Well here it is. Reina's Odyssey is finally and definitely winding toward a close. This chapter may again be the longest I've written, as I've pieced it together over the last couple days, but I feel more proud of it and where it's pointing toward than I think I have about anything else. If anyone who doesn't normally post in this thread has been keeping up a little, this might be a great time to catch up with it all. Of course, it's nearly 400 pages long in my Word so it might take a little while
to catch up with, but I'd love to see others sharing in the culmination of the work and enjoyment I've put into it over the past year plus some. ^_^
This story began very humbly. I was disappointed about killing off Reina in my first story, and so I just wanted to write something else with her as the main character. I also wanted to do it completely from her point of view - inspiration I took from one of the other greatly respected writers around here. The 10 pages of notes for this story began with a draft title of "Domestic Musume"
, so you see it even deviated completely from its original intent. Next thing, I decided to "kill off" Miki, and the story began. I hope anyone who's still reading it after such long hiatuses (hiati?
) has enjoyed it, and I'm trying to give it a fitting climax.
So without further digression on my part, here is the first of what are probably the last two or three chapters of it. Since it's something I thought fit perfectly and so I wanted to mention it here, the title of this chapter is taken from one of the great songs of
Les Miserables. Soshite, hajimarimasu...
Chapter 35 – One Day MoreThe next few weeks seemed to pass quickly in the frenzy of activity Reina found herself enmeshed in. She hadn’t realized how calm her mostly administrative and office lifestyle had been ever since she left Eri and Sayu those months ago. It was really quite cushy compared to her Hello! Project lifestyle. Of course, the training she constantly had to practice to retain her skills wasn’t exactly relaxing, but since such things had become second nature to her she’d hardly thought of that effort as work.
Tsunku wanted to know all about what had been going on with her of course. Apparently through his own underworld connections he’d learned a bit about her activities, at least enough to know she wasn’t really “missing and presumed dead” as the official line went. Still, he expressed to Reina how worried he’d been. He knew what kind of people revolved in those circles.
For herself, Reina kept her lips sealed over most things, hesitating to even confirm that she knew what was going on with Ai. Tsunku had a good guess at that, but since the rumors of her taking over complete leadership seemed so unbelievable, he sought any information he could from her. However, seeing her unwillingness to speak too much, he didn’t press too far.
“So what do you intend to do now?” he asked with a serious tone Reina couldn’t remember if he’d ever used with her before. It was almost as if he was addressing her as an equal adult.
“I’m not sure,” she responded, although plans had already begun forming in her mind. The desire to have a positive effect on her world still held strong within her, and she fully believed she still had the influence and ability to achieve something.
“So why have you come back here?” Tsunku retorted sharply. Reina’s attention snapped back to him.
“I… needed to talk with someone who was uninitiated,” she answered carefully. This time when Tsunku looked at her, she could see unasked questions forming within his eyes.
“So that’s why you found Matsuura-san?” he asked shrewdly. “She’d been missing for a long while too, and claimed she was kidnapped…”
“I know,” Reina responded easily. “I’ve seen the articles.” Tsunku seemed to know there was much left unsaid around her words.
After a few minutes of just staring at her, he finally spoke up in an exasperated voice, “Will somebody
please tell me what’s going on here?!” As he spoke his hands fell to his desk, pushing him up to where he leered over it. “I’ve had girls missing, girls dead, girls reappearing out of thin air, and above all girls mixing in with the Yakuza! Just tell me, have I been the recipient of a case of extraordinarily bad and morbid luck, or have you all just gone crazy? I’m starting to lean toward the latter the more you girls keep returning from who knows where. First Matsuura and Fujimoto, and now you. From all I hear, I can glean that Takahashi isn’t dead at least, but because of the same I also couldn’t imagine her returning to this building. But then again, I had begun to think the same of you…”
Throughout his tirade, Reina peered calmly up at him. She hadn’t realized it before, but he was really a rather diminutive man. Flamboyant of course, and very protective of his assets, but now she took a good look at him… She supposed it started at her audition years ago when she wanted nothing more than to impress the judges and of course him in particular, since he had the final say. To her at that time, he was the leader and deliverer; the one that would set her on the path to the fame and success she dearly desired. That continued with her Morning Musume career, where he still managed them and provided them with the largest portion of their creative inspiration.
