Ok. I'm the biggest hypocrite in the world. -_- Even
though it took a good 7 months, chapter 3 is finally up! I had more
than enough time to think about how I really want this story to go and
I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by how things turn out. Again,
I'm sorry if it seems short. Like I said, I write it out in my notebook
first, then type it up, so it changes drastically in length... But, bah,
enough of my rambling. On with the story!
*ahem* Oh yea, standard disclaimers apply. Everything, save this fanfic idea and Noku-san, belong to Watase Yuu. ^^
P.S. "Never Get Away" from the FY soundtrack is an absolute kickarse song to listen to while fanficking. :) I think I have the whole thing memorized by now...
------
Till Life Do We Part
By Lady Ryouko
"Noku-san, you really should get some sleep!" Miaka said worriedly.
It had been one hell of night for him. He was exhausted from the effort he put into trying not to be exhausted. Hours of coffee made his hands shake almost violently and he had the pale, lined, and withdrawn face of an old man.
"Noku?" Miaka tapped his shoulder. She stared at him and wondered how he could've seemed to age so much overnight.
He blinked and mumbled apologetically. "Miaka? I'm sorry, I'm just a bit... out of it lately," he yawned. "Where's Taka?"
"Oh, he had to go to work. I came by myself..." Miaka walked over to the bed where Yui was lying in and peered over. "How's she doing?" she asked softly.
"No change..."
No change at all. Miaka took out a hair comb and started to brush Yui's matted hair. Noku sighed softly and rested his head on the window. It was quiet except for the humming of machines and the soft strokes of the comb. Miaka hesitantly started to hum a song. A cold vacant feeling was welling up inside of her and it was getting harder for her to ignore it. Harder and faster, she streaked the comb through Yui's hair until she saw her scalp turn a dark red. She stopped.
"You know what? This place needs some flowers," Miaka said shakily. "I'll be right back, okay?"
She turned and walked to the door.
"Noku-san...?"
He was fast asleep.
--------------------------
"Ergh~~"
Sweat ran down his face and his arms quivered as he struggled to lift the massive metal weight one last time.
"Thirty!" Keisuke shouted gleefully. He shoved the bar away and flopped back down on the bench press, breathing heavily. It was a good thing he got this new bench press for his room... he could feel his muscles getting buffer already. He lifted his head slightly to look at his friend typing away on the laptop, seemingly oblivious.
"Yo, Tetsuya! I think my buffness meter just shot up a few notches," Keisuke said, laughing.
"Good, now take a shower..." was the response.
Keisuke sighed and sat up. "Is that all I get?"
A tiny snort was heard. "I don't see why you've turned into a workout maniac lately, Keisuke-kun."
Keisuke laughed sheepishly. "Well, you know what she said... she thinks my skinny arms and legs are cute."
Tetsuya chuckled. "Then what's with the new bench press?"
"Because they are not cute," Keisuke replied indignantly. "Not everyone can be a lady's man like you, Tetsuya."
Tetsuya shook his head and continued typing.
Keisuke shrugged and reached around for his towel. His fingers came across a small book instead and he recognized it as one of those romance novels he used to be addicted to.
"So... didn't you have a date with what's-her-name today?" Keisuke asked.
"Yea, canceled it. I wasn't in the mood for her today," Tetsuya muttered. My ears will bleed if I hear her call out "Tetsuya-sama!" one more time...
Keisuke shook his head. "Man, I don't know when you became such a womanizer..."
"Well, love's not like one of your romance novels, Keisuke."
Keisuke frowned and looked at his friend. He no longer sported the cheap black sunglasses he was so fond of, but his eyes revealed things that weren't there before. Keisuke hadn't really noticed it before, but there was a strange sadness and bitterness in Tetsuya now. He tried to pinpoint when this change came over his friend.
"Yea... you and Yui had something like that though," he said quietly, looking down at the book. "What happened anyway?"
Only the sound of typing was heard. Keisuke knew it was a touchy subject with him so he decided to drop it.
"Anyways, I--"
"I guess... I couldn't make her happy anymore." There wasn't any resentment in Tetsuya's voice, only a trace of sadness.
"What do you mean?" Keisuke asked slowly.
"I don't know... I guess I've always known I was second in Yui's heart. She didn't say it, but I knew she didn't love me. I wanted her to be with someone who could make her happy," Tetsuya said quietly.
