Chapter 11 - Reflections


Kirei stirred. She was very warm and comfortable now. She opened her eyes and found herself back in her room, dressed in her soft powder pink pajamas. 'I'm alive...' she thought, leaning against her pillow trying to sort out her thoughts. Miboshi was dead. Kirei had killed him. But the Shinzaho... She looked down at her hands. She sighed with relief. The ring was in her left hand, slipped on her ring finger. But there was another hand beside her that one. She shifted her head a little and focused on Amiboshi. He was sitting on a cushioned chair and had fallen asleep when laying his head down her bed. Kirei inched her hand a little closer to his hand, clasping its warmth.
He stirred. His back and neck were aching. He had to wake up. He felt a cool hand slip into his own. He looked up and saw Kirei's dark soft crimson eyes staring right back into his dark blue-violet ones. They stayed like that just staring at each other peacefully for a bit. Amiboshi broke the silence.
"Your skin is freezing," he scolded lightly, trying to warm her hand.
"Funny...I don't feel that way," she said dully.
"Amiboshi...no offense or anything...but could you leave me alone for a while? I need to get my brain sorted out..." Kirei requested wearily.
"Sure..."he said a little hurt but stood up anyway, leaving the room.
She didn't relax until he left the room. She leaned back against the pillows breathing a sigh of relief, closing her eyes. Everything replayed in her mind. The fight with Miboshi all way to his death. Amiboshi's life was on the line too because of her, too. Because of her he had been put in a position where she would have never wanted to see him in. It didn't matter how he still felt...being with him put him in much more danger than he was already in. She wondered how Hikaru hadn't noticed that. 'Well...it doesn't matter...What she does is her own business.' She thought to herself.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"How's Kirei?" Hikaru asked Amiboshi. He came down the stairs with a crestfallen look.
"She seems to be okay," he said in monotone. Hikaru looked at him a little suspiciously. Something wasn't quite right.
"Are you okay?" she asked. He looked at her with those baby blue violet eyes of his.
"Something about her seems different."
Hikaru raised an eyebrow to Amiboshi. "What do you mean different?" she repeated.
"She seems so distant."
"Oh, don't worry about that. She's always distant."
"Seriously?"
"Yep. She's a very spacey person. You'll have to get used to it if you're her boyfriend and all."
"If you say so..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A while later Amiboshi opened the door to Kirei's room. He found her drawing by the window seat. He stood there quietly watching her. The light from the sun seemed to make a halo of amber atop Kirei's golden brown hair. Her deep rouge eyes animated and content with her paper and pencil. Her clean white nightgown, fell down to her feet gently like a cloud. He caught his breath and thought she was none other than an angel. He swung the door open. Kirei looked up at him startled. He smiled sheepishly, not noticing that she was not smiling back, instead a look of sadness and other mixed emotions surfaced her face.
"How're you feeling now Kirei?" he asked her, sitting beside her. She avoided his gaze and stared down at the carpeted floor instead.
"Okay, I guess," she said quietly. He was getting very worried now. Something was up.
"Kirei, is something wrong?"
"Um... Yes... I mean, no. I mean...oh, I don't know!" she sputtered as she fumbled around with her hands. Amiboshi looked down at Kirei's sketchpad.
"May I see this?" he asked, picking it up. She nodded still not facing him. He opened the pad. He was very impressed. She was very skilled and all of the drawings were in great detail. But there was something that bothered him about them.
"Ki-chan... all these drawings are sad!" he said in a rather shocked voice. He flipped through the pages of tears, blood and death. She turned her back to him.
"Yeah well...I never had much of a reason to draw anything happy," she said bluntly.
"Kirei, what is wrong? You have been cold to me ever since you woke up!"
Kirei stiffened. She had to do it now. "Amiboshi-kun," she said painstakingly. Amiboshi winced. Kirei never called him Amiboshi. She turned to face him but lowered her eyes. "I don't want to be with you anymore," she said emotionlessly.
Amiboshi stared at her. He felt like everything was spinning around him like a nightmare. This was not happening. She couldn't be breaking up with him could she? Inside his mind a picture of him and her was slowly ripping apart like his heart. "What are you saying Kirei?" he asked, trying to keep the horror out of his voice. She stood up and took a few steps away from him.
"I'm sorry Amiboshi...It's over," she repeated. He stared at her as she walked out of her room wordlessly. He sat there not knowing what to say. His heart had been ruthlessly torn from his body and brutally stepped upon with every step Kirei took away from him.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"What do you mean she broke up with you?" Tasuki demanded. Amiboshi sighed.
