Angels Can Hate Living Too

Haru Gray. A rather unusual name, fitting his story. It’s a shame he was born into the family picked out for him, maybe his story wouldn’t be written this way. But he wasn’t. The family he was born with was crumbling, and on his birthday, February fourteenth, was the day the thread holding them all together snapped.

Alice Gray and Akuto Gray were named the worst criminals on their end of the world. Akuto was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan; while Alice was born in France. Alice’s mom, a young single parent, taught her that a little stealing is okay once in a while. Alice took that message seriously, and used her beauty to get what she wanted, just as she’d observed her mother do. She stole and gave an innocent look to those who tried to catch her, and in an instant, as if the memory of seeing her steal was completely wiped, she was let go. Men fell at her feet, sacrificing their money and their jewels each time they saw her walking down the street, or heard her angelic voice anywhere nearby. If people saw Haru’s mother, they’d say his beauty came from her. And they weren’t wrong about it. Akuto was raised in a brutal home, with only three rules you’d think things weren’t so harsh. But Akuto always felt emotionally numb, especially through his teen years. He did as he was told, and hardly ever spoke. He made sure he was especially nice to his elders, considering his grandmother lived with him most of his life. She was the only one he spoke to. Every day after school he’d tell her all about the things he learned, and the things he saw other kids doing during lunch and break and sometimes even what they did during class. Akuto was a very observant kid, it’s what’s made him such a clever criminal. Alice crossed paths with Akuto while they were both in their late teen years; Alice had transferred to his high school at the beginning of senior year and was sat beside Akuto in Science. Akuto could see the chaos in her energy, but it was such a beautiful spirit, and before the second semester he’d fallen for not only her looks but also the ominous and impurity inside of her. At the start of the second semester, he confessed his feelings for her, and gave all the reasoning why he loved her. She stood there staring at him for a minute or two in shock, no man had ever liked her for more than her looks, but this guy had been noticing everything about her. He spoke about how he loved how smooth yet obscure her writing was, and how her hair was always so neat and wavy without her even having to style it. He said he loved the way she walked with a skip in her step even on days that she was struggling, and her smile was what he loved the most. It said so much without her lips even moving to talk. After he confessed, they became closer friends, having an almost romantic relationship for a week or two before they started dating. They both kept it from their parents, afraid they would tear the two apart if they found out. They had a beautiful romance till the end of the school year, during the last week of senior year their relationship became bloody. Akuto was starting to feel less emotionally numb throughout their relationship, and every time he heard people talking about Alice, or looking at Alice, it infuriated him. He was becoming possessive of her, and he didn’t even realize it. But day by day, it was getting progressively worse. A friend of Alice’s had tried to talk to her about Akuto’s behavior, but his words of such love and kindness had manipulated her into believing he could never be that kind of person. If she’d listened to her friend, her life’s tracks would be a lot neater.

That day as Alice and Akuto were walking home together, she brought it up.

“Want to know something funny, Akuto?” She’d ask as she skipped along the sidewalk.

Akuto looked at her, his eyes practically dazzled with admiration as he looked at her. “Sure.”

Alice smiled at him before replying. “My friend, what a joker she is, said you’ve been acting controlling lately. I nearly burst out laughing when she said it! How could you ever be controlling? I mean, come on. You? No way. Not in a million years!”

Akuto went silent, staring at her as the two teens walked along the dimly lit sidewalks, growing closer to their homes with each step. His gaze drifted away from her, looking out at the sidewalks ahead of them as he thought about his response.

He smiled, looking at her as he faked a laugh.

“Gee, your friends are funny, Alice.” Akuto replied, pausing before he spoke again. “Say, which friend was this?” He asked her, and she smiled, pausing as she remembered the name.

“Oh yea, it was Devy, she’s in your math class I think.” She’d reply, before Akuto stopped at the end of the sidewalk before it crossed the street. He looked down the turn into the road his house was on before glancing at Alice.

 “Well, this is my stop. See you tomorrow morning!” He’d tell her before making his way into the large apartment building.

But he didn’t plan on staying for very long. Once he got inside, he looked over at his father who had been dead asleep on the sofa, and his mother sitting in the seat beside him. She turned her head to look at Akuto, smiling as she greeted him from the sofa. He waved at her and made his way to his room, stopping in the doorway and glancing at his mother once more, she was no longer paying attention to him at all. He turned silently, making his way into the kitchen, and grabbing a butcher's knife from the set of knives his mother had bought a couple of years back and never really used. She said they didn’t use them since they were too sharp to cut most of the food they made, and if they were to use them it’s because of an emergency like someone breaking into the house. That was always a joke, but he figured getting rid of people who, in his eyes, were trying to take his only love away from him was a reasonable emergency. He got changed, into all black, and pulling the black hood of his jacket over his head before slipping out of his window and hurrying to the school parking lot.

(Note: I know it’s short for the first chapter, which I would like to ask for tips on😭 So far, are there any notes or things for me to change?)