Two months passed. Rain walked into homeroom with Yui and
Miaka, giggling at her two new friend's constant bickering. Rain
entered behind them, and stopped dead in her tracks. Why was
everyone staring at her? Yui and Miaka had already taken their
seat, and didn't seem to notice the intense staring of everyone else.
Glancing around nervously, Rain hugged her books tighter to her
chest and lowered her head, and made her way to her seat silently.
She sat down and stared at her desk, waiting for the teacher to take roll.
When no commanding voice came, Rain looked up in confusion. The teacher
too, stared at her like the rest of the students, accusing her for an
unknown crime. Tears welling in her eyes, Rain glanced around, seeking
help from Miaka and Yui. There was a girl whispering intensely to them,
and they turned and began to stare at her with the same expression.
"Wh...what did I do?!" Rain cried out. She stood in her seat and looked up
at the teacher. "Why are you all looking at me like that?!" She covered her
face with her hands, trying to hide the spilling tears. She heard the teacher
move from behind his desk and make his way over to her. He put a hand on
her head, in an almost comforting manner. Her eyes snapping open in shock,
Rain lowered her hands and lifted her head to face him.
"Because those with no name never belong anywhere." The empty-eyed man
said, smiling darkly, replacing her teacher. Rain jerked away from his grasp,
a scream bubbling in her throat, but tripped over her chair.
"Rain?? Daijobu??" Yui asked in concern. Rain opened her eyes to find
herself on the floor next to her desk. She blinked twice, trying to figure
out what was reality and what was a dream. The concerned faces of Yui
and Miaka hovered over her, Miaka munching on a rice ball. Rain pushed
herself to a sit, with Yui's help.
"I....I think I'm ok...." she said uncertainly. Her mind was still reeling from
the dream, although nothing truly horrifying happened within it. It was the
eyes....those empty eyes....
"Good thing you woke up when you did, you almost missed lunch period
completely. Wow, I wish I had your sense of timing when it came for naps!"
Miaka exclaimed, scrounging through Rain's book bag and pulling out her
bento. Rain took it absent-mindedly and sat down.
"That's the third week in a row that you've fallen asleep in class Rain...are
you sure you're going to be ok?" Yui inquired, feeling her forehead. Rain
nodded sullenly as she began to eat. Yui glanced at Miaka who was wiggling
her fingers and looking at them as if she'd never seen the digits before. Yui
raised an eyebrow. "Now what's wrong with you?"
"I don't know....when I pulled Raini-Chan's bento out of her book bag, my
hand started to tingle....." Miaka said, rubbing her hand against her skirt.
"Why would your hand start tingling?" Yui asked, leaning down to prove Miaka
was just being paranoid before she started worrying. She blinked as a faint
glow emanated from beneath the closed flap.
"What's in your bag Rain?" Yui asked, reaching for it. Rain suddenly gasped,
choking on a mouthful of rice and leaned down to snatch it from her reach.
"N-nothing...my pocket flashlight probably just got turned on again." She said,
reaching into the bag and moving things around. Yui frowned at her and stood up
again.
"Whatever." She said, turning towards her own seat. She paused before sitting
and stared at her own hand curiously. Sure enough, it'd begun to tingle. She
turned slightly and glanced at Rain, who had replaced her book bag on the floor,
and was trying to finish up her lunch. She looked back down at her hand and
clenched it a few times. What was Rain hiding?
--------------------------
That Friday, Rain, Miaka, and Yui hung out with Taka, Tetsuya and Keisuke at
the guys' apartment. Hoshi, the head of the University newspaper, was arguing
intensely with Keisuke over the Universe of the Four Gods story....again. Of
course, thanks to a previous request by Keisuke, they argued in a "code".....so
that Miaka wouldn't figure out what it was they were speaking of and embarrass
them all.
Miaka and Taka were currently trying to beat each other to a pulp playing a
fighting game on Keisuke's Playstation 2, while Rain watched. Yui and Tetsuya sat
at the low living room table, listening to Hoshi and Keisuke argue.
Rain reached behind her and pulled her book bag towards her, determined to get at
least a little school work done while she waited for her turn on the game. Propping
her back against the wall, she opened her bag.
Grabbing for her math book, but pulling out the ancient blank book instead, Rain
frowned at it, and shoved it to the side. No matter how many times she thought
she left the darn thing at home, it always managed to find itself in her bag sometime
during the day. Grabbing the book she wanted, she pulled out a pencil and settled
into some problems.
"Raini-Chan, it's your turn!" Miaka grinned, holding the controller towards her.
Taka cackled like a madman and hunched over, ready to begin another round.
"Yeah, time to see if you can beat the master of the game!" he said in a mock-
maniacal voice. Miaka opened her eyes from her smile and blinked.
"Raini-Chan?" Rain was on her stomach, her head on her book, fast asleep.
