This is for all my dedicated readers . Because it was suggested that I update, and I was motivated and decided to edit a chapter and then update, voila!
Chapter Four Usagi-chan?
"Hey, it looks like we have a chorus," Takuto mumbled softly, but she didn't turn, simply nodded.
"I guess we do," she whispered in monotone.
He came to sit beside her and put his hands over hers. By now, he'd gotten used to the strange feel of remembrance around her; it had almost become a part of him, "I didn't meant to hurt you; I really do enjoying working with you. I guess I'm just a little confused by you is all."
"The sunset is gorgeous," she mumbled, still not looking at him.
"Mitsuki don't-" but he couldn't scold those eyes when she turned to face him, not when they were filled with such pain.
"We should mention the sunset. The next line should be- Watching the sunset," she told him as she stood, leaving him alone.
"On an empty bench," he mumbled.
"Something like- Watching the pink," she continued as if he wasn't there.
"Mitsuki I'm- Nearing the brink."
"Takuto," she turned her head around, letting her hair fly around her shoulders, tears glistening on her cheeks, "This is where I lose my mind."
He stood and tried to approach, but she shied away, and he lowered his hands, "You know," he smiled. "Time and time I've wondered."
Izumi's hovering image caught her eyes, and she wondered. Could he control people's actions? Why did fate keep them apart? "Just what it is they do to us," she whispered, and he smiled and nodded.
"Time and time they've plundered."
She turned her back again, and his smile faded, "Fate is against us Takuto, more than you know."
"Then we'll fight it!" he declared. "Why would the fates prevent a friendship?"
She barely held her wince, "We-" she sighed. "It's getting late, and I don't want to forget that verse. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Right, until then."
She wrapped her arms around herself and headed forward, not even allowing herself a glance back.
§§§
She set her pen down and looked at the last line- Without us even having to open up.
"So now you understand," Izumi leaned against her wall casually, and her anger came out on him.
"Understand what? That you are trying your damndest to keep me away from him because of some stupid Shinigami secret?" she demanded.
"Fate is against you Mi-ki; your quest is fatal," he responded smugly.
"You're wrong, love overcomes all odds."
"Ridiculous hope, sometimes it doesn't work; you of all should know that. Love does not overcome life or death!"
"No wonder Meroko couldn't love you!" she screamed hatefully. "You don't even believe in love!"
And as the world is silent after an explosion, the room was deathly still, "Maybe you're right Mi-ki," Izumi whispered after a moment. "I refuse to believe in what's not real. You're wasting your time with Ta-kun, but if you keep meddling in Shinigami affairs I'll have to resort to extreme measures. I would be careful if I were you," he warned.
Mitsuki's eyes narrowed, what was he capable of? Long hours later that same question would be on her mind. Sleep would be hard in coming.
§§§
"I should apologize for my behavior yesterday," Arinori muttered. "I have no idea what came over me."
"Think nothing of it," Mitsuki smiled brightly while her heart burned in anger. Toying with people's mind like that! The nerve!
"I-thank you, now, where were we?"
"America," Mitsuki sat beside him as they began to go over American history before they moved to Europe and the Asian countries besides Japan, all the way to Africa and South America. By the end, Mitsuki's head was spinning. She was almost glad to see her tutor leave for once, well, almost. He was handsome.
Finally, some down time, she thought and settled into a chair to just think. She hadn't been there for more than a few minutes when her phone rang. Sighing heavily, she rose to answer it, "Hello?"
"Mitsuki-chan, I'm on my way to get your right now, Takuto just got here."
"Ooshige-san? What's wrong?" Mitsuki questioned, immediately concerned.
"The label is voting whether or not to cancel your tour."
"Cancel the tour?" Mitsuki whispered unbelievingly, "Why?"
"I'll talk to you when I get there," she answered and hung up. Mitsuki closed her cell and blinked. IZUMI! Her heart bellowed.
