My Name is Ookami
T
Makai Goddess Ookami
AN: Fwee! I had such fun writing this! (Though it took like three hours to type it up, and the worst part is, that I only typed up half!) Which brings me to my sad conclusion: I'll probably have to write Ookami's Farewell chapter as an epilogue... The second part of the tournament arc is as long as this and I don't think you all wanted a twenty four page chapter. (Though I think Spykey and Xilver are the only ones who read this...) Oh well, It's really hard trying to explain Sephiroth's attitude change, and his opinion on Ookami. I mean, he detests her at first, and yet in Unknown Keyblade Master, he acts like an obedient puppy dog the moment Mimi finally snaps. That part actually took a lot of time to come up with, and a lot of revision. I think over all he's grown found of her. (Laughs) This is actually really weird, now that I think about it. Considering their personality differences and all that fun stuff. Oh well, doesn't change the fact it is fun too write.
By the way, there is a scene later on I wrote simply for you all to let your perverted minds run wild. (Laughs) It was fun to write, but is a little confusing as I didn't want to say what they were doing directly at first...
Xilver: (Why am I talking to you? You can't get on Memories of their past (nod, nod) I really do like that... Sadly, she only remembers snow... (Grumbles) I would give anything for snow... It's not even summer and its hotter then hell out there!
Zell: (If you read this) No, this does not mean I still like you :( Mimi may, but I don't. (Laughs) I simply needed some tension to be added (which continues from then on between the two of you ((Sephiroth, I mean)) Heh) and gets Ookami thinking... Poor kid...
"A competition?" Mimi asked Hercules, strapping her quiver on.
"Yep, in a month from now," the older male nodded, "anyone can come and participate- if they can pass the qualifying rounds."
"Anyone...?"
"You'd have to ask Seph, not me."
"Dammit."
Mimi kicked the ground aggravated. This is how it had been for the past two years. There was a tournament, she would have to ask Sephiroth her "master" to join. He would always say no, like it was something as simple as... Hell, she didn't know. She kicked the ground again.
"Seph never lets me do anything worthwhile," Mimi complained, following Hercules as he put up the posters, "I have to do the stupid laundry, keep the room clean and make his bed! It's like I'm some kind of servant!"
"You ever tell him no?" Hercules asked.
"Ha!" Mimi laughed, "I'm crazy, but not stupid."
Hercules smile was enough.
"Is this like the last one? One on One rounds, Three on Three rounds and against monsters?" Mimi asked after a moment.
"I believe so," Hercules replied, tacking up the last one, "You should ask Sephiroth. You never know..."
"Yeah," she said, looking up at the clouds, "Maybe..."
XOXOXOX
"No."
"What? But Mr. Sephiroth, sir! I'm a lot stronger now! I can take on anything they throw at me!"
"I said no."
"Why do I even bother asking you, it's not like I really have to listen to you! You're not my fat-"
The young girl stopped her aggravated ranting as a sharp blade was pressed against her neck. Sephiroth stood in front of her, glaring. His sword was locked away in his chest, the chest Mimi was forbidden to touch. He held the young girl's own knife up against her throat.
Mimi glared up at him, before shoving his arm and the blade away.
Wrong move.
She felt the edge run along her side, wincing slightly. She glared up at him, knowing better then to cry out in pain. His face remained emotionless. She slid her hand over his, before pulling the blade away from her side. The pain doubled. She bit her lip.
"Cure," she mumbled, her fingertips growing green as the spell worked on her cut.
Sephiroth glared, plopping down on his bed and opening his book up once more. She sat on her futon, running her fingers through her short hair. She winced slightly. The only reason she possibly really hated Kana.
When she had gotten sick a year and a half ago, the older woman had cut off most of her hair, so it was short. In all that time, it had only managed to grow to an inch beyond her shoulder blades. To others that may seem long, but to her, it was short. Especially compared to Sephiroth's hair...
"There's no way I'm changing my mind," Sephiroth said, eyes never leaving his book, "so go away..."
"Yes, sir."
