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Hiroki and Izanagi circled one another, their eyes intent on each other's every move, waiting to find their opponents weakness. Hiroki's heart beat like mad, he hardly breathed, and he could hear his pulse drumming in his ear. Suddenly Izanagi lashed out, and Hiroki barley dodged by pulling away, keeping his defenses up.
Izanagi grinned and stepped forward, about to attack again. This time when he lunged for Hiroki, Hiroki ducked and lunged for his chest, knocking the air out of Izanagi and rolled out of the way as Izanagi's body crashed to the floor. They quickly jumped up, resuming their circling. "We're two men in the same boat, Hiroki." Izanagi said as they circled, never letting his guard down. Hiroki said nothing in reply, only kept waiting. "We both love the same woman."
Hiroki bit his lip, pushing his anger away.
"She DOES feel good, doesn't she?"
Hiroki lunged at him, and as he lunged, Izanagi made his move. He brought his foot around and slammed it into the middle of Hiroki's chest, flinging him to the side of the hallway. Hiroki hit it with a dull thud, and fell to the floor.
Izanagi came closer, his guard down, triumph illuminating from him. "But only the strong have her. I guess I'll be the one to enjoy her, hm? I hoped you had more fight in you, but I guess not...you've lost your touch, haven't you? No matter, I'll make this quick..." Hiroki's anger reached its peak, but instead of making the same stupid mistake, he waited till Izanagi was standing next to him to make his unexpected move...
With one swift movement, he brought his hand up and ripped it through Izanagi's chest, gripping his heart and ripping it back out of his chest. "That's for my mate and her sister!" he growled, pushing Izanagi's heartless body back onto the ground.
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Hiroki made his way down to the beach, following his gut instinct on where his mate would be. As he jogged down the shore, he started to worry; what if she hadn't made it? He'd seen the broken window back in the building, but no Reika or Natsumi.
After a few moments, he could see someone dragging someone else onto shore and dropping her before dropping herself. He broke into a frantic run, watching as the conscious person leaned over the other. When he got close enough, he could see the sheer panic on the woman's face; Reika.
"REIKA!"
Reika looked back at him as she heard her named yelled, a panicked look spread across her face. She then looked back at Natsumi's body, which was supposedly dead. She didn't believe it. "I-I don't know what to do! I don't know if she's dead because she used too much energy or if water got in her mouth and started to drown her..."She rushed. "Reoko knows mouth to mouth and whatever it is, but I don't know if that's what's wrong!" She exclaimed.
Hiroki ran to her and skidded in the sand till he was on his knees, leaning over Natsumi. "Move, Reika!" He ordered, even though she'd already made room for him, but nevertheless she backed away a bit more. Hiroki gently took Natsumi's hand and pressed his mouth to hers, blowing into it. He pulled away and started to pound on her chest.
Nothing.
He pressed his mouth to hers again and repeated the procedure. Still nothing.
He tried a couple more times, before he started getting desperate. "NO, DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE ME! NOT NOW, DON'T YOU DARE DIE!" He breathed into her mouth and pounded on her chest, crying out in between till finally he stopped, holding her head in his hands. "Please...oh please don't leave me...not now..." Tears started to fall down his face as he pulled her body up into his warm embrace and cried, pleading with her to come back to him.
3 deaths in one day. It was unbelievable. Three deaths in one day. One death can change your life, but three? It was maddening. Reika hung her head, blaming herself for Natsumi's death. She leaned over, her face looking at the ground, and began rocking back and forth. "If I wouldn't have jumped out the window…It's all my fault." Her emotions began to take control over her body, and everything in it. Her soul, her state of mind, her powers. Sand began to float around her, whipping at her in small torrents.
Reika's head snapped towards Hiroki. "Try AGAIN!" She cried, gripping his arm with a death grip. He looked up at her as though she was insane; maybe she was. "TRY AGAIN! This time, try pushing her chest first, and then air. Please, just one more time! If it doesn't work, we'll stop. Just...please."
