Title: Salvation

Author: holmesfreak1412

Fandom: Mirai Nikki

Characters: Gasai Yuno (Second) and Kasugano Tsubaki (Sixth)

Genre: Angst, Tragedy

Rating: T

Summary: There is no such thing as a predetermined fate. Tsubaki never had the ability to see the future but then again, Gasai Yuno never thought she has a chance of one.

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mirai Nikki/Future Diary franchise.

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Salvation

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001 Blank

The classroom is a quiet, depressing emptiness rid of the incessant chatter of her classmates struggling for their grades, her sole reminder that in this cruel world of numeric standards and perfectionist society, she is actually considered the better one. Someone with a bright future. Someone who would reach places. But the pencil remains hovered over the blank paper, unmoving and not writing anything in her trembling fingers. What does she want to do in the future?

Does she even have one?

The last to have left the room is Amano-kun and even the class outcast who preferred to be an observer, skipped over his desk and passed his essay with stunning enthusiasm that even their teacher was floored. But with Amano Yukiteru, even the lack of social life is not one to be a cause of angst and despair. Yuno had heard that he and his parents would be on a trip to the hills these holidays, the very picture of a happy family. And this is coming from the school's resident loser. Yuno must have sunken so low.

For in Yuno's eyes, her future is a dark, unseen, swirling mass of vortex and sometimes, she wonders whether she is better off dead like her parents had been. She had refused to be naïve and wait for the time for the three of them to understand each other. And she was right. They died and they never did. That time never came for her. There no longer is a future to wake up in the morning for.

Yuno stands and crumples the essay sheet. One missed project would not hurt her grades.

There is no one left who cares.

002 Eyes

The girls in her class invite her to shrine event two weeks later, seeing as they have nothing else to do during the spring holidays, "I heard that the high priestess can predict the future!" one excitedly shrieks during recess. Yuno can never remember her name. But then again, nothing is worth remembering nowadays. "They are called the Omekata-kyo. Let's try it out this afternoon!"

In the end, even they do decide for themselves to cut out Yuno. She never belonged anyway. She is too perfect a citizen, too flawless to be well-liked. Her parents, even emaciated inside The Cage, had lived to make sure of that. Yuno can never really call anyone her friends."Oh, I remember! Gasai-san has curfew, right?" One girl said. Yuno could not recall her name either. "Maybe some other time, ne? Ja-na"

But no one is there to scold her anymore.

She sneaks all the same to the shrine, curiosity piqued.

In the remarkably starry night, the main gates of the Omekata-kyo shrine are closed to the public, stern-faced members on guard with a ridiculous-looking sash around their necks. But an infiltration is child's play. And here she is, standing before a pretty girl in a kimono who designates herself a priestess. This is the main shrine so she must be the so-called Omekata-sama, who you had to have an appointment before seeing. The young girl is no more than thirteen. Purple, squinting eyes rapt in attention as Yuno stands before her, defiant and demanding answers.

Myopic, the back of her mind that is still focused on such trivial facts, deduces. The girl can barely see beyond her outstretched arms, staring at a space above Yuno's head. Dividing the space between them is a cage, bamboo sticks crisscrossed from floor to ceiling and in a moment of nostalgia, Yuno remembers when she is the one locked in the same restriction, kneeling in forgiveness for whatever wrong she has done.

There is no future in a cage.

"You are aware, right?" The girl's silky, modulated voice interjects on her thoughts. She cocks her head sideways, hands pausing from her writing. Before her is a large green scroll. She continues pensively. "That my followers are just outside. And that you are treading in a dangerous ground."

Yuno's fist is clenched but she remains undeterred. "They say you can see the future." She intones and for a moment, she watches the so-called Omekata-sama flinch with a start. "I want you to read mine."

If I even have one…

She is aware that this venture is ridiculous, that this would come to nothing. But she wants to know how someone could say that they can see other people's future when she cannot even perceive her own amidst the oblivion she calls life.

