Chapter Eight: Ren Knows

After a moment, Loki sighed and closed his eyes. Hiromi looked up at him. He opened his eyes and gazed at her softly. Loki reached out, surprising her by resting his hand on her cheek. Her eyes went wide. Loki leaned forward and surprised her even more when he just rested his forehead against hers. He closed his eyes.

"I wish you would tell me. I don't like to be kept in the dark,"Loki murmured to her. His hand was warm on her cheek, slightly soothing to her. She closed her eyes, staying still. He was surprised when she didn't start shaking from him touching her or anything. After a minute, he rose back up, his fingers gently sliding off of her face. Her heart was pounding. "I'm not busy for a bit...Balder and the others went somewhere, so, why don't you tell me a little about the human world? You don't have to talk about whatever is making you cry so much." Hiromi blinked at him. He smiled at her comfortingly. She sighed and allowed him to gently take her hand, leading her away.

He lead her to the steps of the school. She sighed and sat down on them after he released her hand.

"The human world sucks,"Hiromi told him. He frowned. She smiled at him. "There are some good things, but the people...the humans you're learning about....there are things the girls and I can not teach you. Things you yourself must learn to understand." Hiromi brought her legs up, wrapping her arms around them. "There are different kinds of humans. People like me. People like the girls. And some of them...not at all like us." Loki sat down, giving her an interested look.

"What do you mean, not at all like you?"Loki asked her. Hiromi hummed. She released her legs, letting them rest on the steps.

"There are humans who have power...humans who go mad with it. They enslave other humans. There are humans who...kill. Hurt others. Mentally and physically." She took a shaky breath. "There are humans who don't have power, those of us who can do nothing but listen to the others." Hiromi looked up at the sky. "There are different inventions in our world, things you wouldn't know about from where you're from. There are humans who suffer, and humans who prosper." Loki blinked at her. Hiromi smiled to herself, her eyes tracing over the sky. Loki sighed.

"What kind of human are you?"He asked. Hiromi glanced at him. He frowned. "You wear a limiter...so you have to have powers of some sort." Hiromi stiffened. She stared at him for a minute before looking away with a sigh.

"Yeah. I have a power,"Hiromi muttered. She looked down at the steps, her eyes tracing over them in front of her. "The other girls do too, but you'd have to ask them about it. I have the power of command." Loki's eyes went wide.

"So that means you're not human, right?"

"No, I'm human."

"Are you sure though?"Loki murmured. Hiromi blinked. She looked at him. He smiled at her. "I mean, I'm half giant. I'm not all god, you know." Hiromi's eyes went wide. He grinned. "There are things about gods you don't know either...we're pretty mysterious. And all different." Hiromi hummed at him. She grinned.

"So you're a lot like humans." He shrugged.

"In a way,"Loki agreed. He sighed. "Though, a lot different too."

"Half giant..."

"Well, not really. They're...not exactly giants but they're called that,"Loki told her. Hiromi blinked at him. He grinned. "Confused?" She wrinkled her eyebrows and nodded. He chuckled.

"Of course I'm confused." Loki smirked.

"Let it be a mystery to you,"Loki told her. Hiromi blinked at him. His smirk stretched further. All of a sudden, the sky clouded over. Hiromi blinked, looking up. Rain drops started to fall slowly, racing down towards them. Loki chuckled and stood up, grabbing her wrist. "Come on!" He pulled her up, and the two ran back inside. Hiromi sighed shaking the water from her hair.

"Now I'm all wet,"She sighed hard. Loki glanced at her. She looked up at him. After a moment of silence, Hiromi looked away. "I'm going to my dorm. Thanks for talking with me, Loki." He smiled.

"Any time,"Loki told her. He sighed after a moment. "But I do wish...you would talk to me about what made you cry." Hiromi stiffened. She gave him a hard look. He sighed at her and held his hands up. "I won't force you. Here.." He held out a piece of candy to her. She blinked, taking it. He chuckled. "Never seen candy?" She rose an eyebrow, turning it over in her hand. After a moment it started to expand.

