Disclaimer: I do not own the anime, manga, novels, songs, or the characters of K. K is owned by GoRa/GoHands.
Author's Note: Gosh, I'm sorry about the super duper late update you guys! Since you guys had to wait for so long, I made this chapter REALLY long as well. It's the longest one thus far! Also, from now on, with each new chapter I'm gonna start putting in the ending of the previous chapter in the beginning of the new one. This is so that you can refresh your minds of what's going on without having to reread all the past chapters all over again. I hope this helps!
I'm starting to get reviews now and they're all really sweet so I'll be replying (to those with accounts only) in a section below each chapter. If you're a guest and you want me to reply to you then please leave some kind of codename or pseudonym or something for me to refer you as LOL.
IMPORTANT:This chapter revolves around the K: Red Side Story novel so if you haven't read it then... uh, well I'm practically giving you the entire plot line here. Direct translations/scenes are italicized and I'm using the translations from Trashbunny's Tumblr. THANK YOU FOR BOTHERING TO READ THIS! :)
K: Preserving the Blaze of Your Red
By: TCOOKIES777
Chapter 6: The Candle of Life
CHAPTER 5: Tipping the Bottle (REVIEW)
Could she tell him? She wasn't sure what the consequences would be, considering that the Slate had never revealed to her the details. But everyone made risks to be where they are. If she didn't take any risks then how would she be able to change history? She had to tell someone—and not just anyone. Besides, maybe Tatara still remembered what she had once told him six years ago. She was about eight years old when Honami-san and her had paid a visit to Homra's bar. That was also the day she would meet her future family.
What about Mikoto? Hm, no, not him; there's no telling what he would do. King was too unpredictable.
Izumo? Ah, he might think she was still dreaming. And, for sure, he wouldn't hide such critical information from Mikoto either.
Out of everyone else, Anna knew that she could entrust this huge secret to Tatara the most.
"Tatara-san, you're not going to believe it but…." She took a deep breath and made a motion for the man to come in closer. Her breath tickled his ear as she whispered into it, "I am Anna from the future."
"I am Anna from the future." She whispered at the same moment Yata burst through the door carrying a tray of the requested onigiri and shouting, "Totsuka-san! How long are you gonna keep Anna to yourself?!"
The young man and the little girl jumped apart from each other.
"Ah, Yata! Anna was in the middle of telling me something really important!"
"Well, the guys and I have been waiting forever downstairs to see her." The captain said with a huff in an effort to justify his self. "We've been wanting to know if she's all right after.. uh… Ah! Here, Kusanagi-san told me to give this to you both."
Tatara accepted the plate of food and gave one to Anna for her to begin munching on. There was a pretty dash of some kind of red powder on the snack to make it more appealing to the Strain but she just wasn't as hungry anymore. There was this weird prickling sensation crawling on her skin ever since she confessed the truth albeit unsuccessfully and she had a strong urge to shudder which she had no choice but to suppress.
"Anna, if—if you're feeling better…" Yata spoke shyly and began fidgeting with the apron he usually wore since he often worked with Izumo at the bar. "Maybe you would like to go out? We could even visit Basashi if you want. Though, I'm not sure if those guys of the Blue clan will allow us to enter their domain…. But don't you worry! I'll make it happen for you somehow!"
Her expression darkened slightly as Anna remembered the reason why she was here in the first place; to save Tatara and Mikoto—to save Homra. She unconsciously muttered to herself, "It's going to happen tonight…."
Yata blinked in befuddlement. "Hah?"
"Anna…?" Tatara softly called to the girl, cocking an eyebrow. They stared at her for a few more seconds before Anna snapped back to reality and continued to eat her onigiri slowly.
"Sorry, Misaki-san," Anna finally responded in a hushed voice. She knew he was referring to what she had told the clan earlier; that she just wanted to hang out with the other clansmen and make many more happy memories for them all to cherish and enjoy. "I… I just don't think that now is a good time to be playing around."
She couldn't waste time having fun while there was a psychotic King out there on a rampage. Although Anna had managed to jump back in time, time was something she couldn't afford any more. Tonight was her only chance to make plans and stop Tatara's soon-to-be killer. And she had to do it by herself. No help from anyone. Because this was her sole responsibility and if she couldn't do it then, to her, that meant she was unworthy of holding the prized position as Homra's beloved princess. Because if she couldn't save the future, then there would be no more Homra for her to be the princess of in the first place.
