"Open the gate."
A ring of yellow light opened and with Hisame on his shoulder and the flower firmly in his hand, Reiji stepped into the ring and passed into another dimension. He found himself, once again, surrounded by wild flowers all of the color yellow.
But other than that, nothing was in sight.
Reiji knew that he was in the right dimension, but in order to find her, he cannot use his gate. It was just his luck that he was teleported to a place faraway from Yukino. Musing to himself, he suddenly thought about what they had once shared.
If this is not the end of oblivion, then I shall live my life as though it will end of this very day.
Yes, if he did not start looking for her now, he may never find her and would live a life full of regret. He'd hate himself for not trying harder and would go insane just at the sight of flowers. So he started to walk towards North, a clue that she had once given him.
He kept walking and walking and walking. But soon, he found that he was lost in the middle of nowhere. He turned left and started walking again. But then again, he found himself going nowhere. "Aiyaya! Gomen ne, Hisame-kun! I've gotten us lost!" he told Hisame with a worried smile. He sat down carefully; so as to not squash any flowers for he was tired of walking already. Hisame gave him a nudge in the shoulder, as though telling him that he has done his best and it does not matter too much, although it was sad itself for it had never been without its owner.
Then he heard a voice. A singing voice. A voice that was so serene that it calmed Reiji's frantic heart at just one word. He looked up and started to run in the direction of the voice even though it was much too faint for anyone to hear. With much strain, Reiji managed to get the right direction. "Ah! No wonder! We were walking in the entirely different direction ne!"
Stopping to take a breath, he looked up and traced the source of the voice again. He saw a small figure with black flowy hair perched on the top of a mountain that was in running distance. He smiled and continued to run, flower still gently clasped in his hand. Every now and then, he would strain his ear for the song to confirm the direction he was running in, for he knew that she would not wait for him.
He did not stop to rest at any point, for time was slowly running out no matter the speed he was at. Many times he had tripped and fell. But as he looked at the flower in his hand each time, he got even more determined to continue. Panting as he climbed the mountain, his hands were scratched and blood was starting to flow out of the tiny cuts.
Finally he reached the summit and found the little girl. She was taking one last breath to sing the last line of the song when she noticed that someone had joined her, behind. She turned and her eyes widened slightly, clearly shocked to see him. He smiled and said in a relieved voice, "Finally, I've found you."
He took a step forward but Yukino summoned her gate once more. With the help of a snow blizzard, she floated safely down to the bottom of the mountain.
But Reiji was not planning to give up.
He had placed in so much effort to find her and to let her get away was just not his style. Without thinking, he took one last breath and jumped off the cliff, after her.
He had never felt such a sensation as wild as this ever before in his entire life. He hadn't really gotten prepared for death when he jumped off as all he thought of was finding her and to…
Then snow circled around him. It gave him chills and he felt… light. Before he knew it, he was a few meters off the ground and fell down with a heavy plop. "Houjou-san, why didn't you just land me instead? It hurts you know-"
"Why did you jump?"
Reiji smiled at her and held out the flower. "I wanted to return this."
"…" Yukino showed no emotion in her eyes, but Reiji could tell that she was irritated with him. Or with his rashfulness to be exact.
Then Reiji went up to her and pulled the hair gently behind her ear, placing the flower where it belongs. Yukino did not move in protest, but neither did she move in acceptance. He took this as approval and smiled when he was done. Then he scooped her up suddenly and cuddled her, making sure that she would never leave him again.
Then he whispered in her ear, "I want to see you smile…"
Her eyes flew open. "…Why?" she said in a soft, but demanding voice.
Reiji smiled. And pressing his lips against her forehead, he told her, "Because your smile makes everything disappear…"
The sides of a young girl's mouth finally curved up slightly and she leaned onto his shoulder, knowing that he'll never let her go.
~owari~
Mainey's Corner: I finally finished this under immense pressure. Let's celebrate! My first completed fic in like a year and 3 months! Woo hoo~ I wonder what else should I start on….hmm…but I'm just so happy that I finally completed A fic! Yay!
Like always, please review!