I really like this chapter, especially how I described the fight scene. If you watch episode 10 of Mekakucity Actors again you'll probably see what I did there XD By the way, I noticed that I didn't get any reviews for the last chapter. Reviews are just for my readers to tell me what they think of the chapter, not to "gain popularity" or anything. No reviews to me means that nobody liked the chapter enough to comment about it and let the author know, so I'm really worried that the last chapter didn't live up to your expectations and how much I loved it. So maybe give both this chapter and last chapter a review? Thank you :))))
The word "monster" has been said so many times around me that I've started to wonder if it's my actual name. Then again, the world hasn't been quite kind to me anyways.
I've been living on the streets since I can remember. I'm an orphan, and my childhood was quite rough. I was always alone.
There was one time where some adults caught me stealing things. They said I was a monster, over and over again, disrupting everyone's daily lives and that I should go die. Then, they threw a torch of fire in my direction. That left a big burn on my back. It never went away, not even after all these years. It constantly reminded me of the pain, and that day.
But a group of thirteen kids around my age came to save me. They all hated adults and had quite a pathetic look on life. We soon became a gang, AZAMI (named after me), with me as their boss. They did pretty much everything I said. I don't know why they stuck to me after all these years. But I finally had... Friends.
AZAMI consisted of 13 people, and we only referred to each other by code names. Conceal, Steal, Deceive, Stare, Combine, Captivate, Open, Retain, Focus, Awaken, Clear, and Favor. Those were our members.
There was only one exception to the rule of code names, and that person was Clear. Kuroha Kokonose. He was our best fighter, and he was very, very skilled. However, he was quite dangerous. He was... different from all our other members. It felt like he could kill to get what he wanted.
I only had these friends; nobody would come close to me during my days at school. Everyone except one single boy I encountered during my senior year. And that boy became the love of my life.
Tsukihiko.
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It was break time. Our class just gained another student; A transfer student from somewhere that I forgot. I didn't care much for him; he was probably going to be another one of all my classmates who thought I was a monster and stayed as far away from me as possible.
"Ah, uh, hello!" Someone spoke from beside me, and judging from his tone, I could tell that he was talking to me. Well, I don't really care, so I'll just ignore-
Wait, he was talking to me. Nobody had talked to me ever since... A long time ago. I looked up to see who in the world it was. To my surprise (actually, not really), it was the transfer student. What was his name again? I forgot.
"Are you talking to me?" I couldn't help but ask. He laughed awkwardly.
"U-um, yeah! I thought I'd introduce myself to you! I'm Tsukihiko, nice to meet you! What's your name?" he asked.
"...Azami." I responded after a long pause. So his name was Tsukihiko... His smile widened when I answered him. He was about to reply, but he must have heard the whispers of our classmates.
"Why is the transfer student talking to the monster?"
"Exactly! Why would he do that? I don't understand!"
"Just look at how he looks like! He's also a monster, isn't he?"
"The both of them are monsters!"
At those words, I stood up abruptly, my aura full of hatred and anger. My classmates realized that I had heard their conversations and quickly turned away. I sat down and sighed. It's not like I'm not used to being called a monster, but what about Tsukihiko...? He can't possibly have the same past as me. He wouldn't be used to it. I glanced at him and noticed that he was laughing awkwardly, but not looking uncomfortable.
"Could you show me around the school, Azami?" asked Tsukihiko.
"No honorifics already?" I said, standing up. Tsukihiko looked a little frantic.
"Ah, I'm sorry, Azami...-san?" he said. I sighed and smiled a bit.
"Just Azami is fine. Let's go now..." and at this I blushed a bit. "Tsukihiko." His face broke into a smile and he followed me out of the classroom.
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"But it's really a weird time that you're transferring in..." I said. "There's only a few days until graduation." Tsukihiko laughed. We were walking around the school to let him take a look at what the school was like.
"Yeah, I know." he said. "There were sudden changes, so we had to move! But I'm happy to be here!"
"Is that so..." I said.
"You've asked me questions about myself, now it's my turn! Tell me about you, Azami!" he said. I blinked.
