Chiaki 2: Last Moments

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Hiroshima; September 6th, 1994

Sayaka knew about Chiaki's condition, of course, but to see it was still a shock. A tray of barely-eaten food was placed on the nightstand beside her and she could only breath out in short, shallow breaths. She stank of death. Even her eyes seemed stranger than they ever were; no longer pink but some unknown clear colour entirely.

"You're in pain! You should sit, Big Sister Sayaka," She gasped, and Kaito gently lowered her onto a chair in the room, making her sigh. "You're pregnant too,"

"How did-" Sayaka asked before Chiaki motioned to the window. She looked out and saw the vision of a pink nursery with a tiny pink crib and a swaying mobile of plastic pastel butterflies and a matching playpen; but everything was empty and only the mobile was moved by the wind. She gasped and threw up her hands over her mouth. "M-My baby...where's the baby?"

The others saw her dread but not her reason for it, as the window to them just showed an ordinary street.

"Big Brother Makoto isn't her father, but he will be like a father to her. She will have many fathers and mothers if she is lucky enough to draw breath at all," Chiaki continued, gasping suddenly. She gripped at her stomach. Sayaka looked out the window again and saw only darkness. "The despair sisters have taken their own groom and he intends to fill one with a child. They won't let yours live,"

Sayaka finally covered her face with her hands. Makoto looked away. Kaito fumbled with the ends of his shirt. Leon and Kaede stared at each other. Yasuhiro looked troubled.

"I'm not long for this world," Chiaki finally said, sighing a bit in pain. "Please get closer to me so you can see me better,"

Kaito sat at the edge of the bed, while Leon and Yasuhiro stood at the foot. Sayaka remained in her seat while Makoto dragged it over to the bed.

Chiaki was silent for a time again, clutching at her stomach. She rolled over onto her back before suddenly bursting into tears.

"Lady Nanami?!" Everyone cried out in shock, moving even closer to her. She sniffled and cried for a few minutes more.

"I was wrong...to come back when I did...because...the bad feeling never went away no matter how much I meditated. Now I know why...what it was...it was supposed to be the happiest day of your lives and it was ruined!" She sobbed.

"It's all in the past though, Miss Chiaki. Just tell us what we have to do now," Kaito tried to reassure her.

Chiaki bit her lip. "Fight off the queen of despair. That is your only goal now," She winced in pain. "Big Brother Chihiro was meant to lead you all, but he is no longer with us. Yet...I feel as though there's still a part of him left. Maybe he's not finished in the mortal world just yet. Until then though..." She awkwardly reached out her hand in Makoto's general direction. "You will lead them, Big Brother Makoto. And if you fall, then Big Brother Leon will lead. If he falls, then Big Brother Kaito,"

"Wow, don't I feel special," Yasuhiro sighed.

"Lead? Go? Where?" Sayaka peeked through cracks she made in her fingers.

"West...not for you though. Just them," Chiaki responded. "They must defeat her in the name of hope,"

Sayaka was on her feet then, ignoring the pain as she trembled and hugged herself. "I refuse to let more innocent people die in the name of hope. Hope is what killed our Prime Minister. Hope is what will kill Makoto-kun and the rest of them, when they walk right into Junko's hands and allow themselves to be crucified. Hope is what we'll have none of when Junko arrives here in the spring with a whole army. I'll not let you sacrifice my husband like that. You know what I say about hope? Spit on it,"

"Sayaka-chan!" Makoto gasped.

"Spit on your hope, spit on it! I don't even know if my child will survive! Billions died from the pandemic, a million more afterwards, all for the sake of hope! When does it end? When will it ever end? I'm leaving. Makoto-kun, please take me home..." She shivered.

"Sayaka-chan..." He tried reaching out for her, but Chiaki got to her first and grabbed her wrist.

"Stop it, Big Sister Sayaka," She tightened her grip on the older girl and made her cry out in pain.