"Oh…" Yata's face fell and his struggle to hide his disappointment was clear for everyone to notice. "I-I see then…. I mean, I just thought—"
Tatara placed a warm hand on Anna's shoulder. "Sorry, Yata, Anna's just not feeling… well, her usual. But that's exactly why she needs to go out!"
The tiniest hint of a frown marred her face. "But—"
"Come on, Princess!" Tatara insisted cheerily. "I can tell you need the fresh air. We'll just take a walk to the park, get some ice cream, and maybe pass by the Arcade if you're up to it by then."
What do I do, she asked herself inwardly. Both Tatara and Yata had now put her in a position in which she could not refuse. If she did, it would only worry them more so than they already were. The Anna from back then would have agreed to the proposal with reserved excitement. But the Anna now? In her current situation, it was just preposterous.
"Okay…." Anna nodded her head minutely. "But just for a short while because…."
"Oh, do you have something you need to do?" Tatara was suddenly confused and slightly curious now. Usually, Anna would spend most of her time not by herself but with the clansmen—Mikoto or Tatara himself most of all.
The frustration of not being able to reveal anything about the devastating future awaiting them all was starting to get to her now. She couldn't help but grit her teeth thus. "Nothing…. I'd be happy to go."
"All right, I'll go tell the rest of the guys then!" Yata grinned and spun towards the door with renewed enthusiasm.
Once again, there was a moment of silence and this brought Anna to remember what they'd been talking about before they were interrupted. I am Anna from the future. Aside from the prickly sensation which had disappeared in the midst of their conversation with Yata, nothing else had happened. Her existence did not disappear like she half expected nor was she returned to her original timeline. The Dresden Slate had not appeared either. It was almost… strange.
She clambered off her bed and started for the doorway when Tatara abruptly grabbed her hand to stop her from taking another step.
"Wait." He said quietly as he stared into her eyes. Caramel met wine red and Anna held her breath at the ocular connection; it felt like he was staring straight into her soul. "Anna… what were you going to tell me?"
"I…. uh…." What happened to all of her confidence from before? Now, her senses were telling her not to say any more than she already had. She could almost feel the prickling crawling upon her skin again. "I'll tell you later. Can't keep everyone waiting too long."
For a moment, nothing happened and Tatara didn't break eye contact with her. Anna itched to use her marbles and find out what he was thinking right now but she didn't want to do that kind of thing to her own family. It was wrong. Finally, Tatara released his hold on her and as she made her way down the hallway, she could still feel the heat of his gaze.
Like it was piercing into her very soul….
It turns out that their walk to the park had become a picnic at the park instead. This was all because Kamamoto had brought an excessive amount of food and snacks and Fujishima had wondrously come prepared with blankets for everyone to sit upon. For a second, Anna thought they had planned this whole thing out to surprise her.
"For what reason did you bring those blankets in the first place?" Eric asked Fujishima as he chomped on a forkful of yakisoba. "They seem like something you would use to wrap a homeless animal with….."
The man in question glanced nervously at Izumo who was wiping food crumbs off Anna's cheek. "Ah, n-no reason! Ahahaha…"
"Maybe we shouldn't have all gone out." Izumo sighed heavily. "With all these men sporting the same tattoo, we might be sending the wrong kind of signal."
"It's fine! We had no problems when we were at the beach, remember? And this was supposed to be for Anna's sake but", Tatara chuckled lightheartedly. "it's nice to see that everyone is enjoying themselves as well."
"Especially Chitose!" Bandou clenched his fist. Growling, he pointed out to the womanizer currently chatting up to a pair of young women. "One can practically see the sparkles of his charm polluting the air!"
"Hey, at least we've gotten over Kamamoto's time of the year." Yata offered. An exhausted expression transformed his face as he seemingly remembered the effort he and the other guys had been put through the summer that passed in their attempt to fatten their friend up.
"And then there's you." Eric directed a small sneer at Homra's vanguard. "You can't even talk to a girl."
"Hah?! What did you just say?!" Yata shouted with wide eyes. An intense heat—not from his powers but probably due to either embarrassment or fury—reddened his face to a deep scarlet.
"Not to mention you're absolutely frightened when it comes to ghosts." The English blond haired man added in. Knowing he was successfully getting a reaction out of the hotheaded captain, he giddily continued rubbing salt to the wound.
"He's got you there, Yata." Shohei had to agree. "Ouch, he really knows your weaknesses, huh?"
