I think I'll just say right now that writing block REALLY sucks. I'm pretty sure most of you have probably already lost most interest in this fic, but I've promised myself to finish this fic when I started it. So finally, it looks as if I've managed to pull through. I hope you enjoy this final chapter, and I hope you've enjoyed the story as a whole.

-- Shinova

Death of an Angel

By, Shinova

Chapter 6

The world and its processes seemed to have come to a blinding halt. Breaths were held, thoughts were frozen, and the framework of stability stood on a very thin line.

Shinobu stood in front of the Hinatasou entrance, Hina Blade in her grasp. The other tenants looked on in shock from a distance away. The thin line was being tread well.

"Sh--Shinobu, what--"

"Enough, Naru-sempai. Any more would simply be wasting more of what time we have left," Shinobu interrupted Naru, stepping forward a few steps into the warm sunlight.

Shinobu took a deep breath and said, "I did it, Naru-sempai."

"Did what?"

"Urashima-sempai...."

At first Naru was confused at what Shinobu could mean but then realized the truth. Shinobu had murdered Keitaro. Things were really on a fine balance now, as Naru struggled to accept the truth. It was unbelievable. It couldn't be. But Shinobu's tone of absolute conviction--and resignation--told otherwise; that Keitaro's death was in the hands of the one who had seemed the most unlikely.

Naru didn't know what to think. Or how to feel. Her hands felt like clenching, itching to do something harmful. Anger, disbelief, sadness, and indecision all trampled through her mind. She didn't know what to make of everything.

"Yes, I killed him. To save him from the rest of you," Shinobu said out loud, her expression taking on a slightly hostile look. "All of you...who took advantage of his kindness! His...everything..."

A tear ran down her cheek. "It's all your fault!! You were all so cruel to him when he did so much for us! Why!? Why did you hurt him so much!?"

The other Hinatasou residents were beginning to feel some regret. It was true that they had sometimes been overbearing to their dorm manager. Perhaps they hadn't really meant to be that way, but that was a pretty weak excuse.

"I...we're sorry," Naru spoke up, lowering her head in shame.

"Sorry won't cut it, Naru-sempai!!" Shinobu shouted in return.

"Then what!!?" Naru yelled back, her sorrow and frustration culminating. "What gives you the right to assume that you couldn't possibly be a burden to him as well!!?"

"I wasn't...couldn't..."

"Why!?"

"Cause I love him!!!" Shinobu shouted, her eyes filling with tears. "I loved Urashima-sempai!!"

The other residents stared in even more shock. And then...

"So did I, Shinobu," Naru said in a worn-out voice. Her head was lowered and her arms slack at her sides. "I love Keitaro too. I think we all did, maybe not to the same degree as you and me, but we all loved him nonetheless."

"Then why'd you treat him that way!!?"

"I didn't know!! We all didn't know!! Now we've paid for it! What more do you expect us to do!!?"

Shinobu swallowed hard and raised the Hina Blade over her head.

"Apologize to him in person," she said calmly, then swung the sword down, the black spiritual energy flowing around her, then launching itself in the form of another chi wave, screaming toward Naru and the other fellow residents.

Naru stood shock still, but Motoko pushed her and herself out of the way. The other residents scattered also, and the chi wave exploded some distance behind them, throwing them forward. Motoko rolled on the ground and up onto her feet, slicing downwards with her sword, all in a single fluid motion. Motoko's own chi wave swept across the ground toward Shinobu...and hit the black energy around the latter, dissipating into nothingness.

"What the..." Motoko mumbled, a look of disbelief on her face.

Shinobu responded promptly by slashing sideways, sending a horizontal chi wave toward the tenants. The wave hit the ground in front of them, exploding and sending debris all over the place. The dust settled, and Naru found the other tenants unconscious. Behind her she could hear the sound of Shinobu walking toward where she was. She grabbed Motoko's sword, which was lay nearby, and jumped to her feet and ran for the forest.

Shinobu saw Naru running and chased after her, stopping only once to send a chi wave tearing through the trees toward its prey. Naru lept aside, barely avoiding the attack. She hid behind a tree, her chest heaving for breath and her hands shaking.

"What's the matter, Naru-sempai!?" Shinobu stopped running to call out. "What are you afraid of!?"

Naru stayed quiet, gasping for breath (mostly from things other than physical exertion). She brought one hand to her eyes, as if to block out everything that was happening around her.

