Sixth"Mariko-sama... hic.... Mariko-sama...."
Jurina was still lying on the ground, crying over the single daisy that grew from the short green grass. There was nothing else, not even a trace of blood, that showed signs of Mariko's death. Her tears fell on the gentle white petals, never touching the glowing diamond hovering above the center of the flower.
Everyone was just watching her, some of them too shocked to speak, some crying silently, quickly trying to hide their tears. Sasshi was just sitting there in a trance, staring at the poor angel, until something, or someone, suddenly got her back to her senses.
"Sasshi! Get the diamond!"She looked over and saw Takamina. She looked like she had been crying, but she couldn't tell, because her tears were dried off.
"Eh? Why?""Just do it! I'll create a distraction!"She looked down and saw Takamina's hand at her sword. She also noticed it was a little wet. She looked back up and saw her watery eyes.
"Okay..."At that Anai was about to make a move, when Takamina suddenly speeded up, aiming her sword at her throat.
"How could you?" she said aloud, shocking everyone. Of course, they knew Takamina had a short temper, so this behavior was understandable.
"Out of the way, midget! I've got business to take care of!"
But Takamina wouldn't move. She just kept her eyes locked on her, firmly holding the sword in her hand.
"You really don't have a heart, do you, Chihiro? You killed Mariko! You...!" She looked back slightly, watching the crying puppy, still holding herself in her arms. "You killed Jurina's best friend..."
Anai just growled and raised her own weapon, aimed right at Takamina's head.
"I can take you out, too! One more word, and I'll have your soul!"
"Takamina, don't do it, please!" Mayu screamed.
"Stop this! We can handle this later. Jurina's still hurt," Rena begged.
"Both of you, just drop your weapons... and we can go in peace," Yuki said, in a black manner.
Takamina and Anai just glared at each other, then slowly withdrew their swords. Then, Anai suddenly pushed Takamina to the ground and rushed to Jurina.
"Move, 'ya mutt!"
"No!" Jurina screamed back, covering the daisy.
Anai threw her out of the way and examined the flower. She moved through the grass blades and leaves, trying to find her target... but it was gone.
"Where is it? Where is the soul?!"
No one noticed that the soul had disappeared, or how it even did. Anai just growled and was about to punch the flower, but Jurina got in her way again and took the punch instead.
"Where did you hide the soul?!"
"None of your business!!!"
Tanaka came over and held Anai's shoulder.
"Chihiro, we already took care of her. We can finish our business later. Let's just go."
Anai just sneered again and got up.
"Fine. But, I'll be back for the rest of you."
Everyone walked away and disappeared from sight. Jurina let her head fall to the ground, crying more. Rena hugged her and caressed her hair, trying to hold her tears. Takamina looked over at Sasshi, smiling.
"Did you get it?""Yeah..." Sasshi opened her hands and showed everyone the light blue diamond glowing in her hand.
"H-how did you...? When did you...?"
Sasshi just smiled sadly and winked.
"Well then, now that we got this safe, we can get started." Takamina sighed slightly relieved.
"W-with what?"
"Mariko's funeral."
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-
Returning to HKT’s base in Hell, Murashige stuttered, “Bo-boss… why did you?”
The cool younger girl just replied with a simple, “Just because.”
Most every HKT member was gathered in the base. Not because they were only able to be in the Hell, but because it was just kind of a nice home for them. They chose to participate in the Crusade, but still HKT was their family. The ones up in Heaven have each other and the ones down below have their comrades. In the middle, things were jumbled up, but those girls were luckiest in some aspect.
“…Anya, just don’t ask…” The mentaiko devil’s, possibly best friend, Sakura patted her on the shoulder.
Haruppi drooped as she fell into a deep thought. The lisp devil quietly muttered, “...Mariko-sama… So… she’s gone…”
Capt. the villain or at least the one who took the role of the villain walked away from the rest of them and punched the wall twice. Everyone had their own story, so the others left their Captain alone. No one knew what Chihiro was thinking at the moment after all.
“If only I could’ve…” She scowled to herself.
Rabutan walked by with a somewhat mixed expression sprawled across her face. The death of a Kami-7 was unpredictable. With the fact that almost every one of the girls in the Heaven had some kind of connection with the groups down below, as a senior in this game, the slight round faced girl knew that sadistic Mariko-sama more than anyone else in the place.
