A Young Girl's Odyssey [Epilogue ~COMPLETE~]

[rndmnwierd]

That is quite possibly the most confusing thing I've ever read. A turtle moos? It really fits Eri! Yay confusement!

[lil_hamz]

A very entertaining chapter. I also like how it got sweet at the ending

[rokun]

Now for a real chapter, though themes still abound. Please enjoy, and thank you for all your wonderful support! I'm sorry it took so long for this, but here you go...

Chapter 17 - Celebration

Reina ran offstage with a feeling of exhilaration overwhelming her. Even though this was her fourth Kouhaku performance, it still gave her excitement that nothing else matched. Performing in front of a real crowd and being broadcast to millions across the country… Well, it was a far cry from the not-so-diverse concerts she was otherwise accustomed to.

However, she was unhappy with the outfit they made her wear. Usually the girls get some input as to what they wear when they perform; not so with tonight’s event. She wasn’t the only one excited about the opportunity the night presented. In fact, her own anxiety didn’t hold a candle to that of their managers. Everything had to be just so… Grumbling, she straightened her bra in an attempt to fix an itch.

“Good thing you waited to do that until we got off-stage Reina. Don’t want people to think you’re trying to take Fujimoto’s place. It would be awful yankee of you, though,” Risa commented with a grin. Reina narrowed her eyes and stalked away from the girl, who furrowed her substantial brows at Reina’s mood. “I was only joking!” the traitor called after her. Reina hadn’t spoken one word to that girl since the night before Christmas, and wasn’t about to start now. Although, oddly, Risa’s hurt looks when Reina ignored her made her feel sympathetic to her. Gods, she was a fickle person.

She stopped when Mitsui came up as if to hug her, but instead of giving her that hug, the girl’s eyes widened and she ran quickly in the other direction. What? Did she have something on her face?

“Hasn’t someone told you not to scare away the kouhai?” Sayu told her, giving her a frown, even though her eyes sparkled. She had that deceptive look down to perfection.

“What are you talking about?” Reina barked at her. Then she realized what she just did. Her glare didn’t weaken. Sayu smiled and Reina could swear she almost giggled.

Another girl walked up beside Sayu. “Hello, Reina,” Eri said. Reina tried her best to refuse to acknowledge the girl’s existence.

“It’s this damnable dress,” she pouted, adjusting herself once more. “It’s so itchy it’s affecting my mood. You know how that is. They always put you in the cutest things possible, and I know all those outfits can’t be that comfortable.”

Sayu didn’t appear to be listening to her though. The porcelain doll flashed her gaze between her and Eri, looking for some type of reaction, but finding only Reina acting like the other girl wasn’t even there, and Eri with her head bowed slightly, staying utterly quiet.

“Reina,” Sayu began scoldingly, focusing her attention solely on the girl she was addressing now. “I will not have you and Eririn acting like this toward each other. Eririn at least seems to be making some effort, but obviously you aren’t. And I don’t think either of us has any clue why. So…” she said, waggling a finger at a visibly disgruntled Reina, “It’s time to stop! We are Best Friends Forever, after all.”

“I don’t see any friend of mine here, Princess,” Reina growled through clenched teeth, “Aside from yourself. And I’m beginning to wonder about that. Real friends respect others’ wishes and don’t associate with dirty rotten… backstabbing… scoundrels!” She almost yelled that last into the faces of the two bewildered girls, but caught Eri’s stricken eyes and Sayu’s supremely astonished expression before turning away from them too and almost running toward her dressing room, feeling her eyes begin to moisten despite her best efforts. She was quite shocked herself as to how she let it all burst out in one moment like that… It was quite unplanned. She never went all yankee like that unless she really meant it. Unless she really...

Making it to the refuge of the dressing room she shared with a few of the other girls, none of whom were those she encountered or had made it there yet, she shut the door behind her and leaned back against it, her hands still behind her back on the handle, and fought inevitable tears. All that vaunted self-control she’d been trying to learn lately seemed to crumble in an instant, and she soon felt her bottom drop to the floor, hands covering  her eyes attempting to ebb the flow of the tears now streaming from them.

What was wrong with her? She’d never acted this way before… about anyone… Last she checked, she didn’t even know how she felt about Eri. The girl was just kind of… there, when she needed her. If that was the case, why was she making her dress itch more from the tears soaking its front and hardly able to catch a breath between choking sobs? This was ridiculous… Reina… Pull yourself together!!

She reached up to the door handle and pulled herself up slowly, as if it took the last of her strength. She would not keep crying like this. She was better than that. Be strong, Reina… The words of Ai sounded in her head, “You can be nothing if you cannot control your feelings. You must take those superficial emotions and wrap them up tightly, then stow them in a barge that will take them away from you. If you can control your emotions, they won’t control you, and you will feel nothing but the calm seeping to every corner of your body, enveloping you. When you are in control, you become one with the World, and the World bends to your wishes.”

Just remembering the girl’s words seemed to soothe her, and her whimpering slowed. She recognized the emotions and acknowledged them before wrapping them up and pushing them away. That was the other thing that was important – to know anything, she must know herself. She had never known she had such feelings for the girl. Images of Eri flashed through her head – Eri smiling, Eri frowning, Eri pouting, Eri bewildered. She felt tenderness when she viewed them, but there was something sharper too, something hard, stabbing. She recognized the feelings she never knew she had for the girl and stopped crying, though adopted another sort of sadness. Lots of good knowing them would do now. She saw to that.

She made her way over to the mirror to see what she could do about her hopelessly streaked face. She looked like this much too often lately. Hurriedly brushing some powder on to try to hide what couldn’t be shown, she managed it satisfactorily just in time before the other girls who shared her room began returning. Things certainly weren’t getting easier.

…

There was a New Year’s party of course; no one would pass up the chance for any celebration, much less one that the whole country seemed to share in – the whole world even, though she always felt there was something special and different about them being the first – but with the last week’s events, she gave everyone rushed apologies that she wasn’t feeling well and that it would be best if she just stayed home.

This resulted in her sitting in her hotel room cross-legged in a chair that could be much more comfortable, a blanket spread across her legs, drinking a cup of hot cocoa, her bedside clock announcing 23:59 in its bold red letters, watching a scene on her television where over-excited young celebrities – notably not her – chattered away amidst pictures showing the ringing of the bells at different temples across the country as they counted down the last minute until the New Year.

“Five… Four… Three… Two… One…” people shouted, sounding as one from the streets of Tokyo. “Happy New Year!!!” Everyone cheered and hugged and kissed one another as huge letters flashing “2007” appeared on the screen and fireworks lit up the sky over the bay. After a moment, she could hear their echoes outside her own window as they blasted through the night. She looked out the half-fogged window, but couldn’t see them. There wasn’t even any snow to make the night beautiful to her, only the constantly flashing lights below from a city that never sleeps.

“Happy New Year, Reina,” she breathed to herself in a voice barely above a whisper. She stuffed a store-bought mochi into her mouth and then took a good, long sip of her hot cocoa.

How had she come to this, she thought while peering over the cup at the panoramic views of the joyous crowds, who had now begun singing. True, she had always been somewhat of a loner, but she was still a very social person and always tried to be a center of attention at parties – as respectfully as possible in regard to her senpai of course. But here she was, probably one of the only girls in Japan sitting alone in her room to bring in the New Year – a stuffy hotel room at that. She sighed. Life just wasn’t always what she expected.

