"Always Will" by Keiranas

Insert favorite disclaimer here:

A/N: All dialogue is taken straight from the manga. The same cannot be said about all thoughts.

Also...

Warning: Contains spoilers for Volume 20.

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"Kirisawa... Fuu... ko...."

I stared straight ahead at the strange yet familiar figure ahead of me. "He" was clothed in a fluttering black robe whose hood completely hid the upper-portion of his foul face, and upon his back was a massive barrel--no, an urn. Moments before, he had told me that my heart and body would belong to him, and that he was my... master. Then he had dodged my infuriated attacks, and was currently leering at me with a hungry expression.

"You... you love me, right... you must love me...," Soukakusai murmured to himself, as if he were trying to convince himself of the fact. "You're... in love with me... right?"

A blank expression found its way to my face.

"It's fine.... You don't have to say it... I understand...," he told me somewhat nervously yet smugly. "Your eyes... they are telling me... th-they say that you are desperately waiting for my embrace...."

Completely in disbelief, I answered rudely, "Are you--?"

I could feel his face twist into a disturbing smile. "You're... so shy... but I will accept you... heh heh heh heh...."

His laugh was starting to freak me out. If this had happened to me a few months ago, I would have launched into an attack already solely because of that disturbing noise. As it was, I had unconsciously fallen into a guard position and was eyeing him warily.

"I write in my diary every day.... Recently, every entry is about you.... This is an expression of my deepest feelings... I can feel it... the orders... it's fate...."

The sickening words continued to tumble out of his repulsive mouth. I recoiled out of sheer instinct, and felt a sense of deep disgust overwhelm me with each "loving" word he uttered. And when I suddenly felt the nauseating surface of his corroded tongue on the bare flesh of my ear, I cracked. With a cry of revulsion that swiftly turned into rage, I lashed out at him with my fists and sent him to the ground. "Don't touch me," I managed to snarl through my fury. "You make me sick."

He only laughed that creepy laugh in response, then told me in a voice whispery with want, "Just as I thought... that was good.... I've gotten such... a good reaction...." But when he reached into his billowing cloak and pulled out a doll fashioned in my likeness broken into three pieces, I became acutely aware that I wasn't the only one who had snapped.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" he shrieked. "It broke! Mine! Aaaah!" The freak then proceeded to hide behind his urn, looking for all the world like a quivering pile of dirty laundry.

I really don't want to fight this guy, I thought as my expression turned incredulous and repulsed. But almost instantly he stood back up again with a different, more serious air about him, reminding me to be careful.

"Why... would you do something so cruel...?" His voice was breathy and made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. "Aren't you... in love with me?" When he heard no response, he continued, "Fine... I have other methods...."

A chill slid down my spine, and I deepened my stance. Something was going to happen--and I probably wouldn't like it.

"I'll use this...!" He laughed quietly as he lifted the lid off of the urn. A madougu flashed, and I had no time to register its name because at the exact same moment, a vacuum started pulling me powerfully into the urn's black mouth.

What... is this?! I asked myself, afraid of what would happen if I were to succumb to the force. I'm being sucked in?!

"This is the madougu 'Tamasui no Tsubo'...," he explained to me with a tone in his voice that I did not in the least like. "Within this urn... anyone... can be sealed...."

That comment only served to make me spring into action, and I did my best to get a hold on something, anything. My hand made contact with a pillar of rock and I instantly clamped my body tightly around it. A small part of my mind told me that if I didn't, I wouldn't like the results.

"Fuuko... I'll ask you one more time...," he managed to whisper over the howling of the urn. "Do you love me?" His voice unexpectedly became cold. "If not... your future... will be spent inside of this urn...."

"Hentai!" I spat defiantly back at him. "What are you saying, you fool! I freakin' hate you! I'm gonna kill you!" My middle-finger aimed itself at his head, like a gun being trained on a target.

However, it was that little gesture that caused my undoing, for the moment I moved my hand, I lost my grip on the stalagmite. "Crap."

I was sucked into a void of complete and alarming darkness.

"You're... so shy...." His whispery voice managed to penetrate inside the urn, and it echoed inside of my head. "Ehyahyahya! You should've been more honest! Inside here... forever! I will keep you here forever... Fuuko!" His voice faded away, leaving me in the silence and blackness of the urn.

I tried to orient myself to my new settings, and was utterly surprised by the sheer... nothingness of the place. It seemed as though someone had just wiped away everything in the world except for me. It seemed as if it was a completely different world....