"I see... that was noble of you, Tetsuya," Keisuke said. Guess he isn't a womanizer... "You, um, heard what happened?"
A short reply. "Yes."
Keisuke looked at his friend. His body was tensed up and there was an unreadable expression on his face. He was hunched over the computer screen, making it impossible for Keisuke to see.
"Ok... so, um, what are you doing?"
"... Nothing. Go take your shower, man, you reek," Tetsuya replied irritably.
Keisuke laughed and grabbed his towel. "Okay, okay, I'm out of here."
Moments later, the shower could be heard, accompanied by Keisuke's rendition of "Macho Man." Tetsuya cringed slightly and focused once more on the computer screen.
Professor
Saiki Kubooka shares with us some of his speculations about what occurs
in the comatose mind
and offers his somewhat controversial methods of curing them.
"The subconscious is a realm of many levels. Once a person has sunken so deep into their mind that
they are in a comatose state, there are few measures that can be taken to revive and restore them back
to reality. There are many who believe that within these levels is the rumored world that exists between
heaven, earth, and hell, that serves as a bridge to connect them. There are many speculations about this
world, and some evidence from past comatose patients who claim they have visited this world. However,
the most probable assumption is that upon staying too long at this world, memory tends to fold unto itself and
disappear in bits and pieces. This results in various forms of amnesia."
Click here to read more.
Click.
-------------------------
Miaka pushed open the door and tried to balance the sheaf of daffodils on her arm. She saw a doctor glancing at the heart rate meter with a surprised look on his face.
"What? What is it?" Miaka said worriedly. "Is something wrong?"
The doctor turned to her. "Oh, are you a friend of hers?"
Miaka nodded.
"Well, no, there isn't anything wrong, I'm just noticing something strange... her heartbeat is strong, but there's seems to be a faster rapid one that's faintly showing up on the scale as well."
"Huh? Another one?"
The doctor nodded. "I have a guess on what that might mean, but I'll run a few tests on it..."
Miaka nodded again and wondered if she wake Noku up to tell him.
The doctor shook his head. "No, it's ok, you should just let him sleep. He looks like he really needs the rest... " He turned and left the room.
Miaka put the flowers in a cup of water and placed it by the window. "There, this room looks better already," she smiled.
A loud snore was heard. Miaka looked at Noku, who was fitfully writhing in his chair.
I wonder if I should wake him up...
Miaka shook her head and took out the book she brought. The doctor's right, he does need his rest.
-----------------------------
"Please... just leave me alone."
Noku watched as another shimmering green orb flew out from the darkness and sliced into his arm.
"Why are you doing this?!"
Another. And another. Noku shuddered as new levels of pain were reached every time another orb shot through his body.
"Who... who are you?!"
They stopped. Noku was blind in the heavy darkness, but he felt his own blood spread in a pool around him.
So... so cold in here. Noku's labored breaths escaped his lips in the form of small clouds. The coldness was overwhelming, almost enough to numb the pain, but not quite. A different blackness was readily descending upon him and Noku was just as ready to embrace it with open arms.
"Noku... Noku...?" Her voice. Noku was glad that her voice would be the last thing he would hear. He closed his eyes. And screamed.
Images flashed before him and he began to shudder uncontrollably. He wondered if the old adage about his life flashing before his eyes before death was true, but realized these images had nothing to do with his life... they were from his nightmares. He clutched his head and kept his eyes tightly shut, but it was as if a cinema played behind his eyelids, Yui and the boy kissing over and over... and over. He couldn't escape it.
"IT'S NOT FAIR!" Noku screamed. His voice echoed loudly around him... and he realized it wasn't his voice.
The visions swirled around him and faded into the darkness. Noku was thankful for this one reprieve, although it was starting to seem to him that death would be the greatest relief from this all. The silence around him was unsettling. Noku looked feverishly around him like a wary prey, aware of the danger around him, but he couldn't see it.
The sounds of footsteps echoed softly around Noku. He snapped his head his head to the right and saw a figure walking towards him.
"Oh hell... " he whispered. He closed his eyes and the footsteps came closer and closer until they stopped right in front of him.
"You're right... it's not fair," a soft voice said. Noku looked up and saw Yui towering over him. Her face was turned away from him.
