Disclaimer - I don't own Tekkaman Blade. I'm not making any money.
YAKUSOKU
(Promise)
written by Star
Toki ga nagareru
Ai ga nagareru
Watashi no mae o kanashii kao shite
Anata wa kitto ikusa ni yuku no ne
Watashi wa kitto okisarareru wa
Ikusa no tame ni
Hokori no tame ni
Toki wa nagareru
Ai wa nagareru
Kuchihateru watashi wa...
(AI WA NAGARERU, Iijima Mari)
«Chapter Three»
If only time would stand still.
Amid the chaos of the infirmary, a sense of calm seemed out of place; her heart should be beating wildly, mind racing at some unholy speed. She'd lost count of the number of times she'd given blood or prayed for a miracle...strange that she should feel so numb to it.
However Aki wasn't really 'there'. It was merely her body, her consciousness fled to its safe haven - rare and precious moments in her life that, at this moment, seemed to occur further and further apart.
*****
"May I have this dance?" Red silk gracefully pirouetted as Aki spun to face her suitor.
"Sure, now that everyone's gone." D-boy smirked confidently, his cheeks crimson from wine consumed earlier that evening. He regarded her with such scrutiny, she blushed and looked away. It was so hard to stay angry with him for long.
"I'll take your silence as consent," D-boy said softly, taking the cup from her hand and disregarding it carelessly.
"Yet another mess I'll be cleaning..." She chided gently.
*****
Aki sighed quietly as she thought of those blissful days, however brief they were.
Thinking back to the events that changed the course of their lives, Aki couldn't help the gleam in her eyes. Despite the present woe...
*****
Gasping in shock as the cool autumn wind blew against her now exposed back, Aki broke the kiss she happily lost herself in moments before. Her eyes flew instinctively to the stairs, as if expecting Noaru or Rebin to come tearing down the stairs.
"No one here to interrupt, love; the perfect gift." She smiled coyly and registered his words.
"Hmm, how thoughtful." His smile was gentle and sincere, but at the same time betraying his passion for the woman before him.
*****
Aki shivered slightly, waking from her momentary slumber. Honda sat before her, his face full of concern.
"I wish you'd lie down,"
"There's too much at stake Honda, please inform the crew to assemble for orders as soon as I'm finished here."
"Aki," The old man begged in a defeated voice.
*****
In the wee hours of a particularly foggy September morn barely days later, her dream world shattered. From the instant she awoke to his agonizing cries, her touch seemed only to burn as she tried in vain to comfort him.
In a space of two weeks, he'd grown impatient and distant; barely speaking a word. In an effort to distance himself, his fiery emerald eyes would flash furious glares that were both threatening and heartbreaking; one moment he'd be argumentative and stubborn, the next a remorseful child.
Unable to determine what could change him so drastically in so short a time, weeks of uncertainty, anguish and resentment followed. It tore her apart and in a sense, she lost herself. When a breakthrough finally occurred and the madness could be explained...yet another problem arose. A small group of Radam had appeared, it's mission: search and destroy. D-boy would not refuse an opportunity to destroy Radam, but would his body survive the energy stress? Aki pleaded with her estranged lover, only to receive the blunt reply of a man too stubborn and hell bent on revenge.
Some would call her selfish, but in her desperate attempt to save him from an uncertain fate, Aki turned to her only solution: becoming a Tekkaman herself. In her mind, that was the only option; the only way to save D-boy - the only one who could fight Radam. Any illusions she had shattered when he rejected her...
*****
The nightmare of their personal woes ironically mirrored by the tragedy of an unsuspecting populous: The nightmare of September, the darkest of days, to which she would never forgive those responsible.
Strange that she would think of her long fallen foe: a madman whose insanity made up for his lack of skill in combat, and the army who lacked the patience to avert disaster.
As she turned her eyes to watch the nurse disappear, her eyelids grew heavy as her breathing slowed, the blood loss now taking its toll. Alone in the private waiting room, Aki's head lowered slowly as she closed her eyes.
Slumber came swiftly, for a few precious minutes Aki felt nothing.
*****
Though his body remained still, D-boy fought his faceless foe on another level. Aki's screamed from some unknown place...taunts...jeers...suggestive lewd remarks all added to the insanity. On some level D-boy was aware that he was dreaming, still he felt the desperation of his situation and the blows he received. So real to him here as they were in real combat.
Yet as sudden as the furor began, it ceased.
D-boy looked about frantically, finding no one, running towards nothing. Blindly running towards an unknown destination, it were as if the man could no longer determine up from down...until he tripped and fell.
The cry dared to strangle him, resting uncomfortably at the top of his throat. Blood soaked the ground on which he stood; there lay his beloved, body bloody and broken.
*****
Aki jumped awake the moment his fingers twitched, merely a second before he awoke with a strangled cry.
"Thank Kami, D-boy!" Despite the agonizing pain shooting through his insides, D-boy's head shot to the side, eyes widening as he registered the pale faced Aki entering the room..
Words would not come to the warrior as Aki smiled gently and lowered herself to his side. Placing her hand over his, the young commander squeezed it reassuringly as if to say it was alright.
*****
Honda stared wistfully at the lovers before him, wishing he didn't have to be the one to destroy this precious and very rare moment. Damn those kids!
*****
Time drifts away
Love drifts away
You're certain to go off to war
Showing me a sad face
I'm certain to be left behind
For the sake of war
For the sake of pride
Time drifts away
Love drifts away
I, who am rotting away, drift away
(LOVE DRIFTS AWAY, Iijima Mari)
«owari»