Disclaimer: I have said it once, I do not feel the need to repeat.
A/N: For those people out there still reading this: I hope you like this chapter. Hopefully I'll be able to fit more of the plot in now ^_^. Though I am really beginning to doubt whether I'll finish this or not. It'll probably be years in between updates… oh well what the heck, at least I'm enjoying writing this while I write it, that's what should matter, shouldn't it? Specially the Mikagami + Fuuko bits… I just love those ^^v.
Chapter three
Burying the Dead
Dedicated to my friend who helped me on this one.
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The silent lips that touched that tombstone, the hushed mummer of the people gathered around. The unfamiliar words spoken, the last promise fulfilled. Good-bye Yuriko, You have died.
Yet to turn away would mean to forget, and forget is the last thing I want to do. But I have to let you go this time Yuriko. I'll see you next year… then we shall go through our usual routine again and again… until it is my time to join you.
"How can you do this to me Fuuko?" asked a voice. Fuuko's head spun around.
"I do this every time Yuriko… I have to… I have to live my life."
"It's your fault I died… if you hadn't been playing on that railing… if only you'd have listened to me! You are separated from me now. You left me, and got on with your own life. I hate you! I hate you!"
"Then it is good that I'm separated."
"How can you be so heartless?"
"Me? Heartless! I am not the one who left."
"Yes you are, remember… you walked out on me, on my grave… you didn't manage to absorb my soul. We made a promise when I was alive remember? You have a scar on your wrist from the blade we used to make the promise!"
"No…our promise was to never forget."
"Yet you've forgotten me."
"No I haven't!"
"Yes Fuuko… you have."
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Nikki looked at her mother and sighed.
"Ma? Are you okay?" she asked. Her mother looked up from her diary and nodded, smiling.
"Totally. Do you know a Sakoshita, Yanagi? She's around your age." She asked. Nikki nodded.
"Oh yes, a really nice girl." She said.
"Invite her over some time. I'd really like to get to know her." She said. Nikki raised an eyebrow then nodded.
"Okay Ma." Nikki looked back down at her homework. Her mother had gone to school that day and was immediately declared as one of the best teachers in school. Apparently the previous teacher had been a nightmare.
"Oh, and this weekend I'm taking you shopping for stuff. I got my paycheck." She said.
"No Ma, save the paycheck for now. We may need it soon." She said wondering why her mother was using the word 'Stuff' even though she hated it.
"Are you okay Ma… mother?" she asked. Her mother just nodded, while her eyes remained on her work. Something was wrong. Nikki always used the word Ma, never mother. She walked out, tired yet knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep. She thought about phoning somebody but then thought.
"I don't feel like calling Yanagi, and Domon probably has nothing to say… and I don't even know Recca." She thought then sighed. Admitting her defeat to herself she retired to her room to do her homework.
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Fuuko walked past the graveyard on the way home. The grave that read her name seemed so alive, if it were even possible for gravestones to seem alive. 'Yuriko… I wanted to be you. I am you. ' Childhood memories of their switching identities ran through her mind. Being single cell twins had made them closer than natural, Fuuko had sometimes felt that she were Yuriko and Yuriko had felt that she were Fuuko. When one frowned, the other cried for them, when one smiled the other laughed, they never spoke, and they knew what the other was thinking. They could co-ordinate perfectly… that was why it was so hard to loose Yuriko. That was why it had hurt so much, and that was why Fuuko didn't want to let go.
"Fuuko-san! Fuuko!" Fuuko turned round to spot Yanagi running up to her. Fuuko waved. Yanagi caught up still trying to catch her breath.
"You weren't in school today and when Domon and Recca went to check up on you your house was empty." She said panting. Fuuko looked around then realized she had no explanation for why she was in her uniform.
"Umm, I bunked. Went to the park then stopped by the lake to watch the fish. I was going home for lunch." She said. Yanagi checked her watch.
"It's 5 o'clock! Won't your mother be angry?" she asked. Fuuko smiled.
"Nope, she's gone to Berlin. Won't be back for a day or two." She said. Yanagi gasped.
"You poor thing! I'm coming over to your house and cooking you your lunch. You're probably going to faint before you reach the door." She said dragging Fuuko towards the block.
"No Yanagi. You don't need to!" she said. Yanagi waved her arm in the air.
