Prince Kazune's POV
Wind whipped past Karin's face as Airi launched herself at the blond Prince standing behind her.
Taken completely off guard as he stumbled backwards with Airi in his arms, Kazune simply blinked and turned his shocked gaze to the top of her head.
Miyon laughed nervously as she caught sight of Karin's expression from underneath the dark shadow cast over her face. She looked just about ready to kill someone.
"What are you...doing here...?" Kazune finally came out of his shock to form words.
Airi tilted her head back to look at him, smiling brightly, "I came to see you, Kazu-chan! When I heard you were going to be away for so long, I began to get lonely. I couldn't take it anymore, so I asked your father to give me the location of your beach house!"
"Airi..." Kazune's brow furrowed as her grip tightened around his waist. When he looked back at Karin, he could see how tense she had gotten. The air was suddenly heavy with negative emotion.
"Um...Karin.." He started, wanting to tell her he had no part in this. For a moment he could have sworn he'd told Airi that he'd been neglecting his fiancé and friends and needed to spend time with them meaning not her.
Which means she either completely forgot how important this vacation was or remembered and selfishly invited herself, Kazune thought to selfish part was a bit hard for him to believe. Kazune didn't want to imagine that Airi had a bad bone in her body.
"Miyon."
"Yeah?"
It was silent. Even Airi stopped laughing to turn her head and look at Karin. Kazune waited with his heart pounding in his chest.
Is something bad going to happen? He didn't want to imagine what Karin would be like when she snapped.
But, to his surprise, Karin straightened and ran her fingers through her hair. With her back still to Kazune and Airi, she walked forward and grabbed Miyon's hand.
"I'm hungry. Let's go to the dinner table."
"Ah, I'm hungry, too. Hey let's sit together! I can't wait to meet all your friends!" Airi grabbed Kazune's hand and started to follow after Karin.
Karin's POV
"Kazune's told me so much about you all. And I've already met you, Prince Yuki. I can't believe how long you've been best friends with Kazu-chan. I'm grateful to you for taking care of him." Airi was speaking as if Kazune was her new husband and had just met Yuki at their wedding reception.
"Just doing my job." Yuki joked, and I couldn't help but notice that his usually genuine smile seemed a bit off. I lean over to whisper in Miyon's ear.
"Hey, what's with Yuki?" I knew she'd be able to tell. I knew how close they had gotten. I was just waiting for her to announce when they were getting married.
"Hmm...the corner of the right side of his mouth is curled up. That means he's forcing it. I think she's annoying him." Miyon whispers back knowledgeably. I would have grinned, if it hadn't have been for the situation. I thought it was amazing how well she knew Yuki. I could only hope to be with Kazune like that one day.
I settle back in my seat away from her and almost can't believe it. Airi hadn't even showed her true colors and Yuki disliked her for her friendliness. I guess some people can easily read the fake sugar in a phony's voice.
"Miyon, your cooking is very delicious! Thank you for the meal."
"Of course.."
"So, I haven't gotten a chance to explore. How many rooms does this house have?"
"Only about 4."
"Ah, that means they're all taken. I wonder who I'll be sleeping with." She shot a glance at Kazune and wrapped her arms around his arm.
I glared daggers at her and Miyon stepped in with a reddened face.
"Um! I...I've actually planned to room with Yuki... So you can share a room with Rika."
Yuki grinned softly at Miyon and most of the us at the dinner table were blushing. It was like we were listening in on their relationship or something.
"Great." Airi dropped her arms and I felt like jumping on the table and laughing as loud as I could in her little face.
"Well...dinner's over! Let's go outside and roast marshmallows!" Rika pushed herself out of her chair and headed toward the door.
"Sounds great." I got up with her, glaring daggers at my boyfriend on the way. Kazune gave a pleading look with his eyes. Something in his blue gaze told me he was innocent - and I believed it, but...he was still with her anyways!
My next gaze travels over to the unwelcome woman with her arms pulling Kazune's in between her breasts. Airi smiles back at me, her green eyes bright and flashing. It wasn't a sweet smile, either. It was more like she was trying to keep from laughing.
At me.
"AHHH!"
