Takuma's Aftermath
Disclaimer:
Jigoku Shoujo is owned by Hell Girl Project, Hiroshi Watanabe and Studio Deen
Hello and welcome to another experimental fanfic of Jigoku Shoujo, in which a new inspiration popped into my head in an unexpected way, which led to the creation of a new story…which would mix drama, and romance, and…SUPERNATURAL ADVENTURE.
This started as I was working on my other Hell Girl fic, New Lease In Life, and there a fellow fanfic reader requested that I make a fic featuring Takuma Kurebayashi where the story continues where the end of season 2 left (Jigoku Shoujo: Futakomori).
Although I only watched a few episodes due to following the plot line involving Takuma, I got hooked on that particular story arc, and decided to accept the request and now this fic will feature what went on after the end of the season 2 anime.
Another source of inspiration is the SHOWER SCENE from episode 22 (Longing), where there is a brief MOMENT which a naked teen girl (Seri Mizutani) emerged from the shower and hugged Takuma. This gave me the impression that there is a hint of romance between the two and I decided to explore on that plot.
Although she died in the anime, she will play a role here.
Lastly this will be rated M for some violence and…well…you'll find out soon…
Well then, read on and enjoy!
Ch. 1:Mae kara no yoha
The scene shifts inside a bathroom where Takuma Kurebayashi is standing in front of a mirror where he is only wearing a towel wrapped around his waist, and is brushing his teeth as he is getting ready to use the shower before going to bed, and as he is brushing, he felt a sense of Déjà vu as this somewhat reminded him of what happened in the past and he couldn't help but recall the events that happened previously.
It was emotionally painful as he is forced to look back at what transpired as everything happened so fast and realized that it happened a year ago when the Kurebayashi family returned to Lovely Hills after spending ten years abroad, and there Takuma, now 13 years old, looked back mentally at what happened before getting his life back on the road.
-x-
A year ago…
The scene shifts to Takuma running back to the Hasue home with gasoline. He starts to spread on the outside walls when they and the rest mob pursuing him finds him. Undaunted, he tosses gasoline on them. As he lights a lighter and they ask him if he knows what he is doing, he angrily responds that he does: they will all go to Hell. "Unnamed Mob Member 1" tries to grab him, he bites his hand, and as a result the lighter falls into a puddle of gasoline.
This is because Takuma reached the breaking point after Hotaru Meishiai uses the Hell Correspondence to send him to hell in the belief that everything would end, and that she will follow him there, but somehow he ended up back to the real world and Hotaru ended up in a comatose state.
The mob tries to stop him and wrongfully deemed him as the devil's child.
"Damn you!"
"You really are the devil's child!"
"He's a monster!"
"We should kill him!"
"Let's do it quick!"
"Kill him!"
"Get him!"
"Kill him!"
As the Hasue house burns, the mob raise their sticks to attack him, but Ai arrives demanding they stop. They all, including Takuma, recognize her. She begs them not to kill Takuma and come to their senses. Watching from a distance, Hone Onna turns away, but Wanyūdõ insists that they much watch. With great difficulty, Ai approaches Takuma, takes his hand, and tells him he must leave.
For a brief moment, she smiles at him.
"Come."
"Ai…"
"Let us go now…"
"…"
"You do not have to do this."
"Ai…"
"…"
"…"
Before they can get far, Yasuharu runs up to them from behind with a shovel. Ai recalls the villagers who beat her and her parents. He beats her declaring he will not go to Hell. The rest join in beating her. Her companions can only watch, but her face is calm.
The attackers seemingly lose their composure due to fear of being sent to hell and they continued their assault while proclaiming that they will not go to hell.
"No! I don't want to die!"
"I don't want to go to hell!"
"I don't want to either!"
"Kill her!"
"Kill her at once!"
"Hurry!"
"Before she sends us to hell!"
"Die!"
From a roof, Kikuri watches without any visible emotion. The mob finally stops when Takuma screams at them. For a moment, the individuals appear horrified at what they have done. Ai turns to him and says, "with this it will end. With this. . . ."
Her body dissolves into a shower of luminescent sakura petals that fly into the sky. Watching from her roof, Kikuri silently cries.
The scene shifts to Kikuri standing in the boat as the oar appears to move on its own. The "Giant Jelly Fish"'s tentacles, from this perspective, move with the oar. The boat approaches the gate to Hell over which is the roots of the tree that hold the skeletal remains of Ai's parents. They dissolve into light which ascend into the sky as the roots dissolve into a green light and pass through the gate. With an emotionless expression, Kikuri declares, "It's done," and looks down to see a single cherry on the boat's seat. She kneels down, touches the cherry, then rhetorically asks, "So this was the answer that you chose, huh, Ai? You did good."
The scene fades after the boat sails through the gate to the lake in the mortal world. In the aftermath, Wanyūdõ explains that Seiichi Meshiai's tapes were released to the media which proved Takuma's innocence. Hone continues that those who tried to frame him fled the town over scenes of homes and shops of the village of Lovely Hills closed and up for sale. Ren continues that no media took the "Hell Link" seriously.
As Takuma heads back to his house, he is greeted by a familiar face, which he stared wide-eyed in shock and surprise, as that someone appeared before him and greeted him with a hug and is filled with an emotional greeting.
"Takuma!"
"S-Seri…?"
"Takuma!"
"Seri! Is that really you?"
