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Author Topic: Our Cursed Gift II [NON SEQUEL] Chapter 22: Another side: Another Story (10/6)  (Read 70209 times)

Offline Yuuyami

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THIS IS NOT A DIRECT SEQUEL TO THE FIRST OUR CURSED GIFT! xD New story. New arrangement of characters. New people to play with :]... Couplings with everyone canon and a little crackish (Yocharmikitty, Miyabi x Risako, Yuko x Kei, everyone xD. )



Prelude




Memories of the Past…

She witnessed death smile like a scheming human as the victim collapsed under the burden of several scars caused by a supernatural force radiating from her very own blood-stained hands.

Memories of the Future…

She glanced at the unfamiliar cityscape below her, watching people fall one by one through a sweeping shadow which was reminiscent of a tattoo depicting flowers surrounded by butterflies.

Memories of What Never Was…

“Are you okay?” the woman asked the frightened girl who was whimpering incoherent sayings while rocking back and forth on the ground. Baffled at her behavior, Rika tried again to communicate, unfortunately, the girl was unable to acknowledge her presence.

“Leave me alone!” the girl screamed as she crawled towards a three-way intersection with the older trailing after. The small girl, which Rika found was actually a younger version of herself, sat against the wall, staring into the dark corridor before her. Bemused at the sudden change of attitude, Rika stepped in front of the girl, staring in the same direction. There was a silhouette of another woman, her golden eyes shining and contrasting against the dark in which she stood.

Rika felt her heart stop at the eye contact. The woman slowly walked towards the struggling older, slowly stepping into a view of light. The woman was wearing a traditional kimono, however, the upper part of the kimono was open, and the arms were not in the sleeves. That, and the obi was tied at the waist instead of below the breasts like a traditional woman would wear it. In fact, the woman was not wearing anything on her chest. What caught Rika’s eye was that the woman’s chest, arms, neck, and the sides of the face had tattoos. Those tattoos depicted flowers surrounded by butterflies, much like the death omen which took lives of people in her other dreams.

Rika could not bare the pain anymore. She ran. She ran as fast as her body allowed it to. She looked over her shoulder to find that the tattooed woman chased after her and quickly closing in on her. Rika could see the light coming from the exit, the exit from the dream world and into reality she thought. Just before she reached the exit, she saw the woman barely touched her, a very cold and numbing touch, on the right shoulder blade.

She allowed herself to be consumed by the light—and wake up.

Whose memories do they belong to?

Rika woke up with cold sweat making her silk night gown cling to her body. Her breaths of exhaustion were accompanied by the pestering rain outside of her window. She realized that she was in her room, not some haunted house, and gave a sigh of relief.

However, she felt a sharp pain come from the back of her right shoulder. She immediately ran in front of the dressing mirror of her room and tilted her body so that she was able to see most of her back. Where she had the shoulder pain, she saw bruising which somehow manipulated her blood flow into a black color starting from where the tattooed woman touched her. The black blood flow had only manipulated certain blood streams… And those black bloodstreams happen to resemble a certain object…

They resembled a lotus surrounded by butterflies.

Are they real or not?













Chapter 1: Fear






Help me…

“Why are you so down, ne?” asked the woman leaning against the wall of the bedroom

“This is why I don’t like going to fortunetellers,” the other woman sighed exasperatedly, “I always get the bad fortune!” the woman looked up at the sky, administering a dramatic effect towards herself by looking (acting) like she was about to cry. “Why did you bring me there anyway?! Just because I had some crazy psychotic tattooed woman chasing me around in my dream last night doesn’t mean I’m broken or anything!”

“You don’t have to be so pessimistic, Rika-chan,” the older woman pat the aforementioned woman on the shoulder, “what that fortune teller told you was practically all horror movie crap anyway.”

Rika Ishikawa looked at the older woman in disbelief. “Why am I talking about me anyway, you have a fortune just as bad as mine, Ayu-chan!”

Ayumi Shibata gave out an amused exhale of air, patting her best friend on the shoulder again. “Come now, it’s just a fortune teller, they often can’t be right. I mean, there are those who cheat by memorizing astrology books and giving out the information after they ask you for your birth date and the characters used for your name.”

“I understand that too, but the one we just went to seems… authentic…” Rika buried the lower half of her face into her arms. “What if it all is true?” her eyes wandered in a straight line, scanning the room for signs of what misfortunate may bring itself upon her.

I’m scared.

“Ah… Ishikawa-san…! The stars shake their head at you… You have been possessed by an evil spirit, a spirit that only you could communicate with in your dreams. But that is not the reason why the stars pity you. Their reason is because fate has chosen you to walk a path of darkness, a path with no return…Whether you emerge into dawn, or in the deepest twilight… Even the gods do not know…”

I hate this.

“However… Shibata-san… You possess a spirit similar to that of your dear friend… But it is up to you to grab the light with your bare hands, or to fall into a hellish abyss. Should you choose to reach for that light is a very small possibility however… If you do fall into that hellish abyss, you might be trapped for all eternity, never to get out, never to breath, never to see, but always suffering. Before you know it, reality will slip away, and all that will be left of you are remnants of you in your dear friend’s memories…”

Please…

“Honestly, you don’t believe her, do you?” Ayumi crawled to the edge of her bed, seeing only the top of Rika’s head half-buried in her arms as she was sitting with her legs brought to her.

