[Shinjiru Mono]

shinjiru mono – something/someone that one believes in

[Chapter 2] Oikake

C H A S E

"Here."

A vial of blue liquid.

"Are you going to take it or not? First time I'm giving things out for free, okay?"

Refreshment. Salvation. And the bittersweet taste of the concoction.

"Are you sure... I don't need to pay?"

Was it... me talking?

A sudden flash before my eyes. The church, festive decorations. A wedding?

"Bridal Gown I'm selling at a cheap 40,000z! Come on, buy! It's much cheaper than in that ghastly shop they have here. No? You want more discount?"

"A little... cheaper? Please?"

"I've really gone as low as I can! Please, if I go any lower I'll be upsetting my guild mates – 38,000? Good enough?"

A discussion? Familiar faces which were blurred. Voices echoed around. A smile. More smiles.

They were happy. And seeing them happy made me happy.

Who were they though?

Another flash. My eyes were fuzzy. Static. Was it due to the flash just now?

"Kasumi! Move! I'm going to cast a spell so MOVE!!!"

Who? Me? Move? Why? I can't move. My legs are frozen on the spot.

"LORD OF VERMILLION!"

"KASUMI!!!"

Who was it? Who was calling my name? The voice sounded familiar.So distant, so strange, and yet so familiar. An embrace, a moment of turning around.

"I'm not going to let you get hurt..."

Another flash.

Messy silver hair, lavender eyes...

Tetsu?

He turns away. Walks away.

Wait. Don't go.

Don't go yet... I need to say sorry. I need to explain!

"TETSU!!!"

I must have shouted that out loud as I sat upright in a bed, breathing ragged, sweat dripping from my brow, my throat hoarse. A dream? A nightmare? I sighed, wiping the sweat from my brow, allowing a few breaths for my breathing to slow down, to its normal pace.

A strange dream indeed. I sighed, and looked around the room, thinking as my eyes scanned it. What was the dream about again? It seemed so important, like there was something in it I needed to remember, but it was all foggy now. I hated dreams like this. They always managed to get me confused.

Well, that was strange. I don't remember my room having curtains like that. I don't have a table like that, and my cupboard is not that large. It suddenly dawned on me.

This wasn't my room.

I would have screamed if I had the energy, or if the door didn't click open and someone's head peek in. "You're awake? Thank god you're awake. We thought you died or something."

"Huh?"

A warm mug was thrust into my hands even before I had the time to react, and large lavender eyes stared at me anxiously. I blinked. "Uhmm..."

"Yes?" The eyes went away, further, as the person straightened up and tossed a stray strand of violet hair over her shoulders. "I'm always open for questions!"

"Who are you? Where am I?"

"Ooh. Straight to the point. I like people like you, now if only my students could be like that..." The stranger muttered to herself, before smiling at me. "I'm Yorashi, a Sage, and you're in my house in the city of Juno." She beamed, and put her hands on her hips. "Well, that means Kou's potions worked! I just have to tell him the good news" She did a slight dance, which was rather scary since she was definitely older than Minte, and Minte never danced like that, and waltzed out of the door, leaving me sitting in bed holding on blankly to the mug she gave me.

I stared at the contents of the cup. It looked like the hot chocolate Minte used to make for me during the winter nights. I looked out of the window, though it was definitely more of spring-summer than winter now. I took a sip, swallowing the warm liquid. It tasted quite pleasant, though Minte made better hot chocolate...

I shook my head. Now wasn't the time to think that. I had to be glad I was saved, moreover by strangers. My clothes were draped over the chair near the study table, and my weapon and books were placed tidily on the table. The rest of the table, however, was chaotic.

Not that I had any right to question a person's private life, but this was one mad woman. The table was piled high with books, and an ink pot remained uncovered, the pen still dipped in it and an unfinished book still wide open, the black words on the pages staring back at me.

Finishing the last of the liquid, I slipped off the bed, noting vaguely that I was wearing some sort of a tunic – a simple brown full dress skirt which reached my knees, with a white cotton blouse beneath it. Hoping that it was Yorashi and no one else who changed for me, I looked around the room. The furniture was simple and practical, nothing too fancy, but not too poor or anything. I walked around the room taking in my surroundings while butterflies danced in my stomach.

