Alright, now that we have that epilogue out of the way, here is the alternate ending.
Note: This chapter starts after chapter 41, so it will replace chapter 42 and the previous ending in one go
Alternate Ending:For the next day or two, I or we waited for Sayumin’s response. We were at a rehearsal for a collaboration with TRF when Sayumin came up to Kame and I “Okay I made an appointment with her after this filming has been done. She will be coming to my house after for our days off. I will take her to that café we usually go to near my house, say around noon, so that we all get enough sleep and time for you” as she pointed to Kame “to get out of bed”
Kame swatted Sayumin’s hand away, “I will be there, Gaki-san is staying with me so she will make sure I will be up, nee Gaki-san”
“She better or I will torture her” I joked, the atmosphere between Kame and I have gone back the way we were and I am glad I have her in my moment in need and my moment when I am freaking out. So now everything has been planned out, the only thing not planned is Tanakacchi as I look over at her, who was still practicing her parts with Ai-chan. She is still shining, the same shining star she was when I first laid my eyes on her. At moment that I was watching her, I couldn’t wait until the recording was over and done with so then I would finally get the chance to talk to her, face to face.
It was soon time for the actual recording and my gaze hasn’t really left Tanakacchi except when necessary. “Psst! Gaki-san stop drooling!” giggled Kame as I turned and made sure I wasn’t before glaring at her for the trick she just pulled
“Shut up!!!!”
“Let’s get this show on the road shall we???” as we both walked onto the stage to get ready and believe me I don’t know if it was because I was so thrilled at the idea of talking to Tanakacchi but I was giving it my all and I was smiling like no tomorrow.
“Gaki-san!! You da woman!!! You were hot out there” I high-fived both Sayumin and Kame
“Gaki-san!!! Where was all that energy from” commented Ai-chan as she and I shared a hug. I just shrugged my shoulders and it was odd but I could’ve sworn she whispered something along the lines of “are you finally going to confess to the right her?” I pulled away and she gave me a smirk like she knew as I bore a confused look. She pulled me in for another hug, “We are Gokkies and forever we will be, did you think I wouldn’t know??? I am happy for you” as she left to congratulate other members. As she walked away, slowly a smile crept on my face
‘You’re right we are Gokkies and forever we will be! I never had to tell you guys anything and you guys always knew so what makes this any different? Thank you Ai-chan for you support and for reminding me that the Gokkies still live on’I guess it was different when you were talking about it with other members but the wishes from your fellow members gave me the extra push, extra confidence that I needed. I was afraid that she would be upset at the fact that I had just broken off with Kame and here I am trying to get together with Tanakacchi. I couldn’t help smiling all the way to Kame’s house and getting myself pumped up for the meeting.
The next dayKame and I were on the train and I was a nervous wreck, I wasn’t sure if I can do this now, I was freaking out and asking Kame if we should just turn around and go back.
“No Gaki-san! How many times do I have to tell you??? We are going to do this and we are going to do this today!!!! What happened to the pumped up Gaki-san last night who wouldn’t let me sleep???? If you don’t do this today, you would have wasted my efforts and sleep time and let me tell you how pissed off I would be, do you hear?” Kame was practically hovering over me and her threat did not sound the tiniest bit friendly as I gulped the saliva that was gathering in my throat and sat back down quietly.
I was sitting there playing with my fingers and mentally preparing myself as to what I was going to say to Tanakacchi when I see her, whereas Kame was napping beside me. The train shook a couple of times, but didn’t really pay attention to it because sometimes the train does that, however after the first two, I began to panic, the shaking was not normal. I could hear other passengers curious about the situation as I was “Kame, Kame, wake up”
“ZZZZZZ…wh-what? Are we there yet?”
“Kame, wake up!!! Something is not right here” by now the rumbling has started to increase and realization hit me, “Kame, it’s a...it’s an earthquake” However I was too late, the train had fallen off the tracks and the worst thing is that we were near mountains. At train was skidding across the ground and we were headed straight for the closest mountain, the last thing I could hear was screaming as Kame and I clutched our eyes and held each other close.
REINA’S POV“Reina! Reina!” Sayu barged into the room, well her room
“What is it?!” I groaned as I felt Sayu pulling on the blankets
“Get up quick!!!! Eri and Gaki-san….Eri and Gaki-san” Sayu’s voice sounded off, something was not right
At the mention of Risa’s nickname, my eyes opened wide and I immediately got up “What about Eri and Gaki-san?” Sayu didn’t say anything but let her tears flow “Sayu, tell me what this is all about!”
