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Author Note: Hello all! Raza here and once again we've reached that point! That's right folks! We're finally here at the last chapter of my second fanfic ever! Hooray! I really never thought this moment would come (again) especially since this story has been going on for the better part of a year! Sorry for being so slow with these updates. I know I always apologize for it (I'll probably keep apologizing in the future) but sincerely guys, I'm sorry. I really wish I could be faster so I could do a lot more stories but honesty, I do pour a lot of work into these fics and at the end of the day I'm more or less pleased with their quality. Special thanks to all of you who reviewed, it means a lot to hear your praise and it also tells me you too agree with the quality of the work. That's really all I can hope for, but enough of that! Thank you all, see the end note and things to come section at the bottom, check out my profile for the fanart, and check out the super-secret-extra-special chapter after this one—a little treat for you guys that may have wanted an epilogue to the original series, I'll give you one for mine! Enjoy!
Chapter 4: This is Where I'll Die
"Royal Lilium… ever has it grown on the tombs of my forbearers… now it seems it will grow on the tombs of my servants…" Hime said as she held a single flower in front of her face. It was a beautiful thing swirled in shades of orange and hues of red with a faint tint of yellow around the edges. Even so, despite this beauty, it didn't seem to get through to the King of Monsters as she just gazed indifferently at the flower like she often did with most other things. This time though it was different… there was a sort emptiness in her stare, in the way she apathetically blinked her eyes… a kind of exhausted sorrow had taken root, the kind where it hurts too much to cry and indeed, as Hime stared at that flower that contrasted so greatly with her mood, it hurt far too much to cry.
"Huh…" She sighed tiredly as she brought her hand down and clenched her eyes shut. When she opened them back, there before her and to her sides lay rows and rows of tombs. All of them were covered with the lush looking flower and thousands of beautiful butterflies and fireflies danced all about humming along carefree to buzz of the wind beneath their melodious wings. Again, it didn't match the atmosphere… or no… perhaps maybe it did… Here at the bottom of the world in these ancient vaults of orange stone… where flowers so great could bloom without the Sun… this was where they came when they died… the heroes of the World… the Blood Warriors of the Royals.
"Fuga…" Flandre said softly as she stood a respectable distance behind her master. Hime turned her head in acknowledgment but didn't speak. She just gave a thoughtful "hm-hmm" as she turned back and continued staring at the graves.
It had been a long time…a long time indeed since she was last down here… there was never really much time to come back you see… there'd be less time in the future… it was a good moment now to come by and remember before she ran out of moments to give… here… to see her warriors as they lay among the company of the legendary… and the restful.
Perhaps "lay" was the wrong word to use there for these were empty graves… not unlike many of the others that lingered here… the "burial" was just a formality to remind the world of the great men who had fought and died in the name of the Royals, their bodies utterly destroyed by the weight of that responsibility yet they themselves would never be forgotten… Hime thought about them every day… her Blood Knights… and now she couldn't help but think about them all… that every warrior here in this ancient mausoleum was linked to her in some special way… that through their efforts time had progressed here, right here and she alone now towered as the King of everything. There was a kind of glory in that… one that deserved more than just bouquets and days of remembrance… the kind of heroism that even a God far less a King couldn't hope to adequately compensate…
She did her best anyway as she placed her hand on their tombstones going up to the graves of each of her Blood Knights like patting them on the back… as if to say it's okay… it's alright… something she never quite got the chance to do… it was like saying goodbye and thank you after all the years she'd waited so long to say those happy words, now she finally could without hesitation. And so she went, remembering each of them as she walked slowly down her row… yes… she had a row dedicated entirely to her servants… she called them by name carrying on like that until finally she stopped at the last tombstone in her procession.
This one was different from all the rest… the tombstone was the same of course; sleek black granite like stone with gold engravings, but the man… the man here was different. You could feel it in the air. It pulsated with your heart… just by standing in front of his tomb… as if to pronounce to the world that he without equal was cherished here… and sure enough Hime looked upon his grave fondly… Him… Ah yes… Him… His grave was empty as well, but like the others his memory was still strong, that now she held the responsibility to remember him too… forever… and she would rise to that task… she at least owed them that and so she gave a soft smile as she turned around fighting perhaps for the first time tears… that's right, tears as Hime turned from Hiro's grave…
"Goodbye…" she whispered as she walked away but not before she kissed the flower in her hand, a light but loving peck, and gently tucked it in between the freshly turned soil. She smiled visibly in pain as she left with Flandre by her side and neither of them said another word…
Sir Hiro Hiyorimi
199X-20XX
You Can Rest Now Hiro
You Can Finally Rest
Beloved Blood Warrior
I wonder what he's doing right now…
"Hiro! Breakfast is ready!" Sawawa's cheerful voice rang throughout the mansion's glowing halls.
"I'm here nee-san…" Hiro responded groggily as he entered into the kitchen.
"Oh there you are Hiro! I've been looking for you! Is everything alright? It's not like you to miss breakfast like that (now it's all cold)…" Sawawa huffed as she rushed over to her little brother's side putting a hand on his forehead. "I know we came back late last night Hiro but… Riza and Reiri already came down to eat… even those nice girls too!"
"Nice girls?" The young man yawned as he managed to escape his sister's grip. He went over to the plate already set out for him. It was a fine meal to be sure but he just wasn't hungry. He snuck a glance back at Sawawa before he just let out a low sigh taking the plate and putting it in the microwave anyway. "You mean Rudy and Aida?" He questioned looking back at his sister.
"Why yes! Did you see them on your way here? Such nice girls. They arrived about an hour ago—just finished eating actually."
"No I didn't…"
"Oh… Well maybe their outside packing… apparently Riza and Reiri are leaving today…"
"Yeah I know… They told me last night…"
"Really? I guess I must have gone to bed by then huh?"
"Yeah…"
"Right…" Sawawa said as an anxious look slowly crept over her features. "Well… they said they have to go see their governments today… I'm not too sure what they mean by that or what the government wants with them but I hope everything is alright."
"Everything will be fine nee-san… Don't worry… they said they'd be back in a day…"
"I sure hope so…" Sawawa smiled as she looked up at the ceiling tracing every inch of the kitchen with her weary eyes. "This house is far too big… for just the two of us…" She exhaled sharply as she shrugged and there was a sick sort of desperation in her voice… one that she'd been trying to hide and Hiro couldn't maintain eye contact. It was the same kind of desperation he carried in himself. "I never believed I'd ever own my own house…" The busty beauty continued. "Certainly not one like this… but… Oujo-sama left me the deed and all the paperwork is there…"
"Yeah…" Hiro managed to groan out a sorry excuse of a response. He realized he wasn't being all that talkative but he just couldn't help it. His sister was hurting the same as him… hell, soon she'd be hurting a lot more because of him… it was just that… any mention of Hime and he just couldn't keep himself together. He'd woken up that day only half an hour earlier with tears in his eyes praying with all his might that last night did not happen.
Don't get me wrong. Hiro was happy he'd gotten a chance to see Hime… a lot of things that needed to be said were said between the two… of course, a lot of things that should have been said remained unspoken but it was still a fine way to say goodbye, finer than any they could have hoped for just a week prior… but perhaps it was because they had said goodbye that the sorrow seemed to echo infinitely within him… like struggling to catch your breath underneath water, each big gulp you take, the more air you lose until finally you start blacking out, and Hiro was blacking out… he remembered everything, every little thing, every look she gave him, every move she made. He was intoxicated with her memory, with her scent, with her image… He put his hand to his face where she had kissed and as if sensing her memory; his cheek was on fire… like her lips were still there. And then his decision…
Sawawa barely held it together on their car ride back to Sasanaki… it was unfortunate that Riza was still drunk during the time because that meant the poor busty beauty had to drive again… 5 hours… it was a 5 hour car ride and it was silent all the way as they each attempted to lick their own wounds… how would Sawawa react when her brother died right afterward? How would she react if she knew he had chosen that fate himself? Against all the desires of those around him, all the plans and accommodations Hime had made… he chose to die…
Yeah…
Sawawa would crumble…
This wasn't about money or a future anymore… it was about loneliness… so he justified it all yesterday to Hime, his reasons, his love for her… it was supposed to be noble but he felt it was selfish and only now did he realize he had to live with his decision… well… live with until it actually happened… this was his choice… this was his decision. It certainly wasn't set in stone… he could still go to Sherwood's and accept her blood—he knew that was the outcome everyone was hoping for, that he would somehow falter and see reason. He felt a fierce resistance in his heart then—one that almost made him sick—and so he immediately remembered more reasons why he chose to do this… he wasn't right… there was no right or wrong in this situation, but he was determined… maybe he just needed to stop pouting now… maybe he just needed to make the most of his time… Unfortunately he may have decided to stop pouting a little too late for no sooner did he look back at Sawawa did he see her staring right back at him. "Is something wrong Hiro?"
"Oh! No, no… it's nothing…" Hiro stuttered shying away. Of course the minute he did that Sawawa's bright inquisitive face was right in front of his own and he couldn't help but chuckle nervously. It lightened the mood a bit… and Hiro decided to capitalize on that. "Ah…" The young man twitched thinking of something clever to say. "It's just that… you do know you don't need to wear that maid outfit anymore right?"
"Hmm? Oh this?" The busty beauty looked down and realized that sure enough she was wearing her usual maid attire. "Wow…" She smiled in wonderful surprise… there was still a slight melancholic undertone though… she looked back up at Hiro and gave a big, warm grin. "You're right! It's just… It's really weird for me. Not even a day ago we were at Oujo-sama's Palace… not even a week ago we were all here… and now things are like this… It's… unreal but I guess I must sound silly huh?"
"…Not at all nee-san… not at all…"
"Fufu…" She chimed as she looked up again staring distantly around the kitchen. "I guess I'm not use to being the…" She began but she hesitated for a moment.
"The lady of the house…" Hiro smirked completing her sentence for her. She looked back at him with appreciation but she couldn't help but look away as a great silence grew between them.
"…It's lonely here without Oujo-sama…" She finally said and Hiro once again felt himself slipping.
"…Yes… it is…"
"It's only been a day… well four days I guess… Do you… do you think we'll ever see her again?" Sawawa asked innocently as she looked out the window. It was a good thing she didn't look back at him because Hiro completely fell apart.
"I…" the young man began thinking up the words… "I…"
*Ring, Ring*
The phone went off like a stemming kettle.
"I'll get it." Sawawa said as she turned toward the door.
"I don't think so… nee-san…" Hiro mumbled to himself as he fought back tears. He wanted so much to say I hope so but he knew… it was another truth of their predicament… Another fact they all had to live with… and maybe that was indeed the fact he was running from… last night was goodbye… forever…
Yeah… it was pretty hard not to pout today…
"Hiro?"
Huh? The young man grunted as he looked up.
"Yes he's here." He heard his sister's voice echo back to him. "Right… do you want to speak to him? Oh okay… yeah no, it's no problem… fufu yeah, I'll let him know! Have a safe trip! I'll see you when you get back… alright now bu-bye!"
*Click*
He heard the familiar sound of the phone hitting the receiver as the pitter patter of feet getting closer filled his ears and sure enough Sawawa emerged back through the door.
"Hiro that was Sherwood."
"P-Princess Sherwood?" Hiro said. Oh boy what did I do this time? He thought… a very fond thought.
"Yes. She says she needs your help right away."
"Needs my help? With what? (Today of all days!)"
"Now, now Hiro… don't sound so unenthused! Sherwood-chan is Oujo-sama's sister… and as such it is our duty to help her even if Oujo-sama is not present! That said… she needs your help with packing!"
"P-packing?"
"Yes! She's going on a trip tomorrow."
"O-o-okay… but… doesn't she have Francesca and Ryu-Ryu to help her?"
"She said you might ask that… she told me to tell you to 'stop making excuses and get over here already!'"
"Right…" Hiro said as his head immediately shot down and a sweat bubble went racing down the side of his face. Sawawa's light giggling didn't help much either. "I guess I'll be going then…" He sighed after about a minute more of lamenting internally… of course… the second he made to move, his busty sister all but smacked him in the face with her… well… bust…
"Goodness Hiro! You know better than to leave without having breakfast! I know sometimes there's no helping it but you have time now! Sherwood needs your help but I'm sure she'd understand that you need to eat first! Wouldn't want you collapsing in the street or something now would we? And also you told me that your school is on break right? That's why you've been home over these past few days? (Though I did see some kids there two days ago... guess not everyone gets the same vacation? Weird…) Anyway, Hiro you have time now so you really should eat!" Sawawa finished with a smile.
Now at that point, Hiro looked at the smiling Sawawa and then back at his food. He really, really wasn't hungry but he also realized as his sister stood ominously between him and the door that he wasn't exactly leaving here without suffocating if he didn't eat his food first.
"Huh…" He sighed in defeat with a slight smirk on his face. It was just as well. These next few days were for her… for Sawawa… they were for everyone he was going to leave behind… for if he really was going through with his selfish desires… the least he could do was dedicate the last of his moments to the people he loved and make them smile… yes… that would be the best way to atone… that would be the best way to make these next few days bearable… even if he was pouting on the inside, he was going to smile on the outside… for her… for Sawawa… like she was doing for him… for Hime… for everyone… so he ate. Forcing down his food, he ate. It wasn't exactly hard to do since Sawawa had gone all out with this particular meal. I mean… it was Sawawa after all so every meal was on par with any five star restaurant but today was exceptionally different… the food he had that morning could have easily been the best Sawawa had ever prepared… that said… Hiro just wished she'd stop refilling his plate as soon as it went empty as the poor boy went through about three courses of various breakfast treats. (What am I Riza?)
"Well then…" The young man gasped comically dizzy as he finally finished his last plate of food and sipped at the Earl Grey his sister had just poured. "I'm off."
"Okay! Be safe on the road Hiro…" The busty beauty said as she cleared the plates from in front of him. "And also…"
"Hmm?"
"Don't linger too long…"
"Ha…" Hiro chuckled as he heard his sister say that. "I'll be back soon sis… I promise…" The young man glowed as the sun came through the window lighting up his smile… the first real, full one he'd given that day as the warmth of the morning settled between them and for just that instant all of his problems were insignificant as he and his sister shared a peaceful, private moment. He turned around and left with her grin engraved in his heart.
Yeah… I'll be back soon nee-san… I'm not going anymore, not for a little while more… he thought as he made his way toward the front door.
"Yo Hiro!" Riza's voice instantly called as the young man entered into the mansion's lobby. "I see you're finally up!" The half-breed smiled with a friendly toothy, grin. She put down the box of stuff she was carrying dusting her hands off as she turned toward him. "Everything okay? Not feeling weak or anything right?"
"N-no… I'm good…" Hiro stuttered as he did his best to inconspicuously avoid eye-contact. Of course, that didn't work out at all as Riza rushed right over to him and grabbed his face. She yanked him close till their noses were touching and stared him straight in the eyes…
"Ummmmmm… Riza…?"
"ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE OKAY?!" The half-breed yelled as she quite carelessly started spinning and twisting Hiro's head from side to side looking him over despite the poor man's flailing and protests.
"Tsst… even when we're leaving you're loud…" A familiar voice rang as both Riza and Hiro looked over. Hiro was thankful but he soon swallowed his gratitude as a serious look came over his face. There standing before them was none other than their resident vampire Reiri…
"Well if it isn't the moody bat hag… what Reiri? Wake up on the wrong side of the coffin?" Riza chastised as she let Hiro go but Reiri didn't say a word, not a single word. The vampire just stared at both of them, first at Riza, then back at Hiro before she gave a sort of hiss or sigh underneath her breath in place of her usual fufu… Hiro understood all too well.
Last night… he had told them everything after Sawawa went to bed. Every little thing. His decision, Hime's reaction, Sherwood's proposition. Riza took it well, and by well I mean she punched him in the face for being so stupid and damn near challenged him to a duel… she understood eventually what with being a werewolf warrior and all… that and she was just too tired—and a little hung over—to keep beating the crap out of him…
But Reiri… She was rather curt about it all. It was surprising actually… how she could be so… offended by his actions and yet at the same time so subtle in her demeanor. On the other hand, maybe that made sense… Reiri was a vampire after all and while Hiro didn't exactly know if that had anything to do with it, he knew that he never quite knew what she was thinking… she was playful, mischievous and sometimes just downright seductive but she always had a plan… not unlike Hime in that respect… hidden underneath her composure such that she would never have to react out of anger or surprise… the only exception to that of course being when she dealt with her half-breed rival…
For her to be angry now, Hiro must have really fucked up… yet another problem his decision incurred…
"Tsst!" Riza finally growled after a minute passed by and the indifferent vampire still refused to acknowledge her. "Whatever!" She spat. "Anyway Hiro, we'll be heading out in five. Where the hell are you off to?"
"Me? I got to go help Princess Sherwood."
"Oh? With what? Actually I don't really care. That baby Princess sure is needy… well give our regards to the pint-sized Princess… (haha… you should tell her I said that… pint-sized Princess… heh… I need to write that down)."
"Right…" Hiro chuckled as he scratched his head nervously. "So… you girls are really heading back to meet your governments then?"
"Yep… I've got a meeting with the Generals at 4… and I think the bat bitch over there has something similar with her people at around the same time. We'll be staying the night like we told ya… and… Rudy and Aida are escorting us there." Riza said and just like that, as if on cue, the two beautiful werewolves walked right in through the front door.
"Ah! Hello Hiro." Aida said as she and Rudy noticed him. They smiled warmly, or at least as warmly as two battle hardened she-wolves could before doing their usual werewolf greeting. Hiro just bowed in return. He was never quite sure if it was appropriate to return their gesture or not. "We didn't get much time to talk during her Majesty's coronation… Especially with all that… excitement going on…"
Excitement!? Hiro thought as he started to sweat… You call that excitement?
"Yeah…" Rudy chimed in and Hiro's eyebrow just about twitched. "That was one hell of a fight."
"Well um…" The young man grinned stupidly. "I don't know if I'd call that excitement but you're right we didn't get much time to talk… It's nice to see you guys again!"
"Likewise Hiro likewise… We're just glad we caught you before… well… hmmm…" Aida's voice trailed off a bit.
"Before?" The young man questioned.
"Riza told us about your decision…" She nodded and Hiro just about sank into himself. "To die as a warrior." The werewolf said at which point Reiri noticeably turned and looked away. "Despite how some might feel about this… it's a very respectable and understandable choice. It will be a good death Hiro… and many Werewolves will be thinking of you on the day it happens. The one who helped her Majesty ascend to her rightful place."
"Yeah and that's why we'd also like to thank you too Hiro…" Rudy cut in stepping forward. "I'll admit we were a little skeptical when we first met you two years back… it was a lot of responsibility to place on a human… but if you weren't worthy then none of us would be standing here like this and her Majesty wouldn't be where she needed to be… and that is why we'd like to ask you something now…
Hiro… Can we call you our comrade?" Rudy asked but it took a few seconds for Hiro to process the question. "Like we do for Riza?" The Werewolf said earnestly as she and Aida smiled back at him just as his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Riza heard and gave a light chuckle as she too glanced over and even Reiri couldn't help but look on in some form of subtle interest as Rudy and Aida crossed their hands above their chest and Hiro… Hiro felt himself do the same… like an unconscious reaction years in the making, he did the same. "Yeah… "He said and his eyes glazed a bit then. "I'd be honored." He grinned humbly as he finally realized he was a fool… a lucky fool… and it was more than appropriate to return their gesture…
"Rest easy Hiro…"
"Thank you…" the young man said as a silence took over the lobby. "…Do you girls have a long trip ahead of you?" He asked instantly doing his best to avoid the break in conversation… it was a happy moment too be sure but Hiro didn't like the silence even if it was peaceful. It gave him too much time to think…
"Nah…" Riza nodded. "It's nowhere near as far as the Palace even if it's also in the Monster Realm… it's just an hour before we drop Reiri off and then a straight shot for about 45 minutes till we get to the Senate."
