Disclaimer: I do not own Hachikuro.
The timeline for this story is taken when Nomiya came back from Tottori and before Mayama go to Spain.
Part 1: Platonic Ayumi
Yamada Ayumi wakes up from her sleep in the middle of the night feeling lightheaded. Her sky blue eyes slowly open and stare at the ceiling. She didn't remember what time was it when she dozed off. The tears that fell on her pillow earlier had dried up.
Ayumi sits up on her bed facing outside the window. The moon is shining bright as if trying to cheer her broken heart. She shakes off the things that crowded her mind. Like it or not, she has to move on, but how can she forget about her first love? Technically it can't even be called love seeing that it was unrequited. She had him close although he doesn't belong to her but now Mayama is going away, Ayumi knows she has no power to stop him.
Ayumi move weakly off the bed. It appears as if she is about to shatter to pieces if she rush it. There is something wrong with her, she could feel it. Not only with her emotion but her physical as well. She looks down at her feet. To her surprise it is translucent.
"What the…!" She almost fainted when she discovers her new condition. Her hands, her body, her physique are all see through. "What happened to me?" she asked, half screaming. She turns around and caught a glimpse of a figure resting under the covers. It was hers. "Am I…dead?"
Ayumi lean over to check on her body. Her chest is moving up and down indicating that she is still breathing. She sigh in relieve. "At least I'm alive…am I?" she wasn't sure about it herself. It's unexplainable how she could be laying there in bed when she is standing next to it at the same time.
"Wake up, Ayu!" she tries to get herself conscious. It's no use. She penetrates through her own flesh. She rushes to the mirror to take a look at herself however; she was unable to look for her own reflection. "What am I going to do now?" Her tears started to pool up. What will happen if she couldn't get back into her body? "Okaasan! Otoosan!" She cried for her parents. No matter how loud she calls for them, they can't hear her.
Ayumi instantly thought of Hanamoto sensei. He might be able to help her since he's the wise one among her friends. A bright flash blurs her eyes and when she opens them, she realized that she's in the lecturer's apartment. "Did I teleported here?" She figures. "Cool." For a second, she thinks that her spirit being separated from her body is kind of interesting.
"Hmm…" Hanamoto sensei's only reaction to Ayumi's constant calling. She walked through his bedroom door and tried to get his attention. It seems that it's useless. The guy who's in his late thirties is drowned in his own dreams. "Hagu…" he mumbles in his sleep. Ayumi leaves the room. She gets it now that she can't communicate with them in her condition. They were unable to hear her or see her. Something crazy just crossed her mind. She is thinking of Mayama. He's leaving soon so she thought she should pay him a little private visit. Just then, the same blurry flash takes her to where he is.
Mayama is sleeping on his working desk. His glasses were beside him on the table. His light brown hair falls on his forehead melts her hearts. She remembered the time he gave her a piggy back ride home. Ayumi bend over and smell his hair. The scent is still the same like last time. "Ne Mayama, can't you just stay?" She ask even though she well aware that he couldn't hear her. Ayu rest her chin at the corner of the same table with her eyes locked on his serene face. It breaks her heart just by doing that. He looks so peaceful. She bets he's having a very pleasant dream.
"Ne Mayama…" she said again despite the fact that she will never get any reaction from the guy. "If I'm gone, what would you do?" Her eyes become teary. She wipes it away and smile. "Nothing I guess." She gives the answer herself. "I'm not that important." She stands up. Ayumi reaches out her hand to stroke Mayama's hair but pull it back shortly when it went through his head. "See, I can't even have you in this form."
The familiar bright light appears again. This time it took Ayumi to Fujiwara Design. The office lights are still on. She heard a very faint tapping sounds on the keyboard. Somebody is working late at night. She approaches closer to where the sound came from. A guy with caramel colored hair comes into her view. "Nomiya-san." The name escaped from her lips.
Nomiya lean back on his chair and light a cigarette. His eyes are fixed to the computer screen. "Nomiya-san, you shouldn't work too hard." The girl advised. He didn't hear her or course. Nomiya had just returned from Tottori a couple of days ago. He really cares about her, she knew that. He even confessed to her that he liked her when she paid him a visit there. Ayumi feels guilty. She felt as if she had betrayed her feelings towards Mayama at the same time being unfair to Nomiya who had been treating her nicely.
Nomiya put off his cigarette in the ashtray and continue with his work. His bangs are neatly clipped to the side with a red hairclip. Ayumi laugh to it. He looked really cute. Nomiya always make her feel nice and warm. Although sometimes his words are cruel and insensitive, Nomiya could easily find a way to cheer her up. "Arigato, Nomiya-san." Ayumi thanked him. "I've caused you so much trouble." A sigh exhaled from her mouth. She looks at him with a heavy heart. She wanted to return his love for her but she can't seem to erase Mayama from her head. "If I disappear, it would be easier for you."
Disappear. The word keeps playing in her mind over and over. If she disappears, Mayama won't feel guilty for not returning her love. If she is nowhere in sight, Nomiya will forget about her and move on. If she's gone from their lives, things would be easier. No more pain, no more sadness, no more chasing, no more waiting. No more HEARTBREAK.
Ayumi finds herself standing in the middle of the clover field. The wind blows her long silky straight hair. The white sleeping gown she was wearing waves with the flow of the breeze. The night is coming to the end in a couple of hours and a new day will be born. She drags her feet on the grass towards the river bank. "Maybe this is how it should be." She stares at the middle of the shallow river. It's not that deep but if she stays low, very low without trying to get up it might work.
"Ayu…" A voice calls her as she was about to set her foot into the cold water. Ayumi turns her slender body around to look at the owner of the familiar voice. There, at the exact same spot she was standing earlier is a tall man with soft black hair. He looked straight at her with a comforting smile.
"Morita!" She sounded surprised to see him there. "How…wait, can you see me?" She finds it hard to believe. Ayumi examine her hands, they are still translucent like before.
"It's past your bedtime little girl, you should go to bed."
"I'm not a little girl."
"Sure you are, Ayu. You're about to do something foolish." Morita sees right though her thoughts. "Adults don't act as such."
"Oh yeah? Being an adult is so painful."
"That what makes you strong." He said to her.
"I don't want Mayama and Nomiya-san to feel bad because of me."
"What do you think they would feel if you gone because of them?" Morita gives his remark. Ayumi turns silent. She doesn't know what she should say next. Morita is right. It won't change anything if she kills herself. It will only make matters worst than it already do. "Go back, Ayu. Before it's too late." Morita advises her.
"Ne Morita…"
"If you're gone, I would be sad too. We are friends, remember?" Morita cuts her words and gives her his straight answer. Ayumi was a little surprised and touched by him. Morita is the only support she had. He had his problems too, but he was there for her. As a friend, as a listener.
"Gomenasai." She apologizes. She didn't know what she was thinking. Morita walk up to her and give her a hug. Ayumi's body didn't go through him. She breaks from the embrace and wishes to be back where her body was. The light appears again and blears her view. She feels like her body floated through space waiting to be one again, waiting to have a sensation.