Hiroki didn't ask questions; he did. He put her gently on the ground again and started to pound on her chest. After the second pound, Natsumi's eyes snapped open and she turned over so that she could cough what looked like a lake full of water out of her body. She kept coughing, water spilling onto the sand as Hiroki patted her back to help her get rid of it all. Soon her coughing slowed and she turned back onto her back, and though she was about to lose consciousness again, her eyes met with Hiroki's. For a second there was no recognition, but then she smiled a smile that Reika hadn't seen on her face for years. Natsumi reached up weakly to Hiroki's face and wiped a tear away with her thumb. "Don't cry," She whispered as she passed out. Hiroki caught her hand before it hit the ground and kissed her wrist.
"I won't."
Reika watched, tears over flowing her eyes. As she saw what went on between the two, her eyes began to droop. Her legs and arms were aching from the combination of riding a motorcycle and paddling to shore. "Let's leave..."Reika shook her head violently to keep herself awake. "The guards aren't going to stay conscious forever, and Chinatsu still lives..."She muttered, standing up. She wobbled a bit before she began to walk away.
"Reika," Hiroki's voice stopped her. She looked back to find him stand up with Natsumi in his arms. "Thank you." And he smiled at her. Reika didn't see why he was thanking her, but nevertheless she nodded and turned away.
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They came in sight of the cars parked in the shrubs off the side of the road. One of the cars was on, pulling out of the shrubs. The window rolled down. "Hiroki, Reika!" Ayame called from the driver's seat. Hiroki sped up, coming to a stop by the passenger window.
"Did she make it?" He asked, referring to Crin. Ayame's eye tightened.
"No." She answered in a monotone voice. "I don't know where Rimundo is either. We lost sight of him when we were trying to escape."
Hiroki glanced at Reika worriedly. "Shouldn't we go back for him?" She asked, her voice shaking.
"We can't...its hard but...if we went back now, more of us may get lost." Ayame answered. "If he's okay, Rimundo will get himself home. He always does. He IS the wind, you know."
"Yeah, gosh Reika, don't you know anything? You can't kill the wind!" Hiroki laughed, though it sounded wrong to Reika's ears. Rimundo WAS still mortal, regardless of his powers; she didn't believe that he was fine...something was wrong, and the others knew it too.
Reika eyed the both of them, as if trying to tell them she knew that something was wrong. She saw Tero and Katsu sitting in the car, and looked at Hiroki. "Do you want to put Natsumi in the back of the car? I'll ride the motorcycle with you." She offered.
Hiroki hesitated, looking down at Natsumi. "I don't know..." He muttered, shifting uncomfortably. "I'm sure they could take care of her but..."
"You want to be with her." Reika finished for him.
"Well...yeah, I do."
Reika nodded, trying to ignore the pang that shot through her heart every time Hiroki looked down at her sister. The looks he gave her was so relaxed and loving that Reika couldn't help but feel a little...envious as well as uncomfortable. In the past she'd been the one who opposed their love for each other...well, romantic love in general. Now she had no one to hold her close and give her the looks that Hiroki gave her unconscious sister.
Suddenly Katsu poked his head out of the car. "I'LL ride the motorcycle with you!" he offered in a cheery tone.
Reika
sweat dropped, but smiled. "Okay, that's fine." She finally
answered. She knew Hiroki wanted to be with Natsumi, and she was
willing to give up her comfort for their quality time together. Katsu
grinned, and jumped out of the car, running to the motorcycle.
"Keys?" He questioned towards Hiroki.
Hiroki motioned towards his pocket, and looked at Reika. Reika walked over and took the keys from his pocket, smiling feebly, and then strode over to Katsu and the motorcycle.
Katsu took the keys from her as she mounted the cycle, clinging to him tightly. "Don't worry; I'm very good at driving." He told her.
"It's not that..."She mumbled, turning red."I'm afraid of falling off."
Katsu grabbed one of her hands that was clutching at his shirt. "I won't let you." He told her with a squeeze of her palm.
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They pulled up to Ayame's -- or Hiroki's castle-- and parked. Hiroki was the first one out, holding Natsumi tightly in his arms. Reika and Katsu pulled up moments afterwards, and Reika stumbled off the bike before Katsu could even move and stumbled after Hiroki. "Has she awakened yet?" She asked in a huff as she trotted after him.
"No."
"Where are you going to put her? Shouldn't we take her back to Shiori's?"
Hiroki stopped and looked at her skeptically. "Reika, we used to LIVE here; where do you THINK I'm putting her?"