That thought made something click in my mind. Why another world? Why not... another dimension? Just like Magensha's Majigen! I got out of that before--I could just as easily find a way out now! I laughed cheerfully, and started wandering purposely through the black.

With nothing else to really concentrate on, I found myself focusing on the irritation of having the same trick used against me twice. The complete idiots! I would kill them once I got free for forcing me to waste my time on a little challenge that I already completed! I would make it last to the Tendou Jigoku, then Recca would have a reason to laugh at me! My affront increased with every little step I took, until I became so frustrated that I thought I couldn't bear another minute inside this stupid urn without falling into a killing rage and pulling my hair out. So I finally resorted to using the final jewel of my Fuujin.

The ball of white fluff swirled into existence, and fixed me with a penetrating stare from its two doe-like eyes and its single fierce one. "What is it that you wish, master?" it asked me mutely.

"I want out of here!" I said firmly, full of confidence that the little puff of intelligent wind would find the way out that I could not.

Fuujin gave me a strangely blank look, then analyzed its surroundings carefully. It seemed to scan the blackness for hours, and with each passing moment I seemed to understand that my chances of escaping were slowly dwindling.

I might not come out.... As this troubled thought occurred to me, the wind creature finished its careful studying and fixed me with one of its intense stares. A tiny spark of hope danced wildly in my throat, and my heart was beating a fast tattoo, nervously awaiting a positive answer.

"No use... I'm sorry, master. My power can't do anything, sorry....."

A strangled cry escaped from my throat as its heavy words crushed my fragile hope like an eggshell under the heel of a boot. No.... This can't....

Wind started to swirl about it with what seemed like finality. "And there are no more of the small crystals left," it continued on doggedly, with slight regret. "The Fuujin will be in hibernation.... So hurry... hurry and find our true body, then I...." And with that, Fuujin winked out of existence.

I collapsed onto the ground in shock, my mind unable to comprehend those two thoughts.

The Fuujin, gone permanently until the main jewel is found; the weapon is now nothing but an accessory with none of its former powers. And... no escape could be found.

No escape...? Stuck in the urn forever...?

It finally hit me. Never, never get out... never fight another battle, never see the sunlight, never feel the wind, never watch the rain. Never admonish Recca for being particularly stupid, never hear Mi-chan call me a monkey, never punch Domon into unconsciousness for trying to hug me, never help the others fight to protect Yanagi. I cried out in anguish, and staggered to my feet. Disturbed and frightened, I searched futilely and desperately for a way out; it was no use. Mind frozen, I dropped to the ground and sat staring unthinkingly at literally nothing. And slowly, I descended into unawareness, into a kind of trance.

I was startled, to say the least, when my eyes slowly opened to behold a world of swirling gray fog. What...? I struggled against the bonds of my "trance." Thought was alarmingly difficult to dredge up....

Finally, after a minute or two of complete concentration, I broke free of the figurative fog shrouding my mind. This isn't Soukakusai's urn..., I realized, startled. The place was amazingly familiar, though.... What was going on? Where was I? I could see goose bumps covering my skin, and absent-mindedly rubbed them to warm them while pondering these questions. I suddenly froze midway, staring in shock at my arms.

I couldn't feel a chill. I couldn't even feel warmth from the friction. I brushed two trembling fingers against my face. No reaction. Even a hard pinch didn't illicit a twinge of pain. Horror-stricken, I brought my clammy palm to my nose and tried to smell it. The odor of sweat didn't greet my nose. I frantically pulled a lock of hair in front of my face, and inhaled the air deeply. The normally present, slightly sweet scent of my shampoo wasn't there. Where were my senses?! Was I... dead?! I wanted to escape from this nightmare, and started running blindly into the light gray mist. I realized with panic that I could not hear anything--not my footsteps, the ragged gasps for breath. Actually, I couldn't even feel my chest heaving--only after a glance at it did I realize that I was even breathing at all.

I resumed my running, but didn't reach the end of the prison. Once I became exhausted, I collapsed onto the ground. Four of my senses are gone, I thought dully. I might be dead. I have no idea where I am.

My mind tried to distract me from my lack of perception. Where I am...? It succeeded--I ran along this thought, trying to reach the answer. This place is awfully familiar.... So when have I been here? Obviously, never in reality. A never-ending place filled with fog wasn't the kind of area you could find in your backyard. But what about in... "un-reality"? Which is...

A dream! That was it! This was a place that I often found myself in while I dreamed! And the places in dreams are places made up by the mind.

