ATTENTION READERS: This is the Beta version of LH5W, if you want to read the official, updated version of the story, you'll have to go over to DeviantArt. com and head on over to my page. My username is Aloubell. You can also get there by going to my fanfiction. net profile which provides a link over there.
In any case, this Beta version is basically the rough draft of LH5W, my first attempt at it. Much of the plot points from this version will be the same in the official version, but there are significant and consistent characterization changes, a few (but very important) plot differences, expansion of past ideas, and overall better quality in storytelling.
All of this will be done over on DeviantArt. I no longer will write the story in traditional prose nor submit/update it here to fanfiction. net. The Beta version will remain here, just know that it isn't the 100% official story.
The official version will be written in a lazy prose mixed with play-writing elements (you'll get what I mean when you see it).
This is the new format for the story from now on.
So please head on over there if you're interested in updates to the story! Thank you for stopping by =D
-Aloe
PLEASE NOTE: The official version is being written somewhat out of order. The official version will start on chapter 46, the place where the Beta version left off. The official version will go on to complete the last chapters of Season 2. Once those are done, I will redo the story over again from Chapter 1 which will be the official version.
Having said that, if you choose to continue on reading, I hope you enjoy the Beta version and look forward to the official!
~*Part 1*~
After a party that included drinking and merriment, you'd expect someone to sleep for about a million hours, right? Well, I certainly didn't expect my fiery-haired companion to get up before noon just so that he could get down to business and get information from the good-natured people in town. Either the guy had some internal alarm clock that was activated with his motivation, or he's so used to getting buzzed that he magically formed some type of immunity to it. Whichever way it was, he was already up and active before I even regained consciousness.
Not particularly feeling the urge to join him on his little scavenger hunt, I ended up sitting on the edge of a short, white wooden gate, waiting for him to finish and reveal the verdict of his findings. Standing beside me was the peculiar, blue-haired monk with the gravity-defying bangs named Chichiri whom we had just met the day before. The guy seemed pretty legit and didn't in any way seem like a threat. It would be sort of hard to be intimidated with that playful fox face of his anyway. Only two things really bothered me about the guy: the first was that he habitually said "ya know?" after the vast majority of his sentences. Part of me really wants to ask why he does that, but it may end up being because he was electrocuted as a child and his brain got stuck in "ya know" mode. The second thing was that it seemed like his eyes were closed, yet he could see perfectly…huh. Yeah, there's not very much one could say about that…I couldn't believe out of all the weird things I had experienced and seen, this was the one that completely baffled me. Oh well.
Oh yeah, and there was also the thing about him being able to use magic as well.
With the comment he made earlier, I assumed that his type of spells were different than mine—which would make sense since I was supposed to be the only one of my kind (at this time. After all, there were a bunch of girls before me). But magic was magic, and another magical consort was significantly invited.
"Rather than use my own energy to control the elements like you do, my type of magic utilizes the raw, flowing energy of the universe, called chi, in various ways, ya know? But not everyone can do it. One has to be in tuned with their own chi, which is consisted of their life-force, and use it to request assistance from the universe, ya know?" This time alone had allowed the two of us to discuss or methods of sorcery. I told him that I had the ability to control the elements—and then some—and how I was born with the natural ability to control Wind. Chichiri explained to me that since I was using my own energy to manipulate the universal elements, it made sense that I would lose stamina after a while and how it would definitely screw up my health—not to mention endanger my life—if I were to push too much while using it. He, on the other hand, had the fortunate ability of the universe allowing him some of its power, taking away the immediate dangers of over-using it. These of course were assumptions since I wasn't skilled in the art of chi manipulation or whatever. This made me suspect that the kinds of spells he performed were of a different category entirely. So this makes a person wonder: what was this guy capable of?
Eyes widening with fascination, I responded by saying, "Interesting. You know, I never thought that I'd come across a sorcerer in this world." Biting my tongue on the reveal of me not being from that dimension, I quickly fixed it by showing a sly smile. "And you tried to hide it by pretending that you were a monk."
"Pretending?" His eyebrow cocked up in confusion. "Is it really that odd that a monk can have magical powers?"
"Well, how many other monks do you know that can do things like that?"
Pondering it over for a few moments, he crossed his arms with a concentrated look on his face. The whole subject of monks helped me recall the times I had with my first monk friend Miroku from the Feudal Era. In a way, he was brilliant in his trade, but believe me when I say that there wasn't anything "magical" about him. Well, if you count being magically perverted (hmm…sounds like a new slogan for Lucky Charms…I'll be putting that in my back pocket for later!), then sure, he was a magnificent sorcerer!
Finally replacing his bewilderment with a smile, he came up with an answer. "I suppose you have a point, ya know?" This compelled the both of us to chuckle a bit at his epiphany, automatically setting an atmosphere of comfortable friendship around us. Usually I felt uneasy whenever I met new people, but for some reason, I felt completely calm and we instantly clicked. It must have been some sort of bond between magic-users or something—even despite the fact that he was a bit odd and looked like he was about four or five years older than Genrou and I.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of said flame-head rushing around and talking to people as if his life depended on it. The funny thing was that I had no idea whether it did or not.
"What do you suppose he's asking people about?" The fact that Chichiri was the one who asked the question caused me to wonder whether he was reading my mind or not. After all, I, once again, wasn't completely sure about what he was capable of.
Shrugging, I gave him an honest reply. "I never really got around to asking him." I didn't want to ask because that would have probably been crossing the line of "none of my business". And when the joint journey of ours begin, I made sure to tell myself that the relationship between us would be strictly professional—exchanging info like that would have meant stepping closer into intimacy. Like I said before, I only need him for protection and navigation, while he needs me for convenience. "It doesn't particularly matter to me. The only thing that seems important right now is if I keep my end of our agreement."
"You guys had an agreement? What was it?"
Sighing, I closed my eyes for a few seconds, and opened them back up with my eyes looking at the blue-haired monk from the side. "If he doesn't get the info he wants, I have to stop hindering him and leave him alone permanently."
Chichiri's look became troubled. "'Leave him'? Doesn't that bother you? I thought that you two cared about each other, ya know?" The moment the question was asked, a peculiar force caused me to comically fall backwards off the gate to the ground in surprise.
Ignoring the pain, my body instantly grabbed onto the wood to support myself back up. "Why the hell would you go and think an insane thing like that?" I just met the guy for Pete's sake!