However, as she now looked at the man who, leaning over the desk as he was, normally would have intimidated her into almost any sort of submission, she saw only an average, if still flamboyant, person trying to do the best for who and what he cared about most. She felt no fear or even guilt at all, and Tsunku must have noticed that, because after a time he sighed and fell back down into his seat.
“I don’t think you’ll see Ai-chan back in here again,” Reina said quietly, causing him to study her closely once more. “As to anyone else…” she continued, “I sincerely hope the best for Matsuura-san and Fujimoto-san, more than you would guess. However, I still have a job and responsibilities that I’m afraid will keep me from performing for some time at least.”
“You know you’ll be all over the news by tomorrow,” Tsunku replied. “Since Yamada-san recognized you and started telling everybody she knew – to the detriment of her job I might add; I don’t know how many calls she missed and customers she irritated by being absent from the front desk – the information is bound to leak to the outside. They’ve been keeping hawk’s eyes on us lately because of Matsuura and Fujimoto, and have already been asking questions about what
really happened to you and Takahashi, so they’ll jump on it the first chance they get. I’d be careful leaving the building, if I were you.”
In response, Reina gave Tsunku a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I think I can handle the press,” she said in a slightly amused voice.
Tsunku held his tongue a moment as he studied her eyes, and then sighed in resignation. “You really have changed,” he admitted, seemingly grudgingly. “I also don’t expect your surprises for me have ended, have they?”
Reina gazed back at his no longer surprised, questioning look. “What do you mean?” she asked in slow curiosity. “I’ve been honest in letting you know I can’t tell you anything firm about myself right now.”
Tsunku absently flicked the edges to some papers littering his desk. “They’ve tried to stay subtle about it, but I’ve noticed the girls talking and thinking about you,” he said. Reina kept her face smooth as he continued. “Matsuura and Fujimoto use an odd amount of respect when talking about you, so I know something’s going on there even if none of you will say anything about it. I’ve also heard murmurs from Niigaki and Kamei. Michishige hardly seems to talk about anything else.”
He glanced up at her from time to time as if trying to catch a reaction, but Reina schooled herself to silence. It wasn’t very surprising that the girls mentioned her – after all, she had put almost all of them through rather extreme situations – but little facets of what he said caught her attention. She’d have to see what was going on with Sayu… Since the night of the coup, she’d had quite a different impression of the girl.
“Now that I’m back here, I’ll let you know if anything comes up,” Reina offered finally.
“Please do,” Tsunku said quickly, and gave a short nod of dismissal. As Reina rose and walked toward the door though, he shouted after her, “Tanaka-san!”
“Yes?” Reina responded, turning her head to look back at him.
“Nice outfit,” he said simply. “You look very mature.”
Reina smiled back at him. She was still in the clothes she came to the office in that morning – a navy knee-length pleated skirt below an obsessively ironed white blouse and olive vest. It wouldn’t have looked out of place on the highest ranking women in a large company, which Reina supposed she actually was, but the effect was tempered slightly by a ribbon that tied up front into a bow, giving a slight seifuku effect. “But I’m still cute,” she said lightly with a wink, a comment which finally brought a smile from Tsunku as well, and as he nodded sharply again before returning to his paperwork, she left the room.
Despite her desire to talk to her old friends, she spent the rest of the afternoon in a lounge while they worked and rehearsed making phone calls to test her ideas. People came in from time to time, giving her wide-eyed glances and looking as if they wanted to say something, but since she was nearly always on the phone they respectfully kept their distance and left quickly. She could imagine the stories they told their co-workers, but that was of little concern to her at the moment.
Mostly she called some of her contacts in Tokyo, nearly all of whom insisted their continued loyalty quite clearly to her. Yamada-san from
Maniacal Love was one of the most extravagant in his expressions, from praising her extraordinarily insightful entrepreneurial sense to declaring undying love, of all things. Well, he was somewhat of a pimp after all… Reina chuckled at the thought of him attempting some of his wiles on her, though.
Even though the calls to people in the city generally were encouraging, others were not; specifically, those to Kobe. She knew her standing wasn’t as naturally outstanding there, especially in the apparent absence of Ai’s support of her position, but she had to see if any support could come from the Council members, because without that she would have an extremely uphill, difficult, and lonely battle. She’d been able to infer their support was nearly paramount in Ai’s coup – they were united in their hatred of the former Chairman, and so all Ai had to do was, well, turn tradition on its head and defeat the man himself. That was hardly an easy feat, but it likely would have been nigh impossible without the Council’s support.
