~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 22 : Losing you
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As a big thank you to all you readers, this chapter is dedicated to everyone of you, thank you all for making this story a big success!!! Arigatou YueMichiruNaragisawaMiko, tHE oNE aND oNLY nATSUME, DaBoring1, otaku_no_miko, chiri26, evening_twilight, NaTTiE, paws_bells, Eulene, Bonnie E, koneko j, Aharah Musici, azneoqueen09, Darkflare and last but not least, Novaburnheart. Arigatou gozaimasu!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tasuki :
I could feel my cheeks blushing as Hikari whispered those words into my ear.
Gently carrying her limp body, I jumped off the bed and laid her on it. I could hear Chichiri groan behind me as he tried to stand up.
Rushing to his side, I examined his burns. 'This is no good... If the burns don't get treated immediately, they're gonna leave scars behind...' I thought silently to myself.
"Chichiri, daijoubu ka?!" Tamahome asked as took big steps towards Chichiri. Chichiri nodded weakly. Blood was still oozing out from his wounds. Parts of his arm and shoulder had turned black, due to the intense heat of the flames. The wounds smelt like cooked meat.
"Hayaku! Get a physician quickly!!!!" I barked the order at Tamahome who immediately dashed out of the room.
Grabbing a clean bed sheet, I tore it into a strip. Using the strip of cloth, I gently wrapped it around Chichiri's wound. "Hopefully, this will stop the bleeding..." I told Chichiri.
There was no reply.
I looked up and gasped. "Chichiri! Oi! Wake up! Don't die on me!!!!!" I cried as I grabbed his arms and shook it, hoping that it would wake him up. "Chichiri! OI! OI!!!!!!!!"
The white strip of bandage had a large blotch of red stain on it. And it kept growing bigger...
"Chichiri!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To lose a best friend...
Someone so close...
A brother by destiny, a best friend by reality...
Brought together by fate...
And to lose that special someone...
Is like losing it all...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"CHICHIRI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Chichiri's hand that I was holding went limp and cold. So was the rest of his body.
I bit my lower lip. 'This can't be happening!' I screamed silently to myself. 'This is a dream man... A...'
'A...'
'Nightmare...'
I bowed my head in shame as I recalled those moments in which I was jealous of him, hated him...
And now, that same hatred was directed back at me. At my foolishness. What I fool I was!
My eyes began to stung. It was getting kind of watery too. I forced myself to smile. "This is a joke. I can't be... You can't be... I can't be crying... Must be some sort of dust in my eyes right, Chichiri?" I asked as a fake but soft laughter escaped from my lips.
"Ne, Chichiri?"
The only answer I received was the silence around us.
~~~~~~~~~~~THOUGHTS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At that moment, at that very spot...
There was only Chichiri and me...
Just two best friends...
One watching the other die...
At that very moment, I just wished that I could turn back time. Remove every single rude word that I've every said to him, every single hatred I felt towards him...
I wished that...
That...
There was only, you and me...
My best friend...
Chichiri...
~~~~~~~~END OF THOUGHTS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Narrator :
Tears rolled down Tasuki's cheeks freely like a wild river. A soft whimper escaped from his lips as the silent crying turned into a loud wail followed by violent sobbing. Like a lost little boy crying into the arms of his mother, Tasuki simply cried and buried into Chichiri's clothes.
Perhaps, if he was much more attentive, he would have seen Chichiri's fingers moving slightly before they became limp and still again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Suboshi stared at the medium sized crystal ball, waiting for a reply. Usually, around this time of night, he would be busy communicating with his brother. They had been using the crystal ball ever since Hikari gave it to them.
It was better than scribbling messages on their arms. Sometimes, they got nasty scratches as a result of communicating too long. The crystal ball also allowed both of them to see each other.
And best of all...
It couldn't break.
Suboshi spend about an hour everyday, dribbling, bouncing and slamming the crystal ball in his room. It was fun and helped to improve his hand and feet coordination.
Suboshi stared hard into the clear crystal again. His brother was late today. One thing Suboshi knew very well was that his Amiboshi was never late for anything in his whole entire life.
Unless...
Unless...
Suboshi felt a sharp pain in his chest. Suboshi winced in pain as he clamped a hand over his heart, clutching the clothing over it. Suboshi's breath became shallow and soon, he was panting and perspiring like a dog.
"The connection..." Suboshi whispered to himself. "It... It... It's broken..."