"Me?" I asked. What is there to say? Tsukihiko nodded.
"Yep, you! I want to know more about Azami!" he said.
"There really isn't anything to say..." I said. Seeing that Tsukihiko didn't buy that, I sighed. "I'm... Part of a gang. It's named after me. I've been part of it ever since I was little." I paused. "You're probably going to shun me like the rest of our classmates now. I'm a monster, a lonely monster." I closed my eyes, waiting for the worst.
"Why would I shun you? Azami, you're not a monster. Even if you were, you'd be a beautiful monster, and I've fallen in love with the lonely monster." said Tsukihiko. I looked up immediately, and I saw that he was smiling. My cheeks heated up and I looked away. Was that... A confession? It can't be. We've just met. He can't possibly...
"W-well, there's also another gang that we're at constant battle with. The Blindfold Gang. They've got ten people, eleven if you count the girl Ayano who's always with them yet isn't part of them. See? That's them over them." I pointed to a group of eleven teenagers. Today, that Ayano girl had joined them as well, so there eleven of them instead of ten.
"Are you serious?!" Momo had yelled. "Are you saying my pathetic excuse of a brother confessed to you, Ayano-chan?!" Ayano laughed.
"He's not pathetic, Momo-chan. Shintaro is really kind to me, and I really love him!" she said. Shintaro's face heated up and he quickly turned away. Ene smirked and poked him.
"Uwah~!" she said. Shintaro swatted her hand away.
"I'M DYING YOU TWO ARE FINALLY TOGETHER AND THAT'S LIKE SO CUTE OH MY GOD-" Actor yelled.
"You're acting like a crazy fangirl." said Hibiya.
Tsukihiko couldn't help but laugh at the scene.
"That's pretty cool!" said Tsukihiko. There was a small silence.
"Do you have a place to stay? You said you just moved here, so..." I trailed off. Tsukihiko laughed sheepishly.
"Actually, I don't..." he said. I sighed.
"You can stay at my place for a while, if you'd like. We've got spare rooms. It's a big base." I said. Tsukihiko's face lit up.
"Could I? Thank you!" he said. I turned away, blushing.
"Y-Yeah, no problem."
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We walked to walked to the AZAMI base, Tsukihiko rambling on about many things while I listened and led the way. Just like how the Blindfold Gang called their base "Apartment 107" (usually just "107" for short), we called our base the "Heat Haze". It was quite a big place, as it had to be to be able to fit 13 people. Finally, we arrived, and to my surprise, there was a girl lying on the doorstep.
"Azami," asked Tsukihiko. "Is it just me, or is there a girl lying there?" We walked up to her, and my eyes widened. This was Marry Kozakura, NO.4 of the Blindfold Gang. And more surprisingly, she was unconscious and covered with wounds.
"She's hurt!" exclaimed Tsukihiko. He quickly picked her up. I quickly opened the door and we walked in. Tsukihiko set her on the couch and looked around.
"You have a first-aid kit, right?" he asked. I nodded, and without another word I went to get it. I returned with it in my hands and I handed it to him. Tsukihiko did some simple tending to her wounds rather skillfully. Just as Tsukihiko finished tending her wounds, Marry opened her eyes, regaining consciousness.
"Grandma...?" she murmured. I felt a vein pop. That was her first words once seeing me? Was she implying...? Did I really...? I grabbed the girl's collar in anger.
"What are you trying to say, you bastard-" Tsukihiko quickly pulled me off, restraining me.
"C-Calm down, Azami! I'm sure she didn't mean anything!" he said.
"Let go of me, Tsukihiko! Before I punch you as well!" I yelled. Marry, after a few seconds of thinking, realized what I meant and she quickly shook her head.
"No, no, that's not what I meant!" she said quickly. "You just remind me of my grandmother, that's all! She looked like you when she was young." I relaxed and sighed. Tsukihiko, seeing I wasn't going to rush up and punch Marry, let go of me.
"Your names are Azami and Tsukihiko?" asked Marry. We nodded. She smiled at us. "Thank you for saving me! And my grandparents were also called Azami and Tsukihiko! What a coincidence!"
