“Hey, did you hear about that vampire? She has everyone scared and it’s only lunch! People say she has this deadly stare which freezes anyone who insults her!! Can you believe it?”
Enough of this…
“Hey, Kazuhiko! Wait up!”
Kazuhiko turns to see three friends of his run over.
“Hey, guys. What’s up?”
“Nothing much except for Ice. That new vampire girl”
“Not this again…,” Kazuhiko says while walking away from his friends.
“Hey Kazuhiko, wait up! Where are you going???”
“I can’t listen to anymore stuff about this Ice person. I’ve had enough”
Suddenly, the sounds of shrieks and yells interrupt the conversation. Some girls and boys run from around the corner.
“They’re coming!” someone says in mid- run.
The sounds of footsteps are heard approaching from down the hall and then three figures come into view.
“There they are!!”
Kazuhiko looks up and sees the three. The only boy of the group seems happy, especially when he gazes down at the girl on his left. She smiles up at him and nudges his arm playfully. She has fiery red hair, grey eyes and a bright smile. She’s not as tall as the boy, maybe a head shorter, but she has an air about her that lets you know she can be fun and caring. This girl and the boy are talking about something enthusiastically and turn to the girl on the right side.
“What do you say Aiko?”
Aiko has long black hair and a seemingly calm demeanor. Her eyes are a stirring velvety purple and her skin is as pale as the moon, unlike the boy and the other girl, who seem to be slightly tanner. Aiko doesn’t respond to her friend immediately, who appears to be thinking about the situation that was proposed to her, but then nods. The other two look at each other excitedly. Kazuhiko stares into Aiko’s eyes as her attention is turned towards her friends. A slight thump on the back jolts him out of his trance.
“Sorry, Kazuhiko. Coming through,” says the boy who made the snide remark in Aiko’s first class. He and his other friends walk past.
“Dude! Why is Masahiro going up to them?” says one of Kazuhiko’s friends who joined him after Masahiro and his crew walked by.
“I don’t know, but this is going to be interesting,” says Kazuhiko’s other friend.
Masahiro and his three friends stop in front of Hajime, Isamu, and Aiko, blocking their way.
“Where do you think you’re going? Especially you,” Masahiro says looking at Aiko.
Aiko stares at him, her anger slowly beginning to boil. Hajime and Isamu, feeling the change in Aiko, nervously smile.
“Sorry, whatever she did, I’m sure she’s sorry, right Aiko?” Isamu says.
Aiko doesn’t respond.
“She glared at me during first period. She must not know who I am. No one gets away with that,” Masahiro says, still looking at Aiko. Hajime and Isamu start to become even more nervous as they sense the icy feeling growing in her.
“So, I want an apo-”
“Shut. Up…” a cold voice interrupts.
Masahiro stops and looks at Aiko again. Aiko’s velvety purple eyes are boring straight into his, reflecting deadly, cold anger. Masahiro stares into her eyes, caught in their cold trance.
“I have nothing to apologize to you for…” Aiko says in quiet voice.
Masahiro’s eyes steadily grow more fearful of her piercing stare, tears forming at the corners. His friends take a few steps back out of terror. Everyone in the hallway becomes silent, staring at Aiko fearfully. Aiko’s eyes flicker away from Masahiro’s to look up at everyone else who is staring. Masahiro, finally released from her gaze, drops to the ground.
“Masahiro!” one of his friends shout as they all run over to help their friend up, not daring to look Aiko in the eye. Aiko turns to her two friends.
“Let’s go,” she says as she begins walking past the scene. Everyone’s eyes are drawn to her as she makes her exit, including Kazuhiko’s. Aiko, who is walking closest to him, glances in his direction. Kazuhiko watches her go by in fear. Aiko looks away and she and her two friends leave the hallway.

“I told you she was scary, Kazuhiko!”
“Yeah she is…frightening”
“I told you!”
“Alright, you’ve made your point”
“Look! There she is!”
Kazuhiko turns his head towards the direction students are running away from where Aiko is approaching. Her expression is cold and uncaring. Some brave students are standing by their lockers talking to one another about homework and their previous classes. A yell from one student attracts their attention and they look up. Aiko, who is passing by them, turns her head in their direction. As their eyes lock, Aiko’s gaze grows colder and angrier towards them. The group rears back slightly in fear of Aiko’s gaze. After passing by them, she turns away and continues down the hall. Everyone turns and watches her go. The group who was fiercely scrutinized begins rapidly talking about what just happened and how scared they were. Kazuhiko watches Aiko turn a corner and then returns attention to his friends.
“What’s her problem? Those guys didn’t do anything to her,” Kazuhiko says angrily.
“Dude, she’s Ice!! What more do I need to say!!” one of his friends shouts.
“That’s no excuse for the way she acted. I can understand if someone did something to her, but no one said anything or did anything. That was uncalled for”
“But she’s Ice! She’s supposed to act like that. Look, she’s already got a rep for herself and it’s only the first day!”
“I don’t care,” Kazuhiko says walking down the hallway Aiko just left.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to talk to her,” he says without looking back.
“No!! Kazuhiko, come back!! She’ll freeze you with her glare!! Don’t be a hero!!”
After following the trail of whispers and frightened expressions, Kazuhiko is led to the roof. Checking to make sure there aren’t any teachers around, he opens the door and walks up the stairs. It had gotten darker since morning and rain is threatening to pour. Kazuhiko looks around and spots a figure in one corner of the roof.
Here goes nothing…
Kazuhiko treads lightly over to Aiko, trying to make sure she doesn’t hear him.
“…I know you’re there,” Aiko calls out.
Kazuhiko stops moving, a bit surprised that she sensed his presence so quickly. This brief pause, however, put Kazuhiko into perspective; he hadn’t planned some sort of dialogue for this meeting. Now trying to think of something to say, Aiko turns to look at him. Her eyes slowly widen as she takes in Kazuhiko for the first time. The incident with Masahiro had been short and while she did glance at Kazuhiko, her mind was still elsewhere so she never got the chance to really look at him. He is a rather tall boy, a brunette with hazel eyes. One of his hands is gloved and he’s wearing a hooded shirt with a baseball bat in one corner, symbolizing him being on the baseball team. Aiko’s gaze rises to his face again where he stares up at the sky, pondering. Suddenly, a crack of thunder breaks the silence.
“Ah!” Kazuhiko exclaims now having thought up a suitable dialogue for himself and Aiko. As he looks down, he sees that she is gone. He looks around to see if she had just moved somewhere else on the roof, but he soon comes to realize that she moved off of the roof completely and back inside. As he begins to walk back in, the rain decides now is the perfect time to pour, drenching Kazuhiko before he can get back inside. As he closes the door, shutting the rain outside, he takes a breath possibly out of relief or out of frustration at not being able to talk to her.
“I guess I’ll just have to find another time,” he says, getting ready to get to his next class.

