New Lease In Life

Takuma goes in to a state of depression after Kikuri shows up, along with Shinji Matoh's antics, yet his new-found friends are going to help him out though troble is just starting as he goes on a return trip to Lovely Hills...

So now here's chapter 6...

Disclaimer:

- Jigoku Shoujo is owned by Aniplex and Well-Think

- Fate/Stay Night is owned by TBS, Crei, Type Moon and Fate Project

While the boys at Fuyuki High are directing their eyes towards Takuma, Takuma and Rin are getting along well, and their date seem to bear fruit, as some of the girls are starting to see that romance is blossoming, seeing that despite being a junior high student, Takuma looked cute and apparently deeming him as a suitor to Rin, as well as deducing how good their "chemistry" is.

However, someone came to ruin the mood, as the "admirer" showed up, which Rin recognized him as she turned him down several times, and saw him approaching Takuma and that's where the problem started, as he brought out a straw doll, and there Rin, Shiro and Sakura stared wide-eyed, as they recognized the straw doll from the visuals that Ilya showed a few nights ago, and even Takuma went still, guessing that he is being targeted.

"Hey you, brat!"

"Me?"

"See this...?"

"That's..."

"Yeah...and that what I'm going to do to you...Devil's Child!"

"Eh...?"

"I contacted the Hell girl and she agreed to send you to Hell!"

"N-no...you can't..."

"Perhaps this straw doll will convince you..."

"No...I'm the target...?"

"Yes...and if you don't want me to pull this string...stay away from Tohsaka and never come back! And admit to everyone that you're the Devil's Child!"

The "admirer" is forcing Takuma to admit that he is the "Devil's Child", and threatens to pull the red string and send him to Hell if Takuma doesn't do what he said, and Rin went to Takuma's defense, telling the "admirer" to leave Takuma alone, which he didn't take it well, and even said that Takuma doesn't deserve her affections, but this didn't go well, as the "admirer" makes gestures that he would pull the string if Takuma doesn't stop pursuing Rin and "admit" that he's the "Devil's Child."

By then Kikuri shows up among the onlookers, flashing a "V" sign, and Takuma saw her, and this made him go in to shock, but Rin and Shiro saw her as well, able to sense her supernatural powers and even saw her "disappear", while a security guard was able to tackle the "admirer" an Sakura took the straw doll. Rin saw Takuma's state and tries to rouse him up but he is not responding well, and so she and Shiro took Takuma to the clinic inside their school to help him, while Shinji snickered, seeing that his plan worked at first, and opted to see how well this goes before he makes another plan to get Rin's affection and drive Takuma away.

At the clinic, the nurse checks on Takuma while Rin, Shiro and Sakura waited outside, as the school nurse asked to to wait so she can tend to the shocked younger boy, while other students stood outside, words whispering about what just happened, rumors started to spread which Rin and Shiro glanced at each other, having seen what the "admirer" did and Kikuri appearing and then disappearing. The two wondered if Kikuri is the Hell Girl that they overheard from Takuma's telephone conversation and if the straw doll the "admirer" is real or not.

"Shiro...did you see that girl who made that v-sign?"

"Yeah...and what's more..."

"I sensed a supernatural presence within her..."

"Do you suppose she's the Hell Girl that we heard through Takuma's phone a few days ago...?"

"I suppose..."

"And that straw doll that "admirer" is holding..."

"Turns out to be a fake...I don't sense anything from it..."

"Then the guy is just making Takuma go away..."

By then, the "admirer" shows up and "professes his love" to Rin and pointed out that Takuma is very "unmanly" and proclaimed that the boy is the "devil's child" and even made it appear that the younger boy is a "coward" and a "fag" for being scared stiff over a straw doll, and Rin is not only irritated, but also fuming mad, as the "admirer" not only ruined her day, he also caused an unwanted scene just to make Takuma look bad in the yes of the other students.

"Tohsaka...I am the only one for you...and you just saw it...that brat is a coward...and not deserving of your love...go out with me and ditch that devil's child..."

