MidnightStar: Yo peoples. So sorry for not updating! I really really wanted to, but I was too busy at my "job" (Does it count as a job if your just helping your parents in a restaurant, not getting paid, but earning tips?) So yeah, me and Azura discussed this chapter a loooooooooong while ago. All I had to do was type it out... which was hard... I focus so much on Robin, that I forgot how to write from Stella's POV... embarrassing, I know.
On another note, Nicki and Silver Foxxie23 guessed what happened last chapter. Did they guess correctly? We'll see...
There Will Be Angst!
Kaoru's POV
Over the course of three weeks after the... switching bodies incident (Yesterday in the morning, Hikaru cheerfully exclaimed, 'I feel 20 pounds lighter! WOOO!' Then began saying something about boobs)... Robin began to act strange. Upon learning in the morning that Hikaru's watch was wrong (He forgot to change the hour...) she laughed. That's it. No cursing, or ranting. All she did was say...
"Hikaru, I'll admit, the joke was cute, but really? Ha ha, you shouldn't really joke about stuff like that."
During study hall, she'd be reading from a small book, only reacting if someone else tried to read it. What really made everything strange, was the fact that Stella didn't know what was wrong either.
Robin's POV
I looked at the piece of paper in my hands. It fell from the middle of the book, neatly folded, and slightly yellow with age. When I opened it up, I noticed it was probably ripped out of a book. A very old book. It also looked like it was handwritten.
"Robin, I'm giving you this book, but, please, don't read more than one entry each day."
Jade's instructions rang in my ears the whole day. I only read eight entries. There were at least 100 entries, considering the size of the writing and the book. And this page came from the middle of the book. It fell out, but was I allowed to read it, or not? I sighed, and looked at the cover of the book. DO NOT READ! THIS IS NOT A DIARY! I smiled, knowing that it was. A diary of my mother.
I looked at the paper again. Jade wasn't here. And, it was just one page. It wasn't even from this diary. It looked like it was from an old book, handwritten even. I sighed, and began to read, trying to make sense of it even though most of the words had faded away.
...It appears that the souls of... Hunter family... called forth... imply putting... descendent... in danger...
I'm guessing it was written as, 'It appears that the souls of the Hunter family can be called forth by simply putting a descendant in danger.' So... if I want to talk to one of my ancestors, I have to be in danger? What, like holding a gun to my head? Or something less extreme? Did I already have to be hurt? There was a faded picture at the bottom. Thankfully, the caption was still legible.
I was mortally wounded by a poisonous snake. Before a fellow companion administered the antidote, I saw a vision of my long deceased father, telling me I would live.
A ghost? Ghost of my ancestors? I sighed in frustration. This is just bulls***! As if a ghost would come and tell me if I would live or not just cuz I got hurt? Anyway, the last person, ghost, soul, whatever, I wanted to see, was my dad. The jackass was probably in hell anyway.
No One's POV
10 years prior
A young girl was sitting on the soft green grass, looking at the soft purple petals of the wysteria fall gently down, brushing against her cheeks. Her golden hair was covered with the beautiful flowers, her sky blue eyes wide with childlike wonder. But also in those eyes, were signs of pain.
"Grandma," she said, turning to an elderly lady. "Why does Uncle George get mad at Uncle Robert and daddy? I thought Uncle George was my daddy's brother."
"George is just a very sour person, and likes to argue with Victor," said the woman, tucking a stray strand of white hair behind her ear. She smiled at Robin. "You don't have a sister, but if you did, I wouldn't be surprised if you had small spats with her, Robin."
"I wouldn't fight with her!" said Robin, jumping up. "She'd be my very best friend, and we would always be good sisters to each other! If a boy like the one of the Baxter brothers was bothering her, I'd stop them!"
