| Title: "Akewateru" : The Morning Light
I paused at the door. I was home, and the sun was just about setting. The glow of the sun on my front door was all too inviting as I turned the knob and stepped inside. I couldn't wait to tell Aidou about my day. She'd be excited to hear about it. Ever since we were kids, she was always the first one to tackle me as soon as I stepped through the front door. She used to do that when Ma came home, but that was before she got that horrible job of hers. Now she comes home after we fall asleep and she leaves before we wake up. The only time I've seen her in the past three weeks was because of a late night snack run. But anyway, it didn't matter if my day was boring as hell. She'd always have an ear open if I needed someone to rant away to. She was cool like that. But today really wasn't that bad, considering what a pessimist I was. I had made a friend. Natsumi. She even took me with her when she went to go pick up something at some plaza a few blocks away from the school. I really didn't have to go, but I figured, why not? It wasn't like I had anything better to do. I smirked as I realized that Aidou'd probably tease me to no end about having a girlfriend. Not the case, though. With a light-hearted sigh I slipped my shoes off with my heels and turned to go upstairs. My shoes clattered to the ground softly. Suddenly, my sixth sense kicked in and with a shout, I dodged a flying book. It hit the vase behind me and I had to dive for it in order to keep it from crashing violently against the wooden floor. I set it back on its wooden stand and searched for the origin of the flying book. It was a crying Aidou and she stood at the foot of the staircase straight ahead of me. Her eyes were red and tired. Probably from crying… My heart skipped a few beats. "Baka!" she sobbed, and she picked up a picture frame and thrust it as hard as she could at me. I cringed as it smacked against my defending wrist. She crouched down and buried her face in her hands. "The hell!?" I asked myself, grabbing my throbbing wrist. I shook my head and ignored it. "Onee-san! What's wrong?" I asked, and I rushed over to her. She pushed me back and I nearly lost my balance. Lucky for me, I had always been sure-footed. I had actually come to expect things like that when Aidou had her fits. "You're so stupid! I hate you!" She picked up another frame from the table just beside the stairs and it hit my forearm. "Itai… Onee-san! Daijoubu ka? What's wrong with you!?" "Damare!! Y-You were supposed to be there!" she cried loudly. I frowned in reply. Where? "D-doko!?" I said. I dropped the book bag I was holding. "I knew it! You did forgot… The presentation, baka!" She cried. My heart sank. "You were supposed to be there, but you weren't!!" "Chikuso!" I whispered to myself. I tried to get close again, and she full-out punched me in the face. I cringed but I didn't back away. She shoved me and tried to get past, but I refused to give in. She struggled a few more seconds before ut it sort of died down and all she did was scream. I kept a firm grip on her arms: as firm as I could be without hurting, anyway. "You promised you'd be there!!" "Onee-san, gomen nasai!!" I said. Then, it finally occurred to me just what she was so angry at. I had forgotten it was this afternoon! Aidou had been telling me about it all week. She even made me promise that I would be there. It was after school, so it shouldn't have been difficult to attend it. But I had been so caught up in getting to know Natsumi that I had completely forgotten about her presentation. The worst part was, the whole week, I had been listening with half an ear. I didn't even know what the presentation was about. I was pretty sure she was being given an award or something and that she had felt extremely proud of it… but… "Aw shit…," I said, my voice actually wavering. "I didn't mean to forget, it just slipped my mind…" She slapped me as I grabbed her shoulders again. I paused and looked away. "Slipped your mind?" she asked. "Slipped your mind!?" "You know I didn't mean it like that.." I narrowed my eyes, still managing to avoid making eye contact with her. "…" She stubbornly wiped away her tears. More fell in its place and I found myself wishing that I had the smarts to think up something to say at a time like that. "You're still a jerk…!" She nearly leapt forward and brought her arms around my neck. We both sat on the stairs hugging each other while she cried. If someone had been watching, they'd never have guessed that Aidou was my older sister. "O-Ototo-san… n-no one was there… I-I was all alone," she said, burying her face in my neck. "And-and then… w-when they asked my f-family to stand up… everyone looked around a-and... there was nobody-" "Ah, fucking… Geeze, forgive me, Aidou… I can't believe I forgot," I said. "Okaa-san, she was a-at work and Otou-san… h-he was at a meeting… and… Ototo-chan, why weren't you there? Doushite!?" "I'll make it up to you, I promise I will," I ran my fingers down through her hair. She used to like that when she was little. "I swear to you I will." "I hate you," she whispered. "I'm being stupid," I said to myself. And then, when Natsumi came into my mind, I knew this was all because of her. And this is why… I hate girls… *~*~*~*~*~* A love-hate relationship. That's what it was between me and my Onee-chan. That's