"Eh-what-" Her words were cut short as the candy grew bigger and bigger until it burst. Pink smoke rushed up and met her face. She coughed, attempting to relieve herself of the smoke. She waved her hand in front of her face. "What the hell?" When she looked around, Loki was gone. She let out an annoyed noise. "I should've known he'd prank me...LOKI!" Loki, who was a little bit away from her and hiding, chuckled heavily. Hiromi sighed and turned, walking towards the dorm building. As she left, Loki watched her, his smile dropping off his face slowly. Why wouldn't she tell me what she was so scared of? He sighed to himself. After a minute, he shook his head. Whatever. He turned, heading back towards his dorm. He paused slightly before continuing. She'll tell me eventually, right?

*****

"Yay! Today's classes are done!"Michiko and Apollon exclaimed in sync. Hiromi sighed, closing her notebook. She went to put her pencil up, grabbing her pencil bag.

"Now it's time for our club activities,"Tsukito spoke up. Apollon grinned, putting his hands on his hips.

"Yep yep! It sure is Tsuki-Tsuki,"he exclaimed. Loki let out a relieved sigh, pushing out from his desk.

"Man I can't wait for the Going Home Club,"Loki exclaimed. He stood up and stretched. Thor stood up, pushing his chair in.

"I'll join you,"Thor spoke. He went to follow Loki out of the room.

"Fake club,"Hiromi teased. Loki paused, turning. He made a face at her, sticking his tongue out. She stared at him and sighed, shaking her head.

"Yeah? Like you and Ren over there do anything,"Loki retorted.

"Oi!"Ren hissed.

Hiromi rolled her eyes. She sighed.

"As a matter of fact we do,"Hiromi retorted. Loki snorted and waved over his shoulder as he and Thor left the classroom.

"Those two sure take that club seriously, don't they?"Tsukito murmured. Everyone glanced at him. He turned and looked at everyone, his eyes falling on Eri. "We should learn from their example." Eri laughed a little and waved it off.

"That's not a real club so, they're just playing at taking things seriously,"Eri told him. Ume hummed once, looking at her.

"And how are things going in the Martial Arts club?"She asked. Eri shrugged. The sound of Takeru pushing his chair out from under his desk and walking towards the door rang out in the room. Mitsuko turned, blinking.

"Eh? Oi, Chibi. Have you picked a club yet?"She asked. He paused and turned, raising an eyebrow.

"Huh? I ain't picking a club, Brat,"Takeru replied. Mitsuko frowned. He gave her an annoyed look. Apollon stood up.

"Take-Take,"He spoke. Everyone looked at him. "I'm going to say this as the student council president..." The room went silent. Is he challenging him? Hiromi wondered. She rested her chin on her hand, staring at him in front of her. He beamed at Takeru suddenly. "You should really join a club with everyone!" Everyone in the room sweat-dropped. Really? I thought he was gonna fight him or something. Or threaten him. Hiromi turned watching Takeru sigh. He looked away.

"I'm attending class with you. Isn't that enough?"He muttered in annoyance. He started off, walking away. Mitsuko frowned, watching him leave. She turned, giving her friends a smile before picking her things up and following after Takeru. Hiromi smiled to herself. She just won't give up when she wants something done, huh? She thought, remembering when Mitsuko followed her around until she agreed to go to the entrance ceremony.

****

After school, Mitsuko let out an annoyed noise, grabbing a pillow from the couch in Hiromi's room and squeezing it to her chest.

"What's his deal?!"She grumbled. Hiromi rose an eyebrow, her eyes turning back to her lyrics.

"Who do you mean? Takeru?"Hiromi asked.

"I don't get it!"Mitsuko hissed. Hiromi snorted, surprised her friend was mad. Mitsuko sighed, hugging the pillow harder. "He's rude, quick to glare at me, insults me, and doesn't listen to me at all!" Hiromi snorted.

"Definitely sounds like Takeru,"Hiromi replied. She looked up from her notebook in her lap and sighed, sitting up. She clicked her pen shut and stuffed it in the spirals. "What did he do this time?" Mitsuko ground her teeth and flopped over, falling to the couch on her side. She closed her eyes.

"He said that the only reason I was trying to make him join a club was because I wanted to graduate faster,"Mitsuko muttered. Hiromi rose an eyebrow. Isn't that the reason? She wondered. She tossed her notebook on her coffee table. "Sure, I want to graduate...but there's more to it!" Hiromi hummed once.

