Chapter 10 – The missing piece

Nozomi Arisugawa, had awoken early as usual. Informed that she was being transferred, or more appropriately assigned, to one of the largest universities in kyoto. Feeling that it was important to fit the part of normal student, she took meticulous detail to her appearance. This was a situation she could not afford to mess up.

Today was her first day, and she wanted to make a good impression while not drawing too much attention. Brushing her shoulder length dark hair until it looked perfect, it was still the only thing that looked out of place. Since birth she had been given a strange gift: a silver lock of hair in front bangs. She was still unsure if she should be proud or hide it for being odd.

Oh well...

Finishing putting on her school uniform that nicely fitted her body, she tied her hair up with a cute red ribbon. Even though she knew she looked beautiful, as she looked in the mirror, it was hard to feel confident. Her skirt hugged her figure, and the skirt felt a bit short, but she knew it had to do.

She wasn’t surprised that she was assigned to go to this school. After all she was always the best at everything. Whether it was academic or physical sports like martial arts, nothing was so much as struggle. Plus she was still young enough looking to fit the part.

Walking down the sidewalk with her pink backpack, the sun reflected off her silver hair streak. Usually it was the topic of conversation when around new people.

Reaching the school grounds, she looked up at the large building. This was where she would be attending for the next while. Putting on a smile as she casually walked past other students, a few of them stopped and starred. Not used to seeing new people, especially unique looking ones, Nozomi caused heads to turn. Only one other girl was as captivating... this girl also happened to be a Yokai.

Purposely swaying her body as she walked towards the classroom. She caught the attention of a few boys as she entered.

Arriving early so she could get a feel for the classroom, she noticed the chalkboard was empty. Without waiting for introduction, she wrote her name and turned around to face her audience.

“My name is Nozomi, Arisugawa, please treat me kindly.”

Speaking confidently she introduced herself, then bending forward, she respectfully took a bow. Preparing herself for everyone's stares, she did her best to not look shy.

“Ohhhhhhhh!”

“...”

“Okay everyone, calm down and take your seats.”

Mr Yamada walked in and stood beside Nozomi. He felt there was a strange trend of exchange students appearing in his class lately. At least this time he was a bit more aware it was happening.

“Everyone, please show respect to our newest student Ms. Arisugawa.”

Boys in the back of the class, became a bit restless from the sight of a new girl. Mr Yamada wasn’t sure he would be able to calm down the male population of his class.

“My name means River of resting.”

“Thank you, please take a...”

“I know where I want to sit.”

Slowly moving towards the empty desk on the other side of Haruki, Nozomi had her act all planned out. Cutely holding her skirt up as she sat down, at the same time she brushed the hair out of her face revealing her blue eyes. Subtly peaking over at the boy next to her, she shyly smiled.

Doing the best he could not to stare, Haruki was having a hard time. If Rena caught him looking he knew she would feel jealous, but the new girl beside him was a sight to see.

Rena had already been watching since the moment the peculiar new girl walked in. Curious at first, quickly she became jealous when noticing how Haruki had been looking at her. Haruki’s eyes followed her like a shiny new object, and Rena was not impressed.

“Hi, I’m Nozomi, I’m new to class. I would love to make friends with you.”

Nozomi leaned forward over her desk while she did her best to speak girlishly. Batting her eyes at her target she knew he didn’t have chance.

“Friends... sounds good.”

Shooting glares at both Haruki and Nozomi, Rena filled with jealousy at the girl who was just cutely sitting at her desk. Feeling the need to do something, Rena lifted her book above her head, and dropped it as hard as she could.

BAAANG!!!

Almost jumping out of his desk from the loud noise, Haruki didn’t even realize what happened until he turned to his other side. Leaning over the desk and smiling at him, Rena had a passive agressive grin.

“Wow, Haruki!”

Stumbling with what to say, Haruki felt like he was caught cheating with another girl. It was clear to him that Rena was a bit jealous. Deciding to play it off as the best solution, Haruki pretended not to understand.

“...What is it?”

“What are we having for lunch today!?”

“Uhhhm... I made your favourite! We can eat together on the roof today if you want!!”

Rena did like hearing that he thought of her for lunch, but still it wasn’t enough to erase how she was feeling. Still, she felt it would be fun to look at the city from the roof again.

“You promise it’s just going to be us...?”

“I didn’t plan on taking anyone else...”

Not planning on having so much competition, Nozomi once again leaned in Haruki’s direction.

“Maybe later, you can show me around the school.”

“Hmmmph!”

Crossing her arms as she looked away, Rena couldn’t have been more annoyed.

Who does she think she is!?

Up till about lunch time, the rest of the class was quite stressful for Haruki. Between Nozomi trying to innocently flirt and Rena being upset, Haruki couldn’t wait for the bell.

