Year: 11
Season: Winter
Ib: Age 19
Ib and Garry had gotten a decent amount of sleep, and were actually up earlier than everyone else, much to their surprise. Not wanting to wait for everyone else to wake up, the two had gone to the kitchen and started to make themselves breakfast.
"This is kind of nostalgic." Garry noted.
"I cook for you all the time," She reminded him.
"You do." He agreed, "But usually you kick me out of the kitchen."
She shrugged, "I don't really like it when people are in the kitchen with me."
"Aw," He pretended to wipe away at a tear, "You don't remember when you were really little and making me dinner for my birthday? Wasn't I a ton of help then?"
"I remember you making fun of me." She replied, though she was smiling.
"You enjoyed it."
"I always enjoy cooking for you."
"I seem to remember you telling me you hated cooking."
She nodded, "Yeah, but I also remember me telling you that I'm ok doing it for you."
"Aw, you really do love me, don't you?" He chuckled and messed up her hair.
"Hey, stop it." She said, knocking his hand away, still smiling, "We don't want to get my hair in the food!"
"Ah, makes sense."
"This is why I cook alone when I could do it with you."
"Oh?"
"You goof off too much."
He laughed at that, "And you love me for it anyway."
"I do." She agreed.
The two finished cooking, and went to the table, sitting next to one another. Garry then got up again.
"Where are you going?" Ib asked.
"I need the phone book."
"For what?" Ib asked.
"I need to see where Rei lives."
Ib chuckled, "Just google it. It's probably a lot faster."
"Oh really?"
"Want to race?" Ib asked.
"Not really." He said, setting the phone book back where it was on the counter, and coming back over to sit with her, "I wasn't thinking, but yeah, I could probably find her fast online."
"Here, lemme do it for you." She pulled out her phone, and was able to find exactly what Garry had been looking for in less than five minutes.
"You kids are amazing with this stuff," He said shaking his head in awe.
"Kid?"
"Sorry, habit at this point to refer to you and our friends as kids."
She let out a huff, "Just copy the phone number into your phone old man."
"Old man?"
She grinned with an glint of amusement in her eye.
"Fine, fine. I'll really try not to call you 'kid' from now on."
"Good."
He pulled out his phone and was quickly able to type in Rei's number.
"When do you plan to call her?"
"It only turned seven not even twenty minutes ago," He said as he looked at the clock, "So I'll wait a few hours, and hope that she's not at work or distracted with anything."
She nodded, "That's all fine and good, but eat your eggs, they're gonna get cold."
"Yes ma'am." He said, pocketing his phone and started to eat his food.
Around seven thirty, Yuki came down to the kitchen, and was surprised to see both Ib and Garry up and already fully dressed. She shook her head, and sat down across from the two of them.
"Food's in the kitchen." Ib said, "How are you doing?"
"Fine." Yuki said, getting up to help herself to something to eat.
The following two hours had more and more people coming down, with Aiko being the last at nine thirty to come down the stairs. She entered the living room and saw everyone, including Garry's father, gathered in a circle on the floor, playing poker once more. They even had fake coins to use as currency, with Garry nearly out completely.
"Can I join?" Aiko asked, coming over.
"Sure." Jack said, dealing her in.
"Garry." Ib said, looking over at her boyfriend, "How are you so bad at this?"
"This is why I don't gamble." He sighed, looking at the pitiful amount of coins he had.
Yuki had surprisingly been dominating almost as much as Garry's father. Rin, Junichi, and Ib were all very conservative with their coins, with Garry wasting his own coins in almost every hand they played.
"Just don't play if you have a crappy hand." Ib said, "Here, let's share and I'll show you."
"Thank you Ib, but don't bother." Garry waved it off, pulling out his cellphone and noting the time, "I'm actually going to try calling Rei now."
She crossed her arms, "You just don't want to lose anymore." She accused.
He chuckled, "Maybe a little."
She then smiled, "Good luck with the call."
"Thanks." He answered her with a smile.
He walked out into the hallway where the group was a decent bit away. His finger hovered over the 'call' button for several long seconds, before he finally let out a long breath, and pressed down. He watched the cellphone say 'calling' for another few seconds, and then some more... He felt both a sense of relief and disappointment that they weren't picking up.
Suddenly he heard the distinct sound of someone saying, "Hello?"
He quickly brought the phone up to his ear, "Ah! Hello! Um... How are you?" He asked lamely, wishing that he could kick himself right then.
"Who is this?"
"Uh..." He suddenly wondered if he should have listened to Miyako and not bothered to call.
"Hello?"
"I'm sorry." He said, "I – I'm Garry."
There was silence for quite a while.
"Garry?"
"Yeah, it's me."
"Why are you calling me?"
"I want to visit you."
"Garry, why? Why now?"
"I need to apologize. I don't expect you to forgive me or anything like that, but I just need to meet you in person, just so I can prove how sorry I am to you."
"Where are you?"
"I'm at my dad's house right now."
"I see, so you're in town."
"Yes."
"I'm actually about to head off to work," She replied.
Garry got a sinking feeling in his stomach – was she intentionally trying to avoid him? It wouldn't surprise him after all, but it did sting. He immediately squashed the thoughts though, realizing how big of a hypocrite they made him.
"But... I will be home by eight... So if you want to come then, that would be fine."
Garry let out a sigh of relief, "Do you mind if I bring my friends?"
"You mean Jin?"
"No, not him." He said, "Friends I made after... after I left."
Another long pause.
"That will be fine."
"Look..." He said, leaning against the wall, "Rei... I'm so sorry..."
"Wait until we meet later. Then we can talk."
He blinked at the quick response, and nodded, before realizing that she couldn't see him doing that, "Ok, I'll wait."
"Good. I look forward to seeing you and your friends."
"Yeah, they're good people." He said, "I need your address though."
"Ok, I live at..." She gave him the address, and soon after the two stopped talking to one another. When the call ended, he felt someone touch him on the shoulder, and he spun around quickly, the touch making him jump.
"Wha -?" He saw Ib, and calmed down, "Sorry."
"Wow." She said, "That call really got you tensed."
"It did." He agreed, "She agreed to meet with me tonight, and she said I could bring you guys along."
"Is that a good idea?" Ib asked.
"I think so," He said, "I don't think I can do this alone anyway, I'd run away before I stepped out of the car."
Ib rolled her eyes, "I know you like to pretend you're a coward Garry, but I know you wouldn't do that."
He shrugged, "We have until eight o'clock, is there anything you want to do until then?"
"I'm fine with just staying here for the day if that's alright with you."
"That's perfectly fine with me," He said, "My mind is gonna be too full to think straight anyway."
She chuckled, "Watch out, I might get jealous."
He actually laughed out loud at that, "Oh, I'm sure you will."
XxXxXxX
Garry never felt like this before – not even when he was in the alternate world with Ib. The amount of fear, and terror roaming around in his mind and heart was almost enough to drive himself insane. He forced himself to have a deep breath, and looked back at the rest of the kids – no, his friends – in the car, and realized that for once, even Aiko wasn't acting up, probably able to read how serious the situation was for Garry.
"Calm down." Yuki said from beside him.
"Right, sorry." He nodded, focusing on the road as the sky slowly darkened.
Junichi looked outside at the setting sun before it went below the treeline, and looked over at Ib, who shook her head. He gave her a curt nod, and kept his mouth shut.
