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“Dude wake up!” Yazuo said as he shook my shoulders, “The teacher’s walking over here.” I jerked awake as my head fell off my hand. “Huh? What? I wasn’t asleep.” I complained rubbing my eyes “Ok then, genius, what were you doing?” Yazuo asked with a smug grin. “Ummm… Uhhhh…. So what’s up?” I said smiling and trying to change the subject. “Idiot.” Yazuo scoffed before punching my shoulder lightly and facing forward. I smiled at him and followed suit, facing forward just before the teacher got there. “And who can tell me about early vampiric historians? Kazuma?” The teacher asked turning towards me. I completely blanked out and forgot everything I knew. I’m normally pretty good at this subject. “Ummmm…. I’m sorry. I can’t seem to bring it to mind.” I said with an apologetic smile, with a slightly smart alec air. “You were sleeping again weren’t you Kazuma.” He asked with a triumphant grin. He’s had it out for me since I started here, and if I get sent to the office one more time for sleeping I’ll get suspended. And trust me he knows that. We didn’t get too good of a start. I was running from some kid who didn’t really like me either, but he wanted to prove it by throwing a fist in my face and I wasn’t too keen on that, and I ran headfirst into Mr. Tachibana and spilled his coffee all over him and he hasn’t liked me since. “No sir, Mr. Tachibana.” I said staring him in the eyes. “Hmmmm…. Well don’t let me catch you falling asleep in my class again Mr. Yunasaki.” That’s me, Kazuma Yunasaki. You could say I’m weird or you could say I’m just different either way I’m not exactly like you. You see the thing is I’m a vampire. It gets difficult sometimes but I make it through. “Yessir Mr. Tachibana.” I said smiling triumphantly, glancing at Yazuo to see him smiling back. He knew how I got out of that one. I may be the best person at lying you’ll ever meet but even I need help sometimes. I can read and influence people’s minds to make them think what I want them too, like what I’m saying is the truth no matter what. It comes in handy sometimes. You never know when you might need to convince someone to think something else. It’s saved me once or twice, believe me. “I’m sure you could tell us about them can’t you Yazuo?” Mr. Tachibana asked turning to look at Yazuo with a smile. That’s my younger brother Yazuo. He’s Mr. Tachibana’s favorite student. And a world-class know it all. He’s a vampire as well. He was changed half-a-year after me. We were close before then but after it we grew closer from helping each other out in times of need and keeping each other from giving us away by feeding too carelessly. You know the usual brotherly things. “Yes sir. Early Vampiric historians are said to be just a folk-tale though there has been many records found that cannot have been written by anyone else. They are still considered myth.” Yazuo said with smug grin on his face as he looked at me. You always make me look bad dude. I was glad we could read each others thoughts saying that in front of Mr. Tachibana would make him expect something from me. I really don’t like this class and him expecting me to be a genius at it is the last thing I need on my plate. Hey it’s what I do. I heard the thought on the corner of my mind like it came from me but it was a little fuzzy. You know, kinda like a radio station your not getting perfectly. “Exactly right.” Mr. Tachibana said turning to continue pacing the floor at the front of the class to start his lecture back up Yeah well, next year when we get into college together, in one class, I get to look like the genius ok. I sent the thought at him with a half-smile. You? A genius? Yeah ok and I don’t need to feed this week. The thought came with a slight feeling of laughter. I hated when he was like that always putting me down about my class work. Yeah I know he’s just joking, and it shouldn’t bother me, but it does. Yeah ok I’ll just stay away from you. Have fun. I thought back teasingly. He knew I wouldn’t let him. We’ve kept it covered for too long for him to throw it away like that. Yeah right. I’ll tell you what I’ll let you try. I heard the thought and smiled turning to fake my attention on Mr. Tachibana’s lecture. We both know a lot in this subject. I just don’t like to prove it. So I’m lazy. I’ve come to terms with that and it doesn’t bother me. It only bothers Mr. Tachibana. Go figure. Just as I was about to drift off to sleep again during his discussion on the French the bell rang and class was dismissed. Yazuo and I gathered our things and started to head out the door and throwing ourselves into the river that is the high school hallways at the end of school. “Come on Yazuo. We need to get back to our place I ordered pizza and I don’t want it to be cold.” I said with a smile, closing my cell phone as I ran out the front door to our car. It wasn’t too fancy just a plain old Chevy Malibu with a good radio that has never broken down in the 13 to 20 years we’ve had it. It gets