"Oh Okay! So Reiri isn't going with you guys to the Werewolf Capital… (That makes more sense!)" Hiro said cautiously looking over at the beautiful black-haired vixen as she just kept silent with her arms crossed.
"What? Reiri coming with us to the Senate? ARE YOU HUNG-OVER OR SOMETHING HIRO?! We're only giving her a ride since it's sunny out and she can't fly! HELL NO we're not taking her with us! Sheesh! The entire werewolf world would… I-I don't even know!" Riza exclaimed as she glanced over at Rudy and Aida who just shrugged their shoulders. "EXPLODE!"
"Yep." Aida shook her head.
"Probably." Rudy agreed.
"Uh-huh…" Hiro cringed. "But is that really better then? You girls giving her a ride into Vampire territory?"
"They're not coming with me either Hiro." Reiri finally spoke albeit flatly, her voice completely devoid of its usual playful tone. It made Hiro stand at attention. "It'd be the same thing if they came with me… no… actually, it'd probably be even worse since much of the outlands to the Vampire Society are filled to the brim with lesser vampires (most of them are inactive during the day but even so)… it'd be suicidal and again it'd probably start a war… Luckily, there's a strict demilitarized stretch on the Kingdom's I-84 that specifically separates Werewolf and Vampire territories. They can drop me off there and I have a friend who'll be waiting to pick me up and bring me the rest of the way."
"O-oh…" Hiro practically choked out as Reiri finished explaining herself and with that, against his best efforts, the young man ran out of things to say and the lobby slipped into silence.
"Wait a second…" A voice resounded throughout the room and Hiro looked over to see it was Riza now who spoke. "YOU HAVE FRIENDS?" The half-breed practically yelled in Reiri's face causing Aida and Rudy to nearly die laughing. Reiri just stared at the werewolf in disbelief as Riza too busted out laughing at which point a vein popped out of the side of the vampire's beautiful head.
"WELL I MIGHT NOT HAVE A WOLFPACK LIKE YOU FRISKY BITCHES BUT YES! I HAVE A CHILDHOOD FRIEND MEETING ME THERE!" The black haired Vampiric vixen all but shouted only after the fact realizing she was shouting. She put a hand to her mouth as she cleared her throat attempting to hide her blush… I mean really… Losing her cool and getting dragged into Riza's pace… it's unbefitting of a pure-blooded vampire such as herself to follow after a dog but it was just as well… it lightened the mood and even Reiri seemed less angry as she gave a low sigh and her brow softened a bit… perhaps because she really wasn't angry in the first place, not at them or more importantly, not at Hiro and his decision… she was just frustrated because she cared for him… yes… that was it… that was all… and with that, as Hiro smiled contently listening to the Werewolves snicker at the fuming Vampire in this familiar albeit final scene, he realized the fullest extent of his love for them, their love for him, their love for each other… including Reiri's… Indeed, there was no better time for him to go… no better time to finally slip away…
"Alright I think I better head over to Sherwood's now… I'll see you guys when you get back! Have a safe trip!" The young man finally excused himself—perhaps in more ways than one—as he walked toward the lobby door.
"Hiro…" A familiar voice called him back. He turned around just in time to see everyone as they stared at Reiri who in turn stared at him… He stared right back but no words were said. No one knew how many seconds passed by like that…
"…You better not die until after we come back…" Reiri spoke. She finally spoke as she winked at him, and Hiro was in awe. That was it just then… the perfect thing to say, the perfect goodbye for all of them as they stopped everything they were doing and all of Hiro's friends, Riza and Reiri, Aida and Rudy, the original gang, followed after their blood warrior, the warmest smiles of a family seeing him off plastered across their faces.
"I promise." Hiro said ignoring the fact that he was making an awful lot of promises lately. He made for the door with their eyes following lovingly after him. Thank you Reiri. He thought as he confirmed in his heart that the Vampire wasn't angry at him… better yet… she had forgiven him…
Wow… oh wow… Hiro whispered in his mind as a strange but beautiful thought hit him then.
He really was coming to the end of his life… yes. Everything just seemed to be wrapping up so nicely… there were no longer any grudges or loose-ends… no petty squabbles to deal with… time was far too precious for any of that nonsense… Regrets? Well of course… everyone has regrets… hell he'd worried himself sick spending the last few days after they'd beaten Sylvia thinking about all the "what if's" but even so, Hiro still had closure… that's better than what a lot of people get so perhaps maybe he should be grateful and stop pouting for real… and while he kept telling himself that, only now, here, after being reminded so profusely that he was loved, did he realize he was blessed…yes, that's right… that he could be so selfish in his desire and act upon his impulse, choose his own death and yet his family would, cry yes, but also smile as they buried him…
As they buried him…
Words cannot even begin to describe that kind of glory… Hiro didn't even dare to try…
Everyone… He thought affectionately as he walked down that old familiar road toward town heading in the direction of Sherwood's manor on the far side of the city… Along the way he left behind stray droplets of tears as they unevenly dampened the road on which he walked and indeed, as Hiro walked down the streets of Sasanaki, tears streamed silently down his face as he smiled in pure joy…
What a magnificent way to come to the end of his life…
An hour later…
"Ah… Princess Sherwood?" Hiro hollered as he walked into the lobby of the young Princess's mansion passed a bowing Francesca who held the door open for him. "I'm here because you called? Something about packing?"
"Ah Hiro! Is that you? Over here!" Rang a familiar voice from up the stairs. "Francesca! Bring up some tea for us won't you?"
"Fuga." The tall beautiful robomaid hummed as she put a hand on Hiro's back and extended her other toward the stairs bidding the young man to ascend… and so he did. Up the stairs he went until finally he was standing before a long corridor lined on either side with room after room. It was very much akin to Hime's, or rather Sawawa's, mansion as a matter of fact, though that may have been due simply to the latter being the first of its kind here in Sasanaki. It belonged to Hime and Sherwood's father after all… Sherwood then constructed her manor based off the original design so yes there was a striking similarity—both in interior and exterior—and Hiro always felt sort of at home whenever he came by… even if he used to lament dealing with the younger of the two regal sisters… He chuckled at that thought but now wasn't the time to be nostalgic… He walked through the corridor looking room to room until some low thudding noises and muttering caught his attention up by an open door at the end of the hall.
"Princess Sherwood?" He walked in with all the caution he could muster—he always took care whenever opening doors in these mansions… especially after Hime's "chainsaw-greeting" that one time… Thank god Sherwood never used chainsaws and sure enough there was the little Princess busy as can be, surrounded by bags and luggage all around her. Ryu-Ryu was there too off to the side… gnawing on some bamboo… like always.
"Ah Hiro!" Sherwood said as her face instantly lit up. It caused Hiro to blush a bit as he blinked and looked away. He wasn't expecting that then, such a happy hello, though it wasn't exactly unwelcome… actually he was half-expecting her to lecture him on being so late since he did stop to talk to Riza, Reiri, Rudy, and Aida for awhile… that and his decision… Onee-sama's word had finally come and gone and now it appeared that there was no limit to Hiro's stubbornness such that even she, his master could not dissuade him from his choices… so yeah he thought Sherwood would be a little more pissed with him, perhaps it was a mistake he kept on making, underestimating his friends' tolerance and love for him… hell, he was expecting Sherwood to punch in the face and pour her blood down his throat while Ryu-Ryu and Francesca restrained him… it was truly a very happy surprise that she didn't—this day seemed to be filled with those—and, on a side note, that wasn't the only thing that surprised him about her cheery demeanor…
Sherwood… He hadn't noticed it before or rather he hadn't given it much thought beyond a normal compliment but over the years she had indeed become quite beautiful. She was still rather petite and all but even so, like with her face… she had become a lot like Hime… the same nose, the same brow, the same eyes of course, and even the same chin. That if she grew out her hair and changed her crown, Hiro could swear he'd be looking at a younger Hime… his heart sank a little at that point but he did his best to carry on and shake off those ridiculous feelings. "P-Princess Sherwood." He stuttered again doing his best not think about it as he looked around the room filled to the brim with luggage stacked on luggage.
"How are you feeling?" Sherwood asked as she hopped over to him. "A little sluggish or…?"
"N-no… I'm fine—"
"Dizzy?"
"Huh?"
"If you need to rest I can bring you a chair…"
"N-no really I'm fine Princess Sherwood I—"
"Or better yet, you can use Ryu-Ryu!"
"Aroo?"
"He's actually quite soft."
"I'm fine Princess Sherwood thank you for asking." Hiro finally managed to get a word in edgewise as he smiled warmly.
"Are you sure Hiro?"
"Yeah… it hasn't even been a day yet since we last saw Hime… she gave me blood before I left…"
"I see…" The young Princess sighed as she looked away. She realized she might have sounded a little too disappointed there and she instantly glanced back up at Hiro who just stared right back at her with a friendly smile. "I'm sorry Hiro…" She said shaking her head apologetically. "It's just that…"
"You want to ask me to be your blood warrior again…" Hiro said gently finishing up her sentence for her. Sherwood twisted up her mouth for half a second and Hiro realized he was hitting the nail on the head.
"…"
"And you know the answer I'm going to give." He continued doing his best not to sound angry or anything like that because he wasn't… quite the contrary… he thought it all rather… sweet Sherwood wanted to save him this badly… of course he'd never tell her that to her face, not unless he wanted Francesca burying him ahead of time.
"…"
"But you just can't help but want to ask anyway. Isn't that right?" Hiro finished and there was silence then… oh? He thought. Perhaps I overdid it? But right as he thought that, Sherwood just gave another sigh before she turned back and looked him straight in the eyes.
"…You really are just like Onee-sama…" The Princess whispered to herself. "And you seem happier than I expected…"
"Hmm? What was that Princess Sherwood?"
"Nothing… nothing at all… you big idiot…"
"Huh?!"
"Never you mind. Right! I called you over today because I needed a few extra hands to help me pack and load up my truck."
"Uh… I mean sure I don't mind but… you have Francesca making tea and Ryu-Ryu eating bamboo… couldn't they just… ah… help?"
"What was that?" Sherwood said throwing Hiro a glare that had him swallowing his own tongue.
"S-so packing right! I'll bring these two suitcases to the car…"
"That's what I thought… fufu…"
"You're going back to the Kingdom then?"
"Hmm? Oh right yes… I have some reports I need to pick up about some rare monster sightings within the Human World and the Monster Realm…"
"Are you staying for awhile? This is a lot of luggage." The young man pressed as he struggled slightly to pick up the nearest suitcase.
"It's not for my trip to the Kingdom Hiro. I'm only staying for a day and even if I was going back there for an extended period of time, they have everything I could ever need." Sherwood said confidently with a small smile and, after going to the kingdom himself, Hiro believed that… "No this is for the expedition I'm going on in a week. Those documents I'm going to pick up will give me the details."
"Wow…" Hiro mumbled thoughtfully. "So a day of celebrating and that's it? You and Hime are already getting straight to work?"
"A day of celebrating?" Sherwood repeated slowly. "Why… whatever do you mean Hiro?"
"Huh?"
"We might be getting right back to work but the celebrations are still in full swing!" The young Princess said as she closed her eyes wearing a proud smile that sent a small sweat bubble down the back of Hiro's head. "As you know, the coronation of the Monster King is more than a once in a lifetime event. It involves the political climate and policies of the entire Monster World for years to come. That's why many monsters are still trying to make their way to the Palace… to join in the celebrations and take part in this historic event that directly affects them all and their future descendents."
"Even after they missed the actual ceremony though?"
"Well… these things can't be helped Hiro… the Monster Realm is much bigger than the Human World despite the two existing… next to one another. I'm sure you've heard this from my sister… and what's more, it's not like the Kingdom was holding its breath waiting for us to end the War… people were working just a few days ago… the Kingdom was proceeding along under my father's rule… but then Onee-sama won… only then did the Kingdom stop what it was doing, completely.
Besides… no one actually missed the ceremony Hiro… we're Monsters yes but we still use technology or did you forget about Flandre and Francesca? Onee-sama's coronation was broadcasted all throughout the Kingdom… in fact it's still being broadcasted today since it just happened yesterday… you'd honestly have to be dead or… human… to not have heard of or seen Onee-sama's coronation… the monsters traveling to the Palace now are just going to join in the parties and festivities…"
"How long does that last?" Hiro asked curiously as he moved some more suitcases to the door.
"The celebrations in the Palace? Last I looked at the schedule board… there were festivities and plans for up to the next two weeks…"
"TWO WEEKS!"
"Of course Hiro! (In ancient times it used to be three or four!) The palace hasn't even been filled to the brim yet... it was fairly empty during Hime's coronation… though that couldn't be helped since it was such an impromptu arrangement… by the end of next week… I image the Palace will have well over a billion monsters in it and its surrounding areas.
That said… there is still much to do which brings me back to why we're getting to work so quickly. The Kingdom is undergoing its first change in leadership in over 100 years! That's not something to joke about. (In the past King's used to rule even longer!) So you see… every royal official needs to be onboard doing their best to help with this transition period… a lot of policies need to be reevaluated and revised to make sure they're current or if Onee-sama even agrees with them. There are thousands of laws and customs concerning each particular state under our dominion Hiro and it's the King's job to know them all and ensure they don't contradict with any new policies he or she wishes to implement.
And that's just the political aspect of things… military and diplomacy are other matters entirely. Though it may not look it, the Kingdom is involved in several conflicts at the moment. Mostly just playing big brother trying to keep factions like the Werewolves and Vampires from killing each other off and turning the whole country into a warzone… that's the most infamous example but there are still more fights, battles, and wars going on than I care to name. Onee-sama is of course aware of all of them being a Royal Princess and what not but now that's she's King, she needs to be brought up to speed on the actual logistics of each situation. Things like troop positions and resource allocation, supply routes and strategic objectives, pardons and treaties, offers for negotiation and peace talks… I'm talking rather clumsily about it all and it's far more important than I can ever stress in a short conversation but the point is the same… This sort of work needs to be done before the Kingdom can proceed under Onee-sama's regime… the party allows time for all administrative duties to be taken care of…"
"Wow…"
"It's not really all that bad despite how I'm making it sound, but it is important… honestly it's mostly just busy work but it can get tedious. This is basically Onee-sama's preliminary review of all of the laws our father set in place or adopted from previous generations. Most changes will be minimal I'm sure (compared to the sheer amount of laws there are), but it's nonetheless important for the King to get this out of the way before the Kingdom finishes up its celebrations and everyone gets back into the swing of things. Can't have any confusion on where the new King stands now can we? Fufu…"
"I guess not…" Hiro sighed and with that he and Sherwood just stood quietly together. He looked over at the little Princess expecting her to say something more but she just smiled back… like she was enjoying the moment perfectly as it was. "I'll bring these to the car…" Hiro finally said as he grabbed a few nearby suitcases and made toward the door. He didn't get very far… not very far at all.
"Hiro…" Sherwood whispered to him softly as the blood warrior felt a pair of supple hands turn him back around and work their way underneath his arms.
"P-P-princess Sherwood what are you doing?" The young man freaked with his eyes practically spinning out of his head as the blonde haired tomboy all but embraced him.
"You know… I never lied to you Hiro…" Her suddenly meager voice called from under him. "Not once…"
"Huh?"
"I really did want you to be my blood warrior all those years ago…I still do…" She said silencing Hiro as the young man looked down at her as she squeezed him with her arms and rested her head on his chest. "I mean Ryu-Ryu is good, don't get me wrong, and I would never have made it this far without him… or Francesca… but I wanted you… ever since you saved me all those years ago back when I attacked Onee-sama… I wanted you…
Fufu… I know it was just a fantasy… yet there was something about you… in the way you moved… a sort of courage and strength, like you were in a different world… and despite all the hardships you faced… you were that kind of man… the one that keeps going… fufu… I suppose it's as I thought… I really did… I really do love you Hiro…"
"P-P-Princess Sherwood…" Hiro mumbled as his lips quivered.
"Forgive me… I know where you're heart truly is…where it belongs… I just couldn't help but say those words… Sorry for being selfish, it's unbecoming of a Princess… Don't you say anything though Hiro… I see that look in your eye. If you speak now it'll all be over for me… and I understand anyway… I miss her too…" Sherwood said softly as she snuggled a bit more into their hug… Hiro didn't say a thing… he couldn't even if he wanted to… he had no words left to say because Sherwood said it best… his only possible response was to finally accept the hug the little Princess was giving him… though again she really wasn't that little anymore coming up to about his chest which was saying something considering he himself had grown, he gently wrapped his arms around her and the two stayed locked like that for a bit with their thoughts on Hime… Hiro felt the urge to apologize to her but as he tore himself from their hug to look her in the eyes, Sherwood just smiled tiredly and shook her head from side to side… everything was clear then… he still wanted to apologize for being the ass of a man that he was but she was too kind to allow that… she instead pulled him back into their hug…
"Oh… I almost forgot Hiro." Sherwood finally said after they slowly dislodged themselves from each other. She walked over to a pile of boxes near some more suitcases pushing a few over in the process as she dug into the contents. After about a minute or two she found what she was looking for and she turned back to Hiro with a rather large but flat looking parcel. "When you get a chance Hiro please look this over…"
"What is it?" The young man asked as he took the brown looking package.
"It isn't sealed…"
"Oh?" Hiro questioned as he looked back at the package turning it from side to side to find the opening. "A book?" He asked curiously as he peaked inside before looking back at the Princess.
"Yes… but don't read it now… Onee-sama gave that to me a few days ago to have Francesca translate. She told me that when I was done… I should pass it along to you… it's… it's something you need to see when the time is right…"
"When the time is right?"
"You'll know… before the end…"
"I understand. Thank you Princess Sherwood…"
"You idiot…"
"Huh?"
"Stop calling me Princess already! Sheesh… Sherwood's just fine!"
"Ah… Forgive me Sherwood…"
"Tsst…" The young girl grumbled as she looked at Hiro's handsome face. She couldn't help but want to call him an idiot again, that or hug him, as she felt her cheeks changing color. In the end she just let it go. "Shall we get back to work now?" She sighed. "You damn lady killer you…"
"What did you say?"
"Nothing Hiro… Where is Francesca with that tea?"
Day Three…
Days flew by quickly after that. Sherwood had made good on her word and arrived back a day after she'd visited the Kingdom. The first thing on her agenda was to call Hiro—of course—and make sure he hadn't passed away before she had a chance to see him again… at least one last time… she'd never forgive him otherwise…
Riza and Reiri too came back a day later and they, knowing full well what was going to happen, made sure to clear their schedule… to stay by Sawawa's side when it happened… Hiro was thankful… yes… he was thankful… or perhaps he was something more… beyond the words, it was something deep inside, a sort of loving feeling but not quite love or rather not just love… it was a sincere appreciation of everything, of their happy family, and the knowing that they were here for him and that just two years ago all of them were strangers… it was a beautiful thing and though their journey was not easy… he was happy with the time they'd spent together… he was happy that they wanted to be by his side, by his sister's side, till the very end… his very end… the only thing that would have made the situation perfect would've been if Hime herself was there to see him too… he took comfort from the fact that she was still alive and if he knew her like he thought or rather like he knew he knew her, she was thinking about him… and she would have given anything to be there… at the end of his life…
And so now was the perfect time to say this… yes… the truth that summarized their entire adventure… that despite all the hardships and tragedies… despite all the wounds and injuries…
They had had a good run…
"Hehe…" Hiro chuckled to himself. "The Best…" He whispered as he looked up at the sky just thankful for everything…
I guess I'll be seeing you soon… Mom… Dad… He thought remembering all the events (both the good and the bad) that led him to this point.