The drive lasted about twenty minutes or so starting from Garry's house. Rei's house was pretty much on the opposite side of the town, even further away from town than Garry's father's home. They pulled into the driveway, immediately noting two nice looking vehicles already there. In addition to their arrival, they heard a dog barking from within the house.
"They live in a nice place." Rin noted.
While the house wasn't extravagant, the surroundings sure weren't that bad. Whereas Garry's house was surrounded by forests, this place sat near a small lake, with a dock and even some boats docked there. All along the lake there were other houses, and of course, were still woods all along the lake where there were no homes.
"We're here." Garry said turning off the engine, "Now... Please behave yourselves, ok?"
"We know." Ib said, "We all know how important this is to you."
"Yeah." Aiko agreed, "I'll try to keep the volume down."
Garry nodded, "That's all I ask."
The six all got out of the van, and made their way up to the front door, Garry in the lead. His hand reached up for the doorbell, shaking the entire way. Taking one last look back at his friends, and then one look to his side where Ib stood, he rang the door bell.
"Coming!" They heard a masculine voice calling, "Come on boy, stop it!" They heard him saying to the dog, gently pushing it aside as he opened the door. He finally looked up, and blinked in surprise at the party gathered at his front steps, "Um, hello? Who are you guys?"
The man had black hair, and brown eyes, and wore a very nice shirt and pants – he must have just gotten home from work as well. He was very slim, though not quite as lanky as Garry. His eyes were narrowed though, when they landed on the group, and especially when he looked at Garry.
Garry cleared his throat, "I'm Garry. Rei said to come here after eight?"
"Why would Rei want to invite a bunch of kids?" He asked, suspicion obvious in his voice.
"Is that Garry, dear?" They heard another voice in the house, and a woman appeared at the front door.
"Yes, it is." He said, "A friend of yours?"
"I guess you could say that." She said, appearing in full, and holding a child to her chest, "Hello, Garry."
Garry wasn't able to control his face in time, and he felt his mouth go slightly ajar and eyes widen upon seeing the child she was holding. The years have also been very kind to Rei – her black hair was still straight as ever, and her brown eyes were very kind. He tried not to let his eyes wander down her figure too much, but from what he saw, she was still as nice as she was back in high school.
"R – Rei." He said, the name conjuring up so many emotions at once.
"Come in." She said, standing aside. Her husband was quiet, but stood aside as well so the group could enter the household, his hand gripped the collar of the dog as it excited sniffed at all the guests coming into the house..
Garry felt Ib squeeze his hand, and he looked over at her. The girl was doing her best to make him feel better, and he allowed a smile on his face despite the huge conflict of emotions inside of him. At least no matter what happened, he still had Ib with him. He squeezed her hand back, and saw her return his smile.
He then stepped forward, and took his shoes off at the front door, and put on some available slippers. Whereas his father's house was primarily western, this was a very traditional Japanese home. The rest of his party seemed to be fairly happy that they would be in a more familiar building, at least for a little while.
"Come over here." Rei said, leading the group to a table, "I'll prepare some tea. Hiro dear, could you entertain our guests for a little bit?"
"Yes, love." He said, looking apprehensively at the gathered group. He shook his head, the anxious look gone and replaced with narrowed eyes, and a small frown.
Garry and Ib got on their knees on one side of the table, Rin and Junichi to their left on another side, Yuki and Aiko to their right, and finally Hiro took a seat across from Ib and Garry, the only available spot to do so.
"Ah, I ought to introduce my friends." Garry spoke up, "This is Ib," He nodded towards the girl, "Yuki, and Aiko are other there, and these two are Rin and Junichi." Everyone gave the man a polite bow as they were introduced.
"And you're Garry?" Hiro asked.
"Yes." Garry nodded.
"Tell me, how is it that you know my wife?"
"Don't misunderstand my reasons for being here." Garry said immediately, catching the man's reasoning for asking, "I came to apologize only."
"That's fine and all," Hiro said, but it was clear that he had relaxed, since he no longer detected a major threat, "But you didn't answer my question."
"Your wife and I used to go out in high school." Garry said, "Well, it's more accurate to say we started dating in middle school."
"I see." Hiro said.
Fortunately Rei came in at that time with a tray. She sat beside Hiro, with the child still held in one arm. Hiro noting that his wife was holding their child, handed out the tea to everyone around the table. Everyone gave a muted nod of thanks every time they were handed a drink. The family's dog was wandering around the table, eagerly sniffing at the new guests.
"Well..." Rei said, looking across at Garry.
"Yeah..." Garry mumbled, the silence growing thicker with each second.
They stayed quiet for a while, the awkward silence dragging on and on. Everyone just drank their tea, and tried desperately to ignore it as it continued.
"So." Aiko said aloud, finally breaking the silence. Garry silently thanked the girl for that, "Rei, how was Garry at school?"
"He was a kind person." She said, "Until... well..."
"It's alright." Garry whispered, "I told them about my father and the resulting injury."
"Ah, I see." She mumbled. "Well, after that he became very distant, and not quite as fun to be around."
Hearing her say that made him feel horrible. How could he have done that to her? Why was he so stupid back then to hurt all his friends? Even his girlfriend? He felt like a monster.
"Well... Garry said he'd be bringing his friends with him, I assume you're all it?"
"Yeah," Junichi said.
Yuki nodded.
"Yes." Rin said.
"Of course!" Aiko enthusiastically claimed.
"They're a bit..." Rei bit her lip.
"Young?" Garry said, "Yeah, I know."
"It's not a bad thing." She said immediately, "I don't want to offend you."
"What?" He asked, bewildered.
"I don't want to make you angry with me."
He honestly couldn't understand her at all, "Me? Angry at you?"
Rei nodded.
"What?" He gasped out again, "I've gone on for years, over an entire decade, regretting how I treated my friends, regretting how I ran away and didn't tell any of you or bring you guys along with me! I came back here expecting to be hated! I fully intended to come here and get on my hands and knees, and beg you for your forgiveness!"
Ib brought her other hand around and cover Garry's shaking arm, which did have a slight calming affect on him. He stopped breathing heavily at least.
"I don't hate you." She said.
"Why?"
"At the time, I was just very sad." She said, frowning as she brought up the memory, "I thought you hated me, and I wondered what I could have done differently."
"It was my fault." Garry asserted.
She nodded, "Yes, at the time, I suppose I did come to... hate you. I hated how you tore my emotions apart and left me. Most of your friends felt similarly."
"Yeah..." Garry said, remembering Miyako's reaction.
"As the years passed though, my hatred just started to fade." She looked to her husband and smiled, "I found new love, and I even started a family. I'm content with life now. I view what happened then as a test of character, and I think I came out ahead." She smiled at that.
Garry was openly gaping at the woman now, unable to say anything productive.
"How did you fair after that?" She asked.
Garry composed himself, "I... I wasn't in a good state." He admitted, "I was so angry, I blamed everyone for what happened to me like an idiot. I eventually started to piece my life back together bit by bit, and that is when I met Ib."
Ib bowed politely to the woman.
"She and I went through quite an experience together. I'll avoid specifics, but we came out of it as best friends." He smiled, "At the time, a friend is something I really, really needed. She really helped me get my life back together."
Rei noted their holding hands, "And now?"
Garry smiled, "We started dating about two years ago."