I had forgotten something.

Omigosh Tetsu!

I made a dash for the door, about to demand where Tetsu was when Yorashi opened it, nearly making me lose a nose in return for a very very flat one. "Where's Tetsu?"

Yorashi looked rather taken aback – though it would have been my nose, not hers if I werent' careful – and blinked, "Tetsu? Oh, do you mean the male Blacksmith you were with? He's in the room next door and-..."

Without waiting for her to finish her sentence, I pushed past her and crashed right into the door, throwing it open.

"Whoa. Shh. Silence! Patient resting, geeze Yo-chan, how many times do I have to tell you..." The guy paused mid-sentence, blinking at me. "Oh, sorry. Not Yorashi? Ahehehe... You're awake? That's good, and please, take a deep breath, and count to ten"

Was this guy loony? I raised an eyebrow at him and him beamed back at me. Fine. I give up. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5678910! "Tetsu? Where's Tetsu?"

The guy flinched, motioning for me to keep quiet. I could understand that, but now wasn't exactly the time to tell me to keep quiet. He motioned to the bed.

Something caught in my throat. "What... happened to him?"

"A few broken ribs, fractured arm, mild concussion... but all that's okay, I mean, after sleeping for three days under the care of us he'll definitely be okay..."

I let out a sigh of relief.

"Wait a minute, three days? Have I been asleep that long?"

"No, you were asleep for four days. This guy here was the one who dragged you all the way to our doorstep to ask for help. We aren't really outdoor people, so we couldn't have found both of you if he didn't come..."

"Oh..." I paused, wondering how I was to continue the conversation. So long as Tetsu was okay.

"But, all those aren't a problem compared to the fever he's going down with... It seems like he had had it for a few days but neglected taking medication so it's terribly high now... None of my potions seem to be working..."

It was as if the happiness sunk right down into the pit of my stomach. Something cold took its place as I could nearly taste vile in my throat. "How bad... is the fever?"

"I don't' know." He shook his head, "But he's not waking up and his breathing is shallow and I think it's only a matter of time for his heart to fail."

"Wha-what do you mean by that? Do you mean he's going to die?!"

"I'm not cursing him, I'm an optimist. But with a fever like that, neglecting medication for five days and getting an injury like that... It isn't very... bright."

I had never felt like this before. Oh, if I saw someone reacting like this last time I would have laughed and made a really sarcastic comment but now that I was feeling like this... it wasn't that funny. I would have dropped to the ground if someone didn't support me from behind.

"You look like you've had a tough day girl, come on... Let's have a snack outside?" I think it was Yorashi though I couldn't bother to look at her. Her voice was comforting though, and she dragged me out of the door, the guy there smiling an apologetic smile at me as the door closed.

Tetsu...!


"Kou and I are still trying to come up with a potion that will work for him, you see..." Yorashi explained over the biscuits which tasted much better than they looked, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose as she leafed through a rather thick book. It looked thicker than the bible and that scared me.

"People usually use Holy Water as treatment for Fevers and Colds, and most of the time it stops the sickness from getting any worse... Because of that hardly anyone has written down a cure for high fever..."

I nibbled on the biscuit lightly, and could only nod as Yorashi continued.

"I'm not a science person, I specialize more in reading, writing and studying nature and its elements... So I'm helping Kou with his research needed to make that potion. We hope we can finish it on time of course..." She stopped, biting on to her tongue.

I knew what she meant. If they could finish the potion before Tetsu... Died. No wonder her table was so messy, she was trying to find a potent cure for fever. So she wasn't mad. If I had the ability to do so I would have done so too.

She looked up over the rim of her glasses, "Now don't you worry too much, no matter how ragged we look, Kou and I are one of the most prized scholars of Juno... No information escapes my hands and there is no potion Kou can't brew... All you have to worry about now is to get your body back to normal, because we're going to be depending on you to look after that young guy while we mix up the potion..."

