Delphinium – Noun. A stately elegant, perennial that is a standard in Engligh cottage gardens that has a symbolism of infinite possibility or thinking that anything is possible
The fake dawn was being broken by the red-orange rays of the egg-like star in the sky, indicating that another day is being painted by the divine. Two beings watched the beautiful scenery as it crept to the horizon. As a new chapter had begun, their own stories are drawing to a close. Both were only waiting for the other to die.
The fifteen year old Yato coughed up blood, moving her head so that she would not choke on her own liquid. Her companion, a sandy-haired sadist, was made a temporary pillow. Kagura was resting her bloody and beat up head on his lap while the other was leaning on a destroyed tree. They had crawled~ no. They raced towards this place. The Shinsengumi got there first. He sat in the broken branch while he pulled the younger one towards him, letting her lie on the ground.
The red haired girl gave a smile before asking something, her voice barely a whisper. The young man told her to shut up, to conserve her energy. They were going to live no matter what happened. They were going back to become rivals. They were going back~
Kagura grabbed his broken hand, still smiling that hopeless smile. Both already knew they were not meant to go on for another day. Sougo surrendered at this point. It was useless to talk to someone as down to earth as this brat. He knew his words were based on nothing. The girl then started to say something. It was a blur to the sadist but her statement was becoming softer and softer. There was a point when he finally realized that the girl next to him was not even talking anymore.
He called her once but there was no reply. Repeatedly, he called her by her name, shaking her body. He was now panicking. Her joke had gone too far. Time passed by when his brain finally processed what happened to his rival. She was already dead.
Tears started crawling down the sadist's cheeks. For the second time in his life, he cried for someone. Since day one, he only thought of her as his rival. Now in their dying state, why is it that this victory feels shallow. He replayed what she said to him. That was when it hit him. She considered him as her rival, her enemy, her ally. There was a term that kept popping in his head. A word he himself never used.
With anger and despair, he grabbed his trusty weapon and slit his neck. He was sure that his vice-commander was somewhere in hell laughing at him for this. As life dropped out his wound, he stared at the person, at the corpse in front of him. Sougo gave a small smile before everything went black.
It was noon by the time Sougo Okita met his rival in the other end.
The sun was blistering hot. Its glare created heat waves that were even visible for the people to see. The school bell rang, indicating that it was time for the students to take their lunch.
A red-haired student with glasses ran towards the other side of the building. She was holding two lunch boxes as she zoomed past other students walking in the halls. As she got to her destination, a smile slowly crept to her face. She stepped into another classroom and called out his name.
Every pair of eyes went towards her. What caught her attention was the similarly red haired young man smiling at her. She offered him one of her lunch as they moved towards the roof.
A sandy haired student called the female out, ready to smash his lunch box at the four-eyed girl. And he did. Once she did face him, the said box was glued to her face. Her companion's eyes widened as he stepped forward to stab the crazy dude who did that with his bare hands.
The girl stopped him, letting the Tupperware full of food slide down her face. She pulls her sibling away, walking towards her rival and doing the same. By the end of the lunch period, they managed to destroy three classrooms and were now taken to the infirmary to get their wounds treated.
The sandy haired male blamed everything on the female when they were eventually given detention. He blamed her because of the reason that the red-head didn't acknowledge him when he called her out.
Mumbling curses under her breath, she accepted whatever the punishment was. She gave in. She didn't even defend herself. In actuality, she was tired of their everyday bickering.
This surprised both her rival and her white haired teacher. They were expecting her to stand up, beat her male classmate and demand that both are punished to whatever bullshit they did. Since their usual punishment was to clean the whole school, she grabbed the broom and silently got out.
Her older brother was waiting for her outside. The ever so present smile on his face disappeared when he watched the girl suddenly shiver and hug him for no apparent reason. He asked her if everything was alright, resisting the urge to enter the room and kill whoever did that to her sister.
The girl cried into his chest, finally opening up her feeling to the red headed male. She told him everything. With her dream that they, all of them, were in a district called 'Kabuki'. They were all fighting the shogun but were overwhelmed and was killed. Only two were left after the war, the female and her rival. She told her brother what she remembered on that dream. That someday, some place, some time, those two survivors will have a mutual feeling.