us from point A to point B so I’m not complaining though Yazuo wants a newer car. I threw open the passenger side door and tossed my bag in the back seat before sitting down and closing my eyes after shutting the door. I haven’t driven since I made the stupid mistake to drive at night when our headlights were out. I ran into a tree. I’ve got the scar on my ribs to prove it. Since then, Yazuo won’t let me drive. It doesn’t bother me. It just means more time to nap. Yazuo opened the drivers side and smoothly sat in the seat, sliding the keys into the ignition as he did so. I could feel his eyes as he stared at me for a little while before saying “You know you should sleep more, if your gonna be a genius next year Kazuma. I’m sure you can stay awake for one measly drive. Then you’ll be wide awake to enjoy that precious pizza of yours.” My eyes shot open. “Ok you can talk about me and my sleeping habits, even make fun of my school work, but you don’t badmouth pizza. It goes against all that’s holy.” I said with a smile and my mouth watered as I flew into my explanation of why pizza is holy and should be revered not shunned. Yazuo laughed and shut the door turning the key and starting the car, putting it in reverse and backing out of the parking spot. “And just because you don’t feel the need to eat food anymore doesn’t mean…. Yazuo watch where you’re going man.” I said quickly as I reached to turn the wheel so he didn’t hit the girl walking behind the car. “Dude you almost hit her. And you say I’m a horrible driver, at least I never hit anyone.” I said getting out of the car to apologize. I opened the door and stepped out turning around to walk to the back of the car. As I turned from my side of the car, I stopped dead as I saw her. She was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. She was a little bit shorter than me with sunset red hair that fell gracefully to her shoulders framing a smooth pretty face with sky blue eyes and a beautiful smile that seemed like it came from heaven. I tried to find my voice as I stared at her blankly. By the time I had recovered Yazuo had already walked up beside me and started talking to her. “I’m very sorry. I didn’t see….” His voice seemed to drift off as I watched her smile and tell him it was alright. I could smell her perfume as she turned and my brain scrambled again. I wanted to get out of there before I embarrassed myself. Yazuo can you hurry up so we can leave I feel as if I’m gonna make a huge fool of myself and I don’t think I can take that. I tossed the thought out to him and I could tell he got the message. Although his face still looked as though it was just a minor mishap and it could happen to anyone, his eyes took on an amused glint to them. He knew something was up. My ears finally started to work again as I caught the last bit of the conversation. “Well we should get going Ayumi. It was nice meeting you. Oh I almost forgot. This,” He said waving his hand in my direction, “is my older brother Kazuma.” I must have flushed a little because I heard her giggle softly “Hi” She said with a smile. I fumbled for a minute trying to answer before I finally managed out, “Hey” With a smile. I tried to smoothly walk back to the car and get in but I tripped over myself and my face hit the glass as I pulled the door open. “Oh man” I said to myself as I stood up smiled and quickly sat down and waited for Yazuo stealing looks at Ayumi through the rear-view mirror. Yazuo opened the door and looked at me as he sat down. “Well aren’t you coordinated.” He said teasing me. “Shut up man.” I said looking away. “Well anyway I told her to call you sometime. You seemed interested enough.” Yazuo said with a serious look on his face. I punched his arm lightly and gave him a grudging “Thanks but I don’t need your help though it was appreciated in this case. Anyway, onward to the house. I want my pizza without having to warm it up.” I said, my mouth watering again. “You need to get your priorities straight.” Yazuo said shaking his head as he started the car and left. “What takes more priority than pizza?” I asked with a smile. “Well let’s see school, work, your life, you know normal stuff.” He said still watching the road. “Dude pizza is way better than all of that stuff. Pizza is god.” I said crossing my arms with finality. “Yeah yeah you think that.” He said shaking his head. I closed my eyes again as the car softly hummed on the way home. It wasn’t too long of a drive home, we live on the outskirts of a cozy little town that’s too small to really have a name in Maine that got plenty of cloud coverage but had its many sunny days too. It’s not that we don’t like the sun or that it burns like all the stories I’m sure you’ve heard it just gives us a migraine and we prefer the darker settings. It felt like forever trapped in my thoughts. “Hello earth to Kazuma.” I heard Yazuo say. I was so wrapped up in thought I must not have heard the car cut off. “Huh what? Oh we’re home.” I said looking around and then I remembered my