Both girls were in competition for his attention. When one girl did something the other would try to outdo it. This rapid back and forth fighting was getting to be too much for Haruki.

“Hey Haruki, what are you making us for dinner tonight?”

“Haruki-kun maybe you can help me with homework after?”

“We’re still walking home together right?”

“Its not like you live with him! Maybe he wants to hang out with me later.”

“Wellll, actually... me and Haruki are always together!”

“...What exactly is that supposed to mean?”

Announcing proudly to the class that they were together had Haruki trying to hide his face in his book. He was sure Rena meant that they were always around each other, but that isn’t how everyone would understand it.

Riiiiing!!

Finally the bell rang, signalling at least a short period of freedom. Everyone got out of their seats to get their lunch. Haruki was about to get up when Nozomi stood in front of his desk grinning.

“Haruki-kun? Would you like to accompany me for lunch?”

Before he had a chance to respond, Rena abruptly stormed out of the classroom.

“...Thanks but maybe next time.”

“...oh, okay!”

Nozomi sat back down at her desk while pretending to be a bit upset. Secretly she knew what she was doing, and smiled on the inside.

Deciding that he better follow after his jealous cat-girl before she became too angry, Haruki ran out into the hallway.

“Rena?”

Not seeing her anywhere in the hallway, he took a second to think about where she could have gone.

Somewhere that would make her feel better... Of course the roof!

Hurrying down the hallway towards the stairs, he hoped he guessed correctly. Running up the steps as fast as he could, a few other students stopped and gave him peculiar glances. Typically the rooftop was only reserved for special occasions or if you had permission. Haruki knew that the door up top was left unlocked, and he made the mistake of letting Rena know this.

Stepping through the doorway to the roof, daytime light flooded his vision. Surveying the surroundings he noticed it seemed a lot cleaner than how they had previously left it. All the debris had been cleaned up and repairs had been done. With all that aside, he still didn’t see Rena anywhere he looked.

Hmmm.... where could she be?

Searching around a bit further, he thought he saw someone standing at the edge of the fence. Gazing out over the city, Rena’s hair blew in the wind as she clung to the fence.

Rushing over to her side, Haruki grabbed her hand and stood beside her. He noticed her tail was also floating around behind.

“Why are you up here all alone?”

Rena turned to face him as her eyes started to become wet with tears. Cheeks a bit flushed from being upset, she grabbed onto his other hand.

“Haruki... I thought you were going to hang out with another girl.”

“Just because I talk to other girls, doesn’t mean I don’t like you.”

“She didn’t just want to talk to you... she was throwing herself at you.”

Reaching out and patting her head he moved a bit closer to her and wrapped his arm around. Haruki remembered that whenever she was upset usually patting her made her feel reassured.

“Rena, I already had plans with you, that means you’re special.”

“Really...?”

“I came up here to find you didn’t I?”

Rena thought about that for a moment. Satisfied with his response, she smiled and wiped her tears with her sleeve.

“So... do you still want to eat onigiri with me?”

“I want to eat onigiri with you everyday.”

“...Okay. Human.”

Teasing him with a name she hadn’t called him in awhile, she grinned as the words left her mouth. It was something special just between them. Almost no one else knew her secret, and Rena felt she could be okay with that if it was just him.

“Lets sit down and eat.”

“...You can sit next to me. But if you packed the tuna onigiri, I’m eating it!”

Opening his lunch box slowly as if he was trying to hide the contents. Rena squinted her eyes as she tried peak inside. Finally taking the lid off fully, as she saw the contents her expression lit up. The entire box was filled with only tuna mayo onigiri surrounded by colourful fishcakes.

“Haruki, you packed all my favourite!”

“There all for me though...”

Rena’s tail annoyingly started to twitch around at his sarcastic comment. Haruki thought it was almost going to hit him in the face.

“You better give me some of those!”

“Maybe...”

Grabbing one of the largest onigiri, he held it up in front of her. Holding it out as if he was offering for her to have it, he waited until she took the bait. As she was about to take a bite, he took it away and took one himself.

“Hey....!”

“Just kidding, you can have it haha.”

Slyly grinning at him as she had plans of mischief of her own, she felt this was the perfect time.

“Haruki...?”

“What is it, Rena?”

“I was thinking of throwing my own lunch at you, tu then I realized if I did that, I would still be hungry. But, there’s something else...”

“Oh...?”

Leaning in to close the distance, Rena was sure that this was what she wanted to do. As he looked confused about what she was trying to do, Rena pressed herself up against him. Closing her eyes, she softly placed a kiss on his lips.

Rena never felt anything as good as this, and as they both held onto the kiss a bit longer, everything seemed to fade away around them. Unsure if she had ever experienced a kiss before, from how perfect it felt, she knew it must be the first time.