After receiving scolding from his friends for the rest of the day, Kazuhiko is relieved the school day is finally over. His parents are out of town and he has their house all to himself. As he says good- bye to his friends, he walks out of the side exit of the school building, deciding the scenic route would be a good way to go home. While getting to the little woodsy path, he notices someone already walking ahead of him. The person has black hair and pale skin.
“It’s Aiko!” Kazuhiko whispers after a sharp intake of breath. He looks up at the sky which had cleared after the storm and the cumulous clouds which lumber over his head and decides now is as good a time as ever to talk her. Taking one more inhale to calm his nerves, he begins to pick up the pace in order to catch up. Aiko continues to walk on not giving any indication of hearing him approaching. Just as Kazuhiko reaches out a hand to tap her shoulder, Aiko whips around to strike him but is surprised to see Kazuhiko blocking the sudden attack. They stay in that position for a time, staring into the other’s eyes. Kazuhiko’s eyes hold a steady gaze, not threatening or angry, but one that shows curiosity. Aiko, not expecting this look from him, unconsciously widens her eyes in surprise. Kazuhiko’s lips curve slightly at the edge.
“What are you smiling about…,” Aiko poses with a hint of anger.
“Nothing really. Your eyes grew. Are you surprised I was able to block your attack?” Kazuhiko ventures. Aiko doesn’t make a reply.
“I’ll take that as a yes”
“What are you doing here, following me..?”
“Actually, I wasn’t following you. I take this route sometimes to get back to my house,” Kazuhiko cocks his head to the side curiously.
“I’m walking here for the same reason as you”
“Ah! Ok. Well, since we’re both going the same way, I was wondering if we could go together”
“You’re a strange boy,” Aiko says while turning to continue walking down the path. Kazuhiko smiles and follows.
“I know. I’ve heard that a lot. I never found out your name”
“Don’t try that move with me. You already know my name. Everyone in the school knows my name”
“Which one? Is it Aiko or Ice?”
Aiko’s eyes grow cold.
“…They call me Ice…?”
“Well, yeah. That’s what they’ve deemed you. When you get angry, your eyes get this cold look and students say it reminds them of ice”
Aiko says nothing more and continues walking through the path. Kazuhiko hurries to keep up with her.
“Hey, I have a question?”
“What is it now…”
“Well, earlier today, you glared at some students who were talking by their lockers. They didn’t do anything to you so why did you glare at them?”
“They were screaming messages of hate in their minds, actions, and eyes. I could feel and see it”
“They were not. They were just having a conversation”
“I know what I felt! They were judging me without getting to know me!”
“Well, you were judging them before you got to know them,” Kazuhiko counters.
Aiko’s eyes widen in surprise. It had been a long time since anyone countered her argument as he just did. Only two people were able to do it the last time; Isamu and Hajime. They have been close ever since. But this boy, Kazuhiko, knew how to counter her immediately. It caught Aiko off guard so much that she couldn’t come up with any sort of retort. Kazuhiko notices this and smiles slightly.
“Well, this is the first time today anyone has caught Ice off guard. Interesting”
Aiko flinches at the name and turns to Kazuhiko with a glare.
“Don’t ever call me that…”
Kazuhiko takes a step back, a little unnerved by her anger.
“I would think an annoying pretty boy better watch his step. Getting mixed up with a vampire wouldn’t be good for you. I doubt you could protect yourself, baseball captain”
Kazuhiko eyes narrow slightly at the mockery and he takes a step towards her, going back to his previous position.
“Hey. Don’t think you can-”
“Can what? Insult you because you’re so popular? That despite being a vampire, I should still show you respect? Well, understand this. I don’t care who you are. No one gets away with calling me Ice. If I have to, I will not hesitate to hurt you. I don’t care if my reputation not to hurt a human is damaged. Got it, Baseball captain?”
Kazuhiko grows angrier, his body beginning to tense.
“I was only joking”
“You’re just like that other guy, Masahiro,” Aiko says as she walks towards him until she’s only centimeters from his face. “He’s a pushover and can be easily broken. So can you.”
After that is said, Aiko vanishes. Kazuhiko stares in front of him in disbelief of what just transpired between them. He slowly begins to put one foot in front of the other, realizing he still needs to get home. On the way, his mind rapidly goes over all the events that took place. Kazuhiko is a well- respected baseball player and is very popular around the school. Many have suggested he run for class president, but he always turns those propositions down. This was the first time however; someone said things to him as cruel as Aiko did. To be honest, he didn’t know what to do with himself. He was less angry than curious; curious as to why someone who had only met him once had such cold things to say. He didn’t think he had done anything wrong. He had made polite conversation, tried to understand her points of view, and joked around a little by calling her Ice. Isn’t that what one does when meeting someone? Kazuhiko continued to walk home, pondering about all of this. He hadn’t fully realized how sensitive she was to that nickname. But what was all that about the threats? He felt the killing intent behind her words. That’s why he took a step back.
“I don’t think we can get along at all…,” Kazuhiko thought to himself as he continues on his way home.