Angered, Rin punched the "admirer" on the face and he fell to the floor, and she told him that she will never entertain him as a suitor, which the "admirer" appeared stun and asked if she is choosing Takuma over him, which she said she would, as she treated her as a person than an object, which the "admirer" is doing right now.

"Ow! Why did you hit me? Am I not deserving to you?"

"No, you are not!"

"But why? Are you still preferring that boy? he is an abomination to all of those near him..."

"Takuma is a normal boy and not a devil's child that you proclaim!"

"But..."

"Unlike you...Takuma treats me as a normal person! And he doesn't make a scene like you do!"

"But...he's the devil's child!"

"Leave me alone and stop pursuing me! If you harass Takuma again I swear I'll beat you up!"

Rin then went inside the clinic to check on Takuma, while Shiro glared at the "admirer", seeing that he never learned that Tohsaka is not interested in him and his actions only serve to ruin her day before Shiro goes inside the clinic to check on Takuma as well, hoping that he is okay and snapped out of his shock. He is not sure what is going on, but he is sure that the small girl he saw among the crowd appeared to possess some supernatural powers.

-x-

Inside the clinic, Rin tries to talk to Takuma, who slowly comes out of his shock, and he is at loss of words as he couldn't possibly tell her that he saw the new Hell Girl minutes ago and he felt that he didn't want to drag Rin in to his problems, but then she whispered to him that she knows about the Hell Correspondence and about the Hell Girl, which he slowly became shocked again, and recalling that Seri was sent to Hell because of him he didn't want to let anyone get dragged, but then the "admirer" came in, holding the straw doll, and taunted Takuma that he is the reason why his mother died and why Lovely Hills branded him the "devil's child", and he said that he will send his father to Hell using the straw doll if he doesn't stay away from Rin, which caused the younger boy in to a shocked frenzy and ran off, leaving Fuyuki High, which Shiro decided to go after him, while Rin angrily and physically lash at the "admirer", causing a scene inside the clinic and the school nurse went to restrain and calm Rin from further hitting the "admirer".

"You bastard!"

"Ow!"

"I'll never entertain you!"

"Ow! I'm doing this for us! All for my love to you!"

"Bastard!"

"Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"I hate you!"

"Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"This time I'll beat you up!"

"Miss Tohsaka...calm down! Let the principal deal with that fool!"

-x-

Near the school gate, Takuma ran as fast as he could as he is too distraught and upset that his tragic past has caught up to him, and now it has found its way to his current place of occupation and now someone is going to use it on him or someone close to him, and now he decided to stay away from Rin to spare her from becoming the latest victim of the Hell Correspondence. Shiro tried to catch up to Takuma, but Shinji secretly tripped Shiro so as to make the younger boy go away and managed to conceal himself among the onlookers so as not to have Shiro suspected him of "sabotaging" things.

As Shiro gets up, Takuma was already out of Fuyuki High and is too far to for Shiro to call him back, and by then the younger boy is already gone…out of sight and out of hearing range, and there Shiro looked around and asked anyone who tripped him, which they answered that they didn't see who did it, with Shinji walking away from the crowd in secret, so as not to give himself away, and by then Sakura came and told Shiro that Rin and the "admirer" are sent nto the principal's office and the two went there to see how they can help Rin get out of this unexpected situation.

-x-

Much later, at the Kurebayashi House, Takuma is inside his room, sobbing that his tragic past is coming back, and he is fearing for his dad as he lost his mother three years ago, and having lost Seri to the Hell Correspondence three years ago, he couldn't bear to see Rin suffering the same fate, so he opted to do what the "admirer" says and decided to stay away from Rin so as to spare her from suffering the fate that has befallen Seri.

"Why...why is this happening to me...just when I got my normal life back..."

With his dad still at overseas, Takuma sobbed all night as he is alone with no one to talk to, and he chose to keep it that way, as he is now isolating himself to help keep sorrow to himself as he didn't want to share his emotional pain with anyone, which unknowingly further made him anti-social throughout the following days, not even going out of the house after the incident.

