A/N: Sorry, the update took longer than I thought. But it's a really long chapter.
Chapter 19
(Sendoh)
'This feeling…impossible but…'
I tried pushing his away but he wrapped his arms around my neck and just pressed himself closer, I tried protesting but he took advantage of that and slipped his tongue it, 'So alike…'
~Flashback~
He finally pulled away leaving me panting and wanting more, "Kaede…"
He smirked, "You don't have to look so surprised."
"Where did you learn to kiss like that?" I asked surprised.
"Not important."
"Did you have a boyfriend or girlfriend before me?" I wailed, "am I not your first?"
He shoved me away, "Do'aho!"
I walked beside him, "Hey, you totally took advantage of me. Does this mean you like me too? Should've guessed you'd be the aggressive type. That kiss-"
"Noisy."
I smiled and tugged on his sleeve.
"What?"
"One more time," I said grinning.
"No."
"Why not?!"
"You're a horrible kisser," he stated, "a dead fish would've been more responsive than you."
"Am not! You just caught me off guard!!" I protested.
He snorted, "Uh-huh."
"It's true!" I said pouting which he totally ignored, 'what the heck.'
I grabbed him and kissed him, 'Dead fish? I'll show him.'
~End of Flashback~
I responded, 'You can't catch me by surprise twice.'
.
(Rukawa)
'He must be under Fujima or someone else's control but it's ok. So long as I know he truly cares about me…'
He pulled away, "Kaede…"
"You…you recognize me?"
He blinked and gasped, "You're bleeding! Did I? I-"
"I'm ok. Quick, undo the portals."
He nodded, and the portals disappeared.
"Kaede, Sendoh, you're both ok," Ayako said sounding relief.
"Jin…your hand…"
"I'm ok. Be careful, he's a mutant that can use very corrosive acid," Jin warned motioning at the man.
"Uh. You guys better go."
"Kaede, your arm…" Ayako said.
"I'm fine. Go take care of Jin," I said, but no one moved, "go!"
"Hai," they said after exchanging a look.
.
(Sendoh)
The way Maki was looking at me it was-
"Didn't you hear me? Leave. Now," Kaede said.
"No. I'm not leaving you again. I won't let you fight alone," I stated, 'I can't bear to lose you again.'
"You'll just get in my way, do'aho."
"What would you do if you were in my position?" I asked.
"You haven't aged," Maki noted, "but you are a time traveller."
"You know me?" I asked.
"How could I forget my brother's murder? I want you to know, you caused all this," Maki said and shot something at me.
A large discus blocked and was quickly dissolved away.
"…"
Rukawa took out some coins which were flatten and took the form of a shield. He tossed me one, "Be careful. You know him?"
"Kind of…"
Maki attacked again. I blocked, 'He knows I killed Eiji? How? Could he have seen it? Is that why…'
Arrows threw out of the wall at Maki, who narrowly avoided it.
"Perhaps you're mistaken. Your opponent is me, not him," Rukawa said firmly.
.
(Ayako)
I looked at Jin's arm. It's useless, I tried washing it out but the acid was still eating its way up his arm.
"Amputate it," Jin said, "the acid's too strong to dilute. It's the only way to stop it from spreading, plus if it continues to my neck I'll be dead."
I nodded, "We need to stop the bleeding afterwards though."
He pulled out some duck tape from the drawer and went to the freezer to take out the bag of ice, "First stop the circulation, the tape's pretty strong, should do ok."
I tore off a long piece of tape and folded it, then wrapped it tight on his arm, "Sumimasen."
"Huh? Why?" he asked.
"It was because of me…"
He laughed, "It's ok. Better my hand than your arm, at least that was my thought. Plus I didn't even feel it. So, can you do it?"
I looked at the knife and nodded.
Jin smiled, "Oh, in cause I faint from the lost of blood, remember to ask Sendoh about his timeline, I think he timeline has to be better than this…"
"I will," I said and raised the knife, "ok…are you ready?"
"Well…no. Why did you have to ask me that? Should've done it without warning me," he said sighing, "ok. Do it."
.
