Her Chuujitsu Chapter 10: Chuujitsu, a hamtaro fanfic

Bijou

The day had been filled with enough surprises to last her a lifetime…Every bit of her day, from the moment she had seen Hamtaro with his "daughter" to this moment, right here, in her hotel room which was shrinking every second….

…had in store for her a new twist…

Finding about Maxwell had taken the last bit of energy from her. Bijou, despite her sniffling to suppress her tears, was leaving tearstains on the surface of the room's desk. She was a wreck; she had been all day.

Actually, she had been for five years, but today seemed to be the culmination of all that.

Sandy's mouth was open, the same kind of look a girl would don anytime one of her most intimate secrets was thrown in front of the world for everyone to see. This confirmed Bijou's thoughts, as well as crushed her heart.

The way the strawberry blonde's eyes—those incredibly beautiful lime orbs—shook as she stared at her once best friend…She couldn't help but wonder, how much had honestly changed in five years?

Sandy stood up and approached Bijou tentatively, as if Bijou were some sort of endangered prey and Sandy was the curious naturalist. Bijou didn't appreciate this look, and she wanted authority in this situation.

"You…you haven't answered my question, Sandy," Bijou replied as she rubbed a long, white finger against one of her eyes. She remained still as Sandy approached.

The look on Sandy's face…oh, she must have thought Bijou were insane. More tears fell from Bijou's eyes. Perhaps the French girl had gone way past her emotional limit. The day had been filled with one surprising slap in the face after another…

Bijou hated surprises.

Bijou's most recent realization was one of the worst surprises yet…But it wouldn't be so bad if Sandy simply admitted it.

The way the girl's eyes glimmered with hope as she talked about Hamtaro and the way her voice became softer, so much gentler, as she spoke of the orange-and-white-haired man, Bijou knew. It was so obvious, and it was so painful at the same time. Bijou would have that same glimmer in her eyes and she would get that same, gentle voice, but that was an eternity ago. It was when she was sixteen and she hadn't left. It was all before she lost hope.

"I'm not in love with him, Bijou-chan," Sandy explained as she came to the other girl. "Like I said, he's always been in love with you."

Bijou smiled weakly as she shook her head. Her white bangs fell into her face and Bijou sighed.

"That doesn't mean that you weren't allowed to love him."

Sandy looked at the girl curiously, wanting her point to be heard. "No, Bijou-chan-"

"I guess it's expected," Bijou sighed. "He's your husband after all…you raised Little Bijou together. You lived with him for all this time, so how am I to expect that you didn't grow some sort of attachment to him?"

"But I'm not in love with him," Sandy protested. "I've always…thought of him as a friend."

However, Sandy hesitated in those last words, and Bijou's suspicions were just reaffirmed.

Bijou closed her eyes and let her thoughts settle for a moment. They were swirling like whirlwinds within the confines of her mind, and she had to make it just stop. She took a deep breath and released it, all the while wringing her hands together like a cloth. As she reopened them, she looked straight into the bright green eyes of her best friend.

"It would be better if you just accepted it, because it would make your life so much easier, and an easy life is exactly what I want for you and Hamtaro-san."

Sandy's eyes stood still.

"Bijou-chan?"

Hamtaro

Hamtaro took a moment to just reflect on all that kept happening this day. The way he had slammed on the hood of his first love's car, referring to her by her first name…

…did she now understand what all of this meant? How these five years seemed like a depression, but today, as much as he didn't want to admit, everything bad just washed away when he saw her figure standing in front of her family's old house.

"Father?"

The very reason these past five years hadn't sent him into depression was staring at him intently. The two of them were sitting on an ornate, pillowy bench in the hotel's lobby. Little Bijou was kicking her legs excitedly as they swung in the air. She had been previously pre-occupied with trying to make the microphone Bijou had given her to turn on. Luckily, she hadn't figured that out, or else Hamtaro would have had another problem on his hands.

Or would he? To get Little Bijou to obey, it didn't take much. A simple warning in a reassuring voice, and the girl would understand and cease her actions immediately. She knew what the smarter course of action was. She was brilliant, Hamtaro noted, just like her father.

