Vibrant Eyes

Chapter 4 - Death, Life, And Friendship

"Wait, repeat that," I said sternly. He sighed.

"You must fight to the death with other people," He repeated. My eyes widened. "No, no way. I didn't sign up for this," I started to panic before my brain clicked. "Wait, you did the test, right? And you're still here! So... I should be fine right?" Aether looked down, his hand shaking. "I uh... yeah, I'm still here." He grabbed his hand to stop it from shaking. He tried to smile at me, but I could tell it was forced. "Aether, don't try to make the situation better. You may have taken the test, but-" We both turned our heads to the noise next to us. "Tiny! You're here too?" A man emerged from the door that was opened. My eyes widened. 'HE'S HUGE' I thought to myself. Aether looked down with an embarrassing facial expression. I looked at him and laughed slightly.

A few more people arrived, who were all males. I started to scream on the inside.

'WHY ARE THEY ALL MALES?' I thought to myself. The last person to walk in immediately ran towards me. "Holy crap! Another girl!" They squeezed me, to which I tried to breathe.

"Too tight," They looked at me with a gasp and quickly let go. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!"

I sighed. "It's alright." We both got to know each other. Her name was Mizuna. She had been in this organization for 4 years and was taken in by the leader when she was a child.

I had a few things in common with her, which was nice considering we were the only girls.

A few more hours passed and the leader finally came in. Everyone waved at him. I whispered to Aether. "I thought this was going to be... ya know, less chill?" He whispered back. "Yeah, so did I the first time I met everyone."

"Good afternoon everyone! I hope your trip here wasn't too rough." The leader spoke deep but soft enough that made me feel weirdly comfortable. He looked over at me.

"This must be the recruit?" Aether spoke immediately before I did. "Yup! This is Alana," He said, smiling slightly at me. I nodded.

"Well, my name is Takashi. I'm the leader of this organization," He held out his hand. I looked at the hand, then back at him. "Nice to know," I said quite bluntly. Aether looked at me like I was about to die. Takashi retracted his hand. "That's alright." He walked away from me. "Welcome to the organization. I hope this is to your liking," He said with a welcoming smile. Mizuna stood up. "We should introduce everyone!" Everyone groaned.

"That's a great idea, thank you Mizuna," Takashi smiled down at her, to which her eyes lit up.

"Well, you already know me," Aether said as he sunk into the couch. "And you know me too!" Mizuna beamed. "Names Riggs, though you already knew that." Riggs sat opposite me on the other couch. Next, was the man next to him, who had blue skin. 'blue... skin...HUH???'

I thought to myself. He waved. "My name is Satsuki, although I'm usually called fish boy," He said looking at Riggs, to which he glared back at Satsuki. "...Right." I looked over to Aether, who looked at me with a cheesy smile. A few hours passed and I got to know everyone. Turns out Riggs and "Fish boy" are childhood friends. Takashi clapped his hands. "Right! Tomorrow will be Alana's initiation." He looked at me. I froze.

"Unfortunately, we don't have a room for you, so-" He was cut off by Aether. "She can stay with me!" He grabbed my arm. "Wh-" I didn't get to speak before I was cut off again.

"I have spare sheets." Aether dragged me away, leaving everyone in their thoughts.

"What the hell was that all about?" I said whilst being dragged by Aether.

"I'll tell you once we get to where I'm staying." I sighed in defeat. We walked for a bit down a hallway, before arriving at our destination. He opened the door, allowing me inside. My eyes widened. "Holy crap! Dude your place is so clean!" I looked around.

"Not a speck of dust..." I said, looking up at him. Aether smiled and patted my head.

"I'm sort of a clean freak." He walked to the kitchen. "Make yourself at home!" I set my stuff down.

"So, where am I sleeping?" I asked. He laughed slightly and turned around.

"I lied about the whole 'spare sheets thing'". I blinked a few times before it clicked.

"YOU LITTLE SH-" he covered my mouth. "Ah, not so loud. The walls are thin here." He uncovered my mouth.

"That doesn't change the fact that you lied about having spare sheets..." I said with a glare. He laughed. "Relax~ I'm just gonna sleep on the couch, you can take my bed." He grabbed my stuff and brought it to his room, and I followed.

"Aether, no. This is your place. I'm not gonna steal your bed." I looked up at him with a glare. "Now, don't be so difficult. It's fine, I don't mind." He leaned forward to get on my level. "Do we have a problem here...?" He said with a smile.

"...Do we have a problem here? Of course we have a problem," I muttered.

"What was that?" He said. "Nothing," I stated, walking away.

We talked for the rest of the day. I got to know Aether more and to be honest, he said a lot of stuff that I never would've guessed was about him. He decided to cook. I honestly thought the food was gonna be terrible, but it was nice.

Aether yawned. "Alright, I'm gonna turn in for the night." He stood up.

"Alright, me too then." I stood up also. "Well, it was nice getting to know you more," He said with a smile. I smiled back.

"Yeah. I feel more comfortable now that I know you better." I walked away with a wave. "Night," I said, closing the room door. "Night..." Aether said with a sigh. "Damn." He laid down on the couch. "Doubt ill get any sleep tonight..." He said, looking at the mug on his coffee table. I laid down on his bed with a sigh.

"Alana, what've you gotten yourself into this time..." I turned to my side and shut my eyes.

"I'mgonna regret this aren't I?"