In This I Do Believe

Black, cat-like ears were pressed against her head as she stepped out of the school. It was dark out by now, and the moon was shining down on the lake. Nariko didn't want to be inside the school, with all those hundreds of other students. It frightened her. She felt like she was being closed in, suffocated... and out here was just pure relief.

She was able to spread her wings slightly as she walked to the lake. However, this gesture sent a ripple of pain throughout her body and she whimpered. You idiot. Why did you do that? she thought to herself. Nariko looked down at the lake water and slowly sat down, being extremely careful of her wings. However, once she sat down, red liquid began to fall from the mass of twisted black feathers and flesh.

"Why me..." she said softly.

"Um...h-hello!?"

Her one visible eye went wide with fear and a few sparks twirled around her fingers. Well that wasn't good... from what Nariko had learned, electricity and water didn't mix well. "Hi.." the girl forced out meekly, backing away from the shore using her legs. Blood was smeared on the grass and her wings were only hurting more.

"Wh... where are you?" Nariko asked. She didn't want whoever this was coming up from behind her and twisting her wings. For some reason, most people found it hilarious to grab her wings and pull on them. She looked around frantically, her black bangs moving away from her blind eye for just a few seconds before she fixed them.

"I'm in the water."

Well that was stupid! Who went swimming at night? He was probably going to get sick. Nariko nodded at this, though, and was startled when she kept hearing the splashes. She didn't like this... she had come out here to be away from people, yet here she was, talking to someone. "You... you'll get sick..." she said quietly. Maybe if she expressed some concern toward him, he wouldn't hurt her like everyone else did.

"I'm...Ai..."

"I'm Nariko..." she said, hugging her trembling legs with her shaking arms. She looked at the head that was in the water, wondering why the voice and the head didn't seem to match. Then an idea came to her head, and she couldn't help but say it. "Are.... are you one of those freaky murderers or something?" her voice went eye and she started shaking even more. Maybe she was going to get hurt again...

"I'm...er...half mermaid!!!"

Nariko blinked. That certainly explained why he was in the water and wouldn't get sick. She imagined it must have been... nice, maybe, to be a mermaid. She had always imagined the creatures as carefree beings... but what did she know? She only had the education of a twelve-year-old and little imagination. Being locked up in a room for four years certainly didn't give one much time to learn new things and expand their creativity. "I see..." she said quietly. "Well that must be fun. I'm just a normal human." But could the people here really be considered normal? Could she be considered normal? Nariko sighed. "Nevermind..."

"Heavans no."

That didn't relieve her. He was lying. He was lying... he was probably going to hurt her... paranoia shot through her like a poison and she started shaking when he came up onto the shore. She yelped and backed away somewhat, injuring her poor wings even more in the process. It wasn't because of his lack of a chest, but just because she was so scared to be close to someone that she just couldn't take it. As she looked at him again, she had a feeling the oxygen probably wasn't good for him. "Is the oxygen going to hurt you?" she asked sheepishly. "You're half fi — mermaid, I mean, so won't it... I mean..." She sighed. Nice way to look intelligent.