exactly what it was. Aidou had a hell of a temper, and often times, I was the punching bag that she'd use to fizzle out her anger on . Yeah, of course it hurt, and sometimes I got angry at being the object of her anger… But I could never hurt Aidou. Ever. Ma and Pa… they weren't there most of the time, and we practically had to raise ourselves. Pa is usually always out on business meetings and trips most of the time, so that left the raising to Ma. She usually had a temper just as bad as Aidou, even with the classes, or whatever the hell she said she was taking. Eventually Pa's job wasn't enough to support us and it got so that Ma had to take up a job too to support everyone. Thus, her constant absence from our lives. So it was just me, and four sisters. Not the best of times. But even they went off. To college, that is and now it's just me and Aidou. Aidou's only a year older than me, so we're just about in the same boat when it comes to schooling. I got up from her bed and I quietly made my way out the door. Aidou had a rough childhood, and a lot of times, she'd have nightmares when Ma and Pa weren't there. I had always been Aidou's favorite, so the immediate thing she'd do was to go straight to my room and slip into my bed. She's pretty much gotten over the nightmare thing, but it's been difficult not to sleep now, without me watchin' over her. If I'm not on the chair beside her bed, she doesn't get a wink. I think it's kinda nice how she depends on me from time to time, but sometimes it gets really annoying. And unusual. It'd be fine if she was a lot younger than me, but… she was just about my age. I'm her brother after all, so I understand why she'd still be such a fucking kid… but I still think she's way too immature for being sixteen. I took a deep breath of the midnight air and walked at the side of the road, just inches away from the curb. I touched my right eye and cringed. It was really going to hurt tomorrow, and a lot of people were going to notice it. They'd notice even more so if I started wearing sunglasses. I shrugged and I figured I'd think of something later. I ran my hand through my bright red hair, but my arm protested because of a bruise there too. "Chikuso… she hurt me more than I thought," I said to myself, as I rolled up my jacket to reveal a darkening red spot. Tomorrow it'd probably turn black and blue, so it meant I was going to have to wear a jacket to cover it up too. I'd have to wake up early to get everything ready too. Things just kept getting progressively worse. I kicked at an empty soda can that had the misfortune of being on the sidewalk in front of me. Suddenly, I heard something as I passed an unfamiliar street and I raised my bowed head in curiosity. I paused in my long strides and followed the sound into some neighborhood. And there, noticed someone sitting on the sidewalk hugging her knees to her chest. She was making little sobbing noises, so I knew she must have been pretty lost. Just a little girl. All by herself. I walked up in front of her and knelt down, my hands still in my pockets. "Eh… whadda we have here?" I asked myself aloud. She looked up and me and sniffled. Wonderful. I've had enough of crying girls today. Just what I need. Another violent woman in my life. I laughed to myself. "What you think you're doing out here this time of night, missy?" "I'm scared," she said. "I figured that out when I first saw you here. Where are your parents at, kid?" I asked. "I'm not a kid. I'm Keiko," she said defiantly, despite her tears. I smirked and patted the top of her head. She cringed and shoved my hand off. I only laughed. "You know you really shouldn't be out here in the middle of the night. Who knows what might be lurking out here," I raised my fingers all creepy like and I formed shadows on my face, "And… like… werewolves and trolls but… last but not least… we can't forget about…them…" She leaned in closer to hear my whispers. She had stopped sobbing, eager to hear my next words. Well, more scared than interested, anyway. "Who's them??" she whispered fearfully. I waited a few moments. Looked left. Looked right. Then I stared her straight in the eyes. "Vampires like me!" I cried really loud and playfully lunged at her. She screamed loudly. But I quickly understood my mistake as she clear ripped part of the fence behind her from ground and full swung it at me. I hit the asphault with a thud and with another laugh. "H-Hai… I deserved that, I really did," I muttered to myself. "D-d-d-don't do that!!!" she cried, clutching the piece of wood like a teddy bear. "I was r'lly scared! You mean old …old… Mean old person!" I sat up cartoonishly and pulled at my mouth with my index finger, showing her my fangs, "Theesh babiesh are natural born. I aint no vampire, so don't freak out on me." "Mmkay…" she said slowly. "I wont." "Lets…just…," I reached over and pried the piece of fence from her hands and tossed it aside, "Put this away… and figure out where you're supposed to be." "I shouldn't have walked around so much. Onee-chan's gonna be worried about me. And Okaa-san and Otou-san are away right now. If I don't get back home, My onee-chan's gonna get in trouble. See- she took me to the mall and stuff, but then, she went off to get something and then she never came back." "Chotto, chotto. Lemme get this straight, kid. Did she never come back, or did you