"Ah, it's okay, Yata-san!" Kamamoto inserted himself into the conversation in an attempt to calm his friend down. No need to get a bat and start brawling out in public lest Izumo decide it might be relaxing to bash their faces into the trees. "I'm scared of ghosts too. After all, there's a ghost that haunts my room! Unusual things are always occurring whenever I'm there."
"Sh-Shut up! Th-th-there's no s-such thing as g-g-g-g-g-ghosts!" Yata spat out his words with great difficulty. He breathed in and tilted his head up. "And I've talked to girls before!"
"Does that include your mom?" Dewa asked.
"Besides her!"
"Keep barking, Chihuahua." Eric said in English, prompting Yata to glare at him.
Dewa's face remained skeptical so he only went on to clean his glasses against his shirt.
Bandou raised his brow up high. "Besides Anna too?"
Before Yata had a chance to reply back, Tatara cut in. "Hey, Anna's the most lovely lady you can find! There's no one like her!"
"There's no one like her because she's a strain, you mean." Izumo gave him a pointed look before glancing to Anna curling up against Mikoto who was lying peacefully on the blanket.
"And because she's our precious Anna!" Tatara smiled cheerily as he draped an extra blanket over her and the King.
"So what are we going to do about her surprise birthday party?" Fujishima asked in a hushed voice.
"I'm not sure why but I have this feeling that we shouldn't leave her alone." Izumo answered sipping his drink with a distracted look on his face. "I guess we're just gonna have to prepare everything overnight when she's asleep in her room. Anyways, oi… Kosuke Fujishima, what's that in your hands?!"
A small bird lay cooing in the palm of the man wearing a v-neck of the british flag. He stared at the bartender with begging eyes. "I just found it. I think it's injured…."
Izumo gave in as usual with an exasperated sigh. "Just as long as you don't bring it back into my bar…. Anyways, back to Anna's birthday."
"Seeing as we don't have as much time for preparation anymore" Chitose came back as he waved farewell at the women from earlier. "Are you sure you don't want to just make reservations at a nice restaurant?"
"Like I said before; with us?" Dewa repeated once more. "I feel like we'd make a commotion and that would only bother Anna."
"King…." Izumo called out to the man lying beside him. An arm was over his face, covering his eyes so it was difficult to tell if they were open or not. "I know you're awake. So, how about it? What do you think we should do for the princess's day?"
The Red King sat up and scratched his stomach. "Hn… whatever she wants."
"Well, so much for a surprise birthday party then." Izumo rolled his eyes.
"Speaking of Anna—I mean, besides her birthday and all that…." Tatara spoke up suddenly. His voice was unusually serious and this grabbed the attention of his fellow clansmen. "I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who's noticed something's going on."
"You mean besides the fact Anna went all supernatural on us in the middle of her early noon nap?" Chitose said almost sarcastically.
"It's not her fault." Tatara looked to the little girl with grim expression. "She just can't help it sometimes—and I don't blame her."
"Sometimes?" Shohei frowned as he realized what that meant. "You mean to say that this kind of thing has happened before?"
"No way!" Bandou shook his head. "Anna's such a sweet girl. She would never harm a fly…. Well, okay, maybe she would—but you know what I mean."
A heavy silence settled down particularly upon Mikoto, Izumo, Tatara, Yata and Kamamoto. They all looked uneasy like they were in pain or something.
"Listen," Izumo breathed slightly and then stuck an unlit cigarette between his lips. "This was before half of you guys had joined and even for the rest of you, only a certain few of us know about what happened…."
"We're not sure we understand what you mean, Kusanagi-san." Fujishima spoke up for the half who didn't know.
"There's a reason Anna doesn't express herself as easily as most people do." Tatara sullenly said. Mikoto's face darkened visibly for a moment and even the rambunctious Yata was without words.
Mikoto made a sound something close to a growl as the certain men involved in the incident years before were forced to remember it once again. Tatara sighed. "The only people who know about this—King and I included of course—are Kusanagi, Kamamoto, Yata, and Fushimi as well."
Yata immediately stiffened up at the mention of his ex-best friend but said nothing.
"You see, one day, Honami-sensei visited our bar—"
"Honami-sensei?" Shohei including Eric were the ones who looked lost the most out of all the other men.
"Ah, she was a good teacher of ours back when Totsuka, King, and I were still in high school." Izumo answered with a small smile lifting his lips up. The other men temporarily had distracted faces as each tried to imagine what the three executives were like in their school days.
