JPHiP Forum
AKB48 Fanfics => AKB48 Fanfics => Topic started by: oKei on June 10, 2014, 09:12:55 PM
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Heyy! This will be the start of my new oneshot, drabbles, and short stories collection. First, I've realized how hard it is to keep up with more than one fic, so seriously props to writers who can keep up with them. T3C should be wrapping up this month, and What Can't Be...Is is still ongoing....maybe hiatus. It just takes me time to write that one so gomen ne to readers waiting for those updates..
I have a lot of ideas that I hope to get written down, so they can be posted here. For now, here's my latest work!
Scroll down~
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AN: Since Yuko graduated, I decided to write this! Btw, to explain the pairing, this is neither atsumina, kojiyuu, nor atsuyuu. Yes, the main protagonists are Acchan and Yuko, but there is no romance between them. This is purely adventure with a few fluffs of atsumina and kojiyuu here and there. You'll just have to read to find out. Really, this was a fun write. :D
Enjoy!
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A Lifetime Ago Part 1
Yuko’s POV
I, Oshima Yuko have graduated from AKB48.
It feels like just yesterday I was performing my last theater concert with my friends and the other members. It was a sad parting though I did my best to make it as happy as possible. I wanted to go out on a positive note. I didn’t like knowing of the sad looks on the members’ faces as I faced the crowd for the last time.
Takamina cried the most. What a surprise… not. NyanNyan cried too which tugged at my heart. She’s not one to cry very often. She holds it in, but I guess not this time. My strong NyanNyan, it makes me happy to know she really cares, but still, her tears saddened me. Sae and the rest of the 2nd generation came and we all performed my graduation song. Sayaka couldn’t make it, but I was thankful enough that she came to the concert at the stadium the day before. My graduation was filled with as much tears as there were laughter and happiness. Honestly, I never felt so loved by everyone until then. I have no regrets. I’ve looked forward since.
That was 1 year ago. Time flies huh? Just last year, I was performing to my heart’s content for our fans. I really enjoyed it then. I miss dancing sometimes, but then again, I can always dance whenever I want. I don’t need a stage to do it.
I still participate in variety shows. Sometimes as MC or host. Usually as a guest though. Right now, I am a renowned actress in Japan, and still reaching to new heights. I’m aiming to debut in America, that’s my next goal. Currently, I’m filming for a new movie and I’m costarring with Acchan. I’ve always wanted to work with her as a fellow actress and it’s finally coming true! Not as a part of AKB48, but as ourselves, without the label of AKB48 on our backs.
It’ll be an sci-fi/action/drama movie about two secret time agents. Their job is to maintain order in the time stream and prevent rogue agents from altering the past. Their names are Mikami Akira and Koda Kaori, played by Acchan and I, respectively. They have been best friends for as long as they can remember, until something slips up causing time to change where Akira is a rogue and doesn’t even know Kaori. Kaori has to travel into the past to find out what happened and fix everything, but the stakes to fix time becomes higher as she must also fight off her best friend who’s appears to be after her life for reasons unknown.
It’s really awesome! I remember when I was filming for the drama, Ando Lloyd A.I. knows love. It had to do with the future. This movie pertains to the past though, which is really exciting! I can’t wait to see the premiere for it, but that’ll have to wait until we actually finish filming. I’ll do my best!
Today, I’m going on a double date with NyanNyan and the Atsumina couple. We’re all going out to lunch before Acchan and I have to go back to the set.
I’m really excited! Even though Atsumina will be there, it’s been a long time since NyanNyan and I went out on a date. Last time was like, 2, 3 months ago. Wah! That’s such a long time, I can’t even remember. Actually, ever since we started going out, we never actually went out much. That’s so depressing. I miss NyanNyan! I thought we’d finally be able to spend more time together after I had graduated. Nope! Just the opposite. Stupid schedule! Every time NyanNyan’s off, I’m really busy with work and can’t take time off and then often, whenever I’m free, NyanNyan has events or photoshoots to attend to.
Walking into the café we were going to meet at, I spotted them all already there.
“You’re late,” NyanNyan pouts. Kawaii! I should be late more often.
“I got caught up down memory lane,” I wink.
“What were you thinking about?” Takamina asks.
“Nothing really…just of the days when I was still in AKB48.”
“Naruhodo…”
“Eto…I heard you and Acchan were shooting a new movie.”
“Yeah! It’s a great experience working with each other, and lots of fun! I can’t wait for you two to see it.”
“Since we’re already good friends, it’s easier to play our characters too. We really get into it. Sometimes, I forget I’m only acting a script.” Acchan laughs.
“I bet your acting is wonderful though, compared to Yuko. You’ll be amazing.” Takamina’s eyes sparkle as she compliments Acchan.
“No, Yuuchan will do great as always, and it’ll be better than Acchan’s. Her acting will be perfect.” I laugh as she said that last word in english, like the way I do sometimes.
“Eh? Who said Yuko was a better actress? Oh, no one.”
Haruna stands up, looking down at the midget. “I think she’s a better actress! No offense, Acchan.”
“None taken?” She stifles a laugh. I watch amused as the two bicker over it.
I soon get a call and answer. When I’m done, I nod at Acchan. We both get up.
“Where are you two going?”
“We need to get going to the set now. They said to get there early.”
“Eh?? What about eating?”
“What do you mean? We’re already done.”
They look down, surprised to see finished plates at our table.
“When did those get there?? We didn’t even get to eat!”
“This date was too short.”
“You guys can eat then, and we had to do something while you two were arguing.”
“Gomen, NyanNyan. I’ll make it up to you..?” I give her a long hug.
She looks up thoughtfully. “Buy me the new psp games that’s out.”
“I was hoping you’d suggest something else..” I mumble.
“Hm?”
“Nothing! Sure, I’ll buy them. Anything for you!” Ahh, there goes my savings for new sneakers. My collection will have to wait. Those games…I have to buy like what, 10 of them. Too much.
Acchan squeezes the midget in a tight hug and kisses her cheek before letting her go, and walks out with me to the set location.
While walking, I take out my script from my coat pocket and read over it. I need to make sure these lines are right. As I practice in my head, I fail to notice Acchan had stopped while I continue walking. I feel a harsh tug on my arm as I’m pulled back by her.
“Nani??” I’m a bit annoyed as I had to stop.
I see Acchan staring excitedly through a window of a bakery. She seems to be staring at the fresh crisp bread laid out for display.
“Ne, let’s buy one real quick. It’s fresh!”
Like it being fresh appeals to me.
“Hurry up.” She squeals in delight and rushes into the bakery. I wait patiently and a moment later, she returns with her goods in hand.
“Open your hand.”
“Eh?” I lift my hand and open it. Might as well do what she says.
She smiles and places a fortune cookie in my palm.
“They were lying in a jar that said, ‘Free fortune cookies,’ so I thought I’d take a couple.” She grins.
“Ahh, let’s eat them now. The bread can wait until we get to the set.” I suggest.
“Un.”
We unwrap our cookies and open them. We both turn to each other confused, then look back at our cookies. There’s no fortunes. That’s strange.
I shrug. “Can’t let it go to waste, right?”
She nods her head. We both take a bite out of cookies as the shop owner comes running out.
“Wa—“
We don’t hear a thing. The world changes around us, as everything stretches into a blur, looking disfigured. Everything seems to slow down. We look wildly to each other.
“What’d you do?!”
“Me?? I didn’t do anything!”
As if someone pressed a pause button, everything suddenly stops. Acchan and I included. We send each other facial expressions like “What the eff is going on?!?!” We’re just speechless.
About a minute later, the world turns in motion, but not like we’d expect. Pictures are moving backwards. Time speeds up and the world backs up in a flash of what I thought was impossible, as we’re taken somewhere we’d never thought we’d be again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Acchan’s POV
So one minute, I was eating…a simple fortune cookie. The next, I’m with Yuko, spiraling to who knows where.
As the world around us stop spinning, Yuko and I regain our balance and look at our surroundings. Nothing really looks different.
“Hey, where’d that bakery go?” Yuko points out.
“What?” I turn to look where the bakery was before. There’s just a crummy, old, run-down building. Wahhh! I was planning on going back there later!
“Weird.. Come on, let’s go. The director is waiting for us.” Yuko motions to follow her.
Something doesn’t feel right. I constantly look at the buildings around us. It’s the same, yet it doesn’t seem like it.
We turn a corner, reaching a busy intersection of the city. Yeah.. This is definitely not right.
Both of us stare shocked at the posters hanging around the city and ads flashing across the building screens.
We see...us. Not just us though, it’s us with the other AKB members and we’re promoting... Flying Get.
These are supposed to be taken down. There shouldn’t be anything up regarding Yuko or I as a part of AKB48. There should be no reason Flying Get is up there all over the city.
Yuko starts shaking my arm and points to an electric sign. It’s flashing the date.
It’s September 1, 2011.
Flying Get just released a few days ago?! Uso! It can’t be, it should be 2015!
All of a sudden, time freezes once more. This time, only Yuko and I can move around though.
“I don’t like this...” I say.
A tall, long bearded man, wearing a blue robe and a pointed hat appears in front of us.
“Ojisan! Who are you?? How can you move too?? What happened?? Why can we still move???” Yuko barrages the stranger with tons of questions. Well, I’m curious too.
He raises his hand, signaling Yuko to quiet down.
“I, am Father Time. I paused time, but only for a short moment to give you the answers you seek. First, if you didn’t see me, I am the owner of the new bakery shop you two were at a while ago. I just love baking you see, it’s my hobby so I thought I’d open a shop and share it in Japan. There’s quite delicious bread there, I admire it so. Ahm, getting back, I accidentally swapped my special time cookies with the fortune cookies, which you two were unfortunate to eat.”
“What?! I knew something was strange when they didn’t have any fortunes in them!”
“Ah, yes. That’s how I tell them apart. Sadly, that’s not a reliable way to tell them apart as I can’t really see inside them.”
Father Time is pretty stupid.
*wack*
“I-tai!” I grab my head. He’s holding a staff. Did he have that before??
“You can read minds?” Yuko looks at him amazed.
“No, but I could tell what she was thinking. As keeper of time, I’ve watched mankind grow, including each individual. I’ve watched both of you grow up as you attended school, auditioned for AKB48, graduated, and chased your dreams. As I observed you two, I was able to understand your thought process, your choices, and your behavior around others. I can say I know you two very well, as I know everyone else on this planet, all because I keep track of everyone’s time.”
Sounds like a major creeper on a whole other level.
*wack*
“Argh! Stop that!” I rub my head, trying to calm the pain. I don’t need a bruise.
“You make me sound so bad. You stop that. I am far older than you. Show your respect.”
My thoughts have to show respect too? That’s impossible.
“So we’re in the past then, right? Is that what you’re trying to get at?” Yuko asks.
“Yes. The time cookies you two ate brought you here to a random past of your lives. Luckily you two shared this time, so are here together.”
“That’s great, so how do we get back?”
“You must wait until the planets align over Japan. A portal will open in a certain place where I will tell you later, and it will lead back to your time about when you left it.”
“Oh cool! When’s that?”
“Ahm.. It will be next year in January...”
“What?! So we’re stuck here for like 4 months?!”
“Yep, you got it. Now I highly suggest you two stay away from your past selves to refrain from damaging the time stream. We don’t want to create any paradoxes that will drastically affect your future.”
Of course. Always rules and consequences wherever you go.
“What are we supposed to do in the meantime?”
“Yeah, where are we even going to stay? I’m pretty sure our homes are out of the question since our past selves would be there.”
“That is a problem you two are to solve. As of what to do, you should spend your time as you see fit. Take it as an extended 4 month vacation from work. Anyone would enjoy that. You two should too.”
With that, time resumes and a gust of leaves breezes past us, Father Time disappearing with it. Yuko and I quickly move out of the way to a shaded alley.
“That was pleasant.”
I roll my eyes.
“You know what this reminds me of??” Yuko jumps up and down excitedly.
“What?”
“Hello? Time travel. Past. The 2 of us? It’s like our movie!” She squeals.
“If this is seriously happening and it’s not a dream, this’ll be some experience for our acting skills.”
“I know! Can’t you be more excited though?? This is like a once in a lifetime thing. This doesn’t happen to just anyone! It’s such a huge coincidence this even happened to us, out of all people, who are also filming a time related movie. Come on! We’re back in our AKB48 era, let’s live it up here while we can!”
“I am excited. You just can’t see it. But Yuko, we can’t just run around here. We can’t mess up anything.”
“Ehhhh? I guess you’re right… We can have fun here though, right? Nothing wrong with that.”
“If it doesn’t change anything important, then sure, let’s do whatever. What do you want to do first?”
“Well, as he said, we should first find a place to stay at least. We can think of what to do, after.”
“I’d suggest we rent an apartment but I doubt we both have enough pocket money with us and I don’t think it’d be wise to take from our bank accounts.”
“So what then?”
“Let’s crash at Marichan’s place!” It might be fun.
“We’re in the past, remember? Do you think it’s okay if she saw us?”
“Daijoubu. She’d probably be the least surprised. It’s not like she’s one of our past selves. It’ll be fine.”
“You sure?”
“Un! Let’s go get her! She’s probably at the theater.” I start walking in the direction of the theater.
Yuko stops me. “Earth to Acchan, we can’t go there. We’d probably cause some kind of commotion and let’s remember that our selves could possibly also there.”
“Sorry. I’m not really listening. I’m kind of out of it right now, this is all hard to process yet even remember.” My brain feels like a wreck. I have to remember that we’re in the past now. I keep forgetting so easily.
“I know, but at least you’re not alone.” She smiles.
I smile back. Thank God I’m not alone. Who knows what would have happened by now.
“We need to get away from the public eye first. It won’t be good if we’re spotted. Let’s quickly get to Mariko’s place.”
“Hai.”
We both sneak around taking the long way to Marichan’s house since there’s not many people this way.
We go up to her door, and push our luck in opening it. Of course though, it’s locked. There’s no way she would be careless enough to forget to lock her door.
“I’ll text her to meet us later at her house, alone.”
“You know how suspicious that sounds right?”
“Fine then, you text her.”
“Good thing Mariko never changed her mail address.”
I take out my phone. I hope this still works, my phone isn’t that new. I think.
I have reception. Yatta!
To: Marichan
From: Acchan
Marichan~ (^_^)/ Yuko and I will be waiting for you at your house when you’re finished with work. Shhh, don’t tell anyone by the way. I’ll give you the details when we see you.
Sent~ Now just have to wait for a reply.
Ding!
There it is!
Yuko and I both lean over my phone to read the message.
To: Acchan?
From: Marichan
Acchan? Hontou ni? You’re right in front of me. I don’t see you on your phone though.. How? O.o Hm…I will meet you regardless of who you are, since you know where I live. If this is a prank or you are some stalker, I will call the police.
P.S. I can’t wait to meet! (^o^)
Yuko chuckles, “That went well.”
“Let’s hope she comes alone. I don’t want to have to explain to anyone else.”
“Yeah. What do want to do in the mean time? She’s not going to be here for a while.”
I scratch my head. “You have your script, right? We could practice our lines in scenes we act together.”
“Ah yeah. Do you have yours?”
“No, I left it in my bag back at the studio. It’s okay though, I already memorized my lines.” I smirk.
“Psh. Show off. Watch when you slip up.”
We start our little practice, and it actually goes pretty well. We don’t even notice the time.
“Akira, what happened?! I heard alarms, are you okay??” She runs up to me.
I look at her, ignoring her words. Grabbing her shirt, I slam her against the wall, and raise my fist up to her face. She looks at me shocked.
“What are you doing?!” She screams frantically.
I don’t answer her. I have to take her out. I punch, but miss. She dodged just barely.
“Shit! Oi! What’s wrong with you?! It’s me, Kaori, your best friend and comrade, remember??”
I don’t have any friends. I’ve never seen her before in my life. I just have a mission to complete. Before I can punch her again, she kicks my stomach, sending me back. I glare menacingly at her. She must be killed.
Suddenly, she gets near my face. I don’t have time to react.
*SLAP*
I stare at the cold, hard ground, stunned. This girl slapped me? The file said she was dangerous. I look at her and see tears falling down as if she hurt herself too. Cut the crap. I act as if I’m about to take out a gun when I notice an awfully familiar figure watching us from behind Yuko, shocked at what’s in front of her.
Aw no. Great timing.
I pretend like nothing ever happened, and revert immediately out of character. I give a bright smile at Marichan who doesn’t know what to do. Yuko notices my sudden change and looks behind her. Her eyes widen as she realizes what Marichan probably saw, and she comes out of her character, back to the jumpy, excited Yuko that we all know.
“Ne ne, Mariko~ don’t mind us here. We’re not fighting, we’re all friends here. Why don’t you open the door so we can all chat inside?” She pushes Marichan to the door. She nods dumbly, and unlocks the door. We usher her inside quickly, and shut it behind us.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yuko’s POV
“And that’s how we’re here in your house right now.”
We had just finished explaining our situation to Mariko. At first she just watched us with a blank look, but as we get into our story, her expression changes into a mix of surprise, confusion, and wonder. I bet she’s wondering if we’re trolling her.
She scratches her head. “This…is a lot to take in.”
“So you believe us??”
“I have to. I thought I just left Acchan at the theater, yet here you two are in front of me. Then, there’s also your appearance. Acchan, you look absolutely gorgeous. Your long hair really suits you, and I can tell those aren’t extensions. You look a bit older too, but still very youthful.”
“Yeah, yeah, Acchan is so beautiful. How did I change??”
“And you Yuko, you seem older and more mature, yet your personality didn’t change at all. I’ve been wondering…if you two are from the future, from what year?” That’s it??
“That’s classified. For obvious reasons.” She doesn’t know that we already graduated, then again, she graduated herself already in our time, but there’s no need to mention that. I don’t want her to know what year we’re from, because 4 years can make a difference. She shouldn’t know anything of the near future. I don’t want us being here to affect her life.
“Ah. Naruhodo…” She nods her head thoughtfully.
“Then…how’s AKB48 in your time?”
“Great! Very popular, still rising.”
“And me?”
“Still popular.” I grin.
“Makes me wonder what I’m doing haha.”
“Well too bad we can’t tell you.”
“Hai~” We all laugh.
“Since you guys are stuck here a while, then sure, I don’t mind you two staying over here.” She pauses, her eyes darkening as she leans forward. “As long as you don’t dirty my home. I don’t want to see a speck of filth.”
We gulp. “No worries Mariko. We don’t even have much material possession to begin with.”
“Oh yeah! What are we going to do about clothes?? I do not plan on wearing this for the next 4 months.”
“I’ll go out and shop for some outfits for you two, tomorrow.”
“Hontou ni??” She never offers to buy stuff for people much.
“Sure, if you pay me back in the future.” She winks.
We groan, though we’re just acting. We both don’t really mind since it is Mariko, and then our income is pretty alright so it shouldn’t be too bad.
She smirks. “That reminds me, what the heck were you two doing in front of my door?”
Oh...
“Just rehearsing lines for a movie, no big deal.”
“Oh do tell, what movie?” She leans over, eyes twinkling.
“You’ll see later.”
“If later is the future, that’s such a long time from now.” She falls back to her couch, spreading out her arms.
“I can’t know anything huh? Nothing of the future at all?”
“Nope.”
“That’s boring.”
“Okay then, spoiler alert! Life is full of surprises.” I wish I could really tell Mariko about events in the future, but where’s the fun when you already know what’s going to happen?
“Pfft. Thanks for the heads up.”
“No problem!”
She looks up at the ceiling. “Hey, don’t go outside without my knowledge, got it?”
“Why?”
“You need good disguises. You’re both two of the most recognizable people in Japan, and we don’t want people to start seeing you at different places at the same time. I’ll help dress you two, and make sure you don’t get into any kind of trouble.”
“Hai, okaa-san.”
“Good. I’m going to take a bath now. Acchan, cook dinner. I’m hungry. Yuko, help her.” She stalks off.
Slave driver. We’re not her personal maids.
I look at Acchan to see her already getting out ingredients. Seriously?
“What? It’s the least we could do. She could kick us out at any time.”
Ah, good point. “Do you still have any more of that bread?”
“Oh! I forgot about it!” She runs out of the kitchen, soon coming back with a bag.
“Here, set it on the table then help me finish cooking.” I take the bag and do as she says.
Hm... thinking about it, I get to spend some time with Acchan, have more time to practice my script, hang out with Marichan—she’s been so busy with ricori work and traveling through the world, we haven’t gotten together much—and I’m free to do whatever I want. It might not be so bad living here.
Wait! Never mind! No, no, no, no, nooooooo. I just realized I can’t see NyanNyan! What’s the point of all this free time if I can’t even get a moment with her!!! Wahhhhh!
“Yuko? Daijoubu?” Acchan asks worriedly as I’m crying now.
“Iie, I’m fine. It’s just these onions I’m chopping. Dang Acchan, why did I have to slice this??”
I toss the onions in a bowl, and go lie on the couch. I’m so tired.
~~~~~
Nothing’s changed. It’s been 2 weeks. After that first day, I thought I’d wake up in my bed and go about my day as usual. But nope, this is my usual now. I’m always greeted by Acchan and Mariko, and I greet them too, but I feel kind of empty inside. I miss NyanNyan’s good morning calls. Yeah, calls. Good morning texts are too mainstream, and no matter how tired she was, she never failed to call me up just to be the first voice I heard in the morning. I never knew how sweet she could be. In person, she could be so different. Such a tsundere, NyanNyan. But, best girlfriend ever.
Since we got here, Acchan and I haven’t left the house once. There hasn’t been much to do while Mariko’s gone. I thought we were going to have fun. Right now we’re sitting in front of her tv, watching old AKB waiting stages and some concerts that were recorded. Well, technically they’re not old, they’re new. It’s just old to us.
“Nostalgic, isn’t it?”
“Un. We’ve come a long way since then.”
“You still remember the choreography?”
“Somewhat. I’m kind of rusty.”
I stand up, pulling her up with me. I point to the screen.
“Let’s dance with them!” I exclaim. I don’t want to just sit and watch. Boring~
Acchan laughs, “If we can keep up.”
“We’ve done this a million times before, and we got more experience, no worries.”
“Hai~”
Though it’s just the two of us, we mimic the members across the screen. It’s as if things never changed. Our bodies remembered the moves as we flowed with the rhythms. We were in perfect sync, our movements noticeably different from the members performing on the screen. Even without mics and without lip syncing, our voices ring through the room as one, not missing a beat. I know I’m not as good a singer as Acchan, but I’ve improved a lot to make up for it. Singing and dancing fast-paced songs are actually hard, but we give it all we got. Even though we’re not in the group anymore, we take whatever work we do seriously. Even if it’s just for fun.
After building up some sweat, an MC segment starts, giving us a break. We sit on the floor, panting.
“As expected of ex-AKB48 aces.” I huff.
Acchan smiles, “It really has been too long. I thought I was going to mess up.”
“You were perfect! Graceful as always.”
“You were pretty amazing yourself. There’s always a lively feeling when you’re around. It made me really enjoy myself.”
*click—sound of door opening*
“Ah! That must be Mariko.”
“She’s back pretty early.” I get up to go greet her.
Ooh, maybe I’ll try to surprise her hehehe. I’m going with surprise because I know I have no chance in scaring Mariko.
I quickly grab a marker nearby and start drawing all over my face. I look to Acchan and give her thumbs up, silently asking if I looked ok. She stifles a laugh while shaking her head yes. Yosh! OK, plan surprise Mariko is a go!
I lean up against the wall as quiet as possible. I can hear her footsteps coming this way. Almost here! I grin and cover my face, getting ready to pull off a ridiculous expression. She’s a lot closer now. Here we go! 1… 2… 3!
I jump out, screeching a bunch of noise with my silly expressions. The reaction isn’t what I expect. Instead, I’m slapped with a bag and punched in the stomach.
I fall to my knees, clutching my stomach.
“Itai! Mariko! What the hell??” I look up to her. It isn’t her.
Jurina looks down to me, shocked. She squints then takes out her glasses to make sure of what she’s seeing. She gasps.
“Yuko-san! Is that really you?? Oh my god, I’m sorry! Hontou ni, gomenasai!” She helps me up, then bows.
“Ah no, it was my fault for surprising you.” At least the surprise worked.. oh crap! Where’s Mariko?? I dart my eyes around searching for the familiar figure. Argh! Why couldn’t she be here?? Why is Jurina even here? What’s more, how did she get inside??
“Ano…what are you doing here? Weren’t you just at the practice?” Jurina questions. Oh yeah.. if I remember right, we should be practicing for the next single already.
“Um..” I scratch my head. Kamisama, help me!
Acchan walks out into the hall. “Hey Yuko, I heard all the noise. Did it wor—oh…” She notices Jurina in front of me instead of Mariko.
“Acchan?? You’re here too? Nani? Why are you both here?? I mean I understand why they let me go out early, but both of you?? Impossible. Though just saying Acchan, you look absolutely beautiful, I love the extensions. Wait a minute. I know I asked why you both are here, but why at Marichan’s place??”
How come everyone always compliments Acchan? You know how that makes me feel? Of course, happy! I’ll give her some credit, Acchan’s stunning, like perfect eye candy for anyone. Though, I’m sure I changed noticeably over the years. Someone should say I look amazing or something!
Acchan answers Jurina while I’m wrapped in my thoughts. “Eto… Practice was cancelled.”
I snap out my thoughts, whipping my head to her. Did she just say what I think she said? Practice is hardly cancelled, like never cancelled, why on earth would she say that?? Jurina’s not stupid.
“Eh?”
“Yeah, so we ran over here. We’re waiting on Mariko.”
“Ehhhhhh???” Jurina takes out her phone, scrolling through her messages. Shit, Acchan. What are you going to do? If they EVER cancelled or postponed practice, they would message all the members about it.
As if just realizing it, Acchan rushes at Jurina, tackling her and makes her phone fly out of her hand. Really? This is what you came up with?
Acchan gets up quickly, brushing herself off and then looks around wildly, pulling a charade. “Sorry, there was a huge spider on your shoulder. I thought by pushing you, it would fall off. I don’t know where it went though.”
Jurina gets up too, rubbing her oshiri. She looks at us suspiciously and proceeds to pick up her phone. Right as she grabs it, Acchan slaps her hand, the phone falling once again.
“The spider was there!” she cries.
“Well it’s gone now.” Jurina looks around making sure there’s nothing there.
She picks it up once more, only to have Acchan slap it out of her hand again.
“What the eff?! There’s no spider! You’re going to break it!”
Is she talking about her phone or her hand?
“It was a reflex.” Acchan says seriously.
Jurina looks up to the ceiling, exasperated.
She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes. We just watch her. All of sudden she rushes to her phone, scooping it up, then runs as far away from us as fast as possible.
“Wah! After her!” Acchan cries. A series of events start as we chase Jurina though Mariko’s home.
~We play tag and we’re it.
~We play hide and seek as Jurina hid from us somehow.
~We find her and drag her across to the living room to tie her with some rope we found. She struggles under our grips like a child. Well, she still is one.
~Unbelievably, she breaks free and makes a run to the restroom, locking the door behind her.
~Acchan brings out an axe. I jump excitedly, getting carried away.
“Jurina-chan~”
“Iie! I’m not coming out and you two can’t make me!”
We hear clicks from her phone. What is she doing??
“Aha! Practice wasn’t cancelled! Liars! Who are you?? What are you two doing here??” She demands from inside.
“You leave us no choice.” Acchan speaks gravely, raising the axe to the door.
“Oi! Acchan, you’re not really going to hack the door, are you?” I thought it was for show, like a threat.
I back away from her as she positions herself to swing. Yabai!
“STOP! STOP RIGHT THERE! MOVE AND I WILL TASER YOU.” Acchan and I freeze. Jurina becomes quiet on the other side of the door.
The axe is ripped from Acchan’s grasp and tossed into a storage room, along with the taser. Mariko glares down on us for a minute, daring us to move. We hold our stance. She walks past us up to the door. She knocks.
“Jurina-chan, come out now. I got these two under control.”
The door slowly opens revealing a cautious Jurina. When she sees Mariko, her eyes lit up and she clings to her. “I thought I was going to die!” she wails.
I scoff. “You were perfectly safe. We weren’t going to do anything to you.”
I shrink back as Mariko glares at me. Ugh.
She points to the couch. “Sit.” She commands.
Acchan and I immediately go sit on the couch, hands in our lap. Kowai, Mariko-sama.
Mariko and Jurina stand across from us.
“Jurina, explain what happened.”
“I came to pick up something when I met them. I know we were in practice just then, so I believe these two are some kind of very good imposters. When I asked them why they were here, they said practice was cancelled. I tried to check my phone for a notice of it, but fake Acchan kept slapping it out of my hand. They started chasing me when I got it and ran away from them, so I locked myself in the restroom. You should call the police.” Jurina finishes.
Mariko nods. Is she nodding because she understands what happened, or nodding as a yes to calling the police??
“Now Acchan, why did you have that axe?”
“Why did YOU have an axe in the first place?”
“Acchan.”
“To keep the secret. If she knew there was actually practice, she’d know we were lying.”
“We couldn’t come up with a better excuse, so everything came out like this.” I add.
“Both of you make it sound like you were going to kill her.”
“Not me! If anyone was going to kill anybody, it was Acchan!” I cry then turn to her.
“To keep the secret.” I mimic her. “Why did you answer like that?!?”
Jurina looks at us all confused. “What is going on here?”
Mariko sighs. Let me explain. “You were right to be suspicious. But this is really Acchan and Yuko, though they are them from the future.”
Jurina starts laughing. “Nice one, Marichan! Seriously though, who are they? I know I saw Acchan and Yuko at practice a while ago, this can’t be them.”
The room becomes quiet. No one answers.
“Honto ni?? You’re not trolling?” She looks at us incredulously.
We nod.
“Don’t ask questions. I don’t know much myself, but I believe it’s true.” Mariko says.
Jurina looks back and forth to the both of us. We smile awkwardly in return.
“They’ll be staying with me for their duration here, which is until next year. Oh! I have an idea. Jurina-chan, since you know the truth now, come over more often so these two can have more company besides me. They can’t go out much.”
Jurina stares blankly, trying to process everything.
“OK! I understand!”
“Really?”
“Un!” She takes out her phone.
“I have to update my Google+! Everyone will freak over this!”
“What?!” Acchan and I stand up, shocked.
Mariko snatches Jurina’s phone.
“Hey!”
“This is a SECRET. NO ONE can know about this. Jurina, you can’t tell anyone. Understand?”
Jurina pouts mumbling “Fine” to Mariko. She pats her on the head, like a puppy who just did something right.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Acchan’s POV
I’m so bored. I flip through the channels on the tv, unsatisfied with each program. It’s just the same things over and over again. Why can’t there be anything interesting on? While flashing through the channels, I pass a program highlighting AKB48’s upcoming Janken Taikai. I pause at the screen. It’s already tomorrow?? Hm… I already know what’s going to happen, but it wouldn’t hurt to be safe.
I turn to Mariko who’s reading a magazine.
“Mariko~”
“Hm?” She lifts her head to me but her eyes are still focused on her magazine.
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do.” She’s still reading.
“Use rock in the finals,” I say casually.
She finally looks at me. She blinks.
“What?”
“Rock. At the final round tomorrow, use rock.”
“Eh?? I thought you couldn’t tell me anything?”
“You knowing won’t affect the future. Even if I didn’t tell you, you’d still win anyways.” I grin.
Her eyes pop out. “Uso!” She covers her mouth.
“Believe it, center-sama.” I laugh.
“Me.. as center… Uso.. No way. Honto ni?! Waahhh.. Sugoi!” Awestruck, she leans back staring into space.
After a while, she looks back at me.
“How’s my single??” She asks excitedly.
“Who knows?” I shrug.
“You do! How is it??” She demands.
“Enough surprises for today.” I wink, putting a finger to my lips.
“Mou! Acchan!” She pouts. Kawaii! I don’t see that often. Haha, where Yuko failed, I won. Surprised Mariko and cute Mariko. I giggle.
Yuko drags herself in the room just then, moaning, “I want to see NyanNyan!”
Mariko smirks and tosses her the magazine she was just reading. It has Haruna on the cover.
Yuko squeals in excitement, grasping the magazine as though it’s a life’s treasure.
“She looks so much younger here, but still very beautiful. So perfect. I want to hold her and kiss her.. I miss my NyanNyan, I want to go home… I want to see my girlfriend!” She starts crying at the picture of Haruna in front of her.
“I know, Yuko. I want to see Takamina. You’re not the only who wants to go home.” I say quietly.
“Um, Yuko?” Yuko looks up to Mariko.
“You and Haruna are dating?” She asks hesitantly.
“Un..” she sniffles.
“Oh.. Wow.. I never thought that would ever happen. How long have you two been together?”
“2 years.”
She whistles. “Longer than I expected.”
Yuko smiles, and attempts to lightly punch Mariko’s arm. “It took me a while, but I finally got through to her and got her to take me seriously.”
Mariko nods thoughtfully.
“So then… Acchan, I take it you’re finally with that bakamidget? God knows how much you show your love to her.”
“Don’t get me started. I’m surprised the KojiYuu couple got together before we did. Just watch. There were so many hints. I tried practically everything to get her to realize it, you’ll see. She’s just so dense! No, actually, I’m pretty sure she knew very well, but she was just running away from it. You’ll know in the future anyways, so I guess I’ll tell you. When I asked her why, she said it was because she was scared of me! Me?! How am I scary?! Weren’t we best friends at that time?? Argh! She frustrated me so much. And it was a miracle when she did finally ask me out, though it was completely unexpected. I never knew she could be so romantic..” I drift off into a dreamy state, reminiscing our times together.
Mariko snaps her fingers in front of me, pulling me out of the past. Well not literally, that’d be great though if that could happen. I wouldn’t mind getting out of here, so I could be with Takamina.
“I’m not surprised. Acchan, she had the right be scared of you. You can be very scary when it comes to Takamina.”
“Yeah, ever heard that ‘cuteness causes aggression’? Yuko laughs, her spirits lifting.
“I’m just showing my love.” I defend.
“If you’re together now, then she must have a lot of patience for you.”
“No, she just loves me. She doesn’t mind. I bet she loved the attention I always gave her.”
“Ok, ok, we get it. I have a proposal for you two then.” Marichan offers.
“And..?”
“What is it?”
“My sources tell me that there’ll be a no3b concert event soon. I’ll pay for the tickets and we’ll all go. Disguises provided though, as we can’t have them or the fans recognize us.”
“Really?!”
“I can’t believe it!”
“We can finally go out?!!”
Yuko and I start jumping around, screaming and fangirling over the thought of getting to see Takamina and Haruna, even if it is their past selves. Better than not seeing them at all!
Mariko watches us, amused by our behavior. She likes watching us get excited over this.
“When? When?? WHEN???” We both cry to her, bouncing upon our toes.
“Next month.” Yuko and I immediately deflate.
“You said soon!”
“I didn’t say a year, did I?”
We pay her no heed and walk out of the room to the bedroom we were sharing. We crash on the bed, groaning in torture. It’s going to be a long wait.
“I hope Jurina-chan comes over really soon. The days will fly faster if she’s around.”
I agree.
We roll over, our bodies spread on the wide bed and our arms sprawled out. We stare at the posters we placed earlier on the ceiling of our lovers.
“Minami~”
“Haruna~”
We breathe a long sigh that carries our feeling of them though the air. I stretch out my hand towards the poster. I wish we could reach them.
Mariko stands at the door, leaning against its frame. She smiles and in a moment, turns off the light.
“Good night, you two.”
=======================================================================================================
AN: There will be three parts! Um.. how is it?
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THIS IS BIG EPIC !!!!! :on lol: :on lol: :on lol:
I'm following your T3C, and then this popped up!
Too much hilarious scene to laughed of XD wtheck with Acchan's excuses for snatching Jurina's phone??! Even Jurina is a kiddo but she definitely won't buy those :lol:
And I can clearly imagine that scene when Yuko & Acchan decided to practice some on the script while waiting for Mariko at her apartment, and then Mariko arrived watched the whole scene. Totally hilarious :lol:
I get it, the main characters here is AtsuYuu, but they're not as lovers. AtsuMina & KojiYuu are together, but this isn't their love story.
I love your idea!! Freshen up my mind after messed by Yuko's graduation :farofflook:
Just gonna be three parts, I see.. Well I want more, but it can't be helped since you made it like that already :p guessed I'll just wait for the next others story.. But till then, I'm definitely root for this story!! XD
thankyou oKei-san (is it fine to call you that?) Keep your amazing work! :twothumbs :)
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That spider excuse was lame Acchan, this and the chase were hilarious though :on lol:
And yeah Mariko, why do you have an axe in the first place? X) and a taser? XD poor Juju and her phone, it should be broken with that many aggression~ :lol:
The Father Time is indeed really stupid XD
Yuko's graduation T_T
I like the AtsuYuu buddy combi \o/
I like your fics, I'm looking forward for the next parts! ^^ Thanks!
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... where did she even get the axe?
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So here's part 2! :D
@atsukojiyuu_C - thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoy it :)
@Baekshim - Thanks too! I also like the atsuyuu buddy comb, another reason why i wrote this XD
@AshuraX - when it comes to mariko, you never know. it's always unexpected. best not to wonder and just accept it? cx
Douzo!
=====
A Lifetime Ago Part 2
Acchan’s POV
As expected, Mariko won the Janken Taikai and AKB48’s newest single, Kaze wa Fuiteiru will be releasing soon. Things are going well and today, Mariko’s taking us to the no3b concert! I’m so excited!
We prepared and double checked everything to make sure our small trip would go smoothly. I looked at my schedule today and it looks like past me will be in a photo shoot through the duration of the concert. Past Yuko should be filming for a CM, so we shouldn’t have any problems of them being seen in public. Mariko got our disguises. I thought it’d be like a big hat, a scarf, and sunglasses. Nope. She got us guy clothes and wigs. This brings up memories. If I’m not wrong, in 2011, I was also filming the Hana Kimi remake. Though, I didn’t wear a wig during that time. I only cut my hair shorter.
Mariko is dressed in jeans, a light blouse and maroon cardigan over it. She also wears a hat to match it and some sunglasses. She stands by the door.
“You guys ready?”
“Yeah, I am. We’re just waiting on Yuko.”
“You look charming, Acchan. I picked a fine outfit for you.” She scans me up and down, approving her work.
I look down at myself. I don’t think it’s much. I’m wearing black dress pants, a white collared shirt with a black vest, and a tie. She gave me some nice dress shoes to wear, and tidied my wig a bit to make me look like a gentlemen.
“Ok! I’m ready!” Yuko runs down the hall, sliding to a stop.
“Oh kakoii!” I’m jealous. She looks pretty cool. Yuko wears dark jeans with a chain belt hanging on it. She wears a black t-shirt that has a space design on it, glowing with millions of tiny stars.
“So why do Yuko and I have to dress practically opposite from each other?”
“It’s just a coincidence it turned out this way. Don’t question me. Let’s go.”
We’re finally going out! We jump around excitedly as we exit the door.
“Oi! Stay in character you two. You are men. Remember that.”
We salute Mariko in return. “Hai!”
She rolls her eyes, and we walk into the city.
Maybe we should’ve taken a cab. I feel like we’re attracting more attention than when we were dressed as ourselves.
I lean over to Yuko, “Hey, is it just me or are we getting looks from everyone we pass?”
“Who wouldn’t look at us? I mean, we got Mariko who’s a model and is strutting her way through parting crowds. And then there’s us, trailing right behind her. A fine, sexy ikemen, and a handsome gentleman.”
I laugh. “Really?” She nods with a smug expression.
“I just hope no one recognizes us.” I say.
“You should worry about Mariko. Look at her, she sticks out like a sore thumb.” I agree. Her aura radiates, attracting all eyes. It’s Mariko-sama. She just does it.
“Let’s grab some coffee first.” Mariko says.
“Oh, sure. There’s still time anyway.”
We follow her to a quiet café. I remember going here often before. It’s quite quaint.
As Mariko walks in first, she stops. Turning around, she ushers us away before we can even go in.
“Nevermind, let’s just go ahead to the event.”
“Eh? Why??” We both question.
“Mariko~!” Mariko flinches.
“Too late…” she mumbles. She stands in front of us, blocking us from the girl’s view.
The voice sounds awfully familiar. We try to peek around her.
It’s me.
“Yabai!” Yuko says, pushing me away into an alley beside the café.
“I thought you said you would be in a photoshoot today!”
“I should be! What is she doing here?!”
“Well not at the shoot! When did you say it was??”
“Um…eto…” I think. “Ah! I said I was going to be in a photoshoot during the concert, not before. It’s a bit fuzzy. I don’t remember going to this café today.” I rub my head.
“It had to be this one though?!”
“Don’t blame me! This is in the past!”
We both take a peek around the corner to the entrance. Marichan is talking to past Acchan right now. Please don’t take long, Mariko.
We wait a few minutes, crouching on the floor. We got tired of standing.
Yuko sighs. “Come on, Mariko. You’re going to make two hot guys wait for you??”
“Yuko, we’re not guys.”
“Heh. So you’re not denying that we’re hot?” She smirks. “So annoying though. She’s still making us wait.”
“Who’s making you wait?”
We both get up, Mariko standing in front of us.
“Took you long enough. She didn’t notice us, did she?”
“Not that I know of. But thank Kamisama for her photoshoot. She was telling me that if she didn’t have it today, she would be going to the no3b concert today.”
I vaguely recall mentioning that.
“Yuko, your CM filming is already starting now, right? Do we need to worry about running into you today?”
“No, we’re good. After the filming, I should be heading home. I need rest too, you know.”
“Let’s hope so.”
Mariko hands us each a coffee to go. We thank her gratefully. I thought we wouldn’t have any.
We continue to the event location.
~~~~~
“KYAA!” Fangirls scream around us and men cheer on the small unit as they perform their most recent single, Kuchibiru Furezu.
It hasn’t been announced yet but if the fans knew, I’m sure they would be excited to hear that their next single will also be releasing soon.
Miraculously, no one has noticed us yet. We’re not in the back, or necessarily close to the front of the stage. I’m surprised no has even noticed Mariko’s presence. That makes me happy though, because it means that the fans here are really dedicated to no3b’s and their performance.
This brings back memories. I feel so nostalgic watching their performance. No3b used to be so active, I miss seeing them like this. I haven’t seen a no3b concert in a long time. In my time, I’m glad they’re still together although they don’t release as many singles anymore. I’ll always be support them though, especially Takamina. I almost forgot, she had long hair at this time. So nostalgic, I should get Takamina to grow her hair out later. I miss seeing her cute little bow often.
From my seat, I watch her. As her fan, as her friend, as her girlfriend. She looks really happy being in front of the fans, and being beside her friends. It was one of the best things I loved when I was still in the group too. Performing for the fans, being beside my friends, being beside Takamina. Of course, now I’m beside Takamina everyday…back in my time. I moved in with her sometime a few months ago. She wouldn’t move into my apartment, so I moved into hers. She can’t get away from me that easily.
They reach the second chorus. I listen to the lyrics.
Yubisae furezu If only it is possible to hug you,
Daki aeru nara without holding down your fingers.
Boku wa boku wa boku wa boku wa boku wa Me, myself, myself, myself, and I,
Tsumi wo kaburu had to put on a crime.
We lock eyes for a moment. They’re sparkling. She smiles wider and for a moment I thought she recognized me.
Yubisae furezu… If only it is possible to hug you,
Daki aeru nara without holding down your fingers.
Yume de yume de yume de yume de yume de In my dreams, in my dreams, in my dreams, in my dreams, in my dreams
Kamawanai sa it doesn’t matter.
Itsuka… Someday…
I feel more passion in her voice as she sings that last part in the chorus. I know. It really doesn’t matter. Someday, Takamina. Someday…
As they finish up the song, we realize that the event will be ending soon. I wish I could really meet them, but we have to leave early just in case fans recognize us. We don’t want to ruin their event.
Slipping through the crowd, we make our exit. As we leave the venue, another crowd stops us.
“There’s Mariko-sama!” *screams of fans*
“Yabai! Go back inside!” We all turn around heading back inside the building. Unfortunately, the fans follow us.
“Where’s security when you need them??” Yuko demands as we run through the empty halls.
“In here!” I call as I find an open door. The rest were all locked. “Quickly!” I hurry them inside and close the door before the fans notice.
We listen intently to the sounds through the door as the fans pass. When it’s quiet, we breathe a sigh of relief.
Yuko gasps.
I look at her. “What is it??”
She doesn’t say anything to me. Instead, a huge grin spreads across her face.
“NyanNyan!” She launches herself toward the said girl who was standing across the room, shocked at her unexpected appearance.
Mariko widens her eyes, and starts shaking her head.
“Acchan, this is their dressing room!” she whispers to me furiously.
I groan as Yuko starts rubbing herself against Haruna. Takamina and Miichan watching them shocked too while eyeing Mariko and I.
