A/N: Hey readers! So, I decided to post one more chapter before school starts, because I love you guys so much. ;) In our last chapter, Kanami was arrested and now Hiyori is going all insane with power. What's next for our two favorite Tojis?
Chapter 15:
Kanami groggily opened her eyes, her muscles stiff and sore. When she became more aware of her surroundings, she quickly sat up, her eyes wide open with disbelief. She was in a familiar setting, surrounded by a misty fog. No...it couldn't be possible. How was she here? Kanami immediately got onto her two legs and rushed up the stairs before her.
"Mother!" she called. "Mother!"
Kanami frantically looked everywhere, but turned when she heard a perky voice behind her.
"Kanami, long time no see," Minato smiled.
"Mother..." Kanami breathed, before running up to the purple-haired Toji.
The two embraced without hesitation. Tears threatened to spill from Kanami when she felt her mother's warm arms around her. Minato's hold on her was still the same, whether in her dreams or when she was still alive. Kanami had longingly craved to be held like this again, ever since she and Hiyori left the netherworld.
"Mother," Kanami choked, "I thought I'd never see you again."
She pulled back slightly and asked, "I don't understand. I thought you and Hiyori's mother disappeared with the netherworld."
Minato shrugged her shoulders and replied, with a smile, "I honestly don't understand either. But, here I am!"
Kanami smiled. Her mother hadn't changed at all. Then, Minato's voice took a serious tone.
"Where's your okatana?" she asked.
"It's a long story," Kanami answered, frowning slightly.
"Well, I'm listening," Minato chirped.
Kanami explained as briefly as she could, and once she finished, Minato looked reflective. A grey mist seemed to have appeared in her eyes as she thought.
"Hmm... Well, I can understand why Konoka feels that way," Minato at last said.
"You knew her?"
"Of course. Everyone knew about Kagari's little sister. She went to the same school as us," Minato said.
"So, what happened?" Kanami asked.
Minato paused, before replying, "I'm not sure if you know this, but Kagari and Konoka's mother was an aradama. An aradama princess named Tsukuyomihime distantly related to Ichikishimahime. Which only made sense as to why Konoka was born half-aradama herself."
"Tsukuyomihime?" Kanami said.
"Yes. The Hiiragi family has always had close relations with aradama," Minato explained. "However, Yukari's mother didn't feel the same and only saw aradama as beings that needed to be destroyed. As a result, Tsukuyomihime was exorcised and killed by the Origami family...leaving Konoka all alone."
Kanami muttered, "I still don't see why that makes Konoka-san so angry at Hiyori-chan. Shouldn't she have been happy to have another half-aradama in the family?"
"Hmm..." Minato thought a little, before saying, "Konoka never really loved her family, ever since her mother's death. From what Kagari would tell me, Konoka was put into isolation by them."
"That's terrible," Kanami gasped.
Then, she bit her tongue. What a hypocrite she sounded. And here she was, the same girl who consented to have Hiyori contained in that cell. Hiyori wanted isolation though, but Kanami still couldn't help letting a guilty feeling wrap around her heart. She hung her head.
"I just don't want Hiyori-chan to end up like Konoka-san or Tagitsuhime," Kanami admitted.
Minato put a hand on her daughter's shoulder, and said, "She won't. For one thing, Hiyori-chan has good friends like you, unlike the other two."
"Mother..."
"You take good care of that girl, okay?" Minato smiled.
"I will, Mother," Kanami sniffed.
Then, with a mischievous smirk, Minato added, "And I'm sure if Kagari was here, she'd give you her blessing."
Heat flooded Kanami's cheeks, as she stuttered, "W-What's that supposed to mean?"
"Kanami! Kanami!"
Kanami stirred slightly, as she murmured, "Hiyori-chan?"
"Kanamin!"
Wait, Hiyori never called her that. Kanami opened her eyes, rubbing them. Where was she? The dank smell that flooded her nostrils reminded Kanami of her unfortunate situation. Pins and needles shot through her arms and legs, due to her sleeping on the hard ground. She looked at her wrists to see that they had slight bruises from the chains around them.