"Anyways, Honami-sensei happened to bring her niece that day; Anna." Tatara continued with the story. "Apparently, Anna had a free day from the… hospital. You see, Honami-sensei didn't know Anna was a strain then—or anything of the sort at all. That 'hospital' had convinced Honami-sensei that Anna was mentally ill. So she was being kept there in order for them to run tests."
Yata lowered his head to hide the tears burning his eyes.
"Truth be told, that hospital had turned out to be an Insititute of the Blue Clan with a man by the name of Mizuchi pulling the strings. Back then, the Blue clan did not have a King to lead them. Munakata-san had only become King recently, you know."
"Wait, wait, wait." Fujishima held up his hand to pause Tatara. "Were Anna's parents already…."
"They were already dead by then. Apparently, in a car accident… or so we all thought at first…." Kamamoto muttered. He went on to grab a handful of dumplings on a plate in the center of the blanket and proceeded to stuff himself with it.
"Oi!" Yata started. "Kamamoto, you just ate already!"
"But all this sadness is making me hungry!" The chubby clansmen cried out with tears streaming down his face. At that, Yata let his friend off this time.
"The day those two ladies visited, I tried talking to Anna." Tatara rubbed the back of his neck. "She was extremely reserved at that time—more so than now. I tried coaxing her to eat a serving of Homra's Specialty Tomato Chicken Curry but she only continued playing with her marbles."
"So those marbles were always with her then." Eric quietly noted.
"That was when we were told about Anna being color blind." Izumo intercepted. "That's why Anna doesn't eat much. Sure, she eats plenty…. But for her age, even that's not enough. And that's why Yata, Kamamoto, and I go through such lengths to make Anna's meals more appealing for her."
"She was a brat back then." Mikoto grunted. "Wouldn't stop staring…."
"Even then she was attached to you." Izumo chuckled softly.
"Hn…."
"I remember I interrupted her little game with the marbles." Tatara went on. A far off look appeared in his eyes as he reminisced about that particular day. "Hehe, I was honestly curious as to what she was doing exactly. Mind you, we all didn't know she was a Strain that time. When I knocked at one of her marbles, she looked up at me and I could just barely catch a hint of irritation in her eyes. I asked her…."
"What are you doing?"
Anna was silent for a while. And, as she kept quiet, she stared at Totsuka. Her general expression didn't really change, but maybe — just maybe — she might have been glaring.
"…I was looking."
"Looking? At what?"
Lowering her eyes once more, Anna grew quiet again.
Totsuka studied her face in silence.
Although she looked very young, her eyes somehow showed an unusual trace of maturity. It wouldn't seem as if the reason she spoke so little was because she had any form of shyness or a fearfully withdrawn personality.
Those were eyes which seemed to have seen too much, or had maybe given up on something.
A gut feeling told Totsuka he might be on to something.
"…So you can 'see' things other people can't?" he gently asked.
Anna slowly lifted her gaze. Those lightless eyes found a focal point on Totsuka's face. But, although he was being intently looked at, somehow Totsuka didn't really feel that way. Those eyes seemed to be aimed someplace else.
"I remember asking her, 'how do you see me, then?' and in response she held up her marble. Through it we made eye contact together." Tatara's voice had gone down to a low whisper. He was becoming distracted by the memory and Izumo was unsure if his friend was even still with them or if he'd gone off to his own world reliving that one memory. "There was this falling and sucking sensation and it was almost as if my soul was being laid bare for her to see. All of a sudden, she dropped her marble—surprised at whatever she saw. But she wouldn't tell me what she had seen… and it was only until later that she…."
"Hm? Something about that man over there?" Totsuka said as he brought himself down to Anna's level, matching her gaze.
With the dignified, austere air of a priestess who made a prediction, Anna opened her mouth. "If you stay by his side," she said while looking at Suoh, "you won't live very long."
"So?" Chitose interrupted the flashback. "What did she tell you?"
Tatara stayed silent for a moment before he started to laugh. "It seems I forgot!"
The young serial hobbyist could feel his king burning a stare into his back but he chose to ignore it.
"We had Yata and Kamamoto keep watch over Honami-sensei and Anna while also acting as their city tour guides. That same day, Anna tried to run away and go back to the Institute."
Yata nodded as he remembered what went down that late afternoon. "We even fought these Blue twins! Now, what were their names again? Ah, that's right; the Minato twins!
Those guys—I couldn't believe the Blue clansmen had stooped so low to even threaten a kid! And they were really annoying too—right Kamamoto?"
