Categories > Original > Fantasy

To Each His Own Path

by DeJaSins 0 reviews

Hawaiie is new to school and upon arrivial she meets Kaudanosake whom, she is later told, just so happens to be the schools demon...

Category: Fantasy - Rating: PG-13 - Genres: Angst,Drama,Fantasy - Warnings: [V] - Published: 2010-12-28 - Updated: 2010-12-28 - 5685 words - Complete

0Unrated

Wow, its official. My first day of Senior high school starts in less than ten minutes. I don’t know anyone here, and-

“Are you excited, Honey?! Today’s the big day!”
“Hardly. Mother, I just don’t understand why I must go to this school. I don’t know anyone here! I’m going to spend the entire day… never mind”
“Look Hawaiie, we’ve been through this before. Your father doesn’t want you to just go to any school. He wants what’s best for you. Coming here, to Japan’s finest school, that’s going to get you where you need to be. I do wish you’d stop mopping about and at least try to enjoy this. Going to a new school isn’t a bad thing; in fact, it could lead to a great adventure.”
“Yes Mother” I mumble as my mother flips on the turning signal. I stare out of the passenger side window as little beads of water roll down its side. The sky is gray with nearly black clouds hovering hauntingly in the distance, and the trees shake violently in the wind. The whole scene was just so unbelievably welcoming.

“Hawaiie, I want you to listen closely to me alright? You’re fourteen years old now, I think it’s about time that you started growing up a bit dear,” She said as the car slowly hissed to a stop in front of the black building. My eyes landed on the sign right above the school’s entrance, and I spoke out the words that were written on it in a gentle whisper. “Koutougakkou. Hmm. Senior High School, huh?” I look around the building and at the students as they run inside to escape the relentless rain. But my eyes catch a boy, the only person not running to escape the fierce storm. He walks calmly, leisurely and completely unaffected by the pouring beads of rain that falls upon him. He wears the same uniform as all of the other boys: Black pants and a black buttoned up top, except his style differs from the rest. He wears a small chain that connects to his belt hole, and then hangs low, about to the mid-thigh, then it loops back up and goes into his pocket. Besides this, his shirt is left unbuttoned ever so slightly, showing a black and white stripped tie underneath, he wears a black hooded jacket over top his uniform and stares at the ground as if he were searching for something that he had lost.

“Hawaiie? Did you hear me? Are you even listening to me?” Snapped out of my momentary hypnosis, I look back at my mother with absolute confusion written all over my face. She sighed and shook her head in disapproval. “Just. Just get to class Hawaiie, alright? And please, please attempt to have a good day”
“Ok Mother” I said as I climbed out of the car and turned to look back at her. “I’ll call you when school lets out. Have a good day at work” I said as I slammed the car door before she was able to respond. I ran to the black, prison resembling school and looked at all of the inmate’s faces. They all looked the same, nothing striking or emphatic. Inside the building, I immediately felt like an outsider. I had actually skipped my ninth grade year because of my high scores on my entrance exams, so I’m already a year above most students my age, and therefore one of the youngest students here. Not only that, but I don’t know a single person at this school, and making friends isn’t exactly my forte. I walk swiftly past all of the unfamiliar faces, the groups of friends and close acquaintances, and I pick up speed when I notice that after passing every group the same question arises; who’s that girl?