The older sibling hugged her back, tightening his arms around the girl. He was very much hurt from how they turned out to be in her dreams. He would never try to kill her nor even dare to hurt her yet it seems he does in that world she dreamed of. He repeated the words she told him; that this is neither the time nor the universe.
It was afternoon when she finally stopped her bitching and complaints, wiping her tears and cracking a broken smile. Her stupid sibling might be right. This was not the time or place for something like that. Maybe after their middle school, or even high school, her rival might be knocked in the head and accept her feelings. She thanked the older one as they started walking to their home.
It was about four in the afternoon when Kaizer Sougo Okita decided to take the patrolling duty. He chose to walk rather than to take one of the Shinsengumi patrol cars. As he moved towards the busy streets, he noticed two males bickering in the middle of the crowded walkway. Out of curiosity, he walked towards them. That was until a certain red haired Yato came running in.
Monster Hunter Kagura of the Yato clan entered the scene wearing something that resembles a pajama but still she looked pretty in it. She was calling for their third member, Shimura Shinpachi.
Sougo's eyes widened when his traitorous body part landed on her. It was two years since he last seen her and she grew to be one of the most beautiful things he has seen. His thoughts snapped back to reality when his mayonnaise-loving best friend started yelling and harboring a rolled up newspaper. Moving quickly, the head of the police force got between Hijikata and Kagura just in time.
Both Sinpachi and the black haired vice-commander stared at the former sadist with surprise. What made the cigarette loving man almost want to kill himself was what Sougo said afterwards.
Otae then came, carrying a baby what seems to be Hijikata's. As the four, including Kondo Isao, started with their loud arguments, the Yato and the chief were left alone.
Sougo asked his former rival if she was okay. She answered with a sweet smile and a nod. This action almost made Sougo's nonexistent heart to beat. He invited her for a walk and she gladly agreed.
They got into the park where they usually fought. Kagura's nostalgic smile made the chief also smile. They sat on the bench and started to talk about what they were doing in the past two years.
How time went when they were joking around and recreating their previous fights in that place. Kagura laughed while Sougo only gave a smug smirk. Their fun was interrupted when Shinpachi came, along with the saiyan they called boss.
Kagura's present smile widened when she saw her spectacled friend. She forgot about her former rival and dashed towards the Shinsengumi officer. Hugging the bewildered glasses, the read haired beauty started her rant about missing Shinpachi. The three then started off towards their office.
Sougo was left there, his cape billowing in the wind. How time really passed. He never thought that Shinpachi was more than a friend to the beauty. How she would forget everything around her when that spectacled young man is in her view. With a sigh, he sunk on the bench behind him and stared at the setting sun.
The smoke loving man came and sat next to the sandy haired kaizer. He asked what was wrong.
Sougo opened up automatically but his eyes never left the egg-like star sinking into the sea. He told Hijikata about his dream. About how they were dying and Kagura was saying something that has cracked his sadistic nature. He told the black haired male how much he wanted to say those six words that the red haired female in his dream never told him. He wanted to talk to her about it but it seems that she would only laugh it off and tell him that that will never happen.
The black haired vice commander ruffled the kaizer's hair as he, too stared at the darkening sky.
Cerulean blue eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the lighting of the place. When everything was clear, she could see the concern of her savior. She asked as to where this place was as she was helped to sit up.
Hijikata, her healer by that time, told her that she was knocked unconscious by the enemy and Shinpachi and Sougo carried her to the black haired male's café. Hijikata then called for one of her saviors as he walked out of the room.
At the mention of the spectacled male's name, Shinpachi stood up from where he was drinking coffee and slammed his gloved hand near the female's face. He hissed his concern for her, still not letting his stoic façade crack. He told her how they found her almost being killed and how the man-slayer dashed into the battlefield without any thoughts. Shinpachi scolded the younger one before sighing and resting his head on her shoulder. He told her that he won't leave her no matter what happens.
Kagura gave a smirk and teased her surrogate brother before pushing him off of her and shakily got to her feet. She told her she needs to talk to her former rival.
