Hello there and welcome to the second chapter! As I kinda said in the first, the first two chapters are gonna be a bit... odd. So this is the second half to that odd-ness (totally not a word) and then starting with the third, it'll be a bit more normal. :D
Anyway, I hope you enjoy! :D
Chapter 2: The Other Side
Enju sat idly, rocking back and forth to herself, her fingers intertwined on her lap. Her jaw clenched and unclenched nervously as she watched the scene unfolding before her.
She couldn't remember when it'd happened, or even what'd happened. She knew one moment she'd been walking toward the tasty frozen treat shop on the corner of the street, next to Rentarou, and the next, she was in this… place. It was black. Black everywhere and nothing to see, nothing to do, nothing to feel. It was suffocating.
And just when she thought she'd go insane, a small part of the blackness seemed to peel away, shivering away from itself and opening up to reveal a scene in front of her. She saw herself, lying in a hospital bed, tubes and machines attached to her arms and chest. She saw Rentarou and Kisara on the other side of a glass window, watching her, looking helpless.
She looked at his face, her partner's face; he looked pained. She leaned forward, her hand outstretching toward the space that looked like a portal to the other world before quickly retracting. Something made her pull away from it, only wanting to watch.
And suddenly everyone's faces in the image went grim. Her eyebrows pinched together in confusion as they all looked toward Rentarou and he backed away from the window slowly, shaking his head.
"Ah, it appears it's happened." She screeched in surprise, her body going rigid as she scrambled to look around herself for whatever person had spoken to her. "Did I scare you?" the voice chuckled.
"Who-what-wh…," she swallowed, continuing to frantically look around herself, glancing sideways at the scene of her in the hospital bed once before searching for the voice again.
"You needn't worry about who I am, Ms. Aihara. Look. I want you to see this."
Enju froze, mechanically turning back to the scene, her heart pounding and her breathing erratic. It was all so confusing. She looked back down to her body in the white hospital bed. She was unconscious down there, so did that mean she was just in her own mind? Or was she on the path to the afterworld? She wasn't sure.
Rentarou and Kisara were talking now, on the other side of the glass. Rentarou looked furious, anger scrawled across his features as he snarled something back at Kisara. Enju took in a breath; she'd never seen him look like that before.
"I take it you must be a little confused, am I correct?"
The voice startled her again. She squeaked, swallowing and then slowly nodding. "Y-yes." She wanted to search for the voice's origin, but something kept her eyes glued to Rentarou. He was still saying something to Kisara, something she couldn't decipher.
"Well I'm assuming you understand that's you down there." Enju slowly nodded, her eyes searching her partner's face for the reason as to why he would be so angry. "You see, your Gastrea levels have hit the halfway point, Aihara. You're about to begin transitioning. That's why Satomi down there looks so angry; it appears he doesn't want to kill you." The voice chuckled and Enju took in a sharp breath.
The last time Rentarou had told her her levels, they had barely budged. Now she was all the way up at fifty percent? How had that happened? She leaned forward again, this time going with her urges and reaching out toward the other world, toward Rentarou. She wanted to tell him to calm down. As much as she didn't think she'd have to face it anytime soon, she was understanding of her situation and the fact that one day he'd probably have to end her. It was a fate she'd been born with; there was no changing it. She reached further, wanting to tell him that it was alright; that they'd both be alright.
Something changed in Kisara's stance and she jolted to life, bursting through the door to Enju's hospital room and unsheathing her sword. Enju stilled, pulling her hand back from the scene and placing it onto her heart. She was grateful, in a way, that Kisara had chosen to do it; it would be easier on Rentarou.
Kisara raised her sword and Enju braced herself; she didn't know where she was or what exactly was happening, but undoubtedly with the blow of that sword she would be no more. And then he ran in after her. Enju's throat clenched, her eyes widening as Rentarou scrambled into the room, shouting and diving onto her bed.
"Rentarou," Enju whispered, taking in a quick and sharp breath as Kisara's sword came down upon him. "No-," she choked, her own shock cutting off her voice as the sword sunk deep into his back. She felt tears prickling to her eyes as Kisara withdrew the sword, throwing it aside and screaming. "Rentarou," Enju whispered, her vision becoming completely obstructed by the blur of tears, her hand lifting to her mouth to cover it.
