..:Forever:..
an Alternate Universe tale starring Himeka and Kazune from Kamichama Karin

written by moonmagicks

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Disclaimer: Kamichama Karin belongs to respective owners (Koge-Donbo, Kondancha, Tokyo-Pop, etc.) and Artemis is not making any materialistic profit off of writing this one-shot

o X o x o X o

Let's go!" he called out to her. A small boy no older than five held his hand out. It was seized by another, even tinier hand.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"It's a surprise!" he said happily, dragging her off in the direction of the forest. She smiled, looking at him with eyes filled with trust. It didn't matter if the surprise wasn't the prettiest thing in the world, all that mattered was that she was with him.

"Look!" he shouted, pointing to a meadow. Flowers of every hue waved in the breeze. It looked as if they were dancing to some sort of unheard melody. She gasped; before she had not cared whether or not the surprise looked good, but that didn't matter anymore; this was the prettiest thing in the world!

"They're so beautiful!" she exclaimed, her face lighting up at the sight of the countless blossoms.

"Aren't they?" the boy asked proudly, "I found them when I was chasing some birds!" he ran into the field of flowers, covering himself in their soft petals. The girl followed soon after. They laughed and played together like this for what seemed like an eternity.

"Are we going to be like this forever?" the girl asked between giggles.

"Eien ni (Forever and ever)!" he replied with a beaming smile.

"Promise?"

"Promise! Lookie, see, here's a bracelet for you! I made it!" the boy handed her a small bracelet, crafted with stones.

The girl gasped in delight; they were exactly the colour of her eyes!

"See? As long as you have it, we'll be together!"

"Okay!"

o X o x o X o

"Hurry up! It's our first day of school!" he called as they ran not to be late.

"Sorry! I'm...so...WAH!" she screamed as she tripped, and landed directly in a puddle.

Instead of him running off as she thought he would, when she opened her eyes, she saw a hand.

"C'mon! You're all wet!" he said as she gingerly took his hand. He easily pulled her off the ground and they walked hurridly to get a change of clothes.

"B-But...! What about school?" she asked as she was dragged along.

"You're going to catch ammonia like that!" he said as he continued pulling her. She giggled. "What? What's so funny?" he demanded.

"It's pneumonia! Not ammonia!" she said in between chuckles.

"So what? They sound almost the same!" he grumbled, turning his face as he continued to walk, quickening his pace.

She gently squeezed his hand.

"What?"

"Arigatou," she said softly.

"Hey! This is what friends are for, right?" he asked, stopping as they reached their destination.

"Friends..." she whispered as she followed him, a new word to her.

o X o x o X o

"Ugh!" he groaned as he ran to shelter. She was waiting, a towel at hand.

"Here. It's really not good to play in the rain..." she said softly.

"It's very fun, though!" he insisted, as he dried his hair. "Ah--CHOO!" he sneezed as she giggled, handing him a hankerchief. He noticed that the hand she used to give him the hankerchief wore the bracelet he gave her all those years before.

"You still have that?" he asked; pointing to the bracelet. She smiled warmly at him.

"I won't lose it, I promise!" she replied. He could not help himself; he had to grin back.

"Seriously, it's just a couple pieces of rock..." he said nochalantly.

"But it means a lot to me!" she said, giving the bracelet a soft squeeze. He turned to look at whatever was so interesting the other way; anything else but her.

o X o x o X o

It was a beautifully sunny day, the wind ruffling through her hair. She loved going on cruises like this. The sun shining on her, the waves singing a song beneath, seagulls swooping in: this was where she belonged.

"How do you enjoy yourself like that?" he asked, approaching up on the deck. She noticed his face was slightly green, remembering that not all of them could be ship-people. "Ugh...the stupid current's killing me..." he leaned over the ship to calm his swirling head down. Gentle hands massaged his back.

"Does that make it better?" she asked. He nodded, the feeling was...soothing, to say the least.

Time itself seemed to stop as they simply stood there, barely moving, each having completely forgotten how to breathe, even. Simply enjoying each other's prescence.

It was she who finally broke eternity.

"Do you feel better?" she asked worridly.

"Yeah, a lot better! Thanks," he rolled his shoulders and gave a sigh of relief.

Neither seemed to have noticed the fact that the wind had picked up speed. Or the fact that the waves were crashing louder. Suddenly, a stronger wind blew both of them overboard.

"AHHHHH!" she screamed, clinging onto him for survival, as they both plunged into the icy waves.

Darkness devoured her vision as she realized unconsciousness was slowly seeping to her.

When she opened her eyes again, worried old ones met hers.

