Chapter 1 - School

   " Mizuki! Hey Mizuki, wait up!" Yelled Azumi, running up behind me. Azumi Kohana has been my best friend since third grade. She was 5'6, same height as me, with black hair, and bright amber eyes. I stopped walking until she caught up. We both are weird looking, in the eleventh grade, and have a love of for the paranormal.

   " Jeeze, Mizuki, got a hot date tonight?" She said, looking down the hall.

   " Never." I replied, looking at her like she was crazy. I don't date.

   " Oh come on, 'Zuki. You know that Kenji would go with you before you could ask."

   " That's because Kenji's weird and he's known me since. . . I was in the second grade."

   " Yea, longer than we've known each other."

   " I can't believe we went to the same school for three years before we finally met."

   " I know, but if we hadn't met, I wouldn't be here." Azumi said, looking at me.

   When we were in fourth grade, the schools head gang had surrounded her. Taking her money and backpack, they pulled a gun on her. I was walking home from Kenji's house when I saw it.

Running up behind them, I screamed at them.

   " Hey you a*s-holes, leave her alone." I ran in front of Azumi, making her pull out her cell phone.

   " Hey look, boss, there's another one." A guy in a green shirt shouted. When one of them stepped toward me, I stepped back. Soon I was up against a wall. The guy in the green shirt touched my face, making me scream.

   " Kenji!" He lived about two blocks away. He would hear me. He had too.

   " You little, b***h!" The guy said, slapping me in the face. " Do not scream like that again, or we'll make it more painful."

   " Make what less painful, Justin?" Kenji said, stepping in front of me. " You can't honestly be thinking about raping my girls, are you?"

   Back then, Kenji called us his girls. Mostly because that's what everyone else called us. Whenever we were seen, we were with Kenji. He walked up to Justin, the leader of the gang.

   " You bet, pipsqueak. Move out of the way and you won't get hurt."

   " Actually, I won't get hurt. You will." Kenji turned around and grabbed my shoulder. Walking us to his house, the gang followed us.

   " So these girls are making the mighty Kenji soft?" Kenji's brother, Allen asked. Allen was older than us by two years and lived with his mother down the street.

   " Actually, they make me stronger." We walked into Kenji's house, just as the police pulled up. The gang ran down the street; the cops right behind them. We sat in Kenji's livingroom, drinking soda.

   " You guys all right?" Kenji asked, sitting next to me.

   " Yea, I'm glad you heard me, or we would be toast." I said, putting my arm over his shoulder's in a half-hug.

   " Actually, I didn't hear you. I went for a walk and came across you." Kenji said leaning back, making me do the same.

   " You were following me?" I half-asked, half-stated. " Kenji! I told you not too."

   " Hey, it saved your life."

   " I guess you’re right, thanks." I said, removing my arm from his shoulder's. Right then Kenji's dad came in.

   " Hey, what happened?" He said, looking at the three of us. Kenji sat on the edge of the couch, me being right beside him. Azumi was on my other side, still trying to get over what happened.

   " Justin and Allen." Was all that Kenji said, not looking at his dad.

   " Are all of you all right?"

   " Yea, thanks to Kenji." I said, looking at him.

   " So, my son came to the aid of a damsel in distress?"

   " I'm not a damsel. She is." I said, pointing at Azumi. I had been attacked by the gangs of the school since I went there, I was used to them. Although, she had been there as long as I had, she was never noticed by the gangs. " But he went against what I told him. I told him not to follow me and he did."

   " And he saved your life? Wow, my sons a hero." His dad said, walking up the stairs.

   Soon, a woman came over, Justin and Allen right behind.

   " What are you doing here? Your not supposed to be." Kenji said from the doorway. Walking to the door, there was Justin, Allen, and their mother.

   The bell rang breaking us out of our memories. Turning down the next hallway, we stopped at Azumi's locker. After we stopped at my locker, we were called in to talk to the principal. As we walked to the principal’s office, we were joined by Osamu, Azumi's brother. Osamu was our other best friend. Like us, he looked weird and loved the paranormal, but was in the tenth grade.

   " Hey Azumi, hi Mizuki." He said, walking up behind us and throwing his arms over our shoulders. We had created this little family of the three of us, including Misaki, my little sister, and Kenji. " We still on for tonight?"

   " Yea, but I need to go home after the concert, Mom's got work." I said, throwing his arm off my shoulder as Azumi had done before.

   " Why don't we drop by your house and grab Misaki before we go home?" Azumi said, referring to the little house in the back yard. We usually stayed there over night when we had a concert.

