• CHAPTER 38 - ROLLER COASTER OF MY LIFE

    Okay, how do you keep a secret as big as an engagement away from other people? It would be no problem at first...that is, until you receive the ring.

    I had to admit, I was pretty darn good at hiding the ring that seemed much bigger than it really was. I constantly wore pants with pockets or even some of Kai's old hooded sweatshirts I had found with a big pocket in the front. I tried anything to cover it up. I wasn't ashamed, not in the least bit. I just wasn't ready to go on telling everybody yet. I'm still trying to adjust this life of Vampires, Werewolves, Angels, and near-death experiences I had been drug into several months ago. It sounded absurd, though, if I would tell myself that I'm now engaged to the Vampire who tried to eat me alive just a couple of nights after he kidnapped me. My life is just one big goddamn roller coaster.

    Kai sat himself next to me on the bed and sighed. I yanked my knee-high socks on and adjusted the tie of my school uniform, "How come you don't want to tell anybody yet?"

    I sighed and rolled my eyes, recalling how many times he had asked me that since he put the ring on, "Because, Takeuchi is still healing. We need to give him all of the attention."

    "But yet you're willing to walk into school with a ring that bright?" he cocked an eyebrow and his head.

    "Well, duh. Nobody notices me anyways, so how should this be any different?"

    "But you said you're always made fun of," he continued to push, "So that means that you are being noticed, but just for the wrong things."

    I paused a moment and then sighed in defeat, "Dammit, you're right,"

    "I still don't understand you most times," he sighed at me, "Are you sure you're ready to go back to school? You just came back from the hospital a couple of days ago."

    "I feel fine," I snapped, "But...can I just take the ring off for school?"

    "Tell me why," he smirked.

    He obviously had no idea what I was thinking. I grabbed his face and pulled it close to mine, "People could get the thought that I'm pregnant if they see an engagement ring on me. Only pregnant girls my age walk around with a ring on their finger."

    Kai burst into laughter, pulling my hand off of his face, "There's no way in the world you look pregnant,"

    "Take me to school," I gave up trying to convince him. It was also embarrassing to talk about pregnancy and stuff to my new...fiancée.

    Kai helped me with my coat and I winced as pain from the Werewolf bite and venom came back. I guess I was overworking my shoulder again. It was still pretty tender where the Werewolf infected me and where Kai bit into me to suck out the venom. I was starting to wonder if the pain from the wound would ever subside. After another couple of minutes of me yelling at Kai that I was fine enough to go to school we finally left the house, hiding my ring in my coat pocket the whole time we were in the house.

    "You don't need to hide the ring. Everybody's sleeping." Kai sighed.

    "How is it that you're so...casual about this?" I asked through chattering teeth.

    Kai shrugged, "I've been around for a hundred and seventy-seven years now. I've learned long ago not to care about what people think anymore."

    "Lucky you," I mumbled under my breath.

    Kai sighed and wrapped his arm around my shoulders casually as we walked the rest of the short distance to his car. For once, I was too distracted to freak out about Kai's driving. I looked down at my hand, twisting the new ring around my finger. It was so small, but it said so much.

    "See if you can survive one day," Kai grabbed my hand and smiled down at me, "then you can take it off if you want for a while." his eyes showed a little rejection and subtle pain.

    "I'm sorry, Kai," I apologized, "It's just a lot to take in. You understand a little, don't you?"

    "Yeah, I guess I do," but I could tell he was getting impatient.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    I was still being stealthy at hiding the ring that crowded my finger in school, but I didn't feel the need to hide it so much since not every single student is searching every single inch of me. My shoulder was killing me again, now that I was actually moving it. I sat in all of my classes slouched over my desk and holding onto my shoulder, feeling as though it was about to fall off. The teachers kept asking me what was wrong, Oh, it's nothing. I was only infected by a Werewolf during a full moon and my Vampire fiancée sucked the venom out before it could change me completely. It's nothing, really, I would have told the teachers that, but I had enough bad attention as it was at school.

