Title: In This Life
Tagline: Could love to prove to be stronger than death?
Genre: romance/drama/ character death/rebirth/yaoi
Disclaimer:
All characters and rights of the Junjou Romantica manga and anime series belong to Shungiku Nakamura and her publishers Blu. This fanfiction has the intention of earning any royalties or money. It is for the sole purpose of free enjoyment for the Junjou Romantica.
All chapter titles are suggestive music titles that influenced my inspiration for the direction of this story and are the property of the artists who took the time to write and record them. Please find the In This Life playlist available on Spotify.
Spotify Playlist - Search for Fanfiction - In This Life
Other works based on events of this story are in progress so please look out for Junjou Terrorist story: All Those Yesterdays and Junjou Romantica story: Both Sides of Now shortly.
Dedication: I would like to thank the following people for taking the time to review this story. Your words of support are wonderful to receive so thank you for taking the time to express how much you like the story by leaving a review or following/ favoriting this story.
I love reading reviews; definitely keeps me motivated so if you are enjoying/hating/trolling/or have something to say post a review I would be delighted to hear your thoughts.
Notes:
To Guest,
I do aim to update a least once a week as I get time to go through with Grammarly to review my spelling and grammar mistakes (however this is by no means perfect editing). This is a rough posting of the story as I want to post it up quickly to help me share this story has been in the works for nearly ten years. I am experimenting with adding more content and twist than the ordinary post which was only supposed to be 10 chapters long, now with the extra plot lines, this will be at least an 18-20 chapter story. It was a simple happy ever after before now I am twisting the night in and exploring more aspects of the characters and smuggling in some nice extra scenes that I hope enhance the story in the rewrite.
Why do I include cliffhangers? Simply because it is more fun!
A lot more of Nowaki is coming in the next chapter for your delight.
P.S. Hope, you did not fail your exam.
Part 10 - Round and Round (3 Doors Down)
Trust yourself.
You know more than you think you do.
~ Benjamin Spock ~
Hiroko dreamt under an endless starry sky.
Her nameless companion guided her to this special place. He was a chimerical outline of a figure with no definite form save the vague silhouette of a man. This lineation struck no fear in her. She followed confidently behind her guide as it was second-nature to trust this shadow intrinsically. Amongst the desolate trees, he led her through the coppice of tenebrous trees. Wraith-like fingers of the branches clambered towards the heavens. Gnarled digits tried to snatch the elusory luminous orbs from the indigo curtain of night. Out of the darkness, the great silver moon began its ascent into the heavens. Pearly light polished the earth with an otherworldly glow. The claws of the forest recoiled in the lustrous illumination to reveal a secret window at the heart of the woods.
Her guide drew into the auroral opening.
The world stood still here.
This was a gateway to a changeling realm.
Above the glistening starry sky floated among all the trees.
In this alien place, a strange sense of familiarity stirred.
"Why am I here?" She asked with breathy wonder.
"You are here to remember." The nameless person said to her.
A strange quiescence descended over the earth in this ethereal place. Her senses were overwhelmed with esoteric sensations. Sound ceased. In the stillness, silence learned to extrude a mysterious melody of its devising. The tone was sharp and crisp to the ears. Hauntingly sublime to the hearing. The smell of the air was brisk, clean and earthy. Drawing a deep breath into her chest, her taste buds tingled at the piquant tartness of the air. Her cheeks stung in the brisk rawness of the night.
The aura of this place was wintry.
Her guide spoke in whispers she could barely hear.
His words sounded alien and outlandish to her ears.
"I don't understand," she replied confused by the odd words he said.
"Lie down."
Lying in the lush dewy grass, she smiled.
She found incredible peace in the emptiness of the moment.
Bedazzled by the intricate beauty of the changeling place, she forgot her purpose in this unreal place. Few sporadic words were uttered between the pair as they lay in the company of the floating heavens. They listened to the melodious aria of silence as they basked in the moonlight. Two pairs of sepia eyes scanned different sectors of the celestial empyrean searching for a sign. They admired the grandeur of each constellation of the sky. None of the countless shapes or figure felt obliged to disclose the secret purpose of her presence in this place.
An electric silvery cobalt star soared across the sky.
Distant noises disturbed her.
Closing her eyes, she focused on one echoey chord.