The black clad glasses smirked. He carried the injured female and jumped out of the window as Hijikata yelled in alarm. They landed on the ground safely as Shinpachi was now walking to the general direction of a destroyed path. They saw the man-slayer sitting on a tree in which the red haired Yato was familiar with. The spectacled male nodded towards her and gently pushed her to go and talk to the brown haired young man. He then walked back to the café.
Taking a deep breath, the spunky female stomped her way towards the resting male. She didn't expect the samurai to be sleeping in a place like that. Carefully, as not to bother the man slayer, the white clad lady sat in front of him. Her vision blurred and she managed to see a younger Sougo; bloody, broken and dying. Tears started running down her cheeks as she whispered his name.
Red eyes slowly opened, ready to slash whoever was making that God-awful noise. He was surprised at the sight of Kagura silently crying in front of him. He knew why. Without any warning, he grabbed the crying lady's shoulders and embraced her, placing his bandaged hand on the back of her head and forcing her to rest her head on his shoulder.
The beauty, realizing what the sadist did, gripped his red kimono and finally cried her eyes out. She doesn't even know the reason as to why she was crying like a baby. It was either she really missed the white haired perm or the fact that in another universe, her rival was dead. Whatever the reason, she found that there was solace in this man's arms.
The sadist stroked her hair softly. He didn't have to say anything. It was a silent agreement. He knew what she was going to say. That was based on all the dreams he kept having. An image of the eighteen-year old Kagura flashed before him. The smile on her face told her that the younger one was in love but not towards him. Gritting his teeth, he tightened the embrace they were in. He was going to slash a certain spectacled male after this meeting.
The white clad female squirmed, feeling the possessiveness of the male. As she held her head up, she saw another image of the sadist emerged from thin air. He was wearing a white polo and black slacks; a uniform. The stare he gave her was of disinterest and disgust. Her eyes widened before the feisty aura came back into her body.
He was not expecting what happened next. Within a flash, he found himself being slammed on the ground and a barrel was pointed between his eyes. The thing being pointed at him shook. His eyes traveled towards its owner, confused as to why she was doing that.
Kagura's tear-stricken face was scowling. When confused garnet eyes stared at her, she spat her reason.
It took a minute for the man slayer to process what was stated before the smug smirk ran across his lips. His sadistic aura was back. Slapping the umbrella/weapon away from his face, he unsheathed his sword.
The pair got into a fight they were too familiar with. The tree, which was only there as a landmark, was uprooted and then slashed into shreds. As to how; the destruction of two fully grown warriors attempting to take down each other was the answer.
A laugh bubbled inside the lady, feeling the adrenaline rush back to her matured body. She pointed her weapon on the incoming male, attempting to make a cheese out of him but somehow failed.
Sougo gave a satisfied smirk. It was years since he truly used all of his power on someone and the thrills of trying to be killed overwhelmed him. He tried, really tried to cut off the female's head but failed miserably.
This was what the two were: Rivals.
The two laid on the ground panting. They never had this much fun since the white haired samurai disappeared. Kagura also disappeared, searching for her surrogate father before coming back as the woman she was now. Sougo, not having a rival, got bored and started traveling Japan, learning ways try to parse his growing need to have a worthy opponent. He came back when he heard his superior, the gorilla, was going to be beheaded.
They lived two different lives for the past five years only to be reunited by an unexpected way: the dreams each one had. When the female begun o sinki back into the land of sleep; the male took it as his responsibility to carry her back towards the café. As he was walking towards their destination, Kagura murmured something that made the sadist give off a genuine smile. He answered her statement, saying that he will be there by her side in every step of the way.
This was now their status: Friends or more than that.
The grayish light of the moon illuminated their way while the stars twinkled. Another chapter is making its way to its conclusion while their story is just starting. The divine, whoever he or she was, was laughing from the heavens. He might be a cruel master but never will he/ she separate the [air apart. Be it that they are rivals, classmates, citizen and policeman, or lovers; those two will never live without the other.
I was trying another to change my style of writing and this happened! Hope you enjoyed the not-so-poetic way I did it.
