12 / Let's Break, Let's Burn
Kotaro Tatsumi watched silently as Yugiri left the room, the door closing gently behind her as he was left alone in his office.
He waited; he heard Sakura and Saki nearby, already talking, already asking if she was okay before they started walking away.
Then, he sighed. He removed his glasses, hand already passing over his face in frustration before ending over his mouth, the other, holding the sunglasses before him, examining them. Wondering what secrets they kept hidden from him, wondering if they had the answers to what had happened today and what they could all lose.
What was meant to be a normal meet-and-greet turned into a disaster. Everything had happened so fast.
If only he had been faster. If only he had taken notice of that creeper stalking one of the girls at the end of the room. If only the creeper hadn't...but that was all in the past now.
He was almost glad the girls were dead...almost.
But it hadn't made a difference.
Sakura had already suffered a gunshot wound because of that idiot police officer, what was a stab wound compared to that?
Kotaro knew Sakura would be fine after a few days rest; she was dead and had been for years now.
In the past, Inui had been seventeen and in love.
It was a silly thing, love. Silly that he had fallen in love, silly that he was too shy to tell her about it. Once upon a time, when he was seven years old, he had sworn he would never fall in love, never fall under the clutches of such a silly thing. And yet, here he was, years later, breaking that very promise.
But how could he not fall in love?
That girl had been beautiful, her smile, heavenly. She had been feeling down before, but now she was shining bright again, like all those years ago.
Her name was Sakura Minamoto and he had hoped with all his heart that she loved him back.
But he knew she was only interested in Ai Mizuno, lead singer of Iron Frill. He remembered the surge of jealousy he had felt when Sakura told him about how Mizuno's words had dragged her out a horrible and dark place, how Mizuno inspired Sakura to try again, to be better, to give life another shot.
Sakura had become a fan and all she could talk about was Mizuno this and that...and how much she wanted to join that girl, that girl and her smile, up there in the same stage.
Inui hadn't been surprised that Sakura had made up her mind right then and there to be an idol. Of course, there was Shiro, Sakura's friend since grade school, who was a little skeptical of the whole thing but nonetheless, encouraged her friend so she wouldn't fall into the abyss that seemed to have consumed her months prior. Inui, too, encouraged her, tried not to make his jealousy of Mizuno so obvious as they talked about Iron Frill and upcoming concerts.
His friend had already made plans to buy tickets for Saga Rock; Iron Frill was set to perform in August. Sakura had bought the tickets in March…
...and by April, just five days after her seventeen birthday, she was dead.
There had been an assembly, and by the end, everyone knew.
Sakura's dream was dead just like her and Inui remembered his heart breaking in two.
Days later, Shiro had arrived at his home; she had decided to take him to Sakura's wake. Inui and Shiro had never been close. Sakura was their friend and that was it. Without her, they wouldn't have known each other existed.
But Shiro had been different that day, she wore black, her short hair fixed up into a bun. She had stared him up and down, told him to put on a suit, told him they were going to see Sakura.
He hadn't protested. His heart was still broken, his mind numb.
Half an hour later, the two left, side by side, in silence.
No one greeted them as they stood in the back; Shiro's eyes were red, her tears already slipping down her cheeks. Inui couldn't even bring himself to cry. He had cried in his sleep the past few days. He was dry, he was broken.
He had spotted Sakura's family nearby.
Inui had never bothered to learn their names, he had been too infatuated with Sakura to care to remember them. He vaguely remembered that her father's name was a weird one, and many of the kids in class made fun of it. Sakura would always say her father had been named after an emperor but Inui couldn't be bothered to remember the name. Not then, not ever.
And now, he was staring at the grieving family.
There was a man, tall, imposing, sitting on a folding chair. His dark pink hair was brushed back, but right there, in the middle was a small forelock of hair, sticking out like a horn...it reminded Inui of Sakura's own hair, how there was just this little thing that wouldn't settle down, no matter how much she brushed. The man would just stare at the coffin a few times before hiding his face with a hand, sobbing in silence. Next to him, a woman, glasses foggy with tears, held his shoulder as he wept. The woman looked so much like Sakura, Inui had thought it was her ghost but it was her long brown hair that clued him in and brought him back to reality. Sitting behind them, a boy, hair as brown as the woman's, hair brushed back like the man's, wept in silence, blue eyes staring at nothing as a man sat next to him, putting an arm over his shoulders while his other hand was placed on the woman's shoulder.
