This story makes little reference to my other AmaAnge, Rules. It's not necessary that you read it to understand the story at all, though. Wouldn't hurt :') wink wink. Constructive criticism appreciated.
Beware of a delusional fangirl's dreams...
Also, be aware that this story was written after episode 4, ignoring any clues given by episodes 5 AND 6. So if you go "But in episode 6 this happened..." NO. IT DIDN'T HAPPEN IN THIS FIC.
It was the easiest part of every mission: Stay hidden, and wait for the right moment to strike.
He had done it flawlessly many times before, and though he wasn't aware of it, in millions of other fragments as well. He had eliminated his target without any blunders and received his pay with a bitter smile, just muttering to himself 'All in a day's work.' Soon she'd be nothing but a memory, after all: a nice little memory, but a memory nonetheless.
And just like that, he'd go back to his regular job, never to mention her name again.
However, buried deep in the sea of fragments, laid one in particular that told a different story.
That day in Rokkenjima, he waited crouched between two bushes, only shifting his feet slightly to relieve the pain in his back. He didn't notice that little bastard twig under his boot until he stepped on it, making him wince when it creaked almost as if it were crying in pain. Cursing and insulting himself for that beginner's mistake, he could only pray his target hadn't heard that itty-bitty noise...
"Way to blow your cover, Amakusa."
... Of course, he should've known better than to underestimate his little lady.
"Aah~, couldn't you at least pretend you didn't notice, Ange-san? It would've helped my ego a lot~." Ange answered with a sardonic smile, watching his every move as he walked out of the woods.
"That's exactly why I didn't. Your ego doesn't need to be more inflated than it already is."
His laugh got lost to the gentle cry of the wind and the ocean, along with her quiet chuckle. It was the usual exchange between them: Amakusa would say a joke, and Ange would answer with a sarcastic comment, but always keeping that same playful tone until they got tired of throwing jabs at each other, leaving behind nothing but a relaxed silence.
It was the end of their journey, though.
His contract was over.
"Are you here to protect me?"
"Heh." He winked. "We both know that's not going to happen."
That pseudo friendly atmosphere shattered then; however, both remained unaffected by that change. It was a moment they had been prepared for since the beginning of their so called self-satisfaction adventure, after all.
"I dropped plenty of hints, Ange-san..." She chuckled, holding Maria's grimoire close to her chest.
"You only forgot to tell me what caliber you are going to use—"
"I also gave you plenty of chances."
"...Huh. What's with the attitude? Shouldn't you be happy you'll be able to finish your job?"
"Heh. I guess I should."
He reached for his gun and promptly aimed at Ange's face, index finger firm on the trigger. Unarmed, all she could do was answer with a serene smile: because no weapon of his could scare her, not yet. She knew there was a reason why he hadn't killed her as soon as they had met— The same reason that was keeping him from shooting her right there.
"Are you going to kill me?"
And, just like she predicted, he lowered his gun, teasing her with an impish grin.
"No. At least, not now. My charming boss ordered me to wait for her."
"... I see."
The sound of the wind and the seagulls' cries filled the silence that followed. A comfortable, familiar silence they were both used to after weeks of traveling together, cramped in that car.
"Kasumi-san should be getting here any minute now." He looked behind, at the path Ange had walked a while ago. "She thinks that this will be one big dramatic death scene: killed by your own bodyguard, on the same island your parents died and all that. It's a stage prepared just for you. She doesn't want to kill you, lady: She wants to destroy you."
"Hah... What an honor." How just like Kasumi. Only a twisted, hatred-filled being like her could plan her niece's death so thoroughly. "It's going to backfire, though. There's nothing that would make me happier than dying on Rokkenjima; and, honestly, if I had to choose anyone to be my killer, it would be you."
Ange thought she had seen his hand twitch around the handle of his gun for a second. It was probably just an illusion though— Amakusa was still as collected as always.