"Why is all this happening?" Naru whispered to herself. "Why? What went wrong? Was it something we did?" She sniffled a little, shaking her head from side to side as if trying to convince herself that all this was just a bad dream.

A chi wave exploding somewhere nearby jolted her back to her senses. Shinobu was now throwing chi waves randomly in different directions--obviously in an attempt to drive Naru out from wherever she was hiding. One finally hit near where she was, sending her into the air, screaming.

Shinobu began sending chi waves one after another at the clump of trees where she had heard Naru scream. The foliage exploded as the waves hit. Through the dust, Shinobu could see Naru running away again. Shinobu followed.

The two eventually arrived at what looked like an abandoned building of some sort. With no time to come up with any creative ideas, Naru used Motoko's sword to cut the seal keeping the doors locked and kicked them open. She rushed inside and shut the doors behind her, then made her way deeper into the abandoned building, doing her best to cope with the dim light filtering through cracks in the ceiling. She was making her way down a hallway when she heard the door explode far behind her at the entrance.

"Are you in there, Naru-sempai?" Shinobu called out.

Naru started running down the hallway, anticipating black chi waves streaking after her at any second. Suddenly her foot caught a small hole in the floor, causing her to trip and fall forward. The floor gave way under her weight and collapsed. Naru fell a considerable distance and landed on wooden floor, the force of her fall causing it to shatter a little. The pain coursing through a her body made her grit her teeth, her eyes squeezed shut as she tried to deal with the agony. She pushed herself off the ground, clutching her stomach. A sharp pain made her cry out briefly, a tear escaping one of her shut eyes.

Shinobu thought she heard something coming from down one hallway off to her right. She readied the Hina Blade and jogged down the hallway, her eyes scanning left and right for any sign of her fellow tenant.

Naru heard Shinobu moving closer and forced herself to stand up, despite the searing pain. She coughed a few times as she struggled to walk. She eventually found the strength to jog with some difficulty, and went deeper into the place she had ended up in.

Shinobu found the hole in the ground and jumped down through it. The Hina Blade's power helped her land safely, slowing down her speed of descent. Once her feet touched the ground, she looked around the room she was in, which seemed to be a basement or storage room of some kind. Her eyes spotted a few droplets of blood leading off in a direction. Shinobu moved her sword into a ready position in front of her and walked in the direction of the droplets.

* * * * *

Naru leaned against against a wall, breathing deeply out of panic and exertion. She flinched as every breath brought a sharp pain from her ribs--perhaps one was cracked or broken. She felt something wet on her mouth and wiped at it with a hand. There was now blood all over her palm, and Naru's eyes widened a little in surprise. Her chest chest hurt, her arms felt as if they had splintered, and her legs felt as if they were on fire. That had been a nasty fall back there, and Naru was surprised she had the will to have walk this far.

Which reminded her, the room she was in looked like a warehouse of some kind. Boxes of all sorts of sizes lay in rows on the ground below her. She herself was on a metal catwalk, which stretched forward into the room over the boxes, turned left and connected to a door off to the side. What could this room have been used for? Naru thought.

Her moment of thought was broken when she heard footsteps behind her. She glanced back to see Shinobu break out into a run, headed straight for Naru with the Hina Blade over her head. Naru's eyes widened in panic and she dashed forward across the catwalk, oblivious to her body protesting in pain. Shinobu held the Hina Blade in one hand and slashed downwards. The chi wave flew over the ground, tearing up the wooden planks underneath. Once it hit the catwalk, it begun to tear apart the struts holding it to the ceiling. The catwalk split into two pieces and caved inwards.

Naru, who had been headed for the door at the other end of the L-shaped catwalk, lost her balance and fell backwards, tumbling down the now-angeled catwalk before crashing into a box. Shinobu spotted her target and sent a chi wave barreling straight for Naru.

Naru only had time to blink before the wave smashed into the box, disintegrating it and sending Naru flying through the air. Her body smashed right through the wooden wall and into the next room. Her body rolled a few meters before coming to a stop against a railing, overlooking another room full of boxes upon boxes.

"AAA--g--gh," Naru cried out in pain then gritted her teeth in an attempt to deal with her condition, curling up in a fetal position, clutching herself. The pain was tenfold now, and she was now definetly sure she had broken a thing or two in herself. Blood was trickling freely from her nose and mouth. Yet, somehow she had kept a hold of Motoko's sword during the whole ordeal so far.

"Will you stop running away now, Naru-sempai?" Shinobu said as she climbed through the hole and into the room.

