Ch. 15

::gasp:: Last chapter before the epilogue! This is the longest fanfic I've ever written.... wow... Hopefully my next one will be around the same length. I'm worried no one is going to read it, because Gravitation isn't as popular as InuYasha.... I'm thinking too much about this, aren't I? I tend to obsess.... a lot.... Ehehehe....

Well, don't mind me, and enjoy this chapter!

Ryu hit his hand against his bed, replaying last night's events over and over in his head. And he still had one question: why? Angrily, he rested his head on the wall and closed his eyes. He could still see Kagome falling to the floor. Could still see Midori in the electric chair. And worst of all, he could still see the helpless look in Hikaru's eyes.

"This is why I never wanted to have friends..." He muttered, opening his eyes slowly. He turned around suddenly, then wished he hadn't. Hikaru was still slumped in the wooden chair they had climbed to get into the vent last night, his usually neat hair messy and unkempt. When the two boys had been escorted back to the room, Hikaru had instantly fallen into the chair and put his head down. Admittedly, Ryu wasn't familiar with comforting people. He watched his friend suffer in silence, turning away after ten minutes. He couldn't bear to watch anymore.

Last night had been such a terrible experience. Both girls had been critically injured; Kagome had suffered a concussion and a series of broken bones, and Midori had been in the electric chair for far too long. But in the end, only one of the two had been killed last night.

"But which one?!" Ryu yelled aloud, smacking his hand against the wall. Hikaru looked up, his eyes rimmed with red.

"What are you yelling about?" He asked, his voice hoarse. He blinked hard and slid his glasses back onto his face.

"That jackass won't tell us which one of them was..." He stopped.

"Which one was killed?" Hikaru said bluntly. "I have no clue either." He sighed and rested his head against the wall. A guard had been sent to all the patient's rooms, informing them there had been yet another death. They said they were not due to release the name until the memorial before breakfast in the morning. Direct orders, they said, from Nayamo-san.

"Direct orders my ass." Ryu said, scowling. He checked his wristwatch. It was ten to ten, which meant ten more minutes until they knew. He felt a slight blush creeping onto his face, and he felt an unwelcome thought enter his head.

I hope to God it's not Kagome.

Shaking his head, he pushed the thought out of his mind, frowning ferociously at the door. Ten minutes clicked by slowly, and when Hikaru's digital watch beeped ten, the two rose from their perches and followed the armed guard to the entrance hall.

Had Ryuichi been more sensitive, he might have even broken down, much like Hikaru was. His friend was shaking violently, his glasses fogged with tears and sweat. Ryu coldly turned away, chiding himself for doing so. The two reached the hall in silence, and took a seat at the plastic table nearest the podium. Ryu sighed and propped his feet on a spare chair, where Kagome or Midori would have sat, had they not been brought here.

Why did they have to die? Midori didn't ask to be Sango-san's reincarnation; Kagome never asked to fall down the damned well. So why... why does this have to be this way? Why did we have to meet? Why did we have to be brought here?

Why did I have to fall in love with her?

As soon as that thought crossed his head, he dropped his feet from the chair and blinked. He hadn't known he was in love with her. Was he? No... he wasn't. He was in love with Shinjitsu, not Kagome.

But is there a difference between the two? After all, they've got the same soul.... right? Ryu growled and slammed his hand on the table, startling Hikaru, who looked up abruptly. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the squeal of a microphone. The two boy's heads' shot up, their eyes racing to the stage, where Nayamo stood, defiantly glaring at Ryuichi, who glared back.

"Good morning to you all...." Nayamo said mechanically, a sick grin painted on his face. "I regret to inform you that there's been yet another tragic accident in the electric room." He paused, relishing the look on Hikaru and Ryu's faces. "Last night....." He paused again. "Last night a young girl suffered an untimely death." He stared directly at Ryu and Hikaru. "A Miss Midori Fujishima died last night from an extended period in the electrical chair. It was a freak accident, and no charges are being pressed."

Hikaru's knuckles turned white. Ryu turned to his friend, who was shaking, and awkwardly patted him on the shoulder. Hikaru shoved his face in his hands and stayed in that position, for the remainder of the breakfast period, Ryu sitting next to him. When the guards shook Hikaru roughly, ordering him to get up, he looked over at Ryu, his eyes bloodshot and empty. The last two words that Ryu ever heard escape Hikaru's mouth:

"Why....me?"