"I'm sure you would Robin," said her grandmother, chuckling at the high spirits of the young girl. Robin hugged her, happy that someone answered the burning question in her mind. Robin enjoyed the company of her grandmother, Carol. Her other grandmother, was nice to her mother, but she always got mad at her father, and seemed rather distant to Robin. Carol, however, treated Aubrey like a daughter.
Back to the Present
Robin's POV
"Oh hello Hikaru-kun, Kaoru-kun!" said mom coming home.
"Hey Rache," said the twins. "How was Germany?"
"Oh the scenery was beautiful!" said mom, smiling. She looked at me sadly. "Hello Robin." She started tearing up. "Well, I um, have to go pack for my next trip..." When she left, Hikaru shifted uncomfortably. Stella looked at me nervously, and then it hit me.
"Hikaru, what did you do to my mom when I was in your body?"
"W-well, ya see, she asked if I was gonna hug her goodbye, and I said no, cuz I didn't want to..." he mumbled. "I told her I wouldn't hug her because I was too old-"
"You what!" I looked at Stella. "Why didn't you stop him?" I asked, my voice quieter. There was no need to yell at Stella, Hikaru sure, Kaoru maybe, but Stella? I don't know who would yell at her willingly.
"I tried, but by the time I covered his, your, your body's mouth, Rache was already upset, and she just left crying..." said Stella "I wanted to tell you... but I forgot..." I gripped my pencil. I knew something bad would happen.
"Um... Robin I would stop holding the pencil that way.." mumbled Kaoru, I turned to look at him, and he froze. "Of course, that's just a sugestion. Y-you can keep holding it that way!" I sighed.
"I won't kill you," I mumbled, and the twins relaxed. "Well, not now anyway. It's just that... why would you say something like that to her? She's under a lot of stress you know. And if you didn't, you at least know your own mother is stressed out. They've been on trips with a bunch of collegues around the whole world. If you wouldn't say it to Yuzuha, why say it to mom? Mom is trying to be a good mother to me and Stella, and even though she can't take the place of Stella's parents, or my real mom, she's trying! And she's still my mom! You should know how hard Yuzuha tries to keep you happy. Mom tries just as hard, if not harder."
I gripped the pencil tighter, imagining how mom must have looked when Hikaru made those words come out of my mouth. It must have killed her inside. I felt a sharp pain in the palm of my hand. I looked down, and realized I just broke my third favorite pencil. A mechanical pencil.
"Robin, I think you should go talk to Rache," said Stella softly. "Before she leaves for China."
"Okay," I mumbled, getting up. I went up the stairs and knocked.
"Come in," said mom. I ran in and hugged her.
"I'm sorry mom!" I cried, sobbing. "I missed you so much, and you didn't hug me when you came back!"
"Oh, I'm sorry sweetheart. But you told me you were too old for hugs, so I didn't want to embarrass you."
"I was just moody because I felt sick," I said, calming down a bit.
"Okay," she whispered, hugging me a bit tighter. "Don't cry."
A Couple Days Later...
Hikaru's POV
"Sure, I would go on a date with you," said Stella, hugging Kaoru. I smirked as Kaoru blushed. "But I can't. I'm worried about Robin. She's been acting stranger..."
"It's only gotten worse?" we asked in unison, and Stella nodded.
"Last night... she tried to cut herself," she said, looking out the window. "I stopped her before she could do any serious harm, but she gave herself a tiny cut. I don't know why she would do that though. She said something about seeing her Grandmother, which scared me even more because her Grandmother's dead."
"Where is she now?"
"She should be inside her room... I took away everything she could possibly cut herself-"
THUD!
That was the only sound that rang through the house. It sounded like something falling onto the floor. It came from the ceiling, in the direction of the stairs. Stella imediately got up, and ran towards the stairs. We followed her, and our eyes widened at what we saw. There was dark dust everywhere, and in the middle of the hall, was a small staircase that dropped to the ceiling.
"Oh no, the attic! She must have gone up in the attic!" Stella ran into a room, and came back with a flashlight.