Omekata-sama is silent for a full minute before with a soft chuckle, she speaks as if deciding to humour a petulant child. She asks Yuno to take a seat before her, for her to see her clearer. The pink-haired girl does not budge. And the young woman pretending to be an oracle for the Gods, airily laughs once more. "I see that you're a desperate, crazy, lonely sociopath."

The girl giggles once more and Yuno is struck by the lack of judgment in her eyes, the amusement in her countenance, the fact that she saw through her immediately and did not reprimand her for it. Omekata-sama leans closer and in those unseeing depths of purple, Yuno finds someone who understands.

"Your future is to serve the Omekata-kyo and make a new world with us. A new world rid of sins and heartbreak. We are all flawed, sinful and I don't think there is any such a thing as perfection. But here, we cleanse ourselves and do whatever else we want afterwards. Do you want to join us, lonely soul?"

003 Diary

Yuno didn't have the chance.

The doors behind her open with a loud bang! and the voices of the enraged followers echo in the vast expanse of the temple. Panicking, Yuno breaks into a run and flees, the last thing she remembers seeing is the enigma of a soft smile on the Omekata's face, the ironically sadistic glee on her face muted by her reassurance to the men that no, there is no intruder.

Omekata-sama is just like her.

And for a moment, Yuno realizes how she hates this world that strives to make its citizens perfect when its own environment is itself, fucked up.

She would learn later through meticulous poring (and Yuno is afraid to admit that this fixation is close to becoming a full blown obsession) that Omekata-sama's given name is Kasugano Tsubaki. That she was born visually challenged. That she is popularly credited however for having eyes that can see miles ahead. That her parents had started the Omekata-kyo to put their daughter's ability to good use. Yuno seriously doubted that Tsubaki has clairvoyance. Nobody in this world does. But she sure sees more than most people do.

Yuno only wants to be seen for her flaws, not the perfect citizen that she apparently appears to be. Her parents only saw her flaws. The boys in school only wants her for her good looks. She likes how Tsubaki had seen a desperate, lonely, crazy sociopath in her and did not judge her for it. And perhaps if someone besides her cares enough of the inside to see that, maybe she has a chance.

Four weeks later, ten thousand yen is transferred to Omekata-kyo's bank account through Gasai Banking corporation. The only explanation is of an anonymous donation, a satisfied visitor. Probably Omekata-sama getting lucky on one of her bullshit readings. There was a drinking binge in the temple that same night, celebrating the gullible man's—whoever he is—gratitude. Tsubaki watches her followers inebriate themselves, waiting for the inevitable and wondering whether the mysterious sponsor hails from the unseen world. And decides that they probably are.

The cage never felt so suffocating for Tsubaki and behind the scenes unbeknownst to her, Gasai Yuno records everything every ten minutes where she realizes that amidst the corruption and conspiracy in Omekata-kyo, Tsubaki does not see the future after all.

But then again, Yuno did not feel like having one until now.

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004 Crime

The Omekata-kyo is a cult for criminals: those types who repent fully on Sundays to supposedly cleanse themselves and then go back in a spree once again during working days. Hiyama Takao is their homeroom teacher that actually moonlights as the serial killer he himself warns them about daily. Once a week, he comes by and visits Omekata-sama. The doors are closed afterwards. Yuno had never gotten a chance to see what transpired.

The actual initiation rites, she discovers later is to kill someone and get away with it. This is for the members to share the knowledge of a crime. Until now, nobody had seen through the questionable management of the Gasai Bank, the fact that the employees had never seen neither head nor tail of their employer. Yuno's parents are too perfect as citizens in the public eye to be suspected of any anomaly.

The fact is that, no one even cares.

So when Yuno forgot to feed them, nobody even noticed.

She even got away with it.

