Sweet Burden (28 page)

They laid there in silence for about an hour watching the movie. It was killing Obi inside not touching her but being so close to her. He couldn’t even bring himself to look at her as every cell in his body ached. He finally turned and looked at her as she let out a little yawn. Her lids were heavy and she fluttered her eyes to stay awake.

“It’s okay to fall asleep,” Obi whispered.

“I want to see the end of the movie,” she replied sleepily.

“We can watch it again sometime if you fall asleep.”

Hitomi smiled and her eyes slowly closed. At first he had been worried that she didn’t trust him enough to fall asleep around him, but she quickly eliminated that thought. He got up and turned off the TV, then double checked the locked door. He moved back around the bed and climbed back in carefully so not to wake her. He rolled onto his side and watched her in the dark. Satisfied that she had fallen asleep, he closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.

Obi’s sleep was disturbed awhile later when a loud bang woke him. His eyes shot open and he sat up scanning the room. There was another noisy thump and he realized it was coming from the room above them. He let out a sigh and fell back on the pillow. He turned his head towards Hitomi as she started moving. She moved onto her side facing him and her eyes opened halfway.

“Everything okay?” she mumbled.

“Um hm.” He couldn’t stop himself as he reached over moving strands of hair from her face and tucking them behind her ear. “Go back to sleep.”

“Obi?”

“Yes?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you come to the dance?”

He shifted onto his side so he could face her. He suddenly felt nervous. “I wanted to see you in your dress,” he answered honestly. “And you looked beautiful.”

The corners of her mouth turned up. “I keep having dreams about last night.”

“I hope the ending was better in your dreams.” Obi thought about how he had almost kissed her. If it hadn’t been for Bradley he would have. He still wanted to kiss her, but at that time she didn’t know what he was and now she did.

“There’s less blood in my dreams,” Hitomi stated.

Obi watched her eyes slowly close again. “Can I ask
you
something?”

“Sure.”

“How have you continued to smile through all of this? Aren’t you worried?”

“You said you’d protect me,” she replied.

“And I will. I always will,” Obi blurted out.

“That makes me feel better.” Hitomi opened her eyes. “Any other questions?”

He shook his head as he stared at her lips. They were slightly parted almost as if they were inviting him closer. If he felt warmness just from her skin, he ached to sense the heat that would travel through him if he kissed her. He wasn’t sure it wouldn’t make him completely come undone.

Obi moved closer to her and tentatively moved his hand back up to her face. He ran his fingers down the side of her face and rested his palm against her cheek.

“Obi…” she whispered as she bit at her bottom lip.

“Obsidian! Hitomi!” Guri’s voice yelled at the door. He started banging on the door.

They both sat straight up from the bed and Obi’s feet were on the floor in the matter of seconds. He rushed over to the door and let Guri in. He hurried inside and slammed the door behind him.

“Guri? What’s the matter?” Obi stepped back as Hitomi slipped out of the bed.

“What’s going on in here?” Guri questioned eyeing them both.

“Nothing,” Obi shot back. “We were trying to get some rest. What has you banging on the door and rushing around frantically?”

He glanced at Hitomi and watched her wrap her sweater around herself tightly as she stood there also waiting for an explanation from Guri.

“Domitori is coming to find you two,” Guri blurted out.

“But the council takes awhile to decide anything. How did he get approval so quickly?” Obi replied.

“He’s doing it without the Savetto’s approval.”

“What is the Savetto?” Hitomi asked.

“The Savetto is a council of shinigami that hand out the lists of souls,” he replied dryly. “There are two sets of councils in the Afterworld, the Savetto and the Juydisu. The Juydisu pick out the souls and the Savetto make the lists,” Obi explained quickly. He eyed Guri while the anger inside him built as he thought of Domitori and his threats against Hitomi. “Let him come,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Obi…” Hitomi turned to him with worry across her face.

“He’s not coming alone,” Guri interrupted.

Obi’s eyes widened and he crossed the distance to her in a blink. He grabbed her arms. “Hitomi, go gather your things. Now.” She gave a nod and hurried into the bathroom.

He watched her rush off and his attention returned to Guri. “Who else?”

“Deiman and Kooisan. You better get your stuff. We need to go meet Rediisu.”

