Alright, so here's yet another chapter of my story. This one was just written last summer, so I hope you enjoy. I'm sure you'll notice the slight improvement in my writing between the first two chapters and this one. Please let me know what you think! ^^
Disclaimer: I don't own Prétear in any way, shape, or form, the only thing that I own are my OCs as well as the ideas for this story!
A Few Years Later
Shizuka quickly dodged the on coming attack, her blade tightly clenched in her right hand. She had gotten used to the weight of it, now able to easily wield the sword with a single hand. Her eyes narrowed as her opponent suddenly appeared at her side, their blade coming quickly toward her abdomen. She roughly blocked the attack, using the force to jump high into the air, doing a quick summersault before bringing her sword toward their head. Her first attack was easily blocked, although when she landed and brought her sword back around, she managed to lay a hit, a long gash being created on their arm.
"Good work," Hayate stated, "that's enough training for today Shizuka, I don't think your Mother approves of you hurting me," he nodded behind her and she turned, sighing as she noticed the anxious expression on Himeno's face.
"Mother-." She started, knowing full well that she would be quickly interrupted and was.
"You shouldn't be hurting your guardian, Shizuka! You may be seven years old now but that still doesn't mean you can spill someone's blood! It's wrong; promise me that you'll never do it again!"
"Oh Himeno," Mannen began, "don't be mean to her, it's not like she really hurt him that much, besides, how do you expect her to get any better if she can't even lay a hit on him?"
"She never made Yasashii bleed when she trained with him," Himeno retorted, "so why does she have to make Hayate bleed to get better?"
"Maybe 'cause that Yasashii guy was a wimp and she knew it," Hajime joked and Mannen snickered, both receiving rough slaps on the back of the head.
"Oh come on Himeno, stop being so protective, you know she's not going to be a little kid forever, she's gonna grow up and be strong, just like you were when we first met you," Mannen sighed.
"I was fourteen when I met you guys, she's not even close to being that age, stop trying to make her grow up faster than she's supposed to be," she demanded.
"Mother," Shizuka repeated, "they're not making me grow up any faster than I was before, if
anything they're making me realize how much fun it is to be young. I love being able to hang around Mannen and the others, they make me feel like I really have some friends. This training isn't making me feel any older; it's just letting me know that I can protect myself if I were to be attacked."
Kanzen came behind Himeno, gently wrapping his arms around her waste. "You know she's right honey, being able to train gives her the strength to keep herself safe and the plus side is she enjoys it and can now fully enjoy her childhood with Mannen, Hajime, and Shin."
"Alright," Himeno sighed, "I give up, there's no arguing with you guys. Oh…" she gave Shizuka a kinder look, "I should probably tell you…you're going to have a little brother or sister soon."
Shizuka froze, staring at her mother in surprise. "I-I'm going to have a sibling…? But Mother…we didn't need anyone else in our family, why…?" her body was trembling slightly, but she quickly got in control of herself, her eyes becoming emotionless as her body became still again. "Sorry about my first response, it's great that I'm going to have a sibling, when will we be getting him or her?"
"Not long now," Himeno stated, rubbing her overgrown stomach, "maybe a week or so, possibly less, possibly more."
"I see, well, that's great…oh, Mother, I'll be home late this Friday, I have an after school activity."
"Well, I'm sure you'll be alright coming home on your own, but if you want I can get one of the others to meet you at school. What time will you be done?"
"I'm not sure, all I know is that I should be home by sunset."
"That late? What kind of after school activity is this?"
"Just a meeting of clubs, nothing important, but I have to be there, the others insisted."
"Oh, did you finally make some friends at school?" Himeno's voice was hopeful, but as her daughter's expression didn't change, she became doubtful again.
"No, I haven't, they probably just want me there so they can b- well, so they can have someone to complain to. As I said, it's noting important so don't worry about it, alright? No one has to meet me, and if I don't get home that night don't worry or send someone after me, it just means that we stayed the night at school."
"Shizuka, if this was serious, you'd let us know, wouldn't you?"Kanzen questioned what the others were wondering. "You wouldn't just be going there so those people can beat you up, are you?"
"Of course not Father, don't worry about it," she stated dryly, sheathing her sword as she walked away from them, toward the stone benches in their large yard. She laid down on one of the cold benches, sighing slightly as she closed her eyes, placing an arm over them.
