-Part 2-
Day 5
Today was the day! I woke up ecstatic, bouncing on the bed to wake up my 'sister'. "Light's gonna scream like a girl!" I told Min (quite randomly seeing as Light doesn't actually scream like a girl specifically, but rather simply shouts in fear), then jumped from the bed to the closet in two bounds to get the school uniform for the day.
The Yagami family decided that it was fine to let Min stay busy by coming to school with me. There were no problems reported to Sachiko, Light, or Soichiro after the teacher-switch, so they were all convinced that it was the teacher that was doing things wrong, not me.
On the way to school, I tuned out Min's and Light's conversation (which I couldn't understand anyways) and planned out the day. Or rather, the important parts.
First, I'd get the letter from Mr. Wammy at the beginning of school. I'd then head to Fruits Basket.
I pondered whether I should stay in that area of Japan for a bit. I needed to straighten things out there, still, though I'd rather do that with Min. I'd be a little uncomfortable, and no doubt I'd slip up without someone to watch me.
Gosh, I really was a co-dependant child, wasn't I?
Just like Near… kidding.
Well, if I do stay longer than necessary, I could just fly back to the desired time in Death Note after; in other words, I'd appear only a few seconds after I left. To protect Min from getting any more damaged, she'll stay here. I won't allow her to come if I can help it.
I didn't notice that we had arrived at school until Min pulled me across the road to the gates. Watari was waiting in the classroom, acting as if he were simply preparing for the day.
"Mr. Wammy, good morning." I greeted.
"Good morning, girls. How are you?"
"We're fine. You?"
"Good, good."
"Can we just get this over with?" Min interrupted. "C'mon, we don't have all day. M—Jess, you have twenty minutes until the beginning of school. There and back—no side trips."
"I'm gonna let Akito write a letter back, though." I said.
Watari handed me a letter, the name on it written in Japanese. With a nod from Min saying that no one was looking in on us, I unfolded my wings—a gasp, unseen expression, and muttering in some random language from Watari—and flew.
I felt nauseous after landing.
I always did, I just didn't mention it as often.
But that was besides the point. I made sure that I had flown to Akito's garden, the space outside his room. I winced as my shoulder stung while I pulled in my wings. It seemed that the damage was fairly bad for me. So since Min travels less than me, she should be okay… if she promises not to travel anymore.
What did she give up to go to the Death Note world?
My thoughts drifted even more as I noticed that I was wearing a simple long white t-shirt that served as a half skirt and black shorts, rather than the uniform I had left with. It must have something to do with me growing six years in the time span of flying. I'll look into it more later.
Voices slipped out into the spring-like air, causing me to snap back to the present and unintentionally (for the first bit) eavesdrop on whoever Akito was meeting with.
"Akito, are you sure?" A man asked. It sounded like Hatori.
"Yes. He is not to leave here."
Another voice spoke up in protest, younger sounding, but still male. "Akito, please--,"
"You. Are. Not. To. Leave. Here."
"Why?!"
"Because… she…" Akito's voice died out, leaving all three—I and the two unknowns—to ponder what he was going to say.
Who is 'she'?
Finally remembering why the two voices sounded familiar, I walked into the room from the side door, forcing myself to enter with a cool passiveness contrasting my churning stomach. My entire being protested to what I was doing, but I did it anyways.
"Aw, c'mon, Akito, allow the guy a little freedom. He IS a teen, after all."
"Miru…!" Breathlessly, Akito froze in his standing position, eyes wide at the sight of me. I did my best not to look at Haru—I'd been avoiding that subject altogether in my mind, so who knows what I'd do on impulse.
"Yo. Delivery service." I waved L's letter in front of my friend's face, snapping him out of his trance. Only to be wrapped in a hug, his breath tickling my ear as he whispered.
"You're okay…"
"Of course I am. I won't die so easily!" Against all say-what-you-think lectures I got from my mom and other such family members, I smiled and added a little chuckle.
"Die…?" Hatsuharu asked.
I pretended not to hear him. I still wasn't done deciding what I was going to do with that situation; square one wasn't as fun as it seemed.
"Anyways," I continued, "L's going as Ryuzaki, now. Here's his reply. Oh, how did Min react to the whole… situation?" Referring to the memory-loss, I raised my eyebrows in a careless inquisitive move, acting in front of Hatori and Hatsu.
