A Far Cry

Well here's the second chapter to Over Now. I'm thankful for all the reviews I've gotten so far, and I'm glad to see some people have enjoyed this story despite its content, that content being Tate being the main character. Anyways please read, review and enjoy the fic. I do not own Mai Hime, they are owned and distributed by Sunrise and Bandai

No, I think you got me all wrong.

I don't regret this life I chose for me.

But these places and these faces are getting old.

I said these places and these faces are getting old,

So I'm going home.

I'm going home.

Daughtry - Home

Morning had come, 8 a.m to be exact. Yuuichi's eyes slowly fluttered open and looked around the empty apartment. His resting place was the same recliner he lay in before his conversation with Natsuki. Natsuki, another person that he'd never see again. He found himself thinking back to their brief conversation the other night after the graduation ceremony. Natsuki was known for her cool and unreadable demeanor at times, but Tate could have sworn he heard a hint of sadness in her voice over his leaving for Tokyo today. While he and Natsuki weren't exactly child hood friends, and he still hadn't forgotten how she clocked him upside his head back on the ferry that brought him to this nightmare in the first place, they were still friends at least. It was why he willingly stayed by her side until she woke up in the hospital that one day. It didn't seem right to just leave her there hurt, and while he did appreciate her telling him to go to Mai and tell her how he felt, he wished it could have ended better. Checking the clock, a good fifteen minutes had since passed. Plenty of time until the ferry came.

Rising up from the recliner, Yuuichi went over his belongings and what all to bring with him and what to stay and find its way into a trash bin when they cleaned out his apartment for any future resident. Once it was done, Yuuichi went to the door and opened it, letting the morning sun shine down on him. It was more than just the beginning of a brand new day, it was the beginning of a new life for him. Away from such painful memories as the Orphans, Mai choosing Mikoto, and his own death. Closing the door for the last time, Yuuichi walked away from the boy's dorm and found himself out on the adjoining sidewalk. He still had a good four hours left until the Ferry arrived, and he thought it would be best to at least find some way to kill some time, but nothing came to him. A sudden gust of wind blew across his face, causing him to look towards the direction of the hills. Memories returned to him, reminding him of what lay in those hills. The Munakata Shrine. Tate knew who was there, and why she was there. He also knew that he hadn't spoken to her in months. Deciding that this would be his last chance to speak to her, probably forever, Tate took two steps forward in the direction of the hills.

~*~

Shiho swept her broom across the stone sidewalk of the temple path. A Shinto maiden's duty is never finished. Still she knew what would be expected of her if this was what she chose to do instead of going to school and interacting with the students down below. Many things had changed for her. She had grown taller, and she had finally decided to change her hair style so that she no longer wore her hair in her trademark tentacle style. He hair was now long and flowing down her back, tied together at the bottom with only a single white ribbon. The one part of her hairstyle that remained the same was her largely exposed forehead. It had been fairly busy the last few days with students coming to the shrine to pray for graduation to come quickly or to make it pleasant or for their friends to one day join them or other various prayers. Once upon a time she too joined in by praying to the temple gods to let her be with Yuuichi, but that behavior soon blossomed into something ugly, something even she grew to detest. It was why she had taken up a refuge in this temple and not gone back down to her fellow classmates. She willingly attacked and indirectly killed people just due to sheer jealousy of how some girl was getting closer to her beloved big brother. Nagi may have goaded her on in acting the way she did, but she was the one who willingly chose to act the way she did. It was a memory that still filled her with disgust. She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of footsteps and heavy breathing. Looking back, she saw that it was none other than Yuuichi Tate, her once beloved big brother.

Once he had finally caught his breath, the two of them stood there in silence, and it reigned between the two of them, neither of them comfortable given the circumstances. Tate hadn't visited the shrine in some time and Shiho hadn't been forward with him showing up either. Yuuichi's excuse had been burying himself in his studies to hide the pain of knowing that Mai had chosen Mikoto over him, while Shiho had chosen to stay and work at the shrine in an attempt to put the past behind her and hope for the best in terms of redemption, despite knowing that it would be difficult. Thanks to her, Mai, the heroine of the Hime's had lost her beloved little brother. Losing someone like that wasn't an easy thing to get over or to just sweep under the rug. Shiho still hadn't faced Mai over that whole ordeal. The thoughts were finally broken, as was the silence when Tate spoke.

"Its been awhile, Shiho" Yuuichi said. Shiho's response to this was to tighten her grip on her broom and look away. "If you're angry with me I understand. I haven't exactly been around alot lately and I haven't exactly said anything to you like I should have. I know I was bad to you by avoiding you for so long and I know you must be upset at me for..." "THAT'S NOT IT!!!" Shiho yelled, interrupting Yuuichi's speech. "I did terrible things, I hurt so many people by getting jealous of you and Mai. I had no right to attack her, I should have helped her out and all I did was get jealous and attack you. You have no right to be here and talking to me right now. Go be with her, she won't get jealous and attack you for talking to another woman, she's got to be a better woman than me so go be with..." Shiho was the one interrupted this time when she felt Yuuichi wrap his arms around her.