“I guess this is a type of bitter-sweet victory for us.” Chori spoke up.
“At least we got somewhere…” Wakaharu noted as she wasn’t present when all the drama had happened.
“So, cavalry is no-go against them right?” Moriyasu collectedly jotted down.
“Yeah. It seems so…” Rabutan added in before walking off.
“What do you think is good?” Murashige piped in. Now was not the time to be Mentaiko, but the tiny talk was like a strategic meeting. The small group chatted for a bit about their strategies and attacks as Rabutan walked off.
In the tsundere princess’s mind, there was only one thing, Mariko.
“…I hope you’re satisfied even though you’re gone now… I would be asking for too much if I were to ask for you to troll everyone and come back…”She gave a sorrowful smile and looked up even though from here, the sky was not visible. Rabutan was staying with HKT and she didn’t regret it or hate the members for what happened. “Sayonara…” That was her last message to the troll who left, such a strange description even though it was true.
“Rabu-nee-san?”
“Ah. It’s nothing…”
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-
Back in the forest, they came to a certain recognizable spot that shocked Sasshi. It was the broken down church where she first found the ring. Takamina whispered a few words to herself and opened a special portal. Sasshi stepped through it and found herself in a beautiful, white, empty church.
She covered her mouth in amazement, looking around at the scenery. Takamina and the others had already prepared the everything for the funeral, and invited the Gatekeepers, too.
"Woah... If I'm in Heaven, Heaven has real fancy churches."
At the end of the hall, there was a picture of Mariko sitting on one of the stairs, surrounded by small white candles, and the light blue diamond hovering right above it. There were small vases beside it with white lilies in them that the Gatekeepers have already set out and gave their prayers to her for. There was one more vase in the center. An empty vase just for the Kami-7.
"So... who's going to start?" Takamina sounded. Everyone was silent, holding their flowers in their hands. "I guess I will."
Takamina stepped forward and knelt down to the picture. She pulled out a single red rose and placed it in the vase.
"Mariko-sama... You are a true legend. You have held a high honor in the Kami-7, and you shall always be remembered. You shall live on, Mariko-sama." She put her hands together and closed her eyes, bowing. "Rest in peace."
She got up and Yuko slowly nodded and walked to the vase. She knelt down on both her knees and put a yellow daisy in the vase.
"Mariko, you're a true friend. You're kind, you're considerate, you're smart, and you sure know how to make people laugh."
Everyone giggled a bit, then it got silent again. Yuko put her hands together and bowed to her.
"I'll never forget you. You're my best friend."
"You're our best friend," Mayu said, holding her shoulder. Yuko nodded and got up. She high-fived Yuki as she went up and knelt down beside her. "You're a real goddess. I don't know anyone else as amazing, powerful, and beautiful as you could ever be."
Mayu pulled out a pink carnation, while Yuki pulled out a stem of purple shaded blue bells and put them in the vase. Then, bowed their heads.
They got up without saying another word, and now it was WMatsui's turn.
Rena was holding an orange tiger lily, while Jurina was holding a beautiful bouquet of small white daisies. Rena knelt down and put her flower in.
"I don't know what to say, except... we'll all miss you, Mariko-sama."
She slowly got up and walked back to Jurina, who was just looking down at the ground... or maybe at her flowers.
"Jurina?" Takamina walked up to the puppy dog girl. "Aren't you going to say a few words?"
Jurina gripped her flowers tighter, trying to contain her tears.
"Jurina, just let it out. You can do it here," Rena said, holding her shoulder.
Jurina slowly took a step forward but then suddenly fell to her knees and dropped the daisies. She was crying more than before, but no one stopped her. All they could do was let her release all her feelings.
"Mariko-sama... I love you... hic.. so.. much...! ...hi... I.. I promise I'll..hic... I'll become strong... I'll protect everyone...! All I want to know is that... you'll watch over me... hic.. like you did before..."
Rena slowly came up and hugged her from the back.
"I'm sure she is... And, I'm sure she's very proud of you, Jurina."
"Hic... Thank you, Mariko... for everything you've done for us."