She didn’t have an issue actually being able to talk with the Council members since almost the second their secretaries, who of course can only guess what happens further up, recognize her voice, they were more than willing to put her straight through. They didn’t know much about Reina except that she was incredibly important, and so wanted as little entanglement with her as possible. However, apparently every single one of the Council members themselves somehow knew exactly what had gone on that morning in Ai’s office. Those that spoke more than two words to her mostly with the rest formed threats warning that she should watch her step. She knew her ideal of reform was likely a lost cause since they were still some of the most hardened criminals, but she still had to try.
The one ray of light was her conversation with Ishihara-san, the only woman on the council. She was one of Ai’s staunchest supporters in her vendetta against Yamagata, primarily because she enjoyed the idea of seeing a woman at the top of the organization. Reina had a feeling she wished it was herself, but in a previous conversation had found that despite her sex, felt too old and too stuck in the trap of tradition to seek any more advancement of her own. After all, being a member of the Council was quite a high standing as it was.
Ishihara still claimed loyalty to Ai, but Reina could tell she was dissatisfied with some of the things she’d done. She always liked the woman; despite having organized a large amount of crime herself, it was never of the degrading kind Reina despised the most. For example, she was against them promoting prostitution of any kind, much less involuntary or underage. While she couldn’t convince the woman of anything in this conversation, Reina had hope she might come around.
Eventually the evening fell and Reina became hungry. She looked up from her work enough to realize it was 18:00, and thought it odd there wasn’t more activity. Stretching and stowing her notes for the day, she wandered around the building to see most workers still going strong. The girls were in fact still in rehearsal. Apparently they had a concert the coming weekend, and were doing final preparations late into the night. Deciding she needed some real food, she headed down to the lobby.
When she appeared, whispers broke out from others passing through, and she saw the receptionist, Yamada-san, staring over at her. Nobody bothered her though, and she passed through the doors out into the street. Outside was an entirely different matter.
Upon leaving the building she saw a small crowd gathered to one side, and it didn’t take long to firmly identify them as the journalists and reporters she expected they’d be. At first they only glanced at her as they likely had anyone else who’d walked out those doors, but when a few realized who she was, the floodgate opened and soon she was surrounded.
“Tanaka-san, where have you been all this time?”
“The official story was only that you were ‘missing’. What about the rumors you were kidnapped by a crazed fan?”
“You look in pretty good health. Did you just take a break to get away from the stress?”
“Ai Takahashi disappeared at virtually the same time as you. Did you both experience the same situation?”
“How about the rumors that you’ve been secretly doing adult video?”
“I have quite a substantiated report here saying you’ve become tangled in a Yakuza organization.”
She ignored the comments and questions as if she wasn’t surrounded by a mob, although she became slightly angry at the one about her doing adult video. That was all too close to the truth. Or at least, what had started it all. The one who brought up the “substantiated” Yakuza report was laughed at by his peers, and Reina even joined in with a smile, though of course for a completely different reason.
A few tailed her as she walked down the street, but they dropped away quickly when they realized she was giving them about as much attention as she would rocks. Eventually she made it to a bakery a few blocks away, and when she entered the only sign of them was a few photographers hanging outside to snap paparazzi shots of any situation they might be able to find her in. Each of course wanted the big scoop about what Reina Tanaka had been up to for half a year since her original disappearance, along with Ai’s, had been so widely publicized.
The bakery was almost a different world. No one seemed to recognize her in there, and she calmly ordered a medium sandwich with nearly every topping they possessed and paid with cash she had on hand. Earlier in the day she’d stopped at an ATM in UFA’s building to check her accounts. She already had enough cash to get her by for quite some time, but curiosity about her accounts tugged at her. Interestingly, they hadn’t been frozen yet. Then again her authority, at least in Tokyo, was probably good enough to not only keep her accounts open but “influence” certain parties to deposit large sums in them if she desired. The thought nearly disgusted her. And then of course, there were her overseas accounts…
After a very enjoyable meal she noticed it was nearly 20:00. Deciding that either the girls were still in rehearsal or already gone home, she looked up a nearby hotel and checked herself in. Flashing her gold-lettered NDI business card got her one of the Hyatt’s finest suites, as well as a very sincere promise of privacy.