"HIRO!" Sawawa's voice interrupted him as it echoed from the house. The young man just took one last look up at the world giving a pleasant sigh as a gentle breeze ruffled his hair… up above, a few birds went chirping by and even the clouds seemed to part allowing the Sun to peak through bathing Hiro, no, bathing the mansion in its ever glowing love… just a few feet away, a few squirrels pruned at the ground and the faintest scent of freshly cut grass filled the air…
Hime… Hiro thought as he went back inside to find his sister.
"Nee-san?" Hiro called as he made his way into one of the mansion's many parlor like rooms. "You were calling me?" The young man asked as he looked around.
"Ah! Hiro yes!" Sawawa said as she popped up from behind a table giving poor Hiro a spook.
"N-nee-san! What are you doing over there?"
"Fufu! What does it look I'm doing silly? I'm cleaning!"
"Now?! (And you're still wearing your maid uniform?)"
"Of course Hiro of course! Oujo-sama may have left us the mansion but that doesn't mean we can just let it fall apart! Why… we have to keep this mansion in tip top shape as if Oujo-sama herself might walk down any one of these halls at any given moment because no matter who owns this mansion, or who will ever own this mansion, it will always belong to OUJO-SAMA!" The busty maid roared with life as she held her fist high, burning fire in her eyes blowing poor Hiro away with the sheer force of her conviction. Hiro just blinked a few times as he worked himself back onto his feet. He just stared for awhile at her in her passion… he was going to say something more but he quickly changed his mind and just gave another light sigh.
"Yeah…" He finally whispered to himself before giving a chuckle, a loving chuckle. "Yeah you're right nee-san. Do you need my help with anything?"
"As a matter of fact I do Hiro! I was actually calling you to see if you could dust the study? The one next to Oujo-sama's room?"
"Say no more, consider it done nee-san."
"Thanks Hiro… For the life of me I don't know how I missed that room when I was cleaning earlier. I'd go back and do it myself but I need to start making dinner now… you know how Riza gets if we're late fufu!"
"Yeah… I know alright…"
"Oh! And the duster, broom, and pan are outside Oujo-sama's room. You can leave them there after you're done… I want to redo the hallway itself after dinner anyway."
"Understand sis!" And with that Hiro turned and left the room leaving his sister behind humming along to the sound of her own heart beating as she waltzed her way around cleaning everything in sight… it was something he needed to see… something he needed to engage in… a sort of nothing conversation… where everything beforehand had been heavy… it reminded him once again of just how precious the little things were… Sawawa cleaning… making food for him… the small talks between them…
My god…
There really must be a God to make life this precious toward the end… like a master telling stories, even though this wasn't a perfect ending… Hiro learnt to love it more and more… and while that may have sounded tragic, like a resignation, it was also kind of happy… at least to some degree…
At any rate, Hiro tried his best not to think about it—that was his problem all along—and soon he found himself down that old familiar hall he almost never visited. Hime's hall… and there by her door lay the duster, scoop, and pan, exactly where Sawawa had said they'd be. To Hiro's right with its door already opened was the parlor and so the young man got to work right quickly dusting for about half an hour till the parlor damn near sparkled… It went by quicker than he expected… he actually hoped it would take a little longer… more time to numb his mind and lose himself in the days gone past… to look up at the sky and say the best once again… Regardless, Hiro finished up figuring he'd just spend some more time with his sister… the next best thing… he'd practically spent every waking moment with her over the last two days (though he did manage to fit in some Riza, Reiri, and Sherwood time in between). It was just his way of trying to comfort them over his soon-to-be… departure… his way of living for them, dedicating his last few moments to them… of course… and it worked out well… Sawawa in particular seemed to be in a much better mood than she was at the start of the week… and Hiro would be lying if he said he himself wasn't enjoying their time together… But now was not the time for such thinking… now was the time for doing and so Hiro put the cleaning supplies right back where he found them as he turned to walk away….
Yet, the instant he tried to do that, he found that he could not. He turned back around and there before him was Hime's room… and it was open… I mean it was open before but he didn't get a good look inside… hell even after all these years it was a private place, one he never quite had the honor to frequent… that's why he sort of just shut it out of his mind as he went along… but here… now… at the end of everything… it was open, eerily so… like an invitation years in the making… and a soft breeze blew by then, from the open windows across the rather large room, ruffling past the edges of his master's sheets on her bed as it wisped Hiro's breath away bidding him to come in…
It was too much for him to resist… and so Hiro took his first steps in a long, long while into that heavenly-blessed room… and it was indeed heavenly-blessed… the minute he walked in, as if a sort of reaction to his presence, he smelled the sweetest perfume on Earth… like a deep yet soft scent that had, over the years, worked its way into the fabric around him, the wardrobes to his right and to his left, and even the walls seemed repainted with that pleasant present scent… it wasn't colon nor was it really any sort of perfume… no… it was more sincere than that… and Hiro knew because he knew Hime… that despite being a Princess she never wore such things… she never had any need for them… she was perfect as she was… especially to him… and this was her scent… as natural as can be… the sweetest smell of such an unassuming creature and yet simultaneously the greatest being on the Earth… Hime's scent cuddled Hiro and it was another thing that invited him in… warmly at that…
So he walked… aimlessly around, staring at all the furniture and the soft, delicate décor that Hime was known for… he half-hoped to hear his master's toneless voice scolding him as it had so many times before, telling him to get out… but no… her room was empty… and that was fine too… he could, however, definitely sense Sawawa's handiwork here as the room shun spotlessly with barely any specs of dust floating around the air. It was actually because of that that Hiro noticed Hime's desk… that's right… her desk… perhaps the only thing that was slightly off-key from the picture perfect and regal room. Hime's desk was… well… it was actually a bit of a mess… there were a few stacks of cluttered paper and pens and pencils that hadn't been put away. Oh sure it was clean. Sawawa had dusted and polished it well and that was obvious from the light scent of furniture polish that still clung to the wood but it was as if she didn't have the heart to put all the stuff away… like she left it exactly how Hime had left it…
"Hmmmm…" Hiro let out a long sigh as he put his hand on the old mahogany desk. For some reason he felt his heart throb violently then and he even felt a little light-headed… Yet as he reached to feel his heart, his fingers tracing over the folds in his buttoned up shirt, a strange thought hit him then. There, underneath the fabric, nestling snuggly on the breath of his chest was the book Sherwood had given him. He had been carrying it all around you see, just in case he came across the "right moment"… and now… it appeared that moment had come… there was such a strong desire in his heart this had to be it… and so taking care, the young man unbuttoned his shirt and took out the fine leathery book. It was black all over except for the spine with its gold trimmings. Hiro put the fine tome on Hime's desk (which fit perfectly by the way among her assorted clutter) and pulled back the adjacent chair to sit down in front of it… then, taking a deep breath because for some reason he suddenly felt nervous, he clenched his eyes shut and gave a light sigh… this was the moment of all truth… the final mystery of his long and pleasant misadventures… he opened the book… and another fell out…
And he just stared for a minute or two… trying to figure everything out… it didn't take him long for as he flipped back and forth between the two, one in German and the other in Japanese, Hiro remembered what Sherwood said and figured the latter was Francesca's translation… he could also tell from the handwriting that the German was written by Hime… so he started reading, eagerly, earnestly, but after a single paragraph… his jaw dropped… it just flat out dropped…
This was Hime's journal…
This was his Master's journal…
And so he again just stared vacantly this time in disbelief, his poor heart skipping a few beats…he hesitated for a second… but only a second… Sherwood had given him this… Francesca had translated it… Hime wanted him to see this… yes… he hesitated for only a second, before he practically shoved his entire face into the two books… turning both pages accordingly so that the dates matched up… and what he found there was extraordinary…
He had always know his master to be this cold sort of ice princess that time had forged and yet here, by the weak teetering of a flimsy paper, he found the warmth that flowed, the secrets untold, and he found life as she spoke valiantly forever strong and yet vulnerable in the pages that detailed her long and hard life… and like the bottomless man-breaking feelings of losing a lover or someone more than close to ones heart, Hiro nearly broke in two as he kept reading and reading and finally found the pages in which his name appeared… and what a great pain he felt as he read all about his master's hidden fears… how intimate they really were at the end of this war and yet how much he still did not know… the fear… the pain… the insecurities… the self-loathing, the feelings of failure… she was a girl, a monster girl and a Princess at that, but she was a girl, not really much different from a human female, it was something else… and his heart was on fire, reaffirmed with his conviction and his uncompromising love for her as he held her journal to his chest and hugged it while thinking of her name… Hime…
No one knows how much time passed by as the young man read and read until finally he made it to the last entry and there… as he read the final lines and looked up at the date… he realized it was written just a few days ago… the night before their blind assault on Sylvia… the final words that his master had written were this:
"…yet do I still not know what we will face, I can assure that we will still face it… we must… under Sylvia's rule the Kingdom would be a dark, abysmal place… and though I know the fullest extent of her ability and her prowess to lead, it is manipulation and deceit at its core and I have my doubts that even if blessed with the supreme power of our race, she would be 'a pure and benevolent being' like in the old stories… that is why Sherwood must ascend the throne… she is a far better candidate even if she is still young… she is my sister the same as Sylvia… and I know her abilities as well, that she is more than ready, far more than even I to take over in our father's stead… yet even then I fear things will not be so easy… it is but a hope that we can beat our older sister now. Here, at the Battle for the World… what will come after, I doubt even the Phoenixes know…
Privately, I wonder if this sort of ultimatum has ever occurred in the past. It sounds like something out of a human folklore… This final battle between ideologies so distinctly different… I can only speculate but for now and for the future of the Kingdom… I cannot stand idly by and lose without a fight… I owe [my blood knights] that… I owe him that…
It is funny… how miraculous our adventure must seem in hindsight… I indeed owe him that…
So even if we lose this war… we will try our best like we always do, like always have… and should we still fail… I know he will at least make it out… Sylvia may be cruel but she doesn't do anything without a reason, however ridiculous that reason may be… if I fall, she would have no reason to kill him or Sherwood… the victory would be obvious then… and so I pray that he will find this… I pray that he and his sister will find the deed to this house that I am leaving them… and I pray that for all time… for every single moment that I could have said it… that I should have said it… that here and now… no matter what happens… he knows…"
日和見日郎
愛してる.
Hiyorimi Hiro…
I Love You…
And that was it… and it was just as well as Hiro put one of his hands to his mouth unable to continue… that was the last sentence written… or rather translated… or no… it didn't even need to be translated as Hiro looked from journal to journal and saw that the final lines were written the same… both in Japanese…
"I love you too Hime… I love you so very, very much…" He choked out as tears fell from his eyes unto his lap, and he silently cried clenching his lids shut… Thank you Sherwood… He thought as he sniffled trying to stop his tears. He smiled with his moist eyes and again looked up toward the sky… or rather ceiling… he definitely needed to read that… no matter the pain it brought… it was like being told the last bit of a secret before it was too late to know… he felt one step closer to the woman he loved even as he felt himself slipping away… how grateful he was for that even if his heart was tied in knots. Thank you Hime… he also thought… like a reminder of just how intimate they really were…
"Hiro!" He heard his sister's familiar voice call as it again echoed throughout the halls.
"Coming!" The young man shouted as he wiped at his tears and left that beautiful room. On Hime's desk lay the two journals opened to the last page that she had written… on the next page to the right of it… there was a note… One that Hiro had written himself… nothing long or terribly fancy… just a phrase but it was the meaning behind those words that had the power to shake the world…
姫 も 愛してる
I love you too… Hime…
And with that as the sun continued to shine triumphantly across her desk, a great and soothing wind blew through the open window, ruffling the curtains, closing the book… and that was that…
That was the happy ending to this long and tragic tale…
"N-nee-san…" Hiro called as he made his way into the kitchen. He did his best to stifle the sound of his own voice breaking as he walked in looking for his sister. What he found instead was Riza and Reiri sitting peacefully at the kitchen table.
"What's up Hiro, not dying are ya?" Riza boomed so bluntly that Reiri couldn't help but smack herself in the head.
"Oh Riza!" Sawawa's familiar voice chimed as she stood cooking in front of the stove. "You always make such silly jokes!"
"Yes you always make such stupid jokes you damn blunt bitch!"
"It's okay Reiri… I'm fine Riza… I just came by because my sis was calling me… you called me right Sawawa?"
"Yeah I did Hiro! I hope you managed to clean the room."
"It's done nee-san don't worry about it."
"Good!" She sang as she covered the pot she was cooking and walked over to the sink to wash her hands. "I need you to get…" She began but then she stopped the moment she glanced over at her little brother. "Are you okay Hiro? Your eyes are moist…"
"Oh are they? Well… I must have got some dust in them…"
"Oh okay… be more careful you know?"
"I know… W-what did you need me to get again?"
"Oh Right! I need you to run to the market real quick. I made a list of stuff to buy… don't worry! We don't need anything right now but with how busy we've been over the last week, I figured it was best to restock up on some provisions. At least until the weekend when I can go and properly shop."
"Yeah no sure… that sounds fine nee-san."
"Great, here's the list Hiro. Make sure to come back in time for lunch!"
"Oh don't you worry sis… I'll be back for lunch and dinner! So don't go giving my share away…" The young man joked as he turned to leave the room. Yet right as he made to do that he couldn't help but turn back around. And he just stared at Sawawa for a bit as the busty former-maid went humming along about her business moving at the speed of light cooking and cutting and frying things up.
"Is something wrong Hiro?" She asked out of the corner of her eye when Hiro refused to move. It snapped the young man back to reality.
"Nee-san…" Hiro said slowly as his gaze shifted to his feet. At that point, Sawawa actually stopped for a second wiping her forehead with her forearm to get rid of the sweat, she blinked a few times before walking over.
"Hiro?" She asked again this time bending her knees a bit to see below his bangs which covered up his eyes, and everyone now was looking at her little brother.
"Nee-san!"
That was the last thing that anybody heard… they were all too caught up in what happened next to hear anything else…
He hugged her…
That's right. He actually hugged her, surprising both himself and Sawawa for an instant. She didn't say a word though it was obvious she wanted to but the earnest intent conveyed through the desperation in the young man's squeezing but loving grip silenced her, hell it silenced them all as Riza and Reiri too looked on in wonder.
He didn't do that often… not often enough… hugging his sister or just making it clear he was grateful to her for all she'd done… I mean… there was always the potential of suffocating should he get too close but all jokes aside; he really just never spent much time with Sawawa. Plain and simple. Something else was almost always more important you see, and to be fair it usually was, fighting to protect Hime, to save the day… these things were definitely worth all of his attention but again he just couldn't help but kick himself for being such a poor excuse of a younger brother. It was a recurrent thought… or rather regret… Hiro was at peace but it still pricked him like a torn of persistent irritation on the back of getting everything his way… he still felt guilty as he smiled in relief moving to get a little more cozy within their hug…
And she was soft, warm even. There was a familiar love in her embrace, a familial tie he had long since forgotten, the only one he had left on the Earth especially with everyone going their separate ways. And whether it was because he himself would soon be leaving for a place nobody else could follow or because of some sudden burst of emotion, he couldn't help but love his sister with all his heart for she was the kindest, nicest, happiest nee-san on the planet. He shed a tear then that he quickly tried to hide knowing that she would soon be crying for him…
I really am a terrible brother… he thought feeling an overwhelming sadness wash over him… but this was his choice… he died, two years, five months, and sixteen days ago. And yet here he was… a long journey for a corpse no? But it was because he was at this point, as he had been so many times before wrestling with himself only to arrive at the same conclusion… he knew he had to end it once and for all. I mean what else could he do?
Underneath the influence of the Phoenix blood, aging is slowed dramatically… Hiro thought remembering Hime's words to the letter—it was something he'd asked her long ago and she surprised him by actually speaking on the matter. Of course, if the blood warrior isn't matured yet, they would grow until their peak and then retail their vitality, their youth, as if a great fountain had sprung up from within them, hiding the secret to life beneath their flesh, such was the blessing of the Phoenixes. And while he wasn't even going to remotely try and think of a scientific explanation to the phenomenon, it was immortality… half-immortality sure or whatever the hell you want to call it but it was still immortality… and aging like a disease underneath its influence was kept at bay, cured even.
So what could Hiro do? Stay by Sawawa till the end of her life, while she grew older and he remained forever? And what of Sherwood, would he really impose upon her? Wait for her to do the same? To wither while he remained fair forever? All thanks to sucking her blood like some damn leech? Since the phoenixes refused to bless her, she'd die eventually too so why bother? To be at her side till the end? And then who would be by his? Was he strong enough to die alone and outlive everyone else? Hime was though in her case there really wasn't much of a choice and she was living under the reality that everyone else around her would die because she was immortal… wasn't that many times worse and yet here he was complaining?
GAH! A man could go crazy thinking about these things… It was selfish… maybe even suicidal but this was a peculiar situation… and the point still came out the same. The war was won; the time for fighting was done. Sherwood was the Kingdom's contact in the human world and he knew Hime would be keeping an eye on her so she'd never be in any real danger. And so what would be his purpose serving her anyway?
He knew this was all in his head and that Sherwood would certainly have Francesca kick his ass from here to the Kingdom for thinking this way. She wanted him as her blood warrior—a reoccurring desire though now it was less out of some childhood crush and more because she actually loved him… she confessed it even… she a Princess confessed to him and he just stood there like some pompous witness… and so of course he couldn't help but think the other way. It was stupid. He felt dumb, exposed. He felt like a child whose parents were going somewhere and needed to leave him behind. It was upsetting to think even now he was a burden—again that's how he felt even if he knew it wasn't true. He loved them all, Sherwood (yes he loved Sherwood right back) and Hime, Riza and Reiri, he loved them all for within the two years they'd spent together they'd become a family. It was something said a million times before in a million different ways yet it was never truly spoken. That didn't make it any less true but the fact of the matter was he didn't want to impose upon his family, now especially as they took their final bows, went their separate ways, and the curtains were coming done on their collapsing stage.
And so Hiro, Hiyorimi Hiro… in the face of all that… how could he justify staying alive? He had fought hard and long, and trained bitterly… he was no longer a boy trying to protect his master, he was a man who would fought to save his woman and now that she was safe and all he'd hoped for accomplished, what more could he desire? Why sour life by continuing when things were right enough now to slip away? Was this not what most heroes dream about, a perfect end to their legend? The human blood warrior who saved the beautiful Princess? It was practically movie worthy… Perhaps he was still wrong even after all these reasons but this was his choice, he'd had two years to think about it… and he'd finally made his decision. He would die here…
And so steeling himself like he had tried to do so many times over these last three days… Hiro let his sister go as he walked toward the door and all anyone could do was stare after him, at his back, and strength that kept it straight. They watched that magnificent man as he departed from the kitchen with his sister's list in hand heading toward the mansion's lobby.
"Hiro…" a duo of voices called from behind him as the young man opened the front door letting in the rest of the Sun. He looked over and sure enough there was Riza and Reiri. And for awhile, they just stared at one another… in that empty lobby room… Hiro waiting for them to say something while they waited to figure out something to say… No one knew how much time passed on like that…
"Hiro…" The young man finally heard a soft playful voice whisper in his ear as two arms manifested themselves around his waist and the faint fluttering of flapping wings resounded from behind him.
