Chapter 2.
Blond, Black and Snow White
Oh, I think I forgot to introduce myself here. The name's Yamato, Kiriha Yamato. Well at least that much I remembered about my past... Not that I remember much more than that... Except the fact that I like movies in general. Now that I've finally settled into my new life as a member of the SSS things have slightly gotten easier. To tell you the honest... Well this pace was really different than what I imagined it as at the first sight. A gigantic Boarding School, but there was no studying at all. No adults at all, just us, 16-17 year old teenagers. Tamaki often told me, that even if you get older than this certain age, you just turn back to your best ages. Yeah, like High School was so good for everyone... But in this case I might aswell say that this is a dream of a life to all... Well if it weren't for the demons that is. Now that I was wearing the SSS School uniform, which was only different in the color of the Jacket from the original Black one the civilians wore, I felt much more comfortable. The jacket's light Brown color and the SSS insignia on the Shoulders was really nice loking. at some edges it was also a slightly darker brown and we didn't need to wear the usual tie everyone else did. Tamaki showed me all around the School and told me a lot of stories I usually didn't understand most of them, just nodded in agreement. On one occasion however he told me something really strange.
"Don't you just love those NPC girls?"
"Yeah, they're really cute. Always smiling, always happy, almost like they never care about a thing in the world!"
"It's because they don't... At least not like us!"
"How come?"
"You know... They don't react to basically anything in the world... Like you and I ... We worry about our friends and all... They don't seem to worry about anything... You can fight with them, punch them all you like... Minutes later you're talking to them like Nothing happened!"
That was interresting to hear.
"You can really make some great friends with them! They're friendly and talkative! There's even a few of them who come tome and chit-chat around like we're long time friends."
I liked that part about this NPC thing, but I still prefered to make human friends instead.
"Hey! Try checking the Cupsize of one of the girls!"
"What? Why would I do that? Don't you think she'd get mad at me?"
"Think of what I just told you! Who knows, you might end up getting a cute girlfriend from among them!"
"Still! I'd never do that! I have manners you know!"
"Fine! Don't do it then! Can't say I didn't give you a good tip!"
It was okay, Tamaki was a really good friend of mine by then, and he really tried his best to make me feel better at this place if possible. Though there were some of those days when even he wasn't with me. Times like that I was just wandering around school all on my own. I did keep one thing with me all the time to be exact: A Glock 17 pistol just in case I'd come across trouble. Things were really boring at times like this, and for some reason all the SSS members seemed to disappear from the face of the Earth. Even on that day, I was hanging around, sitting on a bench not too far from the main building. I was just sitting around, watching three NPC girls playing around with a ball. Such cute creatures they were. One of them had really long brown hair and brown eyes, the second one had short brown hair and blue eyes, and the third one had Burning red hair, with emerald eyes and Pony tail bent towards the left. They were really cute, playing and giggling around all the time, and if it weren't for that empty stare in their eyes, noone would've told them apart from any other human being.
"Aren't they just cute now?"
I almost jumped out of surprise, as the voice came from right behind me. I looked up and saw the blonde girl from the first day standing, there, half bent onto the bench and looking at the three girls.
"Aren't you... ?"
"I am! The name's Sayuri!"
She sat down right next to me, resting her arms on the back of the bench. Sayuri? What a nice name for a cute girl like her, and to add that beautiful pair of blue eyes to that... Full of sorrow.
"Yamato right?"
"Errhm... Yeah, Kiriha Yamato... But how do you know?"
"Rumours spread quite quickly around here! I did want to come see you, if you're okay, but I guess you're fine!"
"Well yeah, Tamaki's taking care of me... !"
"I could've sworn you'd say that!"
She was staring at the three girls with more and more sorrow in her eyes and I felt like I needed to know what her problem was.
"Do you know them by any chance?"
Her expression turned really dark all of a sudden.
"Know them... ? No... That is not the right word!"
"How come?"
She just shook her head and kept staring at the three. At one point she bit her lips to the point, that she even started bleeding for a bit, but she put her Handkerchief over it, and it soon stopped. It took her a bit before she spoke up again.
"Kanna... Miko... And Himiko... I don't just Know them... They're very good friends of mine... Or at least they were! Until that day!"