go and wander off?" she didn't answer and I tilted my head. "What am I supposed to do with you now. I doubt your sister's called the police, because that'll probably be the fastest way to get your parents alerted about you being missing and all. I know. I've got my own Onee-san too. But you want to go to the station, just in case?" "No," she said. "I wanna go home." "I don't know where you live, kid-," "Keiko." "Whatever. What am I supposed to do?" "Take me home with you!" she said. I gave her an incredulous look. "Are you serious, ki- "Keiko." "Whatever. I don't think it's a good idea if I take you home with me. I could be charged with- "Kidnapping!" she said brightly and she clapped her hands once, as if getting a correct answer on a test. "That's cute. That's reeeaall cute. Downright kawaii," I said sarcastically. "Seriously, though...Mm… I swear, I'm going to get my ass kicked for this later… but I can't just leave you out here." I looked at her as if her answers lied somewhere on her face. She only waited for me to come to a conclusion and I finally gave in. "Allright. Fine. But listen here- It's okay to trust me, but don't you ever go with strangers like this again. All strangers aren't as nice as old Souji, here. (That's my name by the way.)" She nodded. She reached up to touch my face, and I felt my heart thud loudly. It felt sickeningly sweet, and I knelt down so she could reach me. But it felt nice, nonetheless. The action, I mean. It's the kind of thing you only see in movies, but when you do, it kind of moves you. "What happened to your face, Souji-sama?" "Souji-san to you." "Whatever," she laughed. "Eh- don't worry about it. I'll be okay," I reassured her. "Just uh… bumped into something that's all." "Let me fix it! I can fix it," she said. I tilted my head. The whole situation both felt …and sounded incredibly familiar. "I can fix your fangs too, but I like them." "Itai!" I said, as she traced an imaginary line across my cheekbone. "That hurts." "Gomen, Souji-chan." "Souji-san." "What did you bump into? If you bump into something, shouldn't your whole face be hurting? Not just your eye?" she asked me. I shrugged and picked her up. "It doesn't really matter. Don't worry your head off about it. Say, kid, you want me to carry you, or…" "It's Keiko. And I want a piggy back," she said triumphantly as I turned around and crouched. She jumped onto my back and I nearly fell forward onto the street. "Not so hard!" I said, "You don't need to jump that hard to get on… got it? Hang on tight." I brought my arms around and supported her body weight. "Haaaiii!!" she said happily as I walked off into the night and back towards home. *~*~*~*~*~* It was really early, and she had fallen asleep on the way to school again. I wouldn't have taken her to school with me, but I had accidentally woke her up when I hit my alarm clock and it fell to the floor. The crash was as loud as hell and she sat up groggily, suddenly insisting on knowing where I was going without her. "Really, Keiko, what am I going to do with you?" I asked, as I set her down on the desk once I got into the classroom. We had stayed up later than I thought I did, talking with each other about nothing in particular. I hadn't even realized how late it was until the moonlight shone on the pajamas I lent her from the attic, which was where we kept all our childhood mementos and old clothes. Keiko started yawning herself and it was only then that I realized it was way too late for a kid like her to be staying up. I took off my jacked and wrapped it around her small arms. The morning was chilly, and if she was going to be under my care, even for a day, then I didn't want her to get sick. Besides, Aidou was really nice to strangers… pretty much everyone but me… but for some reason, I just didn't trust that she'd be safe at home. "Ah… Itai…" I said, as I suddenly remembered why I had brought the jacket in the first place… "The bruises." I rubbed my arm gently and stood there a moment in the morning glare, contemplating on whether or not I should give it to her or to keep it on. The sunlight was warm on my skin. Her small hands reached up to touch again and I flinched. "Souji-san…?" "Daijoubu. Just go back to sleep," I said to her. She let her small arm fall onto the desk and small, but quiet snoring sounds immediately filled the room. I laughed and finally placed the jacket onto her shoulders. It slipped off a bit, being too big, but Keiko grabbed it and snuggled deeper into it. I figured that maybe I could live without it for a little bit. When the others started coming in, I could just take it back. I knelt down on the tiled floor and rested my head in my arms beside her on the desk. I still was a little tired as too. It was from staying up so late last night. But I wasn't complaining, because if I hadn't found Keiko and brought her home, she most likely would have been taken by a stranger or would have had to spend the night all alone in that dark neighborhood. I sighed and closed my eyes. "I'm so goddamned tired." I felt Keiko's hand touch the top of my head and stay there. "Stop saying bad words," She mumbled. I didn't bother to look up or open my eyes. We both slept soundly for the next five minutes in that exact position. I hadn't known what had possessed me to get so friendly with the people in Tokyo. I had barely been there a day, but