Before long, since there was nothing better to do, she crawled into her bed and stared at the ceiling. She hadn’t been to training for several days now – both her and Ai were busy with New Year’s preparations, and according to Ai it was useful to have time off once in a while, especially on special occasions, to reflect on what she’d learned and find her meaning inside herself. After all, Ai could teach her what she could, but it was within herself that Reina had to find her true potential. Tonight she wasn’t feeling too optimistic about what that potential might be. She was almost literally dragged into this kicking and screaming, but Ai’s “Way” had come to have a more personal meaning to her than she ever could imagine. It was no longer about things such as whether Ai was responsible for Miki’s death. It was about her, and what it means for her to grow – how she intends to live her life. Ai and especially whomever she represents may be evil, but there was most certainly truth in the way they lived. As she saw it, it was just up to her not to choose the wrong path.

While churning all this over inside her head, she didn’t notice when she dropped off to sleep, but her dreams were fitful. In one, she was sitting next to Miki, who was driving them toward a cliff, one that the girl didn’t seem to notice as she just kept prattling to Reina, who was frantically trying to get her to notice what lay ahead. In another, she was riding a turtle along a sandy beach at sunset when suddenly it disappeared and she fell to the hard sand – the turtle was then paces away looking sorrowfully at her. “Who are you?” it asked her, over and over. The turtle’s repetitiveness grated on her, and she started moaning “No… no…!” until she felt herself twisting in her sheets and came awake, sweat pulling her pyjamas tightly to her.

She breathed hard for a minute, holding the sheet tightly beneath her chin, staring hard into the darkness off the side of the bed that was only broken by the soft red of her clock, which now showed 2:43. As she stared, it changed almost unnoticeably to 2:44.

As her breathing slowed, she began to feel more relaxed, but quickly realized that it wasn’t only from her own natural calming. She felt as if her hair was being stroked softly from behind, and her breath caught, though she didn’t dare turn to attempt to find who or what it was.

“Be calm, sweet Reina. The night isn’t quite so harsh yet,” a soft voice rang out soothingly from behind her. Reina couldn’t force herself to breathe yet, though. She recognized the voice, even though it had been so long since she heard it.

“Poor Reina. You’re so alone, sealed behind walls you’ve built up around yourself. You’re becoming more and more like me every day.” The voice adopted an oddly sorrowful tone as it spoke that last.

“I won’t end up like you, Mikitty. I promise,” Reina moaned in response. She wouldn’t – but to do that she would have to be strong. She’d have to make sacrifices. She remembered the duty she’d been given that she hadn’t fulfilled yet.

“I talked with Ayaya yesterday after rehearsal,” Ai told her as they prepared to take the stage at the presentation of the teams when Kouhaku began. “It was an interesting conversation,” she said thoughtfully. “Especially interesting, because I thought she was supposed to be dead. That doesn’t seem strange to you at all, does it Reina?”

Reina tightened her mouth and pointedly did not turn to the other girl, flicking her eyes around just enough to notice that nobody was quite close enough to hear what they said in a low voice such as Ai was using. “I know my job. I suppose you also know my reluctance to do it. I’m not happy at all to… kill anyone.”

“Happy you might not be,” Ai responded in a patient manner, “But sometimes we have to do things that might not make us happy. It’s partly because of her you’re even in this position to begin with.”

Reina growled softly in return. “That doesn’t mean she should be the one that makes me a murderer.”

“Not murderer,” Ai chimed. “Assassin. That is, if you do your job right.”

“There’s no difference.” Reina’s voice still barely hovered above a growl.

“Murderers kill for pleasure, or for sport, or because they are insane. Assassins only do what needs to be done. Remember that. It will serve you well as you learn more about your new life.”

Reina didn’t get the chance to say any more as the two of them were shooed with the other girls and onto the stage, donning fake smiles to the crowd below. At least, hers could be nothing other than fake. Ai’s, on the other hand, looked as genuine as a smile could be.

Reina could feel the stroking of her hair pause, but the hand she felt didn’t pull back. “You’re going to kill my best friend, aren’t you?”

Reina felt her eyes begin to water once again, though this time stopped it before any tears coalesced. “I have to… It’s the only way to become strong.”

She then felt a sharp tug on her hair, and yelped in pain. “Fool girl. No wonder we always had to baby you. I swear I felt like your mother sometimes since you looked up to me more than the others as a comrade of sorts for joining the same time as you. Sure I talked up a good show and was rough enough that you might think I was a little dangerous, but there’s nothing strong about taking an innocent life. There hasn’t been an innocent life lost so far because of this, and I sure hope it doesn’t start now.”

“But…” Reina started, becoming confused.

“Think, girl!” the voice said. “I know you’re not as stupid as you look. Ai knows it too, or else you wouldn’t be having this conversation with a dead person.” Reina tried to wrap her mind around that for a moment, but failed miserably. “Remember, you already know the Truth. It’s been hammering at your insides for weeks, but you haven’t allowed yourself to notice it. You won’t succeed until you see the Truth beyond the illusion of reality.” Reina thought for a second after that and opened her mouth, but was interrupted before any words came out. “Oh, and one more thing. If you do kill my best friend, I will make sure we both haunt you as long as you’re still in this world!” With that, she felt the hand come away from her hair and heard only a cackle fade away into nothing.

Breathing heavily once more, she realized her eyes were focused on the clock once again. It changed in its mysterious way to 2:45. She felt as if her mind had turned to goo. Nothing made sense anymore.

As her breathing slowed once again, this time fully of her own volition – there was no phantom hand stroking her hair, and she had checked to find nobody behind her – and she fell back slowly into sleep from the exhaustion of her surreal encounter, she whispered softly, barely aware she was even doing so, “Happy New Year, Reina.”

[lil_hamz]

Ok I'm a little confused. So Reina was having nightmares at the end? That means noone is going to kill her best friend? Or is her dream a premonition of something to come. But the mega question is.....*drumroll* who is her best friend? Is it Eri? Or someone else? GAH so many questions swirling i my head :ON@_@:

[jafeijai]

the way i see it, Reina was talking to Miki, so then it was Miki who asked Reina about killing her best friend (namely Matsuura Aya).

poor Reina, having to spend New Year's alone in her hotel room. :ONsad: i don't know why, but i laughed when Miki said "“I know you’re not as stupid as you look. Ai knows it too, or else you wouldn’t be having this conversation with a dead person.” "

i'm really liking the deepness of the story, though i'm anxious to find out what this "Truth" is...[sits down with a bowl of ramen and waits]:MKramen: these monkey icons are so funny

[rokun]

the way i see it, Reina was talking to Miki, so then it was Miki who asked Reina about killing her best friend (namely Matsuura Aya).

Yes, the quotes in italics toward the end were being spoken to her, not by her. So it's not her best friend being talked about - as jafeijai says, it seems to be a reference to Reina's orders to kill Aya at the end of chapter 16. That's also why the question about the best friend follows Reina's flashback. I'm sorry if it was a little confusing, but there's a reason I designed it that way, too. As to your first questions about Reina's "nightmares", it is hard to tell exactly what is going on toward the end there.

[rndmnwierd]

Ghost Mikitty to the rescue! Or non-rescue. Or something.

[Yuuyami]

I really like this chapter :]

Mainly because I could picture it vividly in my mind, and it would be an excellent thing to draw for a manga too, I can totally imagine Miki trying to persuade Reina and such *-*...

[Sukoshi]

Ah so they are assassins   Okay so one thing revealed

There hasn’t been an innocent life lost so far because of this, and I sure hope it doesn’t start now.”

eh?  Does this mean that Miki's doings weren't so innocent and that her actions caused her own death?  Hum....time to ponder some more~

[iacus]

This is (no hyperbole) the best fic here. And one of the best fanfics I have ever read. Your writing style is detailed and elegant, the plot gripping and well thought out, and the characterizations interesting and deep. hopefully you are just taking your time with the next chapter and not completely abandoning this story. If you do abandon this story I'm afraid I may settle into a horrible drunken depression born out of despair. Please write again, if not for your own pleasure than for my sake. You dont want this to be my only friend do you?