They both bowed their heads and got up, Jurina wiping off her tears. Sasshi was the last, and all she held in her hands was a white rose. She walked over and bent over to lay the rose in the vase.
"Uh, I don't really know that much about you... I don't know you as much as everyone else does, but... I know that you are a strong, confident woman. You must've been a great leader to have come this far, so... I'm really happy I got to know you. Be happy up there, Mariko-san."
She put her hands together and closed her eyes. When she opened her eyes again, Takamina walked up and cupped the diamond in her hands.
Sasshi seemed to see it glow much brighter than before.
"This is yours now." Takamina handed it to her, making her hold it in her hands.
"What is this?"
"It's a fragment of Mariko's soul. She gave it to us so that she can still protect us even after she left." Takamina reached it her pocket and pulled out a small golden ring. "It'll be like having a piece of her here with us. And she'll be inside of you from now on, too." The soul was attracted to it and mended itself into the center of the ring. Takamina raised Sasshi's hand and slipped it onto her finger.
Sasshi just took it and spun it around on her finger.
"Unlike the Ace's ring, you can remove it as you please, but I strongly advise you keep it on. That way, some of Mariko's power can be transferred to you. One day, even if we don't die, all the Kami-7 will give you a part of us for you to fight in the final battle."
"F-final battle?"
"We shall discuss that later. Now is not the time to fight. I think we should all rest for today, then we'll have more time for Tomochin's graduation ceremony. Everyone can just go home for today."
"Okay," everyone said, before walking out of the church.
Takamina took Sasshi's hand again and walked out with her.
"C'mon. Let's go. I think we deserve a break."
"Okay..."
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-
"Now that I think about it..." Sae thought to herself as she flew from the church and back to her home.
"I never had a funeral for Sayaka."She finally stepped on the ground and opened the door to her little house.
"Tadaima~" she said to the empty room.
She plopped on the couch and looked at a picture of her and Sayaka together. Sae was smiling, holding up a peace sign with her fingers, while Sayaka was wrapping her in her arms, smiling brightly and beautifully.
Sae giggled to herself.
"Then again... maybe that won't be necessary."Her hand slowly grew tired and started to lower a bit, so she rested it on her chest and held the photo close to her. She closed her eyes a bit, not intending to sleep, but eventually started drifting into sweet memories.
FlashbackSae remembered the first day she met Sayaka. She had just become an angel and was just a mere novice with a sword. She was going to the training grounds, when she saw a girl who looked like a Greek Goddess fighting with another male angel.
Her facial features were as chiseled as a statue, and her strong muscles made her appearance more intimidating. She must've been a very strong and manly character to be facing that muscly male angel.
When they finally ended, Sae went up and saw Sayaka sweating and fanning herself off. Somehow, the sun mixed with her sweat made her glow and her expression was somewhat... cute to Sae. Sayaka noticed this and turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow.
"Ano~..."Sae suddenly came back to her senses and blinked a bit.
"Eh?"
"Uh, who are you?""Oh! M-my name is Miyazawa Sae. I'm the new inductee. A-are you A-Akimoto Sayaka?""Yup." She said with a smile, holding out her hand.
"Nice to finally meet you, Sae."Sae blushed, still shy to meet such a goddess face-to-face, but was also a bit surprised at her big hands. Those were hands that would never lose their grip when it held a sword. Sae slowly raised her hands up and shook hers, instantly feeling its rough, dry skin. It was hard like rock, still a bit wet from her sweat, making it like a rainforest... but it was incredibly warm, too.
She didn't notice that she hadn't let go of her hand for a long time, and even tightened her grip, leaving the two tall angels in an awkward position. Sayaka wanted to speak, but something in Sae's sparkling eyes and enlightening smile stopped her.
After the two finally got acquainted with one another, they started a spar, and Sae was instantly defeated by her immense strength.
"Woah, sorry..." Sae's eyes widened at that. Even though she looked scary, she was very kind and considerate.
"Alright, this time, I'll go easy on you."Sayaka helped her up and began another spar. Sae tried her best to remember the lessons she had taken before hand, but Sayaka had the biggest advantage and always found a way to beat her.
It finally ended in a draw, both girls sweating and panting heavily. Sayaka threw some water on her face and cleaned herself with a towel, but was surprised when she saw Sae rolling up her sleeves, almost embracing the heat. She stretched out in the sunlight, her golden hair streaks shining brighter than she ever noticed.