Fire catches on my marshmallow and I start to panic. It spreads and I blow on it eagerly. I hear a chuckle at my side before Kazune's face comes into view and he puckers his lips to blow out the fire. A smile spreads across my face when he turns his gaze on me. Our eyes meet and my anger from earlier fades away.
Kazune, I love you so much... I want to whisper to him...but I'm interrupted, of course. We weren't the only ones out here.
"Kazu-chan, look! Mine's as perfect as yours!"
Airi shoves her marshmallow in between us and waves it around. Kazune turns to compliment it and I hear them laugh. My blood boils.
The only thing that would get his attention back on me would be if I jumped into this stupid bonfire. ...I actually consider it for a second.
"Princess Karin. What are you gonna do with the two of them there this entire vacation?" Rika nudged me in my side and whispered. My brow furrowed as I glared into the fire and shrugged.
"I don't know. I'm so pissed right now..." I mutter back. I was irritated and didn't want to speak to anyone. I feel Rika stand up next to me and blink at her.
"Mm...sorry, it's about time for me to go to bed."
I bite into my marshmallow angrily - the flavor almost made me feel better, but the mood changes for the worst when Yuki leans over to whisper something in Miyon's ear. Her cheeks turn red.
I can't hear what they're saying since they're sitting far away on the other side of the fire, but I can guess. Miyon stands up abruptly and says goodnight. Yuki stands up with her and throws a jacket over her shoulders.
"We're heading to bed...goodnight."
"...Night."
It was then that I realized I was sitting outside alone with my boyfriend and his childhood friend. The air around me was tense, I was sure. They probably hadn't even realized anyone had left yet.
Which means I can get away too.
No! I couldn't just give up. I'd be leaving the two of them alone if I did that. What if something happened...?
But I was really starting to get tired. My eye lids were droopy and I felt like curling into Kazune's arms to fall asleep. If only Airi wasn't here!
"...I..." I start to speak up, feeling my eyes water. I didn't like this at all...! I only went on this trip to spend time with Kazune - even if it involved all our friends, I wanted to take what I could get...just to be with him. And now...
"I'm going to bed!" I shout, throwing my stick on the ground and walking quickly in the direction of the house. I pull my blanket tighter around myself as I try to shut out their voices.
Kazune had apparently heard me just then.
"Ah! Hey, wait, I'll go with..."
"No! We still have some marshmallows left. Plus, she's just getting over a cold, she should go. Stay here with me."
"Um...Airi..."
"Hehe, Kazu-chan.."
Their voices fade away and I keep walking.
I'm in a deep sleep, but I'm not dreaming. What wakes me up is the knock I hear on my door.
"Hm...?" I wipe my eyes as I sit up in bed and look around. It's completely dark. My hands brush against something on my face that surprises me when I pull them back. I'd been crying in my sleep...!
I shake my head and drag myself out of bed to go use the bathroom. I slip on my house shoes and start walking toward the door when I see the note on the ground.
I squint in the darkness as I lift the note to my face. In very neat and clear handwriting that looks strangely familiar, I read :
Princess Karin, I think we have a few things to talk about. We seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot and that's not what I intended. You and I both love Kazune, but I know he loves you back. Please allow me to apologize in person. I'm waiting outside near the entrance of the forest. Oh, and be quick about it!
-Airi
I set the note down carefully on my nightstand, feeling my heart beat quicken with suspicion. Something didn't seem right. My phone said it was 11:43. Why would she suddenly want to speak to me so late?
"Humph." She probably was too embarrassed to apologize in front of everyone, so she must have waited this late to make sure the whole house was asleep.
"Well, if it's an apology and she's letting Kazune go..."
I throw a jacket on and some sneakers before I leave. I carefully place my cellphone in my jacket pocket as I leave the beach house to head toward the forest separating the area from Kazune's castle.
The walk is only a few minutes and I see a shadowy figure standing beside the trees on the outside of the forest. As I get closer, I notice Airi is sitting on her suitcase.
"Airi?" I say, and she stands up and jogs over to me so I can see her.
"Oh, hi! I was beginning to think you weren't coming."
"It's awfully late for you to be out..."