Miaka sighed and moved over to nudge her. Taka stopped her and shook his head.
"You said yourself she's admitted to not sleeping well. Let's just let her sleep."
He whispered. Miaka sat down with a concerned frown on her face, then turned
back to the TV.
"All right, I'll kick your butt now Taka!" Miaka said in a voice equally maniacal
to match his.
---------------------------------------
Rain was walking, or floating, it was hard to tell which...over a ground made of
mist. She wore a dress made of a strange white fabric, so it floated around her
as if it were clouds. The mist became more solid as she floated, and she came upon
the end of it...or rather, the end of a cliff. She hovered dangerously close to the
edge and looked down. Below her, she saw a small village, active with life. Children
played, adolescents flirted with one another, adults worked, and the elderly told
stories to the smaller children or dozed outside of their homes. Rain smiled wistfully.
It was just like a storybook.
Thunderclouds suddenly gathered to the east, and rapidly approached the area of
the small village, announcing their arrival with booms and flashes of lightning. All the
children stopped playing and looked up to the sky, as if entranced by the heavy
clouds. Parents and older siblings of the children ran past and snatched them away,
some scattering the children's toys, as they ran inside their homes.
Rain felt panicked. She didn't know why, it appeared to be a normal storm. The storm
was upon the small village in a matter of seconds. One small girl, the same little girl
that Rain had comforted while she died walked out of her hiding place, where she had
been waiting for someone to find her in the children's game of hide and seek. Rain's
heart jumped into her throat.
No....please no!
The little girl looked around in confusion, her small voice calling for her friends
reaching her ears.
Why won't anyone come out to get her? She wondered to herself.
Because they're all scared of him. Another voice answered her.
Before Rain could question the voice, a horde of strange monstrous beasts suddenly
plowed out of the forest towards the village. Rain gasped, the little girl sitting on the
ground in the middle of the street, crying out of fright from the thunder and lightning.
She had to do something....or else the little girl would die...
The monsters were getting closer....she couldn't bear to see more children suffer....
"NOOOOOO!!!!" Rain screamed. Tetsuya held her arms, trying to calm her thrashing.
Her eyes were open, but it seemed that she saw nothing but whatever horrible image
was inside her head.
"Raini-Chan! Calm down!" Miaka attempted, reaching a hand towards her. Rain's hand
flew out and hit Tetsuya across the face, knocking his sunglasses off and onto the
floor.
"Wake up Rain...c'mon...knock it off!!" he grunted, still trying to wrestle her arms to the
ground.
"I'm going to call a doctor." Hoshi said hurriedly, standing up from the crowd that had
formed around Rain. Keisuke nodded and continued to pin Rain's feet to the floor.
"Something's not right..." Yui murmured, "She was just sleeping calmly a second ago....she
should be awake after all of this..." Miaka nodded her agreement and clung onto Taka's
arm in worry. Rain continued to struggle against Tetsuya and Keisuke, and scream. Hoshi
re-entered the living room with the phone and began to punch the emergency number,
when something caught her attention and caused her to drop the phone before she finished
dialing. Keisuke looked up at her.
"What's wrong? Hurry up and call the ambulance!" he snapped. Hoshi had turned pale and
was staring at the corner of the room, where Rain had been sleeping.
"I-I-Is....is......U-Uni...." she stuttered, her eyes wide. Keisuke frowned.
"Is what?" He reached for the phone. There was no time for this! Hoshi continued to
stutter. "Just spit it out already!" he snapped again, trying to hold Rain's feet and dial
the phone at the same time.
"G-g-g-g-GLOWING BOOK!" she finally cried, pointing. Everyone turned, surprised, in
the direction she had been pointing. Sure enough, the old blank book Rain had been
carrying around was glowing, brightly. Miaka, Yui and Taka all stood up, recognizing
the kanji burned into the binding. As if sensing their motion, the book itself raised
into the air and continued to glow.
Breaking free of Tetsuya's grip, Rain kicked Keisuke off and jumped to her feet. She
went straight for the book and clutched it to her chest as if it were a life preserver.
"Raini-Chan! No!!!" Miaka cried, lunging for Rain. The book filled the room with blinding
white light, Rain and Miaka began to fade away.
"Miaka!!" Yui and Taka yelled, lunging after them. Retrieving his sunglasses, Tetsuya
jumped into the light after Yui, trying to pull her out before she could vanish....
The light was gone as fast as it had appeared, leaving a stunned Hoshi and Keisuke in
the room, alone. Hoshi dropped to her knees next to Keisuke, her short black hair
disheveled as if she'd been in a windstorm.
"So...what do we do now...?" she asked in a raspy voice. As if in a daze, Keisuke
crawled over to the book and opened it up. While the entirety of it remained blank,
there was writing on several pages.
"Now......we read...that's all we can do." He said in a quiet voice. "Read until we know
how to bring them back."