So Yuno feels that every time she watches Tsubaki-san, she is forgiven because in this world, she is not the only one who is fucked up. And in Omekata-kyo, you are accepted for the worse in you and ignored for the best. And that in her opinion, is the best form of cleansing as any other.

For the first time, Yuno feels like she finally belonged.

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005 Cage

What happens behind the cage stays inside the cage. The Omekata-kyo knows how to keep a lid well on their dark secrets. Yuno is not that innocent girl anymore not to realize that the cult is mostly up to no good (her ten thousand certainly did not go to some charity or another). But Tsubaki, in all her obvious flaws and her own instability, just seemed to understand. And for the first time in her life, Yuno felt like she had an accomplice. She is not the only one. She is not the only one. She is not the only one. And together, they would soon create a new world.

That is her future.

It is just a matter of figuring out how.

The next time she visits the Omekata-sama (after lining up for hours because no, one can't just visit Omekata-sama without an appointment), the priestess fails to recognize her. But Yuno does not mind. Tsubaki's half-blind, round purple eyes are bloodshot, tired as if she cried all night. Robotically, she murmurs the same reading that she heard before, albeit less mischievously. Yuno knows well that this has always been their way to recruit new members.

But there really is something, just something when she told her that the first time.

"Are you not allowed to go out from this cell?" Yuno cannot help but observe, much to the self-proclaimed oracle's surprise. Tsubaki looks up abruptly but through her struggle as she squints to discern her, Yuno realizes that the girl probably cannot see her at all.

But she ignores her startled reaction, expecting it. "You should try to get prescription glasses as well, you know." Yuno remarks, fixing her eyes on one spot above her head. Something blinks. And she could almost imagine it whirring. Yuno frowns, contemplating. "And maybe you can try the outside world as well, lonely soul?"

A flash of recognition flickers across Tsubaki's face but by then the unseen stranger is already gone. The next follower comes in and she recites her usual drivel.

Later that night from underneath the floorboards, Yuno hears Tsubaki's agonized moans and screams for the first time, the pained pleas ignored as men and women swarmed over her. The old Funatsu's voice booms over the ruckus, his false preaching a word of law to these demented people. From her vantage point, the line continues to grow. So this is it.

So this is what happens in her cage, Yuno thinks, frozen to the spot. She feels her fists clenched, her teeth gritting. She never screamed like that when Mama failed to feed her. She never looked so sad like that when Papa never came home.

Someone else got it worse.

Tsubaki still got it worse.

She stares at Funatsu, the vile old man grinning in morbid satisfaction. On her knees, she feels something muddy rolling. Picking it up, she peruses the handball and she realizes that this is the same one Tsubaki has been holding the first time she saw her.

Funatsu's sandaled feet passed by Yuno's sight and she could not help but think that she would like it very much, if he felt the same pain.

006 Freed

Funatsu's body is discovered five days later at the Omekata-kyo's own torture dungeon, a parody of every man's nightmare and locked in its grotesque posture in every unimaginable way possible. The man's lifeless eyes stare at Tsubaki's slowly unseeing pair , his despicable features frozen in an absolute contortion of pain. While everyone else puked at the sight of the defiled and violated man, the priestess could never be so glad to be close enough to see the man's face in the last moments of his wretched life preserved. She files this away as something worthy to remember until she loses her eyesight for good.

She is glad that she at least gets to see that.

With excitement that amounts to childish glee, she realizes that he finally felt what she did.

The entirety of the cult agrees that this better be one of their secrets.

There is no need for the police to butt in and they have their graves behind the main shrine that is big enough to hide their skeletons.

"The loyalty of the Omekata-kyo movement lies on the members sharing the knowledge of a crime and getting away with it. That also counts anyone who would attempt to extract information from you. You must live." The large gathering voices their concurrence, knelt in deference. Omekata-sama records the minutes of the meeting on her scroll, her hand elegantly stroking over the paper. She says. "Funatsu-san just showed that he is not worthy of being second of my command, so from now on, there would be none."