I nodded again. "Is it okay if I... go and rest?"

She nodded, hardly looking up from her book now, and I crept away just as Kou entered the small but cosy dining room. "How's the research going?"

"This might help... Here, this one..."

The reassuring click of the door's lock comforted me, and I did the one thing I would have never done last time, and would have never imagined myself doing.

I hugged the bible, held on to the rosary...

...And prayed.

Don't let him die. Please.

It was as if all bad thoughts about him were forgotten. Like suddenly him liking money didn't matter. I don't know why, but it was a sudden thought. It was as if, suddenly that sentence he said didn't matter. Nothing mattered now. He had become like this because of me.

And I was feeling bad because of that.

Only because of that?

...Only because of that.


"...Just in case he starts flailing around in his sleep, here's the medication. Remember to change the water in this basin once it starts getting warm... Oh, and if there is anything really serious you can't cope with, feel free to shout – it isn't a good idea to run into the Atelier while we're brewing something..."

I nodded, determined not to mess up this time as Kou ran around the room, collecting various bottles and boxes of ingredients and what not.

"We'll do our best. Hopefully this potion will help. So you will do your best to look after him, okay?" Yorashi patted me on the head. I disliked being patted on the head, but if it was her, it was fine. Just like I could take Minte patting me on the head, Yorashi seemed to settle right in, and I accepted her. It's hard not to accept someone who has offerered you hospitality and looked after you for more than 4 days, trying to cheer you up.

Kou was a great guy too, and though it was hard to compare him with Fubuki since they were completely different, he was just about as nice. He could cook too, I supposed Alchemists would be able to cook (according to him cooking is a type of chemistry), but the food he cooked... tasted better – much better – than they looked.

I have to admit it was better than the things Yorashi attempted to cook. Keywords being "things" and "attempted". I helped with a few days' meals, though I could only make simple things since I didn't really have to cook in church.

I told myself at least I was not dying of hunger. I think that cheered me up enough.

The door closed behind them as Yorashi and Kou stumbled out with piles of books, bottles, and ingredients in their arms (I was surprised they could even close the door like that) and looked to Tetsu.

They were working hard. I had to do my part too.

People would have laughed if I told them I had no experience whatsoever in looking after the sick. If only I were like Minte, then I would have known what to do in situations like this... But the Guild Quests I did never involved taking care of sick people in case I worsened their health, so now, all I had were instructions in my head.

Now the problem was to put words into actions – which is basically one of the hardest things in the world.

I stared helplessly at the cloth in the basin, but bit down on my lip. Now wasn't the time to feel helpless! I took up the cloth and wringed it before placing it on Tetsu's forehead. Now that didn't look right. I frowned, scratching my cheek, took the cloth up, pushed his messy fringe out of the way, gave his forehead a wipe-over, and lay the cloth across.

I stood back, satisfied. Good. I think I was picking this up rather quickly...

He groaned, and I nearly jumped ten feet up into the air. (Though at this point I couldn't, since a few feet above me was the ceiling, and that obstructed me from making it up to ten feet...) Silence followed, and he remained silent, no more sounds coming from him. I sighed in relief, wondering about what I was going to do if he suddenly started flailing. How would you actually feed someone medication when he was flailing?

Perhaps that was a question not to be answered.

"...kasumi..."

"Uwa?" I looked around the room. No one. Who called my name?

"...Do you... hate me that much?"

Well, Kasumi the genius, I suppose it didn't take you too long to realise that it was Tetsu speaking.

I knew there was something wrong with my brain. Now I was even talking to myself. Shrugging the thought off, I looked over to Tetsu. He didn't really look that awake to be talking, so I suppose he must have been talking in his sleep. Either that, or he was going delusional.

"... I don't hate you. I can't. I just..."

Whoa. Now I was talking to someone sleeping?

Forget that.

I just what? Did I really hate him? Or was I being stubborn and close-minded to curse him instead of bless? If I gave him the right blessings... then this wouldn't have happened. I know I didn't like people who thought that money was everything, but yet...

