Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Written In the Stars ❯ The Kind Face of an Enemy ( Chapter 5 )

Written In the Stars

Chapter 5

Arella raced though the halls of the high school, quickly stopping at the corner and peering around it to see if it was safe. She then looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was behind her. When she didn't see him, she started to run again.

Arella had gotten up very early that morning not so that she could be to school on time, but to avoid confronting Shuuichi. After what had happened yesterday, the last thing she wanted was to run into trouble, especially with someone who had figured out that she was not all human.

As she reached the classroom, she scanned the inside of the room quickly before she took her seat, removing her sketch pad from her satchel, hoping to keep herself busy until class started, and hoping like crazy that though some miracle that Shuuichi would be absent from school.

"That's a very lovely picture miss, you draw well," said an unfamiliar voice.

Arella swung her head over in the direction where Shuuichi usually sat, half expecting to see him there. Instead there sat a boy who was about the same height Shuuichi was, except he had short black hair and dark gray eyes that reminded you of a thick fog in a graveyard. The smile on his face was shy and sweet, not charming and cunning like Shuuichi's had been.

Arella looked down at the picture and blushed slightly at the boy's kind words. The picture in question was of her pet fox cub, Kin sitting in a grassy field, which she had drawn early last night before she had gone to sleep. She never slept much anymore, not with the chance that her aunt or cousins could come up there at any time and try to smother her with a pillow.

"Thank you," she said softly, "That's a very nice thing for you to say."

"Your welcome," replied the boy, "A nice girl such as yourself deserves to have something nice said to her."

Arella blushed a little more, never having heard such kind things from a stranger in her entire life.

"Thank you, you're too kind."

The boy smiled at Arella once more and held his hand out to her, "I am Ciaran."

Arella took the boy's hand gently, "It's nice to meet you Ciaran, I'm Arella."

Ciaran smiled and brought Arella's hand to his lips, giving it a light kiss, "The pleasure is all mine, Arella," he whispered to her softly, causing her to blush even more, her cheeks turning a slight shade of crimson.

************

Kurama shook the tumbling wildfire locks out of hard emerald eyes that traced the school carefully. He had sensed something strange when he first stepped into the area and now the feeling was getting stronger. It was something bad, no doubt about that. But the sense was covered over with something and Kurama couldn't completely detect what it was.

He stepped through the door and was greeted with something, indeed, unpleasant.

Ciaran smiled when he sensed the infamous Makai thief. So, he has arrived. He thought smugly as he looked over at Arella, still smiling sweetly. If he knows what's good for him, he'll back down. "So tell me Arella, what else do you do besides draw lovely pictures of foxes?" he asked her, watching her blush more.

"Good morning Arella," Kurama said this without looking at the girl, instead focusing his attention on the figure before him who had a criminal expression written very clearly over his smooth face. "And who is this that I have the pleasure of meeting?"

Somebody up there really hates me, Arella thought when she heard Shuuichi's voice. She was too nervous to speak, but was surprised when Ciaran spoke for her.

"I am Ciaran, a new student at this school," he said simply.

Ciaran was quick to send a mental message to the fox, ~Lets get one thing straight, Makai thief, stay away from the girl, she's mine! This is none of your concern, my quarrel is not with you, but if you get involved it will be, so stay out of it!~

Kurama smiled gently at Arella now, pitying the poor girl who seemed to have wound up in something more than she could handle. He turned that gaze back to Ciaran, a flicker of something cold in his eyes. ~Is that so.... And what if I'm determined not to stay out of it? ~

~Then you will be signing your death warrant. The daughter of Amata is my concern, so I suggest you back off. ~ Ciaran smiled at Arella sweetly offering a concerned look. "You look upset Arella, has this boy done something to frighten you?"

~I think I'm going to have to take you up on that offer then because you're stepping into my turf now. ~ Kurama broke the connection. "So. Where are you from, Ciaran?" His lips curled softly like gentle rose petals and the stiffness in the line of his back was lifted.

"Oh, here and there," Ciaran said casually, waving it off like it was no big deal, "Now, I believe Arella didn't get a chance to answer my question, so I guess the answer must be yes. You did something to frighten the poor thing."

Arella sat there, not really knowing what to say. It wasn't so much that Shuuichi had frightened her, it was that he was somehow able to figure out that she wasn't completely human and kept pressing her about it when all she really wanted was to be left alone and try to get though life. "No," she finally managed to say, "He has done nothing to frighten me, I'm just nervous about the quiz today."

Ciaran looked at her suspiciously for a moment and then nodded slowly, "If you say so, Arella." he said, still remaining seated in Shuuichi's seat, refusing to move.

Arella could swear she saw something like anger or hatred flicker in Shuuichi's eyes before he took a seat behind Ciaran. Whatever it was that had been showing in his eyes though, disappeared when he looked at her with what she thought was concern, but she wasn't really sure.

After class, Arella made sure she avoided any confrontations with Shuuichi and Ciaran. She wanted to avoid Ciaran because she had lied to him earlier. There was no quiz; she had just said that because she didn't really know how to answer his question. Then there was also the fact that she sensed something dark and evil around him, something that she couldn't explain, especially since he had been so nice to her.

Shuuichi was nice to me too though, and look what happened. Now he knows that I'm not completely human. He probably thinks I'm some sort of a monster out to take over the world or something.

