David Rubino KOR2 : Another Day Episode 1 : 100 Steps to Heaven ************* "Kazuya." A tune ran through my mind as I lay sleeping. "Kazuya." A beautiful girl with long black hair appeared before me. The wind carried the smell of sweet flowers. She spun around and her dress flowed away. A ribbon in her hair carelessly floated in the breeze. "Kazuya." She called out my name, it was like an angel singing to me. She danced closer to me and I saw her smile. She stepped closer again and I felt my skin tingle. Every step took her nearer. Her blue eyes were just feet away now. She leaned over and I could almost taste her lips. "Kazuya, it's our destiny." She raised her hand up and in it was a bell, the other hand held a small metal bar. She laughed once and softly dinged the bell. The world shook with the reverberation. I shot my hands over my ears and screamed. The sound repeated on and on, louder and louder. I couldn't see her anymore. I screamed again for it to stop. And then I woke up. The alarm was ringing urgently as the door slammed open. "KAZUYA!!!" It was Akane, my older sister holding a large spoon in her hand. "Wake up or you'll miss school. Your breakfast is going to be taken by Jingimi if you don't hurry." I grunted and finally turned off the alarm clock, still unable to get the image of that girl out of my mind. If only I could see her again. Maybe this could have been a precognition dream, but I've never had those before. It must have been just a dream. How disappointing! I got dressed and followed Akane downstairs into the kitchen where old Jingoro lay sleeping in the corner and little Jingimi, his feline son, sat in a chair waiting for me. His large eyes protruded out and already he was gaining too much weight, probably from stealing so many of my breakfasts. As I ate breakfast, I looked out of the window and saw groups of other children walking down the street with backpacks and books. It was the last day of summer and my first day of high school, time for me, Kasuga Kazuya, to make my mark on the world. I smiled at the thought of impressing all of the teachers by knowing all of the answers, simply by reading their minds. Or of being the best athlete without having to even break a sweat. I imagined the parades, the crowds, the hordes of girls all waiting in line for a chance to kiss me. I chuckled at the thought. Akane slammed her bowl down next to mine. The look on her face was worse than my mother when she was mad. "I know what you're thinking, Kazuya. Don't try to pull any of your stunts in this school. We're supposed to be normal people, not ESPers. I don't want to hear about you running over a soccer team or cheating on your tests." I looked at her. "I remember a time when you used the power any time you felt. Why can't I?" Akane grabbed me by my shirt and pulled me towards her. Unnoticed, Jingimi took the opportunity to reach a fat paw over the table and pull my bowl towards his mouth. "I don't think you understand. I had to leave my town because I didn't control the power. It doesn't go well with people. I'm starting to like it here. I don't think you want to make me leave again, do you?" Considering that Akane had a pretty bad reputation for causing me pain and because she looked so scary, I quickly agreed with her. "Yes!" I turned back to my bowl to finish my meal when I noticed it was very much empty, licked clean. I looked over at the chair next to me and met those same familiar eyes attached to the fattest little cat I could ever imagine. "Meow." "55... 56... 57..." The wind picked up as I was walking up these stairs. It was unusual that I was alone here, walking up these stairs, since everyone else has to walk up this same set to get to school. "73... 74... 75..." My backpack felt a little heavier with each step but I also noticed more and more of the town was visible the higher that I went. "89... 90... 91..." Somebody moved at the top of the stairs. The person was leaning against the wall but now moved over to the middle of the stairs. A hand held down a large, red hat from blowing away in the wind. "97... 98... 99." I reached the top of the stairs with a short hop and stood next her, my hands were in my pockets. "Are you sure you counted right?" she said to me. "I couldn't be more sure of myself." "Hmph, it's quite obvious you couldn't be more wrong." "99 steps, no more, no..." As I looked past her, I saw another girl passing by her, black flowing hair, a red ribbon pulling her hair from her face. As she walked by, she pushed back the few hairs that escaped the restraint of the ribbon, and walked onward. Could that be the girl from my dream... Suddenly a fast, firm fist came into my view, and crashed into my face. "Oochh. Miyuki!" "What were you doing looking at her like that, I bet you didn't even hear a thing that I said!" "No, it's just that I thought I've seen her before." This might just be a precognition dream after all. "Well, we better hurry or were going to be late," she said as she put her arm through mine and we began to walk away from the stairs. She was Hino Miyuki, my girlfriend for the past two months. We walked together to school and I wondered what the chances were that maybe that was the girl in my dream. My memory was already starting to fade and I unknowingly began to daydream... "Kazuya," the girl in my dream said to me. "Kazuya, you know we were meant to be together. Nothing you do can stop fate. It is our destiny." I actually didn't find the idea too bad but wondered what Miyuki would think of it. As if the mysterious girl read my mind she said, "We can't help it, you'll only hurt yourself if you resist