Neither he nor Shiro moved towards the coffin to say their goodbyes. They stay in the back, like statues, stuck with their grief, away from the rest.
They leave the funeral home before they are noticed. They go their separate ways. In school, they stop talking, stop interacting, stop everything.
And Sakura was still dead.
/…..
Days pass, as do the months. April is forgotten, May passes by so quickly, soon it's finally August.
It's August that breaths the coming of a new tragedy.
Ai Mizuno dies. Struck by lightning during a concert. Burned to a crisp, marked for life as a legend.
Inui just cries.
He weeps for the dead. He weeps for his dead friend. He weeps for the girl he loved. He weeps for Ai Mizuno, the legend.
(and Sakura is dead and now, so is Ai Mizuno)
A year passes and Inui sets his sights on Hollywood.
He moves to California, starts fresh.
Inui had dreams of becoming an actor someday. He wanted to be admired, he wanted to move people with his words, with his acting, with his passion. But he starts small, he takes acting classes, makeup courses, those sorts of things.
His acting gets him places but it's in makeup department that he excels the most. He's good at transforming the world around him, good at turning the rotten alive again.
They call him a genius, and so, he gives himself a new name; Kotaro Tatsumi, genius extraordinaire.
And then, one day, he leaves Hollywood, he leaves his connections, he leaves his success.
It's only been three years later; he's working the odd jobs, he's working in plays, working in salons, working, working, working.
He's no longer interested in movies.
Kotaro is a genius and he doesn't care.
It's April again…
...it's only been three years, but another legend dies later.
Lily Hoshikawa, one of the most popular child actresses of Japan, dies.
It's tragic.
(Sakura's still dead...so is Ai...now, it's Lily Hoshikawa's turn)
/…..
Three years later, Kotaro has trouble getting work. He doesn't have the passion anymore. He has the skills, sharpens them day in and out but he doesn't have the will to use them.
He's stuck.
Suddenly, it's Sakura's birthday again.
Kotaro decides to celebrate by getting drunk; Sakura Minamoto was still seventeen...seventeen and going nowhere.
The young man walks around the streets of Karatsu in the dark, not really caring where he's going. He steps into the first bar he sees, seats by the counter and orders his first round of drinks.
He's alone; it's just him, the master of the bar, and later, Sakura.
Kotaro saw her sitting down next to him after his fifth glass. She's still the same, same face, same school uniform, just seventeen. Her ribbon is gone, one of her shoes is missing, there's some stitches in the middle of her forehead, almost touching her nose. She's just seventeen and she looks so sad. She stares at Kotaro who's already drunk and miserable.
"You're drunk," the girl tells him after a while. She's shaking her head, hands over the counter, staring at the master who watches over them with slight interest as he cleans a glass.
"I am," Kotaro answers, his words slurred. "And you're dead." And I still love you, he doesn't dare say.
But Sakura hears him anyway.
"I am dead…" Sakura whispers, eyes facing the older man, who's still cleaning the empty glass, who still watches them. "Forget me, Mamoru...it's for your own good."
"I can't just forget you...you know that," Kotaro says, a little too loud, a little angry. But he's already talking to thin air. Sakura's already gone. Kotaro is alone, alone with the man behind the counter.
"If I were you…" the old man tells him, putting the glass in the counter, eyes staring straight into Kotaro's own. "I would listen to your lover." The man knows a drunk when he sees one. Already knows what the alcohol is doing to Kotaro's mind, already knows about the ghosts that are appearing and the regrets they show. "You had enough for the night, anyway. There's no more people coming tonight...so, I will be closing early. Finish that drink and then leave."