She had no trouble getting permission to go, not with tears of anger in her eyes, ringing her hands the way she was. That left the next ten minutes to let her mind run through the possibilities. She actually heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Ooshige's car barreling up the driveway.
She sprinted out and jumped in the car. She'd barely shut the door when Ooshige was tearing down the street again, "Why?" Mitsuki demanded of her immediately.
"They think it's too much of a risk, sending you overseas with the current situations," Ooshige was gripping the wheel so tightly her knuckles were turning white.
"What? Things are no more dangerous now than-" Mitsuki knew that wasn't precisely true, from what Arinori had taught her, but it was still no reason to cancel a tour!
"It's not what you think Mitsuki. We didn't want to tell you with all you had going on, but since that exposé with you and Takuto, there have been a lot of threats coming in."
"Threats?" Mitsuki's throat was dry.
Ooshige nodded, "Addressed to both you and Takuto."
"Why would anyone-?" a light laugh from the back of the car made her spin in her seat. "You would find this funny," then, it dawned on her. "You!"
He clapped sarcastically, "Would it hurt you so much to know people didn't like you Mi-ki? Well, not all those are mine, most, but not all. I had to have a back up plan in case you got stubborn."
"You wrote that exposé, didn't you? Because no one had a camera at that restaurant," it all rushed in on her.
"Mitsuki-chan, who are you talking to?" Ooshige inquired.
"Izumi, a Shinigami," Mitsuki growled.
"Mitsuki, you're not-?" Ooshige's face paled, but color flew back into it when Mitsuki shook her head.
"No, he's just causing trouble because of Takuto," she explained in as few words as possible.
"Can't fight your own battles?" Izumi taunted. "You need your manager's help?"
"Shut up!" Mitsuki shrieked. "Haven't you done enough?! There are hundreds of thousands of people who are going to miss our message!"
Izumi was quite taken back. Her first thought was not for her lost time with Takuto, but for her fans. His silence was a sign of his awe, but she didn't care, she was angry enough to kill as she entered the studio.
Both she and Ooshige slipped into seats while various people from the label debated the situation.
"Hey," Takuto whispered softly when she sat next to him.
"Hey," she whispered back.
"How does it look?" Ooshige inquired, and Takuto grimaced.
"Not good, they're worried about losing two of their biggest names," he replied spitefully. "They don't seem to give a damn about the fans."
Mitsuki cleared her throat loudly, and everyone turned their eyes to her. When she was sure she had their attention, she stood.
"Mitsuki-chan," Ooshige hissed, then put her head in her hands when she realized Mitsuki was in righteous mode and wouldn't respond to any kind of reason.
"I'm sorry," she began. "But because you're discussing me, I feel I should at least have a chance to speak."
"Well, go ahead," the man at the head of the table instructed.
"Thank you," she bowed, collected her anger, and started. "First, I would like to thank you for caring about my safety, but I must object to the measures you're taking. You see- so many people have already put so much time into this tour. I don't know if Takasu-san told you, but Takuto and I have decided to do a duet, which we're currently writing and is coming along very nicely. Takasu-san and his advertising team have already put a great amount of time, effort, and money into hyping this project. The song can only be heard live, and if we never tour, it will never be heard.
"There are so many people waiting for us, and if I couldn't get my message out to them it would crush me to the point that-" time to gamble, she thought, "I wouldn't be able to sing again."
Shocked gasps escaped some throats, and Mitsuki caught Ooshige groan before Takuto, against his manager's advice, stood next to Mitsuki, "I know exactly where Mitsuki stands, because if I couldn't sing this song and get my message out, I wouldn't be able to sing again either."
"It would be wise not to threaten us Miss Kouyama. We can replace you just as easily as we replaced Full Moon," the man at the head warned, but Mitsuki only smiled. They hadn't replaced Full Moon as easily as they thought.
