Chapter 13: Meet the Akatsuki Arc - An Odd Serenity
Sorry to keep you all waiting! Here's the next installment of the story, the other half of the previous chapter! Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot and my OCs!
Kaiya's POV
Suddenly, a rather loud voice whispered four words into my ear.
"Open your eyes, Kaiya!"
My eyes shot wide open at the strange noise, and I turned around, expecting to see Yukio behind me with a silly face. But this time, that was not the case.
I rubbed my eyes, dazed and exhausted, wondering if I had sleepwalked somewhere during the night. Unfortunately, I did not recognize the area I was in as part of my house. Actually, I had never seen the area I was in before, especially one that was all pink and white. Although I was overcome with a very strange feeling at first, seeing all of those light, fluffy colors made the ambiance around that place feel so...pure.
I probably was imagining the noise, I decided. I don't know where I am now, though. Did someone carry me here or something?
Stretching, I began to look around, curious if I was still dreaming or not. I was about eighty-three percent certain that I was, since the environment around me felt so unreal. It gave me the vibe that I was no longer in my world, and instead, maybe up in the sky somewhere.
Well, I thought to myself, I think that does make sense. The white, fluffy background interlaced with the veil of tender pink...they do resemble clouds and swirls. But at the same time, I don't recall the sky being pink, unless it's already dawn.
Yawning, I began to walk around, observing the new realm. I was still able to breathe, which was a good sign. In addition, it told me that plants could be in this realm as well, so I excitedly ran off into the distance, beginning to call names.
"Kagami-chan!" I called out into the distance. "Naoki-chan! Yukio-chan! Are any of you guys there?"
I stopped and listened, but I received no response. All I was able to hear was the calm sound of the breeze, carrying the scent of fresh flowers and perfume.
Maybe this really is a dream, I thought to myself, But still, I shouldn't be able to think so hard in dreams, and I'm able to control my actions and emotions here. Why does it all feel so...different?
Deciding to venture further into the mysterious realm, I tried to explore every part of it, but the same pattern of pink and white seemed to go on endlessly, without anything new appearing. I couldn't even find a single blade of grass anywhere,, but I didn't give up. I was certain that there had to be at least one or two plants somewhere, whether they be trees, flowers, or a tiny blade of grass.
No matter how far I walked, my feet didn't feel exhausted at all. It was as if every step I took healed my foot instead of tiring it, further enveloping me in the odd serenity of the realm. It was very soothing, as if I had been plunged back into my times of youth, but at the same time, I was still aware of the current situation I was in.
I'm not in blissful oblivion as this place suggests, I reminded myself. So many problems are going on in my life that I am still well aware of, such as the fact that I have that study date with Daichi-kun. The Akatsuki are still in my house. Yukio and Hidan have become mortal enemies. Kagami still thinks Deidara is a girl and hangs out with Tobi, a boy who will destroy the town if he ingests sugar.
Suddenly, I spotted an odd sight in the distance. There, in front of me — about two hundred feet away — was a tree. I began to run towards it, hoping that it wasn't a mirage and that some other form of life would be there. As I came closer and closer to the tree, I could detect other things, too.
A small pond sat in front of the tree, which I had determined by its shape to be a linden tree. Its leaves gave off a brilliant green glow, which complimented the background colors of pink and white from the realm. It was exactly as if I was staring at a wonderfully complex painting, except this time, the thing was real.
I stopped about twenty feet away, noticing a new shape sitting by the linden tree for the very first time. It was a human boy with spiky orange hair, but that was all I could see at the moment. He was facing the other way, sitting by the root of the linden while fishing silently in the pond, a small float bobbing on the water's surface. Suddenly, I realized who that familiar hair color and shape belonged to, and the realization hit me hard.
Am I in Pein's dream? I wondered, noticing that the boy looked a lot like a young version of the Akatsuki's leader. Maybe he's dreaming about being young and happy again or something…
Without realizing it, I must have let out a gasp of some sort, because the boy stopped what he was doing, turned around, and faced me, a confused look etched on his face.
"Oops!" I said nervously. "Sorry! Did I disturb you, Pein?"
"Pein?" he asked me. "Who are you calling Pein?"
I let out another gasp upon realizing that this boy was not Pein, the feared leader of the Akatsuki. Although he looked a lot like a younger version of Pein, he did not have those eyes — Rinnegan, as Naoki had called it — or those horrific piercings on his face. Instead, he had brown eyes, and seemed to have no problem smiling. In addition, he wasn't wearing an Akatsuki cloak. However, he wore a cloak similar to it, just without the red cloud pattern. In addition, a strange pattern of stars seemed to shroud him, as if he were an ethereal being.
"Sorry," I quickly apologized. "It's just...you looked a lot like him, but just without his strange purple eyes."
His eyes seem to widen for a little while, but then, he shot me a smirk. "Oh, I see what you mean. You must be talking about my best friend."
