Sweet Burden (13 page)

When she pointed it out, her mother immediately said ‘no’. Hitomi countered with telling her she wasn’t going to the dance then. Eventually after Hitomi was allowed to try the dress on, her mother caved in and bought her the dress.

They finished up the day buying shoes and make-up. The girls even convinced Regina to go to Victoria’s Secret. Hitomi was allowed to get some new bra and underwear sets, but nothing sexy. Cotton only. Hitomi was able to sneak in a few pairs of lacy black panties when her mother wasn’t paying attention.

When they got home, Kerry left for Shane’s house and Hitomi locked herself in the bathroom for a long bath. She soaked in the water until she was practically a prune and wrapped herself in her robe. She shut herself in her room and dressed in a tank top and underwear. It was still early, but she was exhausted. Besides being upset all day, she hadn’t felt very well. Weird pains would stab her chest, but eventually dissipate. She opened her curtains enough to view the bench. It still sat empty.

She crawled into bed and yanked the covers up around her. She needed to know why Obi hadn’t shown up today. Did he not want to see her? Did he not want anything to do with her anymore? But she didn’t understand why he would have sent Rediisu to tell her he couldn’t make it. He could have just not shown and left her angry at him and disappointed. Instead she was disappointed and worried. If he hadn’t sent Rediisu, she wouldn’t be mulling over every possibility in her mind.

She sighed to herself and closed her eyes hoping to see him in her dreams.

****

A book crashed against the rock wall. Pages flew out and scattered all over the floor. Obi felt like a caged animal and he couldn’t take it anymore. He needed to see her. He needed to be near her. With no other thoughts, he trudged out of the cavern.

It was already incredibly late when he found himself outside Hitomi’s house. All the lights were off and everything around was still. Obi could smell someone’s presence, but was unable to pinpoint exactly who it was. Obi assumed it was whoever Guri had watching Hitomi.

He made his way into the house and up to her room. Carefully shutting the door behind him, he stepped over to the side of the bed. Hitomi lay sleeping soundly on her stomach. She had however kicked all her covers off of herself and slept in very little clothing. Her top was bunched up above her stomach and her lower half was only covered with panties. Obi’s eyes grazed over the subtle curves of her body. Her lean legs were tangled in the sheets. With the faint light coming through the curtains her skin looked like pure silk.

Obi clenched his hands into fists to keep from reaching out and trailing his fingers along the entire length of her body. The sight of her was more than he could handle and he quickly grabbed the comforter and pulled it over her. He didn’t even allow a slight fingertip to graze her. He sat down on the floor by her face. But even with her covered, he still could picture what was underneath.

He shook his head and realized that the pain that had been flowing through him was now gone. Her scent was playing on his tongue and he felt soothed. Obi was lost in his thoughts as she began to move. It took him a few seconds to realize that her eyes were open and she was looking at him.

“Obi?” she whispered.

Obi opened his mouth but nothing came out. He had no idea how he was going to explain the fact that he was in her room at four a.m.

“I was hoping I would dream about you tonight,” she mumbled.

“Yes, a dream. I’m a dream,” he quickly nodded. This was perfect. He could say whatever he wanted to her and none of it would matter. She would wake up later thinking it all a dream.

“I waited for you. I waited for two hours.”

“It’s not that I didn’t want to see you.” He hesitantly reached up tucking some hair behind her ear.

She gave him a tired smile. “I’m nothing special.” Her eyes slowly closed.

“Yes you are,” he whispered. “You are special to me. Now drift off into your next dream, but remember to look for me in the morning.”

She let out a little murmur that he couldn’t understand and watched her as she fell back asleep.

****

Hitomi sat up in her bed and pushed her hair away from her face. She rubbed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She had dreamt of Obi briefly but she swore she could smell the scent of him in her room. He had the most amazing scent of fresh rain and musk with a hint of pine and that’s exactly how her room smelled.

She fell back in her bed and stared up at the ceiling remembering the way he looked and what he had said to her. Her eyes widened and she jumped out of the bed rushing over to the window. She threw back the curtains and peered down at the bench. Obi sat there waiting for her. Hitomi ran around her room while trying to get her legs into her jeans. She grabbed a cardigan and wrapped herself in it. After a quick trip to the bathroom, she pulled her hair into a ponytail as she ran down the stairs. She didn’t even stop to grab an umbrella or a jacket as she ran out the door.

Hitomi stepped out into the rain and hurried across the street. Obi stood up as she neared and took a few steps towards her, but she abruptly stopped only a few feet away from him. She had been so worried about him that now she was mad that he had made her worry.

She crossed her arms over her chest and took a defensive stance. “Where were you?”