I was finding people that I swore I had known my whole life. But didn't. It was just so easy to get alone with the people I knew, though they were few. I heard humming coming from down the hall just outside the classroom, but I didn't move. I was already past conscious, and I could barely make out the words that the person was singing. But I did however figure out that it was female, hearing the high-pitched nature of her voice. The door opened and the cheerful and bouncy song reached my ears. I didn't look up, but I could hear the voice soften as she noticed that Keiko and me were sleeping in the room. But instead of being silent altogether, she whispered the words and knelt down beside me. "-summer sun and the willo-… " Her voice stopped abruptly and I pushed myself to wake up. "Huh?" I said. I felt her soft fingers gently slide across my arm, barely touching the bruised skin. A lot of people had been doing that to me lately. Then again, if I didn't get myself injured so much, I wouldn't have to explain every single injury. And people would finally stop touching me. I was just glad I had enough sense to put on some makeup to hide my eye. Still hurt like hell, though. "D-daijoubu ka!?" she said. My eyes shot open at her reaction and I frantically grasped for my jacket. I quickly slipped into it and turned back at whoever it was. Keiko stirred in the seat, feeling the cold draft. She sat up lazily. "Yamanoto-san! You're early," I said, with a weak smile. "So are you… Souji-san," said Natsumi. She frowned at me, "I come here at this time every day." "Sou ka…" I didn't know what else to say and the conversation came to a screeching halt. She was still staring at me suspiciously, and I saw her eyes fall to my arms. I knew precisely what she was thinking about. Shit… I should'a kept on my stupid jacket…Should'a kept it on before I even fucking fell asleep… I cursed at myself internally. She suddenly turned angry. She brought both her hands around my face, pulled me down and brought her thumb across my cheek just below my eye. I jerked back in pain and watched her as she rubbed her thumb against her index and middle finger. The make-up contrasted her pale fingers. She knew. She
didn't speak. She only stood there, glaring daggers at me.
"Shimatta. So you found it. Heh… I ran into a door yesterday…
I'm such a baka, ne?" I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "I
covered it with Aidou's makeup because I knew everyone'd make such a
big fuss out of it. It's nothing. Honto. I'll just be careful next
time I'm running through the house. You should'a seen me the
yester…day…" I trailed off. The door to the classroom opened again, and I didn't have the courage to keep eye contact with her. I felt guilty again and turned my eyes to the floor. She opened her mouth to say something, but a girl behind me said something and cut her off. "Oh Miyazaki-san, who is this?" "I thought I told all the girls to call me Souji," I said half-heartedly, not forgetting Natsumi's mood. "Ah,
gomen, Souji-san," she replied. It was Asuka. Kurogane Asuka. The one
I had met the other day near the pool. She had just walked in not too
long ago and spotted the little girl sitting in my desk. She knelt down
and Keiko immediately started playing with her short black hair and her
glasses. "What do you think, Kurogane-san?" "Hai. Go ahead. I don't mind at all," she laughed. But before Keiko started, she pulled me down to her face and whispered to me, "I can see it." I nodded and cursed internally. I knew she was talking about my face. Natsumi had wiped a lot of it off, and I knew that the bruise was probably showing. "Anou, can you two take care of Keiko for a little while?" I asked as I headed for the door. "I'll be right back." "No problem, Souji-san!" Asuka said and turned back to her playmate.
Author's Note: Can you say... 'corny'?? Ah oh well. This was in the original outline that I wrote the storyline as. I might as well follow it no matter how weird it turns out. Eh. Whatever. Only about two more chapters before some action actually starts! I've already finished about two chapters ahead of this one, but hey! Lets just hope they're worth the wait, ne mina-san? Next chapter: How does Taka react when he discovers Tasuki's secret? Tune in to the next installment of Akewateru to find out! For flood insurance: This fanfic was written without outside influence and is based on my ideas and my ideas alone. This means that any similarities between this fanfic and any others are simply coincidence. I copied no one. furusawa yuki-
Wow! Happiness! Sorry if this chapter didn't live up to the previous
ones. It seemed kinda awkward to me when I wrote it, so hehe! Hope it's
not too evil.... *sweatdroplet* I feed on the fuel of your words! Send a review. Thanks. |
Akewateru
By: TeddysFromHeyll
The seishi have been reborn and are living their lives out as they please. But as the seishi find themselves drawn back to Miaka, they realize that maybe the peace they’ve finally found is not to last… especially for Tasuki.
Rated: Fiction T - English - Adventure/Romance - Tasuki - Chapters: 8 - Words: 20,317 - Reviews: 34 - Favs: 7 - Follows: 2 - Updated: Nov 20, 2002 - Published: Aug 31, 2002 - id: 943609
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Full 3/4 1/2 Expand Tighten
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