[rokun]

LoL. Thank you... Glad to see someone is still reading it. I figure I'm giving everyone time to catch up now. *cough* I definitely haven't abandoned this, just have had too many other things going on lately I think... Sports is beginning to take over my life, and I'm just beginning to settle into the new semester I think. Work is still very busy since we're short-staffed, and that's where I do a lot of my, er, thinking about what to write. I'm hoping to get some motivation and write more soon, but this weekend is going to be full of sports again! Urgh... Well, c'est la vie.

And thank you again.

[iacus]

(Crawls out of drunken despair)Yay! Rokun actually talked to me!! *giggles insanely*

I definitely haven't abandoned this

YES, LIFE IS GOOD.

[rokun]

Sorry for the holiday, but it was a holiday after all, wasn't it? I've felt sick today and didn't care to do anything else, so thought I'd continue on. I love this story too much not to continue, and I hope some of you feel that way too. At least, love it enough to keep reading. Please enjoy.

Chapter 18 – A Flame Strikes

“Honestly Koharu, I’m beginning to think lately that you are Kirari. I’m debating whether I like it better than when you were kissing Ai’s boots though…”

The addressed girl stuck her nose into the air indignantly. “Well,” she began, “You know most of the country actually thinks I am Kirari. I can’t walk down the street any more without some cute little kid crying ‘Hey! It’s Kirari-chan!’ and trying to get my autograph. Meaning Kirari Tsukishima’s, of course. At least I have something I’m known for. Unlike you…” She looked Reina up and down. “What are you known for, anyway? You’re just the one that really has been kissing Takahashi-sama’s boots lately.” She looked as if she might continue, but was impeded by a blow to her face, and fell to her rear, stunned. After a moment, she began crying. “Yoccchan!!!” she whined, and jumped up to stick her bottom lip out at Reina and ran off, whining for their leader repeatedly.

Reina still stood there, hands balled in fists at her sides and huffing in fury. She would pay for that, but it was worth it. She felt her eyes begin to moisten slightly. It was, right? Abruptly spinning on her heel, she stalked off down the hall. She bypassed her dressing room – she couldn’t face anyone else right now – and after a while she realized she had climbed some flights of stairs and was nearing the door to the roof. She pushed on it, but it didn’t open, locked. Casting quick rote glances to the sides, she kicked at the door and it clanged open, all in barely the blink of an eye. There were times for subtlety, but she felt in no mood to be subtle right now. It also still amazed her how strongly she could kick like that. She imagined the door was Koharu and a slow small smile crept onto her face.

Walking out into the brisk January air she hardly felt, she went to stand at the rail near the edge, staring out at the lights of the city. They were performing in Kobe tonight as part of their newest Wonderful Hearts tour. The girls all brightened when they had heard the Hello! Morning Box camera was set up backstage, and whenever they took breaks most of them did some goofy thing or another in front of it. Well, those that wanted to. Reina didn’t, but she was forced into it anyway since the staff wanted all the girls to have some time in front of it –her especially since she was one of the leads. She smiled faintly at that. No. That juvenile mockery of a fourteen-year-old was just jealousy as always. She would not let the girl get to her. She found herself tugging at one of her pigtails and growled. She just wouldn’t. She’d only gone in front of the box with her because she was forced to, and was even regretting allowing that now. What harm could it do? she had thought. What harm, indeed. People just sucked lately, and that girl was hardly her favorite to begin with. Memories of another came floating up in her mind at that thought, but she stamped them back down vigorously.

She realized she was glaring at the city below her, and quickly cleared up her expression. She wasn’t mad at Kobe, of course. Although, there was something odd she’d felt about the city ever since they arrived yesterday…

“Tanaka-san!” a strained male voice called out to her from behind. “What in the world are you doing up here? You’re due on in five minutes. And… Tsunku’s called a full meeting immediately when it’s over. Something’s happened apparently, but management won’t tell anyone what yet. They just say to wait until the meeting.”

Reina turned, hurriedly fixing her hair and rubbing beneath her eyes in case she’d actually shed any tears, and faced the young man who stood breathless at the door she had kicked out. She noticed him look nervously at the door every so often – it was very obviously not opened the usual way. Seeing who it was, she smiled one of the few real smiles she shared lately.

“A meeting you say, Daisuke-kun?” she asked, sauntering toward him and the door. He looked unsure whether to back away or keep coming toward her. “That’s odd. I wonder what it could possibly mean.” Her voice had turned to simpering, as it usually did around fans and others of the staff. She talked as if she were the clueless brainless girl she looked, but she had a good idea of what the meeting would be about.

“I couldn’t say, Tanaka-san. My manager just told me to inform any of the girls I came across of it. I noticed you weren’t with the others and began looking for you. I only came up here because another of the staff said he thought he saw you running toward some stairs. When I saw the door here… open…” The boy flushed slightly, now pointedly avoiding looking at the door in question.

“How sweet of you to have noticed,” Reina responded with a slightly faltering smile, though he would not have noticed since his eyes were now lowered to her feet. She did not run up those stairs! “You always seem to be around when I find myself in… trouble.” Having now reached him, she reached up and ran a finger slowly down his arm.

Daisuke-kun blushed even further at her words and action, and his eyes raised briefly to catch hers before dropping quickly back down to the floor. “Please, Tanaka-san. Follow me. We need to get you to the stage.”

“Daisuke-kun,” Reina said, jutting her lower lip in an effort at fake poutiness, “Didn’t I tell you to just call me Reina?”

The boy’s eyes raised to hers again, this time holding them a fraction of a second longer before dropping down. “No, Tanaka-san. I’ll remember that, Tanaka-san.” He then bowed before turning and walking quickly away, not making an effort to ensure she followed. Reina grinned though. For a moment when their eyes had met, she thought she detected a faint hint of a smile gracing his lips.

…

Having finished the final performance of the evening – a sprint to the finish for Reina since she performed the whole Morning Musume segment, which was the final one of the groups of course, as well as the last all-project songs – the girls chattered amongst themselves as they filed into a large room backstage that contained chairs which looked as if they had been very hastily assembled in expectation of their meeting. Reina didn’t chat with anyone at first of course, though Niigaki had attempted to start some sort of conversation with her as she always tried to for some reason. Reina did her best to pretend the other girl didn’t exist though, and eventually took shelter near Miyabi and Risako. She didn’t say anything to them aside from brief greetings and a smile for Miyabi – she did like her fellow Aa! member after all – but at least it could seem she had friends she was hanging out with. She sometimes wished she could talk with Miya-chan more, but aside from First Kiss they really had nothing in common. Quietly, she took her seat next to Miyabi and closed her eyes, trying to block out the noise in the room and bring herself into focus.

She’d had some more training lately, and she felt she was really learning well this time, though of course Ai never gave her any suggestion of success. They hadn’t had training for a few days now, though. She felt a little hint from Ai in that, and finally agreed that it was a perfect opportunity.

“Ahem.” Tsunku cleared his throat, flanked by two suits, and looked around at the other girls. Did he seem somewhat nervous? Well, he should be, Reina supposed. It wasn’t every day his project had quite as devastating an occurrence as today brought.

The girls all quieted immediately and looked eagerly to their Producer, who ran his eyes across them all as if looking for something. Reina kept her eyes closed, hoping it looked like she was asleep. These concerts were tiring, after all. Of course, he wouldn’t have known she didn’t feel the slightest bit tired. Her conditioning went far beyond the effort of a little concert now.

“I have some, um, news to report to you all tonight. I hate to give you more bad tidings so soon after the New Year, and so soon after… what happened several weeks ago, but I want you to find out from me before you hear it in the papers and weeklies tomorrow.”