She resembled Maxwell incredibly. She had his chestnut-brown hair. It fell around her head in thick bangs that rested against her shoulders (and went just a little past into her back). Even the color of her eyes…when Hamtaro would look at a picture Sandy had of her first husband, Maxwell's eyes were the first thing he'd see. Their color reflected in Little Bijou's eyes, just like his intelligence did through every figment of her body.

Hamtaro wondered if Maxwell would approve of the name he had given the girl…He originally wasn't serious about naming the girl Bijou, but Sandy insisted that it was the name that she wanted for her daughter.

However, Hamtaro could never bring himself to call his daughter Bijou. It would remind him, every time he called his daughter's name, of that day five years ago when a piece of him left to fly off to France.

"Are you gonna miss her?" Little Bijou asked. Her eyes held his gaze strongly. She probably wanted a yes or no answer, but by the way her voice had become slightly low, Hamtaro realized that she had a brief idea of the severity of the situation.

Hamtaro put a hand in his daughter's hair and ruffled it. With his eyes falling ever so slightly from her face, Hamtaro admitted, "Yes, I am."

He looked up to see her reaction. She had an incredibly small smile on her face.

"Well, of course you are. You loved her, right?"

"No, Little Bijou," Hamtaro said as he continued looking at the girl.

Little Bijou's head shifted a little as her eyes widened. Not used to getting much wrong, she felt the need to justify herself.

"But, mother said she was the only girl you ever loved!" Her voice was the indignant kind a child would use when asking why they couldn't open their Christmas presents a night early.

"…She was wrong," Hamtaro explained softly, ruffling the girl's hair again as he sighed.

"So you didn't love her…" Despite her intelligence, there was only so much a little girl could take before giving in. If her father didn't love Big Bijou, then there was so much she was confused about.

"No," Hamtaro said as he leaned back against the lobby's wall, removing his hand from the girl's hair.

"Oh." It was as if someone had told her Santa Claus wasn't real. She leaned back against the wall and decided to preoccupy herself with the microphone.

"I still do."

Bijou

"You want an easy life for Hamtaro-san… and me?" Sandy asked.

Bijou nodded. "It's the least you deserve after what you've been through over the past few years."

"But don't you want…" Sandy wasn't sure how to finish the sentence. She just stared at the French girl quizzically.

"Forget about me. I'll be gone before you know it, anyway," Bijou explained, feigning a smile.

"But you love him!" Sandy exclaimed as her hands clenched at her sides.

"That didn't stop me from leaving before." She shrugged nonchalantly.

Sandy was torn. How to get Bijou to stay—satisfying what she knew was Hamtaro's wish—while keeping her own happiness in mind. These thoughts made Sandy feel selfish…but what else was she supposed to do?

Their life, though very unorthodox, had been steady over the past few years. In a good financial situation, good house, amazing husband, genius daughter…It was all so perfect.

But when she came back…The moment sandy had found out she had returned…

Sandy knew that this wasn't going to be an easy day.

And she knew Bijou was right. It wasn't exactly a secret to Sandy, but it felt weird when someone else told her that they saw it, too. She couldn't admit it, though…it would just crush Bijou's spirits even more. She didn't know if she could do that.

The strawberry-blonde took a deep, deep breath. She was going to tell Bijou the truth.

"I-"

She was cut off. Both girls turned to the room's door where a knock had interrupted Sandy.

Bijou walked over to the door and looked through the hole. After noting who it was, she unlocked the door and let them in.

Little Bijou ran to her mother's leg while Hamtaro stood in the doorway patiently.

"Hamtaro-san?" Sandy asked. Bijou's eyes lowered. She was still standing behind the door, holding it open, and she thought about just leaving. Once again, she was the piece that didn't belong.

"I need to talk to Bijou. May I?" the man asked, completely ignoring Bijou's angered expression as he did so.

Sandy mulled it over. Out of all the people Bijou probably wanted to see when she returned to Japan, Hamtaro was the most important.

But the thought of Hamtaro and Bijou alone together made Sandy's heart squeeze in an uncomfortable way.

