One More Chance
By: Lakija X
Author's Notes:
Some familiar friends are coming to visit!!! I hope that you will like them!!!
Ayane enjoys "interacting" with the readers, so you have been warned: she's a bit cuckoo… JK!
So sorry for the delay!!!
Ayane-chan is some girl, and she's come across a beautiful man! Who could it be? G'head! You can guess!
-Lakija X)
Ayane:
Chapter Six: My Love
Well, well… hi there. You all know me, of course. Kiryu Ayane. And I know you… of course. Lovely future reviewers… I was busy… but I can like, take some time for you. So let's continue.
I saw Mio collapsing. I had all her stuff, but it was very heavy, so I threw it to the exit of the cavern. A couple of things fell out, like a picie of Mutsu-chan, and an ugly pinwheel. Well… not that ugly… it was a little cute… actually. I grabbed it, and tucked it into my obi.
Anyway, I tried to grab the picie, but it softly floated into the abyss…oops… ;;
I shook my head, and forgot about it. Looking back at the scattered articles near the exit, I ran toward little Mio-chan, but she was being lifted into the air. I jumped up to try and catch her, but, you now, I was rusty.
My hands barely touched her skirt. Coming down lightly, I snapped my finger, and grabbed her camera… The Kusabi lowered Mio-chan into some kind of white orb. I still don't know, to this day, whether that was a bad thing… or a good thing…
Then, I realized that I had THE camera… THE VEERY camera that I got killed by so many freakin' times…
Ooh, the power!!! The POWAAAHHH!!
I snapped a picture of the abyss to try it out. Oh, that was fun! Clickin' the shutter and all that… Oooh, let's take another, but of moi!
I just have to tell you. I was really the world's first model. Janice Dickinson… well, see, I got killed, you know? But I was modeling way before her. The camera loves me!
I started to snap the shutter again, when, somehow, with all of my genius, I made something happen! The abyss groaned. It made lots of eerie noises. Cool…
It glowed a pretty white, pure light. I almost knew what was happening, but I didn't believe it till I saw it:
People floating out of the big hole! Whoa!
Mutsuki-chan, Azami-chan, and all of the other Sacrificed. All of them wore their ceremonial robes. All of them pure poetry. Their serene faces were beaming down on me. All eyes gazed at me happily, but Mutsuki-chan's. He, alone, was still trapped. Oh, poor baby…
The others grew red glowing wings, and flew upwards, to become red dragons within the heavens. Sae was gone with Yankou, and who knows why she didn't go through this with Mutsu-chan…
I got excited after they left. I'd found Mutsu! Aww! I'm so smart, right?
I couldn't reach him either though. Aww man!
I rubbed my chin, wondering how to get him without, A., looking at the abyss, or B., falling in. I had looked at the stupid hole in the ground through the lens, but maybe that didn't count… : P
Anyway, I just decided that maybe if Mr. Evil Man was dead, I could get Mutsuki-chan, Mio-chan, and jet. So without further ado, I Ayame, shall tell you about how I slayed the DEMON!
Dan dan DAAAAAAAAAAH! SUSPENSE!!!
So anyway, I went looking for "THE MAN!" The man being, the Kusabi! Ha ha! It didn't take long. He had a stinky stench to him. And whoa! Was his hair easy to spot! So, I snapped a picture of him. I waited for him to yell, and run for me, so that I could use my super ninja skills!
BUT!!! There's always a but somewhere.
But…he, uh, appeared to have been, how do you say…"softened up a bit" already?
He just… kinda… fell over? Yeah…
As he did so, he grabbed Mio-chan out of the orb, and threw her at Mutsuki-chan. Wow! A future baseball player! Huh, huh?! As she got there, the orb went around her. And as that happened, Mutsuki-chan got him an orb thingy too. And as he got one, the Kusabi started to convulse…
What were these orb thingies? What were they for? What are their molecular structures like? Find out on the next episode of NOVA, because I sure as heck don't know!