Reika blushed. "Oh..."
Ayame sighed from behind. "That's MY room now..."
Hiroki looked up apologetically, "If you'd like, I'd be fine with moving her to another room..."
Ayame shook her head furiously. "No, I wasn't seriously upset by it, it's still technically your home, so I'll take one of the other rooms, and there isn't any problem with that."
Hiroki nodded and started to head up the steps.
Just as they got to the door, it opened and Takiko ran out, her eyes scanning the group. When her eyes fell on Crin's dead body, she gasped and turned away. "Oh no...Not Crin, too?" Reika nodded. "Where's Rimundo?"
Everyone was silent. Hiroki clutched Natsumi closer to him and Reika looked away. "Where is he?" Takiko asked again, her voice cautious. "Is he coming after you guys?"
"Takiko," Hikitsu spoke, his voice emotionless, "We...he...he disappeared when we were leaving. We haven't heard anything from him since."
Takiko's eyes widened as he spoke and she started to shake her head. "He's not coming back." She whispered.
"Now Takiko, we don't know that..." Ayame tried to soothe her, but it only made Takiko recoil.
"YES I DO, Something isn't right! I have this feeling...like something's gone horribly wrong! He's not here! If he were alright, he could have just flown here! He would be here right now!"
"Maybe he had something else he needed to take care of first..." Ayame tried, but it was in vain.
"No, he would have come back to tell me first, to let me know he was alright! He would have at least called! And guess what? No one's called. He hasn't come back! Something's happened and you all know it! You just don't know what, that's why you're keeping it from me!" Takiko started to cry hysterically as she sunk to her knees, tears rolling down her face in rivers.
Reika watched Reoko's niece fall down to her knees, and felt the strongest urge to go and comfort her. She was unsure of whether or not she should. Would Takiko want comfort? Did she really need to be lulled into a lie, that Rimundo was okay? No, she didn't. Reika wearily walked over to the crumpled Takiko, and kneeled down beside her. Putting a hand on Takiko's back, she rubbed it lightly. "Shhhh..."She whispered. "Shhhh…" She didn't know what else to say. "Come on, let's go inside dear..." Reika coaxed her to stand up. Takiko didn't budge, she only continued to sob. Reika threw a look back at everyone, who seemed to be looking away from the scene. Sighing, she forcefully pulled Takiko up with what little strength she had, supporting her weight, and headed towards the castle. Suddenly, some of the weight was lifted from her own shoulders. Looking to the other side of Takiko, she saw Katsu pulling Takiko's other arm around his own shoulder.
Reika smiled gratefully at him, and he smiled back. "Thank you..."She said softly.
Hiroki shot a sad look at Ayame and Hikitsu and then proceeded to head towards his old master bedroom. When he reached it and went inside, he stood there for a moment, taking everything in. It was mostly the same; the bedding was new and it looked a little girly with the purple color and canopy hanging over it and there was a fluffy white rug on the wooden floor. A bathroom had been added to it and the contents in the room were different. But other than that, it was still the same room. He sighed and strode over to the bed, throwing back the covers and laying Natsumi gently on the bed. As soon as he was sure she was comfortable, he tucked her under the covers and climbed next to her, propping himself up on his elbow.
He couldn't help but remember all the times she fell asleep while looking over her work and he'd tucked her into bed...how he'd wrap his arms around her and hold her close and listen to her even breathing as she fell asleep.
But now he wouldn't fall asleep with her till he knew that she still loved him and still wanted to be his mate...till then he'd be a gentleman and wait for her.
He sighed and caressed her face and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Goodnight my angel."
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Takiko sobbed into Reika's shoulder, crying "He's gone, he's gone, he's gone!" Over and over again. Reika didn't know what to do exactly, so she settled for sitting there and listening to her. There was absolutely no way that Takiko would hush up, so she didn't bother trying to shush her.
They sat in the front room, listening as rain started to pelt the window outside. "What a gloomy day..." Katsu muttered as he stood staring out the window at the now empty driveway.
"The weather fits the mood." Reika agreed. They were silent, listening to Takiko's muffled cries. The wind picked up, making the rain pelt harder against the window for a moment then settled. Takiko stopped crying as she listened to the wind, but as soon as it faded she started to cry again.