"Reiri…" Hiro whispered as he looked back over toward Riza and saw the vampire transforming into her bats which then flew over to him. And soon, he could smell the Vampire's beautiful scent as she was completely behind him resting her head on his back.
"I thought you couldn't do that during the day?" The young man questioned as he glanced over his shoulder. Reiri tore her head away from his back for a second and gave him a look. "Ah…" was all he said. Ah was all he thought and no more words were said. There was no more needed. Hiro understood clearly despite how clueless he usually was… he felt another set of arms as they grabbed one of his own and that's when he noticed Riza too as she herself had moved in doing her best not to blush as she held onto his hand rather indifferently albeit tightly.
The vampire took note of that and couldn't help but snicker in her usual playful tone. "Fufu… If you want a hug doggy… you should be a little more sincere… why don't you try begging! I'm sure Hiro has a treat for you…"
"Reiri… I. Will. Ki—"
Riza began but she didn't get to finish her sentence as Hiro wrapped his arms around her almost causing her to freak out. "I'll be back soon guys…" He cooed. "Please watch after my sis till then…" And with that he calmed them both down as Reiri just nodded staring in admiration of the young invincible man and even Riza couldn't help but stop fighting as she sank a bit into Hiro's hug. When he let go, the both of them wanted to grab him back but they restrained themselves as they saw his smile, the kind that hid so much internal anguish and yet the kind that gives others so much hope, Hiro smiled warmly at his friends who couldn't help but smile right back… that was the only thing they could do… the only option he gave them… He finally walked through the door leaving them behind waiting in eager anticipation for his return.
You better keep that promise Hiro… you better come back…
That was the one thought that sustained them as they watched Hiro disappear down that old familiar hillside road toward Sasanaki…
The next hour or so passed by rather quickly. Hiro went down to his and Sawawa's usual grocer, the one just a block away from her favorite parfait store, and gathered all the things on his list with a frightening speed. He even managed to have a friendly conversation with the store's manager before he left. Something about the weather or the increasing prices… whatever the case, he had a content feeling afterward, one that worked its way from the pit of his stomach to the tip of his soul… again this sort of tranquility toward the end… over the little nothings that make up everyday… it only lasted a second though as the young man walked down the street suddenly feeling a jolt race down his entire body.
"Gah…" Hiro let out a sick tired groan as he felt terribly out of breath. Damn… He thought as he couldn't help but fall to one knee clenching one of his eyes shut. It was the same feeling as before… the one he had in Hime's room but this time… it was many magnitudes above that… this seeping sort of numbness… it clarified the situation… Hiro needed to get home… quick… it was almost time… and he had promises to keep…
"Hiyorimi-kun!"
"Huh?" The young man shook his head as he glanced around. What? Did someone call me?
"Hiyorimi-kun!"
"Wait…I know that voice…" The young man gasped as he slowly turned his head. "B-B-Bucchi?" Hiro all but stuttered as he quickly got off his knee and sure enough there was his bespectacled friend racing down the street toward him.
"HIYORIMI-KUN!" Bucchi said as he caught up, thoroughly out of breath. "I…*gasp* you… *wheeze* school… *slash dying*"
"Geazz calm down Bucchi! Relax! Take a deep breath." Hiro laughed nervously holding his hands up to calm his excited friend and Bucchi just about hunched over himself, both his hands on his knees huffing and puffing like a dying elephant.
"I didn't see you in school for the past three days!" The freckled boy shouted as he finally regained himself glaring up in the direction of the young Blood Warrior. "What the hell is going on? Are you alright?" He practically yelled in Hiro's face.
"Yeah… I'm fine Bucchi. I'm really fine! Sorry to make you worry…"
"Are you sure? Why didn't you respond to any of my texts and tell me you were going to be absent? (I mean I would have known to take notes and pick up the homework for you if you did). What's really going on Hiyorimi?"
"Nothing is going on! Nothing at all! I just needed to take a few days off to help my sister and Hime—ah… I mean the Lady of the house… you know… with a few things… and stuff…"
"Hmmm…" Bucchi grunted suspiciously giving Hiro a long hard look that made the poor man sweat. "Well alright…" He eventually shrugged and Hiro gave a subtle albeit long sigh in relief. "If you say so… but next time let me know when you're going to pull this kind of stuff man! I mean I was waiting for you all this time because we've got work to do!"
"Work?" Hiro cringed.
"Yeah!" Bucchi grinned as he pulled out Sherwood's camera from his bag and grabbed Hiro's shoulders pushing the young man down the street… in the opposite direction of Sawawa and the others… "We've got another mystery on our hands!"
"We?!"
"Of course Hiyorimi-kun! Who else but us actually cares enough to figure out the mysteries of Sasanaki? All for the benefit of our fellow city dwellers without any form of compensation, at great personal risk?
"Ah… no one?"
"DAMN RIGHT NO ONE! We're the only hope for this naïve city!"
"Right…" Hiro sighed. "But Bucchi… I…"
"Anyway Hiyorimi that's why we've got to do this. Now let me fill you in on the details. There's a rumor that's been going around recently about a haunted building on the outskirts of town. It used to be an old factory building or something… textiles or whatever during the late 1920s. It didn't last very long despite the high quality fabric they produced. (Actually, I think my grandma still has one of their old kimonos lying around!)
Anyway, point simply being, the company went bankrupt during the '50s but no one ever bothered to demolish the building. So it's just been sitting there, ignored… and unoccupied."
"So how does that mean it's haunted?"
"I was getting to that! Sheesh! Right… so nothing terribly out of the ordinary has ever occurred at this factory… at least not in the past. Just a few homeless have occasionally wandered in and a few times the cops have caught some kids snooping around… nothing serious… however… lately there have been really strange rumors surfacing about that place.
The water treatment plant is just past the factory and a few of their workers have been calling in over the last two weeks about strange noises and lights coming from the old textile place. The reports are usually during the night when they drive past the factory to go home. They say they hear sounds like crackling and popping, like some sort of electrical problem you know? Well… some of the workers went exploring the old factory and they didn't find anything but when the noises didn't stop, they called the police. Naturally they didn't find anything either even after searching the whole place up and down several times!"
"So what makes you think we'll find something then?"
"Call it a hunch Hiyorimi! A hunch! But yeah the cops couldn't find anything and now they don't even bother responding to half the calls about that place! The occurrences keep happening and like I said they supposedly occur around the evening. It's not a particularly far walk but nows the perfect time to head over if we want to look around just before the prime witching hour! When the sky is orange… the sounds of the old factory will chug as if the place were still alive!"
"Ah Bucchi…"
"Hmm?"
"Listen that sounds… ahhh… great… but… I can't go with you this time…"
"What are you talking about Hiyorimi? Of course you're coming with me! We need to solve this mystery!"
"Bucchi…"
"And get our findings back to Ms. Sherwood and the people of Sasanaki!"
"Bucchi…"
"I mean we've solved so many mysteries (and though I admit I usually pass out before the end (sweat bubble)) we can't chicken out now! Not after all we've been through! What we've—"
"BUCCHI!" Hiro snapped silencing his young friend. Damn it… Hiro immediately thought as Bucchi just stared at him. Might have gone a little overboard… He grimaced internally and sure enough, right as he thought that, Bucchi turned away. Yep… definitely overboard…
"What's the matter Hiyorimi? Are you busy or something?" Bucchi grunted rather gruffly but the quick glance he gave Hiro before he turned away was enough to let the young man know… there was a deep sort of disappointment in him then… Hiro understood it well…
"Damn it…" Hiro sighed underneath his breath as he looked at his father's watch still strapped beautifully to his wrist. 2pm… he had left the mansion at about 1:30… no doubt Sawawa would be finished with lunch around 2:30… When the sky gets orange huh? That was probably 5 or 6 and dinner would be ready about 7 or 8… Hiro just sighed again… To hell with it… whatever he was thinking, all these times and promises he had made, he looked back at Bucchi and realized he hadn't promised him anything… he would soon be leaving his best friend… and he didn't even tell him a single thing… The least he could do now was hang out with him one last time and spend the rest of the night with Riza, Reiri, and Sawawa…
Yes… he thought happily even as he felt his pulse and felt it getting fainter and fainter… I'll make it. He thought courageously. I'll make it back. He thought magnificently. "Let's go Bucchi." He sighed with a smile and though Bucchi didn't smile back, Hiro could tell from his young friend's eyes and the way his face subtly lit up… one last adventure… one last mystery to solve… yes… that was the least Hiro could do…
And so it was that the two brave boys… no… the two brave men, made their way south toward the outskirts of the city. It wasn't far… per say… it just took a little longer because they were walking and of course Hiro couldn't help but lag behind. Up ahead, the young man could hear Bucchi's voice as he frantically prepared his monologue on Sherwood's camera… it brought a chuckle to Hiro's throat but he couldn't sustain it for he felt weaker and weaker with each passing second… like the air in his lungs wasn't enough, and his legs were weightless, buckling under the nothing that was his bones trying to keep up the rest of his body… he shrugged the feeling off with a smile and kept on walking ahead… because that was how he was… that was kind the man Hiro was…
"Bucchi!" He called trying to hide the fact that he was out of breath.
"Oye?"
"How the do you know about this place?"
"Huh? What was that Hiyorimi?"
"Nah! I was just wondering… how do you find out about all these things?"
"These things?"
"Yeah about this factory… and the train and the cave all those years ago… all these mysteries you always drag me on!"
"Oh… right! I never did mention it did I? My dad's a cop."
"Huh?"
"Yeah! He's the chief of police so I hear about these ghosts' sightings and what not from him! Though he doesn't believe any of it of course…"
"Wow… that's pretty cool! I guess that's one more mystery solved…"
"What mystery?"
"Well now I know you don't just pull these rumors out of thin air!"
"Heheh… have some faith in me Hiyorimi… Not much further now." Bucchi said as he and Hiro finally arrived to a long winding road that led away from Sasanaki. To their left and to their right was high grass leading up and into the forest ahead that now blocked their horizon. Another hill… Hiro thought comically. Geazz how many hills are there in this city! "It shouldn't be much further now."
"You just said that!"
"Just around this bend."
"Are you even listening to me?"
"We take a right into the forest."
"Guess not…"
"Keep up Hiyorimi-kun keep up!"
"Alright alright! Lead the way Bucchi!"
"Oh don't sound so bored Hiyorimi! We just need to follow this little creak for a bit, watch that branch, and we should be there right… about… oh no…" Bucchi suddenly whispered as he stopped dead in his tracks. Hiro wasn't paying much attention and bumped into him but even then he did not move.
"Huh? What's the matter—?!"
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Bucchi screamed jolting Hiro's attention. The young blood warrior looked over and sure enough he saw what had freaked Bucchi out for it had caused his own jaw to drop as well. There was the building complex Bucchi had been talking about.
It was completely on fire…
"THAT'S A HECK OF A LOT MORE THAN JUST CRACKLING AND LIGHTS BUCCHI!" The young man screamed glancing over in his friend's direction but Bucchi didn't respond. He just kept looking, his eyes wide open and his mouth agape as he continued to stare at the powerful fire raging on in front of him… and it was no small or unassuming flame either, not one side of the building and spreading, no, this was an intense fire and it completely covered the entire building.
It surprised Hiro as a matter of fact that though there was a lot of black smoke rising, neither he nor Bucchi heard or saw anything on their way here. Sure he thought he might have smelt something burning a little while back but it was just so unexpected, it was the shock that kept them staring… and now none of that mattered… there was something else about this fire, something more. It captivated Hiro's mind, it danced irregularly, like a song or the wind… he shook his head of those nonsensical thoughts but…even from the distance they were at, Hiro could swear he could feel it… the searing heat… like a soul… it was impossible but it was there… this fire… it was hotter than anything he'd ever felt before… he was just thankful that there were no other buildings around the area and that the ground below it was predominately dirt and rock. "I think…" He finally began trying to get Bucchi's attention though both of them kept staring on in awe at the flames. "I think we're going to have to forget about this one Bucchi!" He said reaching for his best friend's shoulder.
A piercing scream suddenly filled their ears then causing the young boys to look up. On the third and highest floor of the wide box-like factory, there were several windows but in one of them they could clearly see a girl…
A girl?! Hiro thought in sheer horror. You've got to be kidding me...
"HELP! SOMEONE PLEASE!" The girl screamed at the top of her lungs. It shook Hiro and Bucchi to their core. She looked around frantically for what most likely was a place to climb down… she instead noticed the two white face young men. "MY FRIEND AND I ARE TRAPPED IN HERE! HELP PLEASE!" She screamed through her hysterical crying. Friend? Hiro thought as his heart sank to his feet…
"W-w-what should we d-d-do Hiyorimi?" Hiro heard as he turned toward his friend. Bucchi was a mess. They'd only be there for 10 seconds and yet… there were already tears rolling down his bleached out face and his eyes were the size of pinheads as he wheezed from breath. Hiro understood all too well as he looked back toward the building… He felt his pulse… he felt nothing… Damn it all… Hiro grimaced under his breath before mustering himself with all that he was made of. His head shot up and he ran toward the burning building…
"HEEEEEEEEY!" He shouted as he sprinted out of the forest waving his free arm with his groceries in the other.
"HIYORIMI?"
"Stay right there Bucchi! HEY YOU UP THERE ARE YOU ALRIGHT!"
"OH THANK GOD I DIDN'T THINK ANYONE WOULD EVER FIND US! PLEASE HELP! MY FRIEND IS UNCONSCIOUS AND WE'RE TRAPPED IN THIS ROOM!"
"IS YOUR FRIEND BREATHING?"
"I THINK SO BUT SHE PASSED OUT A LITTLE WHILE AGO! THIS FIRE CAME OUT OF NOWHERE AND SHE'S IN A REALLY BAD WAY! PLEASE PLEASE HELP!"
"ALRIGHT! I UNDERSTAND I'M COMING UP!"
"WAIT HIYORIMI WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!"
"Someone needs to help Bucchi!"
"THE FIRETRUCKS WILL BE ON THEIR WAY SOON!"
"There's no way we know that Bucchi… and what's more they won't be able to see the smoke over this tree line… we couldn't after all… for whatever reason…"
"THEN FINE I'LL CALL THEM MYSELF!" The young man screamed racing into his pocket to pull out his phone. "ARE YOU INSANE!" He roared as Hiro kept running toward the building and he followed after frantically trying to keep up. "THIS IS DANGEROUS! RECKLESS! (Even by our standards and all the trouble we get into!)"
"Well what other options do we have?"
"I don't know damn it I DON'T KNOW! Hell… maybe… maybe we can find something for them to jump down on?"
"There's no time for that!" Hiro yelled back as he finally came to a stop near a small lone tree far enough from the fire that it wouldn't catch aflame. He placed his groceries underneath. "They're on the third floor and one of them is unconscious… they'll never make the jump and we've got nothing to work with."
"But… to go in there ourselves… it's… it's—"
"Suicide." Hiro said flatly finishing Bucchi's sentence for him and right as he said that, as if resonating with his words, a good portion of the building on the far side came crumbling down with such a loud clap the sound couldn't have been described as anything other than thunder… "Just stay here…" Hiro exhaled softly with a smile and Bucchi's eyes widened. "Please. Call the fire department and wait here… don't move and don't follow me…"
"Hiyorimi…"
"We can save them Bucchi… Yes. I know we can… I just need you to trust me… trust me like you did during all of our adventures over the last two years… please…"
"…Okay…" The young bespectacled man heard himself say. "Okay…" He repeated and Hiro just smiled warmly before charging forth into the blazing ruins. And that was that, he didn't look back, no more words were said, hell Bucchi didn't even know if that man was terrified which would have been normal or perhaps even more than acceptable, the sheer radiance in his smile like he'd been at death's door and homicidal situations countless times before, there was no limit in that moment to just how great a hero Hiro was. And Bucchi was so captivated with him and so disgusted with himself that he didn't even realize he'd already dialed his phone.
"Sasanaki 119. What is your emergency?"
"Ah! H-hello… my… my name is Kobuchizawa Nozomi. I'm calling… I'm calling to report a fire."
"Where is the fire sir? What is your location?"
"The old textile factory near the Sasanaki water treatment plant."
"Are you injured?"
"No… I'm fine."
"How bad is the fire?"
"The entire factory is engulfed… there's flames and smoke everywhere…"
"Is the fire spreading?"
"No… I don't… I don't think so… but I did see an explosion just now."
"An explosion… it might have been due to a backdraft. Sir I need you to stay away from the building."
"I understand but there are people inside…"
"How many?"
"At least two… I mean three now, my friend just went in."
"Can you stop him?" The dispatcher's question echoed endlessly in Bucchi's mind as the young freckled man turned one last time toward the factory door and there was Hiro practically tackling the debris in his way. A burst of fire shot out from the door but the young man didn't seem to care as he jumped in anyway.
"No…"
There isn't anything in the world that can stop that man…
"HELLO!" Hiro called as he made his way through the first floor of the burning building. "CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?" He roared doing his best to project his voice over the creaking of the building and the crackling of the fire just in case there were more people stuck in here than just the two girls. He didn't hear a thing… not a single thing though he half expected as much…
The building was coming down… just his luck, and between the odd screaming and twisted agony of this old factory with its rotten iron wood, and the hum of the fire as the background music for its demise, truly this was a sensory overload… like to the point where Hiro didn't know his up from his down nor his right from his left… the ash in his eyes and smoke in his lungs probably didn't help either… and indeed it was something else… a different kind of exertion, a different type of scar… the kind that shocks the brain into submission and causes most normal people to blank and freeze… just the fear of putting one's own soul at risk, against all logic and desire, where the only thing keeping a man together is his sense of right and wrong, it takes a truly great man with clear conviction to keep moving on and that's what Hiro did… he kept moving on. "HELLO!" He screamed again as he shifted through the burning halls. He tried to keep low to the ground but that didn't seem to help.
Stairs… he thought calmly… I need to find stairs… That was thought that bore him forward as he maneuvered past the debris along the way as quickly and as carefully as possible. Even so, moving was difficult… and slow… there was practically zero visibility and Hiro could swear the temperature was nine degrees hotter than the Sun. But he persevered as men as great as him often do. He eventually pushed his way to the back of the factory's first floor… unfortunately, in addition to the rising smoke and ash levels; he came across a fork in the road… or rather hall… Damn it! Which way do I go now? Hiro grimaced inside his own mind. A sick sort of squealing sound caught his attention then and the young man looked up… of course he didn't see a thing but he knew that kind of squeal well… the kind where metal is stressed past it's breaking point… and still refuses to break… hell the roof above his head wasn't going to last much longer. Guess I'll have to hope this way is right… Hiro prayed as he turned right. Might not get a chance to double-back if I'm wrong!
"HIYORIMI-KUN YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!" A voice yelled from behind him and Hiro instantly turned around. No fucking way…
"BUCCHI!? WHAT THE HELL? How'd you get here?"
"You leave a pretty nice path to follow Hiyorimi! (And the stairwell is to your left by the way. I caught a glimpse of the factory map on the way here. It was on the wall, didn't you see it?)"
"It's dangerous! Turn the hell around!"
"Oh don't give me that crap! I can take care of myself Hiyorimi (though I admit I did throw up on the way in here)."
"Bucchi!"