I finally found shelter in a small hallway that intersects with the main one. The hallway is nearly empty, only a few students, are located here and most of them are merely depositing wet umbrellas and jackets while others are withdrawing text books and binders. I lean up against a locker, close my eyes and sigh. “Even after running I still got completely drenched” I whisper to myself as I glare at the small puddle accumulating from my wet body. I sigh again as I take off my coat, realizing that it is only making me wetter. What a great way to begin the freaking-
“Here” A gentle voice interrupts my thoughts and I glance up to see piercing silver eyes gazing back at me. My body stiffens when my eyes makes direct contact with those belonging to the voice which just spoke to me. My mouth drops open in awe at those eyes and I can’t imagine the look on my face but, for some reason I feel as if I am completely unable to look away. As if his eyes have a will of their own and they are refusing to allow me to turn my gaze elsewhere.
The boy blinked his eyes shut and gave a very faint smile, and it felt as if an enormous weight had been lifted off of my body as he did so. I felt my legs begin to wobble, so I leaned slightly onto the locker in order to catch my balance and grabbed my head. “Are you alright?” the boy asked leaning closer to me.
“I’m. I’m alright, I just feel a little light headed” I replied blatantly as I stared at the wet and muddy floor beneath us, clutching my head the entire time.
“I’m sorry if I disturbed you,” the boy said softly, “Its just that, your kind of on my locker”. I could feel the embarrassment slowly creeping its way onto my face as the words began to register in my mind. “I’m so sorry! I said frantically as I popped off of his locker, I would have gone so far as to dust it off for him had he not surprised me with his laughter. I turned around to look at him as he laughed. He placed his arm behind his head as if to cradle it when he threw it backward, his chest heaved in and out with each hearty sound that bellowed from his throat, and two of his teeth, his two fangs, seemed to stick out abnormally. His laughter began to lower into a quiet chuckle as he wiped a tear from his eye and stuffed his hands into his pockets. It was at that exact moment, that I noticed that it was him, the same boy from before. The chain swung continuously back and forth with the same pace that his laughter had once held.
“It’s fine. I was going to ask you to move, but then I noticed you were soaking wet, so I was going to offer you this little towel here,” I looked from his chain to his face and then to his hands. His hands were quite large and extremely pale, and his fingernails were colored black with what looked to be ink from a marker.
“Oh. Th-Thank you. I’m. I’m sorry, but what is your name?” I asked quite boldly. The boy looked at me with questioning eyes. Wait. His eyes..
“My, name is, Kaudanosake” He said slowly as he leaned his head down and stared at his shoes, as if he were being cautious of letting me onto something or telling me too much. I had started to turn my head sideways and stare at him. He looked back up at me slowly and gave a slightly crooked grin, “What’s the problem?” He asked quietly.
“I’m sorry,” I said, “It’s just that, I could’ve sworn your eyes were gray earlier, but now. Now they’re green”
“Your imagination.” He said gruffly as he looked over his shoulder. “Anyways, I’ve got to go” He muttered under his breath as he quickly brushed past me and handed me the towel whilst doing so. “Oh, and you might want to rid yourself of that towel as quickly as possible” He threw his words at me over his shoulder, obviously not caring if I heard them or not and I silently watched him disappear down the hallway

I looked down at the towel that I held in my hands as I thought of his queer demeanor, then I placed it the back of my neck in an attempt to dry myself off.
“I wonder why he hurried off.” I asked myself quietly as I stuffed the towel into my bag, began to gather my things and hurry off to my first class. As I did so, two things had caught my eye. The first thing was that every single person Kaudanosake passed would immediately begin to whisper things about him, and, based off of there facial expressions, there was nothing good being said. The second was that four boys, all of whom appeared to be twelfth graders due to their size, had walked swiftly and yet in a calm and sophisticated manner, in the same exact direction as Kaudanosake had previously gone.

