Andromeda

Yuki tried to relax sitting on the bench by the school that over looked the track behind the school. From the distance he could see Saki working hard with the other team mates for the upcoming meet that they had. The watching that he had to do was not helping his waiting-until-she-was-done decision. It only made him more impatient for what was going to happen next. He had already failed once to try to speak with Saki and the idea of having another chance did not make him feel like he had any better odds of changing his failure. However, he had decided what he was going to do and he had to try to be a man and keep to his promise even if he wanted to run away.

He had been pretty good about not leaving for a while, but the built stress had become too much for him to deal with. ‘Can’t stand it anymore. I need to do something.’ Yuki stood up with Ayumi quickly looking up at him questioningly. She was quick to her feet not giving him any ground to avoid her. It only took him a few second to realize that she was behind him making him jump backwards as he turned around to confirm. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“That’s what I want to know.”

“Huh?” Yuki pulled himself back in and straightened up to look at her. He did not like that she was not leaving him alone when he needed the time.

“Where are you going?” she said lowering her hands to her hips leaning in on him.

Yuki pulled back feeling a little blue in the face from seeing the look that was on Ayumi. He could tell that she knew that he was trying to leave without her and that she was going to be insistent about staying at his side. It was not something that he was feeling good about all of sudden, but he had to stand on his feet. “I’m going for a walk, alone.”

“No, you aren’t.”

“U-Uh…” The footing that he had before was starting to become lose under him as he stared at the full intention of Ayumi. His quivering lips were not certain if they wanted to go head to head with her. However, Yuki knew that he had to take a stand against her or he would be forever afraid. “Can’t you let me be for just a minute? If something happens I’ll run back, okay?”

Ayumi was not about to let Yuki leave not caring about his own self declared need to be alone. It was far too risky for him to be alone even here. When she went to grab him as he tried to leave again he slapped her hand away giving her a narrowed serious expression that made her second guess herself. It was enough of a pause for him Yuki to run away from her. “…Hmm…” She was going to let him go on his own this time.

Chapter 35 – Lost and Found

“She might be a skilled fighter, but she’s got a lot to learn about people’s emotions.” Yuki came to a stop around the school out of sight of Ayumi still a little surprised that he was able to get away from her. He took a moment to breathe before he started to move again not feeling satisfied until he was further away from her. ‘She’s probably going to come after me and I need time…’

Even though he had been focused on getting away from Ayumi, his mind was brought back to the worries that he had before when he looked back from where he came. The field where Saki was practicing was down the hill out of his sight, but he knew she was there. It came rushing back to him in an instant bringing his legs to a halt for a moment. ‘No, I’ve got to keep moving…’

He began pushing at his legs to get him moving forward once more as he felt the almost encouraging feeling that told him to flee. Yuki escaped to the other side of the school feeling his breath become shallow, but not from fatigue or exhaustion. There was something else that was pulling at his chest that choked him even when he ran away. It seemed to wrap around him tighter the further that he went causing even further pain to him. ‘I…I…can’t…Saki…’ Even him slowing down did not stop his running until he knocked into someone falling backwards to the ground confused.

“Huh?” he said looking up to find what he had bumped into. His eyes were still partially closed as he rubbed his head trying to clear out the daze that he was in. “What the—“ When he was finally able to see clearly in front of him he fled back a few steps not realizing who he had bumped into completely unintentionally. “…Fumiko…”

The upperclassmen had been hardly affected by Yuki’s run in with her. Her height ended up giving her the needed resistance to only be knocked a step back to keep her balance. She was a little surprised and taken back by the reaction that came from Yuki. “You’re first year Hayashi, right?” Fumiko stepped forward to him offering a hand to stand up on.

“Wha-huh? U-Uh…yes!” Yuki was not certain why he was acting so off set by her. The feeling pervaded his body making him shake while he took the extended hand. “Thank you…” He tried to collect himself in front of Fumiko smoothing out his uniform when he saw much lower next to her was a little girl hanging on tightly to the edge of her skirt like a cub. “Who’s this?”

The girl hid behind Fumiko the moment that Yuki mentioned her. Fumiko turned her head quickly when she felt the change from the girl and then back to Yuki. She smiled to Yuki trying to cover up for the girl’s shyness. “I found her lost out front of the school. She said that she was looking for her older sister who goes to our school. She couldn’t find her so I’m helping her.”