"It would have been much sooner," Ib stated, "But he refused to date me until I turned eighteen years old."
"How old are you?" Hiro asked.
"Nineteen at the moment." Ib answered.
The man looked over at Garry, "Quite a gap."
"I know." Garry said, "Trust me, I REALLY know. Everyone I bring it up to says something to that effect."
"And how did you meet the rest of your friends?" Rei asked, bringing things back on track.
"Ib wanted to use me as a model for her art class," He said, "That is when I met them all. To be honest, I guess I only really became their friends a few years later. I never realized it at the time, but slowly what I thought of as 'Ib's' friends, slowly turned into 'our' friends."
"Garry's a good guy," Junichi added in his two cents, "A little dense at times, but good."
"To be fair," Garry said dryly, "I did notice Ib's growing affection for me, I just ignored it hoping she'd get over me."
"And we all know how that turned out." Ib said.
He chuckled, "Yeah, we do."
"You've definitely matured." Rei said with a smile, "I'm glad to see things have worked out so well for you in the end."
"Without Ib with me, I'd be making so many mistakes. She makes me feel happy to be alive, something I never really felt before meeting her. Everyday of my life now brings something new because of her. I'm very fortunate to have her with me, though I have no idea what she sees in me."
Ib blushed a little at the praise, not expecting him to say that of all things.
"She probably saw the same thing I saw in you at the time." Rei said, "I'm so very happy to see you didn't continue to fall down the dark path you were walking. You've become better than I could have ever expected and hoped for. Ib is a very fortunate girl to have you, no matter how little value you see in yourself."
"See, Garry?" Ib said, "I'm not the only one who sees these things!"
Garry chuckled, "I still think you're insane for sticking with me."
Ib rolled her eyes.
The baby started to stir a little, and opened his eyes, looking around at the group.
"When did you have a child?" Garry asked.
"About a year ago, his birthday is coming up next month."
"I see." Garry said, "I wonder if this is what it would have been like for us if I never left."
"We'll never know." Rei answered, "For what it's worth, I think we both are well off with what we've got now."
"I couldn't agree more."
Another long silence.
"Rei..." Garry sighed, "I – I'm so sorry."
"There's nothing to be sorry about."
'"I know," He said, "But for how I made you feel at the time. I – I was a horrible person back then. There may have been a time that I would have been pleased that you were hurt that I left you. I would have been pleased to know that all of my friends felt the effect of my departure. It sickens me to know that I was like that at one point."
"But you're different now." Rei insisted.
"Now." Garry emphasized, "I apologize for the pain I made you go through over ten years ago. Please, accept my apology." He bowed down.
Rei paused, and handed Hiro their child. She then stood and walked around the table to Garry, and got on her knees, hugging him tightly, "There's nothing to apologize for." She said again, "To see that you've become this compassionate, this caring, and this loving means more than any apology you can ever give to me. Now stop thinking in the past. I have nothing to forgive you for now. In fact, if I were to look at it in a certain point of view, you hurting me then led to you becoming this. If I look at it that way, then it was all worth it in the end."
His mouth dropped open, "I – I'll never understand you." He hugged her back.
The two parted, and Garry, for the first time in his life, felt lighter than a feather. That heavy burden he carried with him for so many years was now gone. Rei also looked happier as she took her place back at Hiro's side.
The conversation afterwards was much lighter, Garry and Rei told tales of their childhood involving Jin, while Ib, Junichi, Rin, Aiko, and occasionally Yuki would talk about things that they did with Garry. It was a very pleasant night, and after a while, even Hiro eventually lightened up and started laughing along with the group. Eventually though, as the clock neared closer and closer to eleven, they had to part.
At the door, Garry and Rei hugged one more time.
"Please, call us or visit any time you want." Rei said, "It's great to see you again."
"I'll definitely stay in touch," Garry said, and turned to Hiro, giving the man a polite bow, "It was a pleasure to meet you."
"And you too Garry," He said.
As the group walked back to the car, Garry couldn't help but pick Ib up and spin her around a few times, laughing the entire while.
"Garry?!" Ib cried, "What's gotten into you?"
"He's gone insane." Junichi said light heartedly.
"I think I've only been this happy three times in my life." Garry admitted, putting Ib down, and giving her a kiss, "I love you."
"I – I love you too." Ib answered, feeling immensely bewildered, but happy all the same.
Garry practically skipped into the car, and started it. After a moment of shock, the rest of them finally got into the vehicle with him.
"Let's get home!" Garry cheered.
"Yeah!" Aiko cheered, playing along with Garry.
Yuki meanwhile looked towards the clock, noting the time. It was eleven thirty, a half hour before the beast that supposedly hunted young women would reveal itself. She looked over at the rest of them, Ib seemed to have noticed as well, and despite his happy behavior, Garry did glance at the clock a few times. Junichi gave her a nod when she looked over him, and she returned it.
She only hoped that they made it home safety.
XxXxXxX
"It's later than I thought it was." Aiko mumbled, rubbing her eyes sleepily as she glanced at the clock.
Garry was tense, after the happiness faded away from earlier, he realized that if there was indeed a monster, they were out near its prime time appearance. On one hand, he wanted to avoid it and just go home, but he knew that that was a cowardly way out. He gritted his teeth, and gripped the wheel tightly, wishing that there was a way to deal with it without the possible chance of getting someone killed. They were leaving in the morning the next day however, so if he wanted to deal with it, it had to be tonight.
"Alright guys," Garry spoke up, "I know this might frighten you, but..."
He slammed on the brakes immediately when suddenly his headlights illuminated a fallen tree in the road – in the middle of the town.
"A tree?" Rin muttered, "Out here?"
Junichi looked out the window, and saw shavings the tree along the road leading to its current position, "Something dragged that tree there."
"You've got to be kidding me." Garry muttered.
Yuki undid he seat beat, as did Garry.
"Where are you guys going?" Ib asked.
"We're going to investigate," Garry said, "Stay here for now."
"Garry, remember what I said..."
"I know." He nodded, "If there's any danger, I'll be right back before you even know I'm gone."
Ib pursed her lips in a straight line, her usual habit when she was concerned, but she nodded her head anyway, "Be careful."
"Aren't I always?" He asked lightly, getting out to go to the tree.
Yuki was already there, and leaning down to look closer at a section of it.
"What are you looking at?" He asked, looking nervously around. The town was rather ominous this late when it was so dark. Some of the street lights weren't even on, and those that were on were fairly dim. What made it worse though is that he heard nothing other than the engine of the car he had left. The place sounded dead.
"We should go back to the car." Yuki said, her usually calm voice sounding strained.
"Yuki?" Garry muttered her name as he knelt down beside her, and saw gigantic marks in the base of the tree. It looked as if a giant animal had dug its gaping maw around the tree and dragged it out into the middle of the town.
"It's here." She whispered.
"Shit," Garry mumbled, and fumbled for his phone. He quick dialed a number and brought it up to his ear. A few seconds later, he was greeted by the voice of a just-awoken Jin.
"What do you want Garry?" He asked.
"There's a tree in the middle of the road."
"Um... Ok?"
"It's in the middle of town. Something big dragged it here."
"Alright, why are you telling me this?"
"Who is it?" A female voice asked from the other end with Jin.
"Is that Miyako?" Garry asked, clearly not expecting to hear her voice.
"It's Garry." Jin explained to Miyako, "And yeah, it is." He answered Garry's question.
