Fuuko
"Tokiya!" I gasped. He had knelt down, but he was still trying to protect me.
"F...Fuuko...you're awake..." he strained to speak, wincing every now and then when a chain would hit his back.
"Wha...what are you d-doing to yourself...?" My eyes swept down to his bleeding leg, then to his arm. Even his neck had slash marks in them. "Please, Tokiya, stop doing this! You're..." I trailed off. I had spotted the Ensui on his hand, and saw that its blade was red.
"Masaka..." I stared at it in horror. "You didn't...your blood..." I looked back worriedly at him. "Your blood's going to..."
He flinched. "Forget...about the freakin' thing...what's important…is that...you're awake...and that..you're okay..."
"But your blood's going to run out!" I glared at him, not exactly knowing how to feel. "Don't you understand that you're...you're...going to die if you go on like this?!?" I continued.
He made an effort to smile. "I don't...mind...dying...right now..."
All at once I was close to crying. "Why are you doing this?!?" I reached out to touch his cheek and wipe away the blood on his lips. I shut my eyes as my tears started to roll down.
"Tokiya...yameru...kudasai...don't do this..." I looked at his pained eyes, finding it hard to breathe.
"I'm so damn sick...and tired...of having other people...risk their lives...and die...just for me..." He looked at me straight in the eye. "I figured...it's time for me...to die...for someone else..." he paused. "…Someone...like…you..."
I looked at him speechlessly, as a tear rolled down my cheek. The fact that he was risking his own life just for me...
More tears started to fall, as I rubbed my hand on his cheek, not knowing what to say.
He smiled again. "Don't cry...Fuuko..."
I looked away.
"Do me a favor...and get down..."
I looked back at him. "What--"
"Get...down..."
"I don't--"
He reached for my shoulder and pushed me to the floor, and he jumped up just as an extremely heavy chain came crashing against the wall where my head could've been. But now the chain was stuck through the wall, and Tokiya had stepped on it, running towards Akira, who was struggling to pull out the chain.
Akira looked at Tokiya in shock as she let go of the chain, and he picked that moment to raise his sword and slash the orb of the pendant on her neck, while she was still in shock.
With a groan, she fell to the ground, with Mi-chan's Ensui still positioned to where her pendant had been.
And then suddenly, my surroundings became indistinct and the next thing I knew I was looking at a small house, where there were two people sitting on a porch bench, and a child was running around the small yard.
The child had stopped running in front of the two people--his parents. He looked up at them with questioning eyes and asked, "Okaasan...Otousan...how come I always have to play by myself at home...? I always see Sakura-chan next door playing with someone she calls Momiji-neesan..."
The mother looked at her child and smiled. "Momiji-neesan is Sakura-chan's sister, Kai-kun."
"Sister...?" The boy looked hopefully at his parents. "How come I don't have a sister, Okaasan?"
The parents exchanged glances, and told the child, "Only good little boys are given sisters, Kai-kun. So if you want one, you have to behave well."
The child grinned. "Hai!!! I'll be a good boy!"
The scene altered.
The little boy was now tugging on the skirt of his mother, who was holding up a plate in the kitchen.
"Doushite, Kai-kun?" she asked.
"Okaasan, I finished putting my toys away, and I helped Sakura-chan find her ball this morning. I've been a really good boy lately, Okaasan! When will Sister come play with me?"
"Um..." The mother looked worried. "She'll come soon, dear. She'll come soon."
The scene shifted again, and now the little boy was a few years older, and he was sitting on the porch bench with a much younger, chubby-looking girl with short red hair. Only, her hair was disheveled, her clothes were a little torn, and her face had soot marks on it. She was crying.
The boy was patting her back and was trying to clean her face.
"Kai-neesan...why does Otousan tear my clothes and pinch my ear so often...? How come Okaasan makes me clean the floor..." she trailed off.
The boy merely hugged her.
"I'm tired, oneesan...I'm tired...please help me..." she cried even louder.
The boy hugged her tighter and stroked her hair. "Daijoubu, Akira-chan, I'm always here...always..."