   " Sure why not, since Dad doesn't really pay attention to her, she stays up in her room. So it won't be much of a difference." I said. Pulling my book from my over stuffed bookbag, I dropped my math book on the floor. When Azumi picked it up, a note fell out.
   " Hey Mizuki, what's this?" She asked, handing me the note.
   " A note?" I said.

   " Well, duh. But what's on it?" She said, handing me the note. Ripping of the seal, I read:

'Four Women,

Bound to This World

Until It Is Full-filled

Another is Cursed
A Thousand Years Until It Begins

Unless We Succeed
It Will Never End’

 

   " What's the hell is that supposed to mean?" Azumi looked at me expecting an answer.

   " I have no clue." I said, pulling my backpack off, I put my math book in it. Pulling my dark blue and silver streaked black hair into a ponytail, I continued walking toward the principals office, when she stopped and grabbed my arm.

   " Do you have the concert tickets? I can't find them." She asked, looking panicked.

   " You always lose them Azumi. I don't know why we give them to you to watch." I said, making her even more panicked.

   Azumi punched me in the arm and held out her hand for the tickets. After much digging in my bag, I finally found them in the bottom. Giving them to Azumi, I watched her put them in a bag and into the front pocket of her backpack. The bag was always a precaution, you never know what's living in Azumi's bag of hell.

   Soon we made it to the principals’ office. We took our seats across from the front desk, and waited. A few minutes later Azumi was called in to talk to the principal. Then Osamu. And finally me. Before I went in, I gave my bag to Azumi and told her,

   " If I'm not back in five minutes, tell everyone that I ran away and was killed during a battle with the magical monkey banana king."

   " Okay." She whispered back as I walked into the room, and shut the door behind me.
   " So, what did you want to talk to me about?" I said, plopping down into a chair that was in front of her desk.
   "Mizuki, is there something going on at home?" She said, leaning against the desk with her arms crossed.
   " You're right, there is something going on at home, I can't decide if I want to paint my room blue or black." I said, looking around the room. Light blue walls, with green trim, and a picture of the principal on the wall. Gag.
   " Mizuki." She said in a stern voice, "This is not a joke."
   " It's my life, I think I have a right to keep my personal life out of school, don't you agree?" I said, picking at my nails.
   " You're 16 Mizuki, and until you turn 18, you have no choice in wether or not your personal life stays out of school."

   " Too bad, Ms. Asako. I keep what I want out of school, and there's nothing teachers can do about it. Now if you excuse me, I have to go get ready for a concert." I said as I stood up. Walking out of the office, there was Osamu with Kenji. Azumi was no where in site.

   After a few minutes’ Azumi came back with four sodas. Only one was mountain dew, and the rest diet Pepsi.

   " Sorry, there was only one can of mountain dew left, so you two decide which one gets it." She said, giving a diet Pepsi to her brother, opening one for herself.

   " I know let’s have a race, first one to cross the finish line gets the mountain dew." Kenji said.

   " Kenji, you know that's not fair. You’re on the track team." Azumi shouted.

   " No. It's fine, Azumi. We all know I can beat him." Walking toward the field, I lined up at the starting line with Kenji to my right.

   " On your marks, get ready, get set, go." Shouted Osamu, and Kenji was off. I turned around and grabbed the mountain dew from Azumi, opening it, and drinking half. When Kenji finally finished, he said,

   " You're a cheater."

   " Why because I'm smarter than you?" I said, taking another sip from the almost empty can.

   " You were supposed to race me!"

   " No, you said and I quote ' first one to cross the finish line gets the mountain dew', you didn't say anything about racing."

   " Damn, why do you have to be such a smart-a*s?"

   " Because I am. But since you look like you're about to cry, you can have the rest of it." I said, handing him what was left.

   " Really? Thanks, Mizuki!" He said throwing his arm around my shoulders, giving me the rest of his Pepsi.

   " Yea uh-huh, now get the f**k of off me." I said, pushing him off me.
   " Hey, it’s empty. Mizuki!" Kenji said, taking the Pepsi from me.

   " Okay so, what happened?" Azumi said, jumping up and down like an idiot.
   " What do you mean, what happened?" I asked, confused about what she was talking about.

   " Well, what happened in the principals office?"

   " Well I would tell you, but we got to get ready for the concert tonight. Remember? Where's your head Azumi?" I asked, grabbing my backpack from her.

   " I don't know, asleep? Candy land?" She said, walking toward the entrance to the school.

   " Hey, 'Zumi. Our house's are this way. Osamu will you please carry your sister so we can get home?"

   When Osamu picked up Azumi, we ran from the field all the way home.

Author's Note

Spelling? Grammar?