Noku reached out for her, but his fingers touched air. "Yui, wait, tell me what's going on! Yui!"
She held her hand out. Noku managed a grin and tried to hold her hand. "I can't touch you for some reason... but that's ok, let's just get out of here first..." He painfully tried to get up.
Yui lashed out and knocked him forcefully to the ground. Noku gasped.
"I'm sorry, Noku," her hand began to glow, and in her palm, Noku saw an all too familiar orb spinning wildly.
"No... no, Yui, please..." he whispered. "I don't understand..."
Yui whipped around and Noku paled as he saw her eyes crackle with a sinister green light. "You never did understand her, did you? That quiet look in her eye, the hesitant explanations... it hurt you to think that she was hiding something from you. A part of her heart was made secret from you, a part that you would never be able to possess and would wonder who did have that claim on that part of her. You love her so much... yet you can't deny to yourself the twinging doubts. Love, yet doubt? Such little faith... I can't stand it."
She knelt and thrust his face toward hers. "Who am I, Noku? Tell me, what is this green that burns in my eyes? The passion of a second lover... or the crippling jealousy of a faithless husband?"
"Noku..." she whispered in his voice as she sank her nails into his arm. "Do you enjoy hurting yourself like this? How can you expect her to stay with you if you can't even keep yourself strong for her?"
He was a mess of tears. "I'm so sorry, Yui... so sorry..." he sobbed and curled on the floor.
"You're worthless."
----------------------------
"Noku-san? Noku-san?" Miaka gently shook his shoulder. He moaned in his sleep and shivered. "What a horrible dream he must be having..." Miaka mused. She knelt to shake him again, but he woke up with a jerk and she backed away, startled.
"Noku, are you okay?" Miaka asked worriedly. "You looked like you were having a very fitful... what's wrong?"
His face was ghastly white and his eyes had a wild crazed look to them. He looked around disorientedly and grabbed his jacket. "I have to get out of here," he muttered and staggered over to the door.
"Noku!" Miaka called after him anxiously. What the hell happened? She shivered a bit as she closed the door.
----------------------------
You're worthless.
"What can I do? Please... I don't know what to do."
Do you enjoy hurting yourself like this?
"God, I hate myself so much. I don't know. Yui, help me..."
Such little faith...
"I can't imagine someone like you being content with someone like me... I try so hard to be perfect for you... "
Noku let his head hang limply over the sink. With one hand he clutched the sink as if for dear life. In the other, he clenched a bottle of pills.
"I'm worthless... I can't do anything to help her... I can't even believe in her..." he sputtered out. "There's no point... there's no fucking point."
He carefully shook out 2 soft blue tablets. Closed his eyes, tipped his head back and swallowed them one by one.
And waited. "It's not working," he whispered. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the bottle.
"Jesus CHRIST!" he screamed and flung the bottle across the room. He had snatched the first bottle he saw, thinking fate would choose the right one for him. "I just tried to kill myself with vitamins," he said with a harsh laugh. "I can't even KILL myself right!!"
"What now?" he thought tiredly. Maybe his body would just shut down soon from lack of sleep. What a relief. He decided it was hell going crazy with the knowledge that he's going crazy.
"Yui, I wish there was something I could do for you... " he murmured.
...keep yourself strong for her.
His eyes drifted shut. "Strong... strong..."
-----------------------------
The wind rushed and swirled around her as she laughed and ran faster. Yui had found out possibly the only perk about being in this place... it's easy to get tired if you stay still, but once you start moving around, it's impossible to get tired. It was an amazing feeling to run as hard and as much as she wanted without ever getting out of breath.
"Where the hell am I going though?" she said and stopped for a moment. The scenery hadn't changed a bit; it was still the same old smoke and mirrors. She stretched a bit and grinned. At least she'll be a bit more fit after all this.
"Argh," Yui stifled a yawn. Sleep felt like a good idea, but she wanted to make sure Miaka would find her once she comes.
"Mi... aka..." Yui yawned. Strange, she couldn't seem to remember much about her, save for something about cake and hair buns. The more she tried, the sleepier she got.
"Ok, time to get moving," Yui said groggily. She glanced at her watch.
"It... it's still the same!" Yui shrieked. 5:16. 5:16. The second hand continued its lazy trip around the clock, but it was clear the time wasn't moving. She crumpled to the ground. It didn't make sense.
