Chapter 11
It was a bright Sunday morning in Misaki City. Yui was on her bed still in closed eyes. But after a few minutes, her eyes opened. She stood up on her bed and stretched her arms with a yawn. After that, she looked at the time and saw that it was past 9 am.
YUI's POV
"That's weird." Yui asked to herself. "Mom would actually call me for breakfast."
I went downstairs and entered the Kitchen. She saw the kitchen was empty. Nothing was touched nor placed on the table and stove.
"I think mom might have oveslept today." Yui thought to herself. "But that's really rare thing for her."
I went out the kitchen and entered to mom's bedroom. But when I got in, the room was empty. The bed was arranged properly, it's like no one used it last night.
"Where did mom go?" I asked to myself. "She doesn't leave the house without letting me know."
I quickly left the house and looked around the neighborhood. But it seems like everything is so quiet and empty. I ran all around the place in my pajamas and saw that everything is completely empty and quiet.
My eyes widened. "W-What's happeni-?" I was cut off by my words as I felt someone grabbed on my shoulders.
"Yui." the unknown man behind me said.
I looked behind and I saw a familiar face with a black and white striped jacket. I was quite surprised.
"J-Jeimuzu?" I said questionably.
He put his hands on my cheeks and moved his face closer to me. It would look like he was going to kiss me.
"W-What are you doing?" I asked in shock with a blush on my face.
"I love you, please be mine." he said and he began to approach his lips to mine.
"I don't get what's going on." I thought to myself and closed my eyes approaching my lips to him also. "But why do I feel so happy about this?"
But as we're about to kiss, I cannot feel his touch anymore. I opened my eyes and saw that he disappeared in front of me. I glanced everywhere around me and I noticed that the building disappeared and everything became dark.
"W-What's happening." I thought to myself in fear.
As I was looking around, I felt that someone was running behind me. I looked back and saw nothing. As I looked in front, I saw a red eyed beast growling towards me. I slowly moved back in fear and I got tripped.
"They will feel my wrath." A monstrous voice said and the red eyed beast ran towards me.
I stood up and quickly ran for my life. I can feel that he's running so fast. So I ran quickly as I could. But then, the red eyed beast jumped in front of me and glared at me.
"I am the Diablo." the beast said and attacked in front of me and left a huge scream.
*REAL WORLD*
NORMAL POV
"AAAAAHHHH!" Yui screamed and quickly lift her body up.
She breathed heavily and looked around in panic. She got a sudden realization and her heavy breathing stopped.
Yui sighed in relief. "It was just a dream." Yui said to herself.
Yui heard footsteps from the stairways quickly running towards her room. After a few seconds, the door opened.
"Dear? Are you alright?" Yui's mother asked in concern while peeking by the doorway. "I heard you screamed earlier, something wrong?"
"N-No, I'm fine mom." Yui said. "Just got a bad dream."
Her mom sighed "Don't watch too much horror movies okay? You know it's not good." Yui's mom said.
"Y-Yes mom." Yui said. "Sorry for the disturbance."
"It's alright dear." Yui's mom said. "Breakfast will be served in a minute, be sure to get down already." She said and closed the door.
Yui sighed again. "I can't believe I just agreed to mom." Yui said to herself and stood up out of her bed.
She looked at her clock and it was 8 a.m. in the morning. She looked at her window and saw how bright the day is.
"I should probably take a walk for a while since I don't have any planned places to go this Sunday." Yui said to herself.
"Dear, your breakfast is getting cold." her mom hollered.
"Coming!" Yui hollered back.
She quickly put on her slippers and goes downstairs to have her breakfast.
*MINUTES LATER IN MANA RIVER*
Yui was walking along the riverside. She's looking on every beautiful views around the place. After a long minutes of walking, she found a melon bread stand and bought some melon bread.
"Thank you, come again." the vendor said.
Yui sat down on the bench and opened one pack of melon bread. After she opened it, she became hesitant on eating it.
"I'm not really fond of sweet foods." Yui thought to herself. "But I wonder why Jeimuzu likes it."
She took a first bite on the melon bread. "It's delicious." Yui said and took another bite.
As Yui was enjoying the melon bread, she saw Ike sitting down the grass near the river. Yui stood up and approached him.
ARATONASHI's POV
I was sitting on thee grass near the river and enjoying the view around. It's been a long time since I got back here, there's a lot of changes too. Since the time of my Flame Haze journey began, I have missed a lot in this city like my family union, schooling and childhood fun.
"Here." a voice said as I saw a paper bag beside my shoulder.
I looked behind and saw Agami's bestfriend. She was smiling as she was handing a paper bag with something in it.
"Oh it's you." I said and accepted the paper bag.
"What are you doing here?" She asked as she sat down.
"Well..." I said with a slight pause. "Do you know the feeling of missing something?"
"Hmmm.." she was thinking. "I think so, I experience it sometimes."
"Well, that's what i'm feeling right now." I said as I look up the skies. "It's been a long time since I've traveled away from my home. A lot of memories were unforgettable."
*FLASHBACK- YEARS AGO IN MISAKI CITY*
NORMAL POV
"Mama! Papa! Hurry up!" little Aratonashi said as he was running up the hill.
