Disclaimer: AIR and Kanon are properties of Key Visual Arts. No infringement is intended by this work of fanfiction.


Winter: The Kitsune and the Healer

Morning came, and Yukito felt enlightened about the dream he had during the previous night. If Alan was to be trusted, and Yukito felt that he could be trusted, then helping Ayu would be the logical first step in getting Misuzu back. He didn't know how exactly though, so he decided to place his trust in Alan. Besides, he couldn't do anything else anyway. Now that he had learned about the mission he was on, if Ayu was indeed, a descendant of the winged ones, then he would be obliged by his ancestors to help her out. The problem was that he didn't know what Ayu's condition was at this time.

Thus, when Yukito was performing his morning ablutions, when Yuuichi barged in the bathroom without knocking by mistake, Yukito decided to confront him.

"Yuuichi. I need to know what exactly Ayu's condition is in, so that I'll have a general idea about the situation."

"I'll take you to the hospital today, so you'll see her with your own eyes. But we let'have an appointment with Alan today. He'll tell us more things that we may need to know. If there is information that is currently useful anyway," snorted Yuuichi.

Apparently, Yuuichi didn't see how Yukito would be able to help Ayu out. It was a good thing for the two of them that Alan brought them together. Alone, they were helpless. Together, they had a shot at solving their respective problems.

"Yuuichi! Yukito-san! Breakfast is ready!" called Akiko-san from the dining room.

The two of them proceeded downstairs; Yukito in particular was ravenous, his body having been purged of any remnants of nutrition thanks to Akiko-san's ultimate jam.

"Hey Yuuichi, how come a cook as wonderful as Akiko-san can make such… unique jam?"

"Beats me. Best we not bring it up if we want anything to remain in our stomachs," replied Yuuichi as they both went downstairs.

When they arrived downstairs, they saw Akiko-san serving the morning's breakfast. They were having bacon, eggs, and toast, American style. Yuuichi raised an eyebrow and vaguely wondered when exactly they got bacon. As if Akiko-san read his mind, she said,

"I bought some bacon yesterday while you all were taking a bath and resting. I thought that you guys would like an American breakfast every now and then."

Seated at the table was Nayuki, who was incredibly still sleeping while she sat holding her knife and fork, her feeble attempts to slice the bacon failing badly. Yukito noticed this and said,

"How the hell is she able to even try to slice the bacon while she's asleep?"

"It's her special talent. I wouldn't be surprised if she sleepwalks to her track team's practice. She almost sleepwalked to school once," replied Yuuichi. "She really just isn't a morning person, that's all."

The two of them and Akiko-san sat down at the table.

"Itadakimasu!" they said in unison.

"Itaaaa… dakiiii… masu…" said Nayuki, yawning loudly.

"Oi, Nayuki, wake up. It's rude to sleep at the dining table," scolded Yuuichi.

She didn't budge, and Yuuichi pinched Nayuki's nose. She seemed to suddenly snap out of her reverie, and she said,

"Good morning everyone."

Yukito and Yuuichi both facefaulted simultaneously, while Akiko-san chuckled at the sight.

"Just try not to sleep at the table!" exclaimed Yuuichi. "You've still got practice later; you can't be sleeping on the way there."

"That's some talent you got there," quipped Yukito. "Oh, Akiko-san, thank you for the clothing."

"It's no problem, Yukito-san," said Akiko-san.

Nayuki just raised her eyebrows and she began to eat her breakfast. The others followed suit. After a while, they were full, and Nayuki excused herself from the table so that she could help her mother clean up the place, and so she could get dressed for her track practice. The two men decided to tell Akiko-san that they'd be both going out, as they were scheduled to meet Alan at ten in the morning. It was already nine thirty when they left the Minase household.

"Does she really have track practice even in this weather? Even during winter break?" asked Yukito as they walked towards the shopping district.

"Yeah, but at least they have it indoors," replied Yuuichi. "We'll be meeting Alan by the department store where we bought your stuff yesterday. It's half an hour until ten, so let's take our time and let me tell you another story. If you're wondering why I'm doing this, it's because Alan told me to."

"And do you know exactly why this would help?"

"Not really, but he said that eventually, the two of us will understand. Anyway, there's this other girl I met, a girl with supernatural powers to, as she first told me, to 'slay demons.'"


Mai Kawasumi. A silent girl who I met one night when I had left Nayuki's notebook in our classroom. I went back to school to get the notebook, and when I reached our classroom's corridor, there she was, standing by the windowsill, looking outdoors. What surprised me the most was that she was holding a thin bladed sword in her right hand. It appeared to be a rapier, but I wasn't so sure, as my knowledge of swords was, to say the least, extremely minimal.