"Come now, into the door. Fix up a bath for yourself. I'm going to cook lunch. I'm not leaving you alone." She said. Fuuko smiled at Yanagi.
"Could you stay over?" she asked. Yanagi looked around a bit surprised but then smiled.
"Why of course!" she said "I'll phone up home and tell them I'm staying over while you go have a nice long bath…" Fuuko smiled, relieved. Though she didn't want to admit it, she didn't feel like staying home alone that night, and it was good that she now had somebody to talk to.
"Thank you." She said softly, thinking Yanagi wouldn't hear.
"You're welcome." Replied Yanagi as she dialed her own phone number.
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The microwave beeped and Mikagami reached over to open it. Inside was a freshly heated cup of soup. He took it out and walked outside, grabbing a spoon as he did. He leaned over the railing of his apartment balcony and slowly ate. His thoughts were on the park, Fuuko, Yuriko and Mifuyu. He reached into his pocket and took out a remote. He pressed a button and from behind a CD player switched on and began playing some slow Japanese songs he'd heard Mifuyu listen to when he was a child.
Hush… listen to your beat thumping loud and loud… hush… let me take you away from it all…
He had memorized the lyrics, not because he particularly liked the song, but because his sister had. He turned away and walked into the bedroom, on his way, placing the bowl into the dishwasher along with the spoon. He sat down at his study desk and stared at the phone. He then decided to call Yanagi.
After two rings her mother picked up.
"Mikagami-san? Oh I'm so sorry, she's gone to stay over at the Kirisawas' house for tonight." She said.
"Oh okay, thank you." He replied and put down the phone. He wanted to call the Kirisawa but thought better of it. No, Fuuko didn't need him calling at her house. She had Yanagi at her place to help out.
He got up from where he sat and walked out to his balcony again. There wasn't much to do, he was sick of TV. He had no homework, thanks to the wonderful Fuuko. His Internet connection was useless… and he had read all the books in his library over and over again. After finding out about his sister's murderer he had nothing left to think about and found it painful to think of anything apart from her death.
Is that why it hurt Fuuko? Did it hurt to think of her death, and not be able to know what you could do about it? Did it hurt knowing that you knew whose fault it was? Did it hurt that you sealed her off instead of bringing her back? How could you manage to do this to yourself?
His hand automatically reached for his jacket and before logic could hit him he was out the door and into the streets.
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Fuuko walked out of the bath half an hour later to smell Yanagi's cooking floating through the house. She walked into the kitchen and smiled at Yanagi who seemed to be enjoying what she was doing.
"Need any help?" she asked. Yanagi turned around and shook her head.
"Nope, you just sit there," and when Fuuko sat down at the table which was laid for two, she continued, "We got a new girl in school today. Her name's Nikki. Lives opposite Domon's place. He's been going crazy over her all day. I'm not surprised. Who wouldn't?" she said. The words stung Fuuko slightly but otherwise she felt kind of happy.
"That's nice. Though I find it rather unloving of Domon to just forget me just like that!" she said. Yanagi poured out the dinner into a bowl and put the used dishes into the dishwasher and walked up to the table with the bowl.
"He still does worship you, you know. I sometimes feel that you're a bit too harsh on him. All he's ever done so far is to get your attention and you know that! Even though you might not feel the same way about him he might actually be one of the few guys who'll actually stay devoted to you, or for that, any girl, forever… there are very few who are actually like that." She said. Fuuko sighed and began eating.
"Yeah, but… for one, I'm not the sort of person who wants a relationship. Two, I might never love him and it would be so difficult for us." She said.
"You know Fuuko, sometimes… in a relationship, one of the two involved may not feel the same way about the other as the other does of them. However this doesn't mean the relationship won't be successful, some of the best marriages are arranged marriages you know." She said. Fuuko looked up surprised.
"And since when has this become a talk of marriage?" she asked. Yanagi blushed.
"Whoops, gone a little to far ahead I think." She said. Fuuko laughed.
"A bit too far! Ha, I'm not even going to get married." She replied.
"Why?" asked Yanagi. Fuuko looked up abruptly.
"Umm, well… because…" she started shifting about a bit uncomfortably in her seat. "I don't know."
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Yuriko turned to Fuuko and grinned widely as she pointed to the television screen.
"Bob's getting married to Joel." She replied. Fuuko squealed and dumped her books to sit in front of the television. Yuriko stared at Fuuko and laughed slightly.