I sat in class staring at the chalkboard, pretending to be listening and pretending to ignore the constant questions pervading the air about my presence in the classroom. I had tried, in vain, to play close attention to the lecture about the classroom rules but I couldn’t refrain myself from staring at the empty seat to the right of me. During attendance, it was brought to my attention that Kaudanosake and I had been placed in the same class, even still, the fact remains that we’ve progressed at least twenty minutes into this class and there is still no sign of him. Is it possible that the attendance sheet is merely incorrect?
“Now class, as I said before, everyday shall begin the second I enter the classroom. The class leader will-” Three loud knocks came rapping across the door, almost with the sole purpose of disrupting the classroom. My teacher, obviously feeling disrespected for being interrupted, had begun to go red in the face. “Humph! I wonder who this could be” He snarled. He walked briskly over to the class entrance and yanked the door open. “Humph! I should have known it’d be you.” He growled as he slammed the door shut behind him, leaving the classroom unattended.
“Psst! Hey. Hey You!” I lift my eyes from the vacant seat beside me and turned to the left to look at the owner of the voice. It was a girl with an extremely bright smile and cool blue eyes that were covered by black glasses with women’s cat shaped frame. Her hair, which was black and frosted red at the ends, had been pulled up into a loose bun and yet still fell down to the small of her back.
“You’re the new girl aren’t you?! The one that skipped like, three grades because of your scores on the entrance exams?”
“Well I, uh. It wasn’t three grades.” I managed to whisper. I can feel my face burning! Why must they taunt me with such embarrassing questions?!
“And that’s not all,” she said while looking above her glasses and into my eyes with a smile that reeked with wickedness. “It’s being said that you were the one hanging out with Kaudanosake earlier today. That, at the very least, is true. Isn’t it?” By now, I had noticed that all eyes were cast upon she and I, and they were all waiting for my response to her question. Her question had sounded so threatening, and dangerous, as if I were participating in some sort of taboo merely by talking to him, let alone possibly befriending him.
“Well I uh. I talked to him, if that’s what you mean.” I replied while looking down at my desk. “Should I. Should I not have done so?” I asked pleadingly. She smiled at me again, and I caught the sense that she wanted me to believe that she was withholding information. She leaned back into her seat slowly with her head held high as she spoke, “You would stay away from him, if you know what’s good for you. That Kaudanosake is nothing but a demon”
The door had opened slightly, and we could all see Mr. Higurashi’s hand on the door knob and so our conversation ended just as abruptly and uncomfortably as it had began.
“My God Kaudanosake what are we going to do with you?”
“My God Mr. Higurashi, you say it like it’s my fault. Do you actually think I’m the only one to blame here?!”
Mr. Higurashi had paused for a moment, as if he had to carefully choose his words, “No Kaudanosake, of course I don’t. Just, just come in here and sit down until the end of class. After that, we’ll see what we can do about-“
“Oh just forget it. It’s not like you actually care about what happens to me anyways” Kaudanosake said blatantly as he pushed past Mr. Higurashi and into the room. Kaudanosake’s clothes were ripped and tattered, his backpack was drenched and muddy, as if someone had recently thrown it into a muddy puddle, his chain had been broken into two and only the part that was found around belt hole was still present. There was a swelling bruise beneath his right eye, a cut on his lip and on the white part of his black and white tie, there were stains of blood.
Kaudanosake walked in with his head tilted down so that none of us could see his eyes. As he readied himself to sit down he looked at me, and I immediately understood why he had done so. Another student completely misunderstood his reasons for doing so, and he laughed as he stated matter-of-factly, “Ha. The little punk is crying! Someone should teach him how to be a man” Laughter had filled the air, and all at Kaudanosake’s expense. Several times throughout the lecture, Kaudanosake would be the target or spit wads and cruel jokes and yet, the only response he would give to them was silence as he stared down at his desk with his raven black hair falling before his eyes. I kept recalling the girl's words throughout the entire lesson but as I looked at the beaten boy to the right of me, I couldn't even begin to understand why she or anyone for that matter, would refer to him as a demon.
As the time drew closer to lunch I could see his knuckles turn white from gripping the table due to his anxious desire to leave the classroom. He stared at the clock as if thinking about time alone would help it to speed up. Eventually I found myself starring at the clock as well with my own anxious desire of asking him what happened before class and-
“Princess-chan!” Mr. Higurashi demanded of me. My eyes immediately ripped away from the clock and looked into his. “Y-Yes, Higurashi Sensei?” I said as I quickly stood.
“I know that this is your first day, but I’m certain you can handle the very basic rule of paying attention, right?” As several hushed giggles floated in the classroom air I looked down at my feet with guilt. “Yes, Higurashi Sensei. I apologize” He grunted in approval as I took my seat, he then glanced up at the clock. “Alright, your homework tonight is to-”
He was interrupted by the sound of Kaudanosake’s chair screeching upon the tile floor as he abruptly stood and gathered his things. Mr. Higurashi stared at him with fire in his eyes for, yet again, disrupting flow of his classroom.
“And exactly what are you doing?!” He hissed at Kaudanosake from behind his desk.
“Class is over, and I’m leaving” he replied nonchalantly as he walked to the classroom door.
“Rule number three, class is over at my dismissal. You wouldn’t have missed it if you weren’t going around getting yourself beaten up!” Mr. Higurashi said with a grin filled with malice.
“Yeah, I’ll certainly take that to heart” he sarcastically replied over his shoulder as he left the room. Having failed at inflicting pain upon him with his words, Mr. Higurashi cleared his throat, closed his eyes and turned his back toward the class as he told us in a bitter voice that class had finally been dismissed.