"Like hell I'm letting my best friend go into a burning building by himself while I stand outside safe and sound like some child! I called the firemen and they're on their way but the estimate is about 20 minutes Hiro… 20 minutes! You know those girls don't have that much time and that is why you need me! That first girl probably isn't in any condition to walk and her friend is unconscious. You want to be the genius carrying two girls down three flights of burning stairs BE MY GUEST, but look… we can squat here and argue all day, it won't change the fact that I'm here now and it won't save those girls… hell it'll probably get us all killed…"
"ALRIGHT! Fine! I get it I get it!" Hiro gave up just about ready to throw his hands in the air. There wasn't enough time to argue and Bucchi was right. He'd yell at him after they left the burning building. "Just stick to me then Bucchi and keep low. Be careful about opening doors and watch your step when we get to the stairs."
"Yeah alright I got it… basic fire safety…"
"Just hope you do. It's hard enough to see and breathe. Any mistakes and we'll both be getting a new tan!"
"I got it!" Bucchi huffed and with that the two men went scrambling down the left hall. There they finally had a bit of good luck as they came across the iron stairwell… and though it looked rickety, it wasn't on fire.
"YES! The stairs are still intact! Let's go Hiyorimi!" The young man howled with a little bit of joy as he rushed out of the burning hall and started running up the stairs.
"CAREFUL!" Hiro hissed from behind as he too moved up quickly albeit more cautiously.
"I got it Hiyorimi!" Bucchi called glancing back. "I got—" He began again but then his eyes shot wide open. "LOOK OUT!" He screamed white faced as Hiro spun around just in time to see a massive column as it splintered from its post and fell toward him.
And for a second, all the audio of the Earth seemed to cut out from under him and the only thing Hiro could hear was the sound of his own heart beating. He had less than a second to move… no normal man would've been able to react that fast… of course… Hiro was no ordinary man, and in half of that split second he dove out of the way just as the pillar came crashing down with a terrible thud shattering through the stairs to the bottom of the well below. Indeed, Hiro was more than a man, he was a blood warrior… and while he was far from perfect, the only truly exceptional skill he had was his blood warrior mood, he was something worth seeing, especially in that moment, the peak of a man his age, the like that even Hime might have blushed upon seeing him and his glory. "ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Hiro heard Bucchi scream as all the sounds of the Earth came rushing back and his friend strained his eyes looking for him amongst all the ash and smoke.
"I'M FINE!" Hiro bellowed as he took his hands off his head. "Miraculously…" He whispered underneath his breath as he started working his way up from his stomach dusting off the stray bits of wood and debris that clung to him.
"Ah thank God…" Bucchi sighed as he fiddled with his glasses wiping away the sweat and dirt onto his shirt—which itself was quite dirty… "DAMN IT!" He yelled as he looked back up. "DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT HIYORIMI! I THOUGHT YOU DIED! DAMN IT!"
"I'm sorry Bucchi. But I'm okay. How's it looking up above?" The young man grunted as he reached for his friend's hand to help him across the broken gap of stairs.
"It's looking clear." Bucchi coughed as he pulled Hiro over to his landing. "But it feels like it's getting hotter and hotter the higher we go."
"I know… I feel it…"
"Hiyorimi… It's almost as if…"
"It's almost as if this fire was started from above right?"
"Yeah… if that's true that doesn't bode well for us… or those girls…"
"We can't worry about that now Bucchi."
"Right I know. Let's hurry… And don't fucking scare me like that! (And you were telling me to be careful!) Damn it!"
"Haha I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Hiro laughed while Bucchi just shook his head though for some reason he himself couldn't help but give a stupid grin back. And so the two men went again like that, this time both of them taking extra care to watch the walls of the abandoned stairwell as the orange hue of the fire lit their way… it was a strange almost twilight kind of atmosphere with bits of light fazing in and out through the patches of settling smoke. It didn't make it any easier to see but at least they knew they were going in the right direction. And indeed, they were as they kept climbing and climbing until they finally made it to the third floor, though to them it felt like they'd just ran up twenty. It couldn't be help since there were practically two flights of stairs per floor what with the factories ridiculously high ceilings. It didn't stop the smoke from gathering in their face nor did it change the fact that they had sprinted up all those stairs while hunched over to avoid further suffocation. Whatever the case, they really did make it and that was an achievement. Unfortunately, they didn't have time to celebrate as their first sight was the shredded remains of the third floor's iron door, a foreboding of what they were walking into, as the fire encased their path forward.
"You've got to be kidding me…" Bucchi gasped out of breath as he blinked through the sweat that rained down his face.
"No one said it'd be easy…" Hiro responded equally out of breath. "We got to go…" He choked as he ran forward.
"HIYORIMI WHAT ARE—?" Bucchi began but he immediately stopped out of pure disbelief as Hiro jumped through the flames.
"GAH!" The young blood warrior grimaced as a wave of smoke and hot air tackled him. It threw him off balance causing him to fall as he landed rolling over on his side.
"WHAT THE HELL HIYORIMI! SO MUCH FOR BEING CAREFUL!"
"We don't have the time Bucchi." Hiro instantly said throwing his friend a serious look that made him gulp. "Come on!"
"TSST! FINE!" The young man shook his head. "This is nuts…" he groaned as he looked at the fire. He lost his nerve then as he stared at the burning door frame but for some reason he felt his body take the lunge and he too jumped through the flames. "AH SHIT!" He yelped as he also fell as he landed.
"You okay?"
"Yeah! Just burned myself… ah damn!"
"Bad?"
"No I can keep going! You'd figure this place would have a fire extinguisher somewhere!" Of course… right as Bucchi said that, the two boys noticed a fire extinguisher up ahead of them. It was completely on fire and then suddenly it exploded knocking the wind out of the two boys as a thin white cloud of coolant rushed throughout the hall.
"You were saying…" Hiro coughed as his eyes began watering.
"Fantastic…" Bucchi choked.
"This way! We'll cut through this room. I think the girls are on the other side of the hall anyway!" Hiro said as he moved toward an office space on his right. Bucchi followed closely and the two of them ran alongside the tight rows of burning cubicles until the end of the room and then they exited back into the hall.
"THERE THAT LOOKS LIKE THE DOOR!" Bucchi all but screamed as he rushed over to the one area the entire world looked like it had fallen on top of. There were several pieces of large cement and iron struts stacked on top of one another as they collided through the wall blocking the door. It didn't help that it was all on fire as well. Regardless, the bespectacled young man did his best to see through the cracks as he worked his way getting ready to move the debris. "I can't see anything!" He grunted as he reached for one of the large iron struts in the way. "But this should be the room we saw earlier if I've got my orientation right." He groaned as he grabbed the metal beam in front of him. "DAMN IT THAT'S HOT!" He instantly shrieked as he grabbed at his hands. Just then, a floor below, a sharp explosion shook the building and if the two boys didn't know any better, they would have sworn they felt the Earth tilt. "This building isn't going to last forever Hiyorimi! We need to get those girls out of here soon otherwise… otherwise—!"
"I know Bucchi… relax." Hiro said as he took a deep breath and positioned himself in front of the debris.
"Hiyorimi what are you doing! That thing is hot as hell! You'll damage your hand!"
"Leave it to me." Hiro smiled confidently and before Bucchi could say another word, the young incredible man let out a fine roar, the kind that stirs the soul and makes God notice, as he yanked the iron strut out of his way swinging it to his side with a great and terrible fury. It caused all the things piling up on top to shift to the side, like they were finally giving way, after all the trials and troubles it took for them to get there… this was the one thing that went their way… perhaps that was a bit metaphoric for Hiro… yes… all the debris feel to the side trying to get out of this wonderful man's way except for a large piece of cement twice the size of Hiro's torso. It suddenly got dislodged and fell toward him. The final battle as it were…
And so Hiro's response?
He smacked the boulder away with the back of his fist.
Without even looking, he smashed that large boulder to pieces like it was nothing, the sound of it like a mini-explosion and Bucchi was in awe for the tenth time that day.
DAMN THAT HURT! Hiro practically bellowed in his mind as he glanced back toward his stupefied friend. He quickly hid the mangled mess that was his hand. "Let's go…" he grunted just hoping it would heal quickly… and that Bucchi wouldn't notice the droplets of blood that he left behind as they rushed into the room. Not surprisingly, Bucchi was still staring at Hiro in disbelief looking like he wanted to ask him so many questions, questions that could all be summed up by simply asking what the fuck? Of course, before he could do that, he saw something that stopped him in his tracks.
"THERE THEY ARE HIYORIMI-KUN!" Bucchi suddenly screamed as he patted Hiro's shoulder and pointed off to a corner by the windows. Hiro looked over doing his best to squint through his searing eyes. He could hardly see anything but he could just barely make out the blurry image of two bodies on the ground…
"Oh no…" He moaned as he looked back at Bucchi. "QUICK!" He yelled as the two made their way to the window and sure enough there were the two girls… both of them lying limply on the ground…
Hiro put his ear to one of their mouths…
"Are they…" Bucchi trembled. "Are they—?"
"NO!" Hiro looked up with a hurried half grin. "No this one is still breathing!" He said and Bucchi gave a long sigh. Hiro went over to the next one and did the same. "This one too!" He almost cheered at that point as the two boys found themselves smiling stupidly. Well it was some kind of victory… one that they both needed. Of course another rumbling explosion resounded off to their side quickly reminding the boys they were far from safe. "Bucchi!" Hiro shouted and his young bespectacled friend nodded as he began lifting one of the girls off the ground.
"Wait what are you doing?"
"Huh? Aren't we supposed to carry them on our backs? Like the firemen do?" Bucchi asked as he wiped at the torrential downpour of sweat flowing from his brow. He dabbed at the forehead of the young girl he was carrying with a handkerchief.
"NO!" Hiro shouted causing Bucchi to cringe. "If you lift them up in this condition they may inhale more smoke! It'd be better to keep them low around where we are."
"How are we going to do that?"
"Like this Bucchi! Like this! Just put their arms around your neck and support them by the shoulders. It's not the best way but it'll have to do!"
"A-a-ah!" Bucchi stammered as he blushed bright red. "T-their arms? My n-neck? Their s-s-shoulders?"
"COME ON BUCCHI!"
"R-right!" The poor boy practically choked out. He turned back toward the girl. "S-sorry..." He whispered bashfully as he followed Hiro's lead. "Hey… wait a minute…You know something?"
"What?" Hiro called back as he secured his grip on the other girl.
"I think I know this girl!"
"What?"
"Yeah! I think this is the girl from the train incident! You remember? All those years a—!"
"Bucchi this really isn't the time!"
"O-oh! S-sorry!"
"You good?"
"Y-yeah…" Bucchi groaned as he balanced on his knee with the girl resting on him.
"Alright then, let's go. Slowly now! And take your time!"
"I got it…" Bucchi coughed as he followed Hiro backtracking toward the stairwell. "By the way, Hiyorimi…"
"Ey?"
"If you don't mind my asking, where the hell did you learn all this?"
"All what?"
"All this fire prep and stuff… you know… I mean it's just… you seem like you know what you're doing is all I'm saying!"
"Ah! Well… I…" Hiro stuttered as he quickly moved maneuvering both himself and his patient back through the collapsed doorframe while the fire all around them seemed to spread at a sinister rate. "I must have read it in a book or something…" He mumbled as he glanced back making sure Bucchi was still following him.
"Well that's one hell of a memory you've got!"
"Yeah…" Hiro said softly as the two men headed back toward the stairs making their way to the office space… though now… the cubicles and their dusty old relics were reduced to ash and even the floors seemed to be catching on fire… to make matters worse, by that time, the two men were exhausted beyond belief and Hiro was starting to feel a sick sort of creeping numbness take over… one that had nothing to do with the fire…
"This is tough Hiro…" Bucchi said as he panted like a dying dog. His face was more than sweaty, hell it looked like he'd been through a sewer with all the debris and dirt and grime in the air collecting and sticking to him.
"I know…" Hiro responded with a heavy huff as he too took a second to breathe. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't at his limit… or no… he'd long since passed it and now he was just spending the rest of his efforts trying to conceal just how past his breaking point he was… each huff he took, he wanted to gasp frantically and collect all the air around him into his lungs, the fire and ash didn't help, but this was like a thirst, a desire for substance… Hiro felt light-headed and his vision was well passed blurry… "Damn it…" He grimaced as he fell on all fours nearly toppling over the girl he was carrying.
"HIYORIMI!"
"I'm fine!" He yelled instantly. "Just lost my footing." He cringed repositioning his hands back to get a grip on the girl. That was a lie… of course… he didn't lose his footing…
He was losing time…
Not now… He gritted his teeth as he screamed it over and over in his mind. Not yet… for a week had he not wanted this? Had he not prepared for this? To be here at the last breath he'd ever take, when he'd finally be freed from his responsibilities… and his obligations? This was his time to go… this is what he'd been fighting to defend, feeling justified in letting go… this was his goodbye to Hime… to everyone… and as if by some sort of sick irony… the kind that can drive a man mad as the universe conspires against him…he couldn't… he didn't want to let go…
Hime… He thought as he clenched his eyes shut… Give me strength.
Please.
One.
Last.
Time.
He prayed as his eyes shot open and he took a deep breath… he got maybe a fourth of what he actually needed, the rest of it being just smoke and burnt air but it would have to do. "Bucchi!" He said as he began moving again much to the horror of his exhausted friend. "We got to keep going." He said as his vision started to fail. "We got to keep moving." He said even though he had no more air in his lungs. "We can't die here… not like this…" He said as he felt his bones crack and the spit in his mouth turn to smoke and ash. He kept moving on… because that's the kind of man he truly was… and Bucchi just looked on in awe and he could swear… Hiro was glowing…
"How…?" Bucchi unconsciously asked as he struggled to pick back up the girl and start moving. The temperature was getting hotter and hotter and Hiro felt like soon enough the very air around them would combust though it already was hot enough to bake a man alive. He just smiled as he heard Bucchi's question.
"COME ON!" He shouted using up energy he didn't even have. "REMEMBER!" He boomed. "Remember the time we were stranded in that desert with Sherwood, Francesca, Ryu-Ryu and those desert people?"
"You mean the ones you kept telling me were in costume because it was supposed to attract a giant worm thing that you told me I just made up?"
"Ahhhh… yeah… the details aren't important but remember? We were stranded in that desert for an hour! And then we practically survived an entire day!"
"Yeah the desert was hot but it wasn't on FIRE!"
"Speak for yourself!"
"We had water!"
"So?"
"And those desert people picked us up in an SUV!
"Details! Details!"
"It had Air Conditioning!"
"You said one day we may happily recall that memory!"
"NOT THE TIME HIYORIMI! NOT THE TIME!"
"I'm just saying!"
"OH FOR GOD'S SAKE!" Bucchi spat but he couldn't help but laugh right afterward as he found himself being drawn into Hiro's pace once again. He had no energy left to give but he understood Hiro's reasoning well… that even though this building was on fire and coming down; they'd only been inside for what? Ten… fifteen minutes? He still couldn't hear the sirens of the firefighters coming to the rescue; hell he couldn't hear much of anything in that building but so what? What kind of men would they be if they gave up now when they had two injured people relying on them? What kind of ending to their story would it be if they died now?
So you see… it was not unreasonable what Hiro was talking about… no… quite the opposite… It was the soul, the human spirit that Hiro was referring to… and whether or not such a thing existed, one thing was certain… if it did… it had the power to do anything… and so Bucchi, without any energy reserves or stamina left, much like Hiro, kept going on through sheer willpower… because that is how men are… that is how heroes act…
For how long they sustained that now… Bucchi did not know, past how many flaming halls and burning rooms, he did not care… they were going to make it… like they had so many times before… because they were just too stubborn to lose… and just as he thought that, just as he understood a little more the feelings that drove Hiro to such incredible lengths, he caught a glimpse of a familiar sight. "Hey…" He said as he wiped his forehead for the thirtieth time that day squinting to see past the oddly compliant smoke. "HEY! LOOK AHEAD! IT'S THE STAIRWELL!" Bucchi practically sang and indeed, there was the stairs they'd climbed up, and it was like the greatest miracle ever. One for them both. How amazing it was to see the impossible happen after such a revelation… say what you want but the feeling… that feeling… it brought Bucchi to his knees.
"DON'T STOP NOW!"
"I know… I know… I just need to get back my grip." Hiro heard as he rushed past his kneeling friend. He'd be lying if he said he too wasn't in awe at how perfect things had turned out. They just needed to make it outside now or more specifically to either of the two emergency exits in between the floor landings. Hiro had seen them on their way up… he was just in such a hurry initially that he didn't think to look for a better way inside the factory like via a fire escape or something. It was just as well, they had an exit now and not a moment too soon. He didn't think he could muster backtracking through the whole first floor again. He turned around to tell his friend the plan…
What he saw next stopped his heart.
"BUCCHI LOOK OUT!" But it was too late…
Time slowed down… but it was too late.
Bucchi just turned ominously slow and there behind him another pillar was creaking and cracking. He glanced at the bottom and saw the wood splintering as it contorted into broken half-shapes. Hiro ran toward him but the poor blood warrior felt his legs too were going in slow motion as he called his friend's name over and over in his mind while his mouth called it once… Bucchi just trembled like a deer caught in the headlights, simply too scared to move… he didn't even have enough time to scream… Hiro wasn't going to make it…
The pillar came crashing down.
HIYORIMI!
That was the last thing Hiro heard as he pulled Bucchi and his girl out of the way throwing the girl he was carrying over and the burning pillar landed on top of him crashing through the floor, crashing through the next, and finally settling on the ground floor with more debris piling up on top.
Hiro could feel his body being crushed as the pillar pinned and pressed him deep into the ground and he even heard his own bones snap. He felt a surprising warmth erupt and fade from his sides and he realized his own blood was pooling up around him through the broken skin, ribs and bone that were smashed into an internal stew. It was terribly painful but only for an instant and soon darkness crept over him… the fire danced in blurry shadows amongst the smoke but a cold chill found him, despite the unnatural heat irradiating from these flames, a numbness took over as his thoughts became short of breath and his vision forgot to breath, as the blurry images and hazy sounds all blended into one and Hiro blacked out…
"Hello? Can anybody hear me?" Hiro called as he looked from side to side. He didn't hear nor did he see anything for there was nothing to his right or to his left, nothing except a deep dark, blackness. "Hello! Is anyone there?" He tried this time a little louder but again he heard nothing, not even the sound of his own voice echoing back. "Hime…" The young man heard himself whisper and then it suddenly hit him. "Hime? HIME? WHERE ARE YOU?" He yelled frantically thrashing around till he calmed down a few minutes later. "Come to think of it…" He huffed in and out of breath. "Where am I?" He questioned as he realized he had no idea how he'd gotten here or even where here was. "Oh…" He said as his mind suddenly shifted into focus. "That's right… I was pulling Bucchi away from that pillar and then… then I died…"
No. He quickly thought as he shook his head violently.
"That's not right. (Well… not entirely right…) This isn't death… not in its truest form… I feel something more… I feel pain…" The young man grunted as his eyes opened slowly and he was back in the burning factory. "Ahh…" He groaned sickly as it all came back to him. He tried to move instinctively but a sharp pain caught him off guard then and he yelped realizing that he couldn't move any of his limbs. He couldn't even feel them, hell he didn't even know if they were still attached… He shifted his head as best he could but he wasn't able to move that or his neck very well either. He still managed to get a glimpse of his surroundings and that's when he realized he was back where he'd started right in front of the first floor's stairwell entrance… up above, just barely within his sightline was the first floor emergency exit on the next stair landing… practically within arm's reach. You've got to be kidding me… he thought as he coughed up blood choking on his own breath… how quickly things had turned from perfect to impossible…
"Bucchi…" He grumbled as he again tried to move. He probably got out right? The emergency exit was straight down those stairs. Even if he had to carry both of those girls… he could manage… and the stairwell itself was looking like it was in good shape… Of course right as Hiro thought that, a large amount of burning debris fell to the bottom of the stairwell kicking up dust and ash. Well… it was in good shape… He practically sighed in his own mind. I should probably get up… he struggled again but each time he moved the pain got worse and worse and he quickly realized something was impaling him. Come on damn it! I need to… I need to!