"I'm not entirely sure why, but you guys seem like you'd be rather close, ya know? Not only that," My expression became serious when he left me hanging in suspense. "You guys' aura's, every time you are in close proximity of one another, tends to fuse together and become a brilliant golden color, ya know? It's actually quite peculiar and interesting at the same time!" The information came as sort of a mild shock to me—which was only mild 'cause I knew that something weird had been happening between the two of us since the very first time Genrou laid his hands on me back at that inn. More often than not, whenever a part of our bodies touched at time of high emotions (that's what I inferred anyway), we would feel a pleasant, unexplainable shock running through every inch of our bodies. Not only that, but it felt like the emotions I figured I had under control seemed to deteriorate at certain times—only when I was with him. Hits of empathy were exchanged between the both of us only on certain occasions which proved to be slightly troublesome considering I had my own feelings to worry about, why the heck would I want the burden of someone else's?
And now, this guy was telling me that our aura's were attracted to each other? Ever since I left the palace, the strangest things had been happening to me and it was all thanks to that flame-headed Fang-boy.
But besides that…
"Hey, Chichiri?"
"Hmm?"
"I know that this is a bit out of the blue, but I was wondering if you could teach me how to see auras the way you can. For a magic-user, it seems like it would be a practical thing." Sure, I didn't exactly know when or how I'd apply the usage of aura's to work past my obstacles, but I figured that it would probably come in handy whenever the situation called for it.
Tilting his head to the side, he asked, "You wanna learn how to see auras? Well…"
Assessing his demeanor, an idea formed into my head as to why he would be hesitant. "If you have something else to do or somewhere else to be, then I'd totally understand that you couldn't do it—"
"Hold on a second!" Holding up his hands, palms facing me he said, "Believe me, it's nothing like that. I have plenty of free time and no one to meet up with, ya know? I was just concerned that it would take a while to teach you, ya know?"
Shaking my head, I told him, "I'm pretty much free as well!" My agenda is pretty much open until Taiitsukun decides to come in and crash the party, I bitterly thought.
"Well then, why not?" Chichiri's famous playful smile returned, complimenting his closed fox eyes. "This could be a lot of fun, ya know?"
Returning the smile, I realized that Genrou and I had just added a new member to our group (well, I added him, and since Genrou wasn't the boss, I could pretty much do whatever I wanted). The thing was, if it turned out that he didn't get what he wanted from the townspeople, then we would separate. At least with this new alliance I knew that I wouldn't be alone even if Genrou and I did depart.
Not that I really cared or anything…
Back to business. "So, what do I have to do in order to learn this impressive technique?"
As my question was asked, he concluded his leaning against the gate and proceeded closer to the town's structures. Before his face past my line of sight, I noticed how he had a concentrated look on his face, almost as if he was either devising a plan or attempting to recall just how he himself was able to acquire the ability. Considering I was pretty much able to remember how and when the important milestones of the progression of my powers happened—they were, after all, really important checkpoints in my journey—it seemed a bit suspicious that he couldn't remember something as significant as learning how to see auras for the first time.
"I guess, simply put, you need to become aware of your own aura before you can see other ones, ya know?"
"Yeah…" I reluctantly said while processing his words. "That makes sense, I suppose. How do I do that?"
"Considering the situation, I think the easiest way to go at it would be for you to connect yourself with someone who has an Aura Bond with you, ya know?" Stomach churning, the whole thought of the idea caused me to grimace since I had a probably spot-on theory as to whom he was talking about. Catching onto my discomfort, he added, "Think about it: the strength of the two aura's would combine together, thus allowing your senses to be more in tuned with it, ya know?" Teeth gritting from the mere thought of having to do something that consisted of any kind of "connecting" with Genrou in order to attain this new skill, I knew that it—whatever it was—had to be done. Damn it all.
The sense of utter defeat consumed me, thus I asked, "So…what do I…have to do?"
Turning around to face me, he surprisingly still had that pleasant smile plastered on his face. "That's easy! All you have to do is bind yourself in some way to Genrou until you can see your combined auras, ya know?" Taken aback, by body stood there in shock for what he was asking me to do. Easy? Easy my ass! How the hell does he expect me to do that? Who knows how long it will take until this infernal plan works? Damn. It. All. To Hell.
Sure, I didn't have to go through with this, and it wasn't exactly necessary for me to see auras. But I'll be damned if I lose the opportunity to learn something that useful just because of uneasiness and my precious pride.
As the strategy of how I was going to go through with Chichiri's lesson plan formulated in my head, Genrou walked over with a sullen expression riddled on his face. That's never leads to good news…
"Yeah…so it turns out that no one could tell me what I wanted to hear—and I'm pretty sure I checked with everyone in town." When his amber eyes connected with mine, what I saw wasn't so much of a look of indifference, but more of a look of regret. I wonder what that's all about…
Even in my confusion, I was willing to walk over and act as if what he said didn't matter. I know I said that I wouldn't care about something like that, but…to separate from someone just because of some stupid promise seemed so…anti-climactic—not to mention disappointing. But I knew those feelings would pass, so I had to put on a face that said that his words hadn't affected me. And technically they didn't, I mean…it wasn't like I completely thought that someone would be able to deliver the info he wanted. It was only a fifty/fifty percent chance. Just as in a game of heads or tails, it's either one or the other, and there was always a fifty percent chance of you coming out disappointed. The probability was never in your favor, no matter how confident you were, leaving the universe to decide whether or not it wanted you to be happy or successful— and whether or not it thought of you as deserving or worthy.
That's just the way it goes. And those who couldn't take it were weak.
Offering my hand for him to shake, I made sure that my voice didn't waiver as I showed a fake, yet convincing smile. "Well, a deals a deal. I'll be going now and you'll never hear from me again." Putting my hand out deserved me the reaction of him looking down and away, rattling his mind for the next proper action to initiate.
Before he even had the chance to do anything, Chichiri stepped in. "Now hold on there—this may not be over yet. If you tell me what you're looking for, I just might be able to help you, ya know?" My eyes widened in surprise. Why is he interfering? Is he trying to make it so that Genrou and I don't separate?
The bandit thought about it. "Well, I'm lookin' for a cure, ya see—a cure for a really serious sickness that kinda needs ta work fast." A cure? For who I wonder…
"Can you be a little more specific about this certain kind of illness?"
Resuming his thinking face, Genrou eventually gave a goofy smile while putting one of his arms in the back of his head. "Ya know…I left so fast that I never even bothered to ask!" Chichiri and I just stood there with blank looks on our faces. Unable to fight the urge, I slapped my forehead. What an idiot! That's the kind of detail that Miaka would mess up on! Seeing as how the monk was trying to come up with a solution, I thought, Thanks for trying Chichiri, but it's pretty safe to say that this conversation will get nowhere fast.
But just when I was starting to mentally prepare myself for my departure, Chichiri spoke up as he snapped his fingers. "Okay then! If you don't know what kind of sickness this is, then we might as well go for the thing that we know will work for sure, ya know?"
"What thing?" I asked.
"Well, there is this flower that has been said to cure any ailment. It's called the Sacred Blood Lily and it only blooms every thousand years, ya know?"