"The Omekata-kyo will flourish in my sole leadership." She continues as she rises. The congregation looks up in respect and Tsubaki realizes that she enjoys it, the adoration in their faces. Their willingness to serve her. The worship in their every action. And she notes, that maybe cleansing them from time to time is not so bad if this is what she gets.

They will conquer this rotten world and make a new one. Where her parents didn't have to die. Where they share one secret and there is cooperation as the world thrives in their future.

"With my eyes that can see through miles, we will rise."

And she takes note; thinking of whoever's soul decided that she deserves a chance to make a difference, that the unseen world might not be so bad after all.

007 Game

"The leader of an organized crime certainly would be a very interesting character in these Games." Deus, the God of Time and Space remarks, his mechanical arms knotted together and his equally constructed eternal expression not betraying anything. "We already have a murderer and a policeman. A loser who has great family life and a star student who murdered hers. Two lovers and a man who abandoned his family. A terrorist and a leader. A child and a loving surrogate mother. I'd like to add a more interesting diary holder, next to Balks,"

"Do you seek for the rock-paper-scissors thingy to continue?" This is Murmur, the ever inquisitive assistant. She turns one page on her shoujo manga, now officially bored on how enthusiastic the terminally ill Deus is of this ludicrous Game. She does not know what is stopping him from choosing a successor outright but then Deus, like Father Time always has an inclination to be unpredictable.

"Any suggestions, Murmur?" The enormous deity asks. If he can raise his eyebrows, he would have,

"Why not add a Power Rangers?" There is a touch of explicit irony on her tone. Murmur sigh and looks ahead with a face that implies that she no longer appreciates this baloney. "Someone righteous and could hypnotize people. A vigilante. Whatever floats your boat. You could as well choose someone as ridiculous as possible."

"And him being blind is a plus. He is indeed the perfect foil for the Sixth. That was a nice touch on the hypnotism by the way. The Organizer diaries are vulnerable to confusion from within. The same way as the Ninth would surely be dead if she passes by the Omekata-kyo shrine. Yes, that's a very good idea indeed."

Murmur looks on, beyond confused. That was meant to be a joke. "Huh?"

"I am talking about the more interesting individuals we have in this generation. Yomotsu Hirasaka. We now have our Twelfth Diary Owner." Deus elaborates and the gears around the desolate world spin. "A very good idea indeed. Rocks-paper and scissors. But then again, there is no such thing as fixed rules and I sure am looking forward to see how the players would defy it.

"Let the Games begin."

008 Diary

The Sixth moves in the Survival Game by killing one of her own first. Hiyama Takao would not see it coming. The red-haired teacher knelt before her in deference like he usually did, reading passages from his cell phone in such a sorrowful tone that the first time Tsubaki heard it, she almost could swear that he was feeling guilty. But when he started to zealously tell her about murders that were yet to happen, ("The world has to be cleansed, Omekata-sama!) Tsubaki made her own deduction.

Hiyama Takao leaves early that day, choosing not to participate in their nightly rituals. Not that they would do it in any case. They have some planning to do.

"Hiyama-san's diary would not tell him about what we are up to unless we are intended to be his victims." Tsubaki's words are gold to her followers. After all, she is about to be a God herself. "We should start before it's too late.'

But Hiyama Takao never came back.

She later finds out during the first meeting that Hiyama had been the Third participant in the Games, the words "dead end" ominously floating over the reserved platform. The First had likewise been killed early on as well, his pathetic existence totally obliterated. From what she can hear about the steadily decaying God's speech, the guy had unfortunately encountered Hiyama too early and…

Dead. End.

But apparently someone survived.

In between the two empty spots is the murky silhouette of the Second, standing calmly as she listens to Deus' instructions. A schoolgirl apparently, barely older than she is. She probably goes where Hiyama teaches, just like the First (who apparently is some loser named Amano Yukiteru) does. Aside from that- Tsubaki can't just put a finger on it but there is something familiar about this person. The way she stands so composed and reserved, listening silently makes Tsubaki's heart beat in…

What?

