Finally managed to get this chapter done! Oh, and due to an agreement, I must inform you of a Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfic titled Yugioh: The Knights of Justice. This story can be found under Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's by the user Aliscia in Writingland. Anyway, please enjoy the chapter.
*Boys' Dorm Room, Tokyo University Duel Academy*
It has been a week since the tragic events that had occurred within the mirror world and a few days after Etsuko's funeral. It was morning and Shroud and Naoto were ready to head for class, but Spiral was still stuck in bed. On the bottom bunk to be more precise.
"Spiral, wake up." Shroud tried to get him up.
"I am awake." Spiral responded blandly.
"Then why aren't you getting ready?" Naoto asked.
"… I'm not sure, myself." Spiral answered in that bland tone again.
"Have you gotten any sleep at all this week?" Naoto asked again.
"I have tried… but when I sleep… it comes back to me…" Spiral said with a shake in his voice.
"What'll come back to you?" Shroud asked this time.
"The nightmares… of that moment…" Spiral explained. "You know how they say Hell is repetition? I'm living in Hell right now. Just… leave me alone right now."
Naoto and Shroud left their dorm room and started walking down the hall.
"Should we stop at the drug store later and get some Valium?" Shroud asked.
"I don't think that'll solve the nightmare problem, but let's hold onto that plan when all else fails." Naoto stated.
It was lunch period and the whole gang had gathered together, minus Spiral.
"I'm not surprised Spiral's having nightmares." Aura stated. "Especially after a traumatic event like that."
"I still can't believe she's actually gone." Hikari said with her eyes a bit watery. "Things like that never cross your mind… probably because you don't want them to happen."
"And you're saying he hasn't slept for days?" Camaru asked. "That's not good."
"No kidding." Lee agreed. "If he doesn't get some sleep soon, who knows what'll happen?"
"Insomnia usually results in impaired cognitive function." Shroud stated. "If he tries to do schoolwork like that, he's probably going to flunk."
"Well, none of us want Spiral to flunk, but trying to get him to start coping with his sister's death is going to be a serious challenge." Asuka said.
"Yeah, those two were real close." Chan said.
"Would you be that sad if I died, sis?" Chun asked.
Chan having to think for a moment made Chun begin to question whether her sister loved her or not. A few seconds later…
"Yeah." Chan simply answered.
Momo just looked down at her lunch with a sad expression on her face.
"Momo." Aura tried to get her attention.
Momo then looked up at everyone.
"Are you okay?" Aura asked.
"Oh, uh, I'm just concerned about Spiral like you guys." Momo told them.
"Oh, that reminds me." Naoto realized something. "What about that girl we found?"
"As soon as we got back, the principal took her to the infirmary." Shroud explained. "Her injuries were taken care of, but she has yet to wake up."
"Maybe we should check up on her after school." Lee suggested. "No doubt she'll have a lot of questions when she wakes up."
"… I'm sorry, what are we talking about?" Camaru didn't follow any of what they just said.
"It's a long story." Hikari simply stated.
Ms. Krystal then walked up to the group of students.
"Hey kids," Ms. Krystal said. "How are things?"
The students acknowledged her, but said nothing.
"I see," she said looking at them all. "Where's Spiral?"
"Still in bed." Shroud spoke up.
"Well tell him that there's no need to worry about his school work." Ms. Krystal said. "I'll take care of it."
As Ms. Krystal began to walk away, she heard sobbing. She turned around to see Chan trying to hold back tears. Ms. Krystal went back and kneeled down to be face to face with her.
"Hey," Ms. Krystal said in a calm voice placing her hands on Chan's shoulders. "Let it out."
With that Chan began to openly cry, Ms. Krystal let go of her shoulders so Chan could hug Chun and they both began crying together.
"If you guys are worried about Spiral," Ms. Krystal addressed everyone. "Just give him some time. Time heals all wounds, right?"
"What the HELL do you know?!" Momo shouted standing up and glaring down at her teacher. "You have perfect, ideal life! Good family, great job, and a body that is just NO FAIR! You don't know ANYTHING about losing someone you care about! So don't preach at us!"
Ms. Krystal looked at her for moment, with an expression neither surprised nor upset. She quietly got up and walked away. Momo sat back down and sighed.
"Sorry." Momo apologized. "I couldn't hold that in."
"It's okay." Naoto said. "You have a point, though."