Suboshi collapsed onto the bed he was sitting on and immediately curled up into a ball. His eyes stung. "No, No way..." He knew what was going to happen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every passer-by ignored the two soiled kids who clutched and hugged each other for warmth.
The harsh winter wind blew violently, causing the two boys to shiver even more.
"Aniki," the younger twin said suddenly. The older one merely looked at him and smiled at him.
"Shhh... Don't talk. I know you're hungry. I promise you, tomorrow morning, I will find food for us."
Suboshi looked into his brother's eyes. He knew that finding fresh food was almost impossible in Kutou, a war torn land. Everything was destroyed by the war. All those that survived had grown up to be fierce, violent and over-protective of their belongings. No one wanted to give away even a slice of bread to two orphaned twins. And most of all, everyone who lived here seemed to have lost their heart.
In the harsh land of Kutou, there was only one rule.
The strong will live and the weak will die.
It was as simply that yet so hard to accomplish. All these months since the death of their parents, Suboshi had been relying on his brother as a pillar of support and strength, relying on his brother to say the right words that comforted his very soul.
It was just an act.
A stupid act, just Amiboshi putting on a brave front.
Like all older brothers did, he protected his younger sibling from any danger that they came across.
Suboshi couldn't stand the act any longer. He couldn't stand to see his brother give away his share of the mouldy bread just so that he could have more to eat, leaving poor Amiboshi starving. He couldn't stand seeing his brother getting hurt in his place.
And most importantly...
He couldn't stand being a burden.
Completely confused and upset, Suboshi began to cry. Amiboshi looked down at his brother who was crying into his tattered and torn shirt. "Suboshi!" Amiboshi said firmly.
Surprised at the harshness of his voice, Suboshi almost immediately stopped crying and looked up, tears still clinging onto his eyes for dear life.
Cupping Suboshi's face with his hands, Amiboshi then smiled apologetically. "Gomen. I didn't mean to scare you. I just want you to, promise me that, no matter what happens, no matter how hard life is, don't ever cry. I don't want to see you crying, period. Be strong, Suboshi. You don't want your future wife to marry such a weak husband, do you?" added Amiboshi teasingly.
Suboshi's cheeks flushed a bright pink. "Aniki hodoi!" Suboshi protested.
The two twins burst out laughing, all their sorrows lost in their warm and bright laughter.
Warm and bright, just like the sun...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~END OF FLASHBACKS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A small crystal clear tear rolled down his cheek. And another. And another. Pretty soon, Suboshi was softly crying to himself.
But being as childish as he was, Suboshi began wailing and screaming, thrashing his arms and legs wildly as he called out his brother's name. He knocked down a short lighted candle on his bed stand which went off abruptly. Suboshi grabbed a big fluffy white pillow and cried into it.
A big, soft fluffy pillow...
Suboshi tossed it away in disgust when it reminded on how soft and caring Amiboshi was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Of all things that could happen...
Of all the foolish, innocent lives that Fate could steal...
It just had to be you...
Aniki...
If I could, if I really could...
I'll die in your place instead. I really, really would.
I'll do anything, even sell my soul to the Devil himself, just to be with you again, even for a split second.
So please...
Forgive me.
Forgive me for breaking my promise...
Forgive me for crying...
I know you're there, somewhere, out there...
Watching me cry...
Like a scared little boy...
But believe me...
I'm a strong and grown man now...
And...
I've got you to thank for.
Thank you...
Thank you forever...
Thank you forever, aniki...
Thank you forever, aniki, for everything...
Thank you...
Aniki...
You'll always remain in my heart...
From cradle to grave...
We will always be brothers...
Forever and ever...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note :
Wow, kill off two birds in one stone!!! I killed off Amiboshi and Chichiri!!! I can't believe myself!!!!!!! Okay, I know, that was EXTREMELY cruel and harsh of me for them to die that way, but hey, since I updated late, I wanted to give all of you a good surprise as a compensation.
Readers : YOU CALL THAT COMPENSATION?!?!?!??!??!?! (All cry)
Metajoker : *Hides and duck for cover as readers throw rotten nikuman at her *
Disclaimer : If FY belonged to me, all the bishounens would be married to me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List of Japanese words :
Ne : Right? (Can be an attention getter as well)
Aniki hidoi : Aniki, you're mean!