Miaka, giggling at her two new friend's constant bickering. Rain
entered behind them, and stopped dead in her tracks. Why was
everyone staring at her? Yui and Miaka had already taken their
seat, and didn't seem to notice the intense staring of everyone else.
Glancing around nervously, Rain hugged her books tighter to her
chest and lowered her head, and made her way to her seat silently.
She sat down and stared at her desk, waiting for the teacher to take roll.
When no commanding voice came, Rain looked up in confusion. The teacher
too, stared at her like the rest of the students, accusing her for an
unknown crime. Tears welling in her eyes, Rain glanced around, seeking
help from Miaka and Yui. There was a girl whispering intensely to them,
and they turned and began to stare at her with the same expression.
"Wh...what did I do?!" Rain cried out. She stood in her seat and looked up
at the teacher. "Why are you all looking at me like that?!" She covered her
face with her hands, trying to hide the spilling tears. She heard the teacher
move from behind his desk and make his way over to her. He put a hand on
her head, in an almost comforting manner. Her eyes snapping open in shock,
Rain lowered her hands and lifted her head to face him.
"Because those with no name never belong anywhere." The empty-eyed man
said, smiling darkly, replacing her teacher. Rain jerked away from his grasp,
a scream bubbling in her throat, but tripped over her chair.
"Rain?? Daijobu??" Yui asked in concern. Rain opened her eyes to find
herself on the floor next to her desk. She blinked twice, trying to figure
out what was reality and what was a dream. The concerned faces of Yui
and Miaka hovered over her, Miaka munching on a rice ball. Rain pushed
herself to a sit, with Yui's help.
"I....I think I'm ok...." she said uncertainly. Her mind was still reeling from
the dream, although nothing truly horrifying happened within it. It was the
eyes....those empty eyes....
"Good thing you woke up when you did, you almost missed lunch period
completely. Wow, I wish I had your sense of timing when it came for naps!"
Miaka exclaimed, scrounging through Rain's book bag and pulling out her
bento. Rain took it absent-mindedly and sat down.
"That's the third week in a row that you've fallen asleep in class Rain...are
you sure you're going to be ok?" Yui inquired, feeling her forehead. Rain
nodded sullenly as she began to eat. Yui glanced at Miaka who was wiggling
her fingers and looking at them as if she'd never seen the digits before. Yui
raised an eyebrow. "Now what's wrong with you?"
"I don't know....when I pulled Raini-Chan's bento out of her book bag, my
hand started to tingle....." Miaka said, rubbing her hand against her skirt.
"Why would your hand start tingling?" Yui asked, leaning down to prove Miaka
was just being paranoid before she started worrying. She blinked as a faint
glow emanated from beneath the closed flap.
"What's in your bag Rain?" Yui asked, reaching for it. Rain suddenly gasped,
choking on a mouthful of rice and leaned down to snatch it from her reach.
"N-nothing...my pocket flashlight probably just got turned on again." She said,
reaching into the bag and moving things around. Yui frowned at her and stood up
again.
"Whatever." She said, turning towards her own seat. She paused before sitting
and stared at her own hand curiously. Sure enough, it'd begun to tingle. She
turned slightly and glanced at Rain, who had replaced her book bag on the floor,
and was trying to finish up her lunch. She looked back down at her hand and
clenched it a few times. What was Rain hiding?
--------------------------
That Friday, Rain, Miaka, and Yui hung out with Taka, Tetsuya and Keisuke at
the guys' apartment. Hoshi, the head of the University newspaper, was arguing
intensely with Keisuke over the Universe of the Four Gods story....again. Of
course, thanks to a previous request by Keisuke, they argued in a "code".....so
that Miaka wouldn't figure out what it was they were speaking of and embarrass
them all.
Miaka and Taka were currently trying to beat each other to a pulp playing a
fighting game on Keisuke's Playstation 2, while Rain watched. Yui and Tetsuya sat
at the low living room table, listening to Hoshi and Keisuke argue.
Rain reached behind her and pulled her book bag towards her, determined to get at
least a little school work done while she waited for her turn on the game. Propping
her back against the wall, she opened her bag.
Grabbing for her math book, but pulling out the ancient blank book instead, Rain
frowned at it, and shoved it to the side. No matter how many times she thought
she left the darn thing at home, it always managed to find itself in her bag sometime
during the day. Grabbing the book she wanted, she pulled out a pencil and settled
into some problems.
"Raini-Chan, it's your turn!" Miaka grinned, holding the controller towards her.
Taka cackled like a madman and hunched over, ready to begin another round.
"Yeah, time to see if you can beat the master of the game!" he said in a mock-
maniacal voice. Miaka opened her eyes from her smile and blinked.
"Raini-Chan?" Rain was on her stomach, her head on her book, fast asleep.