I need to what? He heard the thought impose itself in his mind. Normally he would have shrugged that question off but he couldn't, not this time. Get free? He asked almost tauntingly. Why? And there it was.
He had asked himself why. Such a stupid question… Such a meaningless question…. Did he ever ask himself why when he rushed in to save Hime? I mean sure in the beginning but he always rushed in anyway… and yet here, right here… at the end of his journey… he couldn't even move… Why? That was indeed the question… in more ways than one… and that's when a creeping sort of doubt started to seep in… Hiro was hesitant to admit it… but he couldn't deny the feeling, it was the only thing he could feel besides the pain with his body as lifeless and as broken as it was… but that was the thing too… with his body all but destroyed and all of his strength bleeding out, where he absolutely felt like he couldn't move, like he couldn't escape… he was going to die anyway… why bother escaping for two extra hours of life… if even that?
That question now… he couldn't even begin to answer…
And with that… all the cards were on the table…
NO! He suddenly felt himself viciously attack the idea. That's not right… He fought as he thought about his master. He knew she wouldn't have approved, not like this, not by giving up and yet he couldn't stop his mind from barreling down that train of thought.
I.
Love.
Hime.
But if I love her… I have to let her go… He thought as it all boiled back down to that. It was because of his stubbornness, his duty, and his love for her that he had accepted death in the first place. That was all fine and good, but to say that now… with the situation as it was… there was no honor in this…no… this was nothing more than him just using his master as crutch for his suicide.
That was harsh but it was true… the way things were now… he was just conveniently playing dead… even if he couldn't move, even if he had nothing left, that never stopped him before…he'd come so far… they had beaten Sylvia! And now he wasn't even trying as he just lay there letting the ash rain down on him like some sort of self-indulging pit of Hell. And so of course he hated himself when he couldn't help but still ask why… it tore him to pieces…
I'm selfish… I'm cruel… I'm no blood warrior or knight… I'm unworthy of you… he thought with all the self-destructive malice his body had bottled up and released now stored back up. He just couldn't stop thinking of both his master and the far greater monsters… no… the far greater beings that had served her as her vassals… It took me so long to be of use to you and even then I felt like you helped me more than I helped you… what kind of man allows that? What kind of warrior does that? Sure… you're safe now… but… maybe that doesn't even matter… are you happy?
Am I happy? Or am I just grateful for what I have because I have no other choice?
These flames… Should I not just end it here? The perfect excuse? The perfect alibi? Would this not be easier than just dropping dead somewhere or going home to Sawawa and passing on in front of her? I even have a witness… forgive me Bucchi for that…
"TSST!" Hiro groaned as he choked on more of his blood, the debris on top squeezing him deeper and deeper into the floor. This isn't right either! I've been done road so many times before! I've come to the same conclusion over and over again! I know I'm not wrong but I know I'm not right. I just need someone to agree with me… Hime… he clenched his eyes shut as tears came streaming down his face…
Hime!
And then a miracle happened…
A great glowing light seemed to spontaneously appear before him. It was so bright and so sudden that for a minute, Hiro half thought it was another explosion… that would have put an end to his bitching alright… but that would have been too easy… too simple…
And there she was.
Like a regal saint from the greatest bible known to man, there she was… his Goddess, his King, his Master, untouched by the flames all around her, there she was… and Hiro couldn't help but stare forgetting to blink as he saw Hime standing before him bathe in a golden light.
How? Who the hell cares? Hiro didn't... and what's more she was so bright that even the fire seemed dim in comparison despite her wearing the same black gothic clothing and the same silver tiara… like two years had never passed and he was meeting her again for the first time… like in some parallel universe where he was crushed alive and she was there… he half-expected her to say, "what a nice corpse…"
But she didn't… what she did next, however, was equally as mind blowing.
She smiled at him… not her usual authority driven smile where she begrudgingly showed some of her emotions nor her new smile where she sort of shyly slash clumsily tried to convey her feelings… this was a legitimate smile as she knelt to one of her knees and extended a hand toward him…
Hiro didn't say a word. He didn't need to… he didn't want to… he didn't even know if this was real or not… a hallucination brought on by all the blood loss maybe…
What he did know, the only thing that mattered was grabbing that hand.
And so he yelled as he pushed up with his broken body, a different kind of smoke exploding from underneath him. He pushed up as hard as he could but even then he didn't feel himself moving, and so he pushed even harder feeling the veins in his head pop out, feeling a sick sort of slicing between his abdomen and his rib, he kept pushing up growling and yelling with such a great fury, he even felt his bones break again only to be healed with a sudden instantaneousness.
It was surreal… it was magnificent… Hiro literally shook himself lose just to touch that hand again…and he did touch that hand again as he gently grasped it pulling himself upward. It was only when he looked over to where her hand ought to be that he saw nothing… and Hime was nowhere to be found in that burning building … Well… at least in spirit right? He smiled lovingly as he rose above the fire and the ashes to thank his master one last time… Whatever the case, he knew what he felt, both in his heart and in his hand… finally... yes... finally...
And so wasting no more time, Hiro looked back over to the stairwell but between the earlier destruction to the bottom stairs and the rate at which the fire was engulfing the supports, it looked like he was going to have to go back through the first floor. Fine by me… he thought long since out of energy. He'd keep telling himself he could keep going until his body no longer could… that would be the surest point of his will… that would be the most honorable death he could think of… that would be the truest way to pay his respects to everyone he loved, to Bucchi, Sawawa, Riza, Reiri, Francesca, Sherwood, Aida, Rudy, Flandre, Ladd, even Milano… especially Hime… yes… because that is how heroes act…
And so he went, backtracking at the speed of light. There was literally no visibility this time around, the fire and the smoke had gotten so bad, but, somehow, Hiro felt like he knew the way… it may have been his mind playing tricks on him, the fading of the royal blood causing his brain to shutdown but then he saw the factory entrance and he knew he was right… the only problem was… there was ten times the amount of debris in his way… and all of it was on fire.
"HIYORIMI!" He heard a screaming voice call his name and it filled him with such happiness.
"BUCCHI?" He bellowed as he ran top speed toward the door and there was his friend safe and sound on the other side.
"OH THANK GOD!" The young bespectacled boy sighed like an old man as he saw his friend through the cracks and holes of debris separating their way. "I THOUGHT YOU DIED! HERE LET ME GIVE YOU A HAND!"
"NO! THERE'S TOO MUCH DEBRIS IN THE WAY BUCCHI! WE WON'T BE ABLE TO MOVE THAT!"
"THEN WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?"
"MOVE."
"WHAT?" Bucchi yelled as he saw his friend running back to grab a wheeled sort of trolley.
"I SAID MOOOOOOOOOOVE!" Hiro yelled so loud that it felt like all the fire around him was blown away as he sprinted with all the fury he had left in his veins pushing the trolley toward the blocked entrance. Bucchi saw this and jumped out of the way just as Hiro collided with all the iron struts, wood, and fire and burst out running through the factory front door, the impact of his collision practically causing the whole doorway to cave in on itself… And if there were people watching this sort of brave heroism unfold, there would be applause like no other…
"HIYORIMI!" Bucchi yelled as he practically flipped up off his stomach back onto his feet. He ran after Hiro who was still coasting on whatever the hell he was coasting on, adrenaline, willpower, blood loss, blood warrior mode, what the hell ever, he didn't notice that he was quite literally on fire. And so his friend caught up to him and practically tackled him to ground throwing dirt all over his burns as the poor blood warrior rolled and rolled till the fire went out.
After a few seconds passed by and the two men calmed down some, Hiro's first question was of course about the girls and Bucchi, wasting no time at all, pointed toward the tree where Hiro had left his groceries and sure enough there the two girls were sprawled out safely, their chests rising and falling albeit a bit slow but they were still breathing and Hiro gave the longest and heaviest sigh ever before heard on the Earth.
"Shit you gave me one hell of a scare Hiro…" Bucchi gasped underneath his breath as he and Hiro just sat together huffing and puffing with nothing but the sounds of the burning building collapsing in the background. Hiro suddenly heard sniffling and glanced over to his side just in time to see Bucchi rubbing his eyes feverishly… and the young blood warrior understood all too well… he placed his hand on his best friend's shoulder, surprising the bespectacled boy for an instant, he looked up and saw Hiro smiling warmly… he wanted to cry even more… of course, when your best friend smiles like that after emerging from the depths of Hell intact, and he just helped you save two girls like some badass from the best Hollywood movie known to man and you start crying… you're killing the vibe… so Bucchi laughed instead, he laughed as a response to Hiro's smile even as tears kept falling from his face…
"Hiyorimi…" He finally said after a little while went past and he calmed down a little bit more. At that point, he and Hiro had moved over to where they'd rested the two girls, right below the tree, and Bucchi balanced on one knee as he carefully wiped away the sweat, dust, and ash from their faces… Off in the distance, Hiro could hear the fire trucks racing toward them. They must have been no less than five minutes away… and there were many of them by the sounds of their wailing sirens.
"Yeah Bucchi?"
"That… that was crazy wasn't it?"
"Ah… heheh… yes… yes it was…" Hiro laughed as he smiled again at his friend. A sudden pain or rather numbness caught him off guard and he grimaced as he fell backwards.
"A-are you alright?!"
"Ah! Yeah yeah! I'm fine Bucchi! D-don't worry… I'm fine…"
"Actually Hiyorimi… how the hell are you fine? How are you even here? I saw you get hit by that pillar!"
"No! NO! You joking right? Your joking? Come on now! I managed to roll out of the way just in time. (Your glasses must have been fogged up or something)."
"What about all these cuts and bruises? There's blood all over your ripped up shirt!"
"You should take a look at yourself Bucchi!"
"Well then why didn't you respond when I was calling you huh?! Surely I yelled loud enough!"
"Ah sorry sorry! I must not have been able to hear you. I fell to the ground floor!"
"You fell?! THE GROUND FLOOR?"
"It's fine Bucchi! Seriously I'm alright… and we're here now… please don't worry…"
"Hmm…" Bucchi sighed uneasily as he walked past Hiro dusting himself off. "You say that Hiyorimi… and yet we've been through so much together. We found out Kamura-senpai was a vampire…"
"What? You're still on about that? I told you, you were just imaging things!"
"We were on that ghost train together…"
"Come on Bucchi you just fell asleep in the carriage and dreamt up that whole ghost thing. It's just like your dad said! Bunch of nonsense!"
"We accompanied Sherwood-sama on her monster safaris…"
"Most of the time it was hot and humid, we were all seeing 'monsters' by the end haha (Sweat bubble)!"
"We were captured by a spider woman in our school…"
"We just got locked in a classroom and there happened to be big spiders there! (You were so fatigued when we got you home, you didn't wake up till the next day of classes! Funny huh?)"
"And you keep making up excuses…"
"Bucchi please let me—"
"I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIEND'S HIRO?" At this Hiro shut up as he looked anxiously at Bucchi who in turn looked straight at the ground trembling, his hands balled up into fists. "I thought we were friends…"
"We are…"
"Then why do you keep telling me not to worry?" Bucchi said as he looked Hiro straight in the eye and once again the young man shut the hell up. "Why do you keep making up these stories? Friend's don't lie to each other… I know I always seem to pass out during our little expeditions but even I am not so stupid Hiyorimi to not notice the peculiar things that happen when I'm around you… in this town… ever since the Lady of your House moved in… or rather more so since then… If you tell me now that you won't tell the truth then I'll drop the subject… but… if you still have any respect left for me… please don't lie…" And with that a great silence dawned between them as Hiro stared at Bucchi who clenched his fist shut and stared at the ground.
"I'm dead Bucchi…"
"W-what?"
"That's the truth… you wanted it right? That's the truth… I'm dead… the Lady of my House? She's actually a monster Princess and her sister Sherwood too… Their maids are actually high-tec androids…"
"You... you shouldn't make fun Hiyorimi… Just because I pushing for the trut—"
"You said you wanted me to tell you… I am… I swear I am… I don't know how I can make you believe me… but if you want to hear I'll tell you… I owe you that… you can judge it true or false afterward…" Hiro said as he looked Bucchi solemnly in the eyes to which his bespectacled friend blinked a few times and looked away, the serious honesty in Hiro's irises was enough to throw any man off guard and so he let him continue… and continue Hiro did… "Reiri is a vampire…" He said and Bucchi's eyes flickered. "She is… and Riza… she's a werewolf… through some long and complicated series of events I was killed… and Hime… the Lady of the House… she saved me… she made me semi-immortal…"
"Semi-immortal? What… what does that mean?"
"It means that… umm… for as long as I serve her… I can keep on living basically… that's the long and short of it… oh but don't get the wrong idea! It's not as bad as it sounds… far from it actually…"
"I-Is that why you don't have any serious wounds despite the… the blood and rips on your shirt?"
"Yes. Yes it is… in fact…" Hiro said as his eyes widened with a thought. "I think I just figured out a way I might be able to show you…" He said as he looked around causing Bucchi to give a questioning look. After a second or two, the young man found what he was looking for, a piece of sharp metal that had been blown over by the fire. He held up the piece of debris looking for the sharpest end at which point, once he found it, he held it up for Bucchi to see. Bucchi just shrugged as he looked at Hiro, then the metal, then back at Hiro… "Don't freak out…" The young blood warrior said softly.
He then turned the metal on its sharpest end and stabbed it through his left hand.
"OH MY GOD!" Bucchi screamed as he stared in horror at Hiro who grimaced slightly with the piece of metal now impaling his palm, warm blood flowed out like a stream collecting in a small dark messy puddle before his feet. "WHAT THE F&^* ARE YOU DOING HIYORIMI! YOU… YOU… STABBED YOURSELF!"
"Bucchi please…" Hiro said as he held his hand up and yanked the metal back out. Good thing Bucchi had already thrown up before because he looked like he was going to lose his lunch again. "Please wait…" Hiro reiterated as he now held up his hand in plain view, the gouging bruise he'd left behind clearly visible and one could even see clean through Hiro's hand as he had broken the bones in his way and left only shredded skin and damaged tendon behind. Bucchi just quivered, all the color in his cheeks now completely gone, never mind the fire, he looked like he was more scared than he'd ever been in his entire life. But then something happened that changed his expression completely… it didn't lighten his mood but he was no longer afraid… indeed Bucchi's jaw just dropped as he stared mouth agape at Hiro's wound as smoke erupted forth and the hand began to heal…
And the young man watched on in unquenchable awe as Hiro himself stared at his wound, the both of them silent with the only sound being the slight fizzing noise of the smoke coming from Hiro's hand. All the other sounds of the Earth were just background babble because none of it mattered anymore, not to Hiro, not to Bucchi as the young bespectacled boy watched his friend's bone suddenly twitch, and like something out of a space-aged horror film, Hiro's bone seemed to grow right back, centimeter by centimeter, not incredibly fast but nowhere near slow. Once the bone was whole again, the ruptured muscles too started to twitch, stretching over the exposed skeleton with fresh blood soaking up the tissue, and finally Hiro's skin also started to grow back as it covered up the remainder of the wound quickly scabbing and then flaking off leaving behind his newly resurrected hand… and there wasn't a single scar, cut, or scratch on it.
"Do you believe me now Bucchi?" Hiro asked as he kept his hand up flexing it a bit. Bucchi didn't respond… not for a few seconds…
"…I guess I have to believe you." The young man said as he just stared on at Hiro's hand, like he was in some kind of trance.
"Forgive me. It was never my intention to deceive you… I just never knew how to tell you…"
"No! It's okay! I understand… I probably wouldn't have believed it if you hadn't shown me… Even by my… our standards, this is something. I guess maybe I was too hard on you before…"
"Its fine… maybe I didn't trust you enough either… with something like this…"
"Huh… I've never been friends with a dead guy before hehe…" Bucchi exhaled deeply with a slight chuckle as he bent his back placing his hands on his knees. "Oh God…" He huffed tiredly as he just hunched there for a second shaking his head and Hiro too couldn't help but give a low laugh.
"I wish I could tell you more…" He sighed as he closed his eyes smiling. "Explain everything… but I don't have enough time. (I was supposed to be home an hour ago…)" He said as he looked at his phone—which miraculously still worked considering all he and it had been through over the last ten or twenty minutes. He walked over to the bag of groceries he'd left at the base of the tree.
"You're not waiting for the firemen?"
"That would be… problematic…"
"Oh right yeah! Sorry! That would be a problem now wouldn't it? Well… perhaps we can talk more tomorrow or during the week or something… maybe at school… you're coming back right? (We have a quiz next week but I have the notes if you need them… I can drop by later, heck we can study together!)"
"Actually…" Hiro said taking a deep breath as his smile slowly vanished. "I didn't tell you about something else." He said and Bucchi shook himself a bit as if to prepare for what Hiro had to say next. "I'm… moving…" And with that… there was silence between the two men.
"I think I knew…" Bucchi finally said surprising Hiro actually by the lack of yelling or anger. The young blood warrior looked up and there was Bucchi still smiling albeit with a little melancholy in his eyes. "I was wondering why Kageyama-sensei wasn't calling your name anymore…"
"Yeah… I dropped out about four days ago…"
"I see…"
"I'm sorry… it just happened suddenly… Hime… the Lady of the House… she moved away… Sherwood is staying though…"
"So you're going to move closer to the Lady... I mean... H-hime?"
"Sadly no… I… she and I can't really um… work together anymore…"
"Did something happen?" Bucchi blurted out causing Hiro to turn away. The young man quickly realized he may have been asking a question he shouldn't be asking and so he immediately settled down. "Sorry…" He whispered as he looked down at the ground. "Wait a second… if you aren't going with her and you just said you're immortal only when—"
"Please don't think too much into it Bucchi, I can assure you I will be fine…" Hiro immediately responded calming his friend down. "It's nothing to worry about… everything has been arranged for me so no worries…"
"Oh okay good… well when are you leaving then?"
"That I honestly don't know… it's whenever I can I guess. Sometime tomorrow." Hiro shrugged as he glanced to his side. "Possibly even today… I probably won't get to see you…"
"I can come by you know!"
"The firemen will be here soon Bucchi and you need to go to home... not to mention you have school tomorrow… no this is—"
"This is it…" He said finishing up Hiro's sentence for him. "Isn't it?"
"Yeah… it is… Sherwood will still be here like I said… and my sister as well… Riza and Reiri might hang around though I think they also might be leaving soon…"
"They're moving too?"
"Certain things have happened…"
"Things?"
"Nothing bad… but it's complicated… please understand Bucchi…"
"Yeah... I get it… I don't mean to pry Hiyorimi-kun… I'm just thankful that you even told me all you did in the first place! I feel a little more at peace… like I understand you a little better… like I understand this town a little better… still… you leaving… it's… it's just difficult to wrap my head around you know? I guess I always knew this day would come… but with all the adventures we've been on together… I just wasn't ready for it…"
"Hahah… tell me about…" Hiro smirked and Bucchi too couldn't help but smile as the two men glanced at one another before slowly breaking eye contact, their gazes settling on the ground below them… up above, the clouds parted and the Sun shined beautifully down upon them, even with the burning building still raging on in the background, and the wailing of the firefighters making their way through the forest… there was a peace here… one that summarized everything perfectly… one last adventure… eh Hiyorimi?