Rika had always been more of a pessimist than an optimistic person, Ayumi thought. Despite being a pretty average student in university, she knew that Rika was particularly strong with essays, especially if the topic of those said essays happen to deal with sentimentalities. Amidst the academic works, Rika also happened to be on the tennis team, tennis captain even, and in the futsal team with Ayumi.

Generally, the same idea applied to Ayumi, Rika thought. Ayumi was a very down to earth character, always working hard to earn what she needs. Futsal was her only major sport, but she operated as a full-time player, always bound towards the gymnasium or fields from time to time, whenever she was bored.

Despite being a little different in their own unique ways, Rika and Ayumi were inseparable. In futsal, they were either playing at the same time or sitting on the bench at the same time, meaning their coach utilized their unique chemistry into winning various games. They would always go shopping together, buying cute things for each other, buying matching things for each other, even going as far as to buy appliances for each other when necessary. In short, they were the best of friends.

But why was the fortune saying otherwise?

Rika traced nervous circles onto the floor, thinking again about what the fortune teller said. “The way she worded my fortune… It suggests that something might happen in the future, and later on, whether I’m capable of overcoming whatever happens or not capable… At least that’s the general outlook of what she said, practically… Right?”

“I was thinking that too… When she said you’d take a path of darkness and either wind up at dawn or twilight… But for me, what she said suggested that I have to make an important choice later on or something… Considering the consequential paths are contradictory, so I’m either going to be happy or really sad about it…” Ayumi got into the covers of her bed, “but for now, we shouldn’t worry about this sort of thing. We should sleep.”

Hmm… Yeah… Worrying about this too much might give me nightmares…Rika thought, absently climbing into the futon near her. Deciding to truly give the issue a rest, Rika leaned backwards, looking at the ceiling as she rested her head on the soft pillow. She looked over to the elevated bed, only seeing ruffled blankets from where she laid, unable to see Ayumi.

“Good night,” Rika said, wondering if the hidden older would turn over and show her face to Rika to repeat her words. Ayumi did roll over, just enough that half of her face could be seen on that high pedestal of a bed, mumbling her good nights and then returning to her comfortable position on her bed. Then she fell asleep.

Rika’s mind was conflicted with the words of the fortune teller; sure, she was aware that some of them were fakes that had memorized horoscope books, but still…

Why was this there ominous air about herself?

Rika had felt an aura of trepidation possess the air around her whenever she walked. Regardless of what she felt, it seemed more of a flickering sort of feeling. There were times where she felt needles piercing her body with the malicious aura burdening her. There were times where it was not there at all. There were times where she thought that evil presence would be triggered by negative emotions, like the ones she has now…

It’s there again.

That evil spirit’s presence.

Leave me alone… Rika wished, closing her eyes tightly so she would not be unfortunate into seeing things. I’ve done nothing wrong… Go away, you spirit…

I want a normal life…

I love my life the way it is…

I don’t want to change one bit of it…

I don’t want to become different.


Rika found that her thoughts were keeping her awake. Well this is troublesome…the younger thought as she shifted position within the futon. She tried to clear out her head with intention of preparing for her slumber, but to no avail, she kept thinking about that fortune… What if it really was true? What’s going to happen to her? She became frightened at the thought again. But remembering Ayumi’s words, it was not wise to dwell on this sort of pessimism. Rika concluded that she might be on the wrong side of the bed again, for she would normally sleep on the leftmost part of the futon or bed rather than the right. With intention of seeing where the left is in case she was sleeping at an odd angle, Rika opened her eyes.

She froze in fear.

There she was again, that frightening tattoo woman from her dreams… She was almost straddling Rika’s legs, with her hands pinning Rika’s arms so that she was rendered completely immobile.

Though this was the first time Rika saw this woman’s eyes so close to her. Those piercing golden eyes glaring contemptuously back at her… Ready to consume her whole if she made a move… The tattooed woman bent lower, towards her ear, as if wanting to whisper.

And whisper she did.

“Those who dream of me…” the voice sent shivers down Rika’s spine, causing her to squirm, especially more so when she looked at where the woman touched her to find that same lotus and butterfly patterned tattoo crawling up her skin painfully, consuming her. “They often never live…” Rika felt that black cursed tattoo cover her face and eventually, she was cast into the shadows of hell.

But she opened her eyes, and everything was completely undisturbed…

Everything was left undisturbed…

All except for this cursed aura that seems to enjoy torturing Rika…

Only she was disturbed.

A vision while I am awake…? Rika rubbed her eyes, making sure she was not seeing anything. What she did notice was that she was sweating profusely. That and she felt a sharp pain sting her wrists when she moved them. Deciding to see what was causing them to be so fussy lately, she brought her right hand hovering over her face and yanked the sleeve closer to her elbow, revealing the skin beneath.

There was a tattoo of a black butterfly resting on a lotus, glaring back at her.

I’m so scared…









I apologize for the shortness xD Trust me, the chapters will get longer xD For the review rules thing, I could care less since this story is just beginning. But after chapter ten or so, I'll start implementing my reply quotas, so you lurkers out there are lucky... For now... >:]




<3
« Last Edit: October 07, 2008, 03:24:20 AM by Yuuyami »

Offline Estrea

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Re: Our Cursed Gift II [NOT A SEQUEL] Chapter 1 up!
« Reply #1 on: May 11, 2007, 03:16:20 AM »
Aha! First to comment muahahaha.