"She was shocked, surely, but I'm sure she's okay. She's a strong girl."
"Mm…"
Akito took the letter from my hand, not doing well in hiding his excitement. He read it over in a few seconds, then snapped his fingers at Hatori. "Pen and paper."
"Yes." The man stood up and left, leaving just me, Akito, and Hatsuharu.
"…Thank you, Miru, for doing all this. I know it's dangerous."
"Don't worry about it. Like I said to Min, how often do these kinds of friends appear?"
Hatsu decided that he didn't like being left out.
"Can I ask for an explanation…?" The hesitance was surely caution around Akito, though he seemed more stable when I visited.
"I'm just delivering a one-time message between friends. I won't be able to do it again, because it's kind of risky." My hands clasped themselves behind my back, and I turned to look out upon the garden. I couldn't help but notice, as the breeze blew in, just how long my hair had grown; it just about touched my shoulders. A few cherry blossom petals flew in as well, probably making the scene more pretty as one brushed my cheek.
Hatori came back with the items requested, and Akito immediately sat down and began to write a letter. I sat in the same spot as last time; right on the door frame, waiting for Akito to finish. I couldn't help but decide that I was going to spend a little more time in Furuba before heading back, now that I could control time as well as the landing area.
Wow. I felt so powerful.
Akito dismissed Hatsu and Ha'ri, and I followed them out, leaving Akito to have some time alone. I wondered what I was going to do—I had all the time in the world (I think) and I pretty much didn't feel like moving at all.
I ended up in Hatori's area of the estate, looking out on the garden from his room. Hatsuharu was still with us, and it was a little unnerving how he kept glancing at me every few seconds.
Finally, I cracked.
"What?!"
"I—uh, nothing, just… Never mind."
I sighed, my mood changing from 'Mysterious child' to 'Clearly Angry'.
A few silent minutes passed as Hatori made us some tea. Haru spoke up again, still shy, as if I were Akito.
"Um… Miru, right?"
"Yeah." I sipped my tea, seething, yet also broken.
"…Are you sure you're okay with delivering the letters? You said it was risky--,"
"I can take care of myself."
"Oh."
I couldn't help but wonder why Hatsuharu was so out of character right then. So I had to ask, "Are you okay?" Then realized my mistake as I wasn't supposed to know how he usually acted.
He looked at me, shocked, and I turned my gaze away, wishing I didn't see the sadness in his eyes, the hope lighting them up only slightly, from what was unknown. I wished he would remember me, so I could comfort him and so he would actually tell me what was wrong.
Was I trying to distance myself?
Then again, I realized that I might die later on. I might never be able to come back here.
"What happens… when the files get erased?"
"…Well then, we'll just have to make new ones."
Gathering strength from my friend's words, I spoke up again. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Really…?"
"Yeah." I wasn't surprised when he stood up and left. Hatori, who had been organizing some file or other in his office came out and sat beside me. We were quiet for a minute, simply getting used to the other's presence. It was sort of the way Hatori did things. He wasn't ever comfortable talking to people all the time, and preferred to let the other know he was there for a while before speaking.
"…That boy… feels weak."
"Weak…?"
"Yes. After hearing what you've been through—loss of sight, loss of a limb, and so on—he believes that what he worries about is meaningless. And so, he began to worry about you."
I was shocked. I didn't move, didn't make a sound, just let Hatori speak as I stared into the greenish liquid in my ceramic cup.
"You're throwing your whole life into saving people. Some of them you don't even know. Some still unborn. He admires your strength, and in consequence to being exposed to such a person, he feels weak."
Something splashed into my tea. It took me a moment to realize that it had been a tear.
"I'm sorry." I whispered.
"Don't be. He's been in a half-state where he's reorganizing his thoughts, changing everything that he's ever known. He's growing stronger in his own way."
"…Why are you telling me this?"
"I'm not sure. You seem like someone who can help him, though."
Why me?
"He told me after he saw you that he felt like there was something he had forgotten. Something he wouldn't be able to remember, but it centered around you, and had a warm glow to it. Being around you, he looks happier. More relaxed."
No. Stop! I don't want to be tortured like this.
In order to get away, I stood up, placing my tea on the wood floor. "Thank you for telling me this, Hatori. If you'll excuse me, I have somewhere I need to be soon."
