E Is For Enemy

Chapter Twenty Six

Karma's P.O.V.

I looked at the little boy next to me.

His drawing was all in black and white. The only splash of color on it was the red from where I had written my name, and a little orange where he had scribbled something that I couldn't make out from where I was sitting.

Art time was over now, and the teacher had started play time.

Blocks, toys and dolls were set up in the back of the classroom, and everyone was laughing and running around.

I looked around for that orange haired boy, and spotted him sitting by himself, reading a book.

I walked over and sat beside him.

"Whatcha readin'?" I asked him.

He scowled at me. "Go away, loser! Cant you see I'm busy studying?"

"For what?" I questioned. I glanced at his book. It was all words in tiny print, with no pictures.

"Second grade." He answered, turning the page already.

I huffed. "Boring!"

He ignored me, and I turned around and pulled out a book from the shelf behind us.

"My book is way more interesting, want me to read it to you?" I asked, opening it up to a random page.

"No, I want you to go away so I can study by myself." The boy said.

"Chapter one," I started, making up the story on the spot. (I could read-but I knew I could create a story and have it be more fun than the real book I had grabbed.)

"Stop," he complained, but he didn't sound like he wanted me to, so I kept going.

"There once was a little boy named Orange. He was a prince, and his father was a very strict king." I said, pretending like I was reading this off the book.

Gaku-chan glanced at my book, and I slightly shifted my position so he couldn't read what the real words said.

"Orange had to do everything the king said, or else he would get in trouble. This made Orange a boring prince, and no one wanted to be his friend because he was so boring."

The boy scowled. "I don't like this story."

"Then one day," I continued, "a red headed knight rode into the kingdom. He was very handsome and smart and witty and all the ladies loved him and he was rich and had a lot of friends and was very clever and smelled good and was athletic and lucky and-"

"Okay, we get it." Gaku-chan snapped. "Get on with it!"

"I'm sorry, I thought you were studying on your own." I said, looking at him.

He had moved an inch closer to me. "I am. I'm not even listening to you." He glanced up at the ceiling. "But you should continue your story."

Smirking, I flipped the page. "Anyways, the knight wanted to be friends with the prince, but the king didn't want that. He thought the knight was going to be a bad influence on his son so he locked Orange away in a tower that was really high up."

"But the prince doesnt like being locked up!" Gaku-chan exclaimed.

"Don't worry, the red knight knew this and so he set out to climb the tower and free Orange." I said. I faced the open book again. "He crawled in through an open window and said "Orange! I'm here to save you! Break free from your terrible father and come with me to slay the dragon!""

Gaku-chan was leaning against me now, his violet eyes wide as he listened to the story.

"Orange wanted to go with the knight, but then the king burst in! He had heard them talking and didn't want the knight to take his son away and do something as dangerous as slaying a dragon! So he had the knight brought down to the dungeons and chained up. This made Orange so angry because he really liked the knight. So he decided to sneak away from his father and free the knight. They both ran away together and slaid the dragon, which made all the townspeople happy. In fact, they were so happy that they made the knight and Orange both princes of a brand new town, where the evil king couldn't reach them. And they all lived happily ever after. The end."

"I like that story," Gaku-chan murmured, leaning against me with half closed eyes. "Especially when they run away from the evil king and start a new life."

"It's a good story," I agreed, closing the book.

Luckily, nap time was right after play time, so the teacher gave us a blanket to share and I let Gaku-chan sleep against my shoulder.

I smiled to myself, letting myself drift off into a dream about dragons and knights and a cute orange headed prince.

-

"Does your ego ever get a break?" Asano rolled his eyes, walking over.

"Do you ever get off your high horse?" I countered.

"Delinquent."

"Teachers pet."

"Criminal."

"Know it all."

We stared at each other for a moment, before he glanced away.

"So, see you at school tomorrow?" He asked.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." I smiled.

He smiled back, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"What's wrong?" I questioned, putting my hands into my pockets. "The bad guys are beaten up and the girl got her umbrella back, and all in time for dinner."

"Yeah, that's all great and stuff...but..." he trailed off and I noticed he was avoiding my gaze.

"Spit it out, Orange." I said, smirking.

"That girl...you saved her but she acted like you were just another one of those stupid punks. She barely thanked you and just ran off. Even after you said you would never hurt an innocent person like her. She just assumed you were a terrible person, just like everyone else in this world does." He said, kicking the ground. "It's not fair."

I blinked, surprised to hear this, especially from someone like Asano.

"Do you think I'm a terrible person?" I asked him.

He looked at me, blinking in surprise. "Of course not!"

I smiled. "Then that's all that matters to me. I don't care what a million people think, as long as the one person I care about the most thinks I'm a good person, then nothing else matters."

-

"I just have to say hi to someone quick," I said, pausing outside the cemetery. "You can wait here if you want."

"Who...who do you have to see?" Asano asked.

"None of your business." I smiled, before letting go of the cup and heading inside.

I walked to the headstone I had visited so many times in the past.

I sat down in front of it, ignoring the cold snow beneath me.

"Hey," I said softly, brushing a few snowflakes off the stone so I could read it.

Rema Ishibashi had been my caretaker for years, until she went missing one day. We found her a few weeks later- dead.

I was devastated more than anybody- she had been more of a mother to me than my biological one. I had always wondered what happened to her, but the police never found any leads and the case went cold.

She had taken care of me and raised me while my parents were gone, and they were always gone. They were always out traveling, occasionally calling to tell me what country they were in now or to wish me a very late birthday.

But Rema had always remembered and celebrated it with a party of just us, which was more than enough for me.

It killed me that I couldn't avenge her by finding her killer, so I had to settle by being all the things she wanted me to be- a hero.

I hoped she would be proud of the person I was today.

Somehow, I knew she would.

Finally, I stood up, brushing the clingy flakes off my clothes.

I headed back to the entrance, where Shuu had been waiting for me.

"Ready to go home? You need a hot bath." I said.

"Don't tell me what I need," he snapped, and I smiled.

Somehow, I knew she would approve of Asano too.

And that was enough for me.