"Sh-she's not my lover," Kotaro slurs, shaking his head. "She's been...been dead for a while...yeaaah...a while…"
The man suddenly freezes, glares at Kotaro. "...You cannot love the dead," he says. "They'll never love you back. Dead only love dead. That's how it works."
But Kotaro wasn't listening.
His mind was already swimming; the drinks were already making him sleepy, his mind was shutting down, everything seemed so far away, so lost, so dark…and today was Sakura Minamoto's birthday, still seventeen.
(still dead)
/…..
Kotaro wakes up with a headache.
His back is stiff but his back doesn't worry him. Not as much as it worries him that the room he's in is unfamiliar. He doesn't panic, not yet anyway. The headache doesn't let him.
Kotaro lets out a groan, light stinging his eyes, and dares to look around.
It's a small apartment; he can see a kitchen, counter and all, a small fridge near the stove, pots and pans and plates all cleaned and neatly organized by the side. He himself is on what seems to be a small living room area. Two couches, Kotaro using one of the couches as his personal bed, a table in the middle. Behind him, he sees picture frames, photos of places he barely recognizes, posters of old movies, a calendar, and a pair of bookcases full of books and files and in the middle of these two, a shrine.
The shrine is small, the picture of a beautiful woman in a magnificent kimono hiding behind a rather valuable looking urn. There's incense lit, and the woman's red eyes seem to follow his every movement as he stares back. Neither move.
"Ah, you're awake…"
The voice makes Kotaro jump; he falls off the couch and almost hits himself on the table. He barely manages to avoid a bloody nose, as if the headache wasn't enough.
"Well, I see you're up and about already. Good."
Kotaro lets out a groan before he gets up.
The master of the bar is staring at him with a bemused expression, arms crossed. "Heh. You know...I usually drop off poor fools like you in the street...lucky for you, I was feeling generous."
"...eh…?"
"You fell asleep," the man explained, moving towards the kitchen. A few minutes later, he had a cup full of water. "Here. Drink up." Kotaro took the water offered and drank it all in one gulp.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it...what's your name, son?"
"Mamoru Inui...but nowadays, I call myself Kotaro Tatsumi."
"Hmm...sounds appropriate," the man says after a while, then, he gestured at the shrine behind Kotaro. "Her name was Yugiri," he says, as if that answered everything.
"Uh...what?"
The man stares at him, expression not changing. "You talked in your sleep...called for that girl that was not your lover...the one that was dead. Sakura, Sakura, you kept saying…"
Kotaro stared at the side, face a slight tint of red. "...she was a classmate of mine…"
"Ah."
Both men are silent for a while. Kotaro is already standing up, putting the cup on the table, getting ready to leave.
"Well...if that's all...thank you for the hospitality, sir. Iー"
"What did she tell you?" the man interrupted, eyes stern, mouth forming into a thin line.
"Eh?"
"The dead girl...Sakura...what did she tell you?"
"I-I'm sorry?" Okay, Kotaro thought. This was getting weird. What was this old man's deal? What did it matter what Sakura had said...that hadn't been Sakura, anyway! She was an illusion created out of too many drinks and too much heartbreak. "I...I don't understaー"
"If she told you to move on...a bar is the worst place to do it," the man interrupts, shaking his head. "I knew a man just like you...so in love that he forgot to live and even when he moved on, he'll still see the girl in his dreams…and you...you are just the same." Kotaro was suddenly angry. What did this old geezer know about moving on? Kotaro had gone to Hollywood! He was genius with the brush and the lipstick! He was...also unemployed, but that's besides the point!
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"She break your heart when she passed on?"
"That's none of your business." Kotaro told him rudely but instead of responding back with an insult of his own, the man smiled.
"So why did you come here, then? Did she not make it clear to you that she's already dead?"
"You don't know anything about Sakura!"
"And yet it took me a minute to learn about you," the man says back, grinning. "You lost your love, you lost your name, your way, all because of her, right? You should listen to this Sakura...she tells you to move on, then do so and when you do, perhaps you will stop sleeping in barsー" Kotaro's fist went straight for the man's face, but the man was laughing and Kotaro hit him again, the man responded by laughing louder before grabbing him by the throat and pushing him towards the couch. But Kotaro is already standing only this time, the old man is faster and he punches Kotaro, sending him down. This time he hits himself on the table as he falls.