(Sendoh)
'This isn't good, Maki has that acidic mist around him which renders most of Kaede's attacks useless. Plus Kaede's getting weaker by the moment, he lost a lot of blood. I got to think of something. If I send Maki to space, I got to go with him, or the portal won't close. But I don't want to die and leave Kaede here, alone. Escape? No that's impossible, Maki will follow and Kaede won't agree to running away either. Ugh!!'
"It looks like you can't attack anymore," Maki stated.
Kaede glared at him.
"Goodbye, Rukawa Kaede."
I formed a time bomb, 'Time: 5 seconds ago. Destination: where Make's standing right now.'
The mist around him disappeared as it took a more concrete form and flew at Kaede. I toss the bomb in front of Kaede and could Maki's scream fill the air.
.
2 Days Later
(Rukawa)
I blinked, 'I'm still alive? Right, Sendoh saved me.'
"Kaede, you're awake."
"Ayako? Where are the others?"
"Sendoh's out to buy food, Jin's doing research and…Koshino and Hikioichi's…dead."
'Dead?'
"I know this isn't a good time but I think you should know…"
"Know what?" I asked
"Sendoh…he-"
.
(Sendoh)
I made sure that I wasn't followed before I went to the cabin. Jin as standing outside waiting for me it seemed, "Jin, you must be hungry. I got-"
"Rukawa's awake."
"That's wonderful! I got to-" I spotted that grim look on his face, "what's wrong? Is he ok?"
"I told him everything I know. I had no choice. Now he has some stuff to ask you."
I sighed and forced a smile as I went inside.
.
(Rukawa)
He came inside, "I brought a lot of stuff, so-"
"Talk first," I interrupted him.
"Kaede! I'm so glad you're finally awake," he said and hugged me, "you sure you should be up? Maybe you should-"
"What did you do to change the future?" I asked softly, "and why?"
He stiffened.
I pulled away, "Tell us. We deserve to know."
"I killed Sawakita Eiji."
"Maki's otouto?" Jin asked.
Sendoh nodded.
"Why?" I asked but I already knew the answer.
"Because he'd kill you and I couldn't let that happen."
"How was your timeline like?" Jin asked.
He remained silent.
"That means it was better than this," Ayako said, "much better, ne?"
"Were mutants accepted? Were the Koshino and the others alive?" Jin asked.
"We were a secret…" he said and his voice trailed off.
I didn't need him to finish answering, "But everyone was fine, alive. Mutants weren't subjugated to what they are now. It was better… Go back and change it."
He looked at me, "Do you have any idea what you're asking me to do?! I'm not going to kill you!"
"You want me to die before you right now?" I asked listlessly, I was so tired.
Sendoh just stared at me in disbelief for the longest time and I thought he might object again but he said, "Give me one more day."
I nodded.
.
(Ayako)
I knocked on Jin's door.
"Come in."
He was sitting at the window, "Ayako?"
"There's something I've been thinking about."
"You thinking? That's not good," he said jokingly.
"I'm serious," I said, "if Maki out of hatred can cause the world to change so much for the worst, shouldn't he also be able to make it better?"
"Better?" he repeated.
I nodded, "What if he promoted mutants instead of making them into monsters?"
"You shouldn't mess with the past, just look at what Sendoh did. Plus how can you be sure he'd listen to you?"
"Jin," I smiled, "thought you were a risk taker. If it doesn't work, I'll just have to find Sendoh again. And I got a plan, he will help us."
.
(Rukawa)
"Kaede, are you awake?"
"What is it?"
"Are you mad at me for keeping such a big secret from you?" Sendoh asked, "I didn't think it'll come to this. I…I just wanted to be with you."
"No, you wanted to be with the Rukawa Kaede from your timeline, not me. Since the beginning you only loved him, all this…for him. I was just his replacement."
"That's not true."
"That's true!" I said and calmed down, "you never even took the time to know me, before you started declaring your love. All you cared about was that I looked like him. You don't even know me. I don't want to be anyone's replacement, even if that person is myself from another timeline. Can you understand that?"
"You think I don't love you?"
"I know."
