Since nearly the entire Pair Arc goes on without Éclair, I wanted at least SOMETHING to happen with her. But just as a warning, almost the whole chapter is filler. So if you just skip right to the next it won't really make a difference. Thanks guys 3 -Rex
The woman was in an empty space. Everything was white. There was no sense of time, space, or gravity. There was only her. "Hello?" She called out, "Where am I?"
"You are in the most convoluted part of your mind."
The woman turned around confusingly. It was her voice that replied, but she was right here.
"What's so convoluted about this? Nothing is happening. Why am I here? What happened to me~ er, us?"
"Right now you are in a coma. Many people have their lives flash before their eyes when death proceeds them~"
Éclair turned around, "So what are you trying to tell me? My life is going to flash before my eyes anytime now?" "Bingo! Welcome to your memories." The woman had no idea what was going on, but she could feel a strong gravitational pull lowering her into the depths of her mind. She was being sucked in and there was nothing she could do about it.
(19 years ago)
"Happy birthday Eclair!" The small girl hugged her little sister. "Thanks Nilly!" The blond's voice had an accent similar to her sister's. She raced down the hallway of their home and looked through every door, "Mom and papa are supposed to be here today! Where are they?" A middle aged woman sat on the couch watching television. She was rather nonchalant and unenthusiastic. "Oh, happy birthday Éclair." She handed the little girl a card, "It's from your parents."
"Mom and papa!? Let me see!" She ripped open the card and read the letter out loud, "Éclair, I am so sorry to tell you that we won't be able to make it for your birthday. I know you don't understand, but we had to work. We love you so much. We didn't know what you wanted for your birthday, so here's 5,000 yen. Miko will take you wherever you want to go to spend it. Have a wonderful birthday baby. Mom and papa." The letter dropped from her hand along with the money.
Miko looked over the couch, "Alright, so where do you want to go birthday girl?" Tears ran down the girl's face as she looked at the woman, "I-I want to go to my room!" She ran down the hall and into her room slamming the door shut. Vanilla knocked lightly on the door, "Clair? are you okay?" The green haired girl sat on the floor with her back against the door and waited for her sister to stop crying. She waited for her sister to come out and say something, anything~
"I remember that still. Wow, this is so long ago. I forgot I used to have an accent. I believe I didn't drop it until I was 16. ~My feelings were so hurt that day. That was the first time my parents missed my birthday. It was also the first time they gave me money instead of thinking about getting me anything. Even though I was only eight, I could never forget that day. It was one of the worst in my life. Vanilla~ She sat outside my door for hours. She didn't leave that post until I came out. She didn't sleep, she didn't eat. ~She just waited."
(14 years ago)
Arms were wrapped around the girl. "Happy birthday! You're finally a teenager Clair!" The girl embraced her sister in a hug as well, "Thanks Nilly." Éclair walked out of her room and looked around, "Wow you really out done yourself Nilly." The house was decorated with streamers and balloons. "Yeah, I set everything up while you were sleeping last night!" She took a cake out of the fridge, "I had Miko pre-order this months in advance. I know you like keeping up with gourmet chefs so I wanted to buy this for you." She set the cake on the counter and it was about as big as a small saucer. "It's made by um, I think her name was Sumire or something." "Chef Sumire made this cake!? Vanilla this cake must have cost 1,000,000 yen!"
The girl shook her head, "No, it wasn't that much. But I've been saving up my money from allowances and chores to get you this. I know you get sad around your birthday, so I wanted to make it special." The girl smiled, "This is the single greatest thing anyone has ever done for me. You're the best sister ever Vanilla." The girl saw a letter on the counter and picked it up, "Another letter from Anastasia and Ryu?" She opened the letter, "Happy Birthday sweetie. We miss you so much. We wish we could blah blah blah. Their letters are the same every single year." Vanilla's eyes saddened, "You aren't going to read the rest?" "Nah, it's all the same to me." She mocked her parents, "We love you so much. See you soon. Love Mom and papa. They aren't even creative with their gifts. It's either gift cards to stores I don't like, or money that I don't care about. They say they love us, but Anastasia and Ryu couldn't care less." She snapped out of her small rant before it continued on. "Whatever, let's not think of that right now. Let's eat this cake!"
