Onihunter Yuna 2

111 A Huntress?! (Present)

Hirose-sensei once again performed one of his monologues. Hikari stared at the empty space in front of her. Yukiko didn't show up after the break. When asked by the teacher about her whereabouts, no one answered until Hikari suggested that she might be ill. He made a note and then continued the lesson.

Yuna had sat down in her own place and scribbled something in her workbook. What kind of secret could she hide? And why should Yukiko know about it? And if Yukiko knew who else did? The black-haired girl squinted over to Nisha, who was concentrated on taking notes. Whether the class representative was filled in? And if something was in the bush, why did Yuna fail to let her best friend know about it?

"Do you want to tell me what's going on between you and Aizawa?" she asked after a long while.

The blue-haired girl stopped with doodling and squinted over. Expectantly, Hikari waited and looked at her. After a short clearing of her throat, Yuna whispered, "I think it's better for you if you stay out of this."

The corners of her best friend's lips tightened slightly. "How so? Don't you trust me?"

"No. That's not it." Sighing, Yuna took her pencil in both hands and rolled it back and forth. "I don't know. It's difficult to explain."

"Try."

What should I tell you? The two girls kept eye contact and stared at each other. Yuna had wondered if she should tell her best friend about the oni thing. With Wataru and Ayumi, she had been absolutely lucky, since both were very secretive, but Hikari has always been somewhat unpredictable. What if she was babbling? Worse, what if she was babbling in Yui's presence?

She squinted past the black-haired girl to Nisha. It was something completely different with the class representative, because she belonged to the world of the Yōkai. She already kept her own secret and would be careful not to betray anyone in their ranks.

"I really don't know how. Maybe I can explain it to you someday," Yuna said.

Snorting, Hikari shook her head. "Fine. If you don't want to." She thought of Yukiko's offer. If her best friend didn't want to talk then she would just ask her new friend.

***

Hikari pushed open the door to the roof. Immediately the summer heat hit her in the face and fine sweat gathered on her hairline. Why on the roof? It's way too hot here. She stepped out into the sunlight and shielded her eyes with her hand. She took a few steps before she caught sight of Yukiko's blue hair out of the corner of her eye. She walked over to the other high-school student, who sat in the shadows on the floor and turned a soda can between her hands.

"So?" the black-haired girl asked.

"Don't you want to sit down?"

Shrugging, Hikari replied, "I'm not sure if I'll stay that long."

The oni smiled. "I see."

"What do you want to tell me?"

Yukiko picked up her can and sipped on it. "Bah, it's getting warm."

"Have you been sitting up here since morning? Hirose-sensei asked about you. I claimed that you didn't feel so good."

"That's nice of you, but honestly... I don't give a fuck about school."

Hikari cocked her head and grinned. "I already noticed that. So, what's up?"