"And didn't you say that your grandfather was killed, too?" Aura asked. "Although, now that I think about it, Spiral had to watch Etsuko die right in front of him."
"Yeah… just like my folks…" Shroud then looked down in sadness.
Momo then looked down again. *I wonder how the principal's handling this?* She thought.
After classes, Momo went to the principal's office and knocked on the door.
"Excuse me, Vice Principal Chino?" Momo asked. "I'm here to talk with Principal Pulse."
The door opened and Momo walked in.
"Of course you're here for the principal. No one ever stops by to talk to me." Chino greeted.
Momo just kept walking into Pulse's office.
"Ms. Principal, how are you doing?" Momo asked.
"… I'm… not sure." Pulse responded. "Just when I adopted a new daughter, she's taken away from me. I have witnessed innocent deaths before, but it's something a person never gets used to."
"So I take it you're not handling it very well?" Momo guessed.
"Better than my son is, I can guarantee that." Pulse stated. "Although, we're not the only ones who've lost those dear to us."
"Yeah." Momo looked down with a sad look on her face. "Shroud and I have lost our families as well."
"And Ms. Krsystal…" Pulse said.
"Wait, Ms. Krystal said that she has a husband who goes out of town." Momo pointed out.
"She… didn't tell any of you?" Pulse questioned.
"Tell us what?" Momo asked.
"… Since she hasn't told anyone and I'm the only person with her records around here, I guess I'll just have to answer this." Pulse went to her desk and sat down. "You may want to sit down for this one."
Momo did as Pulse suggested and sat down.
"Ms. Krystal's husband…" Pulse started, but it was a bit difficult for her to say. "Promise me that you'll never repeat any of these words."
"I-I promise." Momo accepted her principal's request.
Pulse took a deep breath and sighed before speaking. "Ms. Krystal's husband… passed away some time ago."
Momo then put her hand over her mouth and gasp.
"Oh my God, I didn't know." Momo expressed. "I yelled at her earlier for not knowing what it was like to lose someone close! I shouldn't have said anything!"
"It's okay, Momo." Pulse tried to calm her down. "I'm sure Ms. Krystal forgives you for not knowing, since she has withheld that information for so long."
"But… why didn't she tell us any of this?" Momo asked.
"When she first arrived here, I noticed her marital status and when I brought that up she insisted that nobody should know about this." Pulse stated. "She didn't want any of her students to feel bad about what had happened to her."
Momo still felt a bit sad and guilty.
"Momo." Pulse put her hand on Momo's shoulder. "Please, don't worry about this. I know she's your teacher and that you feel guilty about whatever you said, but you shouldn't let that keep you down. I feel like I was responsible for keeping Etsuko safe, but even though I'm still morning her death, I'm not letting that interfere with the rest of my life. The passed wouldn't want that."
Momo managed to cheer up a bit and smile.
"Thank you, Ms. Principal." Momo said.
While that was going on, Naoto, Shroud, Asuka, Camaru, Lee, the twins, Aura and Hikari went to the school's infirmary and saw that the girl that they rescued was still unconscious. The girl had bandages across her body and she was breathing through an apparatus.
"Still not awake, huh?" Naoto said.
The group walked up to her and just looked at her.
"If she's been asleep this long, she must have taken quite a beating." Aura stated.
"Either that or she's in a coma." Shroud brought up.
Suddenly, the girl's hand started to twitch… then her face began to twitch. She was clearly regaining her consciousness.
"Not anymore." Lee responded to Shroud.
"… nghh…" The girl moaned as she move her head and open her eyes. "… wait… where…"
She started to get up, but Hikari and Aura ran to keep the girl down in the bed.
"Don't get up." Hikari said.
"Why?" The girl asked.
"Because the nurse had to remove your clothes to heal your injuries and they haven't been put back on." Aura explained.
"… Where… am I?" The girl asked.
"You're back in the real world." Naoto answered.
"'Real'… You mean… the human world?" She asked.
"Uh, yes." Naoto confirmed.
"Um… what do you mean by 'human world'?" Camaru questioned.
"Oh, right, I forgot that this stuff is going over your head." Naoto realized.
"Sorry to ask you this so soon, but how did you get in there?" Aura asked the girl.
"I… I…" The girl stuttered.
"If you don't remember, you don't have to answer." Hikari stated.
"I-All right…" The girl responded.
"The nurse will probably want to check on her soon." Asuka pointed out. "We should probably let her rest for now."