Sayaka looked at her purple streak and realized, it wasn't glowing at all. Why?
She looked at Sae, and Sae turned to make their eyes instantly met. She gave her a warm, happy smile that seemed to make some kinda strange feeling in her chest grow. Sae giggled a bit at her slightly pink expression, and slowly felt of her chest, feeling it, too.
The feeling of love at first sight.
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-
After a year since they first met, it was now time for their first Crusade. They fought long and hard, but Sae refused to fight Sayaka. She had slowly fallen for her, and she didn't want to do anything to hurt her.
"Nee, Sayaka... We don't really have to do this, do we?"
"We do. Now come at me with everything you got!"Sayaka drew out her sword and charged at Sae, making her quickly raise hers up to block it. She tried her best to fight her, but her feelings for her and her lesser experience weakened her. Sayaka could see she was trying her hardest to catch up, but she wasn't holding back either.
It was a long, ever-lasting battle, but in one swift move, she knocked her sword out of her hand and knocked the short haired girl to the ground. The edge of her sword was right at her head, and she could see fear painted on her face. Sadness in her eyes, just on the verge of tears.
"...You beat me... You win..." she finally said in a soft voice. She slowly picked her sword up and drew it back at her waist.
"Congratulations... I'm really happy for you, Sayaka."She was about to walk away, when...
"Sae."She slowly walked up and held her shoulder. Sae could feel an electric shock hit her, but the second after, she felt... warmth. That sweet warmth she loved so much. Slowly, she turned her head and met Sayaka's dark eyes once more.
She just couldn't help it anymore. Her heart was pounding so fast and she couldn't think straight. She grabbed Sayaka's shoulder and pulled her close, their foreheads and noses just close from touching.
"W-what are you--?""Sayaka!" she immediately silenced her.
"I...love you, Sayaka."Sayaka's eyes widened in shock. She can't believe what she just heard. "Love," an unbelievable word she thought she'd never hear someone say to her in her life.
"You... do?""I do. More than anything or anyone else, I love you."Sayaka was starting to get nervous and tried to push her away.
"Don't say that..."
"Sayaka... I love you..."
"I said, don't say that."
"I'll tell you as many times as I can! Until you get through your head!! I LOVE you!!!""I love you too!" she suddenly screamed out loud. Sae's eyes widened, still looking at her partner's deep eyes. Sayaka's face was burning red in embarrassment.
"But, I can't... Sae, we can't be lovers..."
"You think I care?!"Sayaka tried to look away from her, but Sae held her neck, forcing her to look at her.
"I don't care what the Fates or Saints say! Love is different than ANYTHING they could ever do. THEY can't choose love, I can! And, I choose you, Sayaka."Without even thinking, she came closer and kissed her lips for the first time. The soft pink lips she wanted to kiss, over and over, so badly each day.
Sayaka's mind just went blank and she slowly closed her eyes. Her arms both dropped to their sides and she let go of her sword, letting it fall to the ground. There was no thought of fighting in their heads. No doubt about their actions or resistance to it. Only sweet peace and blissful warmth.
They finally parted when they heard the gong from the church bells echoing across the sky. They looked up when they felt a gust of wind blowing around them and saw two stars shining brightly. There was two constellations centering the two; the Sun and the Moon.
"Th-that's...!"
"Sayaka, we've been chosen. This way, we can be together now."
"Sae..."Sayaka closed her eyes as Sae came closer, but she paused just before their lips touched. She could feel her warm breath against her, making her face feel even hotter and redder.
"Remember this; I shall love you, and only you, for all eternity.""Sa--" She got cut off as she finally kissed her and brought serenity to her. The two kissed passionately under the sky as it gradually became filled with shining stars.
End of FlashbackSae had fallen fast asleep on the couch, holding the picture in her hands. Her heart was beating slowly, matching her breathing, but seemed to be beating so fast and so warm inside her head. All the happy memories of her and Sayaka made her want to just stay and dream forever, in an eternal sleep. Such a thought made her sigh softly.
Someone walking outside noticed her door slightly opened. She went inside and saw her peacefully asleep on the couch. Without even thinking, she took the photo from her hands and looked at it, smiling sadly.