"I'm flattered." He took off his cap and bowed exaggeratedly. "And the feeling is mutual. I wouldn't want anyone else killing you but me, lady."
"... Don't make fun of me. I meant what I said." Amakusa's face grew serious as well.
"I meant it too." He made a pause to put on his cap and leaned forward, lowering his voice as if to tell her a secret. "You know, Kasumi-san... She told me to kill you as slowly and painfully as possible." Ange didn't react: Somehow there was nothing her aunt did that could surprise her anymore. "See, I'm damn sure that if she asked that of any of those bastards she's always with, they'd bark and do exactly as she says. Me? I have a brain of my own. And that's why I won't let anyone else kill you." He aimed his gun to her face again. "One shot to the forehead. I'll get scolded, sure, but I respect you enough to at least give you a peaceful death."
Ange blinked— and it was anything but a funny situation, but she couldn't help but chuckle as well.
"That's... surprisingly kind of you. Though I'd be a lot more thankful if you would just let me live." Amakusa raised an eyebrow again.
"Let you live?" And then he tilted his head, looking at Ange as if she were some sort of very interesting art piece... or a very serious mental case— it was hard to tell. "I thought you had already given up on living, Ange-san."
"Huh?"
"You know. I figured that you couldn't keep living without your family and decided to join them in heaven?"
"Of course not. I don't want to die yet."
He smirked. So she was a serious mental case.
"Why did you jump head-first into this death trap, then? Are you unconsciously suicidal? Then again, I guess that would explain why you constantly jump off buildings..." He seemed to be giving it some serious thought, and she chuckled again. That guy always managed to make her laugh at the sickest things, somehow.
"Because I wanted to come here no matter what— Death is just the price of the ticket."
"... That's hell of an expensive ticket, considering how there's nothing here worth seei—"
"Self-satisfaction, remember?" She cut him off, taking a step forward. "A while ago, on that boat to Niijima. Didn't you say life is all about self-satisfaction?"
"Oho! So you were paying attention, after all!" He clapped his hands, that cheerful sound clashing with the gloomy atmosphere.
"... Never mind how shallow you can get, some of your advice is really worth listening to. Do you remember what I said to you?"
"Heheh, what will I get if my answer is correct...? You said you'd be satisfied as long as you could say 'I investigated.'" He then straightened his back, exaggerating a pose. "'I came, I investigated, I conquered,' right?"
"Hah. I wonder if I can say I conquered, though."
He didn't say anything to that, leaving her question to die unanswered.
"Tell me something, lady. What would you do if, by some sort of miracle, you left this island alive? Would you keep investigating your family's deaths?"
"... I've investigated all there is to investigate, so that would be a waste of time, don't you think? I wanted to focus on..." She hesitated for a second before sighing deeply. "I wanted to focus on reviving my family."
And just like she expected, he laughed, eyes fixed on the book she was still pressing to her chest.
"Considering that you rejected all those men that tried to come on to you during our journey, I'll assume that you're not trying to revive the Ushiromiya name through old-fashioned biology." Ange's cheeks lit up a little and her scowl just made him laugh again.
"... Of course not. I meant through magic." He snorted, rolling his eyes.
"Of course, of course. We all know how well that turned out for your grandfather, after all."
"How do you...?"
"Who doesn't know?"
He had a point. There was no one in or outside of Japan that didn't know the story of the madman that had sacrificed his entire family - including himself - to revive the mythic witch Beatrice.
"He... didn't have the ability, though. I do, I know I do..."
"Ange-san, stop." He rubbed his temple— It was one of the few times she had seen him looking so annoyed. "You see, I'd rather kill you than let you turn into that old man, chasing for some delusions he liked to call 'magic.'"
Her chest tightened painfully, those sharp, honest words trying to cut loose the bond between her and Sakutaro, Mammon, and all those friends she had also called delusions way back when.
"You... don't understand. Just like everyone else. For magic and miracles to be seen you must believe first— And it pays. It brings friends and happiness beyond the material things that bind us to this world, things that you can lose easily if you're not careful. Magic, however, will never abandon you— it's what kept Maria..."