The next school day proves to be quite awkward for Kazuhiko. He realizes just how many classes he shares with Aiko, and every time, her seat seems near him. Most times, however, she sits behind him. It is hard for Kazuhiko to concentrate when he feels her eyes piercing the back of his head. It causes Kazuhiko to fidget a lot in class to which becomes of concern to his friends.
“Hey Kazuhiko, what’s wrong with you today?” one of them asks him.
“I guess I’m just a bit tired today, that’s all,” he lies.
“LIAR!!”
“What? I’m not lying. I’m telling you. I’m just tired”
“It has to do with Aiko, doesn’t it?” another friend of his asks.
“…You guys are always spot on,” Kazuhiko says with a forced smirk.
“It’s our job. We’re your friends. Tell us what happened”
During lunch, Kazuhiko tells his friends everything that had happened yesterday on the path. As Kazuhiko begins to talk about where he called Aiko ‘Ice’, his friends’ eyes start to widen.
“Dude, you called her Ice??”
“Yeah, I was just joking. Everyone here calls her that. What’s the problem?”
“That’s her nickname for all of us! You’re not supposed to call her that to her face!! Are you insane?”
“I was just trying to make conversation”
“That kind of conversation will get you killed!”
“Well, she did threaten me, saying even though she’s a vampire she wouldn’t be scared to damage her reputation here for not hurting a human”
“Dude, I think you’ve lost your mind…”
“I’m sorry. Well, I don’t think we could get along anyway so it’s best if we drop this”
As soon as Kazuhiko admits this, a thud is heard down the hallway. The boys turn to see a student against the lockers, fear etched across his face. He’s surrounded by four members of the football team.
“Oi, Onodera. You haven’t gotten us our money for a while. What’s going on, buddy?” says the perpetrator of the group. He leans in close to Onodera’s face and grins, beginning to roll up one sleeve.
“You do know what happens when you don’t do our bidding, right? We have to find some other way to get our instant gratification”
The other boys laugh at that and begin to move closer towards the boy backed up against the lockers.
“Guys, we’ve got to help Onodera. We can’t let him get beat up anymore. It’ll be the third time this week,” Kazuhiko says getting to his feet. His friends follow him but stop as Kazuhiko begins walking to the group. Noticing that his friends are no longer behind him, he turns around.
“Guys, come on. We have to help him”
“But those guys play football. If we mess with them, we’ll damage the friendship between the baseball team and the football team”
“So you would rather have him get beat up just so we can protect our relationship with the football team?”
“This is the first time we’re on agreeable terms in ten years. We can’t afford to ruin it”
“I can’t believe you guys,” Kazuhiko says in disbelief. “If you won’t help me, I’ll just have to do it myself”
With this, Kazuhiko turns again to face the football team members. He has to admit, there is a little apprehension about confronting them. He knows as well as his friends that this could jeopardize their relationship with the team and could lead to future problems. Baseball and football don’t go together, right? But in this school, it has quite a history.
It had started when two friends in the school decided to try out for sports. One wanted to join the baseball team; the other, football. After they joined, they realized they couldn’t meet up as often as they used to because of obligations to their teams. They were both star players and their winnings often rivaled each other. They still wanted to see one another, but their teammates believed it would mess up their game. So, they decided to put ideas in their heads, saying the other was no good as a friend to them. The two friends quickly became enemies, playing to outdo each other. It had been that way ever since. But recently, a football and a baseball player vowed before joining their teams, they would remain friends. This finally achieved an armistice between the two teams. But Kazuhiko’s interference in the football team’s business may create problems or cause old problems to resurface. Kazuhiko began to slow his steps towards the group and could see the desperate look in Onodera’s eyes as his gaze flickered to him and then back at the approaching boys. Onodera’s gaze then turns to horror as he sees Kazuhiko stop walking completely. This attracts the attention of the boys who turn their heads in the direction of Onodera’s gaze. The perpetrator smiles as he sees Kazuhiko.
“Hey, man! What’s up?” he says brightly.
“Uh... Nothing much,” Kazuhiko replies slowly.
“I heard you have practice today! Good luck!” the boy says. His friends nod and smile at Kazuhiko.
“Uh, yeah. Thanks,” he replies again while sending an apologetic look to Onodera. Onodera stares back, a pathetic, helpless look on his face.
“See you later then!” the guy says before turning back to Onodera.
Kazuhiko sighs quietly and gets ready to turn back towards his friends. Before he can start walking back, he hears the clack of shoes on wood, echoing down the hall. Kazuhiko turns back towards the guys. The hallway is next to them and appears to be where the sound of the shoes is coming from. Finally, the figure comes into full view; a girl with black hair and velvety purple eyes.
“It’s Aiko!” Kazuhiko exclaims to himself.
She walks over to the guys harassing Onodera and taps the leader on the shoulder. The guy turns around and smirks as he sees who it is.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the freak”
“HA HA!! Ice!!!” the other boys jeer. Aiko stares at them as they continue to mock her. Her expression is blank, but in a way, menacing at the same time. The boys notice this and slowly, their laughter stops until it’s just an awkward silence. Aiko takes a few steps towards the group. Onodera isn’t sure who to be scared of more; the group of bullies or Aiko. His eyes are wide with fear, watching both, determining which will take action first. The perpetrator of the group of boys knocks Onodera back into the lockers. This action tells him he should to be more frightened of the boys. The bully looks up at Aiko and smirks, challenging her to do something with his eyes. Aiko sees the challenge and accepts. Taking a few steps closer, she locks eyes with the bully, her velvety purple eyes taking on a darker shade. The bully’s eyes have a slight flicker of fear in them at the sight of Aiko’s changing eye color, but he tries to be threatening once more, believing he can win this battle of the eyes. Aiko’s gaze is unwavering and even more unrelenting than usual as if she’s been harboring resentment towards him. The bully’s gaze is wavering frequently, feeling his power weakening. Aiko however stays strong, never wavering or giving any indication of losing. The bully’s cronies take steps back in fear, not wanting to get caught in the middle of the fight. It is clear that Aiko is dominating the battle and even seems to be drawing in the bully’s friends, for their steps away become even more frequent until they’re almost out of the hallway. At this point, the bully is about ready to surrender. He’s sweating and gritting his teeth in a desperate hope to stay strong. To finish him off, Aiko issues another attack behind the initial one, giving it more power. At last, the bully is defeated by the sudden blow from Aiko’s gaze. He slowly releases his hold on Onodera’s shirt, so that he won’t antagonize the victor anymore and start a new battle. Aiko keeps a steady glare at the bully, making sure he doesn’t try anything. Onodera takes this opportunity to quickly walk away. The bully stands looking at the floor like a child that had just been punished for doing something wrong. Aiko turns and walks away from him.
Kazuhiko, who witnessed the whole battle, watches Aiko walk past him, his eyes wide. He turns back to his friends who are also wide- eyed. The bully looks lost for a moment before gaining enough sense to go to his next class. He glances at Kazuhiko and his friends and gives a quick nod; he hurries away immediately after.

