Previously on Doerai: The Face of Betrayal...
Not wasting any time, Nick ran outside towards the antiques section, only to stop dead in his tracks at the sight of a pool of something red came into vision. Then he looked upwards towards the source of the mysterious red substance.
Nick would have screamed, but he couldn't make a sound. He could only stare at the battered and bruised body of his girlfriend.
Doremi rushed out, wondering why Nick was taking so long, only to nearly start hyperventilating at the sight of the yellow witch apprentice.
Nick quickly ran over and tried checking Momoko's pulse.
Nothing.
"Is... is she...?" Doremi asked, her voice barely below a whisper.
Nick shook his head, signifying that it was too late.
"Call the others," Nick stated. "Get Yuki-chan and her friends over here, too. We've got a madman loose..."
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(Sometimes, we are faced with the toughest questions we've ever had to ask ourselves.)
S.P.D. Gold Ranger and YukiShinoya444 present:
Doerai: The Face of Betrayal
Story Created: July 29th, 2008
Summary: AU. This is a story of betrayal upon the very foundation of life. Nick and his friends face the questions of a dark curse and an adventure that many could not comprehend in a dark new world...
On Today's Episode: All of the Ojamajos gather in order to pay their last respects to Momoko, and hopefully find a way to stop this madness before it gets worse...
Note From YukiShinoya444: All I got to say is this... I'll do my best!
Disclaimer by Nick: I've said it before and I'll say it again. Neither Yuki-chan nor I own ANYTHING of Ojamajo Doremi, though we really wish we did. The series and all of its affiliations belong to Toei Animation and whoever licenses it for their particular country.
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Phase 2: Tragedy Knows No Boundaries (written by YukiShinoya444)
Dear Saiki-kun,
How have you been? It's been a while hasn't it? Far too long, I say! I really miss you... It's so boring without you here with me...
But... Things are pretty normal... Everyone's doing just fine, I guess...
You're probably wondering about Nick-kun, but I haven't heard from him in a while... SO I bet he and Momo-chan are doing just dandy!
Saiki-kun... I--
NO!
Yuki crumbled up the paper and tossed it into the trashbin, which was filled up with several other wads of paper or in other words, her sad attempts at writing a letter to her boyfriend.
"Dandy"? The last thing you need is him to think you're still a child... the girl thought groggily, grasping a chunk of her coal black hair in thought as she huffed deeply.
There was no way for her to write properly without making it sound too sappy, or too childsh. And her latest sounded sappy and childsh!
Man, what was wrong with her?
"Yuki-chan, still writing?" Kurumi's melodic voice rang out. "Take a break! You need it!"
"N-No thanks, Kurumi-chan!!" she quickly answered. "I need to get this done, and soon!"
"Geez Yuki-chan... You really need to stop wasting all that paper... You're killing the trees!"
Yuki growled, scribbling down another letter.
Dear Saiki-kun,
I am trying very hard not to kill my--GAH!
Blushing feverishly, she quickly erased that message. The last thing she needed was Saiki hating her!
Dear Saiki-kun... She begun again, only to pause, just staring at the paper in silence.
What could she say?
Her shoulders drooped as she bit her lip, the message she so desperately wanted to write repeating itself over and over again in her mind.
"I can't stop thinking about you."
Would that work? She sighed, putting down her pencil.
I just don't know what to say...
"Yuki-chan...?" Yuki flinched, feeling a soft hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
She instantly perked up, looking over at Akemi's concerned face, her cheeks tinted the usual shade of pink as well as her sapphire eyes sparkling like jewels. Yuki blinked, but smiled.
"I'm just thinking is all, Akemi-chan."
Akemi smiled back, looking relieved. "Yuki-chan... Why DON'T you take a break?"
Her friend frowned.
"Ne Akemi-chan... Do you ever receive letters from your older brother?"
Akemi blushed at the mention of her brother, and nodded. "Yes..."
"What do they... say?"
"A lot of things... Onii-san explains what life is like, how he is, the people he's met... He also checks to make sure I'm okay and that I'm doing just fine..."
"Huh..." she cocked her head to the side. "That it?"
The crystal witch shook her head, a smile etching its way on her angelic face.
"At the end... of every letter... He writes... that he loves me."
Yuki's eyes widened. "I see..."
"Why do you ask?" she asked, smiling brightly. Yuki quickly shook her head.