“Hentai!” Haruna screams and pushes Yuko back. That’s the normal reaction, but Yuko’s dressed as a guy right now. Do they recognize us? Oh no. Please Yuko, don’t!
“Eh?? NyanNyan, I’m no pervert! It’s me, Yuko!” And she did it. Did she completely forget we’re in a whole other time?? Mariko groans this time, going over there to take Yuko away from her.
“Yuko??” Takamina questions.
“Yeah, that’s her. Who else could it be?” Miichan comments.
Haruna squints at Yuko, looking at her up and down.
“Why are you dressed like a guy?”
“What, do you like it?” Yuko poses coolly.
Mariko hits her. “Stop that!” She orders. “You’re giving yourself away!”
“Itai yo!” Yuko complains.
“Mariko-sama? Wait, is that Acchan? Acchan? Eh?! Why are you all here??” Takamina asks looking very confused.
“And that’s our cue to leave.” Mariko takes hold of me and Yuko, dragging us to the door. When she opens it, a big burly security guy blocks our way. Oh now there’s one.
Miichan steps forward and closes the door in front of us. “You can’t just leave without giving us an explanation.”
This is bad…
“We just came to visit. See? Hi. Bye. Ok, let’s go.” She opens the door again, but Miichan closes it once more.
“From what I’ve heard, Acchan and Yuko are busy today. They said they couldn’t make it to our event. We know you have a day off, but I can’t believe you’re spending it here instead of going shopping. So again, why are you all here?” Miichan asks Mariko.
Takamina and Haruna watch us intently. I look at Yuko and she looks like she’s about to say something. I slap my hand over her mouth before she could say anything. Nothing good is going to come out of it, she’s already got us in enough trouble.
I speak instead, “We were lying. We were going to surprise you. It was Mariko’s idea.” Mariko glares at me as I mention her name. Gomen ne! I’m so dead later.
“Moshi moshi. Acchan?” We all look at Takamina as she’s now talking on her phone.
“Where are you now? She asks. “Ah souka. You’re still at the photoshoot.” She eyes me. “Oh, you’re almost done? And yeah, the concert went well. Um…when you’re finished then, can you head over here? Something interesting is happening.” No! Yuko and I widen our eyes. We rush to Takamina to take her phone. This is like déjà vu…
“Hai, mata ne.” She hangs up before we reach her.
“Why’d you have to do that?” I ask as we reach her. Things are getting worse. This just makes things more complicated for us.
Takamina doesn’t respond and instead, she grabs my hair, pulling off my wig. “Whoa.” She says, taking a step back.
“Oi!” I reach to take it back only to fail. She runs away from me over to Miichan and Haruna.
Mariko decides to take a seat and just watch. Why isn’t she helping us?!
Seeing my expression, she answers my thoughts.
“Oh don’t mind me. It’s not my problem.”
“Ehhhhh?!?” Both Yuko and I say.
The three no3b members don’t give any attention to Mariko. They all look at us strangely. They whispers amongst themselves. They turn to us when they’re through.
“Um… Yuko..? Take off your wig.” Haruna says.
“No, instead, you two strip. Now.” Miichan orders.
“Nani kore?!” Yuko yells.
“Just do it. Or we’ll call the police.”
“You’d call the police on your friends?”
“Can’t say you two are…”
“Oooooo burn.” Mariko comments.
She grins as we glare at her. Doesn’t she understand? We need to get out of here before past me shows up!
“Hurry up.” Takamina says. She’s okay with us being forced to strip in front of them?
“Psst. Acchan, I got an idea.” Yuko whispers to me while wiggling her eyebrows.
I raise mine. I start to smile as I listen to her plan. This is so not going to work, but I guess it’s worth a shot.
“Fine, we’ll strip.” Yuko announces before removing her wig. She throws it at Miichan’s face. She then takes off her shirt and her jeans, standing only in her underwear. At that moment, she runs over to Haruna to hug her, but Haruna screams and runs away. Yuko chases her throughout the dressing room much to Haruna’s horror.
Meanwhile, I carefully remove my tie and vest. I start to unbutton the white shirt I was wearing underneath. I shift closer to Takamina who starts looking very uncomfortable. Very close to her, I now remove my shirt very slowly, revealing my bra to her. She keeps her eyes cast downward, away from me, but I can tell she’s glowing a bright pink. I smile widely. I take her arm, hugging it and rest my head on her shoulder.
“Minami~” she shivers as I whisper into her ear. I was about to tell her to call away the security guy, when the door opens.
I stare speechless as I come face to face with my counterpart who looks just as shocked as I am. She looks back and forth from me—who is half naked—to Takamina by my side, who doesn’t have a clue what to do.
The room becomes silent. Yuko stopped chasing Haruna the moment past Acchan came in.
No one moves. I keep my eyes on younger self. Father Time is soooo going to be angry with us.
Mariko gives a low whistle. I eye the camera in her hand, a red light flashing from it. “Ii ne.” She says to our confusion. She sets her camera on the table and stands up.
She coaxes 2011 Acchan into the room, closing the door. The young Acchan can’t keep her eyes off me and Takamina though. Mainly me.
She sits her down at a table and goes to Takamina and I. She pulls me away from Takamina. “Put on your clothes. You don’t have to wear the wig.” She states. “Both of you.” She looks at Yuko. We quickly do as we’re told.
We’re all seated at small rectangular table. Mariko is at the end, no3b’s is sitting on one side, and we’re on the other. A light is being held towards us. This feels like it’s an investigation. I’m reminded of when Jurina found out. And it was bad enough that she found out, now them?? We don’t need to tell them anything. Ugh, I just want to go home!
For 20 minutes, there’s silence and the shuffling of feet. They don’t want to say anything. We don’t want to say anything either. Mariko is just watching seemingly fascinated with the whole thing. What is going through that head of hers? Maybe her brain is getting old..
Past Acchan takes a deep breath. “Okay…since no one is going to talk, let me be the first to ask… Who is she?” she asks indicating to me.
Yuko speaks before anyone can answer. “It’s Kintaro!”
I push her off her chair. She should just shut up.
“It’s obviously not.” Miichan scoffs. “She looks just like Acchan, and even sounds like her too.”
“Mariko, you were with them. Who is she? Or I guess…who are they?” Takamina asks. Why do they question who we are? Why not Mariko?
Don’t tell them! I plead to Mariko with my eyes. She smirks.
The door bursts open.
“I came as soon as I could! Where’s the other me?!”
I bang my head against the table several times. This can’t be happening.
Beside me, Yuko stands up seeing her past self. They both stare at each other in silence.
“The hell?!” Yuko exclaims, breaking the silence. She comes over and shakes me.
“Oi! I really do look like the same as before! Why?! It doesn’t look like I changed at all! No wonder everyone only compliments you! That’s not fair!” She rants.
“And you!” She stomps over to her younger self. Past Yuko tenses as Yuko places a hand on her shoulder. “Why are you excited over me? You should have been groping NyanNyan over there the moment you got here!” Haruna stiffens as her name is mentioned.
Past Yuko pushes her away.
“Who are you to tell me when I touch NyanNyan?? And it’s not groping, it’s skinship!” She protests.
Yuko starts laughing, “I remember always saying that.” Ah yeah, she’s right. Yuko stopped using the word skinship after she and Haruna started dating.
Past Yuko gets angry. I’m sure it’s because she doesn’t understand why Yuko said that or why’s she’s laughing. She grips Yuko’s shirt. “Dare? What’s your name?” She demands.
Yuko stops laughing, becoming serious. Her aura reflects that of her character from Majisuka Gakuen. Past Yuko feels it and tries to return it, but Yuko’s aura is too strong. Past Yuko lets her go and trembles under her fierce gaze. In a shaky voice she asks again, “Who are you?”
Sigh.. I’m done. Do whatever you want Yuko, it doesn’t matter anymore. Whatever happens can just happen.
Yuko smirks. “I’m you.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yuko’s POV
Wahhh! I couldn’t help it! This was such a good chance! Who else gets to meet their younger self? No one! There are so many things I would like to tell myself. I’m sorry Acchan, this is my fault… This whole mess started because I was complaining about NyanNyan. I just wanted to see her... I didn’t mean all this. It just escalated so fast. I didn’t think any of this would happen. I mean, I got to hug NyanNyan and see my younger self! But was it worth it…? Uh duh! Yeah! Sure, Father Time said to refrain from meeting other people including ourselves, but really, who’s going to listen? If you’re told not to do something, of course that just means you have to! To hell with consequences!
“Eh?” I watch my past self’s face expectantly as it turns into disbelief.
I wave my arms as if I were a ghost. “Oooooo we’re from the future ooooooo~~” I reveal.
“EH?” Everyone repeats it.
I hear Acchan sigh painfully. Heheh, gomen~
Everyone looks to Mariko. She glances up at them. “Huh? Oh, yeah. They’re from the future. They’ve been chillin at my place for several weeks now.” She confirms.
All their eyes start bugging out as they try to digest these revelations. I think I’ll go sit by Acchan now.
She flicks my forehead as I sit down. Itai, why do people keep hitting me?
Takamina is the first to recover. Ah, as expected! “I should have known…”
Now it’s mine turn. “Eh?”
“How else would you two be here? Like, I knew something was strange when I first saw that Acchan there in the audience earlier. And I confirmed my theory when I pulled off Acchan’s wig. No, I didn’t think it was time travel, but I knew something was up.”
“How is she here?” I ask about my younger self.
Past Yuko answers, “Mariko texted me.”
“What?!” Acchan screams. “Ok, that’s it! You were the one who said we need to be hidden, that’s why you gave us disguises and whatnot. And you know our story. Why would you call past Yuko here and why aren’t you being much of a help to us?!”
“Ahm, excuse me…” Past me says.
“To me, I’m present Yuko or actually, just Yuko. Could you not refer to me as the past? Do you want me to call you future Acchan or future Yuko?”
“Ah, me too!” Past Acchan says.
“Hm, no… Ok then you can be Yuko. You guys call me Yuuchan, and um, future Acchan as Atsuko. Past Acchan can stay just Acchan. Is this confusing?” I ask.
Everyone shakes their heads. Good. This is already complicated enough.
“Thanks for the interruption.. Now, Mariko explain.” Atsuko orders.
“Hey! Don’t order her! Show some respect to your elders!” Acchan says.
“Well I’m from the future and right now, I’m older than her.” Hah. That’s such a lie. Acchan’s only 23. Mariko’s like 25 in this time.
“Wow, you’re old.” Acchan says to Atsuko. Me and Yuko bust out laughing. Mariko smirks at the comment. Haruna and Miichan try to hold in their laughter.
Haruna decides to give her two cents in, “That makes Yuuchan a lot older than Atsuko then, right? Wow, Yuko you know, you age well.” Haruna says to the both of us.
“Thanks…I think.” We both say at the say time. We look to each other and laugh.
“So you’re really me from the future?”
“Un!”
“Then how come nothing is happening from us seeing each other? You know, like the fabric of space and time unraveling or something because two of the same person see each other.”
“Do you want that to happen?”
“N-no! I was just saying. Is it okay?”
“I think it’s okay. That’s why I don’t mind Acchan seeing Atsuko or Yuko coming to see you.” Mariko says, overhearing.
“From what I’ve heard, I’m sure you and Atsuko are the first time travelers, so you can’t be for sure that something would happen. Maybe Father Time actually doesn’t know what would happen if you saw yourselves, so it’s only in theory. That’s probably why he didn’t want you to meet yourself. He didn’t know what would happen.” Mariko says.
She continues, “At first, I didn’t want you two to meet your selves, but since we got caught up in situations, I thought let’s just see what happens. I’m just going with the flow here. And I texted Yuko to come here, because it’s not fair if only Acchan got to see Atsuko and Yuko couldn’t do the same.” She explains, chuckling.
“This is why Mariko-sama’s the best!” Yuko says, hugging Mariko. She looks over at NyanNyan. “But don’t worry, NyanNyan is the best of the best!” She grins as NyanNyan rolls her eyes. I give a sad smile. Even if that’s NyanNyan, she’s not exactly the same one I know. I miss her…
Yuko recognizes my smile. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Iie, it’s nothing.”
“You can tell me. If you’re me, then it shouldn’t really matter.”
I smile slightly. That’s true.. “As much as I like seeing NyanNyan here, I miss my NyanNyan.” I smile wryly.
She nods understanding, and she takes me to a corner of the room away from the others as they talk to Atsuko about things.
“I’ve wanted to ask you something since you said you were from the future.” She says seriously.
I say nothing, patiently waiting for her to ask. I don’t see no problem with it. Although, it is kind of weird how I’m like, talking to myself.
“Um… About NyanNyan…” She trails off, scratching her head. I watch her, amused.
“If you’re really me, then… you understand how I feel about her right? No one else understands how frustrated I am or how painful it is when she rejects my hugs or ignores me.. You know that I’m not playing around…I’m just expressing myself for how I feel about her.” I nod as I listen, thinking carefully how I should respond.
“I don’t know your relationship with her in the future, and I don’t want to know anything about it. I just want to ask…if you can give me advice on what I can do to make her listen to me.” Wait. I’ve heard this before. No, have I said this before?
I look her in the eye, giving her an encouraging smile. “Don’t worry. Just keep trying. You have to give it all you’ve got. Remember what Takamina said at the election?”
“Effort will always be rewarded.” She responds, smiling.
“Yeah, just always keep that in mind.” I pat her head, chuckling as she pouts because she’s the same height as me.
Her expression changes as she thinks of something.
“What?” I ask.
She leans over to me to whisper something. I grin.
“Let’s do it.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Atsuko’s POV
“What are you going to do now?” Acchan asks me.
“Honestly, I don’t know. After all this today, I want to go to Marichan’s place and just sleep.”
“You both are still going to be here during Christmas, right?”
September, October, November, December… oh yeah… spending Christmas over here huh?
“I guess, and also through New Years.” It’s going to be 2012… She should be thinking about graduation. She must feel it… Dang, that was such a tough time. I guess it’s good that we won’t be here to see the announcement. It would be like reliving those feelings. But Acchan, no one knows yet that she’s thinking about it seriously.
I take her hands in mine, getting her attention. “Ganbare.”
“Huh?”
I let go, putting on a bright smile. I grin at her, “Hey, your midget is getting lonely.” I indicate to the small girl who was sitting by herself now at the table, lost in thought. Mariko, Haruna, and Miichan were talking to the two Yukos about who knows what.
Acchan blushes, “S-she’s not mine!” I giggle, holding myself back from teasing her further. She’s got a long way to go.
I cease my giggling as she demands an answer from me, “I know you’re me and all, but what were you doing with Takamina when I came in??”
“Oh that was nothing.” If she knew what else I did with Takamina back in 2015…Hah.
“Eh? What do you mean??”
“They wouldn’t let us out of the dressing room, so I was just trying to persuade Takamina to let us go. It’s nothing really. Don’t worry about it.” I wasn’t trying to make a move on her or anything. Well, maybe just a little. It was fun though.
“Sure…” She mumbles.
“Go! Go! Go!” Eh?!
At once, a squirrel hops onto our backs. Yuko’s on mine, and Yuuchan’s on Acchan’s. They clutch onto our necks, grinning at each other. Acchan and I look at each other, somewhat irritated by their rowdiness.
“Get off us!”
“Nooo! Onward! Hayaku!” Yuko yells, pointing to the door.
“What? Why??” Acchan asks, struggling to get Yuuchan off her. I know what she’s feeling. If anything, I’d rather be the one being carried.
“Karaoke! We’re going karaoke!” Yuko screams over my head.
“Ikou!” They both say.
“Now??” I say. I turn around to find the others getting their purses to go. Mariko looks at me blankly.
“We don’t have all day.” She says, walking passed us.
“The place is nearby anyways, if you don’t want to be seen, then hurry up!” Yuko taps on my head like it’s a drum.
“Geez, I’m going!” We follow after the group as they all went ahead.
~~~~~
“Mou!” She would not just get off my back! People were looking at us the entire way here! I’m sure they noticed something strange. Yuko slipped a mask on me while she was enjoying herself on my back. It was hard to see through it! I could’ve tripped, or worse, Yuko could’ve fallen. Wait that might’ve not been so bad.
It would be her fault anyways.
“Daijoubu! We made it!” Yuko exclaims, hopping off my back. We’re now in a large karaoke room. Takamina and Mariko are scrolling intently through the songs list on screen. Noticing the songs book on the table, I pick it up to look through instead. Might as well sing while we’re here. I need to stop stressing myself.
Hmm… Some of the songs I want to sing haven’t been released yet. I can’t sing my new singles or try to perform Omoide no Hotondo with Takamina. Dang. Oh!
Here we go~ I always loved this song.
I punch in the code behind several others. I have to wait through a few songs before I can sing.
Takamina decides to go up first. She has the mic in hand, but as she’s about to sing, Yuko and Yuuchan bump her out of the way and take the mic. Yuko grabs another mic, and they skip her song much to Takamina’s disappointment.
“Let’s start this out right!” They both scream. The music plays to the popular tune of Heavy Rotation.
“1! 2! 3! 4!” They scream and begin singing at the top of their lungs. Or well they try their best with singing. They start dancing to it side by side and even do the little solo dance. Or now, duo. We grin, watching the two. It’s cute. Though we don’t dance with them, we all end up singing along, enjoying ourselves.
As time goes by, everyone gets their chance. Takamina eventually got to sing the song she wanted, though after Mariko, Haruna, Miichan, and Acchan. She heaved a loud sigh every time someone besides her took the mic, but she always had a smile. Sometimes, I think she’s a masochist, but that’s just me.
It was finally my turn. I pick up both microphones, handing one to Acchan. I smile, “Sing with me.”
“What song?”
“You’ll know.”
It begins to play. She widens her eyes, and returns our bright smile.
We sing together our first single, Flower.
~~~~~
“Ah, that was fun~” Acchan says. I nod, taking a seat. We take a break, eating some snacks in the room.
“Are you going to sing more later?” Acchan asks.
“Of course.”
“Can you sing one of your songs from the future?” She asks hopefully.
I blink my eyes. “No, why?”
“I just wanted to hear.”
“You’ll find out anyways.” What’s with people always wanting to find out what happens in the future. They should be focusing on their present. They all won’t be together in AKB forever.
She pouts and I poke her cheek, because she looked cute. Calling myself cute, wow, don’t I feel conceited.
I look across the room to Miichan who was stuffing her face with chips and dip. Haha, not very idol like. That reminds me… I wanted to ask her something, but I didn’t get the chance.
“Hey Miichan.” I call.
“Yeah?” She looks up at me momentarily before looking back at the food.
“Back in the dressing room, why did you make us strip?”
She swallows her food before answering me, “Just wanted to make sure you two were really girls, and that you were Acchan and Yuko. Very similar, though there are just some slight differences since you two are older.”
I nod thoughtfully.
“Atsuko!” Yuuchan calls. “When we’re through here, I’m going to stay with Yuko for tonight, all right?”
“W-wait, what?! Why?”
“Secret~” she winks.
I’d argue, but I don’t feel like it. “Hai hai, go have fun.”
“Why don’t you see if you can stay with Acchan? You know, quality time reminiscing with your past, literally.” She chuckles.
I don’t think so.
“I don’t mind it.” Acchan says.
“Well I do. I’m sorry, but I can’t. It can’t be just me. You must be already overwhelmed from everything that’s happened today. I know my own schedule. There’s too much you already have going on. I don’t need to add on to it. I can see we both need a break.” She gives me a relieved smile. Right on the bulls-eye aye?
“Thanks.”
“It’s my pleasure, really. We’ll be here for a while so there’s always some other time anyways.”
She smiles in response.
“Oi! You two! Look what we’ve got!” Yuko calls out. We both look over to find Yuko holding a bottle of alcohol. Yuuchan is beside her and they’re both grinning like idiots. Why am I not surprised.
Acchan and I shake our heads. “You two go ahead. Someone’s going to have to keep an eye on you two.”
Their smiles grow wider as they take a step closer to us.
“It’s not for us.” Yuko says.
“It’s for the midget.” Yuuchan finishes.
“But shhhh, don’t tell her.” They say.
Our eyes widen, “What? Why?!” We both demand. We both fear what they have planned for her.
“Relax, we just want to see how she is when’s she’s drunk. No one knows, right? Because Takamina doesn’t really drink.”
Wrong. I know. They do not want to see her drunk. I couldn’t handle seeing her for a while after the first time I saw her like that. I just couldn’t. It was too much.
Acchan and I exchange knowing looks that both Yuko and Yuuchan luckily fail to notice.
“I don’t think you should do that.” Acchan says.
“Yeah, just enjoy it for yourselves.”
“But don’t you want to know? It’ll be fun!”
Before we can stop them, Yuko distracts Takamina by tapping her shoulder to look her way while Yuuchan switches her drink. She gives signal to Yuko who quickly leaves Takamina. She shrugs and picks up her drink. No! I rush to her, grabbing it from her before gulping it down quickly. The two Oshimas frown at me, and Takamina looks at me confused. I smile to ease her, like it was nothing.
I take a seat to gain some focus. I can’t let the alcohol affect me. I’m not too good with it, and I don’t have time to get drunk. I look over to Yuko who’s now offering Takamina a new drink since I took hers. Dang, doesn’t that girl know when to stop? I look to Acchan for help and gesture to the small girl. She nods and heads over there but instead of just taking away the dumb drink, she trips and falls not only spilling the drink out of Takamina’s hand, but also falling on top of her.
I slap my forehead seeing their position. They don’t move, but stare at each other. I roll my eyes at such a scene. While Acchan stares at Takamina, Takamina realizes their close proximity and blushes heavily.
“A-ano… C-can you get off of me?” She stutters, looking away from her.
“Ah! Gomen!” Acchan says hastily, quickly getting up.
For a moment they glance into each other’s eyes, only to look away as they remember what happened. They’re both blushing a deep shade of red.
My phone buzzes inside my pocket. Taking it out, I see that Mariko texted me. I look up and raise an eyebrow in her direction. She doesn’t take notice of me, intently staring at her phone probably waiting for my reply.
I open the message. Upon reading it, I immediately delete it. She had sent me a photo of atsumina a moment ago with a caption under it telling me this is how we look to others. That even if we weren’t a couple, I was practically all over Takamina.
I shake my head, frowning at Mariko. She smiles and waves her hand at me innocently.
It’s not bad… I know I was kind of obvious about loving Takamina back then, but that’s only because that midget was oblivious to my feelings! You know how hard it is to get another girl to notice you? It’s like impossible to flirt with her too because she didn’t like girls that way. No, I wasn’t calling her cute because she looked cute; I was trying to drop a hint that I liked her! Such difficult times.
~~~~~
After several hours of singing and playing around, we finally decide to end it for the night. We promised to meet up again sometime soon, since it was fun. I’m actually kind of glad that they found out about us. We won’t have to be bored for the next 4 months or so. I might have to thank Yuko later.
Mariko and I arrive back at her place.
“I hope Yuuchan will be all right.” I say.
Marichan smiles. “Even if she loves to play around, she’s responsible, so it’ll be fine. Although, I do worry how it’ll be with just the two of them. I mean, one Yuko was enough. I don’t know what they’ll be doing tonight.”
“Well I don’t want to think about it. Finding out will probably give me another headache. I’m going to go to bed now.”
“Okay, oyasumi.”
“Oyasumi.” I pause at my door. “Hey Mariko.”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for letting us stay here. Thanks for everything.”
She chuckles. “You don’t have to thank me. I’d be glad to do this anytime.”
“Any time?” I laugh.
She winks. “Any time.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yuuchan’s POV
Kamisama, last night was so much fun. It felt so relaxing to be back at my apartment for once. Yuko and I stayed up almost all night. We played around, had our own fashion show, played video games, and talked a lot. We shared tons of stories, though I made it so I wouldn’t reveal anything from the future. Everything is so nostalgic. So much has happened. It feels like it was a whole other lifetime ago.
After we hit the sack, I dreamed we were back in our time, but this time, Yuko and Acchan came to the future. It was like everything reversed. It was funny seeing their faces take on revelations to all the graduations and all the accomplishments of AKB and the members. Especially how their acting careers fared in that time. We were soaring and they found that amazing, that they could hardly believe that it would be their future. I was about to see their reactions to how real the atsumina and kojiyuu couple were, and I felt my lips tug up in a smile as I slept.
*RING* *RING* *RING*
The pictures slowly become vague and I reach out to grab it back to watch, but as the noise becomes increasingly bothersome, I’m pulled away back to reality.
I roll around in bed. “Ergggghhnnn.” I groan and pick up a pillow, lazily slapping it onto Yuuchan beside me.
“Get the phone.” I mumble out, opening one eye to see.
She groans in return and slowly sits up, rubbing her eyes. She looks at me and picks up her pillow. She fluffs it out some before hitting me with it. “Ahhh, give me my phone.” I call out. I sit up and stretch, letting out a yawn and ruffling my hair.
She hands me my phone. “It’s Mariko.”
I look at the clock. Ehhhh. “It’s 8 and an off day. What now?” She shrugs.
I hold the phone to my ear. “It’s me.” I say, groggily.
“Atsuko’s disappeared.”
“Eh?”
===================
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Here's the last part! Thanks for reading! :D
Douzo!
=====
A Lifetime Ago Final Part
Yuuchan’s POV
Kamisama, where did she go?! She’s safe right? Atsuko’s not the type who would just disappear without a moment’s notice. At least she knows how to take care of herself, but still. Mariko said when she woke up, she was gone. I told her that maybe she just went to the convenience store or out for a walk, but it did little to ease her. I told Yuko to stay at the house, while I went out to look for her. I didn’t want anyone to question seeing Oshima Yuko at two places at once. I look everywhere I could; the café, Shibuya, and even the theater though I had to sneak around. I ran practically all over, but I couldn’t find her. Mariko-sama wasn’t having much luck either. It had been 3 hours since we found out she was gone.
After meeting up at the train station, we head back to Mariko’s place. The door was already open. We enter cautiously, and come into the living room to find Atsuko on the couch, eating out of a tub of ice cream.
“Where the hell were you?!” I scream at her. She continues eating her ice cream.
Mariko breathes out a sigh of relief since she was safe. She leaves for a moment, soon returning with a spoon in her hand. She sits with Atsuko on the couch, and eats with her. After swallowing her first spoonful, she points to her with her spoon.
“So? Answers, where were you? You couldn’t leave a note?”
“I didn’t?” she asks.
“No.”
“Oh. Well, I was just at the park talking with Father Time.”
“I searched for you there! I didn’t see you or him!” I cry.
“That’s because he slipped us somewhere between time and space. We were still practically there though.” She pauses. “How long was I gone?”
“Um…I don’t know, 3 hours give or take? It was quite a while.” Mariko says.
“Huh… It didn’t feel that way. I thought it was only a couple minutes.”
“What did he say to you?” I ask.
“Well first, he scolded me since we revealed ourselves.”
“I figured. He wasn’t too angry was he?”
“No, because he understood why it happened anyways.”
I nod. “Did he say anything else?”
“Do you want the good news or the bad news first?”
“What?”
“Good news or bad news?”
“Eto.. Good?”
“He said that a portal will open on new year’s eve at midnight, so we can leave then. We just have to be at a certain shrine by that time.”
“Ohhhh, that’s great!”
“So what’s the bad news then?” Mariko questions.
“Well, we’ll be making a stop in the middle of our travel, so we’ll be dropped off before we get back to our time. We have to go to a certain place and hop on the time stream there before it disappears, otherwise we’ll be stuck there forever or at least until we catch up to our time. I don’t quite understand how it works.” She explains.
“It’s not that bad. We just have to get there in time, right?” I grin, winking at them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Atsuko’s POV
It’s October 17. The previous night, we celebrated both Yuko and Yuuchan’s birthday. I don’t even know if we should consider that Yuuchan aged since in a way it’s not really her birthday. Haruna, Miichan, Takamina, Acchan, and Jurina all came. It was a small party, but what could we do? Anyways, the AKB members would be holding a party for Yuko sometime this week. We all gave presents for Yuko and gave nothing to Yuuchan who was disappointed. Haruna decided to give Yuuchan a hug to make up for it which delighted her, but also irritated Yuko.
As time passed, the days seemed to grow shorter. Yuuchan and I bonded a lot, going out several times when we could. We talked about various things that we haven’t been able to since our AKB days. It was always about work and the like, so it was really nice to get to know her more personally.
Since we met, we’ve been rivals almost all this time. For once, it’s nice to think that we’re not. I like that here, in this time where we don’t have to worry much, we can really be ourselves. Though I’ve said we're rivals, I also contradict myself. I don’t really think of Yuuchan as a rival. Hm… it’s funny to say this, but to me, Yuuchan and I are soul mates. Not romantically, since we know where our hearts are, but in my opinion I think there are certain people we will meet in our life who we just connect with more than anyone else and we just know it isn’t a typical thing and end up understanding each other perfectly. It doesn’t mean they’ll always be ‘your significant other.’ For me, that person is Yuuchan.
Maybe in another life, I’d be with her. Then again, I don’t think I would be able to handle her as Haruna does.
~~~~~~
Once again, it is the anniversary of AKB48. In 2015, I’m looking forward to when the group reaches their 10th year mark. Takamina has yet to announce her graduation. Will she do it then?
Yuuchan and I spent that night quietly, silently appreciating the groups’ efforts on tv as they perform at the theater on this special day.
“You ever wonder how long the group will be together..?” Yuuchan asks me.
I look over to her. “I don’t like to think about it. I’d like to think that I want Takamina to be in it forever though. I used to think she would be, but I know she has her dreams.”
“Hmmm… I didn’t ask about that midget.”
I shrug. “What do you think?”
She’s quiet for a moment. “As long as they can.” She finally says. “AKB48 is unlike any other. It’s just that the day that AKB48 itself graduates is the day that the world will lose something precious, because I believe there are many things one can learn from it.”
~~~~~~
After celebrating Christmas with the other members, Marichan and the others came over to celebrate with us. They didn’t want us to be lonely this Christmas eve. I’m sure that they just wanted to have an after party.
A few days later, AKB48 won the Japan Record Award for the first time. It was a precious moment for the group. All their hard work had really paid off, since they were recognized. It was a proud moment. Yuuchan and I enjoyed watching as they accepted the award as well as performed their winning single.
It was weird. For these past few months, we’ve relived several events and have seen things from a different perspective. It makes me rethink all the things I’ve done, all the moments that were shared in the group. It’s really something I can’t forget. I don’t want to forget these times. Even if it’s in the past, it’s something to be treasured. Our time here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yuuchan’s POV
I can’t really say that I’m tired of living in the past. I’ve missed this. Everyone.
Today is the day of New Year’s Eve. We’ll be leaving tonight. It’s still early in the morning. Mariko and everyone else are busy today so we’re on our own. I don’t think she’ll be back until way late tonight. I don’t know if she’ll be back for our departure.
Since there’s not much to do, Atsuko plans on sleeping the day away. I enter our room to let her know that I’ll be going out, but when I see her face I can’t bring myself to disturb her. Kawaii! Her sleeping face is just too adorable, Takamina would love this. I take out my phone and snap a picture. I’ll send this to her when we get back home.
I scribble a note real quick just in case she wakes up later. Careful not to make a noise, I slip out of the apartment. The wind whips at my face. Brrrr, too cold! I pull down my hat to keep my head warm. At least the sun is out. It’ll help against this cold. I chose a perfect day to go out huh. I have to go out today. Last chance.
~~~~~
I arrive at the theater and look up at the sign. It’s been a while. Since everyone is busy, no one is here for the moment. I don’t plan on staying long though. As I go inside, I take out the camera I brought and snap a selfie here and there. It’s just for memory’s sake. I glance at the pillars on either side of the theater. Six tapes. Six years huh? I take another pic, the tapes just behind me.
I sit on the edge of the stage, dim lights shining down on it. I look through the photos in my camera. Well, it’s not mine, it’s actually Mariko’s, but she said I can keep it. There’s quite a lot. We took so many with everyone. It’s weird seeing two of myself in a lot of these pictures. Same with Atsuko’s. I smile as I scroll through them all. This isn’t a dream, is it? It’s real, I’m sure. This is proof. I’ll always remember this. This was our fun adventure.
I breathe a sigh, glancing around. I get up and head to the practice room. "Natsukashii," I mumble as I flip on the light to the room. It’s still the same. Of course, it’s always the same. I pick up a pen lying on a table. Lightly tapping it on my chin, I walk up to another pillar. The one that everyone writes on, it’s like our own twitter I guess? I lean in and write the date. So what should I write now? I scratch my head. Hm… A message for the future maybe. If I see it there, I’ll know for sure this happened.
I scribble a short note, and take a step back. I nod and smile, feeling satisfied. I wonder if anyone will understand it. I chuckle softly to myself, and take one last look around the room before I leave.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Atsuko’s POV
This is it. Mariko isn’t back yet as we’ve already guessed would happen. We gather a few of our things before we leave. It’s an hour until midnight. I guess we can’t tell her goodbye. We left a few letters on her table, ones written for her, Acchan, and Yuko. We also left small encouraging notes for the others. Just short messages.
In the letters, we write to Mariko that it’s really not goodbye. She’ll technically have us right beside her. It was fun while it had lasted, we thank her for everything she’s done for us, and also write for her to hold on to our clothes for us. Yuuchan and I would very much like them in the future.
I write advice to Acchan to follow what she thinks is right no matter what it is. No one should stop her from reaching her dreams. To Yuko, we write to have courage and be strong in the years to come. Yuuchan nods several times as she writes it, because she knows. We remind the two aces to keep being themselves and know that they are not alone. They have an entire group behind their backs. Not as a responsibility, but as a family. We also note for them not to be surprised if they end up ever seeing themselves again.
Confirming everything is done, we head to the meeting place with Father Time. We meet at the bottom of a hill with many steps lined up it. The shrine will be up there and all we will have to do is walk through it at midnight. I don’t understand how it’s going to work, but we’ll do what he says if it’ll get us back home.
“A brief warning, once you pass through the portal, I will no longer be able to guide you. This will be the last time you will see me.” Father Time says. I don’t want to see him again anyways. He always wacked me every time we met. He’s such a meanie.
*wack*
“I’m sorry!” I cry.
“Come again? I thought you might want something to remember me by.” He frowns.
“Like a bruise, yeah, thanks a lot.” I grumble.
“Can we take a picture with you?” Yuuchan asks hopefully.
“What am I, a tourist attraction?”
“No, but you can be our friend.” Yuuchan smiles. Psh, Yuuchan. You can be friends with him, but I won’t.
*wack*
“Am I such a bad person?” He asks me.
“Well you haven’t been that nice either.” I retort.
He looks down on me, so I look away rubbing by head again.
He smiles wryly. “If you don’t think so fondly of me, why don’t I just erase your memories of you being here in this time?”
“No! Hontou ni, gomenasai! I admit, I may be at fault. I do want to be your friend, but it’s kind of hard thinking like that since you’re like, Father Time. It’s hard to believe…”
He thinks for a moment. “I see. Fine, both of you can take a picture with me. Know this though. Anyone who sees the picture will not see me in it, and will only see the two of you.”
“That’s okay.” Yuuchan smiles.
“Atsuko, so you’re fine with taking a photo?” She asks me.
“Yeah, I guess.”
We gather up, and take the picture.
“Hold on, one more.” Father Time requests, taking out something.
“What is that?” We ask him.
“You don’t know? Hm, I thought you would. This is a camera, of course.”
“Eh??”
“Yes, after we take the picture, a photo will come out immediately so I won’t have need to print it.” He explains.
“Why do you have such an old-fashioned thing?”
“Hm? It’s an antique. And if you hadn't noticed, it’s sometimes the old things that last a bit longer.”
Skeptically, we take another picture together but with his camera.
He then takes out a marker. He hands both the photo and marker to me.
“Please sign this.” He bows slightly. I widen my eyes. Eh?
“Actually, I’m a fan of you. Not only when you were an actress, but through your acting career too. You are very admirable, though you do have your quirks.” He admits.
“Wah! Sugoi!” Yuuchan says.
I smile appreciatively. Who would have thought? Maybe that’s why he was mean to me sometimes. I guess it was his way of showing he cared, or lack of showing it.
I take the photo and sign it, also writing my thanks on it.
“Arigatou.” I say sincerely, handing it back to him.
His eyes twinkle. “No, thank you.”
“I had a bit of fun since you and Yuko ate those cookies. It’s quite boring when all I do is watch as time passes. It’s nice to have something to do once in a while. It’s been… interesting.” He says, for once smiling.
“Okay, enough of this. Repeat to me what you two are supposed to do.” He says.
“Go through the shrine at midnight. Travel through time until we’re dropped off somewhere midway.” Yuuchan states.
“Find the park with a payphone. We’ll know it’s the right one if it’s ringing when we get there. Answer it, before it stops and we’ll be streamed home.” I finish.
“Oh, and if we miss the call, we’ll be trapped in that time until it catches up with 2015. I do not plan on repeating a few years.” Yuuchan add.
“Good. Hurry on up then. It’s almost time.” He ushers us up the stairs.
Waving goodbye, Yuuchan and I head on up there. I check my phone for the time. Just a few more minutes. It’s almost new year’s.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yuuchan’s POV
Oh! I almost forgot! I take out my phone and send a quick message to Yuko.
To: Yuko
From: Yuuchan
Ittekimasu~!
Sent!
I also send her a picture of Haruna in 2015. It’s a souvenir I guess, so she can have something to look forward to heheh.
I close my phone. “We good to go?” I look at Atsuko.
She nods. Taking one last look at our surroundings, we silently say goodbye and vanish. I open my eyes to find myself flying. Atsuko is beside me grinning. It looks like we’re fully conscious this time.
“This is so cool!” She yells.
I smile in agreement. Streams of bright blue light zoom past us. Unfortunately, just as soon as it started, it ended.
“Aw dang. I want to go back in there.” Atsuko says.
“Maybe it’ll be the same when we go back through the other stream.”
“Yeah?” Atsuko looks around. “When are we?”
“Um… I don’t know. Let’s just find the payphone. Where should we look?”
“I think I saw one at the park I was at when I met with Father Time a few months ago.”
“What? That’s like, on the other side of town!”
“We better hurry.”
~~~~~
It’s late afternoon and the sun is starting to set. We just arrived at the park. We look around for the payphone and spot it down a path. It’s not ringing.
“Are we too late?” I ask, feeling dread.
The phone rings.
“No! We made it! Come on!” Atsuko runs ahead. I follow after her.
This park seems vaguely familiar. I look around. My eyes widen.
By a nearby fountain, I see two people. The short one is on the verge of tears, trying to be serious. The tall one trying to comprehend her.
This… this is the moment I confessed to Haruna. The day she finally accepted me.
I slow down to a stop to watch the two. I gaze at them in wonder and smile. I capture their silhouette on my phone. I watch excitedly, waiting for the moment we kiss. It had been just a dream from the time I met her and it was about to come into reality.
I’m suddenly pulled away by Atsuko, towards the dumb payphone. Nooo!
“Hanase! I have to watch!” I struggle under her tight grip on my wrist.
“We have to go now!”
I groan and run reluctantly with Atsuko down the path. I look back constantly to see the forming kojiyuu couple. My eyes expand with excitement as I finally see them lean in to kiss.
At the moment their lips are about to make contact, Atsuko answers the phone. We’re now traveling through time again.
“NOOOOOO!! Atsuko, do you know what you just did?!”
“I saved us from getting stuck there!”
“Yes, and I thank you for that, but couldn’t you wait just a few seconds longer?! I was about to see the best part!”
She rolls her eyes. “And if you did, we would have missed the call for sure.”
“Wahhhh~” I let out a deep sigh, waiting for this ride to end. I’ll just kiss NyanNyan when we get home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Atsuko’s POV
I blink. Slowly getting up, I find that I’m in my room. I jump out of my bed and search around the house calling for Yuko. So she’s not here… I get dressed quick and grab my bag heading out the door.
I head straight to Yuko’s apartment and knock on the door. She opens the door, surprised to see me. She’s dressed too and it looks like she was just about to head out. Probably to my place.
“It wasn’t a dream, was it?” She whispers.
I shake my head and she lets me inside.
Yuko heads to her living room so I follow her. She rummages through her bag, and comes up with a camera. She powers it on and as she scrolls through the photos, I notice her cover a hand over her mouth. She looks up at me and silently hands me the camera.
Holding it in my hands, I look through them. I smile. It’s true.
“Uso.” Yuko says smiling as she ruffles her hair around.
“That was so unbelievable.” She says.
“It looks like nothing changed here.” I say. We didn’t have anything to worry about after all.
She looks at the time. “Yabai! We were supposed to be at the set an hour ago!”
I laugh as we start running for it. “I totally forgot!” I tell her.
~~~~~
Looks like all that practice paid off. The director was upset we were late, and we had to apologize to him and all the other actors and staffs. We were able to make up for the lost time by performing our scenes perfectly without any difficulties or the need for retakes. The director commended us for our skills, noting how we have bright futures as actresses. It wouldn’t have turned out like this had we not gone on our adventure. I wonder…
After work, Yuko and I stop by the bakery that started everything. We look for the owner, but find that there was a new one. It seems that he wasn’t there anymore. He did say we wouldn’t see him again, so I guess it was to be expected.
A few days later, Yuko came over to my house for a movie day. When I opened the door for her, she immediately gave me a book.
“What’s this?”
“Something I’ve been working on. Open it.” She says excitedly.
“Hold up.” We walk into my living room and sit on the couch.
I open it to find several pictures of our time in the past, inside. Descriptions, labels, and small doodles are all over it. It’s like a scrapbook. I laugh reminiscing through each moment. It was fun. The last photo was of us with Father Time. I closed the book and set it on the table.
“What are you going to do with this?”
“Oh, this is for you. I made my own back home.” She grins.
“Figures.”
After talking some more about things, we start watching a movie.
~~~~~
A few hours later, Yuko and I are still watching a movie and we’re an hour in.
The doorbell rings.
“Pause it.” I tell Yuko before getting up to get the door.
I open it and take a step back in surprise.
Mariko takes that as a sign that she can come in. She trails behind her a small wagon filled with boxes.
“What’s in there?” I ask, as she takes them into the living room.
“Mariko!” Yuko stands up upon seeing her. She looks at me and I shrug. I don’t know what’s going on either.
“These.” She indicates to all the boxes. “Are both of your clothes. I don’t know, I just remembered I had them and guessed. Did you two have fun?”
We smile and nod, understanding what she was implying.
She walks up to Yuko and hands her a piece of paper. “This is the bill for all the clothes I bought for you two.”
Yuko’s eyes pops out before she regains composure. I take the bill from her and react the same as Yuko. Seeing all the zeroes make me feel dizzy all of a sudden.
Yuko slings her arm onto Mariko’s shoulder. “You know…. How about you just let this slip by? This is in the past anyways. It was a long time ago.”
Mariko smirks, looking at Yuko like ‘Really?’
I sigh and get out my checkbook.
“Oi! Acchan! You’re not really paying her are you??”
“Yuko… really. Sometimes, we can’t get away from our past.”
====================
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i really enjoyed this story! much interesting, so much fun to read XD
great job, author-san~! :twothumbs
now waiting for your next story and continuation for your other ongoing story :P
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'Twas enjoyable while it lasted. A good read since it's a pure comedy. You should have made more comedic moments though. I look forward to your future works, though I'll be honest and confess that I would only read Atsuko-related fiction.
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ALA Replies:
@atsukojiyuu_C - thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it :D
@AshuraX - yeah, i understand. I don't mind it. Thanks for reading though :) &I sometimes find it hard to write comedy... It was a miracle i was able to write it haha
~
My first oneshot! It might be a bit serious, but I had fun writing this too :)
Douzo!
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Two Lives OS
Takamina’s POV
I love her, I really do. She’s my best friend, the one who’s always been by my side, my lifetime partner, my comrade, the one who I can share anything to…my dear twin sister, Oshima Yuko. We don’t really look much alike, but our bond is unbreakable. Our personalities may differ, but we get along alright. She’s so narcissistic, but she always puts me first. We depend on each other so much, its hard being away from one other too long. We miss each other even if we know we’ll see the other again soon. We’re always together so many times, people think we have no friends. That’s not true. We have our childhood friend. Though it just may be one, it’s always good to have at least one close friend in life. That’s all we need.
I’m scared for the day we will have to part. It’s inevitable. The bond will always be there though. She’s precious to me. I don’t want to lose her to anyone. But, I know I can’t hold her back forever.
At times, we can’t stand each other. We have our fights, but they never last long as we always want to talk to the other about something else. We’re just like other siblings, just maybe closer than others. We don’t keep secrets from each other, though I might be keeping one from her actually.
I have an inferiority complex to her. She doesn’t understand me as well as she thinks, but I know I can understand her. She says she wishes she could be like me sometimes. Once, she told me that she actually has an inferiority complex to me. I understand where she’s coming from. Since we were little, people preferred me over her. I never noticed it until she told me one night. So since we were small, she’s always strived to do better than me to overcome that. But, she really doesn’t know how bad it is for me.