Without warning, she ran towards me, the sword out of its scabbard. I dodged out of her way, and I heard the blade of the sword slash through the air.

"Hey, wait. What was that all about?" I called.

She ignored me and she resumed walking. I had to find out what the hell was going on here.

"I said wait!" I shouted.

She stopped and turned in my direction.

"I am a demon hunter."

And she left without another word. After school the next day, I unconsciously passed by the same corridor and saw her standing there, staring out the windows like the previous night.

"Yo. We met here last night right? Mind telling me what you're doing with that dangerous thing? What's a demon?"

No response.

"Could you at least answer one question? A yes or no will do."

"Yes," she replied.

I didn't think she'd really say it, but she said yes just for the hell of saying it.

"Mai! I'm sorry!" called out a voice.

A girl approached us. Apparently, she was Sayuri Kurata, Mai's best friend. Nayuki bumped into them both the other day, and that was how I learned what their names were.

"Oh? Hello. Were you speaking with Mai?"

"Yes. We were just chatting," I replied.

"Talking with Mai? Hmm… Would you like to join us for lunch?" asked Sayuri.

"Eh?" I managed.

The next thing I knew, we were at the stairwell where I found a picnic blanket the other day. Ah, so it's these two who eat here.

Ever since that day, I always ate lunch with both Mai and Sayuri. I discovered that Sayuri didn't know anything about Mai's nighttime activities. One day, Sayuri told me that Mai got called to the Student Council room.

"Mai has a history of breaking windows here in the school," said Sayuri. "She would never tell me why whenever I asked. It started way back in freshman year. Ever since then, whenever something similar happened, the teachers would always suspect Mai. But this time, I think that she's innocent."

Mai then came out of the office.

"Mai, what happened?" asked Sayuri.

"I got yelled at," she said, deadpan. "Nothing else."

We had lunch that day, and it got me thinking on how I could repair Mai's PR with the rest of the school. Then later that day, Nayuki pointed out to me a poster for the school's dance festival, and I thought that I should take Mai along with me. That night, I went back to the school and found Mai at the same place as before.

"Can't you tell me about it now? Why are you fighting alone?"

"I don't think you would believe me if I told you," she replied tonelessly.

"Sayuri would," I pointed out.

"I don't want her to worry needlessly about me."

She told me about the demons, that they were after her and that she had to kill them so that the school wouldn't suffer any more damage from them.

"Why are the demons after you?"

"I don't know," she replied.

"Will you find out after killing them?"

"Maybe. What about her?" she asked.

Her? Oh right, I told her about Makoto some time ago, and Makoto followed me to school at this time once.

"You may not believe me, but then again, you probably would… Makoto… She's actually a fox I had taken care of seven years ago. I found the fox on Monomi Hill, injured. So I took her home with me and cared for her while hiding her from the rest of the people at the house. On the day I left this city seven years ago, I released her into the wild. When I first came back to this city some time ago, I met her. She told me that she had a grudge against me, but she didn't remember anything else aside from that, with the exception of her name. She moved in with us, but shortly after that, she fell ill. Then I met a girl at this school, Mishio Amano. She told me about the truth behind Makoto's illness; that she was a fox who induced a miracle by giving up her memories so that she could shapeshift into a human. Her illness was actually her dwindling life force. It took most of her life force to sustain her human body, and her motor and communication skills suffered. But, her affection for me was such that she fought the illness with all her might, until a few days ago. I honored her last wish, that she wanted to get married to me. We went to the top of Monomi Hill, and we promised that we'd stay with each other forever. That same day, she left me. She disappeared, her vitality all gone. I don't know if she's dead or if she turned back into a fox, but regardless, I regret losing her."

I nearly broke down, when I heard Mai say something.

"I see. I think that you'll see her again soon."

I did a double take at that, but otherwise, I didn't show any other signs of hope.

"Mai, don't forget, we're going to the dance festival in a few days. Don't forget to borrow the dress from Sayuri, all right?"

"Understood."

However, things did not go as smoothly as I planned them. During the dance festival, demons attacked the place, and Sayuri was injured. Mai fought the demons with her sword, but of course, only the two of us knew anything about the demons to begin with. As a result, she was interrogated by the Student Council on the next day. The Student Council President had been showing signs of actively wanting to have her expelled, and I stepped into the matter, showing up at the Student Council room.

"Who are you? Regular students aren't allowed in here," snapped the President.