"You were lying to them, weren't you?" Sasame's kind voice came suddenly, though she had already sensed his presence before hand.
"Perhaps I was, but it won't matter," she replied, voice still holding little to no emotion. "They're going to have another child, which means that you guys will be their guardians as well…I won't be able to hang around you as much anymore."
"Is that really all you're worried about?" his voice was so warm and kind, it was so strange how much it could sooth Shizuka's mind.
"It might be, but it might not. I don't really know myself right now," she sighed lightly. She felt Sasame sit down beside her head, his arms gently wrapping around her abdomen, carefully moving her so that her head was resting on his lap.
"So you don't even know what your mind and heart is trying to tell you, huh? You can tell me anything you want, and it will just be between you and me. I won't tell anyone else what you've told me, no matter who that person may be. You can trust me, Shizuka, you know that."
"Yeah, I know…" she sighed faintly. "Well…it is mostly the fact that you guys won't be around me anymore…but it's also the fact that I'll be their older sibling…"
"What do you mean…? The teachers didn't treat you any differently, did they?"
"They did, actually…everyone was scared of me, I tried asking them why, they always said that they
didn't know, there was just something about me that bothered them. If people find out that I have a brother or sister, they might treat them the same way, they could get bullied…"
"I see…so you're worried about their wellbeing, there's nothing wrong with that," Sasame's voice continued to work it's magic, causing Shizuka to feel comfortable enough to open her eyes, looking straight into the gentle grey ones that belonged to her guardian.
"No, there's nothing wrong with that, but if they get hurt at school, if they get bullied and ignored, it will all be my fault…"
"You won't know that unless it happens," he assured her, gently stroking her hair. "Don't worry about that right now, Shizuka, it will be four years yet before your little brother or sister will be starting school."
"I know…and I'll try not to think about it. Thanks Sasame, for always being here for me…" she hugged him gently before sitting up. "Well, guess I should try and find something to do now, it's almost time for me to go to bed. Don't want to waste the rest of the day before school. I'll see you later Sasame, and thanks again." She jumped up, her shoulder length hair moving swiftly from the quick movement.
"Alright, and no need to thank me," he smiled, watching as she ran over to Mannen and Hajime. His smile faded as he felt the familiar presence of a fellow Leafe Knight. "You heard everything, didn't you? Are you really that concerned about her, to eavesdrop?"
Hayate sighed, sitting down beside Sasame. "You're the only one she can open up to, thanks to that voice of yours. It was the only way for me to find out what was bothering her."
"You know you can't let her know you've learned what's on her mind, I promised not to tell anyone and she would have been able to feel your presence had you been any closer."
"I know that…but something I don't get…is why those people fear her. If something about her bothers them, it must have something to do with her aura, or even just the way she's so secluded, even because she's so much more knowledgeable."
"I get where you're coming from, Hayate, but we can't just go to her school and ask her classmates and teachers what it is."
"That may be true, but I'm going to watch over her on Friday, I want to know what's going to happen at school that night."
"I'd have to agree, maybe we should bring everyone along, just incase."
"You don't think I'd be able to deal with things on my own?"
"It would be horrible if you made the mistake of revealing your ability to Shizuka before Himeno wants you to, now wouldn't it? Then we'd have to deal with them both."
Sighing, Hayate gave in, "alright, all of you can come with me, but we'll have to be careful."
"Aren't we always?"
That Friday, Awayuki Mansion
"Oh my god…" Himeno's eyes widened and she looked quickly over to the eight males sitting around her. "I-I think my water just broke."
"Ew," Mannen made a face, "wait…that means you're gonna have the baby soon, right?"
"Kanzen, hurry and get the car, we'll get Himeno ready for you," Goh commanded, shoving Kanzen toward the door.
Hayate and Sasame were at Himeno's side in a heartbeat, each gently putting their arms around her for support, helping her toward the door. "Mannen, Hajime, Shin, go get her suitcase, it's right near the door to her room. Hurry!" Hayate demanded, he and Sasame vanishing with Himeno.
"Of course, we have to do the lame part of the whole thing," Mannen complained. "C'mon Hajime, Shin, let's get it and hurry to the car."