Well there's really nothing much to say unless I start obsessing over who the tattooed woman is, but it's a bit too early to speculate anyway. XD Will patiently await more to develop before we start spinning weird theories about plot and such. Hehe.

Ganbatte ne! I'll be here the whole way! -pulls up a seat- XD
« Last Edit: May 11, 2007, 03:24:52 AM by Estrea »

永遠に咲き続ける花なんていない、すべてはいずれ枯れて朽ち果てしまう。

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Offline FeverInducedMadness

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Re: Our Cursed Gift II [NOT A SEQUEL] Chapter 1 up!
« Reply #2 on: May 11, 2007, 03:22:42 AM »
Bwahaha. This not being a sequel means I can read it and not spoil the first one for me. lol (even though I've already read the last few chapters of OCG I.)

Eh, hm, ah... you were right when you said this was gonna be creepy. XD
Most of this just kind of gave me the shivers...
Hrm... speculation? ...There's not much to go on just yet, since this is just the first chapter, and I'm actually kind of confused.
(I had to reread it again to sort out what was happening. lol)

So basically we got... possessed Rika...
Sort of possessed Ayu... but she can choose a better path...
And then there's this crazy tattoo lady... ><;;
And the butterfly on the lotus.

Perhaps... there's some sort of symbolism here that I don't see.
I suppose I'll have to wait until a bit more is revealed, ne?

<3
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Offline Aioros

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Re: Our Cursed Gift II [NOT A SEQUEL] Chapter 1 up!
« Reply #3 on: May 11, 2007, 03:28:00 AM »
So Rika and Shiba-chan are in good terms here. And Shiba-chan's also cursed like her. :o

But the light and dark paths... it kinda foreshadows that they'll be at each others throats in the future.

WAR AKARI!!! Infernal Ninjutsu, Hidden Lore...Freedom of Opposites Technique!!! Rest in peace Kyle,Jab,Mom,Tita, ChrNo...

Offline JFC

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Re: Our Cursed Gift II [NOT A SEQUEL] Chapter 1 up!
« Reply #4 on: May 11, 2007, 03:37:17 AM »
OMGASS!!! ISHISHIBA!!!  :heart:

Quote
“You don’t have to be so pessimistic, Rika-chan,” the older woman pat the aforementioned woman on the shoulder, “what that fortune teller told you was practically all horror movie crap anyway.”
That's only true of bad fortunes. Good fortunes are a mix of regular movie crap.  :P


Quote
“Ah… Ishikawa-san…! The stars shake their head at you… You have been possessed by an evil spirit, a spirit that only you could communicate with in your dreams. But that is not the reason why the stars pity you. Their reason is because fate has chosen you to walk a path of darkness, a path with no return…Whether you emerge into dawn, or in the deepest twilight… Even the gods do not know…”
Quote
“However… Shibata-san… You possess a spirit similar to that of your dear friend… But it is up to you to grab the light with your bare hands, or to fall into a hellish abyss. Should you choose to reach for that light is a very small possibility however… If you do fall into that hellish abyss, you might be trapped for all eternity, never to get out, never to breath, never to see, but always suffering. Before you know it, reality will slip away, and all that will be left of you are remnants of you in your dear friend’s memories…”
Between the two of them, sounds like Shiba-chan got a (very slightly) better deal. It seems she has a little bit of control/choice over her fate, whereas with Rika, everything is still undecided.


Quote
With intention of seeing where the left is in case she was sleeping at an odd angle, Rika opened her eyes.

She froze in fear.

There she was again, that frightening tattoo woman from her dreams… She was almost straddling Rika’s legs, with her hands pinning Rika’s arms so that she was rendered completely immobile.

...

“Those who dream of me…” the voice sent shivers down Rika’s spine, causing her to squirm, especially more so when she looked at where the woman touched her to find that same lotus and butterfly patterned tattoo crawling up her skin painfully, consuming her. “They often never live…” Rika felt that black cursed tattoo cover her face and eventually, she was cast into the shadows of hell.

But she opened her eyes, and everything was completely undisturbed…
Oh crap, nightmare.

...

...

Or was it???  :dizzy:


Quote
A vision while I am awake…? Rika rubbed her eyes, making sure she was not seeing anything. What she did notice was that she was sweating profusely. That and she felt a sharp pain sting her wrists when she moved them. Deciding to see what was causing them to be so fussy lately, she brought her right hand hovering over her face and yanked the sleeve closer to her elbow, revealing the skin beneath.

There was a tattoo of a black butterfly resting on a lotus, glaring back at her.
Kowaii yo. :scared: :stunned:

JPH!P :heart:'s kuro808, Fushigidane, ChrNo, Jab & marimari. Always.

Offline Kreuz_Asakura

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Re: Our Cursed Gift II [NOT A SEQUEL] Chapter 1 up!
« Reply #5 on: May 11, 2007, 04:09:33 AM »
Wow! :o
So in this story Shiba-chan and Rika are best friends, that's good!!!