The next scene showed the once small boy now grown into a young man, with slightly curly hair that was starting to grow long. The once chubby little one had become thinner, and her hair had become longer, but she was still a young girl. And she was holding on to her brother's arm, tearing up again.
"Oneesan!!! Don't go away!!! Don't leave!!!" she was saying.
The young man smiled down at her. "Meguri-sama has called for your oneesan, Akira-chan. I'm going to train myself to be stronger so I can protect you even more."
"No! No! I want oneesan to stay here!!! Oneesan promised that he'd always be here!!!"
He gave her a hug. "Oneesan will be back soon, okay, Akira-chan? Be a good girl," he said, and he let her go and went out the door.
"Come back, oneesan!!!" The girl was left crying at the doorway. "Oneesan!!!"
I shook my head and I was again looking at the present Akira, whose eyes were now welling up.
"After...after that...my parents treated me...the worst they ever could...but there was nothing I could do...until...I found out that they'd only adopted me just to keep Kai company...and so I finally had the guts to end their lives...so that my sufferings would end, too...it serves them right…they so damn deserve it…" she closed her eyes as more tears began to fall. "I went to search for Kai in Meguri-sama's place so that I could live happily with him again...only to find...someone else...being taught the Hyomon Ken techniques...but I didn't give up my search...until I found out that he'd joined a group of terrorists working under some damned rich guy...so I tried to play along...watching every match in the tournament...looking forward to his match...so that I could see how he improved...but when it finally came..." she turned to look angrily at Tokiya, "...you...you made him kill himself...and he died...right before me...and I didn't even get the chance to talk to him again...after all those years I'd spent...searching...searching for the only happiness in my life...for the only person who could make me smile...for the only person who could bring light to my ruined life...and...make it worth living again..." she trailed off.
"Kai-neesan...It was so ironic, wasn't it...? I went to search for him so that I could live a new life...but then...he died...wasn't it cool...? Wasn't it funny...when the only things you wish for...never get to come to you...they never belong to you...in the end... " She began to laugh uncontrollably, but her tears were streaming down and her eyes were aggrieved and wounded, as if there was some sort of emptiness in her that could never again be filled. As if it never even had a soul.
I straightened up and began to walk towards her, suddenly regretting all the prejudice and harsh treatments I'd given her. I should have known better...I should have known that there was a reason for all this...
"That's funny," her eyes caught sight of the shattered orb on the floor, "how come...it showed you an illusion of my pathetic life...?" She started to laugh again.
I looked pitifully at her. "Akira…I know it must've been hard…but you should never take it out on your parents…even if they weren't your true parents…they still took care of you and brought you up to become who you are now—"
"Shut up! They didn't bring me up to become who I am; I chose to be who I am! Not once did I receive anything from them that helped me be myself!" she cried.
I started to protest. "Sonna koto nai—"
"What would you know? You never experienced any problems at all! You always get what you want…you're lucky to have won the heart of the smartest guy in school…" she trailed off.
Tokiya, who was still holding the blade to her neck, blinked in surprise.
I glanced at him. He turned to look at me, and his gaze lingered on my eyes for a moment, before he turned back to her.
"Finish me quick…please…" Tears were fast flooding her eyes. "I guess I deserve to die as much as my parents did—"
"It's…not right…to hate them so much…" Tokiya struggled to speak. "You were lucky…you had…parents…"
I looked at him in astonishment. Tokiya had never uttered a word about his parents for as long as I've known him; that was probably why I had forgotten that aside from having lost his sister, he had lost his parents as well…how insensitive I was…expecting him to concentrate on me all the time…on my feelings…on my problems…and forgetting about the huge burden that he had been carrying on his shoulders for all these years…
I looked away from him and clenched my fist. I should have known…
"No one…deserves…to die…" He closed his eyes and began to withdraw his sword.
All of a sudden Akira grabbed hold of the Ensui's blade with her bare hands, cutting her own flesh.
She smiled up at him, and pulled the blade towards her own chest, to her heart.
Tokiya's eyes widened.
"Akira!!!" I gasped, kneeling down beside her.
She grinned weakly. "A...arigato...gozaimasu...Tokiya...kun..."
