CHAPTER 3: CASTED OUT

I didn't know who was calling my name, but their voice was clear and sharp through the cloudiness of my mind, urging me to wake up. Everything else seemed foggy and undistinguishable so I focused on the voice, a melody that made me feel safe and warm… like I was back in the past when my best friend was still—.

No. Stop. FORGET HIM!

The melody was broken off suddenly, and the warmness I felt just then dissipated. I shook my head as my vision started to focus and I realized I was back in the classroom with the other students forming a circle around me. They were chattering amongst each other and someone was even giggling as they pointed a finger at my face and then her finger trailed down. Confused, I looked down at the floor…

Only to see a face.

It took me a few seconds to register what on earth had happened. I was so dazed from what had previously happened (when I was with "they") that I didn't even cry out in surprise like I normally would.

THERE WAS A BOY UNDERNEATH ME.

And it wasn't any boy! It was YAMATO! YAMATO!! (I didn't rlly explain this well enough but apparently Chiyoye remembers who "the boy" is now)

I had my knees close to his hips so he couldn't move and both of my hands were pinning his wrists down, and despite him looking stronger and taller than me, he didn't struggle in my grasp. "Dammit!" I muttered angrily as I let his wrists go and quickly got off of him, and all this time Yamato kept on staring at me with those azure eyes of his.

I looked down to avoid his gaze but I could feel my cheeks growing hot every passing second as Yamato still kept his gaze on me. "I-I'm sorry, okay?!" I finally blurted out, turning to face Yamato, expecting his expression to be angry or disgusted.

But instead I found him smirking, trying hard to contain his laughter and that made me feel relieved and somewhat annoyed at the same time. "Hey, say som—,"

I was going to say something back at Yamato but then that blonde hair brat whose name was apparently "Lima" interrupted, "All right, all right, SHUT UP ALREADY! We don't need to see any more of your disgusting bromance. Time is short right now!"

Lima broke away from the circle and stopped right in front Yamato and I, and since we were still sitting or lying on the floor, she appeared like a giant in front of us. Ugh, I can smell her perfume again…

I wanted to hold my breath in so I wouldn't breathe in her strong perfume but it was useless anyway so I might as well just not do it. Lima gave Yamato and I both a scowl before she grinned, her dangling earrings jingling as she lowered her head to my face and whispered, "Get out."

To be honest, I wasn't surprised that she would say that. Ever since she had been put in the same class as me, she never wasted an opportunity to get me in detention or make me suspended, and sometimes she even went as far as getting me expelled. But, of course that didn't happen. She never was the… "smart" kind of person. But there's one thing I just don't understand.

Why does she have a grudge against me? Is it just because I'm the freak?

"Why?"

That was all that came into my head that moment. Why do I have to be the one who needs to "get out"? …And no one else?

"Because you're a freak and freaks like you don't belong with us. Did you see what happened to that ugly monster?" snarled Lima, her voice thick with aversion.

Oh right. The wolf. Thinking about it now, where did it go?

..........

A nauseous feeling seemed to overcome me as soon as I looked around the classroom. Near some fallen bookshelves where Yamato once lied unconscious, was the body of the wolf.

…Only it was in pieces.

Black blood was sprayed all over the books, floor and shelves and even more fresh blood was dripping from the corpse of the wolf. Its amputated limbs were sprawled all over the floor, or were hanging off the shelves and I could literally see its heart and intestine somewhere deeper in the mess of the dead body. I quickly looked away, my stomach feeling weird and I forced myself not to gag at the horrible sight. "W-who did that?" I stuttered, and suddenly the air seemed heavy, the chattering cut off.

I glanced at Yamato and to my sinking heart, he was also looking away from me, as if he was hiding his face so I couldn't tell what he was thinking. The last person I looked at was Lima.

Her face changed from fear, to anger, then back to fear and at last, resentment.

All of a sudden I didn't want to know the answer anymore but she still spat out her next words:

"Don't play dumb with me, freak. You did."

The words hit me like a boulder.

It felt like just before I was standing on a sturdy frozen lake, marvelling at its iridescent ice surface before a boulder dropped from the sky and crashed onto it, making the ice split and shatter into a million pieces. I tried to keep myself steady on the piece of ice I was on but my shoes wouldn't grip on its slippery surface and I found myself slipping.

"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!" I desperately tried to call out, waving my right arm around in attempt for other people to see it while with my other arm I latched onto the ice's edge.