It only took them a second to grab the suitcase, appearing beside the car where Goh, Sasame,
Hayate, Kanzen, and Himeno were waiting; Himeno breathing heavily. "Put it in the trunk and hop in already!" Goh ordered and the three quickly obeyed, Kanzen quickly putting the car in drive, speeding out of the Awayuki property.
"I'm here…" Shizuka walked into the gym, a teenager closing and locking the door behind her. "You all want to beat me up before my fight with 'the master' don't you? That's why you called me here…What is it about me that bothers you all so much?"
"Can't you guess?" one of the males spat, "your aura, there's something too weird about it, you're too weird. You're only seven years old and you're going to challenge the master, you think you're all powerful, don't you? There's no chance that you'll ever be able to beat him, you're still just a child. We're just going to prove to you how pathetic you really are."
The doors to the gym burst open, Yasashii panting slightly from within the doorway. "You guys are keeping Shizuka from her match, you can deal with her after, these are specific orders from my brother. Everyone stand down until he's had his way with her."
"Looks like you're lucky, you get to have the battle first before getting beaten up with us," one of the other males smirked slightly. "This should be fun."
The group went outside, being lead by Shizuka and Yasashii. The male from before stood awaiting them, his broad sword unsheathed and reflecting the beautiful glow of the night's full moon. He glanced over, smirking as he noticed Shizuka's eyes narrow faintly. "You've come, I'm surprised and rather honored. Young Shizuka, my challenger, if you win, I shall tell you my name, and you shall be the youngest known swords master to ever live."
"I'm not doing this for your title, you know that," she stated, voice holding no emotion as she unsheathed her sword, holding it confidently in her right hand. "Are you ready?"
"Heh…so you can already hold it with a single hand, I must say, I'm very impressed," he moved into a fighting position, the blade clamped in his two hands. "Begin when ready, child."
"You'll regret giving me this opportunity." She ran forward, smashing her blade roughly against his, forcing him back. Easily moving his blade, she slashed at his abdomen but he managed to recover faster than she had thought. He smashed the hilt of his blade into her stomach, quickly slashing her abdomen right after, kicking the wound roughly.
"You've become stronger, but I doubt it's enough to beat me," he smirked, charging at her, blade at the ready.
"Being cocky, are we?" she was suddenly behind him, slashing his back before kicking him roughly. He fell to the ground, coughing slightly. "Are you done already?"
"I-I've never been slashed before…it hurts…" he gasped, clawing at the ground. "I-it hurts…"
Shizuka stared down at him blankly, "I've won, stand and tell me your name, I'll help you…"
"N-no, stay the hell away from me! You monster…" he quickly stood up, slashing her across the face. "I'm not telling you my name, not ever! You're just…you're evil, that's what you are! I remember my parents telling me that evil has a specific aura and we can even sense it, so you must be evil… Stay away from me!" He slashed at her again, but she blocked him easily, glancing around her as the others began to surround them.
"You still have us to deal with," one of them growled, "leave him alone and go back to the gym unless you want the teachers to know what happened here."
Shizuka looked at each of their individual faces, most of them angered or frightened. She sheathed her sword and looked at the ground, heading back toward the school. She'd end up getting home later than originally planned, she could just hope that her parents wouldn't send the others after her.
The sudden crying of a baby broke the heavy silence that had been smothering them, Kanzen walking out of the room with a proud expression on his face. The seven males each gave him an anxious expression, wondering not only about the baby but if Himeno was alright as well.
"Alright, so Himeno's doing fine," Kanzen informed them, knowing that they wanted to know that before the gender of the baby. "And you're now the proud guardians of twin boys."
"Yeah! That's great, we'll have a couple of guys to teach some tricks to!" Mannen cheered. "And we can keep them from becoming depressed and so secluded like we couldn't do with Shizuka."
"We're hoping you can do it," Kanzen smiled down at him, gently ruffling his hair. "You'll have to wait a couple of years for that though, and you can see the babies in a few minutes, Himeno wanted some time alone with them first. If you would excuse me, I'm going to call home and see how Shizuka's doing."
"Twin boys, that's awesome," Goh laughed, "we can teach them how to be young knights, kind of like what you've been doing to Shizuka, Hayate, except we can all train them and not worry about them getting hurt."
"I'm sure we'd all be able to train Shizuka without worrying about it too," Kei reminded them, "women can be stronger than men at times, so don't think so poorly of her, especially since she needs us so much."