"With all due respect to Maria-san, I'll remind you that resorting to imaginary friends to keep herself sane was what made her life miserable."
"You're wrong!" She stomped her feet on the ground. "I thought that, too! I thought she was the saddest girl in the world, holding onto toys and the illusion that her mother wasn't a monster! But, if you'd just read her grimoire... You'd know that Maria was the happiest girl in the planet. She had friends that would never leave her, that would always stay by her side no matter how hard things got! Don't you get it? No matter how awful her life got outside of her little world, she was happy. She was happy thanks to magic. Delusions? Fine. But think about it. Maria... Maria had no way of escaping her mother..."
"Ah, but she did." He had been listening to her with a smile on his face, as if she were a very amusing TV show. "There's something called child services, you know. If she hadn't been so busy playing pretend with her dolls..."
"And then what? Let them take her mother away? Look, I don't expect a guy like you to know what it feels to have a bond with someone, to love someone— It's not a feeling you can break with violence. Because Maria loved her mother, because she thought she could save her, she wouldn't let go of her. No matter how... hard she pushed her away... Don't you think that under those conditions, living happily submerged into that world of delusions is better than living in a mind-breaking reality?"
"No." Ange clenched her fists— why was it so hard to make someone understand it! ? "You know, that sounds real pretty and all, but pretending your problems don't exist will only keep you from finding a solution to them."
"That's easy for you to say. She was a child, and she was alone. How could she have known?"
"Fine." He crossed his arms, muscles tense as he was starting to grow frustrated as well. "Maybe she didn't. Maybe she was helpless and had no other choice. But you are not a little kid anymore, lady. You are a fully capable adult for what I can tell, and can solve your problems, so this 'magic' thing is unnecess—"
"Oh really! Because I'm an adult I can solve all my problems! Ok, then tell me this, you're an adult after all: How am I supposed to get off this island alive?"
Ah, touché.
"... You can't."
"That's right. That's exactly right. Children are not the only ones incapable of finding solutions to their problems. It has nothing to do with age. The word magic may make it sound childish, but it isn't; It's something anyone can use to find happiness even in a dead end. So I know that today, eventually, I will make it happen. Because this is a dead end. Neither you nor Kasumi nor anyone will watch it happen, but I don't mind— Because it's real, it's real for me and anyone that's willing to believe."
Her eyes were cloudy but she stood firm on her feet, lips tense as she tried to hold in many remaining thoughts that wanted to burst out of her chest. Time was running short though, so she just took a deep breath to keep her voice from trembling:
"So tell me. Is Maria's magic really something so unreasonable, so hard to believe?"
For a moment her heart leapt: something flickered in his eyes— something she couldn't quite describe. He didn't answer, and eventually smiled, staring right into her eyes.
And Ange understood why.
... He was considering it.
And that...
... Was enough.
She didn't need anyone to believe her. To completely share her point of view. But the fact that she had made someone at least try to comprehend what Maria's magic was, made her feel more alive and relieved than she had ever been in her entire life.
The sound of various steps crunching gravel made them jump out of that mutual understanding, though. Cursing under his breath, Amakusa ran to his hiding spot in the woods nearby, only throwing a quick glance towards Ange before disappearing.
It didn't take long before that monster, clad in an elegant, expensive kimono, stood before her with a twisted smile.
"Looks like I've finally found you, huh, Ange-chan?"
...
... painful...
...
... just how long... had it been...?
... Since she had stepped into the world of magic?
Since she had seen Eva appear behind Kasumi? Since her hate had turned into compassion, since she had finally been able to spot that accursed black witch that had made Eva, Kasumi and even Rosa's life miserable with her spells of anger and cruelty, so different from Maria's magic of happiness?