Drip drop, drip drop, drip drop...
"Reika..." Katsu suddenly said, his voice sounding alive and hopeful. "Someone's outside."
That's all it took for Takiko to leap out of Reika's arms and run to the front door, throwing it open and running out into the rain. Reika followed close behind but couldn't keep Takiko from leaping onto a bloody Rimundo, knocking him off the steps and back onto the gravel drive-way.
"RIMUNDO, I THOUGHT YOU DIED!" Takiko yelled as she grabbed his face and kissed him passionately, ignoring his small cries of pain. "WHAT HAPPENED? OH, NEVER MIND THAT, ALL THAT MATTERS IS THAT YOUR HERE! YOU CAME BACK...you're not okay, but you'll live! I know you'll live! Don't you ever do that to me again, you scared me so badly!" She sobbed as she kissed him some more.
Katsu ran out behind Reika, watching her pry a still sobbing Takiko off of a wounded Rimundo. "Hey now, come on, let's go back inside." Reika ushered her back into the house. "Katsu-san, please help Rimundo into the house. His wounds will need tending immediately." She told him as she passed him.
Katsu nodded, and did as he was told. He helped Rimundo up, and led him into the main room. Takiko rushed over to Rimundo as Katsu gently sat him on the floor.
"Ayame?!" Reika exclaimed. "A little help down here, please?!" She tore her calf length skirt till it became a knee-length skirt. She walked over to Rimundo, and began to clean up some of the blood with the torn cloth of her skirt.
Rimundo winced as Reika dabbed his wounds. "You could just wait till Ayame gets down here, you know." He muttered.
"Yeah, well you're not going to actually die." She examined the bullet holes in both of his shoulders and the cut on his cheek and his chest. "What in the world happened to you?"
"Long story short, Chinatsu got a hold of me, tortured me for information though she didn't get a peep out of me, and then I escaped when I got the strength. You have no idea how hard it was to fly over here."
"I don't normally try to fly." Reika muttered as Ayame ran up behind her.
"Rimundo!" She cried, kneeling next to him. "What happened?!"
Rimundo rolled his eyes and repeated his short story as Ayame healed his wounds.
"Well, I can heal you externally...but your going to be really tired for a couple days. Thank goodness you're alright; we thought...well, you probably know what we all thought. I'm sure Takiko told you right off."
"Yeah, she did. Look, I'm really, really sorry for worrying you guys..."
"It's not us you should be telling that to."
"I TRIED to tell her, she was just kissing me and babbling in between. I couldn't really get a word in...but I'll tell her. Of course I'd tell her." Rimundo looked over at Reika and smiled. "Thanks for taking care of her while I was...you know."
Reika smiled back at him, twisting the bloody rag of cloth in her hand. "It's okay. I'm sorry you got involved in this." She apologized.
Katsu sat on the couch, watching them all buzz around Rimundo. Takiko was still crying, and blubbering out things that couldn't be understood. Tero ran into the room after having heard Reika's call, even though it wasn't for him. "He's okay...?" He questioned Katsu, not bothering to ask anyone surround Rimundo. They were all too busy tending to him.
Katsu nodded. "He'll live."
Tero sighed in relief. "Thank goodness, I don't think this family can handle anymore deaths." He paused. "You know, Hikitsu is really boring."
Ayame's head snapped up. "Excuse me?"
"Yeah...he never changes emotion and claims that I'M the strange one!"
"You are." Ayame turned away.
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Days past and Natsumi still hadn't woken up. Rimundo couldn't go anywhere without Takiko either following him to make sure he was okay -- not that he minded-- or calling him to make sure he was alright.
Hiroki stayed by Natsumi's side and only left it to take care of himself. When he left her side, Reika was usually there, for what reason Reika didn't know why. She assumed that couples generally grew over protective when it came to their partner's well being.
Three days after the 'adventure', Hiroki called Reika in.
"Are you planning on going to the...funerals?"
"No...Dead people make me queasy. Ironic, I know, but they still do."
"Do you think that you could...watch Natsumi for me? I feel that since somewhere inside me is the father of one of the victims and husband to the other's best friend, I feel it would be inappropriate if I didn't attend."
Reika nodded. "I wouldn't mind." Reika replied.