Since we were little, she’s been better than me at everything, right? Everything. And I’ve tried so hard to beat her in like anything at all. Just anything. It happens rarely that I do. She’s amazing at everything. She excels in anything she tries. I’m not like that. I’m bad at communication, I leave the wrong impressions when it wasn’t even my intention. I’m misunderstood easily. I was slightly bullied in middle school. It was a joke, sure, but the words hit right at home. We’re compared often. I’m labeled as ‘mean’ and she’s labeled as ‘nice.’ Why would people do that? They don’t know how terrible it is to do that to twins, how much it can affect us. Especially me. And still now, it hurts. I was affected. I’ve becomes so sensitive to insults. I can hardly take the smallest insult. Really. If I wasn’t even in the wrong, it hurts even more. I don’t let it get to me in public. I hide my feelings when inside, I’m dying. I’ll hold it for as long as I have to. Sometimes, I cry to myself at night and Yuko never knows. In the dark, silently, I’m hurting. I hate it. I can’t do anything right, though she says otherwise. I doubt. I try so hard to do something good, to beat Yuko in anything. But I can’t. I’m not good enough. I’m not good enough… I’ll never beat her. She’s always a step ahead of me. It doesn’t do myself any good to compare myself to her, but I can’t help it. I’m constantly reminded that I’m a failure. I sometimes wish I could just get away from here. I want to get away from here.
Tomorrow, I’ll forget. My current feeling will disappear and I’ll continue with my life as usual. I only talk about this stuff every once in a while to cope. It’s good to let things out every now and then, and no matter what, I’ll always love Yuko. She’s all I have left.
I walk up to my mirror, staring at my reflection. It mocks me. I ball up my fists, angry at myself, at Yuko, at everything. I punch the mirror, breaking the glass. The cracks reflect pieces across my face, marred with insecurity and uncertainty. I stare impassively.
Have you ever wanted to cry, but no tears came out, so you just stare blankly into space while feeling your heart break into pieces…
I have other things to worry about.
Her name is Maeda Atsuko, she’s our childhood friend and our best friend. We’ve played together for as long as I can remember. I don’t know when it happened, but long ago, I fell in love with her. I realized it recently, but knowing it doesn’t change anything. Because…I know that she loves Yuko.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yuko’s POV
Ahh Yuko! I stare at myself in the mirror. You’re looking fabulous today. I smirk to myself. I’ve missed seeing you so much. The last time I checked myself out in the mirror was this morning. That’s way too long!
On my list of things I need to live, my mirror comes second to Takamina. I definitely cannot live without Takamina, I’d be nothing without her. She’s like my other half, the person who I couldn’t live a day without seeing. My mirror though is my only material possession I need to get through the day. Other people have their cell phones, the internet, iPads, music, games, and other things, but me? No, I just need my mirror. Any mirror, really.
Ok, yosh! Time to read! I get out one of my newest books and flop onto my bed, reading away.
Takamina comes into my room several minutes later.
“Hey, dinner’s ready.”
“Wait! I’m reading!”
“Reflections of You. Really? You can’t even call that a book.”
“It is though. You just have never read the previous books of the series. There was Mirror Mirror, My Image, Me over Everyone, Into the Looking Glass, Myself not Yourself, and A Book About You.
“Some of those titles are just ridiculous. I’m surprised those are even in print.”
“Shhh! I just got to the best part,” I say while turning the page of my book to a reflection of myself.
“Yuko, there’s not even words. Just mirrors on pages.”
“I said wait! There’s more, it’s getting better!” I turn the page again to see myself. *gasp* “So beautiful.”
Takamina sighs. “Yuko…”
“Almost done! I have to see the ending!” Turning to the last page, I once again gaze into the amazing sight in front of me.
“The ending is so indescribable. I feel like tearing up. No matter how many times I read this book, the ending always gets me. Props to the author. Best ending I’ve ever read.”
Takamina rolls her eyes. “Your food’s getting cold. Now that you’re done, let’s go eat.”
“Ah… Hai~” Reluctantly closing the book, I follow her out of my room.
Takamina and I live alone. Our parents died when we were still in our first year of high school, but we inherited a lot of money. We have lived by ourselves ever since. We only had each other, but we were able to continue living with one another’s support. At times we felt lonely, though luckily, we had Acchan come over and we’d hang out, keeping the fun times alive. We didn’t let our parents’ death affect us. During our school lives, we’d all go to school together and then later do whatever we wanted.
After we graduated high school, Takamina and I still stayed together in our parents’ home. We never moved out. I got a job to help support us. We weren’t going to have money forever. It was also to help pay for our university classes. I work all night, attend morning classes, and then sleep all afternoon. Takamina goes to school with me in the morning and when she’s free afterwards, she just cleans and cooks for us. It’s like half and half, we split practically everything we do. Not like a husband and wife, because we definitely aren’t, but because we understand we each have our own roles that only we can do.
I follow Takamina to the dining table and take my seat. There’s only 3 seats, the spare for Acchan when she comes over sometimes.
I look down at the spread of food she set out for us. It all looks so great!
“Ittadakimasu!” we both call, and begin eating.
Oishii~ Takamina’s cooking is delicious as always. I wish I could cook like her. I usually burn everything though.
I keep my thoughts to myself. We eat in silence as we prefer it that way.
Finishing my plate, I get up and grab my coat. It’s time to work.
“Have a good sleep. Ittekimasu~”
“Itterashai.”
I head out to my workplace. I work as a valet in a popular night club, located at the esteemed Miyazawa Grand Hotel. I somewhat know the daughter of the owner and she was kind enough to help land me a job. The pay is pretty good too. It’s easy work. Park cars for people and later bring it back. Pretty much it. I usually get a lot of free time too. I spend it in the restroom, just checking myself out. Really, I could spend hours here. I look pretty fine in this vest. I take out my phone and start taking selfies of myself, using different expressions. Serious, goofy, sexy, winking, posing, peace signs, scary, laughing, and just a regular smile. Looking through them, I chuckle.
“You’re having fun.”
“Whoa!” I gasp, backing away suddenly. I turn to the figure near me. I didn’t hear her come in.
“Acchan. What are you doing here?”
“I thought I’d have some fun at the club. Then I came here.”
“Oh..” Looking at her now, she looks really—um…different. It’s a good different though. I mean she looks really… ah.. good? No! That’s not the right word, I know it, I just can’t figure out what it was… I normally see her in casual wear at school or when’s she’s over, but this… why can’t I come up with the right word to describe her?? I’m pretty sure I’ve described myself before, but I can’t think of the words I used right now. Ugh, I can’t remember, she just looks…good.
She’s wearing a dark blue short dress, revealing her creamy legs. Her long hair is draped over her shoulders, I can’t even describe everything. I’ve never seen her like this before.
She notices I’m eyeing her. It’s not weird at all. We’re close friends after all.
She walks over to me, softly laughing.
“You look cute.”
*Doki doki*
“E-eh? Um, yeah… thanks.” What’s happening to me? I’ve been called cute by her before, I’m freaking adorable! Why do I feel weird all of a sudden though??
She looks down. “Ano…actually, I came here to tell you something.”
“Eh?? At this time of night??” It’s 1am.
“Err..I couldn’t’ sleep.”
“We have class in the morning, so I’ll see you then. I shouldn’t be keeping you from sleeping. It could’ve waited. Though since you’re here, what is it?” The feeling is gone, replaced by a rising curiosity.
“. . .” She doesn’t say anything.
I look at my watch. “You know, I have to go soon. I’m working, remember?” I walk past her.
“Wait!” She grabs my arm. I turn back to her.
Her head still faces down. She’s trembling. Her hands are balled up into fists, tightening. Is she okay? Did something happen?? I’m really worried now.
She takes a deep breath and finally looks up at me, her eyes filled with a determination I’ve never seen.
“I love you!” she screams.
Those three words. They ring through my ears. I’ve never heard them before. Well, of course I have—it’s just they’ve never been spoken to me. Ever. Takamina and I know how much we love each other so there’s never a need to speak it. Our parents were always busy, they never had time for us, and so we always accompanied each other. Since they were never around much, I’ve never heard them say those words for as I long as I can remember. Well…not to me. I think they only ever spoken it to Takamina, but only when I wasn’t around. I heard them though, once. I just happened to pass when they told her. I never said anything about it later though. It shouldn’t be my business whether they tell me they love me or not. Honestly though, it’s one of the things I envied about Takamina. She had their love.
Acchan though… she loves me? Me?? Wha—I can’t—I don’t—Impossible.
“What are you saying?” I laugh, trying to dismiss it. It must be a mistake, a joke, something.
Her eyes look to me desperately. She begins to cry and as if she couldn’t say anything anymore, she runs away.
What? Wait! I run out of the restroom and chase after her, my brain trying to process everything. I stop her. Her face is smeared with tears. Don’t show me that. Why do you have to cry? She looked very…beautiful before. Yeah, that’s it… I finally found the word I was looking for.
“Are you…serious?” I hesitate. This can’t be real. I thought… no one else really loved me besides Takamina, so I never expected it in my wildest dreams. I came to accept that maybe it was my fate like this. The thought of being… loved…by anyone else…became scary.
Wrapping her arms around herself, she tries to hold herself together. I give her a moment.
Trying to summon up her courage, she tries once more.
She looks into my eyes, they’re filled with dying hope. “I love you,” she says with all her heart, and she leans forward, pressing her lips against mine.
I don’t know how to react. The moment our lips made contact, of course, I don’t know what to do. My best friend is kissing me. This is the highlight of my life. This is also my first kiss... I feel her soft lips trying to ease a response from mine. All her feelings seem poured into this, as if it will be the last. I can feel her sincerity in them, she really loves me… Getting wrapped up in the moment, I finally return her love. Cupping her cheek, I kiss her gently. I feel that she’s fragile, just glass, and I might break her. I try to connect my feelings to hers, to let her know my answer.
We reach mutual understanding. We heat up, our lips molding with intensity. She grabs on to my hair, not wanting to let me go and like waves crashing together, we push against each other, trying to devour the other.
I’ve never felt this before. This new feeling inside me, it feels like something’s changing. Maybe, just maybe, I’ve always loved her. It’s just that I was too caught up in myself that I never turned around to look back at her, who has probably been chasing me this whole time.
Reluctantly parting, we lean our heads to each other for support and catch our breaths. I stare at her in wonder. She’s so amazing, so beautiful… so perfect. I never noticed before.
I lean to her ear. “I love you too,” I whisper.
I move back to look at her once more. Her eyes are sparkling, lined with tears. I see it though, the happiness behind it.
As she cries, she smiles. She grasps me into a tight hug. She probably never thought I would return her feelings. Don’t worry, they’re not unrequited. You really have me now. I’ll always be here for you.
I slowly move her away from me, so it’ll be easier to talk to her seriously.
“If you really don’t mind…would you be my girlfriend?” We can’t be friends anymore. It feels like this is what it should have been all along.
She cries even more, shaking her head. “It’s what I’ve always wanted.”
I smile apologetically. “Sorry to make you wait.” I take her hand, lightly kissing it.
She blushes. “You seem…different now.”
I laugh. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” I hope it’s not bad. I’m still Yuko, aren’t I?
Flashing her bright smile, she takes my hand in hers and answers my question as if reading my mind. “Even if you change, I’ll still love you.”
My cheeks flare red. Every time she says it, I can hardly believe it. Yet I do, and in the future, she’ll say it many more times and so will I. This sudden change seems scary, and I don’t know what lies ahead, but what matters now is the present and my time with her now.
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AN: - so just saying, dont mind my lame endings. I'm bad at writing those. And also, i feel bad for Takamina here so I'll come up with an atsumina drabble next ^_^
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I was planning on writing a drabble, but this is better haha :nervous
I don't know how many shots this will be or if it will be long or not, but it's a start. :)
Douzo!
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Linked
1. Assignment
Acchan's POV
I work at the most wondrous place on Earth. Located on a very large island, it is known as the New World Cluster Museum. Also now known as the only museum left. All others were closed down and all original works of art and more from all around the world, have been moved to this museum. Not only that, but items and sights you can also only see at the Smithsonian have all moved here. It is where all cultures, art, and history have come together. Whether it be American, Italian, Japanese, English, African, Chinese, Egyptian, really all types of paintings, exhibits, and the like will be found here. This place is not just a museum either. It is the largest attraction on Earth, and just about anything you can imagine can be found here.
I work not only as an archeologist, but also as a historian here. History is so amazing. People always say it’s boring, or it’s in the past so there’s no reason to learn about it, but that’s where they’re wrong. History gives us insight on lessons needed to be learned so we can improve from past mistakes. Humans wouldn’t be where they are now without it, or have any technological advances. The knowledge of our ancestors before us is a treasure and needs to be remembered. But that’s not the main point, I mean history is great but my love for archeology comes first. Exploring the unknown, digging through ancient tombs, just searching for anything to help us understand the planet we live on, it’s my life.
It happened just a month ago. Many things changed from my day to day life. I was already busy with so many research trips, presentations, analyzing data, plotting new maps, I hardly had time to myself at all. On that day though, it was like yesterday, it seemed as if everything was thrown out the window. My entire schedule was flipped where I had to focus on one thing only. There was nothing I could do about it. My new assignment became my new world. Everything I knew took on a whole new meaning. Nothing was the same.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Dang, I hate deadlines.” I grumble as I search through a high stack of papers. Mixed in somewhere was the outline to my next presentation. I had to lose it at such a critical time. I look through the drawers, quickly slamming them closed when I didn’t find what I needed. I run my fingers through my hair, biting my lip. What am I going to do? I glance at the clock. There’s not enough time! The seminar will be starting soon.
“Looking for this?” A blue folder appears in front of my face. I widen my eyes, taking it from a hand.
“Yuko! Arigatou, you’re such a life saver.” I breathe out in relief.
“It’s nothing. It was by the printer and I didn’t see any more copies, so I took the liberty of printing some for you.”
“Thank you! I almost died for a minute, I could’ve been fired.”
“Don’t I know it.” She unwraps a lollipop and sticks it in her mouth.
I pause, staring at her. I look at the clock. “Shouldn’t you be at the paintings gallery right now?”
“Nah, the tour got cancelled. I’m pretty free the rest of the day. Want to catch some lunch when you’re through?”
“Sorry, right after the seminar, I have to hand in my analysis on some artifacts that came through the other week.”
She frowns. “You can do that later. We never hang out anymore.”
“I’m sorry, maybe next time.”
“Where have I heard that before?”
“Ok, I get it. Um... dinner should be fine, right?”
“Hmm…I’ll have to check my schedule…lemme see…” Didn't she just say she was free for the rest of the day? I roll my eyes as Yuko briefly glances at her phone before grinning. “Ok! As long as YOU are paying!”
“Fine, I owe it to you anyway. Now shoo! I got things to do.” I usher her out of my office before she could say anything.
So much crap to do and so little time. I sit in my chair and open up my laptop. What a mess. My desktop is crowded with so much data and none of my files are organized. I’ll have to do some cleaning later. I check my calendar. I’ll have to plan out a date for all this. I frown. All my days are booked for the rest of this month and next. Maybe I do need a break..
I almost forgot. It looks like tonight at 7 I have another appointment. I’ll have to cut my dinner with Yuko short. Well I didn’t say I would hang out with her long, so she better not get too upset.
Oh, I better get to the seminar.
~~~~~
Whew~ now that that’s over. Next place… looks like I have to go all the way to Creation Heights. Gathering my things, I walk over to the glass elevator. I press the button that has a brain picture on it, and the elevator starts to drift to the left. It carries me through the art exhibits and soon through the dinosaur exhibit which leads outside. From there, I cross high through the sky, cutting through Pyramid Square—beautiful place may I add—not only does it have replicas of the Egyptian, Mayan, and Aztec pyramids; it also has some display pyramids such as the butterfly exhibit, laser pyramid, and maze pyramid. All of which are how they sound like. Passing the square, the elevator suddenly lifts me up through some low clouds and slows to a stop. I exit and find myself on Creation Heights which is located at the top of the mountain of this island. It is centered on the mythology and history of anything to do with gods and goddesses, fairytales and folklore, the beginning of time and Earth, and the idea of human delusion which is the notion that we are living in a fantasy world. Nonsense, I think. This is reality.
I walk over to a building to my right which is the library of this area. There are a total of 7 libraries on the island, each vast and filled with so much knowledge. I would say those are the most exciting places to get lost in.
Inside, I walk through the marble halls straight to a familiar room.
“Hey Sayaka, here’s my analysis of the egyptian vase and staff.” I say, placing it on the desk as the girl behind it is immersed in a book.
“Hellooo?” I call again, tapping on her desk lightly.
She finally looks up and blinks at me. “Ah! Acchan! Sorry, sorry, thanks for dropping it by.” She says. Akimoto Sayaka, a core researcher of Mythology Museum and knows just about anything there is to know about the myths and legends from all over the world.
“Anytime. Need me to do anything else?”
“Its fine, you look busy anyways. You go do your own thing.”
“If you say so. See you later.” I leave her to it.
In the hall, I pass by a greek statue. It's hand is reaching out as if trying to grab something. Beside the statue, is a painting display of a bowl of fruits. I laugh and my hand reaches for my stomach as I find myself now feeling hungry. I did miss lunch so I could make it here. It won’t hurt to get a quick snack. Taking the elevator once again, this time it takes me to the bottom of the mountain. I step off, heading to a vendor nearby.
“Acchan!” I hear footsteps running up behind me.
“Huh? Yuko? What’s up?” I say as I buy an onigiri.
“Mariko needs you—or well both of us. I came to find you.”
“Did we do something? I hardly ever see her.”
Yuko shrugs. “No one really sees her, so I was surprised when I got the call for us to head her way.”
“Huh. Ok, hopefully it’ll be quick. I have an appointment.”
“You always have an appointment.”
“Hai hai, come on let’s go.”
~~~~~
Yuko and I ride over to Pillar Peak, the tallest and most popular building on the island. Each floor contains a different exhibit or attraction. Taking a normal elevator, we rise to the top floor.
At the top, Yuko and I stand in front of the door to her office. We look at each other.
“You knock.”
“Psh, you do it.”
“You.”
“No, you.”
“Fine.” I sigh.
I hesitate.
"Hurry up!" Yuko says impatiently.
*knock* *knock*
The door opens.
“Well don’t just stand there.” A familiar voice echoes to us.
Yuko and I shuffle inside. We stand awkwardly as Mariko-sama sits at her chair expectantly. She glances at us up and down. For a few minutes it's quiet, as if she's gathering her thoughts before she speaks to us.
Yuko makes eye contact with her.
“Are you done looking at my glorious body? Why’d you call us up?” Yuko gets straight to the point.
Mariko shakes her head. She stands up and our eyes follow her as she walks to a bust statue. She lifts it, pressing a hidden button.
Our jaws drop open as a passageway opens up by the wall.
“Follow me.” She says as she steps through the shadows.
From outside it seemed dark and shady, but when we stepped inside it was very bright. I had to shield my eyes for a moment. The passageway was long, and spiraled down. We had to climb down what seemed like a endless flights of stairs. This is insane.
“Where are we going?” Yuko asks as we follow Mariko down the stairs.
“Recently, we just received a new shipment of items from a remote location. Our contact didn't know what to do with it, so they sent it here. We're to specifically take care of it."
“So what, you need me to take a look at them?” I say, getting my hopes up. This could be something big since it doesn’t seem like any usual shipment.
“Not exactly. I’m starting a new research project, and both of you will be assigned to it. There are a few others included on this, but not many. This must be kept in the dark, so I advise discretion.
“Whoa what? You mean we’re almost the only ones who know about it? What was in the shipment??” Yuko questions.
“Why us? What about our other work?" I add.
“I have considered both your specialties and the characters of the team very carefully so you may all work well together to the best of your abilities. I have also taken the liberty of freeing both of your schedules and cancelled all appointments either of you may have. I need you two to be focused on this project. I don’t know how long it will be, but your pay will be even more than what you’re earning now. This is how much I need you two. If you decline to participate, then you’re fired. Any questions?”
Thanks for leaving us options...
“Um yeah… you didn’t answer my question. What was in the shipment?” Yuko asks.
We finally reach the bottom of the stairs to a metal door. I feel cool air coming from inside. Where are we?
“You’ll see.” Mariko slides a card and punches in a code beside the door. It opens.
A breeze of cold air hits us as we step into what looks like a laboratory. Besides a computer, a few devices, a display case, and a large crate, a cryogenic freezer stands in the middle of the room.
“What’s…in there?” I ask softly, slowly stepping towards it.
Yuko looks at it too. “It looks like someone’s in there.”
I stand in front of it, but am unable to see through. It’s too cold. I rub on the glass, clearing some fog. I squint my eyes while peering inside. A frozen face appears through the glass. I lean back.
“Whoa.” I say.
Yuko peers at it. “It’s a girl… What is she doing here?”
Mariko steps beside the freezer and indicates to the girl. “Apparently she was found at the bottom of the sea, trapped in ice. Which sea, I don’t know. Probably the Arctic or Antarctic I’m sure. Our contact discovered her and she was presumed dead of course until further examination where they found that her body and internal organs seemed intact after all this time. They relocated her to a cryogenic freezer, and from there, sent her to us."
"Does she have a name?" I ask.
Mariko taps her fingers on a small sign in front of the freezer. I read it aloud.
“Takahashi Minami.”
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AN: How is it?
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It sounds interesting to me... Can't wait to see how Takamina wakes up and how my Atsumina interact and develop... And why I have feeling that Takamina's character here will be different from other FFs :roll:
Hope to read more from you soon oKei-chan and thanks for your hard work!!!
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Wow, it's been awhile. Gotta get it finished~ :)
Note, i changed the title because I thought 'Linked' would be a more suitable title for the story hehe :nervous
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Linked
2. Revival
Acchan's POV
*scribbles*
*pause*
*scribbles*
*pause*
*scribbles*
“Arghh! I can’t think right now!” I slam my pencil on the desk, standing up abruptly. Beside me, Yuko falls out of her chair.
“Itai~~! Acchan, what’s up? I’m trying to take a nap here!”
“And I’ve been trying to write this new analysis on the subject, but I just don’t know what I’m doing!”
“Eto, you’re doing what you always do right?”
“It’s not that simple. Look, we have this new assignment and all we can do is monitor her and write down what we see. She’s not moving! She’s not really alive either, so there’s not much to observe. Here’s a suggestion. We were told to take care of her, right? Then, let’s bring her back.”
“Whoa wait. Bring back the subject? Unfreeze her?”
“No, bring back Mariko so she can tell us not to.”
“Chotto, Acchan. If we revive her, Mariko-sama might fire us. We can’t just do that without her permission.”
“This is for science, for history, maybe by reviving her we’ll find out things we haven’t known. Think of it as…a new discovery.”
“You’re just curious, aren’t you?” There’s no reason not to be.
“Onegai, Yuko! Help me out here, you know you want to know too.” Take the bait...
“Know what? More about the subject?”
I nod slowly, encouraging her to continue speaking.
“Wait… oh you might be on to something.” She grins.
“What are you thinking? Don’t smile like that. It’s creepy.” I say, a smile threatening to reveal my intentions. It's so easy to manipulate her.
“Hehehe due to the container she’s in, I can’t really have a good look at her body can I?”
“Pervert. What would Haruna say if she heard that?”
“Ehhhh? You wouldn’t?”
I take out my phone, playing back a recording of Yuko’s words a moment ago.
“Now all I have to do is hit send.” I smirk. Gotcha.
“You tricked me!” She grabs for my phone, but I hold it up in the air out of her reach. Ha. Perks for being taller than her.
“Mou! Fine! I’ll only help keep Mariko-sama from finding out. I don’t want any part of caring for her. This is your idea, your responsibility, ya hear?” She crosses her arms, frowning as she looks upon the subject.
“Yes! Thank you! I’ll treat you the next time we go out to eat!”
“You already have to treat me next time we go eat! We didn’t even get to go the other day!”
I shrug. “You know stuff came up.”
“I hate you.”
“Just go make the call.”
She sighs, opening her phone. She dials a number and moments later a voice answers.
“Yo Minegeshi, I got a job for you and...”
~~~~~
5 hours later, a knock sounds from the door.
“Finally.” I say, opening the door for Minegeshi Minami also known as Miichan, one of the few other people who are assigned on the project. She’s a medical scientist working in the research facility located inside the mountain.
“What took you so long??” Yuko stands up, stretching her arms and legs. For the past few hours, we’ve both been cleaning up our messy workspace as well as passing time on our phones. Any longer and I would have decided to go through the process of reviving the subject myself. Just kidding, but really, the waiting was killing me.
“Did you want me to come or not? I’m here so get off my back. I had other things going on you know. It also took me a while to gather all the equipment and find the doctor.”
I look around. “Speaking of the doctor, where is she?” I ask.
“On a date.”
Yuko and I frown.
Miichan, seeing our expressions quickly comments, “Calm down, she’s on her way. But dang what bad timing. I had to listen to an earful when I interrupted her “precious date.”
The three of us roll our eyes.
“At a time like this? So unprofessional. I swear, she’s such a child.” Yuko says.
“Not surprising really, she’s the youngest on the team. Let her live a little.” Miichan defends her.
“Why don’t we let the subject live a little?” I suggest.
“I’ll start setting up the equipment then. I’m also going to need to borrow the computer.”
“By all means, go ahead.” I gesture. Yuko gives me a strange look. I shrug her off. What’s her problem?
“Acchan."
“What?”
“Why are you in such a rush to revive her? We have to wait for the doctor first.” Yuko says.
“Sorry, I might be too excited." I laugh. "This kind of thing doesn’t happen ever. There’s so much mystery about this that I want to solve. Who is she? What does she know? Where does she come from? How’d she get frozen and for how long? Those kind of things. I want to know.” My eyes twinkle.
“Calm down. We want to know as much as you, but you have to be patient. Just a little longer.”
“Sure, then I’m going to go out for a bit. We’ve been inside too long, I need some air.”
“Okay, I’ll call you when everything’s ready then.”
“Thanks.” I wave and leave, closing the door behind me. I lean against it.
I sigh. “Ugh, so slow.” I look up at the stairs, my brow creasing as it seems there’s no end.
“Why didn’t Mariko put an elevator here?” I take a deep breath, and start climbing.
~~~~~
At the top, I find my way out of Pillar Peak and ride the elevator back to my section. Entering my office, I close the door. I turn to my desk and pause, noticing a small box on my desk. I walk to it slowly, wondering where it came from. A thought hits me.
"Ah, this must be a new artifact. I thought Mariko cancelled all my other jobs though?" I mutter, placing a hand on it. Huh.. It's surprisingly warm. It was probably out in the sun or something. Behind the box, I find a small orange envelope. I open the envelope and a key and note slide out from its pocket.
The key is small and seems antique. I rub my fingers along the rusted brass metal, and eye the folded note in my hand. Opening it, I read three words that I can't explain.
'I found you.'
What is this? I look around the room, questioning if it was a joke. I crumple the note in my hand, and look at the box. So the key is for this box then.. Is it okay to open it? No, if this is a joke then I might be playing into someone's hand. But...if this is for a job, then I have to analyze whatever's in there..
I place my hands on my hips and stare down at the box. I weigh my options, or rather, my dilemma. Open it or not? Who brought this in anyways? I turn around and open the door, looking out into the hall. No one around. I close the door, and look at the mysterious box suspiciously.
My curiosity was getting to me. I really wanted to know what was inside the box. But Atsuko, remember, curiosity kills the cat. Well conscious, what do you want me to do?! I'm sorry my human nature is showing.
Oh what the heck. What's the worst that can happen?
I purse my lips as I slip the old key in. Turning it slowly, I eventually hear the lock click open. I gasp as all that’s left to do is open it. I close my eyes and open them again, determined to find out.
1.. 2.. 3! I open the small box.
“Wha—t…?” I barely breathe out.
There’s nothing.
~~~~~
No POV
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the confused girl, a small wisp creeps out of the box. Floating above Acchan's head, it swirls around before laying atop her head.
The girl has a strange feeling and darts her eyes around the room. She feels she’s not alone, like she’s being watched.
“Mariko better not have placed cameras in here. I told her we don’t need any more security. Unless they're dokkiri cameras...?” Acchan mutters out, suddenly feeling the urge to search her office.
"I'm definitely going to file a complaint later." She sighs, closing the box and relocking it. Frustrated and disappointed, she stores the box under her desk.
“What a waste of time.” Acchan mumbles as she gathers her things and exits the room. The wisp also continues to relax itself on her head. Apparently, it goes unnoticed by her and everyone else as she walks out of the building.
She takes a left on the wide brick sidewalk, taking a roundabout way back to the laboratory.
She passes through a simple park, something normal for once. The leaves of various trees give her shade from the heat of the sun. She holds her hand out as she walks, the sunlight flickering through the leaves to reach her.
"What was that? Why was the box empty? I was sure something was in there..? I wouldn't have received it for nothing." Her endless questions stress her mind, irritating her.
The wisp above her decides to move off Acchan's head, and floats down to her shoulder to rest upon.
Acchan stops walking and looks around.
She feels strange, but it’s not a bad feeling. Actually, she feels lighter.
A small smile appears across her lips. She doesn’t know what it is or how, but she feels a lot better than she did a few moments ago.
As Acchan keeps walking, her phone beeps. It’s Yuko, calling for her return.
She lets Yuko know she’ll be there soon and starts sprinting since she realized she was a long way from the lab. She didn’t think Yuko would call so soon so she thought that she might’ve had time to walk through the park and check out some of the new attractions passed it. Some other time then.
As Acchan sprints, she recalls the light feeling she had a moment ago. It brings back her spirits and she slows her pace to skip. Although she wants to, it seems she’s forgotten that she doesn’t know how to skip and not even a minute later, she trips.
“Itai…” Acchan gets up brushing dust off herself. “Baka.” She talks to herself. “Don’t do things you know you can’t do.” She scolds herself, and starts sprinting again.
At this time, the small wisp was swirling all around her in a merry movement as if enjoying itself.
~~~~~
Acchan's POV
“I’m back!” I call out of breath as I reach the open door.
Yuko sees me and nods. “We already finished preparations.”
“Ok, is she here?”
“Oh yeah, Mayu come here!” Yuko yells.
“Yeah?” A small girl and our youngest member approaches us. Her name is Watanabe Mayu and as a doctor, she works at the research facility with Miichan while they investigate diseases, conduct experiments, and run scans when specimens arrive.
“Hey Mayu. It’s been a while.” I say. We’re similar to each other in that we’re both always busy. I don’t know how she found time to go on a date earlier. Wait never mind, Mariko cleared everyone's schedules.
“Un, so how about we start?” she says.
“So you could get back to your date?” I ask, smirking.
“D-date?! N-no no n-no no no, it’s not like that. We were just going out to eat, that’s all.” Mayu blushes from head to toe as she denies it.
“Ehhhh that’s not what I hear. I heard you have a thing for that beauty of a marine biologist down in the aquarium. And if I’m not mistaken, isn’t she interested in you? She’s the one who asked you out to eat after all, right?” Yuko teases her.
“Shut up shut up shut up! I don’t have to tell you anything! I’m only here to do my job and that’s it! Let’s get this over with.” She fumes, stomping over to Miichan at the computer to begin.
Yuko and I laugh together at Mayu. This always happens. One way or another we tease the girl about something just to be able to see her cute expressions.
“Everyone keep away from the container.” Miichan calls.
Yuko and I keep to the wall as Miichan and Mayu do their thing. Miichan waits for Mayu’s cue. The smaller girl nods.
“System Start.”
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AN: can't promise i'll update as often as before, but this should be finished by the end of the year :)
#BelieveInAtsumina
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*AN
Shizzzz, I didn't mean to take this long. The reason why I haven't posted in a while was because I wanted to finish writing the entire thing before i got to the main plot. I didn't finish everything, but I've written enough so far. From chapter 3, a lot is going to happen. Originally, this fic wasn't supposed to be long at all, but it might turn out to be as long as T3C except there's no side stories. Haha, and this was supposed to be a shots collection.. Oh well, i guess i'll just put everything here from now on since i've already posted.
For now, I'll be posting a new chapter every other day until I come up short on chapters. I'll try to make up for all the lost time :)
By the way, I forgot to mention last time, but If you didn't notice around the last time i updated, I changed some things in the first chapter so it would help if you reread it to understand it better.
Ahh~~~~ i'm excited! I really love how I wrote this fic. Thank you for reading! I'm sorry to keep you waiting, I hope you enjoy it ^_^
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Linked
3. Awakening
Apparently, the process took a lot longer than I thought. I didn’t expect it to last 3 days. It really isn’t easy to revive someone who has been frozen for who knows how long.
The first day it was smooth sailing. I was a bit anxious yet excited for her to awaken. We kept an eye on the readings as oxygen was given while she was thawed. Mayu kept an eye on her physical appearance to make sure she didn’t have damage, outside and internally. The four of us rotated shifts to keep watch or sleep if we even could. We had to stay in the lab through the night.
By the time the second day came around, I thought ‘this is it!’ I never felt as bored as I did though as time went painfully slow and nothing happened. Throughout the entire day, we played through our routine and constantly waited. I wished so much I had a time machine to fast forward to the moment she awakes. Even Yuko got bored just sitting here. It got to the point where all she did for hours was complain about not being able to see her girlfriend, Haruna. She wasn’t part of the team, and she wasn’t even an employee on the island, so she had to make excuses and keep our project a secret from her. Even if they’re together, Yuko can’t tell anyone. None of us can.
On the third day, I was already done. I had bags under my eyes from lack of sleep, and I hadn’t showered since that first day. Ew just thinking that makes me want to run for it. My hair was becoming a tangled mess. I had to put my hair in a ponytail for the meantime. The others are faring about the same as me. We’re all a wreck. If we don’t get anywhere today, I’m going to go home to clean myself up. I need it.
“I call for vacation!” Mayu leans back in her chair, yelling at the ceiling. I’m sure she does. None of us have been out since this started.
“Tell Mariko what we’re doing, and you’re gonna have your vacation.” I say nonchalantly.
“Tell Mariko what we’re doing, and we’re all getting fired.” Yuko adds with a sigh.
“Eh? Wait, are you serious? Are we not supposed to revive her? I thought this was an order.” Mayu questions suddenly.
“What?!” Miichan panics. “You didn’t mention this!” She screams at Yuko.
“But I did. Just a few seconds ago.” Yuko points out.
Miichan and Mayu glare at Yuko. She puts her hands up. “Hey don’t look at me, blame Acchan It was her idea to revive her.
They turn their sights on me. Thanks a lot Yuko.
I try to turn their attention away. “Hey look, the warning lights are flickering.”
“Acchan, you know you’re a bad liar right? Baka.” Miichan shakes her head. Dang it.
Behind them I suddenly see green lights flicker.
“Hey hey! No, look!” I point. “I’m not lying!” They finally turn around.
Upon seeing it, Miichan rushes to the monitors checking the readings. Her bio levels seem normal, and her heart beat steady. The monitor indicates a change in her brain activity which previously was in a more or less dormant state as she was frozen.
"Are the lights good or bad??" Yuko asks as she looks at the girl.
"It's actually good, it seems she's finally coming around. Wait a minute.." Miichan and Mayu scurry around the equipment, adjusting valves, and monitoring the system.
"Here we go.." Mayu says as she heads over to the container as steam releases from inside and the water begins to drain through the pipes. A latch is released as we slowly help Mayu open the container. For a few minutes, the room is quiet as we hold our breaths and listen to the sound of light breathing from the girl that lay before us.
Miichan widens her eyes as the monitor shows that her heartbeat was quickening. She turns around to look towards us at the moment the girl suddenly sits straight up gasping. We freeze at her sudden movement, our eyes staring at her wonderingly. That was not supposed to happen, I wouldn't have expected her to awake like that.
Right after she sat up, she immediately fell back into the container. Yuko and I help to at least sit her up, her back propped up against a pillow. Mayu steps forward, looking at the girl.
“Do you understand me?” She asks.
The girl gives a weak nod. She seems kind of out of it, but that's expected having been under for who knows how long.
“Good. Your name was Japanese so I expected you would be able to understand. Anyways, you won’t or shouldn't be able to move for a while. Your body is very weak from lack of movement and nutrition. You’re going to have to take it slow if you want to regain your strength.”
The girl, or Takahashi-san doesn’t say anything. Without word, she looks down.
“Yuko, give her some water.” Mayu orders.
Yuko hurries to Takahashi-san with some water. She’s unable to hold the cup herself so Yuko holds the cup to her lips so she can drink.
Too much, the girl starts coughing spilling the water.
“Oi Yuko! Too fast! Clean her up!”
"I'm sorry!”
“Yuko, I’ll clean her up. Get some more water.” I suggest.
“Ah yeah, I might mess things up.” She hurries away.
I get a small towel and gently wipe her face. She stares at me which is kind of strange, so I pretend not to notice. I move back as Yuko returns with the water.
After her drink, she clears her throat and attempts to speak.
“A-ari-arigatou..” she says softly.
We nod at her. She give us a painful smile. “A-ano… Have you seen it?”
“Seen what?” Mayu questions.
“Oh yeah, there was a crate that came with her. I haven’t had time to check it out." I don't know how I could forget about it. "It should be around here somewhere. Maybe whatever she’s talking about is in there.” I say, glancing around the room.
“I’ll get the crowbar.” Yuko says.
Miichan and I bring out the crate from a large storage shelf in a corner of the room.
“This crate is heavy. What’s in here?” Miichan groans. Yeah, seriously.
Yuko opens it up and we peer inside. There’s a bunch of hay and straws so we carefully remove them searching for some sort of item. Eventually, we finally come across it. Amazingly, it’s only one item. Just a simple golden bracelet with scratch marks on them.
I attempt to pick it up but fail miserably. It won’t budge from its spot. This small bracelet cannot be the reason why this crate was so heavy.
“Oi Yuko, help me out here.”
“Psh, really? That small thing? Just watch me, I’ll get it.” She smirks, and pushes me out of the way.
“. . .”
“Ok never mind. This is impossible.” Yuko says a moment later. I scoff.
It takes the four of us to lift it out of the crate and present it to Takahashi-san. It takes all of our energy to hold it out to her while she looks at it.
“Is this it?” I huff out.
“Yes.” She breathes out softly. She makes an effort to lift her arm, reaching for the bracelet. We help her out, giving it to her. She puts it on.
Once it’s firmly hanging on her wrist, a yellow light starts to glow from the bracelet and we back away from her unsure of what’s happening.
Her body blinks yellow once before the bracelet stops glowing. She looks about herself and lifts her arms waving them around. She turns her head and stands up, getting out of the container. She lets out a whine as she stretches out her limbs, bouncing on her toes.
We stare at her unable to say anything. She shouldn’t have been able to get up for at least several more days. Maybe weeks.
“Ah, I feel much better.” The girl suddenly locks eyes with me. "Where am I? How did I get here?" She asks. Oh, we were expecting those questions. I glance at the doctor beside me.
Mayu steps forward. "Um, how do I put this... You were found asleep for a long time. We woke you up."
"Asleep? No, I was just..." She stops herself. Her head suddenly snaps as she fully takes in her surroundings. She eyes the equipment and the computer, roaming to the walls and lighting, to us. She tilts her head as she stares at our clothing.
“Strange...” she utters. "I don't understand... Can you explain where I am?"
“It's not exactly where…” I say. "It's when."
She stares at me blankly.
"I don't know quite exactly what time period you were from, but you are in the future now." I try to explain.
“I’m…in the future? W-what? I can't be. It's not true... I was.. But the..." She clutches her head, bending down.
"You might be suffering shock and you could also have some memory loss. Don't force yourself to try to remember anything for the moment." Mayu suggests.
“Eh? No, I'm fine. I remember things…there's just so much...white... It can't be. Are you sure I didn't die? Is this not the afterlife? Everything's so.. so..." She loses her words. She places a hand on her head, her eyes were staring into space as if searching for something. She suddenly starts patting her sides and head. “I feel like I’m missing something.” She says confused. She places her hand on her chest. "Empty." She whispers.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with you though.” Miichan points out.
"Besides her memory. I think she's confused. She just needs time." Mayu quickly notes.
"Time." I hear Takahashi-san mumble before she closes her eyes. When she opened them, for just a moment, I thought her eyes flashed. "It's true." She whispers so softly I barely catch it. What's true?
“I know it..” she says. She looks up at us with dull eyes. “I have seven days to live.”
“EHHH?!?!” We all gasp.
“What do you mean? You’re perfectly healthy right now!” Mayu says, alarmed as she observes the girl.
“I’m sorry, I’ll explain. Apparently, what you see of me right now is just my body. From my understanding, my soul has been divided into five pieces. What I feel now is just one piece inside of me that’s longing for the others so they can be one. It is what’s allowing me to live at the moment. Without the other pieces it’ll disappear, so if I don’t have them all in seven days, I’ll cease to exist..”
“Impossible.” Yuko and Miichan say at the same time. Mayu grabs her hair, trying to comprehend what she doesn’t really understand. Things like this do not happen every day. They don’t happen at all. I can’t believe what she’s saying and yet I don’t doubt her in the slightest.
I put a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll help you.” I tell her.
“We will??” The other three say, disbelievingly.
“We will.” I confirm. The three groan.
“I said I didn’t want to get involved.” Yuko looks at me with distaste.
“Just because I am sooo nice, fine.” Mayu crosses her arms, looking away. She's probably doing this because she's a doctor. She can't just not help her. We can't let her die.
“I’ll maintain the fort here while you all go at it.” Miichan says.
“You don’t want to help?” I question her.
“I do, and I want to be there at least while we show her around here. But I also just want to make sure Mariko doesn’t find out.” She explains.
“Hey! I said I would do that! Acchan, come on! Make her help too! It’s not fair!”
“It’s okay. We should be enough to find the…souls right?” I look to Takahashi-san.
She nods. “They’re pieces of it. But I guess you could say that.”
“What she said.” I say to Yuko. She heaves an exasperated sigh.
“I hate you all.” She says.
“Yeah yeah, we know.” I wave her off and turn to Takahashi-san.
“So today is day 1 right? Where do we start?”
“Wait, we’re starting now?” Mayu asks.
“Well if you were going to die in 7 days, and you knew you could prevent it, would you?"
"Well yeah, but I mean now now?"
Takahashi-san shakes her head. “We don’t have to start now. We still have time. I would actually like to know who you are, and more about where and when I am.”
“Oh! I forgot! Sorry, I’m Maeda Atsuko. You can just call me Acchan. The other shorty here is Oshima Yuko, the one in the lab coat is um you could say your doctor, Watanabe Mayu, and this here is Minegeshi Minami. She was in charge of your revival.” I smile, putting my arm over Miichan’s shoulder.
“I’m not short..” Yuko grumbles. “I’m fun size!” she yells, grinning.
Mayu extends her hand to Takahashi-san. “Nice to meet you.” Takahashi-san looks down, blinking at the extended hand. She looks up at Mayu, confused.
“It’s a handshake, you know?” Mayu explains, taking Takahashi’s hand in hers and giving it a firm shake. Takahashi-san is surprised, but relaxes when she lets go.
“It was more like Acchan was in charge of your revival. It was her idea.” Miichan says. “Anyways, it’s cool to see you up. Do you remember anything from before you woke?”
“No, I’m sorry. It's now bits and pieces.”
“What about the time period you were from?”
“Um..I guess it was a long time ago considering....” She trails off looking around the room again.
"It's okay, I told you. She might have just a temporary case of amnesia. It'll return, so you can leave your questions for later." Mayu nudges Miichan.
“Wait, one more question. What’s that bracelet?” Miichan indicates to the small golden object.
“Oh, um well it was the first thing I thought about when I woke. I feel that it is really important to me. About its functions, I don’t know how to explain it. I didn't know it would heal me, but in way...I knew it would.”
“Wow..” we all echo.
Mayu gets excited, talking in her own world. “This is the discovery of the century! I wonder if it would be possible to recreate the bracelet. What is it made of exactly? Gold? No it looks like metal. It can't be anything that's already known. A new element? But really, this could be it. It could maybe be the key to a sustainable energy source. Just imagine what it would do if it was made public to the world. How much people I—I mean we would be able to heal, be able to help. How much money I would make… all the zeroes…” Mayu whispers longingly.
“Don't mind her.” Yuko says.
“That’s really interesting. Please let me know if you remember anything else. It might help.” Miichan smiles at her, but I can tell she’s disappointed at the lack of information.
She nods. “I know you might already know, but I feel like I have to say it. My name is Takahashi Minami, please call me Takamina. I’ll be in your care for the remainder of the week.”
“Don’t say it like that. You make it sound like you are going to die.” Yuko pats her back.
“Don’t worry. We’ll collect your soul.” I reassure her. She nods again.
“Now that we’ve introduced ourselves, we’ll show you around. Do you have any questions before we leave the lab?” I ask.
“Hold on, Acchan. Before she says anything, let’s get her changed into new clothes first.” Yuko says. We look her way glancing at her up and down. She’s wearing a simple cloth, something like a hospital patient would wear, but the material is different. Woven maybe, it's also older and not as clean.
