Twilight Queen – Chapter 1

„Hey! Hey Hayato wake up ! its 7 PM, lectures are over for this week“.

„Seriously i have barely slept at all...“

„You've been asleep for over 3 hours dude...“

„Does that even count as sleeping ?“ – Hayato stared with his barely open eyes

„I had to lie that you were studying till 4 AM yesterday so proffesor doesn't kick you out of class...“

„Thanks Toshiro. You are such a wonderful person.“- Hayato picks up his cellphone from the desk

Toshiro sighs „Dont give me that crap. We should get going.“

Another day passes and nothing interesting happened. Last week Toshiro participated in  one of the volounteer events so he could spent some more time with friends. Hayato politely declined his invitation because his circle of friends people was "awfully talkative."

„How do you expect something good to happen to you if you just complain about people who are actually doing something with their lives?“- Toshiro grabs his bag and looks at Hayato with scornful grimace

„If by doing something you think talking about gossiping I would rather stay like this than waste my time“.

"What the hell do you want then, an apocalypse ?“

„Yeah that would be quite amusing. At least the percentage of idiots would be drastically lower.“ – He smiiles

„Okay forget I asked. Why do you have that weird smile on your whenever you talk about people dying?“

„Dunno. Might be just a coincidence".

"Do you really hate them that much?"

"Its not that i hate them, I just dont like them thats all.“

„What is the difference between those two anyway ?“

„Well if i hated them they would probably constantly be on my mind, i would plan my revenge and that kind of stuff.“

„Guess that makes sense. Lets get something to eat, im starving. How about pizza? New pizza bar opened near the station so we should try it out don't you think?“ – he forced smile

„Good idea. Lets hurry I see bus on the crossroads..."

Toshiro is one those good looking guys he likes to go with the flow. He likes to talk about girls, gym and sports. Hayato was quite opposite and he always wondered why are we they so close since they didn't have much in common . They took pizza and ran to the train station. On the way down Hayato accidentally bumped on someone and his pizza fell on the floor.

„Oh come on you gotta be kidding me.“

"Oh great, it's you again. Did you at least find the book I gave you?" - a mysterious girl cleans her glasses

"As welcoming as always I see." - Hayato spoke, slightly annoyed by her behaviour

To make things worse this girl thinks that he stole her book.

"Famous drama queen, worst kind of creatures ever existed on Earth. They are good looking, have great social and communication skills and they are usually rich and influencial towards others." - Hayato whispered to Toshiro while looking for a book

"I'm sorry. Here's your book."

"It took you a while to give it back." - girl grabs the book and walks away

You sure are lucky today.“ – Toshiro smiles

„It's alright I'm quite used to it. By the way haven‘t you heard the news, some strange phenomena appeared out of nowhere. Some people have been taking some old relics from the museum.  Several people died and noone can explain what is the cause. First victim died from dehydration, second one was burnt to ash and the last one was found with 20 kV of static electricity in his body. Isn't that unusual ?“

„Now that you mention it I did hear some news about pretty creepy murders near Hokaido.“

„Might be an interesting topic. I could do some research.“

"Don't get in trouble again" - Toshiro pushes Hayato towards the staircase

They were talking for about 10 minutes then Toshiro got inside the train.

Hayato spaced out and started thinking about those murders. "

"Ok so it is said that they all had some kind of unknown ilness. Like anyone would beleive that, there is no ilness that can burn you to ash or fill you with 20 kV of static electricity."

He arrives in Tokyo. On the way to his flat in Tokyo He went to neareast groccery shop to get something for dinner.

"Oh crap I have to  to finish the presentation for mine and Toshiros project.

Toshiro is a smart guy but when it comes to computers he was as useful as an old granny.

It‘s almost 3 AM and there is no school tomorrow. Hayato rushes into his room and sees mangas on the table.

“I didn‘t read any manga for 2 weeks, time to get to work.“ – He took manga from the table and starts reading

He was reading fantasy-ecchi stuff a lot. That was quite popular genre in Tokyo. The manga he was reading is called „Sword of the doomed“. It was about a boy who found a mysterious sword in abandoned house and after that he found a lot of chicks around him. Also he had a lot of computer books, usually about hacking and programming.

