A Love That Surpasses Time
Before I start, I must say a few words. This story is actually a very abstract idea that I had a few days ago. To confess, I have no idea if this story is going to work, but I'm going to try. And well, here goes the one shot. If you still don't understand the story, the explanation is going to be at the bottom of the story. But (try to) enjoy this okay?
P.S: Remember to take note of the Year.
Year 1617:
"Yuya-san, don't give up!" Kyoshiro shouted at the 29 year old blonde, who was in her bed, hardly breathing properly. "Sakuya, go get more hot water!"
The pretty dark-haired woman nodded as she ran to the kitchen to fetch more hot water. The tub of water was heavy and hard to carry. Sakuya almost tripped when a pair of strong arms lightened her load by carrying the tub of water for her.
"Thank you, Shinrei-kun." She smiled. Shinrei shook his head, implying that at this urgent point of time there is no need for formalities.
Shinrei is not the only one who is in the small house where Yuya and Kyo lived. Hotaru, Benitora, Mahiro, Yukimura, Bontenmaru, Akari and Akira are there too. There were too many hands to do nothing. And there was nothing they could do to relieve Yuya of her pain. They felt helpless.
Shinrei carried the tub of water back and Sakuya replaced the towel on Yuya's forehead.
"When will Kyo ever come back?" Hotaru looked at the sky, as if able to tell the time of the day from there.
"I've already sent Sasuke and the Jyuyushi to find him throughout Kyoto." Yukimura said softly. "I trust their efficiency to find Kyo back to Yuya."
If the others could find their voice to speak, they would.
"Kyoshiro."
"Yes? Yuya-san?" He took her hand and held it. How strange. Her hand is unusually small. He thought. Yet this small hand played a significant part in saving the world from the sendai Aka no Ou's power.
He had never held her hand from the day he met her. He remembered hugging her once while she was held captive in the Red Tower. But that's about that. He wondered how such a small figure of a person is able to brave so many troubles before peace was restored.
"Kyoshiro… Is Kyo home yet?"
He shook his head. "But Yukimura already sent the Jyuyushi to fetch him back. Hang in there, you'll see him soon."
"I hope so too, I miss him so much."
Everyone in the room could hear what they are saying actually.
Akari ran out of the room, crying. Bontenmaru ran after her to check on her. "What's wrong, Akari?"
"That stupid Kyo!" She (who successfully had her operation at last) wept. "Why must he ALWAYS leave Yuya alone for such long periods of time? This time he left her for almost half a year! And look what happened to Yuya-san!"
Bontenmaru shook his head. "He didn't expect Yuya to be in danger, and in fact, neither did anyone of us. He trusted her, and she in him."
The pink-haired woman sniffed, and cried in the big man's shoulder.
"But she's only 29, only 13 years after peace resumed. She's too young to die!"
If Bontenmaru was taken aback by his comrade's (and previously a male too) action, he didn't show it. "Kyo will be back, I know it."
Yuya, who is now too weak to wonder what Bontenmaru and Akari are doing, whispered. "Kyoshiro, when… Kyo is back tell me okay? I want to pass to him this letter. But in case I don't make it before…"
"No Yuya-san! You won't die so easily!" Mahiro interrupted. How can she? She looked away, staring at the clouds. She survived when I used her to attack Kyo, she survived when Shinrei planted waterwyrms into her, she survived when the most feared man in the world, the sendai Aka no Ou, abducted her to be his miko. She survived the three years waiting for Kyo to come back. How can such a small thing like a virus possibly kill her like that?
Benitora seemed to have read his wife's mind. "You're right, Yuya-han is a strong woman. Even Kyoshiro, who is a red-cross knight, fears her!"
"HEY!" Kyoshiro threw his indoor slipper at the general of the town. "Dare say that again??"
Yuya smiled weakly, though her eyes were shining. If she was a lot stronger she'll probably laugh along with all of them. But now she's too weak, too tired…
"I'm fatigued, I shall… sleep for a while. If Kyo is back, please wake me up… no matter what!" Kyoshiro nodded. Yuya looked at everyone in her room, in the order of when she met them. Yes, she remembers every single encounter. Every one of their faces, she want to remember them before she sleeps. She fears that if she sleeps she may never wake up. Goodnight everyone, I really am very blessed to be one of your comrades… Sakuya, Akari, Hotaru, Shinrei, Bontenmaru, Akira, Sasuke, Yukimura, Okuni, Mahiro, Benitora, Kyoshiro and…
Kyo.
While Yuya was sleeping, Kyoshiro got up from his seat and paced the room to stretch his legs.
"Sakuya," Hotaru asked Kyoshiro's wife. "Aren't you a miko? Can you predict whether Yuya will live?" Sakuya shook her pretty head and lied that the stars haven't told her anything. But actually they did. And for the first time she refuse to believe what they are telling her.