"Sacred Blood Lily…" It even sounded important. But for a flower that blooms ever one thousand years, it must be very rare, not to mention valuable. What were the chances that we could even get to it?
"Every thousand years, huh? Well, what're the chances that it been a thousand years and is in bloom right now?" Genrou seemed slightly skeptical to the whole plan—and I couldn't blame him. It just sounded a bit far-fetched.
Even though Chichiri's whimsical fox face seemed pretty consistent, it shifted in a certain way that came off to me as a "duh" face. "I wouldn't be mentioning it if it weren't, ya know? That'd just be mean and a tease." This caused me to give a nervous chuckle. I suppose that's true. There wouldn't be any point in giving info like that if it proved to be useless, especially in a situation like this—or to be mean like he said.
Apparently the blue-haired monk's answer made Genrou feel slightly stupid for not considering the idea himself. To my surprise, though, he didn't address that particular part of the conversation. "Well don't leave us hangin', tell us where it is!"
Chichiri's expression turned a bit troubled. "I don't really have the exact location in mind…" Just when I was about to shout out why he would even tell us something that he couldn't fall through with, he snapped his fingers, and in a poof of white smoke, a kasa hat—you know, one of those stereotypical flat and pointy straw hats that many people envisioning Asians wearing—appeared out of thin air. Part of me was about to completely flip out and ask how the heck he did that, but the answer was obvious magic and I was sort of able to do something similar when I put items into my personal space—like what I did for my late wand, spell-book, and kunai. "…but I do have it handy, ya know?"
"Whoa!" Genrou completely lost focus at the showcase of basic magic. Inspecting the area surrounding Chichiri's person, he tried to identify where he managed to pull the hat from. "How'dja do that?"
"Magic, ya know?" At that was it—plain and simple. Returning his focus back onto the seemingly flat hat and hit his arm all the way inside of it, completely making it vanish.
Now that shocked me. It shouldn't have been possible for him to make his whole arm disappear in a hat like that—just couldn't be done. And no, his arm wasn't just hiding in the rims or crater of the hat, it was like it went into a different dimension that existed inside of it.
"How did you do that? It's like you're bending or manipulating space!" I said in astonishment.
"Exactly, ya know!" I knew that I wasn't supposed to take the Laws of Physics very seriously anymore, but still, this was completely going against it! Sure, what he was doing was kind of cool, but I still wanted to know how that worked. Unfortunately, my question was never answered since he ended up pulling out a rolled up scroll. "This is the map that we'll need to find the location of the flower. However, this map will only take us to the entrance of a maze in which the plant is hidden, ya know? After that, we're pretty much on our own, praying that we'll get through the maze before we either die from danger or old age, ya know?" I couldn't quite understand it, but he said that last part in a more pleasant way than you'd normally expect. But hopefully the combined intellect and powers of a martial arts savvy bandit, a Master Sorceress, and a monk sorcerer (or wizard…magician…I didn't know how he liked to label himself), would make it so that we found our way through that place long before we grew old and died. If worse came to worse, then I'd just nuke the whole place until an exit was made.
A confident grin played on Genrou's lips, as he brought up a fist. "Chichiri, you're a life-saver! And maze or not, we still have a lead, so let's get our asses over there!" He pointed in a random direction. Our? So does this mean that I don't have to go?
Unrolling the map, Chichiri scanned its contents. "The maze is actually in the opposite direction, ya know?"
"Whatever! It's the damn principle of the notion!" Genrou barked. "Let's just go!"
"Oh, are our blessed hero's departing from us?" From behind us, the town elder as well as a group of other townspeople appeared, most having a sad look on their faces.
"Yeah, sorry, we almost forgot about telling you," I told them. "The truth is that we weren't really planning on staying as long as we did, so we really need to get going." Out of the crowd, the same bunch of little kids emerged, each launching themselves at me, causing me to fall to the ground.
"You can't leave us Miss Aki!"
"Please, you're our hero!"
"We want you to stay and teach us how to be as cool as you Big Sister Aki." Their cute faces were slightly pink and puffy from tears that were running down their cheeks. Oh man! Why did they all have to be so freakin' adorable?
Not having the willpower to get the kids off myself, Chichiri walked over and raised them off of me, one by one. "I'm sorry children, but we really gotta go, ya know?" Man…I really hate good-byes…They always just seemed too sappy and emotional for me—that was why I usually tried to avoid them…unless I needed some kind of closure or something.
The elder gave a sad smile that could easily be seen through his thick gray beard. "We understand that you three must go and continue on with your lives. You've already done more than enough for this little town. We would just like to express our gratitude to you—"
"Really, that's not necessary!" I explained to him. "Like I told you guys yesterday, I was happy to do it an all, but it was mostly something I had to do—it's basically my job…so yeah…" Call me weird or whatever, but I always had a problem with people thanking me so excessively. Something like that almost always drew more attention to me and made me feel completely embarrassed. Even when Miaka's brother thanked me when we were little kids, I wasn't really comfortable and didn't know the proper way to respond. It's a little sad, but I suppose that I'm more used to people being jerks to me than grateful—which adds yet another characteristic of mine that I needed to improve on.
"Regardless, you still saved our lives, so please take this as a token of our thanks." From behind him appeared an older woman with graying black hair whose bright smile made her look younger than she actually was. In her hands was a beautiful silk deep scarlet shawl with both gold and silver glittered swirl and knotted designs decorating the whole thing. The piece of cloth was so impressive—no, stunning!—that it came off to me as some kind of valuable treasure that most people wouldn't even dream of just handing off to strangers.
She spoke with a sweet voice. "This scarf has been passed down for the many generations of this town. It has brought us good luck and happiness, and we hope that it does the same for you."
"No, no, no, no. I cannot take this from you. It would be wrong." All of their faces showed a tint of hurt the moment I said that. Attempting to save the situation, I told them, "If you wanna give anything to anyone, give it to your god Suzaku. He's the one you should be thankful for." I suppose.
The old women's smile could even been seen in her eyes. "We did, child. We thanked the generous Suzaku for sending us the blessing of an angel such as yourself to appear to us and save us in our time of need." There wasn't much I could say to that. They think I'm an angel? "Thanks to you, each one of us has seen a holy light that has warmed our hearts and allowed us to feel the love that we all have for one another. Since then, there have been no doubts in any of the relationships and marriages throughout the town. So, we figured that this treasure of ours has done us so much good that it's time to pass it on to the next deserving person—you, my dear." Has my Light really affected them that much? I had absolutely no idea that my Light had that kind of lasting positive residual effect on people. It was hard to believe that that little display of magic had changed all these people's lives and showed them real happiness—even if it was only for a little while.
And that made me feel…good!