"That's so cool!" said Tsukihiko. "It's really an amazing coincidence!" Marry smiled, but that smile soon disappeared.
"Sadly, they died a few years ago... My grandfather of illness and my grandmother of sadness. I really miss them..." she said. She looked close to crying. I sighed.
"Well, if it helps, you can always come and talk to me. Not that I'll be taking your grandmother's place or anything like that, but since I have the same name and I look like her, you can treat me like how you treated your grandmother. If that doesn't help, then just forget-"
"Can I really? Thank you, Azami!" said Marry, her face breaking into a huge smile. "Ah, I should get going! My friends would be so worried! Thank you for treating my wounds!" Tsukihiko smiled.
"No problem! See you, Marry!" he said. Marry nodded and gave a little bow. Just as she was about to get up, the door opened and Kuroha walked in. As the two saw each other, they both sported different expressions. Kuroha simply raised his eyebrows, and Marry looked so scared, as if she had just seen a serial killer.
"What's the Queen doing here?" asked Kuroha.
"She was on our doorsteps, wounded, so we brought her in and treated her wounds." I replied.
"K-Ku-Kuroha-!?" Marry squeaked, sliding towards the end of the couch, as far away from him as possible. Kuroha sighed.
"Relax, I'm not going to kill you or anything." he said. "Our boss here wouldn't allow it." There was a silence after Kuroha's words and Marry let the words sink in.
"Eh!?" she said, looking back to forth between me and Kuroha. "AZAMI's boss... Eh? Eh?!" Kuroha burst into laughter.
"She didn't know?! Wow, I knew you guys were dumb but I didn't think you were that dumb!" he said, between laughs.
"Shut up, Kuroha, you're already mentally damaging her by standing in front of her." I said.
"Wow, you sound like an over-protective grandmother. You certainly look old enough for the part-" In a flash, I was next to him, holding him up by the collar.
"Did you say anything, kid?" I asked, my expression murderous. Kuroha coughed and shook his head.
"No...thing..." he said. I sighed and let go of him. Enough grabbing people by the collars for today.
"Marry, just to clarify, yes, I am the boss of AZAMI, and I do know that you're part of the Blindfold Gang. But that doesn't matter. I wasn't targeting you or your friends. And if this guy terrifies the shit out of you, you can leave. I'll watch him to make sure he doesn't do anything." I said to Marry. She relaxed and nodded. She got up from the couch and headed to the door. But before she left, she turned to, to my surprise, Kuroha.
"Um, I have a question..." she said, her voice quiet and squeaky.
"Then ask away." said Kuroha.
"Do you... Do you like Actor?" she asked. Marry's question caught Kuroha off guard and his eyes widened. But only for a second, and he smiled slyly.
"Perhaps." he said. Although that wasn't a concrete answer, I was surprised. I knew Kuroha, and I've known him for a long time. That answer was a definite yes. If he didn't deny it, then it's definitely a yes. But who was Actor, anyways? Marry accepted that answer, and after a hasty bow, she left.
"Hey, who's Actor?" I asked.
"I don't have to tell you." said Kuroha. "Who's that kid over there?" He gestured towards Tsukihiko.
"Be respectful to your seniors." I said. Kuroha rolled his eyes. "He's Tsukihiko, and he's going to stay here for the night. He just moved here and he hasn't got a place to stay."
"Nice to meet you, Kuroha-kun." said Tsukihiko, smiling. Kuroha nodded.
"'Sup. And if there isn't anything else you need, I'm leaving." he said, walking to his room. I sighed.
"Sorry, Kuroha's always like that." I said. Tsukihiko laughed.
"No, that's fine! I think he's pretty cool!" he said. "Be sure to introduce me to your other members!"
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I let Tsukihiko stay at the Heat Haze until he finds somewhere else to stay. We were nearing graduation now, which meant that I would not be part of AZAMI anymore in a matter of days. I was saying goodbye to a gang and a group of friends that accompanied me throughout my childhood and my darkest times. I had to hand off my position as boss of AZAMI, so I called for a group meeting after school. I invited Tsukihiko to attend this meeting as well, but he said he had to go somewhere so he couldn't.
