8/9/01
Disclaimer: the characters such as Uriko, Kenji, etc. belong to Hudson Soft
Dedication: God, my parents, my 'brothers', Hudson for creating Bloody Roar I-IV and giving me a really good reason to write this story, and my readers, especially PokeDigi, LazzyQ, Alica Tylon, Deoku, VGuyver, StarryPeach, AKA, Brad Crawford, Arashi, Flyby, and Niteflite.
Special dedication to Deoku, because I was thinking about him while I wrote this fic.
Bloody Roar III: Ghostly Memory
By Tiger5913
"Oh, just come already! You'll have a good time, trust me!"
My friend… you don't know how hard this is for me…
The slow, forlorn song that started playing out of the speakers, emitting throughout the room, broke the train of thoughts. Slender fingers brushed away strands of long brown bangs that curtained before a face with a fake smile plastered over the expression. There was a certain spark to the show of pretend happiness that everyone fell for, and didn't think to question what was really behind the mask. The light sparkling from chandeliers that hung overhead from the ceiling caught the brown gemstones embroided onto the outfit of a figure. Colorful glints from her surroundings caught her eye and she blinked, shaking her head briefly as she watched her friend wave to her from a distance, then vanish into the crowd.
…I don't know how I let her convince me to come here… she thought to herself, looking bewildered but covered that up and walked around, smiling at the schoolmates that she were friendly with, which was a good majority of the people.
The teenagers inside the club called the Teen Zone were all in costume, gathering together for the masquerade party that occurred on every Halloween night. At the age of high school years, most of the students felt embarrassed to participate in trick-or-treating with "little kids", so the sponsors in their community organized that gala for them. Normally, she would have been ecstatic to go, but ever since a certain event happened two years ago, she had stopped coming to the parties. Her companions managed to convince her this time, saying that it'd been a long time and she should be on her way to recovery by now.
"It's not that easy to forget," she had protested when her best friend brought up the subject earlier that day. "You don't understand, I can't enjoy many things anymore, without him, they just seem so empty, lonely, and… bland…"
"It's also not healthy for you to still be like this," her persistent acquaintance replied sensibly. "I mean, I know that you're hurting a lot because you loved him-"
"Love, not loved," she corrected hastily.
"Sorry, I know that you love him, but still, it's been two years… Don't you think he'd want you to be happy, not sad forever, always mourning his death?"
He's not dead! She wanted to shout angrily, but couldn't find the heart to, for she knew that her friend only had the best intentions for her. "…Okay, I'll go. But don't expect much, okay?"
And here she was, incidentally dressed as a cat, with tan, pointy, triangular ears attached to a headband that sat buried in her hair. A slim slinky tail swayed out from behind her that stuck to the bottom of her hazel-colored outfit; tights hugged her legs, ending at knee-level, outlining her curves. Her upper attire consisted of a sleeveless blouse, and the material clung to her skin like a ballet suit, making her feel like it almost blended into her being. Several of her classmates walked by and fondled the small clumps of fur that aligned her arms, complimenting on how soft and real it felt. If only they knew.
I feel so out of place here… The seventeen-year-old offered them a shaky smile after thanking them. …Oh, why did you have to leave… you stubborn…
If I get caught, I will be severely punished.
Furtively dwelling upon thick branches of a tree outside of the Teen Zone, an observer watched the on-goings in the building, envy lingering in a pair of lonely irises. Pushing aside the ominous thoughts and consequences that may possibly have to be endured later, the figure leaped down, landing silently on the ground. Cloaked in the shadows of the night, he welcomed and embraced the luxury of being hidden from the watchful sights of bystanders.
Every night he went through the same thing, seeking, searching, stalking, but he was growing tired of it; he wanted to finally relax, to go out and find an enjoyable affair. His body enclosed in black attire, the edges of the two eyeholes that were cut into matching dark cloth that wrapped around the entire top portion of his head pricked at his eyelids and irritated him, but he kept it on to keep from being recognized.
No one gave him a second glance as he strolled through the doors, walking right into the party as if he belonged with everyone else, as if he were just like one of them. He appeared normal, a well-built teenage male of high school age, with a solemn, serious face, and eyes that seemed to gaze past artificial coverings. It was like he could pierce the soul of whomever he was glancing at, peering at their inner selves and discovering the real person inside. Couples that were dancing on the floor grinned at his outfit and commented on it, while he returned the favors with a cool glance, and a tight-lipped smile that could have been mistaken for expressing joy.