Haruki felt just as euphoric as he felt her lips against his. Even a bit stranger he swore there was an energy being transferred between them. But he shrugged it off as just his emotions running wild. Either way this was feeling he didn’t want to forget.

Out of nowhere a bright light began to release between their body's. Rays of blue shot out from Rena’s chest as she held onto him. The longer their body’s stayed together, the more light burst out everywhere in a blinding sight.

Air around felt full of magic, as they could feel almost a burning sensation course through their bodys. Rena felt a tremor causing her to stop and look down. Beneath their feet the ground was shaking and started to crack.

“Haruki, what is happening?

Released from the kiss, Haruki took a bit to regain his awareness. The first thing he noticed was the bright light glowing from her chest. Thinking that it was alot brighter than before, something about this time was different.

“It has to be the fragment, it’s not like the last one.”

Holding onto her hands tightly, he noticed she felt quite warm. The energy that was flowing through her body was causing her temperature to steadily increase. Haruki felt like she was almost on fire to touch, but it didn’t hurt him.

Then just as quick as everything began, instantly the ground stopped shaking. The light dimmed as it faded back into her chest.

“Nyaa~!”

“Are you okay?”

Standing there with her eyes opened wide and full of attention, Rena noticed that her head felt funny. Images and memories began to flash before her. Things that should have been there the whole time, returned to her mind.

“I–I remember who I am! Or... at least some parts...”

“That’s amazing! What can you remember?”

Hesitating before saying anything, she still felt a bit hazy and needed to make sure that what she saw was real, and not just her imagination.

“I’m a princess.... maybe... There was also a family that took care of me... and I think I have a sister!?”

“Do you remember where you were from?”

“...It was some place far away from here, and there are others like me!”

Suddenly the look of joy, changed as she lowered her gaze.

“...But I still don’t remember my name. But that’s okay because you gave me a new one and it’s special.”

For the first time Haruki began to blush from how she spoke to him. It felt good knowing that she still wanted him to be part of her life.

“Don’t worry. We will get the rest of your memories back.”

“...Are you sure, what if...”

“I promise!”

“Ok.”

Raising her gaze back up to meet his, she smiled and wrapped her arms around him. She didn’t know how this was all happening, but she understood them being together was important.

“...I think you helped me remember.”

“What do you mean?”

“When you kissed me... I could feel my body heating up and then memories returned inside me, like they were always there. I’m not so sure how to explain...”

Thinking that he understood, Haruki sensed what had happened when their lips touched. There was definitely some kind of connection he that had not been there before.

Maybe this is how she gets her memories back, when we kissed the fragment reacted...

Maybe the fragments are part of herself...?

“Haruki, will you stay with me so we can have nice meals everyday?”

Interrupting in the middle of his thoughts, Haruki couldn’t help but find it funny she was so concerned about food.

“Of course I will!”

“And... will you make me lots of Tuna mayo onigiri if I ask?

“Yes, haha”

Rena was silent for second before sitting back down and peeking into his bento box. Her tail was now freely swaying around behind her.

“Can I have that one now, for real this time?”

“Nope!”

“Wait! Why not... I thought...”

“Just kidding!”

Grinning as he handed over the onigiri, Rena quickly snatched it away without second thought. Taking a large bite out of it she glared at him sarcastically.

“Okay now we’re even for you staring at that other girl!”

“Wait! About that I wasn’t...”

“Just kidding!”

Epilogue

Hiding behind the shed on the roof, Nozomi intriguingly watched as Rena and Haruki sat next to each other. Carefully peaking around the corner as to not get caught, she brushed the silver streak of hair out of her face and smiled.

“I knew it!”

Whispering to her self with a grin on her face. The moment she saw how Haruki and Rena acted earlier, she knew something more had to be going on.

Observing the entire event between them, from the glowing light to their romantic kiss. She also saw how the fragment reacted inside of Rena when her and Haruki embraced.

So that must be how it works....

Nozomi knew when she was assigned to come to this school, there was a bigger reason, and it now became more clear.

“It’s not like shes the only one around here that is special...”

Feeling a bit of jealousy towards Rena and how easy it was for her to be accepted by someone like Haruki. Attracting male attention was never a problem for Nozomi, but they never knew her for what she truly was. But something about this human boy felt different.

Why did the fragment react that way to him...?

Finding herself staring too long while she was lost in thought, Nozomi realized she better head back to class. It was important that she didn’t get caught acting suspicious. Her role at this university had to be played correctly or she would be found out.

Turning back to head down the stairwell, she made sure no one was watching. Making her way towards the classroom, she swayed side to side as she casually walked through the school halls. Cutely smiling as students passed by and boys waved, she was enjoying the attention.

Despite her feelings of jealousy and curiosity about Rena, she felt like she was heading towards her goal. Nozomi felt overall pleased with how things were turning out.

Today was a good day, and not just for her...

The End