"I don't understand..." she whispered. Her panic softly gave way to a yawn and Yui slid onto the ground. The slick metallic floor suddenly seemed very soft and comforting and Yui yielded to it.
"I'm just... so tired," Yui murmured and closed her eyes.
------------------------------
It was hard to breathe. Tetsuya slid down against the wall and put on his shades. He wasn't prepared to see her. He didn't realize what feelings would stir and hit him with full force once he saw her again.
It was no use denying it to himself anymore. God, he still loved her. It wouldn't hurt so much if he didn't love her. He nodded to himself grimly and got up to go home. He knew exactly what he needed to do.
-----------------------------
He was in darkness again but this time, he met it with a grim smile. An orb whizzed towards him and he hit it to the side with a yell, ignoring the blood on his hands. He knew what he had to do this time. In the distance, he saw small trickles of silver smoke spewing from what looked like a doorway. He began to run. Yui, I'm coming.
-------------------------------
He took off his sunglasses, laid on his bed and waited for the pills to take effect. This was his last resort, and he went over a mental checklist as his vision grew blurred.
- Hold onto at least one memory of life, may it be a person or place and try to remember as many details about this thing as possible. Smell, taste, and feel it. This will be your safety line when you need to come back.
- Don't stop moving. If you allow yourself to sleep once you get there, the results can be disastrous.
- Feel, rather than see where you're going. Follow your instincts, but don't let yourself be led astray.
- Remember, a journey to the netherworld is incredibly dangerous and not advisable. The most important thing to remember... member... ember... Yui...
-----------------------------
Yui smiled as she snuggled closer to the warmth. It felt wonderful to have such a nice sleep. She faintly felt a hand run through her hair and a soft breath on her ear.
"Yui-sama..."
-----------------------------
End of Chapter 3
Whew, finished. I hope you all weren't disappointed with this latest installment. Took me long enough to get it up (sorry again). So how did you like it? Much angsting abound. I've been reading too many Gundam 1x2 fics. =P Since it's winter break at long last, I'll try to get the fourth chapter up faster. Comments would certainly help to spur me along though. *cough* As hinted, next chapter, we'll finally get to see Su-chan and some possibly lemony goodness if I'm in the mood. Till then!
- Ryouko
Omake! :)
Here's a picture of Yui that I drew, as a 20 year old. Sorry for the poor scanning job. http://juri.wish-cafe.net/yui.jpg
*ahem* Oh yea, standard disclaimers apply. Everything, save this fanfic idea and Noku-san, belong to Watase Yuu. ^^
P.S. "Never Get Away" from the FY soundtrack is an absolute kickarse song to listen to while fanficking. :) I think I have the whole thing memorized by now...
------
By Lady Ryouko
"Noku-san, you really should get some sleep!" Miaka said worriedly.
It had been one hell of night for him. He was exhausted from the effort he put into trying not to be exhausted. Hours of coffee made his hands shake almost violently and he had the pale, lined, and withdrawn face of an old man.
"Noku?" Miaka tapped his shoulder. She stared at him and wondered how he could've seemed to age so much overnight.
He blinked and mumbled apologetically. "Miaka? I'm sorry, I'm just a bit... out of it lately," he yawned. "Where's Taka?"
"Oh, he had to go to work. I came by myself..." Miaka walked over to the bed where Yui was lying in and peered over. "How's she doing?" she asked softly.
"No change..."
No change at all. Miaka took out a hair comb and started to brush Yui's matted hair. Noku sighed softly and rested his head on the window. It was quiet except for the humming of machines and the soft strokes of the comb. Miaka hesitantly started to hum a song. A cold vacant feeling was welling up inside of her and it was getting harder for her to ignore it. Harder and faster, she streaked the comb through Yui's hair until she saw her scalp turn a dark red. She stopped.
"You know what? This place needs some flowers," Miaka said shakily. "I'll be right back, okay?"
She turned and walked to the door.
"Noku-san...?"
He was fast asleep.
--------------------------
"Ergh~~"
Sweat ran down his face and his arms quivered as he struggled to lift the massive metal weight one last time.
"Thirty!" Keisuke shouted gleefully. He shoved the bar away and flopped back down on the bench press, breathing heavily. It was a good thing he got this new bench press for his room... he could feel his muscles getting buffer already. He lifted his head slightly to look at his friend typing away on the laptop, seemingly oblivious.