Sandy's smile was too wide for it to be real, but no one felt the need to point out her obvious saddened disposition.

"Alright, Hamtaro-san. Come on, Little Bijou."

With that said, the woman walked with all the dignity she could muster to the door and through it with Little Bijou happily following in her footsteps with a slight skip in her step. Bijou closed the door with a little frustration.

She then turned to Hamtaro.

"Bijou," Hamtaro said, dropping the honorific suffix.

"Hamtaro-san," Bijou responded, maintaining their figurative distance.

"So Sandy-chan told you about Maxwell and the Librius's?" He asked as he watched her carefully.

What she was just told about Maxwell almost made Bijou cry again, but she tried desperately and succeeded in maintaining her posture.

"Yes," she nodded.

Hamtaro looked down. Perhaps coming to talk to her wasn't such a good idea. Little Bijou had thought it was, though. This was the last time he took advice from a three-year-old.

"You did a good thing, for Sandy I mean. You gave her everything when she needed it the most," Bijou told him. She smiled at the thought. There was something about it…her smile was sincere.

"Thank you for that. For helping her," She continued. "But I guess I couldn't expect any less from you." She took a deep breath and then let it out. "Selfless to the bone. That's exactly what you always were, and still are."

Hamtaro was confused. A minute ago, she seemed furious that he wanted to talk to her. Now, she was complimenting him?

"You would've found a way to help her if you were there," Hamtaro reminded. "You were her best friend, after all."

"But I wasn't there. I was faraway, and it was my choice to leave, which brings me to what's happened in the past few years…"

The girl shook with goose bumps a little as she collected her thoughts. Hamtaro came closer to her. When he stopped, he was merely a few inches in front of her.

His mind kept telling him to hold her, to make her feel stable. But he couldn't reach out to her. Not literally, anyway.

"You've built a perfect life for yourself. Don't throw away what you have had with Sandy for the past three years because you've seen me for a day," Bijou explained.

Hamtaro looked down again. As his eyes resurfaced, he said, "I don't love her. At least, not the way a husband should love his wife."

"Then try, Hamtaro-san, please… try."

"I love you." His voice hadn't sounded so confident in years. "I knew I did a week ago, a year ago, five years ago…And it was my fault that I didn't understand what you meant when you told me those very same words."

Bijou looked down. She remained quiet and unnaturally still.

"I love you, Bijou."

She brought her eyes up again. There was no denying that they—if only for a brief moment—looked happy. Her smile came back, too. She looked happy.

"I love you, too, Hamtaro."

Hamtaro came closer to her, trying to embrace the girl. But she immediately moved, away from the door and away from him.

Hamtaro turned to see what she was up to. As he came closer to her, she stepped backwards.

"What are you doing, Bijou?"

He came closer, she stepped away. He wasn't sure if she was somehow being coy or was just avoiding him. He figured it was the latter, though he couldn't be sure of why.

"I can't ever let us grow any closer than we are now, Hamtaro-san."

Sandy

Sandy pressed her back against the hallway wall and felt like crying. She squeezed her eyes together to stop the tears.

What could two people who loved each other be doing in a hotel room, anyway?

This thought made Sandy want to knock on the door and pull her husband out. Yes. Her husband. What right did Bijou have to him?

And would he really be willing to give up their life together for the sake of Bijou?

"Mother," Little Bijou said as she watched the woman. "You should really stop crying."

"Not now, sweetie," Sandy replied. She pressed her back even harder against the door and let herself slide down. She fell on the floor with a thud and let her head fall onto her knees.

"Big Bijou told me it was good to let out your feelings and that I shouldn't keep them inside, but mother, I don't like seeing you cry." The little girl patted her mother's hair.

"There, there, mother. It will be alright. Father and Big Bijou are going to get married, and then they can live happily ever after!"

Sandy looked up. "We don't know that they're going to get married."

Little Bijou thought. "But they love each other. That means they have to get married, right mother?"

Sandy looked away from her daughter. She wanted to say not necessarily. She wanted to tell her daughter that Hamtaro couldn't just leave them. It wasn't fair.