"They liked speaking in turns." Kamamoto confirmed with a shudder. "They were really creepy; it's like they were being driven by the very power they possessed as Blues…."
"After Yata and Kamamoto gave me an account of that night's events, I had Honami-sensei let me take care of Anna while she was off at work." Kusanagi plucked off a leaf that had fallen onto Anna's cheek. The child twitched slightly at the touch but didn't wake up. "This was so we could keep a closer eye on her of course. Honami-sensei was very shocked to hear of Anna's runaway attempt…. I told her Anna was a child in the process of maturation so it wasn't unusual for her to be acting moody. And then I offered for them to stay at the bar; this was for their protection since the Blue clansmen were obviously keeping watch on Honami's apartment which also confirmed the fact of Anna being a high-level Strain."
"How high-level is she?" Bandou inquired. "I've seen her use her marbles as a medium for her powers to do things like locate people or places on maps and read minds but… to what extent are her powers?"
"Think…. Yubiki Maria; deceptively dangerous." Tatara suggested. Chitose's face blanched at the name of his one night stand. "Only stronger—just without those… razor sharp hands of hers."
"Her empathic powers rival that of a King's power." Mikoto said. "That's why…."
"…. The next day we showed her a demonstration of our powers." Tatara continued. "We offered her a place in our clan—"
"And she said 'yes', right?" Shohei cut in. "That's how she became a member of Homra?"
Izumo shook his head at them. "She refused us actually. Told us she was going back to the Institute—back to that Mizuchi man. We didn't know back then that her situation was a lot more complicated than we had thought…. So we had Kamamoto, Yata, Fushimi, along with Totsuka sneak into the facility's research center and learn more about Anna by hacking into their database. We had good reason to suspect them of… inhumane experimentations."
"But we were interrupted and on our way out we ran into the Minato twins again." Yata growled in a reproachful manner. He automatically itched for his bat but his hand stayed. "Kamamoto and Totsuka-san would then bump into Mizuchi—"
"That villain!" Kamamoto angrily said all of a sudden. "He almost broke Totsuka-san's arm!"
"The bastard…." Yata whispered furiously.
Totsuka raised his hands up to calm them down. "Hey, but he didn't! I came out all right in the end. Anyways, I think it's because I angered him in the first place."
"How?" Eric asked incredulously.
"Ehehe, well, I told him the idea of taking Anna in and making her a member of our clan—if she wanted to, of course." Tatara answered back with a sheepish smile as he started rubbing his shoulder. "And he might have felt threatened by that."
"It's my fault you got hurt that day." Kamamoto said lowly. His face was crestfallen with guilt. "I was with you and yet I couldn't protect you."
"Hey, just because I'm weak doesn't mean I need protection all the time!" With a wry smile, Tatara patted Kamamoto's shoulder to reassure him.
"Oh we're not doing a repeat of this, are we?" Izumo gave an exasperated sigh before pausing thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, that same noon was when Anna found Yata naked in the bathroom…."
"AHHH, IZUMO-SAN!" Yata clasped the sides of his head in horror of the memory retold for everyone to hear. For the second time that day his face bloomed a red brighter than his flames. "WHY?!"
Everyone else but the loyal Kamamoto burst out laughing. Even the corners of Mikoto's mouth tilted up slightly.
"Ah, sorry, Yata." Izumo said unapologetically. "I guess it just slipped out. I was very into the story-telling."
"Poor Yata. It must've been very traumatizing." Tatara sincerely said as he offered his sympathies for the embarrassed vanguard.
"So it seems Anna's not as innocent as we thought!" Chitose said, shrugging his shoulders only to get a solid smackful by Dewa and Bandou.
"Not if there was anything to really look at." Eric smirked.
"You!" Yata shook his fist at him angrily.
"All right, all right! Back to the story at hand. Anna could wake up any moment from now." Tatara glanced worriedly at the girl still napping and he reached over to fix the blanket around her shoulders. "Phew, I'm parched. Mikoto, you wanna take over?"
The king went 'hmph' but continued for his friend anyways as Izumo poured a sweet scented drink for Tatara. "That night, Anna and I connected together for the second time as we slept. I woke up because I couldn't breathe… it seemed the brat had had a nightmare in which she was drowning. She was shaking in fear and I didn't know what to do so I asked Totsuka for help."
"I touched her and…." Tatara stared down at his fingers like they were the most interesting thing to look at. "She burned me…. Accidentally that is."
"It was a power overflow." Mikoto said.
