Reihn's notes: Okay I forgot the process to make an angelic doll so if I'm wrong in some of the procedures. You're very much welcome to tell me so I can correct my mistakes.
Chapter Three: Conflicts
"Toko-chan…. What is Misaki to you?" Erika bluntly asked as Hatoko stopped a bit and immediately thought of a lie.
"She's just one of my friends."
"Then why is it that there's an unusual air of anger around you a while ago as you looked at her but can't seem to do it to her?"
"We just had a little fight earlier so we're both irky a while ago." Erika frowned and bit her lip to stop herself from speaking anymore. Hatoko took out her key card and opened the door. They carefully laid their things and Hatoko just simply laid her body on her bed thinking of Misaki's face a while ago. Suddenly Erika brushed her hand against her and this jerked her out of her daydreams.
"Toko-chan would you please help me with this?" she happily requested as she pointed at the Angelic Doll Egg. Hatoko smiled in reply and picked it up.
"First you should take a bath with it then the doll will open its eyes and be activated! Second, you should adjust it to what qualities you'd like it to have and then after you've finished adjusting her body. And voila! The angelic doll." Hatoko said.
"How should I adjust its body then?" she asked as Hatoko guided her hand on the computer.
"What would you like to have then? A light doll or a heavy one? What would it be its special qualities? Should it be nimble and short? Or tall and sturdy? There are many choices and you should be able to decide it by yourself but I suggest that you make it a medium sized and a fast one. I'm sure it'll suit you. Would you like to then?"
"Yes, of course. If you said so then it must be. Besides that's what I've been thinking about earlier." And so after that Erika took the doll and her bathrobe. Before completely entering the bathroom she warned Hatoko with a joking face.
"Don't peek okay?" she naughtily ordered as Hatoko laughed a bit and called out "As if!"
A while later after adjusting her doll after she took her hot bath…
"WOW! She's so cute!!!" Erika exclaimed as she now held in her hands a very elegant looking doll with blonde hair and emerald green eyes.
"You know, she looks a lot like you. So what would you name her?"
"Jeune de Charmant, which means a 'charming girl' in French. I think… I didn't really pay much attention to my French class at home. So what do you think?"
"It's a perfect name for her. It really suits her… so what kind of dress would you make for her then?"
"I was planning to make a white dress for her, a pink vest on top of it, white boots and white beret for her long hair and oh I'd like to braid her hair too."
"Well you have to start sewing that dress for her now. I'll take care of her braid. I know how to, so don't worry. I used to do it to—" she stopped and just picked up Jeune and braided her hair. Erika noticed this but didn't comment on it and acted like she hadn't noticed it.
"Finished! Now let's see what it looks like on her." She joyfully said as she fitted on the dress and placed the white beret on top of her now beautifully braided hair.
"Jeune…" Erika sighed as Hatoko smiled, reminiscing the moments she first made Suzuka. She stood up and took out Suzuka from her hold and took out the practice layer.
"Here Erika take this and put it on your head then follow me."
"Throw it like this but say something cool along your throw, it's like a battle cry." She said as she threw Suzuka to the ring with her battle cry. "Now try it."
"A battle cry? Hmm…. I got it!"
"Jeune, let Artemis's iron arrows show you to the way of victory!!!" she exclaimed as she threw Jeune to the layer which stood up on it in a fighting pose. Hatoko clapped her hands in praise of Jeune's new battle cry.
"Now let's do the basic first. Move Jeune like this, it's just like doing some simple dancing steps, it's to practice her fluidity on the layer." Hatoko tutored her on until she finally got it and taught her more things about the layer.
"Now how about a spar with me? Let's find out what else Jeune can do."
"Sure!"
Jeune launched a first attack and swiftly stretched her leg to kick Suzuka, Suzuka crossed her arms above her head to block the attack and then counter attacked by pulling Jeune's leg ang throwing her off, but still lightly to not let her be thrown out already.
"That's a nice move but you should think of what would happen next if you do an attack. You should think like your opponent and prevent them to see your weak points or better, you should overcome them before they use it against you."
"Right." She nodded in agreement and attacked again. This time more planned out and faster than before. Suzuka had been continuously attacked by Jeune but being unable to resist a good fight, Hatoko can't control her excitement anymore and began fighting back against Jeune, instantly forgetting that she's still a beginner and punched Jeune back with a heavy blow. Jeune slid off away from Suzuka and kneeled on the ground.
"Come on, continue to fight, fight if you still could!" Hatoko challenged Erika as she smiled too.
