The Hunters and the Hunted

Chapter 12 (Sakae)

        Only wanting to get one thing off her mind, Sakae went to the gym as she started punching. She did nothing but punch the bag over and over again. Her anger didn't subside, and neither did the pit of anxiety that welled inside her chest. Her hand was getting raw from punching the bag continuously, but she ignored that fact as she roundhouse kicked the punching bag.
        Damnit, damnit, damnit, he just had to show up. God fucking damnit! I hate this.
        Sakae punched the bag again as she gritted her teeth and unknowingly, the mana inside of her body seeped out. Punching the bag again with too much force, the punching bag had broken open slightly as some sand had fallen on the floor. Sakae continued to abuse the punching bag as more mana seeped out of her body, unable to control the influx of mana that happened when emotions were high. Giving the punching bag a high kick, the bag had slit open as sand poured out of the bag, making it deflate.
        Panting heavily, sweat pouring down her face, Sakae clicked her tongue in annoyance as she played with her lip before punching the bag again causing the bag to break off it's hinges as it fell on the floor. Sand poured out of the bag as Sakae pursed her lips before punching the mirror with her left hand, making it crack. Blood seeped out of her knuckles as she continued to punch the mirror. Not being able to handle the anger inside of her body, she took the nearby weight as she threw it across the room. The weight had hit the mirror as it shattered the mirror in half. Pieces of broken glass fell on the floor as Sakae took the pieces of broken glass and used them as throwing darts. She flung them to the other side of the wall as they stuck to the concrete wall. Grabbing her hair, Sakae pulled on her hair strands. Mana traveled down her fingertips as they flowed into her body, making her scream in pain.
        If there was one thing that was a major no-no in the usage of mana, it was redirecting mana that came from the body back into the body. Due to the almost cleaning process that mana went through, forcing mana back into the body and not the core would cause major pain. Releasing her hands, Sakae turned back around as she faced herself in the mirror.
        It was almost a moment of serenity as she noticed blood on her hands and blood dripping down her hair and onto her face. She looked at herself using the mirror that she broken with her own hands.
        The rest of what happened in the gym room was a blur.
        Hours later, Sakae woke up in her own bed. Her eyes had flew open as she quickly sat up from her bed. Her muscles ached beyond anything else as she winced in pain when she touched her hair. Quickly getting herself out of bed, Sakae rubbed her head as she felt a massive migraine coming onto her as some memories flooded back.
        Shit...right, Jayden's here. Fuck. Whatever happened, I hope she didn't see it. If she did see, then I'm fucking screwed.
        Sakae turned around as she punched her bed before flopping her head on the mattress. Groaning to herself in annoyance, she pulled herself together as she walked out of her room into the kitchen area.
        Dear gods, please allow me mercy on the fact that Jayden didn't see that. Please answer me.
        "Sakae, you're up, how are you doing?" Her uncle asked as she noticed him making dinner. The smell of miso soup had brought her slight comfort before she turned her head and saw Jayden who was staring at her.
        "Ah-" Sakae started before she shut her mouth. Biting her lips, Sakae stayed quiet, not knowing what to say exactly.
        "Are you okay?" Jayden asked as she broke the small silence between the two of them.
        "Ah, yea I'm fine. At least, I'll get over it," Sakae replied as she started making herself coffee before her uncle had stopped her. "How many times have I told you to not make coffee at night, Sakae?" Her uncle said as he gave her a pointed look.
        "You know I won't be sleeping tonight," she answered back, a slight bite in her tone as she heard her uncle sigh as he relented and continued to make dinner.
        "So, did I pass out again?" Sakae asked her uncle as he looked over and nodded, "Yea, you passed out after trying to fight me again."
        "I did. Sorry."
        "You don't need to apologize Sakae. But, you really need to start taking more care of yourself and that also means your pent up anger. You almost triggered a mana explosion," Her uncle said, a slightly remorseful look on his face as he pursed his lips.