“I’m sorry Hitomi. There was something I had to do.” He took a few steps closer.

“That’s all you’re going to tell me? You could have just had your friend come tell me that again,” she shot back.

Obi sighed. “Hitomi, I shouldn’t even be here now. I shouldn’t even be talking to you. I’m not a good…person.”

“If this is your way of saying you don’t want to talk to me anymore, then I wish you would just say it.”

“Why are you acting like a child?” he tilted his head peering at her.

Hitomi’s jaw dropped and her eyes narrowed. “Excuse me? A child? Maybe you should grow some balls and act like a man.” She turned to walk away from him when suddenly his grasp was on her elbow. He spun her around to face him and she inadvertently stumbled into him. Her face crashed into his chest and she stepped on his foot. She felt like a bumbling idiot, but he didn’t seem to care. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed her tightly against him. Hitomi’s body melted into his.

“Believe me when I say that I wanted to see you. I just couldn’t.”

“Why?” she turned her head sideways and mumbled. The word barely escaped her mouth as her heart thundered in her chest.

“I can’t tell you. Please just trust me.” His voice waivered as his chest rose and fell hard. Hitomi felt completely calmed in his arms. She closed her eyes and brought her arms up wrapping them around his waist. They stood there silent for a long time as the rain beat down on them. She was entranced with the feeling of his chest against her cheek and the way her head rose and fell with his every breath. She could have stayed like that forever.

But eventually Obi pulled away and took a hold of her arms. He looked down at her with a fierce seriousness.

“You need to go home. Now.”

“But…” she shook her head confused.

“Listen,” he interrupted. “I am in some trouble. But I don’t want you to worry about it. I want you to go home and stay there. I don’t know when I will be back.”

“How can you tell me you’re in trouble and ask me not to worry about it?” she replied.

Obi leaned down bringing his face within inches of hers. He stared into her eyes. “You are everything good Hitomi. I don’t deserve your concern. Now, please, go.”

Hitomi’s breathing staggered and she stepped away from him. He dropped his hands from her and watched her back peddle. She could sense the urgency in his voice. Previously he had been so controlled and composed, but now he seemed desperate. It was starting to frighten her.

“Will you promise me something?” she asked as she continued to step backwards. Even though she hardly knew him she felt something for him. Something incredibly strong. Something she was not willing to give up feeling.

He swallowed hard. “What?”

“Promise me I’ll see you again.”

Obi gave her a slight nod.

“No.” She stopped moving. “I want to hear you say it.”

“Hitomi, get back to your house now,” he said even more frantically.

“Not until you say it.”

Obi glanced around, peered up into the air and then back at her. “Fine. I promise you’ll see me again. Go.”

Not sure if she believed his promise, she still felt his urgency. She took in one last good look of him trying to memorize every detail and then turned for her house and ran. She didn’t look for him as she shut the door behind her and locked it because she knew he would not be there.

****

As soon as Hitomi had shut the door behind her, Obi turned and started hurrying through the park. He wanted to make sure that Hitomi would not be able to see him struggling against unseen beings. He made it to the other side of the park when he clearly smelled the other two. He had smelled them before while speaking to Hitomi but he knew he still had a little time. Obi stopped on the sidewalk and waited. Within a few seconds there were two thuds behind him.

“Hello Domitori. And is that Deiman with you?” Obi said without turning around.

“Hm. You’ve been developing your power well,” Domitori replied.

“I’d recognize your stench anywhere.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“What do you two want?”

“We have some orders. We were sent directly by the Savetto. It seems you’ve been disobeying them left and right,” Deiman answered.

“You have to come back with us,” Domitori added.

“I can go back on my own,” Obi turned around and faced them. Domitori was tall and muscular. His shaved head did nothing to conceal his red eyes. He had a menacing smirk on his face. Deiman stood next to him. A bit shorter than Obi and Domitori, he was more compactly built. He had his black hair slicked back into a ponytail and his arms crossed against his chest.

“Now if we let you go then we wouldn’t be following our orders. We wouldn’t want to be in the same position as you,” Domitori snickered and then disappeared in front of him, only to reappear behind him. He grabbed Obi’s arms and twisted them behind his back. Obi watched as a smile spread across Deiman’s face. “You sure have been a bad boy. It’s taken you about a week to go from highly regarded to fugitive.”

“I wasn’t running away. I’ll take my punishment,” Obi spat.

“Oh, you’re so noble,” Domitori said sarcastically. He brought his head closer to Obi’s ear. “Rumor is that your punishment is going to be pretty bad. I doubt you’ll come out with that righteous attitude,” he whispered.