Yes, I get formal when I'm shaken up about something sometimes.
Was I scared?
From what?
Nothing made sense. I hurried away from Hatori's house, and when I was in an area where no one was around, I pushed off from the ground, my wings not even fully out. I flew a few miles away into the surrounding forest, reaching a random clearing that was just big enough for me to spot from above and land in.
What the hell was I going to do, if I kept running away from my problems? I had to fight the instinct to launch back into the air just at this thought. Instead, I simply left my wings out, using my heightened senses to their fullest. I lay on my stomach in the grass, grounding myself and allowing the feeling of being untouchable wash over me.
I could sense how the grass moved to the slightest breeze. Every bug in the surrounding area hummed, matching their heart rates. I could feel the ground shift as worms and moles burrowed deep. Small feet skittered across tree bark, and farther away, a deer bounded across a stream. It was a complete picture-book moment, and I was absorbed into it.
When I realized that it felt like I was being pulled from my physical state of mind, I sat up on my knees immediately, eyes snapping open in more surprise than fear of losing myself.
Hatsuharu stood before me.
I lifted a leg, intent on standing up and going who-knows-where, when he spoke.
"Are you okay?"
The same words that I had asked him. However, I knew that he was better than okay. He was mending.
I was broken.
"…No."
I dropped back to my sitting position. The one word had brought everything that had happened, and everything that could happen. Nightmares plagued my mind as I sat there, and my fists clenched. I wished I had lost myself in that trance; then I wouldn't have to deal with anything.
"You can tell me." He said, sitting down against a tree next to me.
"Hn..." It was quiet for half a minute. "…I have to kill someone. Or else Akito, Minbou… all the others I've never met yet, they're all going to get killed." I shuddered, and was reminded that my wings were still out, the rips in my shirt tickling my back. "I feel so powerless…" I made sure not to mention anything about having lived in Shigure's house for a period of time.
"Powerless…?" He said. "You're anything but. You have an amazing influence on Akito. He hasn't made any threats or attempts to harm anyone since you came back."
Came back?
"What?"
"Uh… Well, Akito's usually extremely violent and--,"
I shifted forward, now leaning towards him on my hands and knees, a forbidden hope in my heart. "No, not that. 'came back' you said."
"Did I?"
"Yeah. What do you mean by that?"
"…It feels like… you've been here before. But I can't remember you."
We simultaneously noticed how close I had gotten, and I backed up, tinted pink.
But if he felt like that when I was around, meaning, if he feels that I'm familiar in some way, than would it be possible to get him to regain his memories?
If so, how would that be possible?
The memory of us kissing was brought up and violently shoved back down. There was no way I was going to kiss him when he thinks I'm just some random person (albeit one who has wings).
Maybe his memories were only suppressed, not erased. Maybe it was the same with everyone, and they all knew me but didn't at the same time.
The hope caused me to practically glow, and I held myself back from jumping with joy.
"I…see. That's interesting."
"Why? Is it the same for you?" I stood up, and he followed, curious as to what I was getting at.
"Something like that… Can I try something?"
"Sure." Passive attitude. That's my Haru.
My?
Never mind, I'm not even going to bother correcting myself.
Instead, I hugged him. Nothing happened, as expected.
It did catch him off guard though, and as I pulled away I noticed he was a bright red color. I laughed—I couldn't help it, a tomato-Haru is something to laugh at.
"Wha—the curse, is it broken…?" He stared at me.
"Nah, but technically, I'm sort of a part of the Zodiac. Akito and I are related, in a way, but not by blood."
Vague, isn't it?
"Ah, I see."
Well, he accepted it.
"So, Akito has wings too?"
Shit. Uhh… "You're going to have to ask him yourself if you want to know that. There are some things I'm not allowed to tell."
Hatsuharu looked towards the sky in that moment, hands in his pockets, thinking. He looked, for all the world, as if he were a god of some sort. And again, my heart broke to pieces, and I forced myself to look away.
He noticed.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Lies."
"Yeah."
"…So?"
"It hurts… to look at certain people, for me." Why did I have to say that? Why couldn't I reword it fast enough? If only I were at L's level.
Well, either way, what I said seemed to come as a shock to him. If he spoke, he would have tripped over his own tongue.
