Narukami's POV

"Gotcha," I heaved a sigh of relief as I caught the tender boy in my arms.

'Just say a proper thank-you and I will forgive you for that day,' I conveyed my thoughts through my eyes.

"Put me down, will you? You smell like sweat," his eyes squinted in disgust as he spoke; his tone resonated antipathy and ingratitude.

I released my arms as he landed on the terrain with a 'thud'. Guess what, this is the last time I am gonna help black-haired matchbreakers with pretty pink eyes, anymore. 

He usually had bangs that concealed his eyes like a pair of curtains; I was really surprised when I first discovered that he wore pink contacts during school duty. I thought he was a loner nerd who separated himself from stuff that weren't named 'studies' and 'school'. But it seems like I was wrong. 

"What the hell?"

"What? I just did as you said. Put me down wasn't it?" He trembled with anger, or pain, was it? "If you can't appreciate the efforts people make for you, at least keep your salty mouth shut," mumbling so, I walked away.

"Why the hell should I thank you? It's not like I needed saving or something. Besides, you just made it tough for me, instead. So shouldn't you apolo-"

His rant was interrupted by a violent cough which was succeeded by the eruption of a stream of blood from his mouth, dying the little white rabbit on his shirt and the road in front of him, a dark shade of red.

'I'd rather not bother or else I'd have to pay a ear to his insults,' I thought as I neglected him.

"Hey, did you capture the scorpion?" I enquired expectantly as Kiyoko landed in front of me.

"Yes, sir." She pointed at the struggling scorpion which was entangled in her red locks of hair. "Hey, there's blood spurting out from his mouth. We should take him to the hospital." Her green eyes widened as she walked towards him.

"Why? He can walk to the hospital on his own. It's not like he needs saying or something."

Moments later, I could feel a tug on my ears as I turned around to see an upset Kiyoko pull my ear. The boy was walking beside her, leaning onto her for support.

"Do I really have to tell you to separate your feelings from your work? I thought you were the most mature person in our group."

"I am sorry. So, let me help him in your stead." I don't know why but whenever it came to that prick, I couldn't help but lost my restraint on my emotions.

I walked towards the unsupported side of my classmate as I signaled him to lean on me instead.

"No thanks."

"It's okay, Raiden." Ignoring her, I continued to quarrel with him.

"What do you mean by 'no thanks'? Can't you see she's carrying a burden already?" I eyed at the scorpion she was dragging with her hair and then, at him. "Do you want her to bear two burdens at once?"

"Then, you can carry the scorpion instead," he taunted, as a smirk formed on his face.

'I swear to God, I ain't a hater but I could dedicate my entire life hating on him. He's so damn annoying.'

"It's okay, Raiden. He weighs as light as a feather. Look the support helicopter arrived."

A humungous helicopter descended from the sky at the building where we originally spotted the giant scorpion. Two workers jumped out of its door as they lifted the wounded men on their shoulders and took them away to the HQ.

"I am calling the aerial cell again. We have to get rid of the scorpion." I used my watch to do so, after which I let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, you have been sighing a lot these days. What's up with you?" Kiyoko asked, her voice filled with deep concern.

"Noth-" I paused as the sensation of something closing at us made me scream, "Watch out. Jump to the front."

It were two large scorpions planning to prey on us while we were engaged in trivial stuff. They had managed to free their pal by cutting a huge portion of Kiyoko's hair.

"You guys wouldn't just leave us alone right?" She spoke, desperate to return to her hostel. "I think I am gonna end up dozing for the morning lectures. Kagura-san please help me with my studies."

Her voice had lost its characteristic enthusiasm as her body lost its strength.

"Wait, did you get stung?"

"I don't know. I think I am gonna fall asleep." Her legs refused to support her torso and she was about to fall to the ground but fortunately, pink-eyes caught her.

"So you do have feelings?"

"Yes, except when it comes to you, Raiden or should I say, Kagura-san~"

Shit. He discovered my identity.

"Now, will you take care of your foes, while I take care of her. What you don't trust me?"

"It's not that I trust you, but please take care of her," I beseeched. I turned towards the trio of scorpions. "It's over for you all; you eight-legged pieces of shit."

The helpless look on Kiyoko's face, charged by an unknown force, made the electricity in me, feel a hundred times stronger than usual, as I released a massive electrical wave, with the intention of zapping the three, at once.

Pink-eyes was shouting out something, but the tingling sensation in my head had diluted his voice.

The scorpions had fallen in a death-sleep along with the street lamps, spanning over a mile on either sides. There was just devastation and its various forms to give me company in the queerly silence of the night.

The disloyal darkness, however, had taken up arms against their own creator, blinding him as he fell to the ground, as a result of the recoil.

'Will Kiyoko be alright? Will that annoying pink-eyes be alright? I hope I didn't kill them with my powers? Am I really a monster as they said?'

***

"Mom, am I really a monster as my brother and my father and everyone at my school says?"