        "Oh, that again," Sakae commented to herself as she heard her uncle scoff in disbelief as he sarcastically said, "Sakae, it's not 'oh, that again'"
        "Well, what exactly do you want me to do?" She replied, sarcasm lacing her tone as she evenly matched her uncle.
        Sakae heard her uncle huff in annoyance as he replied, "Just....please, stop and take care of yourself.....at least for me okay. Your my younger sister's daughter and I promised her that I would take care of you. You and Alanis are really all I have left."
        Sakae bit her lips as she looked down to the floor. "Right, sorry uncle."
        "It's okay Sakae. I know you're trying, at least somewhat. Even if you make me age twice as much as Alanis did."
        "Shut up," Sakae said lightly. A small smile bloomed on her face as she looked at her uncle before saying, "Thank you."
        "Of course."
        The three of them were wrapped in silence as Sakae helped her uncle cook as Jayden was finishing homework. "Sakae, can you put these on the table," Her uncle said as Sakae had put the bowls of miso soup on the table. Grabbing utensils, Sakae placed them on the table before she went over to grab rice bowls.
        "Hey Jayden, do you want a rice bowl?" Sakae asked as she looked at Jayden. "Yea sure."
        Sakae nodded as she grabbed three rice bowls and started filling them up. Her uncle had finished cooking the fish and the vegetables. Placing each portion on the table.
        "I'll go and wake up Nikari," Jayden said as she got up. A few minutes later, a sleepy Nikari had walked out as she rubbed her eyes. "Is that food!" Nikari yelled as a beaming smile was placed on her face. "It smells amazing!"
        Nikari sat down at the table as she stared at the food. "Kari, do you want rice?" Jayden asked.
        "Sure," Nikari said. Jayden grabbed the rice bowl as she handed it to Nikari who got up and started piling on rice. "You can have another scoop of rice later you know," Sakae commented at the mountain of rice that was placed in the bowl.
        "I can!" Nikari stated as she stopped grabbing rice as she sat down. "Itadakimasu!" Sakae and her uncle said in unison as the four of them started eating.
        "Thank you again, for letting us stay," Jayden said.
        "It's fine. We like having you here. Especially Sakae here since she gets to spend time with her future girlfriend," Her uncle stated as he winked at Sakae who scoffed. "How many times have I told you not to say that you dimwit!" Sakae shouted as she smacked him in the arm.
        "I'm only stating the truth here," Her uncle replied as he put his hands in a surrendering motion.
        "I mean he is telling the truth," Nikari commented as she shoved rice into her mouth.
        "What?!" Jayden yelled as she looked at Nikari with an incredulous expression, "Come on! Now, you're getting in on this too?"
        "Of course I am, I mean you two clearly like each other, you're both just stubborn mules to admit that you actually care," Nikari pointedly stated as she stared at Jayden, daring her to refute. And when Jayden didn't rebuke the statement, a smug expression crossed Nikari's face as she hummed to herself happily.
        "Shut up will you," Jayden said as she groaned in annoyance.
        "I didn't even say anything," Nikari replied as she continued to happily shove food in her mouth.
        She looks really cute when she's arguing with her sister. Like, really cute. I never expected Jayden to be an older sister, but she's really good. You can tell just how much she loves her. I really shouldn't have feelings for her, or find her cute, especially when I'm not worthy of someone like her.
        Jayden deserves something more than what I can give to her. I don't even know if I have the right to even like someone. Do I have the right to like someone like her, or even someone at all. But, as of now, I'll enjoy the little moments that I have like this. I'll enjoy the small moments that I have with Jayden. I'll enjoy the fact that I can be slightly vulnerable with her. I'll enjoy the peace that I have now. Since, I know it won't last for long.
        After dinner had been finished, Sakae had started grabbing bowls as she went to the kitchen to clean them. The general rule was that whoever didn't make dinner that night when both of them are home, has to do the dishes.