Sayaka winced, suddenly gasping out in pain as Chiaki's grip grew stronger; too strong for a weak, sick girl. Makoto moved closer to her, concern on his face.

Finally, Chiaki let go of her and Sayaka nearly fell forward, her eyes wide. Her wrist was clear; no red mark one would expect. She stretched and her eyes widened further. "It's gone..."

"What's gone?" Makoto asked, trying to lead her over to the chair again. She shrugged him off.

"My pain...it's gone," She stretched a few more times and touched her toes. She then looked over at Chiaki. "Is this because of your hope or whatever?"

"Your negative energy has left your body. You wished to feel better, and so you do," Chiaki responded easily.

Makoto gently lowered Sayaka back onto her seat, where she continued to sit, silent and in disbelief.

"You four are to go west," Chiaki continued, addressing the men in the room. "You will go today; take nothing with you, not even food or water. You will go this very day in the clothes you are wearing. I know that one of you will fall before you reach your destination, but I can't tell which one. The remaining three will be brought before the woman Enoshima, who isn't really a woman but really a human form of despair. I don't know if you'll survive. I don't know if you'll see Hope's Peak again, but you must go, and mustn't be afraid. Go to Nagasaki and there you'll make your stand," She suddenly gasped and clutched at her stomach again with a moan. She turned over on her other side and curled up slightly. "...I said everything I needed to say,"

"Look, we're not as spiritual as you claim to be, Lady Nanami. For starters, none of us have been taken from the depths of a bad fever with not a scratch but blindness!" Yasuhiro stated. "How do we know we won't get slaughtered by the first group we come across there?"

Chiaki covered her mouth and curled up more. "Do you think you're meant to be shot and killed upon arrival? Do you think that's the way of the world?"

"No, but-"

"Trust. That's all you need to have. Trust, and belief, and faith. Trust that what you're choosing to do is the right thing," She sighed weakly.

"Do we have any choice?" Leon demanded bitterly. "It sounds like my hands are literally tied!"

"There's always a choice...you are the one who chooses to see life how you see it. You are chosen to do this, but if you don't want to, I can't force you," She answered quietly.

"I'll go. If it's the right thing to do, then I'll do it," Kaito finally sat up, nodding. He saw Chiaki fumbling around for his hand and he eagerly took hers.

"Me too," Leon said. "I'll go," He rubbed at his head.

Yasuhiro started to say something too, but right as he opened his mouth, there was a loud gasp from the corner of the room and a thud. Everyone turned to look in shock; only then realizing they had forgotten all about Kaede in the room. She had fainted.

In the early hours of dawn, everyone sat around in Leon's tiny kitchen, absentmindedly sipping at lukewarm coffee. Sayaka wandered in; she had no limp or wince as she walked. Her face was tear-stained and she didn't look at the others for a long time. "...I think it's time," Was all she said, and they nodded and followed her up the stairs; Leon with his arm around Kaede.

Chiaki's eyes were closed and she breathed heavily; her stomach swollen. She reeked of illness. Everyone stood around her bed in silence, waiting and watching her in fear and awe. Kaito found himself wondering if her spirit would visibly leave her body and fly around the room one last time, perhaps heading off to her house again before she finally died. Maybe she'd be engulfed in a bright flame, or something.

But in the end, all that happened was her breathing growing slower and slower, before it finally ceased. Her chest didn't move again. She had died.

"That's that," Makoto found himself mumbling, looking down at her body.

"May she be reincarnated into a priestess or teacher. God knows she deserves it," Kaito whispered next, gently pulling her blankets over her body.

"I'll go," Yasuhiro suddenly said. "All we have left is white magic, and dude, you're crazy if you think I'm going to pass up a chance like that!"

Everyone then looked at Makoto; Sayaka's eyes were pleading.

"Say no. Please don't go," She whispered.