So... I was now entrapped in a world manufactured by my mind. But why? Especially when you can't feel in it....

A metaphorical chill raced down my spine.

Further thought reaped a possible answer to that question. To prevent me from going insane or to keep me from losing myself...? Stuck in that void where I could see absolutely nothing except for myself, I would have had nothing to dwell on except for my misfortune. I probably would have fallen into a depression then gone insane. So... my mind created an illusory world for me to be in to keep me from losing it for that much longer. Great.... But the same thing could happen here for the same reasons... right? So why here?

Another question to be answered. My fountain of instant theories and inspiration ran dry at the last question, so I had to resort to grasping at straws. Maybe the answer would occur to me if I could remember what happened in the dream in which I was here. So look for something that's unique to this place.

Even though I was the one thinking that, I couldn't help but snort contemptuously. Let's see..., I mock-pondered, sarcasm dripping. The only thing I can make out is gray. Gray clouds, the ground is the exact same shade of gray. Gray, gray, gray. I was about to laugh scathingly at myself for even thinking that this could have helped when it hit me. This is just what it looked like when I was waiting for my prince in that flooded dungeon!  And, I admitted with a slight flush, the same place I dreamed about at least once a week, where I would look for my prince then find him in a scene that was so clichéd, so mushy that it would have been more at home in a romance novel. "My prince...," I murmured dreamily, lost in a fantasy and never realizing it. My prince who never failed to save me when I really needed it....

"My prince!" The mere memory of that aspect of him jerked me out of my exhaustion and to my feet. As I quickly scanned the ever-changing mists, I berated myself. How could I have forgotten him? He had saved me before--perhaps he would now! But as soon as that revelation struck me, I shrugged it off to be impossible.

Yeah, right. My prince would somehow confidently ride onto the scene mounted on his valiant steed of the purest white, defeat the evil sorcerer holding me captive in this isolated and inescapable tower with his shining sword of goodness, then triumphantly waltz up to me and spirit me away to his castle where we would spend the rest of our lives staring lovingly into one another's eyes. Jeez, I was getting worse than Yanagi! This stupid place was definitely screwing around with my mind.

But still, a girl could hope....

I sighed. I knew that I could only depend on myself, that I should, but those thoughts were quickly being driven out of my head by the mere idea that he might come and save me. You know... I've already done everything that I could--and failed, I realized somewhat glumly, somewhat resignedly, and--very, very, very slightly, somewhat--hopefully? Maybe...  maybe now is the time that I'll have to depend on someone other than myself. Even though I'll probably hate every second of it.

Part of my mind that I had forgotten about, a part that was shrouded in nothingness, whispered to me the way a sleep-talker would. "What if he doesn't come?"

"If he doesn't come, tough for me," I said decisively. "I'll just start to look for a way out again."

The blackness-shrouded part of my mind--I now realized that it was the part of my thoughts that had "remained" in Soukakusai's urn instead of escaping into the dreamscape of fog--silenced, then fell back into a stupor.

I didn't want to think too much about what my real self falling into a stupor meant.

I shook my head resolutely, but realized that I had nothing left to think about, had nothing left to do--well, other than go crazy--so I decided that something to occupy me would help. I started to get up to search around for an exit when I realized two things. One, this was a dream world, and would not relate at all to reality. If I found an exit in this world, which I highly doubted, it wouldn't be an actual way out from the urn. Two, after my initial leap to my feet, my legs had buckled, refusing to hold my weight. After a brief moment of alarm, I realized that this was only because they were probably strained from my seemingly-hours-long run; nothing serious.

Now I really had nothing to do, so all I did was stare at the hypnotic fluctuating of the fog. But when I tried to stir myself from the spell, I discovered with a cold feeling of dread that initiating thought was difficult. That surge of dread helped me, however, to regain activity in my mind and realize that letting it rest would allow it to erode away.

So... I needed something to think about....

A topic immediately presented itself gleefully, and I readily surrendered to the seductive embrace of my mind to ponder my prince.

I found myself reliving every single memory of him, including dreams. When I first stumbled into him and he caught me, causing me to flush in confusion. When he called me his girlfriend to my extreme embarrassment yet mild, hidden joy. In a dream, when we had danced the night away. When he asked me to spar with him and I told him to leave so he wouldn't see me blush--and then he told me that he just wanted to spend some time with me.... My thoughts went on and on, gradually causing a smile to dance upon my lips. How about that dream in which it was I who saved him, not the other way around, and the way his features lit up when he saw me? What about the time when I glanced him lurking, partially hidden, on the sidelines during my fight with Mikoto, anxiously watching me and doing his best to not cheer whenever I scored a hit on her? Or the way he came upon me yelling at Domon during a jog and then turning an obvious flaw into a virtue...?

