River

I kept running into the fox twins every day. I saw them in my thoughts and dreams and couldn�t understand why. They kept appearing and I didn�t know how to stop it. I had no idea how they managed to find me. They just did. I didn�t really know how I felt about that. Part of me wanted to see them, but I wanted to run from them. Neither side ever won. I would be leaving my house when they would spot me walking down the road. It�s almost as though they could sense me coming.

�Hello Iwao-kun,� Juriko always greets me. I automatically straightened up and my cheeks turned bright red.

�Hello Juriko, Haruka!� I yelped. Juriko giggled as Haruka rolled her eyes. Both sisters were weird. Juriko always got a kick out of me while her sister looked at me with venom in her eyes. I felt like some sort of toy for them to play with for their own twisted amusement. No, it�s something more. It was almost like I�m part of some strange game that I had no idea I was playing. No rules, no path, just thrown into the middle and having to try and work from there. I tried to smile and play along with it. I doubted that I�m ever going to win and something told me that they wouldn�t let me.

I kept trying to get Haruka smile in a nice, normal way. Instinct told me to give up, but I hadn�t learned how to listen at the time. She�s like my mother, only much scarier. It�s not just the sight of them either.

Juriko always wore some sort of expensive Parisian perfume. I can�t remember what it was called to this days. I don�t even know how she got such a pricey gift, but the smell always drew me in. That perfume coated her nape, hair, and clothes. Juriko�s gold earrings pushed the deal harder on me. She always tried to look older than she was. Haruka held her own simply by looking pretty. I always got the feeling that she was trying to make herself look ugly to those around her. I hated to tell her, but she failed poorly. Despite her venom, I kept trying to get inside her head and break her down. Haruka did everything in her power to turn me away, but I kept pushing further and further into the game that they had pulled me in.

I don�t know, I just liked the attention they were giving in their own ways.