“I thought it might be like this, so I brought some clothes that should fit her.” Yuko tosses me a backpack.
After we get the small girl changed into jeans and a simple yellow blouse, she says, "This is strange..." As she surveys her given clothes.
"And you aren't?" I say, considering she's the one from the past.
"That may be." She finally smiles, and I discover her cute dimples. “Oh, I do have one question for now.” She looks at me.
“What is it?”
“Do you have food?”
=====
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Next chapter! :D
Linked
4. Encounters
“What is this called again?”
“It’s called katsudon.”
“I don’t have enough words… this is amazing. Does other food in this time period taste like this?” Takamina asks before she scarfs another mouthful. We were in Pillar Peak on floor 7, the location of the food court. We had went out of the lab, back through Mariko’s office, and now we’re down here.
“Um it depends on your tastes, but if you loved that then you’ll love most food here.” I explain.
“Another bowl please!”
“Any more and you’re going to have to diet.”
“Diet?” Takamina tilts her head, confused.
“Yeah, diet. It’s when you stop eating for a while or watch what you eat to lower your calorie intake to get fit.” Something along those lines. I’m not a nutritionist.
“If I’m understanding you right, then I’ve been on a diet for more than thousands of years. Now, may I have more please?” She looks at me with pleading eyes. Don’t even try. Those don’t work with me.
“I think you’ve had enough of that. Why don’t you try dessert? Here, I’ll order something for you.” I steal a menu from a nearby table, and glance over its contents. Takamina moves from her seat and sits beside me. She leans over to look at the menu.
She squints her eyes. “What is this?” She points.
“That’s a chocolate sundae.”
“Ooh it looks good. What’s the brown here?”
“The chocolate. It’s sweet.”
“Hmm… ok, can I have that then?”
“Yeah, hold on.” I call over someone to bring us two. I might as well have one too.
“And what’s this?” Takamina taps the menu and points to the words ‘chocolate sundae.’
“I just said, chocolate sundae.”
“But I thought this was it?” She points to the picture of the dessert.
“They’re the same. This is the picture and this is the words.”
“Words…? I understand picture, I wonder how they were able to draw it so well. I don’t get what you say, words though.”
“It’s characters. Writing. You didn’t have that?” I ask, skeptical. She has that intriguing bracelet that can heal her, but her time didn’t have any writing systems? It seems they could communicate with pictures at least though. Thinking about it, humans of ancient times did communicate as well as depict their history through some form of drawing, such as cave paintings and symbols.
She shakes her head. How long ago did she say she was from? More than thousands of years? What? Wait, she remembered that. Mayu was right. Her memory is slowly coming back.
“You really don’t know anything huh?” I say.
“What?”
“I mean, there’s a lot you don’t know. I don’t know what it was like in your time, but a lot of things have changed. There’s a lot more the world has to offer. Let me show you.” I smile and stand up, offering my hand. She looks at it for a moment, then up at me.
“What about the sundae?”
“Oh yeah, after we eat then.” I laugh, sitting back down as our orders were brought out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After Takamina and I had left the food court, I contact Yuko, Mayu, and Miichan to meet up with us. We had separated so they could all wash up after not bathing for 3 days. I still need one too, but it’ll have to wait until the end of the day.
On ground level, at the entrance of the building, Takamina and I get off the elevator. I watch amused as Takamina constantly looks back at the closing elevator doors.
“Sugoi… It can bring you to the sky and back to the ground.” She says in awe. “How tall is this place…?” She continues, trailing off as we walk outside. Her first glimpse of the outside world. Many buildings and structures lay out ahead of us as the island stretches up to the sea.
Speechless, she tries to take it all in. For a few minutes, I watch her back as she stares out. As she's mentioned before, all of this must be strange for her. She’s never seen things like this before. Her tense back relaxes as she finally breathes out the breath she’s been holding. She turns around to me, but her attention immediately shifts to the high building we had just exited from. Her jaw drops open. Yeah, actually I had her same expression then too when I first saw it. It’s a spectacle indeed.
She starts to point up at it. “We were just up there…?”
“At the top.” Now that I think about it, I could just kill Mariko for making her office all the way up there. That secret passage was definitely underground if not on a secret floor. There were just too many stairs. You would think she would build an elevator going down or built the entrance on a much lower floor. Just impossible. That must be why she’s so fit. From going up and down those stairs. I wonder which would be easier. Going on a diet, or using stairs. Definitely a hard choice for me.
Takamina staggers back, holding her head. She looks dizzy. I reach a hand out to help steady her, but she holds her hand up.
“I’m okay. I was just imagining looking down from up there and then I got this weird feeling.” That’s called dizziness. She wouldn’t have known that too. Probably. At least I now know she probably wouldn’t be able to handle heights and perhaps rollercoasters.
“Takamina! Acchan!” I hear Yuko’s voice before I see her, running towards us as she grins.
“You look a lot better.” I say to Yuko as Mayu and Miichan follow up after her. A good shower does do its wonders.
“Now it’s your turn! We’ll show Takamina around while you clean yourself up.”
“It can wait.” I want to see her expressions and reactions as she’s shown around.
“Mou! But you stink, really!” Yuko scrunches her nose.
“It’s just for a little while longer. I’m sure it’s not that bad anyways.” I say.
“Her scent reminds me of home.” Takamina suddenly says.
How? I feel the urge to sniff myself. Do I smell bad? Or is it good? What did her home smell like?
“Really?” Miichan decides to smell me, getting all up in my space. This isn’t comfortable to me. “Hey! You know, she’s actually right. Kind of… She smells like a mix of plants and all her pets at her apartmemt.” Um, I haven't been home in like days though. I'm so glad I decided to send them to my parents before this all started. It was becoming harder for me to take care of them with all my work going on. Maybe soon, I'll be able to go visit them. But really, I can’t believe their scent lingered this long, and she hasn't mentioned how much I must stink. ...not that I want her to say that though.
“What?”
“Most people usually smell like they’re house or the place they live, so that must be it.” Miichan explains. She suddenly gasps. “That’s it!”
“It was enough to say it once you know.”
“No, I mean that must be it. Her home. Takamina’s, not Acchan’s. Maybe we’ll find pieces of her soul there.” Her eyes brighten up.
“I’m going home??” Takamina’s face lit up.
“We all are.” I smile. “Next stop, Japan!”
“You did live in Japan, right?” Yuko asks Takamina. She nods hesitantly.
“Do you know where? Never mind, probably not.” Yuko assumes. Takamina shakes her head.
“Good, let’s go!” Yuko leads. The rest of us follow, knowing where Yuko intends to go.
“Where are we going now?” Takamina asks.
“The Globe. We’re going to use it to figure out where in Japan you’re from.” I smile. It’s been a while since I last visited it. It’s a lot more fun than using a traditional map or using computers.
“Oh ok.” I’m sure she doesn’t understand what I’m talking about. I’m surprised she goes along easily with everything we do. Well it’s not like she would know what to do here.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We walk through The Gardens, picking up fruits and vegetables to snack on along the way. Takamina enjoys herself trying the different foods. She can’t get enough of them. I pick a tomato from a small tree, eating a bite. When I look to see where Takamina is, I find her staring at me or rather, the tomato in my hand. I offer it to it and gain a smile from her. It makes me happy to see her happy.
Takamina sniffs the tomato before taking a bite from it. The moment it touches her tongue, she spits it out while her tongue hangs out.
I look down at the wasted food, sadly. I shouldn’t have given it to her.
“Water, water.” Takamina insistently asks, pointing at her tongue.
“Is it that bad?” I frown, handing her a bottle of water I got from Yuko.
She nods her head up and down several times.
“Ok, I get it. Stop that.”
After gulping down the water, Takamina shoots me a glare.
“You tried to poison me!”
“You asked for it!” That tomato was mine in the first place.
She ignores me and runs off to Yuko who was chatting with Mayu. Miichan comes up from behind me.
“She’s a handful.” She comments.
“She just doesn’t know anything.” I sigh.
“Like a child.”
“A very old child.” I agree, and we laugh together.
We turn a corner at the end of The Gardens. Right ahead, was the Globe standing in the middle of a clearing. It’s completed a world record for largest and tallest globe in the world, standing 500 feet high. Everyone always says that maps are outdated, and globes are boring, but this is actually a main attraction on the island.
Since it's very large, it's also really detailed. You can find the smallest city on it that you normally wouldn’t on a regular globe, and a simulation of the Earth’s weather patterns were also embedded as a layer to indicate what’s going on around the world. But what gets people’s attention is the ride. You’ll see. Though, these few things are what’s only known to the public. With what we’re going to have to do, we can’t view it from where we are. We have to be up close and personal.
We walk to a small cart sitting in the middle of the ground. Yuko hops into a seat in the front, quickly strapping on her seat belt and bringing down the safety bar. Miichan gets in beside her, doing the same. Takamina and I take the two seats behind them, while Mayu grabs a seat in the back. I think about what's ahead. Feeling sorry for Takamina, I help buckle her in for the ride. I'm sure she won't take this well, but it'll only last less than 2 minutes. Yuko turns her head around, grinning from ear to ear.
“You’ll love this! We’re going to have so much fun!” Yuko, I think this might be too much.
Takamina smiles. “If you say so, I can’t wait!” Ah, so naïve.
“I’m sorry.” I smile at her.
“For what?”
“Nothing.” For what’s about to happen. “It’s just… make sure you mentally and physically prepare yourself.”
“Eh? Wh—” Takamina’s voice is cut off as the cart begins to move. I can’t say virtual, because it’s actually solid and real. But a transparent track lined with blue tint appears in front of us. The cart is almost seemingly suspended in the air along it.
Takamina looks around panicking. “What’s happening now??”
Before I can answer her, a small bell rings. An announcement from an unseen speaker comes on.
“You have chosen the track ‘Around the World in 80 Seconds’. The weather simulation has been cleared, your path has been forged. Please keep all body parts in the cart at all times. We are not responsible for any limbs you may lose. Note, I’m joking. The ride will begin in a short moment. Enjoy.”
“W-what…did she say?” Takamina is stunned.
I smile, shrugging in answer. She snaps her head to the front as the cart lurches forward. Here we go.
Not 3 seconds pass when the cart suddenly speeds above the surface of the globe, taking us up north at 100mph. It’s completely a blur. There’s honestly no time to see anything at all, but I’ve been on this route before. We pass up Beijing, and take a left speeding through Moscow to Stockholm. The cart curves southwest and we find ourselves zooming past London, straight to Buenos Aires across the Atlantic Ocean. The entire way, I scream to release the butterflies building in my stomach as we travel downwards. Yuko puts her hands in the air as the cart turns upside down passing through the Antarctic. I try to look to Takamina to see how she’s faring. Not doing so well, I see tears literally flying off her eyes as she screams like she’s probably never done before. We make a figure eight at Hawaii before taking off for the United States. Before I know it, we cut through Africa, India, Malaysia, and curve upwards at the Philippines lastly making a smooth stop at Japan.
I look to my left as Takamina hangs herself over the side looking sick. I really hope she doesn’t throw up, but I wouldn’t blame her for it. Yuko unbuckles herself and jumps in her seat.
“Whoo! That was awesome! One more time, guys!”
“No!” I immediately reject. Anymore, and we might have to make a trip to the hospital for Takamina.
Boooo! Party pooper.” Yuko pouts.
“Hey, look.” Mayu points to a hologram screen beside our cart. It displays a picture that was taken during the ride.
Yuko bust out laughing instantly. “Oh Kamisama, look at us!” She clutches her stomach. On the picture, several things are going on at once. Yuko as she fully enjoys herself, hair flying, screaming, hands in the air, the full pleasure of it all; beside her, Miichan was caught trying to take a selfie which is insane of her. How could she even try that? Mayu’s expression is noticeably bland. She doesn’t scream at all, it doesn’t even look like she’s having fun at all with her straight expression.
“I know what you’re thinking.” She says. “I may not have looked like it, but I did have fun.” She sticks her tongue out at me.
I look back across the picture to Takamina and I. Takamina already looked done for, she was practically passed out as if her remaining soul was attempting to fly away. I shake my head at those kind of thoughts. I shouldn’t think like that about her soul.
I turn to Takamina who hadn’t noticed the hologram. She was crouched over herself, wrapped like a small ball. That’s cute. I pat her back. “Are you okay?” She immediately recovers.
“No, that was crazy! I don’t even know what just happened?!” It was as if her nausea was never there.
I scratch the back of my head, laughing nervously. “It’s a roller coaster.” Like as if that would explain everything.
“I can’t believe you take this for fun.” She says incredulously, directed at Yuko.
“You know you loved the thrill.” Yuko retorts.
Takamina shakes her head. “Did we just really go through that?”
“Yeah, it went by too fast huh. It’s hard to believe.” I say. Takamina slouches back in her seat, letting out a loud sigh. She may not have liked the ride, but it’s definitely an experience she can’t forget.
I look across the globe. We were suspended beside Japan.
I sigh. “Ok, enough fun. Time for work.”
We look across to Japan on the enormous globe at our side. I unbuckle my seatbelt and step out of the cart onto a glass walkway. I try not to look down, as I walk to our country. Takamina looks at me in awe. It’s nothing special, I think.
“Takamina, come here.” I call her over.
She hesitantly steps a foot out of the cart, cautiously making her way onto the glass. Her first instinct was to look down which was a bad move. She collapses on her knees instantly. Her eyes are closed as if hoping none of this were real and she would be back on the ground safe. She was wrong. Opening her eyes, she hugs the glass fearing for her life.
Yuko jumps out of the cart and bends down to Takamina. “What are you doing here?” She asks, tilting her head.
“You guys brought me here!” Takamina yells at her. I bet she’s thinking that she shouldn’t have followed Yuko’s lead in the first place.
Yuko shakes her head. “No, I mean on the floor. If you wait all your time down here, you’ll miss what you can only see when you stand up.” Yuko smiles, offering her hand. Takamina blinks, pushing her hand away. As Takamina stands, she holds onto Yuko’s arm. Yuko gestures Takamina towards the Globe, to me. She stares for a moment for reasons I don’t know before looking back at Yuko.
While Miichan waits for us in the cart, Mayu gets out and walks past Takamina and Yuko to the Globe. She points to a hand scanner at the edge of the glass platform. “Put your hand here.” She orders Takamina.
Takamina looks at it suspiciously. “What will happen if I do?”
“We’ll be able to locate the place you come from. Of course it’s Japan but we need a more exact location. Your hand will be scanned and from there, your body and mind. Whatever place you keep dear to you, it will be known and transferred to the Globe where its location will be pinpointed for us. And then that’s it. Easy, nothing big.”
Takamina doesn’t completely understand, but she gets the gist of it. As her hand touches the scanner’s surface, Yuko comes up from behind her grabbing her oshiri. Takamina jumps, screaming and kicks Yuko in the stomach.
“I-tai!” Yuko laughs, tears stinging her eyes.
Mayu rolls her eyes. “That’s what you get.”
Takamina looks down at Yuko wide-eyed in a guarded stance. She’s startled a bit when I place my hand on her shoulder.
“It’s okay. It’s just Yuko messing around.” I turn and shoot a glare at the stupid squirrel kneeling on the platform.
“Place your hand on the scanner again. It wasn’t complete.” Mayu informs us. Takamina nods.
After the scanning is complete, a beam of light encircles the globe. It starts to move upwards and downwards, scanning the earth. A moment later, a red point appears in Japan.
“Really? Of all places? Not interesting at all.” Mayu mutters. Miichan laughs seeing the location from her seat.
“But this could be fun! Just think, we have the entire city to search through.” Yuko grins.
I nod. “At least it’s familiar.”
Mayu groans. “This is going to be a pain.”
“What place is that? And what’s a city?”
“Ohoho~ you’ll see.” Yuko smirks.
Takamina turns to me, questioningly. Finding no words to explain I just say, “It’s just…Tokyo.”
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Linked
5. Homecoming
No POV
Acchan, Takamina, Yuko, and Mayu left for Japan that night. As she said she would, Miichan had stayed behind. It would be about a 10 hour flight and they would reach their destination by morning.
On the plane, Takamina has window seat and admires how high they fly. Everything just kept coming. Something new always exceeded her expectations. She had never thought that humans could ever fly, but in this way they could. It was amazing.
“You haven’t seen anything yet.” Acchan had been watching Takamina amused from her seat.
“Waaah~ I can’t wait to reach Tokyo!” Yuko yells excitedly. It had been a while since she was last there.
“Home.” Takamina says, smiling. To her, it had felt like she was just there, but in reality she had been gone for tens of thousands of years.
“All our home.” Acchan tells her. “We were raised there too.”
“I can’t wait to see it again. The forests, the plains, the small animals running by, the river too; I wonder if it’s changed in any way.” Takamina reminisces happily.
Yuko, Acchan, and Mayu exchange glances.
“Well, you could say it’s definitely changed.” Yuko laughs nervously.
“It’ll always be your home though.” Acchan adds.
Takamina seems to catch on by their reactions, and looks away from them."I know."
Mayu thumps Takamina's head with a book.
"Itai! What did I do??"
"Nothing." Mayu shrugs. "Here, read it, and learn as much as you can from it before we touch down."
Takamina takes a look at the book's cover. "Wait, what is this?" She opens it and closes it immediately. "I can't read though." She explains.
"That's what the book is for. It'll teach you how to recognize the characters and connect them to each to form the words we speak. Starting from hiragana, katakana, then kanji. I have 2 more fairly adequate books for you to study from also, vocabulary included."
Mayu walks away returning a moment later with 2 rather large books.
Takamina looks at them alarmed.
"Don't worry, we'll help you." Acchan says.
"We'll be your teachers from now on." Yuko says excitedly.
Takamina leans away reluctantly. Acchan laughs, "I don't think she likes the idea of you being one of her teachers."
"Why?? I'm amazing! Look at everything that's happened so far because of me. She should thank me! She should be begging for my help."
"Psh, like you've done anything useful." Mayu rolls her eyes.
Yuko pouts. "I've helped though..." She mumbles.
"I thought you didn't want anything to do with her." Acchan comments.
"That was before I got to know her." She turns to Takamina. "Ne, Takamina—" The smaller girl was already studying through the book on her own.
"Maybe she doesn't need our help."
Acchan taps Takamina's knee. She looks up from the pages.
"It looks like you'll be fine on your own, but if you have any trouble understanding anything just let us know. We'll be here if you need anything, okay?" Takamina nods, turning her attention back to the book.
Yuko slouches back in her chair. "I feel useless now. What are we going to do in the meantime?"
"Let's watch a movie." Acchan suggests. "There's this one I wanted to watch for a while, but I never had the time."
They turn on the large monitor at the front of the cabin. The freedom they had on the plane to do almost anything they wanted was all thanks to Miichan. She hooked them up with Mariko's private jet without their boss ever knowing. This freedom and secrecy wasn't going to last forever, so they thought they might as well live things up and take advantage of whatever they can.
Mayu returns from the restroom. "Oh, we're watching a movie. Which one?" She asks.
"Seventh Code, and after that Frozen."
"Oh then if you need me, I'll be watching anime." Mayu waves her hand, walking to her seat with a portable dvd player.
"You don't want to watch with us?"
"And end up listening to you two sing Let It Go? I'll pass."
Yuko starts, "But wh—"
"I've already seen Seventh Code and about that movie, let me just say—"
"No! Don't spoil it! We get it, go back to your anime." Acchan snaps.
"Hmph." Mayu slips on her headphones without another word. Acchan and Yuko take one last look at Takamina before starting the movie.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Less than three hours later, Takamina closes her book. She stands up excitedly and rushes over to Yuko and Acchan in their seats.
"Acchan! Yuko! I've finis—" She stops mid-sentence finding they were asleep. She mouths an 'O' and walks over to Mayu, finding her asleep as well. She looks around wondering what to do.
She shivers and realizes how chilly it is in the cabin. Looking around, she notices a sign on a compartment. She opens it, finding several blankets inside. She takes them and spreads them over everyone who snuggle under its warmth. The small girl knows how sleep deprived they must be after taking good care of her so long.
"Arigatou, minna. Oyasumi." She whispers, smiling softly.
Takamina goes back to her seat. She looks out the window at the night sky. The stars twinkled down at her, their light reaching for millions of years to shine out for others. It took time, but they were able to be seen eventually. Takamina realized that she was just like them. She waited a long time to be seen, but she knew eventually as all stars do she'd burn out.
==========
Acchan's POV
Seriously? I look back at Takamina before I buckle my seat. I woke up not even an hour ago to find we'd be arriving soon. I gave Yuko my seat so she'd be able to spread her body over it. It's not comfortable sleeping in one chair, so why not two. I took a seat beside Mayu and watched Takamina ahead of us as she pressed her face against the window. The city of Tokyo came into view, the sun just rising behind it. As I checked the time, Mayu told me that Takamina had learned how to write.
"She learned how to write??"
"Yes, I didn't even tell her to. I found out later that she took my special pen, and paper was torn out of my sketch book." She starts to grumble.
I laugh. "She did return the pen though, right?" I'm sure that's what's on Mayu's mind most right now.
"Yeah... She has good hand-writing too. Very skilled. She even finished the books and is now quite fluent at reading and writing Japanese.
"That's impossible." I laugh, thinking it's a joke.
"I thought so too until I tested her over it. That girl? Perfect score." Mayu hands me a packet of papers showcasing Takamina's reading comprehension and writing capability. I flip through the pages, baffled by what I was seeing.
"In less than 10 hours??"
"In less than 3."
"What the heck.." This is unbelievable."
"I don't know how she did it, but she seems to do well at retaining and understanding new information."
"I already knew that, but to this extent?"
"I'd like to see how she handles multiple languages." I catch a curious gleam in Mayu's eyes.
"Yeah, AFTER we find the souls."
She sighs. "Of course."
After landing, we gather in a section at the airport and buy some needed coffee. I sip my coffee as I walk. Takamina constantly tugs at my arm like an excited kid as she points out almost every sign.
"Look! Acchan, I can read that!"
"Hai hai." I smile.
"Acchan, see? We go this way!"
"She's so proud." Yuko chuckles.
"Make sure she doesn't get ahead of us though. Don't want her to get lost."
"I wonder if she'd like a phone.." I say.
Takamina waves at us. "Ne ne, that says, 'Caution: Wet Floor.'" she gladly informs us before she slips and falls herself.
We all suppress a laugh as we help the small girl up. She blushes embarrassed for once, and slightly bows to us.
"I'm sorry. I think I got carried away."
"It's fine. It's perfectly reasonable why you're like this."
She laughs nervously.
"Where are we going now?"
"Oh yeah, we need to decide that. Any ideas?" I look to Mayu and Yuko.
"Let's go shopping!" Yuko suggests.
Mayu agrees. "Shibuya's not that far from here. When we're through, we can just go around wherever."
"Don't forget what we're here for though." I remind them.
We exit the airport and try to wave down a taxi. There's so many people trying to get around it's hard to get one.
20 minutes later and nothing. Mayu sits on her luggage, and Yuko is leaning against a pillar. She sighs out loud.
"I can drive you know." she says.
"Do you have a car?"
"No."
"Useless." Mayu says getting irritated.
"Stop saying that!" Yuko yells, taking out her phone.
She dials a number. "Sae-chaaaaaan~ I'm in Tokyo at the airport. Can you come pick us up? ... What do you mean no?! ... Ok ok, I'll see what I can do. .... *laughs* We're counting on you! Ja!" Yuko closes her phone.
"What do you think now? I got us a free ride."
"That didn't sound free." Mayu points out.
"At least we're not paying!" Yuko snaps.
"Hey guys..."
"Yeah?"
"What?"
Yuko and Mayu turn to me. "Where's Takamina?" I look around increasingly worried.
They immediately dart their eyes around the area.
"What's that?" Yuko points to a gathering crowd. We walk over there to see what's going on. They were all looking up which brought our attention to a considerably tall lamp post. An awfully familiar small figure could be seen at the top.
"What the heck is she doing?!" Mayu starts to panic.
"Did she climb?!" Yuko looks at her in awe.
"Takamina!" I call out to her. She waves down at us.
"Come down!" I yell.
"You guys should come up here! It's so cool!" Takamina calls down. I take back what I said about her probably not liking heights.
She wasn't fine though when we were up on the platform at The Globe. Maybe it was mainly because it was glass so it's not like she could see exactly where she was standing.
Can she even hear us? I wave my arms for her to come down. For a moment she's confused, but she nods her head reluctantly. She slowly makes her way down the pole, jumping off when she's a few feet up.
The moment she touches the ground, I smack her head.
"Itai! What did I do??"
"That was dangerous! Don't do that again!"
She shrinks back, looking smaller than she already was. I grab her shoulders and pull her into a hug.
"Don't scare us like that.. What if something happened to you..?" I breathe out in a small voice.
She tenses under my grip. After a while, I feel her relax. I let her go. She looks up at me guiltily.
"I'm sorry. I won't do it again. I won't go stray away, I'll be good so... don't look so sad."
It's your fault.
"I'm just worried about you. You're our responsibility."
"Ah, souka." She smiles.
Yuko puts her hand on Takamina's head and turns her to her direction. "Yo, tell me. Did you really climb up there?"
Takamina nods sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I said I won't do it again."
"Sugoi..." Yuko mumbles out.
"Eh?"
"Is there anything you can't do?"
"Yuko, what's that supposed to mean?" Mayu asks.
"I mean, she keeps doing these unbelievable things it's like she's out of this world."
"Technically, she is." I point out.
"But it's amazing. She is from the past, but why are we unable to do what she can? Have the devices to heal instantaneously, memorize at impossible speeds, and scale objects I know we couldn't normally. What happened in history that prevented human development to this extent?" Um... I'm the historian, I should be asking that question.
Yuko turns on her. "How strong are you?"
"How...? Um..."
"She's not the protagonist of some shounen manga."
"Manga?" Takamina tilts her head.
"I'll tell you later." Mayu smiles wryly.
"That's not the point! Someone normal wouldn't be able to simply climb a tall pole! Look at her! It doesn't seem like she has much muscle to begin with. Actually, it doesn't look like she has any at all. Takamina, come at me!"
"Yuko, don't." I sigh.
Takamina backs away from Yuko. "Ok, I'll make you!" Yuko declares before tackling Takamina. Takamina widens her eyes, grabbing hold of the other girl's shoulders. She tries to push back the other girl, but she feels that she's too strong. Takamina attempts to force the girl on the ground before she does to her. She takes hold of Yuko's leg, trying to lift it off the ground and unbalance her. Before she gets the chance, Yuko wrenches her leg from Takamina's grip, pulls Takamina's arm forward and twists it a bit to get the shorter girl on her knees.
"Oi! Yuko! That's too much!" I yell at her.
Takamina cries out and Yuko gains the advantage, pinning her to the floor with her hands behind her back. Yuko sits on Takamina's back unexpectantly disappointed.
"Were you holding back?" She asks.
"Yuko! Get off her!" Mayu yells "You can't let her get injured, because then that goes on my paycheck." Mayu grumbles that last bit.
"She didn't put up much of a fight. Either she's weak or she's messing with me." Yuko gets off Takamina and helps her up. "Sorry about that. I never thought that you could be such a weakling. No hard feelings?" If I were you Takamina, I wouldn't forgive her.
"It's fine. I was surprised." Takamina brushes herself off and massages her wrist. "About my strength, physically yes, I am weak. I have low constitution. I was able to climb the pole because I wanted to. It's not about strength."
We look at her strangely. "Uh yeah, it is. There's just no way otherwise."
"There is a way though."
"And what is that?" Yuko laughs, crossing her arms. She can't wait to hear.
"It's simple really. It's a matter of wanting to do it and taking action."
"Will?" Yuko says in disbelief.
"Um... if that's the word yes?" Takamina replies unsure.
Mayu proceeds to laugh heartily, holding her stomach. "Takamina, I think you'd really like manga." She laughs some more, laying a hand on her shoulder for support.
I roll my eyes. Yuko grumbles to herself, "So I could do that too? No no no no, that's impossible." She shakes her head, her brows creasing together. She takes a seat with her hands on her head. Yuko, with doubts like that, it really is impossible.
A white suv pulls up behind Yuko, honking its horn. Yuko jumps from the sudden noise and turns around. She sees a figure in the car and a bright smile appears across her face. She runs towards the car.
"Sae-chan!"
The windows roll down, and a boyish girl grins at the excited squirrel. "Long time no see."
"Thanks for coming! We've been waiting here forever!" Yuko obliges herself taking the front seat. "Come on!" She calls to us to follow.
Sae nods encouragingly. "Hop in."
We enter the car, Takamina carefully looking around inside. "There's so many different modes of transportation." She notes.
"How did you get around in your time?" I ask, as I help her buckle in her seat.
"I walked. Though sometimes my cat let me ride on her."
"You had a cat?" They had those back then? But cats now wouldn't have been in Japan a long time ago. And one that she could actually ride on! Is she kidding? Animals take millions of years to evolve into what they are now. Takamina wasn't here millions of years ago. Wait, I don't even know the exact time period she was born in so I can't say. No wait, what am I thinking? Of course not. Ugh, everything is so confusing, my brain is racking. There is so much conflicting history. How can it be possible in such recent times..? I have so many questions.
"You rode on her??" Mayu questions.
"Sugoi!" Sae overhears.
"See, she's great right?" Yuko bounces in her seat excitedly.
"Oh yeah, welcome to Tokyo!" Sae cheers. Takamina nods. I poke her shoulder.
"What kind of cat was it?" I ask, curious.
"Hmm... She was big and fluffy, a mix of white and grayish brown. She was...a good friend."
"I almost thought you would describe a sabertooth." Mayu laughs.
"No, Nyaa-chan's cuter." Takamina says.
"Kawaii, for a large cat." Yuko laughs.
"I wish I had a pet." Sae comments longingly.
"But you already have one." Yuko says.
"What are you saying? I don't."
"What about that gorilla?"
"Don't call her a gorilla! She's not an animal like you!" Sae suddenly snaps.
"Are they talking about Sayaka?" I whisper to Mayu.
"Yes, and I wouldn't interrupt them." Mayu whispers back.
"Who's Sayaka?" Takamina whispers into our conversation.
"Shhhhhhh" We both hold our fingers up. Takamina presses her lips shut.
Yuko critcizes Sae, "I find that highly offensive. I'm just an innocent squirrel."
"Innocent, yeah, that's right." Sae scoffs. "The only innocent part about you is...oh wait, nothing!"
Uuuuuuuuuu.
"Oi! Just ask Haruna! She knows just how innocent I am!"
Sae laughs, "Yeah, I bet she does."
"What are you implying?"
"Nothing, do me a favor though. Don't you dare insult Sayaka again."
"That a threat? Don't take me so seriously. I was only joking." Yuko rolls her eyes.
The car suddenly stops, and we jerk forward in our seats. Sae glares at Yuko. She raises a hand and we lean back.
She suddenly turns to us, her hand reaching behind her head.
She laughs nervously, "Where are we going?"
"Eh?? Yuko, why didn't you tell her before?" Mayu glares at her acuusingly.
"Hehehe, gomen."
"We were planning on going to Shibuya to shop. We haven't decided particularly where yet though." I explain.
"Ne ne, can I pick where we go first??" Yuko grins suspiciously.
Mayu shouts. "No! I hate the places you pick. You might take us somewhere gross. I get to choose!"
"It wasn't that bad last time." Yuko reasons.
"It was Scream World. I almost died." Mayu deadpans. I laugh at them. That's not a shop.
"Ah, sugoi! I've always wanted to go there!" I say once I stop laughing. I didn't know they went before. Those two are always going somewhere fun when they have the time. They've visited Disney World, Universal Studios, New York, Paris, and several other amazing places. They've also visited playgrounds, explored caverns and old warehouses, gone rock-climbing and paint-balling, attended sports games, and ate at run-down restaurants. I can definitely see the differences between the places where Mayu and Yuko chose to go. They have completely different personalities. Why do they even bother traveling together? Those two...
Where they went recently, Scream World, is a popular haunted house attraction; a complete thriller. People have been known to get lost, cry uncontrollably, faint, or even wet their pants. It's an absolutely terrifying experience. They should've invited me!
"It was fun!" Yuko tells me gleefully.
"You're insane! Both of you!" Mayu shouts at us. "I'm choosing this time." Mayu glares at Yuko.
"Ehhhhh, why don't we let Sae-chan choose where we go then? She's the one driving us." Yuko already knows where Mayu wants to go and isn't interested.
"Hnnnnnnn... As long as it isn't you." Mayu sticks her tongue out.
"Where do you want to go, Sae?"
Sae starts the car, moving us forward again. "I know just the place.”
=====
-
You have interesting story here. ^-^
It's look like Takamina have something like - power - or what you said - 'will'.. :hee: she is fast learner..
Yuko make all this more funny.. ;D
Look forward for next chapter. :)
-
Please excuse any technical terms you don't understand in this chapter. If you really want to know, you can always look it up in the dictionary. :)
====================
Linked
6. Intrigued
"Remind me why we're dressed like this." I ask, folding my arms.
"We're helping Sae-chan practice, remember?" Yuko says.
Oh yeah, but why did I agree? At the moment, we were waiting for Sae on the court. Twenty minutes earlier, she brought us to a gym. Apparently, Yuko had called her as she was about to start practice so she's now taking the opportunity to get some time in.
"I can't play though." I say.
"Sure you can." Sae walks in with a ball under her arm. "I'll teach you."
"What are we doing?" Takamina raises her hand.
"We, my new friend, are going to play basketball." Sae then proceeds to dribble the ball before performing a layup. Takamina nods, clapping her hands lightly.
"Does height matter?" Takamina asks Sae while looking up at the basket.
Sae laughs. "Just look at Yuko."
We look across the court to see Yuko warming up on her own. I'm sure she's played with Sae before, seeing how she makes her shots into the hoop, effortlessly.
"Naruhodo. So the objective is to get the ball through the hoop?" Takamina asks.
Sae weighs her head around. "More or less, yeah that's it."
Takamina smiles. "Can I try?"
"Hm... wait a minute. Mayu, do you know how to play?" Sae asks, directing her attention to the girl leaning against the wall nearby.
"Yeah yeah, I've studied its concepts before and watched several gameplays. I got it." Mayu nods assuringly.
"You sure?"
"Yes, I'll just do some stretches for now. Don't want to twist my ankle or something." Mayu bends her body forward, reaching for her toes.
Sae looks back at us. "Ok, you guys also have other places to go so to save some time, we'll split up. Acchan, you'll practice with me. Takamina, why don't you go over there to Yuko. If you ask, she should help you. In half an hour, we'll gather up and try a game. That alright?" We nod, taking a glance at each other before Takamina goes across the gym.
Sae hands me the ball.
"From whatever you know, let me see what you can do. Then we can go from there."
I bounce the ball and try to dribble it from what I've seen. As the ball reaches my other hand, I feel a sense of triumph. I smile and continue dribbling the ball back and forth. This is easy!
"Well your dribbling seems fine. Why don't you try running with it. Although, one hand only." Sae suggests.
I take a deep breath and try to dribble as I run. Dang, it's harder than it looks. It's as if the ball keeps changing pace, either getting farther from me or moving closer. It's also hard for me to keep it at a constant height. It keeps going too high. Ugh, stupid ball. I stumble on my feet for a moment and miss the ball in the air as it comes down on my head. I immediately grab my head. Tch, I hate this game. I glare at the offending object and kick it away, accidentally sending it to Mayu. Luckily, she ducked before it could hit her.
"Oi! Watch it!" She yells.
"Sorry!" I call out.
I scratch my head, frowning. Couldn't it have been some other sport? I would have preferred baseball or maybe tennis. Ughhh.
"Hey calm down, Acchan. It's not your kind of sport, so don't be hard on yourself if you can't get it. It takes some more practice." Sae reassures me, as if she knows what I was just thinking.
"I need a moment." I say as I walk over to the water cooler and fill up a quick drink. I look across the court and almost spit out my water as I witness an intense one-on-one between Yuko and Takamina. As Yuko tried to guard against Takamina, the smaller girl was unable to move past her. When Takamina tried to fake left and break right, Yuko was there to block her. Hm, Sae said height didn’t matter, but it looks like Yuko has the advantage.
I watch a smile play on Yuko’s lips as she moves in to steal the ball away. Takamina notices but instead of dodging her, the small girl throws the ball into the air before sliding herself on the floor underneath a surprised Yuko, who instead grabs air. Takamina swiftly stands up, easily catching the ball before it touches the floor. Takamina runs for the hoop, stopping at the 3-point line where she makes a basket with ease. Wait, what she did...is that allowed?
"She’s good.” Sae comments. “Good reflexes too."
I agree. If Takamina can do it, then I should be able to too. I look away from the two as Yuko acquires the ball from Takamina.
"I want to try again." I say, determined. If we play against those two, I don’t want to lose.
Sae smiles, passing me the ball. "Your move."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Twenty minutes and lots of sweating later, the five of us meet in the center of the court. Yuko and Takamina were breathing out, heavily. Mayu was leisurely waiting with a towel in her hand. She passes it to Yuko who wipes herself off.
"You sure you’ve never played before?" Sae asks Takamina.
"Trust me, she hasn’t. Whew, that was really fun though..!" Yuko breathes out tiredly.
"You should play for a team." Sae tells Takamina.
"She can't." Mayu says.
"Why's that?"
"I might d—"
"She has business to take care of. Maybe when she’s done, she can consider it." Mayu cuts Takamina off before she could say anything. Sae of course, doesn't know about Takamina.
The tall girl nods."Ok then. Let’s try a game. We’ll play 2-on-2 and the remainder as ref. Any takers?" Sae asks.
No one speaks up.
"None? Okayyy, then nose goes!" Sae points to her nose.
I look around confused as Yuko and Mayu immediately point to their nose, and Takamina follows along doing the same. Sae and Yuko grin at me.
"Looks like Acchan is ref! Don’t forget to keep track of the score too." Sae says.
"What! But I wanted to play!" I complain.
"You can play next game." Yuko tries to reassure me. Yeah right, if there is a next game.
"Do you want to take my place?" Takamina offers me.
I widen my eyes. "No no no, it’s okay. I’ll be fine. You have fun." I tell her. I am not taking this experience away from her. Anyways, if Takamina doesn’t play when I do, it won’t feel right. I’d rather watch her play than have her watch me.
"Are you sure? I don’t mind it." She asks again.
"Daijoubu." I smile. "Thanks though."
Sae claps her hands. "Ok! Let’s get this started! Yuko and Mayu, you two pair up. Takamina with me. The time is 24 minutes and then we can all go to lunch. I want to keep it short so we’ll have time to get to all the places you intend on going." It was 11:30am.
For the moment, I watch from the side as they split off. Mayu and Yuko branch off to discuss their game plan, and I’m sure Sae and Takamina are doing the same. I look over to them. Oh? It looks like they aren’t. They’re in their positions, readying themselves. I guess they didn’t need to speak. It looks like Takamina is on Guard while Sae is Forward. Yuko positions herself as Guard, and I guess Mayu is going to be Center. That might make it easier for them, because honestly, I didn’t trust Mayu when she said that she’s got this. At least Yuko’s on her side. Well, we’ll see how this goes.
As Yuko and Takamina meet in the center, I hold the ball up ready. I glance at both of them momentarily. They look so serious. I blow the whistle, tossing the ball in the air.
Of course, Yuko reaches the ball first. She laughs as she runs across the court. They’re going for a fast break. Takamina runs to catch up with her. Sae prevents Yuko from making a shot, and Takamina is almost on her. Yuko makes the quick decision, passing the ball to Mayu. Sae reaches for it but misses. Surprised, Mayu catches the ball and tries to make a jump shot from her position. Sae pushes the ball away mid-air, towards Takamina but Yuko catches it before the smaller girl could. She dodges Sae, making a quick score before they could steal the ball.
"Whoo!" Yuko yells, high-fiving Mayu. "First point, yatta!"
"You don’t have the game yet." Sae says, running back down the court. Yuko’s joy was short-lived as Takamina ran past her with the ball. Yuko makes the effort to catch up to the girl, knowing she was the faster runner. As Takamina makes a pass to Sae, Yuko obtains the ball in between them, tail-turning back up the court. Takamina catches up to Yuko, waving hi before stealing the ball before Yuko could either pass to Mayu or make a shot. Mayu tries to block Takamina from making a shot, but she makes it past her, and passes the ball to Sae. From there, Sae tries to score a 3-pointer but it misses. Takamina catches the ball and rebounds it, earning them points.
Sae nods to Takamina. I look up at the time. 16 minutes.
For the next 15 minutes, they continuously move back and forth across the court. They are pretty evenly matched in terms of experience and skill, tying the score 22-22. As the timer reaches down to a minute, I call out a warning to the running figures.
Takamina runs down the court with the ball, keeping up with Sae. Yuko intercepts a pass between them, quickly passing the ball to Mayu who races to shoot it within the 20 seconds left.
Sae and Takamina realize that they don't have enough time to score a point. They silently agree to prevent Yuko and Mayu from gaining one. They run with all their might, trying to block them or steal the ball from their grasps. While Yuko had entrusted the ball to Mayu, she covers for her. She uses all her strength to prevent both Sae and Takamina from obtaining the ball.
The time is less than 5 seconds.
As Yuko blocks Takamina, Sae runs past her.
"Go, Mayu!" Yuko yells.
Mayu sees Sae catching up to her, so she attempts to throw the ball and try her shot.
Everything slows down. Yuko and Takamina look up at the ball as it sails towards the hoop. In slow motion, I see Sae reaching for the ball. Mayu clenches her teeth, eyeing the ball, hoping it’ll make it in. Sae’s fingers barely graze the ball as it reaches the rim, rolling around it in a circular motion.
There’s a collective silence as the ball drops.
The timer alarm sounds.
. . .
"Yes!" Sae cheers, giving a big hug to a surprised Takamina.
Yuko and Mayu sink to the floor at a loss.
"We were so close." Yuko whispers.
"I'm sorry! It was my fault." Mayu apologizes repeatedly to Yuko.
"No, you did good. It was that Bakamina. She and Sae stole the game." Yuko frowns toward Takamina.
"Watashi wa?" Takamina points to herself.
I walk up to her, handing her a towel and bottle of water.
"Don't mind them. They just hate losing."
"But it was a tie, right?" Takamina asks.
"But it's not like they won either, so in their eyes, they lost."
I look to the two on the floor. I nudge them to get up. "Come on now, go get changed."
Yuko tiredly rises. She glares at Sae. "Just you wait til next time! Then we'll see who'll win." She declares.
"So you'll play again?" Sae's hopes get up.
"Yeah! And Bakamina, you better be here for the next game or I won't be satisfied."
Takamina just smiles.
"I'll try to practice more too, but until then, I'll stick to my field."
"Since you guys played a good game, I’ll treat you all to lunch." Sae says.
"Yes!" Yuko and Mayu's spirits lift. They run for the locker room.
I laugh, passing Sae as I walk after them. "Don’t regret it."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"I see what you mean now…" Sae whispers beside me.
I lean to her. "You should have expected it of Yuko."
"I did, but not the others. I’m glad we chose a buffet restaurant." Sae sighs, opening her wallet. She had just enough.
We look across the table at Yuko, Mayu, and Takamina, who were all indulging themselves in an eating contest. They took advantage of the all you can eat buffet and had already finished several plates each.
I look down at my plate at my measly meal compared to theirs.
My arm is nudged and I look to Sae. She points to Takamina. She had finished 4 plates, and didn’t look nearly satisfied yet.
"Mou, that’s enough." I say to the three small pigs. They look up.
Yuko wipes her mouth. "Acchan, I haven’t even won yet."
"I need more rice." Mayu looks down at her empty bowl.
Takamina pushes her plate away. "Can I still get some cake?"
These three…
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It took some time, but Sae and I managed to persuade the trio to leave with us. It was already past 1, and there were still places we needed to go. We have to remember why we came here. We have 6 days, and I don’t plan on spending all that time here in this city.
Sae dropped us off in Shibuya as promised. She was about to leave to go meet up with her brother.
"Yuko, don’t forget what you promised!" Sae says, winking at her.
"Ehhhhh, here, why don’t I just give you her new number. I can’t believe you still don’t have it." Yuko takes out her phone.
"Eh?! No, just do me the favor, onegai!"
Yuko slowly shakes her head to herself, texting on her phone.
Sae’s phone goes off. She checks it.
"Noooooo! I don’t want it! I’m going to delete it!" Sae mashes on her phone.
"What’s your problem? I don’t want to be the messenger. Ask her yourself." Yuko sticks her tongue out, and pushes Sae into her car closing the door. "I sent it again! Don’t delete it this time! Now go away!" She yells at Sae through the window.
Sae pouts, and I can read her lips through the glass as she says 'fine.' A moment later, she drives off.
"What did she want you to do?" Mayu asks.
"She wanted me to tell Sayaka to visit Tokyo, or specifically her, soon. I think last time they saw each other was when the three of us hung out last year during the holiday season. Sae visited the island that time." Yuko explains.