"Just to... You know! I'm having a hard time deciding what to write Saiki-kun..."
Akemi sighed. "Oh, is that it? I've had the same feeling every time I would try to reply to one of Onii-san's letters... Rough, isn't it?"
The black witch nodded in agreement, sighing as well.
"...Yes... Definitely..."
Akemi lightly giggled. "Ah... Speaking of Saiki-kun... I wonder how Nick-kun is..."
"He's probably doing just fine!!" Moriko's voice rang out. "It IS Nick-kun after all!"
"Right..." The ballerina let out a soft huff, folding her arms behind her back as she faced her childhood friend. "You're absolutely right... Moriko-chan."
The jade witch winked, soothing down one of her curled up forest green pigtails. "Knowing him, he's probably alone with Momo-chan... doing, you know... Romantic things you'd only see in the cheesy French movies that Kurumi-chan loves to watch."
"Hey! Not ALL of them are cheesy!" Kurumi cried out, blushing in embarrassment. Moriko simply laughed.
"Right, right... That's so like you, Kurumi-chan!"
The model huffed before her cell phone began ringing.
"Hm? One second, I need to take this call..." she stated before heading off.
The three other girls just looked confused.
"Huh... Wonder who it is..." Yuki wondered, a bit curious. Moriko just shrugged.
"Probably her manager or something..."
Akemi just blinked, frowning as she pressed her fist against her chin.
I wonder...
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"Moshi-moshi?"
Kurumi held the cell phone against her ear, nodding as she walked.
"Hai... Sayoko Kurumi desu... Eeto..." she paused, clenching her fist. "This isn't some sort of a prank call is it? If it is, let me tell ya buddy, that you're in for a world of pain..."
She perked up, surprised.
"O-Oh! Nick-kun!"
She smiled brightly.
"Gomen, gomen. I didn't recognize you for a moment there... So-so... How are you? Yes... Yuki-chan and the others are with me... Yuki-chan's trying to write a letter and..."
She stopped dead in her tracks.
"What was that? 'Come to the MAHO-dou immediately'? Majorika DOES know we have lives, right? It's urgent? Why, Nick-kun? You sound so tense... Did something happen?"
She blinked twice, frowning.
"I-I'm sorry... What was that?"
Silence.
"...Nick-kun?"
More silence.
"N-Nick-kun! Answer me! What happened?!"
Her eyes widened in disbelief, and the cell phone slipped out of her hand, falling to the floor as she just stood there, feeling like a part of her world was destroyed.
"...Momo-chan..."
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End Call
1:05 minutes
"Kurumi-chan! There you are!"
The model stayed oblivious to the sound of her name as she sat there in shock, her brown eyes blank from the information she was just told.
Yuki ran up to her, resting her hands on Kurumi's shoulders. "Hey... What's with the look, Kurumi-chan? You look like someone just died!"
Her look-alike nearly choked at the irony.
"K-Kurumi-chan...?"
"Hey Yuki-chan... She alright?"
"I don't know Moriko-chan... She's been standing there for a while..." Yuki answered, turning to the approaching Moriko with Akemi in tow. "Maybe it was that phone call... Hey, Kurumi-chan!!"
She waved her hand in front of the gray witch's eyes.
"Yoohoo! Snap out of it!"
Kurumi flinched, blinking before staring at the black witch in confusion.
"Yuki-chan..."
"Welcome back, sleeping beauty!" she greeted, with a cheerfulness that only brought tears to her eyes, surprising her. "W-Whoa! Sorry if I said anything bad, Kurumi-chan! I just thought..."
She was cut off when the girl she'd been talking to jumped up and buried her face in the black witch's shoulder, sobbing.
"K-Kurumi-chan?" Yuki wondered as she awkwardly patted the model's back in an attempt to comfort her. "K-Kurumi-chan... What's wrong? Was what I said that terrible?"
The model shook her head, still sniffling as her tears damped her look-alike's pink blouse.
"I-It's... Momo-chan..."
"Momo-chan?" Yuki repeated in confusion as she gave Kurumi a comforting hug. "What's this about Momo-chan?"
Akemi instantly perked up, her sapphire eyes widening.
Nick-kun...
"S-She... S-She's..."
"Spit it out, Kurumi-chan!!" the black witch ordered, gently grasping her shoulders. "What happened to Momo-chan?!"