"Hey Hiro…"
"Yeah Bucchi?"
"We're still friends right? Even if you're leaving?"
"Of course…"
"Do you think you'll ever be back in Sasanaki?"
"I… can't say…"
"Not even to visit your sister?"
"Uh… yeah… maybe…"
"Okay good!" Bucchi's face lit up like a Christmas tree and Hiro really didn't have the heart to correct him now. "You have my number and my email address… if I get a new phone or something I'll email you the new number… if you're ever back in town… drop me a line Hiro!"
"You bet Bucchi…"
"I guess then this is goodbye…"
"Yeah… take care… be careful and don't forget to stop by Princess Sherwood's! She could use the help…"
"Yeah… definitely… and you take care too Hiro… you already died once… and while I don't doubt your immortality after seeing it with my own eyes… keep yourself together… I hope we meet again." Bucchi smiled as he extended his hand and Hiro did the same and the two of them shook smiling happily at the other. Were it that this moment could go on forever, the glory between two friends who knew each other well, saying their final goodbyes despite neither of them wanting too… and yet… they did not hide that fact from the other, no rather they smiled through their sorrow not because they were parting ways but rather because they had crossed paths. Yes. That was it. That was the magnitude of their friendship at the end of everything they'd accomplished, at the end of this day that was the magnitude of the trust they had in each other.
And with that… Hiro let go of his best friend's hand and turned around to walk away. He couldn't help but give one last glance back though the minute he did, he just saw Bucchi smiling right at him standing next to the two girls that they had rescued. Hiro gave a low sigh as another smile blossomed on his face… I leave the rest to you Bucchi… He thought unconsciously as he walked back toward his sister's mansion leaving his bespectacled friend staring after him as the firemen finally arrived.
And so Hiro walked. He walked and walked sticking off the main road for a little while as fire trucks and ambulances raced passed him. It allowed him to change actually without being detected as he hunched among the high grass and bushes and threw away his ripped up shirt. Luckily, he'd gotten into the habit of wearing two just in case he needed another one. His experiences over the past two years had taught him well (hell Hime's coronation point and case!) He pulled out another shirt from his bag of groceries… It was a long sleeve, pearl white shirt that he had taken off earlier because it was hot on his way to the market. Now it was a godsend but the thing that really stood out about this shirt was the fine, glistening medal Hime had given him pinned beautifully on the left side corner of his shirt. "Hehe…" Hiro smirked warmly as he put the long sleeves back on…
His pants now were a different story. They were messy, slightly ripped and he only had one. Of course, the color was very dark so most of the dust, ash, and blood wasn't showing even if he did kind of smell like an ashtray… it worked out just as well and, in the end, Hiro could probably pass off as some sort of construction worker… that or some punk-wanna-be rocker… either way he was fine the way he was just like he had told Bucchi…
That was a lie… he made himself look fine sure, but his vision was blurred, his steps were barely straight, his head was pounding and the air in his lungs tasted stale… it got really bad at one point as he finally made his way back into town. It seemed all the fire in his veins and the conviction in his heart had just melted away… and now nature was rushing back in to collect on the debt he couldn't quite pay… he saw a bench ahead and thanked the lord because whether he wanted to or not, he was going done, and the young blood warrior did as he plopped inelegantly on the wooden chair almost dropping his groceries in the process. He got a few sideways glances from a few people walking by but they just minded their own business and that was good.
"Ah…" Hiro let out a sigh as he began to lightly gasp for air. This was a different kind of exhaustion now. It wasn't about willpower anymore. He still had plenty of that, no rather it was the world and the value of limits that held him down now, that his body was physically unable to move on any further… that no one could again question his resolve, not even the Gods for there was no power on Earth that could move his body any further. I could just call Riza… He thought feeling the edge of his phone in his pocket. To come pick me up… He scoffed at that idea and brushed it off quickly… he knew if he called her Reiri would surely follow… it wasn't a bad thing but they'd be worried about him… worried that he needed to be picked up in the first palce and he didn't want them to worry even if he was in the state that he was in… He didn't want to be a burden… such a stupid boy and yet such a great man for thinking that way. Hiro instead decided to endure. When the royal blood starts to fade, it usually goes through bouts of severity. He just need to stay calm for a bit and not overexert himself… he should be fine then. Hopefully…
So he sat, sweating now, he remained cool and composed as he started looking around, just looking for anything to take his mind off his body. He looked down the street and there he saw Sawawa's favorite parfait shop.
Wait… what? Hiro thought as he looked again. Sure enough that was Sawawa's favorite parfait shop. No way… Hiro thought as he looked to his other side and there he recognized the next street over… it was the one he used to turn down to get to school… it was then and only then, in all its obvious clarity, that Hiro realized exactly where he was…
This was the site where he first met Hime. More specifically… this was the site where he'd first died… all those years ago…
And for a second he just sort of slumped back into his bench basking in the realization of all the irony… He'd never really given it much thought… I mean he'd passed this street up and down so many times before, it was the way he took to school, it was the way to the market, it was the way toward Sherwood's manor, it was the way back home, but it was never the place where he'd died… no rather, after everything, it was more aptly the place where he began to live… it was poetic then that he should be here when things turned out this way… it wasn't cruel or sick… rather it was warm, and Hiro felt like this was a comfort to him… like some sort of metaphysical pat on the back, he looked up at the sky and it was clear all around him, this whole block practically lit up like some grand stage. A few birds flew passed and there was a tree to his right, a few more pedestrians went walking by, some on bikes, some in cars, some talking on their cell phones.
It was oddly peaceful… something he hadn't noticed before… perhaps that's how we all get toward the end, the cool shade, the rustling sound of the leaves as they echo in the wind, the soft hum of people in a small city as they go about their way… peaceful? It was a worldly heaven… and that's when he saw them…
That's when Hiro saw a full bouquet of flowers next to him. It was pinned up on the telephone poll just a few feet from the spot he had been hit that faithful day… and they were beautiful beyond description… a type of flower he'd never before seen… they were beautiful things swirled in shades of orange and hues of red with a faint tint of yellow around the edges… they were perfect…
"Ah…" Hiro sighed contently slouching a bit into the bench; too comfortable to get up… he kissed the air to say her name.
Hime…
I think I'll just rest here for a while…
Meanwhile… at the Royal Palace…
"Fuga…"
"Ah Flandre is that you?" Hime said without even looking up as she sat reading her book and sipping her tea. "Did Milano send you to find me?"
"Fuga Fuga…"
"Ah… I see… you've brought me more tea… to tell you the truth… it's not as good as I remember it… even if it's Earl Grey…"
"Fuga Fuga?"
"No it's fine… you don't have to tell them to remake it. I don't want to make a fuss. It's not horrible, and I doubt anyone will ever be as good as Sawawa anyway…"
"Fuga?"
"Yes I'm sure…"
"Fuga…" Flandre said as she worked her way in past the shelves and mountains of books stacked precariously on top of one another to pour her master her cup of tea. She glanced at Hime sitting nicely in a fine patted chair but still she didn't look up. "Fuga Fuga?"
"Fufu… you've gotten nosy haven't you?"
"Fuga…" Flandre said scratching her cheek with what appeared to be a slight blush…
"Fufu. Relax Flandre. When did you get so serious? I was just reading up on some history before the next meeting… that's all. I forgot how immense father's library was… or rather I should say our library now…" Hime sighed as she finally looked up from her book, passed the thousands of others, and out the window at the clouds above… some thunder roared on the horizon, a foreboding to the worst… and Hime's thoughts were with Hiro… what was he doing right now? Was he really going to die? Did he really accept that fate? She wanted to call Sherwood and find out but she knew she was probably just fooling herself… she knew the probable answer… and what's more she didn't want to bring it up with her little sister… She was hurting too… But still… it didn't change the fact that she wanted so much to see him again…
"I guess I always figured we had more time…" She said not realizing she'd actually said that out loud.
"…Fuga?"
"No… it's alright… I suppose this will have do…" She said tiredly closing her book. "And I suppose it's also time for you too… Hiro…" She thought as she bid her solemn farewell to the man she loved… Back in Sasanaki, Riza and Reiri stared anxiously at Sawawa who stared at the clock, and outside even Nakua seemed distracted as she manifested herself before her shrine and massaged her nose bridge. Across the city, Sherwood just sat silently staring out her dining room window… very much like her sister with a fully poured cup of tea that she had no interest in drinking. Francesca waited patiently with her as did Ryu-Ryu, and even in the Monster Realm, in many major cities, the festivities had taken a slight break and now somber processions were being carried out as everyone's thoughts were on Hiro…
That Last of the Great Blood Warriors…
And indeed, the mood was more than just contagious for even Flandre couldn't help but move to her side. She reached into her tiny pockets and pulled out the sea shell she had gotten all those years ago. Then she listened to the ocean, yes she did as her Master and the World said goodbye to that one very specific man. "Fu-g—eh… Huugaaa… Hi… g… o… oh… ga go… gro…Higro… Hi… go... H—h-h-i-roh… Hi… roh… Hiro…"
"Come along Flandre… I should have enough time before my next round of meetings… it's time to pay father a visit…" Hime said as she led the way out of the room. Before she left, she whispered one final thing that couldn't possibly have been heard by anyone… certainly not Flandre or even the multitude of maids buzzing around like busy bees just outside the hall… however… it is possible that one person heard her words… one very specific man many miles away as he sat happily nestled on the seat of a bench, his jet black glossy hair gleaming in the sunlight amongst his long sleeve buttoned up collared shirt and his messy, torn, ash covered black jeans…
Goodbye Hiro… Hime whispered fighting back tears for the final time as Hiro exhaled softly… closing his eyes… forever…
I wonder what kind of adventures you'll have in the future… ey? Hime?
"Why don't you stick around and find out… Hiro…."
Huh? The young man's eyes shot wide open. "That voice…"
"That voice? Fufu… I should hope you know this voice. I should also hope you know who I am…" Hiro heard as his eyes slid into focus and he just stared with possibly the stupidest expression of disbelief plastered, no, branded across his face. Ten million questions buzzed in and out of his brain but in an instant, none of it mattered anymore… none of it mattered because the universe didn't want to make sense and there standing before him was the one person he knew he could never meet again…
"Hello Hiro." Hime said. "You look awful."
And she smiled a bit as she finished saying that. Hiro just continued to stare on in pure confusion, his eyes watered, not out of happiness for he had yet to fully comprehend the situation he was in but rather because he forgot to blink, and his mouth hung open unhinged like it had been broken. It was the kind of confused look that combined dizziness, surprise, and revelation all in one. But she was patient, yes she was, Hime was patient with her man. She often was when things truly mattered. She didn't say a word nor did she persist, no, she just kept quiet allowing Hiro the time he needed to blink his eyes and close his mouth and take a deep breath…
"… H-how…?" The young man finally managed to mutter out his head tilting a bit to one side like a pup trying to understand the actions of his master. "I'm… you…" He tried sorting through the questions in his head but in the end, he probably couldn't even tell you his name if you asked him. "I died…" He heard himself squeak to which Hime's smile grew wider.
"Yes… You did." And that's all she said. Of course, at that point, Hiro looked like his head was about to explode and so Hime continued speaking right away. "You did die Hiro." She repeated again so easily, so effortlessly and yet it was like thunder. "What you experienced just now was death… not some unconscious loss of motor function or my blood wearing off… no… you experienced it like you did only once before… death in its entirety… in its finality… so now I ask you… how does it feel to be reborn?" She grinned as Hiro's eyes couldn't swell any wider even if they tried.
"R-reborn?"
"Why yes! Is this not rebirth Hiro? You died so you aren't alive but you're here and so you aren't dead… if you were in a better way I might have made a joke about being semi-immortal but even that doesn't quite describe what this is…" She smiled as she turned away triumphantly awaiting his response. None ever came… at least not for the next couple of seconds.
"No…" Hiro finally managed to gasp out as he put his hand slowly to his mouth. "No no no no no no no…"
"Hmm?" Hime hummed as she glanced over at him. "Hiro… relax…" She said taking a step forward. "Breathe—"
"STAY BACK!" The young man shouted as he practically tripped over the bench behind him. He quickly got back up as he jumped behind it using it like a barrier or shield or something… "You're not Hime!" He shouted or rather he declared.
"I'm not?"
"NO!"
"Fufu… then who am I? Certainly three days isn't long enough for you to forget your Master now is it Hiro?"
"Stop that!" The young man shouted anxiously doing his best not to cry. "This must be a trick… some sort of lie! Something must be going on here!"
"Is that really what you want to say? (I thought you'd be a lot happier to see me…) Though I suppose I understand…" She said looking the poor man over as he trembled like a little boy. "From your point of view… this must make absolutely no sense…" She chuckled as she took another step toward him.
"I SAID STAY BACK! I-I-I'm warning you!"
"You're warning me? My Hiro even if you are confused that's quite audacious of you! Of course… if I stay here and you won't allow me to move nor will you believe a word I have to say, then don't you think we've reached an impasse? An impossible situation without resolution? Unless you want us stay like this forever (or at least until my next meeting), something needs to be done…" She said her eyes sharpening a bit as she stared right at Hiro and the young man had to look away. "Believe me Hiro…" She ordered and yet it wasn't a command… there was a sort of begging context to her words though her tone would never show it… it was in her smile and the friendly way her brow creased despite the confidence and fierceness of her eyes, all jokes aside… Hime was begging Hiro to believe her. It was something else… it calmed Hiro down… even if by a marginal degree…
"…I-if you really are Hime…" The young blood warrior finally said after a few minutes went by. He tilted his head down letting his bangs cover up his eyes. "Then prove it to me…"
"Prove it to you? Now how would I do that?" Hime said shaking her head. "As a blood warrior…" She began and her eyes narrowed a bit letting Hiro know she was up to something… mischievous. "Should you not know your master better than anyone else? You best of all people Hiro should know me well… inside and out…" Hime smirked at that last part as her fangs peaked over her lips causing Hiro to cringe as he blushed madly realizing exactly what she meant. "Or is that not so? Fufu…" She finished artfully without so much as a playful smile but rather now, an innocent one, cycling through her diverse emotions with ease and swiftness—a testament to her impulsive nature and subtleties—once again throwing the poor boy off balance.
"I'm… I'm not sure…" Hiro muttered more to himself than to her as he again looked away. "Right now… I'm not sure about anything anymore… I don't even know how I'm here… but that's not important… if you are my Master… if you really are… I'll know it when you try to convince me…"
"Hmpf. Fair enough. Then how about this." The beautiful blonde haired woman said as she held up her hand. It spooked the poor young man for a second, her sudden movement, but then she retracted her reach in a most familiar way and did something that froze him solid…
She bit her hand.
More specifically, she bit her finger, letting her blood flow like so many times before and Hiro, captivated by the beauty in the action, the instinct in the motion—both in her and in himself, and the soft, peaceful look she had on, realized the situation immediately… it was something she had done hundreds of thousands of times before and there was a structure to this act. One that revealed itself best when they were by themselves… where they would meet in the bowels of the night, long past the wee hours when their friends and loved ones had gone to bed, alone but together, they would wake and Hiro would kneel before her, before Hime… sometimes it'd be in the dining room but more and more often it was just simpler, perhaps even more comfortable, to meet in his room… and there the young Princess would sit atop his bed and extend her hand. Hiro would grip it tightly with such loving care and the minute his lips touched her skin, so then did their ritual begin. It didn't last very long, 15… maybe 20 minutes, but neither could deny that by the end, as they finally turned to part ways, they carried the warmth of the other inside them.
So Hime would leave his room, yes, she would leave returning to her own. Secretly she wished that she could stay with him forever and she knew Hiro wished the same thing, like they were birds of a feather or more specifically a phoenix and her blood warrior basking in some self-ordained pain where neither acted on their feelings for the other. Perhaps that's what made it so apt here, when everything finally appeared to be going their way… like the universe was practically screaming for them to get a clue and just express their love already… beyond just closed doors and pocket change minutes… so yes… Hime bit her hand and held it out for Hiro to grab practically begging him to drink and indeed, he almost went for it. Almost…
"…That proves it alright…" He chuckled after a few moments passed by. "You're not Hime…"
"Oh? How so?"
"Well…" The young man quivered as he continued to stare at the woman before him. He felt less and less confident in everything he was about to say as her loving eyes pierced his soul… like that was her way of arguing back. "Hime matured!" He finally blurted out. It was rather crass and inelegant but he had a point. "She's ruling over the Kingdom! And if she accepts her immortality… she won't have a body anymore… she won't have any blood to give me! She… she can't be here… and you can't be her! It's… just not possible… No matter how much I want to believe it…
And even if she didn't accept the Phoenix's blessing yet, coming here to give me blood would be meaningless… it'd be the same situation all over again where she'd have to leave and I'd need more blood… I already told her I won't accept Sherwood… giving me more time would be nice but it would also be pointless… and Hime's far too busy to waste her time with something so trivial anyway… she's got a Kingdom to rule… she can't just stop all of that to come to me… I'm just one man… she's ruling the world… no matter… no matter what I am or who I am to her… she can't sacrifice that responsibility just for me… and also…" Hiro said as he glanced back over. "She told me once of death…" The young man paused for a second and Hime—or rather this Hime look alike—continued to stare intently at him. "She told me once when we were in a car accident, of how death came for her… that it wasn't her time but death wanted her soul anyway… it lied to her…it tried to trick her… I don't know what this is… how I am still here or who you really are or even what you would stand to gain by tricking me now… but… because I don't know any of that… I can't trust you…" Hiro finished cautiously as he snatched in and out of glances with the very familiar woman in front of him… a few awkward seconds ticked by in silence until finally Hime's light chuckling filed the air.
"Well…" She said twirling one of her golden bangs with her finger as she playfully smiled at Hiro making the young man sweat. "There are several mistakes in your reasoning and some of the answers to the questions you raised are very difficult—to the point where I don't even think I myself know the full answers… however… from what you just said, you're thinking something along the lines that I am an aberration of death yes? Fufu… trying to trick you into accepting your fate? That was the only identity you came up with for me in your reasoning… fufu… 50 points…"
"Huh?"
"50 points… very brilliant thinking… even if it's completely wrong… fufu I'm pleased you are still so objective Hiro… accepting things that easily is too naïve… But I have a question for you now… Can an immortal being bleed?" She stared him straight in the eye, still keeping that confident loving smile, there was so much authority and yet there was so much emotion, it didn't make it any easier for Hiro to look back at her… nor did it make it any easier to figure out… "Can an immortal being bleed…" she repeated waiting for Hiro's answer…
"I…" The young man stuttered. "N-no…"
"The answer is yes…"
"No! You said… I mean… Sherwood said you wouldn't have a body!"
"Yet here I am fufu…"
"That isn't an answer!"
"My Hiro how bossy you've gotten toward your Master…"
"WOULD YOU CUT IT OUT!" The young man snapped perhaps sounding a little angrier than he had intended as Hime stopped smiling all together. But rather than get upset with him like he was instantly regretting he had gotten with her, she just gave him a warm look back. Oh the agony in his heart…
"Relax Hiro I'm just teasing… though I guess it can't be helped. Sherwood told you all these things about the Phoenixes… and to be fair I can't exactly blame her now… it just isn't something easy to explain… I don't have a body and yet I do… I can if I so choose… the phoenixes are powerful as I told you before during our conversation after my coronation… do you remember?"