pizza and threw open the door and tore towards the house forgetting to shut the car door. I could hear Yazuo laughing by the car, and I should’ve known something was up. I got to the front door and ran into it, expecting it to be partially open as it always is, but just bounced back falling on my butt to the sound of Yazuo roaring with laughter. “You did that on purpose.” I whined putting my hand on the back of my head. Yazuo suddenly became quiet and stared intently at the door. “I didn’t lock the door I thought you did.” He said his eyes becoming dark as he started to think. “Uh... Yazuo, why would I lock a door?” I said looking at him as though it were common knowledge. “Shut up Kazuma. I’m trying to think. Neither of us locked the door.” He said as he walked to the door, pulling out his keys. He motioned for me to stand next to him as he silently slid the keys into the lock but didn’t turn it. “I don’t like this.” He whispered his hand still on the key, “Someone’s in there. I can feel it, and they’re waiting for us to open the door. We have to do this quickly. Are you ready?” I nodded and said “They better not have touched my pizza.” Yazuo shook his head and unlocked the door. He threw it open and moved out of the way just in time for the guy who jumped out to miss. I immediately jumped onto him and pinned him to the floor. “I got him. You better not have touched my pizza or there’ll be hell to pay.” I said with a smile but giving him a dark look. Yazuo walked through the door and looked around. “Doesn’t look like there’s anymore of ‘em” He said waving the all-clear. I stood up and yanked the mystery man up with me and drug him into the house. It was clear by the look in his eye he didn’t want to be here anymore, kinda like he’d been told it was supposed to be easy. I threw him into a chair and tied him to it, turning on the light. “So… Hold on a second” I said as I rushed to the kitchen to see if my pizza was still there. After seeing it was still safe and warm, I walked back into the living room. “Ok now who are you, why are you here, who told you to do it, and why?” I asked in a flurry of questions. “Dude, slow down.” Yazuo said with a chuckle, “He’s not going anywhere.” I laughed and went to grab my pizza, and sat in a chair across the room from the man. “Ok I want answers and I want them now. Before my pizza gets cold.” I said munching happily on a piece. “My name is Damon. I was sent here to capture you two. I can’t answer the other two questions.” Damon said shutting his mouth. I chuckled and finished my slice of pizza before standing in front of him. “Trust me we can make you talk. We can do this the hard way or you can just tell me.” I said with a tantalizing smile. He looked scared for a second but then he regained his composure and was stone faced again. “I’m not gonna talk.” He said trying to sound unperturbed by my threat. “Ok your choice. Yazuo, you want first crack?” I said looking at Yazuo with a malicious smile. “Yeah sure you had your fun earlier today it’s my turn now.” He said standing up slowly and popping his fingers. He walked over and stood in front of Damon fanning his fingers. “I love my ‘gift’, if you will, and I’m sure you will too.” He said with a dark smile. He slowly closed his hand into a fist, cracking his knuckles at the same time. “It’s about to get really hot in here.” He said as his eyes took a malicious glint as his hand started to glow slightly. “You see,” He said snapping his fingers, producing a flame and letting it go, “I’m what you call pyrokinetic.” He said snapping his fingers again but this time spreading his fingers holding the flame, caressing it. “It’ll listen to everything I say.” He said as he bent his neck and whispered to the flame in a language of crackles and pops. It seemed to jump and crackle with laughter as he did so. “I’m sure it would love to get acquainted with you.” He said stepping closer and holding it under Damon’s nose waving it back and forth. Sweat beaded on Damon’s forehead as he looked at the fire with a wary glance. “You wouldn’t dare.” He challenged trying vainly to look brave. Yazuo smiled darkly and moved it closer, whispering to it. It seemed to jump with anticipation and waver with longing. Damon seemed to be more unsettled as he watched it move though there was no wind. “You won’t get answers from me.” He said though he looked scared to death. You could tell he didn’t want the job in the first place but now he was really regretting his plan. “We’ll soon see, won’t we?” He said whispering to the flame again. The flame faked a jump towards Damon. He flinched as far back as he could in the chair. The flame seemed to crackle with laughter. “Now why don’t you answer our questions?” Yazuo said still staring at the flame with a loving gaze. He then whispered to the flame again and it jumped lick Damon’s skin “I can’t. He’ll kill me.” Damon said with a look of pure fear at a distant object he couldn’t see, ignoring the burn the fire left. “He knows. He’ll know if I talk.” I