Kurumi blinked, tears still flowing from her eyes as she sighed heavily.
"She's... She's dead, Yuki-chan. Someone killed her."
Yuki's eyes widened in pure shock, Moriko holding the same expression. Akemi just turned blank, tears forming in her eyes as well.
"Oh... my god," was all Yuki could say. Kurumi frowned, her arms jolting around Yuki's neck.
"I'm so sorry... Nick-kun wanted us all to come to the MAHO-dou... And..."
Her look-alike simply returned the embrace, tears slowly trickling down her cheeks.
"We... We better hurry..."
Moriko quickly nodded, and looked over at Akemi, who returned the teary-eyed glance.
Nick-kun... she thought quietly, her fists clenching.
Yuki on the other hand, just sighed, her hands clenching into fists.
Dear Saiki-kun,
One of my best friends was just murdered...
...And I swear to god, I'll find out who did it.
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"N-Nick-kun?"
Akemi's voice shook as she was the first to come in the MAHO-dou, the others following close behind.
"It looks like a twister hit it..." Moriko noted, walking up by Akemi's side. "Looks like they just left... Damn, we really need to work on our timing."
Yuki looked around, frowning. "While we're here... We might as well investigate." Kurumi lightly nodded, still a bit shaky.
"Y-Yes..."
Akemi walked about, glancing at just about everything. What on earth is that awful stench? She held her nose, feeling sickened by the raw smell that lingered around the area she was entering. She looked ahead, noticing it came from the back door, and opened it...
...Only to instantly scream at what she saw.
Moriko was the first to snap up and rush to the crystal witch. "A-Akemi-chan?!" She looked ahead and her eyes went wide at what she realized Akemi had screamed about.
In front of them was a trail of blood that ended in a rather odd shape... Still, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what this was.
Yuki and Kurumi stumbled in, both lightly gasping at the sight. Akemi's eyes filled with tears as Moriko held her ever so gently, stroking her twinkling crystal hair.
"This must of been where Momo-chan was killed..." the black witch muttered, feeling sick to her stomach as she walked closer. "The murderer did quite a number on her... She must of died from the blood lost..."
Getting down, she placed her hand over it, frowning at the bright red stain it left.
"It wasn't too long ago... An hour... Maybe?"
"Well, this isn't 'Law and Order'..." Kurumi joked half-heartedly. "If we saw Momo-chan's body.. We might be able to get more clues, though..."
Yuki just shivered at the thought and continued looking around.
"If we knew what wounds there were... The most we would be able to figure is what she was killed with..."
She stopped when she saw a slash in the wall, her eyes widened. "I think I just found something, guys!"
"Huh?" Kurumi looked at the wall, blinking. "Well... She certainly wasn't killed with a knife... Those are claw marks..."
"So what? She was killed by a wild animal?" Moriko wondered, still holding Akemi. "But that's so... unlikely."
"Well it looks like it, only... Oh look!" Yuki held out a ripped piece of cloth. "Someone ripped their pants!"
This wasn't the time to joke, but Kurumi seemed surprised at this.
"But... How on earth could a human cause that?!"
Akemi's eyes instantly widened in horror.
It can't be...
"Say... This sounds familiar to this horror story Saiki-kun once told me..." Yuki noted, remembering one of the chilling tales her boyfriend relayed to her because she had betted they weren't very scary. "A curse... That causes a person's eyes to glow red... And to get sharp claws... Maybe that's what this is..."
If there wasn't proof in front of her, Moriko would of just pushed it off, saying it was the stupidest thing she ever heard, but in this case...
"So... What can we do?" she asked, her voice shaking.
"For now... We'll have to go find Nick-kun... Knowing him, he probably had Momo-chan's body buried in the cemetery on the other side of town..." Yuki sighed, stumbling forward.
"Come now... We need to pay our last wishes to Momo-chan..."
Akemi nodded, separating herself from Moriko, putting her hands together in a prayer.
Dear God... Please keep Momo-chan safe... And... Let me... do my best...
She let out her breath, shutting her eyes tightly.
...To bring Nick-kun happiness. And... to stop this madness...
Fighting is wrong... And after all...
Everyone deserves second chances, right?
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Next time:
Phase 3: The Grace of an Angel
While still trying to solve this mystery, Akemi approaches Nick to offer her words of kindness... even when she knows he probably won't accept them...