Hayato glances through the window.

"Well well isn't that the Sun. I think I should go to sleep."u

He wakes up in a cold sweat. He had a  dream about something demonical. It said „Im watching you“. He couldn‘t see its face.Only thing that was clear was its red eyes, long black dress and long crimson hair.

"Why did even know freak out like this? I‘ve always had this kind of dreams. If I could classify how scary it was, it was a weak C.

His phone starts ringing. It was Toshiro. "Oh right we should meet about 12 AM but I'm already late. He is probably gonna make me ears bleed now."

Hayato decided to answer the call anyway. Toshiro sounded like he was sick.

„Hey Hayato, sorry but I‘m afraid I have to cancel out our meeting for today cause I caught a cold. Dont scream too much I know you are happy you are."

„Oh come on don't be like that. Hope you get well soon.“

Toshiro smiles and then hang up. Hayato then decides to spend his day on doing research about murders that happened recently.

"Based on police and government speculations there weren‘t any motives for the murders to happen."

This was highly classified data that Hayato found by hacking on government portal. There was only one thing that was appearing in all cases, the time when it happened, dusk.

"Well...at least i know where to begin. Knowing the exact time should help me get other clues."

Hayato burns his laptop before the government got in track of his IP adress. "Damn this is 3rd one this year my dad is going to kill me."

He took a glass of water and throws laptop into the garbage. Suddenly someone knocks at the door.

"I wonder who can it be." He opens the door and sees his parents and his little sister

„Hey Hayato long time no see.“- mom said with bright smile

„Hey son did you break your laptop again ?“ – dad looked at me with somewhat angry face

„What?! How did you know? Ugh.. well yes I did. I had some experiments in school and my laptop got caught up bad spot."

"Of course it did." - his dad hangs his coat and sits near his wife

„Heyyy. I wanted to see you for long but parents wouldn‘t let me, sorry.“ – his sister ran towards him and jumped into his arms

Hayato smiles and pat her head. She smiles back.

„Come in I was about to make a coffee. Want some?“ – I tried to calm down my seemingly frustrated dad

„Yeah why not."

"Here sweet coffee for mother and the usual for dad."

"Thanks. Now that we are here lets have a little chat.“ -His dad had his arms crossed and his face got serious

"This never ends well."

„How are the studies going ?

„I guess my grades are fine since I got only few exams left. I'm still having trouble with some of the subjects but I'm sure it'll work out.“

„That‘s great. I'm so proud of you.“ She smiles and takes the first sip of a coffee

„How are you doing Airi? Is it nice to be in a school ? I know that you were so excited about school.“

„Its great. I met a lot of new friends and we are hanging out every day. My grades are good although I'm not studying as much. Also I have a few very close friends and we are telling each others secrets."

"That's great. Glad you're having it easy."

„So dad what‘s up ? Did I do something wrong again?"

„Suprisingly you didnt.“ – he smiled at me almost like he was suprised that i asked about it first

„My old friend from the military visited me last week. He heard that you are into computers so he was wondering if you want to work for him. You will have a nice salary, work in the HQ and all the privileges that soldier has.“ – he continues talking sightly excited

„Soldiers have privileges? Seriously?“

„This is an opportunity that happen once in a lifetime. Like ui said you‘ll work in HQ. You can't really complain about that.“ ć

„I dont know. Can you give me time to think about it ?“

„I can give you one day.“

„Alright I'll let you know what Ive decided tomorrow.“

They kept talking till late afternoon and then his parents left. Hayato starts to think about the offer.

"Perhaps this could be my way of getting some  info about those murders. How convinient." - Hayato smugs

Needles to say, working for the military will be such a drag. I can‘t imagine myself working there...

Hayato then head to the kitchen prepare lunch.

"What is happening?"

Suddenly he loses conscieousness. He wakes up in hospital.

"Ugh that dream again. It makes me sick.". - His thoughts are suddenly interrupted by hearing a familiar voice

„How are you feeling?“

„What the hell are you doing here ?“

„Is that the way to thank someone who helps you ? No manners at all.“ – she says arrogantly looking to her crimson red nails

She helped me. Yeah right. I should probably play along to see what she wants from me.