chuckled and stood up. “I got this Yazuo. It seems your brand of interrogation isn’t gonna work on him.” I said with a smile, “That means it’s my turn.” I walked over to the man, slowly so I could enjoy another slice of pizza, and knelt in front of him. “Hmmm… He’ll know huh?” I said testing the man’s mind. “He’ll know as soon as it happens. He’ll hunt me down and kill me. You should have heard him explain it. He went into such great detail and he took such pleasure from it.” He said with a shiver. I smiled. This’ll be simple Yazuo. It won’t take but a minute or two. His mind’s weak with fear. I threw the thought at Yazuo glancing to catch his amused expression as he fell into the chair I recently vacated. I turned back to Damon and stared him straight in the eyes. I could see the look of pure fear he had in his eyes. “It’ll be ok Damon. No one’s coming for you.” I said tapping into his mind. I saw him relax immediately; taking my words to be the truest thing he’d ever heard. “Why don’t you tell us who sent you?” I said as I stared into his eyes. I saw a twinge of fear as the thought of the threat occurred to him but then he was relaxed again. He looked back at me with a look that said, how do you not know. “His name is….” He paused and took a breath, closing his eyes “Kroan” I smiled and stood up walking over to Yazuo’s side. “Well now we know huh?” I said putting my hand on his shoulder. “What should we do with him?” Yazuo said pointing at Damon. I stood there staring at him for a minute before sitting in the last empty chair and grabbing another slice of pizza. “I don’t care. I got what we needed from him. Do whatever you want with him.” I said waving my hand dismissively. Yazuo took a step towards him but stopped and turned around towards me. “Wait a minute, since when do I take orders from you?” He asked, a twinge of anger in his eyes. “Whoa, whoa, it wasn’t an order. I don’t give orders you know that.” I said smiling as I continued to eat my pizza. “Whatever. Help me get him out of here.” He ordered. The first thing that popped into my head was, he had a fit at me giving him an order and now he’s giving me orders, but I just settled for “Ok whatever as long as I get to eat my pizza.” I stood up and grabbed one of Damon’s arms as Yazuo grabbed the other. We picked him up out of the chair and drug him, chair and all, kicking and screaming, out the door and tossed him onto the road in front of our house. As we walked back, I could tell by the dark look on his face that Yazuo was thinking deeply. “So….. Kroan huh?” I said trying to start a conversation. I hate it when he’s quiet. It’s never a good thing. “Dude? Are you just going to ignore me?” I asked impatiently. “Kazuma?” He said “Yeah?” “Shut up.” I knew it wasn’t going anywhere so I just walked quietly the rest of the way, thinking fondly of enjoying the rest of my pizza. We sat there in silence for a while, me enjoying my pizza and Yazuo thinking with his dark look as if he were pissed at the world. After what seemed like an eternity I had reached my last slice. “Hey Yazuo?” I asked tentatively hoping not to set him off. “What do you want Kazuma.” He said with an undertone of anger in his voice. “I….,” I said trying to find the words to use so I didn’t make him even angrier, “What do you make of this? Some guy we don’t even know trying to take us out, and sending that pathetic excuse of an assassin to do it.” I finished satisfied with how I worded it, looking hopefully at him. “I think we need to go find out.” He said a note of finality in his voice. I sat there for a second with my slice of pizza in my mouth stupidly gazing at him. “Wait a minute. Are you, Mr. know-it-all-do-your-schoolwork-Kazuma, saying we need to ditch school and look for this guy when we don’t even have a lead on where he could be?” I asked with an incredulous look on my face. “Yes. Yes I am, but here’s where you’re wrong. We do have a lead on this Kroan guy.” He said rolling his eyes to look at the door right where Damon would be sitting. I had forgotten all about him tied to the chair like that sitting out there in our driveway. “Oh yeah. I forgot about him.” I said smiling as I finished off my last slice of pizza. I looked at the empty box forlornly before walking out the door and grabbing Damon and bringing him inside, setting him down in front of Yazuo. He still had a look of intense fear in his eyes as he looked at us. I thought back to the conversation we just had so I could think of a way to start questioning him again. “You know now that I think of it Yazuo there’s still one question he didn’t answer.” I said looking from him to Damon with an evil grin. Understanding dawned on his face after a second of thought. He realized it too. “So Damon, Why did Kroan send you?” I asked turning towards him taking a chair and spinning it around to sit backwards in it. I looked deeply into his eyes willing him to answer as truthfully as he could. I could tell it was working because as soon as I did so he relaxed and the look of