"Kanami-chan!"
Kanami looked towards the bars of her cell to see her friends. She got up immediately, a wide grin on her face.
"Mai-chan! Sayaka-chan!" she cried. "Ellen-chan! Kaoru-chan! What are you doing here?"
Sayaka raised the huge ring of keys in her hands, just as Kaoru replied, "Breaking you out."
When the great bars were swung open, Kanami didn't hesitate rushing into her friends' arms. Even though she was only arrested yesterday, she greatly missed them.
When they broke apart, Kanami asked, "So, what's the plan to save Hiyori-chan?"
She stared confused at the awkward looks on their faces. Kanami recognized the uncomfortable expression on Mai's face in particular. It normally was the face she'd make when she'd have to break some sort of bad news to Kanami.
"Kanami-chan..." Mai started, before her voice trailed off.
"What's wrong, everyone?" Kanami asked.
Kaoru turned her head away, and responded, "Director Maniwa arranged for Friedman to take you away to Ellen's second home in America."
"You'll be safe there, Kanamin. Hiiragi-san most likely won't search for you there," Ellen added, hesitantly.
Their expressions and the words they said... Kanami finally understood.
"You don't think there's any hope for Hiyori-chan..."
"Kanami-chan, we must leave now, before the guards come," Mai urged, pulling her friend's hand.
Kanami swiped her hand out of Mai's grasp with a betrayed expression on her face. How could they even think of leaving Hiyori?
In an angered voice, Kanami said, "I won't leave without Hiyori-chan! And I'll save her with or without your help!"
Kaoru exasperatedly threw her arms in the air, and sighed, "Kanami, don't you get it? Even if we did save the flat-chested girl, Hiiragi Konoka would most likely keep on hunting her till she has her head on display!"
Sayaka added, "Even Maki-san and Suzuka-san warned us about her."
Kanami looked down at the ground, wiping her eyes furiously with the back of her hand. Why did fate have to be so cruel? She would never see Hiyori again. Never again hold her hand. Never again eat mint-chocolate ice cream with her. Never again spar with her. And never again kiss those peppermint-flavored lips.
As Kanami let her tears fall, she felt the arms of her friends around her again. Even though she was practically smothered by them, the embrace felt different. All because another pair of arms were missing.
"Kanamin," Ellen said at last, "Hiyoyon would want you safe."
"Come on, we spent enough time here," Kaoru said. "It's a miracle no one noticed us yet."
As they sneaked out of the Kamakura prison, Kanami could see very faintly in the distance the dark, looming mountains. In her thoughts, Kanami said her last farewell to Hiyori, before speeding after her friends towards the harbor.
'Goodbye, Hiyori-chan. Be happy for my sake.'
Hiyori gently cradled Kagari in her arms, trying to rock her to sleep. For some reason, Kagari seemed more restless than usual, but Hiyori barely noticed.
She stared at herself in her cracked mirror, glumly looking at the new clothes Tagitsuhime forced her to wear. Apparently, Tagitsuhime had closets bursting with dresses given to her by President Takatsu. The aradama princess never really cared for them herself, which was why Hiyori now found herself stripped of her uniform. A white sweetheart dress, complete with long, translucent kimono-like sleeves, hugged her figure. Hiyori frowned at how much skin she was showing and silently cursed Tagitsuhime in her mind. She had always loathed wearing finery, and this wasn't any different.
Hiyori winced when she felt Tagitsuhime yank her hair, as the aradama princess plaited her blue locks together. However, Tagitsuhime stopped when she noticed a silver chain around Hiyori's neck.
"Hiyori darling, what's this?" she asked, suspiciously.
The aradama Toji closed her eyes, as her heart deadened inside. Tormenting pain swept through her, as her memories resurfaced. It was a crow-shaped necklace that Kanami had bought for her fifteenth birthday. She hadn't taken it off ever since. Hiyori knew that keeping it would only bring back unpleasant memories, but she couldn't bear throwing away her most prized possession. It was now all she had left of the girl she loved and who had loved her.
