Tears of Blood

Chapter 4: Sunny Skies, Cloudy Heart

Author's Notes: Written later than I had hoped, sorry… I also had a bad thinking of anything to happen in this chapter… *blushes*
By the way, this story takes place a few years after the events of the first season, about around the time they would be in their last year of high school, so Shun and Alice would be seventeen, and Runo would sixteen. But they were allowed to keep their Bakugan for this to story to work out.
I am also probably not going to follow my original idea, so ideas about Shun's "situation" are welcome.
Have fun with reading~!

Alice's point of view:

Runo and I were having breakfast and listening to the radio when Shun walked downstairs.
"Good morning," I smiled to him, "Want to have some tea too?"
"Yes, please," he replied, "I'm pretty thirsty."
I stood up and turned the kettle on. "Just a minute," I told him, "Why don't you sit down in the meanwhile?"
"Hmm…" he said as he sat down on the chair in front of mine, as I prepared his tea. He just sat there and listened to the weather forecast. Sunny skies, all week long. But he wouldn't care anyway. From the way he acted, he just seemed to want to distract himself from the rest of the world.

White bandaging covered nearly half of his face, but his black hair was still in his face. Dirt and blood and God knows what more were tangled into his strands of hair, making his normally beautiful hair look like the kind you'd expect on a zombie. It was also so very full of knots and tangles…
His skin was paler than normal, and he eyed like he could faint or burst into tears any moment.

"Your… your tea is ready," I said, offering him the mug.
"Oh, thanks," he replied as he took the tea. I saw him be in two minds about whether or not to wait until his tea was slightly cooler. He decided not to wait, and burned his tongue. "That was… Hot…"
Runo giggled. "Then you should wait before drinking boiled water," she said.
"I know, I know," he said, "I should be a little more careful…"
"Should I get you some cold water?" I asked him.
"Nah," Shun said, "I think I'll be fine just like this."
"Suit yourself," I said, and I sat down to eat my toast again.

Then, suddenly, Runo seemed to remember something.
"Oh, Shun, I just remembered, but there was called for you," she said.
"Oh, who?" he asked, surprised.
"Well… It was a police agent. He said he wanted you to write down what you saw when… well, you know… happened."
"Oh…" was the only thing he could say.
"And the agent also said he wanted as much details as possible, so they would have a bigger chance at finding the person who did this to you."
"Oh…" he said, "That means every single detail, right?"
I saw that he was already reliving the nightmare he had been in. Not that I know what he had been through, but from his looks it had been terrible. He slightly trembled for a few seconds, before restoring himself.
"I'll see what I can do for him," Shun said vacantly.
"But you should do it at you own pace," I reassured him, "You can't force yourself to remember everything from the beginning. And everyone knows that you've been through something terrible, nobody can expect you to get over it this soon."
"Hmm…" he responded.

I wondered what would have gotten him into this situation. He might not always be the nicest guy around, but he definitely wasn't the worst. He is a good person, honestly! A bit dark at times, but he didn't deserve a punishment like this. If it was a punishment, that is. Maybe it was just a freak that caused this, someone that just got a kick out of killing someone.
But why him? He isn't very lucky in general, and because of this, his whole life could be ruined…

No, I mustn't think like this. He was going to get over this. He was going to be happy again, finish his school, study and get a nice job. He was going to get a nice family and live a good and long life.
And I would be there to support him, together with Runo, and his other friends.

I stood up and looked out of the window. The forecast was right, I guess. The sun was shining brightly, and there was not a cloud to be seen. Children were playing outside, enjoying life. They probably didn't know how terrible life could be.
I wished I could be like them, that I could still portray the world as a truly good place. I'm not unhappy, but this incident really made me more careful, and I wasn't even the victim. But at least everything ended well. I wouldn't know what I would've done if one of my friends died. I think I would die from pure sadness alone…
But enough of these dark thoughts! I can and will enjoy life too, and I'll make Shun think the same!

As I thought this, I walked back to the table, and started cleaning up the dishes.
"You're all finished with breakfast, right?" I asked, and the both of them nodded, so I took all of the dishes with me to the kitchen, so I could wash them. Runo also had to leave, because she had to help in the café, and Shun just remained at the table, together with Skyress. When I was doing the washing up, I could hear them talking, but just not loud enough to actually understand their conversation. I finished my work and went back to them.

"Hey, Shun, maybe you should get your hair taken care of, it's dirty and knotty," I said, "I could help with that."