"Anyway, remember that beast we saw as kids?"
"Yeah?" Jin mumbled, "The one I told you about the other day, right?"
"Well..."
"GARRY!" Yuki shot up to her feet so uncharacteristically fast that it made him jump. Her shrill voice sent the hairs on the back of his neck standing, and he was on his feet within a millisecond of Yuki.
"What is - ." Garry was going to ask, but the words died at his throat when he along the road ahead of the fallen tree branch, where a gigantic white dog-like creature stood. It made Garry look small, and it was on all fours. Its maw was open, and they could see its breath in the crisp night air. Most prominently however were the burning red eyes and sharp teeth as it slowly advanced towards them.
"Oh shit." Garry said, nearly dropping his phone down to his side.
"Garry?" Jin asked, "What was that screaming about? Hello?"
Garry and Yuki began to back up towards the car, "Run."
Yuki nodded, clearly shaken, "You too."
"On three." Garry said.
"One."
The monster started to growl as it advanced forward.
"Two."
The beast started to quicken its pace.
"Three! GO!" He screamed, turning around to the car and jumping into the drivers seat. He didn't even have to look at Yuki to know that the girl had ran as fast as her legs could take her, and soon the two were in the car. Garry didn't even bother with his seat beat, he slammed his door shut, put the car in reverse, and slammed his foot on the gas pedal.
"What is that thing?" Aiko screamed, "It's coming for us!"
"Garry?" The phone was still on. Garry took one look down at it and threw it over his shoulders, where Rin caught it.
"Um, hello?" Rin asked, her hands shaking so badly that she nearly dropped the phone several times.
"What is going on?! Who is this?" Jin demanded.
"Garry! GO FASTER!" Ib screamed, seeing the beast continue its charge.
"I'm pushing it down as far as it can go!" Garry shouted, "I need to turn around!"
"Do it then!" Junichi cried, getting his seat beat off and jumping into the back of the car, where he dug around for something and finally came up with a golf club, "Ib, I'm sorry, but I'm using this."
"I don't care!" Ib said, "I'll buy my dad a new set if he's really that upset!"
"We'll all pitch in!" Garry said, "Get ready guys! Hold onto something!"
"What the hell?" Jin yelled out from the cellphone, "What are you guys doing?"
"There's a monster chasing us!" Aiko screamed into the phone, "Some giant white wolf thing!"
Suddenly Garry slammed on the brakes and spun the wheel. Everyone felt as if their stomach was going to do a back flip as the car spun around so sharp and quickly that some of them experienced whiplash. Rin unfortunately lost her grip on the phone then, and it flew over to Ib, who managed to catch it while holding onto the seat handle for dear life. Finally Garry was fully turned around, and he put the pedal to the metal once again.
"A monster?" Jin asked, "Do you mean that dog thing?"
"Yes!" Ib shouted, "That's exactly what we mean! We gotta go now!"
"Wait! Where are you?"
"We're crossing mid-street now," Garry said, "I'm going to try leading it west outta town. If Jin wants to come, then he better damn well hurry!"
Ib relayed the information, and turned the phone off, putting it in her pocket for now, looking back to see that they were fortunately losing the beast.
"Oh my god..." Aiko muttered, shaking intensely, "I – I can't believe..." She wrapped her arms around her knees and continuously shook, "Wha – What was that..."
"The Kyōken." Yuki said, "I honestly wasn't expecting it to be that large."
Ib took off her own seat belt and went over to Aiko and wrapped her arms around the shaking girl, "It's ok... Don't worry."
"Don't worry?" Aiko asked, "I – I always thought that you and Garry were just using that whole weird alternate world thing as a metaphor for something else! I didn't think that monsters, and that kind of stuff really existed!" She let out a shaky breath as some tears began to fall, "Oh my god..."
Rin and Junichi were fairing only a bit better than Aiko. Junichi held the golf club in his hands in a death grip, his knuckles were pure white as he held it, and his arms wouldn't stop shaking. Rin meanwhile had pretty much made herself a permanent attachment to his arm, burying her head into his shoulder as she cried.
"I see why Mr. Kazama allowed it to do what it did." Garry finally admitted, "M – my memories downplayed it. I don't remember it being that huge. Should we really try to even do anything about it?"
Yuki had her arms wrapped around her body, visibly shaking, and looked down at the book she had in her coat pocket the entire day, "It's frightening."
"No kidding." Ib said. Out of all of them, she was the least shaken. Sure, she was shaking a bit, but her determination wasn't affected one bit, "But... We can't let it continue to kill people! We can stop it, right Garry?"
Garry was silent, keeping his eyes fixed on the road.
"Garry?"
"I – I..." He let out a deep breath, "You're right."
Ib smiled, glad to see that he wouldn't run away despite everything he had just experienced.
"We can stop it." Yuki said, "bu you guys MUST listen to me, ok?"
"Wait." Aiko said, "You guys intend to face that thing again?"
"Unfortunately, yes." Garry answered.
"Are you INSANE?"
Garry chuckled, "I'm wondering the same thing myself right now."
Junichi's grip on the golf club was still tight, but he forced himself to laugh, "We gotta do what we gotta do, right?"
"Of course." Garry answered.
"Ok, Ib, when we encounter it again, I NEED you to..."
"GARRY! WATCH OUT!" Rin screamed. The Kyōken appeared in the road ahead of him, jumping out from the treeline, and roaring at the approaching car.
"How the hell did it get here?!" Garry cried, starting to hit the brakes.
"HIT IT!" Ib shouted.
"What?!" Garry cried, "But your parent's car will be-"
"I DON'T CARE!"
Garry didn't say anything else, and just drove straight towards the beast in a head-on collision. The resulting crash sent the Kyōken flying back in the road, and it severely dented the front of the car, shattering the front windows as well. Garry wasn't wearing his seat belt, and the force of the impact sent him flying through the front window. Ib, and Junichi who were also unbuckled slammed into the seats in front of them, bruising their shoulders and backs.
Aiko looked down the road at the unmoving Kyōken, and finally undid her seat belt, "Ib! Junichi! Garry!" She shouted, going over to Ib, since she was the closest one, "Are you ok?"
Yuki was also with Ib, and the two brought her out of the car, and sat her up against a tree, "I – I'm ok..." Ib whispered, and tried to move her shoulder, but flinched, "Ow, ow..."
"I think it's dislocated," Yuki said, "And it's bruising pretty bad."
"Garry?" Ib asked, blinking a few times to try and rid the tears of pain.
"I'll go look for him..." Yuki said, "Aiko, stay with Ib."
Meanwhile, Junichi came limping out of the car, his arm around Rin's shoulder, as the two came over to Ib and sat down beside her. Annoyingly, Junichi was still holding the golf club.
"This hurts so bad," Junichi admitted, "Ow..."
Rin hugged him lightly, "I'm so glad you're ok..."
"I want to see Garry..." Ib said again, feeling a bit foggy in the head. Crap, she really hoped she didn't get a concussion from that.
"Yuki's getting him, it's ok." Aiko said, patting her good shoulder.
"Guys..." Junichi spoke up, "Where's the Kyōken?"
"Over..." Aiko went to point at where she last saw the beast lying dead, but froze when she saw nothing but a large puddle of blood. She began to shake, and looked up fearfully, "That didn't kill it?"
They heard a growling noise, and the four of them got up, albeit rather slowly, since half of them were injured.