Sayu picked up the remote on her dresser and turned on the TV in her room, there was a piece of news about a train crashing into a mountain because of an earthquake that was happening a good distance from where Sayu and I was. I listened to the announcer talking about the situation but I didn’t know how this has anything to do with Risa or Eri. I turned my head to a bawling Sayu in confusion “Er…Sayu…I never knew you were that sensitive to these things”
Sayu shook her head “Reina” Sayu ran and clutched on to me, shocking me at first however I brushed her back in an attempt to calm the distraught girl “Rei..Reina…there’s...there’s something I have to tell you” Sayu pulled away and looked me right in the eyes.
Somehow this feeling or vibe I am getting from Sayu doesn’t sound too good “W-what is it?”
“I…I had originally planned a meeting with Gaki-san and Eri today without you knowing and because we didn’t want you to know, they were going to meet us at the cafe. Gaki-san and Eri were going to come by…train” My eyes widened, if I am not mistaken then what Sayu is trying to tell me is that….
“Th-they were on that train?” I didn’t and wouldn’t believe it, I just couldn’t
“Nothing is confirmed yet, but if I am not mistaken….” Sayu trailed off and slightly nodded her head. I stood there in shock,
‘No this can’t be true, this can’t be true. This is all just a dream or some sort of prank, yeah, that’s right, it’s just a dream or a sick joke that Sayu is playing on me’ “Oh Reina” Sayu walked over to me once more and embraced me in a tight hug, snapping me out of my thoughts
“Haha good one Sayu, but don’t joke, that’s not a good thing to joke about, jinxing other members’ death”
Sayu pulled away “Reina, it’s no joke”
I grabbed both her shoulders, “Sayu, stop already, this joke isn’t funny”
Sayu pushed my arms away from her shoulders and shook me by my own “Reina! I am not joking” ~RING RING~ Sayu’s cell rang in which she answered the call as I stood there
‘No! She’s lying! If this isn’t a joke then it’s a dream. I know it is!’Not long after Sayu got off the phone, my own cell rang “Moshi moshi”
“Tanaka-san” it was our manager “There is an emergency meeting back at the agency come back ASAP”
“Okay” I snapped shut my phone
‘If this is a dream, I better wake up now’ I slapped myself a couple of times to get out of this horrible nightmare but nothing happened, I felt the slight pain on my cheeks
“Reina, this isn’t a dream” Sayu went to her closet and grabbed clothes to change “If I’m not mistaken that was manager-san and he wants us to go back to the agency right?” I nodded lightly, still unable to comprehend the situation “Then let’s go”
We all sat there in the meeting room, everytime the door opened I was hoping that Risa or Eri would walk through but to my own disappointment they weren’t the ones that walked through, yet it was Tsunku-san and manager-san
~CLAP CLAP~ “Everyone listen up” manager-san got all of our attention however it wasn’t his usual tone, he was upset or troubled “Tsunku-san if you please” turning our attention to Tsunku who wasn’t looking like his usual self either
Tsunku-san cleared his throat “It…it is hard to say this so please bare with me…has anyone heard the news this morning?” Some hands rose up in the air “Well in that train, where there were no survivors…some of our own were in it” immediately gasps could be heard, everyone was sitting there with eyes wide, except Sayu.
“Who was on that train?” Ai-chan asked
Tsunku-san opened his mouth, but paused for a few moments, unknown explainable anger was boiling in me, as I waited for his response “Niigaki-san and Kamei-san”
I pounded my fist on the table and shot up “Stop lying!!!! Sayu I give you props for getting manager-san and Tsunku-san in on this joke, but this has gone too far!!!!” Everyone looked at me, shocked at my outburst
Sayu stood up and put her hands on my shoulder and pushed me back into my seat “Erm…unfortunately Tanaka-san, this is no joke. I would never joke about the tragedy of my artists” Tsunku-san replied
Reality was hitting me hard and I didn’t want to accept any of it. I got up and ran out of the room, I could hear others calling my name but I didn’t care, tears were spilling out, messing my makeup but I didn’t care, nothing matters to me now. I ran and ran up to the rooftop straight to the ledge and yelled out “WHY!!!!!! WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN????!!! WHY ARE YOU TAKING HER AWAY FROM ME???!!! I ALREADY LET HER GO DIDN’T I??? WHY ARE YOU TAKING HER AWAY FROM ME PERMANENTLY??? I JUST WANTED TO LOVE HER FROM AFAR!!!!! IS…IS THAT Too much to ask?” my tears were running non-stop and I didn’t intend to wipe them away
A few days have passed and it was the day of the burial, I stand here after everyone has left looking at the picture on your grave. All the members were grieving, especially Ai-chan and Sayu. I had wanted to take my life away that day on the rooftop…
FlashbackI looked out from the rooftop at the scenery, it looked gloomy and dark, it was scary. I didn’t want to be away from you and it was like my limbs weren’t listening as I pushed myself up and stood on the ledge
‘I love you Risa, forever’ I was about to take that step when I heard my name being called from behind
“Tanaka-san!!!! Don’t do it!!!!” I turned to see the owner, it was Ai-chan, tears still falling from her eyes
“Ai-chan, don’t stop me!!!! I hurts too much in my heart!!!!”