Who was I to interfere in their personal rights? Was it even my business to correct them? Who said they were wrong anyway?

Maybe money is important. It may not be everything to me, but I have to admit no one can really live without it, and still lead a comfortable life.

I pulled a chair over and sat down next to him, taking off the cloth – which was now luke warm – and running it through the cold water in the basin, nearly shivering myself. Yorashi had produced a few ice blocks with her Cold Bolt and just took the water she produced with her Deluge spell and mixed them together in a basin. I have to admit it was a very useful idea. But this was too cold...

Idiot, the point is to make him colder. If his body overheats his organs will start to fail, remember?

I nodded to myself. Indeed, Kou had said something about cells being able to work at their best only in certain body temperatures. Any higher or lower and they wouldn't work as well. Tetsu was a burning 42 degrees now.

I pushed away his fringe again, and gave his forehead a thorough mop. I didn't know if he was getting better or not, but he gritted his teeth at the contact of the cloth. Maybe having a reaction was good, but I was nevertheless jumpy. I dunked the cloth into the cold water again, feeling my hands go numb, and placed the cloth at his neck. He groaned. Must have been a terrible feeling, ice-cold against burning hot. But I supposed it would work.

Wash, rinse and repeat. (Cheesy pun...)

Only after a few minutes of busying myself with mopping him up – he was sweating afterall – did I place the cloth back across his forehead. Then, with nothing to do, I leant back in the chair and looked at him. "You idiot."

Not that I was expecting a reply from him. I just suddenly had the urge to scold him that. "Why didn't you take your medication when you had so much time? It wasn't like we were talking at night or anything... Tetsu you... idiot..."

...............

"...sumi...? Kasumi? KASUMI!"

"Yes? What? Who? Where?" I shot up, nearly crashing into Yorashi's concerned face.

"You fell asleep... We got worried so we called you up."

"I fell asleep!?" I 'eep'ed, "God forgive me I shouldn't have-..."

"It's alright, it's alright" Kou reassured, "I mean, it's way past midnight, we don't blame you for sleeping. And besides, you did a great job of looking after the dude here..."

I blinked at him. "The 'dude'?" I raised an eyebrow, and he replied with a laugh,

"The potion seems to be working though, his fever seems to have receaded..."

I felt my face ache slightly as my mouth pulled up into an unbelieving smile. Perhaps it was aching because I had been unsmiling for the past few days, but this was... exaggerated. It did ache though, a dull ache compared to the sudden joy which rose in me. I didn't get why I was so happy – I suppose it was the feeling of being released from the guilt of having Tetsu die for me.

"He will be up tomorrow I suppose... So you can go and have a good rest. Kou and I will take turns looking after him." Yorashi nodded at me, "Oh, and there's a mug of hot chocolate on the table there... drink that before you sleep."

I looked to the table, then back at the two, "Actually, I feel that both of you should take a good rest. I mean, you have been working all day with the potion and what not. I have been sleeping for a few hours, let me stay and look after him."

Kou opened his mouth to say something, but I cut in, trying to sound as authorative as possible, "Your hair is tousled, your shirt crumpled, and Yorashi-san will have black circles around her eyes soon. Go. And. Rest."

Kou stared at me, mouth still open, and let out an amused chuckle. "This is the first time someone younger talked to me like that." Yorashi joined in with her giggle, and I raised an eyebrow,

"So? Are both of you going to rest?"

"Yes, yes... We'll leave the 'dude' to you, Kasumi dear..." Yorashi smiled, and dragged Kou out of the room, "Remember to drink the hot chocolate"

"Yes!" I called after her.

She shut the door, and I could hear Kou's protest vaguely, "What? Me on the couch again? Awww Yo-chaaaan..."

I looked at Tetsu for a moment. Yes, he did seem better. His shallow breathing had slowed down, and wasn't forced, his face was more relaxed, rid of that frown and grimace of pain he wore just a few hours ago. "Thank you God..."