A while later, once settled in and lying on her bed watching television and drinking hot tea in a complimentary sleeping gown, she was reminded of New Year’s Eve. True it was months ago, but it nearly seemed like ages. It had been a fateful night – what began to firmly set her along the path to the Chairman and her partnership with Ai.
Partnership? she pondered. The two had worked together and accomplished so much, yet there was always that separation of Ai as the teacher and her as the pupil… When their romantic relationship started they had been equal emotionally and sexually, but professionally Ai generally maintained her privacy. It was true she was eager to listen whenever Reina had anything to share, and she followed her consultation regularly, but if anything conflicted with Ai’s personal beliefs she would withdraw and dig in her heels.
Reina had no problem with this at first – she’d fallen in love with the girl after all for her opinions and the integrity of those beliefs as Reina saw them, as well as of course for her special skills... As Reina’s teacher, even once Reina reached a level far beyond nearly everyone else, she was still one step ahead because she not only taught but constantly improved herself as well. Those skills she paid dearly for had been proven in her organization of the coup and her own personal fight with Yamagata. Reina might be in love, but that instance had been the climax of her
lust for the girl. Now she was afraid it might have blinded her from seeing the reality of what was festering inside her.
With her foe defeated and the rewards she earned by it, that dark nature Reina always feared yet was inescapably attracted to rose up, and with the shield of righteous fury and vengeance against Yamagata shed, possessed the girl she loved.
She hugged herself, feeling a sudden and stark loneliness she’d not experienced in so long. Even though Ai had been with her nearly every night, recently Reina began to wonder if at those times she wasn’t becoming more alone. Ai was far from Yamagata’s evil, but she had a view of life that was so jaded by her experiences since Miki’s first accident that Reina wondered sometimes if the girl even felt anything when they were together. She did, Reina supposed, but it felt like only a private release for the passion she acquired in her daily life, not the love and care that two partners should share for each other. In this respect she was maybe not so different from the Chairman. For his satisfaction, the Chairman almost every night brought in girls sometimes kicking and screaming, and although Ai had just one lover she stayed completely faithful to in the semblance of a proper relationship, Reina still fulfilled the role of providing her with the emotional and physical satisfaction
she needed.
Suddenly she barked a laugh.
Alone… Thinking of that night back at New Year’s, she wondered if she really
knew alone anymore. True, she was by herself in the hotel room tonight, but completely by her own choice. She imagined there were still many members of the press who dearly wanted to speak with her. Her friends had been so excited to see her, and were disappointed that they had to return for rehearsal. They’d surely be wondering where she was once they finished tonight. And she also knew that if she wished it and could forget her own beliefs, she could be back in Kobe with Ai tonight…
At that thought, she flipped the channel to one that showed some type of drama. Well, tonight she was enjoying being a regular seventeen-year-old for once. Albeit, one who stayed by herself in a hotel’s Imperial Suite that was larger than most houses she’d been in, and many times more lavish. She especially enjoyed the engraved marble deep soaking tub, although Ai had a nicer one in her chambers… Oh yes, it was
exactly like New Year’s.
After the pleasant night, which turned into several over the weekend as the girls travelled to give their concerts, Reina became impatient at how little progress was being made toward her goals. She’d heard absolutely no word from Ai, which troubled her since it indicated nothing was likely to change, but she was hardly surprised. She decided to give the Council members some time to cool their heels after her departure, so waited until Monday to contact them again. However, this time she didn’t even get past the secretaries until she got to Ishihara-san, who after a longer conversation she believed might really support her. She said it might be an old woman’s fantasy, but she’d thought about her life and now began to wish she was able to see better days.
Days were definitely in need of some improvement in Reina’s mind as well. News about violent bullying at schools now seemed almost daily occurrences as children saw their futures collapse while crime syndicates still flourished. There was even a story about a high school girl who donned all black before hacking her father, who was a policeman, into pieces. More and more girls such as her were being drawn into the sex business as the society around them shook seemingly with every tremor that hit their too-small islands.