"Yes, I'm sorry. Something came up at home, so that's where I'm headed. My driver is waiting in front of Kazune's castle."
"Does anyone in the house know? They'll be worried in the morning if I don't get a chance to tell them.."
"I'll tell Kazune as soon as the sun comes up. Don't worry. Come."
Airi suddenly takes my hand and picks up the handle to her suitcase. With that, we step into the forest - she walks cheerfully and I walk reluctantly.
Although Airi's voice is filling up the forest during our little adventure, something seems very ominous about our surroundings. It's nighttime, of course, so it's extremely dark, but there are very few animals and therefore hushed.
I'm often stepping into what looks like toys and trash that are rotting away into the earth. I nearly step on a doll's face, but I stop mid-step and walk around her.
"Oh, and, when I head back, my father says we could rebuild a castle a little bit closer to..."
I can only catch apart of what Airi is saying. My mind is too focused on the atmosphere and my senses are alive. My heart throbs in my chest faster and faster the deeper we walk into the forest. I want to go back to bed...
"Airi...does something seem strange about this forest to you?" I squeeze her cold hand for comfort, but don't receive it. It's like she has no intention to make me feel better out here.
"...Hm. Not really. But it does have a familiarity to it, no? It kind of brings back memories."
As soon as she said the word "memories," I spot a carving in a nearby tree that looks slightly similar to something I'd written in one of my old diaries. It was a "K" with a heart drawn around it. I faintly remember drawing something like that as a child.
"...something like that. Even though I've never been here before."
Airi bursts into laughter. What I had said wasn't supposed to be comedic. Hair rises on the back of my neck at the same time my arms become rough with goose bumps. My brow furrows and my body grows cold.
"A-I think I should turn back soon before I loose my way. I've been told I have a bad sense of direction, plus it's really dark out here, so..."
"Oh, don't be scared! It's actually pretty easy to find the way back, I'm sure. Oh, anyway, about my apology..."
Airi stops walking just like that and sets her suitcase down to sit on top of it. I look at her in surprise - how was she so joyful and calm out here?
I realize I can't find a place I want to sit and simply lean agains the nearest tree.
"You sure we can't like...talk over the phone about this?"
"No! Absolutely not. I owe you real apology. That means face to face, and who knows when the next time that will be. So, here's my apology-"
I feel water touch my face and jump in shock at the coldness. Airi looks up just as its starts to sprinkle. I hadn't noticed the dark clouds that had been forming over our heads at all. The clouds are brightening with thunder and lightening.
"Aw! It's going to storm. I suppose I'll make this quick."
"Um, okay..." I hug myself - I'm already getting soaked. It's freezing out here now, and I'm miserable.
"Go on, Airi."
"Hmm..where should I start?"
"A simple 'I'm sorry' would do. We should get back inside."
"Nah, something like this deserves an explanation."
My gaze lowers as I grow more and more irritated by the minute. I had thought Airi to be sweet, but now she was pissing me off trying to get on my good side. I was starting to consider just walking away and leaving her in the forest.
But that wouldn't be right.
"You see Princess Karin, I'm actually going to tell you a little bit of a story. It's very important, because it involves you."
I frown a little, shivering as the rain finally starts to pour. I'm too interested to care.
"What do you..."
"Shh! Don't interrupt, or you'll miss something!" Airi giggles and even claps a little before she continues. "You see, this forest should definitely feel very familiar to you."
I shrug, glancing around. There was something about it that made me feel like a kid again. But maybe that was because of how small and scared I felt amongst these trees, "I don't know, I guess."
"Ehehe, actually, you, me, and Kazu-chan all played in this forest when we were kids."
I blinked, wiping my wet curls away from my face. Airi was soaked, but didn't seem bothered by the rain at all. It's like she couldn't even feel if touching her.
"I don't...recall-"
"Oh, of course you don't. You lost your memories. Both you and Kazune did. At the same time, actually. Isn't that silly?"
My heart skips a beat as I watch Airi's lips curl into a smile. She seemed amused by something that wasn't even amusing. And that smile...it looked a lot like the child from my dream's scary grin...
"I...how do you know something like-"
"I told you! Geez. Listen, okay? From age 4 to 6, the three of us played together in this forest almost everyday. We were actually very close... What was it called again..."