And then he was gone, sent off with the guards to pack his belongings. The week was over. The long, torturous week... Ryu thought, fingering his uneaten breakfast. His parents would come for him soon, and he'd go home. Kagome... she's probably already home. Or in the hospital. It would be futile to look for her... and do I want to see her anyway? He peered at his digital watch. They'd come here one week ago, April eleventh. His watch read April eighteenth, now. Sighing, Ryu numbly rose from his chair and walked off to his room, packed his belongings, and waited for his parents to come pick him up. Numbly.

Higurashi Kagome blinked, the small motion sending waves of pain through her body. Grudgingly, she sat up from her perch on the small hard bed. She recognized the room as the electric room, and memories of last night flew into her head. She winced, and reached up, fingering the crude bump atop her head. She eyed the bed next to her; a human figure lay on the bed, a white sheet pulled over him or her. Kagome's eyes widened. Was this a dead... body? Terrified, she reached over and pulled the sheet slightly back, revealing Midori's head, her eyes closed in eternal sleep. Kagome shrieked and fell backward, slamming her already damaged head into a table. Glass crashed, and Kagome fell to her knees, sobbing. Pieces of sharp glass embedded themselves into her hands, as she inched away from the corpse. She finally reached the electric chair, and she pulled herself onto it to get away from the glass. Kagome drew in a shuddering breath and stared, horrified, at the figure under the sheet. In her trance-like state, she didn't notice that the electric chair was still plugged in.

"Oh God, Midori..." She let out a long sigh, her eyes filling with unwanted tears. She inched farther into the chair, letting her arms fall over the sides. Sighing, she brushed a hand over the arm of the chair. Slowly. Carefully. Her foot fit carelessly into the bottom part of the chair, and she let it rest there, her eyes closed in despair.

"Higurashi?!" A man's voice pierced the air, and Kagome flinched, her arm moving abruptly up, flicking the switch on the chair. Instantly, the chair roared to life, making the male guard yell out in fright and run back up the stairs, yelling for Nayamo. Kagome's attempts to free herself fell flat; her foot was firmly lodged in the small brace, and she screamed in pain as the currents ran through her body.

"Shit!" Nayamo cursed as he flew down the stairs, his eyes wild with rage. No, he didn't care if she died; for goodness sake, he'd welcome the escape! But her parents would sue, no doubt, and the legal messes would be almost unbearable. With a grunt of anger, he threw himself at the chair, grabbing her thin leg and wrenching it from the brace. A sickening crack sounded from her leg, and Nayamo winced. Her ankle, most likely, was broken, but at least she was free from the chair. Sighing heavily, Nayamo dropped to his knees, breathing raggedly. Silently, he cursed his disease and waited for his guards to find him and the girl. A pair of feet came racing down the stairs, and Nayamo looked up eagerly for a guard. His face fell, however, when the concerned face of Ryuichi Yasuhiro greeted him instead.

"What the hell happened here?!" Ryu asked, his eyes growing huge at the sight of Kagome, who was crumpled on the floor, her ankle twisted strangely. He rushed over to her side, wincing at the sight of the blood on her hands. "Kagome-chan...?" He asked quietly, brushing her hair out of her eyes. Her dark eyes fluttered, and he smiled. So he would get to say goodbye to her.

Thank God.

"Wh-What?" Kagome asked blearily, her eyes dull and tired. "Where am I...?"

"In the electricity room." He said quietly, smiling at her. She stared back at him blankly.

"Electricity room...? Oh, in Aralia!" Kagome said, sighing in relief. "Kinda had me freaked out for a second there..."

Ryu's smile grew wider. So Hikaru was wrong! She remembered him!! "Yeah, that's right..."

She frowned suddenly. "I'm really sorry... but...."

"What?" Ryu frowned as well, inclining his head toward her.

She looked up into his eyes, and he suddenly dreaded what she was going to say. Her mouth opened and moved, but Ryu would have given anything to not hear the words that came next.

"Um... who are you?"

Me: Yes, this is the last chapter, but I still have an epilogue for you guys, as well! Sorry that this took so long - I had a lot on my mind, and kept getting bugged to post, so I'm really sorry if it doesn't meet your expectations.

I hope you enjoy the epilogue! Please review this chapter!!