And Rika's fate is a path of darkness and if Shiba-chan don't take the best choice she will suffer...mmm that's interesting, something tell me this friendship is going to be some troubles in a future, but I think it's too early to speculate something

I'll be waiting for the next chapters!!!
 ;)

Offline JFC

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Re: Our Cursed Gift II [NOT A SEQUEL] Chapter 1 up!
« Reply #6 on: May 11, 2007, 04:14:43 AM »
So in this story Shiba-chan and Rika are best friends, that's good!!!
Art imitates life. Rika and Shiba-chan are also really close, if not best friends in real life. :D

JPH!P :heart:'s kuro808, Fushigidane, ChrNo, Jab & marimari. Always.

Offline rndmnwierd

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Re: Our Cursed Gift II [NOT A SEQUEL] Chapter 1 up!
« Reply #7 on: May 11, 2007, 04:44:54 AM »
The most anticipated non-sequal in the history of mankind! It's the one, the only, A Breathe of Fresh Air- wait, I mean, Our Cursed Gift II. Yay, Promising start!

Offline glcorps2002

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Re: Our Cursed Gift II [NOT A SEQUEL] Chapter 1 up!
« Reply #8 on: May 11, 2007, 02:36:14 PM »
This is making me wonder if Rika is going to become the creepy curse woman. Why did you choose a butterfly on a lotus tatto anyway?

Offline Owaranai_sLaVe

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Re: Our Cursed Gift II [NOT A SEQUEL] Chapter 1 up!
« Reply #9 on: May 11, 2007, 09:36:20 PM »
I don't know if it's because Miki's so intimidating at times, but I have this feeling it could be her XD
OR! (this is gonna be so wrong xD) It could totally be Yuko! Yep *nods nods*

I like the start, totally creepy....

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Offline Tanachan

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Re: Our Cursed Gift II [NOT A SEQUEL] Chapter 1 up!
« Reply #10 on: May 12, 2007, 02:41:37 AM »
-squeal!- This is a raw chapter, isn't it? I picked up 3 mistakes with out trying (not to be a pessimist, but...)

1)
you might be trapped for all eternity, never to get out, never to breath, never to see, but always suffering.
Missed an E in the word "breathe"
2)
Rika thought, absently climbing into the futon near her. Deciding to truly give the issue a rest, Rika leaned backwards, looking at the ceiling as she rested her head on the soft pillow.
Not sure if this is exactly an error, but futon pillows usually aren't soft.
3)
Rika found that her thoughts were keeping her awake. Well this is troublesome…the younger thought as she shifted position within the futon.
It's either "shifted her postion" or "shifted positions

Anyways, very good job, it looks like I won't get lost this time ^^
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Offline stefy

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Re: Our Cursed Gift II [NOT A SEQUEL] Chapter 1 up!
« Reply #11 on: May 13, 2007, 09:18:26 AM »
Ishikawa lead character! banzai~ someone's missing tho..... hmmm wonder who... name starts with a Y
I love the idea of a tattoo of a black butterfly resting on a lotus tho... sounds cool! So this is not gonna be following the H!P timeline and stuff right.. Well waiting to know what'll happen next!!

Offline Yuuyami

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Re: Our Cursed Gift II [NOT A SEQUEL] Chapter 1 up!
« Reply #12 on: May 13, 2007, 05:01:30 PM »
Posted a bit more of the plot xD Well, in my signature if you can read it (It's REALLY faded so the background stands out a bit more)xD You might have to refresh a few times to get to that signature too xD Mind you, yes, I did make this signature too, including the tattoo in the background and on Rika's face. The lotuses were fun to do, but the butterfly was annoying to do xD Yay promotion for story <3

Offline Owaranai_sLaVe

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Re: Our Cursed Gift II [NOT A SEQUEL] Chapter 1 up!
« Reply #13 on: May 13, 2007, 05:32:17 PM »
It works! *well duuuuuuh, she said it would work, stupid* I see, what a nice add. You know, this story reminds me of a fairy tale, 'cept there are a few changes on profession and lots of left out detail, but it surely sounds familiar... Hmmm *thinks*

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Offline Yuuyami

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Re: Our Cursed Gift II [NOT A SEQUEL] Chapter 1 up!
« Reply #14 on: May 14, 2007, 04:22:31 AM »
Essy: <3

Fimmy-chan: You're going to have to get used to it. I think OCG II will overall also be a bit of a horror xD

Wordsworth: Indeed :x

JFC: Mm. We'll see what those choices really are.

Kreuz: Indeed, too early to speculate, but who knows, speculations are speculations xD

Rndmnwierd: Mm. Builting anticipation <3

Glcorps: Why don't you go look up butterflies and lotuses and see what they symbolize xD

Slave: The whole story itself is going to be creepy in a lot of places :]

Tanachan: So you comment on my errors but not my story? You know I hate a comment like that >:[

Stefy: Hmm xD I wonder if that missing person comes up soon xD And yeah, this story is AU.

wedge call? xD

Offline Estrea

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Re: Our Cursed Gift II [NOT A SEQUEL] Chapter 1 up!
« Reply #15 on: May 14, 2007, 04:28:47 AM »
WEDGE

永遠に咲き続ける花なんていない、すべてはいずれ枯れて朽ち果てしまう。

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Offline Yuuyami

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Re: Our Cursed Gift II [NOT A SEQUEL] Chapter 2: Premonition
« Reply #16 on: May 14, 2007, 04:33:56 AM »
Somewhat long chapter xD





Chapter 2: Premonition





There’s always this ominous feeling…

Rika emerged from the shopping districts with a single bag of clothes and an umbrella since the weather was drizzly. Deciding after seeing others already put up their umbrellas, she too, opened it and continued walking along the streets. Despite being a woman, she wasn’t the type to frequently visit clothing stores. It just seemed unnecessary to buy so many clothes to the extent of never wearing the same article twice.