    It was during sixth period, still hunched over in silent pain, that the class was interrupted halfway through. Some loser decided to abruptly walk into the classroom unannounced and uninvited, apparently. But when I looked up, that loser just so happened to be Kai. I dropped my pencil as well as my jaw. I dropped my jaw in disbelief, but the other girls in the class dropped their jaws at his enamoring beauty. I was on the verge of screaming at him. He just came into school so casually and just walks into my classroom in the middle of a lecture!!!

    Kai looked around the classroom until his eyes locked with mine and he smiled, "There you are," his voice was provocative.

    I turned a deep maroon as he made his way towards me, ignoring the girls who would batter their eyelashes at him while he was walking past them. I was wondering why the teacher was allowing this, but she was just as dazed while staring at Kai. Kai dug into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of pain killers. He set it on my desk and smiled at me still.

    "I should have given these to you before I dropped you off," he touched my cheek with his fingertips.

    "Th-thank you," I looked down while cupping my hand over his.

    He moved his hand to the back of my head and kissed my forehead dantily. He left after stroking my cheek one more time. Every girl, including the teacher, watched Kai exit the room in awe. I tucked my hands in my lap and continued to blush deeply, feeling a thrill of excitement.

    A couple of blonde girls turned around to glare at me and they snarled, "Was that your boyfriend we saw?" one of them asked.

    I thought for a moment, wondering if I should even respond or not. I smirked after a little bit, "Yeah, he's my boyfriend. You have a problem with that?" more like fiancée.

    The shorter blonde girl snorted, "Yeah right. How much do you think she paid him for the sex?"

    "And how much do you think she paid him to come back today to try to prove a point?" a boy barged in, "Trying to prove that she isn't a nobody?"

    "Hey, hey, that's enough," the teacher finally interrupted. She walked up to my desk and snatched the pain killers from me, her pissy mood finally kicking back in, "What are these for?"

    "I hurt my shoulder," I whispered, lowering my head in shame and embarrassment at the harsh comments that were coming back to haunt me.

    "I can't let you take these," the teacher apologized sympathetically.

    "It's okay," I mumbled, wanting to melt into the ground an allow the world to swallow me whole.

    "Great, now she's trying to sneak drugs into school," a brown-haired jock accused, "I've known since grade school that she'd turn out that way."

    "They weren't drugs," I protested barely below a whisper.

    "I said that's enough," the teacher emphasized the last word, "Now behave."

    The teacher continued the lecture and there were a few snickers around me every here and there. Some of the classmates were pretending to take notes, only to have them thrown at me when the teacher wasn't looking. I was stupid enough to open the crumpled pieces of paper that caught in my hair and a large majority of them read "whore" or "slut" or "crack whore" and other colorful names. I sighed and kept a hold of the paper balls, willing enough to throw them away after class. For the remainder of the class, I kept my head down and buried in my arms and wanting to hide from the world where nobody could find me ever again.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    "Hey, Kurabashi, did you get your drugs back?" a jock called after me. A couple of broads laughed next to him as they stalked behind me in front of the school.

    I ignored them and leaned against the wall and crossed my arms tightly to keep the warm in. It wasn't the easiest keeping the bottom half of me warm, seeing as I have to wear a skirt to school. As I stood and waited for Kai, the same jock with the broads approached me only he had another jock with him. He was a little taller and he had blonde hair instead. They were all smirking and sneering in some sinister way and I looked down, not wanting to start anything.

    "So how much did you pay him?" asked the skinny tall blonde.

    I kept my mouth shut. The other blonde found it annoying apparently so she decided to speak up, "With a guy that hot, the sex must have been pretty good,"

    The four peers laughed and kept their neat little half circle around me. I tucked my chin into my coat and continued to ignore them, even though the pain of their words was pungent.

    "I didn't sleep with him," I whispered truthfully.

    "Oh, come on, Kurabashi," the shorter blonde said, "if he's actually willing to come meet up with you the next day, then you must have done something good for him. For you it would only take sex for a guy to stay with you for even a few hours."

    "So I guess that means you sleep with these two assholes all the time if they're willing to stay with you for even longer," I snarled, "Dumb broad."

    Yeah, I pissed them off. The bigger jock with the blonde hair rammed his hand into my shoulder and rammed my shoulder into the wall of the school. I winced as the pain came back again and he squeezed my shoulder.