She stood up and left, unbuttoning the white shirt as she left, so her tank top underneath was revealed. It was hot... She didn't see what Sephiroth's problem was with her doing so. Her shirts were already torn and blood and sweat stained as it was, so would the cut really prove to be a difference?
"Any luck?" Hercules asked, snapping Mimi out of her thoughts.
"Me? I've never had such a thing," she pouted.
"Bad luck is better then no luck," Hercules said, Mimi snorted, "have you ever tried to think of it from a different prospective? Maybe Seph's worried you'll get hurt."
Mimi snorted, "The most he's worried about is that he'll have to do his own damn chores!"
"Living here hasn't been the best on your vocabulary has it?" Hercules asked, sighing.
"Hell no," Mimi smirked.
The two walked silently for a moment, heading for the Mess hall. Sephiroth couldn't stand Hercules, Mimi was unsure why though. The only problem she had was his since of wrong and right.
Thankfully, he'd given up on Mimi. Living with Sephiroth had made things a wee bit difficult.
"So, you going to be there to root for Seph?" Hercules asked.
Mimi shrugged, getting her lunch and sitting across from him. She bit into her apple, staring away into space, very bored.
"Any guess on who might be fighting this time around?" Mimi asked, looking over to Hercules.
"Hm... Obviously Kiran, Kaiga and the rest of them will be supporting the Coliseum, but I haven't heard of any off-worlders that would be participating," Hercules shrugged.
"No one stands a chance against Sephiroth," Mimi noted, crunching her apple, "So why root?"
"Well, the same reason everyone roots for you," Hercules said, receiving a confused glance, "they know you don't really need it, but they feel like supporting you anyways. Doesn't that make you feel better? Loved?"
"Yeah, well, Seph can't feel love," Mimi sighed.
"What makes you so sure?" Hercules asked, raising an eyebrow.
"He's too heartless."
XOXOXOX
"Mr. Sephiroth, sir," Mimi gasped, collapsing on the ground by his side, panting heavily, wiping sweat from her brow, "Have you seen-?"
The older male smirked slightly, dropping the white button down shirt on the girl, before taking her water bottle and drinking most of it. She stared up at him, trying to catch her breath. She sat up, draping her shirt over her shoulders.
"That was-" she started, still panting and wiping her brow, "-exhausting."
The older male didn't reply, but she saw the sweat clinging to his frame. Not from the workout, but from the fact it was so damn hot. She smirked slightly.
"You ever see snow, Mr. Sephiroth, Sir?" Mimi asked, scooting closer to him to be in the shade more.
He was silent, as if contemplating whether to answer or not. After a moment he finally replied.
"Once."
"Where I used to live, it used to snow every year in the winter," she sighed dreamily, stretching, "we'd get lots and lots of it! I and my friends used to play in it everyday. Kitsi used to make snow foxes..."
Sephiroth cast her a glance, noticing the dreamy smile on her face and closed eyes. To be reliving those moments, must have made her feel better. He looked forward again, watching a couple of the other partners sparring.
Over time, Mimi had been able to recall a few things. Her family, her friends, and a cat she had named 'Sarin'. The only problem was she only seemed to remember things whenever she got knocked on the head. Hard. Really hard.
"...We'd spend all day out in the snow..." Mimi sighed, "I'd give anything, for a little snow... Just enough to make a snowball..."
"Snow is useless," Sephiroth said coldly, "it only gets in the way."
Mimi looked at him, half truly caring at this point.
"Figures you'd say that," she mumbled, laying back.
Sephiroth's wing wrapped around him as to not touch the young girl. She stretched her arm out to brush against the soft feathers anyways. Sephiroth glared at her, twitching his wing out of her reach.
She smiled innocently at him.
"Don't-"
"Touch you, I know, I know," she yawned, folding her arms behind her head and closing her eyes, "you don't like it..."
No reply.
"You entering the tournament?"
"If anyone there is worthy of facing me."
"Hm..."
"No."
"Heh, Mr. Sephiroth, Sir, I already gave up on asking."
Once again there was no reply. Mimi opened an eye to look at him. Well, the back of him anyways. She smiled slightly, before closing it. The one thing she had gotten used to was Sephiroth's silence. If he didn't deem something worth an answer, he wouldn't answer.