"It's not a threat- it's a fact. What's the point of making a record if not to make it heard? People need to hear our message, and I'm not sure you'll find another Mitsuki Kouyama so easily."
"We will take this into consideration Miss Kouyama; I will meet with my board privately now," the leader, Mitsuki now knew to be the president of her label, and several other men, retired into a back room as Mitsuki and Takuto settled down to wait.
"That was pretty gutsy of you," Takuto whispered to her when they were sitting again.
Ooshige moaned and put her head on the table, muttering to herself.
Mitsuki shrugged, "I just told them what I felt. They need to realize there are people besides themselves out there, and there are more important things than money."
"Wow," Takuto grinned. "I think someone put a mirror between us when we were babies; we're so alike."
She blushed and looked into her hands, "I had a good teacher," she offered.
"So like you," he laughed, "to thank someone else instead of yourself. But, don't forget that you're the one who chooses which lessons to follow and which not to.
"Speaking of lessons-here," he handed her a slip of paper, on which was written- I'm glad to be near you. "I thought of it while they were droning on and on."
She met his eyes and pretended to reach for his hand but instead, she inched forward and took the pen from the table. He chuckled softly and shook his head at her. Such a temptress, he thought brightly.
Underneath the line she wrote- So happy we met.
"Me too," he mumbled softly, quickening her pulse. But you don't remember when we met, she thought sadly.
They stayed like that, both lost in their own thoughts, until the door reopened and the board filed out, like a jury back from deliberation. Every face was a stony mask, giving nothing away. Mitsuki's whole body went stiff and cold, but for Takuto slipping a reassuring hand over hers and giving it a light squeeze. She smiled weakly, and he smiled back, only removing his hand when his manager kicked him lightly under the table.
"We've voted, and though it was a close vote, four to five, we've decided to let you continue your tour, provided you sign a contract saying you will produce no less than two more albums under this label," the president announced, and Mitsuki jumped to agree, yet Takuto seemed hesitant.
"What if I don't have inspiration for two more albums?" he inquired.
"Then a writer will be proved; you don't need inspiration to use your voice do you?" the president brushed him off that easily.
"A writer? The songs would mean nothing," Takuto kept arguing even when the man had made it clear the conversation was ended.
"People will still buy them," he replied calmly.
Takuto was silenced with disgust.
"Takuto," Mitsuki touched his arm gently, and he turned to her; his eyes were begging her to fight with him. "He doesn't understand our message, but that doesn't matter, because our fans do. We have to get it to them while its fire still burns in our heart."
His eyes narrowed slightly before he nodded, "Fine," he snapped at the president, who clasped his hands and smiled.
"Wonderful, I'll have the documents produced and given to you to sign by the morning."
"Whatever," Takuto threw up his hands and stormed out.
"Takuto!" Mitsuki called after him, but he kept walking. "I'm sorry," she bowed to everyone in the room, then rushed after Takuto.
"Interesting," the president whispered. "Very interesting."
§§§
"Takuto!" she caught up to him outside the studio.
"Signing my life away!" he shouted at her. "They're asking me for all the inspiration I have left in me, sucking me dry for a profit."
She nodded, "But it doesn't matter to me, none of it matters as long as I can keep singing and people can keep hearing my message. I would suck myself dry if they didn't, this way, people are actually hearing it."
"How do you do it?"
"Do what?"
He laughed bitterly, "Find the positive in everything."
"It's easy; I knew I was going to die," she answered, and his eyes widened.
"Knew?"
She nodded, "When I was twelve-"
"Mitsuki!" a shriek from inside made her spin.
"Ooshige-san?" her eyes widened. "Gods, Izumi…" she didn't wait another second before she sprinted inside.
§§§
"So, Mitsuki, you've come to join our party, no, no," Izumi slammed the door to Ooshige's office when he saw Takuto coming down the hall, then switched the lock.
"Mitsuki?" Takuto question from the wrong side of a locked door.