"Takuma!"
"…"
"Takuma!"
"…"
That someone turns out to be Seri Mizutani, and for some reason she came back to life after being sent to hell via the Hell Correspondence, and Takuma wanted to know if it is really her, and Seri confirmed it by telling him why she wanted revenge against Mr. Hasue in the first place, wanting a place near a pond, and the last message she gave him before being victimized by the Hell Correspondence.
Takuma began to sob as he is glad to see her again, and Seri cried as well, telling him that she should have listened to him about the Hell Correspondence being real.
"Seri…Seri…"
"Oh, Takuma…"
"I'm glad that you're alive!"
"You…you we're right…I should have listened to you…!"
"Please…live with me!"
"I…I…"
"Seri…"
"Takuma…aa"
Both head off to the Kurebayashi house as Seri decided to stay there for the time being and help Takuma in organizing the house, and after that both went to the hospital to check on Takuma's father, who made a miraculous recovery and when police learned of this they interrogated him and received confirmation that Takuma is indeed innocent.
As the police decided to question the boy's accusers, they were dismayed to learn that they fled, and the police chief ordered his men to search for them and figure out which places outside Lovely Hills they would likely head off to.
"Yes sir!"
"Yes sir!"
"Yes sir!"
"Yes sir!"
"Yes sir!"
"Yes sir!"
"Yes sir!"
"Yes sir!"
Several days later Eichiro Kurebayashi made a partial recovery and is discharged from the hospital and visited Hotaru, who remained in a comatose state, and after that Eichiro accepted Takuma's request that Seri would live with them, and in the weeks that passed, Eichiro made a steady recovery whilst they eventually agreed to leave Lovely Hills to start anew as well as to help Takuma move past the emotional trauma he endured.
Eichiro tells Takuma that things might get a bit rough and urged him to be a little patient, which Takuma said it is okay with him, and his dad hugged him and said that their lives will return to normal and that he will no longer endure the harsh situation he experienced recently, which the younger boy nodded, as he is glad that aside from Seri, he has his dad back.
"I'm sorry, son. You've been through a lot."
"I'm okay."
"I'm glad that you held on."
"…"
"We'll start anew. You'll just have to be patient."
"Yes, dad."
"And you can bring your friend with us."
"Thanks, dad…"
They soon settled at a place within Tokyo and there Takuma and Seri found a school to resume their studies whilst she was able to find a part-time job.
-x-
The present time…
Takuma mentally sighed while brushing his teeth as he is forced to recall the events and wondered what has become of Enma Ai, as well as if there have been any news on the boy's accusers, as they are still being searched by the police.
However Takuma is quite dismayed that the media did nothing about the Hell Correspondence, thus it is possible that more people would use it for their petty revenge and grudges yet Takuma hoped that no one would think about using the Hell Correspondence on him since he and his dad have left Lovely Hills several months ago.
His trail of thoughts was interrupted when someone embraced him from behind and he is surprised upon seeing who via the mirror in front of him.
"Hey, Takuma."
"Seri."
"Are you still brooding…?"
"Uh, no…I…"
"Cheer up. It's been the past several months since we left Lovely Hills…"
"Y-yeah…you're right…"
"Besides. We'll be starting anew here, so I don't think we'll be causing anyone to have a grudge on us."
"Well…"
Seri hugged Takuma from behind just like last year, in which he blushed as he suddenly recalled seeing her in the nude when she emerged from the shower when he first told her about the Hell Correspondence in which she hugged him in order to calm him down.
Now she is only covered in a towel as she is about to take a shower and there she asked him if he is worried over something, which he honestly said that he is just recalling what went on since the events of last year.
Takuma stared at the mirror in front of him, seeing that while he gained a bit of height, he is still noticeably shorter than Seri, since he recently turned 13 years old. He blushed deeper as she continued to hug him, as she tells him that he need to move on since they already left Lovely Hills and that his dad has recovered and resume his job as a film producer.
Currently he is at another prefecture as he is assisting in making a new film, thus leaving Takuma and Seri alone, though the teens have no problem as they are living peacefully and now the two teens are alone, and there the younger boy felt like history is repeating itself. Only this time there is no one who uses the Hell Correspondence since they haven't cause someone to bear any grudge against him and Seri.
Seri smiled and asked him what was it like getting a hug from a naked girl, causing Takuma to blush.
"Eh?"
"You heard me."
"W-well…"
"Now you get to experience it again."
"Um..."
"If you think about it, hugging someone is a good thing."
"True…"
"So…get used to hugging a pretty girl like me."
As the younger boy blushed deeper, he stared at her and for some reason he finds himself slowly getting drawn to her, and Seri began to feel the same because of his innocent nature, and without realizing it, Seri slowly kissed Takuma on the lips, which the younger boy stood there as his lips moved on its own as a response to Seri's.
To Be Continued...
Hope you liked this chapter, though it sort of retelling the events of the epilogue of Futakomori, it did feature some original plots, like Seri coming back to life, she and the Kurebayashi's moving out of Lovely Hills, and are living together…
Though the end of this chapter ended in a cliffhanger, it leaves the door open on what the two teens would do next…being SEMI-NAKED and all…
Preview:
As Takuma and Seri spend time together, his accusers resurfaced and are plotting to get even for causing them to be on the run…
See you in six to eight weeks (around mid-October or mid-November)…
Reviews are welcomed, but needed…