Naru opened one eye to see the other. "Why don't you..." she paused, gritting her teeth, "stop chasing me...."

"It's not my fault you're making me."

"Not my fault you took it the wrong way," Naru managed to say as she started to push herself off the ground, wheezing as she coughed. "Why don't you just accept that we didn't truly know how precious Keitaro was until it was too late?" Naru had now brought herself up to a standing position. The blood from her mouth had begun to stain her sweater.

"Well, why didn't you realize soon enough?" Shinobu accused.

"How could we? We're all just human. We're not perfect. We can't be expected to be held accountable for every mistake we make," Naru managed to say, despite her wounds and the pain.

"Yet, you hold yourself so above Keitaro all that time."

"Like I said, we're only human," Naru stated. Then, with a loud voice, "So why don't you just let it go and get on with life!!?"

"Without setting things right? Never!" Shinobu cried, dashing forward, Hina Blade raised above her head.

Pain hurts....Doesn't mean you can't do anything, Naru thought.

There was a clash of steel, followed by a deathly silence. Naru had blocked the Hina Blade with Motoko's sword.

"You're almost dead and you're still moving, Naru-sempai," Shinobu observed.

"Just like the Toudai exam," Naru replied, pushing away from the other. Shinobu pulled back then advanced again, swinging her sword sideways. Naru blocked that as well, but fell backwards due to her weakened condition. Shinobu took this chance to switch her hold on the Hina Blade and drive the sword forward, into Naru's chest. Naru's scream of pain came out like a cross between a cough and a gasp. She fought back the searing pain, eyes clenched and hands trembling.

"It's over, Naru-sempai," Shinobu said.

"Not...yet..." Naru gasped through clenched teeth. A low growl from her throat became a scream as her body glowed a bright white. Shinobu's face took on a look of surprise as the the sword Naru barely held with her weak hands glowed white as well. With a sudden burst, a blast of white light flung Shinobu backwards, tearing the Hina Blade out of Naru's chest, the force of its removal lifting Naru slightly off the ground and causing her to arch her back in pain and shock and cry out. Shinobu flew backwards, smashed through the wooden railing and fell down toward the ground below.

Naru fell back ground beneath her. The Hina Blade lay somewhere out of sight and Motoko's sword lay a few feet beside her. She could feel her blood pumping out through the severe wound in her chest, smothering her shirt, sweater, and trickling out and soaking into the wood beneath her.

Thoughts and memories of Keitaro, Hinatasou, Toudai, and lots of other things flashed through her consciousness, each leaving its own imprint. As she lay there, alone and bleeding to death in a forgotten warehouse in an abandoned inn, Naru thought, So this is how everything ends. Now I've felt everything, Keitaro. I hope you can forgive me....

As the edges of her vision grew white and the world seemed to become engulfed in a blinding lightness that swept over everything, she thought she could hear a voice speaking to her.

Nothing ever truly ends, it seemed to say.

I forgive you....

At that moment Naru lost consciousness.

* * * * *

Everything was white. The walls were white. The ceiling was white. The floor was, from what Naru could tell, also white. Everything was white, including the sheets that clung to her like masking tape. Only her skin, the parts that stuck out over the sheets, were something over than white. Even so, she could tell--barely through her muddled senses--that most of her body was wrapped in bandages. An IV dripped fluid into her arm, and a nearby, indistinct beeping sound belonged to the machinery that monitored her condition, measuring her heartrate, brain activity, whatnot.

"...missed her heart by a few centimeters...almost..." someone was saying. Naru couldn't really tell--everything was too white and bright. It was as if she had just been born again.

"Naru...feel..." someone was saying.

Naru tried to pinpoint the voice's owner and location but her mind was too blurred-over to actually think past those questions. Something was injected into her arm. Gradually, her senses clarified and her mind could properly think again. The doctor must've put a stimulant of some kind into her.

"Naru, you feel okay?"

"Naru-sempai..."

Naru glanced around the room and saw Kitsune, Motoko, Mutsumi, Su, Sara, Seta-san, and Haruka-san, all standing around her bed. Tama-chan floated nearby. She spoke out in a weak voice, "Where's Keitaro..."

Everyone fidgeted, each wondering what to say.

"Oh yeah, now I remember. It's okay everyone," Naru said, remembering. She then asked, "Where's Shinobu?"

After a moment, Haruka-san said, "She's in a different ward, under guard."

"Is she okay?"