The tension in the room now was palpable – Reina thought she could almost cut it with a knife. That made her think of how skilled she felt she had gotten using knives lately. She still didn’t match Ai, she was sure, though the girl didn’t let on how much she really knew. Reina definitely remembered that night in the alley, though.

“Aya Matsuura has… gone missing,” he continued, and Reina thought she heard one or two soft gasps around the room.

“Missing?” Reina heard Yossi ask. “What do you mean? She probably just overslept or went home suddenly without telling anyone or something.”

There was a pause, and Reina could almost feel that Tsunku was shaking his head. Let the calmness flow through you… fall into yourself. Let outside sensations become meaningless. Only by fully detaching yourself from your senses can you become fully aware.

“Those things do happen, of course,” Tsunku admitted. “But, it has now been three days. After the first day she didn’t show up to work. Staff members tried calling her, but there was no response. We thought she might just be cutting work, so we didn’t think too much of it, but we did send someone to her house later in the day. There was still no one home. When she didn’t show up the next day either and we still had no response when we called, we tried her family, but they knew nothing. Then, we filed a police report.”

There was a pause in the explanation again, as if he was expecting some response, but the room was as silent as if there weren’t dozens of young girls and staff members occupying it. Drink in the silence. Many people are scared of the silence – they get uncomfortable; it makes them feel alone. But if you embrace it, it’s a first step in obtaining complete mastery of your environment. If anyone cared to look at her now, in the calm trance-like state she held, she would think she really was asleep. Of course, it was quite to the contrary.

“This was yesterday. The police entered her home and only found signs of a struggle. I… don’t want to say more, but there’s now a nationwide hunt out for her. I’m afraid…” His voice cracked slightly at that, but when he resumed, it was as strong as ever. “They will keep the hunt going until they find her.”

Reina opened her eyes. Tsunku still stood, hands behind his back, his face set with determination. One of the younger girls started crying.

“Everyone!” Yossi barked as she jumped to her feet and walked over toward their Producer. “They will find her. Don’t you worry about that. You know Ayaya - she’s just playing some kind of game. She’s had a bad year and wants to draw some attention to herself, yadda yadda yadda. However,” She now cast a stern look down the rows of girls seated very still. “If any one of you knows anything about this, I’m sure you will tell Tsunku or me as soon as possible. Right?” Her hard eyes lingered a moment on Reina at the end of the line. Reina gave her a cool stare in return. She felt nothing but calmness suffusing her now. After a moment, Yossi ran her eyes back along the rest of the girls.

“Now,” she said more calmly, and gave Tsunku a look just long enough to catch his nod before turning back. “Everyone get undressed and back to your rooms. Chop chop!” She clapped her hands in rhythm with those words. The room was then full of chairs rustling as the girls all stood up, though no one spoke a word until they were back in the hall.

“Did you see that?” Reina heard Miyabi whisper to Risako. “When she was accusing us, she stared straight at me for the longest! I barely even know Ayaya! What could she think I’ve done?!”

“I’m fairly certain she was looking at me,” Reina said in a normal voice. The two Berryz gaped at her with wide eyes as if they had forgotten she was there. Reina did her best to keep her eyes from narrowing. A few of the other girls gave her shifty looks as well, though Reina wasn’t sure if it was because of her visibly loud voice or whether they, too, had noticed Yossi’s eyes.

“Why would she have given you that look, senpai?” Risako squeaked.

Reina shrugged. “I don’t think I’m her favorite person right now. I’ve hardly talked to her in weeks, and when I did back then… Well, suffice to say I wasn’t exactly whispering sweet nothings into her ear.”

The two girls looked confused by that a moment before Miyabi seemed to suddenly remember something and moaned, “Oooh… I heard a bit about that. You were quite insubordinate to her, weren’t you?” Reina couldn’t tell whether the girl was impressed or appalled by that. Likely a bit of both. She thought the girl did like her too, after all.

“Probably also because I’ve talked to Ayaya more than most lately. She hasn’t been one for a whole lot of socializing since last month’s incident.” She filled the last word with scorn, but the two young girls didn’t seem to notice. Not surprising of course, once again. However, since she was still speaking in a normal voice, some of the others looked at her askance once again. Go ahead, she thought, let them wonder! She wondered if she really cared anymore. Probably not, considering she knew none of them would ever find out what happened unless she wanted them to. Or someone else who was even less likely to reveal it.

“You don’t know what happened to her, do you?” Risako asked curiously, and the blunt question caught Reina slightly off-guard, enough so that she stopped walking. The other two stopped a pace ahead and looked nervously back at her. The other girls kept walking along, though she definitely did catch the attention of many of them.

“I’m sure it’s nothing for you two to worry about,” Reina said finally as she began walking again. “And tell your friends the same, too. You’re too young to have to deal with things like that.” She was then quite aware that she wasn’t all that much older than them. Well, honestly, she was too young as well, though there was nothing she could do about that.

“Okay…” Miyabi said, and the girls all walked in silence for a minute before the others began talking about some new boots or some such. Reina didn’t care.

Before long, she reached her dressing room and walked in, carefully avoiding the searching eyes of the other girls present, though no one spoke. She quickly undressed and donned her street clothes. When she pulled the tight red boots that she was so proud of on, she almost couldn’t help smiling. After so long as a loner, she thought it was nice actually being noticed. She had a feeling people would notice her a lot more from now on, as well.

She felt so good about herself in fact, that she hardly even gave a thought to the smile and nod Ai gave her as they passed on her way to her room. Any other time those gestures could have meant anything, but the events of tonight and what she saw in the glance she caught of the girl’s eyes told her everything.

[Sukoshi]

Wow that was a great update!  The news of Ayaya gone missing totally threw me off  I thought it was for sure going to be about erm..something else...but that would be too sad...so I'm glad it wasn't about that.  Hum, I have a strong feeling that Reina is hiding Ayaya somewhere but you always seem to surprise me so I'll have to keep guessing

[JFC]

Shit...did Reina actually follow the orders Aichan gave her?

[rokun]

To Sukoshi and JFC's comments:
Everyone please comment! It makes your writer happy! Since I've still been sick this week, here is the next installment... the story gets serious?

Chapter 19 – The Raven and the Canary

Lounging on her bed flat on her stomach, Reina enjoyed a cup o’ noodle as she watched the night’s Utaban. She usually tried to watch the show, as well as other similar programs, though in the past she was normally occupied in these hours, whether shopping, having dinner with friends, or just hanging out with her friends. Sometimes when they were all hanging out they’d put the show on, but usually just on special occasions, such as if they themselves were the guests. Those times they’d have so much fun laughing at Miki’s bored expressions, Reina’s too-cutely-serious looks, or Sayu’s evil eyes. They’d also laugh when Taka-san tricked them at something or other, which happened quite frequently, really.

Now though, Reina lay alone with her noodles, only dressed in a long t-shirt and black heart-speckled boxer shorts as if ready for bed, although she wouldn’t be sleeping for a good while yet. Before long, she would be headed for another session with Ai. For some reason she didn’t feel as completely worn out as she used to when she dreaded those sessions. Apparently something she was learning was working.

Tonight’s guest was Kat-tun, doing yet another follow-up for their last single. Before she knew it, Reina’s eyes had narrowed and she growled softly. She used to be crazy about boy band members, but lately whenever she saw any, she couldn’t help but think of Risa’s experience with one. None of these boys had done it of course – Risa had told her the boy she was with was a member of some band she’d never heard of, and she has definitely heard of Kat-tun – but it still felt the same to her on general principle. It was a good thing Jin wasn’t there though, since he wasn’t quite so innocent in her mind.

