Playing the Secret's Game - Original - Series [Chapter 02]

"Aaralynn?" Karista was waving a hand in front of Aaralynn's face and was snapping her fingers occasionally. Aaralynn tried to focus on Karista, but it was hard. From where she was sitting in the cafeteria, she could easily look out the window overlooking the lake and see the sleeping form of Asche there. Karista, who was sitting across her couldn't.

Reluctantly, Aaralynn turned back towards her new best friend. 

"Yes?" She asked distracted. 

"As I was saying...” Karista started saying, but stopped when she saw Aaralynn was not with her mentally anymore. Irritated, Karista turned towards whatever it is Aaralynn was staring at. Asche. Asche Faber.

Karista's expression darkened. "Aaralynn!" Karista practically screamed. A few heads turned their direction. Aaralynn's own head snapped back to Karista. Abandoning her lunch, Karista stood up and dragged Aaralynn out of the cafeteria.

When they got to a quieter part of the school, Karista blew up.

"I told you to stay away from that guy. He will only hurt you! Now tell me the truth, you like him don't you!? I saw you stare at him lots of times!"

Aaralynn nodded. "Yes. I do like him Karista. I don't believe he will hurt me. He's beautiful. You know what I mean? Like really beautiful."

Karista sighed. She knew what Aaralynn was talking about. Asche was a handsome young man. He would be the subject of crush of many girls if only they weren't so frightened of him. Karista believed that Asche would endanger her friend if she lets Aaralynn go on like this.

"You don't know that do you Aar? That guy will hurt you! More physically than mentally! He's a sick psycho who likes hurting people! I've seen the people he tortured who got in his way lots of times. They are all deranged now! You got me? Stay away from him!!"

Aaralynn looked away in contempt. 

"Fine!" Karista bellowed. "It's really up to you! Just trust me when I say he'll hurt you!"

Karista walked away from her friend. Aaralynn could only look at Karista's retreating figure all the while thinking, ‘I'll show her he's a nice guy.’

----------------------------------

The next day, Aaralynn decided to stay away from Karista just a little bit longer. Karista sent her messages of apology. Aaralynn messaged back saying she was never mad at Karista and assured her it's all alright. But Aaralynn decided to stay away from Karista just a little bit longer until she can get just a little bit closer to Asche.

So today Aaralynn avoided Karista the whole day and went to the lake with her lunch. As usual, Asche was there. Lying down, eyes closed. Aaralynn walked towards Asche and sat down beside him. It was a fine spring day and the breeze blew quietly. Aaralynn cast a glance at Asche. Up close, he was more marvelous than Aaralynn had ever seen him. Milky white skin and contrasting dark hair. It's all too beautiful. He looked peaceful and still in his sleep.

Or at least that's what Aaralynn thinks. He's asleep. Until he opened one eye and caught Aaralynn's face right on top of his, her chocolate eyes staring down at him. Surprised, he sat up quickly and they ended up banging foreheads.

Aaralynn jerked back and rubbed her forehead a little. Then she looked back at Asche. Asche's eyes went wide with horror and his face was of sheer shock. Aaralynn can't help but giggle a little. 

"You'll catch a cold sleeping here," Aaralynn said airily. Like she hadn't been staring and merely passing by.

"What do you care?" Asche replied a bit roughly and scooted a little farther away from Aaralynn. Aaralynn just smiled at him. 

"Get lost," Asche muttered to Aaralynn. She shook her head a little bit.

"No, I love it here. It's a fine spot here. Don't you get a little bit lonely spending it alone? I decided you share it with me."

Asche pulled Aaralynn by the hair closer to him. Aaralynn whimpered a little at the roughness. "I said get lost. Or I'll hurt you. I mean it."

"I know you mean it. I heard the stories," Aaralynn tried to say it as steadily as she could, but a little bit of fear interlaced in her voice.

"So get lost!" Asche shoved her away and lay down again.

"But I don't believe it!" Aaralynn said firmly to Asche. How hard-headed is this girl? Asche sighed to himself. He just wants to be left alone. This girl had ruined it for him.

He turned around so he wouldn't be facing her and tried going back to sleep. To peace. Sleep is like peace to Asche. No one bothered him. No teachers to get on his back, no father nagging and beating him up, and certainly no random girl bothering him right now.

Asche shut his eyes for a long time. But sleep didn't come. He could still feel the girl there, eating her lunch and doing whatever she wanted to do. Asche couldn't care less. He didn't even know her.

But there's something about her. She wasn't scared. Not at all. There's no sense of fear in her, which he usually sense in people who came in contact with him. Even the adults. Even his drunk and abusive father. To an extent at least.