"My thirteenth birthday. Even still today it was one of the most special days I hold dear. It was then that I realized how much my sister really loved and cared for me. She was so selfless. I don't even think she knows how much that day meant to me. It was never about money to her. She just wanted to be close to her big sister."
(12 years ago)
"Ahh!" The girl green haired girl screamed a pitchy scream. "Surprise Clair!" The girl saw her sister jump into her arms, "Happy Birthday! Sorry I scared you." Éclair looked around, "It's fine. I don't mind. Thank you baby sis." Vanilla squeezed the girl, "Mom and papa are coming to celebrate too! They said they have a special gift for you! They should be here any minute!" "Don't count on it. They've missed my birthday for the past seven years. Look I know it's my birthday, and I don't want to be a downer or anything, but I'd just like to be alone right now okay?" The fifteen year old, blond, pigtailed girl walked into her room and shut the door. She began to hum a melody to herself. She heard a knock on the door, but she'd not respond. The girl's eyes directed at the door and in walked a man and woman with green hair and green eyes. The woman was about 5'7 and the man 6'2. The blond girl looked out of the window next to her bed.
"Anastasia, Ryu, you actually showed up. Well I guess there's a first time in 7 years for everything." The woman sat beside Éclair's bed, but the girl refused to make eye contact. She smiled at the girl, "You get so much bigger every time I see you baby." She kissed the young girl's forehead, but Éclair moved away so her lips wouldn't stay. Ryu nodded, "You are becoming a beautiful young woman. We love you, and we're so proud of you." The blond girl rolled her eyes, "Is that all? You've come here to tell me I'm beautiful and that I've grown up?" Anastasia cleared her throat, "Well we don't have much time to spend here. In fact, we weren't even supposed to leave the base, but we wanted to see you. We wanted to give you your gift personally." Eclair held out her hand, "Gift card again? Where to this time? Hopefully a store I actually go to. ~Well, what are you waiting for? Give me my gift so you two can run off and abandon us again!"
The girl looked at her parents. "Real great guys! Great parenting! Vanilla and I have been on our own since I was 8 and she was 6! Half-assed Miko doesn't count as a guardian. Why have kids if you don't want to look after them!? I don't give a damn about you being here for me, but don't you think Vanilla deserves a shot at having decent parents!? We need love Anastasia! We need guidance Ryu! We raised each other, not you! I'm the one who made her breakfast, lunch, and dinner! I'm the one who walked her to the bus stop every day for school! I'm the one who made sure she was tucked into bed every night! She made sure to stick up for me when I was picked on! She made sure all of my birthdays were more special than the last! She was the one who reminded me that I am loved, and that I am worth a damn! ~What the hell is wrong with you guys!? Whatever the gift is, I hope you have the receipt because I don't want your crappy present! You wanna give me a gift!? Go in the living room and spend five minutes with your daughter! She's something really special!" The girl stood from her bed and ran out the door with tears streaming from her face.
"That was the last time I ever saw my parents. Those were the last words I had ever spoken to them. Only two weeks passed before I got the news about their deaths. I cut all my hair off, tattooed my arm, dropped my accent, and became a whole different person. I think the reason that I resented them the most is because I was never able to apologize. I am stuck with the burden of knowing those were my last words to them. I can see now that they weren't bad people. They loved us, but they weren't as good as they could have been. ~That day, they had given me the greatest gift I had ever received, my first and only kitchen knife. It is the same one that is welded to my Melk knife. I know they have forgiven me now, and I them. ~With that, I can live in peace. ~Or whatever it is I am doing in this convoluted mind."