I had intended on asking Kaudanosake if he were alright after class, but since he left earlier, I have no idea where he is. I stand with my tray of food in hand as I search for a place to eat. Every last table is occupied, and I don’t know anyone well enough to insert myself into their conversations. I look around and my eye had noticed something strange. The first thing I noticed was that Kaudanosake was nowhere to be found in the room. The second thing was that several students were sneaking out of the building. I don’t think I would’ve cared if rules had prohibited us from leaving the school building, I probably would’ve assumed that they were just going to skip a few classes or something. But at this school, students are allowed to eat lunch outside, so if that was all they were up to then they could’ve easily just walked out without throwing such suspicious looks over their shoulders. I don’t know what they’re doing outside, but I am more than confident that Kaudanosake will be out there. I walk, slowly at first but then my legs start to pick up speed as the number of students leaving increases as well as the excitement on their faces.

I step outside, raindrops are no longer falling from the sky, although it is still quite dark and the wind is just as menacing as it were earlier today. I set my tray down on the ground beside the door, no longer feeling hungry and I head towards a group of about twenty or so rowdy students. As I walk, I begin to hear the words being said in the midst of the circle,
“Why are you here, Kaudanosake? Can’t you see that nobody wants you here?”
“Yeah! We all know what you are! Who are you trying to kid?”
“You ignoramus’ don’t know anything. Cause if you did, you wouldn’t be foolish enough to take me on” Kaudanosake said in a menacing tone. Take him on? Then, they are all getting ready to fight?! The now rambunctious group of students was hooting and hollering, and I could draw from their reactions but one conclusion; the fight had begun. I ran, with as much speed as I could possibly muster, into the crowd of bystanders in time to see Kaudanosake being lifted up into the air by his tie alone. He did not struggle, nor did he cry, in fact, it almost looked as if he weren’t there. As if his mind was elsewhere and their hits were having no effect upon him.
“You’re pathetic Kaudanosake! You were talking so big before, what happened?” asked one of the attackers while raising his right fist and pummeling it against Kaudanosake’s face repeatedly until blood mixed with saliva oozed out from his mouth and onto the ground.
“Aww come on Kaudanosake, this is no fun” the boy said sadistically as he pulled Kaudanosake’s face closer to his own. “You’re not even trying to fight back, and we’re all dieing to know what kind of powers a demon has”
Demon? My mind instantly reverts back to the scene in the classroom, “You would stay away from him, if you know what’s good for you. That Kaudanosake is nothing but a demon.”
Could they, really believe him to be a demon? It’s not possible, demons don’t exist. Do they? Regardless, even if they do there’s no way that Kaudanosake is one. Not when he was so kind…
“Fight me Kaudanosake, with all of your demon strength!” The boy yelled as he stared into Kaudanosake’s impassive green eyes with his own menacing ones. Kaudanosake slowly closed his eyes and gave a low and yet alarming chuckle.
“To do so would be a waste of my time,” Kaudanosake said as his arm slowly rose and latched onto his opponent’s arm, which was still holding him up by the collar. Kaudanosake’s eyes flipped open and were fiery silver as he screamed, “When I’m only fighting a pup like you!” Kaudanosake violently grasped the assailant’s arm and yanked it downwards across his now raised knee with such speed and ferocity that the bones immediately snapped in half. The boy wailed in pain as he dropped Kaudanosake to the ground and pulled his arm into his chest. The boy fell to the ground screaming and rolling about as his arm swung limply from side to side.