Now, I was facing the gang that I've lead for many, many years now, retiring from the leader position and leaving them on their own.
"I'm not good with words, so I'll keep this speech short." I said. "You guys have been the only ones who have stood by my side, and you cannot imagine how thankful I am. You guys practically saved my life, and even though I'm retiring from being leader and from this gang, I'm not asking for this gang to die. So I'm going to choose the next boss of AZAMI now."
"Have you decided already?" asked Combine. I nodded. I've considered making Combine the next boss, and it was a hard decision. But I've made up my mind.
"Yeah. AZAMI's next boss... Will be Kuroha." I said. Nobody looked surprised; I guess it was obvious that Kuroha would be our next leader. He is our best fighter, after all. It's clear to everyone that he can lead the rest of our members well, and he's pretty much been in the second-in-command position.
"...Well then, great." said Kuroha, breaking the silence. Just as I was about to speak, my phone rang. I took it out of my pocket and saw that it was a text from an unknown number. I narrowed my eyes. I had a bad feeling about this. Also, I was worried about Tsukihiko, since he hadn't come back yet. Everyone else crowed around me to look at the text, seeing that I had a scary expression on my face and obviously not pleased that someone has interrupted our hand-off 'ceremony'. I clicked open the text and read it.
"'If you want your albino little boyfriend, come to the alleyway beside the game center. Regards, Laughing Circus.'" read Open. Her eyes narrowed.
"Laughing Circus is a new gang apparently. They want to rise to the top. I heard they've already targeted the Blindfold Gang." said Favor. My eyes widened in revelation. They were the people that had hurt Marry. I clenched my fists. First Marry, now Tsukihiko. I'm going to crush them. No, we're going to crush them...!
That was when I realized I had no right to command and lead them anymore. I had just handed off the position of boss of AZAMI. Kuroha was now the leader. I had no power over my 'snakes', as they called themselves, I've lost all the power to Kuroha.
"What do we do, Azami?" asked Captivate. I looked away.
"I'm not your boss anymore, remember? Kuroha now is. He has the power of commanding you all to do whatever he wants. I'm not your leader anymore..." I said. Everyone was silent, until Kuroha yawned.
"What, you're worried about something like that, Azami? You want me to command them on this mission? Well, I don't want to." I looked up at him at his words. "That's not my job now. It's yours."
"Exactly! Until the second you graduate from high school, you're still our boss!" said Stare. I couldn't help but smile and wipe away the tears of happiness. I set my face into a serious expression, and walked towards the door.
"Let's go. We, AZAMI, accept the duel of Laughing Circus."
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"Well, well, that took you some time, AZAMI. I thought you wouldn't come. I had thought you would be a bunch of cold bastards, but I guess I was wrong." said the leader of Laughing Circus the moment we showed up at the alleyway. There were four of them, but who knows if there'll be more?
"Welcome, welcome, to our little party. Let's meet the host of this amazing party, shall we?" The leader stepped aside to reveal a horribly beaten up Tsukihiko. He was leaning against the side of the alleyway, with his eyes closed. For a horrible second I thought he wasn't breathing, but then I realized that he still was. I glared at our opposing gang.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked coldly, knowing the answer to my question even before they answered it.
"To rise to the top, of course. Your gang and the Blindfold Gang are at the top currently. If we defeat you even just once, we'll obviously get known." said the leader. I clenched my fists.
"Concealing Eyes." I said. With my order, Conceal up to Laughing Circus without a word, grabbed one of the members by the shoulders and threw him into the distance.
"Opening Eyes." Open gave a beautiful kick to another member's side of the abdomen and sent him sprawling onto the floor a few feet away.
"Deceiving Eyes." Deceive punched the remaining two members in the face. The other two that Conceal and Open had delivered blows to stood up once more and tried to attack Deceive.
"Captivating Eyes." Captivate ran up to them and grabbed the back of the two's heads.