Makoto thought of the Kirigiris' car that crashed into his porch and brought death to Japan like a terrible Pandora. He thought of their only remaining member kissing him before she set off into the morning sun. He thought of Kyosuke lying to him about his family's condition, maybe even lying to himself. He thought of Sayaka, and of Chiaki saying he was chosen to do this.

"I have to go," He said finally.

"And die." Sayaka stared back at him.

"We'll all die if I don't do this. This is our last chance," He tried to hold her hand, but she moved away from him.

"Don't touch me," She sobbed.

They stood around the bed until the sun finished rising.

Around ten or eleven in the morning, Makoto and Sayaka climbed up the hills close to the amphitheater with a small picnic lunch they packed for themselves. The crickets chirped happily and the sky was blue and clear above them. It was summer again, it felt like. Sayaka started to spread out their blanket; a blue sheet she got from a hotel somewhere.

"Spit and I'll let you go," Makoto teased, and Sayaka looked at him for a moment before she turned her head, covered the side of her mouth with her hand, and spat. She then finished setting out their lunch; sandwiches, a small salad, and Pockies. "Sayaka-chan-"

"No. Let's just enjoy our time together," She shook her head at him, getting out their cans of green tea. She tossed him one.

"Itadakimasu," They both prayed before beginning to eat together in silence. Makoto felt too tense to eat, but managed to finish part of his salad, a Pocky, and a few bites of his sandwich.

"When are you leaving?" Sayaka asked, drinking her tea.

"Noon," Makoto awkwardly stared down at his food.

"When will you arrive?"

"I don't know...we're walking, but the path is pretty rugged. Especially since we'll be walking through part of typhoon season...we might make it by the end of this month? Start of next month?" He thought about it.

"Was she really sent to us from the spirits? We all dreamed of her, and she existed. It just seems like something from some kind of legend," Sayaka looked away. "I just wish she could've promised me that my child would be alright..then I'd be a little bit easier on you leaving," She placed a hand on her bump.

"What did she call the little girl?" Makoto asked softly, but Sayaka just shook her head. She started packing up their food.

"...Let's make love again. One last time," She finally said, and Makoto widened his eyes.

"H-Here?!"

"We've done it outside before...your first time," She reminded him softly, taking his hands.

Makoto nodded slowly and gently laid her back down on the blanket.

Leon spent the majority of his last hour sitting on his chair in the living room, just staring idly at the TV. He considered watching it earlier, but couldn't think of anything that'd actually distract him sufficiently, so he just sat there and took to staring at the black screen. Kaede walked in a few minutes later, her hands folded behind her back.

"You're leaving in an hour, huh?" She asked softly, standing in front of him. He nodded.

"Yeah...so if there's anything you need to say, say it now," He tried to smile at her, but it felt strained.

"You know...we never got much of a honeymoon," She began slowly, blushing. He raised his eyebrows at her as she gently sat herself down in his lap. "My first husband didn't give me much of one either, so I was hoping..."

Leon silenced her by giving her a kiss. "An hour-long honeymoon still seems pretty crappy,"

"Not if it's spent with you," Kaede kissed him back deeper, pressing her body up against his. "...Let's make love,"

"Right here?" Leon asked, smirking at her nodding. "Didn't know you were so kinky," He teased, and she continued to kiss him gently. Her hands slowly worked their way down his pants until she found his belt, unbuckling it and sliding his member out of his pants. While she did that, Leon gently fondled her breasts, squishing them gently in his hands. She gasped happily as she licked his slit and the top of his shaft, making him shiver. "You never fail to amaze me," He teased, and she responded by fitting more of his length into her mouth, bobbing her head up and down. He placed his hand on her head and kept it sturdy for her as she kept going. They both felt him harden after a time and she slowly pulled his member out, blinking.

"It has to be quick," She said suddenly, glancing at the clock. Before Leon could respond, she had thrown up her skirt and pulled off her underwear and began kissing him again as she lowered herself down onto his manhood, slowly wrapping her legs around his waist.