During lunch, she had sat down under one of the cherry blossom trees, hoping to have some time to herself to think things though. As she started eating, she noticed both Shuuichi and Ciaran walking towards her from two different directions. They stopped though when they saw each other and glared at each other for a very long time, each of them holding their ground. This gave Arella enough time to gather her things and run off to a different area to eat lunch.

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly and so far, she had not spotted any sign of either Ciaran or Shuuichi. To be safe though, Arella was going to spend as much time as she could in the library and read once school came to an end.

As she pulled out her book of choice from her satchel, she quickly noticed that the bookmark she used was missing.

"Oh God! Where could it be?!" Arella said, panicking, now getting on her hands and knees to find the elusive bookmark. She touched and inspected almost every inch of the library floor where she was kneeling on, as if finding that bookmark was a matter of life or death.

"Is this your mother?" asked an all too familiar voice.

Arella slowly raised her head to see Shuuichi standing besides her, holding what she had been looking for, a picture of her and her mother that had been taken just a year before she had been killed.

"Yes, that's her," she replied, slowly standing up, now in total awe as she stood before him.

"She's very beautiful. You look just like her," he said, now holding out the picture for her to take.

"Thank you," Arella whispered, reaching out and taking the photograph from him, her fingertips touching his.

The moment they touched, a warm tingling sensation traveled from her hand all though out the rest of her body, but was replaced when a bolt of pure electricity ran down her spine, but it wasn't in a hurtful way. It was almost as if it was making a connection, that it was trying to unite her with Shuuichi.

Somehow, she managed to regain control of herself and pulled her hand violently away from his, looking down at it in complete horror. She then glanced over at Shuuichi and noticed that he too looked just has shocked as she was. He had felt it as well, the tingling sensation and the bolt of electricity. He was watching her now, the look on his face unreadable. She couldn't tell if she horrified him or if he thought she had just tried to kill him.

"I'm sorry," she managed to say in a low whisper to him, "I'm sorry," And without another word, she quickly got her supplies and ran out of the library.

The sound of her footsteps echoed though out the empty hall way of the school as she ran, but another set of footsteps joined hers and she knew that Shuuichi was chasing after her. She ran up the nearest flight of steps and rounded the corner on the fifth floor, trying the doorknobs on each of the doors to see if any were unlocked. They were all locked.

She was beginning to think that all hope had been lost, when she turned the corner and to her complete surprised, the door she tried actually opened. She quickly ran inside and slammed the door, looking around to see where she was.

The room was filled with all different kinds of instruments, including a black polished baby grand piano. She walked over to it and let her fingers slide gently over the black and white keys. She use to own a baby grand piano back when her mother was still alive, only it had been made or rosewood. Aunt Maura had sold it though, wanting to not only discourage Arella from playing it, but to also make money off of it. She had never found out whom her aunt had sold it to, she could only hope that it was in the hands of someone who truly appreciated music.

She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard the sound of footsteps coming towards her. She quickly looked around the room, trying to find a place to hide. Her eyes fell upon another door, which she ran to and quickly opened, revealing a large closet. She shut the door and closed her eyes, trying to will Shuuichi away.

*****************

Kurama came to the top of the stairs and looked around. As he walked down the corridor, he tried each of the doors and all of them were locked. He knew that Arella had come up here, and she had hidden herself well. He continued to try the doors until he came to the one at the end of the hall. He turned the knob, and was relieved to find that it was unlocked. She had to be in here. Kurama stepped in, and saw that it was an old music room. He admired the instruments for a moment before continuing his search.

"Arella? Arella, it's me, Shuuichi," he called. "Please, come out. I only want to talk to you. Arella?" Kurama sighed, as he heard no answer. He walked further into the room, and noticed a closet on the far side of the room. He started towards it. It was the only place she could have hidden. Kurama stood in front of the door for a few seconds, and slowly reached out to grab the knob.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" came a voice.

Kurama turned to see an old man standing in the doorway. Seeing the broom in his hand, Kurama deduced he was the janitor. "I'm sorry, for intruding, I was just looking for…"

"I'm sorry, young man," said the janitor. He twitched his nose and his mustache rose and fell with his lip. "No students are allowed up here. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Kurama sighed, and nodded. As badly as he wanted to find Arella, he thought it better to simply leave than cause a scene. "Of course. Thank you, sir." Kurama headed out of the room, and bowed slightly at the janitor as he left. The janitor stepped into the room and looked around briefly. He started to head back out of the room, when he heard a door creak inside.

The janitor turned around and peered inside. "Hello?" he called. Then, he watched as Arella stepped out of the closet. "What are you doing here?" asked the janitor. He noticed the sad expression and hint of fear in the girl's eyes. He sighed. "Never mind."

"I'm truly sorry for intruding," Arella apologized. "I just needed to get away from everyone for a while and think," She paused and looked around the room for a few seconds, not wanting to meet the janitor's eyes. "Music, one of the universal doors to the soul…" Arella's voice trailed off.

"What was that?" said the janitor. He stepped closer towards Arella with a smile on his face. "I didn't think any of you young kids really appreciated music, and good music at that," The janitor stared at Arella for a while and smiled. "Feel free to come up here anytime you want," said the janitor now smiling. "Well, I've got to be going now. Stay as long as you like," He started out of the room and then paused. He turned to face Arella once again, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small silver key, "Here's the extra key to get inside, just remember to lock up before you leave," He said with a chuckle before finally leaving Arella alone in the room.