The Moon Always Shines Over Konoha
Chapter 1: And it all goes down the drain
It was only a second.
A second of switching gear, the low rumble of the bike engine below me.
(A dark SUV speeding down a dirt track, throwing dust and gravel in the air.)
A second of enjoying the beautiful landscape, of feeling the wind ruffle my hair beneath my neck.
(Too fast, the car was never going to stop in time-)
A second of tires gripping on asphalt, of gravel hitting my visor, head turning left-
A fatal second of inattention can have the biggest of effects.
I heard the impact before I felt it.
Steel grinding against steel, rubber tires spinning furiously, the burning stink of gas in my nose. The bull bar hitting the bike's left side (a sharp crack), 220 kilograms of steel and wiring catapulted like a child's toy. I tumble through the air, flailing my limbs helplessly (Mom had always been against the bike..), before careening down just as fast, my head slamming onto the unforgiving asphalt.
Everything went black.
A bright light shone into my eyes, and I forced myself to sit up.
My bike (brandnew, dammit!) lay 20 metres away, a cloud of thick, black smoke escaping from its interior. The tank must've caught fire in the crash.
The crash! Considering the pile of scrap metal on fire, the impact must've been hard.
So, why was I sitting up and all things considered felt pretty okay instead of lying mushed in a pile next to the bike?
The SUV driver bolted out of his relatively undamaged car (the lucky bastard!) only to drop down a good dozen metres to my right. The stupid idiot didn't even have the decency to ask for my well-being after mowing me down like that? !
I was more and more inclined to kick his stupid ass right here and now. Rage bubbling in my gut, I stood up and stormed over to him, already cursing loudly.
"You couldn't have slowed down!? Look what you did, you moron! That bike wasn't even fully paid for! You can consider yourself lucky I applied to the Police and can't afford any legal trouble, or I would've whooped your idiot ass by now! Hey, look at me when I'm talking to you! Look what you've done, dipshit! Look what you've-"
The rest of the sentence was stuck in my throat at the sight that unfolded in front of me.
I had to be dreaming, for that was impossible.
I was looking at my own mangled body, the leather suit ripped to shreds and white bone sticking from my left thigh. The helmet was cracked open, revealing a pale face, blood running from nose and mouth, the blue eyes I had always been so proud of gaping into the void.
In that moment it all came crashing down on me, and my heart skipped a beat.
Oh no, oh no, oh no-
The impact had been hard. Too hard for a human being.
Thiscantbetruecantbetruecantbetrue-
A soft sobbing sound penetrated the sudden still air, and I couldn't tell if it was me or the man helplessly kneeling before me.
"I'm too young, there's so much I want to change! I can't be alone forever, I don't want to- to-"
I couldn't help but ramble on pathetically, hoping for someone, something, to help me out of this miserable situation. I couldn't accept this, wouldn't-
A bright, white flash blinded me, taking my view of my- the body, and I felt the sudden urge to close my eyes and scream-
When I regained consciousness, the flash was gone and the brightness had long since faded. Instead it was dark. So terribly dark.
The lack of light, of anything seemed like a restraint, heavily weighing down on my mind.
The darkness seemed infinite, equal to what I imagined someone crossing the singularity of a black hole might see. There was pressure all around me, squeezing me like dough through a form. Suddenly the black hole-simile didn't seem so far-fetched anymore.
The darkness -warmth- all around me contracted so much it physically hurt, and I gasped for air. There was none.
I tried clawing at my surroundings, to somehow get oxygen into my aching lungs, but nothing helped. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of hurt and gasping and only hot fluids reaching my strained lips, I felt a cold breeze waft around my legs, and suddenly there was light.
I blinked a few times. Now everything began to clear, and the fog blocking my mind lifted. I could make out ceiling tiles, white and clinical. The low humming of the ceiling light and… voices, not yet clear enough to understand.
("Sayoko ya Tsukiko wa ikagadesu ka? Kekkyokunotokoro, kanojo wa yoru ni umaremashita.")
So, a hospital.
Apparently my out-of-body-experience had only been a stupid dream. The dipshit had actually called an ambulance for me. Yay to him.
I couldn't help the shiver running down my spine. I really was kind of cold now. Couldn't they have amped up the heater a few stages? I was a patient in critical condition, after all. I closed my eyes for a moment, blinking to adjust to the harsh neon lights.
What was that irritating buzz I felt? It was… warm, and also not. Hm, it reminded me of what one would experience during an adrenaline rush. The sensation rolled through my body at consistent intervals, making it tingle and tickle. Like an itch I couldn't quite reach.