Shinrei ran to him. "Kyoshiro, I think her breathing is getting back to normal."
Kyoshiro stared at him. "Are you sure?" He ran back to where the blonde was laid sleeping, he checked her pulse. It was getting steadier… and slower.
"QUICK! GET KYO TO FLY IF HE HAD TO!" He hollered to whoever around.
"Ah! I see Kyo!" Akira, who had been sitting by the door to look out for signs of Kyo, exclaimed as he ran back into the room. But he didn't have to see to understand. The silence that room contained told him everything.
Almost immediately the familiar face of Kyo emerged at the door. "Where's Yuya?"
"Hey Kyo, you still owe me a figh-" Hotaru started, but had his ribs nudged by his half-brother Shinrei.
The tall redhead strode across the room, barely acknowledging anybody. He touched the woman's face, and couldn't feel any more heat in her face.
Kyoshiro, who was standing at the side, almost choked as he said, "Tuberculosis. I'm sorry, Kyo." Kyo didn't reply him. He doesn't doubt his friend's medical skill at all. When someone has to go, he has to go. He learnt that when Muramasa died.
"Yuya-san…" Akari broke down and wept again. As if it was contagious, everyone in the room fought back the tears that formed. Even Hotaru, who had the least emotional attachment with Yuya, looked away, trying to reminiscence the minimal times they interacted. Kyo was still silent, he fingered Yuya's lips gently.
"Woman, you promised to be my servant forever…" The well-known Demon Eyes Kyo's voice was tremulous as he picked up the woman he loved. "You went against your word… How should I go on with life now?"
For the first time, the thousand-man slayer shed tears in front of people.
And it rained.
"Kyo, Yuya wants me to pass this to you." Kyoshiro said quietly, passing him the letter. "I think we should leave you alone for awhile. If you want you can drop by our house later for dinner or something." Kyoshiro beckoned everyone to leave the house, enveloping Kyo with silence.
"Yuya… is this how lonely you've been?" Kyo spoke softly as silence pressed on him.
He held her in his arms for hours. The rain served no source of comfort. Finally, his hands still trembling, he unfolded the letter.
July 1617
Dear Kyo,
If I'm still alive, please hug me one more time. But if you are continuing this letter I suppose I'm dead already. (Here Yuya drew a smiley face)
Don't blame yourself for not coming home so often. I know you are never a homey man and you can't possibly stay in the house for so long. I always trust you that you're safe and that you'll always come back to me, no matter how long you take.
Kyo, I never said this but I am proud to have been a comrade of everyone's. And if the gods ever allow, in my next life, I want to be living with all of you again. But are there ever such things called gods? Maybe I'll go there first and find out first.
Look how far we've gone through! I never regret nor forget any single moment.
If it be your wish, I would like to be buried behind our house, at least I get to be as close as I can to you. And if it be the gods will, I'll appear in your next life and we can be together again! Just remember me when that ever happens.
One last thing, I still do, and always will love you.
Yuya.
Kyo threw the letter aside and held his lifeless wife tighter. "I won't ever forget you."
Year 1659:
"Yuya-san!" Antera laughed as she chased after a 7 year old girl with blonde hair. "No fair! Just because you're 1 year younger than me doesn't give you the chance to have a head start in the race!"
Shiina Yuya turned around to stick her tongue out at her childhood playmate. "You cannot catch me!" She grinned.
It was until they reached the outskirts of the village that Antera caught her. "Got cha!" She cried in victory, but Yuya was staring ahead in front of her.
"What is that, Antera-san?" she pointed at a dilapidated house.
"That house in that clearing?" Antera peeked at the thatched roof. "Don't go there ok? I heard that a very grumpy man stays in that hut. It's been decades since people saw his face."
Yuya cringed. He didn't sound like a friendly man to her. "But why is he grumpy now? Did someone make him sad?" She asked innocently.
Antera laughed. "I guess you can say so. Mama said that the old man's wife died while she was very young. I think he was 'devastited'."
The younger of the two stared at Antera. "What's 'devastited'?"
Antera flushed. "It means that he was very very very sad."
Yuya nodded in understanding. "You are very very clever Antera-san!" She glanced at the house. There was something oddly familiar about the house. Maybe I dreamt of it before. She wondered. But she was tempted to go into the house and visit this 'grumpy old man'. She decided to visit this mysterious house later on at night.
Of course she was scared. What if this old man is a big bad wolf that'll eat her up? But little Yuya mustered her courage, and at 5 P.M she approached the house cautiously. Knock knock, the door sounded. There was no answer, so Yuya pushed open the door.
It was dark inside, but a candle in a room straight ahead told her that someone is in the house. The girl tip-toed, but upon reaching the door she called, "Hello? Is anyone there?"
"… Who are you?"
Yuya didn't dare reply. She opened the door, and found a weak old man lying on the tatami mattress. He opened his wrinkled eye and looked at the girl. Yuya stiffened, wondering if she should've come here.