and you'll hurt her worse. Kazuya, come to me." Her body took on more definition as her hair floated from her towards my face. The fresh smell of lilies swallowed me and suddenly I didn't even feel Miyuki next to me. "Kazuya," she whispered. I smiled nervously. She bent her head closer to mine and closed her eyes. I closed my eyes and put my arms around her, it was all too real. But then the spell was broken. "Kazuya!" Miyuki elbowed me in the ribs, hard. The mysterious girl vanished and was replaced by a very mad and very real Miyuki. "Stop that! I know what you're thinking about. I am not going to share you with anyone because you are mine. I'm going to watch you close and if I catch you...." Her eyes narrowed into a narrow scowl. I felt a chill run up my spine at the thought of an angry and violent Miyuki. "No, that's not it at all," I stuttered. "I'm just nervous about our first day together in school. Do you think we'll be in the same class?" Normally, I would just look into her mind and see what she was thinking but I have trouble using the power under stressful circumstances, and this was one of them. I've seen what Miyuki can do when she gets mad. And then her expression changed and she laughed once. She threw her arms apart and jumped up. I jumped back. "Pow!" She hugged me once and pulled me again along the walk. "Really Kazuya, I know we'll be put together. It's our destiny." Those words echoed through my mind but in a different voice. "It's our destiny." ********** The closer we were to the school the more students we saw wandering around. The teachers walked directly into the school and so would we as I still had to register for my electives. A very large student was standing next to the entrance handing out fliers. He covered almost the entire door so it would have been impossible to pass by without getting a flier stuck in your hand. He passed it to me and when Miyuki reached for her he pulled it back and handed it to the next male student. "Sorry, little girl. This is only for men." She stuck her tongue out at him and curiously looked at the piece of paper in my hand. "What is that?" she asked. The paper showed two boys wearing wrestling uniforms holding up trophies. The caption below read: JOIN OUR TEAM. MAKE YOUR SCHOOL PROUD. "Are you going to join? That'll be so cool!" I thought about how good I would look throwing people around twice my size using the Power and smiled. Miyuki's eyes became brighter. "Alright! I knew you would!" She grabbed the flyer from my hand and started walking to the student by the door. Then it hit me that I wasn't supposed to use the Power like Akane said. I saw myself being repeatedly body slammed on my face into the mat. I went to stop Miyuki but she was already closer to the door than I could reach her. I nervously glanced around the corridor and did what any boy who doesn't want to become road kill would do. I ran. I headed in the direction of what I knew to be my first class anyway. At least I thought I knew the direction. It took me some time to actually find and a little bit of the Power to finally get myself to the classroom. The sign on the door was immaculate and had the teacher's name on it, Teacher Ishiguro. I peered in through the glass and saw all of the students already sitting up at attention looking towards the front of the room. Oh no, I was already late to my first class! I couldn't help but take this as a bad omen. Nervously, I opened the door and stepped inside. I was met by a huge surprise of cataclysmic proportions. She was here. The mysterious girl in my dreams, the one at the stairs, the one with the excellent body; she was sitting in the back of the class and when I entered she looked at me. I thought I was melting. My legs became numb and all I could think about was her dreamy voice in my mind. "It's our destiny." I started to become afraid and even more confused. I almost wanted to run away. After all, Miyuki would kill me if I did anything to her. But then again, maybe it was fate. Maybe it was the Power that brought me here. I couldn't be blamed for something that I had no control over. Imagine the thought of holding her perfect body and kissing those perfect lips! I must make her mine. Just as the first line of drool began to appear I was blown over by a flying eraser that crashed into my head. "You there, student! Why are you late?" The teacher adjusted his glasses and scowled at me. "Why are you on the floor?" I untwisted my arm and finally was able to get up and hold my balance. Dust covered half my face. I felt more embarrased than angry and couldn't bring myself to look at the mysterious girl again. I turned to the teacher. "Sorry! I got lost accidentally. I am a new student." "So you are," he said. "Maybe you haven't noticed that these are all new students and they are all here." I could already tell that I wasn't going to like this teacher. "What is your name?" "Kasuga Kazuya, sir." Teacher Ishiguro thumbed through a few notes on his desk and looked up at me with another scowl. "Oh yes, Kasuga, I've heard about you. Come sit up in the front so I can watch you. I don't like troublemakers." I was a little confused since I never openly had that reputation. I wanted to see what kind of report he was looking at. Instead, I walked to the front of the class and quickly took my seat. Teacher Ishiguro continued with his lecture of the students and I stared straight ahead at the chalk board. I was fumbling around in my pockets for a pencil but realized that I must forgetten it at home. Things were not going as well as I hoped. The student to my left quietly placed a pencil on my