"Shiho, its okay. Mai chose Mikoto, not me. I've been alone all this time on the island, and I should have been up here talking to you and making sure you were okay. But all I could think about was graduating and getting the hell off of this island. But I didn't want to leave without at least saying goodbye to you and making sure you're okay, my beloved little sister" Yuuichi said in a whisper to her.

Tears were welling up in Shiho's eyes. Her big brother must have been going through a hell of his own since the carnival ended. "She chose Mikoto then?" Shiho asked. "Yes she did" Tate responded. Wrapping her arms around him in a tighter embrace, Shiho buried her face in his chest. Her sacrifice, his death, it was all for nothng. All so the girl he had fallen in love with could choose someone else. What he must have gone through had to have paled in comparison to her own pain.

The two friends stood there holding each other for a few minutes longer, just taking in the warmth of the only person the two of them had on the island that they felt they could truly confide in. "So you're leaving aren't you?" Shiho said. "That's right" Yuuichi replied. "Where are you going?" She aksed. "I'm going back home to Tokyo, just start over and try to put this place behind me" Yuuichi said, repeating the same thing he had said to so many people already. "I can understand that" Shiho said. "What about you?" Tate asked. "I'm not one with my education yet, but I haven't decided what to do or where to go. Maybe I'll come to Tokyo too someday, or maybe I'll try to go to another part of Japan and continue to work as a priestess" Shiho said. "I see, well whatever path you choose, I'll be behind you one hundred percent, and besides, you don't need to stay cooped up here forever. The best way to repent is to put it all behind you and move on. So try to get out and have some fun while you can, I'm sure gramps would be more than happy to allow you to go out an have some fun" Tate said with a slight smile. "I'm sure he would, its still going to be kind of dull without you around to help me pick out clothes big brother" Shiho said. "I'm sure you'll be fine, and anyways I have to get going or else I'm going to miss the ferry" Tate said. Giving her one last hug, Tate turned to leave but was stopped when Shiho called out to him one last time. "Big brother wait. I don't know if you'll ever come back to Fuuka or not but, if you do, there will always be a place here at the shrine for you" She said. "I will and thanks Shiho" That was his response, his final response to Shiho before turning and making his way down the long flight of stairs that lead to the bottom of the hillside. Once he was out of earsight, Shiho spoke in a tone of voice that only she could hear. "Thank you big brother, I'll always love you and treasure the time we spent together, and who knows. Maybe I will try again to make the best of my time here" Shiho said as she glanced into the direction of the school.

~*~

Tate descended to the bottom of the stairs as best he could without tripping and breaking his neck. The amount of time he spent talking with Shiho ate up at least an hour, and the amount of time it took him to reach the port on foot meant that he'd have to take a later ferry or worse, wait here another week before another one could be booked, not to mention the loss of all the money he had with him that went into booking the ride back home. No way that was going to happen. Yuuichi would crawl to the dock if he had to. His loose ends were all tied up and there was nothing left to keep him here, Freedom was at last only a boatride away. Finally arriving at the bottom of the stairway, Tate was forced into catching his breath from all the running he had done, hands on his knees and his breath coming out in quick, bursts, all the while hoping that he could regain his brath before it was too late. Upon finally being reaquainted with his breath, Tate stood up and saw the Ferry, slowly moving into port. "Ah shit!" Tate swore at his luck. Seeing no other choice, Tate mad a mad dash for the Ferry, running the risk of exhaustion miles before even reaching the ferry but dammit he would try, no matter what. His efforts were cut off when a motorcycle rider pulled up in front of him.

"Look I don't know who you are but I don't have any time to talk, I have to get" "Oh shut up already I know where you're going" The rider said from underneath the helmet. Tate stopped to look at who it was that spoke to him. His suspicions were confirmed when the rider lifted her visor and revealed the same pair of blue eyes he had come to expect from her. "Kuga?" Tate said."You want a ride?" Natsuki asked.

Soon both teens were well on their way to the port, careening across hillside roads at nearly breakneck speeds. Of all the ways Tate never thought he'd reach the ferry on the back of Natsuki Kuga's custom Ducati motorcycle. He knew who else she'd allow on the back of her bike, but he was never one to think he himself would be on, but maybe this was one lone occasion where the ice queen took pitty on him and decided to leave him with one lone memory of an act of kindness from her.

