Fading – chapter 4

-Black Oblivion, Part 1-

Miao-miao! Its reached chapter 4!

Thanks very much to badluckfan and tomieharley for being there when I need inspiration and a little push. :-) This is to you, guys:-)

So happy, heheh. The story doesn't end this way folks, you'll see that there's always a way out of a dead end.

Enjoy!

Please review! I beg of you! (Prostrates to the readers) It's the only thing that drives me to type this story down!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That night, Aconite was allowed back to her room, since she was now alright. She sat on her windowsill, almost like a bird would, enjoying the feel of the cold night breeze blowing her hair back and caressing her face softly. Smiling to herself, she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

As she looked at the city below her, she felt exhilarated; heights have always excited her. Cougar often commented that her coincidence of a name suited her well when they were kids. 'Tsubasa', a word that literally meant 'wings'. Sighing, she looked over her shoulder to see the digital clock she had on her bedside table. The time read 10.30 p.m.

'Oh well, that idiot never does come early. The earliest he gets would probably an hour after the promised time, in spite of the speed he has,' she thought to herself, hugging her knees up to her chest and shivered slightly. She had to admit; it WAS undeniably cold up where her room was.

Her mind drifted off, recalling yet another piece of her memories with Cougar. It was the day he left. He was eleven then, and she was only ten. Although he didn't say anything as he left for the city as a stowaway, she knew she wasn't going to see him much after that. She buried her head in her hands when she recalled the event the day before, when she was first taken into HOLY.

She made up the part about him writing letters to her. She just said it to make herself feel better. To her, Cougar was more than just a best friend. He was a lot of things; ranging from a teacher to a brother and just a few years back, her feelings for him made her see him as a lover.

She laughed mockingly to herself, "He'd never see me the same way... He'd never look at me the same way he looks at that Mimori woman..."

/Meanwhile/

Down the same corridor was Cougar's room. The occupant was inside, indulged in yet another book. Halfway through one of the pages, he looked up at the clock hung on his wall and saw that it was quarter to eleven. He never was one to be punctual, but seeing how his condition was, maybe being early for once wouldn't hurt. He picked himself out of his chair and slipped a bookmark into the book he previously read.

He walked over to his desk and looked at his shades. Normally, he'd say he's nothing without them, but for tonight, maybe it won't hurt to go without them. Sighing, he walked out of the room, locking the electronic door behind him as he started towards Aconite's room.

Along the way, he was surprised to find Mimori standing right across of him, in the other end of the corridor, walking his way. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of her; she never failed to make him feel that way every time they met and it seemed that she hadn't seen him walking from the other direction until he greeted her,

"Good evening, Miss Minori."

She looked like she just saw a ghost when she heard him; if one could see ghosts, they could've seen her soul jump ten feet into the air before returning into her body. Her head snapped up at the sound of his voice and said, "Cougar! I... I wasn't expecting to see you here... and it's Mimori, for the umpteenth time."

Cougar smiled warmly at her, "Oh, sorry about that. I don't know what got into me. By the way, what are you doing here? Isn't your room in the lower floors?" he asked and noticed that her clothing was rather thin for the chilly night.

Mimori grabbed her pendant almost reflexively before answering, "Well... when you left the ward earlier this morning, I just thought that maybe Aconite was hurt by what you said and I thought I'd come by and check on her..." she said slowly, somewhat afraid to meet the red-head's calm, green eyes.

He averted his gaze to the wall opposite of him as he recalled the event where he raised his voice at the copper-haired Alter user. Well, yeah, he felt a bit bad about it, but he wouldn't just let someone talk that way to his Mimori.

'Not even an old friend?' a voice at the back of his head nudged.

He just shook it off mentally, 'Not even an old friend.'

"What are you doing here, Cougar? Don't you have anything else to do?" Mimori asked, leaning against the cold wall in spite of her thin clothing which comprised of a pink, long-sleeved blouse and a long black skirt with matching black shoes.