"You really do miss her, don't you?"
She placed it on the table and noticed her arm had somehow dropped and limply hovered just above the floor. She placed it back on her chest and covered the older girl up in a blanket so she wouldn't get cold. Before leaving, she heard her whisper in her sleep.
"Sayaka, I love you..."
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-
A tanuki-faced fallen angel stood in front of HKT’s base. Due to luck, part of AKB’s territory was refigured by the demon king into bordering HKT’s base, so it was easy to get by. She wanted to knock on the door, but it wasn’t that great of an idea. She paused.
“…Myao?” The fallen angel yelped upon suddenly hearing that voice. It was the girl that she wanted to talk to and be with again, but it seemed that it was impossible. There was sad sound in the girl’s voice, “Sorry.. I can’t talk with you…," murmuring quietly she finished, "And Mariko-sama is dead.”
“Wait!” And then a slam of a door could be heard, cutting off all hope for Myao at the moment.
The underdog type fallen angel sighed and walked back into the AKB territory and immediately squatted down sadly. It was sad.
Even when everyone had just met, the Crusades didn’t exist, it wasn’t too bad. Things brightened up as their friendship bloomed, but it was fate that let it fall apart again, not that blaming the Fates could do anything.
Back then with old ace, Maeda, they ended up close friends along with another, Erena. Plus, Mariko-sama used to troll them a lot… Since those were the old days when the Crusade wasn’t really started up…
Flashback
“Miho! Aika!” A cute raven-like being, called out. That was Erena.
Myao turned around,
“Erena…” Miho had a somewhat strange look on her face. The other mentioned, Rabutan, seemed to be broadly grinning for some reason. Erena tilted her head to the side confused.
“BOOYAH!!”
“Kyaa!” The cute raven yelped.
The trollish Kami-7, Mariko, had crept up behind the raven and jumped. Really, it wasn’t as if the loli-like group was really super close to the trolling angel, but they sometimes had this type of interaction… Though only sometimes…
“Mou… Mariko-san…”
Flashback EndWhen Myao thought about it, back in the days when the puppy girl of the Kami-7 joined, the Crusade system was just starting up. Somehow, she, Rabutan, and of course, Erena were up there.
“I’m not that old am I?” She questioned herself once before drifting off into memories, sad ones and joyful ones alike. Though she seemed slightly strong and rebellious at times, Myao was weak and cowardly, lonely and timid as well.
Flashback AGAINA raven, a fallen angel, and a devil or demon all sat together on a grassy plain, Erena, Myao, and Rabutan. Erena seemingly lightheartedly murmured,
“Miho, I love you.”
“…Eh…?” Myao couldn’t comprehend what she had just heard.
“…Mrm…” The tsundere devil let out a strange noise.
Erena sheepishly smiled,
“I love Aika too~”
“Mou… you had me shocked there…” Rabutan mumbled as she let out a sigh. Myao looked away as well, flushed.
"Hehe, you two are precious to me after all." Erena beamed happily as they slowly switched to another topic, something that would never be talked about afterwards most likely.
End of FlashbackThe round-faced devil looked through the door-hole of the base once again. Now, her old friend was out of sight from that angle, “…”
“Rabu-nee-san?” The curious mentaiko demon came walking over.
“Murashige. Ah, it’s nothing.” Rabutan replied. The past was the past. It was something that was like a puzzle that was now missing numerous pieces. “Just thinking… about Mariko and some others…”
“I never did get to say a proper goodbye…To anyone…”-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-
"Takamina..."
Sasshi and her short angel friend had just returned home, and they really needed rest. But, Sasshi felt that things were TOO quiet in her house. So, she decided to start a conversation.
"Nee, Takamina..."
Of course, she didn't know what to talk about. Takamina probably wouldn't know about anything she did.
"Taka..."
And~... Takamina was just staring out the window, not listening to her.
"TAKAMINA!"
She blinked for a second, then turned to her.
"Eh? What's wrong?"
Since the hetare girl got involved with the Crusade and such, Takamina was always the one that spent the most time with her, thus a good person to ask would be the short girl. “…Takamina… Why…”
Takamina raised an eyebrow and looked at her confused.