"Hey~, look this way~!" she said playfully before crashing their heads into each other. One of the two that Deceive had punched in the face stood up, wiping away blood from his face, ready to attack. But I was faster.
"Combining Eyes."The queen of our fighters, Combine, was standing in front of the guy in a matter of seconds. Her aura alone made him petrified. He sank to his knees, trembling.
"Oh, I didn't even do anything yet. How disappointing." she said, twirling her hair around her fingers.
"Stealing Eyes." Steal immediately ran to Tsukihiko, making sure he was alright.
"Awakening Eyes." Awaken, with his superhuman speed, ran up to the three members that were getting up once more, and punched them in the stomach.
"Staring Eyes." Stare went and threw two members of Laughing Circus who were already unconscious against a wall.
"Focusing Eyes." Focus ran out of the alleyway and around the area, looking for other members of Laughing Circus that might still be out there.
"Retaining Eyes." Retain went up to the members of Laughing Circus that we had beat and took a picture of them with his phone so we could remember who our enemy was.
"Favoring Eyes." Favor walked up to the member that had been kneeling because of Combine's aura. She brought her palm down sharply onto his cheek. She crouched down in front of him.
"That's not very cool, you know, kidnapping Azami's precious Tsukihiko-san like that. That's not very cool. Do you know what can happen to you now? We can easily make your gang crumble, now that you've angered us. Do you understand?" she said, smiling. She looked happy, but her voice suggested otherwise. It was at times like these that Favor was the scariest.
"Clearing Eyes." I concluded. Kuroha smiled, and he cracked his knuckles. He approached the remaining member.
"No.. No.. No-!" he yelled as Kuroha walked towards him. He got up with much trouble and tried to bolt past me. I reached out and grabbed his neck. I pinned him to a wall, holding him up from the ground.
"Did you think we'd let you off that easily?" I asked, my expression murderous.
"I-I'm so-sorry!" he screamed. I narrowed my eyes.
"Don't say sorry to me, although you should. Say sorry to Tsukihiko, and swear on your heart that you will never attack him ever again." I said.
"I-I'm sorry, Tsukihiko-san! I will not attack you ever again!" he managed to get out. Satisfied, I loosened my grip on his neck and dropped him.
"Good. Now leave, and never appear in my sight ever again. Bring your friends with you." With those words, he scrambled to his feet. Dragging his friends by their hoods, he pulled them away. The moment they left, I ran to Tsukihiko.
He was completely battered, his hair was messed up and his clothes were ripped in multiple places. There were so many wounds on his face, arms, and legs. They must have hit his head with a blunt object because there had been blood escaping from a wound that was already treated by Steal. My gang quietly left me alone with Tsukihiko, knowing we needed some alone time. I silently thanked them for that. Despite all the torture he had suffered from, Tsukihiko gave me a weak smile. That made my eyes tear up even more.
"You idiot...!" I said, tears rolling down my cheeks. "If only you hadn't talked to me! If only you hadn't met me, then you wouldn't have been in such pain...!"
"Azami." I looked up at the mention of my name. Tsukihiko had a serious expression on his face.
"I chose to talk to you. I chose to become friends with you, and I'm not going to ever regret that. I am not going to regret the fact that I met you. Meeting you is the best thing that happened to me, so why will I regret it?" he said. His words touched me. Nobody has ever said anything like that to me. I've always heard adults and classmates say I'm a monster, someone not worth their time and that I brought trouble to the world. I've always... Wanted someone to say that to me...!
"I said I needed to go somewhere after school, didn't I?" asked Tsukihiko. I nodded. "I went to the arcade. I saw it the other day and I wanted to give this to you." He presented to me a stuffed animal of a snake. It was black in color, and it had red eyes. From my descriptions it would like evil and scary, but in reality it was extremely cute. I took it from him and studied it for a while. I smiled.
"Azami, I love you." he said suddenly. I looked up, my cheeks already turning into the color of tomatoes. "I've loved you ever since I saw you in the classroom on my first day here." I kept silent, playing with my new present since I was too embarrassed to respond. When the embarrassment subsided, I looked up at him.