Kasumi's hatred, her guards' abusive fists, and that witch's impertinent laugh as she manipulated them at her will, everything... made it feel like an eternity... however, Ange never once cried. She never begged for her life either, nor wished to die. Even after she had been through the heartbreaking pain of seeing each one of her friends get hurt and humiliated as Kasumi cruelly ripped every page of Maria's grimoire. Sakutarou, all of them... in pain that went beyond her imagination... begging the witch to stop, to have mercy...
And as she stood up from the ground, wounded and disgraced, she entered that world of delusions.
And she killed.
And killed.
And killed.
With her friends by her side, she killed all those beasts that had trampled on Maria's magic, until no one but that shadow with the form of Eva was left, summoned by the black witch.
Kasumi was dead. So were her guards.
...
... but that was... all in her head.
A delusion.
Yet Ange was happy. Even if it was a lie, she had saved Kasumi from the black witch; she had saved Eva. She needed nothing more.
How could such beautiful magic be something wrong? Why couldn't anyone understand it?
Kasumi's shrill laugh could not reach her back in the world outside of her mind, the real world. The guards just watched her mutter and stare at her aunt, who called her trump card, delighted. Ange barely understood what she was saying, nor did she recognize Amakusa as he stood before her with a resolute smile on his face.
"Fufufukyahahahaha! So hoooow is it? How does it feel to be betrayed by every person you ever had contact wiiiiiiith! ? Tell me, Ange-chan, is your magic powerful enough to save you from a single bullet! ?" She laughed again, unrefined, like a pig rolling on it's own dirt. "It's amazing what money can buy, huh! How sad, how sad! C'mon show me some magic, you braaaaat!"
Amakusa silently waited for her order to shoot, staring into Ange's eyes. She truly didn't seem to recognize him at all.
Because... she was using magic?
'Am I already dead in your mind, Ange-san? Or am I waiting on the boat, having a nice chat with that old man?'
They were delusions.
However thanks to those delusions... she had that blissful, satisfied smile on her face.
It was her cousin's magic of happiness. The one that, no matter how bad life seemed, would always keep your mind at ease— even in the face of death.
Maybe... maybe it wasn't so bad.
...
But it was definitely not the only solution.
"That brat is completely out of it, isn't she?" Kasumi tsked, her feet stepping harder on the ruined grimoire. "Why don't you try to remind her who you are? Maybe some nice kicks in the gut will be enough, kyahahahahaha!"
Her guards laughed along, like a bunch of dogs wagging their tails to please their master— it was a disgusting sight. Yet he kept his cool and took out his gun, pointing towards Ange's forehead, ignoring Kasumi's complaints that he wasn't doing as he was ordered: to torture her, to completely humiliate her until she recognized his face and understood, and suffered the pain of being completely alone.
Ange finally reacted when she saw the barrel of his gun pointing towards her, and smiled: It was all she needed to recognize him.
"See you hell."
... Oho.
"Cool."
She heard the gunshot that announced her death, closing her eyes to feel the bullet burn her head and release her from that life.
But it never came.
What she received instead was Kasumi's cry of surprise, accompanied by more gunshots. Her eyes snapped open only to see three guards collapsing backwards, foreheads adorned with a bullet hole that was horrifyingly similar to her aunt's bindi. The three guards remaining didn't even have enough time to recover from the shock before Amakusa shot them down as well, only pausing to throw that empty gun away and pull another one out of his jacket, promptly pointing it at Kasumi.
"Wha... what... what is thiiiis! ? N... no! You back-stabbing bastard!"
"Now, that's not fair, Kasumi-san. I was supposed to be on Ange-san's side first, remember?"
Ange had to blink a few times to understand what was going on.
"Ha... ha... you fool... you fool..."
Amakusa... was on her side?
All she could see was his back now, shielding her from the bloody sight before them. But she had seen most of it: he had shot down those men. It wasn't a delusion, a picture inside of her head— not anymore.
Kasumi seemed to be going following the same line of thought, quickly realizing that she was on the losing side now.
