Sweet Burden (26 page)

“What are we going to do?” he thought outloud.

“I have to get back to the Afterworld and see what is going on. I’ll try to get some more information. I’ll come back in a couple of days,” Guri said with his mouth full. “The room is paid for two more nights and I’ll leave you the money. Make sure you lay low.”

Obi sighed heavily and rested his eyes back on Hitomi.

She forced an uneasy grin. “Stop worrying. Everything is going to be alright.” The look on Obi’s face suggested that he did not believe her.

Guri finished stuffing his face and left quickly leaving Hitomi and Obi alone. There was an uncomfortable silence in the room and Hitomi started feeling butterflies in her stomach. Obi locked the door up and then adjusted the curtains making sure no one could see in. He moved around the bed and sat down as he winced and placed his hand on his abdomen.

“How’s your wound?” she asked instantly feeling stupid. Couldn’t she have come up with a better question? Of course his wound wasn’t good, but she just wanted to hear his voice again.

“It’ll be alright.”

“You should let me look at it. It might get infected.”

“It won’t.”

Hitomi nervously intertwined her fingers. She hated the tension between them. Before last night, they had been getting closer and now everything seemed to change in an instant. As soon as he had told her what he was, he had pulled away from her. What he was did not change the way Hitomi viewed him. She wanted him to know that but didn’t know how to say it.

She sighed frustrated with herself. “I wanted to tell you thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me.”

“Yes, I do. You’ve protected me probably more than I know.”

“Hitomi, stop.”

“Why won’t you let me thank you?”

“Because I don’t deserve it,” he grumbled and turned away from her.

“Why Obi?” she replied exasperated.

“I’m a death god. A shinigami,” he stated flatly and turned back to her. “And I never spared a life before you.”

Hitomi bit at her bottom lip trying to picture Obi as a menacing killer. She couldn’t quite visualize it. She was silent thinking about his words. She couldn’t think of anything other than him lying next to her in her bed after she found him on the porch and the way that he had appeared so vulnerable.

“Don’t I frighten you at all?” Obi asked breaking her away from her thoughts.

Yes. He very much frightened her. But not in the way that he expected. She was more afraid to be away from him. She was nervous he would disappear from her life. Hitomi was scared that he would be taken away from her.

She shook her head. “I don’t believe being a death god is your true self. You’ve gone against it too easily.”

“It still doesn’t change the fact that I’ve taken hundreds of lives,” he grimaced.

“Nothing can change that,” Hitomi replied almost in a whisper.

“Don’t I disgust you?” His brow creased with worry anticipating her answer.

She wanted to reach up and smooth the lines out on his forehead and move his hair from his face, but she clasped her hands together to keep from touching him. Hitomi shook her head ‘no’ answering his question.

“Do you mean that?”

A smile spread across her face. “That’s not who you are now. And that’s what matters to me.”

An expression of disbelief came over Obi’s face as he stared at her. His gaze warmed her from head to toe and she felt her cheeks flush again. She could accept who he was in the past. She only knew him as he was now.

They stared at each other for a few moments and then they both looked away. From the corner of her eye, she watched him rub the back of his neck as she began fidgeting again with the edges of her sleeves.

****

Obi glanced at her and watched the way she nervously pulled at her sleeves. She seemed incredibly uneasy and he figured that she had been lying about not being scared of him. He wanted to pull her onto his lap and hold her to show her that he was nothing to be afraid of. He would never hurt her and he would never let her be hurt. At that moment as he watched her sitting so close to him, he knew that he would die for her.

Obi shook his head a little still trying to get used to all the emotions he was feeling. Hitomi made the sensations flow so naturally from him. He had felt an instant passion for her the moment he had touched her and it continued to grow stronger and stronger every time they touched.

All of a sudden, as if she knew he longed for her skin against his, she placed her hand on his arm. Warmth traveled through him, tingling his entire body and curling his toes. Whatever power she had over him was getting more intense.

“Obi?”

“Hmm?”

She removed her hand and the aching for her throbbed. The warmth drained from his body. Before it had pained him to be too far away from her. Now his insides twisted and knotted being so close to her.