"Yeah, but Kei, Shizuka's just a girl, too young to be trained with all of our strength, we could end up hurting her really bad and then Himeno would be mad at us. Girls cry more than boys do when it comes to pain," Hajime stated.
"That may be true, but they can deal with more pain than boys can," he retorted, voice holding light annoyance. "You're too young to fully understand what I'm talking about anyway, just forget about it for now."
Kanzen slowly walked over to them, worry clear in his eyes, "guys…the maid said that Shizuka hadn't returned home yet, she said that she hadn't even called. I'm worried about her…she said not to send anyone after her, that if she didn't come back home tonight it just meant that they were sleeping over at the school, but…"
The group froze, giving each other nervous expressions. "Damn," Hayate muttered, "Sasame, come with me, everyone else stay here and don't let Himeno know anything, we're going to check on Shizuka."
"Right," they nodded slowly, looking over the room Himeno was in. It shouldn't be too hard to keep her off the topic of Shizuka; after all she did just have two more kids. They would be able to keep her talking about their names and what she had planned for the two until Hayate and Sasame returned. Who were they kidding? Himeno wasn't that easy to fool, she'd know something was wrong the moment they changed the subject.
"We'll try not to take too long, so don't worry about anything," Sasame assured them before he and Hayate left the hospital, quickly running in the direction of the school
The doors to the gym burst open, the two Leafé Knights stopping in their tracks as they took in the scene before them. Blood was all over the floor, a sheathed sword on the far side of the gym, someone laying in the middle of it, ropes tightly tied around her wrists, a handkerchief tied around her mouth. Her eyes were closed and she was silent, her chest moving slowly as she forced herself to breath.
"Shizuka!" The two yelled, running to her sides, the two knelt down beside her.
Sasame removed the handkerchief from her mouth as Hayate began untying her wrists. "Shizuka, what did they do to you…" he questioned her, his voice just as soothing as always.
"I fought with Yasashii-sensei's older brother…" she replied weakly, keeping her eyes closed. "I won…I won so easily and he called me a monster…said I was evil…the others that fight under him, they forced me to come here and took turns," she winced slightly as she moved, causing the large puddle of blood beneath her to grow even larger. "They took turns beating me up," she managed after a few seconds of trying to catch her breath.
"Dammit Shizuka, you shouldn't have come here," Hayate growled, his voice holding slight anger. "We have to get you to the hospital before you lose anymore blood."
"No…I can't, they won't…they won't help me anyway," she shook her head slowly, "just give me some bandages and I can deal with it."
"Shizuka, don't argue with us right now, you're hurt very bad and we need to get you help fast," Sasame tried to reason with her, his voice extremely calm and kind. "Please Shizuka…"
"No Sasame…" she forced herself up, wrapping an arm carefully around her abdomen, walking slowly toward the gym door. "I have to deal with it…on my…own…" her vision blurred and she fell forward, being gently caught by Hayate before hitting the ground. Her eyes closed slowly, her body becoming limp in his arms.
"I'm taking her home, Sasame, tell the others that she's fine, just sleeping," Hayate told him, voice strangely calm. "Go Sasame, Himeno can't know about this, not now that she's just had her babies."
"Alright," he sighed, "although if Shizuka ends up dying because we never took her to the hospital, it will be your fault."
The two nodded faintly to each other before vanishing to their separate duties.
Several Days Later…
Himeno yawned, rubbing her eyes as she walked toward Shizuka's room. Sasame suddenly blocked her path, forcing her to stop. "What's wrong, Sasame? Why won't you let me go to her room, and where's Hayate been? The two of you have been acting so weird lately. What's going on?"
"Nothing's going on Himeno, Shizuka's just tired and she asked us to keep you from waking her, that's all," he replied, voice steady and calm.
"Why do you have to have such a kind voice, damn, makes me want to trust nothing's going on," she sighed, "it's so hard to ever believe you're lying."
"That's because I'm not lying, Himeno, there's nothing to worry about so you might want to go help Kanzen with the others."
"Alright, fine, I'll leave Shizuka to you and Hayate, seeing as though I have no other choice." She turned, walking into the large kitchen, ducking as a pancake came flying toward her head. "Mannen, stop acting like a little kid, you and I both know that you're not!"
"Sorry Himeno, I must've missed," he called, his voice innocent.
