salut et quoi de neuf (hi and what's new)! désolé, i think i wrote ch. 4 a little weird (i had double spaces that wouldn't show up). this chapter is really interesting and maybe a little short (in my opinion), but the real excitement will be in ch. 6! also, merci beaucoup to everyone who favorited/alerted this story. read, review and enjoy Like Snow ch. 5, s'il vous plait.
disclaimer: i do not own full moon wo sagashite or ipod, but all new songs mitsuki writes are mine
Smile:
If the sky was crying for you
I'll turn into a sea and embrace it
Even if we're swallowed by the storm and lose our map
Your back is the signpost for me now
"Why do I have to answer you?" he shot back, certain his question would distract her. He watched as she paused and recalled what had happened before she blacked out.
"Well, I'm sure Takuto and Meroko would want to know," she whispered, her attention focused on the two snoozing Shinigami. "You care about Meroko, right?"
Izumi was baffled. Why in the world are her questions leaving me speechless…and how does she know these things? "Why is this any of your business?" he reversed a question to her again, wondering if their entire conversation was going to be full of interrogations.
Mitsuki fluffed her pillow, a bright expression on her face. "I saw you watching Meroko sleep…it was kind of cute! Anyways, are you only going to speak in questions?" she giggled, enjoying her little chat with Izumi. He's not that scary anymore - actually, he's rather funny!
"Maybe," Izumi mumbled, and turned away from Mitsuki. Well, this sucks. I can't finish my job, she's only going to probe deeper and deeper into my life - he froze at the thought. Wait a minute, why am I letting her ask me these questions? "I don't have time for this," he said as he began to take off.
"Wait!" Mitsuki called softly, hoping not to disturb Takuto and Meroko. "Thank you, Izumi," she reached into the pocket of the clothes next to her. "Meroko and I made this a while ago…she told me to give it to someone I like. I've only talked to you for a few minutes, but I like you Izumi - you're a good person." She carefully handed him a gold-chain bracelet with a bead in the shape of a moon. "I thought it fit your costume too!"
He took the gift without a word and gazed at Meroko, estimating that he would wake up soon. Her eyelids fluttered softly as she dipped in and out of consciousness. "Hmm…guess I better leave. Maybe I'll catch you around, Miki." He stood on the windowsill of her room and launched himself into the sky.
"Good-bye!" she waved cheerfully as Takuto and Meroko woke up. "Oh, and good morning, you two!"
"Your joyfulness is blinding me like the sun…" Meroko said blearily. "And what was with your 'good-bye'?"
Flustered, Mitsuki blushed, knowing that she could not tell them that Izumi was there. If they found out, Takuto would probably try to hunt him down and Meroko…she wasn't too sure of what Meroko would do.
"Yeah, who was here?" Takuto asked, sensing that the room was somewhat different. "Why is that window open in the middle of winter?"
"Uh…it was a little too warm in here," Mitsuki lied, moving to the window to close it. "But it's the perfect temperature now!" She saw their suspicious glances, but didn't care. If there were things that they wouldn't tell her, she was sure that she could keep a few secrets of her own as well.
Like the moon and sun, even when near or far
Please be close enough to capture my light
"This…is…boring…" Mitsuki admitted at last, waiting in her seat at the airport. Their plane had been delayed, due to the weather, and she had run out of things to do.
"But it still is exciting, right?" Meroko tried to cheer her up. It had been a week after the incident at the concert, but they were still going to America. "And we can find Eichi," she added, saying his name as if he were some kind of bribe - like a piece of meat to a dog.
"I guess," Mitsuki answered, pulling out a notebook she used for writing songs. She clicked a pen that she dug out of her bag and tapped the paper softly. "I find the lie that got me out of the house interesting though…" she said, remembering that Ooshige-san told her grandmother that they were going to a nice Japanese fan collector convention in America. It sounded convincing enough, and her grandmother let her go without suspecting a thing.
"Ooh, Takuto's back!" Meroko announced with excitement. His arms were filled with snacks and Ooshige-san was close behind him with food as well.
"Oh, Mitsuki, I checked your fan email online by the café, and I found something interesting - one email was from Eichi in America, and I'm sure it's him!" she dropped the food onto the seat next to Mitsuki and gave her a printed copy of the email.
Mitsuki read it, her heart swelling with excitement and jumped up in her seat. "Wow, thank you Ooshige-san!"
"Actually," Ooshige-san corrected Mitsuki, "Takuto doubled checked it to make sure it was him…" Takuto was talking to Meroko, but his attitude wasn't the same. It was as if he was suddenly less excited about the trip.
"Takuto," Mitsuki started, sitting next to him and interrupting their conversation. "Thank you." She leaned over and gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek to express her gratitude. His face got red and Mitsuki could hear a "no problem" escape from his flustered lips.