Anyway…
A bright light streamed through his chest, as if he was being ripped apart from the inside. I closed my eyes as he was being devoured by the light. I didn't need to see such mayhem… well, maybe a bit…
Still waiting… oh GOSH!!! YOU SHOULD HAVE HEARD THAT! OH MY GOODNESS IS THAT STUFF SO GROSS!!! GOD, WHAT IS THAT SOUND!? WOW!!! HE SOUNDS LIKE HE'S IN PAIN!!!
Still waiting…
Ah!!! Here we are. Just as he was finished being killed, I opened my eyes again. Whoa was that something! Did you see it?
Did you see the blood and bone gushing all…
Oh, no… you didn't actually… sorry…
Anyway, I looked for anything. Everything was the same… except that the whole place was absorbed in a bright white void, and a man was lying on the ground. Oh…
At that moment… I walked very, very, veeeeeeeeeery slowly toward him.
His soft black hair was messy. His original clothing was on him, not a kimono, or anything… And no. There was not blood spattered everywheres.
He stirred, and eventually, he awoke before I had reached him. I simply looked at the man, and immediately knew who he was. No scars on his face, no rope marks or anything. Just him… I didn't know who he was!… So don't ask!
"Makabe-san… I know it's you…"
Uh…? I lied?
QUOTE:
"… I didn't know who he was!… So don't ask!"
END QUOTE
"Ayane… is that… you?"
His nice sounded frightened, but I knew that he wasn't really afraid of me.
"Yes, Makabe-san. It's me…"
CUTCUTCUTCUT!!!!!
Okay… I'm not nearly that sweet… so here's the deal:
Seijiro is my friend. Aso-san's friend. He and I were quite fond of each other back then. I tried to help him escape, but I couldn't. I felt terrible for not being able to. Did something go on between us… of course not!
TAKE TWO!! SNAP
"Seijiro!!! Seijiro!!!"
I ran to the man.
He looked surprised, but he caught me when I jumped over to him. He started smiling and laughing.
"Ayane-chan! Oh, I missed you… who would have thought… that so much would happen from a trip, doing research…?"
Nothing happened… 'cept he got turned into an evil spirit…
"OH yes! I was so sad when they took you away… I knew that you were an innocent man, but I couldn't save you…"
I started to cry. He is sooooooo dreamy.
Seijiro rubbed my hair, lowering his head to kiss my cheek… then my lips…
I stayed kissing him for a mere minute and a half, but afterward, he smiled at me.
"I have to go now. I love you. But I want you to be happy, so do not toil thinking about me, okay?"
I felt a tear drop from my eye. Well… he was dead, after all…
I nodded my head, and threw my arms around him one more time, kissing his cheek over and over.
QUOTE:
"Did something go on between us… of course not!"
END QUOTE
The white light in the void started to become more intense, until it covered everything! My beautiful genius got us out of the Hellish Abyss. I know. I give out lessons now. What is that called? A teacher or something…?
When I awoke, I was in the lush green woods of some sort
. I looked around, and spotted Mio in the distance, sitting on a super duper old bench, crying silently.
A quaint little bridge adorned a beautiful brook. A plaque on a nearby tree told me of its name:
The Bridge of Youth and Good Fortune
I saw a house in the distance… but it also looked old and deserted. A mailbox near a road said Amakura… but no one lived there anymore…
A cute guy was peeking at me through the bushes. I mean, he was so precious… He looked at me as if I were a peculiar being or something. Did he not appreciate beauty?!
Mio:
Chapter Six: My Love
I'll pick up the story.
What did Ayane tell you about?
Oh well. You don't have to say anything.
Does anyone know what the white orb thingy is? Where do I find out? NOVA? What's that?
When I came to, I found myself sitting on my favorite bench, but something was wrong… I was in the forest again. My things were next to me, and I was just, there. The bench, I saw, wasn't how I'd left it last. It was old and moss-covered, instead of strong and beautiful.
I looked slowly to my left. The brook was still there, with its sparkling water, but the bridge above it was old too! I frantically shut my eyes, trying to do away with the scene, only to realize my worst nightmare.
My parents big house was abandoned. It looked old, and empty. Empty…
I felt a tear on my face. My home, the only one I knew, was nonexistent… because it was no longer my home…
And I hadn't even saved Mutsuki.