"Yes… I remember…"
"Right… and I also said that there is still much we ourselves do not understand… even now… as I am… there are things I do not know… but as a fully matured Phoenix… as the King of the Monster Realm… I can see that even the things we thought we knew were not entirely true… that has, at the very least, become clear to me…"
"Wait…" Hiro practically mumbled as his eyes started to widen, a great awkward feeling building in the pit of his stomach and the base of his spine. "So what you're saying is… I mean… what you're actually saying is… it was all a mistake?" The young man all but stuttered looking at his master who in turn just looked back at him and everything seemed to point toward the impossible… the happy impossible…
"Fufu… that's a blunt way of putting it…" Hime chuckled and Hiro was about ready to implode. "AH!" The fine King suddenly yelled causing him to jump—it didn't exactly help his situation. "Right on time…" She chimed slowly as she looked directly into Hiro's trembling eyes. "You said you wanted proof right Hiro? Fufu… well look over there…" She pointed and Hiro, in a daze, simply followed her finger. It didn't take him long for the minute he looked over to where his master was pointing, there he saw something extraordinary.
There he saw a creature standing or rather floating behind him.
And it was a very furious almost manic looking miserable kind of thing in a very fine tuxedo, the only thing fine about it actually because everything else seemed off, like a disguise, like a disease, it's arms for example were disproportioned, enough so that simply looking at this being for extended periods of time would send a disturbing chill up and down one's spine, and it had no shadow but rather an aura, and Hiro could swear if he squinted just hard enough, he could barely make out a cloaked black skeleton with a scythe hovering above it.
Yet, for all that, the key feature that really set this thing apart was its rabbit like head and long jaw filled with rows and rows of flat teeth… Hiro could swear he'd seen this… abomination once before… perhaps when Hime was possessed? Or no… for all it's disconcerting features, there was an eerie familiarity in this being… one he felt he was not alone in feeling for all who looked upon this wretch would feel the same chills as it greeted them with a smile, reminding them of things unspoken, like they were all old friends having never met before…
"Speak of the devil and he shall appear… Death is looking for you Hiro…" Hime chuckled mischievously.
"What?" The young man choked in disbelief.
"Shall I show him where you are?"
"H-how…? How can he not see us?"
"For the very same reason that nobody else can see us… or have you really not noticed that we've been having a fairly long conversation… and no one has bothered us? No one has come near us… no one can see us…" Hime said and Hiro looked around. Sure enough, he could clearly see people going about their business back and forth, up and down this old Sasanaki road but she was right. They just kept looking forward as they walked, talking on their cell phones, looking the other way, that if he were to stand in front of them, wave his arms and scream, he didn't doubt that they'd walk right through him… "When something is so much greater than everything else around it," Hime continued smiling at Hiro's captivation. "…simply experiencing that entity becomes impossible… like the world can't process the magnitude of the being… at least… not the world through the senses of any less… powerful beings…"
"Then why me? How can I be the one to… see you?"
"Because I choose you Hiro…"
"B-because you choose me?"
"Yes… it's that simple. I choose you… as I did back then… on a whim yes… but now… I will always choose you Hiro… I'm your Master after all…fufu… you're stuck with me…" She said and she knew she said the right thing there because the look on Hiro's face told her everything she needed to know… but even so, even still the young man did not move, no rather now he just bowed his head down and he did not budge. "If that is still not enough… How is Sawawa?" Hime asked and Hiro's eyes once again shot wide open. "Riza and Reiri?" She went again practically handling Hiro in the palm of her hands. "Is everything in the house alright? Are all the paper's there for the deed and ownership? I haven't gotten around to sending any guards to Sasanaki yet… do you see now Hiro? I know you… all about you… and I know…" She trailed off a bit tossing him a glance that he couldn't help but think was so seductive. "Just how brave you really are…" She said hushed as she slowly allowed her eyes to drift along looking the trembling man over. "You insist on proving it actually… over and over again…"
"Huh?"
"Yes… The burning building? What was that… not even twenty minutes ago? You rushed in to save those two young women when my blood's effect was wearing off… without so much as a single thought toward your own well-being, you didn't hesitate to rush in and save somebody else… hmpf. And this is why I love you." She said so effortlessly, so sincerely, it froze Hiro solid. How he had waited so very, very long to hear her say those words… he knew she felt them… but it was just so… magnificent to hear them now, clearly directed toward him, like an opening, like a revelation, like she was beckoning to him after all this time for the first time ever. "This is why I love you…" She repeated yet again and it did not lose its weight or its stomach trembling edge. "Because that is how you are, this is the way you act… even after all these years, even after I told you to only protect me… you could never stop helping others… I always thought that made you soft… but now? Fufu… now I think that's what makes you so strong…" She finished… she finished with a smile and once again Hiro was in pieces, happy pieces yes, but pieces nonetheless, his whole world shattering only to be remade.
"How… how do you know about the b-building?" He heard himself ask and he immediately wanted to bite off his own tongue… he could have said so many wonderful things to her then and yet he in his genius choose that… but Hime didn't seem to mind… in fact she seemed to welcome the question…
"Oh yes. I didn't tell you did I? That's because I caused that fire Hiro…" And she smiled when she said that. The look on Hiro's face was priceless. "Let me explain…" She added instantly when it became clear Hiro was on the verge of having yet another breakdown.
"Right now… you are here on this Sasanaki street corner and I… I am several hundred miles away in my castle going to meet my father, my race, to meet them… and accept their gift of immortality…
The ceremony for that isn't long, like I said it can happen whenever I choose and there isn't much formality, rather it is a deeply personal experience… one that no other member of the family can help you with… and in truth, it is something that needs to be done alone because it is a battle that needs to be won, fighting to maintain awareness while exponentially becoming aware… to remain the same person as all that… understanding forces itself upon you as you ascend to the next level of… existing... it's like seeing a book and suddenly knowing its contents word for word without ever having opened it… now imagine that book was the world Hiro… imagine that book was the world… it can be a truly frightening experience… extraordinary yes… but terrifying…especially because it's difficult to control, confusing even…
Remember my brother, Emile? He couldn't manifest himself properly in our world… of course, in his case, he no longer had his body to anchor him to our reality… being blessed by the Phoenixes is different… fufu… I no longer need an anchor… but I digress… their blessing happens only in an instant and it is far more of an… experience… than any form we can achieve whilst we are still juvenile… yet even saying that doesn't quite describe the magnitude of this power.
Hiro… I gained immortality exactly five minutes from now… you died ten minutes ago…
Do you understand Hiro? I tried to go back in time to find you… Of course… going back is dangerous for many reasons. The main one, as I'm sure you recall from the Cronoton Mine incident, is the fact that it can alter the future and create many parallel worlds that diverge thus obscuring the current timeline… as a principle, all phoenixes are supposed to stay within their own universes… but that is a slightly different problem… yet this case was exceptional… fufu… no one could stop me from doing this…
Unfortunately I went back too far and wasn't able to control my powers… I ended up going back a few weeks beforehand but eventually I got the day right, the hour was still wrong though and, unfortunately, the lack of control on my part caused the building to catch on fire… it turned out well though, all things considered since the complex was abandoned but then those two girls were inside… I was going to put the fire out when I realized that I accidentally changed our timeline, and then you appeared with your friend… the one with glasses… I always forget his name but I never care to memorize it…
I knew then that I couldn't or rather that I shouldn't act anymore otherwise I'd risk permanently damaging the fabric of time… Fufu… I had to once again rely on you and your amazing ways to fix my mistakes…I was even there to watch you do it."
"Y-you were?"
"Why yes Hiro. Don't you remember gripping this hand?"
Hiro heard as he just stared wide-eyed remembering the ghostly albeit warm apparition that appeared before him. To find out now that it was no apparition, that Hime had set the building on fire, and that she was now here… to rescue him… ironically at the same spot she had all those years ago and suddenly the universe seemed to come full circle. It was perfect, it was closure… and if he had more time to prepare, Hiro would have broken down and cried hysterically… it was just so overwhelming, for once in the best way possible… he made due keeping silent, basking in the situation as he mentally screamed at the top of his lungs with the greatest happy fury ever before known to any man. It was indeed a happy moment. Easily, the happiest in his life…
"Hiro…" Hime said as she gently raised her hand in a nonthreatening sort of way and Hiro did not resist. She caressed his cheek. Yes, she did and it was not a slight pat or a warm but indifferent comforting hand like the time in Akasabi village no… she held up only one hand and she gently caressed him with her thumb as her fingers wrapped their way around the side of his face working their way to the very specific spot she had kissed… their first kiss ever that they shared or rather that Hime gave him upon the stage before the World at her grand coronation, he realized instantly through the contact of her fingers who she really was… without a damn doubt…
"Hime…" he murmured looking at her with such loving agony. And to see her looking back in the same way… all other notions of confirmation were irrelevant… like two lovers meeting after years of being apart, their hearts were united and no matter the foreign soil or the different times of day… who they were to each other would never change. It was immortality… in its purest and most original form… the bond between lovers…
"Fufu… You have a choice now Hiro…" Hime said softly as she brought her face to his, their noses and their skin touching as she whispered off the corner of his cheek. "You can pass away from this world…" He looked her straight in the eye and she nestled him a bit there. "You can rest finally… your days of fighting are at an end…
Or…
You can come with me…"
And with that, Hiro's entire world was once again shattered and was immediately remade. "How?" He asked doing his best to quell the excitement in his heart and failing beautifully…
"You can accept a part of my soul inside you…"
"A part of your soul?"
"Yes… I am immortal Hiro…" Hime said softly but yet it was like a triumphant horn the way her voice sounded and the fact behind her words. "I cannot die…" It was so beautiful, those words to hear… "It's really quite intuitive then that if I give you part of my soul, you will become a part of me and I a part of you… and so you will be immortal as well… you will no longer need my blood to live Hiro.
But now I must warn you… if you accept me… my… flame of life… you accept immortality, true immortality… but can you handle that? Can you really bear to live forever? To watch things change and people leave? I cannot bless Sherwood Hiro… the number of Phoenixes at any given time must be regulated… Riza wouldn't want this and neither would Reiri… I cannot bless Sawawa either… Do you understand what I am trying to say? You'll be able to see them yes… but the day will come when you will never be able to see them ever again… not in death… not in the afterlife… This is a curse as much as it is a blessing… you will live on… past the years and time when most normal men would give out and fail… longer than any Vampire or Werewolf would ever want to… till this world itself breaks and there is nothing left but to be reborn… you may get tired Hiro… but immortality is immortality… so can you live with that? Things won't stay the same forever Hiro… such is the nature of life, but will you follow me through it all? Will you stand by my side for all eternity?"
"…Master…" Hiro said as he looked down at the ground, his hair covering up his eyes. He spoke slowly as he trembled collecting himself with the deepest breath he'd ever taken in his life. Then, with a solemn fury, he raised his head and looked straight into his master's eyes for what could easily have been two minutes… "If…" He began as he watched her unblinking red silted eyes look back at his unblinking yellow silted eyes, like his body knew and wished to pledge itself in the surest and purest way possible to affirm the greatness in his conviction… "If I am with you…" He repeated as he finally blinked and smiled. "Then I don't care where I am or where this road will take me…" And with that, Hime couldn't help but gasp lightly as her eyes widened staring at the boy… no… the young man before her…
Those words… she thought as she stared at him as he kept up his smile magnificently. They were more or less the same words she herself had said at one point… when she was speaking with Death no less… If Hiro comes too… then I don't care where you take me…
"After all…" Hiro continued snapping the wonderful princess, no, the wonderful King out of her happy thoughts. "I am yours…" He said effortlessly and at that point Hime just wanted to breakdown and cry… if only to have Hiro embrace and comfort her for he had become so strong he broke the mold from which he was made… he was such a wonderful man… it surprised her actually… yes… it surprised even her… a full-fledged Phoenix with all the knowledge and power and understanding she had gained, with all the mix ups, and stupid failures he was renowned for, that here, now, after two years of training, Hiro was at apex of all glory as he answered her question without hesitation, and she just stared completely wooed and in love with that one very specific man who was able to impress someone like her. He wasn't royalty but he was a Prince… her Prince… her Knight in shining armor…
"I am not your master anymore… Hiro…" Hime corrected as she finally got her emotions under control though the huge smile on her face was more than telling, the sheer depth in her heart that he had penetrated and Hiro knew because he had the same exact smile on… they were finally being honest with themselves. "My name is Lillianne Von Phoenix…" She said magnificently. "She who reigns over all the strange ones known as monsters, I am the King… Those who are given my flame of life become immortal. They do not need to accept it more than once and they can never die. You will exist outside of time just like I do so I suggest you follow me eternally for the rest of all eternity…"
"Yes… Lillianne…"
"Then shall we go pay a visit to Sawawa, Sherwood and the others?"
"Yes… but…"
"Hmm? Speak my Knight."
"Don't you have work to do? Sherwood was telling me you were reviewing laws and stuff and the kingdom is still celebrating."
"They are and I am fufu… but even a King needs a break once in awhile Hiro, immortal or otherwise. So then… shall we?"
"Yes…" Hiro whispered as he finally shut the hell up and holy fire slowly started to surround them. The flames were wild and danced magnificently but they were not hot. Rather they were warm and they suited him, suited them both just fine as Hime moved within an inch of Hiro's face and the young man sensing what was coming next, instinctively puckered his lips and closed his eyes.
"What are you doing Hiro?" Hime said slowly as she stared right at him.
"Ah!" Hiro gulped. "N-no I was just—!"
But Hime just chuckled and before Hiro could say another world he felt his mouth getting covered as Hime put her lips to his and kissed him softly. He didn't even have time to blink, he just stared in disbelief as Hime's beautiful red silted eyes closed like she was lost in their kiss which itself only lasted about five seconds. It was still five seconds longer than the kiss she gave him before, and several degrees closer to his heart, she gently unhooked her lips from his, the spilt second where the little bit of saliva they shared settled between the canyon their mouth's made with each other, clinging lovingly as it slowly stretched till they let go and Hime opened her eyes as Hiro just stared on the brink of tears. She quite cutely gave one of her usual chuckles though this one sounded a little more innocent, excited even, like a schoolgirl giggling over her high school crush, it was odd to think of Hime in this sort of way because the authority was still there and that was reaffirmed as she brought her supple though assertive hands to his face and gently creased below his eyes wiping away his tears.
"Fufu… were you waiting for something like that?" She asked mischievously bullying Hiro. She gave an extraordinarily alluring smile, the kind she rarely showed since she was almost always straight faced, calm, and straight to business. It left Hiro in some sort of great happy confusion and so Hiro, in a daze responded quite boorishly. "Two years." He felt a smack upside his head causing him to laugh but then he felt the soft and light body of Hime as she embraced him, wrapping her arms around her love. She whispered something very specific to him and he just closed his eyes as he whispered something back and the holy flames finally consumed them both.
And all throughout the land, a great fury of black clouds suddenly appeared blackening the sky with pitch dark rumbling as thunder and some rain started to pour yet there was one spot where this storm did not reach, where the world was calm and the winds were still, a ray of light descended from the sky as the two immortals ascended up toward their rightful place in heaven…
Meanwhile, a few blocks away in a small Japanese home…
"Sheesh!" A rather young man in his thirties grunted as he shifted his glasses and looked up from his newspaper. "Where did these clouds come from all of a sudden?"
"Daddy!" A cute little girl with her hair tied in pigtails called as she playfully shuffled around with her teddy bear dragging behind her. "John's howling again."
"I wonder why? It's so early… and yet it's as dark as midnight!"
"Honey! What's going on?"
"Nothing just crazy weather!"
"Hey Daddy look up there!" The little girl said as she walked over to a window and pressed her face against it.
"What? W-w-wow…"
"Daddy what's that?"
"I… I don't know…"
"What is going on Nobuyuki? It's dark and stormy like a typhoon!"
"It's the sky Yuma!"
"Wah… Nobuyuki… what is that?"
"I… have no idea…" The man trailed off as his wife moved closer to him gripping his hand and he stood behind their daughter gripping her shoulders. The family just stared in awe as did all the residents of Sasanaki as they looked straight up toward the sky and there they saw a giant golden bird as it flew upward toward the heavens.
We'll be together forever won't we Hime?
Fufu… I suppose so…
…Hime…
Fufu… yes Hiro. Follow me to the end of eternity.
I will…
I know…
I love you…
Lillianne… my King…
And I love you…
Hiro… my Knight…
End
:')
THINGS TO COME: That's all folks! Princess Finale is officially done and it's time to chug along to the other fanfics I have on my list (they're also listed on my profile page too)! As I mentioned before, the spin-off is going to take precedent over the other planned stories since I really want to get that to you guys… I'm actually thinking about breaking the story up into two seasons since it really is looking like a huge project… I also want to mention that I did have a few one-shots planned as part of this story. They're like that Chapter 1.5 I included in my double-feature… they just expand the story and give you guys more time with the gang but I haven't seen much support for them so I'm going to put that idea on the back-burner for now and focus on Princess Rising… Princess Finale then will be listed as complete but I may post those one-shots randomly in the future. As for Princess Rising… I was thinking about putting a little summary like I did for Princess Finale but I'm still trying to find the right words to promote it… Let me just say this… you'll know what it's about when you read it. Believe me! That probably describes it better than I ever could in a simple paragraph… All I'll say is check my author page for the description when I figure out the wording and also, I'll give you guys a hint, Princess Rising seeks to explore the past of Princess Resurrection, the history of the Phoenixes, the history of the Royal War, of Blood Warriors, the Monster World. Cameos, Romance, Tragedies, and Action-packed Drama are all part of this new time period in the Princess Resurrection Universe! Hope that got you guys pumped!
End Note: Alright folks! So I imagine some of you were probably wondering where I was getting all the information I spammed you guys with in the first few chapters… I don't really know if I put this in my other notes but the whole point of this fic was to explain the many unanswered questions in Princess Resurrection. I think I explained everything pretty well and though it's obviously non-canonical (though technically speaking, that is the nature of all fanfics) I truly hope you enjoyed my explanations and my version of the Princess Resurrection ending… perhaps that would have been a better way to summarize my story so sorry if you guys got a little confused going into this work… sorry if it started off slow as well… and sorry again for being so damn late.
I really hope you enjoyed it at chapter 3 and 4 since this was the original basis of the story. This chapter in particular was supposed to be the smallest chapter albeit the most meaningful… I have no idea why it turned into the biggest but I hope it was still meaningful! Hiro's last three days of life (this was the direction I thought the manga was going to go in the first place). In fact, if I may be so bold, I honestly prefer my ending to the original… and I mean that in the most respectful way possible! Yasunori Mitsunaga's ending wasn't horrible… it's just that I thought it was a little anticlimactic and sad for Hiro… I mean come on Hime give the guy a kiss or something! He's doing his best out there! I felt like I showed that a little more and hopefully you guys thought that too as I finally brought this immortal couple together. So yeah… in the end… I just didn't have it in me to make a truly sad ending for our favorite couple… special thanks to my very specific and wonderful leaLynn Scott whose feedback convinced not to go fully tragedy on this! Thanks a bunch! And to everyone as well, please keep supporting my works and please please please review if you have the time to. Let me know if there was a problem, what you liked, what you didn't, if you agree with my ending or not! PM's are always welcomed and again thank you all for your patience. I really hope you'll stick around for my future fics including the spin-off… Thanks for reading guys.
Oh right… I also forgot to mention I'll be putting up a poll question. It's a fun little nonsense question… see the next chapter for details!