Touch of Heart
Summary: Kagome Higurashi, after being homeschooled for so long, moved to a new home to live with her fiancé; her 'second' family takes the initiative to place her in his school. It was bad timing, perhaps. Her family had been taken from her; she wasn't there to stop the blood.
Anime: InuYasha/Battle Royale
Couple(s): Kagome/Kazuo
Genre: Romance/Angst
Rated: M
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Memory
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Daylight, see the dew on the sunflower
And a rose that is fading
Roses wither away
Like the sunflower
I yearn to turn my face to the dawn
I am waiting for the day...
It was a song she'd heard from years ago. A play her mother had taken her to. A London production that had made way to Japan for a small time, and she'd been lucky enough to see and witness it; thankful for the English that she knew, to understand all that the musical was.
Memory, turn your face to the moonlight
Let your memory lead you,
Open up, enter in
Even now, listening to the song in his room, Kazuo's room, her heart filled with a warm sort of comfort at the softly sung lyrics. Kazuo, though he listened to the song like she did, did not hear the emotion in the song the way she did. He sat at his desk writing out an essay on the Theory of Psychological Metamorphous.
If you find there the meaning of what happiness is
Then a new life will begin.
Closing her eyes, she buried herself further into the warm blankets of Kazuo's bed and sighed in content. He was always watching out for her. Mr. Kiriyama had once told her, that after his mother died in the car accident, he had taken his protection of her to another level. She had transcended to a new level of importance in his life. She was, to him, irreplaceable. Or so Mr. Kiriyama told her.
Memory, all alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days
I was beautiful then
Even though he said that, she still wasn't so sure. Yeah, he showed her more care, but his eyes were still as gray and emotionless as they were towards anyone else. It made her wonder, if given the choice, the type of choices that left one dead and one alive, in a kill or be killed type of situation, would he be as caring as he is now? Would he care...
I remember a time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again.
Kagome closed her eyes, the memories that came with this song; the ones she could think of now at this very moment. She didn't want to remember right now.
"Kagome, be good while mommy is working."
"I will mama, daddy is here watching out for me while you are away. I'll be good, and he'll keep me safe." Only six years old, she knew her father was dead, long since had he been.
"Good girl," Her mother gently patted her on the head before leaving.
Not everything was a bad memory...
Burnt out ends of smoky days
The stale cold smell of morning
"I'm sorry Kagome, can you watch out for Souta while he's sick. I know you wanted to go play with your friends, but he needs you right now."
"No, he needs you! Why do I have to throw away my life for him!? Every single time!" Kagome ran out of the house with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"KAGOME!"
But there were definitely some things said that she wished could be unsaid.
The streetlamp dies, another night is over
Another day is dawning
Moment's like those hurt the most, because they couldn't be undone, and saying I'm Sorry could only do so much.
"When you're older, you will realize, family is all that you really have."
"I have Kazuo..." Kagome looked outside where Kazuo and his father stood. They often came by to visit.
"Yes Kagome, you're right, you do have Kazuo, and he's a darling boy, he was even more so before the accident. I only wish he knew how to smile still."
"He'll smile again, I know he will. He just needs the right reason.."
"Be that reason then. Before it's too late, before he locks everything away."
'I think it's too late, mom.'
Daylight, I must wait for the sunrise
I must think of a new life
And I mustn't give in
"Kazuo, why don't you smile?"
"I see no point, no reason for such a waste muscle reaction." Kazuo turned his eyes to the girl on the front porch sitting. She had a book in her hands, College Physics.
"But that's the beauty of a smile, Kazuo. You don't need a reason. In fact, you smile for no reason, and in time, you gain a million reasons to smile. You don't need a reason, but you'll find in time, you will gain many reasons. For instance, just today, I caught myself smiling."
He eyed her silently for a moment before asking, "For what reason?"
"...I was smiling...for you..." She blushed and glanced down at the book in hand, "If it's okay with you Kazuo, I'd like to continue smiling for you, until you can smile for yourself."
"...If that is what you want."
A silent promise was made to always smile for Kazuo, despite her own hardships; she would not bring him anything but smiles.
When the dawn comes tonight will be a memory too
And a new day will begin
"What are you reading, Kazuo?" Kagome peered over the boys shoulder, thirteen years old now, she was once again visiting her friend and fiancé-to-be.
"Anatomy, the workings of the human body, it's quite interesting. Just today, I was able to utilize some information I'd taken from its pages."
"How so?"
"Some airheaded punk was being bothersome, I was reading this in the library when he chose to beat some weaker link. Three other punks decided to join in on the mayhem, and thus, there were five really loud annoyances in the library. I happened to choose that moment to otherwise...incapacitate the group."