She brushed her fingers against his wing once more. She wasn't sure if he turned to glare at her or not, as her eyes were closed. But, she did notice he didn't pull his wing away, as if he wasn't bothered with her fingers stroking the soft feathers.
"Kiran thinks he's going to challenge you," Mimi mumbled, incredibly tired for some reason.
"The fool could die and burn in hell for all I care," Sephiroth sneered, "a blade through his gut. That's what he needs."
"Mm-Hm," she mumbled, drifting asleep.
XOXOXOX
"Eh?" Mimi mumbled, rubbing her eyes and sitting up.
Tiredly she looked around. It was dark out, and Sephiroth was sitting next to her, staring off into space with an empty water bottle in his hand. The young girl looked at her watch, noticing it was well past seven.
"Mr. Sephiroth, sir?" she asked softly, sitting next to him.
The older male didn't reply, and didn't give any indication that he heard her call his name. He was truly out of it, she noticed. Nervously, Mimi scooted closer to him but stopped the moment her elbow brushed up against his arm. She looked at his face.
"Are you okay Mr. Sephiroth, sir?"
Still no reply. She sighed, drawing her legs to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She looked at the ground before her. There were a number of questions running through her mind. Like, why they were still out here, and why Sephiroth had let her sleep. A year ago he would have kicked her in the ribs.
Swallowing slightly, she scooted an inch closer and rested her had on Sephiroth's arm, brushing his hair over his shoulder. The two stared into space silently.
Sephiroth suddenly stood up, causing Mimi to squeak and look up at him startled. He flexed his wing slightly, before walking inside. Mimi stared after him. He hadn't said a word, or even given her his glare.
All in all, she was worried.
And hungry...
"Food, then Seph," she muttered, hand on her stomach and chuckling slightly.
XOXOXOX
"Go Kiran!" Mimi cheered, sitting on the thin metal railing watching the fight below.
The older male along with two others were fighting against an off world team. The team was good, but consisted of mostly... kids. It was a wonder they had gotten as far as they were already.
A quick spell from one of Kiran's team, and a bonk on the head from another, and the match was over. It was practically futile trying to beat anyone from the Coliseum. They were too good.
Not that they always won, that would be boring. But, there were a few out there strong enough to take out the home teams. Only once had they ever reached Sephiroth, but that had been before Mimi had arrived.
The cheers echoed through the stadium, as Kana and a few others in white coats walked out to help the injured fighters, from both sides. One of the members of the off world team, a young girl, burst into pitiful tears as she was dragged away by a male member of the team.
"And that is all for today folks!" an announcer said, "At least in this division! Feel free to check in on any of the other fights!"
After a few moments, the crowds began to up and leave. Mimi jumped down, squeezing between people on her way down the steps to a lower area. The one right before where the fighters were seated. Energetically she jumped down, landing catlike.
Kiran scooped her up in a hug, kissing the top of her head.
"You're amazing Kiiry," Mimi grinned, hugging him back.
"Hehe, two days ago you would have said I was lacking," Kiran joked.
"Two days ago the tournaments weren't taking place," Mimi grinned.
"I'm guessing Seph's 'hell no' stayed that way?" Kiran asked, accepting a water bottle she offered him.
"Sadly," Mimi sighed, looking at the ground.
"I think it's cute," Kiran smiled, "that he keeps you out. It's like he's protecting you in his own jack-ass sort of way."
"Heh Heh," Mimi half smiled.
"Where is he, any chance?"
"I think him and Hercules were watching from inside," Mimi shrugged.
"Great, now we need to see if they are both still alive," Kiran sighed, hands on his hips.
Mimi grinned.
"I'm going to go find him," she said, hopping away, "bye!"
"Bye kiddo!"
Kiran waved to her, and she waved back, before taking off through the halls looking for Sephiroth. She may have been in a bad mood with him earlier, but when the tournaments took place she couldn't help but feel energetic, even if she couldn't be a part of it all.