        Sakae had started scrubbing the bowls as she saw Jayden who had started to help her. "It's fine Jayden, you don't have to help," Sakae said as she continued scrubbing down the small bowls.
        "I want to," Jayden replied.
        A few moments later when it was just the two of them, Sakae broke the silence, "You want to know what happened at the gym room don't you."
        "If you don't mind."
        Sakae sighed as she stopped washing dishes for a second. "You know that my other 'uncle' is Ichiro Fujishima right? My uncle told you?"
        "Yea, he did."
        "Okay, so he's not my uncle. Well by technical terms, he is my uncle. But, like your father, I don't consider him as my uncle. To put it simply, I don't have a good relationship with him. I stayed with him at the household for two years before I ran away."
        "You ran away?" Jayden asked, a bit shocked at Sakae ran away. Not just ran away from anyone, but from the leader of the Association.
        "Yea, I did. Anyways, I planned my escape and left to go to Japan."
        Sakae could feel the stare that Jayden was giving her as she asked, "Why did you run away?"
        "They hated me so to speak. The family didn't really do anything, they kind of just pretended that I didn't exist. People knew that I was a Fujishima, they just didn't know who I was related to. Many thought that I was related towards one of the collateral families. More so, one of Isamu Fujishima's affairs with another woman had a child. And that I was basically an illegitimate descendant of Fujishima family," Sakae said as she had opened the faucet, letting water clean the soapy bowl as she placed it on the drying rack.
        "If they hated you so much, why did they adopt you?"
        "No clue. Honestly, it would have been better if they left me out on the streets after my parents died than having me live with them for two years."
        "I guess we have similar stories," Jayden commented as Sakae saw her look up at the ceiling before smiling slightly.
        "What? You gonna tell me your story now, so it's fair?"
        "Sure. Anyways, the guy that was at the front door with your uncle is my father. Not that he's my father. All he did was give half of my genetics. Anyways, umm, he abused me and my mother. My mother protected us form getting beaten but when she was gone, it went to me. Kari sometimes had gotten beaten, but it was mostly just me and my mom. He killed my mother when I was eleven in a fit of rage and he fled the scene as soon as he killed my mother, leaving me and Kari."
        Sakae scoffed as she heard Jayden start her story. Commenting, "Yea, no wonder you hate him. I would too."
        "You bet. Besides that, I had gotten detained because I was holding a knife trying to protect my mom so I had gotten detained along with Kari but we eventually were released when the evidence had shown that it was Aamon who killed him. Aamon's my father's name."
        "Aamon? That name sounds familiar." Sakae commented as Jayden nodded and replied, "Yea, he was notorious for criminal activity so I wouldn't be surprised if you have heard of his name."
        "So then the two of you were placed in foster care yea?"
        "Yup, Then I got emancipated at the age of 14 where I was then able to get Kari."
        "You must have had one damn good lawyer to get you emancipated."
        "Yea, I really did," Jayden commented to herself as she thought of the lawyer who fought for her.
        "You must have done a lot of odd jobs then."
        "Yea, I started doing odd jobs when I was twelve because it was the only way to survive until I was able to actually get a steady job when I turned 14.         Honestly, it's hard, but she's the reason why I keep moving forward."
        "You really care a lot about her don't you," Sakae said as she a small smile was placed on her lips.
        "You're really cute when you smile, you know."
        Did—did—she just call me cute! She just called me cute, right?! I'm not mishearing this right?! And my smile, my smile?! What was I exaclty smiling like for her to make such a comment. Okay, but I don't know if the flattery worked, actually it may have. I don't know. Okay......moving on. Calm yourself down.
        "Thank you for sharing with me." Jayden said as a soft expression was on her face. Sakae saw the gentle smile on Jayden's lips and the kind eyes that she gave to her sister being given to her.
        "You too."
        Holy shit, I almost stuttered there. The expression on Jayden's face towards me was definitely not what got my brain going haywire. Okay, be brave. Be calm. You can handle this.