"Power overflow?" Shohei, ever the curious one, asked. "What, you mean like, failure to control your power?"
The Third King gave a heavy sigh and rubbed at his temples as if he had a spiking headache all of a sudden.
"It does happen to a clansman from time to time." Dewa nodded. "Especially us since we carry flames within our bodies."
"By then, we were extremely concerned for Anna." Izumo fiddled with his lighter but had yet to light up the cigarette still stuck in his mouth. "So I dropped by Shiotsu's office under the pretense of apologizing for the incident between our clansmen. He too was part of the Blue clan and the facility run by Mizuchi. He didn't exactly warm up to me but that was expected.
I left, warning him that if he wouldn't back off of Anna and Honami-sensei then that would mean war with Homra. Before I left though, he mentioned the Kagutsu Crater incident… the reason why they are now an aimless clan without a King."
"Regardless, should something happen to a king, another king is required in order to stop it. Now, there's no longer a blue king… do you think there's something you can do when your king crumbles?"
"Anna had never been to the amusement park before; her parents had promised her they would go but… the car crash happened before they could…." Tatara gazed fondly at the slumbering princess curled up between him and Mikoto. He reached out and brushed a stray strand of albino hair away from her eyes. "So I took it upon myself to fulfill at least that wish of hers and brought the others along for the trip.
And it was really fun—honestly! King and Kusanagi-san didn't really go on many rides… and Fushimi-san went off on his own but Yata, Kamamoto and I made sure she had the time of her life. That was the first time I had seen her truly enjoying herself."
"She really liked those spinning tea cups now that I think about it." Kamamoto noted.
"I thought she liked the ferris wheel best?" Yata argued.
"Why the ferris wheel?" Fujishima asked.
A certain expression came over Chitose's face as he shot a smug look over at Tatara. "Oh? You weren't trying to get all cozy in the ferris wheel with the little princess all by yourself, were you? Nice move!"
Tatara sweat dropped as everyone pierced Chitose with a disgusted look. "Actually, the amusement park was just about to close down for the day so we didn't really have the chance to ride it… sort of..?"
The unknowing half of the men frowned in confusion at Tatara's explanation. Mikoto took out a lighter and placed a cigarette in his mouth before lighting it up. "I carried them up."
"It was really scary, King!" Tatara whined. "You could have at least warned Anna and I!"
"Too much of a hassle."
"That's laziness! You just picked us up and dumped us on a gondola!"
"The cheeky brat really wanted to go. Was there any other way for me to do it?"
"Wait, so was Anna that desperate to go on the ferris wheel?" Bandou cut in.
"Well, you see, she wanted to see the sunset!" Tatara smiled softly for a moment and then it dropped just as quick. "At that time… she told me her powers allowed her to 'see' the Dresden Slate. She was going to use that to her advantage and become the Blue King."
The others cried out immediately in protest.
"What?!"
"That's outrageous!"
Izumo's face turned stern as he shushed them and signaled to Anna who was now tossing and turning because of the loud disturbance. The young men froze and held their breaths, not wanting the girl to know what they'd been discussing the entire time she was asleep.
Shohei took off his hat and clutched at it tightly. "B-but she was just a little girl! She still is!"
"Wh-why would Anna want to do something like that?" Dewa asked. Disbelief and shock were etched upon his face. "To force herself to become something she's not…."
"It was to protect her aunt." Izumo explained to them. "After the death of her parents, Honami-sensei was the only family she had left; she didn't want to lose her too."
"She wouldn't have been able to bear the loneliness." Eric mumbled with a downcast look.
"Later that day, we went to Honami-sensei's school." It was Izumo's turn to take over. "Anna was supposed to be reading a book as she waited for Honami-sensei to finish her work. Meanwhile, the others and I were in another classroom discussing Anna's confession.
Everything we learned was beginning to piece itself together; Mizuchi was using Anna as a test subject and blackmailing her through Honami-sensei. With this idea in mind, Fushimi had deduced that the car crash that killed Anna's parents… was no accident at all."
Fujishima looked about ready to cry. "I-it was… staged?"
"By none other than Mizuchi himself!" Yata snarled bitterly.
"My god…." Bandou said slowly in horror of the man's immorality.
Chitose shook his head. He seemed sick to the stomach. "Poor Anna…."
Mikoto released a puff of smoke and then angled his head up to watch the gray skies slightly clouding over. Since it was winter, the air was a little chilly. Honestly, a picnic at the park at this time of the year? Whatever. Just as long as he had somewhere he could rest.