For answering my prayers. I took the mug from the table and took a sip of the hot chocolate. It was still warm. It still didn't taste as good as the one Minte made, but somehow, somehow, it had a slightly different, yet still equally pleasant taste to it.


I awoke the next morning, by some sort of a crash in the kitchen, and then a shout.

"Yo-chan! You're going to blow up the kitchen!"

"It's alright! It's alright! I have it under control!!!"

"You're going to flood it like that! Stop!!!"

"Would it be better if I did the cooking?"

"No! Definitely not! How can we ask our guest to cook? Yo-chan! Don't!!!"

It was definitely chaotic, and I stood up, only to realise I was pulling the covers off the bed as I did so. Somehow I had fallen asleep resting my head on the side of the bed. I yawned, stretched, and rubbed my eyes. How long have I slept? I didn't seem to remember, or notice the change in time.

Still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I stumbled out into the kitchen, where Yorashi was seemingly trying to put out the fire with her Deluge spell, and Kou was desperately trying to hold her back before a bucket of water doused the flames.

"Oh wow."

"If you depend too much on magic, it's going to be your downfall, sister."

Kou laughed, "Well, that was a solution we would have never thought of... a bucket of water... hm... Oh, are you sure you're okay to walk around and carry buckets of water?"

"Of course I am." I turned to see Tetsu, looking rather offended, arms crossed and looking extremely normal. I would have squeaked, but my pride didn't allow me to do that. Instead, I took the time to thank God. I didn't believe in Him, of course. But as Tetsu said, so long as something good happened due to a certain thing, he would accept it.

I guess I had to accept God for a while.

Yorashi sighed, pocketing her elemental stones. "So much for my spell practise-..."

"Yo-chan, you are not to use any of your elemental arena spells anymore. I repeat..."

"I get the point I get the point..." Yorashi waved Kou off, and he returned the action with a glare of disapproval.

"Well, I hope that has doused your enthusiasm to cook. I'll cook."

"And frighten poor Tetsu here with your food presentation? I don't think so."

"At least it'll taste better..."

I stared, amused at the pair. They definitely didn't seem to be the types to 'bicker', but I suppose it was just because they were busy the past few days. Maybe they were relaxing now, and that was why they could argue with each other in such a friendly fashion.

"Ehm... Actually, I think it'll be better if I cook...?"

The pair turned to Tetsu almost simultaneously, "No. You've just barely recovered!"

"Hey, chill..." Tetsu held his hands up, grinning, "A bit of exercise is always needed for someone who has just recovered, right?"

Kou sighed, "I should have never told you that."

"It's only cooking..." Tetsu pleaded, almost seeming like a puppy as he looked from Yorashi to Kou. "Please? I feel I need to repay both of you in someway..."

Yorashi sighed, and looked to Kou, who shrugged and nodded. "We'll be outside, so if anything happens, just give a call... Kasumi-chan, would you kindly keep an eye on him so as to guarantee my kitchen safe from anymore disasters?"

I laughed, and nodded to Kou. Tetsu nodded to me and grinned as he rolled up his sleeves. "Well, let's get breakfast on the table!"

I was in awe as I watched Tetsu expertly cracked eggs and prepared pancakes, tossing them around in a frying pan that almost seemed too small to actually safely catch fried egg or pancake. The time he took was amazingly short as he transferreed egg and pancake from the frying pan to a plate, and proceeded to decorate the plate with spices, sauces and tomato ketchup.

Yorashi and Kou took to the same reaction as me as Tetsu brought out the plates, beaming proudly as they stared at the delicacy.

"You can do that with eggs? Gosh..."

Kou poked the fried egg with his fork before trying it, "To be precise – you can make an egg taste like this?"

"Don't fuel his ego." I cut in, and smiled as I popped a piece of pancake into my mouth. "Though I have to say it tastes great."

Tetsu beamed even more – if that was possible – "I believe that craftsmanship isn't only restricted to my workbench."

"I shall quote you next time." Kou nodded seriously, after swallowing his mouthful of eggs.

"If you can ever making your dishes works of art," Yorashi mocked. Kou pouted. It was a strange thing to see a grown man pout, but in Kou's case, it almost seemed right.