He doesn't remember her from anywhere, but she remembered seeing her face a couple of times. Sighing, he sat up. Even she deprived him from peaceful sleep. 

"I am Aaralynn," Aaralynn chirped happily. Asche grunted, not really caring. After a while, Aaralynn noticed that Asche is not replying. "I know you're Asche."

Asche grunted again. Of course she knew him. Who doesn't? He's the terror of the town after all. Everybody knows him. Everybody fears him. He could hear people talking about him. Whispering. Always whispering and pointing where ever he goes.

Some of them wondered why he wasn't put into a lunatic asylum or locked up somewhere safe. Some wondered how he is able to freely walk the streets and attended the local school like a normal person. He wasn't normal. He's twisted and likes to hurt people.

They remembered his first victim. 6 years old Asche. A brown street puppy. Roasted and cooked alive in the microwave oven at his house. His father, equally twisted, had beaten him hard. Very, very hard. He broke the tendons in Asche's right shoulder and slices him from the neck to his chest with a butcher knife. The scar poked through the collar of his shirt up until now is proof. Asche was admitted to the hospital for three months.

At the age of 13, his second victim was a girl who lived across his street. She was a very annoying girl and was cruel to everyone. She wouldn't treat anyone nice and no one liked her. She tried to bully Asche once because he looks lean and frail and seems to be a very easy target. Asche made sure there wasn't a second time. 

Late at night, he would creep into the girl's room, tie her wrists to her bedposts and plaster her mouth. The girl woke up, unable to scream and saw Asche before he blindfolds her. Then slowly, Asche would cut parts her cheeks and slowly drag the knife across her legs. He could still feel the thrill just by remembering it. Her whimpers of fear and tears. He was never caught. The girl was sent to a mental asylum shortly after.

More victims come afterwards, whether humans or animals, old or young, boy or girl, man or child. Asche didn't discriminate his victims. Just for the pleasure of instilling fear into people is enough to satisfy his sick mind. His reputation grows and by the years, the sense of fear was everywhere and his need didn't need much satisfying anymore. His victims lessened, but the fear people have for him had not.

Except for this one girl. Whoever she is. She's still there, waiting for Asche to say something, staring at him.

He felt many stares before. But her stare by far made him very uncomfortable. He never felt uncomfortable being stared at. He was used to it. Everywhere he goes people will stare. It's not something new, being stared at. But why is this girl so special? Why isn't she afraid of him?

In frustration, Asche left Aaralynn alone, walking away and never looking back.

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Only Obsession - Prince of Tennis - Series [Chapter 02]

Watching from the distance is the hardest thing to do. Keigo doesn't have a choice, if he can choose, then he would rather choose to be right next to her, basking in the attention he got from her and appreciate every single moment. He came all the way from across the globe just to come back and make things right with her and all he got was a slap and a very clear declaration of hate. Two years have passed and he still can't forget about it. Sure, he may be exaggerating; Japan is not even across the globe from Europe. The only thing that stood in between them is China and Korea, but I am getting off track here. The point is, he felt like he deserves this kind of treatment, but he still can't accept it.

Keigo watched from the window of his student council office. There is no club practice today because of an emergency staff meeting and he decided to finish some paperwork, but one thing led to another and his concentration strayed. Then it dissolved into thin air the moment he saw Izumu.

The office window faces the school courtyard, which is where all the couples go to for PDA or where most girls confess to guys and vice versa and mostly all that romance stuff. Keigo nearly panicked when he saw Izumu with another guy. Who dares go near his precious Izumu?

Then the guy stepped out of the shadows and Keigo sighed in relief when he saw Oshitari. Technically, Keigo told Oshitari to keep an eye on her and he somewhat acts like a spy for him, so Keigo wasn't that worried. Since he can't be there for Izumu personally, he'll have to get others to do it for him. He doesn't want to think about the consequences when Izumu finds out what he's been doing. The reason why they're both in the courtyard at such a time is something he has to take note of and seek the answer out of Oshitari later.

He sat back in his office chair and stared at the brown envelope in his desk, the words 'Transfer Student' scribbled on the top left corner of the envelope. Soon, he will have another spy who will keep an eye on Izumu for him. He smirked and proceeded to open the envelope.

---

The only reason I am here in the first place is because of Oshitari-san. He received (another) love letter today and he insists that I tag along with him (again). I am not that innocent or that dense as to not know what the actual purpose of the school courtyard is for. It's where all the couples are, showing off their love to the whole world or where most confessions went on. In other words, it's not somewhere I would go alone or with anybody for romantic purposes on that matter.