"I've never faced humans who've decided it would be a good idea to crash a car into me." They heard it speaking menacingly, "I will admit, that hurt, quite a bit."
Aiko let out a shriek when she saw the beast walking towards them from within the woods. It had crimson red blood staining its fur, and blood running down its mouth, and dripping onto the forest ground. In addition, its left forepaw was being held tenderly against its body, a bone clearly jutting out of it.
"It can talk?" Junichi said in disbelief, "What the hell?"
The four back up as a group, watching as the beast advanced towards them.
"I am able to talk, yes." It said, "I just wanted the red eyed girl," its gaze locked onto her, "If you had given her to me earlier, I would have let the rest of you live..." It began to growl, "But now that you've done this to me, I will kill you all slowly, and then feast on my reward."
"Why Ib?!" Rin shouted, holding onto Junichi as if he were a life line.
"I can smell the spiritual energy surrounding her." He elaborated by sniffing the air, "Delicious. It's so rare now a days to find a human who is versed with our world."
"You're a murderer!" Ib cired, "You've killed dozens and dozens of girls year after year! Why do you do it? What is your motivation?"
"I don't need to answer to you." He said, "Now, prepare to die."
He lunged forth, trying to swipe at Ib, but the group dispersed fast enough, and Ib was able to avoid the attack. It seemed that hitting it with the car had crippled its movement to a severe degree, since the monster fell forward from its actions.
"Ib!" Yuki screamed, coming over, "It has to chase you! Make sure it chases you!"
"Why?" Ib cried.
"Trust me!" Yuki said, "Do as I say!"
Ib nodded, and looked towards the beast as it tenderly got up, not using its injured leg at all, "Go away you dumb monster! These people have never done anything to you!"
"You talk as if you know of the reason I was summoned for in the first place." It let out a deep chuckle, "Such a naive little girl."
"What's the reason for it then?" She asked, "No one could possibly want you around and killing people!"
"The man who had summoned me about..." The beast paused to think, giving Ib precious seconds to continue backing up, "Seventy? Sixty years ago? I don't remember the exact time. He was rejected by some woman he loved, and he wanted me to kill her for revenge. Poor fool," The beast laughed, "He didn't realize it, but the girl that rejected him was well versed with the spiritual world, and it was only due to her that the spell was even able to be cast successfully in the first place."
"You killed her? Then why are you still around?"
"My stupid 'owner' didn't specify how long he wanted me to do it, and with the girl dead, he had no more control over me."
"You..."
"I killed him." He confirmed, "And now I visit once a year on the anniversary of the date he summoned me to carry out his wish."
"That's horrible! You're a monster!"
Ib backed away, and with one last look towards Yuki, she gripped her injured shoulder, and ran as fast as she could into the woods, hearing the beast lumbering after her, knocking down trees that were in its way in the process.
"Yuki?" Aiko, Rin, and Junichi gathered around her, "What in the world is going on?!"
They suddenly saw headlights coming, and another car pulled up. Out of it came Jin and Miyako, running towards the young adults, "What the fuck?!" Jin said, upon seeing the ruined vehicle, and then his mouth dropped open when he saw further up the road a splatter of blood going everywhere under the moonlight.
"What happened?" Miyako asked, coming over to them.
"No time to explain!" Yuki said, "That thing is after Ib, we have to help her!"
"How?" Rin asked.
"I need some of your blood." She said, turning to Rin, "I need the blood of a virgin to make this spell work!"
"What?" Jin asked, "Virgin blood? What is this? Some kind of medieval spell?"
Rin meanwhile was blushing, and Junichi was also distinctly looking away from the group at that moment, "Um..." Rin mumbled, "I can't help you with that..."
Yuki sighed, and turned to Aiko, "Please?"
"You want my blood? How?"
"Just a drop." Yuki insisted, "I need just a little bit."
"Whatever," Junichi said, "I'm going to help Ib." He lifted up his golf club, and ran out into the woods.
"Wait! Junichi! I'm going to help too!" Rin said, rushing after him, and picking up a large stick on the forest floor as she did so. Fortunately, following the beast wasn't going to be too difficult, considering the large path it cut through the trees.
"Here, I have a medical kit in my car," Miyako said, "We can use that."
The four went over to the car, and they pulled the kit out, where there was fortunately a needle to pluck out blood from Aiko. The girl was shaking though, and looked over to Yuki, "I don't like needles."
Yuki frowned, "It's ok..." She wished that Ib or Rin were here to comfort her instead, she wasn't exactly the best at this kind of thing.
"It's ok kid," Jin said, patting her on the back, "I freakin hate needles too, just don't look, it'll be over before you know it."
"Ok..." Aiko muttered.
Yuki appreciated his help, and with a rock she found by the side of the road, she began to make several symbols on the road, using the rock as a rudimentary chalk. The moonlight was fortunately enough for her to see, and soon, there was a rather elaborate circular symbol on the ground. As she was doing that, Miyako had gently stabbed Aiko's finger tip and got some blood to appear.
"What are you doing?" Miyako asked.
"Casting a charm."
"What? Why are you doing that?!" Jin asked.
"I wouldn't be wasting my time with this if I didn't think it would work," Yuki said honestly, "This charm I'm casting wouldn't work under most circumstances."
"What makes this one different?"
"Other than the giant mythical beast trying to kill us?" Yuki said dryly, "Ib and Garry have both had dealings with the supernatural, and the beast confirmed it when he said he sensed 'spiritual' energies around Ib. If I cast a protection charm on Ib, then since she has this 'energy' needed to cast the spell, it should work."
"Sounds like you're going on faith." Miyako commented.
"I kind of am," Yuki admitted, "If this doesn't work, then we're going to have to figure out a new way to get us all out of here alive."
"Then this better work!" Aiko said, mustering up any cheer she could, "I trust you Yuki!"
"Thank you." Yuki said, forming a rare smile for Aiko, "I just need you to drop some blood directly in the middle now."
Aiko nodded, and held her hand above the circle that was about a yard wide, and watched her blood drop on the circle. When it splattered on the pavement, nothing happened, and Yuki went back into the book to see if she had done something wrong.
"Woah!" Aiko cried, "It's glowing!"
Yuki looked up, and her eyes widened when she saw a figure begin to materialize right before her eyes.
XxXxXxX
Ib was running with all her might, but she felt her legs throbbing with each step, not to mention that the haze in her head seem to only get thicker and thicker with each passing moment. She desperately wanted to protect her friends, but the one thought that kept her going was her desire to see Garry again – she saw him fly out the window during the crash, and she didn't know how he was, or if he was even... She didn't even finish the thought, and instead focused on the path ahead of her.
"You cannot run forever!" The beast roared.
"Watch me!" Ib shouted back to it, and grinned in satisfaction when she heard it growling in anger. At least her angering it was keeping her friends safe.
However, she suddenly tripped, and landed on her bruised dislocated shoulder, causing her to cry out in agony, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. She tried to get up, but couldn't do more than crawl over to a tree and lean against it, and she turned to watch the monster advance towards her. The haze in her mind was getting thicker, and it was getting harder to think... She felt her eyes drooping.
"This is the end for you," It said. "Sit still, I haven't had a delicious meal in quite some time."