I pondered about that for a second, but I didn't need to ask, she just carried on.
"I should never have dragged them into this..."
"What, they... ?"
"Yes! They were members of the SSS. On one occasion We were lead into a seemingly harmless operation. We were supposed to ambush them when they were distracted by the others... Those damn monsters! I never thought they're this clever! Ever!"
I knew she was talking about the Demons no less. She slammed her fist against the bench, which hurt her, but her hand healed almost immediately. I knew now, that wounds heal almost instantly, but what about the scars on our soul? Will those ever heal again?
"You..."
"Me and my 12 comrades, including the three of them... We were cornered like rats! One by one they took them, and I was left last... As if a part of fate... But before they got to me... Yuuki came!"
"Yuuki?! The girl with the white hair?"
"Yes, her! She saved me! I just wish she didn't!"
"She did it out of good intent, trust me!"
"I know... She did give me one thing that day though!"
"What would that be?"
"A reason for Vengeance! If I find the asshole who did this to them, I'll rip his head off!"
I looked at Sayuri with great sorrow. She was such a cute and pretty girl and these horrible thoughts she had... These horrible words that came from her mouth... It just wasn't likely for a girl like her to talk like that. All of a sudden I heard the three girls Whispering.
"Look, it's her!"
"Then Go on!"
"Why me?"
"Just go on already!"
At that moment, I heard quiet footsteps coming closer and When I looked up, I saw Kanna, the girl with the Red hair standing right in front of us, reaching her hands out toward Sayuri. Miko, the one with the long brown hair and Himiko just stayed behind.
"Ka... Kanna!"
Sayuri looked up at her and she had that really faint look in her eyes. She slowly looked her from bottom to top, and she seemed to not believe her ears or eyes.
"Say Sayuri! Don't you want to play with us?"
Sayuri let her head hang again and for moments she didn't say a thing. I suddenly saw huge teardrops falling to the ground, and she stood up and ran away screaming:
"Noooo!"
Poor Kanna just stared at her, as she ran out of sight.
"Did I ... Say something Wrong?"
I shook my head at that.
"No you didn't Kanna! It's just that Sayuri lost some very close friends of hers not so long ago... And she can't get over it... At least not yet!"
"Oh... I'm... Sorry..."
All of a sudden Kanna changed a lot. So much even, that she turned into what looked like a statue of sorrow. She was sad, really sorrowful and her eyes were glittering with tears in them. For a Second there I felt like some life returned into her, but then...
"Kanna! Come on!"
"Coming!"
She turned back into her normal self... As much as it can be normal, when you're an NPC. She started smiling again and went back to playig as if nothing happened. I really couldn't understand her, but then again... Who was I to judge her... What Sayuri said however really hit me hard. I just stood up and left to fulfill my needs in life... That's right, even if you die, you still maintain your old needs, like hunger and thirst, you can even get tired and need sleep, not to mention the fact, that you can actually feel your own heartbeat. As I left the cafeteria, I went straight to the one place where I always seemed to find my peace at. It was actually the School entrance, which had some stairs leading down to the gate itself, and there were two little waterfalls conviniently placed on the two sides of the staircase itself. It was a really neat little place of all, and of all places in this school I really liked just standing or sitting around and listening to the water flowing, or the birds chirping around me, and sinking into my thoughts. This time however there was something different, as someone with beautiful hip length white hair was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, humming a song... One which was oddly familiar, yet I was unable to lay a finger on... My head started becoming light and dizzy all of a sudden, as this song somehow seemed to stir up memories in me, that were still blurry.
"Yu... Yuuki!"
The girl with the white hair sitting at the bottom just looked up at me, and immediately started smiling. That gentle and light hearted smile of hers was really comforting. She soon joined me and we went on a small walk around the school itself. Much like me, or especially Sayuri, she was wearing the SSS civilian uniform. It was your average Sailor Fuku, with blue colar and a red scarf, along with a blue mini skirt.
"So... Yuuki... What I was gonna ask... How did you end up here?"
Yuuki looked up at me, as if she didn't understand what I just asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean like... How did you die, or when did you get here?"
"Oh..."
She went into pondering for a bit.
"The truth is.. I have no idea..."