As long as the clothes are comfortable and cute, Rika didn’t mind wearing anything of the sort. However, her sense in fashion often conflicted with others, and due to being occasionally self-conscious, the woman would often buy the entire set straight off the mannequin so she would not have to hear such opinions against her.

It’s amazing how opinions affect one, really.

The opinion that still inflicted concern upon her was what had affected her most of all other opinions, however. The visit to the fortuneteller under her best friend’s suggestion didn’t exactly comfort her of the nightmares. Instead, it was more of a confirmation of the cursed life she might live through, since the road of darkness is the path she will take, apparently.

It began to rain.

She was glad that she opened her umbrella when she saw the others. However, that feeling of slight happiness shrank into her mind again when she focused on the rain.

It was raining blood.

Trepidation placed its heavy burden upon the woman, causing her to walk sluggishly in this creepy atmosphere. Rika was surprised she could even move at all with the sudden horrific weather. The people walking around her did not seem to notice the grotesque scenery much to her fear. Why was she always subjected to seeing these horrible visions?

Again, she felt it.

That all too familiar pain.

Her right shoulder blade pulsated with pain. With each pulsation, that horrid tattoo would show up, with each breather in between, that tattoo would fade, but then the next pulsation would add onto the tattoo of the previous pulsation, extending the design. She nearly dropped her umbrella to clutch onto her right arm; it was almost acting like it was being prickled by needles.

Instead, she chose to feign ignorance of the vision happening at all. She stopped at the street corner, waiting for the light to turn red in order to cross. She watched the various kinds of cars and trucks zoom by as if there was no end to them. She looked at the faces of the people of the other side of the road, wondering if she might catch a glimpse of any familiar faces. In fact, she did catch the sight of someone familiar to her.

But fate was toying with her again.

It was that haunting woman with the tattoos.

But why was she standing amidst the crowd of people during the gruesome red weather? Rika swore internally that this nightmare was never going to leave her alone. For what reason did this woman have to haunt her? She had done nothing wrong in the past. She had done nothing that would label her as a sinner.

The light changed.

Rika was still frozen in place, immobilized by fear. The burning pain of the matching tattoo on her back contributed to her immobilization. The people around her didn’t seem to take notice and walked in their intended directions. Rika and the tattooed woman had a brief staredown amidst the life blurring past them. Eventually, a random person managed to walk in their line of sight. When that person walked away from that line of sight, the tattoo woman had vanished.

Rika blinked a few times.

The rain had also managed to retain its natural translucent color as well.

“Was that a dream?” Rika’s head began to ache.

Just in front of her, she caught a man bumping into an old woman. She witnessed the man grab the old woman’s purse as he uttered his apologies. Then the man walked away, the old woman oblivious to his thievery.

“M’aam, that man took your purse!” Rika called out. The old woman looked bewildered at the sudden outcry and looked at her elbow, verifying the absence of the missing item.

“Theif!” the old woman called out, pointing at the man now running away with haste.

Feeling obligated to help, Rika ran after the man, dropping her things near the old woman with not so much as a “watch that for me!” as she chased after the man. It like an obstacle course really, having to jump over pots and plants, having to divert direction to avoid colliding into people. Rika was glad she was in two sports teams, for her legs did not fail to get closer to the man.

Soon, they were on an overpass with a small water channel flowing underneath. Ahead of her, the man collided with another person, flinging the purse off the bridge. Rika immediately took action and grabbed the railing and swung her entire body, hitting the man on the back of his head, and using that force to snatch the purse in the air thanks to the circulatory move, and then returning to the ground with the purse latched onto her ankle.

Killing two birds with one stone as they say.

But not all endings end well.

The man came to himself again, and immediately attacked Rika, but the furthest he ever got as holding onto her wrists. On instinct, the woman tried to push him away, unaware of how close or low the railing behind her really was. The people around them were panicking and she caught sight of someone calling the police. She just had to hold off the man until the authority came, right? She struggled to be on par with the man, who seemed to be on the upper edge with his strong build. Then came the final point of the battle.

The man managed to push Rika over the railing, and into the flowing water she fell.

But not all endings end horribly either.

Before she registered the fact that she was pushed over, a strong arm immediately grasped her arm. Rika looked up at her savior. Was this an androgynous male? Was this a handsome woman? Rika couldn’t tell since the savior had short bronze-red hair that was up to their chin and sunglasses on. The person pulled their gloved hand upward, bringing Rika along with it, and then helped her get over the railing.

“Yes, thank you, Sir…” Rika bowed her head slightly to thank her savior politely as well.

“Actually… I’m a woman.”

“Ah! I’m so sorry!” Rika’s eyes widened. Since Japan was filled with normally feminine men, she thought this woman was no different!

“Regardless, are you alright?”

“Er… Yeah, I’m fine,” it was then that Rika took in the appearance of this woman.