What fools, so superficial and inferior with their childish occurrences, he thought, narrowing his eyes into that of a somewhat eerie look.
"Find a partner!" Her friend mouthed to her from her position of swaying to the slow song with her boyfriend.
Seated in a cold hard chair leaned against the wall behind her, the student shook her head, politely refusing when guys asked for her to dance with them. She smiled faintly in apology as she watched their expressions turn crestfallen with dejection, then disappear when they gathered up their pride and assured her that her decision was fine before they wandered off elsewhere. Her heart belonged to another, but it was currently separated from its other half, unfulfilled and desolate without the corresponding part. Sighing in slight frustration, she turned her face away from the happy pairs that were mere feet distanced from her, for their contentment filled her with exultation and sorrow at the same time.
Promises… they don't mean anything! Forever… just another damn lie, nothing lasts forever, especially not promises, since they always get broken somehow! Always!
It all just reminded her that she could not have what they did, someone to be with, someone to have feelings and care for. When he became lost, so did part of her heart, the portion that was stored within him, gone to whatever place that had claimed him as theirs. Tears bit her eyes as she struggled to rid those thoughts from her mind, but they continued plaguing her, and finally she shot up from her seat. Wiping the drops away with the back of her hand, she headed outside, head ducked down and not paying attention to the path ahead of her.
"Urgh!"
? Where the hell did she come from? He wondered, scowling as a girl bumped into his side, knocking both of them off-balance. Staggering a little, he caught her shoulders before she fell to the ground, shoving her into a standing position as he proceeded to snipe at her.
"O-Oh! I-I'm so sorry!" She stammered, glancing at him anxiously, biting her lip when she spied a threatening look in his eyes.
"…Watch where you are going," he said lowly, almost hissing the words as he stepped foreword.
Although he couldn't have been more than a couple inches taller than her, presumably less, she felt a bit intimidated as he seemed to loom over her. "I-I didn't mean to do that. I-I'll move out of your way, s-sorry…"
He smirked slightly, reveling in her fear of him. "…What are doing without your boyfriend? Girls like you shouldn't be alone…"
Visibly agitated, she replied frostily, "None of your business. And don't worry about me, because I can take care of myself, so keep those kinds of comments to yourself."
A rather fiery attitude. "My apologies then," he murmured saucily. "Then why aren't you dancing with all of the other happy lovers out there on the floor? Don't tell me you came here by yourself…"
Her chocolate brown eyes narrowed. "And what if I am? It's not any of your concern, you aren't my guardian! …Just who are you, anyway? I don't remember ever seeing you in the school hallways…"
A barely audible growl rumbled deep within his throat as he asked, "Now who's the one being nosy?"
She took a few steps away from him. "Never mind then…" Shooting him a weary look, she turned in a different direction and mumbled to herself as she began to proceed toward the doors leading outside, "I'm not dancing with anyone… No use staying here any longer…"
…You're lonely too… he realized, his harsh look softening a notch.
But even before she took more than two steps, something latched onto her arm and held on tightly, making her jerk as she stopped abruptly, whirling around in surprise to see who was preventing her from leaving.
A hand rested on her waist, clutching her in a slightly possessive manner as eyes that mirrored her own bore into her intensively. "You shouldn't leave without at least dancing one song…"
"W-what?" was her shaky, baffled answer.
His other hand left her elbow and slid up to intertwine with her fingers, their palms pressing intimately against each other. Albeit mesmerized, she gingerly encircled her free arm around his neck, shying averting her gaze away when she spied the intent look in his deep, seductive irises. He leaned his head down near her neck, fanning her skin hotly as he breathed evenly, making her shiver and pull away slightly.
"I won't hurt you, sweet kitten…" he whispered next to her ear while he tightened his grip on her a little, his words coated with sincerity. "I just want to dance with you. Trust me…"
Trust you…? I don't even know you… Yet as she silently thought that, a feeling of familiarity pricked at her emotions, insisting that she did in fact know this stranger… But that was impossible, since they had just met, and there couldn't be a chance she could know him from anywhere. She unfortunately couldn't identify him due to the black material that hid his face, only baring and revealing his eyes and mouth to her, nothing else. Looking over his shoulder, she caught the eyes of a couple of her schoolmates and they glanced at her approvingly, a few girls looking at her dance partner with admiration while their boyfriends tried to avert their attentions.
Who is he…? She wondered as the lights dimmed, the room growing dark and the fingers of her hand on his back tingled due to the warmth that emitted from his body.
