An Ayashi no Ceres Story

The whole universe seemed to be crashing down... The blood of the innocents was being spilled, people had even started attacking each other, ripping each other's clothes off, mutilating each other's faces... Eyes were going blind, mouths were being silenced forever, this frightful landscape of blind and mute beings tearing each other's hearts out darkened Aya's thoughts... Even the once powerful sun was blocked by an immensity of grey cloud armies...And then, all of a sudden, out of the huge masses in the streets, her look focused on...

"Toya!! No!!!"

The very moment he had taken notice of Aya's presence somewhere, above the massacre, Toya has guided his esmerald eyes in her direction, making him forget about the opponent he was fighting with. In a blink of an eye only, a sharp dagger stabbed Toya's chest. Aya's eyes widened in an expression of terrifiation and her lips trembled in the unability of mourmouring not even a single word... Toya had a foolish smile frozen on his face. His eyes were emptied of all glance and a thin stream of blood was coming out of his mouth. His neck seemed to fail its attributions, as Toya's head fell to the back. The gazing eyes seemed to have become of a deeper green than before. In a manner that Aya perceived almost as a slow motion, Toya collapsed on the ground... Only now, the entire image of the bloodbath revealed itself again entirely to Aya's troubled eyes. Noone seemed to have noticed Toya's defeat. They all kept on fighting and stepping over the bodies of the fallen ones without even being aware of it. The speed was back to normal as well. That interlude of Toya's lost battle was meant to destroy her on the inside... She knew it... It could only be that way. That bastard who had stabbed her beloved soulmate just gave Toya a last ignorant look and turned away...Another "big fight" was expecting him...

Aya turned her thoughts inside out, trying to find an escape way... Suddenly she saw herself confronted to another fact: why was she still floating there useless, instead of trying to help Toya somehow. Who was saying that it was already too late? Toya wasn't that easy to defeat, and they both knew it... How many times had he escaped the attacks of Kagami's fighters with barely a couple of scratches or broken bones which healed much faster than anyone would have imagined it to be possible? Why would the situation be any different now? She only had to come down, make herself a way through the masses to reach Toya, and then help him get up. Together then, they would manage to flee somehow, and none of this would matter anymore... Run away from the harsh reality... yes ....once again... it was the only way...

But Aya still wasn't heading for Toya. Directing her eyes towards him once more, she startled... Those eyes... Those empty, huge, gazing eyes swallowed her entire conscience inside their endless green. The sight was unbearable... Aya closed her eyes tightly and turned around, running in the opposite direction...

"Please... Please... Let this all be only a nightmare... Don't take Toya away from me! God, if you're really out there and you can hear my pleed, don't let it all end this way!"

Aya was whispering to herself inside her head, holding her eyes closed. When she slowly opened one eye and then the other, the gentle sunrays of the summer morning streamed inside the white painted bedroom. Aya could feel her heart beat faster, as she turned around to check if Toya was lying next to her in bed. And then, all the warmth of the universe found a place inside Aya's heart. Toya was there, by her side, still asleep, and his innocent face couldn't have been more charming... With tears in her eyes, Aya smiled... and then... she couldn't hold it back any longer. She bursted into tears...

What day was it anyway? She couldn't remember... She couldn't even imagine how such a thing could be of any importance to her happiness... Only one thing mattered to her that very moment: Toya's presence... It had all been a long and painful nightmare... Aya strifed her forehead and removed some sweatdrops... Tears had invaded her healthy pink cheeks and were still flowing in streams across her face, but Aya didn't bother... With all the love she was capable of, she pressed her own body against Toya's and put her arms around him... She would never let go of the man she loved... How could she be so stupid and just abandon him in the middle of that bloodbath she had dreamed of? This thought apparently took her by surprise, so all of a sudden, she loosened her grip on Toya... How HAD she been able to simply leave her Toya alone? He had seen her floating and turned his face towards her... That's when the killer dagger had struk... After all... it was all HER fault...

It's true that the whole thing had only been a nightmare, but what if something similar was meant to happen in reality as well? What would her decision be then? Would she run away once more? Would she turn away in such a shameful way? If... if she was really capable of acting this way, then she didn't truly deserve remaining by Toya's side... She, Aya, the assumed guardian of his soul, would be the one leading to his defeat in the end...

Maybe it would be better if she and Toya broke up? This way she would protect him somehow... keep him away from her destructive way... But then she remembered how disappointed she used to be, everytime when two people in a book or a movie, who were definitely meant to be together, simply split up because of no relevant reason... And what were they left with afterwards? A bunch of memories and the surrounding loneliness. Why couldn't they all just stay together? They loved each other, right? And their love would have been strong enough to surpass any kind of obstacle... Hm... Indeed how hilarious... These endings annoyed Aya, made her sad or furious... but wasn't she the one thinking about a similar way out just now? No... Something was definitely wrong with the way she had been leading her thoughts... The truth is that... If their love was strong enough, no crisis in the universe would stay in their way... If their love wasn't able to survive all evils, then no other would be either...

So, after a long inner struggle, Aya realised the obvious – Toya was her everything – and she would be there for him until the end of her days. She would protect him, make him happy and together they would fulfil their dreams and fight against life's misery...

After cleaning her nose in a rather loud way, Aya put her arms around Toya again and smiled with that content childish expression on her face...

A few minutes had passed, when Toya opened his sleepy eyes... He grinned, after noticing Aya's leg around his waist and her arms holding him tight.

"Good morning, beautiful", he said in his low and smooth voice. "Did the angels caress you in your sleep?"

"Morning to you too, sleepy head... although I'm sure it's not quite morning anymore...",

Aya grinned back, "and by the way, the only angel caressing me I know, are you..."

Toya stroke lovingly Aya's reddish hair... and she couldn't oversee the desire in his eyes...

"Just... give... me... a... moment...", she whispered, kissing him after every single word. "I'll take a shower first, and then we'll make ourselves a nice afternoon..."

Toya's eyes were now reading: "Oh, do I have to wait? I want you... now...!"

"Oh, sweety, now be a good boy and wait for me... I'll finish quicker than you think". With these words, Aya stood up wanting to head for the bathroom. With a quick movement, Toya grabbed her arm and pulled her to himself again. With the right hand holding her breast and the tongue inside her mouth, Toya let Aya know in his own very specific way, that she should hurry. Aya was now enjoying every single heartbeat... Noone else would ever have been able to spoil her in such way... Toya was her one and only...

Right now, this very moment, the awful nightmare and the painful thoughts following it were fading away, leaving plenty of space to the newborn sun, which was fighting himself a path throughout the heavy clouds...