Reina almost barked a laugh at that. Innocent? That’s something absolutely none of those boys were. Something none of the girls were either, no matter what image they present to the world. Suddenly she realized what she was doing and mentally chided herself for still having feelings over what happened to the fifth gen girl. She was the enemy now, after all. She wasn’t even speaking to the girl, so why did she still feel this way?

A knock at her door brought Reina out of her little reverie. Not thinking about who it might be with all that was on her mind, she hopped up from the bed and lazily walked over to open it. When the light from the hall flooded in, she caught whose face it presented and stopped short, unmoving.

Eri stood in her jeans with their elaborate belt and a small vest over a shirt that printed something in what appeared to be English, though with the vest covering the sides, she only caught the letters “B E” with another “E” below them. She decided she didn’t want to know what the vest hid.

The girl’s face looked pained as she gazed imploringly at Reina, but Reina grew sullen and crossed her arms, tensing her leg to keep her foot from tapping. “What do you want?” she asked in an emotionless voice.

Eri gulped and blinked, hesitating a moment before asking softly, “Can I come in?”

“Why should I let you in?” Reina responded flatly.

Eri licked her lips, seeming a little nervous, as well as a little confused. “Why shouldn’t you?” she asked. She proffered a hand, and Reina realized there was what looked like a box of candies in it. “I have gummies.”

Reina stared at her for a moment longer, then let her gaze fall to the gummies. “Fine,” she said finally, and snatching the gummies away, turned and walked back into the room without a backward glance. She crawled back on her bed and resumed her position, popping a gummi into her mouth as she very studiously glued her eyes to the screen.

She heard some shuffling from back toward the entrance and the soft click of the door shutting, but it was quiet for a minute or so.

“Why are you being like this?” Eri finally asked in a quiet voice. Reina ignored her.

After another moment, without warning Reina felt her side being shoved. She reacted instantly with the instincts she had developed so well recently, dropping the box of gummies and curling her body toward the source of the pressure, hands darting out to grab the arms of the girl that had just pushed her, and pulled. Eri’s body flew over her own, but she had precise control over the moment, and pulled the girl down to the bed on her back, Reina rolling over on top of her holding the girl’s wrists close together above her head while straddling her hips.

Eri was breathing heavily, eyes wide in shock, though Reina was as calm and composed as if she had not just tossed a girl who was slightly heavier than her through the air. She paused for a moment though, because now she was in a position that she had not really been expecting. When the girl tried to push her, the instinct that she had honed so well lately kicked in and it was all over in barely a second.

She pushed herself up quickly, but stayed seated on Eri’s legs. “Why did you do that?” she asked, unable to keep a hint of curiosity out of her voice.

Eri, still breathing hard, continued looking up at her, but her mouth tightened in frustration. Reina schooled herself to keep steady. The girl was just so cute when she did that…

“I wanted to get your attention since you were ignoring me. I thought I’d push you over so that you were looking up at me and not low at the TV like you were,” Eri explained. After a slight pause she continued very softly, “Obviously that didn’t work very well.” Reina thought she detected amusement in the girl’s voice. Amusement! There was a hint of a smile too. Was the girl impressed? Reina crossed her arms and looked to the side. She couldn’t look down at the girl like that any longer and keep any semblance of composure.

“Are you pouting?” Eri asked. Reina immediately tightened her lips. “Seriously Reina, what’s been going on with you lately? You’ve not said a word to me. Nii-chan says you’ve done your best to ignore her, too, for who knows why.” Eri’s voice trembled slightly on that last sentence, but hearing that name was quite enough for Reina. She jerked back off of Eri’s legs until her back was against the wall at the head of her bed, crossing her legs and arms as if they would make an impenetrable barrier. In reality, they nearly were.

She turned back to the girl now sitting up at the foot of her bed, feeling fire in her eyes. “It’s time to stop this little charade of yours now. Both of you. You both know very well why I’m not talking to you. You just didn’t know that I know, too, and have known for a while. Ever since the Christmas party, in fact.” Her muscles tensed even more as her speech sped up as she went on. “Was that even the first time? What am I supposed to say?”

Eri stared at her a moment, unblinking, before nearly whispering in a weak voice, “That was the first time. The only time. Seeing how you were acting after that night, I didn’t feel right doing more for the time being.” It almost seemed like she was talking to herself, with her eyes drawn inward and the wistful tone.

Reina’s eyes narrowed. “Well that’s a relief.” When she spoke, Eri seemed to snap out of her trance and gave her a horrified look. “At least my girlfriend isn’t sleeping with one of my other best friends every night.”

Eri opened her mouth, but no words came out at first. The corners of her mouth twisted up slightly in a smile, of all things. “You think of me as your girlfriend?” she asked wonderingly.

The next sound was Reina’s mouth snapping shut, cutting off whatever she was about to say. Then she almost sighed at the slip of her tongue. Yes, that was what I felt. “No.” Eri gave her a confused expression. “I might have thought that way,” she began, before hesitating while trying to decide how to continue without totally contradicting herself. “Maybe I still want to. But… I can’t outside of my own mind. I mean, no matter what I think, obviously it’s not true.”

The other girl stared a moment before adopting a slightly sad expression. Reina wasn’t sure what she wanted, but she was being given less of a reaction than she thought she’d receive. “I’m sorry Reina,” Eri said solemnly, and Reina noticed the girl’s eyes begin to glisten momentarily. “I didn’t know.” She looked away as if unable to continue looking Reina in the eyes. “The times I spent with you were great, but you always seemed so… distant… like you didn’t want to give yourself to me. Like you had other things that were more important. I guess that made me think I wasn’t that important to you. I saw how you looked at some other girls, other guys. I figured there was no way I was the only one. I mean…” She turned her head slowly to look back at Reina, tears shining brightly in her eyes now. “Why should I be?” She looked back to the side and down.

Reina sat motionless, eyes fixed on the tender-looking girl opposite her. She looked so vulnerable. She seemed almost as if at a tap, she would shatter into a million pieces. Reina looked down to find her arms no longer crossed, instead folded in her lap, her fingers fidgeting slowly, idly.

“I guess it was at my birthday party that it really hit. You weren’t even there. I didn’t notice why, but I could hardly even think throughout the whole thing. Risa-chan was the one that was there for me… She kept me involved, allowed me to be happy. I was seeing much more of her since you two had for some reason become closer, and I guess she was just trying to fit in. ‘Didn’t she have other friends?’ I thought. Then at the Christmas Party, we just got talking over dinner, you disappeared somewhere, and we ended up alone and…” She swallowed, lowering her head again and shaking it. “I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.” Her head suddenly rose up and she looked around with wide, wet eyes, not seeming to see Reina. “I shouldn’t be here.” With that, she crawled quickly off the bed and nearly ran to the door, opening it and ducking out. As it closed, she was already gone.

Reina stared after her. Is this what it feels like? she thought. If it was, she wasn’t sure it was all worth it. Why can’t things be easier? Why can’t two people just be happy and enjoy each other? Why do bad things have to happen?

She pulled her legs up and slipped them under her blankets, pulling them up to her neck. She felt cold suddenly, though the blankets didn’t seem to help. The television still chattered away to her, oblivious to everything else going on in the room. All the boys were now playing some silly game again, with Kazuya shaking his head in disbelief at some outrageous turn of events. Why wasn’t life like that? People laughed, people were teased, they took it all in good fun, but above all everybody was happy.

She found herself reaching over for her phone. Once she grabbed it, she brought it in front of her upon the blanket and stonily began going through her contacts. She passed by one name hesitantly. There would be time for that later. Then she arrived at another and left it selected, hovering her finger over the “send” button, but there was a knock at the door.

