Prêt with me!
Author's Notes: Okay, don't kill me if you don't like this! For one, I wrote this at 5:30 am, so I was extremely tired, and two, I like when tragedy strikes. So I hope you like my early morning work!
"Oh Hayate…this is going to be the most fun ever!" Himeno Awayuki exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck. He shoved her away and walked off.
"Kei…" she smiled at the blonde dark skinned man in front of her, who was staring after Hayate. "Where is Sasame?"
"He is finished at the radio station. He should be here soon." Kei replied, turning to the 16 year old.
It was a beautiful spring day, and Himeno and the Leafe Knights were going out for a picnic. They were just waiting for Sasame to come, now. Hayate was getting furious with Himeno, but yet he was worried. Sasame had never taken this long before! Was something wrong? Was he hurt? No, the others would feel it if he was. But then…
"Hey. Did you wait long?" Sasame asked Hayate and Himeno, the latter who jumped a mile in the air and ran for cover behind Goh, who laughed.
"Okay, time to go!" he called to Mannin and Hajime, who were playing around at a fountain in Himeno's front yard. They nodded and ran over, smiling.
"Wait, can we get a picture?" Himeno asked.
"Yeah, sure." Sasame smiled and produced a camera in his left hand. "Get ready!"
Himeno and the Leafe Knights got into position, and Hayate made the camera support itself as Sasame let go and stood next to Himeno. The picture snapped, and Mannin cheered, smiling at Hajime. Suddenly, Kei looked around at the surroundings, a puzzled look on his face. Sasame and Himeno paid no attention to the worry that was in Kei, they were looking at the picture that had come out of the camera.
"Oh, look! I look so lame!" Himeno laughed and pointed to her face.
"I look even worse." Sasame laughed with her.
"Where is Shin?" Kei asked. Mannin shrugged, and Hajime mirrored him. Sasame and Himeno quickly straightened up, their faces stern. The picture was quickly forgotten as Himeno shoved it into her pocket.
"Shin!" Himeno called. She turned helplessly to Sasame when no one answered her call. He pricked up his ears and listened. A second later, he went towards the bushes, where there was some rustling. As Sasame neared it, Hajime called out:
"Hey, Shin!"
They boys excitedly pointed to their brother, of whom was advancing towards them.
"Then what's…" Sasame backed away from the rustling bushes as a Demon Larvae sprung out, smacking Hayate who had been suspiciously nearing the bush with Sasame.
"Hayate!" Kei called out, only to be whacked as well.
"Shin!" Goh called as he was being neared by the creature. Shin nodded and quickly summoned the battlefield as Goh shot fire out at the creature.
Mannin shot some ice at the monster, but it only bounced off and hit Hajime, who tried to hit it with water, and that bounced off and hit Mannin. The boys began to fight, and Hayate, who was now struggling to get up, yelled at them, his words cut off by Goh flying into Hajime.
Sasame ran towards Himeno, knocking her to the ground as a razor blade whipped over their heads. Another emerged from the opposite side, and went for Hayate.
"Himeno!" Mannin called as he was hit on the arm by the blade. She replied by grabbing Sasame's hand. The usual scene happened, and when it climaxed, she was the Pretear of Sound!
(Come on Himeno!) Sasame's voice called to her. Her face quickly grew red and she smile, but the smile was quickly knocked off her face as…
"Himeno, look out!" Kei called, but it was too late. The plant's razor blade caught her stomach and she heard Sasame call out in agony. A single tear fell from her eyes as she recalled the pain she had caused Hayate. And now…
(Don't worry about me Himeno!)
Another razor blade aimed for her, but she ducked, catching glimpse of Mannin and Hajime climbing up. Shin stood in the corner, quiet. He looked up at Himeno, his big green eyes fearful. She was too late to realize the razor blade coming at her again. She tried to kick at it, but it got her right across the ankle. Sasame's scream didn't sound as painful, but Himeno still felt terrible. She began to get discouraged as Hayate was knocked down once more.
(Himeno, try the Sonic Whistle. Just like I taught you.) She heard Sasame call, and she nodded.
"Alright!" In a flash she had summoned the energy ball.
(Fingers on your lips…) She did so, and blew as hard as she could, aiming everything toward the monster. One of its tentacles burst, and the remaining razor blade swung towards her. She screamed as it hit the side of her head.
