(I do not own Hell Girl)
If you had just a minute to breathe,
Cold...
So cold...
Let me breathe again...
Pull me out of here! I can't live down here on a single breath!
A poor girl thought as she was about to meet a terrible demise at the hands of someone she had loved.
If there was something I could have done differently, I would have done it... I never thought it would end this way... I never should have left, I should of listened to mother.
Chained to the bottom of a lake, having taken her last breath, she was looking back at her life as she slowly drowned.
He was a no good bastard after all... I'm so sorry mother.
The young girl would have cried if she could, but the water around her engulfed her salty tears.
And they granted you one final wish,
Give me another chance to make it right... To kill that no good bastard.
Each moment passing, her heartbeat slowed then finally stopped, mind going blank as she gave up... Eyes closing, letting the last of her breath go.
Her world faded to a black, unable to live.
Would you ask for something, like another chance?
In hell, Ai watched the girl with mild interest, "Miss, don't you think this case was suppose to end differently?" Hone asked, "I feel like something tampered with this one." She sat behind her, fanning herself.
"I think so too." Ren agreed with Hone, raising his hand, "She wasn't supposed to die, the boyfriend was."
Ai only stared at the screen, "She never pulled the thread." She was in deep thought as she said that.
Kikuri ran in with the doll in her hand, "I did it! I did it!" She admitted, giggling happily, "I took it from her before she left when that nice man."
Hone picked Kikuri up by the back of her kimono, "So it was you who tampered with our case!" Hone frowned deeply at her, "You just killed our client! Why can't you be a good girl?!" She yelled into her ear, making the little girl cover her ears.
Kikuri pouted, "I am not a good girl." She poked her cheek hard, causing Hone to jump back and drop her, "Hehe." She quickly ran off. Hone rubbed her cheek while staring at the direction the girl ran in.
"Damn, so it was tampered with." Ren sighed, "I'll be joining you in fixing this mess." He spoke, standing up from where he was originally sitting, getting lost in thought as he walked out of the small house. Stopping outside for a moment to look at the spider lilies, then carefully hopping down and walking towards their doorway to the human realm.
Ai silently watched Ren walk out, then looked to Hone, "Shall I reset this day...?" Ai whispered, the house seemed to spin as she spoke, "Reset, and make death never happen...?"
Hone nodded her head, crossing her arms, "Yes, reset this day for that girl."
"A second chance for her, she shall remember the events of her last breath, her final moments shall replay in her mind until she remembers the mistake that led to her pathetic death." Ai formed a small blue flower in her hand, it was withered. She stared at it, and it gained a single petal, "This petal shall be a reminder of her second and final chance..."
And with a blinding white light, the day reset itself.
Rei shot up from her bed, seemingly from a nightmare, "What the...? I was... drowning?" She quickly jumped out of her bed, rushing towards her mirror to scan over her features, she was slightly paler than before, her hair faded from its usual dark blue color, she almost looked like a ghost. She continued staring at her ghost like features until her mother's voice snapped her attention away from her complexion.
"Rei! Time for breakfast!" Rei's mother called from the kitchen downstairs, "Hurry up or there won't be any left!"
The girl ran from her room and down the stairs, running into the kitchen and snatching up her breakfast then heading back to her room, in need of her quiet sanctuary.
Meanwhile, Hone and Ren were watching her closely, "Is the Miss going to appear to her...?" Hone asked Ren, her hands on her hips, "I can never really tell when she is or not."
Ren shrugged, "The Miss wandered off... Not sure where though, she may be dealing with something of great importance." He said, going back to his thoughts, "Humans are so interesting..." He whispered, going to knock on the girl's front door.
"What on earth and in hell are you doing?!" Hone yelled, grabbing his shirt collar and pulling on it, dragging him back, "We are not supposed to get involved!"
He narrowed his eyes, "I'm allowed to get involved." Ren spoke, shoving her into a nearby bush just as the door opened, revealing the girl's mother.
"Oh, are you one of my daughter's friends?" She tilted her head questionably, a smile on her features, her age was quite obvious from the stress wrinkles and grey hair the woman had, in her late fourties if Ren had to guess.
Ren nodded, "You could say we're close." He lied, though he wandered about the girl's high school at times, he only ran into her two different times... While he was working cases, the usual bullied classmate who accessed Hell Link with the intents to have their grievance heard and banish their bully to hell. Those cases were plentiful nowadays.
The woman smiled, stepping aside to allow Ren inside, "You are welcome in our home then, make yourself at home." She bowed, coming back up with her sweet smile.