But she didn't say anything. Rather, she put her head down on her knees once again and shrugged.

Little Bijou went back to the microphone in her hands.

"I think I'd like to sing at their wedding. That sounds like fun. Mother, maybe you can dance at the wedding?! You like to dance right? It'll be fun, mother. I can imagine it now. Except maybe Big Bijou shouldn't wear a white dress because her hair is white and she'll look like she was in the snow for too long. Or maybe that's a good thing? Hmm mother?"

Bijou

"I can't stay and ruin the life you have now," Bijou explained as she sighed.

"You're not going to ruin anything," Hamtaro reminded. "How many times do I need to tell you that?"

Bijou walked around to the far edge of her bed and sat down.

"That's what you think, Hamtaro-san. Have you asked your wife?"

"About?" Hamtaro asked as he sat down on the bed with her.

"About? What do you think?" Bijou slapped his hand like she used to when they were teenagers whenever he said something silly.

"She's not just going to let you walk out of this family that you have made with her," Bijou sighed. "And I don't think you should, either."

"But I told you, I don't love her. And she'll get all the money we have after the divorce. It's not like I'll be leaving her with nothing." Hamtaro seemed a little indignant.

"She doesn't want the money, though," Bijou explained.

"No, I guess. She's not a materialistic person," Hamtaro thought aloud.

"Then do you know what she wants?" the girl asked. "Why she wouldn't want you to leave her?"

"No," he replied without a second thought. Bijou felt the shaking some sense into the man. How could he be so amazingly dumb sometimes?

Bijou turned and looked at the window. She tried to hear if the thunderstorm had ceased. It sounded like there was no rain…

…but…

"Hamtaro-san, Sandy…she loves you."

…just as she said that…

A large bolt of lightning illuminated the room.

For a millisecond, Bijou's eyes were light green as the lightning filled the entire room with a burst of light. They seemed pained. Hamtaro's widened.

As the lightning struck, his eyes were locked on Bijou as he tried to comprehend her words. As the light left the room, Hamtaro looked away, trying to get his thoughts into one place.

"Sandy," Hamtaro said her name as if it were some sort of foreign word. He tried to recall his most recent memories of the girl. He never got the vibe that she was in love with him. Then again, he reminded himself, even when a girl told him she loved him he didn't get the romantic undertone.

"I was considering staying before I realized how much she cared for you. Then I decided that I couldn't break a happy home," Bijou explained.

Hamtaro turned his eyes toward the girl. "So you're leaving?"

Bijou nodded. "On the first flight out tomorrow."

"But you barely got a chance to catch up with everyone!"

Bijou stood up. She had enough of people trying to change her mind and convince her what was best for her. She had decided what she needed to do five years ago, and she was going to decide now.

"You should leave."

Hamtaro stood up as well. He looked down at the girl.

"Please leave," Bijou said.

'I can't just leave you now," Hamtaro said. "We need to talk about so much."

The boy grabbed her shoulder and looked straight into her eyes. Bijou, however, almost instantly shook him off and walked over to the room's door.

"Leave."

"Bijou, this is ridiculous," Hamtaro said as he walked over to her. "There's so much to say."

"Not really, Hamtaro-san," Bijou replied. "Now leave or I'll call security."

Sandy

Sandy nearly got a whiplash from turning her head so quickly. She was not expecting the door to open, but sure enough, it did. She stood up.

She heard Hamtaro's voice. He was clearly trying to plead something to Bijou. However, within a few seconds, Hamtaro walked out of the door, and as soon as he was out of the room, the door slammed quickly behind him.

"Father!" Little Bijou exclaimed. She yawned. "Let's go home, father."

Hamtaro looked at his daughter and nodded. Then he looked at Sandy.

She was looking at him expectantly, unsure if the news was good or bad. She was biting her lip, and he could make out tear stains on her heart-shaped face.

Sandy was asking him what happened without speaking. Hamtaro looked down. That was enough for Sandy.

Sandy took in a sharp breath of air.