(11 years ago)
"Happy birthday to me~" The girl sat in her rundown apartment all by herself. She held back tears as she looked at the pitiful cake before her. It was made by her own two hands, but it was pitiful because she had no one to share it with. It was only she and the four walls that surrounded her. She stared at the single flame waving around on the tip of the candle. "I wish that I could just be happy. I want a companion that will always be there for me. I want someone who will never abandon me. I wish that I could be with someone who depends on me as much as I depend on them. I want someone who loves me and respects me. I wish I had~"
~"N-no. We're bringing Éclair with us. We can't leave her in a place where we can't see her. We're protecting her and we won't take our eyes off of her again!"~
Éclair looked around, but all she could see was her life still flashing before her eyes. "That sounded like Toriko. But there's no way. I didn't meet Toriko until 8 years later." Her inner thoughts began to speak again, "You are still inside of your mind, but that doesn't mean you can't hear what is going on in the outside world." "I guess my wish did come true then. Doesn't mean I didn't have to struggle to get there."
(7 years ago)
The woman sat in a dimly lit room. This time the mood wasn't so melancholy. She leaned across a small table and kissed the lips of a special man. He spoke, "Happy birthday Éclair." "Thanks Take-chan. You've really made this day special for me." She put her hand over his, "Let's stay together forever." He smiled, "You took the words right out of my mouth, seriously." He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small black box. As his fingertips began to open the box, her heart raced faster than it ever had. She began to wring her hands as her eyes couldn't be taken away from that special box. They were still so young. They were only 20 years old, but she knew in her heart that this was a man she could see herself with forever. An actual eternity is what it felt like for that box to open. Before he could open it all the way, the girl blurted out, "I do!" Finally it opened and the man cocked his head a bit, "You do?" She looked down and her face turned bright red, "Yes Ootake. I do~ really love these earrings. They're beautiful."
Her words did not match her tone of voice. She felt a lump in the back of her throat as she just wanted to cry. She smiled fictitiously as she took the earrings, "Wow, I can honestly say I wasn't expecting this." The man began to catch on as her whole demeanor had shifted. "You didn't think it was an engagement ring did you?" She wanted to lie so that she could save face, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. "I did, actually. You're the only man I want to be with for the rest of my life. I know that for a fact, why don't you? I mean, you just said you did." He placed a hand to her cheek but she'd swiftly back away, "Éclair~ I do love you, and I want to be with you, but we still have our whole careers ahead of us. We're still training to be the best chef's we can be. I don't want~" "It's okay Ootake." The girl stood up from the table. "I've just realized that I love you more than you love me. I would give my right hand to be with you, but you're not willing to do the same." The man looked into the woman's eyes, "You're left handed Éclair." A sarcastic chuckled bellowed from her throat, "You just don't get it~"
"Guess I kind of foreshadowed my right hand, but that is not the man I lost it for. That wasn't the best dinner I ever had. ~That wasn't when we broke up, but that night really shook the foundation of what we started. Looking back now I can see how crazy in love I was with him. All I ever wanted was to be a wife. Maybe that's why I keep hinting Toriko. I'm chasing the dream that I never got. ~It's probably best that I stop. I don't want to run him off too. I know Toriko would never hurt me, but that fear of rejection is still very prevalent. I can't keep something if it wants to leave."
(3 years ago)
The woman lay on her living room floor. It was the middle of a surprisingly hot spring day and all she wanted for her birthday this time was some central air conditioning. Happy birthday to her, because that's what she got. She looked over at her air conditioner, "This is the life eh Poof Ball?" She smiled, "This is everything. As much as I love work, I'm glad to be having this day off. It's just you and me buddy. ~Vanilla gave me my present a couple of days ago, and I don't think Toriko knows when my birthday is, so we're gonna be alone today. ~Three cheers for avoiding the birthday blues this year!" She said she was avoiding the blues, but she really wasn't. With the history of her birthdays, there was no avoiding the sadness that came with it. That stigma would always be there. She looked over at the wall penguin, "Let's bake a cake!" Just as she stood up from the floor, she heard a knock on the door. "I wasn't supposed to be getting visitors today, but alright."