“I really need to call my mom,” Hitomi said.

Obi quickly stood up trying to distract himself from his need to touch her. The knots tugged taut inside him. “Let’s go find a phone.”

He grabbed the key and money from the table where Guri had left them and headed for the door.  Hitomi followed behind him when suddenly he felt the heat wrap over him again. He looked down and Hitomi had taken his hand intertwining her fingers with his. Obi turned his eyes up to hers. He watched her cheeks flush with pink and she turned her head away. 

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

She began easing her hand from his, but he didn’t want her to let go. He tightened his fingers mingled with hers.

“I think there’s a pay phone across the street,” he stated nonchalantly.

She glanced back up at him and grinned. “Okay.”

With their hands securely clasped, Obi cautiously led her outside. He stopped short of the parking lot and took a deep breath. Today had been even better than he had hoped for and for split second, Obi let the corners of his mouth turn up.

Hitomi squeezed his hand slightly as they stopped short of the parking lot. Obi lifted his head to the sky and closed his eyes inhaling deeply. She wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing, but she swore she saw a bit of a smile cross his lips. After another deep breath he glanced around and then returned his eyes to her.

“It seems safe,” he remarked and they started across the parking lot.

She could barely take her eyes off of him as they slowly walked towards the main street, but she was able to get a few glimpses of their surroundings. Since she had hardly been out of Beach Village she had no idea where they were. There were no distinguishable landmarks and the town seemed rundown. It was warm out and the air smelled of fresh grass and flowers. She instantly felt silly wearing a sweater. She pushed the sleeves up with her free hand and Obi looked down at her.

“I should have told you it was hot out,” he stated.

She shrugged. “I’ll be fine.”

“I’m not sure what all Guri packed for you, but if you need anything else we can go get you what you need.”

“So Guri went through my things?” she grinned. A wave of relief washed over her. She was glad it hadn’t been Obi.

“Yes. He’s spent much more time around…humans. I wasn’t sure what you’d need.”

“How long have you been a shina…what are you called?”

“Shinigami,” Obi replied as if the words tasted bad in his mouth. “About 17 to 18 human years. We don’t have years in the Afterworld. We don’t age so it’s pointless to keep time.”

“You don’t age at all?” Hitomi asked envious.

“No.”

“You were 19 when you were turned to a shinigami?”

“Yes.”

“You said before that you were dying when the powers were transferred to you.”

“Um hm,” Obi nodded. “I don’t really remember anything. I was told that I was in a terrible car accident.” He glanced away from her and rubbed the back of his neck.

“You never tried to find out more information?”

“Why would I?” he looked down at her. “That life was over for me.” His eyes narrowed a little and slightly glinted. She got the impression he didn’t want to talk about his former life.

“If you don’t age or can’t die, then how did that other guy almost kill you?”

“Domitori?” Obi sighed. “He was able to get human blood into my system. Our blood is very different from the living and if even a single drop mixes with ours its basically instant death. Other than that we’re immortal.” He suddenly stopped and lifted his head up to the sky. Hitomi followed his eyes and glanced up not seeing anything except for grey cloud cover.

“What’s wrong?”

Obi didn’t answer as he closed his eyes and sniffed the air. He shook his head and turned back down to her. “Nothing. I thought I smelled something.” He pulled on her arm and they continued to the street.

“Is that how you track people?” Hitomi asked.

“Yes. It’s mainly by scent. But it’s also feeling the air and vibrations. It’s easier to track someone that I know.”

“That’s really amazing.”

“Not nearly as impressive as being able to heal,” he commented as he eyed her.

She thought about what she had done last night and how she had felt. It was as if something had come over her or some other person had entered her body. Hitomi had not felt like herself and the power that flowed through her was very potent.

“Why do you think I have that ability?”

“I don’t know,” Obi replied quickly and turned his face forward.

“But what do
you
think? If you had to guess.”

Obi adjusted his hand in hers securing his grip as they came up to the main street. “Maybe you’re some sort of remnant of an angel or something. The ability to heal is a power held by beings linked to the Heavens.”