"Kawasumi-san's antics last night were all a sideshow," I invented wildly. "She demonstrated her sword dance for the entertainment of the guests last night. She went a little overboard, but I assure you, she did not mean any harm. She wouldn't hurt her best friend Sayuri-san," I said, pointing at Sayuri who was standing beside me.

"I never saw that on the program," the President retorted. "None of the committee members here remember being informed about a sword dance being on the program."

The Student Council President had a smug look on his face, when the unlikeliest of people saved our asses.

"Sorry about that! I knew," said a voice.

Into the room stepped Kitagawa.

"As the person in charge, I asked Kawasumi-san to do it. It was my fault that it wasn't printed on the program."

The President was taken aback, and both Sayuri and I calmly left the room. Kitagawa followed, and we thanked him for his help.

Later that day, I decided to practice kendo, so that I could help Mai eradicate the demons from the school. Mai saw me in the courtyard and she told me that she would train me.

Rather, she ended up kicking my ass. But at least it was a start. That night, I went over to school again, and some demons showed up. After repelling them, Mai startled me with something that she said.

"You."

"Pardon?" I asked, nonplussed.

"The demons aren't after me. They're after you."

Tragedy struck on Mai's birthday, which was a few days after she revealed that the demons were after me. Sayuri went to school late at night, to give Mai the present that we had both purchased for her. It was bad luck that Sayuri and I missed each other, as we were planning to meet so that we could give Mai he gift, I left ten minutes earlier, and as a result, Sayuri went to the school alone.

When I found her, I was too late. She was bloody, sprawled onto the bathroom floor.

"Sayuri!" I called out of desperation.

I heard loud footsteps behind me, and when I turned, I saw Mai running as fast as she could. When she saw what had happened to Sayuri, she was, in a word, shocked. She suddenly crumpled onto the floor and she began to cry. I called the hospital and an ambulance took the three of us there.

It turned out that Sayuri would be fine if she stayed in the hospital for a while. When Mai and I left, she was in so much despair that she tried to kill herself with the sword. Thankfully, I was able to stop her by telling her, her crying face in my hands,

"What would happen after hurting yourself!? You'll only lose everything! Do you want to lose all the memories that Sayuri-san and I made with you? Do you want to lose us? Do you want us to lose you!?"

"N-no, I don't want to lose them," she mumbled, tears streaming down her face.

I hugged her for a while until she calmed down. When she did, I said,

"Mai. Let's finish this tonight, so that no one else would get hurt."

We went back to the school and defeated the demons that were there. Then we rested in the classroom, and she said that she was hungry. I went out and bought beef bowls for us, but when I came back…

"Mai, I'm back!"

No answer. She was gone from the classroom we were resting in minutes ago. I put two and two together.

"Dammit! She lied to get me out of here. That means there's still one more demon!"

I dropped the food I had bought and I raced out into the hallway. I ran headlong into an invisible force, and I fell onto the ground. I felt like I had been punched in the gut, and I doubled over in pain.

"You're the demon aren't you?" I coughed out. "What do you want? Why are you troubling us? Tell me!"

And then something strange happened. The next thing I knew, I was in a cornfield. I saw two children playing, a girl and a boy. The girl had a pair of bunny ears on while they were running around the field.

Then I was in the hospital I was just in an hour ago. I saw the little girl at the bedside of her sick mother. The doctors were all saying that the mother would die. I got a closer look at the girl and saw that it was a younger Mai Kawasumi. She didn't care; she just held onto her mother's hand.

"Please… Don't let Mommy die," she tearfully said.

To everyone's surprise, her mother, who was about to flatline on the ECG, had a heartbeat reading. It began to fluctuate, then it stabilized. She opened her eyes and saw her own daughter at what would have been her deathbed.

Next, I found myself on the set of a variety show. The host was pointing to an injured bird in a box. Out came Mai, and she was told to hold the bird. Mai obliged and cried while doing it. To everyone's surprise, the bird, whose left wing was broken, suddenly flew out of her hand.

I saw Mai had become shunned by society due to her healing powers. Their house being pelted by stones and vandalized by those who were afraid of her. I saw them on a train, moving away from their town.

"He'll be here soon," said a voice.

"Who?" asked Mai.

"Someone who will accept you for who you are, regardless of your powers," replied the voice.

I didn't know who the voice was, and when I gazed upon the scene, I saw Mai lying down in the same cornfield I saw earlier.

"He won't be scared of me?"

"No, he won't be scared, because he's a strong boy."

At that precise moment, a boy ran across the field towards her direction. He nearly tripped over Mai, and when I saw the boy's face, I was shocked.

I saw a younger Yuuichi Aizawa.

"Hey, did you come to play?" asked Mai.