“My arm! God, he broke my arm!” The boy screeched out, his face was stained with tears and grass blades, and the three boys who had helped him in fighting Kaudanosake ran to his side in an effort to console him, and all the spectators grew silent and afraid due to the boy’s horrifying screams of agony.
Kaudanosake had stood with his back toward them, and yet he stared down at them through the corner of his eye. But as he blinked his eyes, his gaze was suddenly fixated on me, and he stared at me with a merciless glare. Could he, actually be a demon?
With his eyes still completely locked on me, Kaudanosake lifted his thumb to his mouth and swiftly removed the blood from his chin. His hand dropped lifelessly at his side while his legs began to move. Oh my god, he’s walking straight towards me! I want to run, I want to cower in a corner or at the very least cry, but I can’t move. My body is completely paralyzed! I can see the people around me backing down and parting so that he can pass without any difficulty, but my body is completely frozen! I can’t seem to turn away or even squeeze my eyes shut, and he’s so close to me now! Kaudanosake, what are you, and what are you going to do?!
He is now so close to me that I can smell the intoxicating aroma of blood and sweat. My heart is completely in my throat and I can’t swallow, not until I know what he’s planing to do.
Kaudanosake stops directly in front of me, I realize that his eyes have gone back to being green and, for the first time, I realize how much sadness they carry.
Kaudanosake lifts his hand and slowly reaches for my face and I can feel my entire body cringe out of his reach in fear. My eyes squeeze shut as my face turns quickly out of the way of his hand and my body impulsively steps backwards and away from him.
“You too, huh?” He asked me innocently, and even though my eyes were shut, I knew exactly what he looked like when he said it. His eyes would have closed slowly and gently, and he would have worn a small, sheepish grin which was meant to hide the sadness within his heart.
“I, I don’t know what you want me to say. I-” My voice was trembling with every word, and I opened my eyes to see him, to ensure that he heard my words, but he wasn’t there. I looked behind me, and could see Kaudanosake’s body walking back into the school building.
“So what, you’re going to side with that demon now” Asked a voice from behind me. I turn to all of their eyes staring at me with harsh criticism.
You saw what he did to Lee, and yet you intend to befriend a monster like him?!” Asked one of the boys who was sitting beside the unconscious boy, who is apparently named Lee.
“But, Kaudanosake only did those things to protect himself. Had this Lee person not picked a fight with him first, Kaudanosake would’ve never laid a hand on him” I spoke with such assuredness that I nearly surprised even myself.
“How would you know anything? You’re brand new to this school! You don’t even know Kaudanosake! You don’t know anything!” screamed one of the voices from the crowd. “You’re right,” I said softly and I bit my lip as I stared into all of the faces staring back at me, many of whom seemed to have been satisfied with those words as they had begun to turn their backs to me and walk away.
“You’re right about one thing,” I continued with clenched fists, “I am new to this school, and I don’t know very much about anything that goes on or has happened in the past. But you’re wrong when you say that I don’t know Kaudanosake, fore even though I’ve only just met him, I know him better than all of you combined” I said those few words with the most amount of strength that I have ever used in my entire life! I feel so powerful, so completely unstoppable when I think of Kaudanosake. It’s as if seeing his strength has somehow rubbed off on me. I showed them all that my words were true by giving them an illustrious smile as I walked with confidence of such a great magnitude that I nearly ran into the building, just to find him. Just to find Kaudanosake.