Kotaro feels the man's hands on the back of his shirt, he's been pulled back up. He's back in the couch, nursing a bloody nose and a bruised cheek. "Got it all out of your system, kid?" the man asks, his face showing little too no signs of Kotaro's handywork. "Listen to your ghost, not your heart...it never ends well. Trust me."
"What would you know…?" Kotaro spits out, pinching his nose, trying to stop the blood from flowing. He's surprised when the man goes to the kitchen, gets him a towel and some ice and gives it to him. The fight is over.
"I know enough. I'm old. Old like dirt," the man explains, sitting on the other couch, staring behind Kotaro, at the shrine where the woman Yugiri sleeps. "I knew a man like you...he came to love a woman. She was too young, he was too old. It could never work out...and then, the young woman died. It was too sudden, too tragic, too much for the old man to bear…he kept seeing her ghost, kept wishing he had been there to protect her...but he was an old fool...so...he decided to bring her back."
"...what?"
And the man stared at him, stared at Kotaro long and hard and asked, "If you had the means to bring Sakura back to life...would you?"
Kotaro just stared at him.
"W-what the hell are you talking about?"
"The dead," the man answered, as if that explained everything.
"What about the dead!? That doesn't explain anything, you crazy old fool!"
The man laughed, hands up in the air, as if mocking Kotaro for his silly remark. "Doesn't explain anything, he says and yet, he can't be bothered to answer…" Suddenly, the man turns serious, arms crossed over his chest. "Would you give Sakura a second chance if you could?"
"Of course I would! WHO WOULDN'T?!" Kotaro was yelling now; time in Hollywood had made him a little too loud, his parents had told him when he returned but at this time, he didn't care. "I WOULD BRING HER BACK IN A HEARTBEAT IF I COULD!"
"Would you?"
"YES!"
And so, the man nodded and said, "Then, let us begin."
/…..
The dog's name was Romero; a pet poodle, once the pet of an old lady that used to live in the neighborhood. Cute little thing was fond of running all over the place, and eating things he wasn't supposed to, until one day, when his owner left the gate opened, little Romero had run off and then, he was struck by a car. He was too small. The car had literally turned him into poodle pudding. One of his eyes was gone. Tiny teeth torn and broken. Little head opened apart, like Sakura's had been all those years back.
The dog had been dead when Kotaro saw him in the old master's basement. An hour later, the pooch was alive, running and growling and barking, looking all wrong. He was now playing with a cat that looked just as wrong as him, but it was less noticeable, despite being all bloated.
Kotaro, for his part, was hyperventilating, unable to believe what had happened right in front of his eyes. The old man stands besides him, cleaning his hands with a towel.
"Seven years ago," he begins, ignoring the panicking man beside him. "Seven years ago, a man, just like yourself, wandered into my bar. He was already drunk. He was already miserable...more so than you had been…" He put a hand on Kotaro's shoulder, making him jump, but holding him still enough that he could guide the younger man's sight towards the playing animals. "I showed him this, too...the cat is a result of that fateful meeting." Romero and the cat rolled around; the cat had lost its tail and a leg in the fateful struggle.
"I-it's leg f-fell off…" Kotaro managed to say, pointing at the cat. The master nodded, smiling softly.
"That happens...their bodies are the ones they died with and as a consequence they fall apart too quickly...depending on their injuries, of course. This cat, Fushi, belonged to a toddler and his mother. Cat was found by a little monster, the next door neighbor...tore the cat's limbs off before drowning it in a sack."
Kotaro just stared at the man. "...wh-what?"
"It's dead," the man answered, nodding at the two animals. "I stitched the poor thing back together as best as I could and fixed her right up. Animals are easy. Their minds protest so very little when they are returned to life…"
Kotaro was staring at Romero and Fushi, playing without a care in the world. Now, Romero had lost his head, and Fushi was batting it about like if it were a ball of yarn.