This woman seemed like one of those bodyguards that protect celebrities, Rika thought. After all, the woman was in black pants, white blouse, black tie, black jacket, and pretty much everything that makes one a stereotypical guard. Rika felt tempted to ask the guard what famous person she protected as a joke, if not for the slightly intimidating gaze the taller woman gave through her not-so-dark sunglasses.

“Glad to know.”

Why did that simplistic phrase tug a few heart strings? Was it that unique low voice the taller woman spoke in? Was it the way the handsome stranger looked? Was it the way the enigma saved her just now?

What was going on with her? Why was her heart beating fast for a woman of all people? She remembered her parents telling her that heart would beat faster for her fated person, but she was sure they were thinking about a man as her designated partner.

“Are you okay, child?” Rika heard an old woman’s voice behind her. In fact, she was glad that the old woman ruined the moment, for she didn’t like that maelstrom of confusion for her orientation one bit.

“I’m fine, here is your purse,” Rika smiled as she gave the thankful senior her belonging. Then Rika took her umbrella and shopping bag from the woman as the promised exchange before the elder went on her way while Rika turned around to go her way.

That enigma which was the cause of her orientation confusion had already disappeared.

“What the…” the woman didn’t do so much as raise a brow at the absence, but simply brushed it aside and headed home.

There’s also this feeling of longing…

“What?! You’ve got to be kidding me!” Rika smacked her palm to her forehead in disbelief.

“Yeah… Sorry about that… My parents, for some odd reason, want to celebrate my birthday back the main house with my family,” Ayumi placed her hand in a flat praying motion in front of her face as a gesture of apology.

“But we already planned to go out a long time ago, and your parents accepted! What made them change their mind?”

“I’m not sure, but it sounded like they were going to beat the crap out of me if I didn’t, so I guess I have no choice but to follow… Sorry Rika-chan.”

“Oh well, I guess it can’t be helped, family comes first,” Rika smiled to hide her disappointment. “But did you have to tell me just before we go out to do what we planned?”

“Guess I forgot?” Ayumi laughed sheepishly, rolling her eyes into a different direction.

“You silly girl,” Rika swung her upper body horizontally, smacking Ayumi lightly on the arm. “So when do you have to go, birthday girl?”

“…In like, five minutes,” Ayumi grinned widely, hiding her fear. Before Rika could complain any further, Ayumi grabbed her belongings and fled out of their dorm.

Rika blinked at the event which came by her, waving at her mockingly. Sighing, she decided to spend the rest of her day studying. So she sat down on the futon, cracking open her text book, and started reading.

She barely got through the first sentence.

Rika diverted her thoughts onto Ayumi instead, though. Why was she supposed to be with family anyway? She thought as she fiddled with the page corner. Actually, there were many valid reasons for that, but why was she called to the main house so suddenly? The woman cast her textbook aside, immediately dropping the idea of studying and then she lifted her feet in the air out of boredom, inspecting her toes. Some sort of emergency? Rika lost interest in her wiggling toes and began rolling side to side of her futon. I mean, we planned this at the beginning, and her parents said it was okay… So the only logical reason is that something has happened over there… Rika sat up, now fiddling with her bangs.

But if she was told yesterday about it… Then it’s not really an emergency…

Rika got up, now fed up with her annoying thoughts.

“I hope they don’t mind an intruder.”

There are feelings that I don’t think are even mine…

Hoping to get by undetected, Rika had the taxi drop her off a few blocks from the private mansion which happened to be located in small forest. Regarding the forest, Rika was once told by her dear friend that the Shibata family had the money to grow their own trees to serve as a wall of privacy-guaranteed. In fact, the Shibata family was pretty rich in general. Rika’s family was just as wealthy, but her family didn’t want to look like a rich family in particular, just wanted to use their money sparingly and liked to live like everyone else.

Bypassing the gates by climbing over, Rika quietly traversed through the trees, avoiding security as necessary.

What ARE they doing over there to have this tight security?! Rika complained internally to herself playing a game of ‘tiptoe through the tulips’ with the guards, trying to find her way into the mansion.

Finally, Rika somehow hid in a bush, hiding from a passing oblivious guard.

Ugh…This is getting annoying… I’m probably getting further from the mansion…Rika squirmed uncomfortably within the bush. Unfortunately, the guard caught the suspicious sound and turned around, much to Rika’s panic.

OH NO! WhatamIgoingtodowhatamIgoingtodo?!

“Get out of there right now,” the man said in a cautioned tone. Rika had no choice but to obey, since for all she knew, he’s probably armed and ready. She stood up with a guilty expression on her face. “You did realize you were trespassing on private property, yes?”

“Ah, sorry sir…” What was with this man? Rika thought to herself. She internally pulled on the lower part of her eye and stuck out her tongue (she wouldn’t dare actually try it, for he had a gun) as he guided her by the hand elsewhere. The man was speaking to her as if she was just a small kid that was too oblivious for her own good! She would loved to tell the man to not treat her so childishly if it weren’t for the information that he was an armed guard.

She simply went along for the trudging stroll until a voice called out to the guard.

“Kamui! You’re leaving your designated zone, I’ll take the woman from here on out since it’s my area anyway.”

Rika felt a glimmer of hope when she heard that voice.

“Don’t talk to me like that! If you weren’t a woman, I’d beat your ass right about now!” the said man called back, almost shoving Rika into the direction of her enigma to carry out his command. “Feh, kids these days have no respect…” The man called Kamui trudged off in the opposite direction, resuming his patrol.