“Oh. Well I don’t want to keep you.” Yuki started to turn away and leave, but Fumiko called out to him making him stop and turn back.

“Her sister’s Ayumi Nishimura.”

‘What?!’ Yuki’s had eyes widened in shock and surprise as he looked down at the little girl. A thousand questions ran through his mind that instant with none of them being certain. ‘Sister? Is that possible? Is she really her sister? Ayumi never mentioned a sister. Would she have? It wouldn’t have served a purpose to her to tell me. But wouldn’t she just wait for her at her house? Is this an assassin? Could someone so small? Fumiko’s in danger! What do I do?’ Sweat began to form along his face and hands as he tried to quickly figure out what the situation was for them. The panic of this being another assassin made his hands shake not knowing. There was certainty in his mind that there was something off. ‘What should I do? I have to get her away from Fumiko! But how? Can I be certain?’

While Yuki became frozen before Fumiko she tried to keep the conversation going a little confused by his strange reaction to her announcement. “You know Nishimura, right? You’re friends with her.”

Yuki snapped out of his panic, but still sweating from the thoughts that he was trying to hold back. “Huh? Oh! Yeah! I am!” He bit himself back realizing how silly and embarrassing he was acting all of a sudden making him only seem suspicious. It was not clear to him one way or another if the girl was Ayumi’s sister or just an assassin out for him, but he knew only one thing. ‘I have to get her away from Fumiko regardless of which it is. This is not something she needs to be involved in any further.’ Yuki wiped away the sweat that had built up. He cleared up his mind putting it to a focus point that was at the heart of the matter that he had to deal with immediately. “I’m sorry that she caused you so much trouble. I’ll take her the rest of the way to her sister.” Yuki stepped forward reaching out a hand to the girl trying to look friendly while still be cautious.

The girl was still acting nervous with Yuki and Fumiko watched him come closer. She stepped in between them putting herself directly in front of Yuki becoming a wall. “It’s alright. I offered, it’s no problem. She’s a little shy. If you can show me to her sister that would be fine.”

‘She needs to leave…’ Yuki twitched as he back up seeing that Fumiko was not going to let him just take the girl so easily. The uncertainty of danger lingered in his mind fearing for Fumiko’s safety. “No, that’s alright. You must be tired from class. I’m waiting for someone anyway, so it wouldn’t be any trouble for me to take her.”

“Thank you for your concern, but I’m fine.”

“I wouldn’t want to make you late getting home.”

“I don’t mind.”

Yuki was keeping a friendly smile on the entire time as was Fumiko as they played their games. Both of them were not willing to give in or compromise to the other. Fumiko was becoming suspicious of Yuki’s motives and the way that he was acting in refusing to let her come with him. She was not certain why he would be acting so strange, but she was becoming more steadfast the longer she listened to him. It was convincing her even more that she should not be letting the girl alone with Yuki.

The stalemate made the situation that they were in worse for Yuki. If his fears were correct then every second wasted talking the higher the chances that Fumiko’s life became in danger. He was considering the worst possible outcome as the one to be focused on and try to prevent. In the end, he would only be a fool and be embarrassed if he was wrong, while being right could be far deadlier. ‘This isn’t working. I have to do something!’ He measured up his problem seeing Fumiko’s height as a factor that he did not know how to deal with. ‘I wish I could use my power right now. It’d be able to do something…but this’ll have to do…’

Yuki lunged forward to get around Fumiko hopefully fast enough that she would not be do anything about it in time. He knew that he had an advantage physically over her, but it did not seem to matter when the girl moved out of reach giving Fumiko the time to push Yuki away. Yuki slid away with his momentum carrying him well beyond the two of them. “I’m not letting you near this girl. I don’t know what’s your problem, but it’s clear to me that you can’t be trusted.”

The word stung at Yuki’s heart to hear those words. He was paused thinking about the situation knowing that he was right in what he was doing, but still she was acting like this. ‘How did I become the villain? I’m trying to protect her!’ Yuki narrowed his eyes towards the girl becoming more suspicious and certain that she was an assassin unlike her appearance would tell. He stood up straight walking slowly towards the two of them starting to pour out a darkened space around him that washed around the careful attitude he normally had in favor of direct and serious. “I’m not the one that you should be suspicious of, but her!”