I cried. Silently. No home, no Mutsuki, no nothing. I sobbed in my own misery… until… something good happened. A little squirrel hopped up beside me. I sniffled, looking at it. It merely rubbed its face, and hopped away. I forced a strained laugh. After the creature hopped away, I felt a picture on my lap. It was of him. The edges were burned, but Mutsuki was there in the photo.
I stood up to find out where it came from, when I felt something on my shoulder. A white butterfly!
I whirled around to see more of them. My mind caught fire as I realized what could happen if these butterflies…!
They flew off somewhere, and it was sheer instinct that I would follow them. I ran behind them, trying desperately to catch up. This was it, I knew it. Tears flew off of my face.
I pursued the creatures until I saw the patch of flowers. I fell to my knees, and carefully parted the blossoms. Yep, I had gone stone crazy. Mutsuki couldn't be growing out of the ground.
"Ah!" I gasped. A tiny little squirrel…
It looked up at me, and smiled. It was sitting on something.
A little piece of crystal ore… Hmm…
"Ah…Hello Amakura-san… I trust you'd like to know what's going on with your home?" A man said.
I had found Ayane-chan in the grass. We had walked along the path away from my house until I'd found a familiar place. I'd often come to an old hut at the eastern part of the forest. There used to be a well, and a giant tree with a hollow center.
Not anymore. Now, there was a beautiful mansion, with a clear path, and people. Two siblings who were all too nice. I nodded helplessly, to this especially handsome man.
"I'm Mafuyu Hinasaki. I'm here with my sister Miku. We live in this mansion here." The large estate had beautifully decorated banisters along the elegant veranda. I could plainly see three stories. And there was, no doubt, a basement.
Ayane was standing quietly next to me until she said…
"You're very gorgeous…I MEAN! … so your parents are… where…?"
Mafuyu smiled at Ayane amusingly.
"…gone…"
I took over from there before she could continue her little escapade into flirtatious terrain…
"Oh…but, still… where are we going to live? My house is gone…" I choked on my words, though I couldn't help but cough my way to a smile. Mafuyu cracked up. Ayane tried to hold back a laugh as well, but this is Ayane-chan we're talking about, yes? She burst into girlish giggles.
Somehow, I could see a whole world of mystery behind those eyes. Still, the mood had lightened. He motioned for me to sit down. I looked at an ornate lawn chair that matched the veranda. Who was he? A decorator?
"I believe that your parents gave up that house some time ago. As you probably have guessed… they were quite sad when you two disappeared about fifty years ago. They… didn't live very long after seventy. I'm sorry… They did, however, leave all of their money to a woman named Miyuki Hanasaki, my mother. I have no idea how they knew each other, or how they got in touch, but all of the money is in the hands of… us. I put the pieces together after your friends arrived. With the help of some outdated newspapers… that's it I suppose…"
"You mean… we've been gone… Mayu and I have been gone for fifty years?" I stuttered. Fifty years…
"I'm afraid so… We'll make arrangements for you all to live here. We'll have to see if your old clothes and belongings are still intact within the house. I can't guarantee they will be, but who's to say we can't hope?"
"No one I guess…" I said.
Mafuyu looked at me.
"Listen. There was this little girl who was sucking on a peppermint. I couldn't help noticing that she looks like someone I've seen before."
Later that day, we were all at Mafuyu's house. Mafuyu was delighted to have us live with them. They had a mansion. They owned half of the woods. They had everything.
Mafuyu didn't mind it, but Miku said that she'd never really liked living in such a big house. She said that she usually spent most of her time at a friend's while her brother was at work. She attended college during the daytime. Miku also promised us the remaining portion of our parents fortune. Some of it was used to purchase the mansion.
Mafuyu was really nice to us. He really did want to help search our old house. He said that he enjoyed looking at the remains of past lives. I really think he was more interested in our connection to Dr. Aso. I didn't know that he'd been a folklorist. But gave it up to instead become archeologist after his run-in with a few too many ghosts. This way, he could educate others, while doing what he loved best: learning about the past.
