• SIDE STORY 1 - ORIHIME'S STRUGGLE

    Why are some things called "gifts"? Even when it's a bad thing, some still consider it a gift. Some could think it would be a good thing, but it could turn out to the the complete opposite.

    "Take it easy, you're going to cut your finger off," Kai sighed as he crossed his arms and shook his head.

    "Shut up, you're annoying," he was pissing me off. Just been getting on my case over every single thing the past couple of days. I didn't even know why either.

    "I was just teasing you. Calm down."

    He always found a way to piss me off over the smallest things. I guess it's something you learn from boredom after being around for a hundred and seventy-six years and going to be around for another five hundred or so.

    I cut my vegetables and potatoes bitterly, ignoring anything Kai told me. He only continued to stand near me with his arms crossed and chuckle at me. Trying to cut my food like a professional Japanese chef, I slit my left idex finger open and dropped my knife on the cutting board. Kai perked up straight and stared at me as I held my index finger.

    "Ouch! God dammit!" I squeezed my finger, allowing a couple drops of blood to ooze out.

    I knew what Kai wanted, but I didn't really feel like feeding him. And apparently he thought that was too damn bad because he grabbed my finger and pressed his cold lips against my cut and slowly sucked the blood out. The blood in my cheeks heated up and I turned red.

    "S-stop it," I whispered, "Jerk."

    He chuckled and ran his tongue over the cut and I tried to jerk my hand away, disgusted. He continued to drink the blood, only making me assume I cut myself deep. Kai paused right away and rose his head and looked into the living room. I looked up at him.

    "What is it?" I whispered again.

    "It's...Orihime. She wants to talk to you."

    Kai stared at me with a look of uncertainty on his face. Orihime made her way to the kitchen doorway and leaned against it, "Arisa, may I speak with you?"

    I spoke without looking away from Kai, "Yeah, I'll be right there," I leaned in close to Kai and whispered as quietly as I could, "Is there something wrong?"

    He struggled to find the right thing to say, "Well, yeah, kind of,"

    "What does she want to talk about?"

    He struggled again, "Things. I'm not certain if you will want to hear them."

    "Are they...bad things?"

    Sighing, he turned me around and pushed me lightly towards the living room, "Maybe it's best if you know,"

    I was confused at the fact that Orihime could be telling me bad news, but I knew it wouldn't be anywhere near as bad as that contract Kai told me about.

    I'm sucking you dry later, I heard Kai say in my head. I whipped around and glared at him and he only laughed at me and walked into the kitchen. I turned back to the living room and Orihime was sitting patiently at the couch, her bleach blond hair and her porcelain skin glistening off the lights. I took a deep breath, shameful of my human appearance once again, and and place myself next to her as delicately as I could. Orihime turned to me and smiled her angelic smile that was so easy for her to attempt.

    "I know you've been wondering how long I've been blind and how I've become blind, right?"

    Bingo. She was in my head after all too. I nodded and smiled back at her with my futile attempt of an Angel smile like hers. I was just relieved she couldn't see my feeble attempt.

    "Don't worry, it's been bugging me for a long time too that I haven't told you," her face was turning a little more serious, "I don't know if it's something you need to know for sure, but you could be better off, who knows?" she shrugged.

    "Matsuda and I have been married for the past, oh," she looked up and counted on her fingers, "Three hundred and seventy-five years or so."

    I gaped, my memory completely consigned to oblivion that her and Matsuda were immortal. But three hundred and seventy-five years and still going strong?

    "Anyways, a few decades ago, before Takeuchi came, we finally decided we wanted a family," she said casually, "So, we went for it and we were lucky enough for me to get pregnant the first time we tried for a child." I could feel a heart-warming smile pull across my face at how beautiful that baby was.

    "When you're an Angel, the only way you can tell you're pregnant is that you just get bigger. We don't have any symptoms like morning sicknesses or cravings or any of that. It's just a matter of waiting until physical changes occur.