"Mm," the voice hummed. "It appears that the feeling is mutual. He doesn't wish for your death, nor do you wish for his. In fact, it's the opposite, am I correct? You would do anything for him, if I've guessed correctly."
The portal to the other world shivered before slowly shrinking, the light dimming into a small pinhole before going completely black again.
Enju choked, pulling her knees to her chest as the tears trickled over the edge and down her cheeks. She didn't know whether or not she could trust whatever that scene had been; she didn't know if it was real or not. But even so… seeing him do something like that for her. Easily giving his own life without any second thought… all for her. She let out a strangled cry and the voice cleared its throat.
"I guess I shouldn't toy around. I know you would do anything for him, Aihara. I can see it; we arein your own subconscious, after all." Enju bit down on her finger, slowly looking upward and wearily searching for the voice again. She felt as if she didn't have any energy at all. "Ah, yes, you're unconscious, and somehow it appears I've dug my way into your head, now doesn't it?" the voice sighed before continuing. "Look. Over there; it's not over, dear."
She saw something move out of the corner of her eye and her head snapped back down to watch the area where the first portal had been. It was opening up again. It slowly peeled away, revealing a much different scene. It was black, just like the darkness she was in, but there was something in the middle. Her breath hitched in her throat as the object flailed, looking around itself. "Rentarou," she whispered.
"Mm, it is him. I'm talking to him right now too. In his subconscious, of course. He's not gone yet; would you care to listen in?"
Enju nodded vigorously, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands, hiccupping and eagerly leaning forward.
"There's not really a place to go to, Satomi." The voice came out of the small portal this time. It was the same one that was speaking with her; this time addressing Rentarou. "Even at a time like this, you're worried about her."
Enju took in a breath. Was he really? She knew whatever state she was in, she'd always be worried about him; it was what partners did. But he, even after he'd just saved her, was still worried? She felt the warm and comforting feeling that always accompanied her when Rentarou said or did something sweet slowly spreading across her skin.
"Tell me, Satomi. If you could, would you reverse what happened? Would you choose to spare Enju the fate of being one of the Cursed Children? No, not just that, but would you choose to keep her from hitting the point of no return? Would you choose to keep her Gastrea percentage down forever?" The voice seemed a little different than the one she'd been listening to. A little less comforting, less soft, more… devious.
"Yes, he would," she quietly whispered to herself. He'd confessed to her on his own accord that he thought she deserved a life as much more than just some mutated child. He'd shown her multiple times that he'd do anything to make her life more normal, sending her to school just being one way.
"Yes, of course I would. What kind of question is that?" Rentarou spat up at the voice, his hands clenching into fists. Enju couldn't help the smile pulling at her lips. It felt nice to hear his voice.
"Mm, interesting. What would you be willing to sacrifice for that?"
The voice in her own subconscious sighed and she steadied herself. Something felt… off.
Without even the slightest moment of hesitation Rentarou replied, "A-Anything."
Enju's eyes softened, a light smile gracing her lips as she stared down at her partner. He was so sweet, so caring, and not a single inch of her doubted that he'd give anything to keep her safe forever. That was part of the reason she liked him so much: she could always count on and trust him. Always.
"Interesting," the voice in Rentarou's world smiled. "Well then Satomi who is willing to give "anything" to save his Initiator's fate. Would you be willing to give your own life for her future?"
Enju's entire body went rigid. The small hint of dubiousness in the voice slowly overtook its entire tone. She could see it now: this voice wasn't there to talk or to rest assure, it was there for a reason. It wanted something. It wanted him to answer yes. "No," Enju whispered, her hands clasping together again on her lap, her fingernails digging into the backs of her hands. "No, say no, Rentarou."
"Yes."
"No!" she shouted this time, scrambling onto her knees and reaching toward the portal. "No, what are you doing?!"
"Mm," the voice in the other world nodded. "Well then, I think we'll get along just fine."
"No!" she screeched again, scrambling toward the portal; she'd go and shake some sense into him herself if she could. But before she could move more than even a foot, the portal repaired itself, suctioning shut and once again plunging her into silence and abyss. "No," she whispered, retracting her hand. "No, no, no, no, no," she repeated, tears again sparking to life in her eyes.