"She broke up with him just two hours, 15 minutes, and 10 seconds ago...11 second...no wait, now 15 seconds..."Chiriko was saying. Tasuki cut him off.
"Oh quit it! Now, explain exactly why she broke up with you!" Tasuki continued his tirade on Amiboshi. Amiboshi hung his head.
"I don't know," he faltered. Tasuki nearly had a fit.
"What do you mean you don't know!!!!!!!!!!!!" he bellowed.
"She just said that she wanted to break up and walked out."
"I'm tellin' ya. Women are up to no good!"
As if on cue Hikaru popped in. "What was that you said about women, Tasuki?" she said in a testy voice. He laughed nervously.
"I meant women are so cute!" he said, recovering. Hikaru glared at him.
"Have you been looking at other women behind my back? I suppose you think they're prettier than I am!" she said rather haughtily. Of course, she wasn't being serious but Tasuki didn't know that.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"You broke up with him??" Yuri yelled. Yume shook her head with disapproval. Kirei sighed. She had a feeling her friends wouldn't very well approve of this.
"Yes, Yuri," she muttered for the umpteenth time. Yume shook her head again.
"Why? Why? What is this? What is going on here?" she said. Kirei sweat dropped.
She wondered if Hikaru knew yet. She still cared for Amiboshi a lot but knew that for his safety it had to be this way. Just then Hikaru burst in, interrupting her thoughts.
"YOU BROKE UP WITH HIM??" she bellowed into Kirei's ear. Kirei sighed. Here we go again...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Its okay aniki," Suboshi tried to comfort his brother. Amiboshi shook his head. No, it wasn't going to be okay and it never would be until he could win back Kirei's heart again.
"You don't understand Suboshi," he said. Suboshi got up feeling a little hurt. He did understand. He left the room.
"Suboshi," a girl's voice asked behind him. He turned around and saw Yume. She looked hesitant.
"How is Amiboshi?" she asked.
"You have no idea," he mumbled.
"I do actually," she quietly replied. Suboshi looked at her a little surprised. Her eyes carried the knowledge of a broken heart like his did.
"I'm sorry," he apologized.
"No need."
Suboshi stared at Yume. What was this feeling he was suddenly having? Being around Yume suddenly made his heart beat faster, his hands sweatier and clammier, and nervous. He gasped when he saw a tear slip down her cheek. He involuntarily took another step towards her. "Are you okay?" he asked with a voice full of genuine concern.
Yume quickly wiped the tear away. "It's nothing... really..." she insisted. But Suboshi wasn't falling for it.
"You can tell me Yume..." he said, gently taking her into his arms.
"Seeing all these couples around me just kind of brings back memories I guess," she admitted.
"Bad memories?"
"No... I-I guess not... But it hurts because I know those good memories are gone forever... and seeing Hikaru and Kirei happy with the ones they love made me remember."
"Does Kirei really love my brother?" Suboshi said in a chilling voice.
"She must love him!" Yume insisted.
"Then why did she break up with him? Doesn't she know what she's putting him through?"
"As in matter of fact, I know perfectly well, Shun-kun!!" said another voice. Suboshi and Yume whirled around to see Kirei's seething face.
"How would you know? You're the one who dumped him!" Suboshi said viciously.
"Suboshi please...-" Yume pleaded but Kirei cut her short.
"I've been dumped before... three times actually. So let your brother talk for himself," Kirei said and stalked off to her room, leaving Suboshi and Yume to face the aftershocks of Kirei slamming the door.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hikaru closed the romance novel she was reading. It was amazing how much her love life had suddenly become so much like the kinds in books. She drew her body close together and hugged her knees. So many things had happened in such a short time period. She had become a totally powerful enchantress, found the love of her life, and suddenly had what seemed a perfect life. 'Kirei doesn't know what she threw away...'
"Hello no da!!!" Chichiri popped up in front of Hikaru's face in SD.
Hikaru dropped her book and gasped. "Damn it, Chichiri! You freakin' scared the living daylights out of me!!" she yelled.
"Sorry, but have you seen Kirei-chan, no da?" he asked.
"In her room I think," she replied.
"Thanks!" and with that he disappeared again. Hikaru sweatdropped. That dude was mad weird.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Kirei-chan, no da!" Chichiri popped up in front of Kirei in SD form. Kirei gasped and looked up from her sketchpad and saw Chichiri.