"Humans...we are the complicated ones…" The master said, nodding, letting go of Kotaro's shoulder to walk over to the two animals. He placed Romero's head back in place and fixed up Fushi's tail and leg back into her body. The two animals went on with their wrestling as the master walked over to Kotaro. "...we think too much...the body is different, you see…" He pointed at the animals. "They know how to live the moment they awaken...humans don't. Humans are too troublesome. Their emotions run too high, too low. Minds break so easily."
"...what?" Kotaro was finally calming down; his emotions had run their course, the animals no longer looked like monsters, no matter how much the dog stretched, no matter how much the cat's tail fell off. He was listening now, paying attention, getting interested.
(going a little crazy...Sakura's ghost whispering in his ear; move on, move on, leave me here, leave me dead)
The master nodded. "Humans are complex creatures," he explained. "Cats, dogs, rodents, you name it...they are not as complex...mentally, anyway. They wake up and they know. They wake up and they do. Humans...humans shamble around like headless chickens...they lose themselves to their instincts, lose themselves to their death…" He gave Kotaro a sidelong glance before staring back at Romero and Fushi. The cat was leaking water and Romero was licking it, making a face when he realized it didn't taste good at all.
"...but they...they can come back too?"
"Of course. But they are still dead, see?" the master pointed at the two animals, Romero with his stitched up little face and missing eye, bloated Fushi with her missing tail. "Dead is dead. They are not alive, so much as pretending they are."
"So...so they're zombies?" the young man asked; his breathing had calmed, his head was clearing but the headache was still there, Sakura's ghost was still there.
The master shrugged. "I suppose…"
Kotaro turned to the man, hands no longer shaking, heart beating with mad excitement. "And...and does it work on humans?"
"It works on the dead." Was the simple answer, except that didn't answer anything.
"But it works?"
"It works...but, there's a price to pay for this knowledge," the man told him, eyes stern, eyebrow raised. "Are you willing to pay the price?"
Suddenly, Kotaro wasn't so sure anymore.
He had been so excited before, a part of him anxious to see his old friend again, living, dead, didn't matter, she would be here and all would be well but the other part was disgusted. Disgusted at his feelings, disgusted at his thoughts, disgusted at everything...disgusted at the bloating cat, the eyeless dog, everything. He was taking a risk, he realized.
This was nothing like going to California. Nothing like getting lost in Beverly Hills before making a turn to Hollywood after losing all his money and luggage. California he could handle. Had handled like a pro. He had lost money, he had hanged out with the homeless, he had made himself work hard to where he was now...unemployed and without passion. What more could he lose?
But then, if he managed it, what was he planning to do?
If he brought Sakura back, then what?
Was he going to live all his life with a corpse? A corpse that might not remember him? A corpse that might hate him? A corpse that wanted to die?
(he was almost afraid...afraid for Sakura...afraid to see her overtaken by the dark thoughts that made her lose her smile, made her lose her will to keep going)
He needed time...or maybe, he just needed a plan. A plan. A plan for what?
Kotaro was planning to go against the laws of nature. Play god. Bring the dead back to life all for the sake of a girl. A girl that he still loved. A girl that was dead. A girl who tried and failed...A girl, who…
...who wanted to be an idol.
Kotaro, still Inui, remembered Sakura's dream. Remembered how much she had told him and Shiro about it.
"I want to smile like that girl…" she used to say. "I want to share that stage and smile like her."
Kotaro was nodding, unshed tears on his eyes.
If nothing else, he'll make sure Sakura achieved her dream. Death wouldn't be a problem going forward. Sakura would be an idol, even if it killed him. That was the least he could do for what he was about to do. What he was about to pay.
(dead, dead, leave her dead, the ghost whispered)
"...okay, okay," Kotaro began, nodding again.
The master was just looking at him, face stern, dog and cat playing on the side. "So, you will pay it?"
"...yes."
They stared at each other; the master still stern, still calm, while Kotaro's face was bruised, sweaty with perspiration.
"Hmm…you know...that man from seven years ago was a tad bit smarter than you," the master said after a while, shaking his head. "He left with my secret. He left it well alone."
