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"Nekozawa?"

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"Nekozawa, please don't scare me again..."

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I creeped into the room slowly, glancing in every direction for the club president. The darkness was so thick as always, with only that one candle on that single table at the very center of the room. Shuffling over to it, I stood as close as possible without catching fire. Where is he? Has he not arrived yet? Maybe he's just stuck with the Host Club he keeps complaining about-

"Hello."

"GAHHHHHH!" I screamed and jumped, falling over on my back. He was sitting right next to me, knees up under his chin. "I think I told you just now and a whole bunch of other times that I definitely DO NOT like being scared like that!" I whimpered, scooting away from him. Why does he have to DO that???

His evil smirk widened on that ghost-white face of his. "Well I enjoy scaring people, and no one else is as easy to scare as you are," he rasped out in that deep voice. "Expect it to continue for a while."

I untangled my cloak from around my legs and stood, heat crawling across my face. Man, I wish I weren't such a scaredy cat... "Yeah, that's me, the one you pick on when you've got nothing else to do." First he turns me into a rabbit, then he scares me half to death at least twenty times a day. I wonder what's next. "Just go easy on me, ok?"

He only giggled and shuffled away. "Today we are going to recite basic incantations," he said, completely ignoring my request. I rolled my eyes and followed him into the darkness, knowing that a long table with magical/scientific tools were laying upon it. "First you shall just read them in your head, and understand what it means," he continued, opening a thick book to what seemed like a random page. "Then you will recite one out loud. Be careful how you pronounce the words, because the pronunciation plays a major part in the spell itself. Read in your head."

I did as told and read some of the ancient inscriptions from the book and their translations in English. "Does it matter in what language you say it?" I asked. Because there's no way I'm learning to read that stuff...

"Yes, it does," he rasped. "One can recite these in their native language, but the spells are stronger in their original language of creation."

I nodded and fingered through the pages, skimming over disappearing spells, sticking spells, cleaning spells, and their antidotes. After experiencing the rabbit spell, magic didn't seem so incredibly impossible anymore. "Read one out loud," he said, looking over my shoulder. I could feel his breath on my cheek.

Choosing one at random, I recited the spell, trying to get the pronunciations right. "Caeci vident virum ad profectum venire; cum sit homo, perdet eam," I stated, struggling with the words. Really reading it and trying to understand it, I realized it was indeed Latin.

Suddenly the world was gone. Everything went black. I could no longer see the book, nor the table, nor the light from the candle behind us. Or Nekozawa. "Hey!" I exclaimed, fumbling with the book. "What the heck just happened? Why can't I see anything?"

Nekozawa sighed under his breath, and I felt him take the book from me and hold my arm. "You read the spell to make you blind," he stated, his voice clear from my left side. "If you had pointed which one you were going to read, I would have warned you against doing so, but you didn't and here we are. You're blind."

I gripped his arm tightly, shocked. "Why the heck would someone make a spell to make themselves blind?!" I shouted. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of!"

His chuckle sent shivers through my body, and I felt him tugging me in some direction. "You are supposed to prepare for it, and part of the preparation is choosing the victim," he whispered into my ear. How close is he?! "When you do not choose a victim, it automatically becomes the person performing the ritual and speaking the incantations."

I followed him unsteadily through this oblivion, still holding his arm. I hate not being able to see... "Well this is your fault because you didn't warn me about any of this... Not a single thing!" I complained, mostly just to let off some steam. "Can you undo it?"

He giggled some more and pushed me down. I felt a seat under me, and almost missed it completely. "Yes, I believe that is possible," he whispered to me. He's still so close. I pulled my head back and put a hand up in front of my face, desperately trying to feel him. It collided with his chin, and he let out a small groan. "Please keep your hands to yourself," he said, his voice farther away now.

"Well you keep your face to yourself," I muttered, rubbing my arm. I hate this. Not being able to see totally sucks. "Pleasepleaseplease hurry, Nekozawa. I can't stand it..." It was so much darker than it is in the magic room, so scary. "I can't stand it, please make it stop!" My mind flew into a panic. It scared me so much. What if the colours don't seem the same when I get my sight back? What if my sight is worse than before? I could feel tears coming to my eyes, but I didn't even try to hide them. Squeezing my eyes shut did nothing to the impenetrable night. What if it doesn't work at all and I'm stuck in eternal darkness???

I heard him shuffling around, the robe sweeping against the floor and his mutterings erupting from all over the room. I wiped my eyes and shivered, sitting still and staring down into what I assumed was my lap. I heard him before me and he placed his hands on my shoulders firmly.

"Amissis redde," he whispered, and suddenly my vision was filled with the bright blue of Nekozawa's eyes. They were so clear, so deep, so... blue. And his face was the colour of paper, his hair black but not comparable to the darkness that had taken over my mind. I felt a tear run down my cheek and I couldn't resist leaning in to hug him, kneeling in front of me.

"Thank you so much," I sobbed out, unable to hold back the tears. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, thank you for getting me out-"

"It's fine," he whispered into my hair. I felt him wrap his arms comfortingly around my back, rubbing up and down in soothing motions. "I realized you disliked it so much. Just let me know next time what spell you plan to do when you don't know what it means."

I nodded into his shoulder, wiping my eyes and struggling to level my breathing. "I promise I will," I said in a crooked voice. Pulling back from him shyly I hung my head down and rubbed my eyes some more. I don't ever want to do that again. That was a horrible experience. "I'm sorry," I whispered. My cloak is such a beautiful colour. His shoes are such a beautiful colour. Everything is made much better now.

But he placed his hands on my shoulders again, and I felt his lips on my forehead. I blushed and continued staring at the floor when he hugged me once more. "I will be more watchful of you from now on," he stated, rubbing my back. "I'll take care of you."