    "So after nine months, we had a baby girl. We made Kira and Kai the God-forsaken uncles." she laughed to herself and I couldn't help but laugh with her, not caring if Kai overheard, "Her name was Mitsukai and she looked more like Matsuda than she did me. She had the black hair, the face, but she had my eyes." her beautiful brown eyes.

    "It might come as a surprise to you, but immortals and Vampires and Werewolves and them all age the same way humans do until they reach a certain age. The age for maturity for an immortal is at least fifteen or sixteen years old, but when those creatures including Angels are younger than that, they're still vulnerable to so many things." her face saddened.

    "Mitsukai was about five years old...when a Vampire attacked her,"

    I held my breath, knowing this didn't end well.

    "It was just outside of the house. The Vampire infected her, and left her for dead. Kai and Kira went after the Vampire and killed him, but it was already too late for Mitsukai. She was in my arms, dying, becoming a monster. With the rate she was at, she wouldn't even be able to survive the infection, it would kill her.

    "Matsuda and I pondered frantically, not knowing what we could do. Matsuda finally came up with a plan; we needed to kill her ourselves." my heart skipped a beat, "I took the knife from Matsuda and carried out the will and killed her the only way you can kill an immortal." she buried her face in one of her hands and looked down. I could have sworn she was crying, but when she looked up, her face was still dry.

    "We couldn't let her go through with the pain of the transformation and the pain of being a new born Vampire. It was for the best of her. However..." her mood went somber, "The councel found out, the counsel of Angels. We met up with them under demand and the Chief, Matsuda's father, opted to punish me. Matsuda wasn't punished because he didn't commit the sin, he only thought of it. You're only punished for what you do, according to the counsel.

    "They couldn't execute me, so instead, they decided to so-call 'gift' me by blinding me,"

    My eyebrows burrowed together and tears had already brimmed my eyes, "How is that a gift?" my voice cracked.

    "Their excuse is that I won't have to see anybody suffer anymore. They thought I had seen enough, so to them, blinding was the best way to go. I've been like this for the past thirty years." she sighed, "But I can still hear people suffer, and it's just as bad. I can still hear their thoughts when they suffer. Do you have any idea how unbearable it was to hear your suffering in your head?" she stared at me, "It was horrible. Matsuda stayed up with me every night while I cried, wishing there was something I could do to help you."

    I nodded quickly, wanting to end the conversation, "Thanks for letting me know. I understand now."

    Orihime searched for my hand and finally grasped it firmly, "I'm sorry if this is too much of a burden. I hope you don't think negatively about me."

    "Of course not," I choked out, "You only did what was right."

    Orihime smiled weakly again and I stood up and made my way back into the kitchen as Orihime slowly made her way up the stairs. I felt dizzy at what I had just been told. I slid into the kitchen in a daze, angered, confused. Why would a Vampire attack Mitsukai in the first place? Why was Orihime punished for doing what's right? A hundred more questions knocked around in my head and my knees were getting weak. Just when my knees gave out, Kai caught me and held me close to him and I let my sobbing soar. He stroked my head and attemped to hush me quietly.

    "It's not fair, Kai!" I cried, cracking at the word "fair".

    "I know it's not. Nothing is." he soothed.

    "She did what was right! She couldn't let the baby die the way she would!" I continued, ignoring Kai's attempts at calming me down.

    "Everybody under this roof has suffered in some way. In my opinion, you have it the worst." his voice was hard, almost apathetic.

    "Just promise me that Orihime will be back to normal...," my tears were slowing down gradually.

    Kai sighed, "I don't think that's something I can guarantee,"

    Kai brushed his palm against my cheek and I continued to look down. He would swipe away any tear that shed and he kissed my forehead a few times.

    "Orihime is afraid you think bad of her now," Kai split the silence.

    I chuckled half-heartedly, "I don't think that's ever possible. She's an Angel without sin." and it was true. What she did was not a sin.

    "Yes, she is," he agreed.

    He held me close to him again and played with a few strands of my hair. I coiled my arms around him and held myself closer to his ice torso. And as Kai and I held each other close, I realized for the first time that I wasn't the only martyr in this house...everybody was.