As I was lost in my thoughts, I hadn't even realized that the shawl was already in my arms, the smooth feel of it rubbing against my skin. "Huh?"
Seeing the faces of all the people who agreed to give this important item to me made my heart swell in a pleasant way. "Take it, we insist."
There didn't seem to be any use in arguing about it anymore, and I didn't want to insult them either. So, I just ended with a bow. "Thank you for this. I promise to take care of it."
"We know you will."
"So tell me, why didn't we get anything?" After the three of us had said out goodbyes, we made our way down the trail, me still carrying the beautiful silk scarf in my arms. Genrou apparently had a problem with my getting something and his getting nothing. "Not that I wanted it or anything, but I don't get why Aki was the one who got all the praise. I mean, what're we? Some kinda beef jerky?"
"Well, actually, they thanked us too—I mean they had a whole party for us! But when you look at the big picture, Aki did a lot more than us, ya know? She was the one who saved the day."
Hearing Fang-boy growl a bit, I spoke up. "Look, can we just stop talking about it? It's making me uncomfortable enough as it is."
Genrou gave me a skeptical look. "You're the one sportin' it around as if it were a trophy er somethin'. You know what I think?" Don't really care. "I think that you secretly like all of the attention and are shovin' it in both of our faces." Boy, you are dead wrong. Sure, I liked feeling like I did something good, but I didn't particularly like all the hype about it.
Keeping cool, I closed my eyes. "Sounds like you're both jealous and insecure to me." Opening one of my eyes slightly, I noticed how he was starting to grind his teeth. "What would someone like you even do with something as elegant as this? Wrap it around your waist and wear it to your sister's baby shower? Please. Just stop acting like a baby and get over it."
Stopping in his tracks, he stomped his foot down and threatened me with a fist. "God, I am so sick and tired of women like you thinkin' that they can just get away with sayin' anything they want and thinkin' that they're all the shit. Well I'm gonna—"
"You're gonna what?" Narrowing my eyes at him, I gathered my energy together in preparation for any fight that may or may not break out.
Just as all Hell was about to break loose, Chichiri intervened by sticking the end of his staff between the two of us. "This is really not the time for this, ya know?" He turned to me. "What do you plan on doing with that scarf anyway?"
Blinking a few times, I mentally got myself out of battle mode while trying to focus on an answer to his question. "Well, I really have no use for it myself, and I don't really need it in my arsenal, so when I get back to the capital city, I'll just give it to the emperor so that he could hang it up somewhere I suppose."
"The emperor?"
I nodded. "Yeah, he's a friend of mine, and I plan on returning there once another friend of mine returns from her home. But until then," Using a slight amount of my power, I transported the shawl into my personal space until I needed it later, leaving my arms free once again. "I'll be here with you two trying to get this oh-so-important plant." Or whatever whacky adventures that plan on meeting us.
"Huh, so you know the emperor. I guess that makes you pretty important, ya know?" No, not really, I'm just a friend who helps out in Suzaku affairs while babysitting his priestess. He clapped his hands once. "But onto more pressing matters!"
What I didn't expect was for his voice to come tunneling through my brain as a message. 'Remember what we talked about earlier? Now would probably be the best time to initiate it, ya know?' Aside from the shock that he could send messages telepathically, I had to focus more on his words. He was talking about the whole "bonding myself to Genrou in order to see my aura more easily" thing. Just as I was starting to feel semi-relaxed…
Grimacing, putting on a real distasteful look, I reluctantly turned to face the guy I was just in an argument with. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that yet another would start up after what I was about to force myself to do. His harsh expression immediately lit up when he saw the trouble on my face.
"What's wrong with you?"
"I think the easiest way to go at it would be for you to connect yourself with someone who has an Aura Bond with you, ya know? All you have to do is bind yourself in some way to Genrou until you can see your combined auras."
I sighed. Well, best to get this over with…
Before he even had the chance to ask another question, I reached out my hand and held his, making sure to hold on tight enough so that he wouldn't be able to escape easily.
"What the hell?" The moment he began to struggle, Chichiri extended out his hand over ours as a light green light sprinkled out in little particles from it, surrounding our hands. Not a second later, they rushed and hit our skin, disappearing on impact. Umm…what was that? As I sat there baffled, Genrou decided to take this opportunity and break free. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't going to be that simple. "Hey! What gives? I can't let go!" Getting a certain itch at the back of my mind, my curiosity led me to try and attempt to let go as well. But I found that I couldn't either. That light that came from Chichiri. Wait! Could it be that he—
"Chichiri! Please tell me that you didn't do what I think you just did." I could actually feel all of the blood leaving my face, probably making me almost as white as a sheet of paper.
He nodded with a grin. "Yup! I used a spell to bind you two together at your hands, ya know?"
"Why in God's name would you do something like that?" As I spoke, I could practically feel the heat of rage emitting off of Genrou even though I wasn't looking at him.
"I was only trying to help, ya know? Personally, I think it was a great I idea to hold his hand. That way, you can still move around comfortably and still have one arm open. I initially thought that you were going to hug him instead, that would have been an inconvenient problem for you, ya know?"
"This whole thing is an inconvenient problem!" I shouted, getting all up in his face. "If I thought that you were gonna bind us in such a way to where we couldn't let go, then I would have never agreed to this!"
With his back arching backwards, he held his smile but had a vibe of nervousness coming from him. "But it's essential for your training. Besides, if I didn't do it, then knowing you two, you would have gave up and let go before you even had a chance at learning, ya know?"
Violently yanking my arm back, by whole body almost fell backwards as Genrou switched places with me in the "Blame Chichiri Game". "What kinda damn trainin' could you possibly be doin' than involves me being connected to a woman? I didn't volunteer for this!"
"Of course you didn't! I didn't particularly think you would—that's partly why the binding spell was necessary. Oh, and it's not my training, it's Aki's. She wanted to learn how to see auras, ya know? And I wanted to help her out!" My body stiffened up. Why oh why did he bring up my name? Almost immediately, Genrou glared back at me, fire blazing in his eyes from anger.
"This was your idea? Seriously, out of all the hands in the world, why the hell did it have to be mine?" For some unexplainable reason, my body was shaking uncontrollably and my voice wouldn't work properly, making it even harder for me to defend myself. On a normal basis, I wouldn't have had a problem with telling this guy off, but seeing how mad he was—negative emotions filling the atmosphere—I didn't expect to feel a hint of distress. This of course provoked the dark ring around me to flare and go into defensive mode, using its immense energy to push the guy back. From our close range, I could see him struggling to keep his ground, almost as if there was some big force attempting to push him down. Like before, the odd phenomenon occurred where he didn't absorb the negative residue, instead, he repelled it, which turned into more of a wall than its intended wave.