On an even larger scale, widespread corruption had brought chaos to the country’s political system, with high-ranking members resigning or committing seppuku after their careers spiraled into disaster with their failing policies. Through the reports that had passed through Reina’s hands, she knew about what fed some of the corruption, and also knew it hadn’t changed in the past several months despite her best efforts. The Council, and Ai at its head, still held absolute power over the facets of it all that Nippon Dai Ichi controlled.
Then there was the news that had begun spreading in the weeklies over the weekend. Headlines in many different issues as well as eventually the national news pronounced shock and amazement with the fact that Reina Tanaka of Morning Musume had mysteriously reappeared, and a plethora of reports came to light linking her with underworld organizations. Knowing at the news of a seventeen-year-old idol being with the yakuza they might be even less likely to be taken seriously than usual, they made sure to provide plenty of quite clear evidence from first-hand interviews of “anonymous” members of Nippon Dai Ichi to specific links with recent crime. Reina was quite impressed with the detail they came up with in so short of time, and when she thought back to the reporter asking about yakuza being laughed down, it left her with quite a different impression than she’d had then.
All of this of course affected her life out of the hotel. She held enough clout and respect, as well as fear, that there were no complaints in letting her rent out the suite as long as she needed to. However, whenever she went down to the lobby and outside she was no longer unrecognized; nearly everyone walking down the street or making a reservation gave her furtive glances they thought she couldn’t see and whispered behind hands they used to cover their mouths. Reina began to take to ordering room service for nearly every meal.
All of this led her to when, on Monday evening in her suite, she sat with the people who mattered most to her. For obvious reasons this was much easier than her going back to the UFA building, but it didn’t stop her visitors from drawing the glances normally only reserved for her. Eri was there, no longer in bandages although still quite tender after the price she’d paid for her nearly insignificant part in the coup, after which it now seemed nobody had won anything.
Risa was there as well, hand-in-hand with Eri. The sight might have troubled Reina months ago, and in fact greatly contributed to her isolation at New Year’s, but now all she could do while looking at the two of them was smile. Since her return, Risa had seemed genuinely happy for the first time in what might have been years. Ever since, Reina thought grimly, Ai had begun distancing herself from her.
Miki and Aya were there too. Reina hadn’t wanted to bother them yet again with troubles she considered her own, but they insisted with insurmountable obstinacy that they had already been involved, at first unwillingly for both of them, but then of their own accord in a desire for a better world. They also pointed out that Reina was the same way, but she found it difficult to see that point of view any longer. The desire that blazed in her had always been there; it had only lacked direction.
Tsunku sat close to Miki and Aya. Reina was reluctant to involve him, since in his case he never actually had been involved in the first place, but she felt bound to keep to her vow of no longer keeping him in the dark. Gazing levelly at his eyes, which gazed back just as strongly, she thought that through it all, he deserved at least that.
Finally, Sayu did her best to stay as close as possible to Reina. Reina was grateful she didn’t try to get any closer, or the girl would have been in her lap. As it was, they shared the loveseat that faced the couches and recliners the others resided on. Ever since coming into her room Reina thought Sayu had something she wanted to say to her, but she still hadn’t said two words since their initial hug and greeting.
While Reina watched some of the other girls still looking around in awe at the amenities of Reina’s suite, and Sayu still looked like a frog had caught in her throat, she thought about the assembly.
Definitely no need to be alone anymore… she thought with a smile, and rose. The wandering attentions of those around her snapped sharply back into focus at her movement, and she thought she could cut the silence with one of the knives she still had stowed at various points around her body.
“I want to bring Ai-chan home,” she pronounced firmly, and the bluntness caused some of the girls to give each other covert glances.
Tsunku cleared his throat. “I may not know as much as you all,” he said with a nod of his head, “But I have a feeling this is something much more easily said than done, no?” Reina nodded in response.
“Are you sure about this?” quipped Miki. “I left Kobe for various reasons. One was that Ayaya wanted to sing again. The other was that even with her as its head, I didn’t feel a place in that organization. I’m not sure she’d be thrilled about turning her back on it.” Reina knew that in her words, she wasn’t just talking about the company.
“She may not be,” Reina admitted hollowly.
“She’s done lots of horrible things, Reina…” Aya said in her ever-sweet voice, and Reina saw in her eyes a question about what exactly her part was in the things she’d heard about as well.