Mafuyu left the house at seven o'clock that morning. It was rather early still, but that didn't stop Miku from calling her family doctor, to come over. When he came, he began to fuss over Itsuki's neck, which had horrible marks on it from the burning rope. Bruises accompanied the sight from when his neck… b-r-o-k… well…
Chitose could be seen approaching me through my peripheral vision. I stopped. Chitose was holding my crystal bag in her hands.
"Oneechan? I found a new crystal on the desk in the hall. Can I listen?"
I looked at the crystal she'd chosen. Oh yes! The ore!
"What's that?" Ayane asked.
"These are stones that I can listen to using my radio."
Ayane scrunched up her nose.
Stone Four- Small Crystal OreYour things are safe…
I'm… so sorry that I lied. I can give you… one more aid.
It's one which is… everlasting.
(Murmurings… wispy voices)
I will find you in due time.
No matter… how far the water of precious youth lies…
You'll find your fortune there if you bring an offering…
But beware… the trust you have in me… and the faith you possess…
Will be tested…(static)
Hurry!
I looked down for a moment to think. This was extremely simple:
Obviously, he was at the… well, this is so easy to figure out, that I will say nothing about it.
"Chitose! Do you know what this means?" I asked excitedly. She shrugged, unable to figure out what was making me so happy.
"Your brother. He's here somewhere. I think he's at the-"
"Mutsu-kun is here somewhere?! YAAAY!!!!!" Chitose shouted. I looked at the little girl, confirming her inquiry.
"Are ya gonna go get him?"
I yelled a happy yes, and was already to jet when I remembered something.
"He said to present an offering of some sort. What could I offer to him?"
Ayane, who had not rejoiced yet, smiled. "The obi's got the answer."
I looked at her obi. There was my pinwheel… how'd she get that?!
Hey! You readers had better tell me this instant! I want to know where she got it! Tell me!
I grabbed the pinwheel. Duh! It had been an offering to the spirits at the village.
That's when the rain started. This was going to be a long trek through the woods, wasn't it?
"Mio-chan! You are going to catch a cold in the rain!" Chitose yelled.
Ayane was putting on a jacket.
I was running through the rain, my feet penetrating the mud with every step. The rain. It pelted my face angrily. The farther I advanced into the forest, the darker it got. The wetter it got.
I didn't care. I knew he was there, waiting for me at the bridge. It was only a matter of me getting to him.
I pounded through bushes frantically. White butterflies shot out from them, as if startled. I didn't care.
I could scarcely see the top of the bridge over the thick trees, but it was there, and that's all that counted. My bangs stuck to my face. My skirt and leggings were soaked. I ran along, looking this way and that. My first instinct was to run to an alter, but at the bridge? I didn't know what I was doing, but a numbness in my hands told me that I was holding on to the pinwheel to tightly.
When I got there, I could see a makeshift little shrine near it. When did that get there?! And at this location? I wondered why there was an alter there. Was it here this morning when I'd returned? Maybe it was there for the sole purpose of Mutsuki…
"Mio…" I heard Mutsuki's voice. It sounded scared and slightly cadent.
"Mutsuki-chan!!!"
I laid the pinwheel in the small alter frantically, and looked around for the source of the beautiful voice.
"Mutsuki-chan!!! Please!!!"
The alter exploded in a combustion of brilliant light. The ground shook, and I lost my footing. I landed smartly on my backside. Rubbing it angrily, I searched frantically for Mutsuki.
Uh…
Even though he was right there. He was standing there, smiling down on me. I scrambled to stand up, but I fell back down on the muddy ground. Mutsuki smiled at me and got on the ground as well. His wet hair was covering up his eyes, and he stood on his knees. He inched toward me slowly, smiling sweetly all the way.
"Mutsuki-chan…" I whispered. He didn't stop moving toward me until he was almost on top of me. I tried to back away, but the mud was slippery. I fell once again. Come on now!
"Mio…" he whispered. His voice sounded inhuman. I don't know why I backed away, but I'm glad I did.
Mutsuki started to crawl toward me faster, but I backed away as well. His smiled disappeared. I could see glowing eyes beneath his hair.