"Just wait for a moment Arato." Kazumi said while she's guiding his tired husband up. "You could go ahead."
"Okay!" he replied and continued running up.
"Hayato, are you really okay?" Kazumi asked in worry. "We could rest here if you want."
"N-No, I'm fine." Hayato replied while breathing heavily and looked at Aratonashi. "Our child is really hyperactive, not like me before."
"Oh, don't worry about it." Kazumi encouraged him. "You may not be hyperactive, but you're smart."
"I think so." Hayato said and laughed a little.
After a few minutes of walking, they've arrived at the top of the hill. Hayato lay down in fatigue and Kazumi walked towards Aratonashi and carries him.
"Mama! Look look!" Aratonashi excitingly said as he pointed out the hill full of flowers.
"It's beautiful Arato." Kazumi said and Aratonashi nodded. "We should come here more often."
Aratonashi nodded happily and Kazumi put him down. "Let's go back to you Dad." Kazumi said and they all went back.
*END OF FLASHBACK*
"Ike? Are you okay?" Yui asked as she noticed Aratonashi spacing out.
Aratonashi snapped out off his daydream. "Oh sorry, I was just thinking about my family." Aratonashi said.
"Isn't your family in this city?" Yui asked.
"Y-Yeah." Aratonashi answered. "Why do you ask?"
"Why don't you pay them a visit?" Yui suggested.
"Nah, my dad is at work overseas and my mom might be busy at home." Aratonashi said. "I don't want to bother her."
"It's not a bother to a Mother if her son comes home." Yui said encouraging him. "It's more of a gift."
"Well yeah, but I don't think I have the courage to go back home." Aratonashi said.
"Then I'll be going with you." Yui said. "I'll bring Jeimuzu and Minami."
"Huh? You'll bring Sakai?" Aratonashi said and smiled hopelessly. "It's not surprising that he wouldn't agree."
"Don't worry, i'll take care of it." Yui said with a confident smile.
"O-Okay... If you say so..." Aratonashi replied without confidence.
"We'll see you later then?" Yui said. "I've got some errands to attend to."
"Okay, see you." Aratonashi said and they departed ways.
*HOURS LATER*
Yui and Aratonashi were walking along the road heading towards Ike Residence along with Jeimuzu and Minami.
"So... Why am I here along with you?" Jeimuzu asked.
"I told you earlier, we're going to Ike's house." Yui answered.
"He's not a kid anymore." Jeimuzu said. "He can just go by himself."
"Just be quiet and follow." Yui said stopping him from complaining.
He sighed. "I shouldn't have come with you if you didn't kept on bugging me." Jeimuzu complained.
"Oh come on Sakai, just cheer up." Minami tried to encourage him. "Yui just want a SWEET time with you."
Yui's face suddenly became red. "MINAMI!" Yui exclaimed in embarassment and Minami laughed.
"We're here." Aratonashi said as they were in front of Ike Residence.
Aratonashi's house was really normal in looks but the height and wideness has a pretty huge difference in every other normal Japanese home. This one was pretty large and wide. Aratonashi opened the fence gate and they headed towards the front door.
"Alright, here goes." Aratonashi said and pushed the doorbell with hesitation.
The doorbell rang and Aratonashi looked down not allowing himself to look in front. The door opened and a woman's voice called his name.
"Arato?!" an adult voice surprisingly called.
Aratonashi looked in front and saw her mother Kazumi (Yoshida) Ike. Kazumi gave him a very big hug that a worried mother could ever give.
"I'm so happy you came home!" Kazumi said with tears of joy.
"Me too mom." Aratonashi said while hugging back. "I'm also happy that I came back home."
*A FEW MOMENTS LATER AT THE DINING TABLE*
"I'm so happy you brought visitors today Arato." Kazumi said as they having their conversation at the table.
"Yeah." Aratonashi replied. "I thought that you'd be lonely here since Dad is working overseas."
"You don't have to worry about it." Kazumi said with a smile. "Even if your dad is away, I'm still enjoying at the kitchen."
"I see." Aratonashi said and Kazumi nodded.
She looked at Minami. "It looks like you have such wonderful friends Arato." Kazumi complimented.
"Nice to meet you madame, I'm Minami Agami." Minami introduced.
"I can see that you have a Motherly Figure in you." Kazumi said to Minami.
"E-Eh?" Minami looked down and blushed in embarassment. "Y-You really think so?"
Kazumi nodded. "I can feel also that you're the one who's taking good care of my son here." Kazumi said. "I wanna request that you keep taking care of him even if he is quite troublesome."
"Oi mom!" Aratonashi reacted.
"Just kidding dear." Kazumi said with a smile and Aratonashi sighed.
Minami giggled. "Don't worry, you can count on me." Minami confidently said with a thumbs up.
She nodded and looked at Yui next. "You sure know how to pick cute girls as your friend Arato." Kazumi teased Aratonashi.
"Please don't be like that." Aratonashi sighed again.
"I'm Yui Mikoto, nice to meet you." Yui introduced and Kazumi bowed returning the greeting.