fear dimmed. It wasn’t completely gone but it wasn’t as strong as before. He sighed and looked at me shaking his head and smiling. “What honestly made you think I know? I was just hired to take care of somebody. No details. Money trades hands and off I go. That’s how it works.” He said looking at me as though I were stupid. I pried deeper into his mind to see if he was telling the absolute truth. He’s telling the truth Yazuo. There’s nothing else about it in there. I thought about it for a second. “Ok next question. Where is he?” I asked staring him in the eyes again making him relax and talk as if speaking with an old friend. He took a minute to answer this time. I saw the look in his eyes as he thought about it. “Well I’m not a hundred percent sure where he operates from but I know if you look hard enough you can find him in Tokyo, Japan.” He said after a minute of thinking. I looked at Yazuo with a smile but then what he said hit me. “Wait a minute did you say Tokyo?” “Well yeah.” “Did you hear that Yazuo? Tokyo.” I said as I turned to him smiling a look of amazement in my eyes. “Yeah yeah I heard him so what? Just means we gotta learn Japanese.” He said with a look of indifference. “Dude I have always wanted to go there.” I said, my hands twitching from excitement. “Yeah so?” He said turning back to Damon, “Ok so where in Tokyo do we have to go to find him?” “Dude why do you always have to try and ruin my fun?” I asked still smiling as I watched his fruitless attempt to get more information out of Damon. He turned to look at me, agitated that he couldn’t gain any info from him. “Because someone has to keep you looking at the real world.” He said walking off to use the computer. “I hate the real world. Look up some stuff on learning Japanese.” I yelled to him. “What in this wide world do you think I was doing?” He yelled back. I sat there in silence for a bit, wishing I had more pizza. I turned to Damon and watched him curiously as he struggled against the ropes. “You know your just gonna hurt yourself that way.” I said trying to start a conversation, anything to break the silence. He just looked at me with a disgusted look and kept trying to wriggle out of them. “Ok do what you will.” I said dismissively as I walked to the kitchen to look in the fridge. I sighed disdainfully as I saw we had nothing to eat. “I thought we got food just the other day Yazuo.” I yelled to him walking back into the living room. “We did. You ate it all remember.” He yelled back “Oh… yeah I remember that.” I said to myself sitting down and facing Damon with a deep frown from needing food to fuel my non existent metabolism. Funny how my mind works huh? He was still half-heartedly struggling against the ropes. I chuckled and stared into his eyes again. I watched him relax as I pried into his mind. “Where in Tokyo can we find Kroan?” I asked softly. He looked at me for a second and then shook his head slowly. “I have no idea. He moves around. From one district to the next getting what he wants and taking out people in his way.” He said with a shrug of his shoulders and then slowly closed his eyes as exhaustion caught up with him, falling into a fitful sleep. I watched for a moment and then started to feel weird. “Why am I watching some dude sleep?” I asked myself, standing and walking to the computer room to check on Yazuo. He was immersed in the computer screen not even glancing up to see who walked in. I thought to myself, this is perfect he didn’t even notice me, but as usual our connection blew my cover. “I know you’re there Kazuma.” He said in a bored tone. My shoulders fell in disappointment as I pulled a chair up and sat next to him. “So found anything yet?” I asked eager with anticipation. “Yeah I did we can take a course on Japanese but it’s pretty costly. One of us should take the class and teach it to the other. A flight to Japan would cost some money too. We might just barely have enough as long as only one of us takes the language course, and if of course you don’t order more than,” He paused for a second adding up the sums and taking them away from the amount of money we have from inheritances and just making the money, “about two pizzas.” He finished happy with the math, I looked at him incredulously. “Only two? I have to survive with just two pizzas while I wait for you to finish the course in Japanese and the flight there?” I asked disdainfully. “Yeah you do. You don’t even have to eat food anyway you’ll live, or whatever it is we do.” He said his eyes growing dark as he thought on what exactly we should be classified as. He thinks about that a lot. You see he remembers when he was changed, and he says there was so much blood spilt he should be dead and yet, here he is living and breathing. Well breathing anyway. “Just because I don’t have to doesn’t mean I shouldn’t.” I said in a perfect imitation of our mother. She used to say that to our father all the time to get what she wanted. He rolled his eyes and looked at the computer screen. “Well if you keep your