It was the ghostly voice, flavored with sweet love and gentle kindness. The sound oozed tender warmth from every syllable. Hidden in the tone, a sensation of lascivious delight flickered.
Hiro-san.
Hiroki.
Kamijou Hiroki.
The wraithy whispers of the wind died away as she opened her eyes.
"Why did I come here again?" She asked her companion.
"I brought you show you this view." Her nameless guide said.
"It is beautiful." She murmured.
"I always believed so."
Confused by a sensation of loss stirring in her heart. She stared up at the radiant view of the moon hoping for an answer to her silent question. In this perfection of this moment, why did misery stir in the deepest reaches of her soul? Her mind scanned deep through her body as it lay still in the dewy grass.
A piece was missing.
"Something is missing."
"I know." Her brown-haired companion smiled up at the stars. "That's why you are with me to remember."
An image danced in her sight.
A tunnel of green, blue and white suspended on high.
She remembered.
Turning to her former self, she smiled as the wraith form became flesh, bone, and blood again.
Laying back in the cushioning of the grass was a chimerical companion. He was a little taller than she was now, dressed in a simple white shirt and black slacks with bare feet. He wore his tawny hair longer than was considered vogue in a shaggy fashion. Cinnamon brown eyes smiled back at her with a warm delight that was infectious.
The cinnamon browned eyed man watched her a the moment before he asked, "Have you remembered?"
"I remember this my secret hideaway." She said.
"That's right."
"I remember, wanting to come back here." She whispered as a distance distorted image dribbled into her memory. "I wanted to share more of myself with him: my family, my childhood, and my secret place."
The tickets had been clandestinely concealed in the tome of his thesis. His lover rarely scrolled through the literary periodicals and publications stashed upon his shelves. Therefore it had been the perfect hiding place. Every evening for a month, he had eagerly examined the documents in secrecy. Feverishly, he had counted down to the felicitous moment. He had finally planned to introduce Nowaki to the Kamijou family… before fate had disastrous intervened.
Dark sepia eyes considered her gravely. "He won't believe us."
She reservedly studied her companion. "I'll find a way to convince him."
"You will need assistance." The brown-haired man told her.
"Who?"
"I brought you here to remember." He repeated.
"A million facts stream through my head on a daily basis." She sighed frustrated by his answer. "What do you want me to recall specifically?"
A slight smile twitched at his stern lips. "The answer will come to you."
"You are so exasperating!"
A chortle of laughter escaped her companion. "I am merely a figment of your subconscious."
The figment of her imagination rose to his feet; then offered his hand out to her. Accepting the cold flesh, Hiroko clambered to stand beside her guide. Beyond the crowded copse of trees, streaks of red, orange and pink dusted the horizon. The dawn was coming.
Shadowy sounds of the real world intruded upon her repose.
She would awake soon.
One last thing troubled her.
"It was him at the metro station wasn't it?" She asked.
"Yes."
"Will he be there when I wake up?" Hiroko asked, turning to study her companion.
"I don't know. "
A zealous sensation of warmth seeped into her skin. The cinnamon eyes of her companion studied his hand at the same moment in bewilderment. The perplexing phantom touch shattered the illusionary world around them. A strange tingling touch, lingered in her hand as the wakeful world returned to her.
Blinking in the lambent light of the red morning light, she woke alone.
The first thing she remembered was staring up into those beautiful ocean blue eyes.
Tedious tentacles of pain trickled down her cheek. Rowdy voices reverberated from the corridor. Running her hand along her cheek again, she remembered parts of the incident from the night before. Beyond the door, she could identify several tongues speaking about her. The anxious accent of her aunt argued with the tell-tale recounting voice of a doctor. An excited proclamation revealed the presence of her best friend. She listened to the soft modulation of the chatter discussing the diagnosis of her injuries. Raising her hand to the dressing plastered against her cheek, she controlled the smile that threatened to erupt.
She remembered her name.
She had been Kamijou Hiroki.
She had seen Nowaki last night.
Propping herself up on her elbow, she studied the brightening room in the hope he lurked in the corners. In the Erebus emptiness of the dying shadows, she scanned the outline of the furniture. Parched dryness painful plagued her throat. Reaching forward with her free hand, she attempted to grasp the plastic cup of water perched on the bedside table. Her fingertips clumsy clasped the rim of the cylinder. Her concussed body trembled at the exertion of energy.