"Yo, Tetsuya! I think my buffness meter just shot up a few notches," Keisuke said, laughing.
"Good, now take a shower..." was the response.
Keisuke sighed and sat up. "Is that all I get?"
A tiny snort was heard. "I don't see why you've turned into a workout maniac lately, Keisuke-kun."
Keisuke laughed sheepishly. "Well, you know what she said... she thinks my skinny arms and legs are cute."
Tetsuya chuckled. "Then what's with the new bench press?"
"Because they are not cute," Keisuke replied indignantly. "Not everyone can be a lady's man like you, Tetsuya."
Tetsuya shook his head and continued typing.
Keisuke shrugged and reached around for his towel. His fingers came across a small book instead and he recognized it as one of those romance novels he used to be addicted to.
"So... didn't you have a date with what's-her-name today?" Keisuke asked.
"Yea, canceled it. I wasn't in the mood for her today," Tetsuya muttered. My ears will bleed if I hear her call out "Tetsuya-sama!" one more time...
Keisuke shook his head. "Man, I don't know when you became such a womanizer..."
"Well, love's not like one of your romance novels, Keisuke."
Keisuke frowned and looked at his friend. He no longer sported the cheap black sunglasses he was so fond of, but his eyes revealed things that weren't there before. Keisuke hadn't really noticed it before, but there was a strange sadness and bitterness in Tetsuya now. He tried to pinpoint when this change came over his friend.
"Yea... you and Yui had something like that though," he said quietly, looking down at the book. "What happened anyway?"
Only the sound of typing was heard. Keisuke knew it was a touchy subject with him so he decided to drop it.
"Anyways, I--"
"I guess... I couldn't make her happy anymore." There wasn't any resentment in Tetsuya's voice, only a trace of sadness.
"What do you mean?" Keisuke asked slowly.
"I don't know... I guess I've always known I was second in Yui's heart. She didn't say it, but I knew she didn't love me. I wanted her to be with someone who could make her happy," Tetsuya said quietly.
"I see... that was noble of you, Tetsuya," Keisuke said. Guess he isn't a womanizer... "You, um, heard what happened?"
A short reply. "Yes."
Keisuke looked at his friend. His body was tensed up and there was an unreadable expression on his face. He was hunched over the computer screen, making it impossible for Keisuke to see.
"Ok... so, um, what are you doing?"
"... Nothing. Go take your shower, man, you reek," Tetsuya replied irritably.
Keisuke laughed and grabbed his towel. "Okay, okay, I'm out of here."
Moments later, the shower could be heard, accompanied by Keisuke's rendition of "Macho Man." Tetsuya cringed slightly and focused once more on the computer screen.
and offers his somewhat controversial methods of curing them.
"The subconscious is a realm of many levels. Once a person has sunken so deep into their mind that
they are in a comatose state, there are few measures that can be taken to revive and restore them back
to reality. There are many who believe that within these levels is the rumored world that exists between
heaven, earth, and hell, that serves as a bridge to connect them. There are many speculations about this
world, and some evidence from past comatose patients who claim they have visited this world. However,
the most probable assumption is that upon staying too long at this world, memory tends to fold unto itself and
disappear in bits and pieces. This results in various forms of amnesia."
Click here to read more.
-------------------------
Miaka pushed open the door and tried to balance the sheaf of daffodils on her arm. She saw a doctor glancing at the heart rate meter with a surprised look on his face.
"What? What is it?" Miaka said worriedly. "Is something wrong?"
The doctor turned to her. "Oh, are you a friend of hers?"
Miaka nodded.
"Well, no, there isn't anything wrong, I'm just noticing something strange... her heartbeat is strong, but there's seems to be a faster rapid one that's faintly showing up on the scale as well."
"Huh? Another one?"
The doctor nodded. "I have a guess on what that might mean, but I'll run a few tests on it..."
Miaka nodded again and wondered if she wake Noku up to tell him.
The doctor shook his head. "No, it's ok, you should just let him sleep. He looks like he really needs the rest... " He turned and left the room.
Miaka put the flowers in a cup of water and placed it by the window. "There, this room looks better already," she smiled.