"Yeah, we'll see you later, okay?" Hikari asked.
"O-okay." The girl answered.
The group then left the infirmary so the nurse could do a checkup on her.
Meanwhile, Spiral was still lying in his bed and he barely moved from the spot he was in earlier that morning.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Come in…" Spiral said.
The door opened and Momo entered the room.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Momo asked in a somewhat hushed tone.
"I haven't slept in days and my sister was killed… I doubt it could get any worse…" Spiral mumbled.
Momo then closed the door behind her.
"Spiral, even though my grandfather was killed, I never witnessed his death with my own eyes." Momo stated. "You actually watched Etsuko die, so… I don't know how you feel right now. But I want you to know that we're always here for you, especially me."
Momo then sat on the side of the lower bunk bed and started to rub Spiral's arm.
"I… think I know the real reason Daisuke hated you…" Momo brought up. "Remember how we were sent on a reconnaissance mission of the rival clan's camp, shortly after Daisuke's parents went missing? When we saw that they were holding his parents prisoner, you were determined to rescue them no matter what. So we snuck into the prison and freed everyone. Eventually, they all caught onto us and there were only so many people we could save at once, especially at our young age and lack of experience. We were lucky that my grandfather came to help and we saved as many people as we did… but Daisuke's parents weren't so lucky. When we told him the bad news, he became angry and sad. Daisuke hating you because you were a hero wasn't entirely off the mark, but I think it was because of your actions that his parents were tortured to death for trying to escape. He would have preferred if his parents didn't go through that torture before dying, so he wanted you to suffer even more than he did to get even. That's probably why he betrayed my family, too. So you would suffer while watching the people who took care of you like their own died."
"So you're saying it's my fault Etsuko's dead?" Spiral asked.
"No, it's not your fault." Momo stated. "What you did wasn't wrong at all. We saved all of the children and even some of the adults."
"But if we'd been able to save Daisuke's parents… So many people wouldn't have died… Your family… my sister… the class rep… Madaro… they would all still be alive if I hadn't done what I did."
"Spiral…" Momo muttered. "The U.S. military have witnessed horrible things that they don't want to be reminded of. They've seen the deaths of fellow comrades, innocent people, even their loved ones cry when they don't come home alive. Yet somehow those brave people are still able to live out the rest of their lives to the fullest. You're no different from a soldier. And you're not the only one who has lost a loved one. Someone, somewhere probably lose one every day. People die and there's no getting around that. While mourning their loss makes them feel like they had a place in their loves ones' hearts, they would also like to see you move on."
"Do you think that's what Etsuko would truly want?" Spiral asked.
"She would want you to live your life for the both of them." Momo answered. "Besides, as long as Etsuko's in your memory, she'll always be with you."
"… Thank you, Momo…" Spiral finally smiled for the first time in days. Spiral then started to tear up. "That last line might have been a cliché, but it was just what I needed."
"Just let it all out." Momo told him.
Momo then held Spiral's head to her chest as he continued to tear up.
After the girl's checkup, the guys and Asuka were waiting outside while the other girls were getting their mysterious friend some clothes to put on.
"Why did they have to bring extra uniforms if the girl had clothes on her when we brought her back here?" Shroud questioned.
"The clothes were torn up a bit and you can't go running around in raggedy clothes unless you're poor or homeless." Naoto stated.
"That explains that, but why didn't the girls want me in to go in there with them?" Asuka asked.
"I think it might have something to do with what happened 'on the other side'." Naoto answered.
"What the hell are yo… Oh!" Asuka finally got it. "W-W-Wait! I-I'm totally not like that! I have no problems around guys now!"
"Is something wrong with Asuka?" Camaru asked.
"No, not 'wrong'" Lee simply said.
The infirmary's door then opened and the girls all came out. The mysterious girl was wearing the standard school uniform.
"Do I have to wear these clothes?" The girl asked.
"They're the only spare clothes we could find on such short notice." Aura answered.
"Are there any other clothes I could wear?" The girl asked again.
"We'd have to go to the shopping districts to get new clothes." Hikari stated.
"What's a shopping district?" The girl seemed somewhat confused.
"Wait, you don't know what a shopping district is?" Lee questioned.
"Are you one of those retarded people or was your head hit too hard?" Shroud questioned before Asuka hit him in the back of the head. "OW!"
"That wasn't very polite!" Asuka yelled at him.
"Look who's talking!" Shroud yelled back.