And her eyes shut close.
My hand flew to my mouth, as I stared wordlessly at her dead body. Iie...
I jerked up a bit in surprise as the red blade of the Ensui splashed away into a puddle of blood, and Tokiya suddenly collapsed onto the floor, his blood still oozing out of his countless wounds.
I worriedly moved towards him and lay his head on my lap. I was relieved to see that he was still breathing. He must have collapsed from all the exhaustion and from struggling to continue fighting.
For a moment I sat there on the floor, running my hand gently through his hair, looking at his face. He had always looked so fierce and tough when he was out fighting, but when he was asleep...he looked so...
So...
I smiled at him, his eyes shut close and his lips partly open. He didn't really seem like someone who'd be able to die trying to save someone else's life. My life. He was so sweet...
Kawaii...
All of a sudden I was wishing more than anything that none of this ever happened...that Akira and I could've been ordinary students...we all could've been friends...we could've been happier...she wouldn't have...died...Tokiya and I wouldn't have argued with each other...
And...
Tokiya...wouldn't have broken up with me...
We could've stayed the way we were...
As lovers...
I shook my head and tried to smile down at his peaceful face.
Mi-chan no baka...
***
I immediately clutched my neck and made a face. Ugh!
I looked down through the goblet in my hand at the reddish-winey-thingy inside it. This stuff tastes horrible!!!
I looked around at my schoolmates, all dressed up fancily. They were all carrying goblets of that very same icky stuff.
I cringed in disgust. They were all drinking that stuff just to look all classy? How on earth could their taste buds survive that?!?
I gladly put down my goblet on a nearby table, hoping to never see it again.
"Fuuko-chan!!!"
I turned around to see Yanagi-chan hurrying towards me, looking fabulously stunning in her new dress. I smiled at her as she reached me. "What's up?"
She took my hand. "My half share of the dance is over," she smiled sweetly at me, "it's your turn, now."
I looked doubtfully at her. "Are you sure you still want to go through with this? I know you're only doing this because you want to help me. I assure you, Yanagi-chan, I'll be fine! So why don't you--"
She gave me a light push towards the dance floor. "Go ahead," she smiled again.
I still wasn't so sure. "What'll you be doing then?"
"Oh, I'll just sit here and have some cake," she grinned.
Well, if you asked me, she wasn't actually very convincing. But if that was what she wanted, then...
"You're so nice to come to this," I sighed. "Thanks a lot."
She waved her hand around. "No problem."
I slowly walked my way between all the students dancing around, looking for him.
All of a sudden somebody tapped my shoulder. I whirled around.
"Oi, Fuuko-san!" Hanabishi gave me a lopsided grin. He scanned me up and down. "Wooowie..."
I glared at him and grabbed his collar. "Nani?!?"
"Okay! Okay! Sorry already!!!" he grinned good-humoredly. I smirked and let him go.
He dusted off his coat. "Well it's true, you know," he smiled. "You do look good."
I sighed. "Wakatteru...arigatou gozaimasu."
For a moment neither of us said anything for a while.
Then he looked down at me and asked, "Well? Are you ready to dance?"
I opened my mouth to speak, when the music ended at the same time. I smiled triumphantly.
But then something sappy and slow began to play again. I sighed and gave a little nod.
He stepped closer and placed his hands on my hips, and I wrapped my arms around his neck.
And we began to dance.
I laid my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes. When Recca and I were both still little, I had always played with him and we had always fought with each other. Of course, I had always lost. And usually, I got pissed off whenever I did. But then my feelings for him had begun to grow into wanting him to fall for me, just like I was falling for him back then. That was why I had wanted him to be my personal shinobi so badly.
All those times I had always wanted to change our friendship into something romantic. So I couldn't actually blame myself for wanting to dance with him.
Back then.
That was a long time ago.
And now that I was actually dancing to a slow dance with him...well...
It felt...different.
Sure, he was a guy…and I'd fallen for him once, but...
It just wasn't the same.
The only person I had wanted to dance with right now was Tokiya.
And he wasn't here.
So then...what was I doing here...?