"Pein has a best friend?" I inquired curiously. "He certainly doesn't look like one who would have a best friend, besides Konan."
The boy shrugged. "Times change. Pein and Konan used to be so friendly back then. However, everything changed after I went here, and they reverted to stoic personalities."
"Where is 'here' anyway?" I asked him. "I can't recall a serene place like this existing anywhere."
"You're in the Pure Land," he said calmly. "But since I can still detect life force in you, you're not dead, but simply dreaming."
I tilted my head confusedly. "Never heard of it. I've heard of heaven or the Underworld, but not this. Who are you, anyway?"
He grinned widely, extending out his hand to me. "I'm Yahiko. Nice to meet you, Kaiya."
I was about to shake his hand, then stopped, realizing that he knew my name without me telling him. "Why were you stalking me?"
"Me? A stalker?" scoffed Yahiko. "Pfft. It's not really considered that in the Pure Land. When we get bored up here, what better is there to do than to observe our friends who are still living?"
"So what you're saying," I started, "is that you've been watching Konan and Pein ever since you died?"
He nodded, smiling. "You learn fast, Kaiya. I don't really like too many of the decisions they've made without me, but I can't control their actions anymore. I can't even talk to them, not even to Konan. Sometimes, I just want to sit down and have a conversation with her, just like we used to twenty years ago..."
I realized what he meant, and a smirk appeared on my face. "Are you saying that Konan and you were—"
"No!" he exclaimed suddenly, his cheeks turning pink. "It's not like that! Really!"
I giggled. "Alright, I'll leave that alone...for now. But on the way to the Pure Land, I swore that I heard someone scream—"
"Oh, that?" Yahiko interrupted. "If you came to this place by luck, then that's perfectly normal. When we have rare visitors like you, they are most likely to pass by dying souls that are still experiencing their final moments of pain. Either that, or you happened to pass by the Section of Perverts."
After hearing the second option, I cringed, utterly disgusted. "Ew! There's such thing in a place called the Pure Land?"
He nodded. "Apparently, there is. I mean, the perverted sometimes have a dying wish to peep on women in the afterlife without getting caught. Unfortunately, they usually don't do that well of a job..."
I sweatdropped, then attempted to change the subject. "I should have known...anyways, how old are you?"
Yahiko smirked and gave me his answer. "I'm thirty-five."
If my hands hadn't covered my mouth at that very moment, I would have screamed. "H-H-How? You look like a thirteen-year-old!"
He continued to send me a smug grin. "Knew that you'd react to that! But yeah, I was fifteen when I died, but I've been living here for twenty years. You can control how young or old you look while you're in the Pure Land, but most of us prefer to be either young teens or in our twenties."
"That's actually pretty cool," I admitted, then noticed that his float had gone down. "Um, Yahiko, I think you've got a bite."
His eyes widened, quickly reeling in whatever was at the end of the line. I watched as the line moved from side to side, the float occasionally appearing on the surface before going down again.
"This one's a heavy one," muttered Yahiko, trying to reel the fish in faster.
I decided to offer some help. "Do you want me to reel the fish in for you?"
He thought about it for a while, then nodded, carefully handing me the fishing rod. Gripping the rod tightly, I continued to reel in the fish, and boy, it really was heavy. I felt like a baby whale was attached to the line or something, but to my surprise, all I pulled up was a large catfish.
"Great catch!" Yahiko said, taking the fish and removing it from the fishing rod. Placing his hands on it, he closed his eyes, and I watched in awe as a twinkling aura appeared around his hands.
"What are you doing?" I asked him.
"Healing the fish back to normal," he explained. "It's a practice for the ones who love fishing, since it's not right to kill a fish a second time, and for what? So instead, we fish with blunt-pointed hooks, then heal the fish we've caught afterward. And then, once they're all better, we throw them back."
Yahiko reopened his eyes, holding the catfish carefully. It wiggled and flopped around in his arms, and he responded with a friendly chuckle, proving that his healing technique was a success.
"You caught the fish, Kaiya," he said, handing the fish to me. Surprised, I almost dropped it, but luckily caught the catfish in time. "Do you want the honors of releasing it back into its home?"
"Of course!" I answered, bending down towards the shoreline of the pond. Gently, I set the catfish back down into the water, where it quickly swam away.
"Wait and watch," he commanded, and I sat there, wondering what was going to happen. Suddenly, the same catfish leaped out of the water, showed off its shimmering, starry scales, and flopped all the way back into the water.
"It's a fish's way of saying thank you in the Pure Land," Yahiko explained. "Doing so tells the fisherman that they did a great job in healing the fish back to normal, and that maybe they'll allow us to fish them back up again sometimes."
My eyes were still fixed on where the fish had landed, watching as the sparkles on the water scintillated.
"Did you do this a lot when you were still alive?" I questioned.
