Disclaimer:
-Jigoku Shoujo is not mine.
\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/0/\0/\0/\0/
Connection: Reset
Chapter 1:
It was the night of the Six Scripted Paper Lantern Festival. A rainy night, and it had caused everyone near the river to take shelter in the nearby stalls. While everyone who wasn't there was in the safety of their own homes, looking out the window complaining about the sudden downpour…or doing whatever they fancied.
Everyone, that is, except for one.
It seemed as though it was a few seconds ago, when she was walking home. It seemed it was only a few seconds ago when she entered the gate, seeing her best friend. It was a few seconds ago when she ran towards her, arms open, ready to hug the girl.
It was a few seconds ago that she saw her friend disappear, turning into nothing in front of her eyes.
That was when the rain started, when the first raindrops hit her face as her knees collapsed under her, effectively blending in with the tears falling from her eyes.
She calls her name.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
She screamed the name for the fourth time, but the strong rainfall was more than a match for her voice, completely blocking out the cry: the lonely, desperate cry, of Mikage Yuzuki.
She sobbed, it being only thing she could do. Her forehead touched the dirty cement as she cried. She repeatedly pounded her fist on the ground, as if it was the one at fault…
…as if she was knocking, trying to get the attention of the beings below.
Had someone seen her that moment, had someone opened their window, see the crying girl, and approach her, they would never be able to understand. Yuzuki was currently mumbling all kinds of words, ranging from adjectives, verbs, even curses. Though, there was something understandable in whatever she was saying. One word:
"Akie…"
Yuzuki's crying seemed to last forever. She would pound the ground repeatedly, mumbling sentences such as "Why?" and "It should've been me…" as tears flowed freely from her eyes to the ground. She kept on following that pattern, until she realized that she had literally run out of tears and her hand was bleeding. She sat up, her breath hitching. She caught sight of herself in a nearby puddle, seeing a girl whose eyes were puffy, hair a mess, and kimono drenched and extremely dirty.
She remained silent for a few seconds, trying her best to calm down. She got up, even though a part of her told her it was pointless. Not bothering to wipe off the dirt on her body and clothes, she silently trudged up the stairs.
If anyone could see her now, they wouldn't believe it was really Yuzuki. Her face was blank, her eyes emotionless. She looked like an empty shell. Anyone who could have seen her could tell that her spirit…
…was shattered.
She didn't feel anything when she simply entered the cold bathroom. She didn't even feel the draft when she casually took off her kimono. She didn't feel anything, not even the tinge of the hot water as she opened the shower.
From the time she stood up in front of the apartment to the time she was sitting on her bed with a towel on her head, all that ran in her mind was how it happened. Her friend calling her. Her friend running to her.
Akie's smiling face dissolving in front of her, who could do nothing to make it stop.
She hugged her knees, tears flowing from her eyes yet again, her throat sore from her earlier screaming sounding out her now clearer cry once more. "Akie…"
"You were…all that I had left...you did nothing wrong…why would they…why…"
"Why…"
This continued for minutes, hours even. By the time she was finished sobbing, it was nearly midnight. She looked up, looking around her unlit room. Her eyes fell on the silhouette of the computer…
She looked at it with disgust, as if it was the main mastermind of this elaborate tragedy. An image of a certain webpage popped into her head, and her grief was then replaced by something she had never experienced at this level, anger--no, rage.
She stood up. Without turning on her light, she made her way to the computer, nearly tripping on a textbook that she left before going to the festival. She turned it on, and while waiting for it to boot, she opened the window, revealing the now calm night. For easy entrance.
Yuzuki typed in the address, knowing every character all too well. Her thoughts going from This is all her fault… to She didn't do anything wrong as she typed. She looked at the clock: 00:59:01.
She was about to click send, when a gust of wind blew through the window. And, as if something with wings accidentally lost their way into Yuzuki's room flew around madly and bounced around the room like a rubber ball in lightning speed, Yuzuki's stuff was sent flying to the nearby wall or to the floor. She stopped for a minute, and looked at something that had fallen. She picked it up, and her eyes widened as the moonlight lit the small rectangle, revealing a photo.
A photo of her and Akie when they were kids. They were both wearing kimonos, she was holding a piece of cotton candy as Akie, who had a dog mask on the side of her head, posed for the camera, an arm wrapped around Yuzuki and the other hand was in a peace sign.
Yuzuki remembered that moment perfectly: it was one of her most cherished childhood memories.
It was in the afternoon. Itsuko had excused herself because her parents told her to go home early. And, since Yuzuki's parents were busy, they let the children play together for a few minutes, before all of them go out to dinner.
Akie held out her arms as she inhaled deeply, the wind blowing gently in front of her. She looked down at the river, and then up at the sky. She then shouted. "This day is so coooooooooooooooooooool!!!!!!"
Yuzuki, who was behind her giggled. "Silly Akie, we have a day like this every now and then."
Akie pouted as she turned to her friend. "Oh, just spoil my fun, will you? Besides, I wasn't talking about the weather."
"Oh?" Yuzuki tilted her head. "What?"
Akie grinned. "No-thing."
Yuzuki pouted. "Akie!! No fair!!!"
The other girl then adjusted the mask on the side of her head so that it completely covered her face. "I'll tell you once you catch the great Okuri-inu!!" she then jumped ahead as she ran at full speed, across an empty field of grass.
"No fair! You know I'm not good at these sort of things!!" nonetheless, she gave chase, frowning.
"That's 'cause you don't try hard enough!!" Akie shouted back, Yuzuki trailing far behind.
"I'm trying!! I'm trying!!"
Akie grinned as she ran. "Oh…You better slow down Yuzuki!! I don't want to be accused of injuring an elder!!!"