"Unfortunately, Anna overheard our discussion and vanished." Izumo said with a disturbed expression behind his shades. "That night, there was an incident near a crossroad involving several people who claimed they couldn't breathe—that it was like they were suffocating underwater."
"The experiments." Tatara commented quietly.
Kamamoto scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe that's why she's not very fond with large bodies of water. When we went to the beach during the summer that passed, she only played in the shallow parts."
"She sees all in the world, and feels it. She brings the outside world into her body. That's that kid's clairvoyant powers. But, in contrast, letting loose what's inside her… that's also, certainly, that kid's ability."
"So basically." Said Kusanagi, taking Totsuka's words.
"Memories of being burned, memories of drownin'. You mean they're inside that kid, and when she's disturbed mentally, they spill out through her clairvoyant powers."
"That's terrible!" Fujishima exclaimed. He wasn't just an animal lover; Fujishima was a very sympathetic and compassionate person at heart. To hear such a tragic history of his clan's princess was almost too much for him to bear. No one should have to go through that kind of pain. "Is this why Anna has difficulty expressing herself?"
Tatara only nudged his head down in response. Yata shifted his body uncomfortably as he spoke up in a hesitant manner. "Saru-kun was pretty upset with himself. He thought it was his fault that Anna had run away and hurt all those people after overhearing the truth she'd been refusing."
"But it gave us the opportunity to crush the Center and Mizuchi once and for all." Kamamoto smiled kindly at his worried friend in an effort to cheer him up.
"You could tell King was pretty fired up about it too." Tatara grinned at his former sempai.
"Hmph.."
"And, well, we don't need to go into details about the fighting." Tatara chuckled lightheartedly. "You probably have an idea of what the outcome was."
"Saru-kun and I pummeled those stuck up Minato twins." Yata pumped his fist excitedly. "That taught them not to mess with Homra!"
"But they really seemed like your equals, Yata-san." Kamamoto said.
"Idiot! No way!"
"Well, in the end, the Rabbits of the Gold clan came." Izumo brushed his hand through his hair. "They had to take Honami-sensei's memories of everything that happened… including her memories of Anna."
"But she was her only family!" Dewa protested vehemently. "That's too cruel!"
Tatara's earring caught a ray of sunlight and twinkled underneath it. "Well, overall, it was a happy ending I guess. Anna chose to officially become a member of Homra."
Izumo gave a look to Tatara. "I bet you were really hoping she would, huh?"
Tatara only laughed at that and he went on to gently pet Anna's head. "Honami-sensei may have been torn from Anna's life… but this let her walk into ours. We're her family now."
"Mmm…."
"Ah, she's awake!"
"Who..?" Anna blinked open her eyes. She came to with everyone grinning at her and half of the men trying to indiscreetly wipe away tears in their eyes. It was quite an unusual sight to come to first thing after waking up from a nap.
"Good afternoon, sleepyhead!" Tatara sang out.
"… Why are you all…." She didn't know what to say. What had they been doing the entire time she was resting? She had her suspicions but decided not to say anything.
Yata stuttered for words. "W-what? W-w-we're not crying or anything! Honestly, Anna, you should get your marbles checked!"
"… Okay?" From the corner of her eye, Anna caught Izumo rolling his eyes behind his tinted shades. This was extremely weird. For a moment, she wondered if the Dresden Slate had pulled her into another timeline—or possibly a parallel world even. No, she was jumping to conclusions too quickly. She couldn't afford to think rashly any more.
"Oh, Anna, are you hungry?" Izumo asked the little Strain. "You only ate a little since we got here."
"Right then! I'll get this lovely lady some ice cream!" Chitose volunteered so he could privately rub his tears away. He left to buy a strawberry cone from the ice cream truck parked nearby. Using his charms, he managed to come back almost immediately.
I can't believe I'm eating ice cream when I should be figuring out how to save Tatara tonight, Anna thought to herself as she licked daintily away at her cone. And here I am, having a picnic in the park, just sitting and enjoying the scenery, Maybe I can buy more time before we have to go back home….
"Tatara?" Anna asked quietly as she finished her ice cream.
"Hm?"
Her heart started to pound faster and faster for some unknown reason. Why was she feeling so nervous all of a sudden? It's just a simple request, she told herself. You can do it. She breathed in slightly. "W-would you sing for me, please?"