I lifted my head from Hanabishi's shoulder and slowly moved away.
He cocked an eyebrow at me. "Doushite, Fuuko-san?"
"I just can't...dance anymore."
"Huh?" He looked honestly confused.
I smiled up at him. "Don't get me the wrong way, Recca; you're a great dancer, really...it's just that...well...I know that you were kind enough to have offered to help me by dancing with Yanagi for the first half and then with me, but...I'd...I'd rather be dancing with Mi-chan. And if I can't dance with him, then I'd...I'd rather stay at home," I looked politely at him. "You do understand, don't you...? I mean, I'm sure you'd want to dance with Yanagi-chan than with me, too."
A streak of red stained his cheeks and he looked down. "Well...I guess..."
I smiled again. "Wait right here," I said, and then moved out of the dance floor to look for Yanagi.
I spotted her sitting alone on a chair, slicing her cake but not eating at all. I tapped her shoulder.
She looked up, startled. "Fuuko...? I thought you were--"
I grabbed her hand, pulled her up, and led her to where Recca was standing. She looked back at me questioningly.
I grinned. "I think I'll be going home."
"Fuuko-chan--" she protested, a glimmer of worry in her eyes.
I looked at Hanabishi. "Just promise me you'll give Yanagi-chan the time of her life tonight, okay?"
They both looked baffled, but then they started to smile. I knew they would understand me.
Yanagi nodded. "Arigato gozaimashite, Fuuko-chan. Have a nice night."
I waved at them. "Thanks for everything. Oyasumi."
They both smiled and started dancing together.
I made my way towards the door, wondering how Tokiya was doing and if his wounds had gotten any better.
Right there and then, I knew, there was another place I'd rather be.
TokiyaThere was a faint knock on the door, and I glared at it, wondering who it could've been at this hour of the night.
Flinching, I limped over to the door and answered it.
Fuuko was standing right there in the doorway, looking drop-dead gorgeous.
For a moment I was frozen by the doorway, as I didn't know what I was supposed to tell her. We hadn't really talked to each other much for the past few weeks, so I didn't really have anything in my mind at the moment.
Then she tiptoed and kissed me at the cheek.
Her unexpected gesture left me bewildered. I blinked at her, clueless.
Well...? How was I supposed to react...?
She must've caught my expression because she laughed lightly, then grabbed my hand and pulled me inside the room.
I closed the door behind us.
She kept on looking at me, but she wasn't saying anything. And she wasn't exactly showing any signs of doing so.
So I figured I should say something. "I thought you were at the dance." It just, kind of, made its way out of my mouth. I almost rolled my eyes. Lame...so lame...baka ryou...
She smiled at me. "Well, I was, until I figured since I didn't have anyone to dance with anyway, I was better off here to see how my Mi-chan's doing."
"..."
"..." She stared back at me, too, not saying anything.
I cleared my throat. "Well, I'm fine, actually, so I suggest that instead of spoiling your night here you might as well go back--"
"I'm not spoiling my night here at all," she grinned. "Actually, I'd rather stay here with you, that's all."
"..." All I could do was keep on staring at her. Don't blame me; she looked especially beautiful with the way she was dressed tonight. Her dress took exactly the shape of her beautiful figure, and since it was sleeveless and only reached down to a point somewhere below her knees, much of her soft skin was exposed. In a really feminine way, not like the way her skin was usually exposed when she wore her typical denim shorts. And since it was in a dark velvet shade of violet, it gave her purple hair more shine. And the thin necklace adorning her lovely neck was making her face brighter, her eyes greener. She was the very image of an angel.
"I haven't really been seeing much of you at the university lately. You've pretty much been absent most of the time," she smiled that perfect smile of hers. "And I really miss you. More than you ever know."
"…" Somehow, I couldn't bring myself to tell her that I felt exactly the same way for her.
Her eyes swept downwards. "So how's that leg of yours? Does it still hurt?"
"Well, the more I think of the damn thing, the more it hurts, so I might as well forget about it."
She was silent again, and then she looked at my face. Her brows furrowed. "You haven't really gained much of your color back yet, Mi-chan..."