"I love you too, Tsukihiko."
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The days flew by, and soon came the graduation ceremony. It's crazy how I was a senior one day, and I was going to go into the society as an adult the next. The graduation ceremony was nothing of my interest; it was just a bunch of speeches from the students I didn't really care for. I forced myself to sit through the ceremony without falling asleep. To my relief, it ended earlier than I expected and we were allowed to leave. We were leaving the place that had been our home for four years.
The moment I walked out of the auditorium, Marry ran up to me.
"Congratulations on graduating, Azami!" she said. I smiled. Marry was really a good girl and I liked her. She was quite easy to talk to and she had been a good companion.
"Thanks, Marry." I said, patting her head. She smiled.
"Is she your friend, Marry?" asked a boy who came up to us. I recognized him as Kousuke Seto, NO.2 of the Blindfold Gang. Marry looked a bit panicky.
"Um, yeah! She's my friend!" she said.
"What's your name?" he asked me.
"Azami." I responded. Marry gave me a shocked look, and I shrugged. I didn't care that he knew my name, since I was no longer part of my gang. Seto seemed to think for a while, and his face lit up.
"Hi, Azami! My name is Kousuke Seto! Nice to meet you!" he said, extending a hand towards me. I raised an eyebrow as I took his hand. How stupid could these guys get?
"We have to go now, see you again, Azami!" said Marry. The two of them then walked off, laughing and talking with each other. I sighed. Young love. How nice.
"Azami!" I turned around and saw Tsukihiko. "Let's take a picture together!" He held his phone up. I did my best attempt at a smile.
"Hey, Azami, could you come with me to the jewelry store? My dad wanted me to get the ring he reserved." he asked. I nodded.
"I don't see why not." I replied. Tsukihiko smiled.
"Great! Then let's go!" he said, taking my hand. We took the subway to the jewelry shop. Tsukihiko held my hand the whole time. I smiled. I really did love Tsukihiko a lot, and I treasured him. We soon came to the shop and he went to the counter and requested the ring he had reserved. The saleslady nodded and got it out of the back. He took the small box in his hands and turned to me. Then, to my total surprise, he knelt down on one knee and presented the ring to me. I covered my mouth with my hands, completely shocked.
"Azami," he said, his voice full of love and kindness. "We'll be stepping into the society from now on. I wish to be alongside you from now on, no matter what. Will you marry me?" For a moment, I was too surprised to say anything. I nodded and nodded, and he stood up. He put the ring on my finger and he held my hand.
"I'll do my best to make you happy every day." he said, smiling. "Let's live our lives together from now on." I smiled back.
"Then I'll trust my happiness with you." I replied.
Chapter 11: Ene's Cyber Journey
"Ene!" yelled Actor, bursting through the door and running up to the gang, who were sitting on the rooftop having lunch. Ene looked up from her sandwich at her twin sister, who was now panting.
"What's the rush, Actor?" asked Ene. Actor's eyes were suddenly filled with tears as she looked at Ene's smiling face, and she quickly threw her arms around her sister and cried. Ene was not the only one who was surprised; the whole gang had widened their eyes and stopped what they were doing. They gathered around Actor, who was now full-on bawling.
"A-Actor! Are you okay?" asked Ene, shocked. Actor gave no response. Konoha picked Actor's phone that had dropped out of her hands. He took one glance at the screen and his eyes widened.
"Ene." he only said before shakily handing her the phone. Ene took the phone and looked at it. It was a text. From her parents. Her eyes narrowed once she saw who had sent it, even before reading the contents. Something from her parents never meant anything good.
The message was simply, yet enough to make Ene's world crumble at her feet.
"Your grandmother died. We're coming back for the funeral."
How was this chapter? The way Tsukihiko proposed to Azami is based off a true event I saw on Weibo, and I thought it was just so cute! Give me a review to let me know how you liked this chapter or how it could be fixed, and maybe give last chapter a review too! :D I hope my readers are still sticking to this chapter, because I have so many good things planned out XDD Thanks for reading!
~Chinnie Ai