The knock wasn’t strong, but it sounded confident. It couldn’t be Eri then; the girl had just left as if Reina just destroyed her. The knock sounded again, slightly louder. “The door’s open,” she called out in a voice that she didn’t believe the visitor would be able to hear. It opened anyway, and she was surprised at who it was. When Ai visited Reina, she didn’t knock and come through the door.

The girl sashayed into the room, looking around her in what seemed feigned interest, and arrived at the foot of Reina’s bed. “You look nice and cozy,” she said in an amiable voice. “Catching a little TV before bed? You remember we were supposed to train tonight, right?”

Reina nodded. “I’ll be ready in a minute,” she said as she pulled herself out of her blankets and swung to the side of the bed. Her chill didn’t go away. But then of course, the blankets hadn’t been helping anyway. She had a feeling that would last all night.

Standing and walking over to her dresser to sift through her clothes, she was turned away from Ai, but she knew and could feel the girl’s eyes examining her up and down. She was very conscious of only the very thin t-shirt and short boxers she wore, though was not uncomfortable. She had gotten used to being free with the girl. Actually, it felt a little exhilarating for some reason. The coldness ebbed slightly.

As she pulled out a sweat shirt and pants, she felt Ai’s hand touch her wrist, causing her to freeze her motion. “You won’t need those tonight,” Ai said behind her. Reina turned very slowly to find Ai standing close, and she looked into the girl’s dark yet animated eyes. “You’ll want something a bit nicer-looking.”

Ai pulled back slightly, removing her hand from Reina’s wrist, to cross her arms against her breast in an ‘X’ as if giving a sign. It looked somehow familiar… Reina now noticed that instead of her normal athletic attire, Ai was wearing an outfit of full black, with outwardly netted shoulders and thighs, tight over her chest and at her hips, though very elastic-like on the arms and legs as if to allow fully free range of motion. It was perfectly clean, and above her left breast were four slanted gold-embroidered lines, parallel and maybe a centimeter apart.

“Reina Tanaka, pupil of Taisho Ai Takahashi of Tokyo Sect, humble servant of The People, you are hereby summoned to attend the Council of the Raven and her humble Chairman, Asahito Yamagata. With proof of loyalty already given, and the foundation of trust built, you are to be inducted into the Order as an official subordinate of Taisho Ai Takahashi and given full access to all resources of the Tokyo sect.” Ai bowed, arms still crossed, and rose again, smiling. “Congratulations, Reina,” she said in a warm voice, a sparkle in her eye telling Reina there was much more behind her words than what she actually spoke, “You’ve made me very proud.”

Reina, in her baggy t-shirt and heart-covered boxers with her sweats hung limp from her hand, stared back into those eyes that now seemed raven-black, though full of a depth hiding surprises that, to Reina, never seemed to cease. I’m sorry, Eririn, she mouthed indistinctly, captivated by those eyes and realizing fully what the girl had been trying to tell her.

[iacus]

Wow. I go away for a few days and what do I see when I come back?
Two big, long, sexy chapters: full of plot, character, intrigue, and big surprises.
Truly excellent. Bravo. (btw Which one is the "you are an awsome writer" smiley? I keep trying to say how good you are but I don't think I'm doing you justice)

[JFC]

Oh hot damn, time to meet the big-wigs!

Poor Eri, even though she kinda screwed herself over by making out with Mamechan, you still can't help but feel badly for her.

[Sukoshi]

Ah so Reina finally figures it out..kind of late though since Reina and Eririn are both unhappy

[rokun]

Being sick does wonders sometimes, doesn't it? This one is quite a bit longer than the last few have been, but with purpose... This is a bit different in some ways. I think some of you might really like it. We'll see. In any case, please enjoy...

Chapter 20 - Initiation

Reina gave Ai a strange look when the girl took her through the entrance of a tall, non-descript building near downtown Kobe. Ai gave her a reassuring smile and nod, apparently recognizing her thoughts about their current surroundings. The building looked no different from a normal downtown office building, but as they entered the columned lobby, a feeling tugged at Reina that something was different.

It didn’t have anything to do with the room. It wouldn’t have been out of place as the reception area of any of the myriad skyscrapers around Japan, with the dark-suited office workers filing along and the front desk lady sitting patiently giving a glance to the newcomers. The different thing was that it was 23:00 hours. She knew many company employees worked late, but this seemed like it pushed it quite a bit…

Ai took her hand, breaking her out of the study of the room, and smiling, led her to the front desk. “Ai Takahashi and Reina Tanaka,” she told the receptionist. “We’re here on business from Tokyo.”

The short-haired professional-looking lady behind the desk looked closely into both of their faces before nodding. “Miss Takahashi, welcome back. Things have been going well I take it?” The woman was very brisk with her words, but Reina noticed genuine interest in them.

Ai nodded. “I believe so,” she responded, giving the woman a smile that seemed different from the ones she gave Reina. It seemed almost… indulgent. Obviously Ai knew the woman, and apparently didn’t think all that much of her. “Although of course, you can judge for yourself...” She turned to Reina and smiled while saying that, a smile that was as warm as it ever was. Reina looked back into her eyes. What did the girl think of her?

“Yes. Miss Tanaka, no?” The woman turned to Reina as well and scrutinized her. Reina drew herself up, feeling quite proud of her appearance in her short black skirt with white polka-dots and small red leather jacket over a cream-colored blouse. She would have worn a longer dress, but Ai advised against it for some reason. “Welcome to Kobe.” As if that were all she cared to say to the fresh face, she then drew her eyes quickly back to Ai. “I believe you know the way?”

Ai bowed slightly, a bemused look on her face. “Thank you, Ms. Fumitsu,” she said, and pulled Reina away. Reina kept her eyes in… Ms. Fumitsu’s? direction though and saw the woman give a glower to Ai’s back. “Don’t mind her,” Ai said through clenched teeth, plainly schooling herself well to keep from bursting out laughing. “She’s just a little sore that management doesn’t recognize her talent. Knowing what happened with me doesn’t help.” Reina looked sideways at the girl, whose face was pointed ahead in the direction they walked. What did happen with her?

They stopped when they reached an elevator and Ai pressed the button to go up. Reina stared at her, but she didn’t seem to notice. “You seem uncomfortable,” Reina said at last, and Ai gave her an odd look.

“What do you mean?”

Reina kept staring. “You’ve never been this… friendly… since long before you told me you killed Miki. In fact, not for a long time before that, too.” She tilted her head slightly and gave the girl a grimace.  “It’s kind of creepy.”

Ai arched her eyebrows and chuckled softly in response before poking Reina in the shoulder. “Maybe you’re rubbing off on me,” she said with a smirk as Reina rubbed her arm.

“I still think you’re uncomfortable,” Reina stubbornly insisted.

Ai sighed and turned back to the elevator, her smile becoming wistful. “I haven’t had the best experiences in this place,” she said after a time. Her expression darkened and she continued softly, as if to herself, “That’s going to change soon, though. Even more than it already has.”

Catching herself, she turned once again to Reina, who stared back. “I think you’re the one being creepy,” she said with a grimace herself. “Don’t keep staring at people like that!” As if to emphasize her point, the elevator dinged and its doors slid open. “Come on,” she said as she walked in, assuming Reina would follow. She did, of course. What else was there to do?

The elevator was empty except for them, odd for as many people as seemed to walk around the lobby. Looking back out at them, she realized they all walked in very regular patterns, and some already looked familiar, too. Their eyes darted around with much more of an awareness of their surroundings than office people busy about their work usually kept in her experience. As the doors slid shut, she decided they weren’t just passing through.