A squeak of shock escaped her lips.
The door swung open violently at the resounding crash, and beeping alarms triggered by her topple from the bed. Three figures swarmed to her rescue. Reassuringly, they encouraged her to sit up. The nurse fussed admonishing her to stay in bed and rest. A fresh cup of water was placed in front of her on the trolley table. Assured she had everything she needed the nurse and steward left her alone making way for Reina to enter the room taking a seat beside her bed.
"How are you feeling?" Her best friend asked as the door swung closed.
As soon as the door was shut, she pushed the covers away to scurry out of bed. Like hell, she was staying here. She had to find him. She could not wait any longer she had to go out there. Was he still here at the hospital? He had been in this very room she knew it.
"I'm Kamijou Hiroki." Hiroko declared excitedly to her partner in crime.
"I don't understand," Reina said confused by her declaration.
"I saw Nowaki last night." She announced speaking in no sensible order as she scrambled for her clothes.
"You have to be wrong," Reina said shaking her head. "The guy last night looked nothing like the Nowaki you always drew."
"Age him nineteen years and throw in a few age lines and scars," Hiroko said pulling on her jeans.
Amaya Reina pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Hiroko, you are not listening to me!"
"Look, Re-chan. I know it was him." She insisted tossing on her top over her head.
"Are you sure?" Her best friend asked trying to hide her doubt. "Sure? Could you have imagined it? You did have a concussion from hitting your head."
Hiroko felt a cold flutter up at her best friend's words.
She had heard that disbelieving tone before in the severe, stentorian words of her grandfather.
Unsure questioning aqua eyes stared back at her.
"Do you think Nowaki would just fall into your lap like that?" Reina continued biting her lip.
"You don't believe me, do you?" Hiroko accused her friend as she sat on the bed to pull on her socks.
"Eh…erm," Reina started before shrugging. "I don't know. All I know is last night the guy who came with the ambulance was called Kusama-san. Not Nowaki."
"Did you think that Nowaki might be his first name?" Hiroko asked with the roll of her eyes.
"Just stop!" Reina shouted stepping in front of her.
"Get out the way, Reina," Hiroko growled low squaring up to the other girl.
She was sick to the core of her being of people standing in her way.
She was tired of questions causing doubt in what she knew was fact.
"Hiroko, you need to rest you have a serious concussion," Reina said placing a hand on her shoulder.
"I remember other things," Hiroko said looking up at her friend. "My name was Hiroki."
The feigning masquerade that Reina played at that moment slipped. Every detail of the disbelief and doubt was simulated plainly like night and day on her friend's face. Reina was dismissing and writing everything she said now off. She could see the cogs in her friend's mind turning and chalking everything she spoke down to the befuddlement having sustained a concussion the night before. Hiroko felt her control teetering on the knife's edge as she stood up picking her bag and shoes up.
Fine, Reina didn't have to believe her just now.
That was fine, but Hiroko was leaving that hospital right then.
"Hiroko, you need to think this through," Reina said barring her exit. "What are you going to do? Walk up to this stranger and throw yourself at him? He will think you are insane!"
"What like everyone else already does?" She bit back sick of all the obstacles and doubters that had crossed her path in the last eighteen years.
Reina's shoulders slumped in defeat. "I never did. I believed every word."
"Until today," Hiroko tossed at her friend as she pushed passed Reina to leave the room.
Slowly the months blurred into each other as life just happened in a natural collision of events.
The police came the day after her discharge from hospital to take her statement.
Things strained between her and Reina.
The plan to share a flat fell apart.
She became wary of wandering out alone in the city after the incident.
Her wariness slowly evaporated though she was still cautious when out alone having received a lecture for her foolishness from her grandfather and a threat to drag her home. She moved out of her aunt and uncle's house to a small studio apartment in the Shinjuku Area of Tokyo. It was a bright, airy studio apartment divided functionally into spacious compartments to make the best use of the space. There was even a little balcony off the bedroom. She had started to grow a few window boxes of plants in her little suntrap. At least she would have fresh produce to harvest to help ward off the expense of the cost of food.