"Kaede-chan," He moaned as he continued kissing her, unbuttoning her shirt and pulling her bra down to fondle her breasts better. They slowly jiggled in time to her motions. She bounced on him a bit faster as she fit his whole length into her with a gasp.

"Mmmm..." She moaned as she kissed him deeper, looking into his clear blue eyes. She eventually pulled away and continued to bounce and gyrate her hips, tightly holding onto his hands for balance.

"I had no clue...you were so flexible!" He gasped as she went faster. She simply smiled and gave him another kiss.

"I'm close..." She told him, feeling his own pressure building up as well.

"Shit, we forgot a condom, didn't we?" He suddenly remembered, just as she gasped out and flooded his member with her juices, trailing down. She gave him a smile and put her hands on his shoulders.

"I want a family...Nagisa-chan probably wants a little brother or sister too," She whispered before he finally filled her, making her gasp.

"Well, here's to hoping you'll get one," Leon sighed as she pulled herself off and gently redressed herself. She gave him another gentle kiss, staring into his eyes.

"No," She shook her head. "Here's to hoping we get one,"

Kaito and Maki had been moved into an apartment complex near the downtown region after their other house was destroyed in the blast; Kaito found Maki returning from her walk carrying a giant covered box.

"Harumaki?" He asked curiously, noticing her frazzled appearance. She dropped the box hard on the floor.

"It's their things...everything I could salvage," Maki said breathlessly. She tore the cover off and revealed several pairs of clothes, sports equipment, and colourful floppy discs. She pulled out a green one. "These weren't destroyed. He marked it with 'tornado'. Remember that story he told us of Gokuhara-san? This is for us. Whatever is on this, it's for us,"

"Harumaki-" Kaito tried to reason with her, but she walked past him and pushed the disc into their computer. Kaito became curious and wandered over as well to see, finding the computer still booting up.

Once it finally did after several minutes, they were greeted with a blinking word processor with an avatar of Chihiro in the corner, grinning. Maki rolled her cursor over it and it blinked.

Hello. How may I help you today?

"He made this," Kaito said in amazement.

Maki clicked around some more and clicked on a secret link, making the avatar gasp.

My, you're curious today, aren't you, Master? Here is everything I found about Enoshima,

Their eyes both widened as they beheld all of the information that poured out into the processor, paragraphs of everything Chihiro had learned so far, putting together everyone's dreams.

"He made all of this. He somehow knew he wouldn't make it this far. He did," Kaito sat back, numb. Beside him, Maki's features had darkened.

"You're still going to go though, aren't you? Go and play the hero,"

"Harumaki, it's my job. I was chosen. You don't want her to show up here in the spring and destroy us all, do you?"

"No, but why you? She could've picked anyone else, and she picked you," She fiddled with her hair.

Kaito closed his eyes. "I don't know. But I'm not going to let this opportunity pass me by, no matter how dangerous it is,"

She looked away from him.

"Harumaki-"

"No."

"No what?"

"Don't call me that. Don't let my last memory of you for several months be that stupid nickname of yours,"

"Alright...Maki-chan," He sighed, and she hugged him tightly and felt tears roll down her cheeks. She hiccuped as he rubbed her back.

"Make it back alive," She whispered after a few minutes.

"What kind of a hero would I be if I didn't?" Kaito teased, and they kissed slowly. Then they made love for the last time.

Twenty minutes before noon, Yasuhiro spent his remaining moments looking over the old house him and Kyoko used to share, cleaning everything up and putting their belongings in boxes and setting them out on the curb in front of various stores. One would think it was cold of him to give away Kyoko's things without her knowledge, but he had a very strong feeling that come January, that house would be standing empty with no owners. Kyoko wouldn't return to it, and neither would he, for that matter.

As a final sign of respect, he turned off all the lights and closed the blinds, dousing his house in total darkness.

"Well," He sighed afterwards. "Looks like this is it. Let's hope it won't be a difficult journey," He walked off, Blavatsky at his heels.