“That’s why we need to stop her,” Reina said simply.
“And you don’t want to kill her,” Sayu said from beside her in a voice that left no hint of a question. Reina brought her gaze to the girl’s eyes. What she saw in there reminded her of something, but she couldn’t pinpoint what. “But that’s the way they do it after all, isn’t it?” she pressed. “I take it you want to take over leadership from her. That’s how she dealt with… the last Chairman.” In her hesitation toward the end, Reina knew she was remembering what happened in his office that day.
“No I don’t, Sayu,” she said. “However…” She hesitated herself. “Things must change, and I’ll take the best option that’s available to me.” Her only response this time was silence. Everyone seemed to understand the meaning of her words.
However, after Sayu stared at her a bit longer, she broke the silence in a soft voice of her own. “You saw her fight, Reina. If… if it comes to that, do you think you can pull it off?” This time Reina was silent, and looked away from the other girl. She knew all too well how Ai fought. Her hope was that it wouldn’t come to that. The woman
had to listen to reason if it was presented to her under the right circumstances.
“We want to support you as much as we can, Reina,” Eri expressed, staring hard at her. “But…”
“It’s okay,” Reina said. “This will be much more dangerous than last time. I would ask though… Would you go to Kobe with me? You’re all my friends,” she said, this time to the entire gathering. “I’d like you there with me. However, you won’t need to leave the car.”
Tsunku cleared his throat again. “I take it you don’t include me in that group?” he asked with a lopsided grin.
Reina smiled at him. “I wasn’t planning to…” she said. “Unless of course you’d like to come along.”
“No thank you,” he responded, still with the silly grin. “I’ll feel much more comfortable in my office down the street here.”
“By all means,” Reina replied gently.
“We want to help however we can,” Aya spoke up sincerely, and Miki nodded from beside her.
“Thank you for the offer,” Reina said with a smile, “But this is something I can’t bring even a small army in for. I won’t be storming the place like the last time. I just want to… take care of what I need to and be done with it.”
“I’m going wherever you go,” Sayu demanded suddenly.
Reina turned to her again, and her smile threw off the other girl’s glare slightly. “I expected that,” she said quietly. “And you’ll be right there at my side. In fact, I’m counting on your help in the end.” As the girl stared surprised at her, the shrill digital ring of Reina’s phone broke the tension. “Excuse me,” she said politely, and reached in her pocket to pick it up. “Yes?” she asked into it, and listened to the response. “Right… right. Thank you very much. I’m under your care.” She listened again. “I… see,” she said, a bit more hesitantly, though her eyes steeled with determination. “Tomorrow then,” she said, and slid her phone shut.
When she returned to her audience, everyone was staring at her, the tension at its highest peak yet. “The plans have been finalized,” she said. “There is… a slight change, but I believe it will also be necessary.” She then broke into what she hoped was a relaxed smile. “Are we ready to change the world?” She looked into each face individually, each burning with affirmation, and held the longest at Sayu’s, which burned with something else as well. She now recognized that look.
“Well,” she began again, “We’ll meet tomorrow morning for the trip to Kobe. Tsunku-san,” she said with a slight bow. “May I take them away from rehearsals for a while?”
Tsunku smiled. “I don’t know. They’ve spent up a lot of holiday time lately… especially Fujimoto and Matsuura!” Reina joined him in his smile as the two named girls gave him glares, and he nodded. “I suppose so…” he said, with a grudgingly reluctant tone that was quite obviously fake.
“All right then,” Reina said. “Thank you,” she told Tsunku, and bowed to him again. “You’re too good to us.”
“I know, I know…” he responded, rising from his recliner. As if at a cue, the girls rose as well – one GakiKame pair and one GAM one.
“Until tomorrow then,” Miki said brusquely, and Aya smiled and nodded at Reina as they followed Tsunku to the door.
Eri and Risa held their positions a bit longer though. “I hope you know what you’re doing…” Eri said, concern etched in her voice.
Reina caught Risa watching her calmly as she spoke. “Of course she does,” the older girl assured, and Eri looked up at her. “Go on, Eririn, I’ll catch up with you.” Eri seemed reluctant at first, but with the steady look she received pouted and headed for the door too. Once she was out of earshot, Risa turned to Reina. “I want to thank you… for everything,” she said. “And apologize…”
“For what?” Reina asked politely.
