Chapter two: Running through her head
by Child of Ragnarok
As Motoko sits there, cradling Keitaro's limp body in her arms, her life with him as the manager of Hinata-sou flashes in front of her. She doesn't react to anybody trying to comfort her, she's only thinking of their time together and what she could have had.
She thinks back about him telling her he loved her. At least he knew that she loved him when he died. But now it felt unfair, that her eternal love only lasted for a few minutes.
She remembers the first time he had appeared at Hinata-sou and the first time she had struck him. Back then she was completely puzzled as to why she was feeling a tiny drop of remorse, something she had never done before when it came to striking a man. Now she knew it was because she had found him quite interesting. She realises that she had had feelings for him all along, she was just too stubborn to admit them.
She remembers the first time he had looked into her eyes. She could have drowned in them anytime. Those deep, black, caring eyes watching her could melt her heart whenever he looked at her.
She remembers their first date. Curiously, Keitaro didn't screw up like he usually did around Motoko, instead, she had had one of the most perfect evenings in her life. It had turned out that Keitaro had somehow obtained two tickets for a Kendo show, with the current masters of Japan participating. And even better, they were backstage passes. Motoko and Keitaro learned many tricks that night, and Motoko slept better than she had ever done before.
She remembers them sparring. Nobody, apart from Tsuruko, had given Motoko such a challenge as Keitaro had. She remembers when he had stopped her blade with only his hands, and she remembers when Keitaro had come back from the USA. She had sensed his chi being different, and she had challenged him to a duel – and lost. That was when her feelings for him really started to come out.
She remembers the first time they kissed, although it was an accident – Su had caught Keitaro unawares with a kick to the back of his head, sending him crashing down the stairs and into Motoko, flinging the two of them straight into a wall. As they hit the wall, their lips met, and Naru just had to choose that moment to come into the room. Motoko had thought Keitaro would never come back to earth after that Naru-punch.
Looking back on her life, the time with Keitaro was the happiest in Motoko's life. Now it was all over. Keitaro was dead, and it was all her fault. She had killed her one true love. Why? she thought. Why was my love taken away from me? Why am I cursed so? And why did I draw that stupid sword to begin with?! She had thousands of questions for herself. Motoko wished more than ever that she could turn back time and reveal her true affection for him earlier, making it last longer. Now that possibility was taken away from her. She would never see him again. Looking around her, she could tell that all the girls were also crying, also remembering Keitaro as the wonderful person he was, but they could not possibly be feeling the same guilt as Motoko. After all, they weren't the ones who had killed him. The thought of it dragged Motoko's spirits to a corner of hell where the inhabitants ate, drank and breathed misery. Tears were pouring out of her eyes in a stream comparable to that of a broken dam.
The other girls make their final farewells (it took a long time for Naru) and left, leaving Motoko alone, crying out her grief and despair. Holding Keitaro's body in her arms both soothes and worsens the pain. Motoko wishes that there was some way for them to be together again. She cries even harder. If there is any way for us to be together again, she thinks, I will do it…
As she holds Keitaro close to her, mourning her one true love, Motoko makes her decision.
The next morning, Doctor Hikari finds Motoko lying near Keitaro's body, in a pool of blood having formed from a deep slit in her throat. Her left hand tightly clutches Keitaro's hand, while her right hand holds a bloodstained knife. A letter lies near her. Two stories had ended that night, but a new story had begun – an eternal love story in the afterlife.
End of chapter two.