“What are you doing here?” the woman asked, turning waiting for Rika to catch up.

“Trying to break into the mansion to spend time with my best friend…” Rika hugged her arms, feeling cold of the wet atmosphere caused by the rain the day before. It’s a good thing that stranger had her back turned, for she didn’t want her to see that slightly flustered look in her face.

The woman seemed to be thinking, or so Rika thought by the silence she replied to her with. Finally, the woman said something.

“What are you? Some kind of cat? Sneaking that far…” the woman mused, “You have a talent for getting yourself into trouble, first, yesterday with the bridge, and now here…”

“Well excuse me for troubling you,” Rika immediately defended herself.

“What happened to that polite woman I saved yesterday?”

Indeed, why did Rika grow hostile like that? Did she expect the enigma to still showcase her gentlemen(woman rather?)ness  behavior? Then again, was this woman a kind person to begin with? Despite that, what really offended Rika was the fact that she apparently troubled the taller with saving her. She hated it when someone else felt burdened by her, it made her feel like a useless person…

“Rika?”

The said woman looked up to find Ayumi walking towards her. “What are you doing here?”

“I thought you were already in there!” Rika blinked, looking back up the road (since when did the woman lead her onto the road?) and then at Ayumi.

“I order you to permit her under my wing as a guest,” Ayumi said to the enigmatic guard, before taking Rika by the hand.

“As you wish,” the woman shrugged before walking back into the woods once more.

Even as Ayumi pulled her away and led her to the mansion, Rika found herself still staring at the general direction of where the woman disappeared into. Then she caught herself thinking again… What, my heart again? One of these days, I’ll strangle it and throw it to the lions… Then again, I would be committing suicide there, would I? Rika sighed inwardly, trying to calm her heart. What is this, the bishounen effect? Like in those manga where the heroine meets the crush of her dreams?

Before she could elaborate any further on her feelings, the two managed to stop in front of the mansion.

“So tell me again how come I saw you there instead of here?” Rika looked at the mansion, wondering if it had somehow became bigger than the last time she visited.

“Traffic. And why are you here?”

“Because it’s bothering me how your schedule changed immediately.”

“Oh well, now that you’re here, I might as well invite you in,” Ayumi said as she opened the door, greeted by two servants.

As it turns out, Rika’s sudden appearance didn’t phase the main head of the house, Ayumi’s uncle. In fact, the uncle didn’t show signs of being angry at all. He said that he overslept himself, and was just about to get dressed formally until the two had walked in on him sporting casual clothing. Telling them that the rest of the family was waiting in the dining room, the energetic man left them.

“He’s a nice uncle, isn’t he? I’d imagine the head of the family would be just a tad bit more strict,” Rika said as they both walked nonchalantly in the hallways.

“Yeah, Uncle is pretty laid back, so sometimes, even he gets into trouble with his procrastinating ways,” Ayumi chuckled.

“Haha, I wish I had an uncle like Tsunku-san.”

When they stepped into the dining room, the sight before them astonished them with surprised. Everyone was sitting at the long table, composed. Not only that, everyone was wearing black. It was almost as if they stepped into a funeral…

“…What’s this?” Ayumi raised a brow, “All black for a simple birthday?”

“Please stand next to the table. As for your guest, there is a seat available near where you are going to stand,” one of the servants said, ushering Ayumi closer to the table while another servant ushered Rika into a chair which happened to be on the side of the end of the table where Ayumi stood.

“Sorry for canceling what plans you may have, but this must be done,” Tsunku came through the doors of the other side of the room, sporting a similar attire to everyone else. “If you could wait just a bit longer, your present will come.”

Rika wondered what sort of present Ayumi was going to receive from what looks like her entire family. But there had been something that irked her ever since she stepped into the house. There was that fearful apprehension hanging in the air again… But this time it was stronger than usual, and she thought she might collapse under the pressure. Despite her uneasy feelings, she attempted to act normal.

But that pain came again. It started softly, but the pulsation became even more painful with each passing time. She didn’t feel the tattoo rise in her blood, but the pain was surely there, echoing throughout her entire body like needles puncturing her as if she was a butterfly specimen in someone’s collection.

A door opened behind where Rika and Ayumi had entered from.

You again?! Rika thought, but kept her face stoic, as that same woman who always seem to make Rika question her emotions entered the room with a box in her hands. The woman then placed the box on the table and left to resume her duties. As soon as she looked at the wooden box, Rika felt a hot pain surge through her body suddenly, worse than the steady pulsations she felt earlier. She winced at the sudden throbbing, and her breaths slowly became ragged but she attempted to breathe silently to avoid attention.

All this suffering because of a stupid box which was now laid on the table?

Apparently, Rika failed in trying to hide her pain, for Tsunku requested that Rika stand with Ayumi after some quiet discussion with the people of his side of the table.

Standing up was sheer agony. All the pain from sitting down had numbed her body, and standing up made the torture all the more bothersome to Rika’s body. After she stood, Ayumi and Rika were then instructed to remove the lid of the box to bear eyes to Ayumi’s present which Rika somehow got involved in opening as well.

When they removed the lid, there was quite the present waiting inside.

A human hand.

Or rather, a mummified hand.