Kagome shivered at how he spoke those words; so much said, so little felt. She knew he hadn't cared for the people he'd injured, he never did. He had told her once, the best way to learn, is to do. Human beings were just...experiments. "Tell me, explain in detail."
"Punk C broke punk B's finger, who was beating up punk A, while punk D held him down and Punk E watched. I believe the method that they chose to break Punk B's finger was to simply lift and step on it, bending and breaking it backwards. They were going for the second finger when his yelling finally caused me to intervene. Honestly, the library is supposed to be silent, so that kids who wish to learn can do so undisturbed."
"And then?"
"I broke Punk E's nose with the spine of this book, when punk D chose to grab me, I brought the same book up and broke his arms, it is amazing, how just the right amount of pressure can snap your bones like toothpicks. Then I ended it quickly enough by ramming the same book into Punk C's face and causing him to black out. Now Punk A and Punk B have some sort of admiration worship for me going on. Silly, really. He called me...what was it, oh, 'hard'. Yes, he called me 'hard'. The definition in his puny mind was absolute drivel, 'take no shit' he said, 'down and dirty' he called it, 'hard case prime'...drivel."
Kagome laughed, "Oh my, sounds like you had a busy day. Just like you though..."
"You are implying that I get into fights on a daily basis?"
"No, I mean...you are such a book warm. Everything you do is something you learned from a book. If you are playing the piano, it's because you read a piano book and learned of its simplicity. If you cook a Cordon Blu, it is because you read the recipe and the first time for you is always the charm. You are such a genius, Kazuo. You are absolutely amazing. Punk A and B are right to admire you, and dare I say, worship you."
"So, should I not beat them into fear and make them keep their distance?"
Kagome smiled, "I see no reason why they can't hang out with you, they won't cause you any harm, and if they try...well...we already know how that will end."
"We do?"
Kagome laughed, "Yeah, you'll crush them Kazuo!"
Sometimes, she couldn't help but wonder if she was a lapse of curiosity for him too. Perhaps she was just another lab rat. Though, she wasn't sure what experiment she was being used for.
Sunlight, through the trees in summer
Endless masquerading
Like a flower as the dawn is breaking
The memory is fading
"So many...why are there, so many cops?" Kagome ran up the steps and towards her home. She saw the many cops and a few medical EMS carrying body bags. Her heart gave out for a mere fraction of a second as she ran inside. She stopped in horror, blood splattered the walls, as if creating a timeless painting with the blood of her mother or grandfather. Perhaps even her brother. "N...no...no, no, no...NO~!"
"Calm down!"
"Mama! Souta! Grandpa! Where are they!? Where, where, where!"
"Must be the daughter, get her out of here and to one of the patrol vehicles, I'll catch up with her in a second."
"NO! You tell me what happened, you tell me, now~!"
The officer stood stone shocked at the authority in her voice; she glared hatefully at the man. Finally, he spoke, "The Higurashi family, minus you, were taken at knifepoint. I wish I could tell you that it was painless, but it was far from. The person who was responsible for this, apprehended, and in custody, mind you, made sure they felt every little cut."
"Wh...why?"
"An old business partner of your fathers, from what we could dig up on his background. He and your father had both apparently been up for the same job, you father got the position, and we think it may be only a fraction of the reason behind this man's actions. I will be able to tell you more later when I have had time to gather more information, but so far, it all looks like revenge against a man long since dead."
"Revenge?" Tears slid down her cheeks, oh how her heart ached.
""There is no greater motivation than that of revenge; to see past one's own hatred and one's own desire is to forfeit the need for revenge. You won't find many people willing to do that in this day and age.""
Yeah...some things couldn't be undone, and some memories were best left forgotten. No matter how fresh they were, she only wished they would disappear.
Touch me, it's so easy to leave me
All alone with the memory
Of my days in the sun
If you touch me you'll understand what happiness is
Look, a new day has begun.
The song ended and Kagome sat up and looked over the still writing Kazuo. Standing, she made her way to his side and kneeled down beside him, laying her head down on his lap as he continued his essay without pause. Kagome let her eyes close and finally, with the silence that came with the end of the song, and the safe presence of Kazuo next to her, she finally fell asleep. Not knowing at all what the next day would bring, but happy in the moment she was in. This was her moment, hers and Kazuo's...and that...that was all that mattered right now.
All that mattered...right now...
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Me: Here is chapter two, much, much longer than chapter one. One thousand and two hundred words longer, in fact. Hope you guys who are reading this story enjoy it. I would love to say that a lot of you guys have read the Battle Royale Manga, but I highly doubt it. It was amazing, and very in depth. I was rooting for Kazuo the entire time, lol, him and Mimura. Anyways, review and tell me what you think! Nyan~!