"Who are you?" He demanded again.
"I'm… Yuki!" she fibbed. "I came by here because I heard that there's an old man who is sick, and I came to see if you're okay."
The old man hoisted himself up. "What is that supposed to mean? I may be 80 years old, but I'm still the well known samurai around here! In those days… how people fear my name." He gazed into blank space, perhaps thinking of his wife, or his battle mates. "And now what am I? Some old geezer that needs people's sympathy?"
"I-"
"Get out."
"But-"
"Didn't you hear me?" the old man roared as he got off his mattress and hobbled towards her. "I said get ou-" The old man was unable to finish his sentence before he fell into a coughing fit.
"Mister samurai, are you okay?" Yuya cried as she ran forward to hold the old man.
That's when everything hit her. The memories of her previous life as Shiina Yuya. She met Kyoshiro, who had Kyo's soul in himself. Then all her friends, Benitora, Mahiro, Yukimura… Then she recalled the Shiseiten and how they had battled with their leader. She remembered how she declared to everyone in front of Kyo that she likes him. She saw the Sendai Aka no Ou reaching out to her to grab her. Her kiss to the demonized form of her lover. Her last breath as tuberculosis overcame her. Everything returned to her memory.
The young girl cried, knowing finally that the old man in her arms is her beloved Demon Eyes Kyo.
"Kyo!" She sobbed.
The old man looked at her, confirming to her his identity – No one else for the rest of human mankind history will have such intense red eyes as the thousand man slayer. "… Who are you?" He begged, his voice giving in to desperation to know who this little girl is. "How… did you know my name?"
"Kyo! I'm Yuya! Shiina Yuya!" She sobbed, her small frame trying to embrace the old body with her might. "Your wife who died 42 years ago! There is such a thing as reincarnation! I remember everything now!" She cupped his face with her miniature hands. "Can you recognize me?"
Kyo stared at the girl, hardly believing what he is hearing. "Yuya, is that really you?"
"Never been more real to you than now."
"After 42 years… I thought I lost you forever…"
They talked, with Yuya finding out that Kyoshiro and Sakuya had moved out from Kyoto to a more quiet town, Benitora is no longer alive, but his grandson has taken over the leadership, and is doing well. Everyone is still somewhere, just no longer in contact as life continued.
Both old man and girl spent hours talking, but it felt like mere minutes when Yuya had to go home.
"Will you be back?" Kyo asked feebly.
"I will." Said Yuya, and she did something she'd been longing to do since the last time she saw him (which was in her previous life). She kissed him. Now it would've been really weird to see a young girl kissing an old man. But in their hearts they weren't separated by generation, they had always been man and wife.
That night, Yuya walked back to the village, reminiscing the sweet memories of her previous life. Her life will never be the same again.
Shiina Yuya never saw Demon Eyes Kyo anymore. The next day the old man passed away, with a note saying he met his wife again, in a form of a human. That was all he ever needed.
Year 1714:
62 year old Shiina Yuya lay lifeless in her coffin. She died with many friends and relatives by her side, but she never settled down to start her own family.
Antera stood at the side, grieving. "Yuya-san, if only you ever experienced the wonderful feeling of love. Why, you were never married, I doubt you even kissed anybody! You kept yourself pure for so long, yet I never knew why, and I never will." She choked the words out as she laid a lily in the coffin. "Rest in peace, my friend."
Antera was wrong. Shiina Yuya did experience love. She did kiss someone. But Antera was right in saying Yuya kept herself pure. It seemed that Shiina Yuya was always waiting for someone to come…
Ok! That's the end, so let me explain this weird idea. In year 1617, 13 years after the fall of the Sendai Aka no Ou, and peace resumed the land, Yuya died of tuberculosis. Kyo wasn't with her when she died, he was always roaming around the land. So Kyo wasn't able to get back in time to see his wife before she died.
So after her death Kyo tried to live a life, but he pretty much shut himself from the world, and this continued till he was 80 years old. Kyo, old and dying, laid on his bed wondering when will his time come when in comes little Yuya! She is the reincarnate form of the previous Yuya, and it just happened for some reason that she could recall all her memories in her previous life. So they were happily reunited. And then Kyo finally died :P and Yuya, being 'devastited' (it's devastated!), never really wanted to fall in love again.
Personally I don't believe in reincarnation. I believe in eternal life with my Father. But I thought that the concept is actually profound, if one can even understand in the first place. Yeah, it's a very abstract story, but I'm rather proud of it.
Please review! I hope the story was kinda sad and angsty to you. And PLEASE PLEASE feedback if the story is understandable. (without the write up) It is of utmost importance that my stories are easy to comprehend, your interests place first priority. And because there won't be a follow up, I'll thank all readers and reviewers in advance. May your love for people surpass all things, including Death.