"I think Second is my favourite."

The claim is met by varying degrees of dismay to outright protest. Second lets the rest of the players get their steam off first before sternly saying. "Why? Aren't I just a lonely soul who wants to change the world?"

Startled by the words, Tsubaki once again feels this crippling fear of the unseen.

She could not see fear in her eyes as she expected she would have. Second seems to meet her glare with indifference, undeterred. It reminds her of…

The Cathedral of Casualty is an empty mass of purple space, replacing the main meeting room as it dissolves along with the rest of the remaining Diary owners. But a few steps beside her, Second stays. And for the first time, Tsubaki is close enough to see her.

The flash of recognition is stronger this time. The High Priestess would never know how and what prompted it but she knows, SHE KNOWS then that she finally found her elusive saviour.

Yuno tosses the ball towards her. And Tsubaki as she gratefully catches it, tells her that she would wait for them to meet again.

Even if they have to kill one another.

Thank you.

009 Threat

Dead end.

The words are printed on large, bold Kanji, the writing haphazardly thrown over the once neat surface of the green scroll. Kasugano Tsubaki would die tonight and unless she would do something about it, this would be her future.

The Ninth is in her disposal, imprisoned and guarded by one of her followers. The Fourth is coming her way, very much open to be manipulated. And for as long she stayed in one place surrounded by all of her followers, she is safe. The cage never felt safer in her entire, wretched life and she never felt thankful to have these many gullible subordinates.

The Clairvoyance Diary has its weaknesses of course and all-seeing as it is, it still is vulnerable to confusion as any human vision. But one cannot just trick a hundred people at once on what they are seeing. She just has to find out which is the truth. But the Dead End is still there and she would die tonight.

"Rock. Paper Scissors." Second had said, seconds before she disappeared like the rest of Deus' world after the meeting was adjourned. "Be careful Omekata-chan."

She wonders what kind of diary she has.

010 Saved

She would later find out that the girl's name is Gasai Yuno and she has the Tsubaki Diary.

The first time Tsubaki sees her up close is when she comes in telling her that she just killed the Fourth on the way and she does not have to worry because she definitely would kill the other two.

"Two?"

"I can see your future even if you don't see it yourself." She answers and the ecstatic tone in her voice is almost unbearable. Yuno looks at her adoringly, excitedly and Tsubaki visibly flinches. "You saw mine and I will make sure it will be the right one."

You would serve the Omekata-kyo.

You will join me… on creating a new world.

"But first, you have to let yourself out of the cage." Gasai Yuno lightly implores, taking her hand and dragging her slightly. Tsubaki is too shocked to protest. "Enjoy freedom, as I did ne?"

She's crazy!

The next time she checks the scroll, Tsubaki notices that her future changed.

Dead End Tag is only activated when someone is intent on eliminating you.

-Happy End-

But that is useless if the one who wants to save her is much stronger.

July 28th.

Yuno peers at the last entry of her diary and she happily tells her that they match.

On July 28th, Kasugano Tsubaki and Gasai Yuno will be one.

(END)

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Purely experimental and it probably does not make sense but with YukiAkise fics in abundance, any yuri fan should create the obligatory YunoTsubaki. This is just a series of drabbles though illustrating a what-if scenario. Soon, I will write something more coherent. But as of now, I am planning to make a YunoAkise fanfic because for some reason, I am a sucker to impossible, crack pairings and I just want to give them a try.

I don't really expect much, if there are any readers. But I just have to get this out of my word processor and I hope you enjoyed it at least. Tsubaki/Yuno is amusing in canon, if you exclude the violence and all that.

This is an open ending. Feel free to extrapolate what happened. But irt certainly would be interesting to read, ne?

Please review.