"You're lonely, just like I am…" he suddenly spoke up just then, startling her.
She blinked rapidly, her heart pounding as her eyes widened in shock. H-how?"W-what do you mean by that?"
"Are you going to try to deny it?" He inquired, sound a little amused. "Well don't. I can tell."
Who does this guy think he is? Fear mingled with suspicion. "I-I don't know what you're talking about. You're mistaken, what do you know!"
He leaned back to forge eye contact with her. "I don't think I'm wrong," he remarked calmly, giving her hand a gentle, assuring squeeze. "Tell me, am I?"
"Y-yes!" She insisted, clouding her true feelings from him, burying them deep within her. "You are wrong, so you should stop making assumptions like this! You can't… you can't read me like a book…"
His expression turned immensely serious. "I'm not really just making assumptions… you know it's true… And I'm not trying to treat you like a book, reading and using you anytime for my entertainment; I'm seeing myself in you. That's how I know about how you're feeling."
"No way, we're nothing alike," she protested weakly, sounding feeble even to herself. "You're just being arrogant, thinking you can figure me out in the blink of an eye. Well, I'll have you know I'm a more complexed person than that, by far!"
He laughed softly, a sound that softly brushed her ears and soothed her. "My foolish, lovely kitten…" he decreased the space that separated the two until their foreheads were touching, "…we're more alike than you may think…"
Before she could argue with him again, her mysterious dance partner closed the distance between them and kissed her. He seemed to drain her resistance away with each tantalizing caress of his embrace, enfolding her into his arms as she sank against his body. It'd been so long since she'd received a kiss that had such an effect on her, and the abruptness of it made her tremble. As he pressed his hand against the base of the back of her neck, his shuffling made her headband fell to the ground in a whisper. That action caused her long auburn hair to cascade down over his hands, enveloping them in a cocoon of silk and acceptance.
The bulbs overhead began to flicker on as the melody of the song faded into the wind, and he backed away from her immediately. Giving her a secretive smile, he lifted up the cloth that covered his face so that she could see his eyes normally, instead of in hiding. She looked at him silently, taken in by his enticing enchantments, feeling a twinge of disappointment when he replaced the material over himself again. He pressed his fingers against his own lips and blew her a kiss, giving her a wink before turning around and vanishing into the group of teenagers that were disentangling themselves from each other.
"Wait-!" She exclaimed, but it was too late. Her expression saddened. "…I didn't even ask you your name…"
"Hey Uriko!" A familiar voice called out from behind her.
Shaking her head out of her dazed state, Uriko Nonomura answered, "E-Erika?"
Her best friend Erika Daweson appeared from her right side and hugged her quickly. "There you are! Ryan and I've been looking for you all over the place!"
"O-oh, sorry…" she grimaced apologetically. "I've just been… here, I guess."
"Nah, no problem! Oh, hey! I heard from a couple of people that they saw you dancing with someone!" She grinned. "So who was it? Anyone we know?"
The brown-haired student sighed. "…No. But I wish I knew him…"
Some distance away, her former partner darted out of the building, blending into the darkness of the shadows as he hung aloof. He watched and waited until she and her friends appeared, twitching when he spied the forlorn look on her face as she cast one last glance at the Teen Zone before running to catch up with her friends to leave and head for their respective homes.
…I hope we'll meet again someday, he thought to himself as he turned and vanished into the night and proceeded to his own residence, one of which he wasn't welcomed, but rather tolerated instead. …Don't forget me, sweet kitten…
Since his disappearance two years ago, the couple had never crossed paths, except for that short period they shared together, dancing. But sadly, neither of the lovers knew… that the night of the masquerade party, Kenji Ohgami and Uriko Nonomura had finally been reunited… …only to parted from each other again…
The End
Author's Note: Okay, shoot me, but I just couldn't stand the thought of Uriko and Kenji never seeing each other for three straight years; they'd go crazy from the separation! But then again, if they knew each other's identities, then that would defeat the purpose of them feeling forlorn from being apart so long. I got this idea upon sudden inspiration, to let Uriko meet up with Kenji again somehow, but not letting either of them realize who the other was. This is in my own story timeline, and lies on the Halloween in the year before my Bloody Roar III: Reunited By Chance novel. Ah well, I wrote this in two wee hours of the night, so if it's not that good, blame it on the tiredness that's eating away at my consciousness, heh. Still, I hope you readers enjoyed this, and please leave a review!
With love for my fans,
Tiger5913