"I promise that I'll do what ever I can in this bout Toko-chan!" And Jeune stood up and jumped high up in the air and launched a devastating circular kick from up on Suzuka. The back of her foot struck Suzuka's head down and Jeune grasp the chance to grab her from behind and Jeune tightened her grip on her to stop Suzuka from resisting.
"Are you enjoying this then Erika?"
"Yes… very much." Suzuka flipped around and Jeune and this time she was the one holding Jeune and carried her and made a swift and devastating german suplex. They both took off their helmets and smiled at each other.
"That was a nice practice bout Erika." Hatoko said as she picked Jeune from the layer and checked its damages.
"Yes, thank you Toko-chan." Hatoko looked up and asked
"For what?"
"For teaching me Angelic Layer. So would you really be in the Championships?"
"Yes, first I'll fight in the Kanto Regional and then… Erika?" Erika took her hand and smiled.
"I'd like to join too… after more practices."
"But would you be able to handle it? I mean, you're still a rookie aren't you?" then a sudden flash back of Misaki and her meeting for the first time got into her head.
"… Oh well I guess it's alright if you'd be able to practice more then who knows… you might be the next Champion." Hatoko joked as she sat on the bed.
"You really don't have much confidence in me don't you?"
"It's not that. It's just that one have to struggle for what they want in life you know."
"It's okay. I have you by my side what else should I need in that struggle?"
"By the way…Erika…?" Erika pushed her to the bed and embraced her warmly. Then she pulled the blanket to cover the two of them and slept comfortably next to Hatoko.
"…"
-
"Promise me that you'll continue being the champion alright then Misaki? And that I'll always be your corner man?" I took her little finger with mines and smiled.
"Of course Hatoko!" then suddenly she stopped shaking my little finger and turned away then she kissed me on my right cheek. I blushed but frowned as she turned away with a sad smile.
"What was that for Hatoko?"
"A goodbye kiss Misaki… goodbye…." She faded away in mists surrounding us, making an infinite wall of mist between me and her…
-
"HATOKO!!!" Misaki gasped as she sat up from her bed clutching her blanket, trying to catch her breath. She slumped unto a pillow as she hugged it more tightly. She sobbed silently as she remembered Hatoko and what she might still feel about what happened. Then suddenly the phone rang.
"Hello…" she weakly said.
"Hi… umm…. This is Hatoko Kobayashi. Is… Misaki still awake?" Misaki's tears stopped falling and she tried her best to stop Hatoko from knowing about what had just happened.
"What is it?" she asked in a cold tone trying to make her believe that she's just okay and she's still as insensitive as earlier.
"I… I just wanted to say sorry."
"Is that all? You've said nothing else this day but 'sorry' hadn't you noticed that? If that's all you'll be saying you can put down the receiver then."
"Wait!!! Please don't make me hang up. I… I just want you to be my friend again…. Even though I know it's now impossible." Hatoko said in such a pleading voice almost anyone would give in to her but anyone doesn't include Misaki.
"No. Stop being foolish Hatoko and just forget that we have ever been friends. Stop calling me and don't even attempt to talk to me in person again." And all Hatoko heard after that was the noise of the receiver being placed back down again.
Hatoko had just realized another painful thing. Her stupid confession had made Misaki turn into an insensitive and cold person. It completely changed her personality. She kneeled on the ground as she kept on banging her head to the wall painfully but still silently to keep it from Erika. Tears came running down her cheeks like a flowing stream as she regretted even living to love her.
"Why had I even bothered to love someone like her who's so insensitive and cold, naïve and uncaring to me. Why had I even chosen Misaki when there are other girls more capable of loving me than her? Why… can't I just stop loving her/" she sobbed softly as she remembered all the times she had spent with Misaki.
-
Tamayo, a week after the incident, had now decided that she should help her friends to get along with each other again. And the first step is to encourage Hatoko.
"Kotaro… where's Hatoko? I'd like to talk to her privately." Kotaro frowned and shook his head.
"I'm sorry Tama-chan but Hatoko hadn't returned home for quite a while now. She's gone off somewhere else ever since she had an argument with out parents. I hadn't been telling you guys about this because it was supposed to be a family secret."
"Kotaro… this is a very important thing for me and Misaki and also for Hatoko. I really need to see her in person."
"Why? What's there to talk about any way?"
"Kotaro do you believe that women knows more about emotions than a man ever would? Could a man understand the complexity of a woman's brain?"
"Uhh… no… I'm not that sure…."
"Then keep out of it since you won't understand it anyway!!!" Tamayo exclaimed then with a tongue sticking out her mouth she dashed to the main entrance and waved at Kotaro. "Hey if Hatoko comes by call me immediately okay?!!!" then she dashed off away again.