I shoved my hands into my pockets. "Forget about that. I'm pretty much used to losing blood."
She stepped closer to me and reached out to touch my neck. I couldn't help but wince. The slash marks were still there, and sometimes I couldn't even move my head too much because of them. The scars were really deep. It was surprising that blood didn't ooze out too much anymore.
She sighed. "I'm kind of surprised, though," she said, still not removing her hand. It sent little bolts of electricity down my spine. "You managed to recover only after a few weeks' time."
"Guess my body's used to it," I muttered.
She continued running her gentle fingers around my neck, making my heartbeat go faster. I was glad I couldn't see my face turning beet red and blushing like crazy.
She gave a slight nod. "Maybe."
I shrugged. She let go. And then there was silence again.
I kept my gaze on her, just as she kept her gaze on me. She was so beautiful...from her hair…to her face...her tantalizing blue-green eyes...her thin red lips... to her body...
All of a sudden I was overwhelmed by a sudden depression. So much as I had wanted her, it reminded me that we weren't supposed to be together anymore. Right now, we were just friends again. Just like we were before.
Just friends.
Her smile faltered and she looked away. Could she be thinking the same thing?
We had never really discussed the breaking up, and we often just went on day by day, trying to act like we never really got together in the first place. Trying to act like nothing really happened between us. Trying to put things back the way they used to be quite some time ago.
I didn't really want it that way. I wanted to be able to love her again.
But maybe this was for the best.
After all, we wouldn't be having awkward moments like these if we'd just stayed friends in the first place.
"You're...you're graduating next month, ne?" she asked softly, still not looking at me.
"..."
"So...what are you going to do...?" she asked again.
"Actually...I'm..." I hesitated for a moment, judging on whether I should tell her or not.
Oh, what the heck.
"I'm going...to China," I managed to say.
This time she looked at me. "To...to China, huh..." she repeated, whispering to herself. "That's...a pretty long way from here...isn't...it...?"
"Oneesan always wanted to take me there when I was still little. She wanted me to see the Great Wall. She told me that a lot of men had died constructing it just so they could protect the country from invaders. That was...that was how she taught me...that sometimes, you have to make sacrifices...sometimes, you have to risk your life for the sake of other people..." I looked down, remembering how she had died. "Just like she did..."
"And just like you did," Fuuko smiled soulfully at me. "You risked your life, too, remember? You risked everything you had, just for me...just so I was safe..." she said. "I guess...that would make Mifuyu-san glad…wouldn't it?" she continued.
I looked at her stunning features again, and then before I even knew it, I had reached out to cup her cheek, taking in the softness of her skin. She closed her eyes and her fingers reached up to touch my hand.
"Tokiya...I want you to know...that I really appreciate the way you fought for me...the way you wanted me to be safe...I appreciate it...thank you..." she whispered, her eyes still closed, her hand still touching mine. She gave it a little squeeze.
I wanted to kiss her right at the moment and never let her go again.
But I knew better than to do that.
Things would only get worse.
She opened her eyes, which were actually kind of teary, and looked straight into mine.
"Fuuko..." I whispered, not daring to tell her those three words I'd told her some weeks ago.
I sighed and removed my hand, looking away again.
She looked away as well.
"I should...I should probably get going," she said almost inaudibly.
"..."
She looked up at me again. "You should get some rest, too."
I gave a little nod. "Oyasumi nasai, Fuuko-chan..."
"Oyasumi," she said, as she walked towards the door. Then she paused at the doorway.
Just like I had wanted her to.
Minutes of silence passed us by, until I said, "Happy Valentine's day."
She smiled. "Happy Valentine's."
And I stepped forward to give her a last embrace. She wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me back.
I kissed her head and she lay it on my shoulder, smiling. I rested my cheek on her hair and closed my eyes.
It was just an embrace. No sweet nothings. Just a simple hug. That mere hug told me everything I needed to know. She was Kirisawa Fuuko—a good friend of mine who taught me a great deal about life, love…and friendship.
It was hard to let her go. But it was for the best.
And who knows?I smiled.
Maybe this was just the beginning of something new.