Thirteen

It was warm.

I was standing in ankle-deep warm water. It wasn't a beach. It wasn't a lake or any other waterbody I could put a name to. It was a place that seemed too surreal to be real. Nevertheless, it was beautiful. It was warm and beautiful.

I heard a chime from somewhere far off.

I looked around but saw nothing. No one. No signs of life.

I heard the chime again. This time, a ripple disturbed the warm water I was standing in. Without much thought, I walked in the direction that the ripples had come from. Before long, I could make out a silhouette against the never-ending white around me.

My legs stopped even though I did not will them to.

Darkness enveloped me. Someone grabbed my arm really hard causing me to let out a small yelp. It was obvious that whatever that was, or whoever that was, was a hostile entity. "L-Let-"

I was yanked forward. My feet flew out from under me. Or rather, the ground disappeared.

I was yanked forward but I found myself falling backwards.

"Agh!" I heard a grunt from behind me as I felt the impact. I had fallen but I hadn't hit hard ground. I had strong arms wrapped tightly around me. The night sky beyond the open window loomed in front of me.

I... Huh?

"Akane-chan! Kou-chan!" Chiyo's shrill voice made me snap out of my waking trance.

The open window and... Terasaki-san?

"Damn it!" He hissed, his voice right next to my ear. I was on the floor, his arms wrapped so tightly around me that I couldn't breathe.

What was I... doing?

"T-Terasaki-san..."

"It's okay. I got you." He said, his breathing heavy. Clearly, he'd panicked. I looked back at the window and remembered the... dream? I was yanked forward. I was... "Oh, God." It dawned on me then. I froze in horror.

"Akane-chan..." Chiyo stood beside me. She looked scared too. I held onto his arms and trembled.

I nearly jumped to my own death!

"Oh, God!"

"I've got you. You're okay." He repeated, rocking a little back and forth as we were.

The ache in my neck grew into a throb and then intensified into a sharp pain. I clutched his arms tighter in response. "Argh!"

"Akane?" He loosened his hold on me a little to see what was going on. I clung on though.

"I-It hurts..."

"K-Kou-chan!" Chiyo took a fistful of her own skirt. This was painful for her to watch.

"Akane." He called and made me turn to him. He proceeded to hug me again, holding my head to the crook of his neck. I was on the floor, between his legs, wrapped in just pain though. I couldn't feel his warmth.

"Ugh..."

"It's okay." His big palm on my head, he rocked a bit again. "You need to calm down."

"I-I could've... I... What was-"

"Ssh. It's over." He rubbed my back. "I've got you."

It took me a while to calm down and a little longer for the pain to die out. Terasaki-san never let go of me throughout that. Chiyo too came to hug us a little into it. When I had gathered my senses sufficiently, I pat his shoulder. "You can let go now."

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Mm." I nodded.

At that, he released me. I moved away to lean against the wall beneath the window facing him. He watched me as if to assess me. I sighed. "I'm really fine now, Terasaki-san."

He nodded. "What did you see?"

Straight to the point, huh?

"I... didn't quite see that much." I told him everything I'd seen. The fact that I remembered every detail of it so vividly was enough proof of it not having been just any random dream.

"You didn't see who it was?"

"No."

"It was a person though?"

"Felt like it." I nodded. "Could that have been a human?"

"I can't tell for sure but I couldn't sense any presence or spirit. It couldn't have been some random entity. This requires more power. Most probably, the last time too..."

A human?

I hugged my knees to my chest. This was starting to get really messy. "Will... Shibata-kun be okay?"

Terasaki-san frowned. "I'd rather have you worry about yourself."

"But-" I pursed my lips. I was scared.

"We will have to put up our guard even at home. There's only so much barriers can do."

Home... "Can't this be stopped? I'm a threat to those entities, right? Couldn't I just do what I have to?"

"You can't. You're not ready. You know that too. Besides, it's too dangerous now. If we lay low for a while, their moment of panic would pass. I'll train you then." He said.

"But that's too long a wait..." I looked away. I was especially worried about Shibata-kun. Somehow, I couldn't say that out loud though.

"You're not ready, Akane." He repeated and stood up, holding a hand out to me. "Get back to bed."