"...Crystal Sakura." I answered without having to dig deep to remember. It flowed naturally off my tongue like I'd said it hundreds of times before. It felt like a name I could never forget.
"Oh wow, you remembered. Awesome...anyway...although it was the three of us, you and Kazune were closer to each other and often spent time without me." There was an edge to her voice now. Her tone was darker and filled with resentment. I can feel a certain spot of my head starting to ache a bit.
"Um.." I feel dizzy for a second when I start to recall something about the mark in the tree if seen earlier. I remembered...
"Kazu-chan, look!"
"Don't touch the knife, it's dangerous!"
"But look! It's pretty!"
"Ow...my...head..." The ache turns into a throb. I clutch at it as the images I see becomes clearer. I remember taking a hand as small as mine and twirling in circles in the center of the forest...I remember forgetting my favorite doll and crying about it for weeks...I remember...no, it hurts too much.
I try to pull myself out of the strange memory recovery phase, but it was when I saw a clear face with big blue eyes that were all too familiar that I stopped fighting the pain. I loose my footing and slide down the tree so I'm sitting with it helping me sit up.
"Hah...I...my head is..."
"Shh, I'm getting to the good part. One day, I realized you two were starting to come here without me. Even though it was our place. I had loved Kazu-chan so much back then that something snapped within me...I had to have him - no one else. So I needed help from you. I went to your castle for a play date and took your diary. After that I started my journey to becoming Karin Hanazono before she lost her memory."
I look up at Airi in horror. The hair, the green eyes...the girl I saw at my side in my memories had long dark hair and gray eyes. No...it couldn't be..but...
Raspberry and cinnamon.
They both carried the same, unnatural sweet scent.
"You're scaring me. I don't know what you're saying..." I feel tears come to my eyes and I'm not sure why.
"Karin-chan, Kazu-chan! Over here!"
"Airi-chan, slow down!"
"It's exactly what I said. In order to make Kazune mine, I had to become his type of woman - which was you! All I needed to do was study every little thing about you...from the way you blink..." She crossed her legs and closed her eyes. Her mouth curled into a smirk.
"...To the way you sigh...the way you sit...the way you take a sip of a drink...how many times you run your fingers through your hair..."
My eyes are as wide as saucers as Airi's open. She has a crazed look in her eyes, and any trace of a glimmer has vanished.
"I learned exactly how to become you for him...and yet, you know what he told me? He said..."
"Karin-chan is Karin-chan and Airi-chan is Airi-chan! You're my friend!"
"It was so disappointing to hear him say that. I thought my little heart would burst. I ran home as fast as I could. And I cried. Oh, how I cried..."
My head had never pounded so much in my entire life. I thought I was going to die, it hurt so badly.
I need to get out of here...
"But I didn't give up. Permanently dying my hair, undergoing an eye color change surgery...getting plastic surgery...those were all on my list. All that was left to do was to finally get rid of you."
I gasp as I recall my terrifying nightmare of being pushed into a dark hole by the little girl from my memories. My stomach is churning, my heart is going wild in fear, and I've broken out into a sweat that's masked by the cold heavy rain. My hands and shoes dig into the muddy ground as I turn to try and crawl away.
"I pushed you down the tallest hill I could find. I wonder what I wanted to happen to you. An injury? Memory loss? Death? It could have been a mixture of all 3. I hated you so much ... And I still do."
I hear footsteps behind me and feel a hand grip my hair so tight that I have to let out a cry. My vision was getting blurry as I was about to pass out. I collapse in the mud on my back, trying to fight Airi back weakly.
"Hahaha!" Airi throws her head back in laughter at my struggles as she releases my hair and let's my head fall into the mud.
Kazune! Help me!
Prince Kazune's POV
Kazune woke up in the middle of the night to a clap of thunder. He turned from the window and closed his eyes to try and get back to sleep...
Karin was so angry earlier...Maybe we can talk in the morning about this.
Kazune reaches across his bed to find his phone. He brings it to his face and presses the home button.
There, on his lock screen is a message from Karin:
Help me!