"That's weird…" He finally said. I forced a chuckle.
"Yeah, I know. I just…"
"It's the same for me."
"What?"
"I feel like I've lost something, when I look at you," Here he glanced down at me, "and it's like what I'm searching for is right in front of me, but I can't have it."
"And you shatter."
"Mm."
I suddenly felt exhausted, and flopped back onto the ground, this time sitting cross legged with my head bowed, picking at the grass. I thought of ways that I could get Hatsu to remember, and recalled multiple times where we 'shared a moment' sort of. One was when I was blind and asked him to read to me. There was when I went to Akito's for the first time, and thought I was going to be killed. A major moment in my memory was the rooftop… but all of these required me to be injured in some way. Blind, bashed about by Akito, whom is now my friend, shot in the arm and leg and rendered to a wheelchair…
Gah. Well, simply going to the roof was a start. But that would require heading to school. I didn't feel like walking, and I couldn't carry him while flying, my arm was too damaged for such an act.
"Aah… I don't wanna move…" I complained.
I swear, I was bipolar.
Haru offered me his hand. I took it, curious as he hoisted me up. "What?" I asked. He then bent down, his back facing me.
"Get on," He beckoned.
Forgetting that this guy had once been my boyfriend, and entranced by the idea of a free trip to probably the Sohma house, I climbed on his back and we set off. I rested my head against his shoulder, half-asleep. If I said anything, I probably don't remember it.
Of course, I did say something.
"Hey, lemme tell you a story," I suggested as we trekked through the forest. "So, there're all these oysters in the bottom of the ocean, one the same as the other. Then one day, God or whoever decides to make one special. He puts a little grain of sand in it
. And over time, the grain of sand becomes a…" I yawned, my arms going a little more limp around his neck. It was so warm… "A pretty pearl."
Darkness enclosed about me.
A claustrophobic feeling overcame me, and I struggled. I couldn't move. The black was holding me down. Light appeared, but strands of black—the Gate Children—continued to hold me in place as a shadow appeared. The shadow morphed into Kuromono.
Suddenly, the Gate Children let go, seemed to disintegrate, and reappear in my arms, in Hatsuharu's form. All suspition of him being the Gate Children disappeared as I looked at his sleeping form. Surrounding me, the unconscious bodies of Ed, Al, Noah, Akito, Kyo, Yuki, Light (surprisingly) and everyone else I'd met in my travels, including my immediate family.
Where was Min?
I looked around, and saw Kuromono holding Min by the hair. She seemed to be wearing either a bodysuit of some sort, or no clothing at all, which seemed to make the image that more graceful. In Kuromono's other hand, though, were Min's outstretched—and bloody—wings.
A tearing sound filled my ears as my worst enemy wrenched the wings from their owner. Min's scream pierced the air and I looked elsewhere, crying, to escape the gruesome image.
Everyone else had their throats slit.
I looked down at the boy in my arms.
I was met with a dead and bloody Haru.
"Haru…no… not you too… Haru!" I screamed, but it sounded dull, without echo, like yelling into a padded room.
"Miru, WAKE UP!"
I opened my eyes to a living Hatsu. In my relief, I jumped up and hugged him, knocking both of us to the ground with tears streaming down my cheeks. "Haru… you were dead… you, and Min, and Akito, and Ed, and everyone…! I was the only one alive… me and Kuromo--," I choked on my tears, and Haru hushed me with soft shushing, his hand rubbing circles on my back, relaxing me again.
"It's okay, Miru. You're strong."
"I'm not a superhero. I don't know how much longer I can take this… I have to hurry, or I'll go insane." We stood up, and I wiped the last of my tears away. "Sorry for startling you like that."
"It's fine." He took my hand and led me through the woods, my heart beating at a faster rate than it should from the contact.
A/N: Fried Green Tomatoes!! It's a movie, where the oyster story came from. It was worded differently 'cause I'm too lazy to do a check on it, plus if you were half asleep and being carried by your crush of sorts, you wouldn't remember it either.
I feel really peppy today. Which is strange. Maybe it's 'cause all day I was depressed. Meh. And I couldn't get this story out of my head, so I FINALLY updated. Now I'm going to compare the length of this chapter to the length of the other one.
ONTO PART 2!!
Sarii
P.S. Special thanks to Mickay for being a pain in the ass!