"It'll be alright, Hamtaro-san," she said to the man she loved so very dearly. It was evident in her voice, and even Hamtaro picked up on it. She didn't seem glad that Bijou was leaving, but her voice wasn't exactly depressed either. And to be perfectly honest, Hamtaro didn't blame her. She was entitled feelings and she was entitled happiness.

However, Hamtaro thought, he was entitled his happiness, too, and he would do anything to get it back.

Bijou

The wait in the airport terminal was brutal. She'd do anything to just board the plane and go, without the agony of extra time. With extra time just came extra, unwanted thoughts.

That's why she was glad she had a book. Though, the book didn't distract her enough. Of all the stupid choices she had ever made, choosing a romance book to read during this wait had to be one of her worst.

Every time she had to read about the stupid heroine who was in love with the stupid boy and how the stupid boy loved her but they couldn't get together for some stupid reason…love stories were so stupid.

She closed the book and stuffed it into her large, navy blue messenger bag. She pulled out her cell phone and checked the time.

11:47

They were supposed to board the flight 32 minutes ago. Yet, being the international journalist that she was, she knew very well never to expect things—especially planes—to stick to their schedules.

"Now boarding for Flight 563 to Amiens. Now boarding for Flight 563 to Amiens. All passengers, please report to Gate 17. All passengers, please report to Gate 17."

As if on cue, Bijou thought. She eagerly put her phone back into her bag and stood up. She pulled the bag over her shoulder and walked—with a slight limp due to the weight of the bag—to Gate 17.

She got a feeling of satisfaction. It wasn't necessarily a good feeling, but if felt as though she had finally finished something. Like she had gotten some sort of closure. It wasn't a good feeling. She could live with it.

Though, any feeling of satisfaction was completely washed away when she saw who was standing before the gate, waiting for her in a semicircle of doom.

Panda, Penelope, Cappy, Dexter, Howdy, Pashmina, Boss, Stan with Sandy, Hamtaro and Little Bijou in the center.

Cats.

She stopped.

Bijou gripped the strap around her shoulder. She glanced at all of them, slightly angered that they had the nerve to come and try and stop her, because she knew that was what they were going to do.

Without another word and a very deep breath, she stepped forward again, pushing between Hamtaro and Sandy as she moved.

She could see the woman at the gate entrance, collecting tickets. She was so close. She could feel herself sitting on the veranda of her French house, sipping an iced tea as she typed up another article, enjoying the gentle breeze of the European sunset. It was to be hers in a matter of hours.

"If you love father, then why are you leaving?"

From behind, her head got taller. Her shoulders straightened, and for a split-second she stood perfectly still.

She turned her head. For the Ham-Humans surrounding the French girl and the French girl herself, it became so quiet that even the slightest movements of her hair had noise.

"Little Bijou, even you wouldn't understand," Bijou said quietly, keeping her back to them with her head to the side.

"Sure I would. You were the princess in the stories daddy would tell me. He's the prince. You were supposed to have a fairytale wedding and I was supposed to sing at it."

Bijou turned around completely. Little Bijou had broken away from the rest of the group and was standing a couple of feet in front of her.

Big Bijou leaned down. She gestured with her finger for Little Bijou to come closer.

Little Bijou obeyed. When she was close enough, Big Bijou pulled her close.

The two Bijous stayed in this embrace for a few seconds. Big Bijou seemed to be crying, but her face was buried in the dark brown hair of the little girl. Big Bijou pulled away after a moment. As she wiped a tear from her eyes, she continued to stare at the little girl.

"You know…the grown-ups haven't gotten together like this with everyone in one place since mother and father's anniversary party. Mother and father said they really weren't as close since you left before. They told me that last night. But they came for you. Everyone did. That means you're special," the girl said as a tear fell from her eye. "You can't leave if you're that special."

Bijou looked down. She didn't enjoy being the cause of a little girl's pain, but she was doing what was best. She knew she was.

"Remember what I told you about always keeping your feelings open, okay?" Her voice was low, though the rest of the adults around them heard every word.

"So you really are leaving?" Little Bijou asked. Even though they had just met yesterday, there was still an incredible amount of disappointment in her voice.

"Yeah…I am," the older girl responded as she sniffled. "I guess a prince and princess don't always end up together."