The woman made her way to the door and opened it quickly. To her surprise it was the blue haired Bishokuya. "Happy birthday you knucklehead!" He ruffled the girl's hair as he walked into her apartment. He took a seat on her couch and she did the same. "What are you doing here? I thought you were gathering ingredients for the Ehou Maki?" The man handed her a large balloon and smiled, "I am, but I wanted to stop by and say happy birthday." She took the balloon and looked at her reflection in it. Her cheeks were rosy, but why? It was just Toriko. She hid her face behind the balloon, "Oh okay, well thank you. Alright, Poof Ball and I were gonna make a cake, so you don't have to stay if you don't want to. I know you have things to do." He shook his head, "No, I planned around today so we could hang out." She shrugged, "Well I don't have anything planned, soooo~" He pointed at the kitchen, "You said you were going to bake a cake. Let's do it! I'll go get whatever you need for ingredients. Anything special on your list?" The girl shrugged, "I like cotton candy." He sprang from the couch and smiled, "Alright, I'll be back soon." As he left and shut the door, the woman looked over at the tiny wall penguin, "Holy crap~ I think I'm in love with Toriko."
"Besides my sister, he was the only person who ever spent my whole birthday with me. I remember he came back with so many ingredients that I couldn't even bake that cake in my apartment. We had to go on the outskirts of town actually. ~It was the first time I started getting weak in the knees and acting awkward toward him. I had to block it out of my mind though because I knew that someone as great as Toriko would never like a woman like me. ~I was wrong."
(1 year ago)
"Toriko!" The woman panted as she woke up from her sleep. She looked around and searched frantically for her partner. He wasn't next to her and that was worrisome. As she ran away, her long hair blew away in the wind behind her. "Éclair?" The man's voice replied. She found him sitting at a table eating a snack. She ran up to the man at full force and wrapped her arms around him. Immediately tears began gushing down her face. He held the woman in his arms, "What's the matter? Are you hurt?" She shook her head, "No, I just thought you were gone." "Why would I be? Is there something you wanna tell me?" She looked up at him, "The story is too long and too sad." He'd lift her chin delicately and look into her deep blue eyes. "Stop it~ I'm here." She tightened her grip on the man and inhaled in a sobbing manner. "I know you are. I can feel you~" She began to coo, and her heart rate lessened. "Allow me to be honest with you for a minute~" She started to close the distance between she and Toriko. Instead of words though, she began to sing. She sang a song from her heart, and one that only she and Toriko's ears could hear.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the hell!? I didn't sing to Toriko! My mind is going crazy or something! After I told him I was gonna be honest with him, I expressed to him the reason why I was scared he'd run off." Her inner thoughts replied, "It seems as though your mind is split between reality, and the past. Like how earlier when you could hear Toriko's voice. It's the same thing."
(Present Day)
While still unconscious, the woman's spirit arose from her body. She was in a place that was rather unfamiliar. She could hear the beautiful melody of an ingredient though. The song was as loud and clear as ever. The woman walked up the 100g Mountain, and the song got louder and louder. She walked toward it, but before she could get too far, a woman stopped her.
It was Kaka, someone she'd never seen before. The hermit looked at her, "I will tell you the method to capturing Pair. Listen closely." As the blond listened, the melody became even louder and richer. That was it, all she needed was the information from Kaka. "Thank you." The woman bowed.
The words came to her, and she didn't hesitate to sing. Her powerful voice echoed throughout the mountain. When she finally reached her destination, she saw what the ingredient was, and standing beneath it, was Toriko. His eyes amplified at the sight of the woman, "Éclair!?" She didn't speak to the man, but continue the song with a bright smile on her face. Through the song, she instructed Toriko on how to cook Pair. Once Pair was combined, her song stopped. She looked into the eyes of Toriko and smiled softly, "For all of the countless journeys you've taken me on~ I give humble thanks. I love you Toriko~" Those were her only words before going back to her place of existence.
There was no more memories to be had. All she could hear was the surroundings around her, and the grip she was losing on her own mind. It just may have been too late for her now. Pair may be combined, but she was nearly impossible to save at this point. The only thing left to do was wait for her inevitable death.