"You're such a do'aho! If anything I love you more than I love him. In order to spend the rest of my life with him I'm willing to kill Eiji, but for you…I'm willing to kill him. I don't want to live without him but I don't want to see you in such pain either. Can you understand that?" he asked.
I looked at him, 'He's crying. For me…he's willing to kill him?'
.
(Sendoh)
"One day…that's all I asked for. I just…"
"Don't cry," he said.
"Maybe what you said is true, initially I did love you because you're him. But I do realize your differences and that only made me love you more," I said.
His finger brushed against my cheek, "I thought I told you to stop crying."
"I can't help it," I said sniffling.
"Gomen."
"Huh? What for?" I asked.
"For making you cry," he stated.
'He doesn't seem mad anymore. Good,' I thought and said, "then you should cheer me back up."
"How?"
"I can think of a couple of things," I said grinning.
"What's with the look?" Kaede asked suspiciously.
'Just one day of happiness. The last…'
.
(Ayako)
"I object to what you're planning to do," Jin stated.
"Why?"
"It's too big of a sacrifice on your part," he said.
I smiled, "Don't be silly. If everything goes according to plan it'll be well worth it."
"You've decided? You think you can go all the way through with it? It's something that you got to live with."
"I've decided so I won't change my mind. It's not so bad, I'll have plenty of things to do to keep me busy."
"Ok, we got to plan everything and think of ever scenario. Well, as far as 10 hours will allow. But you got to promise me one thing, Ayako."
"What?"
He looked at me, "You got to find me and tell me everything that happened here today and our decision."
"I don't think that's such a good idea," I said.
"You have to promise," he said grabbing my hand, "find me and tell me when I'm…15. That seems like a good age, my powers should be stable then and I should be able to help out."
I sighed.
"Deal?"
"If you really want."
He smiled, "Of course. I want to help you out too. Keeping secrets is hard. Alright, now lets get down to the details."
I looked down at my hand, he was holding on tight and I don't think he plans to let go.
.
Next Day
(Jin)
I looked at Ayako who was extremely focused. Sendoh was looking at Rukawa with this questioning gaze.
Rukawa smiled softly, "You promised, remember?"
It was the first time I've seen him so gentle, 'Please remember our promise, Ayako.'
Sendoh sighed, "I know."
Sendoh let go of Rukawa and had on a concentrated look. There was a disturbance in the air. Ayako stood by where the disturbance was, I stood by Rukawa and got ready. The others didn't notice but I did, Ayako was beginning to morph.
"Go," Rukawa told him.
Sendoh looked in agony as he stood in front of the portal. Ayako tackled him and they went through together.
"Aya-"
I stunned Rukawa before he could chase after them, "Sumimasen, Rukawa."
.
November 27, 2003, Midnight
(Sendoh)
I went close to the baby Eiji and as if sensing danger he began to cry. I quickly covered up his mouth, I didn't want to be discovered. He was struggling and I realized I was suffocating him.
A portal was opened, 'Nani?'
Two Sendoh's came crashing through.
"Stop! Don't-" the one in blue began.
I loosened my grip, 'That's right, he's innocent now. I-'
The one in black interrupted, "Quick, kill him. This Sendoh is an impostor."
I looked at the two of them.
"Do you want Kaede to die?!" the one in black demanded.
I shoved my hand harder against Eiji's mouth, 'Sumimasen, Sawakita Eiji, but you must die in order for Kaede to live!'
.
(Ayako)
"Quick, close the portal."
"Who are you?"
"Ayako, who else? You want to save Kaede?" I asked, "if so, close the portal."
He obeyed.
"Trust me," I said and knocked him out.
The other Sendoh pulled away, "I…I killed him."
"Then your job is done," I said and knocked him out too.
I took out the pistol Jin gave me. I can't leave any evidence behind, I had to get ride of their bodies. According to Jin's speculations shooting them with the pistol should erase them from history like how Koshino disappeared. I shot them with it, 'I hope you feel no pain.'
I morphed back and went to the door. A teenager was standing there.
"You, Maki?"
"Who…who are you?"
I morphed to him, "I'm going to be you from now on."
~TBC
A/N: Next chapter is the ending. Can NE1 guess the outcome? *S*