Again, there was a huge surge of pain through Rika’s body, even worse than the one she experienced before. She grabbed onto her head, trying to stop her throbbing head from aching to no avail. She felt the tattoo instantly crawl from her right shoulder blade, this time, going as far as to consume her neck and the sides of her face. Her hair floated in the air eerily, being lifted by the rising energy, flickering between her normal brunette color and the color of blood red. Her eyes also flickered between dark brown and golden.

Before she felt lost to her transformation, the mummified hand was suddenly covered in a tattoo depicting butterflies resting on lotuses. Before anything else could be registered, the hand exploded into pieces, as if the tattoo’s design constricted the hand until it did so.

Then the pain went away from Rika’s body, the tattoo no longer on her.   

This contemptuous feeling…

“Was that my doing…?” Rika turned to look at Ayumi.

Ayumi was bending over, as if she too was in pain. She clutched onto her arms, as if trying to prevent herself from lashing out. All of a sudden, as if some supernatural force was hidden underneath her body, lacerations and scars began to force themselves open, releasing huge amounts of blood with each opening produced as Ayumi screamed while the lashing wounds appeared. There were evidentially scars all over her body, abundant amounts of them at that, for her clothes became soaked in blood.

Then the final scar came, a cross shaped scar on Ayumi’s right cheek. The woman collapsed onto the table in a bloody heap afterwards.

Everyone at the dining table was gasping and gaping, bewildered and shocked at the event that had happened before them.

“Someone help!” Rika immediately shook Ayumi’s body, trying to wake her up. “Why isn’t anyone helping?!” the woman looked about her, noticing the unmoving picture she was placed in.

A sigh came from the head of the family.

“Fate has certainly cursed you two…”

Did these feelings belong to her?

“What do you mean? Why are you all even sitting there doing nothing? Ayumi was just slashed to bits, practically! She’s going to die if you just stand around!”

“Oh, we assure you that Ayumi will live…” Tsunku said solemnly, waving his hand so that guards stood around Rika.

“Ayumi embodies the ancestor which started our family ages ago, so she will lead the family as the successful heir when I die.”

“How is almost dying a justification of what you said?!”

“In regards to dying however…” Tsunku let out a another sigh before continuing.

“Because you embody the nemesis of our family’s ancestor… You shall die.”

Or are they mine?














Oohhhh, what now xD

Offline Estrea

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Re: Our Cursed Gift II [NOT A SEQUEL] Chapter 2: Premonition
« Reply #17 on: May 14, 2007, 04:35:14 AM »
DIBS! XD

Holy, that's a long chapter. XD Trying to beat me? :P

Androgynous person saving Rika? That has GOT to be Yossi. Who else looks like a man anyway? XD Besides, Ishiyoshi is love. :heart: Rika suffering from the Bishounen Syndrome made me roffle. So...typical...cliched...but how fun! XD

And ohhhh. Rika sneaking onto the Shibata estate? Everything afterwards looks identical to the beginning of Ayashi no Ceres. :P Even down to poor Ayumi being lacerated and the hand exploding. You and your stealing ways. XD Did you just adapt the Ceres storyline? :P I look forward to see your twists on the original plot. ;)

Can't wait to see how Rika goes berserk (assuming you still follow the Ceres storyline) and manifests her other self when they try to kill her. XD What will happen, I wonder? XD

-starts building a house to stay in for the long haul- XD

Update soon~
« Last Edit: May 14, 2007, 04:51:49 AM by Estrea »

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Offline Saikami

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Re: Our Cursed Gift II [NOT A SEQUEL] Chapter 2: Premonition
« Reply #18 on: May 14, 2007, 11:05:10 AM »
DIBS ;D

-runs off to make milkshake first- XD

OH DAMN! O_O Raining blood, that's REALLY freaky. Rika gets kudos for not running around screaming, she must be really used to it. o_o;; Then that weird lady showed up again. >_>; You're good with horror stories, cousin.

At first I thought the whole purse snatching thing was random, but then I guessed you must be planning to introduce someone with it then BAM that handsom woman we all know and love~! :D I find it funny how Rika is really confused with Yossie, and also how she was mistaken for a guy. XDD Good little spot to add a bit of humor in for the story. :3

Rika walking around avoiding (almost) oblivious gaurds reminds me of Zelda OoT. XD You only get caught if you're two feet away from them. ;D

Tsunku, and uncle. XD FTW? Ayumi's uncle no less. xD

...

OMGAHHFTW???!??!! A FRIGGIN HAND? O___O;;!! -twitch- that's just weird. x__x;; And it exploded too o_o;; I'd hate for that to get all over me, considerin' it's really really really old, and not to mention dead. o_o;;

Cursed? o.o That's always fun. (at least for the reader's point of view XD) But they have to kill Rika? O_O;; RUN RIKA, RUN!!!

Although a seriously freaky story this is, I like it. ;D Write more or I'll stick Stewart on you. XD
« Last Edit: May 14, 2007, 11:43:44 AM by Saikami »
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Offline rndmnwierd

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Re: Our Cursed Gift II [NOT A SEQUEL] Chapter 2: Premonition
« Reply #19 on: May 14, 2007, 04:02:53 PM »
Holy fricking cow!  :o :o

Blood rain, engulfing tatoos, scarred Ayumi! I didn't think you could fit that much drama into the second chapter.

You really like turning Shiba and Rika against each other....

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