The other girl looked hard at her. “I’ve been in your care so much… You’ve always been the one with and helping Ai-chan. You were there for me when I felt there was nobody I could turn to, and I only repaid you by taking Eririn…”
Reina gazed searchingly at the girl for a moment. “You know, for all the ‘help’ I gave Ai-chan, I also took her away from you.”
Risa’s eyes widened in understanding, and there was a small strangled squeak from behind Reina, but she didn’t look back. After the initial news though, Risa lowered her eyes and shook her head. “No you didn’t,” she said. “I’d already lost her long before that.” She looked up to see Reina gazing back with sadness in her eyes, and quickly raised her hand and shook it beneath her chin. “No no,” she denied, “I’m long past that. With what happened with that guy, that was definitely a low point, but… then Eri and I came together.” The emotion in her eyes strengthened as she shared Reina’s look. “Help Ai-chan, and I couldn’t ask for anything more,” she said firmly, leaving no room for doubt.
Reina looked back a moment before nodding. “I’ll do my best,” she promised. With that, Risa nodded too, her eyes moistening, and turned quickly for the door. Reina watched her leave with a heavy weight on her heart, and soon she was out the door and gone.
“They’ve been really happy,” Sayu said quietly from behind her, and Reina turned her attention in her direction. At the look, she saw Sayu, who had been peering up at her intently, blush and lower her head. Today the girl wore a white shirt with pink sleeves and a picture of a frog in its center, and a semi-short pleated black skirt. Reina walked her way and resumed her seat on the loveseat next to her.
“Yeah, they seem like it,” Reina said, looking down at her folded hands herself.
“At first it was kind of strange, you know. It was always just the three of us. But after finding out that you and Gaki-san both…” She trailed off before continuing, “It was no longer the same, you know? It was as if we’d suddenly grown, and were like adults. Then we went to Kobe, and Eri… There wasn’t any more doubt at all then.” Reina now directed a sympathetic expression over at her friend, who still had her eyes lowered. “I felt I was left behind, so I tried to follow your lead there, and we were almost killed, and then…” Finally she looked up into Reina’s face. “Is it true? Have you been with Ai-chan?”
Reina looked back a moment before nodding. Sayu’s face was expressionless a second before she smiled and lowered her head again. “That’s good. You two had so much in common.”
“You’re right to say that like it’s past,” Reina said, still looking hard at what she could see of the girls face. “With what she’s done lately…” Reina lowered her own head again. “It was wonderful what we had, so it was no mistake, but how it turned out couldn’t have been more wrong.” She sensed the other girl’s eyes back on her, but didn’t look up. “I go to her again with the hope it’s not too late to save her humanity, and I do it out of love. But as she is now I think she’s incapable of understanding love, and I can’t accept that. Who knows what might happen in the future, but I can’t count on her to change.”
She looked up tentatively to see Sayu gazing calmly at her, her lips slightly pursed. It seemed to her the girl was trying to decide something in her mind. “Reina-chan…” she said, and Reina blinked. It had been a long time since she was called that. “Do you remember what happened when Ai-chan was fighting that Chairman?” Reina nodded slowly. She’d been half-expecting this, but strangely she felt relief that it was happening. “You were protecting me, but then…” Her voice softened further. “You kissed me…” Reina nodded again. “Was that just because of her, or was part of you kissing…
me?” she asked, her voice nearly deteriorating to a whisper by the end.
Reina licked her lips, her mouth suddenly dry. “I knew it was you,” she responded slowly and simply.
At that, Sayu gave a light smile and stretched back a little in her seat, taking a long deep breath before speaking again. “Do you remember back at Miki’s… memorial?” she said in a much more energetic and Sayu-like voice. She giggled. “It’s funny talking about that now, isn’t it?”
“I suppose so…” Reina responded, unsure where this was going. The girl still smiled, but was carefully watching for Reina’s responses out of the corners of her eyes.
“There was one time when you had been staring off into space, and when you came back and saw me standing next to you, you screamed.” Sayu laughed gaily as she related her story.
Reina blushed slightly. Yes, she did remember that now. It had to do with a certain girl in pink… “I remember,” she said, not wanting to dwell on the memory.
