Chapter 9: Ghosts of the Past
"Seriously.." Takabi scrolled through his Twitter feed, noting the amount of retweets for a sudden increase in deaths around the country. When he looked over the state's outline with increasing death rates, the trails looked like they were heading towards his town. It sent a strange chill through him, as well as the cool morning air when he stepped up the school steps.
By now, he expected to run into Carlos, but in the past week, his best friend hasn't made any appearances. He called Carlos' home, and went over personally to check and see what's going on. No answers, and since Anna was still in the hospital being monitored, he couldn't ask her either.
His feet carried him through the halls. Exhaustion was obvious on his face. The bags under his eyes were the dead give away. Even so, he clapped his cheeks and tightened his fists. "It's just another school day. This is nothing compared to the training I put myself through in the past week." He approached his locker, his mind pushing the deaths from his thoughts and bringing forth the training he started for himself.
The flames. He recognized them, their power and how he used them before when he was a kid. He lacked control though, he knew that. He could've killed Anna and everyone else if they were a bit more unlucky.
When he got home from the hospital, he dedicated that entire night to at least learning how to wield the flames as he does his own arms and legs. So far, progress has been good. It all came naturally to him, but that was what scared him.
The locker next to his opened up. His eyes glanced over, and he caught a glimpse of the blue haired girl from earlier. She held a strong scowl on her face, and was practically radiating hostility.
"Hey, uh… Nana, right?" His voice was a bit shaky. He had no clue why he was so intimidated, but he figured anyone would be with a girl with eyes that held murderous intent.
She looked at him quickly, then turned back to her locker, grabbing her books. "Oh. Hey. You need something?"
Geez, what's wrong with her? "Not in particular. I was just.. Um.." He paused to mull over what he could say, then simply settled with, "Are you okay? You look really mad."
She slammed her locker shut, so hard the lock bent and everyone in the hall jumped, looking at the two. Takabi had his hand in his locker, shielded from view, with tiny flames dancing on his fingertips. He blinked, exhaling sharply and killing the fire.
"I'm fine," Nana said rudely, pushing past him. When she bumped against him, he felt a strong shock. An intense surge that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Slowly, he looked back at her, but she was already gone and down the hall.
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"Push it people!" Mr. K blew into his whistle, the entire gym echoing with its worn down and windy sound. Takabi was sitting on the bleachers, brushing his silver shorts flat and patting his black shirt. Carlos was right. Gym in the morning sucked.
Everyone was exhausted and barely awake, and Mr. K's idea of waking everyone up was watching them struggle to climb the ropes in the gym. Anyone who failed to do so would stay after school and run track for half an hour straight with no breaks.
Someone should really review this guy's teaching methods.. Takabi thought, eyeing Mr. K as he forced Delaware up one of the ropes. Boys and girls were separated in two different lines.
There were four total ropes. Two short ones that hung from a custom set up halfway from the ceiling, and two other ropes that were attached to the roof. The latter was worn down looking and rusted from what Takabi could see. Both ropes hidden by a metal crank on the ceiling that creaked weakly each time it was used.
"Coach, I can't do this!" Delaware yelled.
"Boy, you've barely climbed three feet off the mat! Get to climbing, unless you wanna run laps again!"
"Geez, what a hard ass," Takabi muttered to himself.
He spotted Jewel laughing, down in one of the outer groups setting up for vaulting. Blake was with her, even though he was supposed to be climbing the rope with Takabi's class. Hunching over, Takabi closed his eyes and blocked the world out of his mind. Focus on nothing, think about nothing, just allow himself to exist in silence for a few moments. It was a method he used to block out any and all emotions.
"You look weird sitting here by yourself."
Takabi kept his eyes closed, but replied, "You actually ready to talk to me, Nana?"
The bluenette narrowed her eyes, but sat next to him. He opened an eye and glanced at her. Her hair was slung over her shoulder, draping down onto her chest. Her shirt was a bit tight on her, as were her shorts. Her white socks ran up to her knees, and she had on worn down black sneakers. "Sorry, about earlier. I've got a lot on my mind."
"You and me both." He told her, eyes fully open and falling on Jewel and Blake again. Nana followed his gaze, then looked back at him. "So, do you still have feelings for her or something?"
He snapped his eyes to her, and she raised her palms defensively, smiling weakly. "I overheard you and Carlos at lunch on the first day. Sorry, I couldn't stop myself from eavesdropping."
"It's whatever." He put one of his feet up on the bleacher seats in front of them. "No. There's nothing left there. I guess I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I might've done or not done."
"Girls are bitches. They'll tell you one thing and mean something else. I bet she said something like you were too distant from her, or she didn't even know you like she thought she did." Nana waited for him to respond, but when he never did, she looked over and caught him watching her with an extremely serious expression. "What? Did I hit the nail on the head?"
"No, but you were close enough to smash your thumb."
"Oo, that was a nice comeback."
"Nana, I'm gonna ask you something. Something serious."
She blinked at him, craning her head but nodded for him to continue. Taking a deep breath, he asked, "Do you… Do you believe in things like demons and stuff?" At first she didn't respond, just looked forward at the crowd of gym students, and Mr. K once again blew his weak whistle. She stretched her arms out in front of her, then over her head and exhaled. "Of course I don't."
Takabi felt his face redden in embarrassment and looked down.
"I don't believe in them because it's not a belief. They exist."
That's when he looked back at her and stood suddenly. "Takabi, you should know that unless…" Her eyes widened next and she stood. "Don't tell me, you really remember nothing of your life as a kid?"
He took a step back, biting his lip and keeping his tone low. "Who… Are you?"
She looked aside, then approached him suddenly. "Listen, we can't talk about this right now. Tonight, I'll come by your place and explain everything I know. Don't mention anything to anyone, not even those you trust." She turned her eyes down to Jewel and Blake, then back to him. As freaked out as he was, he kept a straight face and nodded. "Look, when we first met, I couldn't believe it was actually you. Your reactions to me didn't help either. There's no doubt in my mind though that you're the same Takabi from when we were little."
"You knew me? Back then?"
"We were neighbors, of course I did." She bit her lip. "Anyway, we're up on the ropes."
Takabi blinked and looked at Mr. K, who was eyeing the two with a glare that would probably make Satan shiver.
The two walked down the bleachers and touched the rope connected to the ceiling, gripping it tightly in their palms. The second Mr. K blew his whistle, Takabi and Nana began climbing. He glanced at Nana as they ascended, a million thoughts and questions racing into his mind. They reached the top, earning a couple claps from the students below who couldn't even come close to halfway. Once again he looked at Nana, except this time she looked at the top of his rope and her eyes widened. "Takabi!"
The metal crank snapped. Before it registered in his mind, Takabi was falling. It felt so slow, like time was letting him gather his mind and the realization of how much of a drop it was going to be.
Nana bit her lip, the students below scrambling to pile mat after mat to soften his blow. Twitching her eye, muttering something softly when he came close to the mat, he stopped slowly in the air before making contact. His eyes were wide with shock. Not with the fact he fell and nearly earned another trip to the hospital, or how he was right about the crank being too old for use, but the fact that Nana softened his fall with the air.
"Are you alright," Jewel asked frantically.
"Dude must have a fucking Angel watching out for him," Blake laughed, punching his fist.
Takabi ignored the continuing comments from his class. His eyes were on Nana, and how she so gracefully slipped down the rope without so much as a burn on her hand or thighs.
Her too, Takabi thought in shock.