"Tell him to leave," Izumi ordered, and Mitsuki gulped and cleared her voice.
"Girl talk Takuto, I'll talk to you tonight," she called back to him, never moving her eyes from Izumi who was examining a knife casually in one hand.
"Are you sure you're okay? Ooshige?"
Mitsuki nodded to Ooshige, who responded, "Fine Takuto, just a spider; I'm terrified of those things."
"If you're sure," he muttered. "Mitsuki-I-never mind-" he turned around, and they listened for his footsteps to disappear. When they had, Izumi poked his head through the door to check and once he was satisfied Takuto was gone, he came back in.
"Sometimes you're too pure for your own good Mitsuki," Izumi laughed. "You gave me this new idea. See, I'm not allowed to kill you or Takuto, so, I tried canceling your tour, hoping you'd just part ways, but not you. Mitsuki Kouyama can't disappoint her fans, but in the car today you gave me an even better idea. See, if humans notice me I can get in serious trouble, with one exception- humans who know of our existence. Case and point- if I can't hurt you, I'll hurt someone close to you. Now, what say you be a good girl and stop your futile quest, mmm?" he ran the knife along his finger gently; Mitsuki's eyes widened with every word. She looked at Ooshige's wild, frightened eyes and back to Izumi's desperate ones. He wasn't bluffing; he would do it. She took a deep breath. This meant never having Takuto remember her, but…Ooshige's life was more important. Her heart ached as she nodded submissively.
"Lovely," Izumi smiled. "We're done then," he unlocked the door, set the knife he'd gotten from who knows where, on Ooshige's desk, and flew out. "Don't think this means I'll be off my guard," he added as he disappeared.
Mitsuki ignored him and ran to Ooshige's side, "I'm sorry, this is all my fault," she whispered, hugging Ooshige tightly.
"No Mitsuki-chan, it's okay," Ooshige mumbled, hugging her back.
§§§
Mitsuki sighed and looked at her cell phone, "Oh, mail," she tried to cheer herself up by opening it.
Mitsuki-
I need to be with you.
And that's not just the next line of the song
You know where to find me.
Takuto
Tears filled her eyes as she added his words to her notebook. She'd never regretted anything in her life, but she regretted not dying. She would have been finally free, able to see her mother and father again, see Eichi. Meroko and Takuto would be okay. Her heart burned in anguish as she added - And have you forget.
"Izumi!" she screamed, and the Shinigami, never far, appeared before her.
"What?" he snapped.
"I'm going to Takuto's, not seeing him wasn't in our agreement," she announced.
"No," he mused. "I suppose it wasn't. Okay."
"I wasn't asking your permission," she retorted and slipped out the door. It was late, her grandmother was long asleep; she knew she wouldn't get caught.
§§§
"Hey," he smiled groggily, opening the door.
"Sorry, did I wake you? I could come bac-"
"No, I couldn't sleep anyway, come in."
She walked in hesitantly, unable to speak now that she was here, "I wanted to uh-thank you for uh-sticking up for me today."
He fell onto his couch and ran a hand through his hair, "I was sticking up for me too," he reminded her.
"Right," she sat warily on the edge, ready to spring at any moment.
"Earlier, you told me something strange, that you knew you were going to die," his eyes didn't meet hers; he just stared straight ahead, trying to seem nonchalant.
"Oh silly kid stuff, you know."
"No, I don't, tell me."
"Rain check?" she giggled nervously.
"No."
She gaped; she hadn't expected him to flat out refuse.
"No more rain checks, no more sidesteps Mitsuki- no more mystery. I can't explain how I know, but you are hiding something that involves me. Something I've been searching for since that coma."
"I can't answer your questions."
"You can, I know you can, but you won't. You won't let anyone in."
"How would you know?" she demanded, angrier at the situation than at him.
"I wouldn't! Because you don't let anyone in!"
"I just can't let you in!" she screamed and jumped up.