Lunch had passed and classes had started up again by the time I came inside. For whatever reason, I seem to know and understand Kaudanosake's mindset, and I know that in the upset state that he’s in, the last thing he’s going to do is go back to class. So where would he be? Perhaps he left school? Or maybe he went to the restroom? No, he wouldn’t hide there... Wait! I know where he is!
Somehow I find myself sneaking through the halls, slipping past open doors and sneaking into dimly lit hallways at the sound of an approaching voice. But the most impressive (Perhaps I mean to say interesting or strange) part is that I’m sneaking, hiding and skipping class, all of which are things that I’ve never before done, with the sole purpose of finding a boy whom I barely even know. It is quite funny how much a person can change in such a short amount of time.
I round the last corner with my eyes shut, I’m excited to know if my guess was right or not but I don’t want to see anything that will ruin the surprise. I stop dead in my tracks, with my hands covering my eyes and I slowly whisper a countdown. “3, 2, 1”
A brilliant light room from an open window momentarily blinds me and I blink ferociously in order to regain my vision. Eventually, certain shapes become discernible: a small hallway which intersects perpendicularly into the main one, lockers on both sides of the hallway and a figure, which I can’t quite make out, stands all the way at the very end of the hallway.
“Kaudanosake?” I murmur as I place my hand over my eyes to shade them from them light. I took a step into the hallway and the figure quickly too a step back. I notice, now that my vision is clearing, that the figure is a very pale white, but it also turns black at the sides. What is that I’m looking at? I close my eyes in an effort to calm myself and I open them to see a shirtless human torso, belonging to a male, with black objects attached to it. The rest of the figure is hidden in the shadows.
I pull my trembling hand into and my chest, as fear begins to devour my entire presence. “K-Kaudanosake, is that you” I somehow manage to choke out.
“Leave me!” The creature hissed. Its voice sounded much like Kaudanosake, only extremely nefarious and coldhearted.
“It is you, isn’t? You’re Kaudanosake, and everything they said was~”
“True? Yes, it’s true. I’m a demon” Kaudanosake said while stepping out from the shadows, in order for me to see and fully comprehend what he is. He wore nothing but the ripped, frayed and bloodied uniform pants that he was wearing before. His torso was decorated with many cuts, bruises and scars, one which included a burn mark in the shape of an x. From his back black wings had sprouted and taken form and his eyes were once again that unbelievably brilliant silver.
“I am a demon, this is indeed true, just as it is true that you are just like them. Leave me, a demon is never to show his undisguised form to a human… and permit them to live” He said as he turned his back to me.
I wanted to run, I wanted to run ever so much, but my legs wouldn’t let me. My entire body still trembled from seeing him in his truest form, and my mind was telling me to run while I still had a chance but, why do I have this chance? Why is he allowing me to live?
“If, if it’s so against the rules” I spoke out through a wobbly and terrified voice, “Then why are you letting me live?” I took a step closer to him, and I could see his eyes, shining in the darkness, had lost some of that anger and ferocity from before. “I didn’t kill you, because I don’t feel like doing so at the moment” He growled as a response.
“I-I don’t believe that” I said as I slowly advanced towards him. “I believe that you didn’t kill me, because you don’t want to harm me. The same way you didn’t want to harm that boy.” I’m so close to him. I raise my hand so that I can touch his face, the same way he did with me earlier. His arm swings out and slaps my hand away from him. From shock, I immediately draw back from him rub my hand, as I stare into his eyes.
“I didn’t kill that boy because there were too many people around. If I were to have killed him in front of him then I would’ve had to kill them too. You need to leave. You’re just like all of the others. You sided with the majority over kindness, for that reason alone I should kill you”
“Kaudanosake that’s a lie and you know it. If I had sided with them, then why am I here with you?” I choked back tears as I stared at him, and I noticed that sorrow building up into his eyes once more. “I am not like them Kaudanosake. I don’t walk the path that is most tread; instead I walk the path which I feel needs to be walked. My decisions are solely based on me. And I’ve decided that I’d rather be at odds with this entire school than to be without you” I watched in absolute awe and silence as Kaudanosake’s entire demonic presence had been absorbed by his pain and sorrow, and I watched as tears as exquisite and beautiful as diamonds fell down his cheek
“Then you’ll, you’ll stay with me?” He asked with such innocence and pain, the type of pain that comes from someone who has never before trusted another person, but now they must give away their heart and soul, with hope and trust that it shall be cautiously guarded and cared for.
I smiled sheepishly, “I could not dream of doing anything else” I said. Simultaneously, both of our hands reached up to our faces and neither he nor I shied away.
“Hawaiie, I am a demon. I won’t think ill of you if you change your mind, but I need to know right now, do you honestly intend to stay with me? Will you truly walk your own path?” He asked me with eyes that seemed to read into my very soul.
“Kaudanosake, I have my own mind. The thoughts and critics of others do not concern me. I’ve promised to stay here with you, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Regardless of what they might say or think, I will forever be beside you”
We stayed in that hallway until school was released, and once it was he walked me to my mother’s car, and we smiled at the many faces of hate and disapproval, and he bid me farewell. My mother asked me many questions of how school went and although I tried to answer her my mind was consumed with thoughts of Kaudanosake and what his life had been like thus far and how much I wanted to change that life, change those eyes...
“It's finally stopped raining and the clouds have dispersed. Don't you just love that sunshine, Hawaiie?” My mom asked as she stuck her hand out of the now open window. I smiled briefly as I looked up and into those beautiful blue skies.
“Yes. Yes I do” I replied with a smile.
Dearest Kaudanosake, just like this endless sky, I’ll forever be yours, for the entire world to see.
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