"I don't see what so wonderful about weddings… I think weddings are stupid. In fact, if it were up to me… I wouldn't get married at all." She said. Fuuko looked at Yuriko surprised.
"Not get married? But that's the best part of life!" she insisted. "And besides, it's in our heritage to get married and bring pride to our family." She said. Yuriko rolled her eyes.
"Ah, come off of it Fuuko! Maybe we should have been born American." She insisted. Fuuko rolled her eyes this time.
"I think being Japanese is cool. It makes us different…" she began. Yuriko sighed.
"But we've got too many responsibilities! I'm gonna talk to ma and dad if I can be somebody else…" she insisted. Fuuko looked at Yuriko and frowned. It hurt when somebody insulted her culture, but her own sister!
"I'm getting married no matter what." She insisted and stared at the TV screen pretending she didn't hear Yuriko whisper: "I won't."
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Mikagami walked through the streets until he was right in front of the Kirisawa residence. He rung the bell twice and was slightly taken aback when Yanagi opened the door.
"Mikagami-sempai!" she said, surprised. Mikagami had forgotten that she was there.
"Umm, I wanted to talk to Fuuko." He said just as he saw Fuuko emerge from the kitchen, spot him then steps back inside. Her pushed past Yanagi and walked into the kitchen.
"Fuuko listen, we have to talk." He said. Fuuko's back was turned to him so he couldn't see her face.
"…"
"Listen to me Fuuko," he said even though he knew, really deep down he didn't want her to listen to him because he had nothing to say. He didn't know what he wanted to say. He just knew he had to speak to her.
"I-I… needed to talk to you too; but I have nothing to say… and I think, neither do you." She said, her hand on the kitchen doorknob. Mikagami walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She stiffened; he could feel her entire body tense up under his hand.
"You're right… 5 seconds ago I had nothing to say but now I do. Yesterday evening when you kissed me I was surprised. This morning…" he stopped, he was loosing his cool. The blood was rushing at an incredible speed through his brain and he felt slightly off-balance. Fuuko slowly turned around.
"So you're going to admit you took advantage of me?" she asked her smile playful and her eyes shinning slightly. Mikagami was taken a back.
"Ha, as if!" he said regaining his composure.
"So you're going to blame it all on me now?" she asked putting her hands on her hips. Mikagami raised an eyebrow and turned away. Then he spotted Yanagi standing at the doorway, her hands clasped together as if watching some romantic movie. As soon as she noticed that Mikagami had seen her she smiled and backed away from the door. Fuuko looked at the door and then smiled a bit awkwardly.
"This might cause a problem… should we tell her we were rehearsing for a play?" she asked. Mikagami nodded.
"…But let's just finish the act first." He said and he leaned over, took her in his arms and kissed her.
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Nikki stared down at her completed homework and frowned. There wasn't much left to do. She didn't feel like helping around the house, they had sold their TV for the tickets to get here and her computer was packed, as well as her books and magazines. It was too late to go out exploring and it was way too early to go to bed. She sighed and got up. She opened the door to realize that she had one thing she could do.
She walked up to the "secret room" (as her mother had dubbed it) and opened the door. She walked in side and opened the suitcase. She pulled out the clothes, one by one and was surprised to find a uniform tucked away underneath all the clothes. It didn't seem like the typical Japanese uniforms but rather like one out of a typical British soap opera.
"That's strange," she said as she examined it. One of the pockets had something inside. Nikki reached into it and took out a photograph. Two girls smiling in front of a large building. Twins… identical twins. Why on earth did they look so familiar to her? She stared at the picture a bit longer then put it back in the pocket.
"Nice pic though." She thought as she put everything away and got up. She took one look at the room and sighed. It would've been so nice to be the person who was living in that room.
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Yuriko's hand slid down the banister as she ran up ahead. Fuuko followed.
"Wait for me!" she cried as skipped a few steps. Yuriko didn't listen and just rushed down, ignoring Fuuko. Reaching the bottom of the stairs she ran off outside into the grounds. Fuuko tripped over the last step and fell over. Her head hurt, and so did her ankle. "Ohh." She groaned.
"Are you okay?" asked a girl, walking up to Fuuko. Fuuko looked up from a teacher smeared face and shook her head. She pointed to her ankle.