“Wow…Aiko helped Onodera,” one of Kazuhiko’s friends states, reassuring everyone of the fact.
“Yeah. Ice… helped someone,” another says with the same intention as the first one.
“…I think I had her all wrong,” Kazuhiko admits. “I mean, no one stands up to the football team. Whatever they do, they always get away with.”
“Yeah. Wow. Maybe she is a nice person, but we didn’t give her a chance to show that from the get-go. We all immediately attacked her because she’s a vampire. She wouldn’t be going to a school full of humans if she didn’t know how to control that side of her.”
“Yeah, that’s true,” the friends agree.
Kazuhiko begins to think over everything his friends are saying. Maybe he had been too harsh on her? Maybe he probably did antagonize her by calling her that nickname?
“I think I called her that out of bitterness…” Kazuhiko admits to himself.
“Hey, man. Where are you going?” one of his friends asks.
“I’m going to find Aiko and apologize. I realize I said some pretty mean things to her. See you guys later.”
Kazuhiko walks down the hall Aiko traveled down and ends up faced with the roof. There were other hallways along the one he walked down, but something was drawing him to the roof. He opens the door and walks out into the sunshine. He covers his eyes briefly to adjust to the light and then notices someone sitting in a corner. He walks closer until he sees it’s Aiko. She’s leaning against the side of the building, staring at the sky. Her calming demeanor immediately relaxes Kazuhiko and he gets the courage to approach her. Aiko turns as she hears the sounds of footsteps and looks up to see Kazuhiko. She watches as he draws closer and makes no action against his decision to see her. Kazuhiko sits down close by, but keeps enough distance seeing as they are not friends.
“Look, um, Aiko. I’m really sorry for what happened yesterday. I’m sorry for using that nickname. I guess I was still feeling anger towards you. I want to…well, see if we can become friends. I know it sounds sudden but what you did for Onodera was great. I would have done the same if it wasn’t for-”
“You mean your rivalry with the football team?”
“Yeah”
“To be honest, that is a shallow reason for refusing to help someone”
“I know it is and I shouldn’t have let a silly reason cloud my judgment”
“…I also understand why you did it though. Everyone has tests to face and even though you failed this one…”
“I know…”
“You passed another”
“What do you mean?”
“After I helped that kid in trouble with the bully, you realized your mistake in how you treated me and corrected it. I call that passing a test”
“Oh. Thank you,” Kazuhiko replies with a smile.
“Ah. You’re welcome,” Aiko says while looking slightly in the other direction. A breeze carries some of her hair in front of her face, to hide her blush from embarrassment. Kazuhiko looks questionably at her, but brushes it off.
“So, tell me about yourself. I don’t know anything about you”
Aiko looks at him in surprise.
“You…want to know about me?”
“Yeah, I do”
“It’s the first time anyone here has asked me. The only people that know are my two vampire friends”
“Well, your human friend is curious and would like to know,” Kazuhiko says with a smile.
“Oh…okay. Wait, we’re friends?”
“You don’t want to be my friend?”
“That’s not what I was saying…”
“Well, I’m saying let’s be friends. We got off to a rocky start and I want to make up for it. So friends?” he asks while extending his hand to her. Aiko looks at his hand skeptically but then gingerly extends hers and shakes his. Kazuhiko smiles and shakes her hand heartily. Aiko smiles slightly.
“So can I know about you?” Kazuhiko inquires again.
“Sure” Aiko says with a nod.