"It's a family heirloom," Hiyori lied.
"Hm. Quaint," Tagitsuhime commented, before she continued arranging Hiyori's hair.
Emotionless and quiet, Hiyori grimly continued to stare at her reflection, as Tagitsuhime styled her hair up into two crow-like wings. A fan-shaped headdress completed her new look.
"There. Now your beauty truly matches your standing as an aradama princess," Tagitsuhime said, with a warm smile.
Hiyori's face still remained expressionless, as she looked at herself. Tagitsuhime's attempt at complimenting her looks did not flatter her at all. What Hiyori saw in her mirror wasn't a proud, beautiful deity, but instead a sorrowful, cold-hearted monster. Refusing to look at herself any longer, Hiyori turned away from the mirror and set Kagari down.
"We have our whole lives ahead of us. We'll be a perfect family with our daughter, ruling this doomed world together," Tagitsuhime vowed, taking Hiyori in her arms.
Hiyori's chest tightened at her words. She couldn't imagine a fate worse than this.
A chill made its way through her body and she tried to stifle a moan, when she felt Tagitsuhime's cold lips assault her neck. She had been with the aradama princess long enough to know what this would lead to. Hiyori's breath came in quick gasps, as the aradama princess's hands slowly trailed along whichever part of her skin was exposed.
"The humans are not strong," Tagitsuhime said, as she continued groping Hiyori. "We'll form a personal guard. Show everyone where the power lies."
She gently pushed Hiyori down, her hand creeping underneath Hiyori's dress, eliciting sounds of pleasure from the Heijou Toji. To have Hiyori underneath her gave Tagitsuhime a sense of satisfaction, as she reveled in the shallow moans she drew out from the girl. She knew exactly where her mate's weak spots were. Hiyori vainly tried to squirm free, but discovered with shame that she could only submit herself to Tagitsuhime's touches.
"And then it'll be just you and me," Tagitsuhime snickered, before she delved her tongue past Hiyori's lips.
A throaty moan escaped Hiyori's mouth, as the aradama princess started to roughly kiss her. Desperately, she tried to imagine that the one kissing and touching her all over was Kanami, but the sight of Chidori right beside her futon made tragic reality come crashing down on her.
"This is..." Hiyori said, between gasps, "because of you."
"Excuse me?" Tagitsuhime said, raising an eyebrow.
"You did this," Hiyori growled.
Tagitsuhime responded, "If you're talking about the death of your precious lovebird, I've had nothing to do with it, Hiyori-chan."
Her annoyance turned to surprise when she was knocked back with a blast of lightning. Hiyori's eyes lit ablaze with energy as she screamed.
"Don't call me that! You can never call me that!"
Then, with tears running down her face, Hiyori choked out, "First Mother and now Kanami..."
Her sadness mixed with rage as she continued to weep. She refused to relent to this aradama bitch. She would savor the last moments of her life as her true self, anticipating her death along with Tagitsuhime's.
"I said I would become more powerful than you if necessary," Hiyori snarled. "Even if it meant me being the villain."
She got up and took Kogarasumaru and Chidori in her hands, adding, "And seeing how being your slave and prostitute has only got Kanami killed, then that's exactly what I'll do!"
Without hesitation, Hiyori engulfed the two okatanas with blue energy before smashing the ends of their hilts together. Tagitsuhime shielded her eyes from the blinding light that followed. After it died down, she stared in awe at the new weapon Hiyori now held in her hands...a double-bladed okatana. Shitsuren was born.
With a cruel smile, Hiyori turned back to the mirror, and proclaimed, "Hiyori is dead. Long live Hiyorihime."
A/N: Ooooh! So we now have our new, official aradama princess, Hiyorihime! For those of you who want to understand the significance of the name of Hiyorihime's new weapon, "Shitsuren" means "broken heart" in Japanese. Fitting, right?
Sadly, this is my last chapter for the summer. I probably won't be able to write during autumn due to my college semester. You all have been so supportive, and I'll see you again (hopefully) by Christmas Eve. Later y'all!