It opened it's mouth, ready to bit down on her, but at that moment, Ib heard someone screaming as they got closer and closer to the beast. Even the monster stopped its movement towards her as it went to look over, but it only got so far before a large branch smashed down on its maw, forcing its mouth shut. It didn't end there though, the person lifted the branch up and slammed it down again, and again, and again.
"You leave Ib alone you son of a bitch!" Garry shouted, and he reached over to pick up Ib while the beast was dazed. He then turned around and ran.
"Garry?" Ib whispered.
"I'm good." He assured her, "I'm so glad that you're fine."
"Now you can never say you haven't saved my life..." Her eyes started to droop close again.
"Ib! Don't close your eyes!"
She opened them, despite her body protesting at her to just go to sleep. She looked up at Garry, and noted that he had a very nasty cut across one side of his face, forcing him to keep one eye shut, and there was blood coming out of his mouth and nose. Her tiredness washed away a little as she saw the damage that was done to him.
"Garry?" She said, "What happened to you?"
"Turns out that being launched out of the front window of the car isn't a good thing." He smiled, and coughed, some blood coming out, "I was actually in an even worse state earlier, believe it or not, but Yuki pulled out some book, and did some weird magic or something... I don't feel great, but compared to how I was earlier, I'm not complaining."
She nodded, forcing her eyes to stay open and focus on Garry, "Why are you running?"
"When Yuki found me she said that the beast can't be killed by conventional means – only magic can kill it."
"Oh..." Ib muttered, remembering that detail now too.
"With that being said," He looked back to her, "I think we did quite a number on it by ramming the car into it."
She nodded, "Yeah... I wouldn't have survived as long if it wasn't so hurt."
Suddenly they heard a roar from behind them, and Garry whispered a curse as he looked over his shoulder, "Crap, it's back up. I had hoped that it would be down for a bit longer."
"My head..." Ib whimpered, "It's foggy."
"Crap... You must have a concussion." He deduced immediately, "Whatever you do, don't close your eyes!"
She nodded, "As long as you're with me, I'm safe..."
He chuckled, "You're putting way too much confidence in me!"
The beast must have had a burst of speed, because they both suddenly heard it stomping towards them.
"Oh? Another human who has had dealings with my kind?" The beast growled, "I will take pleasure in ripping your body apart."
"You won't get the chance, you stupid dog!"
The beast roared, and again it started to run, Garry risked a look behind and saw that the beast was using its broken forepaw, despite the fact that the bone was visibly sticking out.
"How can it do that?" He cried.
"We need to separate again." Ib said, moving her fingers in her good arm, "It won't be able to chase both of us."
"You run away, and I'll lure it as far away as I possibly can." Garry said.
Ib reached up and smacked his head, "No, I'll lure it away while you run!"
"Look's whose being selfish now!" Garry said disapprovingly, "Look, we're not arguing about this!"
He tossed her just then, Ib letting out a startled cry, and was fortunately able to land on her good shoulder, and she turned around, and watched in terror as she saw the beast had grabbed the back of Garry's coat in its jaw, swinging him hard towards a tree. The resulting impact looked like it had to have hurt, with Garry losing all the wind out of his lung, and struggling to breath again. The beast stomped over to him, and began to speak, "I will enjoy kill you, human."
"Garry!" Ib shouted, "No!"
"Run!" Garry shouted to her, and he looked forward again, seeing death racing towards him once more.
That was when the moonlight flickered upon a knife being thrown at the beast, and it pierced its eye, destroying any use it would have from it. The Kyōken let out a horrendously loud roar as it got up on its hind legs, and fell backwards, writhing in pain on the ground.
"Ib!" Junichi and Rin came to her side, and helped her up, "Are you ok?"
"That was an amazing throw." Ib said in awe.
"That wasn't us." Junichi said.
"What?" Ib questioned.
"That knife," Garry said, getting up and walking over to them, "It was a palette knife."
"Wha – How?"
"Hello!"
Garry and Ib lurched at the sound of the voice and turned to see a little girl in a green dress, with bright blue eyes smiling at them, waving happily as she got their attention.
"Mary?" Ib asked.
"Bingo!" She cheered, "I'm here to protect you!"
"Protect us?" Garry asked, "How?"
"No, not you." She pointed to Ib, "Her."
"How are you here?" Ib asked.
"I was summoned to protect you from anything that wishes to do harm to you!"
"This is the worse thing about facing humans with a familiarity to the spirits." The gigantic beast grumbled as he got back up, its injured eyes shut as blood seeped out of it, "They are always the hardest to kill."
Mary frowned as she faced the beast, a palette knife reappearing in her hand out of thin air, "If you try to touch her again, I'll get your other eye this time!"
"You think you can damage me?" The beast growled, "You're but a little girl, you're no match for me. I will kill you, then I will eat that stupid girl you're protecting."
Mary's eyes narrowed at that, "If you don't back off now, I will be forced to kill you, and since Ib is so fond of everyone else here..." She looked at Garry and sighed, "I will kill you if you try to hurt them too."
Garry and Ib shuddered at how cold the words were. It was bizarre to see the girl that tried to kill them in the other world was now protecting them so adamantly.
"I'd like to see you try."
Mary shrugged, "If you insist."
Within a blink of the eye, Mary had launched herself towards the beast, her first strike stabbing at the exposed bone in the beast's leg. The Kyōken howled in pain as she gripped the bone and began to pull, twist, and push it in any direction it could possibly go. Garry turned green as he watched and looked away.
"That is the girl who you guys were with?" Junichi asked, "That is who tried to kill you?"
"Yeah," Ib nodded.
"She's scary..." Rin mumbled.
"You can say that again." Garry said.
Mary moved away from the left as the beast brought its other forepaw over in an effort to crush her, and so she jumped into the air, much higher than any normal human could ever possibly hope to achieve, and she landed on its back, bring down her knife again, and again, and again, blood spurting out with each strike, getting her green dress more and more bloodied.
"Get off!" The beast roared.
"Nah nah! You can't get me!" Mary said, continuing to provoke the behemoth, "You're a loser!"
"You will respect me! Or you will die!"
"Good job with that so far!"
He howled and began to roll, causing Mary to lose her balance and fall. Unfortunately, the beast was able to grab her leg within its mouth, "I've got you, you pesky flea."
"Let me go!"
"If you insist." The beast swung its head as hard as it could possibly do so, and they saw Mary sail across the air and hit a tree with a sickening crunch, and she fell to a heap at the base of the tree. The beast looked over to the group, and took a step towards them, but collapsed on the ground, "Damn you humans..."
"Run!" Garry said, but it was too late, the beast had swiped its paw at him, knocking him aside, and did the same for both Junichi and Rin. With its paw, it slammed Ib into a tree, and opened its maw.
"You're mine, human."
"Ib, NO!" Garry cried.
It went to bite down, and Ib closed her eyes in terror as it closed its maw, but no pain came. She slowly opened her eye, and saw that the beast's teeth were clearly touching her skin, but nothing was pierced, she looked up at the beast in confusion.
"Y – You..." it started to cough violently, "You hid your scent!"
"What do you mean?" Ib asked, too shocked to be frightened.
It back up as it coughed up quite a bit of blood, and glared at her, "I was so eager to eat a human who had the smell of the spirits that I didn't even check to see if the girl..." He coughed up some more blood.
"What I was going to say at the library the other day before I stopped myself," Yuki had finally arrived with Jin, Aiko, and Miyako behind her. Miyako let out a audible gasp upon seeing the beast, and Jin shouted a curse, "Was that the Kyōken only targets virgin girls."