desk. He smiled at me and gave a short wave. I nodded to him not quite sure what to think yet. He was a very thin boy for his age and his eyes seemed sullen, obviously not the girls' type. "I'm Ryosuke," he whispered. I looked over to the teacher and when he seemed oblivious I whispered my name back to him. He seemed pretty excited that I was even paying attention to him. He actually started to talk even louder. "Can we eat lunch together? I just moved to this town and I don't know anyone yet. I don't even think I know how to get home." He looked pretty pathetic and I didn't want to spoil any impressions that I could make with other students by being seen around him. I struggled to think of some sort of excuse. "Please! Please! I really would like to have lunch with you," he said even louder. This was starting to become bad. I didn't want to risk making things worse with my teacher than it already was. The longer I waited the louder this strange student was getting. I couldn't take it anymore so I jumped up. "Just stop it!" I yelled. Before I knew it, another eraser smashed into my face carrying me over my desk. "What is going on here?!" he demanded. The room was spinning much more now than before. Ryosuke jumped up in front of the teacher. "I'm sorry, Teacher Ishiguro. It's my fault entirely. I was just hoping that Kazuya would have lunch with me and help me because I'm so new to this town." The teacher frowned and looked at me on the floor. He put his hand on Ryosuke's shoulder. "I'm sure that Kazuya wouldn't mind helping out a fellow student. Would you, Kazuya?" His large shadow loomed over me. Things could not be worse. I've ruined my first day of school, I'm being forced to become friends with some derelict, and somewhere in the back of this room is the mysterious girl thinking I'm the biggest idiot. I could almost still see her now. "It's our destiny." I could only manage to cough out a chalk cloud. *********** Somehow I was able to get through most of the day without many more problems. Ryosuke ended up being in all of my classes which thrilled him much more than it did me. I was never able to meet any new people with him always hanging around me. I saw the mysterious girl a few more times in my classes but every seat around her was always taken and I was always put on an opposite side of the classroom. I still had no idea why she was in my dream and it looked as if I would never have the chance to find out, at least probably not today. I was helping Ryosuke find his last class when he stopped and started to stare at Miyuki coming down the hallway towards us. He grabbed my shoulder and pointed at her. He was entranced. "Kazuya, who is that? She's so cute!" The expression on his face was not unlike mine when I saw the mysterious girl for the first time. "Kazuya!" she called. She ran up to me and grabbed my arm which made Ryosuke double-over in surprise. "I've been looking for you all day. You're weren't in any of my classes. Do you think they made a mistake?" "This.. this is... your sister?" Ryosuke sputtered. Miyuki just started to notice Ryosuke staring at her. His eyes were wide and he had a gawky smile. "No! I'm not his sister! I'm his girlfriend." Turning to me she said, "Why are you hanging around with this strange boy?" "Ehhh... I'm just walking him to class. He's new to town. It's just for today." She looked at me with concern and I looked at Ryosuke who did nothing but smile at Miyuki. "How cute," Ryosuke kept saying. "What a great body." Miyuki stiffened and slowly turned to Ryosuke. Her expression gave off waves of anger which snapped him out of his trance but still too late. "What was that, strange boy?!" She grabbed him by his collar and lifted his whole body off the ground, throwing him across the hallway in one sweep. "Go away, pervert!" she yelled after him. I shook at the rebound of Ryosuke's body hitting the lockers. It was things like this that frightened me to death of Miyuki and her whole family who were just like her, especially her older brother, Yuusaku, who spent most of his time terrorizing my cousin Kyosuke. She grabbed me and pulled me down the hallway, looking just like any innocent girl again. "Kazuya, what is your next class? I hope we at least have one together." I looked down at my schedule and read off the last entry, physical education. "Lucky! Me too." She pulled herself closer to me as more than one student began to notice us as a couple. It made me nervous. I was afraid that then I would never have a chance to meet the mysterious girl of my dreams. We walked into the gym and then separated into our respective changing rooms. Just as I was almost finished getting into my uniform, another student who was already changed walked up to me. "The instructor asked us to have a special meeting before we go outside. When you are finished go up to the front of the locker room." Before I had the chance to ask any questions he was already gone telling another student about the meeting. I finished and made my way to the front where most of the other boys already were seated on benches. I found a spot and sat in it but still could not see where the instructor was. After a few minutes the room became a little more noisy and I wondered if this meeting was legitimate or not. But then, the door leading into the room opened with a crash and the instructor marched in. The room fell completely silent. "Men!" he yelled. "There comes a time when a boy becomes a man, and that time is now!" The instructor adjusted his dark, yellow glasses and tried his best to hide his apparently out of shape belly. I suddenly recognized him from when I was