...And, of course, the way his eyes shone when he saved me from drowning in the dungeon and told me that he was my prince....

I lost myself even further in happy, pleasant memories, speculations, and daydreams. After what seemed like hours, a voice started speaking to me. "Fuuko.... "

Far, far away in what seemed like another world--another dimension--something had spoken to the me that was still in Soukakusai's urn, not my mind's playground. The Me that was asleep. The Me that was actually me and not some illusion.

'Fuuko'? Soukakusai's-Urn Me echoed dumbly. Oh yeah, that was who I was.

Who's talking? My prince? Stuck-In-My-Dreams Me wondered silently. But when both of my consciousnesses heard what he was saying, they instantly answered in unison, No. But still, conversation was conversation, and the last time I had actually spoken--imaginary conversations with my prince not counting--had been what seemed like days ago with Fuujin.

"Fuukooo...," it repeated. "My cute little Fuuko... are you not well?"

With the sleep-fogged Soukakusai's-Urn Me being hardly able to think properly due to little usage (and In-Gray-Fog Me turning back to thoughts of my prince), I hardly listened. I couldn't help but notice blandly that my eyesight seemed to switch irregularly between blackness and gray fog, although I saw the gray more than the black.

"Outside... do you miss the sun? Do you want to come back...? If you want to come back... i-it's fine...." It continued on after a moment's hesitation. "I... just want you to say... that you love me... that you're in love with me...."

What was the voice saying? Stuck-In-Urn Me pondered what the voice said heavily while trying to raise itself from unawareness. Something about "coming back"...?

'Coming back'? What's that? Its meaning didn't register in both Soukakusai's-Urn Me's dazed mind and My-Prince Me's occupied mind, but I didn't quite care. Besides, whatever promised me being "coming back" was asking me to do something I probably wouldn't likely do if I were in my past condition.

...Who... is this..... This voice.... I just can't remember.... Soukakusai's-Urn Me struggled under the restraints of a heavy trance.

"It-it's alright... I love you... and you feel the same for me...! Now... say it.... Say, 'I love you'! Say, 'I swear I will love you forever'...!"

...I'm tired..., Soukakusai's-Urn Me thought while Stuck-In-A-Dreamworld Me paid absolutely no attention. It's painful... I don't care anymore... nothing matters....

I had no idea what impelled me to do what he said--especially when I knew that I couldn't possibly love him when I was clearly in love with another. But I still started saying what he wanted. "I... sw... ear... I...."

"Say it!" the voice commanded me. "Relief awaits you...! Say it!"

However, when I heard his manic cackling, Soukakusai's-Urn Me knew that I shouldn't finish whatever was escaping from my mouth. So it merely started to fall into "hibernation" mode again and allowed Illusion-World Me to daydream about my prince as I was before. My keeper didn't seem to care anyway, because his attention seemed to be suddenly taken up by something else.

As I, Dream Me, slowly fell back into my pleasant thoughts, movement ahead of me in the silvered mist captured my attention.

"Who...?" I managed to get out.

I watched the mist-wreathed form before me kneel in front of my numb, sitting body with a swirl of his flowing gray clothing. A sweet, loving smile that made my insides flutter graced his lips, and he said gently, "I have come to rescue you. I am your prince."

My prince...?! Although I had been musing over his arrival for a while, I never pictured it actually happening. The part of my mind stuck in the swirling mists exulted, while the small portion in Soukakusai's Urn thought, That... before this... there was something like that....

No good..., it mourned. I can't remember....

He stretched a hand to stop in front of my face; it trembled terribly, then quickly stopped. There was a brief pause. "Sorry about this, Fuuko-san." A sweet, apologetic, yet slightly sad smile hovered upon his face.

For what? I couldn't help but wonder. For coming so late? You're forgiven for that.

Then he reached out his hand and caressed my face with a feather-light pressure. Or was it heavier? It didn't matter; I felt an electric jolt between his hand and my skin.

That jolt instantly melded my consciousnesses into one again, to be enveloped in the silver fog. I was no longer in Soukakusai's urn, but in bliss....