job you can make enough money to buy more than that but that means you have to keep going to school. We don’t want it looking like you’re dropping out.” He said after a moment or two of silence. I thought about that for a minute. If I got that message right as long as I survived on just two pizzas I didn’t have to go to school till we got back. “So you mean I can just skip school till we get back from Tokyo if I only order two pizzas?” I asked curiously. It was too good to be true. “Yeah I am but you have to order them both at the same time and just heat them up when you want a slice or two.” He looked at me then back to the computer screen and wrote down the address for the place he had to go to get his lessons. I thought about it for a minute. Sure it’s a sweet deal but pizza heated up in a microwave just doesn’t taste the same. After about five minutes of thought, I came to a conclusion. “Ok two pizzas it is.” I said with a smile as I walked out the room to call the pizza place. After a minute or two of thought on what two pizzas would be the best, I dialed the nearest place and gave them the order and the address. I stood there for a moment, my mouth watering at the thought of pizza, before walking back to the computer room to find it empty. “Yazuo.” I yelled waiting for an answer. The answer I got wasn’t one I was expecting. “Your brother isn’t here.” said a calm cool voice from behind me. A shiver ran up my spine as a few escape plans ran through my head. “Don’t think of running young Kazuma.” The voice came from behind me again as I felt a hand on my shoulder keeping me where I was. “Dude this isn’t funny Yazuo.” I said hoping I was right, that it was just a joke from my little brother proving he was related to me and not some freaky anomaly with no sense of humor. Well I have no such luck and still an anomaly for a brother. I was wrong. Dead wrong. He turned me around slowly as my mind worked frantically on what I should do. As he came into view I saw that it wasn’t my little bro. He was just a little taller than me with slightly darker hair, the parts than hung in front of his face a midnight blue, and wearing a black cloak. He looked like he was only a few months older than me and strangely familiar though I couldn’t figure out why. You could tell he was used to getting what he wanted. “I’m sure you could brave a guess at who I am. I have come to take Damon away. Go fetch him for me.” He said. His voice was enough to make me want to comply. Just how he said it made me think yeah sure he’s right through here, but I have to be stronger than that. I stared him straight in the eyes trying to pry into his mind, but I couldn’t. I didn’t even catch a glimpse of anything. He seemed to know what I was trying to do though because he chuckled at my attempt and threw me into the wall near the door. “You’re pathetic Kazuma. I can’t believe you’re supposed to stop me. I guess she’s not always right.” That’s when it dawned on me. This guy must be Kroan, but who is he talking about. “How do you know my name Kroan?” I said standing up trying to look brave and tough and all that. I guess my attempt wasn’t working because he walked right back up to my face and stared into my eyes as though he were trying to glean some information from them. “Because she told me yours and your little brother’s names. I sent Damon to have you killed because she said you’d be the one to bring me down but you’re so pathetic I can’t believe I even attempted to have you killed.” He said with a laugh as he walked back to the door. “I have some business to take care of now. Don’t you go doing anything drastic.” He walked out the door to the living room with a cold laugh. I sat there for a second actually tempted to listen to him and sit there waiting for his return. I shook my head violently to get my senses back looking around the room for a way out. I slid down the wall as I started to give up hope. I looked up and saw he had left the door open and thought, man he’s stupid, but then my common sense kicked in. It might be a ploy to catch me off guard. That’s a risk I’m willing to make. I looked around the room one more time to find something to use as a weapon in case it is a trap. I found the bat Yazuo used to play baseball with and picked it up. I rolled it in my fingers for a bit licking my fangs. Finally after plenty of mental preparation I walked to the door and nudged it softly open. I looked down the hallway to see him up in Damon’s face with a blade to his throat, and then headed in the opposite direction looking for a window to go through. I stopped at the window in my room and thought longingly of the pizza that was soon to be delivered here, but jumped out the window anyway still holding the bat securely in my left hand. I walked a few feet from the house and turned around; staring at it thinking it might be the last time I get to see it. I thought for a second about running back to take the car and then noticed it wasn’t there. A weird thought occurred to me. Did Yazuo