Nikuman : Pork buns
Bishounens : Pretty boys
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 22 : Losing you
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As a big thank you to all you readers, this chapter is dedicated to everyone of you, thank you all for making this story a big success!!! Arigatou YueMichiruNaragisawaMiko, tHE oNE aND oNLY nATSUME, DaBoring1, otaku_no_miko, chiri26, evening_twilight, NaTTiE, paws_bells, Eulene, Bonnie E, koneko j, Aharah Musici, azneoqueen09, Darkflare and last but not least, Novaburnheart. Arigatou gozaimasu!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tasuki :
I could feel my cheeks blushing as Hikari whispered those words into my ear.
Gently carrying her limp body, I jumped off the bed and laid her on it. I could hear Chichiri groan behind me as he tried to stand up.
Rushing to his side, I examined his burns. 'This is no good... If the burns don't get treated immediately, they're gonna leave scars behind...' I thought silently to myself.
"Chichiri, daijoubu ka?!" Tamahome asked as took big steps towards Chichiri. Chichiri nodded weakly. Blood was still oozing out from his wounds. Parts of his arm and shoulder had turned black, due to the intense heat of the flames. The wounds smelt like cooked meat.
"Hayaku! Get a physician quickly!!!!" I barked the order at Tamahome who immediately dashed out of the room.
Grabbing a clean bed sheet, I tore it into a strip. Using the strip of cloth, I gently wrapped it around Chichiri's wound. "Hopefully, this will stop the bleeding..." I told Chichiri.
There was no reply.
I looked up and gasped. "Chichiri! Oi! Wake up! Don't die on me!!!!!" I cried as I grabbed his arms and shook it, hoping that it would wake him up. "Chichiri! OI! OI!!!!!!!!"
The white strip of bandage had a large blotch of red stain on it. And it kept growing bigger...
"Chichiri!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To lose a best friend...
Someone so close...
A brother by destiny, a best friend by reality...
Brought together by fate...
And to lose that special someone...
Is like losing it all...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"CHICHIRI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Chichiri's hand that I was holding went limp and cold. So was the rest of his body.
I bit my lower lip. 'This can't be happening!' I screamed silently to myself. 'This is a dream man... A...'
'A...'
'Nightmare...'
I bowed my head in shame as I recalled those moments in which I was jealous of him, hated him...
And now, that same hatred was directed back at me. At my foolishness. What I fool I was!
My eyes began to stung. It was getting kind of watery too. I forced myself to smile. "This is a joke. I can't be... You can't be... I can't be crying... Must be some sort of dust in my eyes right, Chichiri?" I asked as a fake but soft laughter escaped from my lips.
"Ne, Chichiri?"
The only answer I received was the silence around us.
~~~~~~~~~~~THOUGHTS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At that moment, at that very spot...
There was only Chichiri and me...
Just two best friends...
One watching the other die...
At that very moment, I just wished that I could turn back time. Remove every single rude word that I've every said to him, every single hatred I felt towards him...
I wished that...
That...
There was only, you and me...
My best friend...
Chichiri...
~~~~~~~~END OF THOUGHTS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Narrator :
Tears rolled down Tasuki's cheeks freely like a wild river. A soft whimper escaped from his lips as the silent crying turned into a loud wail followed by violent sobbing. Like a lost little boy crying into the arms of his mother, Tasuki simply cried and buried into Chichiri's clothes.
Perhaps, if he was much more attentive, he would have seen Chichiri's fingers moving slightly before they became limp and still again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Suboshi stared at the medium sized crystal ball, waiting for a reply. Usually, around this time of night, he would be busy communicating with his brother. They had been using the crystal ball ever since Hikari gave it to them.
It was better than scribbling messages on their arms. Sometimes, they got nasty scratches as a result of communicating too long. The crystal ball also allowed both of them to see each other.
And best of all...
It couldn't break.
Suboshi spend about an hour everyday, dribbling, bouncing and slamming the crystal ball in his room. It was fun and helped to improve his hand and feet coordination.
Suboshi stared hard into the clear crystal again. His brother was late today. One thing Suboshi knew very well was that his Amiboshi was never late for anything in his whole entire life.
Unless...
Unless...
Suboshi felt a sharp pain in his chest. Suboshi winced in pain as he clamped a hand over his heart, clutching the clothing over it. Suboshi's breath became shallow and soon, he was panting and perspiring like a dog.
"The connection..." Suboshi whispered to himself. "It... It... It's broken..."