“Why is it that everyone is fighting in this Crusade? I don’t really understand sometimes…” Sasshi sighed as she questioned the very core of everything at the moment itself.
The short angel leaned against the wall, taking up an interesting enough thinking pose and basically thought for a bit. Seeing the way Takamina acted somehow made Rino relieved in a weird way.
“…That’s because… Everyone wants to be happy and be in Heaven, but… there’s not enough space… so we end up fighting… or it seems at least… It’s kind of like the Crusades in your Medieval Times…” Takamina muttered.
“Ah…”
“Well, Yuko has always been an ambitious person. Mayu is kind of like that too. The thing is, if you lose something that you’ve had for a long time and you really like, it just doesn’t work if we tried letting other girls up into Heaven for a period of time. There’s that factor of the Fates and Saints as well.”
“Hrm…” Sasshi thought for a bit. Obviously, a normal conversation between the two would be like this.
“SKE is the type that might want to get everyone into heaven since they have strong bond. I don’t know if it’s possible or not since no one’s ever succeeded. Though it’s only my guess, but they’re happy to see that Rena and Jurina are in Kami-7”
“Eh?” Rino replied with a shocked exclamation.
“Well, everyone is connected, and those two happened to be affiliated with SKE. The groups are AKB, HKT, SKE, and NMB, basically.”
“Takamina, you are?”
“AKB… That was the land of my dreams when everything started up, without a single Crusade in sight of course. Actually… Everyone in the Kami-7 minus Rena and Jurina have their main experiences in AKB.”
“Ok…”
“I guess I could summarize that AKB is the starting point, SKE is the place of bonds, NMB is kind of strong-will and laughter, and HKT might as well be ambition and youthful strength even if it’s a bit mislead. At least, that’s what I see.”
“Oh…”
“Recently, it’s kind of obvious… But SKE has been monopolizing the sky for battles and HKT has a slightly suckish cavalry. AKB changes strategies all the time and NMB is just…”
“Yea…”
“…Um… Sasshi…”
“Yes?”
“Have you been listening to me?”
“No.”
“Mou…” Takamina pouted and in return, Rino sheepishly looked away. “Well… basically, I don’t know why the Crusade is used… I don’t particularly like the outcomes many times…”
“…I agree. Peace is better.”
"That was surprising, though." Takamina got up and walked to the window. "That attack?"
"What was it?"
"It's called the Arrow Shot. It's a powerful offensive attack, but we rarely use it, because, as you saw, it can instantly kill anyone."
"Wow, it's that bad?"
Sasshi was looking up at the ceiling, then she remembered something. Something that she heard the others talk about once and it made her curious. She let it out unconsciously.
"Nee, Takamina... Is it true that you and the others were humans before you became angels?"
Suddenly, a paralyzing shock hit Takamina's head. She froze there, like a statue, her eyes widened in fear. Her heart felt like it was barely beating, but at the same time, it felt it was beating so fast, it would explode.
"Itai..."Her hand suddenly started shaking a bit, then the electric sensation spread through her entire body, making her entire body shiver in fear. Her blood ran cold, as if something was killing her from the inside.
"Itai..!"Her breath was labored to short intakes of air. Her lips were shivering, partially opened. She was trying to speak, but something made it impossible for her to say anything. The only sound that came from her mouth was the sound of her sharp breathing.
"ITAI!!!"
"Hahahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's it! Show me sadness. Show me pain. That's the only good face of scum like you! Hahahaha!""...S-s-stop... St-stop..." she whispered softly. Sasshi looked back at her, worried.
"Takamina?"
Takamina finally calmed her breathing and was brought back to reality. She looked back at the concerned girl.
"Are you okay? You haven't spoken for a while."
"Eh?"
"I was talking to you for a few minutes, and you didn't answer me when I called you."
"A..A few minutes? What's a few minutes?"
"Mm, I dunno. Four, five maybe."
Takamina furrowed her eyebrows, holding her forehead.
"Was it that intense?"Sasshi slowly walked up, leaning forward to see the girl's poor, tired face. She held her shoulder.
"Did you remember anything?"
“Ah… I’m not all that sure about those things...” Takamina answered with an apologetic expression displayed on her face.
“It’s ok, I mean, trying to pry into your past is rude after all.”