He nodded. "A lot, but unlike here, Konan, Pein, and I used to do it in order to survive. We fended for ourselves, especially since our country was involved in a war back then. But now, I feel much happier that we give the fish a chance to live."
"What was Pein like back then, Yahiko?" I tried asking, changing the subject unintentionally.
He was about to answer, but instead paused, pointing to the area behind me. "Turn around, Kaiya!"
I obliged, and gasped at the sight. The Pure Land was literally crumbling to darkness around me, and I tried to flee, only to find myself glued to the spot.
"Yahiko, what's happening?" I panicked, about to scream.
"It's fine," he reassured me. "You're just waking up. It looks like I'll have to explain the story of the Akatsuki to you another time. But just remember, don't tell anyone, not even your siblings, that you saw me, okay? I don't want any word of our conversation to reach the Akatsuki yet."
"So…a secret," I said, calming down despite the realm around me crumbling. "Sounds interesting."
He sent me one last smile. "I believe morning has arrived in your world, Kaiya. Stay safe and take care of Konan and Pein for me, okay?"
Before I could smile back and give a response, darkness fell upon me, enveloping me in a blanket of nothingness.
My eyes fluttered open, staring at the beam of sunlight fitting through the window. On the carpet, Konan and Pein were in their sleeping bags, still sound asleep, despite the ray of sunlight being directly in between them.
Already? I thought. Time must pass by really quickly in the Pure Land compared to our world...
Yawning, I began to change out of my pajamas, donning my favorite pink kimono that I had so many copies of while underneath my blanket. Quickly grabbing my backpack and swinging it over my shoulder, I rushed into Kagami's room to wake her up.
Walking over to the bed, I walked over to Kagami's bed and swiftly threw off the covers. But my surprise, Kagami wasn't there. Instead, sleeping there was Tobi.
"Wha—" he began, and when he spotted me, he panicked some more. "Did something happen, Kaiya-chan?"
I shook my head, nervously draping the covers back over him. "Go back to sleep, Tobi. Where's Kagami?"
He pointed towards the mattress that I had set up for him, and sure enough, Kagami was snoozing, with Usagi in her arms. Without warning, I yanked off her covers, causing her to scream.
"Shh!" I silenced her. "Wake up, Kagami! It's time for your day at school!"
She flipped over, tugging on the blanket. "Don't wanna!"
Letting go of the covers, I grabbed Kagami and lifted her out of bed, handing her a pile of folded clothes. "Neither do I, but we all have to. Come on, let's get dressed for school. Your otoutos are waiting downstairs."
Reluctantly, she let me carry her out of the room and grab her backpack, and I took her into the bathroom, where I quickly helped her change into her clothes. Although Kagami could easily dress, I wanted to hurry, in case any of the Akatsuki needed to use the bathroom. In addition, every single room except for the bathroom had at least one boy. Kagami was a girl.
"Are you sure about wearing another hair ribbon?" Kagami said as I was trying to pin a golden barrette in her hair. "I wanna try wearing flowers instead!"
Giggling, I found the bathroom drawer where I kept all of my flower pins and placed two yellow daffodils in her short brown hair. When I lifted her up in order to have her see herself in the mirror, she squealed upon seeing her reflection.
"Thank you, onee-chan!" she said, smiling. "I wanted to try a new look today!"
"That's wonderful," I remarked. "It's always nice to try something new."
Like taking care of nine grown men and a woman that happened to be our cats, I inwardly said. That's got to be something new.
"Now that you're done," I said, carrying her out the door, "let's hurry up, or else we'll both be late for school."
Snatching both of our backpacks, we ran down the stairs, just as soon as I heard the horn of the bus honk outside our window.
"Perfect timing," I declared. "Put your shoes on, Kagami, and we can go to school!"
She clapped happily, slipping a pair of pink Mary Janes onto her feet. Putting on a pair of black and white tennis shoes, we raced out of the door in order to notify the bus driver of our presence. As we ran out the door, I asked her a question that had been on my mind for a while.
"Imouto," I began, "why was Tobi sleeping in your bed, while you slept on the mattress?"
"He wasn't too comfortable on the mattress," she explained. "Since he was tossing, turning, and grumbling in his sleep, I woke him up, and we switched. Don't worry, onee-chan! The mattress was still comfortable, especially when I knew that Tobi was sleeping well and that I had Usagi in my arms!"
I smiled at her, patting her head. "That was very nice of you, Kagami-chan."
We were both interrupted when the bus honked again.
"Let's hurry," I told her. "We can talk on the bus ride."
Together, we raced towards the bus, ready for whatever adventure was going to be packed into our school day.
A/N: And there you go. Two updates in one day! Yahiko has made his first appearance in the story, and like Rin, he shall continue to...
Question: Who do you like better, Yahiko or Rin? I can't decide...
Peace out, lovelies!
— Tenshi —
