Disclaimer: Mikagami doesn't want me because
I am not rich enough!! Waaaaaaa!! So now that you know I don't own nothing, get
off my case! Thanks! ^_^
Important Notes:
- I didn't read the manga, but since the anime didn't say anything about
Fuuko's father, I am going to assume that she has one [heck, everyone has one!]
and something happens to him here…doesn't it always?
- I know there's a 4 year age gap between Kaoru and Ganko, but to make my
writing easier, I've decided to age Ganko, yeah. ^_^
- Ages of characters in Prologue
Fuuko/Recca/Yanagi/Domon – 18 yrs
Tokiya – 19 yrs
Kaoru – 15 yrs
Ganko – 13 yrs
For Satsumi: for all
the laughter and tears we share, for all the encouragement and comfort.
Until The Last Moment
written by: da*mouse
Prologue: Goodbye
It was like any other day, to her. It was supposed to be an ordinary day.
But she came home to a silent house, without her okaa-san's usual cheery greeting, and she then knew that something was wrong. She found her okaa-san in her parents' bedroom, clutching a piece of paper, tears falling down her cheeks.
Her okaa-san rose when she saw her, and embraced her, still crying silently.
"…your otou-san…"
That was all her okaa-san could manage, but she immediately knew.
Her otou-san…was dead.
"They didn't know how…"
He died in a car crash, in Yokohama. No explanations, no witnesses. His body was found in his car, mangled and almost beyond recognition. He had collided with a truck, they said. But the truck was empty, no signs of any driver, passengers, or even anyone at all.
As if it was a ghost truck. A ghost truck that targeted her otou-san…
Then everything hit her at once.
Her otou-san was gone. Gone forever. She didn't even see him for the last time, and she would never see his face again, see his smile, hear his voice, or have him ruffle her hair, and playfully asking her to be more feminine, or she'd be his "burden" for the rest of his life.
She would never feel the fatherly love, and fatherly presence, again.
Never again.
The grief was overpowering, overwhelming. She let her okaa-san hug her, and she comforted her okaa-san while she cried, but she herself could find no space for tears.
She was too devastated… to even want to cry.
-
"I can't stay here anymore… please try to understand…?"
"Where do we go?"
"I need to get away from here. I've arranged for us to go to New York. Where we can perhaps make a fresh start, and forget everything that ever happened here…"
Get away? Forget?
How could she ever forget? She knew that she could run to the other ends of the earth, and she would never, ever forget.
Until the end of her life, until the last moment, it would haunt her…forever.
-
She wanted to see him, because he was the only one who would understand.
For that moment, she needed him.
Snow was falling all around them, snowflakes clinging to their hair, their clothes. The park was covered with a sheet of icy whiteness. Everything was so still, so peaceful.
Except for her, where emotions churned, and where her heart bled. Her eyes were dry. She gave everything to will herself not to cry. Not to shed a single tear.
At least, not here.
She had cried, since then, once. Just once. And that was all.
He stood behind her, his hands in his pockets, his face impassive.
He didn't speak, he waited for her to.
"I never got to say goodbye. I never told him that I love him."
He was silent for a moment. Then…"He knows you do."
"Does he really?" Her voice was flat. "I never really understood you, how you felt…"
"…now I do…"
He didn't know what to say, so he chose not to say anything. He just sat down beside her, and listened.
She drew in a deep breath, clenched her fists, and look down at her hands. Her slim shoulders trembled just a little, but he noticed. Without a word, he put his arm around her shoulders, and pulled her against him, his hand running through her hair, his touch strangely comforting.
She choked back a sob, unwilling to cry.
"It's okay." Only two words, but she knew exactly what he meant. She couldn't hold it back anymore, the floodgates opened, and in his arms, clutching the lapels of his jacket, her tears spilled.
And she cried, her devastated sobs escaping her, and he continued to hold her, calming her silently.
-
"I'm leaving tomorrow."
Silence.
"When are you coming back?"
"I don't know. Maybe…not ever."
"Why?"
"I don't want to remember."
I will never forget, but I don't want to remember…
Quiet acceptance of her words.
Then she spoke again. "You don't have to come to the airport."
"Why?"
"I don't want to say goodbye to you there."
She raised her eyes to his.
"Let's just say goodbye…now."
-
'Calling passengers on the flight JH 345 to New York, please proceed to Gate
12 for immediate boarding. Thank you.'
Kirisawa Fuuko heaved a huge backpack onto her slim shoulders and stood up. "I guess this is it, guys."
The Hokage team members, minus Mikagami Tokiya, stood silently before her, none of them saying anything, except for Ishijima Domon, who was crying huge tears. Hanabishi Recca ran a hand through his spiky dark hair, managing a grin.
"You'll come back?"
Fuuko was silent for a moment. Then she shrugged. "I don't know. I have to stay as long as I am needed. Okaa-san needs me…" Her voice dropped an octave. "…more than ever, now that otou-san is… gone…" Her voice trailed off, and she clenched her fists, unwilling to spill the tears in her eyes.
