Cool wetness. That's what if felt like to Dark. Where was he? It was a strange, dark dimension. Lonely, too. He was sitting on the ground with his long legs drawn up to his chest. His arms were wrapped around his legs. There was no one in this dank dimension and it looked completely dark. It almost seemed like an enormous coffin.
Dark could hear sounds. It sounded like someone singing. He couldn't hear the words very well. After a few minutes, the words became clear.
"Kimi ga tabidatsu hi wa
itsumo to onaji 'jaane' to te wo futta
marude ashita mo mata
kono machi de au mitai ni
Ai wo shinjiru no wa
jibun ni mo makenai koto
yume ga kanau hi made
egao no mama hoshi wo mite inori sasage koko ni iru kara . . ."
It sounded like it was a young woman singing it. She didn't sound very old, but her voice carried many different emotions that couldn't possibly have been experienced in her lifetime. She had a plaintive voice that simply refused to give up hope. The singer drew in a sharp breath and sang even louder.
"Watashi wa kimi ni totte no sora de itai
kanashimi made mo tsutsumi konde
itsudemo miageru toki wa hitori janai to
tooku de omoeru you ni
kaeru basho de aru you ni . . ."
It sounded as if she were half-protesting and half-pleading. Like she wanted to believe in something that clearly didn't exist. But why? She sang again and again. As the song went on, it seemed that hope wanted to vanish but the singer wouldn't let that happen. Why would someone want to keep wishing and hoping and praying?
"Kono hiroi sekai wa tsunanagatteru
shiroi kumo wa nagare kaze ni natte
kimi no moto e . . ."
Dark gasped with shock. He had sung those words to Anas before she died. The singer sang even louder. Dark could feel that she wanted to get her point across. Suddenly, her voice swelled down in volume and she sang the next part with clear hope in her voice.
"Watashi no koe wa todokimasuka?"
The singer paused for a small moment, but continued with her song. She sounded very distressed, but didn't sound anywhere near to giving up.
Dark covered his ears. He couldn't stand her sad, hopeful voice. He didn't want to hear it. Whoever the singer was, she was very stupid. Who would keep hoping and hoping?
"Shut up!" he shouted. "Stop hoping. Stop wishing. Stop praying. It doesn't exist and it never will. Hope can't change anything!"
"Do you honestly believe that?" the singer's voice asked.
"Yes!" Dark shouted and squeezed his eyes shut. "Now shut up!"
"Dark, look up at me."
At first, Dark was blinded by a bright light. When his eyes adjusted, he could see features that he easily recognized. Green eyes. Golden-red curls.
"Saki!" he exclaimed.
The glowing around Anas completely vanished. At the moment, she towered over Dark because he was on the ground. She gazed down at him with a look of pity.
"How did you get here?" she asked and knelt in front of him so they could see eye to eye.
"I . . . I don't know," Dark replied.
Anas shook her head. "Never mind then. Dark, will you tell me exactly what you did? I got the gist of it from what Sana said, but I still don't know. Can you remember anything at all?"
Dark remembered. He had known all along, he just hadn't wanted to acknowledge it. A simple emotion had gotten so out of control and he had been the one to incite it.
"Dark?" Anas asked as he stood up.
Dark paced back and forth and threw his hands up in the air with despair. "Saki, back then, I got Sumiko to go out with me and Krad saw us and he got the wrong idea. Then you saw us and---"
"You did what!" Anas demanded. "While we were together and they were together, you'd thought it'd be funny to stir things up a little? I just thought you stole a kiss from Sana or something. How could you, you bastard?"
Dark refused to look at Anas. "I didn't think you would kill her. Really. I thought you'd be really upset and yell at me or something, but I didn't expect you to take out your rage on her."
"What'd you think I was going to do?" Anas put her hands on her hips. She was frowning and her eyes were glowing with anger. "Sit around and say, 'Let's have a talk about you not stealing guys from me'? Dark, you truly are stupid."
Dark turned around and glared at her. "Damn idiot, you're the one that's stupid. You and Sumiko both."
"You're the one that made her go out with you!"
"For your information, I didn't make her go. She came of her own free will."
"At least I didn't incite a cycle of bloodshed!"
"At least I didn't kill my best friend!"
For some reason, that made Anas shut up. Her eyes filled with tears and one of them dripped down her face. Dark immediately regretted his words.
"Saki, I'm sorry," he started and reached out to wipe away her tears.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Anas screamed and slapped his hand away.
Dark didn't know what to do. Words and actions weren't going to comfort her. What could he do?
"Do you regret saving me from Sumiko?" he asked.
"No," Anas mumbled.
"You brushed away my tears, didn't you?"
Anas nodded.
"Then let me brush away yours."
Anas looked up. Her eyes were red and swollen. The tears that had run down her face were still hot. Dark cupped her chin and slowly brushed away the hot tears.
"The past can't be undone," he said softly. "People will try to undo their mistakes, but mistakes can't be undone. All people can do is repent."
"I didn't want to kill her," Anas whispered. "Anger and jealousy clouded my mind. It all happened so quickly and immediately regretted it. Then I stabbed myself to try to make up for it, but we just kept coming back and repeating the same cycle. I thought this time it would be different. That girl, Chie, she's so different from me and her sister is the polar opposite of Sana, so I thought . . ." Anas closed her eyes. "I wanted things to be different. I wanted all four of us to live happily again. Sometimes, when Chie was taking a test, she would reminisce. I would see memories in which she's happy with all her friends. It reminded me so much of the way things used to be that I desperately hoped she would live and be happy. I hoped Sana would forgive me. But forgiveness comes much slower than hate." Anas opened her eyes and stared into Dark's. "Promise me something."
"What is it?"
Just then, a bell with a chrysanthemum attached to it fell beside them.
"Kikuko is calling you," Anas said.
"What?" Dark asked, confused.
The bell glowed and the chrysanthemum swelled in size. It now towered over them both. Anas pushed Dark towards it. Dark fell against it and the flower's numerous petals started closing around him.
"What the hell?"
The flower wouldn't let him go, no matter how much Dark struggled.
"Saki!" Dark shouted. "What did you want me to promise?"
Anas shook her head and smiled sadly. "It's too late for such a silly promise."
The flower closed up and disappeared. The bell rang once and vanished as well. Anas sighed.
"Promise me that you'll find happiness, Dark," she whispered.
Kikuko stared at the tarot cards. The book the Harada twins had brought her lay open in her lap. The vibrantly-colored picture of Anas faded.
"Many premonitions have come to pass," she said. "I hope most of them come back."
The sound of a bell tolling got her attention. A chrysanthemum suddenly sprang up from the middle of the room and bloomed. Out of it came Dark and Chie.
Kikuko grimaced. Sasaya and Satoshi didn't come back.
Let's see now. In case you didn't know, Kiku means "chrysanthemum". That's why Kikuko is often depicted with them. There's a lot more to her than just being a fortune teller and that'll all become clear someday.
Oh, and another thing. Saki is the name Anas was given by the Ryoyu family and Sumiko is the name Sana was given by the Shinchu. So Saki is Anas and Sumiko is Sana.
