Truth Lies...(Aureus)

[Aureus]

Hearing Chi's words, a smile crossed his face as he stared deep into her chocolate brown eyes. After a moment he placed a small kiss on her nose. "I'm glad. It's funny though, looking back I could've never seen myself here with the bold, snappy girl from the hall. You're the first person to make me feel like this, the first person to understand me. I'm lucky to have found you." But you failed to protect her, remember? Never again...I'll never let her be hurt again. He told himself, hiding these thoughts deep inside. For now he was happy, and he intended to make the most of every second.

[chihiro]

She smiled, scrunching her nose up briefly as he kissed it, it was cute. She looked down at him for a moment as he

"Well, to make things fair, I'd have laughed had I thought I would end up with the quiet, belligerent boy, either..I guess it's funny how things work out...for the better."

She said with a smile, leaning in as if to kiss him, instead grinning before playfully biting at his bottom lip. It was fun to do, and she knew he liked it. She placed her head back on her hand, gently letting go of his hand to absently run her left hand through his hair. It was bliss, being here with him. You're the first person to make me feel like this, the first person to understand me...maybe, I'll deny him your first time? A deeper voice entered her conscience, shaking her, mocking her, haunting her. A shiver ran through her body and she gasped as if woken from a nightmare, glancing around as if expecting those eyes to be just beyond her view, watching her.

[Aureus]

Belligerent, eh? Am I really that bad? Nah, you aren't. I am, remember? Good point. The schizo thought to himself while enjoying Chi's light biting. A lip-bite, hair pet combo? Oh, she's good... Levi chided. She knew exactly what he liked, and exactly when to do it; where was the down side?

In the back of their minds, that's where. The ex-gang leader's actions weren't something they could forget about for very long, Chi's seemingly random shiver and gasp evidence of this. Reach over, Aureus wrapped his right arm around her. "You're safe, I'm here." He said softly.

[chihiro]

Chi curled up into him as he wrapped his arm around her, bringing her legs up slightly and nuzzling her head into his chest, her dark hair shifting around with the movement though her face was still tilted toward him. It was like a curtain, hiding her from the world except for him. Was she really safe? Did Aureus have what it will take to take Soresu down? Of course he did, she trusted him with her life. They were together still, weren't they? With him, she felt safe.

"I know, I wouldn't want anyone else."

She said softly, closing her dark brown eyes peacefully, though her expression still held that of a surpressed worry.

[Aureus]

"I dunno how yet, but I'll make sure he pays for what he did to you, make sure he regrets it the rest of his life." Aureus said with a fierce determination, he meant every word. "He has to have some weakness, some desire, and I'll be sure to find it. *sigh* but enough of that. Have you heard from Max lately? She's kinda disappeared the last week, I'm a tad worried."

[chihiro]

Chi thought down to the bruises that now resided on her mid-thighs, hidden beneath her jeans. Do you think he'll regret that? Do you think he'll regret anything? Karel was a monster, but she trusted Aureus to take care of things, to take care of her.

She let out a light sigh, her mind wandering from troubled waters to a more curious thought. Where was Max? She hadn't seen nor heard for her since the Pipeline...with Levi. Who was Aureus? So he must know about that little...um...thing that had happened there.

"I don't know, I haven't seen her in a while. I'm a bit worried too.."

[Aureus]

"Darn. Levi's been bugging me about it too. Having another person inside your head isn't always fun," the pillar said with a small chuckle. Stop talking about me. Quit complaining. DID had it's ups and downs, especially when the other personality was so...talkative. "Maybe we should go look for her after school, and when did she get raped?" he asked, remembering what the Asian girl had said at the club. It was because of this that he began to wonder: Was that Soresu bastard responsible for that too?

[chihiro]

Her expression took a thoughful turn as he mentioned Levi. He had told her that Levi was his alternate personality that night in her room, but she didn't completely understand it. How could two totally different people reside in the same body? They didn't even look alike. Sure, maybe they did slightly, but still...Levi was nowhere compared to Aureus, he was here and he was hers and she was his and that was all that mattered...right? Right?

"Explain Levi to me."

She said, not like an order, but more like a child asking to be told a story, lifting her head and resting her chin on the back of her hand again, looking up at him. Brown eyes blinked attentively, a slightly curious spark in them.

[Aureus]

Aureus hadn't expected Chi to ask that question, but understood how she would be curious. Considering it for a moment, he decided that he could tell her the whole story, which included a big chunk of his past. This would be the first time he had told anyone.