"Chichiri-san! You scared the living shit out of me!" she exclaimed.
"I heard that you broke up with Amiboshi-kun, no da," he said straightforwardly. She looked at him exasperatingly.
"Are you going to give me a lecture like the others did?" she asked. Chichiri shook his head.
"Nah... I think you've had enough of those, no da," he said.
"You have no idea!" she groaned, Hikaru's voice still ringing in her ears.
"Is there a particular reason why you broke up with him, no da?"
"Well..."
"There is a reason isn't there, no da?"
"Of course there is!"
"Well... What is it then, no da?"
"I-I thought it would be safer for the both of us..."
"Is that the whole reason?"
"Yes... no.... okay it's not."
"You're not going to tell me the whole reason are you, no da?"
Kirei paused and looked down. Then slowly, she shook her head.
Chichiri nodded, "I see, no da." He continued to sit there, "But you know you can always talk to me, no da."
"I know."
Chichiri glanced at Kirei's open sketchbook to see what she had been drawing. It was a picture of a girl, her face split in half by a line down the middle of her face. One side was drawn weeping, and the other to look alone and lost. "You're still thinking of him aren't you, no da?" he said quietly, his mask removed from his face. For the first time in real life, Kirei stared into the real face of Chichiri. She looked away again.
"Yes..." she said softly as she began to cry. Chichiri put his arm around her as he allowed her to cry her eyes out on his shoulder.
"Don't deny your heart from what it desires most, no da," he said softly and he stayed with her until she fell asleep. He looked down at her and smiled a little. For the most part, she reminded him of his little sister. They were so much alike. Always doing whatever they felt was right and be stubborn. He missed her a lot and he had lost her when the flood came upon his village. That flood. It took away everything away from him.
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. He opened the door and stepped outside, closing the door. He sweatdropped when he saw Tamahome, Yuri, and Hotohori's curious faces.
"Did she tell you anything? I couldn't get anything out of Tasuki or Amiboshi. The kid's like paralyzed or something," Tamahome asked eagerly.
"Tamahome, please. It is quite undignified to be so interested in another's matters," Hotohori admonished him. He turned to Chichiri again. "Now, what did she tell you?" he asked. Chichiri sweatdropped while Tamahome and Yuri face vaulted.
"She wouldn't tell me much, no da..." Chichiri said nervously, "But I would like to speak to Yuri-chan for a moment in private." Hotohori and Tamahome retreated in the disappointment of not finding out anything juicy.
"So what is it you want to talk about?" Yuri inquired.
"I observed that Kirei is rather rich; am I correct, no da?" he asked. Yuri nodded with confusion. Chichiri continued, "However, from what had I observed, she doesn't squander her wealth on desirable objects. Am I right again, no da?"
Yuri nodded again. "For as long as I have known Kirei, She only buys things that she needs. If she does buy something that she desires to have it's usually manga or anime," she said.
"How far does this behavior for her stretch, no da? Besides material things, I mean."
"Umm... material things, grades, relationships..."
"Relationships? How can she deny herself a relationship, no da?"
Yuri shrugged. "Easy. Don't fall for the guy. She's had a rough love life. She doesn't like getting too close," Yuri replied.
"I see..." Chichiri said half to himself. He was starting to piece everything together now.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hikaru banged her head against the armrest of a couch. "I'm bored, bored, bored, bored, bored!!!" she complained. Yume stared at Hikaru.
"You'll lose more brain cells that way," Yume said absently.
"I don't care. I probably lost them all already anyway," Hikaru muttered. She spotted Mitsukake reading a medical book from one of the bookshelves. Further past, she saw Nakago reading a book on gun control.
"Having fun, Nakago?" she asked. Nakago looked at her with steely blue eyes.
"The "gun control" law is ridiculous. Your "constitution" clearly states that citizens have the right to bear arms. That right cannot be taken away! Does Kirei have a gun in this house?" Nakago declared.
"Umm... I don't think so..." Hikaru sweatdropped and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. 'And even if she did, I wouldn't let you know that!' she thought to herself. Nakago turned back to his book disappointed.
"What about you Mitsukake? Enjoying your book?" Hikaru tried again. Mitsukake looked up at her and nodded.
"What are you reading about?" Hikaru asked curiously, getting up to see what he was so absorbed in. She face vaulted when she read the title. The Human Reproductive System.