"I'm not him."
"I figured...well, Tatsumi...are you ready to learn? Are you ready to pay?"
(the ghost, the ghost, where had it gone?)
"Y-yes…"
"Then...let us begin."
/…..
Two years later, Kotaro finally does it.
He has managed his first revival by himself; the ashes belonged to a woman by the name of Yamada Tae. Beyond her name, Kotaro didn't know who she had been in life or how her life had come to an end. The ashes had been provided to him by the master, who already had them in his possession.
The process of Tae Yamada's revival had been simple but not without its risks.
Kotaro had been nervous when he had tried it.
The master had warned him he only had one chance to do the revival, only one chance to bring Sakura back to life.
"Ashes and earth are required to bring forth the dead...bury the ashes, water the earth with the elixir and in a few hours, a body grows from within," the man had explained. The master had tried many other different methods during the years but this one produced the best results. It wasn't like reviving Romero and Fushi, whose bodies, still decomposing, still dead, had to be stitched together again, replacing skin and bones and insides in order to bring them back. His elixir made sure they wouldn't rot, wouldn't break apart (sometimes) as they went on being the living dead.
The process had taken place in an old mansion, far away from prying eyes. It was an old western-looking thing, that seemed too old to still be standing. There was a playground there, as well, and that's where Kotaro made the hole, the hole where he would bury the ashes of the one called Tae Yamada. The master watched, sitting on one of the swings, looking rather silly despite the seriousness of the situation. Romero sat by his side too, watching, waiting.
Urn in hand, Kotaro grabbed the ashes in fistfuls and put them in the hole, until nothing remained. Then, he buried the ashes again, and once that was done, Kotaro took out a small vial with golden liquid. He had remembered staring at it for some time before he began to water the earth with it, small drops first before using it all up. Once it was finished, he stood up, walked over to the swings and waited.
Hours later, a hand sprouted from the depths of the earth. It twitched, grasp at nothing, twitching once or twice, before another hand joined it and then, she dug herself out. She was slow at first, struggling to understand what she was doing but once she did, she was out, free from the earth. Pink flesh, long black hair, eyes as red as blood. Tae Yamada was back again.
The master and Kotaro had moved to cover the young woman with a blanket before taking her inside the mansion.
A few hours later, her skin began to rot. Flesh began to cut itself, legs and arms began to Yamada was literally falling apart before his eyes.
Kotaro remembered the panic he had felt when it had happened but the master had expected it.
"Her body is artificial...made out of earth, made out of the dead...she will decompose until a certain point, she will be a corpse again but she will be, in essence, alive."
Kotaro bandaged the cuts, put her limbs back together and gave her clothes. Tae shambled about the house, guarded by the little Romero, living but not really living, as Kotaro watched.
The master had left a few days ago, leaving behind the price to pay; Yugiri's urn.
(the man's price, his lost love)
That had been the deal: revive Yugiri, give her a better life and the master would tell him the secret, would tell him how to bring back his old friend.
And then, he would make her an idol and Tae and Yugiri will be there to help her.
At least, that had been the plan.
Things had changed in the last two years; Kotaro had seen and learned so many things, he had seen the changes that time had brought, changes that time destroyed.
Love was no longer on his mind. His feelings had changed, and so had his goals.
It wasn't just about achieving his friend's dream anymore. It was about making a true change, making a difference. At least, that was his excuse nowadays.
A part of him knows Sakura and those other two can't do it alone; he remembers the past, the tragedies, does his research and makes some calls. He finds the best of the best, legends in their own right.
(more people that deserved more than an early death)
All these girls were legendary, but not Sakura.
Sakura had never had a chance to be anything but a jinx.
Kotaro was going to change that.
But he only had one shot.
/…..
Months later, the mansion is full of shambling corpses. All legends, except one.
Ai Mizuno and Junko Konno walk side by side, knocking into each other once or twice, ignoring everything else. Saki Nikaido walks around too, she's more aggressive, sometimes pushing and biting the others when they get in her way. Lily Hoshikawa just walks about, turns, and walks about again before slamming into a wall and just walking, walking. Yugiri is much the same, she's rather calm about it, however, rarely groaning and whining. Tae Yamada is much more adventurous. She's the most active of the bunch, biting into things, chewing them, spitting them out. That was just Tae.