"It hurts." The girl leaned over and to Fuuko surprised kissed her hand and put it to Fuuko's ankle.
"There, the magic kiss has healed you." She said smiling at Fuuko. Fuuko rubbed away her tears and smiled.
"I'm Fuuko." She said. The girl smiled at her.
"I'm Jana." She replied. Fuuko smiled at Jana. Jana helped Fuuko up.
"Do you want to be friends?" she asked hopefully. Fuuko smiled.
"Would love to." She replied and took her hand. They walked out into the playground. This time Fuuko ignored the steaming Yuriko who seemed as if she could kill Jana… and herself.
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Fuuko sat opposite Mikagami, her heart beating faster than ever before. She looked up from her mug of coffee to see him looking at her and her eyes quickly and somewhat shyly fell back to the coffee. Yanagi noticed this and smiled to herself.
"So you two," she said stirring her own mug of coffee. "I suppose you two aren't really going to tell me how it happened." She said. Mikagami sighed.
"It just… happened." He replied causing Fuuko to blush even more at the sound of his voice.
"So you're officially going out now?" she asked. Fuuko was about to get a nosebleed from all the blushing. She looked up at Mikagami's cool face and the blood stopped streaming so fast.
"Uh… well…" she began.
"No," came the reply. Fuuko looked up and nodded. Yanagi raised an eyebrow.
"So… you aren't dating. Just kissing." She said slightly confused. Fuuko took a quick sip of her coffee and almost burned her tongue.
"N-No. We aren't even kissing… just… that was… um," Fuuko stumbled for a good excuse. Mikagami chose to leave this one for Fuuko to get out of. "…Um, a- a play! Yeah, I'm in the drama club…and…and… you're not buying it are you?" she finished off sighing. Yanagi shook her head and smiled.
"That's totally okay! Take your time, relationships need time." She said.
"This is not a relationship!" both cried out in unison. Yanagi laughed.
"Yeah, sure it isn't." The coo-coo clock struck 10 and Mikagami got up.
"I've got to get home." He said. Yanagi nodded and began clearing away the mugs. Fuuko got up also.
"I'll walk you to the door." She said and did just that. At the door Mikagami turned around to her.
"Kirisawa listen, all of this that's going on… it's not happening okay. It was… just an over-bursting emotion control." He said. Fuuko felt her heart sink slightly but smiled and nodded.
"Yes. I agree." She said and kissed him on the cheek to indicate they were still just friends. Mikagami nodded and walked away, Fuuko stared at him leave and watched him till his figure disappeared behind a bend. She sighed and walked inside just as Yanagi walked out of the kitchen.
"We should get into bed too. I'll sleep in the guest room." She said as she locked the doors and Fuuko locked the windows, silently.
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The night was peaceful; the house's lights went out one by one until only two remained. One of them Fuuko's house, the other Nikki's. Soon the lights in those houses would go out too. But the next evening only one would light up again… the other, was to stay in darkness, in mourning, for the unexpected death that had occurred a few hours ago. A death that would shatter the peaceful atmosphere and bring chaos to the quite street that Hanabishi, Ishijima and Kirisawa had grown-up on, a death that would lead to another great tragedy…
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To be continued…
A/N: Well what do you know? Another chapter, one that also, still, does not reach the point. Yes, people. I haven't even reached the plot yet! Sheesh… can you believe it? And I think I may be getting carried away with the Mikagami/Fuuko romance scenes ^^v… silly me, hopeless as always. There may be a delay in chapter four. Exams will take their toll. If I dun' get an A in Art, Math, Computers and English then I guess you can expect chapter four to be the last chapter coming. Sad isn't it? The torture I have to go through just so I can continue to write fanfiction… I wonder what's going to happen to me after I finish school? *Shudders* … what if I never finish school? Oh! The agony! _; Err… Apart from all that usual nonsense of mine… I really hope you people enjoyed this chapter. I've written exactly 10 pages; for once I reached the limit correctly. Again I hoped you liked it. And oh yeah to Dark Phoenix again ^_^, actually I changed the plot before you reviewed, you can say I realized that the plot was too obvious, especially among anime fans, ;^). And Kurei, you'll just have to wait and see but you're very scarily close… Thank you to all my reviewers *sniff, you people are so nice *gets all sentimental and stuff*
NOTE: Umm, chapter four will suck.