So she had amnesia like me... It was almost natural, that whoever died in some kind of accident or really suddenly, might have just lost their memories for longer or shorter periods of time. Somewhat the same applied to me.
"I see... And those..."
"My magic powers you mean?"
Now how the hell did she know that?
"Uhm... Yeah.. Where did you get those?"
"To tell you the truth, they aren't really magical... They're actualy created by a computer program!"
"How do you even get a program like that?"
"No idea!"
She just pulled her shoulders, which just made me wonder even more.
"I just found it on a computer in my room... I played around a bit and now I have them."
"Sounds interresting... And you can really pack a punch, huh?"
She just shook her head.
"Not at all... I think you mean if I use it for fighting on purpose..."
"Uhm... yeah!"
"Like I said, not at all! I'm only allowed to use them as a method of defending myself, and or others with it."
It made sense, since she called them Guard Skills. Delay, Hand Sonic, and what she called Overdrive, which was a skill that was always active at all, granting her incredible physical capabilities.
"What about Sayuri?"
"What about her?"
"Are you friends?"
She went into pondeing again, but this time the smile from her face seemed to disappear.
"Well I consider her one... Except she seems to hate me for some reason..."
I could clearly understand it from what she told me.
"I think it's about her friends... You know... Kanna, Miko and Himiko..."
"Oh... Of course... The three girls!"
She had tears in her eyes.
"I... I wanted to save everyone... I just... I got there too late!"
"I see!"
I put a reassuing hand on her head, which wasn't too hard, considering she was a tad bit shorter than me... Okay a lot shorter, as I was an entire head taller, than her.
"Look Yuuki! I'm sure things will straighten out and she'll learn to forgive you some day!"
She looked up at me with those beautiful, sorrowful blue eyes and when she saw my smile, which was meant to cheer her up a bit, she started smiling herself.
"Yuuki-san! Do you mind... ?!"
I saw a group of people coming our way from somewhere around the dorms, wearing NPC like uniforms.
"Please do excuse me then!"
Yuuki bowed and she ran to the group, grabbing two of them by their arms and dragging them along. I did remember the fact, that only the SSS members wore different clothes than others, and civilians wore the same outfit all the time, as the NPCs. I felt like I needed to look for someone else to talk, to for things have had their ups and downs unti l now... Maybe now I could find someone who could give me some good time finally. I went back around the road that lead to the Gate, and passed the bench, where I talked with Sayuri. The three girls weren't there anymore, and as I went a bit further I found a pleasant little fountain in a wide open area.
"Wow! This is really nice! First the waterfalls, and now the Fountain..."
It was true. The school was reallly conveniantly decorated. If it weren't for the inevitable fact, that we were all dead it would've been a really neat little place for living here. If it weren't for the demons that is... Actually living here would be like an endless cycle, as time doesn't seem to pass at all, and everyone remains the same age for ever.
"What the... ? Who's playing guitars here?"
It was there when I noticed, that someone was playing a guitar. Slowly and sometimes unsure, but it was going places. It really sounded nice in a way, and even though the guitar was slightly off on the sounds at times, it still was comming together. I went around the fountain and found a girl in civilian uniform, and incredibly long black hair waving around in the wind sitting on the edge of the fountain, with her back at me. She was probably pretty good with the guitars, as she was working on tuning it up while in the process. I suddenly remembered what Tamaki told me, and even though I really wanted to refrain from doing things like that... I did come to an idea that wasn't as rude as that. I slowly snuck closer to her and reached out to tickle her around her ribs a bit.
"Kiyaaaagh!"
She screamed and suddenly threw everything in her hands away into the wind. I did catch the guitar somehow, but some papers got carried off with the wind. She suddenly turned around and hung her mesmorisingly beautiful golden colored eyes onto me. She was really scared and fiddled around with her fingers. I Could almost see her heart nearly bursting out of her chest. She was a normal human being, just like me.
"Oh god... I ... I'm really sorry... I swear I didn't mean to scare you!"
"What was that all about?"
Oh god that voice of hers... Like an angel truely... She must've been a singer or something, because her voice was really soft and was like bells rolling in my head.
"I told you I'm sorry!"
"But what about my notes now?"
"Notes?"
I looked at the papers being dragged along by the wind, and something forced me to move and run after them until finally caught all of them.