"I'll miss you," the little girl said. She never had to say goodbye to anyone before. It hurt to think that she would never see this white-haired princess anymore.

Bijou's eyes glowed. "I'll miss you too, Bijou."

Big Bijou stood up. She finished wiping her eyes and bit her lip.

She stared at Sandy.

"Good luck with your family and whatever else you choose to do. And, call her Bijou from now on. She doesn't need to be reminded of 'Big' Bijou," she said quietly.

Sandy nodded. "Thank you, Bijou-chan."

"And thank you, Panda-san," Bijou said as she turned to the carpenter. "You made my day so much better yesterday."

Bijou bowed in front of him.

"You don't have to leave," Panda reminded, but in response, all Bijou gave him was a pained look.

"Thank you, Boss-kun, for listening to me all those years ago. I'll always keep a special place for you in my heart." The French girl bowed before him too.

Boss looked away. He couldn't bear to see her leave. He mumbled, "You're welcome, Bijou-chan."

Bijou then glanced at the rest of the Ham-humans. Stan and Pashmina and Cappy and Penelope and Howdy and Dexter. She tried to etch the memory of them standing there forever into the confines of her mind.

For a moment, just watching all of them gave her a strong urge to rip up her boarding pass. She almost reached into her bag to do just that when the intercom rang again.

"Last call for Flight 563 to Amiens. Last call for Flight 563 to Amiens."

Bijou's hand instinctively moved out of her bag and onto her shoulder strap.

"Thank you, all of you, for reminding me of what selflessness could be. Five years ago, I did a selfish thing by leaving. Now, the selfish thing would be for me to stay."

She glanced over to Hamtaro.

"Learn to love her. Try to. She's one of the best, Hamtaro-san. Love her and try to give Li—your daughter—a normal family."

With one final glance at everyone, she bowed. She stayed that way for a good minute, letting gravity pull all her tears away from her face.

When she resurfaced, everyone seemed to be crying, or at least had tears in their eyes. She tried to remember if she ever saw Hamtaro cry before.

"Bijou…" the man said, keeping their eyes locked.

Bijou took a deep breath and sighed. She knew she needed to do this. She was going to give Sandy the family she deserved. She was the piece that didn't belong, so she was going to make sure she was cut of the picture for good.

She turned swiftly and walked toward the gate. There, she reached into her bag and gave her boarding pass to the woman at the podium. As she was cleared to board, she nearly ran into the entrance of the plane.

Without once looking back, she followed the long hallway into the plane and took her seat.

Hamtaro

"She's doing what she thinks is best for you, Hamtaro," Stan reminded as he patted his friend on his back. "This is what she thinks is right."

"But I tried so hard to convince her that she didn't need to leave. That I wanted a life with her," Hamtaro explained as his face fell into his hands. Stan leaned back into his seat. He was the one who tried to calm Hamtaro down a few days after Bijou left five years ago. It felt like déjà vu.

Hamtaro glanced up. Across from him, Sandy was sitting in another row of seats. Her eyes were cast down. Hamtaro had lived with her long enough to know that she was feeling guilty.

"I don't blame you, Sandy-chan, for anything," Hamtaro reassured.

Sandy looked up, looking slightly startled. Though she seemed a little relieved, her brilliant lime green eyes still shook with tears.

"Thank you, Hamtaro-s—Hamtaro," she replied.

"It's leaving," Boss said as he watched a massive plane start moving down the lane.

Hamtaro, Sandy and Stan both stood up immediately as they joined the others by the window.

Boss couldn't watch. Bijou may have never returned his feelings, but she was still his first and so far only love. He couldn't bear to watch her plane take her away to the other side of the world.

Hamtaro's eyes stayed glued to the plane, almost daring it to take off. But as it went faster and faster down the path, he realized that she was moving faster and faster away from him.

"Do you think she'll be happy?" Sandy asked Pashmina as they watched the plane liftoff.

Pashmina looked at her best friend and couldn't respond. She honestly didn't know.

"No," Little Bijou responded from the other side of her mother. "She won't be happy."