"Is that a long time ago?" Takamina asks, curious.
"You could say that. Not as long as you were unconscious though."
"I know that."
"Now that that’s done…" Yuko grins. "I get next pick!" Yuko starts skipping down the sidewalk.
I hear Mayu groan in annoyance. I have a bad feeling about this.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I was right!
Mayu and I were currently sitting on a bench across a very pink store. Yuko had brought us to Victoria’s Secret, and we obviously didn’t want to be seen in there with her.
Yuko didn’t want to go alone, so she dragged Takamina with her inside. Takamina didn’t seem to mind it because she said she 'likes the color pink, so it must be a good place.'
Poor girl. She doesn’t know what she’s getting into.
I doubt it, but I hope they don’t have too much trouble in there.
==========
No POV
Inside the popular lingerie shop, Yuko was in the process of having Takamina try on various items.
"Try this, and this, and this. Oh, try this too! Go go go!" Yuko ushers the confused girl into a changing station.
In the small cubicle, Takamina was carefully surveying the clothing articles.
"This is cloth? But it doesn’t cover much." Takamina thinks, as she holds up some underwear.
She rubs the back of her neck. "So I try this on..."
*knock* *knock*
"Eh? Um, yes?" Takamina says as she hears a knock outside her station.
"It’s me! Are you done yet?"
"What kind of clothing is this?" Takamina opens the door, appearing in front of Yuko in white lace lingerie.
Yuko widens her eyes. She gives a low whistle, bringing up her phone to take a quick snapshot.
"What’s that?" Takamina asks, wondering what Yuko’s doing.
"It’s nothing. Oh, it’s called lingerie. What do you think?" She says as she types the same question in a message, sending it to Acchan.
"I think I like it." Takamina says. "Do you think Acchan will?" The small girl asks too innocently, as she only wonders if it’s okay. She wanted a second opinion.
Yuko looks down at her phone, grinning. She looks back up at Takamina. "Dai~jou~bu!" Yuko closes her phone, placing it back in her bag.
"I’m curious though. Why asking about Acchan?" A strange glint appears in her eyes.
"Huh? Oh… I don’t know. I just want her opinion." The smaller girl says shyly.
"Hm. Good enough. Ok, go change!" Yuko shuts the door on Takamina.
A few minutes later, Takamina steps out. She looks around, unable to see Yuko in the area. She searches through the store, but comes up emtpy handed as the other midget was nowhere to be found.
She remembers Acchan once telling her that if she ever got lost, then she must stay where she is. Takamina immediately sits on top of one of the store’s furniture. She waits quietly, not minding the strange stares she was receiving.
As she leans back, something nudges her back. She turns around, noticing a tall mannequin. Takamina stands up, intrigued by it. She walks around it, taking note of the other mannequins by its side. She finds it strange how they don’t have a face. Her hand unconsciously reaches out to touch it.
"Boo!" Yuko scares Takamina from behind.
"Kyaaa!" Takamina falls against the mannequin, not only pushing it down, but the four other mannequins too.
==========
Acchan’s POV
"Baka, Yuko." I mumble as I look down at my phone to a picture she had sent. What is that girl thinking?
Mayu looks over. "Not bad," she comments. I shoot her a glance, and she shrugs.
I text Yuko back, telling her not to take too long. But on the contrary, it looks like we might be here awhile. I browse through my phone, opening up my tetris app.
Not 15 minutes later, I hear Yuko and Takamina’s voice.
"Moushiwake gozaimasen deshita!" Mayu and I look up to see Yuko and Takamina apologizing to the store’s manager before running to us.
"What did you do??" I confront Yuko.
"Why do you assume it’s me? I’m sure you saw Bakamina bowing too."
"What happened then?" Mayu asks.
"We may or may not have pushed over store property." Yuko laughs nervously.
"It’s my fault though." Takamina says, looking down.
"Was there any damage?" I ask.
Takamina shakes her head.
"Did anyone get hurt?"
"No."
"Then it’s okay. Don’t worry about it anymore."
"Psh, why are you going easy on her? If it were me, you would have hit me or something." Yuko grumbles.
"I should hit you though, because you must have been messing around!"
"I would never!" She drones out sarcastically.
I roll my eyes, and look at the time. It was almost 3.
"Yuko, you have everything?"
"Yeah, I bought a lot." she grins, picking up her bags."Oh yeah, Takamina here’s yours." She hands a bag to her. "I bought some other things for you too. Check them out later." She says. I don’t even want to think about what she could have gotten.
"My turn now." I say.
"Why do I have to be last?" Mayu complains.
"Seniors first."
"Tch."
"Where are we going now?" Takamina asks me, as we start walking.
"Shibuya 109. You could use some more clothes. I also want to check out some things."
"Why? This is good enough." She indicates to the clothes she was wearing.
"But what about tomorrow and the next day, and so on?"
"This...?"
"In your time, did you always wear the same clothes?" Mayu asks her.
"Yes."
"What if they got dirty? What did you wear then?"
"The same thing?"
"You didn't clean them??"
"Eh? No, I did."
"What?"
"Oh eto.. I had multiple clothing. They just all looked the same. It's just, there's no need to exchange clothes every day if the previous is still clean and wearable."
"Well if you're living in this time now, you're going to need more clothes than just that."
"But—"
"It'll be fine. You'll see." I smile assuringly.
Takamina doesn't say anything, contemplating her thoughts. She starts to lag behind, so I take her hand. She immediately looks down at our intertwined hands.
"W-what are you doing?" She says nervously.
"You were getting behind. Come on, we should catch up to the others. They're already a ways ahead of us."
"N-no...I mean your h-hand.."
"Oh, I'm sorry." I say, taking it back. Why does she look so nervous?
"It's okay. I was just surprised."
"It's just holding hands."
Takamina smiles, shaking her head.
"What?"
"It's nothing." I watch her back as she walks ahead of me.
=====
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This was really a nice fic :twothumbs :twothumbs
Keep up 8) :lol: :lol:
A lifetime ago was really good too
Past and future is really awesome
Maybe I write something about it to, though in the future XD XD
Though I'm a bit disappointed at a ending
Maybe you could write a sequel about Atsumina (I'm biased XD XD)
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I really like this chapter, so I hope you do too! ^_^
Linked
7. Progress
No POV
'This is good.' Acchan nods to herself, as the small group enters an electronics store. They were making a quick stop on their way to Shibuya109.
'I don't like this.' Takamina thinks as she sees all these strange, suspicious, yet cool looking gadgets and various forms of technology.
'Hm? What game is that?' Mayu wonders as she notices a couple of kids playing a demo of a new shooter game. She strays from the others as she's beckoned towards it.
'Why are we here? I don't even know how to work most of this stuff.' Yuko looks at the featured display case showcasing the new iPhone6, iPhone6+, Ipad Air 2, Samsung Galaxy S5, and other prestigious models of cell phones and tablets if any.
As they pass by a tv, Takamina notices their faces displayed on it as they walk by. She stops, walking back to it. She looks at herself on the screen in awe. She reaches out to touch the tv and feels its cold static.
“Hey you shouldn’t do that.” Acchan informs her. Takamina quickly removes her hand. Acchan pulls her some steps away from the tv. “It’s not good if you’re too close.”
Takamina looks at herself and Acchan now displayed on the tv. She looks at Acchan. “How?” she asks, pointing to the screen.
Acchan points to a small camera sitting at the top of the tv. “It films you if you’re in front of it, and connects the image to the tv.
Takamina takes the camera from the tv.
“Put that back!” Acchan panics, looking out for any employees.
“Wait.. I’m just looking. I won’t break it.” Takamina tries to reason. She turns over the small device, tapping it a bit. “What is this made of?”
“I don’t know…” Acchan sighs. “Ask Yuko.”
Takamina looks around for Yuko, spotting her trying out some new headphones.
“It’s okay, she looks busy.” Takamina puts it back gently. “Is that the only one?” Takamina asks, taking an interest in cameras.
"Mmm.. There's more over there." Acchan leads Takamina to an aisle filled with an assortment of cameras of different brands.
"Wah sugoi!" Takamina notes how different they look from the previous camcorder that filmed them. She studies through them, looking carefully through each one.
"Takamina."
Takamina turns around to be flashed by a bright light. Her mind is dazed for but a moment, before she focuses in on Acchan who was holding another camera.
"Look." Acchan holds out the camera screen for Takamina to see. It was a picture of the smaller girl squinting her eyes from the flash.
Takamina grabs the camera from Acchan, taking in the picture. She stares at it wonderingly.
"How is it able to freeze time?"
Acchan laughs, "It just captured the moment, that's all." Acchan recalls that Takamina didn’t notice the picture from the hologram when they were at the roller coaster.
Takamina scrunches her face together as she thinks.
"Here, I'll take another one." Acchan smiles as she brings Takamina closer to her side which surprises the shorter girl. She holds the camera up in front of them.
"Smile!" Acchan smiles wide.
Takamina can't help but stare at Acchan's smile, seeing how beautiful she is. It becomes contagious and she finds herself smiling too.
A click sounds from the device.
Acchan turns the camera over so they could see how it turned out.
Takamina gasps.
"Can I keep this?" The shorter girl whispers.
"You like the photo?"
"Un."
"Hmmm... Wait a sec." Acchan takes the camera from Takamina who pouts. She takes it over to a counter where she proceeds to purchase it.
She hurries back to Takamina, handing it back to her.
"Here, this is yours now. You can take all the pictures you want."
"Honto ni?"
"Yeah. Go on, try it out." Acchan encourages her.
Takamina brings up the lens to eye level.
"Like this?"
"Yep, then just direct it to what you want a picture of and click the button there at the top."
Takamina looks through the lens, turning slowly around the room. As she circles around, her lens focuses on Acchan and she finds herself snapping a shot. She looks over to small screen to see how it turned out.
==========
Yuko’s POV
"Tch. I take my eyes off them for a minute and they disappear." I mumble to myself as I search through the store. I find Mayu in the middle of a game.
"Mayu, stop playing. Let’s go." I tap her shoulder.
"Hold up, I have to assassinate this guy first. If I take care of him I’ll have access to better weapons, and trust me, this gun sucks." She waves her toy gun in the air before concentrating on the screen. I roll my eyes.
"Just buy the game."
"And replay all of this? Heck no."
"How far are you?"
"Far enough--oh shit! An ambush!" Mayu starts yelling at the screen as she virtually guns down the enemy.
"Oi, you’re going to get into trouble if you don’t watch your language." I comment.
"You're not Yuki, so I can speak however I want."
"Oh? So when did you start using her first name?"
"If this was a real gun, I'd shoot you right now."
I laugh, "If."
Mayu ignores me, trying to finish up her mission. I eye the player two gun on her right. If I help her out, we'll be done with this faster. No, I have to find that baka couple. I can't just leave Mayu here though.
"What are you waiting for?" Mayu says. I find her indicating to the player two gun. Dang, she knows me so well.
"Ahh! Fine!" I grab the gun and aim for the screen, backing her up as we head for our objective.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Yes!" Mayu and I high-five each other as we beat the game. It was supposed to be a short demo, but Mayu pulled some strings and got the full version unlocked.
"What time is it now?" Mayu asks. I check on my phone. "Eh?! It's past 5 already?! We have to go!" Mayu and I run around the store, looking for Acchan and Takamina.
"Where did they go?"
"You'd think they would have been looking for us." I frown as I start to call Acchan. A few seconds later, I hear her voice.
"Yeah?" She says.
"WHERE ARE YOU TWO??" I yell into my phone.
"You're asking now? Takamina and I left a few hours ago and went ahead to buy clothes."
"Did you get Takamina a phone before you two left?"
"Ehehe.. I forgot.. I kind of bought her a camera instead."
"A camera, are you serious?? I have plenty of cameras! She could have one of mine!"
"But she wanted this particular one.. Ah, it doesn't matter. Are you going to come over here?"
"In a bit. I'll go buy that girl a phone first. She's definitely the type that will go off on her own."
Acchan laughs, "Thanks, I'll see you guys later!" Before Acchan hangs up, I hear laughter in the background. What are they doing?
"So I take it they're not here?" Mayu asks.
"Nope." I start walking to the cellphone section, and grab the first phone I see. I slam it on the counter. "I'll take this one." I tell the cashier.
"You're going to break the phone before you even buy it." Mayu says.
"Don't worry. It's a Nokia."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
When we arrived, Mayu and I searched through the building for Acchan and Takamina. There were many shops so we split up, taking different floors. I had already searched through 2 floors when I finally found them. They were in a clothing store, and I found them by the dressing room. It seems to me Acchan and Takamina were having much fun on their own, hosting a mini fashion show. I watched as Acchan posed for Takamina as that midget took pictures with her new camera. Is this all they've been doing since they got here?
I lean by the wall, just watching them. They kept switching on who would be the model and photographer, but I noticed it was mainly Acchan who was the model. When Takamina would be dressed up, Acchan didn't let her pose by herself. She would take a picture with her so that baka wouldn't feel awkward.
Hm.. I was thinking about it for a while, but Takamina smiles wider when Acchan is with her. I've noticed that those two have clicked since practically the beginning.
I smile as Acchan places a pink bow on Takamina's head.
"It looks good on you!" Acchan compliments her.
Takamina shys away. "I don't like it though.."
"But it suits you."
"Really? It looks kind of silly."
Both of you are silly.
"Ok fine, let me at least take a picture before you take it off. Then you don't have to wear it ever again."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, now come on. Smile for me!" Acchan holds up the camera. Takamina doesn't smile, but pouts as the picture is taken. Acchan looks up from the camera. "Takamina, kawaii!" She runs for the girl, giving her what looks like a tight hug.
"Are~?" I say softly as I notice Takamina turning a bright red.
Acchan removes the bow as promised, and pushes her towards the mirror. Acchan hugs Takamina from behind as she holds her phone in her hand. She raises it up, laughing as she snaps a shot of the two of them.
"This one is going on my wallpaper." She grins.
I find myself smiling at her happiness. I've never seen this kind of Acchan. Usually, she's always so hung up on work. Sure, there were times when we would go have fun together, but never like this. She looks so much more relaxed now, and is smiling more often than ever. There's a sparkle in her eyes that's lighting her up. It's as if she's become radiant since we revived Takamina. I don't want to see it go away. For her sake, for both their sakes, we have to find those souls.
==========
Acchan's POV
"You two wasted so much time." Mayu scolds us as we exit the shop.
"Pfft. Speak for yourself, like you did anything productive. Who wasted their time playing a videogame for hours? You even got Yuko to join you." I counter.
"Productive? We finished a game! I think that is very productive. What did you do? Play with clothes."
"Oh boy.." I hear Yuko mumble.
"At least I don't look like some kind of doll that stepped out of an anime."
"Hm.. I think I'll take that as a compliment."
"You.."
"Oh well it's getting late guys! Why don't we call it a day?" Yuko steps inbetween us. What does it even matter what we did.
"But we didn't get to go where I wanted!" Mayu complains. Oh yeah, that's probably why she's upset with us. We also took up her time.
"Calm down. We'll go tomorrow, alright? Then we'll have plenty of time." Yuko says.
"Ano..."
"Where are we even staying tonight?" Mayu asks, accepting Yuko's words.
"We could crash at a hotel." I suggest.
"Oh yeah! Sae's place!" Yuko grins.
"Ano... Is it o..."
"It's the same thing." Mayu says.
"Oh, this will be my first time there." I say excitedly. I've heard about Sae's home, but I've never been there. Her family owns a hotel, so this could be actually convenient for us too.
"Um can we.."
"Let's go!" Yuko cheers.
"But..."
As we start to leave, I glance back at Takamina to find her head down. I walk up to her.
"Hey, you okay?"
She shakes her head.
"You're not? What's wrong?"
She doesn't say anything.
"Did you want to say something?" I ask.
"She nods her head, still looking down." Oh.
"Yuko, Mayu, wait up! Takamina wanted to say something." I call them back.
"So what is it?" I ask her once Yuko and Mayu reach us.
"I..." She starts. "I want to pick where we go too..." She asks shyly. "Can I?"
"Yeah of course, if you have a place in mind." Yuko says, smiling.
"I do."
"Really? Where?"
"There." Takamina points to a poster on a bulletin board of Tokyo Tower.
We all look to each other, coming to a silent agreement.
"Then let's go there now!" Yuko says, grinning.
"Yeah, it's still kinda early in the night." Mayu comments.
"Is it really okay?" She asks.
I smile. "Un. Ikou."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Upon arriving at Tokyo Tower, Takamina is astonished. She admires the structure for a while before we push her to the elevator so we could go up to the observation deck. You're not supposed to admire it from down here, the real view is up higher.
As we climb higher and higher, Takamina was growing more impatient. She was really like an excited kid. She couldn't wait.
"Are we there yet?" She asks.
The elevator doors open to the special observation deck.
Takamina's eyes widen. She looks at me, eagerly.
I smile, "After you." I gesture to the door.
A wide grin spreads across her face as she dashes onto the deck. She looks around, making a break for the rail. We follow her, noting there wasn't anyone else around at this time.
A gasp escapes her lips as she looks out into the city. She's dazzled by the bright lights creating a glow about the city.
"It's beautiful." She says softly, marveling her view.
She looks up at the sky and finds herself lost. She turns around to us. "Where are the stars?"
"They're there." I say.
"But I don't see them."
"There's too much light that it hides the stars. That's usually the case in cities." Yuko explains.
"Oh.." Takamina looks out again. We all go lean against the rail with her.
Several minutes later, Takamina speaks. "This... I don't belong here."
"We told you, this is your home too." I say.
"Was. I already knew it wasn't going to be the same. This is a lot though. It looks almost entirely different, like the views. In my home, although at night the landscape was dark, the stars still shined brightly and I was still able to watch the sunrise and sunset at its back. Here, it's the other way around. There's this bright view right here, but up above, it's so...empty. It's as if there's no life, no spirit, no hope. It's as if the world is temporary and there's nothing to look forward to... That's how I see it.." She finishes.
We're stunned into silence.
Takamina notices our expressions and begins to panic. "No! I didn't mean anything bad. There's nothing wrong with the city, really. I was just thinking about myself, that's all." She tries to explain.
"I understand though. This place is my home, but at the same time it isn't. And you know, what I love most, is this feeling I suddenly get up here. Where I can look out at almost everything, it eases me. Up here, I like how I feel free. That's home, where I feel the most free.." She smiles.
Suddenly, Takamina's body glows. It was only for a few seconds, but I'm sure we all saw it. Takamina places a hand on her chest, her face extremely contented.
"What..was that?" I ask.
"We found one."
"What?" The three of us say.
"I connected to a part of me. I feel...more alive now." Takamina suddenly hugs me, making me realize that this was the first time she initiated any kind of action.
"Thank you for bringing me here."
"Anything for you." I say without thinking.
"After this we are going to go to what you said hotel later to rest, right?" She asks.
"Yeah."
"Can I ask you to do something for me?"
"Hm? What is it?"
She yawns, the days events suddenly catching up to her. "Let me ride on your back."
Yuko and Mayu laugh a bit while I smile at the tired girl. She holds out her arms to me in the air. I turn around and she hops onto my back. She rests her head onto my shoulder as we walk back to the elevator. Once inside, I notice Takamina already drifting to sleep.
"Oyasumi..." She whispers sleepily.
"Sweet dreams." I tell her quietly as the elevator doors begin to close.
======
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Ah, Takamina and Acchan.. each day they both geting more closer to each other.. :shy1:
Thank you for update!
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waaaaa Linked is totally awesome~!! :farofflook: :on GJ:
i enjoyed reading everything especially the subtle (or was it not? lol) humor and atsumina's interactions XD
i just hope this will have a happy ending~ (please make it happen :mon cry:)
anyway great chapters so far~ update soon~!!
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The latest update is really great. I'll seriously wait for this fic's updates.
Acchan carrying Takamina is really awesome and cute. :love: :dunno: :imdead:
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Thank you for reading! Now on with the story! :twothumbs
Linked
8. Not Enough
Acchan's POV
*aitakatta aitakatta aitakatta—*
"Nooo!" I groan, reaching for my phone to turn off the alarm. What was I thinking, choosing this song?
I try to go back to sleep, but I feel awake now. I lazily stare up at the ceiling, running my hands through my hair. Light was coming through the window by the bedside, blanketing the room with its yellow shine.
"Unnnngggh..." I hear a voice groan, and look to my side to see nothing. Where did she go?
Last night, after we got to Sae's hotel, they gave us two rooms. I carried Takamina to the first, and laid her on the bed. After that, I changed into my pajamas and walked over to the bed.
I had gently nudged Takamina, waking her up to change into the pajamas we bought her. She mumbled an okay, sitting up tiredly. I went to the restroom to brush my teeth. When I got back, she was already changed and sleeping soundly once again.
I stared at her for a moment, how peaceful she seemed. I felt the need to sleep even more then. I turned off the light, climbed into the bed, and pulled the covers over both of us. I turned over so I faced her. She's so much different from how I would think a human would look from ancient history. She seems so normal, yet I know she isn't.
The room was dark, vaguely lit by the moonlight so I couldn't see well, but I swear, before I closed my eyes, I saw a tear fall down her face.
I recall her image last night. I don't think it was a dream. I start to look around for her, it doesn't look like she went to the bathroom. I'm sure she's still in here.
"Takamina?" I call.
"Unnnn?" I hear her tired voice. I crawl across the bed and look over to find her lying on the floor. She was hugging a pillow while rubbing one of her eyes.
"Why are you on the floor?"
"It's comfy." She replies. No, it's dirty.
"The bed isn't?"
"It's weird."
"How so?"
Takamina sits up, wrapping her arms around the pillow. "It's too soft." She rubs her face against the pillow.
"Uh huh, but you like that pillow." I point out. She smiles, nodding several times.
"Well get up and get dressed now. We have to hurry for breakfast so we'll have time to catch the train." I open the closet and pick out some clothes for her. It's starting to get cold so I take out a coat too.
As Takamina changes, I tidy the room and fix the bed. Since we found what we came for, we'll be leaving later tonight. We're going to come back here at the hotel to collect our things before we leave though.
I watch Takamina slip her coat on. She looks up at me.
"I look okay, right? I don't look funny?" She asks.
"No, it suits you. Don't worry about it." I assure her. "You ready to go?"
"Un."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Downstairs, Takamina and I enter the dining room to find Yuko and Mayu still eating. Sae was coming out of the kitchen with two plates of eggs and pancakes, western style.
"Morning! I was just about to go get you two." She places the platters in front of us as we take our seats.
"I'll give you 10 minutes. If you're not done, we'll be leaving first." Mayu says.
Takamina starts to eat fast.
"You don't need to be too in a hurry." Yuko says. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so you need to also savor the tastes. Enjoy it."
Mayu frowns at Yuko. She sighs after a moment. As a doctor, she realizes that she's right. "Don't take too long though." She finally says.
Sae takes a seat at the table.
"Thanks again for the discount. I owe you one!" Yuko tells Sae.
"No, I would've let you guys stay for free if my parents allowed it."
"It's okay. Better than paying full price." Yuko grins. Definitely. It's expensive to stay here.
"Aha yeah." She scratches her cheek.
"We'll be back later. Take care of our stuff." Yuko tells her as she gets up. Mayu stands too, looking down at her phone.
"We have 40 minutes until the train leaves, and a 30 minute walk. We need to get going." Mayu says.
Takamina and I just finish. We thank Sae for everything she's done for us.
"It's nothing. I'm glad I can be of help." She smiles.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
As we walk to the the train station, Yuko gives Takamina her new phone.
"I don't need it." She gives it back.
"Yes, you do." Yuko pushes it to her.
"It's not like I'll be able to have it long." Takamina tries to reason.
"Stop saying things like that." Yuko snaps.
Takamina hugs her arms, and doesn't say anything.
"Look, it's just a simple one with not too many functions. Call or text, that's it. We'll help you learn to use it. We just need to be able to contact you should anything happen."
"If it helps, we got it at a very cheap price." Mayu mentions.
Takamina hesitantly accepts the phone from Yuko.
She turns on the phone, a light flashing which startles her.
"It's okay, that's what it does. I already added our mail addresses to it so you don't have to. It's simple to understand once you get the basics." Yuko turns around.
Takamina starts to toy with the buttons on her phone, reacting to almost every popup and screen change.
I catch up to Yuko.
"Don't you think it's too simple? You could've got a small game on there to entertain her or something." I tell her.
"I don't want her to end up like those people who get addicted to their phones." We both glance at Mayu who was playing some kind of rpg as she was walking. A pole was coming up in front of her, but she side-stepped it while her eyes were on the screen.
"True.."
Yuko's phones beeps. She takes it out and I watch as her brows furrow. She turns around, so I look behind too. Takamina was but a speck in the distance.
"Just..keep..walking.." Yuko mutters as she types a message to Takamina.
"She mailed you? What did she say?"
"She said that she doesn't see us." Yuko's phone beeps again.
She laughs lightly. "And just now, 'Wow, it worked!'" She sighs, "That baka. How did she end up so far from us? Are we walking too fast? Oi, Mayu! Wait a minute!" She calls.
Mayu turns around, and pauses her game. She checks the time.
"Ahhh! 5 minutes until the train leaves!" She starts running without us.
"Chotto! Ughh yabai.." Yuko runs a hand through her hair. She looks over to Takamina walking a distance away.
I pull out my phone and dial Takamina's new cell. A few seconds later...
"Uh.. H-hello?" She answers.
"Start running! The train is going to leave soon!" I yell.
"A-ah! Hai!" I hear her footsteps through the phone as she takes off. I nod, and end the call.
"You go ahead and find Mayu. We'll catch up." I tell Yuko.
"Hurry." She sprints off.
I tap my arm worriedly as I wait for Takamina. Come on... We can't miss it. I feel my phone vibrate as Mayu had mailed me to hurry up.
I put down my phone as Takamina runs up to me. "Let's go!" I grab her hand immediately and start running.
We twist through crowds and wait out passing cars to reach the station. At the station, I quickly show my pass and guide us to the train where the doors were about to close.
I see Yuko and Mayu waving at us from a window. We quickly race to the door, running through just as it closed behind us. I let go of Takamina's hand, holding onto my knees for support. We both breathe heavily, already feeling so exhausted when it's only morning.
"Yatta..." I say. "We made it." I breathe.
"Cutting it way too close." Mayu comments as she and Yuko emerge from the crowd of people on the train.
"I want to go back to sleep now." I smile tiredly.
"At least you don't have to run anymore. Take a seat..oh wait." Yuko looks around the train cart. There wasn't anymore seats open, though Takamina somehow had one.
"We'll have to make due standing." Yuko shrugs.
Mouuu. Standing between Yuko and Mayu, I try to distract myself by glancing out the window. Several minutes later, I'm suddenly pushed from behind as more people enter at the next stop. I bite back my frustration, trying to at least get comfortable with the little space.
"Want to switch?" I hear Takamina offer. I look down to find her about to stand. I push her shoulders down.
"I'm fine." I lie.
"You don't look fine."
"It's okay, we should be arriving soon anyways."
"You can have my seat though, I don't need it. You could use it more than me."
"Takamina..." I start.
"I'll be fine. I'm smaller than you anyways. I can stand a crowd." She keeps trying to insist.
"No, you're already sitting and I'm already standing. Let's not waste our energy." I argue.
She grabs my arm.
"Eh? Wait!" She pulls me onto her lap, wrapping her arms around me.
"Chotto! Hanase! I don't want to sit on you! Takamina!" I struggle to get up, but she holds me tight.
"You didn't want to switch so I found a compromise."
Ugh. I stop struggling, knowing it wouldn't help. I feel Takamina smiling behind me. "Wipe that off your face." I mutter.
"Fufufufu~" I look to see Yuko and Mayu muffling their laughter as they take not so subtle pictures on their phones.
Mouuu! I look down trying to escape their eyes, hoping that my hair will cover my face.
Throughout the ride, I find my embarrassment slipping away as I start to feel relaxed. Takamina's arms reassuring me with a tight grasp that she was still there. I somehow found comfort in that.
When it was time to get off, I felt the warmth of her hands leaving. Mayu got off the train eagerly, and Yuko followed suit. It was a small feeling I had at that moment. A fleeting thought, I didn't want to get off. I was by her side. I didn't realize it, but I was wishing we didn't have to go. I wished the ride hadn't ended.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Don’t worry, Acchan. There’s still the train ride back.” Yuko whispers, winking as she passes by.
“Eh?” I blink. What does she…
“Acchan, let’s go.” Takamina tugs my arm. I smile at her, following her lead. What was I just thinking just now..? Ah, nevermind. It doesn’t matter.
“There’s so many people.” Takamina says as we round a corner to an intersection. The crosswalk was bustling with busybodies, many people in casual wear, but quite a lot dressed in costume attire. Cafe maids were handing out flyers, other people dressed up were doing some kind of promotion. I couldn’t recognize some of the characters. It really has been a while since I came here. Well, I don’t even come here really… It’s not exactly my kind of place. The buildings around us were made colorful by the large posters of anime, idols, and ads. It’s really lively here.
“Of course. This is Akihabara.” Mayu smiles proudly.
“Where do we even start?” I mutter. Yuko leans over to me.
“I know right. Since it’s Mayu, you can bet we’ll be going to not just one place.”
Right… This is going to be a long day.
"Takamina, follow me!" Mayu excitedly calls to Takamina who seems happy to see where we go next.
The two of them run ahead into a store selling manga. Of course...
Yuko and I sigh at the same time as we follow them inside. We look around for the duo and wander across the small aisles.
"Whooaaaa!" I hear Takamina's voice and follow its sound. In a corner of the store, I find Mayu trying to show Takamina shoujo manga. It seems Takamina got distracted by another cover and opened it to be immediately in awe by its contents.
I glanced at the shelf she got it from and see it's One Piece.
Yuko was patting Mayu's back while smiling. "Well it looks like she likes manga at the very least."
"Hmph!" Mayu looks down at the manga she was holding. She likes shoujo, but I guess Takamina has different tastes.
"So kakkoi!" Takamina flips through the pages of the manga.
"You have to start at the beginning." Mayu points to volume 1 on the shelf. Oh yeah, Takamina was holding the latest.
"Eh? There's more?!"
"For shounen manga, there's always more." She replies.
"So you have no problems reading it, right?" I ask.
"It's easy to understand, and there's not as many words. I like the drawings and story." Takamina explains.
"You can go look through the other manga then. There's a lot more than just One Piece." Yuko suggests.
"Wait, take this if you want to have any." I hand Takamina my debit card.
"What's this?"
"It's your ticket to the manga you want." Yuko tells her. "Just hand it to the guy at the counter at the front. He'll handle the rest."
"Just don't get too many." I add. She might buy whole collections for all I know.
Takamina nods. "Arigatou." She grins, running off excitedly.
"We'll be waiting here!" I call after her. I hope she heard me.
I fold my arms together, realizing something. I look to Yuko. "Did I make the wrong decision when I gave her my card?" I actually just gave it to her on impulse.
"You could stand to lose money, Acchan. Before Takamina, when was the last time you splurged?" She laughs.
I open my mouth to reply, but I stop myself. When was the last time...?
"I'm a doctor, and even I had time to go out for breaks and vacations."
I know that.
"You give yourself too much work. It was about time you got a break."
"We're still working even now, Yuko." I say.
"Really? It doesn't seem like work to me anymore."
"Yeah, this is more like an adventure you'd see in manga."
"That doesn't change the fact that we have to be responsible for her. I still have to write a report on everything's that happened." The only problem is how will I explain this to Mariko?
"Work work work, is that all that ever goes through your mind?! You're not living!"
I blink. I have a life, is she saying I don't??
"Don't look so skeptic, Acchan. We're only saying what we think."
"As a doctor, I would recommend you stop thinking about work. That's practically all you ever do. You're going to only stress yourself out. It's not good for your body. Try to have fun." Mayu suggests as she observes me. Kamisama, why are they concerning themselves over me?
"I am having fun though."
"But you're still thinking, aren't you. Stop thinking!"
Okayy, now they're annoying me. They can't tell me what to do. I roll my eyes, turning my back to them, and walk away. I should just go find Takamina.
I don't look very long before I find her playing tug o'war with a kid, over manga.
"What are you doing??" She looks so serious as she fights with the kid.
"This is the first volume of HunterxHunter! I have to read it!" Takamina pulls on the manga, but the kid has a tight grasp on it. He tries to pull it away from her.
"Such a child..." I mutter. "You can buy it some other time. Let the kid have it."
"Nooooo! Then I'll never get to read it!"
"I got it first!" The little boy yells.
"But I saw it first!" Takamina argues.
"It's mine!" The boy cries.
"You have your whole life ahead of you to read this! I only have less than a week!"
"Takamina!" I shout, pulling on her shoulder.
She freezes, slowly letting go of the manga. The little boy pumps his fist in the air triumphantly before running away with the manga tucked under his arm.
"It is just manga. This is not the only copy in the world. We can get it at another store, and we can even get it online if you know what that means. But, why did you say that?"
She doesn't answer, averting her eyes from me.
"Takamina.."
"I'm gonna go out.." She finally says, walking quickly away.
I look after her. I've seen her upset, but not like this. It can't be just because of a manga. Is it the environment? It could be all too much for her to take in. All this could just be culture shock. Maybe being here is influencing her, affecting her.
No, it's simpler than that. I know. There's just not enough time.
=====
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yey another chapter~!!
aawwww taka-chair :shy1: and acchan sure loved it :nya: :nya:
the last part was a bit depressing though, seems like takamina's more bothered with her situation than how much she's showing to the three of them :dunno:
thank you for the fast update~!
-
Linked
9. nEverchanging
No PoV
Takahashi Minami was walking swiftly on the sidewalk, frustration brewing across her face. She places a hand on her cheek, rubbing down to her chin to behind her neck. She briefly glances up at the sky, dark clouds beginning to gather. She quickens her pace.
Meanwhile, Acchan, Yuko, and Mayu hurry out of the store. They decide to go after Takamina.
"She's not answering her phone." Mayu says after trying to contact Takamina.
"This is exactly why I bought her one though!" Yuko complains angrily.
Acchan hugs her arms. "Don't be mad at her. She just needs space right now."
"Well it's been long enough. Where is she??"
*drip *drip *drip
They all look up. A sudden downpour crashes onto them. They all scream and start running for shelter.
"Are you kidding me?!" Yuko shouts into the rain.
Mayu grabs her head, "My hair!"
"There!" Acchan leads them into a restaurant for cover in the meantime.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Takamina also getting caught in the downpour, runs into the nearest building. A little bell rings as she enters through the door. When Takamina turns around she can't help but be amazed.
The walls were bright and colorful, and there were many stands and cases filled with all kinds of candy. She walks through the little shop, checking out the different sweets.
A large chocolate bar catches her eyes. She gravitates towards it, picking it off the shelf. She starts to unwrap it.
"Ahem." A voice coughs.
Takamina freezes, turning slowly to the voice. A tall woman with long brown hair, greets her with a smile.
"I assume you're paying for that?" She questions.
Takamina widens her eyes, realizing her mistake. She nods her head fast and reaches into her coat pocket for Acchan's card. She hands it to the woman.
The woman walks behind the counter and swipes the card. Her face glances at Takamina and to the screen, confused.
"You're Maeda Atsuko?" She raises an eyebrow.
"No, but that's her card."
"I see... You're not a thief, are you?"
"What's a thief?"
The woman blinks.
"What place is this?" Takamina asks curiously, looking around the cute shop.
"What? Um, it's a candy shop." The woman starts to observe the girl suspiciously. She doesn't give Takamina back the card or the chocolate the girl was going to eat previously.
"You're not from around here, are you?" She asks the shorter girl.
"You could say that." Takamina purses her lips. She shivers suddenly.
"Oh! You should dry off. I actually live here behind the shop, so you can change clothes." The woman suggests.
Alarms go off in Takamina's head. She recalls Acchan, Yuko, and Mayu stressing very seriously for her not to trust strangers. She takes a step back.
"I can't." Takamina shivers again.
"You sure? You'll catch a cold." The woman expresses her worry.
"I don't know you." Takamina states bluntly.
The woman laughs, "I'm sorry, my name is Kojima Haruna. You can call me Haruna."
"I'm Takahashi Minami." Takamina bows slightly.
"Well, Takahashi-san, I would like to invite you in my home for a warm cup of hot cocoa and dry clothing." She offers.
"Eto, call me Takamina... And since I now know you, okay." She smiles, agreeingly. She thinks that it should be okay, because now the woman isn't a stranger. She's Haruna.
"You're strange..." Haruna laughs. "It's not a bad thing though. Follow me, let's get you warmed up." She walks behind a curtained doorway.
Inside, Takamina waits patiently for Haruna as she went upstairs. She looks around the room, noting how neat the space was. In a corner of the room, a small table was holding up a tv. Beside the tv, she spots a picture frame. Curious, Takamina takes a step towards it to see it. Haruna enters the room before she could get a good look at it.
"My clothes probably wouldn't fit you, so I'm letting you borrow my girlfriend's clothes. It should be okay." Haruna hands her the clothes.
"I started a bath too, so you can wash up. I'll make the cocoa while you're in there."
Takamina nods. She thinks Haruna is so nice. "Why are you doing so much for me?"
"Hmm... I wonder too." She glances out the window. "It's going to be raining for a while longer, so I thought I should get to know you." She smiles. Haruna has strange suspicions about Takamina, but she doesn't think she's a bad person. She's curious about her.
"Okay." Takamina simply answers and heads for the bath.
Haruna goes to the kitchen, where she proceeds to make hot cocoa. She hums a small tune, wondering who the girl really is.
'A new friend, maybe.' She thinks.
She mixes in the chocolate into the mug, pouring in a bit of almond milk for added taste. Satisfied, she opens a jar and carefully adds marshmallows into the hot chocolate. She then walks to her oven, and takes out a batch of cookies that she had warming up before Takamina came into her shop.
'Cookies taste a lot better when they're shared with someone.' She smiles as she decides she'll give some to her small guest. She laughs softly, thinking how Takamina reminds her of a certain someone. She wonders when will be the next time they'll meet as she thought that person was far away at work.
Haruna sits on her couch. She begins to play games on her phone as she waits. The cocoa and plate of cookies were sitting idly on the coffee table in front of her.
Fifteen minutes later, Takamina knocks the wall of the doorway, alerting Haruna to her presence.
"I'm done." She says shyly.
"Well come in, and sit by me. Oh, and help yourself." She indicates to the cookies. Takamina is surprised by the cookies and obliges herself happily.
Haruna laughs, amused by the small girl's appetite for the sweets.
"I'm guessing you like them?"
With her mouth full, Takamina only nods very fast. She chews quickly, swallowing her food. "These are really delicious, where did you get them??" She questions, anticipating her answer.
"I baked them." Haruna replies.
"Baked?"
"Yeah, you know, mixed up ingredients, kneaded the dough, placed them in the oven, and boom! Got cookies."
Takamina stares blankly, not understanding.
"Where are you from?" Haruna decides to question, wanting to know exactly. Takamina didn’t specify to her if she really was from around here. She wanted to understand why Takamina didn’t seem to have much general knowledge.
"Tokyo, I guess." She shrugs.
"You don't know? Are you lost?? Did you lose your memory or something?" Haruna wonders if the girl is okay. She thinks up different scenarios that could have happened which were highly unlikely.
Takamina waves her hand. "I don't know about lost, but I am finding myself. " She takes a sip of the cocoa, and is relieved by its warmth.
Haruna nods. She gets that Takamina is going through something, but she doesn't know what. She respects her enough to not ask about it because it might be too personal.
"Do you want to play a game?" She asks.
Takamina's head perks up. "Yes!" She speaks excitedly.
Haruna giggles. "It's nothing much. Just 21 questions, do you know how to play?"
"Nope."
"Ah, well it's easy. You ask me a question, and I answer. Then I ask you a question, and you answer. Got it?"
"I think so, yeah." Takamina scratches her head. "Can I go first?" She looks up at her, hopefully.
"Sure."
"Can I have more cookies?" She asks.
Haruna laughs, "You ate them all?! And you're supposed to ask questions about me."
"Oh okay, then can you bake me more cookies?"
Haruna sighs, smiling. ‘We barely even started. I didn’t get to ask anything.’ she thinks. “FIne, but you’re going to help me.” she grins.
“Yosha!” Takamina stands up, running for Haruna’s kitchen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Haruna’s POV
I watched as she mixed the dough rather unsuccessfully, its contents spilling out and creating a mess. She starts panicking, knowing she did something wrong. She turns around to grab a small towel hanging on the wall. While wiping away her mess, she accidentally bumps the sack of flour onto the floor. The flour sprinkles into the air, snowing down on us with a light layer of white powder. She slowly turns to me, eyes glazed with fear that I would scold her. If that's what she expects.
“Mou! Look what you did!” I pretend that I’m angry with her. “You ruined my kitchen and wasted precious ingredients! You have no idea how much that flour cost me, and the batter! Look! Did you even follow the recipe?” I place a hand on my forehead as if I just got a headache all of a sudden.
“I'm a mess now too! My clothes and hair... You know what, nevermind it. I’m tired. Just get out.” I order her.
She backs away from me, scared. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean it. I tried my best. I just wanted…”
She trails off as I can’t keep myself from laughing. Her frightened expression, and I could not take her seriously as her face was so coated in white. She looked like a small ghost. A cute, scared, small ghost, it was so ironic.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” I laugh. “I was just messing with you, don’t leave.” I rest on a chair. Takamina was about out the door. She looks at me as if I was insane. Yeah, I know how it looks. One minute I was yelling at her, and then the next I was dying of laughter. Ah, I couldn’t help it. She looks so innocent and naive, such a little fool. She should fix that. People could lie, or trick her and she wouldn’t even realize it.
“I..I don’t understand.”
“Really, you can stay. Don’t go. I was having fun with you here.” I smile. “Don’t worry about the mess. We can just clean it up. I don't mind that I got dirty, and I still have more ingredients, so if you want, we can still bake cookies…?” I offer, questioningly.
She bites her lip, contemplating what she should do. She doesn't seem sure, like she might feel guilty for continuing to stay. Her expression is pained though. She really wants to stay. I find it amusing.
I get up and start to gather new materials, and pull out a clean bowl from a cabinet.
"I realize I may have gone about this wrong. I should have shown you myself instead of telling you. This way, we can make it together so everything will turn out fine." I reassure her with a smile. If I just explain it to her, she can probably bake cookies herself next time. I wait for her to give into her temptation to the pleasure of sweets.
"Um... Okay." She purses her lips, coming back inside the kitchen. She stands against the wall, awkwardly. I guess she's afraid she might create an even bigger mess if she moves.
I sigh. It won't be fun if she's going to be like this the whole time.
I take a small towel and run it under the sink with cold water. I squeeze out most of the water so it wouldn't drip. I brush it over my face, removing most of the flour. I glance at Takamina, smirking before I throw the towel into her face. She flinches back, removing the towel. She looks at me.
"Wipe your face before we start. I'll make the dough, and you can just cut them into shapes. That okay?" That way she'll also be doing something. I start to take out the different cookie cutters I had, showing them to her. There were hearts, stars, squares, ovals, I basically I had all kinds.
Takamina smiles at me, and wipes the flour off her face.
"Okay."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Yatta!” I cheer. Less than an hour later, the cookies were finally done. I opened the oven, letting Takamina handle it. She reaches inside.
“Wait!” I call as she places her hands on the pan.
“Itai!” She flinches back in pain, holding her hands close to her. She whimpers softly.
I scold her. “See what happened?? You’re supposed to wear oven mitts. They protect your hands. Ah, I should have known you wouldn’t have known any better. Let me see.”
She pouts, holding out her hands for me.
I take a look at them. That’s strange. I don’t see any burn marks. It’s not even red. I look at her, confused. She takes back her hands, looking at them. She nods, her mouth forming a small ‘o’ as if understanding something I did not. She smiles, glancing down at her wrist. I see a small bracelet hanging there. Huh, I wonder why I didn’t notice it before.
“That’s a pretty bracelet.” I comment as Takamina puts on the oven mitts.
“Yeah.” Takamina smiles again, removing the cookies from the oven. We let them cool a bit.
“It seems special to you. May I ask where you got it?”
“Someone important.” she replies. Oh, so did she get it from a lover or something then? I nod, thoughtfully.
A thought nags me in the back of my mind. “Ne… how come you’re hands don’t look burned? You were hurt, right?”
She shrugs, turning her back to me as she puts away the mitts. “I’m a fast healer.” People can’t heal instantly.
“I see.” I squint my eyes at her as she happily starts to remove the cookies from the pan. I get out a small bag. She places them inside one by one as I hold it out to her. I take a small piece of ribbon from a drawer and wrap it around the bag, sealing it.
“There. Now you can take some with you to go.”
“Thank you.” she smiles. “While being with you here, I was able to get some thoughts straightened out. I’m also sorry for troubling you. I’ll take my leave after I help you clean up.” She's leaving so soon?