"Anyways, we should probably get our purses and wallets so we can pay for whatever clothes she wants." Naoto suggested.
Naoto and Shroud came back to their dorm room to get their wallets before they go off on a possible shopping spree.
"You know, during spring break, I'm going to try and get a part-time job so I have more money to spend and save." Naoto expressed.
Shroud then looked at Spiral's bunk.
"Looks like Spiral finally got some sleep." Shroud somewhat whispered.
Naoto then looked toward Spiral's bed and couldn't believe what he saw.
"I don't believe this…" Naoto muttered.
What he saw on the bed was Spiral and Momo sleeping together. Nothing bad, they were just fast asleep on the bed with all of their clothes still on.
"I think it would be best if we let them sleep." Shroud whispered to Naoto.
They both grabbed their wallets and left, but Naoto stayed behind for a minute, pulled out his cell phone and took a picture of Spiral and Momo sleeping on the bed. Once he saved the photo, he put his phone back into his pocket and quietly left.
Later at the shopping district, the guys were waiting in a nice and warm electronics store while the girls were off in a nice and warm clothing store.
"There isn't anything new..." Shroud was browsing through the DVDs. "And are there any places in Japan where I can find 'Doctor Who'? !"
"Great, now we're bored." Naoto stated. "Now I'm questioning if we should have went with the girls or not."
"Females prefer privacy when it comes to shopping unless they have to bring their mate or offsprin around." Shroud told them. "We aren't either of those things to those girls."
"... Well that sucks." Camaru simply said.
Finally, the girls came back and they were all wearing winter coats due to the cold January air.
"Sorry we're late." Hikari greeted the guys. "As soon as we went into the clothing stores, she practically behaved like a little kid."
"Even more than me or Shroud combined... Okay, maybe not THAT much." Chun said.
The strange girl was wearing a puffy purple coat to keep her warm from the winter cold.
"Well, let's see what kind of clothes you got." Naoto said. "It'd better be worth the wait."
"We were only gone for like 12 minutes." Aura told them.
"Actually, it's been an hour... no joke." Shroud showed them his watch.
"... Huh, time really does fly when you're having fun." Aura responded.
The girl then took off her coat to reveal her new purple sweater and black winter pants.
"Damn! You REALLY pull that off!" Naoto complimented.
"I wanted to get those other clothes, though." The girl expressed.
"Don't worry." Chan assured her. "We got those for you, but they aren't clothes for winter. You'd freeze to death."
"To be honest, I thought this 'shopping district' was going to be something worse than Hell, but... I think I was wrong." The girl said.
Nobody knew how to respond to that.
"Uh... Wait! After all this time, we never asked you your name!" Aura realized.
"Yeah, why didn't we ever think of that? !" Chan seemed baffled by that herself.
"Do you even remember your name?" Chun asked.
"Um..." The girl had to think for a minute. "People... have always called me Lilith."
"'Lilith', huh?" Naoto said. "Any last name?"
"Um... I don't think I have one." Lilith answered. "It's not that I don't remember it, it's just that I don't think I was ever given one."
"Wait, does that mean you don't have amnesia?" Shroud asked.
"What's amnesia?" Lilith asked.
"That doesn't help." Camaru said.
"He's asking if you can remember where you came from, who you are and the people you've met." Lee summed up for her.
"Uh..." Lilith just seemed to daze off.
"Let's just leave it be for now." Hikari suggested.
"You know what? I'm actually feeling pretty hungry." Naoto realized. "How about we grab a bite to eat?"
"Ooh, that rament shop is right around the corner!" Chun pointed out.
"We also lost quite a bit of money just to get this girl enough clothes for each week." Chan also pointed out.
Lilith put her coat back on and the whole group walked outside. Just as they were leaving the electronics store, snow began to fall down like cherry blossoms fluttering in the breeze.
"What is this?" Lilith asked.
"You're kidding, right?" Shroud asked. "It's snow."
"It's like rain that froze over because of the cold." Aura said. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"
Lilith then looked toward the sky and saw the beautiful snowflakes falling from the sky.
"... Yeah, it is." Lilith smiled.
"Can we please get a move on? I'm starving!" Lee interrupted that moment.
Everyone took a seat over at the ramen shop and everyone got a steaming hot bowl of ramen, perfect after being outside in the cold.
"All right! Time to dig in!" Naoto exclaimed as he started to chow down on the noodles.