Hiroki smiled at her
gratefully. "Thank you." He bowed slightly, before heading
to the door.
"Don't worry; I'll call you if anything
happens." She told him before he could ask her.
He laughed slightly before walking out of the room, and shutting the door quietly behind him.
It was suddenly just her and Natsumi all alone in the room. Reika sighed, and pulled up a chair beside the bed, seating herself in it. "Oh my...what a week..." She muttered, holding her head in her hands, her elbows propped up on her knees. Tero had had to call the school, telling Reoko's job that she had a contracted the flu and would be out for a few days, making things easier for Reoko when Reika decided to become dormant in Reoko's body once more. She closed her eyes, running her hand through her hair.
She must have dozed since the next thing she knew someone was shaking her shoulder. "Reika...Reika, you need to wake up." Her eyes snapped open and met with Natsumi's blue grey eyes. Reika snapped out of the chair and fell onto the ground.
"You're awake!"
"Yes, I'm awake; I've been up for fifteen minutes." Reika noticed that Natsumi's hair was wet and she had changed already.
"Why didn't you wake me?"
"You looked so peaceful that I couldn't bear to wake you up. But then I had the overwhelming urge to tell you about the dream I had."
"Oh?"
"Yes...it was strange yet wonderful at the same time."
"I see."
"Yes, at first I felt like I was being swished around, like I was being caried by the ocean. It was terribly cold, and yet at the same time it felt soothing. Eventually things warmed up, but it was hard to breathe. Then there was this really annoying pounding and I wanted to tell whoever was pounding on me to stop and let me sleep but I couldn't move at all. That was the strange part...the next part is strange, yet wonderful."
"Go on."
"Well, suddenly it stopped. It was gone for a while and then suddenly it was back again and this time I could breathe again. I opened my eyes for a split second and..." She paused, her voice suddenly going to a whisper. "He was there. I was so happy that I almost started kissing him...but there were tears in his eyes and I couldn't understand why. So I wiped the tears away and told him not to cry. Then everything went black." Natsumi crossed over to the window, watching the rain splatter against it. "Hiroki never cried. It was the weirdest dream I've ever had; and I've had lots of dreams about him before...but he'd never cried in real life or in my dreams. It bothers me."
Reika sat up on the floor, shifting and fidgeting in an uncomfortable manner. "Natsumi..."Reika began hesitating to tell her sister anything. She wasn't sure she wanted to tell her sister everything that happened.
Natsumi looked down at her sister, and commanded her. "Go on."
Reika took in a deep breath, and let it out. "Natsumi..."She began."Your dream...everything that happened was real. You were in the ocean. I jumped into the ocean while I was trying to help rescue you. Chinatsu had us cornered, so I jumped out the window..." She coughed. "Your hand slipped, and...you drowned sort of. I dragged you on shore and..." She gulped slightly. "Before I go on, I have something to tell you...Hiroki...he's alive." She whispered. "He was the one who pounded on you, he was really crying. I was there..." She muttered.
Natsumi blinked at her. "Reika, that isn't funny." Reika's eyes widened angrily and she stood up and stomped her foot.
"I'm NOT playing around Natsumi; I was never trained to play around back in our prime! What makes you think that I would play around now?!"
Natsumi stared at her sister, her eyes widening. "There isn't a reason..." She whispered, slowly looking away from her sister. "He's alive?"
"Yes."
"How? Kyo's dead..."
"You knew he was his reincarnation?"
"I knew the moment I met him...I just didn't think he actually harbored Hiroki's soul..." Natsumi sat on the bed, her arms wrapping around her belly. "He's...how...I don't..." Natsumi looked up at Reika. "Where is he?"
"At the funerals. He's been with you most of this time, but he had to leave because he felt that since Kyo was apart of him, he should be there for Kyo's daughters death and Shiori's best friends death...your granddaughters death."
"Crin...she didn't make it?"
"No." Natsumi lowered her head into her hands. She was like that for a while till Reika realized she was crying.
"What's wrong Natsumi?" Reika asked as she sank down next to her and wrapped her arms around her shoulders.
"I just...I just don't know what to do! I never expected him to come back...I don't know how I'm going to...but I've got to!" Natsumi lifted her head and started to wipe her eyes, "I'm going to that funeral."