"S... so?" She spat, her face pale and shining with sweat. "Did she offer you more money than us? Fool. Don't you realize that if you kill her, her fortune will join ours and we'll be able to offer you more money than she ever will! ?" Amakusa sighed— Her voice was giving him a headache.
"You know, I may be a lowlife, but I'm not stupid. I'm damn sure that whether I let you out of this island alive or not, not only will I not get paid, but I will also have the Sumadera's black suits on my ass for disobeying their precious daughter. So really, I have nothing to lose if I kill you now— And, truth be told, I'd rather kill you than this little witch."
"My hero." Ange said, sarcasm heavy in each word, and her aunt's eyes traveled frantically from Ange's half hidden body to Amakusa, before stepping back.
"Oh I see... I see how it is..." Kasumi's face twisted in disgust. "You fell in love with her, didn't you! ? This is why men are useless— They always betray you for the first broad that opens her legs for them! ...So what now! ? Are you a wizard, too! ? Are you going to show me magic, just like your pathetic little girlfriend said she would! ?"
"My 'magic' is a little different from hers, but sure, I'll show you." Amakusa pompously patted his gun, offering Kasumi a mocking grin. "Also, please don't call her my girlfriend, she gets kind of moody when she's embarrassed."
Ange tsked. 'This guy...'
In a desperate attempt at saving herself, her aunt tried to take one of the guns from the deceased bodies around her. Ange didn't have enough time to close her eyes, and the image of Kasumi's hand being cleanly pierced by a bullet was burned in her mind.
"Whoops. Nice try. Goodbye, Kasumi-san."
And the last thing Sumadera Kasumi did was wail— only to be silenced by one last shot to the eye, body falling with a dry thump on top of the other corpses around her.
A long time passed before anything but the rustling trees interrupted that heavy silence.
"She's... dead..."
Ange's dry voice rose above the whistling wind, finally announcing it.
"... I guess. It'd be kind of freaky if she weren't after all that, really." He looked at his gun, wondering if it was worth it to shoot Kasumi's body again just to be sure. He finally gave up, though, and turned around to face Ange. "Yeesh, Ange-san, your English is kinda bad."
"W... what?" She blinked at the sudden change of tone.
"It's see you in hell."
It took a while for her to understand what he was talking about, and when she did, she couldn't help but grin.
"You... you just... Are you insane! ?" He raised his eyebrows. "Y... you just killed seven people and now you... are giving me English lessons...?"
Her legs gave up then, body finally aware of the damage done by the black suits. Amakusa helped her to sit down straight on the ground, before tilting up her chin to check her wounds. Her face was just starting to swell up and get purple, lips parted and bloody; fortunately, her nose and teeth were still intact.
"What a mess. Sorry I didn't come out until the end— But I couldn't. If I had come out any sooner, they would've suspected and then, bang! I would've been killed on the spot." She shook her head weakly, spitting blood.
"Why are you even apologizing...? You didn't kill me— that kind of balances out the fact that you didn't help me."
"Heheh. I guess it does. But do you realize what just happened, lady? Your problem is solved."
"... huh?"
"You needed to get out of this island alive, remember? Now tell me. Did that happen because you hid in your own little world or because you reached out for the real world— for me?"
"What..." Ange shook her head from side to side, bringing her hand to her face. "Are you serious...? You... saved me to prove your stupid point?"
"Well, that, and a little something you don't know about." He winked, but she didn't really catch his hint and frowned. "I can't say I proved my point either, anyway. You're right, too. There are really some dead ends you can't escape from, so... Can we call it a tie?"
"... W... Ju... Fine." Reasoning with a guy like him was completely useless, and it was even worse as her head felt more and more woozy with each second that passed. "... I... need you to do me one last favor before we leave."
"I know."
He got up from her side and walked towards Kasumi's body: Maria's grimoire was close to her feet, sprayed with the blood of the last Sumadera heir. Amakusa picked it up, and casually ignoring the corpses, looked for all the crumpled pages that hadn't been stolen by that traitorous wind yet, straightening them up and respectfully putting them inside the book.