"Thank you." He smiled falsely back, stepping inside and removing his shoes, "Where's Reiyu?" He looked to the older woman whom pointed at the staircase. He went up the stairs, finding the door to her room without a problem, he knocked carefully. "Reiyu?"
Rei raised a brow at the voice, not recognizing it as anyone in her household or any of her friends. "Um... Come in." She said in a loud voice so Ren could hear, holding the doll she had gained from accessing the Hell Link site two nights ago behind her back.
Her object of grievance, her boyfriend whom she caught cheating exactly three nights ago, she was still debating whether to pull the thread or not, Ai did say that Curses come home to roost. In other words, if she banished him to hell, she would go too... But that's only after she dies.
I don't want to ever experience that again, it was only a nightmare... I'll make sure of it. Rei thought, staring at Ren who just walked in, "Reiyu?" He questioned, sitting next to her.
"It's Rei... Not Reiyu." Rei sighed, brushing her hair back behind her ear, "What are you doing here, Mister Too Cool For You...? I don't believe I have the looks to attract someone like you."
He had to get close to her, at least attempt to help her from making the same mistake twice, "I heard about what Tadashi did, I thought you needed some cheering up." He wouldn't know that him cheating was not the only thing, but that when he found out she knew, he killed her dog, tossed her bag into a barrel he had set on fire, burning her books and work, stalking and attempting to rape her... But that was the day before he took up her case.
She looked away shyly, "I'm fine..." She lied quite badly, the pain and suffering was showing clearly on her face, "I won't have to deal with him for much longer anyways..."
The Miss could of left her be and let her remain in the cloak of death but she gave her another chance... Why..? Ren asked himself, looking the girl over several more times, She isn't special in any way, shape, or form.
He held a closed hand out to her her, slowly opening it to reveal the blue rose petal, "The Miss gave you a second chance, a chance to pull the thread and live your life... You weren't supposed to die today, but a certain girl took your doll when you needed to pull the thread. I don't think you want to ever have that single minute to breathe again... We answered your wish for a second chance, you've received it... Make good use of it. "
She looked at him wide eyed, pulling the doll out from behind her back, "I want to see him when I pull the thread..." She narrowed her eyes at the doll, "Make 'em pay for it, my life has been a living hell since he started torturing me."
He nodded in understanding, "The Miss shall see to it." Ren smiled, standing up and holding his hand out to her, "Would you like to go out for ice cream...?" He asked her with a large smile, the girl nodded, having nothing better to do anyways and took his hand, Ren led her down the stairs and out the door. He pulled her down the street to an ice cream vendor, ran by an old man, she hadn't a clue who the man was... But Ren did, the old man was Wanyudo... Ren assumed that Ai must have put him on the case too. "What are you doing here...?" Ren asked him,
"Well, the Miss wanted me to make sure this went according to plan, so she sent me..." Wanyudo said with a smile, glancing over at the girl standing next to Ren who obviously wasn't paying attention to what the two were saying. Ren frowned slightly, crossing his arms,
"So the Miss doesn't trust me to get this done? I am handling it, Hone is watching from a safe distance..." Just as he said that, Hone walked by with a man, laughing her ass off, "Scratch that... I believe she's made herself busy..." He sighed, facepalming, "Hone knew that this case was important! Yet she's wandered off with some human!"
Wanyudo laughs softly, "You know how Hone is... Always attracting these human males." Rei finally looked up at the two, breaking away from her deep thoughts, Wanyudo looked at the girl with one of those old and wise smiles, "What might I get you Miss?" The girl looked about the various choices as she looked back up at him,
"Chocolate." She said simply, pointing to her choice with a slender finger, Wanyudo went about at a normal pace, getting her requested flavor and handing her a nice cone,
"There you go Miss." He says, "Enjoy it as if it's your last."
The girl blinked, opening her mouth to say something but quickly closing it, dismissing what the man said. She licked her frozen treat, grabbing Ren's arm and pulling him with her, heading back down the street towards her house, "Thanks Ren..." She mumbled, a small smile on her face, "This was somewhat nice... I haven't gotten to enjoy anything since Tadashi started all this crap..."
Ren placed a hand on her shoulder, "I know... And listen to my advice... Pull the thread, or else he is going to end you... Like he did in that nightmare of yours... You said you never wanted to go through that ever again..." He then moved his hand to her cheek, "And have you not looked into a mirror lately? You look like you've died... Understand that this is to remind you that the nightmare you had, was very, very real... You'll regain your radiant skin, vibrant hair, and bright lively eyes once you pull the thread..." He explained, removing his hand from her, Rei was staring with wide eyes, quite scared of what might happen soon.