Princess Karin's POV
I can only hope to God that my text reached Kazune's phone. I had managed to send him the message without looking earlier when Airi started to make less and less sense. She must have thought I was checking the time, which was what I had wanted her to think.
But now, I was crawling over the muddy forest floor - soaked and shivering from head to toe in fear of being killed by this psychotic princess. I didn't want to believe what she was telling me, but I found myself recalling everything she said.
The massive pain in my head made me want to just drop dead! I couldn't see at this point. My vision was blurred by my tears and the terrible pain.
I was beginning to remember everything.
"Karin-chan!"
"Kazu-chan!"
"Take my hand!"
"We'll be friends forever, right?"
"When we get older, will you marry me?"
"I love you, Kazu-chan!"
"Let's meet again tomorrow!"
"I love this forest!"
"I love you, Karin-chan!"
"Airi-chan, over here!"
"Airi-chan!"
"What's wrong?"
"I want you to have Mama's bracelet, Karin-chan."
"Give it back! Airi-chan, I don't like this!"
"S...stay away..."
"I knew I was going to have to end it all when I watched Kazune give you his mother's charm bracelet. That was the end of our precious friendship..."
I feel a pressure on my back that causes me to collapse with a struggle to move. I claw at the ground, my heart pounding in my ears.
"Poor Karin. If you had just died when I pushed you off the hill the first time, you wouldn't have to relive this moment."
With every word, her voice grows more and more resentful..filled with more hatred...I can feel all of the negativity around her...the envy wasn't making her crazy.
Airi had always been psychotic.
"K...Kazune.." My voice comes out more cracked and desperate than I had expected. Airi takes her foot off my back and puts a fist into my hair. She turns me over on my back and begins to drag me kicking and screaming in the forest. I yelled for someone to help me, but I couldn't hope for too much. She had planned all of this, to get me this deep into the
"And here I am, after dozens of surgeries to make me look like an older version of you...I'm here to take back Kazune and finally make him mine! And you're getting in the way, like you always do!"
I wasn't sure where she was taking me, but I wasn't about to let her go any further. To think...she had been bottling this crazy plan up in crazy head this entire time...!
"Let go of me you crazy bitch!" I dig my heels into the ground and twist myself around so my legs slam into hers. Airi gives a shout as she slams onto the forest floor. I was free to run...but I couldn't look at her, knowing her plan all along, and not feel like clawing her eyes out.
"All these years!" I screamed as I threw myself on top of her and began slamming my hands into her face. I make sure to stick my nails out far enough to claw at her plastic, fake face.
"All these years when I felt something was missing...it was Kazune! And all because of you! How could you take that from me?!" I ball my hands into fists and smack them into her head.
Something strikes me in mine once again, and I'm sent toppling off of Airi's body. When I look up at her, clutching my skull like it was about to explode, she's holding a thick, fallen branch and hovering over my body.
"Because of me?! You kept getting in the way, being his favorite! He loved you more!"
"And I can see why!" I scream back.
Airi lifts the stick over her head, ready to strike me again, but the blow doesn't come. She drops the stick and grabs me again to drag me back toward the trees.
"Stop it! Let me go!"
"Almost there...! What should we call it? The hill of memories? That's perfect. Maybe you'll actually die this time."
My eyes widen as I realize exactly what she was trying to do to me.
"Airi-chan, why are we here?"
"I want to show you something!"
"Airi-chan, give it back, Kazu-chan gave it to me!"
"Just die!"
I don't have time to react before the ground vanishes from underneath me. My arms flail as I watch Airi become smaller and smaller. Wind whips passed my face and the world seems to brighten up as lightening lit up the sky. I can hear thunder in my ears as I finally make contact with the hill and start to roll against it.
I feel my leg slam into a rock and give a shout when I feel it bend in a funny direction, but my fall doesn't end there. My skin becomes bruised and scratched, and my nails break from trying to dig into the slippery mud to stop myself from falling any further.
"Help me!" I scream, but it's not loud enough.
Eventually...everything just goes black.
Prince Kazune's POV
"Karin! Where are you?"
Kazune runs through the forest, soaked from the rain. When he had read Karin's text, he ran worriedly into her room and had then found Airi's note.