The sound that escaped from Sasame was loud and painful, terrorizing her and filling her heart with agony. A second blow on her chest caused her to fall…
And she was no longer wearing the Pretear of Sound outfit. Sasame was next to her, but she didn't get the chance to see him.
"Himeno! Get up! Get up!" Goh screamed. As she climbed up, she saw the Knights still fighting, except for Hayate. He was running towards Sasame, his eyes etched into those of worry.
"Himeno!" Kei called. "Prêt with Shin!" A moment later he was knocked down, as was Goh. She saw the spots of blood on their chests and quickly moved to Shin. He held out his arm as far as he could reach, and she grabbed it.
Moments later, she was the Pretear of Plants! She gazed once more back at Sasame's unmoving form, and then jumped into the air.
(The core. Where is the core?) Shin's voice asked.
"In its tentacles!" Himeno cried. She flew down to blast the remaining tentacle away, but…it had a hold of Mannin. He was already bleeding badly from a wound on his side, but…
"I can't! If I hit the tentacle, then I'll hurt Mannin!" Himeno began to feel lost. Maybe because Shin was a child, she was beginning to feel like a child…
A wind blast came up, cutting the tentacle in half, freeing Mannin. Immediately as his feet touched the ground, he called to Hajime and ran:
"Come on! She's got it under control!"
As Kei and Goh started running away, she heard Hayate whisper:
"Under control. Yeah right. Look…look what she did to Sasame…"
Kei and Goh were already running to their other friends.
(Pay no attention to them. Just concentrate on the creature.)
"Okay…" She began to summon the powers of the plants. All at once the battlefield disintegrated and the monster flaked into pieces and fell apart.
They were back in the field, where Himeno immediately ran to Sasame. The others were already there, and Hayate raised his head as she approached. She couldn't see Sasame's body yet, but maybe…he wasn't hurt too critically.
Unfortunately for her, it was not her lucky day. There were blood spots everywhere, and Sasame's eyes were barely open.
"Sasame…" His name escaped her lips tragically. She had the feeling that those beautiful lavender eyes were never going to open again.
The other Knights were all hurt too, except Shin. Goh was in pretty bad condition, the cut Himeno had first caused to Hayate had reopened, Kei's arm was bleeding, Mannin's side was bleeding, and Hajime? He was curled up in a fetal position on the ground, but his eyes were open. There was some blood on his back, but other than that there were no visible cuts.
And here Himeno was standing, no scratches whatsoever.
But then there was a pain in her side. And blood falling from her fingertips.
She was hurt.
There was no recollection of her getting hurt while she was unclashed with a Knight, and Shin knew that she hadn't been, so…
"Sasame…Sasame please, speak to me. Sasame!" Hayate grabbed his friend's arm and began to shake it violently. Sasame's eyelids didn't even flutter.
"Sasame!" Tears floated down onto the pale man, mixing with his blood. When no response came, Mannin, Hajime, and Shin all began to cry uncontrollably. Even Kei and Goh got tears welled up in their eyes. Tears saved only for lost comrades.
And now was an occasion where they were needed. And it was all Himeno's fault.
Author's Notes: Okay, so I've been getting a lot of feedback on this (mostly on Sasame's tragic loss) and since every review wanted another chapter, I will try my hardest to post one. I will tell you that I am working on another Pretear fic much like Demented Ding's, (but not exactly, because that would be stealing!) It'll be more like just a weird Pretear world where Mawata takes Himeno's place. I haven't started it yet, I've been so busy with a whole slew of Final Fantasy fics and a poor attempt at an Azumanga Daioh fic, but it might be up by the time school starts again.
And on the second chapter for this one, I can't promise anything right now, because I want the second chapter to fit perfectly into this plot, you know, tragic and all.
On the case of Hayate's being mean to Himeno, I've only started watching Pretear on Anime Network On Demand, and on there, there are only episodes 1 and 2 (and now three!), and being too young to get a job (14) and having a mother who dislikes ordering off of the internet, I won't be able to see Hayate warm up to Himeno. So just pretend you know nothing about the story except for the first 2 episodes, and use this as the third! I'll try and make a fourth episode soon!