Miaka sighed and moved over to nudge her. Taka stopped her and shook his head.
"You said yourself she's admitted to not sleeping well. Let's just let her sleep."
He whispered. Miaka sat down with a concerned frown on her face, then turned
back to the TV.
"All right, I'll kick your butt now Taka!" Miaka said in a voice equally maniacal
to match his.
---------------------------------------
Rain was walking, or floating, it was hard to tell which...over a ground made of
mist. She wore a dress made of a strange white fabric, so it floated around her
as if it were clouds. The mist became more solid as she floated, and she came upon
the end of it...or rather, the end of a cliff. She hovered dangerously close to the
edge and looked down. Below her, she saw a small village, active with life. Children
played, adolescents flirted with one another, adults worked, and the elderly told
stories to the smaller children or dozed outside of their homes. Rain smiled wistfully.
It was just like a storybook.
Thunderclouds suddenly gathered to the east, and rapidly approached the area of
the small village, announcing their arrival with booms and flashes of lightning. All the
children stopped playing and looked up to the sky, as if entranced by the heavy
clouds. Parents and older siblings of the children ran past and snatched them away,
some scattering the children's toys, as they ran inside their homes.
Rain felt panicked. She didn't know why, it appeared to be a normal storm. The storm
was upon the small village in a matter of seconds. One small girl, the same little girl
that Rain had comforted while she died walked out of her hiding place, where she had
been waiting for someone to find her in the children's game of hide and seek. Rain's
heart jumped into her throat.
No....please no!
The little girl looked around in confusion, her small voice calling for her friends
reaching her ears.
Why won't anyone come out to get her? She wondered to herself.
Because they're all scared of him. Another voice answered her.
Before Rain could question the voice, a horde of strange monstrous beasts suddenly
plowed out of the forest towards the village. Rain gasped, the little girl sitting on the
ground in the middle of the street, crying out of fright from the thunder and lightning.
She had to do something....or else the little girl would die...
The monsters were getting closer....she couldn't bear to see more children suffer....
"NOOOOOO!!!!" Rain screamed. Tetsuya held her arms, trying to calm her thrashing.
Her eyes were open, but it seemed that she saw nothing but whatever horrible image
was inside her head.
"Raini-Chan! Calm down!" Miaka attempted, reaching a hand towards her. Rain's hand
flew out and hit Tetsuya across the face, knocking his sunglasses off and onto the
floor.
"Wake up Rain...c'mon...knock it off!!" he grunted, still trying to wrestle her arms to the
ground.
"I'm going to call a doctor." Hoshi said hurriedly, standing up from the crowd that had
formed around Rain. Keisuke nodded and continued to pin Rain's feet to the floor.
"Something's not right..." Yui murmured, "She was just sleeping calmly a second ago....she
should be awake after all of this..." Miaka nodded her agreement and clung onto Taka's
arm in worry. Rain continued to struggle against Tetsuya and Keisuke, and scream. Hoshi
re-entered the living room with the phone and began to punch the emergency number,
when something caught her attention and caused her to drop the phone before she finished
dialing. Keisuke looked up at her.
"What's wrong? Hurry up and call the ambulance!" he snapped. Hoshi had turned pale and
was staring at the corner of the room, where Rain had been sleeping.
"I-I-Is....is......U-Uni...." she stuttered, her eyes wide. Keisuke frowned.
"Is what?" He reached for the phone. There was no time for this! Hoshi continued to
stutter. "Just spit it out already!" he snapped again, trying to hold Rain's feet and dial
the phone at the same time.
"G-g-g-g-GLOWING BOOK!" she finally cried, pointing. Everyone turned, surprised, in
the direction she had been pointing. Sure enough, the old blank book Rain had been
carrying around was glowing, brightly. Miaka, Yui and Taka all stood up, recognizing
the kanji burned into the binding. As if sensing their motion, the book itself raised
into the air and continued to glow.
Breaking free of Tetsuya's grip, Rain kicked Keisuke off and jumped to her feet. She
went straight for the book and clutched it to her chest as if it were a life preserver.
"Raini-Chan! No!!!" Miaka cried, lunging for Rain. The book filled the room with blinding
white light, Rain and Miaka began to fade away.
"Miaka!!" Yui and Taka yelled, lunging after them. Retrieving his sunglasses, Tetsuya
jumped into the light after Yui, trying to pull her out before she could vanish....
The light was gone as fast as it had appeared, leaving a stunned Hoshi and Keisuke in
the room, alone. Hoshi dropped to her knees next to Keisuke, her short black hair
disheveled as if she'd been in a windstorm.
"So...what do we do now...?" she asked in a raspy voice. As if in a daze, Keisuke
crawled over to the book and opened it up. While the entirety of it remained blank,
there was writing on several pages.
"Now......we read...that's all we can do." He said in a quiet voice. "Read until we know
how to bring them back."