leave without telling me? That’s a first. He normally tells me when he’s leaving but he wasn’t there a minute ago and the car isn’t here either. I shrugged it off and kept walking. He’s getting older he’s bound to stop acting like he used to sooner or later. I walked for what seemed like forever, trying to think of how to get a hold of Yazuo instead of thinking of the pizza I was leaving behind, when I came upon a place that reminded me of my childhood home. Back before Yazuo and I were changed. When there wasn’t some crazy dude named Kroan trying to kill us. I sat there for a minute just staring at the house and remembering a happier time when it hit me. I knew why he looked familiar now. He was the one that changed me. I couldn’t believe it didn’t hit me earlier. I turned from the house and headed back down the road. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice that.” I yelled to no one. “He was right there and you just ignored who he was. You are a complete idiot.” I continued to rant at myself, with people staring at me thinking I was talking to them. It seemed to pass the time as I walked down what seemed like miles of country road. I suddenly found myself in town, not having noticed the sign in my rant. “That was quick.” I said to myself as I looked around. I tried to catch my bearings but I wasn’t seeing anything familiar. I guess that’s what I get for sleeping on the way home and the way to school. I stood there in the middle of the road for a little bit cursing myself and my sleeping habits before I was brought to the real world by a horn from the car behind me. “What are you doing idiot?” I heard the driver yell. “Yeah, yeah. I’m movin hold your horses.” I said walking onto the side walk. I stood there looking at the cars as they went by as I tried to remember where the class was. “So they think they’ve got it bad having to go to work everyday and living their miserable lives?” I asked myself with a smile as I started to walk again figuring out where I was. I took a couple turns here and there before coming up on a building that looked kinda like an apartment complex but it only had a few rooms. It was more like a studio. As I walked around the building to find the front door, I made sure it was the right place by checking the street signs and such. “This should be it.” I said to myself holding the handle to the front door. “Why don’t they put up a notice or something?” I walked through the door to find myself in an enormous room fashioned with a large leather couch and tan arm chair around a table stacked with magazines in tons of different languages, and an oak wood front desk with a brass bell, like old hotels. I walked by the table and checked out the magazines only understanding the few I had had classes on. I kept walking up to the front desk and hit the little bell looking around and marveling at the size of the room. I hit it a few more times impatiently, not knowing whether or not Kroan had guessed I was gone or not. I was starting to think there was no one here when a girl with shoulder length light brown hair that had patches of darker brown spread throughout it and slightly curly at the ends, appeared to pop up from behind the counter wearing a dark blue shirt and a pair of blue jeans and a name tag that said Kristei. She looked about a year older than me and when I actually got a good look at her face I recognized her. “Um are you, by any chance, Kristei Miliard?” I asked with a nervous smile. There’s nothing more embarrassing than getting two different people mixed up. I looked at her tentatively for a moment before she finally answered. “Yes I am. Can I ask how you know me?” She asked with a puzzled look on her face. My shoulders slouched as I realized she didn’t recognize me. “Does the name Kazuma Yunasaki ring any bells?” I asked hopefully. She stared at me for a moment, apparently thinking. After a minute or two she shook her head slowly. “No I’m sorry. Should it?” “I was your next door neighbor about three years ago. We used to see each other all the time we were really good friends.” I said trying to jar her memories. She shook her head again. “I’m really sorry I don’t remember. Is there anything I can help you with?” She said sweetly. I hadn’t really expected her to remember. Although it wasn’t too long ago she has a pretty bad memory for a human. “Yeah. My brother Yazuo came here for lessons on Japanese. I need to find him it’s important.” I said quickly remembering why I was here, looking around for signs of Kroan. She ran her finger down a list, scanning the page for the correct room. “Ah yes here it is. Go down this hallway and take a left. It’ll be room 173. He should be in there.” I nodded my head and headed down the hallway, looking through the windows of all the doors I passed. There were different rooms for different classes. I saw French, German, Chinese, Portuguese and a whole mess of other languages that I didn’t understand. I stopped in front of a door that I could hear an odd language of screeches