"They say she has some broken bones, a few burns, but nothing that major," Kitsune answered. "She's a lot better off than you are right now, that's for sure--at least medically speaking. Charges are sure to be filed against her."

"I see," Naru said, nodding weakily. "What's going to happen to us?"

"No one knows yet," Haruka-san replied. "First, the two of you have to get better. Until then, we really can't do anything right now. Let's let her rest now."

The others nodded in agreement. Naru had so many questions to ask, but she really couldn't concentrate well and she did need her rest like Haruka-san had said. The others all said their goodbyes, their take-cares, and left the room. Naru was alone again. She would've liked to think over everything that had happened over all these weeks, but the stimulant was losing its grip and the blurry cloud descended over her mind once more. She decided to surrender to it for now, and lost consciousness again.

* * * * *

The days went by like a soft wave passing over everything. To Naru, it felt like she were floating face-up in a pool of water, the soft waves rocking her gently back and forth, carrying her from one day to the next. Day and night lost their distinction, blurred by the whiteness of the hospital ward, the food, and the television that played the same old news over and over again. Time once again seemed to have stood still, and the world seemed like a painting on a wall.

Naru was a fast healer. Two weeks in, and she was ready to travel around the hospital in a wheelchair. The third day after she first got into a wheelchair, she asked to be brought into Shinobu's ward. There was some opposition from the guard but eventually she was let in.

Shinobu lay on her bed, awake, parts of her bandaged like Naru was, an IV leading into an arm, but overall Shinobu was a lot better off than Naru. The nurse wheeled Naru over to the bedside, then left the room, closing the door softly behind. Naru and Shinobu found themselves staying that way for what seemed like a long time in uncomfortable silence. Both wanted to say what they needed to say but were afraid too.

Naru found herself saying, "How are you, Shinobu-chan," surprising herself with her suddenness.

"I'm fine, Naru-sempai. How about you?" Shinobu replied warmly, like she always used to do.

"I think I'm doing pretty well, even with everything I've been through."

The two fell silent again.

"Naru-sempai, I...I'm sorry about...what I did."

"Me too, for how I treated you guys--"

"No! None of this would've happened if I hadn't..."

Naru reached over and laid a hand on Shinobu's shoulder. Shinobu gazed at Naru with slight shock.

"I tried to take it out on all of you guys," Naru said gently, gazing down at the floor. "I was so consumed by his death, I...well..."

"But it's nothing compared to what I did!"

"You acted with the intent to help Keitaro. I acted out of hate. It's my fault too."

Shinobu laid back against the bed and sighed. "Everything's so complicated now," she said weakly. "I wish it were the way it was before...just simple...and all of us happy..."

The two sat there, silent once again.

"I wish we could go back to the way it was before," Shinobu said wearily, drained of will.

"We could try."

"But how?"

"I don't know. But if we try hard enough, with everything we've got, we'll make it."

"And we could be happy again..."

"Yeah...."

"You sound so sure about it, Naru-sempai."

"You don't know until you try."

Shinobu sniffled as tears again threatened to pour down her cheeks. Enough with crying, what am I doing!? Shinobu thought vehemently to herself, trying to hold back her sobs. Naru noticed this, and moved over with some difficulty and brought Shinobu close to her into a warm embrace.

"It's okay. Let it go," she said softly.

Shinobu let go, and so did Naru. The of them cried together, holding each other, letting go of all the heart-wrenching emotions that had held them in an iron grip for the past week.

* * * * *

Charges were filed against Shinobu, and she, because she was a minor and because she seemed to have made a good impression on the judge during her trial, was sentenced to four years in a juvenile hall. Before she had been taken away, she had apologized deeply to all of the Hinatasou residents and swore to make up for everything somehow during her life. With determination to fulfill this newfound goal of her life, she left Hinatasou and the life she had lived in there.

As for Naru...

"Naru, are you sure about this?" Kitsune asked, watching Naru pack clothes into her suitcase.

"I need to take a break. Toudai's been the only thing on my mind for the longest of times, and now that it's basically gone, I have to go and find myself again," Naru replied.

"So, you're headed for America, right?"

"Yeah. I'm gonna travel around, cities, the country; see the sights, meet the people, learn new things. I need to get a fresh start, and I hope I'll find it somewhere out there--wherever my journey takes me."

"Keitaro would've gone absolutely nuts if he had known."

Naru smiled, gazing out the window at the blue sky outside. "Yeah, he sure would've."

The End