Suboshi collapsed onto the bed he was sitting on and immediately curled up into a ball. His eyes stung. "No, No way..." He knew what was going to happen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every passer-by ignored the two soiled kids who clutched and hugged each other for warmth.
The harsh winter wind blew violently, causing the two boys to shiver even more.
"Aniki," the younger twin said suddenly. The older one merely looked at him and smiled at him.
"Shhh... Don't talk. I know you're hungry. I promise you, tomorrow morning, I will find food for us."
Suboshi looked into his brother's eyes. He knew that finding fresh food was almost impossible in Kutou, a war torn land. Everything was destroyed by the war. All those that survived had grown up to be fierce, violent and over-protective of their belongings. No one wanted to give away even a slice of bread to two orphaned twins. And most of all, everyone who lived here seemed to have lost their heart.
In the harsh land of Kutou, there was only one rule.
The strong will live and the weak will die.
It was as simply that yet so hard to accomplish. All these months since the death of their parents, Suboshi had been relying on his brother as a pillar of support and strength, relying on his brother to say the right words that comforted his very soul.
It was just an act.
A stupid act, just Amiboshi putting on a brave front.
Like all older brothers did, he protected his younger sibling from any danger that they came across.
Suboshi couldn't stand the act any longer. He couldn't stand to see his brother give away his share of the mouldy bread just so that he could have more to eat, leaving poor Amiboshi starving. He couldn't stand seeing his brother getting hurt in his place.
And most importantly...
He couldn't stand being a burden.
Completely confused and upset, Suboshi began to cry. Amiboshi looked down at his brother who was crying into his tattered and torn shirt. "Suboshi!" Amiboshi said firmly.
Surprised at the harshness of his voice, Suboshi almost immediately stopped crying and looked up, tears still clinging onto his eyes for dear life.
Cupping Suboshi's face with his hands, Amiboshi then smiled apologetically. "Gomen. I didn't mean to scare you. I just want you to, promise me that, no matter what happens, no matter how hard life is, don't ever cry. I don't want to see you crying, period. Be strong, Suboshi. You don't want your future wife to marry such a weak husband, do you?" added Amiboshi teasingly.
Suboshi's cheeks flushed a bright pink. "Aniki hodoi!" Suboshi protested.
The two twins burst out laughing, all their sorrows lost in their warm and bright laughter.
Warm and bright, just like the sun...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~END OF FLASHBACKS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A small crystal clear tear rolled down his cheek. And another. And another. Pretty soon, Suboshi was softly crying to himself.
But being as childish as he was, Suboshi began wailing and screaming, thrashing his arms and legs wildly as he called out his brother's name. He knocked down a short lighted candle on his bed stand which went off abruptly. Suboshi grabbed a big fluffy white pillow and cried into it.
A big, soft fluffy pillow...
Suboshi tossed it away in disgust when it reminded on how soft and caring Amiboshi was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Of all things that could happen...
Of all the foolish, innocent lives that Fate could steal...
It just had to be you...
Aniki...
If I could, if I really could...
I'll die in your place instead. I really, really would.
I'll do anything, even sell my soul to the Devil himself, just to be with you again, even for a split second.
So please...
Forgive me.
Forgive me for breaking my promise...
Forgive me for crying...
I know you're there, somewhere, out there...
Watching me cry...
Like a scared little boy...
But believe me...
I'm a strong and grown man now...
And...
I've got you to thank for.
Thank you...
Thank you forever...
Thank you forever, aniki...
Thank you forever, aniki, for everything...
Thank you...
Aniki...
You'll always remain in my heart...
From cradle to grave...
We will always be brothers...
Forever and ever...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note :
Wow, kill off two birds in one stone!!! I killed off Amiboshi and Chichiri!!! I can't believe myself!!!!!!! Okay, I know, that was EXTREMELY cruel and harsh of me for them to die that way, but hey, since I updated late, I wanted to give all of you a good surprise as a compensation.
Readers : YOU CALL THAT COMPENSATION?!?!?!??!??!?! (All cry)
Metajoker : *Hides and duck for cover as readers throw rotten nikuman at her *
Disclaimer : If FY belonged to me, all the bishounens would be married to me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List of Japanese words :
Ne : Right? (Can be an attention getter as well)
Aniki hidoi : Aniki, you're mean!
Nikuman : Pork buns
Bishounens : Pretty boys
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~