They had finally arrived at the ferry, and Tate watched as the last person boarded it. They had arrived just in time. Removing the helmet he was forced to wear while riding with Natsuki, Tate turned around, wanting to ask one last question. "Why?" He asked the girl. "Once, I wanted to try and point you into the right direction, but it didn't turn out that way, so I guess I wanted to try and make it up to you while I still had the chance" Natsuki said. That was twice in this past week that Natsuki had surprised Tate, and for that he was again grateful. This caused a slight smile to form across his face. Natsuki returned the gesture. Tate extended his hand to Natsuki and she took it, shaking it in a light grip. "Thanks Natsuki, I'll remember this" Tate said. "I'm glad, and take care Tate" Natsuk responded. Yuuichi then turned to leave when Natsuki's phone went off. Quickly picking it up, she smiled knowing who was on the other end. "Hey, Yeah I'm here. I'm just seeing Tate off. Yeah he's leaving for Tokyo. Oh, you want to speak to him? Ok, you're just in time, hold on" Natsuki said to the other end of her phone. "Hey Tate!" she yelled out. Yuuichi quickly turned around to see Natsuki still seated on her bike with a cellphone out. "Shizuru wants to talk to you" Natsuki called out. Tate quickly looked at the captain of the Ferry who shook his head and gave him a 'go on' gesture and allowed Tate a chance to speak with whomever was on the other line. Hurrying back over to Natsuki's location, Tate took up the cellphone.

"Hello, President Fujino" Tate spoke "You still call me that, even though I'm no longer the president" Shizuru spoke, midly amused by how Yuuichi still called her by her former title. "Its fine, it kind of reminds me of how things were back when we were just normal students and not Hime's, and victims" Shuzuru said in an almost forlorn voice. "Yeah, those were the days. Back when things were normal" Tate said. "So, what are you going to do now that you're no longer among the students or the Hime?" Shizuru asked. "I'm going home, back to Tokyo. I'm going to see if I can get my own life back to normal as well" Tate said. "Yes, I think it is probably for the best to just get away from that place. Some good may have come from it for us, but for the most part it is just a poison place in the end" Shizuru responded. "I can't argue with you there" Yuuichi said. "Well Yuuichi Tate, I wish you the best of luck in finding your place in the world beyond the island of Fuuka. Goodbye, and good luck" Shizuru responded. "Thank you, Shizuru Fujino" Tate said to the former president of Fuuka Gakuen. Handing the cellphone back to Natsuki, Tate finally turned to leave and go back to the Ferry, and finally leave this place. However he was once again stopped by the captain.

"There's someone else here who wants to say goodbye to you" The elderly man said to him. From behind the elderly man, walked one Mikoto Minagi. She had grown in the years since the Carnival had ended, her hair still in the familiar braids he had known her for wearing, and she was no longer wearing the familair whaite top with the blue skirt, rather she was wearing the same orange school jacket and light brown skirt that Mai and anyone else in their age group had worn. Tate couldn't help but silently laugh at the irony of the situation. When the whole Carnival debacle had started off, it was because Mikoto and Natsuki had come on board of the ferry that had brought him to Fuuka. All that was missing was Mai, but he wasn't shedding any tears over her not being here at the moment.

"So, have you come to beat me up for how I talked to Mai the other night?" Tate asked, not surprised if that would be his fate. "No, I'm not here to hurt you, I'm, here to say thank you" Mikoto said. This surprised Yuuichi more than anything. "Mai told me that, in order for us to be together, you had to step aside and risked getting hurt all so she could be happy with me. She talked about how it must have hurt for you to see the one person you love, to not be in love with you at all, and when she explained that to me, I wanted to come and at least thank you for allowing her to be happy with me" Mikoto finished. Yuuichi may have had a hard time noticing things in the past, but he could have sworn that at that very minute, he heard the sound of the young girl threatening to cry. "Did it hurt for you to let Mai go?" Mikoto asked. It was quiet there, no one spoke. All that could be heard was the crashing of the waves. Yet Mikoto listened as best she could, and perked up when she saw Yuuichi's mouth open, to deliver his answer. "Yes. Yes it did" Tate said in response, a response that was barely a whisper. Mikoto looked into Yuuichi's eyes and saw, the pain that his response brought forth, in knowing that he had to make a painful sacrifice so that his beloved could be happy. Deciding that asking him anymore would only cause the pain to spread, Mikoto instead just bowed to him. He was more than just a senior student or a sempai. He was a human being who had made the most painful sacrifice and that deserved respect, more than anything. "Thank you, Yuuichi Tate" Mikoto said, Her final words to him.

Minutes passed until Tate responded to the very same underclassmen who Mai had chosen over him. She could be looked at as the one person he could hold responsible for the pain he had gone through for the past year and a half, but instead he chose a different path. Instead of yelling at or attacking the younger girl, he instead returned the bow, and spoke to her. "You're welcome, Mikoto Minagi" His final words to her.

With that, Tate boarded the Ferry, finally putting the island and all of his experiences there behind him. Arriving at the room he had rented on the ferry, Tate turned the knob and entered. Laying his suitcase down on the floor adjascent to the bed, Tate removed his leather jacket and lay down on the bed and rested, closing his eyes and drifting off, as the Ferry began to lurch forward slowly until it began to pick up steam and move forward back to the mainland, and away from Fuuka island forever.

I know I said this would be the last chapter but I decided to stretch it out to one last chapter. I'll try to have it up soon, the latest being Monday night. Anyways please read and review