"No, I'm lost," said my younger self. "Hey, let's play hide and seek!"

The two children began to play, and I heard myself call out,

"Mai, you're so small, I can't see you!"

The scene shifted, and I saw the two of them playing hide and seek again. However, I saw Mai had a pair of bunny ears on her head.

"A handicap. So I'll be able to tag you," said my younger self.

Another shift and Mai was talking to me, showing my younger self a dead flower. In no time at all, the dead flower was alive again.

"Wow, that's cool!" said my younger self.

"Because of this power, Mommy and I couldn't stay in the town we used to live in."

"But wasn't it because of that that you were able to heal your mother? I'm sure you'll like that power someday."

The scene changed, and Mai was on the phone screaming loudly,

"They're coming to destroy the place where we play. I can't protect it alone. I need you!"

Suddenly, time seemed to go faster. The cornfield was gone, it was now replaced by structures being built. Mai was in a sailor uniform now, looking at the structures being built.

"I'll protect it alone. Come back someday, Yuuichi."

And as suddenly as these scenes unfolded in my head, I was back in the hallway. How could I have forgotten that I met Mai when I was younger… I went back to the classroom, and found Mai there.

"Get out, Yuuichi. I'm injured, so I can't protect you," she said.

"Mai, there are no demons. Those were your healing powers, manifesting themselves physically. That's exactly why you got hurt everytime you struck one of them down. You were attacking a part of you. When you were little, you lied to me that demons were coming to destroy the field where we played in. When I didn't come back for seven years, you tried to believe in the lie that you told me," I rattled off.

"You ran away from me because you were scared of me," she simply replied.

"Idiot! I had to go home because summer vacation ended. I came back to the field the next year, but I couldn't find you. Enough of this. Starting today, you'll be like the Mai you once were. Accept your powers, and this battle will end. That's what the demons, or rather, your powers wanted to tell me. Smile like you used to, Mai."

"I'll become weak if I let go of this sword. So…"

And to my complete and utter surprise, she inverted the sword and ran it through herself. I rushed over to her as she crumpled on the floor.

"Mai! Mai! Don't die on me!"

"Yuuichi. Thanks for coming," said a voice.

I looked up and saw the younger Mai. The manifestation of her powers.

"I'm sorry I'm late," I said, tears streaming down my face onto Mai's (the one in my arms) body.

"It's fine. Better late than never. You won't leave me this time?"

"Yeah, since we're friends," I replied. "I won't be afraid of you. Don't worry."

I stared down at Mai's body and I noticed that the stab wound that was bleeding profusely until a moment ago was totally gone.

"I think she can accept me now," said the younger Mai, gesturing at her older body.

"I'm a manifestation of her powers, but please call me 'Hope'," she said, as she disappeared.

Mai began to stir in my arms, and I said,

"Wake up Mai. Your long dream is over."

She rubbed her eyes and said,

"I'm glad."


"That was a pretty long story. So why haven't you asked Mai to heal Ayu yet?" asked Yukito.

The two of them were already at the meeting place. It was five minutes to ten in the morning, and Alan hadn't arrived yet.

"We already tried, but something was blocking her powers from achieving their full potential on Ayu. Alan said that you would be able to help," said Yuuichi.

Indeed, I could be able to help, if Uraha and Ryuya were right. I have to confirm first though, if she's really descended from the winged ones.

"Hey guys, thanks for coming," said a voice from the department store entrance.

It was Alan.

"So we're here, now what do we do today?" asked Yukito.

"Just a second Yukito. Yuuichi, someone's here to meet you. She said she could help Ayu as well," said Alan.

"Huh? Who?" asked Yuuichi, evidently confused. "I thought Yukito was the one who could help me?"

"I'll explain later, she's already excited to meet you," replied Alan.

"Hey Alan, you said I could meet him! Where is he anyway? Auu~," said a voice from behind Alan. "Oh there he is!"

The owner of that voice suddenly stepped from behind Alan. An orange haired girl with pigtails appeared. She was wearing a denim jacket, and snow boots.

Yuuichi's jaw dropped in shock.

"N-No… It can't be… I thought I had lost you…"

"Aww Yuuichi, come on! Didn't we promise each other we'd be together? For better or for worse?" said the girl as she leaped at Yuuichi.

Yukito watched as the two hugged each other for a minute, and then they broke apart.

"Hey Yuuichi, who's that?" asked Yukito.

"You idiot, weren't you paying attention earlier? This is Makoto. Makoto Sawatari. I don't know how, but she's alive," said Yuuichi, tears streaming down his face.


A/N: Phew, long chapter. Please continue to read and review. I finally got one, thanks! :D