“Ah, I’m glad I invited you into my home. I haven’t had guests in a while, so it was fun.” Might as well let her go.
“Un!”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After cleaning up, we went back into my shop to send her off. The rain had stopped falling, and it was starting to clear up.
“Will I see you again?” Takamina asks.
“Maybe. I hope so.” I laugh.
“I hope so too.” She quietly says, smiling softly.
“Here. This is my treat.” I hand her a small bag filled with candies. Before she could say no, I push her out the door. “No, if you don’t accept it, then I’ll cry.” I lie. She believes me though, and starts panicking.
“I’ll accept it, so don’t cry.” She waves her hand. “I’ll eat it and enjoy it too, so you know…” She trails off.
I laugh.
She looks up at me for a moment and smiles, “Goodbye.”
“What are you saying? It’s see you later.”
“Ah, yeah. See you later.” I watch as she leaves, walking down the sidewalk carrying her bags of treats. Her small back seemed like it carried a lot. She talked like she had a heavy past. Her story is something I don’t know. At least today, I was able to relieve her for a while and make her happy.
I go back into my shop, tidying up the space. I think about her as I sweep the floor. I was right, she’s a new friend. That makes me really happy.
Now behind the counter, I start organizing my financial checkbook. A few minutes later, I hear the small bell ring. Oh, a customer. I look up.
“NyanNyan!” I hear before I'm suddenly bombarded with a tight hug from a running figure who jumps over the counter.
"Yuko?!" Eh? Eh? What is she doing here? "Aren't you supposed to be working right now?" Why isn't she at the museum?
"She is, or we are actually." I look up to see Acchan coming inside, followed by Mayu.
"Really, Acchan? Do I have to say it again? It's not work!"
"Hai hai..." Acchan rolls her eyes.
"NyanNyan, I missed you!" Yuko rubs her face into my breasts. I push her away. She starts pouting, so I pat her head. She likes when I do that.
"Why are you guys here?" I ask them.
"Well as you can see, we got caught in the rain earlier and we're soaked, so I thought we could get dry and get changed here." Yuko explains.
"She also just wanted to see you." Mayu adds.
"Shhhhhhh!" Yuko shushes her. Mayu holds up her hands. I smile at them.
"Sure, come inside." I hold the curtain open as they enter.
In the living room, Acchan and Mayu were sitting on the floor. I hand them towels and some of my clothes to borrow while I dry their clothes. Just one after another, I didn't expect to have so many guests in one day.
They hand me their wet clothes, and I take them to the laundry. Down the hall, I see my bedroom door open. I sigh, "Yuko..."
I quickly put the clothes into the dryer before hurrying to my room. I find her digging through the closet.
"I already laid out clothes for you." I tell her.
"But I don't want to wear those. Where's the other set I had?" She opens another drawer. Dang, I didn't expect she'd be here. Why today of all days? I gave her clothes to Takamina. I never saw her wear it much, so I thought I could give it to her. Big mistake.
"Um... I don't know."
She groans, and rummages farther into my closet.
"I haven't seen you wear it much, so why now?"
"I really liked them, so I didn't wear them in order to preserve them." Yes, that makes so much sense. Why didn't I think of that?
"See? This is why I tell you to clean up your room and everything. You can't find anything here." Yuko says almost irritably.
"I did clean though! Didn't you see the rest of my home?" I worked hard on all of it..
She nods, standing up. She comes over to me and stands on her tip-toes to give me a light kiss on my cheek. "Yes, and I'm proud of you for that. I didn't have to do anything." She stares up into my eyes.
"But NyanNyan, your room is a different matter..." She slowly turns her head, surveying the mess around us.
I pout. "I was getting around to it.."
"Sure you were." She smiles, showing me her dimples. She sighs. "Ok, so where are the clothes you had for me?"
"I'll go get them." I walk to the door.
"By the way, NyanNyan?" Yuko calls. I turn around.
Yuko takes my wrist and pulls me down to her level. I feel her lips touch mine for but a short moment before she pulls back.
"You forgot something." She whispers. Oh yeah, how could I forget?
I smile, "Welcome home, Yuko."
"Un." She smiles back, nodding. "I'm home, Haruna."
==========
Acchan's POV
Really? Haruna was taking a while so I went to go find her. I walked into her room to find her and Yuko making out. They had to do that while we were here? It didn't seem they noticed me, so I went back to the living room to get Mayu. I told her what was going on and she grins. We go back there and peek inside. Mayu gets her camera out and snaps a shot of the couple, flashing a bright light at them.
At the flash, Haruna immediately shoves Yuko back. Yuko stumbles, falling onto the floor.
"Itai! Why'd you do that?" She then glares at us. "Can't you tell we're busy?"
"N-no! We're not doing anything. Do you guys want any drinks? I have juice, lemonade, coffee. How about tea?" Haruna asks really fast, as she hurries out of the room without an answer from us.
"Wait, NyanNyan!" Yuko starts to go after her. I roll my eyes, and Mayu trips Yuko as she hurries out the door. We both suppress our laughter, pretending we were innocent. Yuko stands up, brushing herself off. She doesn't pay attention to us. Rather, she makes a disgusted face at her damp clothes as they were starting to feel uncomfortable. She suddenly takes off all her clothes, leaving only her underwear on. Mayu and I avert our eyes, quickly moving back to the living room.
As Mayu and I sit back down, Yuko enters the room wearing one of Haruna's shirts and a pair of shorts. She changed fast. Haruna also comes inside with a tray of drinks and snacks. She notices what Yuko's wearing and frowns at the smaller girl. Yuko looks at her.
"What? You didn't get my clothes, and didn't listen when I told you to wait." She sticks her tongue out.
"But I didn't give you permission."
"Who says I need permission? They're wearing your spare clothes, why can't I? You never let me." She pouts.
Haruna opens her mouth to say something but closes them, changing her mind. She breathes a sigh, and turns her attention to Mayu and I.
"What brings you guys back home?" She asks, passing around the cups.
"It's a long story." Mayu says.
"Will you be able to stay long?" Haruna pours the tea.
"We're going back tonight." I say.
"Oh." She glances down into her cup. Yeah, it's not long at all.
"I see you put it up." Yuko comments.
"Eh?" Haruna looks up, surprised. Yuko was by the tv, holding up a picture frame. Haruna widens her eyes. "Y-yeah..." She smiles, her cheeks a light pink.
"What is it?" Mayu asks. I want to see too. Yuko brings it over.
"This is when NyanNyan and I celebrated New Years together. We went out to the shrine in yukata." She smiles, reminiscing. "This is also on our 5-year anniversary." Yuko shows us the picture.
"Uso!" Mayu shouts. "5 years? You two? Really??" She doesn't believe it? I still remember when Yuko told me they got together. It was the happiest day of her life, is what she said.
"It's surprising?" Yuko raises an eyebrow, smiling slightly.
"No, I mean why aren't you two married yet?? Like for real!"
I quickly turn to Yuko and Haruna who both turned a shade of beat red. Yuko starts to scratch her cheek, while Haruna looks deeper into her tea. I catch Mayu's eye, and shake my head at her. You don't just ask something like that!
It starts to feel really awkward in here. Dang, Mayu! Look what you did! Gah! Not thinking!
Haruna suddenly looks up. "I just remembered something!" She says, quickly getting up and leaving the room. I sigh. What a way to break this atmosphere. Totally an excuse.
A moment later, she comes back inside with something in her hand. Oh, she actually did just remember something? I look up at her confused as she hands it to me. Wait...what? This is my card..?
"Why..." I start.
"You didn't lose it, did you? Or like, no one stole it, right?" She asks.
"Um, no. I actually gave it to someone..."
"Yokatta! She didn't look like a thief, but I had to take precautions you know?"
"What? I don't know..? Wait... You met Takamina??" I look at her incredulously.
"So you do know her! That's a relief, because I invited her inside earlier." She grins sheepishly.
"She was here??" Mayu and I say simultaneously.
"You barely met her, and you let her in your house?" Yuko questions. "What if it wasn't that Bakamina? What if it was some stranger? Something could have happened!" She starts panicking. "Do you do this often when I'm not here?!"
"Yuko, calm down! I only invited her in because she was drenched from the rain and she had Acchan's card, so I wanted to know what kind of person she was."
"And?"
"She's strange, but cute." She tells her.
"You think she's cute?! Kamisama, say it isn't so!" Yuko overexaggerates.
"I think she's interesting. Does she work at the museum too?" Haruna asks. We all look at each other.
"You could say she's from the museum." Mayu tells her. Yuko and I nod, confirming.
"Ah, is that so."
"How long ago was she here?" I ask.
"Actually, she left just several minutes before you all came in."
The three of us groan. We had just missed her. Haruna blinks at us.
"Something wrong?"
"We were just looking for her when we got caught in the rain." I explain. "Can you point us which way she went?"
"Huh? Um, she went towards the park."
The three of us stand up and start gathering our things. We have to go while she's still relatively close.
"You have to leave now?" Haruna asks.
"Yes, we really need to find her." I can't really explain.
"Oh ok.."
Mayu goes on ahead, leaving her home.
"Don't worry, NyanNyan. I'll be back soon." Yuko smiles, leaning down to kiss her head. "See you later!" She waves, hurrying out to catch up to Mayu.
"Sorry for the sudden leave." I apologize. "Thank you for the tea, and the clothes. I'll have Yuko return them for us whenever she can. And about our other clothes..." I trail off, thinking how she's having them dried.
"Don't worry about it. I'll hold on to them until you can get them picked up. Come visit again though." She smiles at me.
"Thanks. See you around."
==========
Takamina’s POV
Um...where am I now? I look to my left and right. This city is so confusing. These buildings are really high. Why do they block everything? It’s like I’m being closed in. I don’t like this feeling.
I hold the treats I got from Haruna-san, and run. If I run straight, I should be able to find my way out.
My feet hit the cold hard ground. It’s really different from running through dirt and grass. I keep my eyes to the front, something always keeps getting in my way. I try to go straight, but it’s not simple. There’s so many people I never imagined that could be in one place. I think they have places to go too, so I try to make sure I don’t bump into them.
Running, running past everyone. Past strange objects in the ground, around poles, across roads.
Those things called cars.. They made loud noises at me when I ran in front of them. They were running towards me, but I didn’t let them touch me. Acchan will be upset with me if I get into anymore trouble. I already made her scream at me. I didn’t like that. It was because of me that she did that. I didn’t want to hear her scold me, and I didn’t want to say anything wrong. I was upset too, and I didn’t understand, so I left so I could calm down and think things out.
I slow my pace, jogging along the sidewalk. Does this ever end? I look ahead as far as I can see. I’m getting nowhere.
My stomach growls and I reach for my stomach. I’m hungry. I glance down at the treats. I smile, thank you Haruna-san!
I open up the little bag, taking out cookies one by one. I’m walking now, munching down the sweet food. After a while, I look around and stop. I’m in a new place.
Up ahead, there’s some kind of thing spouting out water. I watch as a couple people walk by it, tossing something inside the water on their way.
I walk over to it, curiously leaning over. My eyes light up as the water sparkles before me. The something that I saw were coins and there were many beneath the water’s surface. They shined, the sun reflecting off their surface. They looked really pretty.
Suddenly, the calm water ripples and my face is splashed. I wipe my face and notice a ball in the water that wasn’t there before. I look up to see a playground was it called?—just nearby. A few children were playing, a couple were looking at me as if asking for something. I look down at the ball and back up at them. Was it this? I pick it up, lightly shaking the water that was dripping from it. I place it on the ground, and kick it over to them. They smile at me and shout their thanks.
“Nee-san, come play with us!” One of the boys yell. The other boy grins, agreeing with him.
They’re so cute.
I go over to join them, I’m only slightly taller than them. We kick the ball around to each other, playing games here and there. A few of the other kids join us too. It was really fun.
I finally feel my energy start to leave me. I try to end our games but they don’t want to, so I leave them and watch from the hanging seats. I lightly swing, pushing my feet gently on the ground. This is cool, it makes me feel relaxed. I like the wind that blows against my hair when the seat moves forward.
A small girl joins me, sitting on the other hanging seat. She seems lonely. Oh! I know! I get out my bag of treats and give her a piece of candy. Her eyes light up in excitement and her mouth forms a wide smile. See? I knew it. Everyone should like sweets, not just me. It’s like happiness in your mouth.
“Thank you!” The little girl cheers, accepting the treat. I smile. It’s not that bad here, actually.
I say goodbye to the kids, and continue walking through the park. That’s what they called it. I look up at the sky. The sun should be setting soon. Can I see it? I look around for somewhere high. There’s no Tokyo tower here. At least this place doesn’t have too many buildings around which is good for the view. I quickly walk through the park and soon find a small hill. There was a large tree at the top. It had really long branches, extending over the hill. At the foot of the tree sat a small bench. I could watch the sunset from here! I happily sit down.
I feel the sun’s warmth shine down on me. I close my eyes. I always liked this feeling. I remember lying in the grass for hours just taking in the sunshine. It was soothing. In a place like this, I wonder if people can do that.
It was starting to get cold. The wind picks up, brushing the falling leaves in my direction. I let out a small laugh and turn around to cover my face. My eyes glue to the tree behind me. I stare up at its dark brown trunks, and warm colored leaves. How could something that is dying, at the same time look so beautiful?
I stand up, drawn towards the large tree. I know that trees take hundreds, maybe thousands of years to grow. This one too, seems really old. I walk around it and pause at some kind of stone embedded into the tree. Why is this here? This is a tree, and I'm sure that's not part of it. It’s not right.. What’s this writing here too…?
“Here stands the Legacy Tree,” I read aloud from the stone.
Legacy? What does that even mean? Ugh, this bothers me! Who in their right mind would put stone into a tree? I stare at it wistfully. I want to take it out. I bite my lip, and take a quick look around. No one, okay. I sigh. Acchan probably wouldn’t like it if I did this I know it, and I told myself I didn’t want to cause anymore trouble...but I need to do this.
I take one more look around before placing my hands on the stone. I try to grip my fingers around the edges, chipping off a bit of the bark.
“Ah! Gomenasai!” I apologize to the tree. “I’ll be quick.” I whisper. Just like me, I’m sure it doesn’t like the stone inside of it either. It’s not good for it.
Ok… I start to take in deep breaths, preparing myself. I stare hard at it, focusing.
A moment passes.
There! I toss the stone slate onto the ground. Wasn’t too hard. Just had to take it off.
I look at the place it had once been, now a barren hole. It wasn’t too deep, and as time passes it should heal and close itself up. I smile, placing a hand on it.
“You’re better now.” I say assuringly.
I suddenly feel a sense of familiarity. I gasp. Impossible. I look up about the tree, searching. It’s you… You’re still here…? A tear falls from my eyes.
I feel my body start to radiate warmth, and like a beacon calling out, a small sliver of glowing light appears through the tree. I hold my hand out as it floats around my arm. It lands on my head. I try to put a hand on it, but it goes through.
“So you can touch me, but I can’t touch you. That’s not fair.” I laugh. “I didn’t think I would meet you again like this.” I say. I didn’t think I would meet her again ever. The light floats down in front of me.
“Welcome home.” I tearfully smile, holding my hands out to it. It moves closer and I tuck it to my heart. It disappears inside me and I feel even warmer, lighter. The pieces are coming together.
I look up at the tree.
“Thank you for taking care of her, and for surviving all of these years.” I tell it. I think I understand now why it was called Legacy.
I give the tree a hug. It’s grown really strong. I feel proud of it.
“Takamina!” I hear Acchan’s voice.
“Ehhhh, why is she hugging a tree…?” Yuko’s here too.
I let go and turn around to them, smiling.
“We finally found her…” Mayu huffs as she reaches the top of the hill. Her eyes widen seeing the bench and she gladly rest upon it.
Acchan runs up to me, and she reaches her hands out but pauses. She puts them down.
“Are you okay?” She asks.
“She was hugging a tree, she’s definitely not okay.” Yuko whispers behind her.
“It’s okay, I’m okay.” I tell them. “I was just giving it my thanks.”
They look at me like I’m crazy.
“I found the next piece of my soul.” I simply explain.
They gasp.
Mayu snaps her head behind to the tree. “Here?!”
Acchan doesn’t say anything, but her face is surprised. Yuko looks at me incredulously.
“At this tree?? The Legacy Tree?” She questions.
“You know it?” I ask, surprised.
“Of course I do! It’s famous!” She spots the stone slate on the ground. “What is this?!” She narrows her eyes at me. “I know you had something to do with this.” She says suspiciously.
“I...I..” I glance at Acchan who was waiting to hear what I had to say. “I removed it…” I mentally brace myself.
All I hear is Yuko sigh. “I can’t believe you did such a thing.” she mutters, a bit annoyed. She places it at the foot of the tree, leaning it against it.
“You could have hurt yourself.” Acchan finally speaks up, looking at me worriedly.
“No no, I’m fine. See?” I hold up my hands. “No injuries.” I assure her.
She looks at me skeptically. I try to change the subject away from me. “So how is it famous?” I ask Yuko.
Ah, well you see this tree is really old, right? For as long as I can remember, there’s been this legend about it. See this branch?” She points to one of the large branches that arched over the sidewalk. “Legend has it that if a couple walks under it’s branch, then they’ll be together forever. But!” She raises her finger at me. “If a person walks under it by themselves, they’ll be forever alone! Dun Dun Dunnnnn!” She finishes dramatically. Her expression suddenly changes as she looks up at the tree, caught in thought. “It’s really famous for couples, I should know. I walked under that branch one time with Haruna.” She gives me a wry smile.
My eyes widen. “You know Haruna-san?”
“Small world, isn’t it?” Yuko chuckles. "I can see now why she couldn't give me my clothes. It's because you had them!" She criticizes me. I look down at what I was wearing. Her clothes...? So when Haruna-san told me these were her girlfriend's clothes...oh!
“They’re together.” Acchan tells me, confirming my thoughts. I nod, thinking about the legend.
“That’s cute.” I say.
Yuko lightly blushes, laughing nervously now. It seems she forgot her anger. “You’re darn right!”
“How does the tree connect to you though?” Mayu asks, seriously.
“Eto..” I scratch my cheek. How do I explain…?
“Do you remember me talking about my cat?” I ask them.
“The one you could ride on?” Yuko asks.
“Nyaachan?” Acchan uses her name.
“Yeah, I remember.” Mayu nods.
“Yeah...her. Well, I guess I feel like it was just a few days ago, but a long time ago she passed away.” I purse my lips. They wait for me to continue.
“I had to bury her, and I didn’t want it to be just anywhere so for a whole day, I searched for the perfect spot. I couldn’t find anywhere suitable though. I had to bury her soon too, before nightfall or she wouldn’t be able to rest peacefully. On my way back to Nyaachan’s body, I happened to pass by a dying sprout. It was in the late spring, but it was dying. I felt sorry for it. I gave it water, but I knew that wouldn’t help the poor plant. I sat in front of it for quite some time thinking how I could save it. Then I thought of something that was worth a try.” I sit down on the ground and lean against the tree. Yuko and Acchan sit on the ground across from me. Mayu watches from the bench. I look up at the sky.
“I brought Nyaachan’s body to the plant and buried her under its soil in the roots. I didn’t know if it would work or not, but I thought maybe from the afterlife, Nyaachan could give some life and spirit into the little plant so it could grow up to be big and strong. It took me a while to recognize it, but this tree is the same little sprout that I buried Nyaachan under.” I finish. She was really dear to me, another part of me. That’s why I could see she was a piece of my soul.
“So...there’s a whole different meaning to the Legacy tree to you.” Acchan implies. She’s right. I’m glad she understands it.
In a way, this tree is like my legacy. I wasn’t there to see it grow up, but I left it able to live. And due to that, I was able to briefly feel Nyaachan again, and I’m now closer to collecting all my soul’s pieces. Because I took care of the tree, it took care of me. Ever changing, growing, never changing, always here, all this time to stand for this moment so I would meet it. To me, this is really a giving tree.
“I’m thankful I’m able to be here with all of you.” I tell them. This day is coming to an end. There’s only four days left. Will I make it?
I stand up and grab Acchan’s arm, pulling her up. I take her under through the branch with me.
“Ehhh?! Takamina??” Her wide eyes stare at me in shock.
“This is just for good measurement. If going under this branch mean we’ll be together forever, then that means even if we don’t collect all the pieces, I’ll still be here. Right?” Maybe it’s just my wishful thinking.
“O-oh.” She smiles, breathing out in I think relief? I grin at her.
“You guys come here too! This way we’ll all be together forever!” I motion over to them.
Yuko gives a wide smile, shaking her head. She drags Mayu under through the branch with us. It’s just a legend, but there’s nothing wrong with keeping hope. This way, even if I disappear, our friendship will always remain.
=====
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Even though I don't comment as much anymore.
I want you to know that I'll always be reading and supporting your AtsuMina fanfic. I appreciate the effort you put into writing them <3 but do you think you'll be updating the daughter of Roman/Greek Goddesses at all?
Anyway, thank you for this chapter. It's amazing as the others. It's well written and it's cute. I just love it ^_^
Can't wait for the next one :twothumbs
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Woah... Miss lots of updates since I last on....
I am chasing all the updates... So great.... I am full
Ah... so they decide to be buried under the tree to be together...
What's going to happen next?
Can't wait to see if they agreed and what would happen afterward
Thank you for the updates
:twothumbs :twothumbs :twothumbs
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author-san y u no update this??? :mon cry: :mon cry:
i really want to know what happens next
please update when you can~!
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AN
Wow, it’s been a while. I was hoping I’d have been finished by last year, but couldn’t make it. These past three months I wanted to write so much, but I’ve been so caught up with robotics that I literally did not have the time. Finished build season last month, finished first competition last week, finally it’s spring break! And you know what else? It has been 2 years since I joined the AKB fandom! Being an AKB fan has changed my life in so many ways. If I never found out about them, I never would’ve been a fanfic writer. Writing fics is my way of giving back to the fandom who has provided me with so much info, gifs, edits, translations/subs, and other fics. Yeah… The fans are the real MVP’s. :D
Sorry for the long note. I’m sure you guys are tired of waiting on me. Just note that this chapter is somewhat like a filler but its longer and does has its part in this story. Seriously though, its really long. Also why it took me a while to write. Like 12k+ words so try not to hurry through it or you’ll overwhelm yourself.
Alright now, hope you enjoy. :)
Linked
10. Living
Acchan’s POV
~10:05am~
Today was day 4. We were back at the island, having arrived just earlier this morning. We accomplished a lot on our trip, collecting two pieces. So today, we're going to be taking a break. Get some needed rest, and have fun. There's a lot to do here at the museum. I want to show Takamina as much as I can.
Currently, we were catching an early lunch at the food court while studying a tourist map of the island.
"Does it matter where we go?" Mayu asks.
"Nope, we just need to figure out all the places we're going today so we can come up with a route and schedule. I don't know if we'll be able to get to them all today." I explain to them.
"Psh, we don't need a schedule! Let's just go wherever and have fun!" Yuko exclaims.
"Says the girl who always follows a schedule." I mutter, rolling my eyes.
"But that's for work! This is different."
"Fine, we'll do it your way. See how it goes." I sigh.
"So then how are we doing this? Are we getting to pick the place or...?" Mayu trails off.
"Let's let Takamina choose." I suggest. The three of us look to the smaller girl at the end of the table who was busy enjoying her lunch.
She notices us staring at her. "What?" She asks, still chewing her food.
We laugh. Yuko pushes the map to Takamina.
"Where do you want to go?" She smiles, asking her.
Takamina surveys the map, swallowing her food before she replies.
"What's this place?" She points to the triangles on the map.
"Those are the pyramid exhibits." Mayu explains. "You'd probably like it there."
"Hmmm, ok! Let's go there!" She decides quickly. It doesn't take her long to finish her remaining meal. I throw away her trash for her as she goes to turn in the dishes she used.
"Wait!" I hear a cry.
I turn around to see Miichan running up to us out of breath.
"Glad I caught up with you guys before you all left." She huffs, half smiling. Yuko jumps on her back, shocking Miichan.
"Do I look like I'm in the mood to carry you??" Yeah, she looks tired, but it doesn't seem like Yuko really cares.
"But you're carrying me anyways." She grins, her arms wrapped around Miichan's neck.
Miichan sighs, letting Yuko do what she wants. Well, Yuko usually always gets her way no matter who it is.
"So how was the secret mission?" She asks.
"Success!" Yuko yells into her ear. "We got two, so two more to go then Bakamina is here to stay." Yuko grins, proudly.
"Did Mariko say anything?" I ask.
"She didn't notice anything, did she?" Mayu questions.
"Nope! She just thought you all were still down there doing your jobs. There were a few close calls though. She tried to go down there once, so I had to distract her which was probably one of the worst times in my life." Her brow creases as she recalls it.
Yuko hops off her back. "What happened?" She asks.
"She made me—" Miichan shivers. "She made me dress up as an idol. She knows how much I hate those kind of artists and their bubble gum pop music. I even had to dance and sing for her! I wanted to die!"
Yuko and Mayu burst out laughing.
"It's not funny!" Miichan yells at them.
"Sure it is." Yuko pats her back. "Does she have pictures?" Yuko and Mayu laugh even harder.
Miichan rolls her eyes. "I hope not." She mutters.
I feel a tug on my arm. "What's an idol?" Takamina asks me.
I suddenly get the mental image of Takamina performing as an idol. Wah, she'd be so cute!
Oh, I need to answer her. "An idol is a performer, like an entertainer. Idols sing, dance, and do several kinds of variety." I explain.
"And gravure! You can't forget that! It's most important!" Yuko butts in, grinning.
Miichan groans earning Yuko's attention. Her eyes glint, narrowing.
"She didn't make you do gravure too, did she?" Yuko advances on her.
Miichan takes some steps back. She hesitates. "No." She says indignantly.
"Ah! You hesitated! No way, she did!" Yuko turns to Mayu.
"Pay up." She smirks to the younger girl.
Frowning, Mayu hands Yuko a wad of cash.
"W-w-wa-wait! What is this?!" Miichan asks in disbelief.
"Huh? Oh, Mayu-chan and I made a bet earlier on what Mariko would make you do while we were gone. As you can see, I won." Yuko smiles, smug.
"Who's Mariko?" Takamina ask me. "Do I get to meet her?"
We all turn silent, sweat dropping.
"Ehehe.." Yuko lets out a nervous laugh. "Probably not, but if you ever do, refer to her as Mariko-sama. It might make things easier." For Takamina, maybe. I don't know about us though.
"Souka.."
"Yeah... so let's go now, guys." Yuko hurries us so we can move off this topic.
We head to the elevator only to find it taped off.
"What is this??" Yuko demands.
Mayu finds a notice on the wall beside it. She reads it aloud. "Out of order." She frowns.
"I am not taking the stairs." Miichan groans, still a bit tired from running.
"No worries, this isn't the only elevator." I nod to Yuko and turn to leave when Mayu stops us.
"Don't bother, it looks like all the elevators are out too but due to maintenance. They'll be open again later in the afternoon though." Mayu indicates to the notice, her arms folded.
"All?? Are you serious?" Miichan and Yuko complain.
“Do you know how many floors there are to this building?? We’re lucky we’re only on floor 7!” Miichan exclaims.
Mayu nods. "Who the hell came up with this schedule, like really? Today? And all of them at the same time?" She shakes her head.
"Stairs it is then." I say. Everyone heaves a collective sigh. We all reluctantly head for the staircase.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
On ground floor, we gather at the entrance.
"Ok!" For the midget, today I will be your personal tour guide! Free of charge!" Yuko exclaims, emphasizing the word personal. I elbow her, catching her eyes. We exchange silent conversation, before she rolls her eyes, groaning.
"Lighten up, you know me. I got this." She mutters. Yuko turns to our small group, pulling out her phone.
"So let's see what we have here today..." She scrolls through her phone, typing swiftly.
"Looks like we'll be taking almost a full-museum tour, hitting up most locations on the island. As Acchan previously mentioned, it will be impossible to get through everything in one day, but I'll see what I can do. As time is of the essence, we probably will only be going to some of the major places. Keep in mind though, the point is that this is supposed to be fun, especially for Takamina. We want to show her a good time here, and everything she's missing out on. Since I'm the guide, I'll do my best not to bore you. Although, not like I will anyways." Yuko cracks a smile.
"Everyone good to go? Any questions?" No one says anything. "No? Good! So as Takamina suggested, first stop will be pyramid square. Let's go!" Yuko enthusiastically takes the lead, and with a reassuring smile to Takamina, we follow after her.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~10:39am~
A lot of time will be lost if we walk, so we ended up borrowing a security cart. I drove while Yuko proceeded to tell Takamina more about the island. Takamina was seated between Yuko and I, while Mayu and Miichan sat in the back. I silently listen as I drive on the wide pathway. At the moment, Yuko was explaining the museum's history.
"This museum originally started out as a tourist attraction—well...it still is." Yuko laughs. "I mean in the beginning, the museum was still small. Before it was built, Mariko-sama coined the idea of there being just one museum, a real spectacle you wouldn't find anywhere else. She started her project on this island which was originally her private vacation island.
Pillar Peak is the foundation, where it all started. It wasn't always that tall, you know. In its place used to be her vacation home, but she gave it up and had it remade into what it is now." Yuko shakes her head. "Before, I never understood why she would give up those things for this kind of place. But if she hadn't, I wouldn't have been here today and I wouldn't have met Acchan, Mayu-chan, Miichan, or you, Bakamina." Yuko smiles.
"This place has really come along way. You heard, right? This is the New World Cluster Museum. A museum is supposed to hold art and history, right? But as you can see, this island holds much more than that. Mariko-sama may have started it as a simple museum, but she didn't want people to get bored, leave, and not return as often. She wanted people to always have something to do, to always have a reason to return here. The pyramids, the libraries, the aquarium, the globe, all the floors on Pillar Peak, and more, you'll see that there's so much you can do here that you can't anywhere else. That's why it's impossible to see and do everything in one day. Even two or three, possibly a week, we can't get to everything and properly enjoy them. That's how much she's invested in this "museum." You'd also think she'd change the name since the actual museum is now just a part of it, but she won't. It means a lot to her." Yuko was staring up at Pillar Peak from her seat.
I hear Takamina point out to Yuko, "You admire her."
Yuko turns her head to her, surprised. "Nah, she's always so strict when I see her. Uptight stick, she usually threatens to fire me if I do something wrong." Yuko rolls her eyes. "I guess we get along alright though...when she's not in work mode. Hm.. In a way, I do respect her. She's powerful...yeah, I guess I admire that part of her. She's worked hard to get where she is now. I'd like to be that kind of person one day."
"As if you can." Mayu scoffs from behind. I hear Miichan try to stifle a laugh.
I smile as Yuko turns around to them. She hits both their heads. They both cry out.
"I can dream! Don't you guys have dreams?" Yuko questions, frowning.
"I wish for fame and fortune as a successful and highly acclaimed doctor." Mayu states immediately.
"My dream is to make discoveries, as I'm kind of already doing. Though, I do want to make a scientific breakthrough that will change the world." Miichan says.
"I know you can do it." Yuko smiles to Miichan. She looks to Mayu, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Good luck there, buddy."
Mayu frowns. "What's that supposed to mean? That's not encouraging at all!" Yuko only winks in return.
"Do you have a dream?" I hear Takamina ask me as we near the pyramids.
"Acchan doesn't have any dreams, so don't bother." Yuko waves her hand dismissively.
"You don't? Is that good or bad?" Takamina asks, concerned.
I briefly glance at her before I face the sidewalk. "It's not bad, but don't listen to Yuko. She doesn't know what she's talking about. I do have a dream."
"Since when??" Yuko questions.
"What is it?" Miichan asks me.
"It's a secret." I smile.
"Awh! But that's no fun! Come on, Ac—"
"We're here!" I abruptly announce, shifting the cart into park along the edge of the sidewalk.
"Tch." I hear Yuko as she gets out of the cart. We all hop out too.
"Sugoi..." Takamina looks around, her head turning slowly.
"This is Pyramid Square. There are five pyramids as you can see. The four large ones around this area here are all connected at their corners, forming a square hence the name 'Pyramid Square.' The smaller one in the center is the newest, recently built last year. It's not opened though so we can't go in there at this time."
"So huge." Takamina mumbles still looking at the pyramids wonderingly.
"Well? Which one do you want to see first?" Yuko asks, quickly checking her watch.
"It doesn't matter. I just want to see."
Yuko rolls her eyes, "Thanks for making my job harder than it already is... Ok! We'll go in order, clockwise. Egyptian first!" Yuko leads us towards the one of the great pyramids.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Egyptian
"This is just a replica of the Great Pyramid of Giza. It would take practically hours if we were to walk around it if you wanted to, so we're just going to step inside here." Yuko holds out her arm to indicate the entranceway of the pyramid.
"Into the tomb we shall go! Maybe we'll come across some booby traps. You think you're ready Takamina?" Yuko looks down on the shorter girl.
Takamina was quickly reading through the pyramids pamphlet guide that Mayu gave her for reference. She glances up at Yuko before looking into the dark entrance. She gulps nervously. "You say that...but it's not dangerous right?
"It depends on the person if it is or not. Sooooo are we going inside or what?" She asks impatiently.
Takamina takes a deep breath. "Okay, why not." She musters up a brave face before Yuko laughs, pushing her through the entrance first. I hear Takamina cry out, "W-wait! Why am I going first?? I change my mind! I don't want to go inside after all! Yuko!" She screams.
Yuko's laugh echoes as they disappear inside. "No worries, Bakamina. I'm here, aren't I?"
"Nooooo!"
The rest of us follow closely behind them. Mayu shines a flashlight, pointing it towards the front. Yuko and Takamina are illuminated. Takamina was on the ground, holding on to Yuko's leg so she couldn't move.
"Geez! I get it, get off me!" Yuko tries to shake the smaller girl off her leg. She turns to Mayu, the flashlight's light beaming into her face. "Oi! Turn that off! The torches are gonna come on in a second."
A moment later, the tomb is washed in fiery light as artificial torches are lit along the walls. Mayu shuts off the flashlight, putting it away.
"Look, it's not bad in here alright?" Yuko tries to assure Takamina. The shorter girl had let go of her leg and was already standing again. I guess the extra light helps.
"Come on, we're not through here yet. We're just getting started!" Yuko links her arms with Takamina's and drags her forward.
After walking for several minutes of walking through the tomb, I let out a tired yawn.
"Acchan!" I hear Miichan call me.
"Huh?" I turn my head as I walk and find myself walking through a large spider web. "EhhhaahhHHHHHHHHH!!" I scream, my arms flailing wildly to remove it. I'm an archaeologist, but I hate webs! The fact completely slipped my mind that there would be any here. Even if it's only artificial. I continue screaming, my body internally disgusted at the sticky feeling.
"Watch out!" I hear Mayu warn before I could comprehend the wall in front of me. I run into it, face first, and crash on the ground on my knees.
"Itai!" Next time, let's not let Takamina pick the place. I rub my head, next patting around my body for any remaining webs. My body shivers. I'm starting to not like this place.
"Be careful. Are you okay?" Miichan helps me stand up while Mayu surveys me. She holds up a thumb.
"You're good." She states. Thanks.
"Where's Yuko and Takamina?" I look around for the two but don't see them.
"Must have went ahead. Better catch up." Miichan suggests. I nod my head.
A few minutes later, we're still walking and still no sign of them. Are we going the right way? It's not really a maze here, most everything is one way. The point of the tomb is to get to the treasure located deep in the center. Easy, right? No.
Mayu suddenly freezes, slowly turning her head to us. She has an 'I'm so sorry' expression'. We look to the ground to her feet to see one foot lower than the other. Oh no. A rumbling is heard behind and we all reluctantly look behind us. A large boulder was hurtling towards us.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The three of us scream and high-tail it as fast as we can.
"We're dead! We're so dead!" Miichan screams.
"I'M SORRY!" The doctor wails as she pushes her legs to the limit.
With tears in my eyes, I let out laughter.
"It's not real! It's not real!" I scream. "It's completely paper mache, but why are we still running!" I find it too hilarious. Although it's artificial, we don't want to get run over by it.
Up ahead, we spot the two midgets. They hear us and turn around.
"What did you do?!" Yuko screams, eyes bulging out. She pushes Takamina forward and they both start running as we reach them. They lead us.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK?! I SET OFF A BOOBY TRAP!" Mayu shouts. The boulder was still barreling right behind us.
"WHAT?! THERE ARE NO BOOBY TRAPS!" Yuko screams at the top of her lungs. "I LIED!" She screams again.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" We all scream as we run for our lives through the pyramid. We were coming up on a corner. Yes! We can escape it there!
The five of us push ourselves with all our might, barely turning into the new tunnel. The boulder smashes against the wall with a loud thud. We all crash into the ground, breathing heavily.
"What the heck..." Mayu breathes.
Miichan lies on her back, arms spread out. "What...was that?"
"I thought you said it wasn't dangerous?" Takamina asks tiredly as she leans against the wall.
"It's not! Of course there shouldn't be booby traps. Otherwise we would be getting sued for endangering people." Yuko explains, wiping sweat off her brow. "It's supposed to be an attraction. People see what it's like inside the pyramid and find their way to the center for the treasure. Once they make it, they're rewarded with candy. That's the treasure. It's especially for the kids who visit, so this place is supposed to be child-friendly otherwise SAFE. What the heck is going on? I led a tour here just the other week."
"It does seem like there's been a lot of changes and maintenance going on around here recently. Looks like Mariko-sama forgot to give us notice." Mayu comments.
"I swear, that woman.." Miichan mutters.
"She wouldn't make make it dangerous though. She knows better than that." I say.
"That's right. Of course she wouldn't, but you can bet it's also just the kind of thing she would do."
Yuko has a point. If it's Mariko-sama, she would probably do something like this after museum hours or when the island is closed, in which it was yesterday. The museum is closed to people on Mondays, because really, who's going to get up on a Monday. Not Mariko-sama. But she could have done something...
"I want to get out of here." Takamina tells me. "It's not fun."
I glare at Yuko.
"Hey, she picked this place not me." She mutters.
"Are we going to get to the other pyramids?" Miichan asks. Takamina is alarmed for a moment. I shake my head.
"I don't think so. Just in case we run into something like this again, you know?"
"Ah yeah, I'm tired of running anyways. I want to go sit back on that cart." Miichan grins.
I smile at Takamina. "It's okay. Once we get to the center, it'll be easy to get out."
"Where are we?" I ask Yuko.
Yuko looks around. "Umm... Somewhere... But almost there. We just have to keep following the tunnel. We'll get there soon. I'd say maybe ten, fifteen minutes?" She shrugs.
We all tiredly get up and keep walking.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Better?" I ask Takamina as we exit the pyramid.
She had a handful of candy in her hands. She grins, nodding. "Yes!"
After finding the center, we were all amazed at the treasure trove of candy. Usually there's just a large sarcophagus filled to the brim, but the room was literally filled with candy everywhere. Just imagine, instead of a room overflowing with gold and the like, it was all sorts of candy. Takamina reacted the most to it though. Her eyes sparkled as if all she just went through was forgotten and all the sweets just made up for it. Considering her reaction, I bet she loved Haruna's candy shop. I smile, just picturing it.
Takamina had taken her fill, and we gladly helped ourselves a bit too. Afterwards, we moved on to the exit that was just on the other side of the room. Then again, we were at the center of the pyramid right? Yea, but the door just led to a single, long hallway that led outside. Pretty simple, because who's going to want to find their way out after getting rewarded. No one's got time for that. It's like Halloween. Escape the tricks, take your treats, and leave.
"So we're done here, right? We don't need to see the other pyramids?" Yuko asks for confirmation. The Mayan and Aztec pyramids would actually be interesting to check out though. Too bad Takamina doesn't seem interested in them. She's had enough from the Egyptian one already. I don't want to risk running into trouble in the other pyramids anyways. But I don't want to leave here just yet.
"I kind of wanted to go see the butterfly conservatory." I say. It's amazing in there, I really want Takamina to see it.
"I want to see it too while it's still open. They're going to close the conservatory soon due to the cold weather, so we should check it out while we still can." Mayu suggests.
"What is it?" Takamina asks.
"Another pyramid." I say. Takamina widens her eyes. "No." I quickly say. "This one is different from the others. You'll like it."
"You always say that."
"Say what?"
"That I'll like this, or I'll like that. How do you know? What if you're wrong?"
I smile. "What's not to like? You'll find here that there's a lot you will find yourself enjoying. More than you know, the likes will weigh over the dislikes. And I won't be wrong."
"Why?"
"Because I can tell. Once getting to know you, it's not hard to see what will interest you."
"Hm?" Takamina tilts her head. "What interests me? You don't know that."
"I don't? And why not?" I ask, amused.
"Because then—" she stops herself. I look at her confused. Then? She shakes her head. "Nevermind, I get it." She smiles. Um, sure?
"Ok, then let's go then. Let's see what you think about this pyramid." I lead Takamina over to the others as they headed to the glass pyramid on the other side of pyramid square.
Butterfly
"Why does this one look different from the others?" Takamina asks me, taking notice of the glass compared to the brick ones.
"Hm... Think of it like a giant greenhouse. Inside, we keep plenty of vegetation for the butterflies. The glass allows more than enough sunshine in to maintain the plants as well as a suitable temperature for the butterflies to live in. Although, since it's starting to get cold, the thermostat will be put into use more. But just look. Don't you think it's a lot better like this?"
Takamina nods her head slowly as we enter the glass structure, and into the lobby.
Before we enter inside the main exhibit, Yuko gives us a quick prep speech.
"Just a quick warning, if you're not good with insects then it would be in your best interests to not enter. True story, I've seen people cry after entering. The amount of butterflies can be overwhelming, maybe intimidating to some. But if you can handle it, then you'll be amazed. It's really something."
Yuko glances at each of us, waiting for our confirmation. Her hand is on the door knob. When she sees no objection, she grins widely before opening the door. She lets us enter through without a word.
I smile at the sight before us. Thousands of butterflies were fluttering about the large room. Each one was unique, and many different species were making a scene. A very beautiful scene. Their bright colors filled the room and I couldn't help but hold my hands out, hoping at least one would rest on me.
Takamina follows what I'm doing, and walks along the pathway. A small monarch butterfly lands on her held out finger. She stares at it quietly, appreciating its beauty. After a moment, it flies away. Takamina chuckles softly and turns her head to me. She smiles and points to my head. I hadn't noticed it, but an anise swallowtail had perched on my head. I watched it fly away into the garden of flowers.
I hear a laugh. I turn around to Yuko who was swarmed with butterflies around her. She had a camera with her and was trying to snap pictures when one landed on top of her lens. Now multiple were surrounding her, not allowing her to capture them.
"There! That one!" Miichan shouts and I find her and Mayu chasing a particular butterfly. They had small butterfly nets in their hand and looked very determined to catch it.
"What are they doing??" Takamina asks almost alarmingly.
"What does it look like?" I say. "They're trying to catch some." I shrug.
"But..but why? That's bad, right? Are they going to hurt them?" She asks me.
"No, they'll let them go right after." I explain.
Takamina purses her lips, eyeing the two in their little game. She starts to continue down the path, watching the other butterflies as they flutter by. I follow her.
"Sooo..." I try to start up a conversation. "What do you think? Like what you see?"
Takamina laughs, "Yes, you could say that." I catch her eye. "They're very beautiful. It's really wonderful here. I'm glad I could see this."
"Yeah, and there's a lot more to see. I told you, remember?"
"I remember. You said that you would show me." Takamina recalls, smiling.
"Yep and that's just what we're doing. There'll be a lot, but do you think you can keep up with everything?"
She gives me a wry smile. "The real question is, can you keep up with me?"
I nudge her shoulder, smiling. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"There are things I want to show you too." She tells me before backtracking to meet back with the others.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1:02pm
"Are we going to eat lunch yet? I'm hungry." Mayu states.
"Hold on. We're gonna visit one more place first before we eat." Yuko says. Mayu groans.
"Oh come on, we just ate almost two hours ago. You can wait a bit longer." Miichan tries to persuade the younger girl.
"Hmph! Acchan, where are you taking us?" Mayu whines.
"I don't know. I'm just driving. Ask tour guide-san."
Mayu stares hard at Yuko. Yuko rolls her eyes. "Fine. We'll go eat."
"Yatta!" Mayu cheers.
Yuko whispers to Takamina who then passes on a message to me. Heh, alright. At the next intersection, I turn right heading towards the mountain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"No way. No way I am doing that." Mayu backs up towards the cart. "You said we were going to eat!"
"We are. We're going to a themed restaurant, but in order to get there we have to do a little climbing."
"I know what a restaurant is, but what's a themed restaurant?" Takamina asks.
"You're asking the wrong question, did you hear her? She said we have to freaking rock climb if we want to eat. Why in the world do we have to do that? Why aren't we taking the lift to get up there?" The restaurant was at least 25 feet above us on a ledge, half embedded into the mountain.