"Sephiroth!" She called, tackling the older male around his middle, resulting in an aggravated curse and her crashing into the opposite wall.
Struggling to her feet, she flashed him a thin smile, laughing slightly. Sephiroth just glared at her. A couple of other people in the room gave the two of them weird looks.
"What's wrong Mr. Sephiroth, sir?" She asked, doing her best to keep up with him as he walked away towards the room they shared.
"I felt a power," Sephiroth replied calmly.
"Worth your time?"
"No."
"Bummer," Mimi quieted, thinking for a moment, "Did you see the group of kids that beat Kaiga and her group? They couldn't have been older then me..."
"No."
"But Mr. Sephiroth, sir!" Mimi whined, grabbing onto his arm.
She winced in pain, once again having been thrown into a wall. Standing up, she watched the door close after Sephiroth. She glared, making faces at the door. It was just one of those days...
She stretched her arms up, her belly showing slightly before shoving her hands in her pants pockets and randomly picking a direction to walk in. There wasn't really much she could do, apparently. Sephiroth was bored and pissed off with something.
Odds as they were, it was probably her.
Tackling him is one thing, but in front of a crowd of people, it was like signing a death wish. Only Sephiroth wouldn't seriously injure her in public. Her hand rubbed the scar on her neck, something she picked up doing when bored or confused.
She looked up, seeing the group of kids from earlier along with the one's that beat Kaiga and her team. She stopped to listen to their conversation.
"I didn't see the one called Sephiroth," a blonde male said, hands in his pockets.
"Me neither," a girl said, Mimi was almost positive it was the one who was wailing about their defeat, "but I did sense him."
"It would be hard not to," a shorter male said, rubbing his chin in thought.
"It's not fair," a male said, "we got our asses kicked."
"Sorry Josh, that was actually Kitsi's fault," the blonde male said.
Mimi froze, the name sounding familiar. Well, of course it did, it was the name of the girl she was best friends with in her memories, at least, she thought they were memories. She ducked behind the corner, out of sight but still in earshot. There was no telling...
It could be possible...
The odds were slim but...
"It would be easier if we had O-O," the one called Kitsune mumbled.
"We lost O-O though," the blonde male said sadly.
"We'll find her," a second female said, determined, "O-O is our friend, we have to find her."
"She could be dead for all we know Xilver!" the blonde snapped.
"At least Kitsi and I aren't giving up on the possibility Zell!" Xilver snapped back, "O-O loved these sort of things, I'm sure we'll run into her again!"
"I don't believe we will," Zell growled.
"Zell!" Kitsune called, making Mimi wonder if he had left.
"Leave him alone Kitsune," the second male sighed.
"But Spyke! What if something happens to him?" Kitsune asked.
"Zell's to smart to let himself get hurt," was Spyke's cool reply.
Mimi sank to the floor, eyes wide. There was no doubt about it now. Kitsune... Xilver... Spyke and Zell... all those names were embedded in her mind, sewn into her heart. She always dreamed she could...
And she had the chance...
"Why am I so scared then?" she whispered, hugging her knees and burying her head between her legs and body, wishing for once she could cry.
She wasn't a hundred percent sure how long she sat there, trying to block out the kid's conversation, or how long they had been away. She was too lost in thoughts. If those kids had been the ones...
Would they recognize her? Her pale skin was gone, much to her horror, and she complained to Seph about it everyday. Her hair... was short and more of a brown colour at the time... Then throw in the fact it had been two years, and a lot can change...
Plus the assorted scars probably weren't much of a help either...
If she approached them, they probably wouldn't know who the hell she was. They'd probably call her crazy and blow her off. She'd be stuck living with Sephiroth again...
And for some reason the thought of being abandoned was enough to cause her to sob, tears streaming down her face.
She heard someone suck in their breath, startled by her sudden sob. A couple moments later she felt someone kneeling next to her.
"Hey kid, are you okay?" the blonde male from earlier asked.
She didn't say anything, but did her best to nod her head. She heard the male plop down in front of her, pulling her knees apart slightly so he could see her face- well, that was his intent anyways.