A loud snore was heard. Miaka looked at Noku, who was fitfully writhing in his chair.
I wonder if I should wake him up...
Miaka shook her head and took out the book she brought. The doctor's right, he does need his rest.
-----------------------------
"Please... just leave me alone."
Noku watched as another shimmering green orb flew out from the darkness and sliced into his arm.
"Why are you doing this?!"
Another. And another. Noku shuddered as new levels of pain were reached every time another orb shot through his body.
"Who... who are you?!"
They stopped. Noku was blind in the heavy darkness, but he felt his own blood spread in a pool around him.
So... so cold in here. Noku's labored breaths escaped his lips in the form of small clouds. The coldness was overwhelming, almost enough to numb the pain, but not quite. A different blackness was readily descending upon him and Noku was just as ready to embrace it with open arms.
"Noku... Noku...?" Her voice. Noku was glad that her voice would be the last thing he would hear. He closed his eyes. And screamed.
Images flashed before him and he began to shudder uncontrollably. He wondered if the old adage about his life flashing before his eyes before death was true, but realized these images had nothing to do with his life... they were from his nightmares. He clutched his head and kept his eyes tightly shut, but it was as if a cinema played behind his eyelids, Yui and the boy kissing over and over... and over. He couldn't escape it.
"IT'S NOT FAIR!" Noku screamed. His voice echoed loudly around him... and he realized it wasn't his voice.
The visions swirled around him and faded into the darkness. Noku was thankful for this one reprieve, although it was starting to seem to him that death would be the greatest relief from this all. The silence around him was unsettling. Noku looked feverishly around him like a wary prey, aware of the danger around him, but he couldn't see it.
The sounds of footsteps echoed softly around Noku. He snapped his head his head to the right and saw a figure walking towards him.
"Oh hell... " he whispered. He closed his eyes and the footsteps came closer and closer until they stopped right in front of him.
"You're right... it's not fair," a soft voice said. Noku looked up and saw Yui towering over him. Her face was turned away from him.
Noku reached out for her, but his fingers touched air. "Yui, wait, tell me what's going on! Yui!"
She held her hand out. Noku managed a grin and tried to hold her hand. "I can't touch you for some reason... but that's ok, let's just get out of here first..." He painfully tried to get up.
Yui lashed out and knocked him forcefully to the ground. Noku gasped.
"I'm sorry, Noku," her hand began to glow, and in her palm, Noku saw an all too familiar orb spinning wildly.
"No... no, Yui, please..." he whispered. "I don't understand..."
Yui whipped around and Noku paled as he saw her eyes crackle with a sinister green light. "You never did understand her, did you? That quiet look in her eye, the hesitant explanations... it hurt you to think that she was hiding something from you. A part of her heart was made secret from you, a part that you would never be able to possess and would wonder who did have that claim on that part of her. You love her so much... yet you can't deny to yourself the twinging doubts. Love, yet doubt? Such little faith... I can't stand it."
She knelt and thrust his face toward hers. "Who am I, Noku? Tell me, what is this green that burns in my eyes? The passion of a second lover... or the crippling jealousy of a faithless husband?"
"Noku..." she whispered in his voice as she sank her nails into his arm. "Do you enjoy hurting yourself like this? How can you expect her to stay with you if you can't even keep yourself strong for her?"
He was a mess of tears. "I'm so sorry, Yui... so sorry..." he sobbed and curled on the floor.
"You're worthless."
----------------------------
"Noku-san? Noku-san?" Miaka gently shook his shoulder. He moaned in his sleep and shivered. "What a horrible dream he must be having..." Miaka mused. She knelt to shake him again, but he woke up with a jerk and she backed away, startled.
"Noku, are you okay?" Miaka asked worriedly. "You looked like you were having a very fitful... what's wrong?"
His face was ghastly white and his eyes had a wild crazed look to them. He looked around disorientedly and grabbed his jacket. "I have to get out of here," he muttered and staggered over to the door.
"Noku!" Miaka called after him anxiously. What the hell happened? She shivered a bit as she closed the door.
----------------------------
You're worthless.
"What can I do? Please... I don't know what to do."
Do you enjoy hurting yourself like this?
"God, I hate myself so much. I don't know. Yui, help me..."
Such little faith...
