My Life in a Bizarre Town: Chapter 6

Listening, Hikari was singing the song I had heard the other day but, this time, it was sounding more upbeat as she swayed to the rhythm:

“Can you here me? Can you see me? My voice falls deep within the dark! I wish to find my way out, but I can't find hope that it will come to an end! Under every distant wish, the stars become a piece of eternity. The solitude pains the heart. It will grant you…”

Moving side-to-side and giving a twirling, her choreography was just like that of a J-pop star, cheerful and elegant. It was enticing to watch as my face lit up in joy; unfortunately, that ended when one of my classmates ripped his shirt off, shouting, “We love you, Hikari!” with her name written on his shaved chest hairs. Ugh, what the hell is wrong with this guy; this made me and everyone gagged while being around this idiot.

4-minutes-later, the song had already ended; turning to the crowd, Hikari smiled and shouted, “Thank you’ all for coming”, lifting her left leg while flashing a peace sign on her forehead. “Now, I hope you like this next song because it’s my favorite, too!” seconds later, the music began to play in a different melody as Hikari sings the first part: “You know I just give you my heart…secret heart!” I watched in amazement as her words reached the crowd; my heart was racing fast as I continued hearing her voice; just then, the music suddenly stopped and I looked to see one of the fans hopping up on stage and disrupting the whole show.

“Hey, somebody get that guy off of the stage!”

“What the hell does he think he’s doing?! He’s ruining the show!”

“Don’t let him get near to Hikari-chan!”

The crowd was in a panic; they watched as Hikari was standing there with a confused look on her face, “What just happened?! Why did the music stop all of the sudden?!” she inquired, puzzlingly as she is unable to discern the situation due to her lack of vision. Walking towards her was a large man with an ugly face, wearing a pair of red slacks and a shirt that didn’t fit his, somewhat, overly obese body.

Towering over the blind pop idol, he flashed a lecherous grin, saying while wiggling his fat fingers, “Come on, Hikari, why not come with me and I’ll show you how to truly make music.”

Surprised; she faced the fan’s direction with a scared expression on her face as she started backing away.

This isn’t good! That freak was about to get his dirty hands on Hikari. With lightning speed, I ran toward the stage, pushing aside anyone in the way as I made it to the steps, landing a southpaw on the pervert’s face, so powerful that it sent him flying into the air and landing five feet away onto the floor. Turning around and placing both hands on her shoulders, I asked in concern, “Hikari, are you okay?!”

“H-Haru?!” Hikari said, softly, in confirmation. I saw her face turned a little red; unbeknownst to us, I heard the sound of groaning coming behind me. I turned around and saw the pervert getting back up on his feet, only with a piece of his face missing, revealing a hideous, green-skin appearance with sharp teeth and piercing, yellow eyes.

“Grr! You’re going to pay for that, you little brat!” the pervert charged with animosity, preparing to crush me with his large arms.

Right before he could, I quickly pushed Hikari out of the way from his path; I knew his attention was on me, now, but since Hikari was beside me, she would’ve gotten caught in the crossfire. I shouted at her, “Get down!” From the look of her expression, I could tell she understood what I meant; however, I, on the other hand, was met with the crushing blow of the pervert’s right hand against my abdomen. My feet grazed on the floor, sending me three feet back as I started coughing up blood.

Looking up, I glared at the pervert—whatever the hell he is, clenching my fists and gritting my teeth, altogether. The pervert laughed, finding my pain hilarious. “That’s what you get for ruining my chances with Hikari, dumbass!”

God! That guy was starting to get on my nerves; I really wanted to put him in his place. Suddenly, I felt something growing inside of me; looking down, I saw my fists beginning to glow, red and yellow, like flames. At first, I didn’t know what was going on, but at the moment, I didn’t care. Cocking my fists back, I dashed at the perverted beast and roared, “You think you have a chance with Hikari, do you?! News flash…” I trailed off, launching a direct hit at his abdomen. “…You never had a chance to begin with!” soon, I continued thrusting my fists, sending several jabs at the creature’s face, stomach, and a kick in the crotch until, finally, I launched a clean upper-cut right under his chin, sending the fat bastard straight through the roof and into the open night sky. Once the light in my hands had died down, my thoughts came to Hikari as I ran toward her to see if she’s unharmed. Thankfully, she appeared to be fine with not a scratch on her. But suddenly, I heard a huge mount of chatter within the crowd.

30-minutes-later; after the concert…

Hikari asked me to walk home with her because, after the ordeal that happened a moment ago, she didn’t feel safe waking by herself. “Thank you for helping me walk to my house; I hope I’m not troubling you with this?” she, shyly, remarked. She was dressed, normally, having changed out of her previous clothes while carrying a large gym bag with both hands in front of her.

“No problem, I’m willing to help a friend,” I replied with a kind grin on my face. Then, I noticed something different about her. “Hikari, what happened to your cane?” Usually, she would hold a cane to help her walk and direct her, but, this time, she didn't have it in her hands.