"You must understand. It had to be you Genrou, you are the only one that has an Aura Bond with her. This way, she'll learn the technique faster, ya know?"
Finally finding my voice, I lashed out. "Do you honestly believe that I'd be doing this if there were someone else? If I have any chance at being able to do this, then I have to suck up my pride, and you will just have to live with it until it's all over!" Seeing as how he didn't say anything back, I continued. "I've been following you around helping you find this cure, so the very least thing you can do is cooperate." My face softened only slightly. "Please."
A few minutes went by then—to me the stare-down seemed like hours. The both of us exploring into each other's eyes with a look of fiery determination apparent in us both. No one bothered to say anything allowing the only sounds to be ones from nature—birds chirping, wind blowing causing the trees' leaves to rustle. I just couldn't ignore the fact that while all this was going down, we were holding hands. Usually, you'd expect someone to squeeze the other's hand when annoyed at them, but in this case, our hands were completely relaxed, which didn't compare to how we really felt. It was true that I didn't like that I had to do this, he had every right to be mad—hell, I would have been pretty darn pissed too. But any decent person would just accept the fact that something they didn't like happen and just go on with their lives instead of dwelling on it. It's just like when they say "No use crying over spilled milk." Now, I'm not going to lie and be a hypocrite and say that I get over everything—that would be a flat out lie. There are those times, though, when I just know when to let go. And in this case, Genrou had to let go, 'cause he was stuck with me until I got this technique down.
What seemed like ages went by before he let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine. We'll do this, but I'm not gonna like it." Before I had a chance to thank him, he turned away in an irritated fashion, illustrating just how ticked off about the whole thing he was. So what? He's pouting now?
"Look, I'll try and learn this thing as quickly as I can, alright?"
"No, take your time," His voice became harshly sarcastic, "there's nothin' that I wished fer more in my life than ta be literally stuck to a stupid girl. Now I can say that I died a happy man." Keep talking and you'll get your wish. Clenching my fists, I used every bit of my will-power to not knock his flame-headed block off. Damn that fanged bastard.
"Wow, you can actually see the tension in the air, ya know?" Both of us looked at the blue-haired monk who we temporarily thought wasn't even there. Chances were that he was trying to stay out of our little squabble until the end when he could chime in his own thoughts and play diplomat. Him trying to break the negative energy of the atmosphere made it evident that he wasn't too fond of companions battling it out like this. This kind of made me wonder: if Chichiri were there on that day when Genrou and I first met, could we have avoided that battle between us? "I'm glad that we're all at an agreement now. Perhaps as we go along, you two will be more comfortable with the idea, ya know? This could even help you two become closer friends—"
"Like hell it will!" The two of us shouted at him, causing Chichiri to momentarily shrink in our gang-up.
"It's your fault for binding us together!"
"Don't think that you're gettin' outta this so easily!"
Out of nowhere, the monk held up a small white sign that had that had the word "Pacifist" on it in bold black letters. Smiling nervously, he said, "I did it for the greater good, ya know? Just give it some time." Genrou and I just ended up narrowing our eyes at one another before simultaneously facing in opposite directions, eyes closed and our faces scrunched up in a scowl.
Chichiri scratched his cheek sheepishly and looking troubled. "I hope this turns out well, ya know?"
After a while, the three of us finally managed to start walking towards our destination once again. Chichiri led the way in front of our little group, while the bandit and I trailed behind with our hands connected, but never daring to glance at the other. If he's gonna be such a damn brat about it, then there's no use in me trying to make things all nice and peachy. I felt the need to mentally thank the universe for not allowing us to come across any towns or forms of civilization as the two of us remained bound. There would have no doubt been talking all about the place about how we were a couple, and other "so not going to happen" things. The embarrassment of it all would have probably been enough to make me go insane, or worse, take my frustrations out on the next person who felt the need to comment on our "relationship". It was bad enough to be singled out in a crowd, it was worse to be singled out in a crowd because of some stupid misunderstanding.
Maybe this whole thing was a big mistake. It wasn't necessary to learn how to see auras. After all, I had gone by just fine without even knowing about it. Was this whole thing worth the cost of losing a potential friendship? Genrou and I were just starting to get used to the idea of one another before this whole mess happened. For a person like me, losing a friend would have been yet another one added to my extensive list of ruined relationships. Being so used to it, the blow to my feelings wouldn't have been all that significant. But since there was absolutely no denying that he and I had some sort of bond between us, I felt very compelled to explore it more and see what it was all about. If it weren't for that curiosity, I probably wouldn't have even bothered the attempt at trying to get him to agree to this whole situation.
Regardless of all that, the extended periods of awkwardness were unbearable.
"Hey Chichiri, how long do you think it will take to get through the maze?" Well if someone was going to break the silence, then it might as well have been me.
"It's difficult to say. It all depends on the strength and determination of the person going through it, ya know?" Yeah, I expected an answer like that. And considering that this place was containing such a rare item, there was almost no doubt that there was more to the maze than just walk through and get lucky. There would almost definitely be some type of catch that will probably get on the last of my nerves. So in the long run, Genrou is making us go through some stupid maze to get what he wanted, and I was making him stay connected to me so that I could get what I wanted. I suppose looking at it like that just further encouraged one of the laws of the universe known as Equivalent Exchange.
About five days went by of sheer awkwardness went by. Due to the fact that we didn't even want to think of evening sleeping arrangements, we continued traveling all through the night, and taking short naps under trees during the day a few times. Every time we did that, Genrou and I ended up on opposite sides of the tree as our hands remained connected.
Somewhere along the way, the tension seemed to die down, making the staying with this group a little more bearable. Chichiri would attempt every now and then to strike up a conversation which managed to get the both of us to talk to him but not to each other. Deep in my heart I knew his true goal was trying to patch up things between the two of us, but considering how we went around parts of the conversation deliberately trying to avoid one another, he probably felt like he was failing. During the times that we weren't talking, I couldn't help but feel that Chichiri was formulating plans in his head to get the two of us to finally break the ice. After a while, I wasn't even sure if it was anger that was preventing us from talking comfortably, perhaps it was just because it was awkward that made things difficult. I started to assume this the moment when his negative feelings went away, there was a good chance that he could feel mine dissipating as well.
But I would never rule out the possibility that he just hated me.
The three of us stopped at what seemed like an entrance to a deep forest. Thick, leafy plants pretty much made up the wall of the area, making it appear as if there was just one opening to get inside. The entrance, as pointed out before, consisted of a short tunnel of trees that were arched overhead, seemingly attached to the branched of the trees straight across from them. The whole design was so organized that the structure seemed almost like it was planned as well as man-made. Each and every one of the leaves on the plants was the greenest I had ever seen, with absolutely no signs of disturbance from animals or other externalities as a whole. A place like this seemed like it was reserved for something special, it even had sort of a mystical feel to it—I could even feel that this was no ordinary forest.