"Well, even if you say it's not the reason, I doubt he'll listen to that,"Hiromi told her. Mitsuko pouted, opening her eyes and staring at her friend. Hiromi sighed. "Listen, aren't you in the Kendo Club too? Joining three clubs is a bit much." Mitsuko rolled her eyes. Hiromi snorted. "What I'm getting at is that he likes swinging sticks around, doesn't he? You said he was pretty good at it." Mitsuko lifted up, giving Hiromi a wide-eyed look.

"It's not a stick, it's a katana. What are you getting at, Hi-chan?"Mitsuko asked. Hiromi sighed.

"Use Kendo,"Hiromi told her. Mitsuko sat up completely and blinked. She sighed and stood up, knowing it was time to go to her room. Hiromi grinned. "Slice your feelings into him, so to speak. Use your Katana." Mitsuko gazed at Hiromi. She beamed and moved, hugging Hiromi fast. Hiromi sighed and patted her friends back. Hiromi laughed as Mitsuko walked towards the door. "The more sparks fly when you first start off, like a fire. The first of love." Mitsuko blushed angrily, looking at her friend.

"Shut up!"Mitsuko squeaked in a high voice. She slammed Hiromi's door. Hiromi sighed and leaned back in her arm chair. She slowly smiled to herself. I have more friends here than I ever did in my world, Hiromi thought. As she sat there by herself for a little bit, she jolted at a knock on her door. Hiromi sighed and stood up from the chair, stretching. She walked over to the door and opened it, stiffening when she saw it was Ren.

"What?"Hiromi asked. There was a grim look on Ren's face as she gazed at Hiromi. Hiromi blinked. Ren held a piece of paper out to Hiromi. Hiromi looked down at it and stiffened. She quickly grabbed it, opening it, her heart dropping. She looked up at Ren. "You read it..." Hiromi folded the paper up, holding it to her chest. Ren swallowed.

"Hiromi...I'm sorry,"Ren murmured. Hiromi stayed looking down, not meeting her gaze. Ren took a deep breath. "I happened to read it, and I know I shouldn't have...the other day in the club room, you left it on the couch." Hiromi stayed quiet, not knowing what to say. Guilt tugged in her chest. I can't believe the secret got out. Ren closed her eyes, standing still. "You never told anyone? Why?" Hiromi looked up, her hands wrapped around the paper. "I know it was a private letter...one you were going to get rid of eventually, right?" Hiromi sighed. She stepped aside, letting Ren in her room. Ren watched as Hiromi walked to the couch. "Does Mitsuko know?"

"No...only you do. You weren't supposed to...no one was supposed to find out,"Hiromi murmured. She plopped down on the couch and moved putting her face in her hands. "Please. Please don't tell anyone."

"Hiromi, it isn't your fault,"Ren breathed at her in surprise. Hiromi looked up, her eyes watering.

"How is it not?!"

"That kind of abuse is fault of the abuser!"Ren protested. She clenched her fists. "You never told anyone ever? You could stop it.."

"If I stop it I lose my job-"

"So you'll suffer in silence to keep your job?"

"I have a reason." Ren shook in anger.

"I can't believe you're just saying silent about it, you shouldn't have to-"

"I need the money for my mother's treatment!" Silence hung in the room. Hiromi felt hot tears leak down her cheeks. She sniffled and covered her mouth. "My mother. She has cancer...I have to do this to pay for the treatment. My father can't afford it, and my mother... They're so proud of me." Hiromi wiped at her face and took a deep breath. Ren was giving her a sad look. Hiromi swallowed. "The suffering of the one to benefit the many...I'm fine with it."

"You can't...you can't honestly tell me you're fine being sexually molested by your boss just to make money so your mother has cancer treatment,"Ren muttered. Hiromi gave her a desperate look. Ren ground her teeth. "I'm so sorry...that you have to go through that. But you shouldn't. Your mother...she would be sick if she knew what he was doing to you. Sicker than cancer." Hiromi looked down. Ren released a breath. She clenched her fist, her nails digging into her skin. "You're not going to tell anyone about it, are you?"

"No. And you can't. Please don't..I'm asking you not to." Silence hung over the two of them. After a moment, Ren turned, stomping off towards the door.

"I'm not okay with this. I shouldn't be keeping your secret,"Ren muttered. She stopped, her hand hovering over the door. "And you shouldn't be either." She opened the door and closed it hard, stomping down the hallway. Hiromi sat alone in the room, sniffling. She sighed. I need to destroy this letter...

I need to get rid of this. No one else can know.