past her shoulders tied back in a ponytail lowered the staff she was holding.
"I'm coming mom!" she called back. Ame (pronounced Amae not Aim)grabbed her backpack and rushed out the door before she was late.again.
"Hey, wait! You forgot your lunch-"
The 14-year-old ran down the sidewalk and spotted another girl walking about half a block ahead, nose deep in a book, She grinned and quietly snuck up behind and grabbed the girl by the shoulders.
"GAH!"
"Morning Yoru!" Ame greeted cheerfully.
"Morning to you too," Yoru stuck out her tongue before returning to her book, still walking. "Hey, there's this soccer game, you coming?" she suddenly spoke up.
"Nah," Ame replied, "It's going to rain anyways." They hurried into the school and sure enough as soon as they stepped foot in, there was a loud thunderclap.
"Why the hell does it have to rain TODAY of all days?!" Kurai was moaning 10 minutes before the bell rang. "Now the game is going to be cancelled!"
"Hey Kurai!" a boy with sandy blonde hair ran over, "The soccer game's cancelled!" Kurai groaned."
"Gee, why am I not surprised?" he muttered.
"Kurai!" Aki skidded over. "The game's cancelled!"
"So I heard." He mumbled. Another boy with jet-black hair came over.
"Hey Kurai, th-"
"I KNOW THE FREAKIN' SOCCER GAME IS CANCELLED!" he roared. His group of friends slowly backed away.
"That's not what I was going to say-" the black-haired boy started to say.
"Oh, sorry Ryuun, spill."
"The teacher's giving us some project today." Ryuun made a face, "At least we get partners, let them do all the work." All of his friends chuckled and agreed to this.
"Hey look, it's them!" Aki's face lit up like Christmas lights as two girls entered the room. One had long black hair tied back in a ponytail with very dark brown eyes. The other had very long midnight lack hair that fell blow her waist and almond-shaped golden brown eyes. That was Yoru, who Aki had been in love with for some strange reason ever since 4th grade. Kurai had to admit, she was pretty, though she had this habit of hitting guys on the head with textbooks. He looked over at them, who were both buried deep in their books. They were bookworms and very quiet. They barely spoke in class and hardly said a word to anyone, though Yoru was the more talkative one. The other, Ame, barely speaks to anyone and it was rare to get more than a sentence out of her. They were so obsessed with reading that they even read in class when the teacher wasn't looking or was saying something pointless.
"Shouldn't you ask her out already instead of staring at her?" Ryuun waved a hand in front if Aki, who looked like he was in a trance.
"I did," he sighed heavily, "She's turned me down for 4 years." They laughed as the bell rang, signifying that school has started. When Mrs. Toshishoro came in, everyone was sitting at their desks doing last minute homework or throwing bits of paper across the room.
Being age 56, it took some time for her to calm the class down, who was still throwing papers behind her back. When they settled down, she cleared her throat.
"Now, class, as some of you have heard, we'll be doing a project about famous architectures around the world." The class let out an obvious groan that seemed to touch a nerve. "I will not tolerate such behavior!" she barked. "Now, I will be assigning partners-" the class groaned again. Obviously they think of her as a bad and boring teacher. "Now keep your mouth shut before you work on this alone!" The class instantly became eerie silent. She sighed, "Alright, Keiko and Fome.John and Itsumei.Yoru and.Ryuun.Mikago and Aki." Aki turned around and gave Ryuun a glare. "Ame and.Kurai-"
Kurai's jaw dropped. Even Ame dropped the book she was reading.
"WHAT?!" he protested. "I can't work with her!" Even Ame was throwing a glare at the teacher.
"No excuses." Mrs. Toshishoro said, firmly, "Now, as I was saying, Goto and Annemarie.Juan and Elizabeth."
Kurai couldn't believe his bad luck. First the soccer game was cancelled because of the stupid rain and now he has to work with a bookworm who never talks. Great, just great.
Ame was appalled and shocked. Since when did she ever give any thought to Mr. Oh-so-popular-and-smart? Never, and she wanted to keep it that way.
"You may get together with your partner and come up to decide what famous architecture you're going to research on." The teacher was saying. Grumbling, Kurai got up and dragged his feet over to Ame, whose head was hidden under the desk as she bent to retrieve the book she dropped.
"Hi." He mumbled.
"Hey." She straightened up ad put the book into her desk. He blinked. No one had even managed a "hi" from her; they had only received a look to show that she noticed them.
"I'll go get what we're researching, ok?" he tried, not really knowing what to say. She shrugged in response. He sighed and turned to walk toward Mrs. Toshishoro's desk.
"Oh Kurai," she turned away from a glaring Aki, "You'll be doing the Great Wall of China." Shrugging he walked back to Ame's desk and told her what they were researching on. She nodded and got out a sheet of paper and labeled it "Great Wall of China."
"Do you ever talk?" he asked, beginning to get annoyed. "'Cause I don't know how I'm going to get this project done if I'm working with a mute." She shot him a death glare.
"I find talking a waste of my breath." She replied. "Do you want go to the library after school? 'Cause just because I'm partnered with you, doesn't mean you're making me do all the work."
"Uh, no, I, uh, can't." he replied, taken back that she had spoken more than a sentence to him. "Not today." He said, not wanting to think about what would happen if he got home late again.
"Fine, maybe we can go tomorrow." She shrugged.
"I'll check." He said. Then bell rang, announcing the end of class.
"Hey Kurai!"
"Did she talk to you?"
"Dude, I feel sorry you're working with her."
"Ryuun, you traitor!"
Kurai sighed, even walking home in the rain couldn't dampen his friends' spirits and shut them up before bombarding him with a bunch of questions.
"Did she speak?" a boy named Migati asked. He nodded just to shut him up. "Seriously? The mute spoke to you? Not suprising as all girls fall for Kurai Cumetai." He grinned.
"But not one has ever accomplished asking him out." Ryuun laughed. "OW!" Aki punched him in the head and chased him down the sidewalk screaming "Traitor!"
"You were right, Aki!" Ryuun called over his shoulder, "She is a babe!"
"ARGH!"
Aki chased Ryuun, raging with fury, but the boy, being taller and having longer legs, was too fast to catch. So, they ran down the sidewalk, Ryuun shouting comments over his shoulder and Aki with a look that could kill.
As they walked nearer to his street, Kurai saw something that almost made his heart stop. Even almost 2 blocks away, he could spot the silver car sparkling on his driveway.