How popular can this guy be anyway? This was his fifth letter today. He received one before class started, one during morning break, two during lunch break where a little cat fight broke out between the two girls who sent the letter and now, after school too. I obediently tagged along although I feel out of place. Oshitari-san stood under the designated tree and waited for the girl to appear. I hid on the other side of the tree, peeping over the edge.

"A-ano… Oshitari-kun…" My ears perked up when I hear a girl's voice and I paid more attention to my surroundings. A quiet petite brown haired girl with round dark blue eyes came up to Oshitari-san. The first thing I did was study her legs. The other girls in class said that Oshitari-san likes girls with nice legs, but I am not a good judge of legs. But other than that, she looks cute and seems to by Oshitari-san's type.

I've seen all types of girls before as he always makes me tag along with him to every confession he had to say 'no' too. There are girls who scream, girls who fainted, girls who are a tad too aggressive and jumps all over poor Oshitari-san, girls who don't stop talking even for air, girls who don't talk at all, and a few normal ones. Of course being the person he is, Oshitari-san shot every one of them down politely regardless of what type of person she is.

This one looks normal at least. And she has a nice voice.

"Furukawa-san… right?" Oshitari-san asked and she nodded. "Good, I got the right person. How may I help you?"

"A-ano… Oshitari-san," she took a deep breath, "I've always admired you. You're so smart and nice and I… I like you!" She said and took a deep bow.

"I am sorry, Furukawa-san. But I can't go out with you."

"Why not?" She asked and stood up straight again. She looked close to crying and I sympathize with her. "Is there somebody else?"

"I am not going to make excuses, Furukawa-san. I can't be with you. Please understand that."

"There must be somebody else, right? That's why you reject everyone who wants to be your girlfriend. Is it that girl you're always with? The one Atobe-sama wants? Is it her?"

He shot a worried glance at my direction, but Furukawa-san didn't stop talking.

"Why didn't you deny it? It must be her! And the only reason you can't have her is because Atobe-sama loves her, isn't that right? Why must she get everything? What's so good about her? What do you see in her? I can't think of anything that makes her better than me!"

"Don't talk about Izumu-chan like that," he snapped. "She's better than you in a lot of ways. And yes, maybe I love her! It's none of your business now is it?"

That was the first time I saw Oshitari-san acts like that towards a girl. She ran away crying and I popped out of my hiding spot. "Oshitari-san…"

"Izumu-chan. Sorry you have to hear that."

I shook my head softly, "It's okay. Isn't it a shame though, that girl looked kind of cute and she's pretty normal compared to some of the other girls." I stared at the direction she left before looking back at Oshitari-san. "You shouldn't use me as an excuse to reject someone, you know? That doesn't sound sincere, considering that you don't love me that way."

"You think I don't?" He asked and I giggled.

"Of course not! Stop joking around," I slapped his arm before turning serious again. "Why do you always reject all those girls anyway? Half of them don't look half-bad."

"Well… I don't know, maybe because I have someone I already like," he said mysteriously.

"What? That's the first time I heard that! Tell me who it is!" I demanded as we walked towards the school gate.

"That's… S-E-C-R-E-T," he said and placed a finger in front of his lips. "You wouldn't believe me if I say who it is anyway."

"I would! Just tell me, pretty pretty please?" I put on my best puppy face. He rolled his eyes.

"That would usually work on me, but not this time," he said and pat my head.

"Is it that girl from your fan club in 3-F?"

"Who?"

"You know… the one with the braids…"

"Oh. No."

"Hmmm…. That girl who sits beside Shishido-san? You guys talk quiet a lot right?"

"Saotome-san? Not her either. Make smarter guesses."

I racked my brains for somebody to guess. Someone who is close to him maybe? Or someone he secretly admires? Someone outside school? Someone from the girls' tennis club?

"I know!" I exclaimed excitedly and jumped around. "I know! I know! I know! This time I'll guess it right! If I guess right you'll have to make me your Osaka special takoyaki!"

"Okay I will, but only if you guess right. Who is your unlucky guess this time?"

"It's Mukahi-kun isn't it?"

"…"

---

"I am so going to get an E…" Shishido-san banged his head on the table. We just had our mock high school entrance exam to determine which high school would suit us. Usually, the high school division of Hyotei Gakuen only accepts students who scored B and above for outside students, but for those who studied at the middle school division, a C is acceptable.

"Did you not do well?" I asked and turned around in my chair. He sat behind me, so communication was easy.

"Of course not, isn't it obvious?" He whined. "How did you do anyway, Ishiki?"

"Okay… I guess?" I wasn't sure how I fared in that test. I'll thank the stars if I can at least get a B.