It didn't take a genius to figure out that we had successfully made it to the entrance of the maze.
"Can you two feel the immense level of chi emitting from this place?" Chichiri asked. Genrou and I nodded in unison. Chi—the energy flowing throughout the universe and all the beings inhabiting it. Was it possible that this whole time I myself was manipulating chi? Somehow I figured that what I could do was a slightly different concept. But that didn't take away from the fact that the odd, soothing air around this forest was practically causing my own energy to become restless and act up a bit, attempting to escape my body on its own—a phenomenon that was so absorbing that my Wind was unconsciously starting to blow a slight, unthreatening breeze all around us. The whole thing was quite peculiar to me, but since no one was getting blown away, I had no complaints. "Ordinarily, if a person were to go through this tunnel of arched trees, it would just seem like a normal forest. But using this map as a key will reveal what's really there, ya know?" He turned to face me. "A spell is needed in order to make the gate open to the true path, ya know?"
"A spell, huh?" The hidden message of his words finally dawned on me. "Wait, wouldn't that mean that only magic users would be able to get to this place then?"
"I suppose it would mean that."
That of course made me curious. "Say, Chichiri, how did you even get your hands on that map?"
"It was a gift, ya know?"
A gift? My face fell in disbelief as I tried to scan his for any sign of deception. That would have been more successful if he didn't have such an impressive poker face. "I'm sorry, but something like that can't just be a 'gift'." With two fingers on both hands, I illustrated the sign for air quotes when I repeated the word "gift". Going along with it, I decided to put on a performance filled up to the rim with sarcasm and wit. "Hey, Chichiri! For your birthday, here's a rare map to a valuable, magical flower that can be found only once every thousand years. It was a bargain at Walmart, so I wrapped it up with the best wrapping paper possible and decided to give it to you. Oh, and for next year, how 'bout I rent you out a room in the White House and invite Katy Perry to sing a song dedicated just for you? Then we could invite all of the My Little Ponies for a real wild time." When I was finished, it didn't surprise me one bit to see the two of them giving me one of the blankest, most clueless stares I had ever seen in my whole life—I mean, they were completely lost with about eighty-five percent of the things I said. The whole scene of it all was pretty hysterical from my stand point. Think about it: I had the power to completely mess with people's heads in this world just by talking in slang and about the pop culture of my "futuristic" society. Seriously, I could be giving them a compliment or one of the biggest burns of a lifetime, and they would never even know. Yup, I could now definitely say that this world was starting to grow on me.
Don't worry, I promise to use my powers for good—or entertainment, depends on my mood.
For the remainder of a minute, both the monk and the bandit stood there with faces that told me that they were attempting to process all of the info that spewed from my mouth.
Genrou finally shook his head and replaced his face with an annoyed, yet bewildered expression. "…What? None of that made any sense. Did your brain just decide to quit on ya makin' you speak some kinda gibberish?"
"Aki, please explain what a Walmart is as well as the purpose of this White House? And who is this Katy Perry and these My Little Ponies?" Chichiri still looked a bit troubled.
Keeping my cool at this point was failing miserably. A deep laugh was forming in my gut, and I just couldn't take it anymore. With a burst, I started cracking up like no tomorrow—the confused faces of my companions made the hilarity of it all that much more satisfying.
"What are ya laughin' for?"
After wiping my tears, my arm immediately switched to my stomach in an attempt to fight the pain that was building from all of the laughter. "I'm sorry—I'm sorry! It's just too funny! You guys are so much like those spoiled rich-kids of the Host Club. They were just so ignorant!" Was that why I was laughing? Was it because these two reminded me so much of the group of friends I left behind? Back when I was with the Host Club, I learned that spoiled rich people often didn't know the things that consisted of being a "commoner". They didn't know what instant coffee was (or that it existed), they weren't aware that "poor" people had the ability to blow up a small poor for kids, they were absolutely mortified at the sizes of houses that "commoners" lived in, and I wouldn't have been all that surprised if they never had fast food a day in their lives. If it weren't for Haruhi and I, they'd probably still be in the dark about some things.
They were indeed an interesting bunch, but they were my friends, and I couldn't help but miss them.
I wasn't going to be sad about the fact that I left them, at least not at that moment. Recalling a happy memory was a good thing, just like Dark had told me.
And yet, you'll never find happiness in any of these people.
Almost immediately, my laughter died down the moment the unidentifiable woman's voice made its way into my mind.
Memories will be all you have. Can you honestly live this way? Stop fooling yourself.
At this point, my high was totally extinguished, leaving yet another uneasy silence between me and the two guys who were dropped off a long time ago on the clueless highway. I did cherish my memories, but what if the voice was right? What if I just kept moving from world to world only keeping memories, but losing friendships. Eventually, the memories may not be enough—their positive effects would just die out, leaving me with a bunch of regrets and sorrow. A person cannot live with just reminiscing on things with different people. Precious memories are meant for those who you stay with so that you can create even more memories with them. The way I was living, my memories were just a tease of what could never happen again.
"What happened to you?" Genrou must have noticed the sudden change in atmosphere around me, his amber eyes showing a hint of concern. "You were all happy just a second ago, and now you're…well, not." I wasn't sure if I was imagining it, but it sort of felt like he squeezed my hand for a split second during that last sentence of his.
Shaking my head, I told him, "Don't worry about it. Let's just go through with this thing." My expression went completely serious, showing that I wasn't really up to talking about my personal problems. "You want that flower, right? Well we're not gonna get anywhere just standing here." Still the confused looks persisted, this time I noticed that Genrou was analyzing me in some way, as if he were trying to figure out the complex puzzle that is me. At this point they both probably thought that I was completely insane. Not only had I said a bunch of stuff that would take about half an hour to explain, but I laughed like a maniac at my own joke then broke the laughter completely by pretending that the temporarily moment of happiness was just some sort of brief dream that had never happened in the first place. They had to think I was crazy—I'd think I was crazy if I were in their shoes. It was a good thing that I didn't particularly care about my appearance to others, otherwise I'd be forced to spend the next few minutes explaining what all that bizarreness was all about.
Taking a few more seconds to think things over, the flame-haired one reluctantly agreed. "Y-Yeah, she's right." Shedding all shreds of hesitation, he turned to Chichiri. "Hurry it up already, we don't got all day! The sooner we get through this place, the faster we can get that flower an' get on with our lives."
"Tell me the spell Chichiri, so that we can both say it…" An evident lack of disinterest could be heard in my voice. It wasn't exactly intentional, but with that negative female's voice coming in out of nowhere kind of made me lose some of my motivation for trying.