Takamina looked and felt the warmth of Sasshi's hand on her shoulder.
“It’s ok to forget about the past, no one is forcing you to remember.” That plain and normal girl had once said…
“Thanks.” The short angel smiled.
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-
The tiger toothed angel sat alone in her home, staring at the ceiling. She was still trying to gather her thoughts about everything that had happened in this one day. She breathed out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes a bit, remembering the day they last talked to each other.
Flashback
"Mariko..."
"I really think it's time we do this."
"But, what about the others? What if they're not ready?"
"It's their decision, not ours. If they want to wait, we'll let them. But, I just don't think Acchan can any longer."
"Acchan..."
"Just imagine. Soon, ALL of us can be together again. All six of us."
".....Okay."
End of Flashback
Tomochin bit her lip, slowly walking up to a small table. She picked up a photo of her, Mariko-sama, Acchan, Takamina, Haruna, and another girl. An angel with long black hair and small wings. Compared to the others, they were fully grown, but not big in size. Tomochin smiled sadly.
"All of us... together at last."
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-
Takamina decided to take a walk around Akihabara and forget about those visions she saw. They looked so familiar. They sounded so terrifying. They... They felt...
They felt. That's right, she felt it. She felt the pain, the sadness, and hopelessness and darkness consuming her.
It felt so... real.
"Hey, you!"
She heard someone scream in pain, followed by a crash. She turned and saw two older looking boys and a beaten up girl. Her clothes were dirty and tattered, and was shivering in fear in the corner.
The two males were both grinning, evil in their eyes. They kicked the girl, hurt her more than she already was.
"C'mon, give us your money!"
"Yeah, you owe us! BIG time!"
Takamina was just standing there, watching her. Her eyes started shaking madly, something inside her was sending stomach-wrenching noises and mind-throbbing shocks into her brain.
"C'mon! Move! MOVE!!!"Her feet slowly moved backwards, making her go in random directions as the world span around her, dizzying her.
“Does it hurt? Hahahahaha! Trash like you should just obey!!”A cold yet burning metal pressed against her neck, wanting to scream she opened her mouth only to be kicked like a rag.
Someone laughed. It was enjoyable, fun, amusing to watch a child be treated like an animal. It hurt. Of course it hurt. It burned. It stung. It...
It....
"It's killing me..."Takamina's eyes slowly opened. She looked around and saw she was still in some part of the village. She was lying on the ground, looking up at the starry sky.
"There you are!" a familiar voice rang. She looked and saw Sasshi hovering above her. "I was worried when you didn't come back. Why are you out here sleeping?"
"Ah, I'm sorry. I was just tired, I guess."
"I understand. C'mon, let's go home. You can sleep in my bed if you want."
Actually, Takamina lied. She
wasn't sleeping. Something in her mind made her about go insane and she blacked out. The next thing she remembered, she was here.
She walked back home without saying another word and plopped down on Sasshi's small bed. Sasshi was covered up on the couch, sleeping peacefully. But, Takamina wasn't. She was just lying there, wide awake, seeing nothing but the darkness covering the blank ceiling.
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-
Tomochin sat in a large pond, bathing alone in a beautiful garden. The pond was filled with sweet smelling leaves and flower petals, and had lily pads with pink lotuses that held delicious nectar. Tomochin's eyes were closed, as she was praying, and her hair was tied up so it wouldn't get wet. She felt a presence behind her.
"You came..." she turned her head and saw a short hair girl with the cutest smile on her face. Or, it was cute to Tomochin, at least.
"I wouldn't miss this for the world."
Tomochin snickered.
"C'mon. Takamina said it's time."
Tomochin nodded and slowly stood up, releasing the clip holding her long golden hair. She stepped out and was handed a white dress by the short haired girl.
"Guess this is goodbye, huh?"
"Don't worry... This isn't goodbye forever."
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cisda83: well, now you know~ and thanks for the comment!
mayuki_daisuki: indeed, i totally agree~ and thanks for your comment as well~
Just saying, I'm basically as curious as everyone else is... since the main stuff I do is either segments of fight scenes... not in this chapter though... or HKT/more minor character moments... thus... my comment...
I wanna know who that short hair girl is~ minna-san~ take a guess at it as well.
And also, looks like Taka is hurting... hrm...