With nothing else to look at, Reina glanced at the level buttons next to the door. Ai hadn’t pressed one yet. Instead, she was standing in front of the panel gazing silently at Reina. She gave her a smile when Reina noticed her and reached out to push a button. The elevator started up, and Reina blinked before looking again at the panel. The lighted button – the one Ai had pressed – had no floor number next to it. It occupied the space between the buttons for twelve and fourteen, but there was no number printed.

Noticing Ai gazing at her again, she looked over at the girl. “It’s western-style, you know,” Ai explained bemusedly. “They think there’s something strange about the number thirteen and so sometimes skip that floor when they design buildings. Silly superstitious Westerners...” She chuckled. “At least, the impression it gives is that it’s supposed to be western-style.”

Immediately after the girl finished speaking, the carriage slowed to a stop and its doors slid open to reveal a long, silent corridor, dimly lighted. Reina squinted. No, her eyes weren’t fooling herself, the lights were flickering!

“Are those torches?” she blurted out.

“Uh huh,” Ai said, still not hiding the amusement in her voice. “Come on.”

Ai took her hand, making Reina blush slightly. Then she wanted to blush more when she realized she had blushed. She tightened her hand into the girl’s and they walked forward into the hall.

There were doors at intervals along the sides, although they were all closed, and they passed them all before stopping at one that looked as if it had been worn and unused for years. Why would they keep a door like this in this kind of building? she asked herself. She looked to Ai for explanation since she usually somehow was able to read her mind about these things, but drew back. The girl seemed to have undergone some kind of transformation. Reina nearly forgot she wore the tight black suit with her near friendly attitude since they entered the building, but now she fit it perfectly. Her face was hard as stone, expressionless as it always was during her harsh training sessions, and she drew herself up as if she owned the world. To Reina, it nearly seemed as if she did.

Reina loosened her grip slightly on Ai’s hand, intending to let go since the girl apparently switched to professional mode, but Ai tightened her own grip, turning to face her. “I’ll be here beside you. Just be yourself.”

Reina wasn’t sure she wanted the girl to be beside her for anything, since her new attitude reminded her too much of her professional life – including being Miki’s murderer – but the girl’s grip was hard as iron. Nodding, Reina turned to the door and drew herself up also. Well, even if she was about to meet her doom, she would meet it with all the pride she held. And whatever they thought they would use her for, Reina Tanaka would not be just another pawn in the dangerous and terrible games they played.

Ai knocked on the door with a black-gloved hand, the glove covering it to the elbow. When had she put a glove on? The hand she held Reina’s with didn’t have one. Reina thought she could feel the girl’s blood pounding in it through her strong, taut grip.

After a short moment the door swung open, amazingly without creaking, to reveal a large room lit only by two circular red lights on the back wall straight ahead. Reina couldn’t see much, but by the silhouettes she made out, it appeared there were a set of tables set in a small half-circle, split just left and right of center. Behind each side table she thought she could see three figures sitting, and just one in the smaller one at the center, just below the red lights. The door had been opened by a man not unlike the ones she met in the alley what seemed so long ago, as well as the ones she saw on the way to Ai’s apartment, and he stiffly bowed them in.

Reina felt a tug at her arm, and as Ai stepped forward she found herself following. She wished she could pinch herself. Despite her experiences in the alley and Ai’s “training center”, it seemed like she had walked into a dream. A vision of Eri briefly flashed through her mind, but something so normal couldn’t seem real right now. More appropriately perhaps, Miki’s voice from one of those horrible nights sounded in her thoughts, “You won’t succeed until you see the Truth beyond the illusion of reality.” It made absolutely no sense to her, but still seemed quite fitting for her current situation.

As she walked with Ai into the middle of the half-moon style tables, she stared at the red lights. For some reason, they seemed to become smaller the closer she grew. They almost looked like eyes… She caught herself before an involuntary swallow. Of course. Raven’s eyes. Despite the horror of the idea, she nearly wanted to burst out laughing.

“Taisho Ai Takahashi,” a somewhat rough but strong voice intoned from beneath the eyes. “It has been some time since our gaze has fallen upon you.” Even though he used the imperial-sounding plural, Reina had no doubts that he was speaking only of himself. She slid her eyes to the left and right, but no sound came from the figures at the sides seated solid as stone. “And you bring another,” the voice went on, as if in surprise. “Why should our gaze be given to this one?”

Ai answered, in what to Reina seemed a too-patient voice. She was frightened for a moment until she realized that only someone who knew Ai’s subtleties would notice. She was then also frightened over how well she apparently knew the girl now. At least, she hoped the others in this room didn’t know her quite so well. “Master Chairman, at my side is Reina Tanaka, one whom your eyes have watched for quite some time, though for varying reasons.” She squeezed Reina’s hand slightly as she spoke, and Reina noticed a slight inflection to “at my side”. Reina began to feel woozy. “She has succeeded in every task set before her, including a Trial of Necessity, and per the acknowledgement of the Council, and sincerest recommendation I have given no other, ask for her entrance into the Chosen.”

Reina had no idea what the girl was talking about – it must be some kind of formality with this organization that seemed quite steeped in tradition – but she understood enough to realize this was much more significant than she had realized. The Chosen?

There was a long pause, during which Reina felt herself begin to sweat. What Ai requested seemed for some reason an awful lot to ask for. She was waiting for them to laugh and ask why this foolish little girl was standing here, a comment she was sure would be followed by her head getting chopped off or something. However, eventually the voice from the middle gave a response. “We will see her.”

Suddenly, the red lights dimmed and white light sprang up from all around; not bright, but enough that she could clearly see what the room held. She found that she wasn’t mistaken about the red lights – they still glowed softly as the eyes of what looked like a large carved black bird’s head above the center table. Below them stood a man, and out of the corners of her eyes she saw five men and one woman sitting at the sides – two of the men fairly young, but the others middle-aged.

She didn’t notice any more detail about them because her eyes were fixed to the man who looked just past middle aged that stood behind the table at the center, which she could see now was really no more than an elaborately worked and carved podium. Wearing a long dark coat with the collar turned up over what must have been a white silk shirt and loose black leather pants, his eyes stared into hers with a gaze that took her breath away. It was a hard look, maybe as hard as the ones Ai gave her at times, and with a scar just beneath his left eye accentuating it, Reina thought she was looking into the face of Madness. Above his eyes, bushy brows furrowed beneath a mat of short buzzed and cropped hair, colored black but streaked with gray. She wanted to look away, but his intense gaze held her, apparently satisfied with its captivated audience. However, it wasn’t as if she was attracted to the man – far from it. In reality, the gaze made her feel as if she needed to take ten showers in a row, even before it slid from her eyes slowly down her body. It felt like she was naked beneath it. Why had the girl insisted on such a short skirt?!

After seconds that seemed like an hour, his eyes flicked to the girl next to her, and she nearly gasped for breath in relief. “She seems to have some little strength,” he told Ai. At that moment Reina didn’t doubt the “little” part. “So she’s the one you’ve been going on about, eh?”

The tension seemed to suddenly loosen, and the man sat back in a chair that she hadn’t noticed was behind him, lounging as if he couldn’t be more relaxed. “Yes, Yamagata-sama,” Ai responded, though by the tightening of her hand on Reina’s, his statement might have been a bit of an exaggeration.

Yamagata looked between them for another moment before continuing, “You two look quite close. Are you sure you chose the right career path for her?” The corners of his mouth twisted in a sneer with the question.

“As your honors are well aware,” Ai responded, her glance now including those to the sides, “Even with the short, however intense, training she has had, Tanaka has performed with supreme grace and honor, especially for one so young, and easily captured her first mark of blood.” Her eyes returned to the man in the middle, who was now returning her a white-hot glare, though Reina’s eyes widened since she couldn’t imagine why. “I also personally vouch for her trust, loyalty and skill. This is a request I would make for no other.”