But Mimi swallowed, allowing all her muscles to tense up. Like a porcupine Kiran had said, one day many years ago...
"Stubborn," Zell noted, settling for simply sitting in front of her, "So, what's wrong?"
"I'm lost," she mumbled.
"Did you get separated from your parents...?"
"No, I mean I'm lost."
"...?"
"I don't know who I really am or..."
"Or where you're from? I can sort of relate. I don't know where I am, or where I'm going... My home was destroyed; I and my friends are all that's left."
"Did your friend die?"
"Huh?"
"I heard you earlier," Mimi said, relaxing her muscles and resting her chin on her knees, bangs and hair covering most of her face.
"I don't know," Zell said, smiling at her, "O-O... is..."
"O-O?"
"Oh, Hehe, we used to call her O-O the Oreo," Zell grinned, "Her real name is Ookami."
Mi? Mimi maybe? The young girl wondered bitterly. Just staring at the slightly older male made her wonder... She felt like she knew him. His face, and his smile, like some memories locked away in her mind.
"What happened to her?"
"When the darkness swallowed our world, she simply disappeared," Zell said shrugging, "We got separated too, but we were all with someone. I was with Josh. We searched high and lo for everyone, and we found them all. All of them except Kami..."
He looked down sadly, and she noticed his eyes shone, ready to cry. But she knew he couldn't. She leaned over, legs like a W and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in the nape of his neck.
She thought about saying 'I'm here' or 'you've finally found me' or something like that, but she couldn't get her mouth to move. Zell was frozen for a moment, staring at her, before realization dawned on him. He wrapped his arms around her awkwardly.
The two sat in silence, simply holding onto each other tightly as if to let go would mean to lose each other once more. Mimi gave one last sob, before pulling away from Zell enough to look up at his face. Her smile said it all.
"It's been a long time Mimi," Zell said, "years..."
"I would have come but..."
Mimi looked at the wall. How do you tell the guy you were once in love with that you only remember his name and face and nothing more? How would she tell them she had lost all of her memories, only regaining a select few?
"But what?" Zell asked, wiping her tears away with his thumb.
"...I got lost..." Mimi mumbled.
"Well, I've found you," he mumbled, hugging her tightly once more.
XOXOXOX
"You're late," Sephiroth said coldly, watching Mimi walk in the room and collapse on her futon.
She waved her hand tiredly to show she heard him, before rolling onto her side and closing her eyes. Saying goodbye to Zell, even though they'd promised to find each other again in the morning, was the hardest thing she had to do in a long time.
She hiccupped, brushing away her tears. She felt Sephiroth's hand on her shoulder, as he pushed her onto her back and to look up at him. The red face and tears startled him, and he switched his balance so he was sitting in front of her.
"...you're not hurt...?"
Mimi was startled by the way Sephiroth asked the question. She couldn't tell what it was that seemed so strange about it though. She wiped her eyes again and shook her head 'no'. The older male was still confused.
"...?"
"I'm just..."
Mimi sighed, and hiccupped once more. Memories of her goodbye came flooding back to her, and for some reason she felt guilty... ashamed of it, now that she was laying in front of Sephiroth.
And the worse part is she was the one who...
She hiccupped again, turning her head to the side. She felt Sephiroth's cool palm on her forehead. Something in his eyes was strange, but when she almost named it, the look was gone replaced by the normal cold mask.
"You have a fever," Sephiroth said.
"I'm fine..." Mimi mumbled, placing her own hand on Sephiroth's which never left her forehead.
"You're burning up..."
"I just spent a lot of time outside today, and it was unusually hot."
"..."
Mimi closed her eyes, squeezing his hand slightly.
"You're sick Mimi," Sephiroth said conclusively, as if deciding a criminal's fate, "You're staying in here tomorrow..."
"But you're fight against the challengers is tomorrow..." Mimi mumbled, "I wanted to watch..."
"You're staying in here," and with that Sephiroth blew out the candle, the only source of light and went to bed.
Wiping the last of her tears away, Mimi closed her eyes, fast asleep a moment later, forgetting all about Sephiroth's weird attitude.