"sighs Tamayo is really so unpredictable. And that's what so cute about her."
LEFT! RIGHT! BENEATH YOU! ABOVE FROM BEHIND! Suzuka evaded all her practice partners that is currently on the ring and attacked them right after she did. After defeating all of them Hatoko took off her headgear and saw her loyal fans cheering for her.
Hatoko went to the place where a lot of good players practice the Layer and she begun practicing for the finals there from the moment she set foot there. She was so eager to defeat Misaki that she even forgot to tell Erika where she was going. Meanwhile all her fans kept on calling her name as another player came to the scene and it was…
"Sai?" the audience gasped a lot more people cheered for the two of them.
"Hello there Hatoko. Long time no see." She said as she showed Shirahime to her. Sai who now had a short hair and is now working as a head of a company wearing a black suit. She sat on the seat before Hatoko and raised the headgear.
"Shall we battle then?" Hatoko shrugged her shoulder and grinned.
"Why not?" they both threw their angels into the layer and attacked at the same time.
"Hatoko, I heard that you'll soon be playing music alongside with Erika Lee. Congratulations." Sai whispered to the player-to-player-only-speaker.
"Thanks. Congratulations to you too Sai." Hatoko switched her speaker too and whispered back.
"Why?"
"I'm congratulating you for your wedding with Kaede. It was a good thing that most people concerned weren't against your marriage." Sai blushed a bit but smiled.
"Thanks. We made a way together. By the way how was it going with Misaki?" Suzuka stopped for a while so Shirahime stopped as she seems to have suddenly lost contact with her owner.
"…"
"…"
"I've lost it. I've lost the chances of having her Sai. She also said that I'm not to talk to her anymore. And that's why I want to defeat her in the tournament, to earn the right to be able to be her friend again… at least." Suzuka's attacks became more rapid and Shirahime is starting to have difficulties blocking and evading her blows.
"I'm sorry for that Hatoko." Shirahime kicked Suzuka's abdomen.
"Don't be… it's my fault anyway. I shouldn't have loved someone like Misaki. I should have picked someone else who'd be able to appreciate my love." Shirahime kicked Suzuka again but this time on the face.
"Stop that Hatoko. When you love, you can't just pick somebody else especially if what you feel for a person is really special." Suzuka vanished into thin air and became part of the surroundings.
"I know that but…. There's no more chance of her loving me back now."
"Why had she already clarified that everything is already over? If not then if you really love her you'd still keep on courting her. It's not like she already have a boyfriend or something does she?"
"No… that's true but I respect her and her decision."
"You have to get evil sometimes Hatoko."
"What?"
"You're too nice and that's why your relation with Misaki is getting nowhere."
"What do you mean?"
"You should be more valiant in courting her. How could you win your heart if all she could see of you is a coward, a weakling who can't even try again for her love."
"I'm not a weakling!" Hatoko angrily exclaimed as Suzuka came out of nowhere and launched a powerful attack behind Shirahime.
"Then show that to her! Show her that you're good enough to win her heart just as much as any man could!!!" Sai replied with a grin and Shirahime pulled Suzuka's arm and threw her aside. Suzuka slid off a bit but looks unaffected by the attack.
"Fine I'll show her!!!" Hatoko replied and did her final blow on Shirahime. And that final launch had finished their match. They both took off their headgears and grinned at each other.
"You've gotten much better Hatoko."
"And you've gotten much sloppier. You should practice much more you know. You're wasting your talent." Hatoko sarcastically said as Sai shrugged a bit.
"Got no time to—" then suddenly a hand appeared out of the crowd and pinched Sai's right ear.
"Ouch! Stop it Kaede—" Sai quietly pleaded as the beautiful young woman with flowing hair smiled.
"You should have told me first that you'd be going here. I was worried sick!" Kaede is now a professional cook and a great fashion designer. When she married Sai, Sai automatically received her father's job at their company as president.
"Hi there Kaede! Congratulations on your wedding." The two blushed and just nodded.
"Thanks. So I heard you'd be going to the championships… is that right?"
"Yes, absolutely."
"Good luck then." She happily said then tugged Sai's ear. "See you later then. And now for you…" she took hold of Sai's hand and pulled her to the crowd.
"Hey thanks for the advice Sai!!!" Hatoko yelled out before she forgot.
"No problem." was her reply.
"Big problem…" Tamayo sighed as she stared at a window and sighed again.
"Are you sure that you haven't seen Hatoko either? You're the last person whom I hoped to know about her most. After all, the two of you had always been discussing stuffs before."