Reina even chose to sit on the other side of the lecture hall in their shared law classes. As the time ticked by and the days came and went, their friendship only seemed to become more distant. Hiroko felt let down by the person she thought she could trust most. Reina's doubts had caused her misgivings to grow. Without Hiroko holding her back, Reina flourished at the university. Every day she seemed to have new social invites by varies different groups. She fitted in with ease amongst the other students without Hiroko. Her looks attracting the attention of most of the male population. Girls tried to emulate her hair and style. There were always some hangers-on vying for her attention.
Hiroko had felt some jealousy stir in the first few lonely weeks.
As she settled into the flow of university and the summer semester rolled in, she was offered a part-time job by Marimo Books that worked around her studies. The discord with Reina was forgotten, and Hiroko found her stride in her life. She accepted on the spot in the interview when the store manager offered the post to her impressed by her knowledge of literature. The job was a distraction from the growing disquiet she felt inside. Every afternoon, she enjoyed stacking shelves, chatting to customers about books and answering questions authors.
Slowly, she began to find a new social group. While working on Thursday evening, she was introduced by her supervisor to a new starter Midori Chizue. She joined the company at an odd time of the year due to a sudden vacancy that popped up. She was short, slightly curvy girl with large geeky glasses and green hair that screamed out otaku from every angle. Midori was an expert on anything manga which Marimo Books had the biggest department of in the city.
"You aren't a fan of the manga?" Midori asked her as they restocked the manga section.
"I have read some in high school because my best friend was into it," Hiroko admitted as she pushed into place a colour volume on the shelf. "Truth have I preferred tomes of literature or working on my artwork than reading manga."
Midori was a student at T-university as well. She was studying technical sciences, focusing on coding and AI development. Hiroko found herself liking her otaku colleague more than she would have thought. Midori was the incredibly private person who did not waffle on about her personal issues, which endeared her to Hiroko who felt she had enough to cope with than adding new acquaintances with problems into her life. Outside of work, she found herself eating lunch with Midori several times a week in the absence of other friends to socialise with. While they had few interests in common outside of their part-time jobs, she found Midori's company soothing, and when they sat in silence together, there was no pressure to force conversation.
While waiting for Midori to finish her shift at work, she received the shock of her life when a guy approached her calling her by name. It turned out he was Midori's older boyfriend, Mutsumi Gin was a twenty-three post-graduate engineering student who was a bigger otaku then his girlfriend. He was studying at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto but came up to visit Midori whenever he had spare time.
"It's Komori-san, right?" A strange guy asked her suddenly, the guy she would learn was Mutsumi Gin a few minutes later.
"Erm…have we met?"
"No, but my girlfriend never stops talking about you." The speckled guy smile with a big grin. "Chi thinks you are the coolest girl she knows even if you are a total normie."
Midori chose that moment to explode out the main doors of the store in a whirlwind of geekery.
"Komori, there you are I was hoping you would have waited for me…" Midori started before seeing her boyfriend. "GIN-KUN!"
"Hey Chi-Chi," Mutsumi said as he caught the flying figure of Midori as she leaped into his arms rubbing her nose against his in an affectionate gesture.
"You are early!" Midori announced with a gleeful smile.
"I switched shifts at the lab so I could get the earlier train to see you," Mutsumi replied conscious of her standing to watch the amusing exchange between the couple. "I didn't realise you had plans though."
"Oh, Komori and I walked the station at the end of our shifts together," Midori explained rolling her hands in motion.
"That's smart," Mutsumi smiled happy that his girlfriend took precautions with her safety. "It can be rough for girls alone."
"Well, I will head off and leave you to catch up," Hiroko suggested feeling a little out of place.
"Do you have any plans tonight?" Midori asked her. "We are going to play some video games if you would like to come over."
Hiroko politely declined as a normie she was a terrible gamer.
Tonight, her plans were the same as most nights when she did not have assignments or reading prep. Either swing by the library or go back to her small studio flat to continue her research. Now, she had recalled names there was a chance of finding records detailing what happened so she could piece together the vexatious jigsaw of her past. She had thought knowing her name would make her search easier if not yield results instead. The family name Kamijou turned out to be a bit more common than she thought. Without knowing the correct kanji formula, she was still looking for a needle in a haystack with hundred of entries returned in her person's search.