While analyzing the tone of my response, the monk warned us with a semi-ominous tenor. "I just thought I should mention how once we enter the maze, there will be various trials to test us and make sure that we're worthy of its precious treasure, ya know? You two think that you can overcome whatever the maze throws at you?"
"I'd like to see it bring me down so easily." Genrou brought a fist up, resting it on his chest as he proclaimed assuredly. "Hell, if ya just send me in there now, I'd probably be outta there in less than fifteen minuets. No sweat."
Giving him a sideways glance, I said, "You know it's the kind of confidence you have that horror movies tend to have a lot of fun with."
"What's a movie?"
Groaning, I ignored his question and gave my answer to Chichiri. "I'm ready for anything. But we won't even get to that anything until we open the portal, right?" After all the crap that had been thrown at me since day one of this journey, I thought I could pretty much withstand whatever that maze decided to torment me with. And if worse comes to worse, anything could be solved with the magic of a few "innocent" explosions.
With that, the blue-haired monk walked up to me and whispered the spell in my ear. The temperature of my body couldn't help but rise with how close he was to my face. Shaking my head, I mentally threw any unnecessary thoughts out the door, and listened to the short and simple incantation.
Positioning ourselves so that Genrou was in the middle, Chichiri and I held up the map with one hand as we commenced with the spell.
"We call on the dreams of creature and mortal—to heal the wounds the worlds divide. From now on, we can each create a portal that our own paths decide!" Using our combined energy on the spell, the map began to glow a bright pale green color. As if the portal were calling for it, the parchment started to vibrate in our hands, attempting to escape our grips. On an impulse, the two of us let go, watching as the map flew out to the opening of the arched trees, quickly growing greater in size until it fit the size and shape of the arched opening. No longer could we see the tunnel of trees that we were able to before, this time it was a portal consumed in an ever-glowing great light that seemed to beckon for its guests to proceed forward.
"Since the map could be considered something like a recyclable key, it has to be recreated every thousand years, ya know?" Chichiri explained. "It would also be worth mentioning that the location of the flower is different every time so that no greedy people decide to come along and use the flower for the wrong reason, ya know? We were pretty lucky to have it so close to us this time."
"I still don't understand how anyone would even be able to get that map. If things are always different, then there couldn't possibly be a pattern to where someone could get their hands on it." There just seemed to be so many holes to this whole story that just irked me.
"You're right, there is no pattern, ya know?" Chichiri explained. "You see, only those who are chosen by the universe are able to get the map. And since no one knows what the universes personal opinion is, no one can predict it, ya know?" The universe, huh? Whenever something in these worlds didn't make sense, it always traced back to the universe somehow.
To my surprise, Genrou managed to actually stop focusing on the maze for once to ask the monk a question. "So let me get this straight—outta anyone in existence, the universe decided to choose you? Ya have somethin' real valuable there and yer willin' to give it up to a couple of strangers? Why would'ja do somethin' like that when you could have the spoils fer yourself?" To be honest, I was actually thinking the same thing. Any person I knew would have turned completely avaricious the moment they realized what they had. The fact that this guy was so willing to give up something that precious to us seemed a bit…suspicious.
Instead of getting offended and emotional about it, Chichiri just gave both of us a sincere smile. "It's not like I had anything to use it for, ya know? Besides, sharing is much more exciting than keeping something to oneself, don't you agree?" Turning his attention back onto the portal, his smile never faltered. "I believe that the universe lead me to you guys, so it's no surprise to me that I was actually able to do something with this map. I'm quite grateful that you two have allowed my help in all this, ya know?" Even when it isn't direct, the universe still continued to be a part of my life whether I wanted it to be or not. And frankly, whenever the subject of the universe is even mentioned, I instantly feel and undying sense of anxiety. Could a person really blame me? If the universe didn't interfere so darn much with my life, who knows how much of a happier person I could have been. The whole being in itself was so twisted that you could never foretell what it would do next—of course I was anxious! To add to all that, the recent discovery of Taiitsukun being its "Ultimate Ruler" and all tends to steer my suspicions towards thinking that somehow, she was connected to a great deal of the crap that I had to endure. This particular situation with the maze and how the map chose people was no exception.
I had no choice but to shake the uneasy feeling I was getting from this place. The only real thing that was bothering me (that I actually chose to acknowledge anyway) was that my flow of energy was really acting up to the influence of the maze. My whole body seemed to buzz and vibrate within as the energy coursed vigorously through me, attempting to find some type of satisfying outlet. My reaction was so evident that I wouldn't have doubted that Genrou was feeling everything through the connection of our hands. If it weren't for the control I had built up, a full-blown wind storm would have broken lose, most likely blowing away anything in its path. It wasn't necessarily a bad impression, and wasn't quite good either. But what I could say was that the temptation to just release it all was so…inviting! I almost felt as if this was strictly a magic zone—anyone was free to just go crazy with their powers without any consequences. So despite my conscious warning me that this place practically reeked of trouble, I was still itching to go in and further explore this sensation.
"Let's go in." The two guys stared at me for my sudden impulsion.
It didn't take too long for Genrou to agree. "I'm with her. We're not gonna get anythin' done if we just stand here like idiots."
"Well, as long as you are sure, ya know?"
Without any further delay, Chichiri led the way into the green-glowing unknown.
The very moment I stepped foot into the portal, my energy raced about so much that even my blood felt like it was on fire—the odd thing being that I wasn't in any pain at all. The chi contained just in the tunneled portal alone was calling out to me somehow—it seemed to awaken some part of me that I didn't even know existed. The empowering feeling was so overwhelming that the sheer possibility of me giving in, letting all of the contained Wind go, was a definite possibility.
Taking my first step onto the other side of the gate was a completely different story, though.
Just as I laid my eyes onto the new forest-like terrain surrounded by leafy walls around every corner, observing the lack of other life forms, the air devoid of any breeze except my own, I was instantly caught in some type of dizzy spell. Closing my eyes, I tried to put everything back into focus once again. Could this have been a result of the energy overload?
The energy inside of me had calmed down, but a part of me still felt as if something had changed somewhere on the inside. My body continued to stay warm as the incredible rush of power consumed me.
So why did it feel as if something was missing?
Taking a peek, it only took a split second for both of my eyes to shoot wide open in shock. When I tried to take a deep breath in, it only came out as short bursts as I did my best to search for oxygen. The proper words couldn't even form to describe the emotions that came trickling through my being.
The dark ring was gone. Completely gone.
This wasn't one of those times when it seemed to just disappear—no, I could even feel its absence. It was like I was finally free of a curse that had been haunting me since I was little—the cage I was trapped in for so many years had finally been opened. Was this really happening? Or was this some kind a dream—a tease that the universe was so cruel to induce? Reaching my hand out, I had to investigate whether or not this whole thing was real—
"What are you doing?"