Yuzuki frowned. "Mou, Akie!!! Aren't you older than me?!"
"No! I was born a half a year after you were---ow!" Akie tripped on a rock, causing her mask to fly off and to land on her stomach. Yuzuki, who wasn't looking where she was going, tripped on the same rock just as Akie propped her elbows and lay on her back, landing on the other girl with an 'oof!'.
The two girls looked at each other, their faces less than an inch apart. Both of their hearts were pounding rapidly due to the running, though there was another reason that they wouldn't learn until they were older. Akie and Yuzuki stayed like that for what seemed like hours until Akie snickered and threw her head back to laugh. Yuzuki tilted her head. "What's so funny?"
"This! And that!" the other girl said in between laughs.
Yuzuki pouted. "No fair. You said you'd tell me once I caught you." She then smiled, grabbing both of Akie's hands in her own. "And now I have!"
Akie laughed once more, her body shaking under Yuzuki's. "Fine…fine…just get off me will you? You're really heavy."
"Am not!" Yuzuki frowned as she got up, noticing their now dirty clothes. "And I think we're in trouble. My parents told us not to get ourselves dirty."
The other girl ignored the second sentence, picking up her mask after getting up. She grabbed Yuzuki by the hand and led her to a big rock, overlooking the river. She sat down, and patted the spot beside her, signaling that Yuzuki sit there. Once both of them were comfortable, Akie chuckled. "This day is so cool."
"I know that." Yuzuki replied coolly. "Tell me why."
For a moment, Akie's grin turned into a frown, but it then turned into a gentle smile. "I never thought…I'd be able to have another day as happy as this. Ever since Okaa-san went to the hospital, everything just seemed blank, you know?"
They were silent for a few minutes. "…how is she?" Yuzuki asked finally.
The other girl shook her head. "I don't know. Otou-san said I should go to the festival with you while he visits the hospital."
The conversation was left at that, with Yuzuki knowing that it was better not to pry. She stared at the river, occasionally glancing at Akie to see if she was really all right. She mentally sighed every time, seeing Akie staring up at the sky.
Yuzuki snapped back to attention when she heard her friend mumble. "Hey…Yuzuki?"
"Hm?"
"What would you do if I went to the hospital and never came back?" Akie asked, still staring at the clouds.
"I'd go to the hospital to find you, of course."
"What if you can't?"
"Then I'll ask your Dad."
"What if you can't?"
"I'll ask my parents."
"What if you can't?"
"I'll ask the police."
"What if they tell you some bad person sent me there and there's no way I can come back?"
"Then I'll find that bad person."
"Would you be mad at that person?"
"Of course I will!" Yuzuki said, looking at her friend incredulously. "Anyone who does something bad to my friend is surely a bad guy!"
"What would you do when you find him then?"
Yuzuki paused for a moment. "I'd send him to jail."
"Would you make him stay in there forever?"
"Of course!"
"Wrong!"
Yuzuki blinked. "Huh?"
"Look Yuzuki, whatever you do, don't wish bad stuff on a person!" Akie said, finally looking at the person she was talking to. "'Cause it'll make you a bad person too! And I don't want Yuzuki to become a bad person just because of me!"
Yuzuki was about to contradict the statement when she stopped herself, seeing tears in the corner of Akie's eyes, tears which she had probably been holding by looking up. "Akie?"
The other girl smiled. "That was…something Okaa-san told me when I was visiting her the other day…She made me promise not to do it too."
"Your mother's really a caring person."
"Yeah, she is." Akie then turned around, wiping her face with her arm. She turned back to Yuzuki with a serious expression. "So…do you promise too?"
The other girl just stared at her friend for a minute. "I guess."
Akie frowned. "Don't say 'I guess!'"
Yuzuki only tilted her head. She was about to ask why when Akie bowed her head, and drops of liquid splattered the big rock.
"You have to promise…'cause…I don't think I'll ever be happy when I find out Yuzuki's turned into a bad person because of me…please…?...Yuzuki…aside from Otou-san…you're the only one I got left…"
Yuzuki hugged her crying friend. "I…I promise Akie. Let's…help each other from now on, Itsuko too."
They were in that situation for a while longer, with Akie crying as her breath hitched. Just when Yuzuki was about to fall asleep in this comfortable position, she felt Akie shake. She then heard a snicker. And that snicker then turned into a laugh. "Akie?"
Akie broke free from the hug as she laughed, her hands holding her sides. Yuzuki only tilted her head. "What's the matter?"
"Well…I can't believe that I actually cried before you did!" she grinned. "Usually I'd be the one to make you cry!"
"Hey!" Yuzuki pouted. "I don't cry that much…nowadays…"
Akie laughed harder. "Yeah…Yuzuki's finally growing up!!"
"Mou, Akie!!" Yuzuki then tried to grab the other girl, but Akie was too quick for her. The said girl stood up as Yuzuki tried to grab her, and then pounced on the other girl, pinning Yuzuki to the rock. Akie grinned. "Looks like we're even."
Yuzuki giggled. "No way…besides, you're heavier than me!"
"Only 'cause I'm taller." Akie said with a triumphant expression. She the placed her forehead on Yuzuki's making her eyes meet with Yuzuki's blue ones. "Thanks a lot Yuzuki."
Yuzuki smiled. "No problem. That's what friends are for, right?"
"Yup." Akie then got off her, and then grabbed the other girls hand. "We better go. Your parents might be looking for us."
"Yeah."
Yuzuki smiled at the memory, not noticing that she was crying again. She had lost all intention of continuing where she left off. I promised after all.
She kept her gaze on the photo as a shadow appeared, entering from her window.
\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/