"I'll go with you," said Kaoru, helping her up. I felt a breeze tickle the back of my neck, and I turned around. I saw the door to a room open. A room with blue walls. "Hikaru?"
"I'm just gonna go look outside. Don't worry, I'll be careful, stay with Stella," I quickly added.
"Okay," he said, and I knew he wanted to say 'be careful', even though I told him I would be. I walked into the room, and saw the window wide open. Impossible, she couldn't have jumped out. This is the third floor. A strong gust of wind came through the window, scattering loose papers, and causing a couple books to fall off the desk. I picked some of them up, and noticed a piece of rope.
"Aw, hell no," I muttered, pulling on the piece of rope. It was tied to the desk, and led to the open window. She did get out through the window. But why did she bother opening the door to the attic? It was on the ceiling to, the door opened, and the stairs would have to be pulled down. That would take away a too much time, and make a lot of noise. I looked out the window. She went outside, but opened the attic before doing that. So the attic is just so Stella wouldn't find her too soon. I ran down the stairs, and opened the door.
I should have gotten something. Either the rope, or a baseball bat. What was I gonna do when I found her? 'No Robin, don't cut yourself!' As if she would listen to me. She didn't listen to Stella, so why would she listen to me? I sighed, and continued walking.
'Hikaru, you have to be careful, Stella says that only three steps away from the other side of the fence is a steep drop.' I remembered that Kaoru told me that a couple of days ago. I had been walking along the same path, and reached the fence. I climbed over it, curious as to what was behind it. There didn't seem to be anything, all you could see over the fence was the sky and some trees. No house or any type of building for that matter. When I asked Stella, she said it was just a steep drop, and once you got all the way to the bottom, there was a clearing full of flowers. Of course, you actually had to get to the bottom to see it, but it was there.
The perfect place for someone who didn't want to be seen.
Kaoru's POV
I looked around, there were a lot of boxes and other stuff you would find in an attic. Trunks, suitcases, a bike, heck there was even a boat. And plenty of places to hide. "Is all of this yours?" I asked.
"Nope, this stuff was here when we moved in. Robin said, 'The shit is in the attic, so it doesn't matter.' We've been here a couple of times, but it was too dusty and it triggered Rache's allergies, so we haven't been here in a while. There's a bunch of stuff here."
"Like what?"
"Um... last time we found that boat, some suitcases, a couple dolls, and a bunch of letters. And all the way in the back, Robin found- shit." Stella ran over to the far end of the attic, and I followed, being careful not to hit anything. She was looking through a box desperately. "Last time, she found a sword."
Hikaru's POV
I slowly slid down the drop, trying not to make too much noise. Once I reached the bottom, I hid behind a rock. Robin was only a couple feet away, looking at something on the ground. She lifted it up, and pulled it.
It glistened in the moonlight, like a piece of metal. She moved it, so the sharp tip was close to her neck. The piece of metal was long, like a sword. A sword.
She lowered it a little bit more, slowly, like she was having second thoughts.
"Robin stop!" I shouted, tackling her. And so, a struggle insued. "Let go of the sword! Let go of-" I gasped, and threw myself to the left. The blade of the sword almost hit me in the face. Robin grabbed the sword which had fallen on the ground, and I tackled her again.
"Idiot, get off me!" she shouted, trying to shove me off.
"Drop the sword!"
"Make me!" she shouted back, and we continued to struggle for the sword. I was finally able to grab it, and I threw it far enough so that she couldn't reach it. "Damn it, get off!"
"Tell me why you were trying to kill yourself!" She lifted her leg quickly, hitting me in the crotch with her knee. I groaned in pain, and she shoved me off. She looked like she was about to grab the sword again, and I was about to tackle her again, but all she did was sit up. She sighed, and coughed a bit, putting her hand close to the base of her neck. "Why... were you trying... to kill yourself?" I said in between gasps.