Makoto and Sayaka walked past the remains of what used to be Kaito's and Chihiro's house until a few days ago; the entire first floor was gone and the second floor had collapsed on top of it. Debris was spread all across the yard. A wind-up alarm clock was stuck in a shrub, and nearby that was the couch Sayaka got pinned under. There was a puddle of dried blood on the back-steps and Sayaka paused, staring at it strangely.

"Is that Fujisaki-san's blood? Do you think? Could it be?" She finally asked, startling Makoto.

"W-What?!"

"Is it?!"

"I don't know, maybe?"

"Put your hand in it," Sayaka ordered, her expression serious.

"What?!" Makoto gasped again.

"Put your hand in it," She simply said again, and Makoto finally surrendered and put his hand in it, wincing. It most likely wasn't Fujisaki-san's blood at all, but he still felt gross and ghastly.

"Now, swear you'll come back," She carried on.

"I really don't think it works like that-" He tried before she cut him off with a glare.

"Promise that to me,"

"I promise to at least try," He finally allowed, taking his hand off. She sighed.

"That'll have to be enough..." She didn't make any other moves, just stood there in silence.

"We have to go back to Leon-san's," He reminded her gently, and she nodded numbly.

"Tell me you love me," She held his hand.

"You know that I do," He responded in slight confusion.

"I want to hear you say it though," She buried her face in his chest.

"I love you, Sayaka-chan. I love you so much," He hugged her back just as tightly.

"Thank you...now I can let you go. Now I can let you leave..." She sniffled, and they just held each other in the broken back-yard for several more minutes.

Maki, Kaede, and Sayaka stood on the steps of Leon's front porch, watching the four men make the final mental preparations before they set off. As instructed, they had nothing on their person and had only changed into heavy walking shoes.

"Bye Kuwata-kun," Kaede waved slowly, smiling a sad smile.

"Make it back alive," Maki directed with a sideways glance.

"Remember what you promised," Sayaka told Makoto, who nodded.

"I won't ever forget," He said.

Yasuhiro whistled between his fingers and Blavatsky came running over, barking happily.

"Well, let's go. Better get going before I completely lose my nerve," Leon suggested, looking just as distraught as Kaede, his eyes glittery. Makoto blew a kiss to Sayaka, who looked ready to start crying again. The four men turned around and started to walk, heading down the street side-by-side. They reached the middle of the street. The sun shone down hotly; a bird started to sing.

Once they reached the end of the block, they turned around once more to look behind them. Makoto, Leon, and Kaito all waved again. Sayaka, Kaede, and Maki all waved back at them. They turned around and walked to the end of the street, then crossed it. And just like that, they were gone.

"Well, that's that," Maki said slowly, a steady hand on her stomach.

"Oh God," Kaede looked ready to cry.

"I want to make some tea, I'm thirsty," Sayaka commented, going back inside the house. The other two women followed her, helping her make it.

They began to wait.

The four of them continued to walk slowly down the southwest road, not saying anything. They passed the burial sites, then reached close to the outskirts of the actual city; the marker was just in front of them. For a moment Makoto wondered if they'd all just turn back around and go back home; in front of them was uncertainty, darkness, and despair, while behind them was hope, warmth, and love. Still, they kept on going. Blavatsky ran ahead of them, happily sniffling at some wildflowers.

"Aw man, I feel like this is the end of everything," Leon suddenly cried out, sounding close to tears.

"Yeah...it really does feel that way," Kaito sighed in agreement.

"Does anyone want to take a break?" Yasuhiro joked half-heartily.

Makoto just walked ahead of them. "Come on, don't you guys want to live forever? It's not all bad. The view is nice," He smiled a bit.

That night, they camped six miles outside of Hiroshima, moving away from the more hilly part of Japan and getting closer to the sea-side. None of them slept well that first night. Already they felt horribly far from home, and that they were covered by the shadow of death.