"That's so lame," he scoffed before commenting on Jirou's sleeping state in the front row, "Jirou looks like he doesn't care. Good for him."

The bell rang for the end of school. It was raining hard outside.

"I guess this means outdoor practice will be cancelled. I was looking forward to some sun, but I guess we'll have to stay in the indoor gym now. Tch, so lame."

I groped around the inside of my bag. "I can't find my umbrella, I must've forgotten it."

Hearing that, Shishido-san looked around inside of his bag too. "I can't find mine either. Out of all days to forget my umbrella."

I poked him on the shoulder and pointed to the door. His ever so loyal kouhai, Ootori-kun was standing in front of our class. We approached him.

"Shishido-san, I came to tell you practice is cancelled. The weatherman said that the rain might get worse. The coach doesn't want us to be stuck out in the storm, so we can all go home now."

"Thanks, Choutarou. But I forgot my umbrella today, so go home without me."

"I thought you might, so I came to pick you up too."

"That's nice, Shishido. You have such a thoughtful kouhai," I teased him. Shishido-san is super sensitive when it come to Ootori-kun, everyone knows that and always makes fun of their relationship. Shishido-san turned beet red.

"That's-!"

"SHISHIDO! OOTORI! IZUMU!" A loud voice boomed and we all jumped in shock. I turned my head to see Jirou skipping over to us.

"IT"S PRACTICE TIME!" He announced happily. Then Ootori-kun repeated to him the news and his whole face crumbled.

"I'll just go home now then…" he mumbled and walked away. I said goodbye to Ootori-kun and Shishido-san too and left for Oshitari-san's classroom. Maybe I can go home with him, but when I reached his classroom; his classmate said he went home already. It was a week after he said that he had someone he liked and for some reason, he avoids me sometimes.

I decided to just wait out for the rain in front of the school. It was kind of chilly and students are all heading home. I could always call my chauffeur, Kaji-san, but I remembered that his wife was in the hospital. I don't want to have to make him leave her side just to fetch me from this rain. It will end sooner or later anyway.

---

Keigo glances at the clock on his office wall. It said 6 pm. He should really be getting home. He had sent Kabaji home earlier as he still has a mountain of work to go through. Kabaji insisted to help and asked him to rest, but Keigo doesn't want anyone else to do his work. The result won't be as satisfactory. In the end, Kabaji agreed to go home first.

Keigo stretched in his chair and stared out the window. It was still raining and doesn't look like it'll let up anytime soon. He placed all his paperwork back into its respective folder and stacked them neatly on his desk before putting on his school blazer. He didn't realize it was getting chilly. It was late September and it has been raining for over four hours now.

He locked the student council room and decided to go home. It would be easier to call his chauffeur and asked him to pick him up rather than walk home in the rain, but he didn't want to waste time waiting for the car to arrive.

As he neared the entrance, he could see a familiar figure crouched outside on the front door. It was Izumu. What was she doing out here in the rain? There are no more students left and hardly any teachers were still around. He picked up his umbrella from the umbrella stand and went outside.

---

I heard the door open. Who could still be at school in this hour? When I glanced back and saw Keigo-kun, I just stared straight ahead again, ignoring him.

"Izumu-chan?" he asked and stood beside me. I deliberately looked away, pretending to be interested in a nearby bush. "Aren't you going home?"

I didn't answer him and he sighed. "Want to share an umbrella? You must be cold, waiting here for almost three hours."

Well, I can't deny that I was feeling a little cold. "Thank you, but no thank you, Atobe-san," I told him as formal as I can. What makes him think I want to share an umbrella with him anyway?

"There's no reason to be out here in the cold and it doesn't look like the rain will stop any time soon. Why don't I bring you home?" He kept insisting. I stood up, but didn't face him. I was getting tired of crouching anyway.

"I don't need your sympathy," I snarled and crossed my arm to keep out the cold. The school blazer wasn't warm enough for me. I am very sensitive to cold.

"You are sensitive to cold, here," he said and took off his blazer and gave them to me. I didn't want to take it, so he wrapped it around my shoulder. I just let it hang there. Why does he still remember every single fact about me anyway? He was the one who used to act like he doesn't need me around.

"You really won't go home with me?" He asked again. When I didn't answer, he gave an exasperated sigh. "Talk to me, won't you?"

"No, I'll wait for the rain to let up," I said curtly. I can feel him shuffle beside me before feeling a tug on my backpack. I almost toppled over at the sudden additional force.

"You need it more than I do," he said before running into the rain. What? What did I need more than he does? I took off his blazer that was still hanging on my shoulder before turning my back and took off a strap of my backpack. There, hanging on the side pocket of my backpack, was his umbrella.

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