“Kazuhiko, it’s been three weeks already. You’re starting to hang out with Aiko more than your own buds. What’s with that?” accuses one of Kazuhiko’s friends.
“I like her. Is it so wrong to hang out with a friend?”
“She’s not your only friend. You are neglecting your other friends; US!!”
“Look, I promise I’ll hang out with you guys more. We’ll discuss it more another time. I’ve got to go now,” Kazuhiko says as he begins to walk away.
“Where are you going?”
“Oh I promised Aiko I’d meet up with her after school”
“…And this is exactly what we’re talking about”
“What did I do?”
“See you around, Kazuhiko,” his friend says as they all walk away.
Kazuhiko watches his friends go in perplexity but then remembers what he is supposed to do. He runs off to the side exit of the school where the scenic route is. As he opens the door, he finds Aiko waiting for him, leaning against a tree stump. She looks up when she hears the door close.
“It’s about time you showed up…”
Kazuhiko smiles nervously.
“Sorry. I was a little delayed. Are you ready to go?”
Aiko softly smiles and stands up.
“Sure”
“Ok!”
The two share a comfortable silence as they walk down the route. Kazuhiko looks over at Aiko and gets a bit anxious by the quiet. It’s not that he didn’t enjoy the silence between them; it was just too much for his tastes. He knows Aiko likes quiet, but knowing Kazuhiko, he wouldn’t last long.
“So…do you have any plans for the weekend?”
Aiko turns to Kazuhiko who looks back at her expectantly.
“I’m going to spend some time with my friends. We see each other enough during the day, but they want to hang out more,” she says with a roll of her eyes; Kazuhiko chuckles. Aiko stares at him.
“Don’t you have friends to hang out with?”
“Excuse me?”
Aiko turns her head to look at the path in front of them.
“I used to see you with your friends all the time. Since you’ve been hanging around me, I’ve noticed they aren’t with you much anymore”
“What? No, they’re fine”
“They think you’ve been neglecting them, don’t they?”
Kazuhiko looks at her with surprise.
“How did you know that?”
“I’m a vampire,” she says with a smile. “And I’ve always been pretty good at reading people’s thoughts through their expressions.”
“Oh. Well, I don’t know why they think that. I can hang out with whoever I want. I don’t need to check in with them. They’re not some kind of authority.”
“But you need them and they need you. They want to see more of their friend and I think you should allow them to.”
“Are you suggesting hang out with you less?”
“I’m suggesting you make time for your other friends. They were your friends before me. They need you too.”
“Alright. If you think that’s what I should do, then I’ll do it,” Kazuhiko says with a thoughtful expression. Aiko lightly blushes at his words and expression.
“R-right. You...do that” Aiko slightly stutters.
The trees along the path begin to grow more numerous and range from dark greens to burgundies. The flowers along the sides of the dirt road they are traveling on become more distant until tall grass is all that can be seen. After a while, the road diverges into two. The foliage casts a shady canopy over both, but breaks between leaves lets in small rays of light from the setting sun. Kazuhiko turns to Aiko with a smile.
“Well, I’ve got to get home. If not, my mom’s going to kill me if I’m not on time”
Aiko smiles at that.
“Okay. I guess I’ll see you again on Monday”
“Yeah. See you”
“See you”
Kazuhiko smiles at Aiko once more before brushing some strands of hair from her forehead and tucking them behind her ear. As he removes his hand, he holds up a leaf.
“It was stuck between strands”
“Oh. Okay. Thanks”
“You’re welcome,” Kazuhiko says stepping a bit closer. He leans over and plants a soft kiss on her forehead. As he looks back at her, a light blush graces her cheeks and her eyes are wide in surprise. He smiles at her reaction.
“I’ll see you,” Kazuhiko says turning to walk down his path.
“Yeah. I’ll see you,” Aiko says quietly before turning to walk down the other to get home.

A woman dressed in black watches the two go their separate ways from above. A small smirk grows on her lips as she watches Aiko in particular. Her hair is long and a striking midnight blue. If it weren’t for her hiding in the trees, she could have been easily spotted. Her eyes are a silvery white, which are menacing enough on their own. Below her hiding place, a small lithe insect buzzes around a flower and changes to another closer to Aiko as she walks by. She pays the small creature, a midnight blue dragonfly with aquamarine lines crisscrossing across its back, no mind as her own is swathed in wonder and amazement at what just went on between herself and Kazuhiko. Once she has gone down into the darkness of the path, the dragonfly buzzes back up to the lady with the midnight blue hair hiding in the trees. Amidst the buzzing from the little insect, soft whispers could be heard as it relays what it has to say to the woman. As she listens to its message, a smile begins to tug at her lips. She holds out her hand to the creature to which it lands on. She puts both her hands to her hair and when she removes them, the midnight blue dragonfly which was once alive is now nothing more than a sparkling hair clip.
“It must have been destiny for us to meet again…Aiko”

“Oops, I’m late,” Aiko says in her mind as she rushes to the meeting place Saturday afternoon. As she reaches the spot, she sees Hajime and Isamu are already there. The place is in the middle of the forest in front of a large oak. The sunlight filters in through the trees and splatters the grassy floor with gold. They look up as they hear Aiko approach.
“Aiko, you’re late!” Isamu scolds.
“Sorry, mom,” Aiko says in a bored tone as she sits down with them.
“Glad you could make it, Aiko,” Hajime says with a dimpled smile.
“Thanks, Hajime. See, Isamu? Can’t you just be happy I’m here like Hajime?” Aiko inquires.
“Nah,” Isamu says with a grin.
“Didn’t think so. Anyway, why are we hanging out today? I mean, we see enough of each other during school.”
“Well, Aiko, to be honest, we have some concerns”
“Concerns? What concerns do you have?”
“You’ve been hanging out with Kazuhiko a lot lately”
“And?”
“Well, you know what happens if you get too close to a human. And you seem really close at it is. You have to be careful”
“I really don’t understand what this is about”
“Aiko, are you falling in love with Kazuhiko?” Hajime asks bluntly.
“Hajime!” Isamu scolds.
“Falling in love? Falling in love with Kazuhiko? That’s crazy. I’m not falling in love with him. He’s just a good friend, that’s all”
“Is it really, Aiko? Whenever we meet up during school, you always talk about Kazuhiko. You can spot him in a crowd and will wave at him even if he’s too far away to see you. Sometimes, you blush whenever his name comes up in a conversation. Aiko, you’re in love with him”
Aiko stares at Hajime in surprise. She hadn’t thought of being in love with Kazuhiko before, but this onslaught had made her realize that it’s true. She did have feelings for him.
“And Aiko, you know what happens if you fall in love with a human. You could die if you’re not careful and you keep getting closer to him” Isamu adds.
“I…I never realized this before …I guess I am falling in love with him,” Aiko admits.
“Just keep your distance from him, Aiko. That’s all we ask”
“Don’t worry… I will”