Sakoshita Yanagi stepped forward. "Fuuko-san, we…"
Fuuko forced herself to swallow the tears, and looking up, she pasted a bright and false smile on her face. "I'm all right."
Out of the Hokage team, only Recca knew that she was not all right. He could read the pain in his childhood friend's eyes, the anguish of losing her father. He knew that she was hurting, he knew that she was lost. He knew that the strong façade she was putting on, was just that.
A façade, nothing more.
Stepping forward, he hugged her comfortingly, tightly. "Take care, Fuuko."
She returned his embrace gratefully. "Thank you, Recca." She whispered.
'Calling passengers on the flight JH 345 to New York, please proceed to Gate 12 for immediate boarding. Thank you.'
"I really have to go." Fuuko turned, and held out her hand to Ganko. "Let's go, Ganko."
The thirteen year-old blonde girl hooked her arm with Fuuko's. Ever since staying with Fuuko after the end of the tournament, the two had grown closer than ever, and Ganko saw Fuuko as her surrogate mother, and Fuuko, saw her as the little sister she never had. When the news came from Yokohama, it was Ganko who held Fuuko as she finally broke down and cried, days after days of being strong for her Okaa-san, and it was Ganko who made up her mind to follow Fuuko to New York.
Fuuko turned to her teammates one last time. Yanagi rushed forward, and hugged her, a slight sob escaping her throat. Domon, of course, didn't hesitate to give Fuuko a bear hug, and for the first time, she wasn't complaining.
She ruffled Kaoru's hair. "Be good, now." Kaoru squirmed away from her touch. "Awww, Fuuko-neechan…I'm fifteen now, of course I'm good!"
"Where's Mikagami?" Domon asked suddenly. "Doesn't he want to say goodbye?"
"Yeah, where is he?" Recca looked around, the fact that Mikagami wasn't at the airport dawning upon him.
Fuuko was quiet.
He won't come.
You asked him not to. Her inner voice reminded her.
She forced a careless shrug. "I can't wait for him. I have to board." Turning to her dearest friend in the Hokage team, she gave Recca another hug. "Bye, Recca."
"You come back, ok? You've yet to beat me in a fight." Recca reminded her.
Fuuko laughed, the first genuine laughter in many, many days. "I'll remember that."
'Last call for passengers on the flight JH 345 to New York, please proceed to Gate 12 for immediate boarding. Thank you.'
Fuuko and Ganko walked towards the departure gates. She turned, and scanned the airport briefly.
He's not here. He won't be here.
"Fuuko-neechan?" Ganko noticed her hesitation. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, I…"
A tall figure suddenly obscured her view, and she found herself looking into a pair of icy blue eyes.
Mi-chan…
"What are you doing…" Her sentence was cut off as he suddenly pulled her to him, holding her against him, hugging her tightly.
She didn't resist his embrace, her own arms going around his back, and she rested her head on his shoulder.
This may be the last time…
'Last call for passengers on the flight JH 345 to New York, please proceed to Gate 12 for immediate boarding. Thank you.'
"I have to go." She whispered, her voice muffled against him.
He loosened his hold on her, and she stepped back. She forced a grin on her face. "Thanks for coming here and seeing me off."
Serious eyes regarded her.
"Bye…"
Still, he didn't say anything. Biting her lip, Fuuko picked up her backpack, and turned away, when he grabbed her hand.
"You have to come back."
She saw an unreadable expression in Mikagami Tokiya's eyes…was it a pleading expression? Or had she misinterpreted…?
You have to come back…
"…I'll try…"
"Fuuko-neechan!"
She pulled her hand away, but he only held it tighter, refusing to release her. Her eyes met his again, willing him to understand.
Reluctantly, he let go.
And she walked away, through the departure gates, into the departure hall.
And he stood still, watching her, and only when he couldn't see her anymore, he left.
-
Two men stood in a dark warehouse, one smoking. "Everything went according to the plan?"
"Yes. He's out of the way." The other man confirmed.
"Good." He crushed his cigarette, and pulled out a gun, pointing it at his companion, whose eyes widened with sudden horror.
"And so are you."
-To be continued-
*
da*mouse ®
7th September 2003
12.58 a.m.
Uhhh…hmmm…I myself am not quite sure what to make of this. Well…after getting so many nice reviews for Farewell, New Beginning, I thought I'd try writing a chaptered fic and see where it takes me. Hopefully somewhere good?
Urmm, apologies if Fuuko seemed OOC here, but since her dad just died, I couldn't have her jumping around in the classical Fuuko way. Grief does change someone, although if you guys it changed her too much, my apologies. As well as Tokiya…okay, so ordinarily he wouldn't be this nice, but give Fuuko-chan a break! ^_^ If you guys didn't manage to interpret it, here's the scoop: Fuuko and Tokiya are not together, but yeah, there's something there. See where it goes…later.
Kaoru and Ganko is the side pairing for this fic; sorry there's no focus on them in the prologue. Will be mentioning some progress in Chapter 1. Hope you guys will hang long enough to read it! ^_^
Please review/flame/comment/whatever – I live on reviews…hehehe…
Once again, this goes out to Satsumi: Thanks for everything.