Reina felt her chest tighten at Ai’s words. There she went again. Why did the girl seem to think so highly of her? She sure didn’t feel that respect with how she acted in their nightly practices. The girl sometimes drove her so hard she wondered how she’d last until the morning.

Yamagata leaned forward, a sneer still on his face below his glare focused directly on Ai. If nothing else, Reina was definitely becoming more impressed with the girl. She knew she would be able to do nothing but cringe away from the man if he gave her such a look, yet Ai stood as proudly, and almost as defiant, as ever.

“You personally vouch, eh?” He then leaned back into his chair once more, grasping his hands in front of his face. “You wouldn’t have, perhaps, violated her yourself, eh?” The twisted and sadistic grin he flashed her now seemed to finally chip away at Ai’s defenses, and Reina felt her tremble slightly through her hand.

“You sick bastard!” Reina shouted out as rage impulsively filled her, stepping a foot toward the man as far as she could while still holding Ai’s hand in a death grip. “She has done nothing of the kind! I will not have you talking that way about her!” Something nudged at the heat filling her body telling her that she was being stupid – more like utterly and completely insane – but she paid it no heed as she glared at the scornful face in front of her. She felt Ai’s hand squeeze hers until she was certain the girl would break it, trying unsuccessfully to pull her back.

“I move for approval of Taisho Takahashi’s recommendation,” a strong and hard yet surprisingly pleasant voice piped up suddenly from the side. Unthinking, she turned her head to its source, one of the middle-aged men with full dark hair sitting with hands on his legs and eyes gazing steadily at Reina.

“I second,” another, younger voice rang out from beside him.

“I vote for approval,” the first who spoke shot back.

“I also,” from the woman on his other side.

“Approval.” The young man again.

“I vote approval,” from a silky-toned voice on the other side.

“Approval.”

“Approved,” came the last of the six a moment after.

Flummoxed by the cacophony of calls disrupting her rage, Reina blinked and fell back slightly, letting Ai easily pull her once again beside her, before her eyes once again settled on the man in the center, the sight of him refocusing her razor-sharp fury. He stared back at her, his upper lip twisting in the makings of a sneer, but his glare no longer held the heat it had directed toward Ai.

“So it seems the would-be night stalker has bite, does she?” Standing, he drew a sword Reina hadn’t noticed he carried at his hip and held it just above the podium, pointed at Reina. “Far be it for me to defy an otherwise unanimous vote of the Council,” he continued with a wicked smile that seemed to show just what he thought of such a vote. “So I give it the Chairman’s approval as well, even though it be an unusual request.” Walking toward Reina with the sword held vertically in front of him, both hands on the hilt, Reina looking back with the challenge and fury that seemed as if it would never abate, he took her free hand swiftly, palm up, and sliced it shallowly diagonally down the center. Reina hissed softly at the sudden pain, and drew her eyes to her hand which Yamagata raised between them, squeezing it so red blood seeped out the edges. Reina noticed for the first time just how scarred his hand actually was. She wondered momentarily if that was the same with the rest of him, but cleared the thought quickly from her mind.

“Welcome, Taisho Reina Tanaka,” he intoned, and Reina could feel his hot breath even from half a meter away. “I’m afraid I don’t have a command to assign you to, but I’m sure Takahashi will have you…” He turned to Ai, grinning once again, “…quite well taken care of.”

With that, he released Reina’s blood-streaked hand and in a stately pace returned to behind the podium. Laying his sword sideways now upon it, he looked to either side of the room. “This special session of the Council of the Raven is now called to an end.” Giving one last nasty look back at Ai, he continued, “How eager I am to see how you surprise me next in this room.” Then, turning on his heel, he hit a spot on the wall with the heel of his palm causing a hidden door to open within it, and disappeared beyond, followed by the six other council members. Even though he didn’t look back, Reina noted that several of the six did to give last quick, studying glances at the two girls now standing alone.

“Come on,” Ai grated in a hoarse voice, and she pulled Reina around back toward the door they entered through, the man attending it opening it and bowing them through. Reina thought his eyes lingered on her for a moment, but once through, she didn’t look back.

They walked in silence the return way down the torch-lit hall and Ai pressed “down” next to the elevator. Reina kept glancing down at her hand, which she held in a ball palm-up in an attempt to lose the least blood possible. The man had cut her! She shivered, not eager to see what it would look like once she got the blood cleared off. She would have liked to help that along a bit, but her other hand was still held as tight as ever in Ai’s grip. She wondered how Ai could even still hold it that tightly as slick as it must be now with her sweat. It even seemed like Ai was sweating a bit. The girl had always used to, but lately, for reasons Reina now knew the “why” to, she kept her body cool almost no matter what.

The elevator dinged, and the two girls walked in, Ai pressing the button for the first floor. When the doors closed and the carriage jerked to begin its descent, Reina felt as if her arm was almost jerked out of its socket when Ai spun her toward her, a look of pure delight on her face.

The girl’s eyes practically glowed at her, though she was silent for a moment through a wide smile until her features calmed slightly. Finally she spoke in a soft but obviously restrained voice, “You’re the youngest ever to be Initiated, you know.” Reina detected pride in her tone, as well as something else she couldn’t pick out. Tilting her eyes slightly down and to the side, she continued, “This will surely send shockwaves through the system, though the Council unanimously agreed…” She no longer held Reina’s hand, but instead ran her fingers slowly up Reina’s tender arm, the caress smoothed by both girls’ perspiration. Otherwise, Reina thought she looked as if she could burst out in dance right there as she so often… used… to like to do. She looked back up into Reina’s face. “I think they’re even still recovering from the last one. It wasn’t too long ago that the previous youngest claimed the station. As if that itself didn’t surprise Mr. Yamagata-sama …” She hesitated a moment before continuing, “I overshot hoping that you’d at least gain enough of a level that you would have some little influence, but…”

Reina looked wide-eyed at her in amazement. The older girl was positively brimming with glee! As Ai held her eyes a moment longer, she no longer saw the darkness she was so accustomed to finding in them. This was a warm Ai, a gentle Ai, the Ai that she was sure Risa grew to be best friends with, the Ai that Reina never got to know. Risa… she momentarily wondered how she could have ever been angry with that girl.

Feeling herself brought back to the moment, even though she knew they didn’t, their faces seemed to become closer, and Reina could feel Ai’s hot breath as she breathed it in herself. Between the fury that was still subsiding within her and her current proximity with her mentor, she began to feel intoxicated…

Ding!

The elevator doors opened to the bustling of the apparently ever-present workers pacing back and forth across the lobby. The girls pulled apart, Ai’s smile disappearing and Reina attempting to regain her senses, and they began walking slowly toward the street entrance. They no longer held hands but still walked very close, paragons of pride and presence, feeling as though they could triumph over whatever came into their way, though nothing did. Reina spared a glance for Ms. Fumitsu, and the woman looked as if she’d eaten yet another bushel of sour grapes, obviously attempting to hide her glances at Reina’s dark red-streaked hand. As the men and women in suits passed, most gave a small bow to the two girls striding side by side, and it didn’t even cross Reina’s mind to bow in return. Instead, she turned to Ai and cocked an eyebrow. “News travels fast,” Ai said, the corner of her mouth turning up in a small grin. Reina just shook her head.

Once out of the building and on their way back to the hotel, it was quiet for a short time. “I’m afraid Tsunku may have to do without even more of his performers, at least for the time being,” Ai said finally, causing a glance by Reina, though the speaker kept looking ahead. “The stage is set. Now you and I have some work to do to save his Project…” She finally turned to face Reina. “And hopefully much more.” The knowing glint in the girl’s eyes sent shivers down Reina’s spine.