Turning her attention, Hikari blushed and explained, “Oh, to tell you the truth, I don't really need my cane all that much. Ever since I lost my eyesight when I was a little girl, my other senses had increased over the years and I'm able to 'see' without the need of my eyes. My father always worries about me, so he gave me a cane just in case I needed help guiding myself.” Wow, then that means that Hikari's four other senses are much sharper than most people. I wonder if she can hear sounds coming from a mile away? Right then, we had walked about twelve blocks from the school and had made it to a gated community on top of a hill. The security guard stopped us, but we were allowed to enter after recognizing Hikari's face. After the gates were opened, Hikari and I strolled right inside. Seconds later, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Right before me was a mcmansion, bigger than Elizabeth and Alexandra's houses combined. It stood about 5-storey-tall and stretched to about 50-feet-wide; it had gray cobblestone walls and white, wooden rails on the balconies and wooden frames on the several windows throughout. On the roof were blue tiles and three red brick chimneys.

It was like standing in front of a castle; my jaw dropped, almost reaching to the ground, I never thought that Hikari could be so rich; sure, she looked like someone that have a higher social standing but I never thought it was at this level. However, that didn’t really matter, it doesn’t change the fact that Hikari is Hikari; rich or not. Anyway, I brought her to the steps of her house as she flashed a warming smile at me, and, in return, I, as well. “Again, I must thank you for bringing me home. I wish I could invite you in, but Otou-sama wouldn’t like it if I brought a boy over,” she remarked, sincerely and politely.

I shrugged and replied, “That’s okay; I have to get home, anyway. So, see you Monday, Hikari.” I waved goodbye and walked away; for a moment, I thought I saw her smile and blushed, and thought I heard her say “I hope you have a goodnight…Haru!” in a shy, yet affectionate, tone.

30-minutes-later…

Walking up to my front door, I opened it and, slowly, tiptoed my way inside, making sure not alert the “Sexy Demoness” who lurks in the shadows. Otherwise, my night would become a hellish experience, once again. There was no sign of Keiko, anywhere, which meant I was in the clear. Unfortunately, that wasn’t meant to be. Opening my bedroom door, I was met with a dark chill festering in the air; when I stepped inside, Keiko was sitting on my bed dressed in leather lingerie and a riding crop in her hand.

“Uh, Keiko, why are you dress like that?” I inquired in a puzzle tone. I was a little uncomfortable by the way she was looking at me, giving me a fierce, yet threatening, glare.

Cracking the crop in her hand, she crossed her legs and answered, “Why? Well, let’s see, it’s about 10:14PM, which means you are 40-minutes-late, I’ve been waiting for you to enjoy the dinner I made, which I had to eat by myself, and I was hoping to spend some time with you, maybe in your bed, but I guess that never happened!” her voice carrying a hint of venom. She stood up and walked over to me with each footstep clicking louder from the force of her heels. “Now, since you had kept me waiting for that long, I guess I have no choice…but to punish you!” right at the end of the sentence, I saw her light-brown eyes changing into the color red as her pupils became like that of a cats with the whites becoming black. Backing away, I fretted as beads of sweat rolled down my forehead. “Now, prepare for a real hell-on-earth, Haru!”

Just when I saw the opportunity, I dashed out of the room and ran down the stairs. “Hey, get back here, Nakashima!” I head Keiko shout as she started chasing me, she even used her wings to give herself the momentum. Luckily I was able to outrun Keiko and leave the house before she could reach my neck.

“Sorry, Keiko, but you’re out of control; once you have time to cool off, I’ll come back and we’ll have a calm, reasonable conversation!” I cried, panicking and shutting the front door in her face. I could hear her roaring and banging her fists against the door, and when I saw her hand breaking through, I knew it was time for me to leave.

Walked over to my backyard, hoping to wait until Keiko was out of steam before going back inside. Just then, I saw Elizabeth, sitting on the bench near the pond while staring at the night sky.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I walked over to Elizabeth and greeted “H-hey,” in a casual, yet hesitant, manner.

“Hey, Haru,” she replied in a calm tone of voice. She turned her attention and looked up at me, having a stoic, yet shy, expression.

“So, why are you out here late at night?” I asked.

Smiling, she answered, straightforwardly, flashing a small grin, “I just love how the moonlight reflects in the pond; it’s just so euphoric to feel the night hair and watching the moon illuminate the sky.” Then, she asked me, “Why are you here?”

Deadpanned; I sighed and explained as I sat next to her, “Keiko is in a bad mood for coming home late; now, she’s trying to turn me into her BDSM training doll as punishment.” She nodded in understanding; having both hands on her knees and closing her eyes.

Then, we didn’t say anything else; we just sat there, hearing the sounds of the crickets chirping in the grass. I had to agree with Elizabeth, the moon was very beautiful this time of night. Finally, Elizabeth spoke up, “Hey, Haru, mind if I ask you something?”

“Sure; what is it?” I nodded, focusing my attention on Elizabeth.

She took a deep breath and calmed herself down. “Tomorrow is the weekend and I was hoping if you and I…would like to go out on a date?” she pleaded; her face being calm and straightforward.

And, just like that, my entire world came crashing down as the background shattered like glass and a dark background replaced it as my jaw dropped, nearly touching the ground.