“Baka!!!! Do you think Gaki-san will be happy knowing that you took your life away???”
“SHE WON’T BE HAPPY OR SAD BECAUSE SHE’S NOT HERE ANYMORE!!!!!”
“REINA!!!! DON’T DO IT!!!!!!” Sayu had come to the roof as well, followed by other members
“Sayu, please let me do this” I pleaded unable to think of anything anymore
“REINA, YOU BAKA!!!! I can’t believe Gaki-san would love you” Ai-chan yelled out. I froze at the sentence
‘what?! Risa loved me?! She loved me?!’ I turned my attention to Ai-chan “Yeah, you heard me, Gaki-san loved you. She has loved you for a long time now, don’t ask me why she decided to go out with Kamei-san but let me tell you this, she has loved you for a long time already”
I turned my attention to Sayu, who nodded “It’s true!!! Today when they were going to meet up with us, she was going to set things straight with you, she was going to confess to you”
“B-but what about Eri? You’re lying Sayu!!!! She doesn’t love me, she loves Eri”
“Things didn’t work out, they are best friends and nothing more!!!!” Sayu was getting angry, I could tell by her tone. I wished they never told me this because now my heart hurts even more as I took a step closer to the end of the ledge “Reina!!! Don’t do it!!! Gaki-san wouldn’t want this”
I was so out of it that I didn’t notice JunJun from behind me as she clutched onto me and brought me back down. I tried fighting back but JunJun was just too strong for me “Let me go!! Let me go” The last thing I saw was JunJun’s fighting face before I blacked out.
When I woke up, I was on a couch in the agency, right beside me were all the other members. I got up but felt pain shoot through my head “Itai!!!” The other members realized I was awake and hovered over me “What the hell happened?”
Everyone turned their attention to LinLin who shrugged her shoulders “What? I saw that in a movie once and at that time, I couldn’t think of a way to calm Tanaka-san down”
“But did you have to hit her over the head with a fire extinguisher?” Sayu glared at LinLin
“It was that or a brick, which did you prefer?” retorted LinLin in a matter-of-fact tone
“She could have had a concussion if you use the wrong strength, baka!”
It took me a while to process what was going on, but I managed to get the idea “H-how long have I been out?”
“Not too long, just 5 hours”
The door opened and in walked Ai-chan “Oh good you’re up” She was trying to sound chirpier but judging by her face, I know she is dying inside as well. “Here” she handed me a bag, I took a peek inside to see a couple of books and then looked at Ai-chan in confusion “Those are Gaki-san’s diaries” I looked back inside the bag “I think we should give Reina some time alone” Ai-chan ordered for the girls to leave me. Sayu didn’t look like she wanted to leave but eventually she left too, leaving me to read through your diaries.
End of Flashback“Risa, I should have told you long ago, that I loved you but I didn’t know how you would take it….I…I guess I was afraid of rejection…afraid that after rejection we couldn’t be close anymore…afraid of losing you all those times but now…now…*sniff*” tears had started to brim again, as I have been crying for the past few days “now…that’s all too late, I didn’t take that chance when it was right in front of me and forever there never will be that chance again. I remember reading in your diary that one of the things that attracted you was my smile hehe but nothing compared to your smile. Risa, I want to preserve the one thing that makes you melt, I will live on, I will help Ai-chan and Sayu with MM in your place, the other thing that mattered in your life”
I turned to look at Eri’s picture on her grave “Eri, I’m sorry that the turmoil that Risa and I caused made you a victim, but I hope you can still care for Risa on my behalf on the other end, up above.”
“Reina” I turned to see Ai-chan and Sayu “it’s time to go”
I made an internal promise that I will do every performance, every song with more than 100% effort because I bare not just my own weight but Risa’s as well so that when she is watching MM from above she can be proud seeing us all smile, making her smile.
Topic: Taking Chances-Epilogue-updated 12/26, Alternate Ending - 12/29 (Read 66399 times)