6 Chapter 5

POV: Shakira; Yuki Onna clan

Once we arrive at the restaurant, we find a booth and wait for the waiter to arrive. The restaurant is buzzing with laughter and voices, most of them hushed as they talk about Merissa's scales and my mask.

What they don't know is that if they ever saw my true face, they'd become statues of ice and frost. The waiter finally arrives. Her name tag reads "Akira". Her hands are shaking as they reach for her note pad and pen.

"What'll it be?" Her voice is shaky as well, filled with fear. My blood began to sing with rage. Why!? Why do people have act so scared or cautious when around people like me or Merissa, around people who are different!

Merissa notices my discomfort and puts her hand on my knee, signaling me to calm down.

"I'll have pancakes with extra syrup and some orange juice and my friend here will have the same thing." She shoots her a smile and the waiter nods and leaves to place out order.

"How do you do that?" I burst out.

"Whatever do you mean?" She says as she looks at her reflection in the silver knife.

"How do you keep your cool when people act so different or scared around us." I say.

"I've lived for over 300 years now, I had time to practice, to prepare for what people were gonna say about me and my kind. At first, I would lash out when someone would act differently around me then with their "normal" friends. But, I've learned to regress, to keep calm and ignore everything." She says as she fiddles with the table cloth.

"I just hate that people look at me differently because I have to wear a mask. And I know it's my fault, I'm the one who decided to take over for my dad, I knew this meant hiding my identity and having to be even more careful. Some days I just wish I hadn't decided to take over." I sigh and wipe a tear away.

Merissa scoots over and gives me a hug and kisses my forehead. "It'll be okay, I'll be with you throughout every moment. Okay?" She looks at me with concern and I nod.

The food arrives and it looks delicious, steam rising from the freshly made pancakes. Merissa pours syrup all over her pancakes and digs. We laugh and talk. We smile and enjoy our food, since my dad died, I've felt alone and incomplete, until now. I feel happy and joyful, I feel as though my problems have floated away.

Then...........the world explodes and everything goes dark.

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