“Rediisu?”

“He’s got Hitomi’s mother.”

“What?” Hitomi came running out of the bathroom as she buttoned up her jeans. “Who has my mom?”

“Rediisu. It’s just a precaution,” Guri replied.

“But I thought Rediisu was a bad guy,” she said confused.

“He’s not. Hitomi, please get your stuff. We need to go.”

She looked to Obi and he moved over to her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned down resting his forehead against hers. “Your mom will be fine. But we need to hurry. I can’t let anything happen to you.”

Hitomi let out a shaky deep breath and went back to the bathroom. Guri left the room to go check them out as Obi grabbed all his things stuffing them into his bag. Hitomi came out toting her bag as he zipped his up. He pulled on a t-shirt as he turned to her.

He hated the alarm on her face. The only thing that mattered to him was getting her somewhere safe and erasing that expression.

“Got everything?” he asked.

She gave another nod and without even a second thought he grabbed her hand intertwining his fingers with hers.

“I’m scared Obi,” Hitomi whispered.

“I promise to protect you.”

“I’m not scared for me. I’m afraid for my mom.”

“Rediisu is a strong shinigami. She will be fine.” He lifted his other hand and ran it down the side of her head raking his fingers through tendrils of her hair. “You might want to tie your hair back. Let’s go.” He pulled her out of the room and they met Guri outside.

Hitomi felt her pulse racing. She couldn’t believe that her mother was being brought into the situation. Her mind couldn’t focus on anything but Regina. The air suddenly felt cold around her and she couldn’t contain her shiver.

“Where are we going?” Obi asked Guri.

“Just follow me. It’s too dangerous to meet at his house.”

She watched as suddenly Guri’s wings poked out from tears in the back of his shirt. They spread out to their full span and he took off into the air. Her eyes followed him in the sky as Obi let go of her hand. She tied her hair back as her head was still tilted up and all of a sudden Obi scooped her up in his arms. Hitomi let out a gasp and her body shuddered again.

“Are you cold?” he asked concerned.

“No. You just surprised me.”

“Hold on tight.”

Hitomi wrapped her arms around his neck as he stared at her. Their faces were dangerously close as abruptly a set of black wings spread out from Obi’s back. Her jaw dropped in awe. His wings were as black as the night and practically sparkled from the lights in the parking lot. They were so gorgeous and soft looking, she wanted to reach out and touch them.

Before she had a chance, the ground below them was getting further and further away. The rush of the air against her face was chilly and she tucked her face into the crook of his neck. At least the rain had stopped, but the night air was much cooler. She clenched her hands together behind his neck and he pulled her tighter against him.

If she hadn’t been so afraid, she would have been overwhelmed being in his arms. But her mind was only occupied with thoughts of her mother. Regina had nothing to do with any of this and she would never forgive herself if anything happened to her. She closed her eyes and buried her head against him.

Hitomi concentrated on the rhythmic flapping of his wings as the wind smacked against her skin. She only briefly opened her eyes, but the cold stung bringing tears to them. The only thing comforting her was the heat of Obi’s body as worry clouded her mind.

She had no idea how long they had been in the air, but she felt relief when Obi shouted out to Guri that he smelled Rediisu below. They started to descend as she lifted her head.

“Are you okay?” Obi asked.

“Yah.”

“You’ll get to see your mother in a few minutes.”

Hitomi glanced down at the heavily wooded area beneath them as the trees grew larger. Obi tucked her head in as she felt branches hitting her hands and yanking at her sweater. She tightened her grip around him listening to the breaking of twigs and rustling of leaves. For a few moments she didn’t hear or feel anything and then there was a distinct thud of something hitting the forest floor and she lightly bounced in Obi’s grip. He let go of her head and she looked up at their surroundings.

The forest was thick and even darker than the night sky. She was barely able to make out Guri’s form a few feet from them.

“Which way?” Guri asked.

“North. You should be able to pick up on him in a few minutes,” Obi nodded his head in the direction. Guri hurried off in the direction Obi had motioned as Obi let Hitomi’s legs down carefully setting her feet on the ground. She kept her arms around his neck and looked up at him. He kept his gaze from her as his wings rustled and then quickly tucked away. He brought his hands up to her arms and pulled them away from him.