"Y-Yes, you are. L-Look what you did to your sister! Y-You killed her. I hope you just disappear from our life, forever. Y-Yes for-ever," saying so she pushed me as my head collided against the slim railing of the bed as a tingling sensation congested my head, as every single thought except 'the safety of my sister' departed my soul.

***

"Hey, wake up, you dumbass." My eyes greeted a pair of painfully, unforgettable pink eyes.

'Why the hell am I waking up to see the thing I hate the most? I must be dreaming. Wait but why am I dreaming about him? It must be a nightmare, I guess.'

I felt a pair of hands tug at my collars as the voice became deeper and distinct, as if the distance between me and the source of sound had narrowed. I didn't knew a sound could be this annoying until this moment, when he recited the words up-close, 'you better wake up in a second or else I am gonna curse you with Eternal Singledom.'

I woke up with a jolt as I was greeted with an 'ouch' on opening my eyes.

"What the hell?! It hurts as hell!" Pink-eyes held his forehead in his hands. "Your head is as hard as a nether millstone."

"Who told you to get so close to me? You deserved it, anyways. Wait, what happened to Kiyoko?" I diverted my eyes towards her. She was sleeping peacefully on the terrain.

She looked so gorgeous even in her sleep, unbeknownst to everything around her. A sleeping beauty, indeed.

Crawling towards her like a quadruped, I settled down beside her as I opened my emergency inventory to find my jacket as a blanket, so that she wouldn't catch a cold and a pillow to serve her a dust-free resting place for her head.

I silently waited for the aerial cell to come as pink-eyes took a seat next to me. There was a throbbing feeling in my heart that made me distinctly uneasy. "I hope nothing would happen to her."

"Oh, so you love her that much," he spoke in a teasing manner.

Instead of the typical feeling of embarrassment when people tease me, a feeling of disgust and hatred for the person next to me generated in my mind. "Can't you read the room? A person is on the verge of her death and you are busy brewing unfunny jokes?"

"Oh, chill. It's not like someone as strong as her is gonna die by something as trivial as a scorpion bite?"

"She might be stronger than eight of us combined, yet...she's still human."

He let out a cackle as I asked him, "The hell, are you laughing for?"

"So, you are telling me you don't even know what she is even after knowing with her for so long? You wish to court her but she doesn't even trust you. You should just give up on her, for your, her and my sake."

I grabbed him by his collar, like he did to me, a while ago as he did nothing but return an eerie smile. "Mind your words, Romeo."

He vomited out blood as it dyed the koala on my shirt, red. 'Shit, it was my favourite t-shirt that my sister have me.'

"Woah that's one hell of a mess, Juliet~," he put up a taunting smile before fainting; he was glad that the final blow came from his side. 

Shit, I can't believe I forgot the gravity of this situation for a second. All thanks to him.

His head landed on my lap, as I felt a strong repulsive urge to push him off but as the moonlight revealed his face, it vanished into thin air. He had a deep scar on his left eye. The wound looked really fresh, so I guess he got it when he was with those people. 

But what was he doing this late at night? Could they be his friends? I pity them. And I pity myself for being stuck up with him. There are no visible external injuries. So could that blood be from an internal injury? If yes, then we need to take him to a hospital as soon as possible. But my identity... We have to take him to Amnesia then.

"Oh, so you are finally here?" I questioned the man who descended the steps of the aerial cell just now, breaking the array of thoughts.

"We are sorry. An unexpected accident occurred along the way. We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience caused," the pale man trembled as he continued reciting every synonym of 'sorry' in the thesaurus.

"God, stop apologizing and get out of the way," a familiar voice spoke as a young man with familiar green eyes, appeared from behind the man.

"Sora."

"Woah, that's one hell of a mess," he said while looking at the bloodied shirt. His eyes then trailed towards the heap of dead scorpions, "Dude, don't tell me you two defeated them all on your own. Wait, why don't I see Kiyoko?"

"She's ..." I couldn't hold back my tears anymore as they spilled out, as if the dam that had been restraining them had collapsed.

Sora patted my head as he looked at me with a comforting smile. His emerald eyes said, 'Don't worry Naru. Nothing will happen to her. Stay strong and take a seat while I help them.'

"Here, I have the antidote. Apparently, the neurotoxin only paralyzed its target for sometime and it can be cured with rest. So don't panic."

He was like a big brother to me; he was always there for me and Kiyoko and was everything my real brother wasn't towards me. "Thank you." After that, I injected the antidote into Kiyoko's right arm, where the scorpion had stung her as I heaved a sigh of relief.

He grew out wings as he lifted the pile of scorpions with his talons and effortlessly placed them inside the cell. He then carried Kiyoko and helped her sit inside the cell's resting place. There were two rows of slabs for seating purposes, with a capacity to accommodate six people with ease. 

Sora's eyes then trailed towards the passed out boy and asked, "Is he alive?"

"Yes, he is. I think he had an internal injury."

"Then, we can drop him at a nearby hospital and save him!"

"No! We have to take him with us. We can get him treated at the HQ's hospital."

"But isn't he an ordinary human? You know, we will be penalized if we let ordinary humans enter our HQ?"

"I know but there's one thing. H-he discovered my identity."