"I can't imagine someone like you being content with someone like me... I try so hard to be perfect for you... "
Noku let his head hang limply over the sink. With one hand he clutched the sink as if for dear life. In the other, he clenched a bottle of pills.
"I'm worthless... I can't do anything to help her... I can't even believe in her..." he sputtered out. "There's no point... there's no fucking point."
He carefully shook out 2 soft blue tablets. Closed his eyes, tipped his head back and swallowed them one by one.
And waited. "It's not working," he whispered. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the bottle.
"Jesus CHRIST!" he screamed and flung the bottle across the room. He had snatched the first bottle he saw, thinking fate would choose the right one for him. "I just tried to kill myself with vitamins," he said with a harsh laugh. "I can't even KILL myself right!!"
"What now?" he thought tiredly. Maybe his body would just shut down soon from lack of sleep. What a relief. He decided it was hell going crazy with the knowledge that he's going crazy.
"Yui, I wish there was something I could do for you... " he murmured.
...keep yourself strong for her.
His eyes drifted shut. "Strong... strong..."
-----------------------------
The wind rushed and swirled around her as she laughed and ran faster. Yui had found out possibly the only perk about being in this place... it's easy to get tired if you stay still, but once you start moving around, it's impossible to get tired. It was an amazing feeling to run as hard and as much as she wanted without ever getting out of breath.
"Where the hell am I going though?" she said and stopped for a moment. The scenery hadn't changed a bit; it was still the same old smoke and mirrors. She stretched a bit and grinned. At least she'll be a bit more fit after all this.
"Argh," Yui stifled a yawn. Sleep felt like a good idea, but she wanted to make sure Miaka would find her once she comes.
"Mi... aka..." Yui yawned. Strange, she couldn't seem to remember much about her, save for something about cake and hair buns. The more she tried, the sleepier she got.
"Ok, time to get moving," Yui said groggily. She glanced at her watch.
"It... it's still the same!" Yui shrieked. 5:16. 5:16. The second hand continued its lazy trip around the clock, but it was clear the time wasn't moving. She crumpled to the ground. It didn't make sense.
"I don't understand..." she whispered. Her panic softly gave way to a yawn and Yui slid onto the ground. The slick metallic floor suddenly seemed very soft and comforting and Yui yielded to it.
"I'm just... so tired," Yui murmured and closed her eyes.
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It was hard to breathe. Tetsuya slid down against the wall and put on his shades. He wasn't prepared to see her. He didn't realize what feelings would stir and hit him with full force once he saw her again.
It was no use denying it to himself anymore. God, he still loved her. It wouldn't hurt so much if he didn't love her. He nodded to himself grimly and got up to go home. He knew exactly what he needed to do.
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He was in darkness again but this time, he met it with a grim smile. An orb whizzed towards him and he hit it to the side with a yell, ignoring the blood on his hands. He knew what he had to do this time. In the distance, he saw small trickles of silver smoke spewing from what looked like a doorway. He began to run. Yui, I'm coming.
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He took off his sunglasses, laid on his bed and waited for the pills to take effect. This was his last resort, and he went over a mental checklist as his vision grew blurred.
- Hold onto at least one memory of life, may it be a person or place and try to remember as many details about this thing as possible. Smell, taste, and feel it. This will be your safety line when you need to come back.
- Don't stop moving. If you allow yourself to sleep once you get there, the results can be disastrous.
- Feel, rather than see where you're going. Follow your instincts, but don't let yourself be led astray.
- Remember, a journey to the netherworld is incredibly dangerous and not advisable. The most important thing to remember... member... ember... Yui...
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Yui smiled as she snuggled closer to the warmth. It felt wonderful to have such a nice sleep. She faintly felt a hand run through her hair and a soft breath on her ear.
"Yui-sama..."
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Whew, finished. I hope you all weren't disappointed with this latest installment. Took me long enough to get it up (sorry again). So how did you like it? Much angsting abound. I've been reading too many Gundam 1x2 fics. =P Since it's winter break at long last, I'll try to get the fourth chapter up faster. Comments would certainly help to spur me along though. *cough* As hinted, next chapter, we'll finally get to see Su-chan and some possibly lemony goodness if I'm in the mood. Till then!
- Ryouko
Omake! :)
Here's a picture of Yui that I drew, as a 20 year old. Sorry for the poor scanning job. http://juri.wish-cafe.net/yui.jpg