Midori and Mutsumi insisted on her tagging along with them for dinner and to meet up with their cosplay friends. Hiroko tried to give her excuses but three hours later found herself sitting in a circle of people she would never imagine hanging out with her life. Strangers poked and prodded her as the drinks flowed. Hiroko had never seen the anime the group believed she resembled but dressed like a boy she stood and posed for pictures feeling the laughter bubble up from deep within for the first time in weeks.
One of the famous clubs from their university descended on the bar as the anime cosplay society was wrapping up their meeting. Aqua eyes strayed to her several times as Midori, and she said her goodbyes. Hiroko stopped at the exit and looked over her shoulder towards her best friend who lingered at the edge of the group looking towards her. When a good-looking guy called her name, Reina cast a secondary glance towards her before vanishing back into the company of her new friends.
"Are you coming, Komori?" Midori asked as she slid on her coat. "We can walk to the station with you if you like."
"That would be lovely," Hiroko said following the group out without looking back.
On the walk to the station, Midori and she conversed on the idea that she once had of creating manga. Several of the clubs was thrilled with her plot ideas and suggested she should do a rough mock-up of the first chapter. People offered to read it for her and provide tips on how to stylise the manga copy too.
As the group walked to the station a tall, lanky dark-haired figure in white caused her to stop.
Looking back, Hiroko realised it was another false alarm.
Maybe, Reina had been right after all.
Was she wishfully seeing Nowaki everywhere?
As the group neared the local metro station, Hiroko heard her phone vibrated in her bag.
Fishing it out her phone the depths of her bag, she answered the unknown number. "Moshi Moshi, this Komori Hiroko."
"Good evening Komori-san, this is officer 3456 Sano-san from the Metropolitan Police Department." The caller identified themselves on the line. "Do you have time now to speak?"
The police call came out the blue nearly two months after the initial incident at the station.
Despite the delay, Hiroko welcomed the reassuring feeling that the call brought to her.
"Certainly, how can I help officer?" Hiroko said as she waved goodnight to her departing companions.
"I need to request you come down to the station tomorrow if possible for a lineup." The officer told her.
"Certainly," she answered gladly finally things were moving in the investigation. "When should I come down to the Metropolitan Police Department building for?
Police Officer Sano requested she present herself at the Metropolitan Police Department building just after lunchtime. Luckily, Midori had overheard the telephone exchange and immediately offered to sudden shifts with her to Mutsumi's dismay. A brief elbow to his gut from Midori and soft whispers promising recompense silenced his objections.
After Ancient Japanese Literature, Hiroko planned to head straight to the department. As the bell chimed the end of class everyone stared in amazement to her, as once again Hiroko who had correctly answered all their lecturer's review questions on material she had barely read due choosing to hang out with the cosplay club. Several testing questions from the lecturer, left the older man flabbergasted as it revealed Hiroko's knowledge of ancient literature was beyond a level one university-level understanding of literary studies. Shocked classmates whispered as they left watching their lecturer become animated over their discussion of the text.
The further discussion ate into her travel time to reach downtown Tokyo to arrive at the police department in time for the appointment she had. She was briefed by two officers about the process as she panted from sprinting from the station to the Metropolitan Police Department building. She stood concealed behind watching as six rough looking individuals shuffled into the viewing room. Varying builds, heights, and colouring marched into the observation area in single file. Her eyes skimmed every individual in the line up looking for the analogous details that resembling the descriptions of her earlier statement. One of the line-up distinctly unimpressed at being forced to appear rudely stuck his middle finger up in the direction of the glass. It was the eyes of the third individual that had licentious striped her the alley that gave his identity away.
The second part of the line up was to watch footage from the cameras that had been posted at the metro station. The officers wanted her to visually identify any of the suspects in the line up that she could match the line of individuals who stood before in the observation room.
"Are you ready Komori-san?" The officer said as he started the footage.
She watched the video roll through her eyes following every motion.
The thugs arrived on the platform seizing items of innocent bystanders.
She watched herself attempt to intervene and the violence executed against her.
"I recognise this man and this guy here." Hiroko indicated on the video footage. "They were individuals number 4 and 5 in the line-up you showed me."
She witnessed the train pulled onto the platform.
The gang of thugs fled.
Her breath caught in her throat as recognition set in.
Stepping onto the platform was the distinctive figure of her rescuer.
"It was Nowaki who saved me." She whispered to herself. "I knew it."
(To be continued…)