“Hey Aiko, how was your week- end?” Kazuhiko asks after the first class. Aiko continues walking down the hall past him. Kazuhiko watches her go confused before following.
“Aiko? What’s wrong? Why aren’t you talking to me?”
“Get the hell away from me,” Aiko spits coldly. She continues down the hall to her next class leaving a dumbfounded Kazuhiko staring after her in the hallway. For the rest of the day, Aiko treats him as if he doesn’t exist. Whenever he enters a room, she walks out. Kazuhiko tries to talk to her, but as if she knows what he’s thinking, whenever he decides to, she makes her exit. Students in the school are now even more afraid of Aiko. Her glares are colder and her words are more piercing than usual. Just as how it was the first day, whenever Aiko walks by, people move out of her way in fear. Kazuhiko has had just about enough of all this.
After school, he follows Aiko to the side exit where the scenic route is. He watches her walk along the path and then plucks the courage to go after her.
“Aiko!” he calls out running behind her.
Aiko’s eyes widen as she hears the voice, but when she turns around her eyes are cold and angry. This, however, doesn’t faze Kazuhiko for he continues to catch up to her. When he reaches her, he looks at her with determination. Aiko ever so slightly falters under his gaze.
“Aiko, tell me what’s going on. Why are you avoiding me? Is it something I did?”
“…No”
“Did someone say something to you?”
“…No”
“Is it-”
“It wasn’t you, okay!! It wasn’t!!”
“Then why. Why are you avoiding me? I’ve been trying to get your attention all day, but you keep running away from me. And if you do ever see me, you only give me a glare and walk off without a reason. It’s frustrating, Aiko!”
“I know!! It’s just-..I can’t see you anymore”
“What?!! That doesn’t make sense. We go to the same school. Of course you’ll see me”
“No, I mean. We can’t be friends anymore,” Aiko confesses as a tear rolls down her cheek after she realizes what she is saying.
“Aiko…” Kazuhiko says while brushing away her tear. “Why would you say- Ah?”
Aiko placed her thumb on Kazuhiko’s forehead between his eyebrows and the rest of her fingers hold the top of his head.
“I’m sorry, Kazuhiko. I’m really sorry,” Aiko says now letting the tears fall.

“Hey, Kazuhiko! What’s up?”
“Nothing much. Hey, want to hang out after school today?”
Kazuhiko’s friends look at one another.
“You…want to hang out?”
“Yeah, sure. Why not? My mom and dad are out of town today”
“Yeah, that’s fine. But it’s Tuesday. Don’t you usually hang out with Aiko on Tuesdays?”
“You mean do I hang out with Aiko, that vampire girl? I don’t,” Kazuhiko says with a laugh.
“Yes you do. You guys are best friends!”
“No, we’re not,” Kazuhiko says while giving his friends a funny look. “So are we going to hang out today or not?”
His friends look at one another and shrug.
“Sure. Sounds good”

Hajime and Isamu are sitting on the grass talking to one another about their classes. They look up when they hear the sound of panting coming towards them.
“Hey, aren’t those Kazuhiko’s friends?” Isamu asks.
“Yeah. I wonder what they want,” Hajime inquires as well.
“Hajime! Isamu!” one of them calls out. “Can we talk to you guys?”
“Uh, sure. But you never have before,” Hajime says.
“We know and we’re sorry about that”
“Okay. But you obviously have something else on your mind. Ask away,” Isamu says with a smile.
“Kazuhiko doesn’t remember Aiko”
Hajime and Isamu look up in shock.
“What do you mean doesn’t remember?”
“When we asked him if he was going to hang out with her today because it’s Tuesday, he said he wasn’t because he doesn’t hang out with Aiko”
Isamu looks to Hajime and stands up.
“Don’t worry about this. Hajime and I will fix the problem,” she says as she makes her way back into the school. Hajime gives a smile to the boys and walks after her.
“What do you think happened, Isamu?” Hajime asks after some distance had been made between them and the boys.
“I think Aiko erased Kazuhiko’s memory,” Isamu admits grimly.

After school, Kazuhiko’s friends excuse themselves from hanging out with him. They have to go home early. Kazuhiko smiles and goes to the side exit to take the scenic route home. The sun is setting and sets off the long grass by his feet in an orangey glow. The blades shimmer in the passing breeze from the storm yesterday. The only sounds heard are the plodding of footsteps on wet soil. At the diverging road, Kazuhiko stops walking. He starts pondering deeply about something; something he is trying to remember. All throughout the day, he had the feeling that there was something missing in his past. He tried to figure it out but he couldn’t come up with anything. He could see a few images but the faces were fuzzy and there were no sounds. It looked almost like a television with bad reception.
“Excuse me?” a voice softly asks.
The voice brings Kazuhiko out of his fog and he turns around. His eyes meet with a girl about his age. She has midnight blue hair that drapes over her shoulders. Her eyes are silvery white and a soft smile is playing at her lips. She’s wearing a black dress with lace down the v- neck collar and the edges which stop at the middle of her thighs. Long black boots complete the look. Her dragonfly clip sparkles in the light from the setting sun.
“Are you lost?” she asks sweetly.
“I feel like I am,” Kazuhiko responds back with a sigh.
“Oh? In what way?” the girl asks curiously.
“Well, for some reason, I feel like there’s something I’m missing; that I’m forgetting. But every time I try to remember, the images I get are foggy and no help at all”
As he’s confessing his problem, the girl can’t help but smirk slightly.
“I think there’s something important I should be remembering”
“That is tricky” the girl says with a thoughtful expression.
“Is there anyone that can help you with this?”
“I don’t think there is because I can’t remember enough for them to help me”
“Hmm,” the girl muses.
“What if I helped you?” she asks enthusiastically.
Kazuhiko looks at the girl in perplexity.
“How can you help me? You don’t know me”
The girl smiles at that.
“I’ve been known to be good at helping people remember things. Trust me”
Kazuhiko nods. The girl smiles and approaches him.
“Just stay calm. There’s nothing to worry about,” the girl says as she places her thumb on Kazuhiko’s forehead and the rest of her fingers on top of his head.
I’m sorry…
Kazuhiko’s eyes widen as he gets the flashback and sees the hands clearly. The girl notices this and smiles.
“I’ll help you, Kazuhiko”
In an instant, memories flood back into his mind of Aiko and the times he shared with her. It almost brings tears to his eyes as he wonders why he would forget such moments he shared with someone he cared about. He felt ashamed. The girl slowly begins to smile sadistically because the last memory is coming up. As it floods back into his mind, he sees it is one of Aiko. She’s looking down at him with an angry gaze. It’s difficult to see her because something red is dripping in front of his eye. Soon after, he realizes that the red is blood. His face feels swollen and painful even if it is a memory; as if it had happened just then. After the girl finishes and removes her hand, Kazuhiko falls to the ground. The girl chuckles darkly.
“You brought this upon yourself, Aiko,” the girl says with a grin.
“Mistress Ashi,” someone calls out. The dragonfly clip in her hair begins to quake and suddenly flies out of her hair and lands on her finger.
“What happens now?” it asks.
Ashi smiles to herself.
“Not much more, my little friend. I’ve finally achieved revenge. I hope Aiko is happy”