Meroko's mouth hung open, shocked at what had just happened. Great, now I know I've lost. She looked away from them, almost about to cry. Once again, she would be left out - and right when they were starting to feel like a warm group of three again.
"Ah, it looks like our flight might take off in half-an-hour," Ooshige-san said brightly, noticing the time on one of the monitors around the waiting area change. "We're getting closer and closer!"
"I can't wait to see him…" Mitsuki whispered to herself, hugging the notebook tightly. Suddenly, inspiration hit her, and she began to scribble down her feelings onto the paper, knowing that this time, the song would be meant for only him.
Smile smile
Watch me always, watch me forever whenever
Smile smile
Want to believe, want to feel it forever
Smile smile
Being able to understand happy mornings and sad nights
I won't forget to smile
I cannot live without you forever
Eichi downloaded the final song to his ipod, and ran downstairs to meet his family for dinner. Ever since he had watched the concert with Amy, he knew that Full Moon was Mitsuki. Age wise, it wasn't possible, but he felt something magical that revealed to him that it was Mitsuki. While watching the most recent concert where Full Moon fell off stage was strange, he knew that someone was watching over her - like a guardian angel.
After dinner, Eichi changed into his winter gear and was picked up by Amy's parents to drive to the meeting of their Ski Club.
"So, did you download Angel In My Heart?" Amy asked, clicking the power button to her mp3 player.
"Yeah," Eichi answered, pulling his ipod out of his jacket. "I've got this cool headphone system that I can plug my ipod in while I ski - but I can't have the volume up too loud. My parents think it's a hazard."
"At least you can still listen to her, right?" Amy added optimistically as the ski slopes came into sight from their car window. Eichi smiled because he was lucky to have Amy as a friend. Some days he thought he was selfish - Amy seemed to be a substitute for Mitsuki. But others, he knew that the two were different.
"Didn't you mention that she's coming here for a concert in two days?" he asked, switching on his ipod and preparing the headphones through his helmet.
"Yep, and I ordered tickets in advance, just as an early Ski Club president gift…" she hinted calmly, waiting for his reaction to the news.
"Wait, I was elected Ski Club president?!" his excitement grew and he knew that this week would be absolutely perfect. "I wonder how Mitsuki will react to the news…"
N and S, like magnets, when we notice someday
We'll be pulled together as if that was ordinary
Like that secret, unstopping clock that no one knows
The two continues to move on the same face
Mitsuki rubbed her eyes after she climbed out of the car. She was finally in America. It was early in the morning, but the sky was still dark. The stars were visible in the sky, but a layer of clouds hid some, giving the illusion that only a few stars wanted to greet her.
"Good, you finally woke up," Meroko said as she hopped out of the car. "You were out cold on the plane, and Takuto and I had to make it look like you were sleep walking until we got to the rental car."
"Thank you," Mitsuki said, her expression still groggy. Takuto and Meroko guided her to the hotel so that she could get a few more hours of sleep before the rehearsal of the live concert that would be televised all around America.
They set her down on her bed and Meroko slept on the couch in her bunny form. Takuto stayed up and Mitsuki's notebook, which was sticking out of her backpack, caught his attention. He floated over to it, but doubted if he should open it. It's probably like a diary - if I read it, she'll kill me…wait, she can't seriously kill me…but… he struggled to come up with the correct solution in his head. A sudden but faint snore from Mitsuki confirmed that she was asleep, and Takuto slowly pulled the notebook out, knowing that she would never find out. He opened it cautiously, flipping through pages of doodles, scribbles, and short poems - all of them meant for Eichi. Before he could close the notebook, two things caught his attention - the last song she wrote about Eichi and the last note at the bottom. He read part of the song aloud to himself softly and glanced at Mitsuki, wondering how often she had felt that way.
"Every night I sit down
With my hopes revolving around you
It might be childish
To have such a crush
But my little prayer means so much…"
"I can't do this," he whispered, watching Mitsuki in her peaceful slumber. "How can I be this jealous of her loving someone so much?" He continued to the next part, and felt even worse about his selfish thoughts.
"And my little prayer
I hope it reaches the stars
But if it gets to you
That's a start…"
He finished scanning through the rest of the lyrics and remembered his promise about it snowing when she met Eichi again. The snow in America seemed to be falling slower than in Japan, and Takuto felt a small chill in his heart. He read over the note at the bottom of the page and wondered how he would deal with his broken heart. It read: write a song about how much I love Takuto…
random babble... originally, i based this story off of a chunk of anime to see if i could improvise. now, i'm reading the manga, and i've got to say, it is 100 times better! it actually gave me inspiration to write some parts of the story. if anyone sees any typos or grammar bugs, please tell me (even though i read over my story before i put it up, i feel like i miss things). a bientôt et au revoir (see you soon and good-bye)!