Here ya go, chapter 2: Déjà Vu

Motoko woke up with the sun, shivering in the cold as she always did each early morning.  She stretched briefly and yawned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.  Another morning of practice… she paused by her doorway before going out, shivering harder as the cold of the outside air invaded her body.  She would eventually become warm, anyway.

Two hours later, Motoko sat in her room drinking hot tea prepared by Shinobu especially for her every morning.  She always took this time to think about what she was going to do.  There hadn't been any reports of evil spirits for a long while, so she decided to do a little exploring in a lightly forested area. Maybe that would give me time to think… A small gulp of hot tea traveled its way down her throat, warming every part of her body.

"Breakfast is ready!" came the yell that startled Motoko for a moment.  She sighed, and made her way down.

"I'm BORED!" was the first thing she heard.  It was Sara.

"We've been under and all around Hinata-Sou…I think we've been practically everywhere!" wailed Kaora.

"Then you've obviously never been under the city's tunnels." Haruka said in her monotone voice, cigarette in mouth, despite the fact that she was drinking tea.  She was reading the paper, and obviously wanted the two out of Hinata-Sou while she cleaned.

"CITY TUNNELS?!" Both girls jumped up from their chairs and ran out the door. 

Naru watched them go and shook her head.  "Next thing you know, the paper's headlines will be saying something about two little girls seen running into the city reservoir."  She stood from her chair and began to clear her area. "Well, I'm off to continue studying…you coming Keitaro?"

"How about you, Motoko…are you doing anything this afternoon?" Kitsune took a sip to her tea…or was it sake?

"I think…I'm going to go explore the countryside today.  There hasn't been much to do lately…"

Haruka nodded, and Kitsune looked at her through those slit eyes.  Many times Motoko found herself wandering what was behind those eyes, but she got used to it after a while.  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shinobu watching her.  She quickly cleared her place also and headed to her room.

~*~

End Part I

Spring is close to coming… She descended the steps from the city and entered rural country.  Wrapped in her thoughts and wishing for warmer clothing, she didn't notice where she was going.  Seeing a small path winding into an area of trees, she decided to follow it.  The path gradually grew thinner and less distinct, until she was standing in the midst of grass, almost like that of her strange dream.  She looked around herself, and with evident surprise, saw a familiar figure sitting on a rock.  Motoko stood in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by trees on all sides.  Briefly she wondered how to get back out, but the thought was driven from her mind.  The figure's back was to her, but from her short hair, Motoko could almost make out who it was.  To Motoko, the image seemed surreal: an unknown figure sitting on a rock, with her standing a mere five feet from her. 

Before Motoko could do anything, the figure slowly turned, as if it had sensed her presence.

"Motoko-sempai?!" In Kikuko's hand was a flower.

"Ki-Kikuko…this is a surprise…" Motoko flustered.

"I'm just looking around…thinking…what—what are you doing here?" The flower, previously held to her face, dropped down to her lap, her hand still on the stem.

"I'm…also looking around…" Motoko wondered why she felt so awkward.

"Do you sense an evil spirit?" Kikuko looked at her hard, unlike the younger girls of the group who would have ran and clung to her.

"No…I just came to…look…" She mentally slapped herself What is wrong with me?!

The flower was brought up from Kikuko's lap and twirled between her fingers.  She was looking down at it, as if she was contemplating on something.  Motoko was about the turn around and walk off when Kikuko exclaimed, "Motoko-sempai!"

She focused on Kikuko's face. "Eh?"

"How…how are your practices?"

Motoko winced.  It always seemed that Kikuko knew exactly what was wrong with her.  "My practices have been…a little…tiring…but I'll be OK…"

Kikuko nodded. "I'm sure it's just something to do with the weather that makes the joints sore…I'm sure you'll solve whatever the problem is…you always do."

Motoko had no time to contemplate those last three words because Kikuko had suddenly walked up to her.  Kikuko looked up at Motoko, silent for a while.  Then she thrust the flower into her hands, and walked off, not looking back.

Motoko watched her walk off, confusion and questions popping everywhere in her mind.  Just then, a gust of wind blew past her, and the fragile petals of the flower blew away along with it.

~*~

End Part II

Kikuko half walked, half ran to her room at the inn she stayed in.  When she finally reached it, she closed the door and leaned against it, breathing deeply for air.  After she began to breathe normally, she walked towards a shelf and brought out a heavy book.  She opened it, and flipped through it until she found the desired page.  In the book contained various pictures of the girls with Motoko in the center.  In each picture, Kikuko was in the background.  Though she half smiled in each picture, she could see in her own eyes that there was something else there.  No matter how many times she looked at those pictures, she could never understand what was in her own face.  The only thing she saw in those pictures was Motoko's almost smiling face, and the adoring grins of the others as the scrambled to Motoko's side for the picture.

It never made sense to me…why I always fell back… She glanced at the newest addition of pictures, the one taken at the festival.  She saw the brown teddy bear grasped in her arms, barely visible above the heads of the other girls.  Everything else in the picture seemed to fade as she compared her face to Motoko's…the same half smile they each wore…it meant more than Kikuko could imagine.

She slammed the book closed and laid her hands and chin upon it, sighing.  Finding herself almost falling asleep, she got up, and walked to the bedroom.  The bedroom clock said [9:32 PM].  She flopped on the bed, looking at the ceiling, feeling the familiar feeling of sadness take over her mind.

I'm throwing every possible feeling that I have away.  The other girls…they all want to be like her…they admire and adore her…how do I compete with all that…how can I possibly?  They're growing closer and closer, and I'm…I'm growing farther and farther away.  What am I thinking?  I never meant anything to her…just a nagging voice that wouldn't stop talking about her degenerating.  I'm only that to her…Motoko-sempai… With that last thought, she fell asleep, as two tears rolled down her cheeks.

End Chapter II