Frankly, after all that, I didn't want to sleep. If it meant that I would dream again, I didn't want to sleep.

I accepted his hand and let him pull me up onto my feet. Chiyo quietly followed us to bed. I settled in again anyway, knowing fully well that I wouldn't be able to sleep.

No incident of that sort happened again over the next few weeks. We did encounter Kage and a few other smaller entities a few times but Terasaki-san dealt with them just fine. Agari-san dropped by again to check in on us and, of course, to tease me. I'd been meeting Shibata-kun almost every day under Terasaki-san's watch. Our relationship had completely changed. We were no longer best friends. We weren't lovers either, although we were closer to being so than otherwise. However, with every passing moment and every new encounter with hostile entities, I was growing more and more worried. The closer we got, the harder it got to let him out of my sight.

Terasaki-san was always quietly watching over us, never interacting more than necessary.

The one drastic change that did occur over these weeks was that my neck hardly hurt and even when it did, it was much lesser than how much it used to hurt before. Agari-san told me that that was probably because of my relationship with Shibata-kun. Basically, in every sense, I was happy to have him and everything else just seemed to affect me a lot lesser than they used to.

"Does he have to follow us everywhere?" Shibata-kun moved closer and lowered his voice as we walked around aimlessly. Terasaki-san was walking a little behind us.

I smiled sheepishly. "He does. I'm sorry."

"No, it's- I'm just glad we can do at least this but... I'd like some privacy too."

"I understand." I nodded.

"I can't even flirt with you properly when he's watching us like this." He said rather quietly.

The blood rushed to my face. "Y-You want to flirt with me?"

"Well..." He looked away bashfully. "Why wouldn't I?"

We were definitely not best friends anymore.

Neither of us had really changed but the change in our shared history had changed us.

"Oh." I looked down. While knowing his feelings and hearing it from him made me feel happy, it strangely made me feel all the more lonely. Everything had changed overnight and I felt it all the more vividly just then.

"Kirishima-chan?" He looked at me when I did not give him a satisfactory answer. "Is that... no good?"

"No, it's not that." I shook my head immediately, my neck stinging a little. "I was just thinking about something else."

"Oh. You mean your family thing?"

Right. That was the story he knew. I nodded.

"I see." He sighed. "Can't we work something out though?"

I didn't want to lie to him. He was also in danger because of me. Shouldn't he know? Why can't he know? Why can't we live in the same world? I swallowed my worries and smiled. "We can."

"Then-"

"Right now, I'm happy with just this." I took his hand in mine. "I like this."

He sighed, gripping my hand tighter. "If you say so." His dark brown hair danced in the breeze and his hazel eyes sparkled in the way I was accustomed to seeing. He seemed somewhat content too.

I burned the image into my mind.

I love you, Shibata-kun.

"Kirishima-chan."

"Hm?"

"When's your birthday? Mine's on December 7th."

That question made me want to cry. "J-July 31st." I replied, trying hard to not let my voice crack.

"Damn. That just went by." He shook his head.

"It was a couple of months ago." I pointed out, praying that he'd just drop the topic.

"Still." He looked a little thoughtful, then perked up. "I know! Let me buy you something today."

"Today?"

"Yeah." He grinned and squeezed my hand. "There's a stationery and gift shop nearby too. I'll buy you whatever you want."

"N-No. There's no need for that. Don't you live on your own? You need the money for your own use." I said frantically. How did it even come to this?

"How... do you know that I live alone?" He slowly asked. "I don't think I've ever mentioned it before."

Oh crikey.

"I... I have my ways." I responded.

"So, you really have been looking into me." He chuckled. "That's creepy though. Just... could you not do that anymore? I'll tell you whatever it is that you want to know about me."

Shibata-kun...

"Speaking of, do you like stationery and stuff? Or would you prefer clothes?" He asked.

I never told you about my love for stationery and you still suggested it. What could I make out of that?

"Stationery's fine." I smiled.

"Good then. Let's go." He led me towards one of the popular shops without waiting for anything more. I looked back to see Terasaki-san following us. His eyes met mine and he held my gaze without a change of expression. I couldn't tell if he approved of this detour or not though. Eventually, I turned ahead and decided to let Shibata-kun lead me.