Sasame sighed, walking over to stand beside the door to Shizuka's room. It had been nearly a week since they had just barely managed to save Shizuka's life and she still hadn't awakened. Lucky for them summer break had just started, giving them another reason as to why she needed the extra rest. He knew they couldn't keep Himeno from checking on her for much longer, the others didn't even know the truth behind what had happened that night. It wouldn't be long before one of them decided to check in as well.
Inside the room, Hayate was sitting beside Shizuka's bed, watching as she slept, her breathing jagged and weak. He had to change her bandages several times a day, causing him to wonder if he should actually take her to the hospital to see how she was doing. She was just a child, how could anyone treat her so horribly?
Shizuka stirred slightly, her eyes slowly opening. "Where…? Oh…home…I'm home…" she muttered, staring vacantly at the ceiling. Her vision finally began to become clearer, causing her to notice Hayate's anxious face staring down at her. "…Hayate…? Did I faint from blood loss yesterday? Is that what happened…? Who brought me back here…? Does-?"
"Quiet, you shouldn't be talking so much, you've been out for a really long time, Shizuka," his voice was surprisingly soft, causing her to automatically stop talking. "You've been unconscious for nearly a week, I've been taking care of you and Sasame has kept the others away. You're still badly hurt so don't try to move or anything yet. Are you thirsty?"
"A little…" she admitted, "but…I'm not sure if I can really drink anything right now…it hurts to even breathe."
"Then stop talking and go back to sleep, you need to heal as quickly as possible and in order for that to happen you need rest," he sighed. "Sasame and I will do the best we can to keep everyone away and ignorant to what happened that night, but you have to do your part too. Oh, I'll have some news for you once you're better too."
"What kind of news?"
"Get some sleep Shizuka, and you'll know soon enough."
"They were born the night I was attacked?" Shizuka stared at Hayate and Sasame with a slightly blank expression. "Well, at least there was a beautiful full moon."
"You'll probably remember what happened to you that day forever now that you know your brothers were born that day," Sasame sighed, "it's sad, to think that your siblings were born on a day that you were dealt so much damage."
"No, I think it's just about right, Sasame," she stated, "had they been born any other day, I would have been really surprised. I'm glad they were born that day, I'll be able to remember their birthday easily now."
"You turn even the worst situations into ones that seem so bright," he gave her a slightly sad look, "normally it would be a good thing, but in your case…"
"In my case all the worse situations happen to me and I don't seem to mind it too much, I just let everything pass me by. That's what you meant, right?" She gave him a light smile before getting out of bed, her smaller wounds were all healed, the more serious ones still stung her a bit, but they were healing at least. The scratch on her face was still there and more than likely would scar, giving her yet another reminder of what happened that day.
"You better go meet your brothers, you've been locked up in this room for two weeks now and they've yet to even hear your name," Hayate reminded her, opening the door. "I'll try to figure out some excuse as to why you have that scratch on your face."
"Thanks Hayate, Sasame, you two really are the best," she bowed slightly before walking out of her room and down the hall into the living room. "Morning Mother, Father, everyone."
"Morning Shizuka," Kei stated casually, sipping his coffee while the others stared at the seven year old in surprise.
"Shizuka!" Mannen ran over to her followed by Hajime and Shin, the three giving her a hug, "man, you've been in your room for such a long time, I didn't think you'd ever come out."
"Sorry for causing worry, I've been really tired," she gently hugged them back, smiling faintly.
"It's just good to have you around again," Goh smirked, ruffling her hair.
"It's good to be back around you guys," she admitted and knew it was true. Even though she had Hayate and Sasame with her those weeks she'd been stuck in bed, it was better being around all of them again.
"What happened to your face?" Himeno was staring at the long cut across her daughter's face. "Where did you get that?"
"Oh, this…?" Shizuka pointed to the cut, "it's nothing, I was just walking through the forest and a tree branch caught me. I wasn't paying attention, so don't get mad at nature, it was just minding it's own business when I came a long and mistakenly hit it with my face."
"Alright then…" she gave her a concerned look, soon sighing. "Well, you missed the birth of your brothers, Hakumei and Hinote."
"I heard, sorry for missing out, Mother."
"It's okay, it seems you really needed the rest, Shizuka, I'm glad you're okay now though."
"Yeah…so am I…"