And then, there was Sakura Minamoto.
She's more aggressive than Nikaido. She bites, growls and one time even tackled him, biting unto his arm. Kotaro still has the scar to prove it.
He remembers being taken aback by her aggression and when he had asked, the master couldn't really provide him an answer.
And then, one day, she gets out.
She broke a window and ran into the night. Someone had seen her, she had seen them, she had growled, showed teeth and would have jumped them had they not ran off. Kotaro and Romero found her a few minutes later, scratching and biting a lamppost. Then, she tackled him, growling, spitting, Romero barking and growling back.
It had taken him ten minutes to control her and bring her back to the mansion.
He kept her separated from the other girls after that. He never had the heart to leave them in the old dungeon, behind bars and metal. He risked one of them getting out like Sakura had done but he took his chances and left them roam free. Sakura was the only one he kept under lock and key. He was afraid she would harm herself or the others (even if they were already dead).
The only times Sakura was ever calm was when she slept. Those were the only times Kotaro could get close to her, whisper to her, talk about the old times, and apologize for what he had done.
He applies the makeup while she sleeps, she opens her eyes once, dead red eyes stare at him before closing seconds later. Kotaro is too nervous to continue but he goes about it, wondering if she sees her reflection, she'll wake up and be whole again.
But he's been trying for days and Sakura is still aggressive, still biting, still growling, still dead.
And then, one day, everything changes.
(he forgets to lock the door)
Sakura wakes up, and instead of screaming and growling, she's frightened. Growls and groans become words, eyes show more life than they had in months. She's confused, she's scared and she ends up running off a second time.
She's forgotten him, she's forgotten everything.
And for a while, Kotaro is happy she can't remember. He almost fears what would happen if she does.
A few days before the inevitable happens, Sakura finally takes notice of the guy. He's dressed all in black, hiding in the back, staring at Yugiri. Just staring, staring.
Saki's been looking his way too, already knows he's there and she doesn't like it. She's someone that can tell he's trouble.
And Sakura knows he's trouble, too and she's worried.
This is nothing like the mess with Takeo and Lily; the big man had made himself obvious, had made himself known right away and then Saki had kicked the daylights out of him and broken a stereo. This guy's not even close. He hid too well.
No one notices the ones in the back. No one.
But now, Sakura and Saki know that he's there. Sakura's anxious, Saki's pissed. They worry for Yugiri and already Saki is telling Sakura what she'll do to the bastard if he gets anywhere close to their big sister. "I'll break him in half." But Sakura is still worrying.
She can tell right away that something's off.
Is he obsessed? Sakura doesn't really know.
She's worried about Yugiri, worried about what that stranger could do to her. Sakura wonders if Yugiri already knows about the looks, the stares. She probably has. Yugiri's observant like that.
How long has this been going on? How long had Yugiri kept this to herself?
(are they too late?)
The stranger is looking at her now. He sees her. His expression is cold, angry. Sakura stares back, eyes widening suddenly, confused, frightened but deep down something ignites. It's a feeling she had not felt in a while. A feeling she detests. She felt it back when she was alive, back when her classmates would laugh at her bad luck, would laugh at her mistakes, would laugh at her dreams of being an idol.
How long was it that Sakura had been genuinely angry? She hadn't been angry at Saki that first time, she had been irritated, annoyed, slightly upset, but not angry. She had felt slight anger towards Kotaro during the camping trip, true, but it had extinguished like a candle in the wind. What was different now?
Was it because this stranger was leering at her friend? Was it that? Or was it something else?
(it was Yugiri)
So, Sakura stares back, expression slowly changing, shiny blue eyes glaring back. The stranger looks away suddenly, as if realizing his mistake but Sakura already knows.
Her gaze softens when she turns away and catches sight of Yugiri, and then, Sakura shakes her head. She dares one last look at the stranger but the guy is already gone.
(and they were too late)