"Alright, well it first started when I was still pretty young. My childhood wasn't the best, by any means. My father left before I could even form any solid memories of him, and my mother abandoned me not long after. I ended up in some crappy orphanage, and well...things weren't too good there either, especially with my first pair of foster parents." The boy said, stopping there, as it brought back more memories than he had wanted. After taking a moment to compose himself, Aureus continued.

"Because of everything I'd been through, I wasn't too mentally healthy. So I ended up creating another person to cope with things, and that was Levi. But, as you may have guessed, my condition was a little more...drastic than others. My body actually changes in addition to my personality. Red hair, green eyes, different bone structure. It's odd, but pretty cool in a way. Uhh...any questions?"

[chihiro]

The dark haired junior frowned slightly, hearing thone in his voice as he spoke. It must hurt him to talk about this, she thought to herself, you shouldn't have asked. But she had to know, she needed to know if she was to ever understand him completely. She rubbed his arm gently with her left hand where she had brought it up from holding his hand when she'd curled up against him. She wanted to comfort him, even though they both knew there wasn't really much they could do about it now. It was the past, it was a part of who he was, or reather, Levi was. She waited for him to finish, soaking in his words, and turning them around in her head to make sense of them.

"So...you're the real you?"

She asked softly, curious note still apparent in her voice. If Levi was created in response to the terrible things in his life, that meant that Aureus was the original inhabitant of his body. If she recalled right, the story of Dr. Jekkyl and Mr. Hyde, two men residing in one body, one of them had tried to rid the body of the other at one point, and despite whether or not her line of thought was rational or even truthful, she didn't want to lost him, Aureus disappearing into his own head while Levi took permanent control, or something like that.

[Aureus]

Having Chi comfort him made talking about his past much easier. It reminded him that it was done with, and he had moved on to a better life. A life where he had a loving foster mother, and the best girlfriend in the world. Things aren't gonna stay easy, you know that. You still have something to take care of. Don't remind me. "Yup, I'm the original." He chuckled, staring into her eyes.

[chihiro]

She continued to stroke his arm, but in more of an abesnt manner now. She returned his gaze, trying to keep a straight face, but breaking into a smile. She couldn't help but smile when she was around him, he just made her so happy. She blinked, her eyes feeling slightly heavy. It was nice up here, almost made you want to fall asleep. She let out a sigh, relaxing as she lay against him.

"Do you come here often?"

Yes, it was a subject change. Why? Because she didn't know how to respond, really. There was so much she wasn't going to understand about his dual personality situation, so there was no point in fighting it. Things would make sense in time, and she was planning on sticking around to know everything there was about Aureus Hayes.

[Aureus]

"Mhmm, all the time. Luckily not many people know about it, or have the guts to come up, so I usually have the place to myself. It's nice having company though," He said, letting her know he liked spending time with her. The end of the period was still a good half hour away, and Aureus was content just talking with Chi. "So, now that you know more about me, how 'bout you talk about your past?" He asked, wanting to get to know her even better.

[chihiro]

Chi thought for a moment, a small frown on her face. It was just as fair, Aureus had spilled his story, so it was her turn, right? Sadly, her own story wasn't much happier, though it hadn't gotten to the point of creating another person inside of her.

"Well, I've lived here basically my whole life. My father's a martial arts master and my mother is a...homemaker, I suppose. I have a brother, Kashi, but he's in Japan right now for training, I haven't seen him in over eight months. I actually really haven't seen him for longer because we went to different relatives' houses when my parents...had their disagreements. I went to my aunt's in Seattle, and Kashi went to San Diego to our cousin's. We were there for about two years in middle school, and I just came back for freshmen year here and Kashi too, that is until he graduated and went off to follow in father's footsteps. He came to visit once or twice, but never for long...Things really aren't as nice and perfect as they seem.."

She trailed off, meaning the honor of her father's occupation, and their house. It was nice, large, beautiful, and everything, but it was unbelievably cold. Cold and distant. She paused as her thoughts ventured into darker territory. Should she tell him about her parents? About how her relationship with them really was? She would leave it up to him. She would tell him anything he wanted to know.

[Aureus]

Listening intently while Chi spoke, Aureus remembered the last time she had talked about her brother. He could tell she really missed him, and it wasn't the easiest thing for her to talk about, but then again, who said life was easy? Even so, one thing remained true, he was there for her, no matter if her life was hard, or easy. She had comforted him, and he would do they same for her. They would take care of each other. Slowly, his fingers ran up and down her arm; the same way she had done for him. "What do you mean?" He asked, curious because of her last statement.