    "You did not just say that," he hissed.

    I was surprised at myself for actually saying that, but I nodded my head anyways. The blonde boy tightened his grip on my shoulder and I winced a little more. The pain was nearly unbearable, but I didn't want to show exactly how much it hurt in the off chance that they would try to take advantage of it. My moment of relief finally came. A hand grabbed the blonde boy by the collar of his shirt and shoved him back hard. It was Kai. His face was hard with anger as he gripped my hand, never tearing his eyes away from the possy.

    "Oh, look, it's your little sex toy. He's back." the tall blonde smirked.

    Tears of anger brimmed my eyes and I started making my way towards the tall blonde, but Kai pulled me back. I would have shouted profoundly at them, but I was too choked up on tears and anger. I took a moment to calm myself down as the group of four laughed at my anger. I looked down and leaned against Kai's side. Kai was tensed up, as if he were ready to pounce at any moment.

    "Leave," he snarled, pulling the corner of his mouth up.

    The possy backed up inch by inch, feeling the omnipotent power Kai had over them. I could hear a small vibration coming from Kai's chest and a growl barely slipped through his teeth. The group of four either lost interest or cowered away in fear, and they left. Kai immediately drug me to his car, not saying anything else. We both climbed in and I was a little surprised to see that he didn't even start the car after a minute.

    "Kai?" I whispered, peeking over at him through my bangs and eyelashes.

    Kai didn't answer me. He reclined his seat back a little and closed his eyes while pressing his index and thumb fingers of his free hand against the bridge of his nose. His grip on my hand tightened and loosened repeatedly. I waited until he was finally done after another good five minutes and he sat up again. He slid his arm around my waist and pulled me close to him and kissed my cheek.

    "I'm sorry," he apologized, "I shouldn't have come to your school during class. Those assholes wouldn't have been saying those things to you."

    "It's fine," I mumbled into his shoulder, almost sobbing, "It's not any different than what they usually say."

    We sat alone for another long moment, neither of us wanting to say anything else about the situation at hand. Kai took my left hand in his right hand and fondled with the ring, deep in thought.

    "If you want to take off the ring, you may do so," he mumbled, looking down.

    I shook my head and pressed my forehead against his, "No, never,"

    Kai smiled weakly and pecked me on the lips. He spent another ten minutes trying to calm me down since I didn't notice my hands were trembling with anger. His eyes gradually declined to a soft burgundy color and finally went back to my favorite enchanting blue.

    "I'm taking you to the hospital. I'm taking you to see Takeuchi."

    A huge grin instantly sprawled across my face and a thousand pounds were lifted off of me. Visiting Takeuchi would make my whole day. It had been a few days since I last saw him and I wanted to see if he was improving at all from his head injury. It had been nearly a month since I was almost changed into a Werewolf and since Takeuchi had been unconscious from his skull being crushed in.

    "Okay, let's go," I nodded.

    It was a long drive to the hospital that both Takeuchi and I stayed at and it took us about a half hour to get there. We rushed upstairs right away and outside of Takeuchi's room was Matsuda and Kira, talking casually. They both eyed Kai and I and they smiled. We smiled back and headed into Takeuchi's room. I was questionable about whether or not he would be the same as the last time I saw him or not.

    Standing next to Takeuchi's bed was Miku with her back towards us. Orihime was placed in the chair next to the bed and she was smiling warmly at Takeuchi. I didn't tuck my left hand into my coat pocket; I didn't want to. Miku turned around after noticing mine and Kai's presence and her face glowed.

    "Arisa, come look!"

    Before I could move, Miku had already rushed over and grabbed my wrist and she drug me to Takeuch's bedside. She lightly shook Takeuchi's shoulder and smiled lightly.

    "Takeuchi, Arisa's here," Miku whispered.

    After a few seconds, Takeuchi's eyebrows burrowed together as if he were struggling with something.

    "He says to wait a second," Orihime told me after reading Takeuchi's mind.

    Takeuchi let out a barely audible groan of slight struggling and in the happening of a miracle, he cracked his eyes open with all of his energy and I was looking into the forest green eyes of my little brother for once in the longest time.