"Why should I tell you?" she snapped. I really should have brought the rope. She removed her hand from her chest, and her eyes widened. Even I could see it in the pale moonlight. Bright red liquid coated her hand. She let out a shaky breath, and I saw her blood stained shirt. "Shit."
"What did you do?"
"Me? You're the one who tackled me!"
"Let me see how bad it is," I said, getting up. She shook her head. "Robin-"
"NO!" And for the third time this night, I tackled her. "Stop it! Get off!" I unbuttoned some of her shirt, enough to see the medium sized gash starting at her collarbone, and going dangerously close to her chest. "NO! Get off!"
"Would you stop for a second! You frickin' cut yourself in the neck! Would it kill you to be quiet for one damn minute!" I asked aggravated. I'm trying to help her, and she's trying to punch me. Why is she so difficult?
Stella's POV
I stopped looking through the box. "Let go of the sword!" I heard it coming from outside.
"Did you hear that?" I asked.
"Hear what?"
"I thought I heard Hikaru shouting-"
"Get off me!" shouted another voice. We ran back to the entrance to the attic. That was definitely Robin and Hikaru screaming at each other. Kaoru got down first, and we heard some more screaming.
"Drop the sword!" shouted Hikaru. We ran outside, and the screaming got louder. We looked around, and realized they must be on the other side of the fence.
"Make me!" yelled Robin.
"Well, he found her," muttered Kaoru, helping me down the steep gorge. Sure enough, when we got there, they were wrestling each other. Hikaru was on top of Robin, straddling her, and she was trying to punch him.
"You see what I see, right?" I asked.
"I don't know what I'm seeing," said Kaoru. "Should we... stop them? Or... I really don't know what to do... Hikaru!" Hikaru turned around, and Robin took that chance to throw him off of her. He landed on his stomach, and Robin held his arms behind his back.
"I said, no," she said, anger dripping from every word. I looked at Kaoru, and it seemed like he thought the same thing as I did. Hikaru found Robin... but he was on top of her... was he...? I cleared my throat, and the two of them froze. In less than five seconds, the two of them were far away from each other. Hikaru was rubbing his arm, and Robin was buttoning her shirt, and- wait, buttoning her shirt? It was unbuttoned? Then I noticed something else that was weird. "Robin, is that... blood?"
"Wow... super hickey..." mumbled Kaoru.
"It's not a hickey!" shouted Robin. "I was playing around with the sword, and my hand slipped. Hikaru wanted to see how bad it was, but I got scared by the blood. Isn't that right Hikaru?" He stopped, glanced at me and Robin, then nodded.
"Yeah. That's what happened," he muttered, standing up. "It looks pretty deep, I wonder how you did that accidentaly."
"Heh, clumsy me," said Robin.
"Robin you should be more careful! You really scared me too, I thought you were gonna do the same thing as last night!" I said, and she smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry 'bout that," she said. "It's not as deep as Hikaru says though. He's just exagerating." But there was a lot of blood on her shirt. On her hand too. I looked at Kaoru, but he looked as confused as I was feeling. Robin doesn't like lying. And even though everything didn't add up the way it should, I chose to believe her.
MidnightStar: I'm not used to Stella's complete and utter trust of everyone.
Kelly: I think it's nice though, she loves her sister enough to trust her completely.
MidnightStar: I'm more worried about the fact that I made it too obvious that Robin was lying.
Review! 4 reviews gets you Chapter 9!
And for my readers (I love you all! In an author/reader way, not romantic, cuz that would be creepy) a preview of the next chapter!
I sighed, and sat down on the bench. In many ways, Mimiko's offer to look into my past seemed pretty good. I looked up at the sky, wondering just what would hurt, and how badly. My thoughts were interrupted by a force hitting me. I grabbed the person's arm, and flipped them. She was pretty light, and from the way she gracefully landed, I knew she was no amateur. My eyes widened as I realized who it was.
"Jade?"