He intercepted her at the steps that led to his door, "I won't let you leave like this." A feel of protectiveness fell over him as she sunk into his arms, sobbing into his bare chest, "Sh…Mitsuki-chan," he whispered in her hair. Having her in his arms felt…natural. She seemed to fit to him perfectly, as if they were one entity. He'd never felt so complete in his life, so why did he know this feeling? He pulled her into his arms and set her on the couch, but when he looked down at her, he saw a twelve-year-old lying in a hospital bed, "Who are you?"
"I wish you knew," she mumbled, looking up at him. He bent down and brushed her bangs out of her eyes.
"But I do," he whispered. "You're Mitsuki Kouyama, and I'd be fine with just your name if you're okay with not leaving my side."
She reached up and touched his cheek, "When you're whole without me, that's when I'll be totally yours," she sat up and looked into his eyes.
"Let me play second," he begged softly. "I don't know who he is, but I hate him, let me play second, just for awhile."
She stroked his cheek softly, "If only you knew, but there's something holding me back. There's so many things holding me back. If only-" a flash of pink caught her eyes, and she stared at it.
"What?" he turned to look where she was staring, but he didn't see anything.
"Must've been my vision," she mumbled, but it caught her again, and she cocked her head. There was something small and shiny dangling on his balcony. She stood without thinking and headed that way. Opening the door, she saw a small stuffed pink rabbit sitting on his deck, "Meroko?"
"Me-chan?" Izumi darted out to the balcony to examine the toy with Mitsuki.
"Meroko!" Mitsuki screamed into the heavens, but the night was absolutely still.
When she and Izumi turned around, both their eyes widened in horror.
"That name seems familiar, where have I heard it before?" Takuto asked softly, looking down at the pink rabbit in Mitsuki's arms. "Where did you get that?"
"It…I…" Mitsuki looked around, searching for an explanation.
Izumi snapped and the small figure gained strings on the back of it.
"Somebody's puppet, it was caught in that tree, and one of the strings floated up and I grabbed it," Mitsuki jumped, showing him the strings Izumi had just added.
"Oh," Takuto shook his head. "So who's Meroko?"
"An old friend," Mitsuki responded. "She uh…used to have a rabbit kinda like this."
"You're so strange," Takuto commented but dropped it, suspicion still glinting in his eyes.
"What time is it?" Mitsuki inquired as they reentered his apartment.
"A little past eleven," he answered gently.
"I should get going; we have a meeting with Takasu-san early."
He came close and tried to take her into his arms, but she backed away, "Spend the night," he whispered. "I wish you could stay the night."
She gulped and forced herself to shake her head, "I don't think that would be appropriate."
He sighed and nodded, "Right, well, good night I suppose."
She hated to end it like that, but she could think of no better way, "Forget me Takuto," it hurt her heart to say it, but she couldn't find another way to free him of the torture that creased his brows.
He laughed hollowly, "You'd think it'd be that easy, but it's not likely kid." A vision flashed in his mind: It was he, in a desert, screaming at the little twelve-year-old girl, "Stupid kid!" the image cleared, and there was only he and Mitsuki in a dark apartment.
"They won't stop until you forget me," Mitsuki mumbled when he rubbed his head.
"I can live with them for-how did you know?"
Her eyes widened as she cursed herself, "What are you talking about?"
"You know I've been having visions- how?" he persisted hungrily.
"Takuto, you must have bumped your head because-"
"Don't lie to me!" he shouted.
This is killing me, she thought angrily, "Good night Takuto," she didn't listen to his protests, simply ran to the door and kept running until she reached the street where she called a cab and headed home.
"Say good night...don't be afraid
Calling me calling me as you fade to black
Say good night (holding my last breath)
Don't be afraid (safe inside myself)
Are all my thoughts of you?!
Sweet raptured light...it ends here tonight..."
Evanesence, Fallen, My Last Breathe