But what was I thinking? There was no one around to help me…

Although in the corner of my eye, just a blink and it was gone, I saw the flicker of sandy-coloured hair and shining azure eyes on the other side of the lake. They were wearing a dark green fur coat and winter pants that stood out in the snowy landscape, but before I could shout at them for help, they vanished into drifting snowflakes, dancing in the winter breeze.

Was that… Yamato? But… how??

I shook my head. Now wasn't the time to wonder about that!

How am I supposed to get to safety when everywhere around me are tiny ice pieces of ice I couldn't even stand on?!

It was way too freezing to swim through the lake and my fingers were already turning purple with coldness; I couldn't hold on for much longer. I closed my eyes, praying for help as I shivered when the lake's water splashed on my clothes.

Open your eyes~

!!

Y-YOU?!!

I felt my body being lifted up by something cold yet still made me feel warm inside and I was lifted away from the freezing ice. I was then wrapped in something slimy and damp but the warmness it radiated made me stop shivering as I sighed in relief, relaxing my stiff body in the embrace. "…Why are you doing this?" I muttered, emotions of every kind twisting in my chest.

I was sure that "they" were something bad and something I should stay away from… but why did they save me… when Yamato didn't?

I don't want you to feel the pain again. You've been through enough.

Thinking about that now, why was Yamato here?

I heard some trickling and gooey noises and before I knew it, a tall boy materialized in front of me, slightly levitating. I noticed that the things wrapped around me were actually the tentacles, and they seemed to come from the tall boy's back. Normally I would have started backing away and yelling curses at the boy but this time I felt strangely safe. As if I had seen it before.

"…Pain…? What pain?"

The boy drifted closer and upon closer look, as much as I hate to say it, he looked pretty nice. He had tousled black hair two shades darker than mine and the most brilliant golden eyes I had ever seen. Despite him giving off a dark and creepy aura, when he looked at me with those shining eyes, I could feel the hidden emotions within them… and they were only for me.

The boy placed his clawed hands over my heart and then cupped my face in both of his hands, tilting my head up so he was looking down at me. He really is warm… I could feel the heat coming from his hands.

"Hahaha, I'm sorry, you're just too cute~! Never mind the pain, now, go and hug me!"

I couldn't really speak since he was squishing my cheeks but I made a questioning face to which he surprisingly laughed.

"WHYF? WHYF WMOULD I DO THWAT?!" I shouted angrily, glaring at the boy's face while my voice was muffled by his hands, "AM NWOT CWUTE!"

The embrace around my body became tighter and the other boy pressed my face against his stomach in which I could feel his abs on my cheek, making me blush. "S-STOP THAT! I-I need to get back to the classroom!"

"I won't let you go until you hug me~"

I was about to say "in your dreams" but then, this boy did save me from the mysterious frozen lake incident so the least I could do to pay him back is hug him. Hesitantly, I wrapped my arms around his waist, squeezed them a tiny bit and then quickly let go. I could feel my whole body burning up and it didn't help at all when the boy kept on staring at me with his pretty face.

I swear, if he continued doing that, I'm probably going to be a tomato when he finally stops…!

"Too cute~ I don't want to ever let you go… but you still have some remembering to do. Sighh… Do you at least know my name now?"

I frowned at him, ignoring his smirk and pushed myself away from his stomach. "You keep on saying I have to remember. But I don't get it. Remember wha— Ahh!"

I was suddenly cut off from what I was going to say because I just felt the boy's hand slip under my uniform and was slowly making his way up my spine. His claws lightly scraped against my skin, making me shudder in a feeling I couldn't quite describe.

"H-HEY! WATCH WHERE YOUR HANDS ARE TOUCHING!" I protested irritated, giving the boy a glare and snatched his hand away from underneath my uniform.

Even the back of my neck was starting to feel hot and I was contemplating on whether I should punch the boy in the face or not. Buut… I don't want to mess up his face so… I guess I won't.

The dark haired boy chuckled, and for a moment I saw his golden eyes twinkle. This feeling I'm experiencing right now was exactly like the time when I looked at Yamato's azure eyes.

What on earth was happening? But before I could do any more thinking about that, the other boy grabbed me by the shoulders and stared at me with a stern face.

"You need to go."

"Back to the classroom?" I finished his sentence.

I still wasn't use to the sudden disappearing-from-classroom-and-going-into-random-dream-like-places "thing" yet but I'm starting to get the hang of it. I nodded in the boy's direction and expected myself to be falling into a void again but this time he just covered my eyes with his hand.

"Make sure you remember. And stay away from HIM!"

There's that "HIM" again. Who the heck is "HIM"?! I can't "stay away" if I don't even know who they're even talking about! But it was too late to ask anyway.

I was already back in the classroom.