She looked at Jeimuzu next who seems to be lacking of interest. He was sitting like he doesn't care about the situation happening right now.
"May I know your name?" Kazumi asked Jeimuzu.
"Me?" Jeimuzu asked. "I'm Jeimuzu Sakai." Jeimuzu introduced and Kazumi gasped.
"S-Sakai?! Your last name is Sakai?!" Kazumi asked in shock.
"Y-Yeah... What about it?" Jeimuzu asked also shocked in her reaction.
"What's the name of your Mother and Father?" Kazumi still continued to asked.
"Yuji Sakai and S-Shana." Jeimuzu replied still shocked.
Kazumi gasped in disbelief. She stood up on her sit and walked towards Jeimuzu. She hold his shoulder and closed examined his face.
"Are you really Sakai-kun and Shana-chan's son?" Kazumi asked.
"Y-Yeah." Jeimuzu replied.
"Are they with you?" Kazumi asked. "Can I see them?"
"I'm sorry, but they're not here." Jeimuzu replied.
"I see." Kazumi said with quite a sad face.
"Mom, how do you know his family?" Aratonashi asked. The three of them weres also shocked on Kazumi's reaction.
Kazumi let go of Jeimuzu and picked up a framed photo. It was their old class picture from High School. There was quite a large space in the middle of the picture. All of them looked at the photo.
"Arato, you wondered before why the middle part of this photo is quite spacious?" Kazumi recalled it to Aratonashi and he nodded. "It is because there were two missing people here." Kazumi said and looked at Jeimuzu. "It is your Mom and Dad."
*FLASHBACK: YEARS AGO IN MISAKI MUNICIPAL HIGH SCHOOL*
"Come on everyone, arrange to your places for our class picture." Ogata hollered to the whole class.
Everyone gathered around near the Teacher's Desk. Ogata managed to arrange them so they could be seen in the photo.
"Oobayashi, move a little more to the right." Ogata ordered and he also moved. "Sakai, move closer to Yukari." Ogata ordered and Yuji moved closer to Shana. "More closer." she ordered again and Yuji moved also. "More closer." Ogata ordered again.
"Are you just doing this just to tease us?" Yuji asked and Ogata laughed while scratching her head.
"Sorry, I just have to do it." Ogata said while sticking her tongue out.
"Hurry up Oga-chan. It's too tiring to stand up for a long time." Eita complained.
"You're such a lazy ass Tanaka." Ogata mocked Eita. "I'm setting up the timer." Ogata said while turned on the camera timer and quickly ran towards her place.
"This is gonna be a commemorative photo for our class, be sure to properly pose to the camera." the adviser said and they all agreed.
"Alright everyone! Cheeze!" Ogata said and the camera flashed.
*BACK TO THE REAL WORLD*
Kazumi wiped the frame picture with her thumb and kept smiling. She looked at Jeimuzu.
"Back then, your mom and dad are mostly being teased as the Highschool sweethearts before." Kazumi continued to storytell the past and they listened well. "I was jealous before, I liked Sakai-kun before but he had his eyes on Shana-chan. I don't want to lose, I can't accept the fact that i'm sinking in defeat. But then, I saw how they team up together and I realized how deep their bond is. A bond that are meant to be for the future and cannot be broken forever." Kazumi said.
Jeimuzu looked at Kazumi, he was paying attention to her story. As if he looked amazed on the story.
*A FEW HOURS LATER*
It was 6pm already, Yui and the others are already outside preparing to go home. After that, they had their last conversation on the front door.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner?" Kazumi asked.
"We would liked to Mrs. Ike but it's getting dark, our parents might get worried." Yui said.
"Well... You might be right." Kazumi said with a slight sad tone.
"Don't worry Mrs. Ike, the next time we meet again we would want to try your cooking." Minami said in a positive tone.
Kazumi stared in shock and smiled. "I'll remember that promise." Kazumi said happily.
"Then, we'll be going now." Minami said with a bow.
Kazumi nodded. "Be safe all of you." Kazumi said and waved.
Kazumi was still looking at them while walking away. A few moments, she entered back the house and passed by her son's room. She can hear him talking with his contractor Magmus. After that, she walked upstairs and headed to the balcony. She looked up in the sky and hold her cross GIRALDA.
"Shana-chan, Sakai-kun, I've been wishing to see you again." Kazumi said while looking up. "I think that wish is close on coming true." Kazumi thought in herself with a smile. "Someday, we will reunite again... Our friendship." Kazumi looked down while closing her eyes with a smile.
A/N: End of Chapter 11. Feel free to leave a review and gkve your thoughts about this Chapter. It's been a long long time since my last update (1 year ago to be exact). I apologize for it, my college life has been so busy that I can never give time to make the story. But I'll still continue until the last. I also want to apologize for this Chapter is a bit rushed, I really wanna update this ASAP so I could continue my other stories and write another Chapter for this story. Again, I apologize for your confusions in this rushed Chapter.
I also wanna make a short crossover for the next new chapters. My crossover choices are "Date a Live or Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance crossover". PM me for your choice of crossover or just give a review about it.