Something deep in his mind told him that something was very wrong with the situation and that Airi was planning something terrible.
So Kazune had thrown on the first jacket and pair of shoes he could find and rushed out into the storm to find his girlfriend.
For 10 minutes, he had been running and screaming at the top of his lungs to find Karin. The thunder was much too loud for anyone in the area to hear him, but he didn't want to take any chances.
It was another 5 minutes before Kazune spots an object in the distance. He can see the suitcase Airi had brought to the house earlier that day sitting on the ground.
He rushes over to it, examining it for a minute before running off to look some more. If it was there, then the girls had to be nearby as well.
"Karin!" Kazune was starting to feel helpless. Anything could have happened to her out here- why hadn't he just sent Airi home the moment she showed up?!
Why hadn't he noticed it before - the tension between Airi and Karin?! Something was obviously up and he chose not to believe it, and here he was, worried he'd find Karin dead...!
I can't think like that...just find her..
"Kariiiiiiin!"
Kazune looks closely at the familiar surroundings in the Crystal Sakura forest. Just looking at the forest brought an intense feeling of nostalgia.
But there was no time for that.
When Kazune calls once again, he is shocked to hear a sound of someone screaming. Had someone just replied?
"Karin!" He yells louder this time, running in the direction of what he thought he'd heard. There's another scream, but it sounds distant.
Kazune turns his head in another direction and sees footprints and marks in the mud that lead to a spot in between the trees. Inhaling sharply when he began to get a bad, familiar feeling of that particular area, he followed the marks carefully.
"Kazune! Help!"
When he heard the voice, he broke into a run and steadied himself on a nearby tree when he realized the ground fell down into a steep hill just a few feet in front of him.
"Karin!"
"Kazune, please help!"
"Karin, I'm coming!" He placed his hand on the tree and leaned over the top of the hill to peer downward. He couldn't make out anything until he saw a female figure buried in mud struggling to sit up at the bottom of the hill.
"No!" Kazune grit his teeth together, imagining how hurt she must have been from such a fall. It was all his fault.
"Please, help me..."
"I'm coming, don't worry!"
Princess Karin's POV
I break down and burst into tears when I see Kazune standing at the top of the hill. When I close my eyes, I remember lying in a similar spot, staring up at my little savior. When we were children, Kazune had come to my rescue, but had lost his footing getting down the hill to meet the same fate as me.
That was how we had both lost our memories...
"Please...d-don't fall..." I murmur, but I know he's much stronger now. Kazune skillfully slides all the way down the deadly hill until he's landed in the giant mud puddle I'm in. He quickly scrambles to his feet and turns to draw me into his arms.
"Kazune!" I sob as he lifts me and makes me feel safe again. My tears slide down my cheeks faster than they ever have as I throw my arms around his neck and squeeze.
"I'm such an idiot, I'm so sorry!"
"No...all of this happened...because of Airi...to think we could have known each other all of these years..."
"What...?!"
"I'll explain later...c-can you get me back to the house?"
Kazune looks around us, "I don't think I can get back up that hill...there's got to be something nearby..."
I catch sight of something over his shoulder - a tiny sign with painted words in sloppy handwriting sinking into the mud. I remember it as soon as I see it.
"Th...that sign...that's right!" I pull back to look into Kazune's confused face, "There's a treehouse near us!"
A/N: Phew. Intense. Hopefully I explained everything about Airi correctly. But...if you are confused, here's the gist of it...
Kazune, Airi, and Karin were all friends where they were really young, and this forest was their favorite spot. Airi loved Kazune, but Kazune loved Karin, and as time passed, Kazune revealed that he favored her more. But Airi is messed up in the head and decided she'd make herself like Karin to get his attention, and get rid of Karin in the process...
So, in order to do that, she pushed Karin off of the hill with the intent to kill her, but it made her loose her memories. And so Kazune lost his memories trying to save her as well.
Airi got away, but when she figured out Kazune was still alive and his memories were gone, she went and got plastic surgery and modeled everything after Karin to get him back.
She's craaaaaaazy.
Thanks for reading, I really hope you enjoyed.
There will be a lemon in the next chapter. It's about time, right? ; )
Make sure you come back for my next update!