younger as one of Kyosuke's perverted friends. "I am Instructor Hatta and I will show you boys how to become men! But first..." he snapped his arm up. In his hand he held a large stack of forms. His stiff expression transformed into an odd smile. He began to look like one of those strange perverts again. "But first, I need you all to get me the measurements of the girls in this school." The class fell over with disbelief as Hatta ran from student to student pushing the forms into their hands. When I got mine I looked at the title, "BABE CHART". There was a picture of a hentai girl in the upper right corner in an alluring pose. "Come, boys!" Instructor Hatta yelled as opened the door to the outside. "It's time to become men!" The students ran outside and followed Hatta as he led the battle charge to the soccer field, quickly taking notes on every girl he passed. He ran up to Miyuki who was just about to kick the ball into the goal. This led my sight to the actual goalie who was, to my surprise, the mysterious girl! She was dressed in the girls' uniform and moved so gracefully. She was so beautiful. I didn't even really notice Miyuki slamming Instructor Hatta in the ground and running over his crumpled body. "Kazuya!" she called and ran over to me. "Isn't this great? We're finally together." I didn't want the mysterious girl to see us together so I just waved to Miyuki and ran off to join my team. Today, it was going to be boys against girls in a soccer match. I didn't do so well without the Power. Most of the game I spent on my team's side of the field getting knocked over by girls. This was no good. I would never get a chance to meet the mysterious girl like this. I had to use the Power. Just as the ball was being kicked towards our goal I used it and made it come towards me. The girl who kicked it was amazed at watching the ball curve a full 180 degrees and come to me. I started to work the ball across the field. One defender, two defenders, three defenders down. No one could get the ball away from me. I heard my team cheering me on. I felt the wind in my hair, the power in my legs. I was unstoppable. I was three quarters of the way down the field now, only Miyuki was left and she had that scary look again. She moved in my way and I kicked the ball so it just went over her head and landed on the other side of her. The surprised look on her face turned to joy as she also cheered me on. No more defenders were left and this was my chance. The mysterious girl moved to intercept my kick. She was so beautiful I was almost distracted. But no, I must show her how good I am. I put all of the Power into the kick. It was powerful, and true, and... straight for her face! I looked in shock as I knew she would be unable to move out of its way. I could just see the ball smashing into her and I would be standing over her grave, never quite knowing what her name ever was. I had to stop this. I squeezed my fists together and mustered up all of the remaining Power I had. The ball was only inches away from her face and her eyes were clenched shut. The ball shook in the air for a few seconds and then violently shot the opposite way. It worked! But then I realized that the opposite way was straight at me! I turned to run but it was too late, the ball smashed into the back of my head and blew me over. The pain spread out from the back of my neck into my entire body. I felt the world go dark as I started to pass out. The last thing I heard was Miyuki saying, "Wow! What a block." and then "Darling!" as I faded into total blackness. ************* The setting sunlight played over my face and I felt my familiar bed cushion beneath me. I opened my eyes and saw Jingimi's huge mass breathing on the corner of my bed. I was a little confused as to how I ended up here. The door to my bedroom opened and Akane walked in. "Oh, you're up," she said surprisedly. "The doctor didn't expect you conscious until sometime tomorrow. But I always knew us Kasuga's were tough." She flexed her arms into a curl. "Miyuki was just here a little while ago," she said as she adjusted the bed. "Miyuki?" "Yeah, but I just send her home. I told her that you would be fine and I would make sure that you call her whenever you woke up. Oh yeah, and some other girl was here too after her." The ringing in my head got a little bit louder. "Another girl?" "Yup, she said that you probably didn't know her. She had long, black hair and a ribbon right about here. Very pretty. She just wanted to see how you were feeling. So how do you feel now?" "I don't know. Not too good." "I'll let you get some more rest then. I'll be back later with dinner." Akane moved away from the bed and towards the door. "Akane." "Yes." "What was her name?" Akane smiled. "I knew you wanted to know, loverboy. I thought she a was a little too pretty not to be noticed by you." I got a little worried. If anybody knows how to meddle into other people's business, it's Akane. "Don't worry, Kazuya. I know that Miyuki won't let you get too far away like you used to. Her name is Mai Kiyomoto." Akane closed the door behind her as she left. Mai. And she came to see me. I would have been more excited if the throbbing in my head would go away. But still, I had a very strong feeling that someday I would get to know Mai better, maybe even better than just a friend. I don't know. Possibly the ball hit me harder than I thought. I drifted off to sleep again. This time dreaming of not just the mysterious girl, Mai, but of all three of us together. Miyuki chasing me as I chased Mai. And her sweet, sweet voice calling out to me. "It's our destiny." - END OF EPISODE 1 -