I could suddenly feel, hear, and smell again. The nip of the air in the dream world, my chilled arms, the lingering warmth of his hand on my cheek. The smell of my sweat and perfumed hair, my prince's comforting scent. The sound of my shallow breathing, the thudding of blood rushing through my head, the whispering of his clothing as he shifted positions.

I felt like crying out and exulting. Overwhelmed with a desire to reach out and tightly embrace this man in front of me and drop a grateful kiss on his lips, I tried to move forward. Of course, my body betrayed me, and held me paralyzed. All of this was quickly forgotten, however, when I observed with alarm the way his face writhed into a worried, extremely sorry expression. It was practically crying out, "I'm sorry for what I'm going to do next!"

I wanted to respond, "It doesn't matter, you're saving me, you're here with me, and you're my prince," but my throat was now frozen as well. I tried forcing it out of its unresponsiveness, and momentarily took my eyes off of the man in front of me. And just as suddenly as I had fallen into this misty world, my whole mind was being ushered out of it back into the blackness by several lightning fast thoughts.

My breasts my breasts my breasts B87 It sure has been dark lately 86 Oh yeah, did I wear a bra today? Who's there? H Right hand Soukakusai pervert pervert PERVERT--

The moment my right fist lashed out at Soukakusai accompanied by a shout of, "What the hell you freaking bastard! You're a dead man, asshole!", I found myself back in the nothingness of his cursed pot--except for two big differences. One--Soukakusai, the one who had prompted that violent response in the first place, wasn't there. Two--

"Raiha-kun?"

My prince is here, by my side.

As my mind quickly went over what must have happened, I realized with a flutter of my heart that my prince, beyond all chance, had actually managed to come save me. Granted, he didn't come on a valiant steed, and because he was in this "tower" along with me he hadn't defeated the "evil sorcerer." His "sword of goodness" was an ordinary--if extraordinarily well-made--katana which looked worse-for-wear because of constant use. He hadn't waltzed up to me or swept me up in his arms--in fact, he was now lying curled up into a protective ball with a tiny trickle of blood oozing from a cut made by my fists. Not to mention, the way he had brought me out of my "sleep" was so... so unorthodox!

Well, I mused silently, What did I expect him to do? Kiss me? The mere thought of that sent a shiver of something most definitely not negative down my spine and a flush to my face. Confusion warred inside me, and it was liberally mixed with...? What was that emotion?

The man who brought had me so much unrest yet so much delight spoke up, an intrusion that I welcomed gladly. "I'm already dead," he stated simply.

My only response was to assure him that I wouldn't kill him since he wasn't the perverted stalker, and begin to tell him how I managed to get myself trapped inside this stupid pot.

When I completed my recital, his expression turned contemplative. "I see...," he murmured in a way that was warm instead of chilling like Soukakusai's voice. "So that's how you ended up in here."

Our banter continued on, and I soon found myself telling him what I had done once I was inside the over-grown soup pot. Then I remembered--the Fuujin was in hibernation, and was nothing but an accessory. It no longer was the powerful weapon it once was. I told him as much, and inside I threatened to fall into depression.

But he plucked me from the verge of that deadly pit as easily as he had made himself my prince. And as he gently encouraged me and caused my spirits to soar, I made a revelation that shocked me.

To him, I am his princess. And to me, he isn't just the nice guy that pops up where I am. But he isn't just a friend. He is--oh, I admit it!--he is my prince.

"...or do I sound like I'm lecturing?" he concluded self-consciously, interrupting my thoughts for the second time, to my relief.

A giddiness caused by his words and my elation and embarrassment at the discovery took hold of me. "Nope! Thanks!" I could see by the way he perked up as well that it was infectious. Overjoyed, I shouted out a nonchalant "Let's start the search!" and surged forward with renewed enthusiasm to find a way to free ourselves from this black trap. And as I ran ahead, my thoughts wandered even more.

When did that happen? Definitely not when we first met.... I was about to frown in concentration when my light mood steered me away from it. Oh, does it matter? The only thing that does is... now. That he's my prince!  I would have cradled that thought close to my heart, but I suddenly felt something else that caused an amendment to be made to my previous realization.

He is my prince, and....

I slowed to a stop, partly to allow that pleasant realization to tingle up and down my body, and partly to allow him to catch up with me so we could walk beside one another and take comfort in that simple closeness.

...And he always will be my prince....

End.

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So, how did you like it? Good? Bad? It was my first fan-fiction... and hopefully won't be my last. This couple doesn't get enough stories written about them, so I hope I can help remedy that situation somewhat. grins So, you know the drill, hit the button and type up a review, please!