"Wait..." Ib stared wide eyed at the monster.
"If the Kyōken tries to eat a non-virgin, this happens." Yuki nodded towards the beast, which was in the middle of the clearing it had made itself and was still coughing up blood.
"You knew. That's why you said to make sure it followed me..." Ib muttered.
Yuki nodded, "Yes. I knew that it liked the scent of the supernatural, so I had hoped that that would hide the fact that you're no longer 'pure' to the beast. It seemed to have worked just as planned."
"Are you ok?" Mary asked, looking down at the beast. Fully recovered from the impact. The blow would have killed any normal human, but unfortunately for the monster, she wasn't normal.
"Get away from me, you demon!" It cried, fear in its voice for the first time.
"Nope! You tried to kill Ib, and I did tell you that I would have to kill you if you did that!" Mary had her palette knife again. The beast tried to lift itself off the ground, but the combination of all of its injures from that night were finally too much for it, and it collapsed again, breathing heavily. Mary grinned wickedly as she went over to the eye she had cut earlier, and started to stab in it again and again. The beast tried to get away, howling in agony, but soon, its howls stopped, and it laid still in the moonlight, dead.
"Did I do good?" Mary asked Yuki as she walked over to the girl, her green dress was completely drenched in blood, and there were even bits of blood covering her face.
"Exceptionally well." Yuki said, "You were our only shot at kill it, and you performed that task splendidly."
Mary blushed, "Aw, thank you!"
Garry and Ib walked over to the girl, "Are you the same one?" Garry asked.
"From Guertena's world?" Mary asked, "Sure am! The one and only!"
"Then... You remember?" Ib whispered.
"Yeah, I do." Mary said, her smile gone now, "I know now why you guys did it."
"I.. I'm sorry." Ib and Garry said bowing down to her.
Mary shrugged, "It happened years ago. I'm over it."
"Then... Where are you now?" Garry asked.
"Waitin to be reincarnated!" She smiled at the thought, "You two need to get to it soon! It's fun to watch you guys for a while, but I wanna join too!"
Getting the implication, both of the blushed and looked away, causing Mary to laugh out loud.
"I guess we ought to thank you." Junichi said, walking up to Mary.
"It's no problem." Mary assured him, "I'd do anything to help my best friend!"
Rin bowed anyway, "Thank you."
Mary sighed, and then noticed her hands were fading, "Ah, it seems the charm is beginning to fade."
"You're leaving so soon?" Ib asked.
"Sorry, it only lasts for a little while." Mary admitted, "But hey, if you REALLY want to see me again, then you and Garry can get busy!"
"Real subtle." Garry mumbled.
"Mary!" Ib said, "I'm so sorry for k – killing you... I didn't want to do it back then!"
"Ib, it wasn't you." Garry spoke up, "It was my fault."
"I told you!" Mary said cutting in between the two of them before they began to argue, she frowned and said, "I understand why you did it. If I hadn't have reacted so badly... Maybe we all could have figured a way out together."
Garry reached his hand towards Mary, "Thank you for saving us."
Mary looked at his hand, not really familiar with the gesture, but she reluctantly held out her hand, and nearly jumped when Garry wrapped it in a firm grip and shook up and down.
Mary shook her head, "It's no problem, and look, I said I forgive you two."
"I'm glad." Ib said, smiling towards the girl.
"Garry... Please take care of Ib for me, ok?" Mary asked.
"Of course."
Mary smiled, and finally disappeared from sight with a wave.
Aiko rushed over to Ib and wrapped her arms around her, "I'm so glad you're ok!"
"My arm!" Ib gasped, feeling intense pain.
"Oh, sorry!"
"Let me fix that." Yuki said, "There's a healing charm in here I used for Garry."
Yuki mumbled a few odd words, and Ib actually did feel the haze in her mind go away. She blinked, thankful that her mind was so lucid now, "That's so much better!" She smiled at Yuki, "Thank you."
"Is your arm ok?" Aiko asked.
Ib moved it a little bit, and found that it was only a little bit sore, "It's good."
A few feet away, Garry walked over to both Jin and Miyako, and the three stood together, looking at the corpse of the giant beast that had been slain.
"This thing could be worth a fortune!" Jin said, "Seriously, look at the damn thing!"
"I say we burn it." Garry said, "I don't want any reminders of the thing that killed so many people here."
"I can't believe it." Miyako mumbled, "It's amazing to think that this thing killed people here for so long without others realizing it."
"It's the town's fault for not getting outside assistance," Garry said, letting out a sigh, "If they had made it public, it would have been a bad blotch against the town, but perhaps someone with the ability to kill it would have come forward."
"About that... Is that girl a witch?" Jin asked.
"Yuki? No, she's just a normal girl." Garry answered.
"She did some weird spell, and then this little girl came outta this circle on the ground, and just zoomed out of there instantly! It was totally insane!" Jin gushed.
Miyako sighed and shook her head, "On a different note, what are you going to do about your car? It's completely totaled."
"Oh no..." Garry mumbled, "I didn't want to think about it – it's not my car."
"Oh boy, you're in deep shit." Jin said.
"Maybe I can work something out." Garry said, deep in thought.
It was then that he noticed Ib walking over to him, and he covered the rest of the distance over to her.
"Are you ok?" He asked.
"Now I'm good," She nodded, "You need to let Yuki heal up that gash on your face though."
"I'll do that soon," He promised, he then hugged the girl tightly to himself.
The two simply held onto one another, ignoring all the activity around them for the time being. Garry then noticed that Ib was crying.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"Nothing now – it's just... I could've lost you during that..."
He smiled, feeling a few tears from his own eyes, "I could've lost you too, you know."
She nodded in his shoulder, "I know... I realize how big of a hypocrite I was for yelling at you for that back at the restaurant now..."
"It's ok." Garry said, "We're all fine. Everyone's fine."
"Except for the car."
Garry frowned, "Yes. Except for the car."
"Let's not think about it for now..." Ib said.
"Good idea." Garry said, "We should get a ride back from Miyako."
Ib nodded, and looked up to Garry, so glad to see the man she loved was ok. Garry too, looked to the woman he loved with all his heart, and they closed the gap between them for a kiss.
XxXxXxX
"I can't believe that the mayor agreed to buy you guys a brand new car." Jack said, shaking his head in amazement.
"Yeah, we did him a huge favor while we were out so late the other night, and he was more than willing to let us get the most expensive one we could fine." Garry smiled as he looked at the keys in his hand – oh, this would definitely be fun.
They had stayed for an additional day due to the fight they had with the giant dog spirit, and after showing the corpse to Jin's dad, the township soon learned, and provided them with a brand new car almost immediately. Even better, they offered them all a huge reward for the slaying of the beast, though they eventually managed to talk it down from the absolutely ridiculous amount they wanted to pay them to only five million yen each.
Though they were reluctant to accept so much money, they finally did take it, and spent the last day doing whatever they wanted, knowing that they had nothing to fear from the giant beast.
"It's a shame that you're leaving so soon though, even after staying another day," His father admitted, "It was quite a pleasure to have you around. Even your friends were quite good company."
"I enjoyed it." Garry said sincerely, "It was like... old times again."
His dad nodded, "I'm glad."
Garry coughed into his hand, "I'm going to check on the rest to see when they are coming down."