Lilith tried to put her fingers around the chopsticks, but appeared to be having some trouble. Every time she got some of the soba noodles and tried to put them toward her mouth, they slipped back into her bowl.
"It's a bit difficult at first, but you get used to it." Aura told her. "It's all in the wrist."
Lilith paid close attention to how Aura had her fingers around the chopsticks. She then imitated the movement and managed to hold the chopsticks right and manage to finally grab a taste of her ramen.
"Wow! This is delicious!" Lilith then started to eat her bowl of ramen like there was no tomorrow.
"I'm glad you like it." Hikari said.
"Judging by your lack of knowledge of chopsticks, you're probably not from Japan or China." Shroud stated. "That and your name."
Lilith then stopped eating her ramen and looked down with a somewhat sad face.
"Uh, let's change the topic!" Aura suggested. "Like, um, uh, what do you think of her, Asuka?"
"Hm? She seems okay." Asuka answered, a little confused.
"No, I mean... never mind." Aura dropped the subject.
"I wanna know what... Oh, you're still on that? !" Asuka asked, kind of angry.
"Is Asuka-?" Camaru was about to ask.
"Finish that question and see what happens!" Asuka glared at Camaru.
"She seems kind of aggressive, doesn't she?" Lilith asked.
"She's not a bad person once you get to know her, you just have to mind your words." Naoto told her.
"Oh, before I forget, what kind of place was it that you took me to?" Lilith asked again.
"A school?" Asuka answered in confusion. "You never heard of a school?"
"It is a place of finite knowledge to prepare young people for the real world of business, jobs and futures." Shroud explained.
"That sounds like fun." Lilith responded.
"It actually isn't at times." Naoto pointed out.
"Can I go to this school thing, too?" Lilith asked.
Shroud thought for a moment. "... You wouldn't survive one minute with your current processing power."
Their dinner continued as they all made small-talk, gossip and other things.
After dinner, everyone went back to the dorm, except for Asuka and Hikari whom went back to their respective homes. Hikari decided to take Lilith to her place to live for the time being.
"Here we are, home sweet home." Hikari said as she walked in the church.
"What kinds of place is this?" Lilith asked.
"It's a church." Hikari answered. "Do you know what a church is?"
"... Actually, yes I do." Lilith answered.
"Oh, good, that saves some explaining." Hikari smiled.
Hikari led her to the guest bedrooms.
"These are the guest bedrooms. This is where you'll be staying." Hikari said as she put down the shopping bags over by one of the beds. "Oh, you probably haven't been able to bathe for a while."
"A bath does sound nice right about now." Lilith expressed.
"I'll go get everything ready so the water's nice and warm." Hikari told her. "It'll feel real nice after being in the cold all day."
Hikari then left the room, leaving Lilith alone with her thoughts.
*This place...* Lilith began to think. *It's a lot nicer than he told me it was... They all think I have amnesia... Maybe I should keep it that way...*
English Voice Cast
Todd Haberkorn Spiral
Monica Rial Momo
Alexis Tipton Aura
Yuri Lowenthal Naoto
Maxey Whitehead Shroud
Laura Bailey Hikari
Caitlin Glass Asuka
Alison Viktorin Chan/Chun
Tom Gibis Lee
Kyle Hebert Camaru
Kate Higgins Pulse
Wendee Lee Krystal
Cherami Leigh Lilith
Preview
Naoto: Hey, Spiral, Valentine's Day is coming soon. Have you decided on a lady yet?
Spiral: ... Wait, it's that time already? ! I thought I had more time!
Naoto: You still haven't made up your mind? !
Spiral: Hey, so much has happened!
Naoto: I'd suggest a poll from the readers, but the rules state that we can't let the readers decide the story.
Spiral: Next time on Awakening of the Soul, Valentine Who? ! Up next, the twins!
Chan and Chun's Comedy Corner
Chan and Chun appear on a stage next to a microphone.
Chun: Heeelllooooo, Tokyo! Welcome to Chan and Chun's Comedy Corner!
Chan: We wanted to be more noticeable by the viewers, so we thought we'd do an end-of-the-show comedy routine.
Chun: And heeeeeere we go!
There was an awkward silence for a moment.
Chan: Um... sis?
Chan: Yeah?
Chan: Did we forget to write jokes?
Chun: ... Apparently so...
Chan: ... Well, next time, we promise to have some jokes on hand.
Chun: Catch ya later!