"Mayu, you've been rock climbing before. This should be nothing." I say. "And Takamina, just think of it like this. We're going to be eating at the Rainforest Cafe. What do you think the theme of the restaurant is?"
"Oh! I get it now. A rainforest, right?"
"Right! Good girl!" Yuko grins, patting her on her head.
"She's not a dog!" I scold her.
"I regret nothing." She smiles, sticking her tongue out at me. She turns to Mayu. "The reason we're doing this is so Takamina can gain some experience."
"Hey, Acchan and I haven't rock climbed too." Miichan says.
"I wasn't done speaking yet. Apparently, if you scale the mountain to get there, they let you eat whatever you want for free!"
"Seriously?!" I widen my eyes.
"Why would I lie about free food?"
"What are we waiting for!" Mayu was already at the base of the mountain, slipping on the prepared gear. She changed her mind fast. We laugh, catching up to her.
Yuko helps Takamina put on the harness and attaches the rope. I watch and do the same. Of course they wouldn't be having potential customers climb without a harness. That's why there's already harnesses and climbing gear ready.
Yuko rests her hands on some rocks. She turns her head to us as we ready ourselves.
"It's simple. One hand after the other. Feet follow. Understand?" We all nod.
"There's only one rule you absolutely have to follow." She pauses. "Don't fall."
We blink.
"And that's it! See you at the top!" Yuko begins her ascent.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“She makes it look so easy!” I grit my teeth as I haul my body over the rock face. I stretch out my hand, setting it down cautiously before I boost myself up. Miichan struggles beside me. She side glances me.
“Yuko? Well, yeah. She’s done this before.” We both continue scaling the mountain side.
A couple minutes later, we both freeze as Takamina passes us. She keeps up a steady pace. It’s like she knows just what to do. She doesn’t hesitate where she places her hands, and her footing is firm.
“And her? You think she’s done this before too?” I ask.
“I wouldn’t put it past her.”
“Come on, guys! You’re halfway there!” Yuko calls down to us. She just reached the top. She looks over the ledge to us. “Would it be alright if I went ahead?”
“Not without me!” Mayu shouts as she reaches the top. Yuko helps pull her up.
“We’ll save you a seat!” You’ll be fine, just don’t take too long!” Mayu yells. We blink. They’re really ditching us here?!
“Oi! Chot--Ah!” I lose my footing and fall before I realize it.
“Acchan!” Miichan cries.
I shut my eyes. Ah...so this is how I’ll die. No, that’s not what I’m really thinking. My mind is a blur. My thoughts are racing through my head. I’m internally screaming. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. This is not happening! There’s so much I have yet to do! I haven’t killed Yuko for this yet, and Takamina oh god. Takamina. I don’t even know if she’ll still be here at the end of the week. Will they be able to collect them all without me? If I die, will I see Takamina in the afterlife? That’s even worse to think. Maybe I won’t die. Hopefully, I’ll just be horribly injured. At least I’d be alive. How am I even still thinking? Why haven’t I hit the ground yet?
I open my eyes. I wasn’t falling. I was hanging, looking down on the Earth. I look up. Takamina was holding on to my wrist. She had a relieved smile on her face. How…? She lightly swings me to the face of the mountain. When I can hold on by myself, I look up at her.
“But you were just up there… I saw you. You were past us. How were-- How?” I’m confused. I feel like an idiot, I forgot to say the most important thing.
“Thank you…” I mumble.
She smiles, satisfied. “I climbed back down below you sometime while you were paying attention to Yuko. It was strange. I had a feeling this would happen. I’m glad I was right. Not like that though! It’s not like I was glad that you fell… I’m just glad I was able to catch you.”
“Smooth Takamina, smooth.” Miichan comments, lowering herself a few feet towards us. “Not to burst your bubble though, but Acchan was perfectly safe. I admit for a minute there, I was scared, but there was really nothing to worry about. The harness would have caught her, but you just had to create a big scene out of it.” Up behind her, I notice Yuko and Mayu sitting at the top observing us with bags of popcorn in their hands.
“Hey!” Yuko snaps at Miichan. “You ruined it! It was starting to get good!”
Mayu nods beside her. “Heck, it was just starting actually.”
Takamina, Miichan, and I continue climbing to the top. I think I’ve had enough of this for one lifetime.
“Weren’t you guys saving us a seat??” What are you doing here? And before I forget... “ I grab Yuko’s neck. lightly strangling her. It’s not like I’m really trying to injure her. I’m just showing her how much I hate how carefree she can be about just anything.
When I let go, she starts rubbing her neck irritatingly.
“What was that for? I got us a reservation. We didn’t need to save our seats in the first place. Mayu and I only went ahead so we could get some snacks. Yuko offers her popcorn to me.
“Really?” These two are unbelievable. I grab Yuko’s popcorn and throw it over the mountain.
“Nooo!” Yuko cries out, reaching for nothing. “How could you? What did my popcorn ever do to you?”
I roll my eyes. “Can’t you take things seriously for once? It’s always one thing after another with you.”
“Hmph! Come on, Takamina! Let’s leave Boring-san alone.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2:16pm
You know, I have a feeling that this is what we always do. It's like we eat more than do other things. I frown. It's not like I don't like food, who doesn't? But if we keep spending time eating, we won't be able to get to all the other places we need to go to. I sigh, looking down at my plate.
"Eh?" For some reason, my plate was empty. I look up, glaring at my so called friends.
"Oi. Who took my meal?" I ask threateningly.
Across from me, Takamina pointed immediately at Yuko while Yuko pointed back at her. "She did it!" They both accuse.
"That's what you get for not paying attention." Mayu comments leisurely.
"You should've eaten faster." Miichan says, popping some shrimp in her mouth.
"Why didn't you guys stop them?" I smile irritably at them.
"E-eh? S-sorry, I'll make sure they pay for it." Mayu says quickly.
"No, I'll make sure." I turn my head back to the two who instantly freeze.
"Ah, look the dessert is here." I smile innocently at them as a waiter sets down a sparkling volcano. It was a specialty of this restaurant. It's a chocolate brownie volcano with vanilla and chocolate ice cream scoops, chocolate and caramel sauce and whipped cream. A small sparkler was added to the top to give it a more volcano like effect.
Yuko and Takamina gulp, their eyes glued to the mouth watering dessert. They grab their spoons and reach out for it. I slap their hands away.
"Nope, you two can't have any."
"You can't tell us what to do!" Yuko yells and scoops some ice cream. I immediately kick her leg under the table causing her to flinch back and spill her ice cream. She gasps and looks at me like she couldn't believe I just did that. Takamina looks at me and shrinks back, not wanting to try what Yuko just did.
"It's mine now, Yuko." I smile.
"Hey Acchan...can we have any? We didn't eat any of your food." Miichan asks shyly with Mayu nodding and pleading behind her.
I think for a minute. "Sure, why not. It's a better punishment if those two watch all of us eat it rather than me eating it by myself. I doubt I would be able to finish it anyways." I admit.
"Yes! Thanks!" Miichan and Mayu high five each other before sticking their tongues out at Yuko and Takamina who frown sadly at them.
The three of us laugh as we eat up the delicious dessert.
"Oh, this is so goooood." Miichan moans, eating most of the ice cream just to spite them.
I giggle. I take some brownie and put it in my mouth, slowing chewing on it. I savor the taste affectionately.
"Jealous, Yuko?" Mayu smirks as she eats another brownie topped with whipped cream. "Mmmm, so sweet."
Yuko looks at us as if she's so done with us. "You guys sound like you're having sex. Takamina, cover your eyes." She commands the shorter girl.
We stop eating and take a glance at the squirrel. We look back at each other and our food, and finally burst out laughing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
3:04pm
Floor 3 of Pillar Peak, we arrive at the dinosaur exhibit. Inside, we find enormous foot tracks that are embedded on the floor through the entrance. Takamina is very surprised by them. She scurries to them looking very curiously at them. She sets her foot over one, the footprint monstrously larger than hers by comparison.
"What is this?" She questions. "Is this from an animal?" She darts her eyes about nervously.
"Well as we told you earlier, we're now in the dinosaur exhibit. What you see is just a footprint of a tyrannosaurus rex. We'll be seeing one in a bit." I explain.
Takamina widens her eyes and backs away. She turns and runs to Yuko, pushing the slightly taller girl in front of her as we go forward through the short hall.
Yuko laughs, "There's nothing to be afraid of. It won't bite...maybe."
I shoot her a glare. "Don't tell her that!"
"Is...it a monster? Is um..a dinosaur a monster?" Takamina asks.
"It's cooler than a monster!" Miichan yells.
I laugh, "Yeah, you could say that. It's better than a monster. The difference between them though is that dinosaurs were real."
"Were?"
We enter into the main exhibit and are greeted by the standing structure of a tyrannosaurus rex. Takamina is taken aback by the intimidating beast and hides behind me.
"Hey it's okay, it's just a skeleton." I assure her.
"Yeah, see? It's not alive." Miichan walks up to the skeleton, lightly tapping a finger on the t-rex's foot.
Takamina comes out slowly behind me. She goes towards the t-rex, eyeing its large teeth cautiously.
"This...used to be here? This thing was alive?" Takamina asks almost horrified by the thought. I know, if they were still around today then we probably wouldn't be here now.
"Along with the other dinosaurs you see around here, yes. They were alive millions of years ago, but are now extinct." I explain.
Takamina widens her eyes. She walks around the exhibit, seemingly fascinated by the other ancient creatures, now just bone.
"Can we leave?" She suddenly asks.
"But we just got here?" Mayu says.
“It's weird. Being around something that's already dead. Like you're supposed to bury the dead right? So even if its amazing to have these around, it feels wrong to have these standing here.”
We all exchange glances. It’s expected that Takamina would have different perspectives than us seeing she’s from another time. What do we say to that though? I don't exactly have an answer for her.
Mayu shrugs. "It's just the way it is."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
4:10pm
"Finally! Look look look! Here's where I work! This is the art gallery! What do you think?" Yuko bounces excitedly for Takamina's reply.
"I thought you were a tour guide?" The shorter girl asks.
"I am! I give tours around the museum on the side, but my main career is here at the art gallery. I love guiding people here to the different painting exhibits, and educating them on the importance of art and photography." Yuko speaks proudly.
"They're really interesting." Takamina comments as we walk by several famous paintings.
"Aren't they amazing?" Yuko smiles as her eyes scan over some of Picasso's work.
"Un. I can tell there's different feelings behind each one." Takamina nods appreciatively.
"Yeah. The artists who created them expressed themselves in their work. Each one is saying something different. It's a matter of the viewer though to interpret the message from their own perspective. Their paintings speak to people." Yuko says, admiringly.
"Do you have a favorite?" Mayu asks Takamina.
"Ah! Yeah, here!" Takamina walks across the room. The rest of us follow eagerly, particularly Yuko.
"This one." Takamina indicates to the famous painting, The Scream.
"Why?" We all ask at the same time.
Takamina shrugs. "I don’t know the context, but it catches my attention. Like what am I doing here, what's happening, what's going to happen, I don't understand, that kind of thing. It's like it's saying it doesn’t know what it’s doing. Ah, yeah, kinda like that."
"Interesting." Yuko nods, thoughtfully. She smiles, "Here, I want to show you something cool. Let's see if you can understand it."
Yuko takes us into another room. It's completely empty besides several empty frames on the walls. Oh, this room. I fold my arms.
"So, what do you think?" She asks Takamina.
Takamina scratches her head. "Am I missing something?"
"No, this is the famous Invisible Art exhibit. A lot of people actually come to see it. Though, they can't really "see" it if you know what I mean." Yuko explains, chuckling.
"Uso! There's really art here??" Takamina looks at the empty frames.
I shake my head. "Don't be fooled by it. There's no way to make something invisible so it's really a hoax."
"But it brings in tons of cash." Mayu laughs.
"How do you know?" Yuko argues. "I believe it's there. Why would Mariko-sama put in fake paintings in her exhibit? She wouldn't!"
"I agree with Yuko. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there."
Yuko pats Takamina's back. "This is why she's my favorite. And the rest of you..." Yuko sticks her tongue out at us.
"Hey Yuko! What's this room??" Miichan calls, standing in front of another door.
"Ah, that's the children's room. So they don't get bored here. You can go inside." She encourages.
Miichan opens the door and I peek in from behind. Oh yeah, I forgot about this room. Unlike the empty room we were just in, this one was larger and way too colorful. It was originally white, but there's just paint everywhere now. In the center of the room sat multiple trays of fresh paint, and a fountain sink to wash hands.
"This is cute!" Miichan says scanning the wall. She notes the small fingerprints of the various kids who scribbled and painted on it.
"Normally, kids get in trouble for scrawling all over walls, but here they can doodle or paint all they want. There's plenty of space for all of it." Yuko grins. "Takamina, you wanna try?"
Takamina nods shy, but seems excited to try it out. Yuko offers the trays and tells her she could just place her hands in them. They don't use paint brushes, because there's no fun in it.
Takamina picks two colors, pink and yellow. She was about to place her hand in the trays when she hesitates. She looks at Yuko.
"You first."
"Sure, I've done this a million times anyways."
Yuko soaks her hands, one becomes blue and the other green. She was about to place them on the wall, when she suddenly turns around to Takamina. Before she can react, Yuko places her hands on Takamina's cheeks leaving her handprints on them. She laughs, backing away from her.
"So it's like that, but make sure you do it on the wall!" She keeps laughing.
Takamina, initially shocked by the feeling of paint on her skin, recovers quickly. She hurries over to the paint trays and places her hands over the pink and yellow paint.
She gasps. "It feels cold!"
"You get used to it." Yuko smiles.
"I get it." Takamina smiles deviously, and charges for Yuko.
"Ah ah ah, you can't catch me!" Yuko laughs, running around the room.
Takamina runs with her hands stretched out trying to catch Yuko. Yuko runs towards me and I move to get out of her way but she smirks and keeps running to my direction. What is she doing?!
I hold up my arms as a shield thinking she might crash into me, but at the last possible second she turns away. Immediately right behind her was Takamina who tries to stop before she gets to me. It was too late.
She runs into me with her hands extended. I scream pushing her away from me. I blush furiously. Yuko was laughing.
"Nice aim, Takamina! That's how you do it!" She claps her hands. Mayu and Miichan by this time were laughing too.
My shirt now had paint on it, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was where. She had accidentally grabbed my boob, her other hand landing on my stomach fortunately though. It was still embarrassing.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Takamina consistently bows, apologizing repeatedly. She keeps her eyes away from me, a worried look across her face.
"No no, it's okay stop bowing. I know it wasn't your fault." I shoot daggers at Yuko.
"Gomen gomen. It's fun though." She winks.
"Don't mess with me, Yuko." I frown.
"Hai hai, I'll try not to."
"Really?"
"Really." She smiles.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
5:26pm
"Uwaaa~ Look at all the fishies!" Takamina cries out in delight as we look through the glass. Just beyond it was hundreds of schools of fish that I couldn't place a name to. But yeah, there were many.
"Hey Takamina, what type of fish do you like?" Yuko asks grinning. "If I had to, I'd say my favorites are mackerel and saury."
"Yuko, you're awful! What if Takamina doesn't eat fish?" Mayu questions.
"Both of you, why are you going on about food? This is an aquarium, we're not at a seafood restaurant." I say.
"I eat them, but I don't know." Takamina comments, replying to Mayu's question. "I don't know their names, and I've never seen this many so clearly. If I tried to open my eyes underwater, everything would look blurry. I knew there were animals under the water, but I never knew there were so many. It's...mysterious. That's the word, right?"
"Hehhhhh, so this is your first time seeing something like this?" Yuko asks.
Takamina takes a step back. "Yeah..."
"Have you been to a beach before?"
I elbow Yuko. "Itai!" She cries out.
"Don't get any ideas." I glare at her.
"Hey, I was just curious."
"Guys!" I hear Miichan call across the room. "Look at the otters!" She grins waving at us to come over,
Before Takamina has the chance to answer Yuko, I lead our small group over. If Takamina hasn't been to a beach before, knowing Yuko she'd find some way for us to go to one. Even with this cold weather, she'd probably persuade Miichan to let us borrow Mariko's jet again just so we could go somewhere warmer. Ugh. I definitely do not want to go to a beach. Not because of these stupid excuses I keep making up, but because I don't want to have to wear a bikini...in front of Takamina. I shake my head, frowning. What am I thinking? We're not going to one, period.
"Kawaii!" All our eyes are glued to the floating otter as it holds a small shell in its paws.
Takamina is mesmerized by its cuteness. "Uwaaa isn't it adorable!" She smiles wide at it. "I'm going to take some photos." She gets out her phone fumbling on it. So she's already figured out how to work the camera? Not surprising, since Yuko didn't leave much for her to figure out on it.
"Did it turn out well?" I ask.
"Yep! Great!" She briefly shows me. I smile. It's nice seeing her so happy.
After that, we head on to the penguin exhibit and then later stop by a vendor for some food. Takamina gets melonpan, munching on it quietly while looking around.
"Found you!" We hear a voice call out to us. A tall, slim figure was approaching, her hair put up in a ponytail. She was wearing the employee's uniform for the aquarium. So she's working today huh. No wonder we came here.
"Yuki!" Mayu's eyes widen as a smile smears across her face, displaying her excitement. She suddenly remembers us and coughs, "Ahm I mean, er good to see you again. I didn't know you'd be working today." She blatantly lies. Yuko, Miichan, and I all exchange glances.
"How are you doing, Yukirin?" I smile, asking.
"Better, now that you guys are here!" She says excitedly.
Miichan leans over to Yuko. "She means better now that Mayu's here." She whispers, laughing softly.
"Who's this?" Yukirin asks us about Takamina. She looks down on her, staring at her for a moment. Takamina stares back too. Yukirin pats Takamina's head. "She's so small! So cute!"
I notice Mayu pouting behind her.
"I feel you. Why does everyone seem to like Takamina? NyanNyan and then Yukirin too." I hear Yuko mutter beside Mayu. I thought I heard her mention me, but I'm sure I'm just hearing things.
"My name is Takahashi Minami, but everyone calls me Takamina." Takamina introduces herself.
Yukirin smiles. "Nice to meet you, Takamina. I'm Kashiwagi Yuki, or Yukirin. You new here to the island? I haven't seen you around before."
"Yes, she is. We've been showing her around today." I say.
"Oh, well perfect timing! The dolphin show is going to start soon here at 6. Why don't you come watch? I'll have to go prepare here in a few minutes, but I can show you to some great seats."
"You'd do that?" Mayu asks excitedly, hugging Yukirin's arm.
Yukirin laughs, "Call it a special treat since all of you came today. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Come, follow me." She takes Mayu's hand as they head towards the dolphin show.
We laugh as we follow not Yukirin, but Mayu and Yukirin.
"Mayu's so cute. She should be like this more often." Yuko whispers.
"Are they a thing yet?" Miichan asks.
"It's certainly heading in that direction." I laugh.
"They're holding hands." Takamina comments to us.
"Yeah, it's cute isn't it?" Yuko says, grinning.
"But...they're holding hands..." Takamina repeats. "In front of us.." Her brows furrow, showing her confusion.
"Yeah, Mayu probably wouldn't normally do that in front of us, but since Yukirin wants to.." She trails off, laughing.
Takamina continues to furrow her brows, eyeing the couple, particularly their intertwined hands.
"What is it about it?" I ask, since it seems she can't get it out of her mind. Does she have something against it? Is there something wrong with it?
Takamina shakes her head, half smiling. "No, it's nothing. Just thinking things. It's okay though."
Why do I feel like it's deja vu. She said something like this before. It's bothering me.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"These are the best seats?!" Yukirin had led us to the very front, otherwise know as the splash zone.
"Well yeah, it's fun getting wet."
"How would you know?" Yuko questions.
Yukirin smiles, "I've experienced it, duh."
"That's not all she's experienced." Yuko whispers to me and Miichan.
"Yuko, stop talking." Mayu puts a hand on her shoulder.
"Man, you guys don't know how to take jokes." She sighs. "I'm just playing."
"Keep it up, you'll be playing by yourself." She snaps.
"Got it." She grumbles, taking a seat. Yukirin leaves to attend to her job. The rest of us take our seats, waiting for the show to start.
A few minutes later, the show starts and we watch as Yukirin appears on one side of the pool. She greets the crowd calls for the dolphins. A few seconds later, three fins emerge from the water as the dolphins make a beeline to her. Yukirin nods, reaching down to a bucket of fish. One by one she throws them out, each dolphin jumping out of the water to catch one respectively. We clap our hands, but it was too soon. One dolphin had landed back into the water right near us, splashing buckets over us when it was only just the beginning. Yukirin makes a slight wave to us, smiling innocently.
Yuko spits out water, “Black.”
~ ~ ~
After several more splashes, we felt completely done and all got up to leave before it was over. Mayu mutters as we go up the stairs, bad-mouthing Yukirin.
“She did this on purpose. I know its the splash zone, but she kept making them go towards us on purpose.” She shakes her head.
“It was fun though, watching the show I mean.” Takamina comments.
“Way to think positive.” Yuko pats her back.
We dry up in the restroom and Mayu brings us some towels.
“Thanks.” We each take a towel. “Where’d you get them?”
“I borrowed them from the employee’s locker room. Nothing really.”
We all silently agree with her actions.
“Are we leaving our clothes on?” I ask.
“Mine aren’t that wet.” Takamina says. “They’ll dry after a while.”
“I think we should change whether regardless. I don’t want anyone getting sick on me.” Mayu states.
“Hai~” We all answer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
6:43pm
"Mitsuketa!" I smile, tagging Takamina before she could run away.
"Mou! Acchan, that was too fast." The shorter girl pouts.
"It's not my fault you're bad at this game." I laugh as I lead her back to base.
We were playing hide and seek in the libraries, or well inside three of them. I said this before, but there are seven libraries on the island. Just last week, I was at Mythos Library up on the mountain. The rest are scattered down on the island. Three of them are connected together in a large building with three sections. From an aerial view, it looks like the letter I. That's where we are. Inside, it holds the Research, Reading, and Children's Library. Not surprising, I found Takamina in the Children's library behind a large stack of books she piled up. Not very discrete, really.
Base is at the center of the building where we all started out. Originally, we were touring through but somehow ended up playing this game instead. This place is perfect for it. Rows and rows of books, a maze for the clueless, so why not?
We gave a brief lesson to Takamina on the rules and had Yukirin be the it person. Before we had left the aquarium, she asked if she could join us since her shift had ended. Yukirin gave us a minute before her search began and before I could even settle into my hiding place, she found me. So I was it now.
"Instead, come help me find the others." I suggest to Takamina. She's happy to since it means she won't be standing around waiting for everyone to be found.
We wander through the libraries through the rows of books. Luckily, I have Takamina as another pair of eyes so it should take a lot less time to find the others.
“Hello?” Takamina calls, looking for any of the others.
“Shhh! You’re not supposed to say anything or you’ll end up giving us away.” I whisper to her. “And they’re not going to come out just because you’re calling them.” I shake my head. “Why do you think it’s called Hide and Seek?”
“Ohh, naruhodo. It makes a lot more sense now.” Takamina can be so helpless sometimes.
“Okay, I got it. Do you have your phone on you?”
“Yes, why?”
“Good. We’ll split up since there’s two more libraries to check. Since I’m the it person, text me if you find anyone. Make sure they don’t notice you though or they’ll run and hide somewhere else.”
She nods her head. “Ok, where do you want me to go?”
I have a feeling Miichan might be in Research, so I’ll check there. You go to Reading. Got it?”
“Un.”
We split up and I head over to the southern section of the building which housed the Research Library. If anything, Miichan has to be over here. I quietly move through the library, hoping to catch a glimpse of her hiding somewhere. I peer over to other shelves, my face just in between the books. Ah, there! I spot a head barely above a shelf. I got you now! I race over there ready to tag her before she runs. When I turn the corner to the row of books, I bump into the wrong person.
“Whoa, this is a library you know? What’s up, Acchan?”
“Sayaka! Gomen! What are you doing here?”
“Work, unfortunately. Brushing up on some materials today and tomorrow as well. So tell me, why were you running?”
“Sorry again, I didn’t mean to disrupt you. I’m kinda in the middle of...something. By any chance, you didn’t happen to see Miichan around here, have you?”
She narrows her eyes at me, I look away. I couldn’t just tell her I was playing a game of hide and seek. Sayaka takes things seriously, she wouldn’t like that we’re messing around in a library of all things. And if she found out that Yuko was here as well, she would definitely start scolding her or all of us. Maybe even report us to Mariko-sama. That must definitely not happen. She might not, but since it’s Sayaka I’m not going to take any chances.
“No, I haven’t seen her. So she’s here too?”
“Yeah, I lost her and I need to find her.” It is the truth.
“Hm.. try calling her cell. She usually keeps her phone on right?”
I take out my phone, browsing through my contacts. She’s not going to keep her phone on in the middle of a quiet game. I try calling her as Sayaka is watching me. This isn’t going to work.
A phone suddenly sounds off in the library, and my head turns to its direction. No way!
“I think I found her now! Thanks!” I tell Sayaka before running off towards where the ringing was coming from before it stopped.
“Any time, and stop running!” She calls before getting shushed by a nearby librarian.
“Blasted phone, why won’t it shut up?!” I hear Miichan whisper furiously as she tries to turn it off. She used to use Apple, but then switched to Android. She hasn’t figured out everything yet. Lucky me.
I sneak up behind her and tackle her to the ground.
“Got you!” I say and start tickling her because I’m mean.
“Ahahaha! Stop! Ahahaha! Acchan! Wahahaha!” She laughs. I let up on her before the librarian decides to come over to our commotion.
Miichan groans, lying on the floor tired. “What’d you do that for? I don’t recall playing football.”
“I needed a good laugh.” I grin at her.
“Haha, very funny.” She gets up, punching my shoulder lightly.
“Am I the first you’ve found?”
“No, you’re good. I got Takamina first.”
“Of course you did.”
“All that’s left is Mayu, Yukirin, and Yuko.”
“Ha. Good luck finding Yuko.”
“Why?”
“She’s really good at hiding. Must be because she’s small.”
“But I found Takamina, and she’s smaller.”
“Takamina has no experience in this game, that’s it. Where is she now?”
“I sent her to the Reading Library. She should be-- ah! That must be her.” I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket and take it. I scan over the text.
“Greaaaat.” I roll my eyes, starting to head over there.
“What happened?” Miichan asks.
“Takamina. She found Mayu and Yukirin, but they spotted her and ran. Takamina followed them, but she can’t reach them now.”
“What do you mean?”
We make it to the northern section of the building to the Reading Library. We look around for Takamina, and possibly Mayu and Yukirin. Eventually, we come across all of them, but not how we’d expect.
Mayu and Yukirin were laughing, sitting on top of a tall bookshelf. Takamina was pouting because she couldn’t reach them.
“Acchaaaaaaaan.” She complains when she sees me. “You’re supposed to tag them when you find them right? Can you reach them though? I wanted to get them so you could, but…” she frowns.
I look up at the two, enjoying themselves. “Hey, that’s cheating!” I call to them. “How’d you two get up there anyways?” I ask right after.
“There’s a ladder on the other side of the shelf. Bakamina can do a lot of things, but she can’t even notice it.” Mayu laughs lightly.
We over to the other side of the shelf and sure enough, there was a ladder. Takamina looks away sheepishly. “I didn’t know…” she mumbles, pouting.
“Ok, you two that’s enough. Get down now.” I tell them. “Or do I have to go up there?”
“Whether we go down or not, you still got us. So you come up here.” Mayu smirks.
“Making me do more work.” I groan. “Nevermind then, I’m going to go look for Yuko.”
“You’ll never find her.” Mayu calls.
“Need a hint?” Yukirin smiles deviously.
I raise an eyebrow. “Depends… Are you helping Yuko or helping me?”
“Do you want it or not?”
“Fine fine, what is it?”
“Where is the last place anyone would think to look for her?” she asks.
I put a hand on my head. “Give me a minute to think.”
The women’s gravure magazines? No, that’s the first place everyone looks.
The art history books in the Research Library? No, she wouldn’t hide there.
Tch. Where would she be? I look to Takamina.
“Hey, what would be the one place you wouldn’t hide at.” I ask her.
“Huh? Oh, that would um be base then, wouldn’t it? That’s where “it” counts so I wouldn’t hide there.” She shakes her head.
I slap myself. “Oh duh! Of course she’d be there.” Dang it, I mutter under my breath as I hurry to base which was the front desk at the center of the library. I quietly but quickly scan the area. No sign of her. Of course its not that easy. I make my way behind the desk and look under it.
“Found you!” I tag the last person.
“Took you long enough. I started to feel claustrophobic under here.” Yuko comes out from under the desk and stretches her arms. “Next time, find me first. It gets so boring always being the last found.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
8:48pm
"Sugoi!" Takamina's eyes widen as she bears an awestruck smile across her face.
At the moment, we were touring the world records museum located above the food court. The museum takes up a total of three floors, housing objects such as the world's largest rubber band ball to the smallest hand made paper crane which I believe you need a magnifying glass to properly see it.
"Banzai!" Yuko screams as she jumps into the world's largest ball pit. This is what we really came for.
"Just jump right in! I promise you won't drown!" Yuko grins to Takamina.
Takamina bends down at the edge of the pit. She picks up one of the colorful balls, tossing it in the air back inside. She smiles, reaching in to pick up another one. As she reaches in, Miichan's jumps out from nowhere and pulls Takamina in.
"Kyaaa—" Takamina's scream is quickly cut off by the sound of her laughter as she, Yuko, and Miichan start throwing balls at each other while "swimming" around.
I start to laugh when I'm suddenly pushed into the pit.
"Oi!" I stand amidst the balls, looking up at Mayu as she jumped in after me.
"Yuko told me to!" She sticks her tongue out as she throws a blue ball at my face, hitting my nose.
I gasp and throw one back but she dodges, hiding under the mass piles of plastic balls. I wade or somehow make my way to where she was only to find her nowhere. I wait for her to come out, but soon hear her on the other side of the pit. Dang her! I'm about to head over to her when Yuko jumps out bringing me under as if to drown me.
"Death by plastic balls!" She cries.
I push her away only to go under again as my feet are pulled out from under me. When I'm able to resurface, I notice Yuko and Takamina ready with balls in their hands. I quickly react going back under bfore they could hit me.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Acchan, look!" Yuko calls, putting on a show for all of us. She had placed multiple balls inside her shirt.
"Look at all my oppai!" She jokes, laughing. One slips out of her shirt. Miichan and I howl with laughter.
"Miss, you lost a boob." Mayu grins as she returns it to Yuko. Yuko pushes it back to her.
"No, you keep it. You need it more than me." We die, laughing as Mayu throws the ball in Yuko's face.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Ready?" Mayu asks as we proceed with the chicken fight. She acts as ref as we play. Takamina sits on my shoulders as Yuko sits on Miichan's.
We stare down each other waiting for Mayu's signal.
There's a moment of silence.
"Go!"
"Ahhhh!" Both sides scream as we take each other head on.
I move through the pit as fast as I can. It's hard enough moving by myself, but with Takamina on my shoulders it's a bit more of a challenge. I have to make sure I don't step on a ball or somehow lose my balance.
Both pairs reach each other. Miichan and I clasp hands, pushing against each other in an attempt to get the other off balance. Above us, Takamina and Yuko were grasping each other's arms trying to pull the other off.
While I fend off against Miichan, I feel my balance start to shift weighing to my left. Yabai! I yell and hold onto Takamina, my hands on her thighs. She tries to balance herself but with nothing to hold onto, its difficult. I pull onto her so she leans back and we regain balance.
As I pulled her forward, Takamina uses that force to her advantage and knocks herself into Yuko. We push them back.
"Acchan!" Takamina shouts.
"I know!" I yell back and start handing balls to Takamina one by one.
She starts throwing them swiftly at Yuko and Miichan who were trying to defend themselves.
"Hey! That's cheating!" Miichan calls.
"Mayu!" Yuko shouts at our ref.
Mayu was busy playing with Yukirin on the other side of the pit.
"Argghhhh!" Yuko screams as she and Miichan try to make a break for us. They bravely take the hits head on as we don't let up on them.
They get closer and closer to us. It's now or never.
"Takamina!" I shout, charging for the pair.
"We got this!" She shouts.
"Ahhhhh!" We all scream.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Ok, I'm done." Yuko mutters as we leave the world records museum. We wait for the elevator to come up. "First basketball, and now the chicken fight. Why can't I win?" Yuko grumbles.
"Maybe you just need to team up with Takamina. Then you two would probably be an unbeatable pair." I say.
"No, that wouldn't work if I'm trying to beat her!"
"But you did beat her back in Tokyo. Well, it was more like a one-sided fight." Mayu comments.
"That's why it doesn't count." The elevator doors open and we step inside. "Mou whatever. Let's just go now. Where next?" Yuko's hand pauses before the elevator buttons.
"Are you guys going anywhere next? It's already late, it's past 11 already." Yukirin says.
Yuko sighs, "Already?" She presses the button to ground floor.
We step off at the bottom.
"Um Yuko, wrong floor. Shouldn't we be getting back to our rooms?" Mayu asks.
"Wait, just one more place. It won't take long, really." She pleads.
"But all that's here on this floor is check-in and the gif—" Mayu stops herself. Yuko nods as if telling her to go on.
"The gift shop, really?" She deadpans.
"I have every tour end at the gift shop, why should this be any different?" She smiles, grabbing Takamina's arm. "Come on!"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
11:15pm
We enter the small shop, looking through the souvenirs. Nothing much really interest me, I’ve seen everything here before.
“Acchan, over here! Look!” Takamina calls me to her.
“What is it?”
“This is so cool! It changes colors!” She hold up her hand, showing me a ring on her finger.
“Oh, that’s a mood ring. It changes colors based on your mood. You see how it’s purple right now? That means you’re happy.”
Takamina smiles. “I am.”
“Ah, it’s changing colors again.” I point to the ring. It changes to green.
“What does that color mean?” Takamina asks.
“Um… I can’t say. I don’t really know them all, gomen.” I lie. I glance at Takamina. What does this mean, Takamina? Are you?
“Oh, it’s okay. Why don’t you try it on?” Takamina lends me the ring. I reluctantly put it on.
We watch as the color changes yellow. “Do you know what that means?” Takamina asks. Yuko comes up from behind her taking a look.
“It means she’s nervous.” She gives me a sly smile. I frown at her and take the ring off.
“No, this ring must be faulty.” I place it back on the display shelf. I push Yuko away from Takamina before she says anything else that’s ridiculous.
“Oh look, there’s some cell phone straps.” I lead Takamina to the other side of the gift shop. I turn my head to see Yuko waving innocently behind us as we go across the room. She better just stay put.
“These are pretty.” Takamina looks through the cell phone straps. I just watch behind her.
“Ne, Acchan. Can I have one?”
“Sure, that’s why we’re here. Which one do you want?”
“Hmm… I’m still looking.”
“Oh, um… Here’s some cash. It shouldn’t be much to buy it. I’ll wait for you outside.” I smile.
“Ok, don’t leave though. Okay?”
“I won’t. I’ll be just outside.”
She smiles. “Thanks.”
Outside, I’m waiting against the wall beside the gift shop. Mayu and Yukirin come out of the shop and stand beside me.
“They’re still not done?” I ask them.
“Almost. They’re all just checking out at the register.”
“Did they get a lot? Last I checked, there wasn’t a long line.” I ask.
They shrug.
Yuko skips out, followed by Miichan and Takamina.
“Finally.” I breathe out.
Takamina comes over to me with a small bag in her hand. She rummages through it and takes out a cell phone strap.
“Aw, this is cute.” I smile, looking at the small metal ribbon charm at the end. The ribbon had a heart at the very center. I nodded. It suits her.
She hands it to me.
“Eh?”
“This one’s for you. I got one too. They’re a pair.” Takamina smiles wide. She waits for me to accept it.
I stare at her. “T-thank you.” She didn’t have to.
She watches me.
“What?” I look at her.
“Aren’t you going to put it on?”
“Now?”
She nods her head quickly.
I smile. “Why not.” I take out my phone and attach the small strap. She takes out hers and shows me beside mine. They were matching.
Takamina grins.
“Not bad.” I nudge her. “Thanks again.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
11:45pm
We stood in the hallway on the dorm floor. We were in the midst of making a tough decision.
“Where is Takamina sleeping tonight?” Miichan asks.
“She can’t stay with me.” Miichan says. “My room is a mess. Hey Yuko, would you like to clean it sometime?”
“Ha, no. I’ll pass. I clean NyanNyan’s room only.” She smiles.
“Fine, you guys go ahead and decide then. I’m going to sleep. See you tomorrow.” Miichan waves before walking down the hall to her room.
“We can have her switch around. She can stay in my room first. I don’t mind.” Mayu suggests.
“I see. I’m going to sleep too. It was nice meeting you, Takamina. I’ll see you guys around. Goodnight, Mayu.” Yukirin smiles at Mayu before stalking off to her own room. Mayu looks after her longingly.
“I want Bakamina in my room tomorrow then!” Yuko announces. “Acchan, you can have her the night after.”
“Is this arrangement okay with you, Takamina?” I ask.
“I get good places to sleep, so it’s perfect.”
“Alright, let’s go. It’s been a long day. Goodnight, guys.” Mayu starts walking to her room. Takamina follows after her. She stops and turns around.
“Goodnight, Yuko! Goodnight, Acchan!” She smiles and turns back around and hurries after Mayu into her room.
“What are you up to?” I ask Yuko wondering why she seems so excited to have Takamina in her room tomorrow night.
“Nothing really.” Yuko smiles slyly. “Sleep tight, Acchan.” She goes into her room through the door behind her.
“She’s going to be the death of me.” I mutter, shaking my head. I walk to my room, entering through the door.
I look at my room. Simple, tidy, and neat. Empty. I walk over to my closet and hang my coat. I throw my clothes into the laundry basket and change into my pj’s. My body feels so heavy now. We did so much today. It’s as if a sugar rush had ended. I plop onto my bed and turn over into the covers. What should we do tomorrow? I feel like I just want to sleep in. Ah, I’ll just talk to the others tomorrow. I set my alarm for tomorrow and place my phone at the tableside. I stare at the strap hanging off it. Takamina… What are we going to do?
I look at the clock as it strikes midnight. Another day has ended.
= = = = =
AN
Sooooooo I don’t really know when the next update will be, but there should be 3 maybe 4 more chapters left. I already have the outlines for them done, it’s just a matter of writing them out haha. Come next week, I’ll be back in robotics practice for next competition so I won’t have any time write until everything’s over. This fic will probably be like T3C where I finish during the summer. Yeah. I have to finish by the end of the summer. Haha, I don’t plan on writing this during college. Then I’ll have zero time. Nope, probably only one shots from then on too. Just saying I guess. Alright guys, til next update!
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WOOOO~
Welcome back, and I love the long update :D
I haven't read it yet, but I will eventually. So thank you for this great story :heart:
Take your time with updating and good luck with the robotics ^_^
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Thank you for the long update.
That was nice though. The gang enjoying their time together.
Takamina is loved by many here.
Yukirin's appearance here is cute too. :thumbsup
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It was so interesting and funny to read it.. :roll:
Their time together will be so memoriable for Takamina..
Thank you for update and can't wait next one! :)
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whoa that was a really nice and looong read~
their adventure sounds fun i almost wish there's a real place like Pillar Peak lol
and aahh those subtle atsumina <3 hoping for mooooaaaar
thank you for the update and fighting on your competition~!
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AN
Wah! This chapter was so much more easier for me to write. I hardly thought at all. I feel proud of myself for getting it done quickly. I hope you guys enjoy this one as well. Last one for a while though, please be patient with me. Thank you for the comments and encouragement in writing as well as my upcoming competition :nervous You guys are great!
= = = = =
Linked
11. Realm of Possibilities
Acchan’s POV
I bury my face in my hands. I peek an eye through my fingers to the sleeping girl beside me. How did this happen?
I hadn’t even slept for an hour before I felt my leg being shook. I gasped, bolting upright and quickly turned on the lamp beside me. The light comes on and Takamina is visible. I put a hand on my chest, my eyes still wide.
“You surprised me! How did you get inside?” I ask, brushing my hair back with my hand.
“Gomen, your door was not locked so I thought it was okay…” she answers shyly.
“Ah, it’s no problem then. At least it’s you instead of some stranger.” I sigh. I was so tired, I must have been careless.
I pull off my covers and get out of bed. “Do you want some water?” I ask, walking to the kitchen.
“You don’t need to, I’m fine.” She keeps her hands behind her back as she follows me.
“You sure?” I grab a cup and pour water for myself. Takamina shakes her head. Fine, if you say so.
“Is something up? How’s it going with Mayu? I thought you two would be asleep by now.” I take a sip of water.
Takamina purses her lips. “I was asleep...but when I woke up a few minutes ago she was gone.”
Tch. I bet that girl snuck off to Yukirin’s room. That’s so like her. Why did she even offer for Takamina to stay in her room in the first place if she wasn’t even going to be there. She’s so going to get it from me later. I place my drink down.
Takamina continues, “I didn’t really want to sleep by myself and it doesn’t look like I could stay with anyone else so...is it okay if I sleep here tonight? I’ll try not to be a bother. Or you don’t have to let me stay if you don’t want me to…” Takamina looks away.
A small smile appear across my face. Kawaii, Takamina. I take her arm and bring her back to my room. I sit on my bed, and pat my hands on the surface beside me.
“Here.” I motion to her. “You can sleep right here.”
I watch amused as her expression lightens up.
“Honto ni?”
“Would you rather sleep on the floor again? You like that better, right?” I smile playfully.
“I do but….then I’m not beside Acchan.” Takamina grins, climbing under the covers with me.
I feel my face get hot and quickly turn the light out before she notices. My back faces her. Get a grip, Acchan. She says weird stuff all the time. It’s nothing.
I close my eyes. It’s silent for a while.
“Acchan, are you still awake?”
“Un.” Now I am.
“Thanks for letting me sleep here.” I hear her say behind me.
“Just get some rest.” I feel myself drifting off.
“Acchan?”
“Hm?”
“Oyasumi.”
I was about to reply but I found myself unable to. I had already fallen back asleep.
Oh yeah. She was forced to come here because of Mayu. Not that I mind though. I momentarily forgot she was here. I find myself staring at her sleeping face. I turn my head away. Nope, it’s too early for this, Acchan. I don’t need any unnecessary thoughts. I pick myself up and get out of bed. I quietly leave the room and go prepare breakfast.
As I finish placing the plates out on the table, Takamina enters the kitchen. She looks like she’s still half-asleep.
“Ohayou.” I smile as she sits at the table, her eyes still closed.
She opens them, blinking slowly. She looks around the room, her eyes finally laying on me. She smiles. “Ah, ohayou, Acchan.”
I place a cup of hot tea on the table for her and pat her head before taking my seat opposite to her.
“Arigatou. Ittedakimasu!” She cheers, now starting to eat her food.
“Oishii!” Takamina comments after swallowing.
I shrug as I chew my food.
“Really, you’re food tastes delicious.” Takamina starts speaking seriously. I slowly stop chewing my food as I listen to her, slightly surprised.
“Like, it would be perfect if I could just eat your food everyday.” She smiles to herself as she finishes her plate.
I nod slowly, finding myself agreeing with her. Wouldn’t that be nice, huh.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After breakfast, we wait in the hallway for Yuko, Miichan, and Mayu to appear. I have Takamina text them a reminder to hurry up since we were waiting. If I had sent the message I don’t know if they would have listened to me.
A few minutes later, all three were out in the hall.
“Can’t I have one morning where I sleep in?” Yuko complains.
“You’re not the only one who’s tired.” Mayu snaps, still feeling groggy.
“Guys, remember. There’s not much time left. We need to come up with a plan today.” I explain. As much as I agree with them, someone has to be responsible.
Takamina raises her hand to get our attention. “Ano..”
We wait for her expectantly to tell us what’s on her mind.
“I was kind of thinking… of going on my own today for a bit.” She says, shrinking back a bit.
“You heard her! That means we can all go back to sleep!” Yuko immediately says, turning her body to her door.
“Yuko!” I stop her, and turn to Takamina.
“You don’t want us to help? What are you going to do?” I ask. We should at least know her reasons before we decide to let her go.
Takamina shuffles her feet. “Um, yesterday I thought the libraries were kind of cool. They seem to hold a lot of information so I was thinking I might do some research of my own there.”
Mayu nods. “That’s a good idea. The libraries are big, so you might find something there that could help you. I say go for it.”
“Not bad. Will you be fine if you’re looking by yourself? It might take some time.” Miichan adds.
“Daijoubu. I have all day.” Takamina smiles.
I shake my head. “No, you have only three days. So you—we have to find them.”
“I know. I want you all to get more sleep anyways. You’ve all helped me enough. I’ll be fine on my own.”
“Those three can go back to sleep. I’m still going with you, just in case.” I tell her.
“Well that’s that. I’m hitting the sack again. Ja!” Yuko hurries back into her room. Miichan and Mayu bow out and head to their respective rooms too.