"I'm just taking a stroll. Maybe visit Aconite for a minute or two. She gets lonely pretty easily," he said with a smile. Mimori looked at Aconite's door, which was just a few meters away from them,

"Well, I'm going in. Are you?" she asked, motioning towards the door. Cougar looked at it for a minute before replying,

"Sure."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Aconite-

There was a knock on the door and I woke up. Glancing at the clock on my bedside table, I saw that it was five minutes to eleven. Can it be? I got up instantly and grabbed a jacket to cover my cold arms as I have been sleeping on the windowsill where miraculously, I didn't fall over sideways and plunge down to my death...

Ah, heck, who cares? He's here! Feeling excited I went over and opened the door to be greeted by my best friend's tall frame right in front of me. I couldn't help but hug him out of habit; it was something I used to do before, with the exception that I didn't tackle him down to the ground like I used to when we were kids.

He tensed up again in my grip; it was natural, I guess. I mean, I haven't seen him at all for 10 years! How would you feel if someone you haven't gotten used to just suddenly went up to you and hugged you?

"I thought you'd never come," I said, letting him go and punching him playfully on the shoulder. I was all smiles until I saw the person he was with.

Kiryu Mimori. Why was she here? The whole world must've been able to see my surprised expression, because she did. She has my Cougar already, what more does she want? I stood up stiffly and said, "Kiryu-san," just to acknowledge her. You know what they say; first impressions are the most important...

And I don't think my first impression is at all good. I don't like that woman! Realizing that they were still at my doorway, I stepped aside and invited them in, "It's pretty chilly out there. Come on in."

I closed the door behind them and allowed them to take a seat while I went and made some tea. I wasn't very good when it comes to making things for guests, but I was just trying to be nice. You can't blame a girl for trying, can you? I could hear my two visitors having a one-sided lively conversation (Cougar was doing most of the talking) while I took out some cookies from the small fridge I had in my room.

Placing them on a tray, I went over to where my guests were and placed it on a small table I'd kept in one corner of my room, "It's not much, but I hope you're okay with just tea and cookies so late at night."

They both said it was more than just okay so I just plastered a smile at them, especially to that scientist woman. What did she have that Cougar liked so much? What was it that I lacked? I went and resumed my seat at my windowsill, looking out into the distance,

"So, what did you two come for?" I asked, without even bothering to look at them.

Cougar answered, which made me turn to listen to what he said, "We just thought you'd like some company. Miss Minori (Mimori!) thought you were a bit lonely, so we thought we'd drop by to keep you company."

My head throbbed suddenly, 'He's lying... he doesn't even want to see you,' growled a voice deep in the dark corners of my mind. My Alter was up again. My dark side, I'd like to call her. I just smiled at him, but my eyes weren't focused on, him; I was too busy looking at my hands.

I know I've been nothing but a nuisance ever since I got here, but I just can't help it. Everyone else had an Alter they could control easily, why won't mine even listen to me? Every time I close my eyes, I can see a glimpse of Oblivion, my Alter, smirking at me. And every time, I'd hear her whisper,

'You're a fool, Aconite. You always were since the day we became one.'

Now, she was up to something. I held both sides of my head, clearly in pain. I must have cried out because I could hear both Cougar and Mimori coming towards me...

"Don't come near me..." I tried to say, but they couldn't hear me.

'That's right Aconite... Go to sleep. I'll take over for you. That hatred in your very soul is just what I need...' For a split second, I could actually feel Oblivion running her hand down the side of my face. She felt so cold, like death itself.

After that, I couldn't remember any more. All I could recall before everything went black were black feathers. Ink-black, like shadows that have come alive...

-End of POV-

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, I know what I said in the summary... this DOES look more like its leaning on Aconite's history and more about her, doesn't it? Well, I need to. After all, I'm planning a sort-of remake of the anime. Let the readers understand her, understand her Alter, how she deals with it, and once she's alright by herself, things'll spice up, I promise. If it doesn't, you all have the right to flame this fic the hardest you can. ;;

Just so everyone knows, I don't plan on giving a limit of words for every chapter. Some may be long, some may be short, but rest assured, I won't be writing long chapters for quite some time.

Oh, and just a fair warning to everyone, I just got a good idea from my cousin and I decided to go with it. There will be two alternate endings to this story and when the final chapter is to be posted, I'll be putting up both at once. Till then, do tell me which one of the two endings you all prefer. ;;

Ciao!