That man...
He was going to betray her, and had probably decided to save her life on a foolish whim that even he couldn't understand.
However, Ange had never been so grateful to anyone before.
And as she held tightly onto that grimoire, feeling the warmth of her seven sisters and Sakutaro, she muttered her thanks, that were received with a chuckle and a pat on the head.
"I don't believe in your magic, Ange-san. But I think I understand it."
"I know. Thank you."
She let herself be picked up then, Amakusa easily handling her light body, carefully avoiding any wounded spots.
"We'll have to take the hard road, lady. There are more men waiting for Kasumi-san's return at the pier. If they see us coming out without her, they'll kill us."
"Mhn... I don't care. Just do whatever." He nodded, stepping into the forest, guiding himself through trees that had small marks on them. "... How... much is this going to cost me anyway...?"
"Mh? Oh! Ahaha!" Ange saw him smile from the corner of her eye. "Well, let's see... I think a kiss will do."
"Tsk... Now that I think about it, didn't you ask me for the same thing a while ago? What, do you really have a crush on me or something?" His lips curved in a devilish grin.
"That's right, I have a crush on you, Ange-san."
"Right, right." It was amazing how he always had the energy to tease her, no matter the situation. "Aunt Kasumi was right, then. Men are really useless."
"Sure, you say that now. Just wait until you have to open a jar of something. Then you'll cry for our help." Ange closed her eyes again, smiling. "Leaving that aside, Ange-san... What are you planning to do next?"
"Me? I'll have to leave Japan. Just like you said a while ago, the Sumadera's black suits will start looking for me full force when they find out about Kasumi's death— and they'll have police support now, too."
He made an approving sound.
"Don't you need a guard until then? I'm more than available, especially since I have to get out Japan as soon as I can, too..."
"You're kidding. You're so expensive that you'll end up completely consuming my family's gold in a few weeks."
"Haha! I guess you're right! I'll tell you what, then: once you run out of money to pay me, I'll hire you as my assistant. And then when you earn enough money from that, you can hire me as your bodyguard again."
"... Isn't that convenient. And what am I supposed to do, serve you coffee and clean your guns?"
"Well, you could start by welcoming me home everyday wearing a cute, frilly apron..."
"An apron?"
"And nothing else."
"... You can kill me now."
"Ahaha! That's harsh, Ange-san~"
"I... I'm serious. You might as well drop me off here, I can defend myself prett—"
Ange couldn't finish, though, eyes widening as she saw around fifteen men in black suits waiting under the unrelenting sun in the beach, some of them carrying guns bigger than her.
"... or not."
"Ihihaha! Thought so!" His voice was annoyingly triumphant as he laid her on the floor, and took out a sniper rifle out of god-knew-where. "Shall we call this an official contract then?"
"... Fine. As long as you don't try to kill me again."
"Oh, I won't, I won't. And my price just went up, by the way, so I can hire you as my assistant faster." Ange let out a noise similar to a hiss.
"Stop proving Kasumi right and shoot them already."
"Oho! Right away, boss!"
How troublesome.
But she couldn't take that stupid smile off her face for some reason, closing her eyes as she heard the first bang that announced the beginning of their escape.
I'll just note that I did not watch the anime's adaptation of episode 4. So I have no idea how the scenes from Ep. 4 were adapted— I just went with what I imagined as I read them in the visual novel.
Well, as most people know now, in episode 4 it was heavily hinted that Amakusa was Ange's killer. Although I suspected it all along because it really fits with his character, it was still a hard blow and a part of me wishes that Ryuukishi is just using him as bait, kind of like what he did in ep. 3 with Eva. I still believe Amakusa likes Ange (whether it's love or friendship, who knows) and didn't have anything against her: It was just his job.
Doesn't make him less of a jackass ;_;
So, to cheer myself up I decided to write an alternate ending. I WANT TO BELIEVE.