"Why do you say that, Li—Bijou?" Hamtaro asked as he looked down at his daughter. "She can start a new life there, sweetie."

"Yeah, maybe, father," the girl thought as she watched the plane become a little dot in the clear blue sky. "But her chuujitsu is here."

"Her loyalty?" Dexter asked as he looked at the little girl.

"It was very obvious that she loved all her friends very much. Why else would she be crying like that when she was leaving? You're loyal to your friends, right?"

Every adult nodded their head at this rather obvious statement.

"And you're supposed to be loyal to everyone you love, right?"

Once again, everyone nodded.

"Well, everyone she cared for is here, I think. Until she makes more friends, her chuujitsu will remain here…"

The little girl kept her eyes on the sky as all the adults around felt a little more reassured that Bijou would be happy, ultimately. Both of them.

Bijou

It was apparently foggy wherever they were flying over. All she could see outside her window was a gray mist. It was a little depressing, but Bijou promised that she wouldn't let herself get too sad anymore.

She had enough tears yesterday to last her for a lifetime.

She hated tears.

Bijou pulled down the shade for her window.

So, she decided to pull out her mp3 player. Perhaps a little classical music would make her feel better. Whenever her father played it, her spirits seemed to relax a little.

Any hopes of relaxing, though, were wiped away when she put her headphones in. As she turned her music player on, a ringing started running through her ears. Maybe it was just the song she was playing?

Bijou pressed a button and moved onto the next song. Again, a buzzing started to fill her ears. She went to the next song. It was the same thing. The song after that, the same thing.

Bijou pulled out the headphones. Maybe they had gone faulty or something. However, even with the headphones in her hands, the strange noise continued in her ears.

She felt a little indignant. What was with first class these days? The round-trip tickets to Japan and back were certainly not cheap, and with the investment she made in said tickets, she expected a decent, noiseless ride. And what was worse, the noise seemed to be getting louder.

Bijou looked down the aisle to see if any of the other passengers noticed the sounds. Strangely, though, they were all conversing or watching the on-flight movie or doing something that told Bijou they weren't affected by the noise.

Slowly, their voices were being drowned out by the noise. She tried moving her head to every direction, but nevertheless, her ears continuously rang as if she were standing beside a bee hive.

She heard tinnitus was caused by stress. Perhaps she would see if the airline carried any medicine for this malady, even though she remembered that there really was no treatment for this disorder.

Bijou stood up quickly. She practically tripped into the aisle, getting frantic as the noise got louder.

A flight attendant approached her.

"Miss, we do have a button you can press if you need assistance." Bijou practically had to strain to hear her above the noise.

"My ears…they're making a noise," Bijou responded, unknowingly loud.

"Perhaps you're tired, Miss? I'll be happy to bring you a pillow, but first you must return to your seat."

The woman grabbed Bijou's hand and dragged her over to her little row.

"There you go," the woman said in a saccharine voice.

"No, you don't understand. There's something wrong!" Bijou probably didn't care that that was one of the worst things one could say on a plane. And with her voice being a little loud, the nearby passengers became more than a little jittery.

The flight attendant realized the damage control she needed to do.

"Please, Miss, I'll bring you some sleeping pills. Hmmm? How's that sound? In the meantime, you can look at the pretty sky outside." she lifted the shade. Bijou stared at the woman in disbelief.

"It's a little cloudy outside today. But it's a nice and brisk way to start your morning…"

Bijou pulled away from the woman. Perhaps it was the ringing in her ears, but the attendant's voice sounded like it was being done on a Mr. Microphone…

As the woman continued to convince Bijou to look out the window, Bijou noticed more and more that her voice was becoming less audible. Actually, the words were all merging together. They started to sound like a buzzing. A very familiar yet incredibly familiar buzzing.

But then, her voice formed a very clear sentence. "At the buzz it will be exactly six o'clock."

Bijou stared at the attendant incredulously.

And a second later, everything around her turned black and all she could hear was the buzz.

Buzz.

The sixteen-year-old Bijou awoke with a jolt.

I know, for a climax chapter this was lacking in action. But I recommend moving onto the next chapter now.

It's the epilogue.