-x-

A few days later, Rin Tohsaka passed by Takuma's neighborhood in an effort to talk to Takuma, seeing that he hasn't answered her phone calls and is worried about what he is going through, and Shiro decided to accompany her in case Takuma needed to talk to a fellow boy, and there they saw him leave the house, looking sullen and they can tell that he is crying non-stop, so they secretly followed him and their trip brought them to Lovely Hills, which is now starting to make a "comeback" after three years of what the town went though during the last three years.

During the walk, Rin and Takuma noticed that the townsfolk of Lovely Hills are avoiding passing in front of Takuma, and they can hear them whispering about "the Devil's Child has return", and "the Devil's Child will make everyone disappear again", which the two older teens realized that this is what has happened in the last three years and the hardship Takuma has endured, and by then they came in front of Lovely Hills Memorial Park, where Takuma went to the gravesite of his mother, Reiko Kurebayashi. There Rin decided to go there by herself and talk to Takuma, which Shiro reluctantly agreed to.

"Okay...wait here, Shiro..."

"You're going to talk to him alone...?"

"Yes...at least I can talk to him in to opening up. If he tries to run off again...that's where you come in."

"Are you sure about this...? Given on what he went through a few days ago..."

"At least he might listen to me...besides...I can make him understand..."

"Okay..."

"And I feel that he needs someone to help ease his torment..."

"Okay...I'll wait here..."

As Takuma was making prayers to his departed mother, Rin joins him and offered her prayers, and there Takuma was startled and was afraid that she would get dragged in so he tells her to go, which she refused, telling him that she found out about the Hell Correspondence and about the Hell Girl, but Takuma tells her that he can't bear having someone die because of him, and he tells her to leave him as she doesn't "need a Devil's Child beside him". Rin then grabbed Takuma by his shoulders and shook him, telling him that he doesn't need to be afraid or feel that he is alone, telling him that she is willing to share the pain he is feeling, and that she won't mind hanging out with him, and that triggered a shouting between the two.

"Why are you here? Go away!"

"Takuma...calm down...I know how you feel and what you're going through..."

"If you know what I feel.. then you should stay away from me! I can't have someone die because of me!"

"I don't care about your past! What's important is you face the present! You're not a devil's child so you shouldn't be afraid of..."

"If you are aware of the Hell Correspondence...then you know that the Hell Girl exists! She might target you if someone has a grudge on you! I lost a friend because of that! And I don't want you to suffer that same fate!"

"That won't happen!"

"Just leave me alone!"

"I won't! I'm here for you! I won't let you suffer again! I'll stick with you no matter what!"

Takuma then cried in her arms when he told her how his mom died and how Seri became a victim to the Hell Correspondence, but Rin told him that she is aware about the Hell Correspondence and assured to her that what he is fearing won't happen and that he should stay strong and face whatever challenges came in his way, while urging him not to stick with the past and should instead look forward to a brighter tomorrow.

Shiro smiled as this seem to have calmed the younger boy down, but he is unaware that Shinji is there, and have recorded the scene and is smirking deviously as he decided to up the ante and make Takuma fall in to despair, and he is going to contact the "admirer" to make him do more terrible things to Takuma, and left immediately.

After that, Kikuri shows up, swinging on a rope and is taunting Takuma, telling him "his days are numbered" and he, as well those who are closest to him, are going to fall in to suffering before going behind a thick tree, and when Shiro went there, he is taken aback that Kikuri disappeared, and then saw Takuma going in to melancholy which Rin tries to calm him down, having seen the new Hell Girl for the second time.

To Be Continued…

Hope this chapter is worth the wait.
Lots of drama here and Takuma is again undergoing a lot of emotional pain, and just as he is about to recover, Kikuri is making things harder for him.

Preview:

Takuma gets to stay with his new friends in Fuyuki City where both he and Rin are getting to know each other more, thus a romance is about to take shape, while the "admirer" is making steps as he is about to make use of the Hell Correspondence and plans to have Takuma "erased" so he can have