"Really sorry Tamayo."
"It's okay Sai. If you haven't seen Hatoko lately then its okay." Tamayo patted Sai on the shoulder.
"By the way congratulations on your secret wedding with Kaede. You know until now I'm angry with the two of you because you didn't invite us to the wedding."
"I've already explained this before right? I mean it's just the legal papers. It's not the real thing yet. And besides, I am going to invite all of you if all things concerned had already been settled."
"If all things concerned had already been settled." Tamayo repeated in a deeper voice and grinned at Sai.
"Really you should try to ease up more often, see how happy you'd be!"
"If I'd be more like you, you mean?"
"Yes!" Tamayo enthusiastically replied.
"Then it's a no. Thanks for the offer but I prefer being the way I am now." Sai boredly said.
"Hey what's that supposed to mean!" Tamayo spouted as Sai smiled a bit.
"Wait a minute, weren't you looking for Hatoko?"
"Oh yeah right! See you later then Sai!!!" and she was off. Kaede appeared behind a post and asked her queries.
"Why had you lied to her and told her you hadn't seen Hatoko lately?"
"I have my good reasons Kaede. So…" she laid her hand on Kaede's shoulder and kissed her cheek. "Let's go back to our works then shall we?" Kaede blushed but nodded as they walked on.
"Toko, where had you been? I haven't seen you ever since that great performance last week." Inoyama asked interestedly as he stopped the cymbals from ringing. Hatoko picked up her guitar and strummed it lazily.
"Yeah where had you been?" Raikou asked as well as she played a bit on her electronic organ. Mido plucked a few bass and just listened.
"Sorry, I've been doing a bit of… cleaning up." Inoyama raised his brow but grinned anyway.
"Well, I guess we all have our own things going on besides the business I think."
"Hey, where's that girl you've been talking to last time? She's cute, she seems familiar to the eye too." Raikou mentioned.
"You mean Misaki? Yeah, of course she's familiar… she's the champion of the layer after all."
"You mean you're still playing that dolls stuff? Aren't you two old enough to stop playing dolls? Especially that girl, that Misaki? If you ask me she looks like a real dumb simpleton to me." he grimaced but before he could make up another comment about Misaki, Hatoko put him up against the wall and gripped his collar.
"TOKO! STOP THAT!" Mido exclaimed as he placed down his bass guitar while Raikou followed suit
"Don't you insult the Layer or Misaki you goddamned sht!!!" she angrily demanded. Inoyama was very surprised at her, she never seems to get angry with anything and have such a cool head. The two tried pulling her away but to no avail, she won't let go of him until her anger had been satisfied.
"O-okay Toko okay…" suddenly he was aware that Hatoko was a daughter of a karate master and that she used to live in a dojo and that he's thin and puny.
"Toko, he's sorry, let go of him already." Raikou tapped her shoulder. Hatoko let goes of him but her menacing eyes didn't left him yet.
"Don't you do that crap again understand?" she sternly said and picked up her guitar again.
"sure…"
"Give me the one-two beat Inoya. One, two…" she said as they continue on with their practice.
One hour later-
"Toko you've improved a lot. What happened this week? Had you been practicing harder or something?"
"No… I just had some damned inspiration."
"A new girl I guess…" Mido joked as all of them laughed.
"Please stand in line for the listing of entrees! Take a number and wait to be called in the stadium!" a girl in a red suit spoke through a megaphone.
Hatoko waited in the line with thoughts of whom she'll first battle in the Kanto Regional. She would step forward now and then if the girl in front of her do until she finally had been able to put her name on the list.
"Hatoko, Kobayashi, set B number 21. Next please." She took the number card and sat on a chair facing the lcd screen in front of her.
It was showing Misaki and her mother. Their battle four years ago that is shown again in the commercial of the Angelic Layer. Hatoko smiled weakly as she remembered that small kiss she gave to Misaki before that match. She was remembering more things when she heard her name called.
"Hatoko Kobayashi number 21 please enter the arena." She stood up and slung her black jacket on her shoulder. Holding Suzuka to her black t-shirt with the white Japanese character REBEL she walked towards her first match.
She squinted as she looked up the arena. The spot lights greeted her, she missed this feeling so much. She walked on and on until she finally sat on the chair. She looked at her opponent.
"I'm sorry but I have no intention of losing to anyone in this tournament. Don't expect me to be easy on you." Hatoko said seriously as she placed her head gear on and readied Suzuka. The opponent who seemed threatened shivered a bit but also readied her angel.
"Three, Two, One, GO ANGELIC FIGHT!" he exclaimed as they both threw their angels with their battle cries.