"What the hell is this? Sum 41... Metallica... And... What the... ?! Mighty RAW?!"
"You know them maybe?"
"I do recall some of them... Some of the lyrics too..."
We finally sat down and I told her about myself and how I ended up in this situation in the first place. I also told her about what Tamaki told me, and as soon as everything became clear, she wasn't mad at me anymore.
"I'm Yamato by the way!"
"And I'm Sora!"
Sora then proceeded to tell me about herself a bit. She told me, that she had a band when she was alive, and they reorchestrated some f the best pieces of music to their liking, and became quite popular among the youngest of audiences even. Her two best friends were the Bass guitarist and the keyboardist and her boyfriend was the drummer.
"You guys were really well together, huh?"
"Yeah! We made a great team!"
"So what happened to you anyway?"
"I was ill..."
That was a shock. She was working on her first very own song, when she learned that she had cancer. Within a few months, things have really gotten bad with her and they were preparing for a great farewell concert, but only minutes before the concert begun, she lost her consciousness and never woke up again.
"So, that's what your dream is? To perform your own song?"
"Well that too..."
"What else then?"
"Well... I wanted to do a lot of other things... Like getting married... Having children... I guess that will never come true..."
I really felt sorry for her to be honest. She really loved that Hikaru guy, which was obvious from the way she spoke about him, and their relationship. I kind of envied her for remembering everything of her past.
"And you? Are you by any means a musician?"
"Well I do like music... But I don't remember much else..."
She was such a cute... No she was truely beautiful and charming. I've never seen anyone like her in my life... At least I think so... She was a bit retreating at first, which I scraped off as being because I scared her, but she slowly opened up, and became more talkative, and she turned out to have a really beautiful smile too. I suddenly had a great idea.
"Hey! There's a classroom here that has everything for an entire Band! You wanna come and see?"
She looked up at me with glittering eyes and as she saw me smiling, she started smiling herself and nodded. I grabbed her hand and lead her on. I've discovered the entire school inside and out, so I knew the shortest way there. When we arrived we literaly found instruments for an entire rock band there.
"This used to be the practicing room for Girls Dead Monster. A Band who were working as a part of the old SSS here. This all belonged to them back then, and it's all there ready to be used!"
I told her that like I knew that all by myself, but the truth was, I heard all this from Tamaki. Sora put her Accoustic guitar down and picked the red Solo Guitar up from next to the drums. She turned the speakers on, and went for it. It sounded really awesome, but I suddenly caught myself together, and turned the volume down. I looked out of the window to check if there was any trouble around, but when I saw everything was okay, I closed the window and turned the volume back up to the level, when we could hear it all.
"We wouldn't want to get the demons' attention, right?"
"Yep! Here!"
She already picked a note out, and handed it to me. The title was...
"Mach 23? You don't mean... ?"
"Yep, you should sing it!"
I wasn't really sure if I wanted to try, but then again... Who was I turn her down. I picked the claviature and sat down turning it on. I wasn't sure why I picked it, or why it had to be that one of all, but I felt like I've played one before, or something like a Piano maybe. I tried if I had the skill, and from what I could tell, it was okay. Even Sora Nodded.
"Looks like you read the notes quite well!"
"Yeah it seems so!"
"You Ready?"
She count to three with her fingers and we went at it. It was a bit slow at first, and I needed some time to pick up the pace, but then I caught myself singing and playing with ease, and when the accoustic part came by, Sora went over into a real wizard with the strings. I really got carried away and her vocals also helped in. When we finally finished off and the last couple notes went by, we finished both being comletely exhausted, and in the need of some rest.
"Wooohooh! One more time you guys!"
That came from behind, and as we turned, we saw Misaki, Yuuki, Sayuri and Tamaki standing at the door and clapping. Sora and I looked at each other smiling, but we didn't feel like we could do that again. Misaki walked up to us and put a hand on my shoulder.
"I see you met our most popular inmate here!"
"Most popular?"
I looked at Sora, who was just smiling away.
"Well Sora arrived only a couple days after you got here, but she immediately became everyone's favourite, getting a lot of fans!"
"And I've found myself a friend too!"
It really felt great that Sora said that, even after what I've done when we got to know each other.