"He's been watching you day and night, we all thought you were a goner!" the old fellow pointed to him, he was wrapped up in a jacket two sizes too large, seemingly exhausted. "He's been sleeping for only a couple minutes, gosh, how did you two yun' uns get in the waves in the first place?"

"I...I don't know..." she responded, still staring at him. This was all her fault. She averted her vision to the ground, where she noticed it.

"Ah...!" she softly said, as if struck by an arrow. In truth, the pain she felt was tenfold that.

"What missy? Do you hurt?" the old man said worridly, kneeling over her.

"L-Lost..." was all that could be heard from her pale lips.

"Lost? Did you lose something Missy? Well then, I'm sorry to say but chances o' you finding it in this sea are nothing..."

"I-It's gone..." she breathed out as a sigh, staring at where the bracelet used to be.

She fainted from the shock.

o X o x o X o

They were different now. And she knew it. He knew it. Things could never be the same as they were last year.

Instead of walking together like they had done all those years before, now he left a good half-hour earlier than her. She knew it was purely to ignore her.

They rarely even bothered talking. And when she worked up the courage to utter a word, the response was emotionless. It was purely to get away from her as soon as possible.

Nowadays, instead of them sitting together and doing everything together, he always did it with one of his friends...or worse; a girlfriend. He never kept one for more than a week, she knew, but all the same, it hurt. It hurt knowing that she, someone he had known almost all his life, could be so easily replaced by someone met just a week ago. It hurt badly.

She tried to adjust to these new conditions, and even though her body and mind could go with a new group, everytime she saw him walk by, or heard him talking, or was even vaguely reminded of him, her heart nearly collapsed with grief from what used to be.

What made it even worse was that she believed he knew she was in pain.

Words couldn't describe it.

o X o x o X o

She simply couldn't stay here anymore. Not with him...ignoring her existence.

Today was the day. She had been planning this over a month. Today she would be switching schools, houses, lives. She didn't bother telling him. She knew he wouldn't care. Why waste his time?

Closing the final luggage bag, she could not help but glance at her photo album. Old pictures. Poor quality, some were even colourless, but they meant the world and more to her. Those pieces of paper were all she had to remind herself of times that could never be again. She carefully slid the album into the side pocket, straightened her outfit, and opened the front door. The ship was waiting for her.

"Number 2-2-6-7!" the captain called. She glanced back at the town; where bittersweet memories surged back to her.

Him giving her the bracelet. Them making a promise. Their first day of school. Him helping her home from the mud. Them laughing from joking around. The cruise ship they sailed on. The day she lost the bracelet, breaking their promise. This was all her fault. She should have never spaced out like that. She recalled the old man's words: "Lost? Did you lose something Missy? Well then, I'm sorry to say but chances o' you finding it in this sea are nothing..."

A seagull swooped dreadfully low, she could feel the wind rushing by her face. Not that she cared. Th common seabird did an amazing spectacle of cartwheels and dives in the air, squawking loudly and repeatedly to get her attention. She turned to look up at the sun, exactly where it was on the day of the cruise ship.

She gasped.

In the seagull's mouth, it was holding something. Could it be? Her heart beat skyrocketed.

Once again, the bird swooped low to the ground, this time, the girl clasped her hands in front of her, as if waiting for something to drop into her palms. Swift as the wind, the bird soared into the skies once more, beyond the water's edge.

"Arigatou, Tori-chan..." she whispered as she clasped the bracelet. The item that had been lost-supposedly never to be seen again-for over two years.

She put it on, shocked that it still fit her wrist so perfectly. She turned around, facing her home once more.

This was...good-bye, was it not?

She sighed; at least she had fulfilled her promise.

"What are you doing?"

The voice pierced everything. The voice she had been waiting two years for. The emotion it held once more when talking to her. This time, it sounded of all the emotions she had felt for what seemed forever. Anger, pain...worry.

He ran to her, panting as her eyes widened; he must have been a good deal away to be huffing and puffing.

"A-Are you alright?" her voice faltered; two years, two years since they had been like this.

"Duh!" he replied, his face the image of fury, "What are you doing? Boarding a ship!"

"S-Sorry..." she replied, eyes welling up with tears that had never fallen.

"Seriously, you are one worry-magnet!" he grumbled, grabbing her wrist. "What...? How did you get that back?" he asked, pointing to her bracelet.

"Magick!" she replied with a smile as he shook his head; she was impossible. She smiled; forgiving him for all that had happened instantly. All that mattered was that it was them once more. Together.

"C'mon, are you coming along or what?"

"Forever...right?" she breathed out.

"Yes, yes: eien ni. Forever!" he replied with a smile.

Behind them, the captain's hoarse voice called out "Number 2-2-6-7" repeatedly, but the two of them couldn't care less.

After all, they were in eternity.

Forever.

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