Tatara stared at her blankly and at that moment she just felt like crying. All these rush of emotions… it was too much for her to handle. No, she needed to keep herself in check. I can't cause another scene….
"I don't mind if you don't use your guitar." She whispered almost shyly. "Just your voice… is enough for me."
Tatara arched an eyebrow and beamed down at her. He reached behind his back and graciously pulled out the acoustic instrument. "Well, I can't refuse a request from my dear princess, now can I? I thought it'd be a good idea to bring this with me! Good thing I did."
The men stopped what they were doing and gathered back into a circle to listen. Clearing his throat, Tatara began strumming his guitar and then a clear voice poured out from him.
Soft…
Beautiful….
Warm….
[A/N: Time to go to Youtube and listen to Tatara Totsuka's character song: Circle of Friends! I used a mix of English translations from several sources.]
At the crossroad where thousands come and go every day
That's how you and I met...
With an honest gaze we looked at the future full of longing
As long as we are together on the path we travel on
Together walking along the way
Our paths are just mere mirrors...
Like the sun that sets and rises
As we build up our courage
To face each new trial
The vows we swore as the evening sun shone red
Reflects at us in the rhapsody of the night
As the day must grow old in time
And the evening moon fades to yellow
Our bonds bind us from afar and yet we feel the warmth
And so I wish it would last forever…
Anna closed her eyes and softly hummed along with the lilting music. She sighed, thinking how much she has missed this. Their bonds were not just shared by the blood they had bled together through the many obstacles they were forced to overcome… but also by the same candle of flame that burned vibrantly deep within their hearts.
This was Homra.
This was her precious family.
Burning brighter than the stars that dotted a sky, and burning with an even hotter passion, this was her candle of life.
Suddenly, an electric sensation ran down Anna's body and she jolted her eyes open, wary of the familiar disturbance she was feeling. She wildly looked around in search of the source. Pinpointing it in the direction of the lake nearby, she froze as she met the cold eyes of the boy. A psychotic grin started to stretch across his face.
It was him.
The one she saw in her nightmare.
The person who had murdered Tatara the night before her birthday.
Snow white hair just like hers but brighter… and the face of a killer.
The Colorless King.
"That boy…." She whispered hoarsely to no one in particular. Tatara stopped singing and everyone turned to look at her.
"Anna?" Izumo asked almost unsurely. Her eyes were as wide as saucers but what stunned him the most was the determined look in her face; he had never seen it before.
Mikoto, sensing her uneasiness, peered at her from the corner of his eye. "What's wrong?"
Her whole body was shaking uncontrollably but it wasn't from fear. There was this raw energy surging throughout her but Anna didn't know what it was. She stood up on trembling legs but held her ground, never taking her eyes off the young man directly across from her. "He's the one…."
"Ah?"
Before anyone could understand what was happening, Anna broke into a mad dash with speed they had never seen her use before. She didn't spare a glance back. She wouldn't dare.
"Anna?!"
She couldn't control it. She couldn't stop. Not now! Not now when that person is standing right in front of her! Not now when she is running out of time to save Tatara and Mikoto. Not now while the future of Homra—the future of her family—lies in her hands.
And with her hands, she will..!
….
She will what?
The flame within her—the one she had difficulty taming for years—let loose out of her with a raging roar...
Replies to Reviews:
Gorelotte: It liiiiives! :D Hahaha~
AngelaStoneWoodLaurant: It's reviewers like you who inspire me to do my best. Thank you so much for that very inspiring and constructive criticism (now my head doesn't want to work in English right now ahaha!). And you are absolutely correct about the timeline. Whoops! My bad. Let's just say it's been like 2 years since Mikoto died. Ugh, my head doesn't wanna think right now either. I'm happy I'm writing the characters decently. I've been having difficulty writing their personality into their lines/actions since there's not much background on them besides a chapter here and there in the manga.
Amechan87: Wow, you are so adorable. Excuse me if that sounds creepy haha! Hm, so you like Izumo & Anna? I'll be sure to add in more father-daughter moments of those two then. Oh, and I might actually use your idea :) You suggested Anna tell them she was just having a bad dream. Yeah, I think I'll use that in a future chapter. Would you like that? I was smiling when reading your review cause it was just so casual and thoughtful. Like, it told me how much you're really into my story :) Thanks for that!
THANKS GUYS (AND GUESTS) FOR THE REVIEWS.
Also, if you want to input your own idea then I might just use it for the story! Or if you request a certain scene to happen (nothing major or romantic) then I'll do my best to insert it into the story.