"So... If I don't pull the thread... I'll die again... If I do, I can live my life like nothing happened...?" She asked Ren, looking up at him with those faded eyes of hers, the life seemed to have disappeared from them, she almost looked like a walking corpse, but only she and Ren, Hone, Wanyudo, and Ai could see this... All of those dead features, pointed to her drowning in that nightmare.
He gave her a small nod, "If you want to live, you have to pull the thread."
An eternity in hell for him, and an eternity in hell for me... But I'll get to live my full life.
"Alright." Rei understood him completely, pulling him back into her house, up the stairs, and into her room, she jumped back onto her bed and patted the space next to her, Ren smiled and sat next to her, "Still, I can't understand the fact that I was given another chance... By Hell Girl." She was in awe by that fact, smiling a bit.
"You deserved another chance... Kikuri interfered and stole your doll, taking away your only defense... the Miss gave you another chance to fix that, Kikuri is being taken care of at the moment so she will not interfere." Ren spoke, staring at her doorway, almost like he knew something was about to happen. The sound of the front door being opened and slammed shut echoed through the house, then heavy footsteps coming up the stairs followed by quiet sobbing.
Tadashi stood there in the doorway, holding Rei's mother by her hair, she was crying... Her face bruised and battered by the man.
Rei stood up, anger and hate lacing her features, "Leave her alone Tadashi! She hasn't done anything to you!" She stuffed the doll into her pocket, making sure he didn't see before rushing at him, fists balled up.
Tadashi tossed her mother aside as he grabbed hold of Rei, "Your going to be my little slave..." He smirked, his hand moving down her side. She quickly slapped his hand away, "Little bitch." He cursed, grabbing her and tossing her over his shoulder, Ren couldn't do a thing, not being allowed to interfere with a human's fate. Not until they pull the red thread off the doll anyways.
Tadashi didn't go far before she kicked him in the gut, resulting in him groaning in pain and dropping her, she was rushed, in a blinding movement, she grabbed the doll from her pocket and... Pulled the thread.
"Your grievance has been heard."
The voice of a familiar old man echoed in her ears as she watched Tadashi disappear in front of her.
"Pain and suffering huh?" Hone laughed, watching Tadashi stand in front of a frozen copy of Rei, she did a spin, pulling several blades from her kimono and throwing them, piercing the young man's shoulder, blood spurting from the wound. "Your going to experience the exact pain that girl felt... Your going to drown."
"DAMNIT!" He yelled as pain shot through his shoulder, the room slowly flooding with deep blue water,
Ren's voice then echoed throughout the room, "You have exactly a minute left to breathe, enjoy your last breaths." Tadashi watched in horror, the room quickly filling with the dark waters, taking in his final breath when the room was completely filled, surprisingly he could see in front of him while he was under... Ai Enma appeared, her bright flowery kimono on.
"Oh pitiful shadow lost in the darkness,
Demeaning and bringing harm to others,
A damned soul wallowing in sin...
Care to give death a try...?"
Her eyes glowed as she brought her kimono's sleeves to her face, the blossoms and flowers shooting off it and drowning Tadashi... Causing him to black out.
He awakened in a boat, Ai at the back, controlling it, "Guess my time's up now... I'll be seeing Rei soon though." He laughed evilly, but was soon silenced by a bone shoved down his throat. A bone, that belonged to Rei's dead dog,
"You killed it, it's getting it's revenge." Ren said from the other end of the boat, laughing at the man's suffering as several more bones were stuffed down his throat. Tadashi didn't need to breathe now that he is cursed to burn in hell, but I'll bet you it hurt horribly, the bones stretched his throat out making it look like it was about to burst. "Pain and suffering for the rest of eternity, your fault for upsetting the girl... Hell Link is Japan's way of getting criminals and cheaters out of the streets... But you are a terrible guy anyways."
Ai stood emotionless as she sailed the boat past hell's gate, "I consign this grievance to hell." She said her usual line, fading off into the mist.
Back in the human world Rei held the blue petal in her hand, staring at it, "Second chance... From the Hell Girl..." She smiled as the petal blew off in the midsummer breeze, she watched it float off in the wind, "But was it really worth it in the end...?" Her chest now had Hell Girl's mark, the sign she would never see heaven's gates... That she would eventually see Tadashi in hell.
And when that day comes, she'll experience her last minute to breathe once again.
(A/N) Okie dokie! I've finished this after hiding in my box for several days! I feel it's finally finished and that it isn't missing anything anymore... though it might feel slightly rushed...
But yeah! I did try my hardest!
Be seeing you soon!
Sign Ari.