Or maybe rather a sore, continuously strengthening in intensity. It was certainly not pleasant, but also not quite painful. As of now.
Huh. That didn't seem good. I shouldn't feel pain or anything resembling that, right? It wasn't possible if one was under the kind of medication I had to be. A motorcycle crash like mine was nothing light, and only a fool would deny a patient with injuries like that a hefty dose of pain killers.
Ugh, mom's nagging was going to be unbearable. She'd probably ground me, if I didn't already have my own place. Maybe she hadn't caught wind of it yet?
Out of the corner of my eye I could make out the dark night sky, the full moon, and couldn't hold back a giggle, soon turning into a full-blown, hysterical laugh.
Mother was going to rush to the hospital in those ugly bunny pyjamas I'd jokingly gifted her at her fiftieth birthday and old slippers, already raising a finger at my recklessness-
("Kanojo ga tsuki o mite dono kurai shiawase ni mieru!" "Tsuki, sore dakedesu! Kanojo no Tsukiko ni denwa shimashou.")
Wait a second. That laugh didn't sound like my voice. I was twenty-one years old, always having a deep voice for a girl. That laugh… rather sounded like a child's giggle!
("Nani ga okotte iru nodesu ka? Naze kanojo wa totemo shizukadesu ka?")
The shock at hearing the high-pitched giggle of a child instead of my own young adult one punched ice-cold focus into my still kind of foggy mind.
("Shirimasen. Tabun kanojo wa samuidesu ka?")
Who the hell were those people? And what kind of fantasy language were they speaking?
I suddenly felt a light breeze wafting over my forehead. Wondering why the hell someone would leave open a window in the critical care unit, I let my head fall back and looked up only to gasp in surprise when a giant face looked down on me.
What.
I was too awe-struck to do anything besides repeatedly opening and closing my mouth, when a giant hand caressed my cheek almost lovingly.
("Kanojo wa kawaidesu ka?")
Dark brown locks flowed down to me and I couldn't help the urge to grasp for them.
The giantess chuckled, elegantly holding her petite hand in front of her mouth.
("Hai. Kanojo wa kanpekidesu.")
I tried to turning my head towards the other voice, a deep baritone that resounded in my (not bruised, not hurting) ribcage.
He was a giant as well, with jet-black hair and onyx eyes. He wore simple dark trousers and a navy blue shirt with an unusually high collar.
Before I could fully focus on the giants -somehow the male's clothes struck a nerve within me, and the sigil on the band tied to his right arm, I had seen that somewhere before- the strange buzzing sensation returned. It radiated in waves, and it took me quite some time to realise that -whatever it was that I felt- picked up in its pace.
My heartbeat quickened, and I began to wince whenever a new wave of ever increasing intensity hit me.
So. No painkillers for me, apparently. Fuck this hospital.
The giantess above me seemed to pick up on my condition. I didn't understand a word, but there was no way to not to register the concern and the beginnings of panic in her voice.
I couldn't make sense of this situation. What the hell was even happening?!
My muscles spasmed and fire flooded through my veins. My body felt like it was going to be torn apart from the inside at any moment now.
i wanted to analyze this mess, wanted to think, but no thoughts managed to cross the burning wall in my mind. It was as if I was being burned from the inside out.
Arghh! I couldn't bear the pain any longer. My eyes shut tightly and my hands cramped into fists, I let out a desperate, high-pitched whine, wanting nothing more than to stop the pain.
"Subayaku, kanojo no tasuke o eru!"
I was distantly aware of a number of people hastily entering the room, but couldn't stop twitching and wincing in pain.
A faint green glow emanated somewhere around my ribcage, the shimmer only faintly visible through my half-closed eyelids. Finally, after what felt like days of agony, the pain slowly ebbed away and I slipped into darkness again.
What the hell have I managed to get caught up in again?
Author's Annotations:
Uhhh, cliffhanger in the first chapter, a classic. Hopefully it made you all hungry for more!
Sooo, what do you think? Let me know down below!
If anyone knows how the hell I can make the paragraphs not disappear after posting a chapter, please let me know! The unfitting way everything is aligned in is setting me off.
For the Japanese translations I've used Google Translator, as my Japanese is not the best. If you spot any mistakes, make sure to correct me on it.
Translations:
1."How about Sayoko or Tsukiko? She's born at night, after all."
2."Look how happy she is to see the moon!" "The moon, that's it! Let's call her Tsukiko."
3."What's going on now? Why is she so still all of a sudden?"
4. "I don't know. Maybe she is cold?"
5. "Isn't she cute?"
6. " Yes. She is perfect."
7. "Quick, get her help!"