"By the way, Tetsu." Kou looked up from his plate, suddenly serious. "Why did you neglect taking medication?"

The table suddenly fell silent, and I looked to Tetsu, who kept his eyes trained on the plate.

Silence. More silence. So much silence it was almost uncomfortable as I wriggled in my seat. It seemed to take a long time for Tetsu to react, almost as if he was thinking if he had ought to say it,

"Would you laugh if I told you I sold my medication off for 160z each?"

What?

I dropped my fork and stared at him. He looked away from me, and Kou frowned,

"I don't actually get that..."

"The Holy Water the church gave me the day I went to ask them for medication... I sold the 5 bottles at 160z each."

It took a while for everything to sink in.

Then, almost as if I wasn't Kasumi Lightwater anymore, just someone watching from the side, everything played out in front of me.

Kasumi slammed the table, and stood up, eyes enraged, "You sold your medication to us?! How could you! It's so important and you SOLD it to US?! TO DRINK!?"

"I was debating on that – on whether or not to give it to you guys... I was feeling dizzy that day so I just had to drink it... But drinking water in front of everyone when they were so thirsty just seemed so wrong..." Tetsu started quietly as Kasumi stared at him, eyes on fire and breathing ragged. "I... That time I decided my fever didn't matter anymore. I couldn't let my party members die so I... sold it to them. I would have given it out for free, honestly... but I... I felt bad too. It was like everything came out conflicted..."

Yorashi nodded for him to continue as Kou handed Kasumi a cup of water.

"I... didn't want to give the water away, yet I felt obliged to... so to make myself feel better... I sold it to them... at 100,000z each. I know everyone was mad, I wasn't stupid... I gave out the bottles and then I started to feel bad... It was as they said – 'Daylight robbery' and 'looting while the town's on fire'... So I decided to return most of the money to them... and took 800z out of the 500,000z..."

At this point, Kasumi sunk down to her seat, eyes watering. Right at that moment something clicked, and I was Kasumi again.

"Am I... stupid?"

Kou smiled thinly, ruffling Tetsu's hair. "No. I think it's brave for you to have done that. Not many could have given away life-saving medicine like that."

"I didn't give it away willingly. I asked for money."

"I think that is still very brave. I would have asked for more, if that potion was the only thing that could save me." Kou sighed and scratched the back of his head, "There's nothing to blame yourself for... This is because we're humans. That's why. None of us can really and truly risk everything for others for no price in return."


"You guys were headed for Glast Heim?"

"Yep, but it seemed like we got lost and went to Juno instead..." Tetsu chewed on his dinner – once more made by himself. I had calmed down, somehow, after Yorashi took me out on a walk (which was definitely a rare thing for her, since we ended up getting lost) and Tetsu had somehow or another gotten over his problems after a long talk with Kou.

Then came dinner, almost immediately to me.

"And the rest are most probably there already, since we've stopped for at least six days..." Tetsu sighed, "I hope they aren't waiting... Kasumi and I will probably have to move off tomorrow to look for them..."

I nodded, and chewed on the chicken leg slowly.

Yorashi and Kou exchanged glances, and smiled. "Actually, we have a portal in Juno that sends people direct to Glast Heim."

"Really?"

"Are you sure?"

Tetsu and I reacted at the same time, and Yorashi nodded,

"The scholars at Juno are also very concerned about Glast Heim and the things going on inside it lately, so they have a portal that sends anyone directly to Glast Heim."

"Can we use it though?" I asked, finishing the last of my chicken, "I thought it would be like, out of bounds or anything."

"It would be for normal people," Kou grinned, "But when it's Yorashi and I you're talking about, it's a completely different thing. Finish up your dinner and we'll take you guys to the portal now."

Yorashi nodded, "I don't mean to sound like I'm chasing you out, but as you have said your party members are probably waiting for both of you, and they might just give up on waiting if you arrive a day later..."

Tetsu and I nodded, agreeing.

"Besides, it's not completely dark out now, the sun has not yet set, so it will be safe for both of your to leave..."