“Now I know there’s something wrong with you. She’s just a child!”

“Don’t be fooled. Hand her over to me for your own safety!”

“What’s wrong with you?” Fumiko backed away further from Yuki no longer certain what had come over him. She had thought that he was a kind person from their brief encounter, but she was mistaken. ‘I need to get her away from him now! There’s something strange about the look in his eyes.’

“She’s lying to you!”

“She’s lost and confused!”

“She’s not who she says she is! You’re in danger get away from her!” Yuki had been making a slow march towards Fumiko and the girl, but it was proving to be fruitless for him as she only backed away further from him. He was running out of options. ‘Damn! I can’t let someone else become hurt because of me!’ Any hope of finding a caring look in Yuki’s eyes was gone with him taking a single purpose on. He charged after the two planning on separating the two from them not buying into the panic on the girl’s face.

Fumiko’s eyes had become wide in surprise at Yuki’s actions, but the girl kept tugging on her skirt. She looked down at the girl reaffirming what she was doing and picked her up. Fumiko carried the girl in her arms and charged towards Yuki. The action made Yuki puzzled, but he could not stop what he was doing not realizing it until afterwards that Fumiko was making for his side. He was unable to stop or counter in time losing his ground falling into the dirt. Fumiko made it around the school and out of sight of Yuki not coming to a stop until she was well beyond him feeling safe.

She put the girl back down on the ground, who looked a little worse for wear. Fumiko patted the girl on the head to comfort her knowing how frightening it must have been. “It’s alright! I’ll make sure you’re safe and see your sister.”

The little girl was a little hesitant with the appearance that she was still shaken from the experience not knowing what to think. She looked up to Fumiko holding her hands together tightly still feeling the panic. “Thank you!” She reached out her hand to grab on to Fumiko’s skirt like before as Fumiko started walking with her to guide her around the school.

Yuki dusted himself off cursing himself for not being able to do anything to stop them. Once he finished checking everything from his very painful fall he narrowed his eyes and sprinted off in the direction that he knew that left. Unfortunately, after the corner he was not certain about which direction that they had went. ‘They’re looking for Ayumi, so maybe I should just go back to her and warn her instead.’

Away left waiting was Ayumi, who was growing tired of being patient with the way that he was acting. There were still many risks that he was not thinking about and she knew that she needed to keep an eye on him. “Well I’m done waiting.” She stood up from the bench and began going off in the direction that she knew Yuki went. However, just as she was about to leave the corner of her eye caught someone coming towards her. She turned to see that it was the girl from before that she had met, but was confused why she was still around school this late. ‘What’s she up to this late? Shouldn’t she be going home after clubs?’ Ayumi turned to face the student putting on her façade for the girl in case she came too close to her.

It was as she thought with Fumiko walking towards her. Ayumi began to walk to meet the girl, but was a little confused when she thought she saw something or someone hiding behind Fumiko. She did not know what was going on, but it was unavoidable now that she had been seen. ‘What does she want with me?’

Fumiko was pleased that she was able to find Ayumi still at school. She was not certain if she was going to be able to find her at school and feared what she would have to tell the girl if she was unable to find her. “See there’s your sister!” said Fumiko looking behind her to reassure the girl.

The two were getting closer making it clear to Ayumi that there was someone behind Fumiko, but out of sight enough that she could not tell. She kept walking towards them with her innocent face smiling to them. “Fumiko Terauchi!”

“I’m glad I could find you, Nishimura!”

“Was there something you needed?” Ayumi said still walking towards him the distance coming to only a few steps now.

“I found your little sister lost out front trying to find you.”

“Little sister?” said Ayumi confused by what Fumiko was saying.

“Yeah, here she—“ Fumiko was caught off guard as she suddenly felt a sharp pain pierce her that cut off all of her words and feeling.

Out of Fumiko’s chest came a long sword that glowed yellow sending out a burst of energy from the tip towards Ayumi. Ayumi’s eyes had widened in shock as the entire area was blinded by a flash with blood spraying everywhere.

To be continued…