"Good idea," Jack said, "And Garry..."
"Yes, father?"
"Please do visit again, I've missed you."
"Of course I will." Garry said with a smile, giving his old man a hug.
He then entered the house and went upstairs and opened the first door, where Aiko and Yuki were both packing up, ready to head out.
"You two need help with anything?" Garry asked.
"Nope~!" Aiko said in a sing song voice.
"What's got you so happy?" Garry asked.
Yuki looked over at Garry, her book of hexes, charms, and curses was open, and Garry finally noticed a bunch of items floating neatly into the suitcases they had.
"I have to thank you," Yuki said, looking up at Garry, "Because of that experience from that night, we all have this so called 'spiritual' energy surrounding us."
"I'm glad something good came out of all of that."
Yuki smiled, "It was fun – coming here I mean. And now that the troubles are behind us, I have to admit, that the thrill of the moment..." She let out a breath, and her face had more emotion then than any other time Garry could remember, " Allowed me to find what I was missing from my life."
"What do you mean?" Garry asked.
"My life has never strayed far from books, tests, and studies. I have never really felt excitement like any normal child has. Being with you all..." She paused, "I like it."
"Aw!" Aiko hugged Yuki, "I like being with you too!"
Yuki smiled, and actually hugged the girl back.
"I'm glad to see that you've found what you've been missing." Garry said.
Yuki nodded, "I was thinking..."
"What is it?" Garry asked, encouraging her.
"Not yet." She decided, "I want to say it in the car, when everyone is around."
Garry shrugged, "Alright then. Once you two are done playing with magic, be sure to take your trunks to the car, and DON'T let my dad see you doing it!"
"Aye aye captain!" Aiko said, saluting him.
Garry shook his head and left the room to go to the next one, where he accidentally walked in on Rin and Junichi kissing each other rather... passionately on the bed.
"G – Garry!?" Rin shot up, and pulled her shirt down and quickly rubbed away the wrinkles.
Junichi looked over to him rather annoyed, but he let out a quick breath, "Hello."
"Ah, sorry to interrupt." He said, "Are you two ready to head down to the car pretty quick?"
"Yeah," Junichi nodded, "We finished packing a little bit ago, we were just um..."
"Right." Garry nodded, "I'll leave it to you guys then."
Junichi smiled, and Rin looked away with a small smile on her blushing face.
Garry finally went to Ib's room, and knocked on the door.
"You can come in Garry," She called through the door.
He opened the door, and saw the girl laying down on the bed, and at the base of the bed was her packed suitcase. She had her arms behind her head, and she was just staring up at the ceiling.
"What are you thinking about?" He asked, sitting beside her, leaning back onto the bed and looking up beside her.
"About the Kyōken."
"Ah, that makes sense."
"Is it strange that I'm not have any nightmares?"
"A little." Garry said, "I saw it in my dreams, and I'm sure I will for a while longer."
"I just... I'm not scared." She frowned, "I don't know why."
"Maybe it's because it couldn't eat you?"
"Maybe." She said, "But I don't think that's it, it could have still killed me in other ways."
"I have no idea what it is then."
"I think..." She paused, "I think it's because of you."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I know you'll always be there to protect me." She smiled, and looked over at him, "You were there and saved me."
"I'll always protect you."
"And I'll always protect you. That's what I love about you."
"I love that about you too." Garry said, smiling at the girl as they leaned in for a kiss.
After parting Ib, blushed a little, "So... Mary was saying that she was waiting on us to be reincarnated..."
"Oh no." Garry mumbled, "Um, can it wait?"
"What have you got to lose?" She said, though she had a smile on her face.
"I don't know," He shrugged, "I don't think I'd be very good with kids, plus don't you want to wait until you're out of college?"
She laughed, "You not good with kids? Though yeah, after college would be nice."
Garry let out a sigh.
"That means you got to propose to me within two years though," She said, "I don't want to have a baby without being married first!"
"Within two years?"
"I graduate in about two and a half years," She said, "So I guess if you really want to push it, I'll give you a three year time limit."
"Uh..."
"And it has to be really nice!"
"I promise, when that time comes, I'll do something very special for you." He said.
"That's all I can ask," She smiled, "I don't need a ring, I don't need jewelry – all I really need is you Garry. As long as you're with me, that's more precious than any metal you can give me."
He smiled, "I'm the luckiest man in the world to have someone like you. Other guys would kill to get someone like you to pay attention to them."
"And I forced you to pay attention to me." She sounded a bit smug.
"I was in the right place at the right time." He decided.
"So going to the alternate world was a good thing now?"
"What Rei said stuck in my head – everything in life was a test of character, and we all come out better from it in the end. I ended up meeting you, and ended up falling in love with you. There is absolutely no better outcome than that."
"Even staying with Rei?"
"Even staying with her wouldn't have been as good an outcome." He said, and felt Ib hug him tightly.
"I love you so much!"
He just laughed as he held her.
XxXxXxX
"So what was it you wanted to tell us?" Garry asked, as they pulled out of the driveway, and started to make their way home in the new car they received from the township.
Yuki looked over at all of them, "Well, I was wondering if you all would be interested in doing what we did last night as a sort of job." She pulled out a piece of paper, "I've got a detailed list of unknown murders, mysteries, and ghost occurrences here, and well..." She looked down, "I think it would be a fun thing to do. If you all don't wish to participate, I can understand..."
"Wait, you want us to hunt down monsters... and get paid for it?" Junichi asked.
Yuki nodded, "We'd go to these towns, and see the township and see if they need assistance with removal of monsters, ghosts, or even just explanations." She motioned her arm around at the car they had, "They were willing to buy us this, and they were willing to pay us so much more than what we settled on – I think if we did it right, we could make a nice living off of this."
"Would we be able to do magic like you?" Rin asked.
Yuki nodded, "Of course. We're all now spiritually attuned, so we can all cast spells."
Aiko gasped, "That is so cool! I'm in!"
Junichi and Rin glanced at one another and both nodded, "We're in." Junichi declared.
Garry looked towards Ib, "It's up to her."
Ib put her arm on her chin, and pretended to think long and hard about it, and finally a smile broke out, "I could definitely do something to pay off my college tuition. I think it'd be fun."
"Alright then, we're all in." Garry said.
Yuki's face broke out into a very wide smile, "Thank you..."
"Let's just try not to smash anymore cars this time around..." Garry said, reaching over and patting Yuki on the shoulder.
So life wasn't exactly normal. Ib's version of normal eventually warped his own, and he honestly did not mind. Rei had told him that his life had improved because he had met Ib, and he was inclined to agree; meeting her was probably the best thing to ever happen to him. As he continued to drive, he genuinely found himself excited for the next adventure they would go on, and looked forward to whatever Yuki had in mind.
As long as he and Ib did it together with their friends, nothing else mattered.
XxXxXxX
Notes:
AND CUE THE CREDITS!
Initially the last three chapters were all one gigantic 33,500~ word monster chapter, but I decided to cut it up like I did with my other Ib story, since 30k words is a bit long for just a single chapter. Now each chapter is roughly 10k words long, which I think fits much better.
I'm going to continue with this story now! I have the next short story completely written, and all I have to do now is go back and edit the thing, which will take a little bit because of it's length. I will also be adding in an epilogue afterwards, and that will be the real end to this story.
Have fun all!