We both nodded, and Tetsu stood up, holding his glass up high. "For Rune Midgard, the greater Gods, for Kou and for Yorashi for helping us."

I smiled, and followed suit.

Yorashi looked embarrassed, but did so just as Kou laughed and held up his cup.

"Cheers!"

It didn't take both of us long to change out of our clothes and collect our belongings, and Yorashi and Kou took us to a large building. Judging from the respect the people there showed them, I was quite sure some very famous, well known, and respected people had saved us and looked after us.

Kou and Yorashi opened a large door rimmed with gold and red, and we followed them in. It was a large room, very well built, probably by some famous architect. The pillars were large and made of white marble, and the curtains that were draped from them looked like velvet or silk. In the middle of the room was a large stone platform, with intricate patterns carved upon it.

Kou nodded to us, "Just stand in that circle there, Yorashi and I will send you over..."

Tetsu nodded to me, and we walked up to the platform.

"Yorashi-san, Kou-san... Thank you so much. Really." I nodded to them, and they smiled back.

"You're welcome."

"We'll meet again soon! I promise!" Tetsu called out just as the distinct white sparkles started building up around us.

"Of course we will! At your wedding, right?" Yorashi giggled.

"Wedding?" I blinked. "What wedding?"

"What? You guys aren't a couple?"

Kou's grin was blocked out by white light which seemed to beam upward around us.

"NO!!!" Tetsu shouted. I don't think he wanted to shout, but the beams to us already looked like walls.

"TAKE CARE! TETSU, DON'T OVERWORK YOURSELF! YOUR BODY IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH YET!!!"

"I KNOW!!!"

"YORASHI-SAN! KOU-SAN! TAKE CARE!!!"

"GOODBYE!!!"

"GOODBYE!!!!!!"

I shouted until my throat was hoarse. This seemed to be the second farewell I was saying to people whom I felt were my friends and my family. Maybe, without knowing it, I didn't want to leave them. Maybe, without knowing it, I had gotten attatched.

I would miss them.

Something dribbled out of the corner of my eye.

[Owari]

Author Notes::

I am slowly losing my grip on the plot. I suppose since this started merely as a time-killer for me – to be able to do something other than play RO – during my summer holidays, I had planned to just get on with something and try to come up with a nice fluffy romance story that will make everyone happy. And so I lost my grip on the plot. This is... I guess, a chapter meant to fill up the ol' Tetsu plothole. My friend pointed out that it made no sense what with him charging so much then suddenly taking away very little money, and also for him to be carrying Holy Water around... so... Eh, I know that in the game you don't really use Holy Water to heal fever (because, afterall, the sprites don't get sick...), so I just made that up with no backup... Pardon me for doing that.

Oh, and a random note: Has anyone else got the feeling of seeing everything in third person when they get really mad and upset and just flare up? It happened to me once - however strange that might sound - so I did it to Kasumi... Now I'm starting to wonder if I am making any sense...

I have long finished this story before slowly uploading the chapters up onto so I have to admit that I gave it a rather cheesy end.

Other than Kou and Yorashi – who are both characters created out of nowhere, and thus don't really need to be mentioned or creditted (I guess) – I think I didn't introduce anymore characters, so I'll save this little bit of space for a bit of author blabbering.

Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed. Though the number of reviews I received were not much compared to some of my other fics, I am surprised that this story that I wrote just to kill time could receive this much. I'd like to thank everyone who read it too, including my friends who kept forcing me to write on (this is, afterall, the first time I have finished writing a story).

As my english teacher had once mentioned, I simply lack in organizing paragraphs, and I make certain sentences a little too choppy and over-emphasized. If my writing has ever given anyone difficulty breathing (Yes, my best friend complained about having problems breathing while reading some of my stories...) I hereby apologize. At times I may use the wrong word, or compose a sentence in a way that some people might feel strange, since my brain thinks in Japanese, English and Chinese. Apologies to that too.

I've still a long way to go to improve my writing, so I hope that everyone can drop me a line on how to improve.

Thanks! Enough blabbering from me...