Bakemonogatari – 'A Thousand Miles, A Thousand Days'

"I.. I think I lov-"

It was not what she had expected. They were not under sakura trees, they were not bathed in the orange sunset light, there was not a flower, a gift, or anything. Yet she could not hold her feelings any longer. She had kept her love to him for such a long time, consciously waiting for the right moment that she believed would come. She wanted her first confession to be an important memory that both her and the boy in front of him could remember for the rest of their lives.

"Imami-san?"

She was so nervous that she did not realize her long hesitation. The boy in front of her could only wonder in confusion, since she did not make her words clear enough. Maybe she should wait till she herself was ready. Maybe she should wait till she could find a better place, not behind her family's cafe, in the shade of the tall trees his father planted. However, words were already spoken, and maybe there would be no next time for her.

There will be no next time for Imami Tsukihi.

"I love you, Sato-kun."

She could not curse that day more than she had. There she was, confessing her true feelings, causing no problem to anyone else (or maybe the boy?), but it was ruined. Choosing to confess behind a building was not a good choice, since it could collapse anytime; that was what she learned that day. The next time she regained consciousness, she noticed a man lying on the ruins, growling and screaming like a drunkard. She herself was badly hurt, but somehow she did not feel anything. She did not feel anything but anger.

While the boy had already run for his life, Imami walked slowly in front of the man, with a poker face that she rarely display. She simply walked, along the ruined building, to the kitchen, where she could find a knife. Too bad, she found that all of the knives had already been broken, so she decided to confront that man barehanded. She might be slender and looked fragile, but in fact she could fight quite well, to the point where she could defeat a burglar (she did, once).

She noticed another man coming and they fight each other. Not even once did she ponder over how the fight of two mere man could even broke the cafe. Not even once did she think about the strength of those two, despite the battle shown. In her mind, there was only one thing; they had ruined her precious moment, and they had to pay for it.

"Stop it! Don't you know what you have done!"

Such feminine, familiar voice had awoken Araragi from his fury, and realized that his family problem had caused an even greater ramification in the city. Urged to stop his own meaningless battle, he nimbly dodged the fists aiming at him and pushed Kuzuki from behind, pinning his body to the ground. When Araragi took a glance at the girl holding a knife, once again his burried memories rose, forming a full picture of Araragi Tsukihi. His long lost sister.

"Tsukihi-chan?"

He himself was disappointed in his memory for not even remembering such an important person in his life. Even though they were not technically related to blood, they had shared their youth together in such good relationship. However, some time before the birth of his son, his sister disappeared, leaving a note about having an independent life with a boy. Perhaps he wanted to stop her, wanted to continue living with her, but he knew better than showing no respect for his sister's personal decision. With him being far away from Japan and she being nowhere to be found, what's left in their family was the lonely Karen.

"Are you also going to leave me?"

It was also for her that he left the country. People that was once related to aberration would never be able to escape from the chains of aberration. And the moment he became a vampire, he should have known that the tales of aberration would involve his sister as well. The best solution he could think of was to leave his family so that they won't be related. But the disappearance of Araragi Tsukihi had made things even more complicated.

"Karen-chan, everyone will go and live their own life someday, and you will, too."

"Can't you stay a bit longer?"

She could not help but throw herself at him, hugging him thightly and not letting him go anywhere. No matter how often they fought each other, no matter how much they badmouthed each other, she had always loved his brother. She knew that the tranquil and halcyon days of the three of them would one day be gone, and maturity would force them to lead their own life. All she wanted to ask was time; she was still shocked about her sister's disappearance. He hugged her back and stroked her hair, but nothing could change his decision, not even the plea of his real sister. She could only sob.

"I love you, onii-san."

The screeches of thousands of phoenix echoed in her head as the unfamiliar memories surged through her head. It was so confusing that the small headache became extremely painful, but then she remembered the man who used to be her 'brother'. It was too much supernatural power for such a young girl to contain, but her subconscious wanted to remember the time when she knew the man named Araragi Koyomi.

In her mind, she had remembered everything. Her precious moments with him, his childish acts towards her, her deep love for him, everything. She wanted to cry out loud and reach him, joining him in a family reunion that she had always wanted. But she was no longer in control of her body; it was already taken by the phoenix. Her eyes blazing, her body fuming. A pair of fiery wings blazed behind her, exposing the true power of the sun to the two vampires.

Araragi Koyomi was engulfed in flame, writhing in pain.

I'm sorry for being late. I wanted to clarify the tsukihi phoenix arc, and got disappointed. Anyway, thanks for reading.