“Ah wait, Mayu.” I call out to her before she enters through her door. She pauses and looks at me.
“Yeah?”
“Don’t think I didn’t notice you had left Takamina by herself.” I smile threateningly to her.
She backs up. “I wasn’t going to leave her in the first place, really! I just went out to check something and when I came back she was gone. What was I supposed to do? So its not my fault.”
“Uh huh. Keep telling yourself that.” I walk up and place a hand on her shoulder.
I lean towards her ear. “Don’t do that again.” I whisper. I feel her shiver.
“I’m sorry… I won’t.” She apologizes and ducks back into her room.
I let out a sigh. “So we’re going?” I look to Takamina.
“I don’t mean anything bad, but I meant it… when I said I wanted to be alone today…” she mumbles.
“Oh…" I didn't expect that. I thought she would be okay with me tagging along.
"Are you sure?” I look at her worriedly. It’s just the library. She's been there before so she should be fine by herself, right?
“Un, gomen. I know I’m being selfish requesting this but this is what I feel like I have to do.” I can see that. She looks determined. I know she wouldn’t just fool around if her life is depending on it.
“Ok. Just… call or text me if you need anything. At least check in with me every now and then too so I know you’re okay.”
Takamina nods. “Got it. Thank you!” She hugs me quickly before going on her way. I look after her.
What was that?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Takamina’s POV
Um...where was it again? I think I have to go downstairs...right?
Down the hall and to the left. Down the hall and to the left. Just keep thinking that. The elevator should be right there...I think. Ah, right! Found it. I don't want to have to ask Acchan for help. I want to get there by myself.
Ok so first, I have to press the button. That's what the others usually did. Then the door would open. Ok, I'll try it.
I press a small button by the door. It glows yellow now. Does that mean its working?
I wait patiently for the door to open. Yes! It worked! I quickly slip in before it closes on me.
I grin triumphantly. Wait. I look around. I'm not done yet. Next step. Ok, um... I need to go down.
I look at the panel by the door. There are very many buttons there. I frown worriedly. Which one was it?? I bite my lip. I raise my finger, hovering over the buttons. Okay...so there are numbers on them. I think I get it. I should be going to the first one. I shut my eyes as I press the button. Momentarily, the elevator moves. The feeling I get in here still surprises me. I press myself to the wall, waiting for the elevator to stop. Shouldn’t be too long.
A couple seconds later, the doors finally open. I hurry out, finding myself on ground floor. I see the entrance. Good! I’m going the right way. Now then… I have to find that building.
I let out a heavy sigh, and look around. Yuko mentioned before that there should be a directory or some kind of map should anyone get lost. I don’t see one around here though. I walk around. Ok then. I’ll just have to backtrack my way there.
So we came from the entrance… I walk outside. Oh no. I place a palm on my face. We didn’t get back from the library until dark. I won’t be able to find it this way.
Since I woke in this time, everything has been so amazing but why does it all have to be complicated at the same time? I miss home. It was so much more simpler. Everything was easy to understand. I shake my head. Now’s not the time for these thoughts. I have to focus on the problem at hand. I have to find those libraries.
I start by walking around. Nothing will get done if I just stand still. Hm..
5 minutes. It should be around here somewhere.
10 minutes later. I don’t remember it being too far from Pillar Peak. Then again, we were riding that cart thing.
30 minutes later. Wah! I’m so done. I sit down on some nearby grass to rest.
“Maybe I should have let Acchan come with me.” I mumble.
*ring ring*
Ah! My phone! I take it out and look to see who’s calling. Ah! Acchan! I hurry and answer.
“Hello?”
“You’re so helpless.” I hear her voice on the other side.
“E-eh?” What does she mean?
“I can see you.”
“Eh?! Where??” I stand up, looking around anxiously.
I hear muffled laughter through the phone.
“W-what?? Where are you?” I demand, frowning. Is she making fun of me?
“I’m still here at Pillar Peak. After you left, I went to my office. When I looked out the window I saw you and couldn’t help but watch as you wandered around. You are going to the library, right?” She’s teasing me now. I frown.
“That’s right! But I’m not lost if that’s what you were thinking. I just had a lot of fun yesterday and was just taking a shortcut by looking around the other buildings and things around here.”
“Hai hai~”
I pout. “Mou! Acchan!” She’s not taking me seriously!
“Gomen gomen, but from my view here, you look silly.”
I don’t answer her.
“Takamina?”
I decide to ignore her.
“Takamina??” She calls again.
“Baka.” I mutter.
“Ehhh? Me? Really?” I feel her smiling on the other side.
“Okayy fine. Bakamina here. I need help.” I really didn’t want to have to ask. Ahhhh.
“Haha! I got you to admit it! Ok anyways first, just keep going straight along that path you were just on. When you get to the end, there are two paths. Take a left and it’ll be the second building you see to your right. Got it?”
“Um.. Go straight then turn left at the end, and then its the second building, right?”
“Right, you should be able to handle it from there. Are you planning on being there the whole day?”
“Hm.. I don’t know yet. Maybe?”
“Ah.. ok. What are you doing for lunch?”
“Oh.. I haven’t thought about it.” I think I’ll just visit one of those vending machine things. I should have some pocket change with me.
“I’ll bring you lunch.”
“That’s too much. You don’t have to.” She doesn’t have to come all the way for me.
“I don’t want you to get hungry. And I want to. What do you want to eat?” Remember Takamina, she doesn’t really want to. She’s just doing this because it’s her job to take care of you. Yes brain, I know.
“I’ll be fine. I’ll manage somehow.” I try to assure her.
“Come on, what do you want to eat?” She’s really persistent. I should already know it doesn’t help to argue with her.
I sigh. “Anything is fine.” Might as well.
“What do you want to eat?” She repeats.
“Anything, really.”
“Takaminaaa!” she complains.
“Fine, I’d like katsudon! Happy?”
“Very much. That’s all I needed to know. Good luck with your research!”
“Oh, than---” Before I finish my sentence I hear the phone cut off.
“Eh? Did she hang up on me? Mou, whatever.” I know how to get to the library now.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I’m at the Research Library now. I have another problem though. The front desk lady directed me to what she called the catalog, but I don’t know how to use it! So it like, searches things for me, is that it? I look at the monitor screen in front of me. I remember seeing one of these in that room I first woke up in. It’s not a tv, and its not a phone, but its similar to them. I glance at the keyboard below the monitor. So its like texting, but I type what I want to find. So cool!
Ok, first. What should I type? Um… Oh man. Where do I start with this? I can’t just type, soul searching frozen time traveler and expect results. Could I? I look around, before I type it out one finger at a time. I should ask Mayu or Yuko to teach me how to type later. This is so slow.
I hesitate before pressing the enter button. What will I find? Nothing? Something? I press it anyways.
The screen changes and I jump back in surprise. I need to start getting used to that. Oh, there’s a bunch of results. Interesting. I scroll through the different titles, looking for something that will catch my eye. Some of the books look relevant. I click on one. Ok, I’ll start with this one. “Across the Universe” its a book that discusses time travel. I could start by figuring out exactly how I was able to get here.
Let’s see where it is… I scan the screen for its location. Ah, it’s Ano 224.8. Ok, now I just have to find it. I write it down so I won’t forget and browse the shelves. 100s, 200s so over here… 210s, keep walking...220s okayyy... wait. There’s no books here that go beyond the number 220. It goes to 230 now. Uso.
I look around. Am I missing something? I scratch my head. I’m sure I got it right. I look at the number again. Yeah, no mistake. Worriedly, I walk over to the front desk. I can ask where this is over there.
“Excuse me.” I ask the lady.
“Yes? Do you need any help?”
“Ah yes! I was looking for this book, but I can’t find it. Do you know where it is?” I show her the paper and tell her the title.
She nods, taking a moment to look it up on her catalog device.
“I’m sorry,” she says after a few seconds. “You’re in the wrong library. That book is located in the library at Mythos Museum.”
“Eh?” I blink.
“But I’m doing research, so wouldn’t it be here?” I question.
She shakes her head. “No, because that book is of a different genre. The research library is more of an academic department. Mythos is...how it sounds. Let’s say fantasy if you will. A different kind of art.”
“Oh.. Ok. Arigatou.” I bow my head and leave.
Really, I just got here and I’m in the wrong place. It can’t be. I don’t even know where that Mythos Museum place is! I exit the building.
Ahhhh! I sigh out loud. I’m just wasting my time now. I look at the clock on my phone. It’s still early, about 10. I look around.
“Mythos Museum…” I mumble. Gahh! Where is it??
I start running around the area. There’s got to be a directory somewhere around here.
Ah! Is that it? There was a large sign standing in one area. I hurry over to it. Yatta! I did it! Found it! See? I can do things without asking for help.
Ok, let’s see.. I run my eyes across the sign. I didn’t realize there were so many places on this island. I had been to several places and Yuko had even said so, but to see it all listed and pointed out here...wow.
Ok, so Mythos Museum is… eh? The mountain? At the top? Uso!
I turn my head to the mountain. But that’s so far. I groan. Yada, I don’t want to anymore… I want to take a break now.
Baka! What are you thinking? You know you have to go there.
It’s too far though…
Mou! I have to stop talking to myself! I slap my cheeks. Get yourself together Takamina! Oh wait, you’re not really together, are you?
I yell.
I must be getting stressed. I need to calm down. Deep breaths. Deep breaths.
If Yuko was here, what would she say?
“Oi Bakamina! Where’s that willpower you showed me before? Huh??” I imitate her.
I laugh, I feel better now.
Yosh! Let’s go! I encourage myself and head on towards the mountain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I made it.. I let out ragged breaths. I just climbed up the mountain. Completely different from what we scaled yesterday to get to that restaurant. That was a piece of cake, but this.. Ah! So tired! I lay on the ground and turn my head. Several meters away, I see something that looks like stairs but they were moving. Wait. I think someone had mentioned there being a lift yesterday. Is that it? Ah, why didn’t I think of it earlier! Baka baka baka!
I rest for a few minutes, then stand up. There’s not much up here, but it’s cool being up here. I turn around to look down at the island.
Sugoi! I can see everything! I take a picture of my view onto my phone. This is a good one. Now where was I? Oh yeah, I was going to Mythos Museum. I look around. There are only three buildings up here. One was particularly large though.
“I’ll bet that’s it.” I say to no one.
I walk to it, entering inside cautiously. It’s structured differently from the other buildings I’ve been in. It has a kind of majestic awesome feeling to it. The hallways are really large. What is this material its made of though? The sound really echoes off it, sugoi.
I wander through until I enter another room. I smile. Found it!
I take out the sheet of paper I had written on before. Let’s see now… It should be here this time. I search through the library, following the numbers on the side of the shelves. I follow the numbers to what better be the right shelf and scan through the books. Ano 224.8, Ano 224.8, Ano 224.8, ah! Dang, why is it up so high?!
I groan, reaching my hand towards it. Come on, just a little more! My fingers are almost there!
“Would you like me to get that for you?” A voice suddenly asks behind me.
“Ah!” I stumble back in surprise, my feet tripping on themselves. My body leans onto the bookshelf. I push off it to balance myself before I fall.
“Watch out!” The lady screams.
I look up, some of the books fall from the shelf. I lift my arms to cover my head. I’m suddenly pulled out of the way before they could hit me. Within the next few seconds, the shelf falls onto the shelf behind it, and in short, more after. I flinch as every shelf hits the next.
When the final shelf hits the floor, the lady and I stare shocked at the pile of books before us.
My eyes tear up. I messed up.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sayaka’s POV
Where have I seen this girl before? She looks familiar to me. I had just gotten back from the other libraries down the mountain. I didn’t expect anyone to be up here, but as I was passing through, I saw her. She seemed to be having trouble, so I offered my help.
Things didn’t turn out though as the following events I don’t even dare mention.
I was prepared to blow up. I was going to blow up. I turned to face the shorter girl who caused this awful mess, but when I saw her tears I stopped. She’s not guilty of this. It wasn’t her fault, but it looks like she’s believes it was. It’s actually mine for suddenly surprising her. I guess we both didn’t expect the results, but that doesn’t mean I should yell at her. She doesn’t deserve that. I am still very much angry. There’s this entire mess to clean up! And then the possible damages ah.. I place my hands on my face. Just need to calm down. Be reasonable.
I look down at the girl. She was cowering, afraid I was going to snap at her. I try to smile at her and place a hand on her shoulder.
“Hey, it’s okay. You don’t need to cry.” I try to reassure her. I’m not all too good with things like this.
She sobs, “I’m sorry! I caused all this trouble! Please punish me for what I deserve!”
Wow, she’s straight-forward.
“No need, it’s not your fault. If anything, it was mine. I surprised you, didn’t I? Come on, stop crying.” I offer her my handkerchief.
She takes it, gingerly wiping the tears off her face. I smile.
“Good girl.” I pat her head. A small smile appears on her face.
“I’ll clean it up.” She offers, still worried.
I look out at the sea of books. It’s a lot to do. I guess my work will have to wait.
“I’ll clean them up with you. It’ll be done faster like this.” I can’t leave it all to her by herself.
“Un, I’m sorry for the trouble.” I help her stand up.
“It’s fine. Are you okay? Those books almost got you.” We start gathering the books, setting them aside in piles of ten so we could have room to set the shelves back up.
“Daijoubu. You saved me, so I’m safe. Thank you.”
I nod. “That’s good.” I pick up several books and pass them to the girl.
“Oh, what’s your name?” I ask her.
“Ah! Yeah, my name is Takahashi Minami or Takamina. Heheh..” She nervously laughs.
I smile. “Akimoto Sayaka desu. Sayaka is fine though. Nice to meet you.”
“Un!”
As we pick up books and form stacks we get to know each other.
“You work here??” Takamina questions after I explained what I was doing before I saw her.
“Yeah, I like it here. Usually it’s quiet though.” I smirk.
“Gomen, again. I disrupted the peace you had.” This girl takes things too seriously huh.
I shake my head. “Again, it’s not your fault. It’s kind of a mess now so I don’t know if we’ll find it, but what book were you trying to get?” I ask her.
“Oh, it’s “Across the Universe.” I decided to do some research on time traveling. Like how it works and stuff.”
“Research? But you know this is also the Mythos Library, right? If you’re looking to time travel, I’m sorry but it’s not real. Or at least, isn’t possible yet.”
Takamina nods. “I know, but I just wanted to know. I’m also looking for myths surrounding time travel. Do you know any?”
She peaks my interest. “Hm? If you don’t mind me asking, why do you want to know?”
“Um.. eto… because I don’t have much time left.”
“What do you mean?” Not much time left? Like how? Not much time left as in she's on a deadline? Or not much time left like she's dying? Her tone when she said that...I can tell it's urgent. But then why does she want to know about time travelling?
“Eto.. okay.” She pauses, taking a deep breath.
She mumbles under her breath, I can’t understand her though.
She says aloud, “Acchan told me not to tell, but since you saved my life, I’ll tell you my story.”
I’m surprised. “You know Acchan?” I ask her. Ah, that could explain why she seems familiar. I must have saw her in the other libraries yesterday around the time I saw Acchan.
“Eh? You know Acchan too??” She says, surprised. “Since you know her, then it must be okay if I tell you!” She smiles. What logic she has. I find this girl amusing.
“If it’s that important that Acchan told you not to tell anyone, then you don’t have to tell me.” Does it have to do with Acchan? Or Takamina? Why would Acchan tell her not to though if its her story?
Takamina picks up a shelf and stands it up. She dusts herself off. Wait, she just picked it up by herself?
“No, it’s okay. I want to tell you anyways. You seem like a good person.”
“If you think so. Ok, so hit me with it. Why are you looking for myths concerning time traveling? Why don’t you have much time left? What’s with the secrecy? And how were you able to pick up that heavy shelf without my help? You’re really petite, you know that?” I feel the tension rising inside of me. This feeling of anxiety. What’s with this girl?
She takes a deep breath. I stop stacking books so I can give her my full attention. I don’t want to miss a thing for some reason. What is it?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Tch. I sit down on a stack of books. Takamina looks down to the floor.
“Are you upset? Did I do something wrong?” She asks me, worriedly.
I sigh. “I’m upset, but not at you.” She looks at me confused.
“I’m surprised...very surprised actually. If what you said is true, this breaks through to a whole new realm of possibilities. I can talk to you more about it later, more importantly, you have only less than three days left. Correct?” The girl nods.
“If only I had known.. Why didn’t Mariko put me on the research team? I am definitely going to confront her on this later. Ah!” I rub my head. I’m getting stressed now. How do I go about this?
“Why aren’t you then?”
“Good question. At least someone seems to agree with me. If we take into consideration your story which seems unbelievable, then that’s already in my department. I don’t know why Acchan, Yuko, or the others didn’t think to come to me before. Those idiots.” I shake my head.
“Do you know something??” Takamina questions hopefully.
“I might...I have an idea. How do I put this… Your story sounds vaguely familiar to me. That could be why I wasn’t too surprised by it. It’s as if it’s out of a sci-fi novel.” I laugh.
“Really??” Her eyes start to sparkle.
“Yeah.. Let’s finish cleaning up first. Afterwards, there’s a place we should go.”
“Un!” Takamina starts hurrying up, picking up several books off the ground. She’s like an excited kid.
“I’ll be back.” I tell her. I head to the workroom to get us a couple of bottled water.
After I get out drinks, I browse my emails real quick on my phone as I walk through the halls back. My feet trip on something and I almost drop the bottles. Luckily I catch myself. What was that? I look down to the floor. A phone? I pick it up. Is it Takamina’s? Wait, does she even have a phone? I glance at the lock screen to see if I could figure out who’s was it. I couldn’t even see the wallpaper, but what I could see was several missed calls from Acchan and a bunch of texts. I snicker. This is definitely Takamina’s. She must have dropped it without knowing when she first came in. I put her phone in my pocket and walk back to the library.
I pause at the entrance. I whistle. She cleans up fast.
Almost all the books that were previously on the ground were now neatly stacked against the wall. The shelves were now standing where they were before they fell. Takamina was finishing moving the last few stacks of books.
She notices me. “Ah Sayaka-san, I wanted to also put the books back, but I don’t know how they are ordered and which shelves they should be placed.
I look at my watch. I’m sure I wasn’t even gone long. From her story, it seems she has certain abilities. She also seems dense though, so I don’t think she realizes it. She might be only using them unknowingly or at least not often.
“No, you’ve done enough. You’ve actually helped out quite a lot. Here.” I hand her one of the bottles I brought.
“Thank you.” she accepts the drink, taking a sip. I drink as well.
“With this much done, I can have the library assistants finish the rest.”
“Is it really okay? We can still finish the rest.”
“I told you, it’s fine. Come on, there’s a place we’re going remember?”
“Ah, yeah!” She follows me out of the library and we walk outside the museum.
I turn my head around to make sure she was still following me. We walk to the building next door. I take out a key, and unlock the door. I open it.
“After you.” I motion for her to go ahead.
She shakes her head. “You first.”
I tilt my head. Wasn’t she excited? Why doesn’t she want to go in first? Well, it’s not a problem. I shrug and go inside. She follows after.
“Where are we?” she asks as I turn on the main circuit board of the building. All the lights come on. It’s been awhile since I’ve been in here.
“Oh, this is the Archives. You could say it’s the seventh library I guess. But its not open to the public.”
Takamina looks around, noting some of the old books and journals. It’s a bit dusty in here.
“Why can’t other people be here?” She questions.
“For different reasons, the books and articles here are of restricted access. There are some things that are just better off not knowing. We keep these here though, because they still have their usefulness in research. For example, there should be something here regarding your interests.”
“Where??”
“I don’t know.” I admit. “You’re going to have to help me look.”
Takamina nods. “Ok, do you have a catalog?” she asks.
“Yeah, that’s a good place to start. You can look through it. It’s behind the shelf behind you.” I indicate. “I’ll look through some books I have in mind.”
“Got it.” She runs behind the shelf.
I search through the sections, browsing the shelves for a particular book. Takamina really didn’t need to use the catalog, but at least she has something to do while I get the book. I want to make sure its really here before I let her see it. Which one was it? I hover my finger over the different spines. Ah, this one. There’s dust on it, but its a very thick book with a silver cover. I pull it from the shelf and blow the dust away. There was no design on the cover. It was just plain and wearied. The pages were yellow and still seemed fragile last I checked. I quickly scan through its contents, particular words familiar here and there. I don’t understand everything in this book, but its a start. This should be alright.
“Oi Takamina!” I call her.
“Yes?” I hear her answer.
“Come here!” I tell her. I walk over to a nearby table and lay the book on the surface. Takamina stands beside me.
“What is it?” She asks. I point to the book.
“Take a look.” I tell her.
“This is it?”
“You tell me. The script inside is written not in any known language. I was only able to decipher a few words, but judging from your situation, it could pertain to it.” I push the book slightly to her. She holds it.
“I don’t know what to expect.” she purses her lips.
I don’t say anything, letting her do this herself.
She collects herself. After a few moments, she takes a deep breath and opens it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
She opens the book, slowly flipping the pages. She stops at some scripts, and scans it. Can she read it? A moment later, I watch as Takamina picks up the book and flips through the pages. Isn’t she going to read it? She puts it down at the end.
“Ok, I’m done.” She looks at me.
“Eh?”
“It was really interesting, I learned a lot from it, but I couldn’t find anything exactly like my story.”
“Wait, really? What was it about? What does the book say?” I’m baffled.
“It does discuss time travel, but its a collection of journals discussing its notion. Some things about science and magic I think? Although I could read the words, not everything I was able to understand completely. Gomen ne.” She apologizes to me.
“No, I’m sorry. I probably had gotten your hopes up only to let you down.” I didn’t mean to. I’ll try to make up for it.
“This isn’t the Archives for nothing. There are still other articles we can look through here. We’ll find something.” I try to reassure her.
“Yeah...I’ll go put the book back up.” Takamina offers. She picks it up only to accidentally drop it.
“Ah! Gomen!”
“Are you always this clumsy?” I chuckle, trying to make light of it.
She bends down to pick it up. “Oh! I’m sorry! The cover is coming off!”
“Ah it’s nothing. The book is really old anyways. Let me see it.” She hands me the book and I take a look at it. Oh yeah, it really is tearing up. Huh? What’s this? It’s as if a pocket was embedded underneath the cover. It looks like something is in there. Why hadn’t I notice it before? I slip my fingers inside, feeling some kind of paper. Takamina watches me intently, her eyes filled with curiosity. I carefully take it out.
“It’s a file.” I breathe out.
“What’s inside??” Takamina asks.
“Wait, I’ll see.” I open the file. Inside the file we could find only a single sheet of paper written in the same language as used in the book. We lay it on the table for fear of damaging it. Takamina reads it.
“What does it say?” I ask after several minutes.
It shouldn’t have taken her long to read, but she had been staring at it quietly for a while.
“It...It’s a legend.” she answers.
“Oh! This is good then, right?? Can you tell me what it says?” I’m dying to know.
She nods her head. “I’ll quote. It says, There is a place on this Earth. A very special place. At a single point, all ley lines intersect. It is said that where any lines intersect, it is to be bad luck if individuals may step on it. On the account that it is ley lines, even more so. On a night of an eclipse, if hanging over that point, the intersection transforms into a passage. That passage has the ability to transport a person anywhere in the world.” She pauses to take some breaths.
“Wow..So this must have been what happened.” Takamina whispers.
“Does it explain how you got into this soul situation?” I ask, wondering. The more I hear, the more I find this unbelievable. It feels so unreal. Is this really reality?
“Ah yes, there’s more. It says below, This event is not only a device for teleportation, it is also a rare anomaly that allows for a single person to have a second chance at life. A very different future indeed. On one account has an individual been subject to this opportunity. She has thus disappeared from history, known as the lost girl. Records are unknown but this file indicates acknowledgement of existence as nothing should ever be completely forgotten. From understanding, she was whisked elsewhere in the world. Unfortunately, she happened to land at the bottom of the ocean but it is indicative that she may be living unconscious in ice. At the point of transportation, her soul was cut into 5 pieces, one being she could keep. This was due to the eclipse having a strange effect on the ley lines giving them magical properties which enable them the ability. It is not clear why they affected her soul. As mentioned, the individual is given a second chance. It is also previously mentioned that these lines will bring forth bad luck. Indeed. In order to succeed in such a thing as a second life, the individual would have to be found, revived, and collect the rest of their soul by the end of the 7th day in which after they had risen. If anyone dared to do it, they would be gambling their life. This girl had brought it on by accident.”
“Is that you…?” I ask quietly.
“It must be. Everything makes sense now. How this all happened. What I don’t understand though...is how is this here? Who wrote this? How did they know all this? It doesn’t sound like lies, but the writer of this file sounds like they know everything.” Takamina’s confused. For a moment, I am too. It’s strange.
“Is this it?” Takamina scans the page re-reading what she now already knows. Her face scrunches up. She flips the page over to the back and her eyes widen.
“There’s more!” She tells me. I look over but then realize I still can’t read it. Ah, I look to her.
“What does it say?” I ask what I can only say.
“It’s a list.” Takamina is surprised. I can feel her getting excited. Before I can reply, she pulls on my arm.
“Look!” she points to a section on the paper. I can’t read it so I shake my head. “Ah! Sorry, I forgot. This is a list of hints. They’re clues to the locations of the parts of my soul.”
“Uso! There’s really that kind of thing there?!” This is crazy! Who wrote this file?? Kamisama?
Takamina starts to read them aloud. I write them down on a separate piece of paper as she calls them.
1. The body of the individual (sustains life for seven days)
2. The place called home
3. A faithful friend
4. An extension of yourself
5. Cannot be seen or found, only when realized.
"You've already found how many again?" I ask her while looking over the list.
"2, but I have 3." She confirms.
"So two more. Hm.. An extension of yourself..? Do you have any idea what that means?"
"Not really. I don't get it."
"Well that's all we really have to go with, and this last one here. We can't see nor find it? Could they have made this any harder?" I sarcastically say.
"They could have not provided the hints." Takamina points out. Of course she would say that.
"Oh right." I feel my stomach suddenly growl. I look at the time.
"Hey Takamina, let's talk more about this while we get lunch." I suggest. I'm going to need the energy. I already feel like this is going to be a long day.
Takamina gasps. "What time is??" She questions.
"Almost 2..?" I look at her confused.
"Wahhh, Acchan said she'd bring me lunch. I totally forgot the time. I didn't even tell her I'd be here. She's going to kill me!" Takamina starts to panic. She reaches into her pocket then pats it.
"Huh?? Where's my phone?? Noo! I didn't lose that too! Dang, now Yuko will be mad at me too. She had gotten it for me. Why do I keep causing trouble?" Takamina crouches on the ground.
I crouch beside her and hug her shoulders. "Stop that. You do not keep causing trouble. You're just having a bad day. Everyone has those. It's okay. Oh! And here. I found it earlier." I hand Takamina's phone to her.
"Sorry.. I meant to give it to you earlier but it slipped my mind."
Takamina starts to look slightly better. She's relieved to have her phone back.
"Thank you!" She cries. She looks at the screen, her eyes widening.
"I'm dead." She whispers, small tears forming. She shows me her screen. There were even more missed calls from Acchan and this time a few from Yuko, Mayu, and Miichan. I should have called and let Acchan know she was with me. Dang, I'm probably going to get scolded to. But really, I'd like to see them try to do that. I briefly smirk.
"Who should I call back first...?" Takamina asks me, her hands slightly shaking.
Oh no, I am not going to be involved in that decision.
"Um...I think you should figure that out." I would say call Acchan first but I just know she's not going to be friendly on the other side. If she didn't call her first then oooh that'd be even worse. I'm sorry Takamina, good luck.
Takamina hangs her head, looking down at her phone. She bites her lip, debating what she'll do. I take a seat and wait for her.
She reaches a decision, dialing a number. Who? The room is silent as Takamina nervously waits for that person to pick up. I watch and listen.
Two rings later, someone picks up.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Takamina's POV
I hold my breath.
. . .
. . .
. . . *click*
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU CAUSED EVERYONE! TAKAHASHI MINAMI, TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE THIS INSTANT!!"
"So you called Acchan. She sounds like an upset girlfriend." Sayaka-san laughs. "Here, just give me the phone." She extends her hand.
I shake my head, mouthing that I would handle this. She understands, giving me space.
"I'm at the Archives with Sayaka-san. She was helping me. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. I lost my phone for a while and just got it back. I'm really sorry, Acchan." I say softly, trying not to cry.
". . ."
It's silent on the other side.
"Acchan?"
"I'm going there right now."
"Eh? No, you don't have to!"
"Takamina. Don't start with me."
I gulp. "But we just got finished with what we needed to do. We found something, Acchan. We'll go to meet with you and the others. Just...relax for now."
"Relax?" she scoffs. I am totally relaxed! You just better hurry back here before I go get you! Oi—" I hear noises in the background.
"Oi Bakamina, you're right. Acchan needs to relax." I hear Yuko laugh. But we're waiting on you too. If you want her to relax, get a move on. I feel her smiling.
I nod my head though they can't see me. "Ok, I'm coming. I'll see you guys in a bit. Ja." I hang up the phone. I let out a deep sigh.
"You've got it hard on you." Sayaka chuckles.
"I know, but that's because they care." I smile. "We better hurry down there." I tuck the file under my arm and we leave the Archives. Sayaka locks it up and guides me down. This time, we take the lift.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Acchan's POV
I pace back and forth. They should be here by now! Where are they??
"Acchan, you're making me dizzy. Calm down, she'll be here any minute." Mayu informs me.
"I know I know." I stop pacing, my foot starts tapping.
She makes me so mad. I knew she would eat a lot so, I took the time to cook katsudon and also make a freaking bento for her and she wasn't even there when I went to bring it to her. She didn't pick up her phone after I called her how many times, and worried me beyond belief of her whereabouts. To spite her, I ate all her food myself. It was really delicious. Of course it was though, because I made it. I really wanted her to eat it though so at the same time that it was delicious, it was bitter too.
"Oh look, she's here!" I hear Yuko shout.
I look up. "Where?!" I answer, looking around.
"Just kidding!" Yuko winks, laughing.
I pout. "That's not funny!"
I look over to Mayu and Miichan who were laughing at Miichan's phone.
"What are you two laughing at?" I ask them suspiciously. Yuko hurries over to take a look before I could.
She laughs, "They took a video of you and posted it to snapchat. Hey Miichan, get Takamina to download her own snapchat and follow you."
"Will do!" Miichan replies gladly.
I frown. "You're all mean." Is that the worst I could say?
"You're the one to talk. Nowadays, you hardly pay any attention to us. It's all about Takamina. Even if you're talking to us, it's usually about her. So admit it already."
I'm taken aback. “Admit what?” What is she talking about?
“I mean that you--Takamina!” I whip around to where Yuko was looking.
Takamina enters the building with Sayaka. We hurry over to them.
I punch Takamina’s shoulder.
“Itai!” She rubs her shoulder. “I deserved that…” She’s always like this.
“I should have told you she was with me.” Sayaka says.
“I’m not blaming you. Takamina didn’t cause you any trouble, did she?”
Sayaka and Takamina exchange glances.
“No, I was good.” Takamina says quickly.
“No, she didn’t.” Sayaka replies at the same time.
I eye them both. They smile at me in reassurance. Hm? Fine, I'll let them go this time. I've had enough things to stress about today.
“I hope it’s okay, but I told Sayaka my situation.” Takamina informs me. I make eye contact with Sayaka, nodding.
“Welcome to the team. I’m sure Mariko won’t mind.” I chuckle. I know its supposed to be a secret, but since its Sayaka, it should be alright. She’s close enough to Mariko to be able to get by her.
“She shouldn’t. And I won’t say I’m sorry for getting involved. It’s really my pleasure. Also, don’t worry about Mariko. I can vouch for you guys. From my understanding, she doesn’t seem to know Takamina is running around hm?”
We all laugh nervously avoiding eye contact.
“Bulls eye. Like I said, if it comes down to it, I can talk to her.” Sayaka smiles, offering.
“You’re the best! Arigatouuuu!” Yuko cries, latching onto Sayaka.
I laugh. “Thank you. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that though.” We’re still trying to keep it from her.
"So Acchan mentioned that you guys found something. What is it?" Mayu asks.
Takamina bounces excitedly. "Ah! Yes! We found a legend about me. It describes what happened, how I got here, and what I need to do to stay here. It also included clues to where I can find the rest of my soul.”
“Whoa whoa whoa wait.” Yuko puts a hand up.
I have a very important question!” She says. “In the beginning when we first met, you had said that you had seven days left and needed to collect the rest of your soul by then. So really, how did you know that before you found this??”
“True, we never did ask you that.” Miichan comments.
“Did you have previous knowledge?” Mayu questions.
“Eto…” Takamina scrunches up her face. She folds her arms together looking into space. We all stare at her, waiting for her answer.
“I…” We lean in closer to hear her.
“I...I…” She pauses, looking up to face us.
“I don’t know.” she finally replies. Disappointment hangs in the air. “I...I just knew. I never knew anything about it before I woke up, but when I did awake, the thoughts just came out of nowhere. As if I was being told, like my subconscious knew more than I. I only knew what I needed to know, not everything.” She admits.
“Tch. Everything’s so weird! So complicated, gah!” Yuko complains, scratching her head.
“Don’t mind her, she’s the kind of person who likes to go with the flow, but doesn’t like when things are hard to make sense of. For everyone as well, it’s frustrating when there are things they can’t understand.” I try to assuage Takamina’s worried look.
“I’m sorry. I wish I did have the answers you have been seeking from me. Even though you have helped me, I haven’t been able to help you all in return.”
“You are helping us. By being here right now, and continuing to to live. You could have decided to not collect your soul and disappear, but you didn’t. You’re making an effort. We all are. To keep going, share with us what you’ve found so we can understand.”
Takamina nods, and she and Sayaka start to explain what they found out at the Archives.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Let’s review.” Mayu speaks up. “There are five total. The first already with Takamina when she awoke to preserve her life for a short time.”
“2. Home. We were right. That was found in Tokyo when Takamina realized where her home really was.” Miichan smiles.
“The third,” I say. “is found with a faithful friend. Yes, that pertained to Takamina’s cat whom she reunited with at the Legacy Tree.” I shake my head, smiling. I feel like that was an unbelievable event.
“All that’s left is the fourth and fifth. What does the paper say?” Yuko asks.
Sayaka reads them off.
“4. An extension of yourself.” She pauses. “And 5. Cannot be seen or found, only when realized.” Her voice becomes unsure as she reads it.
“That last one is really sketchy.” Miichan comments. “It’s not really much of a clue, in fact.”
“Well let’s start with the fourth. We can worry about the last one later.” Mayu suggests.
“Alright. So…an extension of yourself. Any ideas guys?” I ask. This one isn’t any better.
“So like, her arm?” Miichan asks hesitantly.
“That’s a start. Not necessarily her arm, but probably something that can act like that.” Mayu nods. “Like a support.”
“Oh, maybe a sword? Hey Takamina, have you ever wielded a sword?” Yuko asks.
“Um.. tell me what is a sword first.” Takamina scratches her cheek.
“Well that’s out.” I say.
“Takamina, do you have any idea what it means? Have you ever had something like an extension to yourself?” Sayaka ventures to ask.
“A hair extension maybe!” Miichan laughs. “Just kidding!’ she quickly says after we all glare at her like really, no.
“I don’t think so?” Takamina answers.
“Maybe she doesn’t realize it.” Yuko points out. “Maybe the extension isn’t an object.. Hey Takamina, in your time was it only you and your cat? Was there anyone else in your you could say, your previous life?”
Takamina nods. “My neighbor. He’s my best friend.”
“He?” I raise an eyebrow. Yuko eyes me.
“Yeah. Yuu-kun worked with me in the fields and had my back when we went hunting for food. For sport, we would always try to see who could tame the most big cats. When it didn’t turn out good, we would have to make sure the other didn’t get hurt.” Takamina laughs, reminiscing what’s now her past. I suddenly feel a pang inside. Of what, I wonder.
“Sounds extreme….ly fun.” Miichan comments.
“It was..” Takamina smiles. She looks at Yuko. “You remind me of him.”
“Eh?” Yuko blinks. “What? Me?”
“Yeah, he was short too. When we wanted to get fruits from trees, neither of us would be able to reach any. I would have to stand on his shoulders so I could reach them. Also like you, he always got me into trouble. I think I got hurt many times because I always listened to him. Luckily, I heal fast you know.” Takamina pauses. “He was like a brother, but he didn’t want to be. I still don’t understand why. He was really annoying, bringing me flowers when I needed berries. I can’t eat flowers. And then sometimes I would find him cleaning in my shelter. Why would he clean where I live? That’s my place, not his. He was so weird too. He had a hobby of watching the animals do...you know..? Ah, nevermind. Yeah, but he was a good friend. I wonder what happened to him after I disappeared…” Takamina finishes softly.
I’m trying to listen to what Takamina’s saying, but I don’t hear her. I don’t really. I keep thinking, she doesn’t even talk long so much and one of the times she does, it’s about this guy. So fondly too.. I don’t like this feeling.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Yuko’s POV
I’m laughing. Bakamina is so dense! That guy obviously liked her! I look over to Acchan. She seems really quiet right now. Hm? Is she ok?
I was about to go over to her when Sayaka says something that makes me stop.
“I get it, so that guy is like an extension to Takamina. Over here, he would be her comrade seeing they’ve must have been through a lot.” Yeah, I thought so too after what Takamina said.
“But even if he is, wouldn’t that guy be dead by now? She wouldn’t be able to collect a piece of her soul that way.” Miichan says, inconsiderate of Takamina’s feelings. I elbow her.
“I’m fine.” Takamina says. “I know it’s been a long time. I understand the concept of death. It’s natural, right?”
“Bakamina. We all know that the words “I’m fine” is the biggest lie right after “I’ve read the terms and agreements…” I smile. “You can be real with us.”
Takamina nods. “I can. Me being here is not natural. I should’ve been gone way before you all were born.” Takamina speaks sadly, believing her words are truth.
“Baka!” Acchan screams at her, suddenly slapping her cheek. Whoa. We all move back. “Why are you being so depressed now because of this guy? You know and we know that there is a reason you are here now. I told you before that you were helping us by being here. I meant that. You’re our friend too, remember that. Just think of all the things that never would have happened if you hadn’t come here. We never would have met. So don’t say things like “it’s not natural” or “I shouldn’t be here” because we all care about you! I know you had to go away from your time, but we don’t want you to disappear from our time as well!”
“Acchan’s right. I know its being selfish, but think of us too before you say something like that.” I smile.
Takamina’s stunned, tears stinging her eyes. “I’m sorry.” she wipes her eyes before they could fall. “I keep making you upset. I’m sorry.” she apologizes to Acchan.
Acchan responds by giving a small smile. She shakes her head, patting Takamina’s head much to the shorter girl’s confusion. Acchan leaves us, taking a seat at a nearby table. She looks really tired.
I leave the others and go to her.
“Hey, you okay? You don’t look so hot right now.” I put a hand on her back, lightly patting it.
“Are you saying that I’m usually hot?” she jokes lightly. “Daijoubu. I just need to rest, so leave me alone for a bit.” she smiles tiredly.
She looks like she’s going to break down any minute. She’s right, she needs to rest. She didn’t even sleep in like the rest of us. Too busy thinking about Bakamina probably. See? This is what happens when you overwhelm yourself with too many things. If I say something to her, she might start crying too. That’s what happens when you get sleep deprived too. Emotions become harder to control. Hope you feel better soon, Acchan.
I oblige to her wishes, leaving her. She rests her head on the table and closes her eyes. Just for a while.
When I reach the others, Takamina asks me, “Is Acchan okay??”
“She’s fine. She’s just overworked. She’s done a lot. Add that to no sleep, and she’ll be like that. We’ll give her a break for now. So what were you guys talking about?”
"We're still trying to figure out that fourth clue. We decided to scrap that idea of that guy because there's no way he would have it." Miichan says.
"Wait, we didn't agree to that." Sayaka quickly says.
Mayu agrees. "Only you want to scrap it."
"Well what else? We don't have the time to dwell on it. That's the past. Figure something we could find here!" Miichan exasperates.
Takamina watches as we think silently for a minute.
Sayaka snaps her fingers, "It makes sense. I don't know if it's real, but I have a possible and very likely theory." She says almost confidently.
"What is it?" Mayu and Miichan both ask.
"It's Yuko." She points a finger to me. They all stare at me now.
"What the heck are you talking about?" I say, annoyed. Is this a joke?
"Think about it. The guy Takamina described is very much like Yuko, even their names are similar. You could even go all the way to say that she may be his reincarnation...if you believe in that."
"Pffft. In my past life I liked Bakamina?" I scoff. For shame, NyanNyan's the only one for me.
Sayaka shrugs. Mayu laughs, "Although you would be a guy, why can I imagine that?"
"Why you!" I take her under my arm and rub her head, ruining her hair. When I let her go, she frowns at me. I look back at her.
"What? How many times have I told you, watch what you say." I warn.
"Ahm." Sayaka coughs. "Do you guys think it is plausible? Takamina, your thoughts?"
"Um...I guess you're right about the two being similar. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the word reincarnation though. That's a big word."
"Stay with us, Takamina. Another question. If Yuko really was him through reincarnation, how could you get a piece of your soul from her?"
"Um..." Takamina thinks. She looks at me, eyeing me up and down. I grin and make a silly pose for her. She laughs turning back to Sayaka.
"Please give me more time to think." She asks.
"Maybe she should hug her like you did that tree." Miichan suggests, grinning.
"Maybe." I say, it's kind of weird. I don't think I've hugged Takamina before.
"That's not it." Takamina says. Ooh, I was kind of starting to get my hopes up.
"Then what?" Mayu asks.
"Hm?" Takamina purses her lips. She stares intently at me. Um..
"I don't have to make physical contact. Actually, if it really is her, it should come out of her or at least appear due to my presence."
"We've been with you like what, 5 days now? There's been nothing. It's probably not her then." Miichan says.
"Wait, maybe it's because you guys didn't know of its whereabouts before. You might have to acknowledge where it is before something could happen. Takamina, do you believe that Yuko may be Yuu's reincarnation?" Sayaka asks.
"I do." Takamina replies.
"And Yuko, do you believe that you may be the reincarnation of Yuu?"
"What is this, a wedding?" I say, disgusted. "Sayaka, watch your wording!"
"Sorry sorry, so do you?"
"I guess."
"That's not an answer." Sayaka scolds me.
I sigh. Am I really that guy's reincarnation? What were the odds though? Of all people and places, Takamina happened to end up with us and we were assigned to her. It's so...real. All this is really real huh?
"Yeah, I believe it." I call out.
"Whoa!" I gasp as something suddenly flies out of me. "Oh my god, my heart!" I grasp my chest.
"Yuko, stop joking." Mayu frowns.
"Yeah I know, but that really surprised me! I almost thought I was going to get a heart attack." I laugh.
"How did it feel?" She asks.
"Warm and bubbly like. It's like it was just waiting." That initial feeling I suddenly got before it left. I could really feel it. I look up as Takamina receives it.
I call out to her. "There's a lot of compassion there. You might not have been able to tell, but you were really loved."
Takamina smiles, "Thank you."
= = = = =
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Woah.. then there is only one left.. :huhuh
Scary Acchan is the best.. :lol:
I bet last one is about Acchan.. well.. I think.. :D
Waiting next update! :)
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wow..this fic is so good.. :cathappy:
everything is so fun and nicely written.. :twothumbs
i love the part where acchan was so worried and shouting over the phone.. :lol:
i'm guessing the last piece of soul will appear once atsumina realizes their feelings for each other.. :nya:
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it's great that they've found another part and one to go~!
could the last one be the same with what acchan's been feeling? hohohoho
sayaka and takamina's adventure was really fun to read XD
acchan's rage is the best though hahahaha i wish she'd stop denying her feelings lol
thank you for the update and take your time~! just update when you can :3
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Yuko being Takamina's bestfriend and former suitor.
That's a nice story background.
Sayaka helping Takamina is awesome.
I can imagine Takamina acting like a child.
Atsuko would definitely be the last.
2 more days to go. :cow:
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I guess one more piece of soul to find
Who or where is it?
What's going to happen when Minami collects all?
What about Atsuko and Minami?
Can't wait to see the next chapter
Thank you for the update
:twothumbs :twothumbs :twothumbs
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I demand an update of this fic!~ :tantrum: :tantrum:
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Wow!!! the story is so interesting!!!
Atsumina :wub:
Can't wait to read more
Hope you will update soon :)
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Ooh! ai just find the story
Is very interesting :w00t:
i hope you update soon :bow:
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I just found this story, are you decided to abandon this story? It's already long since your last update, i would love to read the continuation
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I just found this story, are you decided to abandon this story? It's already long since your last update, i would love to read the continuation
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just wanted to say your story is very good !! I hope you will not abandon it completely??
I love how takamina and acchan don't realize their feelings for each other yet but still do all these cute things with each other *_*