Kira

~

"Kira! Kira, wake up!"

I turn over and bury myself deeper into the sheets to muffle Ares' wake-up call.

Wait? Sheets?!

Abruptly, I sit up, heart racing in my chest, mind struggling to catch up to my surroundings. My groggy eyes wildly assess every inch of where I am.

My room.

In my bed.

Without a single scratch on my body.

How?!

I throw off the sheets and hop onto the floor, shaking my left arm vigorously but it stayed on. On my wrist though, there was a small bracelet of brown beads that definitely didn't belong to me.

My eyes only linger for a split second before the memories blossom to life in my mind, I'm shrieking, pulling it off and tossing it across the room as if it had burned me.

I continue to stare at it, all too suddenly feeling sick.

No, that couldn't have happened, it couldn't-

'Please remember, me.'

A cold shiver runs down my spine as the words echo in my head.

Did she really...die?

I sink to the ground, staring blankly at my arm and trying to make sense of what's going on.

"Kira! You're going to be late for school," Ares' voice comes through the door along with some knocks, "Kira...is everything alright? You don't have to go today if you're too nervous."

I pull myself together, back to the present. If I didn't start the day with everyone else things would definitely be much harder for me. Quickly, I pick up the bracelet, shoving it in my bag as I make the decision to push the dark thoughts aside and focus on what I need to do right now, go to school. I'd make sense of the madness later.

"It's okay!" I yell, "I'll be ready in ten minutes."

"You sure?"

I never understand why he worries so much, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, he should know that more than anyone. "I'm sure!" I draw out the 'sure' just so he would get the point.

After I hear his footsteps leave the door I get out of my night clothes, grab my bathrobe, and make my way to the bathroom, pausing at the door to give my bag across the room one last look, my mind conjuring the image of the bracelet within.

A knot of dread forms in my gut but I ignore it.

For now at least, I wasn'tgoing to let it consume me.

***

My new uniform is nothing special. It had been delivered about a week before. The only thing I hated about it was that I had to wear it.

A plain white button-down with a stuffy tie topped with a grey vest and smooth, dark red blazer while the skirt was a deep blue with black and red plaid stripes.

Why did I have to wear this again? I ponder as I pull on some black socks. Dress code stated those could be any color, not that anyone cared that much about socks. Grabbing my bag, I head toward the door. Today was going to be my first day in a new school, I'm not screwing up and isolating myself like the last time.

"You look so cute," Ares' coo reaches my ears as I march through the kitchen doorway. I grab the bowl of cereal he held out, accepting the kiss on my forehead without much trouble before slurping my breakfast down. "Kat, doesn't she look adorable?"

To no one's surprise, she keeps her nose buried in her phone, thoroughly refusing to acknowledge my presence.

Ares' smile falls just a bit.

"I'll just finish this before it gets... soggy," I sit down and begin to shovel the rainbow-colored flakes into my mouth faster than should be necessary.

"Slow down," she scoffs with a side eye of disgust.

I want to ignore her in petty revenge but I have a question burning at the back of my mind for both of them, "Um, I have to ask something."

"Sure, what's up?" Ares hums, putting away some dishes.

"How...did I get home last night?"

Kat shoots me a weird look and her dad seems just as confused.

"What do you mean, Kira?"

"I was just asking how I got here last night, everything's kind of blurry."

"You did look really tired." He tries taking my temperature with the back of his hand but I'm pretty sure I don't have a fever.

"You waltzed in like some zombie and said you were going to sleep while ignoring all our questions." Kat's tone is derisive as always but there's an undeniable curiosity to its quality.

"Oh..." I could feel Ares' gaze drilling holes into the side of my skull.

"Kira are you-"

"Wow, look at the time, gotta go now," I exclaim, jumping off my seat.

"I'll drive."

"I can walk, Ares."

"C'mon, just for today." He pleads.

"Aren't you going to work or something?"

He flashes a bright smile, "I'll head there after dropping you off."

It's a losing battle, once he set his mind to doing something as embarrassing as this there's technically no way out for me. I wait at the door while he tells Kat goodbye and makes her promise not to try cooking anything. All I can gather from her muffled reply is that she'd be streaming play-throughs all day.

One good thing about moving I didn't mind was the lack of paparazzi, and stalkers, the Vermillion family was a big name back in the States but here we could more or less not worry about being followed around by strangers.

We get to the parking lot beneath the building and I take the back seat in the car, so I can distract myself with my phone without having to make conversation with Ares. We get along pretty well but due to recent events I can't help but want to limit our time together for fear he'll pry

"You nervous, kiddo?"

There it is.

"I'm fine." It was a half-honest reply. I didn't know if there was anything wrong but I did feel fine.

Fine.

Stop butting in already.

I blink rapidly, caught off guard by the odd tone of my own thoughts. Taking deep breaths to calm down I tell myself Ares is just being nice.

"Remember, just excuse yourself and call if you need anything." The car comes to a stop in front of the school gates, "And if you're feeling sick just-"

Indignation floods my system at his coddling, I slam the door with more force than necessary. Glaring at him I hiss through gritted teeth, "I told you I'm fine, stop babying me. I'm not some brat like Kat so you can stop trying to pacify and appease me. I. Don't. Need. It. Ares!"

Just as quick as it had come, the feeling fades, leaving me numb with shame from the words that I had spoken. Words I'd never say no matter how annoying his hovering can be because I know he loves me. I stare mutely, trying to think what to say.

The strained smile on Ares' face does nothing to help. I open my mouth to speak but no words come out, mainly because I have no idea what I cam say that won't make me sound like I was making excuses in front of all the other students who are now whispering at our display.

'I didn't feel like myself.'

'Something came over me.'

Each one sounds stupider than the last.

A deep, dark chuckle, too close for comfort bubbles up around me making my skin tingle , I'm about to look around to find who the hell thinks this is funny when Ares finally speaks.

"It's okay Kira, 'was just doing my best to look out for you," His eyes look a little pained, "See you at home, okay?"

I nod dumbly and turn to jog through the gates, hearing the car drive off only a few seconds later.

What just happened?