He had just made a contract, she was sure. There he'd gone and given his own life a second time for her, and she'd done nothing; she couldn't do anything. Her teeth clenched together and she angrily looked upward. "What did you do to him?!" she yelled.
It was quiet for a moment, the only sound being her own heaving breaths as her sadness turned into fury. And then the voice she'd been with, the calmer one that didn't sound as if it had hidden ambitions, spoke.
"What do you think I've done, Aihara?"
"You've killed him!" she spat.
"Ah," the voice clicked to itself. "Wrong. I have not killed him, dear. In fact, I've done the exact opposite."
Her anger disappeared as quickly as it'd come. "W-what?"
"I'm not going to take his life. Why no, what a wonderful opportunity would've been passed up if I had. He's a very… determined, thing. I'll say determined."
"I-I don't understand," she stuttered, her eyes searching the blackness for answers as she sunk back down into a criss-crossed and hunched position.
The voice sighed. "I made my way into both of your minds, dear, because I have something I need done. Now, I'm not a selfish man, no, I am a very generous man if anything. So, in turn for him giving me the promise of his life, and his service, I'll give you two something in return."
His service. So the voice had only had Rentarou promise his own life so he'd feel indebted? She still wasn't crystal clear on what was going on.
"You see both you and Rentarou should've died today. He should've died when Kisara's sword hit him, and then you should've died soon after at the hands of one of the doctors slowly putting you down. But because I need you, or rather Rentarou, to carry out something that I can't from here, I'm going to reverse fate, my dear."
She took in slow and steadying breaths. He wasn't dead. He wasn't dead. She repeated it over and over to herself. Even if something had happened, and he'd made some sort of contract, he was still alive.
"But not only am I generous in sparing both of your lives. Not only will Satomi be saved by those doctors who are escorting him into an operating room now, and not only will your percentage mysteriously go back down to manageable levels, but I'll give you two something extra."
She swallowed, bracing herself. It seemed odd and very sketchy for this voice to be doing "so much" for them.
"The bond you two have is nothing if not interesting, to me, anyway," the voice sighed. "And so, for my own fun, I'll be beyond generous. I'll give you what you want out of each other."
"What?" she breathed.
"He wants to see you well and normal, dear. No, I cannot reverse your fate as a Cursed Child, I'm sorry, but I can give him a version of you in which you are just fine. And for you, all you want is for your feelings to be reciprocated. Therefore, I will give you a version of him which reciprocates your feelings."
As if on a timer something shivered to life in front of her. She looked down slowly before letting out a gasp, her eyes becoming saucers. In front of her was Rentarou himself, smiling down at her, his hands in his pockets. "R-Rentarou," she breathed.
And just as quickly as he'd come, he was gone, vanished into nothing more than air.
The voice sighed. "I'm going to give you both what you so want in the other, however, I can't give you that until Satomi accepts my offer."
"Hasn't he already accepted?" Enju squeaked, reaching out into the space where Rentarou had just been, her eyes wide as she turned her hand over in the air.
"Yes, in a way. We had a little conversation, but really that was only me testing his loyalty. If you're on the line, it seems he'll be very loyal. The real question of whether or not he'll accept my offer will be once he wakes up in the real world. Then is when I'll give him the official proposal. If he accepts, you two will get the versions of the other that you so desperately want, if not… well… fate can't be reversed forever, now can it?" She could hear the voice smile.
She swallowed thickly, slowly looking upward again. "What kind of offer is it? What's your proposal?" she squeaked.
The voice chuckled. "Ah, I can't tell you that just yet. You'll have to wait patiently, dear." The voice sighed and she slowly looked back down to where Rentarou had been. "All in due time."
So there it is! I hope you liked it! I really hope none of that was too confusing. If it was for some reason, don't hesitate to ask; I'd be happy to answer. :D
So the "voice" is going to give Rentarou a proposal, and Enju and Rentarou will continue on, even if he's going to be in the real world and she's still unconscious. And lots more to come of course. Man, I'm really rambling.
I just wanted to send an extra special thanks to all of the lovely reviews and whatnot last chapter! I was absolutely floored about all the positive comments and absolutely ecstatic that other people like this pairing! I hope I can do it some justice once the story really starts to get going, which will hopefully be next chapter. XD
~Foxtail-chan