behind and tried to peer into the window. Apparently one of them noticed me because they both got quiet and stared at the door. I shrugged my shoulders and walked on down the hall, looking into windows as I passed. When I took the left the secretary had told me, I stopped where the two walls meet and reached out to talk to Yazuo. Hey bro. what was up with leaving without telling me? I thought angrily after feeling the brush of his conscious. Why? Did you miss me? I focused on the message to try and gauge how far away he was. If I was right he was just a few rooms away. No I didn’t miss you, you idiot. Kroan showed up to kill Damon and locked me in a room. I just barely made it out of there alive. I thought smiling. Kazuma I know your over-exaggerating. I clicked my teeth together when I heard the thought. That’s the thing about trying to lie through your thoughts. Your other thoughts give you away. It’s enough to drive me crazy. Ok so I over-exaggerated that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Kroan was at the house and I’m sure he’s killed Damon and moved on to finding us. I walked down the hall to the door I knew Yazuo was behind and looked through the window. I saw him sitting in a chair at the desk with a pained thoughtful look on his face. I knew he was concentrating on me to try to see if I was lying. He didn’t even see me at the door, so I softly turned the knob and stepped in. “Yazuo, I know you know I’m telling the truth you just don’t want to admit it. You have to get over it.” I said softly when I was standing beside him. He looked up at me with a dark look. “I know your right. I’m trying to think of a way to get him. If you’d shut up this would be a whole lot easier.” He said facing forward again his chin resting in his hands. “I think we should, you know, retreat and rethink things. Find our assets and all that stuff you know?” I said trying to help. He gave me his signature death look in response. “Ok ok don’t call it a retreat then. It’s an advance to the rear. How about that?” He wanted to laugh I could see it in his eyes let alone feel it in his thoughts. “Ok Kazuma. Shut up. You’re right let’s go.” I looked at him with a triumphant grin after he caved. “I knew you’d see things my way.” I said with one foot headed towards the door. “Hold it.” He said as I walked away “Who said we were doing things your way?” I groaned as I turned around. He smiled as he looked at me. “We do things my way. We’re leaving through the back door. This way.” He said confidently as he walked in the opposite direction. I sighed, thought for a minute, and turned to follow. ‘Cause you know, when trying to stick together it’s not too smart to let the other go away without you. I had to run to catch up with him. When I caught up he had stopped at a corner to read a sign. “We’re supposed to be leaving.” I said as I grabbed his arm and tried to continue on only to feel him resist and stay at the sign. “Oh… yeah” He said absentmindedly, still focused on reading the sign. Add that to the list of things even I can’t do. Keep Yazuo on task. “Come on.” I said yanking his arm to snap him out of it. He threw me an angry look and started to walk painfully slow. I knew he was trying to push my buttons. Thing is he was succeeding. “Oh come on.” I yelled exasperatedly as I pushed him out the door forcefully. He laughed as I pushed to try and get him to move down the street. “Yazuo.” I whined trying to make him fall for it. For all my efforts all I got was a haughty nod and a “What Kazuma?” Frustrated I let go of his shoulders. Having been leaning back to slow my efforts, he fell flat on his butt on the concrete. He gave me one of his best Death Glares from The Underworld TM. I smiled and laughed at his attempts to scare me. “Yazuo I taught you that. You just perfected it.” I said as I stared him in the eyes. Truth is I did teach him that but the way it fit with him was scary even to me he just wasn’t allowed to know that. You know, for my authorities sake. Thing is I think he picked up on that thought ‘cause he grinned casually and slowly got up to walk alongside me. “That is one wicked glare though. Just thought I’d let ya know.” I said trying to sound unaffected. We walked in silence for a while before I decided to ask, “So did ya learn anythin?” “No you pulled me out before we got past the introduction.” He grumbled and glared at me again, talking to himself under his breath. I raised my hands in defense. “What was I supposed to do wait till you were done with the lesson to tell you? That just seemed stupid to me.” He laughed and tried to push me in the middle of the road. “Well well. You do think sometimes about something other than pizza and sleep sometimes.” I regained my balance and shoved him into the building we were walking by, smiling with satisfaction as he heard a grunt when his shoulder hit the wall with a sickening thud. “When did you get to be so strong Kazuma?” Yazuo asked with interest.
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