„So...why did you help me ?“

„My father asked me to do it so I did it.“ – she answers the question quickly and stands up reaching for the window behind her

„Your father?

Hayato was shocked with the answer.

"Well now Im even more confused. I barely know you and I‘m pretty sure that I dont know your father.“

„You dont know him yet.“ – she smiles and heads in the direction of the door

„We will meet again.“ – she got out of the room

"What was that? She answered all of my questions yet she didnt tell me anything at all. She just left me with more questions"

Hayato stands up slowly reacing for the window that was relatively near his bed.

I wonder what she meant with „We will meet again“. Of course we will we are in the same class after all."

After a few minutes the doctor comes in.

„Hello how are you feeling?“ – doctor asks with a bit serious face

„Much better thanks. What was the cause of me suddenly losing consciousness?“

„You had a heart attack. If you didn‘t arrive here as fast as you did youd be in a serious trouble."

„Oh I see.“ - Hayato answers with a bland tone

„Your parents are here. Do you want to see them ?"

„Yes let them in.“

Doctor went outside and my parents came in. Hayatos mother was sightly scared and upset.

Father has his usual poker face even in a situation like this huh.

„What happened to you?“ – mom asks while holding his hand

„To be honest i have no idea. When you left the house I wanted to make lunch and suddenly fainted. Doctor told me that cause was the heart attack. This might have happened because i didn‘t really have a normal sleep schedule.“

Despite his unchanging expression Hayatos father could‘nt hide that he was worried too.

„You should just rest for now. No need for you to give me the answer now. I wanted to tell him today but he already knew what happened to you somehow.“ – he said and took a cigarette

He knew huh. Could that be a coincidence?  This offer, the drama queen next to my bed and mentioning her dad and that " We will meet again". It seems like every part of the puzzle is falls into place. Well there is only one way to find out.

„Tell your friend that I accept his offer. I will work for him in the HQ.“

Father just smiles like he wasn‘t suprised at all. That man knew Hayato better than anyone so he wasn‘t suprised either.

Hayato spaces out. Someone knocked again.

„Come in.“

„Hey man whats up ?- Toshiro comes in with a bright smile

„Hey Toshiro. Nothing. Lying here half dead. You got better really fast didnt you ?“

„Yeah I drank a lot of tea and had some medicine at home. What about you? First thing that comes to  mind after hearing this was „omg he is just lying there with some hot nurse looking after him.“ – Toshiro tries to make a joke

„You always care about me dont you ? I cant beleive that your first thought after someone had a heart attack is a nurse „taking care of me". You are nothing but a bad influence"

„Tommorow we are hunting some chicks okay?“ – he smiles again after giving me an orange juice

„Do you want me to get another heart attack ?“ – Hayato replies instantly

„Oh come on you worry  to much.“ – he hits Hayato in the shoulder

Toshiro might know something about some of these coincidenses.

„Hey Toshiro tell me something. What do you know about drama queen?“

„Oh you mean Lina. You sure are aiming high I like that.“ – he tries to provoke him

„Give me a break. That‘s not why i‘m asking.“

„Well she is rich, beautiful, popular, she looks down on everyone like you...“ – he tried to provoke him again

Hayato didn‘t react this time.

„So you don‘t know anything.“

„Yeah.“ – he looks away and put his finger on his head

"If she‘s really daughter of some military giant she probably didn‘t have a lot of time for herself. I kinda feel sorry for her. Tho if she could behave like a normal person she probably wouldn‘t be interesting to others dont you think Hayato?"

"That was quite pathetic try to justify her behaviour."

"You should be more grateful to someone who just saved your life Hayato..."

"Isnt that a bit of an exxegeration?"

„Some things never change. Okay I should get going. After all you need to get some rest.“

„See you later then.“

I‘m really nervous. If everyone in the HQ have the same attitude as my dad we‘ll surely get along. I think it‘s about time to get some rest. Phone starts ringing.

„Hey my friend just called. You can start working on Monday if you feel like it. Doctor said that you can go home tommorow so prepare to get into the world of the adults.“

Monday huh. So it starts on Monday. Well i guess things are finnaly getting interesting.