For Aiko, school became a place of torture. Not only did she wipe the memory of the boy she loves, but she became even colder to cover it up. Whole hallways of students rush out whenever she appears. No one dares to face her for fear of the wrath of Aiko. She hasn’t felt this lonely since she first set foot in the school. She manages to go through the whole school day and is glad it’s over. For some reason, her feet lead her to the side exit where the scenic route is. She slowly begins walking home. “No,” she says to herself as she walks. “I have felt this lonely before. The day Reiji called me a monster. Damned me to hell and called me an abomination. I hate this memory.” Aiko keeps pondering about this, slowly putting herself into a depression, as she continues down the path home.

“Kazuhiko, wait up!” Isamu calls out as she runs after him with Hajime following close behind.
“Isamu? Hajime? What is it?” Kazuhiko asks confused.
“Your friends say you don’t remember Aiko. Is this true?”
Kazuhiko’s eye become slits as he stares at the two.
“Oh, I do remember her. She beat me up and said she hated me,” he spits angrily. After a moment, he sighs. “I’m not really that angry about it. I just want to know why.”
“Kazuhiko…Aiko would never do something like that”
“Oh yeah? Well, she did. I didn’t remember it before, but I do now”
“…What do you mean by not remembering it before? To be honest, that’s not something you’d forget”
“Yeah, I know. But for some reason I couldn’t remember Aiko. But then this girl came up to me and told me she could help me remember”
“What girl? What did she look like?”
“She was in a black dress and boots. And she had midnight blue hair and silvery white eyes. She was really nice”
Isamu’s and Hajime’s eyes widen simultaneously as he finishes describing the person. Kazuhiko observes them confusedly.
“Um, did I say something wrong?”
“No, you didn’t. Do you remember where this girl went?”
“No. I blacked out after I got my memories back”
“Okay. Thank you for telling us Kazuhiko. See you around,” Isamu says with a smile before turning around and quickly walking away. Hajime smiles as well and turns to go after her, leaving a dumbfounded Kazuhiko watching them go.
“Ashi,” Isamu says quietly.

Aiko wanders to the place where she meets her friends when they want to hang out. She sits on one of the trunks and sheds a few tears.
“Well, if it wasn’t for that incident, I never would have met my friends,” she thinks to herself. “I owe those two a lot. They helped me to get over him. But now he came back in the form of Kazuhiko. I knew the first day I saw him. I always knew he would be back, but…I never wanted things to turn out this way.”
After crying a little longer, Aiko recomposes herself and begins walking back home. After all of this, she needed to be alone.
As she left the area, a large dark blue dragonfly buzzed down to the tree trunk where Aiko was sitting. It chuckles quietly before elongating and the figure of a girl in a black dress with midnight blue hair sitting with one leg crossed over the other, appears. She chuckles again.
“I’ve finally gotten my revenge on you, dear Aiko”
“Yeah, well it won’t last for much longer, Ashi!” a voice says as a blast of fire flies out at her. Ashi jumps out of the way just in time. The blast burns the tree trunk where she was sitting. Two hands clasped together peek through the flames and then push away from each other with such force that the fire dissipates completely. Standing on the trunk is Isamu, her arms crossed and her grey eyes stormy. Ashi smirks up at her.
“What, no boyfriend today?” she teases.
Just then a rumbling grows from underneath her. Ashi leaps off the ground as the rumbling gets closer, but a rock shoots through the ground and clasps around her ankle, flinging her back down. She hits the ground with a large thud. Ashi looks back angrily at the rock clasped around her leg. Two green eyes peer at her before part of the rock separates itself from the rest and takes on the form of a boy. The rock crumbles off the person and Hajime crosses his arms and glares at Ashi.
“Nice to see you too, Hajime” Ashi says with a chuckle.
“What memories did you give Kazuhiko, Ashi?” Isamu asks.
“Only the ones he wanted, Isamu. I wouldn’t tell him lies”
“Now, that’s a lie! You of all people would feed him lies! You don’t want Aiko to be with Kazuhiko, do you?”
Ashi looks at her with a smirk.
“Why? Aiko has never done you wrong. What motive do you have to try to ruin her life?”
“Kazu—Reiji is mine”
Isamu and Hajime look at her in shock.
“Reiji? What-”
“She stole him from me!” Ashi yells in anger.
“Stole him?”
“Yes!! Kazuhiko’s real name is Reiji! I was in love with him five hundred years ago! He loved me and I loved him!”
“How can this be?” Hajime asks looking at Isamu. “Reiji disappeared centuries ago. How could he be here now?”
“He’s taken on a different form, the one you call Kazuhiko”
“So what’s your story with Reiji then?” Isamu asks.
“Reiji loved me” Ashi declares proudly. “But not every relationship is perfect and we used to fight sometimes. One day, we got into a fight and he left to get some air. He would always leave to get some air if we ever fought. But this time, he never came back. He ran off with that girl Aiko instead of coming back to me!” Ashi choked back some tears.
Hajime looks at her with uncertainty and then over at Isamu who stares at her pondering what she says but with an indifferent expression.
“But then I fixed her. Oh I fixed her that time,” Ashi regales with an evil grin.
“He told her that he didn’t love her and that she was an abomination. That’s where you two met her. I erased his memories of her and replaced them with images of her betraying him and deceiving him. She didn’t know what I had done and she was close to figuring it out, but his words distracted her from finding out anymore and she fell into a state of depression. She was lonely ever since. I thought I had won, but when I heard she was going to school, I decided to see if she was still as upset as she was all those years ago. She was, but then I saw him; Kazuhiko, Reiji’s next form. I knew it would be inevitable that they fall in love again, but this time, I would have to make her stay depressed. She couldn’t fall in love again with Reiji; she just couldn’t. Not after all I had been through; not again,”
“So you erased his memories and changed them too…”
“Yes I did. And it’s going to stay that way!!!”
“Aiko didn’t know you and Reiji were together. And he noticed her, she didn’t try to seduce him if that’s what you’re thinking,” Isamu responds.
“What?”
“Reiji liked her. You said you and Reiji would fight all the time, right? Well, word always got around whenever you and Reiji would get into fights. However, the love wasn’t real. He didn’t really love you; you forced yourself on him. You changed his memories before you met; all he would ever think of was you”
“That-That’s not true!!”
“I remember Reiji coming to us, asking about who you were. He was really frustrated that you would not leave his mind. And then when he finally did find you, he thought he had no other choice than to be with you. He couldn’t escape you. So when he found true love, you couldn’t bear the thought of it. You changed his memories again, in a foolish hope that he’ll actually love you eventually. You’ve known Reiji wouldn’t love you for the longest time, but you still thought you could at least try to play cupid”
“Shut up!!!” Ashi exclaims as her eyes glow white and she fires daggers of ice at Isamu and Hajime. Isamu, just about to create a massive ball of fire, finds herself whisked into Hajime’s grasp and a rock wall erected in front of them to protect themselves from the ice. Isamu looks back at Hajime who smiles and releases her from his protective hold. Once the ice daggers begin to cease, Isamu flies out from behind the wall her hands charged with ball of fire. Her hair, streaked with flames, flies around behind her. She knocks into Ashi and punches her with a fiery fist. The impact of the punch causes her to fly backwards and into a rock wall behind her that Hajime erected just in time. Ashi falls forward but catches herself on her hands and knees. A hand reaches for her hair and grabs the dragonfly clip. Ashi reaches for it but Hajime pulls his hand away before she can get it.
“I remember this clip. Wow, that’s a pretty blue. I hope you don’t mind, Ashi,” Hajime says as he snaps the clip in two.
“No! Do you realize what you’ve done?!”
“Yes, I do. The true memories are stored inside this clip, I remember. So by breaking it, everyone gets their correct memories back!” Hajime says with a bright smile. His hand clasps around the fragile object. When he reopens it, what’s left is sparkling dust.
“It’s over, Ashi,” Isamu says preparing to fight just in case. Ashi looks between the two of them as tears begin to roll down her cheeks. She disappears in a puff of smoke. Hajime turns to Isamu.
“So what happens now?”
“We’ll just have to see tomorrow”