Ceasing the motion I was about to perform, my heart skipped a beat the moment I heard a familiar voice. There's no way…Forcing myself to shut my eyes closed, I waited a few seconds to see if the dream would end. There's no way….there's just no way! The airway to my lungs seemed to have shrunk about a million sizes 'cause breathing was becoming more and more of an obstacle for me.
There was a sudden tug on my arm. "Hey, Aki, what's wrong with you?"
Forcing my eyes open while looking away, my heart just wouldn't stop beating so rapidly. There's no denying it, it is him!
But…Turning around slowly, I traced the hand that was being held back up to its owner. The mischievous yet playful golden eyes, the pinkish, strawberry blond hair, there was absolutely no mistaking it. How would it even be possible?
"Hika…ru…" I whispered in a hush tone.
"What was that?" He asked. "I can't hear you if you just mumble things like that."
Body completely frozen from the shock, all I managed to do was just stand there, staring in disbelief. This shouldn't be real—Taiitsukun would never allow it. I should be the only one who could switch worlds like that. Why would he just show up out of nowhere? It wasn't like I wasn't happy to see him, it was just…I had too many false senses of bliss to just fall for this one. For all I knew, I could have very well been dreaming. Perhaps going through the portal knocked me out for some reason, sending me into a false sense of security. All of these choices were very likely—especially with my track record.
But he seemed so real…
"Did you lose your voice or something? How come you're not saying anything?" That was definitely his voice, and those were definitely his eyes—and hair…his vibe. It could have been possible that I was having a lucid dream—where I knew I was dreaming and was able to control everything that was happening. If that were the case, then why fight it? If dreams were honestly the only places where I could be happy, I just didn't see the harm in enjoying myself a bit.
"Hikaru!" Launching myself into his arms, a genuine smile ran across my face as I reunited myself with the boyfriend I was forced to leave behind. Ordinarily, I'd never be the one to make such a dramatic move—or the first move at all—but since this was a dream, who was there to judge? "Don't make fun of me just 'cause I did this—I'm only doing it because I missed you."
For some reason, I didn't feel his arms wrap around me in return. Instead, his body seemed to tense up in an unnatural way. "M-M-Miss you? Wha-What the hell are you talking about? I've been here this whole time you crazy woman! And why the heck are you smothering all over me?" Using his free hand, he pushed me away—his face completely flustered mixed with annoyance.
With a look of confusion and hurt, I persisted on. "Been here this whole time? No you haven't. In fact, I haven't seen you or the Host Club in weeks…almost a month…" There was hesitation as well as a slight tone of denial hanging on my voice. "R-Right?"
Cocking his eyebrow up, all he did was stare at me with his mouth gaping open as if I were the craziest person he had ever met in his life.
"He has been here this whole time, ya know?" Someone's hand rested on my shoulder in a comforting notion. "Are you okay Aki?"
Seeing movement out of the corner of my eye, the incredible, defying gravity blue bangs of Chichiri came into view—revealing that Hikaru and I weren't the only ones standing there. Actually the more I thought about it, everything was starting to come back into light. We were supposed to be in some kind of a maze…to get that flower that Genrou wanted.
Genrou…
Where was he? Ever since we stepped from the other side of the portal, I hadn't seen him at all. And yet my hand was still connected to someone's—Hikaru's. But I was supposed to be holding Genrou's hand, not Hikaru's. Genrou was supposed to be here, I shouldn't have been able to even see Hikaru. So…this has to be a dream. Yeah, that's what it is—that's why nothing makes sense. How else would the dark ring have disappeared? The universe was cruel, it was trying to get me to lose my guard and become weak—I couldn't fall prey to its trap. But my head was starting to ache and tear from the confusion—this whole situation was actually getting to me.
Trying to take my hand back, I found that it was stuck…with a spell…to Hikaru's hand…just like…
My eyes widened with terror, blood quickly escaping from my face. Oh God no…
"Aki?" Chichiri's concern persevered.
Choosing not to acknowledge the monk (not to be mean, but because I just had to get to the bottom of something), I turned my attention to Hikaru. Something is definitely up. The Hikaru I know would have been joking around and annoying me to some point with his playful sneakiness. Not only that, but after not seeing me for so long, he would have hugged me before I even had a chance to think about hugging him first. Yup…there were no boundaries with that one…My eyes narrowed as my thoughts persisted. Hikaru wouldn't have spoken to me the way this one did…what's going on?
Clearing my throat, I looked into the golden eyes of my old boyfriend—searching for all of the honesty I could. "Please tell me that you're just having a bad day and that you somehow got teleported from your world to this spot."
His face scrunched up in continued perplexity. "What are you talking about? I told you before that I've been here this whole time!" Grunting, he crossed his arms. "You can bet your ass that I'm having a bad day though—and your acting like a psycho idiot is adding to it."
My stomach performed an uncomfortable flip as explanations flew around my brain. A huge part of me didn't want to ask a certain question, but I just needed to know… "Tell me how you feel about women."
Without any hesitation and using a matter-of-fact tone, he said, "You already know how I feel about that—they're annoying, overemotional, and I can't stand them." That blow went straight through my heart, completely shredding the small spark of hope that was forming within. Knees trembling, head spinning, I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep myself up for much longer, not after all that. "Hikaru" wasn't Hikaru at all—he was Genrou…who looked like…sounded like…felt like…the real Hikaru. But it wasn't…
It was too much—I just couldn't take in anymore surprises.
Feeling gravity take over my body, my brain stopped functioning, leaving my vision to just fade to black.
The universe…
is such…
a bitch…
ATTENTION READERS: This is the Beta version of LH5W, if you want to read the official, updated version of the story, you'll have to go over to DeviantArt. com and head on over to my page. My username is Aloubell. You can also get there by going to my fanfiction. net profile which provides a link over there.
In any case, this Beta version is basically the rough draft of LH5W, my first attempt at it. Much of the plot points from this version will be the same in the official version, but there are significant and consistent characterization changes, a few (but very important) plot differences, expansion of past ideas, and overall better quality in storytelling.
All of this will be done over on DeviantArt. I no longer will write the story in traditional prose nor submit/update it here to fanfiction. net. The Beta version will remain here, just know that it isn't the 100% official story.
The official version will be written in a lazy prose mixed with play-writing elements (you'll get what I mean when you see it).
This is the new format for the story from now on.
So please head on over there if you're interested in updates to the story! Thank you for stopping by =D
-Aloe
PLEASE NOTE: The official version is being written somewhat out of order. The official version will start on chapter 46, the place where the Beta version left off. The official version will go on to complete the last chapters of Season 2. Once those are done, I will redo the story over again from Chapter 1 which will be the official version.
Having said that, if you choose to continue on reading, I hope you enjoy the Beta version and look forward to the official!