"Come on Mio… didn't you miss me?!" Mutsuki stood up, and brought his arm back. I rolled out the way as his fist came crashing down in the mud. There was a crater there afterward. I made a note not to get hit by this Mutsuki's punches. I stood up and kept my distance from him.
He walked toward me, arms back. At that point several hundred ghosts had appeared to back this ghost up. Mutsuki stood in front of them, his eyes angry. His smile, which had reappeared, was plastered on his face, so fake. All at once he rushed at me. The ghost followed suit. I would have run, were it not for the mud which had sucked me under.
I screamed, putting he hands out in front of my face. Mutsuki went through me, swiping at me with his deadly fists. I felt a strange blow to the abdomen. I stooped over, holding my stomach.
Don't ask why I had not run, for after he had hit me, the world around me had vanished, and I was set in a world of gray skies and a desolate wasteland.
Before I knew it, I was engulfed in a sea of ghosts. All of them taking a bit of my energy as they passed by. Ghosts were inside and on top of each other as they floated by. I closed my eyes, wondering why this had happened. I was trying to save Mutsuki, and this… this tide of spirits appeared instead. Where was I!?
I was weighed sown by the gravity of the spirits, and I was about to give up hope, when I saw the Mutsuki ghost fighting with another of himself. I then knew, that I had found my Mutsuki. He was fighting with this Mutsuki, and I wanted to know why there were two. One: mean and heartless. The other: sweet and pure. Just like Azami.
As I watched, I felt a piercing pain in the back of my neck. My head began to feel light, and the world was spinning. I yelled out for Mutsuki, but I found that my voice was strangely muted… Mutsuki heard me somehow, though I could not hear myself. I heard his voice saying that he was coming for me. He also said not to believe that the ghosts were not real. I believed in him.
"Mio!!! You are in the land of the…"
Dead. So that was it.
I forced my mind to dismiss the images around me, and I resisted the pain that the ghosts were inflicting upon me. Angry tears of fear were falling from my eyes. The land of the dead…
Sensing my oblivious behavior, one of the ghosts attacked me devastatingly across the left side of my face. The power of the blow knocked me to the ground. Gosh, it was so overwhelming that I staggered, as if drunken.
The breath was knock from me as I hit the ground. I could not even see what was happening anymore. I tried to lift my eyelids, but that proved to be like lifting one-hundred ton weights with my skinny arms.
Resisting the urge to scream and kick and cry for my mother, I dragged my body along the ground. To where… I don't know…
But I passed out after a few minutes, unable to continue my trek to nowhere.
And it turned…
Suddenly the world turned black… and I saw his face as the world turned.
Go down into your faith Mio. When you do…It will be over… And you can begin to live… like a normal girl again. Please…it will begin… it will!
And it began…
Mio… can you here me? You must wake up.
Please… There's no way you can leave me now… please.
I beg of you! Wake up!
…
I… want you to know that, you saved me. You did it…
so…
please…
And I saw his face as the world turned black. That's when I knew that he was with me. He was saved.
I blacked out, and watched the world go by as Mutsuki carried me away through the forest...
T H E E N D
Author's Notes:
That was weird, yeah? Well, I will not leave you hanging. Just search for the story called Your Diary. It's that nice little thing I call a sequel. Hope you guys love it! It's just for you!
Okay, that's the end to my firstest story. I think I'll stick around the Fatal Section, and write a story about Mutsuki and Mio as they are living with the Hinasakis. There's major trouble between Sae, Mayu, Itsuki, and Yankou after Sae becomes depressed. Why? Well… just listen:
Sae and Itsuki sitting in the tree.
Here comes Yankou and he is very mean.
First comes rivalry, then comes a fight.
Then comes Mayu in the middle of the night.
Now…Itsuki and Mayu sittin in the tree.
K-I-S-S-I-N-G!
Sae caught a peak, then she went to Yankou.
But we all know that she wants to be with Itsu!
That was so cute!!!!
And if things weren't bad enough, an old friend of Mafuyu's comes to visit… and their not happy at all…
Also, I may need a little help with Mafuyu.
So just wait for, not only a sequel, but an alternate ending. Ah! I can't wait!
-Lakija XP