“Well,” Sayu said, “After that, I told you we were best friends and asked what was going on with you and Eririn… And it’s all the funnier now I
do know what was going on with you two! You were really quite a cute pair at the time…” Reina felt herself blushing more. What was wrong with her? “But…” she continued, now sounding more serious. “At that time I also felt something else… I thought it was anger that you weren’t telling me something, but now I know it was something different.” Her voice was completely serious now, and Reina looked back up at her, her blush fading. Sayu looked intently back. “It was jealousy…”
“What would you have been jealous of?” Reina asked, trying to adopt some manner of innocence. Unfortunately, she thought she totally failed at that any longer.
“I was jealous that you two had something special I wasn’t a part of,” Sayu responded. “I of course had no idea it was ro
mantic, but I still felt left out. I thought of you as my best friend after all, and part of me wanted you to myself. Funny how kids think of things, isn’t it?” She attempted a half-hearted laugh. “But since then so much has happened, and my way of thinking of things has changed so much…”
Reina noticed Sayu’s finger twitch, and the girl looked down at it. After a few seconds she reached out and grabbed Reina’s hand, pulling it slightly away from her lap. Reina looked down at the joined hands too before looking tentatively back up into the girl’s face. “Since then…” Sayu began. “Since we fought together in Kobe… Since you kissed me… I’ve realized…” She swallowed, hesitating. “Reina, I… I think I’m in love with you.”
Reina stared back at her for a time. She finally realized what she’d been doing the whole conversation. She was leading the girl, starting with talking about how she could no longer see herself with Ai, and then with all her subtle reactions since then. She actually had
hoped to hear the girl say those words. She had a feeling with all the experiences they shared lately that it was hardly a surprise, but still, she hadn’t expected to actually hear this declaration.
Looking back into the girl’s expectant and highly anxious face, she thought for a minute. What was she doing? It wasn’t long ago that she spent every night with Ai. But then, she’d just been fooling herself that whole time, hadn’t she? She didn’t accept it until Ai proved it with a blade, but the woman hadn’t truly loved her. Looking back into the youthful eyes before her, though they had been tarnished by her harsh experiences lately, she saw something she never saw when she looked into Ai’s. Then warmth began to fill her, and she could no longer even summon the other woman’s face; it was being shut out by another. She realized what was meant to be and what was not. She made her decision.
Suddenly she leaned forward, and wrapping her arms around the girl’s slim waist pressed her lips against soft ones that had opened to utter a sound of surprise. It never escaped, and the two young girls spent the next minutes exploring and enjoying each other.
Eventually they sat cuddled together, one arm around each other’s waist and the other joined by their hands. Sayu lightly drew in Reina’s palm with her forefinger as she looked around the room with a small smile on her face. “Nice place you’ve got here,” she said casually. “It must not be too bad a thing, being one of the most powerful women in Japan.”
“It has its perks,” Reina said, and Sayu turned to see her grin. “But it has its drawbacks too…” she continued, the grin fading.
“Tomorrow…” Sayu breathed, and Reina nodded. “It’ll go well,” she continued insistently. “I know you can do it.”
Reina smiled at the girl’s firmness. “Thanks,” she said gratefully. She had little hope herself. It would be a greater test of her skills than she’d ever imagined before. “But before I take you along with me, I need to know something…”
“Yes?” Sayu asked curiously.
“Where’d you learn to use a sword like that?”
Sayu broke into a giggle. “Why Reina, didn’t I ever tell you I’ve taken fencing since I was a little girl? My dad says my family is descended from samurai, and so every generation is made to learn swordsmanship. I wasn’t very good for a long time though…”
“Must have slipped your mind,” Reina said with a smirk.
With the hand on the other side of Reina’s waist, Sayu poked her in the side and hugged her closer. “I’m sorry,” she said playfully. “I’ll be sure to try and remember other things I should have told you years ago.”
“That’d be helpful,” Reina said in an over exaggerated hopeful expression. “Best friends, huh?” she asked sardonically.
Sayu hugged her closer. “No...” she whispered into her neck. “Partners.” This time Reina didn’t try to stop the flush that suffused her body. She’d thought of that word a lot lately, but this was the first time it rang with complete truth to her. This time, she wasn’t the one using it.
Topic: A Young Girl's Odyssey [Epilogue ~COMPLETE~] (Read 54199 times)