The next day at school goes as normal. Aiko’s not as angry as she was before, but more sad. She goes through all her classes in a fog and prepares to take the scenic route back home. The sun sets behind her as she meanders down the path. The grass glistens from the short rain just before classes let out for the day. A calm breeze blows past, making Aiko’s hair fly around. She pushes some strands away from her face and then stops as something gets caught between her fingers. When she pulls it out, she sees it’s a small leaf. This immediately brings her back to the day Kazuhiko walked with her down the path and took a leaf out of her hair. She wipes her eyes from the tears threatening to fall. She drops the leaf with a sigh and turns to continue walking.
“So you’re just going to walk alone?” a voice calls out.
Aiko whips around to see Kazuhiko walking over to her with a smile playing at his lips. Aiko takes a small step back out of shock.
“Why are you here? You don’t know me”
“Don’t start with me, Aiko. I do remember you”
“H-How? I erased your memories of me”
“Yeah, well I got them back. I can’t believe you tried to make me forget about you”
Aiko looks at the ground ashamedly. She focuses on an ant trotting along back to its home.
“It was for your own good, Kazuhiko. You can’t remember me”
“Why?”
“I can’t fall in love with you!”
Kazuhiko looks at her in surprise.
“Well, that’s not fair. Because I love you,” Kazuhiko says.
Aiko stares at him, her eyes widening.
“You do?”
“I do. Whenever we would hang out, I began to realize how much I liked spending time with you. Not in a friends way but something more. Did you have that feeling, Aiko?”
Aiko nods slowly, still in shock that this is all coming to light.
“I’m glad I’m not alone in this. But if you don’t mind me asking, why can’t you fall in love with me? You love me”
Aiko looks back at the ground again. Kazuhiko gently lifts her chin up to look at him.
“Why not, Aiko?”
“Because…”
Kazuhiko waits expectantly for the answer.
“Because…?”
“…If a vampire falls in love with a human, we become vulnerable emotionally. If that happens we’ll start turning back into humans, which means the vampire part of us dies. I can’t do it Kazuhiko”
Kazuhiko holds her hands in his, making her turn towards him.
“So that’s why you erased my memory?” he asks quietly.
Aiko manages a nod.
“Okay. Well, I guess there’s only one thing to do now,” Kazuhiko says with a thoughtful expression. Aiko looks up at him questioningly. Kazuhiko suddenly stares into her eyes. Aiko shifts uncomfortably under his gaze and looks off to the side.
“Turn me into a vampire, Aiko”
Aiko’s eyes widen.
“What??”
“Turn me into a vampire”
“Why?”
“If I can’t love you as a human, then I want to love you as a vampire,” Kazuhiko says confidently. Aiko stares at him, thinking of his proposition.
“Aiko… Please. I want to stay with you”
Aiko’s eyes widen when she hears that statement. She immediately remembers Reiji saying the same thing when he confessed his love to her. She thought she would never hear those words again. But here they are; five hundred years later. Her eyes brim with tears.
“Aiko?” Kazuhiko asks concernedly.
“Okay,” she says in a whisper.
Kazuhiko smiles at her and takes her hand. The two start walking down the path again where the diverging road is up ahead.